Guwahati, Apr 20 (IBNS): Following the Union Cabinet's decision to do away with the red beacons atop cars of ministers, bureaucrats, politicians and VVIPs, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has directed all in the state to remove 'Red Light' being used atop vehicles immediately.

Welcoming the Union Cabinet's decision, the Assam CM said that, the removal of red beacons is a step towards Narendra Modis vision of a new India.



Terming the step of the Modi led Union cabinets decision as a historic and bold step, Sonowal said that the removal of red light culture will make the countrys democracy stronger.



Following Assam CMs directive, several ministers of the state government including Pramila Rani Brahma, Keshab Mahanta, Atul Bora, BJPs Assam unit president Ranjit Das on Thursday removed red beacons from their cars.



The BJP led Assam government cabinet earlier decided in the first cabinet meeting not to use red beacons in the ministers vehicles including CMs vehicle.



On the other hand, Assam governor Banwarilal Purohit appreciated the Union cabinets ban on using red lights atop vehicles of the VVIPs.



In the light of the cabinet decision the Assam governor ordered removal of red lights from his vehicles with immediate effect.



He also termed the decision as people friendly and said that the move would greatly help in ensuring greater equality which is one of the cornerstones of Indian democracy.



(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
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Mamata Banerjee official Facebook Page

Bhuvaneshwar, Apr 20 (IBNS): Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Odisha, Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik, denied to have any kind of political discussion during their brief meet in Bhuvaneshwar on Thursday, media reports.

Patnaik said that Mamata had come down to Bhuvaneshwar to meet him, as she was wrapping up her visit to Odisha.

"Courtesy call. No politics discussed," Odisha CM said.

Resonating the words of Patnaik, Banerjee said: "We did not discuss politics today. But politics is there 365 days."

The WB CM refused to give much importance to the recent performances of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal and Odisha where they increased their vote percentage.

"I don't believe the BJP is a threat. Regional parties can tackle them. But yes they are dividing everyone, people and even political parties. They sometimes purchase MLAs and ministers," Banerjee said.

While in Odisha, the BJP came up to the second spot in the recently concluded panchayat election giving a tough fight to Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal, in the latest by-election in an assembly seat of WB, the saffron party increased the vote percentage to 31, pushing the communist party to number three.

Though both the leaders did not say much about the aspiring federal front of the opposition, Banerjee spoke in favour of it to strengthen the federal structure of the country.

"It is a continuous process. We want regional parties to continue and strengthen the federal structure in the country according to the constitution," the TMC chief said.

The Trinamool Congress supremo was one of the first leaders who spoke in favour of creating federal front to tackle BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar too urged all non BJP parties to come together for a federal front to counter BJP, of late.

The WB CM was on three visit to Odisha primarily to meet TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhaya who is currently under the custody of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for his alleged involvement in the Rose Valley scam.

She even visited Puri's Jagannath Temple amidst the objection of a sevait to enter, who was also later detained by police.
Declining mail volumes are pushing NZPost into exploring new business models involving other kinds of deliveries, including KFC and restaurant deliveries.

Every post office around the world has declining mail volumes, and for post to be around for another 100 years it will need to be doing different things, says NZPost spokesman Mike Stewart.

Tauranga is the site of a pilot model where NZ Post is delivering buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken about the city, for the fast food operator.

Its not posties or couriers doing the delivery, we have got a separate network set up to do the delivery, says Mike.

We are calling it a freelance network as a working name. The idea, the pilot that we are testing is people want to log in to do deliveries and log off again when they can, so its very flexible.

Aimed at students or people who want to work two four or eight hours over a couple of days, they can log in and NZPost can allocate the delivery drives.

NZ Post has recruited 30 delivery drivers for the KFC Tauranga pilot, with most of them being students or retirees using their own transport and smartphones.

We are not limiting it to one brand. What we are trying to learn is there a market to that type of approach to it building a network, and what does it look like? Its in the early stages, says Mike.

So we will learn a few things and decide how it goes from there. Its certainly an opportunity for post to branch out from its core daytime deliveries if you like.

The area we are in is looking at exploring, running experiments and pilots to uncover some new revenue streams and new areas of business that we dont normally do, and look at the future really.

The learning curve has been underway since the beginning of the month.

In Tauranga you can order up a bucket of KFC, or if you are in Auckland and you go onto menulog.

We are delivering for a number of restaurants as well as a secondary pilot.

For the restaurants, it exposes them to a broader market, so hopefully its good for everybody, says Mike.

The on-demand is a really strong proposition around the world so theres no reason why it shouldnt be a strong proposition here.

People want goods delivered to their home in 30-60 minutes, says Mike.

NZPost has also been experimenting with deliveries for the health and construction centre.

In the last decade the number of letters sent in New Zealand has halved.

In an attempt to stem the losses, the price of sending a medium-size letter by FastPost is scheduled to rise by NZ$0.50c in July from NZ$1.80 to $2.30.
Significant rainfall totals were experienced in North Island in March, with over 300 per cent of normal rainfall recorded in some places.

Most locations in the North Island had a wet month, recording 120 per cent of normal March rainfall or more.

As a result, sunshine hours were well below normal in most places.

NIWAs climate outlook to June 2017 forecasts a 45 per cent chance of below normal rainfall in the north and east of the North Island, and equally likely to be near normal (40 per cent chance) or below normal (40 per cent chance) in the west of the North Island.

In the Bay of Plenty, temperatures are likely to be above average, while rainfall is expected to settle back down to normal levels. Soil moisture and river flows, however, may be higher than average.

Weather in the first half of April was much more severe than usual, with two cyclones blowing through, flooding Edgecumbe and closing schools across the Bay of Plenty in the lead-up to Easter.

Revisit some of SunLives flooding photos and videos here and here.
Maori own the water, all wealth needs to be taxed, and if youre rich, expect your superannuation to be cut.

Those were some of the policies on offer at this afternoons public meeting for The Opportunities Party.

Party leader Gareth Morgan spoke for about 45 minutes in the Graham Young Youth Theatre at Tauranga Boys College, which was filled to about a third of capacity with curious locals of all ages, genders, and ethnicities.

Im not actually interested in politics at all, he says. Im about policy, and improving the wellbeing of all New Zealanders.

He talks about his 35-year history involved in economics and social policy, before referring to the countrys growing inequality and the ridiculous acceleration in housing unaffordability.

Then its onto taxes.

A third of the richest New Zealanders arent even in the top tax rate, he says, before revealing his plans to tax all capital  although he stresses new taxes would be offset by other tax reductions, with overall tax not increasing by so much as a dollar.

I dont want you to walk out of here and slit your wrists, he jokes.

And it is a joke  about how seriously New Zealanders take their property investment ambitions. But that would change under a Gareth Morgan government. He wants people investing in businesses instead, to create jobs.

One thing he does have on his side is sincerity. He speaks without notes or a teleprompter, leading one to assume he means every word. Hes also incredibly relaxed, leaning on the side of the lectern, rather than standing behind it  and in a t-shirt, no less.

The audience.

On foreigners: he wants the rich ones (the ones he claims visit and buy our farms as casually as they do souvenirs) taxed at a yearly rate of three per cent on their New Zealand properties. He also wants the number of poorer migrants  who come here to do unskilled labour and keep wages down  to be reined in.

And superannuation?

I dont need a cent of super. Its disgusting, he says. He wants the richest half of superannuates to receive half of what theyre getting now, and shift the $3 billion in savings to parents with young children, many of whom are struggling with rising rents and an uncertain job market.

After saying his piece, he hands it over to the audience. A couple of them ask further questions about tax and inequality, but others want to know about his partys stance on the environment  especially water.

Gareth says he wants our rivers to be swimmable, and he wants everyone to have access to fresh drinking water. But he reckons Maori own it, by virtue of the Treaty, and that a deal needs to be done with them first, before we can start selling it.

So theres a lot for a Tauranga audience to think about. Throughout his presentation, he takes a few pot shots at Winston Peters, and labels the National party habit of announcing policies that wont come into effect for decades (such as raising the superannuation age) a con job.

Out in the theatre foyer he says audiences can be sceptical, but he hopes he can make them think  and hopefully, impress them.

You want them to think theyve just seen Jesus, he says.

Only time will tell if he can have as much of an impact.

If youve got a question for Gareth, or want to hear him in his own words, head along to the Graham Young Youth Theatre at 5.30pm tonight, when hell be going in for round two.
The 2017 Battle of Passchendaele multi-media competition is now open for submissions.

On October 12, 1917, 845 New Zealanders died at Bellevue Spur, part of the Passchendaele campaign of the First World War.

A further 2700 were wounded, making it the single bloodiest day in our nations history.

The annual competition, open to all Year 13 students, asks students to explore what that significant day means to them though the medium of their choice.

Veterans Affairs Minister David Bennett says it is one of the bleakest days in the countrys history.

Its important we continue to reflect on the sacrifice made in the fields of Belgium 100 years ago. One way to continue the legacy is through todays youth. I look forward to seeing students sharing their stories and experiences of remembering New Zealands service in war and conflict.

The winning Year 13 student will receive a $2000 education contribution and, along with the runner up, will travel to Belgium to attend the Battle of Passchendaele centenary commemorations in October 2017.

This year there is also a special Year 12 speech writing category marking the centenary of Passchendaele. The winner of the Year 12 category will represent New Zealand youth, and read their winning entry at the national commemorative ceremony at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington.

Entries close Friday May 12.

For more information, visit www.veteransaffairs.mil.nz/multimediacompetition
Maritime New Zealand teamed up with Maritime Police to conduct health and safety inspections on 15 mussel barges in the Coromandel and Firth of Thames recently.

The patrol boarded 15 of the 18 barges operating in the area over three days as crews worked, with eight vessels issued Improvement Notices under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

These notices were for a range of issues including inadequate machine guarding, lack of facilities for crew, and failure to maintain an accident/incident register.

Four vessels also had Conditions imposed under the Maritime Transport Act 1994 for issues such as uncertified deck cranes and hydraulic oil leaks from deck machinery.

Maritime NZ Central Regional Compliance manager Pelin Davison says being able to inspect these vessels while at sea enabled Maritime Officers to check actual working conditions for crews.

We were also able to remind skippers and crews about what is expected under HSWA  including the tougher penalties and new health and safety responsibilities for workers, as well as officers and Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking.

Education is a large part of the work we do  along with compliance action where needed. Crews seemed happy to have the opportunity to discuss working conditions and how they can be improved.

The patrol was conducted with the assistance of the New Zealand Police Maritime Unit from Auckland, on-board the Deodar III, with local harbourmasters also taking part.

Recreational boaties were also spoken to  with checks done for the number of lifejackets on board, along with communication devices such as VHF radio, flares, rescue beacons and cellphones in waterproof bags.
Indian Empress

There arent many yachts on the water as regal as Indian Empress. Way ahead of her time when she emerged in 2000 - thanks to comprehensive design by A Group - this Oceanco-built superyacht was completely updated in 2015 during a major refit. The largest on display with Burgess at 95-metres (311'6"ft), Indian Empress is leading a fleet of over 50 superyachts on display.

Nero

Classically styled, elegant and a picture of sophistication, Nero is the epitome of effortless cool and a 90-metre (295ft) crowning jewel in the MYBA Barcelona fleet. With Corsair style and an 'in crowd' interior by Neil Taylor, this is a must-see for both broker and charter guest alike.

Axioma

The 72-metre (236'ft) Dunya-built superyacht Axioma was introduced into the water in 2013, and marked a significant moment for the shipyard currently working on her sistership. On the docks with YPI, the superyacht seemingly built for charter was designed by Sterling Scott and features a wide-open interior, spacious layout and stately style by Alberto Pinto.

Joy

Feadship launched the 70-metre (2297ft) Joy in 2016 to high-acclaim, featuring the first exterior style by Bannenberg & Rowell. The modern, clean and cutting exterior profile not only creates a unique member of the famed Feadship fleet, but gives way to a stunning Studio Indigo interior; a must-see at the show.

Icon

Designed by Redman Whiteley Dixon, Icon came to the fore in 2010 and offers charter guests a simple, stripped back interior with ample space on board for 12 guests and an incredible 20 crew. Measuring 62.50-metres (205 ft), the Dutch-built superyacht is immediately recognisable for its black-hull, but only its previous charter guests could illustrate the lifestyle on board.

Double Down

Available through TWW Yachts, the 65-metre (2139ft) Double Down was brought to the water by Codecasa in 2010 and updated in 2016. With space on board for an impressive 19 guests, the sophisticated, rich and welcoming interior design by Della Role Design creates a home on board and adds character to a superyacht set to showcase in a city of outstanding vessels.

These outstanding vessels are just some of the large yachts on display in the heart of Barcelona this April. We look forward to bringing you more on each yacht on display on the run up to the first of an exciting new tradition.
Mumbai, Apr 20 (IBNS) Actress Vaani Kapoor has won the 7th Gr8 Women Awards, International 2017 in Cinema category.

Vaani Kapoor was in Dubai to attend the Gr8 Women Achievers Awards where she won 7th Gr8 Women Awards in Cinema category.

The Befikre actress said, "We don't need one particular day to celebrate womanhood. But it feels amazing to get felicitated at such prestigious event."

The actress graced the event looking mesmerizing in Anamika Khanna. Wearing a classic Anamika ensemble, her printed draped hem dress was paired with an embroidered floor sweeping cape.
Islamabad, Apr 20 (IBNS) : In a temporary relief for Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the country's Supreme Court on Thursday ordered further investigation into the Panama Papers Leak case that implicated the leader and his family in a money trail regarding Qatari investment, Daily Pakistan said.

Stating that the Chairman of NAB was unable to perform his duties, the judges ordered formation of Joint Investigation Team (JIT).

The JIT would report to the court after every two weeks.

Three of the judges agreed to the judgement passed out by apex court whereas two judges had a dissenting opinion.

The judgement was announced by a five-member bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and comprising Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ejaz ul Ahsan.

The issue of Panama Leaks came to light on April 4, 2016, as part of a massive leak of secret files from a Panamanian law firm that specialises in setting up offshore companies. A trove of 11.5 million digital records from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca last year revealed how worlds wealthy used offshore companies to stash assets.

According to the Panama Papers, three of Nawaz Sharifs four children  Maryam, Hasan and Hussain  were owners of offshore companies and were owners or had the right to authorise transactions for several companies. but the Sharif family has dismissed the allegations of money laundering and denied any wrongdoing.
The former Smyth-Bland Regional Library director and assistant director will not face criminal charges following an investigation into allegations of inappropriate use of public funds.

Smyth County Commonwealths Attorney Roy Evans announced his decision Tuesday afternoon after he reviewed a report from a Virginia State Police special agent accountant.

Evans wrote, The report does not support criminal charges against Director Pat Hatfield or Assistant [Director] Brenda Umbarger. The commonwealths attorney, however, did not dismiss possible library policy violations or the morality of the actions in question.

Evans explained that the allegations were made to his office last fall. On Nov. 17, 2016, he requested the special agents investigation. The forensic accountants report was completed March 31. At that time, Evans said he asked for an additional interview, which was done.

In his statement of findings, the commonwealths attorney emphasized that a criminal conviction requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. He went on to say that the evidence in this case was assessed with that standard in mind.

Evans said the investigation examined three allegations: failure of the library administration to comply with public procurement rules; misuse of funds for a New Orleans conference by Umbarger; and falsification of time sheets leading to the payment of unearned wages by Hatfield and Umbarger.

While acquiring a contract for HVAC services for the library might have been a violation of procurement rules, Evans said, documents substantiated statements that at least three local contractors were contacted.

According to state law, bids must be obtained from multiple vendors.

The conference in question was a 2015 VTLS conference in New Orleans. VTLS is a company that provides automation and software to libraries. Accommodations for the conference were in the French Quarters Hotel Monteleone, which describes itself as a historic luxury hotel. Former director Pat Hatfield and Umbarger attended. Lodging for three nights was about $745 each. Mileage and related expenses for Hatfield came in at $830. Meal receipts were also included.

No evidence at all supported the claim of criminal misuse of funds for the New Orleans conference, wrote Evans. A complaint was made that Hatfield and Umbarger travelled to the conference together and returned a day late, a fact that does not suggest anything criminal. Reportedly Hatfield was the only registered attendant but there was not a daily attendance roster kept. According to the policy manual the Director had the authority to approve the conference attendance anyway. So even if there was a policy violation nothing rose to the level of criminal fraud by Umbarger.

On the matter of their wages, Evans wrote, There is no doubt why onlookers were inquisitive. The salaries of Hatfield and Umbarger seem disproportionate to their duties and qualifications: $87,089 (equivalent to $41.87 per hour at traditional full-time) and $34,154 ($32.84 per hour) respectively.

Evans noted that Hatfield was a full-time employee, while Umbarger was to work 20 hours a week. He also noted that all other employees pay was substantially less. There was an air of secrecy; reportedly employees were forbidden to discuss or disseminate the administrations salary.

The time-sheet falsification allegation stemmed from other employees who kept calendars of Hatfield and Umbargers presence at the Marion library. Evans said, The investigation compared time sheets to these calendars and to other evidence of days off, sick days and personal days. At most, the investigator found discrepancies of $4,019.52 for Hatfield and $2,692.88 for Umbarger.

However, the commonwealths attorney wrote, those figures assume that the other employees observations were accurate, all-inclusive and could not be explained. They were explained, certainly to the extent that no criminal activity could be proven.

Evans directed attention to the broad discretion given to the library director. He noted remarkable language about the directors responsibilities. That language said that the director is expected to work whatever hours necessary to fulfill the obligation of the position. The policy also says that the director classified all other employees. All work times and hours are defined by the director.

That language alone is enough to defeat any criminal charge, wrote Evans, adding that the investigator confronted Hatfield and Umbarger with the figures. According to Umbarger, Evans said, it was common practice for her to work at home occasionally, sometimes at the Bland location and sometimes on weekends when she wouldnt have been observed by other employees.

Ultimately, Evans concluded, There may have been violations of Library policy and there may have been practices that were morally offensive. But from a legal standpoint, when the Director was knowingly handed a blank check, the Commonwealth cannot convict her for using it.

The investigation has been a factor in the countys handling of library affairs.

The Smyth County Board of Supervisors was taken to court by three former regional library trustees over their dismissal for neglect of duty. In a motion to dismiss that action, County Attorney Jeff Campbell wrote, After removal of the plaintiffs and other Library Board members, the assistant director resigned her position and is now under criminal investigation for the embezzlement. The Board of Supervisors would allege that this entire scenario was the product of an inattentive, disconnected Library Board and warranted removal for neglect of duty.

The investigation was also cited by Supervisor Rick Blevins in a March 16 email to Kim Armentrout, public library consultant for the Library of Virginia, explaining why the board of supervisors members were continuing to fill the role of trustees of the regional library when the state code allows for one. He wrote: As you can imagine, it is impossible to find a community member to serve on the Board of Trustees when the old administration is being investigated by the State Police and the past chairman, vice chairman and treasure [sic] have filed legal action against the Board of Supervisors.
Toronto, Apr 20 (IBNS): A recent report by David Marshall, CEO of Workplace Safety and Insurance Board released on April 11, said Ontario drivers paid the highest premiums in the country even though the roads were considered safest in North America, media reports said.

The report, called Fair Benefits Fairly Delivered: A Review of the Auto Insurance System in Ontario, found that premiums in Ontario were well above the national average of $930, CBCNews reports said.

Ontario premiums are 24 percent higher than Alberta's ($1,179) and twice as that of Quebec's ($724 and Ontario drivers paid an average insurance premium of $1,458 per vehicle, which, adds up to $10 billion a year, the report said.

Marshall stated in his report that the Auto Insurance System in Ontario was one of the least effective insurance systems in Canada and said despite reductions in automobile accidents including serious ones, the cost of claims had been soaring.

Steve Kee, a spokesperson with the Insurance Bureau of Canada applauded Marshall's report and said its hybrid structure and its government-mandated service attribute is the right example in improving the insurance system in the province.

The report recommended that Ontario should deviate from switching to a government-run auto insurance system which add up to medical and legal expenditure.

Kee said that although the services are delivered by private insurers, it has proved successful and could continue to serve Ontario drivers.

Marshall wrote that the leakage of funds of claims from the system totaling about $1.4 billion a year revealed that victims of accidents do not receive their deserved benefits, showing a discrepancy between the real value and the derived values by the government auto-car insurers.

Marshall recommended that insurers should give top priority to seriously injured persons and hiring lawyers or other professionals should be discouraged as this added to the lawyers fees.

But Mike Smitiuch, personal injury lawyer, said the province's lawyers should not be blamed for problems with their provincial insurance systems.

"Lawyers play an essential part in holding insurers accountable and obtaining justice for individualslawyers are essential because insurers are denying and forcing [customers] to prove why they need the benefits," Smitiuch was quoted as saying by CBCNews reports said.

The report recommended the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to develop a service to assess the costs for lifetime management of care for seriously injured accident victims because independent evaluators in hospitals to mediate disputes had been an utter failure, said Smitiuch.



(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
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If you depend on free over-the-air broadcasts from a TV antenna, you might have heard rumblings about a spectrum auction by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that will bring big changes to your local broadcast TV stations.

Unfortunately, it can be hard to tell from the media coverage what the auction actually means for antenna users. To figure it all out, Ive done some research and spoken with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) executive vice president of communications Dennis Wharton.

Heres what cord cutters need to know about all the upcoming changes:

In a nutshell, whats happening?

Over the last year, the FCC has been looking to repurpose a portion of the public airwaves used by television broadcasters. By clearing these airwaves, the FCC can make way for new and improved wireless data networks.

To that end, the FCC has held a reverse auction, through which many broadcasters agreed to vacate their airwaves in exchange for large sums of money. The FCC, in turn, auctioned off the resulting wireless spectrum to internet and telecommunications providers such as T-Mobile and Comcast. Theyll use those airwaves to make wireless networks more reliable, launch new services, and lay the groundwork for 5G wireless.

How many channels are affected by this?

Nearly 1,000 of the 2,197 stations across the United States will move to a different broadcast frequency and channel number. Up to 144 stations could go off the air entirely, but many of them could instead reach a channel-sharing agreement with an existing station. (Dont worry; Ill explain what all this means shortly.)

As for your local area, the website RabbitEars has a useful tool for looking up changes by state, city, market, and operator. Results highlighted in blue, green, yellow, or red are moving to a different channel. Results highlighted in gray will either go off the air or reach channel-sharing agreements.

Are there downsides to a station changing channels?

Although most people shouldnt notice any problems, a channel change could cause reception issues for a small percentage of people. The FCC has decided that each channel change should create no more than 2 percent additional interference, which means 2 percent of homes in each market could lose access to a given channel. (The NABs Wharton notes that such a small percentage could still affect lots of people in a large market such as New York City.)

What does channel sharing mean?

In digital television, a stations airwaves neednt be dedicated to just a one channel. Instead, you often see a broadcast station offering several subchannels, such as a main CBS broadcast on channel 9.1, MeTV on 9.2, and Bounce on 9.3. Under a channel-sharing agreement, a single channel could be split among multiple broadcasters, with each operating its own set of subchannels. There are also instances where a single company could consolidate multiple stations into one. (In New York, for instance, Comcast is moving NBC onto Telemundos Channel 35 WNJU, while Channel 28 WNBC will go off the air.)

Does this bring trade-offs?

You bet. Each channel can only carry a finite amount of data, so the more subchannels that a station packs in, the lower quality those channels must be. If two channels broadcasting in high definition enter a channel-sharing agreement, for instance, chances are one of those channels will drop to standard definition after the switch. But since all this dealmaking is still underway, its hard to say what the exact impact of channel sharing will ultimately be.

Channel sharing could also affect the upcoming transition to the next-generation broadcasting system in the U.S. and some other regions of the world, technically known as ATSC 3.0. This new format will allow for Ultra HD broadcasts, supplemental digital features, and access on mobile devices without a separate TV tuner. But lower-resolution subchannels probably wont be able to to offer these features, and the might get squeezed out of the lineup entirely.

Bottom line, is my favorite channel in danger?

For the most part, major broadcast networks are either staying put or moving to a different channel number. Among channels going off the air, the brunt of the impact will be on public-access stations, local-oriented stations, and smaller multicast networkssuch as such as Buzzr, Comet, and MeTVthat operate on subchannels.

Those multicast networks, by the way, have been booming in recent years as more people cut cable TV, but they might have to start streaming or signing cable distribution deals in markets where theyve been displaced from the airwaves.

Still, its worth keeping things in perspective: Less than 7 percent of U.S. broadcast stations are going off the air, and many of those stations channels could be spared by channel-sharing agreements.

Whats the timeframe for all this?

If a station wants to go off the air, it can do so immediately after providing 30 days notice. Some have already set the process in motion.

As for the channel reassignments, the FCCs plan is to roll them out in 10 phases, beginning on November 30, 2018. The entire repackaging is supposed to be complete by July 3, 2020, and the FCC can revoke the licenses of stations that fail to meet the deadline.

But that date has stirring outrage among broadcasters, who say they need more time and money to move their channels. Wharton says the NAB is working with the FCC and Congress to address the industrys concerns, so dont be surprised if delays ensue, just as they did when broadcasters switched from analog to digital eight years ago.

That was a piece of cake compared to what this is going to involve, Wharton says.

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Apple reportedly has begun testing a premium iPhone with a revamped display and body, which could be one of three new models the company is expected to launch this fall. The other two likely will be upgrades to the two existing iPhones.

The new design will incorporate curved glass and stainless steel. It will increase the surface area of the display without increasing the size of the phone, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

The three-phone rumor has been a consistent rumor over time, observed Kevin Krewell, a principal analyst at Tirias Research.

Thats why I believe it to be what Apple is planning, he told TechNewsWorld.

Introducing a trio of iPhones instead of the typical two makes sense, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

Thats especially true when you consider that this is the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, and the continuing criticism heaped on Apple for lack of innovation, he told TechNewsWorld.

The new top-of-the-line model could cost more than $1,000, according to some Apple watchers.

Bezel-less Display

Giving a smartphone a bigger screen without increasing the overall device size has some design advantages, as Apples competitors have discovered.

The taller, longer form factor that LG and Samsung have adopted creates an edge-to-edge display on the left and right side of the device, noted Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research.

Theres a strong case for it from a design perspective, he told TechNewsWorld. It allows you to get a larger diagonal screen while making the phone easier to hold.

With Samsung going to a bezel-less display in its latest model, its likely Apple has something along those lines in the works, suggested Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies.

It would make sense for Apple to streamline the design and give users more working space with a bezel-less screen, he told TechNewsWorld.

OLED Display

The premium iPhone will have an OLED display, Bloomberg also reported. OLED displays are brighter, more flexible, and consume less power than conventional LED screens.

Apple would like to use OLED across the lineup, but has had trouble sourcing enough OLED screens to do so, noted Tirias Krewell, but OLED is the right choice for the premium model.

Use of stainless steel, although challenging, also would be a good choice for a premium model.

Stainless steel is a material that Apple has continued to develop expertise in with its watch, so stainless may be justified in a premium edition of the phone, Reticles Rubin said.

Stainless steel is more rigid than aluminum, which is used on the current iPhones, and harder to mill  so it could be challenging to Apples suppliers, Krewell noted.

Steel also weighs more than aluminum, so it must be used more sparingly to keep the phone light, he pointed out.

Significant Camera Changes

Significant camera changes are in the works for the premium iPhone, Bloomberg also reported.

For example, Apple is experimenting with placing the dual cameras in the phone horizontally instead of vertically, as they are in the iPhone 7 Plus. The design change could result in better photos.

Apple also may add dual cameras to the front of the phone as well as to the back.

One thing Apple hasnt been able to get rid of yet, though, is the bump created by the rear-facing camera.

Its likely that Apple is going to push the camera envelope with the new iPhones, said Andreas Scherer, managing partner at Salto Partners.

The market expects improved dual lenses and potentially augmented reality-based features as well as depth of field enhancement, he told TechNewsWorld.

There is a plethora of photo-editing software in the App Store that allows the editing of pictures on a near professional level, Scherer added. As a result, Apple will continue to take market share from camera manufacturers of point-and-click cameras and entry-level DLSRs.

Virtual Home Button

Another persistent rumor  repeated in Bloombergs report  is the replacement of the home button at the bottom of the iPhone with a virtual button on the screen.

Its a design necessity if youre going to create a phone with a high display to surface ratio, maintained Reticles Rubin.

A soft home button requires careful application of fingerprint sensors in or under the OLED screen, said Tirias Krewell. Thats very cutting-edge technology and a hard manufacturing challenge, but Apple likes to push the envelope for a cleaner look.

Can Apple hit a home run with its new 10th anniversary premium iPhone?

Its becoming much more difficult to differentiate in the smartphone market, observed David McQueen, a research director at ABI Research.

While Samsung has beaten Apple to the punch with many new features, it seems Apple will be adding most of them to its new lineup, too  as well as e-SIM, support for Apple Pencil, and an enhanced version of Siri, he told TechNewsWorld.

Apples inability to hit a home run with past iPhone products has allowed Samsung and others to catch-up, noted Pund-ITs King.

Its not clear to me whether the companys focus on nominal iPhone upgrades and improvements is a system issue, or suggests that were reaching the limits of smartphone capabilities, he continued. The upcoming iPhones should help answer that question.
Lexi Palmer is CEO of EquiSeq, a biotech firm that does genetic testing of horses.

EquiSeq CEO LexiPalmer

Palmer was brought on as CEO by the companys founder, genetic researcher Paul Szauter, in 2015.

EquiSeq, which tests horses for genetic diseases, is developing an equine genome database.

TechNewsWorld: How did you get involved with EquiSeq?

Lexi Palmer:

I met Paul Szauter at a community networking event hosted by 1 Million Cups. I was just finishing up my degree in interpersonal communications at the University of New Mexico, and he told me about the company hed started. I told him I knew everything about horses and said I could learn everything he did and market it.

Two weeks later we were discussing my title. He asked, Where do you see yourself? What title do you want? I said CEO, and he said, OK, is this something you want to do?

I knew I needed a challenge, and this was the challenge that presented itself. Since I came on in November 2015, weve launched our first four products and are about to publish our first patent. Paul was willing to give me an opportunity, and I took it and ran with it.

TNW: What is your background with horses?

Palmer:

Ive been riding horses since second grade, when I started taking lessons. The first horse I had was in sixth grade. He was abandoned in a backyard, and he was sold to us for a penny. I loved that horse, and I kept riding all through high school and have worked at horse camps and been involved with horses ever since.

A lot of the way I approach problems comes from horseback riding. When youre jumping, for example, it can be intimidating. Your trainer, though, will make you jump jumps that are higher than youre comfortable with, so that youll be ready for a show.

There are a couple of ways you can approach a jump when youre scared. You can shy away from it. You can fall over it. Or you can act like youre not scared at all and jump better than youve ever jumped before.

Thats my approach to everything. Its not that Im fearless. Its just that I know the worst that can happen is that I will fail. Thats my approach to everything. Go at it, and most of the time everything ends up working out.

TNW: What are some of the challenges youve faced as a young CEO of a biotech firm?

Palmer:

Some are because of age, and some because of gender. People think that millennials havent worked, havent paid their dues. Ive had a few instances where I was told that I need to pay my dues.

Ive also had men refuse to speak to me, saying theyll only talk to Paul. I get questioned a lot. The thing is, though, Im aware that Im young, and that theres a lot to learn  but Im making this company successful, and thats all that matters.

TNW: What are some of your daily tasks as CEO of EquiSeq?

Palmer:

A lot of isnt so glamorous. A lot is strategy. Were in the middle of fundraising, so a lot of it is following leads and talking with people. I do pitches at pitch competitions.

I do volunteer work to talk about STEM topics, and I stay active in the community.

I work with the team, strategize, and do customer service, making sure that orders are filled and things are getting paid.

I oversee all operations and work as the voice for the company. I present EquiSeq in a way that makes sense to others, explaining genetic testing to people.

I am just enthralled with everything that we do. Understanding your DNA is understanding your core, everything that makes you you.

TNW: In what ways can young girls be encouraged to go into biotech fields?

Palmer:

Im passionate about inspiring younger girls to go into tech. The best way to do that is to have role models out in the community whose merit is in their success.

Thats really resonated when Ive talked with young girls. Im not that much older than they are, and they can envision themselves in my shoes.

We need to have more stories like mine. We need to let girls know that its OK to feel beautiful by being smart. Its not just about looking pretty.

TNW: Whats in the future? How is EquiSeq evolving?

Palmer:

Our main goal is to help people stop breeding horses with diseases. Our entire business model is that you deserve a life with your best friend, so well do whatever we can to make sure that happens.

There are a few different potential directions we might go. There could be an eHarmony for breeders, for instance.

Our goal is to keep discovering things about the horse genome and harvesting that data. While were doing genetic tests were collecting data, so were also a data company.

That data might be of great interest to pharmaceutical and pet insurance companies. It could be great for a website that helps people vet horses. There are a lot of different applications.

Its all a matter of what opportunities present themselves, and what aligns with our company.
Black Duck Software on Wednesday released its 2017 Open Source Security and Risk Analysis, detailing significant cross-industry risks related to open source vulnerabilities and license compliance challenges.

Black Duck conducted audits of more than 1,071 open source applications for the study last year. There are widespread weaknesses in addressing open source security vulnerability risks across key industries, the audits show.

Open source security vulnerabilities pose the highest risk to e-commerce and financial technologies, according to Black Ducks report.

Open source use is ubiquitous worldwide. An estimated 80 percent to 90 percent of the code in todays software applications is open source, noted Black Duck CEO Lou Shipley.

Open source lowers dev costs, accelerates innovation, and speeds time to market. However, there is a troubling level of ineffectiveness in addressing risks related to open source security vulnerabilities, he said.

From the security side, 96 percent of the applications are using open source, noted Mike Pittenger, vice president for security strategy at Black Duck Software.

The other big change we see is more open source is bundled into commercial software, he told LinuxInsider.

The open source audit findings should be alarming to security executives. The application layer is a primary target for hackers. Thus, open source exploits are the biggest application security risk that most companies have, said Shipley.

Understanding the Report

The reports title, 2017 Open Source Security and Risk Analysis, may be a bit misleading. It is not an isolated look at open source software. Rather, it is an integrated assessment of open source code that coexists with proprietary code in software applications.

The report deals exclusively with commercial products, said Pittenger. We think it skews the results a little bit, in that it is a lagging indicator of how open source is used. In some cases, the software was developed within three, five or 10 years ago.

The report provides an in-depth look at the state of open source security, compliance, and code-quality risk in commercial software. It examines findings from the anonymized data of more than 1,000 commercial applications audited in 2016.

Black Ducks previous open source vulnerability report was based on audits involving only a few hundred commercial applications, compared to the 1,071 software applications audited for the current study.

The second round of audits shows an improving situation for how open source is handled. The age of the vulnerabilities last year was over five years on average. This year, that age of vulnerability factor came down to four years. Still, that is a pretty big improvement over last year, Pittenger said.

Awareness Improving

Through its research, Black Duch aims to help development teams better understand the open source security and license risk landscape. Its report includes recommendations to help organizations lessen their security and legal risks.

There is increased awareness. More people are aware that they have to start tracking vulnerabilities and what is in their software, said Pittenger.

Black Duck conducts hundreds of open source code audits annually that target merger and acquisition transactions. Its Center for Open Source Research and Innovation (COSRI) revealed both high levels of open source use and significant risk from open source security vulnerabilities.

Ninety-six percent of the analyzed commercial applications contained open source code, and more than 60 percent contained open source security vulnerabilities, the report shows.

All of the targeted software categories were shown to be vulnerable to security flaws.

For instance, the audit results of applications from the financial industry averaged 52 open source vulnerabilities per application, and 60 percent of the applications were found to have high-risk vulnerabilities.

The audit disclosed even worse security risks for the retail and e-commerce industry, which had the highest proportion of applications with high-risk open source vulnerabilities. Eighty-three percent of audited applications contained high-risk vulnerabilities.

Report Revelations

The status of open source software licenses might be even more troubling  the research exposed widespread conflicts. More than 85 percent of the applications audited had open source components with license challenges.

Black Ducks report should serve as a wake-up call, considering the widespread use of open source code. The audits show that very few developers are doing an adequate job of detecting, remediating and monitoring open source components and vulnerabilities in their applications, observed Chris Fearon, director of Black Ducks Open Source Security Research Group, COSRIs security research arm.

The results of the COSRI analysis clearly demonstrate that organizations in every industry have a long way to go before they are effective managing their open source, Fearon said.

The use of open source software is an essential part of application development. Some 96 percent of scanned applications used open source code. The average app included 147 unique open source components.

On average, vulnerabilities identified in the audited applications had been publicly known for more than four years, according to the report. Many commonly used infrastructure components contained high-risk vulnerabilities.

Even versions of Linux Kernel, PHP, MS .Net Framework, and Ruby on Rails were found to have vulnerabilities. On average, apps contained 27 vulnerable open source components.

Significant Concerns

Many of the points Black Ducks report highlights are longstanding issues that havent registered a negative impact on open source to any great degree, observed Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

The findings are certainly concerning, both in the weaknesses they point to in open source development and how those vulnerabilities are and can be exploited by various bad actors, he told LinuxInsider.

With security threats growing in size and complexity, open source developers should consider how well they are being served by traditional methodologies, King added.

Illegal Code Use

The illegal use of open source software is prevalent, according to the report, which may be attributed to the incorrect notion that anything open source can be used without adhering to licensing requirements.

Fifty-three percent of scanned applications had unknown licenses, according to the report. In other words, no one had obtained permission from the code creator to use, modify or share the software.

The audited applications contained an average of 147 open source components. Tracking the associated license obligations and spotting conflicts without automated processes in place would be impossible, according to the report.

Some 85 percent of the audited applications contained components with conflicts, most often violations of the General Public License, or GPL. Three-quarters of the applications contained components under the GPL family of licenses. Only 45 percent of them were in compliance.

Open source has become prominent in application development, according to a recent Forrester Research report referenced by Black Duck.

Custom code comprised only 10-20 percent of applications, the Forrester study found.

Companies Ignore Security

Software developers and IT staffers who use open source code fail to take the necessary steps to protect the applications from vulnerabilities, according to the Black Duck report. Even when they use internal security programs and deploy security testing tools such as static analysis and dynamic analysis, they miss vulnerable code.

Those tools are useful at identifying common coding errors that may result in security issues, but the same tools have proven ineffective at identifying vulnerabilities that enter code through open source components, the report warns.

For example, more than 4 percent of the tested applications had the Poodle vulnerability. More than 4 percent had Freak, and more than 3.5 percent had Drown. More than 1.5 percent of the code bases still had the Heartbleed vulnerability  more than two years after it was publicly disclosed, the Black Duck audits found.

Recommended Actions

Some 3,623 new open source component vulnerabilities were reported last year  almost 10 vulnerabilities per day on average, a 10 percent increase from the previous year.

That makes the need for more effective open source security and management more critical than ever. It also makes the need for greater visibility into and control of the open source in use more essential. Detection and remediation of security vulnerabilities should be a high priority, the report concludes.

The Black Duck audit report recommends that organizations adopt the following open source management practices:
Chinese search giant Baidu said it will help increase the development rate of self-driving cars by sharing much of its autonomous vehicle technology.

From this July, the company's new Apollo project - named after the lunar landing program - will make its software, hardware, and other autonomous vehicle services available to car manufacturing partners for development of their own self-driving systems.

Many of the companies involved in the autonomous vehicle industry, such as Google and Tesla, keep most of their research a closely guarded secret - Alphabet is suing Uber for alleged theft of self-driving tech. But Baidu, which has been working on autonomous vehicles since 2015, is taking a different approach.

"China is the world's largest market for automotive sales and production. It has many car brands and an open environment that is ripe for collaboration." Said Baidu COO, Qi Lu, in a statement.

Baidu said that after it opens its autonomous driving technology for restricted environments in July, it plans to share tech for self-driving cars running in urban road conditions toward the end of the year. The company aims to introduce fully autonomous driving capabilities on highways and open city roads by 2020.

In September last year, Baidu announced it was working with Nvidia on a platform for semi-autonomous vehicles, which would see the former's self-driving computing platform combined with the latter's cloud and mapping technology.

Baidu's move comes despite the firm ending its joint self-driving vehicle research program with BMW in late 2016. The pair reportedly had a difference of opinion on how the project should proceed.

Baidu opening up its vehicle technology to others has led to comparisons with the smartphone market. "It really sounds like they want to treat this like a smartphone platform," Mr Chao James Chao, of IHS Markit, told the BBC. "The holy grail for software in cars is to become the Android or iOS that everyone is using, and this is their strategy to do that."
In yet another manifestation of the warming induced by climate change, the overnight disappearance of a river in North Canada has been reported in a study.

The phenomenon, known as river piracy, has been attributed to global warming caused by the rapid rise of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere and the consequent heating up caused by the trapped gasses such as carbon dioxide and methane.

The Slim River's piracy was the first ever case in modern times.

The vanishing act of the Canadian river spotted in May 2016 was a stark example of climate change affecting glaciers, impacting bodies of water and the communities depending on it.

Millennium Long Activity In A Few Days

The study highlights the rapid retreat of the flow of water from the Kaskawulsh Glacier in Canada's Yukon territory.

River Piracy, one river capturing the flow of another river, normally takes thousands of years to establish. In northern Canada, however, river piracy has happened in a short span of a few days in 2016.

"Nobody to our knowledge has documented it happening in our lifetimes," commented Daniel Shugar, co-author and an academic with the University of Washington.

The meltwater emanating from the Kaskawulsh Glacier normally flows to the Bering Sea to the north through the Slims and Yukon Rivers, according to the study.

However, a rapidly thinning glacier abetted by global warming pushed the water to the south and to the Pacific Ocean.

The trigger was the unusually warm spring in 2016 that caused the melting of waters cutting a canyon through the ice and diverting the water into the Alsek River flowing to the south and to Pacific. That made the headwaters bound for the north going to the south.

"For the last 300 years, Slims River flowed out to the Bering Sea, and the smaller Kaskawulsh River flowed to the Gulf of Alaska. What we found was the glacial lake that fed Slims River had actually changed its outlet," noted Shugar.

Warming Effect From Climate Change

In the Slims River piracy case, the drainage shifted overnight and showed how the heating of the atmosphere by fossil-fuel emissions has driven up the river's dramatic disappearance.

"To me, it is kind of a metaphor for what can happen with sudden change induced by climate," said John Clague, a chair in natural hazard research at Simon Fraser University and a co-author of the report.

Climate Change Rapid And Unexpected

The incident is also a wake-up call to all and a caution to the thinking that climate change is a slow and gradual process. The vanishing act of the river showed that the effects of climate change can be rapid and there will be drastic implications for the society.

According to experts, river piracy or stream capture mainly happens from the tectonic motion of the Earth's crust. In the case of Slims River, the change came as a glacial dam and was a least anticipated shift.

In a Nature Geoscience paper, Rachel M. Headley, the glacier expert at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, said this "unique impact of climate change" will be strewn with broad consequences. She said as the world warms, there will be more melting of glaciers. Populations relying on glacial meltwater will have to pay special attention to the emerging processes and consequences.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Some Samsung Galaxy S8 units apparently have a red tint on their display, but Samsung does not consider it a defect  more like an easily adjustable detail.

For those unfamiliar with the matter, the Galaxy S8 is not set to go on sale in the United States until April 21, but it already launched in Samsung's home country of South Korea on April 17.

The smartphone had been leaked, rumored and anticipated for months before its release and Samsung fans worldwide were eagerly waiting for its release, but for some early customers the excitement quickly turned into disappointment when they noticed an unusual red tint on the smartphone's screen.

Galaxy S8 Red Screen

The top search engine in South Korea, Naver, saw a spike in searches about the smartphone and with "Galaxy S8 Red Screen" as one of the most searched terms on Tuesday morning, with early Galaxy S8 owners who got their new handset heading online for more details on the red display tint.

The issue quickly went viral, and numerous users uploaded photos of their red-screen Galaxy S8 on social media, forums and other online venues, asking others about the matter.

Galaxy S8 Red Tint Is Not A Defect And It's Easy To Fix

Samsung, for its part, did not deny that the Galaxy S8 might display unusually red visuals, but it's far from a manufacturing defect. The company says that the glitch is easily fixable by tweaking the color optimization settings for the display.

However, some users apparently tried Samsung's proposed course of action and adjusted the color optimization settings, but it did not solve the problem.

A red tint is not nearly as serious as the exploding battery issues that plagued the Galaxy Note 7 and forced Samsung to recall the device twice, but it's still frustrating especially since high-end flagships like the Galaxy S8 don't come cheap. Nevertheless, industry observers agree that the matter is not as critical as to warrant a recall, since there's no safety hazard involved and it only seems to affect a small number of Galaxy S8 units.

Galaxy S8 Red Screen: Minor Glitch Or Serious Defect?

While Samsung has downplayed the severity of the Galaxy S8 red tint, however, some experts worry that it may actually be a sign of a more serious matter. Some speculate that the curious hue might stem from defective chips that caused a GPU malfunction, while others argue that the structure of the display might be unstable because of the new 18.5:9 aspect ratio.

Others, meanwhile, believe that the red tint could stem from Samsung's new deep red AMOLED technology, which made its debut on the Galaxy S8. The technology uses two types of joint pixels  blue-green and red-green  and Samsung made the red ones look deeper and stronger because the green ones could cause a color imbalance. This could have backfired, causing the red tint instead.

Whatever the cause, early Samsung Galaxy S8 customers might want to take a good look at their smartphone as soon as they get it and, if the red tint is present, try first to adjust the settings. To do so, access the smartphone's Settings> Display > Screen Mode > Color balance.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
An American and a Russian blasted off to the International Space Station on the first two-crew spaceflight in 14 years.

NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and Roscosmos cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin launched on the Russian Soyuz MS-04 capsule on top of a Soyuz-FG rocket from Kazakhstans Baikonur Cosmodrome at 3:13 a.m. EDT on Thursday, April 20.

They are bound to stay on the ISS for five months and join NASAs Peggy Whitson, Frances Thomas Pesquet, and Russias Oleg Novitskiy.

Launch Details

Fischer and Yurchikhin were launched on a fast-track and six-orbit rendezvous, reported Space.com. They are expected to travel for six hours before docking the Soyuz at the ISS Poisk module at 9:23 a.m. EDT.

Fischer, who marks his first spaceflight, and veteran Yurchikhin were originally set to fly with a third member, Paolo Nespoli from the European Space Agency, in 2015. Roscosmos, however, decided to reduce the crew from three to two until Nauka, its multi-purpose lab module, is ready to be launched in 2018.

Nespoli will then join the two this coming July, when he flies to the ISS on a three-person Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft.

"I know I speak for Fyodor when I say if we could figure out how to fit [our wives] Larisa and Elizabeth in that seat, that is who we would take with us, said Fischer in jest at a media briefing on April 19, clarifying that their third seat will carry cargo for the ISS.

Yurchikhin marks his fifth space launch with this event. He logged 537 total days on a space shuttle mission in 2002. He also joined three long-duration ISS missions in 2007, 2010, and 2013.

Fischer, on the other hand, embarks on the Soyuz journey as his first flight since being selected as a NASA astronaut back in 2009.

Their Soyuz capsule is the 50th Soyuz to blast to the ISS since 2000.

ISS Delegation And Record Holders

Fischer will join Whitson on Monday, April 24 on a scheduled call with President Donald Trump.

On that day, Whitson  the first woman to command the ISS, the oldest woman in space at age 57, and the record-holder for the most spacewalks by a female  will have logged 535 days in space or longer than any other American astronaut. The record is currently held by Jeffrey Williams.

Whitsons stay at the space outpost was also recently extended for an additional three months. She will return home on board a Soyuz capsule in September.

Ill be working aboard the @Space_Station longer than expected! This is where I make the greatest contribution so Im looking forward to it, the astronaut tweeted.

It was in April 2003 when a two-person crew last lifted off for the ISS. It involved NASAs Ed Lu and Roscosmos Yuri Malechenko riding the Soyuz TMA-2 to man the outpost in the wake of the disastrous loss of the space shuttle Columbia two months earlier.

Fischer and Yurchikhin will assist in the hundreds of experiments underway on the ISS, as well as in overseeing Russian and American vehicles arrival and departure.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Marking a liberal approach by creating a bigger role in treating the terminally ill, West Virginia on Wednesday joined the club of states that legalized medical marijuana.

The legislation making West Virginia the 29th state in the United States to legalize medical marijuana has been signed by Gov. Jim Justice.

The new law will make medical marijuana available for certain medical conditions under strict state controls.

It will also allow doctors to prescribe cannabis for patients suffering from seizures, cancer, chronic pain, stress disorder, AIDS and other problems.

"All of us will feel like we're doing something good for a family out there," Justice said at the signing ceremony in Charleston.

Marijuana Patient ID Cards In July 2019

West Virginia's State Bureau of Public Health will oversee the implementation of the new rule for medical marijuana and will issue the patient identification cards by July 2019.

The comprehensive medical marijuana bill also aims to set up a medical cannabis commission in the run-up to the regulatory infrastructure for the Bureau of Public Health.

The push for the law came mainly from Democratic law makers and the governor expressed the view that the law will open up treatment for the needy after approval by the medical community.

Patients suffering from 16 conditions can expect support from the new law. Their cards will be permitted by the doctor, who will also request for an approval to recommend marijuana from the Board of Public Health.

Among the conditions that can avail the treatment are terminal illnesses, cancer, HIV, AIDS, and Parkinson's disease.

However, an ID card does not entitle any patient to grow or smoke marijuana. Only a duly licensed dispensary can issue it.

The medical marijuana will come in the form of pills, gels, oils, creams, ointments, tincture, liquid, dermal patch, or plant forms administered through a vaporizer.

Schedule 1 Drug And Legal Curbs For Use

At the federal level, marijuana is still maintained as a dangerous Schedule 1 drug with strict curbs on its use. The classified status is on par with heroin.

Despite the controls, a large percentage of Americans have used pot at least once, a survey said. The survey revealed that 52 percent of adult Americans have used marijuana at least once and 14 percent has been using it regularly.

The survey studied the patterns of personal use of marijuana and took the opinion of Americans who are 18 years old and above.

Rising Sales Of Marijuana And Rules To Know

Meanwhile, market research says the legal marijuana market in the United States will grow to $24 billion by 2025, according to New Frontier Data, the business intelligence for the cannabis industry. The legal cannabis market will have an annual growth rate of 16 percent.

The sales of legal pot jumped to $6.6 billion in 2016, in which $4.7 billion was medical marijuana, $1.9 billion for recreational.

There are rules to be followed in buying pot or cannabis.

Recreational marijuana is already legalized in Alaska, Maine, California, Massachusetts, and Nevada. Washington, D.C legalized it in 2015.

The buyer must be 21 or above, if it is for recreational marijuana in Washington, Colorado, and Oregon.

There is no bar in possessing pot and getting high in eight states and Washington, D.C. if the person is 21 and above.

Medical marijuana is legal in 29 states. In 18 other states, medical marijuana laws are still restrictive.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The world's largest forest must be protected through a coordinated, efficient, and active process, President Nicolas Maduro stressed. | Read More
Keeping 2019 in mind, the Congress is closely looking at our 84 reserved constituencies. The Congress is paying special attention to these constituencies.

We are trying to identify who are the candidates who have confidence of Dalits as well as non-Dalits and what are the issues in those constituencies that needs to be addressed.

Congress' counter to BJP's mission 2019 is the "Constitution of India" given by Baba Sahib Dr BR Ambedkar. He has given the rights to all. Need of the hour is that the Dalits across the country protect the constitution so that rights guaranteed to them are safeguarded.

Reservation will be one of the main issue. Will tell Dalits that BJP has its own plan to do away with constitution and they have already started undoing the reservation.

During Congress' rule in Centre and states, party got many plans, schemes, program and legislations that provided access to education, health services, employment and land to Dalits. Will make Dalits realise that too.

Dr Ambedkar's legacy belongs to Congress. Congress has lived Baba Sahib's ideology. Baba Sahib's vision is Congress' mission. We will deliver this message to Dalits across the country.

Issue on which Congress will corner BJP will include fund allocation too. In the current three and and half years of BJP rule, Centre's fund allocation has come down. Present government has dropped the important SC policies. We will fight against that.

In previous UPA government, we had introduced constitutional safeguard for Dalit employee promotions. But that too didn't happen despite the BJP trying to be Messiah of Dalits.

The Congress' campaign would adopt various methods like seminars, conferences, nukkar sabhas and has planned household visits by party workers to convey the messages.
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By Press Trust of India: (EDs: Incorporating fresh inputs)

Mumbai/Lucknow, Apr 20 (PTI) Three suspected terrorists plotting a major strike were today arrested and some persons detained in an operation carried out jointly by police teams of five states.

Raids were carried out this morning in Mumbra (Maharashtra), Jalandhar (Punjab), Narkatiaganj (Bihar), Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar (both in Uttar Pradesh) in a joint operation of the Delhi special cell, the ATS of UP and Maharashtra, and the police of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar, an official said.

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"From what we have come to know till now, they were conspiring to carry out a major attack so as to get their group an identity and create terror in the region," UP ADG (Law and Order) Daljit Chaudhary said in Lucknow.

Three persons were arrested on charges of hatching terror conspiracies. The arrests have been made in Mumbai, Jalandhar in Punjab and Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh, a UP ATS spokesman said in Lucknow.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) confirmed the arrest of one person, identified as Nazim Shamshad Ahmed (26) who hails from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh. He was nabbed from Mumbra township in Thane district adjoining Mumbai.

"Three persons were detained from Mumbra in a joint operation of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh ATS in which one person has been arrested for his suspected involvement in terror activities. The two others are being questioned," Maharashtra ATS chief Atulchandra Kulkarni told PTI.

While the UP ATS spokesperson said that six more people have been detained by the police team for questioning, Maharashtra ATS sources said nearly 12 were take into custody.

The UP ATS spokesman said that after their interrogation, necessary action will be taken against them.

He said the operation was launched on the basis of a tip off that a terror group was being prepared for carrying out terrorist acts for which some active members were enrolling new members.

Those arrested are suspected to be part of a module that was looking for potential recruits in Bihar, UP and Maharashtra.

Chaudhary told reporters here that the agencies have found evidence against four and the rest five were being quizzed.

"All those arrested are in the age group of 18 to 25 years and were living in different places like Mumbai, Jalandhar and UP. We have also found that they were definitely influenced by the material available on the internet," he said.

They appear to be misguided youth and efforts will be made to bring them back to the mainstream, he said.

Investigations show that one of them wanted to finance the group and they were continuously communicating with each other about carrying out some major strike in the near future. But police and other agencies of different states with the help of surveillance made the arrests before they could carry out any such attack.

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The ADG ruled out any link between those arrested today with a suspected terrorist killed in an encounter here recently. PTI SAB SMI DC GK AAR

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After nearly three decades in downtown Baton Rouge, an Earth Day celebration billed as one of the Souths largest is pulling up roots and moving to the Baton Rouge Zoo, at least for this year.

Louisiana Earth Day set for April 17, with a full slate of entertainment, musical and otherwise A more concentrated Louisiana Earth Day, running until 6 p.m. this year, will be held in dow

Event organizers said they couldn't get city approval, such as police permits, for the event to remain in Town Square. They were told the denial was due to ongoing construction in the area including the raising of the new River Center Library and the transformation of the courtyard behind City Hall.

Earth Day Chairwoman Susan Hamilton, who works for the city, said local government made the right call to keep people away from work zones this year. The Earth Day celebration has a larger footprint than other springtime events held downtown such as Blues Fest and Fest For All, she said.

However, police have also complained of bouts of violence at the celebration in the past few years. In 2016, an officer was filmed punching a 16-year-old while making an arrest. While the event spurred complaints of excessive force, the department found no evidence that the officer violated department policy, and he was returned to active duty.

Earth Day spokeswoman Brenda Nixon deflected when asked if she thought the incident factored into the city's decision to deny Earth Day permits this year.

"This is a very difficult question. ... We are just this family-oriented festival," she began.

"Yes, we had some problems last year. ... Whether that is a problem for (city authorities), you need to ask them."

Police spokesman Lt. Jonny Dunnam said permits were denied solely due to construction, and that the department expects to see Earth Day return downtown in 2018.

James Gilmore, the mayor's assistant chief administrative officer, said the decision to move this year's Earth Day festival had already been made by the time the new administration learned of the plan.

Gilmore is pleased about the move to the zoo, though, saying that Mayor Sharon Weston Broome wants to encourage people to visit north Baton Rouge and highlight offerings around Baker. She also favors keeping the zoo at its current location, he said, although some have called for it to move.

Earth Day organizers have said attendees can still expect fun and educational events, though they're not pleased visitors will have to pay zoo admission, since the festival has always been free.

"We didn't really want to move it," Hamilton said.

"This is the only year we're going to do this," Nixon said.

Also, because they can't harass the animals with lots of loud noises, most of the bands have been cut from the program.

"We usually have a lot of people that come for the music ... So there will be a tremendous drop in attendance," Nixon predicted.

She emphasized several groups that will still be on hand. In addition to dancers, face painters and other festival fare, Earth Day will host beekeepers, the LSU Museum of Natural Science and researchers who study local crabs.

Long a popular event, Earth Day has been held downtown every year since 1991 and is now in its 27th year.

Folks who end up downtown Saturday will still encounter science-related programming. A local March for Science is being planned in solidarity with similar events across the country.

That event starts with an 11 a.m. rally at Town Square, followed by a noon march to the capitol, where another rally will be held between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Nixon encouraged marchers to head over to the zoo afterward, where the Earth Day celebration will continue until 6 p.m.

The Advocate is an Earth Day festival sponsor.
President Donald Trump's inauguration drew a record-setting $107 million in donations, and records released this week show that Louisiana residents and businesses contributed more than $1 million toward that haul.

According to Financial Election Commission disclosures that were filed Tuesday, the largest Louisiana donations to Trump's inauguration were $250,000 each from HGIM LLC Corporate and HGF DB Fund LLC, both funds connected to Shane and Chad Guidry of Harvey Gulf International Marine. Shane Guidry is a close ally of Attorney General Jeff Landry.

Louisiana residents, politicians head to Washington for presidential inauguration Several hundred Louisiana residents are expected to travel to the nation's capital this week

Shipbuilder Boysie Bollinger and developer Joe Canizaro, who served in key fundraising roles for Trump in Louisiana, each contributed $100,000 toward the inaugural bash.

William LaCorte, a Metairie doctor who has reportedly made millions as a fraud whistleblower, was the only other individual to contribute $100,000.

Metairie-based offshore insurer Gray & Co., Inc. also contributed $100,000.

U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, was reported as contributing $300 to the festivities.

Other donors with Louisiana ties include:

IV Capital LLC of New Orleans, $50,000.

Ward Breaux of Loreauxville, $25,000.

Greg Mosing of Broussard, $25,000.

David Wills of New Orleans, $25,000.

Edward Boettner of New Orleans, $2,500.

Maurice Kabacoff of New Orleans, $2,500.

Alan Leonhard Jr. of Metairie, $2,500.

Jeffrey Pollard of Baton Rouge, $200.

Martha Huckabay of Baton Rouge, $200.

Cary Goss of Baton Rouge, $200.
Four suspected terrorists and six allied to ISIS Khorasan, were detained by police team of Delhi and five other states of being accused to plot a major strike.

By Press Trust of India: Four suspected terrorists belonging to the ISIS Khorasan module were arrested today for allegedly plotting a major strike while six others were detained in a joint operation by police teams of Delhi and five other states.

Raids were carried out this morning in Mumbra (Maharashtra), Jalandhar (Punjab), Narkatiaganj (Bihar), and Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar (both in Uttar Pradesh) in a joint operation of the Delhi special cell, the Anti-Terrorism Squads of UP and Maharashtra, and the police of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar, an official said.

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Inspector General of the UP ATS Aseem Arun, in a statement in Noida, said that four people were arrested on charges of hatching terror conspiracies.

He said that the accused, associated with the ISIS Khorasan module, were planning to launch a major terror attack in the country.

Mufti Faizan and Tanveer, who are connected with the ISIS, were arrested from Bijnor district.

Nazim Shamshad Ahmed (26), who hails from Bijnor, was nabbed from Mumbra township in Thane district adjoining Mumbai. Muzammil was arrested from Jalandhar district of Punjab.

He said important documents relating to the ISIS were seized from them.

According to an UP ATS statement in Lucknow, six others have been taken into custody and they are being questioned in Noida.

The accused had got in touch with each other over the internet, Arun said, adding that central security agencies played an important role in the operation.

According to the IG, the UP ATS had seized some important documents after the March 7 encounter in Lucknow in which a suspected terrorist belonging to the Khorasan module was killed. Following this, the probe was expanded to five states.

The ATS had received information that the ISIS had been expanding its network in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Bihar and some youths from these states had joined the terror organisation.

"All those arrested are in the age group of 18 to 25 years and were living in different places like Mumbai, Jalandhar and UP. We have also found that they were definitely influenced by the material available on the internet," UP ADG (Law and Order) Daljit Chaudhary said in Lucknow.

Investigations show that one of them wanted to finance the group and they were continuously communicating with each other about carrying out some major strike in the near future. But police and other agencies of different states with the help of surveillance made the arrests before they could carry out any such attack, the ADG said.

A spokesperson of the UP ATS said those arrested were suspected to be looking for potential recruits in Bihar, UP and Maharashtra.

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ALSO READ:

Delhi on high alert, 2 ISIS Khorasan terrorists may be hiding in the city, say reports

ISIS-Khorasan: All you need to know about the terrorist group behind Quetta's hospital attack

--- ENDS ---
Louisiana is not only Americas incarceration capital, were so far ahead of Oklahoma and other Southern states that the statistics are embarrassing.

As of 2015, the most recent data available, Louisiana locked up 776 inmates per 100,000 residents, leading the nation in this dubious distinction. Oklahoma, next in line, imprisoned 715 inmates per 100,000 residents, and it's already making policy changes to bring that number down.

A lot needs to change.

In theory, the stars are aligning to favor legislative reform of our throw-away-the-key mentality.

Liberals concerned about defendants' rights and disparate sentences have joined hands with fiscal conservatives alarmed by the out-of-control costs of our industrial-prison complex. Faith leaders worry about the social costs of incarceration; the many Christian workers in prisons and jails believe in redemption and want to see rehabilitation of inmates.

The business community knows that most prisoners will come out, sooner or later, and if they have skills to get a job, they are both economically more productive and far less likely to go back to jail for new offenses.

A wide-ranging package of reforms is before the Legislature, strongly backed by these groups and Gov. John Bel Edwards, with expert input from Pew Charitable Trusts and others. A State Capitol rally today will kick off the formal phase of lobbying for change, after years of study and inaction, despite changes made by many of our peers among Southern states.

Given the dimensions of the challenge, and with lawmakers tangled in a budget quagmire and looking for a legislative "win," the winds seem fair for criminal justice reform.

Why are we worried? The winds of change are producing some legislative storm warnings, too.

One big obstacle comes from district attorneys, who back most elements of the reform package, but balk at sentencing changes that give the option of parole at some future date, 30 years or more, for violent offenders.

DAs seem in general agreement that chronic drug offenders are often better off in rehab and probation supervision instead of prison. Progress has been made over time on this front, and more is possible. But sentencing laws can be inherently complex, because so many have been made on an ad hoc basis by lawmakers following the popular passions of the moment.

The larger question should be whether long sentences for all violent crimes are the best approach. Conservative states across the South  even Texas, a state widely regarded by Louisianians as a model of sensible governance  have adopted sentencing guidelines that offer more chances of parole after prisoners have served decades for the worst crimes.

Parole is hardly a sure thing, but it should be more of an option if we are going to make a dent in the prison population as it currently exists, and not just in sentencing for new offenses. Both are part of the solution.

Louisiana should not be an outlier in the South. We hope that all participants in this debate will come together around sensible crime and justice reforms, including the toughest issues of long-term prisoners who have often aged-out of their youthful offenses.
By Press Trust of India: (Eds: Updating toll)

Shimla, Apr 19 (PTI) Forty-five passengers were killed when a private bus plunged into River Tons in remote Nerwa area of Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh today.

The passengers were on their way from Vikasnagar in Uttarakhand to Tuni and the mishap took place on the Uttarakhand-HP border in Himachal territory, Deputy Commissioner Shimla, Rohan Chand Thakur said.

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"Going by the version of the conductor, who was one of the two survivors, we presumed that the number of passengers was 46 but now 45 deaths have been confirmed," he said.

According to reports received earlier, 56 passengers were believed to be travelling in the ill-fated bus.

Locals, however, said the death toll could mount as some bodies might have been washed away in the river.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh expressed profound shock and grief over the accident and conveyed his sympathies to bereaved families.

He has directed the local administration to make arrangements for sending the bodies to the home of victims after postmortem.

There were more than 47 passengers in the bus and bodies of 45 victims have been recovered while two persons including the conductor, who jumped out of the bus, survived, the official said.

Twenty out of the 45 deceased have been identified and 12 among them hail from Uttarakhand while eight are from Himachal Pradesh.

The conductor who fled from the spot was later caught by locals and handed over to the administration.

Initially, the police had claimed that there were 56 passengers in the bus but after the conductor was questioned, it was revealed that the total number of passengers was more than 47 and two persons survived.

Shimla SP, D W Negi said all 45 bodies have been recovered and sent for postmortem.

The locals immediately started the rescue operations, even as the spot was initially inaccessible, and later district administrations rescue teams also joined the operation.

The Deputy Commissioner also announced immediate relief of Rs 50,000 to the next of kin of the deceased.

Rescue teams from Uttarakhand and a team of NDRF also reached the spot to lift the bodies, he said.

the conductor is being questioned to ascertain the cause of the accident, the official said. PTI PCL DIP

--- ENDS ---
James Gill: Can Democrats purge conservatism? Not if AG Jeff Landry can help it
How long is too long for a web page to load in 2017?

According to the data of about 10 billion user visits to online shopping sites, three seconds. After that, more than half of shoppers will have left the page.

Thirty per cent of online customers will not return to a slow site, while a website load time delay of just 100 milliseconds can impact conversion (sale) rates by 7 per cent.

The figures were revealed in the latest Akamai State of Online Retail Performance report, which compiled one month's worth of data from leading retail sites (predominantly from North America).
Tasmania could become a "battery for Australia" under a proposal to double the capacity of the country's largest hydro power scheme, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has declared.

Speaking alongside Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman in Launceston, Mr Turnbull announced an investigation into an expansion of the state's hydro scheme that, if built in full, would cost more than $3 billion and add 2500 megawatts of storage capacity to the national grid.

It follows the Prime Minister's announcement last month of a feasibility study into an expansion of the Snowy Hydro Scheme. The full Hydro Tasmania expansion would be larger.

Mr Turnbull said it could provide enough electricity to run 500,000 homes.
It is difficult to exaggerate the significance of Fox News' sacking of Bill O'Reilly.

Not only was he the single most dominant public figure in America's vast conservative media environment, his removal signals the growing power of James and Lachlan Murdoch in the world's most powerful media empire, their father Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox.

O'Reilly was dismissed overnight following allegations of sexual harassment by at least six women. It has been reported that Lachlan's wife Sarah Murdoch helped influence the decision. Last year the former Fox News creator, Roger Ailes, was sacked in similar circumstances, going on to advise Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

O'Reilly has been a towering figure in American politics and culture since Murdoch and Ailes began to build the conservative Fox News channel and its identity around him in 1996. His evening talk program, The O'Reilly Factor, was combative and trenchantly conservative, setting the tone for the entire channel, which soon came to dominate cable news and, in turn, the entire American news landscape. In January 2014, Fox News marked its 145th consecutive month as the No.1 rated cable news channel in the US.
Forty-year-old family business Hunter Products launched its first toy on Amazon Marketplace in the US about eight weeks ago but it hasn't taken long for the Australian toy maker to witness the power of the digital giant.

Sales of its Japanese-styled Shibajuku Girl dolls are impressive even at this early stage and it's proving a "lucrative" new channel for the toy and sporting goods seller.

In Australia, Hunter sells its own creations as well as a selection of high-profile kids' lines such as Wigglers merchandise through the big-name retail chains, including all the discount department store chains as well as Coles, Aldi and Woolworths.

But sales manager James Hunter said it would "jump at the chance" to work with Amazon in Australia.
The Turnbull government's proposed changes to citizenship laws, including tougher tests and a focus on social cohesion, could unfairly punish vulnerable migrants, community groups have warned.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton unveiled tough new hurdles for prospective Australians, including a stricter English language requirement and an "Australian values" test. Applicants would also face a longer wait before being eligible for citizenship.

Mr Turnbull has challenged Labor to back the changes, framing it as a test of belief "in the values that have made Australia the remarkable nation that it is".

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten dismissed the Prime Minister's "desperate" challenge and renewed focus on immigration as politically motivated. However, he suggested Labor was open to supporting some of the proposals, including the English language emphasis and increased waiting period.
The federal government has not done any modelling on the impact of the Fair Work Commission's decision to cut penalty rates, responses to a Senate hearing have revealed, despite Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull throwing his weight behind the cuts.

In answers to questions on notice from Senate estimates to be released on Friday, Treasury said it would assess a range of policy decisions when reviewing forecasts for the upcoming May budget.

"But this would not entail a specific modelling of the Fair Work Commission recommendation," a statement from its macroeconomic division said.

"There are likely to be some positive employment effects from a reduction in penalty rates, though it is difficult to quantify the precise effect."
Why would there be any discrepancy between what men and women in the same law firm are paid? There would be no rational explanation for it.

That was the thinking of Michael Greene, the managing partner of Sydney law firm Henry Davis York, for many years. Conducting a pay audit and discovering that a gap did in fact exist in his firm, to the tune of roughly 20 per cent, is what changed Greene's previously held position.

All it takes to fix the pay gap is analysis and action. Credit:Matt Davidson

It's also what prompted a correction to eliminate the gap  irrational or otherwise.

The fact I can recall Greene's frank admission, almost word for word without consulting my notes or the web to jog my memory, 3 years on says something about its significance.
With Yogi Adityanath government deciding to rename the Agra airport, hopes have again revived that the long pending project will now be completed soon provided the funds are released for land acquisition and construction.

By Siraj Qureshi: The state government's indication of reviving the Agra airport project, recently renamed Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay Airport has the farmers rejoicing in the areas, where the land was to be acquired near Malpura in Agra.

There appears to be no reason for the project to remain stalled now as the only issue remaining in this regard is the green signal from the central and state governments, which is yet to arrive.

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A total of 135 acres of land is to be acquired in the Dhanoli village of Malpura, adjacent to the Kheria Air Force base for the construction of a civil enclave that could handle domestic as well as international traffic without raising security concerns.

The nearby Air Force base is highly sensitive and houses several crucial elements of the Air Force, including airborne refuelers and AWACS systems.

STATUS OF LAND ACQUISITION

The land acquisition has to take place in three villages - Dhanoli, Bilhera and Abhaypura - where 350 villagers will be signing the papers for transfer of plot for the civil enclave.

Eighty per cent of the villagers have already signed agreements with the district administration while the remaining 20 percent are awaiting the release of the remaining sum of Rs 65 crores for the acquisition process to complete.

Agra Airport waits for fund. (Photo: Siraj Qureshi

Agra Tourist Welfare Chamber secretary Vishal Sharma said that the demand for an international airport in Agra is decades old. The issue has been raised before every government that came into power over the years.

However, due to the lack of coordination between the central and state governments, which were led by different parties, the project never moved ahead.

AGRA STUCK BETWEEN NEW DELHI AND LUCKNOW

In the Samajwadi Party government, the project finally gathered speed and moved off the drawing board for the first time to reach the point of land acquisition. But, the lack of funds for acquisition of land resulted in the project getting stuck at the acquisition stage.

Vishal Sharma said that although the former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's announcement about his intentions of making an international airport close to Agra was sincere, the lack of coordination with the central government did not let the proposal mature for one or the other reason.

Sharma said that the biggest help Agra ever received from a central government minister in this direction was by the then Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh, who gifted Agra the Civil Enclave project which will now be called Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay Airport, when constructed. The enclave will use the same runway as used by the air force while the passenger facilities will be located outside the Air Force base.

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However, despite the state government's indications for the release of funds for completing the remaining acquisition within 20 days, there appears to be no progress in this direction yet and the local officials are still awaiting directions from Lucknow before moving ahead with the process.

ALSO READ |

Agra airport to be named after Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya

ALSO WATCH |

Lone muslim Yogi Adityanath minister slams AIMPLB on triple talaq

--- ENDS ---
Right now, department secretaries across Canberra are frantically trying to work out how to justify why they (and their staff) shouldn't be moved to the bush - in particular to a marginal Nationals electorate.

It's already happened to the APVMA (although the boss won't be making the move after getting a new gig), and who knows who might be next.

For now, all we know is all federal departments must justify their continued presence in Canberra and other capital cities or else face a forced move to rural or regional Australia.

While the government's ruled out moving entire departments, the way things are changing who knows what will eventually happen. Given the lack of detail and that the policy seems so random, we wondered if it was going to end up as a bit of a lottery to determine who stays and who goes. If it did, maybe this is how the Nationals will work out who to split the departments between their electorates?
A motorcyclist has been taken to hospital after crashing while trying to evade police in Southbank last night.

Police tried to intercept the man about 9pm on Fawkner Street with lights but he took off at high speed before losing control and crashing his motorbike on Southbank Boulevard.

He was taken to hospital with non life threatening injuries and has been charged with evading police and other traffic related offences.

It wasn't the only police chase last night - after police intercepted a man of interest at a service station in Abbotsford, the man's Jaguar led them on a chase up Punt Road until it smashed into a barrier at Victoria Street (here's the full story)
The attack came during a televised debate between all candidates for France's hotly-contested presidential election on Sunday. Two candidates, Francois Fillon and Marine Le Pen said they would cancel campaign events planned for Friday. Police have sealed off the Champs Elysees after a shooting. Credit:Getty In a televised statement from the presidential palace, not far from where the shooting occurred, Mr Hollande said French authorities were "convinced" that the shooting pointed to a terrorist attack. Mr Hollande, who is not running again for office, said he had convened an emergency meeting of security, defence and intelligence top officials for Friday. Police officer stand guard outside boutique shops along the Champs Elysees following the shooting. Credit:AP

"We shall be of the utmost vigilance, especially in relation to the election," he said. Gunman 'tried to run away' The counter-terrorism office has opened an investigation into the shooting. Credit:Getty Mr Brandet said the shooting occurred shortly before 9pm on Thursday (5am AEST), when a car pulled up to a police vehicle that was parked on the famous boulevard. The gunman opened fire on the police vehicle with an automatic weapon, killing an officer. Earlier reports suggested that two police officers had been shot dead, but police later said one officer had died and two others had been wounded.

A police officer stands guard after a fatal shooting. Credit:AP Mr Hollande said that a passer-by had also been wounded in the shooting, but he did not specify how badly. The gunman then "tried to leave by running away while aiming at, and trying to target, other police officers," Mr Brandet said. This photo, provided on the condition that its source not be revealed, shows Karim Cheurfi. Credit:AP "He managed to wound two others and was shot dead by the police forces," he said.

Mr Brandet said that the exact sequence of events was not clear. "It is much too early to say what the motivations were but in any case police officers were deliberately targeted this evening on the Champs-Elysees," he said. A police union Twitter account said the officers were shot while in a car stopped at a red light. Paris police spokeswoman Johanna Primevert told AP the attacker targeted police guarding the area near the Franklin Roosevelt subway station. A police source told Reuters there had been two assailants, while a witness saw one man get out of a car at the scene and begin shooting with a machine gun.

Three police sources also told Reuters it could have been an attempted armed robbery on one of the world's most expensive streets. Police urged the public to avoid the area. 'Six shots fired' One witness said he heard six shots fired, and saw the police officer hit the ground. "I came out of the Sephora shop and I was walking along the pavement where an Audi 80 was parked. A man got out and opened fire with a kalashnikov on a policeman," witness Chelloug, a kitchen assistant, told Reuters. "The policeman fell down. I heard six shots, I was afraid. I have a two-year-old girl and I thought I was going to die... He shot straight at the police officer."

The owner of a restaurant on the Champs-Elysees, who would give his name only as Denis, told France 24 television that when the shooting started, a panicked crowd of about 40 people ran into his restaurant for shelter. "Some of them were in shock, others were crying," he said. Several of the people were tourists from the US, Hong Kong and elsewhere. "They were scared," he said. "They didn't know what to do, or when it would end. They came here for holidays and didn't expect this to happen. I'm a little shocked myself and we're trying to cope with that." A Reuters reporter saw a helicopter flying low over central Paris, apparently part of a follow-up police operation.

Before the motive of the attack was known, US president Donald Trump weighed in. "It looks like another terrorist attack," he said. "What can you say? It never ends." French TV channel BFM broadcast footage of the Arc de Triomphe monument and top half of the Champs-Elysees packed with police vans, lights flashing and heavily armed police shutting the area down after what was described by one journalist as a major exchange of fire nears a Marks and Spencers store. Mr Hollande said security forces would be vigilant in the lead-up to the election, and a national tribute would be paid to the slain officer.

"We must all be aware that our security forces do work that is particularly difficult, that they are exposed, as one can see again this evening, and that they have the nation's full support," Mr Hollande said. French presidential candidate Francois Fillon called for the election to be suspended following the shooting. France has lived under a state of emergency since 2015 and has suffered a spate of Islamist militant attacks that have killed more than 230 people in the past two years. Earlier this week, two men were arrested in Marseilles. Police said they had been planning an attack ahead of the election. A machine gun, two hand guns and three kilos of TATP explosive were among the weapons found at a flat in the southern city along with jihadist propaganda materials, according to the Paris prosecutor.
Washington: Federal prosecutors are weighing whether to bring criminal charges against members of the WikiLeaks organisation, taking a second look at a 2010 leak of diplomatic cables and military documents and investigating whether the group bears criminal responsibility for the more recent revelation of sensitive CIA cyber-tools, according to people familiar with the case.

The Justice Department under President Barack Obama had decided not to charge WikiLeaks for revealing some of the government's most sensitive secrets - concluding that doing so would be akin to prosecuting a news organisation for publishing classified information.

Justice Department leadership under President Donald Trump, though, has indicated to prosecutors that it is open to taking another look at the case, which the Obama administration did not formally close.

It is not clear whether prosecutors are also looking at WikiLeaks' role last year in publishing emails from the Democratic National Committee and the account of Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, which US officials have said were hacked by the Russian government.




TORONTO

April 20, 2017

Ontario's

Terry O'Keefe

regulator of vehicle sales has launched a province-wide multi-media campaign to increase awareness of All-in Price Advertising. "Since 2010 car-buyers have had right to all-in price advertising," explained, OMVIC's Director of Communications and Education. "That means dealers must include all fees, except HST and licensing, in any advertised vehicle price." The transparency provided by All-in Price Advertising has made the car-buying process much more enjoyable for consumers. Unfortunately though, research conducted by OMVIC shows some car dealers continue to add additional fees to their advertised prices. This illegal practice is not only unfair to car-buyers, it gives non-compliant dealers an unfair advantage over those dealers whose advertised prices include all fees and charges. This is why OMVIC has launched the consumer awareness campaign. "If consumers know they have a right to all-in price advertising, they are able to protect themselves should they encounter non-compliant advertising."

The Campaign

A dog relishing a car ride; tongue lapping the air; fur flying in the wind  a sight that exemplifies simple joy; and it's the visuals supporting OMVIC's TV message: Buying a car? The fun is back! Ontario made all-in price advertising the law for Ontario car dealers  no more hidden fees. All-in price advertising  it's your right!

"While the message delivery is cheerful, the outcome will have an important effect," said O'Keefe. "Consumers will avoid dealers who break the law and instead buy vehicles from those who provide the fair and transparent advertising required by Ontario's consumer protection legislation."

The Ontario-wide campaign utilizes TV, radio, online, billboard/transit and social media advertising.

To access OMVIC's TV or radio commercials click here.

Understanding All-in Price Advertising

All-in price advertising is the law in Ontario. If a Registered Dealer advertises a price for a vehicle (new or used), that price must include ALL fees and charges the dealer intends to collect. The only additional fees a dealer can charge are HST and licensing. Note: licensing refers to the actual cost of vehicle registration and plates (it cannot include extra fees added by the dealer).

What is an advertisement?

An advertisement is any inducement to buy or lease a vehicle. This would include, but is not limited to ads:

In print (newspapers, magazines, etc.)

On the internet (dealer site, online marketplace, etc.)

On social media

On radio or TV

On signs (including those in or on a vehicle)

What must be included in an all-in price advertisement?

Examples of fees or charges that must be included in an advertised price include:

Freight

PDI-PDE (pre-delivery inspection/expense)

Administration (Admin) fee(s)

Government levies (air tax, etc.)

Safety and e-test (unless the ad contains a mandated "Unfit Vehicle" or "As-Is Vehicle" statement)

If a dealer intends to charge for products or services they have already pre-installed on a vehicle, those costs must also be included in the advertised price. This includes, but is not limited to:

Nitrogen/tire protection package/locking wheel nuts

Warranties

Security or theft deterrent products/services (etching, etc.)

Fuel

Note: All fees must be itemized individually on the contract

Vehicle Manufacturer Advertising

OMVIC does not regulate vehicle manufacturers; therefore advertisements placed by manufacturers do not have to comply with the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act and all-in pricing is not required in manufacturer ads. That said, some manufacturers voluntarily comply with the all-in pricing provision and commendably provide transparency to consumers.

For more information on all-in price advertising, visit OMVIC's website.

Additional Consumer Services

OMVIC has significant resources and services available to educate and assist Ontario's vehicle buyers. OMVIC's website provides pre-purchase advice/tips (whether buying from a dealer or privately) and information on how to spot curbsiders (illegal, unlicensed dealers); consumers can conduct a search to ensure a dealer or salesperson is registered (or has any enforcement/discipline history); there's even an online quiz where consumers can test their car-buying IQ. Additionally, OMVIC's Complaints and Inquiries Team provides free assistance to consumers with pre-purchase questions, or post-purchase issues. OMVIC encourages all consumers, from first-time buyers to those who consider themselves savvy car buyers, to visit omvic.ca and ensure they know their rights.
Dino Bernacchi New Mazda Chief Marketing Officer for U.S. Operations











IRVINE, Calif. (April 20, 2017)  Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today announced the appointment of Dino Bernacchi, 47, to the newly created role of Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for the companys U.S. operations. Based at the companys Irvine, Calif. Headquarters office, Bernacchi will report to MNAO president and CEO, as well as Mazda Motor Companys global CMO, Masahiro Moro. Bernacchis appointment is effective on May 1, 2017. In this new role, Bernacchi will oversee all aspects of brand communications for Mazda in the U.S. Specifically, he will be tasked with examining every touch point that affects a customers interaction with Mazda, from the earliest discovery phase of new-car shopping, through the research and purchase, to ownership and ultimately through to repurchase, and developing an overarching strategy to deliver clear, precise, consistent messages that support the Mazda Premium brand vision. His responsibility will be more than conventional marketing, and Russell Wager, currently VP, Marketing, who will report to Bernacchi, will continue to oversee Mazdas external communications activities.

In addition, Bernacchi will have responsibility for the design, development, and execution of the strategies and processes required to deliver Mazda messaging in the ever-evolving multi-channel world; enhance customer engagement with Mazda; and respond to accelerating changes in technological and digital innovation and rapidly changing consumer behavior.

The need to hone our companys focus as a provider of exceptional customer experiences at every touchpoint with our brand, through our communications, with our vehicles and handled by our network of Mazda dealerships, has never been more clear, said Moro regarding why the addition of a CMO to the MNAO team is critical to the companys future success in the U.S. As customer tastes and expectations change, and Mazda moves itself to a new, more premium, position in the industry, it is critical that Mazda be laser-focused in our approach to how we tell our proud brand story at every touchpoint in the customers journey with us. Dinos leadership experience in doing exactly that in the past is why he is perfectly suited for this role at Mazda.

Bernacchi joins MNAO with 23 years of experience in marketing communications, and proven successes in telling compelling brand stories in order to capture customers interests, ultimately leading to brand and sales successes. He has worked on both the agency, supplier and in-house aspects of the communications business, with skills honed at Campbell-Ewald Advertising, Visteon, General Motors and, most recently, as marketing director at Harley-Davidson Motor Company.

Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, California, and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through more than 600 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City.
A Delhi Police team served summons to TTV Dinakaran at his Chennai house in connection with the Election Commission bribery case. Dinakaran allegedly tried to bribe poll panel officials to buy AIADMK's two leaves symbol for Rs 50 crore.

By India Today Web Desk: Trouble of AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran has increased manifold as the Delhi Police served him summons to join the ongoing probe involving him in the Election Commission bribery case. Dinakaran was booked by the Delhi Police for trying to bribe Election Commission officials through a middleman to buy AIADMK's 'two leaves' symbol.

A Delhi Police team served Dinakaran summons at his Chennai residence late on Wednesday hours after a lookout notice was issued against him after inputs from security agencies that the AIADMK leader may try to sneak out of the country.

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There was midnight drama outside Dinarakan's Chennai house as one of his supporters tried to immolate himself moments after Delhi cops served summons to the AIADMK leader. The bid was thwarted by other supporters prevented the man from immolating himself averting a bigger tragedy.

Chennai: People stop a supporter of TTV Dinakaran, trying to self-immolate in front of his house. pic.twitter.com/9wMN5Ik6LB- ANI (@ANI_news) April 19, 2017

A Delhi Police team served summons to TTV Dinakaran late on Wednesday night asking him to join the probe in the case in which the AIADMK leader is alleged to have hired a middleman to bribe Election Commission officials to buy party's 'two leaves' symbol for Rs 50 crore. Dinakaran is facing a rebellion from within the AIADMK as the faction he was part of has decided to boot out him and aunt Sasikala, currently lodged in Bengaluru jail, and unite with the group led by former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam. "As I have a responsibility, I'm announcing that the party should not split for any reason. I thank everyone who supported me till now. I will not be the one to have weakened the party and the government," Dinakaran tweeted hinting that he was ready to walk out of the party. However, sources said merger talks between the two warring AIADMK factions has run into trouble. The camp backing CM Edapaddi Palanisami has made it clear that he would not step down to accommodate Panneerselvam. Removal of VK sasikala and TTV Dinakaran from the party's key posts and governance, if the first condition that Panneerselvam had placed for any merger to take place. Separately, an economic offences court framed charges against TTV Dinakaran in a FERA violation case on Wednesday (April 19) as the Madras High Court refused to quash it along with another similar case. With the framing of charges by the court, Dinakaran now stands formally indicted in the Dipper investment case in which he has been accused by the Enforcement Directorate of transferring US dollar one crore illegally.

WATCH: Major blow to Mannarguddi clan as AIADMK ousts Sasikala, Dinakaran

ALSO READ:

Panneerselvam calls Sasikala removal 'first win' after Dinakaran says won't fight 'what party wants'

AIADMK's TTV Dinakaran charged with offering Rs 50 crore to middleman to buy party's 'two leaves' symbol

AIADMK merger: Here are the terms proposed by Panneerselvam and Palanisami camps

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By India Today Web Desk: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan, who complete 10 years of together today, visited Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai to seek blessings on their wedding anniversary.

The couple stepped out to pay a visit to the temple along with daughter Aaradhya Bachchan. Clad in a suit, Aishwarya was seen holding onto daughter Aaradhya as they made their way to the temple.

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Despite their 10th wedding anniversary, the Bachchans have decided to not throw a bash. Considering that Aishwarya's dad passed away recently, they have decided to keep their anniversary a low-key affair. But they did take out time to seek blessings at the temple.

Abhishek took to Twitter to thank his fans for the special wishes. He wrote, "And just like that.... It's been 10 years! Thank you all for the wishes for Aishwarya and I. Lots of love."

On the work front, Abhishek and Aishwarya might be seen together in Gulab Jamun.

(Photos: Yogen Shah)

ALSO READ: Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai's jodi to return in Anurag Kashyap's film?

PHOTOS: Aishwarya-Abhishek's 10 years of togetherness in 10 pictures

ALSO WATCH: Amitabh-Abhishek angry with Aishwarya's intimate ADHM scenes

--- ENDS ---
So, who was better as Regina and who was better as Birdie: Laura Linney or Cynthia Nixon?

That has been the question bluntly asked of me after seeing both configurations of the The Little Foxes.

If you have the money and time, Broadway is hosting a fascinating performative parlor game. Linney and Nixonthe latter most famous for playing Miranda in Sex and The Cityare playing, in different performances, both Regina Hubbard Giddens and Birdie Hubbard, the sisters-in-law and lead characters in Lillian Hellmans 1939 play (probably her most famous, and supposedly her favorite play), now a handsomely mounted Manhattan Theatre Club revival.

The parlor game is even more tantalizing because both actresses are so good at playing both the imperious, manipulative and venomous Regina, and the flighty and damaged Birdie.

How Tallulah Bankhead, the original stage-Regina, would have fared as Birdie is something to mull during the plays two, very well-timed, intervals. The specter of Bette Davis as Regina hovers too, if you have seen William Wylers 1941 movie (which earned Davis a Best Actress Oscar nomination; she lost to Joan Fontaine in Suspicion).

So, if you have the disposable income and over five hours to spare, go and indulge yourself. If, however, you will make your choice and go to The Little Foxes once, with just one boldface actor in one role, you will not have wasted your money. Both actresses are excellent, and excellently distinct.

Hellmans setting is a small town in Alabama 1900, in the living room of the Giddens, formerly the Hubbard, house. The curtain rises on what seems to be a convivial upper-class family supper. But, as with everything else in this sharp, vinegary playunderstatedly designed by Scott Pask and crisply directed by Daniel Sullivanthe supper is about money.

Everything is about money in The Little Foxes: not having it, getting it, what it can buy you, and what it can cost you. Its corollary is power: Regina wants to be the fulcrum of the family, even if she has long been denied that position. Hellmans is the most subversive of family dramas: the very mention or notion of love or kinship sounds alien in this house. Wealth provides the ties that bind; the color of Hubbard blood is unapologetic, shameless dollar-bill green.

Regina, married to the initially unseen Horace (Richard Thomas), who is away recovering from illness, feels as if she has never had money, and she damn well deserves it. Overlooked by their dead father, who saw his sons as his heirs, she has always been a subsidiary to her brothers Ben (Michael McKean) and Oscar (Darren Goldstein).

They want to build a cotton mill, and that first dinner is for a Chicago industrialist, Mr. Marshall (David Alford) whom Regina successfully flirts with.

If Reginas name implies someone queenly, regal, and not to be disobeyed, her sister Birdies name is just as telling: fluttery, not easily pinned down, airy, small, vulnerable. If Regina is statuesque in fitted satin dresses, her hair pinned back and immaculate and features sharp, Birdie is seen in flowing clothes, her hair a buffeted tangle.

She cant make herself heard in the family at all; she is an adjunct, a patronized ghost on the periphery, and she is a victim of husband Oscars violence.

We see him hit her once, and Alexandra (Francesca Carpanini), Reginas daughter who loves Birdie dearly, hears her stumble; Birdie excuses it away.

As played by both Linney and Nixon, Birdie wants to harken back to nicer times, simpler times, times when people were better to one another. But these desperate, brightly voiced hopes, are informed by her more painful knowledge that all that is warm and familial is lost.

The contrast of Regina and Birdie, and the emerging prominence of Alexandra highlights this as a play at least partly about what power a woman can assert and exercise having grown up and into a patriarchal world. Birdie chooses to retreat, Regina chooses to fight, and Alexandra may go another way entirely.

The decay money has wrought chez Hubbard is signaled by the distemper of the walls and the creeping shadows over Pasks drawing room set. The grandeur is spartan and not to be luxuriated in; Addie (Caroline Stefanie Clay) and Cal (Charles Turner), the familys two black servantsthe play keeps Hellmans original use of the word negro within itare well-placed, bluff observers to the chicanery and abuse around them, and the most reprehensible characters in the play treat them the most dismissively. Clay in particular makes a winning meal out of the very little Hellman wrote for her.

How to raise money to invest in that cotton mill is the most immediate material question: the answer, Regina decides, is to get Horace back sharpish, a job which Regina, who knows Horace would not choose to follow her, sees as a job for Alexandra.

Oscar sees financial advantage in marrying Alexandra off to his and Birdies son, Leo (Michael Benz, excellent as a brilliant, stupid, unsubtle weasel) whoin one of her her most audience-appreciated momentsBirdie confesses to loathing.

The actors expertly parse the modalities of venality and villainy at play. McKean is a silken wily fox, Goldsteinmuch as he behaved as his other well-known character, the restaurant manager also called Oscar, in the early seasons of The Affairis brilliant at being bumptious, crude, and menacing.

Leo is very much his fathers son, coming up with a sneaky way to fleece Horace without Horace realizing. But Horace does realize, andas initially played with a twinkling grace by Thomas, most famous as John-Boy in The Waltonssets about goosing the villains at their own game.

What stands out is the acid and fury of the confrontations in the play between Horace and Regina (some well imagined as happening upstairs and off-stage, with accompanying bangs and crashes). Thomas is so good at playing sick you genuinely fear for him as his face reddens, his wheezing worsens, and his stumbles become ever more perilous.

Regina feels she has been the one with the drive and determination in this marriage. He is horrified at the lack of love she feels for him. Her dislike and disrespect for him has curdled to a true and raw desire that he should dieboth Linney and Nixon magnificently spit this out.

No spoilers as to how this feverish marital horror plays out; but both audiences I was in gasped when it became apparent. It is Horacenoting that people like Regina and her ghastly brothers will end up ruining their town with their greed and sweat-shops, and wreck the country, you and your kindthat earned the loudest collective sigh of the evening. Horaces premonition has never been more sadly acute.

If Linney as Regina has a beaky sharpness, silently inviting anyone to defy her (rather as Bette Davis did in the 1941 movie), Nixon is more quizzical with a crueler curling lip, as if she cannot believe anyone would be foolish enough to defy her.

As Birdie, Nixon is more visibly smashed-up and detached than Linney. They both embody the character as deeply traumatized, but whereas the dream world Nixon has retreated to is written cloudily on her face, Linneys isolation is inhabited in a more present and anguished, shaky way. For a whole stretch of dialogue, Birdie is quite literally on the sidelines watching the others; and it is a testament to both actresses you watch her as keenly as you watch those involved in the dialogue. Watch Birdie too every time she goes near, or declines, a tumbler of alcohol: fear, temptation, and trepidation, and not a word said.

Touch or shake Birdie too hard, and you sense the most awful scream would cry out; and that scream is beautifully vocalized in an act two monologue, which is a dark, confessional survey of a life of frustrated expectations and emotional impassesa speech that spans comedy and tragedy in one line when alcohol-drenched Birdie impatiently reveals, as if to a class of dunderheads, that of course her debilitating headaches arent anything of the kind.

Both Nixon and Linney calibrate and phrase this amazing speech so beautifullyLinney got an ovation the evening I saw itit is truly almost worth the price of admission alone.

Reginas final fight is with the men, and Hellmans focus is not just the emergence of her primacyher perverse delight to be the rightful head of this morally etiolated familybut also in her relationship with Alexandra, her daughter.

Alexandra appears all little-girl frills to her mothers bitter, serrated edges, but, as delicately sketched by Carpanini, there is strength in her comparative moral purity and a determination to get the hell out of these corrosive four walls. Hellman shows both the greed she sees as consuming America and families, andin Alexandraa tentative escape route.

There has been so much masterfully deployed poison throughout the play that one might wrongly overlook this final emphasis of Hellmans. Yet we are never left in any doubt that a triumphant Regina is as damaged as Birdie, and just as scared and alone. Worse, she must live with the self-knowledge of her deeds, as well as the knowledge that those around her know what she may have done. A madness may consume her, you feel. And in the defiant Alexandra Regina has raised, despite her own spite, a quiet heroine who may well escape the Hubbards material obsession and the insanity it brings.

In the defiant Alexandra, Regina has raiseddespite her own spitea quiet heroine who may well escape the Hubbards material obsession and the insanity it brings.

The Little Foxes is at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47th Street, NYC. Book tickets, to June 18, here.
Its official: Stephen Colberts Papa Bear is done. The man who served as the primary inspiration for the Stephen Colbert character who spent nearly a decade hosting The Colbert Report was finally ousted by Fox News after years of allegedly sexually harassing his co-workers.

Bill and I did not see eye to eye on anything, Colbert said during his Late Show monologue Wednesday night after announcing the news to his audience. Ive done my fair share of jokes about him, he continued, noting that he also once stole OReillys microwave, which he ultimately auctioned off to benefit wounded soldiers. But the host insisted, I take no pleasure in his downfall.

Im not going to sit here and publicly gloat, he continued. Instead, he asked the camera to pan away from him so he could celebrate in private. Its not that big of a surprise, I guess. We all saw this coming at us, like an old man cornering an intern in the breakroom.

As Colbert mentioned, on Monday a black female Fox News employee came forward and said OReilly used to call her Hot Chocolate to her face. I know what youre thinking: Thats really sexist, he said. Yeah, but remember, its also pretty racist.

This is huge, he said of the news. Its like looking out at your front yard and the big oak tree is just gone. And sure, the oak tree said some disturbing things about young black men, what with their rap music and their neck tattoos, but damnit, the tree had been there forever. And your grandpa liked to just sit there and stare at it.

About Fox Newss official statement on OReillys dismissal, Colbert joked, I think they just took the Roger Ailes statement and changed the nouns. Instead of condemning the host for his actions, that statement proclaimed, By ratings standards, Bill OReilly is one of the most accomplished TV personalities in the history of cable news.

By ratings standards, he is, Colbert said to groans from his audience. By moral standards, he was a self-righteous landfill of angry garbage.

But at the same time, Colbert admitted that he owes a lot to OReilly, considering the fact that he spent nine years playing a character based largely on the Fox News host, and then 12 months in therapy to de-bloviate myself.

With that in mind, he decided to issue a statement from Bill OReillys biggest fan, conservative pundit Stephen Colbert. Hello, Nation, and shame on you, the other Colbert said via satellite from his cabin in the woods. You failed Bill OReilly. You didnt deserve him. All he ever did was have your back. And if youre a woman, you know, have a go at the front, too.

And what? Suddenly sexual harassments a crime? he asked. But thats the country we live in now. Obamas Trumps America. I guess I always knew this day would come. When I first saw Bill on TV, I knew in my heart that no one could possibly sustain such a broad character for that long.

He invited OReilly to come live in his mountain cabin, along with another retired host, Jon Stewart. Stay strong, Papa Bear! he concluded, choking back tears.
The Cherokee Nation has filed a lawsuit in tribal court accusing the countrys top pharmacies and drug distributors of pumping its 14 counties in northeastern Oklahoma with highly addictive pain pills, endangering its citizens.

Lawyers claim that the companiesMcKesson, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, CVS Health, Walgreens, and Walmartconsciously oversupplied the market in and around Cherokee Nation with prescription opioids, used unsafe distribution and dispensing practices, and failed to report suspicious orders.

Combined, McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen control about 85 percent of prescription drug distribution in the nation. The suit claims the companies were negligent in their actions and broke sovereign Cherokee law when failing to prevent the flow of the drugs to the black market.

Its a problem for the entire country, Chuck Hoskin, the secretary of state for Cherokee Nation, told Stat News. But we are up against it in Cherokee Country.

For adults within the Cherokee Nation, overdose deaths now outnumber deaths due to car accidents. By their senior year of high school, almost 13 percent of American Indian teens have already used OxyContin. In general, American Indians are more likely than other racial or ethnic group in the United States to die from drug-induced deaths, the suit claims.

These impacts are so severe, cumulatively, that Defendants conduct threatens to decimate the Cherokee Nation, the 54-page filing says. There are about 177,000 Cherokee Nation citizens who live within the 14 counties.

Oklahoma currently leads the nation in the abuse of prescription painkillers. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, more than 2.75 billion milligrams of opioids were distributed in the state in 2015.

Tribal nations have survived disease, removal from our homelands, termination and other adversities, and still we prospered, said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker, in a press release. However, I fear the opioid epidemic is emerging as the next great challenge of our modern era.

This case is the first of its kind in the U.S., according to the suit. No other Indian nation has ever sought damages for the disproportionate harm caused by pain pills in its community.

Baker said, As we fight this epidemic in our hospitals, our schools and our Cherokee homes, we will also use our legal system to make sure the companies, who put profits over people while our society is crippled by this epidemic, are held responsible for their actions.

The civil action doesnt name a specific dollar amount but seeks injunctive relief, as well as compensatory and punitive damages.

The suit claims the companies turned a blind eye to the problem of opioid diversion and profited from the sale of prescription opioids to the citizens of the Cherokee Nation in quantities that far exceeded the number of prescriptions that could reasonably have been used for legitimate medical purposes.

Lawyers reportedly filed the action in tribal court in hopes that it would enable them faster access to internal company records, which might reveal how much the companies were aware of the drugs being diverted in the area.

A spokesman for CVS told the Washington Post that the company is committed to the highest standards of ethics and business practices, including complying with all federal and state laws governing the dispensing of controlled substance prescriptions, and is dedicated to reducing prescription drug abuse and diversion.

Cardinal Health said in a statement on Thursday that it planned to "vigorously defend ourselves against the plaintiff's mischaracterization."

We believe these lawsuits do not advance the hard work needed to solve the opioid abuse crisisan epidemic driven by addiction, demand and the diversion of medications for illegitimate use, said a spokesperson.

The others included in the suit did not comment on the allegations, according to the Post.

In a similar suit, seven counties in West Virginia last month filed cases against many of the same companies, seeking billions of dollars based on the claims that they created a public health hazard by shipping huge amounts of controlled substances into the state. West Virginia has the highest prescription drug overdose rate in the country.

Last May, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., met with tribal leaders in the region to discuss prescription drug abuse and opioid addiction. He noted that the prescription opioid epidemic is sweeping across the U.S. and has hit Indian country particularly hard.

Cherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree said, We will not stand by while children are born addicted to opioids and our citizens die.
Less than a year ago, Gwyneth Paltrow crushed Goop devotees and sent lifestyle content machines into a panicked tailspin when she suggested she was stepping back from her lifestyle brand. My dream is that one day no one will remember I had anything to do with it, Paltrow said of Goops future at the 2016 Sage Summit in Chicago, adding that the brands scalability is limited if she didnt clip its wings and let it flourish without her.

Shattering, this was. How on earth would we do without such legendary pearls of advice, as why and how we should steam our vaginas?

But weep no more. The good news for Gwynnies legions of clean-living acolytes is not only is the health-and-wellness guru still the face and spirit of Goop, shes introducing her brand to the interactive, flesh-and-blood conference industry with her first ever wellness summit in Los Angeles this June.

The summit, In Goop Health, will feature a series of panels, keynotes, and restorative interactive sessions from the health-defining doctors and experts we rely on at goop on June 10, according to her website. Having read Gwynnies discursive blog posts about every obscure healing modality, Amazonian aphrodisiac, and ancient cancer-fighting superfood under the sun, you can try many of them yourself during this one intensive (but fun) day program.

Fancy sweating out toxins while making primal animal noises in Taryn Toomeys cult workout craze, The Class, then rehydrating with a nutrient-dense IV-drip that may or may not be, well, bullshit? Getting a chakra cleanse with Goops in-house crystal shaman before heading off to a keynote discussion about so-called Postnatal Depletion with Dr. Oscar Serrallach, a family practitioner in rural Australia? In Goop Health summit offers all of this and everything else your fad-chasing heart desires.

The one intensive (but fun) day program includes a long list of talent culled from Gwynnies rolodex of friends and mentors: Cameron Diaz; Girls creators Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner; couples therapist and Mating in Captivity author Esther Perel; Clean Program founder Dr. Alexander Junger, whose alternative medicine practice has been criticized for lacking scientific merit; good ol Dr. Phil; Conscious Uncoupling expert Dr. Habib Sadeghi; a number of integrative and holistic practitioners; and Anthony William, the Medical Medium author and self-declared healer who purports to be an actual medium for a divine voice that literally speaks into his ear, according to promotional materials for his book.

In Good Health promises to be equal parts woo-woo festival and business conference, part of a well-trod yet still growing empowerment industry. Gwynnie herself will be there too, of course, moderating the event. The fact that our readers get to experience this live is a game changer, Paltrow told Fast Company of the summit.

Tickets come in three tiers, ranging from $500 to $1500 and of course they are named after crystals, the trendiest New Age, chakra-balancing accessory of-the-moment.

The $500 Lapis ticket includes access to every panel and keynote, wellness activations like crystal therapy and aura photography, clean and gourmet food and drinks from brands like Moon Juice and Tropicana Probiotics, and a $200 adult goody bag of Goop-endorsed products. Tory Burch, who is featured under Talent, is sponsoring the event alongside brands like Lifehouse Tonics and Titos gluten-free vodka, the events official alcohol sponsor.

Those who wish to meet Gwynnie will have to shell out $1500 for the Clear Quartz experience, which includes lunch with GP and select panelists, a private sound bath session with Sara Auster, Tumi luggage packed with $500 of products we love, $50 to spend on more products in goop hall (a mugwort vaginal steam machine, anyone?) on top of everything the $500 and $1000 tickets offer.

We really wanted to put together a program that could change someones life, Elise Loehnen, Goops editorial director, told Vanity Fair of the summit, making it sound like Paltrows posh answer to the Landmark Forum, the three-day intensive self-improvement program during which people confess their deepest fears to an auditorium of strangers and find meaning in life through the realization that life is meaningless.

That was sort of the abiding thesis, Loehnen continued. Instead of breaking up the day into multiple trackswhich you might want at something more business-oriented where you are really looking to extract the things that are of value to youwe decided to do a single room, and all be together, and architect the day in a way that we could create a paradigm shift for people or bring things to their attention that they might not have considered.

So there you have it. Gwynnie and her Goop show are coming to you live in Los Angeles, where she will surely prove to be the worlds chicest health-and-wellness evangelist.
One might forgive Gretchen Carlson right around now if shes experiencing an ecstatic rush of schadenfreude over the suffering and sacking of accused sexual harasser Bill OReilly, to say nothing of the tribulations of his alleged enablers in the executive suite at the Fox News Channel.

But former Fox News anchor Carlsonwhose sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit last July against OReillys friend and protector, Fox News founder Roger Ailes, resulted in Ailess abrupt resignation along with withering scrutiny of the channels corporate culturecant discuss her former employer under the terms of a $20 million settlement agreement.

But that doesnt stop her from smiling.

Obviously, I cant talk about the details of the case, but my goodness, I dont need to, a beaming Carlson told The Daily Beast in an interview about her life and career since her world-shaking lawsuit, and her budding vocation as a champion of womens empowerment and sworn enemy of workplace harassment.

The benefit for me, said Carlson, who declined to discuss the various allegations about OReilly or the Fox News culture, is that I can be an advocate for this issue. Weve got a lot of work to do. I never expected to be the face of this issue. Who would?

Shes toiling away on a book, to be titled Be Fierce: Stop Harassment and Take Your Power Back, due to be delivered May 15 and scheduled for publication Sept. 26 by Hachettes Center Street imprint.This has never been done before, where women are able to have a guide book if they find themselves in a prickly situation, Carlson said. Its based on the women Ive heard from, thousands of them, and when you ask a room full of women, Who has a story?, by gosh, it still turns out that every woman has a story. Why is that? Its crazy. Its 2017. And we think weve come so far

She said she has been poring through stacks of printed emails from womenand menwho reached out to her in recent months to share their own harassment experiences. Carlson, who said she has responded to every single email, has also been speaking to prominent experts on the subject.

One expert she is unlikely to have consulted is Ailess combative attorney Susan Estrich, a former Democratic operative and Fox News contributor who wrote a groundbreaking book about rapedrawn from her own harrowing experience as a young woman of being sexually assaultedand, until now, enjoyed a sterling reputation as an effective opponent of workplace sexual harassment with unquestioned feminist bona fides.

You know I cant comment on that, Carlson told me with a side-eye glance. Trust me, there are plenty of other experts out there.

Carlson, no surprise, is hardly thrilled with the idea of having a president of the United States who not only has been accused in press accounts of harassment and sexual assault, while claiming to the New York Times that OReilly didnt do anything wrong, but was also caught bragging on the infamous Access Hollywood outtake that because he was a rich celebrity, he felt entitled to grab [women] by the pussy.

That was a teachable moment for my husband and I with our childrenand I think there were thousands of parents around the country using it as a teachable moment, she said about Trumps remarks.

What did the teachable moment teach her kids?

Human dignity, how to show respect for each others differences and gender equality, Carlson answered, noting, however, that she wasnt going to get into a discussion about politics.

She remains equally alarmed by the suggestionmade by presidential son Eric Trump during last years campaignthat a strong woman, like his sister Ivanka, would simply find a new and better job if she was sexually harassed at the office.

Why should the woman be the one that has to leave? Carlson demanded. For people who have children, nieces and grandchildren, do you want this to happen to them? Because in so many cases, its life-changing, career-ending, with dreams suddenly blown up.

How did Carlson escape this outcome?

A lot of things Ive done in my life have taken incredible mental fortitude, she said. Im a huge believer in visualizing achieving the task before it happens. And so I have a desire to achieve and fire in my belly, and it takes the mental capacity to be able to carry through on that. I wish some days that I didnt have as much drive as I do. Id sleep better.

On Tuesday, as Carlson sat across from me in the plush corner office of celebrity publicity doyenne Cindi Berger, who has been helping her navigate the aftermath of Ailes, OReillys once-impregnable position as cable newss top-rated personality was rapidly deteriorating, while Fox Newss Manhattan headquarters, half a mile away, was being targeted for a second time by chanting, sign-waving protestors on the sidewalk, demanding OReillys head.

Ive always been an incredibly strong person, and Ive also been underestimated, Carlson saidby outward appearances serenely above the fray, though no doubt still coming to terms with the ordeal of last summer.

She wore slacks and a denim jacket, an illusion of laid-back casualness that was belied by heavy earrings encrusted with big diamonds, along with a blinding multi-carat rock on her ring finger. (Also, a trio of thin silver bracelets on her right wrist engraved, respectively, with the words FEARLESS, BRAVE, and CARPE DIEMthe latter of which Carlson described as her personal motto.)

I have blond hair. Im from Minnesota. Im short. Im 5-foot-3, Carlson continued, And I think sometimes, by having these characteristics, people might put you in a certain category, wrongly.

Carlson didnt bother to mention her impressive academic credentialsa summa cum laude bachelors degree from Stanford University and a years study at Oxfordthat might have surprised Fox News viewers who heard her make occasionally outlandish assertions on the air (often concerning President Obamas supposed war on Christmas) that once prompted Jon Stewart to accuse her of dumbing herself down for her audience.

Even today, Carlson went on, I think its difficult sometimes for people to see women who happen to be smart, talented and attractive, but think, Oh my gosh, there must be something wrong with her.

OReilly was among a small army of Ailes loyalistsincluding Brit Hume, Greta van Susteren, Geraldo Rivera, Jeanine Pirro, Kimberly Guilfoyle and otherswho suggested that something was indeed wrong with Carlson. They were quick to dismiss her legal complaint as either sour grapes because her contract wasnt renewed orin OReillys casefrivolous and an unworthy attempt to shame and coerce money out of a respected public figure. (Rivera later publicly apologized to Carlson.)

Youre a target, Im a target. Any time, somebody could come out and sue us, attack us, go to the press or anything like that. And thats a deplorable situation, OReilly told Seth Meyers on NBCs Late Night program the week after Carlsons court filing against Ailes.

OReilly then recommended, regarding litigation like Carlsons: If you file a frivolous lawsuit and you lose, the judge has a right to make you pay all court costs. Until we adopt that very fair proposition, were gonna have this out of control, tabloid society that is tremendously destructiveI stand behind Roger 100 percent.

Carlson, 50, has yet to resume her quarter-century-long television career, aside from one-off gigs in January co-hosting the third hour of the Today program and an episode of The View.

After her reign as Miss America in 1989winning the crown, in part, with a display of violin virtuosityshe graduated from local stations to CBS News to a dozen years at Fox News, where she hosted an eponymous afternoon show and, before that, was sandwiched on the Fox & Friends couchoften abusively, according to her lawsuitbetween Brian Kilmeade and Steve Doocy, whom Carlson accused of regularly undermining her on and off the air.

It has been nine months since Carlson has had a TV job. Did the lawsuit against her boss prompt news executives at other outlets to be wary of her?

No, Carlson insisted, although she declined to comment on any conversations she might be having with Fox Newss competitors. Honestly, I have been so overwhelmed with what has been going on in my life. Im just sort of determining where I might want to be, and I really want to be in a place where I really look forward to going to work on a daily basis. So, Im not worried.

She said she has been busy juggling being a mom to her 12-year-old son, Christian, and teenage daughter, Kaia, and working on her book and pursuing her advocacy, which includes putting what she described as a significant amount of her own money into a tax-deductible charitable fund, titled Gift of Courage, that has already begun dispensing grants to groups that help women and girls.

Carlson has also been working with Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill to enact legislation to remove forced arbitration clauses from employment contracts, like the one she had with Fox News, that hinder lawsuits and require secret settlements. She hopes to testify on the subject before the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley.

And Carlson, a registered Independent, doesnt dismiss out of hand a future of political office for herself, maybe even the U.S. Senate from her home state of Connecticut, where she lives in the gilded suburb of Greenwich with her sports-agent husband, Casey Close, and their kidsand where the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Chris Murphy, faces reelection next year.

That was incredibly flatteringIm glad they see diverse possible talents, Carlson said about a recent press report that the Connecticut GOP might want to draft her to run against Murphy. My life has worked in such mysterious ways. I was supposed to be a concert violinist. That was my career as a kid. I didnt end up doing that. Gosh, the idea that I would ever have been Miss America? That wasnt on my radar screen. I was gonna be a lawyer. And I ended up going into television. And look who I am today.
Yes, Alia Bhatt's bra strap is showing. So? Oh, it's making you uncomfortable. So?

By Shivani Chhabra: Let us just put it out there, in the simplest of the words--women have breasts, and they wear bras to support them.

It has been a constant struggle for women to hide their bra straps under broad-shoulder tops, or wear excruciatingly painful, skin-digging transparent straps with off-shoulder clothes, only because bra straps seem to bother people.

With Alia Bhatt wearing a Dior gown, we recommend everyone to get comfortable with the idea of women wearing bras, and not hiding their proof anymore.

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Alia Bhatt made a winsome appearance at the GR8 Women Awards held in Dubai last night in an exquisite Christian Dior red strappy, pleated gown. She wore a bold-red lip shade and absolutely no accessories, because the stunning ensemble didn't need any; the high bun she sported gave the look a rather classy appeal.

Also Read: Alia Bhatt or Anushka Sharma? We can't decide who looks better in these denim outfits

Apart from how gorgeous she looked, there was something about her attire that blew us away. The red Christian Dior gown had its embedded bra straps visible, and it was deliberate.

Slamming patriarchy in the face, the backless gown had the back bra-support strap showing too, with Christian Dior written all over.

Alia's attire is a reminder of how unfair it is for women to be told to hide their bra straps, when most of them have no issues with it showing. The beautiful gown was an example of progressive dressing, and we've never been so proud of Alia!

Also Read: What Parineeti Chopra wore is not something we'd want in our closets, ever

A man's vest doesn't cause any turbulence, but a woman's bra strap has the potential to launch missiles of criticism, lewd comments and general looks of utter disrespect. So, thanks for a slap in their face, Alia.

Kudos on starting a revolution, Alia. Now, let's see how many others follow through.

--- ENDS ---
North Korea has played its pair of twos better than any other county in history. To reclaim the upper hand, we have to stop their nuclear weapons program. If we use force to do so, we must be ready to go the distance. I am not advocating for total war with the DPRK, but I am pointing out that this horrific outcome is becoming increasingly likely and, if it comes, will involve millions of troops, thousands of pieces of artillery and missiles, hundreds of aircraft and ships, and, cost tens of thousands of casualties and untold amounts of treasure.

North Koreas goal is to develop nuclear weapons that can reach the United States. Our posture of strategic patience has worked in their favor. They get closer with every missile launch and nuclear test. What we thought would take decades is now more like a couple of years, if we are lucky.

The DPRK having this capability is a significant security threat. Their ability to get away with provocative actions because they can threaten our allies is well established. They have killed South Koreans with no real consequences simply because they hold Seoul hostage with 11,000 pieces of conventional artillery. What will they try to get away with when the hostage is Chicago?

These provocations are not irrational acts. They have been carefully planned and executed at the direction of the Kim family. I served four years in Korea with my last posting as the Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff (DJ3) for U.S. Forces Korea, and believe its a mistake to dismiss their behavior as maniacal; they are rational, cold, calculating, actors who know how to intimidate. The thought of them with nuclear weapons that can reach Chicago scares me.

We need to do three things before we use force to take away their weapons program.

First, we need to make sure we have the military forces in place to fight a major engagement with the North. This means bringing forces stationed in theater to their highest readiness state and commence flowing additional forces required for the full range of contingency plans. Though seemingly excessive, we need this to maintain escalation control. What if they respond by using those 11,000 pieces of artillery against the 26 million peopleto include American familiesin Greater Seoul? Allied forces need to be at the ready to mitigate that threat before any strike goes in.

Second, we need Allied consensus on any plan of action regardless of the level. A unilateral U.S. act is unlikely to cause the North to give up their weapons program and automatically gives them a diplomatic seam to exploit. To hit the necessary targets with the necessary weapons, we need to use bases and forces in both the Republic of Korea and Japan. And we cant be prepared for the worst if their militaries arent equally ready. The U.S. and ROK forces fight as a team and have to be ready to defend the peninsula. Aside from the pragmatism of getting South Koreas and Japans consensus, its just the right thing to do when its mainly their civilians who are at risk.

Third, this isnt something we can do without the support of the American peopleregardless of political party. If the worst happens, and that likelihood is high, it wont look anything like any of the wars we have fought in the past 30 years. Its scope, intensity, duration, and, of course, casualties will be at a level the world hasnt seen for a very long time. For us, that means a total commitment of our active, guard and reserve forcesforces that are already stretched. For the Republic of Korea it will require total national mobilization.

The American people need to be on board. The main step in that process is to consult with Congress first. Though we shouldnt precede any contingency targeting of North Korea with a Congressional declaration of war, key members of both the House and Senate need to have this serious discussion with the administration before any action is taken on our part.

War with North Korea will be bloody and unlike anything we have seen since in the past 16 years of combat. The President and Congress owe the men and women who will have to fight that war a robust debate.

A new Korean war could change the world overnight. Anyone who is shocked to wake up one morning and see that we are taking out North Korean targets has not been paying attention. Anyone who is equally shocked when they shoot back has also not been paying attention. There is a saying thats often used in military operations, The enemy gets a vote. We have to be prepared to answer whatever North Koreas vote may be.

Rob Givens was a foreign policy advisor on Sen. Rand Paul's campaign and an Air Force General who served in South Korea for several years as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations U.S. Forces Korea.
A message from Vladimir Putin can take many forms.

It can be as heavy-handed as a pair of Russian bombers buzzing the Alaska coast, or as lethal as the public assassination of a defector on the streets of Kiev. Now Putin may be sending a message to the American government through a more subtle channel: an escalating series of U.S. intelligence leaks that last week exposed a National Security Agency operation in the Middle East and the identity of an agency official who participated.

The leaks by self-described hackers calling themselves the Shadow Brokers began in the final months of the Obama administration and increased in frequency and impact after the U.S. bombing of a Syrian airfield this montha move that angered Russia. The group has not been tied to the Kremlin with anything close to the forensic certitude of last years election-related hacks, but security experts say the Shadow Brokers attacks fit the pattern established by Russias GRU during its election hacking. In that operation, according to U.S. intelligence findings, Russia created fictitious Internet personas to launder some of their stolen emails, including the fake whistleblowing site called DCLeaks and a notional Romanian hacker named Guccifer 2.0.

I think theres something going on between the U.S. and Russia that were just seeing pieces of, said security technologist Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer at IBM Resilient. What happens when the deep states go to war with each other and dont tell the rest of us?

The Shadow Brokers made their debut in August, appearing out of nowhere to publish a set of secret hacking tools belonging to the Equation Groupthe security industrys name for the NSAs elite Tailored Access Operations program, which penetrates foreign computers to gather intelligence. At that time, the Shadow Brokers claimed to be mercenary hackers trying to sell the NSAs secrets to the highest bidder. But they went on to leak more files for free, seemingly timed with the public thrusts and parries between the Obama administration and the Russian government.

From the start, outside experts had little doubt that Russian intelligence was pulling the strings. Circumstantial evidence and conventional wisdom indicates Russian responsibility, exiled NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden tweeted last August. Why did they do it? No one knows, but I suspect this is more diplomacy than intelligence, related to the escalation around the [Democratic National Committee] hack.

The FBI started investigating, and in August agents arrested an NSA contractor named Hal Martin after discovering that Martin had been stockpiling agency secrets in his house for two decades. But even as Martin cooled his heels in federal custody, the Shadow Brokers continued to post messages and files.

Snowden and other experts speculated that the Russians obtained the code without the help of an insider. As a matter of tradecraft, intelligence agencies, including the NSA, secretly own, lease, or hack so-called staging servers on the public internet to launch attacks anonymously. By necessity, those machines are loaded up with at least some of the agencys tools. Snowden theorized that the Russians penetrated one of those servers and collected an NSA jackpot. NSA malware staging servers getting hacked by a rival is not new, he wrote.

Whatever their origin, the leaks dried up on Jan. 12, when the Shadow Brokers announced their retirement 10 days before Donald Trumps swearing-in. The group didnt reemerge until this month, after the Syrian militarys deadly chemical-weapons attack in Ghouta. Reportedly moved by images of the Syrian children injured or killed in the attack, Trump responded by ordering the launch of 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian government air basedeparting drastically from the will of Putin, who considers Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a strategic ally.

The Russian government immediately condemned the U.S. response. Two days later, so did the Shadow Brokers. The group broke its months-long silence and released another tranche of NSA secrets along with a lengthy open letter to Trump protesting the Syrian missile strike. Abandoning any pretense of a profit motive, the Shadow Brokers claimed now to be disillusioned U.S. votersthe peoples who getting you elected, as they put in, using phrasing that holds dual meaning coming from a suspected Kremlin operation.

The Shadow Brokers have been playing hardball ever since. Their most recent release, on Friday, exposed the code for a sophisticated NSA toolkit targeting Windows machines, putting some of the agencys capabilities, circa 2013, in the hands of every newbie hacker able to use a keyboard.

This time, the Shadow Brokers didnt stop with code. For the first time in their short history, they also released internal NSA spreadsheets, documents, and slide decks, some bedecked with the insignia and Top Secret markings familiar to anyone whos browsed the Snowden leaks.

The leak exposes in detail a 2013 NSA hacking operation called Jeep Flea Market that gained deep access to Dubai-based EastNets, a company that handles wire transfers for a number of Middle East banks, something of obvious interest to U.S. intelligence. (EastNets denies the breach.) But the Shadow Brokers exposed more than just an NSA operation. Metadata left in the files identified the full name of a 35-year-old NSA worker in San Antonio who was apparently involved in the hack. (The Daily Beast was unable to reach him for comment.)

NSA hackers dont face the same danger as CIA officers working undercover in a foreign country, but the likelihood that Russia has begun exposing them by name, while linking them to specific operations, raises the stakes for the intelligence community. If nothing else, the San Antonio NSA worker could plausibly face criminal and civil charges in the United Arab Emirates, just as hackers working for Russian and Chinese intelligence have been indicted in the U.S.

Its conceivable that the Shadow Brokers included the name by mistake. Groups like WikiLeaks and the journalists with the Snowden cache are accustomed to scrubbing identifying metadata from documents. But a less-experienced hand might overlook it. Schneier is doubtful. If were assuming an intelligent and strategic actor, which I think we are, then you have to assume that they did that on purpose, he said.

Nothing is certain; the Shadow Brokers are a puzzle with missing pieces. But Fridays Shadow Brokers release obliterated one theory on the spot. The NSA would never have put classified spreadsheets and PowerPoint slides on a staging server. They could only have come from inside the NSA.

Which sets the stage for a revival of a storied Cold War intelligence ritual, with the declining agency morale that comes with it: the Russian mole hunt. I think were most likely looking at someone who went rogue from within, or a contractor who had access to this information, said Eric ONeill, national-security strategist for Carbon Black. Either way, we have someone in the intelligence community thats a pretty high-placed spy.

A former FBI surveillance specialist, in 2001 ONeill helped bring down Robert Hannsen, a double agent in the bureau whod been secretly spying for Russia. The FBI must be scrambling right now, he said. Theres so many leaks going on: this leak, the CIA Vault7 leaks, and at the same time theres the investigation into any administration ties to Russia, and the DNC intrusion, and all these leaks coming out of the White House. Theres only so much that the FBIs national security agents can do.

If Russia did have a mole inside the NSA in 2013, the most recent date of the documents, Schneier thinks it unlikely that it does now, or else the Shadow Brokers wouldnt exist. You only publish when its more useful as an embarrassment than as intelligence, he said. So if you have a human asset inside the NSA, you wouldnt publish. That asset is too important.

Its also possible, though unprecedented in the public record, that Russia found a way into the NSAs classified network. A competing theory focuses on the FBIs early suspect, Hal Martin. Hes not the Shadow Brokers, but he reportedly worked in the NSAs Tailored Access Operations program and had 50,000 gigabytes of classified material in his home. Might he himself have been hacked? Martin is charged in Maryland with 20 counts of willful retention of national defense information, but prosecutors have not made any accusation that his trove slipped into enemy hands.

As Snowden demonstrated when he walked out of the NSA with a thumb drive of secrets, its comparatively easy now to steal and smuggle classified information. But ONeill says the FBIs counterintelligence mission is easier too, because of the rampant audit trails and server logs in classified networks.

Its much easier getting the secrets out now, but on the flip side, its also easier for law enforcement and the FBI to track down who had access to the data, he says. I like to think this mole hunt is going to be a little easier than it was in the past.

Until then, expect the Shadow Brokers to stick around. In their Friday dump, they hinted at more revelations this week: Who knows what we having next time?
Judging by Thursdays installment of The Viewon which Fox News and Bill OReilly came in for devastating examinationthe fired cable news stars troubles are far from over.

The program featured the riveting testimony of one of OReillys heretofore anonymous accusers, Perquita Burgess, who spent several weeks as a clerical temp worker at a desk near The OReilly Factors offices in 2008 and, according to her account on ABCs daytime television show, endured relentless sexual and racial harassment from Fox Newss top-rated anchor.

Burgess, a black woman, is the person that an allegedly leering, grunting, groaning OReilly addressed as Hot Chocolate, according to her narrative.

Burgesswho on Monday formally reported OReillys alleged misconduct by calling the 21st Century Fox sexual harassment hotline and appeared on The View with her attorney, Lisa Bloomtold the hushed studio audience that at first everything was fine.

But, she continued, within the first week and a half of me working there, he walked past my desk and he made a grunt noiselike that, Burgess said, clearing her throat. When he made the noise, I thought maybe it was a muscle spasm.

Acid reflux, panelist Joy Behar chimed in, drawing a laugh.As time went on, Burgess continued, I noticed every time he walked past my desk, if no one was around, he would make that noise. He wasnt speaking to meIt was embarrassing. So I got to the point where I didnt look at him

Fast forwardmaybe after three weekswe were on the elevator, coming up to our floor. He let me off first, as gentlemen usually do with a woman, and I walked in front him.

At which point OReilly, walking behind her and apparently looking her up and down, exclaimed: Looking good there, girl!

The hairs rose on the black of my neck because I knew the grunts and groaning was going onas Im walking in front of him.

She added that OReilly always made a point of walking by her desk, even though it was not on the way to his office, so that he could leer at me, look me up and down, I would feel like he was looking at my cleavage. He was making me uncomfortable. He had no reason to be at my desk at all. I just stopped looking at him or paying him any attention, because he was making me uncomfortable. It was like street harassment at the office.

Burgesswho was amazingly composed, compelling and credible for what had to be a stressful appearance on live network televisionrecounted another incident that occurred later when she was sitting in the sidewalk plaza at Fox Newss Manhattan headquarters building after lunch, minding my business, and OReilly walked past her.

Hey, Hot Chocolate! the then-60-year-old star anchor allegedly called out.

He walks past and doesnt look at me, Burgess recalled. When he said it, I didnt respond. I was mortified because it not only was sexual, I took that as a very plantational remark. Ive been around enough racism. Such a blatant person, with such a high profile, making me feel uncomfortable, but then not even acknowledging me as a human being.

Under questioning from View regular Jedidiah Bilaa former Fox News contributor who was among the misguided coterie who initially defended Roger Ailes last July after Gretchen Carlson filed her sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuitBurgess said she didnt report OReillys behavior, either to Fox News or her temp agency, because she needed the job and didnt want to undermine her agencys relationship with the right-leaning cable outlet.

However, attorney Sunny Hostin, another View regular, pointed out that Burgess had obliquely referred to OReillys behavior at the time it occurred on her Twitter feed: Bill OReilly likes black women. Leave it at that, she had tweeted. Bill OReilly is a piece of xxxx, she wrote in another Twitter post.

And Burgess stressed that she also told friends and family about her unwelcome encounters with the Fox News star.

It was so important to us that Perquita come out and speak outand she had this wonderful Twitter history, said her attorney, Bloom, who was seated in the audience.

Bloom, who also represents two other OReilly accusers, including LA radio personality Wendy Walsh, pointed that that Perquita, like the other two accusers I represent, has not asked for a dime. And that was an important part of our legal strategy to bring him down.Burgess, meanwhile, said she felt triumphant about OReillys sackingprompting applause. Very cathartic. Very cathartic, she added.

Responding to President Trumps full-throated defense of OReilly, and Trumps claim that his old friend did nothing wrong, Burgess said she was dismayed that the leader of our country [would] defend indefensible behavior by someone, Bill OReilly, who should be a leader at Fox. He should not use his power to intimidate women.

In the Hot Topics segment before Burgess joined the table, Whoopi Goldberg recalled the incident in October 2010 when OReilly was a guest on The View, and she and Behar walked off the set as he kept attacking Muslims in general in stating his opposition to building a mosque near the site of the collapsed World Trade Center towers.

It took us five minutes. It took Fox 20 years, Goldberg said.
A missing teenager and the high-school teacher accused of kidnapping her have been found alive in northern California, over 2,000 miles from the Tennessee town where they disappeared.

Tad Cummins, 50, is believed to have taken Elizabeth Thomas, 15 on March 13. Thomas was one of Cumminss students at her Maury County, Tennessee school, where he was suspended for inappropriate relations with her, The Daily Beast previously reported . Two weeks later, Thomas disappeared and Cummins was charged with aggravated kidnapping and sexual contact with a minor. On Thursday, Cummins was arrested in rural Siskiyou County, California, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations announced. Thomas was found safe, investigators said.

Late Wednesday night, both the TBI and local authorities received a tip from a local man who believed to have spotted Cummins and Thomas, investigators said Thursday.

We received a call to the TBI tip line around 11 p.m. Central last night from an individual in California who believed he may have encountered Tad Cummins and Elizabeth Thomas, Josh DeVine, a TBI spokesperson said in a Thursday afternoon press conference. The caller "indicated they had taken up residence in a cabin in a remote area in Cecilville, California within the last week and a half. In turn, we contacted the Siskiyou County Sheriffs office and learned that they had received the same information from the same individual."

"The area where the pair was reported to be is a very remote, isolated area with no or limited cell phone service," DeVine said, adding that there was snow on the ground in the rural area. "In spite of it all, deputies found the Nissan Rogue thats been at the center of this six-week search early this morning."

Though someone had removed the cars license plates, the Siskiyou County Sheriffs Office was able to run the Nissans vehicle identification number and confirm it belonged to Cummins.

"Authorities in Siskiyou County kept this car under surveillance for several hours and as daylight broke this morning were able to take Tad Cummins into custody and safely recover Elizabeth without incident," DeVine said.

Jack Smith, the acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee said he had filed federal charges against Cummins, in addition to the earlier state charges of kidnapping and sexual contact with a minor. Cummins is now charged with transporting a minor across state lines for sex, for which he faces a minimum 10 years in prison, Smith said.

Maury County District Attorney Brett Cooper said Thomas appeared in good health. "All we know is that shes apparently healthy and unharmed. Knowing that, our main concern is how she is emotionally and mentally," he said during the Thursday afternoon press conference. "Whatever help we can offer, we will make sure that it is provided for her."

Thomass family had previously gone public urging their daughter to flee Cummins. Izzy pleaseget away from him, get away from him, run somewhere, tell somebody, her father told CBS.

Investigators had not announced any credible sightings of Cummins or Thomas since the beginning of April, when they discovered surveillance footage of the pair inside a Walmart in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In the security footage, Cummins pushes a shopping cart through the stores front entrance while Thomas walks alongside him. Cummins used cash to purchase food, but did not buy anything significant, investigators said. Both appeared to have dyed their hair darker, possibly in an attempt to conceal their identities. Surveillance footage taken from a Tennessee Walmart in the days before he disappeared showed Cummins looking at womens hair dye.

The drive from Maury County, Tennessee to Oklahoma Citymore than 650 miles away, nearly 10 hourssuggested that Cummins had driven quickly out of town in the two days after the kidnapping.

Cummins personnel files describes allegations of inappropriate conduct by Cummins toward Thomas when he was her teacher, including trying to kiss her, and making contact with her even after the school ordered him to stop. Until enrolling in school this year, Thomas had been homeschooled, which investigators said may have led her to be viewed as more vulnerable by a predatory adult.

I have often thought that I would love to be a teacher, and just might excel at it, but it never seemed to be my destiny, Cummins wrote on his teaching application, obtained by The Daily Beast. When this opportunity presented itself I recalled that one of my favorite teachers came to teaching as a second career. That helped me believe that I can, too."

But the only references he listed were from the medical industry.

Honestly, I briefly knew him, Jeff Walker said, a former colleague told The Daily Beast. I was in sales, and he was a respiratory therapist. And it was a very brief, brief acquaintance, if you would call it that.

He added that Cumminss old job dealt primarily with adults, and that the school district never called to ask for a recommendation. so there was never an opportunity to be around young people, Walker said. He put me as a reference, and if anyone had called, I wouldve been like, who?

Maury County District Attorney Brett Cooper told a local ABC affiliate that Cummins had persuaded Thomas to exchange messages with him.

They would write the message and let it save as a draft, Cooper said. The other person would log in, read the message and then delete it and then write another message that was saved as a draft.

In at least one of the messages, Cummins allegedly made sexual comments about Thomas. Shortly before the kidnapping, Cummins searched for information on teen marriage, and whether police could track his car, investigators said of his internet history.

Prior to taking his teaching job in 2011, Cummins had no teaching experience. He had previously worked as a respiratory therapist for two decades, but described teaching as a dream job on his application.

Cummins is believed to have kidnapped Thomas from the restaurant where she worked. Thomass coworkers suggested that the 15-year-old feared her former teacher. Her familys lawyer told WKRN that coworkers said Thomas hid in the bathroom when Cummins visited, and begged a coworker to tell Cummins she wasnt working that day.

The morning of her disappearance, Thomas allegedly suggested that she was nervous about upcoming events. "She woke up her older sister and said 'Hey I'm leaving, but if I'm not back by 6:00 come looking for me,'" her sister-in-law Danielle Thomas told WHNT .

During the month-and-a-half manhunt, Cummins was believed to be carrying two handguns, investigators warned.

Cumminss arrest warrant claims that he "may have been abusing his role as a teacher to groom this vulnerable young girl for some time in an effort to lure and potentially sexually exploit her."
Kitchen workers at a Miami hotel were called in to work the day of a big party, then were unceremoniously fired one by one. As they left, the dishwashersall but two of whom were Haitiannoticed lighter-skinned new hires had already taken their place.

Their alleged wrongful termination in April 2014 was part of a larger pattern of harassment and racial discrimination at the SLS Hotel South Beach, according to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday by the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission on behalf of 15 former SLS employees.

According to the suit, Haitian stewards at the SLS South Beach kitchen were reprimanded by management for speaking Creole amongst themselves while cleaning dishes. Latino dishwashers, meanwhile, were allowed to speak to each other in Spanishthe suit claims the hotels kitchen had no formal language policy.

Kitchen management would allegedly assign Haitian employees to harder, more physically intensive labor than their non-Haitian counterparts. On more than one instance, a single Haitian worker was given work that ordinarily required two or three workers to complete, the suit claims.

When the buildings service elevator broke, only Haitian employees were told to carry heavy items up and down the hotels stairs, according to the suit, but the Latino staff was never required to do this work. After employees asked the buildings management to fix the broken elevator, one manager allegedly said, Let those slaves do the work in reference to the Haitian employees. Throughout the course of their employment at SLS, Haitian employees were allegedly referred to as fucking Haitians by kitchen higher-ups, including management and chefs.

In addition to the alleged discrimination going on in the SLS kitchen, the Haitian dishwashers say management actively discouraged them from seeking employment in other parts of the hotel. According to the suit, any open jobs outside the kitchen were swiftly filled by Latino or non-Haitian employees.

Then, on April 9, 2014, 23 dishwashers were fired. All but two of them were Haitian.

The suit claims that employees who werent already scheduled to work that day were tricked by management, who told them they were required to come in because kitchen was extremely busy due to a big party. Then, each worker was called into a meeting with the hotels HR department and subsequently fired. Each meeting lasted just a few minutes, and employees were allegedly told they had to sign a Confidential Separation Agreement and General Release form in order to receive their final paychecks.

None of the employees who worked that day were compensated for the hours they worked before being fired, the suit claims.

That same day, new employees were already washing dishes in the kitchenaccording to the suit, most of them were white or Latino, and they had been hired through a third-party company called NSG. Manuel Bolio, the only Latino employee who was fired on April 9, was soon re-hired through NSG to work at the hotel. The suit claims that the majority of the Haitian employees fired that day were not told they could apply to work at the hotel through another company.

Employers should not be able to avoid liability by using a staffing agency to discriminate when it cannot lawfully do so on its own, Robert Weisberg, regional attorney at EEOCs Miami office said in a statement. The EEOC will be vigilant in ensuring employment discrimination is not hidden behind increasingly complex business relationships, including the outsourcing concept.

The hotels legal team maintains that the employees werent terminated on racial grounds.

SBE made the decision more than two years ago to outsource the staffing of a number of the departments of the SLS South Beach for economic reasons, helping to manage the wide seasonal fluctuations in the Florida market, James L. Greeley, chief legal officer of SBE Restaurant Management, said in a statement. SBE Restaurant group manages the restaurants at all SLS hotels.

When this issue first came to our attention, we immediately conducted a thorough investigation and found no evidence of wrongdoing, Greeley continued.

But former hotel employees maintain that their termination was racially-motivated, and the EEOC is backing them up. The EEOC did a thorough investigation and came to a different conclusion, Robert Weisberg, regional attorney for the EEOCs Miami District Office, told The Daily Beast. They reviewed documents, did interviews at the hotel, and concluded otherwise.
With a disarming Southern drawl, a whiteboard, and a YouTube channel , Winston Shrout spent years explaining the secrets of the tax system: money hadnt been real since the United States abandoned the gold standard in 1933; debt was commercial karma; the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution  which may or may not be legal, Shrout contended  included a secret provision allowing Americans to opt out of citizenship.

For years, Shrout was an icon of the sovereign citizen movement , a loosely affiliated group of Americans who claim to be emancipated from the government. Sovereign citizens may believe local sheriffs to be the highest valid form of government, or that they can evade taxes in perpetuity by misspelling their names , or that all Americans are secretly owed $630,000, which was placed in a federal bank account upon their birth. From his popular YouTube channel, an expensive series of DVDs, and a lecture circuit, Shrout espoused all manner of theory on how Americans could allegedly free themselves from the federal government on wild technicalities.

Now hes on trial in a federal court for allegedly issuing more than $100 trillion in fake financial documents, which he allegedly peddled through his seminars. In his federal trial, which began Tuesday, Shrout pleaded not guilty to six counts of willful failure to file income tax returns, and 13 counts of fictitious obligations relating to his alleged scheme to forge and circulate imaginary currency at astronomical valuations.

For at least seven years, Shrout ran an elaborate scheme to invent fictional currencies like International Bills of Exchange and Non-Negotiable Bills of Exchange supposedly worth trillions of dollars and pass them off to his sovereign citizen disciples, a federal indictment filed in an Oregon District Court alleges.

Shrout allegedly presented the made-up documents as legitimate, sending them to financial institutions and even hosting seminars to spread the gospel of fake money.

In 2009, Mark Morini paid $936 to attend one of Shrouts three-day seminars, and to buy one of Shrouts DVDs (which range in price from the $65 Accepted for Value Series - Part 1 disc, to the $120 DVD on Commercial Consciousness: Breaking The Mind Control).

In his lectures, Shrout preached the straw man theory: that U.S. law only applies to a persons straw man, or their name as it is registered in federal files.

Shrout elaborated on the theory in a YouTube discussion with the Galactic Connection blog. The interview opened with an advertisement for the blogs implant removal processes, a service that costs $144 for Implant Removal Phase I, part of a set of Galactic Essences specially crafted by a self-proclaimed wizard of the Melchizedek Order, right alongside Merlin, and her friend whom she met at a UFO conference. The Galactic Essences purportedly cleanse the body of implants that were inserted for reasons unknown, either by aliens, or as part of the controlling matrix.

Sovereign citizens who subscribe to the straw man theory often deliberately misspell their legal names in attempt to distance themselves from their legal obligations.

When Morini signed up for Shrouts seminar, he also used a fake name, enrolling as Mark T. Morrison. But Morini wasnt really a sovereign citizen. He was an undercover investigator with the Treasury's Inspector General's Office. On Tuesday, Morini took the stand to testify against Shrout.

Morini posed as an out-of-luck landscaper in 2009, when he first began exchanging emails with Shrout, who sold his seminars and DVDs from the legitimate-sounding Winston Shrout Solutions in Commerce. Morini claimed to be $25,000 in debt to the IRS, a situation with which Shrout was well acquainted. (Were all familiar with that word debt, Shrout said in a 2015 lecture entitled Removing Commercial Karma at a conference hosted by the group Enlightened Contact with Extra Terrestrial Intelligence.)

Posing as a believer, Morini traveled to one of Shrouts three-day seminars in Cincinnati. At the seminar, Shrout showed him how to use a fake Treasury account to pay his tax debt, Morini testified Tuesday, according to OregonLive . When Morini went to pay for the seminar, Shrout allegedly refused a check and instead insisted Morini send money to a company called ComEd, which on Tuesday Shrout denied having any connection to.

But Shrout was notoriously evasive about money, prosecutors allege. And Morinis $25,000 debt, which Shrout purportedly eliminated with a fake Treasury account, was peanuts compared to other fake transactions Shrout allegedly made. His indictment lists a series of fraudulent transactions allegedly made over several years, ranging from a meager $10 million International Bill of Exchange issued to a small construction company in Oregon, to two $1 trillion International Bills of Exchange to a bank. The bills, submitted as evidence during the Tuesday trial, were stamped with a red thumbprint, a signature used in some sovereign citizen documents.

Shrout produced and issued more than three hundred of these fictitious financial instruments, purported to be worth in total over $100,000,000,000,000 ($100 trillion), on his own behalf and for credit to third parties, his indictment reads.

Shrout is representing himself with the help of a public defender, who is on standby. Neither the public defender, nor Shrouts company returned The Daily Beasts request for comment

On Tuesday, he maintained that he was within his right to pass off the fraudulent bills when he took the stand.

The things I did are in fact lawful, and I did them in an effort to assist commerce, he said, adding that allegations that he had attempted to pass off over $100 trillion in fraudulent documents are not very accurate.
Outside the art community, street art is still widely unrecognized as a legitimate artform protected by the same laws that protect fine art and music. But several recent lawsuits and a threat of legal action by street artists suggest that may be changing.

On Wednesday, as first reported by Artnet, New York attorney Andrew Gerber sent a letter to McDonalds on behalf of six Brooklyn artistsDon Rimx, Beau Stanton, Virus, NDA, Atomik, and Himbadthreatening imminent legal action against the fast food chain, claiming it featured the artists work in a new Dutch ad campaign without their permission.

McDonalds teamed up with the Bushwick Collective, a group of New York City street artists, to create an artsy-yet-gritty ad campaign promoting its New York Bagel Supreme burger in the Netherlands.

The four-minute McDonalds Presents the Vibe of Bushwick video highlights graffiti murals that have become synonymous with the Brooklyn neighborhoods art scene, with Bushwick Collective founder Joe Ficalora serving as narrator and tour guide in the promo campaign.

But a number of clips in the video show works by street artists who arent affiliated with the Bushwick Collective and didnt consent to participate in the campaign. In fact, they werent even asked.

If youre going to use our work to bolster your street cred, you should at least ask for permission, NDA, one of the artists, told the Daily Beast.

The artists are pursuing legal action over copyright infringement, false endorsement, damages to their work and reputation, and profits from unauthorized use of their work. Im not interested in doing free work for a giant, multi-national corporation, NDA added.

In his letter, Gerber demanded that the fast food chain pull the promotional video campaign and compensate the aggrieved artists for unlawful use of their works.

In the past few years our firm has represented a number of artists in addressing use of public artworkvstreet artfor commercial purposes without permission, Gerber told The Daily Beast. Its copyright infringement, and its disappointing that we keep seeing it. The license fees that should be paid in these scenarios are critical for these artists.

Gerber noted that street art has become a hot commodity from an advertising perspective, with brands using it to convey a certain vibe or aesthetic in marketing campaigns but failing to compensate muralists. According to Gerber, these companies know better yet continue to take advantage of street artists because they think they can get away with itand often do.

Theres a sense that street artists wont know how to address these issues or know that they can enforce their rights against companies, said Gerber, adding that companies are still responsible when they unwittingly use public artworks without artists permission. The damage is done regardless of intent.

Indeed, public perception is critical to shaping artists career trajectories, which makes young, emerging artists particularly scrupulous when it comes to brand association.

Many of the artists threatening to sue McDonalds dont want to be affiliated with the ad campaigns (misleading, in their view) image of Bushwick as a poor neighborhood relatively untouched by gentrification. That image is particularly distasteful coming from a fast food chain that contributes to the neighborhoods poverty, they argue, citing a dearth of supermarkets and access to nutritious food in Bushwick relative to other neighborhoods in New York City.

McDonalds was also sued in October 2016 for copyright infringement by the estate of Dash Snow, the late street artist, for using his signature graffiti tag as decor for a McDonalds restaurant in London. A California judge dismissed the lawsuit in January on the grounds of insufficient personal jurisdiction, since McDonalds is headquartered in Delaware.

But a judge handed down a significant victory in March to another group of street artists engaged in a protracted legal battle against real estate developers who razed a Long Island City neighborhood known as 5 Pointz (alternately described as the mecca for street art and the U.N. of graffiti), replacing it with luxury high rises.

When the artists learned that developers were planning to construct condominiums over their graffiti mecca, they sued to protect their work in 2013and their complaint was dismissed. The real estate developers proceeded to whitewash their murals months before demolition was scheduled to begin, and without giving the graffiti artists minimum notice required by law to attempt to protect their work.

In 2015, the artists filed another lawsuit claiming that their work was protected under the Visual Artists Rights Acts of 1990 (VARA), which grants visual artists the right to prevent destruction of a work of recognized stature that they created, even if they dont technically own that work.

The developers countered that VARA doesnt apply to the 5 Pointz case because even though the artists in question are well-known, the works that were destroyed were not of recognized stature. The judge disagreed: on March 31, he ruled that there was sufficient evidence for the 5 Pointz VARA case to go to trial.

Coming from a high-profile copyright lawyer like Gerber, the letter threatening legal action against McDonalds is the latest sign that the debate over street artists rights is reaching a tipping point.

Its been an ongoing conversation and its really coming to a head, said Beau Stanton, one of the artists whose work was featured in the McDonalds promo without his consent. The advertising industry has been very slow to accept that the artists maintain the rights to these images, said Stanton, adding that he refers to himselfnot coincidentallyas a muralist and a public artist rather than a street artist. The term street art is clearly a marketable thing right now, and the advertising world is utilizing it heavily in pitching to brands.

Gerber declined to reveal compensation estimates but clarified that numbers will be negotiated with McDonalds if the artists move forward with legal action. The Bushwick Collective has not been implicated by the aggrieved artists.

From our perspective, the issue is with McDonalds, said Gerber. We hope that [McDonalds] does the right thing so that we can resolve this amicably, but were keeping all options open.

McDonald's did not return a request for comment.
Somewhere in YouTube land, Kathryn VanEaton is getting baked and holding a purple bong with a Hello Kitty bowl, and its packed with Colorado snow.

Whats up, everyone, chirps the 34-year-old mother of four, after the shows sleek titles dissolve in what feels more like a makeup tutorial. But this is a different kind of how-to video, and VanEaton is a new strain of mommy blogger.

I am the Stoner Mom, and this is the Stoner Mom show, VanEaton greets her viewers. For todays show, we are just going to do a solo stoner session together. Me and you. Because thats all I have planned.

The stay-at-home mom notes that not all things Mary Jane are PG. If for any reason you have a Hello Kitty bowl laying around and you have daughters, there will be a Whats that? she advises.

In this particular video, VanEaton tackles using cannabis to deal with depression. But first, another bowl. I know you guys are blazing up with me, she says, before blowing smoke into the camera.

In the crowded world of mommy blogging and weed culture, VanEaton might be the queen of stoner momtrepreneurs.

Her website, TheStonerMom.com, is targeting parents who toke responsibly for medicinal and recreational purposes, and doing so with the spare sleekness of Martha Stewart.

She and her husband, David, also produce the podcast Mom and Dad Are Stoned from their Denver-area home, where they grow medicinal ganja behind locked doors in the basement. The episodes are replete with bubbly bong hits and blazed musings on their high-achieving elementary-school kids.

Part of VanEatons playbook is to fight the stigma against parents smoking pot, sometimes through blog posts like 10 Tips to Avoid Looking Like a Total Stoner and Eight Easy Ways to Be a Responsible Stoner Parent.

I am a thirtysomething, yoga-pants-wearing mom to four. You can find me in the suburbs of Colorado, usually in a Target or at the elementary school, doing regular mom things, VanEaton writes on her website.

But in addition to my role as mother and wife, I am also an enthusiastic medical + recreational marijuana advocate. In plainer terms, I smoke a lot of pot, she continues.

Or, as she states on her YouTube channel, Im a mom, I do normal mom thingsbut I do them stoned.

Some moms have taken to Instagram to proclaim their #stonermom cred, while others join private Facebook groups such as CannaMoms Uncensored. Yet they do so anonymously in many casesespecially in states where marijuana is illegalafraid that Child Protective Services will knock at their door.

VanEaton decided to go public as The Stoner Mom in a local TV segment last week.

I would get high with my girlfriend on girls night in, and we would just talk about how funny it was that we were secretly smoking pot, she told News 9.

People didnt really know that the mom at the grocery store with the enormous grocery bill is also a pothead.

Her interview predictably sparked a debate on social media. One Texas mother fumed: Because its perfectly OK to take care of kids while youre stoned out of your mind. yea theres not much expectations anymore is there? As long as you cooked dinner and didnt forget to pick your kid up from school.

Another mom chimed in, Smoking marijuana doesnt make you a bad parent. And for the record she never said she was high all day long. Holy crap, the amount of judgmental people here is through the roof. Get a life.

VanEaton started blogging in 2003, first covering her relationship with her now ex-husband, and later published a photography blog.

In an interview with The Daily Beast, she said, I didnt want to work. Ive always kind of been a not-wanting-to-work-for-the-man type of person.

The mama-juana did a stint as a shutterbug before easing into the role of suburban stoner housewife. Theres isolation that comes with parenting in general. When you add cannabis on top of that, now youre mega-isolated, she said.

It was in 2013, at the height of her divorce proceedings, that she started smoking habitually. That year, she got a state red card, and has been using medical bud to treat her depression and anxiety, along with prescription drugs, ever since.

VanEatons bong-centric bloglaunched one year later, and two years after Amendment 64 legalized weed in Coloradomade a splash by offering tutorials and live stoner sessions where the mom vapes with people on Google Hangouts.

She also creates Stoner Sesh videos, or footage in which potheads record themselves lighting up and having conversations.

I had no idea this was going to be a thing. But people are lonely when they smoke pot, VanEaton told The Daily Beast.

They actually use those sessions to have a buddy to smoke pot with, she said. If youre a mom or a woman and dont want to watch some dude or somebody a decade or two decades younger, you can smoke pot with the Stoner Mom.

One August 2016 video shows VanEaton ripping a purple bong, then segueing into a show-and-tell of school supplies. She flashes construction paper, markers, and other items one by one, then raises the pipe again. No, thats not on the list, she says before taking a hit and exhaling. Oh, that was a good hit though. Very, very nice.

On camera, she takes her reefer with the ease of someone sipping cups of tea. At one point in the video, her hubby gets home, drifts past the camera and announces, I got some carrots for us to juice.

Her other day-in-the-life videos reveal the prosaic schedule of a stay-at-home mompeppered with smoke breaks.

VanEaton narrates her summer routine for a June 2016 video, where shes seen brushing her teeth, drinking her morning coffee, and later taking a bong rip out her back door. Then she makes her kids breakfast before doing her makeup upstairs.

And of course I cannot do my makeup without having a little tiny sesh, and that is possible because today I am using my Sploofy in my bedroom, she says, referring to a hand-held smoke filter into which she exhales.

After shes ready for the day, and a quick check to make sure her children play in another room, VanEaton heads outside and says its a safe time for a quick session.

And now here I am guilt-free, enjoying my first official wake and bake, where I actually sit for a good eight or 10 minutes and get concentratedly medicated, VanEaton narrates.

I feel no guilt, as I said. I know that this time outside in the morning helps me be a better mom for the rest of the day.

Indeed, VanEaton told The Daily Beast that cannabis could be the secret to better parenthood.

Theres a lot of people with untreated mental illness or mental illness that theyre treating not correctly. Kids really benefit from having balanced and present and joyful parents, she said. And since I introduced cannabis into my self-care routine, my kids have never seen a [depressive] episode.

VanEaton said shes had depression her entire adult life, and it sometimes left her in bed and unable to speak. The only medication that has 100 percent eradicated these depressive episodes has been cannabis, she said. Its been a complete life-saver for me.

Her two kids and two stepchildren, ranging from 7 to 10 years old, know that The Stoner Moms online show is for just for grownups, she said.

The kids know that Im also doing this for a living. Companies will send me vaporizers, that kind of stuff. The only thing I have on lockdown is the cannabis itself. I keep all my bongs in a cabinet they dont have access to, she said.

The Stoner Mom claims she maintains a strict code to never smoke around her children and does not advocate doing so on her website. She would only consider using cannabis around kids if she had extreme pain from a serious medical condition, she said.

I know moms who have their bongs out on the counter. They hit it all day, VanEaton said. For me, its that case-by-case thing. What are you using cannabis for? Are you using it to deal with motherhood and is that OK?

Theres a right way to parent, and it has nothing to do with smoking pot, she added. It has everything to do with loving your children. Thats the bottom line.
Donald Trump clearly has a fetish for Muslim strongmen. If Trump had a Tinder profile (and given Trumps lack of transparency, he just might) it would likely read:

Desperate for tall, dark Muslim strongmen who love discipline, hate dissent and are into bondage of his critics. Torturing and killing your own people a real turn on. Promise to be discrete about your human rights record. Lets dominate democracy togetherI promise many Cialis moments.

And it appears that many Muslim dictators and autocrats have swiped right to take Trump up on his offer. Just a few weeks ago Trump entertained Egypts leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the White House, his first visit there because President Obama had refused to meet with him given his appalling human rights record.

As a brief primer, since Sisi took power in 2013 by way of a coup, he has effectively forbid criticism of his administration. He has cracked down on the media. Prominent human rights groups have seen their leaders arrested. His forces routinely use torture against critics or make them disappear. One of the most appalling incidents was the Rabaa massacre in August 2013 when Sisis forces killed nearly 900 of his own citizens who were protesting.

When Trump met Sisi at the White House, did he raise Sisis reprehensible human rights record? Nope, instead Trump declared at a joint meeting with the Egyptian leader: I just want to let everybody know, in case there was any doubt, that we are very much behind President al-Sisi. He's done a fantastic job in a very difficult situation.

But Sisi may be old news. Trumps latest crush appears to be with Turkeys increasingly authoritarian President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Over the weekend Erdogan was successful in using democracy to undermine democracy by way of a referendum that will empower him at the expense of the other branches of government. As Professor Howard Eissenstat, an expert on Turkey at the Washington D.C. based Project on Middle East Democracy, put it, the referendum win represents a remarkable aggrandizement of Erdogans personal power and quite possibly a death blow to vital checks and balances in the country.

Making it even more concerning is that Erdogan, like Sisi, has increasingly clamped down on the media and dissent. As the Committee to Protect Journalists noted, in 2016 Turkey has become the worlds worst jailer of journalists. Think about that for a second. There are 195 countries in the world, and under Erdogan, Turkey is the worst in terms of imprisoning journalists.

Add to that, in 2016 nearly 178 news outlets were forced to close. Erdogan even demanded that a German comedian be criminally prosecuted for mocking him.

So how did Trump respond when the Erdogan championed referendum won? Did he express concerns over Turkish democracy veering to dictatorship? Of course not. Trump loves his Muslim men to be fierce.

Trump called Erdogan and congratulated him on his victory. But this should be expected because Trump and Erdogan have a history. Trumps desire for Erdogan began well before Trump ran for office. You see, Erdogan also helped Trump make money.

And stunningly Trump even admitted as much in 2015 while appearing on Steve Bannons Breitbart.com radio show. Trump, in an unusual display of honesty, told Bannon, "I have a little conflict of interest 'cause I have a major, major building in Istanbul. It's a tremendously successful job. Trump added,  It's called Trump Towerstwo towers, instead of one, not the usual one, it's two."

It appears Erdogan himself was at the opening of the Trump towers in this Muslim majority nation, per Ivanka Trumps 2012 tweet: Thank you Prime Minister Erdogan for joining us yesterday to celebrate the launch of #TrumpTowers Istanbul!

Is Erdogan still helping Trump make money off the Trump Towers? We simply dont knowespecially with Trump refusing to release his tax returns. But I can only imagine that to Trump, a Muslim strongman who also can help him make money has to be more arousing than a Viagra/Cialis IV drip. After all during the campaign when Trump was calling for a total and complete shutdown of all Muslims coming into America, I wrote about how Trump still loved Muslims who make him money.

But Trumpas his marital history makes clearhas a wandering eye. He also appears smitten with other Muslim strongmen. For example, the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, whose regime tortured and killed his own citizens as well as human rights activists who have protested his rule.

In 2016, President Obama refused to approve the sale of 19 Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets given the Bahrain leaders failure to improve its human rights record.

But this is the very type of stuff that appears to turn Trump on. So last month Trump quietly reversed Obamas decision and approved the sale of the advanced fighter jets to the Bahraini government.

Trump is probably attracted to these strongmen because he sees some of himself in them. Is there any doubt that Trump would love to shut down media outlets critical of him and silence dissent the same way these autocrats have done? Keep in mind that Trump stunningly even demanded that Saturday Night Live be canceled for simply mocking him.

Theres zero doubt in my mind that Trump is a wannabe dictator whose lust for power is no different than the Sisi and Erdogans of this world. While Trump may get off on these dictators, we must desperately protect the one thing that separates us from them: The United States Constitution. We must passionately safeguard the freedoms enshrined in it as if our lives depend upon it. And to be honest, given what we have seen from the strongmen Trump is so aroused by, our lives just might.
Kurnool Excise department Superintendent Y. Adi Narayana slapped two employees at a petrol pump allegedly for delaying to fill the fuel to his car.

By Ashish Pandey: In an incident that brings to the fore another example of VIP high-handedness, a senior officer of the Andhra Pradesh Excise Department slapped two employees at a petrol pump allegedly for delay in filling fuel to his car in Yanam, Puducherry on Andhra Pradesh border on Wednesday.

According to reports, Kurnool Excise department Superintendent Y. Adi Narayana was on his way from Amalapuram to Kakinada on a private visit with his family when his driver stopped at an IOCL petrol pump for fuel.

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When the officer's car stopped at the pump, two more cars also arrived at almost the same time, leaving the pump employee refuelling cars confused about whom to attend to first.

Sasi Varma began refuelling one of the cars, which allegedly arrived after the officer's car. Agitated over this, Adi Narayana picked up an argument with the pump employee and later slapped him twice.

It is alleged that the Andhra Pradesh government officer also slapped another employee, identified as Rama Murthy, who was trying to intervene and pacify him. The entire brawl was captured in the CCTV of the pump.

Later, the station manager alerted the police about the incident. The police allowed Narayana to leave after he apologised for his behaviour.

Also Read:

Andhra Pradesh: Woman burnt alive after SUV catches fire on highway, husband escapes unhurt

Man accused of slapping BJP MP arrested

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Trump Donor Wants Pesticide Study Killed

NOTHING TO SEE HERE
The incident occurred in the wee hours today when the vehicle caught fire due to over heating while traveling on the highway.

By Ashish Pandey: In a freak fire mishap, a woman was burnt alive after a Mahindra Scorpio SUV was gutted on the highway near Adduroad Junction at S. Rayavaram mandal in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh.

The incident occurred in the wee hours of Thursday when the vehicle caught fire due to over heating while traveling on the highway.

The central locking system of the car malfunctioned when it caught fire which lead to the death of the lady passenger identified as Nagamani.

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Nagamani and her husband Ramana were returning to Vijayawada from their native place Purushottapuram when the incident happened. Ramana, who works as a railway driver in Vijayawada, escaped unhurt.

The police has registered a case and Nagamani's body has been sent for post-mortem.

Also Read:

Delhi: Toddler sisters playing in father's car suffer burn injuries after it catches fire

Chennai: Car racer Ashwin Sundar, wife charred to death after their BMW catches fire

Swaragini actor Namish Taneja escapes unhurt as his car catches fire

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By Press Trust of India: Kolkata, Apr 20 (PTI) The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission today sought a report from Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals after parents of a baby who died there submitted a complaint alleging medical negligence against the medical establishment.

"We have asked Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals authority to submit reports in connection with the treatment of the baby. They have been asked to submit the report within 72 hours or as early as possible," Commission secretary Arshad Hassan Warsi said.

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Parents of four-month-old Baby Kuheli Charaborty lodged a complaint with the Commission today alleging medical negligence of part of the hospital as well as uts three doctors.

"The Commission will look into the report from the Apollo Gleneagles and depending on it we will take follow-up action," another senior officer of the Commission said.

The baby was transferred to Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals on Saturday last and died there yesterday morning. Her family members have alleged that medical negligence by the hospital was responsible for it.

The babys parents also submitted a copy of their complaint to the state department of health and family welfare and met the director of health services Biswaranjan Satpathy.

"Our baby was not sick. We had taken her to Apollo Gleneagles for colonoscopy ... She was absolutely fine. Apollo Gleneagles and its doctors killed my baby. We want justice... We appeal to the chief minister to look into the matter," Shalu Chakraborty, mother of the dead baby told reporters.

They had lodged a complaint at Phoolbagan Police Station yesterday against the hospital and the three doctors alleging medical negligence in treating their baby. PTI SCH KK KK

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Read during countless Aggie Muster ceremonies held around the world over the years, the poem The Last Corps Trip has been a special part of the Texas A&M University tradition. But Friday, the sons of the poem's author, class of '51 graduate P.H. DuVal, will be in College Station to answer "here" for their father.

The DuVal family will join Aggies around the world, who will be gathering at more than 300 Muster ceremonies to recite the names of those who died in the past year an honor their memory.

Two of the annual ceremonies -- the student-run campus Muster and the Brazos County A&M Club Muster -- will be in College Station, featuring the most Aggies gathered for Muster in one city.

Matthew DuVal said he and his older brother Philo felt it was appropriate to be on the university campus for the ceremony, not only to pay their respects to their father, who died in February, but in appreciation to the university as well.

"By being there at Muster, it's a way for us to try to show our appreciation not only for our father, but his connection with the university and the kindness they have show to our family," DuVal said. "They read The Last Corps Trip at every Muster and here, this will be the Muster where the man who wrote it has his own name called and we will be able to answer for him...We're just very appreciative to be involved in the ceremony." DuVal said from a young age, he and his siblings were ingrained with respect for Texas A&M and when he eventually attended the university as a student, he said he found he had "big shoes to fill" when it came to his father's legacy.

Looking forward, DuVal said he and his family are deeply appreciative that his father's "memory will always be enshrined there at the university."

"My father carried along the ideals and principles of everything that is positive within Aggieland," DuVal said. "As you walk around campus, [the poem] is written throughout the campus and as an Aggie myself, I always found a lot of pride seeing that on campus. It always makes me very emotional."

Brazos County A&M Club Muster chair Earl Wurzbach said knowing DuVal's name will be called during the ceremony lends a "surreal" feeling to the proceedings.

"The Last Corps Trip is such a legacy piece of Aggie tradition," Wurzbach said. "It just hit so close to home [that DuVal had died]. I've heard [the poem] being read every year since I was a student back in the '70s and to now hear that the author has passed away is just a very different feeling from any other."

Wurzback said while the club is active throughout the year, its annual Muster ceremony is the most important event they have.

"It's such a brief and fleeting time, but we take at least a moment to pause each year to recognize those we've lost," he said. "It's one of our most hallowed traditions...It is the most important thing [the Brazos County A&M Club does] for our entire calendar year."

The Brazos County A&M Club Muster ceremony will be in the Bethancourt Ballroom of the Memorial Student Center, featuring Susan Rudd Bailey, class of '78 graduate and former president of the Texas Medical Association, as its keynote speaker for the event.

In Reed Arena, former president of the Texas A&M Foundation and class of '67 graduate Eddie Joe Davis Jr. will deliver the keynote address during the campus Muster where thousands are expected to attend. Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the ceremony is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

Should capacity for the arena be reached, overflow seating will be available in Rudder Auditorium.

Earlier in the day, the annual Camaraderie Barbecue will be near the statue of E. King Gill at the northeast corner of Kyle Field Plaza from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

A Reflections Display honoring the members of the Roll Call is located in the Flag Room of the MSC and will remain available through Saturday at 1 p.m.
The 33rd annual Wine & Roses festival will be Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Messina Hof Winery in Bryan.

The Wine & Roses Festival will feature live music, wine tasting, a grape-stomping competition and 40 local vendors selling a variety of items, including artwork, hand-crafted jewelry and more.

Savannah Gaines, public relations coordinator for the winery, said the festival occurs at a picturesque time of the year.

"It's a celebration of the budding of the vines and the blooming of the roses," Gaines said. "So, this is a really beautiful time at the vineyard right now because the rose bushes at the end are blooming and we have little baby grapes on the vines so, it's just the beginning of the vine cycle."

The live music includes the Cody Bryan Band and Darian Hernandez. Hernandez will perform an acoustic set on the Lakeside deck, while the Cody Bryan Band will follow Hernandez at the Vintage House Restaurant.

Additionally, there will be several wine and chocolate pairing classes led by Karen Bonarrigo. The wine and chocolate pairing class was popular at last year's festival, so this year's festival will feature more time slots.

"Everyone really enjoys this, it gets packed so quickly," Gaines said of the wine and chocolate pairing class. "It's definitely a favorite."

Art for the 10 finalists in the Texas wine label competition will be on display at the festival. With this year's theme being "Celebration," guests will cast their votes on the finalists and the winner will be featured on a bottle of Messina Hof wine. All of the proceeds from the entries in the contest will go to the Arts Council of the Brazos Valley.

Gaines said the festival gives people a chance to experience the growing Texas wine industry in their own backyard.

"Messina Hof has been here for 40 years now -- so this is huge for us to be able to really showcase the art of wine and how interesting wine is," Gaines said.

General admission is free before 5 p.m. and $15 after 5 p.m. There are several ticket packages available ranging from $45 to $90.

For those attending under 21, there will be sparkling juice, soda and more. Children 12 and under will receive free admission and are encouraged to be accompanied by an adult.

Messina Hof will have limited parking available for $5 with free shuttles running from Rudder High School. For ticket packages and a full schedule of the events, visit http://messinahof.com/wineandroses.
As mass shootings across America have become more commonplace in recent years, two Brazos County Sheriff's deputies on Wednesday detailed ways to react protectively to an active shooter situation as part of the Every Victim Every Time victim advocacy conference at the Brazos County Expo.

"These things happen everywhere, to everyone," said Brazos County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Garrett House. "We've had it happen in Brazos County, and it will happen again. To sit there and think it will never happen to you is poor decision. You have to open your mind to that."

House and Deputy Nathan Dennis told the group of police officers, firefighters, social workers, counselors, lawyers and school administrators of the actions of New York City security officer Cyril Rick Rescorla, who predicted a disaster to the World Trade Center before the 9-11 terror attacks. Rescorla was allowed to train tower employees in evacuation procedures in case of an emergency and regularly ran safety drills. He is credited with saving 2,700 lives, as he successfully led people out of one of the towers during the 2001 attacks.

The deputies used this example to illustrate how one of the most important steps in avoiding deaths in a major attack or large-scale emergency is prevention. According to the deputies, there is no set profile of a mass shooter. The only thing that they have in common is their unstable sense of being avengers, desire for a high body count and hunger for fame and notoriety. Prevention is key when noticing strange behaviors in any person, the deputies said. Many mass shooters exhibited odd behaviors noticable by coworkers and neighbors before committing their crimes, and a "see something, say something" attitude can save lives.

The human body reacts in three adrenaline-based stages in response to a major threat, Dennis and House said. The first of these stages, they said, is denial. People will deny they've heard gunshots or explosions, telling themselves that a loud sound is a firework or large object falling over. But, those seconds spent in denial count.

"We don't want you to wait for us to come," House said. "We're coming, but we want you to be able to defend yourself and the people around you while we're on our way."

The second stage is deliberation. Humans are pack animals, House said. People react to how others react. Under stress, the human heart rate will rise from 60 beats per minute to as much as 175 beats per minute. The faster a heart rate increases, the more a person will lose fine motor skills in the small muscles. At 175 beats per minute, people lose most cognitive thinking and will act like animals. They will fight, freeze or run away. Humans can't control themselves at a heart rate of more than 150 beats per minute, so they must practice taking steps beforehand to prepare themselves for when their brain is not making decisions.

The third stage of response is to defend, by either fleeing and shielding oneself or by attacking. It's a death sentence and highly unadvised to "play dead" or hide in an unbarricaded spot, the deputies said. In the Virginia Tech shooting and the attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, playing dead and hiding in an unsecured area cost dozens of people their lives.

Dennis and House shared strategies of how civilians can protect themselves in a mass shooting, even if unarmed.

Don't get wrapped up in the mindset that if one is shot, he or she will die, House said.

"Tell yourself will make it through it."

A large portion of people who are shot, even multiple times, live to tell the tale, he continued.

The officers urged that everyone pay attention to the exits in any building, and upon entering a store or restaurant, form a quick mental plan of what to do should an emergency occur. During the deliberation phase, a person should calm himself with combat breathing, in through the nose and out through the mouth. If face-to-face with a shooter, victims have the right to try and defend themselves, even if locating a nearby blunt, heavy object. Don't negotiate with a mass shooter, the officers said.

"Do not fight fair," Dennis warned. "Attack the eyes, throat and groin. Be aggressive."

Christi Cheshire is the dean of students for A&M Consolidated High School, and attended the lecture the officers gave as a yearly exercise in readiness. The educator said students at the high school practice active shooter drills several times every year.

"To me, you're never completely prepared," she said. "But I think it's about an awareness."

Cheshire said her students respond well to the drills and are intuitive to safety instincts.

"I think we are as prepared as we can be," she said. "Sgt. House's comment earlier that we don't have enough imagination is true -- some people sit there and think all day long about bad things to do to us, but all we can do is be prepared and hope we have the best to do."
It's been said a 1,000-mile journey starts with a single step, but for Robertson County Care Inc., it's a single slab.

The Franklin Food Pantry hosted a Beginning Our Building Celebration on April 11 to mark the completion of the first phase of a four-phase plan to build a new metal structure from which to provide free food to Robertson County residents in need every Saturday. Robertson County Care has fulfilled its first goal -- a slab, along with some plumbing and electrical components. Soon, it will have a new building.

The organization is seeking donations to help reach its $183,250 goal to build a 3,200-square foot metal building on Calvert Street. The lot next to the railroad tracks was donated by the City of Franklin.

The project will be completed in phases as the organization raises money.

For the past 18 years, the organization has been hosting its weekly community food pantry from a mobile home given as a gift that Cheryl Redden. co-chair of the building committee, called "truly a blessing." But after almost two decades, volunteers are hoping to move to a new, bigger space.

"We have worn it out," Shellie Lyon, Robertson County Care board member, said of the mobile home. Lyon estimated that more than 90,000 pounds of food last year were served to Robertson County residents, and, since "it comes in and out of that trailer," there's been wear and tear on the structure.

The Franklin Food Pantry has been in existence since 1996. Every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon, volunteers hand out essentials such as frozen meat, fresh eggs, bread, flour, hand soap and toothbrushes, serving about 80 families every month and 2,000 people per year.

To qualify for the food and household health items, those seeking help must have incomes below the federal poverty line -- in 2016, $12,060 for individuals and $24,600 for a family of four -- and live in the Franklin Independent School District. That is a significant population: according to the U.S. Census website, more than 16 percent of Robertson County residents live in poverty.

"In our little local county, jobs are hard to come by, and these days, young families have a really hard time making it," Lyon said.

Since 1997, Robertson County Care has been a part of the Brazos Valley Food Bank, from which Lyon said the Franklin Food Pantry gets 90 percent of its food donations. Volunteers from 12 local churches rotate working at the food pantry every Saturday morning.

Schools and community members have volunteered time and money, helping the Franklin Food Pantry -- a 501c-3 charitable organization -- serve thousands of Robertson County residents.

"We have had outstanding support from the community this entire time we've been in existence," Lyon said.

Jerry Redden, co-chair of the building committee, said he hoped Phase 2 would begin in the next few weeks. Phase 2 involves the construction of the metal building itself; Phase 3 will be the installation of electrical, heating and air conditioning systems and the completion of plumbing, while Phase 4 will involve the completion of air conditioning installation.

Lyon said Robertson County Care has raised more than $120,000 for the metal structure but it still around $60,000 short of its goal. If you're interested in making a tax-deductible donation to the pantry, you can send a payment to Robertson County Care, Inc., P.O. Box 802, Franklin, Texas 77856. If a monetary donation isn't possible, Redden said the group is always seeking donations of food, soap and laundry detergent.
July 7, 1942 - April 17, 2017

Becky Wright, 74, of Bryan, passed away peacefully on Monday, April 17, 2017 after fighting a long battle with Cancer.

Becky was born in Waco, Texas to Thomas Eidson and Mildred (Epps) Eidson and leaves behind her beloved husband Bob and their two children Brannon and Stacy Wright as well as two very special grandsons Karson and Kaylon.

Becky will be greatly missed by her large and loving extended family as well as her many dear friends and co-workers. She has worked for many years at both 1st American Bank and Citi Bank before joining the staff at the Brazos County Clerk office. Becky touched many lives over the years with her kind sprit and amazing courage.

Becky's Life Celebration will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, April 22, 2017 at the Hillier Funeral Home of College Station. She will be laid to rest at the Memorial Cemetery of College Station and friends are encouraged to come back to Hillier Funeral Home of College Station after the graveside for a reception in the Heritage Room.

Visitation will be on Friday, April 21st from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Hillier Funeral Home of College Station. Please visit Becky's tribute page at www.hillierfuneralhome.com to share memories and stories.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay also asserted that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.

By India Today Web Desk: Hitting out at China for giving Chinese names to some parts of Arunachal Pradesh, India today said inventing names to towns will not make China's claim legal.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay also asserted that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.

"Assigning invented names to towns of your neighbour does not make illegal territorial claims legal. Arunachal Pradesh is and will always be an integral part of India," Baglay told reporters here.

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When asked if India has taken up the matter with China, he said the Chinese government has not communicated anything officially so far and the ministry has seen only reports on the development.

China yesterday had announced that it has "standardised" official names for six places in the north-eastern state and termed the provocative move as a "legitimate action".

The official names of the six places using the Roman alphabet are Wogyainling, Mila Ri, Qoidengarbo Ri, Mainquka, Bumo La and Namkapub Ri.

The Chinese move came days after Beijing lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lama's visit to the frontier state.

(PTI inputs)

Also read:

China defends move to name six Arunachal Pradesh towns, denies Dalai Lama link

China announces standardised names for 6 places in Arunachal Pradesh

Also watch:

China renames 6 places in Arunachal Pradesh on Chinese map after Dalai Lama visit

--- ENDS ---
Arctic in focus

The Arctic is an area of particular concern in the study. With Arctic temperatures recently at 20C above average and sea ice at its lowest recorded extent, in 2016 the authors of the comprehensive Arctic Resilience Report warned that the rapid melting of Arctic ice could trigger polar tipping points' with catastrophic consequences worldwide.

Indigenous Peoples who still retain close, subsistence relationships with Arctic ecosystems have been the first to notice the biological indicators' and subtle signs' of these drastic climate impacts. The authors of the Science study have documented these observations in collaboration with Arctic Indigenous Peoples, making them visible through the study.

One such example comes from the Naatamo River, one of Europe's last free-flowing rivers to host wild populations of Atlantic salmon. Located in Finland's far Arctic North, for thousands of years, Naatamo and her salmon have been at the heart of the Skolt Sami People's subsistence and culture. This relationship has endured despite the forcible relocations suffered by the Skolt Saami during the 20th Century.

Climate change is endangering Naatamo's salmon populations and the Skolt way of life, whilst mining, aquaculture and tourism are potential future drivers of change. Increased temperatures and rainfall variability are causing the salmon's aquatic habitat to become less optimal for the fish, with drought endangering salmon spawning. If water levels become too low, salmon migrating to upriver spawning sites from the Atlantic are not able to swim in the river. Such stressors are what can cause a species to shift their range in search of more favourable conditions.

Another case study comes from Kolyma in Russian Siberia where the Chukchi People's physical, cultural and spiritual wellbeing relies primarily on reindeer herding. Climate change is causing irregular freeze-thaw events that lock-up the reindeer's principal winter food, lichen, beneath a layer of ice, as well as the melting of permafrost and other impacts that are causing changes in reindeer migration patterns. Maintaining the transhumance way of life that the Chukchi People have traditionally operated is becoming more and more challenging.

Indigenous knowledge crucial for climate resilience

However, as well as being a region of global concern, in a Science first, the study highlights the work of indigenous Arctic communities as major inspirations in the global effort to curb and build resilience to climate change.

In climate circles, resilience is defined as the capacity of interrelated human and natural systems to "buffer and adapt to stress and shocks, and thus navigate and even shape change".

The Skolt Sami are using their traditional knowledge and working hand-in-hand with scientists to guide efforts to restore the Naatamo River, building back the water system's resilience and in turn their own.

As part of the pioneering Naatamo River Co-Management Initiative, the Skolt Saami have developed locally devised indicators of environmental change that are more sensitive than Finland's nationally mandated regulatory parameters. Based on traditional knowledge transmitted and updated down the generations, these indicators systems are helping the Skolt Saami and partner scientists to detect and address ecological changes in a pre-emptive fashion.

The Skolt Saami have already identified and begun to restore key salmon spawning sites, helping the embattled fish to reproduce. They have also begun to adapt their own fishing practices and encourage other local subsistence fishers to do the same. Changes include using one net during the salmon season, rather than three and shifting fishing practices to focus on other species that inhabit the river, including fish that prey on young salmon.

The innovative co-management structure of the project is giving the Skolt Saami a louder voice in matter concerning the Naatamo River, opening spaces for them to share observations and recommendations based on traditional knowledge. Co-managers' in the process include scientists and local authorities, brought together in a structure first pioneered in North Karelia, Finland.

Our best chance for survival'

Showcasing the efforts of the Skolt Saami and other Indigenous Peoples like the Chukchi, the Science article is an important recognition of the vital role indigenous knowledge and its holders have to play in leading efforts to respond to climate change.

"Most of the things we hear and learn are narratives of how serious the northern climate change is getting", says Pauliina Feodoroff, President of the Saa'mi Nue'tt cultural organization.

"This article (the Science study) and the work connected with it through the Naatamo Collaborative Management Project has allowed us to partner in new ways with scientists to detect changes. Most importantly, this new dialogue contains elements of restoring some of the damages that have already happened, helping to build our resilience. The project and the article demonstrate how exact and relevant our Indigenous Sami knowledge is in assessing and responding to climate change, in partnership with science."

Dr Tero Mustonen, co-author of both this article and the new Science study and Director of the Snowchange Cooperative, an Arctic-wide network of indigenous and traditional peoples, says the new study is a call to action for more Indigenous knowledge-led ecosystem restoration.

"For many Indigenous communities, the climate change of today results from the past decades, even centuries of industrial uses of lands in their homelands that has caused environmentally negative consequences. Present resilience can be built, as has been demonstrated by the Skolt Sami in Finland, through locally led efforts of ecological restoration in those areas where it makes sense. Indigenous knowledge has also proven to be a viable method of detecting change, such as arrival of new species to northern locations", says Mustonen.

In light of the new study's findings, Mustonen is calling for a moratorium on destructive and extractive development activities in Arctic environments and territories, where the preservation of carbon sinks can help slow the impacts of climate change.

"Permafrost melt is a global event. Industries, like oil and gas have no role in these regions anymore. This is about global climate risk and climate security. Preservation of these marshmires, old-growth forests and tundra habitats, which have been governed for millennia sustainably by the Sami and other Indigenous peoples, are our best bet for survival as the Arctic warms. They also contain the endemic species of the North, whose preservation has inherent value," says Mustonen.

These Authors

Dr Tero Mustonen - a passionate defender of traditional worldview and cosmology of his people, is a Finn and head of the village of Selkie in North Karelia, Finland. He has worked as the traditional knowledge coordinator for Eurasia for the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment. Professionally, he works for the award-winning Snowchange Cooperative, which is a non-profit organization based in Finland with members across the Arctic, including the communities of Eastern Sami, Chukchi, Yukaghir, Sakha, Evenk, Even, Inuit, Inuvialuit, Gwitchin and many more. Mustonen is well-known scholar of Arctic biodiversity, climate change and indigenous issues; he has won several human rights and environmental awards for the work with Snowchange and indigenous peoples of the Arctic

Hannibal Rhoades is Communications and Advocacy Coordinator at The Gaia Foundation, a UK-based organisation working internationally to support indigenous and local communities to revive their knowledge, livelihoods and healthy ecosystems. Hannibal is a contributing writer at Intercontinental Cry and has covered stories of indigenous and local communities working for environmental and social justice for many publications
Making a return to our two favourite summer locations, Mount Maunganui and Nelson in early January 2023, we've got whiff of the first release lineup and me oh my, yes boy
VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP
PAUL SCHNEIDEREIT: Treatment centre for PTSD in first responders, military opens in Nova Scotia

Imagine its your job, every day, to be ready to rush to scenes where men, women or even children had been killed or badly injured, often in horrific circumstances. Really, consider what that might be like. If youre like most of us, the thought ...
Today outside the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, the protesters put a garland of slippers on life size banner of actor Sathyaraj and also burnt his effigy for his comments made almost 9-years ago on Kannadigas.

By Nolan Pinto: Pro-Kannada organisation activists today held a protest in the city against Tamil actor Sathyaraj for his comments made almost 9-years ago on Kannadigas and the vexed Cauvery water issue. Marching in large numbers from different areas toward the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, they gave a request on paper to the KFCC president asking him to call a meeting immediately to discuss this issue. They also have demanded that the much awaited movie, Baahubali: The Conclusion is not released in the state on April 28.

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Incidentally, various Pro Kannada organisations have called for a statewide bandh on the 28th of this month and have threatened to disrupt screening of the movie throughout the state. Today outside the KFCC, the protesters put a garland of slippers on life size banner of actor Sathyaraj and also burnt his effigy. What is also interesting is that the KFCC is fully supporting the demands of the protestors and are ready to block the screening of the movie in the state till an unconditional apology is tendered by the actor. The actor had allegedly called Kannadigas 'dogs' during the Cauvery protests years ago.

Speaking to India Today, a senior official from the KFCC said that they are ready to support and make the film a hit provided an apology is tendered. 'We are not bothered about Director SS Rajamouli or anybody, it's the question of the prestige of the people of Karnataka and this has hurt their sentiments.'

In order to calm things down, SS Rajamouli today released a video urging Kannadigas to support his film and not ban it. Speaking in Kannada, he says that the comments made by actor Sathyaraj were almost 9-years-old and were made in his own individual capacity. He in a way pleaded that his movie be released in the state or else he will suffer major loses.

To add to the mess, many of the activists are also miffed with the fact that the movie will be released directly by the producers since the film has not been sold to any local distributors.

Also Watch: Baahubali 2 may not release in Karnataka after Sathyaraj's controversial speech

Also Read:

Before Baahubali 2, pro-Kannada groups call for Karnataka bandh to protest release

SS Rajamouli opens up on Baahubali 2 Karnataka release, says it's not right

--- ENDS ---
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that while Mahatma Gandhi's assassination trial was completed in two years and Babri Masjid demolition, which is more serious than MK Gandhi's killing, has not been completed as yet.

By Press Trust of India: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday deplored the delay in concluding the trial in the Babri Masjid demolition case and termed it as "more serious" than the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

"Mahatma Gandhi assassination trial completed in 2 years & Babri Masjid demolition which (is) more serious than MK Gandhi killing not yet decided," the Hyderabad Lok Sabha member tweeted.

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"Gandhi's killers were convicted (and) hanged & Babri accused have been made Union Ministers, conferred Padma Vibhushan, justice system moves slowly," he said.

He also said those responsible for the "nation's shame" in 1992 are now running the country.

His comment came after Supreme Court allowed the CBI's plea to restore criminal conspiracy charge against top BJP leaders L K Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

The apex court, however, noted that Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh enjoys Constitutional immunity and can be tried only after he ceases to hold the office. Kalyan Singh was the chief minister of UP in 1992.

OWAISI QUESTIONS KALYAN SINGH'S FATE

"It's 24 years late. 24-25 years have passed. But at last the Supreme Court has taken the decision that the conspiracy charge should be there. But I hope the Supreme Court will also decide the contempt petition (pending since 1992)", Owaisi told PTI.

"The contempt petition has to be decided by them (SC)," he said.

In a series of tweets, he said, "Will Kalyan Singh resign & face trial or hide behind cover of being Governor, Will Modi govt remove him in Interest of Justice I doubt".

Attacking the Narendra Modi government, Owaisi said, "Demolition of Babri Masjid is a nation's shame people responsible for this shame are now running the nation."

"Now Supreme Court has said conspiracy charge added against accused will Padma Vibhushan be taken back from accused," he said.

"I think BUT for Supreme Court giving permission for Kar Seva Babri Masjid wouldn't have been demolished & Supreme Court yet hear Contempt pet(ition)," he said.

The apex court had permitted a "symbolic" kar sewa on November 28, 1992 following an undertaking by the Uttar Pradesh government that it would be peaceful. Days later on December 6, the 16th century mosque was pulled down by kar sewaks.

Also Read:

The Babri Masjid case timeline: What happened and when

IN PICTURES | Pictures: 25 years of Babri demolition case

It was premeditated: Advani, BJP leaders met night before Babri Masjid demolition, says CBI

Babri case: LK Advani to be tried for criminal conspiracy, rules Supreme Court

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Babri Masjid impending verdict has already claimed the life of LK Advani's dream to become President

Modi's conspiracy to remove Advani from President race: Lalu Prasad on Babri verdict

Won't resign, ready to sacrifice my life for Ram Mandir: Union Minister Uma Bharti on Babri order

Babri case: LK Advani out of presidential race after Supreme Court ruling?

--- ENDS ---
NORWALK  Board of Education Chairman Mike Lyons asked Norwalk Public Schools officials to begin preparing for layoffs Thursday after the districts teachers union leadership rejected a move to the Connecticut Partnership Plan 2.0.

District officials announced earlier this week that they may be forced to fire 75 employees or more if the district isnt able to switch its employees over to the states collective employee health insurance program as a way to help plug a $6.65 million deficit that is anticipated this year through its current self-insured plan.

Its sad to have gotten through all the budget crises weve done this year and to have it fall apart due to union leadership greed, Lyons said in an email to The Hour, but there it is.

Lyons said the district has met with each of its employees unions and that most are considering the move, but none have yet committed. He said district officials were notified by the teachers union president Thursday that it has rejected the move to the new health insurance plan.

They refuse to consider it without an unprecedented two-year contract extension, to five years, and cost increases that we cannot afford, Lyons said.

Subsequently, Lyons said he asked Superintendent of Schools Steven Adamowski and Chief Financial Officer Tom Hamilton to begin preparing for a reduction in force, which he said will be required to balance the districts budget.

The union leadership apparently prefers layoffs of its own members to State 2.0, Lyons said. Obviously, Id much prefer a new insurance plan that would solve our budget problem, avoid layoffs and provide cost savings to our union members.

Union: city must honor agreement

Norwalk Federation of Teachers President Mary Yordon said in statement, put out Thursday afternoon, that the union recognizes the school district faces significant budgetary challenges this year, but that the union made a fair offer to the district regarding the health insurance changes, and they rejected this offer.

The district expects the bargaining units to simply walk away from the health insurance agreements that have been negotiated and agreed upon, Yordon said in the statement. We have a contract and an agreement on health insurance that the district must honor.

Switching the districts employees over to the states 2.0 plan could save the district more than $3 million annually, Hamilton said during the Board of Educations Finance Committee meeting held earlier this week at City Hall.

The need for a change in the way the school finances its employees health insurance, officials say, stems from a spike in anticipated health insurance claim costs that was identified in the first several months of this school year in combination with a one-time reduction made to the districts insurance fund  after a surplus in the fund built up in prior years  which was transferred to cover the Special Education Development Fund for the 2017-18 school year.

Luckily, Hamilton said, the health insurance claims within the last several months have decreased, shrinking the anticipated $8.6 million deficit by nearly $2 million, but still leaving a $6.65 million hole.

The districts operating budget for the forthcoming fiscal year was approved under the assumption that a solution for the health care situation would be reached.

If the district funded Special Education needs last year by raiding the health insurance fund, and this year funds schools generally by raiding health insurance agreements or layoffs, what will next year bring? Yordon said. Our district deserves better management than this. Our members deserve better than threats and closed negotiations brought to the front page!

Making the switch to the states health insurance program would still leave the district with a roughly $4 million deficit, but would allow it to draw down its current insurance fund balance by $3.9 million  as it would no longer be self-insured and need that fund  leaving only a $100,000 deficit.

The switch in health plans would represent general savings across the board for both employees and the districts, and offer benefits that are comparable  or even better  than the current high deductible plans, district officials said in a letter sent to employees this week.

In-network deductibles for employees would decrease from $2,000 for a single employee and $4,000 per family to $350 for singles and $1,400 per family in the switch to the state plan. However, all of those deductibles would be waived entirely in the new plan if employees enroll in the state health plans Health Enhancement Program, which requires regular screenings such as eye exams and dental cleanings.

In-network medical office exams costs would also change from being the cost of the deductible to the cost of the deductible plus a $15 copay in the new plan. Prescription drug costs, after deductibles are accounted for, would see a $5 reduction in copay across all three tier levels, including prices of $5, $10 and $15.

Generally, Mike Barbis, Board of Education and Finance Committee member, at said at this weeks board meeting, the change from the current plan would mean a typical insured district employee with a family would see about $2,450 savings per year, with about half of that amount of savings per year for a single employee.

Yordon said the proposed switch requires a change in plan and network and may offer our members benefits, but not the same benefits that we currently have.

We are interested in doing our part to solve the problems that the city faces, and tried to work out the best way to do so, Yordon said.

The prices represented in the states plan, officials said, are universal as the program is not personalized for each school district.

Other districts have switched

Other nearby school districts such as in Greenwich, Trumbull and Fairfield have all made the switch to the states program, with marked savings, officials said.

Lyons said the district would be looking to complete the switch by July 1, which stands as the start of the new fiscal year.

That is still doable, he said, but its getting tight.

Yordon said the teachers union has historically helped the district in similar circumstances. In 2010, she said, the union saved the district millions by switching to a new health insurance plan.

The district thanked us with a salary and step freeze in 2012, she said. We are reluctant to find ourselves similarly thanked this time.

Mayor Harry Rilling has indicated that the city is also hoping to switch its employees to the state's 2.0 insurance plan.

The school board is working with their unions and were working with the city unions, and the city unions at this point in time are in negotiations, Rilling said.

Collective-bargaining agreements between the city and its union expired last June.

Staff reporter Robert Koch contributed to this story.

KSchultz@thehour.com; 203-354-1049; @kevinedschultz
NORWALK  Police are investigating a stabbing that occurred Wednesday night in South Norwalk.

Officers were dispatched to the Open Door Shelter shortly after 8 p.m. on a report from a staff member there that a man had been stabbed.

The mans injuries were to the lower left abdomen. Police say the injuries were minor and he was transported to Norwalk Hospital.

A spokesperson for the shelter said the stabbing occurred on South Main Street. The victim then walked to the shelter, where a staff person called police.

The Norwalk Detective Bureau assumed the investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Nikolas Kougiousmtzidis at 203-854-3011.

Anonymous tips can be left at any of the below contacts.

Norwalk Police Tip Line at 203-854-3111.

Anonymous internet tips can be sent to the Norwalk police website at www.norwalkpd.com.

Anonymous text tips can be submitted by typing NPD into the text field, followed by the message, and sending it to CRIMES (274637).

llake@hearstmediact.com
Grand Island and Hastings played special roles on Monday during a celebration of National Community Development Week at the state Capitol in Lincoln.

Since its creation in 1974, the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program has provided communities across the state with the necessary resources to address development challenges.

Gov. Pete Ricketts shared how the CDBG program has helped the state over the past five years, including more than 250 projects completed and $78 million in CDBG funds invested in Nebraska. The funds were awarded to 117 communities and three counties.

This is the first year Grand Island has been named an Entitlement Community, meaning the citys Community Development Division began partnering with the state to celebrate Community Development Week.

In honor of the week, the city presented a Community Impact Award to Grand Island Area Habitat for Humanity, which has partnered with the city for more than a decade to assist in providing affordable housing.

When talking about community impact, Habitat for Humanity truly represents that term, Charley Falmlen, the citys community development administrator, said in a press release. In many projects throughout our community, it is our partners who do the real groundwork, demonstrate our vision of working together for a better tomorrow and deliver on many of the promises we make about continuing to improve our community.

Recent CDBG projects in Grand Island include the $750,000 contribution to the work being done at Lions Club Park and the Americans with Disabilities Act ramps along Fourth Street, $50,000 to provide education services through the Literacy Council, $35,000 toward a business rental assistance program and $30,000 to assist Grand Island Area Habitat for Humanity in obtaining affordable lots.

Also at Mondays ceremony, Courtney Dentlinger, director of Nebraska Department of Economic Development, recognized the city of Hastings with the Governors Showcase Community Award.

Hastings organizations, leaders, businesses and residents are reviving the downtown and the city overall with building renovations, facade improvements, housing rehabilitation and loans to local businesses to open or expand, according to a press release from the state Department of Economic Development.

The Lark, an arts and cultural center, renovated its historic building, providing an event space for concerts, classes, theater productions, comedy shows and film screenings.

Funding was also provided for the mixed-use redevelopments of Uptown Experience, luxury-style furnished apartments made available for short- or long-term occupancy and for Block 27 Lofts, apartments for young professionals. The ground-level retail space houses the Odyssey restaurant and microbrewery Steeple Brewing.

In addition, the ongoing Pioneer Spirit Trail provides an intermodal pedestrian transportation network between major recreational centers such as Lake Hastings, Hastings College and the downtown business district.
A discussion of the Grand Island Public Schools strategic plan and presentations on random drug testing and the districts budget will be on the agenda when the Grand Island school board meets for its annual retreat on Friday and Saturday.

The retreat will be from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the board room of the Nebraska Building at Fonner Park. Following the custom for a retreat, the board will gather away from its usual meeting room in the Kneale Administration Building.

However, as an official meeting of the full school board, the retreat will be open to the public. Everything will be done in open session. No executive, or closed, sessions are planned, said Bonnie Hinkle, board president.

After a brief welcome and overview from Superintendent Tawana Grover at 4 p.m. Friday, the retreat will enter a section titled Healthy Choices.

That will include a presentation on random drug testing by Matthew Franz, operations director at Sport Safe Testing Service. That should lead to the board providing direction to the district administration and a policy committee on the matter.

Chief Financial Officer Virgil Harden will give a budget presentation, followed by topics on A Balance Governance Approach and operating principles.

Saturdays agenda will be dominated by discussion of the districts strategic plan, which will include the visioning process for Grand Island Senior High.

As part of the strategic plan discussion, the board will attempt to define mission, vision and student commitments.

The retreat is scheduled to conclude by 2 p.m.
The CBI told the court, it has evidence that the BJP leaders, who made their speeches on a stage near the mosque, on the day that it was razed, were part of the plot to bring down the mosque.

By Harish V Nair: The biggest takeaway of the Supreme Court judgment reviving criminal conspiracy charges against BJP leader LK Advani and 14 other BJP and RSS leaders was the CBI seeming to taking an "independent" view.

This was the same CBI which during the UPA regime tried to fudge coal scam reports to save Congress leaders and was given the tag of "caged parrot speaking in its master's voice" by the Supreme Court.

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Detractors had suggested that the agency may not be inclined to press criminal conspiracy charges against the BJP and RSS leaders with the Modi government in power. But, they were proved wrong.

The SC bench had issued the order after Modi government's ASG N K Kaul, who represented CBI, had painstakingly explained how there was prima facie evidence against all the BJP and RSS leaders named as accused and why the Allahabad High Court was wrong in dropping the conspiracy charges. The CBI told the court, it has evidence that the BJP leaders, who made their speeches on a stage near the mosque, on the day that it was razed, were part of the plot to bring down the mosque.

IT WAS PREMEDITATED: CBI

The agency claims Advani and other BJP leaders met the night before the mosque was brought down and decided that it would be razed, which makes the demolition a pre-meditated, deliberate event.

It is to be noted that it was CBI under Manmohan Singh-led UPA government which moved the apex court in 2011, challenging the HC order discharging Advani and others and seeking its restoration. The CBI under Modi government surprised all by not withdrawing the appeal and continuing with the stand. Responding to the CBI's argument, the bench said "this court has the duty to do complete justice in a case when found necessary. In the present case, crimes which shake the secular fabric of the Constitution of India have allegedly been committed almost 25 years ago. The accused persons have not been brought to book largely because of the conduct of the CBI in not pursuing the prosecution of the aforesaid alleged offenders in a joint trial, and because of technical defects which were easily curable, but which were not cured by the State Government".

89-year-old Advani, who is a member of BJP's marg darshak mandal has denied his role in a criminal conspiracy to raze the Masjid in 1992. "Is it a case that I conspired with one lakh kar sevaks? CBI cannot prove the criminal conspiracy charges," his lawyer K K Venugopal had told the SC bench.

WATCH: Babri case: LK Advani to be tried for criminal conspiracy, rules Supreme Court

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ALSO READ:

Babri demolition case: What Supreme Court ruling means for LK Advani, MM Joshi, Uma Bharti

Babri Masjid impending verdict has already claimed the life of LK Advani's dream to become President

Timeline of Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir dispute: Mapping three-decade history of Ayodhya caseAyodhya dispute: 6 questions on Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir dispute answered here

--- ENDS ---
HASTINGS  Falcons, hawks and owls were among the visitors to Hastings Museum on Wednesday morning.

Devin Paszek and her mom came from Natures Educators in Sedalia, Colo., to give a presentation. Paszek is executive director of the nonprofit organization.

According to its website, natureseducators.org, Natures Educators was founded in 2008. The organization started in Canon City, Colo., and moved to Aurora, Colo., in 2010.

Natures Educators was established to bring animals into nature centers, classrooms, events and more to teach about wildlife and help to create a healthy respect and understanding of all animals. The goal of Natures Educators is to create a public wildlife center and allow audiences to visit and have programs on site while still doing outreach and events.

About 40 people, both young and old, attended Wednesdays educational presentation. Paszek brought out four birds: a saw-whet owl, an American kestrel, a Barbary falcon and a ferruginous hawk.

Paszek taught the audience about the birds while they got to see them up close. All of the birds the organization has are destined to stay in captivity for the rest of their lives. Paszek said the birds all have something that happened to them that kept them from going back into the wild.

The saw-whet owl, she said, was flying too close to a road and was hit by a car. The small owl is missing one eye.

Paszek and others with the organization give educational presentations with the animals to teach others about the species.

She is a Hastings College graduate, so she said it was nice to be back to what was once her home. She planned on speaking in the colleges biology department, where she was the first wildlife biology graduate. She graduated in 2008 and interned at Hastings Museum that year as well.

Its fun to see how the city has grown, Paszek said.

She said she likes to share her knowledge with people and share facts they might not have known before.

I like to be able to see a bird go from nervous around people to being more calm, Paszek said about working with the special-needs birds.

She said she doesnt get back to the area often, so it was nice to be back in Hastings doing what she loves.

Its nostalgic, Paszek said.
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Recently Kelly and I had a hankering for a good seafood brunch and you cant go wrong with Bristol Seafood Grill in Creve Coeur.

Ive had the pleasure of catching Bristols Sunday brunch a couple of times and its well worth the trip. Located at 11801 Olive Blvd in Creve Coeur, Bristol offers an elegant setting with an excellent menu.

There are other locations in Missouri in OFallon and Kansas City. To learn more about Bristol visit their website at www.bristolseafoodgrill.com.

They offer lunch and dinner menus on top of the brunch menu, but it was brunch time when we visited and trust me there is plenty to choose from. Brunch is served from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays.

We started with a couple of brunch drinks. I ordered an Irish coffee, with Jameson whiskey. It included cream on top and a touch of mint. It was very refreshing and a good kick start to get me going. Kelly ordered mimosas, which are comprised of champagne and orange juice, another good start to the day.

As for the food, I had to start with the omelette bar. I understand the specialty is the seafood, but getting to watch a chef prepare my omelette right in front of me with all the ingredients I picked out reverts me back to being a little kid. There are plenty of choices for goodies for your omelette, too.

I quickly perused my options and went with green onions, ham, applewood smoked bacon (of course), mushrooms, cheddar and mozzarella cheese. There are also options like pepper jack cheese, spinach, tomatoes, red peppers and red onions you can get.

I topped my omelette off with a little hot sauce and then grabbed a couple Belgian waffles off of the waffle bar, added some pecans and maple syrup and I was off to a great start. It was all delicious. All the ingredients in the omelette are indeed very fresh and it starts me off to hit the main room for the buffet style main courses.

Heres a rundown of my main dish choices on my couple of trips, lobster mac and cheese, salmon, Cajun chicken pasta, bacon, mashed potatoes and chicken picatta. There is also a carving station and cold seafood station I hit up where I piled on freshly sliced ham, prime rib, smoked mussels, shrimp sushi rolls and char crusted tuna.

The leaders of the day were the chicken picatta, Cajun chicken pasta, lobster mac and cheese and char crusted tuna.

Chicken picatta is a butterflied chicken breast flattened with a meat tenderizer, lightly breaded in flour and browned. It then has a little lemon and white wine added to finish it off. If you havent had the pleasure of trying it, its pretty scrumptious, give it a try.

As for the char crusted tuna, its seared on all sides, but the middle of the tuna is medium rare and cool in taste. It has a very rich taste and not real fishy, more of a steak taste. If youre into sushi at all give it a try, too.

One thing that Kelly and I were bummed about was there were none of Bristols shrimp enchiladas on our trip. This is another normal choice on the menu and absolutely delicious. They had a recall on one of the ingredients and didnt want to risk having it on the menu on our visit, which I was thankful for. The next time back I hope its back on the menu because it again is a great dish.

Everything is just high quality at Bristol and a nice treat from time to time. There was slow jazz music playing in the background and like I mentioned before the aesthetics of the restaurant are very elegant.

Price wise its a little expensive. Each brunch was $28 and that didnt include our drinks.

Check out the lunch menu also, with options like the pretzel crusted trout, almond crusted tilapia, seared scallops, crab cakes and center cut filet mignon to name a few choices.

The dinner menu includes starters like lobster corn dogs, corn breaded shrimp and smoked salmon flatbread and then main courses like swordfish and seared halibut. Of course there are combos where you can get steaks with lobster and crab also.

I will warn you it gets packed, especially for the brunch, so definitely make reservations. Kelly made us reservations on our trip and if she wouldnt have we may have had to wait for an hour. Thats not good for me, I get a little hangry. But thats why I keep her around, shes a little smarter than me.

Also look into signing up for the Bristol promotions. They have a birthday promotion that will save you money on a birthday visit.

I highly recommend Bristol Seafood Grill as a place to visit the next time youre looking for a classy joint when you gotta eat.
A 25-year-old St. Louis woman faces multiple felony charges for allegedly smuggling opioids into a temporary holding cell at the Madison County Jail.

The incident led to the hospitalization of three other women who were also being held there at the time.

On Thursday afternoon, prosecutors charged Michelle E. Bushue with one count of bringing contraband into a penal institution and four counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance.

The narcotics were probably smuggled into the holding cell via a private body cavity and shared with others in the cell, according to a news release from the Madison County Sheriffs Department.

Deputies became aware of the situation around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday after three female inmates in the holding cell became lethargic and showed symptoms of narcotic intoxication, Capt. Mike Dixon said in the release.

An emergency call was made and five emergency vehicles, from Edwardsville, Glen Carbon and Alton, pulled up behind the jail. Shortly before 3 pm, three women were placed on stretchers and taken to a regional hospital, where they were treated and released for suspected opioid overdoses, according to the release.

The names of the three women have not been released, and Dixon said that after their release from the hospital they were returned to the jail where they are being held on their original unassociated charges.

The drugs stayed in the holding cell and never made their way into the general jail population, according to the investigation.

Sheriff John Lakin ordered a thorough investigation to determine where the narcotics came from and how they got into the hands of the three women. Investigators with the Sheriffs Department interviewed all the inmates who were at the holding cell at the time. The department also called in the Illinois State Police Crime Scene Investigative Unit to help process the holding cell.

After the investigation, detectives turned the results over to the Madison County States Attorneys Office, which issued warrants against Bushue.

Associate Judge Neil Schroeder set her bond at $150,000.

Bushue was originally arrested Wednesday morning in St. Clair County on an outstanding warrant issued by Madison County. She was transported from the St. Clair County Jail to the Madison County Jail in Edwardsville, where she was searched by jail deputies and then placed in the temporary holding cell at 1:26 p.m., according to the release.
The former chief of the Delhi Commission for Women named senior Congress leader Ajay Maken in a press conference today and accused him of misbehaving with her and other office bearers of the Delhi Women's Congress.

By India Today Web Desk: The latest to abandon the turbulent Delhi Congress ship is Delhi Women's Congress chief Barkha Shukla Singh, who, in an open resignation letter released to reporters today, has accused senior leader Ajay Maken of "abusing and threatening" women party workers, and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi of ignoring their harassment.

"On the day of Navratra on March 28, I along with a number of other fasting women workers of the party, tried to meet Rahul Gandhi. But we were rudely told that he didn't care about Navratra and asked us to go home. The same night, he was partying at Shangri La hotel," she said at a press conference, flashing a purported video of Rahul inside the hotel.

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The former chief of the Delhi Commission for Women named senior Congress leader Ajay Maken in the press conference, accusing him of "misbehaving" with her and other office bearers of the Delhi Women's Congress. "When the same was brought to the notice of Rahul Gandhi, our pleas fell on deaf ears," she alleged.

"It is sheer hypocrisy that when (BJP leader) Vinay Katiyar makes absurd remarks about Priyanka Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi's office expects us to protest against the same. But when we complain of Ajay Maken abusing and threatening us, we are told to take the matter with Maken himself," she said.

"With utmost regret I have to say that the Congress party under the leadership of Mr Rahul Gandhi and Mr Ajay Maken have only used the issue of empowerment of women to gather votes and it means nothing to them," Singh said in her statement to the press.

'WHY IS RAHUL GANDHI HIDING?'

In her letter, Singh has directed most of her attack on Rahul Gandhi, accusing the 45-year-old leader "hiding" from the party workers. "The one pertinent question we need to ask is why is Rahul Gandhi hiding? Why is he scared of meeting his party workers who ask him questions?" she asks.

Singh claimed "senior most leaders of the party" are of the view that Rahul is "unfit" to lead the Congress, though she did not name anyone. "They choose not to say anything for reasons best known to them," she says.

Singh's revolt against her party came two days after former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely and former Youth Congress leader Amit Malik quit the party and joined the BJP, days before Delhi votes in the MCD election.

ALSO READ:

Congress hit by exits ahead of Delhi MCD election: When Generals leave, it means hard times for party

Congress leader and former Delhi minister Arvinder Singh Lovely joins BJP ahead of MCD polls

ALSO WATCH:

MCD polls: Sacked AAP leader campaigns for BJP, Arvinder Singh Lovely joins BJP, more

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Gullnaz Baig (The Jakarta Post) London  Thu, April 20, 2017

A new crop of Indonesian extremists, with their penchant for social media, is drawing the ire of an older generation. Will this fragmentation further weaken the jihadi movement in the South East Asian nation?

When Dian Yulia Novi was arrested in December for her role in a plot to bomb the presidential palace in Jakarta, Indonesians were enthralled by the discovery of what could have been the country's first female suicide bomber. The involvement of women as suicide bombers in Islamist extremist groups, increasingly commonplace in the Middle East and in sub-Saharan Africa, was hitherto a novel development in the world's most populous Muslim state.

General Tito Karnavian, chief of the Indonesian Police, cautioned that Dian was only one of several women under surveillance in connection with terror cells across the country. It was another Indonesian woman - Tutin Sugiarto, alias Ummu Absa  who had introduced Dian to Muhammad Solihin, the man she would eventually marry in order to facilitate her involvement as a jihadi suicide bomber. The match was made via the messaging app beloved of Islamist extremists, Telegram. What further captivated observers were Dian and Solihin's intricate descriptions of the plot. Soon after their arrest, both appeared in exclusive, no-holds-barred interviews with major Indonesian news agencies.

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Linkedin Philips J. Vermonte (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017

Jakartans had their final say after a long and exhausting election season. It is pretty much a landslide victory for Anies Baswedan, the challenger, over Basuki Tjahaja Ahok Purnama, the incumbent governor.

Pending the official manual counting of approximately 7 million votes, quick counts and exit polls by various pollsters have established the fact that the margin ranges between 12 to 16 percent in favor of Anies. A quick count conducted by Kompas showed Anies garnered 58 percent of the vote against Ahoks 42 percent.

The election season, which was marred by a smear campaign, invoking religious and racial sentiment, led many to believe that ugly campaigning worked for the benefit of Anies, who had presented himself as a moderate Muslim with an international outlook throughout his academic and community development career. This is in stark contrast to Ahok, who is a double minority: a Christian of Chinese descent. Since day one of his governorship, Ahok has been faced with challenges from especially conservative Muslim groups that demanded he be removed from his position. They found a rallying call when Ahok was charged with blasphemy, which certainly hurt his reelection campaign.

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Linkedin Akbar Makarti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017

United States Vice President Mike Pences visit to Indonesia and neighboring countries on April 15 to 24 could not have come at a more critical time. The tour is Pences first official trip to the Asia Pacific and the choice of countries signals a crystal clear message: The US is committed to maintaining its important alliances and interests in the region, as well as strategic partnership with Indonesia.

From Indonesias perspective, there is a lot at stake, too.

Pences visit not only provides an opportunity to recalibrate Indonesias strategic goals in Indonesia-US bilateral relations but also provides an opportunity to engage in constructive talks with the new US administration and gain a better understanding of President Donald Trumps America First foreign policy.

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Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia  Fri, April 21, 2017

Hundreds of domestic and foreign legal officials, practitioners, corporate counsels, corporations, arbitrators and mediators are expected to join vigorous discussions for the enhancement of arbitration and mediation practices in the whole Asia-Pacific region.

The 3rd Annual Symposium for Arbitrators and Mediators (3rd ASAM), hosted by the Indonesian Academy of Independent Mediators and Arbitrators (MedArbId), will be held in Jakarta on April 26, 2017.

MedArbid was created on 17 August 2015 with a vision to be the Indonesias leading and largest association of independent mediators and arbitrators.

ASAM brings together experienced dispute resolution professionals, relevant government officials, judges, and business community to build relationship and discuss issues that are critical for improving access to justice.

Themed Collaboration between National Courts and Dispute Resolution Professionals, the 3rd ASAM will be the largest and most important symposium on arbitration and mediation in Indonesia as it is supported by various prominent arbitration and mediation institutions in the region, such as the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), Kuala Lumpur Regional Center for Arbitration (KLRCA), Asia Pacific Forum for International Arbitration (AFIA), Resolution Institute , Hong Kong International Arbitration Center (HKIAC) and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

For dispute resolution professionals, ASAM is a very rare opportunity for mutual interaction and an building an international network. For the business people, it a forum to acquire greater knowledge of the role of mediators, arbitrators, and judges in the resolution of disputes, said MedArbIds chairman Tony Budidjaja.

the enhancement of arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution practices. The 3rd ASAM will feature speakers from around the world tackling different issues: The Rising Presence of Dispute Resolution Professionals in Indonesia and Asia Pacific Region, The Role of National Courts in Assisting Parties throughout and beyond the Arbitration and Mediation Process, Emerging Issues and Challenges in International Arbitration and How They May Affect Future Practice, Trends and Technologies Likely to Impact the Practice of Mediation and Arbitration in the Future. Keynote speakers will include Prof. Dr. H. Muhamad Hatta Ali, S.H., M.H., the Chief Justice of the Indonesian Supreme Court, Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Indonesian Military Gen. (Ret.) Dr. H. Wiranto, S.H., and Attorney General Drs. H. Muhammad Prasetyo, S.H., M.H. The symposium is further supported by various prominent organizations, such as the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), Kuala Lumpur Regional Center for Arbitration (KLRCA), Asia Pacific Forum for International Arbitration (AFIA), Resolution Institute, Indonesian Capital Market Arbitration Board (BAPMI), Hong Kong International Arbitration Center (HKIAC) and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC-Asia). For more information, please visit http://medarbid.org/en/event/upcomingevents

.(./.)
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Linkedin A. Kurniawan Ulung (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 08:44 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9e2964 4 Lifestyle fashion,environmental-issues,eco-friendly,water Free

Curator Aprina Murwanti was probably the only person who was sad upon hearing the news that President Joko Jokowi Widodo wore a green bomber jacket at a press conference in November last year.

Why didnt he wear a jacket from a local brand? she asked, knowing that the bomber jacket was a product of the Zara fashion label.

It seems the president loved the attire so much he wore it again when introducing two baby goats at the palace in his recent video blog (vlog). Aprina, however, does not blame Jokowi, assuming the president did not know that Zara, one of the worlds largest fashion retailers, is the pioneer of fast fashion.

Read also: Rocking low-maintenance fashion, Jokowi style

Fast fashion refers to the mass production of ready-to-wear fashion items that mimic current trends.

The production method was once lauded for democratizing high-end lifestyles. However, the expedited process to get new trends to market as quickly and as cheaply as possible, causes many destructive impacts globally, particularly on the environment.

The new exhibition, Fast Fashion  The Dark Side of Fashion and Slow Fashion Lab, at Gudang Sarinah in South Jakarta, discusses the negative effects of fast fashion, while promoting slow fashion as its opposite and alternative.

Curator Aprina Murwanti(JP/A. Kurniawan Ulung)

Curated by Aprina and German Claudia Banz, the exhibition is part of IKAT/eCut, the Goethe-Institut project, aimed at exploring the past, present and future of textiles in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Germany. The exhibition features documentaries, photography and fashion brands and details the history and statistics of fashion.

The alternative to fast fashion is slow fashion. If we care about the four pillars,  ecology, economy, society and culture, we should choose slow fashion, said Aprina.

Slow fashion, which represents sustainable and conscious fashion, challenges fast fashion, by encouraging manufactures and consumers to respect people, the environment and the products themselves.

Read also: Fast fashion fading as H&M, Zara shine light on industry strains

For Aprina, slow fashion and fast fashion are also about the behavior of consumers themselves.

When we have a dress with a hole torn in it and we go to a tailor to repair it, that action is also slow fashion, she said.

Aprina understands that the word slow fashion is not yet familiar to most people. However, dressmaking skills are a form of slow fashion, which, for centuries have been passed down by our ancestors, including hand-crafted batik.

Sustainable cover: A 'Tortoise' jacket by Auguste Soesastro.(JP/A. Kurniawan Ulung)

However, many traditional batik manufacturers have abandoned their old batik-making processes in favor of quicker and cheaper methods by using chemical substances.

In Pekalongan, Central Java, I met batik makers whose hands were swollen because they are often exposed to chemicals, she said.

They are also badly paid. In a workshop, I meet a worker who told me that she was paid Rp 10,000 [less than US$1] to 30,000 a day.

In Pekalongan, batik makers still use naphtol as a coloring agent for dyeing batik. The chemical substance has been banned in the United States and Europe and has polluted local rivers.

The river is smelly, Aprina recalled from her visit to the city in 2016.

According to environmentalist Lucy Siegle, the textile industry is among the top 10 industries that pollute and consume the most water.

Recent World Bank statistics state that approximately 20 percent of global industrial water pollution comes from the textile industry.

Indonesia, home to 13,466 registered islands and 5,590 rivers, has the potential to become one of the biggest slow fashion producers in the world. However, only 2 percent of river water is of good quality, according to a report from the Ministry of Public Works Natural Resources General Directorate.

Citarum River, the longest and largest river in West Java, is named one of the dirtiest rivers in the world. Sixty percent of local textile factories are located there.

The status is worrisome because the 40 million people who rely on the river use 80 percent of their water for drinking, according to Greenpeace.

Take your pick: Indigo-dyed batik clothing on linen by Kana.(JP/A. Kurniawan Ulung)

In the past, water and the textile industry had an intimate relationship. The name of Citarum River, for example, comes from the natural dye called Tarum, commonly known as Indigo. However, in 1905, imported synthetic dyes were introduced to textile manufacturers, replacing the use of natural dyes.

To save the planet, many Indonesian designers and brands have joined the slow fashion movement. These brands include Kana from Tangerang, Banten; Osem from Jakarta and Cinta Bumi Artisans from Bali. Many of Kanas products have one-size-fits-all measurements to avoid excess production. The brand also utilizes less supporting fittings for its products, avoiding zippers, buttons and other materials. It also chooses fabrics that require less water to wash and do not need to be ironed, saving energy and water.

Kana also has a system to accommodate rainwater that is collected in tanks and then used for production, said Aprina.

Over the last five years, slow fashion has become an important discussion topic in Indonesia. Fashion Futures and Sustainable Fashion Forum, for example, was held during Jakarta Fashion Week in October last year. In addition, FAIR, a movement promoting and developing sustainable and ethical fashion, has also been established.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 08:33 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9e1ded 1 City #JakartaGubernatorialElection,#Anies-Sandiaga,#FPI Free

Anies Baswedan attended a gathering with conservative Muslim groups at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta on Wednesday evening to celebrate his victory in the gubernatorial election.

Rizieq Shihab of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), Bachtiar Nasir of the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesian Ulema Councils Fatwa (GNPF-MUI) and Ansufri Idrus Sambo of Tamasya Al Maidah (Al Maidah Tour) along with thousands of others welcomed Anies, who won the election, according to quick counts.

This day is a historical moment, as it marks the beginning of an era [in the capital], Anies said in his speech during the gathering, which was also attended by Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto and House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon.

(Read also: Anies expresses gratitude to Islamic figures in victory speech)

Anies added that he was grateful that Muslims in Jakarta could send a peaceful message to the world. He said the responsibility to take care of the capital was part of everyones struggle from now.

According to a quick count conducted by Kompas, Anies and his running mate, Sandiaga Uno, emerged victorious in the race, as the pair garnered 58 percent of the vote. The incumbent pair of Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama and Djarot Saiful Hidayat trailed behind with 42. (kuk/jun)
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Linkedin Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 10:05 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9e69a7 1 City #JakartaGubernatorialElection,#Anies-Sandiaga,#ahok Free

Presumptive governor-elect Anies Baswedan moved quickly and met Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama on Thursday to make sure the transition of power would run smoothly.

Anies arrived at City Hall at about 7 a.m., while Ahok had earlier arrived to meet several residents and hear their problems.

We have made an appointment to meet at City Hall, just quickly, just a meeting on how to arrange the transition, Anies was quoted by kompas.com as saying.

(Read also: Anies celebrates victory with conservatives at Istiqlal Mosque)

Upon seeing Anies, Ahok interrupted his meeting with residents and approached the presumed winner of the election (a presumption based on unofficial quick counts). The two shook hands.

n the short meeting, both gubernatorial candidates highlighted the need to discuss local funding (APBD) for 2018.

Anies said an early discussion over the APBD was needed because it would be too late to discuss it when he officially became governor in October.

"If we do not discuss it now, I am afraid the programs we have vowed to conduct in 2018 would be postponed until 2019 because the 2018 APBD would already have been arranged," Anies told reporters.

After meeting with Anies, Ahok immediately went to court in Ragunan, South Jakarta, to hear the sentence the prosecutors were demanding be given to him if he is found guilty of blasphemy. (jun)
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Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani, Safrin La Batu and Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 10:51 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9eaa38 2 City #JakartaGubernatorialElection,#Anies-Sandiaga,#ahok Free

Riding a wave of growing religious conservatism, former culture and education minister Anies Baswedan won the Jakarta gubernatorial election on Wednesday, beating incumbent Basuki Thahaja Ahok Purnama, a political candidate dogged by allegations of blasphemy while seeking reelection.

Results of quick counts conducted by a number of pollsters showed that Anies and his running mate Sandiaga Uno, nominated by the Gerindra Party and the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), had a comfortable lead over their rival Ahok and running mate Djarot Sjaiful Hidayat, backed by a coalition of major political parties including the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Golkar Party, the NasDem Party and the United Development Party (PPP).

At least eight pollsters projected Anies had a double-digit lead over Ahok. Jakarta-based Pollster Sjaiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SRMC) showed that Anies got 58.06 percent of the vote, against Ahoks 41.94. Pollster Indo Barometer tallied similar results, showing that Ahok was trailing Anies by 17 percent.

Meanwhile, Charta Politika, another Jakarta-based pollster known to be close to Ahoks camp, also projected a win for Anies, who garnered 57.87 percent of the vote, while Ahok only secured 42.13 percent.

The Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) is expected to announce the official result from the balloting on May 1.

Pollsters projections showed the odds were stacked against Ahok soon after he won the first election round in February.

(Read also: Anies celebrates victory with conservatives at Istiqlal Mosque)

Despite public opinion surveys projecting Anies and Ahok in a statistical dead heat, the quick-count results showed that Ahok failed to expand his base. Ahok received 42.99 percent of the vote in the first round.

Anies, on the other hand, was able to bring in more votes, especially from supporters of Agus Yudhoyono Harimurti, who finished third in the first round with 17.02 percent of the vote. Anies and his running mate Sandiaga came in second in the first round with 39.95 percent of the vote.

Anies strategy of crafting messages directed at Muslim groups has apparently paid off, with nearly all of Agus supporters switching over to his side. In the first round, Agus devoted more resources to woo conservative Muslim voters, while Anies made attempts to appeal to the urban, young middle-income segment. Muslims make up around 78 percent of the more than 7.2 million registered voters in the city.

Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) political analyst Arya Fernandes said Anies and Sandiaga owed their success in the runoff election to Muslim voters who decided to throw their support behind the pair, mobilized by Muslim groups, including the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI).

I think Anies-Sandiagas victory cannot be disassociated from Muslims preferences, Arya told

The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. Part of the blame for Ahoks defeat in the poll was the overconfidence of the parties in his coalition with their political machinery, Arya said.

Political parties in Ahoks coalition underestimated their rivals, Arya said.

Early on Wednesday, PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto expressed his optimism that Ahok could win the runoff election with at least 52 percent of the vote.

Soon after polls closed and pollsters began projecting a victory for Anies, Gerindra chief patron Prabowo Subianto said Anies victory was owed much to the role played by Muslim clerics, whom he considered as having played greater roles in the election season, even more than professional politicians.

Politicians always make too many calculations before declaring support, thats the difference between them and kyai [Muslim cleric], Prabowo said, to the chanting of Allahuakbar (God is Great) from those who gathered at Gerindra headquarters in Ragunan, South Jakarta, on Wednesday.

Prabowo also called on his rivals to stop branding conservative clerics such as FPI leader Rizieq Shihab and Muslim Peoples Forum (FUI) leader Bachtiar Nasir as radicals who wanted to commit treason.

Leader of Anies campaign team, Mardani Ali Sera, also praised Rizieq as an important pillar in Anies victory against Ahok.

Anies, however, said in his victory speech that he promised to begin reconciliation following a divisive and bitterly contested election.

Anies said he and Sandiaga were prepared to take on the job as the leaders of a city home to people with various religious and ethnic backgrounds.

I assure you that I will be a good leader not just for our voters, or just the Muslim population. Anies and Sandiaga will serve all Jakarta residents, he said.

Anies went on to praise Ahok and Djarot as two of the countrys finest citizens. We will continue to be friends. They are two of the best citizens who have contributed to the nation, he said.

In his concession speech, Ahok said he would work harder for the remainder of his term to pave the way for Anies administration.

We still have six months. We will complete all our work and fulfill our promises. We hope Pak Anies and Pak Sandi will continue what we started, Ahok said.

(Haeril Halim and Calista Anggun Wijaya contribute to the story.)
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Linkedin Prima Wirayani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20 2017

After months of witnessing intense campaigning, business players are welcoming the apparent results of the Jakarta gubernatorial election with open arms, wishing that a peaceful end to the race preserves the business climate not only in the capital but the nation at large.

The runoff election between incumbent Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama and former minister Anies Baswedan culminated on Wednesday after quick counts from major pollsters suggested that Anies won the second round of the election, beating Ahok, a Christian politician of Chinese descent in a Muslim-majority country, by double-digit margins.

Despite growing concern over the possible emergence of sectarian conflict ahead of voting day, the race ended in a peaceful manner, with both candidates addressing their supporters in reconciliatory tones.

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Linkedin Panca Nugraha (The Jakarta Post) Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara  Thu, April 20, 2017 17:16 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cdea051e8 1 National Parfi,Movie,movie-actor,Gatot-Brajamusti,CrystalMeth,crystal-methamphetamine,CrystalMethamphetamine,shabu-shabu,Mataram,West-Nusa-Tenggara Free

Actor Gatot Brajamusti, 54, a former Indonesian Actors Guild (Parfi) chairman, was declared guilty of drug possession and sentenced to eight years in prison and fined Rp 1 billion (US$75,075) by the Mataram District Court in West Nusa Tenggara on Thursday.

The panel of judges, comprising lead judge Yapi and judges Didiek Jatmiko and Yuli Atmaningsih, declared Gatot guilty of possessing, controlling and storing shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine), which is categorized as a type-1 narcotic. The cult leader was charged under Article 112 (2) of the 2009 Narcotics Law.

Based on information from witnesses, the defendant and evidence, the panel of judges sentences defendant Gatot Brajamusti to eight years in prison and orders him to pay Rp 1 billion or serve an additional three months in prison, said Yapi.

The sentence is lighter than the 12 years imprisonment demanded by prosecutors.

Yapi said Gatot was a public figure and his crime was a bad example to other people. Moreover, the government is really serious about fighting narcotics and has declared the country in a state of emergency with a drug crisis."

The Gatots wife, Dewi Aminah, 45, was sentenced to one-and-a-half years in prison for drug abuse after being charged under Article 127 (2) of the 2009 Narcotics Law. Gatot and Dewi were arrested at Hotel Golden Tulip in Mataram on Aug. 28, 2016. (ebf)

Drug abuse: The Mataram District Court's panel of judges sentences cult leader Gatot Brajamusti (center), 54, to eight years in prison on April 20. (JP/Panca Nugraha)
By India Today Web Desk: Ever since our desi girl Priyanka Chopra set her sights on global domination, fans have been waiting with bated breath for the release of her Hollywood debut, Baywatch. While they will have to wait till next month to watch her on the 70mm screen, the new poster will satisfy them for now.

Priyanka is touted to be the surprise package of Baywatch, and except for blink-and-miss appearances, she has not been seen much in the film's trailers. However, the actor is the highlight of the newest poster, which has her flashing a wicked smile, as she looks at the lifeguards through her glares. The tagline, "Go ahead and stare," applies to her fans, who will not be able to take their eyes off the gorgeous Priyanka.

Looks that could kill. See @priyankachopra in Baywatch on May 25. #BeBaywatch Get your tix today or you'll regret it: http://bit.ly/BaywatchTix A post shared by Baywatch Movie (@baywatchmovie) on Apr 19, 2017 at 9:15am PDT

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Priyanka will play the antagonist, Victoria Leeds, and the actor had described her character as a "billionaire b*tch." Apart from her, the film also stars Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Zac Efron and Alexandra Daddario.

ALSO READ | Priyanka Chopra dropping F-bombs in Baywatch: Five things to watch out for in the film

ALSO READ | Priyanka Chopra to wear a bikini in Baywatch?

ALSO WATCH | After Quantico, Priyanka Chopra in Hollywood film Baywatch now

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Panca Nugraha (The Jakarta Post) Mataram  Thu, April 20 2017

Doctors have decided not to separate male conjoined twins from Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, who share one body but have separate heads and hearts.

Born as the third and fourth children to Fathul Bahri and Zuriah on April 10, the twins are a case of dicephalic parapagus in which they also share three hands and two legs.

The medical team of the state-owned hospital West Nusa Tenggara Hospital (RSUD NTB) in Mataram said a separation surgery could not be conducted after a week of examination.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 12:40 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9f1451 1 Business #Jakartaelection,Jakarta-gubernatorial-election,shopping-mall,leisure Free

After casting their votes at polling stations near their homes, most Jakarta residents opted to spend the rest of the day with their families, with many crowding restaurants and shopping centers.

"My son saw [a video] on YouTube about a new baked cheese tart, so we came here (to the Senayan City mall) to have lunch," said 46-year-old housewife Lilis after voting at Polling Station 72 in Cengkareng, West Jakarta.

Lilis lives in Tangerang, Banten, near the workplace of her husband, but she still holds a Jakarta identity card. It is a good time for us to go out as a family and eat together," said Lilis, who had come to Senayan City with her husband and son.

Another visitor was Dian Rohmanti, a 29-year old civil servant, who lives in Cileduk, West Jakarta. She had come with her husband, baby daughter and a babysitter.

"We are here to have sushi for lunch," she said, adding that she did not frequently visit shopping malls, because she believed they were not baby-friendly places. She said she preferred to visit parks with her baby.

None of the restaurants, cafes and food courts at both Senayan City and Plaza Senayan stayed empty on Wednesday.

Fun and consumption, it seems, were a welcome escape for Jakarta citizens from tough political rivalry on election day.

In a peaceful election, the pair of Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno defeated the incumbents, Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama and Djarot Saiful Hidayat, according to quick counts. (dra/bbn)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20 2017

The Jakarta gubernatorial runoff election has left a bad taste in the mouths of people in regions outside Jakarta, many of whom have expressed concerns over the rising religious sectarianism generated by the election.

Edho Sinaga, a resident of Pontianak, West Kalimantan, for instance, said people in the area were caught up in the election fever.

I am fed up with all of this [election stuff]. People should think about their own regions. Why bother with Jakarta? Moreover, I believe the Jakarta election has destroyed our social fabric. There are even friends who no longer talk with each other because they have differing opinions, he said on Wednesday.

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20 2017

Through a safe and peaceful runoff election, Jakarta voters can show the United States that democracy is well maintained in Indonesia, a senior minister has said.

The US Vice President [Mike Pence] will arrive in Jakarta. Lets show that our democracy is running well whatever the result will be, said Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan as quoted by tribunnews.com in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The minister was speaking after he cast his ballot in the Jakarta gubernatorial runoff election at polling station TPS 03 in East Kuningan, Setiabudi, South Jakarta.

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Linkedin Grace D. Amianti (The Jakarta Post) Ayutthaya, Thailand  Thu, April 20, 2017 13:42 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9f8137 1 Business Global-food-ingredients-expo,Thailand Free

An international exhibition is expected to come up with technological solutions to increase the capacity of the food and beverage industry and boost economic growth in ASEAN countries.

Food Ingredients Asia 2017 (Fi Asia 2017) will be held for the 22nd time from Sept. 13 to 15 at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC), after being held in Jakarta last year.

Acting as the organizer of the event, UBM Asia, which is the Asian arm of UK-based UBM Plc., has prepared a new concept called "Thai 4.0", which focuses on scientific and technological breakthroughs.

"What makes the difference in the event this time is a competition on innovation for start-up companies. We want to encourage small and medium enterprises to start innovating," Rungphech Chitanuwat, ASEAN project group director at UBM Asia's Thailand office, said on Wednesday in Ayutthaya, Thailand.

The event was expected to help food scientists play a role in product development, thus adding value to the industry, said Darunee Edwards, an advisory board member of the Food Science and Technology Association of Thailand (FoSTAT).

More than 750 companies from 56 countries will join the event to showcase food ingredients as well as technology and innovation for the food and beverage industry.

More than 17,000 business representatives are expected to attend at the event. (bbn)
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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 12:43 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9f2075 1 Business Indonesia-US-relations,trade-aggreement-talk,Mike-Pence,visit Free

The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has expressed the hope that United States Vice President Mike Pences visit to Indonesia will bring about increased trade and investment between the two countries.

Pence is expected to share the US plans and policies and how they will affect Indonesia and its Southeast Asian neighbors, said Kadin chairman Rosan P. Roeslani in Jakarta on Thursday.

We want to ask how to increase our trade and vice versa. Based on our previous conversations with the US Embassy, they would like to decrease trade and instead focus on trade balancing, he said on the sidelines of an energy seminar in South Jakarta on Thursday.

(Read also: Protectionist policies threaten global recovery: IMF)

Indonesia had a US$13 billion trade surplus with the US, which was currently being evaluated by the US administration because of an executive order issued by President Donald Trump, said Rosan, adding that, however, the US also had a surplus in the service sector of about $3 billion.

Trade is not just the trade of goods, but of both goods and services. We want to find out how [the US] can develop the services that we need, while we also develop goods [to meet their demands], he said.

Indonesia was in the 15th position on the list, with a $13 billion trade surplus with the US, followed by Canada with an $11 billion surplus.

China was listed in first place with a $347 billion surplus, followed by Japan, Germany, Mexico, Ireland, Vietnam, Italy, South Korea, Malaysia, India, Thailand, France, Switzerland and Taiwan. (bbn)
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Linkedin Winny Tang (The Jakarta Post) Bandung  Thu, April 20 2017

Shifting its reliance from traditional products and the domestic market, state-owned land systems and weapons maker PT Pindad seeks to boost sales of industrial machinery and expand its export market to increase profits.

Last year, sales of industrial machinery only contributed 25 percent to the firms total revenue of Rp 2 trillion (US$150 million), while the majority was still derived from sales of weapons, ammunition and special vehicles for the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police, the Finance Ministrys Directorate General of Customs and Excise and Law and the Human Rights Ministry.

This year, Pindad targets to raise its share of industrial machinery sales to 30 percent, particularly with the introduction of three new agriculture equipment, Pindad director of business and industrial products, Bobby Sumardiat Atmosudirjo, said Tuesday.

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Linkedin Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 14:50 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9fa6ca 1 National #MikePence,#Jokowi,#Trade Free

The topics of fair trade, investment and stronger security cooperation dominated a one-hour discussion between President Joko Jokowi Widodo and United States Vice President Mike Pence at the State Palace on Thursday.

The US vice president, who is in Jakarta as part of a 10-day Asia-Pacific tour just two weeks after US President Donald Trump called for an investigation into the trade imbalance between the US and 16 countries, including Indonesia, was paying Jokowi a courtesy call.

In a joint press conference after Thursdays talks, held on the veranda of the State Palace over a cup of tea, Jokowi said Indonesia had secured commitments from the US to improve the US-Indonesia Strategic Partnership, which the President said would focus on trade and investment in the future.

Next month, there will be a team that will discuss management of bilateral trade and investment based on a win-win principle, said Jokowi, adding that both Indonesia and the US would also strengthen cooperation for peace.

(Read also: Jokowi welcomes US Vice President Mike Pence at Presidential Palace)

Speaking after Jokowi, Pence said that Trump put a high value on the US-Indonesia Strategic Partnership, which was established by the two countries in 2011 during the era of Trumps predecessor, Barrack Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Jakarta.

Pence said that both Indonesia and the US must work to break down barriers to ensure that American exporters can fully participate in the Indonesian market, the same freedom that Indonesian exporters have had in many sectors in the US for many years. (jun)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 17:51 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cdea0710c 1 City Jakarta-council,database Free

Jakarta City Council plans to implement an electronic database system, starting next year, as a way to improve the process of gathering information about the aspirations and concerns of citizens during the council's recess periods.

The so-called e-recess system will ease the input and monitoring process, councilor Purwana Ansyori said.

We plan to implement the electronic system next year, Purwana said.

According to government regulations, the city council has three recess periods a year, a time when council members visit their constituencies to learn about citizens hopes, concerns, and opinions, in order to accommodate them in development planning.

Purwana added that the electronic database system would allow citizens to give their input on council policies and plans. They will be able to simply fill in a draft so every idea can be accommodated.

Citizens will also be able to participate by looking at a list of goals collected and giving their opinion about them, Purwana said on Wednesday as quoted by beritajakarta.com. (kuk)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20 2017

Asih, who works as a caretaker at the Karet Bivak Public Cemetery in Central Jakarta, came early Wednesday to polling station (TPS) 16 in Karet Bivak to vote in the Jakarta gubernatorial runoff election.

With a determined look on her face, she submitted her ballot.

Right after, Asihs face was filled with relief as she felt that this election, in particular, had been a vicious and grueling race.

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Amit Kumar alias Bachcha Rai was is accused of running an exam racket linked to Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB). He used to charge money from students for securing high marks in Class X, XII exams.

By India Today Web Desk: The Supreme Court today cancelled the conditional bail granted by the Patna High Court in February this year to Amit Kumar alias Bachcha Rai, the alleged kingpin of the Bihar topper scam.

The Nitish Kumar government had moved the Supreme Court asking for the removal of the bail, which was granted in case Rai is not convicted by a lower court within a month.

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Rai is currently lodged in a jail along with other key accused, including Lalkeshwar Singh, former Chairman of the Bihar School Examination Board, and his wife Usha Sinha.

Bachcha Rai, the Secretary-cum Principal of Vishun Rai College in Vaishali district of Bihar, was arrested in June last year. It was from this college that Ruby Rai and Saurabh Shrestha - Class XII Arts and Science toppers respectively - were caught on camera with absolutely no knowledge of their streams.

The video featuring Ruby has her describing political science as "prodigal science" and saying the subject that she topped was about cooking. Similarly, Saurabh Shreshtha was seen giving wrong answers to basic science questions.

The sting by a TV news channel suggested that the "toppers" may have cheated to achieve their ranks. In 2015, Bachcha Rai's daughter Shalini was the Bihar state topper in science stream.

ALSO READ:

India Today Impact: Bihar topper scam kingpin Lalkeshwar Prasad, wife arrested

Bihar topper scam: No one comes second at Baccha Rai's college

Bihar topper scam: Someone else wrote exam for Ruby, claims forensic report

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Linkedin Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 11:05 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9eb844 1 National #USA,#MikePence,#Indonesia Free

United States Vice President Mike Pence paid a courtesy call to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Thursday.

Pence, who arrived on Wednesday night, is in Jakarta as part of a 10-day Asia Pacific tour, after earlier visiting South Korea and Japan.

Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, were welcomed by Jokowi and First Lady Iriana as they arrived at the Presidential Palace at 10 a.m.

(Read also: Amid tension, Pence visit a litmus test for US-RI ties)

Jokowi and Pence retreated to the palaces veranda to discuss numerous issues between the two countries. Offering a more casual environment for discussions, the veranda has become known as a venue for diplomatic moments sometimes referred to as "veranda talk."

After the veranda talk, Jokowi and Pence are set to hold a joint press conference.

Pence and Vice President Jusuf Kalla are scheduled to have a meeting at the Vice Presidential Palace at 11 a.m.
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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 13:32 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9f6755 1 National #AhokTrial,#Blasphemy Free

Vice President Jusuf Kalla welcomed his United States counterpart Mike Pence at the Vice Presidential Palace on Thursday for a meeting.

Arriving at about noon local time, Kalla greeted Pence, who had earlier made a courtesy call on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo at the State Palace.

Also present at the meeting were several Cabinet heavyweights, including Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto, Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan and Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution.

Others present included Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan, Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita and Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chairman Thomas Lembong.

Pence's state visit is meant to focus on strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries, according to the US Embassy in Jakarta.

(Read also: Jokowi receives Mike Pence at Presidential Palace)

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry in a statement on Thursday said discussion topics included strengthening economic and investment cooperation, maritime cooperation, counterterrorism, boosting mutual understanding of religious tolerance and the moderate values of Islam and the sustainability of US involvement in the Asia-Pacific region, specifically in Southeast Asia.

Speculation was rife that one of the issues to be discussed was the US move to put Indonesia on a "Trade Hit List" because of a bilateral trade imbalance. Some people thought the negotiations with the US-based coal and Mining company Freeport McMoran would also be on the agenda.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 18:54 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cdea09ea9 1 National KPK,Febri-Diansyah,Miryam-S-Haryani,e-ID,house-of-representatives,Lawmakers,inquiry Free

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) reiterated on Thursday it would not release recordings of the questioning of graft suspect and former lawmaker Miryam S. Haryani outside the court room.

The anti-graft body's spokesman Febri Diansyah made the statement after members of the House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing legal affairs, human rights and security, planned to exercise their legislative right of inquiry in a bid to force the KPK to release the recording.

In Wednesdays meeting with the House, we conveyed that the KPK has a difference of opinion with lawmakers. KPK cannot play recordings of investigations except during the trial hearing, Febri said on Thursday, as quoted by antaranews.com.

Former House of Representatives member Miryam S. Haryani (left) testifies in a trial hearing of the e-ID graft case on March 30. (Antara/Sigid Kurniawan)

In the meeting, KPK refused to play the recordings of Miryams interrogation as a witness in the multi-trillion e-ID graft case.

The KPK has named Miryam, a former member of House's Commission II overseeing home affairs, as a perjury suspect. During an e-ID trial hearing, Miryam, who was under oath, retracted testimonies she made during the interrogation in question.

(Read also: Witness in e-ID graft case alleges existence of Fatmawati team)

[Miryams] account and other evidence are interrelated with her investigation and the ongoing trial of the e-ID case, said Febri.

At the House, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Golkar Party, Democratic Party, United Development Party (PPP) and NasDem Party agreed to exercise the right of inquiry to quiz the KPK in relation to the e-ID case. The proposal will be presented during a House plenary meeting. (mrc/bbs)
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Linkedin Markus Makur (The Jakarta Post) Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai  Thu, April 20, 2017 20:39 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cdea0a26f 1 Business labuan-bajo,tourism,West-Manggarai,East-Nusa-Tenggara,Rini-Soemarno,ASDP,ASDP-Indonesia-Ferry,marina,Marina-Port Free

State Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno broke ground on the Marina commercial zone development in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara on Thursday, in a bid to boost tourism in the province.

Built as a joint venture between three companies, namely state-owned seaport operator ASDP Indonesia Ferry, Pertaminas hotel operator PT Patra Jasa and state-owned construction firm PT Pembangunan Perumahan (PP), the project will see the construction of main port infrastructure, which will accommodate cruise ships and up to 70 yachts.

The project also includes the construction of a commercial complex, staring 180 room hotels, which will be built on an 8,000 square meter plot of land.

The project is a Rp 400 billion (US$30.02 million) investment, 51 percent of which will come from ASDP Indonesia Ferry while Patra Jasa and PP will cover 25 percent and 24 percent of the costs respectively.

Rini said the development of Marina Port aimed to beautify Labuan Bajo, which she named as one of her favorite tourist destinations. I fell in love with Labuan Bajo after I first visited several months ago. Labuan Bajo has amazing potential.

Rini said the construction of the Marina Port would accelerate development in West Manggarai. On our plan is to include a fish-landing center as part of this development. The State Enterprises Ministry will develop a better, more modern market such as the ones in Japan, she said, adding the commercial area would be hopefully be ready by December 2018. (ebf)
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Linkedin David Bauder (Associated Press) New York  Thu, April 20, 2017 07:23 2029 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9df8c7 2 World #television,#Fox,#SexualHarrasment Free

Fox News Channel's parent company fired Bill O'Reilly on Wednesday following an investigation into harassment allegations, bringing a stunning end to cable news' most popular program and one that came to define the bravado of his network over 20 years.

O'Reilly lost his job on the same day he was photographed in Rome shaking the hand of Pope Francis.

The downfall of Fox's most popular  and most lucrative  personality began with an April 2 report in The New York Times that five women had been paid a total of $13 million to keep quiet about disturbing encounters with O'Reilly, who continued to deny any wrongdoing in a statement hours after he was fired. Dozens of his show's advertisers fled within days, even though O'Reilly's viewership increased.

O'Reilly's exit came nine months after his former boss, Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, was ousted following allegations of sexual harassment.

Following the Times story, 21st Century Fox said it had asked the same law firm that investigated Ailes to look into O'Reilly's behavior. 21st Century Fox leaders Rupert Murdoch and his sons Lachlan and James said in a memo to Fox staff that their decision to ax O'Reilly came following an "extensive review" into the charges.

"I understand how difficult this has been for many of you," Rupert Murdoch said in a memo to Fox staff.

O'Reilly, denied a chance to say goodbye to his Fox viewers, did so via a statement.

"It is tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims," he said. "But that is the unfortunate reality that many of us in the public eye must live with today. I will always look back on my time at Fox with great pride in the unprecedented success we achieved and with my deepest gratitude to all my dedicated viewers."

O'Reilly's dismissal doesn't signal any change of direction for the network: Fox said conservative pundit Tucker Carlson would move into O'Reilly's time slot  the second time in three months he's replaced an exiting prime-time personality. Carlson, a veteran who has hosted shows on CNN, MSNBC and PBS, had taken over for Megyn Kelly in January when she announced she was moving to NBC News. "The Five," a talk show with five rotating hosts that regularly airs at 5 p.m. ET, will move into the 9 p.m. time slot. Eric Bolling will host a new show that airs at 5 p.m. starting next month, the company said.

O'Reilly, 67, had ruled the "no spin zone" on television with a quick smile and an even quicker temper. He pushed a populist, conservative-leaning point of view born from growing up on Long Island, and was quick to shout down those who disagreed with him. Fans loved his willingness to talk back to power or point out hypocrisy among liberal politicians or media members.

O'Reilly and President Donald Trump are both "crowd-pleasing showmen who know how to signal to loyalists in their audience that they are not taking themselves quite as seriously as their detractors are," said news consultant Andrew Tyndall. "Half of the fun that they have with their audiences comes from watching the outrage that they manage to provoke."

"What Rush Limbaugh was to talk radio, Bill O'Reilly has been to conservative television," said Mark Feldstein, communication professor at the University of Maryland. "You can't underestimate the influence and the profits that he brought into Fox News for all these years and that's why they hesitated so long in doing the right thing."

His show generated $178 million in advertising revenue in 2015, according to Kantar Media. Before the advertising boycott, there was the prospect of even more: his audience was larger in the first three months of 2017 than it has ever been. With a profit center gone, 21st Century Fox stock fell almost 1 percent Wednesday in heavy trading.

O'Reilly's pugnacious personality wasn't just an onscreen affectation, with one of the settlements going to a woman who complained about being shouted at in the newsroom. One harassment case, from a former producer who said O'Reilly called her and described sexual fantasies and appeared to be masturbating, dated back more than a decade and was widely reported then. While O'Reilly survived then, the accumulation of cases outlined in the Times damaged him much more extensively.

For Fox executives, it wasn't clear when it would end: a campaign to target advertisers was continuing, a group of women demonstrated in front of Fox's headquarters Tuesday and another woman, a former clerical worker at Fox, called a harassment hotline and accusing the host of boorish behavior.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke confirmed O'Reilly was in the VIP section for the pope's Wednesday appearance. Francis always swings by the VIP seats at the end of his audience for a quick round of handshakes. A photographer from the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano snapped a photo of Francis reaching out to shake his hand.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 21:22 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cdea0a7eb 1 City Tommy-Soeharto,treason Free

Unknown to the public, the Jakarta Police recently summoned Hutomo Tommy Mandala Putra, son of former president Soeharto, as a witness in a treason case after the latter failed to show up for polices first invitation on March 31.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said police investigators came to Tommy instead of the other way around.

We summoned Tommy last week, Argo said on Thursday, refusing to reveal the exact date of the questioning.

Tommy was summoned following an investigation into 11 suspects arrested on Dec. 2 last year following an alleged plan to overthrow the current government.

Argo also denied allegations that Tommy was summoned due to his connections to Firza Husein, one of the treason suspects who claims to be the coordinator of the Sahabat Cendana Solidarity Foundation, an organization related to Soehartos family.

Firza is accused of having provided money for acts of treason.

[There is no proof of] treason funds being channeled [from him]. We did not find any transactions, Argo said. (dea)
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Linkedin Callista Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 13:10 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9f4b23 2 City #AhokTrial,#Blasphemy Free

Prosecutors downgraded the blasphemy charges against Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama and have demanded the North Jakarta District Court sentence him to two years of probation if it finds him guilty.

"We demand the judges rule one year of imprisonment and two years of probation," prosecutor Ali Mukartono said.

Prosecutors claimed they proved Ahok was guilty of showing animosity toward Muslims who believed that a verse of the Quran, specifically Surah Al Maidah 51, instructed them to not choose non-Muslim people as leaders.

The prosecutors apparently argued that since Al Maidah 51 had various interpretations, even among Muslims, Ahok was at fault because he acted as if he was the one who had the correct understanding of the verse.

Prosecutors claimed that when Ahok said Thousand Islands residents could be deceived by some of the varying interpretations of Surah Al Maidah 51, Ahok not only insulted Muslims who had a different view than him, but also Thousand Islands residents, who were mostly Muslims.

For that reason, they claimed they had proved he had violated Article 156 of the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of four years.

(Read also: Expats believe Ahok blasphemy case shifted election away from real issues)

The prosecutors said they did not buy Ahok's defense, which was that he had been talking about certain politicians who misused the Quranic verse for political purposes.

If he had meant it that way, he should have mentioned the politicians in his speech, Ali said.

However, the prosecutors said they had decided to demand such a light sentence because Ahok had been cooperative during the legal process.

Also, they added that the contribution he had made to develop the capital during his service as governor was a mitigating factor.

Meanwhile, prosecutors withdrew their accusation that Ahok had violated Article 156a of the Criminal Code, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison upon conviction. They said they could not prove Ahok had insulted Islam as a whole, but only individual Muslims.

If the court finds Ahok guilty of the lesser charge and accepts the prosecution's sentencing recommendation, the Governor will only have to serve one year in jail if he is found guilty of violating the same law with the two-year probation period.

The court will likely bring down its verdict within the next few weeks. (dan)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 11:33 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9eeb4f 1 City Pulogebang-bus-terminal,ramadhan Free

The Jakarta administration is gearing up to improve the facilities of the Pulogebang bus terminal in East Jakarta in order to serve citizens during the Ramadhan fasting months tradition of mudik (exodus), which will take place in about two months.

"Improvement of necessary facilities [of the terminal] must be sped up," said Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat as quoted by beritajakarta.com on Wednesday.

Mudik is a common tradition among residents of big cities. In Jakarta alone, hundreds of thousands of residents leave the capital at the same time each year to celebrate Idul Fitri after the fasting month in their hometowns with their extended families.

According to Djarot, one of the facilities in need of improvement was the information boards inside the terminal. He said the administration planned to update them with digital LED boards similar to those in airports.

"We also need to add more bus lanes and more Transjakarta feeder buses," he said.

The Transportation Ministry, he said, had agreed to leave the management of the terminal to the city administration.

"We must take good care of this 12-hectare terminal," Djarot added. (dea)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 10:54 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9eb67e 1 Business street-vendors,#JakartaElection2017,Tanah-Abang-Market Free

Wednesday was the lucky day for streets vendors near the Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta, as they got more customers, thanks to the closure of many shops at the largest textile market in Southeast Asia, as their owners or attendants likely went to the polls.

The city administration had declared Wednesday a holiday due to the second round of Jakartas gubernatorial race.

Said, a street vendor who lives in Jati Baru, which is close to the market, said market officials had required that shopkeepers close their businesses. Only street sellers were seen opening their businesses, Said told The Jakarta Post while stuffing wares into a big sack.

Lina Marlina, 32, a house wife from Serpong, South Tangerang, was one of the markets customers at day. Despite reports of possible security problems during the election, she believed Jakarta was safe, as many security personnel were on duty.

I feel comfortable at the market on this election day. I was informed that security officers would be deployed, said Lina.

Nurlaela, the owner of one of the few shops operating on Wednesday, argued that her shop was in the same building as her house.

There is no reason to close my shop, although others were closed, because my shop is connected to my house, she added.

Both Said and Nurlaela agreed that fewer visitors came to the market on election day. (ecn/bbn)
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20 2017

Allahuakbar! several men wearing white Islamic clothing and peci (Muslim hats) chanted every time the poll official took a ballot and shouted that it was a valid vote for the Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno ticket. In contrast, when the vote was for incumbent Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Syaiful Hidayat, the same crowd booed.

The scene was captured during the vote counting for the Jakarta gubernatorial election at polling station (TPS) 03 in Bendungan Hilir, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday.

Quick counts have suggested Anies-Sandiaga, who gained major support from conservative Islamic groups, won the runoff race with more than 55 percent of the vote.

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The decision to remove red beacon lights is a joke. If it is serious, the government must remove all A to Z category security, the BJD chief whip in Lok Sabha tweeted.

By Indrajit Kundu: A day after the Modi government announced its decision to ban red beacon lights for VIP vehicles across the country, senior Biju Janata Dal MP Tathagata Sathpathy has slammed the move, calling it a "joke".

The BJD chief whip in Lok Sabha on Thursday tweeted, "The decision to remove red beacon lights is a joke. If it is serious, the government must remove all A to Z category security."

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"Couldn't care less if all cars carry red beacon lights", wrote the MP. Sathpathy added that doing away with all categories of VIP and VVIP security will save taxpayers' money worth millions.

While the MP criticised the step, his party chief Naveen Patnaik was one of the first non-BJP chief ministers to order immediate implementation of the Centre's decision in Odisha.

In fact, while leaving the state Secretariat on Wednesday evening, Patnaik ensured that the red beacon light atop his official vehicle was removed soon after the Centre's announcement.

Also read | Red over red beacon: Bihar minister accuses PM Modi of demolishing federal structure over lal batti ban

Also read | Is PM Modi's red beacon surprise yet another citizen connect move?

Also read | Every Indian is special and VIP, says PM Narendra Modi after red beacon light ban

WATCH VIDEO

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Linkedin Agus Maryono (The Jakarta Post) Banyumas, Central Java  Thu, April 20, 2017 22:03 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cdea0b71d 2 National e-ID Free

More than 200,000 residents of Banyumas, Central Java, have not received their e-ID cards for the past year following a shortage of blank cards from a delay in procurement by the central government.

This has been the worst experience I have had in making identity cards. Why is it that blank cards have not yet been provided after a year. Everyone needs an e-ID card, including to apply for jobs, local resident Ahmad Mukmin, 40, said on Thursday.

He said he had come to the Civil Registry Office to collect an e-ID card for the past one year, but to no avail.

Another resident, unemployed Wawan, 34, said he could not apply for a job because most companies only wanted to take e-ID cards instead of statement letters on identity.

Banyumas Population and Civil Registration Office head Kartiman said his office could not do much as there was only a limited number of blank cards sent to the regency from the Central Java administration.

(Read also: City requests 500,000 blank e-ID cards)

There are around 200,000 people waiting in line for an e-ID card, some have waited for a year and there are also those who have waited for two years.

I just heard from the provincial administration that Banyumas regency will receive 10,000 blank cards. But I dont know the exact time yet, Kartiman said, adding that based on information he had gathered, the 10,000 blank cards were part of 320,000 blank cards for the Central Java administration.

Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo previously said his ministry had signed a procurement contract for seven million blank e-ID cards in March. He said these cards would be distributed throughout the year. (rin)
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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 18:45 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cdea09677 1 Business US-Indonesia-Strategic-Partnership,Mike-Pence,visit,agreement,energy Free

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said on Thursday that all deals signed between Indonesia and the United States during US Vice President Mike Pences visit to Jakarta were related to the energy sector.

She said the total of the deals reached US$8 billion.

"This time all business deals are related to the energy sector. This ranged from waste-to-energy development to geothermal development," she said at the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta on Thursday.

Retno could not confirm whether the high profile issue surrounding gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia was discussed during the visit of the US vice president, who is scheduled to leave Indonesia on Friday.

"Freeport [issue] is done," she said, referring to the negotiation between the government and Freeport Indonesia over the conversion of the Work of Contract (WoC), established in 1991, to the Special Mining License (IUPK), as part of the adjustment to the new law on mining.

On Thursday, Pence met with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo before attending a bilateral talk with Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

Kalla was accompanied by several ministers including, Retno, Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution, Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan and Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan. (bbn)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 21 2017

Police are still investigating Tuesdays fatal shooting of a car carrying a family of eight that tried to escape a routine traffic stop in Lubuklinggau, South Sumatra.

The deadly 2-kilometer chase ended with one of the eight people in the car killed and five others injured.

The incident has sparked concern about police professionalism and whether the officers who chased and shot at the family breached standard operating procedures.

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Linkedin Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 21 2017

United States Vice President Mike Pence announced Thursday evening after very productive meetings with ASEAN representatives that US President Donald Trump would attend the ASEAN Summit proceedings in the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Vietnam later this year.



The announcement comes after months of uncertainty over whether the new US administration would reaffirm its presence in the region, with Washington keeping coy about continuing the Pivot to Asia policy it had inherited from Trumps predecessor.



When I spoke to President Trump this morning, he gave me the great privilege to inform the secretary-general and the permanent [representatives] of ASEAN that the US president will attend the US-ASEAN Summit, the East Asia Summit and the APEC Leaders Meeting in Vietnam and the Philippines this November, Pence said.



In front of reporters gathered that evening, Pence said he hoped the announcement could become a testament to the value that President Trump placed in Southeast Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific region.



This vote of confidence was indeed warmly welcomed by ASEAN officials, as the White House had finally given very positive indications about US interests in the region, outgoing Indonesian permanent representative to ASEAN Rahmat Pramono said.



It became crystal clear when [Pence] underscored their commitment to ASEAN, Rahmat told reporters after the meeting.



Since perhaps the early days of the Trump administration we have had doubts, and we heard rumors that America might no longer look to us  but now the fact is that they have committed to focusing more attention to us, including by Trumps attendance at the [ASEAN] Summit in November.



As one of ASEANs longest standing dialogue partners, the US plans to celebrate its 40 years of formal relations with the bloc later this year as the Philippines hosts the US-ASEAN Summit, a milestone in the partners annual joint consultation meetings.



But, ASEAN experts like Ibrahim Almuttaqi of the Jakarta-based Habibie Center remained cautious about the prospect of a more engaged US government.



It will remain to be seen whether Trump will follow up on his words. The past few weeks have seen a number of notable U-turns by the US President, often characterized by a reactionary nature rather than a thought out plan, Ibrahim told The Jakarta Post.

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Linkedin Kaweewit Kaewjinda (Associated Press) Bangkok  Thu, April 20, 2017 08:14 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9e1465 2 SE Asia #ASEAN,#Thailand,#Democracy Free

The head of Thailand's military government on Tuesday warned people against making a political issue of the vandalism of a plaque marking the country's 1932 transition to democracy that was ripped and stolen from a public plaza. It was replaced by one celebrating the monarchy.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said that protests over the incident would interfere with what he described as his government's efforts to move the country forward.

Srisuwan Janya, a veteran social activist, was detained by soldiers when he tried to submit a letter to Prayuth asking that the act of vandalism be investigated.

The incident has drawn widespread interest, not only because of the unusual instance of the vandals replacing one plaque with another, but because it resonates with contemporary Thai politics.

Prayuth heads a regime that took power after a 2014 military coup toppled a democratically elected government. His government has used sweeping powers to silence dissent, ban political gatherings and temporarily detain dissidents without trial for what it calls "attitude adjustment."

The non-partisan Thai Lawyers for Human Rights groups deplored Srisuwan's detention, saying such actions highlight the fact that Thailand "still lacks the rights and liberties for freedom of expression."

Prayuth's government has also promoted political changes, including a new constitution, that would increase the power of the bureaucracy, traditionally associated with the monarchy, at the expense of elected politicians.

The original brass plaque, about 30 centimeters (12 inches) in diameter, celebrated the 1932 coup-makers who changed Thailand from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. It is reported to have been installed in 1936.

No one has claimed responsibility for taking it, though right-wing royalists have previously threatened to destroy or remove it.

The plaque was discovered missing and replaced on Friday in Royal Plaza, at the heart of a high security area where many official buildings and military installations are located. It is unclear how the vandals could have gone unnoticed in the flat, open area during the process of prying the old plaque out and installing a new one.

Police have declined to open a case, saying there was no one with standing to make a complaint of theft because the plaque had no known owner.

"I've already received reports and ordered security teams and police to investigate," Prayuth told reporters. "'I don't want this to be the topic for now. We have been a democracy for over 80 years now and I confirm that I am also for democracy. It is now up to the people's hearts on how you would want the country to move forward."

He added: "Would it be better for us to look ahead at the future? Old subjects are just history."
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 16:05 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cdea01e72 1 News Tourism-Ministry,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,foreign-tourists,Malaysia,tourism,#tourism Free

In a bid to increase the number of Malaysian tourists coming to Indonesia, the Tourism Ministry is set to hold a roadshow from April 26 to 28 in three Malaysian cities, namely Seremban, Malaka and Johor Bahru.

The first day will start with a table-top event in Seremban then moving on to Malaka and Johor Bahru.

Malaysia is a potential market for Indonesia since it is geographically close and both countries have similar cultures, said the ministry's deputy for overseas promotion, I Gde Pitana.

The three cities are located on the western peninsula of Malaysia. Seremban and Malaka are close to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, while Johor Bahrus airport offers direct flights to Indonesia. The city can also be reached by ferry from Riau province.

Read also: Aceh prepares halal destinations to lure more tourists

Currently, Malaysia takes the fourth spot for the number of tourists that come to Indonesia, after China, Singapore and Australia. In 2015, up to 1,200,202 Malaysian tourists visited the country, a 5.95 percent decrease from the year before, when 1,276,105 visitors were recorded. In 2016, there was an increase to 1,225,458 visitors.

Were aiming to attract 1,772,000 Malaysian tourists in 2017, said Pitana.

The ministry has partnered with 20 travel and tourism agencies and businesses, including tour operators and hotels, to promote the government's 10 prioritized tourist destinations, which it calls the New Balis.

To get the top outbound buyers from the three cities, were coordinating with the Visit Indonesia Tourism Officer [VITO] Malaysia and the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents [MATTA], which is the biggest travel agent association in Malaysia, he added. (kes)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 20, 2017 17:18 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cdea05dc6 1 News millenials,social-media,putri-indonesia,tourism,Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,#tourism,Youth,#youth Free

During her recent appearance at the University of Indonesia for a seminar entitled "The art of storytelling: Escalating Indonesia's tourism to the next level", the 2015 Putri Indonesia beauty pageant winner Anindya Kusuma Putri urged young people to promote the archipelago through social media.

You can use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or become a blogger to promote Indonesia's tourism, said the 25-year-old.

Putri, who managed to get into the top 15 at the Miss Universe 2015 international beauty pageant, raised her concern about Indonesia, which she said has more beautiful tourist sites than other Southeast Asia countries, yet is still below Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand in terms of the number of foreign tourists.

Read also: Photo-sharing apps more of deceptive lens to the outside world

You can try underwater experiences anywhere else in the world, but Raja Ampat and the eastern Indonesian region are still the best, added Putri.

Don Kardono, a special staff member of the Tourism Ministry's communications department, said that Raja Ampat had topped the list of the worlds best snorkeling destinations according to CNN Travel.

The second place is occupied by Labuan Bajo in Komodo. In 2017, Bali was also named worlds best destination by TripAdvisor, beating out London, Paris, New York and Rome, which are among the worlds tourism icons, said Kardono.

Read also: What to do in Raja Ampat beyond diving, snorkeling

Kardono also said that in 2015, 80 percent of Wonderful Indonesias promotion went to branding, introducing Indonesias tourist destinations to the world. Currently the Wonderful Indonesia brand is visible on almost every digital platform you could imagine.

On Google, YouTube, TripAdvisor, Baidu, Ctrip and others, you will likely see Indonesias tourism brand. Why is digital so important right now? Because everyone does things through smartphones nowadays, from researching, sharing stuff, booking events, payments, he said. (kes)
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Linkedin News Desk (Associated Press) Beijing  Thu, April 20, 2017 16:32 2028 a291276806121264c0bd211cdea03bb5 2 News North-Korea,China,tourism,tourists,#NorthKorea Free

Some Chinese tourism companies are eliminating or offering fewer trips to neighboring North Korea as regional tensions and safety worries dampen demand.

Representatives of tour companies Ctrip, Caissa and China Youth Travel Service said Wednesday they are no longer organizing trips to North Korea.

State-run media in China and members of the public have been critical of hostile statements from North Korean leaders as the nation pursues a nuclear arsenal.

Read also: Visiting Pyongyang, Jakarta's North Korean restaurant

Caissa sales manager Zhao Cuili says most tourists are unwilling to go because of safety concerns.

The two biggest companies, China International Travel Service and China Travel Service, say they still offer multi-day trips to North Korea.

China International Travel sales manager Zhao Haiwei says passengers must take North Korean airlines after the Civil Aviation Administration of China suspended flights.
A day after his expulsion by the BSF, the Madhya Pradesh Congress has announced that it will felicitate Yadav in Bhopal.

By Hemender Sharma: Politics has started over the expulsion of BSF constable Tej Bahadur Yadav whose video on a social networking site about poor quality food allegedly being served to security personnel deployed on the Line of Control went viral. A day after his expulsion by the BSF, the Madhya Pradesh Congress has announced that it will felicitate Yadav in Bhopal.

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Madhya Pradesh Congress president Arun Yadav used social networking site Twitter to announce the party's intention to facilitate Yadav.

Congress spokesman on Thursday confirmed to India Today that the party was going ahead with the felicitation of Yadav.

"The Congress party is felicitating him. Even if he worked for the armed forces he has the right to express himself. The BSF in the name of discipline has treated Yadav in an inhuman manner. We are deciding about the programme, but it will be a grand one for sure," KK Mishra said. The ruling Bhartiya Janata Party, however, has termed the Congress plan to facilitate Yadav as cheap politics.

"The Congress is trying to play cheap politics. We should stay away from playing politics in the name of the armed forces and as far as Yadav's case is concerned this is an internal matter of the BSF," BJP spokesman SR Hitesh Vajpayee said.

The BSF while expelling Yadav had termed his action of taking his grievance in the public domain as gross indiscipline.

Also read:

Sacked BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav to India Today: I was asked to apply for retirement, court martial was pre-meditated

Sacked BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav to move High Court

WATCH THE VIDEO:

--- ENDS ---
An employee of a bodega on Avenue A has been charged with assault and allegedly told an 18-year-old customer, Im not serving a tranny. The clerks lawyer says the victim was trying to steal from the store. [Daily News]

The Real Estate Board of New York is speaking out against proposed legislation in the City Council that would make it easier to sue landlords for harassment. [The Real Deal]

A look at how the Trump Administrations budget cuts would impact NYCHA and Section 8 buildings in NYC. [The Real Deal]

An overview of the retail, community and cultural spaces coming to Essex Crossing. Rohan Mehra of Delancey Street Associates says of the cultural facility planned on Ludlow/Essex Street: We are in talks with a pretty exciting partner and will make an announcement about it in the next month or two. [BisNow]

Artist Sir Shadow makes Lower East Side construction fencing his canvas. [Crains]

A look back at the Bowerys old Suicide Hall. [Curbed]
1.

A riddle: a woman and a man get to know one another in the 21st century. They flirt, go on long walks, exchange poetic emails, and stay up all night in his apartment. This goes on for months. But they never so much as kiss. Why?

Its a state of affairs that makes us suspicious. At a time when sex is the starting point rather than the goal of most romantic relationships, we dont have a rich phrasebook for understanding why two seemingly interested people fail at step one. Our explanations tend to be base: one of the two must be ugly, or in the closet, or unfashionably religious, or simply not interested in sex. If they wanted to, we reassure ourselves, they would.

Elif Batuman is skeptical of these reassurances. Her first novel, The Idiot, is a love story about two people who cant bring themselves to kiss. The book has been praised for its humor, style, and linguistic observations, less so for what it has to say about the problem of sex. The few reviews that have mentioned sex at all have largely complained about its absence. But its precisely that absence that animates The Idiot and allows Batuman to present a more nuanced answer to the riddle: two people might fail to sleep together because they either cant or wont negotiate the power dynamic that physical intimacy inevitably requires.

2.

Selin Karadag, the novels narrator, is a newly arrived freshman at Harvard in the early days of electronic mail, a teenager whos spent more time wondering on what day shell die than to whom shell lose her virginity. Shes cynically funny, with a keen eye for the absurd, but also possessed of an unsentimental idealism: she isnt afraid to say she wants a life unmarred by laziness, cowardice, and conformity. Shes drawn to these sorts of confident, precise expressions, finding an almost existential comfort in the descriptive capacity of language, and feeling unmoored whenever shes at a loss for words.

In her introductory Russian course she meets Ivan. Hes a senior, a looming Hungarian mathematician with the rarified aura that mathematicians have for laypeople. Selins interest grows as she watches him move through space, as she hears him speak, and as they find themselves cast as dialogue partners performing Nina in Siberia, a bizarre, elliptical love story made for teaching Russian grammar. One day, after overhearing his last name, she finds his email and writes him an impulsive letter, a playful sequel to their Nina dialogue, the sort of note that demands either an earnest reply or none at all. Ivan replies.

Their relationship graduates from email to long walks around Cambridge and finally to sitting up all night in his apartment, talking about nothing. They lurch through cycles of heartbreak and reconciliation. Ivan disappears, Selin writes to him that shes in love with him, Ivan writes her that shes the most special person he knows, Ivan mentions a girlfriend who quickly becomes an ex-girlfriend, Selin calls him the worst insult she can think of, Ivan takes her to Walden on his motorcycle, etc.

Like all young lovers, they struggle with voicing their expectations and feelings to each other but, at least to herself, Selin is able to articulate a clear idea of what constitutes true love. At one point, discussing Ivan with a therapist, she says: Most people, the minute they met you, were sizing you up for some competition for resourcesTheyre always separating people into two groups, allies and dispensable people. Ivan, she says, no matter how complicated he is, genuinely seems to care more about understanding her than about figuring out if shes dispensable. This, to her, means he loves her.

Nothing very tangible comes out of this love. The summer after her freshman year, Selin travels to Hungary as a volunteer English teacher, largely because Ivan will be there, and the cycle repeats. In the end they have a climactic heart-to-heart that resolves nothing, and he leaves for Stanford to begin his PhD. Its unlikely theyll see each other again.

In what amounts to almost a year of knowing each other, the closest they come to physical intimacy is when he playfully touches her ear.

Reviewers have found this fact  by far the most unusual fact about the story  hard to account for. Some have dismissed it as an unfortunate flaw, or else, by glossing over it, implied that if sex is lacking its because sex isnt what the book is about. Others have blamed the characters: either Selin is too much of a brain for physical intimacy (obviously contradicted by the text) or Ivan is, variously, not into her, emotionally unavailable, or a bad boy whose advances Selin wisely rejects. We dont have access to Ivans thoughts, and theres plenty of evidence for a cynical reading of his character, but these explanations feel forced. He never makes a move on her. He always calls her first (when they agree once that shell call first, he later admits he couldnt focus on his work, so wrapped up was he in waiting). Hes not a paragon of vulnerability, but hes available in ways that matter to Selin: All I had to do was write him an email, and then he walked around with me all day long. Who else in the world would do that?

Still, they dont manage to move beyond walking. Once in a while Ivan makes superficially enigmatic statements about how much easier things would be if they were intoxicated:

[Ivan said,] Im not saying we have to get hammeredYou just bypass the sufferingSomething breaks down. I dont know what to call it  those blocks, that obstruct a connection in your mind. Inhibitions, I said. Yes, exactly, he said. I felt my face flush. I dont mean, he added, that you never talk about sex, and then you get drunk and suddenly you can talk about sex. Right, I said. Time passed. I was thinking about how much time we had, and how little, at the same time. At some point, Ivan ask if I liked doughnuts.

If your sexual initiation didnt take place in a John Irving novel, perhaps this scene is familiar. You sit around with your love interest, talking in suggestive generalities, trying to bait them into making the first move. We usually call this shyness, a little-respected emotion, because we think of it as the fear of committing to an action that were sure is totally fine and normal. We tell shy people: Get on with it!

This seems to be the frustration that many reviewers circle around. But I dont think Selins inhibitions are mere shyness. She seems, at least in those moments, certain of Ivans interest. What she unconsciously fears, I believe, is that introducing the demands of physical desire into their relationship would compromise the notion of love that she has articulated, according to which Ivan loves her because he lets no worldly concerns get in the way of trying to understand her.

3.

One of two books that Selin reads in Hungary is Thomas Manns 1924 bildungsroman The Magic Mountain. The books protagonist, Hans Castorp, is a kind of proto-millennial: he visits his cousin in a sanatorium and ends up staying there for seven years, living off his trust fund, cultivating hobbies and becoming an unpaid DJ. Selin says she sympathizes with much in the book, especially how they always eat two breakfasts, but as I read The Idiot, I kept wondering what she thought about one of The Magic Mountains more objectionable scenes.

Midway through the story, Castorp sleeps with a very ill Russian girl named Clavdia Chauchat, who hes been making eyes at for 250 pages. She promptly leaves the sanatorium, and he waits for her, feigning illness. When she returns, however, its as the traveling companion of a Dutch colonialist, Pieter Peeperkorn, who, despite his advanced age, radiates a charisma thats both Dionysian and Christ-like. Castorp is disappointed but, amiable as he is, he develops a friendship with the Dutchman.

At one point the pair spend a drunk morning theorizing about the nature of female desire. They arrive at the conclusion that its essentially passive: Desire intoxicates the male, Peeperkorn sums up. The female demands and expects to be intoxicated by his desire. Castorp is then able to confess his liaison with Chauchat, because, as he assures his friend, this liaison was entirely the result of his desire, and so shouldnt reflect on the girl. The Dutchman more or less accepts this, saying, in short, if I were younger we might have to duel, but since Im old, lets make a bond of brotherhood instead. They drink to it.

Not exactly edifying reading, but it states shamelessly the algebra of desire that was assumed to be true for centuries and which, though it has largely passed from our discourse, still governs, often against our wills, sexual dynamics between men and women. In this algebra, desire is not fulfilled by a man learning what a woman wants. What she wants is obvious  she wants to be overwhelmed. The mans challenge is to rise to the occasion, not to speak the right words but merely to speak, as loudly and shamelessly as he can.

Desire, then, is inseparable from power. What we desire is either to overpower or to be overpowered, and pleasure stems not from some combination of physical stimuli, not from being understood, but from how purely were able to play one of those two roles. And you dont need to be a dyed in leather BDSMer or under-informed about consent to admit, with however heavy a heart, that this dynamic remains for many people an aspect of sexual pursuit and fulfillment, and that the concept of intoxicating male desire remains embedded in customs of who makes the first move, who pursues and who encourages pursuit, who emulates strength and who emulates weakness.

These notions of desire disquiet Selin, and not because she worries about consent. To the possibility that Ivan is trying to push her in the scenario known to us both in which boys pushed girls, she says that was so obviously not what was going on. Rather, its the thought that power might in any way have anything to do with love that makes her anxious. This is most apparent in moments when Selin feels unexpectedly hurt, because its almost always when Ivan suggests, even in a trivial way, that hes aware of a power dynamic in their relationship. In one scene, he gives her a box of cookies to hold, and a dog that hed been teasing with the cookies jumps on Selin, ruining her dress. Ivan jokes that he didnt do it on purpose. The sense of hurt, she says, took my breath away. It would never have occurred to me that he had done it on purpose. In their climactic heart-to-heart, when Ivan admits one of his hurtful emails was a power thing, her breath catches in her throat: It had never occurred to me that power was something he would actually use, on me of all people.

For Selin, power seems inseparable from the competition for resources that she sees as antithetical to love. Power, she suspects, is always used for extraction. She sees it in The Beatles, whose harmoniously innocent warbling hides for her a calculating cynical worldview where theyre keeping tally, resenting [their girl] for making them show her the way, waiting to be pleased in return. As in most Beatles songs (except Run For Your Life), power and sex are not explicitly linked in The Idiot, but the hints are clear. After their first long night together, when he walks her home, she pre-empts any possibility of a kiss by leaving suddenly, and thinks shes won. By extension, if shed lingered, and shown that she expected something from him, he would have won, by giving her what she wanted, by showing her the way. Its their first moment of sexual tension, and one of the few times she uses such explicit language about winning and losing.

Ivan is caught in a similar bind. On the one hand, as the more sexually experienced man, the aesthetics of his situation are less ugly, because in any power dynamic he would be the stronger, the winner. On the other hand, he cant bring himself to make the first move, because if he genuinely loves her he doesnt want to see her in a weaker position. The best he can do is hint at the sort of role he could play, and see how she reacts (not well). In Hungary they walk by a river and Ivan says that he wants to throw a stray dog into it. She asks why hed want to do such a thing. He says rivers make him want to throw things into them, and jokes that he cant throw her in. She knows this is meant to sound playful, but feels insulted and humiliated. Ivan reads her mood correctly: I think you dont like to throw the dog into the river. I dont think Ivan would throw a dog into a river, and I dont think theyre talking about dogs.

As the story progresses there are hints that Selin might be, if not coming to terms with power dynamics, then at least becoming more aware of their pleasures. She starts enjoying The Beatles. Even as shes ashamed of it, she admits how much she likes following Ivans instructions. The most revealing moment comes during their heart-to-heart. At one point he asks her about one of her letters, and Selin feels a shock, like when he had mentioned power, but this time the feeling was intoxicating. I felt it, his power  but like he was going to use it delicately 

but not like he wasnt going to use it. Batuman is a crystalline stylist. Whenever her sentence constructions feel awkward, a character is trying to express something that language has trouble expressing. Here, Selin glimpses, however hazily, a power dynamic redeemed, and immediately undoes her hair clip, letting her hair down. But the hair covers her face, her self, and within the same sentence, she clips it back up again. They talk for a while longer, and make some important admissions, but in the end nothing they say bridges the physical distance between them, not even when Selin consents to Ivan killing a moth thats buzzing around her room. He doesnt kill it. With her help, he lets it out the window.

The next morning Selin ponders the prescience of Dr. Seuss: We would not, could not, here or there. We would not, could not, anywhere.

4.

The sermonic version of The Idiot might conclude with this: if power compromises love, and sex involves power, then sex always compromises love. To be intoxicated by someones power is to allow your love for them to be compromised. True love will not save you: the truer the love the deeper the compromise.

I dont think Selin sees a way out of this predicament. After her big talk with Ivan, she has a dream. Shes in a bathhouse, and Ivan walks in, except in the dream hes also her brother. He is followed by a deluge of water. They hold one another. They say I love you. The water will drown them. Coldness and wetness, throughout the novel, are associated with death. If sex is a debasement of love, only one option remains to stay true to that love  confess it and die, chastely in the arms of your brother.

I found something admirable about Selins stubborn skepticism, perhaps because its grounded in her faith in language. Shes not skeptical of what shes able to articulate, like her notion of love or her dislike of The Beatles. But when she arrives at something she cant justify or explain, like why power dynamics must exist between two people in love, or why we drink so much, she refuses to go forward, no matter how much convention nudges at her back. Shell believe in something, but not before it is made legible.

Her insistence on an explanation stands in contrast to two ways in which the rest of us make do with our compromises (three if you count alcohol). The first is by not talking about them. Many of us have internalized some vague idea that sex, whatever its myriad pleasures, is symbiotic with love, and that the two together represent the highest interpersonal fulfilment we can reasonably expect to achieve. When this assumption almost inevitably fails to hold, we think, well, desire is a strange thing that cant be put into words anyway. This idea may seem obvious, because its so pervasive, but I think Selin would call it willful ignorance.

The second, more subtle way is by labelling the power dynamics involved in sexuality and seduction as performative and arbitrary, as if anything as basic as sex could ever be purely performative. Even if it were, its not obvious that what we perform on a regular basis doesnt change us or how were perceived. If we perform weakness for our partner enough times, they may begin to believe we are weak, or dispensable, no matter how much they love us. Its the fear of this, I think, that keeps many people from expressing their desires precisely to the partners they love most. How can you really ask someone, whom you love and respect as an equal, to put either you or themselves in a position of desirable weakness?

In the absence of physical intimacy, theres a limit to how deeply The Idiot can explore these questions. Batuman has said that this novel is the first of a series, and I suspect shell go farther in its sequels (about one of which she said, I want to write more about sex in this one; I think sex is a really big problem that people dont acknowledge enough.). Still, if The Idiot only describes the tip of the problem, it nonetheless points out both the problem and how much our language, so at ease with describing linguistic theory and croissants, struggles to articulate it. At the same time, Batuman presents this struggle not as the product of a fundamental rift between what can and cant be articulated, but as a basic tension in our development as people. What Selin, in her grasping attempts to say how she feels about Ivans power, comes to understand is that we will always be pressing up against a reality that we cannot yet put into words. We will always, at the margins of our experience, be struggling with a new language.
Farmers in Bundelkhand say that the lands they have are barren and the yield per acre is meagre. They want the Adityanath government to grant their demands considering the plight they are facing.

By Shiv Pujan Jha: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reached Jhansi on his first visit to Bundelkhand today after assuming office and will meet the farmers in this region and listen to their grievances.

The farmers of Bundelkhand are feeling cheated despite the important decision of waiving off their loans announced by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in his first cabinet meeting announced last month. Since the farmers here own large tracts of land, they fear specific concerns about their plight have not been adequately addressed in the wake of the much-hyped loan waver scheme.

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The Bundelkhand area has been reeling under severe drought-like conditions and most water bodies have dried up here, leading to death of hundreds of cattle all across the belt.

Farmers say that the lands they have are barren and the yield per acre is meagre. They want the Adityanath government to grant their demands considering the plight they are in.

FARMER SPEAK

Jagdish Bau, a 60-year-old farmer from Budha Bhosla village in Jhansi, owns 10 acres of land, most of which is unfit for agriculture due to lack of irrigation.

Bau complains that the wheat crop he sowed has been harvested but the farmers are unable to find a market for the same.

Talking to India Today, he said that the government declared an MSP (Minimum Support Price) of Rs 1625 for wheat but the middlemen don't let farmers sell the same at purchase centers run by the government. Bau added, "The middlemen charge a cut on our sale. If we do not pay, they do not allow us to sell our produce."

Several farmers like him are keen to meet the chief minister and demand a rebate in the huge electricity bills. The delegation of farmers will submit the following list of demands to Adityanath.

10 DEMANDS OF BUNDELKHAND FARMERS Farmers of this belt should get a rebate on all types of loans. Farmers above the age of 60 should get Rs 5000 monthly as pension. MSP for all types of crops should be increased further. Sugarcane farmers should be repaid their money with interest by the sugar mills. Agriculture should be given the status of an industry. 24-hour electricity must be provided to the entire area of Bundelkhand. Proper irrigation and drinking water facility must be provided to farmers. Action should be taken against middlemen in Mandis across various purchase centers. All canals across Bundelkhand must be properly maintained. Compensation for crop losses must be given to farmers with immediate effect.

Also read | Bundelkhand and the truth of 'ghas ki roti'

Also read | Chennai: Youths go on hunger strike in solidarity with drought-hit farmers

WATCH VIDEO

--- ENDS ---
By India Today Web Desk: Zakir Hossain, a canteen lease holder at the Dhaka University has been fired for serving beef to Hindu students.

A class-four employee who used to run a canteen in the Faculty of Fine Arts was debarred from the university on Sunday for serving beef when students had gathered to celebrate the Bangla New Year on 'Pahela Baisakh'.

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"Zakir was running the canteen without permission from the authorities," Acting Proctor Amzad Ali told bdnews24.com.

Zakir admitted that he made the Tehari with beef when the students ordered it for breakfast. Students had worked overnight to prepare for the 'Mangal Shobhajatra' procession, said a local media report.

Hossain, however, accused Bangladesh Chatra Leader Sohag and his friends of intentionally ordering beef Tehari and feeding it to Hindu students and said they did it to sabotage Hossain's image as he had refused to pay extortion money.

An inquiry committee formed by the authorities have asked for a report in a week's time.

--- ENDS ---
The University of Manchester has created an online hub of videos which show the unique experiences lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer people with cancer have.

Nursing lecturer Dr Maurice Naginton filmed the videos - which were funded by Macmillian Cancer Support - in order to give NHS staff a better understanding into the thoughts and feelings of LGB cancer patients.

The videos, which can be viewed on a specially created blog, include current and former patients discussing their personal experiences and the things they faced during treatment, such as, assumptions, normativity, and prejudice.

Dr Nagington says: LGB people with cancer often experience services which are heteronormative. For instance this can include advice on hair loss or makeup which is targeted at making women look particularly feminine when this may not be the way they usually present, whilst not offering any such services to men.

"Some of the people we spoke to told us how advice about the effects of cancer and treatment on sex was designed for heterosexual people and the professionals they spoke with werent able to address their concerns or were reluctant to go into much detail.

In one video, Jim, who has undergone prostate cancer treatment, explains how he felt he wasnt given the correct information in relation to his sex life after surgery. He says in the literature he was given by the hospital it stated he could have sex a week after his biopsy, however, he was convinced he wasnt given the correct information and that the information was only in relation to vaginal sex and not anal sex.

Overall there were many accounts from people feeling they werent properly informed about the effects cancer would have on them and their sex lives. As healthcare staff often assumed the patients they were talking to had opposite sex partners.

In nearly all of the accounts people said the healthcare professionals would generally assume they were straight. This didn't just have a negative impact in terms of the information given out about treatments, but it also made some people feel they had to keep 'coming out' all the time. Lesley, who has ovarian cancer, said: Itd be nice if people wouldnt make assumptions about your husband coming in to visit.

In addition to this, the people featured in the videos also noted how a lot of the services were designed with straight people in mind. For example, women were directed to look feminine, were offered wigs, and shown how to draw on their eyebrows, while men received none of this support.

When discussing what could be helpful in improving cancer care for LGB people, those featured in these videos said more recognition of their needs was vital.

Drawing upon the key barriers to improving care, Dr Nagington says: Our interviewees often approached misunderstandings about their sexuality with humour and were very brave and honest in telling their stories. I think their overall advice would be that professionals should remember that not all patients are straight and sometimes what fits one group isnt appropriate for all.

I hope to expand the site in the future to give more detail on the sexual challenges that lesbian and bisexual women can face, as well as interviewing trans* people about their experiences.

You can view all of the videos by visiting the website and joining in the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #LGBcancer.
An Australian man was visited by a string of strangers turning up to his home hoping for pizza.

ABC Radio Darwin Michael McElwee, 69, was first approached by a man wanting to deliver magazines to a pizza place, but shrugged off the visit thinking they had the wrong address, according to

But then another person knocked on his door asking about a job, leading McElwee to realise it was no strange coincidence.

Google was quick to correct the pizzerias location as shown (Google Maps)

The Darwin resident learned Google Maps had made an error in its navigation service and had labelled his home as pop-up pizzeria Cucina Sotto Le Stelle, which opens in a nearby park throughout certain times of the year.

McElwee told ABC Radio Darwin: It is like getting your identity stolen. Your house has been stolen and put in as a pizza shop.

Errors on the map arent an uncommon occurrence and can be sorted by reporting them to Google.

A Google spokeswoman told ABC Radio Darwin they were aware of the issue and have since fixed the error.
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The city assessors job has witnessed a transformation in recent years.

Colleen Keehn was the last person to hold the position when it was considered a full-time job.

Since that time, Wyandotte has entered into a contract with the Downriver Consolidated Assessing Consortium, diminishing the duties of city assessor.

However, the city charter still requires an assessor and spells out whats expected of that person.

Tom Woodruff, who was elected to the position in 2013, opted not to seek re-election.

Four candidates are vying for the job: Tom Dudus, Theodore Galeski, Ted Miciura Jr. and Patrick Miller.

Dudus, 63, served for 12 years on the Wyandotte Planning Commission. He is a member of the Construction Specifications Institute, as well as the Detroit chapter of the Building Enclosure Council. Dudus has resided in the city for 40 years.

Galeski, 72, is a lifelong Wyandotte resident who has 25 years of assessing experience. He has worked for the Wayne County Assessments and Equalization Division for many years, and has been a licensed builder for over 40 years.

Miciura, 41, has served on the City Council for the past four years. He is a lifelong Wyandotte resident and owns his own business.

Miller, 21, also is a lifelong Wyandotte resident. Among his political experience is having served as Student Council president at Roosevelt High School.

The News-Herald posed four questions to the candidates concerning why theyre running for city assessor, their qualifications and what they envision their role to be should voters elect them to the position.

Q: Why are you running for the position of city assessor?

Dudus: When I was 18, I joined the Southgate Jaycees. I quickly discovered that it was more enjoyable and meaningful to be involved instead of just watching.

Galeski: To be fair and equitable to all residents of the city of Wyandotte. Also, make sure the assessors requirements and duties are done properly and provide information to all taxpayers about their assessments.

Miciura: While being councilman has been a rewarding position, I still feel the enthusiasm to serve my hometown. I have worked in Wyandotte my entire life as a builder/contractor and within all the city departments. I am anxious to continue to serve my hometown in another capacity. It would be a seamless transition into the Assessing Department where I can continue to make good decisions to help improve Wyandotte and help all our citizens in any way I can.

Miller: I am running because I believe I have a lot to offer, not just the assessors position, but to the city government as a whole. I have ambitions in Wyandotte that I believe the position can help me achieve. Being that I am young, I want to be able to learn now so I can make a difference in Wyandotte over my whole life.

Q: What certification, experience or other qualities do you possess that make you qualified for this position?

Dudus: With the advent of computers, laptops and software, the way the assessors office functions has changed dramatically. I will become more of a liaison between city, county and state. And with my 40 years of experience in commercial construction, I know that my familiarity with project management will be the perfect fit.

Galeski: I am a Michigan Advanced Assessing Officer, the only person running for this office that is certified by the state of Michigan. I can perform all duties as required by the State Tax Commission in the city of Wyandotte.

Miciura: I dont presently hold any assessor certifications, but I plan to attend school. I went to Eastern Michigan University and earned a bachelors degree in management. I also hold an associates degree in construction technologies, as well as being a licensed builder for 23 years.

Miller: In my current studies at U of M-Dearborn, I am majoring in Information Technology Management. I believe that what I am learning can be used in the assessors position to be able to understand new systems and programs that the position brings. I also hope to be able to help Wyandotte grow into the technological age more, something which I believe Wyandotte is still lacking in.

Q: Although no level of certification is required to be the city assessor, the assessor is expected to manage Wyandottes portion of the contract entered into with the Downriver Consolidated Assessing Consortium, which also includes Southgate and Riverview. How do you define the Wyandotte city assessors role within the consortium?

Dudus: The majority of the Wyandotte assessments are actually completed by a contracted, state-certified firm. It will be the responsibility of all three cities to develop the best plan and strategy to use this firm. After all, with just a call we would have access to dozens of qualified, experienced assessors. Although it is not a requirement to become certified, it clearly would be beneficial and prudent to achieve some level of certification, which I will do, if elected.

Galeski: Did not respond.

Miciura: The duties of the assessor at this time is to work within the confines of the contract that has been entered into by the city of Wyandotte and the other cities involved with Downriver Consolidated Assessing Consortium.

Miller: The consortium is now made up of certified assessors who are overseen by the elected city assessor position. Because of this, the assessor position has moved to less of an assessing position and more of a position of the people. The positions importance comes from the citizens. It acts as an ear toward citizens during Board of Review (hearings), and as a voice from the citizens during council meetings.

Q: If elected, how many hours per week do you plan to devote to the job?

Dudus: I foresee a minimum of 20 hours per week, on average. However, that will certainly vary depending on the time required during tax tribunals or any state-mandated conferences, meetings, city meetings, etc.

Galeski: I will spend over 40 hours per week supervising the assessors office, not like just two days like the consortium offers. I know as the former assessor it takes more than just two days a week to perform all the duties in the assessors office.

Miciura: I will work to fulfill the duties of the job of assessor.

Miller: Did not respond.
Captain Amarinder Singh, who met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, informed him that the state had 1000 MW surplus power which it wanted to sell to generate additional revenue besides saving the state residents from additional tax burden.

By Manjeet Sehgal: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow the state to sell surplus power to neighbouring Nepal and Pakistan.

Captain, who met the Prime Minister in New Delhi, informed him that the state had 1000 MW surplus power which it wanted to sell to generate additional revenue besides saving the state residents from additional tax burden.

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Though it is not known what exactly would be the response of PMO, as it will be a policy decision, but citing short supply of power to the agriculture sector, opposition Aam Aadmi Party has advised the government to first fulfill the domestic requirements and then power the neighbouring country.

Welcoming the move, AAP chief whip Sukhpal Singh Khaira said if the proposal materialises, it may result in revenue generation, but the government should give priority to agriculture sector which lacks adequate power supply.

RATIONALISE POWER TARIFF

It is worth mentioning here that despite the claims made by the government, power is costlier in Punjab as compared to the neighbouring Haryana and Himachal. Power cuts are a reality in many areas including towns located close to Chandigarh like Naya Gaon. Though the state government has decided to rationalise power tariff, it is yet to become a reality.

"The power is not available to the state farmers for eight hours as claimed by the government. The government before selling power to the neighbouring countries should first fulfill the domestic requirement, agriculture sector in particular. I am surprised why the Chief Minister is soft to a hostile country like Pakistan and not even keen to meet the defence minister of Canada," Sukhpal Singh Khaira said.

It is worth mentioning here that state's Goindwal Sahib thermal power plant is located close to the international border and supplying power from this plant to Pakistan will be convenient. Both Nepal and Pakistan has shortfall of power.

CAPTAIN'S DREAM TO SELL POWER TO PAKISTAN MAY HIT ROADBLOCK

It is not the first time that the Punjab government has mooted the plan to sell surplus power to Pakistan. The then Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal during his visit to Punjab province of Pakistan in 2012 had sent similar proposal, but it did not materialise due to two reasons. One the policy to sell power to Pakistan did not exit, and second the relationship between the two countries was strained.

We do not enjoy good relations with Pakistan even today as it is not only indulging in cross border firing and infiltrations, but also other anti-India and anti-Punjab activities by sheltering Khalistan terror groups. Two major terror incidents one each in Pathankot and Dina Nagar in July 2015 and January 2016 were masterminded by none other than Pakistan based militant groups.

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Kulbhushan Jadhav hanging case has also further damaged the relations. At a time when the country's polity is voicing its concern against human rights violations in Pakistan, powering the rogue country will only earn criticism.

Also Read:

Punjab: Amarinder Singh's one month in office full of controversies and flip-flops

Captain vs Badals in Punjab: War of words over farm loan waiver

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 20 (PTI) The Centres recent move to come out with an action plan to tackle Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a "big" step to increase inter-agency cooperation to tackle the public health challenge, a green body said today.

Around 11 ministries, including health, environment, agriculture and food and public distribution, had yesterday adopted the Delhi Declaration and pledged to work on "mission mode" to develop a national action plan (NAP) to combat AMR.

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The highlights of the NAP include conducting national- level surveillance of antibiotic resistance in humans, animal and the environment, surveillance of antibiotic use in humans and animals and monitoring of antibiotic residues in food animals and the environment.

"The Delhi Declaration and Indias NAP on AMR is a big step in the right direction to increase inter-agency cooperation to tackle the public health challenge of AMR," the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said.

AMR has become a global public health threat as antibiotics used to treat diseases, including common infections, are increasingly becoming ineffective.

Misuse of antibiotics in human health and its misuse in food animal production such as in case of chicken, fish, dairy and honey compound the problem.

In addition, AMR can also spread through waste from healthcare facilities, animal farms, animal food processing units and pharmaceutical manufacturing units.

The CSE said the declaration is a much-needed coordinated move to combat AMR and the NAP is "comprehensive and ambitious" and reflects the much-needed multi-stakeholder approach.

"The NAP on AMR is ambitious, comprehensive and multi- sectoral. We now need to ensure its effective implementation through sustained political will, multi-ministerial involvement, funding support from the government and suitable state-level action plans," said Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general of the CSE.

The CSE said that the NAPs success, however, would depend on national-level programmes to support small-scale animal farms, a new AMR-centric approach to manage waste from animal farms, animal food processing and pharmaceutical manufacturing sector and health care facilities.

"There is a global momentum to address AMR. With a high load of infectious diseases and the existing poor state of sanitation, hygiene and waste management, India cannot afford any more delays on this critical issue.

"There is an imperative to institutionalise an approach which is aggressive enough to tackle this problem," said Amit Khurana, head, food safety programme, CSE, who was part of the team that developed the plan.

The highlights of the NAP on animal and environmental aspects include restricting and phasing out of non- therapeutic use of antibiotics in food animals, such as antibiotic use as growth promoter and in disease prevention.

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It also includes restricting and regulating feed and feed premix containing antibiotics, eliminating use of critically important antimicrobials for humans in food animals and regulating availability of antibiotics in bulk and those sold online, including feed and feed premix.

The NAP also envisages reducing environmental spread of AMR through necessary laws and surveillance of waste from animal farms, animal food processing, pharmaceutical sector and health care facilities and introducing programmes to support small and mid-size animal farmers to help them reduce antibiotic use among others.

Briefing the reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting on AMR yesterday during which the declaration was adopted, Health Minister J P Nadda had said strategies will be worked out to promote rational use of antibiotics among people, animal, food and agriculture sectors, besides curbing their use for boosting growth in animals.

"Antimicrobial resistance is a serious threat to global public health that requires action across all government sectors. Single, isolated interventions have limited impact and coordinated action is required to minimise the emergence and spread of AMR," Nadda had said. PTI TDS SMN

--- ENDS ---

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By Press Trust of India: (Eds: Updating with more inputs)

From K J M Varma

Beijing, Apr 20 (PTI) China today successfully launched its first unmanned cargo spacecraft, taking another great leap towards realising the Communist nations ambition to have a permanently manned space station by 2022.

Powered by a Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket, Tianzhou-1 roared into the air from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in the southern Hainan Province.

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Hours later, officials declared the launch a success, as the spacecraft entered the designated orbit, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The tube-like craft measures 10.6 metres in length and can carry over six tonnes of cargo as well as satellites.

In space, the cargo ship will dock with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space station, provide fuel and other supplies, and conduct space experiments before falling back to Earth.

China aims to build a permanent space station by 2022, that is expected to orbit for at least 10 years, and the debut of the cargo ship is important as it acts as a courier to help maintain the space station.

Without a cargo transportation system, the station would run out of power and basic necessities, causing it to return to Earth before the designated time.

The space centre on Tuesday had conducted the final rehearsal for the launch, which covered all systems involved in the launch, such as the rocket, spacecraft, launching site and testing, control and communication systems.

Chinas fast-expanding space programme targets a landing on the dark side of the moon by 2018. It aims to launch its first Mars probe around 2020, followed by a second mission that would include collection of surface samples from the red planet.

If the Tianzhou-1 mission completes its objective, China will become the third country besides Russia and the United States to master the technique of refuelling in space.

"The Tianzhou-1 mission includes the breakthrough of in- orbit refuelling and other key technologies needed to build a space station, laying a foundation for future space station operations," said Bai Mingsheng, chief designer of the cargo ship which can carry over six tonnes of supplies.

Tianzhou-1 is larger and heavier than Tiangong-2, which is 10.4 metres in length and has a maximum diameter of 3.35 metres, weighing 8.6 tonnes.

Bai said that supplies loaded on the cargo spacecraft are nearly as heavy as the ships own weight, exceeding the loading capacity of Russian cargo ships in active service.

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Tianzhou-1 will dock with Tiangong-2 three times, Bai said.

The second docking will be conducted from a different direction, which aims to test the ability of the cargo ship to dock with the space station from different directions.

In the last docking, Tianzhou-1 will use fast-docking technology.

Previously, it took China about two days to dock, while fast docking will take about six hours, according to Bai.

Refuelling is conducted during docking, a process that is much more complicated than refuelling vehicles on land.

The refuelling procedure will take 29 steps and last for several days each time. PTI KJV ABH AKJ ABH

--- ENDS ---
Arvinder Singh Lovely who recently deflected to BJP ahead the crucial Delhi Municipal elections said that many are considering leaving the party as they are feeling suffocated due to rampant corruption in party.

By Rakesh Ranjan: The defection of its senior leaders to BJP came as a major blow to the Congress ahead of the MCD polls, but what prompted the move is a bigger cause of worry for the grand old party.

The party, which sees its future in its young vice president Rahul Gandhi, refused to give 20 tickets to its youth brigade for the municipal elections. Former youth congress president and now a BJP member, Amit Malik said he was seeking just 20 tickets for the youth congress workers but repeated assurances remained unfulfilled.

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"On March 28, before the announcement of Congress candidates for civic polls, workers of youth wing staged a protest outside Rahul Gandhi's residence. Gandhi gave us a hearing and assured proper representation of youth workers in MCD polls. We demanded just 20 seats, which is less than 10 per cent of the total 272 seats. But despite his assurance, no youth worker got a ticket," Malik told Mail Today.

TICKETS GIVEN TO RELATIVES

Malik said the Congress vice president assured him that the demands will be considered and placed before selection committee. "Gandhi told us that youth workers of party will be given adequate representation. But he betrayed Delhi's youth congress workers.

Ticket were either sold or given to relatives of sycophants," he added. He also said that not a single youth Congress leader found any place in the selection committee, manifesto committee or the campaign committee. Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi is also in charge of the youth Congress and party's student wing NSUI. "Gandhi kept us waiting for ticket for long. He demotivated the young workers of his own party despite being a young leader himself," Malik said.

Malik, also a former president of Delhi University Student's Union (DUSU), claimed that for the last two and half years, the youth Congress had worked hard to regain party's lost ground in Delhi after its drubbing in the 2015 assembly elections where all its 70 candidates lost the elections. "The youth Congress workers regularly staged protests against the AAP government. They were beaten up by the police several times but at the time of elections, its hardworking volunteers were thoroughly ignored," said Malik. Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken rejected the charges saying the tickets were distributed in the most transparent manner.

GREED BEHIND THEIR MALICE?

He also accused Malik and Arvinder Singh Lovely of quitting Congress driven by some greed. "I don't know under what greed have they left the Congress," he said. Meanwhile, Lovely alleged that many in the Congress were feeling suffocated due to corruption in the party.

"Many others in the Congress are considering joining the BJP. Amit Malik and I showed the courage. Let us see when do others follow suit. Several senior Congress leaders are disgusted with the selection of candidates for the civic polls," Lovely said and alleged that tickets were sold to the aspirants.

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He also appreciated the BJP's decision to field fresh faces in the election. The BJP will win the April 23 MCD polls with a huge majority, he said. A day after joining the BJP, Lovely also hit out at his one-time mentor and former CM Sheila Dikshit, dubbing her as a burden on the Congress.

Dikshit had termed the development as betrayal by Lovely. Lovely said that he chose to be a traitor by joining the BJP which fights for the cause of soldiers, instead of being a burden on Congress.

Also read: Congress hit by exits ahead of Delhi MCD election: When Generals leave, it means hard times for party

Also read: Rahul's leadership comes under attack from Congress rebels

Also read: Rahul won't be able to find Manipur on map of India: Assam BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma

--- ENDS ---
During the India Today investigation, Nagendra Kumar, spokesperson for the Rashtriya Gau Raksha Dal, boasted of how vigilantes were trained to execute near-fatal attacks on their potential targets.

By Syed Masroor Hasan, Md Hizbullah: Most cow vigilantes are trained to strike ferociously but without leaving physical marks on their victims in order to dodge prosecution, an India Today investigation has found.

Earlier this month, a mob of self-styled Gau Rakshaks waylaid a truck on Rajasthan's Behror highway, dragged out 55-year-old dairy farmer Pehlu Khan and his companions and whipped them up with belts and rods, TV footage showed.

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Khan died three days later mainly because of grievous internal injuries on his chest and abdomen, doctors said.

In the wake of the fatal assault in Behror, India Today's reporters delved undercover into the dark world of the so-called cow protectors to investigate whether the rising vigilante aggression against cow traders was impulsive or premeditated.

The self-proclaimed Gau Rakshaks probed by the network's special investigation team were not linked to the murderous assault on Khan and his co-workers. But they were caught on camera describing their brutal methods behind the violence they unleash on our streets and highways.

Nagendra Kumar, spokesperson for the Rashtriya Gau Raksha Dal in Moradabad, boasted of how vigilantes were trained to execute near-fatal attacks on their potential targets.

"When we set out, we have a single objective. We carry lathis matching our heights. If they (cattle traders) don't spare you or resist, you got to at least break their legs so that they cannot walk for the rest of their lives. This is what our team in Aligarh mostly does," he claimed.

His sources, said Kumar, would tip him about cow trucks. Once they intercept the vehicles, they pounce upon it with a strategy. "We inflict injuries that leave no visible bruises. They don't realise how seriously they might have been hurt," explained Kumar. "They should be hit hard. But there should be no bleeding."

That's how vigilantes are trained, added Kumar, "which means no external wounds". "If he's beaten up, we ensure there's no bruise on him. But we guarantee, he'll be unable to walk on his feet two months later. There won't be any case if no external injury is visible."

Kumar claimed none of the members of his squad faced even a single police case across six states so far.

Pushpendra Sharma, the state president of the Gau Rakshak Dal in Uttar Pradesh, followed the same tactic, the India Today investigation observed.

"How do you injure your target?" asked the reporter. "We inflict internal injuries. We fracture their bones, muscles, legs. We don't hit on the head and rip it apart. If we do that, our activists will be arrested," Sharma said in Moradabad.

On his website, the man has advertised himself as a saviour of cows. But on India Today's tape, he admitted his gangs were highway robbers of sacred animals.

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"Our activists intercepted a truck in Babrala (Sambhal district) with 20 cows in it," he recounted. "They (the animals) were distributed among our activists. Distributed there and then."

Next, the SIT travelled to Haryana's Faridabad and visited Acharya Sarvamitra Arya. A senior leader of the state's Gau Raksha Dal, Arya revealed how his men would ambush livestock lorries.

"Our boys mount a blockade and surround the trucks when they arrive. They (traders/drivers) flee from running vehicles. That's one thing. We have got some weapons also. Sometimes shootouts also take place from both sides," he said.

According to Arya, he has a 3,000-strong group of violent Gau Rakshaks. "None of them will return beaten. They will beat up (their targets). They don't inflict injuries that bleed."

OPPOSE VIOLENCE: VHP

After India Today's sting on the Gau Rakshaks, VHP spokesman Shriraj Nair insisted their cadre had been advised to report suspected cow trafficking to police. He denied any links with the Gau Rakshaks that the India Today investigation exposed. The VHP, claimed Nair, opposed use of violence in the name of cow protection.

Nair, however, called for stricter enforcement against smuggling and slaughter of sacred animals.

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In his comments, Congress spokesman Pawan Khera accused the RSS of patronising aggressive vigilantism. "This thuggery cannot happen without the patronage from the top," Khera alleged.

"Cow protection is something we have okayed. But taking the law into (one's own) hands is definitely not acceptable," said BJP spokesman, Zafar Islam.

Uttar Pradesh's animal husbandry minister SP Singh Baghel echoed the BJP's views and said no one was allowed to break the law. The minister cited PM Narendra Modi's stern warning of last year to violent Gau Rakshaks.

"We understand the feelings of Gau Rakshaks," Baghel, however, remarked as he offered his personal phone number to cow squads to report illegal transport of the animals. "The chief minister has said it before that the rule of law would prevail in Uttar Pradesh. You (Gau Rakshaks) should be aware that you also can be charged if you take the law into your own hands."

Senior Haryana minister Anil Vij vowed zero-tolerance against law-breaking Gau Rakshaks. "We will not tolerate any hooliganism. If this sort of incidents come to our notice, we will take strong legal action," he said.

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Watch the video here:

Also read: Alwar gau rakshak attack: Murdered man was dairy farm owner, had come to Rajasthan to buy milch cows

Also read: Mohan Bhagwat: Condemn violence over cow slaughter, but want law banning it across India

--- ENDS ---
To stay competitive, SD ethanol needs a carbon dioxide pipeline, Summit says

Summit met with Watertown area leaders to discuss the carbon pipeline and why it is vital to the longevity of South Dakota ethanol and corn growers.
The accident took place early Thursday morning and police apprehended the driver of the car.

The site of the accident in New Delhi (Photo: ANI)

By Chirag Gothi: At least one person died and three more were injured after a car ran over people sleeping on a footpath in New Delhi's Kashmiri Gate area.

The Hyundai i20 car is believed to have been driven by a Class 12 student who has been apprehended by police. The driver's age is being verified.

The accident took place at around 5.45 am today morning and it is not known if the driver was drunk at the time.

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According to early information, the driver, who has been identified as one Samar Chugh, has claimed that he turned major on April 15. Samar, a student of DPS, Mathura, is the son of a businessman.

Samar, a Model Town resident, was accompanied by two of his friends, including one named Ujjwal, whose father owns the i20 car that was involved in the accident. The three boys initially tried to flee, but were nabbed by Delhi Police.

Cops later detained Samar and are likely to invoke Indian Penal Code section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) in the case.

The owner of the car - Ujjwal's father - is likely to be booked as well.

ALSO READ | Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill 2016 passed in Lok Sabha, fines raised by 5 times

ALSO READ | Shimla: 45 dead as bus falls in Tons river

--- ENDS ---
An opportunity for foodies and beer lovers to get lost in a world of food and drink from a hand-selected range of food trucks and breweries from around New Zealand.
Demonetisation has led to increased workload for the Income Tax department, which is busy identifying individuals and businesses, who deposited more than Rs 5 lakh in their bank accounts.

By India Today Web Desk: On January 31, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian listed seven big achievements of the government for 2016.

His list had GST, Bankruptcy Bill, Monetary Policy Committee, Aadhaar Bill, FDI liberalisation, UPI: Inter-Operability and Making the "M" in JAM a reality and Promoting labour-intensive sectors (apparels and made-ups).

Interestingly, Arvind Subramanian did not mention demonetisation as achievement of the government even though, on political front, the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have presented note ban as a major economic reform.

The 7 major reform achievements over the past year. #EcoSurvey Ch1 pic.twitter.com/0k9rUjzQFN- arvind subramanian (@arvindsubraman) January 31, 2017

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Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance headed by former Union Minister Veerappa Moily, reportedly, want to ask some questions to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel and Economic Affairs Secretary Shashikanta Das.

The RBI has already told the parliamentary panel in a written note that the government 'advised' the central bank to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 7. The RBI Board gave its nod to the proposal the next day and at 8 o'clock in the evening PM Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of 86 per cent of the existing currency.

It has been more than five months and the parliamentary panel is yet to reach its conclusion on demonetisation. The government claims that demonetisation was the major course correction in the nation's economy.

WHAT DEMONETISATION ACHIEVED IN 5 MONTHS: 10 THINGS TO KNOW Tracking tax evasion: The Income Tax department is currently focused on identifying individuals and businessmen, who concealed their incomes before demonetisation. According to the I-T department's records, there are more than 18 lakh bank accounts, in which more than Rs 5 lakh was deposited in demonetised notes. Interestingly, in the last two years, before demonetisation, the I-T department identified only Rs 31,000 crore unaccounted incomes. Now, all such individuals and businesses are on the I-T radar for recovering taxes and penalties. The Income Tax department's procedure is likely to take up to two years' time. The government expects that the revenue gains on account of demonetisation for the 2017-18 will be about Rs 1 lakh crore. Further the income tax base will also be widened. Savings for the government: An SBI Research has said that there was no need for the RBI to print the entire amount of demonetised currency. Further, a large number of new notes are in Rs 2,000 denomination. This means the volume of printed notes would be less. The SBI Research report says that the RBI RBI may save about Rs 1,000 crore on account of printing cost of the notes. When demonetisation was announced, notes worth Rs 15.4 lakh crore were scrapped. The total currency in circulation was about Rs 17.5 lakh crore. By the March-end about Rs 12.5 lakh crore had been supplied and the RBI expected that by May-end, the entire demonetised currency would be remonetised. According to the SBI Research report, for 2015 and 2016, the average circulation of Indian Currency Notes was worth Rs 16.5 lakh crore. Though one of the objectives of the demonetisation was to push digital cash transactions so that the government can keep track of the money flow and tax evasion could be checked, the current size of digital banking is not over Rs 2.5 lakh crore. After demonetisation, a sharp rise of 36 per cent was seen in mobile banking transactions. In January, debit card transactions surpassed the credit card usage for the first time, signally the great shift. But, digital transaction has shown decline since February.

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Public Accounts Committee meets RBI Governor: What happened behind closed doors

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Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar wants to portray police officer K Vijay Kumar, who is credited with killing sandalwood smuggler Veerappan.

After portraying the character inspired by naval officer KM Nanavati in Rustom, which won him the National Film Award, Akshay now wants to be the Indian Police Service officer on screen.

Kumar headed the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force that executed Veerappan in 2004, ending the outlaw's decades of terror on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border.

On Wednesday, Akshay was present to show his support to security agencies by attending the launch of a book, Veerappan  Chasing the Brigand, in Mumbai.

Asked which role among the two he would like to play, he said: "Both Veerappan and Vijay Kumar's characters are really interesting but I would love to play the role of Vijay Kumar because the whole planning has been done by him and how brilliantly he executed the entire operation."

The book is a first hand account of Veerappan's end, written by Vijay Kumar himself. The book release was attended by eminent politicians and bureaucrats among others.

Akshay was last seen in Naam Shabana in which he played a RAW agent. He has three releases lined up this year: Toilet  Ek Prem Katha, Padman and Rajanikant's 2.O.
Fairness creams have been a topic of discussion in Bollywood, lately. It all started with a politicians comment on the skin colour of South Indians about which he later apologised. The incident was followed by a lot of campaigns being run on national television to ban fairness creams.

Several actors like Taapsee Pannu, Randeep Hooda took to social platforms to urge people not to endorse or even advertise such creams, as they spread a wrong message. Actor Abhay Deol grabbed headlines when he dragged all the A-listers of Bollywood in his post for endorsing fairness products. He even indulged in a word-war with actress Sonam Kapoor for his comment on people endorsing fairness products. Although the B-towners might not have liked it, the actor got a huge support from the twitteratis.

Seeing this fairness war happening around, actress Sonal Sehgal decided to wipe off the dust from her clothe.

In 2003, Sonal stepped into the world of glamour expecting to make a flourishing career in Mumbai. She got her first chance to feature on television, when she was offered to endorse a fairness product.

The actor who debuted in Nagesh Kukunoor Aashayein is now feeling sorry for endorsing a fairness product many years ago.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Sonal explained why she chose to endorse a beauty product and what followed after that.

Everybody congratulated me on having landed such a plum assignment.The money was good enough to pay for my entire year's rent. That was it. I was sorted. I didn't think beyond that," the actress wrote.

The actress also explained how she realised that she has done something wrong by endorsing such a product, when her domestic help questioned about it.

"I suddenly realised how I had failed her. Her and millions of beautiful dark skinned women across the country who now believed that I am fair skinned because I use these creams! Without me realising I had become part of a mafia undermining the self-esteem of beautiful dusky Indian women, she added.

The actress also released her short film titled Dancing in the dark, which is about the problems a dark-skinned person faces because of the unabashed endorsements of the skin-lightening products.

"This short film was not just about me, It was to urge the society to wake up to some deep rooted prejudices and the actors, models, who endorse skin lightening products to reflect on the choices they have made,  Sonal wrote in a follow-up post on Facebook.

The video can be watched below:
The Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE) has told schools affiliated to it that educational institutions are not commercial establishments and sale of books, uniforms and stationery by them is a violation of norms.

An advisory has been issued following complaints from parents and stakeholders that schools are indulging in commercial activities by way of selling books and uniforms within the school premises or through selected vendors.

The board has taken a serious view of the complaints and the schools are directed to desist from the unhealthy practice of coercing parents to buy text books, note books, stationary, uniforms, shoes, school bags etc from within the premise or from selected vendors only, the communication sent to schools read.

CBSE norms mandate that schools are run as community service and not as a business and that commercialisation does not take place in the school in any shape whatsoever. Educational institutions are not commercial establishments and their sole purpose is to provide quality education, it added.

The CBSE has also reiterated its directive to schools to stick to books published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

The Board receives reports and complaints regarding the pressure exercised by schools on children and their parents to buy textbooks other than (that of) NCERT, it said.

Following complaints about shortage of NCERT books, the CBSE had asked schools to raise online indent for NCERT textbooks and more than 2,000 schools had participated in that.

Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar recently said that NCERT textbooks have been supplied to 2,000 private schools.
The ED is investigating the allegations made by the former Chairman of Tata Group Cyrus Mistry that fraudulent transactions were carried out by the airline.

By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: The Mumbai Zonal Office of Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued second summons to Mittu Chandilya, former CEO and Managing Director of AirAsia India. The first summons had returned back to ED due to Chandilya's non-availability at the given address.

"This time, the summons has been sent on his personal email id, under FEMA. He is outside India. Till today, there is no response from Chandilya whether he would be coming to India and face the investigation", a source from the agency said.

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The ED is investigating the allegations made by the former Chairman of Tata Group Cyrus Mistry that fraudulent transactions of Rs 22 crore were carried out by the airline.

It has also been alleged that out of Rs 22 crore, a transaction of Rs 12 crore were made to a Singapore firm, which needs to be probed.

Beside remaining present before the Mumbai office, the agency has also sought case related documents, bank account details of last five years, details of personal finance and others, from Chandilya.

ETHICAL CONCERNS AGAINST TRANSACTIONS: MISTRY

Last year, when Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry's corporate war broke, Mistry had written an open letter to the board members of the Tata Sons, alleging that, "Board members and trustees were aware that in the case of AirAsia, ethical concerns have been raised with respect to certain transactions as well as the overall prevailing culture within the organisation".

Subsequently, Deloitte had conducted a forensic investigation and found certain irregularities in the transactions, which were handled and lobbied by the airline under the leadership of Chandilya.

"He had directed company payments of Rs 22 crore to a Singapore-based entity and a ghost Indian firm, which did not render any services", the Deloitte report had said.

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ED interrogates fake Interpol agent being probed in Rs 342 crore loan default case

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Media institute of Delhi Heritage Institute of Management and Communication (HIMCOM) was conferred with Best Media Academy award at the International Excellence Awards Ceremony held on 20 March in Goa. Actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra was the chief guest at the event hosted by actor Rithvik Dhanjani. Syed Masood, managing director of HIMCOM, received the award. Syed Masood said, "I am grateful to receive the award that is only due to the hard work of our faculty, administration, students and of course parents." Heritage Institute of Management provides practical training to students in the field of journalism and mass communication. HIMCOM, Delhi, has been set up to offer contemporary credible and relevant media education. It offers courses like Bachelor Degree in Mass Communication, Masters in Mass Communication, PG Diploma in Mass Communication, Diploma in Videography and Diploma in Video Editing.
India's growth has been "impressive" in the recent years which makes room for tax broadening efforts by the government, according to a top IMF official.

"India has recorded quite an impressive growth performance in recent years. Our view is that the elimination of fuel subsidies and the targeting of social benefits has delivered in terms of allowing the union budget target to be achieved at 3.5 per cent of GDP," Vitor Gasper, Director of the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department told reporters at a news conference here on Wednesday.

"We have been collaborating with the Indian authorities in terms of looking at fiscal structural measures, including expenditure rationalisation while protecting infrastructure investment, tax broadening efforts," he said.

In this context, the rollout of Goods and Services tax (GST) is an extremely important step that will create a true unified national market in India, he said.

"We see room for tax broadening efforts. We see room for more progressive income taxes in line with trends in income inequality. Perhaps more generally, we do see a case for a medium-term framework and we know that the authorities are actively working on that," Gasper said.

He also said inequality has increased in both India and China.

"As was the case for India, in China you see that inequality has increased. From that viewpoint, you could advocate, you should advocate social spending and taxation reform in order to address that issue in China.

"At the same time, it turns out that increase in social spending and change in taxation does support the transfer of expenditure from investment to consumption. That is part of the overall rebalancing of the Chinese economy," Gasper said.

Gasper said globalisation and technological change have been major drivers of economic growth and cross country convergence.

"More than one billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty since the early 1980s, and most of them come from China and India," he said.

"At the same time, when you focus on country indicators, you see that inequality has increased in most advanced economies and large emerging economies. Again, I am referring to China and India," Gasper said.

"The clear perception around the world of widespread increases in income inequality illustrates the dominance of national politics shaping these perceptions. Fiscal policies, government expenditures and revenues are powerful means to ensure the sharing of the growth dividend," the IMF official added.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on April 19 said investigative agencies are doing their best to ensure extradition of controversial businessman Vijay Mallya, who was arrested in London on April 18 and later released on bail.

"I think the government and all the investigating agencies are certainly putting (in) their best efforts because the agencies do believe that an offence has been committed for which the person (Mallya) is required in India," the minister told reporters here.

The minister further said Mallya's extradition is part of the "judicial process" in the UK.

"It's part of the judicial process in that country and the judicial process functions on certain considerations," he said in response to queries regarding Mallya's extradition.

Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender by Indian courts, was arrested in London by the Scotland Yard on April 18 on India's request for his extradition on fraud charges.

He was, however, released on bail a few hours later on a bail bond worth 6,50,000 pound. He is required to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on May 17.

The 61-year-old liquor baron has to face charges in Indian courts in connection with loan default cases.

Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs.9,000 crore to various banks, had left India on March 2, 2016.

The Indian government has since revoked his Indian passport, but he has repeatedly dismissed all charges against him.

In January, an Indian court ordered a consortium of lenders to start the process of recovering the loans.

India had placed a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the Extradition Treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale on February 8.

Earlier in January this year, a CBI court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya in the Rs.720-crore IDBI Bank loan default case. He is the owner of a Formula One team.

While handing over the request, India had asserted that it has a "legitimate" case against Mallya and maintained that if an extradition request is honoured, it would show British "sensitivity towards our concerns".
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Chairman Sunil Mittal on Thursday met United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres to discuss the role of world business in promoting the Sustainable Development Goals.

The two also discussed the challenges posed by growing populism and anti-globalisation sentiments, an ICC statement said.

This was Mittal's first meeting with the UN Secretary- General since the decision to grant ICC 'Observer Status' at the UN General Assembly last December.

The meeting was held at the UN headquarters in New York.

During the meeting, Mittal  who is also the chairman of telecom major Bharti Airtel  underscored ICC s commitment to use its newly granted status in the UN system to deploy "resources, expertise and knowledge of world business in implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, the statement added.

The SDGs are the most ambitious development agenda ever agreed at the international level and it is widely recognised that their successful implementation will hinge on widespread business action, the statement added.

The SDGs are call to action for ending poverty, ensuring education, protecting the planet and other global goals.

"Secretary General Guterres welcomed ICC s commitment to the SDGs and noted that partnerships with the private sector would be vital to address major global challenges(such) as climate change to mass-migration," Mittal said.

Mittal emphasised the significance of rules-based policy making to enable trade, innovation and job-creation in the context of SDGs.

"Given the complexity of today s global challenges, it s vital that business has a clear voice in UN decision making," Mittal said.

He added that ICC would look to use its observer status to positively shape important debates on issues such as trade, financing, technology and corporate responsibility.

The meeting was part of the ICC Chairman's mission to New York where he is meeting with senior UN officials and national ambassadors.

ICC also announced a new collaboration with the UN Refugee Agency to enhance business engagement in the international response to the global refugee crisis.

Mittal took over as ICC Chairman in June 2016, and is the third Indian business leader to hold the position in the chamber's near-100 year history.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Thursday removed the beacon light from his car following the Union cabinet decision to do away with the VIP culture.

The chief minister personally removed the red beacon light from his car a day after the Union cabinet decided that beacons atop all official vehicles will have to be removed from May 1.

"From today the red beacon in my car is being removed," Palaniswami said, adding, his cabinet colleagues will follow suit.

Four other state ministers- Finance Minister Thomas Issac, Water Resources Minister Mathew T Thomas, Culture Minister AK Balan and Revenue Minister E Chandrasekheran also removed the beacons fitted on their official vehicles on Thursday.

Seeking to end VIP culture, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided that beacon light will be removed from all vehicles, including that of the President, Prime Minister and state chief ministers, from May 1.

Beacons, however, will be allowed on vehicles concerning emergency and relief services, ambulance and fire service, the governent stated.

(With inputs from Agencies)
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued a show cause notice to Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor for cutting more branches than allowed of a banyan tree inside his Krishna Raj bungalow at Pali Hill in suburban Bandra here.

A BMC official said Kapoor had last week received the civic body's permission to trim six branches of the tree after the actor pointed out that they would obstruct the planned construction at the plot.

However, subsequent inspection revealed that the tree has been reduced to its trunk, the official said. The branches were not trimmed but chopped off, he added.

The notice was served on the industry veteran yesterday. He has been given 24 hours to explain why action should not be initiated against him.

BMC will file a police complaint, for registering a case under the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, and Section 155 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the official said.

Reacting to the notice, the 64-year-old actor said he will speak to the contractor who is handling construction on the plot.

The tree hasn't been uprooted. I will check if the contractor has made a mistake.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, accused in a money laundering case, is likely to present himself before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday, an official said.

Singh will appear before the investigating officer at the ED Headquarters in New Delhi.

"We hope that he (Singh) will be present at the ED Headquarters here as we haven't received any information from his office so far," ED spokesperson Anil Rawal told IANS.

The ED had summoned Singh in the money laundering case on April 18 and had said that he must appear before it on April 20.

Earlier the ED had summoned him on April 13. But he failed.

The senior Congress leader had earlier allegedly avoided summons to get his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

He is said to have excused himself by referring to his official commitments.

In the first week of April, the ED attached Singh's Delhi farmhouse worth Rs.27.29 crore.

The agency's move came after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a chargesheet against Singh and others in March for allegedly amassing assets worth Rs.6.03 crore.

The ED had filed a criminal case under the PMLA against Virbhadra Singh, his wife Pratibha, Life Insurance Corporation agent Anand Chauhan, his associate Chunni Lal, and others in 2015 following the CBI's FIR dated September 23, that year.

The case was registered after a preliminary inquiry found that Singh as Union Minister from 2009 to 2012 allegedly accumulated assets worth Rs.6.03 crore, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income.

After his Delhi farmhouse was attached, the Chief Minister accused the Centre of harassing him and destabilising his government.

He alleged that central agencies like the ED and CBI were being misused against political opponents by the Centre.
In an apparent attempt to strengthen ties with prominent political leaders, especially those ranged against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has started following many of them on Twitter, often exchanging pictures and pleasantries.

Recently, Banerjee re-tweeted a pictorial post of ex-Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav where they are seen together, and expressed her pleasure at meeting the Samajwadi Party leader.

"Missed this tweet a few days ago. It was so nice meeting you in Delhi recently. Thanks," Banerjee tweeted.

The two leaders, who share a good political bonding, also exchanged pleasantries on the occasion of Poila Boishakh (the Bengali New Year on April 15) on social media.

"Happy Poila Baisakh! Wishing you a delightful and fulfilling year," Yadav wrote, while Banerjee warmly reciprocated the greetings on the same day. "Thank you Akhilesh for your greetings on Poila Baisakh. So nice of you. Warmly reciprocated," she tweeted.

The Trinamool chief, who is one of the most active leaders from the state on social media, also congratulated senior Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on his re-election in the Srinagar Lok Sabha by-poll.

"Congratulations to Farooq Abdullah Ji. So happy that a senior leader like you is back in Parliament," Banerjee wrote on Abdullah's son and NC leader Oman Abdullah's Twitter handle.

"Thank you didi. He has asked me to thank you for your kind words and warm message," Omar replied.

Since the past few days, Banerjee has also started following Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, DMK leader MK Stalin and the AIADMK's official Twitter handle.

Banerjee's attempt to reach out to the regional political parties and its leaders is being seen in the backdrop of speculation about the emergence of a wider political coalition at the Centre before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to counter the BJP's seemingly unstoppable electoral blitzkrieg.

According to political analyst Udayan Bandopadhyay, while social media exchanges could increase Banerjee's rapport with the other political forces, it would take a lot more to actually bring opposing powers under one umbrella to fight the BJP's ascendancy.

"Exchanging pleasantries on social media might warm up her relationship with these leaders but the real political battles happen on hard ground. To have an allied front, one has to see if opposing political powers like Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati or DMK and AIADMK would come together or not," Bandopadhyay said.

"Mamata Banerjee is currently the only 'brave face' in Indian politics who can challenge Modi or lead an allied front to contest against the BJP. She is also trying hard for a coalition of opposition parties. But whether it would materialise or not depends on several simultaneous equations," he added.
The National Green Tribunal on Thursday directed Delhi government to introduce destination buses from May 1, in a bid to help improve the air quality in the national capital.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the AAP government to run the point-to-point buses on an experimental basis from Dwarka, Rohini, Janakpuri, CGO complex and Badarpur border.

The green panel said these services will start from spots where it is convenient for the public at large.

The NGT said introduction of such bus services would facilitate an individual to opt for such a service, rather than driving a car alone on highly-congested roads.

"The NCT Delhi and traffic police will duly advertise about the introduction of destination buses from April 25 for informing the public," the bench ordered and sought a status report within four weeks.

The green panel also directed the Delhi Transport Corporation to maintain these buses and engage their staff for cleaning and maintaining them.

The tribunal had earlier pulled up the Delhi government for not starting these point-to-point bus services till date despite its order. Destination buses are the ones which ply from one point to another without any halt in between.

The green panel had lambasted the Delhi government after its counsel submitted that there was shortage of buses. The panel had said "it is evident that large number of buses are standing along Yamuna at the depot. We see no reason why state authorities have not implemented our order so far."

It also said that such point-to-point buses would result in reducing jams as a large number of people from places like Dwarka and Rohini come to offices in Central Delhi.

During an earlier hearing the NGT had said "the traffic on roads of Delhi needs to be reduced by taking various measures that have already been directed to be taken by various authorities, including introduction of destination buses which could certainly help particularly the middle class and single driver from opting for destination buses rather than driving a car individually on highly congested roads of Delhi."

It had also asked the AAP government to encourage those using public transport by providing incentives to them
At least six persons were killed and four others injured in a massive fire at an electronics factory here on April 19, police said adding that several persons were missing in the incident.

Ten fire tenders and hydraulic cranes were pressed into service to control the inferno at the factory of Excel Greenwich company in sector 11 of the industrial township, adjacent to the national capital.

Six badly-charred bodies have been recovered from the remains of the factory, an official told IANS.

Police suspect that an electrical short circuit triggered the fire and the flames rapidly spread to all the four floors in the building, leaving many with no chance to escape.

At the time of the incident, there were more than three dozen people working inside. Among the dead were five men and one woman. Many people, including the HR manager of the company, remain missing, an official said.

Some of the injured, who leaped out of the building in a bid to escape the flames, were seriously injured. One worker escaped by climbing down a rope but suffered hand and leg injures, while another worker, who jumped from the fourth floor to an adjoining building, sustained spinal injuries.

Local residents said that lives could have been saved had rescue teams reached sooner.

Satinder, a rickshaw-puller who stays near the factory where his son also works, claimed that fire tenders reached the spot over half-an hour after the fire broke out at around 1 pm.

"I rushed to the factory as soon as I learnt of the fire.My son works in the basement in packaging section. I rushed towards the basement and the staff there were still not aware of the fire till I told them to escape," Satinder told IANS.

Hira Lal, a security guard, said that the fire started from the ground floor and luckily there was less staff as it was lunch hour.

He said he rushed to the first floor to alert the staff and by the time the fire had engulfed a large area.

The guard also said that fire officials had not reached the spot quickly.

However, fire department officials said there was no delay, as they acted as soon as they got information from Noida police.

Police officials said they were conducting search operation. Most of those killed were those who were on the fourth floor where the management had its office.

Noida's Superintendent of Police Dinesh Yadav, who was at the spot, said that they will register a case on the basis of the Fire Department's report.

Gautambudh Nagar District Magistrate NP Singh was also on the spot.


The Indian stamps were particularly rare owing to the fact they were in a set of four.

By Press Trust of India: A set of four rare stamps featuring the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi has been sold for record 500,000 pounds at an auction in the UK which its seller said is the highest price ever paid for Indian stamps.

Only 13 of the 1948 Gandhi 10-rupee Purple Brown and Lake Service stamps are in circulation. The block of four was sold to a private Australian collector for the highest ever price for Indian stamps, said UK-based dealer Stanley Gibbons.

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The Indian stamps were particularly rare owing to the fact they were in a set of four.

From the issued sheet, supplied to the Governor-Generals Secretariat, only thirteen single examples are authoritatively recorded, including this strip of four and a block of four in the Royal Philatelic Collection, owned by Queen Elizabeth II, which is believed to be the world's largest and most valuable private stamp collection, Gibbons said in a statement.

"The recent sale follows that of another Indian philatelic rarity, the famous Four Annas, which sold in March this year for almost 110,000 pounds," the statement said.

However, the record price for a stamp sold an auction is USD 9.5 million (7.4 million pounds).

"The market for high-quality Indian rarities has been strong for several years and is supported by the ongoing desire of the wealthy Indian diaspora and savvy international clients to own these historic assets," Keith Heddle, managing director of investments at Stanley Gibbons, was quoted as saying by BBC.

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Babri Masjid demolition is 'more serious' than assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, says AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi

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Espousing the cause of triple talaq at their two-day Lucknow meet recently, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) president, Maulana Rabey Hasan Nadvi, warned the state not to interfere. Simultaneously, Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister, while addressing the BJP national executive at Bhubaneshwar, firmly stated, When we speak of social justice, our Muslim sisters too should get justice. We do not want to challenge the Islamic law but we are dead against the exploitation of our Muslim sisters. Modis intention is clear  that no Muslim woman must be deprived by men; that the rights of equality and justice given to her by Islam and the Holy Quran are not taken away by the men.

Modi has rightly spoken about doing away with the suppression of Muslim women via triple talaq thrice in a sitting. This is in keeping with his agenda of equality and equanimity as per his slogan of development for all. Most Muslims agree that they do not require such bodies as AIMPLB but would gladly accept the ones that address and find solutions to their educational, economic and social backwardness.

Muslim men were punished for divorcing women by Hazrat Umar, Hazrat Ibn-e-Tymia and the Sahabas (followers of Prophet Muhammed). Modi is in favour of strengthening the right spirit of Islam through the law of the land without interfering in Sharia law.

Though considered sinful, the triple divorce is unfortunately legally enforceable in Sunni Hanafi law. Since vast majority of Muslims in India follow Sunni Hanafi law, many Muslim women become victims of this innovated form of divorce and hence they are now taking the help of the apex court. It is not mentioned in the Holy Quran and is blasphemous. To Prophet Muhammad, divorce was the most repugnant.

The travesty with clerics is that they crumple the otherwise broad principles of Islam into myopic ones for their political ends by taking the entire community for a ride. They are responsible for bringing Islam into the ambit of mockery by the media and others. It is high time they follow Islam in its true spirit and stop threatening law makers.

The AIMPLB feels it is its right to dictate terms and espouse views on issues that extend from the public domain of Indian Muslims to the privacy of their bedroom. Stoke a controversy involving the community and the usual suspects start emerging from the murky and infested woodwork of the AIMPLB. So the wise men constituting the board have once again jumped to the conclusion that the government is out to deprive Muslims of their personal Sharia rights as enshrined in the Constitution of India. In doing so, they have closed their eyes to the fact that 92.2 per cent Muslim women are against the dreaded and un-Islamic triple talaq in one sitting.

It must be pointed out here that the Law Commission is working in the right direction, as it has asked for inputs from all the other religions with the sole intention of uplifting the lot of women. The UCC (Uniform Civil Code) has nothing against Islam or Sharia rather its very first point coincides with what the Quran says  that men and women be given equal rights. It's only the injustice meted out to Muslim women by their men that will be corrected by the UCC and that too in the spirit envisaged by Islam. Indeed, the UCC, as per the Islamic order, will strengthen the right procedure of triple talaq from talaq-e-bidat (triple talaq in one sitting) to talaq-ehusna (talaq in three months allowing a possibility of patch up).

It is sad that the so-called Muslim leaders and clerics, are creating a fuss over a non-issue. The AIMPLB is at the vanguard of the battle to ensure that women of the community continue to suffer bias and are deprived of the protection they should get through provisions in the Constitution that provide for equality and non-discrimination. The Board, it would seem, wants them to remain at the mercy of the patriarchal set-up manned by sundry clerics with their own interpretation of the Holy Quran. These self-appointed custodians of Indian Muslims, who just wait for an opportunity to lock horns with the government and cry hoarse, have found in the present triple talaq controversy a way to make their otherwise diminished presence felt.

Triple talaq and Uniform Civil Code are two separate issues. Personal laws cannot claim supremacy over the rights granted to individuals by the Constitution. All that AIMPLB has managed is tarnish the image of Indian Muslims. The media quotes the most negative statements of the Board and these are taken as reflecting the views of the community. The truth is that an average Muslim is not governed by what the Board says. The reality is that Muslims need no personal law boards. They would rather prefer focus on issues like education, unemployment, economic and social backwardness. The time has come the community itself shoulders the burden of coming into the mainstream.

For a start, most Hindus make up their mind about Muslims on the basis of the faces from the community they see on TV and the voices they hear in the media. The people covered by the media are invariably 80-plus-year-old men insisting on the status quo on triple talaq and other issues. These men (women not seen!) seem to come from antediluvian times.

They are a set of disgruntled, disorganised and divided individuals. Their convulsions over issues like triple talaq, family planning, nikahnama, polygamy, etc. are cases in point. If the law board members are told of reforms in talaq, polygamy or family planning in 22 countries like Pakistan (Family Law Ordinance), Iran or Indonesia, they dismiss them saying they dont follow examples set by these countries. Religious but moderate people in the community believe that the community has to address issues like birth control in its own interest.

Indian Muslims face multiple problems, possibly more than any other prominent religious group in our secular sovereign republic. Some of the baggage they carry is owing to the way in which the majority community views them. In fact, many of the notions are negative, inaccurate, retrogressive, made up of half-truths, propaganda, outright lies some of which are trumped up. The other baggage is a result of their own inaction and the lip service they have paid to opportunistic interlocutors and so-called leaders.

Without closely studying the Uniform Civil Code, no serious effort will be possible to begin an ambitious national project of reconstruction of religious thought in Islam by Indian Muslims. Perhaps this can be done by dedicating ourselves with greater vigour to realizing Iqbals dream of a renaissance in Islamic culture. And the first step must be taken by the Indian Muslims themselves sans any personal law boards.

The writer is a commentator on social issues and a grandnephew of Maulana Azad. The views expressed are his own.
Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan offered prayers at the holiest of Sikh shrines 'Harmandir Sahib' in Punjab on Thursday morning.

Sajjan arrived at the Golden Temple complex and was received by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) President Kirpal Singh Badungar and other members.

The Minister offered prayers inside the sanctum sanctorum and listened to hymns. He also took a 'parikrama' (went around the shrine) and sat there awhile.

The first Sikh to become the Defence Minister of a western nation, Sajjan, 46, was later honoured by the SGPC at the shrine complex with a 'siropa' (traditional honour) and presented a replica of the Golden Temple and a sword.

Sajjan arrived in the Sikh holy city on Wednesday evening amid controversy over him being labelled as a "Khalistani sympathiser" by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

He was received at the airport by the district administration officers. Members of some radical groups were also present outside the Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport with banners to welcome Sajjan.

The Minister's family hails from Bambeli village, 15 km from Hoshiarpur. His family had migrated to Canada in mid-1970s, when Sajjan was around five years old.

He is likely to visit his native village and then arrive in Chandigarh.

Amarinder Singh had stirred a controversy last week when he said that he would not meet the visiting Canadian Minister due to his (Sajjan's) links to radical elements who demand for a separate Sikh state, Khalistan.

In New Delhi, Sajjan sought to play down the controversy on Tuesday saying that he did not want the break-up of any country.

The Shiromani Akali Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have welcomed Sajjan to Punjab and have condemned Amarinder Singh for his stand on the Canadian Minister.
The Delhi Police special cell and Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Thursday arrested three people suspected to be ISIS terrorists from Jalandhar, Mumbai and Bijnor.

According to reports, those arrested are believed to be part of an ISIS module that were looking for recruits in Bihar, UP, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

Besides Uttar Pradesh ATS and Delhi Police special cell, the crime investigation department of Andhra Pradesh police, Maharashtra ATS, Bihar Police and Punjab Police were part of the operation.

Further investigation is on and six suspects have also taken into custody for interrogation.
The government has no plans to cut back on security to VIPs, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said, a day after the Centre banned the use of beacon lights atop all vehicles, except emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire brigade.

"With regard to security, it is necessary in the interest of the country because important people have to be protected. Otherwise, there is no preferential treatment," Naidu, who holds the portfolio of Information and Broadcasting, told reporters here.

About the Centre's decision to put an end to the VIP culture, he said: "Everybody is a VIP and that is the philosophy of our government."

Though it is a small initiative but it sends a message that every person should be treated equally, he added.

He hoped that state governments will also shun the used of beacons or they will face the wrath of the people.

On a query about the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, the minister said the case has been going on for so many years and there is nothing new in that.

He did not elaborate on what could be the impact of the Supreme Court order in the Babri Masjid demolition case on the BJP.

Top BJP leaders L K Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti will be tried for criminal conspiracy in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case as the apex court had yesterday allowed the CBI plea to restore the charge against them.

The SC, however, noted that Rajasthan Governor Singh enjoys constitutional immunity and can be tried only after he ceases to hold the office. Singh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1992.

Meanwhile, amid a debate on some of the negative impacts of social media, Naidu said it cannot be censored.

"It is a larger issue. We have to think about it and discuss because we cannot think of censoring social media. The society has to discuss and then come to a conclusion at the end of the day," he said.

The Minsiter was speaking to reporters after inaugurating a workshop on Instagram for government employees engaged in social media communications.
While sending out a clear message to Beijing that Arunachal Pradesh was and would remain a part of the Indian territory, India on Thursday indicated that it might take part in the One Beat One Road Summit being hosted by China next month.

Assigning invented names to the towns of your neighbour does not make illegal territorial claims legal, MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay said when asked for response to Chinas decision to rename six places in the North-eastern state, which Beijing calls South Tibet.

He confirmed that India had received an invitation from China for participating in the OBOR Summit, a signature initiative of President Xi Jinping. The invite was being considered.

Although China has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the summit, India is said to be considering asking its envoy in Beijing to attend the meet. Nearly 30 Heads of State or Government are likely to participate in it.

India has already lodged its protest with China over the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is seen as part of the OBOR initiative, since it passes through Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). New Delhi is expected to reiterate this position if it takes part in the OBOR Summit.
Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari arrived here today on a two-day visit to Odisha during which she will visit Lingaraj Temple and Sri Jagannath Temple at Puri.

Odisha Governor S C Jamir, Finance Minister Pradip Kumar Amat, Home Secretary Asit Tripathy, Director General of Police K B Singh received the Nepal president at Biju Patnaik International Airport here.

As per the programme, Bhandari will attend a women's empowerment programme at Mission Shakti Bhavan here before heading for a darshan of Lord Lingaraj at the 11th century Shiv shrine here. She will offer puja at the temple.

She will spend the night at the Raj Bhavan here, official sources said.

Bhandari will visit Sri Jagannath Temple tomorrow at about 10.55 AM tomorrow and return to New Delhi by an Air India special aircraft at 2.25 PM, Home Department sources said.
A day after the government announced the decision to do away with red beacon lights for VIP vehicles including that of President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India, Union ministers, chief ministers and top government officials, Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu Thursday said the government has no plans to cut back on security to VIPs.

With regard to security, it is necessary in the interest of the country because important people have to be protected. Otherwise, there is no preferential treatment, Naidu told reporters after inaugurating a workshop on Instagram for government employees engaged in social media communications.

About the Centres decision to put an end to the VIP culture, he said: Everybody is a VIP and that is the philosophy of our government. Though it is a small initiative, it sends a message that every person should be treated equally, he said. Naidu hoped that state governments will also shun the use of beacons or they will face the wrath of the people.

On a query about the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, the minister said the case has been going on for so many years and there is nothing new in that. He did not elaborate on what could be the impact on the BJP of the Supreme Court ruling that senior party leaders will be tried in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
The Supreme Court Thursday cancelled the conditional bail given by Patna High Court to Bachcha Rai, the main accused in Bihar Board toppers scam. The apex court said Rai, arrested in June 2016 after he had surrendered before the Bihar police, should not be released from the jail right now.

In February this year, the Patna High Court had decided that Rai would get bail if a lower court did not make a decision on him within a month. The Nitish Kumar government had moved the Supreme Court against this order and sought cancellation of Rais conditional bail.

He is currently lodged in the jail along with the other accused in the scam, former chairman of the Bihar School Examination Board Lalkeshwar Singh and his wife Usha Sinha.

Bachcha Rai, alias Amit Kumar, is the secretary-cum-principal of the college, which several of the state toppers had attended. Rai is also a known supporter of the Rashtriya Janata Dal. Another accused in the scam, Diwakar Prasad, was found dead at his home in Panchwati Nagar in December 2016.

Prasad used to own a printing press in Patna, which was raided in connection with the case. A few stacks of answer sheets had been confiscated from the premises.

The Rs 8-crore Bihar School Examination Board tender scam surfaced after news channels aired interviews with examination toppers, whose incorrect answers to questions related to their subjects exposed a nexus of corruption. The education board had cancelled the results of arts topper Ruby Rai and science topper Saurabh Sresth and asked all 14 top-scorers to appear for a re-test.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday asked bureaucrats to stand up against wrongdoings of political masters, saying civil servants must continue their work in the interest of the country and the welfare of people.

Attending as the chief guest the inaugural session of the Civil Services Day here, Singh said civil servants should endeavour to become part of the solution and they should never be part of the problem.

"If a political executive gives wrong orders, do not be scared to show them rules. Tell the political executive that you are legally wrong. Do not sign the file. Haan mein haan naa milaiye (Do not become a yes master). Do not betray your conscience," he said at the function attended by officers belonging to IAS and other all India services.

Lauding the role of bureaucrats in bringing changes in the society, the Home Minister said the job makes an officer responsible, accountable and impartial.

"Civil services has power. But with power comes big responsibility, accompanied by accountability. We should always remember this. Along with the responsibility and accountability, impartiality is the third most important aspect of our civil servants. Lack of impartiality may affect your decision making capabilities," he said.

Singh said Indian polity has never faced a vacuum and witnessed continuity in all these years as the civil servants contributed largely in maintaining continuity.

"This administrative continuity in India has been one of the important reasons for the success of Indian democracy," he said.

The Home Minister also took a dig at officers who "avoid" taking decisions, saying such hesitations may harm the country's interests.

"If necessary, discuss and deliberate with your seniors but there should be no hesitation in taking decisions," he said.

Singh said the Narendra Modi government through 'Jan Dhan, Aadhar and mobile connectivity' (JAM) convergence is transforming good governance into smart governance.

The Home Minister said the central government is committed to successfully implementing 'Antyodaya', a scheme for providing subsidised food to millions of poorest families.

Singh said civil servants have to play a more active and effective role in its implementation.

"Our government is known for its commitment and conviction. The Prime Minister has a dream of ensuring 'Roti, Kapda, Makan, Siksha and Swasthya' (food, house, education and health service) for everyone by 2022. Civil servants must ensure that the dream becomes a reality," he said.

Singh said the country's first Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, had said that if civil services was called 'steel frame' of India it would not be an exaggeration.

"The guiding principles for civil servants as enunciated by Sardar Patel in 1948 are extremely important in the present day context as well. The 'steel frame' of our civil services has not weakened even after 70 years of Independence," he said.
Border Security Force (BSF) jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav, who was dismissed from service following the social media controversy over poor quality of food, said he will move court to seek justice if the government fails to support him.

"Will request the government to support me. If they are not able to take any action, then I will proceed to the court," the former BSF jawan said.

Bahadur's dismissal on Wednesday came after a court of inquiry ruled that he had damaged the image of the BSF when he uploaded the video clip on social media.

Earlier in January, Yadav had posted a video on social media, complaining about the poor quality of food being served to jawans. In another video, Yadav had alleged that he was being mentally tortured and that his attempt to post the first video was to bring to light the alleged corruption in his organisation.
According to SP GRP Bhopal, TK Vidyarthi, seven accused have been arrested and a gold chain and Rs 2,000 that they robbed from Guneshwari Devi, who was thrown out of the moving Samta Express, have been recovered.

By Hemender Sharma: The Railway Police has busted an interstate gang of train robbers who had allegedly committed more than one dozen robberies in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. The robbery that led to their arrest was committed on April 7 near Itarsi on the Samta Express in which wife of a CRPF jawan was thrown out of a moving train. The victim identified as Guneshwari Devi was lucky to survive but had to get one of her legs amputated.

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According to TK Vidyarthi SP GRP Bhopal seven accused have been arrested and a gold chain and Rs 2,000 that they robbed from Guneshwari Devi have been recovered.

The seven arrested accused have been identified as Raju Kushwaha, Vikram, Pandurang, Shera, Rohit Singh, Mehndi Hussain, Deepak, Hemant Mishra. Two more members of the gang identified as Jeetu and Sunil Andhere are still at large.

According to Vidhyarthi a country made gun, live cartridges, four long knives, one chain cutter and a screw driver was recovered from the accused at the time of their arrest from Itarsi.

The accused have so far confessed to committing train robberies on the Rapti Nagar Express on February 2, Ranchi LTT Express on April 1, Dakshin Express on April 1, Mangla Express on April 3, Pathankot Express on April 3, Kerala Express on April 8, Nander Una Himachal Express on April 8, Chhattisgarh Express on April 9, Bhusval Itarsi passenger Express on April 9, and Sachkhand Express on April 14 this year.

According to the GRP all the accused stay in a rented house at the Damoh Naka in Jabalpur.

The accused have also committed train robberies in Mumbai Kalyan and Pune and the records of these robberies is being collected.

Guneshwari Devi right now is in the Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal and her condition is out of danger.

Also Read:

Great train robbery: How robbers cut out roof section of coach before train reached electric lines

--- ENDS ---
The National Green Tribunal on Thursday slammed the Art of Living over its founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar blaming the Centre and the green panel for damage to the Yamuna floodplains, terming it as "shocking".

"You have no sense of responsibility. Who gave you liberty to speak whatever you want to. It is shocking ," a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said.

The observations came after advocate Sanjay Parikh, appearing for petitioner Manoj Misra, informed the bench about Ravi Shankar's recent statement blaming the government and the NGT for permitting his NGO to hold the World Culture Festival on the floodplains of river Yamuna.

Parikh told the green bench that the spiritual guru has gone to the extend of levelling allegations against the NGT.

The lawyer said that Sri Sri had posted the statement on the website of the Art of Living, his Facebook page and also addressed the media on the same in a written statement.

The counsel appearing for the AOL foundation, however, contested the findings of the expert panel and said that they have certain objections with regard to the findings of the committee and sought setting aside of the report.

The bench then directed the foundation and other parties in the case to file their response and objection within two weeks and posted the matter for further hearing on May 9.

On April 18, Ravi Shankar had blamed the government and the NGT for permitting AOL to hold the festival on the Yamuna river bed and said they should be held responsible if any environmental damage was caused.

The AOL head said the foundation had obtained all necessary permissions, including from the green panel, and the event could have been stopped in the beginning itself if river Yamuna was so "fragile and pure".

An expert committee had told the NGT that a whopping Rs 42.02 crore would be required to restore Yamuna floodplains which was ravaged due to a cultural extravaganza organised by AOL last year.

The expert panel has suggested that there would be two components of rehabilitation plan  physical and biological, and they would cost Rs 28.73 crore and Rs l3.29 crore respectively, besides additional ancillary expenses
Actress Manisha Koirala says after her cancer treatment, she used to look like an alien as she lost her hair. Now she is "quite kicked" to play late actress Nargis Dutt, the mother of actor Sanjay Dutt, in his biopic.

Manisha, known for her roles in films like 1942: A Love Story, Agni Sakshi, Saudagar and Bombay, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012.

Being an actress, did she get worried about her look after chemotherapy?

"I knew about my hair loss, but was not sure of my look. At times, after surviving from a disease like cancer people's look changes. All I knew was that I had to mentally prepare to fight it and I got a huge support from my family. After my chemotherapy, I lost my hair, eye brows and lashes. Looking at the mirror I felt like an alien," Manisha told IANS in an interview.

During her illness, many Bollywood celebrities including Salman Khan and Gulshan Grover reached out to her family to know about her health. The film industry welcomed her after her cancer battle, she said.

Sharing the story behind bagging the role of Nargis Dutt, Manisha said: "Though I wanted to get back to work, I was nourishing my body and focusing on my health as chemotherapy damaged some of my body cells. I was in Nepal then, when I got a call from Raju ji (director Rajkumar Hirani). He told me about the film and my character."

So, how is she preparing for the role?

"I watched a documentary. I am watching her (Nargis Dutt's) films again and again and talking to (daughter) Priya Dutt a lot to know how she was in real life, her body language, how she used to talk, smile. I'm trying to get all the nuances right," said the Filmfare award-winning actress.

Born into a politically prominent Koirala family in Nepal, Manisha started her journey in Bollywood in 1991 with Saudagar, directed by Subhash Ghai. Since then she has worked with celebrated filmmakers like Mani Ratman, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ram Gopal Varma and Mansoor Khan.

Indian cinema has changed drastically in the last five years. Asked how she looks at the changes, the actress said: "One of the positive changes is that the audience is accepting films on experimental subjects so, these new-age films are getting financial success. It is no more those melodramatic films in Hindi cinema. So, filmmakers are ready to make films with different subjects."

She is currently going through a look test and leading a holistic life to prepare for the biopic. She will start shooting for her part from May.


Creed star Michael B Jordan has been tapped to star in the film adaptation of Fahrenheit 451.

Based on Ray Bradbury's classic novel, the TV film depicts a future where media is an opiate, history is outlawed and firemen burn books, reported Variety.

Jordan will also be joined by Nocturnal Animals star Michael Shannon in the film.

While, the Fantastic Four actor will play Montag, a young fireman who forsakes his world, battles his mentor and struggles to regain his humanity, Shannon will essay the role of Montag's fireman captain and mentor, Beatty.

Though in early development, sources said the project is moving toward a production commitment at HBO.
At least two persons have died in the anti-government demonstrations in Venezuela that saw more than 400 people arrested, according to the country's Criminal Forum.

While some 57 persons have been injured on Wednesday said the Mayor of Caracas' Ramon Muchaco, Efe news reported from social media updates.

The demonstrators were attempting to approach the office of the Ombudsman to ask for the official's support in the process that was launched by the opposition-controlled Parliament against the Supreme Court magistrates who took over some legislative duties.

The two persons killed during the protests were a 17-year-old boy in Caracas and a 23-year-old woman in Tachira state, the local media and the public prosecutor's office said.

The Director of the Venezuelan Criminal Forum, Alfredo Romero, told EFE that the lawyers who were advising the arrested were constantly updating and verifying the figures in the capital as well as in the 23 states of Venezuela, as "too many cases had been registered in only one day."

Muchaco said that the hospitals in his jurisdiction were taking care of 57 people "from the demonstration," who tried unsuccessfully to reach the Ombudsman's Office in the centre of the Venezuelan capital here.

"Everyone is out of danger," Muchaco said on his Twitter account.

The two persons killed apparently were not participating in the demonstrations and were shot by unknown perpetrators, according to preliminary information.

Venezuela's Executive Vice President Tareck el Aissami rejected accusations by opposition groups who blamed the government of Nicolas Maduro for the deaths.

After almost three weeks of anti-government protests on the streets of Venezuela and coupled with Wednesday's figure, the current death toll has increased to eight, including one police officer.

Almost one thousand people have been arrested.

The police on Wednesday fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and block their marches.

The huge demonstration included thousands of government opponents who assembled and marched from 26 separate spots around the capital to the Libertador district.

The Libertador district encompasses part of the capital's metro area's central and western zones and is the area where key government buildings are located.
Jakarta's Christian governor may escape jail for alleged blasphemy after prosecutors on Thursday recommended only probation, a day after he lost in a religiously charged run-off that damaged Indonesia's image as a bastion of tolerant Islam.

The recommendation of two years probation in the trial of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, with a possible one-year jail term if he commits a crime during that period, was lighter than expected as he could have been sent to prison for several years.

The sentence demand for allegedly insulting Islam came after he was defeated yesterday by a Muslim challenger who was accused of pandering to hardliners to win votes in the race for the Jakarta governorship.

The blasphemy allegations and Purnama's subsequent poll loss have sparked fears that pluralistic traditions in the world's most populous Muslim country are under threat from the influence of hardliners, who pushed for the governor's prosecution during a series of mass protests.

Chief prosecutor Ali Mukartono recommended that Purnama, known by his nickname Ahok, be found guilty of blasphemy and be given two years probation, with a possible one-year jail sentence.

"If within the two years, Ahok doesn't commit any new criminal act, like corruption, stealing he will be free," his lawyer I Wayan Sudirta told AFP.
US President Donald Trump will make a special Earth-to-space call from the Oval Office to personally congratulate NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson for her record-breaking stay aboard the International Space Station on April 24, NASA has said.

Trump will be joined by daughter Ivanka Trump and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins for the 20-minute call which will air live on NASA Television and stream on the agency's website and Facebook page at 10 am. EDT.

Commander of the station's Expedition 51 crew, Whitson will officially set the US record Monday for most cumulative days in space, surpassing NASA astronaut Jeff Williams' record of 534 days.

Additionally, she is the first woman to command the space station twice, and holds the record for most spacewalks conducted by a female astronaut.

Whitson will be joined for President Trump's call by NASA astronaut Jack Fischer, who is scheduled to arrive at the orbiting laboratory on Thursday.

The call will be made available to schools, museums, and other organisations across the nation and globally, NASA said in a statement on Wednesday.
A set of four rare stamps featuring the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi has been sold for record 500,000 pounds at an auction in the UK which its seller said is the highest price ever paid for Indian stamps.

Only 13 of the 1948 Gandhi 10-rupee Purple Brown and Lake 'Service' stamps are in circulation. The block of four was sold to a private Australian collector for the highest ever price for Indian stamps, said UK-based dealer Stanley Gibbons.

The Indian stamps were particularly rare owing to the fact they were in a set of four.

From the issued sheet, supplied to the Governor-General's Secretariat, only thirteen single examples are authoritatively recorded, including this strip of four and a block of four in the Royal Philatelic Collection, owned by Queen Elizabeth II, which is believed to be the world's largest and most valuable private stamp collection, Gibbons said in a statement.

The recent sale follows that of another Indian philatelic rarity, the famous 'Four Annas', which sold in March this year for almost 110,000 pounds, the statement said.

However, the record price for a stamp sold an auction is USD 9.5 million (7.4 million pounds).

The market for high-quality Indian rarities has been strong for several years and is supported by the ongoing desire of the wealthy Indian diaspora and savvy international clients to own these historic assets, Keith Heddle, managing director of investments at Stanley Gibbons, was quoted as saying by BBC.
Director Barry Jenkis' hometown is honouring him and his film Moonlight by renaming a street after the best picture Oscar winner.

The Liberty City, the hometown of Jenkins and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, inspired the moving story of a boy struggling to come to terms with his sexuality while growing up in impoverished black community.

According to the Miami New Times, a stretch of Miami-Dade County's Liberty City will be named "Moonlight Way," giving a nod to the inner city neighborhood that both Jenkins and McCraney called home and served as the backdrop for their personal memoirs intertwined in the coming-of-age film.

"Moonlight Way" will be on NW 22nd Avenue from NW 61st Street to NW 66th Street  only a short distance from Liberty Square, where Jenkins grew up and where parts of "Moonlight" were filmed.

The movie is adapted from McCraney's play 'In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue'.

Moonlight also won the best supporting actor Oscar for Mahershala Ali and the best adapted screenplay for Jenkins and McCraney, from a total of eight nominations.
US Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday arrived in Indonesia on a two-day visit aimed at strengthening bilateral trade, regional security and the fight against terror.

Pence is scheduled to meet Indonesian President Joko Widodo before holding talks on bilateral relations with his counterpart Jusuf Kalia, Efe news reported.

Pence is expected to largely discuss trade with his counterpart, as he did in Japan, the previous stopover of his Asia-Pacific tour, which will conclude on Saturday in Australia.

He is also expected to discuss the dispute over the South China Sea.

After the meetings, Pence is scheduled to visit the Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta, which is the biggest mosque in the country with largest Muslim population in the world, and participate in inter-faith talks with several religious leaders.

He will also meet the secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) based in Jakarta, which is celebrating 40 years of relations with the US.

Pence's visit to Indonesia will conclude on Friday with a meeting with businessmen and the signing of several agreements for collaboration in the energy and information technology sectors.
Pakistan is waiting with bated breath for the Supreme Court's decision in a high-profile case against Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif and his offspring amid speculation that an adverse ruling may force him to step down.

The Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that its five- member bench will issue a verdict in what is called the Panama case on Thursday.

The case was launched on November 3 and the court held 35 hearings before concluding proceedings on February 23.

The case was based on several identical petitions by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan and others about alleged illegal assets of Sharif's family in London.

The assets surfaced when Panama papers  a collection of leaked documents  showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif's offspring.

The petitioners have asked the court to disqualify 67- year-old Sharif under Article 62 and 63 of the constitution because he was involved in corruption.

It is generally believed the court may not disqualify the Prime Minister but it may pass comments which will bring moral pressure on Sharif to step down.

"I don't think he will be disqualified but his moral authority may be impacted," said Manzoor Wassan, a senior leader of opposition Pakistan People Party (PPP).

Asif Ali Zardari, the co-chairman of PPP, in an interview with a private TV channel asked Sharif to resign in case the decision went against him.

"We did not resist when the Supreme Court disqualified [then premier] Yousaf Raza Gilani. We chose another prime minister. Nawaz should do the same," said Zardari.

Zardari's handpicked Prime Minister Gilani stepped down in 2012 when the Supreme Court convicted him for disobeying court orders.

Zardari chaired an important meeting of the PPP yesterday and also called another meeting today after the court decision to assess the political situation.

Sharif's nemesis Imran Khan and his party announced it would launch a movement for the next election irrespective of the decision.

Khan held a meeting of party leaders yesterday and asked them to remain in Islamabad to decide the further course of action.

Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, one of the petitioners, said that the decision would be "historic".

"It will result in a political earthquake in the country," he said in Rawalpindi.

Meanwhile, in a series of tweets Sharif's daughter, Maryam Nawaz, dispelled the impression that the premier was worried about the judgement.

"People love Nawaz Sharif. It is not about the prime minister speaking. It's what he's speaking. His narrative is constructive and about development and progress. Eyes forward, mind focused, heart readygame on, world ! Wazir-e-Azam Nawaz Sharif," one of her tweets said.

She also taunted the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf saying: "When all your plans have miserably failed and your precarious future hinges on your best bet is a court decision".

Sharif's supporters are adamant that their leader is "innocent" and will emerge stronger after the verdict.

"His name is not in the Panama leaks. He has not committed any wrong. So he will be victorious," said Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique.

Rafique also said that the election will be held as scheduled next year.

Security has been increased in and around the court.

Dozens of policemen and personnel of law enforcing agencies are present on the court premises.

Regardless of the impact of the decision, it is believed that it will be an important milestone in Pakisan's fight against corruption.
A sparsely populated town is busy greeting many tourists after a giant iceberg closed in on Canada's east coast.

By India Today Web Desk: A gigantic iceberg moved closer to the shores of Newfoundland, an eastern province of Canada. The sparsely populated region has started attracting many tourists.

Reuters

The giant iceberg has made the town with a population of 400 greatly acknowledged after the iceberg closed in.

Reuters

Mayor of Ferryland -- Adrian Kavanagh -- said on Monday that the huge iceberg looks grounded and that it would stick around for a while. "It's the biggest one I ever seen around here," RT quoted.

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More than 600 icebergs have floated into the North Atlantic shipping lanes so far this year according to the CTV News .

Strong winds make the icebergs travel which is also caused by global warming.

Watch the video here:

--- ENDS ---
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a Joint Investigation Team to probe if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was involved in corruption as alleged in the Panama Papers.

Justice Asif Saeed Khosa announced the split verdict against Sharif and his family. He said the Federal Investigation Agency and the National Accountability Bureau had failed to probe the case.

Sharif will appear before the probe team, which will have to submit its report in 60 days.

A five-judge bench examined arguments presented by opposition parties who hurled corruption charges at Sharif and his family, saying they held companies in tax havens.
The UN special envoy for education warned that years of neglect have left 260 million children out of school and another 400 million functionally illiterate and if a better way isn't found to finance education more than 800 million young people will leave school without the skills to get a job in 2030.

Gordon Brown told a press conference that this represents half the world's 1.6 billion children.

If action isn't taken now, he said, the UN goal of ensuring that every child has a quality secondary school education by 2030 won't be met, even in 2050 or in 2100.

Brown proposed the creation of a new International Finance Facility for Education which he said would unlock nearly USD 10 billion annually for new investments in education and would help achieve the UN goal by 2030.

Under the proposed facility, he said developing countries will be asked to sign a compact with donors to raise the educational outcome for students to the level of the top 25 per cent of best performing countries in the world, and to increase their investment in education from the current 4 per cent average of national income to 5.8 per cent.

In return, Brown said donor countries will raise the share of their aid budget earmarked for education from 10 per cent to 15 per cent and provide new guarantees to multilateral development banks enabling them to increase their support for education.

Brown explained that education aid at the moment amounts to about USD 12 billion annually, "so we're effectively trying to double education aid."

If the new facility could get USD 2 billion of guarantees from countries including current donors, and if they can back that up by USD 2 billion in grants "to buy down loans and convert them into credits," he said, "then we could 

increase education expenditure for that investment by about 9 billion to USD 9.5 billion a year."

Brown said if this kind of funding isn't found, "then millions of children will remain on the streets rather than in schools."

"And girls will be the majority of those who lose out on education, and in conflict zones the vast majority of children will not have the chance of education," he said.

Brown strongly backed a new inquiry on "Protecting Children in Conflict" sponsored by Save The Children and the children's charity Theirworld being announced this week at the United Nations.

It will look at the adequacy and effectiveness of existing international laws and their enforcement, and consider what may be done to strengthen them and bring the perpetrators of atrocities against children to justice, he said.

"We want to find out, for example, whether there's a case for an international criminal court for children's cases," he said.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Flying car to go on sale


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Michael Barba looks for the queen bee in a bee hive display during Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuarys Earth Day celebration in 2012. This years event is set for Sunday, April 23. (Staff file photo)
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Scores of couples contra dance in the Mansfield High gym during the 2008 New England Folk Festival. (Staff file photo)
Harjit Singh Sajjan is the first Sikh to become the Defence Minister of a western nation. Sajjan was honoured with a 'siropa' (traditional honour) and presented a replica of the Golden Temple and a sword.

Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan honoured by the SGPC at the shrine complex with a 'siropa'.(Photo: Prabhjot Singh Gill)

By Indo-Asian News Service: Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan offered prayers at the holiest of Sikh shrines 'Harmandir Sahib' in Amritsar city of Punjab today morning.

Sajjan arrived at the Golden Temple complex and was received by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) President Kirpal Singh Badungar and other members.

The Minister offered prayers inside the sanctum sanctorum and listened to hymns. He also took a 'parikrama' (went around the shrine) and sat there awhile.

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The first Sikh to become the Defence Minister of a western nation, Sajjan, 46, was later honoured by the SGPC at the shrine complex with a 'siropa' (traditional honour) and presented a replica of the Golden Temple and a sword.

Sajjan arrived in the Sikh holy city on Wednesday evening amid controversy over him being labelled as a "Khalistani sympathiser" by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

He was received at the airport by the district administration officers. Members of some radical groups were also present outside the Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport with banners to welcome Sajjan.

Activists of Sikh radical groups including Sikh Youth Federation Bhinderanwala, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) holding placards welcoming Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan at Amritsar's International Airport. (Photo: PTI) Activists of Sikh radical groups including Sikh Youth Federation Bhinderanwala, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) holding placards welcoming Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan at Amritsar's International Airport. (Photo: PTI)

SAJJAN TO VISIT NATIVE VILLAGE

The Minister's family hails from Bambeli village, 15 km from Hoshiarpur. His family had migrated to Canada in mid-1970s, when Sajjan was around five years old.

He is likely to visit his native village and then arrive in Chandigarh.

Amarinder Singh had stirred a controversy last week when he said that he would not meet the visiting Canadian Minister due to his (Sajjan's) links to radical elements who demand for a separate Sikh state, Khalistan.

In New Delhi, Sajjan sought to play down the controversy on Tuesday saying that he did not want the break-up of any country.

The Shiromani Akali Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have welcomed Sajjan to Punjab and have condemned Amarinder Singh for his stand on the Canadian Minister.

--- ENDS ---
ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Fearless Girl statue, created by Kristen Visbal, stands across from the Charging Bull statue. Mayor Bill de Blasio says the popular statue of a young girl will be allowed to remain through February 2018.
No more Monday to Friday, nine to five? Why these N.L. businesses are choosing a four-day-a-week work model

When it comes to those who work nine-to-five jobs, most will tell you the same thing: the weekends are never long enough. In recent years, especially since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been more talks of hybrid workweek models.
By Press Trust of India: US visa rules

New Delhi, Apr 19 (PTI) The government has "utterly failed" to protect the interests of the Indian youth seeking job opportunities in the US and Australia after the two countries tightened rules for work visas.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said the decision of the Donald Trump administration to tighten the rules of the H-1B visa programme was "disappointing" as India was its biggest beneficiary.

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He rued that various countries were disinclined towards globalisation of labour even though they wanted globalisation of capital.

"The silence of this government has been absolutely deafening and we do hope that this government realises that young Indians are not forgiving to those who do not honour their promises and complete it.

"Rather than wasting their time on absolutely medieval, reactionary and symbolic issues, this government needs to understand the economic crisis which is engulfing this country and they need to work with the international community to find innovative ways," he said.

Tewari said the Trump Administrations decision to drastically scale back on H1B Visa programme and the Australian governments move to scrap the 457 temporary Work Visa is "extremely disappointing".

"But what is even more disappointing is the fact that the NDA government, which had made tall promises to young Indians in the 2014 election campaign, has completely failed to work with both the American and the Australian governments to try and convey to them the Indian point of view," he said.

He said since the H1B programme started in 1990, India has been the single biggest beneficiary of it as also of the 457 temporary work permit issued by the Australian government.

"So, therefore, these barriers to entry which are going up while you want to have globalisation of capital, globalisation of labour is something which should have been rigorously taken up by the current government," he said.

The Congress leader said India needed to create about 350 million jobs to meet the flow of about a million young Indians who join the employment stream every year, but the NDA government has so far created only 4.4 lakh jobs in the last two years.

Citing a report by a civil society group, he said the situation is very alarming as it states that in the past three years India has lost 55,000 jobs per day.

He also cited a World Bank report that says that 69 per cent of all manufacturing jobs in India are threatened by automation and robotisation.

"Here is the Prime Minister talking about Make-in-India. With empirical statistics put out by the World Bank, to rather than Make-in-India adding jobs, there is a possibility that 69 per cent of the jobs in the manufacturing sector over the next one decade will be lost to automation," he said.

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Tewari said this government has completely and absolutely failed to preserve and protect it despite NASSCOM and other industry bodies making noise over the last two months trying to independently lobby the US government on H1B visa programme. PTI SKC SMN

--- ENDS ---
Organisation: Catholic

Relief Services (CRS)

Duty Station: Uganda

Reports to: Hygiene

Promotion Team Leader

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in an international non-profit

organization that carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United

States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at

the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and

as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values

and our commitment to serving those in need.

Offer technical support to WASH TLs in

planning, implementation, monitoring & reporting of Hygiene Promotion

activities.

Guide on technical soundness,

appropriateness and feasibility on all public health/WASH activities to

WASH TLs

Supervise and manage all CRS Hygiene

Promotion interventions in assigned areas as indicated by HPTL

Direct line management of Community

Hygiene Promotors, their performance management and provide technical

guidance and support for the effective delivery.

Ensure that technical support including

on- the job technical training / hand-holding support is provided timely.

Supervise and monitoring (On site and desk monitoring) of WASH interventions

in coordination with TLs, field Engineers and MEAL Manager.

Work closely with and coordinate with

Filed Engineers and Operation staff to support the development of creative

and holistic approaches to WASH programming

Work in liaison with the community and

local administration, to ensure that the health promotion needs of the

population are met.

Supervise, manage and monitor the

mobilization of the community to promote hygiene practices, public

sanitation, with more emphasis on monitoring latrine construction and use

of it, water collection/storage and hand washing practices as well as

other hygiene promotional activities.

Work in liaison with the WASH team

members, facilitate the community into formation of WASH committees for

management of WASH facilities. Conduct training needs assessment, design

and implement the trainings for WASH committees

Ensure that the program take gender issues

fully into account. This includes influencing the community to include and

allow women to participate in decision making around public health

promotion work.

Work in close collaboration with partner

agency and the local authorities to ensure that . Communication largely

with internal staff, also with some external contacts / target audiences

to support operational work.

Tasked with the analysis and internal

communication of the locally relevant context to inform appropriate

planning.

Supervises the work of community hygiene

promoters.

Actively contribute to the project

planning and monitoring

Ensures the effective planning and

delivery of projects and / or defined areas of programme, including

working with partners/communities

Problem solving activities related to a

defined area, such as a limited geographical area or limited programme

sectional area using professional or technical knowledge

Develop a shared analysis of local issues,

contacts and key players in WASH
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 ...
The Supreme Court today allowed civic agency New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to e-auction five-star hotel Taj Mansingh, presently being run by Tata Group firm Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), in the heart of the national capital.

A bench comprising Justices P C Ghose and R F Nariman allowed the plea of NDMC that the Tata Group firm cannot have the right to refusal in the auctioning of the hotel.

The bench, however, asked the civic body to grant six months "breathing time" to the company in vacating the hotel in case they lose out in the e-auction.

The court also said the "blemish-free" record of Tata Group firm IHCL may be taken into account by NDMC while auctioning the iconic property.

The civic body had on March 3 told the apex court that it wants to e-auction the hotel.

The court had earlier asked the IHCL, which challenged a Delhi High Court order allowing auction of the hotel, to file objections, if any, within a week.

The IHCL had told the apex court that it was "not clear" why NDMC wanted to auction the prime property which gave the "best revenue" to it.

The company had submitted that NDMC expert report suggests that the council would "lose revenue" if the hotel was auctioned to other players.

The apex court had on November 21 last year directed that status quo be maintained with regard to NDMC's auctioning process of Taj Mansingh Hotel.

IHCL had on November 8 last year approached the apex court against the Delhi High Court's order that cleared the decks for auctioning of the iconic property.

The Supreme Court had asked the NDMC to reconsider its decision to auction the five-star hotel in the wake of the Attorney General(AG) and Solicitor General's (SG) opinion not to initiate any such process.

It had noted the fact that the opinions of both top law officers against the auctioning of the hotel was not placed before the Ministry of Home Affairs for consideration.

The bench had also taken note of the fact that there was an internal opinion of top NDMC officials against auctioning process.

When the bench had asked Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, who was appearing for NDMC, whether the body agreed to reconsider the decision of going ahead with the auctioning process, he had replied, "No".

To this, the bench had said, "Why are you not agreeing to reconsider the decision. It is not a matter of right. Do you not want to be fair to the party who has been paying the rent continuously for 30 years."

The division bench of the high court had on October 27 last year dismissed the IHCL's plea challenging the move by NDMC to auction the property, saying the company has "no right" for renewal of the licence period and NDMC was "within its power" to secure maximum consideration for grant of licence for the property located at the prime location of 1, Man Singh Road in Lutyen's Delhi.

The IHCL had moved the division bench of the high court against the September 5 last year judgement of a single judge who had not acceded to the firm's request for renewal of licence for a further period, saying it was not entitled for the extension.

The property, owned by NDMC, was given to the IHCL on a lease of 33 years. The lease had ended in 2011 and the company was given nine temporary extensions since then on various grounds, with three of them granted last year itself.

The NDMC had earlier said it was in the process of assessing the assets of the hotel in preparation for the much-delayed auction.

The IHCL had earlier approached the single judge bench of the high court seeking a decree of permanent injunction restraining the NDMC from interfering in any manner with the possession, right to operate, run and maintain the hotel premises.
Though liquor baron Vijay Mallya may have been successful in getting bail after his arrest in the UK, a former UB group supervisory board member and some other experts with whom THE WEEK spoke to repeatedly stress that Mallya himself is to be blamed for all the mess he has created. The former UB Group supervisory board member, who had worked with Mallya for several years and had closely observed his style of functioning, says that Mallya had a fascination for aircraft, and nursed a desire to start an airlines business much before Kingfisher. This board member along with others had always advised him against the move. Though it worked for many years, finally Mallya ventured into the airlines business against their advice.

Mallya is very ambitious and did not foresee his downfall in the airlines business. I, along with many other board members, repeatedly use to advise him against his airline venture. In fact, I helped him start his first aircraft venture known as UB Air and had helped him in acquiring a couple of aircraft for it. I had told him that airline is a difficult business and he will surely fail in that venture. But Mallya is Mallya and sometimes his ambitions score over his senses and he overlooked the board advice. The timing was very wrong and a completely wrong decision was made by Mallya and thus was born Kingfisher, he said.

This board member further said that another disastrous move was to acquire the bleeding Air Deccan which had a very different business model and its merger with the full service airline like Kingfisher was expected to fail. The merger of the low cost airline such as Air Deccan did not pan out as expected. Two airlines had completely different ideologies and their style of functioning was totally different. While Kingfisher was already loosing money the addition of Air Deccan to its kitty added fuel to the fire and ruined Mallya's ambitious venture, added this former board member.

He further feels that the acquisition of Air Deccan was a blind decision by Mallya without forethought. I feel that a proper due diligence should had been conducted by Mallya and the pros and cons should have been studied in minutest of details before taking such a decision. Capt Gopinath wanted to get rid of Air Deccan as it was bleeding and lucky for him that he sold it off to such an individual who was hell bent on expanding the aviation business irrespective of the challenges associated with it. This move was a blind one by Mallya and yes it was the beginning of the end for him, said this former board member.

Experts such as Kris Lakshmikanth, the co founder of the recruitment firm Head Hunters Limted who had helped Mallya in the recruitment of some senior executives at Kingfisher Airlines, feels that the airlines business is not profitable and can give returns only if government offers some subsidies on the fuel price. Also, the government should back the airlines by buying certain percentage of seats in a flight like what is done in some countries, he feels.

Unless you have heavy funding you cannot run an airlines business just on the basis of bank loans. Moreover, many of the routes on which Air Deccan was flying were non profitable and it is due to such routes Kingfisher Airlines lost a lot of money. Sometimes success goes into people's head. Mallya had made a lot of money in liquor. He thought that he will achieve the same here but it turned out to be the opposite. Mallya wanted to become the Richard Branson of India but aviation business is such that one bleeds and needs a strong government backing. Even Branson had to sell the US part of the Virgin Airlines, said Lakshmikanth.

He feels that there are a lot of other defaulters who owe much more money to the banks but nothing has been done about it. There is a possibility that Mallya may be extradited to India in the future because the government wants to portray that it is pro poor and it has done a great job by bringing back a defaulter to India. No one will side with him now as Mallya has received negative publicity all over, adds Lakshmikanth.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay has called it a trade and services issue and not a matter relating to immigration.

By India Today Web Desk: With the US tightening H-1B visa rules which will adversely impact the Indian IT industry and professionals, India today said they are keeping a "close watch" and asserted that the issue will be taken up with the Trump administration.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay called it a "trade and services issue and not a matter relating to immigration."

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He said India will make an overall assessment of the impact of the changes after the US' internal process relating to the visa programme was over.

"It is not an immigration issue. It is a trade and services issue... There is a mutuality of interests involved," he said, also referring to large number of US professionals working in American IT companies in India.

In a blow to Indian IT industry and professionals, US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order for tightening the rules of the H-1B visa programme to stop its "abuse" and ensure that the visas are given to the "most-skilled or highest paid" petitioners.

He said visa issue will be part of the India's talks with the countries where changes in visa programme have been made which are impacting Indian professionals.

The MEA spokesperson said the executive order has to be "acted upon".

"It is an internal process in the US which will unfold in the coming days and weeks and we will keep a close watch on that. We will keep this issue on our radar," he told reporters.

INDIA HAS SPOKEN TO US

The MEA spokesperson also said India had already conveyed to the US about the contribution of Indian IT professionals to the the country's competitiveness and innovation.

Calling the professionals "brick builders" between the two countries, he said there is a "mutuality of interests involved" on the issue.

The US, under the new executive order, proposes to replace the current lottery system for issuing H-1B work visas with a merit-based approach.

He also played down concerns over Australia replacing its popular 457 work visa regime with another programme, saying senior Australian officials have told India that it will have "negligible" impact on Indian professionals who are in high-skill category.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had on Tuesday announced his government's decision to abolish a popular work visa used by over 95,000 foreign workers, majority of them Indians, to tackle the growing unemployment and replace it with a new programme requiring higher English-language proficiency and job skills.

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(Inputs from PTI)

Also read:

After US and Australia, now New Zealand toughens visa norms for skilled immigrants

With Aussie 457 visa scarpped, light at the end of the tunnel of Indian aspirants

--- ENDS ---
Although the Union government's decision to to banish red beacons atop VIP vehicles has drawn much praise and hope, a political slugfest has already begun over the issue.

Red beacons will only be allowed for emergency vehicles and enforcement agencies from May 1, as Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari termed it a ''historic '' and ''democratic decision'' indicating that it was in view of the Modi government's agenda to end the VIP culture in the country.

The Congress slammed the government for taking credit of an order passed by the Supreme Court in 2013, and called it a diversionary tactic to hide the failure of its foreign and economic policies.

Speaking to THE WEEK, senior Congress leader Manish Tiwari said that the issue of ban on read beacons on VIP vehicles finds its origin in a case of public interest litigation filed in the Supreme Court in 2013. He pointed out that the apex court had given a verdict restricting the rampant use of red beacons, saying the ''practice had perhaps no parallel in the world democracies''.

"It is during the UPA regime that the SC verdict had come on a PIL in Abhay Singh case. All steps to implement the decision had been taken by the (then) government. The BJP government's announcement is mere symbolism. It is the habit of the BJP government to hide its failures by using symbolism to distract the attention of the people, this time from its failure of its foreign and economic policies," he said.

However, with the issue once again drawing the attention of the media and, in turn, the general public, it has also raised consciousness among politicians who largely use the facility. Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju welcomed the move saying, "I've never put red beacon on top of my vehicle from the day one. I was always against it."

Sources in the security establishment said that the move would only be a success if it could be implemented in letter and spirit.

Uttarakhand DGP M.A. Ganpathy told THE WEEK that it was the first step towards dismantling the VIP culture in India. "Notably, in most developed countries, it is only the police, emergency and ambulances who use red beacons. We hope to do the same now. It should be implemented effectively."

Incidentally, hours after the decision was announced, Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu had to clarify that while the Centre banned the use of beacon lights atop VIP vehicles, it had no plans to curtail the security cover given to VIPs. "With regard to security, it is necessary in the interest of the country, because important people have to be protected. Otherwise, there is no preferential treatment. Everybody is a VIP and that is the philosophy of our government, he had said.

The X, Y, Z and Z plus categories of security cover, granting different grades of security cover and number of security personnel increasing with each grade in that order, to protect the VIPs round the clock, will stay.
In a major operation carried out jointly by police teams of five states, the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) today arrested three suspected terrorists, with alleged links to Islamic State.

Following joint operations carried out early this morning in Mumbai, Jalandhar, Narkatiaganj (Bihar), Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar, three persons were arrested on charges of hatching terror conspiracies, a UP ATS spokesman said here.

The arrests have been made in Mumbai, Jalandhar in Punjab and Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh, the spokesman said. The police received information that some hyperactive members of a terror group were trying to recruit new members.

Six others were being interrogated, he said.

The joint operation was carried out by Special Cell Delhi Police, Intelligence Cell Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra ATS, Punjab Police, Bihar Police and UP ATS.
Vice President Hamid Ansari will embark on a visit to Armenia and Poland from April 25 to 28. This is his maiden visit to the two countries. He will be accompanied by his wife Salma Ansari, Minister of State Giriraj Singh and four MPs.

India and Armenia celebrate the silver jubilee of diplomatic relations in 2017, though the cultural connect is centuries old. There are Armenian Christians in India even today and several Armenian churches. Secretary (east) Preeti Saran said that Indian cinema and television programmes were popular in Armenia. There are also several IT-related Indian projects in Armenia, though the trade volume remains below potential.

This is also the 60th anniversary of the setting up of the Indian embassy in Warsaw. Saran said that Polish economy was growing and the partnership was mutually beneficial. She said that bilateral trade jumped up by 25 per cent in one year alone. India seeks to partner with Poland in green technology and mining know-how.
If the tension between Indian and Pakistan over Kulbhushan Jadhav does not de-escalate in the coming days, there is a growing worry in the security establishments that the issue would further worsen the border tensions between the two countries, which are already high in the Valley.

"If the case does not reach a peaceful settlement, in the worst scenario, we can expect a hot summer in Kashmir. These issues are likely to heighten border tensions, if they are not resolved in the next few months," a security official posted in JK said.

With External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj warning of consequences if Jadhav death sentence is carried out, the message has already gone to the Pakistan army and the ISI, that India will not exercise restraint in such a situation.

The security forces are clearly aware of this possibility and are beefing up vigil and preparing for the coming months which may witness increased infiltration bids and terrorists' attempts in an already volatile Valley where street protests are keeping the central and state police forces engaged.

But, India may have to wait longer before it can get any news from Islamabad of alleged arrested spy Kulbhushan Jadhav's condition and whereabouts after he was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court. The ministry of external affairs is pinning its hopes on the 15th appeal being made to the Pakistani government seeking consular access to Jadhav, the court papers of the trial and the appeal process details.

For now, the MEA is treading with caution as New Delhi is attempting to open up a quiet dialogue between the two NSAs to be able to reach at an understanding and let an appeal be filed on behalf of Jadhav. Without the copy of the judgment order pronounced on Jadhav, New Delhi may not be able to proceed in filing a mercy plea seeking commutation of his death sentence.

Sources in the government said that India will have to wait and watch, as it hopes there may be some response from the Pakistani establishment which may share the appeal process details and court papers of the trial. "Even if we get part access to the information we have sought, like the details and the judgment order, we will still be able to file an appeal," an official said.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, April 20 (PTI) A day before the demolition of the Hall of Nations at Pragati Maidan here is expected to start, the Delhi High Court today dismissed a plea by the buildings architect to preserve it.

Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva dismissed as "without merit" the plea by architect Raj Rewal, who had designed the building that was constructed in 1972.

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The courts verdict was based on the decision of the Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC), set up for protecting heritage structures, which has held that only 60-year-old or older buildings would be considered for heritage status.

The Hall of Nations, located in Delhis exhibition ground of Pragati Maidan, being only 45 years old would not get the protection of being considered as a heritage structure as per the HCC guidelines, the court noted in its ruling.

It also said that since HCCs guidelines, formulated in February this year, have not been challenged, therefore the architect has no legal right to seek preservation of the structure.

The court also observed that the architect had not challenged the March 3 decision of the Delhi Urban Arts Commission which had approved the plan for an integrated exhibition centre that would come up at the Pragati Maidan.

The court, however, said its judgement will not prevent the architect from seeking any relief under the Copyright Act which provides for seeking damages if an artistic work is "modified or mutilated".

During the hour-long arguments, Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearing for the Centre, opposed Rewals plea contending that the Hall of Nations was "not a one-of- its-kind architectural marvel."

He said buildings by other eminent architects in Pragati Maidan have already been or would be demolished.

He also said that once an expert view has been taken by the HCC and DUAC, judicial interference in the decision is not called for.

Additional Solicitor General P S Patwalia, who appeared for the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) which is the body responsible for Pragati Maidan, said it has to adhere to the project schedule.

As per the schedule, the demolitions have to be completed and the debris removed by May 31 and the fresh construction has to start from June 1, he said.

While Rewals plea was dismissed, a similar plea by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) seeking heritage status for the Hall of Nations was adjourned to May 1.

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The court had earlier said that if the central government does not want to retain the Hall of Nations at Pragati Maidan, how can it be forced to do so.

ITPO had earlier urged the court not to intervene in the proposed demolition, saying the Rs 2,500-crore project would be a good development for the city. It had submitted that the project was approved at the highest levels, including the Prime Ministers Office.

It had said that under the project, an international exhibition and convention centre with a seating capacity of 7,000 and parking for 4,800-5,000 cars, would be built in the 123 acres where Pragati Maidan exists now. Once it comes up, the G20 Summit would be held there. PTI HMP PPS ARC

--- ENDS ---
A French police officer was killed and another officer was gravely wounded this evening in a terror incident near the Champs-Elysees.

Paris police posted a tweet telling people to avoid the area around the Champs-Elysees without revealing any further details.

A subsequent tweet stated that there was police intervention underway in the area, but gave no further details about the nature of the situation.

Local police said the shooting is very probably a terrorist act and advised people to avoid the area.

The U.S. State Department warned their Twitter followers to avoid the area after a shooting.

The Champs-Elysees is a long boulevard that has theaters, shops and restaurants and ends with the Arc de Triomphe, a major tourist destination.

The incident comes days ahead of the French election, which is to take place Sunday.

The French Interior Ministry says the shooting attack on the famed Champs-Elysees boulevard in Paris deliberately targeted police officers guarding the area.

Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said on BFM television that a man came out of a car and opened fire on a police vehicle.

One officer was killed and another was wounded.

Brandet says the police officers were deliberately targeted.

He says police are securing the area but there is no other police operation underway in the popular area.

Brandet says its too early to say whether the attacker might have had an accomplice, and said authorities are studying multiple potential motives.

Speaking in Washington during a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, U.S. President Donald Trump said the shooting in Paris looks like another terrorist attack and sent condolences to France.

(AP)
An 85-year-old male arrived in the emergency room of the Nahariya Hospital and explained that he swallowed a toothbrush as he was cleaning food particles from his teeth.

Dr. Ronit Bar-Chaim, a member of the surgical staff, treated the elderly man in the emergency room. She ordered an immediate CT to determine if the foreign body was indeed inside the man as he claimed.

After it was established that he did indeed swallow a tooth brush, he was taken to an operating room where Dr. Ohad Ronen and Dr. Ili Louis of the ENT department waited for him and they succeeded in removing the foreign body by performing a minor procedure, explaining this was done without compromising the overall condition of the elderly patient, who was soon thereafter released to his home.

Dr. Ronen told the media We deal with hundreds of similar cases annually, of people ingesting foreign bodies into their body or even items getting stuck in their noses or throat. This is most common among infants, children and the elderly. This was indeed a rarity and I am pleased that we were able to extricate it quickly and without complications to permit him a quick return to his regular routine without the need for hospitalization or prolonged care.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Hyderabad police detained a youngster for sending a hoax threat about a plane getting hijacked. The threat had led to security being beefed up at major airports in the country.

By Ashish Pandey: Based on the input provided by Mumbai police, Hyderabad police has detained a person identified as Vamsi who had sent email to Mumbai Police alerting about a possible plane hijack.

According to sources, Vamsi hatched the "hijack alert" drama to avoid meeting with his girlfriend who lives in Pune.

The jobless youth was getting pressure from girlfriend to visit her in Pune but due to financial problem he doesn't wanted to meet his girlfriend, so Vamsi hatched a false plan and raised hijack alarm by sending email to Mumbai Police.

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ANONYMOUS E-MAIL

On Saturday night, Security forces upped the vigil after an anonymous letter was sent to the Mumbai Police Commissioner.

The letter also stated that someone had heard suspects talking about a plot to hijack a plane. Following the alert, security levels at Chennai's Arignar Anna airport have been increased seven-fold.

CISF jawans were patrolling the airport premises with loaded weapons, and Central Intel had also received a tip that terrorist organizations might attempt to hijack an airplane, sources said.

Gates in both Kamaraj Domestic Terminal and the international terminal in Chennai had restricted the entry for visitors, and airlines had been instructed to thoroughly check passengers' luggage - including hand luggage.

Following the mail, CISF and other security agencies and airport managers ensured that nothing happened at the airports in the three cities.

Also Read:

Letter to Mumbai Police talks of plane hijack plot, bomb threat; major airports on alert

--- ENDS ---
PA (Palestinian Authority) representative in Washington, DC Husam Zomlot met with senior State Department officials earlier this week as the PA continues efforts to increase pressure on Israel. The PA is using a hunger strike declared by imprisoned terrorists to increase political pressure on Jerusalem. Convicted arch terrorist Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences for his heinous acts, has called on his fellow imprisoned terrorists to join him in the hunger strike, which began last Friday, 18 Nissan.

Zomlot explained to US officials that the terrorists are demanding increased rights and improved conditions including more family visits, more cable TV channels, daily newspapers [which were ceased] and the ability to complete ones high school diploma at Israels expense.

PA sources report that approximately 1,100 of the 6,000 imprisoned terrorists are participating in the hunger strike, which they insist is an open-ended effort.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan released a message We do not negotiate with prisoners, telling the media he is confident the Israel Prison Service has the experience and expertise to deal with the hunger strike. He added the prison service is coordinating with IDF Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

Former PA Minister of Prisoner Affairs Qadura Fares denies the accuracy of Israeli reports, insisting Barghouti is not the driving force behind the hunger strike.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
A new book that examines previously restricted files from the U.N. War Crimes Commission cites documents showing that Adolf Hitler had been indicted as a war criminal for actions by the Nazis during World War II before his death  contrary to longstanding assumptions.

The book, Human Rights After Hitler by British academic Dan Plesch, says Hitler was put on the commissions first list of war criminals in December 1944, but only after extensive debate and formal charges brought by Czechoslovakia, which had been occupied by the Nazis.

The previous month the commission determined that Hitler could be held criminally responsible for the acts of the Nazis in occupied countries, according to the book. And by March 1945  a month before Hitlers death  the commission had endorsed at least seven separate indictments against him for war crimes.

Plesch, who led the campaign for open access to the commissions archive, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the documents show the allies were prepared to indict Hitler as head of state, and this overturns a large part of what we thought we knew about him.

A Dec. 15, 1944 document submitted to the commission by Czechoslovakia accuses Hitler and five members of the Reich government, including his deputy Rudolf Hess and Heinrich Himmler, one of the Nazis most responsible for the Holocaust, of crimes including murder and massacres-systematic terrorism. A photocopy is included in the book.

The United Nations War Crimes Commission was established in October 1943 by 17 allied nations to issue lists of alleged war criminals  ultimately involving about 37,000 individuals  and examine the charges against them and try to assure their arrest and trial.

Its unrestricted records, related to more than 10,000 cases, were put online in July 2013 by the International Criminal Court after an agreement with the U.N. Three months later, then U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power announced that the restricted files  which contain some 30,000 sets of pre-trial documents submitted by national and military tribunals to the commission to judge whether a case should be pursued  would be given to the Holocaust Museum in Washington.

According to the book, legally certified documents, government transcripts and interviews with torture victims prove beyond doubt that the U.S. and British governments were told about Hitlers extermination camps in the early years of World War II.

Plesch said both governments acknowledged their existence but did almost nothing to stop the mass killings.

The earliest condemnations of Nazi atrocities were made in a joint statement by the Czech and Polish governments in November 1940.

In 1942, the American, British and Soviet governments led their allies in a public declaration that explicitly condemned Hitlers ongoing extermination of European Jews and the book says that condemnation was far stronger than commonly believed.

The records overturn one of the most important accepted truths concerning the Holocaust: that, despite the heroic efforts of escapees from Nazi-occupied Europe, the allies never officially accepted the reality of the Holocaust and therefore never condemned it until the camps were liberated at the end of the war, Plesch wrote.

The book documents not only that the extermination of the Jews was condemned officially and publicly by the allies but that specific features of the extermination were publicized, including a favored method  lethal gas  and the central place of execution  Poland, he said.

Plesch wrote that it was beyond the scope of the book to assess why public condemnations of the extermination of Jews arent prominent in public and scholarly narratives of the Holocaust.

One possibility, he said, is that significant parts of the governments in the United States and the United Kingdom were directly opposed to doing anything to help the Jews or to support war crimes prosecutions.

Nonetheless, he cited material from the commissions restricted archive which shows that hundreds of German foot soldiers of atrocity were indicted while the Holocaust was still underway by states where the crimes took place  and it shows that these national indictments were endorsed by the War Crimes Commission up to its final meetings before it was closed in March 1948.

One chapter analyzes country-by-country the indictments that began to be made early in 1944 for anti-Jewish persecution by Germans. It includes 372 cases submitted against Germany by Poland, 110 by the Netherlands, 91 by France, 52 by Czechoslovakia, 30 by Yugoslavia, 21 by the United Kingdom, 18 by Belgium, 14 by Denmark and 12 by Greece.

The book also notes cases brought against German allies Japan and Italy.

Ultimately thousands of soldiers were tried for war crimes after World War II, the book says. But Plesch wrote that the commissions files contain indictments against thousands of Nazis who were then allowed to go free.

(AP)
President Donald Trump will deliver the commencement address to graduates of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy next month.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer announced Trumps participation in the May 17 ceremony in New London, Connecticut, on Wednesday.

Each year, the president delivers the commencement address at one of the U.S. military service academies.

It will be Trumps second time addressing graduates during commencement season this year.

Hes scheduled to deliver the keynote address at graduation exercises at Virginias Liberty University on May 13.

(AP)
Police are asking for the publics help as they try to track the movements of a pioneering New York judge before she was found dead in the Hudson River.

Sheila Abdus-Salaams body was found along the riverbank near her Manhattan home on April 12. She had been reported missing a day earlier.

Two law enforcement officials say the death is being treated as a suicide. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation hasnt been completed.

Investigators were looking for any video or any witnesses who may have seen the 65-year-old in the time leading up to her death.

An autopsy was inconclusive as to the cause of death and required further study.

Abdus-Salaam was the first black woman on New York states highest court.

(AP)
Syria still has up to three tons of chemical weapons, Israeli defense officials said Wednesday in the first specific intelligence assessment of President Bashar Assads weapons capabilities since a deadly chemical attack earlier this month.

The estimate came as the head of the international chemical weapons watchdog said laboratory tests had provided incontrovertible evidence that victims and survivors of the April 4 attack in northern Syria were exposed to sarin nerve gas or a similar banned toxin.

Israel, along with the United States and much of the international community, has accused Assads forces of carrying out the attack, which killed at least 90 people, including dozens of children.

A senior Israeli military official said Israeli intelligence believes Syrian military commanders ordered the attack, with Assads knowledge. Briefing reporters, he said Israel estimates Assad still has between one and three tons of chemical weapons.

The assessment was confirmed by two other Israeli defense officials. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity under military briefing rules.

Assad has strongly denied he was behind the attack in the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in Syrias northern Idlib province, and has accused the opposition of trying to frame his government. Top Assad ally, Russia, has asserted a Syrian government airstrike hit a rebel chemical weapons factory, causing the disaster.

In response to the April 4 attack, the United States fired 59 missiles at a Syrian air base it said was the launching pad for the attack. Israel welcomed the strike on its northern neighbor.

The Syrian government has been locked in a six-year civil war against an array of opposition forces. The fighting has killed an estimated 400,000 people and displaced half of Syrias population.

Israel has largely stayed out of the fighting, though it has carried out a number of airstrikes on suspected Iranian weapons shipments it believed were bound for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Iran and Hezbollah, both bitter enemies of Israel, along with Russia have sent forces to support Assad.

Following Russias intervention in September 2015, Israel and Moscow opened a hotline to coordinate military activity in Syria. Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman will fly to Moscow next week for talks with senior Russian officials.

Syria agreed to give up its chemical weapons arsenal to avert U.S. strikes following a chemical weapons attack in opposition-held suburbs of Damascus in August 2013 that killed hundreds of people and sparked worldwide outrage.

Ahead of that disarmament, Assads government disclosed it had some 1,300 tons of chemical weapons, including sarin, VX nerve agent and mustard gas.

The entire stockpile was said to have been dismantled and shipped out under international supervision in 2014 and destroyed. But doubts began to emerge soon afterward that not all such armaments or production facilities were declared and destroyed. There also is evidence that the Islamic State group and other insurgents have acquired chemical weapons.

Dan Kaszeta, a U.K.-based chemical weapons expert, said the Israeli estimate appeared to be conservative, but nonetheless was enough to be highly lethal.

One ton of sarin could easily be used to perpetrate an attack on the scale of the 2013 attack. It could also be used for roughly 10 attacks of a similar size to the recent Khan Sheikhoun attack, he said.

A fact-finding mission from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, an international watchdog, is investigating the April 4 incident and on Wednesday its director-general, Ahmet Uzumcu, said that the results from four OPCW designated laboratories indicate exposure to sarin or a sarin-like substance.

He said in a statement that further results would follow, but that the analytical results already obtained are incontrovertible. The agency, based in The Hague, Netherlands, is expected to issue a report within two weeks.

Turkish and British tests also have concluded that sarin or a substance similar to the deadly nerve agent was used in the Idlib attack.

Earlier this week, Assads former chemical weapons research chief told Britains The Telegraph newspaper that Syria had at least 2,000 tons of chemical weapons before the war and only declared 1,300. Former Brig. Gen. Zaher al-Sakat said the Syrian government still possessed hundreds of tons of chemical weapons.

(AP)
A three-justice panel of the High Court of Justice on Wednesday 23 Nissan gave a green light to Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai to permit supermarkets to open on Shabbos RL. Justices Esther Hayut, Dafna Barak-Erez and Chief Justice Miriam Naor ruled on the matter.

A special government committee has already recommended the move, but Interior Minister Aryeh Deri has not given the go-ahead. Hence, the decision has been delayed by the bureaucratic realities of the chareidi parties seeking to avoid playing a role in approving such a move. Hence, the High Court may have saved the coalition for if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu okayed the move, the chareidi parties would have threatened to break from the coalition. Now, they can shout while continuing with business as usual, blaming the court for the move, which is what is taking place.

The court ruled that while recognizing the significance and special status Shabbos holds for the Jewish People, a democratic society must have the right to permit local government to determine how Shabbos would be characterized and in Tel Aviv, opening supermarkets is in line with wishes of local leaders and residents.

The court ruled City Hall may move forward and it does not have to be held hostage by the Interior Minister as the matter has been in the hands of the government for over two years.

Owners of many shomer shabbos businesses are outraged for now, with more and more stores opening, they fear they will lose significant parnasa due to the courts decision.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman issued a statement praising the High Court of Justice decision to permit grocery stores to open in Tel Aviv on Shabbos. The court responded to a petition filed by Tel Aviv City Hall following over two years of government procrastination on the matter.

In his Facebook posting the senior minister stated I welcome the High Court decision to permit opening supermarkets in commercial areas in Tel Aviv on Shabbos. It is a proportional municipal law that on the one hand permits maintaining the Shabbos as a day of rest, and on the other hand gives many citizens the possibility to spend on Shabbos according to their will. Tel Aviv has a certain character that has developed since the establishment of the state, and there is no reason for the state to intervene and harm the urban fabric that has crystallized.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Many people were on the security line to enter the Kosel one night earlier in the week. One of those people, Moti Malka, who davens maariv at the holy site daily, explains The metal detector sounded even though I emptied my pockets. The area is manned by agents of a private company that got the tender for security. I was asked by the agent, who appears Russian, to remove my shoes and belt and I was okay with it, realizing this is their job as part of protecting us and the area. Then one of them shouted for all to hear if a suicide bomber comes and kills you, you deserve it. I decided this was enough for I was unwilling to hear such words at the holy site. I asked that he identify himself, but he refused. I asked his supervisor to respond, which he did.

His colleagues told the guard he should give me his details as I requested. He then complied and apologized a number of times but I told him at this point I was uninterested as he said it to many people  loud and clear.

He explains the security person was simply rude and was not suited to be in the post as he acted this way to all entering.

Moti then proceeded to the police station to file a complaint against the guard. Upon hearing what occurred and of the police complaint, the guard was fired by the company.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Within less than a year, the Tourism Ministry brought SAS to announce their return to operations in Israel, with a direct flight Stockholm-Eilat beginning in the Winter season 2017.

The Tourism Ministry announces, in cooperation with the Swedish airline SAS, that the company will return its operations to Israel with a direct flight from Stockholm to Eilat, within the framework of the Tourism Ministrys Winter flights directive. The new route will operate from the upcoming winter season (2017/8).

Tourism Minister Yariv Levin: I welcome the decision of SAS to operate a direct flight from Stockholm to Eilat. The decision was made with the cooperation and due to the encouragement and support of the Tourism Ministry. We have set ourselves the goal of bringing new direct routes to Israel and we are indeed witnessing an exceptional momentum of airlines flying into Israel and bringing with them record numbers of tourists.

SAS joins the many new airlines which are operating in Israel  only recently, as a result of the activities of the Tourism Ministry with the airlines, the following companies announced the opening of new routes: WOW, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Hainan Airlines and Air India. We warmly welcome the Swedish tourists who will once again return to Eilat, thanks to the new route, and will enjoy an attractive tourism destination, especially in the winter season.

SAS Sales Manager Sweden Anders Wahlstrom: Eilat is located on the Red Sea in Israels south coast and offers everything from white sandy beaches to spectacular hotels and nightlife. This is a city that has attracted visitors for decades. We see that more and more people want to travel with us to warmer destinations in the winter.

Incoming tourism increased 24% in the first quarter 2017 on the same period in 2016. The Tourism Ministry attaches importance to investing in expanding direct flights in the winter season from Europe into Israel in general and Eilat in particular and sees potential for significant increases in these tourists.

When the company announced it was ceasing its operations in Israel in March 2016, the Tourism Ministry took significant steps to encourage them to reinstate the direct route. Within the framework of ongoing negotiations since June, the ministry held a significant round of meetings, including a meeting between the Tourism Ministry Director-General Amir Halevi in Sweden with senior SAS representatives working on opening new routes. It was decided that SAS would join the directive offered by the Tourism Ministry for opening new direct flights to Eilat from Europe in the winter season. As part of the directive, airlines receive a 45 Euro subsidy per passenger from the Tourism Ministry and an additional 15 Euro from the Eilat Hotels Association.

The Tourism Ministry is also working with the leading bodies in the local tourism industry and the successful Two Cities, One Break advertising campaign is running in Europe, including Sweden. The investment in Sweden in a campaign that presents Israel as a legitimate and attractive tourism destination has changed the opinion of the public and the industry and instilled a sense of confidence, security and genuine partnership in the companys decision to take this new path. All this, in order to expand and increase the number of Swedish tourists visiting Israel.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Ivanka Trump will participate in a panel discussion on womens economic empowerment during an official visit to Germany next week.

The White House announced the schedule for the first daughters trip to Berlin, scheduled for Tuesday. It will be the first official international trip for Trump, who has joined the administration as an unpaid adviser to her father, President Donald Trump.

Ivanka Trump is traveling to Berlin at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She will participate in the W20 Summit, a women-focused effort within the Group of 20 countries.

On that day in Berlin, Trump will also take in a technical school, visit the United States embassy and go to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Her day will conclude with a gala dinner.

(AP)
In a letter written on its letterhead, the terror outfit threatened to target all those people who were trying to influence youths in Kashmir, including anti-terror activist M.S. Bitta.

By Atir Khan: Delhi police has lodged an FIR after it received a letter from a Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander threatening to target selected people, including an anti-terror activist and a journalist.

In a letter written on its letterhead, the terror outfit threatened to target all those people the Hizbul commander claims are trying to influence youths in Kashmir.

According to top intelligence sources, anti-terror activist M.S. Bitta recently received a sealed letter at his residence by post. On opening it, the letter written in Urdu from Hizb-ul-Mujahideen was in the name of Kashmir commander Zakir Musa. The letter targetted Bitta, his associates and a Jammu-based editor of a Hindi newspaper.

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HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW The letter read, "Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, its martyrs and its operatives are struggling for freedom of Kashmir but people like Bitta and others are engaged in issuing statements against the organisation. Henceforth, if the named people are found to be involved in giving or publishing such statements or trying to influence the Kashmiri youth, Bitta and his associates will be decimated." Apparently, Bitta and his associates have been working in Jammu and Kashmir region for their anti-terrorism crusade through an organisation called the Anti-Terrorist Front. They had recently visited Jammu and had met those who had helped in the arrest terror operative Javed. Bitta and his team had also felicitated these people. This could be the reason why he and his colleagues have come on the radar of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. Bitta is already a high-value target for Khalistan-related terror groups active in foreign countries. Top intelligence sources said Khalistan terror groups had recently placed a high bounty on his head. Though Bitta has Z+ security, the highest level of security cover given to any civilian, this fresh threat has become a cause of grave concern for the security apparatus as well. Bitta lives in a specially-designed bungalow in Lutyens Delhi. The rented bungalow has been designed in a way such that it ensures top-notch security. Sources in Delhi Police said that since the threat was grave and came from a known terror organisation, no one was taking any chances and a fully-fledged probe had been launched. Talking to India Today, Bitta said that he was concerned after receiving the letter but that would not deter him from his anti-terror crusade.

Also read | Pakistan's summer designs in Kashmir: ISI asks LeT, Hizbul Mujahideen to stir unrest

Also read | Terror tape showing Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar militants together raises security concern

Also read | 3 ISIS suspects arrested, several detained in joint anti-terror operation by 6 state polices

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An IDF court has acquitted PA (Palestinian Authority) resident Nawaf Fad of murder on Tuesday, 22 Nissan 5777. The suspect was charged with the murder of Ben-Yosef Livnat at Kever Yosef in Shechem in 2011, but the court ruled there was reasonable doubt of his guilt, finding him guilty only of obstructing justice and tampering with evidence. A number of others were wounded in the fatal attack.

PA (Palestinian Authority) police fired at a Jewish vehicle heading to the kever in the PA-occupied city. Four PA police were later arrested following the fatal attack. They explained the occupants of the vehicle were instructed not to proceed and that is why they opened fire, since they did not adhere the warning.

In 2013, the Shin Bet apprehended three of the policemen, after the PA released them. The Shin Bet reported the three had already coordinated their stories, explaining they were firing in response to being under attack.

Attorney Caim Bleicher of Honenu feels there was absolutely no basis to acquit the defendant based on the evidence presented in the case.

The defendant explicitly admitted that he had shot at the victims car and even admitted that he had hit him, Bleicher explains. In addition, a bullet was found in the victims vehicle that matched the shooting described by the defendant in his own confession.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Israel Police is continuing efforts to remove illegal weapons from homes in Israel, focusing in this operation on the Israeli Arab sector, in which the presence of illegal weapons is far more widespread than in the Jewish sector.

A police spokesman for the northern district reports the following were confiscated in operations in area villages.

A FN pistol and ammunition in Demayda

Explosives were confiscated in Moshav Elkosh

A Karl Gustav rifle was found in Kfar Manda

Two stun grenades were found in Majdal Shams

A Karl Gustav rifle and magazine were found in Kabaya

A makeshift Kar Gustav was recovered in Shfaram

Hundreds of bullets and a magazine in Kfar Kabul

Since the beginning of 2017, 32 rifles, 35 pistols, 31 grenades, 17 bombs, 1 LAW rocket, 8 fireworks, hundreds of different caliber bullets and LAW rocket related paraphernalia were recovered in Arab municipalities in the northern district.





(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit: Israel Police N. District spokesman unit)
By Press Trust of India: Rajkot, Apr 20 (PTI) A committee of Parliamentarians today met migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh staying in Gujarat and listened to their problems in getting long-term visas and other grievances.

The panel, which has members from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, is headed by BJP MP Satyapal Singh. The 10- member committee met the migrants as part of its consultation exercise for the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

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"The committee met migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh to address their problems," a release issued by the state information department said.

"A large number of migrants from these countries met the committee and shared their problems in getting long-term visas and also raised other issues," it said.

Singh assured them of all possible support in solving their problems, the release said.

The panel informed the migrants that if they have long -term visa, they can buy properties, take bank loan and also do business or job in India, it said.

The Parliamentary body is hearing representations made by migrants from Sindhi, Bengali and Gujarati communities on how to go about the proposed amendments in the legislation.

The original Citizenship Act, passed in 1955, defines the concept of Indian citizenship and lists out ways to acquire the same, explicitly denying citizenship to all undocumented migrants.

A key amendment in the new bill, however, seeks to grant citizenship to people without valid documents from minority communities - Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians - from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India. PTI VJA KA RSY

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World Bank president Jim Yong Kim has made a point of being a frequent visitor to London and the Department for International Development in recognition of Britains foreign aid commitment.

The UK is the only Group of Seven leading industrial nation to meet the UNs 0.7 per cent target of national wealth.

This sum has increased rapidly in cash terms as the British economy has continued to expand.

Giving back: World Bank president Jim Yong Kim chose to use the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank to try to rally support behind foreign aid

So we shouldnt be in the least bit surprised that Asian-American Kim, who hails from a family of North Korean refugees, chose to use the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank to try to rally support behind foreign aid.

He sees all bets are off now David Cameron, who saw the aid budget as a way of eliminating the Tories reputation as the nasty party, is out of the picture.

Clearly, there have been notorious abuses of the way funds have been used. In political terms it is impossible to justify UK taxpayers money being squandered by the Palestinian Authority to fund the upkeep of the families of terrorists in Israeli jails.

More frivolously, the now suspended provision of 5 million to Ethiopian Spice Girls was beyond parody. Similarly, it is intolerable that so much money funnelled to poor countries ended up in Panama and at HSBCs branch in Geneva.

Such wholesale wastage, at a time of budget cuts in the UK, undermined the moral and ethical case.

We should also be aware that amid the 700 billion or so that the British government spends each year, trimming the 13 billion foreign aid budget only goes so far. Opponents of aid have spent it on all manner of causes from the NHS, to social care and defence.

Kim no doubt can expect huge opprobrium for weighing into such a sensitive UK domestic arena. Yet we know from generous British public responses to crises that not all citizens resent spending money on African poverty.

Growing trend: Macys may still sponsor holiday parades down Fifth Avenue in New York but it is firing 10,000 employees

The worse it gets in Africa and the Middle East the harder it will be to stem the migration tide.

Retail wilderness

Much was made during the American election campaign, and since, of the loss of manufacturing jobs.

Indeed, Donald Trump is thinking of using a long-forgotten trade measure, dating back to 1962 long before the World Trade Organisation was up and running, to keep steel imports out of the US.

Manufacturing fled America long ago and all the White House can do is twiddle the dials to look as if it is doing something. The big change, as in Britain, is the switch from the physical economy to the digital economy which is tearing down chunks of the services sector.

Shopping malls have become zombie malls replaced by giant warehouse sheds. Americas department store chains are shrinking rapidly. Macys may still sponsor holiday parades down Fifth Avenue in New York but it is firing 10,000 employees.

Sears stands on the verge of Chapter 11 bankruptcy and here in Washington there are as many stores boarded up in the fashionable shopping area of Georgetown as there are operating. Fashion giant Ralph Lauren has left Fifth Avenue.

US stores employ a third fewer staff than they did at the start of the noughties  18 times the number of jobs lost in coal mining, which Trump promised to restore.

Newspapers across the US have been decimated with the loss of 270,000 jobs, or two-thirds of the workforce. What is required is not a return to old-time manufacturing but a bolstering of IT and robotic skills for shops of the future.

There also needs to be a recognition, as pointed out by Lord Simon Wolfson of Next, that we all have enough things.

Millennials prefer to spend their money on cafes, restaurants and holiday travel.

It doesnt make big retail an attractive investment prospect.

Frexit silence

At last years spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank it was hard to stop IMF chief Christine Lagarde waffling on about Brexit in contravention of the Funds usually neutral political role.

At her annual press conference yesterday not a word was heard about the populist shift in France and the dangers of Frexit. She was returning to a convention that IMF officials dont interfere in politics, especially their own countrys. Funny that.
George Osborne has decided he cannot serve the people of London and voters in his Tatton constituency at the same time

So after all that George Osborne has decided he cannot serve the people of London and voters in his Tatton constituency at the same time.

But Osborne still has five jobs and like Donald Trump, who is constantly peppered with conflict of interest questions, the former Chancellor has to resolve how it is possible to be on the payroll of one of the worlds largest asset managers BlackRock  with a role in investment and corporate governance  and edit a newspaper.

At a moment when the Tory government he used to serve is seeking to change the shape of free market Anglo-Saxon capitalism so as to curb pay in boardrooms, scrutinise overseas takeovers and to create a fairer society, it will be increasingly hard to serve two masters. This is especially true when BlackRock pays Osborne so much, 650,000 per year, for doing so little.

Be that as it may one should not underestimate what Osborne did for Britain when he was Chancellor. The chaos in the public finances and in City regulation he inherited from Labour was daunting and the world shattered by the Great Recession.

Osborne showed enormous courage in seeing off ferocious critics on the Left such as former MPC member David Blanchflower who predicted big increases in unemployment and the former chief economist at the IMF Olivier Blanchard who warned austerity was playing with fire.

Both were proved wrong when the UK economy bounced back showing the resilience which has placed it among the fastest growing advanced economies over the last several years.

That, together with the success in putting more people into work in Britain and lowering the jobless rate below 5 per cent, must be considered among the great achievements of his period in office.

As Chancellor, Osborne also was instrumental in putting in place more robust arrangements to try to head off the next financial crisis. The current regulatory structure in the City and the appointment of Mark Carney as governor of the Bank of England were his personal doing.

This paper may have issues with Carney over his negative view of Brexit but there can be little doubt that his close attention to financial stability and understanding how markets need to work for people are refreshing.

Osborne was on the wrong side of history with the Remain campaign and his foolish punishment budget, says Alex Brummer

On the global front Osborne often seemed to cut a less impressive figure than Gordon Brown.

The former Labour Chancellor and PM was a real player at global meetings, full of bright ideas such as the creation of the Group of 20 as the institution best-equipped to manage the world out of crisis.

Brown played a key role in debt relief for poor nations. Osborne saw the Washington meetings as a means of elevating his status and attached himself to easy causes such as endorsing Christine Lagarde to lead the IMF despite legal difficulties in France.

Osborne may have been on the wrong side of history with the Remain campaign and his foolish punishment budget. But his achievement in returning Britain to prosperity and stability makes Brexit possible.

Bad banks

We don't need the International Monetary Fund to tell us of the appalling state of the European banking system. The travails of Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and here at home Royal Bank of Scotland and Co-op Bank have been closely monitored on these pages.

What is shocking is the sheer scale of the hangover from the financial crisis and subsequent meltdown in the eurozone in 2010. European Union banks still carry 1trillion of non-performing loans. The number has come down by 120bn (100bn) over the last year but it is still at alarming levels.

It largely explains why the banking system in Europe, the main source of credit for business, has been hopeless in firing up the eurozone economies and restoring output. Better for Britain to be free of this shower.

Fox affair

Ofcom has a tricky task in giving the go- ahead to the 11.7bn 21st Century Fox bid for the 61 per cent of Sky it doesnt own.

Fox News is embroiled in controversy over compensation payments made by its biggest star Bill OReilly to settle alleged sexual harassment claims. As always, the issue is not the payments in themselves but what Fox News knew, when it knew it and why there wasnt fuller disclosure.

Rupert Murdochs 21st Century Fox last night said OReilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel. But it is not clear that that will be the end of the matter.
London shares ended flat, with investors heading for safe haven assets ahead of the General Election on June 8.

The FTSE 100 closed up 4.18 points at 7118.54, while the more domestically focused FTSE 250 finished down 39.01 points at 19378.75.

While the UK election campaign kicks off, there is also the matter of the French presidential vote this weekend.

Current polling gives the nod to Macron and Le Pen in the top two spots, with Macron eventually winning. But with four candidates polling around 20 per cent any outcome is still possible.

Prime Minister Theresa May warms up for an election she is expected to win comfortably

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Consumer goods giant Unilever saw sales rise more than expected in its first quarter as it hiked prices, although weaker demand in Europe and the US weighed on the figures.

In it first quarterly trading update since it fended off a 115billion takeover attempt from US giant Kraft Heinz, the maker of Dove soap, Marmite and Ben & Jerry ice cream said underlying sales rose 2.9 per cent.

This was higher than analysts estimates of 2 per cent, even though the amount of goods sold fell 0.1 per cent.

For sale: Unilever's struggling spreads business, which the group is looking to sell at the end of the year, weighed on sales in the first quarter.

Sales would have grown by 3.4 per cent if it wasnt for its struggling margarine and spreads business, which Unilever plans to sell by the end of the year.

Shares were 1 per cent, or 41.75p higher at 3,979.25 in morning trading.

Earlier this month the company said it is carrying out a strategy review, and promised faster growth and higher dividends in future. One result of this will be the offloading its spreads business.

That business has been in steady decline for the last two decades as margarine fell out of fashion and consumers went back to butter.

If it fails to find a buyer willing to pay enough for the 30 or so brands, the group said it will consider turning the 2.6billion-a-year spread business into a separate company.

Steve Clayton, fund manager of the HL Select equity funds said: Unilever have been pushed by the Kraft Heinz approach into a more radical pace and scale of change than they had originally chosen for themselves.'

Trading is still at the sluggish end of the dial, but we think the group has enormous potential to steadily boost returns whilst compounding sales over time.

He added: Whether Spreads can be sold, or ends up being demerged is not yet clear, but trading is tough for the division and achieving a high price for the business will be a challenge.

'Margarine is yesterdays product and even though Unilever claim market share gains, they are not enough to offset overall demand being on a slippery slope downwards.

Unilevers personal care division, which includes brands like Dove and Vaseline, saw the strongest growth in the quarter, with sales up 5.1 per cent. But sales of food were flat, impacted by the later Easter this year, Unilever said.

Revenues rose 6.1 per cent to 13.3billion (11.15billion), including a foreign exchange boost of 2.4 per cent.

Unilever continued to see strong growth in emerging markets, despite a slowdown in Brazil, but in Europe 'consumer demand remained weak and the retail environment challenging'.

Rising prices: Unilever, which makes Marmite, said it had raised prices in the UK to 'recover the additional costs' from the pound's devaluation since Brexit.

Supermarket price wars have led to price falls across Europe, Unilever said, apart from the UK, where they have put prices up to 'recover the additional costs' from the pound's devaluation since Brexit.

Chief executive Paul Polman reiterated last months forecasts, saying the group was on track for sales to grow ahead of the market, between 3 and 5 per cent this year, with margin improvement of at least 80 basis points and a dividend increase of 12 per cent.

Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, said: Margins are where it really counts for Unilever as it tries to shore up its defences against another bidder who can promise higher margins and better return on equity.'

Unilever is aiming at underlying operating margin of 20 per cent by 2020, underpinned by growth in emerging markets. The first quarter update suggests its on track but risks remain. Consumer staples is a tough sector and may be heading for ex-growth.
Primark owners hope Brexit will provide an opportunity to renegotiate trade deals

The boss of Primark owner Associated British Foods said Brexit provided an opportunity to renegotiate trade deals with countries outside the EU.

George Weston, chief executive of the consumer goods giant, called for the Government to extend the EUs duty-free agreement with Bangladesh after Brexit.

He said it also provided a chance to reduce tariffs on clothing imports.

ABF has a team to work on Brexit, and has been in talks with Government departments.

The company reported a 19 per cent jump in revenue to 7.3 billion, while profits rose 92 per cent to 867 million.
Defence giant BAE systems has sealed a 1.4 billion deal to build a new nuclear-poweredattack submarine for the Royal Navy.

The 7,400-ton Agamemnon submarine will be armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles that can hit targets up to 1,200km away.

The Royal Navys latest and most advanced Astute class submarines use the Common Combat System for the first time.

Defence giant BAE systems has sealed a 1.4 billion deal to build a new nuclear-poweredattack submarine for the Royal Navy

It acts as the submarines brain  controlling its eyes, ears and nervous system allowing it to attack moving targets.

The vessel will be built at BAEs site in Barrow- in-Furness, Cumbria, where the company is also making four more of the Astute class vessels.

Around 8,400 people are employed in making the submarines, while BAE spends upwards of 300 million per year with more than a thousand suppliers.
It's summer, and you need to treat yourself to some of the unique scoops available at these places.

By Shreya Goswami: It's been a hot day today, and it's definitely going to get hotter tomoroow--that's just what we all feel about summers. The other thought that flashes across our minds is that at least there's ice cream!

Yes, ice cream is quite the saviour in this season. But then again, we have had loads of those, and might be more than a little bored with the plain-old chocolate or vanilla ice creams. So, what you should do this summer is give these ice cream parlours in Delhi a try.

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Naturals

Picture courtesy: Instagram/shatadruseal

This place has been around for a while now, but it still manages to pack a punch with its unique flavours. From jackfruit or kanthal and saunf to chikoo and coconut tenders, there isn't a quirky flavour they haven't tried out for us yet. At present, they have a berry feast on--and you should head out to Connaught Place for a taste of the funnest ice creams in town.

Also Read: Try this vegetarian mushroom custard to cool your insides this summer

MovenPick

Picture courtesy: Instagram/movenpick_india Picture courtesy: Instagram/movenpick_india

The words Swiss and desserts have never weaved magic like they do at MovenPick, Select Citywalk. They have cold, cold Tiramisu, Maple Walnut and Swiss Chocolate ice creams--along with light sorbets. But that isn't all. Their waffle cones are perfect for the three-in-one scoops they offer, and that might be the best deal you'll get when it comes to ice creams.

Hokey Pokey

Picture courtesy: Instagram/hokey_pokey_icecreams

This quaint little shop in Hauz Khas Village has a strange way to mash up flavours--two ice cream flavours are mixed together on a cold stone surface, then scooped up to serve. Giant toppings made with Nutella and sprinkles make these ice creams the stuff of dreams. If that doesn't lure you to Hokey Pokey, then their Mocha Coffee Cream and Granny Green Apple ice creams definitely will.

Azote

Picture courtesy: Instagram/azoteindia

Now this place isn't just about the flavours, but the drama as well. How? Liquid nitrogen, baby! They make the mix and add the liquid nitrogen to make your custom-made ice creams right in front of you. If you don't get a craving for something like a Red Velvet ice cream, then you definitely will feel the need to indulge in the Old Monk one at Azote's outlet in SDA.

Oh So Stoned

Picture courtesy: Instagram/ohsostonedaerocity

Do you think of paan and cheese when you think of ice creams? No? You should, because Oh So Stoned at DLF Mall of India offers you just that--and it tastes amazing! Their mash-ups and assorted combos will make your summer cooler than any air conditioner can. Which is why you should head there right after work, and indulge in some Choco Pops.

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Also Read: 4 yummy treats you can make with coconut water this summer

Frugurpop

Picture courtesy: Instagram/frugurpop

If you're a little too health conscious to have a guilt-free ice cream experience, the Frugurpop--the ice cream truck that has taken Gurgaon by storm--is tailor-made for you. With no added sugar or preservatives, and a good, healthy dose of fresh fruits, this place can make your taste buds pop! Their highlight isn't just the Sangria popsicle they make, but also the Kiwi Stawberry Lemonade mix pop.

Ice Pan Creamery

Remember when ice cream rolls took New York to a new level of frenzy last year? Well, Ice Pan Creamery offers just the same concept--with an Indian twist. These guys make rolls with everything from Oreos and fruits to caramel and tequila! If you didn't know that pan and chocolate can make an amazingly mouth-watering combination, then you've just got to watch this video, and head to Pacific Mall in Subhash Nagar to give this unique ice cream a taste:

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A recovery of banks across the European Union is being held back by 1trillion (837bn) of bad debts being held on their books.

The International Monetary Fund warns that despite a reduction of 120 billion (100 billion) of bad loans over the last year and a recovery in bank share prices, an economic upturn is unlikely to fully restore the profitability of persistently weak banks.

The IMFs global financial stability report says the scale of the bad debts and the failure of countries such as Italy, Greece and Portugal to deal with them impedes the scope for recovery and could lead to a fresh financial crisis across the EU.

International Monetary Fund financial counsellor and director Tobias Adrian as he answers a question on the Global Financial Stability Report at the IMF World Bank Spring Meetings

In a wide-ranging report the IMF experts also cautioned that there are several other risks on the horizon which could turn back market optimism and disrupt stability and recovery:

President Trumps fiscal policy could push up global interest rates and force highly leveraged American companies to the wall.

Protectionist and populist policies could have a dampening effect on trade and growth, triggering an outflow of capital from emerging markets.

Credit in China has doubled in less than a decade to 200 per cent of total output and if the boom lasts much longer the more dangerous it will become.

IMF financial enforcers believe that Europe needs to follow Ireland and establish an agency to hold the bad debts of their banks because until that happens there is little possibility of repairing them properly and getting them lending again.

In particular they argue that Europes domestic banks, without overseas interests, have the greatest challenge. It notes that three-quarters of them had very weak returns in 2016.

But Europes global banks, such as Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse, also underperform compared to their fleet-of-foot American counterparts.

The report shows British lenders have been more ruthless than their counterparts in scything branches, with 728 million of assets per branch.

But this is still less efficient than Holland and Ireland. The lowest assets per branch are in Italy, Portugal and Spain.

The IMF says there are too many weak banks across Europe with low buffers, too many with a regional focus and narrow mandate, or too many branches with low branch efficiency.

The Funds chief enforcer Tobias Adrian calls for countries with the biggest challenges to address matters urgently, warning that low profitability could incite systemic risks.
MANZINI  Playing the role of Jesus in the Roman Catholic Churchs celebration of Good Friday left Petros Da Silva in challenges similar to those which were faced by Christ.



Da Silva (48), the Roman Catholic Church member who usually plays the role of Jesus when the church commemorates the last supper and how He was crucified, made this revelation during an interview yesterday.



He said he was aware that it was normal for Christians to come across challenges and temptations in their lives as part of Gods plans, but those he faced after taking the role of playing Jesus were extreme for an ordinary human being like him.



He said after taking the role about five years ago, he would encounter challenges which would be out of his control and power. Without dwelling much on the challenges he faced, he said such used to happen at his workplace and sometimes with landlords to mention a few.



Da Silva, who started playing the role of Jesus in the play in 2013, said he did it by choice because of the experience he had since he was involved in the youth activities of the church. He said even though people were seemed to be really beating him up, spitting on him and mocking him, he continued to play the role in 2014.



However, because of the extreme challenges which I faced and believe they came about with the Jesus role, I skipped playing it in 2015 and 2016 until now when the church decided to do it differently.



He said this years play included less talking, minimal harassment but more action to show the meaning of the whole play.
MBABANE  The upcoming local government elections will not only bring change in the different towns but employment opportunities as well.



This is because the various towns and cities will hire close to 200 Swazis who will be entrusted with conducting the voter registration exercise on a temporary basis.

Already, some of the towns have invited computer literate people who were interested in being temporarily hired as voter registration agents to submit their applications.



According to some of the town clerks and public relations officers of the towns, the number of the voter registration agents was determined by the number of registration centres that each particular town had. They confirmed that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development had already communicated to them that they were expected to hire two officers for each registration centre. This means that big towns needed more numbers when compared to the smaller ones.



For the Municipal Council of Manzini, there are 32 proposed registration centres where each one of them needed about two agents or officers, which meant that about 64 people would be employed.



This was confirmed by the Public Relations Officer Mathokoza Thwala, who further mentioned that the elections were important and that they were encouraging all those who were eligible to take part in the elections to do so.



We want to emphasise that being a councillor is not for a selected few but it is for everyone.
By Press Trust of India: UN climate official

New Delhi, Apr 19 (PTI) India needs to "tell its story" about its efforts to address the issue of climate change, a top UN climate official said today while terming the country as an "important partner" in tackling the global problem.

Stressing the need for engaging in a "deeper" dialogue, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said with population growth, there will be growth in emission levels in India and one needs to go beyond conversations related to which contributed how much to global emissions.

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Espinosa, who was on a two-day visit to India, her first after assuming the office of the executive secretary in the UN body, said she was very "encouraged" with the dialogue she had with the government here.

Addressing climate change does not mean that a country gives up its developmental aspirations, she said.

"Regarding India, I have been very encouraged by conversations that I had yesterday about the way the country is addressing the challenges of sustainable development, how it is addressing the agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate change.

"It is the right approach -- it is an approach which integrates the different areas of government and economy and that is absolutely necessary if we want to be successful," she said during an interaction with business leaders at FICCI here.

She pointed out that one of the main reasons for her visit to India was to "highlight and give visibility" to what is already happening in India.

"Out there, people do not know how much you are working on this subject. I believe this is very important. Especially if we consider, in the coming decades, the population will continue to grow, growth will be strong in countries like India and nations of the South and it is very natural that emissions will continue to grow.

"It will take sometime until the peaking point (of emissions) is reached and we start having reductions in emission. We also need to get into a much deeper conversation and dialogue on how the process will evolve in countries like India.

"We need to go beyond figures like how much is the participation of countries in global emissions. We need to go beyond that. I want to encourage you to go out as much as possible and tell the story about how much effort India is putting in (to address the issue)," she said.

She said another point which needs to be discussed is how much India will contribute to the scenario of the future.

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"India has some of the most densely populated cities of the world with faster rates of urbanisation. That means the policy which cities take will become examples to follow and also other cities will learn from mistakes which, maybe, has happened here. In India there are strong commitments at the level of cities," she said.

Espinosa had met Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave and expressed interest in "engaging" with Indian institutions working in the field of climate change.

She said it would be "no exaggeration" to say that people around the world are looking towards India which is a "very important partner" and efforts made here will be valuable knowledge for many countries around the world.

She said to address the climate change agenda, there is a need to do it in a "comprehensive and integrated" way with sustainable development.

She said there is a need to overcome the view that climate change has to do with scientist and understand that it is an agenda which has to do with the well-being of people.

Referring to her conversations with private investors and others, she said the latter had conveyed to her that there is a need to have more bankable projects.

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"The resources are there but projects are not always there. I have asked counterparts in governments to provide us with assessment needs and I want to do the same with you (India) so that we can identify possible partners for you (in the field of) technology, capacity building or financing," she said.

Espinosa said that the UN has launched NAZCA climate portal to track voluntary initiatives, coalitions and initiatives from the private sector and non-state actors to support governments in implementing their INDCs (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions) and simultaneously help in delivering the SDGs. PTI TDS SMN

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The Uttar Pradesh anti-terrorism squad (ATS) and Delhi Police special cell arrested three ISIS suspects on charges of terror conspiracy. The joint anti-terror operation lasted for five days.

By India Today Web Desk: The Uttar Pradesh anti-terrorism squad (ATS) and Delhi Police special cell arrested three ISIS (Islamic State) suspects on charges of terror conspiracy and busted an inter-state terror module.

The three men were arrested from Mumbai, Jalandhar and Bijnor while many others have been detained too.

Searches were carried out in Mumbai (Maharashtra), Jalandhar (Punjab), Narkatiaganj (Bihar), Bijnor (Uttar Pradesh) and Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh).

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MUMBAI MAN KEY RECRUITER

According to sources in the ATS, one of the accused, who was arrested from Mumbra in Mumbai, is an ISIS recruiter for Maharashtra and the chief of the terror module.

Several cellphones and SIM cards were seized from 26-year-old Nazim Ahmed's rented apartment.

The ATS believes that it is an ISIS-affiliated group radicalised by foreign handlers.

The anti-terrorism squad had detained a suspect from Narkatiaganj in Bihar while two suspects from Mumbai were detained.

LOOKING FOR POTENTIAL RECRUITS

Besides Uttar Pradesh ATS and Delhi Police special cell, the crime investigation department of Andhra Pradesh Police, Maharashtra ATS, Bihar Police and Punjab Police were part of the operation.

Further investigation is on and six people are being questioned by police.

"Nine people from different locations were held by police, and interrogation is underway," Uttar Pradesh ADG (law and order) Daljeet Singh Choudhary was quoted by ANI.

According to information accessed so far, the three arrested men are suspected to be part of a terror module which was building a new organisation with orders from handlers based in Iraq.

The group was planning to launch strikes and a massive recruitment drive was on when the module was busted.

POSSIBLE CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY

The anti-terror operation, which was on since the last five days, led to the arrests this morning.

An ATS source said, "The gang was operating nationwide. Several agencies were on it. For the last 15 to 30 days, a close watch was kept on the gang and its members were tracked. On Wednesday night, the places were raided simultaneously."

Uttar Pradesh ADG (law and order) said no incriminating evidence has been found as of now but called it a "possible criminal conspiracy".

The officer said that those arrested are self-radicalised and do not have liaison with any group.

THE LUCKNOW SIEGE

Nearly a month ago, police had busted an ISIS-inspired terror module and one of its suspected members, Saifullah, was killed in a 12-hour siege and anti-terror operation in Lucknow. The module was allegedly involved in the Ujjain train blast.

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According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe reports, the ISIS-inspired module had made a failed attempt to carry out an explosion at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Lucknow on Dussehra last year.

(With inputs from Arvind Ojha, Sahil Joshi and Saurabh Vaktania)

ALSO READ:

Lucknow encounter: Home grown ISIS Khorasan module was planning big strike. All you need to know

Lucknow siege: How 4 states - UP, Telangana, MP, Kerala - worked together to bust ISIS Khorasan module

3 Hyderabad students, on their way to join ISIS, detained in Nagpur

ALSO WATCH

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By Mark Hallum

A coming-of-age tale about Bayside is now in paperback from author and former resident Lou Duro.

Be Bop A Lula, formerly only available in digital, is a story about a group of teenagers in the northeast Queens neighborhood in their final year of high school as they make the rounds between class and the storefronts of Bell Boulevard back in 1957.

Duro sets the scene as he recalls blending fact and fiction about the rise of rock music, bowling alleys and diners.

The candy store was a sacred temple and hanging out was a full-time obligation, Duro said, before draft notices and marriage licenses turned growing up into serious business.

In 14 chapters, Duro uses the music of his teenage years to set the tone for each situation the characters, Eddie Casale and Bob Bo Brody, find themselves in. The pair confront parents and teachers in chapters titled Rock Around the Clock and School Days, after the Chuck Berry song.

Rip It Up sets the scene for a bloody gang fight, while Black Denim Trousers is about motorcycles and a street race gone terribly wrong.

Let the Good Times Roll and Get a Job are chapters about visits to Dicks Candy store, encounters with women in the backseats of cars and failed attempts to find work.

Many of the locations in the book were well-known Bayside locales that many may remember, and some that are still in business. Buzz & Macs Bowling Alley, White Castle, The Bayside Diner, The Bayside Movie House, and ONeils Bar are just a few.

Lifelong Bayside resident and friend of the author Pat Coulaz, said the book is a reminiscent look at a Bayside long gone, but easily retrieved through Duros writing.

Fifties, rock n roll, hot rods, make-out sessions and, most of all, friendships that never ended, Coulaz said. Be Bop A Lula is a tribute to those innocent times when we all still believed in God, country, family and, of course, motorcycles. Lou Duro has the gift of making it all seem like it was yesterday.

Duro grew up in the neighborhood and attended Bayside High School before going into the military. Following his service, he attended NYU and studied journalism and creative writing. He would later become an award-winning reporter for the New York Journal American and the Long Island Press. In the 60s, he was a broadcast relations manager for the Long Island Rail Road where his segments could be heard across 14 radio and television shows on a daily basis.

His book of poetry The Sadness of Happy Times, was published in 1970 and has sold over 40,000 copies.

Duro now lives in Crete, Greece, but was recently in Bayside for a reunion with the people who inspired many of the characters in Be Bop A Lula.
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By Bill Parry

The Brooklyn-Queens Connector may have derailed in its planning phase. Mayor Bill de Blasio conceded Monday night that funding issues could shelve his proposed street car system, known as the BQX, which would run 16 miles along the waterfront from Astoria to Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

When the mayor first presented his plan for the $2.5 billion project in February 2016, saying the project would pay for itself by capturing rising property values, state Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas (D-Astoria) called it a bold idea with a lot of promise. But she then warned we all know the devil is always in the detail.

Now a confidential memo sent from the BQX Project Team to Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen in February, leaked to Politico, a political news website, suggested the BQX may not be financially feasible.

We believe this is a vision that can work and can work on time, de Blasio told Errol Lewis on NY1. But if it turns out, Errol, that upon further analysis we think theres a funding gap, Im going to be very open about that and thats going to beg the question, how should we proceed? And well cross that bridge when we come to it.

The memo listed serious challenges facing the plan, primarily the financial model.

Rising property values are not providing sufficient revenue to fund the entire project as originally stated, the memo notes.

We said from the very beginning we have to confirm the theory that, like the No. 7 train extension to the West Side of Manhattan, that the increase in property taxes, the recipes we got on property taxes could cover the cost, because again this would be funded solely within the city, not via the MTA, de Blasio said. That analysis was a point in time, its far from the complete analysis. I believe in the end were going to find that the original vision does work and were going to move forward on the existing timetable.

The memo states that moving utilities to make way for the tracks is costlier than originally thought.

Utility relocation continues to be the biggest single cost factor and if policies cannot be implemented to limit the impact, it has the possibility to make the project unaffordable and render implementation time lines unfeasible.

The memo also mentions negative feedback from the community and stakeholders on the impacts of reducing space for private vehicles and the overall reduction of parking availability along the corridor. City Hall said the memo should not be framed as a decision or even a recommendation, but rather a survey of options and an update on the most current information.

This is as nitty-gritty a study as anyone can do. Were costing out the price of moving specific water mains, and estimating tax revenue from individual lots along the route, de Blasio spokeswoman Melissa Grace said. The numbers change constantly, and that study has to be completed so we can move ahead. The project will improve transportation for hundreds of thousand of people and we continue to work to move it forward.

Ya-Ting Liu, the executive director of The Friends of the Brooklyn-Queens Connector, a nonprofit that developed the original plan for the system, still believes in the project.

The BQX will provide a vital new transportation option to transit-starved residents along the waterfront, including 44,000 New Yorkers who live in public housing, she said. Given the BQXs importance to the communities it will serve, its heartening that the city is putting so much work into studying all the details.
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By Bill Parry

The mobster who owns a Corona pizzeria was sentenced Tuesday to 18 years in prison for narcotics-trafficking and firearms-related offenses. Following a two-week trial in Brooklyn in July, Gregorio Gigliotti, 61, a resident of the Malba section of Whitestone, and his son Angelo, were convicted by a federal jury of crimes including conspiracy to import cocaine.

U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie sentenced Gigliotti in Brooklyn federal court, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget Rohde.

The pair were arrested in March 2015 after a long-term investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI, in coordination with law enforcement authorities in Italy, into a transnational cocaine trafficking operation. Between October and December 2014, federal law enforcement officers intercepted and seized nearly 1,110 pounds of cocaine that had been hidden inside cardboard boxes that contained cassava and were sent from co-conspirators in Costa Rica to the defendants in Queens. To facilitate their operation, the two Genovese crime family associates used their family-run Italian restaurant Cucino Amodo Mio, located at 51-01 108th St. in Corona, to facilitate their operation.

When the Gigliotti defendants were arrested on March 11, 2015, law enforcement searched the restaurant as well as the Malba residence, seizing one 12-gauge shotgun, one loaded .357 magnum Trooper revolver, one loaded .22 caliber Colt pistol, one .38 caliber Charter Arms revolver, one 9mm Keltec pistol, one .762 Czech pistol, one .38 caliber Derringer, loose ammunition. holsters, brass knuckles and more than $100,000 in cash, and a drug ledger detailing the disbursement of more than $350,000 made on the sale of narcotics.

The defendants wife, Eleonora Gigliotti, also participated in the family-run drug-trafficking operation, and in January 2017, pleaded guilty to conspiring to import cocaine. Angelo Gigliotti and Eleonora Gigliotti are awaiting sentencing, and face mandatory minimum sentences of 20 years and five years, respectively.
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By Bill Parry

The lives of 22 girls living in a Long Island City shelter for homeless families have improved dramatically thanks to a collaborative effort by several concerned adults.

Last month, the girls living at the Sleep Inn Hotel became members of Girl Scout Troop 6000, the first of its kind in New York City, reserved only for homeless girls.

Now, they meet every Friday night in the shelters dining room to partake in activities that build their self-esteem and facilitate strong sisterhood bonds that strengthen their networks of support and stability. And they get to eat pizza and watch movies.

It makes me so happy, because now we do fun stuff and get to meet new friends, Silkia, a 9-year-old from Woodside, said. It was a little boring before, but now I have a place to go and do things.

For 8-year-old Brooklyn, whose family is one of a hundred living at the hotel, Troop 6000 provides sanctuary.

Before we had nothing. Youd just sit around and watch TV, she said. Now we do math and reading, we learn budgeting and we win awards and badges.

Christina, 8, moved from Brooklyn with her family to join others living at the temporary shelter that is just north of the Queensbridge Houses at 38-71 13th St..

I like making new friends, thats very fun, Christina said. Before, it was boring and I really didnt have anything to do. I didnt know anybody and I had no friends.

Troop 6000 had its genesis in November when City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) came up with the general idea during a visit to Pams Place, a shelter for homeless women in Dutch Kills. As a child, Van Bramers family became homeless and had to live in a shelter for six weeks.

Last November, I joined the Girl Scouts of Greater New York to serve Thanksgiving dinner at a homeless shelter for women in Queens, Van Bramer said. It was there that we dreamed of a Girl Scout troop created specifically for homeless girls. With Troop 6000, that dream became a reality.

The Department of Homeless Services hosted a roundtable with Girl Scout leadership and the recreation directors from 10 shelters citywide. It was agreed and the race was on to form the troop last month as part of Womens History Month.

Our partnership with the Girl Scouts is a great example of how collaboration can provide opportunity and programming that boosts self-esteem, promotes teamwork, and demonstrates the importance of ongoing community involvement, Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks said. These scouts embody the heart, smarts, and spirit of New York, which is fundamentally compassionate, and we look forward to expanding this partnership to other shelters across the city to empower and uplift more young New Yorkers.

During the roundtable, Giselle Burgess, 32, a community engagement specialist for the Girl Scouts of Greater New York, and a leader of a troop in Sunnyside, suggested they form a new troop. Burgess, a single mother of five children, became homeless last summer when the home she rented in Flushing was sold.

Her family ended up living at the Sleep Inn hotel where she started the troop with the help of Sunnyside resident Meredith Maskara, the chief operating officer of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York and a close friend of Van Bramer.

The idea for a troop for homeless girls had never come up before, so it was a process and DHS has helped me in every way possible, Burgess said. The older ones help the younger ones with motivation and courage. They start to feel like they are no longer alone and thats empowering. But this program is also for the women of the shelter. It gives them a place as well to feel empowered through their otherwise stressful lives. Several of the mothers are training for leadership roles, including one that has a son. She doesnt even have a daughter and she wanted to be a part of this. Its an awesome feeling 

Maskara was on vacation this week, but posted about Troop 6000 on Facebook.

There are no words. I have never been more proud of the team I work with, she wrote. With the support from Jimmy Van Bramer, DHS and incredible women like Giselle Aida Burgess, we will absolutely make the world a better place.

Van Bramer counts the chartering of Troop 6000 among the best things he has ever been a part of.

Ive met the members of Troop 6000, who all live in a shelter in my district, and I can tell you that they have big dreams, Van Bramer said. They are our future engineers, fashion designers, athletes, doctors, activists and community leaders. With Troop 6000, these girls now have a place to realize these dreams, find stability, make lifelong friends, and discover the strength they have inside to be whoever they want to be. Troop 6000 is just about the most right thing Ive ever been a part of, and Im committed to its expansion all across the city.

Now that the troop is established, Van Bramer and Burgess know that fund-raising is essential if the program is to be expanded. Donors can go to www.girls couts nyc.org/ donat e.

With so much wrong in our world, lets all get behind something so very right, Van Bramer said.

Burgess, meanwhile, became the first homeless person in New York City to be named to a community board when Borough President Melinda Katz appointed her to CB1 last month.

It was Jimmy that nominated me, she said through laughter. Between my two troops, my five children, my work and now CB1, Im starting to think Im going to need more than 24 hours each day.
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By Bill Parry

Akeem Browder and fellow criminal justice advocates joined members of the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference Tuesday in calling on the city to plan to remove juveniles from Rikers Island within a year as required by recently passed Raise the Age legislation.

The older brother of Kalief Browder  who was arrested at the age of 16 and sent to Rikers for three years, spending much of it in solitary confinement  spoke on behalf of the 150 16- and 17-year-olds currently held at the prison complex each day.

The deepest change begins with New York changing the age of criminal responsibility, acknowledging that our kids are just kids and deserve to be treated better than the treatment given to my brother Kalief Browder, the elder Browder said. My work isnt finished yet.

Kalief was frequently beaten by guards and inmates after he was arrested for stealing a backpack, although he was never formally charged. The Browder family could not afford the $3,000 bail and after his release, he struggled with the trauma he endured in jail, eventually committing suicide in 2015.

The IDC is taking credit for the legislation passing the state Legislature after its eight members formed a coalition with Republicans for control of the Senate. State Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx), the leader of the IDC, said without their influence, Raise the Age would not have happened.

Members from Queens agreed.

Violence seems to be the common denominator at Rikers Island. The jail complex is a harsh environment for anyone, and this is particularly true for 16- and 17-year-olds, state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) said. I am very glad that we, at the Independent Democratic Conference, were able to deliver Raise the Age in this years budget. Under the agreement, teenagers who are currently jailed in the troubled facilities will have to be transferred within one year to age-appropriate facilities. In 2017, there is no excuse to incarcerate adolescents with adults, especially 16- and 17-year-olds who are simply awaiting trial.

New York and North Carolina currently are the only states to automatically prosecute 16- and 17-year-olds as adults.

As the chairman of the Committee on Children & Families, I made Raise the Age my top priority and vowed that this would be the year we accomplished it, Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) said. After holding the first public hearing dedicated solely to this issue, and hearing testimony from every side of the justice system, I knew this was something that needed to happen immediately. I am incredibly proud of the IDC for working to get Raise the Age included in this years budget and not allowing it to fall by the wayside. Getting children off Rikers Island is a great first step in instituting this legislation. I cannot wait to see the lives of families across the state improved as a result of raising the age.

Mainline Democrats dismissed the IDCs victory lap, saying the legislation was not progressive enough.

While we certainly made progress, it is disingenuous to claim victory when the fact is that this reform was watered down and still pushes the majority of adolescents through criminal court, Senate Democratic Communications Director Mike Murphy said. The reality is if the IDC had stayed true to their democratic values, and not empowered the Republicans, we would have passed a real Raise the Age program, in addition to other crucial reforms.

The de Blasio administration plans on complying with the reform that requires the city to move 16- and 17-year-olds off Rikers Island by 2018.

Recognizing that kids have different needs than adults, we already house adolescents separately, and remain committed to moving them off Rikers Island, mayoral spokeswoman Natalie Grybauskas said.
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By Gina Martinez

Newly elected Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-LittleNeck) answered Whitestone residents burning questions at a town hall meeting Tuesday evening. The congressman, who opened his Queens office Wednesday at 250-02 Northern Blvd., attended the town hall meeting hosted by We Love Whitestone at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church.

Residents asked about pressing community issues like the closing of Rikers Island, illegal spas and helicopter noise.

One resident came up to the microphone and complained about the helicopter noise that he said is starting even earlier now that the weather is getting better. The man said that at 4:44 a.m. his house began vibrating and continued to shake throughout the day. He and others asked what could be done for people who live under the helicopter route.

Suozzi, who is co-chairman of the bipartisan Quiet Skies Caucus, said it was holding its first meeting in about two weeks to discuss the issue. He said he reached out to representatives in the area, and will hold monthly staff meetings with experts and interested parties to find solutions. The congressman said he expects health studies to be the most persuasive way to have routes re-examined and changed.

We need the health studies to demonstrate objectively that there are serious implications, Suozzi said. We can look at health issues caused by helicopter noise like sleep deprivation, post traumatic stress disorder, high blood pressure and hyper tension. We also need to establish a complaint system to show the impact on the community, and solutions to lower the DNL threshold. We need an outside agency to oversee the routes for Queens and Long Islands North Shore.

One resident complained about Mayor Bill de Blasios plan to close Rikers Island in 10 years. He is worried that Queens residents will bear the brunt and have a jail built in College Point next to the new police academy. He and other residents were upset that a prison could potentially be built in their backyard. Suozzi said as long as residents do not want the prison, it wont happen.

I cant imagine that they would have any success in doing that, Suozzi said. Theres no way that people who have been living in neighborhoods for long times are going to allow them to build a prison. Ill stand with you on those issues. Theres no way  not going to happen. Ill stick with you guys.

A local business owner of a fitness studio complained about the number of illegal spas that are a front for happy endings. She said the Department of Buildings shut down the spa next door, which had men coming in and out.

I want this to end for the safety and comfort of patrons, and to keep the community a high-quality place to live, said the woman, who was frustrated when the spa reopened and the illegal business continued. She asked Suozzi what kind of legislation could be passed to stop the spas from re opening.

Its not a question of more legislation, Suozzi said Its a question of enforcement. We need the mayors office, DOB and police to work together to prove that this is going on and to break it up.

Alfredo Centola, president of We Love Whitestone, said some progress has been made. He said last year his group worked with an inspector from VICE and the mayors office and supplied a list of eight illegal spas in the community. Seven were shut down.

They didnt catch them for exclusively sex acts, but they were shut down, Centola said, Of those eight, five stayed closed and did not reopen, which isnt so bad.

He encouraged residents to send an email if they have any suspicions and they would pass it along to the authorities.

We send them lists when people complain about what they see, Centola said. They hit a few of them, but sometimes arent able to catch them in the act. Its a long process. If you see something going on, send an email.
BJP MLA Chandra Prakash said that bullets were the only way to deal with stone pelters and similar 'anti-national' forces in Kashmir, a remark that is surely going to embarrass the party.

By Ashraf Wani: A senior minister in the ruling BJP-PDP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir has triggered a massive row by saying that bullets are the only way to deal with stone pelters in Kashmir.

BJP MLA Chandra Prakash added all these forces who are 'anti-national' could be made to mend their ways by use of bullets.

The remark is only going to embarrass the BJP, which has been struggling to end the unrest in the Valley as there been a spurt in clashes between the security forces and Kashmiri youth and students of late.

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The Modi government has been criticised by Opposition parties for mishandling the crisis in the Valley and alienating the Kashmiris.

More details are awaited.

Also read | Kashmir: Students turn stone-pelters against police, dozens injured in clashes

Also read | Jammu and Kashmir: Another bank looted in Shopian district by armed men, gunmen believed to be militants

Also read | Kashmir: Government likely to ban social media in Valley

WATCH VIDEO

--- ENDS ---
BETHLEHEM -- Upstate Physician Services presents a meet-and-greet with the candidates for the Bethlehem Board of Education election from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at its Delmar location, 785 Delaware Avenue.

Residents can speak with the candidates in the May 16 race during "Shake Hands with the Candidates" in a casual and informal setting.

Upstate Physicians will be serving refreshments, and there will be a raffle, with all money going to The Autism Society of the Greater Capital Region. The event will also include performances from the students of Broadway Bound Performing Arts Academy.

"Shake Hands with the Candidates" is open to the entire Bethlehem community, free of charge and kid friendly.

The deadline to file for the seats has passed. The following is from the school district website:

Ryan Richman, of Delmar, an emergency room physician at various local hospitals including Ellis Hospital and St. Peter's, seeks a first term. Richman and his wife, Kathryn, have three children: one at Eagle Elementary in grade 1; and two who are preschool age.

Patty Michaelson, of Delmar, an active community volunteer, seeks a first term. Michaelson and her husband, Walt, have two children: one in grade 11 and one in grade 8.

Holly Dellenbaugh, of Delmar, a self-employed legal writing consultant seeks a first term. Dellenbaugh and her husband, Samuel, have three children: one in grade 7; and two at Hamagrael Elementary.

Erik J. Smith, of Delmar, who works for the Albany Port District Commission seeks his first term. Smith and his wife, Kate, have two children: both at Hamagrael Elementary.

Samuel L. Spitzberg, of Slingerlands, director of administrative hearings for the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, seeks a first term. He and his wife, Heather, have two children: both at Slingerlands Elementary.

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Meredith Moriarty, of Delmar, an attorney at Smith Hoke, PLLC, seeks her first term. Moriarty and her husband, Eric, have three children: one at Elsmere Elementary and two who are preschool age.

Christine Beck, of Selkirk, a senior internal auditor for American National Insurance Company, seeks a second term. Beck and her husband, Peter, have three children: one is a graduate of Bethlehem High School, and two are at the high school.

Willow Baer, of Delmar, deputy counsel for the state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, seeks a first term. Baer has two children who will be attending Elsmere Elementary as kindergarteners in 2017-18.

Current board President Matt Downey and board member Joanne Cunningham have chosen not to run for re-election.
Rotterdam Police photo

ROTTERDAM -- An Albany man is accused of using a forged credit card, accessing the victim's account 35 times over six days, town police said Wednesday.

Nnanna Njoku, 25, of Quail Street was charged after a Rotterdam resident noticed unauthorized charges on a credit card statement earlier this month.
TROY -- The City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday in an 8-1 vote to a land development agreement for the 1 Monument Square site where the construction of eight to 10 movie theaters has been proposed.

Council members expressed concerns about parking for the 10,000 movie goers that Bow Tie Cinemas forecasts will visit the nine theaters weekly and whether the proposed cinema complex will fit into the Victorian-era downtown.

"If they do bring in 10,000 people a week, parking is going to be an issue," Councilman Jim Gulli said.

Councilman Robert Doherty met with Deputy Mayor Monica Kurzejeski earlier Wednesday to discuss parking. Doherty represents the downtown district that includes 1 Monument Square.

Gulli cast the lone negative vote. The council's decision at its Finance Committee meeting sends the agreement on to the council's May 4 meeting for a final vote.

The LDA names BTP Monument Square LLC and Bonacio Construction as the preferred developer and contractor for the 1.2-acre site between River Street and the Hudson River. This is the fourth time the city is trying to get the former City Hall location redeveloped.

Under the terms of the LDA, the developers will have exclusive rights to the site for up to 30 months and will pay the city $600,000 for the site.

Planning and Community Development Commissioner Steven Strichman told the council in response to questions that the $600,000 payment was the best the city could expect to receive.

Bow Tie Cinemas will own the theater complex. The estimated investment in the project is $17 million to $18 million. The goal is to finish the theaters in time to open for the 2018 holiday season.

Once the LDA is signed by Mayor Patrick Madden, the developers will go to the city Industrial Development Authority for financial support. They also must appear before the city Planning Commission for approval.

The apartment project proposed by Kirchhoff Companies ran into difficulties when a group of business owners and residents organized as We Care About the Square raised questions about changes in the original proposal. Kirchhoff cancelled its project blaming the city for delaying planning reviews. Members of We Care About the Square are monitoring the latest proposal.

The council asked that Madden alert them if the LDA is extended.
All colleges across Kashmir were asked to suspend work for two days while as higher secondary schools remained open in the Valley.

By Shuja-ul-Haq : This is the third day of colleges being shut in the Valley. All colleges across Kashmir were asked to suspend work for two days by the Divisional Commissioner on Wednesday, in view of the recent clashes between police and students. There are more than 50 Kashmir University affiliated colleges in the Valley.

However, schools and higher secondary schools remained open.

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Kashmir University and Islamic University of Science and Technology, however, decided to go ahead with the scheduled exams. Although classwork in these two universities also remained suspended.

The authorities said this was being done in view of the apprehension that situation could turn bad. There have been clashes between students and police for the last few days in the Valley, as the student community hit streets in solidarity with the students of Pulwama Degree College, where 50 students were injured.

Colleges and some schools witnessed massive protests on April 17 after students hit the streets and clashed with forces, demanding action against security forces who thrashed Pulwama students. Ever since then, there have been protests in various parts of the Valley.

Also read:

Kashmir: Government likely to ban social media in Valley

J-K minister triggers row, says bullets only way to deal with stone pelters in Kashmir

--- ENDS ---
Fort Edward

General Electric Co. plans to demolish the main manufacturing building at its former capacitor plant on Route 4 in Fort Edward, a spokesman for the company confirmed Thursday. The decision was made after the company evaluated the building's condition and its infrastructure, said spokesman John Brodt.

"The building is antiquated, lacks modern manufacturing and communications systems, and would likely have no value to another user in the future," he said. "In addition, the costs of maintaining a vacant building of that age and size are considerable, and GE is sensitive to the community's wishes that the structure not fall into disrepair."

The location is a state Superfund site.

GE vacated the site when it shifted production of capacitors to another facility in Clearwater, Fla. It announced the move in September 2013, saying the facility was no longer competitive, although the shutdown was delayed several times. Nearly 200 local workers eventually lost jobs that paid, on average, $60,000 each.

Brodt said GE plans to seek a demolition permit in coming months with the work expected to take place in 2018. The company also plans an online auction of some of the equipment that remains at the building. Information on the auction, to take place next week, is at CharlestonAuctions.com

Local elected officials have expressed concerns that removing the building from the tax rolls will cut revenues to the local school district. Fort Edward Town Supervisor Mitch Suprenant told the Post-Star of Glens Falls that if a proposed railcar manufacturing plant doesn't come through, "we're all in trouble in Fort Edward, in the county and in the Hudson Falls schools."

The railcar plant would be built by China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. on the site of GE's former dewatering operation within the Fort Edward Industrial Park, where GE took PCBs it dredged from the Hudson River, many from the Fort Edward plant, to be shipped away by rail. The cleanup, which also included PCBs from a now-demolished factory in nearby Hudson Falls, took place over six years and cost GE more than $1 billion.

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At the time, dumping the PCBs was legal. It was subsequently banned after it was determined the PCBs were carcinogenic.

Another building at the GE factory site will remain in place, Brodt said, and GE plans to maintain the site "for the foreseeable future."

The number of manufacturing jobs in the Glens Falls metropolitan area is down 11 percent over the past decade through March, although it was flat at 5,800 in the past year.
Albany

Marlon Anderson isn't going to wait for investments to come to Albany, he'll go out and pursue them.

Whether that's going to Silicon Valley in California or to China or Europe, the Lark Street resident said if elected Albany's mayor, he's going to be "aggressive at cultivating business" and working with other local governments.

"Growth is not a dirty word," he said in an interview with the Times Union before he publicly announced his campaign Wednesday evening. "If you come into the city limits of Albany, there is not one major restaurant chain that you can stop in and have a meal. That's the type of investment that Albany has not aggressively sought out."

Anderson, who ran unsuccessfully for Albany mayor in 2013, could be pitted against Common Councilman Frank Commisso Jr., Council President Carolyn McLaughlin and Mayor Kathy Sheehan in a four-way Democratic primary should his petition as a Democrat go through.

He sought the nomination when he ran last time, but 225 of his 1,125 signatures were declared invalid by the Albany County Board of Elections. Anderson encouraged voters to write his name in during the general election, but he received 1 percent or less of total votes cast.

Anderson on Wednesday challenged his opponents to debates and forums on the issues.

Green Party candidate Dan Platt also is running for mayor.

When asked whether trips across the country or overseas would be expensive, Anderson said, "It's not about affording these types of trips, it's about creating these investments."

Anderson, an insurance representative at Davis Vision, said to address issues like the $12.5 million deficit, poverty or crime, it's going to take someone "outside of the political ring."

While incidents of gunfire in the city have decreased over the years, as was detailed in recent Times Union reports, Anderson said the statistics don't tell the story.

"You can paint a rosy picture, but the picture is far from there," he said.

Anderson said he's lived in crime-ridden areas, and knows how perpetrators "think and operate."

"We need a leader who experiences the same issues we experience, and you do," Kim Krepp, a city resident, said during Anderson's announcement.

Anderson said he also would be a "leader when it comes to education," taking a hands-on approach to improve Albany city schools.

Kathy Reed, who lives off of New Scotland Avenue, said the fact that Anderson is independent from the rest is appealing. "He'll bring justice to all," she said.

Anderson said he doesn't get involved in community or political groups, but makes sure his voice is heard on the issues.

Krepp said Anderson is active at events throughout the city, from education to social justice. "He's involved in the community," she said. "Whether he gets elected or not, he continues."

afries@timesunion.com  518-454-5353  @mandy_fries
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Schenectady

A notice of claim filed against the city accuses officials of "negligently and recklessly" demolishing the Nicholaus building without considering any alternatives to save it.

The claim from the building's owners also said the city conspired with a redevelopment agency and a developer hoping to build apartments next to the structure.

"The city of Schenectady demolished the building at the behest and in collaboration with Highbridge/Prime Developments, Inc Plank, LLC and the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority, who are developing the site adjacent to the building into the Electric City Apartments," says the claim filed Wednesday in state Supreme Court in Schenectady. A notice of claim may be a precursor to a lawsuit.

The Nicholaus building's owners, Viroj and Malinee Chompupong of Latham, also accuse the city of leveling the State Street business "even though engineering reports indicated that it is stable and not in imminent danger of collapse."

But it's that exact reason city officials gave for the emergency demolition that started at 10 p.m. April 7.

Dating back to the 1800s, the brick building housed the Thai Thai Bistro on the ground level, with apartments above.

A year ago, during demolition of an adjacent building to make way for the $20 million apartment project, the bistro owner told city officials the building was shaking and vibrating, causing cracking and separating of the walls, ceilings and floors. Legal actions have left the development in limbo. Additionally, the city cited the owners for code violations in a bid to get them to repair Nicholaus.

Highbridge CEO John Roth did not return a call Wednesday seeking comment on the claim, while Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen called it old news.

The Nicholaus building was adjacent to the former Olender Mattress building.

Before Olender was torn down, historic preservationists called for a comprehensive review of how demolition might affect the Nicholaus building.

City Attorney Carl Falotico on Wednesday dismissed the notice of claim as having "absolutely no merit at all."

The claim also contends city officials knocked down the building without giving the Chompupongs or their attorneys "proper or sufficient notice of its intentions to do so."

Falotico says at about 2 p.m. April 7, he made a courtesy call and spoke to the couple's New York city-based attorney, Linda Roth. About two hours later, Falotico said, he got a call from a state Supreme Court justice saying he had refused to sign a order to show cause filed by the couple's attorney.

He argued that the engineering report the Chompupongs are basing their claim on is from February and that the city's is from March.

"They aren't using the most up-to-date information," Falotico said.

He provided the Times Union with a copy of the city's engineering or structural assessment report from MJ Engineering and Land Surveying, dated April 7, the same day the Nicholaus building was leveled.

It indicates Schenectady officials wanted some clarification as to whether the building could collapse immediately after MJ's March 29 structural assessment.

MJ responded that "based on the current condition of the structure and the displacement of the west wall (since June 2016) the building is a threat to collapse immediately" and that the condition of the building "leaves the west wall of the structure susceptible to further destabilization."

The city then inquires if it is safe to wait seven to 10 days to "address the stability of the Building given the continued movement" to which MJ replies that "it would not recommend waiting any given amount of time to address the condition of the building."

"In consideration of the conditions stated above and the continued movement of the building immediate action should be taken to address the threat of collapse," the letter says.

Falotico said the owners had ample opportunity to fix the building and only tried to block it from being razed to help them with the suit. "When I told them it was in danger of collapse and a danger to the people who are around that building, they went to court to try to keep it standing, because it's financially advantageous to them," he said.

The claim, which seeks $5 million, says the Chompupongs suffered "substantial property damage as well as anguish and pain."

pnelson@timesunion.com  518-454-5347  @apaulnelson
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QUEENSBURY -- An admitted heroin addict testified Thursday she saw Alexander West snort cocaine, drink alcohol and blame the boat carrying 8-year-old Charlotte McCue for the summer crash that took the child's life.

"What, if anything, do you remember the defendant doing immediately after the crash?" Warren County First Assistant District Attorney Jason Carusone asked the witness, Cara Mia Canale of Albany.

"I remember him distinctly saying, 'But I had the right of way'," Canale told jurors in Warren County Court. "I remember him punching the steering wheel."

West, 25, faces up to 22 years in prison if convicted of second-degree manslaughter, felony assault, boating while intoxicated, and leaving the scene charges.

Canale, 28, who frequently rubbed bloodshot eyes, appeared groggy as she walked jurors through the events of July 25. She said she and West snorted cocaine supplied by the defendant, off a credit card, and they smoked hashish and drank beers earlier while partying with friends at Log Bay Day, an annual boozefest in the lake.

Canale said West also sucked down mixed drinks.

"Oh, he was drinking ... " Canale told Carusone.

Last summer, following the crash, Canale told police: "I don't think Alex was intoxicated. I don't know if he drank or smoked."

West's lawyer Cheryl Coleman pressed Canale over her change in statements, Canale said she was initially afraid she would get in trouble.

Still, under Coleman's questioning, Canale later said of the defendant: "He didn't seem intoxicated to me in any way."

Canale's testimony included several testy exchanges with Coleman, who also grilled Canale over her history of drug use, prior convictions and agreement to testify for prosecutors.

Coleman asked Canale if she would be willing to take a drug test. Canale, who said she smoked pot earlier this week, said, "Absolutely."

Coleman also asked the witness about her previous online conversations with a man named "Ace Boogie" to score pounds of "chronic nugget" from Denver. Canale scoffed at the accusation she was a drug dealer, noting the deal fell through.

At one point, Canale volunteered she was "tripping on acid" the night before the crash  and explained her general experiences using LSD.

"I don't see dragons floating in the air but it changes your perspective of the world and reality," Canale testified.

Canale said after the partying at Log Bay Day, she, West and six other people sailed in the defendant's boat to eat dinner at a restaurant in Bolton Landing. Three of the eight friends didn't take the return boat trip, leaving the boat with West, Canale, Matthew Marry, Kristine Tiger and Morland Keyes, all of whom were later charged in the case.

On the way back, Canale testified ,Tiger became upset and crying because the ride had made her nostalgic for her father. Canale said West turned to comfort the woman instead of watching the boat he was steering.

Canale said Marry, apparently concerned, asked West about the boat's speed. West said he was going 30 mph.

The crash came out of nowhere, she explained.

"We hit something extremely hard. I didn't think that it was another boat. I thought it was like something sticking out of the water," Canale testified. "I remember like feeling kind of airborne almost and then coming down into the water and the water coming up over the boat."

Canale said after impact she gathered herself, looked to the right and saw the light of another boat "driving away pretty fast."

Carusone asked Canale: "Could you hear anything on the other boat?"

Canale answered: "Screams."

"There would be no way that any of us would have known that there was a fatality, but I knew that what had happened was not good," Canale testified.

She said they later sailed to Tea Island and that she drove West home. On the way, Canale said West said "I think someone was hurt" in the crash.

Coleman noted that Canale had never told that information to grand jury.

Canale noted she had met West at a Phish concert. She was friends with West only because was friends with her longtime friend Tiger and Keyes, she said.

"I didn't ask to get dragged into this," she said. "I thought (West) had ample opportunity to do the right thing."

The trial continues Friday before Judge John Hall. It is expected to last through early May.

EARLIER: Night of terror on Lake George recounted

rgavin@timesunion.com  518-434-2403  @RobertGavinTU
To really appreciate "The Lost City of Z," it would help not to consider its hero a complete idiot. True, my own impression of the British explorer Percy Fawcett was derived from the movie itself, from information that writer-director James Gray placed there. But that impression couldn't have been Gray's intention. No one would make a two-and-a-half-hour movie about an idiot, not even Jerry Lewis at his most grandiose.

Based on David Grann's book, "The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession," the film tells the story of Fawcett, a British military officer who was sent to South America to chart the jungles along the Amazon. At the start of the film, Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) is a young man with something to prove, and so he leaves his pregnant wife (Sienna Miller) for years and risks disease and cannibals to go off and make his name.

Gray's presentation of the jungle is without doubt striking. To watch Fawcett and his small crew navigating the waters or hacking their way through the foliage is to feel like you are there, and for many that will constitute a recommendation. In the end, it depends on just how much a viewer wants to feel stuck on a boat, in boiling heat, with your shirt stuck to your back and with mosquitoes swarming and natives firing arrows. A case could be made in favor of such an experience, but it won't be made here.

While on that first expedition, Fawcett finds some pottery and carvings and leaps to the conclusion that he is on the verge of discovering ruins from an ancient and previously unknown civilization. This becomes the mission of his life. He goes back to London and tells everybody. He's forceful. He's certain. He is determined to go back and find something besides a broken pot.

More Information ** Movie Review "The Lost City of Z" Rated: PG-13 for violence, disturbing images, brief strong language and some nudity Running time: 141 minutes See More Collapse

With a movie about an obsessed and driven protagonist, it helps if the protagonist's goal seems worth it. The movie makes a feint in the direction of egalitarianism, that Fawcett is out to discover pre-Christian non-Europeans were capable of creating a sophisticated civilization. Fine. But what would be the tangible good of finding such a civilization? For sure, it would be of considerable archaeological interest. At the same time, it would probably destroy every tribe and village near it and bring in a flood of European businesses to rape the environment. No wonder the first impulse of the indigenous residents is to fire arrows at his boat.

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There is also the personal cost, which the movie is very good about showing. Imagine being married to this guy. Percy and his wife, Nina, start their life together with a lot of talk about equality between the sexes, and Sienna Miller, as the wife, plays that. She plays a woman radiant in her inner value and confident that she has a man who loves and respects her. But he loves and respects her so much that he disappears for years. He comes back just long enough to get her pregnant, then leaves for a few years, only to have to reintroduce himself to the latest children upon his return.

Again, if Fawcett were pursuing some noble end, then it might be worth our while to sit and watch his struggle. Or, conversely, were he some interesting form of lunatic, that might be something, too. But instead he's somewhere in between, a hero who is really not a hero. The last chapter of Fawcett's career, which I won't reveal, is selfish and irresponsible to an indefensible degree.

To his credit, Charlie Hunnam carries himself like a great man, so that we buy Fawcett's act for a while. Robert Pattinson, unrecognizable under a beard, plays Fawcett's faithful assistant. It's Miller, however, who gives the most affecting performance, in that we see the light fade from her eyes. What an awful thing this husband did to her  to praise her for courage and then use all her courage against her.
By India Today Web Desk: Karisma Kapoor's ex husband Sunjay Kapur married the woman of his dreams, Priya Sachdev, last week, on April 13. While the actual wedding was an intimate affair, with only family and close friends in attendance, there were talks of a grand reception in New York.

We came across inside photos of their reception at The NoMad Hotel in New York on Instagram, and the two definitely make for a picture-perfect couple.

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Sunjay met Priya in New York many years ago. In fact, the two have been in a steady relationship for almost five years now. Priya, who was earlier married to hotelier Vikram Chatwal, stood by Sunjay during his divorce proceedings. It was only last year that Sunjay's bitter divorce battle with ex-wife Karisma Kapoor came to an end.

While Sunjay seems to be enjoying wedded bliss, Karisma has found love in the arms of businessman Sandeep Toshniwal. In fact, if the grapevine is to be believed, the two are planning to tie the knot soon.

SEE PIC: Karisma Kapoor's ex-husband Sunjay Kapur ties the knot with Priya Sachdev

PHOTOS: Karisma's ex-hubby Sunjay Kapur's love story with Priya Sachdev

ALSO WATCH: Sunjay's father's Mumbai house transferred in Karisma's name

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Two-year-old Aubrie Lindsey, who has had six surgeries in her first two years of life, inspired her mother, Brittany Lindsey, to start a March for Babies team. While the team is relatively new to the event, they managed to raise $1,700 their first year and hope to surpass $2,000 this year.
[April 20, 2017] Kount to Host Innovative Tech & Fraud360 Seminar in Israel

Start-up nation to learn about the latest tech tools to optimize payments & prevent fraud BOISE, Idaho, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kount, a leading innovator of solutions for fraud and risk management, today announced it will expand the Fraud360 World Tour, its popular fraud prevention seminar series, to include hosting an event in Israel. Following popular demand of the series due to continued increase in online and mobile fraud rates, Kount will present a seminar in Tel Aviv on Wednesday May 3rd, bringing the series to the Middle East for the first time. Sponsored by Kount, BlueSnap, CardNotPresent.com, and WhitepagesPro, Fraud360 originally launched in North America in 2014 and has since expanded steadily throughout the globe, now reaching Asia, Australia, and Europe. The tour has attracted thousands of professionals interested in learning more about fraud trends, payments acceptance, and best practices for fraud prevention. In addition to numerous requests from the region, Kount cites Tel Aviv's burgeoning technology, security, and eCommerce community as another key reason to host a Fraud360 seminar there. "Tel Aviv has become a fast-growing ech hub and global marketplace for eCommerce, and companies in the region realize how important it is to stay ahead of fraud to protect their bottom line," said Brad Wiskirchen, CEO, Kount. "Fraud and payments are global issues that evolve and affect regions and businesses in different ways. Professionals across a variety of industries find value in hearing directly from experts who can equip them with the latest trends and solutions to stay steps ahead of fraud."



"Learning how to use APIs, BI, and AI to increase sales is a no brainer in today's competitive landscape. We're excited to share how these innovative tools can optimize payments and fraud to help your eCommerce business grow," said Ralph Dangelmaier, CEO BlueSnap As Fraud360 seminar content is tailored to each market, the Fraud360 Tel Aviv seminar will address some of the key issues the region is facing, including the latest fraud risks facing mobile and eCommerce, checkout friction, identity verification, newest schemes carried out by fraudsters, and how retailers can avoid chargebacks. Speakers include Ralph Dangelmaier, Chief Executive Officer, BlueSnap; Spencer McLain, Senior Manager, Risk Solutions, WhitePages; and Don Bush, Vice President of Marketing, Kount. In addition to Tel Aviv, other upcoming 2017 Fraud360 World Tour stops include Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Chicago, New York, Toronto, and Boston.

Merchants interested in attending Fraud360 can learn more details and register for local and online events at http://www.kount.com/events/fraud-360-seminar-series. About Kount

Kount helps businesses boost sales by reducing fraud. Our all-in-one, SaaS platform simplifies fraud detection and helps online businesses accept more orders. Kount's turnkey fraud platform is easy-to-implement and easy-to-use. Kount's proprietary technology has reviewed billions of transactions and provides maximum protection for some of the world's best-known brands. Merchants using Kount can accept more orders from more people in more places than ever before. For more information about Kount, please visit http://www.kount.com.

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[April 19, 2017] Neeyamo Provides an Exclusive Preview of its Disruptive Global HR Compliance System at the SHRM HR Tech 2017, Hyderabad

CHENNAI and HYDERABAD, India, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Neeyamo a leading provider of Global HR services and solutions to multinational organisations worldwide with long tail operations is thrilled to be associated with Society for Human Resource Management in sponsoring its flagship HR event - SHRM HR Tech 2017. The conference will be held on April 20th and 21st 2017 at The Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150205/621854 )

The event this year will be a conglomeration of cutting-edge technologies, new product launches and think tank of innovative ideas to revolutionise the future of Human Resources. Neeyamo and its representatives will be available in Booth #56 at the event. Samuel Isaac, Vice President, Strategy and Head of Marketing at Neeyamo, said, "Innovation in technology is the backbone of all our global HR solutions. We have been leveraging technology to addres whitespaces in global HR service delivery and to disrupt the way some of the legacy HR services are delivered. Global HR Compliance is one such area where we have leveraged technology to disrupt the traditional HR compliance and risk management model." Commenting on Neeyamo's participation at the event, he added, "We are happy to be associated with SHRM in sponsoring its annual technology conference. I would like to invite the delegates to join the demo scheduled on 20th April 2017 at 4:15 PM (IST) to hear our CEO, Rangarajan Seshadri brief the audience about HR Compliance Plus, the recently launched Global HR Compliance system."



Commenting on Neeyamo's presence at the event, Achal Khanna, CEO at SHRM India said, "We're extremely pleased with Neeyamo's participation in SHRM HR Tech 2017. As our long-term partner, Neeyamo's continued presence lends even stronger credibility to this event as being the pre-eminent HR tech platform in Asia. We wish them all the best on their Global HR Compliance and other offerings." About Neeyamo

With more than 1,500 professionals specialising in delivering HR services across 150+ countries, Neeyamo is one of the world's foremost providers of HRO services for multinationals with operations spread across a long tail of countries. Neeyamo's solution has powerful capabilities and a unique delivery model for its HR service offerings to meet specific market requirements. Its service lines cover entire pre-hire to post-retire employee life cycle. For more information about Neeyamo, visit http://www.neeyamo.com.

Media Contact:

Irene Jones

[email protected],

+91-44-6608-5005

HR Evangelist

Neeyamo Enterprise Solutions (P) Ltd.



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[April 20, 2017] Glisser: PowerPoint Inventor Reveals Secrets to its Enduring Success as Software Turns 30

LONDON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The year is 1984 and computer scientists Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin have set themselves a seemingly impossible task. They are attempting to bring the old-fashioned projector slide into the 20th century by building a pioneering piece of software that allows users to present ideas from their computers. After a few false starts, the fledgling entrepreneurs are successful, and on the 20th April 1987, their opus goes sale. The software becomes an instant success, making $1m (or $2.18m in modern money) in its first month. Born in California, the programme has gone on to achieve global acclaim with 1bn copies sold. And today, PowerPoint will celebrate its 30th birthday - one of the very few apps to achieve longevity of this kind. The scale of this accomplishment cannot be overstated. Before PowerPoint  or "Presenter", as it was known in the early days  creating individual slides or transparencies to show colleagues in meetings could take hours. Digitising the process so that people could properly demonstrate their ideas in a fraction of the time has been hailed as one of the greatest technological achievements of the decade. PowerPoint was also created amidst major hardware constraints. Originally built for an early Macintosh desktop computer, Gaskins' vision vastly outstripped the available computing power. Today's Apple Watch has around 1,000-times the computing power of the eighties "Fat Mac". This meant that the early version of PowerPoint was highly simplistic, and only available in black and white, but by 1992, the release of PowerPoint 3.0 brought vivid colours into the mix. That same year, Gaskins gave one of the first public demonstrations of a PowerPoint presentation from a laptop computer, using video as well as static images. He recalls: "The first audiences to see this were totally amazed at what we have all now seen thousands of times."



Since then, PowerPoint has evolved through countless iterations: the grandaddy of enterprise software is now compatible with Android and Apple phones, and accessible through the cloud. Gaskins says: "If Microsoft had not kept up steady innovation, PowerPoint would now be as long-forgotten as most of the other products introduced thirty years ago into that very different worl."



Today there are an estimated 500m users of PowerPoint across the globe, creating more than 30m presentations each day[1]. Its popularity has yet to wane, with new research showing that it remains as popular with young tech-savy users as it is with the Baby Boomers. An online poll by YouGov showed that 81% of UK Snapchat users agreed that PowerPoint was a great tool for making presentations[2].

Children still learn PowerPoint in schools, and it remains part of everyday vernacular, not just amongst office workers but also with people of all ages from every walk of life, from vicars giving sermons to diplomats presenting to the United Nations. So much for PowerPoint fatigue. According to Gaskins, the secret to PowerPoint's timeless success is its adaptability. "PowerPoint does something that many people want to do: expressing a sequence of ideas, one after another in order, using all kinds of graphics and language," he says. "Over the last 30 years, more and more people have found themselves in positions where they need to express their own ideas, and have the opportunity to do that." The rise of social media platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram show that long-form prose has become increasingly unpopular with modern users. PowerPoint, with its capacity to be highly visual, bridges the wordy world of yesterday with the visual future of tomorrow. Indeed, the average PowerPoint presentation features just 40 words. While critics complain that PowerPoint has taken the magic from oral presentations, and warn of "death by slides", PowerPoint remains an essential tool for the modern workplace. But even Gaskins recognises that it has the potential to alienate audiences as well as engage. "PowerPoint is not magic," he says. "It doesn't automatically improve the thinking or writing of its users. PowerPoint presentations can be as bad as any prose document." However, it is unlikely that PowerPoint will be superseded by a new software programmes, Gaskins adds." We've seen some attempts, but I think that so far they all miss some essential features of the market, resulting in fatal flaws," There may be opportunities for technologists to augment the software by creating apps that are compatible with the Office stalwart. Audience engagement software such as Glisser, which allow event organisers to send slides to the audience, conduct live polls, and create more engagement during presentations, add a modern twist to the humble presentation and have delivered event return on investment. Will PowerPoint remain a crucial resource in the future? Gaskins believes that it is likely there will be a "continuing need for what PowerPoint can do". The inclusion of artificial intelligence in PowerPoint 365's 'Designer' feature shows that Microsoft remains committed to its future  but it will likely be the innovators  like Glisser  who will keep PowerPoint truly relevant. These start-ups will anticipate market trends and give users the PowerPoint add-ons they want, before they know they want them. In the midst of this new industrial revolution, where technology is disrupting everything - even itself - PowerPoint has shown that it will be able to keep adapting to the new landscape, now, and long into the future. [1] http://powerpointinfo.blogspot.com/2012/02/powerpoint-usage-statistics-and-market.html [2] All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,037 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 28th - 29th March 2017. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+). Tailored Brands | London Digital Agency https://www.glisser.com/resources/the-history-of-powerpoint

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Citing Pakistan's decision to sentence Kulbhushan Jadhav to death, Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers on Tuesday stormed into fashion brand Zara's showroom in Lower Parel and threw away clothes bearing Made in Pakistan tags.

By Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: After staying out of headlines for a long a time, Raj Thackeray's party did what it knows best. Citing Pakistan's decision to sentence Kulbhushan Jadhav to death, Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers on Tuesday stormed into fashion brand Zara's showroom in Lower Parel and threw away clothes bearing Made in Pakistan tags.

The party says this is their way to protest against the decision of a Pakistani court to sentence Indian citizen Kulbhushan Jadhav to death.

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"We had written letters to them asking them not to sell Pakistani brands. Other stores in areas like Juhu had acceded to our request. But, we got information that the lower Parel store still sells Pakistani clothes. Hence, we had to protest," said Rita Gupta , MNS's general Secretary, adding "We have information about a few more stores in Mumbai who sell Pakistani goods. In next few days, we will target more such stores selling Pakistani goods."

After the Uri attacks, MNS had threatened Pakistani artists and even went on to stop the release of Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil that starred Pakistani artist Fawad Khan. But, this time the MNS's move to mix up patriotism with hooliganism hasn't gone down well with many.

BJP leader and fashion designer Shaina NC called this protest as a desperate move to grab headlines.

"Some parties are trying to use the sentiments to revive their fortunes. But, whatever they have done at the Zara store is nothing, but hooliganism. No one has the right to take law into their hands," Shaina said.

"Our govt stand in solidarity with Kulbhushan Jadhav, but then there is a legal and democratic way to protest. The police will soon file a case and the culprits will be brought to book," Shaina said.

Also read:

Hope for Kulbhushan Jadhav: India to ask for defence lawyer in Pakistan

For the 15th time, India seeks consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan

WATCH THE VIDEO:

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[April 20, 2017] Iron Mountain Hosts Investor Day

Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM), the storage and information management services company, is hosting an Investor Day today in New York City. This gathering of company management, investors and securities analysts will feature management presentations related to the company's strategic plan and financial outlook by William L. Meaney, president and chief executive officer, and members of the senior executive team. During the presentation, the company will report progress related to its strategic plan and current initiatives. The company reiterated its expectation for sustained growth in ordinary dividends per share. Amounts presented below represent the projected minimum dividend per share to be declared in the respective periods. The amount and timing of any future dividends will continue to be subject to the approval of the company's Board of Directors, in its sole discretion, to applicable legal requirements and the factors impacting our financial outlook.







2017 2018 2019 2020 Ordinary Annual Div./Share Outlook $2.20 $2.35 $2.44 $2.54

The company's outlook for full-year 2017 remains consistent with Constant Dollar (C$) guidance ranges provided on February 23, 2017 as noted below. The company reiterates the following fiscal year 2017 guidance: $ in million except per share data FY 2017 Outlook C$ C$ Growth Revenues $3,750 - $3,840 8% - 10% Adj. EBITDA $1,250 - $1,280 16% - 19% Adj. EPS $1.15 - $1.25 8% - 18% AFFO $715 - $760 8% - 15% The company will be Webcasting its Investor Day presentation live, and the link is available HERE, or from investors.ironmountain.com under "Events and Presentations." The presentation will also be posted to the website and available for viewing at the conclusion of the event HERE. About Iron Mountain (News - Alert)

Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM) is the global leader for storage and information management services. Trusted by more than 230,000 organizations around the world, Iron Mountain boasts a real estate network of more than 85 million square feet across more than 1,400 facilities in 46 countries dedicated to protecting and preserving what matters most for its customers. Iron Mountain's solutions portfolio includes records management, data management, document management, data centers, art storage and logistics, and secure shredding help organizations to lower storage costs, comply with regulations, recover from disaster, and better use their information. Founded in 1951, Iron Mountain stores and protects billions of information assets, including critical business documents, electronic information, medical data and cultural and historical artifacts. Visit www.ironmountain.com for more information. Forward Looking Statements [to be conformed with presentation

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other securities laws and is subject to the safe-harbor created by such Act. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our financial performance outlook and statements concerning our operations, economic performance, financial condition, goals, beliefs, future growth strategies, investment objectives plans and current expectations, such as 2017 guidance, 2020 outlook, expected shareholder returns and cash available for distribution, the expected total cost to integrate Recall Holdings Limited ("Recall") with our company and expected synergies from the acquisition, strategic goals, impact and expected cost savings associated with the Transformation Initiative. These forward-looking statements are subject to various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. When we use words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates" or similar expressions, we are making forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements except as statements of our present intentions and of our present expectations, which may or may not occur. Although we believe that our forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, our expected results may not be achieved, and actual results may differ materially from our expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from our other expectations include, among others: (i) our expected dividends may be materially different than our estimates (ii) our ability to remain qualified for taxation as a real estate investment trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes; (iii) the adoption of alternative technologies and shifts by our customers to storage of data through non-paper based technologies; (iv) changes in customer preferences and demand for our storage and information management services; (v) the cost to comply with current and future laws, regulations and customer demands relating to data security, privacy issues, as well as fire and safety standards; (vi) the impact of litigation or disputes that may arise in connection with incidents in which we fail to protect our customers' information; (vii) changes in the price for our storage and information management services relative to the cost of providing such storage and information management services; (viii) changes in the political and economic environments in the countries in which our international subsidiaries operate and changes in the global political climate; (ix) our ability or inability to complete acquisitions on satisfactory terms and to integrate acquired companies efficiently; (x) changes in the amount of our capital expenditures; (xi) changes in the cost of our debt; (xii) the impact of alternative, more attractive investments on dividends; (xiii) the cost or potential liabilities associated with real estate necessary for our business; (xiv) the performance of business partners upon whom we depend for technical assistance or management expertise outside the United States; (xv) other trends in competitive or economic conditions affecting our financial condition or results of operations not presently contemplated; and (xvi) other risks described more fully in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including under the caption "Risk Factors" in our periodic reports including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to release publicly the result of any revision to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures:

We do not provide a reconciliation of non-GAAP measures that it discusses as part of its annual guidance or long term outlook because certain significant information required for such reconciliation is not available without unreasonable efforts or at all, including, most notably, the impact of exchange rates on Iron Mountain's transactions, loss or gain related to the disposition property, plant and equipment (including of real estate) and other income or expense. Without this information, we do not believe that a reconciliation would be meaningful. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420005137/en/

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[April 20, 2017] Management Consultant, Karl Power, Appointed to Board of Directors for MoneyOnMobile

DALLAS and MUMBAI, India, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MoneyOnMobile, Inc. (OTCQX: MOMT) announced today that Karl Power, a management consultant for young, fast-growing companies, is joining its Board of Directors. Mr. Power is an investment banker and entrepreneur, who specializes in corporate advising and accessing capital markets. He is currently a director for Excel Corp, which provides electronic financial and transaction processing services to merchants across the United States. Previously, Power was an investment banker with several firms, including Merrill Lynch and Paine Webber in New York and London. He was a founding partner of Robertson Stephens LLC, London Office. He also founded and recently sold an in-home physical, occupational, and speech therapy provider in the San Francisco Bay area. "I believe MoneyOnMobile is in the right place at the right time, and I'm excited to help it navigate the waters of fast growth," said Mr. Power. "I believe that the last seven years of advising MoneyOnMobile and being a director for Excel Corp makes me a unique fit to be a director of MoneyOnMobile." "Karl has been a great help for MoneyOnMobile as we accessed funding in our early stages to grow our business in India," said Harold Montgomery, Chairman and CEO of MoneyOnMobile, Inc. "We believe his experience in the mature U.S. market of electronic financial transactions will be very useful as we are pioneering mobile electronic commerce in Idia."



Mr. Power is a graduate of University College Dublin (Ireland), holding both Bachelor of Commerce and Masters of Business in Finance degrees. Mr. Power will be the fifth member of the MoneyOnMobile, Inc., board of directors, joining Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Harold Montgomery, Jim McKelvey, and David Utterback.

About MoneyOnMobile, Inc.

MoneyOnMobile, Inc. is a global mobile payments technology and processing company offering mobile payment services through its Indian subsidiary. MoneyOnMobile enables Indian consumers to use mobile phones to pay for goods and services or transfer funds from one cell phone to another. It can be used as simple SMS text functionality or through the MoneyOnMobile application or internet site. MoneyOnMobile has more than 325,000 retail locations throughout India. Safe Harbor Statement

This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of offers to buy any securities of any entity. This release contains certain forward-looking statements based on our current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof. Our actual results may differ materially from those stated or implied in such forward-looking statements, due to risks and uncertainties associated with our business, which include the risk factors disclosed in our Form 10-K filed on August 19, 2016. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," and "would" or similar words. We assume no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Web site: http://MoneyOnMobile.in.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MoneyOnMobileIR

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MoneyOnMobileIR/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/moneyonmobile

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxqO4N1z9acnQmEysjqfBaQ To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/management-consultant-karl-power-appointed-to-board-of-directors-for-moneyonmobile-300442316.html SOURCE MoneyOnMobile

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[April 20, 2017] 65% Losing Sleep Over Money; Health Care Costs Lead List of Worries for First Time

AUSTIN, Texas, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- 65% of Americans are losing sleep because of money, according to a new CreditCards.com report. The most common worry  expressed by 38% of Americans  is health care or insurance bills. 37% lie awake fretting about saving enough for retirement, 34% because of educational expenses, 26% over mortgage/rent bills and 22% due to credit card debt. Click here for more information: http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/losing-sleep-money-worries-poll.php Health care and educational expenses are the only categories in worse shape now than during the Great Recession. Concerns over health care costs have spiked over the past year (up nine percentage points). In 2007, just prior to the recession, 56% of Americans said they were losing sleep over one of these five topics. During the recession (2009), the figure jumped to 69%. It fell to 62% each of the pasttwo years and ticked up to 65% this year.



Gen Xers are the most concerned about health care expenditures and saving for retirement. Millennials are the most fearful about outlays for education, housing and credit card debt. These issues are cutting into the slumbers of 73% of Gen Xers, 71% of millennials, 59% of Baby Boomers and 48% of the Silent Generation. People who are losing sleep over money aren't taking it lying down: 82% reported taking at least one step to improve their financial situation over the past year versus 54% of those who aren't losing sleep. The most common action the insomniacs took was to reduce expenses, followed by selling something, signing up for a new credit card and taking on a second job.

"People lose sleep when things feel out of control," said Matt Schulz, CreditCards.com's senior industry analyst. "Take back some of that control by taking action. Even small moves like making a budget, selling something of value or trimming expenses can make you feel empowered and help you sleep more peacefully at night." The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. PSRAI obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults living in the continental United States. Interviews were conducted by landline (500) and cell phone (500, including 308 without a landline phone) in English and Spanish by Princeton Data Source from April 6-9, 2017. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. About CreditCards.com: CreditCards.com is a leading online credit card marketplace, bringing consumers and credit card issuers together. At its free website, consumers can compare hundreds of credit card offers from America's leading issuers and banks and apply securely, online. CreditCards.com is also a destination site for consumers wanting to learn more about credit cards. Offering advice, news, features, statistics and tools, CreditCards.com helps consumers make smart choices about credit cards. In 2016, over 35 million unique visitors used CreditCards.com to find the right credit card to suit their needs. For More Information: Katie Yates

Vice President, Corporate Communications

[email protected]

917-368-8677 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/65-losing-sleep-over-money-health-care-costs-lead-list-of-worries-for-first-time-300442615.html SOURCE CreditCards.com

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[April 20, 2017] Onboard Systems MD500 Cargo Hook Kits with Surefire Release Technology Receive FAA Certification

VANCOUVER, Wash., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Onboard Systems International, Inc., a leading provider of innovative helicopter cargo hook equipment, today announced that it has obtained FAA STC certification for several new cargo hook kits for the MD Helicopters MD500 aircraft featuring their Surefire release technology. Onboard has also submitted these systems to Transport Canada for certification. The Surefire circuit requires a purposeful, half-second press against the hook release button, guarding against inadvertent releases caused by accidental contact with the release button during flight. "We first introduced the Surefire release technology on our non-rotating medium Bell cargo hook kits, and then rolled it out to some of our Airbus Helicopter kits last year," said Karsten Lemmon, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Onboard Systems. "Customer requests for the Surefire release option continue to come in for other aircraft, so we are in the process of rolling out this technology to more and more cargo hook kits." The newly certified Surefire cargo hook kits for the MD500 include the TALON LC Hydraulic Hook Kit (P/N 200-378-10), the TALON LC Hydraulic Hook Kit with Onbord Weighing System (P/N 200-379-10) and the TALON LC Hydraulic Hook Kit with Onboard Weighing System and NVG backlight (P/N 200-379-11). In addition to offering the Surefire release technology option on new equipment, Onboard Systems can upgrade existing equipment for select models of certified cargo hooks at the factory during overhauls or upon request. Upgrade kits will also be available for operators with the capabilities to perform this work in house or through a local service facility. Please contact us for more information.



About Onboard Systems Onboard Systems International, Inc. designs and manufactures a complete line of innovative helicopter cargo hook equipment under its TALON brand. Its low-weight, high quality products provide helicopter operators with increased cost efficiencies and safety through customer-driven designs, responsive service and support, and low ongoing maintenance costs. Onboard Systems maintains a rigorous quality management system (QMS) designed to meet or exceed the strict requirements of AS9100 Revision C, ISO 9001:2008, helicopter airframe manufacturers, and the FAA. Founded in 1975, Onboard Systems is a privately held US corporation located in Vancouver, Washington.

Contact:

Karsten Lemmon

[email protected]

Tel: 360.546.3072, x 215 13915 NW 3rd Court

Vancouver, WA 98685 USA

P +1.360.546.3072

F +1.360.546.3073

[email protected]

www.OnboardSystems.com



To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/onboard-systems-md500-cargo-hook-kits-with-surefire-release-technology-receive-faa-certification-300442631.html SOURCE Onboard Systems

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[April 20, 2017] Defense and Aerospace Industry Leaders to Discuss RFID's Benefits at LIVE! 2017

NEW YORK, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- RFID Journal announced today that key leaders from the defense and aerospace sectors will discuss the benefits that they are achieving from using radio frequency identification technology, at this year's RFID Journal LIVE! conference and exhibition. The event will be held on May 9-11 at Arizona's Phoenix Convention Center. The two-day defense and aerospace track will be aimed at helping companies in these sectors to comply with customer requirements, and to use RFID internally to achieve significant benefits. The event will provide an opportunity for aerospace and defense firms to hear first-hand case studies about the most important deployments in these industries, and to find the solutions that meet their business needs. Defense and aerospace sessions at LIVE! 2017 will include the following topics: The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has been a leader in transforming its supply chain through the use of RFID. In a keynote address, Brigadier General Patrick Burden, the U.S. Army's program executive officer for enterprise information systems, will discuss how the DoD has achieved greater supply chain visibility through its use of RFID. A panel of DoD experts will discuss how RFID enhances asset visibility for warfighters. The panel will include Kenneth Morgan, the U.S. Air Force's IT Integration Branch chief for engineering and force protection; James L. Alexander, the U.S. Army's product irector for automated movement and identification solutions; Hal Casey, the U.S. Navy's AIT director for IUID and joint solutions; and other speakers.



Kenneth Morgan will also discuss how the Air Force is using RFID to locate and track parts for as well as to monitor critical assets. In addition, David Fry, an engineer at Northrop Grumman, will educate attendees about how DARPA SHIELD improves traceability and deters the counterfeiting of high-value electronics. Jim Morgan, an Orbital ATK program manager (retired), will discuss how the firm uses RFID to manufacture composite aerostructures. And Rick Lewis, a Delta Air Lines business analyst for aircraft maintenance, will explain how Delta has improved maintenance efficiencies with RFID.

LIVE! 2017 will also feature four industry-specific and four technical conference tracks, as well as eight in-depth preconference seminars and workshops, four post-conference seminars, fast-track training provided by RFID4U, the RFID Journal Awards, and RFID Professional Institute certification. The event will be hosted alongside IEEE RFID 2017, and will offer exhibits and demonstrations conducted by the industry's leading technology firms. For more information, visit www.rfidjournalevents.com/live. About RFID Journal

RFID Journal is the leading source of news and in-depth information regarding radio frequency identification (RFID) and Internet of Things technologies (IoT) and their many business applications. Business executives and implementers depend on RFID Journal's websites for up-to-the-minute news, in-depth case studies, best practices, strategic insights and information about vendor solutions related to RFID and IoT technologies. This has made RFID Journal a trusted and respected technology information resource, serving the largest audience of RFID and IoT decision-makers worldwideonline and at face-to-face events. For more information, visit www.rfidjournal.com and www.iotjournal.com. For more information, contact:

Quedah Locket

Marketing Manager

RFID Journal

(212) 584-9400

[email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/defense-and-aerospace-industry-leaders-to-discuss-rfids-benefits-at-live-2017-300442616.html SOURCE RFID Journal

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[April 20, 2017] Threat Sketch Creates Free, Custom Cybersecurity Plan for North Carolina Business

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- One local business owner is grateful for having participated in the Threat Sketch risk assessment. After going through the process, he was made more aware of cybersecurity issues facing his business and is taking steps to make improvements. The company is a small business that provides farm-fresh food products, baked goods and ready-to-eat dinners to residents of a small town in rural North Carolina. As of 2016, the company expanded from a farmer's market booth to a storefront, servicing customers year-round. With the company growing, they decided to take part in the Threat Sketch risk assessment to help prioritize and budget for cybersecurity measures. Through the survey, the company learned one of its biggest risks was at their point-of-sale transactions. Because the company uses the town's public wifi to process credit and debit card orders, it is at risk for someone sitting outside the establishment and skimming customers' data as it is sent through cyberspace to the processing center. The survey results also showed that the company was at a high risk of cyber espionage. An attack of this nature would cost the company the most both financially and to its reputation. "I'm glad we were able to complete a risk assessment with Threat Sketch," the small business owner says. "My consciousness was raised when it comes to cybersecurity issues. Not only do I have a better awareness, but I've been able to make a plan to try to mitigate the possibility of a cyber attack." Because the Threat Sketch risk assessment is designed specifically for small businesses, the report the business owner received was pertinent to his own operation and gave clear parameters for making plans for the future. "It was small businesses just like this one that served as inspiration for the launching of Threat Sketch and our proprietary risk assessment," says Rob Arnold, CEO, Threat Sketch. "The needs and risks of small businesses are different than for larger businesses, and we worked those factors into our algorithm to create a product that would be helpful and affordable. Businesses need to make sure they are protected against cyber attacks. To find out more about cybersecurity issues facing small businesses, visit Threat Sketch online. The company's online education center provides a wealth of information about the types of attacks businesses are facing and the measures that can be taken to improve cybersecurity. Threat Sketch also offers a risk assessment tailored specifically for small businesses. For a limited time, this risk assessment is being offered for free. Small business owners and executives interested in this offer can take advantage of it here. About Threat Sketch -- Founded in February 2015, in Winston-Salem, NC, Threat Sketch provides tools that enable small business owners and executives to evaluate and manage cyber security at a strategic level. The executive team brings decades of IT, risk analysis, financial/economic and project management experience and expertise to provide tailored, strategic counsel to a wide variety of small business clients. To learn more call 844-487-4757, or visit www.threatsketch.com.







Media Contacts





Liz Ericksen, Customer Journey Manager



Rob Arnold, Threat Sketch CEO [email protected]



[email protected] 844-487-4757 ext 803









To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/threat-sketch-creates-free-custom-cybersecurity-plan-for-north-carolina-business-300442564.html SOURCE Threat Sketch

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[April 20, 2017] Vodafone Egypt partners with Procera Networks to enhance broadband subscriber experience

FREMONT, Calif., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Procera Networks today revealed a multi-year, multi-million dollar partnership with Vodafone Egypt to enhance the subscriber experience for its fixed and mobile subscribers. Procera was selected for the deployment after a competitive evaluation due to the strength of their virtualized solution offering for subscriber experience analytics, even as encryption becomes prevalent on the Internet. Vodafone Egypt is the leading mobile operator in Egypt with a customer base exceeding 39 million. "Procera's virtual solutions delivered on the promise of Network Functions Virtualization for Vodafone Egypt today, enabling us to accelerate our NFV deployment timelines," said Osama Siad, Vodafone Egypt's Technology Director. Osama added: "Procera's PacketLogic solutions, especially ScoreCard, enable us to dynamically deploy analytics capacity to ensure our customers are receiving a high quality broadband experience across our entire network footprint, to be the number one network in Egypt, and reach our main goal which is securng the best service quality for our customers' satisfaction."



Procera's analytics solutions leverage the superior visibility provided by PacketLogic's DRDL engine, enabling fine-grained application identification despite the increasing use of encryption on the Internet. ScoreCard provides a unique view of quality, with high frequency measurements of quality in categories that subscribers can relate to: web surfing, streaming video, social media, real-time gaming, upload, download, and voice applications. Analyzing the ScoreCard results guides investment in network capacity and idenitifies service creation opportunities for the network planning teams at Vodafone Egypt. Lyn Cantor, President and CEO at Procera Networks, said: "Procera is pleased to provide solutions that enable Vodafone Egypt's to deliver a high quality broadband experience to their subscribers. We believe that our strategic focus on virtualization use cases for fixed and mobile network will enable both operators and subscribers to benefit from their broadband networks."

"Virtualization of analytics is a key initiative for the Middle East region," said Hashem Eid, Procera's Managing Director of Sales for Middle East. "With regional operators competing on network quality, reducing the cost and increasing the deployment flexibility of analytics through virutualization is a business imperative." Procera's subscriber and network intelligence technology is the choice for hundreds of fixed, mobile, and Wi-Fi operators around the world. From giving operators the tools to tackle encryption, to managing content filtering and enforcing parental restrictions, or helping meet regulatory requirements, Procera is giving back the network visibility and control that has otherwise been lost in recent years. About Procera Networks, Inc. Since its inception in 2002, Procera Networks has become a leading subscriber and network intelligence provider. The continued development of its award-winning ScoreCard and eVolution technologies, in addition to the benefits its solutions hold for network operators around data insights, traffic management, and policy control, lets Procera meet the ever-changing needs of service providers both today and in the heavily virtualized future. For more information, visit http://www.proceranetworks.com or follow Procera on Twitter @ProceraNetworks. Press contact Andy Eldridge

EarlyWMC for Procera Networks

[email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vodafone-egypt-partners-with-procera-networks-to-enhance-broadband-subscriber-experience-300441653.html SOURCE Procera Networks, Inc.

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[April 20, 2017] Altair Wins 2016 Boeing Performance Excellence Award

TROY, Mich., April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Altairs product development services division Altair ProductDesign is honored to receive a 2016 Boeing Performance Excellence Award. The Boeing Company issues the award annually to recognize suppliers who have achieved superior performance. To qualify for the award, Altair maintained a silver composite performance rating for each month of the 12-month performance period, from Oct. 1, 2015, to Sept. 30, 2016. Altair has received this award for outstanding achievement for the fourth year in a row and for the fifth time in the last seven years.

Altair ProductDesign Team members







A photo accompanying this announcement is available at //www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b4239ac7-61aa-42e8-bc89-71fa2aaa9eba. Altair ProductDesign is honored to receive this award for a fifth time, said Mak Gilbert, Program Manager at Altair ProductDesign. We truly value Boeings appreciation and recognition of the consistently smart, hard work our engineers conduct daily to support their design of lightweight, high performing aircraft, he said.

The Altair ProductDesign approach to aerospace design includes an aggressive application of simulation technologies upfront in the development process. This 'Simulation Driven Innovation' philosophy allows us to find the optimal balance between weight, performance and cost for products being developed and results in a program with reduced risk and shorter cycle times to deliver an aircraft, helicopter or spacecraft that meets functional attributes and mass targets on time. We are delighted to have been chosen once again by Boeing. We strive to help Boeing produce great products that are engineered for performance, efficiency, and safety. This award is an outstanding recognition of the exceptional Altair engineers that support Boeing engineering goals and objectives, said Brett Chouinard, Chief Operating Officer, Altair. For more information on the full range of Altair ProductDesign design solutions and services please visit www.altairproductdesign.com.



About ALTAIR Altair is focused on the development and broad application of simulation technology to synthesize and optimize designs, processes and decisions for improved business performance. Privately held with more than 2,600 employees, Altair is headquartered in Troy, Michigan, USA and operates more than 50 offices throughout 22 countries. Today, Altair serves more than 5,000 corporate clients across broad industry segments. To learn more, please visit www.altair.com. Media Contacts Altair: Corporate / Americas / Asia Pacific Biba A. Bedi +1.757.224.0548 x 406 [email protected] Europe / The Middle East / Africa Evelyn Gebhardt +49 6421 9684351 [email protected]

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[April 20, 2017] 2017 CLOC Institute to be Held May 9-11 at Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas

The Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) will hold its 2nd Annual CLOC Institute on May 9-11, 2017 at the Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas. Known as the largest gathering of legal operations professionals in the world, this year's conference will feature more than 70 sessions and 120 speakers, many from large, multinational companies, including: Oracle, Yahoo, Google (News - Alert), Microsoft, Facebook, Cisco, Pfizer, GE, Liberty Mutual, DHL, Shell, Microsoft, Adobe, Accenture, Paypal, Veritas, HPE and many more. The three-day event will also include key technology providers such as Lexis Nexis, LSOs such as Elevate, and elite law firms such as Baker McKenzie, among many other industry players. Major law schools will also have representatives, including Harvard University, Stanford University, Michigan State University and Suffolk University. "The CLOC Institute brings together the entire legal ecosystem: legal operations professionals, in-house counsel, outside counsel, technology providers, educational institutions and more," said Connie Brenton, CEO and chairwoman of CLOC and senior director of legal operations at NetApp. "The Institute offers attendees three days to share best practices and key learnings around CLOC's 12 core competencies. All sessions are tactical, offering information and guidance that people can take back to the office and implement right away. The Institute also allows for unrivaled networking in an environment that's truly open and inclusive. Finally, some portion of the three days will be spent working on how to transform corporate legal services delivery into a much more efficient market. Right now it's broken." Session highlights and speakers include: "Was It Something I Said?: Advanced Workshop on the Role of Personality in a Successful Law Department," featuring Larry Richard of LayerBrain (pre-session on May 8);

"The Future is Closer Than You Think: A Conversation with Richard Susskind," featuring Richard Susskind, author of "Tomorrow's Lawyers";

"Legal Operations Maturity Model: How Do You Rate?";

"Beyond the Hype about AI: Practical Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Today's Law Department";

"Knowledge Management: What, Why and How"; and

"Big Thinker Panel: CLOC's Magna Carta for the Corporate Legal Services Industry," (two-part session).



For more information, go to www.cloc.org or email [email protected]. For a full list of sessions and summaries, click here.

About CLOC: The Corporate Legal Operations Consortium ("CLOC") is a non-profit organization and industry association whose members include legal operations professionals from around the globe. With a primary focus on optimizing legal services delivery to corporations or government entities, CLOC members possess the leadership, knowledge and experience necessary to drive peak in-house legal department performance. CLOC offers a deep understanding of the industry, expert knowledge of best practices and enabling technologies, team development skills and core competence in implementing policies, processes and technologies to increase value to companies while driving down costs and fostering a globally connected culture. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420005855/en/

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[April 20, 2017] HEXPOL Compounding NAFTA Introduces Family of Website Portals

HEXPOL Compounding, the leading global provider of elastomer compounds, recently introduced a family of five website portals that provide valuable information about HEXPOL capabilities: Silicone Elastomers (www.hexpolsilicone.com)

Rolls from HEXPOL Compounding Kennedale Texas (www.hexpolkennedale.com)

Continued Process Improvement (www.hexpolcontprocessimprove.com)

HEXPOL Mexico (www.hexpolmexico.com)

Performance Additives (www.hexpolperformanceadditives.com)



Access to the five HEXPOL portals is just a click away:

Silicone Rubber : Learn about silicone capabilities, silicone solutions, industries and applications ideal for silicone elastomers, as well as silicone characteristics and properties. HEXPOL is re-introducing true custom mixing for silicone rubber compounds, providing dedicated resources, equipment, and custom recipe development with the right properties for every application.

: Learn about silicone capabilities, silicone solutions, industries and applications ideal for silicone elastomers, as well as silicone characteristics and properties. HEXPOL is re-introducing true custom mixing for silicone rubber compounds, providing dedicated resources, equipment, and custom recipe development with the right properties for every application. HEXPOL Compounding Kennedale Texas : HEXPOL has thousands of off-the-shelf roller compounds for an array of applications and industries. The portal also features a video that addresses the comprehensive testing capabilities at HEXPOL to ensure the highest quality roll compounds.

: HEXPOL has thousands of off-the-shelf roller compounds for an array of applications and industries. The portal also features a video that addresses the comprehensive testing capabilities at HEXPOL to ensure the highest quality roll compounds. Continuous Process Improvement (CPI): Elastomer compound development isn't only about cost per pound; it's about quality and value. HEXPOL's CPI model, with eight powerful components, helps HEXPOL collaborate with customers to measure and improve their process quality, productivity, and performance - delivering operational, supply chain, strategic, and financial benefits.

Elastomer compound development isn't only about cost per pound; it's about quality and value. HEXPOL's CPI model, with eight powerful components, helps HEXPOL collaborate with customers to measure and improve their process quality, productivity, and performance - delivering operational, supply chain, strategic, and financial benefits. HEXPOL Mexico : Serving the OEM and auto production corridor in Mexico since 2000. Visit this portal to get information about HEXPOL's campuses in Queretaro and Aguascalientes. Continued investments help the HEXPOL team meet the needs of automotive and engineering customers, as well as new opportunities in the mining and energy markets.

: Serving the OEM and auto production corridor in Mexico since 2000. Visit this portal to get information about HEXPOL's campuses in Queretaro and Aguascalientes. Continued investments help the HEXPOL team meet the needs of automotive and engineering customers, as well as new opportunities in the mining and energy markets. Performance Additives: Learn about HEXPOL's industry leading range of performance additives, a palette of color concentrates, productivity enhancing pre-dispersed chemicals, and master-batch products. This portal website features powerful and easy-to-use performance additive and color selector tools. It also includes a valuable Competitive Comparison Tool that lists Akrochem and Stan-Tone products and the corresponding HEXPOL products. For more information about other HEXPOL Compounding products and services, visit the company's website at www.hexpolcompounding.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420005893/en/

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A reality check done by India Today on Thursday found that while some minister's removed the red beacons themselves on Wednesday evening, some were reluctant to remove it in front of media cameras.

By Manjeet Sehgal: The central BJP government may have banned the use of red beacon from May, but some ministers, MLAs of Haryana's BJP government, are reluctant to give up the charm of red beacon.

A reality check done by India Today on Thursday found that while some minister's removed the red beacons themselves on Wednesday evening, some were reluctant to remove it in front of media cameras.

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Haryana Women and Child Development minister Kavita Jain is one of the cabinet minister's who removed her red beacon in front of media. Another minister, Manish Kumar Grover, who holds the charge of Minister of State for Cooperation, also removed the red beacon from his official vehicle in the presence of media on Thursday.

Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the decision, Kavita Jain said the decision is historic like banning the old currency notes and will play a major role in bridging the gap between the so called VVIPs and common people.

"One requires guts to take a decision like this. I welcome and support the Union Government's decision to ban the red beacons. This is a historic decision like note ban," Kavita Jain said.

State Health Minister Anil Vij also removed the red beacon from his official vehicle in Ambala and said he respects Prime Minister's decision which is at par with the law.

"Though the red beacons have been banned from May but Prime Minister's decision is like a law. This is a good decision," Anil Vij said.

Haryana Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu, who was among a few cabinet minister's who had removed the red beacon after the Union Government's decision, said that the state government will initiate the requisite steps to end the VVIP culture in the state.

"This is a great decision taken by government of India. This will be abided by all the states. Our Chief Minister has already given the instructions that we will comply with the decision of government of India in letter and spirit. At the same time this decision will go a long way in establishing the credibility of political leadership and removing the gap between the common man and the VIP. It will also bolster the trust and confidence of Indian masses in democracy in India. It will further strengthen the roots of democracy and establish new democratic traditions in this nation," Captain Abhimayu said.

While the cabinet ministers have removed red beacons from their official vehicles, bureaucrats and senior officials are reluctant to remove the red beacons. MLAs of opposition parties were seen driving the vehicles with red beacons. As Haryana has yet to come up with a law banning the use of red beacons, it is likely that some VIPs will continue to use the beacons at least till April 30.

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Interestingly, state BJP president Subhash Barala was also caught using an orange beacon on his vehicle in Karnal. He was forced to remove the beacon when he was questioned by the media.

Neighbouring Punjab was pioneer to ban the use of red beacons in the state. It has however, allowed the use of beacons on the vehicles of Governor, Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, and judges.

What remains to be seen is whether state government will introduce a legislation to ban red beacons, though state's finance minister refused to comment on this issue.

Also Watch: Will VVIP culture end with removal of red beacons from official cars?

Also Read:

Red beacons: Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis also removes lal batti from his car

Red over red beacon: Bihar minister accuses PM Modi of demolishing federal structure over lal batti ban

PM Narendra Modi to shun red beacon in government's big crackdown on VVIP culture

--- ENDS ---

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[April 20, 2017] Benu Networks to Participate in Upcoming Industry Events

BILLERICA, Mass., April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Benu Networks, a leading provider of innovative virtual network solutions that enable service providers to rapidly create and deliver next generation IP services, today announced participation in two upcoming industry events, NFV World Congress and ANGA COM.

At both events, Benu Networks will highlight how service providers around the world have utilized its Virtual Service Edge platform to overcome network challenges, enable the rapid deployment of new, compelling IP-based services, and generate profitable revenue streams. Details of Benu Networks presence at each event is as follows:  NFV World Congress: May 2  5, 2017, Doubletree Hilton Hotel, San Jose, CA Ajay Manuja, Benu Networks V.P. of Engineering, will be participating in the panel debate entitled Commercializing NFV to be held on Wednesday, May 3, 2017, from 5:30pm to 6:05pm.

Visit Benu Networks at Booth #22 in the exhibition area (Bayshore Ballroom).  ANGA COM: May 30  June 1, 2017, Koelnmesse/Cologne Fair Grounds, Koln, Germany Alkesh Patel, Benu Networks General Manager of EMEAI, will be participating in the panel entitled Challenges & Opportunities of Taking the Service Experience to the Cloud to be held in Room #2 on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 from 4:30pm to 5:45pm.



[email protected] . Benu Networks Virtual Service Edge (VSE) platform seamlessly integrates with service providers operations and business systems to facilitate a comprehensive network solution that is fully virtualized to enable security, scalability and service agility. The VSE solution enables rapid cloud-based service deployment, dynamic service control, and increased customer care responsiveness. The VSE dramatically improves service providers time-to-market with differentiated managed service offerings for Mobile Wi-Fi, Managed Business Networking and Managed Home Networking services.

Benu Networks is pleased to participate in these important industry events, stated Mads Lillelund, CEO, Benu Networks. These forums are a perfect setting to showcase how Benu Networks VSE platform is a catalyst for cost-effectively launching new customized services, attracting and retaining subscribers, increasing service revenues, and enabling a competitive advantage for service providers in todays fiercely competitive marketplace. About Benu Networks

Benu Networks carrier-class Virtual Service Edge (VSE) software platform enables the rapid creation and delivery of next generation IP services over a converged infrastructure, and empowers service providers to increase revenue, expand market leadership, and meet the dynamic needs of their business, residential and mobile customers. For more information, please visit the Benu Networks website: www.benunetworks.com. Follow us on Twitter @benunets. For Benu Networks, please contact: Kelly Friedland Director of Marketing 781-640-4864 [email protected]

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[April 20, 2017] Genetec Named One of the Top Employers in Montreal for 2017

Recognized for Eleventh Year as Genetec Celebrates Twenty Years as an Independent, Privately-owned Quebec Business MONTREAL, April 20, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Genetec Inc. ("Genetec"), a leading provider of open-platform, unified IP security solutions, has been named as one of the top employers in Montreal by the editors of Mediacorp Canada Inc., for the eleventh consecutive year. Organized by the editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers, this annual competition recognizes Montreal-area employers that lead their industries in offering outstanding places to work. Evaluations are based on criteria such as: work atmosphere, community involvement and performance management. Employers are compared to others in their field to then determine which organizations offer the most progressive and groundbreaking programs. The Genetec worldwide headquarters are located in the Ville Saint-Laurent Technoparc Montreal, a scientific research park that is home to 90 high tech companies. To accommodate its rapid growth and offer its employees an optimal work environment, Genetec is currently building a brand new bistro where staff can enjoy affordable healthy menus, a new gym with free membership, a ne comfortable outdoor eating space and a redesigned reception area.



Genetec employees also benefit from other advantages, including: flexible family-friendly hours, generous vacation and time-off, comprehensive group insurance coverage, a retirement savings plan, an attractive employee referral program, as well as training and personal development programs. As Genetec enters its twentieth year of innovation as a leading developer of unified physical IP security platforms, software, hardware and cloud services, the company is increasing its presence throughout the province of Quebec by opening new offices in Sherbrooke and Quebec City. With offices located in 12 countries around the world, Genetec currently employs 831 employees, 562 based in Montreal alone. The company is also actively involved with local universities and has an active internship program.

"We are honored to receive this recognition as a Top Montreal Employer for the 11th year in a row," said Richard Pailliere, Director of Human Resources at Genetec. "At Genetec, we constantly strive to offer the best working environment for our employees to maximize their creativity, feed their spirit of innovation and assure that they have a rewarding quality of life. As we celebrate our company's 20th anniversary, we give credit for our success to these talented people both here in Montreal and all over the world," added Pailliere. Genetec is always looking to add skilled and motivated employees to its team. To view available career opportunities in Montreal, Sherbrooke and Quebec City, please visit: http://www.genetec.com/about-us/careers. About Genetec

Genetec develops open-platform software, hardware and cloud-based services for the physical security and public safety industry. Its flagship product, Security Center, unifies IP-based video surveillance, access control and license plate recognition (LPR) into one platform. A global innovator since 1997, Genetec is headquartered in Montreal, Canada, and serves enterprise and government organizations via an integrated network of resellers, integrators and consultants in over 80 countries. Genetec was founded on the principle of innovation and remains at the forefront of emerging technologies that unify physical security systems. For more information about Genetec, visit: www.genetec.com  2017. GENETEC is a trademark of Genetec Inc., and may be registered or pending registration in several jurisdictions. Other trademarks used in this document may be trademarks of the manufacturers or vendors of the respective products. Genetec and the Genetec logo are trademarks of Genetec Inc., and may be registered or pending registration in several jurisdictions. Other trademarks used in this document may be trademarks of the manufacturers or vendors of the respective products. SOURCE Genetec Information Systems Inc.

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[April 20, 2017] OpenStack User Survey Reveals Growing Number of Deployments, Greater Scale and Global Diversity

Capturing 44 percent more deployments and gaining input from 22 percent more organizations than one year ago, the OpenStack Foundation User Survey, published today, reveals growing adoption, increased scale and a more diverse user base, driven by the desire to accelerate innovation and avoid vendor lock-in. OpenStack's ninth User Survey demonstrates the open infrastructure platform used for private clouds, public clouds and telecom networks has broad appeal for organizations of all sizes around the world. Thirty-two percent of users have 10,000 employees or more, while 25 percent of organizations have fewer than 100 employees. Sixty-one percent of these users and 74 percent of deployments are physically located outside of the United States. The growing adoption of OpenStack also applies to the amount of an organization's overall infrastructure running on OpenStack. The typical (median) OpenStack user runs 61 percent to 80 percent of their infrastructure on OpenStack; among larger clouds of 1,000 cores or more, the median user runs 81 to 100 percent of their overall infrastructure on OpenStack. Key findings among OpenStack deployments: The typical size of an OpenStack cloud size increased; 37 percent of clouds have 1,000 or more cores, compared to 29 percent last year, and 3 percent of clouds have more than 100,000 cores. The number of users using Nova cells also increased 218 percent.

Swift (News - Alert) object provisioning also saw greater scale. Sixteen percent of deployments provisioned more than 1 petabyte of object storage, compared to 4 percent last year, and 33 percent reported storing 100,000 or more objects, versus 13 percent last year.

The business drivers for OpenStack adoption continue to highlight its competitive advantages, including accelerating the organization's ability to innovate and avoiding vendor-lock in. Users say these business drivers are even more important than saving money and increasing operational efficiency, which ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in past surveys.

Containers remain the top emerging technology of interest to users. Sixty-five percent of those running OpenStack services inside containers use Docker runtime, while 47 percent of those using containers to orchestrate apps on OpenStack use Kubernetes.

The share of OpenStack deployments in production remains stable, with two-thirds of clouds in production. The large proportion of clouds in production demonstrates the maturity of OpenStack, while the substantial influx of clouds in proof-of-concept and test stages predicts healthy growth for the future.

This growth in new deployments was demonstrated by the verage age of a deployment-just 1.68 years. Fifty-six percent of deployments surveyed were launched in 2016 or 2017.

The typical deployment runs nine projects, with 16 percent running 12 or more projects. All of OpenStack's core services are in use by 89-98 percent of clouds, a significant increase over last year for every core project in production. Heat, Telemetry, Swift, Rally, Kolla and Barbican also showing significant increases in adoption.

Among the projects of greatest interest to users, and likely to see strong future adoption, Designate, Magnum, Trove, and Manila top the list, with Kolla and Barbican interest also up significantly.



***The full User Survey report is available here.*** About the User Survey

Conducted semiannually since April 2013 by the User Committee, Foundation staff and an independent data scientist, the User Survey is intended to poll a slice of the OpenStack user base to better understand attitudes, organizational profiles, use cases and technology choices. More than 1,300 users, spanning 476 cities and 78 countries, took part in the ninth semiannual survey. Data is shared with technical leadership and the community to help make design decisions and plan the future roadmap. Online Analysis Dashboard Available The OpenStack Foundation introduced a survey dashboard, now in beta, with six global filter categories enabling anyone to perform their own analysis. This dashboard-accessible at http://www.openstack.org/analytics-presents 2017 results in comparison to 2016 results. Learn More about the User Survey at OpenStack Summit Boston Findings from the User Survey will be discussed during a session at the OpenStack Summit Boston, May 8-11. Thousands of attendees from 50+ countries are expected to attend the Summit to discuss how OpenStack is helping companies increase agility and save money as software becomes more strategic to their business. The schedule for the Boston Summit is available online. (Media and analyst passes are available. Contact [email protected]) About OpenStack OpenStack is the standard for private clouds and is also available as a service via dozens of public cloud providers around the world. At its core, OpenStack is an open source integration engine that provides APIs to orchestrate bare metal, virtual machine and container resources on a single network. The same OpenStack code powers a global network of public and private clouds, backed by the largest ecosystem of technology providers, to enable cost savings, control and portability. OpenStack is a global community of more than 70,000 individuals across 180 countries supported by the OpenStack Foundation, which facilitates the development of many innovative projects in the open infrastructure space. The community delivers two software releases each year, which are Apache 2 licensed and productized by a large ecosystem of technology vendors in our Marketplace. For more information and to join the community, visit www.OpenStack.org. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420005430/en/

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[April 20, 2017] Nexon Mobile Game DomiNations Surpasses $100 Million in Lifetime Revenue

Nexon, (3659.TO) a global leader in online games for PC and mobile, today released financial and player metrics that demonstrate the success of the company's strategy to develop high-quality games that sustain and grow player engagement beyond industry expectations. DomiNations, a North American mobile strategy game celebrating a two year anniversary this month, recently surpassed a key milestone of $100 million in revenue and more than 32 million players. The success of DomiNations affirms Nexon's stated goal of expanding its large global consumer base with highly innovative games in Western markets. "Nexon games are well-established with millions of deeply engaged players in Asia," said Owen Mahoney, President and CEO, Nexon. "The success of DomiNations in the US and Europe, is a proof point in our strategy for growing our business and engaging Western players with high quality games backed by a steady flow of new content." DomiNations follows in the steps of two other Nexon games, MapleStory and Dungeon&Fighter, which have both sustained growth for more than a decade. Nexon is applying the same know-how to grow games over a long time, now in the West. "Building online experiences for multi-year sustained growth is one of the most powerful ideas in games," Mahoney continued. "Nexon's creative philosophy rejects the 'pump-and-dump' trend that defines many games today. We deeply respect players who invest thousands of hours and build lastig friendships and communities through our games."



Three games particularly exemplify Nexon's approach to sustained engagement: MAPLESTORY: The original side-scrolling MMORPG, launched 13 years ago, was largely responsible for introducing the concept of free-to-play to the western market, and is still one of Nexon's most successful and engaging titles.

Launch Date: 2003 in Korea

Global Reach: 108 counties (as of February, 2017)

Life-to-Date Players: 177 million (as of February, 2017) DUNGEON&FIGHTER: One of Nexon's top franchises, this multiplayer PC game has been running strong for more than ten years, doubling its global revenue from 2011 to 2016. Launch Date: 2005 in Korea by Neople

Service Versions: 4 (Korea, China, Japan and Global)

Life-to-Date Players: 600 million

Global Revenue since 2011: Doubled DOMINATIONS: The debut mobile game from renowned developer Big Huge Games, this multiplayer strategy title has seen high engagement in the two years since launch thanks to a steady stream of updates based on historic real-world eras. Launch Date: Western Launch: April 2, 2015

Asia Launch: August 26, 2015 Life-to-Date Players: West: Over 25 million

Asia: Over 7 million

Total: Over 32 million Revenue: Surpassed $100 million About NEXON NEXON Co., Ltd. ("Nexon") (3659.TO) is a global leader in online games for PC and mobile. Founded in Korea in 1994, Nexon developed one of the world's first graphics-based massively multiplayer online games. Nexon also pioneered the concept of microtransactions and the free-to-play business model, setting a new standard in which play is free, and users have the option to purchase in-game items to enhance their experience. Nexon currently services nearly 100 titles in more than 190 countries. The Company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and its shares are listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. To learn more about Nexon, please visit www.nexon.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420005489/en/

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[April 20, 2017] Syntax announces the acquisition of Core Services

Syntax Now Offers Best in Class Cloud Based ERP Services for Both Oracle JD Edwards and Enterprise Business Suites Users Throughout North America MONTREAL, April 20, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Syntax Systems ("Syntax"), a leading provider of cloud managed ERP services, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Core Services Corporation ("Core Services"). Together, the combined entities will create one of the leading North American technology services firms offering best in class cloud managed services, application managed services and consulting services for Enterprise Resource Planning (''ERP'') applications employed by mid and large enterprises. The acquisition was financed with equity provided by NOVACAP with participation from Private Advisors and Northleaf Capital, and members of the Syntax and Core Services management teams. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The new combined entity will have employees in offices across the USA, Canada, India and Argentina. Syntax is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec and Core Services in Somerset, New Jersey. "This transaction is an important milestone for Syntax's evolution as a world-class technology leader. What we find particularly attractive about Core Services' is its innovation-driven business model, custom monitoring solutions, exceptional client base, and most of all, its team of talented and highly qualified professionals" said Syntax Co-CEO Ryan Etinson. "Syntax and Core Services share very similar culures. Both companies have long histories of constant investment in their businesses and employees, and we can count on that pattern continuing. Core Services also boasts a great record for sales growth, operational excellence and high-quality customer service. It shares our vision of being the #1 ERP Cloud Provider", added Syntax Co-CEO Kenny Etinson.



Ted Mocarski, Chairman of Syntax and a Senior Partner at NOVACAP, added "This transaction represents an exciting next step in our plan to create the leading provider of cloud based ERP services throughout the world and we are confident both companies will capitalize on each organization's strengths." Jim Bistis, founder and CEO of Core Services, commented "It gives me immense pride to see the team and customers of Core Services become part of the Syntax family, a company renowned for the quality of its products and services. I am confident that this union will bring value to both organizations. I am grateful to be able to hand over the reins of Core Services to such dedicated managers and to Syntax's great entrepreneurs and I wish them every success."

TM Capital served as Core Services' exclusive financial advisor in connection with this transaction, and TD Securities (USA) LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to Syntax. TD Securities (USA) LLC served as Administrative Agent and Joint Bookrunner and Joint Lead Arranger with National Bank of Canada for the senior secured credit facilities with participation from CapitalSource, a division of Pacific Western Bank and Webster Bank, N.A. ABOUT SYNTAX Since 1972, Syntax has been providing comprehensive technology solutions to businesses of all sizes throughout North America. Syntax delivers the best combination of software, infrastructure and cloud solutions to meet the needs of its diverse range of customers. Syntax partners include Oracle, IBM and other world-class technology leaders. Learn more about Syntax by visiting www.syntax.com ABOUT NOVACAP Founded in 1981, Novacap is a leading Canadian private equity firm with over $1.6 billion of assets under management. The Firm's unique investment approach, based on deep operational expertise and an active partnership with entrepreneurs, has helped accelerate growth and create long-term value for its numerous investee companies. With an experienced management team and substantial financial resources, Novacap is well positioned to continue building world-class companies. For more information, visit www.novacap.ca. ABOUT CORE SERVICES CORPORATION Profitable every year since its founding in 1990, Core Services Corporation, an Oracle Platinum Partner and OAUG Three Star Partner, delivers expert Oracle Applications implementation, development, and support to clients worldwide via its Cloud Managed Services and Consulting services. Additionally, Core Services is authorized to sell and service the Oracle Applications, leveraging Oracle's Business Accelerators. For more information about Core Services, visit www.coreservices.com. SOURCE Syntax Systems

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[April 20, 2017] WideOrbit Research Finds Broadcast Industry Set to Embrace ATSC 3.0

More than 75% of broadcast industry executives say they are excited about ATSC 3.0, while more than 70% reported that their station's conversion is either unscheduled or more than two years away. These results come from a survey of local broadcast television professionals fielded in January 2017 by WideOrbit, the media industry's technology platform for connecting audiences and ads everywhere. The final report, ATSC 3.0 and The Future of Broadcasting: The Industry View, summarizes the broadcast industry's understanding of ATSC 3.0 and its potential benefits and costs. Respondents were sales, traffic, engineering and general business executives at station groups across the United States. ATSC 3.0 and The Future of Broadcasting: The Industry View is available as a free download at http://www2.wideorbit.com/atsc-research. Highlights Broadcasters are enthusiastic about ATSC 3.0 and most are taking steps to adopt it. More than 75% of respondents said they are excited about ATSC 3.0. More than half said their station group is actively examining whether to make the transition. The broadcasting industry has not completely assessed the cost of ATSC 3.0. Respondents offered a wide range of predictions of the cost per station for ATSC 3.0 transition. Capital investment and operating costs remain a crucial area for media companies to understand before moving forward despite the findings of a recent BIA/Kelsey report that large- and medium-sized markets stations can recoup ATSC 3.0-related incremental costs in three years.



Broadcasters don't have a complete picture yet of the technologies that need to be replaced or upgraded. Respondents do not have a clear idea yet of what technology upgrades will be required nor the software and business practices for accommodating an advanced interactive advertising business. For ATSC 3.0 to be successful, viewers need the industry to offer compelling reasons to make the switch. Respondents said that improvement in the audience experience, which was a key driver to the rapid consumer adoption of HDTV, is ATSC 3.0's least important benefit. Perhaps as a result, more than half of broadcasters are concerned that consumers won't purchase ATSC 3.0-compatible televisions.

Commentary Mickey Wilson, chief marketing officer at WideOrbit, said: "This survey shows that behind the broadcast industry's enthusiasm for ATSC 3.0 and its promise of new advertising opportunities, broadcast executives are excited about the ability to deliver advanced advertising campaigns for their clients and nearly all of them understand its potential for opening new revenue streams and business models. "There are still a lot of unknown factors that broadcasters should approach in a thoughtful way, including identifying and satisfying requirements for new hardware, software, skills, and sales, traffic and billing processes. "We recommend that media companies carefully research the technical requirements for operating an ATSC 3.0-based advanced advertising business. They can start today by collaborating with their hardware and software vendors to define their group's ATSC 3.0 strategy and how they can work together to realize it." About WideOrbit WideOrbit is the leading provider of advertising management technology for cable networks, local television stations and radio stations. More than 3,200 broadcasters and networks leverage WideOrbit solutions to streamline operations, maximize revenue from traditional, digital and programmatic channels and extend their business across distribution platforms. Our clients include Entercom Communications, Entravision Communications Corporation, Gray Television, Inc., Meredith Corporation, NBCUniversal, The E.W. Scripps Co. and Tribune Media. WideOrbit is headquartered in San Francisco with offices across the United States as well as London, Paris and Gothenburg, Sweden. WideOrbit and the WideOrbit logo are among the trademarks of WideOrbit. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners. WideOrbit reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for errors that may appear in this document.  2017 WideOrbit Inc. All rights reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420006017/en/

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[April 20, 2017] Engagio Integrates With All Major Marketing Automation Platforms

Engagio, the leader in the rapidly growing "Account Based Everything" revolution, today announced that its ABM solutions are now integrated with all major marketing automation platforms, including Eloqua (News - Alert), Pardot, Hubspot, and Marketo. Engagio's integration with the major automation platforms gives marketing teams interested in account-based strategies a unique competitive advantage. With Engagio, marketing and sales can get account-level insights and orchestrate ABM activities at scale to drive engagement, meetings and revenue in target accounts. The following comments are from Engagio customers who already are taking advantage of the ABM/marketing automation integration: John Westby, Vice President of Corporate Marketing, Silkroad: "The Engagio native integration with Pardot offers huge value to us. Previously, it was painful configuring our Pardot campaigns to tie back to Salesforce ad then sync to Engagio. Engagio's new direct connection to Pardot has given SilkRoad's marketing team a big productivity boost. We're seeing great immediate results and are confident about getting the best return on investment."



Jeffrey Yee, Director of Strategic Account-Based Marketing, 360 Insights: "Integrating our Engagio ABM solution into our Hubspot marketing automation platform was a simple and seamless process. Through this integration, we quickly were able to use Engagio to connect our lead activity with our target accounts. The entire process took less than a day and has generated actionable account insights valuable to our sales and marketing teams." "Our driving mission at Engagio is to innovate ABM solutions that empower marketers and their customer-facing partners to orchestrate valuable 1:1 interactions at scale," said Jon Miller (News - Alert), founder and CEO of Engagio. "By integrating with the other major marketing automation platforms, Engagio is enabling even more marketers to gain critical account-based insights, run 'Plays' across departments and channels, and orchestrate human connections at scale."

About Engagio Engagio enables marketers and their companies to orchestrate highly scalable human connections that engage their best prospects and customers, driving more revenue faster. Large enterprises and fast-growing mid-sized companies use Engagio's Account Based Marketing and Sales solutions to expand customer relationships and coordinate interactions across people, systems and channels. Engagio is a winner of the 2017 Bay Area Best Places To Work, ranking in the Top Ten of smaller companies honored by the annual awards program presented by the San Francisco Business Times and the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Backed by leading venture investors and headquartered in San Mateo, CA (News - Alert), Engagio is pioneering the Account Based Everything revolution through its suite of marketing orchestration solutions. To learn more, visit www.engagio.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420006092/en/

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What you need to know about Powerball's $1.6 billion lottery jackpot
The Supreme Court's order to restore criminal cases against LK Advani have put to rest all speculation about him being the frontrunner for the post of President of India.

By Harish V Nair: A Supreme Court order on Wednesday restoring criminal conspiracy charges against 15 top BJP and RSS leaders in the Babri Masjid demolition case dented 89-year-old LK Advani's chances of becoming President. The ruling came on a request from the Central Bureau of Investigation in its case over the razing of the disputed structure on December 6, 1992, that had sparked religious riots across the country in which 2,000 people were killed.

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Presidential elections are due by July this year when Pranab Mukherjee's term ends.

Though the BJP has not announced any candidate yet, speculation was rife in the corridors of power that Advani was one of the frontrunners. But he will soon be slapped with the stringent criminal conspiracy charge that can attract jail term up to 10 years.

The top court also directed the Lucknow trial court to hear the case on a day-to-day basis. So, a BJP decision to even project him for the top constitutional post may not augur well for the party's image. "Yes, his chances for presidential candidature suffered the moment the CBI decided to demand restoration of criminal conspiracy charges against him, which has been endorsed by the apex court," a lawyer in Advani's legal team told Mail Today.

IT'S A CONSPIRACY: LALU PRASAD YADAV

The demolition of the mosque followed a movement led by the BJP veteran for a Ram temple to be built on the same spot where the 16th century mosque was constructed by the Mughals. RJD chief Lalu Prasad went vocal with the issue, alleging that the Supreme Court order was well-thought-out politics by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to scratch out Advani's name from the race.

"It is well known that the CBI does what the government desires. The BJP doesn't differentiate between itself and others while playing dangerous politics against anyone considered opposed to Modi," he claimed. Allowing the appeal of the CBI that conspiracy charges should be restored against BJP leaders, a bench of justices PC Ghose and Rohinton Nariman ordered framing of the additional charges against the BJP leaders within four weeks.

Apart from Advani, other BJP and RSS leaders hit by the order are Uma Bharti, Murli Manohar Joshi, Vinay Katiyar, Sadhvi Ritambhara, Vishnu Hari Dalmia and eight others Kalyan Singh, being Rajasthan governor, gets constitutional immunity. But the court said charges will be framed against him once he relinquishes the post. Initially CBI had charge-sheeted Advani and 15 others only under minor sections for promoting enmity between classes and imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration. It had subsequently added charges under section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC which was quashed by a special sessions court.

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The decision was upheld by the Allahabad High Court. The special court had dropped framing of charges by a Lucknow magistrate court on a technical ground that the court was not set up as per a proper notification by the government and without concurrence of the Allahabad HC. The CBI had on May 21, 2010 challenged the high court order in the SC.

Also read: Modi's conspiracy to remove Advani from President race: Lalu Prasad on Babri verdict

Also read: Babri demolition case: What Supreme Court ruling means for LK Advani, MM Joshi, Uma Bharti

Also read: Won't resign, ready to sacrifice my life for Ram Mandir: Union Minister Uma Bharti on Babri order

ALSO WATCH | Babri case: LK Advani out of presidential race after Supreme Court ruling?

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Council approves rules to limit self-storage growth Future self-storage facilities in the city of Thousand Oaks will be excluded from prime commercial areas, according to a new ordinance adopted by the City Council this month. In a...

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Ending her three day visit to neighboring Odisha, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee called on her counterpart Naveen Patnaik on Thursday evening.

By Indrajit Kundu: Ending her three day visit to neighboring Odisha, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee called on her counterpart Naveen Patnaik on Thursday evening.

Mamata, who was on personal visit to the state, mostly remained confined inside the circuit house of temple town Puri where she offered her prayers at the Lord Jagannath temple on Wednesday evening.

The Trinamool Congress chief met Patnaik at his residence for about ten minutes before leaving for Kolkata. Later speaking to media persons, Mamata termed it a mere courtesy call.

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"There was no political discussion at all", she said explaining her long association with BJD founder Biju Patnaik. "I knew Biju Patnaik ji when I was young and he was very fond of me". She added.

"We always maintain good relation with our neighboring states and keep in touch with all regional parties", the Trinamool supremo said.

When asked about talks on the issue of her federal front of likeminded regional political parties to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Mamata said, "It is a continuous process, we love all regional parties and want them to continue so that the federal structure is strong".

On whether the BJP could pose a threat to the survival of regional parties like TMC and the BJD, she said, "I don't think they are a threat because regional parties are enough to tackle them".

ALSO READ:

I'm a born Hindu, but don't indulge in Hindutva that maligns Hindus: Mamata slams BJP over Puri temple visit

Sevaits at Puri's Jagannath Temple protest against Mamata Banerjee's visit to shrine for standing by meat-eaters

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The former Bigg Boss contestant is killing it at the gym, and how!

By India Today Web Desk: If you've been looking for a new fitness idol, Mandana Karimi is more-than qualified for the job.

The former Bigg Boss contestant and model is known for her enviable body and her tendency to pull off just about any piece of clothing with poise.

So, what does Mandana do to stay so darn fit? While we're sure she is conscious about what she eats--because it's impossible not to be and still have that body-she is a Pilates girl, and boy does she know how to kill it at the gym!

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Check her out doing those pull-ups!

Picture courtesy: Instagram/mandanakarimi

Being trained by celebrity Pilates instructor Namrata Purohit, Mandana Karimi has been giving us fitness goals like only Bipasha Basu has in the past! For instance, look at her give those pushups a spiffy touch by working out with her buddy and instructor, Namrata.

You go, Mandana Karimi, get fitter and keep motivating the rest of us to be a better version of ourselves!

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Thundamentals may be one of the most exciting hip hop acts in the country, but as Tone Deaf finds out, their MC Jeswon (Jesse Ferris) is a fan of pub-rock heroes Smith Street Band.

Ahead of triple js annual One Night Stand this Saturday (22 April)  where some of Australias best live acts will ascend on Mount Isa for a massive free party  Jeswon chats to his lineup comrade Wil Wagner, of The Smith Street Band.

Read the full transcript below:

Jeswon: From listening to your guys new album it seems to me that you are an artist who isnt afraid to wear your heart on your sleeve. Are you the type of writer who feels most motivated to create when the chips are down? Or are you equally as compelled to write music when you are feeling happy and content with life? Do you feel like songwriting is therapeutic?

Wil Wagner: I absolutely use songwriting as a form of therapy, yeah. Im more inclined to start writing if I am having a bad time but I enjoy writing when Im enjoying life too! I sometimes worry that Ive bought too much into the tragic artist kind of idea where you have to be depressed to make art!

Jeswon: If you could change three things about Australia, what would they be?

Wil Wagner: Id want Australians to be a lot more empathetic. I think that would help tackle the ingrained racism, and disrespect for so many of the things that make our country great, that still permeates our culture. Id also make the country a bit smaller to cut down on travel time and Id make the AFL season last all year!

Jeswon: I read somewhere that you have been working on music with Joelistics and that you would love to collaborate with artists such as Run The Jewels and A.B. Originals. It seems like you have a healthy appreciation for Hip Hop music. Are you working on a top secret Wil Wagner Hip Hop album? What are your top three Hip Hop joints of all time?

Wil Wagner: Hell yeah I love hip hop! Ive recorded many top secret hip hop songs that NO ONE will ever hear haha, theyre all really bad.

I think my favourite hip hop records of the last few years are Chance the Rappers album Acidrap, Kendricks Good Kid Mad City and Run The Jewels 2. I also love what Jonwayne has been doing lately and Im really excited about this band Ho99o9 who are kinda like a slightly more listenable Death Grips (who I also love). But I love MF Doom, Tribe, Wu Tang and lots of Wu Tang members post Wu Tang stuff. One of the best live music experiences I ever had was watching GZA play at a weird festival in Houston. I like how hip hop is constantly challenging and reinventing itself, its a lot more innovative than most genres.

Jeswon: I noticed in your clip Get High, See No One that there is a cat 25 seconds into the clip who appears to be missing its left ear. Is your cat a hard ass who lost its ear in a cat fight or was it born with one ear?

Wil Wagner: Yeah thats our cat Sinclair!! He was found in an alleyway in North Melbourne many years ago. He had been fucked up by someone and was missing an eye and an ear but weve had him for at least 5 years now and hes a happy lil fella!

READ: WIL WAGNER INTERVIEWS JESWON

For the full triple j One Night Stand setlist times, maps and info head to the official site here.

Lineup:

San Cisco

Tash Sultana

The Smith Street Band

Thundamentals

+ triple j Unearthed winner Lucky Luke currymurri13

If you cant make it to the Isa you can listen to all the action on triple j. Tune in to from 4pm Sat 22 April.
According to her mom: "All we know is that my daughter got shot once in her head, taken to the hospital, put on a ventilator and her eyes were closed for more than a day. She woke up Tuesday night a little bit and was talking to us. Her memory was okay. She told us that the same people she had a fight with earlier that afternoon are the same people responsible for shooting up her car. Several of the girls she fought with were at that scene when those two cars surrounded her . . ."

Kansas City mom shot in the head while she and two daughters were in SUV KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Police say on Monday night a woman's SUV was repeatedly shot at as she and her two children traveled near east 46th Terrace and Myrtle. "I feel like I can't breathe. I can't think. I haven't eaten anything. I'm just so mad," said Olivia Hopkins, who's been worried about her 21-year-old daughter.

Tragic testimony about a confrontation that put children in harm's way . . .
CONFIRMED

NKC POLICE PUSH BACK AGAINST INTERNETS BLOGGER MURDER ALLEGATIONS WARNS AGAINST ANYONE SHARING ONLINE CONTENT!!!

"The North Kansas City Police Department is aware of an internet blogger that has taken an interest in the missing persons investigation of Toni Anderson that is being conducted by the Kansas City Missouri Police Department. The creator of this blog, absent access to any facts, is writing inaccurate information about our department, our officers, and the Kansas City Missouri Police Department.





"There have been many calls for our department to release our dash-cam video of one of our officers stopping Ms. Anderson on the morning she disappeared. This video does exist and is still part of an open investigation by the Kansas City Missouri Police Department. Because the investigation is still open, the video continues to be a closed record pursuant to Missouri Sunshine Law and will remain a closed record until their investigation is closed. Once closed, all pertinent, factual information will be available to the public through normal request procedures.





"We do appreciate people that have reached out to us to let us know the existence of this blog and we are currently considering our legal options against this blogger for the slanderous writings as well as any person(s) contributing and sharing this inaccurate information."

THE REALLY IMPORTANT PART HERE IS LAW ENFORCEMENT CONFIRMATION THAT THE KCPD INVESTIGATION OF TONI ANDERSON'S DEATH CONTINUES!!!

Our TKC blog community ABSOLUTELY AGREES that the allegations made by the "Boyden Blog" have little to no verification as this time.

"Trying to shut up & blame people who have cared enough to try to give us the truth & justice we're seeking. That is a slap in our faces . . ."

Despite the pressure of an ongoing death inquiry, this is still the United States . . . Our blog community contends that freedom of speech and expression are nearly sacred as TKC upholds Kansas City 1st Amendment Constitutional Rights.

Tonight our blog community will tread carefully but still reveal that our information has beenregarding the ongoing police investigation into the high profile murder of Kansas City strip club worker Toni Anderson. Meanwhile, the effort to document a concise version of events has failed because of an overall lack of transparency by authorities.To wit . . .Check the statement fromwhich actually helps clear up a few things.Now . . .Now let's get to the second part of their contention.The blogger that many believe they're talking about: richardboydenreport.com.Moreover . . .The Boyden blog pens some sketchy stuff that's way beyond even the worst stories of Toni Anderson's tragic party girl life . . .One example that is unrelated to any active investigation is an anti-gay religious message that seemsunhinged. There are thousands to millions of words written on the site that seem kinda sketchy and not the least bit informative or link to real news sources as our blog has always tried to do, even when we're joking around . . . While TKC is dedicated to the Kansas City discourse, it's fair to say that the Boyden blog is an all around crusader against a great many modern-day trends both imaginary and real.Seriously, our literary TKC reference regarding "Jack The Ripper" is conservative by measure of some of the off-kilter content from the Boyden blog.However . . . The NKC Police suggestion that linking or sharing content in a lawful way is spurious at best . . . While we understand their frustration at the reallystatements of the Boyden blog, freedom of speech and expression is far more important than any single Internets beef.A response to NKC police from a supporter of theexclaims . . .but stillby police without any legal precedent, standing or code and only a vague social media threat.Nevertheless . . .The reality of this tragic story is neither salacious nor illicit and at the end of the day a young woman remains dead as police, family, friends and denizens of the local discourse struggle to come to terms with the circumstances of her demise.Developing . . .
The re-measuring job is to be carried out by Asia's oldest scientific institute the Survey of India. Around 30 scientists and expert mountaineers are geared up for the historical event.

By Chayan Kundu: India has sent a formal request to the Nepal government to allow its team of scientists to re-measure the world's highest peak, Mount Everest.

Nepal's foreign ministry official has confirmed that they had received a proposal from the Indian side more than a week back.

"India's ministry of external affairs has sent us a proposal regarding the measuring of Mount Everest. We are looking into it," said Shankar Bairagi, Nepal's foreign secretary, who has recently finished his India tour and returned to Kathmandu.

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The re-measuring job is to be carried out by Asia's oldest scientific institute the Survey of India. Around 30 scientists and expert mountaineers are geared up for the historical event.

The project is expected to cost around Rs 5 crore. According to the Surveyor General of India Dr Swarna Subba Rao, who is spearheading the programme, the entire process will take no more than six weeks. "With modern gadgets and a highly experienced scientific team, this entire process would not take more than four to six weeks," he said.

According to Dr Rao, they want to carry out this expedition in the month of May. "Our scientists need some conditioning and some training on climbing, which we are providing. Now everything depends on the clearance from the Nepal government," he added.

There was a long standing debate over the height of Mount Everest. The official overall height of Everest is designated as 8848 meters (29,029ft). The last measuring was done by the Survey of India in the year 1956.

But China and Nepal have had a long-running disagreement over the height. The Chinese measurement found the height of its peak a bit shorter. So the Nepal government wanted to settle the issue once and for all by re-measuring it.

The urgency for re-measuring Mount Everest is prompted by the new satellite pictures of it doubting that the peak has shrunk after the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Though many scientists disagree with this.

According to the foreign secretary of Nepal, they have not received any other proposal of re-measuring the mountain peak from any other country apart from India.

The Surveyor general of India is hopeful and said, "Nepal being our friendly country, we are sure that very soon we would get a go-ahead from Nepal and begin our historic venture"

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Greeces fiscal consolidation has been positive and strong and the country could return to the markets before the end of the current bailout program next year, European Stability Mechanism head, Klaus Regling, said in a speech at the Atlantic Council EuroGrowth Initiative event, held in Washington DC on Thursday.

I am confident the country can return to the market and stand on its own feet again before the program ends next year. As long as it implements the reforms that it has promised, it can be Europes next success story, he said.

Asked during a press conference after his speech whether Greek debt is sustainable, Regling said it is not easy to answer because it depends on your assumptions. He said based on the current lending arrangement, the last repayment from Greece to ESM will happen in 2060 and a lot can happen by then.

There can be no certainty as to what growth will be 10-20-30 years from now. And small variations in this growth assumption can have a huge impact on the assessment of debt sustainability, he said.

Regling said the ESM is in the middle of talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) which are not easy but Im optimistic we will manage to do that.

He also clarified that there is no debt overhang in Greece unlike what one reads in newspapers because ESM already provides debt relief. Greece already benefits every year with 10 billion euros [of debt relief], he said, adding that it is yet unknown if more will be needed but the issue is on the Eurogroup agenda.

Short-term debt relief measures

ESM is already implementing the short-term debt relief measures which are reducing the debt to GDP ratio in 2060 by 20 percentage points. When the program ends in August next year the Eurogroup will look with the IMF at so-called medium-term debt measures, if needed, and thats under discussion now, but they could be implemented if needed next year, he said.

The most important, he continued, it that they made a long-term commitment and said that, in the long run, the euro-area is prepared to give additional debt relief to Greece is needed. Thats very useful because uncertainty over a 30-30 year horizon is very high, he said.

Asked about the level of austerity in Greece, the head of ESM said there has been tremendous austerity [] but one has to put it in context. The fiscal deficit in 2009 was 15.6 percent of GDP, while last year it seems that there was a balanced budget, he explained. Theres no need for additional fiscal adjustment.

From 1999 to 2009, Greece had the highest increase in income, which was much faster than productivity gains and thats why the country lost competitiveness and run a tremendous current account and a big fiscal deficit, he said. One can argue whether this fiscal adjustment should happen over five years, seven years, or nine years, but it has to happen.

On the program review, he said the institutions are preparing Mays Eurogroup and they will do that in Washington DC, on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. Regling also said the mission chiefs will return to Greece on Monday or Tuesday.

He also said Greece could repay IMFs loans with the unused ESM funds allocated to the country, but noted decisions will not be taken before the end of the program.

Asked whether Greeces bailout could become a success story, he responded: If they continue with their reform program, it could be soon.

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
Foreign trade in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE reached Dh10 billion ($2.72 billion) in 2016 compared to Dh9.04 billion in 2015, marking an increase of 11.8 per cent, according to a report published by Ras Al Khaimah Chamber.



Dr Ahmed Rashed Al Shemaili, assistant director-general of Commercial Service and Business Development Sector at Ras Al Khaimah Chamber said that exports had the lions share and reached Dh3.78 billion ($1.02 billion), or 37.4 per cent of total foreign trade, followed by imports which reached Dh3.53 billion or 34.9 per cent while the re-export market reached Dh2.79 billion or 27.7 per cent of total foreign trade.



Al Shemaili added that the total weight of the Emirates foreign trade reached 68.6 billion last year, of which 63.6 billion kg were exports, 4.5 billion kg were imports, and 415.3 million kg were in the form of re-exports.



According to Raja Mohammad Bin Juma, head of the Economic Studies Section at Ras Al Khaimah Chamber, imports to the Emirate grew by 16.4 per cent to Dh3.53 billion in 2016 compared to Dh3.03 billion in 2015.



Exports, increased by 6 per cent in 2016 to Dh3.78 billion compared to Dh3.56 billion in 2015. Re-exports grew by 14.3 per cent to Dh2.79 billion in 2016 compared to Dh2.4 billion in 2015.



As for the geographic allocation of Ras Al Khaimahs non-oil foreign trade activity in 2016, Bin Juma said that RAK Free Trade Zone lead the way in exports to the Emirate with Dh971 million, representing 27.5 per cent of total imports to the Emirate.



This was followed by imports worth Dh638 million from Japan at 18 per cent of the total, Dh400 million from South Africa at 11 per cent, Dh204 million from China at 5.8 per cent, followed by Dh184 million from the US at 5.2 per cent of total imports to the Emirate.



Other sources of imports to Ras Al Khaimah included Finland at 4.12 per cent of the total, Oman at 4.1 per cent, Bahrain at 4 per cent, India at 3.1 per cent, and Iran at 2.1 per cent.



As for exports from Ras Al Khaimah, Oman was the leading destination with a total value of about Dh906.8 million or 24 per cent of total exports, followed by Kuwait with a value of Dh855 million or 22.6 per cent, Qatar at Dh559 million or 14.8 per cent, followed by India at 12.7 per cent with a value of about Dh480 million, and Bahrain at about Dh281 million or 7.4 per cent of total exports.



Other destinations for exports from Ras Al Khaimah included Yemen at 3.9 per cent of total exports, Saudi Arabia at 2.97 per cent, Kenya at 2.94 per cent, followed by Jebel Ali Port at 2 per cent, and Iraq at 1 per cent. The rest of the Emirates exports were distributed among a number of other countries.



Oman also took first place in terms of re-exports through Ras Al Khaimah with a total value of Dh1.243 billion representing the lions share at 44.5 per cent. It was followed by Bulgaria with a total value of Dh920.8 million or 33 per cent of total re-exports through the Emirate, Azerbaijan with a value of Dh224 million at 8 per cent, RAK Free Trade Zone with a total of Dh102.8 million at 3.7 per cent, followed by Qatar with a total value of about Dh87 million at 3.1 per cent of total re-exports through Ras Al Khaimah.



Other destinations of re-exports through the Emirate included Georgia with a share of 2.67 per cent, Iraq with 1.1 per cent, followed by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and shipping warehouses.  TradeArabia News Service
Asteco, a leading independent full-service real estate company in the Middle East, has added its first franchise in Saudi Arabia to its growing integrated network, taking the tally of franchises to 15 in the GCC.



Following the signing of the agreement with Astecos licensing division, Maather for Real Estate Management, the main real estate division of the Rabiah & Nasser Group (Ranco) - a leader in the Saudi construction, industrial and real estate industry - will now operate under the Asteco brand.



The signing ceremony, which took place yesterday at top real estate exhibition Cityscape Abu Dhabi, was attended by Asteco managing director, John Stevens; Asteco director of licensing, Sean McCauley; Raed Al Rabiah, managing director and Ahmed Al Bader, general manager of Maather for Real Estate Management.



Stevens said: Ranco has built a solid reputation over the last 60 years as reliable and trustworthy real estate company, with credentials second-to-none. Their extensive knowledge and business acumen makes them a natural fit for the Asteco franchise model and I look forward to working with the team on the international and domestic real estate Saudi market.



Ranco is recognised as one of the key driving forces behind Saudi Arabias positive urban development. Projects developed include residential and compound properties in Riyadh and Al Khobar, as well as commercial office complexes in Riyadh, Al Khobar and Jeddah.



Several government initiatives put in place to increase housing supply in Saudi Arabia through partnerships with the private sector in 2016 have resulted in a confident outlook for 2017, offsetting the reduction in both government and consumer spending. The introduction of Real Estate Investments Funds (REITs) is also expected to have a positive impact on the real estate industry in the Kingdom.



This new franchise subsidiary is in line with our group vision in residential development and complements our real estate property management portfolio, said Al Rabiah.



The backing of a real estate firm of Astecos standing and its plus 30 years of experience will undoubtedly play a major role in supporting us during the launch phase and beyond. The gravitas of the Asteco brand combined with our local knowledge and expertise means we can look forward to business growth and success in the future.



Astecos franchise model provides partners with a high value referrals service, access to Astecos market research and quarterly reports, dedicated intranet with a comprehensive range of resources, regular communication and updates, as well as use of the industry-leading real estate software and CRM platform.



As the only locally established, full service real estate business in the region offering a bespoke franchise opportunity, Asteco provides independent market analysis, design development consultancy and valuation services, sales and leasing services, as well as asset and property management services.  TradeArabia News Service
King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), a special economic zone on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, has awarded a SR49-million ($13.3 million) contract to IHCC, a design-and-build turnkey solution provider, to develop the third phase of the internationally accredited school The World Academy (TWA).



The new facilities will propel TWA to the forefront of education in Saudi Arabia, said a statement from KAEC.



The World Academy is a standout educational facility that places KAEC at the center of human capital development for Vision 2030, remarked Fahd Al Rasheed, the CEO and managing director of KAEC Group.



The school is an essential pillar of the community, providing children with a first-class education and parents with a unique level of involvement and participation in student life, he added.



The new extensions will add additional classrooms to increase the student capacity of the school from 750 to 2,000 students by September 2017. Currently the number of students is 533, said the statement from KAEC.



The current number of classrooms is 31 plus three labs for chemistry, biology, and design and technology, it added.



The new development will provide a wide array of innovative facilities to equip students with essential life skills for the future, including an entrepreneurship centre, a college for grades 9 to 12 and a robotics lab for the schools design and technology centre.



Also there will be amphitheatres for large group events, marketplaces providing classrooms with a communal meeting place and a forum to exchange ideas and experiences, dedicated facilities to enhance cultural awareness, and an achievement center to help students prepare for key examinations and aptitude tests such as SATs.



An important feature is the widespread use of natural light which has been shown to enhance productivity and learning.



The interiors have been designed by Innocad, an internationally renowned architect and designer headquartered in Graz, Austria.



On the contract win, IHCC chief executive Sultan Batterjee said: "IHCC has always been a believer and a partner in KAEC, its purpose, vision and strategy. Innovative projects like TWA school are the birth of an inspired new generation."



IHCC, a specialist in health care, education and mixed use projects, has had a major presence in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region for more than 21 years, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
As the rising tide of populism in the West erodes the foundations of the open market, the apparent retreat from globalisation may result in the GCCs capital markets gaining huge momentum for growth, said an industry expert.



Steen Jakobsen, chief economist of Saxo Bank, the online multi-asset trading and investment specialist, added that the lack of scientific theory and foresight in the feverish growth of populist ideology in the West could positively impact regional financial markets.



Framed by a romantic notion of reinstalling glories of the past, the current wave of populism in the USA and Western Europe has endured defining moments in the wake of events such as Brexit and the election of President Trump. Further evidence of anti-establishment forces growing to prominence in the West are evident in right-wing front-runner Marine Le Pen being widely tipped to win the first round of the French presidential elections this week (April 23).



Having predicted Trumps ascension months before his Presidential victory, Jakobsen believes the surge in populist politics is the biggest threat to global financial markets.



Today, markets are relatively open and fair for everyone to enter. This is one reason why Brexit Britain and Trumps America are now characterised by divisive social upheaval. The contrasting voices are striking. There are those calling for an economic vision that increases productivity, creates competition and openness, and improves access to education, and there are those favouring more protectionist policies, he said.



In the UK and across Europe, much of the anguish following the outcome of the British referendum is marked by concerns over the reversal of the open-market and open-border policies that enriched both the UK and its European Union (EU) partners.



With Prime Minister Theresa Mays Conservative government triggering the UKs final divorce agreement with the EU, trepidation over the UKs vote for autonomy and self-determination draws parallel to global concerns over the impact on markets caused by President Trumps economic policy, which many argue would have been more suited to the socio-economic climate of the 1950s and 1960s, according to Jakobsen.



As politics shaped by goals of national sovereignty continue to unfold, particularly in France where a Le Pen presidential victory could see the return of the French Franc and a French referendum on EU membership, the notion of the open market in Europe may soon face further challenges.



The tension is not restricted to Europe and the US either. Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loon recently stated in an interview with the BBC that it may become necessary to take sides between the US and China. Meanwhile, for the GCC region, Jakobsen maintains the uncertainty has created new opportunities for prosperity as regional markets wake-up to the worst-case scenario of nations divided by political turmoil, the closing of borders and a fragile open market.



While nations across the Gulf and wider Middle East would have to strike an uneasy political balance to remain an ally on both sides of the US - China coin, a world polarised along the lines of West versus East would ultimately see capital flowing inside small economic regions, creating a significant opportunity for the GCC debt market to gain huge momentum as the re-selling of capital to the US becomes less urgent, he said.



The GCC debt markets have an excess return relative to US treasuries, making it possible to have dollar exposure without any physical money actually being based in the US. With more dollar reserves being placed outside US borders, the GCC debt market could become very lucrative, not only for inter-GCC countries, but also for Asian and European investors.



The Middle Easts capital market has grown at an impressive rate over the past year and in order for the GCC region to monopolise the potential to create deeper capital markets, there should be a clear and transparent political vision for the region. If capital markets can be made deep enough to absorb all the net excess saving there is in the Middle East, instead of those excess savings going overseas, there should theoretically be a higher deposit base, which would attract higher levels of inward investment.



Jakobsen added that this opportunity for economic prosperity comes at a time when moves such as the UAEs implementation of bankruptcy laws and the Saudi Arabia bond issuance are seen as very strong signals to the rest of the world that the GCC region remains well and truly open for business.



If GCC countries continue to launch initiatives that bring its financial ecosystem in line with that of international players, together with its huge geographical advantage, the region will become increasingly influential in a world that is becoming more and more polarised, noted Jakobsen.  TradeArabia News Service
Dubai Link Travel & Tours will be taking part for the 17th year in the upcoming Arabian Travel Market, the region's premium travel and tourism show to be held in Dubai, UAE.



Group chairman Dr Haytham Alhaj Ali said: "We are thrilled to announce that Dubai Link will exhibit for the 17th time at the Arabian Travel Market in order to keep a face to face relation with our existing and new business partners."



"Arabian Travel Market gives us a great opportunity to showcase our business updates and development," he noted.



Dr Ali pointed out that it was at the ATM where the group launched its Global Booking Engine (GTE) booking system two years ago to provide B2B agents with a powerful system to fulfill their clients needs.



"Now we have more than 5,000 registered clients with strong expectations to double this number by the year end. Our clients are using GTE on daily basis to book hotel rooms all over the world with advanced search facilities and ability to create a sub agent under account holder and many other advantages and payment options," he stated.



Nassry Bedran, the business development director, said: "Dubai Link is expanding its services and specialties to cover a bigger geographical area in the B2B Travel Industry and unlock new opportunities to our valued clients by providing them with real solutions that would be catalyst to the growth of their businesses."



"Our team is working vigorously to enhance the services of its GTE to facilitate the valued clients better and confirm the commitment to excellence," stated Bedran.



"Dubai Link would soon open its first hotel in Spain - Hotel Niu Barcelona," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
MiFID II to Prompt Global Unbundling

The incoming rules separating payments for trading and research in the European Union will expand beyond the region and are likely to boost full unbundling of client commissions around the world.

MiFID II, the regulations covering financial markets in the EU, come into effect at the beginning of next year. One of the requirements of MiFID II is to separate payments for research from trading commissions to increase transparency and reduce conflicts of interest. Asset managers will have to either pay for research out of their own P&L or from research payment accounts, where they have agreed a budget with their clients. The requirements cover fixed income, currency and commodity markets for the first and the buyside will also have to track their consumption of research and evaluate its quality.

Rebecca Healey, head of market structure and strategy at institutional trading network Liquidnet, said in a note that a post-MiFID II world requires fund managers to deliver the best possible outcome for end-investors in both research and execution, so only the best providers of either service will survive.

European firms subject to MiFID II inducements rules must comply with these requirements irrespective of the status or geographical location of the research provider, Healy added. We are now one step further in witnessing full unbundling of client commissions across the globe.

The European Securities and Markets Authority last month published its latest guidance on how fund managers should ensure that the purchase and receipt of research or services do not constitute an inducement to trade. MiFID II requires firms to put a research policy in place which should include the criteria against which the quality of the research they purchase is assessed; how the research contributes to better investment decisions; and how costs can be allocated in a manner that is fair to all client portfolios.

Research providers should also be able to explain how they price their services, especially where they also provide execution services, to enable them to evidence that they are not influenced by payments for execution services. Under MiFID II firms cannot accept research for free. Healey said: Waterfront subscription arrangements, Esma considers could be compatible with MiFID II rules, provided that the fee charged can be justified by the expected benefit to the client.

Simon Gilbert, sales director based in Liquidnets London office, told Markets Media: Large managers who implement MiFID II in London may be expected to be consistent across their global platforms. It seems the trend toward unbundling and best execution will cross the pond into the US.

Gilbert was hired from Sterne Agee to be responsible for helping Liquidnets European members source institutional liquidity in US equities. Liquidnet is investing in technology and ensuring that members are aware of the whole suite of products, such as algos, which are a powerful tool, he added.

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West Virginia might soon become the 29th state in the US to decriminalize marijuana for medical use. The state legislature approved the bill that seeks to legalize the drug and has already passed the ball to Gov. Jim Justice.

Senate Bill 386 lies at its final stage as it sits at the desk of the West Virginia governor, who happens to be a supporter of the medical marijuana bill, according to Independent. Both chambers of the state government, however, agreed on stricter measures by making amendments to the bill just before stamping their approval. Unlike other states that decriminalized it, the use of marijuana in its natural, flower form will remain illegal.

The medical marijuana bill won the lawmakers' backing despite the critical stance of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who said of cannabis as "only slightly less awful" than heroin. Several types of research suggest that West Virginia has a lot to gain from legalizing marijuana. Not only will it bring remedies for patients of PTSD, brain injury and chronic pain, but it will also drive down drug-related problems such as the cases Sessions wants to be wiped out.

Colleen Barry, Johns Hopkins Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy Research's co-director, revealed that deaths caused by heroin overdose went down to 25 percent in states where marijuana was made legal. As it happens, data released by the Centres for Disease Control showed that West Virginia has an alarming rate of heroin overdose deaths. The numbers increased almost 17 percent between 2014 and 2015.

While eight states in the US legalized marijuana last year, its neighbor to the north plans to become the second country in the world to legalize the recreational use of the drug on a nationwide scale. The liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau already set the legislation date around April 10. Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer told Time the marijuana legalization in Canada "might help change the perceptions of some skeptics" or even "shift the center of gravity."

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
This is what Nargis Fakhri has to say about her link-up rumour with Imran Abbas.

By India Today Web Desk: Nargis Fakhri, who has been lying low ever since her last release Banjo, is back in news, but for personal reasons. It was recently that a picture of Nargis with Pakistani actor Imran Abbas went viral on social media. The very photo sparked rumours of the two actors dating.

However, days later, Nargis has broken her silence on the dating rumours. In an interview to Mid-Day, Nargis has refused to recognise Imran. She told the daily, "I don't even know who he is."

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She added, "It's from an old photo shoot, dating to a year ago."

Imran was last seen in Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, and is a popular name in Pakistan. When asked why she did not comment on it earlier, Nargis said, "I thought of commenting on the speculations, but didn't want to hurt his (Imran's) feelings. The media is talking about it and he must be excited, so I don't want to take away anyone's moment of fun. Let him have his glory."

Nargis was earlier rumoured to be dating actor Uday Chopra. However, the two have strongly rubbished the rumours in the past.

ALSO READ: Trouble in paradise? Nargis Fakhri leaves for US after her break-up with Uday Chopra?

ALSO WATCH: Nargis Fakhri conned off Rs 6 lakh through fraudulent credit card transactions

--- ENDS ---
Some of US national parks are free to the public during the weekends this month. If you want to find peace and solace by avoiding the crowds of tourists that are sure to hit up the popular parks, a new GPS website will lead you to off-the-beaten tracks.

Many hikers and tourists alike are heading to the US national parks this month's National Parks Week. That's why TomTom, a company that produces GPS, traffic and navigation products, launched a website that supplies downloadable trail maps for routes that are still beyond cool but less explored. This way, you can enjoy the great outdoors without the bustling crowd at your trail.

The GPS company cited that visitors to the US national parks grew 7.7 percent last year which also means 24 million more people hiking or strolling across the popular routes. The numbers can still go up especially after the National Park Foundation announced that all of the 400 national parks will be open for free this month on 15, 16, 22 and 23. This includes the world's 1st national park, Yellowstone in Wyoming, and Yosemite National Park in California. TomTom partnered with the National Park Foundation for the project, according to Lonely Planet.

TomTom's GPS website will lead explorers to exciting finds in the US national parks. Some of its less explored routes include the North Vista Trail at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado, the Deep Valley Loop in Saguaro National Park in Arizona, Cadillac North Ridge Trail in Acadia National Park in Maine and Lost Horse Mine Loop in Joshua Tree National Park in California. Outdoor enthusiasts will also appreciate "a dedicated group of influencer trails from top outdoor and fitness aficionados."

The National Park Foundation also plans to waive entrance fees that usually range from $3 to $30 on select parks in the coming months of August, September and November. Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland even offers tours guided driving and walking tours, according to your4State.com. If you prefer to visit outside of these months, you can purchase a National Parks Service annual pass for $80 to gain entry to all national parks.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
The Pakistan Supreme Court has ordered a probe against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in connection with Panama Papers case. Allegations were that the Sharif family accumulated huge wealth abroad through illegal means.

By India Today Web Desk: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will have to appear before a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) which will probe his family's involvement in corruption as claimed in the Panama Papers leak, the country's Supreme Court today. The commission has 60 days to submit its report to the top court.

The Supreme Court verdict was split 3-2 as two judges wanted the Pakistan PM to be disqualified while facing trial. Three other members of the 5-judge bench were in the favour of further probe in the matter.

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The JIT will include officials from National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence, the Supreme Court bench said. The JIT will be headed by a director-general level FIA officer.

Praise & glory be to Allah alone. Shukrana & mubariks ?? pic.twitter.com/yM92bIJJoc- Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) April 20, 2017

The Supreme Court had agreed to hear the case against Nawaz Sharif and family following country-wide protests by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's party - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf or PTI last year.

Panama Papers revealed that the Sharif's children owned offshore companies dealing in millions of dollars in property transactions.

The case against Sharif stems from documents leaked from the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm, which appeared to show that his daughter and two sons owned offshore holding companies and used them to buy properties in London.

The Panama Papers were published last year by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

ALSO READ:

Panama Papers reveal global nexus of corruption

Panama Papers in numbers

Amitabh rejects Panama Papers leak, says his name has been misused

Panama papers scandal: Law firm partners Ramon Fonseca Mora, Jurgen Mossack arrested

--- ENDS ---


Search News Archive : Fast Travel News Promotion Via Search, Social Media + Email Follow Us On : GROWING INTEREST FROM US IN HIGH-END EXPERIENTIAL TRAVEL TO VIETNAM Industry: Travel Agents

Destination Asia Vietnam recently hosted a series of high end retail travel agent trips from the US following growing interest in this market for luxurious encounters with an infusion of local adventure.



(TRAVPR.COM) THAILAND - April 20th, 2017 - For many agents it was their first visit to Vietnam and Destination Asia wanted to expose the real essence of the country. Using unrivalled local knowledge, we were able to connect the agents with a broad range of local experiences that the everyday traveler would never discover on their own.



The groups visited a range of destinations including, Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An in central Vietnam and the capital Hanoi. The UNESCO World Heritage area of Halong Bay was also on most itineraries. It was a great opportunity for Destination Asia Vietnam to showcase their new 2017 range of local gems which include sampling a range of local cuisine (prepared by traditional vendors) from Pho and seafood pancake to locally brewed craft beers and rice wine. Another hit was the Vespa food tour through districts of Ho Chi Minh where only locals frequent.



Ian Clark, General Manager of Destination Asia Vietnam commented, Following market trends for experiences that reveal the true cultural fabric of the country, our efforts are focused on delivering uncontrived product that allows travelers to bond with a destination on a fundamental and natural level.



About Destination Asia:

Destination Asia were the first destination management company to specialize in Indochina operations and the first Asia based travel company owned by its employees. Since their establishment in 1996 they have developed a network spanning 11 countries. Destination Asia Thailand and Destination Asia Vietnam were the first units of the group to be formed. From these two initial successes; Destination Asia China, Japan, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Indonesia, Burma, Singapore, Malaysia and Laos have evolved, further strengthening their association within the region. ### Please contact the person or company listed above for information regarding the content of this press release. TravPR.com are not the issuers of this press release and are not responsible for the accuracy of the content. Share Release :



CONTACT INFORMATION Name: David Andrews Company: Destination Asia Phone: +66 (0)2127 5888 Email: davida@destination-asia.com Web: PRESS RELEASE TAGS
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Once upon a time, we posted about a provocative essay suggesting that the whole of Kentucky could be powered by solar installed on former mountaintop removal coal mines. Needless to say, we're a very, very long way off from this ambitious goalbut Bill Estep over at the Lexington Herald Leader reports that developers are seriously exploring the possibility of building Kentucky's largest solar farm on several hundred acres of a former strip mine in Pike County.

Projected to be in the 50 to 100-megawatt range in terms of capacity, the farm would easily be Kentucky's largest if it becomes a reality. (Currently, 10-megawatt is about as big as it gets in Kentucky.)

Such a project would be of more than just symbolic significance. By leveraging the old, polluted vestiges of a fossil fuel era and turning them into job creating projects for a cleaner time, we can begin to shift the false narrative about climate action being a net job loser. From coal museums now powered by solar to coal mining unions calling for a just transition to renewables, we've already seen plenty of examples of coal country getting enthusiastically on-board with the inevitable transition.

We've got a very long way to go before Kentucky is powered predominantly by renewables of any kindlet alone by solar on old mines. But a 100% renewable energy future is looking less like a pipe dream all the time, and some have even laid out roadmaps for each state on how to get there.

It's good to see Kentucky getting started on its journey.
While touring the laundry rooms and closets of Olympia, Washington after the Passive House NW conference, I saw a few of these Sanden heat pump water heaters. These first appeared on the TreeHugger radar when BuildingGreen declared it one of its top green products of 2016; I also tried to explain how CO2 heat pumps work in this post on a big installation in Alaska, complete with really bad drawings.

Differences in Heating Systems

Sanden

Most people are now familiar with split system heat pumps for heating and cooling air, which are filled with a hydrofluorocarbon refrigerant with a big global warming potential (GWP) as much as 1700 times that of CO2. The Sanden is a split system with CO2, which has a GWP of precisely 1. But the phase change takes place under high pressure and at a much higher temperature, so it is no good for cooling.

However it is terrific for heating, and in temperate climates where air conditioning is not a big deal, it works far more efficiently than a conventional water heater, with a COP (coefficient of performance, or multiple of efficiency over conventional resistance heating) of up to 5 when it is hot outside.

A Feasible CO2 Heating Solution

In a really well insulated house the unit can be used to heat both the domestic hot water and a hydronic heating system, as is shown in the Vogel Haus photo at top. This seems like a bit of a contradiction, because the colder it gets outside (and the more you need that hydronic heat) the less efficient it gets. But Albert Rooks explains on his Small Planet Supply site that it can be adapted:

For homes with a design temp of 23F or higher, and a heat load of 8kbtu/hr or less, this can be the entire DHW and space conditioning system. Additional on demand hot water heater systems can be added into a design for homes with larger heat loads or used back up systems to provide added capacity for extreme weather events or large homes where all but the coldest days can be supplied by the default Sanden system.

Lloyd Alter/ Condenser on Albert Rooks' house/CC BY 2.0

These are not cheap units; on Green Building Advisor, Martin Holladay quotes one early adopter who thought the whole installation would cost about $ 5,000 after rebates. But it does do double duty, and Albert Rooks of Small Planet Supply, who sells them (and has one installed in his cute little house) says it should last a long time.

Anyone seriously considering green building today really should be thinking about getting off fossil fuels and getting rid of hydrofluorocarbons. The Sanden system certainly is an interesting approach.
Sharif today narrowly survived being disqualified after a 3-2 split decision by a Supreme Court bench which ordered to set up a Joint Investigation Team within a week to probe the allegations of money laundering against his family.

By Press Trust of India: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif might have narrowly escaped the fate April has stored for Pakistani politicians who have previously been overthrown, sentenced to life and hanged in the same month.

Sharif, 67, today narrowly survived being disqualified after a 3-2 split decision by a Supreme Court bench which ordered to set up a Joint Investigation Team within a week to probe the allegations of money laundering against his family.

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The JIT will present its report before the bench after every two weeks and complete the probe in 60 days.

NAWAZ WAS SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT

Interestingly, the verdict of the apex court comes in the same month during which previously Sharif was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2000 and his government was sacked in 1993.

Prime Minister Sharif's governement was sacked by then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan for alleged corruption in April, 1993.

The next time April spelled doom for Sharif when he was sentenced for life by a court on April 6, 2000 in the infamous 'plane hijacking case' based on allegations that Sharif as Prime Minister had disallowed to land a plane carrying then army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf, who toppled Sharif's government in 1999 in a bloodless coup.

However, other Pakistani premiers have suffered a bad fate in April too.

CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY

The worst April in history of the country was April 4,1979 when former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged in Rawalpindi for criminal conspiracy to kill a leading politician.

The hanging followed a dubious court proceeding allegedly orchestrated at the behest of military dictator Ziaul Haq who had overthrown Bhutto's government in 1978.

Years later on April 26, 2012 Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was convicted for disobeying an order by court to write letter to Swiss government to reopen a corruption case against Asif Ali Zardari.

Gilani stepped down on the same day.

Also Read:

Panama Papers: Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif to face probe, rules Supreme Court

Panama Papers case: Nawaz Sharif's fate hangs in balance ahead of Pakistan Supreme Court verdict

Watch Video: Nawaz Sharif's message on Pakistan's Kashmir Solidarity Day

--- ENDS ---
If the ruling is against Sharif, he may have to step down as Prime Minister. At the very least, his moral authority will certainly be impacted.

By India Today Web Desk: Pakistan is anxiously awaiting its Supreme Court's decision in the high-profile Panama Papers case against Nawaz Sharif and his children later today.

Speculations are doing the rounds that a verdict against the Prime Minister would compel him to resign from the top post.

The Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that its five-member bench would issue the verdict in Panama case later on April 20.

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The case was first filed on November 3 and the court held 35 hearings before concluding the proceedings on February 23.

The case was based on several similar pleas by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan and others about the alleged illegal assets acquired by Sharif's family in London.

WHAT THE PANAMA PAPERS SHOWED

The assets surfaced when the Panama papers showed that they were managed through offshore firms that were owned by Sharif's kids.

Petitioners have asked the court to disqualify 67-year-old Sharif under Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution as he was involved in corruption and no more "honest" and "truthful" as laid down in the Constitution.

It is generally believed the court may not disqualify the Prime Minister but may pass remarks which will bring a lot of moral pressure on Sharif to step down.

"I don't think he will be disqualified, but his moral authority may be impacted," said Manzoor Wassan, a senior leader of opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

In an interview to a private TV channel, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari asked Sharif to resign in case the verdict went against him.

"We did not resist when the Supreme Court disqualified [then premier] Yousaf Raza Gilani. We chose another prime minister. Nawaz should do the same", said Zardari.

Zardari's handpicked Prime Minister Gilani had quit in 2012 when the Supreme Court convicted him for disobeying court orders.

Zardari chaired a key meeting of PPP yesterday and has called another meeting today after the decision is announced to gauge the political situation.

Sharif's nemesis Imran Khan and his party have announced that they would launch a movement for the next election, irrespective of the outcome of today's decision.

Imran Khan held a meeting of his party leaders yesterday and asked them to stay in Islamabad to decide the further course of action after the court judgment.

PETITIONER AWAITS 'HISTORIC' DECISION

Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, one of the petitioners, said that the decision would be "historic".

"It will result in a political earthquake in the country", he said in Rawalpindi.

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Meanwhile, in a series of tweets, Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz dispelled the impression that the premier was worried about the expected judgment in the Panama case.

"People love Nawaz Sharif. It is not about the prime minister speaking. It's what he's speaking. His narrative is constructive and about development and progress. Eyes forward, mind focused, heart ready...game on, world ! Wazir-e-Azam Nawaz Sharif," one of her tweets said.

She also taunted the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf saying, "When all your plans have miserably failed and your precarious future hinges on... your best bet is a court decision".

SHARIF's SUPPORTERS CLAIM HE IS INNOCENT

Sharif's supporters are adamant that their leader is "innocent" and will emerge stronger after the verdict.

"His name is not in the Panama leaks. He has not committed any wrongdoing. So, he will be victorious," said Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique.

Rafique also said that elections will be held next year as scheduled.

Security has been increased in and around the Supreme Court premises.

Dozens of policemen and personnel of law-enforcing agencies are present around the court.

Irrespective of the impact of the decision, it is believed that that the ruling will be an important milestone in the fight against corruption.

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(WITH INPUTS FROM PTI)

Also read | Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif orders immediate removal of blasphemous content from social media

Also read | America can play 'very critical role' in resolving Kashmir issue with India, says Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif

MAY ALSO WATCH VIDEO

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By Press Trust of India: Rajkot, Apr 20 (PTI) Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari today left for Odisha capital Bhubaneswar after her visit to Gujarat.

On a five-day visit to India, Bhandari had arrived here yesterday along with a Nepalese delegation and was given a warm welcome by Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja and District Collector Vikrant Pandey.

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She subsequently went to the Somnath temple and the Dwarkadheesh temple to offer prayers and returned to Rajkot late in the evening.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had hosted a dinner in her honour with prominent city residents joining it.

"Nepal President today visited Rajkot Dairy and also met the dairys board of directors," said an official release.

Bhandari subsequently left for Bhubaneswar along with the delegation, it added. PTI VJA KA NRB RAX

--- ENDS ---
Our Correspondent

Kharar, April 20

A 23-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped in an auto-rickshaw when she was returning home from Chandigarh after work, the police said here today. The victim told the police that after finishing her duty in Chandigarh, she boarded an auto-rickshaw to return home near Kharar. When she reached near Gharuan village, the auto-rickshaw driver and his two accomplices started molesting her. When she resisted, they raped her and threatened her with dire consequences if she raised the alarm or reported the matter to the police.

Acting on her complaint, the local police have booked three unknown persons, including the auto-rickshaw driver, under Sections 354, 376 and 511 of the IPC. No arrests have been made yet.
Satinder Pal Singh

Zirakpur, April 20

Japanese encephalitis, caused by a mosquito-borne virus, has claimed the life of a 20-year-old labourer at Lohgarh village here. This is the first death caused by the virus in Zirakpur this year.

The victim has been identified as Arshad. His blood samples had tested positive for Japanese encephalitis at the PGI. Dr Gagandeep Singh Grover, State Programme Officer, National Vector-Borne Disease-Control Programme, said the victim, Arshad, a resident of Bihar, was taken ill on April 5. He was admitted to JP Hospital, Zirakpur, on April 7 where his condition deteriorated. Arshad was referred to the PGI on April 9. He died on April 11.

Dr Grover said the patient had travelled to Bihar and might have contracted the virus there. He said there was no report of any other patient with symptoms of the influenza in the city.

Since no pigs or rice fields were found in the vicinity of the victim's residence, the possibility of the virus circulating in the area has been ruled out, said Dr Grover.

The patient was the lone case of Japanese encephalitis in Zirakpur. Arshad complained of fever after returning from Bihar.

The virus is transmitted to human beings from pigs that act as reservoir of germs via the bite of a mosquito called culex vishnui. There is no other way of transmission, said a senior doctor at the Civil Hospital, Dera Bassi.

Sources at the PGI said the victims blood samples tested positive for the virus. The hospital authorities informed the Health Department as soon as they got the Japanese encephalitis test report of Arshad.

The sources said the victim was taken to a private practitioner in Panchkula after he complained of severe headache and nausea.

He was referred by the private practitioner to JP Hospital, Zirakpur, from where he was further referred to PGI in a serious condition. The hospital authorities had collected the blood samples and the report became available on Thursday, which confirmed the disease.

Dr Jai Singh, Civil Surgeon, Mohali, said teams had been asked to sensitise people to protecting themselves from the virus.  As soon as we came to know about the death due to the disease, fogging to prevent breeding of mosquitoes was started in the area, he said.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 20

For the second time in 10 days, Panjab University is likely to shut as the Joint Students Action Committee (JSAC) has given a call for university bandh tomorrow.

While the arena outside the Vice-Chancellors office has been fortified following the violent clashes between students and the police on April 11 during a protest by the JSAC against the fee hike and police and security personnel can be seen across the campus in large numbers, the university authorities are all geared up to curb a rerun of the violence during the protest tomorrow.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, the Chief Security Officer of the PU, Prof Ashwani Kaul, said, We wont stop students from protesting but violence on the campus will not be allowed. He said the students were free to protest as long as they did so within the given framework. We have been keeping a careful vigil on the happenings. Our security personnel at all entry points are very careful. No outsiders will be allowed, Professor Kaul said.

The decision to hold the protest by boycotting classes and shutting the university on Friday was taken by the JSAC yesterday. The JSAC comprises members of the SFS, AISA, PSU (Lalkaar) and PUSU (evening department). Aman of the PSU (Lalkaar), said, We have given a call for university bandh tomorrow. JSAC members will go from department to department to take the movement forward and mobilise students for the protest. We will resort to use of force if attempts are made to stop us with the use of lathis, water cannons and pressure. It will only strengthen our determination to take this movement forward, she said.

Outsiders to be barred

Prof Ashwani Kaul, Chief Security Officer, PU, has categorically stated that the entry of outsiders to the university campus will be barred in the wake of the university bandh call for Friday. Students must carry their identity cards and produce the same at the entry point to avoid inconvenience, he said, adding that since the violent clashes of April 11, the authorities had adopted a stricter checking routine. All hostels are being checked daily, he said.

Foolproof arrangements

With student bodies calling for a bandh against the fee hike on Friday, the UT police have made elaborate arrangements to tackle the law and order situation at Panjab University. "The police will be

deputed in strength to prevent any untoward incident. I cannot state the total number of policemen on task, but we will have foolproof arrangements," said Ram Rattan, DSP (Central).
Vivek Katju

AFIVE-judge Pakistan Supreme Court bench in a 3-2 judgment has held that Mian Nawaz Sharif, for the present, cannot be considered ineligible to hold the office of Prime Minister. The court was dealing with petitions filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and some other opposition leaders on the basis of disclosures against the Sharif family in the Panama Papers. Three judges ordered the establishment of a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe alleged material relating to the Sharifs illegally transferring funds out of Pakistan, owning off-shore companies and properties. However, two judges held Nawaz Sharif guilty of being dishonest and opined that he should step down.

The point at issue was Sharifs conduct in the light of the provisions of Articles 62 and 63 of the Pakistan constitution. These articles lay down qualifications and disqualifications for members of Parliament. Of specific relevance in this case was the requirement that a member be sagacious, righteous and non-profligate, honest and ameen, there being no declaration to the contrary by a court of law. Sharifs actions were to be judged on the anvil of this onerous criterion.

The JIT will act under the courts supervision. It will be chaired by a Director-General level officer of Pakistans Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) and will have officers of the National Accountability Bureau, State Bank of Pakistan, the Securities and Exchange Commission, Military Intelligence and the ISI as members. The JIT is to be constituted within a week and will submit its report to the Supreme Court within 60 days. In a sense, the three-judge majority has passed the buck to bureaucrats and intelligence officials to assess what veteran Pakistani journalist IA Rehman summed up in December 2016 as the basis on which the court would test Sharifs conduct: Did the money go out of Pakistan and was the prime minister a party to it? Has the prime minister filed a correct statement of his assets?

The judgment does not end the turbulence unleashed in Pakistan by the Panama Papers publication last year. Sharif has got a reprieve but his supporters jubilation may be premature, for the JIT and court proceedings before a fresh bench will be politically draining. Appearances of members of the Sharif family before the JIT will be embarrassing as will the comments, as the 540-page judgment is studied; especially the observations of the two who formed the minority may be scathing against the PM. For Imran Khan and the opposition, the judgment is an obvious disappointment, for it does not unseat the PM but it gives them enough to continue to have a go at Sharif. It will therefore be a hot and difficult summer for Pakistan as the focus will remain on Sharifs alleged corruption.

The manner in which the Panama Papers crisis unfolded last year shows the fractures in Pakistans polity, the role of the army and a cautious assertiveness of the judiciary, or at least some of its members. The Panama Papers released on April 3, 2016, revealed that the Sharifs  Pakistans most powerful political family owned through different legal stratagems eight off-shore companies in tax havens. Specifically the countrys attention became riveted to flats in Londons upscale Park Lane whose ownership was attributed to his daughter Maryam, and sons Hassan and Hussain. The opposition, especially Imran Khan, sensing an opportunity to wound, if not deliver a mortal blow to Sharif, demanded that the PM should subject his family and himself to effective investigation and scrutiny.

There is little doubt that Sharif was shaken to the core by these allegations. He addressed the country twice on national television and once addressed Parliament to refute the allegations of wrong doing against his family. He also accepted immediately to appoint a commission of inquiry under a retired Supreme Court judge to examine the charges against his family. Later, under pressure, he wrote to the Pakistan Chief Justice to appoint an inquiry commission for the purpose. However, the Chief Justice refused to do so stating that the inquiry law was toothless.

As the then army chief Gen Raheel Sharif mounted pressure on the ground that this political turbulence impacted on national security, Nawaz Sharif accepted a joint government and opposition committee to reach an agreement on common terms of reference for the inquiry committee. The two sides could not work this out and Imran Khan decided to take the issue to the streets. The country was once threatened with the prospect of a lock-down of its capital.

At this stage, six months after the Panama Leaks had raised a political storm, a reluctant Supreme Court agreed to accept the petition filed by Imran Khan and others challenging Sharifs continuance as PM and his membership of Parliament on the ground that he stood in violation of Articles 62 and 63 of Pakistans constitution.

There is little doubt that the Sharifs exercise virtually uncontested sway over the politics of the Punjab and through it over that of Pakistan. Their party the PML (N) holds 182 out of 341 seats of the National Assembly. With all the street power that he can muster, Imran Khans electoral political reach is confined to the Pathan-dominated Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province. He has been the armys cats-paw in the past and may be so in the future but short of a dramatic unforeseen development he cannot politically match the Sharifs where it matters  the Punjab. The Bhuttos are currently relegated to the Sindh and are not an effective opposition to the Sharifs. Hence, the oppositions great reliance on the Panama case and it is here that their hopes will continue to rest.

The inclusion of MI and ISI officers in the JIT shows, once again, the position of the army in Pakistani public life. While the text of the judgment may provide reasons for their inclusion prima facie, it is extraordinary that in a probe of this nature defence service intelligence agencies should be involved. Given the iron-clad nature of army discipline is it conceivable that the Supreme Court can guarantee that they will not take cue from the army hierarchy? In any event their inclusion strengthens the armys image.

A last word. Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who headed the five-judge bench, remarked at the conclusion of the hearing in February, We will decide the case only by the law; such that the people will say 20 years down the line that this judgment was made by the book. He was in a minority. A split judgment leaves confusion to persist as much on the law and the book as on Sharifs future, for the charges of corruption remain.

The writer is a former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs
Pritam Singh

The recent student unrest at Panjab University, triggered by a sudden and phenomenal increase in student fees, has thrust the University  generally known for its beautiful campus  into national and international attention. There are two different but connected layers of issues related to the crisis that need to be unravelled for an informed understanding of the present impasse.

One relates to macro issues of neo-liberal restructuring of higher education and the increasing centralisation of education, especially higher education, in India. The other relates to the micro issue of how the unrest was handled, or rather mishandled, by the University and Chandigarh administration. It is this micro issue that has attracted media attention and rightly so due to the violence involved in the suppression of student protest. We need to understand the macro issues that lie behind this violent conflict.

The neo-liberal project entered India with the launch of the so-called economic reforms initiated in July 1991. These neo-liberal economic reforms introduced as a condition for receiving the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan to tide over the severe balance-of-payment crisis revolve around the central issue of giving primacy to market in decision making. The role of the state is relegated merely to facilitate the entry of market by introducing legal and institutional changes necessary for the unhindered operation of the market. It is important to understand that in the policy framework of IMF and World Bank, the market is not merely an economic instrument. It is also symbolic of an ideology of individualism and private interest in opposition to a perspective that values collective efforts and publicly shared endeavours.

Of the many implications of the neo-liberal economic reforms, the key one of relevance here is abandoning education as a public good and promoting it as a commodity to be sold, bought and consumed. This paradigm shift from education as a public good to a private good does not happen at one stroke but as a gradual process of different turns and twists in which parts of a publicly-funded university are privatised bit by bit along with opening of fully privatised institutions as competitors to the publicly-funded university. The aspect highlighting the pressure towards partial privatisation of publicly funded universities is the gradual withdrawal of the state from funding the universities. That pressure has hit the Panjab University in a dramatic fashion now.

Alongside is the macro pressure that has a bearing on the current situation. This is the long-term trend in India towards increasing centralisation of education, particularly of higher education. The most startling manifestation of this trend occurred during the authoritarian regime of Emergency (1975-77), imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In 1976, education (which was an item number 11 in the State List in India's Constitution) taken out and included as an item 25 in the Concurrent List via the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution. Although an item in the Concurrent List, as the nomenclature suggests, is supposed to represent shared power between the Centre and the states. In reality, it amounts to increased power of the Centre because under Article 254 of the Constitution in a situation of conflict between the Centre and a state on a matter in the Concurrent List, the overriding power vests with the Centre. No post-Emergency government at the Centre has undone this damage inflicted during the Emergency. The central bureaucracy which in some matters wields more effectual power than political leadership, has a vested interest in keeping the power to itself. The process of centralisation has proceeded much further with the opening of central universities in different states. It is a severely flawed project. The relatively generous funding provided to the central universities cannibalises the surrounding state universities in quantity and quality in staff and student recruitment, and eventually results in lowering the average quality of higher education in the state. If the current BJP government at the Centre by putting squeeze on funding Panjab University is aiming to increase the pressure for its central takeover, it is following the flawed model of centralisation of education even more vigorously than the previous UPA government.

This highlights the moral responsibility of Punjab government to pro-actively fund its share to Punjab University to defeat both the flawed projects of neo-liberal privatisation and centralisation of education. This should be a part of the overall planning to raise the standard of education in all state-funded universities, colleges and schools in the region. The vast majority of students from less well-of backgrounds depends upon state-funded educational institutions. For social equity and to create appropriate human resources for sustainable development in the region, state-funded education is of prime importance. The so-called East Asian miracle  the development of South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and pre-China-controlled Hong Kong  is due to the focussed investment by the state in education in these countries.

On the micro issue of management of student protest, it seems to be a monumental misjudgement on the part of the University and Chandigarh administration to believe that such student protests can be suppressed by unleashing police repression on leading student activists. It reveals a lack of historical knowledge of the political culture of student movements in Punjab which has produced legendary student leaders such as Darshan Singh Baggi in the 1960s and Prithipal Singh Randhawa in the 1970s, and on the PU campus itself Anupam Gupta in the 1970s and Ashwani Handa in the 1980s.

Finally, the protesting students must view the lower-level police officials who come from poor and middle class family backgrounds as their allies and not as antagonists. They must learn from the success of Chilean students who forced their government to roll back the neo-liberal agenda of privatisation and increased fees in university education. A protest movement is more likely to succeed if it wins sympathies also from those who are supposed to be used as instruments to suppress it. They must build on the massive solidarity demonstrated by wide-ranging sections of society with their demands that many stakeholders are involved in the future of this premier institution of the region.

The writer is Professor of Economics at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK.
A red beacon atop an official vehicle is a symbol of authority that separates a VIP from a commoner. Its removal may be a beginning to end the cultivated culture of privilege and entitlement. Sincerity and commitment is lacking. When an MLA suggested scrapping the VIP culture, he was ridiculed in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly. Now Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan is praising Narendra Modi for doing the same. When Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad publicly justified shoe-lashing of an Air India staffer, Parliament did not disown him. He was let off with an apology.

Law-breakers occupy privileged positions and institutions appear helpless. A Calcutta High Court judge has been allowed for too long to mock the highest court of the country. After the suspected involvement of the Madhya Pradesh Governor in the Vyapam scam and the pending Babri Masjid conspiracy case against the Rajasthan Governor, the wisdom of granting constitutional immunity from prosecution to those holding gubernatorial office has come under scrutiny. Faced with a criminal case, Union minister Uma Bharti proudly declares that she has no regrets. This is because the BJP protects her. When the constitutional guarantee for special treatment or protection is misused, ways to stop it have to be found. No matter what the Constitution says, an average citizen is not on a par with an MLA, an MP or a minister in enjoying equality before the law.

VIPs consider it below their dignity to submit themselves to security checks. Ordinary citizens wait in queues at airports but VIPs insist on a special right to passage. Instances of legislators publicly insulting or slapping officials found wanting in acknowledging their privileged position are not uncommon. This is because those in a position to discipline the delinquents choose not to act. VIPs like to be surrounded by sycophants who make them feel important and to keep them they grant favours against the rules. The rule of law is enforced selectively, not equally. Narendra Modi and Capt Amarinder Singh have a lot more to do and rein in their arrogant colleagues before expecting clapping for the first baby step they have taken.
Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 20

Former Haryana DGP Yashpal Sinhgal, who was indicted by a committee headed by former Uttar Pradesh DGP Prakash Singh formed to fix official responsibility for the administrations failure to control violence during the 2016 violent Jat agitation, is the front-runner for the post of Haryanas Chief Information Commissioner (CIC). He retired as DGP (Prisons) recently.

Singhals name reportedly figured in the panel of three persons recommended by a search committee headed by the state Chief Secretary. A high-level committee headed by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and comprising Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Rao Narbir Singh and Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly Abhay Chautala will take the final call on the CICs selection at a meeting here on April 26.

Singhal was unceremoniously removed as the state police chief on April 13, 2016, for the alleged failure of the police to control violence during the February 2016 Jat quota violence that left 30 persons dead and property worth hundreds of crores of rupees destroyed.

The committee was disappointed to find that even at the state level, the highest functionaries were almost paralysed.The Director General of Police remained confined to Chandigarh and was content with issuing some orders. He did not lead from the front and did not care to inspire or motivate the personnel in the field, the report had alleged.

The post of the CIC has fallen vacant after Naresh Gulati, a former bureaucrat, retired last year. Naresh Gulatis wife Urvashi Gulati, a former Chief Secretary, held the additional charge of the CIC. Urvashi also retired recently, necessitating the appointment of the CIC.

During the 10-year tenure of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, several favourite of the Congress government, a majority of whom bureaucrats, were rehabilitated as State Information Commissioners.

The Chief Information Commissioner holds office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters his office or till he/she attains the age of 65. The salary and allowances payable to him would be the same as that of the Election Commissioner.

EARLIER CIC RETIRED LAST YEAR
Tribune News Service

Panipat, April 20

A total of 95 houses and around 25 acres were flooded in Israna village of Panipat district following a breach in the Israna distributory canal-9 last night.

The breach occurred last evening and water kept flowing into the village till this morning. A team of the Irrigation Department plugged the breach today and started draining out the water.

Narender Singh of the village, said the breach was noticed at night. He said 25 acres were flooded.

He said around 25 houses in the fields and around 70 houses of Harijan basti were flooded.

Jasmer Singh, Preet Singh, Birender, Jaikishan and a number of other villagers said their houses got flooded due to the breach.

Narender said the drain had breached its bank several times in the past, but the department had not taken the matter seriously. The government did not repair the bank of the canal in time, he alleged.

Bijendra Singh, another resident of the village, said, I was resting with family after dinner. When I came out, water had filled the courtyard. It entered the rooms in a while.

Raj Singh Punia, SDO (Irrigation), said they had got information about leakage and tried to control the breach. Due to excessive erosion, the situation went out of control, he pointed out.

The breach was plugged today and they started draining out the water from the residential area of the village with the help of pumps, he maintained.
According to highly placed sources, during the meeting, which lasted for an hour at 10 Janpath, Nitish Kumar discussed Presidential election strategy with Sonia Gandhi.

By Supriya Bhardwaj: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar met Congress president Sonia Gandhi to chart out Opposition's strategy in regard to Presidential election.

According to highly placed sources, during the meeting, which lasted for an hour at 10 Janpath, Nitish Kumar while discussing Presidential election strategy and it's candidate with Congress president said that she is the tallest leader as far Opposition camp is concerned.

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JDU chief further added that as she is heading the principle Opposition party, so she should lead the Opposition camp and decide on the candidate while taking other parties into confidence. Sources added that Nitish has already approached NCP, few Left parties and is trying to build consensus on Presidential candidate.

"Nitish wants that Sonia Gandhi should also reach out to other parties to build consensus," sources said.

Nitish Kumar also discussed demonetisation as well as EVM issues and JDU's stand.

"On this Nitish Kumar told Sonia Gandhi that BJP always lays the trap and Opposition walks into it. Instead of reacting, Opposition should set their own agenda against the Modi govt," sources added.

Also read:

Sounding poll bugle in Guj, NCP and JD(U) tie up against BJP

Bihar-like Grand Alliance a threat in 2019? BJP asks RSS to draw strategy to counter challenge

--- ENDS ---
New Delhi, April 20

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has questioned senior Congress leader Motilal Vora and former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda in connection with its money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the allotment of a plot to AJL, publisher of National Herald newspaper, in Panchkula in 2005.

Officials said while AICC treasurer Vora (88) was questioned two days back at his residence here, Hooda was also questioned during the same time in Chandigarh.

The central agency has recorded the statements of the two Congress leaders under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) .

They were also confronted with some documents seized in this case, officials added.

Vora was questioned in the case in his capacity as the Chairman and Managing Director of Associated Journal Limited (AJL), they added.

The ED questioned Vora at his residence making a special concession in this regard owing to his old age and his request to be grilled at home.

The agency early last year had filed a criminal complaint and booked Hooda, AJL officials and others on charges of alleged money laundering, taking cognizance of a Haryana State Vigilance Bureau FIR.

The vigilance Bureau had registered a case of cheating and corruption against Hooda and four officials who were in HUDA for allegedly re-allotting a plot to AJL in Panchkula in 2005.The vigilance case was made against Hooda, the then HUDA chairman, an ex-officio post held by him as the CM, and four other top officials of HUDA on May 5 this year.

The plot had been initially allotted to AJL in 1982.

After the expiry of the lease period in 1996, then Haryana Vikas Party government led by Bansi Lal took back its possession. It was re-allotted to AJL after the Hooda-led Congress government came to power in 2005.

The Vigilance Bureau had alleged that the act by the then HUDA Chairman and the officials had caused a huge financial loss to HUDA as the plot should have been sold through open auction instead of being allotted again to AJL.  PTI
New Delhi, April 20

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here in connection with a money laundering case registered against him and others. He arrived at the agencys office here in his official car with a covered beacon around 12 noon.

Sporting his trademark Himachali topi, the CM did not interact with mediapersons on the spot and was seen raising his fist in the air and heard reciting some lines of a patriotic poem: Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hain, dekhna hai zor kitna baju e qaatil mein hai.

The agency has summoned Singh to record his statement in this case and also to confront him with some documents it has seized and recovered in this case of disproportionate assets.

The CM, last week, had also sent a communication to the agency stating his reasons for not being able to appear before it all this while and had sought a new date from it, after which the new summons were issued for today. PTI
Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 20

The Indian Army has ordered a court of inquiry into the incident in which a Kashmiri youth was tied in front of a jeep on April 9 to ward off stone-pelters.

Sources said the CoI has been give time till May 15 to find out what had happened on April 9 and what were the circumstances that made an Army officer to tie a local tailor in front of the jeep in Budgam district.

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The officer was tasked to prevent stone-pelters from attacking the convoy which had gone to rescue election officials and ITBP officials.

The video has led to sharp reactions in Kashmir. The Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had then met the J&K Governor NN Vohra in Srinagar and returned to meet the NSA Ajit Doval.
Says anti-infiltration grid in place to foil the plans of intruders

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 20

As security agencies are grappling with protests and stone-throwing in the region, the Army has sounded an alarm saying that over 200 militants are waiting to cross the Line of Control.

A top Army officer said they had inputs that the militants across were waiting for an opportunity to infiltrate into Kashmir.

Over 200 militants have gathered along the LoC. They are waiting and are ready to cross, the senior officer said, adding that the anti-infiltration grid is in place and will foil their plans.

Earlier this month, the first major infiltration bid of the year was foiled with the killing of four militants, suspected to be foreigners, in the Keran sector of the frontier Kupwara district.

The militants, defence sources said, had tried several times to cross over despite the heavy snow, but their attempts were foiled. One such bid, they said, was foiled in the Uri sector in Baramulla in January when the militants were pushed back.

As the snow has started melting in the higher reaches, the militants would attempt to infiltrate in the coming weeks, the sources said.

There was a dramatic spurt in infiltration in 2016, when Kashmir witnessed the five-month- long unrest after the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani. Last year, 364 attempts were made by militants to infiltrate, and 112 militants were able to sneak into Kashmir. The number of infiltrators was the highest since 2012. In 2015, 33 militants had sneaked into the Valley.

There are around 250 militants active in Kashmir and a majority of them are locals. Most of the foreign militants are active in north Kashmir districts.

Communication centre gutted

Srinagar: A building housing the Army communication centre in north Kashmirs Baramulla town was gutted in a fire on Thursday morning. The fire broke around 6 am after which the Army fire tenders were pressed into service. Sources said fire tenders from the local station were also deployed in the area and it took nearly half an hour to douse the flames.  TNS
Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 20

The much-talked about project of installation of CCTVs on the University of Jammu campus has become a victim of faulty planning and red tape.

No progress has been made on the project even after the lapse of a year since the university had invited the expression of interest (EoI) for supply, installation and commissioning of Ip surveillance CCTV cameras on the campus.

What is more ironical is that the universitys security officer was not a part of the committee framed to make deliberate suggestions and complete the project.

The university had constituted a committee headed by Prof Vibhakar Mansotra, director, Centre for IT Enabled Services and Management, Jammu University, to execute the project.

The move is aimed at keeping a constant surveillance on the visitors and anti-social elements. The existing university campus spreads over 118.70 acres. The Army had also decided to hand over 16.30 acres of the state land, held by it adjoining the campus, to the university.

Lack of proper planning and administrative red tape have attributed to the failure of the university to install CCTVs on sensitive locations on the campus. Moreover, security officer, who was supposed to be part of the committee, was ignored and not involved in the entire process for reasons best known to the officials. It is the security wing of the university which can identify and suggest the sensitive places on the campus for the installation of CCTVs, a university official said, preferring anonymity.

A senior professor of the university said, The decision was taken to secure foolproof security on the university campus. Besides, it will also help the security staff to keep a track on the entry of undesired elements. There is an urgent need to install CCTVs on the campus.

Prof Satnam Kaur, Dean Students Welfare (DSW), who is a member of the committee, said they had sent a proposal to the budget and finance department of the university but no further progress took place due to certain codal formalities.

The department has now forwarded it to the central purchase committee. We have completed our job and it is now the task of the purchase committee to decide on it, the DSW said.

Security officer neglected

Lack of proper planning and administrative red tape have attributed to the failure of the university to install CCTVs on sensitive locations on the campus. Moreover, security officer, who was supposed to be part of the committee, was ignored and not involved in the entire process for reasons best known to the officials. A Jammu University official

DSW refutes allegation

I am the chief security officer of the university. I always took the security officer along with me to discuss the sensitive points for the installation of CCTVs. Prof Satnam Kaur, dean, students welfare
Prateek Chauhan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 20

Nine police teams of five states have arrested four suspected terrorists belonging to the ISIS Khorasan module for plotting a strike and detained six more. They were looking for potential recruits in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, an officer with the Delhi Police special cell said.

Raids were jointly carried out this morning in Mumbai, Jalandhar, Narkatiaganj (Bihar), Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar by the Anti-Terrorist Squads of UP and Maharashtra and the police teams of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar. Aseem Arun, IG, ATS, Uttar Pradesh, said three persons, all in the age group of 18-25, were arrested for conspiring to launch terror strikes. Mufti Faizan and Tanveer were arrested from Bijnor district. Nazim Shamshad Ahmed (26), who hails from Bijnor, was nabbed from Mumbra township adjoining Mumbai and Muzammil was apprehended from Jalandhar district. Also, six persons were being questioned. They would be produced in a Noida court where the ATS would seek their transit remand.

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We have recovered documents related to ISIS from them. The accused met on the internet and had been coordinating through the same. The IG said important papers were seized after the March 7 encounter in Lucknow in which a terrorist belonging to the Khorasan module was killed.

The ATS had inputs that ISIS was expanding network in UP, Mumbai, Punjab and Bihar. One of them was helping the group with finances. A report from Jalandhar said 22-year-old Mazammil alias Gazi Baba had been residing in the city for the past couple of years. A tailor by profession, he had come to Jalandhar with his father from Unnao in UP. He lived in a rented room and seldom spoke to neighbours.
Prateek Chauhan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi/Lucknow, April 20

Police from different states in a joint operation raided various places at Mumbai, Jalandhar, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar and Natkatiyaganj (Bihar) on Thursday and arrested 10 terror suspects.

Delhi Police Special Cell, Andhra Pradesh CIE Cell, Maharashtra ATS, Punjab Police and Bihar Police were involved in the operation.

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According to information, they were involved in enrolling members for the terror group and preparing them for terror attacks.

UP ATS IG Aseem Arun, in a statement in Noida, said the accused, associated with the ISIS Khorasan module, were planning to launch a major terror attack in the country.

Mufti Faizan and Tanveer, who are connected with ISIS, were arrested from Bijnor district. Nazim Shamshad Ahmed (26), who hails from Bijnor was nabbed from Mumbra township in Thane district adjoining Mumbai, and Muzammil was apprehended from Jalandhar district.

Read: Arrested ISIS suspect was living in Jalandhar for 3 years

Arun said six persons have been taken into custody and they are being questioned.

He said the three accused will be produced in a Noida court where the ATS will seek their transit remand to take them to Lucknow. He said important documents relating to ISIS were seized from them.

The accused had got in touch with each other over the internet, he said, adding that central security agencies played an important role in the operation.

According to the IG, the ATS had seized some important documents after the March 7 encounter in Lucknow in which a suspected terrorist belonging to the Khorasan module was killed. Following this, the probe was expanded to five states.

The ATS had received information that the ISIS was expanding its network in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai, Punjab and Bihar and some youths from these areas had joined the terror organisation.

"All those arrested are in the age group of 18 to 25 years and were living in different places like Mumbai, Jalandhar and UP. We have also found that they were definitely influenced by the material available on the internet," UP ADG (Law and Order) Daljit Chaudhary said in Lucknow said.

Investigations show that one of them wanted to finance the group and they were continuously communicating with each other about carrying out some major strike in the near future.

But police and other agencies of different states with the help of surveillance made the arrests before they could carry out any such attack, the ADG said.

The UP ATS spokesperson said those arrested were suspected to be looking for potential recruits in Bihar, UP and Maharashtra.  With PTI inputs
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has proceeded with nuclear and missile programmes in blatant violation of UNSC resolutions and warned the United States not to mess with them.

By India Today Web Desk: U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said that Washington is contemplating ways to put pressure on North Korea over its nuclear programme even as North Korean state media warned the Americans of a "super-mighty preemptive strike" if it messed with Pyongyang.

U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a hard line with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, who has rebuffed warnings from its only key ally China and proceeded with nuclear and missile programmes in blatant defiance of U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

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North Korea has constantly threatened to destroy Japan, South Korea and the United States and never softened its belligerent stand after a failed missile test on Sunday, a day after putting on a huge display of missiles at a parade in Pyongyang.

"We are reviewing all the status of North Korea, both in terms of state sponsorship of terrorism as well as the other ways in which we can exert pressure on the regime in Pyongyang to re-engage with us, but re-engaging with us on a different footing than the past talks that have been held", Tillerson told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who is on a tour of Asian allies, has repeatedly said that the "era of strategic patience" with North Korea is over.

MILITARY OPTION ALSO A PART OF PRESSURE: US

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, on a visit to London, has said that the military option must be a part of the pressure brought to bear.

"Letting this dictator have that kind of power is not what civilised nations can allow to happen," he said referring to Kim.

Ryan said he was glad by the results of the efforts made to collaborate with China to reduce tensions, but that it was unacceptable that North Korea might be able to strike allies with nuclear weapons.

North and South Korea are technically still at war as their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, and not a peace treaty.

ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM

In a meeting with top officials on Thursday, South Korea's acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn repeatedly asked its military and security ministries to maintain a high level of vigilance.

South Korean presidential candidates clashed in a TV debate on Wednesday night over the planned U.S.-supplied Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system which has annoyed China, with frontrunner Moon Jae-in being slammed for leaving his options open.

Hwang and Pence on Monday reaffirmed their plans to go ahead with the THAAD, but the decision will be up to the next Korean president. For its part, China says the system's powerful radar is a threat to its security.

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North Korea has warned that it will carry out a nuclear strike against the United States if it is provoked. Pyongyang says it has developed a missile that can strike the mainland United States, but experts are of the view that it is some time away from mastering the necessary technology, including miniaturising a nuclear warhead.

US, RUSSIA CLASH OVER UNSC STATEMENT CONDEMNING NORTH KOREA

The United States and Russia clashed on Wednesday at the UN over a U.S.-drafted Security Council statement to condemn North Korea's latest failed ballistic missile test, to which diplomats said China had agreed.

Such statements by the 15-member council have to be agreed by a consensus.

Previous statements condemning earlier missile launches "welcomed efforts by council members, as well as other states, to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive solution through dialogue". The latest draft statement dropped "through dialogue" and Russia requested that it be included again.

"When we requested to restore the agreed language that was of political importance and expressed commitment to continue to work on the draft, the U.S. delegation without providing any explanations cancelled the work on the draft," the Russian U.N. mission said in a statement.

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There has been some confusion over the whereabouts of a U.S. aircraft carrier group after Trump said last week that he had sent an "armada" as a warning to North Korea even as the ships were still far from Korean waters.

The U.S. military's Pacific Command explained that the USS Carl Vinson strike group first had to complete a shorter-than-initially planned period of training with Australia. But it was now heading for the Western Pacific as ordered, it said.

NORTH KOREA WARNS US AND ITS ALLIES

North Korea did not refer to the mix-up but said the United States and its allies "should not mess with us".

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, did not mince its words in making Pyongyang's warning to Washington clear, saying North Korea was fully prepared for any U.S. attack.

"In the case of our super-mighty preemptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only U.S. imperialists' invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas, but also the U.S. mainland and reduce them to ashes."

(WITH INPUTS FROM REUTERS)

Also read | North Korean mock-up birthday video shows missiles blowing up US

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Also read | North Korea accuses US of pushing world towards nuclear war, threatens to conduct nuke test at will

Also read | North Korea accuses US of using its nuclear program to mask its own opposition of ban

ALSO WATCH VIDEO

--- ENDS ---
Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, April 20



The Shiv Sena has again decided to support its controversial Member of Parliament Ravindra Gaikwad who got into a "fight" with the police over shortage of cash at ATMs in his hometown of Latur.

Also read: Shiv Sena MP booked for assaulting Air India staff

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Gaikwad, who got banned by major airlines for beating up an Air India employee, came on the streets with his supporters on Wednesday after his aides were unable to withdraw cash from several ATMs in the town.

Police personnel who were called to disperse the MP and his associates were given a dressing down by Gaikwad.



Gaikwad told reporters that the Narendra Modi government had failed to provide enough cash at ATMs several months after demonetisation. The Prime Minister asked for 50 days. We gave him 100 and then 200 days but still there is not enough cash in ATMs, Gaikwad told reporters.

The Shiv Sena has decided to support Gaikwad in the matter yet again.



A party leader in Mumbai said that cash shortage at ATMs were inconveniencing people even in cities like Mumbai. He said the Shiv Sena will take up the issue in the coming days if the Reserve Bank of India is unable to refill ATMs in Maharashtra with adequate currency notes.



Meanwhile, videos of Gaikwad arguing with the policemen have gone viral on social media. People who have been inconvenienced by shortage of cash at ATMs are supporting the Shiv Sena MP even as they distance themselves from his assault on the Air India employee last month.
Lucknow, April 20

BJP MLA Rakesh Rathore on Thursday denied he was not the politician who beat up a toll plaza employee in Uttar Pradesh.

#WATCH BJP MLA Mahendra Yadav slaps a toll plaza employee in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly pic.twitter.com/VV968psUuR  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 20, 2017

The Sitapur legislator told IANS that he neither owns a Scorpio car as shown in a video, which has gone viral nor has he been to New Delhi in the last six months.

"This is not me. The person shown in the video is Mahendra Yadav, a Samajwadi Party leader from Biswa. It is sad the media aired the video and the news without any verification," he said.

The video grab, reportedly two days old, shows a man alleged to be the Bharatiya Janata Party legislator engaging in a spat with the toll booth staff and then beating up an employee.

The politician then speeds away with the cavalcade of vehicles accompanying him without paying the toll. The politician and his henchmen are also shown vandalising the barrier.

The incident happened at the Fatehganj (West) toll plaza on the Moradabad-Bareilly highway.

The victims have lodged a complaint with the police.

A police official in Bareilly said since there were two versions of the incident, they will go through the CCTV footage before taking action.

IANS
New Delhi, April 20

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to allow the Punjab government to sell surplus power to Pakistan or Nepal in the financial interest of the cash-strapped state.

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At an hour-long meeting with Modi here, Amarinder also sought the Centres support to make agriculture more sustainable for the states farmers by putting in place a "Deficiency Price Payment" mechanism to encourage a shift to non-paddy cultivation, Chief Minister's media adviser Raveen Thukral said.

Expressing concern over the problems faced by the Punjab farmers living in border areas, Amarinder also requested an increase in the Central government's compensation for such farmers to ensure effective and stronger border management.

The Chief Minister also sought Modi's intervention to prevent a possible revival of package of concessions to neighbouring states, as it would negate the Punjab government's efforts to bring in investment, create jobs for the unemployed youths and revive the state's economy, Thukral said.

Pointing to the 1,000 MW surplus power availability in Punjab after meeting its internal demands, the Chief Minister said sale of power to neighbouring Pakistan or Nepal, as the case may be, would save people in Punjab from the burden of any extra taxes and also save the power consumers from the extra burden of fixed cost of power generating units.

Since Punjab shares its border with Pakistan and its Goindwal Sahib thermal power plant is situated close to the international border, it would not be difficult for the state to supply power to that country on continuous basis," the Chief Minister noted.

He said Punjab would be happy to supply electricity also to Nepal, which intends to meet its power shortfall by purchasing it from India, if the government of India agrees.

Although the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) had, in the recent past, offered supply of power in tender enquiries floated for the purpose, it had not been successful in this, Amarinder said, and urged the Prime Minister to advise the Union Ministry of Power to favourably consider the state government's proposal to sell power either to Pakistan or Nepal.

Referring to the plight of the state's farmers, who are suffering from declining real farm incomes due to agricultural stagnation, the Chief Minister stressed the need for diversification of farming away for paddy.

The Chief Minister also batted for compensation for farmers owning land beyond the international border with Pakistan, as they face significant restrictions on the types of crops to be cultivated due to security reasons.

Amarinder Singh expressed concern over the reported move to revive the package of concessions for the neighbouring hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, and urged the Prime Minister to ensure that no such special package was given to these states at the cost of Punjab's economic development.

"If at all a special package is to be given, then Punjab should also be treated at par by granting a similar package," Amarinder demanded, pointing out that the state also suffers a massive handicap in promoting industry due to the 554-km international borders with Pakistan and the sub-mountainous region in the Aravali foothills.  IANS
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 20

In a major embarrassment to the Congress on the eve of the Delhi MC elections, party's state women's wing chief Barkha Shukla Singh quit her post and attacked the leadership of vice-president Rahul Gandhi, saying he shied away from meeting people who question him. Moments later, All India Mahila Congress chief Shobha Oza said the party had removed Barkha from her position.

Why does Rahul Gandhu shy away from meeting people who ask him questions? He is only interested in meeting sycophants and not leaders who reason, question and ask, she said, blaming Gandhi for party's rot.

In a statement today, the former MLA from Delhi's RK Puram and ex-chief of the Delhi Commission for Women said, Senior party leaders, I would not like to name anybody, are also of the view that Rahul Gandhi is mentally unfit to lead the party, but choose not to say it because of reasons unknown to me.

Hitting out at Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken, Barkha said she was resigning as Delhi Mahila Congress chief as she was unable to help even herself, what to talk of others.

I am a loyal soldier of the party and will continue to remain that. But in the current organisation where I am myself unsafe, how will I empower women. That is why I am resigning from my post, she said.

She spoke of how five district presidents and 75 block presidents of the Delhi Mahila Congress had resigned in the recent past due to the attitude of Rahul Gandhi and Ajay Maken.

Accusing Maken of misbehaving with women's wing workers often, she said when it was complained to Rahul Gandhi, he did not bother to address it. Rahul Gandhi and Ajay Maken have only used the issue of women empowerment and security to gather votes and it means nothing to them, she said.
Chennai/New Delhi, April 20

Sidelined AIADMK Deputy General Secretary T.T.V. Dinakaran has been summoned by the Delhi Police on his reported attempt to bribe Election Commission officials in a case related to the party's poll symbol.

The Delhi Police served the summons on Dinakaran late on Wednesday night and asked him to appear in person on Friday in Delhi, it is learnt.

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High drama was witnessed late on Wednesday night when a Dinakaran follower attempted self-immolation when the police arrived to serve the summons.

The Delhi Police has booked Dinakaran for allegedly attempting to bribe Election Commission officials through a middleman Sukesh Chandrasekar to get a favourable verdict in the party's two leaves symbol case.

The poll body has frozen the AIADMK's two leaves symbol with two factions -- one led by party General Secretary V.K. Sasikala and the other by former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam -- claiming it as their own.

IANS
New Delhi, April 20

In a setback to the Delhi Congress ahead of the civic polls here, Barkha Singh on Thursday quit as chief of the women's wing. She also hit out at vice-president Rahul Gandhi and the party's Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken.

The former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief said: "The Congress under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Ajay Maken has only used the issue of empowerment of women and women security to gather votes." "The issue means nothing to them."

Singh said: "In the current organisation where I myself am unsafe, how will I empower women in that organisation. That is why I hereby resign from the post of president of Delhi Mahila Congress."

Singh even quoted other senior party leaders questioning her party's vice-president's capabilities, saying "Rahul Gandhi is unfit to lead the party".

The one pertinent question we need to ask today is why is Rahul Gandhi in hiding? Why is he scared of meeting his own party members?" Singh said in a statement.

Several senior leaders have quit the party because of that very reason, she said.

"Rahul Gandhi is reluctant to address issues that exist within the organisation. Why does Rahul Gandhi shy away from meeting party leaders who ask him questions," she said.

She further added: "He (Rahul) is only interested in meeting sycophants and not leaders who reason, question and ask." Describing herself as a loyal soldier of the Congress, she said she will continue to remain that.  IANS
Syed Ali Ahmed

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 20

Union Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Venkaiah Naidu today announced a proposal to meet the target of Housing for All in 15 states and union territories, including HP, J&K and Chandigarh, by 2019. He also said the National Urban Rental Policy would be declared soon.

He said though the government intended to achieve the Housing for All target by 2022, it would be met in 15 states under the Prime Minister Awas Yojna (PMAY) (Urban) by 2019. The states under focus are HP, J&K, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura and union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Puducherry.

He said the 15 states and UTs had been asked to submit affordable housing proposals as per the demand survey by the year-end so that construction could

be completed in next two years and other states had been asked to submit proposals by 2018.

He said the PMAY (Urban) had been extended to middle-income groups (people having annual income up to Rs 18 lakh).

To promote private investments in affordable housing campaign, Naidu said, the ministry is considering extending central assistance of Rs1.5 lakh to each eligible beneficiary belonging Economically Weaker Sections under projects taken up on private lands.
Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 20

India today assured that it was in touch with the US administration over the changes being made to the H1B visa and also that Australia is planning to replace its skilled worker programs with another one.

There have been heightened concerns in India over the Trump administration's plans to bring about changes in the H1B visa regime which will affect thousands of Indians. Also, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, announcing the scrapping of a visa programme, popular with Indians, just days after his India visit had raised concerns and questions over the governments role.

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Official spokesman of the ministry of external affairs Gopal Baglay said India was in touch with the US and Australian governments regarding the changes being made in respective visa categories.

The government is in touch with the governments of the United States and Australia on these matters and is also making full assessment of impact of these recent changes, in consultation with all stakeholders, he said.

Insofar as H1-B visas are concerned, the cap has remained at 65,000 since December 2004 when the H1-B Visa Reform Act of 2004 was enacted by the US Congress, he said.

With reference to Australia replacing its popular 457 work visa programme with another, he said senior Australian officials had conveyed to India that the impact of the changes will be negligible on Indian workers, most of who fall in high-skill category.

The changes in the visa programmes in both these countries are a matter of great concern for India. The highest number of people coming to the US on H1B are Indians and the 457 Australian visa programme was also used by a great number of Indians to get work in Australia.
Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 20

Punjab and Haryana today stuck to their well-entrenched positions on the sharing of riverwaters and the construction of the Satluj-Yamuna Link canal at a meeting called by Water Resources Secretary Amarjit Singh here to end the logjam.

Both Punjab Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh and Haryana Chief Secretary DS Dhesi reiterated their stand during their meeting with the Secretary. Punjab apprised the Union Government of the critical water situation in the state and stressed its inability to share waters with neighbouring states, including Haryana. It urged the Narendra Modi government to intervene to save the state from an ecological disaster.

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The Punjab team was called for the meeting first. Meanwhile, the Haryana team waited for about an hour in the room adjoining the Secretarys chamber. While the Haryana team met once, Punjab was given a second hearing.

Talking to mediapersons later, Dhesi said the meeting was a follow-up to an all-party memorandum submitted by Haryanas political parties to President Pranab Mukherjee, seeking early completion of the remaining part of the SYL canal. He pointed out that all judicial and tribunal rulings had been in favour of Haryana. Karan Avtar Singh said Punjab had urged the Modi government to intervene and save Punjab from a possible ecological disaster. The Secretary assured us that Punjabs interest would be taken care of.

It is not Punjabs issue but that of the nation. Water resources in the country must be used judiciously, and in a scientific manner, he said. The Union Secretary had been told that only 28 per cent of Punjabs land was canal-irrigated and that the state was in urgent need of expansion of its canal system to prevent a water crisis. If the SYL was constructed, an estimated 10 lakh acres of land in Punjab would go dry, he said.

Punjab and Haryana are locked in a dispute over the sharing of Ravi-Beas waters for decades. While Haryana wants its share, as was decided when the state was carved out of Punjab along with Himachal Pradesh, successive Punjab governments have refused to share water. The dispute on SYL is pending in the Supreme Court. The case will come up for next hearing on April 27.
Bhubaneswar, April 20

The regional parties are strong enough to counter the BJP, said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday after meeting her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik, who made no comment on the perceived saffron surge in his state.

The regional parties are enough to tackle the BJP, Trinamool Congress chief Banerjee told reporters after a 10-minute meeting with Patnaik at his residence here.

Asked about the threat to regional parties, particularly from the BJP in wake of the Uttar Pradesh assembly poll results, Banerjee shot back, "I do not believe that they (BJP) are a threat."

Coming down heavily on the BJP, she said the party (BJP) divides people and split political parties, a tactics that the regional parties do not resort to.

"They divide parties. Sometimes they purchase ministers, MLAs and whatever they can.

"They create division among Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, tribals and scheduled caste people. They even create division within the Hindu community. We regional parties do not do that. We say Jai Jagannath as there is no caste, creed and religion in the Jagannath culture," said Banerjee.

To a question on the proposed federal front, the TMC chief said, "That is my consistent effort. We love regional parties and we want regional parties to persist and grow."

"In the federal structure, regional parties strengthen the very system under the Constitution," she said adding all states are important in a federal setup.

"We are already in the federal structure. Look, he (Naveen) is Odisha Chief Minister and I belong to West Bengal.

Therefore, I say all regional parties are there. Secular parties are always secular and are together," she said.

Asked whether she finds a natural ally in Patnaik's BJD, Banerjee said, "We have great respect for it."

On the upcoming Presidential election, she said, "It is still early for that. If he (Naveen) proposes any name, I will talk to him. Don't worry. We have the best of relationship."

The two chief ministers, who spoke to the press together, maintained that their meeting was not political in nature and it was out of courtesy.

"I'm very glad that honourable Chief Minister of West Bengal came to pay a courtesy call today," said Patnaik and denied having any political discussion with her.

The TMC supremo said "I'm deeply honoured that Naveenji gave me time. I knew his father Biju Patnaik very well and he was very fond of me. He had helped me by sending an aircraft for a meeting when I was a Union minister of state for Women and Child Development."

As neighbouring states, it is good to keep in touch, she said adding "Politics is a continuous process. "I wish Naveenji good health and that his party does better," she added.

Patnaik said he has invited Banerjee to lay foundation stone of West Bengal Bhavan at Puri.  PTI
The Pakistan government had set up the inquiry committee last year to probe the controversy surrounding a controversial report by Dawn newspaper about a key meeting on national security.

By Press Trust of India: Tariq Fatemi, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs, could be removed from his position for his alleged role in "leaking" to a prominent newspaper vital information from a National Security meet, a media report said today.

In October last year, a columnist for Dawn newspaper wrote a front-page story about a rift between Pakistan's civilian and military leadership over militant groups that operate from Pakistan but engage in proxy war against India and Afghanistan.

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The government had set up the inquiry committee last year to probe the controversy surrounding a controversial report by Dawn newspaper about a key meeting on national security.

According to the inquiry committee report, it is Fatemi who was primarily responsible for leaking report of the key meeting to the newspaper without due permission.

The report will be presented to Nawaz Sharif in the next three to four days, adding that it will now be difficult for Fatemi to maintain his position, sources were quoted a saying by the Express Tribune.

The government had ordered an investigation on the matter in November, last year.

The committee, headed by Justice (retd) Aamir Raza Khan, included representatives of the Intelligence Bureau, the Military Intelligence and the Inter-Services Investigation.

Earlier, Pervaiz Rasheed was removed from the Information Ministry due to similar reasons. Sharif's Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs will no longer hold the office, the report said.

Cyril Almeida who wrote the article had also reported that the ISI was told during the NSA meeting that its support for terror groups was leaving the country globally isolated.

The Foreign Office had vehemently rejected the report and termed it "speculative".

Also read: How Panama papers jolted India and Pakistan a year ago

Also read: Panamagate: Nawaz Sharif's fate hangs in balance ahead of Pakistan Supreme Court verdict

--- ENDS ---
GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 20

Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan paid obeisance at the Golden Temple here today, even as SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar welcomed him.

Apparently, to discourage the participation of Sikh radical organisations, the ministers visit was advanced by two hours. However, some of their representatives reached the Golden Temple plaza well in advance. They were kept at bay, though there was a scuffle between them and the SGPC task force later.

Sajjan reached the holy shrine shortly after 6 am and remained there for an hour amid tight security. He listened to the hymns for more than 20 minutes, took a round of the complex and spent around 15 minutes inside the sanctum sanctorum.

He offered parshad at the shrine and was honoured with a siropa (robe of honour) by the head priest of the shrine Giani Jagtar Singh.

He also paid obeisance at Akal Takht, where its Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh greeted him. As he headed towards tents, specially pitched by the SGPC for his reception, the Khalisthan sympathisers raised slogans.

There was a minor clash between SAD (Amritsar) members and the SGPC task force when they tried to gain access to hand over a memorandum to Sajjan. Jarnail Singh Sakhira, general secretary, SAD (A), claimed to have received bruises on his hand.

Sajjan was honoured as per maryada by the SGPC president. He was presented with Siri Sahib (a replica of a sword), a silver model of the Golden Temple, a specially crafted silver plate and a set of religious books.

Given the protocol, he refrained from interacting with the media. SGPC chief Badungar said, It was a proud moment for the Sikh community to honour Sajjanji. He has contributed immensely to establish the identification of Sikhs.
Mumbai, April 20

Barely a month after being grounded for assaulting an Air India staffer, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad on Thursday took to the skies again.

His airline of choice was Air India, as he took a flight from Hyderabad to Delhi shortly after 4 pm, an aide of Gaikwad told PTI.

Ravi Sir (as Gaikwad, a former teacher, is known in his Osmanabad constituency) travelled business class from Hyderabad to Delhi today, days after the flying ban was lifted, the aide said.

On April 8, private airlines had lifted the nearly two week-long flying ban on Gaikwad.

The decision of the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) had come 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 had been lifted after he gave an undertaking that such incidents would not reoccur.

Meanwhile, Gaikwad had a heated argument with cops over non-functioning of ATMs at Latur in Marathwada region on Tuesday, police said.  PTI
Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 20

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will visit India next week to work out strategic agreements before Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to Colombo next month.

Wickremesinghe will be here next week starting April 25 as India and Sri Lanka try and work out a closer relationship, with the Chinese footprint getting bigger in Colombo. Modis visit to Colombo next month will also be to take part in the celebrations marking the UN Vesak Day, the most important in the Buddhist calendar, a Lankan minister said in Colombo today.

Both countries are working to take forward economic cooperation by finalising a memorandum of understanding (MoU) covering a number of major infrastructure projects. While officially there was no confirmation as to when the MoU will be signed, it is reliably learnt that the idea is to try and have it ready in time for Modis Colombo visit.

The MoU is increasingly vital for India which now has to compete with a China wanting to invest heavily in Colombo. Sri Lanka has now allowed China to build a special economic zone in Hambantota and also to further expand the Mattala airport. Adding to Indias worry is the fact that Sri Lanka has backed Chinas One Belt, One Road initiative with which India is uncomfortable.

The MoU, when signed between India and Sri Lanka, will pave the way for the joint development of Trincomalee Port, which will include setting up a petroleum refinery. It will also include a land lease pact for Lankan Indian oil corporation to develop storage oil tank farms. For both India and China, Colombo is of strategic significance as both nations fight out in South Asia for greater hegemony.
Gagandeep Singh

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 20

An ISIS suspect was arrested from Sant Nagar locality that falls under Police Station Division No 5 by the Anti-Terrorist Squad and Delhi Police with the support of Jalandhar Police.

The suspect, 22, had been staying in Jalandhar for the past three years and was known by the names Mazamil Khan and Gazi Baba.

A tailor by profession, he came here with his father from Unnao in Uttar Pradesh. His father lives in Bholath area.

Confirming his arrest from Jalandhar, Police Commissioner PK Sinha said the Jalandhar police supported the team of ATS and Delhi Police to arrest the suspect.

The Commissioner said the youth was active on internet to radicalise youth. He was in touch with the other suspects, who have been arrested from other parts of the country.
Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 20

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought the Centres support to the state to sell its surplus power to Pakistan or Nepal.

It was Capts second meeting with Modi after he became the CM. The meeting lasted about 45 minutes. Later, Amarinder met Union Minister for Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Capt informed Modi that Punjab had 1,000 MW of surplus power and, if supported to sell it to Pakistan or Nepal, the states economy would benefit. He justified the proposal on the grounds that the locus of the Goindwal Sahib thermal power plant was contiguous to the International Border.

The CM also sought the Centres support in helping farmers diversify. He specifically sought help in instituting a Deficiency Price Payment mechanism to encourage a shift from the traditional paddy cultivation.

He demanded that the Centre should shoulder the entire burden to compensate farmers located along the border with Pakistan, who suffer loss on account of frequent imposition of restrictions on cultivations due to security reasons.Restrictions lead to significantly sub-optimal yields, necessitating higher compensation to farmers than the current Rs10,000 per acre per annum, Capt Amarinder said.

In the present dispensation, the Centre bears only 50 per cent of the loss.
Rachna Khaira

Tribune News Service

Bombeli (Hoshiarpur), April 20

There was utter chaos at the public function site as Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan visited his native village in Hoshiarpur district on Thursday.

Due to inadequate police arrangements, the minister cancelled his scheduled public meeting at the village gurdwara.

He went inside his ancestral house.

People had been waiting for the visit since morning.
Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, April 18

Devendra Kumar Sharma, Managing Director of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited, will be the new chairman of Bkakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).

The appointment committee of the cabinet has approved the proposal and the Ministry of Power is likely to issue a formal order on Tuesday. The appointment is for a period of three years on deputation basis from the date of assuming charge.

Sharma has over 30 years of association with the power sector, viz Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board, and was instrumental in implementing and commissioning of Tata Hydro Power Station in Bhutan which also opened the Indo-Bhutan association in the hydro power sector.

Sharma was also associated with the industrial giant Larsen & Toubro for long in its infrastructure development projects. He is recognised for his acumen in implementing power stations in the country.
Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, April 20

Controversial SP Salwinder Singh, who had recently been declared a proclaimed offender (PO) in a rape case, finally surrendered in a Gurdaspur court on Thursday putting to rest speculation over his whereabouts.

At 12.50 pm, the beleaguered SP, escorted by an advocate, walked into the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohit Bansal and declared his intention to surrender.

Minutes later, City police station SHO Vishwa Nath, a one-time subordinate of the SP, who was standing outside the court room with a heavy police force, took him to the Gurdaspur central jail. He has been remanded to judicial custody till May 5.

The SP was absconding ever since the Punjab and Haryana High Court rejected his bail application on September 23 last year.

He surrendered in a case registered against him under Section 376 (2) IPC (A public servant taking advantage of his official position to rape a woman).

The case had been registered on August 3 last year after the victims husband had approached the then chief minister Parkash Singh Badal through the latters online sangat darshan. Simultaneously, an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act was also made out after the husband had complained that the SP was demanding money from him to hush up a particular case.

The SP again found himself in trouble after some Gurdaspur-based women police employees claimed that he had allegedly sexually assaulted them. He was booked under Section 354 of the IPC on October 20 after a senior IPS officer, Gurpreet Kaur Deo, probed the allegations.

Today, before he approached the CJM, the SP kept on sitting in the room meant for jail inmates, also known as a Bakshi Khaana. Inmates are made to sit here before they appear in a court.

The officer had hit the headlines when he was abducted by a group of four militants on December 31, 2015 just 48 hours before the same group attacked the Pathankot Air Force station.

He was intensively questioned by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) before the agency gave him a clean chit but not before a polygraph test was conducted on him.
Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 20

As the successive state governments failed to help the family of World War II veteran and freedom fighter sepoy Mehnga Singh that has been living in penury at Subhana village near Jalandhar Cantonment, a retired Army officer, who adopted the family 16 years ago, today came as a big support in marrying off the martyrs granddaughter.

Kamini, the granddaughter of the late sepoy, who represented the 5/11 Sikh Regiment, was working as a domestic help with her mother Gurbaksh Kaur when Col Sadhu S Ghuman (retd) and his wife Kulwant Kaur Ghuman (from the same village) learnt about their appalling condition and decided to help them.

Kamini was in Class V and she used to skip first three classes so that she could help her mother doing menial jobs for a livelihood. Despite constraints, Kamini always topped in her class. We started giving them Rs 20,000 a month in 2001 to make their four children study. Kamini is the eldest of all. She has done MCA and is now pursuing B.Ed. Two other girls are in college while their son is in Class XII. The monthly assistance that I am offering to this family is Rs 55,000, said 85-year-old ex-serviceman.

Col Ghuman says: Sepoy Mehnga Singh served the British Army from 1939-1945 and was dismissed from service for putting down weapons against Japan and taken prisoner in Malaya. He got the status of freedom fighter in 1947. He was again inducted in the Army as this regiment was raised again. I had informed the CO of this regiment and told him about the marriage. Four Army personnel from this Regiment, currently stationed in J&K, today attended the function.

Col Ghuman shared that the family of the Tamar Patar awardee was a blue card holder. Thats the only help they are getting from the government. The sepoys son, Satpal Singh, is uneducated and sick. I helped him get enrolled under Bhagat Puran Singh Scheme, but till date he got no help. A former Vajra Corps commander and other Army officials then pooled in some money to support them, he said.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 20

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday okayed the appointment of 673 regular staff nurses and 919 multipurpose health workers.

The paramedical staff would be posted in various government hospitals, sub-divisional hospitals, community health centres, primary health centres and sub centres across Punjab.

Expressing gratitude to the Chief Minister for giving the go-ahead for the appointment of 1,592 key health officials, Health Minister Brahm Mohindra said the primary health services in the state were badly disturbed due to the acute shortage of this medical and paramedical staff for the past 10 years.

Giving details, Mohindra said the government would not organise any state-level function to hand over the appointment letters; instead the letters would be delivered at the postal address of the newly recruited employees within a week, with a copy to the Civil Surgeons office concerned.

He said the counselling for the recruitment of staff nurses had been completed whereas the counselling for the recruitment of multipurpose health workers would be started in two days and the intimation in this regard would also be updated on the official website.

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He said that once the appointment letters were received by the employees they had to immediately join duty. The posting of the newly recruited staff nurses has been done purely on merit and the staff is expected to join the place of their duty immediately after getting the letter, said the Health Minister.

He said the posting of paramedical staff at crucial places would check the outbreak of malaria, dengue and chickungunia.
A female constable, who was seen beating up a mother and daughter at the Benazir Bhutto Airport, has been suspended by the FIA.

By India Today Web Desk: Are airports no more safe?

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) suspended a female constable, Ghazala Shaheen, who was seen in a video that went viral, brutally thrashing two passengers at the Benazir Bhutto Airport in Pakistan's Islamabad.

The video showed Ghazala beating the two female passengers, a mother and daughter, and dragging them by their hair. The scuffle started over an alleged matter of "missing toilet papers".

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Not one out of the bystanders intervened or tried to stop the brutality going on right in front of them.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:

Ghazala Shaheen was suspended and ordered to report to the FIA's zonal office. An FIR was filed against her but there was no report of the physical abuse that the mother and daughter went through.

"Stern action would be taken against the FIA official if she is found guilty," said DG FIA.

Imran Khan, the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), strongly condemned the violence and was the only politician to speak in favour of the mother and daughter.

Shocking & condemnable brutality by FIA at Islamabad airport physically assaulting a mother & daughter. - Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 19, 2017

--- ENDS ---
Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, April 20

Resentment prevailed among residents of the districts Kanakwal Bhangua village today when Army failed to give guard of honour to sepoy Ravinder Singh (20), who lost his life after being hit by a sniper bullet fired by Pakistani troops in Poonch on Tuesday evening, during his cremation.

The Army must have made arrangements for the guard of honour and the bugler to play the national anthem during the cremation. He died with the bullet of an enemy and his body came wrapped in Tricolour. I am surprised that the Army authorities in Sangrur failed to give the guard of honour to its martyr. We will take up the matter with the higher authorities of the Army, said Capt Gurdas Singh (retd) of Kanakwal Bhagua village.

Ravinder was cremated today morning in the presence of Sunam Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) Rajdeep Brar, Dirba DSP Jasveer Singh, Defense Welfare Services Deputy Director Wing Commander Rajwant Singh (retd) and officers from 21 Punjab D-Coy unit.

Army should have made required arrangements. I went to attend cremation without any written information after reading in an English daily, said Rajwant Singh.

The martyrs father, Balkar Singh, said Ravinder was the third-generation soldier of the family and they were proud of him that he sacrificed his life for the country. But the Armys failure in making the required arrangements has hurt all villagers. He should have been cremated with the honour he deserved, he added.

The Army authorities here confirmed they did not make arrangements for the guard of honour and the bugler. We did not make arrangements for the guard of honour, as we have still not received information about Ravinders death from his unit. Otherwise, there was no reason to deny our martyr the due respect, an officer said.
Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Lambi (Muktsar), April 20

Akali Dal chief and former Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal today refused to comment on Takht Damdama Sahib Jathedar Giani Gurmukh Singhs allegations that the SAD and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) top brass had put undue pressure on him for political gains.

In a video, Giani Gurmukh Singh had said that SAD leaders had repeatedly asked him not to speak against the SAD over seeking support from Dera Sacha Sauda in the recent Assembly elections.

Talking to mediapersons at Tarmala village, Sukhbir said, This is an SGPC matter. All Sikh religious issues are handled by the SGPC.

The former Deputy CM visited the village to attend the bhog ceremony of SAD worker Gurdev Singh, who died recently during a police raid. He presented a turban to the deceaseds son.

On the Congress governments decision to scrap university status accorded to Amritsars Khalsa College, he said, The new government is resorting to vendetta. The university status was given after due deliberations. When other universities can come into existence, why not this one?

He accused the government of targeting SAD workers. Sukhbir assured the cadre that the party leadership would stand by them in their toughest times.

We have formed panels of advocates in districts and the state capital to deal with cases of political vendetta, he added.
Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, April 20

Suspended SP Salwinder Singh, who had been recently declared a proclaimed offender (PO) in a rape case, surrendered in a local court today.

The SP, escorted by an advocate, walked into the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohit Bansal in the afternoon. He was remanded in judicial custody till May 5. City police station SHO Vishwa Nath, who was standing outside the court room with a police force, took him to the Central Jail.

However, the local prison authorities refused to lodge him here, following which he was shifted to the Amritsar jail by the police. A senior jail official, who did not wish to be quoted, said the prison staff here feared that the officer may be attacked by some inmates having enmity with him. Salwinder had served as the SP (headquarters) before he was transferred to the PAP, Jalandhar, after the Pathankot airbase attack. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had rejected Salwinders bail application on September 23 last year.

He surrendered in a case registered against him under Section 376 (2) (public servant taking advantage of his official position to rape a woman) of the IPC. He was booked on August 3 last year after the victims husband had approached the then CM Parkash Singh Badal. An offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act was also made out after the husband complained that the SP sought money to hush up a case.

The SP was also booked under Section 354 of the IPC on October 20 last year after senior IPS officer Gurpreet Kaur Deo probed the allegations of sexual assault, levelled by Gurdaspur-based women police employees.

The officer had been allegedly abducted by a group of militants on December 31, 2015, two days before the terror attack on the Pathankot Air Force station. After an interrogation and a polygraph test, the NIA had given him the clean chit.
Chris Pratt is the main lead in two of the biggest Hollywood franchises  Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy  and is one of its highest-earning stars, but the American actor still considers himself an outsider in Hollywood. The actor believes Hollywood has a tendency to homogenise its men and women and that is why entering showbiz with an outsiders perspective worked in his favour. I definitely felt like an outsider (when he started working in the West) and I was (an outsider). I probably still am (an outsider) in a way, although I spend more time in Los Angeles (LA) than out of LA, Pratt said during a Disney press meet for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

The humble beginnings

The Disney film will release in India on May 5. Pratt was a homeless man before he rose to stardom. He used to live in a Scooby-Doo van and worked at a seafood restaurant in Hawaii in late 1990s. It was at this restaurant he was discovered by actress Rae Dawn Chong, who then gave him his first film Cursed Part 3 in 2000.

The 37-year-old asserts that there is great benefit being an outsider. He says that being an outsider is becoming more and more helpful now. ...People who live in California and LA for a long time... They all become very similar. There is great weather, great food, easygoing attitude, it is pretty progressive, thoughtful and mindful  all that is really great but it doesnt necessarily make (for) the most diverse, compelling group of actors, said the star, who grew up in Lake Stevens in Washington state. IANS

Breaking into Hollywood

Ask him how difficult it is for an outsider to get a break in Hollywood, Pratt said: Creating the initial connection and jumping the first few initial hurdles are really tough. They are pretty much catch 22... Trying to get an agent, a manager, trying to get into Screen Actors Guild. That type of stuff is really difficult because you cant get a job unless you are in the Screen Actors Guild and vice versa. It is the same thing with representation. You cant get someone to represent you unless you have some work to show them and cant get work unless you have representation, said Pratt.

"A lot of guys become exactly the same. For me, it was really helpful to have this outsider perspective. People in LA often cast a Canadian, or someone from Australia, Britain or India or anywhere from the outside because they have a point of view that is different from the creators and the writers in LA."
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 20

Ahead of the crucial MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) polls on April 23, several BJP leaders from Uttarakhand have been campaigning for the BJP candidates.

To shore up support for the BJP candidates, Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj has been extensively campaigning for the BJP candidates.

As Satpal Maharaj, who is also a spiritual guru, has a large following, the BJP leadership has brought him to garner support for the BJP.

Along with Maharaj, BJP MLAs Sanjay Gupta, Pushkar Singh Dhami and Yateshwaranand too have been rendering their services in these local polls.

There are a large number of people from our state who are settled in different parts of Delhi and have been supporting the BJP. For these elections too, I am sure they will favour our candidates, said Pushkar Singh Dhami, BJP MLA from Khatima.

On the other hand, Sanjay Gupta, BJP MLA, who is also campaigning in Delhi, was of the opinion that the party would sweep the MCD elections. Our recent victories in the Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls have proved there is a surge for the BJP. The momentum will continue for the BJP even in these municipal polls, said Gupta.
Dehradun, April 20

Terming yesterdays Chopal bus tragedy as one of the most shocking road mishaps, residents of Jaunsar Bavar area staged a demonstration outside the Regional Transport Office here today.

They sought the start of a government bus service in the Jaunsar Bavar area. They alleged the present private bus service that plied in the area did not adhere to the fitness rule and were overloaded with passengers. One of the protesters, Virendra Tomar, held private buses must be banned from plying in Jaunsar Bavar and replaced with government buses.

He said the overloading of private buses was a common feature which often led to mishaps. He said the Shimla bus tragedy was also the result of overloading as the ill-fated bus that had a capacity of 35 passengers was carrying 47 instead.  TNS
London: A set of four rare stamps featuring the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi has been sold for record 500,000 pounds (Rs 4.14 crore) at an auction in the UK. The block of four was sold to a private Australian collector for the highest ever price for Indian stamps, said UK-based dealer Stanley Gibbons. Only 13 of the 1948 Gandhi Rs 10 Purple Brown and Lake 'Service' stamps are in circulation. PTI

Russian, American 2-man crew reaches ISS

Baikonur (Kazakhstan): A Soyuz spacecraft carrying a Russian and an American reached the International Space Station on Thursday, completing the first two-man flight to the ISS in over a decade. The Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft with veteran Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA rookie Jack Fischer onboard successfully docked to the ISS at 1319 GMT, Russian space agency Roscosmos said. AFP

Soon, FB technology will let our brains type!

Los Angeles: Facebook is working on a new 'silent speech' technology that will allow people to type directly with their brains, drastically reducing the time it takes to convert our thoughts into written words. The silent speech system will be capable of typing 100 words per minute  five times faster than one can type on smartphone, Facebook said. PTI

Pope to make Fatima child shepherds saints

Vatican City: Two of the three child shepherds to whom the Virgin Mary supposedly appeared in Fatima, Portugal, a century ago will be declared saints on May 13, Pope Francis announced on Thursday. The canonisation of Jacinta and Francisco Marto will take place during the Argentine pontiff's visit to one of Catholicism's major pilgrimage sites. AFP
Islamabad, April 20

Nawaz Sharif, the only Pakistani politician who has the distinction of being the prime minister of the coup-prone country for a record three times, on Thursday managed to avert the ignominy of being forced out for a third time without completing his term.

Sharif, who was forced to quit twice in the middle of his term  first by the presidency, then the military  survived a similar fate at the hands of judiciary.

Sharif, who leads the countrys most powerful political family and the ruling PML-N party, successfully managed to swim through all the tsunamis since he assumed power for the third term in June 2013.

The PML-N leader, seen by many as someone who can fix the countrys problems such as economy and the terrorism, had found himself besieged by problems after Panama papers showed illegal money laundering by him in 1990s when he twice served as Prime Minister to purchase assets in London.

The revelation forced Sharif to address the nation twice and disclose a detailed account of his familys businesses in the National Assembly, explaining how his late father had built the business empire, which was the source of income used to buy properties in London and other holdings.

Sharif, popular among his followers as the Lion of Punjab, had promised to quit if found guilty in the case.

The ruling by a five-member Bench today to set up a Joint Investigation Team to probe the graft allegations against Sharifs family provided him a big relief at a time when country is facing brittle economy and surge in militancy.

A steel tycoon cum politician, Sharif had served as the Prime Minister for the first time from 1990 to 1993.

During his tenure, Sharif developed serious differences with conservative president Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who dissolved the National Assembly using his reserve powers in April 1993.

In July, Sharif resigned under pressure from the army but made a settlement that resulted in the removal of Khan as well.

Sharifs second term as Prime Minister from 1997 ended in October 1999 when then powerful Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf carried out a bloodless coup.

In a dramatic fall from grace, Sharif ended up in jail, convicted of hijacking charges for trying to stop a plane carrying Musharraf from landing.

He then went into exile in Saudi Arabia and didnt return to Pakistan until 2007, when he teamed up with the PPP to force Musharraf from office.

Both of Sharifs first two stints had ended in the third year of his tenure.

In the 2013 elections, Sharifs centre-right Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) emerged as the single largest party falling just short of a majority. But, he was able to muster the required strength within days as many independents came forward to support him. PTI
Islamabad, April 20

Embattled Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today got a temporary breather from the Supreme Court which said there was insufficient evidence to remove him from office but ordered setting up of a joint team to investigate the graft allegations against his family.

The high-profile graft case is about alleged money laundering by Sharif in 1990s when he twice served as the Prime Minister to purchase assets in London. The assets surfaced when Panama papers last year showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharifs children.

A five-judge Supreme Court bench issued a landmark 540-page split judgment ordering setting up of a Joint Investigation Team comprising officials from different agencies including those from powerful spy agenciesthe Inter- Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence.

The other agencies in the JIT include the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.

The bench comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan also ordered 67-year-old Sharif and his two sons, Hasan and Hussain, to appear before the JIT.

There is insufficient evidence to remove Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said the verdict. A thorough investigation is required, Justice Khosa said, reading out from the highly anticipated ruling.

The JIT would be set up within a week. It will present its report before the bench after every two weeks and will complete its investigation in 60 days. Justice Ejaz, Justice Azmat and Justice Ahsan wrote the majority judgment, whereas Justice Gulzar and Justice Khosa in their dissenting note branded Sharif dishonest and wanted to remove the Prime Minister as sought by the petitioners.

Upon receipt of the JIT report, issues relating to the disqualification of the PM may be taken up, says the verdict. The case filed by various petitioners  Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed  sought disqualification of Prime Minister Sharif over his alleged misstatement in his address to the nation on April 5, 2016 and his speech before the National Assembly on May 16, 2016.

The petitioners had claimed that the prime minister lied about the investments made by his children in offshore companies, which led to the acquisition of four apartments in Londons upscale Park Lane neighbourhood.

The case was launched on November 3 and the court held 35 hearings before concluding the proceedings on February 23. The court also ordered that it was important to probe how money was transferred to Qatar.

In the verdict, the bench said that the NAB Chairman has failed to cooperate with the investigation, and the Director General FIA has failed to curb white collar crimes, necessitating the formulation of the JIT.

Sharifs supporters hailed the courts decision as a victory of justice. We have been vindicated as Prime Minister had last year asked to set up a probe commission to investigate Panama leaks scandal, said Khawaja Asif, defence minister and close ally of Sharif.  PTI

PM escapes jinxed Aprils fate

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif might have narrowly escaped the jinx attached with April, a month in which Pakistani premiers have previously been overthrown, sentenced to life and hanged.

Interestingly, the apex court verdict comes in the same month during which previously Sharif was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2000 and his government was sacked in 1993

The worst April in history of the country was April 4, 1979 when former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged for criminal conspiracy to kill a leading politician.

On April 26, 2012 then Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was convicted for disobeying an order by a court to write letter to Swiss government to reopen a corruption case against Asif Ali Zardari. Gilani stepped down on the same day

Nawaz survives hat-trick of sorts

Nawaz Sharif, the only Pakistani politician who has the distinction of being the prime minister of the coup-prone country for a record three times, managed to avert the ignominy of being forced out for a third time without completing his term

He had served as the Prime Minister from 1990 to 1993 and from 1997 to 1999. Both of Sharifs first two stints had ended in the third year of his tenure

Sharif, who was forced to quit twice in the middle of his term - first by the presidency, then the military - survived a similar fate at the hands of judiciary

QUOTES

Sharif has no moral right to remain PM

What moral right does Nawaz have to remain premier when a criminal investigation is being launched against him. If Nawaz is cleared after JIT probe, he can return to the seat. The verdict is historic because a sitting PM has never been investigated before. Imran Khan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf Chief

On what grounds is PML-N celebrating

On what grounds is PML-N celebrating and distributing sweets? Are they celebrating that two senior judges called for the PMs disqualification? I condemn the judgement and ask Sharif to resign. With decision, the democracy has been damaged. Asif Ali Zardari, Former Pak President
According to reports, PM Modi also suggested that the winners of the exercise should be appointed in the exercise of defending the party and the ideology in front of the public.

By Siddhartha Rai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants young talents to be the public faces of the BJP. Top party sources told Mail Today that at the recently concluded Bhubaneswar national executive meet, Modi suggested that the party to hold mock parliaments involving the youth to identify its spokespersons.

The state has become the symbol of a new frontier that the BJP has opened and which involves grabbing majority of Parliamentary seats in the states lining the Coromandel coast and the north-east in the 2019 general elections. Inside the closed-door meeting at Bhubaneswar, the PM said spokespersons for the party must be sited at mock parliaments at the district and state levels. He suggested, said sources, the winners of the exercise should be appointed in the exercise of defending the party and the ideology in front of the public.

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WAR AGAINST TRIPLE TALAQ

Meanwhile, top sources at the Bhubaneswar meeting also told Mail Today that the PM has asked the Mahila Morcha, the party's women wing to launch district-level campaigns against the practice of triple talaq which would involve reaching out to the Muslim women and sharing their pain. Confirming that the PM did entrust the morcha for carrying out the campaigns, national president of the morcha Vijaya Rahatkar told Mail Today that work against triple talaq had already started.

"As the prime minister has expected us to carry on the work, we will. Moreover, we have already been working against the evil practice of triple talaq since last year when around 1,100 victims came to us pleading to save them. We had immediately forwarded their signed request to the Prime Minister's Office. In the first week of the coming month, we are holding a conclave of Muslim women against triple talaq in Maharashtra where women from the community, including the victims, from all the districts will be attending. "Thereafter, we shall be holding such conclaves in the rest of the states one by one," she said.

"Since last year, we have been silently but steadily reaching out to Muslim women and vice-versa. Muslim women are very hopeful that the BJP government and the prime minister will deliver them from this evil." The campaign against the practice was one against a social evil and not a religious offensive against any religion. "We are doing this without any malice towards any religion. Our aim is to end this evil and not hurt any religious sentiment."

RSS PARTNERS

"We shall be holding a seminar against the evil and discriminatory practice of triple talaq on the premises of the Supreme Court on April 24. It will be attended by such dignitaries as former judges of the apex court and intelligentsia from the Muslim community who will show the futility of the practice," said Rajiv Ranjan, general secretary, RSS-affiliated Forum for Awareness of National Security (FANS). Ranjan added that the choice of the venue was significant as it would create pressure on the court to adjudicate on the matter. "We are gathering public opinion to make it a point that the matter is cleared when the Constitutional bench sits over the matter. We are bringing victims of triple talaq to share the dais that day and narrate the horrific stories of their harrowing ordeals.

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Also read: Is PM Modi's red beacon surprise yet another citizen connect move?

Also read: Red beacons: Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis also removes lal batti from his car

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After the meeting, the MNS under the leadership of Raj Thackeray has now planned large scale changes in the party.

By Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: After being reduced to being a political minnow in the state politics, MNS supremo Raj Thackeray met important office bearers of his party to discuss the revival of the party's fortunes. After the successive failures in Lok Sabha and the Assembly polls, the party fared even poorly in the BMC and other municipal polls.

After the defeat, this was the first meeting called by the MNS supremo to discuss the reasons and chalk a way out for the party's future. Sources in the party, who were present in the meeting, told India Today that Raj Thackeray was briefed about issues like dissent in the party and rebellion. The meeting also discussed the party leadership.

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After the meeting, the MNS has now planned large scale changes in the party. Some leaders who have been at the receiving end from party workers are likely to be changed.

Big changes soon

"There will be big changes in the party soon. We have submitted a detailed report about the party's performance in all the constituencies. Based on that, we will soon be making changes in the party," said Bala Nandgaonkar, senior party leader.

"Raj Thackeray has made it clear that Marathi pride and Marathi Manoos will continue to be the party's key focus. Whether we get votes or not, we will not leave out core agenda," Nandgaonkar added.

Sources say that MNS leaders also asked Raj Thackeray to be more vocal and visible as he is the only leader in the party with a mass appeal. During the BMC and other municipal elections, Raj Thackeray had addressed just four rallies in the state.

Though the MNS supreme was out of action owing to his son's ill health, many believe that his absence made a lot of difference to the results.

ALSO READ:

Kulbhushan Jadhav row: MNS workers attack Zara's showroom for selling Pakistani clothes

BMC election results: What's next for Raj Thackeray's MNS after the big debacle

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On March 23, Gaikwad had assaulted Air India staffer, duty manager R Sukumar, 60, inside an aircraft at the Delhi airport.

By India Today Web Desk: Shiv Sena Member of Parliament Ravindra Gaikwad today boarded an Air India flight from Hyderabad to Delhi, his first on the state carrier since he was banned from flying for slapping an airlines employee.

Gaikwad boarded the flight at 4.15 pm today after reports of several attempts of booking an Air India ticket were allegedly made by him under various identities. Most of his travel to Delhi and other places in the last month were through trains.

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On March 23, Gaikwad had assaulted Air India staffer, duty manager R Sukumar, 60, inside an aircraft at the Delhi airport. The national carrier as well as other domestic airlines then barred him from taking their flights.

Earlier this month, the ban was revoked after the MP wrote a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju expressing regret over the incident. Delhi Police is still probing the incident.

Following the incident, two FIRs were filed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport police station for assault and delaying the plane.

Gaikwad had gloated to the media that he repeatedly assaulted the Air India worker with his slipper over a row over lack of business class seats on a Pune-Delhi flight.

Recently, in the aftermath of the Gaikwad episode, Air India had proposed a set of new guidelines to deal with unruly passengers, which included hefty fines up to Rs 15 lakh.Also Watch:

Ravindra Gaikwad has given undertaking, will not misbehave again, tweets MoS Jayant Sinha

Also Read:

Prefer train over plane, says controversial Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad

Air India lifts travel ban on Ravindra Gaikwad, but Shiv Sena MP takes train to Delhi

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A collaborative of Oklahoma health departments, health care providers and social service agencies announced new federal funding Wednesday to address the drivers of poor health outcomes and high costs.

The Route 66 Coalition received a $4.5 million grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to create an Accountable Health Community where social issues and needs, including those beyond medical needs, are addressed to improve health. The coalition, led by MyHealth Access Network, the states nonprofit health information network, includes the Tulsa and Oklahoma City-County health departments in addition to more than 200 other organizations throughout the state.

The Accountable Health Community program will screen more than 75,000 Oklahomans each year for social needs in areas that can lead to poor health outcomes: housing insecurity, food insecurity, utility assistance, interpersonal violence and transportation.

Patients seeking medical care will be asked questions related to those five needs and, if necessary, connected with social service navigators, which are new positions in the city-county health departments funded through the grant.

The navigators will work with patients and their families to evaluate their needs and connect them to the proper services.

We have Tulsans who lack the basic needs and rights of human existence, like having enough food to eat, a safe place to live, public utilities and transportation, said Bruce Dart, executive director of the Tulsa Health Department. Weve got to address the real problems to see real gains in health improvement.
A federal judge in Muskogee has sentenced a Broken Arrow man to 4 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to possessing more than 20,000 images of child pornography.

Cody Lane Pax, 20, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to possession of certain material involving the sexual exploitation of minors, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

Pax was in possession of the images between November 2015 and March 2016, according to court records. FBI agents "were freely able to download child pornography from Pax," prosecutors state in a court filing.

"His child pornography ran the full gamut and included images of prepubescent minors being sexually abused," prosecutors state.

Pax's sentence carries a 10-year term of supervised release after his prison time is served, according to the release.

Prosecutors, in a response to Pax's request for a lesser sentence, noted that Pax previously worked for a church day-care center.
The BJP and Congress in Assam have welcomed the ban.

By Manogya Loiwal : Centre's order to ban red beacon (lal batti) atop cars of government officials, including ministers and bureaucrats has been welcomed by north-eastern states, barring a few ministers.

The convoy of Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, the former Chief Minister of Assam was seen with red beacons atop their cars, recently.

When Mahanta was questioned about the order, he chose to ignore it and rather asked if this order will have any impact on the people.

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"It remains a question whether it is going to create an impact on the people. I doubt it. Otherwise, I welcome it."

Moreover, he claimed of never using red beacon ever when he was the chief minister.

ASSAM WELCOMES THE ORDER

The BJP and Congress in Assam have welcomed the ban.

Cheering the move, BJP leader and MLA, Pijush Hazarika said, "I don't support this red beacon kind of thing... Dr Himanta Biswa Sarmah removed red beacon ten years back."

Congress MLA Debabrate Saikia too praised the order and added that the need of the hour is road safety and plans to reduce traffic congestion.

He said, "I welcome the decision... But I would also like the government to ensure we have better road communication, wider roads and less traffic congestion... It was due to traffic congestion, that it was required to have a special privilege for important persons."

SOME DISAPPROVE

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Kundu has ordered to remove the red beacons as soon as possible from every vehicle.

But, Deputy Commissioner of Itanagar, Pawan Dhawan's car was spotted with a red beacon, which was soon removed when the driver noticed mediapersons around.

But, Tamio Taga, Minister of Power, Industries, Textile and Handicraft disapproves the amendment in the Motor Vehicle Act.

"This could be a bit problematic as the VIP or the minister's time is for the state. If they won't get adequate time and get stuck in the traffic jams, it could be a great problem," said Tamio Taga.

Taga blamed the police for not being able to control the misuse of red beacon.

He added, "The police has been incapable in controlling the misuse of red beacon. It is mostly misused in Arunachal Pradesh."

TRIPURA FIRST TO BAN RED BEACON

Meanwhile, the ban has no affect in the north-eastern state of Tripura, as Chief Minister Manik Sarkar had already banned the VVIP culture of using red beacon when he assumed office.

Also read: Despite ban on red beacon, not all in Haryana are ready to give it up

Also Watch: Will VVIP culture end with removal of red beacons from official cars?

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Accusing them of creating an epidemic of prescription opioid drug abuse by flooding Oklahoma with unnecessary painkillers, the Cherokee Nation filed a lawsuit Thursday against six of the largest drug distributors in the United States.

The defendants include Wal-Mart, Walgreens and CVS, who are accused of ignoring red flags and filling prescriptions for black marketeers.

Defendants turned a blind eye to the problem of opioid diversion, the lawsuit says, and profited from the sale of prescription opioids to the citizens of the Cherokee Nation in quantities that far exceeded the number of prescriptions that could reasonably have been used for legitimate medical purposes.

Filed in Cherokee tribal court instead of federal court, the lawsuit could also serve as a test of tribal sovereignty, and the petition devotes several pages to arguing that the tribe has jurisdiction. With help from out-of-state law firms, it pits Cherokee Attorney General Todd Hembree against some of the biggest names in the pharmaceutical industry, including the McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen. Combined, the three companies account for nearly 90 percent of all revenues from drug distribution in the United States, according to the lawsuit.

The national opioid crisis has hit Native Americans especially hard, the lawsuit says. More than 350 Cherokee citizens died from opioid abuse between 2003 and 2014, and death-by-overdose is now more common than traffic fatalities, the tribe says.

The pharmacies and distributors are to blame, the lawsuit says, for consciously oversupplying the market in and around Cherokee Nation with highly addictive prescription opioids and failing to provide effective controls and procedures to keep the drugs off the black market.

Most of the defendants declined to comment or ignored requests for comments, but Cardinal Health vowed to vigorously defend ourselves against the plaintiffs mischaracterization.

As a distributor, the company said, Cardinal Health purchases medications from pharmaceutical manufacturers and then ships those medications only to licensed pharmacies, clinics and hospitals regulated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and state regulators. Cardinal Health does not prescribe any medications nor does it dispense medications to members of the public.

CVS did not comment directly on the lawsuit but said it is committed to the highest standards of ethics and business practices.

We also have stringent policies, procedures and tools, the company said, to ensure that our pharmacists properly exercise their corresponding responsibility to determine whether a controlled-substance prescription was issued for a legitimate medical purpose before filling it.

Thursdays lawsuit appears to be the first of its kind to be brought by an Indian tribe. But last month, several counties in West Virginia filed a lawsuit seeking billions of dollars in damages from some of the same defendants for allegedly creating a public hazard by shipping large amounts of painkillers into the state.
OKLAHOMA CITY - A man was taken into custody at a northwest Oklahoma City home after police went to the area on a shots-fired call on Wednesday afternoon.

The man, who has not been identified, was taken into custody just after 2:30 p.m. Officers were sent to the area after receiving a call about 1 p.m. of shots fired near NW 95 and Walker Avenue.
GUTHRIE  The man accused in the shooting death of a Logan County sheriff's deputy was charged with first-degree murder on Thursday.

Nathan Aaron Leforce, 45, of Perry, was escorted into a Logan County courtroom Thursday afternoon, flanked by a dozen officers from Logan and Payne counties. Leforce had been held in Payne County for security reasons.

Leforce was charged in Logan County District Court with first-degree murder in the Tuesday shooting of Logan County deputy David Wade. He has also been charged with larceny of a motor vehicle and armed robbery after a former felony conviction.

Several of Wade's family members sat in the front row of the courtroom, some watching Leforce with piercing stares, others openly weeping.
OPS camp leader KP Munusamy said the party should get Saskila family's resignation letters and issue a statement that they have been removed from AIADMK.

By Shalini Lobo, India Today Web Desk: The merger of two factions of AIADMK headed by Chief Minister K Palaniswami and former Chief Minister O Pannerselvam looks far away as a trust deficit doesn't seem to have melted away between OPS and EPS camps.

At a press conference in Pannerselvam's house, former Tamil Nadu minister and AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaiva Amma) leader KP Munusamy indirectly sought Palaniswami's resignation.

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"EPS is not the people's CM. He is Sasikala's CM," Munusamy said.

Here is all you need to know about the possiblity of AIADMK merger: Munusamy said since Jayalalithaa has died and Karunanidhi is not active there is a political void in Tamil Nadu and only OPS can fill it. The OPS faction has stressed that AIADMK has to complete all formalities on removal of Sasikala and her family members for the merger to be effective. "They claim to have removed Sasikala's family but they have to take back the affidavit submitted to EC calling Sasikala as general secretary and TTV as deputy," Munusamy said. He said the party should get their resignation letters and issue a statement that they have been removed from AIADMK. "If this is done, we'll accept that our demand has been accepted," the OPS camp leader said adding that the state government should recommend the Centre to initiate a CBI enquiry into Jayalalithaa's death. Commenting on leaders of present dispensation remarking about CM's post, he said they never demanded it and isn't the issue. "We never asked for CM or GS post. We wanted the doubts to be cleared on Jayalalithaa's death," he said reiterating that they began this dharma yudh with two conditions - a judicial probe into Amma's death and removing Sasikala's family. "Why should Thambidurai talk about CM post? Nobody respects Thambidurai," he said adding that TTV Dinakaran was evicted because he has many cases against him that is why Sasikala family removed him. The OPS faction claims that merger talks have not started between the two factions and subtly hinted about OPS having the people's mandate to become CM. "If an election had to happen then OPS will win". The OPS team now claim that Dinakaran may have been ousted but Sasikala, her husband Natarajan and brother Dinakaran are the ones calling the shots. Ministers in the V K Sasikala faction have already revolted against their leader TTV Dinakaran, deciding to keep his family away from the party.

Also read:

AIADMK merger: Here are the terms proposed by Panneerselvam and Palanisami camps

Delhi Police summons AIADMK's Dinakaran in bribery case. Will he be arrested?

AIADMK kicks out Sasikala; lock, stock and son-in-law

Also watch:

Major blow to Mannarguddi clan as AIADMK ousts Sasikala, Dinakaran

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Nine News Perth host Tim McMillan will present Garda: Down Under, a look at Irish officers working for Western Australia Police.

This appears to be a production produced for Irish broadcaster, RTE, last year.

The documentary series, premiering this Sunday at 5.30pm, tells how since 2005, 30 recruits from Garda, Irelands national police force, have packed up and headed for a warmer climate, leaving recession-hit Ireland behind for a new life in WA where there is a need for more officers.

For the first time, WA Police has opened its doors to allow unique and unhindered access for an exclusive look at how the ex-Garda officers operate Down Under.

A A/Inspector Andrew Maher said: From the police beat in Ireland to the police beat in WA  what a great way to showcase the men and women who travelled from the other side of the world to take up their new policing duties. Diversity in our ranks adds to the quality of service we can provide to the community.

In this six-part series, the Irish recruits are followed on and off duty as they settle into WA, far from home and extended family networks. From the urban sophistication of Perth to the remoteness of Kununurra, these police officers do everything from taking forensic evidence to acting as temporary paramedics.

Set against WAs stunning backdrop of sunshine and beaches, Garda Down Under also shows how the sheer vastness and harsh landscape of our state can be one of the greatest hindrances to solving crime.

Sunday, April 23, at 5.30pm on Channel Nine Perth.
Doco series Tales from the Coast with Robson Green (Wire in the Blood, Grantchester) begins next week on Seven.

The series visiting British coastline screens Friday nights (Melbourne and Adelaide viewers on 7TWO).

This aired in the UK in January.

In the first episode, Robson travels to North Devon, a 90-mile stretch of coast that holds fond childhood memories for him. And its here that Robson starts his adventures by visiting the popular seaside resort of Ilfracombe, a town that stills attracts thousands of visitors every summer to experience the classic British day out by the sea.

Robson says: There are parts of North Devon that make you feel like youre stepping back in time, so Im hoping this journey will help me understand just how and why our love affair with the coast began.

He discovers that the demand of our Victorian ancestors to be beside the seaside was so great that they would often go to extraordinary lengths to access the best places to soak up the sun, including some of the areas privately-owned tidal pools, with the steep cliffs offering the perfect shelter for bathing.

However, back then they could only be accessed by boat, so in the 1820s, hundreds of Welsh miners were given the task of carving a network of tunnels through the cliffs, to open the pools up to the public. There, Robson also discovers something called the bathing machine, a Victorian invention designed to avoid any embarrassing swimwear mishaps whilst changing.

Robson also sees how the craggy rocks and high tidal ranges make the perfect habitat for marine life.

After a night under canvas, Robsons North Devon adventure continues as he takes a boat ride 10-miles southwest of Bideford, to the port of Clovelly, a village that evokes the character and atmosphere of a bygone age. With its cobbled streets and 13th century harbour, Clovelly has featured in period films like Sense and Sensibility and Treasure Island, but little did Robson know that after his arrival in this quiet seaside village, he was about to be involved in a moment of high drama and a real-life rescue mission

Robson also visits the island of Lundy, lying 12-miles off the North Devon coast, and one of the UKs most wild and unspoiled islands, where nature has been left to flourish. Within its one-and-a-half square miles are dramatic cliffs, acres of farmland and a spectacular array of wildlife, and just getting to Lundy is an adventure in itself. The Bristol Channel is notorious for its choppy waters and Robson struggles to find his sea legs.

On Lundy, the locals tell Robson that if he wants to get the ultimate view of its glorious coastline he will need to climb the sea cliff on the west side of the island known as The Devils Slide, the largest slab of granite in Europe, at 400-feet in length.

A trussed-up Robson sets off on his white-knuckle climb, made more difficult by the fact that the granite has few nooks or crannies to hold onto, meaning Robson must to rely on his feet to create the necessary friction. He says: I know Im attached to a rope, but when youre this high up with the waves crashing below your mind really does play tricks on you.

8:30pm Friday April 28 on Seven (7TWO in Melbourne and Adelaide).
Australian producer Paul Franklin (MasterChef, The Biggest Loser) will be showrunner on a new talent contest, The Launch, for Canadas CTV.

Franklin is co-developer of the series being produced with Canadas Bell Media and record label Big Machine, who discovered Taylor Swift.

The six-part series will be shot over 48 hours as a group of unsigned musicians perform original songs in front of a panel of veteran hit makers.

Two artists are then chosen to perform in front of a live audience, with the hit makers ultimately deciding which version of the songs will be commercially released across the country. Songs will be promoted through Bell Medias 30 local TV, 30 cable channels and four Pay TV services.

Paul Franklins Australian production company Eureka is currently producing The Chefs Line for SBS and Behave Yourself for Seven.

Source: Hollywood Reporter
An asylum seeker from Eritrea shares his story /  Renate Snore

Stories are means of introducing, explaining, and communicating. A Riga, Latvia-based NGO I Want to Help Refugees believes that stories can also be found outside of books  in voices of those who want to share their experiences. Peoples stories create a Living Library.

What matters is that they all have something to say, and that we can use conversation to erase the artificially constructed boundaries between us and them in order to see what unites us all, as it reads in the invitation to the event.

Living Library is an outlet for stories of those who have been on the move. Whether the person has left their home country voluntarily or has been forced to flee, they all face challenges on their way and after arrival. What have you sacrificed in order to make this journey? How do you form a life in an unknown country? How do you redefine your dreams in a new environment? What food do you miss from home? What do you think are the weirdest character traits of Latvians? Seven speakers from six different countries  Gambia, Germany, Eritrea, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey  shared their answers to these and many more questions to about 60 attendees from various backgrounds. The room was buzzing with many languages, intonations, laughter, and gasps, and questions didnt stop pouring even during breaks. Everyone wanted to know more, which can explain why some of those in attendance had returned after participating in one of the previous three Living Libraries as well.

It was a Monday evening in Riga when people started arriving at Kanepes Cultural Center, a building that is an embodiment of the social life in Riga across different times. Almost as soon as one entered the door, volunteers of I Want to Help Refugees encouraged everyone to share episodes of their own life stories in a short introductory round. Thus, attendees were immediately immersed in an informal conversation  the format chosen by the organizers as most suitable to promote understanding of the various experiences of people among us.

The organizers believe that such personal encounters in a friendly environment on topics ranging from food to culture, from daily experiences to journeys made during times of war are what facilitate understanding the different experiences and shaping ones own views on migration beyond the widely reproduced stereotypes. According to Laura Buzinska and Agnese Freimane, representatives of I Want to Help Refugees, such events will have a long-term impact: We challenge stereotypes and eliminate the unknowns, which helps people to shape their views and opinions even if they had never even given it a thought.

The Living Library usually closes with a sharing circle, where everyone has the opportunity to tell a short story of their experiences of the night. A recent returnee said: This is the group of people that makes me feel at home. By providing an outlet for voices of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, Living Library has created a space that is inclusive and open to all.

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The contribution is allocated to UNHCRs most acute emergencies: the Central African Republic crisis; the South Sudan crisis; the Syria crisis; and the Ukraine crisis, and for UNHCRs work with protracted refugee situations in Kenya, Ethiopia and South West Asia.

UNHCR welcomes this timely contribution which will help alleviate the suffering of some of the most vulnerable refugees in the world today, says Pia Prytz Phiri, UNHCR Regional Representative for Northern Europe.

The larger part of the donation, EUR 3 million, will support Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt. Almost 12 million people are displaced due to the violence in Syria and nearly 4 million people have fled to Syrias neighbouring countries. The Syria conflict has entered its fifth year with no end in sight. The Syria crisis has put an enormous strain on the host countries and many of the refugees are now living in severe circumstances, most of them below the poverty line. Finlands contribution will alleviate the suffering and support basic needs such as food, shelter and primary education, as well as specific needs for vulnerable groups, such as psychosocial support to traumatized refugee children and specific care for refugees with disabilities.

EUR 3 million is allocated to the South Sudan and Central African Republic crisis. By the end of 2013, conflict escalated yet again in both countries and fighting is still ongoing. Around 3.3 million people have been forced to flee to save their lives. Many are extremely malnourished, sick and severely traumatized by the brutal violence. The situation is most critical for children under the age of five, for elderly and pregnant women. UNHCR and partners are registering and relocating refugees to safety and distributing acute lifesaving emergency support, such as high energy biscuits, water and medical support. Both emergencies are extremely underfunded and Finlands support will have lifesaving significance for many people.

EUR 1.5 million is allocated to UNHCRs work with mainly displaced Afghans in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. Over 4 million Afghans have fled their homes, of which 2.6 million to Pakistan and Iran, many of them more than 30 years ago, making it the largest protracted refugee situation in the world.

The remaining EUR 2 million will support refugees in Ethiopia and Kenya, of which many are from South Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea, and EUR 0.5 million will support help to people displaced by the conflict in Ukraine.

Finland is one of UNHCRs top donors and partners. In 2014, Finland was UNHCRs 16th largest donor with USD 32.3 million in contribution (EUR 23.6 million).

UNHCR is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions, mainly from governments.
Lebanon: Syrian refugee Ehsan attaches his artificial limb at his home in Qab Elias, Lebanon.  UNHCR / A. McConnell / June 2014

We are grateful for Finlands support to UNHCR. Finland is an important donor to UNHCR and its contributions to the Syria crisis and refugee situations in Africa and Asia will alleviate the suffering of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons and ensure their protection. Finlands continued support to UNHCR will help the most vulnerable, such as children, women and people with disabilities in countries and regions where the need is the greatest, says Pia Prytz Phiri, Regional Representative for Northern Europe.

Furthermore, Phiri strongly embraces Finlands decision to also increase its resettlement quota with 300 places and allocate 500 places for Syrian refugees in 2014. To date, Finland is one of the 20 countries in the world that has pledged to receive Syrian refugees on resettlement or humanitarian admission.

The conflict in Syria has driven more than 2.7 million people into exile. Almost all refugees have fled to Syrias neighboring countries, whose own societies and economies are under extreme pressure. Around 6.5 million people have fled their homes within Syria due to the conflict and 5.5 million children are now affected inside the country and in neighbouring countries.

To keep pace with 2013s alarming exodus and ensure adequate protection and provide documentation, refugee registration efforts were expanded, reducing waiting times to only a matter of hours. Mobile registration teams were also established to better reach unregistered Syrian exiles. In addition, UNHCR distributed more then 196 000 tents to refugees living in camps or informal sites in the neighbouring countries of Syria. Schools and psycho-social support facilities were established and more than 5.7 million blankets, 4.9 million mattresses and 870 000 kitchen sets were distributed. For the cold winter season UNHCR provided insulation of tents, thermal blankets, stoves, clothing and fuel, heating of schools, and cash grant schemes. Inside Syria, UNHCR was able to reach over 3.2 million people delivering more than 8 million various core relief items.

In 2013, Finland was UNHCRs 15th largest donor. Of Finlands total support of USD 27.2 million, USD 9.1 million was unearmarked support. USD 7.8 million was earmarked for the Syria emergency. USD 7 million was targeted towards Africa, in particular the Somali refugee situation and the emergencies in Mali, South Sudan and Central African Republic. USD 2.6 million was earmarked mainly for protracted refugee situations in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran.

For 2014 Finland has so far supported UNHCR with USD 9.5 million to UNHCR operations worldwide; USD 4.1 million to the Syria situation; USD 2.8 million to South-West Asia (Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan); USD 2.1 million to Ethiopia; USD 2.1 million to Kenya; USD 1.4 million to the Myanmar situation; and USD 137,931 to Confidence Building Measures in Western Sahara.

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If political analysts are to be believed there may still be a chance for them to keep the power that they have always been hungry for. Even the political parties such as the DMK and the BJP in Tamil Nadu are not ready to accept that the Mannargudi family has lost its power.

By Rohini Swamy: Tamil Nadu's Chinnamma and the Mannargudi family are finding themselves in a very unpleasant situation where not only are they losing their clutch on the AIADMK, but legal tangles have overpowered their hunger for money.

The question today -- is the Mannargudi family down and out? If political analysts are to be believed there may still be a chance for them to keep the power that they have always been hungry for. Even the political parties such as the DMK and the BJP in Tamil Nadu are not ready to accept that the Mannargudi family has lost its power.

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Will this merger mean that the Mannargudi family has been decimated?

"We will have to wait and watch, we can't say anything now," said Tamilisai Soundarajan of the Tamil Nadu BJP.

SASIKALA TRIED VERY HARD TO STEP INTO AMMA'S SHOES

Chinnamma as Sasikala is popularly called has tried very hard to step into Amma's shoes but the infighting in the family caused a major split exposing the cracks in the Mannargudi team.

Sasikala has always wielded power in the state of Tamil Nadu even during Jayalalithaa's time through her relatives. And after the death of Jayalalithaa, her extended family was brought under one roof to try and claw her way to the top in the AIADMK party ladder.

Her quick rise as the general secretary, appointment of her nephew TTV Dhinakaran as the deputy general secretary and selecting Edappadi Palanisamy as the CM candidate, Chinnamma had ensured that she had sufficient control even though she was jailed in the Parappana Agrahara jail.

MERGER TALKS WEAKENED THE POWER OF MANNARGUDI MAFIA

The recent talks of a merger of the OPS and EPS camps have weakened the power of the Mannargudi mafia.

''We began this dharm yudh with two conditions. A judicial probe into Amma's death and removing Sasikala's family. They claim to have removed Sasikala's family, but they have to take back the affidavit submitted to EC calling Sasikala as GS and TTV as DGS," said K P Munusamy of the OPS camp.

The writing was on the wall when Edappadi Palanisamy began stonewalling TTV Dhinakaran's demands to hold an inquiry against O Panneerselvam. Later certain recommendations that were made by VK Sasikala on postings and transferred were overruled. But, interestingly many feel that the entire drama that has panned out since April 16 has been the brainchild of none other than TTV Dhinakaran himself.

'Now, they want to save the govt with numbers. Dinakaran may be scheming this, but this won't last long. This group does not have the people's mandate. They are running the show under Jaya's name. They should get a fresh mandate. When people start fighting for power it ends up in damage," said TKS Elangovan of the DMK.

TEAM V K SASIKALA MEMBERS' SWITCHED SIDES

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But those who were with team V K Sasikala also seem to have switched sides.

"I do not want to comment on what is happening in Dinakaran's mind. I joined the party for Amma. It is a cadre-based party. Whatever happens, his cards won't last long," said Apsara Reddy, the AIADMK spokesperson.

Sources say that the Mannargudi family has realised that they cannot occupy the seats of governance as they have too many legal cases against them, but they would be able to wield power through the proxies in the govt. It's not easy to get rid of the Sasikala and Mannargudi clout as they have penetrated into almost every layer of the government in the last few decades.

TOO EARLY TO WRITE OFF SASIKALA

Senior journalist of the Lede, Sandhya Ravishankar says, "It is too early to write Sasikala and her family off. The AIADMK has always been a party led by a single leader in an almost dictatorial fashion. First, MGR and then Jayalalithaa. I do not see the party evolving into a consensus based leadership. There are and will be pushes and pulls within. Ultimately for the next four years, power will be their only glue."

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O Panneerselvam may have vowed to free Tamil Nadu from the Mannargudi family, but that would be a far cry as her involvement in Jayalalithaa's political career and governance has ensured that she will always find a favourable spoke in the wheel of fortune.

ALSO READ:

Tamil Nadu: Dinakaran issued summons by Delhi Police for bribing to obtain AIADMK's two-leaves symbol

Panneerselvam calls Sasikala removal 'first win' after Dinakaran says won't fight 'what party wants'

Sasikala in jail but 'mafia from Mannargudi' is here to stay. Who are they?

From Poes garden to Prison: How Sasikala Natarajan became late AIADMK supremo's 'asset keeper'

WATCH THE VIDEO:

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We wish to see these powerful women on TV again.

By Parmita Uniyal: What's common among Shivanya, Naira, Gopi, Pragya and Ishita? Apart from the fact that they all are female protagonists of the leading soaps churning crazy number of TRPs, their inherent traits are exactly the same. They all are Miss goody two shoes, don't care about their own needs, priorities and suffer endlessly for the good of their family. They are pretty, perfect wives, but hardly the ones who are empowered.

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Be it supernatural shows, love stories or saas-bahu sagas, it is difficult to find female characters who have the mind of their own and who live life on their own terms.

Here are 5 female characters from the past who were way ahead of their times.

1. Shanti: India's first daily soap Shanti told the story of a journalist, daughter of a construction worker, who's conceived from a gang rape. The 1994-daily soap revolves around Shanti's (played by Mandira Bedi) attempts to get her mother justice and find out about the identity of her father. For that she befriends the rapist duo Kamesh Mahadevan and Raj G.J Singh on the pretext of writing their biographies.

The character of Shanti has various shades, and it's not unidimensional. It was a story ahead of its times, and touched upon an important issue.

2. Tara: Tara, played by Navneet Nishan, that premiered in 1993 was probably the first Indian soap that had contemporary Indian women as its main characters. Apart from Tara, her three other friends Kanchan (Ratna Pathak Shah), Sheena (Amita Nangia) and Arzoo (Neha Sharad) make some bold decisions in their lives and do not regret them.

Tara falls in love with a married man (played by Alok Nath) and the father of a teenager Devyani (played by Grusha Kapoor) who obviously never accepted her. Tara was bold in every sense of the word. Sporting a short crop hair style, she welcomed a child out of wedlock and was a non-conformist. The show became so popular that despite being a finite series it got multiple extensions and was on air for five years.

Tara was way ahead of its times as it didn't shy away from showing a kissing scene and let women have extra-marital affairs without judging them.

3. Svetlana from Swabhiman: Played by Kitu Gidwani, Svetlana is someone who discovers herself over the period of time and emerges as a strong and empowered woman. As mistress of businessman Keshav Malhotra, Kitu Gidwani's Svetlana was sexy, strong and unconventional. The character has various shades and sees immense growth during the course of the show. The show was written by Vinita Nanda, directed by Mahesh Bhatt and scripted by Shobha De.

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4. Simran from Astitva Ek Prem Kahani: Simran, a gynecologist in her mid-thirties, elopes with a man ten years younger to her after facing opposition from her family. What sets this character apart from the regular female characters is the fact that she knows her mind and can go against the societal pressures that stop women from living their lives freely.

5. Monica from Saara Akaash: Sai Deodhar plays Flight Lieutenant Monica Vikram Kocchar, an Air Force cargo pilot in Saara Akaash. She is bold, confident and a powerful character.

We really hope to see such characters again on TV.

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April 20 2017

Perth & Kinross Council have approved outline plans for a major mixed-use scheme in the Thimblerow area of the city, clearing the way for submission of a detailed planning application.Referred to as the Mill Quarter the development will establish a mix of restaurants, speciality shops, a multi-screen cinema, 58 apartments, and a multi-storey car park.A Perth & Kinross Council spokesperson commented: "Expresso Property have previously submitted a Proposal of Application Notice for the site, and are now close to finalising a detailed planning application for submission.Committee members have also backed proposals for the Council to lease and manage the 201-space multi-storey car park within the site. In line with the recent renovations to South Inch and Canal Street multi-storey car parks the new 201-space Mill Quarter car park will follow the pay-on-exit model.A formal planning application by Holmes Miller is now expected within the next few months with a targeted completion date set for spring 2019.
A college girl lodged a molestation complaint against a lecturer of a city-based polytechnic college who was the supervisor in her exam hall.

By Press Trust of India: Police today registered a case against a lecturer of a city-based polytechnic college for allegedly molesting a girl student. The professor was earlier assaulted by Shiv Sena workers, who blackened his face over the April 13 incident.

The incident took place on April 13 when the girl appeared for her college exam at Dharampeth Polytechnic College, which was her examination center. The victim studies in a different polytechnic college, police said.

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According to police, the accused Amit Ganvir had caught the girl copying during the exam.

"The girl later complained that the accused, Amit Ganvir, who is the lecturer at Dharampeth Polytechnic College and was the supervisor in her exam hall, had snatched her identity card, exam hall ticket and her mobile phone during the exam," in-charge of Ambhazari police station, inspector Atul Sabnis told PTI.

In the complaint, the victim alleged that Ganvir used vulgar language, but when she told him that she was recording his words, he returned her belongings, police said.

She also said that later on he demanded sexual favours from her, following which she approached the police and lodged a formal complaint against him.

Sabnis said that the accused has been booked under IPC section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty).

Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena workers blackened the face of the accused and took him to the police.

"After we received a complaint from the girl's friends about the lecturer, we approached the Principal of the college this afternoon and demanded action against him. However, since no action was taken, we blackened his face and took the accused to Ambazari police station," Shiv Sena activist Panju Totwani said.

Also Read:

2 held for molestation attempt on woman in running train

TVF molestation case: Arunabh Kumar gets anticipatory bail

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Phi Beta Kappa Names New Members to UW Chapter

Tom Buchanan

The nations oldest and most prestigious academic honor society has selected 36 new members for the University of Wyoming chapter, including a former UW president elected to honorary membership.

Members of Phi Beta Kappa (PBK) are selected based upon their demonstrated excellence in the liberal arts and sciences.

To be elected, a student needs to show a balanced liberal arts education that accords with the national stipulations, and which we verify by examining every candidates transcript in detail, says Eric Nye, professor in the Department of English and chapter secretary. Our chapter requires that candidates have completed a substantial amount of second-language coursework as well as courses in math.

Nye says members cannot apply or be nominated to PBK, but are selected by faculty members in the chapter. Membership never exceeds the top 10 percent of the graduating class, and Nye says PBK members at UW typically are in the top 4 to 5 percent.

UWs chapter, Alpha of Wyoming, was chartered in 1940. Since then, more than 2,000 students have been elected into membership. There are 116 resident members among UWs faculty and staff members.

Most new members are seniors, but a handful of outstanding students are elected as juniors. Each will receive a $1,000 Louise A. Lee Johnson Memorial Scholarship. This years recipients are Brent Bihr, of Casper; Mimi Kreuzer and Emily Wood, both from Cheyenne; and Paul Richter, of Skokie, Ill.

Honorary members may be UW faculty members or others whose work in the promotion of educational, literary, social or scientific progress is generally and widely commended. They must meet the provisions outlined in the Phi Beta Kappa Societys constitution and bylaws.

Tom Buchanan, UWs 23rd president (2005-2013), will receive honorary membership. Buchanan retired from UW in 2013, concluding a longtime career in higher education. Since 1979, Buchanan served in various capacities at UW, including as professor in the Department of Geography; department head; associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; and provost and vice president for academic affairs. As president, Buchanans priorities for the university included excellence in academics; promoting access to higher education in Wyoming; and enhancing economic and workforce development in the state.

The new members will be inducted at a public ceremony Friday, April 28, at 3 p.m. in the Wyoming Union Family Room. Buchanan will present the keynote address, titled A Liberal Education: Now More Than Ever. Family members, friends and faculty of the inductees are invited to attend.

PBK annually selects new members in each of its 286 chapters nationwide. UWs chapter sponsors lectures, scholarships and other academic activities.

New PBK members at UW, listed by hometowns and majors, are:

Aurora, Colo. -- Brianna OShea, English.

Casper -- Brent Bihr, international studies and Spanish; Kristine Carmen, physiology; and Anna Schenfisch, music and mathematics.

Centennial, Colo. -- Nathan Forest, international studies.

Cheyenne -- Elizabeth Cave, international studies; Margaret Cave, international studies; Cassidy Hysell, psychology; Mimi Kreuzer, social science; and Emily Wood, international studies and German.

Cody -- Trevor Cook, humanities/fine arts and theater; and Briana Roberts, international studies.

Colorado Springs, Colo. -- Deanna Traczek, anthropology.

Elizabeth, Colo. -- Ellen Hughes, history, and environment and natural resources.

Evansville -- Elizabeth Hobbs, English.

Gillette -- Taylor McInerney, international studies.

Laramie -- Shelbi Bailey, humanities/fine arts; Collin Ballard, international studies and religious studies; Joellen Coates, microbiology; Michelle Hardy, journalism; Brie Hein, English, secondary education; Meghan Kent, anthropology and communications; Madison Klopfer, anthropology; James Millett, anthropology; Nathan Phelps, English; Hannah Stansbury, political science and psychology; Corinne Taylor, anthropology; and Sage Weber, philosophy.

Lincoln, Calif. -- Haley Biswell, journalism.

Minatare, Neb. -- Katelyn Myers, history.

Rawlins -- Caitlyn Edwards, Spanish.

Riverton -- Elizabeth Grindle, anthropology, and environment and natural resources.

Skokie, Ill. -- Paul Richter, mathematics, economics and statistics.

Thornton, Colo. -- Ashley Dafoe, anthropology.

Worland -- Larissa Siirila, chemistry.
UW Offers Negotiated Gas Rate to Employees and Retirees

The University of Wyoming is offering employees and retirees an opportunity to choose the negotiated natural gas rate under the Choice Gas program. Employees who have not selected a supplier and rate have until 10 p.m. Thursday, April 27, to sign up for the special UW rate.

UW negotiated the special natural gas rate with Wyoming Community Gas, one of eight suppliers selling gas under the Choice Gas program. The residential rate is being offered to employees in Source Gas' Casper Division, which includes Laramie and Casper, but not Cheyenne and Torrington.

The negotiated UW employee option is an index rate, which is the monthly gas price, as listed on the CIG Index, with a $0.06/therm adder, says Frosty Selmer, deputy director at UW Operations in charge of utilities.

For example, the CIG Index cost for February 2017 is $0.312/therm, which would put the billing at $0.372/therm for all of the therms used for the month. This price does not include the distribution charges added to all options, usually $0.20-$0.23 per therm.

Employees should keep in mind that the UW option might not be the most economical. UW also may elect to lock in a fixed rate per therm, at a later date, if warranted.

For current UW employees and retirees who want to sign up for the negotiated market index rate, Wyoming Community Gas offers two registration options: email Marquia at WCG_Admin@exeloncorp.com requesting the UW rate, or call Marquia at (785) 338-4717.

To register, you will need to have your account number and control number. Please note, Choice Gas forms will not be accepted at the UW Service Building.
Professional hunter Scott van Zyl, who went missing for a week from one of his expeditions, is believed to have been eaten by Nile crocodiles in Zimbabwe.

By India Today Web Desk: A South African hunter, 44-year-old Scott van Zyl, went missing after he left for a hunting expedition and is believed to have been eaten by crocodiles in Zimbabwe. The hunter went with a Zimbabwean tracker and a pack of dogs near Chikwaraka camp and did not return to the base camp.

Scott was a professional hunter who killed exotic animals in his hunting expeditions in the past. He used to organise hunting trips for foreign clients and owned a company named SS Pro Safaris.

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Scott and his tracker got separated after leaving their pickup. The pack of dogs returned without Scott after the trip and his belongings including his rifle was found in the pickup truck.

A search team equipped with helicopters, locals and divers checked the entire area and distributed pamphlets with Scott Van Zyl's image in nearby villages and to fishermen on the banks of the river.

|| FYI || Turning the tables: When animals treat us like animals ||

Later, his backpack was found near Limpopo river along with tracks leading to the bank of the river.

He may have been eaten by two Nile crocodiles, said Sakkie Louwrens, a member of one of the search teams. Forensic experts are trying to find out whether the remains obtained from the crocodiles belonged to the professional hunter or not.

Scott's team used to hunt rhinos, lions, leopards, elephants, antelopes and buffaloes and conducted numerous "safaris" with their foreign clients.

|| FYI || Drone captures incredible footage of dolphins hunting a shark ||

But, it is not the first time this has happened. There have been many incidents in the past where crocodiles in Southern Zimbabwe have brutally killed people who went near the river.

AJ Plus tweeted a photo of Scott saying, "man who hunted elephants and leopards has reportedly been eaten by crocodiles."

A South African man who hunted elephants and leopards has reportedly been eaten by crocodiles. pic.twitter.com/60IZpAbHSh- AJ+ (@ajplus) April 20, 2017

The tweet that was retweeted nearly 1,000 times also got many reactions from Twitter users which some of you might find insensitive.

Also watch: Swiss Farmers Develop Unique 'Cow Therapy' to Deal with Stress

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While the NGT was against the idea of holding the World Culture Festival on the Yamuna floodplains in New Delhi last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal praised Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for organising such an event.

Art of Living Foundation's Sri Sri Ravi Shankar with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at World Culture Festival organised last year in New Delhi. (Photo: @ANI_news)

By Prabhash K Dutta: Between March 11 and 13 last year, the Art of Living of spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar organised the World Culture Festival in the floodplains of the Yamuna in New Delhi.

The World Culture Festival was organised to celebrate the 35 years of existence of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had red-flagged the event and gave its nod only after it became clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be attending the opening ceremony on March 11.

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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was to come for the closing ceremony.

But, the NGT's nod was not unconditional.

THE NGT CONDITIONS

Just two days ahead of the beginning of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Culture Festival, the NGT allowed holding the event in the Yamuna floodplains.

The Art of Living was asked to develop the entire area as a biodiversity zone after the event. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's organisation was also asked to pay Rs 5 crore as green penalty or Environmental Compensation, as NGT put it, for conducting the even in an ecologically fragile region.

(Photo: Facebook/The World Culture Festival)

The NGT, headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar, also fined the Delhi Development Authority (under the central government) for granting permission without conduction inspections of the actual scale of activities and violating the tribunal's order.

The NGT further imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on the Delhi Pollution Control Board (under the Delhi government) for not doing its statutory duty in the case of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Culture Festival.

The Art of Living Foundation was asked not to release enzymes into the Yamuna river water. It sought an undertaking from the Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Foundation that no further degradation of environment would be caused at the site of the World Culture Event.

Structures being raised at the Yamuna floodplains for the World Culture Festival. (Photo: PTI files)

MODI, KEJRIWAL BACKED SRI SRI

Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal attended the function and heaped lavish praise on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for organising the event.

The participation of the Prime Minister and Delhi Chief Minister looked surprising at that point of time as the NGT had expressed deep anguish over the entire event. Many thought that PM Modi and Delhi CM Kejriwal would stay away as the matter was related environment degradation in the heart of the national capital.

Speaking on the occasion, Modi had said, "India has the cultural heritage and richness which the whole world is looking for. We can fulfill those needs," adding, "But it can only happen, if we take pride in our heritage. If we keep cursing it, why the world will look at us?"

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Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said, "There is no pollution here, only culture (sanskriti). There is no harm to the environment, only smiles."Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra openly supported the Art of Living event on the Yamuna floodplains.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at the World Culture Festival. (Photo: PTI)

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Kejriwal began his speech with the chant of 'Jai Gurudev!' amid roaring cheer from the audience.

"Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has joined both ends of the political spectrum on this dais. On his left, is the Centre (BJP) and to his right is the Delhi Government (AAP)," Kejriwal had said before seeking help from the spiritual guru to "clean up Yamuna".

YAMUNA FLOODPLAINS SUFFERED PERMANENT DAMAGE

After the World Culture Event concluded, an expert committee headed by Union Water Resources Secretary Shashi Shekhar examined the floodplains of Yamuna.

The expert committee told the NGT that it would take 10 years to mitigate the damage caused to the Yamuna floodplains by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Culture Festival.

Expert committee has found that Yamuna and its floodplains have suffered ecological damage due to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Culture Festival. (Photo: Reuters)

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The expert committee estimated that approximately 300 acres on the right bank and about 120 acres on the left bank of Yamuna had been damaged ecologically.

"The ground is now totally levelled, compacted and hardened and is totally devoid of water bodies or depressions and almost completely devoid of any vegetation," the expert committee report said.

Now, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has termed the report as biased. The NGT, the highest judicial body in the country on the environmental matters, is fuming.

ALSO READ |

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's biased remarks shocking, Art of Living has no sense of responsibility: NGT

ALSO WATCH | NGT panel rules Art of Living destroyed Yamuna floodplains

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A Union flag flies near the Houses of Parliament in London. Parliament is to vote Wednesday on holding a snap election in June, as Prime Minister Theresa May seeks to make strong gains against the opposition ahead of gruelling Brexit negotiations. (Photo: AFP/Justin Tallis)

The House of Commons voted by 522 to 13 to hold a general election on Jun 8 - plunging Britain back into political uncertainty just weeks before the start of negotiations on leaving the European Union.

May stunned the country on Tuesday when she announced her plan for an early vote, despite having repeatedly said she would wait until the next election scheduled in 2020.

In fiery exchanges in the House of Commons on Wednesday, May said an early election would strengthen her hand against domestic critics seeking to "frustrate the process" of Brexit, which formally began last month.

"I will be asking the British people for a mandate to complete Brexit and to make a success of it," the Conservative leader said, to cheers from her lawmakers sitting behind her.

Riding high in the opinion polls, May is seeking to increase her slim majority of 17 in the 650-seat Commons before the battles begin with the EU over Britain's exit bill and future trade and immigration ties.

She insists an early election would provide "certainty and stability" in the negotiations, which will now start after the vote.

In a sign of the key campaign issues ahead, May traded barbs in the Commons with opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose party is deeply divided and languishing up to 20 points behind the Conservatives.

Corbyn accused the government of "broken promises" on health, education and the economy during its seven years in office.

May hit back that Labour offered only "bankruptcy and chaos", but denied she was complacent, saying: "We will be out there fighting for every vote."

'ELECTION LANDSLIDE'

British elections are fixed in law but can be changed with a two-thirds majority in the Commons - a threshold easily passed during Wednesday's vote.

All sides are now gearing up for the fourth major election in four years, after last June's shock referendum vote for Brexit, the 2015 general election, and the 2014 Scottish independence vote.

Brexit will dominate the campaign, with May - who took office after David Cameron resigned following the EU vote - seeking public backing for her plan to pull Britain out of Europe's single market.

A European Commission spokesman said the "real political" negotiations on Brexit will start after the election.

Three weekend opinion polls put the Conservatives about 20 points ahead of Labour, and if translated into votes, this could give May an "election landslide" with a majority of more than 100, according to an analysis by The Times.

May, Britain's second female prime minister, also has strong popular support for her handling of the political earthquake unleashed by Brexit.

By contrast Labour is wracked by divisions, over Brexit and Corbyn's left-wing leadership, which is opposed by many of his more centrist MPs.

So far, Labour's stance on Brexit has been to allow the government to go ahead with the EU divorce, but only under certain conditions, such as retaining strong economic ties with the bloc.

That approach risks satisfying neither its traditional working-class supporters, many of whom backed leaving the EU, or its urban, pro-European members - leaving many commentators predicting an electoral bloodbath.

Three Labour MPs have already announced they will not stand again. Former Conservative finance minister George Osborne, a powerful voice in favour of Britain's EU membership during the referendum campaign, also said he would not seek re-election.

SCOTLAND'S MANDATE

The smaller Liberal Democrats, who lost most of their seats in 2015 after entering coalition with the Conservatives, are hoping to capitalise on their strong support for the EU to win new support.

Meanwhile the Scottish National Party, which holds most of the seats in Scotland, is pushing its demands for a second referendum on independence in order to maintain close ties with the EU.

"Make no mistake, if the SNP wins this election in Scotland - and the Tories don't - then Theresa May's attempt to block our mandate to hold another referendum when the time is right, will crumble to dust," SNP leader and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said.

Like almost everyone else in Britain, the election announcement caught financial markets off guard, amid concerns of the economic implications of Brexit.

The pound rallied on speculation that May will be returned with a stronger mandate, but this caused London's FTSE 100 index - which features many multinationals earning in dollars - to fall.
Being the queen that she is, Sushmita Sen wants you to know that education is a birthright for all humans.

By India Today Web Desk: Sushmita Sen is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful brains in the entire Hindi-movie industry. She's always been one of those beauty queens who deserved each sparkle of that crown, and have thus done absolute justice to it.

But unlike most beauty queens, Sush's duty towards the nation does not finish as soon as she passes on the crown. Sushmita Sen, being the forever-kinda-queen that she is, has been associated with a number of social issues and organizations to truly make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate.

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Yesterday, she attended the Pratham Gala, and spoke about the importance of education in one's life. For the uninitiated, Pratham is an NGO that works towards providing high-quality, low-cost education to the kids of Mumbai's slums.

In her address last night, Sushmita said, "My baba was right: 'Beta if you want to get to know yourself, if you want to know the place you have in this world, you need to educate yourself; educate yourself to know that your life matters, that living it with dignity is not an option, it's a birthright for every single life that exists and co-exists."

At the gala, held in Huston, Texas, on April 19 night, Sush also spoke about the importance of empathy, about how easy it is to forget about others' existence, given the lives we're now leading. And while she was at it, she even went on to quote Winston Churchill. Here, see for yourself:

Through the gala, the NGO managed to raised USD 1.4 million at Texas last night. The money raised will directly impact the education of 2,00,000 kids in India.

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Road accidents in India killed nearly 150,000 people in 2016, around 400 a day. (Photo: AFP/Money Sharma)

The bus with 56 passengers on board plunged into a river in northern Himachal Pradesh state around 115 kilometres (70 miles) from the capital Shimla.

"A preliminary report shows that a private bus fell into a gorge and has killed more than 40 people. The latest report given to me shows 44 people have been killed," Rohan Chand Thakur, district commissioner of Shimla, told AFP.

Police rushed to the scene where rescue efforts were underway, he added. It was not immediately clear what caused the accident, or whether any of the survivors were injured.

India has some of the world's deadliest roads with more than 150,000 fatalities annually due to poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.

In February, 16 people were killed and more than 50 injured when a truck carrying churchgoers overturned in a hilly region of northeast India.

Survivors said the driver was manoeuvring recklessly and lost control of the vehicle in the rugged terrain.

A month earlier 13 people - mostly children aged between seven and 14 - were killed when a school bus collided with a truck in northern India.
An auto part production line at Vietnam Precision Industrial No 1 Co Ltd in Khai Quang Industrial Park in the northern province of Vinh Phuc.-VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet

The information was released during a meeting between Vietnamese businesspeople and a Chinese delegation of automakers from Shandong Provinces Jinan City held by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in Ha Noi on Tuesday.

Pham Quang Thinh, deputy head of the VCCIs International Relations Department, said the workshop was an opportunity for automakers from both sides to introduce their production capacity, learn more about the market and seek partners to develop their businesses.

Liu Chang Yong, Chairman of Jinan Heavy Duty Truck Parts Association, said the association had more than 500 business members who exported parts to round 100 nations in the world earning dozens of billions of US dollars in revenue.

We expect to further understand and co-operate with Vietnamese firms for mutual benefit, said Yong.

According to a report by the Ministry of Industry and Trades Heavy Industry Department, the use of auto in the country would boom after 2020, and the demand in the domestic market could reach more than 600,000 units per year as of 2025.

The 2016 report showed that there were more than 400 businesses which designed and assembled about 460,000 cars per year in Viet Nam, marking an average growth rate of 17 per cent.

A statistic from Vietnam Customs revealed that the total trade turnover of Viet Nam and China was about US$70 billion in 2016, of which Viet Nams export was nearly $20 billion.

Chinese businesses have invested in more than 1,500 projects in Viet Nam with total investment capital of nearly $11 billion, focussing on processing, industrial engineering and mining.
DDCSs Doosan Vina volunteers to help needy people in their local community

70 employee volunteers renovated, upgraded and cleaned the homes of four families in Binh Thuan commune, Binh Son district, Quang Ngai province. Doosan Vinas employees will be part of a global initiative that will see thousands of Doosan employees worldwide work to help their neighbours.

Doosan Vinas employees renovated four houses which were old and in dire need of repair. The elderly owners were physically and financially unable to make the urgently needed improvements so the DDCS effort was well timed.

The Doosan Vina volunteers renovated the roof, doors and windows, fixed electrical system, painted the walls and cleaned each of the four homes. In addition, the owners of each home were also gifted with household goods valued at around VND20 million ($870). The total amount of money spent for the renovations was nearly VND100 million ($4,348), which does not count the donated labour and materials.

Eighty-three year old widow Nguyen Thi Loi said through tears, My income is too low and my sons and daughters work very far from home. I am not physically able to do the repairs myself so the condition has just continued to get worse. Doosan Vinas help has come at a very good time and the upgrade will allow me to stay dry when the rains come, which will be good for my health. My children worry about me, but they can only do so much. This will ease the burden on me and my family. Thank you so much.

This is the 4th time Ive joined in DDCS. The day is really an encouragement because I can see the good we are doing and have a chance to meet the people we are helping. These elderly members of our community deserve to be looked after and it warms my heart to be able to help, and to work for a company that supports this type of service, said employee Nguyen Tan Thuan.

Since the first DDCS on October 24, 2014, thousands of Doosan employees around the world have joined the programme.

I am so proud of our employees when I see them working hard and with such enthusiasm to help their fellow citizens. We believe programmes like this will make life better in the community and we will continue to coordinate with local leaders to find ways to improve life for the residents in our community, said Yeon In Jung, Doosan Vinas CEO.
Thanh Thanh Cong Tay Ninh and Bien Hoa sugar companies plan to merge to create the largest sugar company in the Viet Nams stock market.-Photo ttcsugar.com.vn

Board of directors of Thanh Thanh Cong Tay Ninh will submit the merger plan for approval at its extraordinary general meeting scheduled in late May or early June.

Thanh Thanh Cong Tay Ninh and Bien Hoa  both owned by Thanh Thanh Cong Group (TTC)  are currently among the largest sugar companies on the stock market.

Following the merger, market capitalisation of the new company is estimated at nearly VND10 trillion (US$438.6 million). Its annual turnover will be more than VND8 trillion.

At the shareholders meeting, the stock swap and operation plans of the new company will also be discussed.

TTC, chaired by Dang Van Thanh, is considered the leading company in the sugar industry as it holds controlling stake in many large sugar companies, including Thanh Thanh Cong Tay Ninh (SBT), Gia Lai Hydropower Sugar (SEC), Bien Hoa (BHS), Ninh Hoa (NHS) and Phan Rang Sugar Company.

The merger of sugar companies owned by TTC is being carried out over the past few years, with TTC merging SEC with SBT and NHS with BHS.

With the merger of SBT and BHS, TTC will still have ownership of SBT and BHSs areas of expertise  advanced technology, experienced staff, strong brands and a large retail network.

BHS has been praised for its diverse products and is the only Vietnamese company to own a sugar refinery line from Japan. Therefore, BHS sugar is of high quality and is always sold at prices higher than the products of other companies.

TTC has also increased its investments in other sugar companies, such as Duong Nuoc Trong, Bourbon An Hoa, Duong La Nga and Duong 333, in an ambitious plan to strengthen its position as the market leader in the industry.

According to AgroMonitor, TTC is leading the industry with 17.2 per cent of market share. The figure can move up to 27 per cent if one only considers the southern market.

However, its position has been threatened by imports. With Viet Nam joining the ASEAN Economic Community in late 2015, the import tariff on sugar products from ASEAN was cut to 5 per cent and will be further cut to zero per cent after 2018.

This is a huge concern for Viet Nams sugar industry, which, as stated by the Viet Nam Sugar Cane and Sugar Association, has weak competitiveness due to high production cost.

Therefore, the urgent task for sugar companies is to cut production, which, in turn, depends on their capability of acquiring companies with large material growing areas and bringing high-yield sugarcane to Viet Nam.
Websites or online services helping travelers to prepare for their trips via a mouse click is a gold mine left unexploited in Vietnam, experts have said at an event jointly held by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper and Google.

Trinh Quang Chung, industry manager of Google Asia Pacific, said Vietnam currently has 47.7 million Internet users, most of whom search travel information, destinations and other related services as part of their daily habit.

Chung underlined this statistic with the fact that more Vietnamese are using mobile phones for their online trip planning than U.S. users.

Forty-eight percent of Vietnamese users search for hotel bookings on the Internet, compared to 18 percent in the U.S., according to the Google representative. Similarly, the ratio of Vietnamese and American users looking for travel information online is 42 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

However, Google experts told the conference that despite this great potential, it has yet to be taken advantage of by Vietnamese businesses.

Ha Lam Tu Quynh, Country Communications and PR lead with Google Asia Pacific, said that there are more than 260 million people in Southeast Asia with Internet access, all potential customers of travel companies.

However, most Vietnamese companies have developed their websites with little attention to what the users really need, nor the platforms information optimization or a user friendly experience, Quynh explained.

The need to go mobile

Vietnamese travel websites takes an average of ten seconds to load, which Google suggested should be improved, given that a DoubleClick study recently revealed that 53 percent of visitors leave a site if its page-load time is longer than three seconds.

Chung, the Google expert, put the emphasis on the need for travel websites to go mobile.

If a travel firm does not have a mobile presence, or delivering mobile users a slow experience, they are passing on the chance to create an advantage over their competitors, Chung said.

Mobile platforms will allow even a small Vietnamese tour operator to reach customers worldwide. This is why Google is offering tools and programs to help Vietnamese companies make the most use of mobile, he added.

Quynh advised that local companies start by setting up a good website which meets three criteria: mobile friendly, fast page-load time and a good user experience.

With Google providing technical assistance to local travel firms, Tuoi Tre can alsot assist through effective media solutions.

Tuoi Tre will support travel firms by promoting them, especially those with eco-friendly tourism products, both in print and online editions, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Le Xuan Trung said at the conference.

The newspaper can also act as a bridge linking small to medium sized tourism operators with regulatory bodies, help them resolve bureaucratic difficulties and boost their overall development.
Illustration photo

Businesses investing in agriculture and rural areas receiving assistance should meet such requirements as having the minimum revenue of VND500 million per ha per year for planting and VND1 billion per ha per year for aquaculture and farming scale of more than three ha.

The businesses will be assisted in infrastructure such as transport, electricity, water and environmental treatment, with VND500 million per ha, and not exceeding VND10 billion per project.

They will receive the maximum assistance of VND200 million per ha for building infrastructure, electricity, water and environmental treatment.

Projects in agriculture and rural areas and zones will be financed with 60% of the expenditure, not exceeding VND5 billion per one.

Businesses investing in special agriculture projects will be supported with 70% of the expenditure for vocational training, 50% of advertisement expenditure, 50% of expenditure joining domestic and foreign fairs and 50% of expenditure to get access to market and services from the States trade promotion agencies.

These businesses will be assisted with VND5 million in establishing and monitoring a national online portal for agricultural transactions.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 20 (PTI) Renewable energy solution provider Suzlon Group today said it has bagged fifth order from ReNew Power Ventures for its 100.80 MW wind power project.

"Suzlon will install 48 units of their latest S111 120m wind turbine generators (WTG) with a capacity of 2.1 MW in ReNew Power?s Limbwas project in Madhya Pradesh," the company said in a statement.

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According to the statement, Suzlon will provide a comprehensive range of services including operation and maintenance and dedicated life-cycle asset management solutions for an initial period of 10 years.

This turnkey project for Suzlon is scheduled to be completed by March 2018. The project has the potential to provide power to over 54,000 households and reduce 0.20 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum.

"This is the fifth repeat order from ReNew Power. The S111 120m wind turbine?s cost effective design and superior performance offers reduced levelised cost of energy (LCoE). The new turbine has garnered an enthusiastic response from customer segments across the board,? J P Chalasani, Group CEO, Suzlon Group, said in the statement.

With this order, Suzlon?s portfolio with ReNew Power would exceed more than 600 MW, spanning across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, it said.

The S111 2.1 MW not only delivers higher energy yield, but also offers higher return on investment for customers, it said. PTI KKS BAL

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The national election body has called on media proprietors to allot equal airtime to all political parties during campaigning for the upcoming local election.

In a letter signed by National Election Committee (NEC) Chairman Sik Bunhok on April 12, the body said that the selling or renting broadcast hours to political parties for disseminating policy of the parties must be done in accordance with the principle of equality.

The rules require radio and television stations to block monopolies on broadcasting for a particular party, a measure that will be difficult to implement in Cambodias highly polarized media scene.

Chea Sundaneth, director of the Women Media Center, which runs the FM 102 radio station, said the rules had been in place for some time, but were not always adhered to.

In the past, there was not any political party coming to rent or buy broadcast hours from me because we had projects, so we let them come for free, she said.

Sam Inn, secretary general of the Grassroots Democratic Party (GDP), said the party did not have the funds to pay for campaign advertisements, so they would try to get broadcast time on state-run radio and television networks, as well as radio stations run by non-profits.

This [anti-monopoly] principle is good, meaning the NEC required all private companies to rent broadcast hours with equal time and price, he said.

But we will wait to see if private television dare to implement the principle of NEC or not, he added.

Sam Kuntheamy, executive director of election watchdog Nicfec, said the NEC had no real power to force broadcasters to implement the rules.

Some political parties have a strong alignment with certain radio or television networks, so they can rent more hours via those radio and television stations, he said.

Hang Puthea, NEC spokesman, said the body was also implementing rules to prohibit dirty campaigning involving the trading of insults between parties.

Political campaigning is an act of showing the political spirit and view from the parties to the general public. This is the right thing. But what is wrong is instigation which has a nature of defaming or causing harm to the security, safety, and public order and so on, he said.
The Ministry of Health on Tuesday rejected claims from a Cambodian-American doctor who alleged he had been denied a medical license and barred from bringing medical supplies into the country after he criticized Cambodias health sector earlier this year.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the ministry said it had never received an application from the doctor, Quach Mengly.

The ministry has never received any proposal from Quach Mengly for his private business and humanitarian work, the letter said.

Mam Bunheang, Minister of Health, declined to comment further. I dont want to respond in the press. I just want him to respect the laws and not defame, he said.

Mengly in January claimed that 90 percent of Cambodias doctors are inept and treat their patients badly. His comments prompted a doctors association to call for an apology and Prime Minister Hun Sen to defend the health sector.

Mengly said that the application had been submitted by an assistant via an intermediary with connections in the Ministry of Health, as is customary in a country where corruption is endemic and personal connections carry significant weight.

Mengly said his health ministry connection had reported back that high officials at the ministry had declined the application.

I dont want to have more problems. I dont accuse any specific groups. But I would ask for understanding since I do this work to help the government and Cambodian people. It is not related to politics, he said.

Hun Sen personally responded to Menglys comments in January, saying, The majority of our physicians are very ethical, professionally responsible and make sacrifices to save peoples lives.

He did, however, acknowledge that there were deficiencies in the health sector where improvements could be made.

The comments came amid a public outcry over the state of health care facilities and treatment. A lack of confidence in local medical facilities leads many who can afford to travel to leave the country for treatment.
Despite speculation that the United States might launch a pre-emptive strike against North Korea if it conducted another nuclear test, the chance it could happen appears slim, former U.S. officials say.

While the Trump administration insists it does not want to divulge what it will do to counter the regime's nuclear threat, it is unlikely that the U.S. "will do anything unless it sees what North Korea does," said David Gompert, former acting director of national intelligence in the Obama administration.

"Because to strike first, to strike pre-emptively, would more or less guarantee an exchange of hostilities," Gompert told VOA, "whereas by waiting to see what happens, [there] is always a chance that North Korea will do nothing."

North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests so far, and it recently declared that it was ready to carry out another test.

Persistent pressure

James Winnefeld, a retired U.S. Navy admiral who served as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Barack Obama, said President Donald Trump's words didn't mean action, and that his tough talk was designed to keep the pressure on North Korea.

"I think we have to put this in the context of the president's negotiating style," Winnefeld said. "He threatens the use of force when in fact he doesn't have, in my opinion, the intent to use force just for nuclear tests by North Korea."

Amid escalating tensions and heated rhetoric on North Korea, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told reporters in Seoul this week, "North Korea would do well not to test [Trump's] resolve or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region," and that "all options are on the table," including the use of military force to counter the North Korean regime's growing aggression.

"We will defeat any attack and we will meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with an overwhelming and effective response," Pence said.

Testing vs. provocations

Dennis Blair, who was Obama's director of national intelligence and also served as the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific region, advised against responding to a North Korean nuclear test  part of a long-term program to develop missiles and nuclear weapons  with military action, which he said should be carried out only in the event of North Korean attacks on the U.S. or its allies.

"There's a difference between missile and nuclear tests, which are really developing capability within Korea over the long term, and provocations like artillery shelling of the offshore islands, which they've done a couple of years ago, [or] the sinking of a [South Korean] destroyer," said Blair, referring to the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island and the sinking of the naval vessel Cheonan in 2010. He said he thought such provocations "should be met with strong military responses."

Sam Locklear, who led the U.S. Pacific Command from 2012 to 2015, said it was unclear whether a possibly imminent nuclear test by Pyongyang would be met with U.S. military action. But one thing is certain, he said: "The time is running out for Kim Jong Un and his regime to either behave or to suffer the consequences."

"This administration has particularly pointed out and said, 'You better start behaving here because we are done waiting on you; we are done being patient and we are not going to sit by,' " Locklear said in an interview with VOA.

Although the former military and intelligence officials said they were skeptical that the U.S. would respond to North Korea's nuclear test with a pre-emptive strike, they said such a response could cause tremendous damage within U.S.-allied countries in the region, particularly South Korea.

Bombardment of Seoul

Gompert, who also served as principal deputy director of national intelligence, said a pre-emptive strike by the U.S. would result in the use of conventional military force by North Korea against the South  for instance, a very large-scale artillery bombardment of Seoul  that "could be exceedingly dangerous."

"If the United States was going to respond with force to a North Korean nuclear test, it might not be able to limit its attacks to North Korean nuclear sites. It might also have to contemplate attacking a much wider range of military targets," Gompert said.

Some believe a U.S. pre-emptive strike could be the trigger for an all-out nuclear war.

"If there's a war on the peninsula, that could end up going nuclear very quickly," Winnefeld said. "I don't think anybody wants that."

On Tuesday, Trump said during an interview with TV station WTMJ in Wisconsin, "You always have to be concerned," when he was asked whether Americans should worry about nuclear war with North Korea.

This report originated with VOA's Korean service.
Anti-corruption activists in Nigeria say the president's suspension of two top officials is only a first step and must be followed up with more action.

On Wednesday, Buhari suspended national intelligence agency chief Ayo Oke, who was linked to more than $40 million found in an empty Lagos apartment, and the secretary of his government, David Babachir Lawal, who allegedly collected money on a phony contract.

Abdulkarim Dayyabu is chairman of the Movement for Justice in Nigeria, a non-governmental organization. He says the suspensions are overdue.

"This should have been done a long time ago," Dayyabu told VOA's Hausa Service on Thursday. "Someone like Buhari ought to take immediate measures against any official accused of corruption; he should not wait for too long.

Abdulmajid Dan Bilki Kwamanda is a member of the ruling APC coalition who recommends the president move against other aides.

Buhari is finally fighting corruption from within. He must continue to look inwards and confront his senior officials who are accused of corruption head-on," he said.

Another activist, Najaatu Mohammed, is skeptical that the suspended officials will be held accountable, saying the administration shielded Lawal previously when senators accused him of corruption.

We are looking for results," she told VOA.

There have been calls, including one from Nigerias Senate, for the removal of Lawal over his alleged complicity in the mismanagement of funds meant for a presidential initiative on northeastern Nigeria

Rholavision Engineering, a company owned by Lawal, received payments of about $500,000 from a contract he awarded for the clearing of invasive plant species in Yobe state.

Oke, director-general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), is embroiled in the discovery of $43 million in cash by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

So far, no one has claimed ownership of the money, which was in both local and foreign currencies.

Ownership of the apartment complex in which the funds were found, Osborne Towers Lagos, is still unclear, but the building is occupied by many powerful Nigerians including the former chairman of the opposition party, Ahmadu Muazu, whose PDP ruled Nigeria for years under former president Goodluck Jonathan.



Government spokesman Femi Adesina said the government has launched an investigation into the funds.

Another presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, told VOAs Umar Farouk Musa in Abuja that Buhari has given two probe panels, headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, two weeks to investigate and submit their findings.

The suspensions follow recent discoveries of large amounts of money by the EFCC in strange places, including homes of senior government officials.

Last month, the EFCC found about $1.25 million abandoned in large bags at the Kaduna airport.

Earlier, nearly $10 million was seized from the home of a former head of Nigerias National Petroleum Company, NNPC, in the northern state of Kaduna.

The EFCC also uncovered yet another unclaimed $1 million in two shops at a shopping mall in Victoria Island, Lagos.

A new government initiative to reward whistleblowers is encouraging many Nigerians to reveal the secret locations of money stashed away by corrupt officials. The EFCC, Nigerias anti-corruption agency, has offered to give up to 5 percent of amounts recovered to the informants, whose identities it protects.
Argentina hopes to have an agreement on a free-trade deal between the European Union and the South American Mercosur bloc by year's end, its foreign minister said Thursday.

The European Union and Mercosur launched trade negotiations in 1999, but they have faced multiple setbacks, partly because of the leftist rule in Argentina that lasted more than a decade.

That government has now replaced by a more pro-business government since late 2015 that advocates trade.

"We hope that it will be by the end of the year, but it is not a deadline. It could be in the first quarter of the coming year," Argentine Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra told reporters in Brussels.

"We would like to at least make an announcement at the WTO meeting in Buenos Aires that things are sufficiently close," she added.

Trade ministers will convene in Buenos Aires in December for a meeting of the World Trade Organization.

Malcorra named issues related to rules of origin as well as food safety measures as important points that still needed to be discussed.

The EU and Mercosur exchanged market access offers in May 2016, including lists of imports that each side was prepared to liberalize.

The full members of the Mercosur trade bloc are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, which was suspended in December.
World Bank President Jim Kim warns that two-thirds of jobs in developing nations could be wiped out by automation, a situation that could boost conflict and refugee flows.

Kim spoke Thursday in Washington as economic and political leaders from around the world gathered for meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Watch: World Bank: Automation Could Wipe Out Two-Thirds of Jobs in Developing Countries

Kim says it is not clear how fast automation would cut jobs. He says the threat to employment opportunity comes as near-universal access to the internet means people in the poorest nations understand that others have much more comfortable lives. The result, Kim says, is soaring aspirations. Without economic growth and opportunity, those unmet aspirations could lead to frustration, unrest, or more refugees seeking jobs in other nations.

The World Bank president says the issue is urgent because the world already faces serious problems with conflict, climate shock, famine and the worst refugee crisis since World War II.

Kim says the solution is to mobilize trillions of dollars in private capital that currently is earning little or no interest. He says World Bank experts are seeking ways to help commercial lenders make such investments in ways that are less risky and more commercially viable. According to Kim, this is the only way to move with enough force and speed to manage a problem of this size.

In the United States, worries about jobs being lost to computers and automation grow out of the millions of manufacturing jobs lost since 1999. While some politicians blame trade for these employment losses, many economists say most of those jobs vanished because of automation.

While manufacturing jobs proved vulnerable to automation, research shows different results in banking, where the addition of hundreds of thousands of Automated Teller Machines, or ATMs, was accompanied by a slight increase in jobs for humans. Workers who were displaced when robots took over repetitious, tedious work moved to jobs that were less predictable or that required human, emotional connections, such as sales.
The bench of Justices P C Ghose and R F Nariman allowed the plea of the civic agency NDMC that the Tata Group cannot have the right to refusal in the hotel's auction.

By Anusha Soni: In a setback to Tatas, the Supreme Court has rejected Tata Group's plea seeking renewal of lease of Taj Mansingh Hotel in Delhi.

The Supreme Court also upheld New Delhi Municipal Corporation's (NDMC) right to e-auction the iconic property, which is situated in the heart of Delhi.

The bench of Justices P C Ghose and R F Nariman allowed the plea of the civic agency NDMC that the Tata Group cannot have the right to refusal in the hotel's auction.

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Taj Mansingh Hotel is currently being run by Tata Group firm Indian Hotel Company Limited (IHCL).

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NDMC-TAJ GROUP FIGHT OVER ICONIC HOTEL: The IHCL had approached the Supreme Court in November last year challenging the Delhi High Court's order which okayed auction of the hotel. The contention between the Taj Group, owned by Tatas, and the NDMC was the former claiming that they have a right on the iconic property as they have invested over the years to build the brand. The Supreme Court had asked the NDMC to reconsider renewing lease of Taj Mansingh Hotel run by Indian Hotels Co Ltd. Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing Taj Group, had earlier argued that the NDMC had invested merely Rs 6 crore while the Taj had pumped in more than Rs 129 crore and paid license fee of over Rs 400 crore. He argued that the legacy of Taj was built by Tatas as the hotel played host to some of the most prestigious events in the country. The company further said that Tatas have contractual right of renewal and the NDMC must renegotiate with Taj. The company pointed out that Taj is not a mere lease holder. Taj collaborated and partnered with the NDMC in building the brand and it cannot be expected to bid for the value that Taj itself created. The Supreme Court bench today asked the NDMC to grant six months "breathing time" to the company in vacating the hotel in case they lose out in the e-auction. The Supreme Court also said that the "blemish-free" record of Tata Group firm IHCL may be taken into account by the NDMC while auctioning the iconic property.

ALSO READ:

MHA backs NDMC decision to auction Taj Mansingh Hotel

NDMC to cancel Le Meridien's licence, auction Taj Mansingh

Taj Mansingh Hotel gives best revenue to NDMC: IHCL to SC

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Billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates is urging British leaders not to back down from their commitment to foreign aid, saying it could cost lives in Africa.

Gates on Wednesday was in London, where campaigning has started for early elections called by Prime Minister Teresa May.

May has so far declined to say whether she will heed calls by fellow Conservatives to slash British foreign aid as part of her party platform.

Gates told the Guardian newspaper Wednesday that a British refusal to commit itself to targeted spending on foreign aid could hurt efforts to wipe out malaria in Africa.

"The big aid givers now are the U.S., Britain and Germany ... and if those three back off, a lot of ambitious things going on with malaria, agriculture and reproductive health simply would not get done," he said.

Gates said British funding has made an "absolute phenomenal difference" in eradicating tropical diseases that affect more than 1 billion people.

Many conservatives want the government to spend more money at home to combat domestic crises. Some also contend that foreign aid money is frequently squandered.

Gates said as a business executive who spends $5 billion a year helping developing nations, he hates wasting money. But he told an audience of British politicians and diplomats that no country can "build a wall to hold back the next global epidemic," and that foreign aid combats socioeconomic problems "at the source."
Cambodia's long-standing fear of Vietnam can sometimes appear to be borderline irrational and allegations of land grabbing, war-mongering, even contaminated food exports  alongside abusive insults  are often leveled at the eastern neighbors. That will only intensify as the commune elections get closer this year.

Much of the blame for whipping-up the near-hysteria over Vietnam has been directed at recently retired opposition leader Sam Rainsy and his successor Kem Sokha, who have stood to benefit politically by playing on the long-standing enmity.

It paid dividends in 2013, when the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) performed well at general elections, sharply reducing the number of seats held by the long-ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) in the National Assembly. Neither party responded to VOAs request for comment for this story.

The strategy that politicians use to gain popularity, by condemning Vietnam over invasions here and using insulting words is just not right, said Muoy Piseth, a spokesman for the Federation of Cambodian Intellectuals and Students.

He added that as a result, ridiculous levels of hate are being passed from one generation to the next.

Fear and loathing

Real or not, those fears are a factor in Chbar Ampov, a district in Phnom Penh with the highest concentration of ethnic Vietnamese in the capital.

Here it is difficult to distinguish between Khmers and Vietnamese because most people speak Khmer fluently, dress Khmer and have adopted Khmer culture.

Despite their assimilation, Chea Ny, a middle aged street drink seller, said she generally dislikes Vietnam and claims most who live here are illegal immigrants who sneak across the border on boats and venture up the Mekong River to Phnom Penh looking for work.

I hate them. I hate them for messing around in our land. They steal our jobs and the government is doing nothing about it, she said, at times using a derogatory Khmer word used to describe Vietnamese.

Fear mongering often centers around the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in late 1978 and Hanoi's decade-long occupation.

For some that was the culmination of ambitions espoused by Vietnamese communist leader Ho Chi Minh, who wanted to rule over all the former French colonies as an Indochina federation, inclusive of Cambodia, Laos, North and South Vietnam.

But for others it was Hanoi that ended Pol Pot's reign of terror and later installed Hun Sen as prime minister, leaving him open to opposition accusations of running a Vietnamese puppet government.

Social media has also had an impact, with home made videos purportedly showing toxic levels of chemicals and pesticides being used on Vietnamese grown vegetables destined for the Cambodian market, alongside erroneous claims that the neighbors are trying to kill Khmers.

People know about this through Facebook. There are clips showing how they inject chemicals into chickens, vegetables and lobsters, Muoy Piseth said in a reference to fake news.

Our people worry about food, they think there are new methods being used to harm Cambodians through chemically laced foods that are imported without proper checks by the authorities.

In response, food importers have undertaken their own marketing strategies, including extensive advertising in national newspapers, to allay consumer fears over food safety.

Pending polls

It's rich fodder for the CNRP to exploit at commune elections, to be held on June 4. It will also serve as a precursor for the national poll to be held in July next year, with Hun Sen expected to be busy tamping down allegations of Vietnamese interference.

During the 2013 election, CNRP supporters targeted ethnic Vietnamese voters. Calling themselves election observers for free and fair elections they were caught attempting to block Vietnamese from casting their ballots.

The border, where Sam Rainsy has accused Hanoi of encroaching into Cambodian territory, is a flashpoint. Land grabbing by Vietnamese companies is a genuine issue that has been highlighted by NGOs like Global Witness.

Analysts said anti-Vietnamese sentiment also plays well with the youth vote, who are expected to figure prominently at the polls. Two decades of peace has spawned a baby boom, with 70 percent of the population under the age of 30 and they backed the CNRP four years ago.

But Muoy Piseth is urging a more sensible approach, noting Cambodia has obligations as a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and can ill-afford such discrimination which would make it impossible for Kem Sokha to deal with Hanoi if his party wins at next year's election.

His sentiments were echoed by Mory Sar, Vice President of the Cambodian Youth Network who warned racism was unacceptable in a democracy and a violation of human rights.

If the political message is to encourage Cambodian citizens and youth to be too nationalistic, then it will have a negative impact. What we are concerned with is that if youth becomes racist then this can then lead to violence between the two nations, he said.

He said the CNRP had capitalized on anti-Vietnamese sentiment with its agenda but it had not gained the full support of the public and has been sharply criticized by the international community for its political message, which is pushing racism.

For me, what the opposition should do is to change their strategy from an extended racist policy to a constructive plan that helps to solve national issues, he said.

He said it was difficult to say how the two main political parties will fare at the June polls and national elections next year because there is a lack of clear, comprehensive research into voting intentions nor are there any opinion polls.

We will wait and see their election campaigns, to see whose got the best policies that can solve national problems. Cambodia is a much more mature political society these days and people will think clearly before deciding who to vote for, he said.

Luke Hunt contributed to this report.
As stability slowly returns to the Central African Republic, some of the hundreds of thousands of people who fled the conflict and communal violence in 2013 and 2014 are coming home. Five young returnees have brought with them a new skill: capoeira. The martial art was developed centuries ago by African slaves in Brazil. It combines dance, music and acrobatics.
Two childrens rights groups are calling for the U.N. secretary-general to put Saudi Arabia on a U.N. blacklist of countries that violate childrens rights, for its military actions in Yemen.



Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, and Save the Children, issued the appeal Thursday at the launch of a new joint report on how the destruction of Yemens health care infrastructure is harming children in that country.



In Yemen, medical facilities and personnel are being systematically attacked as a tactic of war, preventing childrens access to health care, said Christine Monaghan researcher for Watchlist and the author of the report.





Citing Red Cross statistics, the advocacy groups say the warring parties are responsible for at least 160 attacks on medical facilities and personnel over the last two years.



The attacks have led to the destruction of an already weak health care system, and children, already among the most vulnerable, are suffering severely as a result.



Eight-point-one million children lack access to basic health care -- an increase of more than 70 percent over the past few years, Monaghan said. Children are dying of preventable diseases, including malnutrition, diarrhea and respiratory infections.



According to the U.N. Childrens agency, UNICEF, a child in Yemen dies every 10 minutes from a preventable disease.



Not the First Time



Last July, then-U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon included the Saudi Arabian-led coalition on the annual blacklist as one of the parties that kills and maims children and engages in attacks on schools and hospitals. He later removed them, citing undue pressure from the oil-rich nation and threats of defunding of lifesaving U.N. programs.



The Saudis denied ever having pressured the U.N. chief to remove them from the list.



The Saudi Arabian-led coalition and the Houthis - and each partys respective allies - are denying sustained humanitarian access and are directly attacking hospitals and clinics, Monaghan told reporters.



Already one of the Arab worlds poorest countries when Iranian-backed Houthi rebels tried to seize power from the internationally recognized president, Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, in September 2014, Yemen has been subjected to a two-year Saudi-led aerial campaign to restore Hadi to power. Since then, the U.N. says thousands of civilians have been killed and injured and more than 3 million displaced from their homes. Nearly 19 million Yemenis are in need of humanitarian assistance, but a U.N. appeal for more than $2 billion is only 6 percent funded.



Today, the country is on the brink of famine as humanitarian organizations have limited access, food prices have surged, and a Saudi-imposed air and sea blockade has hindered food deliveries to a country that pre-conflict imported 90 percent of its food stocks.





The U.N. has classified Yemen as a level three emergency  Syria and Iraq are the only other two humanitarian crises rated this severe.



Recommendations



The advocacy groups are calling on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to put the Saudis on the U.N. blacklist for violating childrens rights when it is published later this year.



They also are calling for all parties to immediately cease attacks on medical facilities and personnel; allow humanitarian workers safe and unhindered access; and for both sides to sign action plans with the U.N. to stop and prevent attacks on medical facilities.



To the Saudi-led coalition, the groups are urging an immediate end to the air and sea blockade and the reopening of commercial airspace over Yemen.



They also are urging the U.N. Security Council to sanction parties responsible for grave violations against children and attacks on hospitals, and to develop a mechanism to ensure accountability.
China on Thursday launched its first unmanned cargo spacecraft on a mission to dock with the country's space station, marking further progress in the ambitious Chinese space program.



The Tianzhou 1 blasted off at 7:41 p.m. (1141 GMT) atop a latest-generation Long March 7 rocket from China's newest spacecraft launch site, Wenchang, on the island province of Hainan.



Minutes later, as the spacecraft cleared the atmosphere, the mission was declared a success by administrators at ground control on the outskirts of Beijing.



It is programmed to conduct scientific experiments after reaching the now-crewless Tiangong 2, China's second space station. A pair of Chinese astronauts spent 30 days on board the station last year.



China launched the Tiangong 2 precursor facility in September and the station's 20-ton core module will be launched next year. The completed 60-ton station is set to come into full service in 2022 and operate for at least a decade.



Communications with the earlier, disused Tiangong 1 experimental station were cut last year and it is expected to burn up on entering the atmosphere.



China was excluded from the 420-ton International Space Station mainly due to U.S. legislation barring such cooperation and concerns over the Chinese space program's strong military connections.



Chinese officials are now looking to internationalize their own program by offering to help finance other countries' missions to Tiangong 2.



Since China conducted its first crewed space mission in 2003, it has staged a spacewalk and landed its Jade Rabbit rover on the moon. A mission to land another rover on Mars and bring back samples is set to launch in 2020, while China also plans to become the first country to soft-land a probe on the far side of the moon.



The two-stage, medium lift Long March 7 is expected to form the backbone of China's rocket fleet, and burns a fuel combination that is safer and more environmentally friendly.



It is tasked with the launch of the Shenzhou capsules that have carried out six crewed missions and, along with the heavy lift Long March 5, is key to the assembly of the Tiangong 2.
Arkansas attempt to carry out its first execution in nearly 12 years wasnt thwarted by the type of liberal activist judge Republicans regularly bemoan here, but instead by a state Supreme Court thats been the focus of expensive campaigns by conservative groups to reshape the judiciary.



The court voted Wednesday to halt the execution of an inmate facing lethal injection Thursday night, two days after justices stayed the executions of two other inmates. The series of 4-3 decisions blocking the start of what had been an unprecedented plan to execute eight men in 11 days were only the latest in recent years preventing this deeply Republican state from resuming capital punishment.



The possibility that justices could continue sparing the lives of the remaining killers scheduled to die this month has left death penalty supporters including Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson frustrated and critical of the high court.





I know the families of the victims are anxious for a clear-cut explanation from the majority as to how they came to this conclusion and how there appears to be no end to the courts review, Hutchinson said in a statement after the Wednesday ruling.

Conservative court



Since the last execution in 2005, the state Supreme Court has at least twice forced Arkansas to rewrite its death penalty law. One of those cases spared Don Davis, who again received a stay Monday night. The legal setbacks at one point prompted the states previous attorney general, Dustin McDaniel, to declare Arkansas death penalty system broken.



But unlike the earlier decisions, this stay came from a court that had shifted to the right in recent elections. Outside groups and the candidates spent more than $1.6 million last year on a pair of high court races that were among the most fiercely fought judicial campaigns in the states history. Arkansas was among a number of states where conservative groups spent millions on such efforts.



The candidates backed by the conservative groups won both races. One of those winners voted for Mondays night stay.



I have ultimate respect for the court and Im not going to question individual decisions but I would say there is frustration among the Legislature as to the courts continued refusal to allow an execution to go through, said Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and is the nephew of the governor.

Little fallout for court

The three stays, along with one granted earlier, have whittled down the execution list to four, unless the U.S. Supreme Court allows Arkansas to move ahead with Stacey Johnsons Thursday execution. Arkansas officials are trying to carry out the executions before their supply of midazolam, one of the execution drugs used, expires at the end of April.



Its unclear whether the new execution obstacles would have any political fallout for the court. Only one of the seven justices is up for election next year, and judicial rules prevent candidates from announcing their bids until next month. Polling has shown strong support for the death penalty in Arkansas.



The judge facing re-election, Courtney Goodson, lost her bid for chief justice last year after conservative groups blanketed the state with ads attacking her. The groups accused her of being close to trial attorneys and for the courts decision to strike down Arkansas voter ID law. None of the campaign material mentioned the death penalty.



But while Goodson voted to stay the three executions, so did the conservative-backed candidate who beat her in the chief justice race, Dan Kemp. Goodson had touted her commitment to conservative values, while Kemp said in a campaign ad he would be guided by prayer, not politics.



The other two justices who favored stopping the executions were Robin Wynne, who was touted as tough on child predators when he was elected in 2014, and Josephine Linker Hart, who ran as a no-nonsense judge in 2012.



The court had indicated earlier this year that it might view the death penalty more favorably, ruling to allow Arkansas to keep many details of its lethal injection drugs secret. The court also barred an anti-death penalty circuit judge from participation in cases or laws involving capital punishment, and lifted his order blocking the state from using a lethal injection drug in the planned executions. That issue is headed back to the court, with the state planning to appeal an identical restraining order from another judge regarding the states supply of the drug.

No explanations



The court hasnt explained its reasoning in any of its one-page stay-of-execution orders for the three inmates. Attorneys for Bruce Ward and Don Davis, who had faced lethal injection Monday night, said the executions should be put off until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a pending case involving inmates access to independent mental health experts. Johnsons attorneys have sought more DNA testing that they say could exonerate him.



One of the three dissenting judges issued a blistering criticism of Mondays ruling sparing the first two condemned inmates.



The families are entitled to closure and finality of the law, wrote Justice Shawn Womack, a former Republican legislator whose rival last year was also targeted by conservative groups. It is inconceivable that this court, with the facts and the law well established, stays these executions over speculation that the (U.S.) Supreme Court might change the law.



Another justice objecting to the rulings, Rhonda Wood, wrote in a dissent that Wednesdays stay gives uncertainty to any case ever truly being final in the Arkansas Supreme Court.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says he and his Egyptian counterpart have agreed on the need for a renewed and strong security partnership between their two nations, as Egypt grapples with a rising extremist threat.



I left Cairo very confident, very confident, in the avenues that we have to advance our military-to-military relationship which has been a bedrock and has stood solid all these years, Mattis told Pentagon reporters after arriving in Tel Aviv late Thursday.



During talks in Cairo earlier in the day, Mattis said he and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Egyptian Defense Minister Sedki Sobhy discussed counterterrorism and securing the borders in a very complex security environment.

You have seen the threats manifested against Egypt. They have included, of course, terror bombings against Egyptian citizens in the Sinai, (and) in greater Egypt, against Egyptians who are Christian, Mattis said.

After meeting with Egyptian officials, Mattis laid a wreath at Cairo's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier before departing for Israel - his third stop on a Middle East tour that began in Saudi Arabia.

Warming of relations



Mattis was the first Trump administration official to visit Egypt. The talks came weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Sissi at the White House, the first such visit by an Egyptian leader since former U.S. President Barack Obama hosted Hosni Mubarak in 2009.

Political upheaval in 2011 ousted Mubarak and started years of turmoil that brought the authoritarian former general Sissi to power.



Middle East expert James Gelvin, a professor at the University of California in Los Angeles, told VOA much of the Trump administration's policy is aimed at being "anti-Obama."





"In other words, (Trump) looks at what Obama did and says, I'm going to do something very, very different,'" Gelvin said.

Brian Katulis, a senior fellow for national security at the Center for American Progress, says Mattis and others in the Trump administration should lean on allies like Saudi Arabia and Egypt to make sure partner efforts on the ground in Iraq, Syria, Yemen or Libya do not "simply fragment these countries" and instead connect to "actually isolating terrorist and extremist groups (while) also consolidating power in these countries."

Libya issue



In Libya, the United States has thus far supported the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord while providing airstrikes to help Libyans push Islamic State out of the country. Egypt also has bombed Islamic State targets in Libya but has instead backed Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar.



Egypt's support of Haftar is a "bigger problem" that could cause Libya to further unravel," Katulis said, but added that the issue needs to be mediated by someone outside of the Pentagon rather than Mattis.

"It needs somebody who is thinking of the broader strategy in Libya and the Middle East, and a worry that I have here is that I don't see that person yet inside of the Trump administration," he told VOA.



Furthermore, reports of Russian military members setting up on a base in western Egypt have been disputed by Egyptian officials. U.S. officials have said a Russian deployment there could be a bid to help bolster Haftar in Libya.

One U.S. official told VOA Wednesday the United States is not concerned about Russian influence in Egypt.

"We will explain to the Egyptians, as we have to other Arab countries in the region, that getting too close to Russia is not in their best interest," the official said.
U.S. President Donald Trump warned Canada on Thursday to stop shielding its dairy farmers from U.S. competition and reiterated his disdain for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), calling it "a disaster for our country."

"What they've done to our dairy farmers is a disgrace," Trump told reporters Thursday in the Oval Office. "We can't let Canada or anybody else take advantage and do what they did to our workers and to our farmers."

Canada protects its dairy industry with high tariffs on imports and controls domestic production as a means of supporting dairy prices. Canada imposed an import tax on filtered milk, which had previously been duty free, after the country's dairy farmers complained about U.S. imports.

The trade dispute is affecting dairy farmers in northern U.S. border states, such as Wisconsin, New York and Minnesota, and prompted Trump to announce that his administration will propose changes to NAFTA in two weeks.

Trump's threat to do away with or amend NAFTA could adversely affect the economy of Canada, whose largest trading partner is the U.S.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau maintained in an interview Thursday with Bloomberg Television that Canada's trade policies are not unusual, saying every nation defends its agricultural industries.

"Let's not pretend we're in a global free market when it comes to agriculture," Trudeau said. "Every country protects, for good reason, its agricultural industries."

Trump has frequently criticized the free-trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, but has not signaled what he intends to do.
President Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into whether foreign steel imports are damaging U.S. national security, saying his administration would "fight for American workers and American-made steel."

The probe is authorized under a rarely used section of a 1962 trade law that allows a president to restrict imports in cases where security interests are at stake.

"This has nothing to do with China," Trump insisted, adding, "This has to do with worldwide, what's happening. The dumping problem is a worldwide problem."

Steel industry

Surrounded by steel industry executives at an Oval Office signing ceremony Thursday, Trump clearly stated the probe was not directed at China, which has long been accused of dumping its excess steel production on U.S. markets.

The president said the investigation could be completed within 50 days, far ahead of the nine months prescribed by law.

Shares of steel companies surged on news of the probe. The price of United States Steel Corporation stock was up more than 8 percent soon after the announcement.

"The important question is protecting our defense needs," said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who added the investigation is designed to find a balance between free trade and national security while building up the U.S. military. "And we will do whatever is necessary to do that."

Ross noted that steel imports rose nearly 20 percent in the first two months of this year, much of it from China, and now make up more than 26 percent of the entire American marketplace.

"Steel imports, despite measures already taken, have continued to rise despite repeated Chinese claims that they were going to reduce their steel capacity," he said. "Instead, they have actually been increasing it consistently."

Investigation sought

Steel industry executives attending Thursday's Oval Office ceremony applauded Trump's call for an investigation.

Mario Longhi, the CEO of U.S. Steel Corporation, said, "The signing of this executive order clearly demonstrates your understanding of the fundamental importance that our industry has, not just to the national economy, but to the national defense."

Trade experts and free market advocates, however, were skeptical of Trump's rationale for the investigation.

"It's just a bogus attempt to limit imports," said Dan Griswold, a research fellow at the Mercatus Center at Virginia's George Mason University.

Griswold said any move to restrict imports would be bad for U.S. industry and consumers because it would drive up prices for products that contain steel, from appliances to automobiles to new houses.

"But it will make certain steel producers and their politically active unions increase their profits and the gains they make by restricting competition," he said.

Issue of national security

Gary Hufbauer, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute of International Economics in Washington, questions the idea that dependence on foreign steel is a national security issue.

Hufbauer, who served as a senior Treasury Department official under former President Jimmy Carter, said the probe reflects the thinking of Commerce Secretary Ross, a billionaire investor with close ties to the steel industry.

"It's not coming from the defense industry," Hufbauer said. "It's coming from the steelmakers, and key administration figures starting with Ross and others who feel the steel industry has been beset by steel from abroad and that's weakening the U.S. steel industry. But that's from a commercial standpoint, not a defense standpoint."

Ross stepped down from the board of the Luxembourg-based steel giant ArcelorMittal after accepting the job as Trump's commerce secretary.

A financial disclosure form he filed with the Office of Government Ethics shows Ross served on ArcelorMittal's board for nearly a decade, and was paid more than $100,000 in director's fees last year. He was also reported to have divested himself of between $750,000 and $1.5 million in equity holdings in the company, which is described on its home page as "the world's leading integrated steel and mining company."

Bloomberg News reported this week that while U.S. steelmakers may be counting on Trump to help business, any regulatory change could take years.

In a note to clients, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Caitlin Webber wrote that changes would also likely be challenged at the World Trade Organization.
Life-threatening child malnutrition rates are rising to alarming levels in drought-hit Somalia, the international aid group Save the Children said Thursday.

A new survey found very critical levels of severe malnutrition in two of six districts assessed in some of the worst affected parts of Somalia.

We are on the brink of a massive catastrophe in Somalia with the death of three quarters of the country's livestock, a rapid increase of children suffering severe malnutrition and the depletion of water stores in dozens of communities, said Hassan Saadi Noor, Save the Children's Somalia country director, who said he fears seeing children dying in significant numbers.

Less than 10 percent of children in Somalia are currently registered in a nutrition program according to the study, which warns that children could start dying in the near future unless immediate action is taken such as a major and rapid scaling up of feeding schemes.

Donors have stepped up in recent months, however such is the scale of this crisis that even more funding is needed to address malnutrition directly, including improving access to food and water, said Noor. Children must be treated for malnutrition now ... Famine is a distinct possibility for Somalia. It is an absolute travesty that this is even conceivable when just six years ago this same region was hit by a famine that killed over 250,000 people.

The drought has left 6.2 million people - more than half of the population of Somalia - in need of immediate lifesaving assistance and a further 8.3 million in Kenya and Ethiopia are also need of urgent help, he said.
An eager BJP is watching and waiting from the shadows, hoping that this is the time to gain foothold in Tamil Nadu.

By Shalini Lobo: While the power struggle continues within the AIADMK, theories are afloat that the BJP is trying to gain a foothold in Tamil Nadu.

When Puratchi Thalaiva Amma died, Tamil Nadu was orphaned and even today, it stands left in the lurch. Edapadi K Palaniswami sits as Chief Minister but has not done justice to his chair. The people of Tamil Nadu still remain unconvinced of EPS' calibre.

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An eager BJP is watching and waiting from the shadows, hoping that this is the time to gain foothold in Tamil Nadu.

Many may even find it to be a ploy of sorts. Just when Sasikala stakes claim to chief ministerialship, she was put behind bars. When Dinakaran starts gaining a base, he finds himself in the middle of a bribery scam himself and has to head to Delhi. There were Income Tax raids across residences and offices of his loyalists. Problems one after the other and Dinakaran and Sasikala find themselves sinking in quicksand. Dinakaran does not have a choice but to cooperate with the Delhi Crime Branch.

"I am willing to cooperate with the police and will join the probe," he said.

It was no secret that the BJP favoured OPS Sasikala was not someone they could trust whereas OPS was always in good terms with PM Modi. He seemed the kind who wouldn't mind being pushed around to some extent.

"Look at how the IT raids played out but the Health Minister has not resigned. Suddenly, you see ministers shift camps. Names did pop up but no investigation. Probably if they shift camps the investigation will be forgotten. Dinakaran and Sasikala are completely cornered and OPS now emerges victorious. At one point of time there was no one with OPS. This seems like the ruling govt (BJP) plotting a conspiracy. You never know," said DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan.

However, both the EPS and OPS camps vehemently deny any kind of BJP pressure and involvement. It might be because it is directly going against the Centre and now might be not the time to do it. Especially when they have lost almost everything.

"These are minor party differences and there is no point bringing in an external factor. There is no third party influence involved. We will resolve our differences soon," said Thambi Durai, Deputy Lok Sabha Speaker and a senior leader of the AIADMK (Amma) faction.

Interestingly, parliamentarian and AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) leader V Maitreyen said, "The BJP is not involved in any way. These are theories floated by the people just to delay talks of merger".

This is a golden opportunity for the BJP who has been trying to get itself involved in the Dravidian politics for a while now. And they know that this is the ideal time.

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But they maintain their poker face too. On being asked if there are any back channel talks happening between the AIADMK and BJP or if the BJP is the reason for the destabilisation of the current Tamil Nadu government, BJP state unit president Tamilisai Sundararajan replies, "We never stray from the right way of doing politics. These are all baseless allegations against us. It is the party that is fighting. You can't blame the BJP for everything".

Also read:

Tamil Nadu: AIADMK factions meet for merger talks. Sasikala, nephew Dinakaran to be kicked out?

Have Panneerselvam and Sasikala patched up? Decision on merger of AIADMK factions likely today

AIADMK's TTV Dinakaran charged with offering Rs 50 crore to middleman to buy party's 'two leaves' symbol

--- ENDS ---
Oil giant ExxonMobil has asked the Trump administration for an exemption from U.S. sanctions against Russia, so it can resume drilling around the Black Sea with a Russian partner, according to U.S. news reports Wednesday.

The request likely will receive extra scrutiny from U.S. officials because the deal between Exxon and Rosneft, the Russian state-owned energy company, was negotiated by the companys former chief executive officer, Rex Tillerson, now the U.S. secretary of state.

Tillerson forged a landmark joint-venture deal with Rosneft worth hundreds of billions of dollars in direct talks five years ago with Russian officials including the Kremlin leader, President Vladimir Putin.

Drilling in Arctic

The Rosneft-Exxon team had begun drilling in the Arctics Kara Sea, but that work stopped when former President Barack Obama imposed sanctions against Moscow in 2014, following the Kremlins annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. The energy group also had agreed to look for shale oil in western Siberia and in the deep waters of the Black Sea, the area where Exxon is now seeking a waiver from sanctions.

Neither the Treasury Department nor Exxon would comment on the companys request, first reported by The Wall Street Journal. A State Department spokesman said Tillerson pledged to recuse himself from any matters involving Exxon for two years after he took his Cabinet-level position, and added that the secretary is not involved with any decision by any government agency affecting Exxon.

Tillerson retired from Exxon late last year, after it became known that Trump would name him to head the State Department.

Treasury approval

The Associated Press reported that ExxonMobil, which is based in Irving, Texas, filed documents in 2015 and 2016 disclosing that it had received three licenses from the Treasury Department, through its Office of Foreign Assets Control, authorizing the company to conduct limited administrative actions with Rosneft.

Exxon has said that it and its investment properties in Russia comply with all aspects of the U.S. sanctions program. The original Exxon-Rosneft drilling project in the Arctic was halted by a U.S. order prohibiting American companies from transferring advanced technology used to drill offshore and in shale formations.

The head of Rosneft, Exxons partner, also was personally blacklisted by the U.S. action.

Exxon estimated in 2015 that its potential losses from the Rosneft venture could amount to $1 billion. In his corporate role, Tillerson spoke out against the U.S. sanctions in 2014, declaring such tactics are usually ineffective and warning they could cause very broad collateral damage.

Tillerson and Russia

A year earlier, before Russia annexed Crimea and the United States responded with sanctions, Putin personally honored Tillerson by naming him a member of Russias Order of Friendship. After the 2016 election, when the Trump team first considered Tillerson for the top U.S. diplomatic post, Capitol Hill lawmakers including Republican Senator Marco Rubio began questioning whether Tillerson was too close to Putin to serve effectively as secretary of state.

Amid the continuing controversy over Russias involvement in last years political campaign, as reported by the FBI and U.S. intelligence agencies, Tillerson became the first senior member of the Trump administration to visit Moscow. He traveled there last week for talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and with Putin. The meetings were reported to have been dominated by U.S-Russian tensions over Syria.

The environmentalist organization Greenpeace USA reacted quickly, calling on the Trump administration to reject Exxons request.

If the Trump administration allows Exxon to move forward with extreme offshore oil drilling in Russia despite sanctions, the United States Congress must resist. Removing barriers to Exxon drilling in the Russian Black Sea with a state-controlled company like Rosneft would not only jeopardize global progress on climate change and provide momentum for a similar waiver in the Russian Arctic, it would also send a message to Russia that it can intervene in any country, including the United States, with no consequences. Members of Congress must stand up for the separation of oil and state.

We are extremely concerned that Rosnefts control of a major U.S. energy supplier could pose a grave threat to American energy security, the six senators wrote in an April 4 letter to the U.S. Treasury secretary.
Clive Davis celebrated his legacy with the debut of a documentary about his life, along with performances from artists he helped become icons, during the opening night of the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival.

Davis, 85, said it was a dream come true to launch Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives at Radio City Music Hall since he grew up in Brooklyn and didn't visit Manhattan until he was 13.

The music mogul was all smiles at the multi-hour event Wednesday night, as performers like Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, Barry Manilow and Earth, Wind & Fire took the stage to pay tribute to Davis.

All of them fresh from not performing at the inauguration, Robert De Niro, who co-founded the festival, said before the film began, earning laughs and handclaps from the audience.

Aretha Franklin ends the show



Jennifer Hudson left the stage to walk into the aisles to dance with the crowd as she sang Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance With Somebody.

Where is Clive at? she yelled. Davis earned a loud cheer from the audience when he started dancing.

When Franklin  who closed the show  sang Natural Woman, she pointed to Davis and sang the lyrics, He makes me feel. She also called her longtime collaborator a chieftain and humanitarian.

From lawyer to president

Others shared the sentiment on-screen. The Soundtrack of Our Lives,'' directed by Chris Perkel, gave a peek into Davis' personal and professional life. He lost his parents while he was an undergraduate at New York University, and later attended Harvard Law School. After working as a lawyer for Columbia Records, he was promoted to president in 1967, despite not desiring a career in music.

I had no inkling that music would be my passion of life, he said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday from his office at the new Sony building in Manhattan. I had no money after my parents died, so I went through school on scholarships. And I was going to be a lawyer.

He said watching the documentary was somewhat hard, especially scenes with Houston, who died in 2012.

It was very emotional to see artists that I worked with 20, 30, 40 years ago have the same vivid memories of how we interrelated and what we worked on and issues that arose, he said. It certainly gives a very compelling picture of the relationship that I had with Whitney Houston and of course that's filled with emotional impact, and it really showed sides of Whitney that no one has ever seen before.

Whoopi Goldberg served as emcee

Davis went on to become the world's most popular music executive, discovering talents such as Houston, Alicia Keys and Manilow and creating second acts for legends like Franklin and Santana. He even had a large role in shaping the careers of Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin and Billy Joel.

What a movie, Manilow yelled before he sang some of his popular hits.



Other performers included Kenny G and Dionne Warwick, who earned a standing ovation after she hit a high note. Whoopi Goldberg worked as the emcee in between the performances.

No matter who you voted for, fight for the arts in school please, she told the audience. This is in our hands now.



Davis founded Arista Records in 1975 and J Records in 2000. His documentary will be available on Apple Music.




The Department of Homeland Security reversed itself Wednesday, acknowledging that a young man who was deported to Mexico had valid protective status in the U.S., despite its earlier claim.

On Tuesday, the department said its records showed the protective status of Juan Manuel Montes, 23, had expired in 2015. On Wednesday, the department said that status was, in fact, valid until 2018.

Montes, who was deported from Southern California to his native Mexico in February, had been protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created by President Barack Obama for so-called DREAMers, undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.

A lawsuit seeking records about Montes' deportation was assigned to U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel in San Diego, who last month approved an agreement for President Donald Trump to pay $25 million to settle cases alleging that his now-defunct Trump University misled customers.

Trump repeatedly criticized the Indiana-born judge during the presidential campaign, insinuating that his Mexican heritage exposed a bias.

On Wednesday, the department said Montes lost his protected status because he left the United States without permission and was caught trying to re-enter the country. DACA enrollees must be approved to travel outside the U.S.

However, attorneys for Montes said the only reason he tried to re-enter the country was that he had been deported by Customs and Border Protection two days earlier.

Montes' case has received international attention because Trump had pledged to exempt people enrolled in the DACA program from being deported under his tougher enforcement policies toward undocumented immigrants.

The government has issued nearly 800,000 DACA permits since Obama introduced the program in 2012, and nearly 700,000 renewals. The Department of Homeland Security told VOA that 43 DACA recipients had been deported since Trump took office. In addition, DHS said 676 DACA recipients were in removal proceedings and 90 had been detained.
An international rights group Thursday decried the use of land mines by Yemens Shiite rebels in the impoverished Arab country at war, saying they have killed and maimed hundreds of civilians and prevented many of the displaced from returning to their homes.

Human Rights Watch said in a new report that the rebels known as Houthis, who are allied with the forces of the countrys former president, have used land mines in at least six provinces since March 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition launched its military campaign against them.

Steve Goose, director of the Arms Division at Human Rights Watch, said the Houthis and forces of Yemens ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh have been flouting the land mine ban at the expense of Yemeni civilians.

He added that Yemen had banned land mines two decades ago.

The Saudi-led coalition of mostly Arab Sunni countries has waged a campaign to dislodge the Houthis, who seized Yemens capital and some other areas in 2014 and forced the internationally recognized government to flee the country.

The New York-based group cited the Landmine Monitor Initiative by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines as saying that at least 988 people were either killed or wounded by land mines in Yemen since 2015.

The war in Yemen has killed about 10,000 civilians and displaced nearly 3 million people.

The Saudi-led coalition, which is backed by the United States, has also been facing accusations of war crimes after a series of bombardments of civilians, including hits on busy markets and also hospitals, schools, and residential areas.

In one of the most recent incidents, HRW said a demining team lost one of its members during a clearance operation in the Nihm Mountains outside of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in January. One team member stepped on a land mine and was killed; a second lost his legs next day.

The rights group also cited an incident in May last year, when a young man was killed and his mother was wounded as they stepped on land mines near their home. The displaced family was returning home to the Nihm Mountains when it happened.

Days later, one of the familys neighbors lost his legs in another land mine explosion that also killed several sheep, HRW said.
A quarter century after a Hindu mob tore down a mosque in Northern India, triggering some of country's worst Hindu-Muslim violence, the Supreme Court has ordered prominent leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to face trial for their alleged role in the demolition.

Calling it a setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party, analysts say it could prompt BJP hardliners to slow down on pressing ahead with their pledge to build a temple on the site where the 16th century mosque once stood in Ayodhya town in Uttar Pradesh state.

Court rules BJP leaders must face charges

Reversing a lower court decision to drop charges of criminal conspiracy against four BJP leaders, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday that they must stand trial for making inflammatory speeches that allegedly incited the mob to pull down the mosque.

Among them is Lal Krishna Advani, a former deputy prime minister who has been one of BJP's top leaders. The others are Water Resources minister, Uma Bharti, and senior leaders Murli Manohar Joshi and Kalyan Singh.

These BJP leaders have repeatedly said that the demolition of the mosque in 1992 was a spontaneous act by an angry mob which descended on the small, sleepy Aydohya town in 1992 and tore down the mosque with pickaxes, crowbars and even their bare hands.

Religious site with a disputed history

Hindu groups believe that the mosque was built after the destruction of a temple dedicated to Lord Rama, which used to stand on what they say is the birthplace of their revered god.

The issue continues to be an emotive and polarizing one as Hindus want to build a grand temple on the site while Muslims want a new mosque.

The bitter dispute has been winding its ways through courts for decades.

BJP leaders insist there was no conspiracy

After Wednesday's court order, Bharti, who is now the Water Resources Minister, told reporters that there had been no conspiracy to bring down the mosque. Asserting that she had no regrets and that it was her dream to see the temple built, she said I want to tell the country it's time for the Ram temple to be built.

As it campaigned for elections in Uttar Pradesh state, where it scored a huge victory in recent elections, the BJP promised that rebuilding the temple within the framework of the constitution remains a priority.

However, independent political analyst Ajoy Bose said it could be embarrassing now for the government to openly sponsor the temple's construction.

Building a Hindu temple on site is still strong issue

There were indeed in Uttar Pradesh plans of starting the Ram mandir movement, so resurrecting the whole demolition, the controversies around it, all that has a symbolic effect and after this court order BJP would be somewhat on the backfoot, said Bose.

Critics charge that the campaign to rebuild the temple is part of a Hindu nationalist agenda that the BJP under Prime Minister Modi's watch is trying to promote. Such concerns have been heightened by last month's appointment of Yogi Adityanath, as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. The hardline religious leader has made anti-Muslim remarks in the past and is a staunch supporter of building a temple.

The Supreme Court is also hearing the case with regard to ownership of the disputed land where the mosque stood. Last month, Chief Justice J.S. Kheh argued the two communities to settle their claims through negotiations and even offered to act as a mediator.

Cases usually take decades as they wind their way through India's slow-moving legal system, but the Supreme Court has ordered that the case against the BJP leaders should be concluded in two years.
Europe desperately needs short-term solutions to the migrant crisis, Italy's prime minister warned Thursday, saying a failure to act would further destabilize the region.

Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said long-term efforts by Europe and the West to address root causes eventually could pay off, but without more urgent action, Europe will be engulfed by what he described as "waves of chaos" from across the Mediterranean Sea.

Watch: Global Security Dominates Trump-Gentiloni Meeting in Washington

"Too many Europeans have been living under the illusion that they could separate their destiny from the Mediterranean and from the crises originating from this region," Gentiloni told an audience in Washington ahead of a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. "This was a mistake."

"The task that governments have in Europe is to defeat smugglers and traffickers and manage the migration flow now, in the next months," he said.

Gentiloni said he planned to push Trump to keep the United States focused on the crisis, both during their Thursday meeting at the White House and during the Group of Seven summit of industrialized countries in Italy in May.

Attention to Libya

The Italian leader said his country's top priority continued to be Libya, the source or transit point for 97 percent of the migrants arriving on Italy's shores.

"Stabilizing Libya is fundamental," Gentiloni said. He cautioned that the North African country could turn into a "new theater for competition of external powers, both regional and global, which is a risk."

The prime minister called U.S. leadership in such an effort essential, and also called on other players, like Russia, to help pressure the various bickering factions to support the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord.

He warned that a failure by the parties to come together could create openings for the Islamic State terror group, which has seen its forces in Libya reduced substantially following a sustained U.S.-led air campaign.

Gentiloni also urged the U.S. and other world powers to "please keep Africa on top of our agenda," saying various conflicts and crises in sub-Saharan Africa had helped fuel the migrant crisis.

"We can't consider Africa as the second Chinese continent," the Italian prime mister said, noting Beijing's increasing role in providing aid and spurring development. "We should do perhaps our part more strongly."
A key U.S. Republican congressman who said this week he would not seek re-election or run for any other office next year now says he may leave Congress before his term in the House of Representatives runs out in early 2019.

Congressman Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, rose to prominence on Capitol Hill through his dogged investigations of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton before the 2016 election.

Chaffetz made headlines Wednesday when he wrote on Facebook: "After long consultation with my family and prayerful consideration, I have decided I will not be a candidate for any office in 2018." He made his decision more specific Thursday, saying: "My future plans are not yet finalized, but I haven't ruled out the possibility of leaving [Congress] early."

Chaffetz has been mentioned as a possible candidate for governor of Utah, or for one of the state's two U.S. Senate seats. He did not mention those possibilities in announcing his decision to leave the political arena, just five months after his re-election to Congress for a fourth term.

"Let me be clear I have no ulterior motives," Chaffetz wrote on Facebook. "I am healthy. I am confident I would continue to be re-elected by large margins. I have the full support of Speaker [Paul] Ryan to continue as chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee."

Chaffetz was re-elected four times in one of the most Republican congressional districts in the country. However, he has been confronted with an unexpected challenge from Democratic newcomer Kathryn Allen. Allen raised more than a half-million dollars in the first three months of 2017, partly in reaction to Chaffetz's comment during the Capitol Hill debate on health care, when the Utah congressman suggested Americans of limited means should devote more of their income to buying health insurance, instead of purchasing expensive iPhones.

As House Oversight chairman, Chaffetz also was strongly criticized by Democrats for saying he had no intention of investigating possible conflicts of interest between Trump's global business empire and his presidency. Before last year's election, Chaffetz had vowed he would investigate Clinton "for years" if she won the presidency over Trump.

Chaffetz is at least the seventh House Republican this year to resign or announce retirement plans; those seven include four members who left to join Trump's Cabinet.

In his public farewell on Facebook, Chaffetz did not close the door entirely on the possibility of another foray into politics: "After more than 1,500 nights away from my home, it is time. I may run again for public office, but not in 2018."
Komodo dragons, fearsome giant lizards found in Indonesia, may be a source of a potent antibiotic. If so, researchers say the agent could be an answer to the growing, global health problem of antibiotic resistance.

Huge, toothy and aggressive, Komodo dragons are surrounded by filth in their daily lives. As a result, Barney Bishop, a biochemist at George Mason University near Washington, said Komodo dragons have developed what he called a "robust" immune system.

Bishop studies molecules produced by the immune system as a front-line defense against infection. That, he said, is the reason for the interest in Komodos.

"They are known to eat carrion; they live in an unsanitary environment; they have been recorded to have up to 57 bacterial strains in their mouths," some of which can cause disease, he said. "Yet the reptiles themselves are not harmed by these bacteria, whether it's in their mouths or wounds inflicted by other lizards."

Bishop and his colleagues, working with blood from Komodos, isolated peptides, or small proteins, produced by the reptiles' immune systems. The peptides, Bishop said, seem to have remarkable anti-bacterial properties.

Artificial version tested

Researchers made artificial versions of these peptides and tested the most promising one  DRGN-1, or DRAGON-1  in wounded mice and human skin cell cultures. They found the protein molecules exhibited three outstanding properties: They destroyed the outer layer of bacteria, dissolved biofilms  a sticky colony that microbes form to shield against antibiotics  and speeded up healing.

The work with Komodo dragon peptides was published in the journal Biofilms and Microbiomes.

Bishop said, "Their peptides may offer some promise and some new insights or provide new templates for development of new therapeutics to treat infection."

Bishop said the three-pronged action of DRGN-1, if made into an antibiotic, would make it unlikely that disease-causing bacteria could become drug-resistant.

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency, an agency of the U.S. Defense Department, paid for the research. The military is interested in the work because it may relate to bioweapons.

Samples of blood for the study were taken from a 45.3-kilogram (100-pound) male Komodo dragon named Tujah who lives at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm and Zoological Park in Florida.

Bishop said only a one-time sample of blood was needed because the peptides were artificially reproduced, so no animal was harmed for the study.
The head of the International Monetary Fund says she "has every reason to believe" that the global lender can cooperate with the Trump Administration to support and improve global trade.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde spoke in Washington as economic and political officials gathered from around the world at this week's meetings of the IMF and the World Bank.

Candidate Donald Trump blamed what he called unfair trade for the loss of many jobs in the United States, and proposed tax increases for imported goods. President Trump recently signed an order to give U.S. firms a better shot at selling goods to the U.S. government, and has been sharply critical of immigration policies.

Lagarde says trade is one of the "pillars" of prosperity. She vowed to continue to support the growth of trade, seeking ways to make it more efficient and fair, and fight against protectionist measures.

Lagarde said the global economy is "picking up momentum," because of "sensible" policies in many nations. Speaking a little earlier, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said he is "encouraged" to see stronger economic prospects after years of "disappointing" global growth. He said growth is hampered by conflict, climate shocks, the worst refugee crisis since World War II, and famine in certain areas.
Javier Duarte, the former state governor of Mexico's ruling party who was arrested in Guatemala at the weekend, said in court on Wednesday he would not agree to be extradited until his lawyers were able to study a formal extradition request.

"At this time, I can't agree [to extradition] until the formal extradition request arrives, and it can be studied by my defense team" said Duarte. "This doesn't mean I won't accept it, though."

If Duarte agrees to be extradited, he could be back in Mexico within a month, according to Guatemalan justice officials. If not, it might take considerably longer.

Duarte faces prosecution for embezzlement and organized crime in Mexico, where he was the governor of Veracruz state until last year. He has denied any wrongdoing.

A lawyer for Duarte said shortly after the arrest the former governor would likely accept his extradition.

The Mexican government has 60 days to present a formal extradition request to Guatemala. Duarte's defense team will then decide whether to agree to his extradition. He will remain jailed during that time.

The Mexican Attorney General's Office said this week that Duarte's extradition could take up to a year if he resists.

Duarte, who governed the oil-rich state of Veracruz for President Enrique Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), became a symbol of corruption in Mexico, and his case is highly politicized with elections looming.
The couple got into a heated argument after which Muzeeb poured kerosene on his 9-month pregnant wife Sana Begum and set her on fire. She delivered a baby boy on Wednesday morning while undergoing treatments for her serious burns.

By Ashish Pandey: A nine-month pregnant woman, who was set ablaze allegedly by her husband in Telangana, has given birth to a healthy baby even while battling for her life.

20-year-old Sana Begum was set on fire by her husband Shaik Muzeeb in Nizamabad on Tuesday night. Sana had married Muzeeb a year ago and was expecting a baby. They are residents of Nizam Colony in Telangana.

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Muzeeb had been harassing his wife for additional dowry for the past few months. On Tuesday night, he got into an argument with her after a few heated exchanges, he poured kerosene on her and set her on fire.

As Sana screamed for help, neighbours rushed to her rescue and admitted her to the Government General Hospital.

WOMAN DELIVERS BABY WHILE BEING TREATED FOR BURNS

The woman delivered a baby boy on Wednesday morning while undergoing treatments for her serious burns.

Speaking to India Today, Dr Ramulu, Superintendent of the hospital, said, "Sana is still critical but the baby is safe."

Nizamabad police has registered a case under Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 498-A (dowry harassment) of the IPC against Shaik Muzeeb and taken him into the custody.

ALSO READ:

Bihar woman set ablaze, dies: Maneka Gandhi takes action, victim's brother gets justice

Bihar dowry death: No FIR even after 2 weeks, Maneka Gandhi assures swift action

--- ENDS ---
As its losses mount in Iraq, will a less potent Islamic State merge with its precursor, al-Qaida?

That speculation ramped up this week after Iraqi Vice President Ayad Allawi told Reuters he had information from Iraqi and regional contacts that "the discussion has started now" concerning a "possible alliance" between the two militant groups.

Referring to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Ayman al-Zawahiri, the head of al-Qaida, Allawi said, "There are discussions and dialogue between messengers representing Baghdadi and representing Zawahiri."

But analysts say ideological and tactical differences and years of open animosity between leaders will need to be overcome before the groups can align.

"While dialogue is one thing, a prospective alliance is quite another," Milo Comerford, an analyst at the Centre on Religion and Geopolitics in London, wrote this week in Newsweek magazine.

'Little love lost'

"There has been little love lost between the two jihadi groups," he wrote. "A recent IS magazine described al-Qaida as 'Jews of jihad,' while Ayman al-Zawahiri has openly condemned Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi since 2015, accusing IS's leader of having an adverse effect on the jihadi cause and creating fitna [discord]."

IS was founded as an offshoot of al-Qaida in Iraq in 2004, in a movement spearheaded by Jordanian jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. As IS started gaining more influence in Iraq and Syria in 2014, it split from al-Qaida, and the two groups have since engaged in acrimonious and sometimes bloody competition over the leadership of the jihadist cause.

For years, IS has been siphoning off followers of al-Qaida.

"IS is pressuring al-Qaida's affiliates to defect," Barak Mendelsohn, an associate professor of political science at Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania, said at a Brookings Institution forum in January. "While it has failed so far to shift their allegiance, it has deepened cracks within the branches and persuaded small groups of al-Qaida members to change sides."

Still, there are fundamental religious differences between the two, analysts say.

"Zawahiri has criticized the very existence of IS by claiming that the selection process by which Baghdadi became caliph was not according to the Prophetic tradition," Comerford wrote. "Across a series of statements, Zawahiri has worked to undermine the religious foundation on which IS depends for its appeal within the jihadi community."

Territorial, political issues

While both groups share an extreme anti-Western Sunni jihadi ideology, there are political differences that are rooted in territorial and political structure.

IS is in favor of establishing a government with a head figure who it officially names a "caliph." It is willing to annihilate any local group that refuses to pledge allegiance to the caliphate  its self-styled Islamic State.

Although the goal of al-Qaida also is to establish a caliphate, its leaders prefer to focus on targeting the United States and the West, which they see as the primary enemies of Islam, analysts say.

"It is very hard for them to bridge that difference," said Middle East expert David Pollock, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

While desperation may force al-Qaida and IS to explore coordination options, Pollack said, "I think the different personalities, the different ideologies, and in fact, the survival instinct of each group works against that."

And it's unlikely IS would diminish its goals to join with al-Qaida, analysts say.

"IS could settle for consolidating its caliphate in the territories it currently controls, but its hubris and messianic zeal do not allow for such limited goals," analyst Mendelsohn said. "It is committed to pursuing military expansion alongside its state-building project. This rigid commitment to two incompatible objectives is perhaps the Islamic State's biggest weakness."

As for combining forces in other countries  including Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia  analysts say specific conditions, and in some cases open hostilities between al-Qaida and IS, make creating alliances highly unlikely.

Local combinations

In Iraq, retreating IS followers could find small havens in al-Qaida, at least temporarily, officials say.

"It is true that al-Qaida was born in Iraq and it seems like such an alliance will make the two groups stronger if they combine at least locally," Kurdistan Regional Government spokesman Safeen Dizayee told VOA. "But al-Qaida is never able to achieve what IS achieved in Iraq in 2014. Their sun is setting here."

And if both groups settle in one Iraqi locale, it's likely the U.S-led coalition in Iraq will target them, experts say.

"If they combine, that may have the unintended effect from their standpoint of encouraging the United States, the coalition, and our local partners in these predominantly Muslim countries and societies  to fight against them as one," analyst Pollack told VOA.
With the Trump administration trying to keep people from several Muslim-majority countries from coming to the United States, the New-York Historical Society and museum is launching an initiative to help green-card holders become American citizens.

The program will include free workshops and classes, paired with displays and a scavenger hunt at the museum on Manhattan's Upper West Side, all linked to questions on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization test  the final hurdle to citizenship.

"As far as we are aware, we are the first institution to develop a higher program of on-site workshops using our object collection with the exclusive purpose of promoting citizenship for as many legal immigrants as possible," said Louise Mirrer, the society's president and chief executive.

About 13.1 million people across the United States were green-card holders on January 1, 2013, and 8.8 million of them were eligible for naturalization, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The New-York Historical Society, founded in 1804, teamed up with the City University of New York to launch the initiative this summer, aiming to help the 1 million green-card holders in the metropolitan area.

Green-card holders have the right to live and work in the United States. But they were originally included in President Donald Trump's January executive order banning refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from coming to the United States.

Immigrants' concern

That executive order, which initially prompted chaos and confusion, and a revised version that removed green-card holders and Iraq off the banned list were blocked by U.S. judges. But concern has remained high among immigrant communities, with a chief executive whose presidential campaign focused on cracking down on illegal immigration.

"We decided the time [for the program] was now," Mirrer said in a phone interview. "The demand for help in becoming a citizen on the part of green-card holders has ramped up hugely."

To become citizens, green-card holders must pass an English literacy test and an oral government and history exam by correctly answering six of 10 questions from a total pool of 100.

Questions range from "What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence?" to "What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?"

"These are things that Americans should know but most Americans do not," said Mirrer. (Here is a practice version of the civics test.)

The society's initiative will include a new gallery with interactive displays designed around the 100 questions. It is a model that other historical societies and museums could follow to help green-card holders and educate Americans.

"In an environment in which many legal immigrants are feeling concerned, we want to help them," Mirrer said. "We deeply believe that immigration has been the bedrock of this country from the start."
Tummy tucks really hurt. Doctors carve from hip to hip, slicing off skin, tightening muscles, tugging at innards. Patients often need strong painkillers for days or even weeks, but Mary Hernandez went home on just over-the-counter ibuprofen.

The reason may be the yellowish goo smeared on her 18-inch wound as she lay on the operating table. The Houston, Texas woman was helping test a novel medicine aimed at avoiding opioids, potent pain relievers fueling an epidemic of overuse and addiction.



Vicodin, OxyContin and similar drugs are widely used for bad backs, severe arthritis, damaged nerves and other woes. They work powerfully in brain areas that control pleasure and pain, but the body adapts to them quickly, so people need higher and higher doses to get relief.



This growing dependence on opioids has mushroomed into a U.S. national health crisis, ripping apart communities and straining police and health departments. Every day, an overdose of prescription opioids or heroin kills 91 people, and legions more are brought back from the brink of death. With some 2 million Americans hooked on these pills, evidence is growing that they're not as good a choice for treating chronic pain as once thought.

Drug companies are working on alternatives, but have had little success.

Twenty or so years ago, they invested heavily and failed miserably, said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Pain is a pain to research. Some people bear more than others, and success can't be measured as objectively as it can be with medicines that shrink a tumor or clear an infection. Some new pain drugs that worked well were doomed by side effects  Vioxx, for instance, helped arthritis but hurt hearts.



Some fresh approaches are giving hope:

 "Bespoke'' drugs, as Volkow calls them. These target specific pathways and types of pain rather than acting broadly in the brain. One is Enbrel, which treats a key feature of rheumatoid arthritis and, in the process, eases pain.



 Drugs to prevent the need for opioids. One that Hernandez was helping test numbs a wound for a few days and curbs inflammation. If people don't have big pain after surgery, their nerves don't go on high alert and there's less chance of developing chronic pain that might require opioids.



 Funky new sources for medicines. In testing: Drugs from silk, hot chili peppers and the venom of snakes, snails and other critters.

 Novel uses for existing drugs. Some seizure and depression medicines, for example, can help some types of pain.

The biggest need, however, is for completely new medicines that can be used by lots of people for lots of problems. These also pose the most risk  for companies and patients alike.





One drugs bumpy road



In the early 2000s, a small biotech company had a big idea: blocking nerve growth factor, a protein made in response to pain. The company's drug, now called tanezumab (tah-NAZE-uh-mab), works on outlying nerves, helping to keep pain signals from muscles, skin and organs from reaching the spinal cord and brain  good for treating arthritis and bad backs.



Pfizer Inc. bought the firm in 2006 and expanded testing. But in 2010, some people on tanezumab and similar drugs being tested by rivals needed joint replacements. Besides dulling pain, nerve growth factor may affect joint repair and regeneration, so a possible safety issue needed full investigation in a medicine that would be the first of its type ever sold, said one independent expert, Dr. Jianguo Cheng, a Cleveland Clinic pain specialist and science chief for the American Academy of Pain Medicine.



Regulators put some of the studies on hold. Suddenly, some people who had been doing well on tanezumab lost access to it. Phyllis Leis in Waterfall, a small town in south-central Pennsylvania, was one.



I was so angry, she said. That was like a miracle drug. It really was. Unless you have arthritis in your knees and have trouble walking, you'll never understand how much relief and what a godsend it was.

Her doctor, Alan Kivitz of Altoona Center for Clinical Research, has helped run hundreds of pain studies and consults for Pfizer and many other companies. You rarely get people to feel that good as many of them did on the nerve growth factor drugs, he said.

A drug with that much early promise is unusual, said Ken Verburg, who has led Pfizer's pain research for several decades.



When you do see one, you fight hard to try to bring one to the market, he said.

An independent review ultimately tied just a few serious joint problems to tanezumab and the suspension on testing was lifted in August 2012. But a new issue  nervous system effects in some animal studies  prompted a second hold later that year, and that wasn't lifted until 2015.

Now Eli Lilly & Co. has joined Pfizer in testing tanezumab in late-stage studies with 7,000 patients. Results are expected late next year  about 17 years after the drug's conception.



Avoiding pain to avoid drugs

What if a drug could keep people from needing long-term pain relief in the first place? Heron Therapeutics Inc. is testing a novel, long-acting version of two drugs  the anesthetic bupivacaine and the anti-inflammatory meloxicam  for notoriously painful operations like tummy tucks, bunion removal and hernia repair.

Company studies suggest it can numb wounds for about three days and cut patients' need for opioids by 30 to 50 percent.

There's a good chance of preventing brain responses that lead to chronic pain if patients can get through that initially very rough period, said Dr. Harold Minkowitz, a Houston anesthesiologist who consults for Heron and treated Hernandez in the tummy tuck study.

Hernandez was part of an experiment testing the drug versus a placebo and doesn't know whether she got the drug or a dummy medicine. But she hurt less than she expected to and never filled a prescription for pain pills.

The goal would be to have half or more of patients not requiring an opiate after they go home, said Heron's chief executive, Barry Quart. You have far fewer opiates going out into society, far fewer opiates sitting in medicine cabinets that make their way to a high school.

Studies so far are mid-stage  too small to prove safety and effectiveness  but Heron plans more aimed at winning approval.

On the horizon



Many companies have their eyes on sodium channel blockers, which affect how nerves talk to each other and thus might help various types of pain. Others are testing cell therapies for nerve pain. Stem cells can modulate immune responses and inflammation, and may overcome a raft of problems, said Cheng of the pain medicine academy.

Some companies, including Samumed, Centrexion Therapeutics and Flexion Therapeutics, are testing long-acting medicines to inject in knees to relieve arthritis pain. Samumed's aims to regenerate cartilage.



And then there's marijuana. A cannabis extract is sold as a mouth spray in Britain for nerve pain and other problems from multiple sclerosis. But cannabinoid research in the U.S. has been hampered by marijuana's legal status. A special license is needed and most researchers don't even try to obtain one, said Susan Ingram, a neurosurgery scientist at Oregon Health & Science University.



She is studying cannabinoid receptors in the brain, looking at how pain affects one type but not another. Such work might someday lead to drugs that relieve pain but don't produce a high or addiction.

Selective activity has precedent: The drug buprenorphine partially binds to opioid receptors in the brain and has become "an extraordinarily successful medication'' for treating addiction, said Volkow, of the national drug institute.

It has shown pharmaceutical companies that if you come up with a good intervention, there is an opportunity to recover their costs, she said.
Pakistans Supreme Court Thursday ordered the formation of a joint investigation team to examine allegations of corruption against the countrys prime minister and his sons.

The decision by a five-member bench, headed by the countrys chief justice, also ordered Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his sons Hassan, and Hussein Nawaz to appear before the investigation team.

The court ordered the team to present its report to the apex court every two weeks and finish its investigation in two months.

The much-awaited decision came almost two months after the court finished hearing hundreds of hours of arguments by the two sides and reserved its judgment in February.

The petition against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his children, filed by his main opponent Imran Khan and others, had requested the court disqualify him for corruption, tax evasion, and money laundering. Sharif denied any wrongdoing and his supporters alleged that Khan was trying to derail their government.

Both sides hailed the courts decision as a victory for them, with Sharifs party saying the court has rejected the evidence presented before it and Khans party saying the court has shown that Sharif had been unable to show a clean money trail.

The months-long media frenzy surrounding the case reached a fevered pitch Wednesday when the court indicated it would announce the decision Thursday.

Almost all of Pakistans news channels started running non-stop special programming examining every angle of the case and speculating about the decision.

Meanwhile, the capitals police prepared for the decision by deploying hundreds of personnel around the Supreme Court and surrounding area and blocking access to the red zone, which included major government buildings and foreign embassies.

Police also reached out to the local leaders of political parties and asked for their help in keeping their workers calm after the decision. Both Sharif and Khan told their workers to stay away from the court. Those who wanted to attend the Supreme Court hearing needed special passes from the police.

Major political parties called meetings of their senior leadership to chart a way forward on the basis of the decision.

Investigative journalists' report

The controversy erupted in April last year soon after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published their Pulitzer prize winning investigation of a global financial industry that helped political leaders, businessmen, criminals, and others around the globe hide their ill gotten gains or provide tax havens through offshore companies.

The names of Prime Minister Sharifs children appeared in the leaked documents linked to offshore accounts and the purchase of four luxury flats in Central London.

While the prime minister himself was not named in the documents, he faced questions about where the money came from, whether it was laundered, and why werent the flats declared.

His chief opponent Khan, who had always accused Sharif of large scale corruption, touted the papers as proof that Sharif and his family were looting the country. Khan said the prime minster has lost his moral authority and should resign.

While Sharifs two sons are outside the country and run their own businesses, his daughter lives with him. She is also considered his political successor. The opposition was trying to prove that she was her fathers financial dependent and whatever she owned came from him.

While the court heard arguments in the case, both sides tried to fight a simultaneous media trial with daily press conferences and appearances in television talk shows.
French President Francois Hollande says all signs point to terrorism in an attack on the Champs-Elysees in Paris that killed one policeman Thursday night and wounded two others.

Hollande said security will be tightened ahead of Sunday's presidential election. "We shall be of the utmost vigilance, especially in relation to the election," he told the nation on television.

Piecing together reports from witnesses, investigators said a gunman jumped out of a car near a subway station and opened fire on a police vehicle with a machine gun. He was killed by police gunfire. It is unclear if anyone else was involved.

Islamic State, which claimed responsibility through its news agency, identified the shooter as "Abu Yussef the Belgian," calling him "one of Islamic State's fighters."

Paris police said the dead gunman has been identified, but they have not released his name or said if he was working with Islamic State.

Police closed off a large part of the Champs-Elysees, one of the world's most renowned boulevards, popular with residents and tourists for its fashionable shops and restaurants.



In Washington, President Donald Trump sent condolences to the French people. He called the attack "a terrible thing," and said it was another example of the sort of violence that "never ends."

France is on edge ahead of Sunday's presidential election, with a very close outcome expected. The country is still feeling the effects of a series of deadly Islamic terrorist attacks over the past two years that killed more than 200 people.
Vice President Mike Pence praised Indonesias democracy and moderate form of Islam after meeting Thursday with the president of the worlds most populous Muslim nation.



The comments, though routine, had significance for Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo, who a day earlier suffered a serious political setback when a political ally was defeated by Islamic conservatives in the election for Jakarta governor. The divisive campaign undermined the image of Indonesia abroad as a generally tolerant Muslim nation.



Indonesia is the latest stop on an Asian tour by Pence that is reinforcing traditional U.S. alliances at a time when Donald Trumps presidency has raised questions about the strength of the U.S. commitment to the region.

Stronger partnership



Pence said at a joint news conference with Jokowi that the U.S. wants to strengthen its strategic partnership with Indonesia. In brief comments, Jokowi said they agreed to boost cooperation.



The vice president praised Indonesia for the moderate form of Islam it practices and said the two countries would continue to cooperate on combating terrorism.



As the second- and third-largest democracies in the world, our two countries share many common values including freedom, the rule of law, human rights and religious diversity, Pence said. The United States is proud to partner with Indonesia. It promotes and protects these values.

Free, fair relationship



But Pence foreshadowed some reworking of commercial and economic ties, saying that the U.S. seeks a free and fair relationship that helps job creation and economic growth for both sides. He said that U.S. exporters should face a level playing field and the relationship should be win-win.



Indonesia is on Trumps trade hit list of nations that he considers the U.S. is losing out to in trade, and U.S. company Freeport-McMoran Inc., which operates the worlds largest copper mine in the Indonesian province of Papua, is in a protracted dispute with the Indonesian government.



Pences first engagement was morning tea with Jokowi at the presidential palace. Later Thursday, Pence was to visit Istiqlal Mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia.



Trumps company, the Trump Organization, is active in Indonesia with plans to manage luxury resorts being built near the capital Jakarta and on the tourist island of Bali.



Trumps Indonesian business partner, billionaire Hary Tanoe, is an aspiring politician who has said he might run for president in 2019.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced in Jakarta, Indonesia Thursday that President Donald Trump will attend three summits in Asia in November.

Pence, who is on the latest leg of a ten day tour of Asia, said Trump plans to attend the U.S.-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the East Asia summits in the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam.

After meeting with the secretary general of ASEAN, Pence said the Trump administration will collaborate with ASEAN to "promote peace and stability in the South China Sea" to ensure "unimpeded flow of commerce" in the area.

Southeast Asian nations are seeking a long term agreement to settle disputes in the South China Sea. The region faces new challenges as China moves to extend its regional influence at a time when the U.S.'s Asia policy is currently focused on rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Pence praised Indonesia for what he called the nation's "tradition of moderate Islam" as he also met with President Joko Widodo.

"As the second and the third largest democracies in the world, our two countries share many common values including freedom, the rule of law, human rights and religious diversity. The United States is proud to partner with Indonesia, to promote and protect these values," Pence said.

He also stressed the need for "fundamental freedom of navigation," and said he and President Trump want to expand economic ties with Indonesia.

"Under President Trump's leadership the United States seeks trade relationships that are both free and fair. That's for job creation and economic growth for both parties. As you, President Widodo have said so often, we're looking for a win-win relationship and we're confident that we can find it on an increasing basis," Pence said.

As part of his trip, Pence also visited Jakarta's Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia, and met with religious leaders from several faiths, including Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Hindus.

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation, and the latest stop on a trip that has taken Pence to South Korea and Japan. He is also due to travel to Australia.
Judges in Poland took a 30-minute break from sessions Thursday in protest at government plans to reorganize a top judicial body, saying the changes would bring them under political influence, in violence of the constitution.

Many judges agree that the judiciary needs deep reform to make their work more efficient and speed up dragging cases, but they say the government plan to reorganize the National Council of the Judiciary is going in the wrong direction, toward political control.

The plan, currently being considered by lawmakers, calls for parliament to appoint 15 of the council's 25 judges and for the current members, all appointed by judges, to be dismissed. The council's tasks include drawing up and enforcing ethical guidelines for judges, reviewing judicial candidates and seeking opinions on new rules and regulations to ensure they abide by the constitution.

If submitted to a vote, the draft law would likely win backing as the ruling Law and Justice party has a majority. It is not clear when the vote will take place.

In protest, judges took breaks to attend specially organized meetings.

The opposition parties also criticized the government's plans.

"We all know that the justice system is calling for a reform but Law and Justice just wants to raze Poland's courts to the ground," said Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz of the Modern party. "The plan goes against the real needs."

The move is another step in the ruling Law and Justice party's efforts to take control of the justice system. Poland has been strongly criticized by European Union leaders who say the nation's rule of law is threatened by the ruling party's policies.

Shortly after taking power in 2015, the party moved to appoint judges of its own choice to a top court, the Constitutional Tribunal. Law and Justice also wants to replace the head of the Supreme Court and to reorganize the work of the nation's lower-level courts. It points to the general dissatisfaction with the slow pace at which courts handle cases as the main reason for change.
President Donald Trump is giving himself high marks three months into his White House tenure, but surveys show American voters mostly have a negative view of his performance.

No administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days  that includes on military, on the border, on trade, on regulation, on law enforcement  we love our law enforcement  and on government reform, he boasted this week.

Trump has edged up in favorability ratings after launching a missile attack on Syria two weeks ago in response to a chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians. The Gallup poll, however, says voters still view his presidency negatively by a 52-to-42-percent margin, while the Quinnipiac University poll pegs the president's negative-to-positive rating at 56 percent to 40 percent.

In the latest poll, Politico/Morning Consult said Thursday that 39 percent of voters give the real estate mogul turned politician an "A" or "B" for his performance so far, while almost as many, 37 percent, give him a "D" or "F."

Politico, an Internet political news site, said the polling is a reflection of the continuing sharp political divide in the United States, with opposition Democrats, for the most part, remaining staunchly opposed to the Republican president, while Republicans are generally more supportive.

The survey showed that two-thirds of self-identified Democrats gave Trump a D or F grade, while 42 percent of Trump voters in last November's election gave Trump a "B" grade, even as another 23 percent of Republicans rated him as a "C" or worse.

Quinnipiac's poll, mirroring Gallup's finding, showed Trump's approval rating improving a bit after he ordered the missile attack on the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Quinnipiac said Trump's 16-point negative favorable-to-unfavorable rating was slightly better than the 22-point negative standing recorded just before the assault.

Even so, Quinnipiac pollster Tim Malloy said, "With only a slight bombing bump, President Donald Trump stays mired in miserable numbers. The first 100 days draw to a close with character flaws overwhelming his strongest traits, intelligence and strength as a person."

According to Quinnipiac, U.S. voters approve, by a 45-to-42-percent margin, of Trump's handling of the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons development program.

But they have negative opinions of some of Trump's personal qualities.

By wide margins, Americans believe he is not honest, does not have good leadership skills, does not care about average Americans, is not level-headed and does not share their values. By wide margins, voters said they believe Trump is a strong person and is intelligent.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) issued a Red Notice Wednesday for the arrest of billionaire Guo Wengui, an outspoken critic of corruption within the Communist Party, but gave no details of his alleged crimes.



What we understand is that Interpol has already issued a Red Notice for criminal suspect Guo Wengui, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters.



Guo, also known as Miles Kwok, is a real estate magnate who has been living outside China for almost three years.



China considered Guo a criminal and sought his return, but there is no public record of him being charged with a crime, former CIA senior China analyst Christopher Johnson said in an interview with The New York Times.



Corruption investigation



Guo left China in June 2014 during a corruption investigation linked to the jailing of his political backer, who was a top security official. Guo said his assets in China were seized, and his family members and former employees were detained.



Chinese government spokesperson Lus comments came as VOAs Mandarin service aired a live interview with Guo, who had previously said he would provide details about corruption involving Chinese leaders.



What I am going to show you are conversations I had with Mr. Fu Zhenhua, Guo told VOA Mandarin Wednesday, and what did he instruct me to do as the head of the national anti-corruption group.



Fu Zhenhua is a top official of the Ministry of Public Security.



He tried to threaten me, to extort $50 million from me and already got $1.5 million U.S. dollars from me, Guo said. As long as I give him $50 million, he would guarantee the safety of my family members, they would release my employees, my family members, my brothers, my wife and my daughter. And also [he] would guarantee the safety of my assets. In addition, I would need to help him access some information.



Chinese officials had expressed concerns to VOA about the interview beforehand, but declined repeated offers to rebut his claims during or after the segment aired. In the past, Guo has made allegations of secret businesses controlled by senior Chinese leaders or their families. He outlined more details in Wednesdays interview, which have not yet been substantiated.



He [Fu Zhenhua] instructed me to look for information on Wang Qishan, Guo said. He [Fu Zhenhua] said he was doing this on behalf of President Xi Jinping.



Wang Qishan, known as Chinas anti-corruption tsar, is a senior leader of the Communist Party of China and the secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.



He [Fu Zhenhua] asked me to look for [information on] Secretary Wang Qishan and his relationship with Hainan Airlines. Secretary Wang Qishans nephew has stocks in Hainan Airlines, Guo told VOA.



Hainan Airlines is one of the largest airlines operating in China.



The wealth of Hainan Airlines after mergers and acquisitions, as we see in the past two or three years, involves almost a trillion RMB, Guo said.



VOA cannot verify those accusations made by Guo.



Hourlong interview



Guo, who spoke live to VOA for an hour, suggested that the Interpol notice for his arrest was politically motivated and aimed at preventing the interview.



In a statement responding to VOAs Mandarin service, Interpol said, A Red Notice is a request to provisionally arrest an individual, pending extradition issued by the General Secretariat upon the request of a member country based on a valid national arrest warrant. It is not an international arrest warrant.



Interpol added, The individuals concerned are wanted by national jurisdictions (or International Criminal Tribunals, where appropriate) and Interpols role is to assist national police forces in identifying or locating those individuals with a view to their arrest and extradition.



In the TV interview, Guo discredited Interpol and said he has not used a Chinese passport for years.



I am a resident in the United States, I have passports from three Middle East countries, and I hold passports from numerous European countries. I have about 11 passports. I have not used a Chinese passport, nor my Chinese nationality in nearly 28 years, Guo said.



On Twitter, he dismissed the allegations from China, calling the Red Notice suicidal behavior coming from truly corrupt officials who fear I will expose their crimes.



Guo revealed that he, not unlike other businessmen originating from China, maintained a relationship with the State Security Bureau, an organ responsible for espionage and the monitoring of Chinese citizens overseas.



He said the Security Bureau would lend support to his business undertakings while tasking him with gathering information and reaching out to dissidents abroad as well as the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.



Guo said he has met the Dalai Lama several times and has in his possession a copy of a letter the Dalai Lama had written to President Xi and Meng Jianzhu, who presides over the partys powerful Political and Legal Affairs Committee.



Conduit for correspondence



A U.S. representative of the Dalai Lama told VOA, We also took note of what Mr. Guo said during the interview this morning. With regards to his meetings with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, Mr. Guo himself made public through his Twitter account sometime ago of photographs of himself with His Holiness. Whether he was the conduit for His Holiness correspondence with President Xi and Meng Jianzhu, I have no specific information nor the dates.



Before the interview, VOA announced on its Chinese-language website that Guo would reveal nuclear-grade information in the planned three-hour interview, which was to be broadcast live during one of its regular TV programs and continued on social media.



Chinese officials had contacted VOA journalists expressing concern over the interview and urged it to be canceled.



VOA management decided to proceed with the live interview, broadcasting one hour live and then taping the rest and publishing additional reporting on the interview afterward, VOA spokeswoman Bridget Serchak said.



We had multiple plans to conduct additional interviews with the subject for social media and late yesterday [Tuesday] made the editorial decision to record this material, edit and post it in the coming days, Serchak said.



In a miscommunication, the stream was allowed to continue beyond the first hour. When this was noticed, the feed was terminated. We will release content from these interviews and will continue to report on corruption issues, she said.
The actress was recently asked by a fan about Karan and Krystle's chemistry.

By India Today Web Desk: TV actress Nia Sharma, who became a household name with her hit show Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behena Hai, is on very good terms with her former co-stars Kushal Tandon, Karan Tacker and Krystle D'souza.

Interestingly, the actress was linked with Kushal, while Karan and Krystle were rumoured to be dating each other. In fact, the fans are still obsessed with Karan and Krystle, and one of them recently asked Nia on social media site Twitter to describe the pair (Karan and Krystle).

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Also read: Trouble brewing between Nach Baliye 8 hosts Karan Tacker and Upasana Singh?

Nia responded with the words, "Friendship goals."

A screenshot of Nia Sharma's tweet. Picture courtesy: Twitter/theniasharma

Now that is super-sweet, isn't it?

Karan and Krystle hang out quite often together, and keep sharing pictures of each other.

--- ENDS ---
Members of parliament from Pakistan and Afghanistan are scheduled to hold a rare official dialogue next week in Kabul to find ways to promote tension-free ties between their two countries.

Officials on both sides Thursday told VOA that Pakistani lawmakers will be traveling to the Afghan capital on April 29 for the open ended substantial discussion. Speaker Ayaz Sadiq of the legislative lower house of parliament, or National Assembly, will lead the delegation.



The Pakistani members of parliament will stay in Afghanistan until May 1 and also meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other government and political leaders, says Afghan ambassador to Islamabad Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal.



This is the first time that a high-powered, broadly representative (Pakistani) parliamentary delegation of this nature visits Kabul and gets involved directly in bilateral relations, Zakhilwal told VOA.



Mutual allegations of harboring anti-state militants and sponsoring deadly terrorist attacks against each other have hurt Afghanistans traditionally tense relations with Pakistan. The two countries share a nearly 2,600-kilometer, largely porous border.



However, Pakistani and Afghan officials note recent high-level contacts both at political and military levels have led to an improved atmosphere, paving the way for the coming unprecedented dialogue between parliamentarians of the two countries.



The discussion would be forward looking with the aim to find a path to improved bilateral relations with responding to our grievances, issues and perceptions, explained Zakhilwal.



A Pakistan government official told VOA Islamabad proposed the idea of opening direct interaction between lawmakers of the two countries to allow them to exchange views and proposals on how to bring stability to bilateral political and security relations.



The official, who requested he not be identified, said that President Ghani, in a letter to Pakistans Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, welcomed the proposal and agreed to receive the Pakistani parliamentary delegation.

Pakistani government and military officials also acknowledge the active role Afghan Ambassador Zakhilwal has played in pushing the two sides to allow parliamentary interaction. Both sides hope the rare initiative will help reduce acrimony often witnessed during government-level negotiations, making the discussions less productive on issues dividing the two nations.



Afghan officials allege that safe havens on Pakistani soil are helping the Taliban to prolong the conflict in Afghanistan and have been demanding Islamabad take effective steps to stop the activity.



Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria on Thursday again rejected Afghan allegations that Pakistani security forces are fighting only anti-state militants on their soil and sparing those involved in attacks against Afghanistan.



We have said this thing time and again that we do not draw any distinction. We have taken action against ally types of terrorists and the manifestation of that is the improved security situation in Pakistan, Zakaria said.



For their part, Pakistani officials maintain the insurgents have long moved back to Afghan areas where the Taliban has established its control over the past two years, and that security forces are not allowing anyone to use Pakistani soil for engaging in cross-border violence.



Islamabad also lately has stepped up demands for Afghan authorities to prevent anti-state Pakistani Taliban militants from using their territory for plotting attacks against Pakistan.
A pet can provide comfort and companionship for an elderly person or someone who is disabled. But in the future that pet may be a robotic animal that uses artificial intelligence to interact with humans. The British company that developed the cute android says it would provide emotional support and interaction. VOA's Deborah Block tells us more about it.
The Russian Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Jehovah's Witnesses, a Christian sect, are an "extremist" group and ordered their Russian property turned over to the government.

Supreme Court Judge Yuri Ivanenko declared the denomination's Administrative Center, its head office in Russia, an "extremist organization" and, on that basis, ordered the Jehovah's Witnesses group in Russia "dissolved" and its activities banned.

Russia's Justice Ministry had sought the order, which the group said it will appeal.

Jehovah's Witnesses, best known worldwide for their door-to-door preaching and distribution of religious literature, has 175,000 adherents and 395 branches in Russia.

It registered in Russia as a religious organization in 1991 and again in 1999. But Russian authorities repeatedly targeted the group in a wide-ranging crackdown on religious freedom.

In 2006, Russia changed its definition of extremism, eliminating the requirement for violence or hatred, but saying the criteria included "incitement of ... religious discord."

Russia blocked the Jehovah's Witnesses' international website two years ago over alleged extremism, and the group's Bibles were banned last year.

Russian authorities had also placed several of the group's publications on a list of banned extremist literature. Prosecutors claimed that the organization destroys families, foments hatred and threatens lives, which Jehovah's Witnesses says is a false characterization.

In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that a previous Russian judgment against the organization was "unlawful."

Jehovah's Witnesses has more than 8 million adherents worldwide, but the group stands apart from key aspects of Christian doctrine as practiced by Roman Catholics and numerous Protestant denominations.

Jehovah's Witnesses do not observe Christmas, Easter, birthdays and other holidays, which they consider to have pagan origins that are not compatible with Christianity. They also reject military service and blood transfusions.

Human Rights Watch condemned the Russian Supreme Court's ruling against Jehovah's Witnesses in a statement Thursday.

"The Supreme Court's ruling to shut down the Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is a terrible blow to freedom of religion and association in Russia," said Rachel Denber, the New York-based group's deputy Europe and Central Asia director. "Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia are now given the heartrending choice of either abandoning their faith or facing punishment for practicing it."
Ending the conflict in South Sudan and preventing more famine there are entwined, but the situation only grows more complex as aid agencies struggle to deliver emergency food and other assistance to places where armed groups make travel dangerous.

"We have a much more chaotic situation on the ground than, let's say, two years ago, when we had one government, one armed opposition," said Casie Copeland, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group.

Copeland says there now are dozens of armed opposition groups in South Sudan.

"A handful of them are able to engage the government in pitched battles," said Copeland. "Others simply don't have any means to actually fight the government, so the most they can do are things like road ambushes of government convoys and things like that. But at the same time, of course, that means road ambushes of anyone, and then a situation of rebellion can easily start to look like general banditry and insecurity."

Chaos abounds

The confusion is not limited to the opposition. Allied militia also operate on the government side. Witnesses to recent attacks on civilians in Wau and Equatoria have said the attackers were men in uniform.

Sometimes, it is not clear whether they are soldiers, militia or rebels.

Steve McDonald, global fellow at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, says the groups have been able to multiply because of the chaos.

"The breakdown of governance and the ongoing fighting between the SPLA [Sudan People's Liberation Army] and the SPLA-IO [In-Opposition], Riek Machar's group, has basically destroyed any control in the countryside, so other armed groups, both clan-based and tribally-based, probably some individual bandit groups, have gotten active again because there's nothing to stop them from being active," said McDonald.

Ken Isaacs is vice president of programs and government relations at U.S.-based charity Samaritan's Purse, whose staff members were briefly held captive in March in Mayendit  one of two counties in Unity State where the U.N. has declared a famine.

"We had, several weeks ago, some people that were abducted in Mayendit, right in the middle of the famine area, and the people that took them were an off-shoot of one of the armed sides, and they were acting unilaterally of their own volition, so they didn't have orders," Isaacs said. "They just thought that was a good thing to do, to go abduct these guys."

The violence has a ripple effect. Take Equatoria, for example. Copeland calls it the "food belt" of South Sudan, a key breadbasket and transit point. She says fighting there has cut off food supplies to other parts of the country.

Leadership faulted

The chaos has made it even harder for aid agencies to operate. The U.N. said Wednesday the conflict has killed 82 aid workers and displaced 3.5 million people since it began in December 2013.

The U.N. repeatedly has warned about a looming genocide in South Sudan, but Copeland cautions against calling this an "ethnic" conflict, pitting President Salva Kiir's Dinka tribe against that of former vice president and opposition leader Machar's Nuer.

"When we look at the transitional government, what we don't see is what a lot of people say, that it is sort of a Dinka domination," Copeland said. "Actually, we find ministers from Equatoria  the national security minister is an Equatorian  we find senior Nuer in several different key ministries. So we do see that calling it an 'ethnic' conflict, or as some would say, 'tribal,' is too simplistic, actually. Even what we're seeing now, some of the worst cases in southern Unity State, where the famine is, we're seeing quite a lot of fighting even within Nuer communities, so yes, ethnicity is absolutely an important part of it, but it actually won't give you the whole story."

Weber State University economics professor and African governance expert John Mukum Mbaku says that South Sudan's political leaders on both sides are to blame for the situation.

"These are highly educated people," said Mbaku. "These are people who understand the consequences of violence and yet, they are still not willing to sit down and try to prevent this violence from taking place. And I think that if they don't do something about it, history will remember them, not as nationalists who tried to develop a country, but as monsters who were specifically interested only in their own personal interests."

J. Peter Pham, vice president of the Atlantic Council and director of its Africa Center, also faults South Sudan's political leadership, saying that it has squandered the international goodwill it received upon its country's independence in 2011.

"Sustainably, we're not going to get out of this crisis until we have a change in leadership and we have a new leadership who put the interests of their people ahead of themselves," Pham said.

Violence against civilians has escalated since the breakdown of the 2015 peace deal. The U.N. and the government have projected that by July, roughly half of the country will be severely food insecure.
The Syrian army advanced into the town of Taybet al Imam in Hama province on Thursday, expanding its territory along the strategic western highway between Damascus and Aleppo, the army and rebels said.

The government forces were backed by heavy Russian aerial strikes across a large swathe of territory to the west of the M5 highway held by rebels in their six-year civil war, they said.

The rebels said the army was also joined by Iranian-backed militias in the push into Taybet al Imam, which was seized by rebels last year from forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

Dozens of aerial strikes also hit the nearby towns of Halfaya and Latamneh, which rebels had seized only last month. Their alliance of jihadists alongside moderate Free Syrian Army (FSA) groups have been trying to defend them in recent days.

Sources gave slightly different versions of the current state of the conflict in Taybet al Imam, which lies 18 km (11 miles) north of Hama city.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the army had now taken the town, after a ground assault this morning that caused losses on both sides after days of heavy bombing.

A rebel source confirmed the army had taken over the western outskirts of Taybet al Imam and said rebels were retreating from parts of the town to cut losses from the heavy aerial bombing.

State media, quoting army sources, said the army was making significant progress in its campaign to take over the town but gave no details.

The media unit of Lebanon's Hezbollah Shi'ite militia said the town had fallen to loyalist forces. It said pro-government militias had pounded rebel outposts with artillery gunfire and rockets.

A rebel commander said Russian jets had escalated their bombing campaign in the area in the past few days, deploying a "scorched earth" strategy using incendiary and phosphorous bombs on civilian areas that had left scores of injured and dead.

"Russian jets are bombing us every second and leaving whole towns in Hama countryside in ruins and totally destroyed. Only after this are regime troops able to make any advance," said Abu Saleh from the Jaish al Izza rebel group.

Thousands of families had fled the fighting in the last few days, he added.

The army's capture earlier this week of Soran, a town just east of the highway, meant government forces had now regained most of the territory that rebels had seized in their major offensive last month in Hama province.

Soran is the army's northern gateway to the city of Hama, the provincial capital, and opposition control of it threatened the city.

The army has its eyes now set on the town of Morek, the next town after Soran going north on the highway crucial to control of western Syria.
Three armed sisters in central Pakistan reportedly have shot and killed a man accused of blasphemy 13 years ago, the latest incident of vigilante justice in a series of religiously motivated attacks.

Police on Thursday identified the slain man as Fazal Abbas, 45, a member of the minority Shi'ite Muslim sect.

The overnight attack happened near Sialkot, where police confirmed that the suspected assailants had been taken into custody and that an investigation was underway.

Senior area police officer Ejaz Hameed said local residents had accused Abbas of insulting the Prophet Muhammad in 2004 and that a police case had been registered. He fled the country to avoid arrest.

Hameed said Abbas had recently had returned home from Belgium and had formally joined a police investigation after a local court granted him pre-arrest bail.

On Wednesday, three women wearing traditional veils, or burqas, and pretending to be visitors showed up at Abbas' residence, family members said. One of them took out a weapon and fired at Abbas as soon as he appeared in the guest room, they added.

The women in their confessional statement to police said they had wanted to punish Abbas after he was accused of blasphemy, but they were too young at the time.

"We have finally killed the blasphemer," the statement quoted them as telling police. The women reportedly chanted "Allah-ho-Akbar" ("God is great") after fatally wounding Abbas.

Mob attack

The incident came days after an angry mob killed a fellow student at a university campus in Mardan, accusing him of committing blasphemy.

The lynching of Mashal Khan triggered widespread condemnation across Pakistan, prompting the Supreme Court to intervene and order an inquiry, while the Parliament in a unanimous resolution condemned the killing.

Police said they had found no evidence Khan committed blasphemy, but that they had yet to conclude the investigation.

Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in predominantly Sunni Muslim Pakistan, where mere charges against a person mean either death or life in hiding.

More than 50 people have been killed in violent incidents after being accused of blasphemy since the 1980s, when anti-blasphemy Islamic laws were introduced, according to Human Rights Watch.

A provincial governor and a federal minister were among the victims. They both were assassinated for seeking reforms in the blasphemy laws to discourage their misuse by religious fanatics.
President Donald Trump is holding his first meeting with Italy's prime minister.



Trump will meet Thursday at the White House with Paolo Gentiloni. They'll discuss the Group of Seven industrialized nations meeting in Italy next month.



The G-7 nations have urged Russia to pressure the Syrian government to end the six-year civil war. They have blamed Syrian President Bashar Assad's military for a recent chemical attack that killed more than 80 people.



Trump will travel to Europe next month for the first time since taking office for a NATO meeting in Brussels, followed by the G-7 meeting in Italy.



G-7 members include the U.S., Germany, France, Britain, Canada, Japan and Italy.



Italy is also a member of NATO, the military alliance to which Trump says the U.S. contributes more than it receives.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he will meet in Washington next month with U.S. President Donald Trump, who called Erdogan on Monday to congratulate him on narrowly winning a disputed referendum that will significantly expand the powers of his presidency.

Erdogan said Thursday in an interview with Turkish broadcaster A Haber that the two leaders would meet May 16-17 for the first time since Trump was elected in November.

"I hope and pray that this tete-a-tete meeting in the United States in May will lay the foundation for a stronger cooperation," Erdogan said.

The White House has not confirmed the meeting, which would take place before the NATO summit in Brussels later in the month.

European reaction

Trump's congratulatory call to Erdogan contrasted sharply with the muted reaction of European leaders who are concerned about the results of the referendum, which are being challenged by the opposition.

While announcing the meeting with Trump, Erdogan also said challenges to the referendum's results were beyond the authority of the European Court of Human Rights.

Erdogan's controversial victory essentially reaffirms his authoritarian rule. The result is an amended Constitution that scraps the current parliamentary political system and allows the victor of the 2019 presidential election to take complete control of the government.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cazvusoglu told reporters in Ankara on Wednesday that the U.S. and Turkish leaders expressed a common desire to meet in Washington "to improve bilateral relations."

Turkey wants a strong relationship with the Trump administration. The country's relations with NATO and former President Barack Obama soured over Syria as well as Turkey's repeated requests for the extradition of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Ankara has accused Gullen of ordering last July's failed coup, an accusation Gulen strongly denies.

Tillerson visit

Last month, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson became the most senior American official to visit Turkey. Tillerson met with Turkish leaders and discussed the Syrian civil war and the battle against Islamic State (IS).

The U.S. and Turkey are at odds over whether Kurdish militia are the most effective fighting force against IS in Syria. Turkey claims the Kurdish militia are composed of terrorists who are associated with outlawed Kurdish militants leading an insurgency in Turkey.

The U.S. and Turkish presidents are in agreement, however, that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should be punished for using chemical weapons against civilians. A White House statement issued after they talked Monday said "President Trump thanked President Erdogan for supporting this action by the United States"  a reference to a U.S. missile strike April 7 on a Syrian airfield.
Ukraine is urging the West to back its efforts at reform, despite accusations the government has failed to tackle corruption three years on from the revolution that toppled the regime of president Viktor Yanukovych.

Visiting with British Prime Minister Theresa May in London Wednesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko implored the West to back his efforts to tackle corruption.

Speaking at London policy institute Chatham House, the Ukrainian president said, What is in need is your firm support of Ukraine's reform, adding that it is not easy to make a transformation during the time of war, and against Russia's attempt to destabilize my country. Yet we proceed and deliver because that's what these last three years have been about - becoming a better nation.

Critics say three years after the Maidan revolution, however, corruption remains rampant in Ukraine - and the West is not doing enough to crack down on corrupt money flowing through its financial centers and offshore tax havens.

Weeks after the 2014 uprising, Britain hosted a conference on recovering money embezzled from the Ukrainian state. Proving its commitment, the government announced during the meeting that its Serious Fraud Office had ordered a freeze on the attempted transfer of $30 million from a bank in London to Cyprus.

Watch: Ukraine Urges West to Back Its Reform Work

Competency questions

The money belonged to Mykola Zlochevsky, Ukraines former Minister of Natural Resources, who had fled Ukraine following the revolution. The funds were held in a series of anonymous companies based in tax havens.

Zlochevsky contested the case in a London court. The judge ruled that evidence presented by Ukrainian prosecutors failed to prove the money was stolen, and ordered the millions of dollars to be handed back.

Anti-corruption journalist Oliver Bullough followed the trail, observing, The Ukrainian prosecutors essentially undermined the Serious Fraud Offices case, made it impossible. It isnt just corruption. Its also deep-seated incompetence, he told VOA.



Zlochevsky has consistently denied any wrongdoing. He was cleared of corruption charges in Ukraine and settled on a case of tax evasion. Even if the case against him had proceeded, the odds are stacked against the prosecution, argues Bullough.

The Serious Fraud Office, in order to confiscate this money, would have required cooperation not just from Ukraine, but also from Cyprus, from Latvia, from the British Virgin Islands. So essentially you have a chain of law enforcement agencies that all need to be working strongly for anything to happen. And if one of them is weak, then the whole thing falls apart, he said.

'Dirty money'

Government figures show 92 percent of Ukraines outward investment flowed into Cyprus in 2014, a well-known tax haven.

Meanwhile, an estimated $100 billion of so-called "dirty money" is laundered through London every year. Many tax havens are British overseas territories. New, so-called "beneficial ownership" laws aim to prevent criminals from hiding their wealth.

Nick Kochan, a prominent author on corruption, doubts theyll be enforced. This would be an excellent thing if one felt and knew that the authorities had the resources to do the digging that gets them to the ultimate beneficial owner. Its a task way beyond our authorities grasp, he said.

In Ukraine, reform efforts appear to have stalled. Kyiv campaign group, the Anti-Corruption Action Center, claims that in the first nine months of 2016, the government managed to recover just $6,000 of stolen assets - a tiny fraction of its $320-million target.
Organizers from the Free Russia Foundation, a U.S.-based NGO founded by Russian dissidents, have opened what they call an Embassy of the Civil Society of Russia in Ukraine, in Kyiv's trendy Podil district.

Housed in a red brick building with a small blue sign that reads Free Russia House, its founders plan to transform the now-bare office into a cultural center and think tank, as well as a support service for Russians who fled to Ukraine for political reasons.

Vladislav Davidzon, chief editor of Odessa Review, an English-language monthly, is a member of the centers advisory board and was present at its opening. According to him, the main goal of the center is to increase trust between anti-Kremlin Russians and Ukrainians.

The issue is that Ukrainians and Russians have no actual contact, Davidzon said. They do not know what is going on in the other country. They both live by stereotypes.

Assisting with residency

But apart from providing a basis for dialogue between Russians and Ukrainians, the center has a more practical purpose. Since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and began backing armed separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, several thousand Russian citizens have fled to Ukraine. A number of them volunteered to fight in the ranks of the Ukrainian armed forces.

However, many of them face difficulties acquiring residency in Ukraine and potential prosecution if they are forced to return to Russia.

The center sees as one of its main goals helping these Russians acquire residency - or, in the case of those who served in the armed forces, citizenship.

We work with this issue, said Greg Frolov, the centers director. I wouldnt say we are very active on this because it is a very complicated thing, which could be changed only by a big call for regulations to overcome the situation.

Dealing with push-back

Although the Free Russia House bills itself as an opposition-aligned organization, it hasnt been warmly embraced by many Ukrainians, who find it difficult to trust such initiatives. Many Ukrainian public figures and activists note that most Russian opposition politicians have failed to stand up for Ukrainian territorial integrity, particularly on the issue of Crimea.

Frolov, however, said his center is not directly connected to any of those politicians, and their official position is that the Crimean peninsula is part of Ukraine.

Still, the centers opening was met with much hostility on social media.

I was attacked by more than 1,700 troll comments on social networks, many of these quite vicious, understandably so after three years of war waged on Ukraine by the Kremlin, Davidzon said.

He draws a distinction between those comment writers and more serious critics, who say that Russian opposition activists ought to be organizing in Russia.

Facing distrust

Although the center has been vetted by Ukraines security service and has the support of some Ukrainian public figures, it still faces distrust from Ukrainians who have grown accustomed to the Kremlins frequent use of shadowy NGOs and organizations to achieve its ends in Ukraine.

Frolov says his organization understands the problems Ukrainians have with Russian opposition figures ideas about their country. Still, he sees a need for cooperation.
By India Today Web Desk: The emergence of dating apps like Tinder might be on the rise, but many individuals are yet to entirely invest their trust into them--and understandably so. How can you fall in love over an app? How dependable is technology anyway? What if the person you've swiped right on turns out to be a compulsive stalker?

Well, those concerns are genuine, but what if things do work out in your favour and you stumble upon the love of your life on these very apps? Because that's exactly what happened with a Mumbai-based couple, whose delightful love story was recently shared on Humans of Bombay. The now-viral posts has both of them share their respective feelings about each other, while resurrecting our faith in destiny and love. While she attributes installing Tinder to shifting from Bengaluru to Mumbai and matching with him, he describes their first meeting in the Mumbai monsoons.

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Also Read: Samantha Prabhu's engagement saree had her starry love story embroidered on it

"When I went to see her the first time, it was pouring so much that my rickshaw kept breaking down every 500 meters on the flyover. To add to that, my battery completely died out so I couldn't use Google Maps. I had to keep stopping, running out in the rain, asking for directions and somehow making it to her building 3 hours later--but it was more than worth it. We spoke for hours over cups of tea and when I hugged her to leave..I knew that I wanted to spend more time with her," the post quotes him as saying.

He then goes on to describe how love bloomed and flourished before he ultimately confessed how he felt about her.

"She was apprehensive when I asked her to date me only after about a week because she had rushed into things before and had been hurt..but I wanted to do anything to gain her trust. I told her how I felt about her, honestly and really meant it..and I'm so glad she trusted me and gave us that chance."

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The weeks that followed involved multiple dates, her parents and popping the question of marriage--besides a Goa trip that made the mush even more overwhelming. There was this one night where we were sitting on bean bags on the beach, under the stars and drinking beers when we randomly decided to take this quiz--36 Questions to Know Whether You're in Love. I know it sounds really childish, but as we began answering these questions, it just hit us that we found something so special and meaningful.. it was one of those beautiful epiphanies that will stay with me for a really long time. I mean what can I say..he swiped right into my heart!" Are you reaching out for the tissues yet? We know we are.

--- ENDS ---

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They are homely, buck-toothed, pink, nearly hairless and just plain weird, but one of the many odd traits of rodents called naked mole-rats that live in subterranean bliss in the deserts of East Africa could someday be of great benefit to people.

Scientists said on Thursday the rodents, when deprived of oxygen in their crowded underground burrows, survive by switching to a unique type of metabolism based on the sugar fructose rather than the usual glucose, the only animal known to do so.

Metabolizing fructose is a plant strategy, and the researchers were surprised to see it in a mammal. They now hope to harness lessons learned from this rodent to design future therapies for people to prevent calamitous damage during heart attacks or strokes when oxygenated blood cannot reach the brain.

Naked mole-rats, they found, can survive up to 18 minutes with no oxygen and at least five hours in low-oxygen conditions that would kill a person in minutes.

More closely related to porcupines than moles or rats, they thrive in colonies boasting up to 300 members including a breeding queen in an insect-like social structure of cooperation in food-gathering and tunnel-digging.

With all those rodents breathing and clogging up burrows, they often encounter low-oxygen and high-carbon dioxide conditions.

"Naked mole-rats have evolved in an extremely different environment from most other mammals and they have had millions of years to figure out how to survive dramatic oxygen deprivation," said neurobiologist Thomas Park of the University of Illinois at Chicago, who helped lead the study published in the journal Science.

In low-oxygen conditions, they enter a coma-like state and release fructose into the blood. By shifting their metabolism from the normal glucose-based system that relies on oxygen to a fructose-based system that does not, they can fuel vital organs such as the heart and brain.

Naked mole-rats live up to 30 years, decades longer than other rodents, are nearly immune to cancer and do not feel many types of pain. As the only cold-blooded mammal, they huddle together in mole-rat piles in order to keep warm. Their lips close behind their teeth so that they can dig with their teeth without getting dirt in their mouths. Their ears and eyes are tiny, and they have poor eyesight.

"Fructose has been linked to obesity and metabolic syndrome but that's because we over-consume it in sweet beverages and junk food. Perhaps there is a use, and an important one, for fructose in moderate doses after all," added molecular biologist Jane Reznick of the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association in Berlin.
Jeanette Vizguerra, a Mexican woman seeking to avoid deportation from the United States, sought a safe place in the basement of a church in Denver, Colorado, in mid-February.

This week, she filed her federal tax return.

On Thursday, she was named one of the "2017 Time 100"  Time Magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

"This award, hopefully, helps to take away the label, the tag, that those of us who are undocumented have  that we are criminals [and] that we don't contribute," Vizguerra said with the help of a translator during a news conference at the First Unitarian Church  the place she has been living in to avoid being arrested by immigration officials and deported.

"This has been a 20-year journey. A 20-year journey of building partnerships, creating spaces, opening new movements and new doors," Vizguerra said.

Arrested, jailed

Her legal team says her story is well-known. Reports say she was pulled over in 2009 for driving with expired registration tags. She was arrested for presenting fake documents and spent 23 days in jail.

Julie Gonzales, Vizguerra's legal representative, told the Los Angeles Times that her client pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of possessing a forged instrument.

Since then, Vizguerra has been in deportation proceedings. She checked in with immigration officials many times in the past, but after the election of a new president and seeing others check in only to get deported, she decided to find refuge in a church.

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement guidelines, places like schools, hospitals, churches, synagogues and mosques are considered sensitive locations, which means ICE is still following its practice of not entering to arrest those living there.

ICE spokespersons have told VOA that enforcement actions at sensitive locations "should generally be avoided, and require either prior approval from an appropriate supervisory official or exigent circumstances necessitating immediate action."

Left in 2012

Reports say Vizguerra left the U.S. in 2012 to visit her mother, who died before she arrived. When she tried to return to Colorado, Vizguerra was arrested for entering the country illegally.

She was detained again, pleaded guilty, and was released pending check-ins with immigration officials. But under President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration, she is now a priority.

The order signed in January makes undocumented immigrants with pending criminal cases priorities for deportation, whether they have been found guilty or not.

Former President Barack Obama prioritized deportations of those convicted of serious crimes.

Vizguerra's profile on Time's website was written by America Ferrera, an actor and activist whose description of the mother of four differs from the rhetoric used during the last presidential campaign.

"The current administration has scapegoated immigrants, scaring Americans into believing that undocumented people like Jeanette are criminals," Ferrera wrote. "She came to this country not to rape, murder or sell drugs, but to create a better life for her family. She shed blood, sweat and tears to become a business owner, striving to give her children more opportunities than she had. This is not a crime. This is the American Dream."

Worked as janitor, organizer

Vizguerra came to the United States from Mexico in 1997 with her husband and oldest daughter. She worked as a janitor and union organizer. She also was the founder of the Metro Denver Sanctuary Coalition.

"Jeanette moved to the U.S. to be a janitor, working as an outspoken union organizer and building her own company before becoming an advocate for immigration reform  a bold and risky thing for an undocumented immigrant," Ferrera wrote.

Her daughter is protected from deportation under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era program. She also has three U.S.-born children, all under age 12.

Vizguerra said she was not expecting any award, did not know whether this recognition would help her case and did not expect anything from it. She does, however, hope that her selection by Time encourages people to think differently and more deeply about the labels being used by critics of past immigration policy.

"This award doesn't change anything. I'm committed to this fight  whether or not I have papers," she said.
The U.N. Security Council on Thursday "strongly condemned" the most recent ballistic missile test by North Korea, blaming Pyongyang for "greatly increasing tension in the region and beyond."

North Korea last Saturday tried and failed to launch a missile from its submarine base at Sinpo off its eastern coast, the latest in a series of missile tests that violate U.N. sanctions against the North.

In a unanimous statement, U.N. Security Council members expressed their "utmost concern" over Pyongyang's "highly destabilizing behavior and flagrant and provocative defiance" of the U.N. sanctions.

"The members of the Security Council agreed that the Security Council would continue to closely monitor the situation and take further significant measures including sanctions, in line with the Council's previously expressed determination," the statement said.

The statement also welcomed international efforts to find a "peaceful and comprehensive solution through dialogue."

The Security Council statement comes as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump signals it is running out of patience with the North, which continues to develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.





US urges more pressure

During his visit to the North Korea border this week, Vice President Mike Pence announced that Washington's strategy of so-called "strategic patience" with the North is over.



Pence said the international community, and China in particular, should put more diplomatic and economic pressure to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear arms and missiles.

The U.S. and its allies have for decades tried variations of that strategy without much success. North Korea's authoritarian leaders have continued to conduct nuclear and missile tests, seeing the programs as crucial to their survival.

Earlier this month at a massive military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea showed off what appeared to be new forms of ballistic missile technology, which the North hopes will soon be capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the continental U.S.

The Trump administration has repeatedly said in recent weeks that all options are on the table, including military strikes, if necessary. This week, Pence said the U.S. is not interested in talks or minor concessions from the North.

That is a change in tone for Trump, who during the presidential campaign said he was open to talking with North Korea, and would even invite the young leader to the U.S. for negotiations.



VOA's Margaret Besheer contributed to this report from U.N. headquarters.
The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations took aim at Iran and its proxy militia Hezbollah on Thursday, saying the United States would act against this growing menace."



At the monthly meeting of the U.N. Security Council that focuses on the Middle East, specifically the Israeli-Palestinian issue, Nikki Haley said the council should expand its attention to focus on other threats in the region.



We need to start with the chief culprit: Iran and its partner militia Hezbollah, she said, referring to the Lebanese Shiite militant group, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization. She said the two have conspired together to destabilize the region through terrorist acts and military action.



Today they prop up Bashar al-Assads brutality, fighting alongside his forces, adding to the killing of thousands of civilians and the misery of millions of refugees, Haley said of Iran and Hezbollah's involvement in the Syrian conflict. They train deadly militias in Iraq, and arm Houthi militants in Yemen, she added.



While this council has paid too little attention to this growing menace, the United States will not, she warned. We are going to speak up about Iran and Hezbollah, and we are going to act against their lawlessness.



The U.S. ambassador's strong comments come a day after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson criticized Tehran, saying that while it had abided by its obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreed between the six major powers and Iran in 2015, the deal had not stopped Irans ability and determination to develop nuclear weapons.



An unchecked Iran has the potential to follow the same path as North Korea and take the world along with it, Tillerson told reporters on Wednesday.

The Trump administration said this week that it is conducting a 90-day review of the nuclear deal to evaluate whether suspending Iran sanctions are in the vital interest of U.S. national security.



At the United Nations, Haley told council diplomats that Washington is not waiting to respond to Iran for its non-nuclear related behavior.



Iran remains a designated state sponsor of terrorism and we continue to enforce all sanctions related to Irans support for terrorism and destabilizing activities in the region, Haley said.



In February, the Trump administration designated for sanctions 25 individuals and entities for their support for Irans ballistic missile program, or for their support for Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Efforts to enlist more help from the United States in addressing Europe's migrant crisis appear to be falling short, with the Italian prime minister seemingly rebuffed during a joint news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.

"I do not see a role in Libya," Trump told reporters Thursday when asked about doing more to stabilize the North African country, which has become a focal point for the migrant crisis. "I think the United States right now has enough roles."

"I do see a role in getting rid of ISIS," the president added, using an acronym for Islamic State. "I see that as a primary role, and that's what we're going to do whether it's in Iraq or in Libya, or anywhere else."

The answer is unlikely to satisfy Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who moments earlier called on the Trump administration to follow up its counterterrorism efforts with a political commitment.

"The U.S. role in this is very critical," Gentiloni said. "We need a stable and unified Libya."

Gentiloni's comments seemed to build on remarks he made earlier Thursday, when he described the need for Italian and U.S. action in Libya as "absolutely crucial." He said continued chaos could allow the Islamic State terror group to retrench, using it as a base to destabilize neighboring countries and launch more attacks against Europe.

"Stabilizing Libya is fundamental," Gentiloni said during a talk at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "We can avoid [transforming] Libya into a new theater for competition of external powers, both regional and global, which is a risk."

Italy, in particular, sees Libya as a focal point for the migrant crisis, with 97 percent of the migrants who arrive on Italy's shores either originating from the country or using it as a transit point.

Last month, the Italian coast guard said the number of migrants saved in rescue operations this year had surpassed 15,000. Meanwhile, the last estimates by the United Nations refugee agency put the number of dead in 2017 alone at 440.

Prior to their meeting Thursday, Gentiloni said he planned to push Trump to keep the U.S. focused on Libya and the migrant crisis, both during the White House visit and again during next month's G7 Summit.

He warned that without more urgent action, Europe could be engulfed by what he described as "waves of chaos" from across the Mediterranean Sea.

"Too many Europeans have been living under the illusion that they could separate their destiny from the Mediterranean and from the crises originating from this region," Gentiloni said. "The task that governments have in Europe is to defeat smugglers and traffickers and manage the migration flow now, in the next months."

Gentiloni also urged the U.S. and other world powers to "Please keep Africa on top of our agenda," saying various conflicts and crises in sub-Saharan Africa have also helped fuel the migrant crisis.

"We can't consider Africa as the second Chinese continent," the Italian prime minister said, noting Beijing's ever-increasing role in providing aid and spurring development.

"We should do perhaps our part more strongly."
U.S. officials are reviewing Venezuela's seizure of General Motors' assets in the country, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Thursday.

"We are reviewing the details of the case," Toner said in a statement, saying the United States hoped to resolve the matter "rapidly and transparently."

GM said Wednesday that Venezuelan authorities had taken over its plant in the industrial hub of Valencia, adding that it was halting operations and laying off 2,700 workers due to the "illegal judicial seizure of its assets."

The largest U.S. automaker vowed to "take all legal actions" to defend its rights. The seizure comes amid a deepening economic crisis in leftist-led Venezuela that has already roiled many U.S. companies.

The seizure is the result of a civil dispute with a Venezuelan concessionaire dating back to 2000 and does not represent a nationalization as such, according to local media reports.

GM, the market leader in Venezuela for 35 years, said in a statement that in addition to the plant seizure "other assets of the company, such as vehicles, have been illegally taken from its facilities."

Total auto production in Venezuela fell to a historic low of 2,849 cars in 2016, nearly 75 percent less than the year before, according to Venezuela's automotive industry group.

In the first two months of 2017, GM has not produced any vehicles, while total Venezuelan auto production was just 240 vehicles, down 50 percent over the same period last year. The New York Times reported the GM plant had been closed for the last six weeks as a result of a takeover by members of one of its unions.

Nearly all vehicles built in Venezuela in the first two months this year were assembled by Toyota Motor Corp, which said Thursday that its plant was operating normally.

But a spokesman added the automaker was "only producing based on orders that come in."

Venezuela's car industry has been hit by a lack of raw materials stemming from complex currency controls.

In early 2015, Ford Motor Co wrote off its investment in Venezuela when it took an $800 million pre-tax writedown. The company said Thursday it was not producing vehicles in Venezuela.

The South American nation's economic crisis has hurt many other U.S. companies, including food makers and pharmaceutical firms. A growing number are removing their Venezuelan operations from their consolidated accounts.
U.S., Russian and U.N. trilateral talks on Syria scheduled for Monday have been postponed, says U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.

De Mistura says he does not know why the United States has decided against attending the meeting early next week, but believes Washington remains committed to the three-way discussions on the Syrian situation.

"I would say that the indication I got from Washington is exactly that, that there is clearly an intention to maintain and resume these trilateral meetings," he said. "And, the date and the circumstances were not conducive for this to happen on Monday, but that is certainly their intention."

In the meantime, de Mistura says he will be holding what he calls a very intense bilateral meeting on Monday with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov. He says there are many things to discuss regarding the upcoming meeting in the Kazakh capital, Astana, and on the Geneva peace talks.

"Regarding Astana, it is still on as forecast," he said. "We will be involved again on a senior technical level in order to support what, at the moment, does not seem to be working, which is a cessation of hostilities."

Russia, Turkey and Iran are sponsors of the Astana negotiations on May 3 and 4, which will focus on arranging a cease-fire in Syria so peace talks in Geneva can proceed.

De Mistura says he will be watching developments on the ground to make sure the talks, set to resume sometime in May, have the best possible chance of success.
A scaled-down, two-man U.S.-Russian crew blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday for a six-hour ride to the International Space Station, a NASA TV broadcast showed.

A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying NASA astronaut Jack Fischer, 43, and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, 58, lifted off at 1:13 p.m. local time/3:13 a.m. EDT (0713 GMT) with a rare empty third seat. Russia is scaling back space station staffing until its long-delayed science laboratory is flown to the orbiting outpost next year.

On the job toilet training

Fischer and Yurchikhin were scheduled to reach the $100 billion space station, which orbits about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, at 9:23 a.m. EDT (1323 GMT).

Fischer said he suspects the biggest challenge he faces in his first voyage into space will be learning how to use the station's zero-gravity toilet.

Its all about suction, its really difficult, Fischer said in a NASA interview before launch. You just cant train for that on the ground, so I approach my space-toilet activities with respect, preparation and a healthy dose of sheer terror.

U.S. astronaut closing in on record

The rookie astronaut will be sharing the station with two seasoned veterans.

Soyuz crewmate Yurchikhin has made four previous spaceflights. Station commander Peggy Whitson, 57, in the midst of her third long-duration mission, is due on Monday to beat the 534-day record for cumulative time spent in space by a U.S. astronaut.

She is expected to receive a congratulatory phone call on Monday from U.S. President Donald Trump, NASA said on Wednesday.

Whitson, who flew to the station in November along with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, will remain aboard with Fischer and Yurchikhin until September.
Islamic State militants used a chemical in an attack on Iraqi forces in Mosul over the weekend, and the agent has been sent for testing to try to identify it, the U.S. general commanding coalition ground forces in Iraq said Wednesday.

Major General Joseph Martin, speaking to Pentagon reporters via videoconference, said Islamic State militants had lobbed chemical shells at Iraqi security forces in west Mosul but the attack had "had no impact."

"The Iraqi security forces ... were in vicinity of one of the strikes," Martin said. "They were taken back for the appropriate level of medical care. ... Nobody's been impacted. Nobody's died."

"We're not certain at this time exactly what the agent is," he added. "We have sent it back for testing but we're still waiting for the outcomes."

Martin declined to say how many Iraqi security forces may have been exposed to the chemicals.

Officers in Iraq's Federal Police told Reuters on Sunday that Islamic State militants had shelled government forces with chemical weapons agents in the Urouba and Bab Jadid districts on Saturday. The attack caused only minor wounds, the force said in a statement.

Martin declined to give details about the incident, including whether coalition military advisers had donned chemical weapons protection suits or whether an alert had gone around afterward to notify troops of possible chemical attacks.

He also repeatedly declined to clearly state whether any U.S. or Australian military advisers were with the Iraqis at the time of the attack or had been treated for chemical exposure, as some media have reported.

"Our advisers ... are with Iraqi security forces at various command and control locations throughout Iraq," he said.

"They share the same risk the Iraqis do," he added. "When exposed, if exposed to chemical munitions ... we have the force protection equipment and we've got the training that all of our soldiers have done to protect themselves."

Asked if he was acknowledging that U.S. or Australian advisers were with the Iraqi security forces at the time of the incident, Martin repeated a variation of his previous answer that advisers served with the Iraqis and shared the same risks.

Asked if he was saying no U.S. or Australian forces had been exposed to chemicals, Martin said: "We have not confirmed exposure at this time."
In Zimbabwe, the opposition formed two new alliances in the past 24 hours to challenge the country's longtime leader President Robert Mugabe in the 2018 polls.

Zimbabwe's top opposition leaders, former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and former Vice President Joice Mujuru, signed a coalition agreement late Wednesday.

Tsvangirai brings with him a large, well-established opposition party, while Mujuru, a former top Mugabe ally, brings with her defectors from the ruling Zanu-PF.

Tsvangirai spoke at the signing, but didn't say who would be the coalition flag bearer in next year's presidential race.

"We shall drive a comprehensive democratization and transformation agenda," he said. "Similar arrangements shall be entered into with other political formations, and we will inform you as it happens."

Tsvangirai signed another agreement Thursday with a fellow longtime opposition leader, Welshman Ncube, healing a 10-year rift between the two men.

Meanwhile, civil society activist and Christian pastor, Evan Mawarire, the leader of the country's #ThisFlag movement, has been called to appear Friday in Harare Magistrate Court.

Mawarire led several anti-government protests in 2016, calling for action on human rights abuses and the worsening economy. Mawarire was arrested in January, accused of subversion and insulting the national flag.

On Thursday, Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's regional director for southern Africa, said the state should drop all charges.

"The Zimbabwean authorities want to make an example out of Pastor Evan Mawarire to send a clear message to anyone who dares dissent," Muchena said.

Muchena said the government is using the criminal justice system to harass and silence peaceful activists.

The acting prosecutor general, Ray Goba, dismissed allegations of persecution at Mawarire's last court appearance in February, saying the courts would settle the matter.
While the First Class guests dined on the best Edwardian dishes, the Third Class passengers ate porridge and biscuits.

By Shreya Goswami: Every time we watch the Oscar-winning movie, Titanic, we appreciate a story where two people broke class barriers to fall in love. Rose, a First Class guest aboard the iconic ship, falls in love with Jack, a Third Class passenger--despite disapproval and societal pressures. But did you know, that Jack and Rose definitely did not get served the same food every day?

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You don't? Well, what did you think they'd be doing--eating the same food? Of course not!

The surviving menus of the food served on the Titanic, which sank mid-journey in 1912 after hitting an iceberg, show that those two love-birds could not have dined on the same food. While Rose dined on classic French cuisine of the Edwardian era, Jack and his friends would have lived on the most dismal-looking porridge and biscuits.

Yes, the food served on the Titanic was based on the economic status and class of the passengers, and the wealth gap was ever-present during this ship's maiden and final journey. Take a look at the menus, and you'll know just what we mean.

Also Read: Tea was meant to be a replacement for beer; a short history of tea as a beverage

Picture courtesy: House Beautiful

The First Class passengers had a 10-course dinner menu, which was served in lavish dining halls. Each dish, from the consommes to poached salmon and roast beef, was a perfect representation of contemporary French cuisine.

The lavish First Class dining room aboard the Titanic. Picture courtesy: recipereminiscing.wordpress.com The lavish First Class dining room aboard the Titanic. Picture courtesy: recipereminiscing.wordpress.com

Not only were the dishes cooked by experienced chefs like Alexis Joseph Bochatay and bakers like Charles Joughin (who survived the sinking), the ingredients themselves were expensive and top-quality. Fillet Mignon, Roast Duckling, Beef Sirloin and fresh oysters were served for the First Class dinners, and they had four desserts to feast on.

The First Class passengers feasted on Edwardian dishes like Roast Sirloin of beef. Picture for representation purpose. Picture courtesy: Pinterest/The Adventures of Bob & Shan

The Second Class dinner menu was a slight step down from the First Class menu. It might not have had the same quality of products, and there definitely wasn't any sirloin or salmon on offer. But this menu had a good amount of chicken, lamb and turkey spread--including the classic Roast Turkey, Cranberry Sauce.

Picture courtesy: House Beautiful

Their desserts might not be as sophisticated as a Waldorf Pudding that the First Class diners got, but they two had three desserts--from American ice cream to Fresh fruits--to indulge in.

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While the First and Second Class passengers had a separate menu for each meal of the day, the Third Class had one page of it. This menu was rather dismal.

Picture courtesy: House Beautiful

The Third Class breakfast included Oatmeal Porridge, Smoked Herrings and Jacket Potatoes--and that might not sound too bad, especially with Ham & Eggs also on the table. The Third Class passengers had an ordinary tea spread with Cold Meat and Stewed Figs.

Gruel is a thinner and less nutritious version of porridge. Picture for representation purpose. Picture courtesy: Pinterest/sensorystories.files.wordpress.com

Also Read: This foodie is recreating dishes from your favourite movies and sitcoms

Their dinner included Roast Beef, which was also the only protein on offer for them. A Plum Pudding was the simple dessert reserved for these passengers. But this was not all. Their supper included Gruel (which sounds just cruel, given that it was a thinner and less nutritious version of porridge) and Cabin Biscuits. If you're wondering what Cabin Biscuits are, take a look at this:

Cabin biscuits were reserved for the poorest passengers and slaves on ships. Picture courtesy: Pinterest

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Yes, these are biscuits that were made for long sea voyages, and were given to the poorest passengers, staff and--as you can guess from the advertisement--African slaves.

While we have no idea about the portion sizes served to them, or what exactly the staff and crew of the ship themselves ate, we're sure that they weren't partaking of the First Class menu. That menu was meant for the wealthy, who could afford to pay for a splurge every time they ate during a long sea journey. Jack and Rose might have met and dined together in a fictionalised movie based on this ship, but their likes in real life had to deal with this wealth gap every day.

Some members of the Titanic's kitchen staff. Picture courtesy: Encyclopedia Titanica

But this isn't just the story of the Titanic. This is just how eating patterns have developed across the globe--the rich have access to the cream while the rest make do with skimmed milk. Or, like in the Indian case, the upper classes can afford the best of ingredients, while the lower classes make the best they can of lauki peel, posto and cheap roots and veggies.

We might still be years away from cancelling out the wealth gap between classes, but with the recent interest of chefs in integrating marginalised cuisines in the mainstream, there's hope that passengers on trains and flights can get access to the same quality of food.

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World Bank President Jim Kim warns that two-thirds of jobs in developing nations could be wiped out by automation, a situation that could boost conflict and refugee flows.

Kim spoke Thursday in Washington as economic and political leaders from around the world gathered for meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Kim says it is not clear how fast automation would cut jobs. He says the threat to employment opportunity comes as near-universal access to the internet means people in the poorest nations understand that others have much more comfortable lives. The result, Kim says, is soaring aspirations. Without economic growth and opportunity, those unmet aspirations could lead to frustration, unrest, or more refugees seeking jobs in other nations.

The World Bank president says the issue is urgent because the world already faces serious problems with conflict, climate shock, famine and the worst refugee crisis since World War II.

Kim says the solution is to mobilize trillions of dollars in private capital that currently is earning little or no interest.

He says World Bank experts are seeking ways to help commercial lenders make such investments in ways that are less risky and more commercially viable. According to Kim, this is the only way to move with enough force and speed to manage a problem of this size.

In the United States, worries about jobs being lost to computers and automation grow out of the millions of manufacturing jobs lost since 1999. While some politicians blame trade for these employment losses, many economists say most of those jobs vanished because of automation.

While manufacturing jobs proved vulnerable to automation, research shows different results in banking, where the addition of hundreds of thousands of Automated Teller Machines, or ATMs, was accompanied by a slight increase in jobs for humans. Workers who were displaced when robots took over repetitious, tedious work moved to jobs that were less predictable or that required human, emotional connections, such as sales.
Two formations of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube have signed a Memorandum of Agreement promising to form a formidable force to contest the 2018 presidential, parliamentary and local government elections.

Tsvangirai and Ncube signed the agreement on Thursday, a day after the MDC-T and Joice Mujurus National Peoples Party crafted a similar deal.

In a statement, Tsvangirai said he is happy that he will be working with Ncube following a fallout in 2005 that led to the split of the MDC.

Today we continue the journey that we started yesterday with Dr. Joice Mujuru; a journey whose destination is a democratic, free and prosperous Zimbabwe under a caring government.

 It would be remiss for me not to mention that whilst yesterday we started a journey of alliance building, the real journey for the democratization of our country started in 1997 with people like myself and Professor Ncube here, when we launched the National Constitutional Assembly. It was an inspired process designed to give the people of this country the freedom that they demand and deserve through the enactment of a democratic constitution.

He said it would also be equally dishonest not to recognize that in their journey with Professor Ncube they both made mistakes.

We split our party in 2005. The cost of that vote splitting in addition to the blatant manipulation of results was delayed change for the people of Zimbabwe in 2008. Ladies and gentleman, it takes humble leadership to accept ones mistakes but it takes bold leadership to correct those mistakes.

The former Prime Minister said he was relieved and pleased to have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Professor Ncube, as a first step towards undoing the damage they caused.

He said the two will open a new chapter and craft a political agreement that should see them harness and combine their known electoral strength to face a common opponent as a united front.

If anyone in this country expects us to contest the next elections separately as we did in 2008 and 2013 and expect a different result, it will not only be a third moment of real madness, but the highest form of insanity and none of us is insane. Finally, to my late friend and comrade Gibson Sibanda, I have taken the first step to do that which you would have wanted us to do.

He said they decided to come together once again because Zimbabwe and the collective interests of its people are more important than them.

Today, we take pride in that we achieved what we set ourselves to do  a new democratic Constitution with a superior bill of rights. This was against the wishes of President Mugabe and Zanu-PF. Sadly, most parts of that constitution, notably devolution of power to the provinces are still to be implemented because democracy and freedom are alien to President Mugabe and Zanu-PF. A difficult proposition indeed as President Mugabe once said.

I want to promise today that come 2018, we will fully implement our Constitution as part of our democratization agenda and ensure that our provinces and local authorities take responsibility for the management of their own affairs.

He promised to revive industries and create job opportunities for millions of Zimbabweans if they beat Zanu PF in the crucial elections.
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Washington this week plays host to thousands of economists, government ministers and civil society groups, in town for the 2017 World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings. The meetings often raise questions about how they benefit ordinary citizens. Report by VOA's Paul Sisco.
Bill Murray. Photo: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images

Bill Murray has found his latest charming hobby: making classical music and singing Gershwin with real classical musicians. Somewhere in Manhattan, Murray is in a studio working on New Worlds, a program the New York Times teased as songs and literary readings paired with chamber music led by the cellist Jan Vogler. New Worlds will have Murray singing songs from West Side Story, and reading Whitman and Hemingway (one section will have him reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as the band plays Moon River). Vogler, who has played with the New York Philharmonic, will accompany Murray with his trio, which is rounded out by Mira Wang on violin and Vanessa Perez at the piano. New Worlds will premiere at Festival Napa Valley in California in July, with a North American tour to follow (theyll play Carnegie Hall in October); theres an accompanying recording of the show planned for release in August. So if you missed Murray bartending in Brooklyn and singing many euphoric renditions of Take Me Out to the Ballgame while cheering on the Cubs at the World Series, youll soon have your chance to enjoy Murrays many talents on a night out.
Bill OReilly. Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Hollywood Repor

Owing to numerous sexual-harassment allegations filed against him by women at Fox News, it was announced yesterday that Bill OReilly has been let go from the cable-news channel and his popular talk show The OReilly Factor. While Fox announced Tucker Carlson will be taking over OReillys time slot starting Monday, the rest of the media hasnt yet let go of its fascination with OReillys rise and subsequent fall from grace, and theres one particularly eerie bit of information thats resurfaced. While you may know that OReilly has penned the historical Killing series, his first book was a fictional thriller titled Those Who Trespass: A Novel of Television and Murder. The book is a suspenseful psychodrama that chronicles the life of a newsman named Shannon Michaels at the Global News Network who begins murdering his former colleagues when hes fired from the network. Heres the plot description:

One by one, high-level executives and correspondents are being murdered. Soon it becomes clear that the killings are linked, the work of a bitter former newsman exacting revenge on those who derailed his career. Tommy OMalley, a tough but warmhearted New York City detective, is assigned to crack the widening, high-profile murder cases, but encounters competition from a beautiful and tenacious tabloid reporter, Ashley Van Buren. As the story unfolds, Tommy and Ashley quickly discover theyve got much more in common than a knack for solving crimes.



Per a New Yorker feature about OReilly in 2006, the novel is described as a revenge fantasy that displays extraordinarily violent impulses against women and men that also threads in elements of OReillys real-life Falklands War experience when he worked at CBS News. (He left CBS in the 90s after he and his teams exclusive footage of a riot was allegedly not properly credited in a news report.) Heres how the magazine also describes some of the books murders:

Michaels stalks the woman who forced his resignation from the network and throws her off a balcony. He next murders a television research consultant who had advised the local station to dismiss him: he buries the guy in beach sand up to his neck and lets him slowly drown. Finally, during a break in the Radio and Television News Directors Association convention, he slits the throat of the station manager. OReilly describes each of these killingsthe careful planning, the suffering of the victim, the act itselfin loving detail.

For what its worth, OReilly is releasing another, not-yet-titled Killing book in the fall. His publishers plans to release it on schedule have not changed.
Excerpt from Generation Gone. Ales Kot & Andre Lima Araujo (storytellers), Chris OHalloran (coloring), Clayton Cowles (lettering), Tom Muller (design). Photo: Ales Kot

Just a few years ago, Ales Kot was everywhere. Then, suddenly, he was hardly anywhere to be found. The comics writer burst onto the scene in the early part of the decade with acclaimed runs on series like Zero, Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier, and Secret Avengers. Then, in 2015, not long after an interview with Vulture where he decried bigotry in the comics world and received criticism on Twitter for what some saw as an effort to exploit social justice for fame, he stopped speaking to the press and his work output ramped down.

Luckily for all the Kot-heads out there, the Czech-born scribe is coming back. Hes publishing two new comics series with Image Comics this year: Generation Gone and The New World, and we caught up with him to talk about them, his disappearance, and the fallout from his comments on diversity. Check out the conversation and exclusive artwork from both of the new series below.

You more or less disappeared from the press in 2015. Why, and where did you run off to?

I felt sad. I was badly sick with Lyme disease and my recovery was uncertain. I turned down offers from various big media companies to focus on building an uncertain long-term dream. I didnt know where Id create a home outside of the self, and if I even wanted to. My writing began suffering from the overload I got hit with  the sickness moved fast and caught me by surprise just as I was taking big risks that depended on my continued ability to execute on my usual high level.

That combined with emerging and intensifying flashbacks to something very old and unprocessed, and ended up creating a Molotov cocktail. I was, you could say, ready to be lit. But I dont buy into the tortured-artist myth, so upon some serious assessment, I felt that what I really needed was to scale back my commitments, heal myself, figure out how to act better as a person and a writer, and start the next phase strong. Here I am.

Whats the pitch for The New World?

Its Romeo and Juliet by the way of Mad Max, Larry Clarks Kids, 2000AD comics, Hunger Games  which is all nice and flashy but means nothing without a beating heart, right? So imagine waking up in Los Angeles  except now its called the New Los Angeles  and youre about 30 years in the future. The big earthquake happened. The Second Civil War happened. North America is split along new lines.

Enter Juliet: a boy, lets call him Kirby, a straightedge OCD hacker with a penchant for building the new. Enter Romeo: a girl, lets call her Stella, a messy TV star cop with a license to kill. Watch them crash into each other on the dance floor. What happens when you meet and know? The world is on fire and mad weird and media oversaturated and you. Are. Here. Hello. Just because it takes from the Shakespearean doesnt mean its got to be a Shakespearean tragedy, you know what I mean? I mean a beating heart.

Whats the pitch for Generation Gone?

Three millennials walk into a bank  Nah, who am I kidding, they just hack it because they want to steal cash. But they get superpowers instead, sort of by accident, and two of them are in a romantic relationship that is, as things accelerate, clearly unveiled as not what it may seem. If The New World is about what happens when things go right, Generation Gone is about what happens when they go wrong. Think Unbreakable and Akira meet the first season of Skins, add multiple trips to the sun, weird black goo, a breakup fight inside a nuclear factory, love, hate, anger, loss  and survival.

Plus Andre Lima Araujo doing career-igniting work on art. The way he finds subtlety and power in characters and landscapes, regardless of scale, the clarity and elegance with which he tells the story, are astounding. And Chris OHallorans colors  I think hes going to become sort of a big deal after this project, you know? We talked about Caspar Friedrichs paintings a bit recently, about bringing in a bit of that dusk/dawn energy, the eerie dreaminess, and Chris went and executed so beautifully. Im excited. Im grateful for my collaborators, and for the synergy we give to the story.

You got a bit of a drubbing from critics for your comments on diversity in comics a few years back. What did you learn from the critiques you received, and do you think the industry has moved forward meaningfully since then?

The critiques I got were coming from people assuming I was using supporting diversity as a marketing ploy. I dont really need to convince anyone thats not the case. I grew up in a place where structural inequality also ruled and still rules the day. I saw it destroy people since way before I went to school. I wont stop doing my best to offer help and support (and to learn how to best do that) just because a few people assume Im doing it to benefit myself, and I wont waste my time and energy trying to convince them who I am or what I stand for. That would be a waste of energy that can go towards making an actual difference.

Most of what I got was a very positive response  an outpouring of messages, emails, stories, questions, handshakes, hugs, and pitches. I got to hire many new, authentic creators and pay them despite not having any corporate money behind me. Some of them Im collaborating with on new projects, others are getting calls from editors who read their work and connected with it. We got to effect  and continue to effect  an actual change. Doing what I did and continue to do should not be considered anything but the bare minimum for a creator in my position.

To answer your question further, I try not to think about the industry too much these days, as I prefer thinking about people and writing, in that order. Would be nice if we finally unionized, though!

Excerpt from Generation Gone. Ales Kot & Andre Lima Araujo (storytellers), Chris OHalloran (coloring), Clayton Cowles (lettering), Tom Muller (design). Photo: Ales Kot

Excerpt from Generation Gone. Photo: Ales Kot

Excerpt from Generation Gone. Photo: Ales Kot

Excerpt from Generation Gone. Photo: Ales Kot

Excerpt from Generation Gone. Photo: Ales Kot

Excerpt from Generation Gone. Photo: Ales Kot

Excerpt from Generation Gone. Photo: Ales Kot

Promo for The New World. Ales Kot & Tradd Moore (storytellers), Jordie Bellaire (coloring), Clayton Cowles (lettering), Tom Muller (design). Photo: Ales Kot

Promo art for The New World. Photo: Ales Kot

Promo art for The New World. Photo: Ales Kot

Excerpt from The New World. Photo: Ales Kot
Sung Kang as Han. Photo: Jaimie Trueblood/Universal Studios

Fate of the Furious writer Chris Morgan has said for a while that he would love to bring back Sung Kang as the beloved character Han. Despite the fact that we saw Han die all over again in Furious 7, specifically at the hands of Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), Morgan said during this most recent press tour for the eighth Fast film that hes still thinking about the one they call Han Seoul-Oh. Could Han have escaped the blast that killed him in Tokyo  somehow? Morgan told the Los Angeles Times that he did die, but when discussing the hashtag #JusticeForHan that popped up after Fate of the Furious debuted, he also put a doorjamb down to keep it from closing entirely. I think youll learn a lot more about it, and I dont know if that hashtag will be the appropriate one to put on it down the road, said Morgan. But I can tell you this: We will definitely be talking more about Han.

Morgan also said he knows bringing characters back from the dead lowers the stakes even further for the franchise, since you basically take away all consequence with a move like that  so does that mean Han will have a twin who surfaces to avenge his death by going after Shaw? Or maybe, does that mean the entire Fast universe actually exists in a snow globe that we will finally see held in the palm of Hans hand at the end of the tenth movie? The cruelest and perhaps most likely scenario, though, is that Morgan literally means that we will definitely be talking more about Han, because thats all well be able to do. At least weve got two more Fast movies to find out.
By Press Trust of India: From Lalit K Jha

Washington, Apr 20 (PTI) US President Donald Trump will meet his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on May 3.

"They will use the visit to reaffirm the commitment of both the United States and Palestinian leadership to pursuing and ultimately concluding a conflict-ending settlement between the Palestinians and Israel," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters yesterday.

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This would be the first meeting between the two leaders.

The US President met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this year.

In a departure from longstanding US policy, Trump said he "could live with either" a one-state or two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. PTI LKJ BSA

--- ENDS ---
Photo: Carlo Allegri/Getty Images

Theres undoubtedly a wealth of Prince recordings still left unheard by the general public. According to a federal judge, however, that fact wont be changing this Friday, or any other day before early May at the absolute earliest. Even before Deliverance, an EP of unreleased Prince music recorded between 2006 and 2008, became available for preorder on Amazon, Apple, iTunes, and Google Play, Princes estate had filed a lawsuit against Rogue Music Alliance producer-engineer George Ian Boxill. According to their filings, Boxill has no legal standing to release the tracks as he planned to do this week, having signed a confidentiality agreement in 2006. The estate also alleges the producer has refused to return the master tracks of the six Prince songs in question. According to TMZ, a federal judge agreed, demanding Boxill turn over the recordings, putting in place a restraining order until May 3 and delaying the release of Deliverance for the foreseeable future. The album has been swiftly removed from online vendors, so if you got to hear the titular song when it was available to stream, well, you probably love it more than you did when it was yours.



Update, April 20: The Deliverance single, not the EP, is now available to buy. In a statement to Pitchfork, label attorney Matthew Wilson explained how this occurred: The Federal Court located in Minnesota has temporarily enjoined the release of the remaining unreleased tracks on the Deliverance EP. The court order has not enjoined the released single Deliverance. Therefore the Deliverance single will continue to be sold.
Photo: Ari Perilstein/Getty Images

If you didnt think Jay Z would be absolutely dominating the televised docuseries landscape in 2017, think again. National Geographic Channel announced today at their upfronts that it will partner with the Weinstein Company and Jay Z on Race, a six-part docuseries that aims to provide a stark and provocative look into systemic injustices in America. Race joins Jay Zs two other documentary projects with the Weinstein Co. Time: The Kalief Browder Story, which premiered March 1 on Spike, and the upcoming Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story, which was picked up by Paramount Network earlier this month. All of which suggests that maybe its finally time for everyone to calm down about how little music Jay Z has released in the last four years. The man is clearly very busy, and he will be for a while.


Photo: Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Kim Zolciak will reportedly be a very real housewife of Atlanta once more. According to TMZ, the Dont Be Tardy star is coming back to RHOA for its tenth season, but only in a limited role, since she has duties to fulfill for her other Bravo show. Zolciak appeared on the show briefly in the finale of season nine (she showed up long enough to get into a few snits with people, naturally), but this will be her first official foray back into the realest spotlight since leaving the show in a huff in 2013. She said at the time that she quit the program, but co-star NeNe Leakes called that fake news, and said on Twitter that Zolciak was fired because producers didnt want to work with her anymore. The Twitter drama was a small delight:

It's so funny how this chick wants people 2 think she quit the show! The producers no longer wanted 2 work wit u! Good bye wit the lies  NeNe Leakes (@NeNeLeakes) November 24, 2012

I definitely was NOT fired from RHOA I can guarantee u that!!! My spinoff last year was a 1 time thing so this ... http://t.co/uNK4UgEe  Kim ZolciakBiermann (@Kimzolciak) November 24, 2012

You are so mad u cant stand it & hold your anger in, u are suppose to have all this stuff going on but ur staying tuned into me #iloveit  Kim ZolciakBiermann (@Kimzolciak) November 24, 2012

Its unclear whether or not Leakes will come back for season ten, pitting her against Zolciak once more, but rumors are circulating that Leakes will only return if shes getting a bigger paycheck than her once-and-future nemesis. The fights are already starting, and contract negotiations arent even over yet.
Brandon Boyd of Incubus. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Its no exaggeration to claim that the lions share of major 90s rock music came from the West Coast. The grunge-infested scrublands of the Pacific Northwest have been well-charted by historians, but then again, California, more diffuse and various, was rocks true epicenter at the end of history. As rock began to fracture permanently in the wake of Nirvana, it could seem as if a Golden State pedigree was the only thing tying the genre together. Pop-punk titans like Green Day, Blink-182, and the Offspring? All Californian. Mainstream-metal derivations, whether rigidly defiant in the form of Rage Against the Machine or coiled loosely in the form of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, was California to the core, as were later metal outfits with heavier moods like Korn and the Deftones. Hole came from Los Angeles. And certain California bands forged in the 80s (Faith No More, Metallica), were still active, even if Metallica wasnt good anymore. The state, it seemed, was as fertile in electric guitars as it was in fruits and vegetables. A rich matrix of local scenes and national influences intersected with a high concentration of A&Rs to make for rocks final gold rush.

Incubus doesnt really stand out as a California band at first sight, but the SoCal aura is evident once you peer closer. The band was formed in 1991 by 14- and 15-year-old classmates in prosperous Calabasas, and its formative years were spent under the heady influences from two other California high-school bands, the Chili Peppers and hypereclectic Eureka outfit Mr. Bungle; Rage was another likely influence. What these three bands shared was a reverence for funk grooves and metal volume and a willingness to fuse the two. And, like every other band in that conformist decade, they had an affinity for loudly nonconformist rhetoric.

Incubus was well-positioned to listen and learn from their environment, and they had the time and talent to make their high-school habit into a full career. What defined them, at their best, was a willingness to adjust to prevailing currents while retaining their integrity and candor. Released on an indie label not long after their high-school graduation, their first album, Fungus Amungus, is a sincere and skilled pastiche of their funk-drunk idols, fat grooves and heavy riffs cheerfully jostling defiant references to 4/20, space aliens, and psilocybin mushrooms. Major-label debut S.C.I.E.N.C.E. (1997) registered the impact of nu-metal  remember record scratches over dense power chords?  while steering its headbanging energies away from despondency and making time for nifty field trips: a trip-hoppish interlude, a space-themed love song (Summer Romance), a full-on guitar solo (Deep Inside).

That album made waves, but it was its 1999 follow-up, Make Yourself, that marked a breakthrough for the band, commercially as well as aesthetically. The band had matured into a sound of its own: Mike Einzigers clean, hard, finely textured guitar work; dashes of eclectic sonics for flavor; and Brandon Boyds lyrics, which treated the concerns of suburban adolescence and early adulthood seriously while neither plunging headlong into the florid self-presentation that that audience was prone to, nor avoiding it entirely. Self-determination and nonconformity never sounded so clear: The core singles Stellar, Drive, and Pardon Me have aged well, but so has the rest of the album. Morning View (2001) extends this aesthetic: A slight loss in lyrical focus was balanced out by a dilation of sonic and thematic scope. The album was recorded in Malibu, and something of the beach shows in its energetic, open quality, particularly on the love song Echo. The project was, to paraphrase the title of the charming East Asianinstrumented (ever heard of a pipa?) lullaby that closed it out, a successful aquatic transmission.

The beach also marks a point at which things end. To borrow from a later chronicler of young suburbanite adulthood (and fellow Calabasas resident), nothing was the same after Morning View. A Crow Left of the Murder, from 2004, dips its toes into social criticism, but comes out with little to show for it. The criticisms of TV on tracks like Megalomaniac or Talk Shows on Mute were clearly insufficient: They were done better on S.C.I.E.N.C.E. anyway (Idiot Box), and they didnt make much sense coming from an MTV mainstay. The band, or at least Boyds lyrics, were tipping into megalomania in their own way, albeit not aggressively or offensively. With nothing left to push against, the lyrics devolved into unrhymed banalities. Meanwhile, the sound flattened out. Though Einzigers riffs and lines remained firm and Jose Pasillas IIs drums steady, the departure of original bassist Alex Katunich corresponded with a loss of the bands original groove. The band edged ever closer to anonymous mainstream rock: Where they previously dramatized uncertainty, now they reproduced stolidity. True, Crow Left and its descendants, Light Grenades (2006) and If Not Now, When?, werent quite awful, but they were also definitely anodyne.

It was too much to expect Incubus eighth album, 8, out tomorrow, to return to peak form. As the history of pretty much every 90s band tells, men in their 40s cant summon youthful inspiration. As with so many late-career rock releases, listening to 8 is like listening to a greatest-hits album without the greatness. The albums April 20 release points to the weedy nature of the first album; theres a track (Surveillance) that criticizes, again, mass media (now social media); there are lyrics about repeating high school forever. Einzigers expertise in shaping riffs hasnt faded much, its true. But all the same, its clear that the magic has departed from the mushrooms. The words dont float; were left with generic portobellos.

To quote Boyd on album opener No Fun, its no fun anymore  the lyrics remain in a rut figuratively, but at least theyre honest enough to actually be about being in a rut. Still, when an albums undisputed best track is an instrumental (Make No Sound in the Digital Forest), its clear that the band that made it has outlived its time. If Incubus became great, or at least very good, by treating high-school existence with exactly as much gravity as the subject merited, the band in its current state sounds the way high school feels a dozen years after: Trace elements of nostalgia will always persist, its hard to get angry about it, but its hard to say anything meaningful about it either.

The difference is that you can replay old albums a lot easier than you can relive your past. Its been weird listening to the Incubus catalogue again and discovering that the band you thought was good as a high-school sophomore and junior was, actually, good  exactly as good you thought they were too, not one bit better or worse. Those emotions, apparently, are still there and still valid, but that fact is far more of a relief than its implications. A continuity of taste suggests a continuity of being, and its more disappointment than comfort to realize how little youve changed  or, at least, how little youve improved.

Id gotten used to thinking that my former self was stupid and immature; that opinion hasnt changed. But to suspect, while keeping that in mind, that my former self was smarter and more adult than I am now feels awkward, disturbing even. Are you really any more of a grown-up because you earn money and dont do dumb shit? Teens are stupid and naive  we all know that. But theyre not wrong to call adults out for being stupid, jaded, rule-besotted cowards. Maybe actual maturity is something else entirely: not a habitual restraint but the capacity to go all the way, coupled with the intelligence to know when to leave. If a band cant figure that out, maybe part of the reason is that their listeners are no wiser than they are. Anyway, I dont care; whatever. Happy 4/20, I guess.
Back when heroin-chic was a thing, Rachael Leigh Cook managed to become a face of Americas anti-drug movement thanks to her intense entry into the iconic This Is Your Brain on Drugs ad campaign. For the young millennials out there, those were the ads with the frying eggs that ended with someone rhetorically asking, Any questions? as you imagined your own brain melting in a blistering hot skillet. Leigh is now 37, and shes still pretty pissed about the havoc being wreaked on America by drug crime, but in a new ad that riffs on the premise of the original from the 1990s, shes focusing her rage on how the War on Drugs fuels mass incarceration and unfairly targets people of color. Leigh still has that cast-iron pan, and shes still swinging hard. See the new ad above and the original below.
Im beginning to worry a little bit that I no longer understand what the Real Housewives are talking about. At a contentious Hamptons dinner, Ramona says that Bethenny is being a real BI. Say what now? Is Bethenny playing a private detective who swings both ways and lives in Hawaii? This season on CBS, no man or woman is safe when shes on the case. Bethenny Frankel: BI. I think she meant to say that shes being a real B as in bitch, but no one says BI. Thats like saying someone called you the D-word. Thats not really a thing. There is not one D-word, theres like a ton: dick, dildo, dwarf, dolt, douche, dumb ass, dissembler. Should I go on?

The one that is even worse is when Dorinda is at lunch in the vineyard, looking like it is just two degrees too cold to still be sitting outside, and she tells Ramona and Mrs. DAgastino Crackerjacks that Sonja has a hard-on for me and now Ive got a hard-on for her. Taken out of context, I would believe that means that Dorinda is physically and sexually attracted to Sonja and Sonja is excited in her gigantic lacy Dior granny knickers for Dorinda. But in context, it seems to mean that Dorinda thinks that Sonja is out to get her and now Dorinda is out to get Sonja. Maybe she means she has, like, a hard-on of hatred toward Dorinda. Its as if Sonja is engorged and tumescent with disgust and now Dorinda is responding in kind. I mean, I get it, but I also dont get it.

That is my problem with this entire episode. I understand the two major fights of the episode  Bethenny vs. Ramona and Luann, as well as Sonja vs. Dorinda  but I also dont understand them at all. Are they really about what were fighting about or is the history of being forced together for all of these years finally taking its toll?

The fight between Bethenny and Ramona seems to have started when Ramona ham-fistedly brought up Bethennys old Skinemax movie, which was apparently making the rounds on RadarOnline or some other internet birdcage liner that caters in Housewives gossip and ephemera. (I visit them all every day.) Rather than just asking Bethenny how she feels about it now that its 20 years old  or how she will, eventually, talk to her daughter about it  Ramona turns into a smarmy concern troll and says something like, Are people bringing this up to your daughter? Ugh. Think about the children! is the worse thing anyone could ever say about anything. Bryn is only 6. (It seems like just yesterday Bethenny was peeing on a stick with an open door on national television.) This is a really gross way to bring the subject up and frame the debate around false concern for Bethennys daughter, like being in a movie with her top off in her 20s is going to ruin her childs reputation for the rest of her life or something.

Meanwhile, Ramona is talking about how she is hanging out with her daughter and all of her sorority sisters and says, They think of me more as a friend than they do a mother. Um, no they dont. Thats something that girls tell their friends mothers when they show a little bit too keen of an interest in going out with them to the club and doing shots of Fireball. Its something that daughters say as karmic retribution for all the times their mothers lied to them and told them, Its whats on the inside that counts.

Anyway, the real cause of the fight is that Ramona and Luann think that Bethenny is rude and only wants to talk about herself, which is correct. So yeah, theyre stupid for attacking her about the sex tape that isnt a sex tape at all, but theyre also fundamentally right. Theyre especially right when they call Bethenny wicked and a witch and she gets up and walks out of dinner. Does Bethenny remember what she said about Luann in the Berkshires? Does she remember calling her a snake all of those years ago at Brooklyn Fashion Weekend or whateverthehell? Bethenny has served it up just as cold to these women for the decade that theyve been in business together. She cant be getting all mad now that the narrative doesnt really suit her tastes.

Maybe my problem isnt that I dont understand the argument, its just that theres no side in it. There is no one to really support because theyre all awful and theyre all horrible to each other and, unlike the Housewives of Atlanta and Beverly Hills, they dont seem to enjoy each others company at all. Theyre just forcing themselves together for the good of the franchise. Theyre choking down their Soylent Green to keep themselves nourished, but the Soylent Green isnt made out of people, its made out of a weary resentment that wont go away.

But that doesnt quite explain the fight between Sonja Tremont Morgan of the Marie Eiffel Market Morgans and Dorinda. This one I cant really quite make out because it seems that Sonja is just mad that she wasnt invited to the Berkshires. Somehow, this one small snub seems to have grown in her mind as Dorinda trying to excise her from the group. Sonja isnt worried about not being included; Sonja is worried about getting fired. Everyone thinks that Sonja needs to let it go and she does need to get over it. She really, really does. She says she has and I think that she thinks she has, but she hasnt.

This is all uncovered by Dorindas Housewife private investigator, who has compiled a dossier of Sonjas bad behavior as thick as Sonjas rosters of international clients and yacht holdings. This investigator of Dorindas, who is apparently a friend and employee of her late husbands, has unearthed all sorts of things, including Sonja talking shit about Dorinda on Facebook, Sonja telling people that Dorinda is a liar on Twitter, and a photo of Sonja getting humped by a stripper. I dont know, but this Bitch Investigator (BI! I finally get it!) really just seems like a meddler with Google access and too much time on his or her hands.

As for Sonja talking shit about Dorinda behind her back, that is what is going to get her in trouble. Sonja says she likes to avoid conflict, but thats not going to happen when she plays nice in public and dirty in private. Dorinda, on the other hand, is not at all afraid of confrontation and is totally going to railroad my precious Sonja. Not that Sonja is in the right here, by no means, but this is not a fight of equals. Sonja didnt bring a knife to a gunfight; she brought her Argentina luggage to a nuclear war.

Still, that picture of Sonja with a mostly naked man on top of her is not going to be damaging evidence. What do we expect from our favorite floozy? Its not like that will ruin her global fashion and lifestyle brand  being humped by a stripper at an engagement party is Sonjas global fashion and lifestyle brand. If anything, showing that picture around town is helping Sonja prosper.

The strangest moment of the episode for me personally was when Sonja and Tinsley showed up at Sonjas friends house in Sag Harbor because I have also spent a few weekends at that house. Its owned by two friends of mine and is literally right around the corner from the Countesss house. As Tinz says, it is an incredibly chic and wonderfully appointed home and I once posed entirely naked with my nether regions covered by a very jaunty pillow with a Scottish terrier embroidered on it in one of those beds. It was my Grindr picture for a period of time.

Like so many New Yorkers who travel the charity circuit, I knew my friends had met and hung out with Sonja on several occasions, but I had no clue they were close enough to lend her the house for one fall weekend. I had to call up Mike and Noel (their names have been changed to protect them from the wrath of their neighbor Luann) and find out just how Sonja ended up staying at their house.

It was the weirdest thing, Mike told me. We were at a fundraiser for the Trevor Project at Kevin Fitzsimmonss house. Do you know Kevin? He used to date Justin Klimt? They were all in that share on Fire Island in that giant house on the ocean. You know the one: the house with the margarita machine in the kitchen and the urinal in the bathroom. Anyway, you totally know Kevin. So, were at Kevins house and were hanging around by the pool, examining each others polo shirts and sweating in our loafers when this woman comes up to us. Shes wearing a big floppy hat and giant sunglasses and a leopard-print caftan. Shes all like air kisses and The gays love me, Im so much fun, have you had any of the frose, try the frose.

Then, out of the blue, she starts asking us about our house. How big is it? Is it decorated nice? Will we be using it all this fall, blah, blah, blah. So I show her some pictures on my phone and she loves it and says that she needs to have a friend of hers out sometime this fall and shell pay us $20,000 for the first weekend in November. Something about making sure shed be able to attend a dinner party and how she needed to be there for things to go down. So of course we were like, Bitch, get out your checkbook. And make out $10,000 to us and $10,000 to the Trevor Project and well see your caftan ass in November.

Oh my God, I told him. Thats amazing. Do you know who this woman was?

Girl, duh! Mike said, and I could hear him over the phone rolling his eyes at me as he took a sip of his merlot and carefully placed his wine glass back down on his polished concrete countertop. Who do you think?
Cynthia Nixon and Laura Linney in The Little Foxes, at the Samuel J. Friedman. Photo: Joan Marcus

Lillian Hellmans breakneck melodrama The Little Foxes was written in 1939 on the Depression plan. It has one set, no more characters than it can use, and just enough plot to make it go. Yet go it does, busily slapping down shibboleths and exposing hypocrisies in a rich white Southern family circa 1900. These are the Hubbards, two brothers and a sister, nouveau riches who intend (as a memorable image in the play has it) to eat the world and all the people in it. But first they must decide how theyll divide the dish.

One of the things that the Manhattan Theater Clubs good-enough revival, directed by Daniel Sullivan, gets right is the stock-ticker rhythm of the siblings machinations. At first the three are presumed equals in a deal that will make them millions by bringing the operations of a northern cotton mill to their fields. But Ben and Oscar, being sons, can draw on inherited savings to buy their one-third shares in the $225,000 investment. Regina, having received the customary nothing from their father, must get her third from her husband, Horace, whos wealthy enough but unwell and unwilling. That unfairness does not make Regina a very sympathetic character as she plots her way around every obstacle, including Horaces inconvenient existence, to get what she wants. In the end it is far more than 33 percent.

The play isnt subtle; its just delicious. Oscar says things like You are talking very big tonight! and Regina answers with lines like Am I? Well, you should know me well enough to know that I wouldnt be asking for things I didnt think I could get. The secondary roles are narrowly crafted to provide contrast to the quick-witted rapaciousness of the main ones: Oscars wife, Birdie, is a kindly, damaged daughter of the aristocracy; their son, Leo, an amoral doofus; the servant Addie, formerly a Hubbard family slave, a font of goodness and wisdom. Though this last is a stereotype, the others arent much less so, and Hellmans treatment of the black characters  there is also a male servant, Cal  is as sophisticated as you would expect from a liberal of her era. That is, she says the right things but still sees their highest function, dramatically and otherwise, as serving the white characters agendas.

Nevertheless, the acting opportunities are juicy from top to bottom  and Caroline Stefanie Clay, as Addie, gives the best-modulated performance of all, keeping much of what she knows inside. At the top, the production has come up with the gimmick of having its headliners, Laura Linney and Cynthia Nixon, alternate as Regina and Birdie. Its an odd notion as, for good reason, the sisters-in-law are normally cast with very different types of actresses: Elizabeth Taylor and Maureen Stapleton in the 1981 revival, Stockard Channing and Frances Conroy in 1997. In any case, if you see the show only once, as I did, you wont be able to compare. But my cast  Linney as Regina, Nixon as Birdie  suggested that the switch would not materially alter the effect of the production, which is solid but not transcendent for reasons beyond the two womens performances. For the record, though, Nixon is spot-on, and very moving, as the first victim of the familys ruthlessness and its voice of ineffectual goodness. (Her face seems lit from within by alcohol, from without by tears.) Linney, in a copper wig, has further to go to get beneath Reginas top note of steeliness; to be disarmed by her, as the Northern mill owner is in the first act, you must never have seen a seething snake before.

Its largely in the calibration of the mens roles that the production falters. The aggressively likable Richard Thomas is especially odd casting for the gruff Horace, whose illness is meant to have reformed him; its hard to believe that a man so pleasant could ever have tolerated Regina, let alone married her. And though Michael McKean and Darren Goldstein, as the brothers Ben and Oscar, are just fine as far as the looks and line readings go, under Sullivans somewhat grandstanding direction their pacing and affect suggest something too close to comedy. Nothing against comedy, but if you let some of the setup of The Little Foxes play as sitcom, youre not going to be able to nail down the horror and tragedy of the payoff. This production gets laughs well past the time they are wanted.

Hellman shares the blame for that. Her interest in the consequences of bad behavior tapers significantly once the men are knocked down a peg. Perhaps thats because the play, suggested primarily by events in her Alabama family, is evidently also based on her own experience of disinheritance by the patriarchy. So although as a dramatist she knows that Regina cannot be allowed to achieve her victory unscathed, as a moralist she just isnt very interested in punishing the woman who won because she was smarter and tougher. You can feel the play snuffling around for some kind of palatable comeuppance; the result  a falling-out in the last beat with her daughter, Alexandra  is never convincing, and is less than usually so here, where the prior connection between them is null.

What remains powerfully effective, and what Sullivans handsome production gets right, is Hellmans dissection of (and shocking prescience about) the way a systemic lack of power can turn into manipulative fury. Hellman had seen it before in the toxic capitalism that led to the Depression and did not imagine it would disappear anytime soon from the human repertoire of injustice. After all, she took her title  courtesy of Dorothy Parker  from the Song of Solomons image of little foxes that spoil the vines and the tender grapes thereon. The spoiling instinct, she demonstrates, is a part of nature, never to be stamped out. And so even though Regina outwits her brothers, Ben is not discouraged: After all, this is just the beginning, he says. There are hundreds of Hubbards sitting in rooms like this throughout the country. All their names arent Hubbard, but they are all Hubbards and they will own this country some day.

Thats still a swift kick in the American grits, and worth the price of admission, whichever Regina is proving him right.

The Little Foxes is at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre through June 18.
A Suitable Girl, Flower, and Dabka. Photo: Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival

Created to re-energize the most wounded neighborhood of a wounded city, the Tribeca Film Festival has become Manhattans South by Southwest, a star-packed, multimedia jamboree next to the falls more august and carefully curated New York Film Festival. Theres a fair chance that youll see something thats half-formed or crummy (especially on the fiction side  docs are safer), but the beauty of this kind of festival is that the whole is mightier than the sum of its parts. A big part of the fun is standing in line and marking up your schedule and listening to post-screening Q&As and thanking young, very needy filmmakers for coming and grabbing coffee before the next screening and striking up conversations with strangers and luring them home and eating them  hang on, our review of My Friend Dahmer somehow got mixed in here. Festival groupies tend to like more artisanal eats.

With hundreds of features, shorts, and panels, its impossible to offer anything like comprehensive recommendations, but here are some things or weve seen or, in a couple of cases, cant wait to.

Chuck. Photo: IFC Films

Chuck

Liev Schreiber is the Bayonne bleeder Chuck Wepner, whose 15-round title bout with the heavily favored Muhammad Ali inspired Rocky  which is Wepners chief claim to fame when everything in his life goes way south. The movie (directed by Philippe Falardeau from a script by Jeff Feuerzeig, Jerry Stahl, Michael Cristofer, and Schreiber) bobs and weaves around all the standard biopic cliches and remains unbloodied  its creepy, heart-tugging, and very entertaining, as befits the story of a man whose heart on his sleeve spurts blood. Elizabeth Moss is superb as Wepners grossed-out wife and Noami Watts (though impossibly pretty) delightful as an empathetic bartender. With Ron Perlman, Jim Gaffigan, Michael Rappaport, all terrific. DE

City of Ghosts.

City of Ghosts

Matthew Heinemans ravaging, essential doc profiles citizen journalists attempt to blow the whistle on Islamic State atrocities in Syria. DE

Copwatch. Photo: Copwatchers, LLC.

Copwatch

Not yet seen but recommended anyway is Camilla Halls documentary about police brutality and Ramsey Orta, who filmed Eric Garners killing on Staten Island and landed in jail on trumped-up charges for his risk. After now-Congressman Dan Donovan did his best to ensure that no indictments were handed down in Garners death, Orta was the only one in this sorry event who spent time behind bars. DE

Dabka. Photo: Jasyn Howes

Dabka

Evan Peters stars in the true story of Jay Bahadur, a 24-year-old wannabe journalist who embeds himself in Somalia right as the countrys pirates start to make international headlines. With the help of his fixer, played by Captain Phillips Barkhad Abdi (the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama is a plot point, adding a layer of meta-curiosity) he gains insight that no other journalist at the time was reckless enough to risk their lives for. The films stylistic flourishes (including several animated sequences) and Peterss cocky gonzo narration may not play for those without a stomach for the Vice school of storytelling, but the film is admirably rigorous about facts, and isnt afraid to be a little educational. Co-starring Al Pacino as Jays mentor, plus an ensemble of local nonprofessional Somali actors. EY

Flower. Photo: Carolina Costa

Flower

The tone is kerflooey in Max Winklers comic drama. The first half is a riot, thanks to the motormouth banter of Zoey Deutch as Erica, a 17-year-old spark plug with a yen for fellatio and blackmail. (Her ultimate aim is taking down an alleged sexual molester played by Adam Scott, but this isnt exactly a thriller.) What youll make of her burgeoning relationship with a sadly dysfunctional future stepbrother played by Joey Morgan is anyones guess, but at a certain point I kept repeating WTF? like a mantra. DE

Get Me Roger Stone. Photo: Barbara Nitke/Netflix

Get Me Roger Stone

You can have him. A portrait of the noxious Republican spinman and behind-the-scenes operator. DE

Gilbert. Photo: Arlene Gottfried

Gilbert

As in Gottfried, the gnomish ranter whose jokes are hit or miss but always, always over the line. The doc doesnt quite nail down the source of the little mans titanic aggression, largely because (as friends and colleagues acknowledge from the outset) hes among the most closed-down human beings on earth. But the films fascination is its mix of stand-up footage and scenes in which Gottfried pads around his Manhattan apartment with his lovely wife/caretaker, Dara, and two children, looking dazed and flummoxed by the nature of so-called normalcy. DE

A Gray State. Photo: Mason Hendricks

A Gray State

This Werner Herzogproduced documentary explores the tragedy surrounding the death of aspiring filmmaker David Crowley and his wife and child. An Iraq war veteran turned dystopian auteur, Crowleys homemade trailer for his yet-to-be-written feature film Gray State became a viral phenomenon among libertarians and Alex Jones types. With their support, he crowdfunded thousands of dollars and got the attention of Hollywood producers. But Crowley grew increasingly paranoid and obsessive during the films development, and he and his wife, Komel, spiraled into a joint psychosis that they documented over hours of home-video footage, voice memos, and diaries. Director Erik Nelson, a producer on Herzogs Grizzly Man, cant help but speed through the untold volumes of material, and he comes off as a little squeamish about the dark psychological heart of his story. But its still a fascinating, if upsetting, watch and illuminates one possible end point of the conspiracy-theorist mind-set. EY

Keep the Change. Photo: Giacomo Belletti

Keep the Change

A fictionalized film about love between a young man and woman on the autism spectrum, directed by Rachel Israel with a clear eye  shes on the guarded-optimism spectrum. Most of the actors are on the spectrum, too, which means its sometimes hard to tell when theyre saying their lines in a stilted way or thats just normally how theyd talk. But the movie is worth seeing to puzzle that  and so much else  out. DE

The Lovers.

The Lovers

Azazel Jacobss very strange and squirmily entertaining comedy marks the return of Debra Winger as one half of a long-married couple (the other half is Tracy Letts) who have become veritable strangers to each other and are both having serious affairs (Letts with Melora Walterss dance teacher, Winger with a writer played by Games of Thrones Machiavellian Littlefinger, Aidan Gillen). The pleasure is in the mix of teeny surface banalities and colossal subtext  its like an extended Pinter satire. DE

My Friend Dahmer. Photo: Daniel Katz

My Friend Dahmer

Based on a graphic novel, Marc Meyerss portrait of Jeffrey Dahmer as a high-school senior (class of 78) is the most ineffably 70s movie since Dazed and Confused. There are nerds everywhere you look and fuzzy apathy bleeds into anomie. Dahmers creepiness fits into the mosaic. Former Disney teen star Ross Lynch plays the teenage title character, affectless under his oversize glasses and blond Prince Valiant hair  until he launches into spazzy spasms to get attention and ends up attracting a small group of male admirers who crown him a clown prince. Meanwhile, hes collecting road kill and dissolving its flesh in acid and thinking about killing a jogging doctor (Vincent Kartheiser!) after whom he lusts. Anne Heche is his manic, nerdy (but being Anne Heche, not un-hot) speed-freak mom, and Alex Wolff an increasingly wary pal. DE

One Percent More Humid.

One Percent More Humid

Liz Garcias squirmy drama has good performances from Juno Temple and Julia Garner as friends home from college to skinny-dip, party, and try to forget a tragedy no one wants to talk about. Movies that feature tragedies that no one wants to talk about are more alike than unalike (piecemeal flashbacks leading to the Whole Story, etc.), but this one is grounded. Alessandro Nivola has some fine should I or shouldnt I scenes as the professor Temple cant keep her hands off. DE

The Reagan Show. Photo: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

The Reagan Show

Pacho Velez and Sierra Pettengills doc is nothing but footage of the actor turned politician, but in a context (and from different, revealing angles) that leads you to the conclusion (which I find irrefutable) that the eight-year president of the United States was a man in an empty suit. And yet Reagan looks like Solomon the Wise next to the baby man in the suit of hot air whos got the job now. DE

A Suitable Girl. Photo: Naiti Gamez

A Suitable Girl

Weddings in any culture are almost by definition archaic, but this moving documentary about the byzantine matchmaking process in modern India, seen through the eyes of the brides-to-be, throws that fact into harsh relief. Directors Sarita Khurana and Smriti Mundhra follow three women of varying socioeconomic backgrounds, all of whom are approaching their final marriageable years and who have their own misgivings about marrying themselves off. A driven career girl with a nightclubs-and-brunches lifestyle in Delhi marries into a prominent political family in a small town, a shy woman of lesser means turns to online dating after traditional matchmaking meetups continually fail her. Marriage is an obsession for these women and their families, both coveted and dreaded  as it signifies their departure from their family. The weddings themselves are boisterous, beautiful, and full of heartbreak. EY

Super Dark Times. Photo: Eli Born

Super Dark Times

The feature debut from director Kevin Phillips certainly lives up to its name; it might also be one of the most visually arresting films youll see this year. Featuring sublime cinematography and engrossing, naturalistic performances by its teenage cast, the 1990s period piece follows a foursome of typically awkward, foul-mouthed boys whose lives are changed by a horrific accident involving some stolen weed and a samurai sword. Rather than kicking off a high-stakes thrill ride, Phillips opts to depict a kind of hallucinatory, hormonal malaise that builds to almost unbearable dread. Its more Stand by Me than Stranger Things, but Super Dark Times lands somewhere much more violent and sobering than its forebears. EY

Tom of Finland. Photo: Mikko Rasila

Tom of Finland

This handsomely produced biopic tells the story of Touko Laaksonen, a.k.a. Tom of Finland, a pioneer of gay erotic art who gained a fervent international following while remaining fundamentally closeted for most of his career in repressive postwar Finland. While Finnish filmmaker Dome Karukoski hits some familiar life-story beats and perhaps one too many double entendres, there are some truly breathtaking moments here, especially when the film edges into fleeting moments of fantasy. The narrative spans decades; we see Laaksonen as a young soldier in the Finnish Army, and a graying fish out of water diving into the hedonism of West Hollywood in the 1970s. Pekka Strang plays the title character with alternating layers of warmth, anxiety, and playfulness. EY

True Conviction. Photo: Sarah Lim

True Conviction

This is Jamie Meltzers study of a detective agency in Dallas started by three exonerated men whose mission is to free innocent people. I smell a Hollywood feature in this one  or maybe a TV series. DE
Diane Keaton and Woody Allen in Annie Hall. Photo: Bettmann

In honor of Annie Halls 40th anniversary, screenwriter Marshall Brickman looks back on the process by which Anhedonia, the complicated, surreal film he wrote with Woody Allen, was pared down to the more straightforward romantic comedy Annie Hall. Movie nerds are probably familiar with Allens original vision for the film, a drama that contained, among other elements, a murder mystery, a tour through hell, and a Knicks game against the famous philosophers of history. However, as Brickman explains to Vanity Fair, he and the Bananas star were simultaneously writing another screenplay at the time. One was a standard comedy. I think it was a period piece, like a Victorian comedy with costumes, he reveals. Anhedonia, meanwhile, was this other odd idea that was Woodys, a new form [for which] the structure would be based on associations the main character would have to the things in his life. A phrase or a word or an image would remind him of this and that.

The pair initially labored over both concepts until Allen chose the screenplay that would, through extensive editing and rewriting, become one of his most beloved works. We worked on that odd idea for a while, and then the [other] comedy, recalls Brickman. It was like being in the desert between two mirages. You walk toward one and it looks great from a distance, and then as you get closer it starts to disintegrate, so you start walking toward the other one. Finally, Woody said the thing that has a chance of getting a little notice is the thing that had never been done, the thing with the greater risk. So clearly that meant we would try to do the one that turned into Annie Hall. And he was right. While Annie Hall was a box-office success that went on to garner Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay, Best Picture, and Best Director, as well as a Best Actress Oscar for Diane Keaton, Brickman is still convinced that their forgotten Woody Allen Victorian period comedy would have made much more money.
By Press Trust of India: From Aditi Khanna

London, Apr 20 (PTI) Britains armed police officers are being trained to shoot at targets behind the wheel of a moving vehicle under new rules to counter changing terrorist tactics following attacks in France, Germany, and recently in the UK.

Simon Chesterman, Britains national spokesperson on firearms policing, said today that changing terrorist tactics had led security officials to review the norm of not shooting at drivers over fears of the impact on public lives.

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Vehicle attacks by terrorists in Nice, Berlin and most recently London have led the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) to issue new instructions to officers to shoot through the windscreens.

"We have seen some very horrible and different tactics lately involving vehicles and lorries. Within our policy, we used to talk about not shooting at a moving vehicle because of the danger we might cause if we fired at a driver. But if the vehicle is being used as a weapon in the first place, there arent many tactics available in relation to stopping it, particularly a very large lorry," said Chesterman, the NPCC lead on firearms.

"Driving a vehicle in front of it is not going to stop it, so you need to shoot the driver... Im confident that our armed response vehicle officers are equipped with the right weaponry and ammunition to stop a lorry," he said, explaining that officers now have the kind of ammunition that can penetrate doors and windows of a vehicle.

He also announced that the number of authorised firearms officers available to be deployed across England and Wales is to reach 10,500 by next year ? an increase of about 1,500.

In April 2018, there will be about 7,000 armed police from the 43 forces in England and Wales, and 3,500 from other forces, including the Civil Nuclear Constabulary.

The UK government is funding 1,000 extra armed officers, while forces are paying for 500 more.

The goal is to increase numbers of two kinds of armed officers: those who are deployed in armed response vehicles (ARVs) ? the first response to any shooting incident ? and counter-terrorism specialist firearms officers (CTSFOs).

Chesterman, who is leading what is known officially as the armed uplift programme, said 41 more ARVs were now on patrol in high-risk areas ? in line with targets.

However, he admitted that forces were set to miss their target for recruiting the more elite CTSFOs.

The recruitment drive for CTSFOs has been extended until the end of next year.

Last month, Khalid Masood killed four people on Londons Westminster Bridge when he mounted the pavement in a car at high speed and mowed down pedestrians before stabbing a police officer at the gates of Parliament.

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The UK was already reviewing its armed policing capacity following the attacks that killed 130 in Paris in 2015. PTI AK ABH AKJ ABH

--- ENDS ---
On the question whether she would again launch a movement for Ram Temple, Uma Bharti said, "Where is the need for a movement (for Ram temple). I have said it so many times. The movement was to assert that where Ram Lalla is sitting today was the birth place of Lord Ram. The court has given its seal on that saying the same spot is the birth place of Lord Ram."

"Now, the issue to be resolved is - who is the current owner of the land? Such land disputes can be settled inside the court or even outside. The Supreme Court has given an opportunity to settle the dispute outside. The Supreme Court could not have done anything better. The court's suggestion should be welcomed. This is can be settled through negotiation," Uma Bharti said.

The Union Water Resource Minister asserted during the interview that the issue for which (Ayodhya) movement was launched has been settled. The only matter remains is to build a grand temple there, Uma Bharti said.

Responding to a question as to if building Ram Temple at Ayodhya is easier with the Modi government at and Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh, Uma Bharti said, "Don't forget the matter is pending before the Supreme Court, which has asked the two parties the Waqf Board and Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas to settle the matter outside."

Uma Bharti urged the Opposition leaders to build a consensus for construction of Ram Temple. She said, "This is the time when (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi, (Bihar Chief Minister) Nitish Kumar, (RJD chief) Lalu Yadav (and) Mulayam Singh Yadav (the Samajwadi Party founder) should take initiative for building a temple on the lines of Somnath Temple for which Dr Rajencdra Prasad, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru and Chimanbhai Patel, all of them built a consensus."

Uma Bharti blamed the previous governments, particularly those led by the Congress, for communal tension over Ayodhya. She said, "After the Allahabad Court's verdict in the title suit case, (BJP leader) Ravi Shankar Prasad presented the facts very well. People had apprehension that the verdict may lead to tension in the country. But, nothing happened."

"Tension over Ayodhya was created by wrong presentation of the matter. The leftists, the Congress and the Samajwadis had played a negative role in building tension over Ayodhya by not presenting facts well," Uma Bharti added.

Does Uma Bharti regret demolition of Babri mosque? The Union Minister avoided a direct answer to the question asking a counter question, "How do you consider that I demolished the structure? And, what I should be apologetic about? I am not apologetic about saying Jai Shree Ram."

Explaining what she felt when the Babri mosque was pulled down, Uma Bharti said, "The same question was asked by Liberhan Commission," before adding, "My reaction was like as if you hate somebody so much that you don't want to see his face and suddenly the person is killed. It was a strange emotional feeling."

Responding to a question about whether the BJP has deserted Advani and Joshi after the Supreme Court said that they should face trial, Uma Bharti said, "I cannot comment on that. I don't know if your information is correct. But, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are jewels of the party. I don't think that the BJP is not talking to Advani."

On the question of cancelling her visit to Ayodhya after the Supreme Court order, Uma Bharti said that she would definitely go to offer prayer at Hanumangarhi and Ram Lalla temple. "I did not cancel the visit due to the Supreme Court order. I did not want to make it a political visit. But, I will definitely go to Ayodhya. It is a matter of personal belief."
Officials with the U.S. Small Business Administration discussed their loan products with a roomful of bankers in Waco on Tuesday, hoping to spur their interest in financing small business ventures.

The administrations Dallas-Fort Worth district, which serves the Greater Waco area and more than 70 counties, generated $1.1 billion in loans last year. In Waco, the administration produced 16 loans valued at $3.9 million, but none came from Waco banks, Small Business Administration district spokesman Ahmad Goree said. The administration wants local financiers to get more involved, Goree said.

TFNB stands out

He said the nearest bank involved in generating the loans was TFNB Your Bank for Life in McGregor, which produced two SBA-backed loans of the 16 cited by Goree.

The SBA provides a lending platform and a venue for folks who do not have a proven track record. They may have a good idea and a good work ethic, but they do not typically meet traditional loan standards, TFNB President David Littlewood said. The loans provide them with an avenue to start a business when they may not have had the resources or wherewithal to do so otherwise.

Littlewood said loans backed backed by the administration include protection for lenders in that they provide a guaranty of 75 to 90 percent in the case of loan default. Lenders also can make larger loans than they otherwise could because the administration-backed portion of the loan does not count against the banks loan limit, he said.

Nate Sloan, a loan officer at TFNB, attended Wednesdays meeting, held in a fourth-floor conference room at Waco City Hall. Bank chairman Mike Beard also attended.

SBA loans are a little more complicated than conventional lending but not terribly so, Sloan said, deflecting a criticism by some, though none attending the meeting, that the loans involve too much red tape. You can get one knocked out in 60 days or less.

Beard jokingly said administration-backed loans really are a pain in the butt, and you bankers in Waco dont need to get involved with them.

BBVA Compass city President J.D. King attended Wednesdays meeting and said he considered it a sound refresher course.

We are an SBA preferred lender, and this gives me a better understanding of what to look for in a potential borrower, he said. Im the guy on the front line searching for opportunities.

King said he was surprised to hear that no Waco bank produced an Small Business Administration-backed loan for a Waco project last year.

When we book a loan, it may be processed elsewhere. That figure may or may not be accurate, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt, he said. I know there are a lot of independent banks in Waco, and independent banks are not prolific in SBA lending because they dont have specialists to get involved.

King said he considers BBVA Compass one of the most aggressive Small Business Administration-affiliated lenders in Greater Waco and beyond.

I know we made a $2 million loan to a dentist in Central Texas last year, and I thought it was in Waco, King said.

Derenda Fisher and Willie Rodriguez, Small Business Administration lender relations specialists, presented information about the benefit of Small Business Administration loans to both lenders and borrowers. They said borrowers can secure loans with terms stretching from seven to 25 years, and that the administration relishes providing loans for start-up ventures.

Last year, 38 percent of loans went for start-ups, Rodriguez said.

Eligibilty criteria

To be eligible for a Small Business Administration loan, an applicant must be an operating business; organized for profit; located in the United States; meet regulatory requirements for size; and demonstrate a need for the desired credit, according to an administration manual.

You cant get a loan for dog grooming, Fisher said.

The administration focuses on what it calls the three Cs: character, capacity and collateral. That refers to credit history and prior habits; sufficient cash flow; and a secondary source of funding for recovery of a loan in the event of default.

However, loans of $25,000 or less do not require collateral, while those between $25,000 and $350,000 allow lenders to follow their own collateral policies and procedures, Fisher said.

The Small Business Administration is offering a special deal in which it will waive the up-front guaranty fee to lenders on loans $150,000 and under approved through Sept. 30, 2017, Rodriguez said.
By Press Trust of India: Lucknow, Apr 20 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh government today decided to open "Jan Aushadhi" stores in all districts of the state to sell quality medicines to people at cheaper prices.

"Jan Aushadhi stores will be opened in all districts under PM Jan Aushadhi scheme to provide cheap and quality medicine to people. It will also help in giving employment to pharmacists and Rs 2.5 lakh financial assistance will also be given to them," Medical and Health minister Siddharth Nath Singh said while addressing a meeting here.

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Six hundred generic medicines and 155 surgical items will be included in this scheme and those interested will be encouraged to open these stores at prominent places in their respective cities.

"Presently medicines for cardiac diseases are available between Rs 55,000 to Rs 1.45 lakh but now the same will be available through these stores between Rs 7,000 to Rs 25,000," the minister said. PTI ABN ASV

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A court date for McLennan County Commissioner Will Jones has been postponed because the prosecutor in the case is dealing with an unexpected health issue.

Jones, Precinct 3 commissioner, had been set Friday to plead guilty or no contest to a Class A misdemeanor charge of offering a gift to a public servant.

However, Assistant Attorney General Amy Cadwell asked that the hearing be postponed until May 5, officials in 54th State District Court said.

Visiting State District Judge James Morgan is hearing the case because Judge Matt Johnson recused himself.

Jones, 45, was arrested last month for making an improper offer to reimburse his Republican primary opponents filing fee in exchange for his opponent dropping out of the race.

In an plea agreement between Cadwell and Jones attorneys, Jim Dunnam, Thomas West and Jeff Kearney, Jones is expected to be placed on deferred adjudication probation for one year. He also is expected to be fined and ordered to perform community service, officials said.

Dunnam declined comment Wednesday about the case.

The attorney generals office agreed to prosecute Jones after McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna recused his office and asked the Texas Rangers to investigate possible bribery charges against Jones.

Re-elected in November

Jones was re-elected to a second term in November. The charge stems from an offer he made to reimburse Ben Matus the cost of his $1,250 filing fee if Matus would drop out of the race.

Jones admitted in January 2016 he made the offer to Matus, saying he didnt consider it wrong. He called it a simple business transaction.

Jones defeated Matus, an auto repair instructor at Texas State Technical College, in the primary with 56 percent of the vote and won 83 percent of the vote in the November general election against Libertarian challenger David Reichert.
Sitting in front of a Facebook Live camera and behind a telephone, U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, hosted his second teleconference broadcast Wednesday at the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, taking online and call-in questions from residents concerning a variety of issues.

I feel like we had a good, quality conversation with constituents, some that like the direction Washington is going and some with concerns about the direction Washington is headed, Flores said after the teleconference. I felt like we got to take a large diversity of questions to address issues, and I felt like it was a good town hall.

Instead of holding traditional in-person town hall meetings with constituents, Flores opted for an alternative format in a series of meetings this week called tele-town halls.

Constituents in McLennan, Falls, Freestone, Leon, Limestone, Milam and Robertson counties participated in Wednesdays event. On Tuesday, he spoke with constituents in Bastrop, Brazos, Burleson, Lee and Travis counties.

Thursday event

Flores also will participate in a radio town hall meeting Thursday based out of Bryan.

I expected at least one question about (hosting a tele-town hall), but my easy response was that I just look at how many people were on the call versus how many people would be out physically, Flores said after the event. We didnt touch as many people tonight as we did last night. Last night was over 9,000, and tonight was the 4,000-plus range, but I thought we had a good quality of conversation.

Flores presented poll questions during the event, including one specifically about the format of the town halls. 65 percent of respondents reported they prefer the tele-town hall event over traditional town hall meetings, Flores said.

Topics ranged from immigration and health care to climate change, poverty and governmental assistance. A caller from Leon County asked about Flores opinion on government assistance for the labor force.

We need to come up with the ultimate solution to deal with poverty, and that will be to give people opportunities to have great jobs with great paychecks so they can house their families, they can feed their families, they can educate their families and they can be a part of a vibrant community and a vibrant middle class, Flores said. That is what we need to do, and that is the poverty approach that we are taking.

Flores also fielded questions relating to President Donald Trump and the release of his tax information. Flores said there is no constitutional law that requires the president to release tax information.

Callers also questioned Flores about the future of the Affordable Care Act. He said he wants an infrastructure in place in which all citizens have access to high-quality health care but also will have a choice of their health care.

To watch the full video of Flores tele-town hall, visit his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RepBill Flores.
One political truism has become all too apparent in recent years: Those among us who most loudly claim to cherish and respect the U.S. Constitution often happen to be the most eager to gut and redraft key passages of it. Latest evidence: Republican state Sen. Brian Birdwell, who has pushed hard this legislative session for an Article V Convention of States to rewrite offending parts of the Constitution  a dangerous idea for all real patriots who love this republic and understand its intricate framework for governance.

This month, Birdwell, whose senatorial district includes Waco, laid aside his dogged campaign for an Article V Convention just long enough to push Senate Bill 522, which would allow county clerks across Texas to recuse themselves from their duties on religious grounds if confronted with couples applying for same-sex marriage licenses. Under the bill, the county clerk could instead turn over those duties to other clerks or even a judge. Presumably, those other clerks or judges would not be so entrenched in their religious beliefs as to forsake their sworn secular duties.

Here we have further evidence of why our state and federal governments are becoming so complicated and unwieldy, even when the so-called conservatives are running the show. In this case special accommodations or expense might have to be made to tap extra personnel or add to another officials duties so some county clerk can employ religious discrimination in the halls of government, which by the Framers very design is supposed to be secular in nature and free of any dueling interpretations of Scripture.

All this also shows why Brian Birdwell is the wrong man to attend any Article V Convention of States. The office of county clerk is not a religious post. Its a public office funded by taxpaying citizens  Republicans, Democrats, independents, rich, middle-class, poor, liberals, conservatives, moderates, God-fearing, atheists, blacks, browns and whites  and, yes, straights and gays. And its not the county clerks choice to decide whether he or she will follow a legal ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court, which even with its conservative slant found same-sex marriage constitutional. The United States is a republic grounded in the Constitution, legislators passage of laws and, finally, interpretation of disputed laws by a network of courts. And like it or not, the highest court in our land has made a constitutionally grounded decision regarding all this.

Yes, many of us might not personally condone same-sex marriage based on our religious views. Many of us agree that no pastor, priest, rabbi or imam should be compelled to oversee a same-sex marriage if he or she or the membership of his or her church, synagogue or mosque objects. That involves religious liberty in its most overt, relevant context. But the workings of government are designed to be free of the wildly conflicting notions, principles and dogmas that separate even Christian from Christian. And if some county clerk cannot understand this fundamental principle  one simple in its genius and critical in its preservation  then he or she should resign or forsake running for re-election. We could say the very same of certain lawmakers.
The Texas Rangers are investigating fuel theft from the countys Precinct 2 work yard, Precinct 2 Commissioner Lester Gibson said.

Gibson said in his almost three decades as a commissioner he has never seen a similar investigation into employees in his precinct.

Precinct 2 Administrative Assistant Pat Miller said Gibson initially passed all information he learned about the situation on to the county human resources department. The Texas Rangers came at the request of the district attorney, she said.

District Attorney Abel Reyna did not return calls for comment.

Gibson said he does not know how long the investigation could take, but hes in no hurry and does not have a problem with the Rangers looking into the situation.

For more than a week, the county had already been conducting an internal audit of fuel use in Precinct 2.

County Auditor Stan Chambers said his office is in the middle of the audit to see if there are inconsistencies with the procedures for record keeping for fuel use.

Precinct work yards, also known as precinct barns, have procedures in place to ensure fuel is tracked every time it is used, Chambers said. Records detail which employee is taking fuel, the date, the number of gallons and the vehicle or piece of equipment the fuel goes to, he said.
Uttar Pradesh textile minister Satyadev Pachauri is seen in a video questioning officials of his department over employing a disabled man.

By India Today Web Desk: During his monthly radio address - Mann Ki Baat - in December last year had said that physically-challenged people have a 'divine ability' and the term divyaang should be used in place of viklang for them. However, a leader of his party, who is also a minister in Uttar Pradesh's Yogi Adityanath government seems to care little about PM Modi's advice.

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Uttar Pradesh textile minister Satyadev Pachauri was on a inspection visit to his department in Lucknow. During his interaction with the officials, Pachauri spotted a disabled man. He enquired the man about what work he does in the department.

The man told the minister he works as cleaner. Hearing his reply, the minister turned towards the officials and said," Loolhe langdon ko kaam pe rakha hai (You have employed a crippled, what work he will do?)"

Pachauri, who represents Kanpur's Govind Nagar seat in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, also is also heard asking about the salary the man gets.

MINISTER CLARIFIES

Minister Satyadev Pachauri later clarified that his statement was misinterpreted by the media.

"The man appeared to be weak. I asked the officials to hire another person for his help that's it. But media presented my statement in bad light," Pachauri said.

WATCH: UP textile minister Satyadev Pachauri insults disabled worker, says, 'loolhe langdon ko kaam pe rakha hai'

ALSO READ:

Disabled community urge Modi to not use divyaang for them

PM on Mann ki Baat: Let's use 'divyaang' instead of 'viklang' for physically challenged people

--- ENDS ---
WAHOO  Two Saunders County Sheriff deputies were issued citations for theft over a time sheet issue April 14.

The citation was made by a third deputy and that deputy has been suspended pending an investigation, said Saunders County Sheriff Kevin Stukenholtz.

The investigation is now in the hands of the Nebraska Attorney Generals office, due to a conflict of interest, said Saunders County Attorney Steven Twohig.

Twohig said that is standard when county employees are involved. Twohig said his office conferred with the Nebraska Supreme Court Counsel for Discipline and was advised to request outside investigation.

Neither Twohig nor Stukenholtz were able to give the names of the deputies involved, due to the ongoing investigation.

The sheriff said the two deputies receiving citations remain on the job. He said this was due to the fact that he felt the citations were baseless.

Stukenholtz has never had an instance like this before, and said he felt the issue was a waste of taxpayer money as well.

But, since the Attorney Generals office will be handling the case, the cost will not be directly incurred by the county.

Twohig said he was not aware of the timeline the attorney generals office would be working under in this case.
Sangeeta Verma said her husband and in-laws had been harassing and torturing her for the past 15 years, demanding a dowry of Rs 25 lakh.

By Priyanka Sharma: Her face and body changed in an instant, permanently, and so did her life.

Ghaziabad resident Sangeeta Verma, 36, was brought to Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital this week with 90 per cent burns after her husband and in-laws allegedly doused her with acid. The government school teacher says the attack followed years of harassment and torture over dowry.

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"Papa, please help me get divorce from my husband," she had told her father and family members many times. Though the payment of dowries for marriage is illegal in India, they remain widespread across caste, class and educational divides. Doctors at Safdarjung say chances of Sangeeta's survival are slim. Her two sons, 13-year-old Avni and Akash, who is a year younger, have no idea where their mother has been since last week.

HOW DID IT HAPPEN

Sangeeta was going about her daily morning rituals last Thursday- getting the kids ready for school, cooking food for the family, etc. She was about to leave for work when an argument with the in-laws over the alleged Rs 25-lakh dowry demand turned ugly. She narrated her trauma to Mail Today at the hospital with great difficulty. "I had been pleading with my father and family to help me get divorce from my cruel husband for 15 years. The in-laws too always abused and tortured me for dowry to fulfil their desires. But none of my family members listened to me due to societal pressure. Now, see where I am..."

Doctors say chances of Sangeeta Verma's survival are slim.

The government has made attacking someone with acid a specific offence with a minimum prison term of 10 years. It has also tightened controls on sales of some acids, but cleaning agents are still easily available. Sangeeta's in-laws had always been pressuring and torturing her physically and mentally for Rs 25 lakh dowry. "The harrowing incident happened around noon, when I received a call from them saying that she had burnt badly," said the victim's brother Pradeep Verma.

"We all rushed to her place and took her to a nearby hospital in Ghaziabad and looking at her extensively burnt body, doctors there referred us to Safdarjung Hospital."

'YOUR CHILDREN WILL PAY THE PRICE, IF YOU SAY ANYTHING'

"Sangeeta's father-inlaw Richhpal Singh Nagar is a retired section officer from the ministry of urban development. He is absconding now along with his wife, Rambhuli", said Pradeep. The victim was allegedly frequently threatened by her in-laws that if she spoke out about her harassment, her children would have to pay the price.

Earlier, she was reluctant to tell the truth about her burn injuries. But, knowing that her chances of survival are slim, on Tuesday she gave a statement to the police in an FIR that she was burnt by her in-laws, Pradeep said. Sangeeta had saved Rs 1.5 lakh for her children's school fees, new books and uniform, but this was allegedly used by her husband, Sanjeev Nagar, to buy liquor and on other revelries.

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A senior doctor in the burns unit, on condition of anonymity, told Mail Today, "Sangeeta came to our department late Monday evening in a distressed state. She has little chance of survival." A police FIR has been done and Sangeeta's family members informed us about the arguments and fights between the husband and wife.

Sangeeta has an MSc degree in Botany and a BEd and wished to study further. "Had we listened to her earlier, she would not have been lying here today," said her sister Babita. Experts say the custom of dowry began in India largely because, under Hindu law, parental property was not allowed to be shared by female children. In compensation, parents would give daughter a gift at the time of her marriage. In time, bridegrooms and their families made handing over the gift as dowry an institutionalised demand.

Also read: Meet Delhi's brave male acid attack survivors

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Also read: Delhi: Man forces girl to drink acid over unrequited love

Also read: Want to embrace Hinduism if given a chance, says Muslim woman attacked with acid after husband deserts her

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When the Republican Party convened in Cleveland in July to nominate Donald Trump for president, Fox News was led by Chairman Roger Ailes and the prime-time lineup of Greta Van Susteren, Bill O'Reilly, Megyn Kelly and Sean Hannity.

Nine months later, only Hannity remains.

In a one-sentence statement, the network's parent company, 21st Century Fox, on Wednesday (US time) confirmed a report by New York magazine that O'Reilly is finished at Fox News.

"After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill O'Reilly have agreed that Bill O'Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel," the statement read.
The first component already exists and involves prisoners wearing electronic ankle bracelets that monitor their location and alert authorities if the prisoners breach the geographical areas to which they are confined. Electronic monitoring is not, however, an effective substitute to imprisonment because if offenders are required to remain within a geographical area (such as their residence or immediate neighbourhood), they could commit offences within this space or breach the prescribed area and commit offences in the immediate vicinity.

A new system could be adapted to overcome this shortcoming of electronic monitoring. It involves monitoring offenders' every activity in real time. While it is possible to install surveillance cameras and engage people to constantly monitor the footage, this process would be prohibitively expensive. Fortunately, computer monitoring is now so advanced that this monitoring can be fully automated. Software can be developed to detect suspicious human activity and trigger an alarm. It would activate live video footage of the activity that could then be viewed by a corrections officer. The technology would be similar to that used in driverless cars. It would be so sensitive that it could tell the difference between an offender picking up a bread knife and a steak knife or performing rapid movements, such a punches or kicks.

The last component of technological imprisonment involves using conduct energy devices to immobilise  remotely and safely  offenders who are in the process of committing serious criminal acts or attempting to escape the confines of their designated zone. The device would ensure that offenders could be immediately be immobilised and tracked until corrections staff or police attended. Conduct energy devices, in the form of tasers, have been operational for several decades. Technology could be developed whereby a conduct energy devise was activated by remote control, as opposed to requiring a trigger to be pulled by an officer within close physical proximity to the offender.

With some refinements of existing technological systems, technological incarceration could be developed and employed to achieve all of the advantages of conventional imprisonment and yield additional, incalculable benefits. The community would save billions of dollars. Offenders would suffer less brutality and almost certainly reoffend at a lower rate than at present, thereby increasing public safety.

Implemented properly, technological incarceration could result in the total closure of all but a fraction of existing prisons. The only offenders who would continue to be accommodated in conventional prisons would be offenders who breach the conditions of technological confinement  for example, by attempting to escape or commit a serious offence  and offenders who have committed the most serious offences, in the form of murder and rape.
Where were you the night Bob Hawke abolished unemployment benefits? I was taking notes, stunned. Then I kept listening and heard he was planning a replacement; something called Newstart. It would be similar, but with different conditions. Malcolm Turnbull just pulled the same trick.

"Today we are announcing that we are abolishing the 457 visas," he began on Tuesday. "We are ensuring that Australian jobs and Australian values are placed first."

Only several moments later did he reveal that he would be replacing 457 visas with two new types of visa that would do pretty much the same thing.

He isn't abolishing temporary worker visas at all. (That's what 457 visas are.) He is refining the conditions and changing the name.
Call him the Trump administration's Enigma machine, the steady hand who decodes the still bewildering array of signals coming out of the White House. Or call him the good cop.

US Vice-President Mike Pence is travelling the key countries of Asia to project reassurance. To Australia, in which he arrives on Friday night, he is a conduit to the Oval Office, an interlocutor in the form of a traditional Republican who values alliances, believes in free trade and holds to an orthodox foreign policy.

"Vice-President Pence is a very reassuring figure," as one senior Canberra source put it.

During Mr Pence's two-day visit to Sydney this weekend, the Australian government will be looking to him for insights into what President Donald Trump has planned on such key issues as North Korea, China, Syria and trade.
Soon after, she heard what she described as "the sickening thud of someone's head hitting the concrete." He had said he felt faint before he passed out and toppled off his seat.

The man started complaining that he wasn't feel well, and Draa, a former CPR instructor, could tell he didn't look good. He asked her to find him some ibuprofen, even offering to hold her sign, which read: "Trump, Who Are You In Bed With Because It Sure Ain't Melania. Show Your Taxes!!!"

Draa, a 53-year-old stay-at-home mom and self-described passionate advocate for women's reproductive rights, joined a pack of protesters and supporters outside the Wisconsin manufacturing company where President Donald Trump spoke Tuesday afternoon. In the mass of people, she found herself standing next to a seated older man holding a defund Planned Parenthood sign.

For Ana Draa, a Trump protester, the most shocking part of her coming to the aid of a fallen Trump supporter, was that others were shocked.

As he lay on the ground, Draa held his hand, assuring him that he would be fine, that the ambulance would be there soon to take care of him. She tried to keep him calm as another anti-Trump activist, who happened to be a nurse, also stayed by his side until emergency workers arrived.

After he was taken away in the ambulance, Draa said a local reporter asked her why she helped him.

"Why? Wouldn't you?" Draa said she responded. "He's an old man. He felt the power of his convictions and he was very respectful. We need to respect and value the humanity in each other. Just because we have different opinions it doesn't make them evil. I was really taken aback that they were shocked."

Earlier at the event, Draa said another Trump supporter was screaming obscenities at her and the other protesters. When she held up her sign in front of her face to block him from her view, she said he punched the sign. She's still shaken by that man's behaviour, but said if he had been the one who had fallen, she would have helped him, too. "It's what my faith calls me to do," she said.

Draa, who lives in Libertyville, Illinois, said she has always been politically minded, but the first time she was inspired to take her beliefs to the street was after Trump's election. In January, she flew to Houston to participate in the Women's March there. As a half-Mexican woman, Draa said there were many things about the Trump candidacy that offended her personally.
One of the men charged over WA's Evil 8 case in which a girl was pimped out by her own father has claimed he was illegally detained by police and his interview should be thrown out of court.

WA Police Senior Detective John McTernan authorised a request by another detective in his squad, Natalie Wymen, to extend the detention of Alfred John Impicciatore, 46, beyond the six-hour limit.

Alfred John Impicciatore, 46, has pleaded not guilty to child abuse charges. Credit:LinkedIn

However, Detective Sergeant McTernan was involved in the Evil 8 investigation and WA law requires a senior officer not involved in the case to extend the detention period.

Impicciatore's lawyer Mara Barone argued in the District Court that should mean the video interview of May 14, 2015, in which police say he confesses and is a key piece of evidence, should be inadmissible in the trial.
Taking a dig at Congress, Venkaiah Naidu said they have given approval to 17 lakh 73 thousand affordable houses for the benefit of urban poor in 2008 cities and towns.

By Brijesh Pandey: Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu today said Modi government has done more in the housing sector in less than two years than what UPA did in its 10 years rule.

Naidu was speaking on the occasion of audit of work of the Urban Development Ministry in providing housing for all in urban areas on the eve of completion of 3 years of Modi government and he did not lost a chance to hit out at the Congress' "dismal" performance in providing housing for all in urban areas.

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Naidu further said, "When our government was formed, PM Modi asserted that government at various levels are not worth their salt if every aspiring family is not able to own a decent house in the 75th year of Independence in 2022."

Explaining how the Modi government is a government with a difference, Naidu said, "Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY), formed 22 months back, we have given approval to 17 lakh 73 thousand affordable houses for the benefit of urban poor in 2008 cities and towns."

Taking a dig at Congress, he said that during 10 years of their regime, they could only give approval to 13 lakh 82 thousand affordable houses.

Naidu also said that in 22 months, "We have exceeded 10 years of Congress rule by 3 lakh 90 thousand affordable houses and this is a good sign of being a government with a difference."

He also said that under PMAY, an investment of close to Rs 1 lakh crore has been approved so far which is three times more than what UPA did in 10 years with approving only Rs 32 thousand crore.

Stating that the commitment of the government can be gauged from the fact that though the previous government had wound up JNNURM in March 2014, Venkaiah said, "We decided to continue financing of earlier housing programme. This resulted in 3.55 lakh houses being constructed in the last 3 years compared to 7.99 lakh houses in the last 10 years of UPA rule."

Explaining the way forward, Naidu said, "We propose to meet the housing for all target in urban areas in fifteen states and UTs. Fifteen states including Kerela, HP, J&K, besides Northeastern states have been asked to submit affordable housing programme so that the construction could be completed in next 2 years. Other states have been asked to submit the proposals by 2018 so that construction could be finished by the stipulated time."

Calling the Real Estate Act as the most far reaching, pro-consumer and pro-industry initiative, Naidu said that as per the latest information, 12 states and UTs have already notified the final Real Estate rules.

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Also read:

Centre launches 350 projects for affordable housing

PMO discusses ways to involve realty cos in PM housing scheme

--- ENDS ---
A Senate committee inquiry into the efficacy and regulation of shark deterrent measures will be held in Perth, coinciding with the reignited debate on sharks after a teenage girl died in a fatal attack in the state's south.

West Australian Minister for Fisheries Dave Kelly will speak at the public hearing on Thursday, as well as the director of research of the Department of Fisheries.

Shark researchers from The University of Western Australia will also provide evidence, as will representatives from Surf Life Saving WA, Sea Shepherd Australia, Shark Shield and Shark Alert.

There have been 14 deaths from shark attacks in WA since 2004, most recently that of Laeticia Brouwer, 17, who died on Monday, and two people in one week last June.
A personal shark repellent device that could provide a 100 metre protection zone for swimmers and surfers could hit the WA market before summer.

Shark Shield, according to its managing director, Lyndsay Lyon, is about one month away from trialling the device as part of their aim to "get everybody back enjoying the ocean again".

Shark Shield plans to trial a new shark deterrent could create a 100 metre protection zone around swimmers, surfers.

The new device was announced by Mr Lyon while he was giving evidence at a senate inquiry into shark mitigation in Perth on Thursday.

The inquiry comes three days after a teenage girl became the 15th person killed by a shark in WA since 2000.
Jakarta: Jakarta's embattled Christian and ethnically Chinese governor could escape being jailed for blasphemy after prosecutors only requested he serve two years' probation for allegedly insulting Islam.

A day after Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama was decisively defeated in a bitterly sectarian gubernatorial election by former education minister Anies Baswedan, he was forced to front the blasphemy trial that derailed his electability.

Protesters outside the court erupted angrily when they learnt Ahok could escape prison for telling fishermen they had been deceived into not voting for him by his political opponents.



Prior to the alleged blasphemy, some Islamic groups had urged voters not to re-elect Ahok, citing verse 51 from the fifth sura or chapter of the Koran, al-Maida, which some interpret as prohibiting Muslims from living under the leadership of a non-Muslim

The provocative comments were opportunistically seized upon by Ahok's opponents and mass rallies that threatened the political stability of Jakarta were staged - spearheaded by radical Islamists - demanding that Ahok be incarcerated and even lynched.
Seoul: North Korean state media warned the United States of a "super-mighty preemptive strike" after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States was looking at ways to bring pressure to bear on North Korea over its nuclear program.

US President Donald Trump has taken a hard line with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has rebuffed admonitions from sole major ally China and proceeded with nuclear and missile programmes in defiance of UN Security Council sanctions.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, did not mince its words.

"In the case of our super-mighty preemptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only US imperialists' invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the US mainland and reduce them to ashes," it said.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 20 (PTI) Vice President Hamid Ansari will embark on a five-day visit to Armenia and Poland from April 24 during which he will hold talks with the top leaders of the two countries on a wide range of issues.

On the first leg of his visit, Ansari will be in Armenia till April 26. He will accompanied by his wife Salma Ansari, Union Minister of State for Small, Medium & Micro Industries Giriraj Singh, MPs Sitaram Yechury, D P Tripathi, Vivek Tankha and Thupstan Chhewang and senior officials besides media personnel.

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In Armenian capital Yerevan, Ansari will hold discussions with that countrys president, the prime minister and the foreign minister.

"The visit intends to further strengthen the cordial relation between the two countries, further develop cooperation and partnership on a wide range of issues of shared common interest," MEA Secretary (East) Preeti Saran told reporters.

Ansari will also address students and the staff of the Yerevan University.

"This is 25th anniversary of diplomatic relationship with Armenia and such high level visits will further relationships between the countries," Saran said.

From Armenia, Ansari will reach Warsaw on April 26 on a three-day visit to Poland.

"India has close ties with Poland and our strong economic ties starts from 1990. Indian investments in Poland amount to around USD 3 billion. India sees Poland as an emerging economic power. Our trade has gone 25 per cent in just one year," Saran said.

Asked whether NSG membership issue will be discussed during the visit, she said that Poland has been very supportive on this issue.

"We are very appreciative of the country," she said, adding "on the political side, India and Poland engage in strengthening cooperation on multi-level engagement including the United Nations."

In Warsaw, Ansari will hold discussions with the Polish president, the prime minister and the speaker of the Senate. PTI DR ZMN

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Vijay Mallya's extradition from the UK would take a minimum of 6 to 12 months. According to an ED official, bringing him back to India will be a long process.

By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: The extradition of money laundering accused Vijay Mallya from the United Kingdom would take a minimum of 6 to 12 months, according to senior officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

"We are not disheartened with the release of Mallya on bail. We are looking at the development as one step closer to bringing him back to India, but yes, it is a long way to go", an official from the agency said.

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It would not be an easy process for the investigative agencies and the central government to get Mallya back. At least, a dozen hearings would take place in the local court, with the option of moving the higher courts in the UK itself.

For the last two days, speculation have been doing the rounds that a special team of CBI and ED officials would visit London to appear before the Westminster Magistrates' Court for an extradition hearing against Mallya.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW Talking to India Today, CBI Spokesperson RK Gaur said, "It has not been decided whether we need to go London or be a part of the extradition process from India itself". "But yes, the extradition process has begun from our end", he said. According to sources, senior officials of CBI and ED are working in collaboration to gather all the required case details against Mallya "so that the same could be tabled before the UK legal authorities, strongly". India Today has learnt that even if a special team visits London for Mallya's extradition, it would be much before the hearing date, at least 4-5 days in advance. Mallya would attend an extradition hearing on 17th May. "This special team could be a group of officials from the CBI, ED and the central government. But the team would be headed by senior CBI officials, and not by ED", an official said. This is because Mallya has been arrested on the request of CBI and not under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) of the Enforcement Directorate. The ED team will consist of at least 2-3 members from Mumbai and Delhi zonal office, especially those who are well-versed with Mallya's money laundering case. To extradite Mallya from UK, ED had opted for the MLAT and also got a non bailable warrant (NBW) issued from a special PMLA court. At the same time, CBI also filed an affidavit seeking Mallya's extradition from the UK, and got a NBW issued against Mallya from the court. As per the procedures, once Mallya gets extradited, he will be presented before the local court seeking CBI custody. During that time, both CBI and ED would interrogate Mallya and record his statement. In case, Mallya gets bail from the CBI case, ED would make sure he is arrested again under the money laundering act.

Also read | How the CBI is preparing for extradition of Vijay Mallya from London

Also read | Delhi: India, UK home secretaries to meet in May; Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi's extradition to top agenda

Also read | Government should have sought Mallya's deportation: Congress

WATCH VIDEO

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Los Angeles, Apr 20 (PTI) In a first, scientists have genetically modified a jewel wasp to have red eyes, using a novel gene editing technology.

The wasps were created to prove that CRISPR gene-slicing technology can be used successfully on the tiny parasitic jewel wasps.

The advance provides scientists a new way to study some of the wasps interesting biology, such as how males can convert all their progeny into males by using selfish genetic elements.

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No one knows how that selfish genetic element in some male wasps "can somehow kill the female embryos and create only males," said Omar Akbari, an assistant professor at University of California, Riverside in the US.

"To understand that, we need to pursue their PSR (paternal sex ratio) chromosomes, perhaps by mutating regions of the PSR chromosome to determine which genes are essential for its functionality," said Akbari.

The new CRISPR technology allows scientists to inject components like RNA and proteins into an organism with instructions to find, cut and mutate a specific piece of DNA.

The researchers can see how disrupting that DNA affects the organism.

The goal was to better understand the biology of wasps and other insects to find a way to control insects that destroy crops or spread diseases like malaria.

The first step was figuring out how to use the CRISPR technology in such a small organism, something no one had ever done before, in large part because the work is daunting, Akbari said.

This is because jewel wasps lay their tiny eggs inside a blowfly pupa, which had to be peeled back to expose the teensy eggs.

In the case of mutant wasps, the team decided to slice the genes that control the colour of the wasps normally black eyes.

"We wanted to target a gene that would be obvious, and we knew from previous studies that if the gene for eye pigmentation was knocked out, they would have red eyes, so this seemed like a good target for gene disruption," Akbari said.

"Big beautiful red eyes are something you would not miss," he said.

"You have to use a very-very fine needle and a microscope and individually inject hundred to thousands of embryos, but in the end, we developed a protocol that can be used to cut the DNA in this organism and we showed that it works," said Akbari.

The cuts in the DNA created a mutant wasp with heritable traits, which means those red eyes will be passed down to all their offspring in the future - an important quality for researchers who are looking for a stable line of insects to study.

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The research was published in journal Scientific Reports. PTI SAR SAR

--- ENDS ---
China has argued that the height of the peak is shorter than the official version. Now, a team of Indian scientists wants to remeasure the height of Mount Everest.

By Chayan Kundu: The eternal dispute over Mount Everest's height could possibly be resolved, if India is allowed to remeasure the world highest's mountain peak.

To this effect, India has sent a formal request to the Nepal government to let its team of scientists measure the height of Mount Everest.

The foreign affairs ministry of Nepal has confirmed that it has received the proposal from the Indian side more than a week ago.

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"India's ministry of external affairs has sent us a proposal regarding the measuring of Mount Everest. We are looking into it," said Shankar Bairagi, foreign secretary of Nepal, who just returned from an India trip.

SURVEY OF INDIA GEARS UP

Around 30 scientists from the Survey of India and expert mountaineers are ready for the expedition. The entire project is expected to cost around Rs 5 crore.

Surveyor General of India Swarna Subba Rao is spearheading the entire programme. "With the modern gadgets and highly experienced scientific team, this entire process would take not more than 4 to 6 weeks," said the Surveyor General of India.

The Survey of India team wants to carry out Mount Everest expedition in May. "Our scientists need some conditioning and some training on climbing, which we are providing. Now everything depends on the clearance from the Nepal government," said Swarna Subba Rao.

THE CHINA ARGUMENT

There has been a long-standing debate on the height of Mount Everest. China and Nepal have had a history of disagreement over Mount Everest's height. China has argued that the world's highest mountain peak is four-metre shorter than the official figure.

The official height of Mount Everest is 8,848 metre (or 29,029 feet). The last measuring of Mount Everest was also done by the Survey of India in 1956. Nepal has always wanted to settle the issue of Mount Everest's height.

According to Nepal's foreign secretary, besides India, the country has not received proposal from anyone else to remeasure Mount Everest.

The urgency for re-measuring Mount Everest has been prompted by new satellite images that hint at the peak shrinking after the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Several scientists are, however, sceptical of such a theory.

The Surveyor General of India is hopeful of getting the nod from Nepal government to start the expedition. "Nepal is a friendly country and we are sure that soon we would get a go-ahead from Nepal to begin our historic journey," he said.

ALSO READ:

Nepal braces for traffic jam at Mt Everest

Dying on Mount Everest: All you need to know about the Everest Death Zone

--- ENDS ---

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Tatum's 39 points help Celtics hold on to beat Grizzlies 109-106
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Apr. 20, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 20, 2017 | 03:07 PM | PADUCAH, KY

Three men have been taken into custody after a pursuit and standoff with police Thursday morning on Paducahs west end.



The Paducah Police Department says officers were called to Walgreens, 521 Lone Oak Road, after an off-duty Ballard County dispatcher recognized a man they knew who had outstanding warrants for his arrest. Officers arrived to find the man, 38-year-old Keith Knight of Owensboro was in a vehicle in the parking lot with two other men.



Knight quickly fled in the vehicle, which was later found to be stolen. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but Knight continued down Alben Barkley Drive, and led officers on a pursuit into the Pines subdivision. The vehicle came to a dead end, at which point knight drove into the woods. All three men fled on foot after the vehicle struck a tree.



Knight and one of the other men, 41-year-old Garry Melton of Paducah were caught a short distance away, but 36-year-old Joshua Delk managed to escape.



After searching throughout the night, police found Delk at around 6 a.m. hiding inside a camper. Officers blocked off and evacuated the area and were ultimately able to talk Delk into surrendering peacefully.



Detectives said they later found a loaded handgun inside the camper, which belonged to Delk.



Knight, Melton and Delk were booked into McCracken County Regional Jail. Knight is charged with receiving stolen property (less than $10,000), first-degree fleeing or evading police (motor vehicle), second-degree fleeing or evading police (on foot), reckless driving, resisting arrest, disregarding a stop sign, failure to/improper signal, receiving stolen property (less than $10,000) and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon. Melton faces charges of second-degree fleeing or evading police (on foot), receiving stolen property (less than $10,000) and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon. Delk is charged with two counts of failure to appear, and on charges of second-degree fleeing or evading police (on foot) and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 20, 2017 | 04:14 PM | MAYFIELD, KY

At a press conference held at the future signature location for Independence Bank in Mayfield, President Darvin Towery announced the plans to host a free outdoor concert in celebration of their new location - Revolution Square. The headlining talent for the "Sounds of Independence" will be the legendary country music band Alabama.

The concert will take place on Saturday, August 12 in Mayfield. The venue is still being determined. The concert will be outdoors rain or shine.

Since entering the market in 2016, Independence Bank has seen tremendous growth, Towery said. This free concert is a thank you to our customers and the Mayfield community for welcoming us with open arms.

The new location, Revolution Square will be a permanent office for Independence Bank, who is currently working out of a temporary location on Charles Drive. It will be a one-story replica of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Construction is being led by Artisan Contractors and the estimated completion is expected the end of June.

Although this is a free concert, if youre an Independence Bank customer, youre in luck. All bank customers receive VIP seating to the "Sounds of Independence" concert. Not a customer? You have until the date of the concert to open an account to get upgraded to preferred seating.

Customers may visit Independence Bank's Charles Drive location in Mayfield, the Glendale location in Murray or the Jefferson Square location in Paducah to get their event ID card to be admitted to the VIP area.
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By The Associated Press

By The Associated Press Apr. 20, 2017 | 10:19 AM | BARDWELL, KY

A former Carlisle County teacher has pleaded not guilty to having an inappropriate relationship with a student.

The Paducah Sun reports 29-year-old Zachary Sims pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of unlawful use of electronic means to induce a minor to engage in sexual activity, tampering with physical evidence and first-degree official misconduct.

Police say they received a tip March 11 that Sims, who was a teacher at Carlisle County middle and high schools, was involved in a relationship with a 17-year-old student. An investigation began and Sims resigned from his teacher's position shortly thereafter.

Police say they uncovered evidence that Sims and the student had exchanged sexually explicit text messages over the course of several months.

Sims turned himself in to police April 4.

___

Information from: The Paducah Sun, http://www.paducahsun.com
By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 19, 2017 | 10:20 PM | GRAVES COUNTY, KY

A Graves County man was arrested Wednesday on burglary and theft charges.

Graves County Sheriff Dewayne Redmon says his office received calls about two burglaries that occurred Tuesday night. Redmon said someone broke into Bob and Anns Market in Sedalia and took an estimated $6000 in tobacco products and several bags of dog food. Redmon said Skinnys Used Cars on James Street in Mayfield was also burglarized. A 2010 Chevrolet Impala was taken along with other items.

Deputies began investigating the burglaries and the stolen vehicle was spotted in Sedalia on KY 381. A traffic stop was conducted on the vehicle, driven by 40-year-old Karl Alexander of Farmington.

During a search of the vehicle, Redmon said items from Bob and Anns Market were found, along with other items from Skinnys Used Cars. Alexander was arrested and led police to a creek bed in Calloway County, where more stolen property was found.

When deputies searched Alexander's room at the Budget Inn in Mayfield, they found several cartons of tobacco products, along with dog food and a small amount of cash.

Alexander was lodged in the Graves County Jail and charged with two counts of 3rd degree burglary and theft by unlawful taking.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Apr. 20, 2017 | MURRAY, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 20, 2017 | 11:41 AM | MURRAY, KY

A man in Murray is under arrest after trying to run from police.



According to the Murray Police Department, on April 11th at around 4:20 pm officers received a call from a residence on South 12th Street regarding a domestic disturbance.



The caller stated that the man had fled from the residence heading towards South 10th Street. Witnesses around South 10th Street stated they saw the man, later identified as Kory Roach, run to the ditches around the hospital.



While searching the area Roach was apparently spotted in a tree line near a bridge on South 6th Street. After being spotted, Roach again ran off ignoring commands to stop by police officers. Roach was eventually found and arrested after trying to hide behind trash cans at a residence on Vine Street.



After taking Roach into custody officers allegedly found a small bag of methamphetamine on him. Roach was charged with 2nd Degree Fleeing (Class A Misdemeanor) and 1st Degree Possession of a Controlled Substance (Class D Felony).


The NIA had filed the case against Naik and some IRF officials under section 153-A of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and the UAPA.

By India Today Web Desk: A non-bailable warrant was today issued against controversial Islamic speaker Zakir Naik by a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai.

The NBW was issued on the grounds of promoting enmity among community.

The NIA had filed the case against Naik and some IRF officials under section 153-A of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and the UAPA.

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Naik, head of Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), had left the country last year, allegedly to evade arrest after perpetrators of a terror attack in Dhaka said that they were inspired by his teachings.

This comes after a close aide of the controversial preacher gave confessional statement under section 164 of CrPC, spilling beans on Naik's benami property worth Rs 100 crores.

Also read:

Zakir Naik's aide spills beans on benami property worth Rs 100 crore, NIA on tail

Zakir Naik to India Today: I back Modi's quest to improve relations between Hindus, Muslims

--- ENDS ---
By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 19, 2017 | 09:21 PM | DRAFFENVILLE, KY

Three Marshall County men were arrested Wednesday on theft charges.According to the Marshall County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to Quality Inn in Draffenville in reference to a theft from two trucks. Police say tools and other items were taken from the trucks.

The investigation resulted in the arrest of three men staying at the hotel. Twenty-three-year-old Samuel Brackett, 21-year-old Hunter Snelling and 20-year-old Alex Evans, all of Benton, were arrested and charged with theft by unlawful taking over $500. Deputies said the tools and other items taken were recovered and returned to the rightful owners.

All three men were lodged in the Marshall County Detention Center.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 20, 2017 | 10:37 AM | MAYFIELD, KY

Three people were arrested on drug charges after a late night search of a Mayfield home.

Graves County Sheriff Dewayne Redmon said deputies received a tip that illegal drug activity was taking place at a home on South 10th Street. Deputies conducted a search late Wednesday night and found methamphetamine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia inside the home.

Redmon said 24-year-old Joseph Tyler Jones, 20-year-old Jasmine Seay and 33-year-old Sarah Anderson, all of Mayield, were arrested and charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. All three were lodged in the Graves County Jail.

There were two juveniles in the home at the time of the search and they were released to family members. Deputies say charges on a juvenile are pending.
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Two senior citizens, and another man, were arrested Monday evening after investigators found several pounds of marijuana during a search of three Pottawatomie Co. homes, Sheriff Greg Riat announced Thursday.

According to the Pottawatomie Co. Sheriff's Office, they were joined by members of the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and Parks to execute the search warrants at three rural Manhattan homes. In total, they found around nine pounds of marijuana, as well as cash and firearms.

They arrested a suspect at each of the homes. They were listed as:

Sandra Snyder

, 70, of 6240 Sparrow Lane. Police say she was arrested for Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was released on $1,000 bond.

Robert E. Snyder

, 67, of 5733 Elbo View Drive. Police say he was arrested for Possession of Marijuana with the Intent to Sell, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Criminal Use of Firearms, and No Drug Tax Stamp for Marijuana or Controlled Substance. He was released on $50,000 bond.

Brian D. Greer

, 42, of 6238 Canary Lane. Police say he was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Criminal Use of Firearms, and No Drug Tax Stamp for Marijuana or Controlled Substance. He is still being held on $50,000 bond.

Riat said the arrests came as part of an ongoing investigation, in conjunction with the Riley Co. Police Dept., into illegal drug use and sales in the county.
The Augusta police chief is getting death threats after an officer shot and killed a veteran's service dog.

Police say the incident happened after animal control and the officer responded to a complaint about the dog last week, and the dog charged at the animal control officer.

It's not just the police chief who's getting death threats - Chief Tyler Brewer says the officer who shot the dog is getting his life threatened too, and those threats are coming from all across the country.

It has the police department taking extra precautions.

"I received a phone call at home and someone told me I needed to take care of the officer that did the shooting, or my family and I would be killed," Brewer said. "I've been a lot more careful in the way I've conducted my business around my residents because some of these have come all the way from New Jersey, Saint Louis, California - you just never know.

About a dozen people gathered across from the police department for a vigil tonight, to support Alan Fitzgerald, the veteran whose dog was killed.

They were also protesting in hopes of getting more information on what led up to the shooting.

The police chief says when officers responded to a neighbor's complaint about "Midnite," the German Shepard charged at the door and knocked it open before attacking.

Some witnesses say it was the officer who opened the door.

"The truth behind that needs to be found out. What happened after that, that comes into play, but whether that door was opened by that officer was the main importance here," said Eden Fuson, one of the event organizers.

The sheriff's office was also present, to make sure both protesters and the community stayed safe.

Fitzgerald posted publicly on Facebook Wednesday saying, "Due to the threats of violence and the overall disregard for others rights that have been associated with this vigil, I will not be attending. I want Midnite's passing to be a peaceful vehicle for change within the system. There has been enough hurt."

The police chief says he would like to help the veteran get another service dog.

"I don't blame him for being upset that his dog was killed. That's gotta be an awful thing for a person who has served our country, and then been through what he's been through. I feel for him. I've been praying for him," Brewer said.
A childrens modeling contest was held in Hohhot on April 15, attracting over 300 boys and girls from Baotou, Ordos and Hohhot.

The winners in the final contest will represent Inner Mongolia to attend the Fifth Session of China CatwalksNational finals to be held in Shanghai in May.

A child takes part in the 2nd Inner Mongolia Fashion ShowChildrens Model Contest held in Hohhot on April 15. [Photo/Xinhua]

A child walks on the stage during the 2nd Inner Mongolia Fashion ShowChildrens Model Contest held in Hohhot on April 15. [Photo/people.cn]
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 20/04/2017 (2028 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As one of the general partners of Real Ventures, the largest and most active venture capital funds in Canada that target early stage startups, Janet Bannister is bullish on the tech scene in Canada.

Bannister, one of the founders of Kijiji, was in Winnipeg on Wednesday speaking at the Innovators, the annual gala dinner put on by the Information and Communications Technology Association of Manitoba.

Real Ventures three funds have raised a total of $150 million, with about 90 per cent of that to be invested in Canadian companies  about 120 to date.

As a Canadian, I am super-excited about where we are in our development, and I just see that accelerating, Bannister said. Canadian entrepreneurs today are talking about building huge companies. They say, I want to be the next Shopify.

Shopify is the Ottawa-based company that raised $130 million in an initial public offering two years ago and had nearly $400 million in revenue in 2016.

A few years ago, many Canadian startup entrepreneurs would say all they wanted was to be able to sell their company after they made a million or two. Now they dream bigger, Bannister said.

The thing with the startup ecosystem, it is like a snowball. Success begets success. For example, there are now hundreds of people working at Shopify learning how to scale a business, how to work at a business that is doubling every year.

People will leave there and start their own company or take what they learn and go to work at another fast-growing company.

Real Ventures has one Winnipeg company in its portfolio, PermissionClick, a company that has figured out a way to streamline the cumbersome approval procedure that schools and youth-based organizations need to run smoothly.

Real Ventures led PermissionClicks $1.75 million seed financing a year ago. Chris Johnson, one of the companys founders and CEO, said Real Ventures is a great partner.

We talk to them minimum once a week, usually multiple times per week, he said. They are very founder-friendly. They put in enough money for a seat on our board, but they just took observer status. They are there to help. They dont throw their weight around, but they bring clout and tons of experience.

Bannister said U.S. venture capital investors are increasingly interested in doing more deals in Canada, and she said they have been reaching out to Real Ventures for the heads-up when its companies need to do their next round of financing.

PermissionClick is Real Ventures only Winnipeg company so far, but Bannister says it would love to do more deals here.

Bannister said she was well aware of the success of companies such as Skip the Dishes, and in addition to going to PermissionClick in her Winnipeg visit, she also met with folks at Bold Commerce, the Winnipeg Shopify app developers.

The entrepreneurs here tell us they love being in Winnipeg, Bannister said. Theres lot of talent, plenty of developers and a real can-do attitude and, of course, the rent.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 20/04/2017 (2028 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HALIFAX  Ottawas envoy to Washington downplayed talk of growing trade irritants with the United States a day after U.S. President Donald Trump sharply criticized Canadas well-guarded dairy sector.

Ambassador David MacNaughton says that despite some U.S. rhetoric  and his own rebuttal letter released Tuesday  he still expects there will be constructive discussions between the two countries because so many jobs on both sides of the border depend on trade.

After a meeting Wednesday with the Nova Scotia cabinet, MacNaughton said upcoming negotiations around revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) wont be easy, but the process will work out just fine in the end.

He did not address Trumps comments directly and avoided questions about whether they signal the onset of a cross-border trade war.

All I can tell you is Ive had ongoing discussions with the White House and all of those discussions have been positive and professional  theyve been extremely responsive, said MacNaughton. Our relationship with the U.S. administration is extremely strong and I think its going to pay dividends in the long run.

In the meantime, MacNaughton said Canada needs to be prepared on every single issue when it comes to cross-border trade and shouldnt isolate any one sector.

Weve had a tough time on softwood lumber for 30 years. Im sure well hear lots about dairy and well hear lots about other things and Im sure there will be a lot of things that we will want to talk to them about, too.

Trump called out Canada by name Tuesday amid a brewing trade spat that has seen the U.S. dairy lobby accuse Canada of systemic disregard of its trade obligations. The U.S. president also signalled he wants to do more than simply tweak NAFTA, saying he is looking for very big changes to the trilateral pact that includes Mexico, or else he will scrap it once and for all.

MacNaughton said his intent with the letter was to correct the record following a letter critical of Canadas supply-management dairy system from the governors of Wisconsin and New York. He said both he and Ottawa would continue to speak out for Canadian interests when necessary and expects U.S. politicians to do the same.

They (governors) want to be seen to be standing up for their dairy farmers and I think the Government of Canada wants to be seen to be standing up for its dairy farmers, he said.

Canadian dairy farmers welcomed the ambassadors intervention.

Certainly were pleased that the ambassador to the United States came out supportive of our system last night and we see that our government is supporting us very well on this, said Murray Sherk, an Ontario dairy farmer in Kitchener-Waterloo.

The association representing Quebecs dairy farmers said its confident the Canadian government will continue to protect the supply management system which, despite Trumps views, has seen American dairy exports surge since NAFTA came into force in 1993.

If ever we feel that the Canadian government doesnt support it anymore, we will mobilize but we have no reasons at all to believe that would be the case at the moment, said spokesman Francois Dumontier.

MacNaughton said it remains to be seen how quickly NAFTA talks can get underway because of a looming election in Mexico and the fact the U.S. Congress still hasnt granted negotiating authority to the Department of Commerce.

He said he expects three-way talks on the trade agreement, but said there would be a number of ongoing bilateral talks on issues that affect Canada and the U.S., but not Mexico.

I would like to see it happen quickly, just because I think to remove the uncertainty for the business community would be helpful, said MacNaughton.

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil said the Atlantic provinces have built a good trading relationship with the New England states and he expects that will continue despite some of the noise coming from south of the border.

Ultimately, governors and people in the states recognize the importance of our relationship and that its two-way, and we are going to continue to build on that, McNeil said.

 The Canadian Press
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This article was published 19/04/2017 (2029 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

People covered by the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba are receiving preferential MRI access  a benefit that needs to be made abundantly clear to the public, the provinces auditor general said.

The WCB is four years into its current, decade-long agreement with the Pan Am Clinic  a division of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority  whereby workers are guaranteed MRIs at the facility within 20 business days; a stark contrast with the average Manitobans 23-week wait. The agreement was highlighted in auditor general Norm Ricards 43-page report released two weeks ago exposing the many flaws in Manitoba MRI management.

We believe that its a public asset that all members of the public should be given equitable access to, Ricard told the Free Press in an interview earlier this week.

JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Auditor General Norm Ricard: 'We believe that [the MRI] is a public asset that all members of the public should be given equitable access to'

If they want to give priority to private insurance patients that are covered by private insurance, then they just need to say that theyre going to give priority to patients with private insurance.

The WCB does buy preferred access, buy expedited treatment, the WRHAs chief medical officer Dr. Brock Wright said in an interview shortly after the reports release, but what we charge them is considerably more than our cost of providing the exam.

WCB pays roughly $830 per scan. In 2015, Pan Am performed 1,440 scans on WCB clients, amounting to earnings of almost $1.2 million, Ricards report states.

Its a benefit to our Manitoba patients, Wright said. What we do is then put all that profit back into providing more exams than we otherwise would be able to afford.

Its unclear how much profit the WRHA makes off the agreement or what impact the WCB scans have on the overall wait time. The WRHA was unable to make anyone available to speak to the Free Press Wednesday.

But is whatever profit the WRHA gleans from the practice worth it? Lorian Hardcastle, associate director of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics based at the University of Ottawa, isnt convinced.

Are the financial benefits that accrue to the public system really worth allowing that kind of disparity to persist? Hardcastle said. If it was a week or something that maybe would be a different story, but when were talking months thats really concerning. Thats a lot of inequity.

WCB spokesman Warren Preece wouldnt speak to ethical concerns but said because the workers arent covered by public insurance, its necessary for the WCB to reach agreements with facilities such as Pan Am.

The diagnostic procedure is part of the road to recovery, Preece said. The injuries that injured workers have are real injuries and debilitating, so us wanting to speed the return to health is where our major focus is.

It isnt the WCBs first such agreement. During its previous one with Pan Am Clinic, the WCB paid not just for the scans but also $1.5 million in leasing fees between 2005 and 2013. The clinic blocked off six MRI slots daily  more than 2,000 a year  for possible WCB patients. The current agreement doesnt include leasing, a decision Preece explained as just the preference at the time.

These worker compensation agreements have existed for decades all across the country, said Hardcastle, a legal anomaly thats always been carved out for (them) despite the fact Canada is meant to be a one-tier health-care system.

Originally, the argument was its important to get workers back to work, she said. But now that Canadas population is aging and living longer, she thinks its time to reevaluate, especially with burgeoning wait times.

If you happen to be lucky enough to have broken your hip at work then great, you get seen right away, Hardcastle said, but if youre an elderly person who fell, then too bad for you.

The auditor general wouldnt say whether the practice should be allowed to continue.

They paid for that access which I dont know if that makes it right, but it makes it understandable, Ricard said. Being transparent about it is important.

jane.gerster@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 20/04/2017 (2028 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE Canadian Drug Expert Committee has recommended abortion pill Mifegymiso be covered by public drug plans, but a decision about whether the Manitoba government will fund it is months away.

The committee released its decision this week, citing two reasons: the drug has a success rate of between 95 and 97 per cent, and adverse reactions experienced by patients are in line with those one would expect from expelling a fetus (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea).

The next step, a provincial government spokesperson said Thursday, is to figure out pricing with Mifegymisos manufacturer, Celopharma Inc. The drug is currently offered at a dozen or so locations across Canada, including Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. It costs $350 per prescription.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES

Through the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance, a decision about how much of that $350 should be reimbursed will be made over the coming months. In the meantime, the provincial government is reviewing the committees full recommendation and looking at options for how this drug will be accessed in Manitoba.

The spokesperson said a final decision will not be made until the pricing negotiation is complete.

The drug arrived in Winnipeg in mid-March, and the provinces first medical abortion using Mifegymiso was performed not long after.
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This article was published 19/04/2017 (2029 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

City firefighters have reached a tentative agreement with the city, their union says.

The United Firefighters of Winnipeg announced the deal Wednesday afternoon on Twitter.

As chair of the negotiating committee and on behalf of the executive, I would like to announce that we have a tentative settlement with the city of Winnipeg on our collective agreement, president Alex Forrest said in a statement tweeted from the unions account.

BORIS MINKEVICH/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The United Firefighters of Winnipeg president Alex Forrest said in a statement tweeted from the union's account that the firefighters have reached a tentative agreement with the city.

The union will hold ratification votes Tuesday at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. at the Masonic Temple.

News of a deal comes as welcome development after a winter of discontent between the city and much of its unionized labour.

A month ago, the police association become the third civic union to go to binding arbitration to settle a collective agreement, joining the firefighters and the union that represents middle management and professional staff.

Negotiations with the citys largest union  CUPE 500  were suspended but resumed with the help of a provincially appointed conciliator. Its contract, as well as those for police and firefighters, expired in December. The middle-management contract expired more than a year ago.
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This article was published 19/04/2017 (2029 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Greg Selinger still travels to his job at the legislature every day  often on his bicycle  but most Manitobans wouldnt know he was there, given his low profile.

The 66-year-old St. Boniface MLA and former premier, who in 2011 led the NDP to its largest-ever majority, goes out of his way to stay out of the news.

As an Opposition NDP member, he asks no questions of the Pallister government in the House  even though he would certainly be one of the partys most able interrogators if he did. His duties as critic are limited to overseeing Francophone affairs, which is not a controversial file these days.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Greg Selinger keeps a low profile at the Manitoba legislature Wednesday.

Selinger limits his role in the legislative chamber to member statements in French and the occasional speech  usually when few MLAs, or journalists, are in attendance.

He restricts media interviews to French-language outlets and only on subjects related to his St. Boniface constituency. (The Free Press has repeatedly asked for an interview  as recently as Wednesday  but the requests have always been denied.)

A year after the NDPs spectacular electoral collapse, Selinger appears to be a man in search of a graceful exit.

Winnipeg political scientist Paul Thomas said it makes sense for the former premier and longtime NDP finance minister to stay out of the limelight.

For his fiercest critics inside the party he is symbol of a dark period in the history of the party, Thomas said, referring to a cabinet revolt that forced Selinger to put his leadership on the line in a contest that he would narrowly win.

Keeping a low profile limits the opportunities for the government to remind the media and the public of (NDP) broken promises, mismanagement and a very public feud over leadership, he said. The party wants those memories to fade, especially as it seeks a new leader, add members and crawls its way out of a deep financial hole.

Selinger resigned as NDP leader on election night last year after more than six years at the helm. His party is down to a dozen seats in the legislature after winning 14 in the election. Kevin Chief resigned his Point Douglas seat for a job in the private sector. Another MLA, Mohinder Saran, was ousted from the NDP caucus after being accused of sexually harassing a staff member.

If Selinger had resigned his seat immediately, it may have been seen as a slap in the face to his constituency, which he had represented for 17 years.

Some speculate he may have also been concerned that if he were to depart too soon, St. Boniface could have fallen into Tory hands in a byelection.

It makes more sense, they say, for him to stay on as MLA until after a new permanent leader is chosen at a convention in Winnipeg this September. With some momentum arising from the leadership contest, the party might stand a better chance of retaining the seat.

While Selinger has hardly made a splash in the legislature since his party was crushed at the polls a year ago, his vast institutional knowledge has made him a valuable resource for inexperienced MLAs, insiders say. They say he has gone about his job in a quiet, upbeat manner  without a chip on his shoulder.

In a rare speech in the legislature Wednesday afternoon, addressing the Pallister governments April 11 budget, the former premier highlighted several areas of concern, including slow progress by the Progressive Conservatives in increasing the number of licensed day care spaces, looming higher university tuitions, a failure to commit to restorative justice programs and higher tax credits for contributions to political parties.

That only tilts the democracy towards those that have the resources and the power and the access (to power), and takes it away from those that dont, he said on the latter point.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
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The province fined a Manitoba semi-trailer dealer more than $48,000 after a workplace accident involving a torch left a worker with burn injuries.

The dramatic accident dates back nearly three years, but the fine was levied last month when Maxim Transportation Services Inc. pleaded guilty under the provinces workplace, health and safety legislation of failing to protect the employee, the province said Thursday in a statement.

Manitoba-based Maxim Transportation owns Maxim Truck and Trailer, a dealer in semi-trailers and trucks with 17 service centres across Canada, most of them on the Prairies.

The accident took place in Winnipeg at its head office on Brookside Boulevard Sept. 10, 2014, the office confirmed by phone.

The incident involved a worker who fired up a oxygen acetylene torch to cut out a hole in a 45-gallon metal drum, the province said in the statement.

When the torch pierced the top of the barrel, flames shot out, causing burns to the workers face and left forearm, the statement said. No other details on the workers injuries were supplied.

The barrel had not been properly purged of its flammable contents prior to the task, the workplace health and safety investigation determined.

On March 23, Maxim pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the employees safety and was ordered to pay $48,750 in fines and surcharges.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
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Winnipegs small but vibrant community of 200 ethnic Yazidis celebrated its new year in a new country at two different events Wednesday night.

South of the Assiniboine River, Yazidi refugee families privately sponsored by the Jewish community-led Operation Ezra feasted and danced to greet 6767, the Yazidi new year, at a Unitarian church hall on Wellington Crescent.

Across the river, Yazidi refugee families whose resettlement was assisted by the government gathered with the Yazidi Association of Manitoba to hear a live Yazidi band, share a meal and celebrate at the Punjab Cultural Centre on King Edward Street.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Nafiya Naso (from left); her son Lavan Hassan, 4; Salam Dakhell, 3; and Dima Abdulakreem check out decorated eggs as they celebrate Wednesday.

Dozens of families from the Kurdish-speaking ethnic minority thats been persecuted for centuries fled genocide in Syria and northern Iraq with the rise of the Islamic State group. The recent arrivals to Canada had much to celebrate  freedom, peace and safety, but there was a hint of bitterness that the two groups were not together.

Its really sad and very unfortunate especially considering its the Yazidi new year and what weve gone through, said Nafiya Naso, who organized the event for those sponsored by Operation Ezra. Look at the new faces of people weve brought in privately and those who were government sponsored.

Its sad for them to watch the community here for so many years, to see such a division, said Naso, who arrived in Manitoba as a refugee when she was a child.

Im embarrassed, said Nasos cousin Hadji Hesso, who organized the other party across the river.

It could be solved, he said Wednesday before the Sere Sal (Kurdish for head of the year) party.

Today is one of the biggest celebrations in the Yazidi community, Hesso said.

Every family brings some food, coloured eggs, candy and red flowers to show its a new day  its spring.

Its all about, Be happy and celebrate, said Hesso, who arrived in Manitoba as a refugee in 2000.

Naso said the split in the community happened after she took the lead in August 2014 when tens of thousands of Yazidis were chased up Mount Sinjar and left to die on the desert mountain by IS fighters. She worked with the Jewish community and other faith groups to create Operation Ezra to privately sponsor Yazidi refugees and lobbied the federal government to let them into Canada.

I spoke up first, and because Im a woman and its a male-dominated culture, it was very hard for some of the males to accept that, she said. At first, they were quiet and not very supportive. They saw we were successful and often in the paper and went to Ottawa (to lobby the federal government) and raised so much money and awareness that people knew who the Yazidis were.

A lack of communication, not sexism, is the problem, said Hesso.

They never consult with us. We never talk face to face, said Hesso. We could have had a talk and discussions about having one event for one community. They want to create their own, which is wrong.

CAROL SANDERS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Yazidi Association of Manitoba director Hadji Hesso (from left), Salar Hesso and Salars dad and association president Khalil Hesso celebrate the Yazidi new year Wednesday at the Punjab Cultural Centre.

He gives full credit to Naso and Operation Ezra for helping to resettle six families in Winnipeg  with a seventh arriving next week.

No one can deny the great job theyve done, he said. They have a big role.

In the past few months, 10 new Yazidi refugee families assisted by the government have arrived in Winnipeg, said Hesso, who also drives for handi-transit.

Its a relief to arrive in Canada and be safe as a person and a family, and its a shock, and their mind is back there, where they left the rest of their families, said Hesso. A couple of the families here were in the hands of (IS) for over six months They killed family members in front of their eyes.

Community members are helping the families get to counselling, showing them around and inviting them to their homes, Hesso said.

A longtime Winnipegger familiar with both groups said theyre both doing good work in the community and hopes they can mend the rift.

All they have is themselves, and they need to work together to be stronger, said the person who agreed to comment if their name wasnt used.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
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For as long as anyone can remember, the annual 4/20 gathering at the Manitoba legislature grounds was about protesting the countrys harsh marijuana laws. Police would be out in force to keep an eye on a rag-tag group of stoners, rarely arresting anyone unless things got out of hand.

This years event, which begins at noon, has a much more celebratory tone since legislation is in the works to legalize the recreational use of pot.

And the police will be escorting revellers on a Med-Man March through downtown, to the Forks and back to the legislature.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES 4/20 participants on the grounds of the Manitoba Legislative building during the annual event in 2016.

Theres going to be more of a mainstream street festival feel to todays 4/20 event, including plenty of munchies available from more than a dozen street vendors and food trucks.

Similar events are being held Thursday in every major city in North America, Europe and elsewhere around the world.

Thaddeus Conrad, the founder and president of Manitobas own Med-Man Brand, says it is the largest non-organized protest event in the world.

This year, on the eve of legislation that will make Canada the first G8 country to legalize recreational marijuana, theres going to be a full-scale party.

Steven Stairs, a Winnipeg-based marijuana advocate and long-time president of the Winnipeg 4/20 organizing committee, said the fully permitted, police-escorted event is going to be an example for other cities across the country.

It sounds like a cliche, but this is going to be be bigger and better than ever, Stairs said. I am very proud of what the city has accomplished. We are leading the way in working with community groups, different levels of government, the police and the community as a whole.

Marijuana enthusiasts and accompanying vehicles will meander their way from the legislature up Memorial Boulevard to Portage Avenue and across to Main Street, into the Forks, back onto Main Street and back down Broadway to the legislature.

This is going to be a one-of-a-kind 4/20 event approved and accepted by the community, Stairs said. They dont have this kind of thing across the country.

Unlike past years, Stairs has lined up more than 30 sponsors and raised more than $3,000  about half of which will go toward parade insurance. There will be about 20 street vendors and a party at the end of the day at the Central Hotel in Transcona.

Clearly the high spirits have a lot to do with recent Cannabis Act legislation tabled in Ottawa  legislation that will provide regulated access to recreational marijuana.

Conrad, whose marijuana seed and specialized fertilizer company based in southern Manitoba is sponsoring the Med-Man March, said, I would definitely say there is a paradigm shift happening with marijuana these days  100 per cent.

Delta 9 Bio-Tech is one of the first-time sponsors of the event. The citys first licensed medical marijuana producer has meticulously adhered to the regulations and expectations of Health Canada and is devoted to its patient clients, including offering generous compassionate rates for low-income medical marijuana users.

But Delta 9 co-founder John Arbuthnot said he is also looking forward to the prospects for his company following the legislative changes and wanted to show his support for 4/20.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Steven Stairs, president of the Winnipeg 4/20 organizing committee.

Were very impressed with the work the 4/20 organizing committee has done, Arbuthnot said.

They have put together a professional event with ground rules for vendors who are licensed and insured, like no selling marijuana products. This year with the lead-in to legalization, it seemed like the time for us to start to participate.

However, in keeping with the protest tradition of 4/20, organizers and sponsors cant help but feel obliged to keep pushing for more.

Arbuthnot said that alcohol laws have evolved for more than 100 years so it should be expected that there will be tweaking of the marijuana laws.

We want to acknowledge the success we have had so far but we cant step too far away from where our origins lie, said Stairs.

He said there are still issues to be concerned about when it comes to how provincial regulations will unfold.

But for the longest time 4/20 has been like a stalemate, he said.

We would show up, do our thing. Show up the next year but not a lot of progress. But the last few years with the medical marijuana fight and the legalization coming we have really taken the opportunity to take all this pent-up frustration and angst and formulate it into some really concrete steps to achieve goals that are happening.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
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When Joe Roberts stepped up to the podium outside of City Hall on Wednesday to advocate against homelessness in Canada, he spoke with the perspective of having been there before.

Roberts, a former homeless man who transformed himself into a very successful entrepreneur and motivational speaker, is pushing a shopping cart across the country as part of The Push for Change campaign.

The goal is to get Canadians to join the fight against homelessness while they travel from St. Johns, N.L., all the way to Vancouver.

JEN DOERKSEN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Joe Roberts is pushing a shopping cart across Canada to raise awareness of youth homelessness.

I think that for me, having that lived experience keeps my feet moving because I know what that despair and hopelessness feels like, the 50-year-old Roberts said.

When Roberts was 16 he left his home in Ontario to escape an abusive stepfather, having already started drinking and doing drugs at the age of nine. Ending up on the streets in Vancouver at the age of 20, Roberts was eventually brought back home by his mother three years later. He got sober in 1991 and went back to college. Less than 12 years after entering the workforce, Roberts turned a small web design company into a multimillion-dollar business.

Roberts and his wife, Marie, were greeted at City Hall by local dignitataries, including Mayor Brian Bowman, Grand Chief Jerry Daniels of the Southern Chiefs Organization and Louis Sorin, CEO of End Homelessness Winnipeg.

Sorin said Roberts initiative was bold and courageous.

Joe has captured the essence of homelessness in a concrete kind of way, Sorin said before the event. That is unique in a way, that someone would show that level of courage and commitment to an issue to undertake this.

End Homelessness Winnipeg has been working with The Push for Change to help raise money and awareness for homelessness, especially among youth. Sorin said that building awareness is a key first step in combating the problem, and he added that Roberts cross-country campaign helps draw attention to homelessness initiatives at a local level as well.

Bowman lauded the work being done by Roberts and The Push for Change, calling Roberts absolutely inspirational.

Homelessness, and youth homelessness in particular, is something that we need to end, Bowman said after the event. Were really looking for End Homeless Winnipeg to lead the charge were really wanting to support them.

Almost a year in, the walk has been physically and mentally challenging for Roberts. He singled out walking near Lake Superior during the winter as one of the toughest parts of the trek so far.

But Roberts isnt willing to stop yet. My experience drives passion, Roberts said. This isnt about discipline, this is about obsession.

The 9,000-kilometre venture started on May 1, 2016, and is scheduled to end on Sept. 30 of this year. All money raised in Winnipeg for The Push for Change will be split evely between national charities for housing and homelessness such as Raising the Roof and local groups like the Resource Assistance for Youth.

matthew.olson@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 20/04/2017 (2028 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg mother who hid the bodies of six babies inside a storage unit is set to be sentenced this summer.

Andrea Giesbrecht will be sentenced July 7, and the judges decision will be broadcast live. Provincial court Judge Murray Thompson has granted permission for CTV to livestream the decision, just as the guilty verdict was broadcast in the high-profile case.

Giesbrecht was convicted in February of six counts of concealing a childs body. She faces a maximum two-year sentence on each count for a maximum total sentence of 12 years in prison. The judge convicted Giesbrecht based on evidence heard at trial each of the six babies  five boys and a girl  was likely born alive.

Provincial court Judge Murray Thompson read the verdict on Feb. 6, which was also livestreamed by local media.

Their decomposed remains  some no more than bones  were found in garbage bags contained in plastic containers inside a McPhillips Street storage locker two years earlier, in October 2014. All of the infants bodies, including one that was partly mummified, were found to be between 34 and 42 weeks gestation.

The case started in April and ended in early October, with several delays in between. It was initially reported the charges against Giesbrecht could be upgraded to include homicide offences, but that never happened. The Crown couldnt prove its theory the babies died after they were dumped in plastic kitchen bags, which were then knotted at the top, Crown prosecutor Debbie Buors said during the trial.

Defence lawyer Greg Brodsky initially argued all of the six babies were stillborn, but he didnt challenge a medical experts evidence the chances of that happening were one in 500 trillion.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay
Opinion

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Why Winnipeg?

That was the question I asked an American tourist who was spotted last month standing on a corner in the Exchange District like a migratory bird who lost his way.

What prompted the question was what the 37-year-old truck driver from Connecticut had volunteered  that hed chosen to vacation in the city three times in the past five years.

SUPPLIED The Williams family created a hockey rink on the Assiniboine River behind their Wolseley home in February. The ability to do that  and enjoy the solitude of smaller-city living  is one of the reasons he prefers Winnipeg to other places, such as Toronto.

It was that chance meeting  and the column that followed  that moved a 52-year-old American who lives in Winnipeg to email a comment to me that I published in this space the following week.

I grew up in Portland, and Ive lived in Seattle, Chicago, Paris and Calgary, Stuart Williams wrote.

Ive lived in Winnipeg (Wolseley) since 2000, and I think its a great city.

Our biggest problem, he suggested, is our poor self-image.

But Williams didnt fully explain why he loves Winnipeg. So this week, I asked him.

I started by alluding to all of the places hes lived  places that so many others only dream of visiting.

I forgot to mention Toronto, too, Williams interjected.

You do get around, I said. What do you do?

Im a software architect, he said.

He works for Investors Group, as it turns out. I assumed that was what brought him here.

It was partly job, he said. Partly family.

He and his then-future wife, Lilli, met in Seattle and moved to Calgary after marrying.

Great place to live, Williams said. But kind of shallow in terms of culture.

If you want to go out to an interesting restaurant, he recalled of their eight years there, its the Keg.

I suggested a different way of saying something similar about Cowtown: Calgary lacks our old soul.

Anyway, Williams first impressions of Winnipeg had been formed on earlier visits.

I thought the winters were going to be absolutely awful. I found that Calgarys winters were worse because they come six or eight times a year. In Winnipeg, they come once, he said.

I wondered if, after the family settled in, he found living in Winnipeg was different from visiting.

In some ways, yes, he said. When we came to visit we saw lots of friends and we loved visiting with them. And we assumed when we moved here that we would spend lots of time with them. And it turns out all their dance cards are all full already. Like, they made time for us when we came to visit town. But theyve got all their friends from grade school and high school and were new.

That was a big difference from Calgary.

In Calgary, everybody was new, he said.

There was something else that surprised him about Winnipeg beyond the layers of old families and friendships that are a big part of our old soul.

After growing up in Portland near the picturesque Oregon coast and mountains, it took some time for him to realize the Prairies have their own beauty.

But what was it about Winnipeg that made Williams feel this is a great place compared with all the other places he has lived?

A little bit of it, I suppose, is to rebel, he said of himself.

I gathered he was alluding to the way Winnipeg is so often maligned by people who havent even visited the city.

GORDON SINCLAIR JR / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS American-born Stuart Williams with his Canadian wife Lilli on the deck of their home in Wolseley. Williams, who has lived in several cities many would consider more enviable, prefers Winnipeg.

Then Williams said something else that explained as much about him as the place he has such affection for.

You start looking for the good and you find it.

For one, the friendly nature of the community. He offered a story about a couple who relocated to Winnipeg for a year and ended up renting a place in Wolseley.

And we had them over for dinner. In fact, everybody adopted them as their friends because they knew they were here for a year only, he said.

Then last year, work compelled Williams, Lilli and their three boys to move to Toronto for a year, where they rented a residence in an old neighbourhood known as the Beaches.

Williams thought his family would receive a similar welcome to the one delivered to the temporary residents of Wolseley, but that was not the case..

It wasnt. It was very hard to get to know people, he explains.

That helped me appreciate that, yeah, Winnipeg is a friendly place. Even if it is hard to break into circles that have been there since childhood.

The family was in Toronto for about three months when people started asking Williams about their stay there.

 So, do you like Toronto? Yeah, yeah, we love it. Are you going to stay? Ah, no. I think were going to move back to Winnipeg. And they all look at you like you have horns growing out of your head.

It was this question Williams found most awkward to answer.

Theyd say, Why not (stay)?  he explains.

And I couldnt say, Well, Winnipeg is way better than Toronto. 

Instead, Williams talked about family connections and their house and the kids missing their school friends.

When they returned to the city, the family discovered a different way to explain why they chose to live in Winnipeg.

In mid-February, Williams was on a video call with colleagues in Toronto.

The day before, Williams and two of his sons had shovelled a skating rink on the river behind their home.

I took pictures of us skating on this patch of ice. Nobody in sight.

Over the video link, Williams showed the photos to his colleagues in Toronto.

And I think they finally got it. Why would I move back to Winnipeg? Because you could never do anything like that anywhere close to Toronto.

That suggests what Williams thinks is right: Winnipegs problem is not how others see us, but how we see ourselves.

As another glorious Prairie summer nears, I suggest putting on some rose-coloured sunglasses and asking a different question: why not Winnipeg?

gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca
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Scientists at St. Boniface Hospital have developed a drug that could finally beat antibiotic-resistant infections.

Infections such as gonorrhea are becoming increasingly impervious to existing drugs  making treatment difficult, if not impossible. The World Health Organization has declared such resistance one of the biggest threats to global health.

That makes the Winnipeg discovery, which was published Thursday in the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, one of the most important findings to emerge from St. Boniface Hospital.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Dr. Grant Pierce (right), Executive Director of Research, St. Boniface Hospital with research assistant technician Alex Austria.

So far, so good, said Dr. Grant Pierce, the hospitals executive director of research and a University of Manitoba professor.

Pierce was enthusiastic Thursday but careful not to get too ahead of himself.

This is one of those ones where all the stars have lined up, and its like, I hope this works because it has huge impact, he said.

The drug is dubbed PEG-2S. Unlike most drugs, which attack bacteria by breaking down cell walls, disrupting protein synthesis or interrupting DNA replication, PEG-2S goes after the bacterias energy source. Thats important because bacteria are evolving and figuring out how to resist drugs that attack those three, traditional targets.

By going after the energy source, PEG-2S is able to stop harmful bacteria from multiplying without damaging the healthy cells. It does that by targeting a protein that only exists in bad bacteria.

We tested a bunch of good bacteria in your gut. It doesnt do anything to the good bacteria, but it stops the growth there, said Pierce.

The team isnt certain how many bad bacteria have the protein PEG-2S targets, but they guess it exists in around 30, so the team is going through those bacteria one by one, a cumbersome but necessary process, he said. Theyve tested PEG-2S on a few different bacteria, including chlamydia, legionella (legionnaires disease) and pneumonia.

Kills it, said Pierce, listing them off before acknowledging getting through the rest of the list will take time.

Pierce leads a small but ardent team that includes the studys lead author  Dr. Pavel Dibrov  and half a dozen students, research associates, post-doctoral fellows and faculty members.

The teams world patent application has been accepted, and Pierce said theyre waiting to hear from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about patent protection. He expects the drug to begin animal research within a year. Once its confirmed there are no side effects on the good cells in the animals, then we can move into clinical trials, Pierce said.

Back in the lab, the scientists are testing more than a dozen variations of the drug on different bacteria.

Its a lot of permutations, combinations to make sure that were in the right, said Pierce.

One of the teams many hypotheses is PEG-2S could also help traditional drugs fight back against the bacteria resisting them.

jane.gerster@freepress.mb.ca
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A Winnipeg man accused in a cross-border drug trafficking case has lost his bid to stop extradition to the United States on the grounds he faces cruel and unusual punishment if found guilty.

Kareem Hidara claimed the 10-year mandatory minimum and life in prison maximum hes looking at in Montana is a violation of his Charter rights. He recently asked a Manitoba Court of Queens Bench judge to deny the American request to send him south to face justice. His lawyers also sought to have his cocaine trafficking charges tossed.

Justice Doug Abra rejected Hidaras bid in a written decision released this week.

I am not at all satisfied that the sentence that Hidara faces, if he is found guilty, is a breach of principles of fundamental justice or amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, Abra wrote. He is alleged to have committed a serious offence. If he was found guilty in Canada of the equivalent offence, in view of the quantities of cocaine that he is alleged to have possessed, Hidara would undoubtedly receive a lengthy period of incarceration.

The unusual facts of the case against Hidara were also disclosed publicly for the first time, as news of his arrest was never released by police.

Early in the morning on Oct. 4, 2013, an agent with the United States Border Patrol in Montana spotted a Jeep Grand Cherokee parked at the side of a road near the Canadian border. As the agent approached, the driver turned on the headlights and sped away.

The agent followed but lost the Jeep during a pursuit in what was described as very rough terrain. However, he spotted Jeep tracks that led into a gully estimated at more than six metres deep. The agent followed the tracks on foot and discovered vehicle parts he believed belonged to the Jeep, including a fender and two front panels.

He also found five vacuum-sealed bags with a white powdery substance inside. As he continued tracking the tire marks, heading north to the border, he eventually found the Jeep abandoned in the gully. Four similar packages were found inside the vehicle.

There were no plates attached to the Jeep, but Manitoba plates were found inside, on the floor; they would later be traced to Hidara. The agent also found Hidaras insurance papers inside the glove compartment, along with a rental agreement in Hidaras name from Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Winnipeg.

Police later obtained surveillance video from a gas station in nearby Shelby, Mont., that showed a man matching Hidaras description fuelling up earlier that evening.

A few hours later, a ranch owner in southern Alberta called RCMP about a suspicious man she spotted standing on a bridge near the town of Milk River, about 15 kilometres north of the American border. RCMP had been alerted by Montana authorities and quickly arrested Hidara without incident.

He had the Jeeps keys and his passport.

Forensic testing revealed the nine packages  five in the gully and four in the Jeep  contained cocaine. The total weight was nearly nine kilograms, which authorities say far exceeds what could be considered for personal use and is indicative of a drug courier.

The evidence is overwhelming, Abra said in his written decision summarizing the case against Hidara. The strength of a case is one of the factors that must be considered in an extradition request.

Hidara has been free on bail in Canada since shortly after his arrest, but Abras ruling has now put him back in custody. However, Abra said the extradition must be on hold for at least 30 days to allow Hidara time to file an appeal if he chooses.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

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This article was published 20/04/2017 (2028 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This time next year will be the last 4/20  the unofficial cannabis holiday known by its numeric calendar date  when possessing weed for personal use will be a crime. Legalization is coming to Canada in the summer of 2018.

So far, reactions to legalized cannabis have ranged from healthy concern to outright fear-mongering. Some people have claimed it will lead the youth astray, make our roads less safe and harm our overall health.

Legalizing cannabis is not without risk. But legalization can also address how risky our current approach, the so-called War On Drugs, has been.

Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press Files A man smokes during the annual 4/20 cannabis culture celebration at Sunset Beach in Vancouver, B.C., in 2016.

In 2013, Canadian police departments reported roughly 73,000 cannabis-related offences, with 80 per cent of these for simple possession. In Winnipeg, charging drug users has been a rare area of growth: between 2005 and 2009, overall crime dropped 15 per cent, but the number of drug charges climbed 40 per cent.

Sending thousands of people through the justice system for possessing pot is not only expensive, its bad public-health policy. Fines, incarceration and criminal records cause stress and harm to individuals, families and communities. On top of that, racism and heavier surveillance mean racialized communities bear the brunt of enforcement.

Despite the threat of legal trouble, Manitobans still rank above the national average in cannabis use. Surveys show a little more than one in 10 Manitobans say they used pot in the year before the survey was taken. With no regulation, its hard to know whats going into the pot people are smoking or where its coming from. Thats also been risky.

Luckily, several American states legalized cannabis a few years ago and we can already see early results. One of the most striking findings is the impact cannabis legalization may have had on alcohol use.

Alcohol use is down among Colorado youth, and impaired driving has dropped in both Colorado and Washington State. In fact, traffic fatalities have remained stable in every state that has legalized cannabis. And surveys of youth in Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon also found marijuana use has stayed steady or even dropped post-legalization.

The legalization experience hasnt been perfect. In Colorado, there are signs that while adults, who are now legal consumers of marijuana, are being left alone, freed-up police are stepping up enforcement on juvenile pot users (especially young African Americans). We need to make sure that the spirit of legalization  taking more of a public-health approach to drugs  isnt undermined by ramped-up enforcement in other areas.

To be clear, regulation and oversight of legalized cannabis are essential. Pot can be harmful to the developing brain, can be unsafe for people at risk of psychosis and can be poisonous if you dont know how much youre taking.

But a public-health approach to cannabis needs to focus not only on the harms of cannabis itself, but must also consider the harms that legalization will take away.

We have tried the enforcement approach with the War on Drugs. It didnt work. If we act on what weve learned here and in other jurisdictions, legalized cannabis might actually be a step toward making Manitoba a safer and healthier place.

Dr. Joss Reimer is a medical officer of health for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.
TOMAH  Meteor Timber didnt have any friends Tuesday at a public hearing in Tomah.

None of the 18 people who testified during a Department of Natural Resources hearing spoke in favor of the Georgia timber companys permit application to fill 16.4 acres of wetland to construct a sand processing and loading facility.

Opposition ranged from hostility to hydraulic fracturing for extracting oil and natural gas to concerns about disrupting the peace and quiet of the rural countryside.

We should stop all permitting to all stages of frac sand mining until there are appropriate independent studies that are completed and reviewed, said Janice Kenyon of rural Ontario.

The DNR has tentatively approved the permit, which includes filling 13 acres of pristine hardwood swamp. Meteor plans to dismantle two cranberry operations on the 752-acre property, eliminate four impoundments and restore 2,000 feet of stream. Meteor has also proposed to preserve 640 acres of other high-quality wetlands and restore 58 acres at other sites.

However, Sara Geers, staff attorney for Midwest Environmental Advocates, expressed skepticism of Meteors restoration plans and said the wetland Meteor wants to fill is rare in Wisconsin and hard to replace once its destroyed.

Geers also doubted whether restoration promises can be trusted given the boom-and-bust nature of the sand mining and energy industries.

David Epstein, president of Millston Investors Ltd., said the facility threatens neighboring landowners in the Jackson County town of Millston and nearby Lee Lake, a 30-acre impoundment with a public swimming beach and several lakefront houses. A local sportsmans club stocks the lake with trout.

There are many valuable homes with Lee Lake frontage in the immediate area with private wells sourced by shallow aquifers, he said. We fear these domestic water systems ... might be adversely affected by Meteors upstream wetlands actions.

Greg Eirschele said Unimins sand mining facility in Tunnel City has already transformed the local landscape.

The hills are disappearing, Eirschele said. Theyre literally shipping them away.

Kim Rudolph, who lives in southern Jackson County, worried about the facilitys impact on his property value.

I want to know if the water table goes down, what is going to happen? he said. If my property value drops, are they going to reimburse me for that?

A Trempealeau County homeowner said promises from frac sand companies to be good neighbors cant be trusted. Mike Sylla, who lives with his wife and two children in the town of Lincoln, blames a neighboring Hi-Crush sand mine for ruining his water supply.

Sylla held up two jars of brown water that he said came from his well. He said his family must buy all its water from somewhere else.

Im bringing this sample because it does and can happen, Sylla said. What are we going to drink in the years to come? We wont have any water.

He said sand mines might bring a few jobs to the area, but what kind of jobs will there be when theres no water in the area?

Kenyon raised the specter of silicosis, which she said is caused by silica particles that escape into the air from sand mining.

Im a doctor, and I can speak to the health risks of this endeavor, she said. The little pieces of silica are like needles  they are like little swords. They get into the lung tissue, and they do not disappear. There is no known cure for this.

Meteor issued a statement shortly after the hearing. It said the project is a $65 million investment that will create nearly 100 jobs.

We are pleased to see the regulatory process continue to move forward, and we welcome public input on our plans, said project manager Chris Mathis. Our company knows that sustainability is an important part of operating responsibly. That is why we have gone above and beyond other projects by developing an historic plan to permanently preserve and restore high-quality wetland on more than 600 acres.

This effort merits support from those who want to see growth and economic development and those who want to preserve the environment because our project does both.

The public can submit written comments through April 28.

Katie Graves of Sparta said opponents will continue to fight the project even if the DNR and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approve the permit.

Why are we allowing corporations to harm us, to pollute us, to poison us? she said. Its past time for us to take a stand for our communities, our children, our grandchildren and this planetary ecosystem were all a part of.
Its tricky and scary, this business of trying to get North Koreas tyrannical regime to give up its nuclear ambitions. Scarier still would be an inane go-ahead signal, the kind of thing, for instance, we got under the Clinton administration. Say about him what you will, but President Donald Trump is doing more than any predecessor to get China to do whats needed, and China is the key in all of this.

Reviewing the fumble in the Clinton years helps explain how we got where we are and what we ought to avoid. North Korea was then preparing for the production of nuclear weaponry, and President Bill Clinton, first telling the Pentagon to get ready for action if necessary, also asked the United Nations to figure out sanctions that might help avert disaster. Then came Jimmy Carter.

As Steven F. Hayward related in his 2004 book, The Real Jimmy Carter, this ex-president insisted he be allowed to visit with dictator Kim Il Sung, and Clinton said OK despite misgivings. Carters presentation was prepared for him. He was to threaten sanctions if North Korea did not allow U.N. inspections, hand over spent fuel rods and otherwise trash its nuke program.

Instead, he said forget the inspections and said the United States would not support U.N. sanctions. Negotiating beyond what Clinton wanted and his rights as a private citizen, Carter mainly just wanted further talks and asked North Korea to give its word about no further development of the weapons while promising U.S. help in developing nuclear energy.

North Korea was ready to trot, and, before calling the White House, Carter publicized the plan through CNN interviews. That put Clinton in a position of looking obstructionist if he did not go along with Carter, and he did after first weakly arguing for toughening things up some.

Hayward tells us Kim Il Sung died soon afterwards and that the joke in the State Department was that he died of laughter at Carters giveaways. North Korea went right ahead with its weapons development to the point it is now bragging about having nuclear missiles capable of reaching the United States.

Carters was a pathetically common mode of negotiation that substitutes starry eyed hopefulness for practical results.

We saw the same thing in the Syrian deal on chemical weapons and varied approximations of it in the Iranian nuclear deal. An occasional harrumph is about as much as weve seen in recent years concerning North Korea, which is now being led by the murderously evil, short, fat, egomaniacal Kim Jong Un, who is threatening nuclear war as nonchalantly as if just calling for still more dessert.

A big part of the answer is China, which could erase North Koreas economy virtually overnight by cutting off trade. It had long refrained from meaningful sanctions despite constant urging. Then Trump, in his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, clearly got through to him. Trump backed off his own trade threats at a time when China itself needs all the economic help it can get. China quit importing coal from Korea in February and appears to be contemplating more such moves. A collapsed North Korea could mean major problems for China, but the point is to keep North Korea from risking collapse.

Another huge concern is that North Korea could burst into a military frenzy that, among the horrors, would devastate South Korea. Might recent U.S. military actions in Syria and Afghanistan and an increased U.S. military presence near North Korea in a week or so help instigate such an outburst? Just the opposite, some say.

Of course, the greatest fear of all is that a fanatically governed, already dangerous North Korea becomes a full-scale nuclear power. While there is no certainty in all of this and even the experts disagree, we do seem to be on the right track.

The last thing we need is a return to negotiations people joke about.
In an attempt to move past months of controversy, the Sauk County Board will convene a special meeting Thursday in Baraboo to discuss hiring and firing practices.

The open-ended discussion is intended to address angst among supervisors and the public about events that led to the costly departure of the countys former top administrative official and the hiring of her replacement.

Some supervisors have said they will not attend the special meeting, suggesting its true intention is to allow a vocal minority to continue to complain.

Supervisor Peter Vedro of Baraboo  whose unusual parliamentary maneuvers allowed the board to consider holding Thursday's meeting  said thats a false narrative. He noted that the board voted 19-12 on two separate occasions to take a closer look at how recent personnel decisions have been handled.

Thats not a small group, Vedro said. Of those 19, many are coming from very different perspectives, but they all agree that somethings not right.

Despite allegations of poor performance during her first six months on the job, former Sauk County Administrative Coordinator Renae Fry negotiated a separation agreement in December that entitled her to a full years salary in exchange for her resignation.

The unusual sequence of events leading up to that deal was followed by a series of contentious meetings that ended with the hiring of Frys replacement.

The boards chair, Marty Krueger of Reedsburg, has been at the center of both controversies. He did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Supervisor Craig Braunschweig of Reedsburg, who was appointed by Krueger last year, was one of the 12 supervisors who did not sign a request to hold Thursdays special meeting. He said thats only because he was not initially sure if he could attend. And although he supports the meeting, he has doubts about whether it will be productive.

We need to take personalities out of it, Braunschweig said. Its not just a time to bash Marty Krueger about his policies and his ideas. If it turns into that, its a waste of time. If its strictly to talk about process, Im totally on board.

Krueger told supervisors during the boards regular meeting Tuesday night that the special meeting would be entirely in open session, but would not include an opportunity for public comment. He said the person who will facilitate the meeting felt the evening should be focused on the boards internal discussion.

The facilitator, Dan Hill of the University of Wisconsin-Extensions Local Government Center, did not return a phone call or email seeking comment.

The agenda for the meeting was released just before 11 a.m. Wednesday, about 31 hours before its scheduled start time. State law requires 24 hours notice.

The notice says the meeting will begin with Hill laying out the ground rules for the discussion. He will then facilitate a conversation regarding the identification of areas for improvement in processes and procedures of the County Board. Adjournment is to follow.
The 7-year-old bond for former Fox Lake Police Chief Patrick Lynch was modified again Wednesday in a case that has waited on decisions from circuit courts to the Wisconsin State Supreme Court.

Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Martin De Vries granted a motion to correct the language in the bond to read no indirect or indirect contact with the victims, not allowing Lynch to possess a firearm outside of his home and ordering him to register his vehicle information with the court. Lynch also may not have contact with the 21 people on the states witness list.

Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General Shelly Rusch brought up the request after a victim in the case believed they had run into Lynch and his wife at a local Wal-Mart recently.

This case started out with a $25,000 cash bond and in a series of defense motions was reduced to a $5,000 cash bond, Rusch said. Originally electronic monitoring was ordered, and that was listed as well.

Rusch said she only wanted to clarify the no contact order.

If you encounter the individual, you walk away, Rusch said. I think it is obvious if you are stopping and staring at someone that you should have no contact with that you are stepping over the line.

Lynch resigned from the Fox Lake Police Department in February 2009 after serving 14 years as chief. He is charged with three counts of first degree sexual assault of a child and three counts of stalking.

The victim alleges that the assaults occurred in 1989 in her family home when she was 7. One of the stalking charges pertains to the same victim.

This case is heating up after being on ice for several years, Rusch said.

Defense attorney Christopher Van Wagner agreed it was time for closure, but denied Lynch had any idea when he came in contact with the victims in the case. Van Wagner said Lynch had only seen one of the victims at the preliminary hearing in 2011 and before that when she was a young child.

Nothing suggests that he saw her in the store, Van Wagner said.

The case appeared before now-retired circuit court judge Andrew Bissonette in 2010. Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Martin De Vries held a telephone scheduling conference Thursday where he scheduled a motion hearing for April 17.

Lynch last appeared in Dodge County Circuit Court in January 2013 for a motion hearing where they established areas he had to avoid, but removed a requirement for electronic monitoring.

The court of appeals for the Wisconsin Supreme Court in July upheld a circuit court decision in the case. In a pretrial motion, the defense requested a review of the mental health treatment and counseling records of the victim. The circuit court found that Lynch demonstrated there is a reasonable likelihood the information enclosed in privileged records is necessary for a fair trial. That means the woman would have to release her mental health records prior to a trial for Lynch.

Rusch said on Wednesday that the woman was willing to release the records.
Pops Eatery owner, Musa Hajdini, has turned over his liquor license after being assessed 300 points, which would require a liquor license revocation hearing.

Beaver Dam Police Chief John Kreuziger said over the phone that City Attorney Maryann Schacht and the police department will no longer move forward with a revocation hearing.

He said that he and Schacht met with Hajdini and told him they would be going ahead with a revocation hearing unless he decided to surrender his liquor license, which he did.

The demerit point system is used to guide the Beaver Dam Administrative Committee in making possible suspensions and revocations of liquor licenses. In the Beaver Dam municipal code, it states that for demerit points totaling 25 to 149, within a rolling 12-month period, its recommended that the licensee be warned.

If a licensee exceeds 200 demerit point violations within a rolling 18-month period, the owner could lose his/her license.

According to the demerit point form, Hajdini was assessed 150 points for having a person under the age of 21 on the premises without a guardian and another 150 points because the incident resulted in bodily harm to an individual. Hajdini also received a warning for failure to maintain order at Pops Eatery.

Hajdini, who has owned the business since 1999, previously said he has been unfairly singled out after making heavy investments in the community and has cooperated with police numerous times.

Pops Eatery, located at 1102 Madison St., currently has a sign outside stating that a Mexican restaurant in coming soon and that the property is under new ownership.
Theft  Wednesday at 12:05 p.m., a woman called to report a theft in the 200 block of Seippel Boulevard.

Accident  Wednesday at 2:09 p.m., two men were involved in a vehicle accident near the North Spring Street and University Avenue intersection.

Retail theft  Wednesday at 6:29 p.m., an employee at Wal-Mart Supercenter, 120 Frances Lane, told police that three DVDs were stolen and then later returned.

Disorderly conduct  Wednesday at 6:41 p.m., a man reported that two children were mooning passing vehicles near Jefferson Elementary School, 301 Brook St.

Vandalism  Wednesday at 7:57 p.m., a woman reported vandalism to her vehicle parked in the 100 block of Elm Street.

Vandalism  Wednesday at 8:17 p.m., a vehicle was spray painted in the 300 block of Norris Street.
Former District 3 Alderman Michael Thom moved to the center chair at Tuesdays Columbus City Council meeting, to begin his new duties as mayor. Thom succeeds two-term mayor Kelly Crombie, who won a seat on the Columbus School Board in the April 4 election.

Filling Thoms former seat representing District 3 is Matthew Kenney.

The rest of the council looks the same after the spring election: Regan Hendrickson returned to her post representing District 1 and Trina Reid retained her seat representing District 2.

At the Committee of the Whole meeting following the regular council meeting, Alderman Regan Rule was unanimously elected council president, a position previously held by Thom.
New Lisbons city council has taken the first steps towards providing financial assistance for one of the cities upcoming projects.

The council approved to submit the community development block grant for the remodeling and expansion of Memorial Library at its meeting April 18.

Thats what they need to be able to complete their project... or to get started to build it, Karren Elsing, council member for the library board, said.

Before making the motion to approve the submission of the grant, the council passed resolutions for the application process. Jeff Thelen, community development specialists for MSA Professional Services in Baraboo, said the resolutions are a requirement for the US Housing and Urban Developments application process.

Its the minimum requirements you have to meet in order to submit, Thelen said. If we dont have these resolutions attached, they are just going to throw the application out.

One of the resolutions passed was R0418-17-08, which guarantees matching funds for the grant application. According to the Friends of the New Lisbon Library website, $1,100,000 has been raised so far to go towards the library, which is 66 percent of its goal of two million dollars.

The library board will be passing a motion to allow their building funds to be used as matching funds for this, New Lisbon Mayor Lloyd Chase said. But we have to assure them (HUD) we would have at least as much available as what they would grant to us.

R0418-17-07, the Citizen Participation Plan, gives the people access to public facilities and states the council has to hold a public hearing for citizen input on the grant before the application is submitted as well as when the project is over halfway complete.

Well have one more public hearing that will need to be held when the project is approximately sixty percent complete, Thelen said.

Additional resolutions council passed for the application process includes non-violent civil rights demonstrations (R0418-17-09) and adopting a Residential Anti-Displacement and Relocations Assistant plan (R0418-17-10).

In the rare event anyone wants to show up here to protest, your basically saying Were not going to interfere with your peaceful protest, Thelen said. Its another one of those formalities nobody really understands why it needs to be in place.

According to HUDs official website, eligibility for the grant is determined based on low to moderate income levels, urgency because of building conditions and elimination of blight, such as mold or mildew, and slums. Thelen said the project for the city is eligible because of a low to moderate income levels in New Lisbon.

With the most recent HUD data that was released a couple of years ago the community is considered (low to moderate income) with a 51 percent low to moderate income, Thelen said.

It isnt the first time the city has applied for the grant. Chase said the city applied and received a CDBG grant for two different projects for the city.

We had a grant application we used for refurbishing two streets several years ago and then we had another one for our municipal well, Chase said.

With the application approved for submission, the city has to wait for HUDs and the Wisconsin Department of Administrations approval. Chase estimated the council will receive word sometime this fall about how much they will receive.

What they do is they score all the applications, Chase said. We dont know until after they have gone through their process and they determine how much were going to get.

Other business

In its reorganization meeting, the council appointed Gary Cowan as the City Council President and Marv Newlun at the police and fire commission. The council reappointed Karren Elsing as plan commission and library board, Gary Cowan as utility commission and Mark Toelle as pool and park committee. Each position will have a one year term.

The council tabled a raise in certain city fees. An additional percentage or fixed amount for additional mowing fees was proposed, but the council wanted to check with their legal counsel before moving forward. The council discussed an increase in the bounced check and title search rate from $20 to $35 and an unspecified increase in the price for pool passes.
President Donald Trump, in a stop in Kenosha on Tuesday, signaled support for Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwins proposal to require certain public water infrastructure projects be built with U.S.-made iron and steel.

Trumps remarks, coming in an interview with TMJ4-TV, appear to be a rare show of bipartisanship by a new president who has worked almost exclusively with fellow Republicans during his first three months in office.

Baldwins bill would require only U.S.-made iron or steel be used in projects funded by a federal program that gives low-interest loans for water infrastructure projects.

Asked if he supports Baldwins bill, Trump responded: I do. I support the concept of everything from the U.S.

Trump later added: I agree with her 100 percent.

Baldwin, D-Madison, in a statement Wednesday, said, Now that President Trump has expressed his support for my Buy America reform, Im hopeful he will join me in pushing Majority Leader (Mitch) McConnell and Speaker (Paul) Ryan on legislative action.

Trump on Tuesday visited Kenosha toolmaker Snap-on Inc., his first visit to Wisconsin since his inauguration. He signed an executive order that restricts the use of a program tapped by U.S. companies to bring in foreign technology workers, the H-1B visa program, and calls for a review of federal agencies requirements to buy American-made products.
Enbridge Inc., the largest pipeline company in the world, is wrapping up a years-long upgrade to its Line 61 to pump up to 1.2 million barrels of oil per day through Columbia County.

Were pretty well wrapped up. Weve got our Waterloo station (in Dane County) that were near completion on, and I think there is some general cleanup activities that are going on, but all that stuff is pretty well done, Trent Wetmore, Enbridges director of Superior region operations, said in Madison on Wednesday.

On Feb. 16, the Federal Trade Commission approved the merger of the Canadian energy infrastructure company with Houston-based Spectra Energy. The proposed deal was announced on Sept. 6, followed by Enbridge share value jumping from $51.79 to $59, settling over the next few months to $56 on Tuesday.

Any time you merge two large companies, there is so much integration that has to happen, making sure the assets line up and operationally and then resources including with personnel, said Wetmore, who oversees operations in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. So, there have been some layoffs, but not a great amount. But that is continuing to be evaluated.

On March 22, an Enbridge spokesman confirmed to Bloomberg News that the company would be eliminating 1,000 positions, which came after an announcement of 530 cuts in October. The company employs more than 11,000 people overall.

The end of 2016 also marked the planned completion date for an upgrade of Line 61, which runs from Duluth, Minnesota, to Flannagan, Illinois. Over the course of the project, pump stations along the route, which include locations in Adams, Portage (off Dumke Road) and Waterloo, have been upgraded to increase capacity from 560,000 barrels per day to 1.2 million barrels per day.

Were moving somewhere around 900,000 barrels a day on (Line 61), said Wetmore. We have the capability (of 1.2 million a day), but right now we dont have the demand. So on a few of our new stations  what we tend to do is every 40 or 50 miles there is a new pump station  just to continue to progress the flow. What weve done is idled some of the stations along the line.

Enbridges presence has inspired protests in this part of the country from groups like the local chapter of the global climate change advocacy and action group 350 Madison and a land rights group 80 Feet Is Enough, based on opposition to expansion of Enbridges 80-foot-wide line of land use.

The company was sued by Dane County over a requirement to purchase environmental impact insurance, which had been superseded by a state budget provision that gave an end-around for a company in that exact situation. Circuit Judge Peter Anderson ruled against Dane County reworking Enbridges permit.

During Tuesdays meeting of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, Drew Carlson of Springvale took advantage of the open floor to voice his concerns about Enbridges presence in the county in terms of eminent domain practices and environmental impacts.

I think, for the most part, that everything is wrapped up, said Wetmore. To my knowledge, all of the land issues have been resolved.

A major point of contention has been the proposal of a Line 66 dubbed the Evil Twin by environmental activists, who last summer walked the length of the pipeline. That, according to Wetmore, is a non-issue.

We did some survey work in 2014 and early 2015, but that is just part of the overall development process that we go through as were starting to look at it, he said. But market conditions have changed. Weve had to cancel our Sandpiper Project, which brought additional volume from North Dakota into Superior. Really with that cancellation in North Dakota due to market conditions, weve had to cancel anything that would have carried that volume.

Since the election of Donald Trump as president, some of the fastest and most sweeping moves his administration has made have been in deregulation of the energy sector. Wetmore gave a wait and see response on the impact that could have on Enbridge.

Wetmore emphasized that Enbridge is not a gas and oil company, but an energy company. One of the outcomes of the merger has been a portfolio balancing, he said, with assets shifting from about 75 percent invested in liquids, as in oil and gas, to around a 50-50 mix of liquids and alternative sources of power.

Over the past five years weve invested well over $5 billion (in renewable energy) and I think weve had some announcements recently that take that closer to the $7 billion mark, he said. But within North America with wind projects, solar projects, a little geothermal, were really seeing that as the wave of the future, but were not there yet and were not going to be there for a long time.

To live the lives weve come to appreciate, we still rely on oil, but there has been a trend toward that renewable footprint and we recognize that and were really shifting our identity and, I guess, the overall corporate structure to focus on the renewable side. So that is exciting for us.
Ken Hutler said it himself: Hes a man of few words.

So, when it came time to say goodbye Tuesday, after 17 years on the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, his valedictory address had just two sentences.

Thank you all, he said. Ive enjoyed it, and Ive made many friends.

Hutler, 77, of Portage, said hes stepping down, with one year to go on his term, because hes moving to a condominium, so he and his wife, Sandra, can live on one level. The condo is in Portage, he said, but its outside of his district, which includes the citys second and fourth wards.

County Board Chairman Vern Gove is now looking for candidates to be appointed to fill the District 7 seat until April 2018, when all 28 supervisors seats are up for grabs in the spring non-partisan election.

But on Tuesday, when he came to the agenda item titled Honoring Kenneth Hutler, Gove said, And this last ones a tough one.

The supervisors adopted a resolution listing all of Hutlers committee assignments since he first took office 17 years ago, to the day.

Most recently, he was chairman of the County Boards Information Services and Property Committee, a member of the Highway Committee and one of the countys representatives on the East Wisconsin County Railroad Consortium. (Pending the appointment of Hutlers successor  who will be assigned to the two County Board committee seats that Hutler is vacating  the County Board unanimously approved appointing Supervisor Don DeYoung of Friesland to the Information Services and Property Committee, and First Vice Chairwoman Mary Cupery of the town of Fort Winnebago to the Highway Committee.)

But in looking back, Hutler said, one of the highlights of his County Board service was his role, along with former supervisors Susan Martin and Neil Ford, in creating the countys Management Information Services department  basically, the countys information technology department, headed by John Hartman.

The creation of the MIS department happened, as Hutler recalls, not long after he took office.

Hutler was 59 when he retired from Rhymes Supply Company, which hed owned.

A year later, his brother-in-law, the late Vincent D. Curtis, persuaded him to run for County Board. Curtis was County Board chairman from 2000 to 2002.

He wanted me to run, so through him, I got on, Hutler said.

Hutler is not the longest-serving supervisor; that title goes to John Tramburg of Fall River, whos been on the County Board since 1982.

But Supervisor Adam Field of Portage said he often looked to Hutlers experience, especially when he first joined the County Board in January 2011.

I appreciated his expertise and real-life experience, Field said.

Supervisor Andy Ross of Poynette said the integrity with which Hutler operated his former business carried over to his service on the County Board.

Thank you, Mr. Hutler, for your years of service, he said.

For Supervisor Barry Pufahl of Pardeeville, Hutler was literally his right-hand man  sitting just to Pufahls right in the County Boards meeting room.

Sometimes things get pretty serious here, with the business that we do, Pufahl said. But this man sitting next to me could tell a joke, to make sure we could get through this without our blood pressure getting too high.
The school year will last little longer this year, due to weather-related cancellations and delays.

The Reedsburg School Board approved adding instruction days to the calendar to make up for lost time at its April 17 meeting.

Classes will be held through June 8 for grades 4K through 8. High school students, with the exception of seniors, will attend through June 9. June 6 was the original last day of school.

District Administrator Tom Benson said one of the days off was attributed to a holiday: Jan. 2. School was initially scheduled on that day but the Board agreed to close schools due to New Years.

Otherwise, all lost days were due to heavy snow or icy roads.

As youre well aware it was an interesting winter, Benson told the Board.

Schools were closed for eight days this winter due to weather and the holiday but the makeup days will allow the district to achieve the minimum level of required instruction hours. Benson said staff will be at the schools into mid-June to compensate for lost days.

The Board briefly discussed lengthening school days to make up time but decided against it due to challenges for working parents and disruption in childrens schedules.

Facility Study

Board members received recommendations regarding the future of schools from the Facility Study Committee. The Board took no action on the topic.

The committee, which has reviewed school needs for the past several months, offered six ideas to the Board. Those suggestions included crafting a referendum not to exceed $32 million; developing a strategy to create safe schools, including adding secure entrances to all buildings; closing South Elementary School as an instructional building as soon as possible; writing a referendum to support construction of a new school; considering ways to best use Loganville and La Valle schools; and planning to address the needs of each building.

Any referendum would only be the first of a multi-phase project. The committee found that every school requires some updates but taxpayers cant bear a $60-million referendum at the moment. Survey results also show taxpayers would not support a referendum of this magnitude. The $30- to $40-million range received far greater approval.

Board President Gary Woolever said the Board appreciates the committees hard work and recommendations.

They undertook a pretty monumental task, he said.

The Board will try to come up with a referendum in time for voters to make a decision this fall.
Wisconsin wine is almost synonymous with Wollersheim, and 2017 marks 45 years of wine-making on the very property grapevines were first planted on the rolling hills of Prairie du Sac in the 1840s by Hungarian nobleman Agoston Haraszthy.

The land was used as a winery and later farmland for four generations  until Bob and JoAnn Wollersheim bought the land in 1972, restoring the grounds to a winery again. More than four decades later, Wollersheim Winery and Distillery is celebrating its 45th anniversary with Philippe and Julie Coquard at the helm.

We moved to this property in 1972 ... the first thing Dad did was replant the grapevines, said Julie Coquard, the eldest daughter of Bob and JoAnn Wollersheim. At that time things were a lot quieter. Wine was still unusual for this state.

According to the Wollerhsheim website, they planted the hills with grapevines, furnished the limestone cellars with oak barrels and converted the old carriage house into a store. In the time since, Wollersheim has expanded and evolved, in buildings and with product, creating a destination spot for wine enthusiasts.

Philippe Coquard arrived at the winery from the Beaujolais region of France in 1984, on an agricultural exchange. Coquard  whose background is in winemaking, viticulture and wine-marketing  became Wollersheim Winerys winemaker in 1985, according to the winerys website.

Julie Coquard said there was never a master plan for the property; it just sort of evolved.

It was an evolution over the whole time, she said. In terms of the business and the buildings, one by one we worked on pieces of it.

Coquard said her parents started the business with the idea of making people more comfortable with wine. Back then people mainly drank wine once or twice a year or at Christmas, she said. They wanted to take away the fear.

They started small, updating the original buildings on the property and later expanding them to accommodate growth. But, as Coquard pointed out, the single biggest thing to make Wollersheim into what it is today was the release of its Prairie Fume.

It really opened up new doors ... its an easy wine to drink and a lot of people like it, Julie Coquard said. Prairie Fume was so popular it was the driving force behind the large expansion in 1994.

It really changed the way we do things, Julie Coquard said.

The distillery created in 2015 marked another big change for the Wollersheim name.

We made brandy on the property for years before creating the distillery, she said. It was something my dad and Philippe talked about doing, but until the law changed in 2009 we couldnt do it. It was an old law left over from prohibition time that winery couldnt have a distillery.

The distillery now makes a variety of spirits, from brandy to gin and whiskey. The winery offers more than 20 different wines, from the sweet, crisp River Gold to the sultry notes of the Domain Reserve.

Wollersheim continues to grow; they will be offering three new whiskeys next year and they are also planning to offer bourbon in the future.

I think it is a huge achievement to be in the tourism business that has continued to grow and expand beyond the vision and goals from original owners, said Tywana German, executive director of the Sauk Prairie Chamber of Commerce.

German said Wollersheim is a large business partner in the community and helps bring tourism to the Sauk Prairie area.

They draw thousands of people to our community every week, making sure the Sauk Prairie community is highlighted, German said. They are definitely a cornerstone of our community.

The future of the Wollersheim Winery and Distillery looks bright. Right now we are concentrating on the distillery and trying to set things up for future generations, Julie Coquard said. Its a growing area of interest ... locally made spirits, quality and where the ingredients are sourced from.

When Coquard talks about her father, she thinks he would be pleased with how things have turned out.

I think hed be proud, she said.
Update on protests at Yale Road North re: accommodation issues (09:00)

STATEMENT FROM THE SENIOR EXECUTIVE TEAM ABOUT PROTESTS ON YALE ROAD NORTH RE: ACCOMMODATION ISSUES (09:00)

Dear Colleagues

A group of about 100 students are blocking the Yale Road North entrance to the University. The protest is peaceful although a tyre has been burnt, causing smoke at the entrance.

The students seem to be protesting about issues related to accommodation particularly at Yale Village. This is the new residence that opened this year. They have asked to hand over a memorandum to management.

The Dean of Students is available to receive the memorandum and to engage with the affected students.

Protection Services (formerly Campus Control) is managing the situation on the ground and the police are on standby.

There is no change to the academic programme. Staff and students should use alternative entrances to the Braamfontein campuses today.

We will share further details as they become available.

Thank you

Senior Executive Team

20 April 2017 (09:00)
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Belden Inc. provides portfolio of signal transmission solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates in two segments, Enterprise Solutions and Industrial Solutions. The Enterprise Solutions segment offers copper cable and connectivity solutions, fiber cable and connectivity solutions, interconnect panels, racks and enclosures, and signal extension and matrix switching systems for use in applications, such as local area networks, data centers, access control, 5G, fiber, and home and building automation. It also provides power, cooling, and airflow management products for mission-critical data center operations; and end-to-end copper and fiber network systems. This segment serves commercial real estate, hospitality, healthcare, education, financial, government, and broadband and wireless service providers, as well as end-markets, including sport venues, stadiums, data centers, military installations, and academia. The Industrial Solutions segment offers infrastructure components and on-machine connectivity systems; and industrial Ethernet switches, network management software, routers, firewalls, gateways, input/output (I/O) connectors/systems, industrial Ethernet cables, optical fiber industrial Ethernet cables, Fieldbus cables, IP and networking cables, I/O modules, distribution boxes, and customer specific wiring solutions. This segment provides its products for use in applications comprising network and fieldbus infrastructure; sensor and actuator connectivity; and power, control, and data transmission; and supplies heat-shrinkable tubing and wire management products to protect and organize wire and cable assemblies. It serves distributors, original equipment manufacturers, installers, and end-users. The company was formerly known as Belden CDT Inc. and changed its name to Belden Inc. in May 2007. Belden Inc. was founded in 1902 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri.
AmerisourceBergen Corporation sources and distributes pharmaceutical products in the United States and internationally. Its Pharmaceutical Distribution segment distributes brand-name and generic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to various healthcare providers, including acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, long-term care and alternate site pharmacies, and other customers. It also provides pharmacy management, staffing, and other consulting services; supply management software to retail and institutional healthcare providers; and packaging solutions to various institutional and retail healthcare providers. In addition, this segment distributes plasma and other blood products, injectable pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and other specialty products; provides other services primarily to physicians who specialize in various disease states, primarily oncology, as well as to other healthcare providers, including hospitals and dialysis clinics; and offers data analytics, outcomes research, and additional services for biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturers. The company's Other segment provides integrated manufacturer services, such as clinical trial support, product post-approval, and commercialization support; specialty transportation and logistics services for the biopharmaceutical industry; and sells pharmaceuticals, vaccines, parasiticides, diagnostics, micro feed ingredients, and various other products to customers in the companion animal and production animal markets, as well as demand-creating sales force services to manufacturers. AmerisourceBergen Corporation was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides newborn, maternal-fetal, pediatric cardiology, and other pediatric subspecialty care services in the United States and Puerto Rico. It offers neonatal care services, such as clinical care to babies born prematurely or with complications within specific units at hospitals through neonatal physician subspecialists, neonatal nurse practitioners, and other pediatric clinicians. The company also provides maternal-fetal care services, including inpatient and office-based clinical care to expectant mothers and unborn babies through affiliated maternal-fetal medicine subspecialists, as well as obstetricians and other clinicians, including maternal-fetal nurse practitioners, certified nurse mid-wives, ultrasonographers, and genetic counselors. In addition, it offers pediatric cardiology care services comprising inpatient and office-based pediatric cardiology care of the fetus, infant, child, and adolescent patient with congenital heart defects and acquired heart disease, as well as adults with congenital heart defects through affiliated pediatric cardiologist subspecialists and other related clinical professionals; and specialized cardiac care to the fetus, neonatal and pediatric patients. Further, the company provides other pediatric subspecialty care services through pediatric subspecialists, such as pediatric intensivists, pediatric hospitalists, pediatric surgeons, and pediatric ophthalmologists, as well as pediatric ear, nose, and throat physicians; and support services in the areas of hospitals, primarily in the pediatric emergency rooms, labor and delivery areas, and nursery and pediatric departments. As of February 17, 2022, it operated a network of approximately 2,700 physicians. The company was formerly known as MEDNAX, Inc. and changed its name to Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc. in July 2022. Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is based in Sunrise, Florida.
The Travelers Companies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides a range of commercial and personal property, and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals in the United states and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Business Insurance, Bond & Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance. The Business Insurance segment offers workers' compensation, commercial automobile and property, general liability, commercial multi-peril, employers' liability, public and product liability, professional indemnity, marine, aviation, onshore and offshore energy, construction, terrorism, personal accident, and kidnap and ransom insurance products. This segment operates through select accounts, which serve small businesses; commercial accounts that serve mid-sized businesses; national accounts, which serve large companies; and national property and other that serve large and mid-sized customers, commercial trucking industry, and agricultural businesses, as well as markets and distributes its products through brokers, wholesale agents, and program managers. The Bond & Specialty Insurance segment provides surety, fidelity, management and professional liability, and other property and casualty coverages and related risk management services through independent agencies and brokers. The Personal Insurance segment offers property and casualty insurance covering personal risks, primarily automobile and homeowners insurance to individuals through independent agencies and brokers. The Travelers Companies, Inc. was founded in 1853 and is based in New York, New York.
Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers. It also offers investment and wealth advisory services; digital investing services; financial services and solutions; and investment management, and trust and custody services. In addition, the company provides life insurance, accident and sickness insurance, and annuity products; creditor and travel insurance to bank customers; and reinsurance solutions. Further, it offers client's debt and equity capital-raising services, as well as loan origination and syndication, and treasury management; strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and recapitalizations, as well as valuation and fairness opinions; and trade finance, risk mitigation, and other operating services. Additionally, the company provides research and access to markets for institutional, corporate, and retail clients; trading solutions that include debt, foreign exchange, interest rate, credit, equity, securitization and commodities; new product development and origination services, as well as risk management advice and services to hedge against fluctuations; and funding and liquidity management services to its clients. It operates through approximately 900 bank branches and 3,300 automated banking machines in Canada and the United States. Bank of Montreal was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
Hunter J. Smith '51 gives $15 million for Alumni House expansion and renovation

The William & Mary Alumni House was built prior to the Civil War and dates to around the 1850s. For the university, the structure has also served as both fraternity and faculty housing. It became known as the Alumni House in 1972. Photo by Stephen Salpukas Photo - of - Hide Caption

William & Mary announced today a $15 million gift from alumna Hunter J. Smith 51 for the expansion and renovation of the nearly 170-year-old Alumni House. This is the largest gift ever given to the university specifically to support alumni engagement.

The William & Mary Alumni Associations expansion and renovation project will cost a total of $20.7 million and add approximately 35,000 square feet to the current building. This will make the Alumni House  which sits along Richmond Road next to Zable Stadium  one of the largest social gathering spaces on campus and in Williamsburg, at nearly 55,000 square feet. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2018 and end in fall 2019. For architectural renderings of the renovated building, see the Alumni House project website.

Hunter has once again graced William & Mary with her extraordinary generosity, said President Taylor Reveley. The Alumni House must be greatly expanded to meet the needs of our growing alumni body. Hunters glorious gift will allow us to do just that.

Originally known as the Bright House in honor of its first owner, Samuel Bright, the house has been part of the university since the 1920s. Some research suggests it was built prior to the Civil War  likely in the 1850s  on a farm. Over the past century, it has served as the Kappa Alpha fraternity house, faculty housing, and in 1972, was finally converted into what is officially known as the Alumni House.

From 1995 to 1996, the Alumni House was renovated when the alumni population was more than 71,000. Since then, the Alumni Association has expanded the scope of its mission in providing world-class opportunities and programming and has seen the number of alumni increase by more than 35 percent. Today, there are nearly 100,000 alumni.

In recent years, the Alumni Association has sharpened its focus on advancing robust career and networking events, alumnae leadership programming, regional alumni engagement activities, travel opportunities, weddings and support for affinity groups such as the Hulon Willis Association, Order of the White Jacket, the William & Mary Gay and Lesbian Alumni/ae and others. It is also responsible for hosting events such as Homecoming and Reunion Weekend as well as its newest signature event, William & Mary Weekend.

This expansion with its prominent architectural features will transform the current Alumni House into an impressive gathering place that all alumni will be able to enjoy when they come home to Williamsburg, said Smith. Preserving the elegance and character of the historic house is an important part of the upgrade, and I eagerly await construction to begin on this project.

Smith, a resident of Charlottesville, Virginia, has been a major benefactor of the university for more than 40 years. Her previous gifts have supported a wide range of programs and initiatives across campus, including Freshman Seminars, the recent enhancements to Zable Stadium, renovations to the Pi Beta Phi sorority house, the Fund for William & Mary, scholarships, Swem Library and the Tribe Club.

The new major additions to the Alumni House include the following:

New entrance with a dedicated reception area

Event space that will accommodate up to 800 people

Lounge and business center

Additional restrooms, storage and catering areas

Third floor space for future operations and activities

Outdoor improvements such as a new terrace, enclosed garden area and plaza

The Alumni House serves as a distinctive gateway to campus for visiting alumni, parents and friends to gather, learn and celebrate in a multitude of ways, said Marilyn Ward Midyette 75, executive director of the William & Mary Alumni Association. Hunters generous gift will allow us to preserve the historic look and feel of our iconic building, even while we update and expand it, and will substantially enhance all of the unique opportunities and experiences we offer to the entire William & Mary community.

An additional $4.2 million has been raised to fund the project, and the university has undertaken efforts to raise the remaining $1.5 million to complete it. William & Mary also aims to create a $4.5 million endowment supporting the operations and maintenance of the upgraded house, added Midyette. To learn more about ways to support this project, go to the Alumni House project website.

We are enormously grateful for this gift  it will greatly strengthen our alumni engagement efforts and provide better avenues for alumni to build lifelong relationships with one another and the university, said Matthew T. Lambert 99, vice president for university advancement. Hunter has a long legacy of inspiring, empowering and enriching the lives of so many in our William & Mary family and we are deeply thankful for her extraordinary loyalty and support over the years. She is a most cherished alumna.
W&M team shines (again) at WorldMUN conference

The team Bottom row (L to R): Isabella Louvain, Seth Fiderer, Connor Currie, Hannah Major. Top row (L to R): Venu Katta, Jakob Cordes, Somya Shankar, Blake Phillips, Ani Sinani, Alexandra Quinn. Courtesy Harvard World Model United Nations

Celebrating The WorldMUN conference wasn't all work. Taking a break are (from left) Hannah Major, Seth Fiderer, Somya Shankar and Ani Sinani. Courtesy Harvard World Model United Nations

We are New Zealand The W&M team was assigned to represent New Zealand at the 2017 WorldMUN conference. Courtesy Harvard World Model United Nations Photo - of - Hide Caption

William & Marys participation in the 2017 World Model United Nations conference in mid-March continued the universitys long-standing streak of excellence.Nine W&M students traveled to Montreal for this years WorldMUN conference, hosted by Harvard University and Canadas Dawson College. The W&M team members, assigned to represent New Zealand, were placed on the following committees: the World Health Organization, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Economic and Financial Affairs Council, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization and the Historical General Assembly.Delegates spent the week discussing topics ranging from the reform of the global pharmaceutical industry to the current refugee crisis to offshore tax evasion to the protection of cultural heritage sites to the formation of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997.We all worked with students from all over the world -- Belgium, Lebanon, Peru, Australia, Japan, Germany, India, Bangladesh, Ghana, and Egypt just to name a few -- to come up with creative and innovative resolutions for some of the worlds most pressing problems, said Somya Shankar 18, the teams head delegate.William & Mary has historically been very successful at the WorldMUN conference. In both 2005 and 2006, in Edinburgh and Beijing, W&M won the best Large Delegation award. In Melbourne in 2013, the university was recognized with the best Small Delegation award.Although W&M did not win a school award this year, the team ended with a top-five small delegation finish for the first time since 2013, behind only Washington University in St. Louis, the United States Military Academy at West Point and Claremont McKenna College. Four team members  Connor Currie 17, Hannah Major 19, Isabella Lovain 20 and Seth Fiderer 20 won diplomacy awards. Four others  Ani Sinani 17, Alexandra Quinn 17, Shankar 18 and Blake Phillips 20  won verbal commendation awards.William & Mary attracts people to its prestigious government program, Phillips said. In order to do well in MUN, one has to be interested in government; ergo, William & Mary tends to do well at these competitions. Our training also has something to do with our success, but every school trains. Our natural talent and competitiveness on the American circuit and our natural talent pool are some of our greatest assets.Phillips was a member of the World Health Organization, and knew hed be representing New Zealand at the Montreal conference. To prepare, he spent about three weeks studying the countrys stances on public health and medicine distribution.New Zealand has a fairly liberal stance on international financial regulation, and a very liberal stance on public access to healthcare, so that is a mixed bag you dont often see internationally, he said. Typically, countries on par with New Zealand in Europe have a tight grip on advertising and banking, but also distribute medicine like New Zealand does. In a way, New Zealand is like America when it comes to financial regulation and like Europe when it comes to medicine.Phillips and the rest of the team began familiarizing themselves with New Zealands policies as soon as they were selected last November. That was the gateway to a more strenuous three-week period of preparation in which they met as many as three times a week, engaged in writing and speaking drills and traveled to two other conferences for training.Intense and rigorous is how Shankar described the process.As the head delegate for the team, it is incredibly rewarding to see the hard work put into training pay off in the most competitive and most prestigious conference that William & Mary competes at year after year, Shankar said I am incredibly proud of our strong performance, and hope that this momentum can roll over into the competitive season for next year.The odds of that happening would appear to be good. Four of the nine delegates who participated in this years WorldMUN are freshmen.The strong performance of this young William & Mary team can be attributed to each and every persons dedication to representing William & Mary to the best of our abilities, Shankar said.Shankar has attended WorldMUN every year shes been at William & Mary. Beyond the lessons she has learned, the places shes seen and the friendships she has forged, Shankar said that WorldMUN has continually reinforced my faith in diplomacy and in Model UN in general.It has given me hope that tomorrows world leaders will strive to compromise to make this world a better place, she said. But, perhaps the most important lesson I have learned from attending WorldMUN is that the world is an incredibly small place. Knowing that I have real friends everywhere from Luxembourg to Lebanon is an incredibly humbling feeling.




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Brad Smith (Microsoft)

Mark Chandler (Cisco)

to Fordham Law School for the first day of the 25th Anniversary celebrations of the Fordham IP Conference. After a rousing speech from Professor Hugh Hansen and Deans Feerick and Diller (Fordham), the first session of the day opened with a round table of General Counsels including(Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Cisco),(Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Viacom (as of a last Friday)),(Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Elsevier) and(President and Chief Legal Officer, Microsoft).All GCs stated that IP is important to their role, with Brad Smith explaining that at Microsoft they have monthly meetings to discuss strategic issues that present opportunities or threats and every week they go through a list of issues they are facing, which will always include some IP topics. Brad said that IP really runs through the blood stream of every company in the technology sector. You cannot separate it. During the week of the Democratic National Convention, Microsoft was fighting off a nation-state attack. The basis of the attack was a phishing attack using an internet domain that the group registered with the Microsoft name in order to falsely illicit customers to obtain tech support. Microsoft had to take control of the domain. They went through federal court under the Lanham Act and trespass to chattels to take control of the domain. IP really touches on everything in the business.In response to a question from Hugh as to whether they have any fun, Michael said that if you don't like stress a GC is not a job for you. As a GC you need to structure a team which can solve most problems by themselves. You should only be dealing with problems which requires more team brainpower to solve - those problems that do not have an obvious solution. If you do not think that dealing with a complicated, difficult problem is fun than you should not consider a GC role. A lot of the job is also "selling a solution" - getting an organization to execute a solution. Mark Seeley and Brad said that all of the issues they work on are incredibly fun as the issues are all about society and technology.Although people have to trust you and believe you are moving in the right direction, there is still a hierarchy so if there is a difference of opinion within the organization you don't stay at odds very long. That often is resolved because the depth of knowledge (from the IP team) and the breadth of perspective (of the GC) come together to identify the best solution. That is not to say that the breadth of perspective from the GC means there is no depth, but the GC's role is to identify how the IP issue is intersecting with other IP issues. It is about pushing each other. The question they asked recently at Microsoft is how much of their budget they need to spend on maintaining and prosecuting their patent portfolio. The patent attorney team will of course say 120%, but the GC has to balance it all together.Brad said that what he finds most interesting is how different IP feels in a time of flux and when in the center of controversy. When the conference first started the issues were about copyright, then five years ago it was about patents and now its about copyright again. IP is all about a rebalance of rights when technology progresses. Michael says that there has to be more discussion about the balance on what the right protection is and where the optimal balance lies. Not enough people are properly engaged on where that balance is and Congress seems to be locked out of that debate. There is not a lot of rational discussion on this. The Courts are being asked to weigh on technology they do not really understand and to opine on legislation written in a different era with which they wish not to interfere to greatly with.In this environment, Michael said that he felt there was more that technology companies can do without undue cost or risk, but drawing that line is difficult. There is a lot of fear of taking any additional action will result in a lot of unforeseen cost. In the content business, a lot of people are making a lot of money building business on other people's efforts and there is not enough done to address this. Statements that tech is anti IP is a political slogan. What tech is really about is identifying the right balance for IP in order to progress science and the arts. Whenever someone has a right, it stops someone else bringing a product to market.Is Congress a problem solver? If you believe in law, you have to go to Congress to fix it. We all live in countries where the relative strength of branches of government ebbs and flows. In even the gridlock of Congress in the past decade, they were still able to pass the America Invents Act. You cannot imagine a world where the law stays healthy without work of Congress. But people are frustrated, stated Brad, when Congress does not act in fields like cybersecurity and immigration. Two or three years ago in Microsoft, we felt that the pendulum was coming back. The number of lawsuits filed against Microsoft is down, the cost is down and the cost of settling is down. Brad thinks the fact that Congress did not act last year when people wanted them to is not necessarily a bad thing. Because the technology sector is for ever changing, it makes sense that incremental legislative changes are made.However, Mark Seeley said that where there is a gap between legislative activity, the Courts should be stepping in. Mark also stated that gridlock is not the normal rule for legislative bodies as Brussels has a very activist agenda for copyright reform. Michael said that they are having a lot of success in Europe to draw the copyright line.Can industry get together to solve problems? Michael and Mark Chandler said that a lot of issues can be solved by companies, especially those that are too contentious for Congress. Politicians who are looking for re-election, will not wish to get involved in those issues. So industry has to look to other avenues where the investment of energy will be more useful. To do so you need to identify the problem you are trying to solve, who is the best body to solve this and how do you go about organizing and implementing this solution.In response to the role of the courts, Brad Smith said that what we have seen in the last 25 years is broadly the same that we have seen over the last 250 years. It is the same story of settled law being unsettled by new technology which causes uncertainty and controversy. All of this has required more from the Courts than Congress for the reasons already discussed. The Courts have had to be more interventional. The story is the reverse in Europe where the legislature and executive branch are doing more. The Courts there then have to deal with new issues from new legislation. Over time, Brad thinks they have largely been successful in reestablishing equilibrium. Brad looks at the patent space in particular where five or six years ago there was enormous emotion and controversy hearing general counsel talk about patents (like someone was taking away their children). We have seen a series of decisions from the Courts where you can praise or criticize the decisions, but equilibrium has been restored.Michael commented that there is a lack of understanding of the technology and business implications of decisions from the Courts who make them. Brad disagreed. The biggest speed of technological change was in the 1800s where the inventions were totally transformative and yet the courts kept up. Michael said that the shift from hardware to software where new business models can be implemented in moments because of software is also transformative (just in a different context). Industry is also more complicated as it was in the 1800s and the Courts are reluctant to engage with this. Brad said that the past is always clear and the future is always foggy - it is so clear to us now what the right answer was then and the future is always so full of uncertainty.Hugh then asked what they look for in IP counsel? Brad said you start by looking for what you would expect - an accomplished track record. 25 years later Brad says that fundamentally the most important quality is an enormous curiosity to learn as the field is constantly changing (changing not because solely of the factors in it) because of external factors - what is happening in the economy and in global relations. You cannot be a great IP lawyer over time if you do not have a sense of curiosity and commitment to learn. Brad said that the other thing is diversity - acknowledging the lack of it on the panel. To benefit from the diversity of thought you need a diversity of backgrounds.
IAEA, Rosatom join on infrastructure capacity

20 April 2017

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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom have agreed to cooperate in improving nuclear infrastructure development in countries planning to introduce nuclear energy or to expand existing programs.

From L to R: Amano, Hayward Spassky and Likhachov (Image: IAEA)

An agreement was signed yesterday at the IAEA's headquarters in Vienna by IAEA deputy director general and head of the department of management Mary Alice Hayward and Rosatom deputy director general for international affairs Nikolay Spassky. It was signed in the presence of IAEA director general Yukiya Amano and Rosatom director general Alexey Likhachov.

Under the extra-budgetary contribution agreement, Rosatom will provide up to $1.8 million and an in-kind contribution of up to RUB109.5 million ($1.9 million) over the next three years to IAEA programs on nuclear infrastructure development.

The IAEA said the agreement will help strengthen its efforts to promote capacity building in newcomer and expanding countries in areas including nuclear safety, stakeholder involvement and the development of a national position on nuclear power.

The IAEA's Nuclear Infrastructure Development Section, through the Technical Cooperation program, provides targeted support to member states embarking on new nuclear power programs or expanding existing ones. About 30 countries are currently considering, planning or starting such a program, it said.

The IAEA is the intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in nuclear technology, and is an autonomous organisation under the United Nations. It is committed to providing guaranteed independent and objective assessment and support to countries that are newcomers to nuclear energy under its recognition of the right of each country to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The agency encourages countries looking at nuclear power to develop program roadmaps, including the consideration phase. These roadmaps would include, for example, national schedules and timelines for developing the required infrastructure. The IAEA provides feedback on such documents, as well as offering Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review missions to member states to carry out in-depth evaluations of their nuclear power program infrastructure and decision-making.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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Reactor suppliers face governance challenge

20 April 2017

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The nuclear governance system is facing an "unprecedented challenge" as traditional nuclear suppliers that have "built the backbone" of the safety, security, and non-proliferation regime face new competition to provide technology to emerging nations, according to a policy report by the Global Nexus Initiative (GNI). The GNI, which is co-sponsored by the Partnership for Global Security and the Nuclear Energy Institute, plans to publish the report, Evolving Nuclear Governance for a New Era, on 2 May.

"The locus of new nuclear plant construction has shifted to fast growing nations in Asia and the Middle East," the GNI said on 18 April, "and traditional suppliers, including the USA, France and Japan, are giving way to Russia and China, which have the most active nuclear production lines, the capacity to increase manufacturing and the state financing to support it."

According to the report, China has 21 reactors under construction and another 40 planned; Russia has seven under construction and another 25 planned; while South Korea has three under construction and is building four in the United Arab Emirates. Neither Russia nor China has led the nuclear governance area, the report says, and many of the emerging economy nations with ambitious nuclear power development plans face challenges in effectively governing the plants and materials they seek.

Everett Redmond, senior technical advisor for New Reactor & Advanced Technology at the Nuclear Energy Institute, said: "Strong global governance is essential if the promise of nuclear power is to be achieved. The nuclear industry recognises this and stands ready to work with governments, international organisations and the NGO community to ensure that nuclear power can meet the growing need for clean energy with the highest standards of safety and security."

The report makes nine recommendations for strengthening nuclear governance. These include: establishing the principle of "realistic continuous improvement" to identify gaps and weaknesses that should be addressed; strengthening the nuclear security regime by moving toward common standards, greater transparency, expanded peer reviews and consideration of an international agreement; and institutionalising the initiatives that have brought closer collaboration between the nuclear industry and civil society so that together they can assess requirements for improvement and formulate balanced and needed advances in the nuclear governance system.

Formed in 2015, Washington DC-based GNI brings together experts from the nuclear industry, nuclear security energy, and climate change communities to examine the challenges posed by climate change, energy demand and global security.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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Tropical islands offer perfect gateways of relaxation that helps one to recharge in a beautiful setting with colorful sunset, sandy beaches, and palm trees. Many amazing tropical destinations are scattered across the major Caribbean and the Oceanic islands. Here is a list of tropical destinations which offer opportunity for adventure without necessarily breaking the bank.

10. Cuba

The amazing tropical landscape of Cuba.

Located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, Cuba is the largest Caribbean island. The popular cities for tourists in Cuba include Havana, Baracoa, Trinidad, Varadero, and Santiago de Cuba. Other destinations include Cayo Largo, Jardines del Rey, and Varadero Beach. Tourists visiting the country are required to have tourist visa card, which is generally valid for 30 days. One exception to this is the Canadian tourist visa which is valid for 90 days and can be extended for another 90. Once in Cuba, tourists can access several destinations by public buses that charge a flat rate of 0.40 CUP (US$0.015). Other means of transport within the country include taxis, planes, and trains. The main food in the country is rice and beans and a supper will cost about $0.50 per person with most restaurants owned by the government.

9. Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is a great option for those from the US mainland in particular.

Puerto Rico is in the Caribbean Sea on the Mona Passage, a key Panama shipping lane. The island has several tourist destinations including Caja de Muertos Island, Mona Island, San Juan National Historic site, and Guanica State Forest. US citizens do not require a visa to enter Puerto Rico as it is a US territory. However, tourists arriving from outside the US must meet the requirement for entry such as a tourist visa. Several airlines offer direct flights between the island and the United States. One can get around the island by taxi which operates under Tourism Taxi Program with fixed rates depending on the distance. One can also rent a car for as low as $25 per day. Buses and trains also offer transport services around the country.

8. Honduras

Kayaking is an affordable activity in Honduras.

Honduras is the second biggest country in Central America. The country still has colonial villages, ancient Maya ruins, natural parks, and coastlines of the Pacific and Caribbean characterized by beautiful beaches and coral reefs. Better amenities for tourists can be found in the big cities including San Pedro Sula, Tela, and Utila. There are good hotels even in small towns at a slightly higher cost although Honduras is not an expensive country to visit. Tourists from the European Union, Japan, Norway, Malaysia, and some other western countries will not require a visa. Citizens of non-Central American countries are required to pay a $3 upon entry by land. San Pedro Sula has major airports which receive direct flights from Atlanta, Miami, and New York among other destinations. Tourists visiting Honduras through Guatemala or El Salvador can use cars. Tourist can get around the country by train, cars, boat, buses, and thumb. The country has several eateries called Platos tipicos that offer lunch at affordable prices.

7. Panama

Not just beaches: Panama also offers an urban adventure within its capital city.

Panama has coastlines on both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean. The country offers a wide array of experiences to the eager tourist. Visitors can enjoy two oceans, mountains and forests, as well as a slice of urban life in Panama City. Panama is a relatively inexpensive country to visit. However, the food is relatively expensive compared to the US and the cost depends on whether the food is produced locally or exported. Getting around Panama by road can be grueling with heavy traffic between 8 and 9 am, as well as 3 and 7 pm. Citizens from countries that hold treaties with Panama do not require a visa to enter the country while citizens from other countries are granted visas which are valid for 30-90 days with a possibility of extension. Visa requirements include a return ticket out of Panama, copy of bank statement, proof of accommodation, and a vaccination against yellow fever for tourists coming from South America and Africa.

6. Sri Lanka

Beautiful Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is an island country in the Indian Ocean. Popular tourist destinations within the country include Adams peak, Yala National Park, Beruwela, Unawatuna, and Marissa among others. Visitors to Sri Lanka with tattoos of religious significance must be aware that they risk deportation. They are advised to cover them up all the time if they still want to visit despite the warning. Sri Lanka is also a smoke-free country and smoking in public places may lead to prosecution. Also, posing next to Buddha inappropriately for a photo is prohibited and may lead to prosecution. Citizens from all countries except Singapore and Maldives are required to apply for a tourist visa before entering the country. The Electronic Travel Authorization (visa) is valid for 90 days. The most common means of transport in the country is the three-wheeler. One can also rent a car, motorbike, or tour operators. Public buses are also available for those on a budget.

5. Nicaragua

The architecture of Nicaragua.

Nicaragua is located in Central America. It has a coastline on both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean. it is also the largest country in Central America and is home to the largest amount of freshwater found in the region. The climate of Nicaragua is characterized by hot lowlands and cool highlands. The country offers richness and beauty to tourists with a growing eco-tourism industry, beautiful beaches, colonial cities, and vibrant nightlife. Tourists visiting the country are expected to obtain a tourist card at $10 which is valid for 30-90 days. A departure tax of $32 is also included in the airfare. Tourists visiting by flight fly into the airport in Managua while those using cars can get into the country through Costa Rica. Once in the country, one can commute using the commuter airlines, buses, taxis, and tour buses.

4. Tulum, Mexico

A beach at Tulum, Mexico.

Although Mexico in itself may not be a budget destination, certain areas of the country are. Tulum is located on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. It was the site of the Mayan Port while the ruins tropical beaches are the main tourist attraction. The site is overcrowded during the day with several tour groups. To avoid the crowd, one is advised to plan for an overnight stay. Tulum has three sections: downtown, the hotel area, and the ruins. Tulum can be accessed from Cancun International Airport with the ride from the airport taking 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on the means of transport. By bus, one will be expected to pay about $17 while renting a car is reasonable and the fastest way to get there. Once at the ruins, one will be expected to pay for a tour guide fee of about $20 and an entrance fee of $4.

3. Thailand

The amazing sights of Thailand.

The Kingdom of Thailand is located in Southeast Asia. The country is popular for its tropical climate, great food, culture, beautiful beaches, and majestic mountains. It is a major tourist destination, attracting tourists from across the world. The Thai culture is greatly influenced by Buddhism. Visitors from many European and American countries do not require a visa to enter the country. However, those who overstay in the country are required to pay a fine of 500 baht per day. Most of the flights arriving in the country land at the international airports in Bangkok and Phuket which are efficiently served by intercontinental flights. Domestic flights connect the countrys main destination to Bangkok and Phuket. Large buses, taxis, trains, and 3-wheelers are also available for visitors.

2. Indonesia

Hindu architecture in Indonesia.

Indonesia has over 18,000 islands of which 6,000 are inhabited with a total population of 240 million people. The country is home to the second-largest tropical forest in the world. Indonesia has a complex bureaucracy when it comes to visiting the country. Western travelers can get visas on arrival for only $35 at the common points of entry. However, visa waiver and visa before arrival can also be issued to travelers. Most of the international flights land at Tangerang near Jakarta, Denpasar, and Surabaya. Some of the cities also have air links with Singapore and Malaysia. Some of the tourist attractions in the country include the over 160 active volcanoes, attractive beaches, World Heritage Sites, and the beautiful islands. Some of the activities one can enjoy in the country include scuba diving, spa treatment, and surfing. The food in Indonesia is of a great variety of regional cuisine found across the nations several islands.

1. Philippines

A beautiful beach in the Philippines.

The Philippines has more than 7,000 islands and is located between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea. The country is characterized by several beaches which form one of the worlds longest coastlines. It may take one several years to spend a day on every island. Some of the countrys major attractions include the UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as the Banaue Rice terrace, historical sites, beaches, and coral reefs among other attractions. Citizens from SEAN countries can get into the Philippines without a visa for up to 30 days while those who hold British Overseas passport may enter the country free for seven days. Tourists intending to go beyond the visa or passport allowed days can request for an extension at the Bureau of Immigration. The extension can be granted for a maximum of six months per time. Tourists can get around the country through several means including domestic planes, by train, car, taxi, and by boat.
The vast majority of Turkeys territory is in Asia, but a small part of it is in Europe. Most of Turkey consist of the region known as Anatolia, or Asia Minor. A small part of Turkey, however, is situated in a region known as Thrace, which is the southeast corner of the Balkan Peninsula. This is where you will find part of Turkeys largest city, Istanbul. Interestingly, however, the origins of the Turkish people are not in their present homeland, but much farther away in East Asia. Nevertheless, Turkey has long played a part in European history. In fact, Turkish territory once stretched deep into Europe during the height of the Ottoman Empire, all the way to the outskirts of what is now Austrias capital, Vienna. Although Turkey now occupies just a sliver of Europe today, Turkish influence is still visible on the continent. At the same time, Turkey has also adopted many cultural elements of Europe, and has aligned itself with the West politically and economically.

The Territory Of Turkey

Map showing the location of Turkey, a transcontinental country extending from Europe to Asia.

As previously mentioned, the vast majority of Turkeys territory is in the region of Anatolia, which is sometimes called Asia Minor, and is part of the Asian continent. Most of Turkeys population of roughly 85 million lives in Anatolia. The Anatolian part of Turkey is bordered to the northeast by Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, to the east by Iran, to the south by Iraq, Syria, and the Mediterranean Sea, to the north by the Black Sea, and to the west by the Aegean Sea and Greece. Turkeys capital, Ankara, which is a city of more than 3.5 million people, is located in the west-central part of Anatolia. Almost all of Turkeys major cities are also located in Anatolia. In fact, all of Turkeys cities with populations of more than 1 million people are located in Anatolia, except for part of Turkeys largest city, Istanbul.

Bosphorus Strait separates European part of Turkey from Anatolia.

Part of Istanbul is located in Turkeys small foothold in Europe, in the southeastern part of the region known as Thrace, which spans the European part of Turkey, northeastern Greece, and southeastern Bulgaria. Turkeys part of Thrace is bordered to the north by Bulgaria, to the northeast by the Black Sea, to the south by the Sea of Marmara, to the west by Greece, and to the east by the highly strategic Bosporus Strait, which separates the European part of Turkey from Anatolia. Interestingly, although part of Istanbul lies in Anatolia, and is therefore part of Asia, the city is actually considered the most populous city in Europe, with a population of more than 15 million.

The Asian Origins Of The Turks

Seljuk Empire Monuments in Ahlat/Turkey.

Although the Republic of Turkey is the current homeland of the Turks, it was not always so. In fact, the origins of the Turkish people are nowhere close to Europe, but much farther to the east in East Asia, or more specifically, the Altai Mountains of what is now western Mongolia. They began migrating west in the second half of the first millennium CE. By the 11th century, the Turks had reached the edges of Anatolia, which was then mostly populated by the Greeks. In 1037, Turkic tribes formed the Seljuk Empire, which would go on to conquer Anatolia. Large numbers of Turks then began streaming into Anatolia. After a long process of so-called Turkification, most of Anatolias population adopted the Turkish culture, language, and Islamic religion. Eventually, what is now Turkey became the largest bastion of Turkic-speaking people in the world.

Turkey And European History

The Ottoman Empire at its greatest extent in 1683, and Turkey today.

Although Turkey has just a small part of European territory today, it once had control over a vast part of the continent, thus making Turkish history part of European history. This was during the time of the Ottoman Empire. At its height, the Turkish Ottoman Empire had conquered the entire Balkan Peninsula. In 1683, the Turks reached the outskirts of what is today the Austrian capital, Vienna, but were ultimately defeated, marking the beginning of the Ottoman Empires decline. By the early 20th century, the Ottoman Empire lost nearly all its territory in Europe, except for the area in the region of Thrace that remains part of Turkey to this day. Nevertheless, the Turks had a profound effect on the demographics of todays Europe.

Turkeys European Ties Remain

Ali Pasha Mosque in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, was built by the Ottoman Empire and completed in 1561.

Although Turkey no longer controls large parts of Europe, it left a lasting legacy on the continent. For example, the Ottoman Empire spread the Islamic faith to large portions of the European population. As a result, some people in Europe, most notably in Albania and a part of Bosnia and Herzegovinas population, still profess Islam today.

At the same time, European culture has found its way into Turkey, especially over the past hundred years. After World War I, which marked the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the new leader of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, decided to westernize the country. The old Islamic Caliphate of the Ottoman Empire was dissolved, and a modern, secular republic created. Turkey even adopted a Latin script for the Turkish language, replacing the languages Arabic script. For the next 100 years, Turkey would align itself with the West politically and economically.
Antarctica is located at the southernmost part of the Earths continent. It covers an area of over 5.4 million square miles. Approximately 98% of the continent is covered with ice averaging 6,200 feet in thickness. Antarctica is characterized by several hazards and experienced several disasters in the past that have claimed tens of lives. The disasters have either been man-made such as fires and shipwreck or have occurred naturally such as avalanche, glacier, and volcano. The disasters have happened on land as well as in the waters surrounding the continent. Some of the deadliest disasters to ever occur in Antarctica are outlined below.

10. 1961 Wilkes Station plane crash

Wilkes Station was one of the research stations set up by the US during the 1957-1958 International Geophysics Year, which included several nations in a variety of research fields with emphasis on Polar Regions. The US government turned over the station to the Australian government in 1959. In 1961, a contingent of 24 men arrived at the Wilkes Station with the majority being Australians (there were only five Americans). On November 8, 1961, P2V Neptune landed at Wilkes much to the delight of the people who had been in the camp for 10 months without interacting with anyone except one another. The plane had arrived from Mirny. The following morning the plane was to take off to McMurdo. It was fully loaded with fuel on the wings making the plane heavy. The plane burst into flame as it took off killing five of the nine people on board.

9. 1986 Philippi Glacier plane crash

Philippi Glacier is a 15-mile glacier flowing from the east end of the West Ice Shelf. The glacier was named by ANCA for Emil Philippi who made a scientific observation in the vicinity of Gaussberg. On February 17, 1986, Ilyushin 14M plane departed the Molodezhnaya Ice Station in Antarctica for the Mirny Ice Station. However, unexpectedly strong headwind caused the plan to run out of fuel. The plane crashed into the slope of the glacier in whiteout condition while attempting an emergency landing. All the six occupants of the plane were killed with the plane damaged beyond repair. Initial investigation suggested that the crash was as a result of low visibility and the control of the plane into a terrain.

8. 1966 Ross Ice Shelf plane crash

The Ross Ice Shelf is one of the largest ice shelves of Antarctica covering an area of about 188,000 square miles. The ice is several miles thick and appears about 160 feet above the surface of the water. Most of the ice shelf floats and covers a large portion of the Ross Sea and the entire Roosevelt Island. On February 3, 1966, a LC-47 plane that was being piloted by Harold Morris exploded due to intense heat after its wing tip was caught as it tried to land. The landing was made difficult by the poor visibility that characterized the Ross Ice Shelf on that mid-morning. The whole plane except the tail was consumed by fire with all the six members on board perishing.

7. 1958 Cape Hallett Bay plane crash

Cape Hallett is a snow free area in the Antarctic. It was the location for the joint research station, Cape Hallett station, between the US and New Zealand during the International Geophysics Year of 1957. The research station was manned until 1964 when a major fire broke out at the station destroying most of the property within and around the station. However, on October 16, 1958, C-124C Globemaster II carrying a crew of 13 people crashed into the 3,200 feet mountain near the Cape Hallett Bay with 7 occupants dying on the spot. The crash was blamed on navigational mistakes that were made during the airdrop mission over the Antarctic.

6. Schooner Jenny

The Jenny was an English Schooner and a subject of a unproven legend. It is alleged that Jenny became frozen in an ice barrier on the Drakes Passage in 1823 and was only discovered in 1840 with the bodies aboard preserved by the cold in the Antarctica. The ship is said to have left its home port of Isle of Wight in 1822 and was discovered frozen in ice in the Drake Passage by Captain Brighton in September 1840. The captain of the ship had entered the log until January 17, 1823, the time the ship is estimated to have frozen, with the last call by the ship at Callao near Lima Peru. Seven bodies were allegedly found frozen in the ship.

5. 1985 Nelson Island plane crash

Eight tourists, a pilot, and a co-pilot were killed on New Years Eve of 1985. The eight were American tourists who had intended to spend New Years Day at the Chilean Air Force Base in Antarctica. The twin engine of the Cessna Titan 404, which had carried them from Punta Arena, crashed on Nelson Island killing everyone on board. Initial reports indicated that the plane lost altitude and crashed as it climbed to give the tourists a panoramic view of the area. Other reports suggested that the pilot made an approach to the landing strip but could not land it because of the fog. The pilot informed the base that he would be making another approach one more time before the communication was lost.

4. 1976 Livingston Island plane crash

Livingston Island is a South Shetland Island situated on the Antarctic Peninsula. It is a site of one of the popular plane crashes in the history of Antarctic. On September 15, 1976, an Argentine Navy aircraft flew on a reconnaissance of the area in order to survey the sea ice condition of the Drakes Passage. The plane crashed in poor weather on the island which was uninhabited. All 11 members of its crews perished. While the crash was detected almost immediately, an attempt to rescue the bodies was abandoned in January 1977 following the loss of one of the helicopters and the crew in the area. However, Livingston Island still remains a major tourist destination today.

3. South Korean trawler Insung

A South Korean trawler called Jeong Woo 2 sunk suddenly without warning off the Antarctic on December 27, 2010, killing up to 22 people. Two other Korean ships fishing in the area rushed and picked about half of the crew who had managed to take the lifeboat. Five of the crew members died immediately with 17 missing. It was hoped that the 17 had scrambled to the lifeboat but they could not be found after a whole night search. They were presumed dead as it was not possible to survive past 30 minutes in the icy water of Antarctic without protective gears. It was suspected that the ship might have been hit by either an iceberg or a strong wave.

2. Air New Zealand Flight 901

Air New Zealand Flight 901 was a scheduled sightseeing plane that was in use from 1977 to 1979. The plane left Auckland and took a few hours criss-crossing the sky over the Antarctic continent before returning to Auckland. On November 28, 1979, flight TE-901 flew into Mount Erebus on Ross Island killing 247 people including 20 crew members and 247 passengers. Initial investigations suggested that the accident was as a result of human error but a commission formed after the public outcry reported that the disaster was as a result of the changes made on the coordinates of the path of the flight the previous night before the disaster and the failure of the crew to be informed of the changes. The disaster remains New Zealands deadliest peacetime disaster.

1. San Telmo Disaster

San Telmo was a Spanish gunship that was launched in 1788. In 1819, the ship commanded by Captain Joaquin de Toledo set out for Callao, Peru to reinforce the colonial army that was fighting the independence movement in Spanish America. However, the ship could not withstand the severe weather in the Drakes Passage. San Telmo eventually sank in September 1819 killing 644 soldiers, seamen, and officer. The wreckage of the ship was found months later by some sealers who were visiting Livingston Island. An island, San Telmo Island, located off the north coast of Livingston Island was named after the ship.
Throughout its past, Australia has faced a number of disasters which have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. These disasters range from natural to manmade in nature, although they all share something in common - a significant mark on the history of this country. This article takes a closer look at some of the deadliest disasters of Australia.

Select Disasters in Australian History

Smallpox Pandemic

Between the years 1788 to 1979, smallpox was the main cause of of death for Aboriginal Australians. It is estimated that between 157,500-375,000 people died from the disease over the span of two centuries, which represented up to 70% of all Aboriginal populations. Unlike Europeans, indigenous Australians were unfamiliar with the disease and therefore were without any resistence to even have a chance in fighting it off. Because it was the cause of such a high number of deaths, the cross-century smallpox pandemic is often cited as the largest disaster in Australian history.

Flu Pandemic

Between January of 1918 and December of 1920, the world was hit by the deadly H1N1 flu virus. Approximately 3 to 5% of the worlds population was lost during this time. Countries all over the world suffered from this pandemic, including remote islands and frozen landscapes. Australia was no exception. This virus, as with most flu viruses, claimed an excessive number of older, juvenile, and immuno-compromised patients. It is believed that this particular flu strain was so deadly because it caused rapid respiratory failure. In Australia alone, 12,000 people died as a result of the flu, making this the worst disaster to ever occur in this country.

Scarlet Fever Epidemic

Scarlet Fever is a very contagious illness that disproportionately affects children. Although there is no vaccine, it is treatable through antibiotics, thanks to modern medicine. However, this was not always the case. Scarlet fever used to be a leading cause of death for Australian children, and in fact was responsible for over 8,000 deaths in Australia between the years 1875-1876.

Massacres of Aboriginal Australians

Following the arrival of Europeans in the 1788, many Aboriginal Australians were victims of violence. It is estimated that at least 6,200 Aboriginal Australians directly died at the hands of the settlers. These deaths occurred not in one central massacre, but in a collection of smaller-scale massacres that are currently being archived and studied. The murders were often conducted at the hands of police and public officials, but there are cases of large-scale violence such as mass poisonings.

Polio Epidemic

Polio is a disease that has caused death and paralysis around the world for centuries. Epidemics were not reported, however, until the beginning of the 20th century in Europe. From there, the polio epidemic made its way to the United States and finally, to Australia. Although polio existed in Australia at the beginning of the century, the majority of polio-related deaths occurred here between 1946 and 1955. In response to this disease, several therapies and treatments were created and implemented. The most well-known of these was created by Australian Sister Kenny, who is now known as the person who laid the foundation for modern physiotherapy. A reported 1,013 individuals lost their lives due to polio. Today, around 16,000 survivors continue to live in Australia, all with different levels of paralysis.

Battle Of The HMAS Sydney And The Kormoran

On November 19, 1947, the battle between the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney and the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran resulted in 727 lives lost. This disaster occurred off the coast of Western Australia, around 122 miles from the Dirk Hartog Island.

When the Australian ship asked the Kormoran to identify itself, the German ship responded that it was a merchant ship with cargo. After several minutes of not responding to further questioning, the German ship revealed its true identity and shots were fired from both ships almost simultaneously. The shooting continued for 30 minutes, at the end of which, both ships had caught fire and were badly damaged. All 645 crew members on board the Sydney were killed when the ship sank. Of the 399 on board the Kormoran, 82 were killed and 317 were captured. In total, 727 lives were lost in this disaster.

Bubonic Plague

The Bubonic plague was a bacterial infection that caused headache, fever, vomiting, and swollen lymph nodes that sometimes broke open. It is believed by many researchers to have caused the Black Death during the 14th century. The Bubonic plague is most commonly spread via infected fleas. This connection was made by Australian medical researchers.

The Bubonic plague made its way around the world for a third time beginning in the mid 20th century, killing thousands of people. It was first recorded in Australia in 1900 and is believed to have arrived in Sydney through the shipping trade. This country suffered 12 major outbreaks between 1900 and 1925. Although Sydney was the hardest hit, it was not the only city in Australia to lose live to the plague. After Sydney, it was recorded in North Queensland, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Fremantle. By the time the Bubonic plague had been largely eradicated in Australia, approximately 550 people had died.

Heatwave In Victoria

Beginning in December of 1938 and lasting through February of the following year, Victoria, Australia experienced one of its hottest heatwaves on record. These temperatures resulted in the fifth deadliest disaster to occur in this country. In Canberra, for example, daily highs hit 98.3 fahrenheit for 3 days straight and the city received no relief at night, when temperatures only dropped to 70. More extreme temperatures were recorded in Walgett (111), Bourke (112), and Wilcannia (115). Unable to escape the heat, 438 individuals lost their lives that summer. The heatwave also caused the Black Friday bushfires in Victoria, remembered as one of the worst wildfires in history. These fires claimed an additional 71 people and destroyed several towns as well.
* PermaKat Eleonora Rosati received the 2022 Adepi Award

* PermaKat Eleonora Rosati listed as one of the World Intellectual Property Review's "Influential Women in IP" of 2020.

* PermaKat Eleonora Rosati listed as one of the Managing Intellectual Property magazine's "Fifty Most Influential People" of 2018.

* IPKat founder and Blogmeister Emeritus Jeremy Phillips listed as one of the Managing Intellectual Property magazine's "Fifty Most Influential People" of 2005, 2011, 2013, and 2014.

* Recommended by the European Patent Office as reading material for candidates for the European Qualifying Examinations, 2013.

* Listed as "Top Legal Blog" in The Times Online, March 2011.

2010 ABA Journal 100. * One of the only two non-US blogs listed in the Blawg100.

* Court Reporter Top Copyright Blog award winner, November 2010.

* Number 1 in the 2010 Top Copyright Blog list compiled by the Copyright Litigation Blog, July 2010.

* Selected by the United States Library of Congress for inclusion in its historic collections of Internet materials related to Legal Blawgs as of 2010.

* Top Patent Blog poll 2009: 3rd out of 50 in the "Favourite Patent Blog" poll and 2nd out of 50 in the "Most-read" poll.

Blog of the Year, 20 August 2008. * ComputerWeekly IT Law and Governance, 20 August 2008.
Mexico is the third largest economy in North America and therefore has one of the most developed aviation industries in the region. Airports in Mexico are amongt the most advanced in Latin America with some of the airports receiving millions of passengers annually. All the airports in the country are owned by private investors except the countrys busiest, the Mexico City International Airport.

1. Mexico City International Airport

Mexico City International Airport is an international airport located in Venustiano Carranza, a municipality of Mexico City. The airport is the primary airport serving greater Mexico City and is owned by the Grupo Aeroportuario de la Ciudad de Mexico. It is the busiest airport in Mexico and Latin America with its terminals handling about 100,000 passengers daily. In 2016, the airport served over 41.7 million passengers and 0.483 million tons of cargo with its runways conducting 448,147 aircraft movements. The airport is a hub for many aviation companies including Aeromar, Interjet, AeroUnion, and Volaris among others.

Mexico City International Airport was initially a small civilian airport and was upgraded to meet international standards in 1943 with its first international route being to Los Angeles International Airport. The airport has undergone intensive expansion with the construction of two terminals: Terminal 1 (opened in 1958) and Terminal 2 (opened in 2007) to accommodate the increasing air traffic. However, the airport is currently operating above its structural capacity, and the Mexican government is planning the construction of a new airport to replace the Mexico International Airport.

2.Cancun International Airport

The Cancun International Airport is an airport located on the Yucatan Peninsula in Quintana Roo. The airport is comprised of two parallel runways and three terminals: Terminal 1, Terminal 2, and Terminal 3. Terminal 1 is used primarily for low-cost charted local flights and was temporarily shut down after being damaged by Hurricane Wilma. Terminal 2 handles most of the domestic flights and all international flights to all South and Central America destinations. Terminal 3 handles all flights to the US and Canada as well as being the hub for many European carriers. Cancun International Airport is the second busiest airport in Mexico with over 21.4 million passengers using its facilities in 2016. The airport is the busiest airport for international flights serving over 14.5 million passengers in 2016.

3.Guadalajara International Airport

The Guadalajara International Airport (also known as the Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport) is the main airport serving Guadalajara, Mexicos second-largest city. The airport was named after Miguel Hidalgo who was a key historical figure during the struggle for independence. The airport is the third busiest in the country with over 11.3 million passengers using its facilities in 2016. Guadalajara International Airport was opened in 1966 and quickly became a hub for many international carriers including Aeromar, Aeromexico, American Airlines, United Airlines, Air France Cargo, Lufthansa Cargo, United Express and Volaris. The airport has two terminals; The Passenger Terminal and The Cargo Terminal which has an annual storage capacity of 350,000 tons. Guadalajara International Airport has two asphalt runways with one stretching over 13,000 feet to accommodate the larger international aircraft.

Aviation Accidents

While Mexican airports have recorded millions of passengers in the past few years, there have been a few accidents which have dented the airports reputation. One such accident was the 1975 crash of the Western Airlines Flight 2605 at the Mexico City International Airport which caused 71 fatalities.
Airports Of Switzerland

Switzerland is conveniently located in the middle of Europe, making some of its airports in the country popular launching points for people looking to travel within Europe. The country does not have many major airports but the few it does have tend to be packed with travelers all year round. Switzerland has seven major airports that serve both domestic and international flights to and from the country. The busiest airports are located in Zurich, Geneva, and Basel. Over 50 million travelers arrive in the country every year of which more than half of the passengers served by Zurich Airport.

The Busiest Swiss Airports

1. Zurich Airport

Zurich Airport is the largest international and busiest airport of Switzerland. The airport is also known as Kloten and is a principle hub for the Swiss International Air Line. The airport serves the city of Zurich and links with the rest of the country. Zurich airport is located 8 miles north of the city of Zurich within the municipality of Kloten, Rumlang, Winkel, and Opfikon. The airport is owned by Flughafen Zurich AG. Zurich Airport has three terminals named A, B, and E linked to a central air-side building known as Airside Center. The airport was designed in 1945 with the first flight departing the airport in 1947. Currently, the airport offers scheduled flights to about 195 destinations in 62 countries around the world with over 31 million passengers using the airport in 2018.

2. Geneva Airport

Geneva Airport is an international airport located about 2.5 miles northwest of the city Geneva. The airport served about 17 million people in 2018, the highest number in the history of the airport. It serves as a hub for Swiss International Air Lines and Etihad Regional. Genevas flight network includes European metropolitan and leisure destinations as well as other routes to North America and the Middle East. The airport was established in 1919 as a simple field in Cointrin with the first concrete runway constructed in 1937. Currently, the airport has two passenger terminals, T1 and T2, with T1 featuring the majority of flights. Because of the increasing number of passengers using the airport, the management has proposed to increase the airport capacity to 25 million a year by 2030.

3. Basel Airport

Basel Airport, officially known as EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg, is located 2.2 miles northwest of Basel, 12 miles southwest of Mulhouse in France, and 29 miles southwest of Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany. The airport is located within the administrative territory of the commune of Saint-Louis in France, near the Swiss-Germany border. Basel Airport is a base for the easy jet Switzerland and Belair. The plan for a construction of a joint airport by the Swiss and France began in the 1930s but was interrupted by the Second World War. The construction of the airport began in 1946 with the first runway opened in May 1946. Basel Airport is one of the few airports operated jointly by two countries. It is governed by the 1949 international convention. It consists of a single terminal building. Most of the airports busiest routes are mainly the major European cities with Berlin as the busiest route. The airport served over 8.5 million passengers in 2018.
Terrence McNeil

By: Mason White WorldWideWeirdNews.com

An Ohio man who is a member of ISIS, urged people to kill U.S. military members, according to the Department of Justice.

Terrence J. McNeil, 24, of Akron, pleaded guilty to five counts of solicitation to commit a crime of violence and five counts of making threatening interstate communications involving his soliciting the murder of members of the U.S. military.

The announcement was made by Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Mary B. McCord, Acting U.S. Attorney David A. Sierleja for the Northern District of Ohio and Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony of the FBIas Cleveland Division.

aTerrence McNeil pleaded guilty to soliciting the murder of members of our military. He disseminated ISILas violent rhetoric, circulated U.S. military personnel information, and explicitly called for the killing of American service members in their homes and communities. Now, he will be held accountable,a said Acting Assistant Attorney General McCord.

aWhile we aggressively defend First Amendment rights, the individual arrested went far beyond free speech by reposting names and addresses of 100 U.S. service members, all with the intent to have them killed,a said Special Agent in Charge Anthony.

McNeil, a U.S. citizen, professed his support on social media on numerous occasions for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Using a Tumblr account, McNeil reblogged a file with the banner aIslamic State Hacking Division,a followed by aTarget: United States Militarya and aLeak: Addresses of 100 U.S. Military Personnel.a

The file type is a .gif file, which allows multiple still images to be looped in one file, with a timed delay between each image.

The text of the first file read: aO Brothers in America, know that the jihad against the crusaders is not limited to the lands of the Khilafah, it is a world-wide jihad and their war is not just a war against the Islamic State, it is a war against Islam. Know that it is wajib (translated to anecessarya) for you to kill these kuffar! and now we have made it easy for you by giving you addresses, all you need to do is take the final step, so what are you waiting for? Kill them in their own lands, behead them in their own homes, stab them to death as they walk their streets thinking that they are safe.a

The file then loops several dozen photographs, purportedly of U.S. military personnel, along with their respective name, address and military branch.

The final image looped is a picture of a handgun and a knife with text that reads aand kill them wherever you find them.a

The defendant posted multiple other kill lists, all of which repeated the same refrain, calling on others to seek out and murder U.S. servicemen and women.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, he faces a sentence of between 15 and 20 years in prison.
We begin our build-up to YPF Rally Argentina [27 - 30 April] with a look back to the 2016 event.

Jari-Matti Latvala got the high-speed gravel classic off to a terrific start, until a shock crash left the way clear for a last stage shoot out and a stunning win for a WRC rising star.



Friday 22 April

Dani Sordo and Sebastien Ogier were the pace-setters at Thursday's street stage in Cordoba, but after Friday's action it was Latvala who topped the leaderboard. The Finn won four of the day's eight stages to head Volkswagen team-mate Ogier by 7.9sec. Hayden Paddon (above) was 3.5sec further behind in a Hyundai i20.



Facing the worst of the loose and dry conditions, road opener Ogier topped the order after the first two tests but Latvala - who enjoyed a better position in the start order - moved ahead before mid-leg service. As Latvala edged clear, Ogier fought with Paddon and the pair exchanged places four times.



Andreas Mikkelsen was fourth in another Volkswagen, the Norwegian overhauling Sordo when the Spaniard lost time with a sticking throttle in his i20. Mads stberg kept clear of trouble in sixth in a Ford Fiesta RS ahead of the similar cars of Henning Solberg and an ultra-cautious Eric Camilli. Thierry Neuville ended the day tenth after losing six minutes with an electrical problem.



Ott Tanak and Lorenzo Bertelli were the two major retirements. Tanak was sixth until a jammed alternator stopped his Fiesta RS, while Bertelli lost all engine power in his similar car.



Saturday 23 April

Paddon ended Saturday's competition on course for his maiden WRC victory after Latvala rolled out of the lead. Paddon completed the day with a 29.8sec advantage over Ogier.



Latvala withstood a determined challenge from Paddon to enter the penultimate stage with a 14.5sec advantage. The Finn was almost seven seconds quicker midway through when he crashed heavily and retired. Ogier became frustrated at sweeping the surface gravel in his Polo R and fell back in the drying conditions as temperatures touched 25C.



Mikkelsen climbed to third in another Polo R, 14.5sec behind Ogier and 17.7sec clear of Sordo. stberg was a distant fifth while Marcos Ligato was sixth on his debut in a DS 3. Neuville continued his recovery to move up to seventh, tied on time with Solberg.

Sunday 24 April

Paddon scored his first WRC victory after defeating Ogier in a scintillating last day duel. The pair were separated by just 2.6sec ahead of the final El Condor stage, but Paddon stunned the Frenchman to complete it almost 12sec faster and secure a 14.3sec winning margin - becoming the first New Zealand driver to win a WRC round.



Paddon started the final leg with a 29.8sec advantage but gearchange glitches cost valuable seconds before Ogier threw caution to the wind in the penultimate stage, eating into Paddons lead to set up a dramatic ending. I really didnt think I stood a chance before the last stage after losing time to Ogier this morning, said Paddon. I drove the stage of my life.



Mikkelsen completed the podium a further 50.9sec behind, with Sordo 11.9sec further back in fourth and stberg a distant fifth. Neuville recovered to sixth while Argentinas Marcos Ligato delighted home fans by finishing seventh.

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Mattis explicitly agreed with the Arab impulse to make countering Iran a major foreign policy priority. Everywhere you look, if there is trouble in the region, you find Iran, he said. So, right now, what we are seeing is the nations in the region and others elsewhere trying to checkmate Iran and the amount of disruption, the amount of instability they can cause.

The Iranian presence was underscored on Monday when the Islamic Republic announced that it had dispatched a flotilla to the Gulf of Aden, in an apparent effort to buttress support for Yemens Houthi rebels, who are fighting a civil war against forces loyal to President Abed Rabu Mansour Hadi. The recognized Yemeni government is supported by a coalition of Gulf Arab nations, which are directly participating in the conflict, with some indirect assistance from the United States.

President Donald Trump ordered a Navy SEAL operation in Yemen, roughly a week after he took office, leading to the controversial death of one American commando. It was the first military action ordered by the new president, but was directed not against Houthi forces but against Al Qaeda in the Arabia Peninsula. On Wednesday, Mattis dismissed the notion of direct military involvement in the civil war itself, though he did single out Yemen as a place where political pressure and the provision of assistance to US allies would have to be used to push Iran out before pursuing a political solution to the ongoing crisis.

Reuters reported upon this aspect of Mattis visit and quoted him as saying, We will have to overcome Irans efforts to destabilize yet another country and create another militia in their image of Lebanese Hezbollah, but the bottom line is we are on the right path for it.

Middle East experts have repeatedly made the comparison between the Houthi and the Hezbollah terrorist group, as well as suggesting that Iran was making efforts to build other Hezbollah-like proxies in Iraq, Bahrain, and elsewhere. Last month, the National Council of Resistance of Iran released information acquired the network of the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran, detailing the expansion of the training programs for foreign terrorists and paramilitary fighters maintained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

With such evidence pointing to the undiminished support for global terrorism being offered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Trump administration is currently reintroducing questions about the wisdom of the previous administrations Middle East policy and specifically the Iran nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

NBC News reports that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has notified Congress that the administration is reviewing whether to break the agreement over the issue of Iran-backed terrorism. The negotiations that concluded in June 2015 were focused solely on the nuclear issue and resulted in tens of billions of dollars worth of relief from US-led economic sanctions that had been imposed on the Iranian nuclear program. Terrorism and human rights-related sanctions were exempt from suspension, but this has not prevented opponents of the deal from arguing that the applicable sanctions relief would be channeled partly into the hands of terrorist groups.

The US is technically permitted to impose new sanctions over such non-nuclear issues, and it has already done so to a limited extent, with the Treasury Department announcing last week that the Tehran Prisons Organization and the younger brother of IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Suleimani would each be barred from exchanges with US-linked companies or banks. Such moves, however, have tested the limits of the Iranian regime, which vowed that it would perceive any new sanctions as a violation of the spirit of the nuclear deal, and would walk away from it in retaliation.

It was not immediately clear whether the administration was considering walking away from the agreement preemptively or merely maneuvering Iran into a position where it would be likely to do so on its own. A Reuters report on Wednesday suggested that there is not currently any sign that the administration intends to cancel the deal. Furthermore, Tillersons comments on the issue came in the midst of the administrations first report on Iranian compliance with the JCPOA, which is due every 90 days. The report indicates that Iran appears to be in compliance, meaning that there would presumably be no way to fault Tehran for the deals abrupt cancelation.

Nevertheless, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer insisted that President Trumps call for a review of the agreement reflected persistent concerns about the possibility of Iranian cheating. However, the terrorist issue remained foremost in the administrations commentary, thereby directly addressing criticisms that had been levied by other opponents of the agreement.

A Washington Post editorial pointed out on Wednesday that Middle East expert Michael Oren had specifically called for a strong link to be established between the JCPOA and Iranian misbehavior in other areas, including support for terrorism. The editorial also claimed that these unresolved issues make Iran a bigger threat to Western interests than Syria and North Korea, both of which seem to have been given more attention in Trump administration policymaking up to this point.

But Tillersons comments on the nuclear agreement and Mattis discussions with Middle Eastern allies over Iranian influence in places like Yemen seem to suggest that this situation might be changing. The White House previously laid the groundwork for assertive policies toward Iran, as when Trump directed the State Department to review the possibility of designating the Revolutionary Guards as a foreign terrorist organization.

The Republican-led Congress has been broadly supportive of these sorts of efforts, with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee putting forward a bill last month that would extend terrorist related sanctions to the entirety of the IRGC. Furthermore, Senator John McCain, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, visited Albania last Friday to meet with relocated former residents of the embattled Iranian exile community of Camp Liberty in Iraq. The visit was decried by Iranian officials as an example of broader policies that seemed to increasingly align the US with the Iranian Resistance and against the clerical regime.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced on Tuesday that his Liberal-National Coalition government is abolishing the 457 visa category in a reactionary move directed against foreign workers who gain employment in Australia under this longstanding arrangement. Turnbull followed up today by unveiling a series of discriminatory measures to make it more difficult to acquire Australian citizenship.

Turnbull asserted that the cancellation of 457 visas reflects our policy of putting Australians and Australian jobs first. He declared: This is all about Australias interest.

Turnbulls insular, economic nationalist rhetoric is a clear departure from his assertions last year, before the July federal election, that it was the most exciting time to be alive and global opportunities existed for innovative, agile, courageous entrepreneurs.

The shift echoes the buy American, hire American policy introduced by the US administration of Donald Trump, crackdowns on the rights of foreign workers in New Zealand, Britain and elsewhere, and the growth of extreme right-wing tendencies internationally.

When an interviewer yesterday commented that Turnbulls policies were Trumpesque, the prime minister did not disavow the comparison. Like the Trump administration, the Australian government is seeking to divert growing social discontent over unemployment and underemployment, the rising cost of living and cuts to education, healthcare and other social services, into the reactionary xenophobic channels.

At the same time, the measures are aimed at heading-off a deepening crisis of the Coalition government, which holds office with a fragile one-seat majority. Turnbull faces incessant demands from big business for sweeping austerity measures in the looming May budget, amid open divisions within the Liberal Party and constant speculation of a move against his leadership.

Turnbulls announcement came just two days after Tony Abbott, whom he replaced as prime minister in a September 2015 leadership coup, launched his latest public broadside.

Abbott declared on national radio that Australians were fed up with underperforming government. His comments were a veiled reference to frustrations in the corporate elite that the government has not pressed ahead quickly enough with its austerity agenda, and recent symptoms of popular discontent, including last months routing of the Liberal Party in the Western Australian state election. Abbott is demanding that the government adopt his proposals for even harsher measures against immigrants.

Turnbulls measures are also a transparent attempt to secure support from the constituencies of various right-wing, anti-immigrant formations. Senator Pauline Hansons One Nation Party is polling as high as 10 percent in the state of Queensland, where an election is due by early next year. Senator Cory Bernardi, who split from the government in February, has formed the Australian Conservatives on an explicitly xenophobic program. Both Hanson and Bernardi responded to Turnbulls announcements by declaring the government was adopting their policies.

The visa changes potentially affect tens of thousands of prospective foreign workers. There are currently over 95,000 overseas workers employed in Australia on 457 visas. The government will replace 457 visas with a two-year temporary visa, and a four-year visa for highly skilled workers.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said yesterday that unlike workers on 457 visas, employees on the two-year visa would be blocked from permanent residency outcomes at the end of their work period, restricting their right to continue working in Australia and ultimately seek citizenship.

The number of occupations eligible for temporary work visa status has also reportedly been cut from 651 to 435. According to modelling by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 8.6 percent of visas granted under the 457 arrangements would be blocked under the new regulations.

Foreign workers seeking employment in human resources, production management, sales, market research and computer support will all be hit by the changes. Leading academics and scientists have warned that the changes, which include a requirement of two years work experience in the relevant field, could prevent foreign doctoral graduates from being hired in important research roles.

The Labor Party and the trade unions, which have waged a continuous campaign against 457 visas, denounced the government policy for not going far enough in curtailing the working rights of overseas citizens. Labor leader Bill Shorten said the policy was a con job that would make no real difference.

Union leaders made similar comments. Australian Workers Union national secretary Daniel Walton summed up their reactionary line, declaring that the policy was just window dressing and is not going to benefit Australian workers in the long-run.

Labor and the unions have employed Australia first demagogy in a bid to divide workers along nationalist lines, and divert from their own role in collaborating with the major corporations in the destruction of jobs, wages and working conditions.

The Greens also denounced Turnbulls measures from the right. Adam Bandt, the partys employment spokesman, called for the revision of trade agreements that include provisions for foreign workers to be employed in Australia. Bandt singled out the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, which has been the subject of a thinly-veiled racist, anti-Chinese campaign by Labor, the unions and the Greens.

Like the visa overhaul, the governments new citizenship requirements are a continuation of bipartisan attempts to curtail the democratic rights of migrants. Speaking before the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry yesterday, Turnbull couched the changes in the language of the fraudulent war on terror, and the demonisation of refugees and other migrants. He declared that the new requirements were aimed at ensuring social cohesion while enhancing our security.

Underscoring their anti-democratic character, the laws are set to be backdated to April 19, supposedly to prevent a flood of applications prior to their passage.

Among the foreshadowed measures are higher-standard English tests, which inevitably discriminate against migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds and poorer immigrants with limited formal education. Other changes include extending residency requirements from one year to four, requiring proof of allegiance to Australia, and forcing migrants to provide evidence of integration, including tax payments and employment records.

The new measures are also aimed at extending the powers of the government to discriminate against prospective immigrants because of their religious or political views. Under the pretext of targeting religious extremists, the new requirements will include an expanded test of unspecified Australian values, effectively providing for a political interrogation of prospective citizens by immigration authorities. Government documents leaked in February last year revealed plans for ongoing mass surveillance of immigrants.

The latest changes are of a piece with previous measures. In late 2015, the government pushed through legislation, with the Labor Partys backing, enabling it to revoke the citizenship of dual nationals, effectively abolishing citizenship as an inalienable democratic right.

That measure, along with others introduced under the banner of Australian values, have created a body of legislation that can be used against opponents of war, austerity and virtually any other government policy.
By Juan Wilson on 20 April 2017 for Island Breath -

Image above: Tankers and freighters are brought to the shores of Bangladesh to be taken apart for scrap metal and other valuables. If we only could do this with suburbia. From ( https://www.pinterest.com/yolimk/shipbreakers/ ).

"If money isnt loosened up, this sucker could go down.

So now the federal government is not going to be able to go into any more debt until the debt ceiling is raised. For the moment, the Trump administration can implement emergency measures to stay under the debt limit, but it wont be too long before we get to a major crisis point because the federal government is quickly running out of cash. Already, the U.S. Treasury has less cash on hand than Apple or Google, and that cash balance is going to keep on dropping until the debt ceiling is finally lifted.

At one point in time in America, living at home with mom and dad after crossing out of your teenage years and into your 20s was embarrassing and something that was generally avoided at all costs. And while hard times come and go, 20-somethings who were forced back into their parents' care worked their tails off until they could save up enough money to once again regain their freedom.



But, these days millennials seem to be embracing the free room and board provided by their parents. According to Bloomberg, there are 2.2 million millennials. A new study from the Census Bureau found roughly one-third of all millennials live at home with their parents and one-fourth of them can't be bothered with enrolling in school or finding a job. Of those, 40% of them are already in their 30's - predominantly white, male and no college experience.

Get out of your car.

Shutdown the entertainment system.

Turn off your iPhone.

Think and feel.

Find a place where there is water and one can grow food.

Join or make a community.

Master a useful trade.

Brace yourself.

.

SUBHEAD: If we knew better we'd have climbed down from our precarious perch when the housing bubble burst.Back in September 2008 George W. Bush spoke the truth when he said of the US economy;This was in reference to the unraveling of a $700 million bailout package. Had we accepted the ramifications of the collapse of the "fake" economy we had become dependent on at that time our losses would have been minimal to what we are facing now.But that is not the way it went. In a matter of weeks Obama won the presidency and was "on board" with saving the USS Titanic. With Obama at the helm US debt went from $10 trillion to $20 trillion. All that debt was in order to keep the wheels on the bus after it went over the cliff.Since most Americans are overweight children with an appetite for colorful noisy screens neither Bush nor Obama was ready to let Americans know that the party was already over and that they had to go home in the dark and awake the next morning as peasants.We had our chance to accept failure and deal with it before it meant losing the farm. The way it is going now, most Americans will be lucky to find a working farm and get a part time gig as a field hand.Since 2011 the United States has reached its limit in borrowing money from the future several times. The U.S. Treasury Department's power to borrow money expired on 15 March 2017 and Congress will have to authorize moving on past $20 trillion in IOUs, or not be able to cover financial obligations like monthly Social Security checks. As Michael Snyder wrote in ( http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-debt-ceiling-deadline-has-passed-and-now-the-biggest-test-of-donald-trumps-presidency-begins Yes there is a little wiggle room in that there is some cash on hand once US borrowing stops, but that will be gone in weeks.President Trump plans to bleed $15 trillion in new red ink over the next decade with military and infrastructure expenditures. That is unlikely to happen as planned, and there are real risks of an Americanand a globaleconomic catastrophe.Most Americans are in complete denial as to the dire straights we are in. Today Tyler Durden wrote at Zero Hedge: A Quarter Of Millennials Living At Home Neither Work Nor Study It's time for these millennials to smell the smoke, get up from the PlayStation4 in the basement and go outside and help put out the fire. It is not for a lack of work that needs to be done that they are idle. That goes for the "better off" comfy life of many of the Baby Boomers and luckiest of the X-Geners too.That may be all you will have time for if you don't start the process soon. If you reach "Think and Feel" move on to the advanced work of:Understand that the "economic growth" con-job with all its utopian regalia of financial centers filled with avant garde art amidst prosperous city-living surrounded by suburbia and more distant McMansions is about to come apart like a plush carpet left in the rain. The "growth" fantasy is over but its dreamers and planners are not quite awake yet. But you are - and so, seek self-reliance, self-sufficiency and resilience.Here on Kauai, Hawaii our dim witted county government has the gas peddle to the floor trying to awaken the "Growth Beast".On a island that is about as sustainable as any county in the American Empire, they are proposing an update to our General Plan that will double the population in a generation, spreading suburban sprawl over what have been agriculture fields.Do the words "self inflicted wound" mean anything to the greedy? They are not thinking past Amazon, Costco and Walmart as the source of life.Some "forward" thinkers are looking to advanced Artificial intelligence and autonomous robotics to save the day. Humans could then have Universal Basic Incomes and Medicare for All and continue living in the basement... but why would an autonomous artificial intelligence put up with that waste of protoplasm and energy.Considering the alternatives, forget that plan - go organic!A disorderly collapse is one thing - a nuclear war is another. Unfortunately for jingoistic leaders like Donald Trump, the only thing they find in their tool drawer is "WAR". If your only tool is a "hammer" everything is a "nail". If your only tool is "WAR" everybody is an "ENEMY".It is vitally important to all life on Earth that World War Three is not the way The Donald saves face. Let's let him believe he invented the "New New Deal" and move on.
Thousands of workers at BMW auto plants in the United Kingdom took part in a 24-hour strike yesterday to oppose plans to end employer-paid pensions. The strike is the first by BMWs British workforce, which voted by 93 percent to authorize the action.

The changes could cost workers up to 160,000 (US $202,416) over the course of their lives. The transnational automaker is following the footsteps of many companies across the UK, which see the continuation of such schemes as a drain on their profits in a world of cut-throat competition. BMW intends to move all its workers over to an inferior defined-contribution pension in June, confident that the Unite union will agree to it as it did for new starters in 2014.

BMW has four main manufacturing sites in the UKCowley in Oxford, Swindon, Birmingham and Goodwood.

Yesterday, hundreds of BMW employees protested at the companys gates at Cowleyin defiance of laws prohibiting pickets of more than six workers. Throughout the day there was a constant display of support from motorists who sounded their car horns. Passers-by came up to the picket lines to offer their support, saying it was about time something was done to stop the constant attacks on working conditions and social services.

A leaflet published on the World Socialist Web Site about the BMW dispute and a statement in defence of the framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers in India were enthusiastically taken by pickets and discussed.

Frank, who has worked at the Cowley plant since 1975, said that when BMW introduced the inferior pension scheme for new starters, the unions sold it to older workers on the basis that it would protect the existing scheme. He said the company would protect their pensions unless certain parameters relating to future service costs were breached and that if they were breached they would discuss this with the unions.

Frank explained that BMW is claiming the parameters have been breached, although no one seems to be aware of the reasons. The company said it cannot maintain the pension scheme because costs in the future will rise, he said.

Unite had bent over backwards to reach a compromise with the company and had suggested other pension schemes such as a career average one, which would have benefitted the company. But they werent interested. They just announced the scheme would end without any discussion.

John said, People commit their whole lives to working here. I know some people who left in the past on what seemed as good redundancy packages. But today they cant manage, so how are we expected to?

This pension is my future. Ive paid into it. That is what everyone forgets. The papers talk as if the pension scheme is a gift from the company. But its us who have paid into it. This is what we are fighting for today.

David said of BMWs attacks on pension rights, Its all about stuffing money into the pockets of the shareholders rather than for us and other ordinary people who have spent their lives working and exhausting themselves. The company has made billions out of its workforce across the world. Its still extremely profitable but all it wants is more profit.

So many people fell for the idea, when BMW took over bankrupt Rover cars and ever since, that they would protect pensions. But now we know it was a pack of lies. I think the whole idea that if you work hard for the company, you would get your reward is something no one believes in anymore.

Sue said, Some of the people here have been saying how conditions in the factory are gooddecent meal breaks, holidays, nice toilets and so onand the pensions issue should be separate. I dont agree. They forget it wasnt a gift from above. It was only because working people in the past decided to fight for these things that they are here today. And now everything is being taken away.

She added, The problem is that there has been a divide caused. New starters are on worse conditions and its obvious the company felt they could try and extend that to everyone.

I agree with you that it is the fault of the unions. The more I think about it, the more it seems they are working with the bosses. Whenever there is bad news, the unions are there to sell it. When you look at what has happened in other companies, I dont think there is a single example of people being able to stop their pension schemes being smashed up. Something has to happen but I dont know what or how to do it.

After reading the Maruti Suzuki leaflet, another worker, Kim, came back to say how much she agreed with it and that she would sign the petition and get her friend to do so:

I hadnt heard about what happened in India at Suzuki until I saw your leaflet. Its terrible what happened to them. It really needs to be publicised.

Its difficult to know if they can be released, or if we will be able to stop BMW reducing our pensions. But its obvious that around the world car workers are being set upon. Robots are taking their place and it seems to me you could have a world where so much could be produced for everyone so they could have a good life. But instead we are being driven into the ground and those at the top are getting more and more.

The author also recommends:

BMW autoworkers strike in Britain against decimation of pensions

[19 April 2017]
A June 8 snap general election will be held in the UK after parliament voted overwhelmingly to override the Fixed-term Parliaments Act. MPs voted following Conservative Prime Minister Theresa Mays announcement Tuesday of her intention to call an election with just 50 days notice.

Mays government presently has a slender 17-seat majority, under conditions where it has embarked on two years of negotiations with the European Union (EU) over the terms of the UKs exit.

Within the Tory Party, its dominant Brexit wing is demanding anti-migrant policies and measures that threaten future access to the Single European Market, while Germany, France and other EU governments are taking a hard line against the UKcreating the scenario for a so-called hard Brexit. In contrast, all the major opposition parties, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party (SNP), are threatening to block any deal that doesnt guarantee continued access to the Single Marketa position supported by a minority within the Tory party.

May took the decision to go for a snap election with the aim of strengthening the governments majority, largely by exploiting the crisis facing Labour, which is bitterly divided due to the opposition of a majority of its right-wing MPs to Jeremy Corbyns nominally left leadership. She hopes that this will strengthen her position in Europe, within her own fractious party and in Britain, enabling her to push through the savage cuts in wages and essential services that are bound up with the drive to secure Britains global trading position post-Brexit.

Given the extensive discussions that will have taken place with Washington, the need for a stable allied government in the UK at a time of mounting military tensions against Russia, China and North Korea will also have played a significant part in Mays calculations.

Under the provision for fixed five-year governments, the next scheduled election was set for 2020. This coincided with the end of the Brexit process in a way that could have been highly damaging should a deal be rejected.

In the vote that required the support of two-thirds of the 650 MPs, Mays decision was backed by 522 to just 13. Almost every Tory MP voted for the June 8 poll, as did 174 of 229 Labour MPs. The SNPs 54 MPs abstained, along with a few dozen Labourites.

Beginning a debate that lasted all of 90 minutes, May declared, Waiting to hold the next election in 2020, as scheduled, would mean that the negotiations would reach their most difficult and sensitive stage just as an election was looming on the horizon.

Later, during a speech in Bolton, May said the only alternative to a Tory government was a coalition of chaos led by Jeremy Corbyn.

The media was nearly unanimous in its response to the vote, crowing about Mays supposedly unassailable position and pointing to polls showing an 18 to 21 percent lead for the Tories.

The Daily Mail led its front page with the headline that May would Crush the Saboteurs, while the Sun said the election would kill off Labour and smash rebel Tories.

The Financial Times, which supported Remain and is campaigning for the City of London to retain access to the Single Market, also endorsed Mays move. It would secure a strong mandate for Mays pragmatic course of seeking a soft Brexit from a position of strength, it wrote, and not being held hostage at every stage of the negotiations by minority pressure groups.

Behind all the talk of Mays omnipotence, the election can only worsen an already profound crisis and intensify political instability.

Mays master-stroke was forced upon her because she leads a crisis government, within which divisions over strategic orientation run so deep they have paralysed the operations of British imperialism. More important still, such is the worsening international geo-political crisis that nothing can be predicted with any certainty, including a British election result.

Already the election call has spurred on an initial political realignment that cuts across existing party divisions.

Calls have escalated among the representatives of the Remain faction of the bourgeoisie for a Progressive Alliance against the Tories. Leading these demands are former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair and the leaders of the Liberal Democrats and Green Party, Tim Farron and Caroline Lucas.

On Tuesday, Blair wrote a statement on his newly formed Institute for Global Change web site, calling for voters to support any anti-Brexit party in the election, insisting that the task of holding the Government properly to account in the interests of the country... should cross party lines.

Blair is clearly identifying himself with the Liberal Democrats, the only party formally committed to reversing last years vote for Brexit.

A Liberal Democrats source told the Telegraph, If any politicians from Tony Blair to [Labour MP] Chuka Umunna agree with us then we will welcome their support.

Such realignment lays the basis for the emergence of a new right-wing, pro-EU formation based around the Blairites and Lib Dems and possibly some MPs from the Tory party.

Paralleling this is an intensification of the campaign by Blairite MPs to remove Corbyn, if not before the election then after, based on an anticipated electoral disaster for the party that will leave his position untenable. John Woodcock MP said he would stand for re-election, before warning, But I will not countenance ever voting to make Jeremy Corbyn Britains prime minister. ... There is still of course time for Jeremy to stand down rather than lead Labour to defeat.

The pro-Labour New Statesmen ratcheted up the pressure on Corbyn Tuesday, with columnist Sarah Ditum, a Guardian journalist, urging party members to only campaign for anti-leadership MPs, and declaring, In the most serious possible way, it is morally intolerable to imagine Corbyn as Prime Minister.

It should be recalled that in the purge of Corbyn-supporting party members during last years leadership contestprovoked by the attempted coup against himmany were expelled for having supported other parties in previous elections. But no moves have been taken against Blair.

By Wednesday evening, at least six anti-Corbyn Labour MPs had resigned their seats. Divisions in the Tory Party are just as deep, if not as open. Stephen Dorrell, the former Conservative health secretary who chairs the pro-Remain European Movement, called on voters to elect only pro-EU candidates.

On Wednesday, the Tory leader in Scotland, Ruth Davidson, when asked if a large parliamentary majority in the June 8 election would prevent Brexiteer bastards holding May to ransom, replied, Im not disagreeing with you.

Nothing will be resolved by the June 8 poll, which will be played out during the build-up to a possible US war against North Korea and the continuing NATO encirclement of Russia in which the UK is playing a major role. Last week, six US-made F-35A stealth fighter jets arrived at RAF Lakenheath, England in preparation for NATO training drills across Europe.

Yet not a word was said about the imminent danger of war by Corbyn or any opposition MP either before or during the parliamentary debate Wednesday. This is after the US has bombed both Syria and Afghanistan in recent days, using the most destructive bomb ever used by the US since it obliterated the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

In similar fashion, no one has seriously addressed the devastating social crisis afflicting millions in the UK that feeds the growing alienation from the political establishmentthat was the central factor in last years unexpected Brexit referendum vote. Instead, Corbyn offers only the most pathetic of palliatives, such as a 10 increase in the 60 carers allowance for those who look after vulnerable relatives.
The right-wing conservative party, GERB, which gained the most votes in the Bulgarian parliamentary elections last month, has agreed to form a coalition with an alliance of fascist parties known as United Patriots (UP). The new parliament is scheduled to meet for the first time on April 19.

The alliance of United Patriots includes the National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria, the Bulgarian National Movement (VMRO) and Attack (Ataka). The VMRO, the largest organisation in the UP, emerged out of a militant nationalist grouping that for decades used terrorist measures to further its aim of establishing a Greater Bulgaria, including neighbouring Macedonia. The National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria also propagates openly fascist and racist positions. In 2011, it split off from Attack, which also belongs to the UP.

GERB won the early election at the end of March with about 33 percent of the vote. The UP gained a little over 9 percent. The new coalition, with 122 seats in the 240-seat parliament, has a slim majority. Nevertheless, and despite forecasts to the contrary, the coalition negotiations were completed in a short time. Boyko Borissov, former GERB prime minister, refused to negotiate with other parties and decided to form a coalition with the ultra-nationalists.

He told the daily newspaper Dnevnik he was happy with the coalition because the UP parties were very responsible. His only condition was that the UP support him as a part of the government and not just in parliament, as the ultra-right parties had done in the past.

Another right-wing party, Volya (Will), headed by the businessman Veselin Mareshki, will also probably back the coalition. Mareshkis role model is US President Donald Trump. The names of the members of the new cabinet will be announced in the next few days.

This means that Bulgaria, an EU member that is to hold the presidency of the EU Council from January 2018, will be led by an ultra-right government, members of which adhere to fascism and fascist traditions.

Attack is openly anti-Semitic and notorious for its violent provocations against Muslims, Roma and other minorities. The party was due to be banned in 2015 after forming a paramilitary unit. Its leader, Volen Siderov, is a professed Holocaust denier.

Shortly before the elections, the VMRO blocked a Bulgarian-Turkish border crossing to prevent Turks with a right to vote in Bulgaria from entering the country. Krassimir Karakachanov, the chairman of the WMRO, calls for the use of firearms against refugees at borders and for violence to be used against Roma living in the country. He regards Bulgaria as a front-line state in a campaign against Islamism.

All three parties have a strong presence in the media. Their management staff are often recruited from former intelligence officers, and many of its members are police officers or other state officials.

Only recently, Borissov stated that the Balkans was on the brink of war. Now he has formed a government with an openly fascist party. His party, GERB, whose initials stand for Citisens for European Development of Bulgaria, is a member of the European Peoples Party (EPP), which includes the German conservative parties, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), as well as the French Republicans. In 2014, the EPP warned against any alliance with the UP and characterised it as an unacceptable partner. Now, however, it has made no criticism of the new government.

The government programme bears the hallmarks of the far right and goes far beyond the reactionary policies implemented by Borissov, who was prime minister from 2009 to 2013 and again from 2014 to 2017. He resigned both times, in 2013 after mass protests, and again this year, after his favoured candidate for the presidency failed to win the presidential elections.

The new government programme provides for a massive build-up of state forces in order to prevent any refugees entering the country. The borders are to be reinforced to repel all immigrants. Illegal immigrants are to be rapidly deported. Police presence is to be stepped up in all cities and villages, with some police duties transferred to private security companies and local authorities. In reality, this means that the existing fascist gangs, which are already intimidating immigrants, have been officially legitimised.

For some time, fascist militias have been hunting down refugees along the countrys borders. There have already been fatalities as a result. The government has tacitly tolerated this policy.

In this context, the government anticipates active cooperation between the military and patriotic organisations to install patriotic spirit into our young people. On the subject of education, the government paper states: patriotism in the education system should be the basis for education and the uplifting of the Bulgarian spirit, a means for forming a sense of solidarity in society and devotion to the homeland.

Another component of the coalition agreement is the clampdown on democratic rights on the pretext of combating terrorism, organised crime and corruption. It also provides for measures against radicalisation and extremism. In a government including members of paramilitary groups, this means the intimidation of political opponents.

After intense debate, the coalition agreed on a tiny increase to the minimum wage and minimum pension. The latter is to be increased from 80 to 100. The minimum wage is also expected to rise at a similar level within the next four years. This barely noticeable increase will be offset by cuts to social benefits.

All pensions approved by 2010 are to be re-examined and new criteria introduced to limit pensions. This was a central demand of the UP, which claimed that Roma were illegally benefitting from disability pensions. It is likely that pensions will now be massively reduced, especially for members of the Roma minority.

Military spending is also to be increased to 2 percent of GDP within the next four years. At the same time, a balanced budget is planned by 2020a proposal that can only be realised through massive budget cuts in all other areas.

Officially, the coalition partners have agreed on a commitment to NATO and the EU. Bulgaria is an active and reliable partner, the government said.

In fact, the countrys relationships with the EU and Russia are highly controversial. The election of Rumen Radev to the post of president in November last year was interpreted as a turn toward Russia. Radev and the chairman of the Socialist Party, Korneliya Ninova, are advocates of ending EU sanctions against Russia and closer cooperation with Moscow. For his part, Borissov is a supporter of the EU.

The parties of the UP alliance had called for the lifting of sanctions against Russia in the election campaign, and Attack has called in the past for a referendum for a withdrawal from NATO. The coalition agreement tries to cover over these contradictory positions with its slogan for a pragmatic foreign policy.
At a Tuesday press conference that became raucous at times, Flint Mayor Karen Weaver reversed her decision from last June and declared that changing the citys water source again, this time to the Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA), was too risky. Standing with representatives from the state of Michigan, water utilities and federal and state water agencies, Weaver announced a proposal to remain with the water source that the city reconnected to in October, 2016.

On the eve of the third anniversary of the disastrous switch from the citys long-time water source to Flint River water, the harm inflicted on the residents of Flint has become well-known around the world. The switch was recklessly perpetrated by state officials, supposedly as an interim source, while the KWA pipeline was being constructed.

The levels of lead in tap water spiked as corrosive river water was pumped through city pipes without the corrosion control treatment required by law, causing lead from the pipes to leach into the water, poisoning residents, children and adults alike.

Lead is the most potent neurotoxin known to man. In addition to causing long-term cognitive and behavioral issues, exposure to lead can cause irreversible damage to any system in the body. Infants and young children, whose bodies are growing rapidly, are most vulnerable, though the danger to adults can also be dire.

Residents have been afflicted with other contaminants in the water. The largest outbreak of Legionnaires disease in the country, sickening scores of people and killing at least 12, was proven to be a result of the switch to Flint River water. Hair loss, skin rashes and sores have plagued the population since almost immediately after the April 25, 2014 cutoff from the citys reliable water source provided by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) for almost 50 years.

The entire city has been described by medical expert and pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha as suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

Despite recent testing showing that lead levels in the water have gone down, experts still recommend the use of certified filters for drinking, cooking and hygiene. Flint has the highest water rates in the country, and the water is still undrinkable, but subsidies to help residents pay their water bills have been cut off as of last month. To add insult to injury, the city has resumed the practice of shutting off water to residents whose bills are delinquent.

Weaver explained at the press conference that the proposal to stay with the DWSD, now managed by the regionalized Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) was prepared over months, in negotiations with officials from all concerned, including Jeff Wright, CEO of the KWA.

Alongside Weaver stood a rogues gallery of Wright, Richard Baird from Governor Rick Snyders office, Susan McCormick from the GLWA, Keith Creagh from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Robert Kaplan of the US Environmental Protection Agency and John Young of the American Water Works Service Company.

Weavers proposal consisted of the following points:

 Flint would remain a customer of the GLWA for the next 30 years.

 As part of the contract, the GLWA would provide credits to pay the $7 million a year obligation to the bondholders for signing on to the KWA.

 As part of the GLWA contract, water assistance will be provided to low-income residents of Flint.

 A seven-mile stretch of pipeline that will allow the city of Flint to continue receiving water from the GLWA will be built by the Genesee County Drain Commission, headed by Wright. Before the 2014 switch to the Flint River, Wright purchased the pipeline from the city so that Genesee County would continue to have treated water from the Detroit system while the KWA pipeline and Genesees own treatment plant were under construction.

 A 30-day period of discussion will precede the scheduled vote by the city council.

When Weaver announced the decision not to switch to the KWA pipeline, there was an audible response of approval from the audience. Significant public opposition to the KWA deal was no secret. The Flint water crisis was a man-made disaster, not simply, as the mainstream media presents, as a money-saving measure, but as a result of vested private interests, particularly that of Wright and his KWA scheme.

Following Weavers speech, she called upon other officials. After an obsequious introduction, she asked Young of the American Water Works Co. to speak. When he reached the podium a voice from the audience asked, What about privatization? Young glibly responded, Dont worry about that, provoking more animosity from the crowd. We know who you are! was heard, referring to his role as the head of the organization representing the water utilities of the US.

There seems to be an irresistible urge by those invested in the system to self-congratulatory praise. So, when Young singled out Wright for his role in the negotiations, someone in the audience shouted, Id like to single him out!

Wright was praised for agreeing to build a parallel pipeline to the one his office purchased for several million dollars to ensure that his jurisdiction would still receive treated water from the DWSD pipeline during the construction of the KWA and the Genesee treatment plant, leaving Flint to the Flint River solution.

As Young continued with his praise for Wright, shouts from the audience of, No way! and What a joke! expressed the hatred for Wright by many residents for his role in causing the Flint disaster in the first place.

Weaver took the microphone to say, I cant change what happened in the past, and went on to praise the proposed agreement.

The question and answer period at the end was reserved for media only. Even so, crucial questions were raised. A reporter from MLive.com asked if there was any guarantee from the GLWA that rates wouldnt rise past the 4 percent per year that Susan McCormick promised would be the maximum. She answered that it was impossible to make any guarantees of that sort.

Weaver concluded by announcing a public Town Hall meeting for Thursday evening at which residents could speak.
Before the first round of the French presidential election on Sunday, thousands of heavily armed soldiers and security personnel deployed to election meetings and rallies yesterday, amid preparations for a major military deployment on Sunday, for the first round of the elections. In the face of rising popular antiwar and antipolice sentiment, the ruling elite is moving to prolong and intensify the militarization of the country under Frances state of emergency.

On Tuesday, the interior minister of Frances Socialist Party (PS) government, Matthias Fekl, said 50,000 policemen supported by military units will be mobilized at polling stations across France on Sunday. Everything has been put in place to ensure the security of this big event for our democracy and our republic. The security forces are mobilized everywhere across France to ensure the security of French people and to ensure the presidential campaign goes smoothly, he said .

A concerted offensive by the interior ministry, acting in concert with all the leading presidential candidates, is underway to justify holding the elections at gunpoint, terrorizing the population and shifting the political atmosphere far to the right. This offensive centers on the announcement of the arrest Tuesday, under circumstances that remain unclear, of two alleged Islamist operatives.

Police arrested the two suspects and alleged they were preparing an attack before election day. Police claim to be in possession of evidence showing that their targets may have included right-wing The Republicans (LR) candidate Francois Fillon. Police also claimed the two suspects were seeking to have an impact in this [electoral] period and had gathered weapons and three kilos of homemade explosives in a flat in Marseille.

According to Fekl, the two men, both French citizens, allegedly intended to commit an attack on French soil in the very short term, which is to say in coming days.

On Wednesday, it emerged that Pariss antiterror court had opened preliminary investigations into suspect Mahiedine Merabet, 29, on April 5, after British intelligence reported that he had tried to contact the Islamic State (IS) group. According to prosecutor Francois Molins, he and the second suspect, Clement Baur, were known to security services since 2016 and 2015, respectively. French intelligence opened S files on the two men, identifying them as threats to state security, at that time. They had shared a prison cell in 2013 after drug trafficking convictions, and again in 2015.

Remarkably, the two men were identified by police and their identity discussed with the leading presidential candidates nearly a week before their arrest.

The interior ministry reportedly informed Fillon of the threat they allegedly posed to him on Thursday April 13 and presented Fillons staff with police files on the two men. A Fillon advisor told the right-wing daily Le Figaro, It was files from the Sarbacane police database that were distributed. One dated from April 10, another from April 13. The news that the two men were working together came to us on April 14.

Le Figaro reported that PS security officials contacted all of the leading presidential candidates about the two men last week. Neo-fascist candidate Marine Le Pen confirmed to Le Figaro that she had been notified about the two men at the same time as Fillon. Their photos had already been sent to my security services on Thursday, she said.

Yesterday, French media unleashed a propaganda offensive around the arrests, demanding that the danger of Islamist terrorism, which has been the focus of endless discussion during the election campaign, be placed at the center of the election debate. BFMTV held a round table discussion on how the arrests would raise the profile of the terror issue in the elections.

In its lead editorial, Le Figaro wrote that these events will no doubt place the issue of the struggle against jihadism at the center of the end of the election campaign. It is a critical issue, but one that has been too little dealt with.

The handling of this incident points to the extraordinary and undemocratic intervention of the security services in the presidential elections. Based simply on the say-so of the interior ministry and of unidentified intelligence operatives, the media are demanding that the entire content of the election debate be shifted onto the need for stepped-up police powers.

The media are posing none of the questions raised by this remarkable sequence of events. Why were these men not arrested immediately last week, when police allegedly had information that they were threatening to kill leading contenders for the French presidency? Why do the media insist that the intelligence services have the right, without so much as presenting any real evidence for their claims about alleged terror attacks, to set the agenda of the election?

In the final analysis, the hysterical reaction of the media and the ruling elite to the arrests of Merabet and Baur can only be understood in the context of the crisis of the presidential campaign in France and of the war danger internationally.

Following Donald Trumps unprovoked missile attack on Syria on April 7, a wave of antiwar sentiment spread across France and Europe, particularly among youth. Jean-Luc Melenchon of the Unsubmissive France movement benefited in the polls and established himself as a fourth election contender, further destabilizing the campaign and provoking a wave of concern in the media in France and internationally.

Only days after the missile attack, as Melenchons poll ratings rose, the intelligence services were focusing on Merabet and Baur and discussing them with all the major candidates.

The media and the French presidential candidates are united in support for the buildup of the military and of police-state powers. Once the intelligence services decided to arrest the men and publicize the case, they all joined in the law-and-order propaganda sweeping over the media. This includes Melenchon, whose nationalistic reaction to these events underscores that he offers no real alternative to the rest of the political establishment.

In a written statement Tuesday, Le Pen pointed to a devastating multiplication of attacks and threats of attacks in France that she said was the result of Islamic fundamentalism that has expanded exponentially in the last decade. Its time to put France back in order, she threatened.

Emmanuel Macron of the PS-backed On the March movement struck a similar tone. He called the arrests a reminder that the terrorist threat remains very high, especially during the election campaign, and called for stepped-up Internet censorship by technology companies.

Both Macron and Fillon have, like Le Pen, pledged tougher security measures beyond the current state of emergency if they are elected. Democracy must not get on its knees in front of the threats and intimidations from terrorists, Fillon declared in a written statement. The campaign must continue until the end.

Melenchon said Fillon, Le Pen and Macron could have been targets of the two men in Marseille and expressed his solidarity with the candidates he is ostensibly running against. We will never make the gift to criminals to divide in front of them. We are not afraid, Melenchon said during a rally in Dijon.

I want to formally tell M. Fillon, Mme Le Pen at M. Macron that I send them the deepest expression of my personal solidarity, he wrote on Twitter.
The race to fill the House seat vacated by Republican Tom Price, now head of the Department of Health and Human Services, is heading to a June 20 runoff after the leading candidate, Democrat Jon Ossoff, a former congressional staffer, fell short of a simple majority of the vote Tuesday. Ossoff will face the runner-up, Republican Karen Handel, a former Georgia secretary of state.

Tuesdays election was close, with Ossoff winning 48.1 percent of the vote, while the top four Republicans won 48.2 percent, with Handel finishing first among the four, with 19.8 percent. The ballot was split among a large field of candidates, including 11 Republicans, 5 Democrats and 2 Independents.

The result left both capitalist parties claiming victorythe Democrats for coming so close to the 50 percent mark that a victory in the runoff is quite possible, the Republicans for forcing a runoff at all, under conditions where the widespread unpopularity of the Trump administration made an outright Democratic victory a real possibility.

As is typical in special elections, voter turnout was down significantly from the general election six months ago. Only about 194,000 voted on Tuesday compared to the 326,000 who went to the polls in November 2016. By the latest tally, Ossoff received 92,390 votes while the Democrat who lost to Price last November received 124,917.

The race is widely seen as a referendum on the policies of the Trump administration and a test of the electoral strategies of both the Democrats and Republicans.

Trump personally intervened in the race multiple times on Twitter including with one tweet that read, Democrat Jon Ossoff would be a disaster in Congress. VERY weak on crime and illegal immigration, bad for jobs and wants higher taxes. Say NO. He tweeted again on Wednesday in support of Handel, framing the runoff as Hollywood vs. Georgia, a reference to the substantial amount of out-of-state funding that has been poured into Ossoffs campaign.

Ossoff and the various Republican candidates raised a staggering $14.3 million in the first round of campaigning, with even more expected in the two-month campaign for the June 20 runoff. Ossoff alone raised $8.3 million in the first quarter of 2017, far outpacing pre-election quarterly fundraising totals for 2016 House races. Candidates in competitive districts raised half a million dollars on average in the third quarter of 2016.

The former aide to Congressman John Lewis, now a documentary filmmaker, has received substantial support from national Democratic Party fundraisers, with 95 percent of his campaigns money coming from outside Georgia. Among the most prominent donors is David Nir, the political director of DailyKos, who raised 1 million dollars for the campaign.

Handel on the other hand is backed by the billionaire Ricketts family, based in Illinois, and received $1.3 million in support from their Ending Spending political advocacy group. Pro-Republican groups have already spent approximately $5 million on attack ads against Ossoff.

Covering the affluent northern suburbs of Atlanta, the Sixth District has been a Republican stronghold since Newt Gingrich first won the seat in 1978. Mitt Romney carried the district by 24 points in 2012, but there was sizeable shift toward the Democrats in the 2016 presidential campaign, when Trump won the district only narrowly by 1 percent.

According to the US Census Bureau, median household income in the district is $80,000, nearly $30,000 above the national average, and almost 60 percent of residents have a college degree. Democrats targeted the district because of these social characteristics, appealing to affluent suburban voters while ignoring working-class whites, who either stayed home or voted for Trump.

Ossoff campaigned as a moderatei.e., right-wingDemocrat, promising that he would work with the Republican majority in Congress. The only test to policy that Ill supply is, is it in the interest of this community? Ossoff said at a campaign house party earlier this month. If it is, Ill support it. If its not, I wont. Ill work with anyone who wants to help us here and help the country, and Ill stand up to anyone who doesnt, regardless of party.

Accordingly, he also refused to criticize the cruise missile strikes ordered by Trump on the Assad government. Congress has an important role to play in ensuring the conduct of U.S. foreign policy is the interest of the American people, but so too does the commander in chief have significant discretion to act where appropriate, Ossoff replied when asked about the attack.

There is little doubt that the Democrat will move even further to the right in the course of the runoff campaign, in an effort to win over some of the supporters of the Republican candidates defeated in the April 18 primary. The outcome is likely to be determined, however, not by such petty maneuvers, but by the popular reaction to further actions by the Trump administration over the next two months.
The first documented deportation of a so-called DREAMer, the nickname for undocumented immigrants supposedly shielded from deportation under an Obama-era program, was brought to public attention Tuesday when attorneys for Juan Manuel Montes, 23, filed suit in federal court in Southern California to demand that the Trump administration release documents relating to his case.

Montes, a Mexican native who was brought to the US by his undocumented parents when he was 9, was accosted by a US Customs and Border Protection agent on February 17 in Calexico, California while he was waiting for friends. He had left his wallet in a friends car and could not produce his ID or proof of his active status as an enrollee in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA), the federal program established to allow undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children to remain and work in the country without fear of deportation.

The border cop refused to allow Montes to retrieve his wallet. He brought the youth to a center where he was interrogated and forced to sign papers. Within three hours, Montes was being walked across the US-Mexico border by federal border police, who released him in Mexicali.

Montes lawyers explain in court filings that their client was mugged and beaten in the Mexican town and, desperate to return to his home and family, tried to scale a border barrier two days later. He was quickly caught, questioned and deported once again back to Mexico.

Montes suffered a traumatic brain injury as a child that left him with learning disabilities. He graduated high school in 2013. At the time of his deportation he was taking welding classes at a community college and paying the costs by picking crops in California and Arizona.

Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, part of Montes legal team, said Montes lawyers had for months been requesting information from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees Customs and Border Protection, but had gotten no response. The legal team filed suit Tuesday under the Freedom of Information Act to demand that the Trump administration release all documents relating to Montes case.

The response of the Trump administration to the suit is indicative of its contempt for democratic rights and the law and the savage character of its dragnet against so-called illegal aliens. The fate of Montes, who is currently living with relatives in western Mexico, shows that none of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US are safe from the Gestapo-like tactics of the border patrol and its overseers in Homeland Security and the Justice Department.

There are some 800,000 undocumented immigrants currently in the DACA program. In return for reporting themselves to immigration authorities and passing background checks, they were supposed to be legally authorized to live and work in the US for two years, after which they would have to reapply for active status in the program.

Last January, after signing an executive order expanding the range of immigrants targeted for deportation to potentially cover all 11 million people without documents, President Trump told ABC News that he would not attack DREAMers. They shouldnt be very worried, he said. I do have a big heart.

The response of his administration to the Montes suit shows the worthlessness of such assurances. On Tuesday, Customs and Border Protection refused to discuss the case on the grounds of privacy. The Department of Homeland Security, after ignoring press requests for comment for 24 hours, claimed that it had no record either of Montes deportation on February 17 or his renewal of his DACA status after it expired in 2015. This is despite the fact that Montes lawyers provided a copy of his work authorization card, which showed his status was valid through 2018.

On Wednesday, Homeland Security reversed itself and acknowledged that Montes status under DACA was valid through 2018. But it claimed Montes lost that status because he voluntarily left the US without previously informing the agency that oversees the program and obtaining its approval, and then sought to re-enter the country illegally.

The department added that Montes had a conviction for theft on his record. Court records show that he had four convictions for petty offenses, three for driving without a license and one for shoplifting. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that approves DACA applications, had deemed these offenses insufficiently serious to disqualify him from DACA protection.

Nora Preciado, a staff attorney with the National Immigration Law Center and co-counsel in the case, said, Juan Manuel was funneled across the border without so much as a piece of paper to explain why or how.

She told CNN: The promise that our government made to all the DACA recipients, including Manuel, is at stake. These young folks came forward, they filed paperwork, they got their background checks done, they paid their fees and in exchange, the government promised them that they did not have to fear deportationthat they could get work authorization to continue their lives, to study and work, that they wouldnt be summarily deported, and yet here we are.

According to United We Dream, an organization of DACA enrollees, at least ten DACA enrollees have been detained. Montes appears to be the first to have been deported. United We Dream and the National Immigration Law Center have launched a petition asking John Kelly, the DHS secretary, to let Montes return.

In the first month of Trumps administration, 43 former DACA enrollees were deported, according to Department of Homeland Security statistics reported by USA Today. Under Obama, the average per month was seven.

Homeland Security data show that 676 immigrants whose DACA status was revoked still face removal proceedings. Ninety of them remain in custody.

This is more evidence that the Trump administration is making nearly every person whos undocumented a priority for removal, said Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum.

Trumps attorney general, Jeff Sessions, an anti-immigrant zealot, not only defended the deportation of Montes, he threatened to deport all undocumented immigrants. In an appearance Wednesday on Fox News Happening Now program, Sessions railed, Everybody in the country illegally is subject to being deported. So people come here and they stay here a few years and somehow they think they are not subject to being deported. Well, they are We cant promise people who are here unlawfully that they arent going to be deported.

The previous day, Sessions, Trump and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired Marine general, all issued statements blaming lax border controls for the alleged growth of a Central American-based gang called MS-13. Sessions lashed out against so-called sanctuary cities in the US, claiming their refusal to allow local police to function as de facto immigration police dangerously undermines gang enforcement efforts.

Kelly, in a speech at George Washington University in Washington DC, attacked critics of the Homeland Security Department and its border patrol and immigration policies. Charging that DHS personnel have been political pawns, he said members of Congress should shut up and support the men and women on the front lines. He went on to declare that DHS would never apologize.

This blanket defense was for a border patrol force that has killed at least 46 people since 2010 and enforced a militarized border that has caused the deaths of thousands more.

Rep. Steve King, Republican from Iowa, tweeted enthusiastically, First non-valedictorian DREAMer deported. Border Patrol, this ones for you. Last month, King tweeted his support for the anti-immigrant racist Geert Wilders in the Dutch election, writing, Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny cultural suicide by demographic transformation must end.

The Democrats, for their part, offered impotent and empty statements on the deportation of Montes. They voted overwhelmingly to confirm Kelly as head of Homeland Security and have said virtually nothing about the anti-immigrant dragnet in recent weeks, focusing on their campaign to shift Trumps foreign policy along a more war-mongering anti-Russian trajectory.

Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, said he was disturbed by the reported deportation and appealed to Kelly to provide an explanation. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said of the Trump administration, Shame on them. No prominent Democrat called for Montes to be allowed to return to his home and family in California.
Unofficial but normally accurate quick counts by Indonesian polling organisations have given yesterdays election for the governor of the capital province of Jakarta to Anies Baswedan. According to these figures, he clearly defeated incumbent governor Basuki Thahaja Purnama, who had the support of Indonesian President Joko Widodo and his Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)-led coalition government.

Late in the day the Jakarta Post put the figures at 58 percent of the vote for Anies and his running mate for deputy governor, Sandiaga Uno, and 42 percent for the Basuki and Djarot Syaiful Hidayat ticket. Basuki conceded defeat last night, congratulating his rivals, even though official results will not be finalised until the first week of May.

Reflecting ruling class concerns about the social tensions reflected in the election campaign and result, Basuki urged his supporters to remain calm and maintain harmony in the capital.

Over seven million people were entitled to vote in the sprawling capitals more than 13,000 polling stations. The campaign was marked by a virulent chauvinist campaign directed by right-wing Islamist organisations against Basuki, based on his Christian and ethnic Chinese background.

While preying on the religious beliefs of the most oppressed layers, this was a means of diverting the rising unrest generated by the widening social inequality produced by the pro-business free market program that Basuki shares with Widodo, his predecessor as governor.

Anies and Sandiago, one of Indonesias richest men, cynically posed as champions of the poor, claiming they would create jobs, impose price controls, fund clean water projects and end the evictions of slum dwellers to clear land for corporate developments.

The Islamist campaign, led by organisations such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and Muslim Peoples Forum (FUI), declared that as an infidel Basuki was unfit to rule the Muslim majority population. Basuki, popularly known as Ahok, is currently on trial under reactionary pro-clerical laws on a frame-up charge of blasphemy and faces up to five years jail. The FPI and other groups concocted a complaint over a remark Basuki made in an election meeting in September which referred to a verse in the Muslim Quran.

Behind the religious bigotry and anti-Chinese racism lie definite political and class interests. The leaders of the Islamist groups have close connections with various sections of the ruling elite. The campaign against Basuki is also directed at Widodo. Anies is the front man for Prabowo Subianto, an ex-general from the era of the Suharto dictatorship, and Widodos opponent at the 2014 presidential election.

Anies and Prabowo exploited the Islamist campaign, which in November and December attracted hundreds of thousands to Jakarta protest rallies, in order to capitalise on the mass discontent of some of the poorest sections of the population with all the political parties of the ruling elite.

Since the fall of the Suharto dictatorship in 1998, various governments, including those of ex-President Megawati Sukarnoputris PDI-P and the major Muslim-based parties, have imposed pro-corporate policies that have seen the bottom 80 percent of the population go backwards economically while the elites have enriched themselves.

Social inequality has reached new heights. A World Bank report showed 1 percent of the population owns half of all property and financial assets, while almost 100 million people live below, or just above, the official poverty line.

In 2014, Widodos incoming government won praise from the global financial institutions for slashing fuel subsidies, but the resulting impact on living conditions provoked hostility among working-class people and the most impoverished layers.

Anies packaged himself as the defender of Jakartas marginalised residents, a reference to the 16,000 impoverished families evicted by Basuki as the city administration carried out infrastructure projects demanded by big business and foreign capital. Anies, along with Prabowo and the Islamist groups, spent much of his time in impoverished areas of the city affected by Basukis projects.

Meanwhile, the Islamists supporting Anies worked local mosques. Election officials pointed to clerics refusing to pray over the dead of families who intended to vote for Basuki. Islamist groups planned to intimidate voters by monitoring all polling booths.

Prabowo, who represents a section of the ruling elite tilted more towards economic nationalism, tries to present himself as a maverick outside the establishment secular and Muslim parties.

Basuki was supported by a pro-business coalition that included Widodos party, the PDI-P, as well as Golkar, the political instrument of the former Suharto dictatorship, NasDem, the party of media mogul Surya Palof, and Hanura, the party of Suharto-era general Wiranto.

The Basuki campaign appealed to more affluent layers that have benefitted from the Widodo coalitions pro-market restructuring. According to the Jakarta Post, polling research showed the Basuki ticket won support from people with at least a high school diploma and an income above the regional minimum wage.

PDI-P chief Megawati personally directed the considerable resources of the PDI-P throughout Jakarta, allocating PDI-P politicians to cover all areas of the city. Megawati was determined to head off a victory by the Prabowo camp as it would weaken the PDI-Ps dominance in the national government and affect the 2019 presidential election.

So tense was the political situation that 64,000 police and military personnel were deployed for the poll among fears in the ruling elite and state apparatus that the Islamist groups might mobilise supporters inside and outside the city. National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian ordered that buses coming into Jakarta be searched.

The combination of sectarianism and popular discontent, seen above all in the size of the November and December rallies, has put Widodo under pressure. His response, and that of Megawati, has been to denounce the Islamist campaign as a threat to national unity. Police and military leaders have echoed this position.

Police moved against the Islamist campaign before a rally held in Jakarta on March 31. Five organisers, including FUI leader Muhammad al-Khathtath, were arrested and charged with treason. Police claimed those detained had met twice to plan mass rallies in five cities from April 20 to May 26 with the aim of toppling Widodos government.

On April 4, Widodo called a meeting of 20 Muslim clerics from across the country in an attempt to hose down the tensions in Jakarta, watering down his earlier call for the separation of politics and religion. He received support from the two largest Muslim organisations, Nahdlatul and Muhammadiyah.

The election result will do nothing to lessen the impoverishment and exploitation of millions of working people in Jakarta and across the archipelago. At the same time, it is likely to exacerbate the conflicts in the ruling class.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson issued a threat of military confrontation with Iran Wednesday at a hastily called news conference in which he drew a direct parallel to Washingtons reckless and increasingly dangerous confrontation with North Korea.

Referring to the nuclear agreement negotiated between Iran and the major world powers, Tillerson said: This deal represents the same failed approach of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat that we face from North Korea. The Trump administration has no intention of passing the buck to a future administration on Iran. The evidence is clear: Irans provocative actions threaten the United States, the region and the world.

The Trump administration had acknowledged on Tuesday that Iran has fully complied with the terms of the nuclear agreement that it negotiated in July 2015 with the so-called P5+1China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States plus Germany. In the same breath, however, it signaled that it is preparing measures designed to blow the agreement up.

In a formal notification required every 90 days to the US Congressthe first delivered since Trumps inaugurationSecretary of State Tillerson certified that, as of April 18, Iran was meeting its terms of the deal, which required it to cap its uranium enrichment, reduce its number of centrifuges by two-thirds and submit to international inspections to ensure compliance. These terms were supposed to preclude Irans ability to develop a nuclear weapon, something which Tehran insisted it had never sought.

The rest of Tillersons statement, however, revealed that the Trump administration is conducting a systematic review of all of the economic and financial sanctions that were waived in return for Irans reining in of its nuclear program.

Iran, the secretary of state alleged, remains a leading sponsor of terror through many platforms and methods, and therefore Trump has directed a National Security Council-led interagency review of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that will evaluate whether suspension of sanctions related to Iran pursuant to the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name of the Iran nuclear deal) is vital to the national security interests of the United States.

On Wednesday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer deflected a direct question as to whether the administration was seeking to abrogate the nuclear agreement, saying that the inter-agency review would be concluded in 90 days and would serve as the basis for policy recommendations.

We're well aware of any potential negative impacts that an action could have, he added, in relation to the re-imposition of suspended sanctions.

Indeed such negative impacts are precisely the purpose of taking this action, which would be designed to provoke Iran into repudiating its own obligations under the nuclear agreement and thereby creating the pretext for US military aggression.

Thus, even as Washington is pushing the world to the brink of a potential nuclear confrontation on the Korean peninsula, it is laying the foundations for another catastrophic war in the Middle East.

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly denounced the Iran nuclear agreement as the worst deal ever negotiated and vowed to rip it up once elected.

In February, his since ousted national security advisor Gen. Michael Flynn marched into a White House briefing to ominously announce that he was putting Iran on notice, implying possible US military retaliation for the Iranian militarys testing of non-nuclear missiles, which is not barred by the nuclear agreement.

And last month, Gen. Joseph Votel, the chief of US Central Command, which oversees the American wars and interventions in the Middle East and Central Asia, denounced Iran as the greatest long-term threat to stability in the Middle East and advocated a campaign to disrupt [Iran] through military means or other means.

The latest escalation of these threats came as Trumps defense secretary, Gen. James Mad Dog Mattis, is conducting a tour of the Middle East, with meetings scheduled with Irans principal regional enemies, including the Saudi and Qatari monarchies and Israel.

Mattis has reportedly advocated a policy of increasing the already massive US military aid and arms sales to the Saudi royal dictatorship and providing more direct US collaboration in its more than two-year-old war against the impoverished population of Yemen, which has killed some 12,000 people, the majority of them civilians, turned 3 million into refugees and left large portions of the population on the brink of starvation.

Speaking to reporters in Riyadh after meeting with Saudi King Salman and Deputy Crown Prince and minister of defense Mohammed bin Salman, Mattis declared, Everywhere you look if there is trouble in the region, you find Iran. He added, We will have to overcome Irans efforts to destabilize yet another country and create another militia in their image of Lebanese Hezbollah but the bottom line is we are on the right path for it.

The charges of Iranian destabilization stem from Irans objective position as Washingtons rival for regional hegemony in the Middle East and its participation, alongside Russia, in defending the government of Syria against the US-orchestrated war for regime change.

The hypocrisy of Washingtons labeling Iran as a sponsor of terrorism and the source of all trouble in the region is shameless. US imperialism has carried out a series of wars that have killed millions, toppled governments and devastated entire societies. The CIA has armed and funded terrorist Islamist groups in Libya, Iraq and Syria, including those directly tied to Al Qaeda.

In Yemen, the Pentagon has supplied the warplanes, bombs and missiles that have slaughtered men, women and children, while offering intelligence assistance as well as mid-air refueling to enable round-the-clock bombing aimed at crushing the Yemeni populations resistance and compelling them to accept the re-imposition of the puppet regime of ousted President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Now, the Pentagon is reportedly preparing to directly assist a Saudi-UAE offensive to conquer the Yemeni port of Hodeida, the last link between the countrys starving population and the outside world. Aid agencies have warned that such an attack may well tip the country into a full-blown famine.

Speaking alongside the Saudi deputy crown prince on Wednesday, Mattis offered an obsequious tribute to the 31-year-old royal highness while vowing to reinforce Saudi Arabia's resistance to Irans mischief and make you more effective with your military as we work together as partners.

Mattis went on to declare that it was in the US interest to see a strong Saudi Arabia military security service and secret services, this in a country where the secret services ruthlessly repress any manifestation of dissent and where criticism of the ruling royal family is grounds for beheading.

As with the attack on Syria, the ratchetting up of tensions with Russia and the ongoing nuclear brinksmanship with North Korea, the Trump administration has enjoyed crucial support from the Democrats for the buildup toward war with Iran. Key Democratic members of the House and Senate have joined with Republicans in supporting the imposition of new sanctions. From the 2016 presidential campaign onward, the Democrats criticisms of Trump have been focused centrally on foreign policy and have come from the right, particularly over concern that the Trump administration would prove too soft on Russia, and, by extension, Iran, which has allied itself with Russia in Syria.
As he continued his tour through Asia, US Vice President Mike Pence issued another ominous military threat yesterday to North Korea. While absurdly claiming that the US always seeks peace, he declared that under Trump the shield stands guard and the sword stands ready.

Pence warned: We will defeat any attack and meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with an overwhelming and effective American response All options are on the table. History will attest the soldier does not bear the sword in vain.

Underscoring the threat, Pence was speaking on the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan at its home port of Yokosuka, Japan. Another aircraft carrier strike group headed by the USS Carl Vinson is headed to waters off the Korean Peninsula and is due to arrive there next week. Earlier false reports by the White House and Pentagon suggested it was on its way last week.

Pences renewed threats against Pyongyang were amplified by open support by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham for a pre-emptive US attack on North Korea even while acknowledging that millions of people would die.

Speaking on NBCs Today program, Graham declared: It would be terrible It would be bad for the Korean Peninsula. It would be bad for China. It would be bad for Japan, be bad for South Korea. It would be the end of North Korea. But what it would not do is hit America and the only way it could ever come to America is with a missile.

The remarks of Graham, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, reflect the recklessness and callous indifference for human suffering that pervades the entire US political and military establishment. A war on the Korean Peninsula could draw in nuclear-armed powers such as China and Russia and result in a catastrophe for the entire planet.

Graham was scathing about the failure of previous administrations to force North Korea to halt its limited nuclear and missile programs. Twenty years ago, North Korea really didnt have any nuclear weapons. Every Republican and every Democrat has screwed up North Korea. Theyre close to getting a missile to hit the [American] homeland. Now is the time to stop [them].

Graham is simply repeating more overtly the militaristic logic of the Trump administration. In comments yesterday to the Washington Post, Pence declared: I think the path of negotiations with North Korea has been a colossal failure now for more than 25 years. He said the US was not seeking negotiations with North Korea and was not in any direct talks at this time.

In a separate interview with CNN, the vice president said: The only thing we need to hear from North Korea is that they are ending and ultimately dismantling their nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles program.

Significantly, when asked whether US cyber sabotage was responsible for North Koreas failed missile test last weekend, Pence refused to respond directly. I really cant comment on the electronic and technical capabilities of our military, he stated.

The New York Times revealed last month that the Obama administration established a cyber warfare program that was believed to be responsible for the high number of failed North Korean missile tests. In a follow up article this week, the newspaper reported that the Trump administration embraced the program with enthusiasm and had no compunction about using this new class of weapon against missile tests.

The sabotage of a missile test is an act of war that invites retaliation. Yet according to the New York Times, the Trump administration regards such measures as legitimate because the UN Security Council has banned North Koreas missile tests. This logic could be used to justify any action, including the use of military force, even though the UN resolutions on North Korea are limited to economic sanctions.

The risks involved in US cyber sabotage were underscored by North Koreas Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Monday, which implied that a US special operation was responsible for Sundays failed missile test and denounced Americas bellicose and reckless acts.

Pyongyangs own militarist response only plays into the hands of the US administration and media, which routinely condemns North Korea as a rogue state that threatens the United States and the world. The regime released a video clip showing North Korean missiles passing over the Pacific and engulfing an American city in flames.

The US drum beat for war against North Korea is continuing on a daily basis. Speaking in Britain, US House of Representatives speaker Paul Ryan declared: Of course we dont want to have military options employed, but we must keep all options on the table.

Speaking in the Middle East this week, Defence Secretary James Mattis insisted: North Korea has got to change its behaviour. Echoing Pence this week, he warned: Just in the past two weeks, the world witnessed the strength and resolve of our new president in actions taken in Syria and Afghanistan. North Korea would do well not to test his resolve or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region.

The references to the US cruise missile attack on Syria and the US use of its huge Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb in Afghanistan only underline the fact that US imperialism is for war, not peace, with North Korea. After a quarter century of military interventions and wars of aggression in the Middle East, Central Asia, the Balkans and North Africa, the US, in its striving for global hegemony, is on the brink of conflict that could precipitate a war involving nuclear-armed powers.
Hundreds of thousands of scientists and other professionals, together with students and working people who support them, will take part this Saturday in the worldwide March for Science. The demonstration has evoked a significant response, in large measure because it is seen as a way to protest the Trump administrations attacks on scientific knowledge and investigation.

The Socialist Equality Party welcomes this demonstration. We call for the mobilization of working people throughout the world against the destruction of the environment by giant chemical and energy corporations; attacks on public education that threaten access to all aspects of human culture for an entire generation of young people; the subordination of science to the profit requirements of the ruling class and the military; and all censorship and restrictions on research and teaching.

The call for the March for Science refers to these issues, but it has definite limitations, summed up in its declaration that the attacks on science are not a partisan issue. This question must be understood correctly. The defense of science is only nonpartisan in the sense that both Democrats and Republicans are responsible for the attack on public education, the deteriorating environment, the growth of militarism and the effort to censor and suppress scientific research.

The defense of science is, however, profoundly political, as it has been throughout history, as far back as Galileo Galileis trial by the Roman Catholic Inquisition. Every reactionary government and class persecutes scientists and seeks to suppress and subordinate science to its own ends. The progress of science and reason has always depended upon the progress of society and social relationsand this is a political question.

The challenge today is to recognize the source of the attack on science, which did not suddenly arise from the limited brain of Donald Trump. He is only the crudest and most backward representative of a social system in which all human activity, including science, is subordinated to private profit. While science and technology have immensely developed the power of social production, this production remains trapped within the increasingly irrational forms of private capitalist ownership.

The defense of science is therefore inseparable from the revolutionary struggle of the main progressive force in modern society, the working class, against the corporate ruling elite.

Science and technology have made it possible to abolish hunger, cure disease, banish ignorance and secure a decent standard of living for every person on this planet. But under the profit system, vast wealth is monopolized by a tiny handful of the super-rich. Just eight mega-billionaires possess greater wealth than the poorest half of humanity, while hundreds of millions go hungry; millions die of preventable diseases; and schools, roads, water systems and other public infrastructure are crumbling.

Modern technology, from revolutionary developments in transportation to the creation of the Internet, has shattered the barriers to human interaction and made possible the integration of all humanity. Science itself is the most international of human enterprises, developing through global collaboration.

However, because of the division of the world into rival nation-states, technology is made the instrument of repression and persecution: the hounding of refugees and immigrants throughout the world; the building of walls against immigrants on the US-Mexico border; Chinas great firewall, separating one billion people from the rest of the world; and the development of the NSAs vast apparatus of global spying directed against the population of the entire world.

Most ominously, in the hands of the rival nation-states, with US imperialism taking the lead, science and technology have been perverted into means of mass destruction. The April 22 demonstration takes place under conditions of a growing threat of world war, with the Trump administration, backed by the US media and Democratic Party, firing missiles at Syria, dropping the largest bomb since Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Afghanistan, and threatening a preemptive military strike against North Korea.

The danger of a direct military conflict involving nuclear-armed powers is very real. More than anyone else, scientists know that this would mean the extinction of civilization, if not life on planet Earth.

What is the way forward? Those who wish to defend and advance the work of science must confront a contradiction in their own ways of thinking. They are accustomed to applying scientific methods to the processes of nature, but not to the workings of society, still less to politics.

In part, this derives from the greater complexity of social life, where the number of variablesincluding human beingsmakes scientific analysis more complicated. More importantly, it reflects the ideological domination of the corporate ruling elite, which opposes efforts to apply rational standards to the operations of a social system that affords them unparalleled wealth and privilege. Within academia, the attack on objective truth and reason spearheaded by postmodernism and other forms of irrationalism is directed at all forms of scientific knowledge, above all at the science of society and history.

Scientists must find their way back to insights of their greatest predecessors like Albert Einstein, who were drawn to socialism as the application of reason to the development of modern societyand as the only means of ending war and dictatorship. This means taking up a study of Marxism, which bases its revolutionary politics on an analysis of objective reality and class interests.

The working class is the revolutionary force that has the capability to put an end to capitalism and establish a socialist society based on equality, democracy and social ownership of the wealth created by collective labor. In the Russian Revolution, whose centenary we mark this year, this scientific understanding was vindicated in practice, with the working class coming to power under the leadership of a Marxist party.

The working class cannot advance without the aid of science. But science itself requires the advance of the working class, which will provide science with the necessary mass base in society. In the final analysis, the progress of scienceand the progress of humanity as a wholedepends on the resurgence of a new revolutionary movement of the working class. The socialist movement unites under its banner both the pursuit of scientific truth in all its forms and the struggle for human equality.
A wide range of nominally left-wing political groups and publications have acquiesced to a series of dangerous military actions by the Trump administration that have brought the world to the brink of war.

On April 13, the US dropped the largest nonnuclear bomb ever deployed in history in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. The Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb weighs over 10 tons and is so destructive it reportedly obliterated the homes of peasants living several miles from the drop zone.

Four days later, Vice President Michael Pence traveled to the demilitarized zone on the Korean peninsula, where the US has threatened to use preemptive military force against the nuclear-armed North. Pence acknowledged that the MOAB bombing was aimed at proving that the US was prepared to go to war.

Just in the past two weeks, he declared, the world witnessed the strength of our new president in actions taken in Syria and Afghanistan. North Korea would do well not to test his resolve or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region.

The growing danger of a nuclear conflagration is widely felt. A Marist poll published this month shows that 72 percent of Americans are concerned about growing international tensions. Leading figures in Russia, China, North Korea and the United States have warned of the real possibility of war.

Nuclear war has become thinkable again, reads a headline in Mondays Guardian. The New York Times April 17 editorial warns of President Trumps Loose Talk on North Korea, while the Times news section compares tensions in East Asia to the Cuban missile crisis. Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman wrote an article titled, Donald Trump, Kim Jong Un and the risk of nuclear miscalculation.

It is the most basic obligation of socialists to condemn and oppose US war threats and warn the working class of the dangers and root causes of imperialist war.

All the more remarkable is the role played by various political groups that identify themselves as left-wing but have maintained an intentional silence with regard to the dropping of the MOAB and the threat of war in Korea. These groups hide the threat of war from their readers and provide political cover for US imperialism.

Not a single article relating to these events appears on the front page of Jacobin Magazines website, nor does its official Facebook page make any reference to the MOAB attack or the recent US threats against Korea. There are no references to the MOAB or rising tensions in North Korea on the front page of the Pabloite International Viewpoint website.

Similarly, Socialist Alternatives website has no articles dealing in any detail with the bombing or US moves against North Korea. One article from April 15 titled Trump administration damaged and unpredictable includes a one-sentence reference to the MOAB in the 13th paragraph, while North Korea is addressed only briefly later in the article.

The front page of Socialist Worker, the publication of the International Socialist Organization (ISO), has no references to the dropping of the MOAB, and only on Tuesday did it publish its first article of the year relating to North Korea.

At no point in the article (Will Trump start a new Korean War?) does the writer, David Whitehouse, state that the ISO is opposed to the American governments provocative war threats. It instead reports the potential outbreak of nuclear war as a disinterested observer, including 20 hyperlinks to various reports in the bourgeois press, including five from the New York Times alone.

Whitehouse refers to Washingtons deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in South Korea as a sticky issue. He reports US-South Korean joint war games, as well as proposals to assassinate North Korean leaders and launch preemptive strikes, but passes over them without making any critical comment.

The article downplays the danger of war. It begins, Now that the latest North Korean missile test failed on April 16, the immediate risk of a US military attack may fade. It comments further on that Trumps new belligerence toward North Korea is really the latest oscillation between the twin options of containment or rollback that have lain in the US policy toolkit since the Cold War.

Whitehouse complacently asserts that the likelihood of US military intervention is lower than some claim: Trump can talk a tougher line, but US military options have begun looking weaker, not stronger, since the Norths three-decade arms build-up.

Fifteen years after the mass protests leading up to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the pseudo-lefts support for war shows that the present absence of an organized antiwar movement is not the product of popular apathy. Rather, it is due to the rightward shift of previously radicalized sections of the middle class whose opposition to war has disappeared in the decades following the Vietnam War.

This section of the population has greatly enriched itself since the late 1960s and early 1970s, in part from the spoils of the wars of the past quarter century that have inflated the stock market and enriched American banks and corporations. Their political orientation is toward the Democratic Party and the state.

This weekend, many representatives of this milieu will be gathering at New York University for the Historical Materialism forum. Sponsors and participants include Jacobin editor Bhaskar Sunkara as well as historians Lars Lih and Eric Blanc. The ISOs International Socialist Review is an event sponsor and ISO members Paul Le Blanc, Tithi Bhattacharya, Todd Chretien and Paul Heideman will appear as speakers.

Of the 60 scheduled panels, not a single one relates to the subject of war. The words imperialism, war, Iraq, North Korea, Afghanistan, Libya and Somalia do not appear in any panel title.

Instead, the NYU panel features discussion topics such as Queer(ing) Marxism, Womens Strikes in the Age of Feminization, The International Womens Strike and the Anticapitalist Feminist Movement, Silencing the Subaltern: Resistance & Gender in Postcolonial Theory, Concerning Violence: Subjections, Resistance, Subversions, Adorno: Subjectivity and Critique, New Directions in Marxist/Feminist Theory, Race, Repetition, Rebellion: The Political Economy of Surplus, and Late Althusser: Politics and Theoretical Practice.

Any connections that the radicalized middle class once had to anti-imperialism or socialism are long gone. The categories of analysis they employ have nothing to do with class or historical materialism. War, social inequality and poverty all take a back seat to what really interests them: race, gender and their own sex lives.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and the new Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez have teamed up for a cross-country tour in the Democratic Partys latest effort to corral opposition to the Trump administration back into the safe channels of the two-party system.

The duo will hit several states by the end of the week, concentrating mainly on regions that went Republican in the 2016 election: Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska and Utah. Nevada will be the only stop that the Democrats won, while Maine had a split electoral vote. The tour, called Come together and fight back, is being promoted as an effort to increase grassroots activism.

The trip marks another stage in Sanders role as a representative of the Democratic Party aimed at blocking the emergence of any independent movement of the working class.

The speeches given by Sanders up to this point in the tour indicate a return of the more left-sounding slogans that brought him success in his primary campaign last year. Sanders is appealing to the crowds by acknowledging the very real and serious domestic issues affecting working-class families across the country. Throughout his nearly hour-long speeches, he rails against the billionaire class, mass incarceration, the destruction of the environment, the drug epidemic, failing infrastructure, the attack on health care, growing student debt, and more, without ever explaining the origins of these problems beyond a denunciation of Donald Trump.

The issues Sanders identifies were around long before Trump came to office. However, it is not surprising that Perez and Sanders say nothing about the track record of the Democratic Party.

In Tuesdays appearance in Kentucky, Sanders noted that for the first time since the AIDS epidemic, life expectancy in the US has gone down. He did not note that this has come on the heels of eight years of the Democratic Partys health care reform plan, the Affordable Care Act. He denounced the billionaire class and the enormous spike in inequality without any mention that it was Obama who oversaw the greatest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in world history.

Possibly more damning than what is contained in these speeches is what is left out. Not one word has yet been uttered about the US war drive, which Sanders and Perez, and their colleagues in Washington, support. The Democrats have focused their criticism of Trump on his allegedly soft attitude toward Russia, and they have cheered the recent bombing of Syria, which threatened to spark a war with nuclear-armed Russia.

Sanders did his part, appearing on a series of news programs in the aftermath of the Syria attack to voice his opposition, not to the attack itself, which he fully supported, but to Trumps unilateralism. Sanders accepted and promoted the propaganda of the US government and media about the chemical weapons attack and backed regime change, insisting that Assad has got to go.

The Democratic Party has hailed the reckless escalation of military tensions since the bombing of Syria, including sending the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson off the shores of Korea, and the dropping of the largest nonnuclear bomb in history in Afghanistan. Moreover, it has supported the appointment of many of the orchestrators of these attacks, including ex-military general James Mad Dog Mattis, Trumps defense secretary.

Sanders support for US militarism is the clearest refutation of his demagogic rhetoric on domestic policy. It is impossible to support the foreign policy of the billionaire class while opposing its attack on the working class, as the two go hand in hand.

The fact that Sanders is touring with Tom Perez is itself significant. The election for Democratic National Committee chairman was held in February and portrayed as a contentious fight between opposing factions of the party. Sanders opposed Perez, Hillary Clintons preferred candidate, and supported Keith Ellison, who was ultimately defeated. In the aftermath of the election, Sanders voiced his concerns over the result, stating, Its imperative Tom understands that the same-old, same-old isnt working.

However, this opposition has been carefully calibrated. The obvious hostility to Hillary Clinton among broad sections of the working class, revealed in the election, required Sanders to distance himself to some degree. The purpose of his left posturing about transforming the Democratic Party is to prevent workers and young people from breaking with this right-wing organization.

The divisions that exist within the Democratic Party between the Obama-Clinton wing and the Sanders-Warren wing are over tactics, not principle. They all serve to uphold the political domination of the capitalist two-party system.

This has been proven in the trajectory of Sanders political career over the last two years. The senator from Vermont, by calling himself a socialist, demanding a political revolution and attacking the billionaire class, tapped into the enormous amount of discontent in the working class and was able to win 13 million votes in the primary. In this he was aided by a wide array of upper-middle-class organizations that orbit around the Democratic Party.

What happened to Sanders political revolution? After losing the primary, he abandoned his criticisms of Clinton and insisted that voting for her was the only way to stop the Trump administration, giving Trump a monopoly on rhetorical opposition to the status quo. Days after the election, Sanders proclaimed his willingness to work with Trump upon taking office, promoting the fiction that the new administration might pursue policies beneficial to the working class. Sanders economic nationalism, moreover, is closely aligned with that of Trump.

After Trump was inaugurated, Sanders backed many of his cabinet nominations, even voting to confirm ex-general Mattis, claiming that he would exercise a moderating influence on Trump.

A recent Harvard-Harris survey found that Sanders is the the most popular politician in the country, at least among the 16 Trump administration officials and Congressional leaders included in the poll. He has a 57 percent favorable rating, compared to Trumps 44 percent and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumers 27 percent.

That the only politician identified in popular consciousness with socialism is also the most popular indicates the broad leftwing and anti-corporate sentiment of workers and youth. However, it only underscores Sanders role in propping up the Democratic Party in an effort to prevent this sentiment from finding a genuine, anti-capitalist and socialist form.
BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (WTXL) - Bainbridge Public Safety is putting new equipment to the test this week, training firefighters from all across south Georgia on using foam to fight large fires.

In 2015, a chemical explosion killed a 35-year-old man in Bainbridge.

Christopher Coker was killed while working on a tanker that exploded at liquid transfer terminals.

The fire burned for about 8 hours.

Fire Chief Doyle Welch says the foam truck would have put the fire out within minutes.

Thomas county will have firefighters out at the training all three days it is offered this week.

They want to be prepared in case they are ever called in for mutual aid.

The three day training was funded by the grant from GEMA.
Starting Sunday, a stricter law on using cellphones while driving takes effect, and with it some pretty hefty fines for violations.
Why isnt Israel helping the investigation into the 1992 terror attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, which claimed the lives of 29 people?

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A special ceremony, which was held last month to mark the 25th anniversary of the attack, was attended by survivors from Israel, diplomats who lost family members in the attack and even people from the United States who had helped the wounded.

The terrorists have not been caught to this very day. The Israeli government, as usual, chose to stay away from the ceremony for its own odd reasons. Out of the 28 members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government, not a single minister bothered to attend a ceremony commemorating one of the most serious terror attacks that Israeli diplomacy has ever experienced.

Israeli embassy bombing in Buenos Aires in 1992. Time hasn't healed the victims' pain

Argentinas new government, headed by President Mauricio Macri, went out of its way to welcome the terror attacks survivors and the Israeli delegation led by Foreign Ministry Director-General Yuval Rotem. President Macri took the time to listen to the survivors pain. The Chief of Cabinet of Ministers Marcos Pena, one of the strongest figures in the new Argentinean government after the Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner era, met with Israeli journalists covering the ceremony and told us about the new Argentina, which seeks to reopen the issue of the two serious terror attacks which have yet to be solved.

He also brought up the investigation into the mysterious death of Alberto Nisman, the Jewish chief investigator of the 1994 car bombing of the Jewish center in Buenos Aires, who was found dead in his apartment just one day before he was due to explain to the National Congress of Argentina his allegations against de Kirchner, who he had accused of covering up the case.

His body was found inside the bathroom in a pool of blood, with his personal gun next to it. Initial estimates pointed to suicide, and at the end of the autopsy, the authorities announced that there were no findings pointing to external involvement.

Two attacks, zero charges

The second terror attack took place on July 18, 1994, at the Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA). The bombing left 85 people dead and more than 300 wounded. Although the traces clearly led to Iran and Hezbollah as the culprit, not a single person has been charged with the bombing to this very day.

About two years earlieron March 17, 1992, at 2:50 pma car driven by a suicide bomber and loaded with explosives smashed into the Israeli Embassy building on 910 Arroyo Street, which had been located there since 1950. The building was completely destroyed, 29 people were killed and hundreds were wounded, including embassy workers, neighbors and passersby. None of the attacks executers or masterminds were punished in this case either.

Jewish center bombing in 1994. Argentina's deadliest terror attack (Photo: AFP)

The new Argentinean government, so it seems, is doing everything in its power to solve the mystery of the terror attacks that left a dark stain on Argentinas already gloomy image. The attack on the Israeli Embassy will likely be remembered as one of the biggest failures of the Israeli Mossad, which has the reputation of an invisible octopus with far-reaching tentacles. The Argentinean authorities failed miserably for two-and-a-half decades in bringing to justice the perpetrators of the countrys two deadliest terror attacks.

Has Israel given up on settling the score with the perpetrators of these two serious attacks, which were carried out just two years apart?

That may be the case, in light of the recent conduct of the Netanyahu government, which didnt bother sending a single minister to mark the 25th anniversary of the Israeli Embassy bombing. It left the attacks survivors to deal with their mental and physical pain on their own and to keep asking themselves why isnt Israel doing everything in its power to pressure the Argentinean government to bring the attacks perpetrators to justice.

Time has not healed the wounds of the families who lost their loved ones and of the dozens of Israelis who were wounded on Argentinean soil, in an attack which has yet to be solved.

Now, the new government in Buenos Aires is willing to make supreme efforts to solve the mysteries. Pena told the Israeli journalists that in the coming months it would become clear whether investigator Nisman was murdered or committed suicide, and the two terror attacks are also back on the new governments agenda.

But will the Netanyahu government seize this huge opportunity to bring justice to the victims?
A new piece of legislation designed to provide greater economic benefits to Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel after 1953, in an effort to break a prevailing cycle of poverty, was announced Wednesday.

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The joint legislative proposal is being spearheaded by MKs (Yesh Atid) and Dov Khenin (Joint List) with the aim of significantly increasing the annual financial allowances of post-1953 immigrant survivors.

While the annual stipend provided currently stands at 3,600 shekels, the MKs stated that they hoped to provide a boost that would bring the total sum to 12,000 shekels. According to the evaluations, the bills implementation would cost the state 650 million shekels each year.

Holocaust survivors visit Auschwitz (Photo: AP)

Approximately 78,000 Holocaust survivors currently live in Israel who made aliyah after 1953. As a result of their comparatively late arrival, they were not entitled to a number of right granted to Disabled Victims of Nazi persecution, a category which was restricted to those who made aliyah prior to 1953.

Those who immigrated to Israel before 1953 also receive a monthly rent allowance of 2,248 shekels. Moreover, a convalescence financial package provided to the pre-1953 immigrants totals 29,000 shekels per year.

If the legislation passes in the Knesset, the financial injection would constitute a significant difference in compensation currently awarded by the state.

While huge gaps would remain in the sums received by the two groups even if the bill passes, the new legislation seeks to boost the allowance for post-1953 survivors by 1,000 shekels per month, three times the sum they currently receive.

MK Elazar Stern (R) during press conference (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

MK Stern, who also chairs a lobby group on behalf of Holocaust survivors said during a press conference which took place on Wednesday that The State of Israel needs to go to the Holocaust survivors and not wait for them to go to the State.

In the last few years, Israel has taken action for the Holocaust survivors but there are still some who have been left behind and there are those who receive pensions from Germany and their situation has worsened, he said. We will have (talk with) the German government in order to demand their rights.

Stern also addressed the likelihood that the proposed bill would pass. I have received from the Finance Ministry and they have said that there will be news but since then I have been waiting, he continued. The bill proposal has already been on paper for a long time, and since then we have wanted the government to decide to pass it with or without my name. But it cant wait any longer.
The Syrian regime has relocated the majority of its combat planes to protect them from potential US strikes, CNN reported Wednesday after receiving the information from two US defense officials.

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The move places the Syrian aircraft in close proximity to Russia's Khmeimim Air Base in Latakia Governoratewhere the majority of Russian air forces helping President Bashar al-Assad's regime are based.

Russian warplane (Photo: AFP)

The Khmeimim base, along with a naval facility in Tartus, is one of the two of the primary Russian military installations in Syria. The Russians have reportedly stationed advanced anti-aircraft missile systems at the base.

The move may stem from the Syrian regime's belief that the US would be more reluctant to strike in close proximity to the Russian troops and their anti-aircraft systems. One US defense official told CNN that the warplanes moved appeared to make up most, if not all, of the Syrian regime's operational aircraft.

Wreckage in Sharat air base following the US' missile strike

The relocation of the warplanes began shortly after the US's April 6 Tomahawk cruise missile strike on Sharat air base , which destroyed 24 Syrian warplanes in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack in Idlib that the US says the Syrian army launched from that airfield.

The US warned Moscow via a pre-established communications channel in advance of its cruise missile strike in order to prevent any Russian casualties.

Bashar al-Assad

US defense officials have previously said that its retaliatory strike incapacitated about a fifth of the regime's operational fixed-wing aircraft, making the preservation of the remaining planes of the utmost importance to the Syrian regime.

"The Syrian Air Force is not in good shape. It's been worn down by years of combat plus some ... significant maintenance problems," US Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon.

Casualties of the Idlib chemical attack

The US has not ruled out additional strikes against the regime should it opt to use chemical weapons in the future.

"The Syrian regime should think long and hard before it again acts so recklessly in violation of international law against the use of chemical weapons," Mattis said, later adding that "if they use chemical weapons, they are going to pay a very, very stiff price."
Tzur Goldin, whose twin brother Lt. Hadar Goldin's body is being held by Hamas, slammed on Thursday the "disgraceful" behavior of legislators towards his mother during a Knesset discussion on Operation Protective Edge.

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Dr. Leah Goldin was invited to speak in front of the Knesset's State Control Committee as it discussed a report by the state comptroller on the 2014 war in Gaza in which her son, Hadar, was killed.

She accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of turning her and her family "into an enemy of the people," prompting Likud MK Miki Zohar to chime in, saying "It's not okay what you are saying, and it is an exaggeration."

Hadar Goldin and twin brother Tzur

Dr. Goldin responded with anger. "You don't answer. Don't answer! I wasn't asking you. I don't even know your name. You insolent man. Be quiet! she shouted as she threw a cup of water at him.

This was not the only incident during the discussion, which saw other bereaved parents exchanging harsh words with Likud MKs.

In an interview with Ynet, Tzur Goldin argued that the prime minister needs to provide solutions rather than excuses.

Netanyahu, he said, constantly tells the family that 'the State of Israel is committed to doing everything' to bring back the bodies of his brother and fellow soldier Oron Shaul, "when in actuality we see the abysmal reality of (Israel's) relationship with the strip."

Another platitude Goldin said the prime minister often repeats is 'I understand how you feel, I'm a bereaved brother myself.'

"It's an excuse. Other than the fact there's nothing to it and it doesn't provide any answer to the strategic problem on the public's agenda, it also absolves him of responsibility," Goldin said.

Netanyahu, he said, did not want to pressure Hamas so as to not provoke another war. "It's an absurd that on the other hand, you sit and boast that in Protective Edge you led to achievements that deterred Hamas, while on the other hand, you contradict yourself and say that every small thing could lead to the next war," Goldin said.

"It's been three years now that Hadar and Oron are being ignored in such a blatant way," Goldin continued

He asserted the comments his mother made during the Knesset discussion on Wednesday "were not angry or outraged words. They reflected the reality accurately. The reality is that the Israeli governmentas well as the previous governmentis blatantly avoiding taking steps to pressure Hamas in order to bring back Hadar and Oron."

Dr. Leah Goldin during the heated discussion at the Knesset (Photo: Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

Zohar himself apologized, telling Ynet that "I had no intention or desire to offend Mrs. Goldin. The only thing I said was that I couldn't agree with the claim that we turned the bereaved families into the people's enemies. This is something we really didn't want to do and have no desire of doing... I should've remained quiet and allowed Mrs. Goldin to say what was on her heart, no matter how difficult it was for me to hear. I've made the wrong decision, and I regret that."

But Tzur Goldin rejected the apology, saying "MK Zohar needs to apologize to the citizens of Israel, not to the bereaved families."

Goldin further decried the "abysmal reality in which Hamas prisoners dictate the agenda with hunger strikes, and we reward them instead of making their conditions more strict," adding that Israel "is giving up on achievements that IDF soldiers fought for in order to create a 'fool's calm.'"

Goldin said he and his family believe that "through dialogue and discourse with the public's representatives ... we'll achieve a long-term result." He stressed that the family's struggle "is not against the government and is not emotional, but rather based on values and accurately reflective of reality."

He called on the government to remove the motivation of terror organizations to kidnap Israelis, saying "we strongly believe that if massive uncompromising economic and political pressure is put on Hamassomething that is not being done todaywe won't just be able to bring back Hadar and Oron, but also prevent future kidnappings."
Lebanese defense authorities have reported on an arrest of a local citizen for cooporating and spying for Israel.

The news website Elnashra reports that the suspect is under investigation and is expected to stand trial in military court.
Hezbollahs deputy leader Naim Qassem said Thursday morning that the terror movement had sufficiently deterred Israel, convincing its leaders not to launch a war on the northern border.

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Qassem added that Israels fear of incurring high casualty tolls in any prospective war also accounts for its decision to avoid a renewal of hostilities.

Speaking in an interview with the Lebanese Hezbollah-affiliated daily Al-Akhbar, Qassem was asked if the Lebanese-based movement had any fears of a summer offensive.

Hezbollah Deputy Leader Naim Qassem (Photo: Reuters)

All the indications point to the fact that Israel is deterred. It has not taken a decision to act in a renewed aggressive manner against Lebanon at this stage, he said.

It doesnt flow from its morals, but rather from its understanding that any war against Lebanon is a guaranteed loss for Israel, he confidently stated.

Hassan Nasrallahs second in command also promised that any military adventures waged by Israel would yield no positive results, either on the ground or in the political arena. I add to this Israels confusion and weakness of the home front to deal with any war, and its waiting for results in the developments in Syria.

Asked about how developments in Syria could play out in the broader context of the conflict with Israel, Qassem said that if any solution took into account Israels interests, many problems would be solved for it, including war.

This was further proof, he said, that political and territorial considerations preclude the possibility of an Israeli war in Lebanon.

In yet another projection of confidence, Qassem repeated the mantra that his organization was prepared for any confrontation.

The resistance is at the peak of its readiness. If Israel surprises, despite the political analysis, it will be a foolish and reckless step, he warned. The level of Hezbollahs readiness enables it to withstand any possible war, both numerically and in terms of means and goals.

Hassan Nasrallah

Qassem was also asked whether he thought the latest threats made by his boss that Hezbollah could strike an ammonia tank situated in the Haifa Bay, and against Israels nuclear reactor in Dimona, would increase the likilhood of the outbreak of war.

He responded by saying that before the speech was delivered in which the threats were made, Israel made public declarations about the prospects of war which stemmed from domestic considerations rather than any concrete decision to launch a war.

Therefore, Nasrallahs speech was intended, he claimed, to confront Israel with sensitive issues, and issue a warning that fanning the flames via media outlets and in the political domain could bring about a war for which Israel is still not prepared and does not want at this stage.

Their silence after Nasrallahs speech proves that their declarations were of a political nature rather than a prelude to war, Qassem concluded.
Hezbollah recently held a tour for members of the press on the Israeli-Lebanese border, during which the terror group told a delegation of Lebanese journalists of how Israel deployed troops and attacked Lebanon and its apparent espionage against Beirut.

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Led by a senior officials in the militia, the guide provided a detailed descriptions of IDF positions, and pointed to alleged locations of espionage systems, claiming that Israel had beefed up its defensive capacity on the border.

Hezbollah officer gives journalists a briefing

X

They went from an offensive doctrine to one of defense, the tour guide is heard saying in the video in which Israeli military and civilian vehicles can be seen from the Lebanese side of the fence.

Hezbollah official tells reporters 'Israel built settlments on Palestinian ruins.'

The initiative came at the behest of one of the officers of the group who arranged a briefing for the media in the Ayta ash Shab village in southern Lebanon.

We are now situated in the south of the village opposite Palestinian territory which the Zionist enemy occupied, the guide told the journalists.

In his opening remarks, he outlined the subjects which would be covered.

Israeli private bus seen by Hezbollah from Lebanon

We will briefly explain here the geographical reality on the holy ground, the Israeli enemys deployment and the defensive steps that the enemy recently tookthe reinforcement of engineer work, fortifications, barriers and the deployment of espionage systems.

The tour guide then goes on to explain how Israel defiled the land with the construction of settlements.

"The Israeli enemy built a large number of settlements on the ruins of the Palestinians and on the pure land," he said. "As you can see, there are military outposts here that are affiliated with the Western BrigadeBrigade 300which is subordinate to the Northern Command, which recently appointed as its commander, Major General Yoel Strick."

Apparently seeking to demonstrate his familiarity with the fabric of the IDF, the officer then elaborated for the reporters on the composition of the Northern Commands two divisions.

Israeli positions viewed from Lebanon

The division of the Galilee has a western brigade and an eastern brigade, and what lies ahead is the western brigade," he explained, before detailing the alleged order of IDF forces, and the alleged location of the "largest espionage system."

The officer then goes on to document the groups narrative of history and the establishment of the State of Israel.

"We see the Palestinian cities that the enemy has defiled since 1948," he told the reporters. Pointing to an IDF military base, he said: "Behind it is the Hanita settlement (Kibbutz), which was built by the Haganah brigades even before 1948. They started building it in 1932."

Shortly after, the official pointed out defensive positions which he said the IDF recently erected in the area.

"The enemy assumes, and I do not agree, that the resistance will penetrate these points into its communities. As you can see, this is the settlement of Shlomi and other settlements like Hanita, he continued.

Israeli military vehicle on the border

The enemy has taken a number of measures. For the past year, he has begun to build fortifications, obstacles, and extensive means of defense that seem to stop people from moving toward it."

Behind one fortification in sight, he tells them, "there is a hole in the mountain. This slope was a green one year ago, but for the past year the enemy has been working to rake it 1,600 across meters and its height ranges from 7 to 15 meters. The goal is to prevent any infantry from advancing toward its positions and settlements."
The Israel Police announced on Thursday that it was firing the officer who was filmed beating a Palestinian truck driver, despite his already having begun the resignation process.

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Footage of the incident

X

At a disciplinary hearing held at the beginning of the month, 34-year-old Moshe Cohen took responsibility for having attacked Mazen Shawiqi, who had struck the riot police officers private vehicle with his truck and driven off. Shawiqi contended that he had been aware of the cameras and presumed that the car owner would contact him to request restitution.

Image of the attack

An indictment filed against Cohen accuses him of a series of violent offenses.

In a statement announcing that Cohen would be fired rather than permitted to resign, the police explained, This exceptional case is not only inconsistent with the values and orders of the police, but also harms tens of thousands of policemen and policewomen who work night and night for the safety and integrity of the citizens of the State of Israel.
A 55-year-old Jerusalem resident was questioned Thursday by the police for posting anti-Semitic, Holocaust-themed posts on Facebook, expressing "praise, identification and sympathy for the actions of the Nazis" for the extermination of Ashkenazi Jews.

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In one of the posts he wrote: "Sometimes I imagine that I have the power of Hitler, sitting on a chair with a bottle of wine and putting them one by one into a thousand-degree oven, and making sure that only ashes come out. God, how I hate them."

File photo (Photo: Shutterstock)

In another post, he wrote: "Again an Ashkenazi ran to Zucky (Mark Zuckerberg) to rat on me. No problem brother, so they will block me, so what. But before they block me I just wanted to tell you that Hitler was right to make your mother soap, and he was right to terminate you cause you're all garbage. And he was right to burn you in the ovens, and for one thing I am angry, that he left you and did not burn you in the oven along with your Polish family."

According to the law, the punishment for these offenses is up to five years in prison, and the police noted that the interrogation was an unusual step, which was carried out with the approval of the State Prosecutor's Office.

The suspect was interrogated by the cyber unit in Jerusalem and then released under restrictive conditions. Facebook blocked his profile, and the police noted that upon completion of the investigation, the file will be transferred to the State Prosecutor's Office for review and decision.

"The suspect's posts are harsh and unusual, and so the police acted immediately to locate him, interrogate him, and transfer the investigation material to the State Prosecutor's Office," the report said.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) said in response that "statements, harsh and outrageous as they may be, should not be put to a criminal test, but public, and freedom of speech should also protect statements that turn one's stomach. The police shouldn't have arrested him to begin with and it should remove the restrictive measure imposed on him."

(Translated and edited by N. Elias)
The UN Security Council met on Thursday to discuss various issues in the Middle East, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Among the participants were Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon and his American counterpart Nikki Haley, who said that "Lebanon, Hezbollah, a terrorist organization, uses towns to shield tens of thousands of illegal rockets."

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US ambassador to UN during UN Security Council

X

Haley, an enthusiastic supporter of Israel, noted that the Security Council has ignored recent threats in the Middle East, focusing more on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict instead of more burning issues like Iran and Hezbollah.

Haley argued that the Security Council paid little attention to these threats, but the United States would not ignore them. "In Syria, Hezbollah controls territory on the ground. With Iran's instructions, its militias stand side by side with Syrian troops as they slaughter the Syrian people. Sometimes Hezbollah is the one giving orders to Assad's fighters. Hezbollah helped Assad starve and destroy Aleppo."

(Photo: UN Web TV)

Speaking of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Hailey said, All I have done is tell the truth. Ive called it out like I see it and Ill continue to do that, but there is no one that doesnt want to see a peace process between those two bodies, she added. I think we all feel like it should happenit can happen and we want to see it come together.

We want to see a pause on additional settlements, she added. My hope is that we have willingness from both sides coming together to really allow for that conversation to take place.

Danon thanked the United States for its support of Israel and attacked the conduct of the Security Council: There is no doubt that the UN is on notice about the winds of change which have blown in from Washington. They are not going to tolerate an obsessive focus on Israel with so many other crises around the world.

Everywhere you see terrorism and travesties in the region, you see Iran, he said. If you are going to have a periodical meeting on the situation on the Middle East, then Iran must be the main focus, Danon said.

In December, the Security Council approved Resolution 2334, which states that the settlements are illegal. Fourteen of the 15 Security Council members supported a proposal against the settlements initiated by Malaysia, New Zealand, Venezuela and Senegal after Egypt withdrew from it. The United States, then under the administration of Barack Obama, chose to abstain, and in a very unusual movefor the first time in Obama's presidencydid not veto a resolution against Israel.

(Translated and edited by N. Elias)
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman will leave for Moscow next week for a security conference in which senior officials from countries such as Iran, Iraq, the Gulf emirates and other countries with whom Israel has no diplomatic relations will take part.

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US and NATO leaders invited to the conference have not yet officially announced whether they intend to participate. Observers in Moscow know that the Americans will probably boycott the conference sponsored by the Russian leadership. The conference, which will begin on Wednesday under the title International Security Conference in Moscow, will be opened by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

(Photo: Ohad Zwingenberg)

According to the schedule, the defense minister will meet with Shoygu and Lavrov outside the conference to clarify the issues involved in the arrangements the Russians are leading regarding the future of Syria. Lieberman's meeting with the Russian defense minister will be the first meeting between the two men. It is reasonable to assume that one of the main issues that will arise during the meeting will be the collaboration between Israel and Russia in the Syrian arena in light of the Russian reprimand to Israel following the air strikein Syria a few weeks ago.

There is an open line of communications between the Russian Defense Ministry and Israel that serves as an understanding between the two sides so as to avoid friction between the air and naval forces operating in nearby arenas in Syria. In addition, the head of the Israeli Operations Branch meets his Russian counterpart once every two months in Moscow and Tel Aviv.

Also set to attend the conference are countries such as Jordan, Indonesia, Cuba, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Brazil. Among the issues planned for the conference are also controversial issues between Russia and the United States, such as "an up-to-date definition of the international system in a multi-polar era."

The Russians are devoting a panel to issues of conflict resolution worldwide including Asia and the Pacific with a well timed reference to the North Korean crisis.

In a panel on the Middle East, the emphasis is on the struggle against radical movements, but not necessarily on Islamic movements. The Defense Ministry said the meetings were of paramount importance to Israel's security.

(Translated and edited by N. Elias)
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon castigated Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour Thursday for expressing solidarity with the Palestinian security prisoners currently hunger striking in Israeli prisons.

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Mansour repeated The New York Times controversial description of convicted murderer Marwan Barghouti as a Palestinian parliamentarian and leader during a Security Council session on the Middle East and called for the release of convicted murderers. The Palestinian representative also asked the international community both to support their struggle and to work to stop Israels violations of the prisoners human rights.

Ambassador Danon

The Palestinian representative just praised the striking prisoners, Danon wrote on Twitter. Lets recall who he is talking about. Marwan Barghouti, the leader of the striking prisoners, is a terrorist and a murderer.

Barghouti oversaw (the planning of) dozens of suicide-bombings and was convicted of direct involvement in the murder of five people glorifying terrorists like Barghouti not only distances us from peace, but dishonors the memories of the innocent victims, Danon continued.

Danon also said Iran threatens the stability of the entire Middle East and accused the Islamic Republic of fuelling atrocities in Syria.

As the strike began, Barghouti was placed in solitary confinement and moved from Hadarim Prison to the Kishon Prison in northern Israel to reduce Barghoutis ability to galvanize and exert pressure on prisoners to strike.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan has also said that prisoners who endanger their lives by refusing food will be force-fed, in accordance with a 2015 law upheld by a Supreme Court decision last year.
Broadband serves as a bridge between Nebraska and the world. Connecting to high-speed internet is vital for all Nebraskans.

Our families, students, communities, and businesses all rely on it every day to share, send, and use information.

Access to broadband is especially important for Nebraskas agricultural sector. In our 21st-century world, livestock producers have the ability to monitor their livestock with connected devices, enabling them to maintain healthy herds. To supply the world with our states great agricultural products, all of our ranchers and farmers must have the ability to access the most up-to-date news on weather and commodity markets to make critical decisions such as knowing when to sell crops and when to place them in storage. Additionally, by extending the reach of broadband networks, more of Nebraskas small businesses will be able to reach customers online, enhancing their marketing opportunities.

Broadband isnt only a boon for Nebraska businesses, however. Increasing the availability of broadband will strengthen our communities. It allows for more access to the goods Nebraskans need and products that can make our lives better, some of which may not always be available locally. In other cases, it can even save lives by allowing those who live far from the nearest medical center to connect remotely with health care providers for routine check-ups or specialist visits.

I believe the federal government has a responsibility to work with states and private industry to facilitate infrastructure development. Investments in infrastructure help our economy grow and our communities prosper. Broadband is a significant part of infrastructure and we have to work through the remaining challenges standing in the way of access to this important service.

One of these challenges is cost.

Building broadband infrastructure is expensive. Finding companies willing to invest in providing rural internet access is difficult. Too often, this problem creates unfortunate obstacles for Nebraskans looking to buy reasonably-priced broadband services. Its time for that to change.

In that vein, I joined Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota in leading a bipartisan group of senators in addressing a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In it, we asked the agency to continue working to advance broadband deployment in rural areas of the country where these services are still very expensive.

The FCC has had some success working on this problem in the past, but the agency must do more to ensure families can buy more affordable high-speed broadband regardless of where they live.

Lowering the cost of internet infrastructure will allow our state to be a stronger competitor in the world market. Nebraskans will be able to expand their businesses if they have the latest technology and the most current information available.

Increased broadband access helps build stronger communities by creating a network that can connect families in the blink of an eye. Increased access means that deployed Nebraska military personnel can email and video chat back home while theyre away. Parents can stay in touch with students who go away to college. Grandparents can see and hear from their grandkids more often. When more Nebraskans have access to broadband, their loved ones feel a little bit closer. No matter the distance, families can stay in touch.

Building the accessible broadband networks of tomorrow requires common-sense reform today. By working together to create sound public policy, we can achieve the goal of making affordable high-speed Internet available to everyone in our state. All Americans deserve an opportunity to compete and succeed in the digital world. I will continue to work in a bipartisan way to make that a reality.

Thank you for participating the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.
Nebraska needs growth in entrepreneurial business development, especially with the youth who are willing and able to make this development happen. In order to see this growth through our youth, we need to think outside of the box and give our youth the tools to pursue their dreams.

Allow me to introduce you to Shelby Kittle from Ord, Nebr. Shelby is a 5-year veteran of Valley Countys EntrepreneurShip Investigation (ESI) camps. Shelby, owner of Shells Bees has turned her dream into a reality. She hopes to go to college, get her degree in entomology and return to her home area of Ord. She is just one example of how youth can grow a viable idea into a profitable business.

Research conducted by the University of Nebraska, the Gallup organization and the Kaufman Foundation has shown that our youth, whether in larger communities or small rural communities, really DO want to return home, but are unsure if they can be successful there. It also shows that over 70 percent of the youth polled would like to own their own business someday, but are uncertain how to make that happen.

Nebraska Extension, through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has developed multiple curricula to help youth develop and create their dream. ESI (EntrepreneurShip Investigation) was created for middle school aged youth. Participants as young as 10 years old can use this tool to find their path to the business they ultimately want to own. Using this activity-based offering, youth can become budding entrepreneurs. Many of the youth who have completed this program started with a mini business and have grown it to the point they are now in secondary education, paying their way with the funds they earned by selling their product or service.

A second curriculum developed through Nebraska Extension is Blueprint (Dream Design Deliver  a 3-D Blueprint for Innovation and Entrepreneurship). Developed for high school aged youth, they love the interactive activities, videos and case studies included in this on-line offering. Youth can take the business idea developed through the ESI experience and actually grow their business idea into a reality. For instance, one class decided to take their experience with Blueprint and develop a project as a team  a specialty coffee shop in their community.

Our workforce depends on entrepreneurs, and the University of Nebraska is one of the most important engines for instilling the creativity and skills and passion that young people need to start their own business and thrive.

I hope you will have the opportunity to experience programs like ESI and the Blueprint program first hand. These budding entrepreneurs need mentors, supporters and customers! If their products are as good as their passion and enthusiasm, you will surely not be disappointed.

Lets start young and grow our own!

Nancy Eberle is a Special Projects Coordinator for Nebraska Extension. She and her husband Gary live in rural Bradshaw. For more information about youth entrepreneurship curriculum, Nancy can be contacted by e-mail at neberle@mainstaycomm.net or by phone 402-736-4691.
YORK  The Nebraska Public Service Commission has issued an order entering a location, date and time of a meeting in York allowing for public comment on the Keystone XL pipeline application currently before the commission, according to PSC public information coordinator, Deb Collins.

The public meeting will be held at the Holthus Convention Center on Wednesday, May 3. It will start at 9 a.m. and end at 7 p.m. that evening.

Doors will open at 8 a.m., and public comment will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. Persons speaking at the public meeting will have three to five minutes to speak.

Collins explained that the Major Oil Pipeline Siting Act affords the PSC the right to hold a public meeting for the purpose of receiving input from the public at a location close to the proposed route.

The proposed Keystone XL route crosses York County. The route, as currently designed, enters the county in the northwest corner, angling to the southeast. The route crosses Highway 34 between Bradshaw and York, it passes west of York, eventually crosses Interstate 80, then crosses Highway 81 between York and McCool Junction, continuing south until it crosses into Fillmore County.

The PSC will make the public input received during this meeting a part of the public record.

All interested persons are encouraged to attend the meeting in York and make public comment if they so choose.

The issue of the Keystone XL pipeline has long been a controversial conversation in York County, as a number of local landowners have refused to sign easements with TransCanada and have been very vocal about their concerns.

It should be noted that there have also been landowners in York County who did sign easements with the company many years ago.

The PSC, in accordance with the siting act, will consider a number of issues related to the pipeline application, including protection of property rights, aesthetic values, economic interests, protection of natural resources and compliance with state law.

In addition to this public meeting in York, the PSC will hold a public hearing regarding the application the week of Aug. 7-11 at the Lincoln Marriott Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln. This public hearing will contain both an evidentiary portion and a public comment portion.

Information on the KXL application can be found on the PSC website.
This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company.

As of 2020, Minuteman Review is now the proud owner and operator of Your Defence News, a website with a long history of breaking huge news stories and investigative journalism.

We hope you are equally as excited as us.

This means that now the teams of Minuteman can combine with the firepower of Your Defence News to stay at the absolute forefront for our readers.

Keep an eye. Big things are coming soon. We couldn't be more excited.

In the meanwhile, here are some of our most popular posts and categories to keep you busy.

Happy shootin' my friends!

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Islamabad: In a partial breather for Nawaz Sharif, the country's Supreme Court decided, Thursday, to not disqualify him as Pakistan Prime Minister and instead ordered the setting up a Joint Interrogation Team to probe the Panamagate case.

A Supreme Court's five-member bench, led by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, ruled 3-2 in favour of JIT to probe allegations against the PM.

The petitioners in Pakistan Advocate Tariq Asad, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq, PTI chief Imran Khan and Awami Muslim League head Sheikh Rashid Ahmed sought disqualification of the Prime Minister and his close family members for their alleged investment in offshore companies

Three members of the apex court bench were in favour of criminal proceedings against Sharif if the JIT finds him guilty. The other two judges wanted him to be disqualified straight away.

Media reports from Pakistan claimed that the court felt that Sharif had failed to justify that he was not involved in money laundering and also he couldn't prove that certain properties in London were not owned by his family.

Sharif's daughter owned London flats for 6 months: Pakistan SC

The court directed that the JIT be formed within 7 days and it has to submit its report with two months.

Sharif and his sons will have to personally appear before the JIT and plead his case.

Interestingly, Pakistan's military intelligence and ISI will be part of the joint interrogation team.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's alleged wrongdoing came to light as part of a massive leak of secret files from a Panamanian law firm that specialises in setting up offshore companies in tax havens. A trove of 11.5 million digital records from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca last year revealed how many of the world's wealthy used offshore companies to stash assets.

According to the Panama Papers, three of Sharif's four children -- Maryam, Hasan and Hussain -- were owners of offshore companies and "were owners or had the right to authorise transactions for several companies". But Sharif and his family have dismissed the allegations of money laundering and denied any wrongdoing.

Since the Panama Papers in June 2016, opposition parties have been jumping at the opportunity to register their protests and mobilise supporters to rally against Nawaz Sharif.

"I can say with surety that... not a single penny went out of Pakistan," emphasised PM Sharif on the floor of parliament on May 16, 2016, soon after details emerged in the Panama Papers.
Islamabad: The fate of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif 's political career will be decided, Thursday, when the Pak Supreme Court will deliver its verdict in the Panamagate case.

The Panama Papers scandal had rocked governments, exposed high-profile personalities, triggered scores of investigations around the world and dealt a blow to Panama as an offshore financial hub.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's alleged wrongdoing came to light as part of a massive leak of secret files from a Panamanian law firm that specialises in setting up offshore companies in tax havens. A trove of 11.5 million digital records from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca last year revealed how many of the world's wealthy used offshore companies to stash assets.

According to the Panama Papers, three of Sharif's four children -- Maryam, Hasan and Hussain -- were owners of offshore companies and "were owners or had the right to authorise transactions for several companies". But Sharif and his family have dismissed the allegations of money laundering and denied any wrongdoing.

Since the Panama Papers in June 2016, opposition parties have been jumping at the opportunity to register their protests and mobilise supporters to rally against Nawaz Sharif.

"I can say with surety that... not a single penny went out of Pakistan," emphasised PM Sharif on the floor of parliament on May 16, 2016, soon after details emerged in the Panama Papers. The opposition staged a walkout as Sharif proposed a parliamentary commission to probe the allegations.

In the immediate aftermath, Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson was forced to resign after the leak showed his family sheltered assets offshore.

The petitioners in Pakistan Advocate Tariq Asad, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq, PTI chief Imran Khan and Awami Muslim League head Sheikh Rashid Ahmed sought disqualification of the Prime Minister and his close family members for their alleged investment in offshore companies.

A Supreme Court's five-member bench, led by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, took up petitions on 20 October, 2016 and concluded its hearing on 23 February, 2017.

"The Supreme Court's verdict will change the future of Pakistan," said the PTI chairman in January.

Heading a five-judge bench hearing a slew of petitions against the Sharif family, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa observed that 26,000 pages were submitted in the case and the judges will read "each word" of it. He observed that it was not a case wherein a short order could be passed.

"The court will decide the case only after considering the material submitted in the court and will announce its verdict in accordance with the law and Constitution," Justice Khosa said earlier this year.

"We will decide this case only by the law; such that people will say, 20 years down the line, that this judgement was made by the book," Justice Khosa said.
Mumbai: Salman Khan unveiled the first poster of his upcoming flick  Tubelight  Thursday morning. The hunk of a superstar can be seen saluting innocently as a pair of boots hangs from either side of his neck.

The tagline reads  Kya tumhe yaqeen hai?.

While sharing the poster, Salman tweeted: Peace, Respect, Love and Light in your life from the Tubelight team(sic).

Check it out here:

Peace, Respect, Love and Light in your life from the Tubelight team . pic.twitter.com/BXjkn0Xc9m  Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) 20 April 2017

Directed by Kabir Khan, Tubelight which also stars late actor Om Puri is slated to release on Eid this year. The film will mark the Bollywood debut of Chinese actor Zhu Zhu and will feature Shah Rukh Khan in a cameo.

Set in the backdrop of the Indo-Sino war in 1962, Tubelight will reportedly see Salman essaying the role of a soldier.
New Delhi: Apple's will start the 'trial assembly' of its iPhone manufacturing in Bengaluru from next month, as per a newspaper report.

The Economic Times, quoting official sources said that Apple will start manufacturing the Make in India iPhones regardless of the outcome of its requests for certain concessions from the central government.

Taiwanese original design manufacturer Wistron  with which Apple has a contract  will begin assembling the iconic phones at its unit in a Bengaluru suburb, ET quoting officials said.

Local manufacturing is expected to help Apple price its phones more competitively in India as it currently attracts 12.5 percent additional duty on imports.

This would be Apple's second big project for Bengaluru. In May last year, Apple had announced setting up a design and development accelerator in the city to grow the iOS developer community.

The announcement was made as part of the visit of Apple CEO Tim Cook to India.
New Delhi: In another jolt to Delhi Congress ahead of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Elections, its women's wing chief Barkha Shukla Singh on Thursday resigned from the post.

She also hit out at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and the party`s Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken.

The former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief said: "Congress party under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Ajay Maken have only used the issue of empowerment of women and women security to gather votes."

"The issue means nothing to them."

Talking to a news agency, Singh said "On the day of Navratra on March 28, I, along with a number of other fasting women workers of the party, tried to meet Rahul Gandhi. The women party workers, who had assembled there from various parts of Delhi, were the ones who failed to get tickets despite working for Congress for many years. After waiting for four hours, a peon came up to us and said that those sitting inside said they didn't care about Navratra and asked us to go home.

She, however, added that she did not know if the message was conveyed by Rahul Gandhi or someone else.

The Congress worker added that on the same day, Rahul Gandhi was seen partying at Shangri-La Hotel. She even showed pictures of the same.

Singh said: "In the current organisation where I myself am unsafe, how will I empower women in that organisation. That is why I hereby resign from the post of President of Delhi Mahila Congress."

Singh even quoted other senior party leaders questioning her party`s vice president`s capabilities, saying "Rahul Gandhi is unfit to lead the party".

"The one pertinent question we need to ask today is why is Rahul Gandhi in hiding? Why is he scared of meeting his own party members?" Singh said in a statement.

Several senior leaders have quit the party because of that very reason, she said.

"Rahul Gandhi is reluctant to address issues that exist within the organisation. Why does Rahul Gandhi shy away from meeting party leaders who ask him questions," she said.

She further added: "He (Rahul) is only interested in meeting sycophants and not leaders who reason, question and ask."

Targetting Maken, Singh said the senior Congress leader "misbehaved" with her and other office bearers of the Delhi Women's Congress. "When the same was brought to the notice of Rahul Gandhi, our pleas fell on deaf ears," she claimed.

Also Read: Arvind Kejriwal mocks Ajay Maken, claims Congress leader may join BJP after MCD polls

The former DCW chief added: It is sheer hypocrisy that when (BJP leader) Vinay Katiyar makes absurd remarks about Priyanka Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi's office expects us to protest against the same. But when we complain of Ajay Maken abusing and threatening us, we are told to take the matter with Maken himself.

Describing herself as a loyal soldier of the Congress, she said she will continue to remain that.

Here is the press statement tweeted by Singh:

Press Statement pic.twitter.com/qKOh9TnGN6  Barkha Shukla Singh (@barkhasingh45) April 20, 2017

She further wrote:

Will always remain a @INCIndia worker. Saddening to see party in such a state. Party does not belong to one person it belongs to its workers  Barkha Shukla Singh (@barkhasingh45) April 20, 2017

In a setback to the Congress ahead of the April 23 MCD polls, former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely and former Youth Congress leader Amit Malik quit the party and joined the BJP on Tuesday.
New Delhi: A total of two persons were killed and three injured after a car ran over them near Delhi`s Kashmere Gate.

A Class 12 student was driving the car.

The student was driving an i20 which ran over five persons on the footpath.

The accident took place at 5.45 am.

The car had three occupants- all Class XII students - of a top Delhi school, said a senior police officer.

While two of the occupants managed to flee, the driver was apprehended by police.

The injured and the deceased persons are yet to be identified.

The driver has been sent for medical examination to determine whether he was drunk at the time of the accident.

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: A major accident was averted after a Delhi-bound Jet Airways flight experienced a nose wheel malfunction after landing, resulting in a steering problem at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).

The incident took place at around 4:30 pm on Wednesday when the 9W 2882, an ATR 72-500, flight from Dehradun lost control and landed on the Left side of runway blocking the main runway for over two hours.

According to an official statement released by the air carrier, all 60 guests and five crew members were safely deplaned.

"Jet Airways flight 9W 2882, an ATR 72-500, from Dehradun to Delhi of April 19, 2017 experienced a nose wheel malfunction after landing, resulting in a steering problem," said the official statement.

"Guests are being looked after by the airline`s guest service teams and the aircraft is being towed away for maintenance," it added.

The operations on the runway started at around 7 pm after the aircraft was removed.

Meanwhile, the incident has been reported to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
New Delhi: In yet another case of negligent driving, at least two persons were killed when an uncontrolled car ran on a footpath in Delhi's Kashmiri Gate on Thursday morning.

According to reports, at least three persons were also injured in the incident.

It has now come to light that the i20 car was being allegedly driven by a minor, who is a Class 12th student.

The minor lost control over the car which ran over people sleeping on a platform in the Kashmeri Gate area.

The minor, who was returning from a party, was also not possessing a driving license.

He has been arrested and sent for medical examination to determine if he was under the influence of alcohol.

Case registered under IPC 304, driver apprehended.Driver claims he has turned 18 but we are verifying documents: Jatin Narwal, DCP North,DP pic.twitter.com/S903S8rYlK  ANI (@ANI_news) April 20, 2017

The owner of the vehicle has also been booked under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code, reports said.
Mumbai: The Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India had not yet reached an agreement on a new plan to clean up the record troubled debt accumulated at the country`s lenders, SS Mundra, a deputy governor at the central bank, said on Thursday.

Mundra, in an interview with CNBC TV18, added it would be "difficult to put a timeline" on when consensus could be reached, but said it "could be very near".

Investors have been waiting for India to come up with a new plan on how to deal with almost $150 billion stressed assets at banks after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said last month it would soon announce new action.

Mundra said among the considerations would be how to provide more capital for the banks, making it important to get consensus from the government, which owns majority stakes in nearly two dozen lenders that together dominate India`s banking system.
New Delhi: India on Thursday said it was keeping a "close watch" on the US tightening the H-1B visa rules which will impact Indian IT industry and professionals, and asserted that the issue will be taken up with the Trump administration.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay called it a "trade and services issue and not a matter relating to immigration."

He said India will make an overall assessment of the impact of the changes after the US' internal process relating to the visa programme was over.

"It is not an immigration issue. It is a trade and services issue... There is a mutuality of interests involved," he said, also referring to large number of US professionals working in American IT companies in India.

In a blow to Indian IT industry and professionals, US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order for tightening the rules of the H-1B visa programme to stop its "abuse" and ensure that the visas are given to the "most- skilled or highest paid" petitioners.

He said visa issue will be part of the India's talks with the countries where changes in visa programme have been made which are impacting Indian professionals.

The MEA spokesperson said the executive order has to be "acted upon".

"It is an internal process in the US which will unfold in the coming days and weeks and we will keep a close watch on that. We will keep this issue on our radar," he told reporters.

The MEA spokesperson also said India had already conveyed to the US about the contribution of Indian IT professionals to the the country's competitiveness and innovation.

Calling the professionals "brick builders" between the two countries, he said there is a "mutuality of interests involved" on the issue.

The US, under the new executive order, proposes to replace the current lottery system for issuing H-1B work visas with a merit-based approach.

He also played down concerns over Australia replacing its popular 457 work visa regime with another programme, saying senior Australian officials have told India that it will have "negligible" impact on Indian professionals who are in high- skill category.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had on Tuesday announced his government's decision to abolish a popular work visa used by over 95,000 foreign workers, majority of them Indians, to tackle the growing unemployment and replace it with a new programme requiring higher English-language proficiency and job skills.
New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, currently on a visit to the US, will take up with the American administration the matter of restrictions on H-1B visas, the government said on Thursday.





Speaking to media here on the executive order signed by US President Donald Trump on H-1B visas, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the US had committed certain number of these visas to India at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and "we would definitely want" America to honour that commitment.



"It is not just the US, but several countries now adopting such (restrictive) measures," she said.



The restrictive visa regime would also impact the US companies operating in India, the Minister said.



"So it is not a unilateral (issue) where Indian companies would have to face this... there are several US companies in India which are doing business for years here," she said.



While the US is reviewing its visa programme for foreign workers, Australia has recently abolished a temporary work visa programme -- the 457 visa.



Citing the examples of these countries tightening their visa regime for movement of skilled professionals, Sitharaman said: "Countries are now very clearly raising protectionist walls as regards service trade."



"I protest comparison of asylum-seeking migrants with skilled professionals."



To a question whether India would take the US and Australia to the WTO`s dispute resolution mechanism, she replied: "At this stage, we will engage constructively. At the same time, India will ensure that it will not accept unfair treatment."



In this connection, Sitharaman said India has submitted a proposal to the WTO for an agreement on trade facilitation in services (TFS)



"It is time that we have a global framework within which trade in services can happen. We will be actively pursuing our proposal in the WTO," she said.



India has presented a concept note at the WTO for a TFS Agreement, which proposes a way forward on comprehensively addressing the numerous border and behind-the-border barriers on the lines of the historic trade facilitation agreement in goods.



The TFS proposal aims at liberalising rules for movement of professionals, liberalised visa regime and long-term business visas.



India is pushing for a TFA in services at the WTO as this sector has huge potential and contributes significantly to the country`s economy.



Pointing out that the Indian services sector contributes over 55 percent to the country`s Gross Domestic Product, Sitharaman earlier said India was unable to leverage its strength in services to get the necessary benefits in the TFA in goods signed with the Asean group, for instance.



Meanwhile, India`s paper for a proposed TFS Agreement has been well received by many member countries, WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo told reporters here during a visit last month.


New Delhi: The effects of climate change are beyond imaginable  from places to species and people's livelihood.

Now, a new study suggests that climate change also fuels acts of terrorism and strenghthens recruitment efforts terrorist groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram.

A report commissioned by the German government warned on Thursday that terrorist groups are increasingly using natural resources such as water as a weapon of war, controlling access to it, further compounding and exacerbating resource scarcities.

The study has corroborated evidence of terrorism, insurgency and organised crime thriving in climate-vulnerable Lake Chad, Guatemala, Syria and Afghanistan.

The complex risks arising from climate change, fragility and conflict can contribute to the emergence and growth of terrorist groups, like the Boko Haram and Islamic State (IS), said the report titled "Insurgency, Terrorism and Organised Crime in a Warming World" by Berlin think-tank Adelphi.

The report commissioned by the German Foreign Office has found climate change multiples and interacts with existing threats, risks and pressures, like resource scarcity, population growth and urbanisation.

Report author Lukas Rattinger said these factors together could lead to fragility and violent conflict in which these groups could thrive.

"Already vulnerable areas could get pulled into a vicious cycle, leading to the rise of terrorist groups who will find it easier to operate, with consequences for us all," Rattinger said.

The scarcer resources become, the more power is given to those who control them, especially in regions where people are particularly reliant on natural resources for their livelihoods.

For example, around Lake Chad in Africa, climate change contributes to resource scarcities that increase local competition for land and water. This competition in turn often fuels social tensions and even violent conflict.

At the same time, this resource scarcity erodes the livelihoods of many people, aggravates poverty and unemployment, and leads to population displacement.

Terrorist groups such as Boko Haram gain power in this fragile environment.

As climate change affects food security and the availability of water, and land, affected people will become more vulnerable not only to negative climate impacts but also to recruitment by terrorist groups offering alternative livelihoods and economic incentives.

Sometimes, terrorist groups try to fill the gap left by the state by providing basic services to build support among the local population. As climate impacts worsen, some states will increasingly struggle to provide services and maintain their legitimacy.

The report comes as famine, drought and war threaten millions in the region around Lake Chad.

On March 31, the UN Security Council passed a resolution on the Lake Chad region - home to Boko Haram - outlining their concern about the interplay of factors leading to the crisis there and calling for better collaboration amongst UN armed to deal with the situation.

Adelphi is a leading independent think tank and public policy consultancy on climate, environment and development.

The findings indicate that building resilient communities capable of adapting to the impacts of global warming may be a key tool in minimising the threat from terrorist organisations around the world.

(With IANS inputs)
New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday slammed the Art of Living (AOL) over Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's statement blaming Centre and the green panel for Yamuna floodplain damage, terming it 'shocking'.

"You have no sense of responsibility. Who gave you liberty to speak whatever you want to. It is shocking ," a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said.

NGT also asked AOL and other parties to file reply and objections to expert panel report on Yamuna floodplain damage due to the World Culture Festival, which was held in March last year.

Earlier this month, the green panel stated that spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living was responsible for destroying the Yamuna floodplain during the cultural extravaganza.

The report of an expert committee set up by NGT had said it would take Rs 42.02 crore and a decade for the ecological rehabilitation of the Yamuna floodplains from adverse damages caused by the festival.

Submitting an action plan for ecological rehabilitation of the impacted floodplain, the seven-member committee also suggested that the costs be divided between AOL and other agencies, as the tribunal sees fit.

However, the foundation cried foul while terming the report to be a 'conspiracy'.

Spiritual figure Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Tuesday blamed the government and the NGT for permitting AOL to hold the festival on the Yamuna river bed and said they should be held responsible if any environmental damage was caused.
Beijing: Britain will lose more than the European Union from its decision to leave the bloc, the EU`s top diplomat said on Thursday, and talks with London were expected to be difficult.



Prime Minister Theresa May formally began Britain`s divorce from the EU last month, declaring there was no turning back, ushering in a tortuous exit process that will test the bloc`s cohesion and pitch her country into the unknown.



Britain now has two years to negotiate the terms of the divorce before it comes into effect in late March 2019.



EU`s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said during a visit to Beijing the negotiations would be difficult.



"They will have to dismantle their belonging to a community. We will lose an important member state," she told students at the elite Tsinghua University.



"Let me tell you that to me all member states are important, equally, because one can be contributing more on some policies than others. But I think our British friends will lose more than what we lose," she said.



Brexit negotiations will start as planned in June after Britons vote in a snap general election, the EU said on Wednesday. Britain`s Parliament has endorsed May`s call for a vote on June 8.



"It`s clear in our treaties that it is two years, only two years, from when the negotiations start, that was March this year. This cannot be delayed. I do not expect that it will be faster than that," Mogherini said.



China has looked on with some concern at the Brexit process, nervous about instability in the bloc that is China`s largest trading partner. It will lose around a sixth of its economic output when Britain leaves the EU.



"The European Union, even after the UK will be out, will continue to be the first market in the world, the second largest economy in the world," Mogherini said.



"I am seeing all our partners in these months telling us that the European Union is needed, and this is the message I also get from here in China that the European Union is an indispensable partner in the world today," she said.
New Delhi: Summer is here and its time to put your best forward in trendiest outfits that are easy on skin keeping the warm weather in mind. From opting light layering to avoid sun burn to mixing and matching can add some fashion quotient in your daily wear dressing style, experts say.

Rajesh Jain, Business Head of brand Rangriti and designer Sumona Parekh doles out tips on how one can glamourise their summer outfits keeping scorching sun.

* Go loud this summer, by incorporating colour in your wardrobe. Add some cheer to your dull days with bright coloured clothes.

* Start a process of mix and match of top with the bottoms, you may pair a print top for solid pants or a solid top for a print skirt.

* Surprise people with this dash of awesomeness. Mixing and matching of scarves, dupattas and sober dress adds a dash of confidence to one's personality. A great way to wear a scarf or dupatta if you have two contrasting colours that can go well with the pastel colour dress.

* Light layers with natural fabrics can be a wonderful way to beat the heat during summer. Go for asymmetrical jacket over a tunic and palazzos for instant chic. Asymmetrical cuts remain popular this year.

* For the cool casual look this summer you may pair Indie top of kurti with slim fit pants or a short kurti with floral Plazzo.

* One can also pair a long straight kurta with slim fit pants or short kurtas with jeans to create own style this season.

* Sharp shoulder blades are still in fashion trends this summer too. Invest in a strapless blouse or get yourself a peasant top to get into sultry summer mode and let a bronzed look keep you head and shoulders above the rest.
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has questioned senior Congress leader and party Treasurer Motilal Vora and former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in connection with its money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the allotment of a plot to Associated Journals Limited (AJL) in Panchkula in 2005.

Notably, Associated Journals Limited is the publisher of the National Herald newspaper.

As per officials, Vora (88) was questioned two days back at his residence here. Hooda was also questioned during the same time in Chandigarh.

Vora was admitted to the Fortis Escorts hospital on April 12 following health complications.



The ED has recorded the statements of the two Congress leaders under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.

They were also confronted with some documents seized and recovered in this case, officials added.

Vora was questioned in the case in his capacity as the Chairman and Managing Director of the Associated Journal Limited (AJL), they added.

The ED questioned Vora at his residence making a special concession in this regard owing to his old age and his request to be grilled at home.

The agency, early last year, had filed a criminal complaint and booked Hooda, AJL officials and others on charges of alleged money laundering, taking cognisance of a Haryana State Vigilance Bureau FIR.

The Vigilance Bureau had registered a case of cheating and corruption against Hooda and four officials who were in HUDA for allegedly re-allotting a plot to AJL in Panchkula in 2005.

Hooda had then termed the action as "political vendetta" and said there was no wrong doing.

The vigilance case that was registered under various IPC sections, including criminal breach of trust by a public servant, cheating, criminal conspiracy and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, was made against Hooda, the then Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) chairman, an ex-officio post held by him as the CM, and four other top officials of HUDA on May 5 this year.

The plot had been initially allotted to AJL in 1982.

After the expiry of the lease period in 1996, then Haryana Vikas Party government led by Bansi Lal took back its possession. It was re-allotted to AJL after the Congress leader came to power in 2005.

The Vigilance Bureau had alleged that the act by the then HUDA chairman and the officials had caused a huge financial loss to HUDA as the plot should have been sold through open auction instead of being allotted again to AJL.

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was on Thursday questioned for nine hours by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case registered against him and others.

News agency ANI quoted ED sources as saying that around 100 questions were asked by the probe agency to Singh.

ED sources added that the Himachal CM and the Congress veteran was unable to answer some questions and opted to reply to the unanswered queries later.

The agency had summoned Singh in order to record his statement in this case and also to confront him with some documents it has seized and recovered in this case of disproportionate assets.

The ED summons have come close on the heels of filing of a charge sheet by the CBI against Singh, his wife and others for allegedly amassing assets worth around Rs 10 crore disproportionate to their known sources of income.

In the first week of April, the ED attached Singh's Delhi farmhouse worth Rs 27.29 crore.

The ED had filed a criminal case under the PMLA against Virbhadra Singh, his wife Pratibha, Life Insurance Corporation agent Anand Chauhan, his associate Chunni Lal, and others in 2015 following the CBI's FIR dated September 23, that year.

The case was registered after a preliminary inquiry found that Singh as Union Minister from 2009 to 2012 allegedly accumulated assets worth Rs 6.03 crore, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income.
Shimla: Ten of the 45 passengers who were killed when a private bus fell into a Himachal Pradesh river are yet to be identified even after 24 hours of the accident, an official said on Thursday.



Two people, including the conductor, managed to escape by jumping off the bus belonging to Uttarakhand as it skidded off the road and fell into the Tons river, a tributary of the Yamuna, more than 250 metres below the road.



The accident spot, 12 km from the Uttarakhand border, is near Gumma in Nerva tehsil, some 190 km from the state capital. It is one of the remotest places in the state.



Sub-divisional Magistrate Anil Chauhan said 10 bodies, which are in badly mutilated condition, are yet to be identified.



"All the bodies have been sent to the government hospital in Nerva," he told IANS.



Nerva is some 30 km from the accident spot.



Out of the 45 victims, 13 belonged to Himachal Pradesh, 18 from Uttarakhand and four from Uttar Pradesh.



The bus was on its way to Tuini from Vikasnagar town (both in Uttarakhand), via Himachal Pradesh.



Rescue workers said the road where the accident occurred was badly damaged and there was no parapet to prevent the vehicle from rolling down.



Himachal Pradesh Transport Minister GS Bali has ordered a probe to ascertain the cause of the accident.
New Delhi: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Thursday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here in connection with a money laundering case registered against him and others.

The agency has summoned Singh in order to record his statement in this case and also to confront him with some documents it has seized and recovered in this case of disproportionate assets.

The CM, last week, had also sent a communication to the agency stating his reasons for not being able to appear before it all this while and had sought a new date from it, after which the new summons were issued for today.

The ED had yesterday refused to give any assurance in the Delhi High Court that it will not arrest Singh when he appears before it.

The submission was made before Justice R K Gauba by the ED during the hearing of Singh's plea for quashing of the money laundering proceedings against him.

The ED summons have come close on the heels of filing of a charge sheet by the CBI against Singh, his wife and others for allegedly amassing assets worth around Rs 10 crore disproportionate to their known sources of income.

The agency had summoned Singh earlier also, but then he had excused himself stating he had official commitments.

The ED has already questioned his wife Pratibha and son Vikramaditya in connection with the case.

It had filed a case under the anti-money laundering law against the Himachal Pradesh chief minister, his family members and others after taking cognisance of a complaint filed by the CBI in this regard in September 2015.

The agency is probing allegations against Singh and his family members of amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income between 2009 and 2011 when he was the Union Minister of Steel. It has also attached assets worth about Rs 14 crore in the case.

The CBI charge sheet alleged that Singh had amassed assets worth around Rs 10 crore which were disproportionate by 192 per cent of his total income during his tenure as a Union minister.

The final report was filed against nine persons for alleged offences punishable under section 109 (abetment) and 465 (punishment for forgery) of the IPC and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, arrayed around 225 witnesses and 442 documents.

Besides the 82-year-old Congress leader and his wife Pratibha Singh, the report also arraigned Chunni Lal Chauhan, Joginder Singh Ghalta, Prem Raj, Vakamulla Chandrasekhar, Lawan Kumar Roach and Ram Prakash Bhatia as accused.

It also named as accused LIC agent Anand Chauhan, who is currently in judicial custody. Chauhan was arrested by the ED on July 9 last year in this money laundering case.
New Delhi: National passenger carrier Air India has requested the Delhi Police to hasten its inquiry over the airline`s complaint against Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who had assaulted one of the airline`s staffer.

According to sources in Air India, the slow progress of the case -- which occurred nearly a month ago -- has affected the morale of the airline`s employees, leading to a "loss of faith" in the rule of law.

"Our CMD (Chairman and Managing Director) had written a letter to the Commissioner of Police of Delhi two days back (April 18)," the Air India source said.

"... the letter mentioned that AI`s complaint about the recent assault by the Shiv Sena MP has been converted into a FIR and that all of AI`s employees have been called in for questioning and that the police have also taken the CCTV footage."

The source added: "Unfortunately, the MP against whom the complaint has been lodged has neither been called for questioning nor any action taken against him. Because of the slow progress of the case, the morale of employees is getting down and they are losing faith in the rule of law."

The source said the letter was "hand-delivered" to the office of the Commissioner of Police, Delhi.

On March 23, the flag carrier had placed a ban on flying Shiv Sena MP Gaikwad aboard its planes, after he assaulted a senior manager of AI.

Following the ban by AI, other private air passenger carriers also imposed a similar restriction on the Shiv Sena MP. However, the ban was subsequently lifted on advise of the Civil Aviation Ministry after Gaikwad expressed "regrets" in the Lok Sabha over the March 23 incident.

He, however, refused to apologise to the Air India senior manager whom he admitted he had assaulted.
New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s intervention to allow the Punjab government to sell surplus power to Pakistan or Nepal in the financial interest of the cash-strapped state.

At an hour-long meeting with Modi here, Amarinder also sought the Centre`s support to make agriculture more sustainable for the state`s farmers by putting in place a "Deficiency Price Payment" mechanism to encourage a shift to non-paddy cultivation, Chief Minister`s media adviser Raveen Thukral said.

Expressing concern over the problems faced by the Punjab farmers living in border areas, Amarinder also requested an increase in the central government`s compensation for such farmers to ensure effective and stronger border management.

The Chief Minister also sought Modi`s intervention to prevent a possible revival of package of concessions to neighbouring states, as it would negate the Punjab government`s efforts to bring in investment, create jobs for the unemployed youths and revive the state`s economy, Thukral said.

Pointing to the 1,000 MW surplus power availability in Punjab after meeting its internal demands, the Chief Minister said sale of power to neighbouring Pakistan or Nepal, as the case may be, would save people in Punjab from the burden of any extra taxes and also save the power consumers from the extra burden of fixed cost of power generating units.

"Since Punjab shares its border with Pakistan and its Goindwal Sahib thermal power plant is situated close to the international border, it would not be difficult for the state to supply power to that country on continuous basis," the Chief Minister noted.

He said Punjab would be happy to supply electricity also to Nepal, which intends to meet its power shortfall by purchasing it from India, if the government of India agrees.

Although the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) had, in the recent past, offered supply of power in tender enquiries floated for the purpose, it had not been successful in this, Amarinder said, and urged the Prime Minister to advise the Union Ministry of Power to favourably consider the state government`s proposal to sell power either to Pakistan or Nepal.

Referring to the plight of the state`s farmers, who are suffering from declining real farm incomes due to agricultural stagnation, the Chief Minister stressed the need for diversification of farming away for paddy.

The Chief Minister also batted for compensation for farmers owning land beyond the international border with Pakistan, as they face significant restrictions on the types of crops to be cultivated due to security reasons.

Amarinder Singh expressed concern over the reported move to revive the package of concessions for the neighbouring hill states of Himachal Praesh and Jammu and Kashmir, and urged the Prime Minister to ensure that no such special package was given to these states at the cost of Punjab`s economic development.

"If at all a special package is to be given, then Punjab should also be treated at par by granting a similar package," Amarinder demanded, pointing out that the state also suffers a massive handicap in promoting industry due to the 554-km-long international borders with Pakistan and the sub-mountainous region in the Aravali foothills.
New Delhi: The Central government on Thursday opposed any restrictions on public comments by politicians holding public offices, including ministers, other than those prescribed under the Constitution as the Supreme Court indicated that it may refer the issue to the larger Constitution bench.



"We don't want to open new avenues of restrictions," said lawyer Madhvi Divan as the bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar asked amicus curiae Fali S. Nariman and Harish Salve to frame the questions that could be referred to the Constitution bench to decide.



The position taken by the central government on Thursday is continuation of the stand taken earlier by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who had told the court that restraining politicians and public figures from commenting on crimes being investigated would be an infringement of the freedom of speech and expression.



"If an offence of rape is committed and someone says it's a political conspiracy, then there can be no restriction on such expressions. He is not trivialising the incident," the Attorney General told the court during the last hearing on March 29.



The Centre reiterated its position in the course of the hearing wherein the court is examining the freedom of expression of a person in power vis-a-vis a rape victim's fundamental right of protection of life, personal liberty and right to fair investigation and trial.



The issue is rooted in Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan's remarks about the 2016 gang-rape case in Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. He had described it as a "political conspiracy". Khan has already regretted his statement.



The core issue being examined by the court is whether the right conferred under Article 19(1)(a) is to be controlled singularly by the restrictions under Article 19(2) or whether Article 21, too, would have any impact on it.



Addressing the court, Salve assailed the central government's approach of reading the Constitution textually without giving it a philosophy.



"Government is going back to 1947. Says read the Constitution textually. Don't give Constitution a philosophy," Salve said, assailing the government's position including its stand on whether privacy is a right.



The Centre in the hearing of challenge to the Aadhaar scheme had said that privacy was not a fundamental right and referred to 1954 (by eight judges) and 1964 (by six judges) judgments, which had said that the privacy was not a fundamental right that could be read in Article 21 guaranteeing protection of life and personal liberty.



"You can't treat the Constitution as an Income Tax Act," Salve told the court, saying that Article 14 (Right to Equality), Article 19 (Freedom of Speech and Expression) and Article 21 (Protection of Life and Personal Liberty) were core to the basic structure of the Constitution and had to be seen as a golden trilogy.



He said that the enforcement of the fundamental rights could not be against the State alone, as today there were large power centres outside the State apparatus and they could not be allowed to invade the right to privacy.



Next hearing of the matter has been scheduled for May 2.


Delhi: A day after summoning the Pakistan deputy high commissioner in connection with Kulbhushan Jadhav's death sentence by a military court there, India said on Thursday that it was 'concerned' as it had no information about the location or the condition of the Indian national.

"India has now asked for consular access to Jadhav for the 15th time. India awaits formal response from Pakistan to its two demands - consular access and details of the trial proceedings against Jadhav," MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

"We don't know anything about Jadhav's location or condition in Pakistan, it is a matter of concern for India. We are concerned about his health and whereabouts," he maintained.

"Pakistan claims there has been legal proceedings against Jadhav. If there has been any proceedings against (him), we would, officially, like to see details of those proceedings," Baglay said.

India would also like to know how it can proceed in the case, and asked Shah about various options available in Pakistani legal system, he added.

On reports that Pakistan will present a dossier on Jadhav with evidence of his alleged spying activities, Baglay merely said that in past also Pakistan has attempted to "misinform" the international community.

Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner Syed Haidar Shah was called by the External Affairs Ministry yesterday which reiterated that Jadhav was innocent and false charges were framed against him, according to sources, PTI reported.

The Pakistan diplomat was also told that not giving consular access to Jadhav amounted to violation of human rights as well international norms as the two countries have a bilateral agreement on consular access.

Upping the ante, Pakistan Army had on Monday ruled out consular access to 46-year-old Jadhav, days after India had made a strong case for access to the Indian prisoner on death row.

Indian envoy Gautam Bambawale had met the Pakistan foreign secretary last week and demanded a certified copy of the chargesheet and the Army court order in the case, besides consular access to the retired Indian Navy officer.

"We definitely want to appeal against the judgement but we cannot do it unless we have the details of charges and a copy of verdict. So, my demand was that the details of the charge sheet and a copy of the verdict be provided to us," Bambawale had said after the meeting.

(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: In a major breakthrough, Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Thursday arrested at least three suspected terrorists believed to be associated with the global terror outfit, the Islamic State (ISIS).

According to reports, those arrested are believed to be part of an ISIS module that was looking for potential recruits in Bihar, UP, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

The Uttar Pradesh ATS, with the help of police teams from six states, arrested these three suspected ISIS terrorists from Jalandhar in Punjab, Mumbai and Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh.

The Uttar Pradesh ATS had earlier received information that a group is being readied for terror-related activities.

"Special Cell of Delhi Police, CI cell of Andhra, Maharashtra ATS, Punjab and Bihar Police were involved in the operation," a UP ATS spokesperson said.

Three persons were arrested on charges of hatching terror conspiracies, he added.

The joint operation by police teams in six states has busted an inter-state ISIS terror module, reports said.

Meanwhile, more raids are being conducted at various places in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar following inputs about suspected ISIS terror activities.

Six more people have been detained by the security forces in this connection.

Those arrested will be grilled by the UP ATS officials for potential leads after which they will be produced before a Lucknow court.
New Delhi: In what could be politically significant, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday met Congress President Sonia Gandhi at her residence here.

He is learned to have advocated unity among Opposition parties to take on the BJP-led NDA.

JD(U) also used the meeting to call for a joint Opposition candidate for the election to the President's post and urged Gandhi to take the lead in the matter, as per PTI.

Its spokesperson KC Tyagi, however, insisted that the issue of Presidential election was not discussed in the meeting and added it was his party's view that a strong joint opposition candidate will be in national interest.

"There should a joint Opposition candidate for the top Constitutional post and Sonia Gandhi being the leader of the largest Opposition party should take the lead," he said.

Kumar has already taken up the matter with leaders of the Left parties and received a good response, he added.

Kumar has been calling for forging a grand alliance of 'secular parties' at the national level on the lines of the 2015 electoral alliance or 'Mahagathbandhan' in Bihar to take on the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is learned to have raised the issue with Gandhi.

The Congress is a partner in the Bihar government with Kumar's JD(U) and Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD, after the three parties contested and won the Assembly elections as part of the grand alliance.

Earlier too, on April 03, Nitish had stressed on a grand alliance of Opposition parties at the national level to stop the surge of the BJP and had urged the Congress and Left parties to take initiative for this.

"The BJP's victory in Uttar Pradesh was mainly because of lack of a Bihar-like 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) there. If you add the vote percentage of the Samajwadi Party, the Congress and the BSP, it is 10 per cent more than the votes polled by the BJP," he had told mediapersons in Patna.

Kumar, who is also the JD(U) national president, had added, "A Bihar-like grand alliance is the solution to check the surge of the BJP and for this, the Congress and the Left parties should take the initiative. A 'mahagathbandhan' like this at the national level will be 'maha safal' (a grand success)."

He had emphasised, "Being a bigger party, it is Congress' responsibility to take the initiative of bringing all major non-BJP parties on one platform. I had talks with some Left leaders in this connection and I wish they take an initiative to this effect to throw the BJP-led NDA out of power in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

BJP won a landslide victory in recently held Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and had bagged 325 seats along with its allies.

The saffron party also won majority in Uttarakhand Assembly elections and managed to form governments in Goa and Manipur.

(With PTI inputs)
Delhi: Hitting back at China over Arunachal Pradesh, India on Thursday said that assigning invented names to towns of the neighbour does not make illegal territorial claims legal.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay also asserted that Arunachal Pradesh was an integral part of India.

"Assigning invented names to towns of your neighbour does not make illegal territorial claims legal. Arunachal Pradesh is and will always be an integral part of India," Baglay told reporters.

When asked if India has taken up the matter with China, he said the Chinese government has not communicated anything officially so far and the ministry has seen only reports on the development.

China had yesterday announced that it had 'standardised' official names for six places in Arunachal Pradesh and had termed the provocative move as a 'legitimate action'.

Their move had come days after Beijing had lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lama's visit to the frontier state.

The state media in Beijing had said that the move was aimed at reaffirming China's claim over Arunachal Pradesh.

China claims the state as 'South Tibet'.

"China's Ministry of Civil Affairs announced on April 14 that it had standardised in Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabet the names of six places in 'South Tibet', which India calls 'Arunachal Pradesh', in accordance with the regulations of the central government," state-run Global Times had reported.

The official names of the six places using the Roman alphabet are Wo'gyainling, Mila Ri, Qoidengarbo Ri, Mainquka, Bumo La and Namkapub Ri.

"These names reflect China's territorial claim over South Tibet (Arunachal Pradesh) is supported by clear evidence in terms of history, culture and administration," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang had told reporters, as per PTI.

Defending the action to standardise the names, Lu had said, "to issue these names is actually carried out in accordance with the regulations about the names of the localities and it is a legitimate action by the Chinese government".

"Let me stress that about the Indian government's indulgence of (the) Dalai Lama activities in disputed eastern section of the India-China boundary and also about his anti- China activities, this is something we are firmly against. These activities are also against the Indian government's commitments to China," Lu had added when asked about the significance of standardisation of names.

Asked why it took China so long to standardise the names and whether the sudden move was in retaliation to the Dalai Lama's recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh, he had further said that China chose this time to announce the standardisation as it was now doing a second census of names of localities and an important part of it was to standardise names in ethnic languages.

"In the next step, we will also step up our study of those names in Tibetan ethnic languages and in the next step we will announce more standardisation of these names," he had gone on to say said.

Reiterating that China's claims over the east section of India-China boundary in Arunachal Pradesh were clear and consistent, Lu had said, "these names have been passed on from generation to generation by people who have lived there for generations, the Tibetan ethnic and Monpa ethnic groups. It is also an example that shows China has clear administration over these areas and there are many activities by the Chinese people in that area."

China's move had come just days after the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh, which was seventh since the 81-year-old spiritual leader fled from Tibet through Tawang and sought refuge in India.

During the Dalai Lama's Arunachal Pradesh visit, China had warned India that it will take "necessary measures" to defend its territorial sovereignty and interests.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488 km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). While China claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, India asserts that the dispute covers Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war.

The two sides have so far held 19 rounds of Special Representatives talks to resolve the boundary dispute.

(With PTI inputs)
Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad on Thursday boarded an Air India flight and travelled business class from Hyderabad to Delhi

Ravi Sir (as Gaikwad, a former teacher, is known in his Osmanabad constituency) travelled business class from Hyderabad to Delhi on Thursday, days after the flying ban was lifted, Gaikwad's aide said.

On March 23, the flag carrier had placed a ban on flying Shiv Sena MP Gaikwad aboard its planes, after he assaulted a senior manager of AI.

The AIR India had lifted the nearly two-week long flying ban on Gaikwad following direction from the Civil Aviation Ministry.

The Sena MP had tendered a letter expressing `regret` over the incident to Civil Aviation Minister A Gajapathi Raju, following which AI revoked the flying ban, closely followed by Federation of Indian Airlines and other private airlines.

Meanwhile, the national passenger carrier has requested the Delhi Police to hasten its inquiry over the airline`s complaint against the Shiv Sena MP.

According to sources in Air India, the slow progress of the case -- which occurred nearly a month ago -- has affected the morale of the airline`s employees, leading to a "loss of faith" in the rule of law.

The source said: "Unfortunately, the MP against whom the complaint has been lodged has neither been called for questioning nor any action taken against him. Because of the slow progress of the case, the morale of employees is getting down and they are losing faith in the rule of law."

The source said the letter was "hand-delivered" to the office of the Commissioner of Police, Delhi.
Lucknow: A Muslim women's body has said that the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) should not act like a kangaroo court and has no right to impose its decisions on issues like 'triple talaq'.

The comments by All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) President Shaista Amber came as the Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government initiated the process of eliciting the views of Muslim women on the 'triple talaq' mode of divorce.

"The AIMPLB should not act like khap panchayat (kangaroo court). They have no right to force their decisions or recommendations on anyone. It is the decision of the court and Parliament, which is finally accepted," Amber said today.

Moreover, in the name of defending the law, three months counselling period mentioned in the Sharia (Islamic law) cannot be overlooked, she added.

Amber, had yesterday attended a meeting called by Uttar Pradesh Women and Family Welfare minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi to elicit the views of Muslim women on the issue of triple talaq.

The state government intends to place these views before the Supreme Court.

"The Constitution has given the right to equality to all...Triple talaq is most unfortunate for Muslim women and the UP government, on the basis of their (Muslim women) opinion, will place its view before the Supreme Court," Baghuguna said.

Bahuguna said that equality in education, security as well as social equality are not just the but also a necessity for every woman.

She said there are several Muslim countries where triple talaq has been done away with adding that the Supreme Court was deliberating on the issue and the UP government will place its views before the apex court based on the opinion of Muslim women.

Those who participated in the meeting called by Bahuguna are learnt to have opined that the option of social boycott of those indulging in triple talaq in an arbitrary manner, as recommended by the AIMPLB, will not help in discouraging the practice.

The AIMPLB had earlier adopted a resolution saying that those who give talaq without Sharia reasons will face social boycott.

It had asserted that Muslims have a "constitutional" right to follow their personal law including the triple talaq mode of divorce.
Wellington: New Zealand is introducing tougher requirements for skilled overseas workers as it tries to control immigration numbers that have reached an all-time high.

The announcement by Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse comes after Australia said it would scrap a temporary visa for skilled overseas workers and US President Donald Trump signed an order he said should help American workers whose jobs are threatened by skilled immigrants.

Woodhouse said in a speech the government would not apologise for the fact that most industries that relied on overseas workers were saying it was becoming more difficult to recruit people from abroad.

He said the government was committed to putting New Zealanders first.

The changes include new income thresholds for immigrants to qualify as skilled or highly skilled.
New Delhi: BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on Thursday complimented an Army officer responsible for tying a man to a jeep's bonnet in Kashmir, saying "everything is fair in love and war" and the "harsh" decision saved lives of civilians and soldiers.

The saffron party's pointsman for Jammu and Kashmir also said the current Kashmir situation is "certainly troubling" but expressed confidence that the PDP-BJP government will handle it.

"The situation is difficult but such situations have been there in the Valley so many times before," he told a news channel, according to a press release.

Asked about the controversial video showing the civilian tied to the army jeep, Madhav said nobody wants this but justified the act saying if one person's human rights are violated in order to protect the human rights of many more, he will leave that judgement to the officer concerned.

"I will compliment him for the decision that he took. He saved the lives of the people in police station, officials and all, and also his own boys. He also did not allow any civilian casualty," he said.

Had the army not done so, then the mob there would have lynched over 50 civilians and almost equal number of security personals there, Madhav claimed.

The other option before the army was to fire indiscriminately because the officer had about 10 soldiers with him, and this would have caused civilian casualties, he said.

The incident happened because reinforcements could not reach in time, he said.

Madhav also criticised the controversial statement made by a state minister calling for "bullets against stones" and said politicians should leave these matters to security forces.
Mumbai: A special NIA court on Thursday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Islamic preacher Zakir Naik on charges of promoting hatred.

The warrant was issued by a Mumbai NIA court.

The latest sanction comes a week after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued another non-bailable warrant against him in a money laundering case.

ED had registered the case in a special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Earlier, the court had sent four summons to Naik, who is in the UAE, to present before it but he didn't appear.

The ED registered the money laundering case last December after a complaint was registered against Naik and others by the NIA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Singapore: Veteran actor Anil Kapoor unveiled his statue at the world famous wax museum Madame Tussauds here.

On Thursday, Anil tweeted a photograph of himself along with his wax sculpture. He captioned it: "I just had to pose! It's so cool. I love it. Madame Tussauds Singapore. This is just an amazing and humbling experience! Thank you!"

Anil also thanked the museum for making his statue "look so good".

On the work front, Anil will next be seen in Mubarakan alongside his nephew Arjun Kapoor and actresses Athiya Shetty and Ileana D'Cruz.

The film, directed by Anees Bazmee, is slated to hit the screens on July 28.

It has been shot in London and is produced by Sony Pictures Networks Productions and Cine1 Studios.

Anil and Arjun both play Sikhs in Mubarakan, and this is the first time that the uncle-nephew pair are acting together on the big screen.
Amritsar: Canada's Indian-origin Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan on Thursday paid obeisance at the Golden Temple here.

He was presented with a robe of honour.

Meanwhile, Sikh radicals raised pro-Khalistan slogans and clashed with Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) task force volunteers outside the Golden Temple complex during Sajjan's visit.

The protestors, belonging to the hardline Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) and other radical organisations, stood outside the Sikh shrine complex with posters, banners, and placards welcoming the Indian-origin Sajjan and condemning the Punjab government.



They raised pro-Khalistan slogans as Sajjan arrived at the 'Harmandir Sahib'. The protestors were stopped by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee task force members from coming close to the visiting Minister.



However, the Canadian Defence Minister avoided the radical elements and was received by top SGPC functionaries, including its president Kirpal Singh Badungar, to a red carpet welcome shortly after 6 am.

The Minister offered prayers inside the sanctum sanctorum for around 15 minutes and listened to hymns. He also took a 'parikrama' (went around the shrine) and sat there awhile.

Wearing a grey turban and a white shirt, Sajjan took a round of the Harmandir Sahib's complex and spent over an hour in its premises.

The first Sikh to become the Defence Minister of a western nation, Sajjan, 46, was later honoured by the SGPC at the shrine complex with a 'siropa' (traditional honour) and presented a replica of the Golden Temple and a sword.

The minister will travel to Chandigarh later today to inaugurate the new office of the Consulate-General of Canada.

The Canadian defence minister reached the holy city of Amritsar from New Delhi on Wednesday evening amid controversy over him being labelled as a "Khalistani sympathiser" by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

He was received at the airport by the district administration officers. Members of some radical groups were also present outside the Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport with banners to welcome Sajjan.

The Minister's family hails from Bambeli village, 15 km from Hoshiarpur. His family had migrated to Canada in mid-1970s, when Sajjan was around five years old.

Amarinder Singh had stirred a controversy last week when he said that he would not meet the visiting Canadian Minister due to his (Sajjan's) links to radical elements who demand for a separate Sikh state, Khalistan.

In New Delhi, Sajjan sought to play down the controversy on Tuesday, saying that he did not want the break-up of any country.

The Shiromani Akali Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have welcomed Sajjan to Punjab and have condemned Amarinder Singh for his stand on the Canadian Minister.

(With Agency inputs)
Hoshiarpur: Canada's Indian-origin Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan was on Thursday accorded a warm reception at his ancestral village of Bambeli, 15 km from here.

A tight security arrangement was made by police for the Canadian Defence minister's visit.

The entire route from Hoshiarpur-Mahilpur road to Bambeli village was decorated by installing big hoardings in honour of Sajjan, who was visiting his native village after 16 years, and on the way, people showered petals on his cavalcade.

He first paid obeisance to the village Gurdwara and was presented a 'Siropa' (robe of honour) jointly by Granthi Onkar Singh and manager of the Gurdwara Balbir Singh.

After paying obeisance, he went to his house to join his family.
Jaipur: A couple was mercilessly thrashed, stripped and then paraded naked in a village in Banswara district of Rajasthan, said reports on Thursday.

According to news agency ANI, the shameful incident took place in Shambhupura village in Banswara on Sunday.

The couple were beaten and stripped following a diktat from the village khap panchayat.

Kachru (20) and his 18-year-old cousin, with whom he had an affair, had married against the wishes of their families.

They had fled to Gujarat to escape the wrath of their families and were brought back by the villagers.

A video of the act was filmed by some locals and later circulated on social media.

Police said several villagers had put pressure on the couples family to teach them a lesson as they were in a relationship despite being cousins.

A case was registered against five people, out of which four have been detained by the police.

Here's is the video of the shameful incident. (Viewers' discretion is advised).
Bengaluru: Producer Shobu Yarlagadda Wednesday said he hopes to amicably resolve the dilemma over the release of multi-lingual film 'Baahubali-The Conclusion' in Karnataka which is facing protests over reported controversial remarks of actor Satyaraj who has played a key character in the movie.

"This is a very sensitive issue, and I don't want to comment much on it. The only thing I want to say is - we will resolve the issue amicably in the interest of all concerned," he told PTI in an interview.

Asked if he would hold talks with pro-Kannada activists to resolve the problem, Yaralagadda said, "We have not yet decided the nature of talks. For now, I do not want to offend anybody by giving any statement."

Asked what kind of loss the film will face if the film is not released in Karnataka, Yaralagadda said he didn't really know. "First, we have to resolve the problem." Many pro-Kannada organizations have threatened to launch a stir against the film's release across the state. They have demanded an apology from Satyaraj, who is playing Kattappa in the film, for reportedly making some controversial remarks some years ago on Cauvery dispute.

Asked what he has been hearing from director SS Rajamouli about the film's release, Assistant Director Srinivas Rao said the director will accept Yaralagadda's decision.

He said the director was right now busy with post-production work.

Rao wanted to know why the issue was being raked up now.

"Why are they (protestors) raising their voice against the release of Baahubali 2? Is it not a fact that Satyaraj had acted in the first part of the film? They could have protested then, why now? It is inappropriate to rake up this issue at this point of time," the assistant director said.

The film is slated for release on April 28.
New Delhi: NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos have finally arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) at 9:18 a.m. EDT on Thursday after a six-hour flight.

The two new crew member lifted off on Russia's Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft, atop a Soyuz-FG rocket, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:13 a.m. EDT Thursday, April 20.

Jack Fischer and Fyodor Yurchikhin are welcomed by Expedition 51 Commander Peggy Whitson of NASA and Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA.

With the arrival of two new crew members, @Space_Station now has 5 people living onboard. Hatch opened at 11:25am ET https://t.co/mzKW5uDsTi pic.twitter.com/VaPbtvw0CP April 20, 2017

The pair joined the three astronauts already living in the orbiting lab and became part of Expedition 51 crewmates.

The Expedition 51 crew members will continue work on hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science aboard the International Space Station, humanitys only microgravity laboratory.

According to NASA, Fischer is a first-time space flier, whereas Yurchikhin is a veteran of four spaceflights. They will spend more than four months aboard the orbiting laboratory before returning to Earth in early September.
Sometimes, there are pearls of profound wisdom that are scattered with effortless grace by a saint. They force us to pause and reflect in this fast moving and highly competitive world.

One such gem that emerged from the depth of contemplative thought was - Sadhu Ko Swarag Chhota Hai, Sadhu Shunya Mein Sama Jata Hai. (Heaven is too small to contain the greatness of a saint, but he can rest in a zero (nothingness)).

Who can truly measure the enigma of a saint?, posed prominent Ram Katha exponent Morari Bapu. While speaking on the topic of Manas Brahma in Burma, the spiritual guru urged listeners to take refuge at the feet of a Realized Soul.

In this day and age when it is difficult to discern holiness, Bapu frankly asked aspirants to assess a saint 360 degree before deciding to surrender to him as a disciple.

And even if one cannot find a person whom he can place on the pedestal of gurudom, then a devotee can make Hanuman ji his Sadaguru or take holy book like Ram Charit Manas as a counsellor.

However, he felt that it is difficult to advance spiritually without any leading light because it is mostly only through guidance that higher truths are revealed.

Explaining the point, Bapu cited interesting mythological episodes like when sage Narada approached Creator Brahma to unravel the mysteries of life.

The Question and Answer session between Narada and Brahma can be useful for us as well:

Narada: What is Satya (Truth)?

Brahma: Bhajan is Satya. Bhajan means three things:

Prayer,chanting, reflection on God etc.

To stop seeing faults in others

When you constantly want to give something to others

Narada: What is Tapa (Penance)?

Brahma: Virah/Viyog(Pain of Separation)  is Tapa or penance. Because this reduces our hunger and need for sleep.

Narada: What is Swarag (Heaven)?

Brahma: Meeting of saint is akin to heaven.

Narada: What is Naraka (Hell)?

Brahma: Ninda  Criticising others is akin to hell.

Having emphatically spoken in favour of the need to take refuge, Bapu then turned to say that there are also some ashreys (shelters) that we in fact need to give up.

Once,god Brahma was sitting in his lok (heavenly abode) when Prajapati (nominated Lord of the demigods) sat at his feet and asked precisely this question - which are the ashreys (dependencies) that a person should eventually leave:

Reflecting on the query, Brahma responded:

When you obtain understanding, leave Dharma Ashrey (Dependency on Religion)  He meant that once a person obtains the essence of spirituality, he can leave over identification with religion. One need not leave ones religious practices, but utility of the tool is over once you reach a destination. Dhan Ashrey(Dependency on Wealth)  While money would continue to help fulfil basic needs and requirements, it should not become the sole aim of life. Dhyana Ashrey (Dependency on Meditation)  One should not be forced to sit in meditation. Meditation and Samadhi should become Sahaj (Effortless). We should do whatever comes to us naturally. Dhanya Ashrey (Dependency on Gratitude)  We should reach a point in life when we expect nothing in return. Not even a word of thanks let alone deep gratitude or vote of thanks from anyone for doing a good turn.

Once we have given up these four, all that is left to do is Bhajan.

Bapu summed up by taking this thought a step further, saying there are only two vital essences based on which an entire lifetime can be spent. The first is ashrey - the refuge in the feet a Realized Soul, and the second, is ashru (tears) which flow out of love and devotion.
Mumbai: Famous across the world for his spiritual powers  Sai Baba  of Shridi has devotees from all walks of life. His devotees travel from across the globe to pay a visit to him and his abode is always thronged by people who worship him to seek his blessings.

However, if you are someone, who has never visited Shirdi, heres a guide for you!

Shirdi is a town in Maharashtra situated at about a distance of 240 kilometres from the capital city of Mumbai.

Located on the Ahmednagar-Manmad Highway, Shirdi is very well connected to the other major cities like Mumbai, Pune and Nashik by road.

If you plan to travel to Shirdi, heres how you can go about planning your itinerary:

By Air:

The nearest airport is in Aurangabad at a distance of 110 kilometers from Shirdi. You can also travel to Mumbai by and then head to your destination by road.

By Road:

You can either hire a private car or book a bus to reach Shirdi. Since this divine destination is one of the most frequented places in Maharashtra, it is well connected with the rest of the state.

A number of tours and travel operators provide transport services to Shirdi from various parts of Maharashtra besides connecting neighbouring states  Gujarat, Goa and Karnataka.

Shirdi is about 130 kms from Aurangabad, 75 kms from Nashik and 160 kilometers from Pune.

By Train

If you wish to travel to Shirdi by train, then you need to reserve your tickets up to Kopergaon, the nearest railway station to your destination. Kopergaon is well- connected to most of the major cities in the country.

Indian Railways IRCTC website will help you find trains nearest to your location.

The Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan Trust offers accommodation facilities and you can pre-book a room by making a reservation online.

The Temple trust also offers meals at very nominal rates.

Besides the facilities provided by the trust, you can find hotels and other accommodation options near and around the main temple premises.
CHARLESTON -- Terry Coulton, known to many for her work with the area's underserved, and Dana Gilbertsen, active in women's issues on Eastern Illinois University's campus, were named Women of Achievement, an annual honor sponsored by the Womens Studies program at EIU.

The awards, presented at the annual Womens History and Awareness Month awards ceremony March 30, recognize women who help improve the quality of womens lives and advance the status of women in the area. One Woman of Achievement award is presented to a community member and one to someone from the EIU campus.

Jonelle DePetro, chairwoman of the Woman of Achievement Awards Committee and a 2002 recipient of the award, said she was thrilled to honor Coulton and Gilbertsen.

"The nominations showcased the contributions these women have made to their organizations and to the betterment of people in their communities," she said.

Coulton, who was honored in the community category, has served as a longtime contributor in mission-inspired service activities with a special emphasis on populations who are often underserved or marginalized. She is a board member of the Hedwig Haus, a home for women and children in crisis in Charleston, for example. One of her nominators noted that Coulton is "the heart and soul of the Hedwig Haus and the community of Charleston."

She also is a member of the local St. Vincent DePaul Society, dedicated to serving the poor and providing others with the opportunity to serve, and a Charleston soup kitchen volunteer. In recent years she has been instrumental in helping students with mission, educational and service trips, including the Haiti Connection.

According to Gilbertsen's nominator, "Dana has committed her entire EIU career to the progress of feminism and gender equality on our campus and in our community."

Gilbertsen, an EIU senior who was honored in the EIU campus category, has raised funds for HOPE and SACIS, served as president of EIU FEM for two years, co-directed and performed in "The Vagina Monologues," and coordinated the S.L.U.T walk. She has worked closely with EIU PRIDE.

She is also trained in both sexual and domestic violence services, and she serves as a children's advocate for HOPE.

"It would be hard to find two more deserving women for this award," DePetro said.
Allahabad: While the Yogi Adityanath government has taken several steps at improving the law and order situation across the state, a shocking incident of loot and murder has thrown a big challenge to the BJP dispensation here.

According to reports, a cash van guard shot dead by some bike-borne miscreants who came to loot cash in Uttar Pradesh's Allahabad district on Thursday.

One of the assailants, who fired at the guard, was wearing a helmet.

The miscreants, who were reportedly carrying pistols, immediately fled from the scene after failing to loot the cash kept in the van.

The van had come to deposit cash at the SBI Bank branch in Pariyawan in Allahabad district.

#WATCH Guard of a cash van shot dead by bikers who came to loot cash in Uttar Pradesh's Allahabad (19.04.17) pic.twitter.com/7Caeweqeyp  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 20, 2017

The shocking incident triggered panic among the locals who ran helter-skelter to save themselves.

The shocking incident was recorded on CCTV camera and is now being examined by the UP Police for potential leads in the case.

A hunt has been launched to arrest the miscreants.

Meanwhile, the guard, who was identified as Vinay Chandra Shukla, was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. However, he succumbed to injuries.

Watch the video of the shocking incident here.
Lucknow: After plugging the loopholes in the state's law and order situation, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has now shifted focus to jailed dons and high profile criminals.

According to PTI, UP CM has now ordered state prison officials to provide same food and treatment to all, whether petty criminals or notorious mafia dons.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's remarks came at a review meeting of the state's Home, Vigilance and Jails department late last night.

There have often been reports and allegations in the past about certain prisoners enjoying privileges in jails including the use of phones etc.

The Chief Minister said the same food should be given to all convicts - petty criminals or mafia dons - lodged in jails and ordered installation of mobile phone jammers, an official spokesman said.

Yogi Adityanath warned officials of the jails department against any leniency shown towards notorious criminals and asserted that they should not be allowed to use medical treatment as an excuse.

In the meeting, the chief minister stressed on effective checks on corruption in all cells of the police and identification of staff members having links with criminals and anti-social elements, the spokesperson said.

With PTI inputs
Lucknow: While Prime Minister Narendra Modi insists on using the word 'divyang' to show respect to physically disabled persons, a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has made highly insensitive remarks against a disabled person during a surprise inspection.

According to reports, Khadi and Village Industries Minister Satyadev Pachauri, who was on a surprise visit to the Khadi Gramodyog Board's Office in the Dolly Bagh locality, was highly annoyed with dirt and filth lying in the office premises. The minister ordered the entire office to be immediately locked up and asked all Board employees to accompany him during the inspection.

He even asked the Khadi Board's CEO to immediately summon all sanitation workers for questioning. When a disabled sanitation worker was presented before him, he inquired if he was a permanent employee or a contractual worker.

On learning that the disabled man in question was a contractual worker, the minister reportedly told the CEO, ''If you recruit the lame and feeble, how will you fulfill the Swachch Bharat mission.''

Ironically, the minister made the insulting remark in front of the disabled worker and the entire incident was caught on camera.

Later, the visuals of the incident were widely shared on the social media.

When quizzed about the incident, the minister denied making such disrespectful comments against the member of the divyang community.
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday arrived in Jhansi to review various developmental works of the state government.

Yogi Adityanath, on his maiden visit to backward Bundelkhand region as UP CM, may inspect various ponds constructed for the purpose of water conservation in the perennially arid zone of the state bordering Madhya Pradesh.

He will also look into works related to drinking water and wheat purchase in the region.

Bundelkhand covers a geographical area of around 70,000 square kilometres and includes seven districts of UP and six districts of MP. It comprises 13 districts in all -- Jhansi, Lalitpur, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Banda and Chitrakoot (all in UP), and Datia, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Panna, Sagar, and Damoh (all in MP).

His visit to Jhansi today assumes significance as it is his first visit to the parched region of the state after assuming office, almost a month ago.

The BJP in its Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra (manifesto for 2017 UP Assembly Elections) had said that it will constitute Bundelkhand Development Board to ensure all-round development of the region.

The manifesto also mentioned that the party will form Pond Development Authority (Talab Vikas Pradhikaran) to ensure conservation and revamping of various ponds.

In a major decision announced on April 2, the Adityanath government approved Rs 47 crore package to ensure immediate availability of drinking water to Bundelkhand region.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister had said that if needed, the state government would make available additional funds under this head, but there should not be any problem of drinking water for the people and the cattle in Bundelkhand region.

The Chief Minister had said that Bundelkhand was continuously ignored in the last 15 years and no step had been taken to ensure the development of the region when SP and BSP were in power.

Adityanath had said he was aware of the hardships faced by the people of the region.

The backwardness of Bundelkhand region was a key election issue, during the recently held Assembly polls.

(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: Union Minister Jayant Sinha on Thursday said the new state government in Uttar Pradesh has asked for a fresh technical evaluation for setting up a green field airport at Jewar, located in Gautam Budh Nagar district, adjoining national capital city Delhi.



According to Minister of State for Civil Aviation Sinha, the current BJP state government in Uttar Pradesh had written to his ministry for a technical evaluation of the proposed site.



The minister pointed out that there was a need to consider development of a green field airport at Jewar, since the IGI airport located here will be utilising its full passenger handling capacity in another 4-8 years time.



Earlier, a technical evaluation of the proposed site at Jewar was conducted, but due to the time lapse there was a need to conduct a fresh study, Sinha said.
Dehradun: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Thursday removed the red beacon from his car after Cabinet decision. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday decided to do away with beacons of all kinds atop all categories of vehicles in the country.

The government is of the considered opinion that beacons on vehicles are perceived symbols of VIP culture and have no place in a democratic country. Beacons, however, will be allowed on vehicles concerned with emergency and relief services, ambulance, fire service etc.

In the light of this decision, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will make necessary provisions in the law. As per reports, the President of India, the Vice-President, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and the Lok Sabha Speaker will only be allowed to use the red beacon.

It was reported last week that the Prime Minister`s Office (PMO) had called a meeting to discuss whether the red beacon should be discarded or restricted to certain dignitaries.
Beijing: China plans to hold a mega summit next month to drum up support from the global community, mainly the Western world, about its OBOR initiative, but just one leader of the key G7 nation is on the guest list so far, dampening Beijing's initial enthusiasm, a media report said on Thursday.

Only one leader of a big Western country is attending the summit on President Xi Jinping's New Silk Road strategy next month, the Reuters reported.

Among the leaders of the powerful Group of Seven industrialised nations, only Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni is on the guest list of the event.

However, the Chinese foreign minister sought to downplay the matter and denied that it had been snubbed.

It was earlier hoped that at least some senior Western leaders, such as British Prime Minister Theresa May, to attend the summit.

But the attendee list announced by Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday didn't have the names of most western leaders.

They have explained to us many times, France has elections in May, as does Germany about then, so their leaders originally were really willing to attend. This is not a platitude, it's the real information we got, Reuters quoted Wang as saying.

Beijing insists that its One Belt, One Road initiative is an economic project to build a new Silk Road linking Asia, Africa and Europe.

China has already dedicated a $40 billion fund for the project and also has invited the global community to invest in the project, which would involve building railways, ports and power grids.

Russia and the Philippines are among 28 leaders, along with the Spanish, Greek, Hungarian, Serb and Polish prime ministers and Swiss and Czech presidents are expected to attend the summit.

This is a positive, cooperative agreement, and we don't want to politicise it, he said when asked if China was upset at the absence of most major Western leaders.

Though China has portrayed the Silk Road initiative is purely an economic activity, many Western countries are concerned about a lack of transparency in the project and are suspicious about China's broader political intents.

India has opposed the project since a section of it, known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, would pass through the PoK.

But Wang dismissed those concerns, saying the Pakistan project had nothing to do with the dispute and India was welcome to participate in it.
Texas: Amid growing tension and ongoing war of words between US, Russia and North Korea, a self-proclaimed messenger of God has claimed that he knows the exact date when the World War III will begin.

He is the mystic who claims to have accurately foretold Donald Trump's presidency.

The self-proclaimed 'supernatural being' has revealed that his visions and study of the Bible and prophecies have resulted in a date on which the nuclear war will fall, according to a report in Daily Star.

Clairvoyant Horacio Villegas envisioned Donald Trump becoming US president as far back as 2015.

Also, he predicted that Trump would become the illuminati king who will bring the world into WW3, the report added.

He also prophesied that Trump would attack Syria. Moreover, he prophesied that Trump's attack on Syria would bring Russia, North Korea and China into the conflict.

He is a Catholic follower, who lives in Texas, US. He claims that he had a dream in which I saw balls of fire falling from the sky and hitting the Earth.

Donald Trump will be crowned the Illuminati King", he claims.

D-Day

He says on the 100th anniversary of the visitation of Our Lady of Fatima  the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus  which is May 13 the World War III will begin.

According to him, The main message that people need to know in order be prepared is that between May 13th and October 13 2017, this war will occur and be over with much devastation, shock and death!

He added that North Korea will be next on the USAs hit-list.

He claims God has kept him single, and with no children just to focus on his message to the people.
Moscow: A Russian court on Thursday placed the elder brother of one of the suspected organisers of the Saint Petersburg metro bombing in custody, local news agencies reported.

Moscow`s Basmanny Court ruled that Akram Azimov was to remain in custody until June 3, agencies reported.

Russia`s FSB security service said the younger brother Abror Azimov, born in 1990, was "one of the organisers" of the attack that killed 14 people.

The FSB said Wednesday that Akram Azimov, who was born in 1988, "helped transport money used to prepare for the attack, as well as arranging contact with emissaries of international terrorist organisations."

Abror Azimov, who is also being held in custody as the investigation continues, denied he had helped mastermind the attack in a court appearance this week.

Russia`s FSB security service said Thursday that it was close to identifying those who ordered the bombing.

FSB head Alexander Bortnikov told reporters that this had been "practically established," Russian news agencies reported.

It was not immediately clear if Bortnikov was referring to a group or an individual.

Authorities have attributed the attack to 22-year-old Akbarjon Djalilov, thought to be a Russian national born in Kyrgyzstan, who died in the blast.

There has been no claim of responsibility but investigators say they are examining possible links to Islamic State jihadists.

Eight other people -- all from mainly Muslim Central Asian countries -- have also been detained in Moscow and Saint Petersburg over alleged involvement in the attack.
Your LifeSpan Center plans to open the world of deception and deceit with the announcement of its Spring Fiesta & Matinee Fundraiser. The first performance will take place beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 5th, with the second opportunity to join in and enjoy at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 6th. Tickets are $40 per person for the Fiesta, and $30 per person for Saturdays Matinee and are available at your LifeSpan Center during regular business hours: (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., or by phone 217-639-5150.

The Champaign Urbana Theater Companys Seven Corpse Dinner murder mystery will be taking center stage, literally, with the production of The Illinois Hillbillies. Tables will be in a theater-in-the-round set up, guaranteeing everyone a good seat. Guests will be encouraged to snoop, eavesdrop, and search for clues! Its all in fun as you piece together as much information as possible in order to solve the mystery and vote on who dun it!.

Fridays Fiesta begins with complementary appetizers and beverages starting at 7 p.m. featuring South-of-the-border savory fare and a 50/50 Raffle opportunity. The Cinco de Mayo-themed dinner will begin at 7:30. Menu offerings will include Cream Cheese & Chorizo Stuffed Mini Peppers topped with Monterey Jack cheese, Mexican Cornbread Salad served with a warm vinaigrette, Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas and Spanish Rice, along with a Mexican Fried Ice Cream dessert  and more!.

Dinner will conclude around 9:30 p.m. with the announcement of the winner of the 50/50 Raffle and the evenings Super Sleuth Award.

And, if Friday night wont work for your schedule - for the first time ever - were offering a Matinee! Bring on the Big Hats & Bow Ties for Saturdays event  doors open at 1:30 p.m.. Saturdays guests will enjoy complementary adult beverages and a fabulous luncheon line-up will include (but not limited to) Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms, Fruit and Caprese Kebabs, Goat Cheese Tarts, Roast Beef Crostini, Cheese Tortellini Pasta Salad, and more with yummy cheesecake and brownie dessert offerings to complete the menu. Are you hungry yet?

The play focuses on the Clumpett family. From cow chips to computer chips  theyve struck it rich! Juthro takes a wrong turn on I-80 and mayhem ensues. Well, were not giving away all the goods --- lets just say that times (and people) have changed since that "other" family moved out west. Youre just going to have to purchase a ticket and join us to see what pandemonium is in store!

The annual dinner theater has become an event that is anticipated by the community. This is an interactive murder mystery between cast and audience. All proceeds from this fundraiser will go to help pay the operating expenses and programs for the Coles County Council on Aging.

Coles County residents are so fortunate to have a beautiful facility that is home to the Council on Aging and available for public use. Your LifeSpan Center provides a large attractive space and accommodations with plenty of parking for our programs and fundraisers. If you havent been to LifeSpan Center you definitely need tosoon!

The Coles County Council on Aging offices are located at the LifeSpan Center, 11021 E. Co. Rd. 800N, Charleston. The telephone number is 217-639-5150 for the Coles County Council on Aging and LifeSpan Center. Come join us each weekday at noon for Lunch at LifeSpan.
Beijing: China is known for adopting harsh measures when it comes to making its citizens follow the state policies. Unperturbed by criticism of being human rights violator, China has come up with its own way of clamping down on religious extremism in the far western region of Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people.

Hundreds of people have died in recent years in Xinjiang in unrest blamed by Beijing on Islamist militants and separatists, though rights groups say the violence is more a reaction to repressive Chinese policies.

The government strongly denies committing any abuses in Xinjiang and insists the legal, cultural and religious rights of Uighurs, a Turkic ethnic group, are fully protected.

Pakistan, the all-weather ally of China, has chosen to stay mum on the ordeal of Muslims in Xinjiang.

Here are a range of measures, from increased surveillance to strict controls of Muslim activities, implemented by China in Xinjiang:
Seoul: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States was looking at ways to pressure North Korea over its nuclear programme as North Korean state media warned the Americans of a "super-mighty preemptive strike", saying don`t "mess with us".



US President Donald Trump has taken a hard line with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has rebuffed admonitions from sole major ally China and proceeded with nuclear and missile programmes in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.



Reclusive North Korea regularly threatens to destroy Japan, South Korea, and the United States and has shown no let-up in its belligerence after a failed missile test on Sunday, a day after putting on a huge display of missiles at a parade in Pyongyang.



"We`re reviewing all the status of North Korea, both in terms of state sponsorship of terrorism as well as the other ways in which we can bring pressure on the regime in Pyongyang to re-engage with us, but re-engage with us on a different footing than past talks have been held," Tillerson told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.



US Vice President Mike Pence, on a tour of Asian allies, has said repeatedly the "era of strategic patience" with North Korea is over.





US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, on a visit to London, said the military option must be part of the pressure brought to bear.



"Allowing this dictator to have that kind of power is not something that civilised nations can allow to happen," he said in reference to Kim.



Ryan said he was encouraged by the results of efforts to work with China to reduce tensions, but that it was unacceptable North Korea might be able to strike allies with nuclear weapons.



North and South Korea are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.



ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM

South Korea`s acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, at a meeting with top officials on Thursday, repeatedly called for the military and security ministries to maintain vigilance.



South Korean presidential candidates clashed on Wednesday night in a TV debate over the planned U.S.-supplied Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system which has angered China, with frontrunner Moon Jae-in criticised for leaving his options open.



Hwang and Pence on Monday reaffirmed their plans to go ahead with the THAAD, but the decision will be up to the next Korean president. For its part, China says the system`s powerful radar is a threat to its security.



The North has warned of a nuclear strike against the United States if provoked. It has said it has developed a missile that can strike the mainland United States, but officials and experts believe it is some time away from mastering the necessary technology, including miniaturising a nuclear warhead.



The United States and Russia clashed on Wednesday at the United Nations over a U.S.-drafted Security Council statement to condemn North Korea`s latest failed ballistic missile test, to which diplomats said China had agreed.



Such statements by the 15-member council have to be agreed by consensus.



Previous statements denouncing earlier missile launches "welcomed efforts by council members, as well as other states, to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive solution through dialogue". The latest draft statement dropped "through dialogue" and Russia requested it be included again.



"When we requested to restore the agreed language that was of political importance and expressed commitment to continue to work on the draft ... the U.S. delegation without providing any explanations cancelled the work on the draft," the Russian U.N. mission said in a statement.



There has been some confusion over the whereabouts of a U.S. aircraft carrier group after Trump said last week that he had sent an "armada" as a warning to North Korea even as the ships were still far from Korean waters.



The U.S. military`s Pacific Command explained that the USS Carl Vinson strike group first had to complete a shorter-than-initially planned period of training with Australia. But it was now heading for the Western Pacific as ordered, it said.



North Korea did not refer to the mix-up but said the United States and its allies "should not mess with us".



The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North`s ruling Workers` Party, did not mince its words in a commentary, saying North Korea was fully prepared for any U.S. attack.



"In the case of our super-mighty preemptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only U.S. imperialists` invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the U.S. mainland and reduce them to ashes."
SEOUL: North Korean state media warned the United States of a "super-mighty preemptive strike" after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States was looking at ways to bring pressure to bear on North Korea over its nuclear programme.

U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a hard line with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has rebuffed admonitions from sole major ally China and proceeded with nuclear and missile programmes in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North`s ruling Workers` Party, did not mince its words.

"In the case of our super-mighty preemptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only U.S. imperialists` invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the U.S. mainland and reduce them to ashes," it said.

Reclusive North Korea regularly threatens to destroy Japan, South Korea and the United States and has shown no let-up in its belligerence after a failed missile test on Sunday, a day after putting on a huge display of missiles at a parade in Pyongyang.

"We`re reviewing all the status of North Korea, both in terms of state sponsorship of terrorism as well as the other ways in which we can bring pressure on the regime in Pyongyang to re-engage with us, but re-engage with us on a different footing than past talks have been held," Tillerson told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, on a tour of Asian allies, has said repeatedly an "era of strategic patience" with North Korea is over.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said during a visit to London the military option must be part of the pressure brought to bear.

"Allowing this dictator to have that kind of power is not something that civilised nations can allow to happen," he said in reference to Kim.

Ryan said he was encouraged by the results of efforts to work with China to reduce tension, but that it was unacceptable North Korea might be able to strike allies with nuclear weapons.

North and South Korea are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

`MAX THUNDER`

South Korea`s acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, at a meeting with top officials on Thursday, repeatedly called for the military and security ministries to maintain vigilance.

The defence ministry said U.S. and South Korean air forces were conducting an annual training exercise, codenamed Max Thunder, until April 28. North Korea routinely labels such exercises preparations for invasion.

"We are conducting a practical and more intensive exercise than ever," South Korean pilot Lieutenant Colonel Lee Bum-chul told reporters. "Through this exercise, I am sure we can deter war and remove our enemy`s intention to provoke us."

South Korean presidential candidates clashed on Wednesday night in a debate over the planned deployment in South Korea of a U.S.-supplied Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system, which has angered China.

Frontrunner Moon Jae-in was criticised for leaving his options open before the May 9 election.

On Monday, Hwang and Pence reaffirmed their plans to go ahead with the THAAD, but the decision will be up to the next South Korean president. For its part, China says the system`s powerful radar is a threat to its security.

The North has said it has developed a missile that can strike the mainland United States, but officials and experts believe it is some time away from mastering the necessary technology, including miniaturising a nuclear warhead.

RUSSIA, U.S. AT ODDS

The United States and Russia clashed at the United Nations on Wednesday over a U.S.-drafted Security Council statement to condemn North Korea`s latest failed ballistic missile test.

Diplomats said China had agreed to the statement.

Such statements by the 15-member council have to be agreed by consensus.

Previous statements denouncing missile launches "welcomed efforts by council members, as well as other states, to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive solution through dialogue". The latest draft statement dropped "through dialogue" and Russia requested it be included again.

"When we requested to restore the agreed language that was of political importance and expressed commitment to continue to work on the draft ... the U.S. delegation without providing any explanations cancelled the work on the draft," the Russian U.N. mission said in a statement.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China believed in the Security Council maintaining unity.

"Speaking with one voice is extremely important to the Security Council appropriately responding to the relevant issue on the peninsula," he told reporters.

There has been some confusion over the whereabouts of a U.S. aircraft carrier group after Trump said last week he had sent an "armada" as a warning to North Korea, even as the ships were still far from Korean waters.

The U.S. military`s Pacific Command explained that the USS Carl Vinson strike group first had to complete a shorter-than-planned period of training with Australia. It was now heading for the Western Pacific as ordered, it said.

China`s influential Global Times newspaper, which is published by the People`s Daily, the Communist Party`s official paper, wondered whether the misdirection was deliberate.

"The truth seems to be that the U.S. military and president jointly created fake news and it is without doubt a rare scandal in U.S. history, which will be bound to cripple Trump`s and U.S. dignity," it said.
Islamabad: Tariq Fatemi, Pakistan Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs, could be removed from his position after an inquiry found him guilty of "leaking" to a prominent newspaper vital information from a high-level National Security meet, a media report said today.

In October last year, a columnist for Dawn newspaper wrote a front-page story about a rift between Pakistan's civilian and military leaderships over militant groups that operate from Pakistan but engage in proxy war against India and Afghanistan.

The government had set up the inquiry committee last year to probe the controversy surrounding a controversial report by Dawn newspaper about a key meeting on national security.

According to the inquiry committee report, it is Fatemi who was primarily responsible for leaking report of the key meeting to the newspaper without due permission.

The report will be presented to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the next three to four days, adding that it will now be difficult for Fatemi to maintain his position, sources were quoted a saying by the Express Tribune.

The government had ordered an investigation on the matter in November, last year.

The committee, headed by Justice (retd) Aamir Raza Khan, included representatives of the Intelligence Bureau, the Military Intelligence and the Inter-Services Investigation.

Earlier, Pervaiz Rasheed was removed from the Information Ministry due to similar reasons. Sharif's Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs will no longer hold the office, the report said.

Fatemi is considered as trusted aide of the prime minister and his removal would be a setback for the government of Sharif who is already under pressure due to Panama case verdict.

Cyril Almeida who wrote the article had also reported that the ISI was told during the NSA meeting that its support for terror groups was leaving the country globally isolated.

The Foreign Office had vehemently rejected the report and termed it "speculative".
Moscow: Russia's FSB security service said on Thursday that it was close to having identified who ordered the bombing on the Saint Petersburg metro this month that killed 14 people.

FSB head Alexander Bortnikov told reporters that the identity had been "practically established," Russian news agencies reported.

It was not immediately clear if Bortnikov was referring to a group or an individual.

Authorities have attributed the attack to 22-year-old Akbarjon Djalilov, thought to be a Russian national born in Kyrgyzstan, who died in the blast.

There has been no claim of responsibility but investigators say they are examining possible links to Islamic State jihadists.

The FSB has detained another man born in Kyrgyzstan on suspicion of helping orchestrate the metro bombing, who admitted to "some involvement" in the crime during a court appearance Tuesday.

Eight other people - all from mainly Muslim Central Asian countries - have also been detained in Moscow and Saint Petersburg over alleged involvement in the attack.
Washington: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has termed the Iran nuclear deal a failure and said an "unchecked" Tehran could become another North Korea, but stopped short of threatening to derail the landmark agreement.

Tillerson said the US is conducting a comprehensive review of its Iran policy and added that the Obama-era nuclear deal only "delays" Tehran's goal of becoming a nuclear state.

"This deal represents the same failed approach of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat we face from North Korea. The Trump administration has no intention of passing the buck to a future administration on Iran," he said at a hurriedly-convened press briefing.

"Iran's nuclear ambitions are a grave risk to international peace and security," Tillerson said.

His toughen stand on Iran yesterday came a day after the Trump administration notified the Congress that Tehran is complying with the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by former president Barack Obama to limit the Islamic Republic's nuclear ability. The administration said it has extended the sanctions relief to Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.

Iran has defended its nuclear programme as purely civilian and its supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei warned in November that Tehran would retaliate if the US breached the nuclear agreement.

Tillerson, seeking to reinforce the idea that the US is forcefully countering Iran's destabilising behaviour in the Middle East, also described Tehran as a "leading state sponsor of terror".

"The evidence is clear: Iran's provocative actions threaten the United States, the region and the world," he said.

"An unchecked Iran has the potential to travel the same path as North Korea and take the world along with it. The United States is keen to avoid a second piece of evidence that strategic patience is a failed approach."

Tillerson accused Iran of intensifying multiple conflicts including the one in Syria, undermining US interests in several countries, continuing to support attacks against Israel, and sponsoring cyber and terror attacks across the world.

Tillerson's comments were synonymous with Donald Trump's rhetoric, who on many occasions - during his presidential campaign and afterwards - criticised the nuclear deal reached between Iran and the US, the UK, Russia, France, China and Germany.

But after he took office, the US president has not yet explicitly said he would pull out from the historic agreement.

Hours before he declared Iran nuclear deal a failure, Tillerson sent a terse letter to the US House of Representatives speaker Paul Ryan, saying the administration has ordered an inter-agency review of whether the earlier suspension of sanctions, which was a necessity under the 2015 nuclear deal, was in the US' national security interests.

The six powers that negotiated the nuclear deal with the involvement from the European Union have set aside Iran's alleged support to terrorism in order to get a deal guaranteeing that the country would not be able to build a nuclear weapon for a decade and would remain under the eye of UN weapons inspectors.

In February, Trump had described the nuclear deal with Iran as "the worst" agreement ever negotiated, calling the Islamic Republic the world's "number one terrorist state".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had criticised the deal. He said in July 2015 that "Iran is going to receive a sure path to nuclear weapons."

But Obama had said the deal would make the world safer and more secure. He had said in January 2016, after the deal was implemented, that "Iran will not get its hands on a nuclear bomb."

The disagreement between Obama and Netanyahu over the deal had strained US-Israel ties and Obama-Netanyahu relationship.

But after Trump came to the White House in January, the Israel-US ties have witnessed a remarkable upswing, with Trump and Netanyahu jointly criticising Iran at a presser in February in the US. Trump has also promised Netanyahu he will not allow Iran develop a nuclear weapon ever.
Beijing: President Xi Jinping was on Thursday unanimously elected as a delegate to the National Congress of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) at the Guizhou provincial party unit.

63-year-old Xi, regarded as the most powerful leader heading the party, military and the government, will complete his first five-year term during the 19th party Congress to be held later this year and start his second five-year term.

In CPC system, leaders have a 10-year tenure.

A total of 2,300 delegates to the National Congress, slated for the second half of 2017, are being elected by 40 electoral units across the country. The election will be completed by June.

Xi was nominated by the CPC Central Committee as a candidate for delegate to the 19th CPC National Congress and put to vote in the Guizhou electoral unit.

The announcement of Xi's unanimous election won a burst of long and warm applause at the provincial congress, state- run Xinhua news agency reported.

The unanimous vote of Xi by more than 730 provincial congress delegates represents the shared aspiration of more than 1.7 million CPC members in Guizhou and the wholehearted support of over 40 million residents, the delegates said.

The CPC national congress, which typically convenes once every five years, is of great importance. It hears and deliberates reports of the Central Committee and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

At the National Congress, delegates also elect a new central committee and a new anti-graft body.
YEREVAN, APRIL 14, ARMENPRESS. Armenias President Serzh Sargsyan, who is currently in Bishkek on a working visit, participated in the Eurasian Economic Supreme Council session with other EEU member state heads of states  President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Moldova Igor Dodon, who was invited to the session.

Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Tigran Sargsyan was also present at the session.

The Presidents Office told ARMENPRESS the narrow format and expanded format sessions were chaired by the President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev  the country which chairs in the organization.

Among the dozen of agenda issues the EEU member state presidents were briefed on the 2015-2016 EEU international activitys main direction report, the main guidelines of the macroeconomic policy of member states of 2017-2018 were discussed, and the documents on presenting candidates for EEC board members and making changes in the working procedure of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

The interim agreement draft, which is being designed, between the EEU and member states and Iran, aimed at creating a free trade zone, was also discussed.

Among other issues, the issue of granting Moldova a status of observer in the Eurasian Economic Union was also discussed.

The Presidents decided to hold the next session on October 11 in Moscow.

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan delivered a speech at the Eurasian Economic Supreme Council session, saying:

"Distinguished Heads of State,



Colleagues,



Before referring to one or two issues presented for the discussions at the plenary session of the Supreme Council, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambaev for organizing todays meeting at such a high level, as well as for the hospitality and warm welcome.



The shaping of our common economic area and its development for the second year in a row is taking place in a complex global economic situation which is manifested in the decreasing tempo of the global economic growth and geopolitical convulsions. All this on one hand creates certain problems for the full-fledged functioning of our Union, on the other hand it opens new opportunities for a closer cooperation of our countries.



Under these conditions, the concerted steps taken by our countries allowed the member state to stabilize to some extent the situation, to achieve the macroeconomic stability through the assistance to some areas and branches, which has translated into the tendency of growth in some countries in the areas of industrial and agricultural production. In particular, in 2016 the gross domestic product indicators in Armenia showed positive dynamics; there was registered the increase of activities in the production, agricultural, and service areas. Armenias turnover with the EAEU countries grew by more than 15%, and the export of the Armenian goods to the Eurasian market grew by 65%. There was registered the increase of the turnover with third countries as well.



Our countries have similar goals for development which we, in particular, see in the introduction of industrial innovations, high technologies in the area of agriculture, digitalized economy, and renewable sources of energy. It is also important to make concerted efforts aimed at the implementation of the mutually beneficial cooperation programs. We have two main objectives: First, to fortify the Union from within, further liberalize our common economic area through the elimination of the barriers, reduce exemptions related to the free move of goods, services, capital, and labor. Second objective is the amplification of the EAEUs international engagement. These two objectives complement each other and affect the efficiency and international standing of the Organization.

From the viewpoint of further strengthening of the international standing of our integration union, we attach great importance to the invigoration of the EAEU cooperation with the third countries which are ready for a true partnership, and with pivotal integration units. In 2016, issues of cooperation with Iran, China, India, Egypt and some other countries were discussed in a constructive spirit. Armenia is interested in securing these agreements legally, particularly with the Islamic Republic of Iran with which we have pragmatic, mutually beneficial, and good neighborly relations.



From this point of view, we assess positively the cooperation process between the Eurasian Economic Commission and European Commission as an important factor for the promotion of a dialogue between the two integration unions which will be conducive for the exchange of experience, exploration of the avenues for integration and cooperation, and a harmonious, complementary and mutually beneficial development.

Distinguished Heads of State,

The efficiency of the EAEU is also dependent on the smooth and coordinated works of the state bodies of the member states, Eurasian Economic Commission, and business circles. With this regard, we expect that the Eurasian Economic Commission, within the scope of its authority, will provide proposals on the resolution of the problems facing the Union. We also view as important the creation and publishing by the Eurasian Economic Commission in cooperation with the state bodies of the member states of the so called White Book which will present by consent of the parties 60 barriers existing within the Unions market. I hope that the road map for their elimination with the proper timetable will be created soon.

Armenia will continue to implement the preset programs aimed at thwarting the negative tendencies present in the global economy, promoting sustainable development, including through the utilization of the integration potential of the Union.



Thank you."
OAKLAND (JG-TC) -- Charges have been filed against a driver whose vehicle allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian on Feb. 26 in Oakland.

The Coles County State's Attorney's Office has charged Danielle D. McConnell, 28, no address listed in the court file, with two counts of leaving the scene of an accident involving death or personal injury, both felony offenses.

Both counts accuse McConnell of causing an accident that led to the death of Michael S. Hoskinson, 42, of Oakland while driving a Chevrolet Traverse on Feb. 26.

The Illinois State Police, which investigated the accident, reported that Hoskinson was found dead that morning at the accident scene -- the Danville Road at East Blevins Street. This intersection is on the northeast side of town, about a block west of the Oakland school district's campus.

One count alleges that McConnell did not stop and give information and aid as required. This offense can result in 1-3 years in prison or up to 2 1/2 years of probation with a conviction.

The other count also includes the allegation that McConnell did not report the accident within 30 minutes of it taking place. That makes it a more serious offense, with a possible sentence of 4-15 years in prison or up to four years of probation.

Assistant State's Attorney Tom Bucher, who filed the case, said McConnell is aware of the charges, and indicated she would turn herself in and post bond.

Asked what led to McConnell being suspected as the driver, Bucher said pieces of the headlight from the vehicle involved were found at the accident scene and matched her vehicle.

Bucher also said McConnell tried to contact police about the accident about two to three days later, but she could not reach anyone. Bucher said he could not comment on what caused the accident.
YEREVAN, APRIL 19, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan received the heads of 20 communities who had submitted best community development programs. The Premier noted that the governments goal is to enhance the quality of the three-tier system of territorial administration - communities, Provincial administrations and government cooperation, Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Government of Armenia.

We are convinced that territorial development, and the development of our country is impossible without clear-cut development programs for the provinces and communities, which should include not only kindergartens, roofs, roads, but also concrete proposals and steps aimed at providing jobs, employment and increased revenue. There is a simple logic: Sitting over here, we cannot have a better understanding of the problems faced by local authorities, Karen Karapetyan said.



According to the Premier, there are many problems in terms of management and, unfortunately, the development programs presented by communities are far from the level that requires modern management. We must move forward step by step by checking, correcting and learning from each other. We have selected 20 communities for their development programs, which will be the platforms on which to form a working mode as to how we will work together, what the government, the governors and communities should do. The project implementation process should also involve successful businessmen, philanthropists in order to develop communities through joint efforts, the Head of Government said.

The Prime Minister noted that the Ministry of Economic Development and Investment and the Ministry of Agriculture had been commissioned to develop an investment agenda taking into account the benefits, features, peculiarities and opportunities of individual communities. The community leaders in attendance presented their development projects aimed at solving various problems, boosting revenues, creating jobs, attracting investments, improving infrastructures and implementing targeted projects, which may have an economic impact.

Highlighting the implementation of the planned measures, Prime Minister Karapetyan suggested considering the possibility if delegating different community services - garbage removal, lighting, road maintenance, etc. - to private managers.

We want community leaders to be keen on creating a business environment around their communities in order to gradually form a self-sufficient, motivating community budget. We will definitely go for it, Karen Karapetyan said.

The Prime Minister instructed the heads of responsible agencies to study the programs and provide support according to their effectiveness.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Defense of Artsakh Republic told Armenpress the Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire over 40 times firing shots from various caliber small arms at the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact.

The Ministrys statement says: On April 19 and overnight April 20 the Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire regime over 40 times by firing more than 500 shots from various caliber small arms at the Armenian positions in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact. In the southern, eastern and northern directions of the line of contact the Azerbaijani forces fired also various caliber sniper rifles (77 shells).

The Defense Army forces of Artsakh are in full control of the situation in the frontline and continue conducting the reliable protection of the military posts.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. On April 24 commemorative ceremonies will be held in a number US cities on the occasion of the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Harut Sassounian - publisher and editor of The California Courier newspaper, told Armenpress that the main events will be held in New York and Los Angeles. Thousands of people, including Congressmen and Senators will attend the commemoration events in these two big cities.

The main message of the Armenian community is going to be the comprehensive demand for justice, in other words, restoration of all our national rights and return or reparation of losses, he said.

Numerous Congressmen addressed a letter to President Trump to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Asked what are the expectations in this context, Harut Sassounian said there is no expectation in this regard.

There is no expectation concerning the Congressmens letter addressed to the President. Armenian-Americans have no information about President Trumps opinion or stance, even if he has any information concerning Armenian issues, Harut Sassounian said.

As for the Armenians claims from Turkey, Harut Sassounian said such efforts are being carried out too slowly and in an unorganized fashion. The only new development is the appeal of Catholicosate of Cilicia against Turkey over the return of the Sis Catholicosate's historic headquarters.

As we see, many years have passed since the Armenian Genocide, Turkey still continues its denialist policy. It is necessary to present Turkish denialism in the context of that country being an authoritarian state so that everyone will know that Turkey is a dictatorial regime, it is an intolerant and non-democratic country not only on the Armenian Genocide, but also on all issues, Sassounian said.
GYUMRI, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Ministry of Culture is always ready to assist the Renaissance International Contest-Festival.

Culture Minister Armen Amiryan told Armenpress that this year the assistance provided for the festival was much more than in the previous years, the Ministry increased the financial assistance by attaching importance to the great role and significance of the festival.

I highly appreciate the Renaissance festival since for already the 9th times the festival was able and is able to put Gyumri in the hearts and souls of foreign participants, and each participant every year takes with him/her a part of Gyumri by becoming the cultural ambassador of Gyumri and Armenia. This year we have provided more assistance not only that the festival is being held in Gyumri, but also for the fact that it really presents a serious value in our cultural life, the Minister said, assuring that the festival will receive a new impetus every year and will open new paths for young artists.

Thanks to the festival, the number of students of Yerevan State Conservatory Gyumri Branch has increased year by year, which, according to the Minister, speaks about the success of the festival. By revealing new names, the festival provides them a unique chance to present themselves, and they try to continue their studies in the institute, Armen Amiryan said.

Armenuhi Mkhoyan
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. The exhibition of works by Armenian artists has been opened in the Culture Center of the Turkish city of Bursa from April 11.

The exhibition will be open until April 30.

Within the frames of Human Planet movement, more than 50 works and 3 more video-arts of 12 Armenian artists will be presented in Bursa and then in Istanbul. The exhibitions will be summed up in a concert by Bambir rock band. This is the first such project in Turkey with the participation of Armenian artists.

Artist Karen Barseghyan told Armenpress that at the moment the works of Armenian artists are being displayed in Bursa. In this exhibition Karen presented completely new series of works with jeans resolutions typical of him.

The proposal on presenting the works of Armenian artists was made by Anadolu Kultur organization and its leader Osman Kavala. The European Union and the Bursa Municipality in cooperation with the Gyumri Municipality assisted the initiative.

Gallery-25 founder Alexan Ter-Minasyan told Armenpress that the idea originated from the exhibition of Armen Ter-Mkrtchyan and then it turned into a movement. Thus, by the initiative of Gallery-25, the Human Planet exhibition turned into an art-movement which various artists from different countries joined and continue joining.

Armen Ter-Mkrtchyans exhibition gradually turned into a great initiative that includes various artists. This is very important for us, Alexan Ter-Minasyan said, adding that the movement is always open to all artists for a good and interesting idea.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. English actor Christian Bale, who stars in the Armenian Genocide epic The Promise, said the fact that no one was held accountable for the Armenian Genocide may have provoked other genocides since.

In an interview to Page Six, the Oscar winning actor said : Theres something important about a film [The Promise] that many people have tried to stop being made for decades.

Speaking about the Armenian Genocide, Bale said : One and a half million people were killed in the most brutal fashion, and I knew nothing about it, and thats not uncommon. Thats improbably bizarre. This is modern history . . . The fact that this Armenian genocide happened and no one was ever held accountable may have provoked other genocides since.

The Promise, staring Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac, tells the story of the Armenian Genocide at the outset of World War I. The world premiere of the movie is set for April 21.

The late Armenian American billionaire Kirk Kerkorian financed the production of the film.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. A pro-Armenian atmosphere exists in France. And it was expectable, because the Armenian community has carried out consistent work in the direction of the political field, Murad Papazian, co-chair of the coordinating council of Frances Armenian organizations and member of the ARF Bureau told ARMENPRESS.

The Armenian community has done a serious work. Back during the debates on the bill criminalizing the denial of Armenian Genocide  both in the National Assembly and in the Senate the political forces voted for the text which we supported, Papazyan said.

In terms of endorsing any presidential candidate, Papazyan mentioned in such case the figure must have had an exclusive contribution in the issues of the Armenian National Committee.

Even if today the statements of the presidential candidates are positive, there is no individual who can be similar to Francois Hollande. He already had his great contribution, friendly relations were established with him. We requested to hold a discussion with the presidential candidates in order to have the confidence that its not only statements that are made. In order to endorse any candidate, we must have personal trust towards the given candidate, he said.

The first stage of the French presidential election is set for April 23.

A commemorative event for the Armenian Genocide victims will be held on April 24 in Paris, which will be attended by President Francois Hollande. The presidential candidates are also invited.

Well see who will pass to the second stage. If there will be any candidates on April 24 who will give speeches, who will personally give promises to the Armenian community, political and public figures, on Armenian issues, perhaps we will urge to vote in favor of a particular candidate in the second round, he said.

French Presidential candidates Marine Le Pen, Francois Fillion and Benoit Hamon recently made pro-Armenian statements on various issues, including the intl recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. The Nation-Army concept, proposed by the Armenian defense minister, is aimed at the discipline of the demanding citizen in the Armenian society in the field of security, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said in his speech during the opening of the Nation-Army 2017 conference.

Todays conference is a platform, which will strengthen our societys ties with the Armed Forces. The new initiatives which will be discussed today, as well as the potential which was gained in years, will create serious grounds for involving intellectual officers in the Armed Forces, he said.

Serzh Sargsyan said the state will continue its commitment towards the families of fallen soldiers or soldiers who suffered disabilities.

I have already tasked the defense minister to immediately provide apartments to the families of fallen or disabled soldiers. This issue must be solved by late 2019, the President said.

The Nation-Army conference kicked off in the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex in Yerevan, dedicated to the issues of military education.

The conference is organized by the defense ministry and the ministry of education and science. President Serzh Sargsyan and defense minister Vigen Sargsyan till deliver opening remarks.

Military and educational officials, public education and university executives, teachers, lecturers, representatives of NGOs and scientific centers are participating in the conference.

A contest program is planned within the framework of the conference and special prizes are set for the winners.

Meetings with Artsakh War veterans and soldiers who fought during the April War will be organized.

Discussions entitled Opportunities and prospects of military education in Armenia, Nation-Army  security formula will be held.

The movie Life and Struggle will be screened during the event.

An exhibition will be held from April 21 to April 23 in the Demirchyan Complex, where educational facilities will present their conditions, achievements and educational programs.

In a separate area, armaments and military equipment will be displayed, as well as production of Armenias military-industrial complex.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Government freed the goods from the Value Added Tax (VAT) imported by Lydian Armenia CJSC for three years, reports Armenpress.

Minister of Economic Development and Investments Suren Karayan said the Lydian Armenia CJSC has carried out geological-exploratory works in Syunik and Vanadzor provinces as a result of which they found gold quartzite deposits.

The companys aim is to build and operate Amulsar gold-bearing quartzite deposit within the framework of the investment program. During the operation there will be approximately 2 million ounces of gold and 3 million ounces of silver that will be exported. Nearly 179.4 billion AMD investments are expected, from which 26.7 billion AMD will be spent for equipment, the Minister said.

As a result of the investment program, over 465 jobs will be created with 525.000 average salary.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. Within the frames of investment program, the Ararat Wine Factory will be freed from VAT for the imported goods for three years, reports Armenpress.

Within the framework of investment program, the Ararat Wine Factory aims at acquiring beverage production and bottling lines which will further improve the production quality and will increase the production volumes. Over 3.1 billion AMD investments are expected to be made for that purpose. As a result of the implementation of investment program, nearly 23 jobs will be created with 160.000 average salary, Suren Karayan, Minister of Economic Development and Investments, said.

The program proposes to delay the deadline for the VAT payments of imported production lines for three years.
While traveling in various countries, islands, and living in several communities many observations were always in view. Once such being the generation called youth. A big thank you should be given to those living in Mattoon, Illinois for training their young people in the way they should go. Well done to those parents, teachers, men of the cloth, city servants, mentors, and to the community in general that took their time to care about the up-bringing of their future leaders here in our fine city. To the youth well done, for you are the ones that far out weigh the many youth we have observed in our time line. You have chosen to be friendly, helpful, kind, patient, and express in many ways your loving spirit. It is you and your mentors that today we can give all of you credit where credit is due in making Mattoon a community that we are proud to say is home sweet home.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. One of Europes oldest structures dealing with human rights, the Council of Europe, will launch a large-scale investigation next week regarding vote-rigging allegations, which have put its reputation on the line, the Guardian reported in an article presenting new allegations of Azerbaijani fraud.

Two people with high-level experience of the Council of Europes parliamentary assembly (Pace) have told the Guardian they believe its members have been offered bribes for votes by Azerbaijan.

Arif Mammadov, a former Azerbaijani diplomat turned dissident, alleged that a member of the oil-rich countrys delegation at the Council of Europe had 30m (25m) to spend on lobbying its institutions, including the Council of Europe assembly.

Everyone in the Azerbaijani delegation had heard of this number, although it was never written down, he told the Guardian. It was said this money was to bribe members of the delegations and Pace generally.

Tobias Billstrom, a Swedish delegate to the assembly and former justice minister, said very credible members had told him they had been offered bribes to vote in a certain way.

Allegations of caviar diplomacy have swirled around the Council of Europes parliamentary assembly for years, with Azerbaijan accused of offering cash and luxury gifts in exchange for favourable votes.

The claims were first laid out in a 2012 report by the European Stability Initiative thinktank, but have gathered momentum since Italian prosecutors began investigating a former chair of the centre-right group, Italian deputy Luca Volonte.

Volonte is accused of accepting 2.39m in bribes from Azerbaijan in exchange for supporting its government in the Council of Europe. He faces a trial for money laundering.

Although one fifth of MPs at the Council of Europe called for an urgent inquiry in January, assembly leaders failed to take a decision at their last meeting in March.

Pressure is building on the assembly president, Pedro Agramunt, to ensure that a robust investigation is set up when it meets later this month.

Critics say Azerbaijan uses the assembly to add a veneer of legitimacy to the authoritarian rule of its president, Ilham Aliyev, who has ruled the country since 2003.

One case concerns the decision of assembly members in 2013 to vote down a critical report on political prisoners in Azerbaijan by German social democrat Christoph Strasser. The Strasser report concluded that Azerbaijans judicial system was used to silence or intimidate critics of the Aliyev regime and was rejected by 125 votes to 79 with 20 abstentions.

Volonte is alleged to have played a key role in orchestrating the defeat with payments to him channelled through a company with a connection to Azerbaijans ruling family,

Strsser said he knew Azerbaijan was giving out money but had no proof votes were bought. He said he wanted to see an investigation as a point of credibility.

If there is any suspicion that there could be corruption within these structures and this was ignored, I think it might be the end of the Council of Europe.

Thorbjrn Jagland, the former Norwegian prime minister and CoE secretary general, has urged Agramunt to personally ensure an independent external investigation body without any further delay  an unprecedented appeal from an official to the Council of Europes most senior elected leader.  the Guardian reported.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. As from June 1, 2017 Pegasus Airlines will operate 3 weekly flights to Armenias Zvartnots International Airport from Istanbul, Armenia International Airports CJSC told Armenpress.

The flights will be operated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

This airline currently operates flights to almost all European countries from Istanbul. Pegasus is one of the most active airlines in the region.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Youth Union of Prague on April 20 held a silent protest near the Parliament of the Czech Republic, Hakob Asatryan  editor-in-chief of Orer ('Days') Armenian European magazine told Armenpress.

The silent protest aims to once again draw the attention of the Czech authorities on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Asatryan said, stating that letters will be sent to the members of the Czech Parliament.

He said in recent years the topic of Armenian Genocide is broadly covered in the Czech Republic, political figures frequently discuss that topic.

I think time has come for the Armenian Genocide recognition in the Czech Parliament, however, currently the Czech Republic faces some problems related with Turkey. In any case, I think that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Czech Republic is a matter of time, Hakob Asatryan said.

The Armenian community of the Czech Republic has planned a number of ceremonies on the occasion of the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. Businessman Alexander Baghiryan, owner of a supermarket in the southern part of the city, was killed on April 19, Armenpress reports Moskovsky Komsomolets informs.

Baghiryan received a fatal injury near his office in front of his bodyguards and witnesses, who could not expect that the ex-business partner of Baghiryan would fire at him. Alexander Baghiryan, 61, left the business center accompanied by his bodyguards at about 21:00, after which the shooting took place. At least 5 bullets were shot in his direction.

According to some information Baghiryan and his partner were running a joint venture. They has a small factory in Moscow region producing glass bottles for alcoholic drinks. According to Baghiryans business partner, Baghiryan was indebted to him nearly 3 million dollars.

On April 18 Baghiryans business partner came to his office where they had a peaceful conversation during which Baghiryan promised to return the money, but when the men left the office and walked towards the cars Baghiryan, according to his partner, announced that he does not plan to return the money. At that moment Baghiryans partner opened fire.

Baghiryan was hospitalized in a critical condition where he died a little later. The bodyguard of the killed businessman neutralized the shooter and handed him to the police. A criminal case has been filed against him.

Its reported that Baghiryans business had appeared in some hardships in the recent years and he had accumulated a lot of debts.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. Head of the National Defense Research University (NDRU) of Armenias Defense Ministry, Doctor of Political Science, Professor, Lieutenant-General Hayk Kotanjian presented a report at the Nation-Army-2017 Conference on April 20.

Armenpress presents his report:

Dear Colleagues,

The analysis of the balance between the current military threats to the Republic of Armenia and the resources for overcoming them shows that the further development of the defense system should be based on innovative conceptual ideas with the use of the most modern means of national defense that would be consistent with the developments in the defense security thought and technologies of Armenias allies and partners. The Nation Army concept is such an idea of strategic caliber, the introduction of which implies shaping cooperation of new level and depth between the society and the Armed Forces.

In this context, the importance of the recent monographic development of the Nation-Army concept in our University instructed by the Defense Minister should be noted  with the modernization of the traditional Armenian home guard phenomenon under the current digital technological revolution. It is clear that for effective launching of such innovative cooperation, the continuous education and training of senior officials with relevant knowledge and skills becomes a priority. It is no coincidence that since the first years of the Republic of Armenias independence, the formation and development of the military education system has always been and is at the center of attention of the countrys military-political leadership.

Under this policy, the Minister of Defense, the incumbent President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan instructed to learn the principles of activity of the US National Defense University (NDU) that nourishes the top US military-political leadership with the products of its academic research and provides the top leadership with interagency security education, and to develop the project of establishing its sister organization by localizing NDUs model in Armenia  through the academic fellowships in this research-educational institution. The Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia was founded through this multi-phase project.

During its activities, the INSS, as an academic basis of the future National Defense Research University, has taken steps towards creating a quality professional environment necessary for defense-security studies in Armenia. The research of this academic institution is aimed at becoming the innovative basis for the security education of future leaders, with the research staff being the intellectual core of the teaching faculty.

For this, the tools have been established in recent years for producing, publishing and systemizing the strategic knowledge to be taught in the future research university  Working Notebooks academic-applied journal of strategic studies, that includes the collective monographs of regional and functional studies with the coordination of the INSS experts and the involvement of leading domestic and foreign experts, as well as the first Postgraduate School within the Ministry of Defense of Armenia and the first Specialized Council conferring PhD degrees (candidate and doctoral) in Political Science.

The establishment of the Groups of Strategic Gaming and Cybersecurity in our INSS in cooperation with the US NDU is aimed at the gradual development of the research component. One of the main objectives of establishing the Strategic Gaming Group is to increase the level of precision of the results of the research carried out in the defense system through the use of innovative analytical methods under the high level of uncertainty in the predictions of the turbulent regional security dynamics. At the same time, the establishment of this group is aimed at introducing innovative teaching methods in the future educational activities, in particular, strategic games and scenario analysis of hard-to-predict dynamics of security processes.

One of the most significant results of the Cybersecurity Groups activities is the drafting of the National Cybersecurity Strategy (NCS) within the framework of updating the National Security Strategy. This document has already undergone successful academic review in the College of Information and Cyberspace of the US NDU.

As for the educational component of the Universitys activities, intensive work has been underway since September 2017 to organize pilot training courses at interagency and departmental levels. Taking into account the results of the Strategic Defense Review (SDR) conducted with the consultants of NATO, the CSTO, the United States and Russia, the basis for these courses is the product of the research (aimed at reforming the defense system) of the leading experts from the Ministry of Defense, the Armenian Armed Forces General Staff and of those we collaborate with in the defense security field. Later, Master Programs in the defense security field are planned to be developed on the basis of these courses to prepare the future generation of strategic leaders of the Republic of Armenia.

Through the organization of strategic defense security education in our University the military education reforms underway in Armenia will be completed resulting in the formation of a military education system that prepares personnel capable of effectively resisting current security challenges, and comprises all  from tactical to strategic levels.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron treats with admiration towards the Armenian community of France, which, according to him, is a good example of both integration and preservation of national identity, Armenpress reports Macron told Nouvelles dArmenie.

I admire their engagement in the Republican (French-edit) affairs with their culture, their consistency in the protection of the memories of the genocide, as well as the exceptional example of the revival of the Republic of Armenia. It emerged as opposed to the evil winds of history and continues up till now as opposed to fears and sometimes also hostility, its uncompromising. Here the Armenian culture is an inseparable part of French and European culture, Macron said.

Referring to the bilateral relations between France and Armenia, the French candidate expressed willingness to develop them, considering both the role of the French-Armenian community, and such historical examples as the assistance rendered to Cilician Armenians by French navy in 1909 and 1915 or the recognition of the Republic of Armenia by France in 1918.

Today Armenia is a member to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. The upcoming summit of the organization will take place in Yerevan in 2018. It will be an important moment for our two states. We have to focus also on economy in the sidelines of our uniquely friendly relations, Emmanuel Macron said, adding that France should make investments in Armenia particularly in the sphere of innovative technologies.

French Presidential elections are scheduled on April 23, 2017. If none of the candidates receives over 50% votes, the second stage will be held on May 7.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. The Republican party of Armenia and the Armenian revolutionary Federation continue the discussions over forming a coalition, RPA spokesperson, Vice President of the National Assembly of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov told the reports after the Executive Body meeting of the party.

Its rather possible that the Republican Party and Dashnaktsutyun (ARF) sign a coalition agreement and we will have two ruling parties in the parliament, Armenpress reports Sharmazanov saying.

He added that these are preliminary discussions which are still underway. We and our partners from Dashnaktsutyun are keen to continue the cooperation, the RPA spokesperson concluded.
US President Donald Trump (C) signs the Memorandum Regarding the Investigation Pursuant to Section 232(B) of the Trade Expansion Act at the White House

President Donald Trump on Thursday invoked national security to order a probe into US steel imports -- a move that risks trade blowback from steel-making giant China.

"Steel is critical to both our economy and our military. This is not an area where we can afford to become dependent on foreign countries," he said after signing a memorandum ordering the Commerce Department to launch the investigation.

Trump has often accused foreign producers of dumping steel on the US market, threatening American jobs and companies. Under his "America First" policy, he wants to prioritize domestic manufacturing.

His administration in February already announced stiff duties on certain steel imports, creating an outcry from China, Germany and other countries affected.

"Dumping is a tremendous problem in this country," Trump said on Thursday. "They're dumping vast amounts of steel in our country, and they're really hurting not only our country, but our companies."

The new probe was enacted under a little-used law, Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which invokes national defense reasons to protect US production.

Trump said the Commerce Department could complete it within 50 days, far quicker than the 270 days allotted under the law.

The president then will have 90 days to decide whether to take any recommended action.

- 'Nothing to do with China' -

Trump denied the step targeted China, which he had previously accused of being a currency "manipulator" before reversing course this month when calculations on reining in North Korea took precedence.

"This has nothing to do with China. This has to do with worldwide, what's happening. The dumping problem is a worldwide problem," Trump said.

"From now on, we're going to stand up for American jobs, workers, their security, and for American steel companies and companies generally," he said.

"Today's action is the next vital step toward making America strong and prosperous once again," he said.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who formerly sat on the board of steel and mining giant ArcelorMittal, told reporters in a briefing call that the survival of domestic American manufacturers was at stake.

Story continues

Steel imports, he said, had risen 19.6 percent in the first two months of this year and now represented more than a quarter of the steel available in the American market.

Section 232 calls for the Commerce Department to consult with the Pentagon before any recommendations are drawn up.

- Trade challenges -

China makes more than half the world's steel but a slowdown in its economy and sagging global demand has left the industry with huge excess capacity.

Beijing in February accused Washington of protectionism for imposing duties ranging from 63 percent to 190 percent on its exporters accused of selling steel products at below fair value or of being unfairly subsidized.

Germany, too, complained in March about US duties on imports of steel plate products. It said the measure also unfairly disadvantaged suppliers in Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

Both China and Germany have said they are considering taking their challenges to the World Trade Organization.

The US Treasury Department said last week both China and Germany should do more to reduce their large trade surpluses with the United States.
Dublin-based bakery BFree has set up a partnership with e-commerce site GlutenFreeMall.com to expand its distribution in the US market.

The bakery has been selling its products in the US since 2015 to 5,000 stores, including Costco, and is set to launch into Walmart in autumn this year.

Freya Ivory, senior brand manager for BFree, told British Baker distribution in retail was strong in the east and west coast of the US, but the middle of the country had no access to its products.

We learned about GlutenFreeMall from consumers and approached the company, whose headquarters are in Pennsylvania to set up a meeting to present BFree, Ivory told British Baker.

They loved our brand and listed eight of our SKUs on their site and in the distribution arm of their business, starting in April of this year. This has provided us with a platform to be able to reach those consumers who cannot shop BFree in their local store.

BFree added that the success was immediate with GlutenFreeMall, after it sold out of its wraps within two weeks.

Sales across the US are due to make up 40% of the business, according to the bakery, which employs 32 people in its headquarters in Dublin and has one full-time employee based in the US.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has detained the elder brother of the suspected organizer of an attack that killed 14 people on the St. Petersburg metro earlier this month, the Russian Investigative Committee said on Wednesday. The Federal security service (FSB) said Akram Azimov had helped transfer money, prepare for the attack and organize communication with "international terrorists", TASS new agency reported. Akram's young brother, Abror, was detained on Monday. He told a Russian court on Tuesday he was an unwitting accomplice in the April 3 attack. Investigators said he had spoken with the suspected suicide bomber, Akbarzhon Jalilov, by telephone before the attack and helped mastermind the operation from a Moscow suburb. Akram was detained in the Moscow region with a grenade, said the Investigative Committee, a state body which handles Russia's most serious crimes. The Azimovs' mother, Vazira, told Reuters that her elder son wasn't in Russia when the metro was bombed. He had been in hospital in the city of Osh in Kyrgystan as recently as Saturday, she said, after returning from Russia at the end of March because of problems with health. On April 15, he was taken from hospital and questioned by Kyrgyz state security, she added. After that, his mobile phone was disconnected and relatives could not find him. A law enforcement source in Kyrgyzstan said Akram Azimov had flown to Moscow on Sunday. Since the attack in St Petersburg, Russian authorities have detained 10 people suspected of involvement. All are originally from Central Asia, a region of five mainly Muslim states that border Afghanistan, Iran and China. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which happened on a day that Russian President Vladimir Putin was visiting St Petersburg, his native city. If it is proven that the bombing was carried out by radical Islamists, that could pose a test for Putin's policy of military intervention in Syria. The Islamic State group has threatened to take revenge for Russian air attacks on Syria by shedding blood on Russian soil. (Reporting by Polina Nikolskaya in MOSCOW and Hulkar Isamova in OSH; Writing by Polina Nikolskaya; Editing by Jack Stubbs, Larry King)
Policy

Florida Performance Funding Metric Looks at Student 'Sticker Price'

Universities and colleges in Florida will shortly be evaluated by a new student-focused metric newly introduced into their annual state evaluations. In 2014 the State University System of Florida introduced a 10-metric performance funding model that initially included an indicator, "cost to the institution." The Board of Governors recently morphed that metric into "the cost to the student." The state system has 12 universities and about 352,000 students.

Institutions that don't meet a required threshold in that evaluation or that end up in the lowest three rungs of the evaluation ranking won't participate in state investment. The recent change hits several schools, which could change their eligibility for the performance-based funding.

Performance funding was initially introduced in the state in 2014 and put into law last year by Governor Rick Scott. The goal was to motivate schools to focus on work that would increase graduation. Proponents of the model point to resulting increases in student graduation and retention, as well as boosts in STEM-related degrees in both undergraduate and graduate programs.

At the time the law was passed, the state kicked in $225 million, and the universities themselves committed $275 million from existing funds.

Each metric generates a given number of points for the school. Metrics cover such measures as six-year graduation rate, bachelor's degrees awarded in areas of "strategic emphasis" and median wages of bachelor's graduates employed full-time. A university must earn more than 50 points to receive the money. But those institutions with the bottom three scores lose access to the funding for the year; those with the top three scores receive additional funding.

Previously, to calculate the average cost per bachelor's degree, the metric formula took the previous four years of expenditure data divided by the number of credit hours for that year to create a cost per credit hour for each year. That cost was multiplied by 30 (the number of credit hours in an academic year) to calculate an annual cost. The four average annual costs were summed to derive an average cost for a bachelor's degree requiring 120 credit hours.

The problem with that approach, according to the board, was that as long as the appropriations to the universities increased, the metric would never see an improvement; also, the board assumed that "the allocation of faculty effort could significantly impact expenditures."

Under the new rule, the metric would look at "sticker price," or a student's tuition and fee cost for a 120-hour bachelor's degree after financial aid has been considered. Universities could influence this "net cost" from four directions: the cost of fees (tuition is set by the state); the cost of textbooks or digital resources used in class; the amount of university financial aid provided to the student; and making sure students take only those courses that will enable them to earn a degree in 120 hours.

Scoring scales from one point to 10 by looking at two aspects: the average cost of the degree and how much improvement the institution has made from one year to the next. For example, in the 2015-2016 academic year, Florida A&M University had an average cost of $40,080 for a bachelor's degree under the old metric. Under the new measure, it would come in with the third-lowest student cost at $12,640. However, Florida International University, which initially had the second-lowest cost for a degree, at $25,990, would now have the third highest student cost at $17,180. The average net cost across the board was less than $15,000.

The board expects to vote on the new rankings during an upcoming meeting in June.
STEM

Maplesoft Releases Online Courseware Environment for STEM

Maplesoft today released Mobius, a hands-on learning tool focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. The online courseware environment provides an interactive platform for students to explore STEM concepts, visualize problems and solutions, and receive real-time assessment feedback.

Instructors using Mobius can create lessons that incorporate "interactive explorations, illuminating visualizations, meaningful assessment questions, and guided active slideshows, which incorporate narration, exploration and self-assessment elements," according to a press release. The system collects outcome data for tracking student success and identifying areas for improvement. An integrated calendar helps students manage due dates and important course deadlines. Other features include a collection of customizable learning content, a Live Chat tool that supports the use of mathematical notation, and integration with learning management systems.

Mobius's public release comes after a number of higher education pilots around the world, which tested the technology for a variety of projects, from preparing students for first-year math and engineering courses to the development of complete online courses. The results from those pilots  taking into account the experiences of more than 100,000 students  have been fed back into the development process, according to a company statement.

"Mobius is an online courseware environment where students can learn quickly," said Tim Jackson, a senior lecturer in the School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Birmingham (England), in a statement. "We are happy with the way students are able to discover basic subject concepts and develop a deeper understanding of the material."

"Unlike other online education tools, Mobius supports math content very strongly," said Kelly Foyle outreach scientist at Canada's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. "It allows me to expand on the mathematics topics we cover and deliver them in a wider variety of question types. This provides the students with a much more interactive and dynamic experience, making it easier and fun to learn new concepts."

The platform will soon offer the option of adopting course materials developed by the University of Waterloo; the content will cover a range of skill levels, from late high school to graduate education. "The University of Waterloo has always been passionate about STEM education," commented Stephen Watt, dean of the faculty of mathematics at the university. "The learn-by-doing approach is crucial to success in STEM courses, and we are delighted to offer Mobius-based course content to our own students and to see our course materials made available to others."

For more information, visit the Maplesoft site.
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New York, April 20, 2017A military court in Cameroon today convicted Ahmed Abba, a journalist for Radio France Internationales Hausa service, on charges of non-denunciation of terrorism and laundering of the proceeds of terrorist acts, according to his lawyer and RFI. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Cameroonian authorities not to contest the journalists appeal and to release him without delay.

Abbas lawyer, Clement Nakong, told CPJ that Abba, who has been jailed since July 2015 in relation to his reporting on the extremist group Boko Haram, could face the death penalty on the first charge and a maximum of five years in prison on the second charge at a sentencing hearing scheduled for April 24. Nakong said Abba would appeal the conviction after the sentencing hearing. RFI reported that the military tribunal acquitted the journalist of the charge of apologizing for acts of terrorism.

The military courts conviction of Cameroonian radio journalist Ahmed Abba on terrorism charges that could carry the death penalty is an outrage, CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney said. Covering terrorism as a reporter must not be equated with committing acts of terror. Each day Abba spends behind bars is a travesty of justice.




Arkansas Court Rulings Put States Execution Schedule in Doubt

The Arkansas Supreme Court on Wednesday night halted the execution of Stacey Johnson, which was scheduled for Thursday.The Arkansas Supreme Court has halted one of two executions set for Thursday, saying the condemned inmate should have a chance to prove his innocence with more DNA testing.Stacey Johnson claims that advanced DNA techniques could show that he didn't kill Carol Heath, a 25-year-old mother of two, in 1993 at her southwest Arkansas apartment.In a 4-3 ruling late Wednesday afternoon, the state's highest court issued a stay for Johnson and ordered a new hearing in lower court for Johnson to make his claims.Johnson was set for execution Thursday night along with inmate Ledell Lee, who is also seeking a stay in a separate case.Source: Arkansasonline.com, April 19, 2017LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  The Arkansas Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a stay of execution for a condemned prisoner scheduled to die on Thursday, imposing a new curb on a plan that once called for the state to empty nearly a quarter of its death row by the end of the month.Separately, in a decision that Arkansas officials immediately said they would appeal, a Circuit Court judge here in Pulaski County ruled that the state could not use one of its lethal injection drugs, vecuronium bromide, amid allegations that the prison system misled a pharmaceutical distributor.Before Wednesdays decisions, the courts had already compelled the state to abandon plans for three of the eight executions it hoped to carry out before the expiration of a different lethal injection drug, midazolam, at the end of the month. By sunset on Wednesday, about 24 hours before the state intended to execute Stacey E. Johnson and Ledell Lee at a prison southeast of Little Rock, it was unclear whether any executions would happen.The Supreme Courts stay applied only to Mr. Johnson, 47, who was sentenced to death in 1994 for the rape and murder of a woman in Sevier County, which is along the border with Texas. Lawyers for Mr. Johnson have insisted he is innocent and persuaded the justices to issue a stay of execution to allow for forensic tests.One of Mr. Johnsons lawyers, Nina Morrison, said his supporters were grateful and relieved after the decision. The Arkansas attorney general, Leslie Rutledge, said she was evaluating options on how to proceed to ensure that justice is carried out.Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he was surprised and disappointed by the ruling.When I set the dates, I knew there could be delays in one or more of the cases, but I expected the courts to allow the juries sentences to be carried out since each case had been reviewed multiple times by the Arkansas Supreme Court, which affirmed the guilt of each, Mr. Hutchinson said in a statement.The state could appeal the stay to the United States Supreme Court, which on Monday rebuffed Arkansass efforts to overturn stays for two men who were scheduled to die that night.The Arkansas courts 4-to-3 majority on Wednesday did not explain its ruling in Mr. Johnsons case, but the dissenting justices published a blistering critique of the decision.With no explanation or instruction, this matter has been remanded to the trial court for another hearing, Associate Justice Rhonda K. Wood wrote in a dissent that two other justices joined. Today, our court gives uncertainty to any case ever truly being final in the Arkansas Supreme Court.In a filing to the United States Supreme Court earlier Wednesday, Ms. Rutledges office used notably graphic terms to describe the conduct that sent Mr. Johnson, who was convicted at two trials, to death row more than two decades ago.Mr. Johnsons lawyers, citing qualitative changes in the capabilities of forensic DNA testing between 1997, 2002 and now, asked the Arkansas court for new forensic studies on evidence that included a rape kit and fingernail scrapings.Mr. Johnson seeks DNA testing  which in this case would not only exonerate him, but save his life, his lawyers wrote.Source: The New York Times, Alan Blinder, April 19, 2017
Ivan Teleguz

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe called a 3:30 p.m. press conference to make a public statement regarding his review of Ivan Teleguzs petitions for a pardon and for commutation of his death sentence.





Teleguz was scheduled to be executed on April 25.





As a result of the thorough review process that we have gone through I have decided to deny Mr. Teleguzs petition for a pardon, McAuliffe said. However, I am commuting his capital sentence to life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole.





Mr. Teleguz will spend the rest of his life in a jail cell, McAuliffe added.





What has come to light, however, in my review of the circumstances regarding his death sentence, is that the sentencing phase of his trial was terribly flawed and unfair, he said.





The governor said that false information was presented regarding an alleged murder and mob ties.





Our judicial system is based upon fairness, McAuliffe said.





Teleguz, 38, was convicted in a 2001 murder-for-hire plot in Harrisonburg which involved ex-girlfriend Stephanie Sipe, a 20-year-old mother of a young child.





After the case went cold for years, evidence implicated Michael Hetrick as the person who committed the murder, and he, along with two others, implicated Mr. Teleguz as having paid for the murder of Sipe.





Prosecutors argued Teleguz ordered his ex-girlfriend murdered so he could avoid paying child support.





His attorneys have argued for years that Teleguz in an innocent man.





Two witnesses critical to the prosecutions case have now admitted in sworn, written statements they lied at the trial, Peiffer Elizabeth, with the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center, said earlier this month. They have no reason to believe that Mr. Teleguz was involved in this crime.





DNA evidence linked Hetrick to the crime, and he made a deal with prosecutors to testify against Teleguz in exchange for an agreement not to seek the death penalty. Hetrick was sentenced to life in prison for the crime; however, Teleguz was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death.





American values demand that every person, no matter their crime, be given due process of law, McAuliffe said.  In this case, we now know that the jury acted on false information, and that it was driven by passions and fears raised  not from actual evidence introduced at trial  but from inference. To allow a sentence to stand based on false information and speculation is a violation of the very principles of justice our system holds dear.

 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



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Source: WTVR news, April 20, 2017
Rodricus Crawford in Nov. 2016, shortly after his release from death row.

Caddo Parish Prosecutors Drop Charges After Medical Evidence Suggests No Crime Occurred





At the request of local prosecutors, a Caddo Parish, Louisiana trial court has dismissed all charges against Rodricus Crawford, making him the 158th person exonerated from death row in the United States since 1973 and the second to be exonerated this year.





Mr. Crawford had been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in 2012 for the murder of his 1-year-old son, Roderius Lott, despite medical evidence that the child actually died of a combination of pneumonia and sepsis.





In many respects, this case may reflect both the past and future of the death penalty in America, said Robert Dunham, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center. A jurisdiction with a history of racial bias, prosecutorial misconduct, and overuse of the death penalty chose to pursue a death sentence against a grieving father, despite evidence that his child had unexpectedly died of natural causes. But as in increasing numbers of counties across the country, local voters were put off by these types of abusive prosecution practices and elected a new District Attorney, who took a fresh look at the evidence and acted in the interests of justice.





Mr. Crawfords case attracted national attention amid evidence of race discrimination, prosecutorial excess, and scientifically false forensic testimony. During trial, prosecutor Dale Coxwho personally prosecuted 1/3 of all the cases in which Louisiana juries returned death sentences between 2010-2015presented testimony from a local doctor that Mr. Crawfords infant son had been suffocated.





However, autopsy results showed pervasive bronchopneumonia in the baby's lungs and sepsis in his blood. Cox later told the jury that Jesus Christ would have imposed the death penalty against Mr. Crawford.





In 2014, two years after the trial, Cox wrote an internal memorandum stating that Mr. Crawford deserves as much physical suffering as it is humanly possible to endure before he dies. Cox gained national notoriety a year later when, as Acting District Attorney, he told The Shreveport Times that he thought the state needed to kill more people.





In November 2016, the Louisiana Supreme Court overturned Mr. Crawfords conviction, ruling that Cox had exercised the governments discretionary jury strikes on the basis of race to unconstitutionally exclude black jurors from serving in the case.





When the parishs new District Attorney, James Stewart, re-examined the evidence in the case, he asked the court to drop the charges against Mr. Crawford.





Caddo Parish is one of five major U.S. counties in which local voters have replaced prosecutors known for aggressive use of the death penalty with new prosecutors who promised systemic criminal justice reforms, including reduced reliance on capital punishment.





With these new prosecutors, we are seeing a greater commitment to fairness, one that we hope will translate into greater efforts to correct the miscarriages of justice that have resulted in condemning innocent people to death, Dunham said.





With the formal dropping of charges, Rodricus Crawford becomes the 11th person exonerated from Louisianas death row, and the second from Caddo Parish. In 2014, Glenn Ford was released from Louisianas death row after 30 years.





A death sentence imposed on Corey Williams, an intellectually disabled Caddo Parish prisoner who was 16 at the time of his alleged crime, has been overturned, but he is still serving a life sentence despite evidence that his confession was coerced and that others committed the offense for which he was condemned.





The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) today added Mr. Crawford to its Innocence List at http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-list-those-freed-death-row





To be included on DPIC's Innocence List, defendants must have been convicted, sentenced to death and subsequently either: (a) been acquitted of all charges related to the crime that placed them on death row, or (b) had all charges related to the crime that placed them on death row dismissed by the prosecution or the courts, or (c) been granted a complete pardon based on evidence of innocence.

 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



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Source: Death Penalty Information Center, April 19, 2017




The state set an unprecedentedly fast execution schedule because one of the drugs in its lethal injections  a sedative called midazolam  is set to expire at the end of April.





But the plan has hit several major roadblocks. Separate rulings stayed the executions of two of the prisoners, Don Davis and Bruce Ward (Arkansas appealed the decision in Davis case, but the US Supreme Court upheld it). And federal judge Kristine Baker put a stop to all eight executions on April 15, a decision that the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed two days later.





As of writing, six prisoners are set to be executed by the end of the month, with the first two scheduled to be put to death on April 20 [see update here ]. Some of the legal challenges have focused on the circumstances of individual prisoners' sentences, but others have focused on the drugs themselves. Here's why.





Midazolam



Arkansas plans to use a combination of three drugs in its lethal injection formula: Midazolam is used to sedate the prisoner, vecuronium bromide paralyzes prisoners and stops their breathing, and potassium chloride stops the heart.





Midazolam is the most controversial of the three. It was created as a water-soluble alternative to Valium in the 1970s, and is sometimes given to medical patients before surgeries. The drug hinders the flow of electrical impulses in the brain, and can cause drowsiness, lower anxiety, and block memory to prevent a person from remembering a procedure.





But midazolam is not approved by the FDA to be used as an anesthetic on its own, which means doctors never rely on it to knock a patient out completely. Instead, they have to combine with other drugs if its administered before a surgical procedure. That is not the case in prisons, however.





Several notable 2014 executions that used midazolam raised doubts about the extent to which the drug actually numbs prisoners to the effects of the two other injection ingredients.





The execution of Joseph Wood in Arizona took nearly two hours , with witnesses reporting that he repeatedly gasped for air throughout the process. The same year, inmate Dennis McGuire appeared to convulse and snort for approximately 10 minutes of his 26-minute execution. And an incorrectly administered IV led to a slow, painful death for Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma. After Lockett began to writhe and make noise, the director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections ordered the botched execution to be stopped, but Lockett died 10 minutes later.





The eight prisoners who brought the case before Judge Baker argued that this gruesome history raises the possibility that their punishment could be considered cruel and unusual  a violation of the 8th amendment. Despite the fact that the US Supreme Court voted to allow the use of midazolam in executions in 2015, Judge Baker agreed.









The threat of irreparable harm to the plaintiffs is significant: if midazolam does not adequately anesthetize plaintiffs, or if their executions are botched, they will suffer severe pain before they die, she wrote in her decision (which has since been overturned).

Vecuronium Bromide





Vecuronium bromide is not without controversy either.





Like midazolam, its occasionally injected as a supplement to general anesthesia to make the muscles relax during surgery or facilitate breathing on a machine.





The McKesson Corporation, the distributor of the drug, was granted a restraining order against its use in lethal injections on April 14. McKesson alleged that Arkansas had purchased the drug using an account registered to a licensed physician, which misled the company into believing the vecuronium bromide would be used for a medical purpose, rather than for executions.





But on April 17, the Arkansas Supreme Court lifted that restraining order, allowing the state to proceed with using the vecuronium bromide. Judge Wendell Griffen, who granted the order, was found to have attended anti-death-penalty demonstrations, and has since been removed from the case.





Because doctors take the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm, they generally do not aid in executions. Drug companies have followed that logic , publicly refusing to allow their products to be used to put people to death. Pfizer became the last pharmaceutical company to block the use of its drugs in lethal injections in May 2016, so there are now no more FDA-approved manufacturers that will supply the drugs for lethal injections. Thats why the looming expiration date of midazolam led Arkansas to schedule the executions so quickly  it's getting exceedingly tough for prisons to get the lethal injection components.





McKesson says it refunded the money that the state spend on the vercuronium bromide, but Arkansas does not seem to have returned the product.





Potassium chloride





When administered in small doses, potassium chloride is used to treat low potassium levels in the blood, a situation that can arise if a person has experienced vomiting, diarrhea, or starvation. But because most potassium in the body is stored in our cells, with only a small amount in our blood, injecting a large amount of it into the bloodstream can paralyze the heart.





Many manufacturers sell potassium chloride powders and tablets, so it can be difficult for companies to track exactly how the drug is being used and by whom.





Fresenius Kabi, a European-owned pharmaceutical company, has said it likely manufactured the potassium chloride that Arkansas plans to use. The company has suggested that Arkansas may have acquired it from an unauthorized seller, since Fresenius' policy forbids its drugs to be used executions. A state law allows Arkansas to keep the source of its lethal injection drugs secret, however, so there is no way to know for sure where the drugs came from.





West-Ward Pharmaceuticals has said it believes it made the states supply of midazolam. According to the Chicago Tribune , both companies have contacted the Arkansas Department of Corrections to determine whether theyre the source of the states lethal injection drugs, but havent received responses. The two companies filed amicus briefs on the prisoners side of the case.





Legal challenges to the states execution schedule are expected to continue  most recently, the two inmates scheduled to be executed on Thursday submitted new claims about their innocence, pushing for DNA and evidence testing. Arkansas officials have vowed to continue fighting , however.





If all eight executions were to be carried out according to the state's schedule, Arkansas would put more prisoners to death in that period of time than any other has since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The state's push stands in contrast to a downward trend in executions in many other parts of the country. Since 2007, seven states have abolished the death penalty, and the governors of four others have issued moratoria on the practice.





Arkansas is currently one of 31 states with courts that still issue death sentences.

 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

Source: Business Insider , Dana Varinsky, April 19, 2017
CALGARY, Alberta, April 19, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Voyageur Minerals Ltd. (TSXV:VM) (the Company) advises that its JV partner Anson Resources Ltd (Anson) announced that they have achieved positive results on the latest metallurgical test work undertaken by Outotec, Finland.

Highlights:

Initial metallurgical test work demonstrated that the high levels of magnesium concentration in brines typical to the Voyageur/Anson ULI project (the Project) can be reduced to a minimum level

Magnesium concentrations of 34,000ppm were successfully reduced to battery grade levels (< 10ppm)

Only a very small loss of 1% Li (less than 3%) occurred during the process

Test work carried out at 40-500C. Brines in the Project area are at 600C. This indicates that the Project may not require additional energy costs associated with heating the brine before processing

Anson announced encouraging results obtained in initial metallurgical test work carried out by Outotec, Finland, on synthetically prepared brine solutions. Further confirmatory test work will be carried out over the coming weeks.

Mr. Bruce Richardson, Managing Director of Anson, commented, The efficient removal of magnesium from the synthetic brine solution through the application of new technologies is very encouraging and is a key step in advancing the ULI Project.

Table 1: Composition of the synthetic lithium brine solution used in test work

Element Concentration (ppm) Li 1,700 B 20,000 Br 2,500 I 450 Mg 34,000 Ca 3,000 K 33,000 Na 43,000 Co3 200 SO4 500 PO4 1.5



The test work that was performed on synthetically prepared brine has a chemical composition similar to that of the brine extracted from the Roberts Brine Well drill hole located 800m south of the ULI Project area. The drill hole intersected Clastic Zone #31 which contains the lithium rich brines.

A low Mg:Li ratio is important for the processing of lithium brines where evaporation ponds are used, with acceptable ratios up to 6. With the ULI Project expected to have a Mg:Li ratio of 20, Anson has sought to identify a process to enable the extraction of the magnesium. The result of the test work conducted has been that the magnesium has been removed to a battery grade level (<10ppm). The magnesium reduction was achieved with the lithium loss of less than 3%.

In addition, by using a processing plant and avoiding the use of evaporation ponds, processing is reduced to hours compared to multiple months using traditional evaporation and processing techniques.

About Voyageur Minerals

Voyageur is a Calgary based company which owns 100% interest in three Barium Sulfate ("Barite") deposits including two properties which initial work suggests are suitable in grade for the industrial barite market place, and interests in a high grade lithium brine project in Utah, USA. Voyageur's business plan is to develop its barite deposit at Frances Creek, BC, Canada, for potential near term cash flow, while it continues exploration for critical and strategic minerals.

Qualified Person Statement

The Companys qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, Mr. Randy Henkle, has reviewed this news release and approved it.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the Qualifying Transaction, including statements regarding the acquisition of future assets, the discovery and commercialization of commercial quantities of industrial minerals, the successful commercialization of the Companys assets, expected operational activities, other statements that are not historical facts. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause actual performance and results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things: the risk that the assets do not provide commercial quantities or grades of marketable minerals, that even if they do contain commercial quantities of marketable minerals that the Company will not be able to economically produce such discoveries, the existence of commercial grades of commercial minerals, timing of obtaining required approvals, state of the economy in general and capital markets in particular, investor interest in the business and future prospects of the Company.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities law. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made, by third parties in respect of the matters discussed above.
Finnish English

Press release

April 20, 2017

Espoo, Finland - Nokia will publish its first quarter 2017 interim report on April 27, 2017 at approximately 8 a.m. Finnish time (CET+1). The interim report will be made available on the Nokia website immediately after publication.

Nokia only publishes a summary of its interim reports in stock exchange releases. The summary focuses on Nokia Group's financial information as well as on Nokia's outlook.

The detailed segment-level discussion will be available in the complete first quarter 2017 interim report available at http://nokia.com/financials. Investors should not solely rely on summaries of Nokia's reports, but should also review the complete reports with tables.

Nokia's analyst conference call will begin on April 27 at 3 p.m. Finnish time. A link to the webcast of the conference call will be available at http://nokia.com/financials. Media representatives can listen in via the link on that website, or alternatively call +1 412 317 6060.

About Nokia

Nokia is a global leader innovating technologies at the heart of our connected world. Powered by the research and innovation of Nokia Bell Labs, we serve communications service providers, governments, large enterprises and consumers, with the industry's most complete, end-to-end portfolio of products, services and licensing.

From the enabling infrastructure for 5G and the Internet of Things, to emerging applications in virtual reality and digital health, we are shaping the future of technology to transform the human experience. www.nokia.com



Media enquiries:

Nokia

Communications

Tel. +358 (0) 10 448 4900

Email: press.services@nokia.com
WASHINGTON, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Israel Project today congratulated the state of Texas for passing a law that combats the biased Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. The law prohibits pension funds from investing in companies that unfairly single out the only Jewish state.

The House bill was sponsored by Representative Phil King and passed with a vote of 131-0, while the Senate version was sponsored by Brandon Creighton and passed overwhelmingly 25-4. Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign the bill into law.

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions seeks to destroy Israel through economic warfare. This anti-Semitic initiative holds Israel to an egregious double standard, falsely accusing the sole democracy in the Middle East of being the sole perpetrator of wrongdoing in the region, an assertion that clearly has no basis in fact.

Though BDS tries to pass itself off as a human rights movement, its founders have openly called for the destruction of the only Jewish state.

I want to thank the government of Texas for seeing the true, hateful intentions of BDS and banning such state-sponsored bias, said The Israel Project CEO and President Josh Block. The people of the Lone Star State and Israel share an unbreakable bond based upon mutual values, and by passing this legislation  ensuring that taxpayer dollars do not fund discrimination  Texas has reaffirmed this important friendship.

Texas is Israels 47th largest trading partner, and the passage of todays legislation further cements their relationship. Texas is the latest in more than a dozen states to pass laws banning this form of hatred.

About The Israel Project

The Israel Project (TIP) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization that provides factual information about Israel and the Middle East to the press, policymakers and the public. Founded in 2003, TIP works in multiple languages to provide real-time background information, images, maps, audio, video, graphics and direct access to newsmakers. To learn more about TIP, visit http://www.theisraelproject.org.
Toronto, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- More than 30 people, comprised of Indigenous, Jesuit, English and French Canadian paddlers, will embark on a month-long, 850-kilometre canoe trip July 21 in response to the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Following a traditional First Nations canoe trade route, the Canadian Canoe Pilgrimage (CCP) will begin at Midland, Ontario up Georgian Bay, travel across the French River, Lake Nipissing, the Mattawa and Ottawa Rivers, and end near Montreal.

We are retracing this historic route on the 150th anniversary of Canada as a nation, but more importantly we are trying to work for reconciliation, says Erik Sorensen, SJ, Project Manager of the CCP. As a member of the Jesuits, a group that had a residential school that played an integral role in colonization efforts by early Europeans, there is a collective healing that I am participating in. And we are changing the way we do things.

I am hoping to learn a lot about the cultures that are going to be there, says Andrew Starblanket, who is Nehiyaw and will be representing the Starblanket First Nation in Saskatchewan on the trip. I guarantee that Im going to learn a lot about myself and others.

Ontarios 150th anniversary is an opportunity for us all to reflect on who we are and what we hope to be, said Eleanor McMahon, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. The Canadian Canoe Pilgrimage will give people the chance to connect with a meaningful part of our history, experience our provinces breathtaking scenery firsthand, and contemplate all that we can achieve by working together.

Jesuit Pope Francis promotes a culture of encounter, a culture where we engage others where they are at, offer welcome and hospitality, and are moved with compassion and the desire to treat all people with dignity. This encounter is not about anything so specifically active, its much more about just being with each other, across our respective cultures and traditions, says Kevin Kelly, SJ, a CCP co-organizer. Encountering each other is about being ourselves and being open. This immersion experience into nature will also help participants increase their understanding of the current ecological crisis we face, especially the importance of water and our respect for and treatment of it.

The CCP tentative itinerary below, shows major landfalls, but please be advised there may be changes due to logistical considerations and weather related contingencies.

July 21 - Departs Sainte-Marie among the Hurons (Midland, ON)

July 31  North Bay, ON

August 2  Mattawa, ON

August 6  Pembroke, ON

August 9  Ottawa, ON

August 14  Montreal, Quebec

August 15  Kahnawake First Nation (close to Montreal)

Members of the public will be able to join the CCP at special events at major stops along the route.

The Canadian Canoe Pilgrimage has been made possible by the generosity of donors including The Miller Group, the Ontario 150 Community Celebration Fund, the Canadian Heritage River System, Parks Canada, and Ontario Parks. Also thanks to Sainte-Marie among the Hurons and Martyrs Shrine for hosting the launch event on July 21.

About the Canadian Canoe Pilgrimage

The Canadian Canoe Pilgrimage (CCP) is a project inspired by Canadas Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) with the hope of encouraging intercultural and interreligious dialogue and learning. Participants, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, will be immersed in each others customs and traditions. Through this immersion, the goal is to foster deep respect, trust, dialogue and hopefully friendship, the building blocks for reconciliation.

The canoe route is a traditional First Nations trading route that was travelled by early European settlers such as Samuel de Champlain and Jean de Brebeuf, who were welcomed and guided by the Indigenous Peoples of this land. This pilgrimage will begin at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons in Midland, on the shore of Georgian Bay, on July 21 and end on August 15 on the St. Lawrence River at the Kahnawake First Nation, close to Montreal. The community of paddlers making this 850-kilometre, 25-day voyage is comprised of Indigenous Peoples, Jesuits, English and French Canadians, men and women - all desiring to travel together on a path of healing and friendship. The route follows a similar one paddled by 24 young Jesuits in 1967. For more information, and to donate, please go to: www.canoepilgrimage.com.

About the Jesuits in English Canada

The Jesuits, an order of priests and brothers in the Roman Catholic Church, have worked in Canada for more than 400 years. They have responsibility for the direction of schools, churches, retreat houses, and a variety of social justice ministries that span from St. Johns, Newfoundland and Labrador to Vancouver, British Columbia. They have worked closely with the TRC and issued a public Statement of Reconciliation in 2013. The Jesuits are currently implementing the Calls to Action described by the TRC. For more details please visit www.jesuits.ca.

For news media and government information, please contact:

Mark Hunter LaVigne, MAJ, APR, FCPRS

Mark.lavigne@hunterlavigne.com

416-884-2018 (mobile)

Erica Zlomislic

cdacommunications@jesuits.org

416-962-4500 X225

855-962-4500 X225

416-333-2585 (mobile)

For project information, and to discuss donations and grants, please contact:

Erik Sorensen, SJ

canoe.pilgrimage@jesuits.net

647-850-5411 (mobile)

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e029ab4f-88c5-44a2-9dcd-da1f92261a64

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4e3f534e-7939-4e2e-a886-d4a9fc1e1218

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/460cb5e9-246c-46a8-83eb-97a9ac8be7aa
On Wednesday, April 12, Oluwakemi Funmilayo Aminu and her husband Imudia Uduehi welcomed a set of quintuplet and both mother and babies are doing very well.

Legit.ng gathered that the children were born at the National Hospital, Abuja. However, the new father hails from Ekpoma, Esan West local government area while the wife is a civil servant with the Nigerian Population Commission (NPC), Abuja.

READ ALSO: Young university lecturer spotted backing his baby on campus (photos)

According to media practitioner, Lara Wise who shared their story online, the Kemi got pregnant shortly after their wedding and barely 8 months after she conceived naturally, doctors at the National hospital had to bring out her babies through C.S.

The beautiful babies

However, the couple have are begging the government and Nigerians to come to their rescue because they cant take care of all the children alone. The husband said:

"I am delighted and I thank God to have blessed us with these healthy children, I know it is a huge responsibility because it is not easy to raise even one child. I am, however, appealing to the government, well-meaning Nigerians and corporate organizations to come and support my family in raising the children."

Mr and Mrs Uduehi

The new mother too revealed that: My husband is presently searching for a job and I am a civil servant with Nigerian Population Commission in Abuja. We both live in one bedroom apartment in Lugbe because that is what we can afford. But now that God has blessed us with five children, we will definitely need a bigger apartment and money to meet their needs, especially buying baby food and cloths.

READ ALSO: Pastor builds multi-million naira mansion in the village (photos)

The husband's father also took to his Facebook handle to thank God for blessing him. He said: What shall I say unto the Lord, All I want to say is thank you Lord, Thank you Lord!!! Glory be to GOD! The one who has given us pleasant surprises by adding five tour grandchildren at a go. Join me in praising the Lord I have seen his goodness.

See his post below:

Watch related video below:

Congratulations!

Source: Legit.ng
There was a time when Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) and Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA) were the market darlings of fast casual, offering the quality of table service eats with the convenience of fast food. It's a different world these days. Chipotle is trying to claw its way back from the bouts of food-borne illnesses that scared away customers. Panera's upside -- and seemingly its downside -- is now capped by a pending acquisition.
Legit.ng gathered that a Nigerian pastor based in South Africa, has been accused of abusing over 30 young girls whom he kept in his house.

According to reports by SABC3, Tim Omotoso, the Senior pastor of the Jesus Dominion International Church, Durban, South Africa, is wanted for allegedly abusing over 30 young girls, at his house in Umhlanga.

The televangelist who is also the founder of Tim Omotoso global outreach, was said to have hand-picked over 30 girls to live in his house, where he went ahead to abuse them at will.

Since the police were set on Omotoso's trails, he has reportedly gone underground, deactivating all the phone-lines linked to him.

READ ALSO: Married nurses at Harare hospital caught cheating

Pastor Tim Omotoso has been accused of abusing over 30 young girls

Omotoso was said to have abused the girls under the pretext of saving them from drug abuse. While some were members of his singing group known as Simply Christolite, others dropped out of the Kwazulu-Natal university.

Pastor Omotoso preaching to his congregation

READ ALSO: Drama as couple in the middle of divorce exchanges blows at an airport

Meanwhile, Bishop Vusi Dube of the National Interfaith Council of South Africa, said he had always been suspicious of Omotoso's activities. He said:

I challenge all honest Nigerian pastors to condemn this. If they dont, there will be assumptions that they have no problem with this behaviour.

Pastor Omotoso covers the front page of a South African newspaper

A police spokesperson, Lt-Col Robert Netshiunda, said: We are investigating the matter and we will only lay charges after getting him.

Meanwhile, see how a scandal involving another Nigerian pastor, Apostle Suleman, topped social media trends recently:

Source: Legit.ng
Investors looking for a bright spot in Ford Motor Company's (NYSE: F) sales data finally received good news. After mediocre results in Ford's U.S. sales and a drastic 21% plunge in China sales, the automaker managed to post a really strong month in Europe.
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
Nelnet is asking its shareholders to approve a plan that would stagger the terms of the nine members of its board of directors.

Currently, all nine directors serve one-year terms and face re-election each year. The proposal by the Lincoln-based student finance company would create three classes of directors, with Class 1 directors serving one-year terms, Class 2 directors serving two-year terms and Class 3 directors serving three-year terms.

In a statement, Nelnet said the proposal is in the best interests of the company and "consistent with our long-term focus."

The proposal, which will be voted on at the Nelnet annual meeting on May 25, "promotes continuity, stability and allows directors a greater chance to become conversant in the complexities of the company," the company said.

However, language in the shareholder proposal shows there may be another motivation behind it.

Under a section of its proxy statement titled, "Potential Anti-Takeover Effects," Nelnet acknowledges that the proposal would make it harder for an individual shareholder or another company to try take over the company without the cooperation of the board, including in situations where such a takeover would benefit shareholders.

Activist shareholders who buy large stakes in companies sometimes attempt to replace board members by backing their own candidates.

Activists often target companies who they feel are underperforming or not being managed well.

"The root cause is poor company performance that attracts activists and takeover bids," said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigans Ross School of Business who is an expert on corporate governance.

There also are other cases, such as what Wells Fargo faces at its shareholder meeting next week, where proxy advisers encourage shareholders to oppose multiple board members because of a scandal.

Nelnet's stock price has fallen more than 15 percent in 2017, and its fourth-quarter earnings were well below expectations.

Still, the company said in its proxy statement that the proposal is not in response to any takeover threat.

"The company is not aware of any present or threatened third-party plans to gain control of the company, and the classified board amendment is not being proposed in response to any such plan or threat," Nelnet said in the document.

The way the company is structured now, such a takeover would be impossible, because Executive Chairman Mike Dunlap owns shares that account for nearly 78 percent of all voting rights.

Gordon said staggered boards are considered by many to be bad corporate governance and are opposed by shareholder advisory services such as ISS.

In fact, he said, the trend actually has been for boards to change from staggered terms for members to annual elections of all directors "in order to avoid accusations of bad governance and of attempting to entrench existing directors."

"Most observers will think a move to staggered elections is a bare-faced attempt to protect existing directors," Gordon said.
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 ...
It took 68 days, but the Legislature on Thursday officially seated Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers.

On a 42-0 vote, senators accepted the recommendation of a special committee appointed to review the residency challenge by Chambers' opponent in the 2016 legislative race.

John Sciara had claimed Chambers was living in Bellevue during the year prior to the election, rather than his north Omaha District 11 home.

After listening to testimony and collecting exhibits, the seven-member committee concluded Chambers did live in his district during the year prior to the election and recommended the Legislature deny the challenge and dismiss Sciara's petition.

Chambers listened to the report Thursday morning by committee Chairman Dan Watermeier but did not speak during the report or after the vote.

He had said after the committee announced its recommendation earlier this month that the challenge procedure was flawed and should be changed.

"It should take more than a disgruntled loser (of an election) to make an allegation based on no facts whatsoever," Chambers said.

Sciara had told the committee he had heard rumors Chambers was living in Bellevue, but at a hearing he presented weak or no evidence that was the case. He had tried to contend, through offering three months of water bills, that Chambers water usage was too low for him to be living at his house.

"The challenger's evidence ... was no more than rumor, hearsay and innuendo," the committee report said. "Even viewing the challenger's evidence in the most favorable light, the challenger established nothing more than the incumbent has not always been physically present at his home on Binney Street."
Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell got three hours of debate Wednesday to show whether a shield law is justified to protect the confidentiality of lethal injection drug manufacturers, including compounding companies, for use in Nebraska's death penalty.

The Legislature adjourned then without taking a vote.

But Kuehn said he believes he can bring the bill back again this session. He'd have to prove to Speaker Jim Scheer he has 33 votes to break a filibuster to do it.

Kuehn introduced the bill to allow the state to keep the names under wraps of manufacturers that provide lethal injection drugs to the state. He did so, he said, to protect producers from political activism and harassment that could continue to limit the general distribution of drugs that are also important to medical care of patients.

"I cannot overstate the absurdity or the magnitude of the social injustice created by an anesthetic shortage manufactured by those who wish to protect convicted death row inmates in exchange for vulnerable lives around the world that are in need of safe, effective and approved medical care," Kuehn said.

Because of shortages, some states have turned to small compounders to formulate individual drug doses on an as-needed basis, he said.

"In several cases those compounding pharmacies have ceased production due to harassment when their identities were disclosed," he said.

He remained steadfast in his advocacy of transparency of government, especially regarding the votes and actions of public officials. Private citizens, however, have a right to protection, he said.

Kuehn argued that the limits put on the drugs' importation by the federal government are not because they are unsafe.

Companies that have refused to have their drugs used in carrying out death penalties have allowed use of their drugs to stop pregnancies or for euthanasia, he said. They just don't want the publicity associated with the death penalty, he said.

Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, a longtime opponent of the death penalty, said this bill is more an issue of transparency and openness in government and whether the public has a right to know how taxpayer money is spent and to whom it is given.

Gov. Pete Ricketts, Attorney General Doug Peterson and the Department of Correctional Services Director Scott Frakes collaborated, he said, to give $54,000 to "a known, rogue drug dealer in India who had stiffed Nebraska on previous occasions with reference to trying to procure these drugs."

The death penalty has shown itself to be a corrupting, demoralizing activity, Chambers said, and to get the means to carry it out, public and elected officials are reduced to telling senators to abrogate the principle of the open records law.

Last fall, voters overwhelmingly said the state should keep the death penalty as an option in Nebraska, Kuehn said. And opponents have said it is broken and can't be fixed.

Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus said the people who passed the initiative petition on the death penalty were not saying they wanted to make changes.

"What the people did was restore the status quo," he said. "The status quo had the best of both worlds."

It kept the death penalty as a deterrent. It continued to give prosecutors plea bargaining leverage, and a promise the accused would not be released as long as they were on death row.

"And the status quo had the likelihood of the death penalty being imposed at virtually zero," he said.

Nevertheless, last summer, Kuehn said, he began considering whether the death penalty was broken beyond repair or if there were specific steps that could be taken to make it workable. To that end, he introduced LB661 to help fix its functional problems. Nine other senators have signed on to the bill as co-sponsors.

Yes, the people spoke, said Lincoln Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks.

"But I never saw a word on that form that anybody was voting to keep it all secret, or keep any part of it secret, so that the state can just move forward and do it at will, when and if and however it wants to," Pansing Brooks said. "'Cause those are the next steps, my friends."

If this bill was in force in 2015, the public would not have known that drug supplier Chris Harris of Harris Pharma had stolen $54,000 from the state, she said.

"Secrecy assures that scam artists continue," she said.
MaGeSY  TEAM

Since 1996 We are a Group of Producers with more than 25 years of experience in the production of Hip Hop, Rap, EDM and different musical genres. We started looking for resources on the internet for our productions and we shared with you all the good that we are finding... Many fake websites try to copy us, but they will never be like us! StrongHold!  And as R2R says: Support the good developer if you use it or how H2o: Try Before Buy. If you can't find what you're looking for, it's because it's not Royalty-Free xD.

ABOUT US:
Children with ADHD find it more difficult to focus and to complete their schoolwork. Credit: public domain image

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder want to ask their physicians about their condition and medications but often don't, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The study could help doctors and parents leverage this interest to help children better manage their ADHD.

"We have found that there has been very little research into how providers, parents and youth communicate about ADHD and ADHD medications," said Betsy Sleath, the lead author of the study and the George H. Cocolas Distinguished Professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. "What we do know is that kids often aren't part of the conversation when their parents and doctors are talking ADHD. We wanted to know how the kids felt about that."

Sleath's team recruited 48 boys and 22 girls ranging in age from 7 to 17 years at two private pediatric practices in North Carolina who had been diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed medicine, and examined how children with ADHD perceive communication with their pediatric care providers, whether they say they take their ADHD medications correctly and where they prefer to learn about their condition.

The children were also asked if they wished their doctor talked to them more about ADHD. They were asked what made it hard to talk to their doctor about ADHD and what would make it easier to talk to their doctor about ADHD.

One-third of the children said they wished their physician talked with them more about ADHD during visits. Study participants had at least eight unasked questions on average about ADHD and its treatment. Common questions included will I grow out of ADHD, how will my medicine affect me and what are the side effects of my ADHD medicine?

Most of the children said they wanted to learn about ADHD at their provider's office and wanted their providers to engage them more during visits, the researchers found.

"These results highlight the fact that children with ADHD want their physician to focus more on them during doctor visits," said Sleath, who also chairs the School's Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy. "Health-care providers should take advantage of this interest to engage youth more in discussions regarding ADHD and its treatment."

Sleath suggests that physicians work to make children feel more comfortable talking about their ADHD and should make a special effort to ask the children what questions they have.

"By asking children questions and letting them talk more during visits, both the provider and parent might learn more about the youth's perspective on ADHD and what they would like to learn about their condition. Improving provider-youth communication about ADHD and ADHD medications could increase medication adherence and improve outcomes.

More information: Betsy Sleath et al. Youth Views on Communication About ADHD and Medication Adherence, Community Mental Health Journal (2017). Betsy Sleath et al. Youth Views on Communication About ADHD and Medication Adherence,(2017). DOI: 10.1007/s10597-016-0078-3
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

According to data from eight studies being presented at The International Liver Congress 2017 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, there remains continued debate on whether patients are at risk of developing liver cancer after achieving sustained virologic response (SVR) with a direct-acting antiviral (DAA) regimen for Hepatitis C virus (HCV). Investigators will present the results of their studies that show both sides of the argument - DAA therapy is associated with a higher risk of liver cancer compared with interferon-based therapy, versus there is no difference in liver cancer risk following cure with either therapy.

Whilst remarkable progress has been made in the development of successful antiviral therapies for HCV infection, some recent studies suggest that curing patients does not eliminate the risk of developing liver cancer. There also appears to be an unexpectedly high rate of liver cancer (also known as hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC]) recurrence in patients who previously had their tumour treated successfully and had received DAAs.1

This claim was further supported by a Spanish study led by Dr Maria Reig and Dr Marino, Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Spain in which patients with HCV and HCC who had previously been cured of HCC received DAA therapy. After a median 12.4 month follow-up, following treatment with DAAs, the rate of HCC coming back (recurrence) was 31.2% (24/77) and of those who received HCC treatment at recurrence, 30% (6/20) of patients presented progression in the immediate 6-month follow-up. This is an update of the study that will be published in the May 2017 issue of Seminars in Liver Disease, and is available here: https://www.thieme-connect.de/products/ejournals/html/10.1055/s-0037-1601349.

"Our study offers further support to previous findings that there is an unexpected high recurrence rate of hepatocellular carcinoma associated with DAAs, and that this association may result in a more aggressive pattern of recurrence and faster tumour progression," said Dr Maria Reig, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Group, Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Spain, and lead author of the study. "These data indicate that there needs to be further research conducted in this area, clarifying the mechanism for the association between liver cancer recurrence and DAA therapy."Identifying those patients at risk of liver cancer is essential, a task that Dr Etienne Audureau, Public Health, Henri Mondor University Hospital, Creteil, France, and colleagues attempted to achieve by developing a prognostic tool for HCC. They found that in patients with severe

scarring of the liver due to HCV (compensated cirrhosis), failure to achieve SVR was the most influential factor in predicting liver cancer. In addition, risk factors for liver cancer differ according to SVR status. The investigators recommend that in patients with compensated cirrhosis, eradication of HCV should be achieved before liver function is impaired and people who have achieved SVR should be monitored for liver cancer after 50 years of age.

The mechanisms behind the development of liver cancer following HCV cure are not yet understood. One group of investigators led by Prof Thomas Baumert, Inserm Institute for Viral and Liver Diseases, University of Strasbourg, France, aimed to investigate if HCV infections produce epigenetic and transcriptional changes that persist after the infection is cured, and whether these epigenetic changes drive liver disease and HCC following cure. They found that the epigenetic and transcriptional changes are only partially reversed by DAAs and persist after HCV cure, suggesting that these changes are a driver for liver cancer that develops after HCV infection has been cured. The investigators concluded that these findings open a new perspective to develop novel biomarkers to identify patients at high risk of HCC and provide an opportunity to develop urgently needed strategies for HCC prevention.

On the other side of the debate, a systematic review, meta-analyses, and meta-regression study, by Prof Gregory Dore and Dr Reem Waziry from The Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, and colleagues, found no evidence for higher risk of HCC occurrence or recurrence following DAA treatment, compared with interferon-based HCV therapy. A total of 41 studies, including 26 on HCC occurrence and 15 on HCC recurrence (in total, n=13,875 patients) were included. In studies assessing HCC occurrence, average follow up was shorter and average age was higher in DAA studies compared to interferon studies; incidence was lower with longer follow-up and younger age. In studies assessing HCC recurrence, average follow up was also shorter. Ultimately, in the meta-regression analysis, no evidence in favour of a differential HCC occurrence or recurrence was found between DAA and interferon regimens, after adjusting for study follow-up and age.

"Recent studies have reported contradicting evidence on risk of hepatocellular carcinoma following direct-acting antiviral therapy; our aim was to bring some clarity to this," said Prof Gregory Dore, Kirby Institute and lead author of the study. "These data show the higher incidence of HCC observed following DAA therapy can be explained by the shorter duration of follow-up and older age of participants, rather than the DAA treatment regimen."

A Scottish study, led by Dr Hamish Innes, School of Health and Life Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland, found that the risk of liver cancer following SVR was not associated with the use of DAAs, but baseline risk factors. Furthermore, risk of HCC development was similar in patients taking interferon-free regimens versus interferon-containing regimens, following a multivariate adjustment (IRR: 0.96, p=0.929) and no significant differences in HCC risk were found when treatment regimen was defined in terms of DAA containing regimens versus DAA free regimens. These data indicate that rather thanthe treatment regimens themselves, it is the baseline risk factors that determine risk of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Another interesting study in Japanese patients with HCV genotype 1 infection, found a reduced incidence of liver cancer following achievement of SVR after 12 weeks of therapy with an interferon-free regimen (ledipasvir plus sofosbuvir) to a similar degree as that obtained with an interferon-containing regimen (simeprevir with peginterferon plus ribavirin). This study, which was conducted by Dr Masaaki Korenaga, Kohnodai Hospital, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Chiba, Japan, and colleagues, also found that unexpected development of liver cancer following SVR in patients without previous liver cancer could potentially be predicted by imaging procedures (computer tomography or enhanced magnetic resonance imaging).

Similarly, a Chinese study led by Dr George Lau, from the Beijing 302-Hong Kong Humanity and Health Hepatitis C Diagnosis and Treatment Centre, in Beijing, China, found no increase in the incidence of liver cancer in patients who achieved SVR12 with DAA compared to peginterferon plus ribavirin.

A Sicilian study conducted by Dr Vincenza Calvaruso, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy, and colleagues, demonstrated that patients who achieved SVR with DAAs had a similar risk of developing liver cancer when compared to historical controls of patients with compensated cirrhosis who achieved SVR after interferon-based therapy. In addition, those who achieved SVR with DAAs had a lower risk of developing liver cancer than those patients whose HCV infection was not cured.

"The original observations made by researchers from the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Group have sparked a huge number of studies aimed at verifying the potential association between DAA treatment and increased HCC recurrence after cure," said Prof Francesco Negro, Divisions of Gastroenterology and Hepatology of Clinical Pathology, University Hospital of Geneva, and EASL Governing Board Member. "At this stage, there is no reason to alter treatment guidelines until the issue is definitively clarified. We cannot exclude, however, that we may have to revise post-SVR surveillance in some specific patient subgroups."

This annual congress is the biggest event in the EASL calendar, attracting scientific and medical experts from around the world to learn about the latest in liver research. Attending specialists present, share, debate and conclude on the latest science and research in hepatology, working to enhance the treatment and management of liver disease in clinical practice. This year, the congress is expected to attract approximately 10,000 delegates from all corners of the globe. The International Liver Congress 2017 will take place from April 19 - 23, at the RAI Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

More information: Abstract: No evidence for higher risk of hepatocellular carcinoma occurrence or recurrence following direct-acting antiviral HCV therapy: A systematic review, meta-analyses, and meta-regression (PS160), 16:00 - 16:15, The International Liver Congress 2017. Abstract: No evidence for higher risk of hepatocellular carcinoma occurrence or recurrence following direct-acting antiviral HCV therapy: A systematic review, meta-analyses, and meta-regression (PS160), 16:00 - 16:15, The International Liver Congress 2017. References: 1 Reig M et al. Unexpected early tumor recurrence in patients with HCV-related HCC undergoing interferon-free therapy; a note of caution. J Hepatol. 2016;65:719-726.

Provided by European Association for the Study of the Liver
Asthma is a debilitating, yet common childhood ailment. It is estimated that one in ten children in the United States suffer from asthma, but the condition disproportionately affects African American and Latino children. In a new study published in CHEST, investigators found that African American children who reported experiencing discrimination had almost twice the probability of having asthma than their peers who did not experience/report discrimination. Among African American children with asthma, discrimination was also associated with a greater probability of having poorly controlled asthma. For Mexican American children, discrimination and socioeconomic status (SES) act together with discrimination having an effect on asthma only among low-SES children.

While the relationship between discrimination and physical health in adults is well understood, less is known about the role it plays in children. This study is the first to show an association between discrimination and asthma diagnosis in African American and in Latino children, contributing to existing evidence implicating racial/ethnic discrimination as a predictor of negative health outcomes in children. For asthma specifically, the findings are consistent with results correlating discriminatory experience and subsequent asthma diagnosis in African American adult women.

"Discrimination is a common and everyday experience for minority populations in America. People can be exposed to it at the individual and society levels. This constant stress gets embodied into our biology or DNA to change our bodies' responses to diseases and medical treatments. Our findings support this biological embodiment for asthma and its control among African American children and among low-SES Mexican American children," explained lead and senior investigator Luisa N. Borrell, DDS, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, City University of New York.

Using data from the Genes-Environment and Admixture in Latino Americans study (GALA II) and the Study of African Americans, Asthma, Genes, and Environments (SAGE II), researchers found that African American children who reported discrimination had 78 percent greater odds of having asthma than participants who did not report discrimination. In addition, reported discrimination was a good predictor of a child's asthma being poorly controlled.

SES and discrimination are complex issues, with many different aspects to consider. The results of this study suggest that they work together to influence asthma rates for Latino youth, but that for African American youth, discrimination works independently of SES; however, the authors note that many unmeasured factors surrounding both discrimination and SES may help explain the association with asthma.

"With overt events of discrimination, whether towards one's race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and/or sexual orientation increasing, this study is now more relevant than ever," concluded first author Neeta Thakur, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. "Discrimination is a real and everyday experience for many Americans, especially for those from minority communities. In this study, we demonstrate how this seemingly unrelated stressor is directly related to asthma and its associated outcomes in African Americans. This is significant as asthma is an incredibly common and costly disease of childhood and is on the rise in African American communities."

"Given the current political climate, our findings are very significant, especially for minority children," stated Dr. Borrell. "Children are being exposed directly or indirectly to different sources of psychosocial stressdiscrimination, bullying, and fearwhile our focus was asthma, this stress may play a role in other diseases, behaviors, and learning opportunities."

More information: Neeta Thakur et al, Perceived Discrimination Associated With Asthma and Related Outcomes in Minority Youth, Chest (2017). Journal information: Chest Neeta Thakur et al, Perceived Discrimination Associated With Asthma and Related Outcomes in Minority Youth,(2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.chest.2016.11.027
Credit: Oregon State University

Looking to improve your overall life satisfaction? Try regularly hiking in a forest or otherwise engaging with the natural environment.

And then, for good measure, look for ways to build your trust in the scientists and policymakers involved in managing the forest where you like to hike.

New research at Oregon State University empirically demonstrates that a variety of mechanisms for engaging nature significantly contribute to a person's overall well-being.

Chief among those, the study found, was whether people believed their surrounding environments were being managed wellfor the earning of income and the underpinning of cultural practices as well as for the pursuit of recreation.

"Whether people feel like things are fair and they have a voice in process of making decisions and whether governance is transparentthose are the foundations of why people even can interact with nature," said lead author Kelly Biedenweg of OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences.

Biedenweg, an assistant professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, and collaborators from Colorado State University and the University of Georgia analyzed results from more than 4,400 respondents to an online survey conducted in the Puget Sound region of Washington state.

The researchers used 13 different metrics to illustrate the relationship between overall life satisfaction and engaging with the natural environment. Among those metrics were community activities, access to wild resources, stress eased by time outdoors, and trust in policymakers.

"Eleven of the 13 had a positive correlation to overall life satisfaction," said Biedenweg, a social scientist who studies both how humans benefit from the natural environment and the impact human actions have on it. "The links between ecological conditions, like drinking water and air quality, and objective well-being have been studied quite a bit, but the connection between various aspects of engaging the natural environment and overall subjective well-being have rarely been looked at."

"We wanted to identify the relative importance of diverse, nature-oriented experiences on a person's overall life satisfaction assessment and statistically prove the relationship between happiness/life satisfaction and engaging with nature in many different ways."

The researchers quantified the relationship between well-being and six common mechanisms by which nature has effects on well-being: social and cultural events; trust in governance; access to local wild resources; sense of place; outdoor recreation; and psychological benefits from time outdoors.

"Controlling for demographics, all were significantly related to life satisfaction," Biedenweg said. "The fact that trust in governance was a significant predictor of life satisfactionin fact, the most statistically significant predictor of the ones we looked at - it was nice to see that come out of the research. The way we manage is the gateway to people being able to get livelihoods and satisfaction from nature."

Findings were recently published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.

More information: Kelly Biedenweg et al, How does engaging with nature relate to life satisfaction? Demonstrating the link between environment-specific social experiences and life satisfaction, Journal of Environmental Psychology (2017). Kelly Biedenweg et al, How does engaging with nature relate to life satisfaction? Demonstrating the link between environment-specific social experiences and life satisfaction,(2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.02.002
(HealthDay)Slow processing speed predicts future falls in older adults with a history of falls, according to a study published online April 8 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Jennifer C. Davis, Ph.D., from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues assessed baseline predictors of future falls among 288 community-dwelling older adults (aged 70 years) with a history of at least one fall resulting in medical attention in the previous 12 months. Participants were prospectively evaluated for 12 months.

The researchers found that processing speed was the most consistent predictor of future falls. Poorer processing speed predicted a greater number of total, indoor, outdoor, and noninjurious falls, as well as a greater likelihood of experiencing at least one mild or severe injurious fall.

"Poorer performance on the processing speed factor, a trainable factor, was independently associated with the most costly type of falls: injurious falls," the authors write.

Copyright  2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Demyelination by MS. The CD68 colored tissue shows several macrophages in the area of the lesion. Original scale 1:100. Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Marvin 101/Wikipedia

People with multiple sclerosis can show signs of something wrong five years before the onset of disease, much earlier than previously thought, according to a new analysis of health records from people with the condition.

The new research, published today in Lancet Neurology, is a first step to identifying red flags to help doctors screen for the disease and start interventions earlier. This could point researchers in a new direction for finding the root cause of the disease.

"Proving that people with multiple sclerosis have already changed their behaviour in the five years before even the earliest medical recognition of the condition is very important because it means we have to look beyond those five years to understand how it is caused," said Helen Tremlett, senior author of the study and a professor in the department of medicine at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health.

Multiple sclerosis is thought to be an autoimmune disease where the body attacks the protective coating, known as myelin, around brain cells. Once a person is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a physician will try to pinpoint the onset of the disease, sometimes known as the patient's first demyelinating event, and can include problems with vision or motor control.

The researchers examined health records of 14,000 people with multiple sclerosis from B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nova Scotia over a 20-year period and compared them to the health records of 72,000 people without the disease. They were looking for something called a prodrome, an early set of symptoms that can indicate the onset of a disease.

Prodromes have been identified for other neurological conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. The recognition of these prodromes has provided clues about how the diseases might begin and has stimulated new research into causes or triggers.

This study of patients from across Canada revealed that there is a phase where people begin to show symptoms before multiple sclerosis is medically recognized. During this phase patients tend to visit their physicians, be admitted to a hospital and fill prescriptions more than the general population.

"There's something going on here that makes this population of people unique," said Jose Wijnands, first author of the manuscript, a postdoctoral fellow and a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research trainee.

"When other degenerative brain diseases have a prodrome, it suggests that something may be happening," said Tremlett. "We hope to uncover what this might be in multiple sclerosis."

Going forward, the team of researchers will try to understand why these patients had been using the health-care system differently, and whether there are trends in illnesses reported and prescriptions filled that point to a specific set of symptoms that doctors could use to help identify multiple sclerosis earlier.
Blacklegged ticks are known as one of the disease transmitting organisms for Lyme disease. Credit: CDC

Lyme disease is among the most common vector-borne illnesses in North America, Europe, and some parts of Asia. A spirochete bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi causes the disease, and blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) are responsible for the majority of North American transmissions. Commonly known as deer ticks, blacklegged ticks exhibit two-year life cycles with the following four stages: eggs, larvae, nymphs, and adults. Larvae primarily attack white-footed mice, then become nymphs upon obtaining a blood meal. At the beginning of their second year, nymphs transform into adults and prey almost solely on white-tailed deer. Female ticks produce approximately 2,000 fertile eggs throughout their lives, nearly all of which hatch and continue the sequence.

In the past, researchers have used various modeling techniquesincluding reaction-diffusion models, simulation models, and temperature-driven mapsin attempts to better understand Lyme disease. In a paper publishing on Thursday, April 20 in the SIAM Journal on Applied Dynamical Systems, Xiunan Wang and Xiao-Qiang Zhao present a periodic time-delayed model of Lyme disease that incorporates seasonality and climate factors. "Seasonal variations in temperature, humidity, and resource availability have a strong effect on tick population dynamics," Wang said. "Climate impacts tick survival mostly during nonparasitic periods of the life cycle. Outside certain ranges of temperature and rainfall, tick populations cannot survive because these conditions directly kill the ticks or inhibit host-seeking activity."

Previous models of the disease inspired the authors' current model, which handles seasonality and tick feeding activity particularly well. "We incorporate seasonality by assuming that the birth rate of ticks, the biting rate of ticks, and the strength of density dependence for adult ticks are positive, continuous, and periodic functions," Wang said. The authors address the larvae, nymph, and adult stages of the deer tick, and incorporate mice and deer as host populations. They identify three parameters to represent the different feeding durations of larvae, nymphs, and adults.

"We need to be clear with the life cycle of ticks, including when they feed on two different hosts and how long they stay on the hosts," Wang said. "Involvement of three different tick life stages and two different hosts results in an eight-dimensional non-autonomous model with three different time delays." Wang and Zhao also identify variables for the densities of susceptible and infected mice, the densities of both uninfected and infected ticks at all stages of life, the density and birth rate of deer, mortality rates and feeding durations of all involved parties, susceptibility to infection, and individual biting rates of ticks.

The authors evaluate all parameters and apply their model to Lyme disease transmission in Long Point, a hamlet in Ontario, Canada where the disease is widespread. "In recent years, northward invasive spread of the endemic tick vectors from the United States to nonendemic Canadian habitats has become a public health concern," Wang said. "Migratory songbirds play an integral role in the wide dispersal of ticks. Long Point Provincial Park on the northwestern shore of Lake Erie is famous for its migrating birds during spring and fall, and attracts thousands of birdwatchers. It is also one of the places where infected ticks are commonly found."

Wang and Zhao utilize an existing algorithm to derive the basic reproduction ratio (R0), which acts as a threshold parameter when defining the model's global dynamics. They then use published data about monthly mean temperatures in Long Point from 1981-2010 to experiment with R0 levels, given changes in tick larvae birth rate. If R0<1, Lyme disease will likely die out in the area; if R0>1, it will likely persist and exhibit periodic fluctuation.

Ultimately, the authors' model yields a disease-free periodic solution. If nothing is done in the next few years, Lyme disease will be continue its prevalence in Long Point and exhibit periodic fluctuation. However, reducing the recruitment rate of tick larvae could eliminate it. The authors offer a few suggestions on how best to reduce this rate and prevent tick eggs from hatching into larvae. "It may be helpful to regularly search for the spots where adult ticks usually lay eggs, like in sheds, in woodpiles, under rocks, and in the crevices of walls," Wang said. "Since tick eggs are static, it is more feasible to focus on the clearance of eggs than to think about killing ticks of the other three life stages." However, because tick eggs are not macroscopically visible, Wang and Zhao suggest that the invention of equipment to detect them would certainly be useful.

As long as the corresponding data is available, Wang and Zhao say that researchers can apply their model to the study of Lyme disease transmission in other parts of the world. They also hope to more thoroughly investigate ticks on songbirds, given the northward spread of the parasite to areas of Canada during migration season. "Since the ticks removed from songbirds consist of susceptible and infected nymphs, we may add a periodic function term into the susceptible and infectious nymph equations of our model, respectively," Wang said. "Such periodic terms can reflect the effect of seasonal migration of songbirds."
My mother suffers from Fibromyalgia and is in a constant state of pain, though she still works full time at an assisted living home. She will 
Credit: Duke University

How well are we preparing young children to enter kindergarten ready to learn? Educators in K-12 school systems are faced with wide disparities in skill levels of entering kindergarteners, which means many children are already far behind many of their peers.

Findings in developmental science point toward the importance of early-life experiences in shaping brain development. These findings suggest that if we knew how to provide these experiences in our early education programs, we could have a lifelong impact on children's success.

The good news, according to numerous studies, is that children attending publicly funded pre-kindergarten programs are better prepared for kindergarten than similar children who have not attended pre-k.

While some studies have shown the advantages persist well into elementary school, two reportsone based not on pre-k but on Head Start, and one on the Tennessee Voluntary Pre-K programhave led some policymakers to question whether pre-k can provide the persistent effects that undergird an ambitious agenda for pre-kindergarten programs. Both studies found positive impacts on children's skills at the end of the pre-k year, but not later in elementary school.

To answer questions about the likely impacts of pre-k programs and factors that distinguish effective early learning programs, a group of leading researchers came together to develop a comprehensive report and consensus statement about the state of knowledge on pre-k education.

On April 17, The Brookings Institution released the report on the role of pre-k curriculum, cost-benefit studies, financing and more, titled "The Current State of Scientific Knowledge on Pre-Kindergarten Effects." It includes a "consensus statement" about the current state of scientific knowledge on pre-kindergarten.

Professor Kenneth Dodge, director of the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy, co-authored the report and consensus statement. Professor of Public Policy and Economics Helen Ladd wrote a chapter focusing on whether some children benefit more than others from pre-k. Both Dodge and Ladd participated in the discussions held at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., for the release of the report.

A summary of the consensus:

Studies of different groups of preschoolers often find greater improvement in learning at the end of the pre-k year for economically disadvantaged children and dual language learners than for more advantaged and English-proficient children.

Pre-k programs are not all equally effective. Several effectiveness factors may be at work in the most successful programs.

Children's early learning trajectories depend on the quality of their learning experiences not only before and during their pre-k year, but also following the pre-k year.

Convincing evidence shows that children attending a diverse array of state and school district pre-k programs are more ready for school at the end of their pre-k year than children who do not attend pre-k. Improvements in academic areas such as literacy and numeracy are most common.

Convincing evidence on the longer-term impacts of scaled-up pre-k programs on academic outcomes and school progress is sparse, precluding broad conclusions.

Ongoing innovation and evaluation are needed during and after pre-k to ensure continued improvement in creating and sustaining children's learning gains.
A midday jolt of caffeine isn't as powerful as walking up and down some stairs, according to new research from the University of Georgia.

In a new study published in the journal Physiology and Behavior, researchers in the UGA College of Education found that 10 minutes of walking up and down stairs at a regular pace was more likely to make participants feel energized than ingesting 50 milligrams of caffeine-about the equivalent to the amount in a can of soda.

"We found, in both the caffeine and the placebo conditions, that there was not much change in how they felt," said Patrick J. O'Connor, a professor in the department of kinesiology who co-authored the study with former graduate student Derek Randolph. "But with exercise they did feel more energetic and vigorous. It was a temporary feeling, felt immediately after the exercise, but with the 50 milligrams of caffeine, we didn't get as big an effect."

The study aimed to simulate the hurdles faced in a typical office setting, where workers spend hours sitting and staring at computer screens and don't have time for a longer bout of exercise during the day. For the study, participants on separate days either ingested capsules containing caffeine or a placebo, or spent 10 minutes walking up and down stairs-about 30 floors total-at a low-intensity pace.

O'Connor wanted to compare an exercise that could be achieved by people in an office setting, where they have access to stairs and a little time to be active, but not enough time to change into workout gear, shower and change back into work clothes.

"Office workers can go outside and walk, but weather can be less than ideal. It has never rained on me while walking the stairs," said O'Connor. "And a lot of people working in office buildings have access to stairs, so it's an option to keep some fitness while taking a short break from work."

Study participants were female college students who described themselves as chronically sleep deprived-getting less than 6 hours per night. To test the effects of caffeine versus the exercise, each group took some verbal and computer-based tests to gauge how they felt and how well they performed certain cognitive tasks. Neither caffeine nor exercise caused large improvements in attention or memory, but stair walking was associated with a small increase in motivation for work.

O'Connor added that there is still much research to be done on the specific benefits of exercising on the stairs, especially for just 10 minutes. But even a brief bout of stair walking can enhance feelings of energy without reducing cognitive function. "You may not have time to go for a swim, but you might have 10 minutes to walk up and down the stairs."

More information: Derek D. Randolph et al. Stair walking is more energizing than low dose caffeine in sleep deprived young women, Physiology & Behavior (2017). Derek D. Randolph et al. Stair walking is more energizing than low dose caffeine in sleep deprived young women,(2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.03.013
Jervaughn Hunter and Nikea McMullen, both seniors majoring in biomedical engineering at UAB, presented their research at the 2017 Spring Expo.

The stethoscope is an invaluable tool for fighting diseases. Unfortunately, it can also help spread them. A 2014 study in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings found that, when it comes to collecting bacteria (including MRSA, a serious problem in many hospitals), stethoscopes are as bad as hands. The trouble is, stethoscopes aren't cleaned nearly so often. They also have plenty of crevices in which bad bugs can hide. Some 722,000 people are readmitted to hospitals each year due to infections they acquired while hospitalized. An unknown, but potentially substantial, percentage of those patients were infected through infectious agents carried on stethoscopes.

UAB biomedical engineering majors Jervaughn Hunter and Nikea McMullen, who were working on their senior design project in the School of Engineering, discovered these facts while meeting with UAB neurologist James Houston, M.D. "He informed us that there's no real method of properly disinfecting a stethoscope," says Hunter. "Alcohol works to an extent, but it doesn't get viruses. There are UV lights on the market, but they're not widely available."

A unique approach

Hunter and McMullen set to work, doing patent searches and analyzing the products currently on the market. They settled on a two-pronged approach. The first is an anti-fouling polyisoprene surface, which fits snugly around the bell and diaphragm of a stethoscope to prevent microbes from getting a foothold. The second is an antimicrobial component to kill any bugs that do manage to cling to the stethoscope. "No one had taken that approach," Hunter says.

Hunter, who has the goal of becoming a tissue engineer, talked to one of his professors, who mentioned studies showing that silver ions are effective as antimicrobial agents. Hunter and McMullen found a commercially available, polymer-based material that releases silver ions. Their calculations show it should prove to be effective at preventing infectious transmission for at least 24 hours.

At the end of the day, throw it away

"We wanted to create something that is easy for people to use," Hunter says. "Users can come in, apply the barrier to their stethoscopes, and then just throw it away at the end of the day and apply a new one the next day."

The chance to work on these types of projects helped attract Hunter, who hails from Port Gibson, Mississippi, to UAB's biomedical engineering program. "I've always wanted to be innovative in health care but never had the passion to be a doctor," he says. "Tissue engineering and biomaterials have been the most interesting to me. We are getting to the point where we can reengineer failing organs. I'd love to be a part of that."

More information: Yves Longtin et al. Contamination of Stethoscopes and Physicians' Hands After a Physical Examination, Mayo Clinic Proceedings (2014). Journal information: Mayo Clinic Proceedings Yves Longtin et al. Contamination of Stethoscopes and Physicians' Hands After a Physical Examination,(2014). DOI: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2013.11.016
The virtual reality lab at UNC-Chapel Hill. Credit: UNC/NC State Department of Biomedical Engineering

Every year, falls lead to hospitalization or death for hundreds of thousands of elderly Americans. Standard clinical techniques generally cannot diagnose balance impairments before they lead to falls. But researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University have found evidence that virtual reality (VR) could be a big help - not only for detecting balance impairments early, but perhaps also for reversing those impairments and preventing falls.

In a study published in Nature Scientific Reports, a research team led by Jason R. Franz, PhD, assistant professor in the Joint UNC/NC State department of biomedical engineering, used a novel VR system to create the visual illusion of a loss of balance as study participants walked on a treadmill. By perturbing their sense of balance in this way and recording their movements, Franz's team was able to determine how the participants' muscles responded. In principle, a similar setup could be used in clinical settings to diagnose balance impairments, or even to train people to improve their balance while walking.

"We were able to identify the muscles that orchestrate balance corrections during walking," Franz said. "We also learned how individual muscles are highly coordinated in preserving walking balance. These things provide an important roadmap for detecting balance impairments and the risk of future falls."

Young and healthy adults rely predominantly on the mechanical "sensors" in their feet and legs to give them an accurate sense of body position. So, healthy people usually have no trouble walking in the dark or with their eyes closed. But this sense of proprioception declines in the elderly, as well as in people who have neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, leading to a much greater reliance on visual cues to maintain balance. In their study, Franz and colleagues chose to use a VR-based method to perturb the visual perception of balance. The subjects walked on a treadmill in front of a large, curved screen depicting a moving hallway.

"As each person walked, we added lateral oscillations to the video imagery, so that the visual environment made them feel as if they were swaying back and forth, or falling," Franz said. "The participants know they aren't really swaying, but their brains and muscles automatically try to correct their balance anyway."

In a setup like those seen in Hollywood motion-capture animation studios, Franz and his team used 14 cameras to record the positions of 30 reflecting markers on the legs, back, and pelvis of each subject. This allowed them to see, in detail, how the specific muscle groups that control postural sway and foot placement worked to correct a perceived loss of balance.

In response to the visual perturbations, the subjects took wider and shorter steps, as expected. And their head and trunk swayed further sideways with each step. The variability of these measures - their tendency to change from one step to the next - increased much more strikingly. Electrodes attached to the skin of the subjects also revealed coordinated electrical activity among the muscles that control postural sway and foot placement, including the gluteus medius, external oblique, and erector spinae.

"These findings give us important insights into the detailed mechanisms of walking balance control," Franz said.

The data also provide key reference measurements that could be used in future clinical procedures to detect balance impairments before they cause people to fall. Franz and his team have ongoing studies in elderly people and plans for studies in people with multiple sclerosis to help develop early-detection procedures. In their earlier work, they have shown that using this VR setting can identify age-related balance deficits that are not otherwise apparent during normal walking.

"We think there's a big opportunity to use visual perturbations in a VR setting to reveal balance impairments that would not be detected in conventional testing or normal walking," Franz said. "The key is to challenge balance during walking, to tease out those impairments that exist under the surface."

Franz and his colleagues also are examining the potential of their VR setup as a physical therapy tool to teach balance-impaired people how to improve their balance and avoid falls. "Early work in our lab suggests it's possible to use these visual perturbations to train a person's balance control system to respond better to imbalance that occurs in daily living," Franz said.
Results from a worldwide analysis of over 3,000 patients highlights that there is significant disparity in the referral of patients with liver disease, and that those with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) are 12 times more likely to present at an advanced rather than early stage. The study, presented at The International Liver Congress 2017 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, showed that in those patients with two causes of cirrhosis, alcohol abuse also leads to a more advanced stage of presentation.

Alcoholic liver disease refers to liver damage caused by excessive alcohol intake, and encompasses several stages of severity (alcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis) with a range of symptoms.1 It is the most prevalent cause of advanced liver disease in Europe.2 Young people account for a disproportionate amount of ALD disease burden, with over 10% and 25% of alcohol-related deaths in female and male youths respectively.2

"This study showed that there is a significant disparity worldwide in the referral of patients with liver disease, with ALD patients being seen at more advanced stages than those with viral hepatitis or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease," said Dr. Neil Shah, UNC Hospitals, Chapel Hill, United States, and lead author of the study. Senior author, Dr. Ramon Bataller, added "ALD is an important issue to address as the consequences of the disease can be grave. The results of our study clearly indicate that programmes for early detection and referral of ALD are urgently needed worldwide."

This study, which analysed results from the global alcoholic liver disease survey (GLADIS), involved 16 gastrointestinal and liver centres from six continents, and aimed to investigate disparities regarding the causes of liver disease among patients referred with early and advanced disease. Each centre enrolled 100 outpatients with early liver disease and 100 inpatients with advanced liver disease. Early liver disease was defined as liver disease without evidence of advanced fibrosis (scarring) or cirrhosis, liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) or history of liver-related complications. Advanced liver disease was defined as decompensated cirrhosis (the liver cannot perform all its functions properly), liver cancer or acute liver failure. Patients were excluded from the study if they had a history of liver transplant. The study analysed 1,551 patients with early liver disease and 1,597 with advanced disease.

Of all patients, 84% had one cause of liver disease and 15% had two causes. The most common single causes of early liver disease were Hepatitis C virus in 31.2%, Hepatitis B virus in 22.63% and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in 18.5%, while only 2.8% had ALD. Contrasting with this, among single causes of advanced liver disease, the most frequent wasalcohol abuse, present in 31% of patients. Alcohol was also involved in 84% of cases with two causes of liver disease. Patients with ALD were 11.5 times more likely to have advanced signs of liver disease compared with early disease. Patients with two causes of disease, of which one was alcohol-induced, also presented significantly more often as 'advanced' patients.

"This is an important study as it demonstrates that patients with ALD are significantly more likely to be referred at a very late stage of disease, thus reducing the possible interventions which may halt disease progression. This demonstrates the need for earlier detection strategies, such as screening of populations at higher risk", said Prof Helena Cortez-Pinto, Department of Gastroenterology, from Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal and EASL Governing Board Member.

More information: Abstract: Worldwide lack of early referral of patients with alcoholic liver disease: results of the global alcoholic liver disease survey (GLADIS) (LBP-529), The International Liver Congress 2017. Abstract: Worldwide lack of early referral of patients with alcoholic liver disease: results of the global alcoholic liver disease survey (GLADIS) (LBP-529), The International Liver Congress 2017. References: 1 NHS choices. Alcohol-related liver disease. Available from: www.nhs.uk/conditions/Liver_di  es/Introduction.aspx. Last accessed: April 2017. 2 EASL Clinical Practical Guidelines: Management of Alcoholic Liver Disease. Available from: www.easl.eu/medias/cpg/issue9/Report.pdf. Last accessed: April 2017.

Provided by European Association for the Study of the Liver
U.S. officials secretly ask major banks to continue doing business with some Russian firms

Borussia Dortmund lose to Wolfsburg (video)

19fortyfive: Is America tired of the war in Ukraine?

Napoli win and 9 points ahead of runner-up AC Milan (video)

EU replaces pipeline Russian gas with imported Russian LNG

Kommersant: China split the 'unity' of the West

Foods that increase risk of premature death named

Expert estimates level of Azerbaijan's information attack on Armenia in September, comparing it to 44-day war

FIFA 23 predicts Argentina's victory at World Cup 2022

UK wants to work more with the U.S. on gas supplies

Donald Trump votes in Florida midterm elections

EU admits: It is impossible to set a ceiling on gas prices that will not affect contracts or security of supply

Most valuable metal of year is named

De Ligt says two strongest clubs in Europe will meet

Mehr: Nikolai Patrushev arrives in Tehran

Turkish TV company confesses that Ankara and Israel were arming Azerbaijan against Armenia

Who is Baku threatening? Armenia's former deputy defense minister decodes Aliyev's statements

Gerard Pique and Shakira's sons will live with their mother in Miami

Army Commander-in-Chief: Even those who claim to be superpowers do not dare to attack Iran

Iran and Russia to build joint pipeline

Armenian Robin the Robot appeared in National Geographic: What kind of robot is it and where is it used?

Rafael Leao demands record salary from Milan

India to continue buying Russian oil

Watching violent TV shows leads to mental health problems in children

Businessman Zhong Shanshan becomes richest man in China

Armenia and Poland emphasize OSCE role in promoting stability in South Caucasus

Chelsea and Tottenham want to buy Iranian Mehdi Taremi

US demands to ban TikTok in country: This social network censors videos about elections?

Banks are searched in Germany in case of money laundering by Russian businessman

Rebel Wilson becomes mother for first time

Armenian President reacts to Aliyev's speech at League of Arab States summit

Armenia increases trade with EEU member states by $1.2 bln

Thomas Muller is confident that Bayern can overcome PSG ban

Cavusoglu: Sweden and Finland have not yet fulfilled all Turkey's conditions

Oldest member of Rothschild dynasty die in Britain

Armenian National Security Council head and Polish Secretary of State discuss regional security issues

'Black Adam' grosses $300 million worldwide

Stepantsminda-Lars highway faces restrictions

Kyiv realizes if China starts supplying ammunition to Russian troops it will be terrible

State Department: U.S. remains committed to supporting peace in South Caucasus region

Iran condemns thousand protesters and calls for retaliation against rest

Delegation from Israel visits Museum-Institute of the Armenian Genocide

Study: Brain puts time codes on sounds for word recognition

Media: London is close to agreement with Washington on LNG supplies

Aliyev in fact confirms fact of Azerbaijani aggression against sovereign territory of Armenia

Toivo Klaar: Important meeting held in Washington between Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs

Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool look forward to facing Real Madrid

Aliyev switches from threatening Armenia to insulting foreign leaders

Netflix releases official trailer for 'Get Knives: Glass Bulb'

Karabakh ombudsman: Todays occupation does not change status of Shushi

Envoy briefs Kazakhstan human rights commissioner on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Armenia

Dollar, euro continue to rise in Armenia

Hadid sisters categorically refuse to participate in Rihanna's lingerie show

Messengers, which are considered safe, can reveal location of users

Berezovsky invites 25 players to Armenian national team

U.S. Ambassador to UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield arrives in Kiev

EU partners welcome justice sector reforms in Armenia

Armenia government to have academic city project development working group

Rybar: Publication of Iranian film about 'skeletons' of Aliyev family is blow to positions of Aliyev family

Zelenskyy to attend G20 leaders' summit

Voting for midterm elections to Congress begins in U.S.

Russian MFA offers Tehran and Riyadh to mediate dialogue

Spice Girls reunite at Geri Halliwell's anniversary celebration

Survey: Georgia residents say Armenia is their friend

Arman Yeghoyan to Poland colleague: Armenia needs support from European platforms

State Department official: American side is impressed by Armenia Police reforms

Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte: I realized that this project is the right one

Heads of general staffs of CSTO countries armies to discuss military cooperation development

President: Climate change agenda continues to remain priority for Armenia despite challenges, security concerns

Armenia discusses issue of EEU citizens' stay in country for more than 180 days

Economy minister: 74% of Diaspora Armenians ready to invest in Armenia

Constitutional Court of Georgia revokes ban on pornography

Backstreet Boys lead singer Nick Carter tears up at concert over brother Aaron's death

IIIF150 Air1 Ultra: The thinnest smartphone has night vision camera and powerful battery

Champions League playoff favorites are known

Irina Shayk and Bradley Cooper together again

UK tests lab-grown red blood cells

158 people die in Philippines storm

Close to $7.5M allocated for Armenia scientific infrastructure, material, technical base modernization

Byblos Bank Armenia finances the construction of two major solar parks

Bloomberg: EU mechanism to provide Ukraine with $18 billion implies conditions

New Mass Effect in development phase: What BioWare shows us in teaser?

Turkey voices its full and unconditional support for Azerbaijan

Eminem reveals he almost died of overdose

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Israeli embassy congratulates Azerbaijan on 'Victory Day'

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Artur Davtyan, Harutyun Merdinyan are ceremoniously welcomed at Yerevan international airport (PHOTOS)

World oil prices dropping

Blinken: Armenia and Azerbaijan are taking courageous steps to achieve peace

Newspaper: What changes expected in "Brussels package" of Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization talks?

13 billion cubic meters of natural gas found off Israel coast
A proposed constitutional amendment that would set the stage for voter photo ID requirements in Nebraska was dispatched Thursday to the floor of the Legislature where it will trigger a certain filibuster.

Sen. John Murante of Gretna, sponsor of the proposal (LR1CA), said he's not sure whether he can muster the 33 votes required to break a filibuster.

"I think it will be close," he said moments after the measure cleared the Government, Military and Affairs Committee.

But, Murante said, he is certain that "an overwhelming majority" of the 49 members of the Legislature will support his proposal because "they believe their constituents have a right to vote on it."

LR1CA would provide for a vote of the people at the 2018 general election on a constitutional amendment empowering the Legislature to enact voter ID legislation designed to "combat voter fraud (and) ensure integrity of the elections."

Prior to advancement of the measure by the committee, chaired by Murante, opponents argued that there is no clear evidence of voter fraud in Nebraska and that institution of voter ID requirements would create an undue, and perhaps unconstitutional, impediment to the right to vote.

Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue argued that voter photo ID requirements adversely affect the poor, the elderly, disabled persons and people of color. Arguments also have been made about the negative impact on students and other mobile young people.

The issue clearly is a political flash point dividing Republicans and Democrats, with the latter claiming that voter photo IDs are intended to limit or reduce voter participation by segments of the population that tend to vote Democratic.

Blood and Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, both Democrats, argued against the proposal during the committee's executive session.

Although the Legislature is nonpartisan, LR1CA is virtually certain to divide senators by their party affiliation.

Seventeen senators in the 49-member Legislature can trap a proposal with a filibuster. Fifteen current senators are Democrats and Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, the only registered nonpartisan, sides with them more often than not.

If Chambers voted with them, that would leave opponents of the proposal with the need to attract only a single Republican or the Legislature's only Libertarian, Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete, to block the measure.
During a TV program, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reflected on the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) observers complaints with respect to the irregularities that occurred during the recent constitutional referendum in Turkey, and stated that the OSCE had sent a terrorist group to Turkey as observers.

He said one of these observers was previously photographed with the flag of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)which Ankara considers a terrorist organization, and therefore this person could not be viewed as an independent observer, according to OdaTV news website of Turkey.

The OSCE observers group had stated that the plebiscite in Turkey had fallen short of European Union standards.

The Supreme Election Council (YSK) of Turkey had declared valid the Yes ballots that were cast without a stamp in numerous election precincts, and this had secured President Erdogans victory in the referendum.

The political opposition in Turkey demands the holding of a new referendum, since the will of the people and the law was disregarded.

According to preliminary results, the Erdogan-led Yes campaign has won the referendum in Turkey on April 16, by garnering 51.4 percent of the votes.

Eighteen constitutional amendments were put to the vote, and according to which Turkey is to transition from a parliamentary to a presidential system of government.

Turkish opposition and international analysts stress, however, that with these amendments, Erdogan is gaining the sole right to govern the country, and that this is perilous for democracy and freedoms in the country.

He already has announced his plans for reinstating the death penalty in Turkey.
YEREVAN.  To strengthen patriotic education, it is necessary first of all to strengthen within each citizen of Armenia the feeling of being the master.

President Serzh Sargsyan stated the aforesaid during his address at the Nation-Army 2017 Forum on Thursday.

Our extensive experience in the area of public administration shows that in Armenia structural issue of any kind cannot be solved exclusively in the framework of the particular area it belongs to. In the current society such issues are interconnected which means there should be compound inquiries, approaches, and solutions.

It is also true for the issue of patriotic education. The best education in patriotism is illustration.

The concept of the Nation-Army proposed by the Minister of Defense is aimed at the educating the citizens who will be exacting when it comes to the security area. This Forum is another means to further solidify the link between our society, particularly our young people, and the Armed Forces.

In coming days, the exhibition here will be attended by thousands of students, teachers, and parents. They will strive to understand what our country has to offer today to the young people who want to get high-quality education, to obtain a competitive and very engaging specialty.

Initiatives to be discussed today, as well as potential, which has been accumulated for years, will create a solid base for the creation a stanch axis of commanders, officers-intellectuals of our new generation. From the Monte Melkonian college to be opened in September in Dilijan with its new and wide opportunities to the new educational programs in our military institutions of higher education, from civic educational establishments to our contract servicemen at their combat duty on the frontier  we have to continue to amplify through the renewed policies and consistent steps respect and love of our society towards the Armenian Army.

To strengthen patriotic education, it is necessary first of all to strengthen within each citizen of Armenia the feeling of being the master. The best defenders of the homeland are the people who understand their share of responsibility for Fatherland.

Responsibility is not something abstract or ephemeral: responsible is the person who has at least a private corner to live. Those who dont have it yet, should be sure that through the honest work they will get that corner. Such individuals will not only create their own corner but will expand it, will make it a family place. In that apartment, in that milieu they will raise their kids who will have the same feeling of the owner. This, and I believe it strongly, is the best patriotic education.

Dont delude yourselves or others: without a resolute master, without men and women who cling to their own land, there can be no patriotic education. Only men and women full of the feeling of ownership are able to raise children dedicated to their homeland, to their country, and native land.

Such people do not need patriotic slogans and sermons; they know danger immediately and if necessary will rise to defend their home and their land and water.

The reforms undertaken in our country are aimed at the encouragement and strengthening of such attitude. The next few years will be decisive with this regard. The reforms are fundamental, and they will be visible and tangible for each and every citizen of the Republic of Armenia.

I believe it was that very sense of ownership that paved the way for success and victory in the Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] Liberation War.

[Late military commander and politician] Vazgen [Sargsyan] used to say I love local patriots. You can find such local patriots in every village, community, and town: they know the history of their place, names of all people born there and their biographies. They are always ready to tell you about their native land and are proud with it.

By the virtue of my job, I have been visiting different marzes [provinces] and communities of our country and have spoken to many people. I believe that we need to keep in the center of our attention and care the dedication and labor of that people. There can be no better patriotic education than that.

Armenia is a totality of many small and large communities. The smallest unit must not be lost in that totality.

We have to love, cherish, and protect that unit. Who can do it better than the owner, men and women who earn their bread through honest work?

Thats the only way to identify and love the Fatherland. We need to constantly strengthen these values and pass them from generation to generation, first and foremost through our families. Family is the most important and the strongest unit for the preservation of our nation; people get their primary values in the family, the President of Armenia noted, in particular.
The family of a 21-year-old man who suffered a medical episode while in a hot tub at a local YMCA is trying to raise money for a donation in his name.

Samson Goitom died on March 22.

Goitom, who was diagnosed with autism just before his second birthday, was beginning to make the transition into adult living. He had graduated from Lincoln North Star High School last year with an A average.

Half of the money raised will be donated to Autism Speaks in Nebraska and the other half will go toward Lifestyle Innovations for Epilepsy, according to the GoFundMe account the family created this week.

Donations can be made at gofundme.com by searching for "Samson Goitom."
A field in the New Zealand Bay area has been covered with a 30-meter-long cobweb, Lenta reported referring to National Geographic Australia. The web was discovered by local residents who came to the field with children for sports. "We thought that it is unlikely that it will be spiders," says one of them. "But when we went further, and our legs began getting stuck in the web, we noticed small black things on the top."

The Australian arachnologist Cor Vink explained, that the massive migration of spiders was caused by rainstorms, that raged in New Zealand last week and the following flood. To move to a new place, small spiders release threads of web and rise into the air with gusts of wind. In the past, a similar phenomenon was observed in Pakistan and Australia.
The enterprises of China and Iran intend to sign in Vienna the first commercial contract on reconfiguration of a heavy water nuclear reactor in the Iranian Arak. This was reported by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China Lu Kang, Xinhua reports. China and Iran recently initialed a commercial contract, Lu Kang said at a regular press conference.

Reconfiguration of a heavy water nuclear reactor in Arak is the main element of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) for the Iranian nuclear program. The JCPOA was reached in Vienna in July 2015 between Iran and six international mediators. The countries of the Six have already set up an ad hoc group headed by China and the United States to work with Iran to modernize the reactor, Lu Kang said. The contract will create favorable conditions for achieving progress in the reconfiguration of the reactor, the Chinese diplomat noted.

On April 25, Iran and the Six will hold the 7th meeting of Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in Vienna, Lu Kang said, adding that the contract between China and Iran will give a positive impetus to the meeting. "China hopes, that all relevant parties will maintain their political will, properly resolve differences for the implementation of the JCPOA and contribute to the protection of the international regime for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the maintenance of peace and stability in the Middle East," Kang added.
YEREVAN. - Former commander of the Artsakh Defense Army, Samvel Babayan, who is currently in custody, on Thursday personally attended the consideration of the appeal of the first instance court decision on his arrest.

His attorney, Avetis Kalashyan, told journalists that Babayan noted in the court that he doesnt confess to the charge brought against him, considering it ungrounded. According to the attorney, Samvel Babayan requested the court to render a just judgment.

He also thinks that his arrest is ungrounded and [thus] requested the court to render a just judgment. Babayan noted that he didnt engage in such a deed, was an Artsakh hero and if he didnt escape during the war, then he wont escape now either. Both the prosecutor and the investigator opposed, noting that the decision of the first instance court is legitimate and substantiated, Kalashyan said.

The court listened to the parties and will render its judgment on April 21.

Furthermore, the attorney reiterated that there are yet no grounds to suppose that his client is politically persecuted. As an attorney I look at this within a criminal and legal platform, and I dont yet have grounds for giving this issue a political form.

He also added that the conclusion of an expert examination is available, according to which the object found out is merely ammunition and not a weapon, since it cannot function in that state given the lack of the necessary parts. According to Kalashyan, the fingerprints found on the pipe do not belong to any of the persons engaged in the criminal case.

Moreover, the attorney stressed that nobody testified against Babayan. Only one investigative action related to Babayan took place, during which another defendant in the case, Sanasar Gabrielyan, refuted the fact that Samvel Babayan had any connection with the smuggling of Igla air missile system. Avetis Kalashyan also noted that Samvel Babayan doesnt know other defendants in the case except for Sanasar Gabrielyan.

Considering the motion made by the body carrying out pre-trial proceedings, the First Instance General Jurisdiction Court of Yerevans Kentron and Nork-Marash administrate districts, upon the decision of 24 March 2017, enforced a precautionary measure of two-month arrest regarding him. Babayans attorney appealed the decision of the General Jurisdiction Court on the two-month arrest in regard to his client.

Earlier, charges were brought against Babayan under Article 235(2) and 235.1(2)(1) of the Criminal Code of Armenia.
A Texas woman has gotten four to six years in prison for stealing nearly $40,000 of her father-in-law's retirement checks after he died in 2012.

Sarah Kelley, 60, of Moody, Texas, was found guilty of theft by deception of property valued at $39,803.17 by a Lancaster County jury in March.

At trial, the state alleged that between July 2012 and May 2014 Kelley cashed and deposited into her account 23 checks issued to Thomas P. White from his Nebraska Public Employees Retirement System annuity.

The office later learned White died on May 21, 2012.

Kelley was married to White's son, Bradley White, from November 2011 to September 2013.

She put the blame on her then-husband who she said told her to sign her father-in-law's name on the checks and deposit them.

On Wednesday, Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong sentenced Kelley to the prison term and ordered her to pay $5,000 restitution.
Flight Cancellations Down From Previous Year in February

Carriers canceled 1.5 percent of scheduled domestic flights in February 2017

The DOT has released its April 2017 Air Travel Consumer Report, which is made up of data for February 2017. According to the report, carriers canceled 1.5 percent of their scheduled domestic flights in February 2017, a slight improvement over the 1.6 percent rate in February of 2016 and better than the 2.0 rate in January 2017.

On-time arrivals appeared at a rate of 82.6 percent, down from 83.6 percent in February 2016 but up from 76.0 percent mark in January 2017.




CSB Notes Safety Management System, Other Factors Contributed to 2016 Airgas Facility Explosion

The board's final report also noted regulatory deficiencies were to blame.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board has released its final report on the Aug. 28, 2016, nitrous oxide explosion at the Airgas facility in Cantonment, Fla. The sole worker at the facility that day, Jesse Folmar, was killed in the incident, which caused manufacturing of nitrous oxide at the plant to be stopped indefinitely.

Federal regulations do not require specialized safety rules for nitrous oxide, according to CSB.

Chairperson Vanessa Allen Sutherland said, "Nitrous oxide is a hazardous substance  facilities should have good safety management systems to mitigate the risks that exist. Safety management systems standards are critical to identify, evaluate, and control process safety hazards. This tragedy in Cantonment should not be repeated."

The board reached the conclusion that the causes of the explosion all came from the lack of an effective process safety management system. For example, Airgas did not evaluate safer design options that could have eliminated the need for the pump that produced the initial heat.
Today is "4/20 Day" so we are rerunning this article from 2018.

Its challenging to try and keep up with which states have legalized marijuana and in what ways  even if you arent stoned.

Currently, Wisconsin is riding the slow train to legalization. In February, the Wisconsin Senate passed a bill allowing people to possess cannabidiol under limited circumstances in Wisconsin. Gov. Scott Walker then signed the bill on April 17, making it legal for the parents of children who suffer from seizures to access cannabidiol oil to reduce or prevent seizures.

Although marijuana remains illegal on the federal level, 29 states have laws legalizing marijuana in some form  mostly for medicinal purposes. Alaska, Colorado, California, Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Washington, D.C. adopted laws that permit recreational use. However, this does not mean its a hippie free-for-all in the streets of these places. Every state has its own stipulations and not one of them permits smoking pot in public, including parks, bars, restaurants, concert venues, etc. (There are, however, "420 hotels" where pot smoking is permitted.)

Cannabis-friendly resort turns bed and breakfast into bud and breakfast

If the legalization of cannabidiol is the first of numerous pieces of legislation that will loosen the marijuana laws in Wisconsin  or if weed becomes legal on the federal level (which seems unlikely under the Trump administration)  this raises questions about the kind of impact these laws might have on our state, particularly in correlation to our beloved beer industry.

Pot is legal for recreational purposes in eight states, as well as Washington, D.C., and in 18 states for medicinal purposes. A bill allowing medicinal use has passed in the Wisconsin Senate, unanimously approved by the Wisconsin Assembly, and enjoys support from Gov. Scott Walker, too.

Pete Madland is the executive director for the Tavern League of Wisconsin and he says hes seen conflicting reports about whether legalizing weed would smoke out beer sales.

"I did read an industry report just yesterday that beer sales in Colorado decreased by 7 percent," says Madland. "But even without hard data, anecdotally and from what Ive learned from many people in the industry, I believe it would be bad for business."

Jim McCabe, the owner of Milwaukee Brewing Co., believes legalizing marijuana would definitely affect Wisconsin craft beer sales.

"I don't think anyone loses fans of craft beer from legalized marijuana, but it does mean people will drink less when they are out," says McCabe. "Craft beer is a natural slow drinking companion to weed. So, we will simply have to market a little differently, more cleverly."

Madlands and McCabes predictions are backed by other research, as well. According to a study conducted at the end of 2016 by financial analysts at Cowen & Company, which was originally reported by the Denver Post, beer sales decreased by 2.6 percent in Colorado, Oregon and Washington, where recreational cannabis is legal.

The decreases, in Colorado anyway, don't seem to affect everyone equally. Dan Maguire is the general manager at The Bitter Bar in Boulder and says he has not seen any changes in alcohol sales since marijuana was legalized for recreational use.

"Marijuana and alcohol are not mutually exclusive," says Maguire. "People do both. But of course they have to be more careful when smoking and drinking so they dont get too messed up too quickly."

Also, because all of the new recreational laws restricting smoking pot in public spaces, people will still seek out the social aspect of going to bars and restaurants. Smoking pot at home is simply not the same as going out to a bar or multiple bars for the evening.

Justin Lloyd, who has owned the Star Bar in Denver since 2010, says he has not experienced a decrease in alcohol sales since marijuana was legalized for recreational use in 2014.

Star Bar in Denver, Colorado.

"I havent seen any change in beer or liquor sales at my bar," says Lloyd. "Marijuana has always been a part of Colorados culture. Its always been going on  even before legalization."

Wisconsin culture, of course, is centered in drinking beer (and recently, spirits) so its challenging to speculate if legal weed would be as popular and profitable as its been in other states. Dispensaries in Washington and Colorado raked in billions of dollars from heavily taxed, non-medical marijuana sales while Oregon, during its first year of legal marijuana (2015-16), generated $15 million in tax revenue. The profits go primarily toward public schools, local governments and state legislature.

"There are more dispensaries than Starbucks in Denver," says Brian Eckes, who moved to Colorado from Milwaukee in 1997. "So (recreational legalization) has created lots of jobs and rejuvenated shops in some run-down parts of town, not to mention the added tourism revenue."

Dispensaries offer marijuana buds, as well as a variety of edibles, salves, disposable vapes  ideal for tourists who dont want to travel back with "product"  cannabidiol and more. Cannabidiol (CBD) relieves aches and anxiety without psychoactive effects, meaning it doesnt make the user feel "high."

Eckes also points out that the cost of marijuana has gone down since it became regulated. This is good news for Wisconsin smokers who are hopeful our laws will change.

"Ounces now are between $100 and $150, down from $350-$400 when it was illegal," says Eckes. "That has basically dried up any black market, freeing up police and judicial resources for actual criminals."

If pot were legalized in Wisconsin, its interesting to consider where the dispensaries might open in Milwaukee. Most likely, the dispensaries would appear in a variety of neighborhoods, not just located "on the outskirts of town," like adult shops usually are.

A cannabis industry professional, who asked to remain anonymous, relocated from Milwaukee to open a dispensary in Colorado in 2015.

"Dispensaries are everywhere, from Main Street to off the highway," he says. "They just cant be within 1,000 feet of each other or from a school or drug rehab center. Its phenomenal and very challenging running this business because the industry is not federally regulated and regulations are constantly changing. Theres no road map to success in such a new industry. Its definitely not like opening a shoe store."

Olivia Mannix is the founder and CEO of the Denver-based Cannabrand, the first cannabis-centric marketing agency that works to rebrand marijuana and educate people about the drug.

"Since the legalization of recreational cannabis use, opiate deaths have gone down in Colorado by 30-40 percent," says Mannix. "Teen use has gone down. Traffic fatalities and crime have gone down."

PHOTO: Royal Brevvaxling

Whether or not pot legalization has increased crime and death in Colorado is difficult to pinpoint. Marijuana-related statistics in legal states are hazy, mostly because legalization is new and under-tested, but also because terms like "marijuana related" and "tested positive for marijuana" are not the same as marijuana being the root cause of the incident.

According to Lloyd, the biggest challenge of owning a bar in a state with legalized pot is not violence or crime, but rather enforcing the no-smoking policy both inside and outside of the bar. "This is usually more of a problem with tourists because they dont realize its not legal to smoke pot at a bar, even on a patio," says Lloyd.

Lloyds second biggest challenge is not knowing if someone ingested marijuana before coming into the bar. "Edibles" are an extremely popular form of marijuana consumption and are available in many forms, from chocolates to milk to "Cheeba Chews." (Gummy bears, formerly a stoner fan favorite, were outlawed in October because some feared they were more likely to wind up in the hands of children.)

PHOTO: Andy Tarnoff

"Edibles, especially at first, were extremely unregulated," says Lloyd. "And they have a very slow absorption rate so someone might eat one piece of candy, not get the desired effect after 20 minutes and so they eat a few more and an hour later they are, literally, on their back. Once you have that much THC in your system, there is nowhere for it to go."

Eckes has also seen the misuse of edibles and says more information about them needs to be readily available.

"Giving tasty, strong edibles to tourists is like giving a bottle of vodka to a 14-year-old and telling them to be careful," Eckes says. "If you keep eating them until you feel good, you have gone way too far and it takes a long time to come down."

And although no one has ever died from a marijuana overdose, over-indulging can cause severe anxiety and crazy choice-making that could put a person in danger.

"We dont serve anyone if they are clearly intoxicated, but the problem is theres no way to tell if someone just woofed down five gummies," says Lloyd.

Marijuana use  particularly if combined with drinking alcohol, can certainly impair driving, but stoned driving is difficult to detect.

"I'd like to see technology, much like a breathalyzer, that can be used to determine if the individual is too impaired to drive," says Carrie Wisniewski, who owns Redbar in St. Francis. "I think people have gotten much smarter about drinking and driving and having Uber and Lyft, but I'd hate to see a bunch of stoned-out 20-somethings bar-hopping by car."

But despite safety concerns, Wisniewski is in favor of the legalization of marijuana.

"I don't think it would affect my business at all. So basically, smoke it if you got it but be smart about it," says Wisniewski.

This sentiment is shared by Mike Eitel, who owns the Nomad World Pub, among other businesses.

"I dont actually smoke marijuana or use THC products, but I support the whole legalization thing," says Eitel. "To me, its like alcohol, tobacco, even pharmaceuticals  all should be regulated and taxed. Young people should be taught the negative health effects and dangers of using it too early in life and legal users should be taught moderation, responsible use and so on."

Although legalized pot smoking for fun would have a limited effect on beer and spirit sales, most local bar owners arent worried about the competition  or even see it as competition in the first place.

Doug Bensyl lives in Milwaukee, but is currently considering relocating to western Colorado where he was offered a job as an operations manager in a growing facility.

"Its hard to say exactly what would happen in Wisconsin if it became legal. Were so pro-alcohol here  the alcohol industry has a very powerful lobby  and were slow to change in many ways. We were one of the last states to raise the drinking age to 21," says Bensyl. "But remember: Alcoholics beat their wives; potheads just burn pizzas."
Brooklyn Microgrid. Credit: LO3 Energy

In 2016, the United States experienced 3,879 blackouts of more than 48 minutes that affected over 18 million people. A recent poll says nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the national power grid is vulnerable to a cyber or physical attack; even more say they are unprepared for an extended outage.

In Brooklyn, N.Y., a group of residents and businesses have joined forces to form the Brooklyn Microgrid, in part, so that when the next blackout occurs, they will be able generate and store their own energy. The Brooklyn Microgrid, set in a five-square block area of Gowanus and Park Slope, is a network of solar panel owners whose energy sources are linked together and, while still connected to the main grid, are able to operate independently as a single entity if power is lost. The network had 50 participants as of March.

The project, owned by LO3 Energy, is also designed to enable users ("prosumers") to store or sell any excess electricity they produce to their consumer neighbors in a "peer-to-peer energy system" using blockchain, a database technology adopted from the financial sector. Blockchain enables transactions between sellers and buyers in real time without an intermediary, through a common, tamper-proof record of all transactions kept on the networked computers. Eventually, private owners could produce electricity and sell it directly to other consumers through trading renewable energy credits or, one day, by selling electricity directly. They would still, however, pay Con Edison for infrastructure maintenance and service.

Now in its early stages, the Brooklyn Microgrid is measuring energy production through data from meters installed in prosumers' homes and testing a smartphone app that will enable users to control the source of their energy and how much they are willing to pay for it.

Microgrids have been around for years, but traditional microgrids have usually served only one user, such as a hospital or university. Microgrids connect homes and businesses with local power generation and battery storage. They may utilize conventional energy sources or renewable energy, and are connected to the main grid, but have the ability to "island," i.e., to function independently of the grid.

For example, New York University's combined heat and power microgrid, built in 2011, kept many of NYU's buildings lit during Superstorm Sandy when most of lower Manhattan lost power.

In addition to providing power during blackouts, microgrids can add resilience to the existing grid infrastructure and save money by postponing the need to invest in grid upgrades. They add flexibility, increase reliability and can reduce energy costs by helping the grid meet peak energy demands. If energy is not used immediately, it can be stored; this reduces waste and helps smooth out the intermittency of renewable energy flow. When run on renewable energy, microgrids can lessen carbon and other emissions. A community microgrid like Brooklyn Microgrid can also keep money for electricity within the community, create jobs, encourage community investments and reduce the cost of community disaster services. The NYU microgrid saves the university $5-8 million each year in energy costs and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent.

New York has about 20 established microgrids, including both institutional and community projects. They seem like an obvious solution to a number of the energy challenges we have, so why aren't there more of them?

New York City was the first place to have an electric grid, explained Steve Cohen, executive director of the Earth Institute and director of the Master of Public Administration Program in Environmental Science and Policy at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. Now a century old, the grid was built one section at a time as the city grew, constructed during the industrial age when industry was vertically integrated and highly centralized.

Today, however, most industry is decentralized and networkedorganizations buy components from others instead of making everything themselves. "Instead of having a lot of inventory and spending a lot of money on it," Cohen said, "you buy it as you need it because you know you can get it. The only part of the economy that hasn't decentralized is energy."

"The model of a highly centralized energy system with big power plants in a few places, distributing energy out on the grid to individuals' homes and businesses, is an old-fashioned, wasteful and pretty vulnerable model," Cohen said. "The notion of a smart grid is that we would have two-way generation of energy controlled by computers so that the supply would match the need, and if you didn't need the energy, you'd have storage facilities to store it until you did

NYU kept the lights on during Superstorm Sandy. Credit: Teri Tynes

"The purpose of a microgrid is to start the process of building the smart grid of the 21st century. You're not going to build it all at once, because it would cost too much money and take too much time. So we will create the smart grid by accumulating microgrids, which is pretty much how the original grid was created."

Gov. Cuomo's Reforming the Energy Vision strategy aims to make New York's energy system cleaner, stronger and more resilient, and bring it into the 21st century. One of its initiatives is the NY Prize, a $40 million competition to help communities create microgrids. In 2015, over $8 million was awarded to 83 projects for feasibility studies; 11 projects received $1 million each this year for design and business planning. Prize winners for the build-out phase will be announced in 2018.

The Environmental Science and Policy Program culminates with capstone projects working with real world clients on real problems. Since most of the analyses of microgrids have focused on technical issues, Cohen tasked his students with examining the regulatory, legal and financial obstacles and opportunities for microgrids. The client was the New York Power Authority, the nation's largest state-owned utility. The students set out to understand the changes that are happening in the energy system and the power authority's potential role in that shift.

"Everyone would agree that we want an energy grid that is efficient, resilient to natural disasters, and cheap to operate," said Johnathan de Villier, student deputy manager of the project. "The vision is not the problem, but somehow that vision has not been realized yetWe talked to over 40 experts in all different areasat utilities, generation companies, private companies getting into electricity markets, and those involved in community-scale microgrid projects. Our main conclusion is that the technology isn't really the problem."

"There's a lot of amazing technology out there that's ready to be implemented," McKenzie Schwartz, the student project manager, said. "The barriers right now are regulatory and organizational. The Public Service Commission, New York's oversight body for energy, has policies that weren't developed at a time when decentralized energy was part of the consciousness. So these microgrid projects must go through all the approvals on a case-by-case basis, and it's a really slow process. It also makes it challenging to get funding if you're not sure when you're going to get approved or if you will get approved."

As it stands, anyone who wants to install some sort of distributed generation facility (that generates power at the point of consumption) is considered to be a utility and is subject to the same regulations as a massive coal plant. If the same kinds of fees and regulations are leveled on a community group planning a microgrid, it could be cost-prohibitive. Moreover, each microgrid project must apply individually to be exempt from these rules. Approval for microgrids takes on average 407 days.

"A really impactful thing would be to develop a policy that's based on the type of technology being installed or the size of the technology, the megawatts involved," Schwartz said. "So that you don't have to apply for exemption, you'd automatically be exempted from that rule. Rethinking policies like that would really speed up these processes."

In their final report, the students will recommend that, since the New York Power Authority is interested in facilitating microgrid projects, it should create a working group of diverse stakeholders to figure out the most efficient and least costly way to get through the process. The working group should also define who qualifies for exemptions, examine right-of-way issues, and determine how best to update regulations to keep pace with the technology. The power authority could eventually exert pressure on the Public Service Commission that makes the rules.

The students also found a financial barrier: There is no single financial model for how to make microgrids profitable for the people involved. "That involves balancing the needs of the consumers attached to those microgrids, the prosumers, with the needs of utilities and traditional business models," de Viller said.

The students are recommending that the New York Power Authority work with other state agencies to come up with a standardized financial model for microgrids. Who would supply the equity? If someone decides to finance a microgrid, how would the money be recouped? How can microgrids be financed in a way that upfront capital costs are not prohibitive? Another recommendation is that the authority partner with the NY Green Bank, which funds and promotes clean technology, to develop a new standard power purchase agreement specifically for microgrids.

The power authority should also create a blueprint for the ownership of microgrids and distributed energy resources, the students said. Who should own the infrastructure of a microgridthe community or the utility? Where should excess electricity be stored and who would own the storage and its revenue stream?

Diagram of SharedSolar

"The utilities don't necessarily want to do this because they have a monopoly on the generation of energy," Cohen said. "But they have no choice, because every electric utility is heavily regulated by the government."

"The state is heavily promoting microgrids, so it's happening," Schwartz said. "But it can actually help them [the utilities] save costs. New York's energy grid is aging in areas, so rather than having to completely retrofit the old system, you can install these distributed technologies instead."

In 2014, the Public Service Commission approved Con Edison's plan to address a 69- megawatt shortfall of power in Brooklyn and Queens by developing several microgrids at a cost of $200 million. This enabled the utility to avoid spending $1 billion on a new substation and other infrastructure.

Utilities could potentially make additional revenue as energy system managers. The New York Power Authority currently has a program that collects data about how electricity is consumed and used across its projects. The data is analyzed and used to simulate potential changes to the system to see how they would affect rates, demand on peak days, efficiency and other aspects of the energy system. Currently, the data helps the authority make strategic decisions for the future but is not used to take direct action. The students are suggesting that, in the future, the authority could act as an intermediary data aggregator, using the data from its network of smart meters and monitors to help move resources around the system based on what's happening in real time. The authority could receive income for providing the service.

Ultimately, homeowners or businesses could conceivably generate, sell and buy electricity through automated processes that completely cut utilities out of the picture. The utilities might then become the entities that maintain the infrastructure that makes the energy system possible, but not be involved in the generation or sale of electricity.

The students' final recommendation is that the power authority experiment with blockchain in several of its microgrid projects. The vision is to have a smart phone app facilitating contracts so that people can arrange to sell electricity when prices get within a certain range, or to buy or store electricity when their price range is met. The power authority could charge for membership in the blockchain and operate it.

Microgrids are in development in Newport, R.I., Mesa del Sol, N.M., and other states. Hudson Yards, Manhattan's latest real estate development, has its own microgrid that runs on natural gas and diesel. The U.S. Air Force is studying a mobile and self-sustaining microgrid for expeditionary military forces that can be built in one hour, with solar panels on tents and the hardware, software and batteries in a trailer. UC San Diego's advanced microgrid, powered by a fuel cell, solar panels and combined heat and power, produces 92 percent of the electricity used on its campus.

Hartley Bay in British Columbia, Canada, a remote community where electricity was traditionally very expensive due to the cost of transport and delivery, is now served by a smart microgrid system incorporating diesel and renewable resources.

In 2011, Vijay Modi, a professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia, established 16 microgrid pilot projects in rural villages in Mali and Uganda. Each SharedSolar microgrid combined small solar power plants with battery storage, providing electricity for about 20 families. That same year, in Sendai, Japan, a microgrid at Tohoku Fukushi University kept the lights on after the Fukushima disaster when the rest of Sendai went dark.

"You see all these climate projections about our world and how we're all going to be under water," Cohen said. "In order for that not to happen, things like microgrids have to happen. This is the day-to-day, roll-up-your-sleeves work of the transition to a renewable energy economy. The fact that state governments are doing it on a daily basis is why I'm optimisticThe history of civilization shows that technology dominates all political efforts to contain it."

Provided by Earth Institute, Columbia University

This story is republished courtesy of Earth Institute, Columbia University: blogs.ei.columbia.edu
The population of the boreal woodland cariboua North American reindeerhas steadily declined due to encroaching industry

A wildlife group filed a lawsuit against Canada's environment ministry on Thursday over its alleged failure to protect critical caribou habitats.

In it, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) says Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has not met her legal obligation to regularly report on steps taken to protect the endangered animal's range across nine provinces and territories.

It asks the federal court to compel her to do so.

The population of the boreal woodland cariboua North American reindeerhas steadily declined due to encroaching industry, to the point that Canada listed it as an endangered species in 2002.

A decade later, the areas needing protection were identified. Many of them were on non-federal lands, but since then "there have been no reports describing what is being done to address any protection gaps," said Alain Branchaud, director of CPAWS's Quebec office.

CPAWS lawyer Eric Paquin said protecting caribou habitats would go well beyond helping caribouthey would also maintain boreal forests for other animals, "including the billions of birds that use the boreal as a nursery."

McKenn's office declined to comment on the lawsuit. But a spokeswoman said the environment ministry was "working closely" with Canada's provinces and territories on protection and recovery efforts of species at risk, including the caribou.

 2017 AFP
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Credit: University of Michigan

Despite considerable concerns about the safety of flying cars, two-thirds of Americans say they would like to ride in or operate their own airborne vehicle.

A new study by researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute shows that 41 percent of adult respondents to an online survey are "very interested" in riding in a fully autonomous (self-driving and self-flying) flying car. That compares to 26 percent of those who are "very interested" in operating the aerocar themselves after obtaining an appropriate pilot license.

"Until recently, flying cars have existed primarily in the realm of science fiction, although patents for such vehicles extend to the early years of aviation," said Michael Sivak, a research professor at UMTRI. "However, recently there has been a rapid increase in interest in flying cars from companies ranging from large, international manufacturers to a variety of startups.

"In addition to major technological, traffic-control and licensing issues that still will need to be addressed, a big unknown is what consumers think of the concept of flying cars, and what the desirable parameters are for such a novel approach to mobility."

In their study, Sivak and UMTRI colleague Brandon Schoettle found that more than 60 percent of respondents are "very concerned" with the overall safety of flying cars and with their performance in congested airspace and poor weather.

Despite these concerns, most Americans would still ultimately like to use flying cars, the researchers said. About three-fourths of the respondents cited shorter travel time as the main reason, while less than 10 percent said fewer crashes, better fuel economy or lower emissions were the most likely benefits of flying cars.

Other findings include:

Nearly 80 percent of respondents said it is "extremely or very important" for flying cars to have parachutes.

About 60 percent said electricity is the preferred source of energy for flying cars.

More than 80 percent prefer a vertical, helicopter-like takeoff and landing as opposed to a runway strip.

Nearly a quarter said they would pay between $100,000 and $200,000 for a flying car.

More information: A Survey of Public Opinion about Flying Cars: www.umich.edu/~umtriswt/PDF/SW  Abstract_English.pdf
During the night, a tobacco hawkmoth (Manduca sexta) uses its proboscis to suck nectar from a flower of the wild tobacco Nicotiana attenuata. Sensory neurons located on the tip of the proboscis respond to the floral volatile (E)--bergamotene. Credit: Danny Kessler, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

The tobacco hawkmoth Manduca sexta is an important pollinator of the wild tobacco species Nicotiana attenuata; yet hungry larvae hatch from the eggs these moths lay on the leaves. An interdisciplinary team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, has described a gene in Nicotiana attenuata which enables the plant to solve the dilemma that arises when a pollinator is also a dangerous herbivore. The gene NaTPS38 regulates the production of the volatile compound (E)--bergamotene. At night, the tobacco flowers produce this odor which is attractive to adult tobacco hawkmoths, while during the day, the tobacco leaves emit the compound to lure predatory bugs to feed on Manduca sexta larvae and eggs.

Flowering plants depend on pollen vectors in order to reproduce. Yet a plant has a problem if a pollinator, which is attracted by the odors of sweet flowers, lays its eggs on the plant after pollination is complete, and from these eggs hatch voracious caterpillars ready to attack the tasty leaves with their enormous appetite.

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology have discovered a gene in the wild tobacco species Nicotiana attenuata called NaTPS38, which regulates the production of an aromatic compound, the sesquiterpene (E)-alpha-bergamotene, in both flowers and leaves. "We observed that Nicotiana attenuata plants emit (E)-alpha-bergamotene in flowers at night to lure Manduca sexta moths as pollinators. The compound makes a moth keep its proboscis longer in a flower and pollination success is increased. The emission of the same compound in leaves attacked by Manduca sexta larvae during the day, however, attracts the predators of the larvae and acts as an indirect defense," first author Wenwu Zhou summarizes. In this way, the tissue-specific emission of one compound helps the wild tobacco plants to interact most advantageously with Manduca sexta.

A predatory Geocoris bug attacks a freshly hatched tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta) during the day. When attacked by caterpillars, tobacco leaves also produce (E)--bergamotene, which attracts the larvae's enemies. Credit: Andre Kessler, Cornell University

The study involved researchers from four different groups. Originally, Wenwu Zhou and project leader Shuqing Xu from the Department of Molecular Ecology wanted to study the genetic basis of (E)-alpha-bergamotene emission after herbivory. They found that the terpene synthase NaTPS38 was activated when insects attacked tobacco plants. Researchers from the Department of Biochemistry were able to confirm that NaTPS38 is indeed involved in the production of (E)-alpha-bergamotene. When the researchers examined the expression of NaTPS38 in different parts of the tobacco plants, they found to their surprise that the gene was also highly expressed in the flowers. However, the ecological function of (E)-alpha-bergamotene emission in flowers was still unclear. The fact that floral (E)-alpha-bergamotene was mainly emitted at night led to the hypothesis that the compound interacts with nocturnal pollinators, especially Manduca sexta moths.

Further analyses in the Department of Neuroethology demonstrated that the purified (E)-alpha-bergamotene activated neural receptors at the tip of the proboscis of Manduca sexta moths. Tent experiments with tobacco plants and hawkmoths performed by researchers from the Department of Molecular Ecology revealed that pollination success was increased when the flowers emitted high amounts of (E)-alpha-bergamotene.

Although the gene NaTPS38 is very similar to a monoterpene synthase, it is nevertheless responsible for the production of the sesquiterpene (E)-alpha-bergamotene. Usually a gene from the sesquiterpene synthase family regulates the production of such a compound, but in this case, it appears that the gene NaTPS38 violated this general rule. Analyzing the function and evolutionary history of NaTPS38 revealed that this gene originated from a duplication of a monoterpene synthase which then evolved the ability to produce (E)-alpha-bergamotene, a sesquiterpene compound. This unique evolutionary process likely occurred before the divergence of different Solanaceae species, the plant family which includes tobacco.

The fact that a single gene in Nicotiana attenuata mediates both pollination and defense by producing tissue-specific (E)-alpha-bergamotene is an example of a phenomenon called ecological pleiotropy. "Accumulating evidence suggests that ecological pleiotropy may be quite common in plants. Our work demonstrates that interactions between different ecological factors, such as pollinators and herbivores, are important for plant evolution. However, we know little about the extent to which these interactions can affect the plant's adaptation to its environment," explains Shuqing Xu. The scientists are currently developing a new research program that aims to address this question systematically. [AO/KG]

More information: Zhou, W., Kugler A., McGale, E., Haverkamp, A., Knaden, M., Guo, H., Beran, F., Yon, F., Li, R., Lackus, N., Kollner, T. G., Bing, J., Schuman, M. C., Hansson, B. S., Kessler, D., Baldwin, I. T., Xu, S. (2017). Tissue-specific emission of (E)--bergamotene helps resolve the dilemma when pollinators are also herbivores. Current Biology, DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.03.017 Journal information: Current Biology
The first-ever comprehensive appraisal of the financial impact on natural resources impacted by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill found that it did $17.2 billion in damage. Credit: US Coast Guard

The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill did $17.2 billion in damage to the natural resources in the Gulf of Mexico, a team of scientists recently found after a six-year study of the impact of the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

This is the first comprehensive appraisal of the financial value of the natural resources damaged by the 134-million-gallon spill.

"This is proof that our natural resources have an immense monetary value to citizens of the United States who visit the Gulf and to those who simply care that this valuable resource is not damaged," said Kevin Boyle, a professor of agricultural and applied economics in the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Science and one of the authors on the paper.

Findings from the study are published in the issue of Science released Friday, April 21.

The scientists developed a survey to put a dollar value on the natural resources damaged by the BP Deepwater spill by determining household willingness to pay for measures that would prevent similar damages should a spill of the same magnitude happen in the future. Survey information included descriptions of damaged beaches, marshes, animals, fish, and coral.

On top of estimating the impact of the spill, the $17.2 billion represents the benefits to the public to protect against damages that could result from a future oil spill in the Gulf of a similar magnitude.

In May 2010, one month after the spill, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration commissioned a group of 18 researchers to put a dollar value on the natural resources damaged by the BP Deepwater spill.

To estimate Gulf Coast resource values, researchers created a scenario in which people were told that they could have a role in mitigating future damages by effectively paying for a prevention program.

Final analysis showed that the average household was willing to pay $153 for a prevention program. This rate was then multiplied by the number of households sampled to get the final valuation of $17.2 billion.

"The results were eye-opening in that we could tell how much people really value marine resources and ecosystems," said Boyle. "And even more meaningful because we did additional analysis that proved the legitimacy of oft-criticized values for environmental resources."

The project team administered surveys to a large random sample of American adults nation-wide after three years of survey development. The first round of surveys was administered face-to-face with trained interviewers while the remaining surveys were completed via mail.

Survey participants were informed of pre- and post-spill conditions in the Gulf of Mexico and what caused the oil spill. They were then told about a prevention program, which can be viewed as 100 percent effective insurance against future spill damages, and that another spill would occur in the next 15 years. With this information, participants were asked to vote for or against the program, which would impose a one-time tax on their household.

"Our estimate can guide policy makers and the oil industry in determining not only how much should be spent on restoration efforts for the Deepwater spill, but also how much should be invested to protect against damages that could result from future oil spills," said Boyle. "People value our natural resources, so it's worth taking major actions to prevent future catastrophes and correct past mistakes."

More information: "Putting a value on injuries to natural assets: The BP oil spill," Science (2017). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi  1126/science.aam8124 Journal information: Science
A three-dimensional structure of a castle gate printed in fused silica glass. Credit: NeptunLab/KIT

(Phys.org)A team of researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany has developed a way to 3-D print objects made of pure glass. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group describes their technique and the ways they believe their new approach could be used. Karl Ziemelis, Physical, Chemical and Earth Sciences editor for Nature offers a News & Views piece on the work done by the team in the same edition.

Over the past several years 3-D printing has taken off as printers have improved and prices have fallen. Objects made by such printers have become common across the globe, from research institutes to hobbyist's garages. But despite its popularity, such printers have had one glaring weaknessan inability to print glass objects3-D printers of today print objects made of plastics, ceramics and even metal, but not glass, which is a shame, the researchers note, because materials made of them offer many advantages such as resistance to thermal and chemical damage. And of course, they are transparent. But now, it appears that has changed, as the team in Germany has found a way to print glass objects using ordinary 3-D printers.

The new technique allows for 3-D printing glass objects based on the creation of a "liquid glass" the team developeda glass nanocomposite with glass nanoparticles suspended in a photocurable prepolymer. In practice, the sandy glass nanoparticles are mixed into a liquid solution and the results are then used as the "ink" for the printer. Once printed in the traditional way, the glass object is transferred to an oven that cures the glass and burns off other extraneous materials. The result is an object made of pure, clear glass.

The researchers note that the size and precision of the objects printed are limited only by the precision of the printer used, just as with other 3-D printed objects. To demonstrate their new technique, the researchers printed tiny pretzels and an equally tiny castle and a honeycomb. They suggest the new technique could be used to produce both very large and very small glass objects, from skyscraper facades to tiny camera lenses. They note also that they believe that one day, most people will own a 3-D printer, and because of that, may choose to fashion their own glass objects, such as fine glassware or ornate windows.

Credit: Kotz et al.

A three-dimensional pretzel generated by three-dimensional printing in fused silica glass. Credit: NeptunLab/KIT

A microfluidic Tesla mixer cascade chip generated by three-dimensional printing in fused silica glass. Credit: NeptunLab/KIT

Honeycomb structure printed in fused silica glass exposed to a flame of 800 C showing the high thermal shock resistance of the printed glass part. Credit: NeptunLab/KIT

More information: Frederik Kotz et al. Three-dimensional printing of transparent fused silica glass, Nature (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nature22061 Abstract

Glass is one of the most important high-performance materials used for scientific research, in industry and in society, mainly owing to its unmatched optical transparency, outstanding mechanical, chemical and thermal resistance as well as its thermal and electrical insulating properties. However, glasses and especially high-purity glasses such as fused silica glass are notoriously difficult to shape, requiring high-temperature melting and casting processes for macroscopic objects or hazardous chemicals for microscopic features. These drawbacks have made glasses inaccessible to modern manufacturing technologies such as three-dimensional printing (3D printing). Using a casting nanocomposite5, here we create transparent fused silica glass components using stereolithography 3D printers at resolutions of a few tens of micrometres. The process uses a photocurable silica nanocomposite that is 3D printed and converted to high-quality fused silica glass via heat treatment. The printed fused silica glass is non-porous, with the optical transparency of commercial fused silica glass, and has a smooth surface with a roughness of a few nanometres. By doping with metal salts, coloured glasses can be created. This work widens the choice of materials for 3D printing, enabling the creation of arbitrary macro- and microstructures in fused silica glass for many applications in both industry and academia. Journal information: Nature

 2017 Phys.org
Credit: Imperial College London

The deadly chytrid fungus has for the first time been found to infect and kill species other than amphibians, giving clues on how it causes disease.

The fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), is a type of chytrid that has severely affected over 700 amphibian species worldwide, and has made more species extinct than any other infectious disease known to science  at least 200 so far. It causes chytridiomycosis, a disease that damages amphibian skin and rapidly kills its host.

Until now, chytrid was thought to only affect amphibians, a group that includes toads, newts, salamanders and frogs. However, researchers from Imperial College London have now demonstrated in the laboratory that Bd can also infect zebrafish at the larval stage  the developmental phase just after they hatch from eggs.

Research into Bd currently relies on studying infected amphibians. However they are difficult to study and also need to be captured in nature, which is not sustainable in the longer term. Amphibians that are sourced from different natural populations also may respond very differently to the fungus.

Zebrafish are some of the most widely-used biological model species owing to their transparency at the larval stage, which allows scientists to use microscopy to easily track infections. Their immune systems also have many parallels with that of humans and other vertebrates such as frogs.

The team behind today's discovery, which is published in Nature Communications, say their work will lead to zebrafish as a new model for studying the disease. This could give scientists the opportunity to understand in more detail how the fungus harms its amphibian hosts.

Professor Mat Fisher, a co-author from Imperial's School of Public Health, said: "The fact that chytrid is able to infect zebrafish larvae could mean that we now have a more effective animal model with which to study the fungus and continue our research in how to save these amphibians."

The researchers found that Bd infection took hold in zebrafish larvae in a similar way to how it does in amphibians. Professor Fisher added: "The natural bacterial coating found in young zebrafish appeared to protect them from harm during infection, and meant they could fight off the chytrid. This is a far more humane way to study the fungus than our previous models, and means we now have a new laboratory model."

Furthermore, because zebrafish breed quickly, the researchers can use many more than they can with frogs. This would help to make research go further and faster.

Co-author Dr Serge Mostowy from Imperial's Department of Medicine said: "A zebrafish model represents a brand new opportunity to study the disease process of chytrids. Young zebrafish have fully developed innate immune systems, which means we can now easily study host-fungus interactions in real time using non-invasive techniques. We can also control their environment with antibiotics, allowing us to study the role of already-present bacteria in influencing chytrid infection."

Chytrid is also able to infect guppies. Credit: Imperial College London

The findings may also offer clues into how the fungus spreads between hosts. The researchers suggest that zebrafish larvae and other fish species could act as environmental reservoirs in the wild, and may pass the infection onto amphibians.

In plain sight

Ms Nicole Liew, lead author of the paper from Imperial's MRC Centre of Molecular Bacteriology and Infection said: "The more we know about how Bd can infect hosts and where it resides in the environment, the better we can prepare for it and prevent more deaths. Our findings today give us an exciting wealth of information to work with, opening a whole new avenue of research. From our experiments, we now know some of chytrid's hiding places, and present a new lab model highly suited for fluorescent microscopy, enabling us to learn more about the disease process."

The scientists also managed to infect another species of fish, the guppy, but these fish ended up clearing their infection eventually. The authors say that although their research shows that young zebrafish can be infected, further studies are needed to determine the extent that fish might act as reservoirs of infection in the environment.

Professor Fisher added: "Our knowledge of this devastating fungus is growing in leaps and bounds, and we are excited to see where this new information will take us in terms of saving our amphibian friends."

More information: Nicole Liew et al. Chytrid fungus infection in zebrafish demonstrates that the pathogen can parasitize non-amphibian vertebrate hosts, Nature Communications (2017). DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15048 Journal information: Nature Communications
Robyn Klein, MD, PhD, speaks Wednesday, April 19, at a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases annual meeting. Klein authored a study published this week that showed that accomplished female scientists often are overlooked as speakers at scientific conferences, even when they have strong track records of being published in high-impact journals. Credit: Daved Fremont

Invited speakers at neuroimmunology conferences in 2016 were disproportionately male, and not because male scientists were producing higher quality work, according to a new study. Instead, qualified female scientists were overlooked by organizing committees. Robyn Klein, MD, PhD, a professor of medicine, of neuroscience, and of pathology and immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, discussed the findings, published online April 18 in Nature Immunology.

Why did you start investigating this issue?

A postdoctoral fellow in my lab pointed out that the preliminary speaker list for an international neuroimmunology conference included only 13 female speakers out of 93 total. I contacted the conference organizers, and they responded that there weren't enough accomplished female neuroscientists at senior ranks to invite. So I thought, "That's a hypothesis that I can test."

How did you test the hypothesis that there is a larger pool of accomplished men than women in neuroimmunology?

I began by assembling an ad hoc committee of neuroimmunologists and asked them to send me the names of women neuroimmunologists who would be good speakers at an international meeting. After receiving 29 namesthe number that would achieve gender balance for the meetingI analyzed the number of publications in relatively high-impact journals in the last two years for each of the invited speakers as well as my list of female scientists. I found that while there was no gender difference among the investigators with the very highest impact publications, there were many more women with papers in the next tier of journals compared with men. Importantly, 21 percent of the men had no publications that met my criteria in the past two years, compared with only 5 percent of the women. So I concluded that the hypothesis was not correct; there were plenty of women who had published high-impact papers recently who could have been invited and would have improved the scientific impact of the meeting.

Why does this problem exist?

I learned two things while doing this study. One, the composition of the organizing committee matters. I looked at all the neuroimmunology conferences held in 2016 worldwide, and I found that as you approach 50 percent women on the organizing committee, you approach 50 percent female invited speakers. So if you want gender parity in speakers, first you need to include more women in organizing and planning committees. Two, speaking out about gender balance makes a difference. The organizers of the first conference asked for my list of overlooked female neuroimmunologists and invited several of them. They ended up doubling the number of female speakers at their conference, and that raised the quality of the conference. The speaker list was much stronger once they included more women. But it would not have been improved if we hadn't spoken out. It's important to notice if people are being overlooked because of unconscious bias and to bring that to the attention of others who are seeking speakers, and leaders. This also is required to combat bias due to race, ethnicity, and nationality. Naming the problem is the first step in solving it.

How do your findings fit into the larger question of gender bias in the sciences?

There's a growing body of research showing that female scientists' contributions to their fields are often not reflected in the number of speaker invitations they receive, and that this under-recognition hurts their careers and slows the pace of scientific progress. While this bias may be unconscious, data from sources such as BiasWatchNeurofounded in 2015 to track the proportion of female conference speakers relative to the proportion of female faculty in the relevant fieldshow that it is widespread. Encouragingly, the data also show that bringing such biases to light helps to reduce their impact.

More information: Robyn S Klein et al, Speaking out about gender imbalance in invited speakers improves diversity, Nature Immunology (2017). DOI: 10.1038/ni.3707 Journal information: Nature Immunology
New research suggests that some firms manipulate the content and tone of their company reports despite an initiative to make them more concise and balanced.

The study, led by Dr Gaia Melloni at the University of East Anglia (UEA), examined a sample of firms involved in a pilot programme to produce integrated reports. These combine usually separate financial and sustainability - environmental, social and governance - details of a company's performance.

An integrated report should communicate "concisely" about how a firm's strategy, governance, performance and prospects, in the context of its external environment, lead to the creation of sustainable value. At the same time, it needs to be "complete and balanced", broadly including all relevant information, both positive and negative.

However the study's findings, published in the Journal of Accounting & Public Policy, show that in the presence of a firm's weak financial performance, the integrated report tends to be significantly longer, less readable and concise, and more optimistic - and so less balanced - suggesting attempts to "greenwash" the true performance picture.

The researchers also found that firms with worse social performance provide reports that are "foggier" and disclose less information on their environmental, social and governance issues.

Dr Melloni, a lecturer in accounting at UEA's Norwich Business School, said: "Our evidence implies that early adopters of integrated reporting manipulate the content and tone of their reports as an impression management strategy. The lower the performance, the poorer the disclosure.

"The results also suggest that such strategies depend not only on the level of firms' performance but also on the type of performance, for example financial versus sustainability.

"One of the main challenges when you are studying communications on sustainability is whether companies are reporting what they are actually doing. The big issue here is that companies are using integrated reporting to greenwash, to make up for very poor actions on their environmental and social impact."

The findings follow a growing consensus that increasing the amount of corporate information disclosed does not necessarily imply better disclosure. In particular, investors and financial analysts have denounced a perceived 'information overload' from financial disclosures without an increase in corresponding quality and usefulness for users.

As part of efforts to bring the length of financial reporting disclosures under control and to increase their quality, the International Integrated Reporting Council introduced the first framework for integrated reporting in December 2013, representing the latest attempt to connect a firm's financial and sustainability performance in one company report.

This emerging approach represents a shift from existing reporting practices, which generally involve the production of financial statements in accordance with financial accounting standards and a separate, mostly voluntary, stand-alone sustainability report, encompassing the social, human, environmental, and other dimensions of a firm's operations.

It has been suggested that having separate reports makes the relationship between the different dimensions of performance difficult to understand, and that integrated reports will ultimately help in reducing the reporting burden for many organisations.

Some countries, for example South Africa, have made such reports mandatory, while current EU legislation on annual financial statements addresses the disclosure of non-financial information and raises the debate on the role of integrated reporting in supporting companies to comply.

Dr Melloni and colleagues Dr Ariela Caglio from Bocconi University, Italy, and Dr Paolo Perego of Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands, focused on 148 integrated reports issued by 74 firms. They examined conciseness and completeness/balance in the reports, which covered industries including oil and gas, utilities, financial and consumer goods, healthcare, and technology and telecommunication. They looked at the quality of communication and the relationship between what was reported and performance.

Dr Melloni said producing good quality reports had implications for firms' reputations: "Companies cannot only report the positives if they want to be credible. Integrated reporting allows firms to talk about the future, something traditional reports don't particularly like. If they include less positive details but set out what actions are going to be taken to address those, shareholders will want to know that.

"If there is a consistent message and firms are seen to be taking action, it can improve their reputation and make them more appealing, for example to staff, as a potential employer and to investors."

Because integrated reporting is at an early stage, Dr Melloni said firms may not fully understand it and might need time to improve their reporting in this way.

"From a user perspective, for example shareholders, they should be sceptical about basing decisions on these reports at the moment," said Dr Melloni. "From a company perspective, they should put more effort into including reliable performance information, both financial and non-financial.

"While the results so far are not very encouraging, we are not suggesting that integrated reporting is wrong, it has very strong potential. However, companies need to plan and if they want their report quality to be good, they need to be concise and balanced."

More information: Gaia Melloni et al, Saying more with less? Disclosure conciseness, completeness and balance in Integrated Reports, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2017.03.001
The left picture shows uraninite (uranium ore) that surrounds gold. In the right picture, a computer programme was used the remove the uraninite to illustrate the large volume hidden in the uranium ore. Credit: S. Fuchs, GEOMAR.

At a first glance, the Witwatersrand basin, the largest known gold resource on our planet, is not automatically related to ocean research. However, in its 3 billion years old geological history, the Witwatersrand basin in South Africa has been covered by seawater, but experienced also episodes of drying out, flooding and erosion by rivers and the repeated coverage by seawater. In 1852, the English prospector J.H. Davis discovered the first gold in the Witwatersrand, leading to the South African gold rush and the discovery of much more gold deposits within the basin. Although the Witwatersrand has been subject for decades of research, the genesis of gold and uranium ore is still unclear.

A group of scientists from Canada and the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre of Ocean Research Kiel, successfully unravelled some mechanisms of the ore-forming process using complex analytical techniques. The results were recently published in the scientific journal Precambrian Research.

In this study, the scientists analysed samples from the Witwatersrand ore deposits with high-resolution scanning- and transmission-electron microscopes, and the processed their data using novel 2D and 3D software. "We were able to find out that fossil oil, that has been formed by organic matter derived from the first living organisms on Earth, mobilized uranium in the basin. Uraninite nanoparticles flocculated in the oil and formed uranium ore", explains Dr. Sebastian Fuchs from the GEOMAR, the first author of the study. "Hot hydrothermal fluids, similar to those fluids that we find today in modern seafloor Black Smoker systems, transported dissolved gold and formed oil-in-water emulsions at the site of the deposits. The oil droplets in the hydrothermal fluids initiated the efficient chemical precipitation of native gold and the formation of very complex-structured gold and uranium ore."

Animation of a 3-D scan of a sample with high gold grades. Credit: S. Fuchs, GEOMAR

Using high-resolution imaging techniques, the researchers were able to visualize a to date unknown ore-forming process, in which migrating oil plays the dominant role in the distribution and concentration of metals. "With our method we have been able to show remnants of fossil oil entrapped in gold for the very first time" says Dr. Sebastian Fuchs.

"We are surprised to see such an intimate spatial relationship between the oil products and the metals", reports Dr. Fuchs. "We hope that our study gives new impulses to industry and science to explore new mineral deposits. Perhaps it is possible at some day to extract gold and other metals from mined crude oil".

With the methods used, it is now possible to study not only ore particles on the ocean floor in the range of millimetre to nanometre, but also the smallest fossils and living organisms, such as micro-organisms. "We are curious about what else we might discover on the ocean floor in the future", Fuchs concludes.

Transmission electron microscope image of a gold grain. The pore wall of the grain is covered with pyrobitumen, a fossil residue of ancient petroleum that also hosts nanoparticles of uraninite. Credit: Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres

More information: Sebastian H.J. Fuchs et al, Gold and uranium concentration by interaction of immiscible fluids (hydrothermal and hydrocarbon) in the Carbon Leader Reef, Witwatersrand Supergroup, South Africa, Precambrian Research (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.precamres.2017.03.007
Researchers built a silicon device allowing them to observe the Casimir force. Credit: Princeton University

Getting something from nothing sounds like a good deal, so for years scientists have been trying to exploit the tiny amount of energy that arises when objects are brought very close together. It's a source of energy so obscure it was once derided as a fanciful source of "perpetual motion." Now, a research team including Princeton scientists has found a way to harness a mysterious force of repulsion, which is one aspect of that force.

This energy, predicted seven decades ago by the Dutch scientist Hendrik Casimir, arises from quantum effects and can be seen experimentally by placing two opposing plates very close to each other in a vacuum. At close range, the plates repel each other, which could be useful to certain technologies. Until recently, however, harnessing this "Casimir force" to do anything useful seemed impossible.

A new silicon chip built by researchers at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Princeton University is a step toward harnessing the Casimir force. Using a clever assembly of micron-sized shapes etched into the plates, the researchers demonstrated that the plates repel as they are brought close together. Constructing this device entirely out of a single silicon chip could open the way to using the Casimir force for practical applications such as keeping tiny machine parts from sticking to each other. The work was published in the February issue of the journal Nature Photonics.

Energy of a vacuum

"This is among the first experimental verifications of the Casimir effect on a silicon chip," said Alejandro Rodriguez, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Princeton University, who provided theoretical calculations for the device, which was built by a team led by Ho Bun Chan at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. "And it also allows you to make measurements of forces in very nontrivial structures like these that cause repulsion. It is a double-whammy."

The silicon structure looks like two plates lined with teeth that face each other across a tiny gap which is only about 100 nanometers wide. (A human hair is 60,000-80,000 nanometers wide.) As the two plates are pushed closer together, the Casimir force comes into play and pushes them apart.

This repulsive effect happens without any input of energy and to all appearances, in a vacuum. These characteristics led this energy to be called "zero-point energy." They also fueled earlier claims that the Casimir force could not exist because its existence would imply some sort of perpetual motion, which would be impossible according to the laws of physics.

The force, which has since been experimentally confirmed to exist, arises from the normal quantum fluctuations of the few atoms that persist in the chasm despite the evacuation of all the air.

The team demonstrated that it is possible to build a device in silicon to control the Casimir force.

"Our paper shows that it is possible to control the Casimir force using structures of complex, tailor-made shapes," said Ho Bun Chan, senior author on the paper and a scientist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His team drew on earlier work by Rodriguez published in 2008 that proposed shapes that would be expected to yield a Casimir force that could both attract and repel. "This paper is the experimental realization using a structure inspired by Rodriguez's design," Chan said.

Rodriguez and his team at Princeton developed techniques that allowed the researchers to compute interactions between two parallel plates as they approach each other. With these tools, they were then able to explore what would happen if more complex geometries were used. This led to some of the first predictions of a repulsive Casimir force in 2008.

The Rodriguez group used nanophotonic techniques, which involved measuring how light would interact with the structures, to get at the complex equations of how the force arises from the interaction of two plates.

The silicon device included a small mechanical spring that the researchers used to measure the force between the two plates, and to verify that the quantum force can be repulsive. The roughly T-shaped silicon teeth are what allow the repulsive force to form. The repulsion comes from how different parts of the surface interact with the opposite surface.

"We tried to think about what kind of shapes Chan's group would have to fabricate to lead to a significant repulsive force, so we did some background studies and calculations to make sure they would see enough non-monotonicity as to be measurable," Rodriguez said.

Going forward, the researchers plan to explore other configurations that may give rise to even larger repulsive forces and more well-defined repulsion at larger separations.

More information: L. Tang et al. Measurement of non-monotonic Casimir forces between silicon nanostructures, Nature Photonics (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2016.254 Kimball A. Milton. Fundamental optics: On-chip Casimir effect, Nature Photonics (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2016.277 Journal information: Nature Photonics
So far, scientific studies have mostly concluded that mobile phones pose no serious risk to human health

In a potentially landmark case, an Italian court has ruled that excessive, work-related use of a mobile phone caused an executive to develop a benign brain tumour.

In a ruling handed down on April 11 but only made public on Thursday, the court in the northern town of Ivrea awarded the plaintiff a state-funded pension.

The ruling is subject to a possible appeal.

Roberto Romeo, 57, had testified that his work duties obliged him to use his mobile for three to four hours of each working day for 15 years.

"For the first time in the world, a court has recognised a causal link between inappropriate use of a mobile phone and a brain tumour," his lawyers, Stefano Bertone and Renato Ambrosio said in a statement.

Romeo said he did not want to demonise mobiles, "but I believe we have to be more aware about how to use them.

"I had no choice but to use my mobile to talk to colleagues and organise workfor 15 years I was calling all the time, from home, in the car.

"I started to have the feeling of my right ear being blocked all the time and the tumour was diagnosed in 2010. Happily, it was benign but I can no longer hear anything because they had to remove my acoustic nerve."

A medical expert estimated the damage to Romeo at 23 percent of his bodily function, prompting the judge to make a compensation award of 500 euros per month to be paid by INAIL, a national insurance scheme covering workplace accidents.

Scientific studies of the potential health risks of mobile phones have mostly concluded that they pose no serious risk to human health at the level of most people's use.

Heavier use may pose some risk, other studies have found, and many experts say it is too early to do a proper assessment of what is a relatively new technology.

 2017 AFP
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A still image from the Year of Sea Surface Temperature animation, showing record low sea ice extent in late 2016. Credit: European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT)

In a recent animation produced by EUMETSAT, Remote Sensing Scientist Anne O'Carroll describes a year of sea surface temperature (SST) in 2016.

The animation combines satellite data with ocean surface measurements. The satellite data used come from both the geostationary ring of satellites and polar-orbiting satellites including from Europe, America and Japan.

The global sea surface temperature animation is compiled from the Operational Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Ice Analysis (OSTIA) as produced by the UK Met Office. The products are available from the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS).

"The animation is important to see the changes on a global scale of the surface temperatures of our ocean and to consider how these influence weather patterns and thus our daily lives," Mrs O'Carroll said.

Mrs O'Carroll goes through each month of the year highlighting specific weather events, currents and changes in temperatures in different zones of the Earth, focussing especially on El NinoSouthern Oscillation (ENSO) and La Nina.

As seasons change, colder temperatures are coloured in blue while warmer surface temperatures evolve from yellow to magenta, and while currents move we can see the changes in temperatures twirling around.

According to the scientist, "The animation shows the beauty of the movement of our ocean and the changes in temperature and how energy is distributed and spreads around our globe, affecting the weather, climate, ecosystem and all our daily lives."

Credit: European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT)

Provided by European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT)
In this photo taken Aug. 4, 2009 file photo, a crop duster sprays a field of crops just outside Headland, Ala. Dow Chemical is pushing the Trump administration to scrap the findings of federal scientists who point to a family of widely used pesticides as harmful to about 1,800 critically threatened or endangered species. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)

Dow Chemical is pushing a Trump administration open to scrapping regulations to ignore the findings of federal scientists who point to a family of widely used pesticides as harmful to about 1,800 critically threatened or endangered species.

Lawyers representing Dow, whose CEO is a close adviser to Trump, and two other manufacturers of organophosphates sent letters last week to the heads of three of Trump's Cabinet agencies. The companies asked them "to set aside" the results of government studies the companies contend are fundamentally flawed.

Dow Chemical wrote a $1 million check to help underwrite Trump's inaugural festivities, and its chairman and CEO, Andrew Liveris, heads a White House manufacturing working group.

The industry's request comes after EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced last month he was reversing an Obama-era effort to bar the use of Dow's chlorpyrifos pesticide on food after recent peer-reviewed studies found that even tiny levels of exposure could hinder the development of children's brains. In his prior job as Oklahoma's attorney general, Pruitt often aligned himself in legal disputes with the interests of executives and corporations who supported his state campaigns. He filed more than a dozen lawsuits seeking to overturn some of the same regulations he is now charged with enforcing.

Pruitt declined to answer questions from reporters Wednesday as he toured a polluted Superfund site in Indiana. A spokesman for the agency later told AP that Pruitt won't "prejudge" any potential rule-making decisions as "we are trying to restore regulatory sanity to EPA's work."

The letters to Cabinet heads, dated April 13, were obtained by The Associated Press. As with the recent human studies of chlorpyrifos, Dow hired its own scientists to produce a lengthy rebuttal to the government studies.

Over the past four years, government scientists have compiled an official record running more than 10,000 pages indicating the three pesticides under reviewchlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathionpose a risk to nearly every endangered species they studied. Regulators at the three federal agencies, which share responsibilities for enforcing the Endangered Species Act, are close to issuing findings expected to result in new limits on how and where the highly toxic pesticides can be used.

In this Feb. 21, 2017, file photo, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks to employees of the EPA in Washington. Dow Chemical is pushing the Trump administration to scrap the findings of federal scientists who point to a family of widely used pesticides as harmful to about 1,800 critically threatened or endangered species. Lawyers representing Dow and two other makers of organophosphates sent letters last week to the heads of three Cabinet agencies. The letters, obtained by The Associated Press, show the companies asked them "to set aside" the results of government studies. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

"We have had no meetings with Dow on this topic and we are reviewing petitions as they come in, giving careful consideration to sound science and good policymaking," said J.P. Freire, EPA's associate administrator for public affairs. "The administrator is committed to listening to stakeholders affected by EPA's regulations, while also reviewing past decisions."

The office of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the Natural Marine Fisheries Service, did not respond to emailed questions. A spokeswoman for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who oversees the Fish and Wildlife Service, referred questions back to EPA.

The EPA's recent biological evaluation of chlorpyrifos found the pesticide is "likely to adversely affect" 1,778 of the 1,835 animals and plants accessed as part of its study, including critically endangered or threatened species of frogs, fish, birds and mammals. Similar results were shown for malathion and diazinon.

In a statement, the Dow subsidiary that sells chlorpyrifos said its lawyers asked for the EPA's biological assessment to be withdrawn because its "scientific basis was not reliable."

"Dow AgroSciences is committed to the production and marketing of products that will help American farmers feed the world, and do so with full respect for human health and the environment, including endangered and threatened species," the statement said. "These letters, and the detailed scientific analyses that support them, demonstrate that commitment."

FMC Corp., which sells malathion, said the withdrawal of the EPA studies would allow the necessary time for the "best available" scientific data to be compiled.

"Malathion is a critical tool in protecting agriculture from damaging pests," the company said.

This letter obtained by the Associated Press and photographed in the news agency's Washington bureau, Wednesday, April 19, 2017, was sent to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt by attorneys representing Dow Chemical requesting the EPA "to set aside" the results of government studies they claimed were fundamentally flawed. Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris is a close adviser to President Donald Trump. The company gave $1 million for Trump's inaugural activities. (AP Photo)

Diazinon maker Makhteshim Agan of North America Inc., which does business under the name Adama, did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Environmental advocates said Wednesday that criticism of the government's scientists was unfounded. The methods used to conduct EPA's biological evaluations were developed by the National Academy of Sciences.

Brett Hartl, government affairs director for the Center for Biological Diversity, said Dow's experts were trying to hold EPA scientists to an unrealistic standard of data collection that could only be achieved under "perfect laboratory conditions."

"You can't just take an endangered fish out of the wild, take it to the lab and then expose it to enough pesticides until it dies to get that sort of data," Hartl said. "It's wrong morally, and it's illegal."

Organophosphorus gas was originally developed as a chemical weapon by Nazi Germany. Dow has been selling Chlorpyrifos for spraying on citrus fruits, apples, cherries and other crops since the 1960s. It is among the most widely used agricultural pesticides in the United States, with Dow selling about 5 million pounds domestically each year.

As a result, traces of the chemical are commonly found in sources of drinking water. A 2012 study at the University of California at Berkeley found that 87 percent of umbilical-cord blood samples tested from newborn babies contained detectable levels of chlorpyrifos.

In 2005, the Bush administration ordered an end to residential use of diazinon to kill yard pests such as ants and grub worms after determining that it poses a human health risk, particularly to children. However it is still approved for use by farmers, who spray it on fruits and vegetables.

In this Feb. 24, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump gives the pen he used to sign an executive order to Dow Chemical President, Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris, as other business leaders applaud in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Dow Chemical is pushing the Trump administration to scrap the findings of federal scientists who point to a family of widely used pesticides as harmful to about 1,800 critically threatened or endangered species. Liveris is a close adviser to President Donald Trump. The company gave $1 million for Trump's inaugural activities.(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Malathion is widely sprayed to control mosquitoes and fruit flies. It is also an active ingredient in some shampoos prescribed to children for treating lice.

A coalition of environmental groups has fought in court for years to spur EPA to more closely examine the risk posed to humans and endangered species by pesticides, especially organophosphates.

"Endangered species are the canary in the coal mine," Hartl said. Since many of the threatened species are aquatic, he said they are often the first to show the effects of long-term chemical contamination in rivers and lakes used as sources of drinking water by humans.

Dow, which spent more than $13.6 million on lobbying in 2016, has long wielded substantial political power in the nation's capital. There is no indication the chemical giant's influence has waned.

When Trump signed an executive order in February mandating the creation of task forces at federal agencies to roll back government regulations, Dow's chief executive was at Trump's side.

"Andrew, I would like to thank you for initially getting the group together and for the fantastic job you've done," Trump said as he signed the order during an Oval Office ceremony. The president then handed his pen to Liveris to keep as a souvenir.

Rachelle Schikorra, the director of public affairs for Dow Chemical, said any suggestion that the company's $1 million donation to Trump's inaugural committee was intended to help influence regulatory decisions is "completely off the mark."

"Dow actively participates in policymaking and political processes, including political contributions to candidates, parties and causes, in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws," Schikorra said. "Dow maintains and is committed to the highest standard of ethical conduct in all such activity."

 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Amanda Rodewald, the Garvin Professor of Ornithology and director of conservation science at the Lab of Ornithology, examines a mourning warbler caught in one of her mistnets on a shade coffee farm in Jardin, Colombia. Credit: Lab of Ornithology/Provided

The traditional approach to environmental conservation goes something like this: A particular landscape or species, usually somewhere in the developing world, is deemed important and, therefore, countries are encouraged to rope off big chunks of land and keep people out.

But the people being kept out are usually farmers struggling with poverty, whose only reliable source of income is that landscape. The approach pits two important principles against each other: environmental conservation and social justice.

Over the past decade or so, conservationists have learned that the most effective, sustainable and just solutions take into account the social, economic and environmental needs of each area. These kinds of solutions are harder to find and require radical collaborations, not just between multidisciplinary academic fields, but also between public and private stakeholders and, most importantly, between conservationists and the farmers themselves.

Focusing on coffee farmers in Colombia, two Cornell researchers are leading just such a collaboration: Juan Nicolas Hernandez-Aguilera, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Miguel Gomez, associate professor of applied economics and management, and Amanda Rodewald, the Garvin Professor of Ornithology and director of conservation science at the Lab of Ornithology.

Cornell University scientist Amanda Rodewald and economist Juan Nicolas Hernandez-Aguilera are collaborating on a project to look at the ecological and socio-economic aspects of sustainable coffee. Credit: Lab of Ornithology

Their work centers on supporting a sustainable environment for Colombia's birds and coffee growers. Coffee is the second-most valuable commodity produced by developing countries, after petroleum, generating income for approximately 125 million people in those countries. And Colombia is the most biodiverse country in the world, per hectare, with the most diverse bird population in the world.

But changes in coffee production are threatening that biodiversity. The chief problem is a shift from traditional practices where coffee was grown under a canopy of trees, called "shade-grown coffee" to more sterile monocultures called "sun coffee." This conversion has largely resulted from efforts to increase coffee yields, but that comes at the expense of sustainability.

"The notion of sustainability implies different aspects: environmental sustainability, but also social and economic sustainability, and providing opportunities for small-holder growers. We want to understand what can lead to growth in markets for those growers," Hernandez-Aguilera said.

"For me, coming at it as an ecologist and a conservation biologist, I'm thinking about the environment, about biodiversity," Rodewald said. "But learning about that is not going to effect change. So we need to work with other people to figure out, how do you actually encourage and incentivize people to use these different practices?"

A Blackburnian warbler in Colombia. Credit: Lab of Ornithology/Provided

The researchers' work involved a holistic study of 255 coffee farms Antioquia and Cauca, Colombia. For each farm, Hernandez-Aguilera started with an economic survey, gathering information about production, market opportunities, machinery used and labor practices (70 percent of worldwide coffee production is done by hand). The researchers also analyzed each farm's soil quality, number and variety of trees and birds, and supply chains, among other things.

Their work confirmed that, although sun coffee might have higher yields, it requires more pesticides and fertilizers and greatly reduces biodiversity. In contrast, shade coffee grown with overstory trees produces higher-quality beans, protects soils and conserves water, ensuring that the land will be productive in the future. And with more habitat, shade coffee farms have more birds, which serve as natural pest-control agents and fertilizers.

The farmers in Colombia aren't just inputs in the Cornell researchers' equations; they are active partners. Fittingly, the researchers call their approach the "Relationship Coffee Model."

The researchers trained some of the farmers to do their own soil sample collection, and together they're working to understand how farmers can get their better-quality coffee beans into supply chains that will pay a premium. They worked with farmers and local university students to collect data about the livelihoods of farmers and their families and environmental attributes of farms. One of the results: Smallholder growers felt more empowered and committed under a direct supply chain that actively communicated with the growers and considered them an essential element for sustainability.

A cooperative buyer tests coffee at the De Los Andes Cooperativa in Jardin, Colombia. Credit: Lab of Ornithology/Provided

"The field is just starting to move toward bringing different disciplines together to solve complex problems. The difference here at Cornell is we're actually working with these partners in countries. We're not only trying to advance our understanding of the science of these approaches, but also trying to have on-the-ground impacts that can be implemented by the communities that we're working with," Rodewald said.

The researchers plan to continue collecting farm data, looking for the amount of overstory forest needed to maintain both biodiversity and farmers' incomes.
Understanding the cloud role in balancing Earth's energy ins and outs means looking at clouds from all sides. Researchers compared satellite and ground-based instrument data that look at many characteristics of clouds having to do with their ability to absorb, reflect, and scatter sunlight energy. Their findings will help climate modelers better represent the important role of clouds in the Earth's energy balance. Credit: Pearson Education

It depends on the point of view. That's what researchers from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and their colleagues found when they looked into why satellite and ground-based cloud measurements sometimes disagree. Now, researchers have used co-located measurements to test how well the two kinds of measurements agree. They found mostly positive news. Many of the measurements translate to similar data, but some didn't. And now the researchers know why.

"We looked at retrievals from satellites cruising above an Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility site on an Atlantic island, where dozens of ground-based instruments pointed toward the sky are gathering data," said Dr. Steve Ghan, atmospheric scientist at PNNL. "Where the two sets of measurements diverge is droplet effective radius, a measurement that gives us important insight into how well a cloud reflects the sun's energy."

The work included researchers at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, University of Arizona, University of North Dakota, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and NASA Langley Research Center.

Clouds are the traffic cops of sunlight energy. They are major players in how the Earth's energy gets balanced. Clouds can let sunlight energy pass through, bounce it back to space or trap that energy close to Earth when it's reflected back off the surface. Clouds are famously difficult to represent when modeling the climate but are important to get right because of their huge impact on the Earth's energy balance. And as the climate changes, their role will become even more important to understand.

Satellite images from MODIS looking down at the Azores. The green dot highlights the site. Credit: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Satellites provide near global coverage of cloud measurements, while ground-based instruments provide higher accuracy. Retrieving cloud properties by satellite provides valuable checks on cloud simulations done by climate models, but even the accuracy of those retrievals is limited by assumptions about the properties of the surface below. Surface-based measurements (from the ground looking up) are not as affected by surface properties, so they are more accurate views than retrievals from space. Surface-based retrievals can therefore provide benchmark measurements for evaluating those from satellites. In this paper, researchers are specifically targeting the comparison to find which measurements agree more than others.

The research team used retrievals from the moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS), a scientific instrument launched into Earth orbit on board the Terra and Aqua satellites. The team used two satellite-based data products. One was developed by the science team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from the MODIS-based cloud property products called GSFC-MODIS. A second was developed by the NASA Langley Research Center from the Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) project, called CERES-MODIS. The ground-based cloud characterization instruments were deployed by the ARM Climate Research Facility mobile site at Graciosa Island in the Azores near Portugal for 21 months spanning 2009 to 2010. The ARM Mobile Facility instruments provided a variety of cloud and aerosol observations, as well as related radiation fields and meteorological conditions, key to understanding a number of environmental conditions that affect clouds.

In comparing the satellite and ground-based data, the co-location of the retrievals is critical. Ground-based instruments make single-point observations, whereas satellite imagers like MODIS take instantaneous snapshots of a large area. The MODIS instrument doesn't pass exactly over the ARM site in the Azores, so the comparison of the retrievals was expressed in terms of the distance between the retrievals.

The team's analysis found good agreement between two different sets of retrievals from the MODIS satellite instrument for cloud optical depth and droplet effective radius, and good agreement between MODIS and ARM retrievals of cloud optical depth. But the MODIS and ARM retrievals of droplet effective radius are consistently different. This difference was attributed to the different viewing angle of the instruments, with the MODIS sensing droplet radius near the cloud top and ARM sensing droplet radius near the cloud base, where droplets are smaller. As might be expected, the comparison of the MODIS and ARM retrievals depends on how close the retrievals were to each other.

The researchers are now using this data to evaluate clouds simulated by global climate models.

More information: Zhibo Zhang et al. Intercomparisons of marine boundary layer cloud properties from the ARM CAP-MBL campaign and two MODIS cloud products, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (2017). DOI: 10.1002/2016JD025763 Journal information: Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres
This A. tissoti was rear from wasps captured in South Dakota. Credit: South Dakota State University

Entomologists will find it easier to identify parasitic wasps and their host aphids, thanks to the work of entomologist Paul Johnson and forage breeder Arvid Boe. Both are professors in the Department of Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science.

Their investigation began when Boe showed Johnson a photo of a cup plant flower teaming with insects, including a large colony of bright red aphids. Boe grows cup plants at two locations near Brookings to evaluate the planta member of the sunflower familyas a potential feedstock for biofuel production. The project, which is done in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is funded by the Sun Grant Initiative.

"What these researchers are uncovering about the agronomics of cup plant, as well as the insects that affect them, will help us decide how they can be integrated into a bioenergy cropping system," said Vance Owens, director of the North Central Regional Sun Grant Center.

"People have not looked closely at these insectswe brought everything together in understanding the biology of this one genus of parasitic wasps," Johnson said. He collaborated with research entomologist Robert Kula of the Systemic Entomology Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service.

The work also involved entomologist Thelma Heidel-Baker, then at Purdue University, who supplied specimens from Indiana. The South Dakota researchers reared two species of parasitic wasps from the aphids, while Heidel-Baker reared five species.

"Now we know that all the wasps of the genus Acanthocaudus are specialists on different species of aphids on different host plants," Johnson said. The taxonomy of each wasp species now correlates with the host aphids and their plant hosts.

This photo of a cup plant flower teaming with insects led entomologists to investigate the pollinator wasp diversity support potential of the plant and the role of aphids and parasitic wasps. Credit: South Dakota State University

A parasitic wasp identified from Uroleucon aphids in South Dakota cup plants, for instance, had characteristics similar to specimens of a known species, A. tissoti, found in British Columbia and Florida. Kula ascertained that the species from South Dakota was, indeed, A. tissoti.

Heidel-Baker reared a new related species of parasitic wasp, now called A. bicolor, on a different host Uroleucon aphid that feeds on asters. Their findings were published in the January 2017 issue of Zootaxa.

Parasitic wasps protect the plants against aphid infestations, Johnson explained as he described wasp-aphid interaction on cup plants.

What begins as a few dozen aphids per plant in mid-July can become as many as 800 aphids per leaf by the end of July or the first week of August. "The aphids feed on the juices, which can cause deformities and general weakness of the plant," Johnson said.

The parasitic wasps sting the aphids to inject their eggs into the aphids' bodies.As these eggs hatch, the larvae feed internally on the aphids, he explained. By the second week in August, nearly 98 percent of the aphids had been parasitized by wasps.

"When the larvae become adults, they chew a hole and pop out of the aphids," Johnson said. "It's like an alien movie."

The parasitic wasps are beneficial to the cup plant. "If you have wasps around, you don't need to spray the cup plant," Johnson said.
Artist concept of Venus' surface. Credit: NASA

In 2005, the Future In-Space Operations Working Group (FISOWG) was established with the help of NASA to assess how advances in spaceflight technologies could be used to facilitate missions back to the Moon and beyond. In 2006, the FISO Working Group also established the FISO Telecon Series to conduct outreach to the public and educate them on issues pertaining to spaceflight technology, engineering, and science.

Every week, the Telecon Series holds a seminar where experts are able to share the latest news and developments from their respective fields. On Wednesday, April 19th, in a seminar titled "An Air-Breathing Metal-Combustion Power Plant for Venus in situ Exploration", NASA engineer Michael Paul presented a novel idea where existing technology could be used to make longer-duration missions to Venus.

To recap the history of Venus exploration, very few probes have ever been able to explore its atmosphere or surface for long. Not surprising, considering that the atmospheric pressure on Venus is 92 times what it is here on Earth at sea level. Not to mention the fact that Venus is also the hottest planet in the solar system  with average surface temperatures of 737 K (462 C; 863.6 F).

Hence why those few probes that actually explored the atmosphere and surface in detail  like the Soviet-era Venera probes and landers and NASA's Pioneer Venus multiprobe  were only able to return data for a matter of hours. All other missions to Venus have either taken the form of orbiters or consisted of spacecraft conducting flybys while en route to other destinations.

Although similar in size and composition to the Earth, Venus has an extremely dense atmosphere with clouds that produce sulfuric acid rain. Credit: NASA

Having worked in the fields of space exploration and aerospace engineering for 20 years, Michael Paul is well-versed in the challenges of mounting missions to other planets. During his time with the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL), he contributed to NASA's Contour and Stereo missions, and was also instrumental in the launch and early operations of the MESSENGER mission to Mercury.

However, it was a flagship-level study in 2008  performed collaboratively between JHUAPL and NASA's Jet Propulsion laboratory (JPL)  that opened his eyes to the need for missions that took advantage of the process known as In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). As he stated during the seminar:

"That year we actually studied a very large mission to Europa which evolved into the current Europa Clipper mission. And we also studied a flagship mission to the Saturn, to Titan specifically. The Titan-Saturn system mission study was a real eye-opener for me in terms what could be done and why we should be doing a lot of more adventurous and more aggressive exploration of in-situ in certain places."

The flagship mission to Titan was the subject of Paul's work since joining Penn Sate's Applied Research Laboratory in 2009. During his time there, he became a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program (NIAC) Fellow for his co-creation of the Titan Submarine. For this mission, which will explore the methane lakes of Titan, Paul helped to develop underwater power systems that would provide energy for planetary landers that can't see the Sun.

Credit: Universe Today

Having returned to JHUAPL, where he is now the Space Mission Formulation Lead, Paul continues to work on in-situ concepts that could enable missions to locations in the solar system that present a challenge. In-situ exploration, where local resources are relied upon for various purposes, presents numerous advantages over more traditional concepts, not the least of which is cost-effectiveness.

Consider mission that rely on Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (MMRTG)  where radioactive elements like Plutonium-238 are used to generate electricity. Whereas this type of power system  which was used by the Viking 1 and 2 landers (sent to Mars in 1979) and the more recent Curiosity rover  provides unparalleled energy density, the cost of such missions is prohibitive.

What's more, in-situ missions could also function in places where conventional solar cells would not work. These include not only locations in the outer solar system (i.e. Europa, Titan and Enceladus) but also places closer to home. The South Pole-Aitken Basin, for example, is a permanently shadowed location on the Moon that NASA and other space agencies are interesting in exploring (and maybe colonizing) due to the abundance of water ice there.

But there's also the surface Venus, where sunlight is in short supply because of the planet's dense atmosphere. As Paul explained in the course of the seminar:

Diagram of a Sterling Engine, part of proposed mission to Europe (Fire on Europa). Credit: lpi.usra.edu

"What can you do with other power systems in places where the Sun just doesn't shine? Okay, so you want to get to the surface of Venus and last more than a couple of hours. And I think that in the last 10 or 15 years, all the missions that [were proposed] to the surface of Venus pretty much had a two-hour timeline. And those were all proposed, none of those missions were actually flown. And that's in line with the 2 hours that the Russian landers survived when they got there, to the surface of Venus."

The solution to this problem, as Paul sees it, is to employ a Stored-Chemical Energy and Power System (SCEPS), also known as a Sterling engine. This proven technology relies on stored chemical energy to generate electricity, and is typically used in underwater systems. But repurposed for Venus, it could provide a lander mission with a considerable amount of time (compared to previous Venus missions) with which to conduct surface studies.

For the power system Paul and his colleagues are envisioning, the Sterling engine would take solid-metal lithium (or possibly solid iodine), and then liquefy it with a pyrotechnic charge. This resulting liquid would then be fed into another chamber where it would combined with an oxidant. This would produce heat and combustion, which would then be used to boil water, spin turbines, and generate electricity.

Such a system is typically closed and produces no exhaust, which makes it very useful for underwater systems that cannot compromise their buoyancy. On Venus, such a system would allow for electrical production without short-lived batteries, an expensive nuclear fuel cell, and could function in a low solar-energy environment.

The Advanced Lithium Ion Venus Explorer (ALIVE), derived from the COMPASS final report (2016). Credit: Oleson, Steven R., and Michael Paul

An added benefit for such a craft operating on Venus is that the oxidizer would be provided locally, thus removing the need for an heavy component. By simply letting in outside CO2  which Venus' atmosphere has in abundance  and combining with the system's liquified lithium (or iodine), the SCEPS system could provide sustained energy for a period of days.

With the help of NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) and funding from the Hot Operating Temperature Technology (HOTTech) program  which is overseen by NASA's Planetary Science Division  Paul and his colleagues were able to test their concept, and found that it was capable of producing sustained heat that was both controllable and tunable.

Further help came from the Glenn Research Center's COMPASS lab, were engineers from multiple disciplines performs integrated vehicle systems analyses. From all of this, a mission concept known as the Advanced Lithium Venus Explorer (ALIVE) was developed. With the help of Steven Oleson  the head of GRC's COMPASS lab  Paul and his team envision a mission where a lander would reach the surface of Venus and study it for 5 to 10 days.

All told, that's an operational window of between 120 and 240 hours  in other words, 60 to 120 times as long as previous missions. However, how much such a mission would cost remains to be seen. According to Paul, that question became the basis of an ongoing debate between himself and Oleson, who disagreed as to whether it would be part of the Discovery Program or the New Frontiers Program.

Artists impression of the surface of Venus. Credit: ESA/AOES

As Paul explained, missions belonging to the former were recently capped at the $450 to $500 million level while the latter are capped at $850 million. "I believe that if you did this right, you could get it into a Discovery mission," he said. "Here at APL, I've seen really complicated ideas fit inside a Discovery cost cap. And I believe that the way we crafted this mission, you could do this for a Discovery mission. And it would be really exciting to get that done."

From a purely technological standpoint, this not a new idea. But in terms of space exploration, it has never been done before. Granted, there are still many tests which would need to be conducted before any a mission to Venus can be planned. In particular, there are the byproducts created by combusting lithium and CO2 under Venus-like conditions, which already produced some unexpected results during tests.

In addition, there is the problem of nitrogen gas (N2)  also present in Venus' atmosphere  building up in the system, which would need to be vented in order to prevent a blowout. But the advantages of such a system are evident, and Paul and his colleagues are eager to take additional steps to develop it. This summer, they will be doing another test of a lithium SCEPS under the watchful eye of NAIC.

By this time next year, they hope to have completed their analysis and their design for the system, and begin building one which they hope to test in a controlled temperature environment. This will be the first step in what Paul hopes will be a three-year period of testing and development.

"The first year we're basically going to do a lot of number crunching to make sure we got it right," he said. "The second year we're going to built it, and test it at higher temperatures than room temperature  but not the high temperatures of Venus! And in the third year, we're going to do the high temperature test."

Ultimately, the concept could be made to function in any number of high and low temperature conditions, allowing for cost-effective long-duration missions in all kinds of extreme environments. These would include Titan, Europa and Enceladus, but also Venus, the Moon, and perhaps the permanently-shadowed regions on Mercury's poles as well.

Space exploration is always a challenge. Whenever ideas come along that make it possible to peak into more environments, and on a budget to boot, it is time to start researching and developing them.
Stratification in Tibet sediment. Climate variations are reflected in color variations with the red sediment typically indicating a wetter climate and the white indicating a drier climate. "You can literally walk up time as you sample the sediment, says Carmala Garzione, a professor of earth and environmental sciences. Credit: Qingquan Meng

The Tibetan Plateau in China experiences the strongest monsoon system on Earth, with powerful windsand accompanying intense rains in the summer monthscaused by a complex system of global air circulation patterns and differences in surface temperatures between land and oceans.

These extreme weather patterns make this area an ideal location for climate scientists to study the delicate interconnected web of the global climate system.

Carmala Garzione, a professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Rochester, and Junsheng Nie, a visiting research associate at the University, surveyed sediment samples from the northern Tibetan Plateau's Qaidam Basin and were able to construct paleoclimate cycle records from the late Miocene epoch of Earth's history, which lasted from approximately 11 to 5.3 million years ago. They recently published their findings in Science Advances.

Reconstructing past climate records can help scientists determine both natural patterns and the ways in which future glacial events and greenhouse gas emissions may affect global systems.

Based on previous research on ice core, marine, and sediment records, researchers determined that for the past 800,000 years, Northern Hemisphere ice agesin which vast areas of North America, Europe, and Asia are covered with thick sheets of iceoccurred about every 100,000 years. Prior to that period, ice ages occurred more frequently, on cycles of 41,000 years, and scientists believed this was the norm.

Eccentricity: How the Earth rotates around the Sun. The shape of Earths orbit gradually changes from being more oval to more round over a period of 100,000 years. Artists note: the eccentricity scale in this illustration is exaggerated. Credit: Julia Joshpe

Using the sediment samples from the Qaidam Basin, Nie and Garzione show that the East Asian monsoon patterns in the late Miocene also follow similar 100,000 year cycles, with stronger monsoons peaking at 100,000 years and diminishing in the periods in between. This reveals a greater than 6 million earlier onset of these 100,000 year cycles than was previously documented.

"People have been thinking that the 100,000 year cycle was a later Quaternary [present-day] climate anomaly," Nie says. "But from our results, we see that it's not an anomaly, it was present many years before."

Axial tilt: The Earth tilts toward the Sun at an angle that changes from an approximate 22-degree tilt to a 24.5-degree tilt over a period of 41,000 years. Credit: Julia Joshpe

Several factors affect these cycles, but they are ultimately determined by orbital forcingthe Sun's radiation received by the Earth due to variations in the Earth's orbit in the solar system. There are three types of variations that occur simultaneously, known as the Milankovitch Cycles:

Eccentricity: How the Earth rotates around the Sunthe shape of Earth's orbit gradually changes from being more oval to more round over a period of 100,000 years. Axial tilt: The Earth tilts toward the Sun at an angle that changes from an approximate 22-degree tilt to a 24.5-degree tilt over a period of 41,000 years. Precession of equinox: The Earth slowly wobbles as it spins, much like a toy top, while at the same time, the Earth's rotational axisthe line from the north to south polesrotates. The interaction of these two processes results in cyclical movement of equinoxes over a period of approximately 23,000 years.

"Each of these factors influences incoming solar radiation and how the earth is absorbing heat," Garzione says.

Precession: The Earth slowly wobbles as it spins, much like a toy top, while at the same time, the Earths rotational axisthe line from the north to south polesrotates. The interaction of these two processes results in cyclical movement of equinoxes over a period of approximately 23,000 years. Credit: Julia Joshpe

Mysteries remain because eccentricity is the weakest cycle, so should logically not be the dominant cycle for climatic events. It is not only sunlight that plays a role in these cycles, but the influence of glaciers and atmospheric carbon dioxide.

For the past one million years, the waxing and waning of Northern Hemisphere ice sheetsmainly those in Canadahave controlled the climate cycles, by affecting ocean currents, temperatures, and wind patterns. Southern Hemisphere ice in Antarctica has remained relatively fixed, without any major glacial melting to catalyze advances and retreats.

During the late Miocene, this was the opposite, with ice in Antarctica in the Southern Hemisphere waxing and waning. Nie and Garzione suggest that the fluctuating Antarctic ice sheet in the late Miocene, at a time when there was minimal ice in the Northern Hemisphere, exerted the dominant control on the 100,000 year cycles observed in the Qaidam Basin record.

"If one hemisphere sees major advances and retreats in ice sheets, that's when we get into this pattern of 100,000 year cycles dominating," Garzione says. "The question is, will we push carbon dioxide high enough in the future that the Northern Hemisphere remains ice free and the advances and retreats begin again with the Southern Hemisphere ice sheets."

If so, the Southern Hemisphere ice sheets may once again exert dominant influence on climate cycles.

More information: Dominant 100,000-year precipitation cyclicity in a late Miocene lake from northeast Tibet. Science Advances. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1600762 Journal information: Science Advances
IBM Watson-powered QIHAN Sanbot Brings Retail AI to Life at IBM Forum 2017

SHENZHEN, ChinaEarlier this month, IBM invited QIHAN Technology Company to showcase Sanbot, an intelligent humanoid robot, at the annual IBM Forum 2017 event in Hong Kong. Powered by IBM Watson, Sanbot demonstrated smart card payments in retail solutions using a demo for an interactive coffee menu and language recognition using IBM Watson, as well as interacted with the events attendees to reveal how robotics will benefit the future.

Partnering with QIHAN provides us with a powerful platform for IBM Watson, and showcases all the ways we can interact with humanoids in our lives, said Rick Lee, Watson leader at IBM. From service industries, to financial services and healthcare, there is an important role that robotics can play. IBM is excited about the future possibilities of our partnership to change the world.

With robust, cloud-powered artificial intelligence powered by IBM Watson, Sanbot is able to deliver effective, personalized communications and services. With its unique Robotics-as-a-Service model, Sanbot is capable of recognizing and communicating up to 30 different languages, making it ideal to be deployed almost anywhere in the world.

Sanbots demonstrations at IBM Forum 2017 served as a glimpse into a world where robots will change peoples lives, said Zhuang Yongjun, chief technology officer at QIHAN. Demonstrating Sanbot at the IBM Forum is the first in a long line of ways we can work together to bring AI and robotics to the forefront. We look forward to continued collaborations and opportunities that will showcase the power of AI.

For more information about Sanbot, please visit http://www.sanbot.com/.

About QIHAN Technology Co. Ltd

Founded in 2006, QIHAN Technology Co. Ltd. (QIHAN) is a global leading CCTV surveillance equipment and solutions provider headquartered in Shenzhen, China. Its proprietary solutions, Qihan, Sanbot, and Qihan Cloud, utilize next-generation robotics and artificial intelligent (AI) technologies to help improve the lives of its customers. Through its core business of surveillance cameras, QIHAN has built a substantial pool of over 200 intellectual properties in Machine Vision Recognition, Multi-axis Automatic Control, Big Data Analysis, and more.

Other POS news:
- Members of the Buhari Campaign Organisation (BCO) have begun strategising for the 2019 elections

- Their aim is to ensure President Muhammadu Buhari continues to pilot the affairs of the country up till 2023

- The group has started meeting to ensure their plans are perfected ahead of the 2019 polls

A report by Daily Trust indicates that members of the Buhari Campaign Organisation (BCO) have begun strategising for the 2019 elections.

Their aim is to ensure President Muhammadu Buhari continues to pilot the affairs of the country up till 2023, even as the group has started meeting to ensure their plans are perfected ahead of the 2019 polls.

Legit.ng gathered that members of the organisation met in Abuja on Wednesday, April 19 where strategies were mapped out on how to ensure the success of President Buhari.

President Buhari has not made any comment on the 2019 elections as at today

READ ALSO: Fayose slams President Buhari after suspension of SGF, NIA DG

Speaking in an interview during the meeting in Abuja, chairman of BCOs Board of Trustees (BoT), Alhaji Kabiru Dutsin-Ma, said they were rejuvenating BCO to ensure that the legacies of President Buhari endured.

His words: We are not only talking about 2019; Buhari is an institution and not an individual. We want his legacies to continue like that of Malam Aminu Kano, Sardauna of Sokoto and others. This is why we convened the meeting.

If Buhari declares his intention to contest, we are on ground for him but if he doesnt, we will support anybody sponsored by our party, the APC.

Also speaking, a member of the BCO from the South, Nnenna Lancaster-Okoro, said the administration of President Buhari had benefited the people of the South East geopolitical zone.

If we dont have organisations like BCO in APC, the party will be like PDP. Im from Abia North; PDP was there for 16 years but nothing was done but to God be the glory, many constructions are ongoing now courtesy of President Buhari, she said.

Nigerians will return to the polls to vote their leaders in 2019

READ ALSO: SGF giving Buhari's administration a bad name  Minister

Meanwhile, the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has said 8 years is not enough for President Buhari to solve Nigeria's challenges.

Oyegun made the comment in a recent interview where he canvassed for the president to seek re-election in 2019.

Source: Legit.ng
Bennie Shobe loved model airplanes as a boy.

I once asked my dad, could I have money to buy another model, Shobe said.

His father explained to the 10-year-old that his dad was the sole earner supporting a family of six living on a small acreage just outside of Bowling Green, Kentucky. Shobe would have to earn his own money to buy that model F-102 Delta Dagger from Gibsons Discount Center.

So I delivered newspapers on a little Stingray bicycle with a basket on the front, Shobe said. Thats when I realized everything I wanted in life cost money.

Since then, his work has ranged from warehouse grunt to grocery stocker to video editor to sociology professor to sandwich maker to program analyst.

The 57-year-old Democrat wants to be a voice for working people on the Lincoln City Council and is one of six candidates vying for three at-large seats in the May 2 election.

Im not sure if the voices of working families and working people, people like me, are always represented or included in the conversation, he said.

Everyone is equal, and everyone deserves an equal opportunity. I think about that a lot."

Shobe is African-American and the only minority council candidate. His parents attended segregated schools in Kentucky. He hopes voters will consider his qualifications, not the color of his skin.

In high school, Shobe was senior class treasurer and on the speech team, but had little time for other activities. At 16, he got a job at the Coca-Cola warehouse, and he grew up helping on his grandpas farm, which produced cattle, corn, hay and tobacco.

Tobacco grows like a tree. ... (At harvest) you whack it with a machete, then someone else skewers it on a stick, usually six stalks to a stick. Then you hang it in the barn and let it dry for about three months, he said.

He enrolled in Western Kentucky University in 1979 to study mass communications but dropped out before graduating. He bought a house and started chasing the American Dream. He got married and later divorced.

He had a union night job at a supermarket and spent days shooting video of meetings for the city of Bowling Green's municipal cable station, which he hoped would transition into a better job in broadcast news.

After a while, I realized there was not a lot of upward mobility without a degree," he said.

He returned to college after a decade hiatus and took a class on social inequality that changed his life. It gave him the social theories to explain issues of race and class he dealt with every day and how to influence change.

If we can address issues of social inequality, social class inequality, we can go a long way to fixing other ills of our society, he said.

Inspired, he went on to earn a masters degree in medical sociology, also from Western Kentucky University in 1997.

He moved to Nebraska in 1998 to pursue a doctorate degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which he still hopes to finish one day, and teach classes.

In 2007, he got a position through UNL with the state Department of Health and Human Services studying patterns of cardiovascular health.

And that didnt work out so well. I was in a little bit over my head and separated from that job in February 2008, he said.

He drew unemployment benefits for a time, then got an assembly-line job with electronics manufacturer Molex and another part-time job with Brown Baggers making sandwiches.

He also dived into volunteer work and served on numerous nonprofit and city boards.

In December 2008, he landed a job more in line with his talents at the Nebraska Department of Labor. He has advanced and currently works as a data analyst compiling information that influences legislation and is used to apply for federal grants.

He also is an adjunct professor with UNL's School of Criminology and Criminal Justice teaching research methods.
Inventory needs to be managed and managed well, or you are going to get in recurring trouble, and lose your credibility and hard-earned conversions, whether 

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By Stanley White TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's exports rose in March at the fastest pace in more than two years as increased shipments of car parts and steel signalled that expanding overseas demand could help boost the country's notoriously slow economic growth. Exports rose 12.0 percent in March from a year ago, more than the median estimate of 6.7 percent annual growth. The data also showed Japan's trade surplus with the United States narrowed, although this development is unlikely to wholly ease concerns about U.S. trade policy. Japan's exports are expected to continue rising as global economic growth gains momentum, but concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump's pledges to adopt more protectionist trade policies cloud the outlook for Japan's trade. "Exports look pretty good, and we expect this to contribute to growth this year," said Hidenobu Tokuda, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute. "One concern is Trump could start to take a tougher stance on trade with China, and by doing so he could also start to criticise Japan's exports more openly." In terms of volume, exports rose 6.6 percent in March from a year ago, a second consecutive month of gains in another sign that global demand is picking up. Exports to the United States rose 3.5 percent in March from a year ago due to higher shipments of car parts. That compares with a 0.4 percent annual increase in U.S.-bound exports in the previous month. Japan's trade surplus with the United States fell 8.1 percent in March from a year ago to 628.1 billion yen ($5.77 billion) on rising imports of liquefied natural gas and grains. Exports to China rose 16.4 percent in March from a year ago, following a 28.2 percent annual surge in exports in February after the Lunar New Year. Japan's exports to Asia rose 16.3 percent year-on-year in March after rising an annual 21.0 percent in the previous month. Japan's imports rose 15.8 percent in March from a year ago, the largest increase since March 2014, as higher oil prices pushed up the value of energy imports. The overall trade balance came to a surplus of 614.7 billion yen versus the median estimate for a 575.8 billion yen surplus. On Tuesday U.S. Vice President Mike Pence put Japan on notice that Washington wants results "in the near future" from talks it hopes will open Japan's markets to U.S. goods. Pence was speaking in Tokyo where he attended the first U.S.-Japan economic dialogue with Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso. The next meeting will be held in Washington before year's end, where the Trump administration could press for concessions on trade that could increase U.S. exports to Japan. (Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Eric Meijer)
A man detained as a suspected organiser of the Saint Petersburg metro bombing denied Tuesday that he helped mastermind the attack, but did admit indirect involvement in it. Russia's FSB security service on Monday said it detained Kyrgyzstan-born Abror Azimov in a suburb of Moscow over the deadly April 3 blast that killed 14 people in Russia's second city. The FSB alleged Azimov was "one of the organisers" of the attack and had "carried out training" of the suspected 22-year-old suicide bomber Akbarjon Djalilov, who was born in Central Asian Kyrgyzstan. At a court hearing Monday to formally arrest him, Azimov admitted indirect "involvement" in the attack but denied organising it. "I do not oppose being arrested. But I did not say that I was involved in the blast," Azimov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. "There was some involvement by me, but not direct. I was given an order. I did not understand that I was taking part in terrorist activity." Russian agencies quoted investigators in court as saying that Azimov had confessed to his role in preparing the attack during questioning. The court later ordered Azimov held in detention until June 3 as investigations continue. Alleged bomber Djalilov is suspected of triggering a homemade explosive device that tore through a metro carriage as it was passing through a tunnel between stations. Eight other men from ex-Soviet Central Asia have also been detained in Moscow and Saint Petersburg over the bombing. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack but investigators are probing possible ties to Islamic State jihadists, who have threatened to attack Russia in revenge for its intervention in Syria.
The global chemical arms watchdog Thursday "overwhelmingly" rejected a Russian-Iranian move to launch a new investigation into a suspected chemical attack in Syria, delegates said, backing the probe already underway. "The #OPCW executive council has overwhelmingly rejected the Russian and Iranian decision," the British delegation to the watchdog said in a Tweet. The draft decision put forward by Moscow and Tehran -- and obtained by AFP -- had called for a new investigation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) "to establish whether chemical weapons were used in Khan Sheikhun and how they were delivered to the site of the reported incident". But it ignored that the body, based in The Hague, is already investigating the April 4 attack on the rebel-held town in Idlib province which left 87 dead, including many children. The draft had also called for investigators to visit the Shayrat airbase -- bombed by the United States after the attack -- to "verify allegations concerning the storage of chemical weapons" there. But the Russian move had "attempted to undercut" the OPCW's existing fact-finding mission (FFM), the British delegation said in its tweet. "Needless to say - FFM investigation continues" and "the UK fully supports it," it added. The move came as OPCW head Ahmet Uzumcu said Wednesday that "incontrovertible" OPCW test results had shown sarin gas or a similar substance were used in the attack. Samples from three people killed in the attack and seven survivors analysed at four OPCW-designated laboratories "indicate exposure to sarin or a sarin-like substance," said Uzumcu. Western nations have accused the Syrian regime of carrying out the suspected air strike, but Moscow, the closest ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has sought to clear the regime of blame. - 'No proof' - "Syria has been accused without any proof of being responsible for using chemical weapons," Russian ambassador Alexander Shulgin told AFP. "Russia is being accused of covering up Syria's use of chemical weapons. These accusations are baseless and groundless." He also accused the OPCW of not being "pro-active enough". "Ten days after the incident they have not yet started with the real investigation. They have not been to the site." But the Russian-Iranian move for a new inquiry raised hackles at the OPCW executive council meeting this week. The fact-finding team "deserves our full confidence," the Belgian representative to the OPCW told the meeting on Wednesday. "We don't see the need to put in place a new structure." The draft decision had also sought to urge member states to "provide national experts for participation in the investigation." That would have enabled Moscow to deploy its own experts alongside the OPCW's independent teams in a bid "to discredit the results" so far, one source close to the discussions told AFP. In an unprecedented step, the OPCW's executive council in November condemned Syria's use of toxic weapons -- the council's first public condemnation of a member of the Chemical Weapons Convention. It came after a joint UN-OPCW investigation concluded in October that the Syrian air force had dropped chlorine barrel-bombs from helicopters on three opposition-held villages in 2014 and 2015. Islamic State jihadists were also found to have used mustard gas in August 2015 in Syria. Russia last week vetoed a UN draft resolution condemning the April 4 attack and demanding the Syrian government cooperate with an investigation, blocking Security Council action against its ally for an eighth time. After Moscow initially said a Syrian air strike had struck a "terrorist warehouse" containing "toxic substances," Russian President Vladimir Putin last week accused Assad's opponents of planning to stage chemical attacks to lure Washington deeper into the conflict.
A fresh surge of undocumented refugees have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan this month, a humanitarian group said Thursday, saying they felt "forced to leave" as Islamabad continues a crackdown. The Norwegian Refugee Council said it had registered an average of 1,000 people crossing the border daily in the first two weeks of April, which was a "sharp increase" from the first three months of the year. "We are concerned that without proper registration documents Afghan refugees are unprotected," Kate O'Rourke, head of the NRC in Afghanistan, said in a statement. "Families are telling us that without registration documents they felt forced to leave." Since 2016 hundreds of thousands of refugees have returned from Pakistan, where some had sheltered for decades, to Afghanistan amid accusations of coercion. They face an uncertain future in war-torn Afghanistan which is already struggling to support thousands of internally displaced people fleeing fighting. Those who were not registered in Pakistan do not have access to what little succour there is in Afghanistan, the NRC said. Approximately 380,000 registered and 225,000 unregistered refugees returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan last year, the vast majority between July and December, the NRC added. Human Rights Watch issued a scathing report in February that accused Pakistan of coercion, threats and abuse in the mass repatriation, and the United Nations of complicity. The report said a combination of insecure legal status, the threat of deportation during winter, and police abuses -- including extortion, arbitrary detention and night raids -- had left the Afghan refugees with no choice but to leave. It also accused the UN's refugee agency of effectively encouraging the exodus, and said the UNHCR should end the "fiction" that the returns are voluntary. The UN has previously rejected the criticism. This month Pakistan resumed repatriating documented refugees. Some Afghan refugees have been sheltering in Pakistan for decades, first fleeing over the border after the Soviet invasion of 1979. UNHCR and Pakistani officials have said some 1.34 million registered refugees remain in the country. A further half a million undocumented refugees are also estimated to be there, making Pakistan one of the world's largest refugee-hosting nations.
The City of Lincoln's Farmers' Market in the Haymarket is expanding again this year, staging vendors along Canopy Street, from P Street north to Q Street. The Market will open during 2017 every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon, beginning May 6 and continuing through Oct. 14.

The Haymarket lives up to its name each Saturday morning as farm fresh produce, flowers, baked goods, and handmade items from over 100 vendors are sold on the streets and sidewalks. The Haymarket Farmers Market serves as one of Lincolns main social and culinary event. It is a place where people gather to shop, meet with friends, and exchange ideas and recipes and to plan the perfect feast. Farmers Market is ever changing in its effort to present an enormous array of fresh locally grown produce and farm produced products. The Market displays glorious flowers, delicious bakery items and Nebraska arts and crafts. You will find baskets and tables overflowing with wonderful products that you can only find on Saturday mornings in this historic district.
A running club on Wednesday admitted leaving a trail of flour in a Singapore metro station which prompted a security scare and a three-hour shutdown of the station. In a statement the Seletar Hash House Harriers, an all-male group that describes itself as a "drinking group with a running problem", apologised for the "alarm and inconvenience" caused to the public. Three members had sprinkled flour at several points in the underground Woodleigh MRT station, the statement said, adding that it was the safest way to cross a busy road in the suburban Serangoon district. But the sight of white powder sparked security fears, which saw police and hazardous materials units respond. The station was shut for three hours while officers in protective suits searched the station before it was determined that the white substance was flour. "Upon learning of the subsequent investigations at Woodleigh station, our three members stepped forward immediately to identify themselves and have cooperated fully with the authorities," the statement added. "They are sorry that their actions caused public alarm and inconvenience." One of the group's members, a 69-year-old man, was arrested for causing public alarm while two others, aged 59 and 70, are helping police with investigations. The Seletar Harriers is a chapter of a loose worldwide federation of "Hash House Harriers", a running group set up by beer-loving British colonial expatriates in what was then Malaya in 1938. "Hares" are given the task of marking a trail to direct runners, usually using flour or chalk.
Ugandan motorbike taxi driver Sadiq Agotre grumbles as he waits for a rare client among thousands of South Sudanese refugees hoping to receive food rations in the outskirts of his town. "Business is not good. These people don't have money," he says, gazing out over a vast area that in only eight months has transformed from scrubland and trees to the world's biggest refugee settlement, Bidibidi, which houses more than 270,000 people. Uganda has been praised for its warm welcome of refugees, but as civil war in neighbouring South Sudan continues to push more than 2,000 people a day into the country, local communities and aid agencies are buckling under the strain. Many residents of Yumbe district -- population around 500,000 -- are frustrated that the massive aid effort in their backyard has not translated into more jobs but instead has spread already scarce resources even thinner. "This (the refugee crisis) has changed the town so much. It has caused a lot of stress, stress for jobs. The food prices have gone up and up. It's bad for our environment because they cut down the trees," said Nachal Dovelay, a shopkeeper in Yumbe town. Bidibidi opened in August last year to cope with a flood of people fleeing fighting when a peace deal between South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and his rival and former deputy Riek Machar collapsed, plunging the country back into a civil war that erupted in 2013. In a matter of months it has overtaken Kenya's Dadaab -- hosting mainly Somali refugees -- as the world's biggest refugee camp. But the 250-square-kilometre (97-square-mile) settlement is only the tip of the iceberg. A total of 830,000 South Sudanese refugees have entered the country and the UN expects this figure will reach more than a million by mid-year. The number of refugees in the East African nation -- one of the world's poorest countries and the size of the United Kingdom -- is comparable to the number of mostly Syrian refugees who fled to Europe at the height of the migrant crisis in 2015. "This emergency is like a tsunami, you know, very high speed," said Robert Baryamwesiga, the Ugandan government official in change of running Bidibidi. - Food rations stretched, delayed - On a recent afternoon a fierce dust-devil tore through a crowd waiting for food rations, sending people reeling and knocking supplies to the ground. When calm returned, a girl aged about seven carefully raked up her family's fallen maize kernels and scooped them back into a sack. Every scrap of food is precious. Refugees who arrived in Uganda before mid-2015 have already had their rations cut by half. This month food distribution was two weeks late. "We are hungry. The food is for one month but it lasts less than that and now it's 15 days late. This is really challenging," said David Kepo, 41, a traditional chief who fled fighting in his community three months ago. Cheryl Harrison, the World Food Programme's (WFP's) deputy head in Uganda, admits that the logistics involved in delivering 15,000 tonnes of food per month are daunting. "We try to ensure that everyone knows that we're going to be late. If people have warning they're able to cope. They reduce the amount of food they eat and try to make their resources stretch." Before the renewed fighting, WFP spent $6 million (5.6 million euros) per month on food aid for refugees in Uganda. That figure has now soared to more than $16 million. The agency is $50 million short for the next six months. Last month UN refugee chief, Filippo Grandi, described the situation as at "breaking point". - Anger growing in host community - Getting water to the refugees in the arid area is another headache, with more than four million litres required a day. Boreholes have been drilled but the vast majority of the water is trucked in from the River Nile at great expense. The use of natural resources has lead to tensions with the host community. In a desperate move local residents recently blocked access to one borehole for several hours, saying that they were not benefiting from the influx of refugees. "The issue of the use of natural resources -- building materials, wood, fuel -- that one has been a disaster. With 272,000 people the effect is great and unemployment here is very high," said local government official Jacob Batemyetto. In February about 100 people, unhappy that nine local staff had been fired for misappropriating aid, held a protest, holding up signs threatening to attack the settlement, according to NGO staff. And last month the chief government official in Imvepi -- a newly opened nearby settlement -- was taken hostage by a group of machete-wielding youths and marched around the area to see the poor living conditions local people are forced to tolerate before being released. - A very fragile situation - Uganda has long been praised for having one of the world's most progressive refugee policies. The government allows refugees to work and move around the country while communities in the north have donated land for settlements. Refugees receive a plot of land to build a shelter and it was planned that land would be allocated for people to farm but in Bidibidi that has yet to happen. "We can't feed ourselves because they have yet to set up any agriculture programme and there's no land," said Wila James, 40, a former agricultural officer who fled to Uganda last year. Bidibidi settlement chief Baryamwesiga highlighted the dangers of a growing population unable to produce their own food. "They will automatically go and steal and stealing will create violence so you'll find that the coexistence that we're enjoying between refugees and the host community will collapse. "It's a very, very fragile situation."
By Alexandra Ulmer and Anggy Polanco CARACAS/SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's security forces are finding that low salaries, fear of violent clashes, and opposition to President Nicolas Maduro are hurting their recruiting and retention efforts, sources in or close to the armed forces and police told Reuters. Maduro, a leftist who is facing the fiercest protests against him in three years, has promised to boost the armed forces, police, and civilian defense groups to guard against what he says is an attempt to overthrow "21st century Socialism." To help meet the needs, Venezuela's National Guard, a branch of the armed forces and the main group in charge of maintaining public order during demonstrations, has reduced training time, increased service time, and waived certain hiring requirements, the sources said. Police, meanwhile, are struggling with resignations and lack of equipment, they added. The difficulties highlight a risk for Maduro amid a surge of street demonstrations in recent weeks and a devastating economic crisis that has wiped out salaries and left many Venezuelans struggling to eat properly - including low-level soldiers and their relatives. To be sure, there is no outward sign of dissent in the armed forces, which frequently pledge their loyalty to Maduro. Maduro's predecessor, the late leader Hugo Chavez, an army lieutenant colonel, turned the military into a bastion of "Chavismo" after a short-lived coup against him in 2002. The military brass stands to lose should the opposition, which accuses top officers of trafficking drugs and engaging in corrupt business deals with the government, come to power. Authorities deny systemic wrongdoing and say they are cracking down on a few bad eggs. But behind the impassive faces of ordinary National Guards troops blocking protesters who chant "No to dictatorship!" during rowdy marches, similar anger sometime lurks. "As soon as I finish my 15 years of service next year, I'm out," said a National Guard serviceman, asking to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to speak to media, complaining of a lack of professionalism and salaries that amount to a few dozen dollars a month on the black market. Given a lack of public information about the armed forces, which number about 140,000, it is not possible to get a sense of the extent of the discontent or statistics for resignations or hires. The Information and Defense Ministries did not respond to requests for comment, although in the past authorities have described criticism of the armed forces as smear attempts. 'QUANTITY NOT QUALITY' Amid Venezuela's deepening crisis, green uniformed-National Guard troops have also been sent to control food lines at supermarkets, man checkpoints, and guard against theft in hospitals and isolated oil fields. Maduro said in January he wanted to train 10,000 more police officers and 10,000 more members of the National Guard by July, citing the need to combat crime in violent Venezuela. On Monday he also said he wanted to boost the militia - similar to civilian reserves - to 500,000 this year and arm them all with rifles to held fend off what he says is a U.S.-backed opposition attempt to foment a coup. "A rifle for each militia man, a rifle for each militia woman!" said Maduro, sporting a green military hat as he addressed the armed forces. "The big aim... is to organize and form one million militia men and woman, trained and armed to defend the peace, sovereignty and independence of our fatherland," he said, pointing to a deepening militarization in a country of around 30 million inhabitants. Washington has expressed concern over the situation in Venezuela. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday the United States is worried Maduro is silencing the opposition. Training times for National Guard service members dropped from around a year and a half to just six months two years ago after the last wave of major protests, according to three National Guard members, military analyst Rocio San Miguel, and a former general who has turned against the government. The National Guard has also responded to lack of applicants by extending enrollment periods and ignoring certain hiring stipulations, for example that new recruits cannot have tattoos. "The aim is quantity, not quality," Cliver Alcala, the former "Chavista" general who is now an outspoken critic of Maduro. "And shorter training is proportional to the number of resignations. Problems are deepening." A decade ago, many poor, rural young men saw joining the National Guard or becoming a police officer as a good career path that led to solid salaries and benefits. Now, some sell clothes, shoes, or import goods from neighboring Colombia to help make ends meet, one high-ranking National Guard officer said. The country's various police forces are also struggling with resignations, according to five internal sources, as officers are exposed to Venezuela's violent streets and often lack adequate protective gear. Of a police force that numbered around 5,000 officers until a few years ago in the northwestern state of Falcon, for instance, around 2,000 have resigned, most of them last year, a source in the police told Reuters. Some of the officers have to buy their own bullets as these are no longer supplied, the source added. The Falcon state government did not respond to a request for comment. (Additional reporting by Mircely Guanipa in Punto Fijo; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Frances Kerry)
Some previously blocked pages have been restored but many remain unavailable.

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Facebook blocked the official site of Marian Kotleba, chair of the far-right Peoples Party  Our Slovakia (LSNS), which had nearly 80,000 fans. It was the second biggest pro-Kotleba fanpage on the social network, after the official site of the party, the Dennik N daily reported.

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It was not the first site related to the extremists that has been blocked recently. Some of them, however, have been restored. This includes the profile of blogger Mario Vidak with some 15,000 fans and a site entitled I vote for Kotleba, I vote rightly with 45,000 fans.

On the other hand, the profile of LSNS MP Milan Mazurek and the main page of the LSNS remains blocked. Also the profile of LSNS deputy chair, MP and potential candidate for the seat of Nitras regional governor, Milan Uhrik, with about 14,000 fans, remains unavailable, Dennik N wrote.

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The daily mapped the network of more than 140 sites supporting the LSNS in February 2017. Seven of them were unavailable by the end of the month, probably because they were cancelled by their administrators or merged with other sites.

The mass reporting of pages supporting LSNS started after Facebook had blocked the prank site entitled Zomri (Die). Currently, more than three dozen pages that were spreading propaganda in Kotlebas favour are blocked, Dennik N wrote.
Slovak, Polish and US national parks have signed an agreement of cooperation for five more years.

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The national parks of the Slovak and Polish Tatras (TANAP and TPN, respectively) will cooperate with the American Rocky Mountain National Park for five more years, as the directors of the three parks inked an agreement in this regard in the Polish city of Zakopane on April 19.

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The first agreement to this effect was signed in 2007. The basis for cooperation was prepared by my predecessor, TANAP director Pavol Majko said, as quoted by the TASR newswire.

When I took office I took over the fully prepared documents and the contract was signed, he explained, noting that he has never been to the Rocky Mountains. He also said he had heard that the national park in Colorado is similar to the Slovak park, but larger.

They have a similar number of annual visitors to us but they envy our biodiversity, Majko noted. Large carnivores were killed off in the past, so they have a problem with an overpopulation of deer there.

The agreement between the American national park and the two European parks focuses on the exchange of information in terms of management, protection and maintenance of the parks. I believe that the exchange of experience is useful for all of the sister parks equally, as each is unique in some way and has something to offer to the other two, said Majko, as cited by TASR. TPN head Szymon Ziobrowski added that cooperation between the Slovak and Polish national parks functions on a daily basis. The largest project that we've taken over from the Americans is the volunteer programme, said the Polish director. More than 2,700 volunteers are present in the Rocky Mountain park, while volunteers in the Slovak and Polish parks are scarce.

TANAP is the oldest national park in Slovakia founded in 1949. It occupies an area of over 73,000 hectares with a protection zone of over 30,700 hectares.

TPN in Poland was established in 1954 and occupies an area of more than 211 square kilometres.

The Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado is among the largest national parks in the USA. The park's natural environment includes some 150 mountain lakes, glaciers and more than 720 kilometres of rivers and springs flowing through deep canyons.
The new feature uses neural networks to make better translations between Slovak and English.

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Google translations of Slovak and English will be more accurate from April 19 and also closer to the natural, spoken language, the Sme daily wrote on the same day.

The Google company launched an improvement to the Translate application, of its internet version, the Google browser, and with time, the function will also be included in the automatic translation in the Chrome browser. Users are expected to notice the change gradually.

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Huge change

Slovak-English is one of the 16 new language couples which will be translated by Google Translate through so-called neural networks. This is a technology, based on artificial intelligence by which the machine can 'learn'.

Neural networks can better understand the translated text, as they translate sentences as a whole and not as individual phrases. Subsequently, the improvement takes place especially with longer sentences and the developers promise that this method will remove 55 to 85 percent of mistakes in a translation.

"About one half of the internet content is in English but a mere 20 percent of the global population can work with English," product manager of Google Translate, Barak Turovsky, explained for Sme.Neural networks represent huge progress in the quality of translations. By launching them, we have improved more recently than in the past ten years taken together.

When Google launched Translate ten years ago, it worked on the system of phrasal translations (PBMT) which splits a sentence into words and phrases and translates them individually. Later, this changed into a statistical system which compares the input data according to previously given grammar patterns.The translating function used, for example, data from official translations of the same documents into several languages.

GNMT is a revolution

The new generation of machine translations, the GNMT  Google Neural Machine Translation  which is now launched for Slovak, relies on an enormous number of data and their relations. However, the key role in the new system is played by neural networks, i.e. the computer programmes compiled from thousands to millions of artificial brain cells which enable them to learn in a similar way to a human brain. The neural networks do not learn individual langauges seperately but rather elaborate several languages at one time, preferably of a similar group (e.g. Romanic). The neural networks in the Google Translate function similarly.

Still, machine translation has not achieved perfection yet and according to the expert developers of Google, "GNMT can still make fundamental mistakes that a human translator never would: it can omit words, wrongly translate proper names or non-traditional terms, or even translate isolated sentences instead of considering the context of a paragraph or a page.
The festival of contemporary dance has not just moved in time but also from the stage to the streets, encouraging public participation.

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Between April 22 and 29 i.e. six months earlier compared to its usual date, the 12th year of the Nu Dance international festival will bring 12 performances with more than 30 artists from nine European countries and the USA. Also, workshops will take place and the movie Mr. Gaga, by Israeli choreographer, Ohad Naharin, will be screened.

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We put together the programme with the intention to present new works from the Slovak dance scene which we have complemented with foreign artists, head of the festival, Petra Fornayova, told the TASR newswire. These are not mainstream dance perfomances meant to address the wider public. Rather, we try to attract new audiences to performances which seem more difficult at first sight.

The ceremonial opening will begin with an Homage, a 2M performance hailing two Slovak artists who died recently, Milan Adamciak and Michal Moravcik, the SITA newswire wrote. Adamciak based his lifelong work on the intersection of science, music, poetry and visual art, while Moravcik focused on topical political and social issues in his visual art. The graphic partiture Diamondance dedictaed to Adamciak will be staged on April 22 as a game open also to the wider public, in cooperation with the Good Market / Dobry Trh on Jakubovo Square in Bratislava.

Diamondance / Homage a 2M (Source: Veronica Manga)

After each of the festival performances, visitors will be able to discuss them with the artists and the organisers.

The festival will culminate on International Dance Day, April 29, with the evening performance, Let Me Die in My Footsteps, of Brazilian choreographer, Renan Martins, and the participative performance, Conflict of Dana Caspersen, former soloist of the Forsythe Company. Viewers in the Klarisky / Clarissen Church will be able to join in the Conflict.

In it, simple movements, walk and speech are used, Linda Fintorova of the Goethe Institute in Bratislava, which participates in organising this event, explained, as cited by TASR. The issue of the performance is how an individual can intervene against violence in the world.
Slovak soldiers are participating in the international military drill in Latvia with almost 1,700 soldiers in total.

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Slovaks operating in the Stefanik military group in Latvia are currently taking part in the 2017 Summer Shield multinational military training exercise, Defence Ministry spokesperson Danka Capakova told the TASR newswire on April 19.

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The tactical military event, which falls under NATO exercises, is taking place at the Adazi training area between April 17 and 30, with participating soldiers from Latvia, USA, Canada, Lithuania, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Luxembourg, Romania, Bulgaria and Sweden.

This years training event focuses on practising the reconnaissance, anti-tank and artillery capabilities of the units. Meanwhile, the presence of allied troops in the Baltic region is attracting public attention. As a result, Latvia as a host country has prepared an open-house day at the Adazi military base, so that the public can see the machinery used in Latvia.

A total of 149 Slovak soldiers are currently present in Latvia, forming part of the countrys commitment vis-a-vis the decision taken at the NATO summit in Warsaw in 2016.
Strong winds, snow, and accidents have left the highway still closed.

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An early morning between Poprad and Spissky Stvrtok left 24 people injured in a crash involving 30 to 40 cars and leaving the road blocked. Shortly after noon of April 20, drivers were still advised to avoid this section.

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The accident took place around 6:00, Zuzana Farkasova of the Presidium of the Firefighting and Rescue Corps (HaZZ), informed the TASR newswire. Of the 24 injured who were hospitalised in Poprad, Kezmarok, Levoca and Spisska Nova Ves, two were in serious condition, spokesperson of the Operational Centre of the Slovak Rescue Medical Service Boris Chmel said, adding that seven ambulances with crews were deployed to the accident site.

This highway section was impassable in both directions for quite a while, and two dozen fire-fighters from cities and towns in the whole northern Slovakia had to intervene.

Another cause of the closing of the highway is the bad weather and snowstorm.

video //www.youtube.com/embed/GL9wpxFGSmk

Another accident, though smaller, took place also on a parallel road between Janovce (in the Poprad District) a Spissky Stvrtok, to which the traffic from the highway had been re-routed. The roads in three districts in eastern Slovakia Poprad, Levoca and Kezmarok  were pronounced as a first-grade calamity site at 8:00.

As of 12:30, the highway was still not passable, as strong wind, snow and generally bad weather complicated opening the road.
If politicians care about the future of the country, they need to offer young protesters with specific demands more than the just same old vague assurances.

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Thousands of people flooded Bratislavas SNP Square and adjacent streets the day after Easter Monday to support a protest march organised by students through Facebook. Police estimates that 5,000 had turned out were later updated to 10,000 protesters, a very high number by Slovak protesting standards.

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This is not the first anti-corruption protest that Slovakia has seen since the current government emerged. Last summer was marked with regular protests in front of the Bonaparte development, the home of Prime Minister Robert Fico. It was built by Ladislav Basternak, a businessman with ties to Smer who is facing allegations of VAT fraud.

But this was the first protest that has come and gone without leaving the rancid odour of party politics. And that is one of the main reasons that it gained momentum and why various groups and strata in society are calling for it to continue.

A student-organised protest is something that will strike a chord for many Slovaks. Indeed, the pictures of young people leading protests recalled memories among many middle-aged Slovaks who were students during the 1989 Velvet Revolution, or from 1998, when students protested against the rule of Vladimir Meciar and everything it stood for.

But the reactions of politicians to the protest suggest how much they underestimate young people and their idealism.

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Nobody should drag children into big politics, because they have always ended up paying for it, SNS MP Anton Hrnko said in reaction to the protest for the Sme daily.

Smer MP Dusan Jarjabek admitted on the day of the protest that he had studied these things on the internet this morning  but apparently refused to accept what he saw, dismissing opposition politicians statements distancing themselves from the event as insincere.

Regardless of the conspiracy theories (there were only hundreds of people, paid 20 or 30 each, possibly from the money of George Soros) or the insinuations of ruling party politicians, it is safe to say that the gathering maintained its non-political character. This sets it apart from Bonaparte protests last summer, or the Gorilla protests before the 2012 election.

Even Fico acknowledged this, in a statement of cautious approval: It is good when young people take an interest in what happens in the country and they are ready to help it with concrete actions.

He then addressed all citizens to assure them his government regards corruption as a serious problem, and went on to list changes to laws and public procurement rules, and cooperation with international organisations. Does the prime minister really believe this is the answer that students and their fellow protesters were seeking?

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Read also: About 5,000 marched against corruption Read more

They had called for proper investigation of specific corruption allegations, and prosecution of those involved in committing corruption or covering it up. They are unlikely to accept the same old bland cliches recycled by politicians.

The prime minister has taken some anti-corruption steps and I would be glad if it helped, but we simply do not believe him, one of the two main organisers, David Straka, told the Sme daily ahead of the protest.

The prime ministers ambiguous response, which failed to acknowledge that he was named on many protest banners as a source of corruption, will do nothing to address this lack of faith.

Students like Straka say they do not want to have to leave this country in search of a better life. But the evidence suggests that is exactly what the best graduates are doing: as many as a quarter of them, according to a recent survey at Slovakias 18 universities.

This protest movement, started by teenagers, might not bring about change on the scale of 1989 or even 1998. But no politician who values the future of Slovakia should ignore it.
The new (as of February 22nd) president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has a lot of popular support, especially in the security forces and is making the most of that by appointing a new head of the military and declaring support for more vigorous action against al Shabaab. The new president has been fighting corruption for years and made progress in reducing the incidence of corrupt officials (often senior officers) stealing payroll and other money meant for the soldiers and police. The new president also called on al Shabaab to make peace, but that was promptly rejected by the al Shabaab leaders. The new president formed a new government in record time and al Shabaab responded with defiant threats of more violence. That may be because this sort of religion inspired terrorism is quite common in Somalia and has appeared no matter what the local political situation. Each outbreak fades away after a while and then returns in a generation or two.

Piracy

The Somali pirates are still active, but not very successful. In the last month there were three attacks on smaller ships (coastal freighters and fishing trawlers) and these were closer to Yemen than Somalia. Two of these attacks failed but the pirates did manage to get away with an Indian trawler and its eleven crew. Somali security forces later found and freed the trawler but only two of the crew were rescued.

There are still occasional attempts to take large commercial ships. The last example was in October 2016 when, for the first time since mid-2013, pirates attempted to take a large ship. Some 600 kilometers off the Somali coast a 51,000 ton (DWT) British chemical tanker was attacked by a speedboat containing armed men. The armed guard on the tanker fired on the speedboat as it approached the tanker and the men in the speedboat fired back. The tanker increased speed, changed course and got away. These large ships still carry armed guards and crews who know how to deal with Somali pirates.

There were problems with pirates in the north for a while, but these seagoing brigands were mainly preying on foreigners and the foreigners with navies responded. The pirates were largely out of business in 2012, the last year they captured a large ship that could yield a multi-million dollar ransom. The few pirates still in business now try to grab the smaller foreign fishing ships. Even that became more difficult because the international anti-piracy patrol was still off the coast and during the first six months of 2016 pirate activity off the Somali coast reached its lowest levels since 1995. Since then much of the foreign anti-piracy patrol has been disbanded but the large foreign ships stay away from the coast and keep their armed guards. Smaller coastal freighters and fishing trawlers are warned to proceed at their own risk.

Paranoia

Since late last year over a dozen Kenyan al Shabaab members have been accused of spying on al Shabaab and executed for it. As a result many more Kenyan members of al Shabaab have deserted and returned to Kenya. Some were arrested and interrogated while others spoke freely with family and friends about their experience. They all confirmed the paranoia the Islamic terror group was struggling with. Al Shabaab continues to suffer from problems with their secret locations being found out and attacked. Most of these situations are the result of better intelligence work and more civilians willing to pass on information about al Shabaab movements. Cell phones make that a lot easier. Because of the arrival of cell phone networks after 2000 al Shabaab has a hard time hiding their presence even in the most remote areas and does not like to admit that local civilians are the source of these tips.

The cell phone is itself a key player in the two decades of civil war in Somalia. By 2000 clan militias and warlords had created enough stability to enable growth in commercial activity. For example, by 2004 three cell phone companies competed to provide service ($10 a month for free local calls, 50 cents a minute for international calls and 50 cents an hour to get on the Internet.) Each new cell phone transmitter installed required that the local clan chief or warlord get a payment. Everyone recognizes the value of the new phone service, after having gone without for years after the old government run phone company was looted and destroyed. As a result, phone company equipment really is protected by the clans and warlords, who do not want to lose their dial tone. The new phone service is cheaper and more reliable than the old government owned landline phone network. This is because there is competition, no government bureaucracy and no taxes (other than the necessary bribes and security payments). There is some fear that if a new government gets established well enough regulations and taxes will greatly increase the cost of service, and reduce reliability. Not yet and for years all of Somalia had better, and cheaper, phone service than any of the other nations in the region. But thats another story. Even al Shabaab had to respect the cell phone network, even though they tried to shut down cell towers some of the time to avoid detection. Al Shabaab lost that battle. Cell phone service became one of the things nearly all Somalis would fight for.

April 19, 2017: In Mogadishu a roadside bomb hit an aid convoy from the UAE (United Arab Emirates) that was moving food to drought hit areas. There were no casualties and the convoy proceeded to its destination. UAE aid efforts have been increasingly active in Somalia since 2015. This is part of a more active and determined attitude towards aid to Moslem nations suffering from violence and natural disasters. As recently as 2014 the UAE regularly warned its citizens to stay away from Somalia (as well as Afghanistan, South Sudan and many other areas) due to security concerns. Yes the UAE has centuries of commercial relationships with the coastal cities of East Africa. But Somalia is a special case since it has never been a united country, just a few coastal towns and cities to trade with and has resisted unification. Like Turkey, the UAE saw an unfilled need for more Moslem-to-Moslem charity especially this time of year, as Ramadan approaches and Somali is the neediest area in northeast Africa.

April 16, 2017: In Mogadishu police attacked several al Shabaab men who were firing a mortar at the airport. Two of the Islamic terrorists were killed and then an automobile they had with them exploded, which enabled some of the al Shabaab to escape.

April 15, 2017: South of Baidoa (250 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu) warplanes made several attacks on a major concentration of al Shabaab fighters, killing over a hundred of them. The attacks on the al Shabaab camp outside the town of El Adde began at 2 AM and went on until daylight. At first many Somalis thought the aircraft were American but the U.S. quickly denied that and said the last American airstrike in Somalia was in January. The Kenyans are suspected as Kenyan peacekeepers suffered heavy losses in this area during a January 2016 al Shabaab attack. But Kenya didnt take credit for the bombing.

In the Gulf of Aden a Chinese warship freed a small freighter that had been captured by Somali pirates. In addition to rescuing the crew the Chinese boarding party also captured several Somali pirates.

April 14, 2017: The U.S. is sending about 40 soldiers to help train the Somali Army. These American troops will join a group of over a hundred EU (European Union) troops who have been training Somalis since 2014. This is in preparation of the departure of 22,000 AU (African Union) peacekeepers by 2020.

April 10, 2017: In Mogadishu an al Shabaab suicide bomber attacked an army camp killing nine soldiers and wounded even more. Elsewhere in the city a government official died when a bomb hidden under his car went off.

April 9, 2017: Shortly after the new head of the military was sworn in an al Shabaab suicide car bomber attacked the convoy general Mohamed Ahmed Jimale was part of in an attempt to kill him. That failed but the bomb killed five soldiers as well as eight civilians in a nearby bus.

April 8, 2017: In the south (Jubaland) Kenyan and Somali troops attacked a group of al Shabaab preparing to attack a military base and killed three of the Islamic terrorists, including Bashe Nure Hassan, known to be the head of Al Shabaab logistics and surveillance for southern Somalia.

April 7, 2017: In Mogadishu two mortar shells fired towards the airport landed in a residential area and killed three civilians. Al Shabaab was believed responsible, they usually are.

April 6, 2017: The newly installed president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed declared Somalia a war zone and replaced the heads of the military and intelligence.

In the southeast (Lower Shabelle region) a minibus hit a landmine and that killed 17 and wounded six civilians.

April 5, 2017: In Mogadishu an al Shabaab bomb attack on a restaurant left seven dead and ten wounded.

April 4, 2017: In the north (Galmudug, an autonomous region of Somalia just south of Puntland) al Shabaab gunmen seized the town of El Bur after Ethiopian peacekeepers left (after three years of guarding the place.) Many Ethiopian peacekeepers are being recalled to help with security problems in Ethiopia. There are not always enough peacekeepers to replace them. In Galmudug local clan militias will often be organized to deal with situations like this and these clan gunmen have fought and defeated al Shabaab before.

March 28, 2017: In the north (Puntland) one soldier was killed and one wounded when their vehicle was attacked by some ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) gunmen using a bomb and rifle fire. The other troops returned fire and the ISIL men fled. The ISIL members up there are largely former al Shabaab men who wanted more violence or whatever.

March 27, 2017: In the south (Jubaland) Kenyan peacekeepers attacked two al Shabaab bases, killed 31 of the Islamic terrorists and destroyed large quantities of weapons and equipment. The Kenyans used armed helicopters and artillery during the operation.

March 23, 2017: In the south (the port town of Barawe) an al Shabaab attack was defeated after a long gun battle. Three of the Islamic terrorists died as did four soldiers and three civilians. Many more people were sounded.
STEM

NASA and Texas Instruments Launch STEM-Related Virtual Scavenger Hunt

NASA and Texas Instruments (TI) today launched The Search for STEMnauts, a virtual scavenger hunt designed to ignite students interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Each week for the next six weeks, students in sixth through 12th grade will be challenged to solve space-related puzzles for a chance to unlock virtual reward points. The student team with the most points at the end of the challenge will win a prize package that includes TIs new, limited-edition Galaxy Gray graphing calculator, a $500 Amazon gift card, a NASA swag bag and a live video chat with an astronaut.

The weekly challenges will range in difficulty from beginner to advanced and introduce students to the coding and problem-solving skills NASA employees, including astronauts, use in their jobs every day. From cracking a code using TIs basic programming language to calculating the travel time between Earth and Mars, students will put their STEM skills to the test.

The future of space exploration lies in the hands of students in today's classrooms, said Peggy Whitson, a NASA astronaut who has been to outer space three times and is currently living and working on the International Space Station, in a statement. By creating opportunities to encourage teamwork, creativity and problem-solving, we can make learning fun and set students on a course to become the next generation of explorers.

Students who accept the mission will automatically be entered to win TIs new Galaxy Gray TI-84 Plus CE. Students will also be invited along on weekly virtual field trips, featuring exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to NASAs headquarters. Student teams can check out where they stand in relation to their classmates and other competing teams from around the country by following real-time updates to the Search for STEMnauts leaderboard on the contest website, STEMnauts.com.

We've added a high-tech, interactive twist to the traditional scavenger hunt that will appeal to all students, said Peter Balyta, president of Texas Instruments Education Technology, in a statement. By making a game out of learning important skills, like coding and problem-solving, we hope to foster a life-long love of STEM and open students up to a variety of exciting career opportunities.

To view the official contest rules and to accept the mission, visit stemNAUTS.com.
* Bill Gates, UK, Belgium commit funds to tackle tropical diseases

* Diseases of the poor disfigure, disable and sometimes kill

* World Bank's Jim Kim calls them "diseases of neglected people"

* Jimmy Carter says "we are close to wiping out" Guinea worm (Recasts with Gates, Carter (Stuttgart: 1504916.SG - news) quotes, pledges from WHO meeting)

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA, April 19 (Reuters) - The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Western countries and drug companies pledged fresh support on Wednesday to wipe out diseases that blind, disable and disfigure millions of poor in tropical areas each year and urged new donors to join the fight.

Some 1.5 billion people, mainly in Asia, Africa and Latin America, are infected with one of 18 neglected tropical diseases known as NTDs, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said. One billion of them are receiving treatment, half of them children.

"The best thing with these diseases is not to debate whether they are neglected or not, but to proceed to make them history," Bill Gates told a global partners' meeting held at WHO.

"We need a broader, deeper bench of investors... so that by 2030 we can achieve the goal of reaching 90 percent of the people who need treatment. I know this is achievable."

Gates, who has supported the initiative for over a decade with $1 billion, pledged $335 million over the next 4 years, including $42 million to continue efforts to wipe out Guinea-worm disease.

The crippling disease, transmitted by contaminated water, can lead to a 100 cm long (40-inch) worm growing in the body.

"Guinea worm is one of our great success stories, even though we're not absolutely at zero, we are down to very small numbers. Thirty years ago over 3 million people in over 20 countries were afflicted," Gates said.

Only 25 cases of Guinea-worm disease were reported in six countries last year, "putting eradication within reach", the WHO says.

The Carter Center, set up by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, has worked for more than 20 years to wipe it out.

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"We are close to finishing off this debilitating disease," Carter said, speaking by video from Atlanta (BSE: ATLANTA.BO - news) , Georgia.

"We cannot be complacent, we must be creative and persistent. The Carter Center will not give up until the last Guinea worm is gone."

Dengue, onchocerciasis (river blindness), and sleeping sickness are among those carried by mosquitoes or flies that are spreading from rural areas to urban slums, the WHO warned.

"NTDs are really the diseases of neglected people, they are diseases of poverty and inequality that affect the most vulnerable among us," World Bank President Jim Kim said by video.

"Now (Frankfurt: 11N.F - news) we have the largest drug donation programme in history with 1.5 billion treatments in 2015 alone," he said.

GlaxoSmithKline (Other OTC: GLAXF - news) , Novartis (IOB: 0QLR.IL - news) and Sanofi (LSE: 0O59.L - news) are among major donors, WHO says. Merck (LSE: 0O14.L - news) said on Tuesday it was developing a children's formula of its drug to treat schistosomiasis, a parasitic worm disease which kills 280,000 a year in Africa.

Britain's Minister of State for International Development, Lord Bates, said the UK government was committing an additional 250 million pounds ($321.35 million) to NTD programmes.

Belgium's deputy prime minister Alexander de Croo pledged 25 million euros ($26.81 million) through 2025 to eradicate African sleeping sickness.

"Today the stars are aligned to eradicate it completely," de Croo told the talks. "The pay-off is huge".

($1 = 0.7780 pounds)

($1 = 0.9326 euros) (Editing by Gareth Jones and Pritha Sarkar)
mahmoud ahmadinejad iran nuclear program GettyImages 73849884

Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  Iranian state TV said Thursday that the body charged with vetting candidates has disqualified former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from running in next month's presidential election.

It carried an Interior Ministry statement saying that President Hassan Rouhani has been approved to run for re-election, along with hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi, who is considered close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ahmadinejad, who remains a deeply polarizing figure even among Iranian hard-liners, had shocked the country by registering last week. Khamenei had previously urged him not to run.

Ahmadinejad was president from 2005 to 2013, and was best known abroad for his incendiary rhetoric toward Israel, his questioning of the scale of the Holocaust and his efforts to ramp up Iran's nuclear program.

The Guardian Council, a cleric-dominated body that vets candidates, said it had compiled a final list of candidates earlier Thursday and that the Interior Ministry would announce their names by Sunday.

Others who made the cut, according to the statement carried by state TV, include Tehran's hard-line Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, moderate Senior Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri and former conservative culture minister Mostafa Mirsalim.

Hundreds of people registered to run. The Guardian Council, half of whose 12 members are clerics appointed by Khamenei, rejects all candidates who are seen as challenging clerical rule. Khamenei is Iran's top decision-maker.

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By Rania El Gamal, Roslan Khasawneh and Richard Mably ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Leading Gulf oil exporters Saudi Arabia and Kuwait gave a clear signal on Thursday that OPEC plans to extend into the second half of the year a deal with non-member producers to curb supplies of crude. Consensus is growing among oil producers that a supply restraint pact that started in January should be prolonged after its initial six-month term, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said. "There is consensus building but it's not done yet," Falih told reporters at a conference in the United Arab Emirates. Kuwait's oil minister Essam al-Marzouq said he expected the agreement to be extended. "Russia is on board preliminarily ... Compliance from Russia is very good," Marzouq said. OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo, noting that Marzouq chairs a committee that measures compliance with the cuts, said: "It is significant that the Kuwaiti minister has come out in public and said this." OPEC is keen that non-member producers play their promised part in supporting the group's efforts to lift prices , which have recovered to $53 a barrel from lows last year below $30. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC meet on May 25 to discuss extending the curbs that total 1.8 million barrels daily, two-thirds of that from OPEC. OPEC sources said an internal assessment was that if they failed to extend the agreement, oil could slide back to $30-$40 a barrel. INVENTORIES STILL HIGH Falih said his main concern was to reduce global oil inventories, calling that "the main indicator for the success of the initiative". While inventories held at sea and in producer countries have dropped, they remain stubbornly high in consumer regions, particularly in Asia and the United States. The International Energy Agency said last week that inventories in industrialised countries were still 10 percent above the five-year average, a key gauge for OPEC. OPEC seems to be encouraged by the contribution of non-OPEC producers to the output cuts. Marzouq said there was a "noticeable increase in compliance from non-OPEC". Joint compliance among OPEC and non-OPEC in March was above 90 percent, he said. Russia has not yet publicly committed to prolonging its curbs, although Energy Minister Alexander Novak said this month that Moscow would start consultations with producing companies about the possibility of doing so. Marzouq said another African nation, which he did not identify, had expressed interest in joining the 24-country effort. One hold-out for an extended deal may be Iraq. Baghdad might seek to be exempt and ask to boost its own output, the leader of the nation's Shi'ite ruling coalition, Ammar al-Hakim, told Reuters. Speaking in Cairo, Hakim cautioned that Baghdad could ask to be exempted from taking part in the supply curbs as the OPEC member country needed its oil income to fight Islamic State. "Given these sensitive circumstances, it is the right of Iraq to hope for an exemption by the other OPEC member states and have an opportunity to increase its production," Hakim, an influential cleric, said in an interview late on Wednesday. "But we are with the principle of reducing the overall OPEC supply to lift prices." Iran does not look likely to become an obstacle. The current deal granted Tehran permission to lift output, hit by Western sanctions that ended just over a year ago. "Iran is not an issue. We know they can't raise their production much more," an OPEC source said. (Additional reporting by Stanley Carvalho in Abu Dhabi and Mahmoud Mourad in Cairo; Editing by Dale Hudson and Richard Mably)
US bombing in war in Afghanistan

Reuters

Make no mistake: After 15 years of losing wars, spreading terror movements, and multiplying failed states across the Greater Middle East, America will fight the next versions of our ongoing wars.

Not that we ever really stopped. Sure, Washington traded in George W. Bushs expansive, almost messianic attitude toward his Global War on Terror for Barack Obamas more precise, deliberate, even cautious approach to an unnamed version of the same war for hegemony in the Greater Middle East.

Sure, in the process kitted-up 19 year-olds from Iowa became less ubiquitous features on Baghdads and Kabuls busy boulevards, even if that distinction was lost on the real-life targets of Americas wars  and the bystanders (call them collateral damage) scurrying across digital drone display screens.

Its hardly a brilliant observation to point out that, more than 15 years later, the entire region is a remarkable mess. So much worse off than Washington found it, even if all of that mess cant simply be blamed on the United States  at least not directly.

Its too late now, as the Trump administration is discovering, to retreat behind two oceans and cover our collective eyes. And yet, acts that might still do some modest amount of good (resettling refugees, sending aid, brokering truces, anything within reason to limit suffering) dont seem to be on any American agenda.

So, after 16 years of inconclusive or catastrophic regional campaigns, maybe its time to stop dreaming about how to make things better in the Greater Middle East and try instead to imagine how to make things worse (since thats the path we often seem to take anyway). Here, then, is a little thought experiment for you: What if Washington actually wanted to lose? How might the U.S. government go about accomplishing that? Let me offer a quick (and inevitably incomplete) to-do list on the subject:

As a start, you would drop an enlarged, conventional army into Iraq and/or Syria. This would offer a giant red, white, and blue target for all those angry, young radicalized men just dying (pardon the pun) to extinguish some new crusader force. It would serve as an effective religious-nationalist rallying cry (and target) throughout the region.

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Then you would create a news-magnet of a ban (or at least the appearance of one) on immigrants and visitors of every sort from predominantly Muslim countries coming to the United States.

Its hardly an accident that ISIS has taken to calling the presidents proposed executive order to do just that the blessed ban and praising Donald Trump as the best caller to Islam. Such actions only confirm the extremist narrative: that Muslims are unwelcome in and incompatible with the West, that liberal plurality is a neo-imperial scam.

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Finally, you would feed the common perception in the region that Washingtons support for Israel and assorted Arab autocrats is unconditional.

To do so, you would go out of your way to hold fawning public meetings with military strongmen like Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and suggest that, when it came to Israel, you were considering changing American policy when it comes to a two-state solution and the illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine.

Such policies would feed another ISIS narrative: U.S. support for illiberal despots and the failure of the Arab Spring is proof that practicing Muslims and peaceful Islamists will never successfully gain power through the democratic process.

Key to such a losing strategy would be doing anything you could to reinforce ISISs twisted narrative of an end-of-days battle between Islam and Christendom, a virtuous East versus a depraved West, an authentic caliphate against hypocritical democracies.

In what amounts to a war of ideas, pursuing such policies would all but hand victory to ISIS and other jihadi extremist groups. And so you would have successfully created a strategy for losing eternally in the Greater Middle East. And if that was the desired outcome in Washington, well, congratulations all around, but of course we all know that it wasnt.

Lets take these three points in such a losing strategy one by one. (Of course losing is itself a contested term, but for our purposes, consider the U.S. to have lost as long as its military spins its wheels in a never-ending quagmire, while gradually empowering various local adversaries.)

Just a few thousand more troops will get it done 

fallujah iraq us marines

Wikimedia CommonsThere are already thousands of American soldiers and Marines in Iraq and Syria, to say nothing of the even more numerous troops and sailors stationed on bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Turkey, and other states ringing Americas Middle Eastern battlefields.

Still, if you want to mainline into the fastest way to lose the next phase of the war on terror, just blindly acquiesce in the inevitable requests of your commanders for yet more troops and planes needed to finish the job in Syria (and Iraq, and Afghanistan, and Yemen, and so on).

Lets play this out. First, the worst (and most plausible) case: U.S. ground forces get sucked into an ever more complex, multi-faceted civil war  deeper and deeper still, until one day they wake up in a world that looks like Baghdad, 2007, all over again.

Or, lest we be accused of defeatism, consider the best case: those endlessly fortified and reinforced American forces wipe the floor with ISIS and just maybe manage to engineer the toppling of Bashar al-Assads Syrian regime as well. Its V-Day in the Middle East! And then what? What happens the day after? When and to whom do American troops turn over power?

The Kurds? Thats a nonstarter for Turkey, Iran, and Iraq, all countries with significant Kurdish minorities.

The Saudis? Dont count on it. Theyre busy bombing Houthi Shias in Yemen (with U.S.-supplied ordnance) and grappling with the diversification of their oil-based economy in a world in which fossil fuels are struggling.

Russia? Fat chance. Bombing terrorists? Yes. Propping up an autocratic client to secure basing rights? Sure. Temporary transactional alliances of convenience in the region? Absolutely. But long-term nation-building in the heart of the Middle East? Its just not the style of Vladimir Putins Russia, a country with its own shaky petro-economy.

So maybe leave Assad in power and turn the country back over to whats left of his minority, Alawite-dominated regime? That, undoubtedly, is the road to hell. After all, it was his murderous, barrel-bombing, child-gassing acts that all but caused the civil war in the first place.

You can be sure that, sooner or later, Syrias majority Sunni population and its separatist Kurds would simply rebel again, while (as the last 15 years should have taught us) an even uglier set of extremists rose to the surface.

ISIS Iraq Mosul civilian refugee

REUTERS/Suhaib SalemKeep in mind as well that, when it comes to the U.S. military, the Iraqi and Afghan surges of 2007 and 2009 offered proof positive that more ground troops arent a cure-all in such situations.

They are a formula for expending prodigious amounts of money and significant amounts of blood, while only further alienating local populations.

Meanwhile, unleashing manned and drone aircraft strikes, which occasionally kill large numbers of civilians, only add to the ISIS narrative.

Every mass casualty civilian bombing or drone strike incident just detracts further from American regional credibility.

While both air strikes and artillery barrages may hasten the offensive progress of Americas Kurdish, Iraqi, and Syrian allies, that benefit needs to be weighed against the moral and propaganda costs of those dead women and children. For proof, see the errant bombing strike on an apartment building in Mosul last month.

After all, those hundred-plus civilians are just as dead as Assads recent victims and just as many angry, grieving family members and friends have been left behind.

In other words, any of the familiar U.S. strategies, including focusing all efforts on ISIS or toppling Assad, or a bit of both, wont add up to a real policy for the region. No matter how the Syrian civil war shakes out, Washington will need a genuine what next plan.

Unfortunately, if the chosen course predictably relies heavily on the military lever to shape Syrias shattered society, Americas presence and actions will only (as in the past) aggravate the crisis and help rejuvenate its many adversaries.

"The Blessed Ban"

The Trump administrations proposed travel ban quickly became fodder for left-versus-right vitriol in the U.S. Heres a rundown on what its likely to mean when it comes to foreign policy and the next war.

First, soaring domestic fears over jihadi terror attacks in this country and the possible role of migrants and refugees in stoking them represent a potentially catastrophic over-reaction to a modest threat. Annually, from 2005 to 2015, terrorists killed an average of just seven Americans on U.S. soil. You are approximately 18,000 times more likely to die in some sort of accident than from such an attack. In addition, according to a study by the conservative Cato Institute, from 1975 to 2015 citizens of the countries included in Trumps first ban (including Iraq and Syria) killed precisely zero people in the United States. Nor has any refugee conducted a fatal domestic attack here. Finally, despite candidate and President Trumps calls for extreme vetting of Muslim refugees, the government already has a complex, two-year vetting process for such refugees which is remarkably extreme.

Those are the facts. What truly matters, however, is the effect of such a ban on the war of ideas in the Middle East. In short, its manna from heaven for ISISs storyline in which Americans are alleged to hate all Muslims. It tells you everything you need to know that, within days of the administrations announcement of its first ban, ISIS had taken to labeling it blessed, just as al-Qaeda once extolled George W. Bushs 2003 blessed invasion of Iraq. Even Senator John McCain, a well-known hawk, worried that Trumps executive order would probably give ISIS some more propaganda.

Remember, while ISIS loves to claim responsibility for every attack in the West perpetrated by lost, disenfranchised, identity-seeking extremist youths, that doesnt mean the organization actually directs them. The vast majority of these killers are self-radicalized citizens, not refugees or immigrants. One of the most effective  and tragic  ways to lose this war is to prove the jihadis right.

ISIS Iraq Fighters

Screenshot/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/rise-of-isis/

The hypocrisy trap

Another way to feed the ISIS narrative is to bolster perceptions of diplomatic insincerity.

Americans tend to be some of the least self-aware citizens on the planet. (Is it a coincidence that ours is about the only population left still questioning the existence of climate change?) Among the rare things that Democrats and Republicans agree on, however, is that America is a perennial force for good, in fact the force for good on Earth. As it happens, the rest of the world begs to differ.

In Gallup global polls, the United States has, in fact, been identified as the number one threat to world peace! However uncomfortable that may be, it matters.

One reason many Middle Easterners, in particular, believe this to be so stems from Washingtons longstanding support for regional autocrats. In fiscal year 2017, Egypts military dictator and Jordans king will receive $1.46 and $1 billion respectively in U.S. foreign aid  nearly 7 percent of its total assistance budget.

After leading a coup to overturn Egypts elected government, General Sisi was officially persona non grata in the White House under the last administration (though President Obama reinstated $1.3 billion in military aid in 2015). Sisis recent visit to the Trump White House changed all that as, in a joint press conference, the president swore that he was very much behind Egypt and that Sisi himself had done a fantastic job.

In another indicator of future policy, the State Department dropped existing human rights conditions for the multibillion-dollar sale of F-16s to Bahrains monarchy. All of this might be of mild interest, if it werent for the way it bolstered ISIS claims that democracy is just an idol, and the democratic process a fraud that American presidents simply ignore.

benjamin netanyahu

Reuters/Baz RatnerThen theres Israel, already the object of deep hatred in the region, and now clearly about to receive a blank check of support from the Trump administration.

The role that Israeli leaders already play in American domestic politics is certainly striking to Arab audiences.

Consider how unprecedented it was in 2015 to see Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticize a sitting president before a joint session of Congress in an Israeli election year and receive multiple, bipartisan standing ovations.

Even so, none of this prevented the Obama administration, domestically labeled weak on Israel, from negotiating a record $38 billion military aid deal with that country.

While violent Palestinian fighters are far from blameless, for 40 years Israel has increasingly created facts on the ground meant to preclude a viable Palestinian state. Netanyahu and his predecessors increased illegal settlements in the Palestinian territories, built an exclusion wall, and further divided the West Bank by constructing a network of roads meant only for the Israeli military and Jewish settlers.

Although most world leaders, publics, and the United Nations see the Jewish settlements on the West Bank as a major impediment to peace, the current U.S. ambassador to Israel was once the president of a fundraising group supporting just such an Israeli settlement. The notion that he could be an honest broker in peace talks borders on the farcical.

All of this, of course, matters when it comes to Washingtons unending wars in the region. Even Secretary of Defense James Mattis, soon after leaving the helm of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), recognized that he paid a military security price every day as a commander of CENTCOM because the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel. So, you want to lose? Keep feeding the ISIS narrative on democracy and Israel just as the Trump administration is doing, even as it sends more troops into the region and heightens bombing and drone raids from Syria to Yemen.

Send in the cavalry 

polish cavalry

via We Are The MightyIf the next phase of the generational struggle for the Middle East is once again to be essentially a military one, while the Trump administration feeds every negative American stereotype in the region, then its hard to see a future of anything but defeat.

A combination of widespread American ignorance and the intellectual solace of simplistic models lead many here to ascribe jihadist terrorism to some grand, ethereal hatred of Christendom.

The reality is far more discomfiting. Consider, for instance, a document from ancient history: Osama bin Ladens 1998 fatwa against the United States.

At that time, he described three tangible motives for jihad: U.S. occupation of Islams holiest lands in the Middle East, U.S. attacks on and sanctions against Iraq, and American support for Israels occupation of Jerusalem. If ISIS and al-Qaedas center of gravity is not their fighting force but their ideology (as I believe it is), then the last thing Washington should want to do is substantiate any of these three visions of American motivation  unless, of course, the goal is to lose the war on terror across the Greater Middle East and parts of Africa.

In that case, the solution is obvious: Washington should indeed insert more troops and set up yet more bases in the region, maintain unqualified support for right-wing Israeli governments and assorted Arab autocrats, and do its best to ban Muslim refugees from America. That, after all, represents the royal road to affirming al-Qaedas, and now ISISs, overarching narratives. Its a formula  already well used in the last 15 years  for playing directly into the enemys hands and adhering to its playbook, for creating yet more failed states and terror groups throughout the region.

syrian refugees

Reuters/Murad Sezer

When it comes to Syria in particular, there are some shockingly unexamined contradictions at the heart of Washingtons reactions to its war there. President Trump, for instance, recently spoke emotionally about the beautiful babies cruelly murdered in Idlib, Syria. Yet the administrations executive order on travel bans any Syrian refugees  including beautiful babies  from entering this country. If few Americans recognize the incongruity or hypocrisy of this, you can bet that isnt true in the Arab world.

For ISIS, todays struggle in Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere is part of an unremitting, apocalyptic holy war between Islam and the West. That narrative is demonstrably false. The current generation of jihadis sprang from tangible grievances and perceived humiliations perpetrated by recent Western policies. There was nothing eternal about it. The first recorded suicide bombings in the Middle East didnt erupt until the early 1980s. So forget the thousand-year struggle or even, in Western terms, the clash of civilizations. It took Americas military-first policies in the region to generate what has now become perpetual war with spreading terror insurgencies.

Want a formula for forever war? Send in the cavalry again.

NOW WATCH: People are outraged by a Pepsi ad starring Kendall Jenner  here's how the company responded

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By Sofia Menchu GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Javier Duarte, the former state governor of Mexico's ruling party who was arrested in Guatemala at the weekend, said in court on Wednesday he would not agree to be extradited until his lawyers were able to study a formal extradition request. "At this time, I can't agree (to extradition) until the formal extradition request arrives, and it can be studied by my defence team" said Duarte. "This doesn't mean I won't accept it, though." If Duarte agrees to be extradited, he could be back in Mexico within a month, according to Guatemalan justice officials. If not, it might take considerably longer. Duarte faces prosecution for embezzlement and organised crime in Mexico, where he was the governor of Veracruz state until last year. He has denied any wrongdoing. A lawyer for Duarte said shortly after the arrest the former governor would likely accept his extradition. The Mexican government has 60 days to present a formal extradition request to Guatemala. Duarte's defence team will then decide whether to agree to his extradition. He will remain jailed during that time. The Mexican Attorney General's Office said this week that Duarte's extradition could take up to a year if he resists. Duarte, who governed the oil-rich state of Veracruz for President Enrique Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), became a symbol of corruption in Mexico, and his case is highly politicized with elections looming. Separately, Mexico's Attorney General's office said on Wednesday that Javier Nava, one of Duarte's alleged partners in crime, suspected of corruption and ties to organised crime, has been detained in Barcelona with the help of Spanish police. Mexico has 45 days to formally present an extradition request for Nava's return to Mexico, the statement said. (Reporting by Sofia Menchu; Editing by Sandra Maler)
British defence secretary Michael Fallon went on a visit to Estonia on Thursday to mark the deployment of 800 British troops on Russias doorstep. The move is part of a NATO effort to deter Russia from interfering in the Baltic states like it did in Ukraine when it annexed Crimea. The transatlantic alliance has been building up its military presence in the region and in Poland. We are sending the strongest of signals that we stick by our friends and we stand united in the face of aggression, Fallon said. Fallon took advantage of the visit to take a swipe at Jeremy Corbyn, calling the Labour leader feeble and gutless on defence. Meanwhile Romania said it plans to buy Patriot missiles from the US to help protect its airspace, just as hundreds of Romanian and US troops braved the blizzard and tested their tanks and aircraft in a display of their military forces. NATO commanders say deterrence is key. This is all about defending the alliance, it is not about being aggressive towards anyone, said Major General John L Gronsky, deputy commanding general for the National Guard: Russia has criticised NATOs military buildup as an agression on its borders. Earlier this week, it reportedly deployed more than 10 of its warships in the Baltic Sea, to fire missiles as part of a training exercise off the coast of Kaliningrad.
KIGALI (Reuters) - A Rwandan man accused of leading and coordinating attacks on minority Tutsis during Rwanda's 1994 genocide has been sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the mass slaughter, Rwanda's high court said on Thursday. In the genocide, an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in just 100 days. Bernard Munyagishari, who headed a government-allied militia known as the Interahamwe in Rwanda's west, was convicted of crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity. Lawyers for Munyagishari said they would appeal. Timothee Kanyegeri, one of the three judges who convicted him, said Munyagishari had trained the militia in how to distinguish the Hutu from Tutsis. He also "told them that to kill as (for a) snake, you have to hit hard the head, otherwise it will sneak away", the judge said. Kanyegeri said Munyagishari had transported members of the militia in buses as they went to kill the Tutsis in Rwanda's former district of Gisenyi and had personally helped to distribute guns, machetes, axes and clubs used in the killings. Munyagishari was arrested in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo in 2011. His case was transferred to Rwanda in 2013 from Arusha, Tanzania, where the now-closed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was based. Munyagishari is being held in Kigali's central prison and was absent during Thursday's sentencing. (Reporting by Clement Uwiringiyimana; Editing by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Catherine Evans)
By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. mediator for Syria said on Thursday he would hold talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov in Geneva on Monday, and that the United States had declined to take part in any trilateral meeting for now. They will evaluate upcoming discussions in the Kazakh capital Astana aimed at reviving the tattered ceasefire, and prospects for convening talks in Geneva between Syria's warring sides in May, de Mistura said. "The trilateral meeting - as you know that was a possibility - is being postponed, it is not taking place on Monday. It will be a bilateral... But the trilateral is not off the table, it is just being postponed," he told reporters. De Mistura, asked about the U.S. administration's intent to participate, replied: "There is a clearly an intention to maintain and resume these trilateral meetings, and the date and circumstances were not conducive for this to happen on Monday." The United States carried out an air strike on a Syrian air base earlier this month after a chemical weapons attack that killed scores of people near Idlib on April 4. Both incidents have raised tensions between Washington and Moscow, the Syrian government's ally. "The U.S. welcomes discussions with Russia regarding the UN-led political process on Syria in Geneva, and we have met in the past in the trilateral U.S.-Russia-UN format. But at this time there is no new trilateral meeting scheduled," a U.S. spokesman in Geneva said in an email to Reuters in response to a query. De Mistura said that his team had just taken part in technical talks in Tehran, in preparation for the Astana talks organised by Russia, Iran and Turkey. There had been "some type of movement regarding the issue of detainees ...and on possible issues related to demining as well," he said. All sides have flagged their readiness to allow aid convoys to reach Douma and later other besieged towns in the eastern Ghouta province near Damascus, U.N. humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland said. "It is very, very urgent that we get to eastern Ghouta." Egeland added: "In eastern Ghouta there are nearly 400,000 people that are now besieged, they are in crossfire and they are without supplies. They are in a desperate situation." (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by John Stonestreet)
GUKPT Heads to Walsall For the Fourth Leg of the 2017 Tour

April 20 2017 Matthew Pitt Editor

Walsall may not be the first city that springs to mind when you think of poker destinations but it has been a mainstay on the ever-popular Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) since the tours creation in 2007.

The GUKPT has headed to Walsall during nine of the previous 10 seasons with only Season 9 in 2015 not seeing the Midlands casino host one of the GUKPTs prestigious events.

Previous GUKPT Walsall Results

Season Buy-in Entrants Champion Prize 1 1,050 360 Jerome Bradpiece 121,600 2 1,060 287 Jeff Kimber 83,910 3 1,060 301 Sunny Chattha 88,150 4 1,070 206 Colin McTaggart 57,700 5 1,070 172 Alan Mansbridge 50,000 6 1,070 153 Daniel Haglund 45,100 7 550 144 David Tighe 24,910 8 550 196 Ben Winsor 29,000 9 10 550 241 Lee Wai Kiat 34,850

Jerome Bradpiece won the inaugural GUKPT Walsall Main Event in 2007. Back then, the tournament commanded a 1,050 buy-in and attracted 360 players through the casinos door. Bradpiece was the last man standing and that result netted him 121,600, which is still the largest live cash of the popular pros career.

Other winners of GUKPT Walsall include Jeff Kimber, Sunny Chattha, David Tighe, Ben Winsor and the reigning champion Lee Wai Kiat.

2017 GUKPT Walsall Schedule

Date Time Tournament Sun 23 Apr 12:00pm 110 NLHE Mini Main Event Day 1a 7:30pm 26 Super Satellite to Main Event Mon 24 Apr 4:00pm 26 Turbo Satellite to Main Event 6:00pm 110 NLHE Mini Main Event Day 1b Tue 25 Apr 4:00pm 26 Turbo Satellite to Main Event 6:00pm Mini Main Event Final Day 7:30pm 165 No-Limit Holdem Wed 26 Apr 4:00pm 26 Turbo Satellite to Main Event 6:30pm No-Limit Holdem Final Day 7:30pm 110 NLHE 6-Max 9:00pm 82 Super Satellite to Main Event Thu 27 Apr 1:00pm 550 NLHE Main Event Day 1a 4:00pm 26 Turbo Satellite to Main Event 6:00pm 82 Pot-Limit Omaha 4/5/6 Fri 28 Apr 1:00pm 550 NLHE Main Event Day 1b 9:00pm 110 NLHE Bounty Sat 29 Apr 1:00pm Main Event Day 2 6:00pm 110 NLHE Win the Button Sun 30 Apr 12:00pm Main Event Final 4:00pm 82 No-Limit Holdem

This seasons GUKPT Walsall festival runs from Apr. 23 through to Apr. 30 and features several tournament and satellites for players to get their teeth into. The highlight of the week-long festival is the 550 buy in Main Event thanks to its 100,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Other highlights include the 110 Mini Main Event, which kicks off the festival in style, a 165 no-limit holdem event, a 110 bounty tournament and a 110 six-handed tournament.

Satellites for the Main Event are available during the week at the Grosvenor Casino, Walsall and online at Grosvenor Poker where if you download the software via UK & Ireland PokerNews you receive a 200 percent up to 700 first deposit bonus.

2017 GUKPT Results

Leg Entrants Buy-in Champion Prize London 435 1,100 Michael Zhang 113,000 Manchester 268 1,100 Andrew Hills 46,988 Edinburgh 227 550 Paul Green 17,500

Walsall is the fourth leg of the 2017 GUKPT and if previous events from this year are a benchmark, anyone competing at Walsall is in for a treat.

Michael Zhang triumphed in London in the opening leg of the 2017 season and won a massive 113,000 before Andy Hills became a GUKPT champion in Manchester and added 46,988 to his lifetime winnings. The latest GUKPT winner was Paul Green who topped a field of 227 in Edinburgh and turned 550 into 17,500.
The historic Inn and Spa at Loretto is coming under new ownership.

Jim Long, founder and CEO of Heritage Hotels and Resorts, Inc., along with an investor group led by Randy Talbot announced today that they are acquiring the property.

The Lorettos iconic architecture, modeled after Taos Pueblo, make it one of the most photographed buildings in the state, Long said in a news release. We are delighted to add Loretto to our portfolio of culturally-designed New Mexico properties and look forward to introducing our guests to this new experience.

Heritage Hotels and Resorts has purchased other historic hotels around New Mexico, including Hotel St. Francis in Santa Fe and Palacio de Marquesa in Taos, and with the Loretto purchase will have more than a dozen hotels in the state.

Long plans only minor renovations for the Inn and Spa at Loretto.

The property has already had a lot of renovation dollars put into it. Almost $12 million put in, Long told the Journal. So the property is actually in fine shape. The Inn, which was founded in 1975 by the Kirkpatrick Family, underwent extensive interior renovations in 2009.

Longs goal with The Inn at Loretto is to make the outdoor landscapes more captivating, create more dynamic outdoor dining and seize on opportunities for outdoor events like festivals and concerts.

The Inn at Loretto has two restaurants, Luminaria Restaurant and Patio for fine dining and The Living Room at Loretto for a more casual experience.

In addition to the spa, Loretto also houses six retail shops, Faircloth Adams, Handwoven Originals in Santa Fe, Little Bird at Loretto, Liquid Outpost, Timbavati and Abbate Fine Art, according to the Loretto website. Heritage does not have plans to change the lineup.

Most of the tenants represent what we would want the hotel to represent, said Long. But, you know, we will continue to look for special retailers that make or sell very unique products.

The Inn and Spa at Loretto has 136 guest rooms and Santa Fes only penthouse, according to the Heritage Hotels and Resorts news release. It also contains 12,000-square-feet of event, meeting and wedding space.

The Inn at Loretto has been a AAA four-diamond property since 2009.
Correction: This article had previously reported the wrong date of Nigel Johnsons arrest. It has been corrected below.

New Mexico State Police officers in Gallup have arrested a second suspect in the robbery and beating death of a man in front of a southeast Albuquerque convenience store last summer.

Nigel Myron Johnson, 19, was arrested in Gallup on April 8 around 8:45 a.m., according to a statement sent by State Police spokesman Carl Christiansen.

State Police officers working off a Crime Stoppers tip found Johnson at a hotel, where he was staying under a fictitious name, Christiansen said.

Johnson is charged with murder and robbery in the death of 66-year-old Irvin Sanchez. He was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center last Thursday.

On Aug. 10, 2016, a woman called police saying she saw three young men beat up an older Native American man, take his wallet, and run away from the 7-Eleven store on the corner of San Mateo and Kathryn SE, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Sanchez was taken to the hospital, where he died.

Johnsons arrest comes almost two months after Albuquerque police arrested 19-year-old Emilio Mirabal in the case.

No information has been released about the third suspect.
Juan Manuel Montes Bojorquez appeared to have a promising future in the United States.

He is now one of the first dreamers to be deported by President Donald Trump, immigration advocates and lawyers say, violating the protected status undocumented people brought to the United States as children are expected to have.

As recently as February, the 23-year-old  who was brought to the United States as a child  had a job picking fruits and vegetables in California fields while he pursued a degree in welding. Montes is a dreamer- a beneficiary of President Barack Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

He is now living with relatives in Mexico, his lawyers said.

The Trump administration has ramped up deportations under sweeping new enforcement guidelines, but has not yet overturned the DACA program, which granted renewable, two-year work permits to more than 750,000 immigrants who came to the country illegally as children. On a number of occasions, Trump has expressed his interest in showing sympathy to DACA recipients.

In February, Trump said: Were going to show great heart. DACA is a very, very difficult subject for me, I will tell you. To me, its one of the most difficult subjects I have because you have these incredible kids.

During an appearance on Fox News Wednesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said DACA enrollees were not the governments deportation priority, but he refused to say they would not be subject to deportation. DACA enrollees are not being targeted, Sessions told Fox News anchor Jenna Lee. I dont know why this individual was picked up. But when pressed, Sessions said, The policy is that if people are here unlawfully, theyre subject to being deported.

We cant promise people who are here unlawfully that theyre not going to be deported, Sessions added.

While Montes was walking to a taxi station in Calexico, California, a Border Patrol agent on a bicycle stopped him, asking him for identification. Having accidentally left his wallet in a friends car, Montes lawyers say, he had no identification on him, and no way of proving his status as a dreamer allowing him to live in the United States legally.

Another officer was called to the scene and took Montes into custody that night, Feb. 17, driving him to a station near the border. Hours later, at about 1 a.m., immigration officials walked Montes across the border, physically removing him from the United States and leaving him in Mexico, his lawyers say.

The Department of Homeland Security disputes these claims and says the government has no record of detaining Montes on Feb. 17 and then deporting him hours later  it didnt happen, they say. Officials have confirmed that Montes was deported when he tried to re-enter the country on or about Feb. 19, an occurrence Montes lawyers and the government agree on.

While DHS initially said Tuesday they had a record of Montes DACA expiring in 2015, they released new information Wednesday confirming that Montes was approved for DACA that lasted until 2018.

But, DHS officials say, Montes lost that status by leaving the United States without permission on an unknown date prior to his arrest by the U.S. Border Patrol on Feb. 19, 2017.

During Mr. MONTES-Bojorquezs detention and arrest by the United States Border Patrol on February 19, he admitted to agents that he had illegally entered the United States and was arrested, David Lapan, a DHS spokesman said in a statement to The Washington Post, noting that Montes made the same admission under oath. All of the arrest documents from February 19, 2017, bear MONTES-Bojorquezs signature. During his arrest interview, he never mentioned that he had received DACA status.

However, Lapan added, even if MONTES-Bojorquez had informed agents of his DACA status, he had violated the conditions of his status by breaking continuous residency in the United States by leaving and then reentering the U.S. illegally.

Attorneys on behalf of Montes filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act on Tuesday demanding that the federal government turn over all information about his sudden removal. The lawsuit was filed, they say, because their FOIA requests were ignored.

The conflicting accounts surrounding the case leave many questions unanswered, but the allegations heightened existing concerns that DACA recipients are now being targeted for deportation, despite Trumps pledges to show great heart toward them.

Asked Wednesday about whether undocumented immigrants without a criminal record would face deportation, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the administration is focused on individuals who are a threat to public safety, according to CNN.

Spicer directed questions about the Montes case to DHS.

That situation is evolving right now, he added. I would not rush to judgment.

Nora Preciado, a Los Angeles attorney with the National Immigration Law Center and one of the lawyers who filed the lawsuit, said the lawyers on March 15 requested all records of Montes interactions with immigration authorities, but DHS has not yet provided them.

Juan Manuel has been unequivocal in his assertion that he never voluntarily left the country while he had DACA, Preciado said Wednesday. We believe him. We filed a FOIA lawsuit to get answers. Rather than continue to provide half-truths and varying assertions, DHS should respond to our request for documentation.

We will see them in court, she added.

Asked to respond to Preciados assertion that her client claims he never voluntarily left the United States, Lapan said DHS doesnt comment on pending litigation.

We stand by our statement of the facts in this case, he said.

Lapan pointed out that Montes was convicted of shoplifting in 2016, but his lawyers maintain that conviction has no bearing on his DACA status, which is subject to a background check.

Montess lawyers say he had obtained an employment authorization document, a type only granted to DACA recipients. Lapan noted that Montes Employment Authorization Document is not valid for entry or admission into the United States, but Preciado said her client knew that although he had permission to work in the United States, he did not have permission to leave the country while he had DACA.

Instead of providing his attorneys with information and documents, the government is providing varying stories to the media. He deserves to know why the federal government that promised he wouldnt be deported for two years broke that promise to him without any explanation or documentation.

Montes claims he was assaulted a few days after he was deported to Mexicali, Mexico. Shaken by the alleged assault and fearing for his safety, Montes then attempted to return to the United States. After hiding on the north side of the border for about a half-hour, he came across immigration officers and decided to turn himself in. Hours later he was once again removed to Mexico. Though Montes claims this was his second deportation, this is the only removal DHS has confirmed. The really important questions come up after the first time, Preciado said. The government doesnt want to focus on that. It doesnt want to answer those hard questions.

Montes, who was brought to the United States when he was 9, suffered a traumatic brain injury as a child and has a cognitive disability, the lawsuit alleges. He was enrolled in special education classes through high school, and has been employed as a farm worker for about two years.

I was forced out because I was nervous and didnt know what to do or say, Montes said in a statement. I miss my job. I miss school. And I want to continue to work toward better opportunities. But most of all, I miss my family, and I have hope that I will be able to go back so I can be with them again.

In March, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tweeted: DACA is not a protected legal status, but active DACA recipients are typically a lower level of enforcement priority.

Still, many DACA beneficiaries now feel they have reason to fear deportation. On Feb. 10, dreamer Daniel Ramirez Medina was detained in Seattle, drawing national attention. He was released more than a month later.

In late March, Daniela Vargas, 22, was detained after speaking at a news conference in Mississippi. She was also later released. At least 10 DACA recipients are currently in federal custody, United We Dream, an advocacy organization made up of DACA enrollees and other young immigrants, told USA Today.

The federal government made a promise to Juan Manuel and all DACA recipients, Preciado told The Post. Unfortunately, Juan Manuels case proves that promise has been broken.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement Tuesday that instead of honoring the protections of DACA, President Trump has unleashed an indiscriminate deportation dragnet of appalling inhumanity.

Greisa Martinez, advocacy director at United We Dream and a DACA beneficiary herself, said in a Facebook live video on Tuesday that this is the moment of truth where we hold those people accountable.

In these moments of uncertainty, she said, theres a lot of questions. What does this mean for us? Where do we go?
Albuquerques John Dodson is one of MMAs happiest warriors. Heres a statistic though, that could make the happiest warrior downright grumpy.

In fights decided by stoppage  KO, TKO, submission  Dodson is 11-0 for his career. In fights that went to the scorecards, hes 7-8.

Two decisions, in particular, stick in Dodsons craw as he prepares for Saturday nights fight against Eddie Wineland (23-11-1) on a UFC card in Nashville, Tenn.

In January 2013, Dodson fought UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson in Chicago. In the octagon immediately after the fight, Dodson said, UFC President Dana White congratulated him on his victory. Seconds later, though, Johnson was announced as the winner by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46).

Then, last October, Dodson fought Brazils John Lineker in a five-round bantamweight fight in Portland, Ore. Lineker won by split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47).

Many in the MMA community  fighters and media  believing Dodson should have gotten the decision. But others felt Dodsons stick-and-move style cost him the fight.

It was a defeat that denied Dodson, having moved up from the 125-pound flyweight division a year ago, real traction at bantamweight. As the No. 7 challenger to champion Cody Garbrandt, hes not close to a title shot.

Dodson admits to some serious frustration.

I dont know what the judges want to see, what the fans want to hear, what they all want, he said.

But, he said, there is only one solution.

Dont let any more fights, starting with Saturdays, go to the scorecards.

I just need to forget trying to please everybody and just please myself, he said. Just go out there and hit him as hard as I can, watch him fall and everything will fall in place for me.

If he doesnt get taken down by my fists, hell get taken down by my double-legs (takedowns).  I will chop that tree down any way I can.

Wineland, a 14-year MMA veteran from Portage, Ind., has bounced back from consecutive losses with victories over Frankie Saenz and Takeya Mizugaki, both by TKO (punches).

He brings a threat, Dodson said. Hes on a two-fight winning streak.  Hes knocking everybody out, and I dont want to be his next victim.

A victory over Wineland, ranked 10th in the UFC bantamweight rankings, wont get Dodson appreciably closer to a title shot. What it will do, he said, is remind people Im one of the most dangerous strikers of all time.

For now, Dodson is not considering a move back to 125, where he twice challenged Johnson for the title and twice lost.

If they (the UFC) called me and said, Hey, we really want to see you back at 125, Ill be glad to do that, he said. But as of right now Im gonna stay here (at 135), stay relaxed, stay composed and just crush everybody thats in my way right now.

Someday, he wants another shot at Johnson, who after his 10th successful flyweight title defense last week is being touted in some circles as the greatest MMA fighter of all time.

Johnson has expressed no interest in moving up to 135. But Dodson, noting that one of Johnsons two career losses was to Dominick Cruz for the UFC bantamweight title in 2011, believes Mighty Mouse eventually will test the 135-pound waters again.

I know this is a title he wants that he failed at achieving it the first time he tried to get it, Dodson said.

When Johnson moves up, Dodson said, I will be there to crush all his dreams.

Dodsons own title dreams could be derailed, if not shattered, by an upset loss to Wineland.

Thats why Ive got to go out there and just finish, he said.  Theres nothing the judges can sit there and tell me when I get (a stoppage).

When I stop the fight, they have no control over it.
MADISON  Wisconsin companies seeking to start or grow their exporting efforts are invited to join Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation on a global trade mission to Mexico to be held June 11-16.

The trade mission will travel to Mexico City and Monterrey. According to a press release, Monterrey has a high concentration of manufacturers aligned with Wisconsins key industry sectors including food and food production equipment. Leading export categories from Wisconsin to Mexico include industrial machinery, electrical machinery, vehicles and parts, plastics, and medical and scientific instruments.

The fee for this program is $1,650 which covers market research and one-on-one appointments, in-country transportation including transportation to business meetings, hotel accommodations for the duration of the stay, interpreter fees and some group meals. The registration deadline is May 12. For more information visit www.InWisconsin.com/mexico2017.
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, chairwoman of the House Select Panel on Infant Lives, was the featured speaker at a Wednesday news conference and rally in which she maintained that the University of New Mexico and Southwestern Womens Options were in violation of state and federal laws regulating abortions and the harvesting of fetal tissue for research.

Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, alleges that some abortion providers receive money for selling fetal tissue, an issue that was at the core of our investigation, she said. To receive even one penny of profit is a 10-year felony offense.

The select panel, she said, issued about 40 subpoenas and 15 criminal referrals to state attorneys general  two of them to New Mexico. The members of the panel also released a 471-page report about their investigation.

What Blackburn neglected to say was that only the eight Republican members of the select panel signed off on the report; the six Democrats on the panel took issue with the Republicans, and specifically Blackburns, conclusions.

In a letter sent to New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas in July, and later publicly released, the Democrats said they were deeply concerned that Chair Blackburn is using her power of the Congress to chase unfounded allegations of anti-abortion extremists. Blackburn, they added, had used her unilateral subpoena authority to investigate the claims of these groups, and then suppressed the facts and sent criminal referrals without acknowledging sworn testimony that rebuts these unfounded theories.

Despite that, Balderas and Chancellor Paul Roth of the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center were in the bulls-eye during the Wednesday anti-abortion gathering outside UNMs Hodgin Hall. Speaker after speaker, including Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., called on UNM to fully disclose its relationship with abortion clinic Southwestern Womens Options and the universitys acquisitions of aborted fetal tissue from that clinic.

The Rev. Stephen Imbarrato, a Catholic priest and anti-abortion activist, told the crowd of about 150, which included a sizable and vocal number of abortion rights protesters, that Balderas should investigate the allegations leveled against UNM and Southwestern Womens Options or be removed from office. He also called Roth the driving force behind the entire abortion cartel in the state.

Elisa Martinez, executive director of the New Mexico Alliance for Life, said, Thousands of New Mexico women have had their rights violated and not received a lawful and valid consent form to donate their infants body parts. That practice has been going on for at least 10 years, she maintained.

Citing the state Maternal Fetal Infant Experimentation Act, Martinez said women should be clearly informed about which fetal tissue is to be donated, and about the nature and benefits of the fetal research. That consent should be provided in separate documentation, rather than buried in a clause in the consent form to abort a pregnancy, she said.

In response to the Wednesday news conference, Balderas spokesman James Hallinan said, We are actively working on gathering further information that will assist in our ongoing review of this matter.

Roth issued a statement saying the Health Sciences Center has conducted our research, educational and clinical activities ethically, lawfully and transparently. Further, he said, the Health Sciences Center categorically denies ever having bought or sold fetal tissue; nor has it made any reimbursement for the tissue it has received from women who consented to donate it for research purposes.

The university has diligently cooperated with the House Select Panel on Infant Lives and the state Attorney Generals Office, he said.
WASHINGTON  The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that it will postpone for 90 days regulations imposed by former President Barack Obama to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas wells.

The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, which protested the so-called methane rule when it was announced last year, cheered the announcement by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. But environmentalists and other critics denounced the move as a shortsighted one that would exacerbate climate change.

Pruitt said the agency would enact a 90-day stay on the 2016 regulation, which was set to take effect June 3 and established requirements for operators of oil and gas wells to monitor and limit emissions at drilling sites. Pruitts decision will allow for more industry input on the rule, and it stemmed from President Donald Trumps March 28 executive order aimed at spurring domestic energy production.

EPA is continuing to follow through with President Trumps energy independence executive order, Pruitt said. American businesses should have the opportunity to review new requirements, assess economic impacts and report back before those new requirements are finalized.

New Mexico has a lot at stake in the debate. The San Juan Basin in the Four Corners area is responsible for 14.5 percent of total U.S. methane emissions, according to data from the EPAs Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. A 2014 NASA satellite image showed a methane hot spot the size of Delaware hovering over the Four Corners.

ICF International, an independent consulting firm, has estimated New Mexico loses about $100 million worth of gas extracted annually on federal and tribal lands in the state.

Robert McEntyre, spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, said the decision to reconsider the Obama rule was the right one.

We applaud Administrator Pruitts decision to take a more balanced approach and give this rule a more thorough review, he said. As its currently written, the rule could cost operators in New Mexico as much as $250,000 per well to comply, ultimately diverting money away from New Mexicos cash-strapped general fund that supports our states schools, roads and health care.

Michelle Robinson, director of the Clean Vehicles Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, said Pruitts move was designed to appease the oil and gas industry without regard for the environment.

This is a clear case of EPA leadership listening to powerful industry voices rather than the evidence, she said.

The Obama rules require oil and gas operators to limit methane emissions caused by the leaking, venting and flaring of natural gas from oil and gas wells, pipelines and other infrastructure on public and tribal lands. The operators must also periodically inspect operations for leaks and replace outdated equipment.

That could improve air quality, reduce the impact on climate, and increase federal and state royalties by capturing more gas from operations. But the industry says its already attacking the problem on its own, with methane emissions at wellheads down 40 percent since 2006. Imposing new federal rules would hurt the industry, particularly small operators, critics of the rule contend.

Sen. Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat who sits on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, on Wednesday called Pruitts decision wrongheaded.

Methane leaks waste valuable energy resources and pollute our air with harmful greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, Heinrich said. When oil and gas companies modernize their equipment to reduce wasteful leaks, they capture more gas that they can sell and increase worker safety at their wells. Capturing more gas also means states like New Mexico can collect more royalties and revenues to pay for schools and essential services.

But Rep. Steve Pearce, a New Mexico Republican and former oil industry executive who sits on the House Natural Resources Committee, applauded Pruitts move.

This rule would be particularly harmful to small producers in New Mexico as it would greatly increase operating costs and likely result in decreased production, Pearce said. Roughly 40 percent of New Mexicos operating funds come from revenues off of resource production. Without it, our entire economy suffers a loss. New Mexico can become a leader in energy development if it is given room to succeed.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., took on issues ranging from health care and immigration to foreign policy in response to questions from about 250 New Mexicans who turned out at his town hall meeting Wednesday evening in Southwest Albuquerque.

Heinrich said that he is confident that Russians interfered in the U.S. elections last year and that he favors an independent investigation into the claims. In particular, Russians used expert manipulation of social media to influence voting, as they have for years in eastern Europe, he said during the event at Atrisco Heritage Academy High School.

We werent ready for this, Heinrich said of the Russians targeted use of social media. They did, and there was meddling in our elections.

In response to a question from a student leader about financial aid for college, Heinrich said he favors a measure that would allow students to renegotiate student loan debt.

He also criticized as outrageous Gov. Susana Martinezs veto of state higher education funding, saying it has caused confusion and uncertainty for colleges and universities planning their budgets for the coming year.

Several people expressed concerns about health care, the high price of prescription drugs, and the future of Medicare and the Affordable Care Act. Heinrich said he opposed the Republican plan to repeal and replace the ACA and said he favors expanding Medicare if it doesnt weaken the programs focus on care of the elderly.

I believe that in the richest nation in the world, everybody should be able to get health care, he said. Heinrich also said the federal government should be able to negotiate drug prices through Medicare Part D  a strategy that the VA system has used to hold down drug costs.

He criticized President Donald Trumps administration for an immigration enforcement policy that he said goes beyond targeting violent offenders and drug offenders. Heinrich also said the current discussion about immigration has little in common with the realities of people he has met on New Mexicos southern border.

We need to tell a story about the real communities on the border, including the coalitions of business, faith and community leaders, to fix problems caused by a broken immigration system, he said. We need to focus on the real issues on the border.

Heinrich criticized Trumps trial-by-error foreign policy, which he said endangers the lives of thousands of U.S. soldiers stationed in South Korea, although he favors Trumps efforts to work with the Chinese to bring about change in North Korea.

Heinrich also said the that dark money is financing a movement to privatize federal lands and called on the public to speak out against privatization efforts.

The threat is real, he said. The more we talk about it, the more we can be certain this wont happen. I think that most New Mexicans can agree that we should keep public lands in public hands.
DALLAS  Mayor Mike Rawlings says city staff for years misled Dallas leaders by making them believe money would be spent to hire additional 911 dispatchers when such hiring never occurred.

Rawlings sharp criticism came Wednesday during a city council briefing on Dallas 911 operations, which have long suffered from staffing shortages and technological problems that at times have resulted in hundreds of callers being placed on hold.

The council learned the call center in March had 60 dispatchers, with 12 others still in training. But the city for years has budgeted for 101 full-time positions.

Hopefully there is a culture change here that when we commit to hiring people here, theyre actually hired, Rawlings said.

City Manager T.C. Broadnax acknowledged at one point that, We should and could have been more aggressive in hiring positions that were budgeted.

Interim police Chief David Pughes said the fault lies with his department, telling the council that commanders for too long were not aggressive enough in hiring 911 dispatchers.

He was made aware of the problem when he assumed his duties in October but said there was no quick fix because of a lengthy hiring and training process.

We werent doing enough to recruit and we werent doing enough to hire, he told the council, according to The Dallas Morning News.

The strain on staff is made worse when dispatchers call in sick or are otherwise unavailable to work.

A temporary solution has been to pull dozens of officers off the streets to help with staffing.

That and other staffing changes along with technological upgrades have improved operations in recent weeks following periods of unpredictable call spikes that left hundreds of callers on hold. The problem may have contributed to a delayed response to emergency situations in which two people died in separate incidents, including a 6-month-old boy whose baby sitter was on hold for a half-hour after the child fell from a bed.

Pughes admitted that dispatchers still arent getting on the phone with callers as quickly as they once did.

He noted that the city recently held a job fair and received more than 850 applications for dispatch positions, the newspaper reported.

Pughes suggested the starting pay of $36,053 may be too low and should be bumped up to entice more applicants and retain experienced workers.

KTVT in Dallas reported that some city council members expressed strong criticism over the failings of the citys 911 operations, with Jennifer Staubach Gates calling it a colossal failure of the system at city hall.
CHICAGO  The head of Colorados Department of Revenue has spoken to Illinois legislators considering a proposal to legalize marijuana in the state.

The departments executive director, Barbara Brohl, told lawmakers during a hearing Wednesday that she believes the legal market for marijuana is eating into the black market, funding drug abuse treatment and prevention, and providing a safer product, The Chicago Tribune (http://trib.in/2oU15vk ) reported.

Proposed legislation in Illinois would allow possession of up to an ounce of pot by people who are at least 21 years old. Smoking in public would be prohibited, and driving under the influence would remain illegal.

Sponsors of the plan said the measure wont get a vote this legislative season, but theyre beginning a series of hearings on how to craft a potential law.

Prohibition doesnt work, said Sen. Heather Steans, a Chicago Democrat.

Steans said taxing and regulating pot would create jobs and generate an estimated $350 million to $700 million a year in tax revenues for debt-ridden Illinois.

Brohl said that in Colorado, the roughly $200 million in tax revenue from more than $1 billion in sales last year also provides $40 million for schools.

The hearing generated criticism by some opponents, including police chiefs, who werent permitted to testify.

I dont know why they didnt reach out before this and ask us for our opinion and see if theres some compromise, said Riverside Police Phief Tom Weitzel, who represented the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, which opposes the measure. Our officers are the ones doing the enforcement.

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Information from: Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com
AUSTIN, Texas  A Houston man on the Texas 10 Most Wanted sex offender list has been caught in Florida.

The Texas Department of Public Safety on Thursday announced the arrest of 59-year-old Jose Mario Lopez.

Lopez was located Monday at a park in Winter Haven, Florida, about 45 miles southwest of Orlando. Winter Haven police arrested Lopez, who was wanted for parole violation and failure to register as a sex offender.

Lopez in January cut off his ankle monitor and fled from a Houston facility.

Records show Lopez in 1983 was convicted in San Patricio County of burglary of habitation with the intent to commit a sex offense against a 15-year-old girl. He was sentenced to 70 years in prison, paroled in 2015 and required to register as a sex offender.

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Online:

http://www.dps.texas.gov/Texas10MostWanted/sexOffenders.aspx
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan  A Soyuz space capsule on Thursday safely delivered an American astronaut making his first space flight and a veteran Russian cosmonaut to the International Space Station.

NASAs Jack Fischer and Russias Fyodor Yurchikhin lifted off from the Russia-leased launch facility in Kazakhstan at 1:13 p.m. Thursday (0713 GMT, 3:13 a.m. EDT). They reached orbit about nine minutes later, a moment illustrated when a stuffed white dog toy hanging from a string in the capsule began to float.

About six hours later, they docked at the orbiting outpost.

NASAs Peggy Whitson, the crews commander, Russias Oleg Novitskiy and Frances Thomas Pesquet greeted Fischer and Yurchikhin with cheers and hugs. They floated into the station two hours after the docking.

Yurchikhin, making his fifth space flight, and Fischer, who is there for the first time, talked to family and friends at the Baikonur facility who were watching the launch there.

Fischers wife thanked him for what she said was the most unexpected bouquet of flowers that she received as he was launching into space. Fischer told his wife she had veteran cosmonaut Yurchikhin to thank for that.

I learnt from the master. Fyodor told me I should be doing that, he said.

The two American astronauts are scheduled to speak with President Donald Trump on Monday. On that day, Wilson, who on a previous mission became the first woman to command the International Space Station, will break the U.S. astronaut record for the most cumulative time in space. Jeffrey Williams currently holds the 534-day record.

At 57, Whitson also is the oldest woman to have been in space. She is scheduled to return to Earth in September.

Fischer and Yurchikhin will spend more than four months aboard the orbiting space station before also returning to Earth in September.
MEXICO CITY  The Mexican government says the deportation of a mother of four U.S.-born children as well as that of a young man brought to the United States as a child violated U.S. rules.

Mexicos Foreign Relations department said Thursday it was assisting Maribel Trujillo, who lived in southwest Ohio after she entered the country illegally in 2002.

The department says a Mexican consulate in the U.S. had also contacted the family of Juan Manuel Montes, who was deported to Mexico despite having permission to be in the U.S. under the so-called dreamer program that shields young immigrants.

The department says the two deportations represent a violation of the stated norms for deportation, given that neither of the Mexican citizens had a criminal record or represented a security risk.
SANTA FE  The Roman Catholic Church is endorsing a proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in New Mexicos state capital city.

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe threw its support Wednesday behind a soda tax of 2 cents per fluid ounce that would go toward expanding prekindergarten programs. Santa Fe voters will decide on the local tax May 2.

In a news release the archdiocese says municipal governments are being left with little choice other than to fund their own early childhood education programs because of a lack of state funding.

Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester previously criticized state lawmakers this year for not approving a proposed constitutional amendment to fund early childhood education with money from a state sovereign wealth fund.
PARIS  A gunman opened fire on police on Paris iconic Champs-Elysees boulevard Thursday night, killing one officer and wounding three people before police shot and killed him. The Islamic State group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack, which hit just three days before a tense presidential election.

Security already has been a dominant theme in the campaign, and the violence on the sparkling avenue threatened to weigh on voters decisions. Candidates canceled or rescheduled final campaign events ahead of Sundays first round vote.

Investigators searched a home early Friday in an eastern suburb of Paris believed linked to the attack. A police document obtained by The Associated Press identifies the address searched in the town of Chelles as the family home of Karim Cheurfi, a 39-year-old with a criminal record.

Police tape surrounded the quiet, middle-class neighborhood in Chelles, and worried neighbors expressed surprise at the searches. Archive reports by French newspaper Le Parisien say that Cheurfi was convicted of attacking a police officer in 2001.

Authorities are trying to determine whether one or more people might have helped the attacker, Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told reporters at the scene of the shooting.

One officer was killed and two police officers were seriously wounded when the attacker emerged from a car and used an automatic weapon to shoot at officers outside a Marks & Spencers department store at the center of the Champs-Elysees, anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins said.

A female foreign tourist also was wounded, Molins said.

The Islamic State groups claim of responsibility just a few hours after the attack came unusually swiftly for the extremist group, which has been losing territory in Iraq and Syria.

In a statement from its Amaq news agency, the group gave a pseudonym for the shooter, Abu Yusuf al-Beljiki, indicating he was Belgian or had lived in Belgium. Belgian authorities said they had no information about the suspect. IS described the shootings as an attack in the heart of Paris.

The attacker had been flagged as an extremist, according to two police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.

Brandet said officers were deliberately targeted, as has happened repeatedly to French security forces in recent years, including preceding the 2012 election.

Police and soldiers sealed off the area, ordering tourists back into hotels and blocking people from approaching the scene.

Emergency vehicles blocked the wide Champs-Elysees, an avenue lined with boutiques and normally packed with cars and tourists that cuts across central Paris between the Arc de Triomphe and the Tuileries Gardens. Subway stations were closed off.

The gunfire sent scores of tourists fleeing into side streets.

They were running, running, said 55-year-old Badi Ftaiti, who lives in the area. Some were crying. There were tens, maybe even hundreds of them.

French President Francois Hollande said he was convinced the circumstances of the attack in a country pointed to a terrorist act. Hollande held an emergency meeting with the prime minister Thursday night and planned to convene the defense council Friday morning.

The incident recalled two recent attacks on soldiers providing security at prominent locations around Paris: one at the Louvre museum in February and one at Orly airport last month.

Speaking in Washington during a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, U.S. President Donald Trump said the shooting looks like another terrorist attack and sent condolences to France.

A French television station hosting an event with the 11 candidates running for president briefly interrupted its broadcast to report the shootings.

Conservative contender Francois Fillon, who has campaigned against Islamic totalitarianism, said on France 2 television that he was canceling his planned campaign stops Friday.

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who campaigns against immigration and Islamic fundamentalism, took to Twitter to offer her sympathy for law enforcement officers once again targeted. She canceled a minor campaign stop, but scheduled another.

Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron offered his thoughts to the family of the dead officer.

Socialist Benoit Hamon tweeted his full support to police against terrorism.

The two top finishers in Sundays election will advance to a runoff on May 7.

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Associated Press Writers Angela Charlton and Raphael Satter in Paris, Jeff Schaeffer and Nadine Achoui-Lesage in Chelles, France, and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.
RACINE  With thousands of water service lines containing toxic lead still in Racines infrastructure, a bill in the state Legislature could make it easier for residents to remove lead pipes.

Under the legislation, local utilities could offer financing  such as grants or low- or no-interest loans  to help offset the cost for property owners to replace lead pipes, which can contaminate drinking water.

Keith Haas, Racine Water Utility general manager, was among those testifying Tuesday in the state Capitol in support of the bill. He said it would provide another tool for public officials to eliminate lead from water.

It represents a middle ground between competing ideas, Haas said: a national push for utilities to replace both public and private lead service lines at the same time, and the state Public Service Commissions position that utilities have no jurisdiction on private property.

This legislation is trying to find common ground, whereby maybe we could all work together and move forward, Haas said.

However, water rates could rise to pay for the financing, which drew objections from business lobbying group Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. Opponents argue large companies would see higher bills and thus indirectly subsidize residential pipe replacements, because those companies water bills are the biggest.

Still, the legislation has bipartisan support. Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, who represents part of Racine County, also testified on the bill Tuesday, saying eradicating lead contamination from water infrastructure has long been a high priority in Kenosha and Racine.

This policy is a common-sense approach that gives utilities the ability to help bridge the finance gap of cost as we continue to overhaul antiquated and dangerous water infrastructure, said Barca, D-Kenosha. He called removing lead pipes one of the most important public health issues of our time.

The Racine Water Utility often removes lead pipes on public land ahead of road construction projects, but Racine still has about 9,300 lead service lines in public right of way and another 10,000 or so on private property, Haas said.

The cost for a private property owner to replace lead pipes is typically about $2,000, he said.
WASHINGTON  Eager for a victory, the White House expressed confidence Thursday that a breakthrough on the mired Republican health care bill could be achieved in the House next week. The chambers GOP leaders, burned by a March debacle on the measure, were dubious and signs were scant that an emerging plan was gaining enough votes to succeed.

During a White House news conference, Trump said progress was being made on a great plan for overhauling the nations health care system, though he provided no details.

We have a good chance of getting it soon, Trump said. Id like to say next week.

The White House optimism is driven largely by a deal brokered by leaders of the conservative Freedom Caucus and the moderate Tuesday Group aimed at giving states more flexibility to pull out of Obamacare provisions. A senior White House official acknowledged that it was unclear how many votes Republicans had, but said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has told the White House that a vote could come together quickly.

Yet GOP lawmakers and aides to party leaders, conservatives and moderates alike were skeptical that the House would vote next week on the health legislation. They cited the higher priority of passing a spending bill within days to avert a government shutdown, uncertainty over details of the developing health agreement and a need to sell it to lawmakers.

Trump said he planned to get both a health care deal and a spending bill.

Many Republicans also expressed doubts that the health care compromise would win over enough lawmakers to put the bill over the top, especially among moderates. The bill would repeal President Barack Obamas health care law and replace it with less generous subsidies and eased insurance requirements.

Every time they move the scrimmage line, you risk losing other people who were yes but this changes them to a no,' Rep. Dan Donovan, R-N.Y., said Thursday of attempts to win over one end of the GOP spectrum without losing votes from the other side. The Staten Island centrist said he remained a no vote, partly because the legislation would increase Medicaid costs for New York Citys five boroughs.

The White House official and most lawmakers and GOP congressional aides who spoke were not authorized to discuss the internal process publicly and insisted on anonymity.

An outline of a deal has been crafted by Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who heads the hard-line Freedom Caucus, and New Jersey Rep. Tom MacArthur, a Tuesday Group leader. Vice President Mike Pence also played a role in shaping that plan, Republicans say.

It would deliver a win to moderates by amending the GOP bill to restore Obamas requirement that insurers cover specified services like maternity care. But in a bid for conservative support, states would be allowed to obtain federal waivers to abandon that obligation.

In addition, states could obtain waivers to an Obama prohibition against insurers charging sick customers higher premiums than consumers who are healthy  a change critics argue would make insurance unaffordable for many. To get those waivers, states would need to have high-risk pools  government-backed insurance for the most seriously ill people, a mechanism that has often failed for lack of sufficient financing.

It looks to me like were headed in the right direction, Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., a Freedom Caucus member, said Thursday. He said that assuming the outline is translated into legislative text he backs and is added to the health care bill, he would now support the legislation and believes most of Freedom Caucus three dozen members would also back it.

The Tuesday Group has roughly 50 members. They dont necessarily vote as a bloc, and it is unclear how many colleagues MacArthur would bring with him to such an agreement.

The White House is anxious to pass legislation quickly, partly because Trump will likely hit his 100th day in office without a having signed a major piece of legislation.

In an interview Thursday with The Associated Press, budget chief Mick Mulvaney said he was surprised at the toxicity levels that have divided the GOP over health care and hoped lawmakers two-week break would prove healing.

But House GOP leaders face the same problem thats plagued them for seven years of trying to concoct a plan for repealing Obamas 2010 law: The partys conservatives and moderates are at odds over how to do it. With Democrats solidly opposed, Republicans can lose no more than 21 House votes to prevail, and Ryan short-circuited a planned vote last month because more than that would have defected.

That was a major embarrassment to Ryan and Trump, and House leaders are loath to bring a revised health care bill to the House floor unless they are convinced it would pass.

Ryan sent a mixed message about the bills prospects in remarks Wednesday to reporters in London.

Its difficult to do. Were very close, he said, adding, Its just going to take us a little time.

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Associated Press writers Julie Bykowicz, Catherine Lucey, Andrew Taylor and Erica Werner contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  World finance leaders on Thursday defended globalization against an assault from President Donald Trump and European populists. They argued that blocking free trade would hobble economic growth instead of saving jobs from foreign competition.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim told journalists that freer trade and more openness were critical for the future of the world.

Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said that the answer to the wave of populism gaining support in many countries was to work for more growth and better growth in the world economy.

Lagarde and Kim spoke at the opening of three days of discussions among global finance leaders representing the 189 countries that are members of the IMF and its sister lending organization, the World Bank.

The spring meetings, which will also include discussions Friday among finance ministers and central bank leaders from the Group of 20 major economic powers, were likely to be dominated by talk over the Trump administrations efforts to reduce Americas huge trade deficits, which Trump during the presidential campaign blamed for the loss of millions of good-paying factory jobs.

The United States will be represented at the meetings by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

Trump tapped into a rising backlash against free trade during the campaign, pledging that he would impose punitive tariffs of up to 45 percent on countries such as China and Mexico which he blamed for pursuing unfair trade practices that were hurting American workers. While he had said that he would brand China a currency manipulator immediately on taking office, the administration sent Congress a report last week that found China was not manipulating its currency.

The Treasury report did put China and five other nations including Japan and Germany on a monitoring list which will subject them to increased consultations aimed at lowering their large trade surpluses with the United States.

The anti-globalization backlash has also shown up in Europe, playing a factor in last summers vote in Britain to exit the European Union, and also in the election campaigns in other countries including this Sundays vote for president in France.

Mnuchin spoke Thursday at a conference sponsored by the Institute of International Finance, an organization representing the worlds biggest banks. He said that the Trump administrations view was that what is good for the U.S. economy is good for the global economy because stronger growth in the United States will have a spillover effect for other nations.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, speaking to a different Washington audience on Thursday, conceded that free trade was currently under attack in ways that could end up being harmful such as Britains move to leave the 28-nation European Union, a process that has been dubbed Brexit.

For both sides this is not a good situation. Its something like a lose-lose situation, not a win-win situation, Schaeuble said. It must be clear that the rest of Europe stands together.

To lift the U.S. economy to growth of 3 percent or higher, up from the 2 percent rates seen in recent years, Mnuchin said the administration was focused on getting tax reform through Congress and also getting rid of unnecessary regulations.

Mnuchin said the administrations tax plan would be released very soon. While Mnuchin had set a goal of getting it passed by the August recess of Congress, that goal has slipped. But he said that the administration still hoped to get a measure through Congress well before the end of the year.

Mnuchin is also working on proposals to overhaul the regulations put in place by the Dodd-Frank Act passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. He said he would have a report with recommendations to present to the president by June that would address the major issues in the drive to revamp the Dodd-Frank law.

Trump has backed away from some of his campaign threats on trade. But on Thursday, he ordered the Commerce Department to speed up an investigation into whether steel imports jeopardize U.S. national security  a move that could lead to tariffs on imported steel from countries such as Canada, Brazil and South Korea.

Lagarde said that the IMF and its member nations needed to protect free, fair and global trade. In an interview Thursday with CNBC, Lagarde said that the goal of all nations should be to promote a level playing field in trade.

In his World Bank news conference, Kim said a recent study showed that of all the job losses that have hit industrial countries in recent years, at most only 20 percent could be blamed on increased trade competition. He said the biggest factor in the job losses was increased automation.

My message is youre not going to bring these old jobs back, Kim said. Every country in the world has to think about how its going to compete in the economy of the future.
PHOENIX  A man who twice struck an injured dog with a sledgehammer as children screamed at him to not kill the animal told investigators later it was a mercy killing, police said Thursday.

The dog suffered a leg injury the evening of April 16 when it was hit by one or maybe two cars and then made its way to the front porch of the home of its owners, who werent home at the time, police said.

The dog was on the porch when 49-year-old Ivan Lawrence brought the 3-foot-long sledgehammer from his nearby home and killed the dog by twice striking it in the head, police said.

A witness reported that two neighborhood children were screaming and yelling at the subject to stop, police said in a probable cause statement.

Somebody called police and responding officers wrote a report. Detectives later investigated, resulting in Lawrences arrest

Lawrence told investigators he euthanized the dog because it was in pain, the statement said. The suspect admitted he was reckless in killing the dog in this manner and with children present to witness it.

Jessie Garcia said he and his family returned home to find their dog, a pit bull named Beau, lying on their homes front porch amid blood.

Garcia told KPNX-TV (https://goo.gl/Vji67T ) that he objected to the familys dog being killed, was confused when police didnt make an immediate arrest but was relieved when they later did.

The officers who initially responded didnt think a law was broken, but animal-cruelty detectives concluded otherwise, said Sgt. Vince Lewis, a Police Department spokesman. Once experts took a second look they determined there was probable cause to arrest the suspect.

Resident Jessica Headley told KNXV-TV (https://goo.gl/pp8oUN ) she was driving in the area when she saw the injured dog and stopped to help.

Headley said she planned to take the dog to a veterinarian and pleaded with the neighbor with the sledgehammer to leave the dog alone.

The last thing the dog saw, Headley said, was some stranger with a sledgehammer, thats horrible.

Lawrence remained jailed Thursday. He didnt have an attorney during an initial court appearance.

A woman believed to be associated with Lawrence did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

During his brief court appearance, a judge set bail conditions that included not having any contact with animals.

I have pets, Lawrence said without elaboration as he asked whether the condition applied from this point on.

Yes, replied Commissioner Paula Williams. Unless another judge decides to change the condition, you may not have any animals under any circumstances.
Ann Taylor Loft at Uptown will close on Saturday.

There is no word yet on the status of Lofts second location at 5901 Wyoming NE. The company did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

A news release from Loft advises customers to shop online at www.loft.com.

This is just the most recent hit for ABQ Uptown. In the last month, the outdoor mall has also lost Bebes and Marcellos Chophouse.
MARION, Ill. (AP)  The flip of a coin on Thursday decided the next leader of a tiny town in southern Illinois after an election earlier this month ended in a tie.

Williamson County Clerk Amanda Barnes said Bryan Riekena let fellow candidate Tammy O'Daniell-Howell choose heads or tails before the coin toss. She picked heads.

Barnes said she let it just fall to the ground and it landed on heads, making O'Daniell-Howell village president in Colp, home to about 250 residents.

After her victory, O'Daniell-Howell said she made a promise to Riekena, that if she won she would work to find a place for him on the village board.

I intend to honor that promise, said the lifelong resident of the village. We need young voices, we need change, and we need growth.

O'Daniell-Howell has been the village clerk since 2009. Riekena describes his occupation as geek. He attended Southern Illinois University on a swimming scholarship and stayed in the area after earning a bachelor's degree in chemistry.

O'Daniell-Howell said her long-term plans for the town include creating a community center, which would also function as a storm shelter.

Barnes said she let both candidates inspect the 2016 North Dakota quarter before she tossed it.

It was the shiniest one I found in the office, she said, adding the event went very smoothly.

The candidates each received 11 votes in the April 4 election. Illinois law calls for coin flips to settle ties.

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Editors note: An earlier version of this story contained incorrect information about the value of out-of-state contracts awarded by the State Investment Council for investment advice.

The state Auditors Office reported last week that more than 80 percent of all government spending on information technology is flowing to out-of-state companies, but that may be just the tip of the iceberg.

The Auditors Office, which is reviewing a total of $4.8 billion spent on 6,800 state and local contracts in fiscal years 2015 and 2016, says many local companies in a range of industries are losing out big time to non-New Mexico firms.

Seventy-nine percent of spending on educational materials, for example, went out of state in the past two years, according to a preliminary analysis of the data. For health and medical procurements, 64 percent left New Mexico. Food services totaled 56 percent, equipment 38 percent, corrections-related spending 36 percent, and maintenance procurements 32 percent.

In corrections, maintenance and food services, we have many local companies that offer those things, but about $400 million went out of state in those areas, state Auditor Tim Keller told the Journal. Theres a lot of money in play that could clearly result in more jobs here if we focus on keeping more of it in New Mexico.

Part of the money going to non-New Mexico firms does flow back into the state economy, because many national companies have local offices here.

But New Mexico could add between 3,000 and 5,000 direct jobs each year by redirecting a portion of out-of-state spending to local firms, Keller said.

A few industries have managed to buck the procurement trend, reversing what the auditor calls trickle-out or leakage spending.

That includes New Mexico-based construction companies, which captured 95 percent of the roughly $2 billion spent by government agencies in the past two years. Architectural and engineering firms won about 88 percent of the nearly $267 million in public procurement in fiscal years 2015 and 2016.

The shining star is construction, Keller said. We do a good job of keeping those tax dollars here.

That likely reflects changes in the state procurement code a few years ago, which closed loopholes that had weakened in-state preferences in bidding on construction contracts, Keller said.

In some industries, New Mexico may not have local professionals capable of supplying the services that large national firms provide. Thats particularly true in financial advising, which forces state agencies to rely on global companies that command huge fees.

Thats understandable, given the huge amounts of money (being managed), Keller said. There are no major players in New Mexico set up for that.

But there are industries with a lot of low-hanging fruit that New Mexico businesses could harvest through more concerted cooperation and effort by government and private entities.

Corrections-related procurements are a prime example. Almost all goods and services currently used in state and local prisons are supplied by out-of-state companies, including health care, food and maintenance. But many local firms could provide a lot of that, Keller said.

Food services are another case in point, given the broad number of local firms potentially available to manage contracts with schools, hospitals and other public institutions.

All told, after eliminating construction and financial advising services from the data, government agencies spent about $3.7 billion on good and services in all industries in fiscal years 2015 and 2016, according to the Auditors Office. Of that, $2.3 billion went to New Mexico suppliers and $1.4 billion to out-of-state companies.

Its unclear how much of the money flowing outward could actually be redirected in-state. The Auditors Office says more government contracts could be awarded through competitive bidding, because sole-source procurement contracts and other exceptions are used for a large percent of state spending.

Public agencies often say services or products can be supplied only by national firms, such as specialized software and hardware for hospitals and educational institutions. But even in those cases, contracts could include mandates for national companies to hire more local employees, Keller said. State-based businesses and educational institutions could also collaborate more to increase skills in the local workforce in critical areas.

Local business executives and IT professionals discussed those issues in a public forum in Albuquerque last Wednesday with the State Auditors Office.

At the forum, Katherine Ulibarri, vice president for finance and operations at Central New Mexico Community College, said leadership is key to changing procurement trends.

We must take responsibility for the collective impact we can have by purchasing locally, Ulibarri said. We have to build the ecosystem through leadership and accepting responsibility.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

EL PASO  U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the borderlands a beachhead against the cartels and suggested that he may seek more resources for federal courts in border jurisdictions like New Mexico that have been swamped by immigration prosecutions.

As I learned firsthand last week in Nogales, it is here, on this sliver of land where we establish a beachhead against the cartels, the transnational street gangs like MS-13, and the human traffickers, Sessions said Thursday at a news conference with local and national press at a federal building less than a mile from the Mexican border.

This is ground zero. This is the front lines, and this is where were making our stand  your stand, on behalf of the people of this country.

Sessions spoke alongside Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who said he and the attorney general are serious about border security and enforcing the nations immigration laws. Their visit was part of a border tour that included a stop in Arizona earlier this month and a scheduled stop in San Diego today.

But Sessions narrative angered some border residents who noted the relative safety of Dona Ana and El Paso counties along the border  where the residents are majority Hispanic and the U.S. Census Bureau reports that foreign-born residents account for 17 percent and 26 percent of the population, respectively.

The strong implication in this press conference was that the border region, including southern New Mexico, is an unsafe place, said Jon Barela, executive director of the regional Borderplex Alliance and a former economic development secretary in New Mexico under Gov. Susana Martinez. That is a false narrative.

Dozens of protesters awaited Sessions and Kellys arrival, chanting Fuera, Sessions  telling the attorney general to get out of El Paso. They held banners and placards with slogans like hugs not walls and the biblical verse I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

Sessions oversees the U.S. Department of Justice, including federal prosecutors in every state and the nations federal court systems, including criminal courts and immigration courts.

The federal court in Las Cruces has for years been swamped by criminal immigration cases  so much so that New Mexicos U.S. Attorneys Office put a cap on immigration prosecutions last June because resources were stretched so thin.

Apprehensions of unauthorized immigrants by Border Patrol in the El Paso sector, which includes New Mexico, more than doubled from 2012 to 2016, rising from 9,678 to 25,634, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics.

Felony prosecutions of illegal re-entry cases, charged when a migrant crosses the border illegally more than once, surged in New Mexico, straining resources in the U.S. attorney offices in Albuquerque and Las Cruces and filling the federal court docket in Las Cruces.

New Mexico ranked third in the nation for criminal immigration prosecutions in February, the latest month for which data are available through Syracuse Universitys TRAC data service. New Mexico ranked ahead of Arizona and California and behind the two districts in Texas.

Its not unusual  in fact, its true  that most border districts have high caseloads per judge, Sessions said. But we could be at a breaking point. If we need more federal judges, well seek them. Ive told the federal prosecutors, if we need more people to prepare those cases and present them in an effective way before the court, we will do that.

Federal judges working on the border typically rank high nationally in terms of caseload, thanks to the large number of felony prosecutions of immigrants. But southern New Mexico federal Judges Robert Brack and Kenneth Gonzales, who handle criminal cases, consistently rank at the top among their peers in border courts.

In comments made earlier this month in Arizona, Sessions committed to increasing the number of judges in the federal immigration court system, which handles cases dealing with asylum and other petitions for immigration relief, but made no mention of the federal criminal courts, which handle felony re-entries and violations of the law.

Accompanied by the local chiefs of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol, CBP and other agencies, Sessions and Kelly were expected to tour border infrastructure in El Paso. They were not scheduled to tour southern New Mexico, where the most recent stretch of 18-foot steel fencing has been erected on the border  part of the more than 500 miles of border wall that already exists.
We come across stories everyday where women face different kinds of violence which hampers their development. But what about such hindrances within the four walls of their homes? India has the maximum number of child brides in the world and even today, 47% of girls in India are married before they turn 18. In such situations, not only their childhood suffers but also their lives are put at a great risk. But sometimes all it takes is proper guidance to encourage young girls to stop being victims of such illegal and unethical practices.

Munni Kumari, a young girl from a small village in Ratlam had a similar life story until Doordarshans Main kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon brought a twist in her life. Munni had to quit her education and drop out of the school in order to get married. But after she watched Main kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon, she successfully convinced her parents to let her study rather than getting her married and joined her school again. But the wave of revolution didnt just stop there. Munnis elder sister-in-law Kalavati was married in her family at a very early age. She had left her education mid-way just like Munni was going to. But when Munni resumed schooling, Kalavati enrolled herself in Class 10th as well.

I witnessed the importance of education in ones life and how it can change everything. After watching Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon, I decided to fight against everything and everyone who stood between me and my education. It was tough as it was not just my family but also the society that I was fighting against. I managed to convince them. After they realised their mistake, they made sure my sister-in-law gets her education too which she was deprived of at an early age.

Now Munni and Kalavati go to the school together and hold the power to change their destinies.

Poonam Muttreja who is the executive director of Population Foundation of India, the producer of the show says, The show and its impact has greatly surpassed our expectation, it definitely reiterates that media is the best and most effective medium for challenging deep rooted social norms. In fact, the data from an independent impact assessment of Season one also showed that PFI got the audience right: 40% of the respondents who watched the series were in the age group of 15-24 years, and half of the married women who watched the series were in the age group of 18-24 years. The series was watched by men (48% of respondents) as much as by women (52% of respondents).

Adds creator and director of the show Feroz Abbas Khan, When I first spoke to Population Foundation of Indias executive director Poonam Muttreja, we were both quite certain that we wanted to create a narrative that is simple, non-preachy, entertaining yet effective. We wanted to initiate the change in mind-sets of our viewers without being in their face.

The show has set a new record for edutainment shows by managing a whopping reach of 400 Million. With the prodigious response that the first and the second season of the show has received, Doordarshan along with PFI, is now looking at the next season which is equally awaited by the audiences.
Fun Foods, part of the German multinational Dr. Oetker has launched a new campaign to promote veg mayo as a key ingredient for making macaroni. The campaign has been conceptualized by Scarecrow Communications, Delhi. The film has been directed by Pinaki Bose of Light Bulb Motion Pictures and features brand ambassador, Sonali Bendre.

The film starts with Sonali Bendre, cast as a mother in the kitchen. When her kids troop in, she greets them with a bowl of macaroni. But the kids arent impressed. Her son asks lackadaisically  Wahi boring red waali? Suddenly a chef appears in the kitchen and offers a solution  a jar of veg mayo and says it can make the macaroni saucy and creamy. Sonali is surprised to find that veg mayo can be used for macaroni. This is followed by macaroni preparation shots and the popular Fun Foods jingle  MmmmmMayoMagic daalo in the food with Fun Foods The kids love the taste and the film ends with a range shot showing other popular variants like Tandoori Mayo, Garlic Mayo, Burger Mayo and Green Mint Mayo.

After its successful launch 2 years ago, this is the 4th film by Fun Foods featuring Sonali Bendre.

The link for TVC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhU7CI--QjM

Credits:

Brand : Dr. Oetker Funfoods Mayonnaise

Client: Oliver Mirza, Gunjan Pandey, Vikhyaat Bansal

Agency: Scarecrow Communications, Delhi

Creative: Raghu Bhat, Iraj Fraz, Aurdhendu Banerji

Account Mgt: Arunava Sengupta, Anuj Mehtani, Vipandeep Singh

Production House: Light Bulb Motion Pictures

Director: Pinaki Bose

Producer: Pagarav Patel

DOP: Zubin Mistry

Music Director: Som Dasgupta

Food stylist: Ivan Fernandes
The 4th edition of the Kyoorius Creative Awards is here, celebrating creative communication brilliance in the fields of Digital, Advertising and Media. The curtain has risen and the all-star jury panel for the Media category has been unveiled.

The Media jury will be headed by. Shashi Sinha, the Chief Executive Officer of IPG Mediabrands. Shashi started his career as the product manager of Parle. He set up Lodestar in the early 90s. In October 2012, he was made the CEO of IPG Mediabrands and was faced with the task of bringing together a diverse group while making it future ready. Shashi took the role and made it wider  he worked on making the entire industry future ready by participating and leading various industry organisations to look beyond their traditional beliefs.

The panel of judges, also consists of a line-up of creative geniuses namely Vikram Sakhuja (Group Chief Executive Officer, Madison Media & OOH at Madison World), Prasanth Kumar (Chief Executive Officer South Asia, Mindshare), Kasper Aakerlund (Chief Executive Officer, IPG Mediabrands, Hong Kong), Susanna Cousins (Director of Strategy, MEC) and Rahul Welde (Global VP Digital Transformation, Unilever).

Talking about the Media category, Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder and CEO of Kyoorius, said, Disruption is all around us. Media agencies are paving the way for marketing innovation and they are beginning in their own backyard, by re-inventing themselves. Marketers are looking to bridge the gap between content and consumers by devising effective solutions for brands. Creativity is stemming from innovation, and innovation is the disruptor.

Kyoorius Creative Awards 2017, is featuring the Media category for the second year, after its successful debut in 2016. The Awards felicitate outstanding talent which seamlessly integrates idea and craft to create superior artistry and craftsmanship. The Jurys exceptional calibre and experience acknowledges the importance our awards and its place in the creative arts, said Kejriwal.

The awards invite participation from advertising, digital, media and mobile agencies, production houses, event management companies, photographers, brands, corporates, NGOs and even individuals.

The Open Jury Sessions will be held between May 11th and 13th, 2017 at Ecole Intuit Lab, Mumbai. This innovative session will invite people from the industry and media to attend the jury sessions, to learn and benefit from the discussions and the entries showcased.

While entries for awards will close on 19th April 2017, 26th April 2017 will be the last day to submit physical entries. The Kyoorius Creative Awards ceremony will be held on Friday, June 2nd 2017 at the Dome, NSCI in Mumbai.
MOUNT PLEASANT  A foster father has been arrested and charged with physical abuse of a child after he reportedly admitted to shaking his 5-month-old foster child on March 29.

Sean McIntosh, 44, of the 300 block of Oregon Street, admitted to shaking the child and was charged April 13 with abuse of a child causing great bodily harm, a felony.

Initially, the victim was placed in foster care due to a previous incident of abuse, a skull fracture, at a home in Union Grove, according to the Racine County Sheriffs Office.

Mount Pleasant Police Lt. Scott Geyer said it is unfortunate that a child would endure so much alleged abuse at such a young age.

Its a tragedy, Geyer said. As adults we are charged with the responsibility of the safety and well being of all children. We remind ourselves everyday how important that is.

According to the criminal complaint, a Childrens Hospital physician discovered new bleeding on the brain, retinal hemorrhaging and a new skull fracture when the child arrived at the hospital.

McIntosh turned himself into police earlier this month and was officially charged last week. He made his initial appearance in court Thursday and had his bond set at $1,500 cash and received a $23,500 signature bond as well, according to court records.

According to the complaint, McIntosh was playing with the child for two hours after his wife left for work. When the child became inconsolable, McIntosh said he lost it and shook the child four or five times.

Police said McIntosh told them he felt overwhelmed and had been working 12-hour days. He also admitted that he shook the child forcefully enough to do damage.

Racine County Human Services Department oversees the foster care for the county. Racine County Chief of Staff M.T. Boyle declined to comment, citing the countys policy of not commenting on child abuse cases.

McIntosh has a previous conviction of battery in 1999.

If convicted of the new charge, McIntosh could see 25 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

McIntosh is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on April 27 in Racine County Circuit Court.
Airbnb, the worlds leading community-driven hospitality company, has today launched its latest marketing campaign in India, Live There, designed to encourage people to change the way they experience the world around them. Coupled with the companys recent Trips launch in the country, Airbnb urges travelers to experience a different side of a city, immersing themselves in communities through the eyes of locals.

The Live There campaign inspires travellers to reimagine the way they travel, showcasing authentic, curated experiences made possible through Airbnb and its people-powered community. The Live There TVC was shot in Paris and will be aired as 15-second, 30-second and 60-second versions across a variety of channels and platforms including print, digital, out-of-home, and social media.

The campaign firmly emphasizes Airbnbs global mission to ensure that people feel they Belong Anywhere. Urging guests to break away from mundane travel experiences by discovering destinations through the eyes of local residents, the new campaign aims to connect millions of hosts and guests around the world to participate in immersive travel experiences.

Speaking on the launch of the campaign in India, Amanpreet Bajaj, Country Manager, Airbnb India said, The way people travel is transforming as people increasingly seek more meaningful travel itineraries, and wish to have unique and personalized experiences. Live There embodies the philosophy that the best way to discover new places when we travel is to be able to live the way locals do. We hope that, with Airbnb, Indian travelers are inspired to make the most of their travel experiences and can truly immerse themselves in the culture of a city like a local.

He adds, With the recent launch of Trips in India, Airbnb is striving to take travel to the next level by making it more experiential and magical. Trips offer travelers unprecedented access to local places and interests guided by the people who make communities unique - the locals.

Juliana Nguyen, Regional Brand Marketing Director, APAC at Airbnb said, Through Live There, we are urging people to think outside of the box when traveling to a new city by living in the heart of local neighbourhoods and experiencing the hospitality and interests of hosts. We want them to not just go to a city or stay in a city, but live there and experience it, exactly how a local would do.

TVC can be viewed here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaxJar8rksI.
The Federal Council

Bern, 20.04.2017 - Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer as Head of the Swiss delegation, Federal Councillor Johann N. Schneider-Ammann and Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, will take part in the joint Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group in Washington, D.C., from 21 to 23 April 2017. Prior to these meetings, Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer will represent Switzerland at the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors.

In its latest forecasts for 2017, the IMF is reckoning with a global economic growth of approximately 3.5%. The slightly higher forecast is due primarily to the higher projected growth rates for advanced economies. However, the brighter economic outlook and the current financial market optimism are also subject to risks according to the IMF: these include protectionist tendencies, an abrupt reversal of cash flows, a softening of financial market regulation and weaknesses in the financial system. In addition, there are non-economic risks and particularly geopolitical ones.

Represented by Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer, Switzerland will support the IMF's calls for structural reforms designed to secure economic growth and make it more broadly based. In this respect, it is important to involve the people in important economic policy decisions. The reforms need to include efforts to improve public finance management.

At the international level, Switzerland is committed to cooperation. In the process, it also works to ensure that the agreed measures to boost financial stability are not jeopardised. The finance ministers and central bank governors will additionally discuss the issue of the size and structure of the global financial safety net to prevent and respond to future crises.

The key topics up for discussion by the World Bank Group include the strategic orientation of the World Bank within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, governance issues and a possible capital increase. Switzerland will urge the World Bank Group to gear its activities towards its core areas of expertise and to focus on its strategic priorities. Moreover, it will encourage the World Bank to examine options other than a possible capital increase to improve its financial capacity.

In Washington, Federal Councillor Johann N. Schneider-Ammann will sign two bilateral programmes and a global programme with the World Bank Group. The programmes are designed to better integrate developing economies in world trade (trade facilitation), boost public finance reform processes (PEFA  Public Expenditure Financial Accountability Tool) and improve the fiscal policy framework in Indonesia.

Address for enquiries

Peter Minder, Head of FDF Communications

Tel. +41 79 437 73 61, peter.minder@gs-efd.adfmin.ch



Daniel Birchmeier, Head of Multilateral Cooperation, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO

Tel. + 41 58 464 08 19, daniel.birchmeier@seco.admin.ch



Nicole Ruder, Head of the Global Institutions Division, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC

Tel. +41 58 462 00 77, nicole.ruder@deza.admin.ch

Publisher

The Federal Council

https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html



Federal Department of Finance

https://www.efd.admin.ch/efd/en/home.html



Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research

http://www.wbf.admin.ch



Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html




We can help you make sense of the agribusiness industry, extending from chemicals and fertilizers used as inputs into agriculture, to the commodities, food and by-products that are an output to farming, with policy and regulation applied at every step of the value chain.
A report which came through yesterday noted that Google is reportedly planning to introduce a new ad-blocker to its Chrome browser. According to the details, the ad-blocker would be available on both mobile and desktop versions of Chrome. Now, and in spite of there still being no formal confirmation from Google on the blockers existence, Margrethe Vestager, who is better known as the European Commissioner for Competition, has already made it clear that the European Commissions competition authorities will be paying closer attention to the new feature.

While not necessarily made as a formal announcement, Vestager providing the confirmation by way of Twitter and in response to a question from a reporter. Vestager specifically stated in the tweet that We will follow this new feature and its effects closely. Highlighting that in spite of the reports on the feature not even being acknowledged by Google (let alone confirmed), it is already one that is raising concerns for the EU authorities. Of course, Vestager (and the European Commission in general) is no stranger to paying closer attention to Google, as they have already leveled charges at Google on multiple occasions. So it does stand to reason that if the anticompetitive authorities in Europe do feel there is something untoward about this feature, they will be quick and likely to act on it.

In terms of the actual ad-blocker, details are still somewhat limited. However, the previous report did highlight that Google might be planning on unveiling the feature within weeks and that it could be activated by default in Chrome. Which is likely what the EU regulators will be most concerned with, as if the understanding is correct, if Google default activate an ad-blocker in its own browser it might prove to be anticompetitive when it comes to other third-party ad-blockers. As they would presumably be unlikely to establish a presence anymore within Chrome. Although, there is some discrepancy still on how much of ad-blocker this actually would be. As the reports on this seem to suggest that the blocker would only block bad ads or at least, what Google considers to be bad ads. Which in itself is another aspect that is likely to draw attention from the EU Commission. As Google could become in a position where it could view ads related to its own ads network as good ads, and others as bad.
Google has today announced the release of what it refers to as a new experimental VR film called Tabel. The name is a play on the word table as that is essentially where the focus of the film lies. More specifically, tables. A busy restaurant is the backdrop for the movie and the film plays out in the first-person perspective with the viewer seated at one of the restaurants tables. The storyline then unfolds by the viewer listening in on the conversations that are happening on tables nearby. Where the experimental aspect comes in, is that at some level this is an interactive movie. While the focus of the story is placed on the tables around the viewer, the viewer is able to selectively listen to the table (and thereby, the conversation) that they want to, at any point. By making use of a unique audio technique the viewer (or listener) just has to turn their head in the direction of any of the individual tables, and they will be able to just listen in to that conversation  not dissimilar (although probably less discreet) than what someone might actually do in a similar real-life situation.

However, there is another dimension to this video and while it designed to showcase the unique audio technique in play, the video is also intended to highlight the effects of climate change in the lead up to Earth Day. This is the more serious message that Google is trying to get through, although it a more subtle way. While the viewer tunes into the conversations happening around them, the viewer will also be made privy to the unfolding of the meltdown of the restaurant. A situation which occurs while everyone else is too busy with their own dialogue to notice. With the underlying message being that most people are too busy to notice the effects of climate change happening around them.

For those interested in checking out the new film, this is one which Google has looked to make as widely available as possible. Although, Google does note that a specific focus was placed on viewing the film through a mobile browser, thanks to its creation in WebVR. In either case, it can be viewed in 360 through a VR headset, on a mobile device along with Google Cardboard or Daydream View, or simply through a Chrome browser. Head through the link below to directly start viewing the film, or hit play below to check out the trailer first.
Last week a Samsung representative in India revealed that the highly anticipated Android 7.0 Nougat update will be launched on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge in the country in a weeks time. Right on schedule, reports from India now confirm that both the Samsung Galaxy S6 and its sibling, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, are making the jump to Android 7.0 Nougat OS thanks to an OTA (over-the-air) update, promising battery life and performance improvements, along with the addition of new features and a reworked user interface.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge have already received the Android 7.0 Nougat update in several regions including Europe, and now the duo is apparently enjoying the same treatment in India, according to a recent report passed along by Fonearena. The software package for the Samsung Galaxy S6 carries build number G920IDVU3FQD1 and weighs 1.23GB, while the update for the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is identified as build number G925IDVU3FQD1 and has a size of 1.24 GB. Feature-wise, the update brings a new Doze mode for improved battery management, better overall performance, a new performance mode allowing users to increase the displays brightness by 10%, and various changes to the user interface, including a reworked notification shade with Quick Settings toggles. The update also includes a new blue light filter which helps reducing eyestrain when reading or watching content on the display at night or in the dark. Productivity-oriented users can look forward to the addition of Multi-Window mode, which allows two applications to run simultaneously in a split-screen environment. Lastly, Android 7.0 Nougat for the Samsung Galaxy S6 devices includes the Android OS security patch for March, and is pre-loaded with Samsungs Game Launcher application, offering new tools for mobile gaming enthusiasts including a screenshot and record feature.

As per the usual case, the update is distributed on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge in India over-the-air (OTA), meaning that some units will receive the update notification earlier than others. The process is gradual and the updates reaches should continue to expand in the coming days. Eligible Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge owners can also attempt to trigger the update manually from within the phones settings menu under the About device section.
Android Wear 2.0 brings a ton of new features and Google has now updated the Android Wear support page with a list of watches that currently have the software, watches that should be getting it soon, and watches that wont be getting an update at all. The second generation Moto 360 and its Sport variant, the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE, the Huawei Watch and the Ladies version, as well as the ASUS ZenWatch 2 and ZenWatch 3, are all shown as due for an update to Android Wear 2.0. Google does not give exact dates that updates are expected for each one, instead saying that these smartwatches will be receiving their updates sometime between the end of April and late May. The Huawei Watch is a notable member of that list; it got its update to Android Wear 2.0 last month, but that update was pulled due to a bug.

Among the older watches that wont be getting an update, Google lists the original LG G Watch, the Samsung Gear Live, the Sony Smartwatch 3, the original Moto 360, and the original ASUS ZenWatch. All of these sport 512MB of RAM and most run on a fairly powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, but are all getting a bit long in the tooth, having all been released back in the platforms inaugural year of 2014, save for the fairly young Sony Smartwatch 3, which came out in 2016. Sony confirmed a while back that the Sony Smartwatch 3 would not get Android Wear 2.0, and popular speculation pegged the Broadcom processor as the cause.

The page also contains a handy list of all Android Wear 2.0 smartwatches currently available, whether they had the software when they first came out, like the LG Watch Sport, or got it via an update, like the Tag Heuer Connected. Instructions for those smartwatch owners who are awaiting the update are pretty simple; just ensure that the watch is on its charger overnight, while paired up to an Android phone, with the newest version of the Android Wear app. Google rounds out the support page by stating that all new Android Wear smartwatches coming out from here on will come running on Android Wear 2.0.
Google is rumored to be giving Chrome an ad-blocker in a future update according to a new report. Judging by the details this wouldnt necessarily be a full-blown ad blocker that nixes every ad on every website, rather it sounds like its meant to provide users a small filter for the ads that might give them a bad experience. According to the rumor bad-experience ads would not be decided upon by Google, but instead would be categorized by the standards laid out by the Coalition for Better Ads, and the new ad-blocking feature in Chrome would be coded to recognize these types of ads so that when found they would be able to prevent users from having to see them.

Googles plans for the ad-blocking feature reportedly include both its desktop and mobile versions of the popular browser, which would mean that users on Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, and Mac would have access to it, but it is worth noting that no OS platforms were rumored as of yet and there is no detail on whether or not Google would launch the feature on all the platforms where Chrome is available simultaneously, or if they would roll it out in stages. Its also possible that the feature may not actually make it into the browser on the various planned platforms as its also noted that Google isnt sure yet whether theyll be implementing it. If they do end up introducing it though an announcement for the feature could be just a few weeks away, albeit without a time frame given for an actual launch. Release details may surface in the weeks ahead if Google makes the announcement about the filters existence.

While the feature is being described as a filter of only a certain set of ad types, some websites could face having all of their ads blocked even if only a few ads are offensive. Its said that Google may choose to design the feature so that it blocks out all ads on a particular website if it detects that there is even a single ad that could cause a bad experience. If this functionality is worked in then it could force website to ensure they provide a better ad experience for site visitors. With a launch of the filter Google could entice users to stick with Googles option as opposed to finding and installing any number of other ad blockers which tend to filter out everything.
Reports that some Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus units displays are a bit more red than they should be have garnered a response from DisplayMates Raymond Soneira, who says that the problem is likely due to miscalibration, and can be fixed very easily within the phones settings. Thanks to the variable color gamut of Samsungs newest flagship duo, they come with options to tweak things like white balance, display temperature, and even entire preset display profiles right in the settings. Samsung made an official statement saying that this is not actually a defect, and it seems that Soneira agrees. According to him, those settings are the key to fixing the alleged reddening issue, and it can be done in just a few seconds by any user, without having to take any extra steps.

In the Galaxy S8s display settings, there are options to set White Point, Color Balance, and Blue Light Filter, among other options. In most cases, the way the screen is calibrated out of the box may see these values tweaked a bit from their default, or conversely, could see the default settings showing a bit more red tint on the screen than should be there. In either case, simply adjusting these settings until the screen looks right, or even just choosing a different display profile preset, should do the trick. If thats not the case, then a units OLED panel might just be defective, but Soneira says that the chances of this are extremely low.

Soneira explains in a separate article about the display that the deep red OLED layer in the display should not be affected by changes to the displays White Point on their own, and that the bug could just as easily be a side effect of the special diamond pixel texture in use with this display, which has twice as many green subpixels as a typical layout, and could perceivably throw off the red balance for some users. As mentioned above, he did say that defective panels may make up some part of the flood of reports going around the internet about Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus units having red-tinted screens out of the box, but the likelihood here is pretty low, given Samsungs OLED manufacturing processes and track record.
MOUNT PLEASANT  A Mount Pleasant woman was arrested after allegedly driving four children to the movies while intoxicated.

Jillian Condill, 34, of the 1400 block of College Avenue was charged Wednesday with four counts of operating while intoxicated with a minor in the vehicle.

According to the criminal complaint:

Mount Pleasant police pulled over Condills vehicle at 4:35 p.m. Tuesday on Highway 20 near 90th Street, after being dispatched for a report of a reckless driver.

Condill said she was taking the three 12-year-olds and one 13-year-old to the movies at the time of the traffic stop.

Condill allegedly told police she was on numerous medications and drank a vodka and Sprite an hour earlier. Police found a drinking cup with vodka in the console under a blanket.

Police said Condill was unable to perform a field sobriety test and was given a preliminary breath test that showed her blood alcohol concentration at 0.275, according to the report.

Condill was transported to Ascension All Saints where a blood sample was collected, and was arrested.

Her cash bond was set at $1,000, and as of Wednesday evening she remained in the Racine County Jail, according to online records.

Condill has a previous OWI conviction in Illinois from 2006.
RACINE COUNTY  Early Thursday mornings storm caused power outages, downed wires, uprooted trees, snapped utility poles, overturned a semitrailer and caused road closures throughout the county.

Most of the winds were straight-line winds, Sarah Marquardt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sullivan, said. Racine was the area hardest hit. But, Marquardt added that a 50-mph wind gust was recorded in Burlington.

Racine County residents reported a wide variety of damage caused by the storm, including a demolished metal barn on Four Mile Road and Highway V in Caledonia and utility poles snapped on Highway H near Highway G, also in Caledonia. A tree also fell on a home in Raymond, causing an electrical fire inside the home.

At approximately 2:08 a.m., a semitrailer tipped on its side on the median of Interstate 94 just south of Seven Mile Road, according to Sheriffs Lt. Steve Sikora. The driver had no major injuries but was transported to Ascension All Saints Hospital in Racine.

Tree topples on

Merrie Lane

A downed tree on Merrie Lane was also reported. Racine resident Bob Huth said his power went out right about the time the winds hit the old farm house he lives in the 100 block of Merrie Lane, just east of the hospital and south of Spring Street.

The wind blew my wind out at about 2 in the morning, Huth said. I thought it was a tornado. Thats how loud it was. It sounded like a train. I look out my other window and I saw the tree down.

Dale Larsky, owner of Custom Lawn Care, said the tree was at least 70 years old. If it went the other way it would have taken the house down, Larsky said.

Larskys covered work trailer was blown across the street into the neighbors yard. It had a couple of lawn mowers and riding lawn mower in it, Larsky said.

Utility work continues

We Energies officials said more than 24,000 southeastern Wisconsin customers experienced power outages and the company worked to restore power throughout the day.

According to the We Energies website, approximately 1,301 utility customers in Racine County, and approximately 4,800 in southeastern Wisconsin, were without power as of 2 p.m. Thursday.

Downed poles were reported in the Yorkville and Union Grove area near highways 45 and C. As of early Thursday afternoon, Highway 45 remained closed in both directions between Highway A and Church Road due to a utility emergency.

Shortly after noon in Caledonia, police closed Highway H from Four Mile Road to Six Mile Road as We Energies replaced a line of utility poles that fell shortly after 2:30 a.m.

There are a lot of crews out there, so we want people to be careful driving in the area, We Energies spokesman Brian Manthey said. Crews will be working throughout the day. There is a varying amount of damage, and a lot of utility poles need to be addressed.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. A regular Cabinet meeting was held on April 20, chaired by Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan. Before discussing the agenda, the Prime Minister gave a number of instructions, Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Government of Armenia.

With a view to properly organizing garbage collection and sanitation operations, the Head of Government noted as follows: Our surveys carried out as part of the recommendation issued on February 16 concerning the Clean Armenia initiative have revealed that landfills alone extend on more than 430 hectares. We can witness lack of proper control in waste management, incomplete cleaning of cities and villages; garbage can be seen on roads and roadside areas, etc. The situation is catastrophic, and I think that all of you have noticed it. I should note that this is chiefly due to governors and community leaders years-long poor performance, shortcomings and, in many cases, neglect of duty. They are responsible not only for proper organization of sanitation and garbage collection activities, but also for dealing with the piles of garbage, colleting the scattered garbage and shutting down the irregular landfills. Therefore, all these problems must be included in the regional and community development programs.

Proceeding from the policy of making Armenia attractive and comfortable for everybody, given the inadmissibility of the situation, Karen Karapetyan announced that the Clean Homeland program should be launched right away. He gave the heads of executive agencies 2 months to work out a program of necessary measures to ensure systemic collection and sanitation in the territories under their jurisdiction. The Prime Minister ordered them to develop a strict monitoring toolkit.

Justice Minister Arpine Hovhannisyan was told to submit within two months a comprehensive package of legislative initiatives on legal responsibility for failures in garbage removal, as well as on application of stricter administrative sanctions and criminal responsibility, if necessary. The Premier stressed the need for extending the scope of enforcing entities.

The Prime Minister gave the Chief of Police a months time to prevent the throwing of the household waste in unforeseen places in cooperation with the traffic police and patrol forces. The Minister of Territorial Administration and Development was instructed to discuss within a months time with governors and community leaders the possibility of including in regional and community programs clearly defined measures for implementation and control of sanitation activities. It was also instructed to ensure the widest possible awareness of Clean Armenia program, in partnership with international and local organizations, as well as carry out overall coordination of the project.

The Prime Minister gave instructions regarding the monitoring and accountability in the field of road building, consolidated route network development and use of subsoil.

In order to enforce the requirements defined by the law On Amending the Law on Excise Duty, the meeting amended two previous government decisions. The law stipulates that from January 1, 2017, taxpayers can submit excise stamp purchase applications electronically.

The Government approved the procedure and a timetable for payment of tax authority-calculated amounts of royalties. The new regulation suggests that as agreed between the parties, the payment of additional royalties may be on a fixed or flexible basis.

The Government decided to abolish the requirement for foreigners to fill in an application form with a view to getting an entry visa. At the same time, the decision implies that foreigners will only have to lodge a written application instead of filling in an application form should they wish to renew or extend the entry visas issued in Armenias diplomatic missions and consular offices.



The Government decided to move the working day of May 8, 2017 over to the Saturday of May 20, 2017.
AMG

kW

The current 340i will make room for the M340i and it seems that a prototype of the "warm" model is not testing on the Nurburgring - sticking to the Green Hell decibel theme we discussed earlier today, some of you might found the intake part of the test vehicle's soundtrack odd.The M340i should receive the new B58 3.0-liter turbocharged straight-six that has turned the 2017 M240i into a shining performer. The four-door should allow its driver to play with 340 ponies and 369 lb-ft (500 Nm), which would put the performance somewhere in between what the E46 and the E90 M3 had to offer.Thanks to the newcomer, the Bavarian automaker will finally be able to fight the now-turbocharged Audi S4 and the Mercedes-C43.Other powerplant goodies that should be introduced on the next-gen 3 Series include a 48V system powering an electric compressor, as well as a new regenerative braking feature being able to go past the 20point.Engines aside, the G20 3er is expected to feature fresh technology that will gift it with sweet dynamics, such as active rear steering and active stabilizer bars. Factor in the torsional rigidity benefits of the new CLAR platform and you'll end up with one bend-thirsty sedan.The 2019 BMW 3 Series news is not all positive, though. For instance, the automaker is expected to drop the Touring body style in North America, with the poor sales having affected the business case of the family-friendly version.Returning to the prototype that has been flying on the Green Hell this week, the test car didn't appear to be bothered by the snow flakes that showed up at the infamous German track.
SUV

The anniversary vehicle was a Quattroporte GranSport, which was manufactured in the Grugliasco plant in Italy. Its client is a successful young lady, who was not named by Maserati officials.The delivery ceremony was performed on the stage of the 2017 Shanghai Auto Show , where the car was also exhibited for all to see.Solid white is the exterior color, while its interior is covered in tan leather. The look is matched with 21-inch Titano rims, complemented by red brake calipers. Reid Bigland, the Head of Maserati, was present at the event, handing the keys to the honored owner.The premium brand from Italy recorded a 91% year-on-year sales growth in 2016 for the Quattroporte in this market. Last year, 42,100 Maseratis were delivered in China, which is an important aspect for a manufacturer with small volumes.The carmaker has been present in the country since 2004, and it appears that the customer base aooreciates its products.The representatives of the firm remember their first year in China, when they only sold 100 units. Since then, things have moved at an accelerated pace, and the company also celebrates a diversity of clients, out of whom 38% are women.FCAs premium division was present in Shanghai with the recently refreshed line-up, in the form of the Ghibli Quattroporte , and Levante . The latter is the first-everfrom this brand, with other products to follow it.Since SUVs are popular across the world, China included, we should expect MAserati to celebrate a new milestone in deliveries and sales next year.The carmaker also presented the Levante Augmented Reality Experience, which is a proposition for potential customers to explore the Maserati's first SUV in a VR environment. The gear was developed with Googles Tango Technology, and it gives users an idea of how their next car could look on the inside with their selected accessories and trim options.
HP

kWh

The vehicle is called Project Portal, and it is a fully functional Class 8 truck that runs on electricity produced by its hydrogen fuel cell system Its powertrain develops 670and a peak torque of 1,325 lb-Ft (1,796 Nm), and it delivers that without any emissions or lag because it has electric motors.Toyota has already demonstrated that its prototype is quicker than a comparable diesel when acceleration is concerned, and their test involved a head to head comparison with a load of 35,000 lbs (15,875 kg).The hydrogen fuel cell vehicle managed to out-accelerate its diesel counterpart by a significant difference, and this would prove helpful in the real world, as well as when driving on a slope.Two fuel cell stacks from the Mirai have been placed in the tractor to power this truck, and they serve a 12battery. The latter is relatively small, but it gets the job done without any concerns.The vehicle powered by the Mirai 's drivetrain has a gross combined weight capacity of 80,000 lbs, which means 36,288 kilograms.Filling up its tanks with hydrogen will provide a driving range of 200 miles (321 kilometers), which is not that impressive when compared with a conventional vehicle, but it is more than enough for regular drayage operation. If the term mentioned is unfamiliar, it refers to the transportation of goods over short distances, like unloading a cargo ship.The Japanese automaker has explained that Project Portal is just one direction of development, and that its result will be exercised in a feasibility test at the Port of Los Angeles Once Project Portal evolves to a production-ready vehicle, Toyota will probably have to partner up with a traditional truck maker to offer a commercially available product. Kenworth , the manufacturer of the tractor that has been converted to run on hydrogen, could be a viable option.
ExxonMobil is asking the Trump administration for a waiver so it can return to work in Russia despite sanctions leveled after President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2014.

In a scoop, the Wall Street Journal reports that the oil giant filed its waiver request with the US Treasury Department, and not the State Department, which is led by former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson.

Why this matters: If granted, the waiver would erode one of the most powerful American levers against Russia in terms of getting it to pull back from Ukraine. Russia relies on oil and natural gas exports for a majority of its government income, but the current generation of oilfields will start to peter out in the coming decade.

The fields on which Exxon has been workingdeepwater fields in the Arctic, and the Bazhenov shale in Siberiaare meant to carry the Russian economy starting in the 2020s and beyond. The waiver appears to cover work in the Black Sea, which is also a primary target of next-generation Russian interest. But it could be a wedge into a broader revival of work including the Arctic and the shale.
Nearly 1 in 4 links shared by social media users in France in the days leading up to elections contained fake news, according to a new study published by U.K.-based firm Bakamo on Wednesday.

Winners: Much of it favored anti-E.U. candidates  both on the far right and far left  and revealed hints of Russian influence.

This sounds familiar: The trend exhibits the powerful role that fake news can play on public opinion ahead of elections, and harkens back to Russian meddling in the US election.

Intriguing data points:
MADISON  A federal grand jury added another charge Wednesday against Joseph Jakubowski, who eluded police for about 10 days after allegedly breaking into a Janesville gun shop and issuing an anti-government manifesto that police said made threats against prompted closures of some public buildings.

Jakubowski, 32, of Janesville, appeared in U.S. District Court last week on a charge of theft from a federally-licensed gun dealer. On Wednesday, a grand jury in Madison added a charge of possession of firearms and silencers by a felon.

No charges were issued related to the content of a 161-page manifesto that Jakubowski mailed to President Donald Trump, which criticized the government, law enforcement and religion. The manifesto was interpreted by some as threatening, enough to temporarily cancel the Easter Egg Hunt at the Governors Mansion, which went on as originally planned on Saturday.

Jakubowski is charged with stealing 18 guns and two silencers from Armageddon Supplies in Janesville on April 4. Afterward, he burned his car. Jakubowski eluded police until Friday, when he was arrested in a dense wooded area near Readstown in Vernon County, where a property owner found him camping.

Jakubowski will remain in custody at the Rock County Jail until his arraignment in U.S. District Court, which is scheduled for April 25.

Each charge of the two charges against Jakubowski carries up to 10 years in federal prison.

Jakubowski also faces charges in Rock County Circuit Court, and appeared there by video on Monday, telling a court commissioner you cant tell me what to do as a free individual.
Gov. Scott Walker is open to amending a private school tuition tax benefit, two-thirds of which is going to families making more than $100,000 a year, though he isn't seeking any particular changes himself.

In January the State Journal wrote about how the state is spending $8 million a year to subsidize private school tuition for families making more than $100,000.

Urban Milwaukee wrote about the issue this week, citing the State Journal report and pointing out that Walker and Republican legislative leaders at the time didn't respond to a request for comment or articulate their rationale for the tax benefit.

In 2013, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald told the State Journal the tax benefit would boost private schools, which lift a "huge tax burden on the state" by educating thousands of students.

But as Urban Milwaukee points out, many of the families using the subsidy are already sending their children to private school, such as the University School of Milwaukee, where tuition is $18,835 for first grade and $26,065 for 12th grade.

The State Journal asked Walker about the issue in early February but didn't report his response at the time because the state budget and other issues took precedence.

Asked why the state was spending $8 million to subsidize private school for rich people, Walker said: "We're not."

"We dont distinguish one way or the other based on income," Walker said. "But your question makes it sound like we target them. We dont."

Pressed on how Department of Revenue data show two-thirds of the benefit is going to families making more than $100,000, Walker said "that might be an issue of discussion in the future."

Later, when asked again to explain the goal of using $8 million to subsidize private school for those in the top 13 percent of wage earners, rather than targeting it at middle-income families who don't already send their students to private school, Walker said "that very likely will be what some lawmakers consider."

"I think when they originally put it in they were just trying to make it affordable for people and families that chose to send their sons and daughters to private school without regard to income, not having an idea what the spread would be," Walker said. "If they tied that in to then using those dollars to expand the number of low-income families that could then get vouchers, so its in the same spirit, that would be interesting to me."

Under a 2013 state budget provision, families sending students to private school can reduce their adjusted gross income by up to $10,000 for high school tuition and up to $4,000 for elementary school tuition. The private school tuition exclusion, similar to an exclusion for a retirement account contribution, reduces a tax filers income before deductions and credits are applied, so the actual amount in tax savings is a few hundred dollars per tax filer. Unlike a tax deduction, filers dont have to itemize to benefit from it.

In 2015 a total of 20,560 tax filers making more than $100,000 claimed the exclusion, receiving a tax cut of about $388 per filer, according to DOR. Another 16,750 filers earning less than $100,000 claimed the exclusion. Their average tax savings was $235.
Modified On May 19, 2017 01:16 PM By Khan Mohd. for Hyundai Xcent

The Xcent facelift gets more appealing front and rear profile, a new engine and a new variant, the E+

The 2017 Hyundai Xcent facelift has finally been launched at Rs 5.38 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). With its first ever update, the Xcent looks quite different, especially from the front. You cannot ignore the large, single-frame cascading grille with chrome lining at the front in the Xcent facelift. Unlike its predecessor, one can now easily differentiate the Grand i10 facelift (on which it is based) and the new Xcent, as the former continues to get a pair of grilles at the front. But is the change limited only to the front fascia? Lets dig deeper to know more.

Design

The most noticeable change in design that instantly catches your attention is the big single-frame grille. Instead of the black slats and thin chrome lining on the grille, the facelift now gets five prominent chrome slats with thick chrome garnishing all around. Just like its refreshed hatchback sibling, the Xcent facelift gets daytime running LEDs, placed in the fog lamp housing.

Since it is a facelift, the side profile of the compact sedan is exactly the same as that of the outgoing Xcent. The only change is the addition of hubcaps, replacing the full wheel covers in lower trims.

Just like the front, the new Xcent gets a redesigned rear profile as well. It gets a revamped bumper, wraparound tail lamps, broad chrome applique flanked by tail lamps, a new boot lid and a shark-fin antenna. Overall, this time the Xcent looks sharper than its predecessor.

Features

While the previous Xcent was available in four variants, the facelift gets five, with the E+ being the newly added variant. Also, the base variant gets rebadged as the E trim. To know what the different Xcent variants offer, head over to this story.

With respect to features, the new Xcent gets a host of segment-first features such as a new 7-inch AV touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which doubles up as a reversing camera, wheel air curtain and a shark-fin antenna. It also gets Alternator Management System (AMS) to reduce load on the cars battery. Among the list of omissions is the 1GB flash memory in the infotainment system.

In terms of safety, Hyundai has added dual airbags even to Xcents base trims. However, ABS, which was standard earlier, has surprisingly been given a miss this time (on entry level variants).

Engine

Another key update in the new Xcent is the more powerful diesel heart; an 1186cc engine, which pumps out max power of 75PS  3PS more than its predecessor  and max torque of 190Nm  10Nm up from the previous 180Nm. Replacing the earlier 1120cc diesel motor, it now delivers an impressive mileage of 25.4kmpl. However, there isnt any change in the petrol engine on offer and the Xcent facelift continues to boast the 1.2-litre petrol motor of the previous model. While the manual version of the Xcent petrol returns 20.14kmpl, the automatic registers 17.36kmpl.

The pricing of the new Hyundai Xcent begins rather aggressively compared to the previous version, thanks to the base variants. The base petrol of the Xcent facelift costs Rs 7000 less while the diesel variant too gets Rs 3000 drop in prices comparatively. However, as you move up the variants list, it keeps on increasing with the top-end SX (O) costing Rs 34,000 more for petrol and Rs 33,000 extra for the diesel over the pre-facelift Xcent.

Recommended Read: 2017 Maruti Swift DZire Unofficial Bookings Open, Launch Likely This Month

Read More on : Hyundai Xcent price
Modified On May 19, 2017 01:18 PM By Raunak for Hyundai Xcent

Hyundai has finally launched the facelift of its compact sedan, the Xcent, at a starting price of Rs 5.38 lakh. The prices go all the way up to Rs 8.41 lakh for the top-spec variants (all prices ex-showroom, Delhi). It follows the facelift of its donor car, the Grand i10, launched in February this year. The 2017 Xcent gets redesigned front and rear profiles along with other additional features and the 1.2-litre diesel engine from the 2017 Grand i10.

The 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder diesel engine that powers the Xcent facelift is based on the previous 1.1-litre diesel engine. Under the Xcents hood, the updated diesel engine makes 75PS of maximum power and 190Nm of peak torque, which is 3PS and 10Nm more than before. The diesel engine is paired with a 5-speed manual transmission. The Xcent continues to get the 1.2-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine that makes 83PS of maximum power and 114Nm of peak torque. It comes with an option of a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic transmission. While the manual petrol variant has a claimed fuel efficiency of 20.14 kmpl, the automatic variant returns 17.36 kmpl. On the other hand, the diesel engine returns a mileage of 25.4 kmpl.

As far as aesthetic changes are concerned, the updated Xcent gets Hyundai's new cascading grille, which made its debut on the Grand i10 facelift globally. In the Xcent, the grille features horizontal chrome slats, whereas the hatch comes with a mesh pattern. The Xcent gets a redesigned front bumper inspired from the upcoming Verna. It also features daytime running LEDs placed in the fog lamp housing. At the rear, it features split wraparound tail lamps, with a chrome strip adjoining them, and a new redesigned dual-tone rear bumper as well. The updated Xcent also gets a shark-fin antenna like the Verna and the Honda City.

In terms of features, the Xcent facelift gets a 7.0-inch infotainment system that supports both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto along with Mirror Link connectivity. It also receive Hyundais Alternator Management System (AMS) tech, which charges the battery only during deceleration or when the engine has power to spare, saving fuel in the process. As for safety, dual-front airbags are now standard. The pre-facelift model offered driver airbag along with ABS as standard fitment.

Hyundai has also removed a lot of features in the new Xcent to make sure it remains a value for money car like earlier. The new base E variant of the new Xcent misses a lot features like full-wheel covers, blacked-out B-pillars, passenger-side vanity mirror, a digital clock, rear-seat armrest, a day/night IRVM and central locking as compared to the to the pre-facelift base variant. Also, while the height-adjustable driver seat has been removed from the S variant, the SX variant misses out on the automatic electrochromatic IRVM. Also, the SX (O) variant doesnt get the ioniser for the climate control. While the new base variant, E is cheaper now, other variants see a marginal bump of around Rs 10000 to Rs 30000. Hyundai will also keep selling the outgoing Xcent but it will be limited only for commercial purposes.

Xcent Prices (petrol) Ex-showroom, Delhi

Variants E/Base E + S S AT SX SX(O) Old Rs 5.45 lakh - Rs 6.19 lakh Rs 6.91 lakh Rs 6.49 lakh Rs 7.18 lakh Facelift (New) Rs 5.38 lakh Rs 5.93 lakh Rs 6.29 lakh Rs 7.09 lakh Rs 6.74 lakh Rs 7.52 lakh

Xcent Prices (diesel) Ex-showroom, Delhi

Variants E/Base E + S SX SX(O) Old Rs 6.31 lakh - Rs 7.05 lakh Rs 7.39 lakh Rs 8.09 lakh Facelift (New) Rs 6.28 lakh Rs 6.83 lakh Rs 7.19 lakh Rs 7.64 lakh Rs 8.42 lakh

The Xcent was the third most selling compact sedan in the first quarter of 2017 after the Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire and the Honda Amaze. Maruti is also likely to launch the third-generation Dzire soon. The Xcent also competes with the likes of the recently launched Tata Tigor and other compact sedans like the Ford Aspire, Volkswagen Ameo and the Tata Zest.

Check out how the new diesel engine in the updated Grand i10 feels like to drive here: Hyundai Grand i10 Facelift Road Test Review

Read More on : Xcent
Are Church of England bishops allowed to vote in the general election?

The place of 26 bishops in the House of Lords is not without controversy.

They are there by right and the Church of England, by virtue of its status as the established religion, is the only denomination, Christian or otherwise, to have guaranteed representation in parliament.

But another controversy surrounds whether bishops in the Lords can vote.

Technically the Lords Spiritual, as they are officially known, are the only peers who can vote in general elections.

Under a convention stretching back to the 17th century, no member of the House of Lords can vote to elect representatives in the House of Commons as they themselves can already sit in Parliament.

But bishops are exempt from this.

'That is because they do not have permanent membership of your Lordships' House,' said then Cabinet Office Minister Lord Wallace of Saltaire explaining this anomaly in a 2013 debate.

'They retire at 70, well before the onset of statutory senility.'

Despite this immunity, bishops in the House of Lords do not, by convention, vote in general elections.

A CofE spokesman told Christian Today bishops are advised by Church officials not to vote.

One infamous exception is Robert Runcie in 1983, then Archbishop of Canterbury, who could not resist the temptation to vote against Margaret Thatcher. The revelation that he had voted led to frontpage headlines and questions in parliament.

Although he didn't officially reveal who he voted for, his commission on urban poverty which led to the famous Faith in the City report left little doubt over his political leaning.

The issue has raised its head a number times since then.

Shortly before the general election campaign in 2010 began, the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds asked whether it was 'in order' for bishops to vote and whether 'they should therefore be encouraged like all good citizens to use their vote?'.

Then Justice Minister Lord Bach responded by saying although there as 'no bar' to bishops voting, there'has long been the tradition that they do not do so'.

He reminded the Bishop: 'While they are not peers, they none the less sit in this House and can therefore participate in person in the proceedings of Parliament instead of being represented in the House of Commons.

'There is no legal bar to the Lords Spiritual voting in a general election; it is very much a matter for them.'

Much of the research for this piece is thanks to a helpful blog post by the Church in Parliament team.
Bill Gates is right  we must keep the UK's commitment to foreign aid

The first chance we had to examine exactly how Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and the rest will conduct the general election campaign came during Prime Minister's Questions this week.

Opposition MPs asked why the Prime Minister had ruled out calling an early general election and then done exactly that  seeking to frame her as an opportunist. Mrs May herself took the opportunity to paint Jeremy Corbyn and Labour as chaotic and unprepared for power.

Amid the pantomime and the planted questions though, there was an answer the Prime Minister gave that was very worrying indeed.

She was asked by one of her own MPs, Richard Benyon, whether 'the commitment to NATO to spend two per cent of GDP on defence and our commitment to the UN to spend 0.7 per cent of GNI on overseas aid' would be honoured by a future Conservative government.

Having promised that the NATO pledge would go on being met, May then only said on the aid budget, 'We are meeting our UN commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of GNI on overseas development assistance.'

This statement of fact  that the UK is currently meeting this commitment  means little. What matters is the promise to keep it enshrined in law  and on that front there was no commitment whatsoever.

The pledge to spend 0.7 per cent of what the UK earns on the aid budget to alleviate poverty in developing countries was only passed in 2015. Seen by some cynics as a further attempt by David Cameron to 'detoxify' the Conservative brand, it was broadly welcomed by the development sector, with the UK becoming the first G7 country to meet the target set by the UN as long ago as 1970.

It means that around 11 billion per year is currently being spent supporting projects overseas. Bill Gates is among those urging Mrs May to retain the commitment to 0.7 per cent of GNI being spent on aid. He says: 'It was a well-considered decision that sets an example for other wealthy Western countries. It also is visible proof of the UK's goodwill and humanity... Withdrawing aid would cost lives  which is reason enough to continue it.'

Why would May not promise to keep the law as it stands and retain the ring-fenced figure? After all, it is an area where the UK is leading the world. Foreign aid has been shown to be good for UK business, quite apart from it being the right thing to do for such a privileged country (not to mention one with a history of colonialist exploitation which partially led to our current relative wealth).

The answer is simple  the aid budget, and particularly the 0.7 per cent figure, is under sustained and heavy attack from the hard right press. The Mail On Sunday has consistently sniped at the aid budget, while the Express has parroted the attacks repeatedly. The Conservatives have placated these newspapers by driving through Brexit, but they now have the aid budget in their sights  and any Conservative Prime Minister desperately wants to retain the support of these newspapers.

Aside from the realpolitik, does the popular press have a point? At a time of crisis in the NHS and reports of schools and police struggling financially, should we be sending billions overseas? And what about the inefficiencies?

First, it's important to acknowledge that foreign aid needs to be done well and if the renewed focus helps it to be spent better, that's a good thing. Correctly, serious questions have been asked as to how foreign aid money has been spent by the likes of Adam Smith International.

Yet the principle of giving 0.7 per cent is the right thing to do. It provides a minimum standard below which we will not fall, and encourages other countries to be generous. Conservative former International Development Minister Sir Desmond Swayne, who's a Christian, says he wouldn't want to spend time with someone who thought 99.3 per cent of their money wasn't enough to spend on themselves. He's right. It should be a mark of pride as a country that we are among the leading nations contributing to the rest of the world.

Yes, there are funding shortages at home that we need to focus on. The answer to these isn't to cut foreign aid. It's an easy target for populist politicians seeking to appease the sort of people who say we should 'look after our own'. The kind of people who lurk not just below the line in the comments sections, but the kind of people who edit powerful newspapers. The kind of people who don't understand the fundamental Christian insight that I am my brother's keeper, even if he lives on the other side of the world, and that the Good Samaritan's vision must be realised anew in each generation.

Individual charity is important, and it's vital we tackle unfair trading practices and the structural inequality which leads to so much world poverty. But the British aid budget is something we should be proud of  and keep in our minds when we go into the ballot box.
Bill O'Reilly fired from Fox News, hours after meeting Pope Francis

Popular Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly was fired from his prime-time TV position yesterday, just hours after shaking hands with Pope Francis.

O'Reilly has been dogged by claims of sexual harassment, which caused many advertisers to cease sponsorship of his Fox News show, the O'Reilly Factor. Yesterday 21st Century Fox, which owns the Fox News Channel, announced O'Reilly had been dropped. Hours before, he had spent his morning meeting Pope Francis in the Vatican, according to the New York Times.

The Catholic TV host who had previously taken the pontiff to task for his views on immigration, sat in a VIP section in St Peter's Square. After the Pope's traditional Wednesday address, O'Reilly shook hands with Francis.

Francis clashed with US conservatives last year when he made comments aimed at then presidential-candidate Donald Trump, who had repeatedly called for tighter immigration and a border wall between the US and Mexico. Francis said in February: 'A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.'

Days later O'Reilly hit back on his Fox TV show.

'The Pope. I would very much like to speak with him. And if I can arrange that, I would like to bring the family of Kate Steinle with me,' O'Reilly said, referring to an American woman killed by a deported Mexican labourer.

He added: 'Finally, I would suggest to Pope Francis that millions of Americans have been harmed economically by our immigration system, which desperately needs reform. I think I could persuade the Pope that providing protection and enforcing settled law is certainly not un-Christian.'

It is not known what words were exchanged between O'Reilly and Francis. Before their meeting Francis had given an address about hope in the face of despair, saying that 'God makes his most beautiful flowers bloom amid the most arid rocks'.

He also gave a special blessing to English-speaking pilgrims, saying: 'I invoke upon you and your families the loving mercy of God our Father.'

In a statement yesterday 21st Century Fox said: 'After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill O'Reilly have agreed that Bill O'Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel.'

The move is a significant one given that O'Reilly's show is one of the network's most popular, averaging 4 million viewers, and bringing Fox News $147.13 million in advertising revenue in 2016.

Fox and O'Reilly had previously paid five women a total of $13 million to settle harassment claims made against the anchor, but O'Reilly denies the allegations.

Responding to the news of his departure, O'Reilly said: 'It is tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims. But that is the unfortunate reality many of us in the public eye must live with today.'

He added: 'I will always look back on my time at Fox with great pride in the unprecedented success we achieved and with my deepest gratitude to all my dedicated viewers. I wish only the best for Fox News Channel.'

Additional reporting by Reuters
Bishop slams 'tyrannical secularism' trying to drive Christianity from public life

An English Catholic bishop has warned of the tyranny of secularism and likened it to religious fundamentalism, saying that Christianity is being squeezed out by both these 'ideologies'.

Bishop Philip Egan of the Portsmouth Diocese called on Catholics to 'lead the new evangelisation of our land' in a hard-hitting Easter sermon at Portsmouth cathedral, according to the Catholic Herald.

The bishop said that 'two dangerous ideologies' were battling for power in our time, just as communism and fascism had fought each other in the 20th century.

The first of these ideologies is 'fundamentalism  religion without reason', said Bishop Egan. This fundamentalism 'breeds fanaticism, violence, terrorism' and is affecting not only 'the volatile nations of the Middle East', he said, but also the West.

The second ideology, the bishop argued, is secularism, which is growing and trying to drive out Christianity from public life. 'Egged on by Stonewall and others, secularists are on the rise in local government, in education, in the media, in the social services,' he said. 'Hell-bent on burying the Christian patrimony of this land, they propose Orwellian changes to our language and place ever more draconian restrictions on religious expression, even on what we wear.'

Bishop Egan said that although fundamentalism and secularism are apparently opposed, they are linked because they are both 'totalitarian; they're destructive of the human person; they pose a grave threat to human happiness and to a healthy society'.

He went on: 'If we let secularism prevail, British culture will become increasingly unhinged, adrift, prey to emotionalism and to the latest pressure group.

"As we know, this has lethal consequences for the weakest, the unborn child, the handicapped, the elderly, the dying. This is why this Easter as Christians, it's time we said: enough is enough! We need to rise up to the challenge. We need to roll back the agenda.'

Bishop Egan also urged Catholics to 'retrieve and promote Britain's Christian patrimony, its history, art and architecture, its music and literature, its liturgy, theology and ethics'.

Schools should teach knowledge of the Bible, basic prayers and the Christian history of Britain and its saints, the bishop said. 'In this mission, we Catholics are crucial. For much of what has made this country great has been nurtured by our tradition,' he added.

Bishop Egan emphasised the importance of Easter, which 'changes everything'.

He said: 'By dying on the Cross and by rising from the dead, Jesus Christ not only confirmed his teaching and who he claimed to be, he overcame for us sin and its damage, suffering in its various forms, and death, making it the gateway to heaven. This is why Easter changes everything. Jesus now makes his victory available to everyone who wants it through his Church. He invites us by Word and Sacrament to receive his salvation, to unite ourselves to him.'
Egyptian police kill ISIS militant involved in Sinai monastery attack, with Bedouin help

With the help of Bedouin tribesmen, Egyptian police have tracked down and killed one of the Islamist militants involved in an attack near the St Catherine's monastery in Sinai, according to the country's Interior Ministry.

The attack, which was claimed by so-called Islamic State group, killed one policeman and wounded at least three near the monastery, which is one of the oldest and most famous Christian sites in the world.

The ministry said Bedouin tribesmen helped the authorities find several militants who fled the scene after the attack. Officials added that security forces then located and killed one of the militants, without providing details about what happened to the others.

An investigation is reportedly under way to identify the slain militant.

Damyanos, a monk who has been living at St Catherine's since 1963, said the attack took him by surprise. 'The monastery is very quiet' at the moment, he told AP, adding that there has been a heavy security presence since the attack.

The 81-year-old added that the monks who reside there are not afraid and believe God watches over them.

St Catherine's stands at the foot of Mount Horeb, where the 6th century monastery is one of the main tourist attractions in South Sinai.

The ISIS-led insurgency in the region is centred in northern Sinai, but the militants have occasionally struck in the central and south regions of the peninsula.

The militants opened fire on Tuesday from an elevated hilltop overlooking the police checkpoint outside the monastery, according to officials.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, the first on the monastery.

The attack came ahead of next week's visit to Egypt by Pope Francis and just over a week after suicide-bomber attacks on Coptic churches in Tanta and Alexandria, killing 45 people on Palm Sunday, also claimed by ISIS.

ISIS has vowed more attacks against Egypt's Christians, who make up 10 per cent of the country's population of 92 million people.
Father's grief as 16-year-old Coptic boy is murdered in Egypt's 'war on Christians'

An Egyptian Christian boy found murdered on Maundy Thursday was killed by Islamic extremists hoping to intimidate Christians, say his family.

According to World Watch Monitor, Allam Bashay Gabriel found his 16-year-old son, Gamal, with his throat slit and lying in a pool of blood, in Qai village, Upper Egypt.

The murder took place four days after two churches were bombed and on the same day that three Christian homes were burned.

Gabriel told World Watch Monitor he suspected his son was killed by members of the Islamic State group.

'The way he was killed is the way of Daesh [IS], as they are the only ones who slaughter people like that,' he said. 'They slaughtered my son because of his faith in Jesus Christ. It's a war on Christians, and all honest people should stand up to those who are waging this war.'

Gabriel's cousin Samy said: 'They targeted Gamal and killed him because he is a Christian and it was a message from them before Easter, to intimidate us.'

Gabriel told World Watch Monitor his son had gone to a nearby village to meet with a tutor, but did not return home.

'I tried to call him many times but his mobile phone was off,' he said. 'I was very worried about him. I called my relatives to check with them if any one of them had seen him, as well as his friends, but none of them knew where he was.'

They decided to search for the boy. He said: 'In Qai, we saw two masked men riding a motorcycle and we asked them if they had seen Gamal. When we described him, the men told us to look for him near the Agricultural Society building, and then they sped off and disappeared. At the time we didn't think more of it as our focus was on finding Gamal. Also, since the men were masked and it was dark already, we could not identify them.'

When they arrived at the Agricultural Society, they found Gamal lying on the ground in a pool of blood. He had blood gushing from the top of his head and his throat had been cut.

A pupil in the nearby village of Al-Nuweira, Gamal was 'loved by all his friends and teachers at school', his father said. 'He was a very peaceful and polite person.'

He was buried the following day, Good Friday, at the family's cemetery, amid tight security, as many Coptic Christians attended his funeral.
A vintage 1969 Oscar Mayer Wienermobile and the Wisconsin Historical Society go together about as well as mustard and ketchup, peanut butter and jelly and, well, a hot dog and a bun.

So the transfer of the Wienermobile responsible for restarting the popular marketing program about 30 years ago to a historical organization Wednesday was met with as many smiles as when it drove into cities large and small around the world in the early 1970s with the famous I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener jingle blaring from a crusty old speaker.

How can you not smile when you see a large hot dog on wheels coming down the road  even on your wurst day? said Ed Roland, a senior marketing manager and punster for Kraft Heinz who heads the Wienermobile program.

The Wienermobile fondly remembered as Old Number 7 with its famed Thunderbird tail lights sat on flatbed truck as it headed out of a maintenance building at the shuttered Oscar Mayer plant on Madisons North Side.

After sitting idle and gathering dust since 1987, it will get cleaned up and restored before making its way to its new home at the state archive preservation facility after it opens later this year at a site on Thornton Avenue on the Near East Side, according to Dave Wilder of the Wisconsin Historical Foundation.

Wilder was excited to find the Oscar Mayer employees or their relatives who can tell the story about how the 69 Wienermobile was built at the Madison factory.

Many other items from the factory that is scheduled to close this summer have been donated to the museum, but none as important as the Wienermobile, which has been a company icon since the first one was built in 1936.

Its important because sausage is an icon in Wisconsin, Wilder said.

The 1969 Wienermobile will become just the second to be part of a museum display. A 1952 model can be seen at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

There have been 13 different models over the years. Six state-of-the-art Wienermobiles built in 2012 and 2016 are active today, Roland said.

Oscar Mayers nephew, Carl Mayer, came up with the idea of building the 36 Wienermobile. Oscar ordered it to be designed with the yellow band, which was used on the original wieners to differentiate them from the competition.

The first Wienermobile was 13 feet long, had an open cockpit and traversed the streets of Chicago. Made mostly of steel, it was most likely recycled during World War II when steel was in great demand for war machinery, Roland said.

After the war, new Wienermobiles were built in 1952 on a downsized Dodge chassis and began touring the country driven by young adults called hotdoggers. That tradition continues today with 1,000 applicants for 12 hotdogger positions annually, Roland said.

In 1958, Brooks Stevens  the noted Excalibur designer  created a Wienermobile on a Willys Jeep frame and gave it a Plexiglas bubble front end. That version fizzled out because its engine was too small.

The 69 version was built at the Oscar Mayer factory in Madison out of large fiberglass molds and placed on a Chevy frame. It was 23 feet long and it was the first one to be shipped around the world to entertain potential customers. It is certainly sparse inside the cockpit where the odometer  which Roland believes has rolled over once  reads 36,973.

The large steering wheel is horizontal to the floor, like the steering wheel on a bus. The windows dont open and there is no air conditioning, so summer driving had to be a beast back in the day. Its maximum speed was 45 mph, so it didnt get from Point A to Point B very quickly.

It has a special spot in Wienermobile lore.

The company killed the project in 1976 but brought it back in 1987 after it sent the 69 Wienermobile out for a special tour in 1986 and it drew huge crowds. More Wienermobiles were built in 1988 and a unique 13-foot-long Wienermobile was built in California on a Mini Cooper chassis in 2008 to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the company.

Roland admitted he felt a little sad seeing Old Number 7 leaving the Oscar Mayer facility.

But its special that its going to the state Historical Society, he said, that its staying home in Madison.
It's taken 8 years, but the UN finally recognises Christian anti-persecution charity

Christian Solidarity Worldwide, one of the UK's leading anti-persecution organisations, has been given long-awaited UN accreditation. The organisation, which is based in London and campaigns for the protection of Christians across the world, had been waiting for eight years to receive the accreditation.

Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas welcomed the decision by the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council. He said: 'This is a significant day for CSW. UN accreditation will enable us to advance our work of promoting the right to freedom of religion or belief across the UN system.'

The decision to grant CSW accreditation came on appeal, after an earlier application had been denied in February. That had followed eight years of deferrals.

AP reports that the British Ambassador to the UN was drafted in to fight the case. Mathew Rycroft said: 'There has been repeated discrimination against NGOs with a human rights focus in particular.' The United States delegation also praised the move, saying: 'This change will bring to light those countries that seek to block United Nations access for organizations that defend press freedom, that provide legal counsel for political prisoners, that document human rights abuses committed by their governments, and that call out discrimination of all kinds.'

Economic and Social Council is made up of representatives from 54 nations, 29 of which voted to approve CSW's accreditation, with nine voting against and 12 abstaining.

In recent years, CSW has focused on persecution of Christians in countries as diverse as Pakistan, China and Cuba. It works to raise awareness among UK churches of the plight of Christian who are persecuted for their faith. Advocacy work takes place in Westminster, but also in New York at the UN as well as alongside other groups working for religious freedom.

Mervyn Thomas added: 'While we are pleased with the outcome of today's vote, the questions raised regarding the NGO committee's tendency to repeatedly defer and deny the applications of human rights organisations need to be addressed.'
More than 100 Christian leader oppose Trump's cuts to foreign aid

More than 100 Christian leaders are pleading with Congress to reject Donald Trump's cuts to foreign aid after a draft budget showed a 28 per cent spending reduction.

Dozens of faith leaders including two who prayed at Trump's inauguration ceremony have written to House speaker Paul Ryan, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer.

'Today, there are 65 million displaced people, the most since World War II, and 795 million people still go to bed hungry every night,' they write urging Congress to block the proposals.

'Matthew 25 tells us when we serve the least of these, we are serving the Lord. As people of faith, we cannot turn our back on those in desperate need.'

Trump justified his cuts to overseas aid by saying it was time for 'America first'. In a statement accompanying the draft budget he said the reduction was because the government needs to 'prioritise the security and well-being of Americans, and to ask the rest of the world to step up and pay its fair share'.

Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, told reporters at a White House briefing: '[The cuts] should come as a surprise to no one who watched the campaign. The president said, specifically, hundreds of times, you covered him, "I'm going to spend less money on people overseas and more money on people back home," and that's exactly what we're doing with this budget.'

But Christian leaders are deeply unhappy with the proposals with evangelical leaders joining Catholics and others to oppose the change.

The signatories, who include Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Dr Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, both of whom prayed at Trump's inauguration, write: 'America is blessed with fertile land, abundant natural resources, a strong economy, and faithful citizens who value religious freedom.

'But beyond our borders, many countries experience unparalleled suffering and loss of life due to extreme poverty, disease, natural disasters, and conflict.'

The 106 signatories also include Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Dr Ronnie Floyd, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Rev Johnnie Moore, humanitarian and author of the book Defying ISIS and Rich Stearns, president of World Vision USA.

They warn America's national security could be affected by the cuts.

'We are grateful for America's global development and diplomacy programs that have been instrumental in saving lives, safeguarding religious liberties, and keeping America safe and secure,' they write.

'At a time when we're especially security conscious, the International Affairs Budget is crucial to demonstrating our values to the world, building friendships with other nations, and lowering security risks around the world.'

Amounting to just one per cent of the total US budget, the faith leaders say International Development funding has 'helped alleviate the suffering of millions' as well as 'freedom and human rights, protecting religious freedom for millions around the world'.

They conclude: 'As followers of Christ, it is our moral responsibility to urge you to support and protect the International Affairs Budget, and avoid disproportionate cuts to these vital programs that ensure that our country continues to be the "shining city upon a hill."'

A White House spokesman defended the budget, saying it 'seeks to reduce or end direct funding for international organisations whose missions do not substantially advance US foreign policy interests, are duplicative, or are not well-managed.

'Additional steps will be taken to make the [State] Department and USAID leaner, more efficient, and more effective. These steps to reduce foreign assistance free up funding for critical priorities here at home and put America first.'

The draft budget also vowed to cut US contributions to the UN with a spokesman for UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres warning 'abrupt funding cuts can force the adoption of ad-hoc measures that will undermine the impact of longer-term reform efforts'.

He said: 'The international community is facing enormous global challenges that can only be addressed by a strong and effective multilateral system, of which the United Nations remains the fundamental pillar.'
Pastor burns thousands of Bibles at church for 'misleading' his congregation

A pastor in Uganda burned thousands of copies of the Bible claiming the sacred book "misleads" his congregation.

Pastor Aloysius Bugingo, pastor of the House of Prayer Ministries in Makerere, Kikoni, set fire to thousands of copies of the Bible because he says they are "heavily edited" and are thus misleading his congregation, Tuko reported. He burned the Bibles on Easter Monday.

Pastor Bugingo, who owns Salt FM and TV, claimed that certain versions of the Bible, such as the widely accepted King James Version, the Good News Bible have been "tampered with" and feature some omissions. Some verses that have been omitted, the pastor claims, are those that concern fasting and the Lent period.

He also claimed that the King James Version mentions the "Holy Ghost" 99 times, far more numerous than the "Holy Spirit" which is mentioned only seven times, the Campus Bee reports. Because of these perceived errors, pastor Bugingo told members of his congregation to gather up copies of these versions of the Bible so that they could burn them.

Pastor Bugingo's ministry is mostly attended by students from Makerere University and other higher learning institutions in Wandegeya, a neighborhood in Uganda's capital city Kampala. Up 6,000 people attend the church's daily prayer, while he also claims to have a crowd of 10,000 to 15,000 attending the church on Sundays.

Bible Errors

Down through history, some Bible editions have had typographical errors. One version famously known as the "Wicked," "Adulterous," or "Sinner's" Bible, printed in 1631, made the serious mistake of omitting a very important word in one of the Ten Commandments.

Instead of reading "thou shalt not commit adultery" according to Exodus 20:14, the erring translation omitted the word "not" and appeared to portray God as commanding the very thing He had commanded not to be done.

This error was viewed as "sabotage" more than "a slip-up," auctioneer Bonhams told The Guardian back in 2015 when a copy of the Wicked Bible went under the hammer.

It ruined printer Robert Barker's life: he was summoned to court, fined, had his printing license revoked, and later spent his last days in jail.

Most copies of the Wicked Bible were destroyed, and it is believed that only 10 remaining copies existed in 2015.
'The Promise' director Terry George: Why I believe in redemption

Terry George is a major Hollywood director with an Oscar to prove it. He's worked with the best in the business: Daniel Day Lewis, Helen Mirren, Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo. His back catalogue boasts such movies as Hotel Rwanda, In the Name of the Father and Some Mother's Son, tackling huge issues such as genocide, terrorism and unfair imprisonment. But his latest film, The Promise, released this week and starring Christian Bale, Oscar Isaacs and Charlotte Le Bon, takes the challenge of the genre to a whole new level.

I had the opportunity to meet Terry George face to face to talk about the movie, his faith, redemption, and his views on heaven and hell. He was tall, friendly and spoke with a rich Irish accent that instantly put me at ease. No topic was off limits. I had seen his magnificent new film already and knew we would be tackling some difficult and controversial issues.

Krish Kandiah: Why were you interested in making a film about the Armenian genocide?

Terry George: As I was doing the research on the Rwandan genocide I read Samantha Power's book, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. She devoted quite a chunk of it to the Armenian genocide particularly because that became the motivation for the word 'genocide' to be created. The polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin, who was trying to codify the crime of genocide, looked to the Armenian genocide in the first instance. So I read into it quite a bit there, and then lo and behold years later I was sent a script written by Robin Swicord, basically telling part of the story of the Armenian genocide. I adapted her script and off we went.

KK: What's your hope for the film, particularly in light of the war in cyberspace against it with the film receiving tens of thousands of negative reviews before anyone could have seen it?

TG: My hope is that it enlightens people around the world to this event, because it's going on today. Almost in a mirror image of what took place, in the exact same location. The poignant and bizarre thing was that as we were filming in Spain for the locations in southern Turkey, we were watching images on television from exactly the same area of exactly the same scenes that we were filming. Massive lines of refugees fleeing in the desert. The Yazidi Christians trapped up a mountain under siege by armed forces. Refugees fleeing towards the Mediterranean drowning in the sea. These things were so contemporary. So I want the event to be better known, but also this whole crisis about refugees in the 21st century is just the mirror image of what happened back in the 20th century.

KK: I was struck that, in light of the current refugee crisis, in The Promise it was the French who were the heroes. Also in the movie it is an American journalist who will do anything to tell the truth about what was going on to the rest of the world  not to mention the way that so many Armenian survivors found a home and a refuge in the US. Do you think that with the current situation in European and American politics your film might help shape a different way of looking at the world?

TG: It certainly goes a way towards showing where the mindset was at that time, when America as a nation was just really growing. It's important I think that we reinforce the way that America was built on the backs of refugees fleeing from horror. The Armenian community in the United States is very vital and a great contributor to that society. So I think you get people to look at that and say we can't be creating these walls and this fear.

KK: I've loved watching all the films of yours that I have seen and they all have a strong call to action. Why have you chosen film as your vehicle to change people's minds?

TG: I think that the feature film movie is a way of getting inside the psyche, not just of the characters but the psyche of the audience itself. My big desire and my aim is to create characters or to investigate characters that the audience can empathise with  the Everyman character. Obviously in Hotel Rwanda it was Paul Rusesabagina. It was Gerry Conlon in In the Name of the Father. It was Helen Mirren's character in Some Mother's Son and here [in The Promise] you have Mikael  a somewhat flawed character at the start. He does a deal with the devil and betroths himself to a woman he barely knows in order to get money to further his medical career. Then along the way he is confronted with that dilemma of trying to save himself or this growing family of orphans that he ends up looking after with Anna. Mikael takes the hand of the audience and walks through this event that they'd have no comprehension of. That for me is the best way to investigate a situation.

KK: At Martin McGuinness' funeral, Ian Paisley Junior made a very interesting comment: he said, 'we're not judged on how we begin our lives but how we end them'. There's a redemptive narrative running through a lot of your movies. Do you believe in redemption?

TG: Absolutely I do, and like you say it's a theme of the movie. While many of the characters I have are flawed, they don't go the full cycle from the bad guy to redemption. But I think that's more in keeping with how I identify with the working man, or the working woman, not the huge characters. I want to tell the story of the ordinary person who triumphs over evil. I think that's a wonderful statement from Iain Paisley Jr. I knew Martin McGuinness, not really well but enough to know to get a sense of the dignity or the internal sort of honesty of the man. Clearly like you say there was an evolution there.

KK: It seems like his faith became more real to him the older he became. Do you have a faith journey that you are on?

TG: I do. I mean it's not quite as defined as McGuinness'. I know he went to chapel every Sunday and had a deep faith. Mine is more on a spiritual level. I feel God in a lot of things around us. For me eternal life is as much about the goodness that you leave behind in the memory that people have of what you left behind. Hell for me is being Adolf Hitler or Stalin. Their evil will live on and that's for eternity with them. Obviously, Jesus Christ is the epitome, his legacy will last through mankind.

KK: But you don't think there's more to it than memory? Don't you think you will continue in some way beyond your death?

TG: You know I don't know. But I hope so. My parents were deeply religious and they believed deeply in that. I hope so.

KK: All of your movies seem to have a real moral sense and a deep core of justice. Where does that passion come from in you? Where do you get your moral compass from?

TG: Having grown up a Northern Ireland and in Belfast through the Troubles and so forth, there's a little humanity I think I've come to, based on what I've seen. The subtext of the films that I've done is this political maxim: 'The ends justifies the means.' Now for me what happens is that the means you use can so corrupt the end that it no longer is worth achieving. That's the important subtext for me.

KK: I'm an adoptive dad and I have noticed that adoption seems to be quite a prevalent theme in a lot of movies right now. There was the Oscar-nominated movie Lion, Lego Batman has adoption at the heart of it and also Fantastic Beasts and many others. Adoption plays an important part in your movie also. Why do you think we are so interested in this subject?

TG: An important element, and I'm glad you brought this up, is the enormous number of orphans that were left during the genocide and the need to take care of those. Mikael loses his own unborn child in a horrible way and yet he and Anna take on this group of orphans and start shepherding them towards safety. That was a really important component because historically when I studied the genocide orphans became central to the American missionary role particularly. There was a huge campaign to support Christian missionaries in Turkey at that time and their main objective was rescuing orphans of the genocide. So there's that adoptive thing of children and war which translates to today where we have the same situation.

Orphans and adoption are at the heart of the humanity of everything. There's nothing more sorrowful than the child abandoned or who loses their parents and being left to fend for themselves in the world. Our humanity is defined by taking care of those people they as it is in taking care of refugees.

A lot of people 'pooh pooh' Hollywood movie stars and stuff like that. But if you look at Madonna and Angelina Jolie, they adopt children to rescue them from horrible situations because clearly they're not infertile. They may not have the time, which is another moral thing all together. But that notion that you are rescuing a child from a horrible situation is is a trend we should foster and try to continue.

****

Our time is up. There's no time to agree with the need for an altruistic vision for adoption and refugee care. There's no time for a chat about whether it's better to keep a child in their own culture and context and find and support local adopters. I leave continuing my prayers for this generous man, skilled director and man on a mission to help change the psyche of the world. I pray for this film to awaken the consciousness of the world not just to a historic genocide but to the crisis that is taking place on our doorsteps.

'The Promise' movie is on global release on April 21. You can soon download resources here to help engage with the film.
Trump's Inauguration Pastor Samuel Rodriguez Sets Up 'Safe Havens' For Undocumented Immigrants

An evangelical pastor who prayed at Donald Trump's inauguration is offering a 'safe haven' for undocumented immigrants at his Sacramento church.

Sam Rodriguez Jr, who led prayers at Trump's January inauguration, has been vocal in his support and welcome of immigrants and those fearing deportation, as Time reports.

Rodriguez is the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC), and leads the New Season Christian Worship Center. In January New Season church set up 30 cots in its building to provide safe shelter for anyone fearing the future following Donald Trump's executive order on federal deportation.

'The anxiety in Christian conservative, evangelical churches has grown exponentially, because many of our worshipers, many of the families we serve, many of the families in our pews, may very well lack the appropriate documentation, even though we have a don't ask don't tell policy,' Rodriguez said.

The safe haven programme is intended to provide protection and spiritual encouragement for those who are afraid. It also protects those afraid of domestic abuse. Harbouring undocumented immigrants does violate federal law, and the church says there is no plan for what to do if officials come demanding its immigrants. 'We are just there offering assistance, giving them a sense of hope, peace,' said Charlie Riviera, leader of the safe haven programme.

Rodriguez has been a keen advocate for refugees and vulnerable immigrants, often clashing with Trump on the issue. He stood against Trump's plan to deport 10 million undocumented immigrants and build a border wall with Mexico. He encouraged Trump to allow child immigrants (known as 'Dreamers') to be allowed to stay and find employment in America, and urged him not to separate families through deportation.

'We have every desire to work with President Trump in finding a solution to our immigration crisis, one that addresses his objectives and stops illegal immigration, and deports those involved in nefarious activity, but protects the Dreamers and the god-fearing, hardworking families that are here undocumented,' Rodriguez said.

He remains concerned that Trump will target all undocumented immigrants for deportation, rather than focusing on violent criminals.

Praying at Trump's inauguration, Rodriguez quoted Jesus' teaching in the beatitudes, in Matthew 5: 'God blesses those who are poor and realise their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs,' he said. 'God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted...God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.'
Vicar's daughter Theresa May can't take Christian votes for granted. Here's why

Theresa May is increasingly vocal over her own Christian faith and defending what she describes as British Christian values.

But in the wake of her calling a snap general election for June 8, it is worth examining the most recent detailed polling data on political views and priorities among voters who are practising Christians.

The Christian charity Tearfund commissioned the polling company Comres to research into Christian political positions immediately after the last general election in June 2015.

May, the Conservative leader, might do well to examine the findings before drawing up her party's official manifesto. For although practising Christians apparently voted broadly in line with the public by party (except for a notably higher proportion of Christians voting Liberal Democrat: 15 per cent compared to the public's 7.9 per cent), when it comes to the major issues, they appear to take a distinctly leftist and 'liberal' approach.

A 'headline' fact that stands out is that despite immigration being obsessively debated  through a perennially right-wing prism of cuts  at Westminster, the issue features considerably low down the list of priorities for practising Christians.

Instead, 'social justice', inequality and the gap between the rich and the poor are top of the list of current issues concerning these Christians.

Social justice, which is traditionally the cause and mantra of the Labour party, came top at 27 per cent, followed by concern about religious decline and secularism (18 per cent), migration (14 per cent) and poverty (12 per cent).

Europe, albeit before the Brexit referendum of last June, was interestingly low in June 2015, at five per cent.

Unsurprisingly, evangelicals are slightly more conservative (and Tory) than the wider Christian field, though intriguingly more evangelicals voted Lib Dem than Labour, by 17 per cent to 16 per cent respectively, against the national trend. (This spike might well hold or even increase in June thanks to the Lib Dems being led by an evangelical Christian, Tim Farron, as opposed to his atheist predecessor Nick Clegg.)

Meanwhile Catholics, many of whom are migrants themselves, are slightly more leftist on the issues, especially immigration, and were more inclined to vote Labour under Ed Miliband (26 per cent) than wider Christians (24 per cent).

When asked what is the most important issue reply was for the next 10 years, the environment or climate change came top, at 28 per cent.

When asked which issues were most important in helping them decide who to vote for in the general election specifically, practising Christians were once again in line with the wider electorate, self-identifying the economy (18 per cent) as most important, followed by 'shared values' (13 per cent), social justice (11 per cent) and the qualities of the candidate (12 per cent).

In other words, the Church of England can hardly any longer be described as 'The Tory party at prayer', with Anglicans voting Conservative over Labour only by a margin of three per cent at the last general election: 29 per cent to 26 per cent.

Indeed, the Lib Dems are doing surprisingly well among Britain's practising Christians, perhaps, in part, because of their emphasis on the environment, the issue about which Christians are most concerned over the next 10 years. They may yet do even better.

The wild card in party political terms is how Labour will fare among Christians under Jeremy Corbyn, who is widely thought to be an atheist unlike May and Farron, though he has sometimes denied this. More importantly, on the issues his party may be more in tune with Christian voters, though whether Christians  who primarily vote on the economy at election time  will see Corbyn's Labour as credible, remains to be seen.

These data show that Christians, like the wider British electorate, are very far from apathetic. But they have every reason to feel alienated. The distinction is important. Because what is clear is that there is a major disconnect between the Westminster village and the right-wing-dominated media  obsessed by immigration and Europe  on the one hand, and Christian voters, who are far more concerned about poverty, justice and the future of the planet, on the other.

ComRes interviewed 1,507 practising Christians in the UK online between the 14th and 17th May 2015. Data were weighted to be representative of all UK practising Christians aged 16+ as per the Church Census 2005.

The full data can be found on the ComRes website.
Why I'm with Brenda from Bristol on #Election2017: There's 'too much politics' these days

A woman named Brenda, from Bristol, captured the heart of the nation on Tuesday, after Prime Minister May announced a snap general election to be held on June 8.

'You're joking  not another one!' she said in response to the news.

'I can't stand this. There's too much politics going on at the moment.'

Brenda from Bristol has become a viral sensation. Her outburst has captured the zeitgeist of the people because it's both funny and true. It's an amusing, but also remarkably apt outburst.

Political junkies and residents of the Westminster bubble may delight in the prospect of another nation-changing vote, but most people can't imagine anything worse. This election comes less than a year after Britain's divisive but decisive referendum on the EU, which followed the country's last general election in Spring 2015. In Autumn 2014, Scotland (and by proxy the UK) faced a bitter referendum on whether it should pursue national independence. We're exhausted.

I suspect most Britons, like Brenda, aren't depressed by this looming event because they're uneducated or don't care about the world. They've rather glimpsed something many politicians would do well to learn: that politics can be a great good in society, but it was never meant to dominate our lives. When it does, it becomes a corruptive force rather than a healing one. It promotes conflict, unkindness and deep polarisation.

Such a view  wary of the great potential and dangers of political life  is one that resonates deeply with Christian theology. Christians should lead the way in not succumbing to polarisation, but forging a radical way of living that seeks the good of neighbour, while knowing that party politics can't save the world.

Satirical comedian and Catholic TV personality Stephen Colbert expressed this well at the close of the astonishing US election in November.

'We are more divided than ever as a nation...both sides are terrified of the other side...how did our politics get so poisonous?' he asked.

Colbert said Americans had 'overdosed' on politics: 'I think the people who designed our democracy didn't want us in it all the time.

'Informed? Yes. Politicking all the time? I don't think so. Not divided that way... now politics is everywhere.'

For Christians, there is another way. You're gifted with both a passionate call to participate in the world and 'seek the welfare of the city' (Jeremiah 29:7), while also possessing a lightness that knows that redemption isn't up to us.

Contemporary politics, exacerbated by the social media echo-chambers of Facebook and Twitter, is all too quick to label those who think differently as 'the enemy'. This is a human disposition, often done unthinkingly: we dismiss those with whom we disagree. It is a disposition that God calls us to transcend. We're human beings, made in God's image, before we're Conservative, Labour, or Liberal Democrat.

We all have hopes and dreams, daily struggles and fears for the future. We laugh, we cry, we delight and despair  and we can do all these things together before knowing our neighbour's opinion on Europe, taxes and the NHS.

The issues of our time matter a great deal  they affect real people's lives. For this reason they must be taken seriously by the Church, and always have. But the Church has also shown how 'politics' can be far deeper and wider than occasional electioneering.

The humble, often unseen service of homeless shelters, food banks and foreign aid is a fine example of this. It serves the needy, it blesses the city (the word 'politics' derives from the Greek polis meaning 'city') and may be seen by only a few. So too the everyday deeds of kindness, patience and love for our fellow citizens (often harder than we think), build a better world without picking a fight.

Many fear elections because they are inherently adversarial  they demand that we pick a side, and curse our enemy. Most people just want to be safe and happy, to live in peace. Rolling news and constant national debate threaten that tranquillity, as politicians demand we seize this next seismic 'moment' at the ballot box. They bombard us with questions we're not remotely equipped to answer and play on our fears. Is it a wonder that most people shut it out, and don't care to vote?

In these ceaselessly political times, it's easy to lose hope, and turn to cynical indifference. Christian wisdom offers profound hope to the world: Jesus, beginning his ministry on earth announced 'good news for the poor...to set the oppressed free' (Luke 4:18).

The polis matters, but party politics mustn't consume our lives. Christian hope also points to God's transcendent grace, granting us a wisdom that knows when to step up, and when to step back. Paul offered a simple but beautiful ethic for Christians living in a world at war: 'If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone' (Romans 12:18).

The anxiety of #Election2017 may threaten our peace, but it doesn't have to. Care about it, pray about it, vote if you can. Then let it go.

As Catholic mystic Thomas Merton once wrote: 'If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world.'

You can follow @JosephHartropp on Twitter
In New York City, as part of an effort by the city council to narrow the gender pay gap, a new bill proposes to forbid employers from asking potential hires about their salary history. According to a report from the office of Public Advocate Letitia James, the bills prime sponsor, the common practice of employers use of prior salary history to determine employee pay perpetuates the existing wage inequities women face. According to this argument, salary-history inquiries trap women, who are already victims of discriminatory pay practices, in a vicious cycle of systemic wage theft. New York City joins Massachusetts and Philadelphia as the first jurisdictions to enact laws against this practice; there are plans to introduce similar legislation at the federal level.

Leaving aside the question of whether a significant wage gap actually exists between men and women with identical education, training, and experience, the bill (which Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to sign) represents a massive failure to understand labor markets and seeks to impose on private industry the kind of wage transparency commonly associated with public employment. The advocates behind the law want to eliminate the question of individual merit or talent from hiring across the economy, replacing it with salaries inflexibly linked to job title.

At a press conference prior to the city councils vote, Public Advocate James made a statement that contradicts the meaning of the bill as written:

This bill focuses primarily on transparency. If I am interviewing for a position with your company, and I have been out of the workforce for ten years because I chose to have a baby, or care for my elderly parents, or care for my sick children, or just care for society, as women tend to do, and you ask me what my previous salary history is . . . then I am negotiating against myself, because I am starting from a disadvantage, and by doing that I am perpetuating discrimination which will carry through the years until I retire. All that I am asking is, if you want to know the worth of that job, post it. Post it clearly. The salary of that position should be posted, it should be transparent, and so anyone who seeks to apply for that job will know that job is worth $35,000.

But the bill (which passed by a margin of 47 to 3) says nothing about wage transparency or posting salary data with hiring notices. It would prohibit asking about salary history or using an applicants past compensation as a basis for contract negotiation. James, an attorney and former prosecutor, must understand the limits of her own proposal, but her explanation of it is skewed, and points to the actual intent of the lawto make private-sector salaries strictly a function of job title, as in the civil service.

Council member Elizabeth Crowley, a prime cosponsor of the bill, makes this point clearly. There is a position that has certain tasks, and there should be a salary for that position. This vision of the labor market assumes that salary negotiation is a one-way street in which employers exercise monopsony power and dictate how much they will pay their employees. It also imagines an economy in which people are identical cogs on a wheel.

In the real world, the same job title can cover a broad range of tasks and responsibilities, and people with widely varying levels of experience may all work under the label analyst, or associate, or engineer, and receive vastly different salaries based on their actualas opposed to bureaucratically imputedvalue to the organization. Further, potential employees are not prison labor, obligated to work for whatever salary theyre offered. Salary negotiation is driven not only by the employers budget but also by the applicants knowledge of his or her market value, which is by no means a theoretical or purely subjective measure. Talented, experienced workers in a tight labor market naturally demand higher wages.

City council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, another key supporter of the bill, contributed her own refracted conception of labor markets, noting that if a woman makes a decision to be out of the workforce in order to raise a family, I think thats actually commendable, and thats something that should be factored in in a different way. She did not explain what form that different way would take, but it seems likely that it would involve employers compensating workers for non-work experience.

Ironically, forcing employers to post salaries would help keep mothers out of the workforce. A woman returning to work after a few years raising her children should expect to take a lower salary than someone who had been on the job all that time; it is precisely her willingness to work for less that would be her selling point to an employer. If employers are forced to offer any applicant the same salary for a given position, they will likely hire the most experienced candidate. Offering to work for less money is how less experienced people of either gender gain a foothold in a competitive job market.

Neither James nor Mark-Viverito appears to have any private-sector work experience, which may have warped their understanding of how the job market operates. James was a public defender and prosecutor before entering the city council, while Mark-Viverito was a union staffer. Crowley worked as an art restorer as a member of the painters union, which follows strictly delineated rules about the hiring, roles, and salaries of apprentices and journeymen.

These elected officials, lacking any real knowledge of the dynamics of hiring, and who have possibly never actually negotiated with an employer over their own salary, are attempting to impose their blinkered economic vision on the most robust labor market in the United States. The market is flexible enough to work around all kinds of efforts to constrain itbut here comes another one.

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
In 1985, Walmart founder Sam Walton promised that the retailer would bring jobs back to America by selling more domestically produced goods. The effort eventually fizzled when the store couldnt find enough competitively priced American items. But today, saying that it wants to spur the economy, Walmart is trying againand it may have better luck this time, since the manufacturing environment in the United States is better than it has been in 40 years. Fully reviving Americas manufacturing sector, however, may depend on state governments.

Walmart wants to capitalize on a trend known as reshoring, which has already returned tens of thousands of jobs to the United States. By reshoring the manufacture of several of its products, GE Appliances has created about 1,000 jobs in its Appliance Park facility in Louisville, Kentucky. Caterpillar is opening a $200 million plant in Athens, Georgia, that will employ about 1,400 factory workers making tractors formerly produced in Japan. Whirlpool has brought back production of commercial washing machines and KitchenAid hand mixers from Mexico and China to a factory in Ohio.

Several factors explain the trend. Rising wages have eliminated some of the advantages of sending jobs overseas. As Chinas economy has grown, average pay for industrial workers there has risen as much as threefold since 2001. At the same time, energy costs have dropped in the U.S., thanks to booming natural-gas productiona boon to firms making fertilizers, petrochemicals, and aluminum. The Industrial Energy Consumers of America, a trade group, calls reshoring just the beginning of the manufacturing renaissance the country needs for job creation and exports.

American firms are also discovering that they can serve customers better and improve quality control by locating some plants closer to home. And some U.S. companies have grown uneasy over operating in places like China. China is often perceived as a lawless place where anything goes, observes a study by the Reshoring Initiative, where individuals are frequently not prosecuted for violating regulations and laws, such as those governing patent and copyright.

Reshoring could produce as many as 1 million new American manufacturing jobs by 2020, estimates the Boston Consulting Group. But firms looking to bring jobs back to America can face roadblocks. Though the U.S. has lost manufacturing jobs through offshoringthe shifting of jobs overseasfor decades, some states still impose excessive taxes and regulations on industrial firms that drive up the costs of operating here. State legislators show a growing tendency to saddle industrial firms with high taxes, a politically popular, though economically destructive, way to keep taxes on residents (and voters) low. A 2011 study by the Minnesota Taxpayers Association found that 39 states hit commercial firms with higher property-tax rates than they impose on residences. Manufacturing facilities, which often need lots of space, are especially sensitive to high property taxes. According to the Tax Foundations annual ranking of state business environments, New Jersey has the highest property-tax burden, followed by Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, and New York. But even some states that score well in the Tax Foundation study take a large proportion of their local taxes from businesses. New Mexico, for instance, collected 62 percent of its property taxes from industrial and commercial firms.

Another disincentive to reshore jobs is pricey unemployment-insurance taxes, which can make employing a worker in America expensive compared with other countries. The rates that firms must pay for unemployment insurance vary widely by state, topping out at 12.27 percent in Massachusetts, followed by 10.89 percent in Pennsylvania and 9.79 in Rhode Island. Certain states also take a bigger bite out of wages with this tax. New Jersey assesses its unemployment taxes on the first $30,900 of wages, while Louisiana applies its tax only to the first $7,700 that a worker earns.

Regulationsincluding labor-market restrictions, licensing and permit policies, and local liability laws that make lawsuits against firms more likelyare another obstacle. A study by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University ranked California, West Virginia, New Jersey, and New York as the most heavily regulated states. The costs can be substantial. In 2009, two California State University finance professors found that regulations cost companies operating in California, on average, $135,000 a year. Firms, especially smaller ones located in states with such disincentives to further investment, may never bring jobs back because the expense of employing workers in their home state may be too high. Variations in taxes and regulations will create heated competition among states, as firms focus on bringing jobs back to the most hospitable places.

States often justify their web of regulations and high costs on manufacturers as necessary to protect workers. But America already provides far more safeguards for industrial workers than do developing countries. Bringing work home is a plus for workers rights and safety, as well as a boost to our economy. States need to learn that lesson.

Photo by Daniel Foster
The Institute of Fundraising has named Amanda Bringans as its new chair-elect and has said she will take over from incumbent chair Richard Taylor at the organisations next AGM in July.

In an announcement made this morning, the IoF said that its board of trustees had unanimously selected Amanda Bringans, director of fundraising at the British Heart Foundation, as chair elect, having begun the process of recruiting a new chair in January of this year.

Bringans will take up the role from Taylor, who will be stepping down from the IoF board at the fundraising membership bodys Annual General Meeting in July. Taylor ends his tenure at the IoF having served a three-year term as a trustee and a further three-year term as chair.

The process of recruiting a new chair was begun by the IoF in January when it advertised the position and welcomed applications from all registered members. Shortlisted candidates were then interviewed by IoF trustees.

A spokeswoman for the IoF declined to confirm how many members had applied for the role.

Bringans currently at British Heart Foundation

Bringans is currently the director of fundraising at the British Heart Foundation, a role she has held since she joined the organisation in 2015. Prior to this she held interim director of fundraising roles with both Leonard Cheshire Disability and Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

She was also previously the director of global fundraising and communications at VSO, and worked for Macmillan Cancer Support for 16 years.

Speaking about her appointment, Bringans said: The past few years have been difficult for the fundraising community, but with each others support we were able to come through better and stronger.

That is what I think is at the heart of the IoF  our members passion and willingness to share insights and knowledge as we push each other to be the best we can be. Fundraising is a unique profession in that respect, and Im looking forward to meeting with fundraisers across the UK to hear their stories and champion their achievements as chair.

Part of my job will be to ensure that the institute continues to demand the highest standards from all of us, and to maintain the trust and confidence of the public in the way we raise funds for the good causes they care about. It is our relationships with our supporters that is precious to us as fundraisers and the future of fundraising will be strengthened by focusing on these relationships, ensuring they remain front of mind in all that we do.

Bringans also praised the work of her predecessor in the role, saying that Taylor had led the IoF superbly through tumultuous times to a position of strength.

Huge privilege for me to be chair, says Taylor

In a statement, departing chair Taylor welcomed Bringans appointment and said that being chair of the IoF had been a huge privilege.

See in Fundraising Magazine

I know Amanda will relish the opportunity to lead us in delivering our ambitions, and those of our members and fundraisers, so that charities can raise even more money to make the world a better place, he said. Amanda will be an excellent chair and someone that our members will be able to look to for leadership and inspiration.

It has been a huge privilege for me to be chair of the Institute of Fundraising and I wish Amanda all the best in the role. I know that she will have the full support of an amazing community of fundraisers behind her.
Chinese leaders undoubtedly have a strategy with respect to North Korea and the West, although it is also likely they have hard-liners and moderates creating dynamic tension.

This piece describes the North Korean strategy, with the familiar point that the North Koreans have an ongoing crisis of legitimacy and believe they need their nukes to stave off a US overthrow (Libya and Qadaffi are mentioned here, although She Who Must Not Be Named is omitted as the architect of that venture.)

But a key point is made in the discussion of what it might take to soothe the fears of the North Korean rulers:

The High Costs of a Deal

Any agreement that North Korea would be likely to consider minimally acceptable would come at huge cost to the United States and its allies. North Korea would be likely to require:

 A tacit acknowledgment of the countrys right to retain its existing programs.

 A declaration that the United States considered the North Korean government legitimate and would not seek to topple it.

 The lifting of sanctions.

 The withdrawal or reduction of the American military commitment to South Korea.

They want to see the end of that alliance, said Joshua H. Pollack, the editor of the Nonproliferation Review, suggesting that North Korea has drawn inspiration from the way that the United States broke with Taiwan in order to normalize relations with China in the 1970s.

Mr. Pollack emphasized that North Korea probably saw this as a long-term goal to be accomplished over many years, rather than something to demand up front and all at once.

Still, he said, North Korea may see this as the only way to reduce the existential threat that its weapons program is meant to curb.

Any partial or full American withdrawal would risk sending the American relationship with South Korea and Japan into crisis, empowering North Korea and weakening American influence in Asia.

Hmm, breaking the South Korea/Japan/USA alliance and booting the US out of that part of the world... who else might benefit from that? China, maybe a bit?

Which suggests that as much as we exhort China to bring Kim Jong Un to heel, there are surely Chinese hard-liners arguing that in the longer run, North Korean and China have a broad overlap of interests. Troubling!

But then again, in what is presumably a signal to those North Koreans, the Chinese leadership has allowed some moderate dissent:

Criticism of Beijings North Korea Policy Comes From Unlikely Place: China

By Chris Buckley

BEIJING  When Chinas best-known historian of the Korean War, Shen Zhihua, recently laid out his views on North Korea, astonishment rippled through the audience. China, he said with a bluntness that is rare here, had fundamentally botched its policy on the divided Korean Peninsula.

Chinas bond with North Koreas Communist leaders formed even before Mao Zedongs decision in 1950 to send Peoples Liberation Army soldiers to fight alongside them in the Korean War. Mao famously said the two sides were as close as lips and teeth.

But China should abandon the stale myths of fraternity that have propped up its support for North Korea and turn to South Korea, Mr. Shen said at a university lecture last month in Dalian, a northeastern Chinese port city.

Judging by the current situation, North Korea is Chinas latent enemy and South Korea could be Chinas friend, Mr. Shen said, according to a transcript he published online. We must see clearly that China and North Korea are no longer brothers in arms, and in the short term theres no possibility of an improvement in Chinese-North Korean relations.

Whoa! It's hard to imagine that China would be willing to accept a re-unified Korea under South Korean leadership as part of a Western alliance. On the other hand...

Chinas traditionalist view that views the U.S. as a much greater threat than North Korea is deeply entrenched, Bonnie S. Glaser, an expert on Chinese foreign policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said in an email. But the proponents of change are vocal, too. They argue that North Korea is a growing liability.

What China really wants is stability and calm:

Mr. Shen has gone much further than other scholars in calling for a reset.

The fundamental interests of China and North Korea are at odds, he said in his lecture. Chinas fundamental interest lies in achieving a stability on its borders and developing outward. But since North Korea acquired nuclear weapons, that periphery has never been stable, so inevitably Chinese and North Korean interests are at odds.

With Obama in office the Chinese were never really worried that the US would do something daft, so placating North Korea and annoying the US was the lower-risk path. George Bush, of course, was mired in Afghanistan and Iraq. Bill Clinton had his own distractions, some in Iraq and some closer to the Oval Office.

But Trump? There is a guy who can play the 'crazy' card with as much gusto as Kim Jong Un (I always thought that was a modest talking point in favor of the McCain Presidency, for what that was worth).

If - yuge IF - forced to acknowledge that their current path leads to a potentially disastrous confrontation China might yet try to walk a different road. My ongoing hope is that they try to preserve North Korea as an independent buffer on their border under sane new puppet leadership provided by the son of the recently-poisoned legitimate heir. Such a great deal can be worked out!
An independent inquiry into the future of civil society, which is being chaired by Julia Unwin, and aims to give the sector the tools it needs to address and find solutions to challenges facing society, was launched today.

Unwin launched the Civil Society Futures inquiry at NCVOs annual conference this morning. Over two years the inquiry will explore how the sector can adapt to the changing political and economic landscape, as well as how it can shape the future.

"I am massively ambitious for the inquiry," Unwin said, adding that she wants people from all parts of civil society to be involved with the project.

She said the world is "increasingly uncertain" and that civil society has to "adapt to thrive" to "make sure that we play our part in shaping the years to come".

"We have never been a sector that has let others determine our future," she said.

Unwin told delegates that civil society has historically adapted to meet changing times.

"Now we face another time of massive, uncertain change," she said, and highlighted the rise of the sharing economy and digital technology as elements that are influencing the landscape.

But, with political and economic uncertainty, she said that civil society had "never been more needed" though it has also "never been more challenged".

'We must be bold'

Unwin echoed Sir Stuart Etherington's call for the sector to be bold and speak up.

She said the "regulatory context is more and more difficult" citing restrictions imposed by the Lobbying Act, which affected parts of the voluntary sector during the 2015 election.

"If we allow ourselves to be silenced we are betraying our beneficiaries," she said, adding that throughout history governments have tried to stop charities from campaigning, but charities have "torn off every gag they have bound us with".

Trust is 'collapsing'

Unwin also warned that trust in charities "is collapsing" in a similar way to how it has collapsed for politics and the media.

She said this was not just because of high-profile cases and one-off scandals.

"Trust and confidence are not eroded because of one - or even more than one - mistake. They come as the world changes, and trust has to be earned again and again," she said.

Website launched

A website for Civil Society Futures launched this week with a call for people to get involved, identifying 50 trends, covering issues such as the environment, demographic changes, breakdowns in society and Brexit.

The inquiry has been funded by a group of foundations led by the Baring Foundation, Barrow Cadbury Trust, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch), Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Lankelly Chase, Lloyds Bank Foundation and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

The secretariat for the inquiry is being provided by Forum for the Future, openDemocracy, Goldsmiths University, and Citizens UK.

Juia Unwin will be speaking at Trustee Exhange, Civil Society Media's annual conference about charity governance, on 27 April 2017. For more information, and to book, click here




On The Kicker, we run through the weeks biggest stories, including Bill OReilly, White House transparency, and the special election in Georgias sixth district. Then, staff writer David Uberti talks with CJR correspondent Corey Hutchins about the recent layoffs at Berkshire Hathaway-owned papers and what they mean for local news.

Finally, Dave is joined by Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia, and Nausicaa Renner, CJRs Tow editor, to discuss the problems facing Facebook in the wake of a man in Cleveland uploading video of himself shooting and killing a 74-year-old grandfather on Sunday.

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Pete Vernon is a former CJR staff writer. Follow him on Twitter @ByPeteVernon.
Kate Adams, senior VP and general counsel at Honeywell International, Inc. (NYSE: HON), will deliver the keynote address at April 27 annual meeting of CenterState CEO at the Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center at Oncenter in Syracuse. (Photo credit: Honeywell website)

SYRACUSE, N.Y.  Kate Adams, senior VP and general counsel at Honeywell International, Inc., is scheduled to give the keynote address at the upcoming annual meeting of CenterState CEO. The event is set for next Thursday, April 27 at the Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center at Oncenter in Syracuse

The luncheon is the regions largest annual gathering of business and community leaders, CenterState CEO said in a news release issued Wednesday.

Adams is responsible for managing all of the companys legal affairs, as well as government relations; health, safety, environment, product stewardship and sustainability; and global security.

In her remarks, Adams will share her experience leading Honeywells Onondaga Lake cleanup and restoration efforts for which she has had responsibility since joining the company in 2003. Shell also share her insight into the companys global growth strategy.

As part of the leadership team at Honeywell, Adams has a unique perspective on the strategies and forward-looking approaches required for businesses to excel in the global marketplace, CenterState CEO said.

Robert Simpson, president and CEO of CenterState CEO, addresses the gathering during the organizations annual meeting in 2016. (Eric Reinhardt / BJNN file photo)

Honeywell has been at the center of one of this communitys most ambitious undertakings  the cleanup of Onondaga Lake. We are excited to have Ms. Adams share her perspective on Honeywells commitment to the developing collaborative solutions that helped restore our lake to its rightful place as a remarkable community asset, Robert Simpson, president and CEO of CenterState CEO, said in the organizations release. As we look through the lens of history, this project serves as reminder, and a model, for what can be achieved when we come together with a bold, long-term, vision and take action to break through our most pressing challenges to drive transformative outcomes.

Morris Plains, New Jerseybased Honeywell International (NYSE: HON) is a $40 billion, Fortune 100 technology and manufacturing company that operates through four business segments: Aerospace, Home and Building Technologies, Performance Materials and Technologies, and Safety and Productivity Solutions. Honeywell has a global workforce of about 130,000 people in about 70 countries.

CenterState CEO will also use its annual meeting to announce its 2017 Business of the Year award winners.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
Tompkins County is the first county in the Southern Tier to earn the designation as a clean-energy community.

It recognizes Tompkins Countys leadership in reducing energy use, cutting costs and driving clean energy in its communities, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) said in a news release issued Thursday.

Tompkins County earned the title for completing four of 10 high-impact, clean-energy projects that NYSERDA identified as part of the clean-energy communities initiative.

In addition, the designation gives Tompkins County an opportunity to apply for up to $250,000 toward additional clean-energy projects, with no local cost share.

The $16 million clean-energy communities initiative supports local-government leaders across the state in implementing energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainable-development projects in their communities.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the initiative last August, NYSERDA said.

The initiative advances Cuomos Reforming the Energy (REV) strategy, demonstrating the importance of communities in helping New York reach its clean-energy standard mandate requiring 50 percent of the states electricity to come from renewable-energy resources by 2030.

Congratulations to Tompkins County on this important accomplishment and for its leadership in driving local clean energy actions to reduce costs and protect the environment. Communities are central to ensuring a cleaner, more resilient and affordable energy future for all New Yorkers, as the State advances Gov. Cuomos REV strategy, John Rhodes, president and CEO of NYSERDA, said in the release.

The announcement complements Southern Tier Soaring, the regional economic blueprint aimed at attracting a talented workforce, growing business and driving innovation, per the release.

The Southern Tier was one of three regions to capture $500,000 awards in Cuomos upstate New York economic-development contest in December 2015.

Clean energy projects

Tompkins County established an Energize NY finance program that enables long-term, affordable property assessed, clean-energy financing for energy efficiency and renewable-energy projects at commercial buildings and nonprofits.

It also purchased five plug-in hybrid vehicles to use as part of the county fleet.

In addition, Tompkins County also earned climate smart communities certification through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for developing a program to reduce its carbon footprint and improve the environment, NYSERDA said.

The county also started a community-based Solarize campaign to reduce solar-project costs through joint purchasing. The campaign resulted in 355 installations.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com


name : xyz age : 19

but i want like this

name : xyz

age : 19

how do i format that



i want a simple project to create a simple form in c++ which is dll file and call it on c#(Csharp).







And what does "on c#" mean?

"(I) am amazed to see myself here rather than there ... now rather than then".

 Blaise Pascal



how to make a program multithread to find a max number in array??

sample code please..







We are going to help if you have already tried something and got stuck. But we will not write the code for you.



But there is a simple approach:

Write a function that calculates the max. for a passed range (start pointer and number of items) and stores the maximum value in another array. Create a number of threads that calls that function passing sub ranges of your array. When all threads has finished call the function again passing the array containing the results.



An alternative solution would not use an additional array but a shared variable to hold the maxmimum value found so far. But then the threads must use locking which is probably not very efficient.



modified 30-Mar-17 6:01am.



#define D define #D Y return #D R for #D e while #D I printf #D l int #D W if #D C y=v+111;H(x,v)*y++= *x #D H(a,b)R(a=b+11;a<b+89;a++) #D s(a)t=scanf( " %d" ,&a) #D U Z I #D Z I( " 123\ 45678

" );H(x,V){putchar( " .XO" [*x]);W((x-V)%10== 8 ){x+= 2 ;I( " %d

" ,(x-V)/10-1);}} l V[1600],u,r[]={-1,-11,-10,-9, 1 , 11 , 10 , 9 },h[]={ 11 , 18 , 81 , 88 },ih[]={ 22 , 27 , 72 , 77 }, bz,lv= 60 ,*x,*y,m,t;S(d,v,f,_,a,b)l*v;{l c= 0 ,*n=v+100,j=d<u-1?a:-9000,w,z,i,g,q= 3-f;W(d>u){R(w=i= 0 ;i<4;i++)w+=(m=v[h[i]])==f? 300 :m==q?-300:(t=v[ih[i]])==f?-50: t==q? 50 : 0 ;Y w;}H(z, 0 ){W(E(v,z,f, 100 )){c++;w= -S(d+1,n,q, 0 ,-b,-j);W(w>j){g=bz=z; j=w;W(w>=b||w>= 8003 )Y w;}}}W(!c){g= 0 ;W(_){H(x,v)c+= *x==f? 1 :*x==3-f?-1: 0 ;Y c>0? 8000+c:c-8000;}C;j= -S(d+1,n,q, 1 ,-b,-j);}bz=g;Y d>=u-1?j+(c<<3):j;}main(){R(;t< 1600 ;t+= 100 )R(m= 0 ;m<100;m++)V[t+m]=m<11||m>88||(m+1)%10<2? 3 : 0 ;I( " Level:" );V[44] =V[55]= 1 ;V[45]=V[54]= 2 ;s(u);e(lv>0){Z do {I( " You:" );s(m);}e(!E(V,m, 2 , 0 )&&m!= 99 ); W(m!= 99 )lv--;W(lv<15&&u<10)u+= 2 ;U( " Wait

" );I( " Value:%d

" ,S( 0 ,V, 1 , 0 ,-9000, 9000 ));I( " move: %d

" ,(lv-=E(V,bz, 1 , 0 ),bz));}}E(v,z,f,o)l*v;{l*j,q=3-f,g= 0 ,i,w,*k=v +z;W(*k== 0 )R(i= 7 ;i>= 0 ;i--){j=k+(w=r[i]);e(*j==q)j+=w;W(*j==f&&j-w!=k){W(!g){g= 1 ;C;}e(j!=k)*((j-=w)+o)=f;}}Y g;}



I have OCX created in VC++ that has many functions. OCX has got some GUI. I want to use those functions in C# web application without loading OCX. i.e. I want to extract only functions from OCX. Can anyone please suggest how this can be done?











The difficult we do right away...

...the impossible takes slightly longer.



i have been trying to make create this program, it ' s kinda hard for me to get help in real life because I' m the only computer science student in my second semester. this is c++. I have to use arrays I have to make a program that shows grades, based on marks. The number of students depends on the user input. grade A >= 90 grade B >= 80 grade C >= 70 grade D >= 60 grade F <= 59 based on the homework my lecturer has given me, the output has to be like this Enter the number of students: 4 Enter 4 marks: 40 55 70 58 student 0 mark is 40 and grade is C student 1 mark is 55 and grade is B student 2 mark is 70 and grade is A student 3 mark is 58 and grade is B This is my code: #include<iostream> using namespace std; int main(){ int students; int mark; int x; char grade[6]={ ' A' , ' B' , ' C' , ' D' , ' F' , ' \0' }; cout<< " enter the number of students" <<endl; cin>>students; cout<< " enter " <<students<< " marks " <<endl; for (x= 0 ;x<students;x++){ cin>>mark; if (mark>= 90 ) grade[0]; else if (mark>= 80 ) grade[1]; else if (mark>= 70 ) grade[2]; else if (mark>= 60 ) grade[3]; else grade[4]; cout<< " student " <<students<< " mark is " <<mark<< " and grade is " <<grade[x]; } } I don ' t know what to do anymore. Help me





Arrays - C++ Tutorials[^]

std::array - cppreference.com[^]



The example output shows also that you need two loops:

One to read the user input and store it within the array and another one to print the items.



It is up to you what to store in the array: The mark or the grade. Depending on that the conversion has to be done in the first or second loop. But I would store the mark because that is the data entered by the user and is therefore not lost and can be re-used (e.g. when the next task is extending your program).



Because this is homework, you will not get a final solution here. But you should be able to proceed with my above tips.



C++ if (mark > = 90 ) grade[ 0 ];

The expression in the second line does nothing.



C++ cout < < " student " < < students < < " mark is " < < mark < < " and grade is " < < grade[x];

The value of x in the above statement is the loop counter, so it has no relation to the actual grade value you are trying to deal with.



This is fairly basic C/C++ that you need to study and understand.



Hi Friends,



I am using VS2015 and having a solution having 33 VC++ projects. I am using Klocwork insight 11.0 for code analysis work.



while running it, its getting stuck on any of the file. I tried re-installing Klocwork and restarting visual studio as well.



Please help me out if anyone have any idea.



Regards,

Amrit




A consumer group has lodged a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), charging that Uber Technologies tracked consumers who had once used the company's ride-sharing app, but who had deleted it from their phones.

In its complaint, Consumer Watchdog called the ride-sharing app a renegade technology and charged company executives with taking pride in being a disruptive business.

"It is long past time for the company and its CEO Travis Kalanick to be held accountable for their actions which regularly flout the law," wrote John M. Simpson, the group's privacy project director.

Rocky road

Uber has been engaged in one public relations snafu after another recently. In January there was a delete Uber campaign to protest the company's activities that were interpreted by some as interfering with a New York City taxi strike. That campaign intensified when Uber's anti-Trump clientele pressured the company CEO to withdraw from the President's business advisory group.

Kalanick himself was in an uncomfortable spotlight in February when a viral video showed him heatedly arguing with an Uber driver.

The company also had a dust-up with California officials over planned tests of self-driving cars in San Francisco.

New York Times report

Consumer Watchdog launched the complaint on the heels of a New York Times report outlining how Uber continued to track former riders who had deleted the company's app from their iPhones. The complaint alleges that Uber knew what it was doing was deceptive and went to great lengths to conceal it from Apple.

The Hill reports the complaint may resonate in Washington. It quotes Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) as saying it's an example of why Congress needs to work on a major privacy bill. In a statement to The Hill, Uber disputed information contained in The Times story and said it does track users who have deleted the app.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) was an early critic of Uber privacy policies. As we reported in December, Franken pressed Uber's CEO to make the company's privacy policy more consumer-friendly.

In particular, Franken said he was concerned that an update to the app eliminated the ability to turn off Uber's access to a consumer's location when the app was not being used.

The Consumer Watchdog complaint calls on the FTC to intervene and enjoin Uber from any deceptive tracking in the future. It also said the FTC should conduct a thorough examination of both the iPhone and Android versions of the Uber app.
TMC Compressors (TMC) has won a contract from Fincantieri to supply an environmentally friendly compressed air system to the first of three cruise ships the Italian shipbuilder is building for Virgin Voyages, according to a press release.

TMC will provide a highly energy efficient compressed air system to Fincantieri for the Virgin Voyages ships.

TMCs Smart Air compressors offer 50 percent energy saving compared to conventional compressors, the company said.

This technology is a good match for the rest of the ship, which will be equipped with a range of equipment to reduce environmental impact. Virgin Voyages recently unveiled a system that transforms low-grade energy into clean electricity through using the diesel engines waste heat. This 1 MW energy production system will, according to Virgin Voyages, result in an estimated reduction of 5,400 tons of carbon dioxide per year per ship.

Under the contract, TMC will manufacture and deliver 1 x 40 KW Smart Air compressor, 2 x 44 KW compressors, air driers and filters to the on board service and control air system. The equipment will be delivered to the Fincantieri shipyard in Sestri Ponente (Genoa), Italy. Contract value is undisclosed.

Virgin Voyages wants a strong environmental profile for their new cruise ship. This is a good match for our Smart Air technology, which I believe was a key reason for why TMC was chosen for this project. We have also supplied our compressed air systems to numerous other Fincantieri new-builds, so they are familiar with the reliability of our technology, said Per Kjellin, managing director of TMC.

Stuart Hawkins, Virgin Voyages SVP Marine, stated We will continue to work together with Fincantieri to select great partners who share our vision to make a sea change. We are pleased to welcome TMC on board and excited that their system helps us to achieve our energy savings and ship efficiency goals.
Former Royal Australian Navy Commander John Hodges will head back to sea for the first time since his retirement from the Navy in 1989 to lead a special Anzac Day service onboard Carnival Spirit in Sydney Harbour on April 25, according to a statement.

The Vietnam War veteran and Submarine Captain will lead the Anzac Day dawn service onboard Carnival Cruise Lines Spirit.

The service will be followed by a "Gunfire Breakfast," while the cruise will also feature a special screening of Gallipoli.

Originally from Newcastle, John joined the Royal Australian Naval College at Jervis Bay in 1968 and served in Vietnam including transporting the Australian Army from the troop carrier HMAS SYDNEY to the beach at Vung Tau as captain of one of the ships Landing Craft. He was awarded the Australian Active Service Medal and the Vietnam Logistic Support Medal during his service in HMAS SYDNEY, as well as a later Australian Service Medal with Special Operations clasp during his service in HMAS ORION.

Hodges went on to rise through the ranks, becoming a Commander in 1988. He left the Navy in 1989 and for the past ten years has been the Returned and Services League of Australia National Veterans Affairs Advisor. John retired from this position last month.

Carnival Cruise Line Vice President Australia Jennifer Vandekreeke said the cruise line was honoured to have John onboard to lead the special Anzac service.

Carnival Spirit has called Australia home for five years and were proud to have someone of John Hodges standing join our guests onboard to commemorate this important day. Anzac Day is a time of remembrance and reflection and this years service, held as dawn breaks in Sydney Harbour, is set to be especially poignant, she said.
Paul Gauguin Cruises announced today that celebrity Chef Massimo Capra will join The Gauguins September 23, 2017, Tahiti & the Society Islands voyage, for a lecture and culinary demonstration, along with meet-and-greet photo opportunities.

Italian native Capra is known for his dining establishments, TV appearances, and cookbooks.

Capra began his culinary career in a famous trattoria near Venice before turning his talents to the hotel industry in northern Italy. In 1982, he relocated to Toronto, Canada, where he began working at a restaurant owned by a family member. From there, he became an acclaimed chef at Prego della Piazza restaurant, where he remained for nine years.

His next venture occurred in 1997, when he joined forces with Paolo Paolini to open Mistura Restaurant of Toronto, offering upscale Italian dining. Sopra Upper Lounge, an exclusive event venue located above Mistura, opened in 2006.

Chef Capras culinary empire continued to expand in 2010, when he licensed his name to the famous Rainbow Room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. More recently, he became chef/brand owner of Boccone Trattoria Veloce and Boccone Pronto at Pearson airport in Toronto and of Soprafino Restaurant at Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar. And last year, he opened Capras Kitchena casual Italian eatery with a heavy emphasis on pasta, pizza, and antipastoin his hometown of Mississauga, Ontario.

In addition to his restaurant empire, Chef Capra is also a cookbook author. Three Chefs: The Kitchen Men, which he co-wrote with Michael Bonacini and Jason Parsons, took the gold in the cookbook category of the Canadian Culinary Book Awards (now called Taste CanadaThe Food Writing Awards), and he is also the author of One Pot Italian Cooking. He also serves as the food editor for Canadian Home Trends magazine.

And he is a familiar face on Canadian television, serving as the host of his own show, Gourmet Escapes, and as a regular guest expert on the long-running CityLine talk and lifestyle show, chef host of the hit series Restaurant Makeover on the Food Network, and now a judge on the hit show Chopped Canada.
Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain.

Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred.

For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here.
AIM-listed Bushveld Minerals has partnered with Sinohydro Corp, a Chinese state-owned hydropower engineering and construction company, to develop a coal power plant in southern Madagascar.

The companys subsidiary Lemur Holdings signed a memorandum of understanding with Sinohydro to develop an initial 60 megawatt independent power producer coal power plant and a 200km transmission line.

Bushveld said the project could be transformational for Madagascar as it does not have an electricity grid in the southern part of the island. It added that the plant supply electricity cheaper to existing mining and industrial operations in the region, as well as deliver electricity to tens of thousands of people currently without access to power.

Madagascar power utility, Jirama, is currently negotiating an offtake agreement with Lemur for electricity for the independent power producer.

It is anticipated that Lemur's coal mining permit area in Madagascar will provide coal fuel for the power station.

A bankable feasibility study and a project implementation proposal for the project will be developed by Sinohydro, at its own cost, within 12 months, and both companies will prepare an environmental Impact assessment

The companies will also secure both debt and equity funding for the project and potentially establish a future joint company on the completion of the bankable feasibility study, in which Sinohydro's parent company, PowerChina, may buy a stake in.

Lemur will continue the development of its mine in order to supply coal to the Imaloto independent power producer.

Sinohydro vice president Liu Kai said: "As a major breakthrough for the energy sector of Madagascar, this project will help solve the problem of power shortage and contribute to local economic growth in the south of the country.

Sinohydro, with rich experience in thermal power field, is ready to help Lemur complete preliminary work. We both hope the project can move forward into the next stage as soon as possible with the strong support of Madagascar government."

Bushveld chief executive Fortune Mojapelo added: "The MoU reinforces the commercial merits of the project and the bankable feasibility study will add significant value to the development of the power project.

Shares in Bushveld Minerals were up 8.53% to 7.95p at 0905 BST.
The PFS envisaged a 21-year operation from the 100%-owned Cinovec project, with an average 20,800 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate at qualities good enough to be used in lithium batteries.

The net overall operational cost was put at $3,483 per tonne of lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) and capital expenditure at $393m.

EMH said the post-tax net present value had been calculated at $540m, with a internal rate of return of 21% post tax, assuming lithium carbonate prices at $10,000/t and tin at $22,500/t.

Managing director Keith Coughlan said the PFS highlighted the potential for Cinovec to be "the world's lowest cost hard rock producer of lithium carbonate due to its unique geological and metallurgical characteristics", pointing out that Cinovec's location in central Europe was close to the many of the continent's vehicle manufacturers.

"These results, coupled with the macro outlook for the lithium industry, particularly in Europe, highlight the attractiveness of the project. As a result, we will move directly into a definitive feasibility study to accelerate the project towards development."

But some analysts said the study was a let-down and investors clearly felt the same, with the share price dropping as low as 0.83p on Wednesday afternoon from its previous close of 1.25p.

"Oh dear," said Yuen Low at Shore Capital, adding that an IRR of 21% would be pretty decent for large projects with capex and NPVs in the multiple billions of dollars range.

"For something the size of Cinovec, using historically high prices, we would have preferred to see at least 25%, and preferably significantly better.

"The marginal nature of the project is emphasised by its sensitivity to the lithium price assumption: a mere 10% reduction in the lithium price would see NPV fall to c.US$300m; a 20% reduction, to just over US$200m.

Given that AIM-listed EMH is still planning to complete a bankable feasibility study (BFS), let alone raise construction funding, build the project and go into production, he judged the current market cap of almost 100m was "rather fully" valuing the company at its present stage of development.

Broker SP Angel said a forthcoming definitive feasibility study should firm up the project parameters. "We look forward to future developments."
Falkland Islands and UK-focussed specialist services company FIH Group updated the market on its trading for the year to 31 March on Thursday, cautioning that the results remained subject to audit and final approval by the board.

The AIM-traded firm said that, as outlined in its trading update of 14 March, trading in the second half was stronger than originally anticipated, although as expected, profitability was still significantly lower than in second half last year due to quieter trading in the Falklands.

Full year underlying profit before tax was therefore likely to be approximately 20-25% lower than the prior year, the board said, in the range of 2.3m - 2.5m, principally due to the reduced contribution from the Falklands operations.

The group's cash flow during the year was strong, the board reported, confirming that after capital investment of over 1.6m - primarily to support long term expansion at Momart - FIH ended the year with record cash balances of 15.1m, an increase of over 1m compared to 31 March 2016.

The group has delivered a satisfactory trading performance, reflecting the much quieter trading conditions which were expected in the Falklands and the solid performance of the group's UK businesses, which both saw improved profits compared to the prior year, said chairman Edmund Rowland.

With record cash balances of 15.1m and net cash of 11.3m, giving net cash per FIH share of 90 pence per share, the group's financial position and prospects remain strong.

As chairman, I remain committed to delivering sustainable long term growth in shareholder value by investing in the strong niche businesses the group already has and by delivering on our promise of securing high quality selective acquisitions.

In line with that commitment, Rowland said the board would be consulting over the coming period with shareholders as to the benefits of a potential return of excess capital and details of its proposals would be made public in the coming weeks, prior to the announcement of the group's full year results on 13 June.

n the meantime we will immediately commence a process to appoint an experienced independent non-executive director to further strengthen the Board.

I look forward to updating the market on our growth strategy as the year progresses, as we seek out opportunities that will create an enhanced platform for sustainable long term growth.
The House of Lords will start debating the Article 50 bill on Monday with amendments tabled to guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the UK, for greater scrutiny on the process and for a "meaningful vote" at the end of Brexit negotiations.

Prime Minister Theresa Mays Conservative party has a majority in the Lords, as it does in the House of Commons, where MPs voted overwhelmingly to pass the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill, two weeks ago unchanged.

However, the 252 Tory peers could be outnumbered if Labour and Liberal Democrats peers with 202 an 102 peers, respectively banded together to add amendments to the bill. There are also 178 crossbenchers to contend with as well.

Lord Mandelson, a former Labour cabinet minister for Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, told BBCs Andrew Marr Show on Sunday that the government could be defeated on the status of EU nationals and for a "meaningful vote" for Parliament.

This was echoed by Lady Smith on BBC Radio 4 Today programme on Monday, but she stressed that the Lords would not hamper Mays timetable.

She said: All the House of Lords can do is ask the Commons to look at an issue again that is built into the governments own timetable. I dont see any extended ping-pong on this at all, Ill be very clear about that.

We are trying to be helpful rather than difficult. I would like to see some of those concessions like having a meaningful vote at the end, like having some parliamentary engagement throughout, on the face of the bill. As we have seen with the Dubs amendment, we cant always rely just on what the government says.

May said that she hoped there would be debate and scrutiny in the Lords but that the upper chamber would not hold up the bill.

The Lords will continue debating on Tuesday with the committee stage on 27 February and 1 March.

If there are no amendments, then the bill could be approved by the Lords at third reading on 7 March and will become law afterwards.

This would be in line with governments timetable to trigger Article 50, which starts a two year clock on formal negotiations with the European Union, by the end of March.

However, if there are changes made it would be passed back to the Commons to be debated and for MPs to accept or reject the amendments.

The House of Lords will start debating the bill at 1500 GMT.
China and France will centre the markets' attention, with data on the world's third largest economy set for release at the start of the week, even as the world watches for Beijing's reaction to North Korea's latest attempt to test a ballistic missile over the weekend, and presidential elections set to take place in the latter.

Data on Chinese retail sales, industrial production, investment and GDP, all on Monday, will help traders gauge the momentum of that economy at the start of 2017.

At the end of the week, on Sunday, Frenchmen will head to the voting booths in the first round of their presidential elections.

In the UK, the main release will come on Friday, with the March tally for retail sales, courtesy of ONS.

Meanwhile, in the euro area, also on Friday IHS Markit will publish the preliminary results for its manufacturing sector purchasing managers' indices for the currency bloc.

Stateside, the main releases will come on Wednesday, with the US Federal Reserve's Beige Book, followed by the latest data on initial weekly unemployment claims and the Federal Reserve bank of Philadelphia's manufaturing sector gauge for the month of April the next day.

Monday April 17

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE

Schlumberger Ltd.

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Somero Enterprises Inc. (DI)

FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

STV Group

Tuesday April 18

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

JPMorgan Mid Cap Inv Trust, Waterman Group

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Building Permits (US) (13:30)

Capacity Utilisation (US) (14:15)

Housing Starts (US) (13:30)

Industrial Production (US) (14:15)

ANNUAL REPORT

North Midland Construction

AGMS

Apax Global Alpha Limited , Cloudbuy, Herald Inv Trust, Onzima Ventures

Wednesday April 19

INTERIMS

Associated British Foods

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE

Assura

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Balance of Trade (EU) (11:00)

Consumer Price Index (EU) (11:00)

Consumer Price Index (EU) (10:00)

Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)

Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)

MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (15:30)

Producer Price Index (GER) (07:00)

FINALS

e-Therapeutics

AGMS

Bunzl, Harwood Wealth Management Group, Harwood Wealth Management Group, RTC Group, XP Power Ltd. (DI)

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Burberry Group, Relx plc, SEGRO

Thursday April 20

INTERIMS

Gattaca

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Craneware

INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Barratt Developments, Carr's Group, SCS Group

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE

SQN Asset Finance Income Fund Limited

QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Ediston Property Investment Company, Merchants Trust, TwentyFour Select Monthly Income Fund Limited

Q3

Sky

FINALS

Jersey Oil And Gas , Hvivo, Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings (DI), Xeros Technology Group

ANNUAL REPORT

Royal Dutch Shell 'A'

EGMS

MoneySwap

AGMS

Acacia Mining, Dialight, Domino's Pizza Group, Essentra, LightwaveRF , Octopus AIM VCT 2, Redx Pharma, Relx plc, SEGRO, SThree, Yolo Leisure And Technology

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Law Debenture Corp.

FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Acencia Debt Strategies Ltd., Aggreko, BAE Systems, Balfour Beatty, Bodycote, Capital & Counties Properties , Drax Group, Equiniti Group , Fevertree Drinks, Highland Gold Mining Ltd., Hochschild Mining, IndigoVision Group, Inmarsat, Intu Properties, John Laing Group , M. P. Evans Group, Man Group, Marshall Motor Holdings, Mondi, Pendragon, Rathbone Brothers, RPS Group, Smurfit Kappa Group, Stilo International, Taptica International (DI), Tyman, Unite Group, Vitec Group, Zotefoams

Q1

Unilever

Friday April 21

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Animalcare Group, Bioventix, Brooks Macdonald Group, Finsbury Food Group, Go-Ahead Group, Produce Investments, Tracsis

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE

XP Power Ltd. (DI)

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Current Account (EU) (09:00)

Existing Home Sales (US) (15:00)

GMS

Taihua

IMSS

Reckitt Benckiser Group

AGMS

JPMorgan Claverhouse Inv Trust, MD Medical Group Investments GDR (Reg S), One Media IP Group, PAO Novatek GDR (Reg S), Symphony International Holdings Ltd.

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Record

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Heavitree Brewery, Heavitree Brewery 'A' Shares, IDOX, RM

Q1

PJSC Magnit GDR (REG S), Schlumberger Ltd.
Talk that Labour might push for personal income tax hikes in the upcoming general elections and combative language from Jeremy Corbyn gave the pound a fillip.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonell said on Wednesday the "rich" - those that earn more than between 70,000 to 80,000 a year - should "pay their way more".

He was followed on Thursday by Jeremy Corbyn, who vowed to "overturn the rigged system", attacking what he described as the "morally corrupt" Conservatives who refused to stand up to tax dodgers and others from the "gilded elite".

Commenting on McDonell's remarks, Jasper Lawler, senior market analyst at LCG said: "Talk of a tax hike on middle class earnings by Labour are reminiscent of the partys disastrous 1983 manifesto that saw Margaret Thatcher stampede to victory. Brexit negotiations seem to have been side-lined by the French and now British elections. The absence of Brexit in the mind set of forex traders can only be a positive for Sterling."

As of 1619 GMT cable is higher by 0.38% to 1.2828, alongside gains of 0.65% versus Japan's yen to 139.97, although it is slipped 0.10% against the euro to 1.1916.



News that global financial markets might not have to endure another dose of Greek fire over the summer lifted the European single currency, neutralising Sterling's new found vigour.

On the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank's annual meetings, in Washington, Greek government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said the IMF might help to finance the country's bailout programme with a small amount of monies for a year.

The news lifted euro/dollar by 0.51% to 1.0764, although some traders were left unimpressed.

Lawler was unimpressed with the news swirling around the Mediterranean country as well, telling clients: "The deal is a thinly veiled can-kicking exercise by Europe to delay the Greece problem until after German elections later this year."
China warned against North Korea or the US and its allies trying to use military force to solve the stand-off between the two sides on the peninsula.

Speaking from Beijing, China's foreign policy chief, Wang Yi, said "military force cannot resolve the issue", Reuters reported

"Amid challenge there is opportunity. Amid tensions we will also find a kind of opportunity to return to talks," Wang said.

"Whoever provokes the situation, whoever continues to make trouble in this place, they will have to assume historical responsibility," he added.

His remarks came amid worries that Pyongyang was set to carry-out further tests of its ballistic missiles, with some observers expecting the US aircraft carrier group which had been deployed to the region might attempt an intercept from their missile destroyers.

North Korea's 'Day of the Sun' celebrations, the biggest national day for the regime, on Thursday, were seen by some as possibly providing a good excuse for the North to carry out such a test.

However, signals from Washington that the country's patience with the North was running out meant tensions were now running especially high.

In parallel, earlier on Thursday the Global Times, one of the Chinese Communist party's mouthpieces, ran an editorial saying: "as soon as North Korea complies with China's declared advice and suspends nuclear activities ... China will actively work to protect the security of a denuclearised North Korean nation and regime."

Both South Korean and Japanese officials said they expected the White House to consult them should it decide upon a strike.

"Whoever provokes the situation, whoever continues to make trouble in this place, they will have to assume historical responsibility," Wang added.

Reuters also reported that Chinese premier Xi Jinping and US president Donald Trump had spoken by phone on Wednesday, which the latter described via his Twitter account as a "very good" discussion of the menace posed by North Korea, but later added the US was prepared to go it alone, without China, in trying to solve the crisis if necessary.
US gasoline inventories rose unexpectedly last week as refineries continued to ramp-up, but the resulting drawdown in oil stockpiles was also less than anticipated.

Gasoline stockpiles rose by 1.5m barrels to 237.7m barrels during the week ending on 14 April, while those of distillate fuels shrank by 2.0m barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration, the US Department of Energy's statistical arm.

Commercial crude oil inventories in the States on the other hand also fell, shrinking by 1.0m barrels to reach 532.3m barrels.

Yet that also took analysts - who had expected a 1.4m barrel draw - by surprise.

The unexpected news sent WTI futures reeling; as of 17:50 GMT they were off by 1.5% to $54.08 a barrel on the ICE.

Thomas Pugh, a commodities economist at Capital Economics, pointed out a 0.2m barrel decline in stockpiles held by the US government's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, adding that the SPR's holdings of black gold had fallen by nearly 4.0m barrels over the past month.

Demand for gasoline also dropped back a little, Pugh added.

Wednesday's data was broadly similar to the latest figures from the American Petroleum Institute released during the previous session.

According to the EIA, refineries continued to increase their production with the degree of capacity in use rising to 92.9%.

In parallel, imports declined by 68,000 barrels a day last week to 7.8m barrels, while domestic oil output rose slightly.
Markets in Asia finished mixed on Tuesday with traders mostly shrugging off geopolitical tension in the region, after another failed missile test from Pyongyang as US Vice President Mike Pence toured the region.

Japans Nikkei 225 was up 0.35% at 18,418.59, with the yen weakening against the greenback for much of the session.

It was last slightly stronger after markets went to bed, however, advancing 0.14% to JPY 108.76 per $1.

Banks and financial stocks made serious gains, led by Mizuho Financial which was 1.1% higher.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.79% at 3,196.60, while the smaller, technology-focussed Shenzhen Composite was off 0.62% at 1,946.42.

Fresh data suggested a 0.6% rise in house prices month-on-month in China in March, even after the government had introduced measures to try and cool the property market.

South Koreas Kospi was 0.13% higher at 2,148.46, while Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index ended down 1.39% at 23,924.54.

Technology plays were among the best performers in Seoul, with microchip manufacturer SK Hynix a standout, adding 2.03%.

The defence sector was another winner as tensions on the peninsula tightened, with Korea Aerospace up 1.1% by end of play.

Former president Park Geun-hye was formally charged with bribery on Monday as well, after her cash-for-influence corruption scandal saw her booted from office, though that seemed to have little effect on markets by Tuesday.

The US Vice President met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the second stop of his tour of Asia, reiterating his rhetoric that America was set to work with allies on dealing with the North Korea problem.

He had visited the South Korean side of the demilitarised zone that divides the Korean Peninsula on Monday.

In a press conference metres away from North Korean soldiers, he said all options are on the table when it came to dealing with North Koreas belligerence.

One suspects the concerns in North Korea has further to play out, noted IG chief market strategist Chris Weston.

With this in mind, there will be a strong focus on next week's meeting between the Russians, the US and the United Nations to discuss Syria and North Korea, although a week seems a long time in markets.

Oil prices were lower on Tuesday after reports that shale production was set to rise in the US.

Brent crude was last down 0.89% at $54.87 per barrel,

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.9% at 5,836.74, with miners the big losers of the day.

Fortescue Metals slid 7.45% during the session.

In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 rose 0.05% to 7,233.6, with healthcare software developer Orion Health surging 5.2%.

The rise came after the company confirmed it had signed a contract with Dorset County Council in the UK for its Amadeus medicine platform, worth NZD 9.3m.

It was a mixed day for the down under dollars, with the Kiwi last 0.12% stronger at NZD 1.4248 against the greenback and the Ausse retreating 0.67% to AUD 1.3272 per $1.
Most markets in Asia finished lower on Wednesday, taking cues from a red session on Wall Street overnight.

Japans Nikkei 225 was almost flat, managing a 0.07% rise to 18,432.20, while the broader Topix finished down 0.01% at 1,471.42.

Commodity traders were under pressure, with Itochu down 0.83% and Mitsubishi off 1.18%.

Technology firm Sharp rocketed ahead 7.44% while its struggling peer Toshiba was up 4.87%, after reports emerged that Sharp was considering an investment in Toshibas valuable memory chip business.

Toshiba has been courting suitors for the division in recent months, in a bid to help solve a cash crisis caused by its failed US nuclear development arm Westinghouse.

The yen was weaker against the greenback, last retreating 0.42% to JPY 108.89 per $1.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.79% to 3,171.31, while the smaller Shenzhen Composite was down 0.72% at 1,932.46.

South Koreas Kospi was off 0.47% at 2,138.40, while Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index was 0.41% softer at 23,825.88.

Geopolitical tensions between the US and a belligerent North Korea were still hanging in the air, with American Vice President Mike Pence arriving in Tokyo after spending time in South Korea and at the demilitarised zone which divides the peninsula.

In Japan, he reassured the country of the US commitment to keep North Koreas ballistic and nuclear plans in check, adding that recent American strikes in Afghanistan and Syria were proof of its resolve on the international front.

North Korea had recently tested a number of nuclear and missile tests, despite UN sanctions and concern from various neighbouring countries.

Oil prices were higher, with Brent crude last up 0.42% at $55.12 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate adding 0.3% to $52.57.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 ended down 0.56% to 5,804.01, with some resources stocks coming under pressure.

Newcrest was down 0.54% and BHP Billiton was virtually flat in Sydney, after Citi reiterated its bearish outlook on iron ore on Tuesday - though it did raise its forecast to $70 a tonne from $65 for 2017.

Newcrest was also under pressure from a research note from Morgans on Tuesday, which referred to a large seismic event at its Cadia East property last week.

Morgans analysts assumed a two-month production interruption as a result, adding that Cadia was responsible for 31% of Newcrests production and 49% of its EBITDA.

New Zealands S&P/NZX 50 was down 0.2% at 7,218.52, with one of the countrys largest companies Fletcher Building losing 3% amid fears it was vulnerable to a corporate raid.

The down under dollars were both weaker against the greenback, with the Aussie retreating 0.54% to AUD 1.3298 and the Kiwi weakening 0.35% to NZD 1.4253 per $1.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has criticised former Prime Minister Tony Blairs call for people to rise up" against Brexit and suggestions of a second referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.

Johnson told Sky News: I urge the British people to rise up and turn off the TV next time Blair comes on with his condescending campaign.

Johnson, who was one of the leading figures on the Leave campaign during the referendum campaign, said that Britain has voted firmly in favour of leaving the EU.

He added: Not a thing has changed and I really think it is insulting the intelligence of the electorate to say that they got it wrong.

Blair on Friday also called on people to rise up and challenge Prime Minister Theresa Mays hard Brexit of no longer being a member of the European single market and customs union.

The former Labour premier said that people voted "without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit" and said that there was "a way out from the present rush over the cliff's edge".

Yes, the British people voted to leave Europe, and I agree the will of the people should prevail. I accept right now there is no widespread appetite to rethink, he said. But the people voted without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit. As these terms become clear, it is their right to change their mind. Our mission is to persuade them to do so.

He suggested that there could be a second EU referendum, in last Junes referendum the country voted by 52% to 48% to leave.

If a significant part of that 52% show real change of mind, however you measure it, we should have the opportunity to reconsider the decision, Whether you do it through another referendum, or another method, thats a second order question.

His speech, which was organised by Open Britain, a successor to the Remain campaign said that people who voted to stay in the EU should not retreat, indifference or despair and they should rise up in defence of what we believe.

Our challenge is to expose relentlessly what [Brexit] is, to show how the decision was based on imperfect knowledge which will now become informed knowledge, to calculate in easy-to-understand ways how proceeding will cause real damage to our country; and to build support for finding a way out from the present rush over the cliffs edge.

Blair's speech was welcomed by Tim Farron, the leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Tony Blair is right. The challenge now is to persuade people to change their mind - as the Liberal Democrats are the only party offering them a chance to have their voice heard again.

He added: So if you agree with Tony, join the Liberal Democrats.
SDL said on Thursday that it has agreed to sell its Social Intelligence business.

The business consists of two subsidiaries - Social Intelligence, Inc and SDL Technologies (Vietnam) Co Ltd - and will be sold to Social Data Intelligence LLL, with completion expected on 2 May.

Back in January last year, SDL announced its strategic decision to divest certain non-core elements of its technology business, being Campaigns, Fredhopper and Social Intelligence.

The Campaigns business was sold on 2 November 2016 and the Fredhopper business was sold on 8 March 2017.

SDL has signed a sale and purchase agreement with SDIL for the sale and there is an immediate cash consideration for the disposal of 1. As part of the transaction, SDL has agreed to subscribe for a $1m unsecured 2027 loan note issued by SDIL.

The gross assets of the business being disposed amount to around 400,000 and the deal is expected to lead to a loss on disposal of approximately 500,000, which will be accounted for within discontinued activities.

The Social Intelligence Business made a pre-tax loss of 3.8m in 2016, which was reported as a discontinued activity in the group's annual report.

Chief executive officer Adolfo Hernandez said: "We are delighted to have found a home for stakeholders of the Social Intelligence Business, including employees and customers. The transaction concludes the sale of the group's non-core businesses."

At 1047 BST, the shares were up 0.4% to 567.50p.
A group of UK small business representative bodies have hit out at planned rises in business rates and changes to the appeals system.

In a letter to the government, the 13 groups, including the Confederation of British Industry and British Retail Consortium, say the wording of one of the proposed changes could stop firms from appealing against rate rises.

Some retailers are facing steep rises in rates from April 1 this year after the first property revaluation since 2010.

Businesses pay rates based on the rental value of the size of their occupied space. Other factors taken into account include types of business. At the last revaluation almost 50% of business appealed against their bills.

The government wants to cut the number of appeals and introduce a margin of error on valuations with a range of reasonable professional judgement. It rejects claims that it is trying to block appeals.

However, some experts argued that the margin could be too wide, forcing business into overpaying.

John Webber, head of ratings at property company Colliers International, told the BBC that valuations were based on opinion, which could cause major problems.

"Every rateable value is an opinion, so there will be a boundary of judgement there. The problem you're going to have is if you have a property with a rateable value of 100,000 and you think it should be 90,000, then that 10% tolerance is arguably still within the bounds of reasonable professional judgement, he said.

"Therefore, the list will not be altered and as the rating list lasts for five years potentially you will be paying, over a five year period, at least 10% more than you should do."

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said all businesses should pay its fair share.

However, the plans for the new appeals process would mean that a business rates valuation determined to be inaccurate by the independent Valuation Tribunal for England, would only be corrected if it is deemed outside the bounds of reasonable professional judgement.

This would be unfair to ratepayers and create additional uncertainty for local government. Instead, a collaborative working relationship between the Valuation Office Agency and ratepayers, where information and evidence can be shared and appeals avoided, should be sought.
Philip Hammond has signalled that the government is facing a multibillion-pound loss from selling off its 73% stake in Royal Bank of Scotland. The chancellor told MPs that that we have to live in the real world, as he indicated that the remaining shares could be sold below the 502p average price that was paid for them during 2008 and 2009 when 45bn of taxpayers money was pumped into the Edinburgh-based bank.  Guardian

The City regulator has pledged to ensure that financial firms remain strong in the face of Brexit in its annual list of priorities, which also includes protecting vulnerable customers from overly expensive loans. Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, said the regulators lawyers were scrutinising EU financial sector rules as part of the governments great repeal bill, which will transfer thousands of EU regulations into UK legislation after Brexit. - Guardian

The boss of German energy giant RWE has fuelled expectations that the company will target the UK energy market for future acquisitions. Rolf Martin Schmitz disclosed that the group is interested in owning power plants in countries where capacity margins are thin and the Government is willing to award contracts to secure power supplies.  Telegraph

City grandees and currency investors alike backed Theresa Mays decision to call an early election in the hope she will win more authority to negotiate a smooth exit from the European Union. Although the surprise in Westminster at the Prime Ministers previous refusal to go to the polls early was echoed in the Square Mile, news of a general election on June 8 was broadly seen as an opportunity to achieve greater certainty in talks with Brussels.  Telegraph

Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise has had his total remuneration slashed from 4.2 million to 1.8 million after a tough year in which Nexts full-year profits fell for the first time since the recession. The Next chief executives pay dropped heavily as he did not receive a bonus  530,000 the year before  after failing to hit targets. It is the first time in 18 years that he has missed his annual bonus.  The Times

The International Monetary Fund will walk away from Greece if it decides that Europes bailout deal leaves the countrys debts unsustainably high, Christine Lagarde has warned. Greece will be high on the agenda of the IMFs spring meetings, which start in Washington on Friday. Athens is running out of time to secure a new loan under its 86 billion rescue programme, the third since 2010. The latest tranche of its bailout needs to be released in time to meet debt repayments due in July. Without new money, the country could run out of cash and default, triggering a re-run of the 2015 crisis. Until the IMF decrees that Greeces debts are on a sustainable path, it has refused to put any more money at risk.  The Times
GOTHENBURG - Swedish fashion retailer's latest sustainability report shows steady progress towards the company's 2020 social and environmental goals. The company's target is that 80 per cent of its garments will be made from more sustainable fibres by 2020. In 2016 Lindex reached over 50 per cent, while more than 90 per cent of the fashion company's cotton came from more sustainable sources.
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (April 20, 2017) - Confronting evidence that the global climate is changing rapidly relative to historical trends, researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new statistical model that, when applied to the loblolly pine tree populations in the southeastern United States, will benefit forest landowners and the forest industry in future decades. The research, titled "Optimal Seed Deployment Under Climate Change Using Spatial Models: Application to Loblolly Pine in the Southeastern US" appears in the Journal of The American Statistical Association.

"In the past, statistical approaches that were used to help guide forest management decisions like strategic seedling planting had limitations," note the authors. "Our proposed model, which is based on future climate change scenarios, produces more accurate predictions than previous methods. As a result, it can be used as a quantitative tool for designing forest management strategies that mitigate the negative impacts of climate change."

The findings are the result of the Cooperative Tree Improvement Program, a joint effort between NC State's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources and Department of Statistics, in which NC State and its members carried out breeding of loblolly pine families and established a large number of field trials in approximately 25 locations across the southern U.S. in the early 1990s.

Stress to the loblolly pine plantations in the southern U.S. from projected temperature increases and likely precipitation decreases due to climate change could have significant economic and environmental impacts. The optimal seed sources that have been planted for decades will no longer be the optimal seed sources to plant today or in the future. The authors suggest an optimal assisted migration of loblolly pine seed sources from southern and warmer regions to northern and colder areas in the southeastern U.S. to mitigate adverse climate change effect.

Loblolly pine is the most important commercial pine species in the U.S. More than 39 million acres of pine plantations span the South, and about 1 million acres are planted every year by small landowners and forestry companies. Timber market models forecast overall production in the U.S. will increase by one-third leading up to 2040, and nearly all this growth will come from the South, which currently produces more timber than any country in the world. In addition to the financial benefits to landowners, loblolly pine plantations provide clean water and habitat for countless species in the region.

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The research was conducted by Alfredo Farjat, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University School of Medicine; Brian J. Reich, Department of Statistics, NC State; Joseph Guinness, Department of Statistics, NC State; Ross Whetten, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, NC State; Steven McKeand, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, NC State; and Fikret Isik, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, NC State; and with support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

About the American Statistical Association

The ASA is the world's largest community of statisticians and the oldest continuously operating professional science society in the United States. Its members serve in industry, government and academia in more than 90 countries, advancing research and promoting sound statistical practice to inform public policy and improve human welfare. For additional information, please visit the ASA website at http://www.amstat.org.

For more information:

Jill Talley

Public Relations Manager

O: (703) 684-1221, ext. 1865

jill@amstat.org
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Studies spanning the spectrum of cancer prevention and care, from immunotherapy and precision medicine to survivorship, will be highlighted in the official Press Program for the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Research results will be released in advance of and throughout the Annual Meeting, taking place June 2-6 in Chicago.

The theme of the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting is Making a Difference in Cancer Care With You. The conference attracts more than 30,000 oncology professionals from around the world.

More than 2,150 abstracts were accepted for presentation at the Annual Meeting, plus more than 2,890 additional abstracts were accepted for online publication. The vast majority of these abstracts will be publicly posted on abstracts.asco.org on Wednesday, May 17, at 5:00 p.m. (ET). An embargoed presscast for media will be held earlier that day to highlight six significant abstracts from this group. Late-Breaking Abstracts (LBAs), including Plenary abstracts, will be released on site throughout the Annual Meeting and highlighted in daily press briefings.

EMBARGOED PRESSCAST - Wednesday, May 17, 12:00 noon (ET)

Embargo will lift on May 17 at 5:00 p.m. (ET) for the following studies presented in this virtual presscast:

A study investigating the association between nut consumption and colon cancer recurrence and survival (Abstract 3517)

An analysis evaluating the impact of a healthy lifestyle - including nutrition and physical activity - on colon cancer survival (Abstract 10006)

A randomized phase III clinical trial of adjuvant gefitinib for patients with non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR mutations (Abstract 8500)

A randomized phase III clinical trial exploring adjuvant capecitabine for the treatment of biliary tract cancer (Abstract 4006)

A study evaluating changes in the stage at which cancers - those that are detectable by screening - were diagnosed from 2013 to 2014 (Abstract 6521)

A study of the impact of HPV vaccination on the prevalence of oral HPV infections - which cause a growing number of head and neck cancers - among young adults in the United States (Abstract 6003)

RESEARCH TO BE RELEASED ON SITE AT THE ANNUAL MEETING

News of the Day: Friday, June 2, 1:00-2:00 p.m. (CT)

Embargo will lift at 1:00 p.m. (CT) for studies presented in this briefing:

Long-term results of a randomized phase II clinical trial of a psychological intervention to reduce the fear of cancer recurrence in survivors (Abstract LBA10000)

Findings from a randomized clinical trial exploring a psychotherapeutic intervention to alleviate distress in patients with advanced cancer (Abstract LBA10001)

A randomized trial of a web-based stress management program to improve quality of life for patients newly diagnosed with cancer (Abstract LBA10002)

Results from a phase III clinical trial comparing single-dose radiotherapy to multiple doses for patients with spinal cord compression due to metastatic cancer (Abstract LBA10004)

A large analysis of 30-year trends in the late effects of treatment among childhood cancer survivors (Abstract LBA10500)

A study investigating the incidence of low testosterone and related health complications in survivors of testicular cancer (Abstract LBA10012)

News of the Day, Part I: Saturday, June 3, 8:00-9:00 a.m. (CT)

Embargo will lift at 6:30 a.m. (CT) for studies presented in this briefing:

Long-term results from a large analysis evaluating the impact of pregnancy on recurrence risk and other cancer-related outcomes among breast cancer survivors (Abstract LBA10066)

Results from a randomized phase III clinical trial of adding abiraterone to first-line androgen deprivation therapy for patients newly diagnosed with high-risk metastatic prostate cancer (Abstract LBA3, Plenary)

Findings from a large randomized clinical trial adding abiraterone to first-line androgen deprivation therapy for men with high-risk locally advanced or metastatic prostate cancer (Abstract LBA5003)

News of the Day, Part II: Saturday, June 3, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon (CT)

Embargo will lift at 6:30 a.m. (CT) for studies presented in this briefing:

A study investigating larotrectinib, a tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) inhibitor, for the treatment of various cancers in both adults and children (Abstract LBA2501)

Results from a study evaluating the efficacy of a new circulating-tumor DNA blood test ("liquid biopsy") to detect genetic mutations in advanced breast, lung, and prostate cancers (Abstract LBA11516)

Findings from a large study of patients with advanced cancer receiving routine genomic screening to guide treatment (Abstract LBA100)

News of the Day: Sunday, June 4, 8:00-9:00 a.m. (CT)

Embargo will lift at 6:30 a.m. (CT) for studies presented in this briefing:

A pooled analysis of six phase III clinical trials, investigating 3 vs. 6 months of oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy for adjuvant treatment of colon cancer (Abstract LBA1, Plenary)

Findings from a large, randomized clinical trial assessing the impact of online, self-reported symptom monitoring during chemotherapy on overall survival (Abstract LBA2, Plenary)

Results from a phase III clinical trial evaluating the PARP inhibitor olaparib vs. standard chemotherapy for women with BRCA-related advanced breast cancer (Abstract LBA4, Plenary)

News of the Day: Monday, June 5, 8:00-9:00 a.m. (CT)

Embargo will lift at 6:30 a.m. (CT) for studies presented in this briefing:

A clinical trial of a new type of CAR T-cell therapy for the treatment of relapsed multiple myeloma (Abstract LBA3001)

A randomized phase II clinical trial comparing nivolumab to nivolumab plus ipilimumab for the treatment of patients with relapsed mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer (Abstract LBA8507)

Results from a large phase III clinical trial investigating the addition of pertuzumab to adjuvant trastuzumab and chemotherapy for patients with HER2-postive, early breast cancer (Abstract LBA500)

A randomized phase III trial of the second-generation EGFR inhibitor dacomitinib vs. gefitinib for the first-line treatment of EGFR-positive, advanced non-small cell lung cancer (Abstract LBA9007)

A phase III clinical trial comparing alectinib vs. crizotinib in first-line treatment for ALK-positive, advanced non-small cell lung cancer (Abstract LBA9008)

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MEDIA RESOURCES

Media registration: To participate in the embargoed May 17 presscast and/or register to attend the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago, please visit ASCO's Media Headquarters at mediahq.asco.org.

Submissions in Media Headquarters must be completed no later than Friday, May 12, to participate in the May 17 presscast. Pre-registration is required for on-site attendance and must be completed by Friday, May 19.

Annual Meeting Media Resource Center: Visit asco.org/AMMRC for press releases, the press briefing schedule, embargo policies, high-resolution photos, and the Virtual Press Room (an online repository of corporate and institutional press materials from third-party organizations).

Cancer.Net: ASCO's cancer information website for patients, providing doctor-approved information on more than 120 cancer types.

About ASCO

Founded in 1964, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO) is committed to making a world of difference in cancer care. As the world's leading organization of its kind, ASCO represents more than 40,000 oncology professionals who care for people living with cancer. Through research, education, and promotion of the highest-quality patient care, ASCO works to conquer cancer and create a world where cancer is prevented or cured, and every survivor is healthy. ASCO is supported by its affiliate organization, the Conquer Cancer Foundation. Learn more at ASCO.org, explore patient education resources at Cancer.Net, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Honeybees - employed to pollinate crops during the blooming season - encounter danger due to lingering and wandering pesticides, according to a new Cornell University study that analyzed the bee's own food.

Researchers used 120 pristine honeybee colonies that were placed near 30 apple orchards around New York state. After allowing the bees to forage for several days during the apple flowering period, the scientists examined each hive's "beebread" - the bees' food stores made from gathered pollen - to search for traces of pesticides.

In 17 percent of colonies, the beebread revealed the presence of acutely high levels of pesticide exposure, while 73 percent were found to have chronic exposure.

"Surprisingly, there is not much known about the magnitude of risk or mechanisms of pesticide exposure when honeybees are brought in to pollinate major agricultural crops," said lead author Scott McArt, assistant professor of entomology at Cornell. "Beekeepers are very concerned about pesticides, but there's very little field data. We're trying to fill that gap in knowledge, so there's less mystery and more fact regarding this controversial topic."

More than 60 percent of the found pesticides were attributed to orchards and surrounding farmland that were not sprayed during the apple bloom season, according to the study. McArt said that persistent insecticides aimed at other crops may be surrounding the orchards. In addition, pre-bloom sprays in orchards may accumulate in nearby flowering weeds.

"We found risk was attributed to many different types of pesticides. Neonicotinoids were not the whole story, but they were part of the story." he said. "Because neonicotinoids are persistent in the environment and accumulate in pollen and nectar, they are of concern. But one of our major findings is that many other pesticides contribute to risk."

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The study, "High Pesticide Risk to Honeybees Despite Low Focal Crop Pollen Collection During Pollination of a Mass Blooming Crop was published April 19 in Nature Scientific Reports.

The New York Farm Viability Institute funded this research.

Cornell University has television, ISDN and dedicated Skype/Google+ Hangout studios available for media interviews. For additional information, see this Cornell Chronicle story.
Scientists at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health report elevated levels of a pathogen responsible for the tick-borne disease babesiosis in Suffolk County, New York, where rates are the highest in the state. Results are published in the journal mSphere.

Researchers developed and employed a method to simultaneously test for five common pathogens carried by deer ticks: Babesia microti, the pathogen behind babesiosis; Borrelia burgdorferi, the cause of Lyme disease; as well as Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Borrelia miyamotoi, and Powassan virus -- pathogens responsible for other tick-borne infections.

The team collected and tested 318 adult and nymph ticks at five sites in Suffolk County (Southampton, Mannorville, Southold, Islip, Huntington) and three sites in Connecticut (Mansfield, Stamford, Greenwich). Nymphal ticks are about the size of a poppy seed, emerge in warmer months, and are responsible for the majority of tick-borne disease.

A Better Test

The new test uses a DNA amplification technique called polymerase chain reaction or PCR to test for tick-borne pathogens. Most existing tests use this method to test ticks for each agent individually. Even the tests that have the ability to test for more than one agent typically only test for up to three, not five agents, and never for Powassan virus, the rarest but most pathogenic of the five. The scientists say the technique has several advantages: it lowers costs, facilitates testing for agents (B. miyamotoi, and especially Powassan virus) that are rarely tested for, and provides risk assessments for co-infections which may adversely affect the course of disease.

What They Found

Tests found B. microti present in a higher proportion of ticks in Suffolk County than Connecticut, including 17 vs. 7 percent of nymphal ticks. In both locations, B. burgdorferi, the causative agent for Lyme disease, was the most frequently detected agent in ticks tested while A. phagocytophilum, B. miyamotoi and Powassan virus were more rare.

One-quarter of B. burgdorferi-positive nymphs were also positive for B. microti suggesting a risk of co-infection with both agents from a single tick bite. "Gathering data on co-infections is particularly important in light of the fact that antibiotics used for Lyme disease may be ineffective for babesiosis," says first author Rafal Tokarz, a research scientist at CII.

Better Surveillance Needed

The number of counties in the Northeast with high rates of Lyme disease has more than tripled since the 1990s -- a sign that ticks that spread disease have expanded their range. Rates of tick-borne illness may be much higher than reported: one study in Minnesota found 79 percent of cases were not reported to health authorities. Symptoms include fever and headaches, and, more rarely, neurological complications like encephalitis.

"This new test can strengthen surveillance for tick-borne illnesses which are underreported and growing rapidly," says W. Ian Lipkin director of CII and John Snow Professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School.

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Co-authors including Teresa Tagliafierro and Stephen Sameroff at CII and D. Moses Cucura and Ilia Rochlin at the Suffolk County Department of Public Works. This study was funded through grants from the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation and National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (U19 AI109761).
With the help of an automated supernova-hunting pipeline and a galaxy sitting 2 bil-lion light years away from Earth that's acting as a "magnifying glass,'' astronomers have captured multiple images of a Type Ia supernova--the brilliant explosion of a star--appearing in four different locations on the sky. So far this is the only Type Ia discovered that has exhibited this effect.

This phenomenon called 'gravitational lensing' is an effect of Einstein's Theory of Relativity--mass bends light. This means that the gravitational field of a massive object--like a galaxy--can bend light rays that pass nearby and refocus them somewhere else, causing background objects to appear brighter and sometimes in multiple locations. Astrophysicists believe that if they can find more of these magni-fied Type Ia's, they may be able to measure the rate of the Universe's expansion to unprecedented accuracy and shed some light on the distribution of matter in the cosmos.

Fortunately, by taking a closer look at the properties of this rare event, two Law-rence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) researchers have come up with a method--a pipeline-- for identifying more of these so-called "strongly lensed Type Ia supernovae" in existing and future wide-field surveys. A paper describing their approach was recently published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Mean-while, a paper detailing the discovery and observations of the 4 billion year old Type Ia supernova, iPTF16geu, was published in Science on April 21.

"It is extremely difficult to find a gravitationally lensed supernova, let alone a lensed Type Ia. Statistically, we suspect that there may be approximately one of these in every 50,000 supernovae that we identify," says Peter Nugent, an astrophysicist in Berkeley Lab's Computational Research Division (CRD) and an author on both pa-pers. "But since the discovery of iPTF16geu, we now have some thoughts on how to improve our pipeline to identify more of these events."

Cosmic Surprise Sheds New Light on Cosmology

For many years, the transient nature of supernovae made them extremely difficult to detect. Thirty years ago, the discovery rate was about two per month. But thanks to the Intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF), a new survey with an innova-tive pipeline, these events are being detected daily, some within hours of when their initial explosions appear.

The process of identifying transient events, like supernovae, begins every night at the Palomar Observatory in Southern California, where a wide-field camera mounted on the robotic Samuel Oschin Telescope scans the sky. As soon as observa-tions are taken, the data travel more than 400 miles to the Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), which is located at Berkeley Lab. At NERSC, machine learning algorithms running on the fa-cility's supercomputers sift through the data in real-time and identify transients for researchers to follow up on.

On September 5, 2016, the pipeline identified iPTF16geu as a supernova candidate. At first glance, the event didn't look particularly out of the ordinary. Nugent notes that many astronomers thought it was just a typical Type Ia supernova sitting about 1 billion light years away from Earth.

Like most supernovae that are discovered relatively early on, this event got brighter with time. Shortly after it reached peak brightness (19th magnitude) Stockholm Uni-versity Professor in Experimental Particle Astrophysics Ariel Goobar decided to take a spectrum--or detailed light study--of the object. The results confirmed that the object was indeed a Type Ia supernova, but they also showed that, surprisingly, it was located 4 billion light years away. A second spectrum taken with the OSIRIS in-strument on the Keck telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, showed without a doubt that the supernova was 4 billion light years away, and also revealed its host galaxy and another galaxy located about 2 billion light years away that was acting as a gravita-tional lens, which amplified the brightness of the supernova and caused it to appear in four different places on the sky.

"I've been looking for a lensed supernova for about 15 years. I looked in every pos-sible survey, I've tried a variety of techniques to do this and essentially gave up, so this result came as a huge surprise," says Goobar, who is lead author of the Science paper. "One of the reasons I'm interested in studying gravitational lensing is that it allows you to measure the structure of matter--both visible and dark matter--at scales that are very hard to get."

According to Goobar, the survey at Palomar was set up to look at objects in the nearby Universe, about 1 billion light years away. But finding a distant Type Ia su-pernova in this survey allowed researchers to follow up with even more powerful telescopes that resolved small-scale structures in the supernova host galaxy, as well as the lens galaxy that is magnifying it.

"There are billions of galaxies in the observable universe and it takes a tremendous effort to look in a very small patch of the sky to find these kind of events. It would be impossible to find an event like this without a magnified supernova directing you where to look," says Goobar. "We got very lucky with this discovery because we can see the small scale structures in these galaxies, but we won't know how lucky we are until we find more of these events and confirm that what we are seeing isn't an anomaly."

Another benefit of finding more of these events is that they can be used as tools to precisely measure the expansion rate of the Universe. One of the keys to this is gravitational lensing. When a strong gravitational lens produces multiple images of a background object, each image's light travels a slightly different path around the lens on its way to Earth. The paths have different lengths, so light from each image takes a different amount of time to arrive at Earth.

"If you measure the arrival times of the different images, that turns out to be a good way to measure the expansion rate of the Universe," says Goobar. "When people measure the expansion rate of the Universe now locally using supernovae or Cepheid stars they get a different number from those looking at early universe ob-servations and the cosmic microwave background. There is tension out there and it would be neat if we could contribute to resolving that quest."

New Methods Sniff Out Lensed Supernovae

According to Danny Goldstein, a UC Berkeley astronomy graduate student and an author of the Astrophysical Journal letter, there have only been a few gravitationally lensed supernovae of any type ever discovered, including iPTF16geu, and they've all been discovered by chance.

"By figuring out how to systematically find strongly lensed Type Ia supernovae like iPTF16geu, we hope to pave the way for large-scale lensed supernova searches, which will unlock the potential of these objects as tools for precision cosmology," says Goldstein, who worked with Nugent to devise a method of for finding them in existing and upcoming wide-field surveys.

The key idea of their technique is to use the fact that Type Ia supernovae are "stan-dard candles"--objects with the same intrinsic brightness--to identify ones that are magnified by lensing. They suggest starting with supernovae that appear to go off in red galaxies that have stopped forming stars. These galaxies only host Type Ia su-pernovae and make up the bulk of gravitational lenses. If a supernova candidate that appears to be hosted in such a galaxy is brighter than the "standard" brightness of a Type Ia supernova, Goldstein and Nugent argue that there is a strong chance the su-pernova does not actually reside in the galaxy, but is instead a background super-nova lensed by the apparent host.

"One of the innovations of this method is that we don't have to detect multiple im-ages to infer that a supernova is lensed," says Goldstein. "This is a huge advantage that should enable us to find more of these events than previously thought possi-ble."

Using this method, Nugent and Goldstein predict that the upcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope should be able to detect about 500 strongly lensed Type Ia super-novae over the course of 10 years--about 10 times more than previous estimates. Meanwhile, the Zwicky Transient Facility, which begins taking data in August 2017 at Palomar, should find approximately 10 of these events in a three-year search. On-going studies show that each lensed Type Ia supernova image has the potential to make a four percent, or better, measurement of the expansion rate of the universe. If realized, this could add a very powerful tool to probe and measure the cosmological parameters.

"We are just now getting to the point where our transient surveys are big enough, our pipelines are efficient enough, and our external data sets are rich enough that we can weave through the data and get at these rare events," adds Goldstein. "It's an exciting time to be working in this field."

iPTF is a scientific collaboration between Caltech; Los Alamos National Laboratory; the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; the Oskar Klein Centre in Sweden; the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel; the TANGO Program of the University Sys-tem of Taiwan; and the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Uni-verse in Japan. NERSC is a DOE Office of Science User Facility.

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The work of Sandia National Laboratories at the intersection of biology and national security, including lifesaving efforts during the 2014 Ebola epidemic, has been recognized by the Department of Energy.

On April 11, Dmitri Kusnezov, chief scientist and senior adviser to the secretary of energy, visited Sandia to honor nearly 60 Sandians for work to mitigate the effects of the Ebola epidemic and the work of the Technology Convergence Working Group.

DOE established the working group in 2015 to provide technical insight and assess the nation's emerging biological technologies. The group is comprised of representatives from DOE headquarters and Sandia, Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos national laboratories, including Jim Carney and Duane Lindner of Sandia.

"The Technology Convergence Working Group will continue to assess national security implications of these emerging technologies and to help define and plan national preparedness measures," said Lindner, director for the Homeland Security program area. "Sandia is well positioned to play a leadership role in this arena and with the group."

Reducing the amount of time Liberians who suspected they had Ebola spent waiting in large, open waiting rooms called Ebola treatment units was critical to controlling the outbreak. Sandia modeled and analyzed the West Africa nation's blood sample transport system from the treatment units to diagnostic labs and made recommendations to improve turnaround time.

Sandia's solution minimized the amount of time that people were together in these open Ebola treatment units, so that somebody with a less serious illness wasn't infected by an Ebola victim, said Sandia infectious disease epidemiologist Monear Makvandi, who traveled to Liberia in 2014 to gather information for the models and was recognized during the ceremony.

Sandia also was involved in modeling the potential need for quarantine, the effects of various changes to the global air transportation network, even the resilience of the U.S. hospital system to Ebola cases. In addition, Sandia continues basic scientific research to understand how Ebola was transmitted in West African clinics.

"It is a great honor for Sandia's wide-ranging biological work to be recognized by the secretary of energy. I personally appreciate this recognition of our contributions to the nation," said Lindner.

Effective models need recent and accurate data

For the initial Liberia project, Sandia developed performance requirements for a new nationwide sample delivery system, which was adopted by the Liberian Ministry of Health and a nonprofit organization that transported samples by motorcycle, said Jen Gaudioso, senior manager of Sandia's International Biological and Chemical Threat Reduction. The project was sponsored by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and United States Command Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Sandia's work was important to help control the epidemic because patients received care faster. The sooner public health professionals identified Ebola carriers, the sooner they located people outside the clinic who had contact with a carrier and might have been infected, said Pat Finley, who led Sandia's modeling effort.

Operations research analyst Jared Gearhart and his team developed algorithms to determine the optimal locations for labs and the best transportation routes, while accounting for such obstacles as a national curfew, poor infrastructure, lack of lab capacity and other factors.

Finley and his team created a computer model of Ebola treatment in Liberia that aimed to reduce travel times of the samples from the Ebola treatment units to the testing labs, thus decreasing the time uninfected patients spend with Ebola sufferers.

Leo Bynum, the geospatial analytics lead, and his team collected data and transformed it into maps, a task made more difficult by incomplete, anecdotal and, at times, incorrect data.

Gaudioso and Makvandi travelled to Liberia in November 2014 to interview healthcare workers in the field, international agencies working in the country and Ministry of Health representatives to get the latest data for Sandia's model. The markets had just reopened and the curfew had lifted, but people were fearful of physical contact and would flinch if you came too near, Makvandi said.

Prior to Sandia's project, samples were taken to labs that were thought to be the closest or just because health care workers knew someone there, with little thought to lab capacity, travel difficulties or other factors, Gaudioso said. In one case, Sandia learned of samples carried on foot to a waterway, then brought by canoe to a bridge that connects with a "highway," which is similar to a U.S. hiking trail.

Models improved lab location, rapid transportation, and turnaround time

Sandia's analysis helped influence where new diagnostic labs could be located, including one in Greenville in southeastern Liberia. "That's been the area where we've had the most impact by helping Liberian stakeholders become aware of and overcome the challenges of providing lab results quickly in the remote region," Gearhart said.

Sandia's modeling also showed the fastest options for transporting blood samples from patients, many in remote jungles, to diagnostic labs. Motorcycles are the vehicles of choice because they can move through traffic in more populated areas and are more easily pulled out when stuck on muddy roads, Makvandi said.

Sandia was uniquely suited for the project due to its experience in global health security combined with its computer modeling capabilities. While in Liberia, Sandia's team reached back to the rest of the team to provide updated analyses, Gaudioso said. When the three attended meetings, the Sandia researchers communicated questions back to the modeling team in New Mexico. The time difference worked in their favor. While the travelers slept, their colleagues at Sandia answered the questions and incorporated changes into the model before work started in Liberia the next day.

With so many organizations involved in the response, it's difficult to say exactly how Sandia's sample transport system affected wait times in the Ebola treatment units, but the team had anecdotal evidence that the project reduced the travel time from two days to a same-day or overnight diagnosis, Gaudioso said.

Though the World Health Organization declared the most recent epidemic over in 2016, Gaudioso said Ebola and other diseases could always re-emerge. "The epidemic brought a lot of aid and attention to the public health systems in West Africa. Sandia hopes to help build on that momentum to provide a sustainable and resilient health infrastructure that is ready for future infectious disease outbreaks," she said.

In the years since the epidemic, Sandia's expertise in laboratory safety and security has been requested for a number of other public health projects in West Africa.

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Annapolis, MD; April 14, 2017--Score one for the brown marmorated stink bug, again.

Since the pernicious pest arrived in the United States nearly 20 years ago, it has proven difficult to fend off, attacking crops in the summer and invading homes in the fall and winter. And, as a team of researchers has recently found, one of the leading monitoring methods for the stink bug may only be effective for half of the year.

A study set to be published next week in the Entomological Society of America's Journal of Economic Entomology shows that traps baited with the aggregation pheromone of the brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) are not reliable at attracting the insect during its overwintering period, from late fall to early spring.

"Just eight to 20 percent of the stink bugs we saw crawling around hallways were captured," says Rob Morrison, Ph.D., research entomologist at the Unite States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) and lead author on the study, which tested the traps in infested homes in 2014 and 2016.

The reason, they found, is that the brown marmorated stink bug does not respond to its aggregation pheromone--a chemical signal that insects release into the air--until daylight lengthens to approximately 13.5 hours each day, roughly late April to early May in the United States. Thus, traps baited with the pheromone leave overwintering stink bugs largely unfazed.

Morrison and fellow entomologists at the USDA-ARS Appalachian Fruit Research Station, Virginia Tech University, and North Carolina State University deployed traps in both heated and unheated structures and outside in locations in Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina and monitored their performance with weekly counts of stink bugs both trapped and visible nearby. Not only did they find that the traps caught a small fraction of the stink bugs, but the minimal rate at which the insects were trapped was also not correlated with the overall ups and downs in their numbers at each location, meaning the traps aren't reliable for monitoring purposes either.

The results mean that, for homeowners trying to use traps to capture stink bugs in their homes, prevention is key, because once stink bugs are inside, pheromone traps likely won't be much help. "To prevent brown marmorated stink bugs from gaining access to your house, seal all holes and cracks, including where the roof meets the structure, and where the house meets the foundation," Morrison says.

The research team note in their study that their findings also raise concerns for preventing the further spread of the brown marmorated stink bug, which can hitch rides in shipments of produce around the world. The key question is whether a pheromone trap at a port in the southern hemisphere in summer, for instance, will intercept stink bugs that have just been shipped out of their overwintering period in the northern hemisphere.

While Halyomorpha halys may have won this round, Morrison says he and his colleagues will press on.

"The brown marmorated stink bug may rely on a yet-to-be-identified chemical stimulus or other communication method during the fall when they disperse to overwintering sites and when they emerge during the spring," says Morrison. "Both are areas of active research."

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"Behavioral Response of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) to Semiochemicals Deployed Inside and Outside Anthropogenic Structures During the Overwintering Period," by William R. Morrison, III, Angelita Acebes-Doria, Emily Ogburn, Thomas P. Kuhar, James F.Walgenbach, J. Christopher Bergh, Louis Nottingham, Anthony Dimeglio, Patricia Hipkins, and Tracy C. Leskey, will be published online on April 20 in the Journal of Economic Entomology. Journalists may request advance copies of the study via the contact below.

CONTACT: Joe Rominiecki, jrominiecki@entsoc.org, 301-731-4535 x3009

ABOUT: ESA is the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines. Founded in 1889, ESA today has over 6,000 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, the Society stands ready as a non-partisan scientific and educational resource for all insect-related topics. For more information, visit http://www.entsoc.org.

Journal of Economic Entomology publishes research on the economic significance of insects and is the highest-cited journal in entomology. It includes sections on apiculture and social insects, insecticides, biological control, household and structural insects, crop protection, forest entomology, and more. For more information, visit https://academic.oup.com/jee, or visit https://academic.oup.com/insect-science to view the full portfolio of ESA journals and publications.
Boston, MA - During the first one and a half years of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the number of prescriptions filled by adults using Medicaid coverage increased by 19% in states that expanded Medicaid compared to states that did not, according to a new study from a Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researcher and colleagues. The largest increases were for medications to manage chronic conditions such as diabetes, and for birth control.

"We knew the Medicaid expansion had improved access to care, but this study gives us much more detail about what that really means for patient care. Medications for conditions like diabetes and heart disease can be life-savers," said Benjamin Sommers, associate professor of health policy and economics, one of the study's authors.

The study's preliminary findings are being presented today at the 2017 Society of General Internal Medicine Annual Meeting, and were released earlier this year as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

The ACA expanded Medicaid eligibility in participating states to millions of low-income adults in 2014. Previous studies by Sommers and colleagues have demonstrated that expansion has resulted in improved access to care and improved affordability.

In the new study, the researchers analyzed pharmacy transaction data from 2013-2015, comparing the number of prescriptions filled in expansion vs. non-expansion states before and after the ACA expansion took effect, and the source of insurance for each prescription.

They found that over the first year and a half of the ACA's Medicaid expansion, medications used for treating diabetes accounted for the largest growth among all drug classes, with an increase of 24%. Other classes of medications that showed large increases included contraceptives (22%), cardiovascular drugs (21%), and mental health drugs (19%). Within expansion states, increases in prescription drug utilization were larger in geographical areas with higher uninsured rates prior to the ACA.

The findings also demonstrated that increases in prescription drug utilization were greater in areas with larger Hispanic and black populations, indicating that Medicaid expansion may be reducing ethnic and racial disparities in access to medications, according to the researchers.

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Sommers' work on this study was supported by grant number K02HS021291 from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

"The Effect of State Medicaid Expansions on Prescription Drug Use: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act," Ausmita Ghosh, Kosali Simon, and Benjamin D. Sommers, NBER Working Paper No. 23044, January 2017

Visit the Harvard Chan School website for the latest news, press releases, and multimedia offerings.

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health brings together dedicated experts from many disciplines to educate new generations of global health leaders and produce powerful ideas that improve the lives and health of people everywhere. As a community of leading scientists, educators, and students, we work together to take innovative ideas from the laboratory to people's lives--not only making scientific breakthroughs, but also working to change individual behaviors, public policies, and health care practices. Each year, more than 400 faculty members at Harvard Chan School teach 1,000-plus full-time students from around the world and train thousands more through online and executive education courses. Founded in 1913 as the Harvard-MIT School of Health Officers, the School is recognized as America's oldest professional training program in public health.
LONDON, ON - In a collaborative study from Lawson Health Research Institute (Lawson), Western University (Western), Bridge to Health Medical and Dental, and Kigezi Healthcare Foundation (KIHEFO), a team of researchers found that radio advertising for free ultrasounds in rural Uganda increased the number of pregnant women who attended modern medical care by 490 per cent.

The study was conducted to address the low number of women in rural Uganda who attend free antenatal care - modern health care for expecting mothers. In Uganda, approximately 6,000 women die annually from pregnancy-related complications and up to one third of women deliver their babies at home.

"Our hypothesis was that if we could offer free ultrasounds, so that women could see their unborn baby, more women would come forward and attend the antenatal clinic," explains Dr. Michael Silverman, a scientist at Lawson and Western and senior author on the study. "Who doesn't want to see their unborn baby? It's like magic."

Dr. Silverman conducted this study alongside Dr. William Cherniak, Executive Director at Bridge to Health, and Dr. Geoffrey Anguyo, Executive Director at KIHEFO.

In the developing world, women do not present for antenatal care for a variety of reasons. "It may be against their cultural beliefs or they may view modern medicine as irrelevant," says Dr. Cherniak. "As a result, many of these women are unaware of pregnancy complications and deliver at home without a trained health care professional."

Common pregnancy complications include the baby being turned the wrong way, the placenta being in the wrong place or even expecting twins. Another complication is the transmission of infectious diseases from the mother to child. In Africa, the biggest risk is the transmission of HIV, hepatitis B or syphilis which can be transmitted from the mother to the baby and cause chronic infection of the baby, birth defects or death. Undiagnosed maternal malaria can also lead to severe complications.

The use of portable ultrasound machines is extremely beneficial. "Portable ultrasounds allow you to screen for serious anatomical problems, like the baby being positioned the wrong way. When women present to the clinic for an ultrasound, we can also screen them for the infections which can lead to severe complications, and offer treatments," says Dr. Silverman, also Chair/Chief of Infectious Diseases at London Health Sciences Centre, St. Joseph's Health Care London and Western. "Portable ultrasound machines are fairly inexpensive to maintain and it's easy to train people to perform a simple obstetric ultrasound."

The study found that the method of advertising was important. When advertising free ultrasounds by word-of-mouth, there was no significant increase in the number of women who attended antenatal care. "It appears that the message about free ultrasounds was not spreading. Many people did not believe it was true that they could see their unborn baby," says Dr. Cherniak.

The researchers therefore decided to advertise free ultrasounds by radio with the hope that the message would be taken more seriously and spread farther. Radios are common in Ugandan households. As a result, almost six times the number of women attended the antenatal care clinics. This increase was particularly great in women who had previously seen a traditional healer. Amongst these women, attendance increased almost ninefold when ultrasound was advertised on the radio.

With an increase in the number of women who present for antenatal care, the research team hopes that health providers can show expecting mothers that modern care is safe, friendly and trustworthy. "We want to demonstrate to expecting mothers that antenatal care is safe and beneficial, and see if this encourages them to continue attending, particularly when they are in labour," says Dr. Cherniak.

The study, "Effectiveness of advertising availability of prenatal ultrasound on uptake of antenatal care in rural Uganda: A cluster randomized trial", is published in PLoS ONE. The study was funded by Bridge to Health Medical and Dental, and also supported by Cole Engineering, Lebovic Enterprises, Rotary International and Rotary Club of Scarborough North.

A video about this research can be viewed on the Western University YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL6c2TXyIK4.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Robert DeLaet

Communications & External Relations

Lawson Health Research Institute

519-685-8500 ext. 75664

robert.delaet@lawsonresearch.com

LAWSON HEALTH RESEARCH INSTITUTE

As the research institute of London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph's Health Care London, and working in partnership with Western University, Lawson Health Research Institute is committed to furthering scientific knowledge to advance health care around the world.

Follow Lawson News online:

Website: https://www.lawsonresearch.ca/news-events

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WESTERN UNIVERSITY

Western University delivers an academic experience second to none. Since 1878, The Western Experience has combined academic excellence with life-long opportunities for intellectual, social and cultural growth in order to better serve our communities. Our research excellence expands knowledge and drives discovery with real-world application. Western attracts individuals with a broad worldview, seeking to study, influence and lead in the international community.

SCHULICH SCHOOL OF MEDICINE & DENTISTRY

The Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University is one of Canada's preeminent medical and dental schools. Established in 1881, it was one of the founding schools of Western University and is known for being the birthplace of family medicine in Canada. For more than 130 years, the School has demonstrated a commitment to academic excellence and a passion for scientific discovery.

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BRIDGE TO HEALTH MEDICAL AND DENTAL

Founded in Toronto, Bridge to Health Medical and Dental is comprised of a passionate group of medical and dental professionals brought together by a common desire to help provide healthcare to those in tremendous need. Our aim is to provide sustainable healthcare in a cost effective manner and have a lasting impact on the communities we serve. We currently operate in underserved rural communities of Uganda. In collaboration with KIHEFO, a reputable local non-governmental organization, we provide medical and dental care, improve healthcare delivery systems, train local healthcare workers and educate the residents of these communities. http://www.bridgetohealth.ca

KIGEZI HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION (KIHEFO)

A local not-for-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to community development in the Kabale District, located in the Kigezi Region, in southwest Uganda. KIHEFO operates a unique community approach. The KIHEFO team travels to villages bringing community development services to village groups that would otherwise be hard to reach. KIHEFO cares for and supports orphans and vulnerable children; operates general, dental and HIV/AIDS clinics; and operates a child nutrition and rehabilitation centre. KIHEFO's services address a diverse array of community needs including medical care, education, economic development and counseling. http://kihefoblog.wordpress.com/
It's become a familiar sight in the age of Newark's ongoing redevelopment: photo op-ready public figures and governing officials--clad in hard hats with scissors and spades in hand--breaking ground on multimillion dollar projects and cutting ribbons outside of newly rehabbed storefronts.

Hotels have been erected, Broad and Market Streets--Newark's busiest thoroughfares--are peppered with popular fast-casual restaurants and noteworthy companies continue to set up shop in long-vacant buildings: A 29,000-square-foot Whole Foods now anchors the revamped Hahne and Company department store, which opened in March after being closed for three decades.

The Central Business District's emergence as a go-to destination was recently rubberstamped by Vogue, in an article titled "Meet Me in Newark? Why New York City's Neighbor Is Worth a Visit."

By all accounts, New Jersey's largest city is experiencing a renaissance. But as Newark's skyline continues to morph, who's documenting the facelift and safeguarding the city's lustrous architectural history?

The Barbara and Leonard Littman Architecture and Design Library at NJIT created the Digital Archive of Newark Architecture (DANA) to help document Newark's robust built environment.

"DANA was first conceived to support the curriculum of the New Jersey School of Architecture (NJSOA) at the College of Architecture and Design at NJIT. But we soon realized that it creates a link to our community by preserving the history of Newark architecture," says Maya Gervits, director of the Littman Library.k

DANA brings together resources--hundreds of old, new and renovated buildings, parks, outdoor sculptures, old photographs, digitized maps, articles, monographs, rare books, government documents, reports, city master plans, architectural drawings, videos, postcards, digital images, statistical data and student work-- related to various aspects of the city's architecture, urban planning, transportation and public art--"anything of interest to the physical life of the city and its infrastructure," adds Gervits.

Since its launch in 2008, DANA has become an important and actively used tool for research and teaching, generating interest among scholars across the country and abroad. As the number of webpages grew, along with the volume of digitized materials, it became evident that a database-driven website was needed to provide the organization and functionality necessary to properly store and present a growing archive.

However, due to copyright restrictions, the search capabilities were limited and a large portion of the archive remained inaccessible for the general public.

In 2015, after receiving several seed grants from the Bay & Paul Foundations and the Leavens Foundation, the library was awarded a $13,500 state grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission to help fund the migration of the historic content to an open-source environment, which enables public access to the materials and offers two different logins: one for NJIT students and one for the general public. (The original website is still active: archlib.njit.edu/collections/dana/).

"While we cannot post full text, we're able to provide a detailed bibliography so that people know where to find the information," explains Gervits. "Our students have full access to copyrighted material."Archive of Newark Architecture home page

During the migration, Gervits, who was recently honored with the Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Architecture School Librarians, and a team of students, colleagues and NJSOA faculty, continued to add additional records, as well as an interactive map and searchable online exhibition to the undertaking.

"DANA is a continually evolving project," she says. "We are constantly looking for new ways to improve its functionality, add more content and expand our vision."

In February, the Investors Foundation awarded the library $5,000 to further develop DANA. The plan is to include a geographic information system to facilitate various research projects, create a mobile version of the database and provide technical options for the public to submit their materials and memorabilia.

"We want DANA to have a crowdsourcing experience," she says, "and we're using technology to make it a comprehensive interactive resource."

For now, the DANA team continues to collaborate with local institutions such as the Newark Public Library, Newark Museum and the city archive to expose a wider audience to the architectural prominence of one of America's greatest cities.

"Newark's architecture is closely woven into its rich history," says Gervits. "DANA allows us to connect the city's past, present and future."

If you are interested in contributing materials to the archive, please contact DANA.

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About NJIT

One of the nation's leading public technological universities, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is a top-tier research university that prepares students to become leaders in the technology-dependent economy of the 21st century. NJIT's multidisciplinary curriculum and computing-intensive approach to education provide technological proficiency, business acumen and leadership skills. With an enrollment of 11,400 graduate and undergraduate students, NJIT offers small-campus intimacy with the resources of a major public research university. NJIT is a global leader in such fields as solar research, nanotechnology, resilient design, tissue engineering, and cybersecurity, in addition to others. NJIT is among the top U.S. polytechnic public universities in research expenditures, exceeding $130 million, and is among the top 1 percent of public colleges and universities in return on educational investment, according to PayScale.com. NJIT has a $1.74 billion annual economic impact on the State of New Jersey.
NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite spotted the remnants of Tropical Cyclone 02W southeast of Taiwan in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean as the system was dissipating.

On April 19, 2017 at 0600 UTC (2 a.m. EST), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted that former Tropical Cyclone 02W was no longer suspect for tropical cyclone formation. The low pressure area had moved into an area of strong vertical wind shear, just southeast of Taiwan and was being torn apart.

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NOAA-NASA's Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible image of the remnants after the system moved north-northeast of the northern Philippines and through the Luzon Strait. The VIIRS image showed that strong wind shear had pushed the bulk of clouds and showers east-northeast of what was left of the center of circulation. The strong vertical wind shear took its toll on the system and the remnants dissipated southeast of Taiwan.

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Rob Gutro

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Looking to improve your overall life satisfaction? Try regularly hiking in a forest or otherwise engaging with the natural environment.

And then, for good measure, look for ways to build your trust in the scientists and policymakers involved in managing the forest where you like to hike.

New research at Oregon State University empirically demonstrates that a variety of mechanisms for engaging nature significantly contribute to a person's overall well-being.

Chief among those, the study found, was whether people believed their surrounding environments were being managed well -- for the earning of income and the underpinning of cultural practices as well as for the pursuit of recreation.

"Whether people feel like things are fair and they have a voice in process of making decisions and whether governance is transparent -- those are the foundations of why people even can interact with nature," said lead author Kelly Biedenweg of OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences.

Biedenweg, an assistant professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, and collaborators from Colorado State University and the University of Georgia analyzed results from more than 4,400 respondents to an online survey conducted in the Puget Sound region of Washington state.

The researchers used 13 different metrics to illustrate the relationship between overall life satisfaction and engaging with the natural environment. Among those metrics were community activities, access to wild resources, stress eased by time outdoors, and trust in policymakers.

"Eleven of the 13 had a positive correlation to overall life satisfaction," said Biedenweg, a social scientist who studies both how humans benefit from the natural environment and the impact human actions have on it. "The links between ecological conditions, like drinking water and air quality, and objective well-being have been studied quite a bit, but the connection between various aspects of engaging the natural environment and overall subjective well-being have rarely been looked at."

"We wanted to identify the relative importance of diverse, nature-oriented experiences on a person's overall life satisfaction assessment and statistically prove the relationship between happiness/life satisfaction and engaging with nature in many different ways."

The researchers quantified the relationship between well-being and six common mechanisms by which nature has effects on well-being: social and cultural events; trust in governance; access to local wild resources; sense of place; outdoor recreation; and psychological benefits from time outdoors.

"Controlling for demographics, all were significantly related to life satisfaction," Biedenweg said. "The fact that trust in governance was a significant predictor of life satisfaction -- in fact, the most statistically significant predictor of the ones we looked at - it was nice to see that come out of the research. The way we manage is the gateway to people being able to get livelihoods and satisfaction from nature."

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Findings were recently published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology. The National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency supported this research.
Community advocates in Brazil, Guatemala, Kenya, Taiwan, and 21 other countries call on governments, private sector to recognise that secure land rights are vital to the global struggle against climate change

Indigenous Peoples, local communities, environmental activists, and women's groups from 25 different countries today kicked off a week of protests, meetings, and events to demand respect for community land rights. Despite clear evidence that communities are the best guardians of their lands and the world's forests--highlighted in a new policy brief --governments are giving the go-ahead to dams, coal mines, palm oil plantations, and other projects that rob the forests' customary owners of their homes and livelihoods, and threaten the climate and resources we all depend on. These actions are part of the Land Rights Now initiative, a global campaign launched in March 2016 to double the amount of land owned or controlled by Indigenous Peoples and local communities by 2020.

"We have the right to decide our own future and survival, and are carrying out projects that protect our territory and protect our planet from the impacts of climate change," said Manari Ushigua, President of the Sapara Federation in Ecuador.

The Munduruku people in the Brazilian Amazon, communities in Lamu in Kenya, the Maya Qeqchi people in Guatemala, and the Pinuyamayan community of Kasavakan in Taiwan are demanding respect for their rights in response to threats from powerful business and government interests who seek to expropriate their territories for agribusiness or infrastructure projects. Today, these communities called on their governments and the private sector to respect their rights in order to support communities' role in protecting the world's biodiversity and preventing climate change.

Communities like these have successfully safeguarded many of the world's forests for generations. Research shows that where communities have secure rights, carbon storage and biodiversity are higher and deforestation rates are lower. Yet communities only have legally recognised rights to one-fifth of their customary lands, according to research from the Rights and Resources Initiative. The insecurity of indigenous and community tenure rights poses a significant threat to global efforts to prevent the climate crisis: at least one-tenth of the carbon stored in the world's tropical forests is in community lands that lack formal, legal recognition, leaving them vulnerable to land grabs that can destroy livelihoods and devastate the environment.

Brazil: Munduruku people and the national indigenous movement protest the rollback of indigenous rights that threatens livelihoods and biodiversity

In Brazil, once considered a leader in protecting indigenous land rights, regressive government and business interests are recklessly targeting Amazonian indigenous lands for infrastructure projects, leading to an unprecedented rollback of hard-won protections of their rights. Today, the country's indigenous movement called on Justice Minister Osmar Serraglio, a former leading member of Brazil's agribusiness congressional bloc, to stop the assault on indigenous rights and to protect indigenous lands. Secure, legally recognized land rights are required to halt projects such as the Sao Luiz do Tapajos mega-dam, which threatens the Munduruku and other indigenous communities in some of the most biodiverse and environmentally valuable forest in the world. Movement leaders also called on Serraglio to cease efforts to pass a Constitutional Amendment (PEC 215) that would stall the titling of indigenous lands.

"Indigenous lands help regulate the planet's climate, for they are obstacles to deforestation. There is ten times less deforestation in indigenous lands than in non-titled lands," said Sonia Guajajara, National Coordinator of Brazil's Association of Indigenous Peoples (APIB). "The section of the Amazon Forest under our protection stores 13 billion tons of carbon. Without these reserves, Brazil will not comply with the goals established in the Paris Climate Agreement."

Yet recent actions by the government are putting these carbon stores at risk. "The [Brazilian] government is coming here to get rid of everything--the natives, the forest and the river," said Chief Juarez Saw of the Munduruku.

"If you want to take care of the forest, you need to invest in us--Indigenous Peoples--because no one takes better care of the forest than we do," declared Antonio Dace Munduruku, a member of the community. "If it weren't for us, the cattle and the soy would have taken this whole forest. I know we are only of the size of a grain of sand but we make a huge difference. The air you breathe comes from [the Amazon]. The water you drink comes from here. And so, by killing us, you are killing nature and therefore yourselves."

Kenya: local community challenges "dirty energy" coal plant

In Kenya, the Save Lamu Coalition called for the cancellation of a proposed project to construct East Africa's first coal plant in Lamu, a coastal county in Kenya. The plant would cause enormous damage to the sensitive ecosystems around Lamu, including the arable land, coastal waters, marine life, corals, and mangroves on which the local community depends.

"We're not anti-development, but no one in the world has ventured into coal mining and faced no long-term consequences," noted Ishaq Abubakar of the Lamu Youth Alliance. "Coal is dirty energy, and its effects are detrimental."

"The whole world is worried about global warming and climate change," said Lamu activist Walid Ahmed. "It can't be these things do not matter for Lamu."

Guatemala: Indigenous Peoples resist land grabs by palm oil companies

In Guatemala, Q'echi' communities in Raxruha in the Alta Verapaz region have seen a huge increase in palm oil production, with many community members forced off their lands. Today, palm oil plantations are rapidly expanding into surrounding villages. Community assemblies have ensured the preservation of the forests that form the basis for their livelihoods for generations, and practiced equitable distribution of resources between community members. This way of life is now under threat, and the forests they have long protected are at risk of being destroyed to make way for environmentally destructive oil palm plantations.

Today, the Network of Communities Affected by Palm Oil called on the government to stop the expansion of palm oil agribusiness that violated the community's land rights, and to require companies to repair the social and environmental damage they have inflicted on communities.

Margarita Osorio, a local women's leader and land rights activist, said, "The destruction of the forests began when they started planting palm oil. We feel challenged and intimidated by the way they criminalize and threaten us." Where communities resist land-grabs, they often face criminalization and violence, with women and Indigenous Peoples particularly vulnerable.

Even their basic subsistence needs are threatened. Osorio continued: "Before, we could go draw water in five minutes because we were nearby water sources. Now, we have to walk to the river that's half an hour away. This is not how we want to live, but we're forced to."

Taiwan: Indigenous organizations oppose regulation that threatens their ancestral community forests

In Taiwan, the Pinuyamayan people in the community of Kasavakan joined indigenous organizations across the country to oppose a recent government regulation that denies Indigenous Peoples in Taiwan any recourse to assert their land rights on what are considered privately owned lands putting at risk their ancestral community forests. The community recently lost ten acres of their ancestral forest to private development.

"Now we have no way to exercise our Free, Prior and Informed Consent when a development project is conducted in so-called 'private lands,'" said Tuhi Martukaw, a member of the community. "It is ten acres today but what worries the community is what comes next. The concern is that this ruling will split apart Indigenous Peoples lands and make way for massive development projects that don't take the existing communities into consideration."

Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Unite For Global Mobilisation

Today's actions are part of a growing movement by indigenous and local communities around the world demanding respect for their rights, mobilising to ensure that their voices are heard, and highlighting the role they play in the global struggle to prevent climate crisis.

"The power of the Land Rights Now initiative is its unifying call to respect the rights of approximately 2.5 billion people, which includes around 400 million Indigenous Peoples," said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. "Recognising these rights also means reducing conflict, fighting against climate change, promoting sustainable development, preserving cultures, and protecting the world's most fragile ecosystems."

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Land Rights Now is an open campaign that aims to double the area of land recognised or owned by Indigenous Peoples and local communities by 2020. Over 550 groups are part of Land Rights Now. The campaign contributes to the Global Call to Action on Indigenous and Community Land Rights, a solidarity movement of organizations and communities to promote the land rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Visit http://www.landrightsnow.org.
Lyme disease is among the most common vector-borne illnesses in North America, Europe, and some parts of Asia. A spirochete bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi causes the disease, and blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) are responsible for the majority of North American transmissions. Commonly known as deer ticks, blacklegged ticks exhibit two-year life cycles with the following four stages: eggs, larvae, nymphs, and adults. Larvae primarily attack white-footed mice, then become nymphs upon obtaining a blood meal. At the beginning of their second year, nymphs transform into adults and prey almost solely on white-tailed deer. Female ticks produce approximately 2,000 fertile eggs throughout their lives, nearly all of which hatch and continue the sequence.

In the past, researchers have used various modeling techniques--including reaction-diffusion models, simulation models, and temperature-driven maps -- in attempts to better understand Lyme disease. In a paper publishing on Thursday, April 20 in the SIAM Journal on Applied Dynamical Systems, Xiunan Wang and Xiao-Qiang Zhao present a periodic time-delayed model of Lyme disease that incorporates seasonality and climate factors. "Seasonal variations in temperature, humidity, and resource availability have a strong effect on tick population dynamics," Wang said. "Climate impacts tick survival mostly during nonparasitic periods of the life cycle. Outside certain ranges of temperature and rainfall, tick populations cannot survive because these conditions directly kill the ticks or inhibit host-seeking activity."

Previous models of the disease inspired the authors' current model, which handles seasonality and tick feeding activity particularly well. "We incorporate seasonality by assuming that the birth rate of ticks, the biting rate of ticks, and the strength of density dependence for adult ticks are positive, continuous, and periodic functions," Wang said. The authors address the larvae, nymph, and adult stages of the deer tick, and incorporate mice and deer as host populations. They identify three parameters to represent the different feeding durations of larvae, nymphs, and adults.

"We need to be clear with the life cycle of ticks, including when they feed on two different hosts and how long they stay on the hosts," Wang said. "Involvement of three different tick life stages and two different hosts results in an eight-dimensional non-autonomous model with three different time delays." Wang and Zhao also identify variables for the densities of susceptible and infected mice, the densities of both uninfected and infected ticks at all stages of life, the density and birth rate of deer, mortality rates and feeding durations of all involved parties, susceptibility to infection, and individual biting rates of ticks.

The authors evaluate all parameters and apply their model to Lyme disease transmission in Long Point, a hamlet in Ontario, Canada where the disease is widespread. "In recent years, northward invasive spread of the endemic tick vectors from the United States to nonendemic Canadian habitats has become a public health concern," Wang said. "Migratory songbirds play an integral role in the wide dispersal of ticks. Long Point Provincial Park on the northwestern shore of Lake Erie is famous for its migrating birds during spring and fall, and attracts thousands of birdwatchers. It is also one of the places where infected ticks are commonly found."

Wang and Zhao utilize an existing algorithm to derive the basic reproduction ratio (R0), which acts as a threshold parameter when defining the model's global dynamics. They then use published data about monthly mean temperatures in Long Point from 1981-2010 to experiment with R0 levels, given changes in tick larvae birth rate. If R0<1, Lyme disease will likely die out in the area; if R0>1, it will likely persist and exhibit periodic fluctuation.

Ultimately, the authors' model yields a disease-free periodic solution. If nothing is done in the next few years, Lyme disease will be continue its prevalence in Long Point and exhibit periodic fluctuation. However, reducing the recruitment rate of tick larvae could eliminate it. The authors offer a few suggestions on how best to reduce this rate and prevent tick eggs from hatching into larvae. "It may be helpful to regularly search for the spots where adult ticks usually lay eggs, like in sheds, in woodpiles, under rocks, and in the crevices of walls," Wang said. "Since tick eggs are static, it is more feasible to focus on the clearance of eggs than to think about killing ticks of the other three life stages." However, because tick eggs are not macroscopically visible, Wang and Zhao suggest that the invention of equipment to detect them would certainly be useful.

As long as the corresponding data is available, Wang and Zhao say that researchers can apply their model to the study of Lyme disease transmission in other parts of the world. They also hope to more thoroughly investigate ticks on songbirds, given the northward spread of the parasite to areas of Canada during migration season. "Since the ticks removed from songbirds consist of susceptible and infected nymphs, we may add a periodic function term into the susceptible and infectious nymph equations of our model, respectively," Wang said. "Such periodic terms can reflect the effect of seasonal migration of songbirds."

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Source article: Wang, X., & Zhao, X-Q. (2017). Dynamics of a Time-Delayed Lyme Disease Model with Seasonality. SIAM Journal on Applied Dynamical Systems.

Xiunan Wang is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. Xiao-Qiang Zhao is a university research professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the Memorial University of Newfoundland.

To obtain an advance copy of the paper or to schedule interviews with the authors, please email sorg@siam.org. Reporters are free to use this text so long as they acknowledge SIAM.
Educators could be doing more to address the challenges and obstacles faced by Muslim students in modern times, a new research report published today in the Journal of Language, Identity and Education suggests. The research examines the experiences of Muslim ESL (English as a second language) students whilst studying in the US to identify what challenges they are faced with in their day-to-day life and how these could be overcome with the help of educators.

Based on his own experiences or experiences of those known personally, author Mohamed Yacoub outlines what "knapsack of invisible privileges" Muslim ESL students would like to possess. These include basic wishes which most students would take for granted such as being seen equally alongside other classmates in all senses, with similar political, personal and educational concerns. The research highlights some ways in which anti-Muslim hostility takes place, including vandalizing mosques, online cyberbullying and writing racist graffiti. Author Yacoub commented, "students undergo situations that indicate public space and some cities in the USA are exclusive to the dominant culture, and that any religious diversity is not welcome."

It is identified that there are four main external factors which shape the identity of Muslim ESL students including other students, the media, society and importantly professors. In the current political climate, it is identified that Muslim ESL students feel weakened and marginalized and henceforth do not speak up or protest about inappropriate treatment.

Yacoub outlines how educators could be assisting Muslim ESL student's positive self-image with activities such as coming up with counter arguments to rhetoric from anti-Muslim media channels, or creating a better dialogue or events that tell people who they really are. Partaking in activities such as these would allow the students to understand how important they are to the United States, and how important the United States is to them.

Author Yacoub said, "In the current political climate it is essential to highlight the unheard voice of international Muslim students in the United States."

It is warned however that these findings are not representative of the entire Muslim population in the US and should not be taken as such. The author recommends more empirical research into Muslim students' identity would be beneficial in order to further the field of the study and the findings of this research.

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The University of Alberta is teaming up with research partners in China to develop low-carbon, sustainable energy solutions while tackling global environmental challenges.

Officials from the U of A and Tsinghua University were in Beijing on April 20 to sign an agreement to create the Joint Research Centre for Future Energy and Environment. It was one of several key agreements the U of A signed with Chinese partners as part of a wider Government of Alberta trade mission, led by Premier Rachel Notley, to strengthen ties with the province's second-largest trading partner.

"The University of Alberta values our long-standing partnerships with China and Tsinghua University, which bring together world-leading talent to address globally important issues such as clean energy, environment and climate change," said U of A President David Turpin. "Strengthening these collaborations will open even more avenues of discovery and lead to new ideas, technologies and innovations that will benefit both countries and the world."

Larry Kostiuk, the U of A's associate vice-president of research, said the Joint Research Centre for Future Energy and Environment is the latest evolution in more than two decades of collaborations between the U of A and Tsinghua University--arguably China's best research institution and among the top in the world. In 2012, the U of A and Tsinghua created the Sino-Canadian Energy and Environment Research and Education Initiative, which has led to more than 30 partnerships in clean energy, environment, water, energy transport and policy.

Kostiuk said the new centre elevates relations with Tsinghua to a "completely new level." Researchers will collaborate on a range of problems related to energy, environment and climate change, renewable energy, advanced power systems, energy transport and more.

"This is a rare opportunity for a Canadian university to partner with Tsinghua University in such a significant way," said Kostiuk, who was in China for the signing. "We come from different places and backgrounds, but we're going to come together and leverage our different perspectives to solve common problems."

The centre will be based at Tsinghua in a state-of-the-art research facility. Once operational, the centre will be able to apply for grant funding through the Chinese Ministry of Education, which is establishing strategic international research centres across the country. This centre would be the only one created in partnership with a Canadian university.

Kostiuk will serve as the new centre's deputy director while retaining his position as director of U of A's Future Energy Systems initiative, which brings together researchers across disciplines to improve and develop new low-carbon energy technologies, integrate them into today's infrastructure and understand the social and economic impacts of their adoption.

Kostiuk said the U of A-Tsinghua centre will be even broader in scope than Future Energy Systems, addressing environment and water issues not necessarily tied to energy.

"Tsinghua University is a world leader in clean, low-carbon and renewable energy research and technologies. We all look forward to getting to work with incredibly bright people on both sides."

"We are pleased to work with the University of Alberta, which has a global reputation in energy systems research," said Qikun Xue, vice-president of research with Tsinghua University. "We look forward to bringing our strengths together to tackle many critical issues facing our planet."

Partnerships boost economic diversification, training

In addition to the joint research centre, the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine signed a memorandum of understanding with Guanghua International Education Association to develop training for health professionals that will help China enhance and expand rehabilitation capacity.

TEC Edmonton signed an agreement with Tsinghua University's research innovation incubator, TusPark/TuSstar, on a new joint incubator. TusPark/TuSstar operates the largest university science park in the world, and the new partnership would expand its global reach, creating economic opportunities for Edmonton and Alberta.

"I am extremely proud to support the University of Alberta and TEC Edmonton in forming relationships with such innovative partners in China," said Premier Notley. "We look forward to seeing this partnership thrive, and to watching Alberta's expertise across a variety of areas, not only create opportunities for Albertans, but make a difference around the world."

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The beetle's tough shell and the crab's sturdy armor both owe their strength to a compound called chitin (pronounced "KAI-tin"), one of the toughest known natural materials and also one of most common biological compounds on Earth. New research in mice by UC San Francisco scientists shows that the lungs secrete a specialized enzyme capable of destroying chitin, without which chitin particles inhaled from the environment can accumulate in the airways and trigger inflammatory lung disease.

Insects, molds and parasitic worms -- all common sources of allergies or inflammation -- produce billions of tons of chitin a year. Enzymes specialized for breaking down and disposing of chitin, called chitinases, evolved very early in the history of life, and are shared by most living things, from single-celled bacteria and fungi to humans. However, the function of these enzymes in mammals (which don't produce chitin of their own) has long been a mystery to science.

In a new study -- published online April 20, 2017, in Cell -- researchers in the lab of Richard M. Locksley, MD, the Marion and Herbert Sandler Distinguished Professor in Asthma Research at UCSF, have shown that mice that lack chitin-destroying enzymes soon accumulate chitin in their lungs even in sanitized laboratory environments. These mice go on to develop severe inflammatory lung disease with age, but the team also found that they could dramatically restore lung function in these ailing mice by replacing the missing chitinase enzymes, either genetically or with drugs, a finding that may have implications for understanding and treating age-related lung disease in humans.

We were very excited to see that improving chitinase activity quickly cleared up the signs of chronic inflammatory lung disease in these mice, said Locksley, who is the senior author of the new study. To our knowledge this is the first demonstration that chitinases play a key role in preserving lung function in vertebrates.

Study strengthens link between chitin and age-related fibrotic lung disease

Many tissues develop fibrous scar tissue as part of their normal response to injury. These scars typically fade with time, but chronic irritation and inflammation can lead to extensive scarring of organs, known as fibrosis, which our bodies have increasing trouble repairing as we age. Fibrosis is now seen by many researchers as a central underlying risk factor for many diseases of aging, and can eventually lead organs to fail completely. In the case of fibrotic lung disease -- which is currently estimated to affect tens of thousands of Americans and appears to be on the rise as the population ages -- researchers suspect that a lifetime of environmental exposures trigger chronic inflammation and fibrosis of lung tissue. The resulting tissue damage frequently leads to death within five to 10 years after diagnosis.

Previous research by the Locksley lab had shown that chitin can trigger lung inflammation in mice, and the researchers had suspected that chronic inhalation of chitin particles over a lifetime (through exposure to dust mites or mold, for example) could play an important role in age-related fibrotic lung disease in humans.

In the new study, which was spearheaded by postdoctoral researcher Steven Van Dyken, PhD, researchers showed that specialized cells lining the airways of mice produce a chitinase enzyme called AMCase, which appears to play a key role in preventing chitin buildup in the mouse lung. In mice genetically modified to lack this enzyme, chitin spontaneously built up in the airways and triggered a chronic inflammatory immune response, as well as setting off cellular stress pathways that have previously been linked to lung disease in humans.

Because chitin is so ubiquitous in the environment, the researchers did not have to take any special steps to expose the mice to the compound -- even in highly sanitized laboratory settings, Van Dyken said:

"Chitin is a very common, very tough environmental particle found in our homes and workplaces. Our results clearly show that this stuff naturally gets into the lungs, and in the absence of chitinase enzymes that are capable of breaking it down, it accumulates. With time, chitin buildup can make animals pretty sick in ways that look remarkably like human fibrotic lung disease."

Chitin-clearing enzyme could help patients with fibrotic lung disease

The researchers found that young mice were able to tolerate chitin-triggered inflammation without exhibiting signs of lung dysfunction, but as adults these mice experienced rapidly declining health, including many signs of advancing fibrotic lung disease. As a result, mice lacking AMCase died at a dramatically younger age than control mice. However, the researchers also found that the symptoms of lung disease in these mice could be rapidly cleared up by restoring chitinase activity genetically or with drugs.

The team also studied humans with inflammatory lung disease and found elevated levels of chitin in their lungs. They found that humans also produce AMCase, though at considerably lower levels than laboratory mice. The researchers did not find evidence that chitinase activity was any lower than normal in patients with inflammatory lung disease, but they hypothesize a vicious cycle whereby aging-associated lung fibrosis damages the lung's natural ability to use AMCase and possibly other chitinases to clear chitin, allowing increasing chitin buildup to further exacerbate lung inflammation and fibrosis.

The new findings suggest that that enhancing chitinase activity with drugs could be a useful treatment for patients with inflammatory lung disease, the authors said.

"We're excited about potential for using these new insights to help find new treatments for flare-ups or worsening lung disease where people get very sick very quickly," Van Dyken said. "At the moment, there are really no good treatments, so if added doses of chitinase could help or lessen symptoms of fibrotic lung disease, we're really anxious to work towards making such a treatment available."

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The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (AI30663, AI26918, HL128903, HL107202), the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Nina Ireland Program for Lung Health, and the Sandler Asthma Basic Research Center at UCSF.

Additional authors on the paper were Hong-Erh Liang, PhD, Ram P. Naikawadi, PhD, Prescott G. Woodruff, MD, Paul J. Wolters, MD, and David J. Erle, MD.

About UCSF: UC San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It includes top-ranked graduate schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy; a graduate division with nationally renowned programs in basic, biomedical, translational and population sciences; and a preeminent biomedical research enterprise. It also includes UCSF Health, which comprises top-ranked hospitals, UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals in San Francisco and Oakland - and other partner and affiliated hospitals and healthcare providers throughout the Bay Area. Please visit http://www.ucsf.edu/news.

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Athens, Ga. - Increasing water temperatures are responsible for the accumulation of a chemical called nitrite in marine environments throughout the world, a symptom of broader changes in normal ocean biochemical pathways that could ultimately disrupt ocean food webs, according to new research from the University of Georgia.

Nitrite is produced when microorganisms consume ammonium in waste products from fertilizers, treated sewage and animal waste. Too much nitrite can alter the kinds and amounts of single-celled plants living in marine environments, potentially affecting the animals that feed on them, said James Hollibaugh, co-author of the study published recently in Environmental Science and Technology. It also could lead to toxic algal blooms and create dead zones where no fish or animals can live.

"Rising ocean temperatures are changing the way coastal ecosystems--and probably terrestrial ecosystems, too--process nitrogen," said Hollibaugh, Distinguished Research Professor of Marine Sciences in UGA's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. "Much of the global nitrogen cycle takes place in the coastal zone."

Hollibaugh and researcher Sylvia Schaefer found midsummer peaks in concentrations of nitrite alongside massive increases in numbers of the microorganisms that produce it in the coastal waters off Sapelo Island, Georgia, in data collected over the course of eight years. Although most researchers believe nitrite accumulation is a consequence of oxygen deficiency in a marine environment, Hollibaugh and Schaefer thought something else had to be driving the accumulation.

"The paradigm taught when I was in school was that hypoxia, or lack of oxygen, results in nitrite accumulation," Hollibaugh said. "But the Georgia coast does not go hypoxic. It just didn't fit."

After performing lab experiments that exposed the single-celled organisms known as Thaumarchaea to varying water temperatures, the researchers discovered that higher temperatures prompted the microorganisms to produce more nitrite.

"The microorganisms involved in this process are very tolerant to low oxygen levels," Schaefer said. "Typically, two groups of microorganisms work in really close concert with one another to convert ammonium to nitrate so that you don't see nitrite really accumulate at all, but we found that the activity of those two groups was decoupled as a result of the increased water temperatures."

To see if the pattern held beyond the island, Schaefer and Hollibaugh analyzed environmental monitoring data from 270 locations across the U.S., France and Bermuda, ultimately affirming the relationship between higher temperatures and nitrite accumulation.

This dependence on temperature wasn't appreciated by the research community until now, and it can have widespread consequences even beyond coastal water quality management, Hollibaugh said.

"The same process, though we didn't look at it specifically, takes place in regards to fertilizing soil for agricultural purposes," he said. "It affects farmers and their efficient use of fertilizer--when they should apply it and what form it should be in--and ultimately much of that fertilizer will end up in the waterways, which can lead to algal blooms that choke out other species."

Nitrite accumulation can also result in more production of nitrous oxide, a powerful greenhouse gas that has more of an effect on climate change per molecule than carbon dioxide, Hollibaugh said. That nitrous oxide production then increases global temperatures more, causing more nitrite accumulation and creating a positive feedback loop.

"If you live on a marsh and look out over the water, you're probably not going to notice it, but if you like shellfish, like to fish, like recreational water sports, then these findings do matter," Hollibaugh said. "The information gained from monitoring programs, like the ones we used to analyze temperature and nitrite data across the country and in other countries, can be used not only to forecast what is going to happen down the road and the longer-term consequences of management decisions, but also to come up with potential solutions for the problem. The data collected by these programs are important for wise management of our resources."

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The study was published in Environmental Science and Technology and is available at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.6b03483. The research was supported the National Science Foundation's Division of Ocean Sciences grants 13-35838 and 12-37130.
We all like to keep things clean, and disinfectants help that happen. Unfortunately, one of the most widely used antimicrobial products in use since 1964, triclosan, is also one of the top 10 environmental contaminants in rivers - possibly disrupting the endocrine systems of wildlife and causing toxic effects to their reproduction and development. Now, a new study at the University of Nevada, Reno has found a potential way to reduce the presence of the antimicrobial that is also linked to problems with antibiotic resistance.

"The results are promising that we gained better understanding about how triclosan is degraded in the natural environment, and can potentially find a way of removing the contaminant from the environment and in the long term fighting the antibiotic resistance problem," Yu "Frank" Yang, assistant professor of environmental engineering at the University, said.

Yang and his team's research on how to reduce the presence of triclosan in the environment was recognized among Emerging Investigator Series by the journal Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, a publication of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and published in the April edition as the inside front-cover story. The article describes how the triclosan, used for things like hand sanitizer, detergents, soaps and paints, can be degraded faster in the environment through a process with a combination of metal-reducing bacterium and natural organic matter.

While the nation is phasing out triclosan and finding replacements for the detergents, it's pervasive in the environment and is persistent under certain environmental conditions, Yang said. Because of its persistence and lack of efficient removal processes in most water treatment plants, triclosan has been widely detected in natural waters, soils, sediments and biosolids.

"Antibiotic resistance induced by antimicrobial or antibiotic agents is a global problem, if they are not degraded rapidly, then bacteria in the environment get exposure and develop resistant genes and then we can't fight it," Yang said. "If we can completely understand the degradation of antimicrobial agent, we can provide a treatment process in engineered and natural environments."

The team tested the matrix of a bacteria strain mixed with the organic material to find the condition that degraded triclosan the fastest. Yang's research found a mixture that reduced the half-life of triclosan to about 10 hours. The overall outcome is determined by the concentration of organic material, microbial activities and the chemistry of the water.

"Further study and development are needed, and we would like to fully understand the degradation pathways of emerging organohalides and work out cost-effective removal strategies," Yang said. "Both are challenging tasks."

The journal Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts recognized Yang, who is also a member of the College of Science's Global Water Center, for his work and honored him with the distinction of "Emerging Investigator." His paper is part of their 2017 "Emerging Investigator Series" which highlights "the best and brightest early career scientists in the environmental chemical sciences."

The journal website explains the "Emerging Investigator" distinction "showcases the high quality research being carried out by researchers in the early stages of their independent careers. It highlights up-and-coming scientists who are internationally recognized for making outstanding contributions to their respective fields."

In early April, Yang and his group presented this project and other work in nine presentations at the American Chemical Society's 2017 spring meeting in San Francisco, California.

He was also selected in early April by the U.S. National Committee for International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry as a 2017 Young Observer for the organizations General Assembly and Global Congress in Sao Paulo, Brazil, this July.

He has been at the University of Nevada, Reno since September 2013 as an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He received his doctorate degree from Peking University, China. Since he joined the University, he has secured more than $1 million of federal research grants as principal investigator and Co-PI, and published 14 peer-reviewed manuscripts in top-tier journals in the area. His research is mainly focused on the molecular-level environmental chemistry for critical environmental issues, including carbon cycles and emerging pollutants.

The "Dual Role of Organic Matter in the Anaerobic Degradation of Triclosan" study was supported by the University of Nevada, Reno Startup Fund, the Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the China Scholarship Council for the support of Lin Wang, a member of the research team.

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A technique that revolutionised scientists' ability to manipulate and study materials at the nano-scale may have dramatic unintended consequences, new Oxford University research reveals.

Focused Ion Beam Milling (FIB) uses a tiny beam of highly energetic particles to cut and analyse materials smaller than one thousandth of a stand of human hair.

This remarkable capability transformed scientific fields ranging from materials science and engineering to biology and earth sciences. FIB is now an essential tool for a number of applications including; researching high performance alloys for aerospace engineering, nuclear and automotive applications and for prototyping in micro-electronics and micro-fluidics.

FIB was previously understood to cause structural damage within a thin surface layer (tens of atoms thick) of the material being cut. Until now it was assumed that the effects of FIB would not extend beyond this thin damaged layer. Ground-breaking new results from the University of Oxford demonstrate that this is not the case, and that FIB can in fact dramatically alter the material's structural identity. This work was carried out in collaboration with colleagues from Argonne National Laboratory, USA, LaTrobe University, Australia, and the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, UK.

In research newly published in the journal Scientific Reports, the team studied the damage caused by FIB using a technique called coherent synchrotron X-ray diffraction. This relies on ultra-bright high energy X-rays, available only at central facilities such as the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Lab, USA. These X-rays can probe the 3D structure of materials at the nano-scale. The results show that even very low FIB doses, previously thought negligible, have a dramatic effect.

Felix Hofmann, Associate Professor in Oxford's Department of Engineering Science and lead author on the study, said, "Our research shows that FIB beams have much further-reaching consequences than first thought, and that the structural damage caused is considerable. It affects the entire sample, fundamentally changing the material. Given the role FIB has come to play in science and technology, there is an urgent need to develop new strategies to properly understand the effects of FIB damage and how it might be controlled."

Prior to the development of FIB, sample preparation techniques were limited, only allowing sections to be prepared from the material bulk, but not from specific features. FIB transformed this field by making it possible to cut out tiny coupons from specific sites in a material. This progression enabled scientists to examine specific material feature using high-resolution electron microscopes. Furthermore it has made mechanical testing of tiny material specimens possible, a necessity for the study of dangerous or extremely precious materials.

Although keen for his peers to heed the serious consequence of FIB, Professor Hofmann said, "The scientific community has been aware of this issue for a while now, but no one (myself included) realised the scale of the problem. There is no way we could have known that FIB had such invasive side effects. The technique is integral to our work and has transformed our approach to prototyping and microscopy, completely changing the way we do science. It has become a central part of modern life."

Moving forward, the team is keen to develop awareness of FIB damage. Furthermore, they will build on their current work to gain a better understanding of the damage formed and how it might be removed. Professor Hofmann said, "We're learning how to get better. We have gone from using the technique blindly, to working out how we can actually see the distortions caused by FIB. Next we can consider approaches to mitigate FIB damage. Importantly the new X-ray techniques that we have developed will allow us to assess how effective these approaches are. From this information we can then start to formulate strategies for actively managing FIB damage."

###

Notes to editors

The full citation for the paper is: "3D lattice distortions and defect structures in ion-implanted nano-crystals"; Felix Hofmann, Edmund Tarleton, Ross J Harder, Nicholas W Phillips, Pui-Wai Ma, Jesse N Clark, Ian K Robinson, Brian Abbey, Wenjun Liu, Christian E Beck; Scientific Reports 7, Article number: 45993 (2017)

For further information please contact Lanisha Butterfield in the University of Oxford press office at Lanisha.butterfield@admin.ox.ac.uk or on+44 (0)1865 280531

The Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division (MPLS) is one of four academic divisions at the University of Oxford, representing the non-medical sciences. Oxford is one of the world's leading universities for science, and MPLS is at the forefront of scientific research across a wide range of disciplines. Research in the mathematical, physical and life sciences at Oxford was rated the best in the UK in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment. MPLS received 133m in research income in 2014/15.
BILLINGS, Mont.  In a public We the People petition launched and promoted on its website, Facebook and Twitter pages, R-CALF USA seeks 100,000 signatures during the next 30 days to call on the Trump Administration to ban imports of Brazilian beef until all beef sold in U.S. supermarkets is labeled with its country of origin.

The We the People website indicates that if R-CALF USAs petition achieves the threshold of 100,000 signatures in 30 days, the White House will review the petition and respond by email to each signatory regarding the administrations response to the petition.

The petition points out that many beef importing nations took the precaution of placing bans on Brazilian beef after news covering an investigation by Brazils federal police reported that Brazilian beef plants knowingly sold rotten meat to schools and to the public, exported spoiled meat to other countries, and Brazilian beef samples tested positive for dangerous bacteria, including salmonella.

The U.S., however, which produces more beef than any other country in the world and is the worlds largest beef consumer, did not take the precautionary step of banning Brazilian imports.

The petition calls on a ban of the unsafe beef imports from Brazil until American consumers can begin differentiating Brazilian beef from American beef with a country of origin label.

The petition can be accessed at www.BanBrazilianBeef.com.
Location: Bowling Green, Ohio,

College/University attended: Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio (2012); West Virginia University College of Law, Morgantown, W.Va. (2016)

Major: History with a minor in agribusiness; law degree, concentration in land use and sustainable development.

Career: Law fellow, OSU Extension Agricultural and Resource Law Program

Why did you choose OSU and WVU?

For my undergraduate degree, I looked at both OSU and WVU because I wanted to go to a larger school. I wasnt sure what I wanted to do, so I wanted to have a lot of options. For law school, I liked that West Virginia was a rural state and I could continue to gain experience in natural resources and agriculture.

How are you using what you learned in college today?

In both undergraduate and law school, I sought out those with knowledge  professors or guest lecturers  and mentors who were happy to help people learn, and I gained a lot of information from them, and I continue to seek out people who can help me.

Memorable college experience:

Studying abroad. Through Ohio States College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, I studied in Chile and the Czech Republic.

Advice for students thinking about college:

First, dont be scared to change your major. I did it once a year. First, I declared a political science major, then changed majors to history. Then, I changed to ag systems management, then switched back to history.

Second, its OK to pursue an ag career even if you didnt grow up on a farm. I didnt.

Third, its not a bad thing to take some time off. I took a gap year between my undergraduate and law classes, and worked for OSU Extension in the ag law program, which really solidified my interest in pursuing ag law. Theres no set path to get to school, and working in the real world really helped me set my interest.

Continue reading Ag College Guide graduate bios here.
The agricultural sector from across the UK met in London to discuss the implications of Brexit and the general election yesterday (19 April).

The Farming Brexit Roundtable, chaired by National Farmers' Union (NFU) Deputy President Minette Batters, drew together organisations from all parts of the UK and was set up to share concerns and promote collective action over Brexit.

The meeting also spoke about the upcoming general election on June 8.

The organisations said in a statement: "Farmers across the UK would welcome the cooperative spirit expressed around the table today. Every organisation wants to see our political parties recognise the importance of farming to the economy and the country.

"We want the parties to set clear policies that work for farm businesses, giving us certainty during the Brexit negotiations, but vitally well beyond the point at which the UK leaves the European Union.

"Our organisations welcome the commitment to honour EU payments until 2020, but farming is a long term business. Frankly the value of the assurance, given in August 2016, diminishes with each passing day.

"Farm businesses need to know the long term plans of our political parties over the next decade, not just the next two years."

Party manifestos

The meeting urged all parties to make their plans clear in their respective manifestos to give farmers the stability required to instil confidence for the future.

The statement continued: "We also considered the trading relationship in which farming will find itself post Brexit.

"It's clear that there is a pressing need to secure continuing access to the European Union market place as a priority. The vast majority of food exports are to the EU, lamb and cereals being good examples.

"So every sector needs there to be free and frictionless trade with the EU to thrive long term, or face economic calamity of over-supplied domestic markets. Again whatever the final outcome the next Government must secure a phased transition to the new trading arrangements".

The Farming Brexit Roundtable will continue to meet regularly during the course of the Brexit negotiations.

Organisations at the meeting

Country Land and Business Association

British Poultry Council

National Beef Association

National Farmers Union

NFU Cymru

NFU Scotland National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs

National Pig Association

Royal Association British Dairy Farmers

Scottish Land and Estates

Soil Association

Tenant Farmers Association
The Kent County Agricultural Societys, Scholarship Scheme Application will close on 5th May - with 1,000 per year up for grabs!

The Higher Education scheme which was started last year, offers financial assistance to all students who are resident in Kent at the time of their application.

Successful candidates will be eligible for up to 1,000 per year and for up to three years of study.

Candidates need to be between the age of 18 and 25 when they commence study in the UK for a full-time college or university degree based course within the Land-based Sector.

Whilst one of the criteria is that they reside in Kent before their course, the students can study anywhere in the UK to be eligible.

Applications will be considered from a wide range of degree subjects including agriculture, horticulture, forestry, equine, veterinary and animal management.

Having completed the online application form, the shortlisted candidates will then be required to attend an interview with a panel from the Kent County Agricultural Societys Charitable Activities Committee before the final decision is made.

The previous winners

The Society awarded three grants last year to students who started university in September 2016.

The first award went to Philippa Bradley who was starting the first year of a BSc (Hons) International Equine and Agricultural Business Management degree at the Royal Agricultural University. Philippa, who lived on a farm near Sandwich since the age of ten, impressed the interview panel when she explained her passion for horses.

The second successful candidate in 2016 was Jacob Taylor from Maidstone, who secured a place on a BSc (Hons) Forest Management degree course at the University of Cumbria. The 2 1,000 award for 2016/2017 has been used to help fund his travel to and from Cumbria to Kent to enable him to continue his work with a number of local voluntary organisations.

Zac Scott, the third successful candidate started a BSc (Hons) Agriculture at Harper Adams. Zac, originally from Tunbridge Wells hoped the course would act as the first step to working in farm management with a view to owning his own farm in the future. Zac has used the grant to help him to support his study, rather than having to find part time work.
Livestock conservation charity Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) has said the situation for iconic British pig breeds is 'extremely worrying'

While registration of breeding females remains largely stable or increasing for sheep and cattle, with positive trends for goats, the situation for pigs has been described as extremely worrying by the charity.

Out of the 11 native pig breeds, all except the Berkshire, Middle White, Tamworth and Large Black, are showing declining numbers.

The Gloucestershire Old Spots  arguably one of the breeds most well-known to the general public  is showing the most dramatic decline.

In 2014, there were 837 sows producing birth-notified litters, while by 2016 this had dropped to only 416. This puts the breed in Watchlist Category 4  At Risk.

'Economic factors'

RBST CEO Tom Beeston says: It is not that our native breeds lack their enthusiasts and we must give huge credit to those breeders who devote time, energy and money to ensuring the survival of their favoured breeds.

It is these efforts that have seen the situation for most native pig breeds vastly improving over the past 40 years. However, economic factors have a massive influence and for many people working with pigs, breeding is very challenging at present.

From the Watchlist, RBST reports hopeful signs for native sheep breeds, despite the uncertainty of Brexit looming large over the sheep industry.

Renewed interest has resulted in broad increases across the Primitive and Hill & Heath breeds, with numbers for Borerays and Whiteface Dartmoors going up.

Conversely, the picture is more mixed for the Shortwool & Down and Longwool breeds although Dorset Down and Greyface Dartmoor registrations are increasing at an encouraging rate.

One new breed, the Derbyshire Gritstone, has made its first appearance on the Watchlist, entering in Category 4  At Risk.

#GoNative

With the Watchlist helping fulfil RBSTs role of monitoring native breed livestock, the charity is working with key food and farming industry partners to promote consumption of native breed products.

Tom Beeston says: Our message to breeders and consumers alike is #GoNative. We want to emphasise the importance of pedigree breeding and registrations to producers and to push home the message to consumers that unless the meat they buy comes from a registered animal, they cant be sure they are eating the real thing.

We have to maintain the genetic diversity of our native breeds of livestock and to do that we have to make the market for the produce to encourage more breeders.

By continuously emphasising the necessity for breed registrations, we will also promote the importance of maintaining the integrity of native breed produce.
Describing your highly innovative technology as a slurry tank with a lid on is unlikely to win any marketing awards, but with nine successful farm-based AD plants in the UK and a new worldwide patent, Fre-energys simple grit-removal system could make it the must-have agricultural installation.

By preventing the gradual accumulation of silt in the digester, Fre-energy has ensured that farmers benefit from having the full volume of their digester sustained for optimum operation.

Grit, sand, ash, soil, glass, metal and other inorganic contaminants from the tank do not enter the process. This has proved especially advantageous when using chicken litter as a feedstock, which typically has very high levels of grit.

The capability to extract grit and silt also extends to root crops, food waste, slurry from cattle bedded on ash, sand and other high grit inputs.

In short, there is never a need to stop the digester to empty it. No downtime. No health and safety risks associated with the opening of the tank.

True sustainability

Big numbers tend to dominate renewables headlines, with seemingly the more Megawatts being generated the better? - but you wont find Fre-energys name in those news-grabbing figures.

Instead, for Welsh organic dairy farmer Richard Tomlinson, his goal when seeking to introduce AD to generate all of his heating and electricity was to complement his farms organic milk production - not to create a rural power station. He sought true sustainability.

Under the umbrella of Fre-energy (Farm Renewable Environmental Energy), Richards closing of the loop comes in the shape of nine extremely efficient AD plants that support the core business of farming.

Landia long shaft chopper pump at Fre-energy

In addition to the companys de-gritting technology is the highly reliable Landia pasteurization and pumping equipment it has invested in.

Combined with dynamic organic waste management and a very efficient slurry management system, the results make a very convincing case for any dairy farmer with over 300 cows to introduce an AD plant as the key to sustaining their business  particularly in rural settings.

In the international market, with so many small farms working together with a centralized AD plant, the Fre-energy model with its very low energy usage, is hard to beat.

'Integral'

Fre-energys Technical Director, Chris Morris said: In the UK, FITS (Feed-in-Tariffs) is not our driver. We see the electricity, heat and fertiliser we produce as natural fit by-products that whilst not making headline figures, are now an integral part of our sustainable business.

The Landia Pasteurizer at Fre-energy in Wrexham

At Lodge Farm in Wrexham, Wales, the first of the nine Fre Energy sites, a new separate lagoon was constructed within the larger storage lagoon in order to store the slurry and pump it underground to the digester half a mile away on a fortnightly basis.

This not only ensured that slurry would be delivered to the digester as fresh as possible, but provided a clean and convenient solution, rather than transporting the slurry across the land or by road.

In the reception pits at Lodge Farm, two Landia long shaft chopper pumps (7.5kW) with integral mixing nozzles chop and blend the tanks contents; initially processing 25 tonnes of slurry per day from the organic dairy herd, as well as chicken litter (6 tonnes per day) before pumping the liquid into the 1000m3 digester.

Each Landia pump is designed with a knife system that prevents breakdowns by being able to deal with higher dry matter content such as straw, commonly found in liquid manure.

Licenced food waste site

In 2015 Lodge Farm became a licenced food waste site.

Now, in addition to the farm wastes, materials from local food manufacturers and a nearby hotel is first treated by a 5m3 Landia pasteurizer (hygienisation unit) tank that conforms with ABP (animal by-products) regulations.

Designed with an integral heating jacket and an externally mounted side-entry propeller mixer and chopper pump to reduce particle sizes, the pasteurizer heats the liquid to the required 72 degrees for one-hour batch processes.

There are no moving parts inside the pasteurizer, so there is no need to enter the tank to carry out maintenance. There is also a 7.5kW Landia submersible mixer (300rpm) in Fre Energys post-digestion store.

Despite the high dry matter content, the Landia equipment works very well, added Fre-energys Chris Morris.

Its simple, modular and it does the job, especially the ABP-approved pasteurizer, which is recognised by Natural Resource Wales and State Vet as a quality piece of kit. We like the side-entry mixer because it is both the manway and the mixer, reducing costs because only one aperture is required, rather than two.

None of the Landia equipment requires intervention from us. It passes the test every time and very much fits in with what we do. Our AD process with our patented de-gritting system is also low on energy use. Our digester is mixed using less than 7kW of pump capacity  running at only 30% duty  so only 2kW of mixing energy is required for our 1000m3 digester.

He continued: I also like the fact that Landia are a long way removed from pump salesmen whod worry about getting their shoes covered in mud at a farm. Landia understand what we and farming are about - and when necessary wont hesitate to roll up their sleeves to help us.

Expanding network

Based on the results in Wrexham, Landias pumps and mixers now feature strongly in Fre-energys nine-strong and expanding network of successful farm-based AD plants.

Lodge Farms small-scale non-headline but totally consistent energy generation is 160kW of electricity and 200kW heat.

Approximately 30kW of electricity is used on site to power the engineering business, the Fre-energy office and the farmhouse, whilst around 60kW of heat is used to heat the cow slurry and chicken litter in the digester up to 40C. The rest is used to heat the house and office, with surplus electricity exported to the National Grid.

Top quality digestate is also a fundamental part of the Lodge Farm ethos. The digestate goes through a separator and then stored in a lagoon (that has 6 month storage capacity) before being spread onto grassland.

The solid digestate, which contains a higher proportion of the phosphate and potash, is transported by road to land used for growing winter crops to feed the dairy herd. Trials conducted by Bangor University have demonstrated that the BOD (biological oxygen demand) of the digestate is reduced by up to 90%, representing a substantial benefit to the environment. It also has around 80% less odour than typical cow slurry, thus making the spreading of manures far more socially acceptable.

The commitment to the closed loop system begins right at the entry gates to Lodge Farm, which are powered by the AD outputs. Here in this part of North Wales there is conclusive proof that investing in AD will reduce your carbon footprint and drive agriculture forward.

Kilowatts might not make the same eye-catching headlines as Megawatts, but the simple yet highly effective solutions in Wrexham are true next generation agriculture that sets a great example.
A Scottish farmer whose family has farmed the same land for generations has refused to give in to demands for the construction of a new 250m film studio.

Hollywood A-listers could next year be roaming the land after plans to build Scotlands first purpose-built film studio were approved in principle by ministers.

But Jim Telfer, 82, said he and his daughter Mary Begbie, 52, were ready to fight all the way to the Supreme Court to thwart any bid to build on their rented 60-acre plot.

Telfer can trace his roots on the rolling farmland outside Edinburgh back to 1915.

Although the family own the farmhouse and buildings, they do not own the land  it belongs to the Gibsone family, descendants of the local landowners who signed the original lease to Telfers grandfather.

Nick Gibsone, an advertising executive who owns the land, wants the Telfers to leave the farm so that he can turn over his own property to the Hollywood studio development, called Pentland Studios.

Stalemate

But the two sides have been locked in stalemate for almost a year.

Sources told The Guardian that any move to evict the family would have to be approved by the Scottish land court, which can rule over disputes between tenant farmers and landlords.

Friends of Gibsone said he had made a number of offers, including a 250,000 compensation package that would allow Telfer to continue living in the farmhouse until his death, at which point Gibsone would seek to take control of the smallholding.

The proposed studio complex for Telfers smallholding will be built in phases and will eventually feature two backlots, six sound stages up to 70ft high, a hotel, visitor centre, film academy, workshops and a creative industries hub.

It is claimed that up to 1,600 jobs could be created by the project, whose first studios are hoped to be operating by the end of 2018.
Scottish farmers have been in Westminster pressing the UK Government on recognising the unique requirements of the Scottish agricultural industry.

Securing the right Brexit deal for Scottish farmers and crofters remained top of the agenda, with farmers also pressing for UK Government to commit to continued funding to enable a smooth transition as the industry faces the challenges and opportunities of a post-Brexit world.

NFU Scotland Unions President Andrew McCornick and Vice President Gary Mitchell met with Defra Secretary Andrea Leadsom; Defra Minister George Eustice and Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell.

Speaking after the Ministerial meeting, Andrew McCornick said: With a General Election now weeks away, all parties will find their records on delivering for Scottish agriculture and the food and drink sectors under scrutiny.

We continue to press on the UK Government the importance of committing to longer term funding and its fair allocation across the UK. That will be key to winning the confidence of Scottish farmers and crofters, and a clear indication that their needs are being heard in the Brexit negotiations.

Vision for farming

At the meeting, the Ministers outlined their vision for farming and food. They said it should 'thrive' across all parts of the United Kingdom and that they are committed in their desire to deliver that.

Mr McCornick continued: We are looking to both Westminster and Holyrood to restore confidence and certainty to all Scotland's farmers and crofters through agreeing a necessary and meaningful transition.

The discussion with Ministers at Westminster today gave us the opportunity to reiterate our position that any successor policy should be funded on a UK-wide common financial framework, but with policy development and delivery kept within the mainstay of the devolved administrations.

It is concerning that, nearly one month in to the two-year Article 50 process, Scottish farmers and crofters still remain in the dark about how a future agricultural policy will be both delivered and funded in three short years time.

What we need urgently is genuine discussion on the policy instruments and funding mechanisms that will lead to a well-funded, refreshed agricultural policy that delivers for all parts of the UK.
Five things for farmers to watch out for in Autumn Statement
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The house of Elizabeth Arden released new limited editions of its popular fragrances Sunflowers (1993) and 5th Avenue (1996). The new versions are intended for spring / summer 2017, with Sunflowers Sunlight Kiss fragrance designed for bright sunny days while 5th Avenue NYC Uptown presents a glamorous nighttime scent.



Ads from the 90s

Sunflowers Sunlight Kiss is announced as a free-spirited, bright and energizing floral citrusy fragrance with marine nuances, inspired by "the warm, glowing sensation of being kissed by the sun". Its top notes of Italian bergamot, mandarin, Japanese loquat and apple leaves lead to the heart of osmanthus, cyclamen, ozonic accord, rose and jasmine. Driftwood and solar musk complete the composition.

Top notes: bergamot, mandarin, locust, apple leaf

Heart: cyclamen, osmantus, rose, jasmine, ozone accord

Base: driftwood, solar musk

Available as a 100 ml Eau de Toilette.

5th Avenue NYC Uptown allegedly embodies the glamorous and luxurious lifestyle of New York: "Always be glamorous. Intricate. Cultured. Special. Inspired by New York City's uptown woman, this intricate fragrance embodies her supremely glamorous lifestyle." The fresh floral-woody-musky composition begins with dazzling notes of Prosecco, Sicilian petit grain and pink pepper. Japanese cherry blossom, magnolia, cyclamen and green ivy in the heart of the perfume are layered over the base of vanilla, tonka, sandalwood and musk.

Top notes: prosecco, pink pepper, petitgrain

Heart: cyclamen, cherry blossom, magnolia, ivy

Base: sandalwood, musk, tonka, vanilla

The fragrance is available as a 75 ml Eau de Parfum.
2 killed, 8 injured in Sindhuli jeep plunge

Two persons died and eight others were injured in a jeep accident at Kamalmai Municipality-2 in Sindhuli along the BP Highway on Wednesday.




Haiti - FLASH : Moise announces the reconstruction of the National Palace





On Wednesday at the National Palace, President Jovenel Moise, accompanied by Prime Minister, Dr. Jack Guy Lafontant, proceeded to the installation of the Working Group and Reflection on the Reconstruction of the historic building of the National Palace.



This group, with a 90-day mandate, will be composed of: Clement Belizaire (Coordinator), Georges Michel, Daniel Elie, Patrick Durandis, Patrick Delatour, Sabine Malebranche and Yvan Pinchinat Public and the Building Unit of Public Housing and Buildings (UCLBP). Its mission is to :



1) Retrieve and analyze the architectural plan of the engineer Georges Baussan;

2) To prepare the Road Map for the reconstruction of the National Palace;

3) To organize the orientation debate and the competition to define the architectural part for the construction of the Palace;

4) Define the plan, the program and elaborate the terms of reference for the study of the reconstruction of the Palace;

5) To inform citizens, the media, public bodies and civil society of all activities undertaken in the context of the reconstruction of the National Palace.



In the presence of the President and Vice-President of the National Assembly, respectively Senator Youri Latortue and Deputy Cholzer Chancy, the President of the Superior Council of the Judiciary, Me ules Cantave, former Heads of State and Haitian officials, various State entities working in the construction sector, the Head of State declared :



"[...] Prior to the formation of this Working Group, my cabinet organized several working meetings with Haitian experts to agree on the methodology of the process of reconstruction of the Palace. The population expects the launch of reconstruction activities of this historic building for a long time. I hope that this work will begin this year. The Nation must have an architectural work that responds to the concerns of the 21st century while preserving the neoclassical style of the Palace it will replace. Haiti, in its splendor and the Republic that receives its guests, must have a grand, imposing and grandiose palace.



[...]



Three essential conditions must be taken into account in the conduct of the reconstruction of the Palace :



Firstly, they must enable the citizens, academics, experts, architects and engineers of the country and the Diaspora to nourish the reflections in order to have a National Palace that meets the architectural and aesthetic concerns of the State while respecting the modern standards of construction of public buildings of cultural and historical value. The new National Palace must make the link between history, culture and the future of the Nation. The realization of a work of this magnitude requires a dialogue and a plural communication with the citizens to hear their opinions and to develop their sense of appropriation of all the stages of the reconstruction.



Secondly, we must learn all the lessons of the January 12, 2010 earthquake and be vigilant to take into account all construction safety standards.



Third, the architecture of the Palace has made many generations dream. I consider it necessary to reconstruct the exterior facades of the Palace in the same way. Inside, however, new accommodation is needed to meet the needs of the organs and services of the Presidency of the Republic, while respecting the modern standards of construction of a public building [...]"



President Moise believes that the reconstruction of the Port-au-Prince city center requires skilled skills in different fields of knowledge, promising that the local and diaspora skills will be mobilized affirming "During my five-year term, the Haitian State will rebuild the National Palace, the Legislative Palace and the Palace of Justice. The new National Palace must make the link between history, culture and the future of the Haitian Nation."



HL/ SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Education : Crisis at ENGA, the Ministry proposes solutions





Deeply concerned about the problems affecting the operation of the National School of Applied Geology (ENGA), following the demonstrations and demands of the students (need for a new premises and an operating budget...) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20585-haiti-news-zapping.html , the Ministry of National Education informs the general public that several working sessions have been held with ENGA students and leaders to identify problems and consider solutions for the normal resumption of courses.



As part of these meetings, the Ministry proposed the following options :



In the short term, premises as been identified to temporarily accommodate ENGA students and administrative staff to enable them to complete the academic year 2016-2017;



In the medium term, the Ministry intends to find an appropriate premises for the proper functioning of the institution before the next academic year 2017-2018;



As from the vote of the State budget, the Ministry intends to allocate the minimum resources to improve the regular functioning of ENGA;



The Ministry proposes to set up a Joint Commission to work on the status of this academic institution, which does not yet have a clear tutelage linked to a university;



A dialogue channel is set up through representatives of the Minister's Cabinet in order to remain attentive to ENGA's needs and find ways and means to achieve this.



Following these proposals, the Ministry calls on students to resume their courses and to continue the dialogue in order to preserve the achievements of the academic year and thank them for their understanding. The Ministry ensures that it remains in their hearts and reiterates its will to work with them for the renewal of the ENGA.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Cholera : The International Community is reluctant to release funds for Haiti





Asked this week at a press conference on the progress of the financing of the $400 million fund-raising to fight against cholera and compensation for victims in Haiti, Sandra Honore the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Haiti recognised that the amounts received so far did not meet expectations. It should be said that since the $400 million appeal by former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and then the recall made by the new Secretary-General Guterres in January, the international community has released a total of less than 3% of the expected...



Sandra Honore declared :



"[...] obviously you saw the appeal that was made by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in December 2016 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18970-haiti-health-un-creates-a-fund-to-fight-against-cholera-in-haiti.html and the reminder made by Secretary-General Guterres in January immediately after taking office, for the estimated financial resources to finance the two components of this new approach https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19550-haiti-politics-un-adopts-new-strategy-against-cholera-in-haiti.html



[...] I would say that the resources obtained so far do not meet expectations at this time [...]"



Note that as of March 30, 2017, the Trust Fund established to receive funds for the new Cholera approach in Haiti received a total of just over $ 2 million (2,666,746) from seven Member States as well as $ 15.901 from the UN Foundation. In addition, excluding the Trust Funds, Canada contributed C $ 6 million ( USD 4.6 million) and Japan for 300 million Yen ( USD 2.6 million).



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20204-haiti-cholera-funding-failure-for-the-$400m-un-funds.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18970-haiti-health-un-creates-a-fund-to-fight-against-cholera-in-haiti.html



HaitiLibre






















Haiti - FLASH : Promises of President Moise to the diaspora





Wednesday, at the Hotel Karibe, Stephanie Auguste the Minister of Haitians Living Abroad (MHAVE), in the presence of many personalities of the country including the President of the Republic Jovenel Moise and his wife Martine, the Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant, the Minister of the Interior Max Saint-Albin, the Secretary of State for the Integration of People with Disabilities, Gerald Oriol Junior, the Director General of MHAVE Yolette Mengual, parliamentarians, members of the diaspora among others, launched the commemorative activities of the National Diaspora Day (JND) around the theme "Advocating for a better integration of the Haitian diaspora".



n her remarks, Minister Auguste undertook to strengthen the ties between the diaspora and the country "it is time that the relations between Haiti and its diaspora take a more positive and productive turn. And we are publicly committed to taking all necessary steps to make these relationships not only more positive and productive, but also more effective and efficient. And this process of continuous innovation will take place in the perspective of a plea for a better integration of the Haitian diaspora," arguing further that "the diaspora should no longer be regarded as a simple automated banking machine that provides money and keeps our economy alive... Our Diaspora must now become a real economic force and a real engine of development on which Haiti can validly rely."



In his speech, President Jovenel Moise made a plea in favor of direct involvement of the diaspora in the management of public affairs "We must stop hypocrisy! We must work towards the election of representatives of the Diaspora in the Haitian Parliament. For this purpose, we are considering the creation of 3 additional constituencies to the existing 118; One in North America, one in the Europe/Asia zone and one in the Caribbean... In this perspective, the Diaspora will have three deputies and one Senator in Parliament," promised the President, who said he would discuss that at length during the holding of sectoral States General of the Nation.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Banke heightens border security

The Banke district administration has heightened security along the Nepal-India border areas, including the Nepalgunj-Rupaidiha border point, keeping in view of the upcoming local level elections.
In the first quarter of 2017, the U.S. hotel industry reported occupancy increased 0.9% to 61.1%, ADR rose 2.5% to $124.27 and RevPAR jumped 3.4% to $75.92.

The U.S. hotel industry reported positive year-over-year results in the three key performance metrics during the first quarter of 2017, according to data from STR.

Compared with Q1 2016:

Occupancy: +0.9% to 61.1%

Average daily rate (ADR): +2.5% to US$124.27

Revenue per available room (RevPAR): +3.4% to US$75.92

This was the strongest first quarter on record in each of the performance metrics, but it is important to note that results were boosted by a favorable Easter calendar shift (March 2016 to April 2017) as well as the Presidential Inauguration and Womens March in January, said Bobby Bowers, STRs senior VP of operations. Supply growth for the quarter was 1.9%, which was the highest for any quarter since Q2 2010. So as demand growth becomes more moderate, occupancy will decline, placing further pressure on pricing power. At any rate, muted ADR growth will continue to push modest RevPAR growth for the foreseeable future.

Among the Top 25 Markets, Washington, D.C.-Maryland-Virginia, saw the quarters only double-digit increase in RevPAR (+16.1% to US$107.93). Growth was driven primarily by the only double-digit lift in ADR (+13.6% to US$165.94). Occupancy growth in the market was more moderate (+2.2% to 65.0%).

Other top RevPAR increases were reported in Detroit, Michigan (+9.8% to US$63.20); Seattle, Washington (+9.2% to US$96.62); and New Orleans, Louisiana (+8.0% to US$118.90).

Top occupancy growth was reported in Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia (+6.2% to 50.9%); Seattle (+5.4% to 71.4%) and Detroit (+5.4% to 62.3%).

Miami/Hialeah, Florida, experienced the steepest decline in RevPAR (-8.5% to US$186.36) thanks to the largest drop in ADR (-7.5% to US$227.37). Miamis absolute value for RevPAR was still the highest among Top 25 Markets.

Demand (rooms sold) was up in Miami, but supply was almost 5% higher than the first quarter of last year, placing obvious pressure on occupancy and ADR, Bowers said.

Even while hosting Super Bowl LI, Houston, Texas, saw the quarters largest decrease in occupancy (-3.2% to 63.7%).

STR provides clients from multiple market sectors with premium, global data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 10 countries around the world with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and an international headquarters in London, England. For more information, please visit str.com.
Celergo Named One of the Nations' 2016 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For

Posted by Press Releases on Thursday, 04-20-2017 3:13 am

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Celergo Global Payroll is honored for their excellence in human resource best practices.CHICAGO, IL (PRWEB) APRIL 19, 2017Celergo, the leading fully-managed international payroll solution, is pleased to be named a 2016 winner of the national Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. The distinctive award is presented annually by the National Association for Business Resources and is reserved for companies that excel at employee relations, use innovation to motivate employees, and implement creative compensation programs.Each of the winning companies was assessed by an independent research firm, which reviewed a number of key measures relative to other nationally recognized winners. They include Compensation, Benefits and Employee Solutions; Employee Enrichment, Engagement and Retention; Employee Education and Development; Recruitment, Selection and Orientation; Employee Achievement and Recognition; Communication and Shared Vision; Diversity and Inclusion; Work-Life Balance; Community ...

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Mike Albert Fleet Solutions Provides Focused Team to Service Smaller Fleets

Posted by Press Releases on Thursday, 04-20-2017 2:58 am

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Due to rapid growth within their small and mid-size fleet business segment and the unique demands of this clientele, Mike Albert Fleet Solutions has committed resources to provide a focused team dedicated exclusively to servicing this group of clients.CINCINNATI, OHIO (PRWEB) APRIL 19, 2017Due to rapid growth within their small and mid-size fleet business segment and the unique demands of this clientele, Mike Albert Fleet Solutions has committed resources to provide a focused team dedicated exclusively to servicing this group of clients. Often, smaller companies struggle to keep up with the time-consuming demands of operating their vehicles while trying to grow their business. Companies that rely heavily on their vehicles to perform their daily tasks but dont have the in-house staff or resources to proactively manage their vehicles have very different needs from companies with large fleets and dedicated resources. Recognizing the need for a customized and fluid service model to suppor...

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Christian federation demands swift action against attackers

The Federation of National Christian, Nepal (FNCN) has condemned the shooting of its member by unknown gunmen.
PKF OConnor Davies Recognized as Top-Ranked Accounting Employer to Work for in North America by Vault Accounting 50

Posted by Press Releases on Thursday, 04-20-2017 3:05 am

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Firm jumps 20 spots to break into top 25, achieves high marks for quality of life and diversity.NEW YORK, NY (PRWEB) APRIL 18, 2017PKF OConnor Davies, LLP, the nation's 28th largest accounting and advisory firm, announced that it has been named to the 2018 Vault Accounting 50, a ranking of the 50 best accounting employers to work for in North America. Making the list for the third consecutive year, PKF OConnor Davies jumped to the 22nd position based on scores for quality of life factors and overall diversity of the Firm.Our Firm has experienced exceptional growth in the last few years since our debut on Vault Accounting 50, said Kevin J. Keane, Managing Partner of PKF OConnor Davies. To see our reputation as an employer grow along with our Firm size and geographic presence is a true testament to the workplace culture weve built and nurture every day.Since PKF O'Connor Davies debuted at 43 in the Vault rankings three years ago, the Firm's continued growth and evolution as a des...

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We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector
Culture Hearing Burma: Teaching Artistry in Rangoon

A girl practices a traditional harp at Gitameit. / Chan Son / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  Community music center Gitameits brand new three-story building has just been finished.

It sits with fresh concrete and sparkling glass right beside the centers old, slightly ramshackle building in a small plot on a quiet road of Rangoons Yankin Township.

Gitameits music librarya collection of records, tapes, CDs, scores, encyclopedias, and English language resourceswill be moving from the cobwebbed eaves of the old building to a larger, purpose-built space on the top floor of the new structure.

Below, a number of soundproofed practice rooms have been built. In the old building, sounds of traditional slide guitar, Burmese harp, and piano compete with one other as they escape through the teak floorboards and turquoise walls.

Students of all ages from all over the country are schooled in traditional and western music at Gitameit.

On the bottom of the new building is a large performance hall which was launched in February with a concert by Norwegian string trio Trondheim Solistene improvising with Gitameit students. The new building was largely funded by Norways Hedda Foundation.

When The Irrawaddy visited last month, a group of students were sat in a circle excitedly analyzing a recent performance one of them had seen online.

The seminar was part of a new teaching artistry certificate program recently launched by Gitameit in association with the University of Washington in the United States.

Teaching artistry tools are intended to provide artists and musicians with the skills to reach further into society and create opportunities outside of the studio or concert hall.

Course convener Ko Ne Myo Aung told The Irrawaddy that a teaching artist is someone with entrepreneurial skills who advocates for the arts and builds communities.

Teaching artistry gives a way for us to promote what we are doing and to educate people; to encourage awareness of what music is and what music education is, he told The Irrawaddy in the one, small, air conditioned office in a corner of the library.

Ko Ne Myo Aung is also the centers librarianGitameits busy staff wear many hatsand was painstakingly digitalizing colonial era vinyl records when we visited.

We probably have the biggest musical archive in Burma, he said, casually, as he moved a pile of records off a chair for me to sit down.

Ko Uyoe Yoe, one of the 25 students on the teaching artistry course, said the experience had brought him out of the classroom to engage with the Rangoon community through visits to libraries, schools, and private enterprises.

I want to write, to compose my own meaningful songs, the 25-year-old from northern Shan State told The Irrawaddy. I want to share my ideas and knowledge. I want to share what I have learnt in music with the next generation.

The students The Irrawaddy spoke to were buoyed by a recent visit from Eric Booth, a US educator and author who is widely regarded as the father of teaching artistry and who consulted on Gitameits new curriculum.

Eric Booth, author of The Music Teaching Artist Bible which is being translated into Burmese as a resource for Gitameit, said he was impressed by the students courage.

We spoke of entrepreneurialism as a natural expansion of artistry, as the wish to take their passion beyond excellent performance skills into creating new opportunities to connect with audiences, he said, noting that this often pushed students beyond what they had previously been taught.

The teaching artistry program is just another step in Gitameits grassroots approach to promoting and protecting music in Burma for nearly 15 years.

We have actually been doing teaching artistry since the beginning, we just didnt have a name for it, said pianist of Burmese sandaya Kit Young, one of the driving forces behind Gitameit who launched the community project alongside U Mon Naing and Tayaw U Tin Yi in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2003.

We wanted to open up civil society space. Music was a way the Burmese could do projects with embassies, with companies and help our younger musicians, Kit Young said of Gitameits inception.

Gitameit, she said, was a direct response to the repressive government that Burma was undera government that showed little or no investment in cultivating the arts and often stifled creativity and communication.

The Irrawaddy asked Kit Young if music in Burma, and traditional music in particular, was safer now in the hands of Burmas civilian government.

Its always at risk, always, said Kit Young, citing this fact as another reason for the new teaching artistry course that includes mandatory modules on traditional music.

Importantly, Gitameit wants to expand the governments narrow view of traditional Burmese music to include the ethnic music of Burma from Shan to Arakan State.

Gitameits students come from all over the country, often on scholarships, and teaching artists will be challenged to travel to the four corners of Burma to work with local musicians.

Teaching artistry can get into areas where the state has blocked us out, said Ko Ne Myo, we will be reaching out, combining and merging many musical traditions and creating a new musical space in the country.

There are tentative plans for cooperation with the government, but teaching staff are very cautious in its optimisma sign of a long history of tension, broken promises, and missed opportunities.

Kit Young mentioned a recent meeting she had with Rangoon chief minister U Phyo Min Thein where they discussed having Gitameits musicians bring the citys museums and galleries to life with concerts and performances.

State support or no state support, Gitameit is evolving from community music center, to both a Higher Education College and a social enterprise.

The center has plans to work as an agent to traditional musicians, promoting their skills and expertise.

Kit Young also told me of moves to capitalize on the uplift in foreign tourists visiting Burma.

She wants to immerse visitors in the hidden world of traditional Burmese music with unique performances such as the renowned hsaing waing, an orchestra of gongs and drums.

They all come to see Burma, Kit Young said, But they rarely come to hear Burma.
Burma Blue Shirt Campaign Demands Release of Political Prisoners

Journalist and politician U Win Tin. / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  Politicians and activists will wear blue shirts on Friday to commemorate renowned journalist and politician U Win Tin and all political prisoners still held in Burmas jails.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) organized the campaign, to be held on the three-year anniversary of the death of National League for Democracy (NLD) co-founder and political prisoner U Win Tin.

The campaign is to remind the government that there are political prisoners who are still behind bars and to demand their release, Ko Bo Kyi of AAPP told reporters, adding that they would not march for the occasion.

There are 178 political prisoners in Burma, according to AAPP. To show support for them, Ko Bo Kyi urged people to wear blue shirts.

The international community thinks there are no political prisoners here now. The campaign is to show that there are, he said.

A memorial will take place at Tawwin Hninzi Hall on Friday for U Win Tin, known also with the prefix Hanthawaddy to his name for the newspaper he edited that was critical of the late Burmese dictator Ne Wins regime.

Ko Tun Kyi said that people would also visit his tomb in Yay Way cemetery, North Okkalapa Township.

U Win Tin was imprisoned by the military regime for 19 years from 1989 to 2008 for his writings and his role in the NLD.

On his release he kept his blue prison shirt and pledged to wear blue shirts every day until all political prisoners were released. He continued to wear the color until his death.

Members of the U Win Tin Foundation and the Burma Campaign UK, and former political prisoners will join the campaign.
Burma Burma President Appoints New Deputy Minister of Commerce

Ambassadors to Indonesia Aung Htoo (Burma) and Aqil Nadeem (Pakistan) meet in April, 2016. / Embassy of Pakistan, Jakata / Facebook

RANGOON  U Aung Htoo was appointed as the deputy minister of commerce on Wednesday, according to the Burmese president U Htin Kyaws office.

U Aung Htoo is currently serving as Burmas ambassador to Indonesia, said the presidents spokesman U Zaw Htay. He will fill the vacant position as the eleventh deputy ministerial appointee made under the National League for Democracy (NLD) government.

Since the NLD took office, the president has appointed 21 union ministers for a total of 22 ministries. As the exception, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi holds two positionsforeign minister and state counselor.

The government is yet to fill deputy minister positions for 11 ministries. Despite this need, former agriculture, livestock and irrigation deputy minister Dr. Tun Win was dismissed last November after serving for only seven months.

U Tun Win clashed with the NLDs senior union minister Dr. Aung Thu and central executive committee member U Win Htein, allegedly over the former deputy ministers proposals for the countrys agricultural sector.

The NLD has cut 14 ministries compared to the previous government under U Thein Sein, which established 36 ministries and employed 96 union and deputy ministers.
Burma Former Soldier and Two Reporters Arrested For Smuggling Rohingya in Arakan State

Taungpon Gyi police handcuff three Rohingya Muslims (front), a former soldier and two reporters at the border check point in Taungup valley road. / Phoe Zaw / Facebook

RANGOON  A former soldier and two reporters were arrested by police at Taungpon Gyi border checkpoint in southern Arakan State along with the three Rohingya men who they are accused of smuggling from the state capital Sittwe on April 16.

The three mentwo from Arakan State and one from Tharrawaddy District in Pegu Divisionare being held in custody along with three other Muslim Rohingya from Sittwe who were not carrying the necessary identification for leaving the region, said police official Win Hlaing.

The arrests have stirred accusations of unethical practice from other media groups, who claim the two reporters work for an organization that is tainting the image of journalists in Burma. However, the umbrella group of the reporters agency, Myanmar Crime Reporters Association (MCRA-Central), has rebutted the claims.

According to police, the three suspects planned to take the Rohingya men on motorbikes from Sittwe to Taungup Townshipa distance of more than 450 kilometersbut were arrested on Taungup valley road.

People need a pink carddenoting full citizenshipor permission from the authorities to travel around and outside the region.

Previous attempts at granting full citizenship to small numbers of Muslim Rohingya have been met with protest in Arakan State. There are an estimated 1 million Muslims in the region who self-identify as Rohingya and who are today largely stateless.

Many within the Buddhist Arakanese community, and in Burmas government, describe the self-identifying Muslim Rohingya as Bengali, implying that they are migrants from Bangladesh.

Without citizenship, Muslim Rohingya are unable to own land, form political parties, or act as civil servants.

The official leading the investigation, U Khin Maung Htwe, told The Irrawaddy the three suspects received 800,000 kyats from the three Rohingya men as an advance payment for transporting them into lower Burma.

Police have charged the three suspects under articles 367 and 370 of the Burma Penal Code, anti-trafficking legislation that jails people for at least seven years and can also fine them.

The immigration department will process the three men who were allegedly smuggled, said U Khin Maung Htwe, adding that these are the first arrests for smuggling made this year.

Taungups immigration office could not be reached for comment, but attempting to enter or travel in Burma without a permit can result in a maximum of five years imprisonment, a minimum fine of 1,500 kyats, or both.

Several pictures on social media showed the six men handcuffed at the border checkpoint.

Claims of Unethical Journalism

One of the pictures also showed the suspect from Tharrawaddy Districts special crime reporter identification card, issued by Shu Daunt (Perspective) agency, an offshoot of MCRA, said police.

The MCRA has more than 20,000 crime reporters nationwide and hires former police officers to train its members in crime prevention and investigative journalism, according to an advert in a weekly crime journal.

Myanmar Press Council member U Myint Kyaw said the MCRA has been registered with the government for over a decade and that the former military regimes home affairs minister, Tin Hlaing, is a well-known patron.

A lot of people in the organization are not real reporters but instead government informers and former police officials, said U Myint Kyaw.

He claimed the press council has received informal complaints that some MCRA members are extorting money from illegal businesses in return for not exposing the firms.

Asking for money could damage the trust between the public and journalists, said U Myint Kyaw. It would go on to harm freedom of press in the country.

He called on other journalist organizations to protest against unethical activities that he said occurred among some MCRA members.

Myanmar Journalist Networks (MJN) general secretary U Zayar Hlaing said that members of the organization should follow Burmas laws and the code of conduct for journalists.

He added that unethical journalism, including reporters asking sources for money, is widespread in Burma.

Journalists have a responsibility to solve this problem, which could harm the image of the media industry, he said. The relevant authorities also need to help address the issue. I urge the public to tell the media organizations if their reporters bring up money. Dont hesitate to complain.

MCRA chief executive Thet Naing Oo rejected claims that his organizations reporters were corrupted and extorted money from shady firms.

Every big organization has good and bad people, he said. We expel anyone if they are jailed.

Shu Daunt (Perspective) agency has about 4,000 journalists across Burma, he said, and it has expelled about 100 journalists for unethical practices over the past years, including some who were jailed for reportedly being involved in illegal logging.

In some of these cases, said U Thet Naing Oo, other media outlets hired the people after their release from jail.
Burma Panghsang Attendees Form Peace Negotiation Bloc

A UWSA solider on patrol during a summit of Burmas ethnic armed groups in Panghsang. / The Irrawaddy

CHIANG MAI, Thailand  After a five-day meeting of seven ethnic armed organizations in the Wa stronghold of Panghsang, the groups have formed a political negotiation committee to represent them in talks with the government.

The meeting, held from April 15-19, was a follow-up to talks in February this year, also in the region controlled by Burmas largest ethnic armed group, the United Wa State Army (UWSA). A total of seven armed groups currently engaged in active conflict with the Burma Army participated.

The statement published in Panghsang on Wednesday said that all attending organizations would enter talks with the government as an alliance led by the UWSA, and that it rejected the path to peace determined by the governments nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA).

Two prominent members of ethnic bloc the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC)the Kachin Independence Organization/Army (KIA/O) and the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army-North (SSPP/SSA-N)took part in the Panghsang meeting, even though the UNFCwhich has not yet signed the nationwide ceasefire agreementhas maintained that they will remain on the NCA path.

Also in attendance were representatives from the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA)also known as the Mongla Group, the ethnic Kokang Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and the Arakan Army (AA).

The political leadership committee formed in Panghsang will be led by UWSA chairman Bao Youxiang; a secretariat team and a political delegation were also formed, according to Maj-Gen Tar Phone Kyaw, the secretary of the TNLA.

We seek a new approach for the political dialogue as the current NCA path is not a true means to practically solving the political problems, said Tar Phone Kyaw, highlighting a need to bring an end to fighting in Burmas northeast.

The NCA, he said, is a Tatmadaw-manipulated agreement and its implementation is similar to the 1993 National Convention, which ended up with the 2008 military-backed Constitution. He added, however, that the Panghsang attendees understand the geopolitics concerning the southern non-state armed groups who have signed the NCA already, or are considering signing later.

Tar Phone Kyaw said that the political delegation team formed in Panghsang would communicate with the government as soon as possible, for negotiation and to share our common policy paper, but that they had pledged not to meet individually for negotiations [with the government].

The alliances policy paper outlines the ethnic national liberation efforts, the need for a guarantee for autonomy and the principles required to form a genuine federal Union. The positions are redefined from the UWSAs policy paper shared during the first 21st Century Panglong peace conference session held last August.

A Call for Common Leadership

Four years ago, the UNFC firmly adopted the stance that all of its original 11 members engage in peace talks and political dialogue negotiations under the leadership of the UNFC. But the signing of NCA in October 2015 divided the bloc, leaving it with only seven members.

The coalition has said that its members will sign the NCA if nine proposed points they have put forward are agreed to by the government. Until last month, the UNFC had urged for all-inclusivity for more than 20 ethnic armed groups to be recognized by the Tatmadaw and to be part of peace negotiations.

This month, some of these groupsincluding the KIO and SSPPhave again called for common leadership, but this time, led by the Wa.

The Irrawaddy was not able to reach either the KIO or the SSPP spokespersons for comment at the time of publication, but the organizations have maintained they will remain in the UNFC while its postponed congress is planned for June. The KIO still holds a leadership role in the ethnic coalition, which was formed in Nov. 2010, at the start of the administration of Burmas former quasi-civilian government led by U Thein Sein.

It is unclear what position the KIO and SSPP are in, said U Zaw Htay, spokesperson for the State Counselors office, adding that these groups have not yet officially said whether they will leave the UNFC to ally with the Wa-led committee.

The spokesperson added that he wonder[s] how the KIO and SSPP will engage in the peace process.

The government peace negotiation team led by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had expressed hope that the UNFC member groups would sign the NCA before the 21st Century Panglong conference, slated to be held next month.

The time for the second session of the peace conference has not yet been set, but the government and the NCA signatories will meet on Monday, April 24, to negotiate a date.
Commentary How the KNUs Hardliners Tried and Failed to Win the Election

Former vice chairwoman Naw Zipporah Sein votes during the 16th KNU congress. / Kwekalu

CHIANG MAI, Thailand  In a clear sign of division within ethnic armed organization the Karen National Union (KNU), a faction of leaders seen as hardliners dubious of the governments peace process lost in the KNUs recent electiondespite reportedly trying to negotiate with the larger consensus.

The leaders who were not re-elected to the KNUs central standing committee (CSC) included former vice chairperson Naw Zipporah Sein, former joint secretaries Padoh Mahn Mahn and Saw Thaw Thee Bwe, and Gen Saw Baw Kyaw Heh, second in command of the KNUs armed wing the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).

On the other hand, chairman Saw Mutu Say Poe was re-elected and will lead the organization for the next four years. Praised for his pragmatism but criticized for leading with a lack of transparency, the chairman has built a relationship the Burma Armys key players, including its chief, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing.

The cracks between the two KNU factions began to show in 2012 when Saw Mutu Say Poe signed a ceasefire agreement with the previous government. Naw Zipporah Sein then led an abortive attempt to dismiss Saw Mutu Say Poe, creating camps that some observers now describe as KNU A and KNU B.

One source within the KNU who attended the organizations recent congress told The Irrawaddy that Naw Zipporah Seins faction tried to negotiate with the other side before the election, in order to bring representatives from each of the two sides into the leadership. However, the bigger faction allegedly rejected the overture.

We tried to negotiate, but they didnt accept the idea, said the source, who asked for anonymity. So, it was sort of like we were finished with each other.

When Naw Zipporah Seins faction suggested increasing the number of members in the CSC by 10 to a total of 55, the 217 representatives of the KNU who attended the congress voted in favor of the idea.

Saw Mutu Say Poes faction was reportedly against the vote, and the majority of ballots went to Naw Zipporah Seins side.

Yet when it came down to the selection of CSC members, the majority chose candidates allied with Saw Mutu Say Poe, who was by then, according to sources, confident of a final victory.

It was like they were testing their power, said the source. As they were sure that they would win, they didnt accept the idea of mixing representatives [from both sides].

All of Naw Zipporah Seins candidates for the CSC fell at the first round of voting.

They [Naw Zipporah Seins faction] thought if so few of their candidates were in the leadership, those candidates would have to follow the other faction, the source said. They wouldnt have power and would be ignored. So, they decided to back off.

Some observers summarized the election as free but not exactly fair, as some experienced leaders were not elected. Instead they were replaced with newly graduated junior candidates who have little or no experience in politics.

After the election, Naw Zipporah Sein reportedly told elected leaders that she wouldnt question the work of the new leadership.

She said she would not disturb them and they are free to lead [the organization], one source said.
CNI urges NRB to address credit crunch

The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank, to immediately introduce measures to deal with the problem of credit crunch and rampant hike in lending rates.
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Mustafa Habib. | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) |  

The latest trend in politics in Iraq involves the creation of seemingly innocuous Facebook pages, that are used to spread rumours and lies about the opposition. Its a trend that will only get worse as elections near.

Over the past few months ordinary Iraqis have noticed a dramatic uptick in the number of Facebook pages inviting them to subscribe or like a site. Most of these new pages are political in nature, and they try to either persuade or change opinions about certain local politicians; Iraqis have likened the phenomenon to an electronic army.

One of the political websites using pictures of women to attract followers. Source: Facebook

Often these new pages mobilise thousands of new followers and likes in just a few days. They do this by posting clickbait  that is, topics that ordinary Iraqis are particularly interested in, such as about soldiers on the front line fighting the extremist group known as the Islamic State or news about the plight of the displaced and wounded. Some use cartoons, others post pictures of well-known Iraqi female artists, actors and media personalities.

The undercover methods used by the ever-increasing number of Facebook pages make it almost impossible to identify those behind the lies and rumours, no matter how dangerous they are.

At first, it can be hard to tell if a page has political ambitions. The names of the pages may well have nothing to do with politics. But it is clear there are professionals behind the social media outlets and following up on further posts can enlighten: The Facebook page owners will either defend or denigrate certain political and religious personalities, or parties.

For example, one Facebook page called Video Only with more than 150,000 followers and another called Politics And Opinion, with 48,000 followers, only criticizes the Iraqi Prime Minister and leading cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr and his political wing. They leave everyone else alone.

Another page named Thieves has over 100,000 followers and focuses on making nasty comments about former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Only a few pages reveal their true intentions immediately. These include one Facebook page called Clear al-Abadi, which supports the prime minister and has more than 250,000 followers and the Fans of Muqtada al-Sadr page, with more than 370,000 followers. But most of them do their best to appear neutral.

But as soon as there is some contentious political debate, they show their true colours, publishing false news and rumours to tarnish the reputations of their opposition, whoever that may be. Additionally every new political stoush sees more Facebook pages created.

A Facebook page using cartoons to make political comments.

Of course, a Facebook page for propaganda is not necessarily unusual. The problem is that in Iraq, the Facebook pages will often publish rumours and even outright lies to achieve their aims. They may even fabricate whole stories and these may, depending on the number of followers, be widely publicized.

An example was the recent visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to the US. The Facebook pages that dont like al-Abadi posted updates saying that he had signed an agreement with US officials that would see the often-controversial Shiite Muslim militias abolished and the establishment of permanent US military bases inside the country.

When former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki released a statement on Irans support of Iraq in the fight against the Islamic State, the Facebook pages opposed to him published updates accusing al-Maliki of being an Iranian spy.

This problem is compounded because local media outlets then notice the Facebook updates and notes and spread them further. Sometimes this is because the news outlets themselves are partisan  many media outlets in Iraq are funded by particular political parties or religious organizations  and other times, it is because they simply believe the falsehoods and do not verify the information independently.

The undercover methods used by the ever-increasing number of Facebook pages make it almost impossible to identify those behind the lies and rumours, no matter how dangerous they are. Several Iraqi politicians have come out in interviews and accused their opponents of being behind what may best be described as the Iraqi version of online troll factories. Additionally Iraqi laws on this subject tend to be outdated, compared to current technologies, which makes it even more difficult to control the onslaught of fake news, rumours and lies.

And the problem of disinformation and mercenary, partisan electronic armies is only likely to worsen as the Iraqi federal elections draw nearer.
Maan News Agency |  

BETHLEHEM (Maan)  Activists and commentators have denounced the dishonesty of Israeli criticism of The New York Times for publishing an op-ed in defense of a mass hunger strike underway in Israeli prisons, in light of rampant impunity for Israeli officials who commit crimes or incite violence against Palestinians.

Maan. File.

In an article for the prominent US newspaper, imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi wrote of an unbelievable state of affairs in Israeli prisons, noting that over the past five decades, according to the human rights group Addameer , more than 800,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned or detained by Israel  equivalent to about 40 percent of the Palestinian territorys male population.

Today, about 6,500 are still imprisoned, among them some who have the dismal distinction of holding world records for the longest periods in detention of political prisoners. There is hardly a single family in Palestine that has not endured the suffering caused by the imprisonment of one or several of its members, he wrote.

Barghouthi could face prosecution for writing the piece, and has since been placed in solitary confinement and barred from receiving visits from his lawyers.

A number of Israeli officials slammed The New York Times for not referring to Barghouthi  who is one of the most popular political figures among Palestinians  as a terrorist and murderer of Israeli civilians, although the American newspaper later amended the article to include the charges of which Barghouthi was found guilty by Israel.

The paper recanted after we pointed it out to them, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted, saying that referring to archterrorist Barghouthi as a parliamentarian and leader was like calling Assad a pediatrician'  referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a former doctor who has been accused of overseeing war crimes and crimes against humanity against Syrian civilians.

Deputy Minister for Diplomacy in the prime ministers office Michael Oren went a step further, and suggested that The New York Times bureau in Jerusalem be closed.

Israeli peace activist group Gush Shalom was quick to point out the hypocrisy of labeling Palestinian resistance fighters as murderers of terrorists, while Israeli military and political figures who have historically committed mass atrocities against civilians are revered and respected in mainstream Israeli society.

The group noted that, as Barghouthi was sentenced to five life terms in prison, by the same token Menachem Begin, Israels sixth prime minister, deserved to be sentenced to at least 91 consecutive life terms for his role commanding the militant Zionist Irgun movement, which notably carried out a 1949 bombing in Jerusalem that left 91 people dead.

The group also noted the injustice in Israeli prison authorities allowing cruel (Israeli) murderers and leaders of crime gangs to use public telephones in criminal prison wings, while denying the right to so-called security prisoners, namely Palestinian political prisoners  one of the injustices the hunger strike led by Barghouthi seeks to address.

In themselves, most demands of the hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners are simple and elementary, and there is no reason to reject them, Gush Shalom affirmed.

Gush Shaloms sentiment was echoed by columnist for Israeli daily Haaretz and Army Radio interviewer Ravit Hecht, who was skewered in Israeli media for comparing Barghouthi to fighters in Zionist militias.

You know the history of Israel and our existence. Did you know that all the underground freedom fighters were heinous murderers in the eyes of the other side? You dont see any parallels here? Hecht posited in an interview with Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin.

Furthermore, while The New York Times caved to pressure from Israeli leadership to amend the article, the opinion section of the American newspaper has, on multiple occasions, provided a platform for several Israeli op-ed contributors who committed acts of terrorism or war crimes, without acknowledging that fact, founder of the Tel Aviv-based news commentary site 972 Magazine Lisa Goldman noted.

It seems that The New York Times is willing to publish op-eds by Israeli Jews who advocate or have committed murder of Palestinians, without mentioning that fact in their bio blurbs. So the question, without taking a position on whether or not political violence is ever justified, is why the Times feels compelled to take a different stance when it comes to Palestinian contributors, she wrote.
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - April 19, 2017) - Goldstar Minerals Inc. ("Goldstar" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:GDM) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Mineral Option and Sale Agreement with Campfire Resources Ltd and Southfield Resources Ltd ("the Owners") with respect to the Victoria Lake Tin Property, consisting of 48 claims and covering an area of 12 km2. The Property is located within Clarendon, Lepreau and Pennfield Parishes of Charlotte County in New Brunswick at approximately 50 km south of Fredericton. Access to the property is excellent all year round and close to infrastructure.

The agreement provides for the acquisition of an undivided interest of 100% in and to the Property by paying the Owners in the aggregate an amount of $250,000 in cash payments over a five year period, including $20,000 at closing on or before July 15, 2017. Upon exercise of the Option, Goldstar shall grant to the Owners a net smelter return royalty ("NSR") of 2% from production derived from the Property of which royalty 50% can be purchased back by Goldstar at any time by paying to the Owners the amount of $1,000,000.

Closing is subject to the completion of the due diligence review and Board approval. Goldstar is focused on developing deposits that contain gold and technology metals such as high-value tungsten and tin, in leading mining jurisdictions in Canada.

Description of the Victoria Lake Tin Property

The Victoria Lake property is underlain by the Late Devonian Mount Douglas Granite, a late phase of the Saint George Batholith, consisting of multiple post-orogenic and high-level intrusions. The Mount Douglas Granite is a prominent intrusion in the eastern region of this batholith with a surface area of over 600 square kilometres. Multiple granite phases are known within the Mount Douglas Granite that hosts numerous tin occurrences reported as greisen vein and / or greisen vein swarm systems, some of which are present within the Victoria Lake property.

The Victoria Lake property is located approximately 15 kilometres southeast of the Mount Pleasant Property of Adex Mining Inc., which hosts National Instrument 43-101 tin, indium, tungsten and molybdenum resources. This includes an indicated estimated resource of 12.4 million tonnes at 0.38% tin (Sn), 0.86% zinc (Zn) and 64 ppm indium (In) as mentioned at Adex Mining inc.'s website. The Mount Pleasant deposits are hosted mainly in Late Devonian granitic rocks of the Late Devonian Mount Pleasant Caldera Complex, which is located immediately north of the Saint George Batholith.

Tin mineralization in float boulders and bedrock is reported in multiple regions of the Victoria Lake property. These include the Mahood Brook and Disappointment Lake tin occurrences in the east region of the property, located along a reported northwest trending geophysics anomaly (VLF-electromagnetic). Two 1983 diamond drill holes (Billiton Canada Ltd. - not 43-101 compliant) at the Mahood occurrence, approximately 260 metres apart, were reported to intersect near-surface tin bearing greisen zones. The first hole was reported to intersect 0.25% Sn over 17.6 metres (core length). The second hole was reported to intersect 0.12% Sn over 11.6 metres (core length). A channel sample (not 43-101 compliant) from a trench at this occurrence was reported to return 0.20% Sn over 6 metres. A grab sample (not 43-101 compliant) from the trench was reported to return 6510 ppm (0.65%) Sn. The Disappointment Lake occurrence is located approximately 1.5 kilometres northwest of the Mahood occurrence along the same VLF anomaly. Grab samples (not 43-101 compliant) at this occurrence are reported up to 0.53% Sn. Tin bearing boulders were collected east of this VLF anomaly during 2009 with two of the samples (not 43-101 compliant) reported to return 1.06% and 1.4% Sn.

During 2016, multiple tin bearing boulders were sampled adjacent to a section of dirt road in the southern region of the property, approximately 1 kilometre southeast of the Mahood Brook occurrence. Seven boulder samples (not 43-101 compliant) along an approximate 150 metre long section of this road were reported to exceed 2000 ppm Sn (0.2%) and up to 5950 ppm Sn (0.595% Sn). Additional tin-bearing boulders were reported further south. This prospecting along with tin mineralization at Mahood Brook and Disappointment Lake indicates a potential north-south to northwest-southeast priority trend approximately 3 kilometres long. Tin soil and till geochemical anomalies have been reported in multiple areas of the property.

Next steps

Goldstar will review and compile all available data pertaining to the Victoria Lake Tin Property. The Company intends to design an exploration program to advance the project to the drilling stage.

Benoit Moreau, President and CEO of Goldstar comments: "This new acquisition further consolidates the positioning of the Company for gold and high-value commodities such as tin in stable jurisdictions. The Victoria Lake Tin Property is close to existing infrastructure that would provide lower and reasonable exploration costs."

Disclosure

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by David Martin, P.Geo. and Benoit Moreau, P.Eng., CEO and director of the Company. Both Mr. Martin and Moreau are qualified persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
Toronto, April 19, 2017 (TSX: LUN; OMX: LUMI) Lundin Mining Corporation (Lundin Mining or the Company) is pleased to announce the completion of the sale of its indirect interest in TF Holdings Limited (TF Holdings) to an affiliate of BHR Partners, a Chinese private equity firm, for $1.136 billion in cash.

TF Holdings is a Bermuda holding company that owns an 80 percent interest in Tenke Fungurume Mining S.A. ("Tenke") located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Lundin Mining held an indirect 30 percent interest in TF Holdings and therefore, an effective 24 percent interest in Tenke.

Under the terms of the agreement previously announced on November 15, 2016, the Company could also receive contingent consideration of up to $51.4 million, consisting of $25.7 million if the average copper price exceeds $3.50 per pound and $25.7 million if the average cobalt price exceeds $20.00 per pound, both during a 24-month period beginning on January 1, 2018.

Concurrently with the completion of the sale, the Company paid approximately $14.2 million to CMOC Ltd. (together with its affiliates, CMOC) as reimbursement for payments made by CMOC in connection with a settlement agreement among La Generale des Carrieres et des Mines (Gecamines), Tenke, TF Holdings, Freeport-McMoRan Inc., CMOC, the Company and BHR to resolve all claims brought by Gecamines against TF Holdings and several other parties (other than Lundin Mining) related to the sale of TF Holdings.

Mr. Paul Conibear, President and CEO of the Company commented: The completion of the sale of our minority interest in Tenke will enable Lundin Mining to focus on its majority-owned operations and projects and in parallel, advance our strategy to grow the company while maintaining a strong balance sheet. Lundin Mining is proud to have been part of Tenkes successful record. We wish the shareholders of Tenke every success in the future. 

About Lundin Mining

Lundin Mining is a diversified Canadian base metals mining company with operations in Chile, the United States of America, Portugal, and Sweden, primarily producing copper, nickel and zinc. In addition, Lundin Mining holds an indirect 24 percent equity stake in the Freeport Cobalt Oy business, which includes a cobalt refinery located in Kokkola, Finland.
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 20, 2017) - Trigon Metals Inc. (TSX VENTURE:TM) ("Trigon" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an updated mineral resource estimate at its Kombat Mine located in northern Namibia of Inferred Mineral Resources of 6.26 million tonnes grading 2.97% copper, 1.00% lead and 20.99 g/t silver, at a cut-off grade of 0.77% copper equivalent for the surface accessible (open pit) portion and 1.4% copper equivalent cut-off grade for the underground portion.

The updated mineral resource estimates, which include the Kombat West, Central and East, Asis Far West, Asis Gap and Asis West areas as presented in detail in Table 1 below (the "Updated Mineral Resource Estimate"), have been prepared and classified by Minxcon (Pty) Ltd ("Minxcon") in accordance with the reporting guidelines as set out in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") as required by the Canadian Securities Administrators.

The Kombat Mine is Trigon's flagship property, having produced in excess of 12 million tonnes at a grade of 2.62% copper, 1.55% lead and 18 g/t silver between 1962 and 2008. The Kombat Mine assets form a solid foundation for growth and creation of shareholder value, with near term production plans underway. The Company intends to make use of the extensive existing infrastructure to bring the Kombat Mine back into production, both in terms of the near-term surface mining and ultimately the underground operations.

The previous mineral resource estimate as at May 20, 2014 only covered the Asis Far West area, representing a very limited section of the Kombat Mine's potential. The Updated Mineral Resource Estimate covers all proposed current and historical mining areas at the Kombat Mine. This provides management with optionality in terms of its strategic planning, and the preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") currently being undertaken by the Company will provide an indication of the economic viability of various alternatives in this regard.

Stephan Theron, President and CEO of Trigon, commented: "The updated consolidated mineral resource numbers have met our expectations and provide management with a substantial base from which to grow Trigon into a mid-tier producer. We are pleased to have achieved this early stage milestone, and look forward to reporting progress on the implementation of the first phase of our strategic plan for near-term surface mining. We would also like the welcome Bob Schafer to the board and Brett Richards as Chairman of the board. Furthermore, we wish to thank Messrs. Nielson and Hoffman for their services to the Company."

The figure below illustrates the mineralised halos, which include the Kombat West, Central and East, Asis West, Asis Gap and Asis Far West areas. The colours have been utilized for modelling purposes only to distinguish between the various orebodies.

The table below is a summary of the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Kombat Mine as at April 19, 2017.

Table 1 - Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate

Open pit (0.77% CuEq cut off) Mine Section Tonnes (Mt) Density Cu (%) Pb (%) Ag (ppm) Cu (Tonnes) Pb (Tonnes) Ag

(kg) Kombat East 1,208 2,82 1,36 1,01 1,72 16 465 12 187 2 074 Kombat Central 0,848 2,82 1,79 0,33 6,90 15 135 2 767 5 848 Kombat West 0,354 2,88 2,76 2,63 2,20 9 785 9 303 780 Open pit Total 2,410 2,83 1,72 1,01 3,61 41 385 24 257 8 702

Underground (1.4% CuEq cut off) Mine Section Tonnes (Mt) Density Cu (%) Pb (%) Ag (ppm) Cu

(Tonnes) Pb

(Tonnes) Ag (kg) Kombat East 0,024 2,87 1,90 2,94 0,61 459 708 15 Kombat West 0,104 2,91 2,79 4,15 3,27 2 899 4 307 339 Kombat Total 0,128 2,90 2,63 3,92 2,77 3 358 5 015 354 Asis West 2,475 2,88 4,05 1,28 32,36 100 214 31 735 80 078 Asis Gap 0,166 2,83 2,35 0,35 21,15 3 909 590 3 514 Asis Far West 1,082 2,85 3,42 0,10 35,81 37 000 1 036 38 763 Asis Total 3,723 2,87 3,79 0,90 32,86 141 122 33 361 122 355 Underground Total 3,851 2,87 3,75 1,00 31,86 144 480 38 376 122 709 Total Open Pit and Underground Total 6,261 2,85 2,97 1,00 20,99 185 865 62 632 131 411

Notes:

Historical mine voids have been deleted from the Mineral Resource. The open pit Mineral Resource is declared to a depth of 150m with a CuEq cut off of 0.77%. The underground Mineral Resource (below 150m) is declared at a CuEq cut off of 1.4%. Densities for the hard rock material have been modelled. A geological loss of 15 % has been applied to the Mineral Resource.

The figure below illustrates the split corresponding to the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate above with respect to the various project areas. The colours have been used to differentiate the various areas as defined, and the black portions of the orebodies represent those areas which have been mined out.

Geology and Mineralization

The Kombat Mine is located on the northern limb of the Otavi Valley Syncline, localized immediately below the contact between dolostones of the Huettenberg Formation and phyllites of the overlying Kombat Formation of the Mulden Group.

A series of copper-lead deposits have been mined on the Kombat property, localized along the axial planes of one, or locally two, parasitic folds in the northern limb of the Otavi Valley Syncline, immediately below the dolostone/phyllite contact. These parasitic folds, and the lines of mineralized bodies, plunge shallowly to the west, flattening out in the vicinity of the Asis Far West shaft.

The section between the Asis West and Asis Far West, known as the Asis Gap area, has been modelled with the current database and a zone of mineralisation is included in the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate. In addition to this the model also indicates there is potential for a down dip extension of the Asis West mineralised zone. Lateral potential also exists at Asis West and this target could possibly be accessed from 15 level.

Source Data

The work to complete the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate has been based primarily on an analysis of the Company's extensive database of historical information, which has now been computer modelled.

The Updated Mineral Resource Estimate has been defined using the existing historic surface and underground drill holes. The historical database consists of 1,991 diamond, reverse circulation ("RC") and percussion drillholes of which 470 diamond and RC drillholes have been utilised in the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate. Minxcon also made use of the geological structural plans to assist with the structural interpretation in the construction of the overall geological model.

Additional drilling campaigns will be required to upgrade the Inferred Mineral Resource to an Indicated Mineral Resource. This infill drilling will help with interpreting the project geology and increasing confidence in the model. Further exploration drilling will be required for identification of possible lateral and down dip extensions of the mineralization.

Resource Criteria and Assumptions

The Updated Mineral Resource Estimate has been classified in accordance with the requirements as set out in NI 43-101.

Minxcon utilised Leapfrog software to construct the mineralisation halos and final wireframes for the Ordinary Kriging estimation process, which was conducted in Datamine Studio 3. Inverse Distance to the power of 2 was utilised for the tailings Resource.

The classification of the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate was completed based on the geological complexity, estimation performance, number of drill samples, quality of data, drill hole spacing and sample distribution.

Minxcon has classified the entire Updated Mineral Resource Estimate as Inferred Mineral Resource based on the above criteria. Additional drilling will be required to upgrade the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate from the Inferred category to an Indicated category.

Cut off grades

The Updated Mineral Resource Estimate is constrained by assumptions about economic cut-off grades.

The Updated Mineral Resource Estimate was divided into a surface accessible section and an underground section. The surface accessible section was declared to a depth of 150 m at a 0.77% copper equivalent cut-off. This depth was delineated by optimizing the resource in NPV Scheduler. The underground resource below 150m was declared at a calculated pay limit of 1.4% copper equivalent. The parameters used were commodity prices of US$3.00/lb for copper and US$1.00/lb for lead. The processing recoveries for copper and lead were deemed to be 94% and 80%, respectively. A total mining (inclusive of processing) cost of US$82/tonne was used for the underground pay limit calculation.

Upside Potential and Plans

Management believes there is potential to find additional mineralization at depth and along strike through further detailed surface and underground drilling, particularly down dip from the Asis West mineralization. The Company is considering further work in this regard in the medium term. In the near-term, the Company's plan remains to focus on surface resources in the Kombat Central and East areas and to commence with surface mining to facilitate early cash flow generation.

QA/QC

A technical report will be filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR within 45 days of this press release. For further information with respect to the key assumptions, parameters, risks, the mineral resource estimate, data verification, QA/QC and other technical information with respect to the Kombat Mine, please refer to the technical report, when available.

Qualified Person

Mr. Uwe Engelmann (BSc (Zoo. & Bot.), BSc Hons (Geol.), Pr.Sci.Nat. No. 400058/08, MGSSA) of Minxcon, is a "qualified person" as such term is defined in NI 43- 101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information and data included in this press release. As a director of Minxcon, Mr. Engelmann is considered independent.

CORPORATE UPDATE

The Company announces the resignations of Messrs. Mike Hoffmann and Bill Nielson from the board of directors of the Company, and the appointment of Mr. Robert Schafer as a director. Mr. Brett Richards, currently a director of Trigon, will replace Mr. Justin Reid as Chairman. All changes are effective immediately. The Company has granted 100,000 options to Mr. Richards and 150,000 options to Mr. Schafer pursuant to its stock option plan. The options may be exercised at a price of $0.29 per option for a period of five years from the date of grant. The grant of options remains subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Mr. Schafer is a Registered Professional Geologist with more than 30 years' international experience identifying, evaluating and structuring transactions for mineral deposits globally. Mr. Schafer has worked in more than 70 countries, including Russia, Australia, Afghanistan, China, central Asia, India, and most countries in Africa and South America. He is the immediate past-president of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada and a past president of the Canadian Institute for Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), as well as an active member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) in the USA, where he served on its board for more than a decade. Mr. Schafer is also a member of the board of directors for both the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame and National Mining Hall of Fame in the USA. Mr. Schafer is the recipient of the William Lawrence Saunders Gold Medal from AIME and the Daniel C. Jackling Award from SME for career achievements, two of the highest mining recognitions in the USA. Mr. Schafer earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Geology at Miami University (Ohio); completed course work and research toward a Ph.D. in Geology; and earned a second Master's degree in Mineral Economics at the University of Arizona. In addition, he completed the Executive MBA program at Stanford University. Mr. Schafer is a is a Certified Corporate Director (ICD.D), a Fellow of the CIM and the Society of Economic Geologists, and a Registered Professional Geologist in the States of Wyoming and Utah.

The board of directors would like to thanks Messrs. Hoffmann and Mr. Nielson for their contributions to the Company.

Trigon Metals Inc.

Trigon is a publicly traded Canadian exploration and development company with its core operations focused on copper resources in Namibia, one of the world's most prospective copper regions, where it has substantial assets in place with significant upside. The Company continues to hold an 80% interest in five mining licenses in the Otavi Mountain lands, an area of Namibia particularly known for its high-grade copper deposits. Within these licenses are three past producing mines including the Company's flagship property, the Kombat Mine.
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 20, 2017) - Rupert Resources Ltd. ("Rupert" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:RUP)(FRANKFURT:R05) reports results from a further 5,159m of diamond drilling from 21 holes from surface and 23 holes from underground. This drilling, which is ongoing, targeted open areas the Karoliina zone on the south flank of Pahtavaara and targeted expansion of the North Flank Zone of the permitted Pahtavaara Mine in Northern Finland's emerging Central Lapland Greenstone Belt.

Mike Sutton, Director of Rupert said "These new drilling results indicate a thickening of the Karoliina zone and are found adjacent to a high grade 4.5 grams per ton of gold stope that was mined by the previous owners. The zone remains open at depth and to the west. Drilling has also indicated a thicker zone in the North Flank East with a 12 grams per ton of gold over 4m intersection, 50m below the known high grade mineralisation in North Flank East."

"Mining contractors have commenced working underground, with the initial focus being around the new discoveries close to existing infrastructure in the Karoliina zone," added Brian Hinchcliffe, Executive Chairman of Rupert. "Mineralisation here is higher grade and open at depth and to the west and underground infrastructure here will allow us to drill at depth and open up several headings ahead of production. The results on the North Flank are encouraging because it provides us high grade optionality."

New Karoliina -10 high grade zone

Hole 117315 intersected 22.8 grams per ton of gold ("g/t Au") over 9m at the Karoliina -10 level approximately 5m from an existing mine heading and 35m from an intersection of 5.8 g/t Au over 1m drilled by the previous owner. This zone was mined further east in a high grade stope with an estimated grade of 4.5 g/t Au (significantly higher than the average grade milled over Pahtavaara's 16 year production history). Intersections of 13.95 g/t Au over 8m (hole 117316 inc. 65.6 g/t Au over 1m), 7.3 g/t Au over 4.9m (hole 117319 inc. 11.1 g/t Au over 3m) confirm the presence of this zone which is open to the west and at depth (see figure 1 below). The drilling has been undertaken at 15m centres over an area of 50m by 80m.

North Flank East

Drill holes 117305 and 117306 intersected several high grade veins, grading up to 12.0 g/t Au over 4m, in the lower levels of North Flank East approximately 50m below the high grade intersection of 432 g/t Au over 1m reported by the Company in its 8 September 2016 press release, and 200m from existing infrastructure. This may represent continuity of the North Flank East plunge zone at depth, and may correlate with an intersection of 7.9 g/t Au over 2m (including 13.6 g/t Au over 1m) at 130m towards the west and below.

North Flank West

Drill hole 117311 intersected 2.99 g/t Au over 19.78m (inc. 16.85 g/t Au over 0.95m) and expands the known envelope of mineralisation. This intersection, is located in an area between two resource blocks, and 10m below, and 10m above from previously-released intersections of 34.3 g/t Au over 2.75m (including 89.4 g/t Au over 1m - hole 116231) and 6.9 g/t Au over 12m (including 58 g/t Au over 1m - hole 116232). The intersections are located only 30m from an access drift. North Flank remains open to the west.

Karoliina

Hole 117024 intersected 3.8 g/t Au over 7.2m (inc. 10.2 g/t Au over 2m) at the bottom of parallel Vilhemiina vien and is open below. Hole 117028 intersected 10.6 g/t Au over 5.35m (inc. 64.7 g/t Au over 0.6m) in the middle of the main Karoliina block to complete 25m centre drilling. Hole 117025 intersected 4.7 g/t Au over 2m at the top of the block, which is open to surface.

Near surface IP target

Hole 117029 targeted near surface mineralisation identified by the new IP survey intersected 3.87 g/t Au over 1m at 13m depth on the South Flank, west of the Main Pit (see figure 2 below).

New Pahtavaara drill results

Hole ID Zone Azimuth Dip Easting Northing Elevation

(m) From To Core length TW Grade (m) (m) (m) (m) (g/t Au) 117011 Karoliina East 180.00 -50.00 4445.00 4780.40 249.90 52.00 56.00 4.0 3.5 1.46 66.20 67.40 1.2 1.1 3.00 117015 Karoliina West 202.00 -50.00 4339.00 4779.00 249.30 26.00 27.20 1.2 1.1 1.00 117021 Karoliina East 180.00 -51.00 4512.00 4858.00 252.00 132.00 133.00 1.0 0.9 1.05 135.0 136.0 1.0 0.9 1.1 137.0 138.90 1.9 1.8 2.2 145.00 146.00 1.0 0.9 2.17 117022 Karoliina East 187.00 -53.00 4461.00 4862.00 249.00 139.00 140.00 1.0 0.8 2.32 146.85 147.50 0.7 0.6 2.05 158.00 158.80 0.8 0.7 2.60 117023 Karoliina West 178.00 -50.00 4431.00 4869.00 251.00 135.65 136.23 0.6 0.5 1.78 117024 Karoliina West 179.00 -56.00 4422.00 4892.00 252.00 28.00 29.00 1.0 0.9 4.28 113.0 120.20 7.2 6.0 3.8 Inc. 113.00 115.00 2.0 1.7 10.22 117025 Karoliina West 197.00 -53.00 4377.00 4817.00 252.00 68.0 70.0 2.0 1.8 4.7 117027 Karoliina West 194.00 -54.00 4410.00 4892.00 252.00 136.00 137.00 1.0 0.9 1.21 117028 Karoliina West 200.00 -51.00 4389.00 4891.00 252.00 130.40 135.75 5.4 5.0 10.55 Inc. 133.90 134.50 0.6 0.5 64.70 117029 IP Target 180.00 -50.00 4900.00 4903.00 250.00 13.00 13.60 0.6 3.87 117057 NFW 143.50 -50.00 4826.48 5146.64 250.40 135.00 136.15 1.2 1.21 117059 NFW 143.50 -50.00 4783.30 5169.70 249.80 171.00 173.00 2.0 1.29 181.00 182.00 1.0 7.05 117305 NFE 315.00 13.00 5300.00 5025.00 60.00 110.00 111.00 1.0 1.12 135.00 139.00 4.0 12.01 Inc. 138.00 139.00 1.0 36.30 117306 NFE 315.00 22.00 5300.00 5025.00 60.00 105.00 106.00 1.0 9.37 134.85 135.55 0.7 3.08 139.40 141.00 1.6 1.52 110.00 111.00 1.0 1.12 117310 NFW 197.20 -33.50 5122.38 4965.76 110.00 69.00 70.00 1.0 1.33 117311 NFW 189.50 1.30 5122.38 4965.76 110.00 14.22 34.00 19.8 2.99 Inc. 20.0 21.0 1.0 6.86 Inc. 26.17 27.12 1.0 16.85 Inc. 30.65 31.45 0.8 10.65 117312 NFW 211.30 8.90 5122.38 4965.76 110.00 24.24 25.00 0.8 7.49 117313 NFW 211.30 -9.50 5122.38 4965.76 110.00 20.0 21.0 1.0 1.14 23.0 25.2 2.2 5.22 117314 Karoliina -10 328.00 -16.00 4590.00 4830.00 -6.00 10.48 16.00 5.5 4.7 6.07 Inc. 10.48 11.20 0.7 0.6 12.65 Inc. 14.00 15.00 1.0 0.9 10.75 117315 Karoliina -10 329.00 18.00 4590.00 4830.00 -6.00 6.00 15.00 9.0 5.9 22.75 Inc. 7.0 10.0 3.0 2.0 54.5 117316 Karoliina -10 329.00 6.00 4590.00 4830.00 -6.00 6.97 15.00 8.0 6.1 13.95 Inc. 6.97 8.00 1.0 0.8 65.60 117318 Karoliina-10 349.00 -30.00 4599.00 4805.00 -6.90 48.00 49.00 1.0 1.0 1.44 61.00 62.00 1.0 1.0 1.59 117323 Karoliina -10 339.00 -15.00 4677.00 4843.00 -6.90 22.0 23.0 1.0 0.9 5.16 117317 Karoliina -10 0.00 -17.00 4590.00 4830.00 -6.00 8.00 15.00 7.0 7.0 2.21 Inc. 13.0 14.0 1.0 1.0 7.76 117319 Karoliina -10 343.00 -18.50 4599.00 4805.00 -6.90 39.06 44.0 4.9 4.7 7.29 Inc. 41.00 44.00 3.0 2.9 11.1 50.71 52.2 0.7 0.7 3.27 86.00 87.00 1.0 1.0 2.32 117320 Karoliina -10 327.00 -28.00 4599.00 4805.00 -6.90 50.00 55.00 5.0 4.3 8.98 Inc. 54.00 55.00 1.0 0.9 20.30 78.46 81.05 2.6 2.2 2.40 117321 Karoliina -10 314.00 5.00 4599.00 4805.00 -6.90 39.0 47.0 8.0 5.0 2.94 Inc. 40.0 41.0 1.0 0.6 14.15 46.00 47.00 1.0 0.6 6.29 61.00 62.00 1.0 0.6 4.70 117322 Karoliina -10 312.00 -13.50 4599.00 4805.00 -6.90 56.0 58.0 2.0 1.4 13.39 117343 Karoliina East 335.30 8.20 4474.66 4794.40 77.30 34.00 35.00 1.0 0.8 3.10

*Unless specified in this press release, true widths (TW) cannot be determined from the information available. No upper cut-off grade was applied. Hole 117026 drilled in Karoliina West had elevated gold values but less than <1 g/t Au. Five wildcat holes targeting near mine mineralization 117030 to 117034 did not return significant results. These holes were drilled outside of the envelope of known mineralization and were considered high risk. Underground holes 117301 to 117304 and 117307 to 117309 also did not return assays >1 g/t Au.

Mineralization

Intercepts reported above are hosted by amphibolitized komatiites. The principal geologic control in the area is a linear structural corridor that trends east-west, forms multiple folds, and dips steeply to the north on the south side and steeply south on the north side. The mineralized zone identified on Rupert's Pahtavaara property is characterized by hydrothermal alteration and mineralization within various phases of pervasively altered komatiites. Mineralization remains open at depth along the entire zone. The hydrothermal alteration and the Au-bearing veins associated with it are deformed. Because they were competent rocks (massive amphibole), they resisted deformation. They are therefore less deformed than the adjacent talc-chlorite schists. This implies early brittle deformation followed by ductile deformation. Hydrothermal fluids entered by fractures and faults, which explains why some alteration fronts are almost perpendicular to the schistosity. Gold occurs mostly as free gold, a smaller part is associated with magnetite.

Review by Qualified Person, Quality Control and Reports

In compliance with National Instrument 43-101, Mr. Mike Sutton, P.Geo. is the Qualified Person who supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release. Samples are assayed by CRS/Actlabs Finland at Takatie 6, 90440 Kempele Finland, who have ISO9001 sample prep and ALS Minerals at Sodankyla, Finland and Pitea, Sweden. All core is under watch from the drill site to the core processing facility. Samples are assayed using cyanide leach methods with AAS detection of Au. The Company's QA/QC program includes the regular insertion of blanks and standards into the sample shipments, as well as instructions for duplication. Standards, blanks and duplicates are inserted at appropriate intervals. Approximately five percent (5%) of the pulps and rejects are sent for check assaying at a second lab with the results averaged and intersections updated when received. Core recovery in the mineralized zones has averaged 99%.

About Rupert

Rupert is a Canadian based gold exploration and development company that is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "RUP". The Company owns the Pahtavaara gold mine, mill, and exploration permits and concessions located in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt in Northern Finland (see the Company's November 9, 2016 press release). The Company also holds a 100% interest in the Gold Centre property, which consists of mineral claims located in the Balmer Township, Red Lake Mining Division of Ontario.
KELOWNA, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - April 20, 2017) - FISSION URANIUM CORP. (TSX:FCU)(OTCQX:FCUUF)(FRANKFURT:2FU) ("Fission" or "the Company") is pleased to report that it has narrowed the gap between R780E and R1620E zones and expanded the internal footprint of R840W and R1620E zones at its' PLS property, host to the Triple R deposit, in Canada's Athabasca Basin region. Results of the final fifteen holes of its 2017 winter program include seven holes on the R840W zone, five on the R1620E zone and three testing the gap between the R780E and R1620E zones. All holes on the R840W and the R1620E zones were mineralized. Drilling in the gap between the R780E and R1620E zones successfully expanded the R780E an additional 60m to the east and reduced the gap separating the two zones to 210m. The winter 2017 drill program at PLS is now complete with 57 holes in 17,602m.

Drill Results Highlights

Expanding the internal mineralized footprint of the R840W and R1620E Zones for potential inclusion in the future resource estimate R840W - all seven holes mineralized with total composite mineralization up to 49.0m (PLS17-545) with three of the holes containing high-grade (>10,000 cps) radioactivity R1620E - all five mineralized with total composite mineralization up to 29.5m (PLS17-528) with two of the holes containing high grade (>10,000 cps) radioactivity

Narrowing the gap between zones: PLS17-536 drilled on line 1245E intersected 43.5m total composite mineralization over a 127.0m section (170.0m to 297.0m) with peaks up to 4700 cps, thus narrowing the gap between R780E and R1620E to 210m and increasing the strike-length of the R780E by 60m to the east

Ross McElroy, President, COO, and Chief Geologist for Fission, commented

"The winter 2017 program has been a great success for both of our core goals. Our recently-announced regional exploration holes delivered a new high-grade, shallow-depth zone and our zone growth drilling has further strengthened the large, high-grade R840W and R1620E zones for potential inclusion in the future resource estimate. Additionally, the gap separating the R780E and R1620E zones has narrowed, by extending the strike length of the R780E zone by 60m to the east."

Winter Program Summary

17,602m in 57 holes: 14,802m core drilling (48 holes) and 2,800m RC drilling (9 holes)

Zone drilling, targeting the gap between the R780E zone and the R1620E zone has expanded the R780E zone 60m west

Zone (in-fill) drilling has increased the internal footprint of the R840W and R1620E zones

Exploration drilling led to discovery and expansion of new high-grade, near-surface, land-based zone over half a kilometer west of R840W zone

Exploration drilling has identified additional areas of interest in the Patterson Lake Corridor and Forest Lake Corridor

Expanded the Patterson Lake mineralized trend from 2.65km to 3.17km

Table 1: R840W Zone Drilling

Collar * Hand-held Scintillometer Results On Mineralized Drillcore (>300 cps / >0.5M minimum) Basement Total Hole ID Zone Grid

Line Az Dip From

(m) To

(m) Width

(m) CPS

Peak

Range Lake

Depth

(m) Sandstone

From - To

(m) Unconformity

Depth

(m) Drillhole

Depth

(m) PLS17-524 R840W 795W 332 -79.1 104.0 129.5 25.5 <300 - 8200 NA 101.0 - 104.4 104.4 293.0 149.5 150.0 0.5 420 PLS17-526 R840W 735W 351 -78.7 98.5 112.5 14.0 <300 - 3800 NA 95.0 - 97.2 97.2 293.0 115.5 125.5 10.0 310 - 1000 129.0 131.0 2.0 310 - 450 141.0 148.0 7.0 <300 - 870 162.5 164.5 2.0 <300 - 350 PLS17-529 R840W 735W 329 -81.9 104.5 139.0 34.5 <300 - 4800 NA NA 95.0 305.0 143.0 152.5 9.5 <300 - 10500 PLS17-541 R840W 735W 314 -82 113.5 114.5 1.0 310 - 330 NA 95.0 - 95.9 95.9 350.0 123.0 138.0 15.0 <300 - 17500 146.5 151.5 5.0 <300 - 2300 159.5 170.5 11.0 <300 - 1000 174.5 180.5 6.0 340 - 3800 PLS17-545 R840W 765W 333 -80.3 101.5 126.0 24.5 <300 - 14100 NA 101.0 - 101.9 101.9 278.0 128.5 146.0 17.5 <300 - 2100 148.5 152.5 4.0 <300 - 1600 155.5 158.5 3.0 <300 - 1100 PLS17-548 R840W 765W 345 -81.5 155.5 156.0 0.5 440 NA 96.1 - 101.7 101.7 311.0 165.5 166.0 0.5 540 206.5 212.0 5.5 <300 - 570 PLS17-551 R840W 795W 342 -79.5 144.0 148.0 4.0 <300 - 1100 NA 97.4 - 102.9 102.9 320.8 154.5 155.5 1.0 310 - 460 159.5 160.5 1.0 300 - 450

Table 2: R1620E Zone Drilling

Collar * Hand-held Scintillometer Results On Mineralized Drillcore (>300 cps / >0.5M minimum) Basement Total Hole ID Zone Grid

Line Az Dip From

(m) To

(m) Width

(m) CPS

Peak

Range Lake

Depth

(m) Sandstone

From - To

(m) Unconformity

Depth

(m) Drillhole

Depth

(m) PLS17-525 R1620E 1485E 332 -72.2 130.5 135.0 4.5 <300 - 1200 5.7 NA 59.0 302.0 142.0 143.5 1.5 350 - 1100 152.5 153.5 1.0 340 - 560 PLS17-527 R1620E 1545E 325 -70.4 89.5 111.0 21.5 <300 - 2900 6.9 NA 61.1 233.0 116.0 117.5 1.5 320 - 400 PLS17-528 R1620E 1545E 340 -71.2 92.0 110.5 18.5 <300 - 11000 7.0 NA 61.5 261.2 125.0 130.0 5.0 <300 - 920 133.0 136.0 3.0 330 - 6600 143.5 146.0 2.5 310 - 1700 169.0 169.5 0.5 860 PLS17-531 R1620E 1575E 332 -69.4 81.0 91.5 10.5 300 - 13000 7.0 NA 62.4 258.0 96.5 105.0 8.5 <300 - 3000 PLS17-534 R1620E 1575E 336 -70.2 79.0 85.5 6.5 <300 - 5500 7.0 NA 64.4 245.0

Table 3: R780E - R1620E Gap Drilling

Collar * Hand-held Scintillometer Results On Mineralized Drillcore (>300 cps / >0.5M minimum) Basement Total Hole ID Zone Grid

Line Az Dip From

(m) To

(m) Width

(m) CPS

Peak

Range Lake

Depth

(m) Sandstone

From - To

(m) Unconformity

Depth

(m) Drillhole

Depth

(m) PLS17-536 R1620E

Gap 1245W 150 -81.6 170.0 176.0 6.0 <300 - 1900 7.2 NA 64.1 533.0 192.5 196.5 4.0 <300 - 670 249.5 282.0 32.5 <300 - 4700 296.0 297.0 1.0 450 - 520 PLS17-542 R1620E

Gap 1245E 152 -81.8 102.0 102.5 0.5 430 7.2 NA 65.6 374.0 183.5 184.0 0.5 360 PLS17-546 R1620E

Gap 1170E 330 -68.9 No Significant Radioactivity 6.5 NA 65.7 215.0

Natural gamma radiation in drill core that is reported in this news release was measured in counts per second (cps) using a hand held RS-121 Scintillometer manufactured by Radiation Solutions, which is capable of discriminating readings to 65,535 cps. Natural gamma radiation in the drill hole survey that is reported in both core and reverse circulation "RC" holes this news release was measured in counts per second (cps) using a Mount Sopris 2GHF-1000 Triple Gamma probe, which allows for more accurate measurements in high grade mineralized zones. The Triple Gamma probe is preferred in zones of high grade mineralization. The reader is cautioned that scintillometer readings are not directly or uniformly related to uranium grades of the rock sample measured, and should be used only as a preliminary indication of the presence of radioactive materials. The degree of radioactivity within the mineralized intervals is highly variable and associated with visible pitchblende mineralization. All intersection measurements are down-hole. All depths reported of core interval and down-hole gamma measurements including radioactivity and mineralization intervals widths are not always representative of true thickness and true thicknesses are yet to be determined in zones outside of the Triple R deposit. Within the Triple R deposit, individual zone wireframe models constructed from assay data and used in the resource estimate indicate that both the R780E and R00E zones have a complex geometry controlled by and parallel to steeply south-dipping lithological boundaries as well as a preferential sub-horizontal orientation.

PLS Mineralized Trend & Triple R Deposit Summary

Uranium mineralization at PLS occurs within the Patterson Lake Conductive Corridor and has been traced by core drilling approximately 3.17km of east-west strike length in five separated mineralized "zones". From west to east, these zones are: R1515W, R840W, R00E, R780E and R1620E. Thus far only the R00E and R780E have been included in the Triple R deposit resource estimate, where-as the R840W and R1620E zones and the recent addition of the R1515W zone, fall outside of the current resource estimate window.

The discovery hole of what is now referred to as the Triple R uranium deposit was announced on November 05, 2012 with drill hole PLS12-022, from what is considered part of the R00E zone. Through successful exploration programs completed to date, it has evolved into a large, near surface, basement hosted, structurally controlled high-grade uranium deposit.

The Triple R deposit consists of the R00E zone on the western side and the much larger R780E zone further on strike to the east. Within the deposit, the R00E and R780E zones have an overall combined strike length validated by a resource estimate of approximately 1.05km with the R00E measuring approximately 105m in strike length and the R780E zones measuring approximately 945m in strike length. A 225m gap separates the R00E zone to the west and the R780E zones to the east, though sporadic narrow, weakly mineralized intervals from drill holes within this gap suggest the potential for further significant mineralization in this area. The R780E zone is located beneath Patterson Lake which is approximately six metres deep in the area of the deposit. The entire Triple R deposit is covered by approximately 50m to 60m of overburden.

Mineralization remains open along strike in both the western and eastern directions. Basement rocks within the mineralized trend are identified primarily as mafic volcanic rocks with varying degrees of alteration. Mineralization is both located within and associated with mafic volcanic intrusives with varying degrees of silicification, metasomatic mineral assemblages and hydrothermal graphite. The graphitic sequences are, associated with the PL-3B basement Electro-Magnetic (EM) Conductor. Recent very positive drill results returning wide and strongly mineralized intersections from the R840W zone, has allowed interpretation to merge the previously described R600W zone into the R840W zone. The R840W zone, located 495m west along strike of the Triple R deposit, now has a defined strike length of 465m and is still open. Drill results within the R840W zone have significantly upgraded the prospectivity of these areas for further growth of the PLS resource on land to the west of the Triple R deposit. The recent discovery of high-grade mineralization further to the west on line 1515W (R1515W zone), located 510m to the west along strike of the R840W zone, has significantly upgraded the prospectivity for further growth to the west along the Patterson Lake Corridor. The recently discovered high-grade mineralization in the R1620E zone, located 210m to the east along strike has significantly upgraded the prospectivity for further growth of the PLS resource to the east of the Triple R deposit.

Updated maps and files can be found on the Company's website at http://fissionuranium.com/project/pls/.

Patterson Lake South Property

The 31,039 hectare PLS project is 100% owned and operated by Fission Uranium Corp. PLS is accessible by road with primary access from all-weather Highway 955, which runs north to the former Cluff Lake mine and passes through the nearby UEX-Areva Shea Creek discoveries located 50km to the north, currently under active exploration and development.

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed on behalf of the company by Ross McElroy, P.Geol., President and COO for Fission Uranium Corp., a qualified person.

About Fission Uranium Corp.

Fission Uranium Corp. is a Canadian based resource company specializing in the strategic exploration and development of the Patterson Lake South uranium property - host to the class-leading Triple R uranium deposit - and is headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia. Fission's common shares are listed on the TSX Exchange under the symbol "FCU" and trade on the OTCQX marketplace in the U.S. under the symbol "FCUUF."
GRANDE PRAIRIE, AB--(Marketwired - April 20, 2017) - ANGKOR GOLD CORP. (TSX VENTURE: ANK) (OTC PINK: ANKOF) ("Angkor" or "the Company") announced today the appointment of Dennis Ouellette as Exploration Manager of Angkor effective immediately.

"I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Dennis as our new Exploration Manager," said CEO Mike Weeks. "Mr. Ouellette joined us a few months ago as our Senior Geologist on site in Cambodia and has been very active in the field since then. I know he will make a great contribution to Angkor Gold in managing and advancing our various projects across our properties."

Dennis Ouellette, B.Sc., P.Geol., is a member of The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA # 104257) and is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"). He has recently worked as a consulting geologist designing and managing exploration programs in Alberta, Yukon and British Columbia and assisting in the execution of exploration programs in the USA and Guatemala. He has also worked as a partner in prospecting ventures resulting in the acquisition and optioning of exploration properties in western Canada. Early in his career Dennis worked in a variety of roles, including Senior Exploration Geologist, Project Geologist and Field Assistant for companies such as United Keno Hill Mines (Yukon), Falconbridge (Newfoundland) and Goldquest Exploration (Goldcorp -- Red Lake, Ontario).

From 1999 to 2002 Mr. Ouellette also worked at the Cabinet and Caucus Offices for the Yukon Government, providing executive assistance and advice to the Ministers of several departments, and in the 1990s as a Staff Geologist in the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Yukon Region. From 1994 to 1996 Dennis served as the Manager of the Yukon Chamber of Mines. These two positions involved informing, educating and interacting with industry and the public through prospecting courses, symposium talks and multi-stakeholder meetings.

"I have had the opportunity over the past three months to review the data for and examine firsthand the mineral potential of Angkor Gold's five exploration licenses," said Ouellette. "I'm fortunate that there was a lot of well-executed exploration work done before my arrival. It makes my job of advancing existing occurrences and finding new ones much easier. Being a part of Angkor Gold's experienced team is an exciting opportunity to continue building on the company's success."

The technical and scientific information in this release has been reviewed and approved by Dennis Ouellette, B.Sc., P.Geol., a member of The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA # 104257) and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"). He is the Company's Exploration Manager on site in Cambodia.

ANGKOR Gold Corp. is a Canadian public company listed on the TSX-Venture Exchange (Symbol: ANK) and is Cambodia's premier mineral explorer with a large land package and a first-mover advantage building strong relationships with all levels of government and stakeholders. Visit our website at: http://www.angkorgold.ca or follow us @AngkorGold for all the latest updates.
Joseph DeTrani

This is the second in a series of interviews with international experts on North Korea to see how its nuclear issues will unfold down the road and seek ways to secure stability on the Korean Peninsula.  ED.



Beijing urged to broker talks between US, North Korea

By Kim Jae-kyoung

Joseph DeTrani, a former U.S. special envoy for the six-party talks with North Korea, said South Korea should not be sidelined in the Trump administration's move to address North Korean nuclear issues.

"South Korea has to be part of the solution to the North Korea nuclear issue," DeTrani, president of the Daniel Morgan Academy in Washington, said in an interview.

"There should be no space between the U.S. and South Korea on an approach to resolving issues with the North."

His advice comes amid growing concerns here that Seoul has been left out of the decision-making process for U.S. policies on North Korea amid a leadership vacuum caused by former President Park Geun-hye's removal from office.

"With elections scheduled for May 9, South Korea will have a new government in place that can work closely with the U.S., and with Japan, China and Russia, on a concerted path to resolving issues with North Korea," he said.

His remarks can be interpreted as stating that Washington should get Seoul involved in any of its key decisions, such as a pre-emptive strike against North Korea and any secret talks with Pyongyang.

"Exploratory talks between North Korea and the U.S. or South Korea could facilitate the return to formal negotiations," he said. "So, in principle I'm not opposed to such talks. However, it's important that the South and Japan be made aware of such talks and contribute to the issues being discussed."

But he dismissed the rumor the U.S. and North Korea are currently in talks in New York, saying, "I'm not aware of any secret talks with North Korea."

DeTrani, who helped broker a 2005 agreement on North Korea's nuclear program, had behind-the-scenes meetings with North Korean diplomats in Malaysia last October to break new ground for official talks.

The former U.S. mission manager for North Korea has called on Beijing to set up talks between Washington and Pyongyang.

"Ideally, this tense period can be defused through negotiations, brokered by a China that has to convince North Korea that they must halt all future nuclear tests and missile launches," he said.

He expects China to continue to be key to the eventual resolution of the North's nuclear issue.

"China is North Korea's treaty ally and a country North Korea relies upon for energy and food assistance, which are vital for the North's survival," he said.

"So, it would be logical to think that North Korea would be somewhat responsive to China, although North Korea is not a lackey of China and will not obediently march to China's tune, if it's not in North Korea's interest."

More importantly, he said both China and the U.S. must realize that building good bilateral relations is a prerequisite for reining in the totalitarian regime, a destabilizing force in the region.

"It's in the interests of China and the U.S. to resolve the North Korea issue, and in the process to get these two important countries to work even more closely on international issues that could be destabilizing," he said.

He advised Seoul to continue to impress upon Beijing that without a negotiated settlement, further missile defense deployments and joint military exercises with the U.S., and possibly Japan, will be necessary.

"This, hopefully, will further encourage China to be more proactive in getting North Korea to return to negotiations and to halt its nuclear and missile programs."

Additional nuclear tests

DeTrani, also former director of the U.S. National Counter Proliferation Center, expects Pyongyang to carry out another nuclear test.

"Pyongyang speaks of its nuclear deterrent, emphasizing the need to have a credible nuclear capability," he said.

"Additional nuclear tests will permit Pyongyang to better perfect miniaturization and, as they stated, advance toward a thermonuclear capability."

He expects Kim Jong-un won't give up his nuclear weapons program at the moment.

"It's memorialized in its constitution and Kim and others have made it clear that North Korea's so-called nuclear deterrent will be strengthened and never dismantled."

He also expressed concerns that additional missile launches will allow North Korea to work on its mobile missiles and solid fuel capabilities.

"It's problematic whether North Korea will conduct an ICBM launch. Such a missile launch will be a direct threat to the U.S., requiring a U.S. response that North Korea may not want.

"An ICBM has one purpose  to deliver a conventional or nuclear warhead to the U.S. That can't be tolerated."

Supportive of Trump's confrontational approach, DeTrani said it was time to end "strategic patience" because such a strategy clearly failed in getting North Korea to halt its march to more robust and threatening nuclear and missile programs.

"It's now time to tell North Korea that we will not permit Pyongyang to threaten our allies and the U.S. with nuclear and conventional weapons," he said. "I think this is a realistic policy."

But the former director of East Asia operations of the CIA also urged the Trump administration to offer North Korea the option to return to unconditional negotiations.

"Our first goal should be to get North Korea to agree to halting its nuclear and missile programs and to cease the production of additional fissile material, in return for security assurances and other deliverables," he said.

"This latter path can eventually result in a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issues with North Korea. Ideally, revisiting the elements of the September 2005 Joint Statement could be the roadmap toward peace on the Korean Peninsula."

He said the six-party format aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula should still be one of the options to resolve the situation.

"I think the six-party construct is still viable. It did produce the 2005 Joint Statement, a comprehensive approach to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

"It also facilitated bilateral discussions with North Korea and the respective countries  South Korea, Japan and the U.S.  toward normal diplomatic relations with North Korea, once the issues unique to each of these countries in regard to North Korea are addressed."

DeTrani was the U.S. Representative to the Korea Energy Development Organization and president of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance.
Goma Air flight diverted due to TIA congestion

A Goma Air flight headed to Kathmandu was forced to divert to Ramechhap airport on Wednesday after it was told to circle the skies for more than an hour due to air traffic congestion at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).
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Medtronic recently announced the early success of the HVAD LATERAL trial. The trial is investigating the potential to implant Medtronics HVAD device via a less invasive lateral thoracotomy, instead of the more conventional median sternotomy. The HVAD is a ventricular assist device, consisting of a mechanical pump attached to the heart, that assists in pumping blood around the body in patients with heart failure. In the United States, the device is implanted using a median sternotomy, where the sternum is parted and the chest opened. This latest trial investigates placing the device through a lateral thoracotomy, in which a small incision between the ribs is used to access the heart. The idea is that a thoracotomy is much less invasive than a median sternotomy, and the recovery time should be less. The device is already approved in Europe for surgical placement through a thoracotomy.

Medgadget asked David Steinhaus, M.D., vice president and general manager of the Heart Failure business at Medtronic, some questions about the technology and the ongoing trial.

Conn Hastings, Medgadget: Please give us a brief overview of the HVAD and the type of patient who is eligible for treatment with an HVAD.

David Steinhaus: The HeartWare centrifugal-flow, ventricular assist device (HVAD) is a mechanical pump that attaches directly to the heart and circulates oxygen-rich blood throughout the body in patients with advanced heart failure. The HVAD System consists of a pump, an external controller, a connecting cable and power sources that run the pump and controller. The HVAD has been proven to extend life, augment cardiac function and improve quality of life for end-stage heart failure patients, and the HVAD system is approved as a bridge to transplant in the U.S.

Medgadget: Can you explain the advantages of thoracotomy as opposed to median sternotomy in terms of patient morbidity and recovery time?

David Steinhaus: A thoracotomy is a small, lateral surgical incision between the patients ribs on the left side of the chest, whereas the more commonly used median sternotomy is a surgical procedure in which a vertical incision is made down the middle of the chest, then the sternum is divided. The thoracotomy technique is less invasive and preserves the chest for a possible subsequent sternotomy, such as that occurring at the time of heart transplantation. Additionally, the thoracotomy technique may provide patient benefits such as less tissue trauma and shorter hospital stays.

Medgadget: Is a thoracotomy more challenging for the surgeon, in terms of limited space to operate? Is the HVAD well-suited to delivery via thoracotomy?

David Steinhaus: In Europe, the HVAD System is the only full-support, centrifugal LVAD approved for implantation via the thoracotomy procedure, in addition to a median sternotomy procedure. The thoracotomy option is possible because of its smaller size relative to other LVADs on the market. But in the U.S., this implant technique is not approved by the FDA for any LVADs.

Medgadget: The trial has successfully met its primary endpoint. Can you summarize these early results and explain their significance?

David Steinhaus: The LATERAL trial sought to evaluate the thoracotomy implant technique of the HeartWare HVAD System in patients with advanced heart failure who are eligible for heart transplant. It is a multicenter, prospective, controlled clinical trial of 145 patients with end-stage heart failure who have not responded to medical management.

LATERAL successfully met its primary endpoint, with 87.6 percent of patients alive on the original device, free from disabling stroke, or having been explanted due to recovery at six months. This is compared to the performance goal of 77.5 percent, so you can see the study succeeded, and even surpassed its target (p-value=0.002). Overall survival among patients receiving an HVAD via the thoracotomy procedure was 91.8 percent at six months.

LATERAL validates that HVAD implantation via a thoracotomy is a viable alternative to median sternotomy. FDA approval of this investigational approach could ultimately result in more flexibility in implant planning and changes to patient management and recovery.

Medgadget: If it can be shown that delivery of HVAD through a thoracotomy produces similar or better therapeutic outcomes than delivery with median sternotomy, do you envisage this being the sole delivery method for the device globally?

David Steinhaus: There is a growing trend toward the use of less-invasive approaches in all fields of cardiac surgery. The positive results of the LATERAL trial show that the less-invasive thoracotomy procedure for implanting the HVAD System is feasible.

A sternotomy leads to adhesions and scar tissue, which are much more difficult to work through in a subsequent sternotomy, particularly at the time of a heart transplant. Of course, physician preference for implant technique certainly comes into play, but what we are seeing in Europe  where the thoracotomy approach for the HVAD is already approved  is the smaller size of the HVAD System makes it suitable for either implant approach. The thoracotomy option is not seen by physicians as feasible with the larger LVAD pumps.

Medgadget: The ENDURANCE trial is examining the potential of the HVAD system as a long-term therapy for heart failure patients, as opposed to a stop-gap treatment until heart transplant can occur. Recently, a subset of data showing that sicker patients in the trial did not have worse outcomes than less sick patients has been presented at the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Scientific Meeting in San Diego. Can you comment on the significance of these results?

David Steinhaus: This was an interesting finding from the original ENDURANCE trial  that sicker patients didnt necessarily have worse outcomes, which is contrary to some of the other published literature.

But a bigger splash at the ISHLT was from the ENDURANCE Supplemental trial, which was one of the other late breakers. You may remember that the original ENDURANCE trial demonstrated the safety and efficacy of the HVAD System for destination  or long-term  therapy; those results were presented at this meeting two years ago. But we saw a higher stroke rate than anticipated, so this second trial included intentional blood pressure management of HVAD patients in an effort to bring down the stroke rate  which it did. In fact, one of the prespecified secondary endpoints showed that the HVAD was superior to the control device in terms of being alive on the originally implanted device and free of disabling stroke  which is the endpoint of most LVAD therapy clinical trials. As you may imagine, these results were very well received by the physician community.

Flashback: Interview with David Steinhaus, VP of Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management at Medtronic
Have you ever had a relative or close friend that went through the process of having their hip replaced?

If so, you probably know that no matter how severe the pain, they still gave surgery a second thought.

There are numerous risks associated with hip replacement surgery which may include infections, fractures, or dislocations, so having second thoughts is very common.

Luckily, hip replacement techniques are improving, so both patients and physicians can rely on innovative solutions that make the procedure easier.

A web-based digital templating software solution developed by AndPlus allows surgeons to improve precision in arthroplasty surgeries.

The software built for Arthromeda is more accurate than conventional methods, such as manual templating used for preoperative planning.

Arthromeda uses micro-sensors to wirelessly connect to the ArthroPlan software, which allows surgeons to navigate the implantation process on a screen.

This tool helps surgeons be confident in their ability to position implants at a proper angle, and consequently gives patients evidence-based reassurance.

With a cost-effective approach, and compatible with standard work stations such as PCs and laptops, the ArthroPlan software is designed to facilitate surgical techniques, while providing patients with durable results.

More information about this project is available at: https://www.andplus.com/arthroplan-medical-web-application

If you need to turn your idea into reality, our team has decades of experience in developing effective software solutions.

Enquiries to: Brian Geary

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About AndPlus:

AndPlus is a Boston area mobile app developer and custom software developer that creates complex web apps, mobile apps, and custom software, for tailor-made solutions to companies problems and processes.

Founded in 2009, AndPlus found a niche in Connected Software, i.e software that is integrated with hardware. Connected Software has various uses through many industries such as medical devices for hospitals or even fire safety equipment. Since its founding, AndPlus has advanced to creating exceptional custom software for any industry that demands it.
Oregon State University researchers have devised a way of sneaking a cancer drug vinblastine into solid tumors that would otherwise not be very welcoming of it. The investigators used prodrug vinblastine-N-oxide, known in a low oxygen environments within the body, such as those within solid tumors, to turn into vinblastine. It was developed by Cascade Prodrug, a company based in Eugene, Oregon. The researchers loaded this prodrug into liposomes, vesicles made of lipids, and delivered it into animals with non-small cell lung cancer. Normally the body washes out the prodrug out of itself before it has time to act, but the liposomes are intended to prevent that. The result was that the prodrug was much better at penetrating tumors and being activated to kill nearby cells than when injected without liposome shells.

More details from Oregon State:

We made sure the nanostructure platform worked properly against lung cancer in vitro, then looked at the safety of the formulation in healthy mice and looked at the maximum tolerated dose  the biggest dose you can use without producing side effects, [Adam Alani of the OSU College of Pharmacy] said. Then we determined how long the nano carriers could keep the drug in the blood compared to the drug without the nanostructures. When those data were very encouraging, Alanis team assessed the efficacy of the formulations in mice that had tumors grafted into them. Without any liposome, the drug showed some tumor suppression, but the mice that had received the drug alone had to be euthanized after 70 days because of tumors that were no longer being controlled. Mice that had received the drug with one of the liposomes were healthy and tumor-free for the nearly 100-day run of the experiment.

Study in Journal of Controlled Release: Characterization of pegylated and non-pegylated liposomal formulation for the delivery of hypoxia activated vinblastine-N-oxide for the treatment of solid tumors

Via: Oregon State

Image: Non-small cell lung cancer in a 54-year-old woman. Credit: Naturopathic Doctor News and Review
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, April 19, 2017

McDonald's has created a television campaign now posted to YouTube that never mentions the name of the company, but asks viewers to bring up Google's search engines to search on "that place where Coke tastes so good."

The ad, which ties search to video and TV, features Mindy Kaling. It doesn't mention McDonald's, but Kaling is dressed in a gold-colored shirt in front of a red backdrop. Even if a consumer isn't familiar with the brand's colors, the mere act of getting viewers to pick up their smartphone or tablet and type in those seven magic words will give it away.

In another ad posted to YouTube, Kaliing has a discussion with a beverage technician named Rick, who says the brand's name numerous times. Each time the name gets bleeped out.

The ad series, created by Omnicom's McDonalds-dedicated We Are Unlimited agency, features three 30-second ads and one 15-second ad. They are now posted to YouTube on a channel that reads "that place where Coke tastes SO good."

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The ads are part of McDonald's first unbranded marketing campaign in which the fast food chain asks viewers to Google that place, according to one media outlet. The campaign aims to capitalize on video and search engine results.

While the ads will no doubt prompt many more searches online, the series of ads from McDonald's are different than last week's Burger King's television ads because they are not intended to trigger a voice search on Google Home, the company's hub.

Google eventually stopped the commercial's ability to trigger searches in the device.
by Karlene Lukovitz @KLmarketdaily, April 19, 2017

With Cinco de Mayo falling on partying-friendly Friday this year  and Dos Equis celebrating its 120anniversary  the brand is ponying up for a particularly significant holiday push.

Its Spice Up Your Cinco campaign includes a new TV spot, a New York City party featuring renowned DJ Questlove, and a sweepstakes.

The Cinco Peppers TV ad is the latest featuring the Most Interesting Man in the World, now played by Augustin Legrand. (The ads 30-second English version requires sign-in to view on YouTube. See the 15-second Spanish-language version below.)

The character is shown winning a hot pepper-eating contest with a tough-as-nails-looking dude. In the longer version, The Mans feisty female companion also demonstrates an impressive ability to take the heat.

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Voiceover messaging: Attending his Cinco de Mayo party requires signing a release form. It is said the sun comes up later on the sixth of May in case his parties run long  The ad will continue to run through May.

The new Most Interesting Man, unveiled last September, starred in his first TV ads starting last fall. The creative is from Havas New York, which originated the famous campaign.

The brands New York Cinco de Mayo party (actually being held on April 27), is dubbed Mercado XX for its Mexican street market theme. It will feature an appearance by The Most Interesting Man, in addition to DJ-ing by Questlove.

The Spice Up Your Cinco sweeps, being run in the weeks leading up to Cinco de Mayo, offers daily prizes and a grand-prize trip to Mexico that includes vacation time in Cancunand a tour of the Dos Equis brewery.
by Philip Rosenstein , April 19, 2017

IBM-owned The Weather Company on Wednesday announced a partnership with Acxioms LiveRamp to help marketers use real-time data to inform omnichannel campaigns, integrating event-based data with an audience-based data set.

The Weather Companys WEATHERfx data, the event-based set, and LiveRamps IdentityLink Datastore, the audience part, will come together to offer marketers an expanded set of data points usable throughout the media ecosystem.

Event-based data includes environmental conditions, severe weather and relative weather conditions, which can be used at a decisioning layer in marketing campaigns.

Weather conditions impact a vast number of consumer decisions, stated Luke McGuinness, head of data partnerships at LiveRamp. This collaboration will help extend the reach of those data sets and insights and enable marketers to find the precise moment to engage consumers in order to drive results.
by Wayne Friedman , April 19, 2017

TV advertising analytics company iSpot.tv has added TV attribution data to its service -- connecting TV exposure of commercials to consumers' digital brand activity.

Attribution data will address 10 million smart IPTV-enable TVs -- Vizio manufactured TV sets -- tracking commercials tied to online purchases, Web visits, app installations and digital registrations.

The company is launching its conversion analytics service, which puts a digital tracking pixel on clients' sites. It essentially creates an overlap between their user base and our 10 million TVs, says Sean Muller, chief executive officer of iSpot.tv.

Muller points to Experian Consumer Services as example, where an Experian ad airs and a viewer watching the ad goes to the Experian site for its credit monitoring service.

Boom, we just made that connection because its the same IP address to the home, he says. Then we are able to measure exactly the ads that user was exposed to leading up to that conversion.

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Among other segments, Muller says attribution can be broken down by networks, dayparts, creative executions and TV programming genres. For a recent Experian campaign, it showed that commercials running in reality TV programming was one of its best performers.

Another key function of iSpot.tvs conversion analytics is determining the best time to get consumers to respond to a commercial, including when commercial fatigue sets in, resulting in fading TV consumer digital activity.

For Experian, Muller says: The optimal number of showing someone their ad is ten times. Going beyond ten, returns diminish drastically.

Conversion analytics will work with the companys attention analytics. iSpot.tv says attention scores of commercials are calculated from viewers who interrupt -- for any reason -- the running of a commercial.

Muller says 30 clients have signed up for the new addition to the service. Overall, the 5-year-old company claims over 200 clients.

The company will market this effort in part through a TV commercial running on CNBC.
Govt agrees to act as guarantor for NAC wide-body jet purchase

The government has agreed to act as a loan guarantor for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) for the procurement of two wide-body aircraft. A cabinet meeting on Thursday decided to this effect.
by Wayne Friedman , April 19, 2017

Recently hired Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson will replace departing longtime Fox News Channel on-air talent Bill OReilly in the 8 p.m. ET Monday through Friday time slot.

The move came after reports of sexual harassment settlement agreements by O'Reilly and Fox; a story broken earlier this month by the New York Times. Fox News Channel announced Wednesday OReilly has immediately departed the network.

Corporate parent of Fox News, 21 Century Fox, issued this statement: After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill OReilly have agreed that Bill OReilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel.

Carlsons show, Tucker Carlson Tonight," will take over OReillys time slot on Monday, April 24. Replacing Carlsons show at 9 p.m. will be The Five, also starting on April 24.

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For the remainder of this week, The OReilly Factor will continue with guest hosts -- Dana Perino on Wednesday and Thursday night and Greg Gutfeld on Friday night.

Two new one-hour programs will debut the following Monday, May 1: One hosted by Eric Bolling at 5 p.m. and The Story with Martha MacCallum at 7 p.m.

Estimates are The OReilly Factor pulled in around $140 million in annual national TV advertising, according to iSpot.tv. The show has continued to pull in a large viewership -- averaging 3.2 million Nielsen prime-time viewers per night, the highest for a cable news program.

Tucker Carlson Tonight started in November 2016, replacing On the Record with Greta Van Susteren. Then in January, Carlson moved to the 9 p.m. time period taking over for The Kelly File, when the host left the network.

Van Susteren went to NBCUniversals MSNBC; Kelly to sister NBC unit NBC News, starting up show later this year.
by Tanya Gazdik , April 20, 2017

Los Angeles tourism bureau is hoping to counter a perceived anti-welcome sentiment in the United States with a new social campaign.

New data projects that Los Angeles County could suffer a three-year loss of 800,000 international visitors, totaling a potential loss of $736 million. This is after last year when Los Angeles welcomed 47.3 million visitors in a sixth consecutive year of record-breaking tourism.

In the hope of inspiring visitors not to cancel their travel plans, Discover Los Angles is introducing a new social campaign, #EveryoneIsWelcome.

The campaign includes a video, the first film piece created by the in-house creative team, and will culminate with a surprise activation in early May.

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While we arent revealing all the details just yet, it will be a welcome-related activation keeping with the theme of #EveryoneIsWelcome, Don Skeoch, CMO at Discover Los Angeles, tells Marketing Daily.

The video will be featured on Discover Los Angeles social channels  Instagram (@discoverla), Facebook (@DiscoverLosAngeles) and Twitter (@discoverLA) from April 18 to May 21. The campaign will be supported via paid social efforts in Canada, Mexico, Australia, the UK and China.

Diversity and inclusivity have always been cornerstones of Los Angeles culture  people from 140 countries who speak over 224 languages currently call L.A. home, and it is one of only two U.S. cities without a majority population. The community has consistently rolled out the red carpet for visitors from across the globe, Skeoch says.

We are uniquely positioned to deliver a message of welcome to potential visitors from all corners of the globe  and theres never been a more important time to show we welcome and value them in Los Angeles than now, he says.

The video features paper planes, embodying patterns emblematic of countries around the world, which fly into Los Angeles. It features L.A.s creative community coming together in a message of a willingness to accept everyone with open arms. The film features Angelenos who are genuinely passionate about this message, including Layla Shaikley, founder of the #mipsterz movement and a Muslim-American daughter of immigrants, who flew back to L.A. to participate in the spot because she believed strongly in the message.

Silver Lake local Father John Mistys song, Real Love Baby, serves as the spots soundtrack. Half of the featured people arent actors  they were included in the spot after seeing filming on the street and expressing interest in being a part of it. The video also features six pieces of street art, all from local artists including Shepard Fairey.
by Larissa Faw , April 20, 2017

Publicis Groupe's Q1 2017 is off to a sluggish start, with organic growth at -1.2% due to weakness in consumer goods advertisers. "Instability continues to prevail in the international environment, causing companies to proceed with great caution despite strong balance sheets," says chairman/CEO Maurice Levy. "Changes in the field of technology, in consumer behavior and in the media landscape have led companies to question their business models and marketing strategies."

Publicis Groupes consolidated revenue in Q1 2017 was 2,328 million euro ($2.51 billion), up 1.6% from 2,291 million euro ($2.47 billion) in 2016. Exchange rates had a positive impact of 50 million euro ($53.82 million), or the equivalent of 2.2% of Q1 2016 revenue. Net acquisitions contributed 14 million euro ($15.07 million), which is the equivalent of 0.6% of Q1 2016 revenue. Growth at constant exchange rates was -0.6%.

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The international network reports signs of recovery in certain markets. North America remains uncertain, reporting a revenue decline of 0.8% while experiencing organic growth of -5.0% due to the impact of past issues. Unfortunately, new projects had not yet ramped up to their full potential, says the Groupe.

Europe, by comparison, showed signs of recovery, reporting recorded growth of 3.8% aided by 5.5% organic growth. France (+11.9%), UK and Italy (+9.1% and +6.3% respectively) were bright spots, while Germany was down 3.6% due to an unfavorable basis of comparison. The situation has been recovering in Russia, with 20.4% growth.

Asia-Pacific reported growth of 5.7% (0.8% on an organic basis). China was up 2.6%, and Singapore grew 7.3%. India's performance was mixed, after posting an increase of almost 9% in the first quarter of 2016, growth was 0.4% during the first three months of 2017.

Latin America grew its revenue by 8.5%, partly due to exchange rates as organic growth for the region was 4.5%. Activities in Brazil went down 1.7% and Mexico sustained a strong growth rate (+25.7%).

Publicis expects Q2 2017 to remain in negative territory, but as the year progresses, the Groupe will show continued improvement with 2018 materializing as expected, says Levy.

"This momentum is encouraging in many respects: the implementation of The Power of One is generating positive feedback from clients," he says pointing out that more than 60 new executives have been given new authority or appointed and the Razorfish and SapientNitro merger is "well under way." New business will also finally start impacting the balance sheet. Since Q2 2016, Publicis has landed Walmart, HPE, USAA and Asda, among others.

"Publicis has been substantially transformed to enable us to provide our clients with even better 'end-to-end' service in business transformation," says Levy.
by Larissa Faw , April 20, 2017

Industry veteran Danny Turnbull is jumping from gyro to join industry rival Stein IAS as managing director, Europe. In this newly created role, Turnbull will lead the B2B agency's growth plans in the UK and throughout Europe. He will report to CEO Rob Morrice, and Tom Stein, chairman and chief client officer.

Turnbull is joining the agency after 10 years at gyro leading the agency's Manchester office. His arrival coincides with a management restructure across Stein IAS's global operations, which has resulted in the formation of a 12-strong executive team that includes Turnbull.

While you dont switch camps without a heavy heart, particularly after many years at one agency, Stein IAS has made the transition pretty seamless for me," says Turnbull. "The shear warmth of feeling and breadth of talent here is staggering, so its exciting to be part of a winning team and bringing my know-how to bear.

Stein IAS has also made another key appointment to its Paris office. Guillaume Rigal joins as director from Effinity, a French digital media group specializing in performance and influence marketing. Previously, he was chief marketing officer and head of B2B for Effinity.
by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, April 20, 2017

For many years now, the Federal Trade Commission has told companies to present paid endorsements by bloggers, reviewers, Instagram users and other social media influencers as ads.

But the FTC recently went one step further: The agency said this week that it directly contacted around 90 Instagram influencers and reminded them to disclose that their posts are, in fact, paid promotions.

"Consumers should be able to notice the disclosure easily, and not have to look for it," Mary Engle, associate director division of advertising practices, wrote in one of the letters. She added that the disclosure should come above Instagram's "more" button.

The most significant aspect of the FTC's letter may be their timing: They mark the first major move regarding online transparency taken by the FTC since Donald Trump became president.

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But whether the FTC's initiative signals a new crackdown is up for debate, according to Jeff Greenbaum, an advertising lawyer with Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.

"This sweep sends a mixed message," Greenbaum says. "On the one hand, it says this is still an issue we're really serious about."

But, he adds, the letters could also signal that the current FTC intends to focus more on education than prosecution -- especially given that acting FTC Chairmwoman Maureen Ohlhausen has said she wants the agency to concentrate on cases where consumers have suffered a concrete harm.

Greenbaum adds that in the past, the FTC has suggested it's more interested in targeting companies than individual influencers. "It's a lot more efficient to try to go after big companies than to go person by person," he says.

The FTC didn't name the recipients of the most recent letters. But some high profile celebrities have already been identified in connection with other cases.

For instance, last year the controversial PewDiePie -- who currently boasts almost 55 million YouTube subscribers -- was at the center of the FTC's prosecution of Warner Bros. That company allegedly paid PewDiePie and other influencers to tout "Shadow of Mordor" in advance of its September 2014 launch.

Also, in 2015 the Food and Drug Administration warned the drug company Duchesnay USA over an Instagram ad by celebrity Kim Kardashian. She initially touted the the morning-sickness drug Diclegis, but failed to disclose the drug's risks and contraindications. Her post may have also violated the FTC's endorsement guides, but that agency never publicly took action against the celebrity.
Digital Tomosynthesis Reduces Re-Excision in Breast Surgeries

By MedImaging International staff writers

Posted on 20 Apr 2017



Image: A new study shows digital breast tomosynthesis reduces cancer surgery re-excision rates (Photo courtesy of Carestream Health).

A new study shows that digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) can reduce surgical positive margins by offering a better view of lesion margins than mammography alone.



Researchers at the University of Turin conducted a study of 925 patients who had breast surgery between 2010 and 2015. Of these, 685 were breast-conserving surgeries, while 240 were mastectomies. Prior to surgery, 537 patients were staged with digital mammography and ultrasound, and 388 were staged with digital mammography, ultrasound, and DBT. In the first group, 348 women had lesions two cm or smaller, and 189 had lesions larger than two cm; in the second group, 207 women had lesions two cm or smaller, and 181 had lesions larger than two cm.



Histology revealed that 7.9% of the patients had positive margins at histology. The re-excision rate for the first group was 10%, significantly higher than for the second group, who underwent DBT as well, which was 5%. Re-excision planning was also less extensive for patients in the second group, with one of 20 patients receiving a mastectomy, compared with 20 of 53 patients having mastectomies in the first group. The re-excision rate for lesions smaller than two cm was not statistically significant between the two groups, in contrast to larger lesions. The study was presented at ECR 2017, held during March 2017 in Vienna (Austria).



Margin status is one of the most important predictors for local recurrence following breast cancer surgery, and accurate pre-operative staging helps to plan appropriate surgical treatment and reduce the consequences of re-excision, said lead author and study presenter Alessia Milan, PhD. These consequences can include emotional burden for the patient, a worse cosmetic outcome and higher costs. Our findings suggest that DBT has a role in improving conventional imaging for preoperative breast cancer surgical treatment staging.



DBT mammograms use low dose x-rays to create a three-dimensional (3D) image of the breast, which can then be viewed the in narrow slices, similar to computerized tomography (CT) scans. While in conventional 2D mammography overlapping tissues can mask suspicious areas, 3D images eliminate the overlap, making abnormalities easier to recognize. It is estimated that 3D DBT will replace conventional mammography within ten years.




Alibaba Group Holding Limited is an eCommerce and Internet technology giant headquartered in the People's Republic of China. Its core platform, Alibaba.com, is the worlds 3rd largest eCommerce platform by sales. The company, through its vast network of subsidiary companies, provides the infrastructure and marketing to help merchants of all sizes develop their brands and to connect with customers in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company also aids other businesses with a vast array of digital and logistical solutions with a reach that spans the globe.

Alibaba was co-founded by Jack Ma in 1999 when it became clear the Internet and digitization were the future of commerce. Mr. Ma is a billionaire investor, businessman, and philanthropist who believes in an open and free-market economy. The company went public in September 2014 with an IPO on the NYSE. The IPO set a record with its valuation of $25 billion and the company is now worth more than $225 billion and ranked among the 10 most valuable companies by market cap. Alibaba is also ranked 5th largest globally in regards to its work in AI, and it owns the world's largest B2B, B2C, and C2C eCommerce portals. In 2022, Alibabas Singles Day event brought in $139 billion to set a new one-day record.

The principal purpose of Alibaba Group Holding Limited is to open the Chinese market and connect it to the world. The company operates through seven segments including China Commerce, International Commerce, Local Consumer Services, Cainiao, Cloud, Digital Media and Entertainment, and Innovation Initiatives and Others.

The companys eCommerce platforms include Taobao Marketplace, Tmall, Alimama, 1688.com, Alibaba.com, Aliexpress, Lazada, Trendyol, and Daraz. Taobao Marketplace is a social-media eCommerce platform while Alimama is a monetization platform for entrepreneurs. 1688.com and Alibaba.com are wholesale marketplaces where individuals and businesses can connect with bulk items and the remainder are eCommerce retail platforms and search engines targeting specific markets. In addition, the company also operated a retail chain called Freshippo and Tmall Global which is an import platform for eCommerce.

Other digital services provided by Alibaba include Taoxianda, which is a digital integration service for FMCG goods and grocery retailers, and Cainiao Network which is a logistical services platform complemented by Ele.me, a delivery and services platform.

Alibaba also supports the infrastructure of the Internet with a range of products and services that include computing, storage, network, security, database, big data, and IoT connectivity. This segment includes a suite of cloud-based services such as Alibaba Pictures and content platforms that provide streaming media.
Capital One Financial Corporation was founded in 1988 with the goal of revolutionizing the credit card industry. The companys ground-breaking services were data-driven, opened the doors of credit to millions of people, and today Capital One is one of the worlds largest banks.

The companys commitment to connecting people with responsible credit helped to rank it 10th in the US in regard to total assets and 72nd globally. The company has nearly $400 billion in assets in late 2022 and operated a network of subsidiary institutions including Capital One bank. Capital One Financial Corporation is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, and operates a network of branches and offices throughout the US, Canada, and the UK.

Capital One Financial Corporation is the holding company for Capital One Bank (USA), National Association; and Capital One, National Association, which provides various financial products and services in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Capital One Financial Corporation operates in three segments: Credit Card, Consumer Banking, and Commercial Banking. The Credit Card segment operates a wide range of revolving consumer credit cards while the Consumer Banking segment offers a range of traditional banking and investment products including auto and home loans, savings, and certificates of deposit. The Commercial segment offers business accounts, financing, commercial and multifamily real estate, and commercial and industrial loans.

In the US, the company serves its clients through digital channels, branches, cafes, and other distribution channels located in New York, Louisiana, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and California. Digital services include online accounts, account services, loan applications, and investments. Among the many features of banking with Capital One are fee-free checking accounts, cloud-based financial tracking services, and Capital One Cafes. The company operates more than 40 cafes across the US where anyone, not just account holders, can get a coffee or snack as well as improve their financial education. The cafes are equipped with ample public space, nooks for private work, and even event space for meetings.

Capital One continues to advance the digital financial industry to this day. The company was among the first to move its operations to the cloud, doing so in 2012, and it is now developing machine learning, open source, and cloud technology applications to help detect and prevent fraud, secure accounts, and improve banking services.

Capital One is committed to aiding the worlds fight against climate change. To that end, it is pursuing several avenues that include influencing its value chain, fostering a sustainable office culture that is in sync with its surroundings, promoting and financing sustainable energy projects, and transparency in regard to its climate goals.
Govt to frame draft of new economic policy by May

The Ministry of Finance is working to prepare the final draft of the new Economic Policy within mid-May, which, once finalised, will help subsequent governments to steer the economy as per the vision set by the new constitution.
National Grid plc transmits and distributes electricity and gas. The company operates through UK Electricity Transmission, UK Electricity Distribution, UK Electricity System Operator, New England, and New York segments. The UK Electricity Transmission segment provides electricity transmission and construction work services in England and Wales. The UK Electricity Distribution segment offers electricity distribution services in Midlands, and South West of England and South Wales. The UK Electricity System Operator segment provides balancing services for supply and demand of electricity on Great Britain's electricity transmission system; and acts as an agent on behalf of transmission operators. The New England segment offers electricity and gas distribution, and electricity transmission services in New England. The New York segment provides electricity and gas distribution, and electricity transmission services in New York. It also engages in the provision of transmission services through electricity interconnectors and LNG importation at the Isle of Grain; sale of renewables projects; and leasing and sale of commercial property, as well as insurance activities in the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
The following companies are subsidiares of CVS Health: ACS ACQCO CORP., ADMINCO Inc., AE Fourteen Incorporated, AHP Holdings Inc., AMC - Tennessee LLC, APS Acquisition LLC, ASCO HealthCare LLC, ASI Wings LLC, AUSHC Holdings Inc., Accendo Insurance Company, Accordant Health Services L.L.C., Active Health Management Inc., Administrative Enterprises Inc., AdvancePCS SpecialtyRx LLC, AdvanceRx.com L.L.C., Advanced Care Scripts Inc., Aetna, Aetna (Beijing) Enterprise Management Services Co. Ltd., Aetna (Shanghai) Enterprise Services Co. Ltd., Aetna ACO Holdings Inc., Aetna Asset Advisors LLC, Aetna Behavioral Health LLC, Aetna Better Health Inc., Aetna Better Health Inc., Aetna Better Health Premier Plan MMAI Inc., Aetna Better Health of California Inc., Aetna Better Health of Florida Inc., Aetna Better Health of Illinois Inc., Aetna Better Health of Indiana Inc., Aetna Better Health of Kansas Inc., Aetna Better Health of Missouri LLC, Aetna Better Health of Nevada Inc., Aetna Better Health of North Carolina Inc., Aetna Better Health of Oklahoma Inc., Aetna Better Health of Tennessee Inc., Aetna Better Health of Texas Inc., Aetna Better Health of Washington Inc., Aetna Capital Management LLC, Aetna Card Solutions LLC, Aetna Corporate Services LLC, Aetna Dental Inc., Aetna Dental of California Inc., Aetna Financial Holdings LLC, Aetna Florida Inc., Aetna Global Benefits (Asia Pacific) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Bermuda) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Europe) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Middle East) LLC, Aetna Global Benefits (Singapore) PTE. LTD., Aetna Health Holdings LLC, Aetna Health Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Aetna Health Insurance Company, Aetna Health Insurance Company of Europe DAC, Aetna Health Insurance Company of New York, Aetna Health Management LLC, Aetna Health and Life Insurance Company, Aetna Health of California Inc., Aetna Health of Iowa Inc., Aetna Health of Michigan Inc., Aetna Health of Ohio Inc., Aetna Health of Utah Inc., Aetna HealthAssurance Pennsylvania Inc., Aetna Holdco (UK) Limited, Aetna Holdings (Thailand) Limited, Aetna Inc., Aetna Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Aetna Insurance Company Limited, Aetna Insurance Company of Connecticut, Aetna Integrated Informatics Inc., Aetna International Ex Pat LLC, Aetna International LLC, Aetna Ireland Inc., Aetna Life & Casualty (Bermuda) Ltd., Aetna Life Assignment Company, Aetna Life Insurance Company, Aetna Medicaid Administrators LLC, Aetna Network Services LLC, Aetna Partners Diversified Fund LLC, Aetna Pharmacy Management Services LLC, Aetna Resources LLC, Aetna Risk Assurance Company of Connecticut Inc., Aetna Rx Home Delivery LLC, Aetna Services (Thailand) Limited, Aetna Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Aetna Student Health Agency Inc., Aetna Ventures LLC, Aetna Workers Comp Access LLC, Alabama CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Alaska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Allina Health and Aetna Health Plan Inc., Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, American Drug Stores Delaware L.L.C., Arbor Drugs, Arizona CVS Stores L.L.C., Arkansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Badger Acquisition LLC, Badger Acquisition of Kentucky LLC, Badger Acquisition of Minnesota LLC, Badger Acquisition of Ohio LLC, Banner Health and Aetna Health Insurance Company, Banner Health and Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Banner Health and Aetna Health Plan Inc., Beauty Holdings L.L.C., Best Care LTC Acquisition Company LLC, Busse CVS L.L.C., CCI Foreign S.a R.L., CCRx Holdings LLC, CCRx of North Carolina LLC, CHP Acquisition LLC, CP Acquisition LLC, CVS 2948 Henderson L.L.C., CVS 3268 Gilbert L.L.C., CVS 3745 Peoria L.L.C., CVS AL Distribution L.L.C., CVS AOC Corporation, CVS AOC Services L.L.C., CVS Albany L.L.C., CVS Bellmore Avenue L.L.C., CVS Cabot Holdings Inc., CVS Cabot Holdings Inc.  Coram Clinical Trials Inc. 99.72%/Aetna Inc. .28%, CVS Care Concierge LLC, CVS Caremark Advanced Technology Pharmacy L.L.C., CVS Caremark Indemnity Ltd., CVS Caremark Part D Services L.L.C., CVS Caremark TN SUTA LLC, CVS Foreign Inc., CVS Gilbert 3272 L.L.C., CVS Health Applications LLC, CVS Health Solutions LLC, CVS Health Ventures Fund GP LLC, CVS Health Ventures Fund LP, CVS Health Ventures Management LLC, CVS Indiana L.L.C., CVS International L.L.C., CVS Kidney Care Advanced Technologies LLC, CVS Kidney Care Health Services LLC, CVS Kidney Care Home Dialysis LLC, CVS Kidney Care LLC, CVS Management Support LLC, CVS Manchester NH L.L.C., CVS Media Exchange LLC, CVS Michigan L.L.C., CVS Orlando FL Distribution L.L.C., CVS PA Distribution L.L.C., CVS PR Center Inc., CVS Pharmacy Inc., CVS Pharmacy Overseas Online LLC, CVS RS Arizona L.L.C., CVS Rx Services Inc., CVS SC Distribution L.L.C., CVS Shaw Holdings Inc., CVS Shaw Holdings Inc.  Coram Clinical Trials Inc. 99.72%/Aetna Inc. .28%, CVS State Capital L.L.C., CVS TN Distribution L.L.C., CVS Transportation L.L.C., CVS Vero FL Distribution L.L.C., CVS-SHC Kidney Care Home Dialysis of Austin LLC, CVS-SHC Kidney Care Home Dialysis of Los Angeles LLC, CVS-SHC Kidney Care Home Dialysis of Philadelphia LLC, CVS-SHC Renal Holdings LLC, Campos Medical Pharmacy LLC, Canal Place LLC, Care Pharmaceutical Services LP, CareCenter Pharmacy L.L.C., Carefree Insurance Services Inc., Caremark Arizona Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Arizona Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark California Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Florida Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Florida Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Hawaii Mail Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Hawaii Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark IPA L.L.C., Caremark Illinois Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Illinois Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Irving Resource Center LLC, Caremark Kansas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark L.L.C., Caremark Logistics LLC, Caremark Louisiana Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Maryland Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Massachusetts Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Michigan Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Minnesota Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark New Jersey Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark North Carolina Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ohio Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Pennsylvania Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark PhC L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Redlands Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Repack LLC, Caremark Rx L.L.C., Caremark Tennessee Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ulysses Holding Corp., Caremark Washington Specialty Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Alabama Mail Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Health L.L.C., CaremarkPCS L.L.C., Central Rx Services LLC, Cofinity Inc., Compscript LLC, Connecticut CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Continental Life Insurance Company of Brentwood Tennessee, Continuing Care Rx LLC, Coram Alternate Site Services Inc., Coram Clinical Trials Inc., Coram Clinical Trials Inc.  CVS Pharmacy Inc. 75%/Aetna Life Insurance Company 25%, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Alabama, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater D.C., Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater New York, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Indiana, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Massachusetts, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Mississippi, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Nevada, Coram Healthcare Corporation of North Texas, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Northern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Utah, Coram LLC, Coram Rx LLC, Coram Specialty Infusion, Coram Specialty Infusion Services L.L.C., Coventry Consumer Advantage Inc., Coventry Health Care National Accounts Inc., Coventry Health Care National Network Inc., Coventry Health Care of Illinois Inc., Coventry Health Care of Kansas Inc., Coventry Health Care of Missouri Inc., Coventry Health Care of Nebraska Inc., Coventry Health Care of Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Care of West Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Plan of Florida Inc., Coventry Health and Life Insurance Company, Coventry HealthCare Management Corporation, Coventry Prescription Management Services Inc., Coventry Transplant Network Inc., Credentials Inc., D & R Pharmaceutical Services LLC, D.A.W. LLC, Delaware CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Delaware Physicians Care Incorporated, District of Columbia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., E.T.B. INC., Echo Merger Sub Inc., Eckerd Corporation of Florida Inc., Employee Assistance Services LLC, Enloe Drugs LLC, Enterprise Patient Safety Organization LLC, EntrustRX, Evergreen Pharmaceutical LLC, Evergreen Pharmaceutical of California LLC, Express Pharmacy Services of PA L.L.C., First Choice of the Midwest LLC, First Health Group Corp., First Health Life & Health Insurance Company, Florida Health Plan Administrators LLC, Garfield Beach CVS L.L.C., Generation Health L.L.C., Geneva Woods Health Services LLC, Geneva Woods LTC Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Management LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Alaska LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Washington LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Wyoming LLC, Geneva Woods Retail Pharmacy LLC, Georgia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., German Dobson CVS L.L.C., Goodhealth Worldwide (Asia) Limited, Goodhealth Worldwide (Global) Limited, Goodyear CVS L.L.C., Grand St. Paul CVS L.L.C., Grandview Pharmacy LLC, Group Dental Service Inc., Health Care Management Co. Ltd., Health Data & Management Solutions Inc., Health Re Inc., Health and Human Resource Center Inc., HealthAssurance Pennsylvania Inc., Highland Park CVS L.L.C., Holiday CVS L.L.C., Home Care Pharmacy LLC, Home Pharmacy Services LLC, Hook-SupeRx L.L.C., Horizon Behavioral Services LLC, Idaho CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., IlliniCare Health, Indian Health Organisation Private Limited, Innovation Health Holdings LLC, Innovation Health Insurance Company, Innovation Health Plan Inc., Interlock Pharmacy Systems LLC, Iowa CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., JHC Acquisition LLC, Kansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Kentucky CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., LCPS Acquisition LLC, Langsam Health Services LLC, Lo-Med Prescription Services LLC, Lobos Acquisition LLC, Longs Drug Stores, Longs Drug Stores California L.L.C., Louisiana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., MHHP Acquisition Company LLC, MHNet Specialty Services LLC, MHNet of Florida Inc., Main Street Pharmacy L.L.C., Managed Care Coordinators Inc., Managed Healthcare LLC, Martin Health Services LLC, Maryland CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Med World Acquisition Corp., Medical Arts Health Care LLC, Medical Examinations of New York P.C., Melville Realty Company Inc., MemberHealth LLC, Mental Health Associates Inc., Mental Health Network of New York IPA Inc., Meritain Health Inc., Merwin Long Term Care LLC, Minor Health Enterprise Co Ltd., MinuteClinic, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Alabama L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Arizona LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Arkansas LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Colorado LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Florida LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Georgia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Hawaii L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Illinois LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Kentucky L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Louisiana L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maine L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maryland LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Massachusetts LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Nebraska L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Hampshire L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Mexico L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Ohio LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oklahoma LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oregon LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Pennsylvania LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Rhode Island LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of South Carolina L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Texas LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Utah L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Virginia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Washington LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Wisconsin L.L.C., MinuteClinic L.L.C., MinuteClinic Online Diagnostic Services LLC, MinuteClinic Physician Practice of Texas, MinuteClinic Telehealth Services LLC, MinuteClinic Telehealth Services of Texas Association, Mississippi CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Missouri CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Montana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NCS Healthcare of Illinois LLC, NCS Healthcare of Iowa LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kansas LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kentucky LLC, NCS Healthcare of Montana LLC, NCS Healthcare of New Mexico LLC, NCS Healthcare of Ohio LLC, NCS Healthcare of South Carolina LLC, NCS Healthcare of Tennessee LLC, NCS Healthcare of Wisconsin LLC, NIV Acquisition LLC, Navarro Discount Pharmacy, Nebraska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NeighborCare Pharmacy Services LLC, NeighborCare of Indiana LLC, NeighborCare of Virginia LLC, New Jersey CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Niagara Re Inc., North Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., North Shore Pharmacy Services LLC, NovoLogix LLC, OCR Services LLC, Ocean Acquisition Sub L.L.C., Ohio CVS Stores L.L.C., Oklahoma CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Omnicare, Omnicare Indiana Partnership Holding Company LLC, Omnicare LLC, Omnicare LLC  Aetna Inc 0.28%/CVS Cabot Holdings Inc. 49.86%/CVS Shaw Holdings Inc. 49.86%, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania West LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of the Great Plains Holding LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy and Supply Services LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of Tennessee LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of the Midwest LLC, Omnicare Property Management LLC, Omnicare of Nebraska LLC, Omnicare of Nevada LLC, Omnicare of New York LLC, Oregon CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., PE Holdings LLC, PHPSNE Parent Corporation, PP Acquisition Company LLC, PRN Pharmaceutical Services LP, PT Aetna Management Consulting, Pamplona Saude e Beleza LTDA, Part D Holding Company L.L.C., PayFlex Systems USA Inc., Pennsylvania CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Performax Inc., Pharmacy Associates of Glenn Falls LLC, Pharmacy Consultants LLC, Phoenix Data Solutions LLC, Precision Benefit Services Inc., Prime Net Inc., ProCare Pharmacy Direct L.L.C., ProCare Pharmacy L.L.C., Prodigy Health Group Inc., Professional Risk Management Inc., Puerto Rico CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Red Oak Sourcing LLC, Resources for Living LLC, Rhode Island CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Roeschens Healthcare LLC, RxAmerica, Schaller Anderson Medical Administrators Incorporated, Scrip World LLC, Sheffield Avenue CVS L.L.C., Shore Pharmaceutical Providers LLC, Silverscript Insurance Company, Soma Intimates, South Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., South Wabash CVS L.L.C., Specialized Pharmacy Services LLC, Stadtlander Drug Company, Stadtlander Pharmacy, Sterling Healthcare Services LLC, Superior Care Pharmacy LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Administrative Services LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, T2 Medical Inc., TCPI Acquisition LLC, TargetPharmacy, Tennessee CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Company, Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Texas Health + Aetna Health Plan Inc., The Vasquez Group Inc., Thomas Phoenix CVS L.L.C., Three Forks Apothecary LLC, U.S Healthcare Holdings LLC, U.S. Healthcare Properties Inc., UAC Holding Inc., UC Acquisition LLC, UNI-Care Health Services of Maine LLC, Universal American - Medicare Part D Business, Utah CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., VAPS Acquisition Company LLC, Value Health Care Services LLC, Vermont CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virtual Home Healthcare LLC, Warm Springs Road CVS L.L.C., Washington CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Washington Lamb CVS L.L.C., Weber Medical Systems LLC, Wellpartner LLC, West Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Westhaven Services Co LLC, Williamson Drug Company LLC, Wisconsin CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Woodward Detroit CVS L.L.C., Work and Family Benefits Inc., ZS Acquisition Company LLC, Zinc Health Services LLC, Zinc Health Ventures LLC, bSwift LLC, and iTriage LLC.

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Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. operates as bank holding company for the Prosperity Bank that provides financial products and services to businesses and consumers. It accepts various deposit products, such as demand, savings, money market, and time accounts, as well as and certificates of deposit. The company also offers 1-4 family residential mortgage, commercial real estate and multifamily residential, commercial and industrial, agricultural, and non-real estate agricultural loans, as well as construction, land development, and other land loans; consumer loans, including automobile, recreational vehicle, boat, home improvement, personal, and deposit account collateralized loans; and consumer durables and home equity loans, as well as loans for working capital, business expansion, and purchase of equipment and machinery. In addition, it provides internet banking, mobile banking, trust and wealth management, retail brokerage, mortgage services, and treasury management, as well as debit and credit cards. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated 273 full-service banking locations comprising 65 in the Houston area, including The Woodlands; 30 in the South Texas area including Corpus Christi and Victoria; 63 in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area; 22 in the East Texas area; 29 in the Central Texas area, including Austin and San Antonio; 34 in the West Texas area, including Lubbock, Midland-Odessa and Abilene; 16 in the Bryan/College Station area; 6 in the Central Oklahoma area; and 8 in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area doing business as LegacyTexas Bank. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in Houston, Texas.
India French envoy Pascal Mazurier acquitted of raping daughter

A former French diplomat charged with raping his three-year-old daughter in India has been cleared of all charges.
Occidental Petroleum Corporation is an international oil and gas giant founded in 1920 to explore for oil in California. The company made its name in the early 1960safter discovering the Lathrop Gas Field in Lathrop, California. The company expanded into chemicals manufacturing in 1968 and then in 1972 it became a pioneer in the quest to extract oil from shale. In 1993, the company made a historic move by exiting its coal operations, and then it did so again when it embraced a lower carbon future.

The company worked to realign its goals with a carbon-free future in 2021. After extensive review, new carbon emission targets were laid out along with a plan that the Transition Pathway Initiative recognized as being 1 of 3 coming from major oil companies that could realistically result in net-zero emissions by 2050. Since then the company has laid interim goals that include net zero from operations and energy by 2040 and no routine flaring by 2030.

Today, Occidental Petroleum is an integrated energy company with operations in the US, the Middle East, Africa, and Columbia along with some other smaller operations. The company operates a network of best-in-class production, delivery, and storage facilities with operations centered in the US. On a net basis, the companys US operations accounted for more than 75% of the total in 2022 with 19% from Middle East operations and the remainder from Columbia and elsewhere.

The company engages in the oil & gas business as an explorer, producer, and mid-stream infrastructure operator. The company operates through three segments that include Oil and Gas, Chemicals, and Midstream & Marketing.

The oil and gas segment explores for oil, develops new fields, and produces hydrocarbon liquids, gasses, and condensates. The chemicals segment manufactures a range of chemicals including chlorine, potassium chemicals, and vinyl. The midstream segment transports, stores, and markets hydrocarbons. It is the 6th largest oil and gas producer in the US by market cap. The company attained the position after its acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum in 2019, the 4th largest oil and gas acquisition at the time.

Berkshire Hathaway became Occidental Petroleums largest shareholder in mid-2022. The firm had purchased more than 26% of the shares as of 10/14/2022 and had regulatory approval to purchase up to 50% of the company in total.
The following companies are subsidiares of Sonoco Products: Associated Packaging Technologies Inc., Can Packaging, Clear Lam Packaging Inc., Clear Pack Co., Conitex Sonoco (BVI) Ltd., Corenso Holdings America Inc., CorrFlex Graphics LLC, Demolli Industria Cartaria S.p.A., Engraph Inc., Graffo Paranaense de Embalagens S/A, Hayes Manufacturing Group, Highland Packaging Solutions, Laminar Medica, Matrix Packaging Inc., PT Conitex Sonoco, PT Papcor Asia Pacific, PT Papertech Indonesia, PT Sonoco Indonesia, PenPack LLC, Peninsula Packaging Company, Peninsula Packaging LLC, Penpack S. de R.L. de C.V., Phoenix Packaging Corp., Plastique Holdings LTD, SMB GmbH, SPC Capital Management Inc, SPC Liquidation LLC, SPC Management LLC, SPC Resources Inc, SR Holdings of the Carolinas LLC, Sebro Plastics Inx, Sonoco (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Sonoco (Taicang) Packaging Co. Ltd, Sonoco (Weifang) Packaging Company Ltd, Sonoco Absorbent Technologies LLC, Sonoco Absorbent Technologies Limited, Sonoco Alcore - Demolli S.r.l., Sonoco Alcore AB, Sonoco Alcore GmbH, Sonoco Alcore N.V., Sonoco Alcore Nederland B.V., Sonoco Ambalaj Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Sonoco Asia Holding S.a.r.l., Sonoco Asia LLC, Sonoco Asia Management Company LLC, Sonoco Australia Pty Ltd, Sonoco Board Mills Limited, Sonoco Bonmati S.A.U., Sonoco Canada Corporation, Sonoco Capseals Liners Limited, Sonoco Comercial S. de R.L. de C.V., Sonoco Consumer Products Dordrecht B.V. (fka Dorpak B.V.), Sonoco Consumer Products Europe GmbH (fka Weidenhammer Packaging Group GmbH), Sonoco Consumer Products Hellas S.A. (fka Weidenhammer Hellas S.A.), Sonoco Consumer Products Limited, Sonoco Consumer Products Mechelen BVBA (fka Weidenhammer Belgium BVBA), Sonoco Consumer Products Montanay SAS (fka Neuvibox SAS), Sonoco Consumer Products Poland Sp. Z.O.O., Sonoco Consumer Products SAS, Sonoco Consumer Products South Africa (PTY) Ltd., Sonoco Consumer Products Zwenkau GmbH (fka fka Weidenhammer Plastice Packaging GmbH), Sonoco Cores and Paper Limited, Sonoco Deutschland GmbH, Sonoco Deutschland Holdings GmbH, Sonoco Development Inc, Sonoco Elk Grove Inc, Sonoco Embalagens Ltda. (fka Sonoco Embalagens S.A.), Sonoco Flexible Packaging Canada Corporation, Sonoco Flexible Packaging Co. Inc, Sonoco Graphics India Private Limited, Sonoco Hickory Inc, Sonoco Holdings Inc, Sonoco Holdings UK Limited, Sonoco Hutchinson LLC, Sonoco IPD France SAS, Sonoco Iberia S.L.U., Sonoco International Holdings GmbH, Sonoco JV GmbH & Co. KG, Sonoco Kaiping Packaging Co. Ltd., Sonoco Limited, Sonoco Luxembourg Holding S.a.r.l., Sonoco Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Sonoco Milnrow, Sonoco Netherlands Holding II BV, Sonoco Netherlands Holding III BV, Sonoco New Zealand Limited, Sonoco Operadora S. de R.L. de C.V., Sonoco Packaging Limited, Sonoco Packaging Tapes Limited, Sonoco Paper Mill & IPD Hellas SA, Sonoco Paperboard Group LLC, Sonoco Partitions Inc, Sonoco Phoenix LLC, Sonoco Pina S.A.U., Sonoco Plastics B.V., Sonoco Plastics Canada ULC, Sonoco Plastics Germany GmbH, Sonoco Plastics Inc, Sonoco Poland Holdings B.V., Sonoco Polysack A/S Inc, Sonoco Polysack Limited, Sonoco Products Company UK, Sonoco Products Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Sonoco Protective Solutions Inc, Sonoco Recycling - International Trade Group LLC, Sonoco Recycling LLC, Sonoco Reels Limited, Sonoco Retail Packaging S. de R.L. de C.V., Sonoco S.A. de C.V., Sonoco SAS, Sonoco Saudi Limited Company, Sonoco Services LLC, Sonoco Singapore Pte. Ltd., Sonoco TEQ Holdings Ltd, Sonoco TEQ LLC, Sonoco TEQ Ltd, Sonoco TEQ Sp. Z.o.o, Sonoco Taiwan Ltd, Sonoco Thailand Ltd, Sonoco UK Leasing Limited, Sonoco Venezolana C.A., Sonoco Venture International Holdings GmbH, Sonoco Ventures UK Limited, Sonoco Wisconsin Rapids Core Plant LLC, Sonoco Wisconsin Rapids Inc, Sonoco Wisconsin Rapids Paper Mill LLC, Sonoco Yatai Pinghu Packaging Co Ltd, Sonoco de Colombia Ltda, Sonoco do Brasil Participacoes Ltda, Sonoco do Brazil Ltda, Sonoco of Puerto Rico Inc, Sonoco-Alcore AS, Sonoco-Alcore Oy, Sonoco-Alcore S.a.r.l., Sonoco-Alcore Sp. Z.O.O., Sonoco-Engraph Puerto Rico Inc, TPT Limited, Tegrant Alloyd Brands Inc, Tegrant Corporation, Tegrant International Inc, Tegrant Property Holdings LLC, Tegrant de Mexico S.A. de C.V., ThermoSafe Brands Asia PTE LTD, ThermoSafe Brands Europe Ltd., Thermoform Engineered Quality LLC, Trident Graphics Canada Corporation, Trident Graphics NA LLC, Tubo-Tec Nordeste Industria, U.S. Paper Mills Corp., Weidenhammer Chile Ltda., Weidenhammer Packaging Group, Weidenhammer UK Ltd., and Wisenberg U.S. Inc.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Becton, Dickinson and: Accuri Cytometers, Accuri Cytometers Inc., Alverix Inc, Alverix Inc., Atto Bioscience Inc, BD Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., BD Infection Prevention BV, BD Kiestra BV, BD Kiestra Total Lab Automation, BD Rapid Diagnostic (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., BD San Luis Potosi S.A. de C.V., BD Switzerland Sarl, BD Ventures LLC, BD West Africa Limited, BDX INO LLC, Bard (Thailand) Limited, Bard ASDI Inc., Bard Access Systems Inc., Bard Acquisition Sub Inc., Bard Australia Pty. Limited, Bard Benelux N.V., Bard Brachytherapy Inc., Bard Brasil Industria e Comercio de Produtos Para a Saude Ltda., Bard Canada Inc., Bard Chile S.p.A., Bard Czech Republic s.r.o., Bard Devices Inc., Bard Dublin ITC Limited, Bard EMEA Finance Center Sp.z o.o., Bard European Distribution Center N.V., Bard Finance B.V. & Co. KG., Bard Financial Services Ltd., Bard Finland OY, Bard France S.A.S., Bard Global Holdings I LLC, Bard Global Holdings II LLC, Bard Global Holdings III LLC, Bard Healthcare Inc., Bard Healthcare Science (Shanghai) Limited, Bard Hellas S.A., Bard Holding SAS, Bard Holdings Limited, Bard Holdings Netherlands B.V., Bard Hong Kong Limited, Bard IP Holdings Inc., Bard India Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., Bard International Holdings B.V., Bard International Inc., Bard Istanbul Healthcare Limited Company, Bard Korea Ltd., Bard Limited, Bard MRL Acquisition Corp., Bard Malaysia Healthcare Sdn. Bhd., Bard Medica SA, Bard Medical Devices (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Bard Medical R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Bard Medical SA (Proprietary) Limited, Bard Mexico Realty S. de R.L. de C.V., Bard Norden AB, Bard Norway AS, Bard Pacific Health Care Company Ltd., Bard Peripheral Vascular Inc., Bard Poland Sp. z.o.o., Bard Productos Plasticos e Medicos Ltda., Bard Reynosa S.A. de C.V., Bard S.r.l., Bard Sdn. Bhd., Bard Shannon Limited, Bard Singapore Private Limited, Bard Sourcing Office Singapore Pte. Ltd., Bard Sweden AB, Bard UK Newco Limited, Bard de Espana S.A., Becton Dickinson (Gibraltar) Holdings Ltd., Becton Dickinson (Gibraltar) Limited, Becton Dickinson (Gibraltar) Management Limited, Becton Dickinson (Mauritius) Limited, Becton Dickinson (Pty) Ltd., Becton Dickinson (Thailand) Limited, Becton Dickinson A.G., Becton Dickinson A/S, Becton Dickinson Argentina S.R.L., Becton Dickinson Asia Holdings Ltd., Becton Dickinson Asia Limited, Becton Dickinson Austria GmbH, Becton Dickinson Austria Holdings GmbH, Becton Dickinson B.V., Becton Dickinson B.V. Saudi Limited Company, Becton Dickinson Benelux N.V., Becton Dickinson Biosciences Systems and Reagents Inc., Becton Dickinson Canada Inc., Becton Dickinson Caribe Ltd., Becton Dickinson Croatia d.o.o., Becton Dickinson Czechia s.r.o., Becton Dickinson Dispensing Belgium BVBA, Becton Dickinson Dispensing Denmark A/S, Becton Dickinson Dispensing France SAS, Becton Dickinson Dispensing Ireland Limited, Becton Dickinson Dispensing Norway, Becton Dickinson Dispensing Spain S.L.U., Becton Dickinson Dispensing UK Ltd., Becton Dickinson Distribution Center N.V., Becton Dickinson East Africa Ltd., Becton Dickinson Euro Finance Sarl, Becton Dickinson Europe Holdings S.A.S., Becton Dickinson France S.A.S., Becton Dickinson GSA Beteilgungs GmbH, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings I Inc., Becton Dickinson Global Holdings II LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings IV LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings V LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings VII LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings VIII LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Services Centre Sdn. 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Bard Inc, CME America LLC, CME Ltd., CME Medical (UK) Limited, CME UK (Holdings) Limited, CRISI Medical Systems, CRISI Medical Systems Inc., Caesarea Medical Electronics, Cardal II LLC, Care Fusion Development Private Limited, CareFusion (Barbados) SrL, CareFusion (Shanghai) Commercial and Trading Co. Limited, CareFusion 213 LLC, CareFusion 2200 Inc., CareFusion 2201 Inc., CareFusion 302 LLC, CareFusion 303 Inc., CareFusion Asia (HK) Limited, CareFusion Corporation, CareFusion Corporation., CareFusion D.R. 203 Ltd., CareFusion France 309 S.A.S., CareFusion Israel 330 Ltd., CareFusion Italy 312 S.p.A., CareFusion Manufacturing LLC, CareFusion Mexico 215 S.A. de C.V., CareFusion Netherlands 328 B.V., CareFusion Netherlands 503 B.V., CareFusion Netherlands 504 B.V., CareFusion Netherlands Financing 283 C.V., CareFusion Resources LLC, CareFusion S.A. 319 (Proprietary) Limited, CareFusion Solutions LLC, CareFusion U.K. 244 Limited, CareFusion U.K. 305 Limited, CareFusion U.K. 306 Limited, Carmel Pharma AB, Carmel Pharma Inc, Cato Software Solutions, Cell Analysis Systems Inc, Cellular Research, Cellular Research Inc., Clearstream Technologies Group Limited, Clearstream Technologies Limited, Clontech Laboratories Inc, Corporativo BD de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Critical Device Corporation, Cubex, Cytognos, Cytopeia Inc, DLD (Bermuda) Ltd., DVL Acquisition Sub Inc., Davol Inc., Davol International Limited, Davol Surgical Innovations S.A. de C.V., Difco Laboratories Incorporated, Distribuidora BD Mexico S.A. de C.V., Dutch American Manufacturers (D.A.M.) B.V., Dymax Corporation, Embo Medical Limited, Enturia de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Enturican Inc., FJ International Inc., FlowCardia Inc., FlowCardia LLC, FlowJo LLC, Franklin Lakes Enterprises L.L.C., GSL Solutions, Gamer Lasertechnik GmbH, GenCell Biosystems, GenCell Biosystems Ltd., GeneOhm Sciences Canada ULC, GeneOhm Sciences Inc, Gentest Corporation, Gesco International Inc., Gesco International LLC, Glentech Inc, HandyLab Inc, HandyLab Inc., IBD Holdings LLC, Iontophoretics Corporation, JoHome LLC, Kabushiki Kaisha Medicon (Medicon Inc.), Liberator Health and Education Services Inc., Liberator Health and Wellness Inc., Liberator Medical Holdings Inc., Liberator Medical Supply Inc., Limited Liability Company Bard Rus, Loma Vista Medical Inc., Loma Vista Medical LLC, Luther Medical Products Inc, Lutonix Inc., Med-Design Corporation, Med-Design Investment Holdings Inc., Med-Safe Systems Inc, Med-Safe Systems Inc., MedChem Products Inc., Medafor Inc., Medegen LLC, Medinservice.com Inc., Medivance Inc., NAT Diagnostics Inc., NAT Diagnostics Inc., NOW Medical Distribution Inc., NOW Medical Distribution LLC, Navarre Biomedical LLC, Navarre Biomedical Ltd., Neomend Inc., Nippon Becton Dickinson Company Ltd., Omega Biosystems Incorporated, P.R.C. (Isialys) Societe a responsabilitie limitee, PT Becton Dickinson Indonesia, PharMingen, PharMingen., Plasso Technology Ltd, PreAnalytiX GmbH, Pristine Access Technologies Inc., ProSeed Inc., Procesos para Esterilizacion S.A. de C.V., Productos Bard de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Productos Para el Cuidado de la Salud S.A. de C.V., Puls Medical Devices AS LC, PureWick Corporation, Roberts Laboratories Inc., Rochester Medical Corporation, Rochester Medical Ltd., Saf-T-Med Inc, Safety Syringes Inc., Scanwell Health Inc., Sendal S.L.U., SenoRx Inc., SenoRx LLC, Shield Healthcare Centers Inc., Sirigen Group Limited, Sirigen II Limited, Sirigen Inc., Sistemas Medicos ALARIS S.A. de C.V., Specialized Cooperative Corporation, Specialized Health Products Inc., Specialized Health Products International Inc., Specialized Health Products International LLC, Staged Diabetes Management LLC, Straub Medical AG, Straub Medical AG, Surgical Site Solutions Inc., TVA Medical Inc, TVA Medical Inc., Tepha Inc, Tepha Inc., Tissuemed Ltd., Tri-County Medical & Ostomy Supplies Inc., TriPath Imaging Inc., Tru-Fit Marketing Corporation, Vas-Cath Incorporated, Vascular Pathways Inc., Velano Vascular, Velano Vascular Inc., Venclose Inc., Venetec International Inc., Venetec International LLC, Visitec, Y-Med Inc., Y-Med LLC, and ZebraSci Inc..

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Suncor Energy Inc. operates as an integrated energy company. The company primarily focuses on developing petroleum resource basins in Canada's Athabasca oil sands; explores, acquires, develops, produces, transports, refines, and markets crude oil in Canada and internationally; markets petroleum and petrochemical products under the Petro-Canada name primarily in Canada. It operates through Oil Sands; Exploration and Production; Refining and Marketing; and Corporate and Eliminations segments. The Oil Sands segment recovers bitumen from mining and in situ operations, and upgrades it into refinery feedstock and diesel fuel, or blends the bitumen with diluent for direct sale to market. The Exploration and Production segment is involved in offshore operations off the east coast of Canada and in the North Sea; and operating onshore assets in Libya and Syria. The Refining and Marketing segment refines crude oil and intermediate feedstock into various petroleum and petrochemical products; and markets refined petroleum products to retail, commercial, and industrial customers through its other retail sellers. The Corporate and Eliminations segment operates four wind farms in Ontario and Western Canada. The company also markets and trades in crude oil, natural gas, byproducts, refined products, and power. The company was formerly known as Suncor Inc. and changed its name to Suncor Energy Inc. in April 1997. Suncor Energy Inc. was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
Industry Ministry unveils plan to create job opportunity for one million in a decade

The Ministry of Industry has unveiled an ambitious plan with the promise of attracting foreign investment in domestic industrial sector and thus creating employment opportunities for one million people within the next 10 years.
Vesuvius plc provides engineering services and solutions principally to steel and foundry industries worldwide. It operates in two divisions, Steel and Foundry. The company offers foundry consumables and equipment, including binders, coatings, feeding systems, filtration and gating systems, melt shop refractories, metallurgical and pouring control systems, die dressings and coatings, melt treatment products, crucibles, and ceramics for the iron, steel, and nonferrous foundries. It also provides nonferrous metals, such as primary and secondary aluminum, copper, and other metals and alloys; cement and lime solutions, iron ore pelletizing and calcination products, and grains and powders; and process heaters, FCC units, hydrogen reformers, boilers, coke calciners, and thermal oxidizers, as well as sulphur, ethylene, and ammonia plants. In addition, the company offers solutions for power generation and incineration; glass products comprising artistic, display, float, hollow, and optical glass; glass tempering, and reheat and forming products; and solutions for solar multicrystal silicon ingots, thin film and cell processing, and feedstock. Further, it provides solutions for blast furnace stack repair; taphole clay, iron and slang runner, sampler and temperature, tilting runner, and torpedo ladle solutions; iron ladle solutions; lining, taphole system, bath agitation and tuyere system, electric arc furnace and BOF maintenance, and metallurgical sensor solutions; and ladle, ladle to tundish, and tundish solutions, as well as tundish to mold solutions for conventional slab, thin and slim slab, beam blank, flow control valve bloom or billet, and calibrated nozzle billet casters. Additionally, the company offers ingot casting solutions; and reheat furnace, steel hot forming, galvanized steel, and electrical and stainless-steel solutions. Vesuvius plc was founded in 1916 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
First Horizon Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Horizon Bank that provides various financial services. The company operates through three segments: Regional Banking, Specialty Banking, and Corporate. It offers general banking services for consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments. The company also underwrites bank-eligible securities and other fixed-income securities eligible for underwriting by financial subsidiaries; sells loans and derivatives; and offers advisory services. In addition, it offers various services, such as mortgage banking; title insurance and loan-closing; brokerage; correspondent banking; nationwide check clearing and remittance processing; trust, fiduciary, and agency; equipment finance; and investment and financial advisory services. Further, the company sells mutual fund and retail insurance products; and credit cards. It operates approximately 500 banking offices in 22 states under the First Horizon Bank brand; and 400 banking centers in 12 states under the FHN Financial brand in the United States. The company was formerly known as First Horizon National Corporation and changed its name to First Horizon Corporation in November 2020. First Horizon Corporation was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.
Future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter and former Florida governor Jeb Bush have both been previously reported as potential buyers for the Marlins, but the two have now teamed up in their pursuit of the franchise, reports Douglas Hanks of the Miami Herald. The primary competitor for the Bush-Jeter group appears to by New York financier Wayne Rothbaum, according to Hanks, though other groups could yet be involved in the pursuit.

Marlins president David Samson has been candid about the possibility of a sale this year, and owner Jeffrey Loria has acknowledged that there have been inquiries from potential buyers. Loria reportedly had a handshake agreement in place to sell the team for $1.6 billion to a group led by Joshua Kushner  the brother of Jared Kushner, who serves as a senior advisor to his father-in-law, president Donald Trump. However, Kushner reportedly did not have enough liquid assets to make the purchase at that price, and eventual rumors that Loria could be named the United States ambassador to France further complicated that potential sale. Kushner eventually issued a statement indicating that he would no longer pursue the deal.

Its not known at this time exactly what price the Loria is eyeing in a potential sale, though some reports since the first word of the handshake agreement with Kushner have suggested that the team could sell for quite a bit less than that $1.6 billion figure. It stands to reason, though, that the Bush-Jeter group would need additional members in order to pool the requisite funds to make a purchase feasible. Jeter is one of the wealthiest stars in MLB history but still saw his career earnings end up around $265MM (though that figure does not include the undoubtedly sizable sum he has earned from endorsement deals over the past two-plus decades, to say nothing of other investments and ventures).

Charlie Gasparino and Brian Schwartz of FOX Business reported earlier this month that Jeter was working with former Morgan Stanley brokering chief Gregory Fleming (who is now with a small brokerage firm in New York, per AdvisorHub.coms Mason Bradwell) in his effort to purchase the club. Bush, meanwhile, was said by the FOX Business duo to have enlisted Citigroup to help finance a potential bid. Its possible that all of those parties have merged to form one cohesive effort at purchasing the Marlins organization, though concrete details on the matter have yet to emerge.
The Nationals will no longer utilize Blake Treinen as the closer for the time being, manager Dusty Baker told reporters including Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com (Twitter links). Washington will utilize Shawn Kelley and Koda Glover in some form of ninth-inning time share.

A move in the late-inning mix seemed inevitable after Treinen struggled to find the zone last night. He has struggled quite a bit in the early going, allowing five earned runs on ten hits while allowing six free passes to go with his seven strikeouts.

Though Treinen is still working in his typical velocity range and producing loads of grounders, the contending Nats evidently dont feel hes ready to turn it around in the ninth. Presumably, the club will look to utilize him in the setup role in which he thrived last year.

Kelley and Glover could each stake an individual claim to the job, but the preference seems to be for a mix-and-match approach. The former has continued to rack up an outstanding K/BB ratio  presently, 13.5 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9)  but the Nats have long said they dont view Kelley as a regular closer option due to his history of multiple Tommy John surgeries. Baker says the team prefers not to use him on consecutive nights, as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com tweets.

That could leave the door open for Glover to grab the job and run with it, if hes able to succeed in the opportunities he receives. The skipper is still hoping to utilize a single closer at some point, MLB.coms Jamal Collier notes on Twitter. But the 24-year-old Glover wont get the nod outright at this stage. He not only lacks substantial MLB experience, but has dealt with some minor injury issues (per Bakers suggestion today).
The Queen of the Airwaves, Doreen Andoh is leading a team of listeners of Joy FM on a fun-packed tour of three cities in three different countries.

The tour, Discover The World With Stars of Multimedia, has seen the host of the Cosmopolitan Mix, joined by 45 listeners, to explore the beauty of Singapore, Indonesia and Dubai.

Organised in partnership with Adansi Travels, the team will discover three cities in the fun-packed tour which kicked off on April 17. and will end on April 27.

The first destination of the tour is Singapore. The group will be touring the most exciting attractions in the city for five days. Besides the city tour, they shall do the famous Night Safari.

Their visit to this beautiful Island City wouldnt be complete without taking a cable ride to Sentosa Island, where even the most adventurous are tamed.

After the five days, they will pay a short visit to the fourth most populous country in the world, Indonesia which boasts over 18,000 islands.

The three-day visit will allow the tour participants enjoy night and day life in Jakarta, Indonesias capital. Doreen Andoh and the team will have a city tour of Jakarta on the second day and leave for Singapore on the third day to catch a flight to Dubai.

The 46-member delegation will do a three-day stopover by popular requested. They will be given the opportunity to shop and do optional activities in Dubai.

The group will depart from Dubai on the morning of April 27 and arrive at the Kotoka International Airport on the same day.

This is the second edition of the Discover The World With Stars of Multimedia. Last year, host of Drive Time on Joy FM, Lexis Bill lead a team on an exciting tour of Dubai.

See some photos from the first leg of the tour:



Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Ernest Dela Aglanu (Twitter: @delaXdela / Instagram: citizendela)
Port Elizabeth (South Africa) (AFP) - A court in South Africa Wednesday dropped the case against two students who freed a penguin from a marine park and released it into the sea as protest against animal captivity.

Adrian Donian, 22, and Emile du Plessis, 24, were arrested in September 2016, after they broke into Bayworld oceanarium in Port Elizabeth and snatched "Buddy", an endangered African black-footed penguin.

The magistrate said he had dropped the case because the prosecuting authority had taken too long to decide whether to prosecute the two or not.

Their lawyer, Craig de Lange, had argued that the two be placed in a "rehabilitation programme because they are students and not hardcore criminals".

The animal was wrapped in a shirt and bundled in a car during a nighttime raid.

He was then taken to the coast where he was released into the Indian Ocean.

Officials at the centre had raised concerns that the three-year-old penguin who had lived most of his life in captivity would not survive in the open ocean.

Security camera footage showed the men entering the penguin enclosure and taking selfie photographs before stealing Buddy and later releasing him at the nearby Pollock Beach.

"They believe animals should not be kept in captivity and so they thought they were doing the right thing by releasing the penguin into the wild," said de Lange.

Buddy has never been found since the incident.

African black-footed penguins, also known as jackass penguins due to their braying noise, have been rated as endangered since 2010 after suffering from commercial fishing and shortage of prey.
The NPP government and its social media communicators are making frantic efforts to justify the bond fraud. They are raising the argument that Templeton had also engaged in bond transactions even under Mahama led NDC government. Indeed, Templeton has always participated in Ghana's bonds.

But this argument misses the point on fraud and shady dealing. It is a fact that a person can engage in a legitimate business with an organization who had enforced the rules of engagement strictly and again, engage in an illegitimate and shady transaction in the future just because friendly friends who are now managing the process had relaxed (be it fraudulently) same for an opportunity to earn more.

Bonds issued in the past, at least within this 4th Republic, has been open and transparent. It most often would go through a road show to whip up enthusiasm and interest. After, prospectus is built and submitted to parliament.

To further ensure openness and transparency in raising bonds, the NDC government adopted the Book Building approach instead of the previous plan of using the Bank of Ghana. (Source:http://www.myjoyonline.com/business/2016/June-23rd/government-raises-gh816-million-in-5-year-bond.php)

In the case of Nana Akuffo Addo led NPP government, the whole process was shrouded in secrecy, allowing only one individual to buy over 95% of the bond issued.

Usually, the coupon price of the bond to be issued is determined by market forces. In this case, under the NDC government, the stock exchange regulations was applied. To simplify it, the number of people who show interest in the bond (demand), among other factors, can drive the price higher or lower and it is for this reason that road shows was one of the strategies employed to get demand going high and lowering the coupon price.

It is unheard of for a coupon price to go up to 19% on the principle of the above process.

For the first time in the history of Ghana, the managers of the process in this case: the Finance Minister, his wife and the Attorney General are alleged to be having business relations with one of the persons involved in the individual firm who holds 95% of the bond.

To make matters worse, the chief legal adviser to the government on such contractual agreements claims she is not aware of the whole process. Raising or issuing bonds are all governed by laws of Ghana. And how come the Attorney General and Minister of Justice will claim ignorance of this venture? Is this possible?

Is this a case of day light robbery, or friends colliding to engage in criminality to rob the good people of Ghana?

The people of Ghana demand further particulars and explanation to this transaction from the NPP government. The media need to up its investigative and probing responsibilities to ensure the protection of the public purse.I urge the minority in parliament to invoke all relevant processes and parliamentary rules to ensure fairness and accountability to the good people of Ghana.

When the honeymoon is becoming sour, it is better the clergy and civil society groups demand answers before the marriage gets rotten.
Moscow, Russia, April 19, GNA - The Moscow based B2B Export Group of Companies has announced that the Russian-African Forum (RAF'17) is now scheduled for April 24 to 27 in two west African countries, namely Ghana and Nigeria.

The Forum is supported by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation. In both Accra and in Lagos, the Russian business delegation would hold business meetings with government officials and export promotion councils and groups of local businesses.

'In order to make RAF'17 in Ghana and Nigeria effective and interesting for delegates, we will provide the opportunity of face-time with some of the most influential executives and investors through Business-to-Business ('2'), Government-to-Business (G2B) and Government-to-Government (G2G) meetings.

There will also be business visits organised by Ghanaian companies to increase knowledge and shared experiences of business and investment developments in the region,' according to a press made available to the Ghana News Agency (GNA).

It said further that 'together we will work to define challenges, solutions and actions, always keeping in mind the best interests of our people and their need for safety and prosperity.'

In the spirit of global citizenship, the RAF engages political, business, academic and other leaders in collaborative efforts to shape investment, trade and technology transfer flows between Russia and Africa.

RAF has received positive responses from African business communities that indicate an enormous interest in the goods and services Russian companies can offer. The key reason for the choice of the two west African countries is obvious. The economies of Ghana and Nigeria are one of the fast growing in the region.

The key focus of the countries is to meet the ever growing demand for housing, power, infrastructure, skills development, food safety and trade development to supply the domestic market with consumer goods.

Besides the above common factors, Ghana has developed a stable political environment during the last three decades, leading to economic growth.

Russian companies have developed a vast expertise in those areas and are ready to participate in infrastructure, energy, mining, agriculture and other projects.

Ghana's Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Dr. Kodzo Alabo said earlier in an interview with GNA that special attention would be focused on the existing economic potential and that Russian entrepreneurs could take advantage of them as a basis for establishing mutual partnership.

Additionally, Dr Alabo stressed the creation of platforms for sustainable business dialoguing with interested local Ghanaian partners and that could be done through their business associations and cooperatives as well as through the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC).

These could facilitate in discovering and opening up real prospects for increased cooperation between the two countries. There is no doubt that cooperation in the development of energy sources, oil and gas exploration, agriculture, manufacturing and technologies could meet local interest, according the views of the Ambassador.

Certainly, the Russian delegation, while meeting with officials of the GIPC will discuss and possibly negotiate for significant projects in the country. The delegation is also scheduled to meet other local business groups before leaving finally for Lagos, Nigeria. The B2B Export Group of Companies has previously organised fruitful Russian business and trade missions to a number of African countries, mainly in southern and eastern Africa.

GNA
Guinness Ghana Breweries Ltd (GGBL) is delighted to announce that Guinness Foreign Extra Stout (FES) was named Beer of the Year at the inaugural Ghana Beverage Awards recently at the Accra City Hotel.

The Awards, themed Inspiring excellence in Ghanas Beverage Industry, was judged by a panel of industry experts who selected Guinness FES as the Beer of the Year because of what Guinness represents and how that translates into the Ghanaian experience.

The public perception of the brand, consumer choice of the brand and CSR activities including twakwa no mom, a road safety campaign under the brand name were also considered.

They also observed the creativity of GGBL in localizing the Guinness identity to crown Guinness as the beer of the year.

Marketing Director for GGBL, Kweku Sekyi-Cann, on receiving the award said, We are honoured to be recognised for our Guinness FES at the first Ghana Beverage Awards. Its a very timely award as we have recently released our iconic Limited Edition [email protected] bottle, celebrating Ghanas culture, heritage, and history. Affectionately named Osagyefo, this special celebratory bottle has been designed to recognise all the incredible individuals across the country who have demonstrated their Made of Black spirit over the last 60 years.This Award is recognition for the great team across Ghana who contributes to making Guinness such a distinctive beer. As the nations favourite stout, we are proud to be a part of these celebrations, and of the nations rich heritage  and now we have even more to celebrate!

The bold, stylish bottle has been conceived with the help of the Guinness Cultural Council  a collective of imaginative individuals from Ghana, who have joined forces to help develop an eye-catching bottle that will be at the heart of Ghanas Independence celebrations.The label is inspired by the creativity of this group and features iconic imagery that reflects Ghana's evolution and rich culture over the last 60 years.

The Limited Edition bottle also marks 80 years of brewing heritage for Guinness in Ghana. The packaging has a celebratory look, but inside the bottle, its the great tasting Guinness that Ghanaians know and love.

Kweku Sekyi-Cann further said, We are doing more than just launching the bottle. We want to celebrate all the inspirational Ghanaians who have been carving their own path in life for 60 years. So, throughout the next few months, we will be searching for 60 everyday Ghanaians who make the country Made of Black. The search is on, so if you know someone who represents the unique spirit of Ghana, you can nominate them to be part of the final 60, where they could see their face across Ghana as part of a bespoke advertising campaign.

The Limited Edition Guinness bottles are available across the country until the end of June and will feature an under the crown promotion where consumers could win a complimentary bottle of Guinness or other specially designed [email protected] prizes.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
The President of the Northern Ghana Union of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church has called for a national discourse on the exploitation of the vulnerable in the name of religion.

Pastor Kwame Kwanin Boakye advocates severe punishment for people whose activities breach the laws of the state to serve as a deterrent.

He says the growing tendency for some pastors to hide behind the cassock to amass wealth and perpetrate sexual and other forms of abuse against the citizenry must stop.

According to Pastor Kwanin, the modern self-seeking minister of the gospel has instituted a system which lures and preys on church members into accepting deceit for prophecy.

Some pastors, he notes are even resorting to occultism to dupe their own congregation.

Pastor Kwanin Boakye says Ghanaians must be concerned about the present state of the church.

Im much worried about how people are abusing themselves in the ministry because of wealth; because of sex and because of power...Christ must be internalized in the minister.

"Pastors can go to the extent of taking water from even the mortuary for their congregation to grow. Is that the gospel? he quizzed.

He adds, in a way they [fake pastors] put systems in place such that they can lure you by telling you that I have a vision concerning you.

Pastor Kwanin Boakye spoke with Joynews on the sidelines of church leaders retreat and ordination at Ntonso in the Ashanti Region.

Though he is against state regulation of church, he wants ministers of the gospel who flout the law to be seriously dealt with.

According to him, reverend ministers should be held responsible for actions that run contrary to state laws.

 If as a pastor, I commit any crime, the state would have to deal with me according to the state laws but not coming to manage how I do my ministry. Theres religious liberty fine; everybody will have the right and the opportunity to worship his God or her God but if any minister, any pastor commits crime against the state, then the state has the audacity to come and make some arrests, Pastor Kwanin Boakye stressed.
Maina Sunuwar case: Intl rights bodies urge Nepal govt to enforce court verdict

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Commission of Jurists said on Thursday that Nepal government should immediately take effective steps to enforce the landmark Kavre district court murder verdict for the 2004 torture and killing of teenager Maina Sunuwar.
Over 80 adult learners have passed out from a year-long basic literacy programme in the Esikuma-Odobeng-Brakwa District of the Central Region, thanks to the efforts of Engage Now Africa's (ENA) team of facilitators.

The adult literacy graduates were trained in basic reading, writing and mathematics lessons to help improve their lives and mitigate against poverty.

At a passing out event in the District on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, certificates, and reading materials were presented to the graduates in a bid to encourage them to keep reading and apply the many lessons they learned during the programme.

Ghana Country Director of ENA, Cecilia Amankwah, says although the literacy programme has been successful in other parts of the country, other interventions to fight poverty and improve the lives of beneficiaries would still continue.

We, first of all, want them to gain the knowledge to able to read and write and when we bring the other initiatives they will be able to participate more smoothly, she said on the sideline of the graduation ceremony.

With a presence in five other African countries, Engage Now Africa has spearheaded efforts to strengthen individuals, families, and communities to end poverty through adult education, provision of microloans, self-support assistance, provision of clean water and sanitation, medical services, orphan support, and eradication of modern forms of slavery.

Photo: ENA Country Director, Cecilia Amankwah (L) hands over a certificate to an adult literacy participant in Esikuma

Last month, the not-for-profit organisation passed out some 235 adult literacy participants in the Northern Region. Two hundred of the graduates were drawn from the Gupanarigu community of the Kumbumgu District in the Tamale municipal, while 35 others came from Nasia in the Walewale District.

Speaking further on the Esikuma-Odobeng-Abrakwa District graduation ceremony, Mrs Amankwah said a second phase of the programme, which involves assessing the progress of the adult literacy graduates would soon to be rolled out.

We will come and assess their needs; we know most of them are traders and farmers so we will come and assess their needs through our facilitators and then we can see how best we can help them to be able to improve upon their business, she said.

She called for support from state agencies and other interested institutions, especially for trainers and facilitators of the adult literacy programmes to promote ENAs campaign.

Photo: ENA Country Director, Cecilia Amankwah (L) hands over a certificate to another adult literacy participant in Esikuma

Internal Auditor at the Esikuma-Odobeng-Brakwa District Assembly, Martin Twumasi, lauded ENA for the exercise and expressed commitment of the Assembly to support the subsequent campaigns.

We have assembly halls that can be provided for them to meet periodically...we also have a lot of classrooms within the district. Looking at the time that they normally meet, we can liaise with the headteachers [of schools in the district] so they [adult learners] can have a convenient place to learn, he said.

Photo: PRO of the Ghana Literacy Programme, Patrick Twumasi (L) hands over a certificate to an adult literacy participant

Some graduates of the literacy programme said they were happy to have acquired the basic reading and writing skills that would help them better conduct their business.

Jamila Asamoah, a 56-year-old trader, said her ability to communicate in English should improve communication with her customers some of whom are unable to speak the local Twi language.

Photo: PRO of the Ghana Literacy Programme, Patrick Twumasi (L) hands over a certificate to an adult literacy participant

She said since enrolling onto the literacy programme, her grandchildren spend more time with her when they visit her during school vacations because she is able to entertain them with the little English expressions she has learnt from adult literacy school.

Photo: A cross-section of the graduates

Zonal Coordinator for ENA in the District, David Sam-Weah, said the enthusiasm of the adult learners has been a major source of encouragement for the facilitators, however, he also called for support towards their work.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | George Nyavor | [email protected]
Following allegations of conflict of interest against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, relating to the recent $2.25 billion bond issue, the Chief Executive Officer of Dalex Finance, Ken Thompson, has called for more transparency about the bond.

He believes that what looks like secrecy surrounding the $2.25 billion bond issue, is only fueling the allegations of conflict of interest from the Minority in Parliament against the Finance Minister.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Thompson said some further disclosure must be made because it also protects the integrity of the transaction.

He noted further that, in times past when bonds have been issued, there have been road shows, announcements or visits to Parliament but this seems to have happened rather quickly.

So it is the secrecy to it that has brought all this attention so we need to be told more We need full and better particulars and the secrecy is one of the things that has caused all these things to arise so I think we deserve some explanation of some sort, he said.

Minority calling for Parliamentary probe

The Minority in its conflict of interest allegations, said a non-executive director on the board of Investment Firm, Franklin Templeton, who purchased 95 percent of the $2.25 billion bond, is also the Chairman of the Enterprise Group, which has links to the Attorney-General and the Finance Minister.

Thus it called for a full-scale parliamentary probe into how some persons they refer to as very close friends of the Finance Minister purchased such a high percentage of the bond.

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta

But given the background of Ken Ofori Atta, who has worked as an investment banker and is a co-founder of Databank, Mr. Thompson said it is unreasonable to expect that the Finance Minister who spent most of his working life to date in the private sector won't have certain interests, especially for someone who worked as an investment banker.

Nevertheless, he said we need to have information that shows very clearly that he or his family or his associates are not benefiting directly from the transaction. That is all we are asking for.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
The Minority in Parliament has a called for full the disclosure of the amount of tax payers money spent on what it described as lavish parties by President Nana Akufo-Addo.

According to the Minority, the first 100 days of the Akufo-Addo administration has seen several parties after the Presidential inauguration, and others associated with the [email protected] anniversary celebrations which are a drain on the state coffers.

Addressing the press, the Deputy Majority Leader, James Klutse Avedzi, said the Akufo-Addo administration must honour its promise to protect the public purse by coming clean on the cost of the parties.

We have seen evidence of how millions of taxpayers money was spent on these parties at which expensive drinks served included some that were customized with the President's name on them. We call on the Akufo-Addo government to, in the name of transparency, make public the amount spent on these parties, Mr. Avedzi asserted.

He further said the early indications from the government, given its actions within its first 100 days, point to the fact it cannot be trusted.

Our resources will not be safe with such a large government that has voracious and elephantine appetite. We wonder how the NPP could so soon abandon the plight of the people and the platform on which they campaigned to climb to power, Mr. Avedzi stated.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
The Israeli ambassador to Ghana, H.E Ami Mehl, has declared his support for Ghana's fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.

According to him, the State of Israel is fully behind Ghana in this fight and is ready to help the country recover from the devastation wrecked by the menace on the environment.

In a statement copied to citfmonline.com, Ami Mehl said all efforts must be made to preserve the environment for the sake of posterity to guarantee the usefulness of forests and water bodies to future generations.

I would like to take this opportunity to applaud the government and the good people of Ghana for their determination and resolve to tackle the issue of illegal mining (Galamsey) in the country Being blessed with such a beautiful country, it behooves us to protect and preserve the environment for future generations. It is my opinion that the exploitation of one natural resource should not become a death sentence to forests, water bodies and the life they support, he said.

While noting that galamsey threatened the country's water security, H.E Amehl, who has been in Ghana since August 2015, declared his commitment to the anti-galamsey campaign.

Coming from a country that for many decades suffered existential threats due to water shortages, I hope that Ghana does not find herself facing a water crisis in the future.

As Ambassador of the State of Israel to Ghana and a former Tour Guide at the Society for Protecting the Nature in Israel, I wish to state my unalloyed support to campaign against illegal mining and the fight to protect Ghana's forests and water bodies. The State of Israel is fully behind Ghana in this fight, and is ready to support the nation recover from the environmental degradation.

He further commended the media for its efforts in addressing the issue, noting that Ghana can successfully root out galamsey if its political leaders and the general populace commit to the campaign.

I commend the Ghanaian media for coming together and joining forces with various institutions in championing the fight against Galamsey. I believe that with the political will and support from all and sundry, Ghana will overcome the Galamsey menace.

Many communities in Ghana are currently suffering the negative effects of galamsey which has left most of Ghana's fresh water poisonous.

Thousands of acres of fertile farmlands have also been destroyed as a result of galamsey. Although Ghana's laws are clear on illegal mining, the activity has been allowed to continue for more than two decades.

Citi FM has been at the forefront of media advocacy and crusade for action against the illegal activity.

President Akufo-Addo has said his government is working to develop a policy that will deal with galamsey in the country, but pressure is increasingly being mounted on him to act fast to arrest the situation.

The government has since taken a number of actions including suspending the issuance of new licences for the small-scale mining in the country, and it has announced the retrieval of some illegal mining equipment, surrendered by the operators following the massive drive to clamp down on their activities.



By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
20.04.2017 LISTEN

A founding Member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe has accused government of witch hunting Ibrahim Mahama after the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) invited the latter for questioning on Tuesday.

Mr. Mahama who is a brother to former president John Mahama was invited by EOCO for questioning over some dud cheques he issued to the Customs division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) at the Tema Ports to clear some heavy duty equipment he imported into the country.

It can be recalled that the Member of Parliament for Assin Central Kennedy Agyepong alleged on Oman FM in March this year that Mahama defrauded the state some GHS14million. He thus pledged to commit suicide if the government did not incarcerate Mr. Mahama.

But it is, however, not clear whether EOCO interrogated Mr. Mahama on some of those allegations leveled against him but many including Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe believe his invitation was connected to the threat by the maverick NPP MP.

Speaking Wednesday in an interview with Starr News Ibrahim Alhassan, Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe declared that Mr. Mahama who happens to be his nephew is no fraud and the claim that he got richer during the administration of former President Mahama was inexplicable.

According to him, all businessmen do issue post-dated cheque and that was what Mr. Mahma did adding that there was nothing wrong with it.

Mr. Mahama, he added is not perturbed by the harassments from the EOCO noting that Ibrahim [Mahama] will never fail.

He will never ever fail, he emphasized.
Some stakeholders in the agriculture sector want the government to ensure its flagship policy to improve production does not fizzle out or fail like similar initiatives by past governments have suffered.

The Ghana Agriculture Chamber of Commerce and the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) both say although the Planting for Food and Jobs, which was launched yesterday by President Nana Akufo-Addo holds promise, there is still more to be done.

Programmes Officer of PFAG, Charles Nyaba, said on PM Express on the Joy News channel (Multi TV) that there are issues with the policy in its current state that needs urgent attention.

For instance, he faults the policys targeted beneficiaries.

He sees the at least five-acre land requirement set for beneficiaries of the project as a major setback.

According to him, over 80% of farmers in Ghana own less than five acres of land.

Also, President of the Ghana Agriculture Chamber of Commerce, Philip Abayori, recommends that just like the Operation Feed Yoursel under the General Kutu Acheampongs time, the government can legislate that a quota of the loan portfolio must go the agric sector.

This, Mr Abayori said, will make private sector participation in the Planting for Food and Jobs truly competitive.

The President on Wednesday launched the project in Goaso in the Brong Ahafo Region with a promise to build a warehouse in every district of the country to help preserve food stuffs in anticipation of increased yields.

Some 200, 000 farmers in the region are set to benefit when the programme rolls out.

In the 2017 budget, the government earmarked GHE560 million for the initiative expected to create over 70, 000 jobs.

The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie-Akoto, reveals the programme will cover 2.5 million farmers nationwide after the pilot process.

Discussing the project on PM Express Wednesday, Messers Nyaba and Abayori offered insightful contributions to the government for the success of the project.

Watch more from the discussion on PM Express in the video link below.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | George Nyavor | [email protected]
Andy Appiah Kubi

20.04.2017 LISTEN

The best way to celebrate anniversary of a great revolution is to concentrate attention on the unsolved problems. It is particularly appropriate and necessary to celebrate the revision in this way way at a time when we are faced with fundamental problems that the revolution has not yet solved and when we master something new from the point of view of what the revolution has accomplished us to now for the solution of these problems.

What is new for our revolution at the present time is the need for a reformist, gradual, cautions, and round about approach to the solution of fundamental problem of economic development.

Since the main feature of this basis have not yet been seen completed. We must concentrate all our attention upon it. The difficulty here lies in the form of the transition.

Do we participate in a politics of hope?? Lawyer Andy call on us to hope. I think the people in Asante Akim north expect more from Lawyer Andy and the NPP to deliver his promise made to the good people in AAN during 2016 campaign. Lawyer Andy is not here to curse the darkness but to light the candle that can guide us through the darkness to a safe and sane future. As Winston Churchill said on taking office many years ago" If we open a quarrel between the present and the past we shall be in danger of losing the future. Today our concern must be with that future. For the world is changing. The old era is ending. The old way will not do.

All mankind waits upon the decision made by Lawyer Andy and the whole world look to what Lawyer Andy will do. Lawyer Andy cannot fail their trust and Lawyer Andy cannot fail to try. Lawyer Andy is determined to make this AAN strong and free to overcome it hazard and hardships cause by the Fulani people.

As Lawyer Andy face the coming challenge and we all know the challenges

__water problem

__The Fulani issues

__Sanitation

__The school feeding

__Lack of textbooks and TLMs

Lawyer Andy Appiah is ready to take up the cause and much with you and work with you to solve all this problems that faces us in AAN. Lawyer want us to take up the unfinished business of perfecting our union and building a better AAN. As we all face the coming challenge, all of us too shall wait upon the lord and ask he renew the strength of Lawyer Andy Appiah Kubi. Then he will be equal to the test. I believe the times demand invention, innovation, imagination and decision. I asking all the people's in AAN to be new pioneers on Lawyer Andy and NPP. Be strong and of good courage but not afraid neither be thou dismayed.

For courage not complacency, is our need today leadership not salesmanship. And the only valid test of leadership is the ability to lead and lead vigorously.

Together starting from today let us finished the work that need to be done and usher in a new birth of freedom in Asante Akim North

By Boamah Frimpong Kingsley

Asante Akim North
20.04.2017 LISTEN

In commemoration of Ghana's 60th Independence celebration, you're invited to join Brooklyn Borough President Hon. Eric L. Adams, H. E. Martha Ama A. Pobee, Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United Nations, Ghana Consul General New York, Hon. Bernard Quantson, along with members of the New York Ghanaian American community at Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon St., Brooklyn, NY, on Friday April 21, 2017 from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm for this Historical event.

Ghana is recognized as one of the most culturally rich countries in Africa, the face of its people reflects a beautiful mosaic of several ethnic and racial groups living peacefully together. It is without a doubt one of the most peaceful countries on the African continent.

The (G60IFRE) is a unique event that will draw in audiences from the multicultural/multiethnic community. The event will simultaneously raise the consciousness of Ghana's evaluation development -- a platform for raising support for integrative program line up celebrating the 60th independence within the New York Community and beyond.

The event will include a reception that will promote the Ghana brand, cuisine and culture and will spotlight the following prominent individuals and organizations that have shown an unwavering commitment to the betterment of Ghana.

Program Coordinators , Jerry Kwabena Adinkra, Kwame A. Budu of the Ghanaian American Heritage Committee (AV) supported by Fred Dwamena of (NCOGA), commented, This is going to be an occasion to remember. We hope we, the proud Ghanaians and Africans in Brooklyn-New York and beyond, will have a solid turn out from the community as we celebrate with symbolic pride our legacy and contributions to the [African] Diaspora. The awesome privilege to pay tribute to Ghana, Land We Call Home, in this time and in this place (Brooklyn Borough Hall) with great food, music, and in a company of outstanding artists, is indeed a privilege. This is an event not to be missed.

Ghana was the first independence nation in sub-Saharan Africa. Declaring independence in 1957, it was the former British colony of the Gold Coast.

For information, please contact: Jerry Kwabena Adinkra (347) 845-0080 email:[email protected]

This is a free event

Flag Raising and Award Ceremony: 5:00 pm-9:00 pm

Reception: Open African International cuisine 7:30pm - 8:30pm

Supporters: African Views, National Council of Ghanaian Associations (NCOGA), African Views Organization, Eric Darko Law Firm, Cultural Ambassadors Foundation ,3G Media, ghnewsnow, ,Tafari Tribe Inc , Impact Radio, Brooklyn Ghana Radio.

Dress: African chic
Washington, D.C., USA-Liberias Vice President, Joseph N. Boakai, Sr. is urging the Liberian media to be robust and objective in exposing societal ills in the country by reporting nothing but the truth.

Vice President Boakai said truth telling based on research and the verification of facts on the part of journalists in their coverage of happenings in the country is critical for an unbiased and accurate reporting about developments in Liberia. According to a press release issued by the Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA) on April 19, 2017, the Vice President spoke on Tuesday, April 18, 2017, in the US Capitol, Washington, D.C., when he granted an audience to a four man delegation of the Association. ALJA National President, Moses D. Sandy led the delegation. Also, on the delegation were, the Associations National Board of Directors Member, Volcano Shelton, and the Delaware Valley Chapter President, Jackson T.S. Seton and Vice President, Pewee Baysah.

The meeting was held at the prestigious Washington based hotel, Hamilton Crowne Plaza. At the meeting, the Vice President and the ALJA delegates discussed the Associations roles and mission, commitment to the sustenance of the prevailing peace and stability in Liberia, government media relations, and the current political situation in the country with particular focus on the 2017 general and presidential elections. The gathering was not meant for the endorsement of the Vice Presidents candidacy for the Liberian presidency.

ALJA is a US based 501c (3) non-profit media advocacy group. The organization brings together current and retired Liberian journalists residing in the Americas. It was founded in 1998 in Washington; D.C. ALJA seeks to foster camaraderie amongst its members and their American counterparts. Also, the Association is dedicated to championing the cause of press freedom in Liberia through media advocacy, logistical support, and training. In addition, ALJA is devoted to promoting and fostering the principle of good governance in Liberia through engagement with public officials and citizens of the country.

Mr. Boakai told the ALJA executives that the current wave of ethical transgressions in the local press are not healthy for the projection of a positive image of Liberia at home and abroad. He said journalism is a noble and respectable profession, but the ongoing reporting of falsehood, black mailing, and the character assassination of public officials by some journalists and media institutions with impunity are literally hurting the credibility of the Liberian media. He observed not all public officials are corrupt or dishonest.

He maintained sensational journalism influenced by the drive for economic gain by some media houses and journalists in Liberia is unpatriotic and such practice dampens the image of the country in the International Community. It drives away investors, stalls national development, and influences foreign policies that are not favorable to our country and people, the Liberian Vice President, who is also, a standard bearer of the ruling Unity Party (UP) pontificated. He stressed we have done a lot of good things in Liberia but they are not reported in the press.

He said in the wake of the stated problems, it is sad that the Press Union of Liberia (PUL), the umbrella organization of the local Liberian press is yet to take the needed corrective actions against journalists and media institutions that are blatantly violating media ethics and eroding the trustworthiness of the press.

Commenting on the 2017 general and presidential election, the Vice President said the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf administration is committed to ensuring a free, fair, and transparent election in Liberia come October 10, 2017 when Liberians will go to the poll to cast their ballots. As Vice President and Standard Bearer, I want to see a Liberia that works for all Liberians including those in the Diaspora, he noted.

Earlier, ALJA National President, Moses D. Sandy, in an introductory remark, thanked the Vice President and the Liberian government for the good work they are doing in maintaining the peace and stability in Liberia. Mr. Sandy said ALJA is a non-partisan organization which is interested in seeing a Liberia where the media, public officials, and all human beings regardless of race, religious, social, political, religious, and ideological differences would live in peace and harmony. He said the Association is non-partisan and it has no allegiance to any political parties, candidates, and groups. He called on the Sirleaf administration to ensure that the pending 2017 elections are held peacefully. Mr. Vice President, this election is a critical period in Liberia. It can either make or break the peace and quietude that Liberia now enjoys; so, everything must be done to make sure that the process is free of intimidation, violence, and fraud.

Regarding the government and media relations, the ALJA Boss said the Association remains devoted to ensuring that press freedom in Liberia is protected and upheld. However, he noted ALJA will not support any media institution or journalist that opts to engage in ethical transgressions or any other form of media malpractices. If the government encroaches on press freedom, we will raise the alarm and ask for corrective actions. But if journalists or media houses choose to engage in acts that are inimical to the peace and stability of Liberia, we will not support them blindly. He emphasized that ALJA as a critical voice for the voiceless in Liberia, will continue to speak out on policy issues that adversely affect the lives of Liberians at home and abroad. When the government does well, we will hail and praise them. But if the government does wrong, we will condemn such action and call for corrective measures.
I have the strongest conviction that H. E. President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo has good intentions for Ghana as I see him taking some necessary steps in that regard. This conclusion is drawn from my doctoral thesis which is based on an extensive study of the political economy of Ghana. I have concluded in the thesis entitled, The Impact of Globalisation on Social Policy  the Case of Donor Agencies and Basic Education in Ghana, that, for Ghana to achieve her developmental goals, there is a need for unity of purpose by all Ghanaians.

This unity of purpose should be a resolve by all of us as Ghanaians to rise over personal, sectional, partisan and other parochial interests and focus on our collective interest to ensure that Ghana develops to a level where our individual interests will be catered for. Greed, which seems to have eaten deep into our moral fabric, only ends up destroying us. It is apparent that the average Ghanaian today is becoming increasingly aware of their rights and will not allow others to devour the national cake at their expense. This is being demonstrated in various ways in the media, in elections and what have you.

It is for this reason that I laud President Akufo-Addos decision to engage his predecessors as a step in the right direction towards seeking the unity of the country so that together, we can effectively tackle the development challenges of our dear nation. These eminent personalities do not just have experiences which the president can utilize but represent different sections and interests of the Ghanaian populace. Therefore, the presidents ability to carry them along with him can go a long way to unite the country.

Another laudable initiate by the government has been the decision by H. E. Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to grant the Multimedia Company Limiteds request to evaluate the governments performance in hundred days of its tenure of office. Before the event, I was wondering about the essence of the exercise as I was not sure of the context of the evaluation. I questioned myself, for instance, whether it was going to be done by comparing the governments hundred days in office with previous governments hundred days in office. I did not just get the essence of it.

After the exercise, however, I was left with no iota of doubt in my mind that the exercise was a very useful one. It did not just offer the government a platform to render an account of its stewardship to Ghanaians after hundred days in office, but it also afforded the populace an opportunity to see the direction the government is heading so that they can contribute their quota in that regard. The programme is suggestive of the fact that the situation where governments were voted into office and were compelled to render account of their stewardship only during the next election is past and gone. The Multimedia Company Limited, therefore, needs commendation for championing the course of civil society audit of the executive. Of course, the Ghanaian media is being lauded internationally for its vibrancy. It is hoped that the general populace will take a cue of this to perform their roles as responsible citizens by contributing their quota to the developmental process, including demanding accountability from all public officials and not just politicians alone.

The advice I would like to offer my party and government is that we need to guard against slippages that can expose us unnecessarily to public critique. Slippages, such as the extremist behaviour of some of our party loyalists against former NDC government officials and party functionaries, need to be avoided. Lets endeavour to resolve our grievances within our party and government. We should remember that NPP and NDC are both made up of Ghanaians and we can only succeed in our quest to build our nation through unity of purpose. We cannot succeed as a government without the support of the opposition. That is why we should endeavour to unite the country.

The opposition and the general populace also need to be measured in their critique of government policies, programmes and actions. There is the need to criticize government constructively by anchoring critiques with evidence. It would be recalled that H. E. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia acknowledged suggestions made by some of the audience at the hundred days evaluation programme by indicating his readiness to address them at the appropriate quarters. Political equalization has been the bane of our politics since our freedom fighters disagreed among themselves on to whether to seek independence immediately or within the shortest possible time. This has led to one political party or individuals and groups of individuals taking revenge on one another. This unfortunate situation has definitely not helped our development effort and, therefore, needs to be stopped.

It is my candid opinion that President Nana Akufo-Addo means well for this country and needs our support in a form of unity of purpose towards tackling the development challenges of our dear nation together. Let us remember that Ghana belongs to all of us. If it succeeds, we will all succeed and if it fails, we will all fail!

Long Live Ghana!

Dr. Adams Sulemana Achanso

Socio-Political Analyst

UDS, Development Education Studies

Tamale

Dr. S. A. Achanso, B. A. Arts (Legon), Ph.D. (Lincoln)

Lecturer and HoD: Development Education Studies

Faculty of Education

U.D.S.

Tamale, Ghana.

0204500622/0249540749

Patience hurts but it heals perpetually so exercise it!
Kulekhani III hydro likely to miss completion deadline

The Kulekhani III Hydropower Project has been in construction since 2008, and does not look like meeting its completion deadline even after four extensions as the contractors are working in slow motion claiming delays in payment by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
GENEVA,Switzerland, April 20 2017, -/African Media Agency (AMA)/- With a drastic reduction in neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) during the past five years, the World Health Organization (WHO), donors, non-governmental organizations and government representatives of endemic countries are meeting in Geneva, Switzerland to build on the gains that have been made and reaffirm their commitment to the fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).

Since the London Declaration five years ago, which crystallized the international commitment to fight against 10 NTDs, tremendous progress has been made in reducing the burden of these diseases. Globally, nearly a billion people received treatment for at least one NTD in 2015, 36% more than just four years before. The number of people in need of NTD treatments decreased from 2 billion in 2010 to 1.6 billion in 2015. Two highly effective approaches, mass drug administration (MDA) and intensified disease management (IDM), have made this possible.

In the African Region which alone bears 40% of the population suffering from NTDs, great strides have been made in the past years. Togo has just eliminated Lymphatic Filariasis as a public health problem. Ethiopia has made significant strides in the fight against Trachoma by setting targets in its national health plan and increasing domestic funding to 3 million US dollars as at 2016. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is now funding 25% of NTD programs, up from 0% in 2011.

In collaboration with partners, WHO launched the Expanded Special Project for Elimination of NTDs (ESPEN) less than a year ago, to significantly cut the burden of the five PC-NTDs in Africa by sharing best practices, coordinating activities and offering technical guidance.

Conscious that with 47 African countries endemic to at least one of the ten London Declaration NTDs, it is critical to have a complete map of the disease burden in order to accelerate the control and elimination of NTDs in the African Region. Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, announced this week the launch of the AFRO NTD Portal. Through this portal, Health Ministries and stakeholders can share data to support public health action. "As scaling up mass drug administration for the over 600 million people who need preventive chemotherapy remains one of the biggest challenges in the region, this NTD portal illustrates WHO AFRO's bold ambitious to take focused and unwavering action" said Dr. Moeti.

An intensive and large scale mapping exercise to accurately record the prevalence of NTDs has been carried out as 37 African countries are co-endemic for at least five of these diseases. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the project aimed to complete the mapping of four diseases - Lymphatic Filariasis, Onchocerciasis, Soil-Transmitted Helminths and Schistosomiasis. This project known as Shrinking the Map, involved (i) field surveys, (ii) developing high-quality maps and relevant profiles on disease and programme performance, and (iii) making the maps available to the public to support programmatic decision making.

Furthermore, in an effort to accurately map the prevalence of trachoma, the world's leading infectious cause of blindness, the Global Trachoma Mapping Project (GTMP), supported by DFID and USAID has carried out the largest trachoma disease mapping in history. The mapping of Onchocerciasis, however, remains an urgent need for the African region.

"Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) programmes harness diverse partnerships to drive impact - including across sectors, and countries. With communities and entire nations struggling under the burden of these diseases, increased financial support, stronger political commitment and better tools to prevent, diagnose and treat the diseases are vital to defeat NTDs. The window of opportunity to achieve the 2020 targets is right in front of us, and we cannot let it close. The success so far shows what can be done if we work together," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti.

Neglected Tropical Diseases are preventable infectious diseases that kill 534,000 people annually. Worldwide, over 1 billion people, including 500 million children, remain at risk. Impoverished communities are disproportionally targeted; perpetuating a cycle of marginalization and stunted economic growth. Some of the most rampant NTDs include Lymphatic Filariasis, Onchocerciasis, Schistosomiasis, Soil-Transmitted Helminthiasis and Trachoma. However, these five diseases can all be treated with Preventative Chemotherapy (PC). The treatment costs less than $1 per person, and the implementation of mass drug administration has cured millions thus far.

The Expanded Special Project for Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (ESPEN) provides African countries with technical assistance to accelerate the control and elimination of the five Neglected Tropical Diseases amenable to Preventive Chemotherapy (PC-NTDs): Onchocerciasis, Lymphatic Filariasis, Schistosomiasis, Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis and Trachoma. ESPEN is a five-year project nested within the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO) and is inspired by the World Health Organization's 2020 Roadmap on NTDs.
By Linda Asante-Agyei,

GNA Special Correspondent, Geneva

Courtesy, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Geneva, April 19, GNA - The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Wednesday committed $335 million dollars in grants over the next four years to support various Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) programmes in affected countries.

This would include; $42 million-dollar that would go for the continuation of Jimmy Carter's guinea worm eradication initiative and hoped it would be the first parasitic disease to be eradicated.

The rest of the grant would focus on drug development and delivery, disease surveillance as well as vector control and accelerate the elimination of Human African Trypanosomiais, popularly known as 'Sleeping Sickness'.

Speaking at the official opening of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) second Global Partners Meeting on Neglected Tropical Diseases in Geneva, Switzerland, Bill Gates, Co-Chair said NTDs were some of the painful, devastating and stigmatising diseases that affected the world's poorest communities.

'Our total commitment indicates that everybody deserves to live a healthy life and as the years have been very critical, we will improve our work and double down our effort in tackling NTDs'.

Mr Gates commended pharmaceutical companies for their tremendous partnership and the donation of medicines on a large scale by 10 giant companies, which has contributed to the success of the initiative.

'Thanks to this partnership, these neglected diseases are now getting the attention they deserve so fewer people have to suffer from these treatable conditions.

'Though, there have been many success stories in the past five years, the job is not done yet. We have set ambitious targets for 2020 that require the continued commitment of pharmaceutical companies, donors, recipient governments, and frontline health workers to ensure that drugs are available and delivered to the hardest to reach people'.

Mr Alexander de Croo, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development Cooperation of Belgium pledged an additional $27 million dollars to be spread over the next nine years, toward the elimination of sleeping sickness in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This amount, he said would be matched for the next three years by the Gates Foundation, establishing a platform for increased collaboration between Belgium, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the broader NTD partnership.

The United Kingdom's Minister of State in charge of International Development, Lord Bates also announced a pledge of 205 million pounds (equivalent to 450 million dollars) over a period of five years to help control and eliminate NTDs.

'NTDs are possible to eliminate and we are not leaving anyone behind,' he added.

Mr Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary-General commended governments, pharmaceutical companies and charitable organisations for their continuous commitment and support in eliminating NTDs.

He admitted that good progress had been made on NTDs, but called for more optimism to get the last NTD eliminated.

Mr Jimmy Carter, Founder of the Carter Centre in a video message commended the partners and the Gates Foundation for their support and commitment and pledged his Centre's continuous support in eradicating guinea-worm and river blindness entirely from the world.

He called for sustainability of all efforts, adding, 'elimination is doable and possible.'

Dr Jim Yong Kim, President of The World Bank Group also in a video message, acknowledged the remarkable improvements made in the fight in addressing NTDs, and reiterated his support to help and called on partners to sustain the fight through constant support.

Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, expressed appreciation to all the partners, acknowledging the power of partnering pharmaceutical industries as well as international philanthropists like Bill and Melinda Gates foundations.

She entreated countries to unite to set priorities and collaborate with the WHO in tackling those priorities.

The Summit, marks the fifth anniversary of the London Declaration, a historic document signed by leaders from diverse sectors committed to controlling, eliminating or eradicating 10 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by 2020.

Since the London Declaration, fewer people are suffering from these disabling diseases and many countries are eliminating them entirely.

NTDs are a group of debilitating infectious diseases such as elephantiasis, river blindness and trachoma that affect the world's poorest communities.

These gains, have been made possible by strong global partnerships, country leadership and investments in innovation and technology.

The 2017 summit marks the 5th anniversary of the WHO's roadmap on NTDs and the London Declaration and to celebrate this milestone, 'Uniting to Combat NTDs'.

Representatives of Member States, donor agencies, foundations, the private sector, academia and stakeholders and pharmaceutical companies are participating in the summit.

GNA
One person is reported dead and two others injured in a shooting incident that occurred yesterday [Wednesday] in a bush between the Nkonya and Alavanyo communities in the Volta Region.

The incident reportedly occurred at about 2pm.

Reports say some unknown assailants fire at five farmers from Nkonya-Ahinkro who were returning from their farm on Wednesday.

The Assemblyman for Nkonya Ntumda, Sylvester Akompi who spoke to Citi News about the incident said residents of both towns were living in fear following news of the incident.

Five people went to farm, they are palm wine tappers. They were tapping between Nkonya and Alavanyo, precisely Nkonya Ahenkro. So they went to the farm and I had rained a bit. On their way home, a group of people appeared with guns and started shooting. Everyone wanted to find his way, two people managed to hide somewhere, while 3 people were shot.

One died instantly. He would be about 40 or 41 years. If it happens like that, people cannot be in the house, so if you come here now, you will see that the whole area is in total pandemonium. People have left their houses. People are in the streets and you will realize that people are really scared.

The incident occurred hours after the Minister for the Interior announced that it had reviewed a curfew on the area to 11pm to 4am.

Citi News has learnt that there will be an emergency district security council meeting at Nkonya in the Biokoye District over the matter today [Thursday].



By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @jnyabor
Cairo (AFP) - US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis arrived in Cairo Thursday on the latest leg of a regional tour, as ties with Egypt continue to warm under President Donald Trump.

After touching down at Cairo airport, Mattis set off to meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who was hailed by Trump during a White House visit earlier this month.

Sisi's visit marked a shift in relations after Trump's predecessor Barack Obama had given the Egyptian leader the cold shoulder for staging the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Obama temporarily suspended military aid to Egypt following a bloody crackdown on Morsi's supporters.

Trump, however, has set aside criticism of Sisi's human rights record while pledging to maintain support for the key US ally which receives an annual $1.3 billion in military aid.

After meeting Sisi, Mattis is scheduled to hold talks with Defence Minister Sedki Sobhi. He leaves Thursday afternoon to Israel.

No announcement is expected during the Egyptian leg of the tour, which started with a visit to Saudi Arabia.

In Egypt, talks are likely to touch on the military's counterinsurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, where an Islamic State group affiliate has killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen.

The Pentagon is also concerned with preventing jihadists from crossing Libya's porous border with Egypt and the reported presence of Russian troops in Egypt's western desert, which Cairo has denied.
The journey to transform one of Ghanas most iconic financial institutions has yielded positive results as UMB has posted an after -tax profit of GH20.4million for the 2016 financial year representing an impressive 455% increase in after tax profit.

The Bank also recorded a 57% increase in customers deposits and a 97% increase in total assets.

Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) is a full-service financial institution specializing in customized banking products and services.

Commenting on the banks excellent financial results the CEO of UMB, Mr. John Awuah, expressed his appreciation to the banks customers and other stakeholders for believing in the vision of the bank and for supporting the bank throughout the period of transformation.

Mr. Awuah also praised the dedication and support of staff of UMB. Since I joined the bank, I have been awed by the passion and commitment of UMB staff to our transformation agenda and I am very happy that we have started seeing the results of this dedication.

The bank, according to Mr. Awuah, has also invested heavily in its IT infrastructure which has enhanced the speed at which the bank operates. We have significantly invested in the operating platform of the bank and most importantly, we have changed our core banking application which allows us to interface with third party systems seamlessly, Mr. Awuah added.

The expansion of the banks electronic and physical channels is also a major factor for the banks stellar performance. This, according to Mr. Awuah, has extended our reach to locations where we felt we were under represented. We have also deployed various electronic-based products and increased our branch network across the country to meet the needs of existing and potential customers.

Mr. Awuah was quick to add that the bank will not rest on its laurels and is already focused on the next phase of the banks growth. The next phase of UMB is not the teller serving you, it is you serving yourself. We are going to bring banking to peoples homes, in their cars, on their dining tables and wherever they find themselves.

Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) is a full-service financial institution specializing in customized banking products and services. UMB opened on March 15, 1972 and is a leading Ghanaian indigenous bank with considerable financial expertise.

UMB is recognized for its entrepreneurial approach, innovative use of technology, and distinctive banking solutions. UMB currently has thirty one (31) branches, one (1) UMB Centre for Businesses and a vast network of ATMs.
Anthony a Chinese who spoke to Daily Guide. INSET: The team with some escavators.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) government appears to be winning the fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, as most operators have reportedly withdrawn from the sites nationwide.

A visit to some illegal mining sites by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu, his deputy, Benito Owusu-Bio and officials of the Minerals Commission in the Eastern Region on Wednesday to mark the end of a three-week ultimatum served on illegal miners, revealed that some galamseyers had withdrawn from their sites.

Mr. Amewu told the media during the tour that the number of excavators that had been evacuated from the sites had increased to over 500, with about 1,148 dredging machines equally withdrawn.

According to the minister, about 200 of the excavators were withdrawn from Dunkwa, 120 from Asankrangwa, 40 from Tarkwa, among others.

He said the development was encouraging but the fight would still continue.

He blamed the Minerals Commission, particularly the Mines Inspectorate Directorate, for being responsible for the illegal mining activities across the country.

Mr Amewu indicated that no proper checks or inspections had been carried out at the small scale mining sites over the years by the Inspectorate Directorate, hence the increase in illegal mining activities.

The minister was speaking during an inspection of some mining sites at Kobrisu, Pinaman, Subrisu, among others, in the Denkyembuo, Upper West Akyem and Atiwa East Districts of the Eastern Region on Wednesday.

Mr. Amewu wondered why staff of the Commission could sit by and watch the illegal miners destroy the environment over the years.

The landowners and people working at the Commission are also part of this nonsense, the minister fumed.

He ordered the Chief Inspector of Mines and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Minerals Commission to immediately suspend the operations of those at the MA Resources site, located at Subrim and the abandoned site at Kobriso  all in the West Akyem District.

It emerged at MA Resources site that a concession was issued to the company (MA Resources) without the Chief Inspector of Mines, Obiri-Yeboah Twumasi, being made aware that the concession was for large scale mining.

Mr. Twumasi had told the minister that the MA Resources had been licensed to do regularized medium-scale mining, but the minister challenged that claim, saying there is nothing like medium-scale mining but only large or small scale  as it emerged that the company was doing large scale mining.

Mr Peter Amewu did not also accept the claim that MA Resources was engaged in legal mining, complaining that the companys activities were illegal, having greatly destroyed cocoa farms, water bodies and the environment.

Seeing the extent of damage caused the environment and river bodies as a result of the galamsey activities, Mr. Amewu said the NPP government would not renege on its fight against illegal miners, and urged all those interested in small scale mining to engage government on the negotiation table.

When queried by the minister, the patron of the NPP in the Akwatia Constituency, one Akwesi, who is also operating on the MA Resources concession, admitted that he was mining illegally but argued that it was because the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration refused to grant him licence to operate legally due to his affiliation to the NPP.

On most of the sites visited, it appeared the illegal miners had been briefed about the ministers visit and so most of them had apparently abandoned their operations and the excavators.

An inspector of mines at the Minerals Commission, Joseph Frimpong, explained how it only came to the notice of his outfit recently that some individuals were engaged in illegal mining at a site located at Kobrisu.

When the minister and the media visited that site, Mr. Frimpong said the illegal miners had vanished but some of their materials were still on site.

A count by DAILY GUIDE revealed over 60 excavators parked in bushes, in front of uncompleted buildings, mines and along the roads.

Information picked up by this paper points to a complex web of a cartel operating in the mining sector, which may make the fight apparently very difficult for the NPP government.

CEO of the Minerals Commission, Dr Tony Aubyne, told DAILY GUIDE that there is a complex web of individuals engaged in the 'galamsey' business, saying politicians, chiefs and officials of the Commission are all involved in the act.

I have long said that the nature of the illegality that is going on, you have a lot of people being involved, he said in reaction to the ministers claim that officials of the Commission are to blame for the menace.

By Melvin Tarlue
Yumbe (Uganda) (AFP) - Ugandan motorbike taxi driver Sadiq Agotre grumbles as he waits for a rare client among thousands of South Sudanese refugees hoping to receive food rations in the outskirts of his town.

"Business is not good. These people don't have money," he says, gazing out over a vast area that in only eight months has transformed from scrubland and trees to the world's biggest refugee settlement, Bidibidi, which houses more than 270,000 people.

Uganda has been praised for its warm welcome of refugees, but as civil war in neighbouring South Sudan continues to push more than 2,000 people a day into the country, local communities and aid agencies are buckling under the strain.

Many residents of Yumbe district -- population around 500,000 -- are frustrated that the massive aid effort in their backyard has not translated into more jobs but instead has spread already scarce resources even thinner.

Refugee children from South Sudan walk in Bidibidi resettlement camp in the northern Ugandan district of Yumbe

"This (the refugee crisis) has changed the town so much. It has caused a lot of stress, stress for jobs. The food prices have gone up and up. It's bad for our environment because they cut down the trees," said Nachal Dovelay, a shopkeeper in Yumbe town.

Bidibidi opened in August last year to cope with a flood of people fleeing fighting when a peace deal between South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and his rival and former deputy Riek Machar collapsed, plunging the country back into a civil war that erupted in 2013.

In a matter of months it has overtaken Kenya's Dadaab -- hosting mainly Somali refugees -- as the world's biggest refugee camp.

But the 250-square-kilometre (97-square-mile) settlement is only the tip of the iceberg. A total of 830,000 South Sudanese refugees have entered the country and the UN expects this figure will reach more than a million by mid-year.

The number of refugees in the East African nation -- one of the world's poorest countries and the size of the United Kingdom -- is comparable to the number of mostly Syrian refugees who fled to Europe at the height of the migrant crisis in 2015.

"This emergency is like a tsunami, you know, very high speed," said Robert Baryamwesiga, the Ugandan government official in change of running Bidibidi.

Food rations stretched, delayed

On a recent afternoon a fierce dust-devil tore through a crowd waiting for food rations, sending people reeling and knocking supplies to the ground.

Uganda has been praised for its warm welcome for refugees but local communities and aid agencies are buckling under the strain

When calm returned, a girl aged about seven carefully raked up her family's fallen maize kernels and scooped them back into a sack.

Every scrap of food is precious. Refugees who arrived in Uganda before mid-2015 have already had their rations cut by half. This month food distribution was two weeks late.

"We are hungry. The food is for one month but it lasts less than that and now it's 15 days late. This is really challenging," said David Kepo, 41, a traditional chief who fled fighting in his community three months ago.

Cheryl Harrison, the World Food Programme's (WFP's) deputy head in Uganda, admits that the logistics involved in delivering 15,000 tonnes of food per month are daunting.

"We try to ensure that everyone knows that we're going to be late. If people have warning they're able to cope. They reduce the amount of food they eat and try to make their resources stretch."

Before the renewed fighting, WFP spent $6 million (5.6 million euros) per month on food aid for refugees in Uganda. That figure has now soared to more than $16 million.

Restaurant owner Zura Tairi prepares a dish in the northern Uganda district of Yumbe

The agency is $450 million short for the next six months.

Last month UN refugee chief, Filippo Grandi, described the situation as at "breaking point".

Anger growing in host community

Getting water to the refugees in the arid area is another headache, with more than four million litres required a day.

Boreholes have been drilled but the vast majority of the water is trucked in from the River Nile at great expense.

The use of natural resources has lead to tensions with the host community.

In a desperate move local residents recently blocked access to one borehole for several hours, saying that they were not benefiting from the influx of refugees.

"The issue of the use of natural resources -- building materials, wood, fuel -- that one has been a disaster. With 272,000 people the effect is great and unemployment here is very high," said local government official Jacob Batemyetto.

In February about 100 people, unhappy that nine local staff had been fired for misappropriating aid, held a protest, holding up signs threatening to attack the settlement, according to NGO staff.

And last month the chief government official in Imvepi -- a newly opened nearby settlement -- was taken hostage by a group of machete-wielding youths and marched around the area to see the poor living conditions local people are forced to tolerate before being released.

A very fragile situation

Uganda has long been praised for having one of the world's most progressive refugee policies.

The government allows refugees to work and move around the country while communities in the north have donated land for settlements.

Refugees receive a plot of land to build a shelter and it was planned that land would be allocated for people to farm but in Bidibidi that has yet to happen.

"We can't feed ourselves because they have yet to set up any agriculture programme and there's no land," said Wila James, 40, a former agricultural officer who fled to Uganda last year.

Bidibidi settlement chief Baryamwesiga highlighted the dangers of a growing population unable to produce their own food.

"They will automatically go and steal and stealing will create violence so you'll find that the coexistence that we're enjoying between refugees and the host community will collapse.

"It's a very, very fragile situation."
No one can accurately foresee when a crisis will happen. They are sudden and unpredictable. The key to this is in how prepared one is to mitigate a crisis in the first place and then manage the process of returning the situation back to normalcy.

In the corporate world a crisis could either tank your business or serve as a catalyst for the improvement of business processes. Some areas prone to creating issues which eventually turn into crises are labour, operations, and management and environmental activities among others. Organisations need to be mindful of the potential of sour issues going incredibly wrong.

One organization currently facing a crisis in full bloom is Mawarko Foods. The company is one of the well-known brands when it comes to Middle Eastern cuisine. It is not uncommon to witness the unending queues of patrons, waiting their turn to sample a Mawarco Shawarma et al.

Sadly, a recent incident involving the alleged maltreatment of staff on site seems to have shaken the foundation of business for this company. Organisations are not immune to crises. They need to insulate themselves from the devastating impact that crises can cause to their brands. History has taught many of the effects of a crisis on the reputation of organisations with the likes of Enron, Dominos Pizza and Johnson & Johnson.

In the grand scheme of things, one can use the Mawarko crisis as a case study on how a company should tackle any crisis and emerge reformed for future business operations.

The road to recovery starts with admitting that there is a problem (note that this may lead to and reach damaging proportions to the brand at the initial stage).Then a prudent switch to emergency mode and a prompt advance towards implementing a full crisis communication strategy to ameliorate circumstances must be pursued.

The purpose of the crisis communication strategy is to guide the organisations executives to communicate to its stakeholders and the general public on the events that have cast a negative perception on the integrity of the company; the crisis plan is the blue print of a clearly defined channel to alleviate negative repercussions.

One must always know that the media will do their job in sounding the alarm when things go wrong; but social media amplifies a crisis exponentially at astounding speed. This case is evidently a media crisis; it is important to understand the issues clearly, respond swiftly and to send out consistent messaging.

So, how did things get so out of hand for this company?

1. Timing (delayed response): The issue happened on Sunday February 26, 2017; the company delayed their response (i.e. issuance of an official statement) until about a week after. By this time, different versions of the story had taken root in the minds of the public.

2. Breach of crisis response protocol (the issue of spokesperson/s): It seems that there was no crisis management policy or strategy guiding the company in handling communications between the company and the outside world. Too many voices from the company were giving testimonies by granting interviews on behalf of the company. The official statement for instance, was attributed to the CEO, which should be no crime. However, two other staff, one is reported to be the Public Relations Officer and the other, a Supervisor, were heard on separate radio stations speaking on the issue and creating contradictions which undoubtedly inflamed tensions. Engagement with the media must strictly be for designated persons with the skill and approval from management.

3. Social media and the missed opportunity: They missed the opportunity to actively use social media in time to reach the public. Public mob-waves began ganging up against the company with concerted cries from the public to boycott all services and products of the company. The issue began to trend and spread on many other social media platforms.

4. A struggling statement: Aside being late, the official statement from the company seemed wrought with contradictions. There were different accounts to the story from the various statements in the public domain which opened the company up for further mistrust and anger.

5. Whistleblower Protection: This one is tricky but from the official statement given, the company created the impression that their internal structures were not strong. They stated categorically that though the issue happened, and was being managed by the HR department, management only got wind of the situation after the police arrested the suspect. Whistleblower protection is serious business. To ensure organiations are aware of all incidents within their walls it should offer immunity or full support and protection to staff who alert management of mishaps within the organisation.

6. The Lebanese company tag: It emerged that the organisation is Ghanaian-owned and is headed by a Ghanaian. This was announced in their statement address and re-iterated by Lawyers for the firm during court proceedings. Granted that this fact is true, the company missed the opportunity to water down the Lebanese companies exploit staff rhetoric. Obviously, the Ghanaian public got enraged largely because the Supervisor was perceived as a hostile expatriate. However, regardless of the origin of the company, should the organisation have had a proactive crisis management strategy or plan functioning, a large part of the companys image could have been greatly salvaged.

7. Distancing the brand from an individual: In relation to the previous point, a clear crisis management plan would contain the situation enough to buy time for further investigations to be conducted. Clearly, this was an act of indiscretion on the part of an individual which was most unfortunate but should not have impacted the brand so.

8. Connection between suspect and CEO: Because of the said family ties between the CEO and the suspect, the public felt the company was trying to sweep the incident under the carpet. Again, the company could have been smarter with their internal investigations and indicated their readiness not to tolerate any acts of abuse or bullying from Line Manager towards their Subordinates regardless of the relationship between the alleged culprit and the owners of the company.

Someone aptly summed up the actions to take when hit with media crisis and the advice couldnt be more concise. When handling a media crisis, be guided by these three principles:-

1. If it cannot be explained, it cannot be defended:- If the issue is bad, own up to it and apologize.

2. Youve got to tell the truth; be selective. Theres a time and place for everything. Tell the truth and as little as you need to, but enough to please the media and the different stakeholders interested in the crisis. This is where a PR Specialist (in-house or retained) is needed to navigate the course of communications surrounding the crisis.

3. When theres a crisis, theres also a great opportunity: the spotlight is already on the company: use it favourably to your advantage

Once the public sees a concerted effort to genuinely make amends all the tension will eventually subside.

Conclusion

Crises communication is a product of crises management. Crises management is a metamorphosis of issues management. Organisations need to deal with issues before they get out of hand.

Ronald D. Smith, author of Strategic Planning for Public Relations, 2005 gave the analogy of issues management being somewhat similar to steering a sailboat which runs with the wind. When the wind happens to be blowing in the direction you want it to go you make progress against the wind.

Sometimes you need to work to have the wind in your favour, sometimes you stall when there is no wind; you adapt to a constantly changing environment. In a crisis, the analogy can be likened to riding out a storm on the high seas; the best anyone can do is drop the sails, hang on and hope the boat is strong enough to survive without too much damage.

The Mawarko story is now included in the library of crisis communication case studies for organisations to learn lessons from and students of Communications to dissect and earn marks for exams.

Henking is a PR Executive with Media Republique, an Accra-based integrated Public Relations firm. Reach him via [email protected] or on 0266 000 747.
The Chief Executive Officer of Dalex Finance, Ken Thompson, has little hope in the $2.25 billion bond sparking any substantial or long-term economic turnaround.

Indications are that the Cedi may be set for a period of relative stability after significant depreciation on the interbank foreign exchange market and across forex bureaus in the country in 2017.

But Mr. Thompson said he expected a huge dip when the $2.25 billion bond run out.

Furthermore, he said basing the strength of the economy on the the strength of the cedi would be misplaced.

The cedi does not reflect the true state of the Ghanaian economy and every time the cedi depreciates, we take our savings to prop it up. But how long can we continue to do that? The cedi must be allowed to reflect the true state of the economy.

Government has indicated its resolve to ride on the back of its Planting for Food and Jobs programme make Ghana more self-sufficient.

Mr. Thompson was speaking on Eyewitness News, after the President had launched the Planting for Food and Jobs programme, where he stressed that, efforts must be directed at Agriculture if Ghana was to see any meaningful progress.

Farmers will still suffer

But the standing of the cedi means local consumers are likely to neglect local farmers and their produce, Mr. Thompson argued.

He explained that the cedi at the rate at which it is, means our products produced [locally] are not competitive so people will still continue to consume imports and our farmers will suffer. You go to the north and we have farmers whose rice they can't sell because it is cheaper to import from Thailand.

Thus, Mr. Thompson opined that, for us to get where we want to be, the industries based on imports would have to collapse and new ones based on exports will rise. Its basic, but we keep putting our head in the sand.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
We are constrained to ask that effective punitive measures be instituted against those found culpable in the many instances of fraud perpetrated against the state.

Our position is informed by the weird stories now emerging, as the Economic And Organised Crime Office (EOCO) get busier with their investigations.

President Akufo-Addo won an unprecedented electoral victory against the backdrop of an unusual yearning for change.

It was one electoral process in which it was glaring that the incumbent government was going to be swept away by the power of the people's thumbs.

We recall a retired one-star General Brig Nunoo-Mensah saying he would not be surprised in the event of a win for the then leading contender to the Presidency.

Three months after the change in the baton, top NDC persons have been reported to have claimed they foresaw their party heading for a defeat.

We can easily conclude that Ghanaians expect from President Akufo-Addo many actions that are consistent with the change they voted for.

The NDC propaganda to retain power was as vociferous and fierce as there was a resolve and resilience by most Ghanaians to have the incumbent leave the scene.

In spite of the underhand manouvres to thwart the yearning for change mechanically as well as psychologically, there was no stopping the wind of change that came with an unusual gusto.

The margin of difference between the winner and the loser said it all about the resilience of the people.

The people of Ghana voted for a political party and a leader whose integrity is devoid of blemish.

While the ruling party was no longer appealing to the people, their integrity having been lost to the many instances of corruption and outright mendaciousness associated with the government, the largest opposition grouping represented by the then Candidate Akufo-Addo and his running mate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia were credible and their pedigrees won them more political disciples.

Following the recent non-starter NDC press conference led by Party Chairman and leader Kofi Portuphy, some party members still incensed by the glaring factors which led to the fall of the party decided on the path of bluntness.

One of them advised the party to steer away from such useless press conferences and work on restoring integrity to the party without which such efforts would garner nothing in the form of appeal.

We could not agree more with such counsel and would rather the leadership consider such admonition.

We have observed how slowly the state machineries are beginning to wake up from their government-induced slumber or even lethargy.

How can the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) bend the rules regarding the collection of duties on imported items because some importers are more important than others?

EOCO is reported to be investigating the case of the foregone taking place and we wonder why it happened and nothing was heard about it until now.

Ghanaians were pushed to demand for a change because of the many anomalous developments which rendered state institutions near powerless, the selectiveness of the rules being one of the factors leading to this absurdity.

Any attempt to marginalize the seriousness of such breaches can only lead to agitations from the people who preferred change to the then status quo.

Much is being demanded of EOCO as it delves into the many odd things which happened in this country and slowed down her growth.

State institutions must work again and not continue on the business as usual approach, which has exposed the rot which rocked the operations of the Customs Division at the Tema Port.

Why should the Customs Division not insist on bankers' draft or cash but collect cheques which eventually turn out to be dud ones? There are many questions requiring answers.
Lufthansa applies to become NACs strategic partner

The governments call to rope in a long-term strategic management partner at Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has received lukewarm response, as only one company, Germany-based Lufthansa Consulting, has taken part in the closed bidding.


President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday concretized his resolve to make agriculture a major source of employment for the youth by launching the 'Planting for Food and Jobs' programme at Goaso in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

The agric flagship programme being driven by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture is aimed at food security and offer of jobs for the teeming unemployed youth. It is targeted at creating 750,000 jobs in the first year of its implementation.

Five crops; maize, rice, sorghum, soya beans and some selected vegetables will be given priority in the first year.

Speaking at the launch, President Akufo-Addo called on Ghanaians to embrace the programme to transform the country's economy through improved agriculture.

According to him, the programme is the answer to the twin-problem of migration of the youth to city centres in search of non-existent jobs, as well as the disgraceful spectacle of Ghana importing foodstuffs from neighbouring countries.

'Planting for Food and Jobs,' he explained, will be anchored on the pillars that will transform Ghanaian agriculture  the provision of improved seeds, supply of fertilizers, provision of dedicated extension services, a marketing strategy and the use of e-Agriculture.

The 'Planting for Food and Jobs' programme is expected to increase the production of maize by 30 per cent; rice by 49 per cent; soya beans by 25 per cent and sorghum by 28 per cent from current production levels. This programme will create 750,000 jobs in both direct and indirect employment, he stressed.

The president lamented the high cost of food and the high poverty level of the country's farmers and hoped the programme was going to improve farmers' condition, ensure food security and fetch the country some foreign exchange through export of surplus foodstuffs.

According to President Akufo-Addo, the government's vision is to modernize agriculture, improve production efficiency, achieve food security and increase farmers' profits.

He said the programme would encompass full agricultural value chain where additional business and jobs will be created in the areas of storage, transport, processing, packaging and marketing. As such, the president said, 1,000 newly trained agricultural graduates are going to be employed as extension service officers to assist the farmers who will be engaged in the programme.

He said a total of 390 metric tonnes of certified legume seeds would be produced and distributed to farmers.

According to him, the government has also reduced prices of fertilizers by 50 percent to make them affordable to more farmers.

A 50kg bag of NPK fertilizer  one most used by farmers  till today has been costing GH115. Under this government, farmers will only pay GH57.50 for it. Likewise, a 50kg bag of urea now sells at GH47.50, as opposed to GH80 last year, he said.

Additionally, with imminent shortage of agricultural extension officers in the next two to three years, and largely as a result of the previous NDC administration's decision not to employ any of the 3,200 graduates from the country's five Colleges of Agriculture between 2011 and 2015, President Akufo-Addo revealed that his government has, in the last three months, employed 1,200 of these graduates.

He assured, In 2018, we will employ 2,000 more extension officers, with the solemn pledge of employing more graduates from our Colleges of Agriculture in the subsequent years.

He asserted that the government would also expand and improve the feeder road network system in the country to improve the carting of foodstuffs from the farm gates to marketing centres and mitigate post-harvest losses.

One District One Warehouse

To reinforce the pledge made by the minister, government intends to construct a 1,000 metric tonnes capacity warehouse in each of the 216 districts. The purpose of these warehouses would be to handle produce, as well as to store the anticipated surpluses under the 'Planting for Food and Jobs' campaign, he added.

While commending the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, for originating this initiative, President Akufo-Addo also commended the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, for recognising the critical importance of the project, and allocating GH370 million in the 'Asempa Budget' for it.

He expressed the appreciation of his government to Canada, which is supporting the programme with 125 million Canadian dollars over a 5-year period.

The World Bank has also pledged to support the programme with $50 million for this year alone. USAID, through its 'Feed-The-Future' initiative, has also indicated its preparedness to support 'Planting for Food and Jobs.'

Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto reiterated that the overall objective of the programme is to provide enough food to feed the nation, export and generate employment for the youth in agriculture. He said five million farmers would be engaged by the end of the four-year tenure of the government.

The technical adviser to the agricultural minister, Asante Krobea, told DAILY GUIDE that GH560 million had been earmarked for the programme.

The launch was well attended by ministers of state, traditional rulers and farmers in and out of the Brong-Ahafo Region.

Pres. Nana Addo meets with Acherensuamanhene Prof. Agyiwodin Ampim

Pres. Akufo Addo launching the Planting for food and jobs programme

FROM Daniel Y Dayee, Goaso

[email protected]
Casablanca, April 13, 2017 -- Africa50, the pan-African infrastructure investment platform capitalized by the African Development Bank, 23 African countries, and two African Central Banks, is pleased to announce the appointment of Carole Wamuyu Wainaina as Chief Operating Officer. She will lead a multi-disciplinary team on the non-investment side of the organization, including Investor Relations, Strategy, Communications, HR and Administration, and Environmental and Social Governance.

I am delighted to welcome Ms. Wainaina to Africa50, said Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Africa50. She has substantial private sector experience and recognized global organizational leadership and team building skills. This will be critical as we continue to build Africa50 into a high performing investment platform for infrastructure project development and investment in Africa, with a diverse group of investors from African governments to the private sector.

A citizen of Kenya, Wainaina is a well-respected senior executive with global experience in the private and public sectors at senior levels, including strategy formulation, leading multi-disciplinary teams, and driving organizational change.

Before joining Africa50, she served as the Assistant Secretary General for Human Resources of the United Nations, leading transformational initiatives for the Secretary General and member states. Prior to joining the United Nations in 2014, Ms. Wainaina held senior positions for more than two decades at multinational corporations in Turkey, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Kenya.

She served for three years on the Executive Committee of Royal Philips in the Netherlands as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. Prior to this, she worked for 13 years at Coca-Cola in senior roles, including Chief of Staff of the Chairman and CEO, Group HR Director Eurasia and Africa, and President of the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation. She started her career at Price Waterhouse Coopers in Kenya. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from the University of Southern Queensland in Australia.

I am excited about the opportunity to join Africa50 and contribute to the sustainable economic and social development of Africa, for which improved infrastructure is so important. Africa50 is in a unique position to work with government partners and institutional and private investors to increase the number of viable projects, stated Wainaina .

Alain Ebobisse, the CEO of Africa50, added, Carole will be a key member of our executive team, applying her global experience and leadership skills to building a high performing organization as we reach our goal of mobilizing long-term savings from within and outside Africa to promote infrastructure development.

About Africa50

Africa50 is an infrastructure fund owned by African governments, the African Development Bank, and institutional investors. Its mission is to mobilize long term savings from within and outside Africa and private sector funding to promote infrastructure development in Africa.
Government has totally banned mining around water bodies in the country.

The move, according to government, is to protect the water bodies from being polluted by miners.

Vice President Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, who was speaking at a Town Hall Meeting organized by Joy FM in Accra recently said, We are banning mining around water bodies and making sure there is surveillance around those water bodies.

He further revealed that government had developed a five-year multilateral mining integrated policy to improve the management of small-scale mining to protect the environment.

Under the Multilateral Integrated Mining policy, we are going to have a sustainable way of dealing with 'galamsey' in the country, the Vice President said.

He said government had identified particular areas for small-scale mining to prevent the miners from mining haphazardly.

While stopping illegal mining, we are also going to direct the youth to areas that will benefit them. We need to grow this economy and by doing that there will be alternative livelihood, Dr. Bawumia said.

Mining Licence Halted

The Vice President also revealed that government has taken a major step by halting the issuance of mining licenses to address the problem.

We have suspended the issuance of mining licenses so that we can restructure the sector, he said.

Govt Chases Illegal Miners

Meanwhile, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Minister, has stated that government will deploy law enforcement officers across the country to apprehend defiant 'galamsey' operators.

According to him, illegal miners, who have defied government's directive to abandon their activities, are engaging in lawlessness and must be arrested.

The deployment of security personnel across the country forms part of several initiatives by the government to clamp down on the activities of illegal miners that are destroying the countrys water bodies.

Governments 21-day ultimatum to the 'galamsey' operators to end their activities ended yesterday, Wednesday April 19, 2017.

So far about 200 excavators belonging to the illegal miners have been pulled out from 'galamsey' sites nationwide.

[email protected]

By Cephas Larbi


Airtel Ghana, the Smartphone Network, has reaffirmed its commitment to promoting quality education in Ghana through the 'Back to School' donation of educational supplies to pupils of Tanoso SDA Cluster of Schools and the Sokoban Methodist School in the Brong Ahafo and Ashanti Regions respectively.

The donations are in line with the company's bold ambition of empowering young people to fully realise their potential through the provision of educational materials and infrastructure.

A team from Airtel Ghana, led by the Zonal Business Manager for Ashanti and Brong Ahafo, Kwaku Asiedu, made a donation of books, school bags, pencil cases, mathematical sets and lap desks to over 1,000 pupils in both schools.

Speaking at a brief ceremony at the Tanaso SDA Cluster of Schools, Kwaku Asiedu reiterated the company's commitment to supporting the education of thousands of young people in the country through the provision of educational materials.

He said, Airtel Ghana believes in empowering the next generation of leaders to fully realize their potential through the power of education. This is evidenced through our School Adoption and Evolve with STEM initiatives, which seek to invest in infrastructure developments and encourage the study of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Through the School Adoption programme, we have invested in infrastructure such as classroom blocks, libraries and ICT centers to facilitate effective teaching and learning in several schools across the country. This donation is aligned to our commitment to invest in communities we operate in  especially in the area of education. This donation is also a way for us to invest in the lives of our brothers and sisters as part of the Easter festivities.

Heads of the Sokoban Methodist School and Tanoso SDA Cluster of Schools, Charles Berko and Daniel Kwasi Okrah, were optimistic that the pupils would put the materials to good use and expressed their heartfelt gratitude to Airtel Ghana for investing in the lives of young people across the country.

The beneficiary pupils expressed their gratitude to Airtel Ghana for the kind gesture.

Airtel Ghana continues to play a significant role in promoting education in Ghana through its CSR initiatives.

The company has won several local and international awards such as Best CSR Initiative at the Africa and Global Carrier Awards.

A business desk report


Duduetsang Olsen-Namanyane and Blaise Mankwa at a recent press conference in Accra

Letshego Holdings Limited, Africa's leading inclusive finance group, has concluded the 100 percent acquisition of afb Ghana Plc.

Details of the transaction were shared with the media and the public early this year when Bank of Ghana (BoG) gave its approval.

The acquisition has subsequently been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Announcing the transaction, Duduetsang Olsen-Namanyane, Group Chief Operating Officer (COO) said her outfit's diversified solutions encourage communities to financially empower themselves in a variety of sectors, including agri-business, education, housing and healthcare.

She also stated that Letshego and the afb team are bent on delivering more broad-based solutions during 2017 and going forward, primarily over a mobile delivery and access platform in order to enhance access, affordability and drive the progressive development of customer needs-based solutions.

Our strategic intent to be Africa's leading inclusive finance group is based on the model of providing the financially under-served with simple, appropriate and accessible solutions. We are clear that this cuts across the formal, informal and Micro and Small Entrepreneurial (MSE) sectors of the society. We look forward to working with our Ghana Board as well as Arnold and his highly engaged team. Together, we seek to empower our people, our customers, communities to improve their lives, said the Group Chief Operations Officer (COO), Duduetsang Olsen-Namanyane.

Arnold Parker, afb Ghana Managing Director, said the company was developing a mobile micro-loan solution that we will share more about in due course. .

In addition, with our deposit-taking capability, another priority is to mobilise savings for the financially under-served in this market.

afb Ghana's newest board member and chairman, Blaise Mankwa said, I am pleased to accept the appointment as Chairman of the Board of afb Ghana Plc. The board and I will support Letshego and the afb team to engage our regulators and stakeholders.

With Letshego's support, afb will continue advocating for financial inclusion policy enhancements, driving innovation, and mobilising financial empowerment programmes in underserved communities.

A business desk report


The Volta Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Letsa, has called for calm among Nkonyas and Alavanyos following a shooting incident at Nkonya Ahenkro leading to the death of two persons.

Two other persons are also injured in what is believed to be renewed clashes in the area hours after the curfew there was reviewed.

According to the Kpando Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Prosper Ahlorgya the incident occurred at around 7 and 8pm and that the perpetrators are alleged to be from Alavanyo.

Commenting on the development Thursday on Morning Starr, Dr. Letsa urged residents of the two communities to remain calm as there is no cause for alarm.

They shouldnt panic [and] that the situation is under control, he added.

Nonetheless, he said they were taken aback when they had the news of the attack that is quite unfortunate.
A study on the impact of the galamsey activities in the Western region has shown that the Amenfi East, Tarkwa Nsuaem and Prestea Huni Valley districts are the most impacted districts in terms of operational footprint.

According to the study, the galamsey operators have destroyed 58.272%, 17.532% and 8.452% of the land sizes of the aforementioned areas respectively.

The survey which looked at 11 Municipal and District Assemblies in the Western region, also attributed the development to the highest percentage of chamfi and alluvial (washing board) operations, which generally requires a large area of land to profitably operate.

A map indicating the respective land sizes affected by galamsey in the eleven districts in the Western region under study

Meanwhile the Sefwi Wiawso, Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai ,Wassa East and and Nzema East Districts, are the four MDAs least proliferated by galamsey operators.

The percentages of land sizes affected by the activities of illicit mining activities are 0.002%, 0.344%, 0.414% and 0.416% respectively.

Also, the study revealed that out of the nine galamsey types observed, the chamfi accounted for the highest level of destruction with (45.47% of land destruction in the areas under study.

This was followed by alluvial washing board (43.4%) and river/stream dredging (4.94%).

The galamsey types and their respective impacts on the land size of the studied districts

The three activities also topped as operations with most extensive footprint.



By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

Credit: Costed Reclamation & Decommissioning Strategy for Galamsey Operations in 11 selected MDAs of the Western Region, Ghana.

(Mantey J., Owusu- Nimo F. and Nyarko K. B. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Civil Department, Kumasi-Ghana)
Success comes to those who dedicate everything to their passion in life. To be successful, it is also very important to be humble and never let fame or money travel to your head. - A.R Rahman

Some historians trace the 100-day timeline to the time Napoleon Bonaparte took to return from exile in Elba to France (1814) to be reinstated as France's ruler and then waged a war against England and Prussia, till his final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

A century later, Franklin Delano Roosevelt U.S. 32nd President in 1933 in one of the most famous inaugural speeches, remarked to a nation weary of the Great Depression: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Barely 24hours in office Roosevelt declared a four  day bank holiday and drafted the Emergency Banking Act which succeeded in calming a financial panic that was twirling out of control. He established the 'fireside chat 'tradition, called congress into a three  month-long special session and passed 15 pieces of major legislations, later becoming known as the 'New Deal'. So successful was Roosevelts administration that, despite the Constitutional requirement of two terms, he won a record four presidential election from (1933) till his death in 1945.

The 100  day deadline has been used by all US Presidents who came after Roosevelt, and Ghana has followed the tradition since she returned to democracy in 1992.

Ghana's President, Nana Akufo Addo has described his 100day tenure so far as successful and has asked his critics to take a seat and watch him fulfill the promises he made to Ghanaians over the next four years. He was at Kwahu on Saturday and he reiterated the commitment of his administration to introduce the free SHS this coming September

He also praised his government for cutting, abolishing and reducing a total of 15 taxes including import levies on spare parts and 'Kayayei fees. He had fulfilled the campaign promises of restoring the trainee teachers' and nurses allowances, with peacekeeping allowances for military personnel increased from $31 to $35 per day.

Nana Addo defended the large size of his government saying: 'The problems facing the country, including the decline in the agriculture sector, corruption, the low growth of the economy and revenue leaks, required bold measures to address them hence the appointments many have described as excessive.

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice -President at '100 Days Town Hall meeting at the Law Court Complex in Accra (17/04/17) said in spite of inheriting a difficult economic situation, . we can point to some significant achievements. He was quick to remind Ghanaians that: We did not make promises for 100 days. High on the agenda of 103 achievements were: free SHS; one-village-one-dam ; free maternal care; reduction of electricity and water bills; the creation of the North  Western region; payment of $1m to all 275 constituencies and the abolishing of various taxes and levies.

Dr Bawumia noted that the government had increased the country's foreign reserves from less than $6billion to $8 billion; and that the free  falling cedi had been 'arrested

Speaking to 'Joy News, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu lamented: The government led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo is on the path to utter failure and will soon flip  flop on many of its campaign promises  contractors were told that they would be paid within 100 days, now it is a different tongue today, practically impossible.

On the security of the nation, Haruna Iddrisu noted: You have a country with growing insecurity which is a betrayal of the countrys democracy and Nana Addos compromising partisan attitude and failure to bring to order the disturbances and violent acts of vigilante groups like the Invincible Forces and Delta Forces is a threat to constitutional rule, if not properly managed

The Deputy Minority Leader strongly chastised the NPP government,  In the area of security, therefore , the Akufo Addo  Bawumia led administration have been an abysmal failure and they need to do more to set the hearts and mind of Ghanaians at peace. They should desist from choosing political expediency over reason and stop turning a blind eye as their thugs unleash more violence on Ghanaians. Ghana under Akufo  Addo is witnessing state  sponsored thuggery and terrorism and we the citizens have watched on helplessly as our compatriots have been subjected to brutal assault, harassment and intimidations .

Dr Oduro-Osae, the Dean of the Graduate Studies of the Institute of Local Government speaking of the 100 days in office of Akufo Addo's government noted that the NPP government has set the right foundation for success he also praised the swift manner in which government went about its appointments. On the debit side, he lamented the incidents of attacks by some vigilante groups, including the Delta Force.

But how has been the NDCs 100 days in Opposition? Accusations and counter  accusations, internecine fights, violence  with little to no chance given to the 13  member committee set up to investigate the cause of the partys defeat and come out with possible remedies.

A group calling itself the NDC Action Movement accuses the former President, John Mahama of weak leadership skills with the appointment of incompetent and power-drunk individuals who failed to see the foreboding events. Kofi Portuphy, the NDC Chairman who supervised the NDC 2016 catastrophic crash has not ceased wearing the red band on his head. Abusuapanin who has lost a dear child. Wobesu ara awu. Mahama has accepted all the blame for the NDC failure. Ghanaians may not forget the NDC failed promises of 2012 : one-time NHIS premium ; reducing fuel prices drastically; putting money in people's pockets; clearing all filth in the cities within the first 100 days; building 200,000 houses through STX; 40% representation of women in government ; elimination of all schools under trees.

Ralph Waldo Emerson composed the mountain and the squirrel poem:  The mountain and the squirrel had a quarrel, And the former called the latter 'Little Prig . Bun replied : You ' re doubtless very big .. Talents differ; all is well and wisely put, if I cannot carry forests on my back neither can you crack a nut.

NDC may keep a straight face  as a defensive mechanism; they may sulk in private. Their eyes may be as red as Kofi Portuphys red band. No one should tease them. Did I hear anyone say 'Onaapo? Tweaa. The phrase has always been 'so far, so good; meaning an activity is going on successfully, especially when you think something could go wrong. We are yet to hear 'so far, so bad and Nana Addo is on the trail to success, given the successful meeting with the three Johns on Tuesday.

Africanus Owusu Ansah

[email protected]
The new Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) says he would not tolerate lateness to work at the assembly.

He therefore admonished staff of KMA to report to work on time to avert trouble.

Hon. Osei Assibey gave the stern warning when he made an unannounced visit to the various units and offices of the KMA on Tuesday.

The Kumasi Mayor, who is hard working, visited the offices at about 8:30am to check whether staff were at post.

Most of the workers were in their offices feverishly preparing for the day's work during the Mayor's unannounced visit.

Hon. Osei Assibey noted that prompt attendance to work, dedication and commitment to deliver could help the assembly to achieve its set targets.

Meanwhile, the Kumasi Mayor has been introduced to virtually all staff of the assembly by the KMA Coordinating Director, Michael Ataogye.

The KMA Presiding Member (PM), Abraham Boadi, Godwin Okumah Nyame, KMA Public Relations Officer (PRO) and other staff of the assembly were present.

Hon. Osei Assibey interacted with the KMA staff, who seemed happy due to affability of the KMA boss.

The Mayor asked each staff of the assembly about peculiar problems in their units.

Hon. Osei Assibey stated that the move would help draw the KMA staff closer to him to help develop Kumasi.

He declared that he cannot develop Kumasi alone and entreated the public, notably KMA staff, to work actively support him.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi
The Kumasi Circuit Court hearing the case involving the 13 members of the New Patriotic Party-affiliated vigilante group, Delta Force, has adjourned the case again to May 18, 2017.

The Prosecutor for the case, ACP Okyere Darko, requested for the adjournment today [Thursday], because according to him, the Attorney General has called for the docket.

The 13 stormed the office of the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator and allegedly assaulted him in the process.

They subsequently escaped from a Kumasi Circuit Courts custody after some of their members sparked confusion when they were arraigned and charged with conspiracy to assault a public officer and causing unlawful damage.

Though the 13 hold little goodwill in the public eye, a lawyer for the defendants, Matthew Appiah, said he was optimistic his clients will be set free because the Police lack the facts to back the claims on the charge sheet.

We were ready to have the matter started, but because the Attorney General's department has called for the docket, we will have to wait and exercise patience till we hear what the Attorney Generals department is going to say.

Police do not have any evidence to support this charge. That is our contention. We have listened to our clients and we know the facts as presented by the police. We think that the police will not be able to secure a conviction in respect of these charges, he said to Citi News.

Their lawyer added that, the fact that his clients were alleged to have stormed the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinating Council, does not mean they assaulted the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator.

The fact that they went there does not mean that they committed the offence that has been stated on the charge sheet. The fact that so many people go to a place and pandemonium ensues does not mean you arrest some people and bring them to court. You must specifically prove a charge against the person, Mr. Appiah explained.

The thirteen suspects have already been fined Ghc2,400 each, and made to sign a bond of good behaviour for escaping lawful custody.

Meanwhile, eight (8) of their members who raided the court to aid their escape, have also been granted bail pending a full trial .



By: Lauretta Timah/citifonline.com/Ghana
Madhesi Morcha boycott House meeting

The agitating Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha boycotted the Legislature-Parliament meeting on Thursday.
The Youth Employment Agency (YEA), has suspended payment of allowances to over sixty thousand beneficiaries.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of YEA, Justin Kodua Frimpong, the new management has detected fraudulent activities, including allowances to thousands of people who do not work for the agency.

There are about ten separate modules under the YEA programme, with over six hundred thousand beneficiaries according to their website.

The CEO, Justin Kodua Frimpong, told Citi News that the payment has been suspended for three weeks, to investigate the irregularity.

The payment of beneficiary allowances for the Youth Employment Agency has been suspended and the reason being that a common excel verification exposed certain things to us. We realized that YEA pays beneficiaries through e-zwich then it became suspicious and abnormal finding out that there were about three people with different names using the same e-zwich number. We also realized that there are about 2,999 people on the beneficiary payroll who do not work, but at every month they withdraw allowances and also another anomaly we found was that, some people are also working, but as far as May 2016 have not been paid.

The CEO added that, others also do not have appointment letters or assumption of duty letters.

So looking at all these and in the interim, we realized that if we should proceed to pay the allowances, we are going to face serious challenges. What we are interested in now is how we are going to save the public purse.

In a separate statement signed by Acting Deputy CEO, Bashiru Ibrahim, he said the suspension will save the agency and the Ghanaian taxpayer GHc1, 067,700 per month.

The statement further noted that, based on the findings, management of YEA has commissioned the Internal Audit Agency to conduct a special audit into the operations of the Agency.

This has become necessary in order to provide a platform for the new administration to take measures to prevent the scandals that rocked the Agency in the past. By this communication, management appeals to beneficiaries to remain calm as we work to complete the validation process. We apologize for the inconvenience caused, he added.



By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin
20.04.2017 LISTEN

Rev. Father Moses Asaah who is the founder of Regentropfen Education Foundation, a leading nongovernment organisation (NGO) is a man of many parts-an ordained Catholic Priest, a social worker, and a philanthropist.

As a Catholic Priest, Rev. Asaah has had the poor and vulnerable people in society at heart. He has been working hard since his seminary days to accomplish his dream since his ordination.

His unique passion for social work is immeasurable. He helps individuals, families, groups and communities to enhance their individual and collective well-being.

Rev. Asaah also helps people develop their skills and their ability to use their own resources and those of the community to resolve problems in the country.

Furthermore, as a philanthropist, Rev. Asaah through his Regentropfen Education Foundation provides food and shelter for orphans and other needy children in Namoo and its surrounding communities in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region (UER).

He set up a scholarship fund which helps brilliant but needy children through school, built a library and built a university- Regentrophen University College of Applied Sciences (ReCAS) in the village of Kansoe near Namoo with a hostel facility near completion. Rev. Asaah funds the project through donations from individuals in Germany and Stiftung Regentropfen.

Regentropfen is a German word which means raindrops. It is not just a name, but more so it serves as the programme of the university college. Rain brings life to humanity and to the whole of creation. In the same spirit, ReCAS is to promote life, according to Rev. Asaah, the founder of the school.

The school which is accredited by the National Accreditation Board (NAB) is located precisely at Kansoe, opposite Namoo Primary School, and it is only three kilometres away from the border to Burkina Faso.

The location is in line with the philosophy of Regentropfen Education Foundation and the German partner, Stiftung Regentropfen  Bildung zum Leben, that good and quality education should not be the preserve of the rich in society but should also be accessible to the poor and marginalized.

According to authorities of the school, the location is strategic in two perspectives, namely, socio-religious dimension and modern business strategic thinking.

To this end, it fulfills the socio-religious responsibility of bringing quality tertiary education to the door steps of the needy in society  based on the Christian principle of solidarity with the poor.

In the business world, the school has an unparalleled opportunity , since most universities are established in the Southern part of Ghana with only few existing in the Northern part of the country.

Besides, Kansoe in Bongo District is an ideal market centre which attracts upcoming Senior High School leavers to pursue programmes in the university. The area is also close to Bongo, Bawku, Bolgatanga, Navrongo, all in the Upper East Region, Wa in the Upper West Region, Tamale in the Northern Region, and even neighbouring Burkina Faso and Northern Togo, where students complete Senior High School each year and have to compete with many other applicants for the few vacancies at the existing universities and colleges in Ghana.

The affable Rev. Asaahs magnificent contributions to his people in the region did not go unnoticed. They have nominated him to participate in this years MTN Heroes of Change.

It is currently aired on GTV every Saturday at 5:30pm;Multi TV on Sundays at 5:00pm;TV3 on Sundays at 6:30pm; and GhOne on Sundays at 7:00pm to highlight the humanitarian activities of the Rev. Asaah and the other nine nominees.

The MTN Heroes of Change which is MTN Ghana Foundation flagship project was initiated in July 2013 to recognise and reward persons who have provided significant humanitarian services to their communities through personal sacrifices.

The MTN Ghana Foundation is the corporate social responsibility (CRS) arm of MTN Ghana, the leading telecoms service provider in the country.

Rev. Asaah who was featured prominently on the fourth episode of the ongoing season III of the MTN Heroes of Change, said: I dont want any child to suffer they way I did. That is why I set the Regentropfen Education Foundation and school to support the people.

He believes that every human person is made in the image and likeness of God and has at least a God-given talent. The given talent(s) need an appropriate environment and help for its actualization.

So, therefore, no social, cultural or religious background of a person should hamper his or her development in the country.

His ReCAS provides a platform for young men and women to develop their talents in various fields. The school currently offers Bachelor and Diploma programmes in Business Administration, Basic Education, Accounting, Computer Science and Information Technology, among others.

Coincidently, on 25th March 2017, the school marked a historic moment in its life, as the first 48 students were matriculated in a grand ceremony which was attended by the Upper East Regional Minister, the Pro Vice Chancellor of University for Development Studies (UDS), the Director for Quality Assurance of UDS, members of the planning committee of ReCAS, among others. It also marked the installation of the Chairman of the University College Council of the school.

Rev. Moses Asaah and his Regentropfen Education Foundation and the school are contributing to the socio-economic development of the Bongo District in the region. But they need more resources to enable them do more.

So, if he wins the GHC 100,000 ultimate prize, it will go a long way to enhance his philanthropist work. Besides, the fame, the award will greatly motivate him to keep changing the lives in the UER and country at large.

Rev. Asaah therefore needs your vote to win the ultimate prize. You can do so by texting his short code name (Moses) to 1406.

In fact, he is a source of inspiration to most of the young men, especially those in the region. Rev. Asaah is very compassionate person, who respects and loves everybody he comes across.
Gold Coast Fund Management, a subsidiary of Groupe Nduom has put a smile on the faces of the childrens ward of the Accra Ridge Hospital and Accra Psychiatric Hospital.

They donated bags of locally produced rice, Edwumawura rice, assorted drinks, gallons of oil, cartons of mineral and undisclosed cash amount to the two hospitals, as part of its corporate social responsibility.

Donating the items the CEO of Gold Coast, Kwame Ofori Asomaning said that they were aware of the difficulties that the hospital, especially the childrens department were saddled with.

He said it was a culture of Groupe Nduom to assist such facilities, particularly those providing special services to people.

Mr. Asomaning promised the hospital that it would not be a one-off gesture, but rather a beginning of the companys continuous support.

He noted that, GN Foundation, another company under the umbrella body - Groupe Nduom paid special attention to needy facilities, and that the Ridge Hospital would be one of the beneficiaries.

At the tour of the childrens department of the hospital, he expressed dismay about the conditions the children are subjected to, because of inadequate resources to give them best of services.

Receiving the items on behalf of the Unit, Dr. Nana Sereboe, who showed delight about the kind gesture, mentioned that its motivating to be assisted at this period, because a lot of people are at the comfort of their homes and families, but health workers have chosen to save lives during the same festivities.

She said the donation would be put to good use by using it to the optimum benefit of the children, contrary to perceptions that such items would be used by the health workers themselves.

Meanwhile, at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, the same items and cash were donated, but in addition to clothing for the inmates.

Receiving the donation, the Deputy Director of Nursing Nurses, Dr. Emmanuel Pappoe revealed that the facility is distressed and called on philanthropists and other corporate bodies to support them regularly.

He said governments annual subvention was inadequate to cater for the inmates, whose needs are always unmet.

Dr. Pappoe also said out of the current number of 420 inmates, only a handful of families visit their patients.

He lamented that some people also gave them wrong telephone numbers and home addresses, so they were unable to get in touch anytime they needed them.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
By Linda Asante-Agyei

GNA Special Correspondent, Geneva

Courtesy, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Geneva, April 20, GNA - Ghana has been described as one of the countries in Africa that has successfully eradicated Guinea worm and Trachomaas, which are part of the fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).

Ghana has therefore been certified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) since July 2014, whilst the elimination of Trachoma has been achieved since 2016 with the dossier preparation for verification of elimination ongoing.

Ghana's Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Kingsley Aboagye-Gyedu who made this known at the on-going global summit on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) when he shared some of the success Ghana has chalked out in the area, said 3.8 million people in Upper West and Northern Regions have been freed from trachoma.

The five-day Summit, marks the fifth anniversary of the London Declaration, a historic document signed by leaders from diverse sectors committed to controlling, eliminating or eradicating 10 tropical NTDs by 2020.

Since the London Declaration, fewer people are suffering from these disabling diseases and many countries are eliminating them entirely.

NTDs are a group of debilitating infectious diseases such as elephantiasis, river blindness and trachoma that affect the world's poorest communities.

These gains, have made possible by strong global partnerships, country leadership and investments in innovation and technology.

The 2017 summit marks the 5th anniversary of the WHO's roadmap on NTDs and the London Declaration and to celebrate the milestone: 'Uniting to Combat NTDs.'

Representatives of Member States, donor agencies, foundations, the private sector, academia and stakeholders and pharmaceutical companies are participating in the summit.

Mr Aboagye-Gyedu said government would rollout and intensify the deworming exercise of children for at least once a year to protect them from schistosomiasis, which made them vulnerable due to their play habits.

He said morbidity or complications had greatly reduced, high-risk districts changed from 47 down to three, moderate risk districts also changed from 138 to 54 and low risk districts also increased from 31 to 159.

The disease could cause mental debilitation, thus, reducing the child's ability to learn.

The government he said would be investing in the use of technology to distribute drugs to the regions and communities who would be needing them and 'this will be done with just by a press of a button, it will tell what kind of medicine is out of stock at which particular facility'.

The Deputy Minister pledged the commitment of the government in ensuring that the remaining NTDs were tackled with all seriousness to ensure their total elimination.

In an interview with Ghana's NTDs Programme Manager Dr Nana Kwadwo Birituwm, on the NTD situation in Ghana, he explained that transmission has been broken in 81 out of 98 endemic districts for Lymphatic Filariasis, also known as Elephantiasis

He noted that 12.8 million at-risk populations have been freed out of 14.2 million at-risk or endemic population, adding that no new cases of elephantiasis or hydrocoeles have been reported.

Elephantiasis is a worm disease which is usually acquired in childhood and could cause the scrotum and breasts to swell to the size of a watermelon often leading to deformity, social stigma and isolation.

Dr Biritwum said no new cases of onchocerciasis blindness had been recorded for years, no new cases of onchocerciasis skin nodules or onchocerciasis dermatitis or skin changes, whilst transmission was markedly reduced (no hyper (high) or meso (medium) areas of endemicity but all moved to hypo (low endemicity).'

He explained that 85 hyper and meso- endemic districts for onchocerciasis, had moved to make now make 85 hypo endemic districts with an endemic population of about 4million.

'This indicates control to elimination for this disease is ongoing and very soon it would be eliminated from Ghana.'

GNA
20.04.2017 LISTEN

Accra, April 20, GNA - Mr Francis Nyonyo, the Volta Regional Representative on the Council of State, has launched a scholarship package of his Foundation, for brilliant but needy students of the Department of Political Science, University of Ghana.

He said annually, three undergraduate students and two Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy would be granted full scholarships with bursaries.

He, therefore, advised interested students to apply for the scholarship through the Head of the Department of Political Science for consideration.

He explained that the Nyonyo Foundation was a family foundation that sought to promote the needy and brilliant students from all walks of life; and that it was not limited to any group in particular.

Mr Nyonyo launched the package, on Tuesday, during a presentation at a seminar on Entrepreneurship and Job Creation.

The seminar, which was organised by the Department of Political Science, University of Ghana, was to broaden the scope of the students on those issues; as well as to prepare them for the job market.

Mr Nyonyo advised the students to take their studies very seriously and to also cultivate the spirit of entrepreneurship.

He also suggested to the Government to formulate youth entrepreneurship friendly policies in order to attract the nation's youth into entrepreneurship.

He said transparent structures and good policies were needed to promote job creation through entrepreneurship; declaring that, "The private sector is the engine of growth of the economy".

Mr Nyonyo, a successful businessman and an entrepreneur, advised the youth to avail themselves of the opportunities in entrepreneurship job market.

He said the public sector alone could not absorb the chain of graduates the nation's universities turned out annually.

He reminded the students that going into entrepreneurship, one had to be determined and focused, before success could be attained.

He also urged the Government to continue to create the enabling environment for the private sector to grow; stating that 'when government creates an enabling environment for businesses to grow, the tax net would be widened.'

Mr Nyonyo, who is also the Chief Executive Officer, Fraga Oil Ghana, recounted that in late 1990s, when the Government liberalised the oil sector to allow for local participation; it gradually led to the creation of more than 200,000 jobs.

He, however, explained that the bureaucracies in the public sector were hindering the growth of the private sector.

Dr Bossman Asare, the Head of Political Science Department, University of Ghana, said the seminar was organised to inspire students to start their own businesses; and also to offer them the platform to interact with experienced entrepreneurs.

He said we were living in a very competitive environment and that every year about 80,000 students did graduate from the nation's tertiary institutions, with almost of all of them looking to the Government or the private sector for employment.

Dr Asare emphasised that if Ghana were able to get young people to go into entrepreneurship, it would benefit the nation a lot.

GNA

By Iddi Yire, GNA
Khartoum (AFP) - Egypt and Sudan said on Thursday they will not harbour or support opposition groups fighting their respective governments, as top diplomats of the two countries vowed to boost bilateral ties.

Relations between neighbours Cairo and Khartoum have been tense, with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir accusing Egyptian intelligence services of supporting Sudanese opposition figures fighting his troops.

The Egyptian media has also accused Khartoum of offering refuge to members of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which was declared a "terrorist group" by Cairo following the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

"We will not allow any Egyptian opposition group to carry out negative activities from Sudanese territory," Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour told reporters after a meeting with visiting Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.

Ghandour said a recent decision by Khartoum to make Egyptian men aged from 19 to 50 obtain visas prior to entering Sudan was a result of this policy.

Since 2004 Egyptians have enjoyed visa-free access to Sudan, but earlier this month Sudanese authorities made it mandatory for adult Egyptian men to obtain visas before entering the country.

"It is important... to prevent opposition groups from our countries, especially armed groups, from carrying out negative activities against each other's countries," Ghandour said.

Shoukry too vowed that Cairo will work "hand in hand" to boost relations between the two countries.

"The rise in regional and international terrorist activities has increased the importance of cooperation with our Sudanese brothers to face these challenges," Shoukry said in a brief statement alongside Ghandour in Khartoum.

Sudanese officials have regularly claimed to be stepping up efforts to fight extremism in the region, although Washington has listed Sudan as an alleged state sponsor of terrorism since 1993, a charge Khartoum steadfastly denies.

A point of dispute between Cairo and Khartoum has also been Egypt's occupation of a border region claimed by Sudan.

Egypt occupied the sparsely populated 25,000-square-kilometre (10,000-square-mile) Halayeb triangle in 1995, during a low point in relations between the two countries.

Sudan has regularly protested Egypt's administration of Halayeb, which lies near the Red Sea in a mineral-rich border region.

Khartoum says that Halayeb has been part of its sovereign territory since shortly after independence in 1956.
Recently, the salary levels of some Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of some state-controlled corporations in Ghana have come under quite a bit of public scrutiny. What has been in short supply is a discussion of the thematic underpinnings of the subject.

Questions about how much top executives earn, how that aligns with the interest of shareholders/stakeholders, the strategies for creating the said alignment, the role of the board of directors, how much of a say the shareholder has on the pay in question, the possibility of clawing back some of the pay under a given set of circumstances, to mention a few, form the warp and woof of what has come to be known within the corporate governance spectrum as executive compensation.

Based on the assumption that top executives of a company are not easily fungible, there is a general belief that they ought to be compensated in a befitting manner.

In doing so, the traditional tensions within the corporate form, come to the fore. Ordinarily, shareholders invest in the business and the executives, whether they are shareholders themselves or not, manage the business. The board of directors, whose composition almost always includes the CEO exercise oversight. Thus the manner in which executive compensation is arrived at is considered by some to amount to self-dealing even if the CEO may not be a member of the compensation committee in particular.

The executives extract perquisites by way of their earnings and bonuses. The shareholders, who are the residual claimants, may earn dividends if the company is able to meet its obligations after the payments. In Ghana, an ordinary resolution suffices for the declaration of dividends but the amount does not exceed what the board of directors recommends. There is always the danger that dividends may not be declared although the executives continue to be compensated. Even where dividends are declared, they may be meagre compared with the compensation of top executives. Shareholders may sue (derivative actions) but some experts believe the Wall Street Walk (selling of shares) may be the most efficient approach.

The rather taut relationships within the corporate form, resulting from the foregoing analysis, are global in nature. Goldman Sachs, Home Depot, Reckitt Benckiser, Citi Group, Royal Dutch Shell etc., have had different levels of contention over executive compensation.

Although unheard of some decades ago, it is now commonplace to find attempts by boards of directors to align executive compensation with shareholder interests. Thus, it is not uncommon to tie executive compensation to company performance. For listed companies, this may include stocks and stock-options (through the financial instrument of the call option).

In the US, reforms in 1993 capped deductible executive compensation at $1million, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 hemmed in certain advancements to executives and the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 gave shareholders a say on pay even if in precatory terms only. The 2010 Act also required certain disclosures with respect to golden parachutes during mergers.

The Wall Street Journal reported on July 8, 2011, that although non-binding, say on pay votes had caused executive compensation modifications in some top corporations.

Prior to that, on January 20, 2007, the Economist reported that 80% of Americans were of the opinion that executive compensation was too high. Not many people will forget the backlash that the CEOs of Ford, Chrysler and GM suffered in 2008 when they flew private jets to bailout talks in Washington D.C.

The UK took the lead on say on pay as far back as 2003 with respect to companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. In April, 2017, BP announced a 40% cut on the annual pay award of Bob Dudley, its CEO. It is reported that this was as a result of the vote of shareholders against the CEOs pay. Although that vote is non-binding, the effect is obvious.

Australia and Sweden have similar provisions. In the Netherlands and Norway, the shareholder votes are actually binding on top executives.

In Ghana, the public debate over executive compensation is nascent. As the discussion deepens, it is expected that the focus will not merely be on the state-controlled entities.

Indeed, the teaching of Company/Business Law must be modernized to include the corporate governance processes as well as the corporate finance undercurrents for this key aspect of business law.

In instances where the Government is the sole shareholder and thus appoints all the directors on the boards, as well as the CEOs and in effect the leading executives, the real control is of a political nature. Given our constitutional arrangements, the Government and Parliament need to fall on sound corporate governance expertise to free us of this political stranglehold. The introduction by law of truly independent directors and the effective divesting of shareholding may be key approaches in this direction.

Again, the pervading situation where companies especially the publicly traded ones tend to have one or two huge shareholders has rendered directorial elections mere formalities where these owners invariably have their way.

The Listing Rules of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) needs another look. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) needs to re-strategize as well. After all, it is the publicly traded companies that set the tone for the development of the principles and practice of corporate governance in a free-market economy.

In the end, more active dispersed/diffused shareholders in these listed companies may rope in the commercial courts to develop jurisprudential guidance in this virtually under-developed area of Ghanas company law and practice.

The author is the Managing Partner at Nii Arday Clegg & Co., a corporate law firm. He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in Corporate Law, Finance & Governance Concentration from Harvard Law School with cross-registration in Boards of Directors & Corporate Governance from Harvard Business School.
The President of Ashesi University, Patrick Awuah, is advocating for a reduction in the number of subjects candidates write for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

According to Mr. Awuah, the current system allows too many subjects which makes the exam unproductive.

The former Program Manager for Microsoft says experimenting with various levels of Ghana's educational sector as an ecosystem, will over time ensure greater results when eventually scaled up.

Speaking at an event dubbed Achimota Speaks on Wednesday, Mr. Awuah said: I will say that the BECE needs to experiment with reducing the number of subjects that are tested. We are testing too many things. This is not to say we should not teach a lot of things, we should. We should teach Arts and Music and Science so forth, but we should test these three things: Maths, English and Science. The testing can be done more quickly, the grading can be done more quickly.The BECE system cost the Senior High School half a year because it is testing so many subjects and it takes forever to come out with the grades.

Why not start intensive English and Maths from day one? Why not do some of these outside the educational system?. What if every language show, it is a Twi language caption. If it is English, then an English caption and it is the law so every TV programme has to do this and let it run and see what happens. And we know China did this and was very successful.

As calls for a reduction in the number of subjects for BECE intensifies, government has revealed its intention to convert the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) into a placement exam for Senior High Schools.

The Minister for Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who made this known, indicated that the vision to convert the BECE to a placement exam, will be realized with the expansion of the capacity of technical and vocational education.

Addressing a press soiree last week, the Minister said :that is why the President talks about expanding the technical and vocational area so we can accommodate everybody. When we finish and we are able to accommodate everybody, we will change the BECE from an exit exam to a placement exam.



By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @EfeAnsah
Man Capital Partners have donated items and cash totaling GH20,000 to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

The money is expected to be used to defray the debts of mothers who had delivered at the hospital but could not settle their bills.

The company also donated other assorted items to the hospital to assist in its daily activities.

The items include detergents, laundry soaps, soft drinks and plastic bowls.

Representatives of the company, who made the donation, said the Man Capital Easter initiative will be an annual affair where the company in collaboration with other benevolent Ghanaian institutions, bodies and concerned individuals will rescue women and babies who are unable to foot their medical bills.

This gesture is a way of giving back to society and to also let the public know that Man Capital Partners is not all about investments and wealth management, but that the company has the welfare of women and babies at heart.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it is optimistic the Akufo-Addo governments debt management strategies would help reduce the Public debt.

In its Fiscal Report, the Fund, however, said the country will end the year without making significant progress in reducing its debt-to-GDP ratio.

Government was hoping to end the year with a debt-to-GDP of about 70 percent based on some new debt management strategies it plans introducing.

The countrys debt stock as a percentage of the total value of the economy over the years has been a concern for the countrys development partners, donors, and rating agencies because of its impact on government expenditure, the cost of credit, and economic growth.

According to the 2017 budget, government is planning to spend a little over GH10 billion as interest payment on loans.

Ghana was recently classified as high-risk, debt distress country by the IMF because of the country's rising debt stock which stood at GHS122 billion as of December 2016.

It is being suggested the December debt stock of GHS122 billion is a provisional figure because the current government says it is carrying out an audit of some expenditure by the previous administration which was not reported.

Speaking to JOYBUSINESS after the release of the fiscal Monitor Report in Washington D.C, Deputy Director at the IMFs Department of Monitoring, Catherine Pattillo said the debt management strategies being deployed by the government take a while before their impact can be felt

The IMF, for instance, is projecting a debt -to-GDP-ratio of almost 67 percent in 2018 which the Fund says shows that the debt reduction measures are working.

This could move the country out of high risk, debt distress situation, which could lead to some reduction in the cost of borrowing for government.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | George Wiafe | Joy Business |Washington DC
Manage chaotic traffic of Valley: IGP Aryal to traffic police

Inspector General of Nepal Police (IGP) Prakash Aryal has ordered the authorities concerned to manage the chaotic traffic of Kathmandu Valley.
Lands and Natural Resources Minister is cautioning against the creation of a non-existent diplomatic row between Ghana and China in the wake of the anti-galamsey fight.

John Peter Amewu says relations between the two countries are cordial insisting, any Ghanaian having trade challenges with the Chinese government must not be quick to cite a diplomatic row.

Relations between the two countries was reported to be strained following the clampdown on Chinese who were said to be involved in illegal mining in Ghana.

The Ghana government, together with the media and civil society groups have begun a massive campaign to stop illegal mining popularly referred to as galamsey.

Over 20,000 people, some of whom are Chinese and other nationals are said to be involved in the illegal mining which has left Ghana's water bodies polluted the environment completely destroyed.

The country risks importing water from neighbouring countries in the coming years if the activities of galamsey miners are not stopped.

The fight against illegal mining has seen some Ghanaians and their Chinese counterparts arrested and currently facing prosecution.

Last week, officials of the Chinese mission were purported to have written a letter to the Lands and Natural Resources Minister complaining about the way the government and the media are handling the galamsey fight.

The letter hinted of a possible diplomatic strain if steps are not taken by the Ghana government to streamline the anti-galamsey fight.

That letter stirred the hornet's nest with many Ghanaians angry about the posturing of the Chinese government.

Few days later some Ghanaian traders begun complaining about how their goods have been withheld by the Chinese officials.

They do not understand why goods from other nationals will be allowed to be cleared but those from Ghana will be withheld.

Some of them were quick to conclude that the Chinese government was frustrating Ghanaian business men in retaliation to what some of its citizens may be going through in Ghana.

But reacting to the matter, Thursday, the Lands and Natural Resources Minister urged caution in drawing hasty conclusions.

He is confident the anti-galamsey fight has the full backing of the Chinese government.

"As a country let us begin to differentiate between Chinese nationals and the Chinese government. I am convinced that this exercise we are doing has the support of the Chinese government.

"I am saying this based on the meeting I had with them. What they said was that you can go up there and any Chinese misbehaves in terms of not abiding by the laws, you can go and pick that person up. These were the words of the Chinese ambassador.

"If a Chinese individual is misbehaving and we want to say it is the Chinese government, no. I want us to seperate the two things," he said.

In the same vein, he said if a Ghanaian is having troubles with trade issues, that person should not be quick to conclude it is as a result of a diplomatic rows between the two countries.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com|Nathan Gadugah
Kumasi, April 20, GNA - A retired military officer has called for strong support for the government's push to end the destruction of the environment through the activities of illegal miners.

Major Mohammed Bogobiri, addressing a press conference in Kumasi, said all must take responsibility and find space to contribute to the protection of the environment.

He said it should not be lost on anybody the dire consequences for the nation's biodiversity if the pollution of water bodies and degradation of the forest continued unchecked.

It is estimated that about 75 per cent of streams and rivers had been polluted by the operation of the illegal miners, resulting in the destruction of many aquatic species.

Major Bogobiri called for harsher punishment for those caught engaged in the unlawful activity.

He again asked that security check-points were set up in the mining areas and the scale up of security patrols in such places.

He added that the youth in these places were provided with alternative livelihood to discourage them from engaging in the illegality.

He also appealed to the government to provide the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with everything it needed to effectively perform its mandate.

The Agency, he noted had critical role to play, to rein in those doing the wrong things to harm the environment.

It should therefore be supported with logistics - vehicles and Information Communication and Technology (ICT) devices, to monitor any bad practices and to bring the offenders to book.

Major Bogobiri said he found it deeply worrying that the EPA was poorly equipped, something that was making it difficult to efficiently carry out its duty.

That, he said, needed to change to enable the Agency to live up to expectation.

GNA

By Stephen Asante, GNA
Julius Satsi, GNA

Accra, April 20, GNA - Stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality industry are set to improve their capacity to help enhance their operations.

The Tourism Booster seminar, which is scheduled for Accra, Kumasi and Elmina, is a collaboration between the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ghana Tourism Federation, and the Ghana Tourism Authority with support from the Public Affairs Department of the United States of America.

A statement issued to the Ghana News Agency on Thursday, signed by Mr Ahuma Bosco Ocansey, the Head of Communications and Special Projects of the Musicians Union of Ghana, lauded the initiative to build the knowledge of operators in the industry.

It said it was important for the development of the tourism sector in Ghana to yield its full potential for national development.

The statement urged players in the sector to attend the seminar under the theme: 'Enhancing the Capacity of Operators in the Hospitality Industry in Ghana for Increased Tourism Inflows.'

It assured the Ghana Tourism Authority of the team's commitment to ensuring that the seminar was of relevance to the industry.

The statement said the seminar was aimed at providing cutting edge experiences and insights to tourism stakeholders to ensure that the full potentials of the tourism sector in Ghana were adequately exploited.

Nasoa Services, a tourism and event management company, is organising the seminar which would feature two speakers; Yuri Horowitz and Anna Barrera from the United States of America to take the participants through what it takes to develop the tourism brand and monetize it.

'Other speakers at the seminar would include Akunu Dake, the former Chairman of the Ghana Tourism Authority Board; Nana Kweku Nduom of the Group Nduom and Oscar Doe, CEO of Eurocar Rentals,' the statement said.

GNA
20.04.2017 LISTEN

Ho, April 20, GNA - The Volta Regional House of Chiefs is to suspend the Paramount Chiefs and Queen Mothers of Nkonya and Alavanyo indefinitely for their inability to maintain peace between the two traditional areas.

The sanctions followed a shooting incident at Nkonya purported to have been done by unknown assailants from Alavanyo on Wednesday, which led to the death of two people leaving the third, severely injured.

Nana Soglo Alloh IV, President of the House, told the Ghana News Agency that the Standing Committee of the House decided to sanction the chiefs after a meeting with the Regional Minister on Thursday.

He said the suspension was to make the traditional leaders take responsibility for the actions of their subjects.

Nana Alloh said the two Chiefs had on several occasions, committed themselves to peace arrangements mediated by various institutions but to no avail and that punitive measures are needed to be applied.

The two traditional areas have been engaged in a 94 year old land dispute which seemed unending despite efforts by religious bodies, the National Peace Council and government.

In the latest incident, three men from Nkonya who allegedly went to their farms at about 14:30 hours on Wednesday to tap palmwine were fired upon by unknown assailants, killing one Akando instantly.

A police source at Nkonya told the GNA that the situation was under control but checks indicate that there could be a reprisal attack.

Recently, Mr Clemence Gyato, the Nkonya/Alavanyo Peace Ambassador, reiterated an appeal made to government to take over the disputed land and use the resources for national development.

He told the Ghana News Agency that his call had become necessary because 'the rhetoric is too much and assurances from the two areas are no longer inspiring.'

Mr Gyato said it is unfortunate that though the two traditional areas have had several reconciliation durbars and performed rituals invoking the gods against anyone who attacked the other and yet killings were still being recorded.

He recalled how churches in the two traditional areas held prayer and fasting sessions for peace but to no avail and said the only way out was for government to take over the piece of land. GNA
Accra, April 20, GNA - N'Akoa Nazareth Ansah Jamson, the Founder of the Israel King of Jews Church, has called on Ghanaians to come together to fight the illegal mining menace that had left devastating effects on the environment.

He was speaking at the celebration of this year's Pass Over of the church, on the theme: 'Deliverance and Total Liberation' at Dome in Accra on Thursday.

N'Akoa Jamson, also the Spiritual Leader of the Prophets and Spiritual Churches Council, Ghana, urged Christians to lead the crusade against illegal mining so as to preserve and protect the environment.

He said Christians constituted the majority of the country's population and implored all Christians to let their numbers count in the fight against galamsey.

N'Akoa Jamson said the activities of some small-scale miners had caused severe pollution to the country's fresh water bodies and destroyed arable lands.

He said the famous Pra and Tano rivers were among the most polluted water bodies and that the Ghana Water Company had to shut down some of its treatment plants because the water sources had been polluted beyond purification through the activities of illegal mining.

He urged the leadership of churches to see the crusade against galamsey as a divine call to duty stressing that they ought to publicly declare their support for the initiative and use the pulpit to educate the public on the dangers of galamsey.

Prayers were said for the economic stability and peace of the nation. GNA
Australia is the Lucky Country, blessed with friendly neighbours, great beaches and enjoyable lifestyles. It is our duty to train and educate young Australians so that they, too, can make their mark on the Australian landscape.

But its hard to do this if businesses source cheaper skilled labour from overseas.

Thats why the Aussie government has made some changes to temporary migration visas.

As of yesterday, 19 April 2017, the occupation list that underpins the 457 visa has been significantly condensed from 651 to 435 occupations. Of the 435 listed occupations, access to 24 occupations has been restricted to regional Australia (e.g. farming and agriculture).

According to the ABC:

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says the move is designed to put Australian workers first, though key industries have expressed their fears about the difficulty they may face hiring top talent.

Im all for putting Australian workers first. But as the ABC points out, the change might reduce the number of migrant workers coming into the country by only 8.6%. They found:

human resource advisers, production managers in manufacturing and web developers will be most affected, based on the number of 457 visas granted in 201516.

In principle, I agree with what the Turnbull government is trying to do. As the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection stated:

These measures [457 visa changes] will sharpen the focus of Australias employer sponsorship skilled migration programmes to ensure they better meet Australias skills needs, increase the quality and economic contribution of skilled migrants and address public concerns about the displacement of Australian workers.

But these changes likely wont affect businesses that primarily source skilled workers from overseas.

Regards,

Harje Ronngard

Junior Analyst, Money Morning

PS: If you want to lay down a little money on the hottest corner of the ASX right nowbut you dont know your way around the small-cap sectorthis report is for you. Get access now (free).

[ampBannerMM]
Much ado about nothing

The only positive spin to the whole debacle was that it showed the govt was responsive to adverse public opinion
Exposed: Top Abuja cleric reveals why other pastors are angry with Oyedepo, Adeboye, Kumuyi

Pastor Paul Enenche has said that life functions by the seed principle and that what everyone reaps is what they also sow in line with the will and plan of God.
A young female undergraduate in one of the top universities in Nigeria (named withheld) has cried out after she claimed she was stripped off her hard-earned money by a scammer on Facebook.

According to the chats made available exclusively to Legit.ng Gossip, the scammer, Damilare Adeniran, added the young female undergraduate on Facebook and they got talking inbox.

During their discussion, Adeniran who claimed he lives and works in the UK promised to buy his victim an Iphone6, laptop, wristwatches and perfume. Adeniran who also said he's from Kwara state claimed he has a 17-year-old daughter who stays in Nigeria with her mother (his wife).

The alleged scammer Damilare Adeniran

Although the young lady could not hide her disbelief, Adeniran said he was helping the lady because he knows times are hard in Nigeria.

The CNF code sent to the female undergraduate to claim her 'package' when it arrives Nigeria

He even said he added some foreign currencies in the cash gift and all she needs to do is to pay for courier when the package has arrived. Read their chats below to know what went down afterwards:

The unsuspecting victim got two purported messages from the courier service outlet which go thus:

Courier Exp

"HELLO! This is to notify you that your parcel are currently pending for clearance and delivery in our channel kindly contact the agent in charge of your parcel agent Favour on (+234 7082 0764 05) to submit the tracking code/CNF code to clear your goods. Thank you"

"Hello! Miss ****** **** ****! Your parcel has just been confirmed kindly make the payment of your clearance charges (#7550) to the diplomatic agent account (*** BANK ***** ******* ***********) for your goods to be delivered Today after a confirmed successful payment. Thank you!"

And not long after, Damilare Adeniran contacted her, saying he got a mail that she had been contacted. He also said he kept some money in the parcel which is why he wants her to claim the parcel quickly before the courier company gets to know there is money in the package. Read the rest of the chat below:

It was at this point that Damilare Adeniran blocked his victim and she was unable to send him messages anymore. There and then, she knew she had been scammed of her money. According to her, she borrowed the money from her mates in school and she is sharing her experience so that other people will not fall victim like she did.

Do you have a similar experience? You can share with us to help others!

Source: Legit.ng
- Yakubu Gowon expressed sadness over the crises in some parts of the country

- The former head of state said he had hoped the civil war would end disunity

- He promised to continue to pray for the country

Former head of state, Yakubu Gowon, has expressed regret over the crises going on in some parts of the country saying he had prayed the country would be united after the Biafra civil war.

Gowon was head of state when the country engaged in a civil war between 1967 and 1970 and said he had hoped the country would be more united.

READ ALSO: Goodluck Jonathan to be questioned by Osinbajo-led panel

Vanguard reports that the former head of state spoke in Akure, Ondo state when he led members of the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN) on a courtesy call on Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.

He urged Nigerians to engage in prayers for us to overcome the problems of unity of the country.

It is unfortunate that some of these things are happening. After the civil war, I have hoped and prayed Nigeria will never again go through the experience we had gone through and you can know how disappointed one is that all these sorts of things are happening now.

In the Northeast, Southern Kaduna and the militants in the South; I will help the government in putting some of these things into prayer

Gowon however expressed optimism in the state of the nation getting better soon.

I read in one of the newspapers that the name of Nigeria is no more on the list of countries in economic recession. That shows that things are getting better, so we should not stop praying for the country.

READ ALSO: Notorious Boko Haram terrorist arrested by NSCDC

Governor Akeredolu in his response commended Gowon for his One Nigeria stance since he was head of state.

We are indebted to you for life; if not for you, there would not have been one Nigeria because keeping Nigeria one was a task which you did well."

The governor said he prayed all his efforts would not be in vain as the country would only progress if it was united.

Source: Legit.ng
- The suspension of Babachir David Lawal is still a trending topic in Nigeria

- The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) has been a controversial figure since he assumed office

- Some officials of the present administration are not comfortable with his presence in Aso Rock

A report by The Punch indicates that some government officials are happy with the suspension of the SGF.

A minister, who spoke to the newspaper on the condition of anonymity, said the decision to suspend Lawal was part of the consensus reached at a reconciliatory meeting held by the presidency and the leadership of the Senate.

Legit.ng gathered that the frosty relationship between the presidency and the Senate informed the decision of senators to suspend the screening of President Muhammadu Buharis nominees for the positions of Resident Electoral Commissioners.

Babachir Lawal (left) was suspended by President Buhari (right) on Wednesday, April 19

READ ALSO: Goodluck Jonathan to be questioned by Osinbajo-led panel

The minister was quoted as saying: The president was advised to suspend the SGF because his issue was already giving the government a bad name.

Apart from the fact that he is not known as a major part in the APC, he is also being seen as a cog in the wheel of the government anti-corruption crusade.

Already, his issue has also polarised the party and the presidency. So, in order to give a bite to the anti-corruption war, he needs to be suspended.

Meanwhile, the senator representing Kebbi Central Senatorial district, Senator Adamu Aliero has said that the suspension of the SGF would strengthen executive and legislative relationship.

Aliero, a former governor of Kebbi state explained that the report of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on humanitarian crises in the North East which indicted the SGF was detailed.

Similarly, Shehu Sani, the senator heading the committee that blew the lid of the contract frauds at the Presidential Initiative for the North East which indicted the SGF, has commended President Buhari for the move.

It is commendable that the president has taken the senate committee report and recommendations seriously, Senator Sani (APC-Kaduna) told journalists.

Senator Shehu Sani (left) had chided the presidency for not acting on his committee's report earlier

READ ALSO: Police arrest LG boss over alleged assassination attempt on Dino Melaye

In a related development, former presidential aide, Pastor Reno Omokri, has said that President Buhari's fight against corruption will remain to him a charade, until Babachir Lawal is charged to court.

Omkori who had earlier said that Buhari would have to sack his 13 SANs and show his certificate, says the president cannot continue to wine and dine with corrupt officials.

Source: Legit.ng
- On April 19, 2017, President Buhari finally removed Secretary General of the Federation, Babachir Lawal from office

- The SGF has been under intense pressure to resign since December 2016, when a senate committee found him guilty of mismanagement of funds

- President Buhari had initially defended Babachir, saying he was not given a fair hearing

The Nigerian Senate on December 14, 2016, asked SGF Babachir Lawal to resign from office, following a recommendation of its ad hoc committee.

The committee on the humanitarian crisis in the north-east, had investigated the management of funds for internally displaced persons in the region by the Presidential Initiative on the North-East (PINE), which was under the SGF.

President Buhari however defended Lawal. He wrote to the senate, saying he would not sack the SGF, because he was not a given a fair hearing.

Babachir Lawal reportedly asked: 'Who is presidency?' when confronted about his suspension

The allegation leveled against the SGF was that he had awarded contracts to companies belonging to cronies and relatives of top government officials. This was championed by the chairman of the ad hoc committee, Senator Shehu Sani.

Sani also explained that the committee found out that Rholavision Engineering Limited, a company, with Lawal as director, for instance, was awarded a consultancy contract.

Also, he alleged that all the procurement activities by PINE, violated the laid-down rules and most of the contracts awarded had no positive impact on the IDPs.

READ ALSO: Goodluck Jonathan to be questioned by Osinbajo-led panel

Eventually, on April 19, 2017, President Buhari capitulated and removed Babachir from office and according to The Cable, it is no doubt that these three recommendations of the committee, led to the removal:

1. Prosecution of guilty public officials

The committee, headed by Sani, recommended that any public officer who went against any of the provisions of the procurement act, 2007 and the federal government financial rules and regulations pertaining to the award of contracts, should be duly prosecuted.

2. Inability of PINE to produce detailed reports of contract

The committee had also requested PINE to forward a detailed report of all contracts awarded by it to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), as requested by section 43 (iv) of the Public Procurement Act, 2007, which PINE failed to do.

3. Contractors asked to refund

The senate panel also demanded that contracts partially executed but fully paid for must be completed by the concerned contractors, or asked to refund the equivalent money of outstanding jobs to the government treasury.

READ ALSO: Fayose slams President Buhari after suspension of SGF, NIA DG

How did Lawal respond to these recommendations? He denied it all and instead lashed out at the Senate.

Who is investigating? The senate? These are also part of the issues of separation of powers that people abuse. I do know that I dont have immunity to accuse you without proof but the members of the national assembly can say anything on the floor and are immune to prosecution but people are abusing it and in this case people are maliciously abusing and wickedly abused their privileges in the national assembly.

PINE, Presidential Initiative on the North East, was set up by President Jonathan  thank God for him. It used to be run under the finance ministry, under the minister of state.

"When I took over, we were wondering who was running the north-east programme until one day, the national assembly members from the north-east paid me a courtesy call thinking that it was being run by my office. I told them it wasnt my office so I telephoned the vice-president and asked Oga, who is running PINE?, he said I think it is your office.

When it got to budget period, I asked the minister of budget the same question about PINE, no he said it is your office or the NSAs office. What I discovered was that there was a consultant, senior special assistant to the former NSA who was in charge of PINE.

The man who was claiming to be leading the PINE was an adviser to the former NSA and such a persons tenure lapses with the other principal officer.

So I said you can no longer run PINE. At that time in 2015, there was N2.5 billion for the programme. The money was just thee doing nothing but paying consultants.

"I understand that at one time they were using it to buy pre-fabricated schools. The principle of PINE is this and there is a permanent secretary who runs PINE. There are 23 of such agencies in this office.

"We now said for people to return to their homes, we must guarantee that they are able to engage in productive work before they were pushed out, which means rebuild the schools that were burnt, rebuild the police stations and barracks so people can returns part of confidence-building. Thats just it," he said.

READ ALSO: Suspended NIA boss Ayodele Oke weeps as he is barred from Aso Rock (photos)

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that an unnamed minister was quoted as saying: Legit.ng reported that an unnamed minister was quoted as saying: The president was advised to suspend the SGF because his issue was already giving the government a bad name.

Apart from the fact that he is not known as a major part in the APC, he is also being seen as a cog in the wheel of the government anti-corruption crusade.

Already, his issue has also polarised the party and the presidency. So, in order to give a bite to the anti-corruption war, he needs to be suspended.

This brings to the mind the question, which Nigerian politician is not corrupt? Watch this Legit.ng video to hear what Nigerians think:

Source: Legit.ng
Need to cash in on Chinas outbound boom stressed

Captains of tourism have stressed the need to launch an initiative to attract a greater number of Chinese tourists as the northern neighbour is in the midst of an outbound boom.
- Sule Lamido says President Buhari's anti-corruption war is just noise

- Lamido says the president was also involved in corrupt practices during his days as PTF chairman under Abacha

- The former Jigawa state governor said he found it hard to believe that the money found by EFCC in Ikoyi, Lagos state belonged to National Intelligence Agency (NIA)

Sule Lamido, a former governor of Jigawa state, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari is not really fighting the war against corruption because he is corrupt himself.

Lamido told BBC Hausa Service that Buhari equally corrupt when he served under the late Head of State Sani Abacha and his present anti-corruption war is just noise.

READ ALSO: Gowon expresses disappointment over Nigeria's disunity

A former foreign affairs minister, Lamido said Buhari, who served as chairman of the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) that was established by Abacha in 1994 to provide important facilities across the country, dipped his hands in the national treasury as well.

Sule Lamido says he believes that President Buhari's anti-corruption war is just noise.

He said: He (Buhari) worked under Abacha; in fact he was the closest to the late military ruler and when it comes to corruption, everybody knows where Abachas government stands.

Buhari is just making noise; theres no iota of truth in the so-called commitment to the improvement of security and halting graft in the country."

READ ALSO: Notorious Boko Haram terrorist arrested by NSCDC

Lamido faulted the EFCCs discovery of huge amount of money in an apartment in Ikoyi in Lagos state and threw up questions on why the discovery is not believable to him.

He said: Its unthinkable to say that the EFCC had discovered huge monies (nearly N15 billion) in a building (Osborne Towers) in Lagos but could not track the real owner; who leaked the story? Who did the source say is the owner of the find?

No reasonable person will believe that there is no safe for the NIA (which claimed ownership) to keep its money but a private residence in Lagos; those in position of authority should always have the courage to tell the led the truth because leadership is sacred.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng has gathered that Lamido himself might be interested in Buhari's job as his 2019 presidential posters, on Thursday, April 6, surfaced at the secretariat of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos state.

Reports say that the posters bearing Lamidos picture were pasted at strategic areas of the secretariat right from the entrance.

Watch this Legit.ng TV's video of a Nigerian giving his opinion on President Buhari and corruption in Nigeria

Source: Legit.ng
- Senator Dino Melaye has mocked Babachir Lawal over his suspension

- The controversial senator took to his twitter account after Lawals suspension was announced to ridicule the suspended SGF

- Presidency on Wednesday 19 suspended SGF and DG NIA over fraud allegation

Senator Dino Melaye has laughed at Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, over his suspension.

Legit.ng previously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered an investigation into the allegations of violations of law and due process by Lawal, with regard to the award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE).

READ ALSO: 3 STRONG recommendations from Senate that forced Buhari to sack Babachir Lawal

Legit.ng also gathered that the Senate recently found Lawal guilty of complicity in the finances meant for the welfare of the Internally Displaced persons, IDPs in the north east and called on the president to remove him.

Senator Dino Melaye mocking suspended Babachir Lawal

Lawal was indicted by the Senate report for allegedly contravening the provisions of the public procurement act and the federal governments financial rules and regulations pertaining to award of contracts.

Melaye took to his Twitter account, to post a written version of his now viral song Ajeku Iya, clearly mentioning Lawals name in the tweet.

It read: Babachir Lawal. Aje ku iya nio je. Eni tio toni na ton dena deni, aje ku iya nio je. Ntoooooo.

The Senator Shehu Sani-led ad-hoc committee investigated the mismanagement and diversion of IDP funds and a company allegedly owned by Lawal was found to have been awarded a grass-clearing contract worth about N200million.

He was advised to resign after the investigations were concluded, but he disregarded the Senate.

READ ALSO: Top lawyers reveal why EFCC, ICPC, AGF may lose more corruption cases

Last month, Lawal insisted he is innocent of the allegations levelled against him over the N1.3billion grass-cutting contract.

Watch this Legit.ng video on Senator Dino Melaye's certificate scandal:

Source: Legit.ng
New Australia immigration rules may affect Nepalis

Mirroring the United States move to curb on migrants, the Australian government on Tuesday announced plans to abolish 457 visas which could affect tens of thousands of aspirants planning to travel to the country, including Nepalis.
Nigeria 'gay wedding' bust leads to charges

Prosecutors in the northern Nigeria state of Kaduna have charged a group of 53 people with conspiring to celebrate a gay wedding.
Editor's note: Popular musician and television presenter Charles 'Charly Boy' Oputa has again addressed the issue of Biafra agitation and his recently solidarity for the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu.

Charly Boy in this frsh piece says, while he does not support nor agitates for the freedom of Biafra as a country, he is a 'Biafran' at heart.

The musician said he is also an advocate for human rights and justice irrespective of who is involved.

I am aware that my recent picture with Nnamdi Kanu at Federal High Court, Abuja, has generated a lot of reactions and comments; some witty, others dim-witted, not that I blame them though.

I am also aware that the picture has encouraged a vast number of people to take a decisive position on whether or not Biafra is the right cause.

Even more, I am aware that the picture has left many people confused and skeptical of reports that I am now supporting Biafra. Na wa.

I am also aware that the picture has encouraged a vast number of people to take a decisive position on whether or not Biafra is the right cause.

I would like to say for the umpteenth time, that, I am Not in support and will never be in support of a country to be called Biafra. However, I am a Biafran in my heart, period.

READ ALSO: I will be slow and steady - President Buhari reacts after suspending Babachir and Oke

My reason, however, for visiting Nnamdi Kanu in court, was to make my discontent and disillusionment on his prolonged incarceration known to the federal government who have kept him behind bars for too long.

If the government have issues with Nnamdi Kanu, let them charge him to court and let the rule of law decide.

For whatsoever reason, no man deserves to be ill-treated in his fatherland as Nnamdi Kanu is being treated. Hence, the need for my interference in the ever-growing call for his release.

I stand for equal rights and justice, period. Advocating for the Okada community does not make me an Okada rider.

Advocating for gay rights does not make me a gay person. So, asking for Nnamdi's release does not make me a Biafran supporter. Lai Lai!

Sometime in January 2017, I wrote about my thoughts on the Biafra agitation and how I do not consider it a feasible adventure especially when there are so many important things my Ibo kindred can alternatively dedicate their all to.

I titled the article "The illusion called Biafra", those who haven't read it should read it up because what I wrote therein will always be my stance on Biafra.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: President Buhari in closed door meeting with ministers

Back then, I had written that the dreams of nationhood are lost on the altar of deception, and my Ibo people must be circumspect of this fact and not be hoodwinked into some insane propaganda that will only lead to more wahala.

I stand for equal rights and justice, period. Advocating for the Okada community does not make me an Okada rider.

So, instead of Biafra, we should channel our energies and abilities towards developing the South-East to become the economic hub of Nigeria.

The fight for Nationalists who will drive the discourse and the engagement necessary in answering the Nigeria National questions must not be bugged down by petty sentiments and tribal colourations.

Abi... Didn't the fall of Biafra after the genoocide, starvation, and immense suffering of my people teach us anything?

I Believe the Failure of the Igbo nation is the fault of the people, her elites and decision-makers. Why have we not poured our energy, capacity and ability into making the South East the Dubai of the Nation as well as the engine room of the Nigerian Economy?

Who would be our leaders when the south east is infested with political power-grabbers, 419ers, mindless criminals and looters of our commonwealth and resources? Need I mention names?

Our problem is the lack of men of integrity and a progressive mind set.

We lack the right kind of leadership that will fight for the interest of the People. Let it be clear to all that the sufferings and malfeasances of the People from the South East is also the sufferings and malfeasances of the peoples from the other geopolitical zones in Nigeria.

Even the nascent anti-corruption fight in the country has seen all tribe accordingly represented. It is therefore retrospectively insane to begin to think that a people with a problem would suddenly be relieved when they are attached with a tag #BIAFRA; Abegi.

Therefore, I conclusively insist that Our Mumu Don Do because; The Failure of Leadership is evident in our agitation for Fairness, Justice and Equality for every Nigerian not just for every Igbo man. And so the Mind of the typical Igbo Leader Needs a Revolution so that it can be realigned for the Interest of the People rather than the interest of a few.

Comrades, Let's focus on our homeland, Naija and begin to demand accountability and responsibility from many of our Scammers, Riffraff and Fraudsters in the entire nation.

READ ALSO: 1 injured as Nigerian Air Force, NDLEA officials fight dirty at Lagos Airport

Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa state was quoted last week as saying that Nigeria cannot break up because members of the elite are united in preserving their advantages over the masses irrespective of their differences of tribe and religion.

Straight from the horses mouth! A candid admission that, it is the elites who run Nigerias affairs that has kept the common man squalid, wretched and in hell despite the nations enormous oil wealth.

Our problem is the lack of men of integrity and a progressive mind set.

We see the ruling elite quarreling and calling each other bad namesbut its just a game intended to fool the public: in reality, they are quite united in quietly sharing the money and delivering little or nothing to their various constituencies.

READ ALSO: Ex-Goodluck Jonathan spokesman engages in 'fight' on Twitter

They have a stake in keeping the country exactly as it isweak and confused and easy to exploit.

Again and again, I dare to ask that we pause on the fantasy tagged Biafra for now. Let us dutifully work ourselves back into reckoning, by Fighting for Fairness, Justice and Equality for all Nigerians; Not Igbos Only; Yorubas Only or Hausas Only but all Nigerians.

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Legit.ng

Your own opinion articles are welcome at info@corp.legit.ng drop an email telling us what you want to write about and why. More details in Legit.ngs step-by-step guide for guest contributors.

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Watch this Legit.ng video of Biafra supporter claiming that he is God below:

Source: Legit.ng
Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif survives corruption ruling

Pakistan's Supreme Court has ruled there is insufficient evidence of corruption to remove Nawaz Sharif from the role of prime minister.
- The insurgents attacked an Army base on Monday, April 17 with over 200 of their fighters and five trucks mounted with twin-barelled artillery guns

- Eight soldiers were reportedly killed and 11 wounded in three days while four are missing in action

- The soldiers were dislodged from their base by the insurgents and are now in need of restocking of their armouries

- For more reports on the fight against Boko Haram by the Nigerian Army, please visit: https://www.legit.ng/tag/boko-haram.html

Premium Times is reporting that not fewer than eight Nigerian soldiers have been killed by Boko Haram fighters who also sacked an Army base in Borno state.

According to the report, the insurgents attacked the Forward Operating Base in Sabon Gari, Borno State and initially killed five soldiers and injured nine others.

READ ALSO: Nigerian govt arraigns Supreme Court judge for false asset declaration, gets bail on self-recognisance

This attack was followed by another in which an additional three soldiers died and two more were wounded to make eight dead and 11 valiant soldiers wounded in just three days in two separate attacks.

The soldiers put up a tough fight but were eventually dislodged from their base by the insurgents numbering about 200

The report quoted our sources as saying further that the army formations attacked also lost several arms and ammunition, and now require restocking of their armouries.

In the first attack, over 200 Boko Haram terrorists on motorcycles attacked the base at about 6 p.m. on Monday.

These were accompanied by five gun trucks which were mounted with twin-barreled artillery guns.

READ ALSO: President Buhari in closed door meeting with Fayemi and Usani

Premium Times reports that the troops who fought back gallantly were eventually dislodged from their location after about an hour of fierce battle.

The report says at least four other soldiers are still missing in action.

In the second attack, troops of 82 Division Task Force Battalion ran into an ambush laid by Boko Haram terrorists at about 8:45 am on Thursday, April 20 just as soldiers were on patrol along the Ngoshe-Bokkotinta-Pulka area.

Three more soldiers were reportedly killed and two others were wounded.

Legit.ng cannot immediately verify the details of these attacks as message sent to the phone of Nigerian Army spokesman Brigadier-General Sani Usman Kukasheka to confirm them was yet to be replied as at time of filing this report.

Recall that just on Tuesday, April 18, Usman reported that troops of 192 Battalion 26 Task Force on Tuesday, April 18, gunned down six Boko Haram terrorists.

The terrorists, he said, were killed in a clearance operation carried out by the troops attached to Operation Lafiya Dole in the terrorists hideouts at Dissa and Patawe general area of Borno state.

Watch this touching Legit.ng TV video of survivors of Boko Haram attacks narrating their ordeals

Source: Legit.ng
Pokhara-based banker flees with millions of rupees

The branch manager of Kailash Bikash Bank in Lamachaur, Pokhara, has gone out of contact after reportedly misappropriating millions of rupees from the bank and at dozens of lenders.
- President Muhammadu Buhari approves 7 appointees for the constitution of the board of solid minerals development fund

- The board is chaired by Uba Malami from Nasarawa state, a geologist and former vice-president of the Abuja chambers of commerce

- Members of the board include Demola Gbadegesin, a mining investor and electrical engineer from Oyo, Theo Iseghohi, managing director of Nishan Industries Limited, who hails from Edo and others

President Muhammadu Buhari approved the constitution of the board of solid minerals development fund on Thursday, April 20, in Abuja.

A statement by the ministry of mines and steel development said Mr Buhari charged the seven-member board to carry out its duties diligently, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

READ ALSO: Goodluck Jonathan to be questioned by Osinbajo-led panel

The statement signed by the permanent secretary in the ministry, Mohammed Abbas, said the members of the board are:

1. Uba Malami from Nasarawa state, a geologist and former vice-president of the Abuja chambers of commerce, as chairman.

2. Demola Gbadegesin, a mining investor and electrical engineer from Oyo state

3. Theo Iseghohi, Managing Director of Nishan Industries Limited, who hails from Edo

4. Eze, an accountant and former banker from Ebonyi state

READ ALSO: President Buhari confirms readiness to tackle Nigeria's challenges

5. Fatima Shinkafi, a chemist from Zamfara

6. Uwatt Bassey Uwatt from Akwa Ibom and

7. Yinka Mubarak.

In another news, Legit.ng reports that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointments of three executives for the Nigeria Export-Import Bank.

According to a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday evening, April 20, by the director of press and public relations in the office of the secretary to the government of the federation, Bolaji Adebiyi, the president approved Abubakar Abba Bello as the new managing director and chief executive of Nigeria Export-Import Bank.

Others appointed for NEXIM Bank are Dr. Bala Mohammed Bello as executive director, corporate services and Stella Okotete as executive director, business development.

In the Legit.ng video below, children, elderly and widowed residents of Agbado crossing in Ogun state cry out after their houses were marked for demolition. Watch.

Source: Legit.ng
- The three-man presidential committee investigating the N13billion recovered cash in Ikoyi have interrogated EFCC acting chairman Ibrahim Magu

- The committee also interrogated the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and the Director-General of the Department of State Security (DSS), Malam Lawal Daura over the issue

- Magu denies appearing before the panel

Ibrahim Magu, the acting chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was on Thursday, April 20, quizzed by the three-man presidential committee investigating the discovery of $43.4m (N13billion) in a residential apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos state.

According to a report on Daily Trust, Magu faced the panel for over one hour at the Vice President's Wing of the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja.

He thereafter headed for the office of the Chief of Staff Abba Kyari.

Osinbajo panel quizzes Magu

Magu however denied appearing before the panel when Vanguard asked about his visit to Osinbajos office, venue of the meeting.

The EFCC acting chairman said that he attended Assets Recovery Committee meeting.

READ ALSO: President Buhari appoints 3 executives for NEXIM Bank

I went for Assets Recovery meeting, he said.

The committee, headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, also interrogated the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and the Director-General of the Department of State Security (DSS), Malam Lawal Daura, over the issue.

However, none of them spoke to state House correspondents before leaving the Presidential Villa.

Earlier, Legit.ng had reported that a whistle-blower tip led operatives of the EFCC to Osborne towers in Ikoyi where $43,449,947, 27,800 and N23,218,000 were recovered.

Later, reports filtered in that the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) claimed the EFCC operation has bungled a covert security operation and that the fund actually belonged to the agency.

According to Ayo Oke, suspended director general of the NIA, the fund was approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) during the administration of Goodluck Jonathan for an operation although this was not revealed to the new administration.

A court granted a temporary forfeiture of the fund to the federal government although President Muhammadu Buhari later ordered the money back to the CBN while preliminary investigation is being carried out.

Babachir Lawal

READ ALSO: Buhari says he wont let Nigeria down - Lawan

President Buhari suspended Ayo Oke and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal on Wednesday, April 19 and set up a three-man committee made up of Abubakar Malami, the attorney-general of the federation; Babagana Monguno who is the national security adviser and vice president Professor Yemi Osinbajo to carry out a two weeks investigation and report its finding.

The panel was tasked with the responsibility of investigating circumstances in which the NIA came into possession of the funds, how and by whose or which authority the funds were made available to the NIA, and to establish whether or not there has been a breach of the law or security procedure in obtaining custody and use of the funds,

The committee is also investigating the allegations of violations of law and due process made against Babachir Lawal, in the award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North East.

In the video below, Legit.ng asks Nigerians if they believe President Buhari has taken the country out of recession as stated in a recent report. Watch:

Source: Legit.ng
- Presidential media aide, Malam Garba Shehu, describes media reports that the DG of NIA, Ayo Oke, cried after he learnt about his suspension as unfair and uncharitable

- Garba Shehu says the DG did not cry as widely reported in the social and some traditional media

- The spokesperson states that no one could have seen Ayo Oke crying as he was in an SUV with darkened windows

The presidency has dismissed media reports that the suspended director general of the national intelligence Agency (NIA), Ayo Oke, had cried after he learnt about his suspension.

READ ALSO: President Buhari confirms readiness to tackle Nigeria's challenges

Legit.ng recalls that the suspended director general of the NIA was reported to have wept as he made frantic efforts to enter the Presidential Villa, following his suspension on Wednesday, April 19.

But the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, who spoke on the incident in Abuja on Thursday, April 20, described the reports as unfair and uncharitable.

The presidency has said the NIA boss was in an SUV with darkened windows.

He stated that witnesses to Okes visit to the vice president on the fateful day and his own personal account clearly indicated that the DG did not cry as widely reported in the social and some traditional media, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The presidential media aide, who narrated how the incident happened, said: the widespread reports that Oke of the National Intelligence Agency had cried are unfair and uncharitable.

Witnesses to his visit to the Vice President and his own personal account, said that Oke arrived to a swarm of journalists which he wanted to avoid.

He asked his driver to make a quick turn and instead, he headed to the Glass House, the headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS).

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Governor El-Rufai orders arrest of journalist

From there, he put a call to the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, and requested that he help to clear the journalists so that he can make a quiet entry to the VPs office and that is what happened.

In an SUV with darkened windows, no one could have seen an occupant crying.

Legit.ng recalls that vice-president Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday met separately with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Babachir Lawal and the NIA DG, Ayo Oke, barely an hour after the announcement Lawals and Okes suspension from office.

Legit.ng learnt that the closed-door meeting was in connection with the work of the presidential committee set up to investigate allegations of misconduct against the SGF and the DG, NIA.

The SGF refused to comment on the outcome of his meeting with the vice-president.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reports that Ibrahim Magu, the acting chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was on Thursday, April 20, quizzed by the three-man presidential committee investigating the discovery of $43.4m (N13billion) in a residential apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos state.

According to a report on Daily Trust, Magu faced the panel for over one hour at the Vice President's Wing of the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja.

He thereafter headed for the office of the Chief of Staff Abba Kyari.

Magu however denied appearing before the panel when Vanguard asked about his visit to Osinbajos office, venue of the meeting.

Watch this Legit.ng TV's video of a Nigerian man complaining about the actions of Nigerian leaders.

Source: Legit.ng
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Trustees of the Whittier Law School said on Wednesday that it would close down, making it the first fully accredited law school in the country to shut at a time when many law schools are struggling amid steep declines in enrollment and tuition income.

The trustees of the school, in Costa Mesa, Calif., said in a statement that they had voted not to enroll new first-year students in the fall but were committed to ensuring that students currently enrolled will have an opportunity to complete their degree in a timely fashion. The trustees did not set a date for when the school would close.

Marc Stevens, a spokesman for the school, which is affiliated with Whittier College, said that officials were exploring ways to allow nearly 400 current students to complete their education but had not yet arrived at a solution.

Whittier is the first law school fully accredited by the American Bar Association to announce plans to close. Indiana Tech Law School, in Fort Wayne, which had only provisional accreditation from the bar association, has announced that it will close in June.
And his exit from the Fox prime-time lineup creates the biggest jump ball in cable news in more than 16 years.

In large part thanks to Mr. Ailes and Mr. OReilly, the media world is far different than the one they decided to upend when they started at Fox in the mid-1990s. The audiences sense of alienation from the mainstream media is no less intense  maybe its even more so. But its sense that it has too few places to turn has abated. The conservative media is now as robust and diverse as the prevailing, and increasingly competing, strains of conservatism.

The emergence of those strains explained why Fox News occasionally appeared to be at war with itself over the past year. Those who were in the more traditional conservative and neoconservative camps lined up against Mr. Trump  or, at least, were not enthusiastically behind him  and those who were more aligned with Mr. Trumps brand of nationalism lined up behind him.

Will Fox News embrace the more traditional conservatism represented by Dana Perino, the former Bush press secretary and co-host of The Five, who has won high marks as a substitute for Mr. OReilly over the past few days? Or will it do more to highlight the more populist, antiglobalist brand of her Five co-host Eric Bolling, who will take over the 5 p.m. time slot and wont join Ms. Perino and his other co-hosts in prime time?

The family that will ultimately decide, the Murdochs, has its own funhouse-mirror version of those competing strands. There is the founding executive chairman and family patriarch, Rupert Murdoch, who after being suspicious of Mr. Trump, has swung solidly  but not blindly  behind him. Then there are his successors-in-waiting, James Murdoch, said to be the most liberal-leaning of the three, and Lachlan Murdoch, said to be somewhere in between them, according to those who know them.

People briefed on the internal discussions said it was James Murdoch  whose wife, Kathryn, once worked at the Clinton Climate Initiative  who first saw Mr. OReillys removal as essential, followed by Lachlan and finally Rupert, who despite his own promotion of women in his companies showed the most willingness to stand behind Mr. Ailes and then Mr. OReilly as the allegations piled up.

But Foxs ultimate look in the post-Ailes, post-OReilly era  and therefore, its place in the conservative media movement  will come down to the two things all three of them always agree on: ratings and revenue.
The ouster of Bill OReilly, the top-rated cable news host, from Fox News capped an extraordinary period of upheaval at the company, marked by a series of sexual harassment allegations that resulted in the downfall of Roger E. Ailes, the powerful chairman of the network, as well as a damaging exodus of advertisers.

Here is a look at the nine and a half months that shook the network:
Rupert Murdoch stood behind his top American asset, the anchor Bill OReilly of Fox News, for years, shrugging off a sexual harassment scandal in the mid-2000s and multiple complaints about Mr. OReillys behavior that surfaced behind closed doors.

Mr. Murdoch prizes loyalty and profits, both of which Mr. OReilly brought him in droves. And Mr. Murdoch disdains the politically correct mores of the media world, relishing any chance to defy liberal detractors who might challenge his success.

But Mr. Murdoch, 86, has also proved, time and again, that he is a pragmatist at his core  at least, when his hand is forced. Roger E. Ailes, the Fox News creator who generated billions of dollars for Mr. Murdoch, is gone. News of the World, the famed tabloid newspaper at the heart of a hacking scandal, is closed.

Now Mr. OReilly, the top cable news host in the United States, is out. Mr. Murdoch signed off on the decision, even if, according to people briefed on the deliberations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, it took him longer than others in his circle to get there.
The United States is not the only country that has seen the rise of a right-wing populist movement  even if it is home to the most famous proponent of that worldview.

In fact, the election of President Donald Trump has coincided with a swell of like-minded candidates all over Europe: Politicians like Geert Wilders of the Netherlands, who was defeated in the countrys general election this March, and Marine Le Pen, who hopes to advance to Frances runoff presidential election after the first round of voting takes place on Sunday; as well as similar figures in the Alternative for Germany party and Italys Northern League.

But have the New York Times reporters tasked with covering those candidates found that they share Mr. Trumps adversarial approach when it comes to the news media?

In the case of Ms. Le Pen, not exactly. Adam Nossiter, a Paris correspondent who has covered her throughout this election season, said that while she was pugnacious, and she has a kind of mocking affect, shes far from closed.
Police rescue abducted man; two arrested

Saptari police on Wednesday rescued an abducted man and arrested two suspects in the process from Gamhariya Prabaha.
A Manhattan woman who went to court to prove that she should be considered a legal parent to a child adopted by her former same-sex partner is planning to appeal after losing her case last week.

I have to keep going, said Kelly Gunn, 52, of the West Village area of Manhattan. Im going to do everything I can to protect him and protect my relationship as parent.

Ms. Gunn went to court last September to prevent her former partner, Circe Hamilton, 45, from moving to her native London with Abush, the 7-year-old whom Ms. Hamilton had adopted from Ethiopia in 2011.

Image Im going to do everything I can to protect him and protect my relationship as parent, said Kelly Gunn, who went to court to be named a legal parent to her former partners adopted son. Credit... Angel Franco/The New York Times

Ms. Gunn and Ms. Hamilton were a couple when they began planning for the adoption, but they separated in 2010 before Abush had been identified by the adoption agency. In court, Ms. Gunn argued that because the adoption plan had been created when they were together, and because she had provided support and care once the boy arrived, she merited the legal status of parent. Ms. Hamilton argued that their adoption plan had ended with their separation and said that the role Ms. Gunn had played in the boys life was akin to that of a godmother or a close friend.
After Republican leaders in Congress failed to destroy the Affordable Care Act last month, President Trump tweeted that the law would explode. Now he seems determined to deliver on that prediction through presidential sabotage.

Mr. Trump is threatening to kill a program in the A.C.A. that pays health insurers to offer plans with lower deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses to about seven million lower-income and middle-class people. The president thinks that this will get Democrats to negotiate changes to the 2010 health law. This is cruel and incredibly shortsighted. Without these subsidies, health care would be unaffordable for many Americans, including people who voted for Mr. Trump because they were frustrated by high medical costs.

These subsidies lower the cost of medical care for people who earn between 100 percent and 250 percent of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, that income is $24,600 to $61,500 a year. For example, the deductible on qualifying Obamacare policies for families living at the poverty line in Charlotte, N.C., would be $1,000, compared with $10,000 for a standard policy, according to government data. In Philadelphia a similar family would have no deductible, compared with a $5,000 deductible for policies without subsidies. The government is expected to spend $7 billion on subsidies in 2017, and nearly 60 percent of the 12.2 million people who bought Obamacare policies for 2017 benefit from them.

Conservatives have been trying for years to end these subsidies in an effort to destabilize the A.C.A. House Republicans filed a lawsuit in 2014 to prevent the Obama administration from making these payments to insurers without appropriations from Congress. A Federal District Court ruled in the Republicans favor, but President Barack Obama appealed the case and the payments have continued  so far, at least. Mr. Trump has to decide how to proceed.
FRONT PAGE

An article on April 11 about London in the aftermath of the March 22 terror attack described incorrectly a point Katie Hopkins made in a column in the Daily Mail. She wrote that Londons reaction to the attack emphasized the chasm between the capital and the rest of the country; she did not refer to bombings.

NATIONAL

An article on Wednesday about the White House Easter Egg Roll quoted incorrectly from a comment by Liz Dickinson, who attended the event. She said that she voted for President Trump  not that she did not vote for him.



An article on March 31 about Congressional efforts to undo an Obama administration rule preventing states from blocking funding for family planning clinics that also provide abortions misstated the purpose of the Congressional Review Act. The law allows a new Congress to undo regulatory actions completed in the final weeks of a previous presidential administration, not the actions of a previous Congress.



An article on Wednesday about the United States Border Patrol Horseback Unit in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas misstated part of the name of the correctional facility where the horses are trained by inmates. It is the Hutchinson Correctional Facility in Kansas, not the Kansas City Correctional Facility.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  The Arkansas Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a stay of execution for a condemned prisoner scheduled to die on Thursday, imposing a new curb on a plan that once called for the state to empty nearly a quarter of its death row by the end of the month.

Separately, in a decision that Arkansas officials immediately said they would appeal, a Circuit Court judge here in Pulaski County ruled that the state could not use one of its lethal injection drugs, vecuronium bromide, amid allegations that the prison system misled a pharmaceutical distributor.

Before Wednesdays decisions, the courts had already compelled the state to abandon plans for three of the eight executions it hoped to carry out before the expiration of a different lethal injection drug, midazolam, at the end of the month. By sunset on Wednesday, about 24 hours before the state intended to execute Stacey E. Johnson and Ledell Lee at a prison southeast of Little Rock, it was unclear whether any executions would happen.

The Supreme Courts stay applied only to Mr. Johnson, 47, who was sentenced to death in 1994 for the rape and murder of a woman in Sevier County, which is along the border with Texas. Lawyers for Mr. Johnson have insisted he is innocent and persuaded the justices to issue a stay of execution to allow for forensic tests.
SAN FRANCISCO  The University of California, Berkeley, on Wednesday canceled a scheduled speech by the conservative author Ann Coulter, in the latest blow to the institutions legacy and reputation as a promoter and bastion of free speech.

University administrators said in a statement that they could not let Ms. Coulter speak because of active security threats. In a letter to the Berkeley College Republicans, which was sponsoring the speech, two vice chancellors said the university had been unable to find a safe and suitable venue for your planned April 27 event featuring Ann Coulter.

The letter, written by Scott Biddy, the vice chancellor, and Stephen Sutton, the vice chancellor for student affairs, said it was not possible to assure that the event could be held successfully  or that the safety of Ms. Coulter, the event sponsors, audience and bystanders could be adequately protected.

After the cancellation was announced on Wednesday, Ms. Coulter said in an email that she would definitely speak at Berkeley next week.
WASHINGTON  Ever since F.B.I. investigators discovered in 2013 that a Russian spy was trying to recruit an American businessman named Carter Page, the bureau maintained an occasional interest in Mr. Page. So when he became a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign last year and gave a Russia-friendly speech at a prestigious Moscow institute, it soon caught the bureaus attention.

That trip last July was a catalyst for the F.B.I. investigation into connections between Russia and President Trumps campaign, according to current and former law enforcement and intelligence officials.

It is unclear exactly what about Mr. Pages visit drew the F.B.I.s interest: meetings he had during his three days in Moscow, intercepted communications of Russian officials speaking about him, or something else.

After Mr. Page, 45  a Navy veteran and businessman who had lived in Moscow for three years  stepped down from the Trump campaign in September, the F.B.I. obtained a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court allowing the authorities to monitor his communications on the suspicion that he was a Russian agent.
Opposition leaders called for more rallies on Thursday.

Carlos Moreno, 17, was fatally shot by a pro-government gang on Wednesday, according to witnesses and local news reports.

He was attacked after hundreds of pro-government gang members arrived and surrounded protesters, throwing tear gas canisters, Arturo Rios, a witness, said in an interview. Mr. Rios said the group then began to open fire.

They shot the boy through the head, Mr. Rios said. Its not fair. He could have been a friend of mine.

Provea, a human rights group, said a second person had been killed and 400 people had been arrested. On Wednesday night, the government said that a sniper had killed a member of the National Guard in an area outside Caracas.
A Chinese-born billionaire who in recent months has publicized allegations of corruption against relatives of high-ranking Communist Party officials is now a wanted man after Beijing asked Interpol to issue a global request for his arrest.

Chinas Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the country had asked Interpol, the global police organization, to arrest the billionaire, Guo Wengui, hours before he appeared on television to deliver what he said would be a nuclear bomb of corruption allegations against the families of top Communist Party officials.

Mr. Guo, 50, has lived abroad for the past two years after a business deal to acquire a brokerage went sour. In March, he accused the son of a former top Communist Party official of corruption. On April 15, The New York Times, citing corporate records and an interview with one of the officials relatives, reported that some of his allegations could be substantiated.

China asked Interpol to issue a so-called red notice to its member countries for Mr. Guos arrest, Lu Kang, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, told reporters on Wednesday in Beijing. Mr. Lu said that the notice had been issued, but that Mr. Guos name does not appear on Interpols wanted list. Interpol, in a statement, said that any of its 190 member countries could request that wanted notices not be publicized.
Trapped in Spain by the war, Miro couldnt see Calders work. Two years later, MoMA helped him smuggle 22 of the 23 paintings in his Constellations series out of wartime Europe in a diplomatic pouch, and the Pierre Matisse Gallery exhibited 16 of the works at a time. Miro wrote that the show should not be considered as a simple artistic event, but an act of human import, because these paintings were realized during this terrible time when [the fascists] wanted to deny all spiritual values and to destroy all that man holds precious and worthy in life.

The 1945 exhibition caused a sensation in New York art circles. Indeed, some critics believe that the all-over style of painting that Jackson Pollock adopted in 1947, extending his forms over the entire canvas without conferring priority to any one area, came in response to seeing the Miros.

Even though he used constellation in the name of one of the paintings in the series, Miro did not refer to the group that way; but by the late 1950s, the Miros, like the Calders, became known under that rubric. It is natural to think of the two bodies of work, created in the same period, as linked.
Among Princes singular talents was defying expectations, an artists prerogative that he claimed more often than his fans might like.

Prince didnt release albums on a predictable schedule, or play nice with the celebrities he didnt respect, or make his music readily available online. He insisted on meeting his audience on his terms.

For the most devoted followers, this difficulty made him all the more adored. The unreleased recordings, untended websites and the mountains of bootleg material constituted a kind of secret knowledge. Finding a way through this maze was a way for initiates to prove themselves.

When he died, though, the walls fell. Videos poured onto YouTube: full concerts, sound-check clips, rehearsal material from the Revolution era. Much of that content was eventually removed, in line with Princes well-known wishes. But a lot remains available, and poses a tricky question for fans: Is it a betrayal to enjoy this stuff?
Prezs India visit fruitful, significant: Minister Mahat

Minister for Foreign Affairs Prakash Sharan Mahat on Wednesday termed President Bidya Devi Bhandaris state visit to India fruitful and significant.
The awards keep coming for Atlanta and Lemonade, two of the most celebrated pop culture works of 2016. Both were winners in the 76th annual Peabody Awards, which were announced on Thursday.

The seven honorees were chosen out of 60 finalists. Atlanta, FXs rookie show created by Donald Glover, won critical acclaim for its poignant and sometimes surreal meditation on life in its titular city; it won two awards at both the Golden Globes and the Writers Guild of America Awards, and is a probable Emmy contender.

Beyonce won for Lemonade, her visual album that was a global phenomenon upon its surprise release on HBO last April. The audacity of its reach and fierceness of its vision challenges our cultural imagination, a Peabody statement said.
The cell line (called HeLa, from Lackss names) became the basis for a vast amount of medical research, but the movie isnt about the resulting breakthroughs. Its about a young author, Rebecca Skloot (Ms. Byrne), who goes in search of the woman behind the cell line and encounters a volatile family, assorted mysteries and all sorts of questions about scientific ethics.

Ms. Skloot of course wrote the book upon which the movie is based, but she is also a character in the story, a white woman intruding on a black family that at first is not inclined to share information about the matriarch or the rest of the clan. The core relationship in the film is the one between Rebecca and Deborah Lacks (Ms. Winfrey, also an executive producer here), one of Henriettas daughters, who gradually comes to trust Rebecca and helps her gain access to other family members.

This is Ms. Winfreys movie in more ways than one: Deborah, a woman who is both hesitant to learn more about her family history and prone to manic episodes, is a whirlwind of a character. You might think it would be impossible at this point for Ms. Winfrey to escape her own fame and play a movie role, but she is, remember, an Oscar-nominated actress. She makes it easy to forget the rest and buy into her performance, so much so that scenes with Deborah and Rebecca are a bit of a mismatch.

Ms. Skloot has said that she was very resistant to making herself a character in the book, and that seems to carry over into the movie. Rebecca does a lot of observing and cajoling, trying to get people to open up to her, but thats passive stuff. Only in one scene late in the film, a crackling moment when Rebecca loses patience with Deborahs mood swings, does Ms. Byrne get to stretch out.

Courtney B. Vance and Leslie Uggams are among the recognizable stars in smaller roles, but the movie is in such a hurry to cover ground that they make only fleeting impressions. Theres a focus problem here: too many threads, not enough time.
Girlboss loosely chronicles the rise of Sophia Amoruso, the former chief executive of Nasty Gal, from Dumpster diver to e-commerce diva. Bill Nye culls scientific fact from fiction, assisted by some celebrities. And Caitlyn Jenner speaks with Diane Sawyer about her life and her new memoir.

Whats Streaming

GIRLBOSS on Netflix. Sophia Amorusos ascent  from bad-attitude shoplifter with an eBay obsession to the head of the Nasty Gal fashion label and a role model for young female entrepreneurs  is translated for the screen. (In real life, Ms. Amoruso resigned in November as the companys chief executive as it filed for Chapter 11 under the bankruptcy laws.) Kay Cannon, who wrote the Pitch Perfect films, created this new series after Charlize Theron, an executive producer, optioned Ms. Amorusos book, #GIRLBOSS. Britt Robertson stars as Sophia, the 23-year-old who unearths a vintage gem and makes a small fortune selling it online. And voila, a retailer is born.

BOSCH on Amazon. Titus Welliver is back for a third season as Harry Bosch, the old-school Los Angeles detective summoned from the pages of Michael Connellys crime novels. And this time his teenage daughter, Maddie (Madison Lintz), has come to live with him as he investigates the killing of a homeless veteran, the suicide of a supposed serial killer and the trial of a murderous Hollywood director. No other current series is as conversant with the images, the moods and, sometimes, the cliches of Southern California noir, Mike Hale wrote in The Times.
LONDON  Six books were shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize on Thursday.

The international prize celebrates works translated into English and published in Britain, and comes with a cash award of 50,000, or about $64,000, which authors split with their translators.

It is distinct from the Man Booker Prize, which goes to works originally published in English.

The nominees are:

 The French author Mathias Enards Compass, which centers on the memories and reveries of an insomniac music scholar (translated by Charlotte Mandell).

 The Israeli author David Grossmans A Horse Walks Into a Bar, about a comedian who dissolves in front of an audiences eyes at a provincial Israeli nightclub (translated by Jessica Cohen).

 The Norwegian author Roy Jacobsens The Unseen, about a family living on a small Scandinavian fishing island (translated by Don Bartlett and Don Shaw).
Three of the books on our list this week delve into dark aspects of American history: David Granns Killers of the Flower Moon, a true-crime narrative about the murders of members of the Osage nation in the 1920s, and two works about crime and race, James Forman Jr.s Locking Up Our Own and Chris Hayess A Colony in a Nation. On the other side of the globe, Peter Conradis Who Lost Russia? traces the roots of Putins authoritarian regime to the tumultuous post-Soviet 90s. In fiction, Bethany Balls debut novel tracks the fallout of a financial scandal across generations, and Hannah Tintis heroine comes of age with a dad whos an outlaw. And two books assess the legacies of two very influential men: Martin Luther, architect of the Reformation, and David Letterman, the archetypal anti-host of late night.

Radhika Jones

Editorial Director, Books

LOCKING UP OUR OWN: Crime and Punishment in Black America, by James Forman Jr. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $27.) Formans first book is a masterly account of how a generation of black elected officials wrestled with crises of violence and drug use by unleashing the brutal power of the criminal justice system on their constituents. Our critic Jennifer Senior calls it a superb and shattering book about how people, acting with the finest of intentions and the largest of hearts, could create a problem even more grievous than the one they were trying to solve.

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, by David Grann. (Doubleday, $28.95.) The latest from Grann, a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of The Lost City of Z, is a true-crime story from the 1920s. The Osage Indians had been driven onto land in Oklahoma that, it was later discovered, sat on top of immense oil deposits. The oil made the Osage rich, and then members of the nation started turning up murdered. The crime story it tells is appalling, and stocked with authentic heroes and villains, our critic Dwight Garner wrote of the book. It will make you cringe at mans inhumanity to man.

A COLONY IN A NATION, by Chris Hayes. (Norton, $26.95.) Drawing on his experience growing up as a white kid in the crack-era Bronx, Hayes paints a portrait of two distinct regimes in America  one for whites, which he calls the Nation; the other for blacks, which he calls the Colony. In the Nation you have rights; in the Colony, you have commands, he writes. Hayes, the host of an MSNBC news show and the author of Twilight of the Elites, supports his argument with an evocative reading of our colonial past: a founding hypocrisy in which white colonists fought for liberty and the freedom to subjugate others.
The film director and author of Make Trouble says that when a publisher asked him for a blurb for Transit, he sent back, Rachel Cusk is too smart for her own good.

What books are currently on your night stand?

American Rust, by Philipp Meyer, because his last historical novel, The Son, was such an amazingly well-written, violently beautiful page-turner that I have to read what came before. Film as Film: The Collected Writings of Gregory J. Markopoulos (obscure, yes, but I remember his underground films fondly from the Jonas Mekas/Film Comment days). And the ultimate bedside book  The Making of Americans, by Gertrude Stein. I enormously respect its impenetrability. Maybe this is the best novel ever written, because you cant read it. Not even two pages. I know, Ive tried for the last 10 years.

Whats the last great book you read?

My friend Bruce Hainley had told me about a new book coming out called This Young Monster, by Charlie Fox, but I had forgotten all about it until the publisher Fitzcarraldo Editions in London sent me this beautifully designed French-flap-style paperback original. Good God, where did this wise-beyond-his-years 25-year-old critics voice come from? His breath of proudly putrefied air is really something to behold. Finally, a new Parker Tyler is on the scene. Yep. Mr. Fox is the real thing.

What classic novel did you recently read for the first time?

Well, I had read Swanns Way way back in the late 60s when I worked at Provincetown Bookshop, but I had never read Lydia Daviss translation, so I did recently because I loved her collection of short stories Cant and Wont so much. Can a translator have groupies? If so, I am hers.
On Okinawa, Sledge and his fellow Marines fought in mud  mud that gave them trench foot and was often thick with maggots, rotting bodies, flies and feces. Each battle was an ordeal, a fight against a fanatical enemy that was dug in and determined to fight to the last man.

The battle for Peleliu is lesser-known than the battle for Okinawa, and some historians have argued it was unnecessary. (The Allies might have slipped around it, toward the Japanese mainland.) Yet as Paul Fussell notes in his introduction to one edition of Sledges book, it was one of the worst slaughters of Marines in the Pacific.

Image Credit... Sonny Figueroa/The New York Times

One of the themes of With the Old Breed, regardless of which battle Sledge is recounting, is the near impossibility of communicating the experience of combat to those who have not experienced it.

To the noncombatants and those on the periphery of action, the war meant only boredom or occasional excitement; but to those who entered the meat grinder itself, the war was a nether world of horror from which escape seemed less and less likely as casualties mounted and the fighting dragged on and on, he writes.

He continues: Time had no meaning; life had no meaning. The fierce struggle for survival in the abyss of Peleliu eroded the veneer of civilization and made savages of us all. We existed in an environment totally incomprehensible to men behind the lines.

Sledge (his buddies called him Sledgehammer) takes us as close as we are likely to get. He describes countless scenes of terror, disgust, insanity and stupidity in prose that is lucid and unadorned.
1. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for a shootout on the Champs-Elysees in Paris that killed a police officer and wounded two others.

A French official said the gunman was shot dead by the police as he tried to flee on foot.

The country goes to the polls on Sunday for the first round of voting in the presidential election.
The lawsuit against Harbour, which is based in Dallas, is the first of several that Cincinnati plans to file against out-of-state firms that acquired rundown homes in the wake of the housing crisis and then resold them at inflated prices without making repairs.

We are planning more litigation, said Jessica Powell, chief counsel in the Cincinnati Law Department. Her department has set its sights on firms with even more egregious business practices, she added, without naming specific companies.

In the wake of the 2008 housing crisis, opportunistic investors swooped in with hopes of profiting on tens of thousands of blighted homes across the country.

Investment firms like Harbour scooped up the run-down, foreclosed homes at bargain prices, selling them to families who could not get conventional mortgages but were desperate to own homes.

Harbour sold its homes through an arrangement similar to an installment payment plan, with a high-interest, long-term loan called a contract for deed, or land contract. But what begins as a dream of homeownership for many residents can end quickly when a payment is missed and the buyer is swiftly evicted.
The Internal Revenue Service is about to start using four private debt-collection companies to chase down overdue payments from hundreds of thousands of people who owe money to the federal government, a job it has handled in house for years.

Unlike I.R.S. agents, who are not usually allowed to call delinquent taxpayers by telephone, the outside debt-collection agencies will have free rein to do so. Consumer watchdogs are fearful that some of the nations most vulnerable taxpayers will be harassed and that criminals will take advantage of the system by phoning people and impersonating I.R.S. collectors.

Additionally, one of the four companies that the I.R.S. has hired, Pioneer Credit Recovery, a subsidiary of Navient, was effectively fired two years ago by the Education Department from its contract to collect delinquent debt for misleading borrowers about their loans at what the department called unacceptably high rates.

Proponents of the plan, who include Democrats and Republicans, point out that the debtors are shirking their tax obligations and that collecting from them will add to the Treasurys coffers. The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the new debt-collection program had the potential to gain a net $2.4 billion over the next 10 years.
Quake-damaged police infra yet to be rebuilt

Of the 196 buildings of Nepal Police that were destroyed by the earthquake two years ago, not even a single unit has been reconstructed.
Unilever, the giant food and consumer product company, is buying Sir Kensingtons, a small condiment maker that has muscled its way on to grocery store shelves long thought impervious to disruption.

It is the first acquisition Unilever has made since it fended off a $143 billion takeover offer from the Kraft Heinz Company in February. In the intervening months, Unilever has announced that it is selling its spread business, which includes brands like Country Crock and I Cant Believe Its Not Butter, as well as some baking lines, leading some to speculate that it might get out of food sales altogether.

But instead, it seems to be refocusing its food portfolio on ice cream and condiments, as well as tea. Unilever also makes Hellmanns mayonnaise and Marmite, a yeast extract spread, and is not selling either.

Terms of the Sir Kensingtons deal were not announced. Verlinvest, a Belgian family investment firm, and the founders friends and family members who invested in the business will be bought out, giving Unilever full ownership of the New York company.
Invoking an obscure trade law, President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday for a 270-day review to determine whether steel imports were harming national security. If the Commerce Department does find harm, Mr. Trump will have up to 90 days to decide whether to impose broad import restrictions.

China is an obvious target of the order, though the impact could ripple worldwide. While only about 2 percent of American steel imports come directly from China, global steel makers and industry experts blame China for shipping its surplus steel to other countries, which drives down prices and prompts those countries to further process the steel into high-value products for export to the United States. The Trump administration, which has made it clear that it will take a more aggressive stance on steel, has suggested it could bring trade actions against those countries as well. Keith Bradsher

Verizon Down on Subscriber Losses
Last month, The OReilly Factor was typically home to at least 30 nationally broadcast commercials a night. By April 11, the final time Bill OReilly hosted the 8 p.m. show on Fox News, that number had dwindled to 10.

The advertising exodus, which followed a report by The New York Times disclosing that five women had received settlements over accusations of inappropriate behavior by Mr. OReilly, rattled the network.

While the financial fallout may not have been dire, given that many advertisers shifted their spending to other programs on the network, it was difficult to ignore the image of at least 50 major brands  like Mercedes-Benz and Allstate  declining to associate with Fox Newss most popular personality. Now that Mr. OReilly is gone, dismissed on Wednesday by 21st Century Fox, the networks parent company, the question is: Will the advertising situation on Fox News return to normal?

Mr. OReilly, who has denied the allegations against him, will be succeeded in the 8 p.m. Eastern slot by Tucker Carlson, who had been the host at 9 p.m. The round-table show The Five will move to 9 p.m. and Sean Hannity will stay as the 10 p.m. host.
The day after Bill OReilly was ousted from Fox News, aftershocks rippled through the network, with news of Mr. OReillys exit package spreading through the newsroom and some employees questioning how committed executives were to rooting out sexual harassment.

Mr. OReilly is receiving a payout of as much as $25 million, equivalent to one year of his salary, two people familiar with the matter said Thursday. That development was met with outrage and disgust among some employees and among critics outside the company, who said it sent a message that a powerful newsroom figure could profit even after multiple sexual harassment allegations had been made against him.

Its terrible, said Lisa Bloom, a lawyer who represents two women who reported sexual harassment allegations against Mr. OReilly. Most people would consider $25 million a huge lottery win.

Mr. OReillys package brought the total amount of payouts related to sexual harassment allegations at Fox News to more than $85 million  paid by the networks parent company, 21st Century Fox. The vast majority of that  as much as $65 million in exit packages  is being paid to the men who were ousted because of the allegations.
Two months ago, my brother died. For 20 years, we were not close. During his final illness, my wife and I visited him, though it was hard to travel to his remote home. We flew cross-country again to pay our respects at his funeral. But my sister-in-law excluded me from everything. I was refused admission to the pre-service meeting with the clergyman. I was omitted from printed obituaries (though there was room for his dog), and none of the eulogies mentioned a surviving brother. Given this disrespect, how should I behave toward his family?

ANONYMOUS

I am sorry for your loss. But lets remember that the disrespect you feel came from a woman who was grieving the fresh loss of her husband and daily companion. I dont minimize your loss; you grew up with your brother. But after 20 years of more perfunctory contact, your pain is probably more existential than focused on him. Your sister-in-law lost her mate.

Your assessment may also be on the money. She may resent your failure to keep in closer touch. (She may also have been exhausted from caretaking during his illness and zonked out with grief.) But after such a long absence from his life, did you really expect a meaningful voice in creating his funeral service? Your omission from his obituary and eulogy seem like more pointed slights. Still, I direct you to the high road.

In answer to your question  how should I behave?  I hope you choose compassion and sympathy, even if your sister-in-law was mean. My first choice is for you to call her and ask how shes getting along. But Ill settle for your ripping up that poison-pen letter that you, and many of us, would be composing in our heads.
Isnt it cute? said Molly Peckler, holding a delicate gold-chain necklace adorned with a cannabis-leaf charm away from her neck. Its a perfect representation of my approach to cannabis.

With sunlight pouring in through a sliding-glass door in the apartment she shares with her husband, Marc Peckler, a software salesman, Ms. Peckler explained how she believed a shared love of cannabis could be the spark in a relationship.

Cannabis is almost an analogy for being authentic, said Ms. Peckler, 32, the founder of Highly Devoted in Los Angeles, an online matchmaker that connects cannabis-using singles. If this is a part of your life, then you should be open and honest about that, especially if youre trying to start a romantic relationship with someone.

Ms. Peckler, who lives in Venice, Calif., is among a number of such matchmakers who have emerged in recent years, though some medical experts are skeptical about the idea of building relationships around a psychotropic substance.
The new study is the latest chapter in an extraordinary, decades-long collaboration among cognitive scientists, brain surgeons and people with severe epilepsy being evaluated for an operation. The preoperative evaluation is a fishing expedition of sorts, in which doctors sink an array of electrodes through the top of the skull and wait for a seizure to occur, to see whether its operable. Many of the electrodes sit in or near memory areas, and the wait can take weeks in the hospital. Cognitive scientists use this opportunity, with patients consent, to present memory tests and take recordings.

This approach  called direct neural recording, and piggybacking entirely on the clinical placement of the electrodes  has become the leading edge of research into the biology of human memory. This study used data from 150 patients, and had 20 collaborators from institutions around the country, including Emory University, the University of Washington, the Mayo Clinic and the University of California, San Francisco.

In a series of experiments, the researchers had patients memorize lists of words and later, after a distraction, asked them to freely recall as many of the words as they could. All the while, the scientists monitored a handful of hot spots in the brain which, previous work had shown, were strongly related to memory encoding. Before the stimulation tests, the team determined the precise settings for each patients high- and low-functioning states.

Each participant carried out the word-memorization tests repeatedly, with different words every time; some lists were memorized with brain stimulation, and other lists with no stimulation, which served as a control. The authors then examined memory performance based on whether stimulation arrived during low- compared with high-functioning brain states.

The team then statistically analyzed the results and found that people scored slightly higher than usual on words when stimulation arrived during a low or foggy state  and worse, when the pulse arrived in a high state. The average enhancement effect was about 12 to 13 percent, Dr. Kahana said. And when stimulation arrived in a good state, the average was about 15 to 20 percent worse than usual.

Dr. Doris Greenblatt, a psychiatrist who participated in the trial at Emory, said she sought the surgery because her epilepsy had long caused memory problems. Each seizure I had tore at the fabric of memory, and it was as if my memories werent attached to anything, Dr. Greenblatt said.
Storytelling is the mantra at The New York Times, where we are being urged to find fresh, imaginative ways to present the news.

Poetry could be an answer, except theres nothing fresh about the idea.

A century ago, The Times recorded milestones of World War I with front-page poems by Rudyard Kipling, who was at the time probably the best-known poet and storyteller in the English language, as well as a blustery champion of British imperialism. (His critics put it less kindly.)

At least three Kipling poems appeared on Page 1 during the war. For All We Have and Are was placed in the upper right corner of the front page of Sept. 2, 1914:

For all we have and are,

For all our childrens fate,

Stand up and meet the war;

The Hun is at the gate.

From that opening, readers could have had little doubt about Kiplings view of Germany. To an American critic at the time, Kipling wrote, If Germany, by any means, is victorious you may rest assured that it will be a very short time before she turns her attention to the United States.
It is very likely you have responded to social media postings with a comment or two, but have you ever written a formal letter to a newspaper editor, for publication?

Talk with a classmate about your experience with letters to newspaper editors. What is the purpose of such a letter? In what ways might a letter to the editor benefit the writer? In what ways might it help or influence those who read it?

Then, with your classmate, think about the saying "the pen is mightier than the sword" and decide if you think it is true. How important is it to you to share your opinion in writing, with a wider group? How much influence or impact does a letter to the editor have?

In the March 28 Times Insider article 'To the Editor': What Happens When Readers Write Back?, Stephen Hiltner writes:

They pour in around the clock, roughly a thousand a day: from poets and bricklayers, from politicians and psychiatrists, from laypeople and Nobel Prize winners alike. Some, like todays letter from a woman who met her future husband through a misdialed telephone call, are lighthearted. Others, like the letter submitted last July from the mother of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, who was killed in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012, are forceful and moving. Each begins, somewhat formulaically, with: To the Editor. Publishing letters sent from readers is a longstanding daily tradition at The New York Times. And despite the many competing platforms that now allow for the public airing of opinions and grievances  the endless chatter on Facebook and Twitter, a given articles online comments  The Timess letters section is as robust a forum as ever. Lately, in fact, its seen a surge in submissions. Since the election, and since the inauguration, the numbers have gone up significantly, said Thomas Feyer, the editor to whom, though unbeknown to most writers, the letters are addressed. (Two additional editors work with Mr. Feyer to curate and edit the submissions, and to design the page for print.) Thats because readers see the page as a safety valve of sorts, he said. In moments of national importance, people feel the need to give their opinions, or to express shock, or excitement, or grief, or mourning. And we help give them voice. Mr. Feyer, a Hungarian immigrant who has been an editor at The Times since 1980 and the letters editor since 1999, estimates that he has read upward of three million letters. He begins the process each morning by combing through the recent submissions, a vast majority of which now arrive via email, and settling on the main topic of the day. From there, he collects a cluster of letters (usually four to six) that form the lead section  After Health Bill Defeat, Whats Next? in todays paper. In all, between 10 and 15 letters appear daily in The Times. And given the constraints  limited page space, the demands of timeliness, the ever-flowing current of news  it isnt simply a matter of selecting the best individual letters. Its a bit like a building a ship in a bottle: Its a very tight space, and we have to make it fit to the line, Mr. Feyer said, noting that oftentimes he holds letters for a day or two simply because he doesnt have sufficient space to publish them.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

 Can a letter to the editor educate, influence, shape public opinion or advocate a cause? If so, how? Give examples.

 How is writing a letter to the editor an act of citizenship? Why?

 Is there a cause or opinion you could write about in a letter to the editor? Is there an article youve read to which you would like to respond? If so, what is it? What would you write about, and why? For tips from Mr. Feyer, see this Times article.
In 2002, when he was 25, the British chef and rising BBC cooking star Jamie Oliver put a recipe for chicken in milk into his cookbook Happy Days With the Naked Chef. He called it a slightly odd but really fantastic combination that must be tried. That description is absolutely accurate, as it happens, though Oliver, 41, told me the words now make him laugh. I was hardly upselling its virtues, he said.

The dishs merits are, in fact, legion. You sear a whole chicken in butter and a little oil, then dump out most of the fat and add cinnamon and garlic to the pot, along with a ton of lemon peel, sage leaves and a few cups of milk, then slide it into a hot oven to create one of the great dinners of all time. The milk breaks apart in the acidity and heat to become a ropy and fascinating sauce, and the garlic goes soft and sweet within it, its fragrance filigreed with the cinnamon and sage. The lemon brightens all around it, and there is even a little bit of crispness to the skin, a textural miracle. It is the sort of meal you might cook once a month for a good long while and reminisce about for years. A friend of mine reminded me of the dish not long ago, spooling me back to a fourth-floor-walk-up kitchen where I had to cook quietly while the baby fell asleep, before greeting guests for late-night suppers. Chicken in milk was my standard go-to company meal then. I loved that chicken, my friend said. Where did that come from?

Its a long story. Olivers recipe from Happy Days burned bright in the imagination of many in the early part of the century and has since been a star of Pinterest and the dinner-blog set. Its outstanding. But of course brilliant recipes have many parents. Italians have braised pork in milk for generations, a style of preparation that the great Marcella Hazan popularized in her own books. Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray of the River Cafe in London, where Oliver first gained notice as a cook, took Oliver to Tuscany in the late 1990s when he was working for them, and they had a version there that Oliver said blew his mind. I never, ever forgot it, he said.
Talking is easy

The greatest challenge in the health sector is making services available nationwide
The cinema innovator and iconoclast Jean-Luc Godard never actually said, All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun, but it has become a well-known adage, anyway  because its true.

Free Fire, directed by Ben Wheatley from a script he wrote with Amy Jump, applies a more-is-more ethos to the formula: The ingredients here include a best actress Academy Award winner, Brie Larson; dozens of firearms; and a slew of male characters of varying levels of smugness and idiocy to help out with the shooting. The film is a formal exercise in spectacle under constraint: An extended standoff in a contained space surprisingly full of hazards.
Teeming with acts both heroic and reprehensible, John Ridleys wrenchingly humane documentary, Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992, reveals the Los Angeles riots as the almost inevitable culmination of a decade of heightening racial tensions.

To that end, this multiethnic oral history allows politicians and the police, victims and survivors who witnessed the events of April 29 and 30, 1992, to expose a relentless accretion of official decisions and public resentments. Were almost 90 minutes in before the uprising begins, but not a second feels unnecessary: Rather, some sections are so powerfully elucidated by the movies commitment to context and nuance that even too-familiar tragedies  like the agonizing beatings of Rodney King and Reginald Denny  arrive freighted with fresh insight.

It was truly a war like no other, says Jung Hui Lee, a Korean-American shopkeeper whose 18-year-old son, Edward Jae Song Lee, was mistaken for a looter and shot while trying to protect another business. His death, like others in the film, is indicative of a chaos that defies a simple black-and-white explanation.
The title character in The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki is a rabbity guy  nervous, jumpy and fast. Hes a boxer and always moving, as if he were constantly getting ready to take a swing or looking out for an opponent. A sweet, stealthy story about fighting the good fight in and out of the ring, the film opens with Olli (Jarkko Lahti) already in motion. Hes on a train and then in a car, listening to twangy rock n roll (the soundtrack gets your body moving, too) while driving to meet his girl, Raija (Oona Airola), a radiant beauty who has a heart-skipping way of slowing Olli down.

Sports movies usually involve obvious winners and losers, but The Happiest Day  a largely true story set in Finland in 1962 and shot on glorious black-and-white film  is interested in other matters. Olli is about to have the biggest bout of his career against Davey Moore (John Bosco Jr.), an American and the reigning world champion. The fight has been partly coordinated by an ex-fighter, Elis (Eero Milonoff), an amusingly oily, small-time hustler whos working every angle he can as fast as he can. Elis is peddling the match as a spectacle, a Finnish benchmark. You dont have to go to America to see a great show, he promises reporters, an oath that Olli seems less certain about.
Heres what sounds like one dud job: calculating bird populations in Antarctica. But heres what that work has inspired: one swell documentary.

The Penguin Counters follows a group of field biologists who travel to the frigid far South to estimate the animals numbers and to gauge the damage that climate change is causing them. The researchers are led by Ron Naveen, a scientist who has made trips to the area for decades.

Penguins are my passion! Mr. Naveen says. Do I live for this? Yeah, absolutely! Its what I live and breathe and think and do all the time. Hes contagiously cheery, and most of his sentences seem to end with an exclamation point or a sense of wonder. Even amid brutal conditions, hes an intrepid and encouraging guide.

Listening to Mr. Naveen, though, is secondary to watching the views. Almost every shot of wildlife, distant mountains and violent seas is magnificent. Yet Peter Getzels, Harriet Gordon and Erik Osterholm, who filmed the scenes (Mr. Getzels and Ms. Gordon also directed), dont romanticize the region, delivering footage thats a bit scary as well as awe-inspiring. Old photographs and a short digression into explorations by Ernest Shackleton and Frank Wild are wonderful.
A man who claimed to be a registered architect defrauded businesses and municipalities in upstate New York of more than $200,000 since 2010, the New York attorney general alleged on Thursday in a news release that openly acknowledged how similar the accusations were to a long-running joke on Seinfeld.

The attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, said that Paul J. Newman  yes, his surname is Newman, just like Jerrys nemesis on the sitcom  drafted architectural renderings for over 100 properties in Albany, Rensselaer and Saratoga Counties. He is accused of submitting forged stamps in documents to several towns and cities, according to the news release, and was hired to work on projects including townhouses and senior-living communities.

While George Costanza never faced serious consequences for pretending to be an architect on Seinfeld, Mr. Newman, the president of Cohesion Studios Inc., would face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the highest count charged.

For over seven years the defendant has pretended to be a registered architect, deceiving hundreds of New Yorkers  including families and senior citizens  with the sole goal of enriching himself, Mr. Schneiderman said in a statement about what his office called Operation Vandelay Industries. By allegedly falsifying building plans, code compliance inspections, and field reports, the defendant jeopardized the safety of those who resided in and frequented the buildings he was contracted to work on.
It says something about our reverence for (or at least our fixation with) Jane Jacobs that a new documentary about her, produced and directed by the Oscar-nominated filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer, will open in the coming days in nearly as many cities as she ever visited.

It is increasingly rare for documentaries to be released in theaters at all, no matter how good they might be; when they are shown they often come and go quickly, playing for a few nights in places never far from brownstone Brooklyn or Harvard Square. Citizen Jane: Battle for the City, will be shown in close to 20 cities around the country, as if it were a chronicle of how Kylie Jenners new lipstick line made it to the marketplace. The film has already been screened in Europe and Canada, where it had a prime spot at Baconfest, named for Edmund N. Bacon, who remade much of Philadelphia in the 1950s and 60s, and which is described in press materials as Calgarys favorite urban planning film festival.

That we live in a world with an urban planning film festival at all is in some sense a testament to Jacobss celebrated antipathy toward the discipline. She came to prominence with the publication of The Death and Life of Great American Cities in 1961, conveying her fiercely held convictions about the futility of what passed as visionary thinking in shaping the character of urban environments.

Had she been alive, she would have turned 100 last year and late last summer two new books, one a biography and another a compilation of her short works, provided an occasion to wrestle with her legacy. That, of course, was before the country elected Donald J. Trump as its president. Just this past week, Chuck Schumer, Kirsten E. Gillibrand and other metropolitan-area Senate Democrats urged the Trump administration to consider an enormous rail and tunnel renovation in the Northeast Corridor as part of its proposed $1 trillion infrastructure package. Federal infrastructural investment has been a singular kind of neutralizer at this divisive moment; a lot of people can get excited about it, and a lot of people want a piece of the cake. Jacobs would have advised caution, if not outright terror, because she feared the collusion and self-dealing that can accompany these kinds of projects. She looked around her at urban renewal, and at housing projects in particular, and saw only disastrous outcomes for the poor and enrichment for the developer class.
At the station house nearby, memorial candles and flowers crowded the door.

An official with knowledge of the matter said that Mr. Tolley was either in or around the bucket at the top of the fire ladder when he fell.

Michael T. Vogel, a neighbor, said he had heard a loud noise followed by yelling.

I heard everyone shouting, Get back, get back, said Mr. Vogel. When he went out onto the street, he said, there were at least a dozen firefighters surrounding the man.

A red tent was later placed over the area.

Three other people were taken to the medical center with minor injuries, officials said.

Mr. Tolley, of Bethpage, N.Y., on Long Island, is survived by his wife, Marie, and his 8-year-old daughter, Isabella, officials said.

Everyone is in a state of shock and grief, Mr. de Blasio said. To his family, we say we will stand with you, not only today but in the days ahead.

James Slevin, the president of Uniformed Firefighters Association, the union that represents New York City firefighters, said Mr. Tolley was a hero.
A Queens lawyer was sentenced on Thursday to one to three years in prison for stealing nearly $600,000 from the estate of a client, including profits from the sale of the Slave Theater in Brooklyn, a landmark of New York Citys civil rights movement.

As part of his sentence, handed down in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, the lawyer, Frank Racano, 54, was ordered to reimburse the estate of his client, John L. Phillips Jr., a longtime civil court judge in Brooklyn, for the money he took.

In New York State, a lawyer is automatically disbarred upon being convicted of a felony.

Judge Phillips, who died in 2008, bought the theater, a former vaudeville and movie house, in 1984 and filled it with murals of black leaders like Marcus Garvey and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. After the death of a black man in the Howard Beach section of Queens in 1986, civil rights activists, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, began to organize rallies and other events at the Slave, turning the building into a touchstone of black activism in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Image Frank Racano Credit... Brooklyn District Attorney's Office

After Judge Phillipss death, the theater became embroiled in an ownership dispute. This year, it was demolished, and the site is slated for redevelopment.
Mr. Erdogan, taking a personal interest in the case, said last year that there were malicious intentions in the prosecution, and he also raised the matter with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. during talks at the United Nations, according to Turkish news reports.

We have to seek justice, for he is our citizen, Mr. Erdogan said of Mr. Zarrab in September.

The subject of Mr. Zarrab came up again three weeks ago during a visit to Ankara, Turkey, by Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson. During that visit, Turkeys foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, accused Preet Bharara, then the United States attorney in Manhattan, whose office first charged Mr. Zarrab, of being a pawn of anti-Turkish forces.

Mr. Bharara, who was fired by President Trump last month, had characterized Mr. Cavusoglus remarks as political propaganda. On Thursday, after The New York Times reported on the strategy by Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Mukasey to turn the case involving Mr. Zarrab into a matter of international diplomacy, Mr. Bharara said on Twitter, One just hopes that the rule of law, and its independent enforcement, still matters in the United States and at the Department of Justice.

The efforts on Mr. Zarrabs behalf come as Mr. Erdogan gains even more power in Turkey, after a hotly disputed referendum that expanded his authoritarian rule and drew a congratulatory phone call from Mr. Trump on Monday.

Image Mr. Zarrab in Istanbul in 2013. Credit... Ozan Kose/Agence France-Presse  Getty Images

Mr. Erdogan and Mr. Trump have made overtures to each other that suggest Turkey and the United States could become closer allies.

The new court filing, by Mr. Zarrabs lead lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, includes affidavits from Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Mukasey that make it clear they hope to get Mr. Erdogan to accept the notion that a diplomatic deal could be of mutual interest to Turkey and the United States. They wrote in the affidavits that a resolution that would be favorable for Mr. Zarrab could be part of some agreement between the United States and Turkey that will promote the national security interests of the United States.
Mayors of New York tend to be remembered for the way they wrangle with City Hall reporters, a signature battle stance that says a lot about the personality of His Honor and his relationship with the press. For Rudy Giuliani, it was the righteous snarl. For Michael Bloomberg, the smirky insult.

For Mayor Bill de Blasio, its looking like: the petulant whine.

Its been evident for months that the mayor hates it when he thinks reporters at public events arent asking the right questions, or are being too hostile or skeptical, or are getting the facts wrong, or are trying to stray off topic when he wants to stay on, on, on.

As J. David Goodman and William Neuman reported in The Times on Tuesday, Mr. de Blasio has taken message-controlling to unusual lengths. Taking beatings from beat reporters has been in the mayoral job description forever, but this mayor has apparently decided that face-to-face interaction with reporters is overrated. At one appearance after another, he took no questions, even at benign events like a ferry ride on the East River to announce some new ferry routes. It seems the press was included simply so it could exult with him in the magnificence of the achievement.

When the press refuses, you get episodes like this one, on March 23, when reporters kept asking questions unrelated to the topic of the day. He resisted; they persisted; he walked out. As a snippet of transcript shows, if you take the Q. out of Q. and A., what remains is absurdist theater:

O.K., Mara. Youre smart  Im here to talk about this. Mara, Im here to talk about this. If you want to ask question about this 
Two CNP rhinos wander their way to Rautahat

Two one-horned rhinos from the Chitwan National Park have been spotted in forests of Rautahat district on several occasions in the last one month.
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Rupert Murdoch tried to make his firing of Bill OReilly seem as if it were based on morality. In a letter to Fox News employees (obtained by CNNs Brian Stelter), Murdoch wrote that we want to underscore our consistent commitment to fostering a work environment built on the values of trust and respect.

This claim is false, and Murdochs use of consistent is especially rich. OReillys pattern of harassing women has been clear for more than a decade. Megan Garber of The Atlantic has a useful review  incomplete, no doubt  of his behavior.

A sudden onset of morality didnt bring down OReilly after all of these years. Two other forces did instead.
The one aspect that still worried me was client meetings. An important no-nonsense client of ours was flying in from Britain for a four-hour session. I thought it might be easiest to have Uma watched by a babysitter, in case the client thought we were not taking the meeting seriously. Perhaps presciently, when I tried to prepare Uma by giving her a bottle, she refused to drink. I tried five bottle types to see if I could tempt her, but none worked.

So Uma came after all. She slept in a corner in her stroller while the client hammered us on what her organization needed. During a break, she looked down at Uma, and opened up about her affection for her young niece.

Im British, she said. So I will never use words like I love it as you Americans would. But I would say Ive been pleased with this session. And you do have a beautiful and well-behaved daughter, so enjoy her.

I grew confident bringing Uma along to client and investor meetings as well as to evening networking events  get-togethers that I would have declined when my boys were babies but thought of in wistful moments after putting them to bed. Uma seemed to help everyone forget their own agendas and insecurities and form deeper connections. When I remembered hearing that programs exist to bring babies to schools to teach empathy, it made perfect sense to me.

By four and a half months, however, Uma was starting to scoot off her blanket. It was time for her to receive full-time attention where she could freely explore her world. Our experiment was over, and I appreciated how lucky I was.

If Id been, for example, a cook, a doctor, a bus driver or a welder, I could never have tried it. But many parents  and not only the lean in professional women that you might expect  might find this model works for them, if they can get their employers to agree.

I learned that theres a movement underway, led by the Parenting in the Workplace Institute, to encourage more parents to take their babies to work. Over the past decade, the group has recorded more than 2,100 babies being brought to more than 200 American organizations, including consulting, law and accounting firms, retail stores, dance studios and government agencies.
AUSTIN, Tex.  IN the wee hours of Nov. 9, I had an overwhelming urge to climb up on my roof here with a megaphone and shout to the rest of the country, Welcome to Texas, yall!

Republicans have controlled all three branches of government in my home state for more than a decade. Many policies now being championed by President Trump and Congressional leaders seem old hat to Texans: defunding public education, going after immigrants, shredding the safety net. But rather than resting their boots on the table, political leaders in Texas have moved farther to the right.

Our 140-day every-other-year Texas legislative session began in January. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick  who controls the Senate and is arguably more powerful than Gov. Greg Abbott  is leading the far-right charge. Under his sway, the Senate has already passed bills that starve government, crack down on undocumented immigrants and discriminate against transgender people. Despite opposition from law enforcement, business and nonprofit groups like mine, the bills sailed through the Senate and await consideration in the House.

One Senate bill threatens local law enforcement officials and department heads with criminal prosecution and police departments with loss of state money if they fail to comply with federal immigration orders. Even before the bill passed the Senate in February, Governor Abbott cut $1.5 million in criminal justice funding to Travis County (which includes Austin) to punish it for its policy of reducing cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. During the same period, immigration raids in Austin terrified immigrant families and led to the arrest of 51 people, most of whom had no previous convictions.
WASHINGTON  President Trump has flip-flopped many times during his first months in office. But none may be as consequential as his decision on April 18 to certify that Iran is abiding by the nuclear deal of 2015, paving the way for further waiving of sanctions. In just a few months, Mr. Trump has gone from promising to tear up the nuclear deal to allowing its extension.

The administration has now said it will conduct a 90-day review of whether lifting sanctions  as required by the nuclear deal  will be in line with American national security interests. But that timeline is not long enough to save the deal and stop the United States and Iran from sliding dangerously back to a path toward war.

There are a number of potential land mines on the near horizon. The first is in Congress, where a bipartisan effort is underway to introduce new sanctions on Iran that, despite the protestations of the legislations sponsors, would violate the terms of the nuclear agreement by adding new conditions onto the deal. If this legislation reaches the presidents desk, he will have a choice between rejecting it and keeping the nuclear deal alive, or signing it and causing an international crisis. By certifying to Congress that Iran is in compliance with the deal, it is now more difficult for Mr. Trump to push the United States out of compliance by adopting new sanctions or failing to renew the sanctions waivers. But anything is possible.
President Trump is scary in many ways, but perhaps the most frightening nightmare is of him blundering into a new Korean war.

It would begin because the present approach of leaning on China to pressure North Korea will likely fail. Trump will grow angry at public snickering at the emptiness of his threats.

At some point, U.S. intelligence will see a North Korean missile prepared for a test launch  and it may then be very tempting for a deeply frustrated rogue president to show his muscle. Foreign Affairs describes just such a scenario in an excellent new essay by Philip Gordon imagining how Trump might drift into war by accident:

He could do nothing, but that would mean losing face and emboldening North Korea. Or he could destroy the test missile on its launchpad with a barrage of cruise missiles, blocking Pyongyangs path to a nuclear deterrent, enforcing his red line, and sending a clear message to the rest of the world.

Alas, no one has ever made money betting on North Korean restraint, and the country might respond by firing artillery at Seoul, a metropolitan area of 25 million people.
Pakistanis with the most knowledge of the countrys nuclear program are among the most worried. On Dec. 16, 2014, the Taliban launched a deadly attack on an army-run school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar. Afterward, Pakistans Atomic Energy Commission sent an urgent letter to the director general of the Strategic Plans Division, which is responsible for securing Pakistans nuclear assets, expressing concern. The Atomic Energy Commission requested that the military devote more resources to ensuring that the personnel with knowledge of the nuclear program are monitored. This letter, which has been kept secret until now, reveals just how concerned some Pakistani officials are  and how worried the rest of the world should be.

The Atomic Energy Commission is not the only group sounding alarms about the role of extremists inside Pakistan. In early 2014, the ministry of interior issued a policy paper called the National Internal Security Policy 2014-2018, a classified document that outlined the governments security priorities. It warns that Pakistan is home to hundreds of terrorist and extremist groups, and points out that many of them are operational in all four provinces of Pakistan, including in the areas in Punjab near some of Pakistans nuclear facilities. This document also raises concerns over the growing influence of certain terrorist groups, in particular Lashkar-e-Taiba, inside the Pakistan Army and intelligence agencies, and within the families of senior and midlevel military officers.

Despite all of this, the Pakistani authorities continue to insist in public that their nuclear assets are safe. As a senior official told The Atlantic magazine in 2011, Of all the things in the world to worry about, the issue you should worry about the least is the safety of our nuclear program. When Pakistani officials came to Washington for a nuclear security summit last spring, they affirmed in the broadest terms their countrys commitment to nuclear security from the entire spectrum of threats  playing down terrorism specifically, or the fact that Pakistan represents a particular threat.

The Pakistanis say they are confident in the Strategic Plans Divisions professionalism. And the division claims to have strong systems in place to screen personnel for integrity, weeding out those who have dangerous political, ethnic or religious affiliations. They also report that Pakistans nuclear weapons are de-mated, meaning the warheads are separated from their delivery mechanisms. But even if this is true, it doesnt mean that all nuclear material is safe. There are reports that Pakistan is building tactical nuclear weapons, smaller arms that are easier to use on the battlefield. It is unclear how the Strategic Plans Division intends to secure them.

Instead of asking for help dealing with these vulnerabilities, the Pakistani Army and intelligence community close themselves off. They fear that the United States is trying to seize their nuclear weapons and say that the West refuses to allow a Muslim country to have access to the worlds most powerful weapons, a line often repeated by extremists.
Brazil still has a long way to go in the field of ecotourism. While in some places, as on the island of Fernando de Noronha, in the northeast, the rules concerning wildlife preservation are strict, in others there is less attention to long-term conservation and the ecological and social impact of tourism, often leading to the pure and simple exploitation of animals, as well as local people and their cultures.

One of the most profitable tourist activities in the Amazon is swimming alongside pink dolphins or feeding them from a flutuante, a private floating deck, often situated within a national park. Tourists regularly ride, restrain and harass the dolphins. Some even lift them out of the water for photographs. (Sometimes this is done with the encouragement of a tour guide.) There are accounts of people being accidentally bitten, and on one occasion, a man retaliated by punching the dolphin.

A few years ago, a commission of federal agencies and research institutes issued local guidelines for the activity  including the amount of food to be offered and the requirement that only tour guides could feed the dolphins  but few people adhere to them. According to the owner of one flutuante, tourists must only avoid touching the dolphins blowhole. (Please!)

Theres no federal legislation prohibiting feeding and touching the dolphins. As a result, their behavior has already changed: Many now survive on the frozen fish provided by tourism groups. Theyre also conditioned to stay close to the flutuantes and to humans. According to researchers, aggression is now common among the dolphins.

Another popular activity in the Brazilian Amazon is caiman-spotting. In the evening, groups of people cruise the riverbanks, seeking out the huge nocturnal lizards that resemble crocodiles. It wouldnt be disruptive if so many guides didnt make a point of jumping in the water to grab the caimans and hold them up for photos.
I started first grade at an all-black elementary school in Chester, Pa., a deeply segregated factory town near Philadelphia, in 1957  three years after the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that school segregation was unconstitutional.

The crisply dressed first graders who moved hesitantly that day through the halls of the Booker T. Washington Elementary School  built expressly for colored children  would be the first in their families to find relief from some of the most egregious humiliations that had come with being black in our town.

A popular restaurant nearby that used to turn away black patrons had begrudgingly begun to seat them. The movie theaters (including the one where black townspeople had watched Gone With the Wind from colored seats in the balcony) no longer separated patrons by race. The skating rink was the lone Jim Crow holdout: Black skaters could attend only if it was ebony night.

Segregated schools for black students were often decrepit, poorly staffed and crushingly overcrowded. But I recall no such infirmities at Booker T., as we called it. It was sparkly clean, quiet as a library and firmly under the control of steely, well-educated African-American women who were sticklers for grammar, could freeze your misbehaving heart with a glare and had the unnerving habit of engaging our parents in conversation on the street.
 Knowing about those allegations, Fox had just renewed Mr. OReillys contract. So what happened that led to this? We talk with Jim Rutenberg, the media columnist for The Times.

Background reading:

 The Times investigation into how Fox News and its parent company, 21st Century Fox, repeatedly stood by Mr. OReilly even as sexual harassment allegations against him mounted.

 Wednesdays news about Mr. OReillys departure and the choice to replace him with Tucker Carlson.

 Mr. Rutenbergs column about what this means for the future of Fox.

 And some background listening: The Dailys earlier episode with Emily Steel about her investigation into the allegations against Mr. OReilly.

Tune in, and tell us what you think. Email us at thedaily@nytimes.com. Tweet me at @mikiebarb. If that isnt enough, we can text.
Ms. Egans postcards of choice feature literary quotes from authors like Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf, but those looking to address the current administration have ever-increasing options of cards designed by stationery makers and artists specifically for writing lawmakers. Many companies are selling the postcards at cost or donating a portion of the proceeds.

Image These flaglike cards from Paperless Post are available in yes and no versions. Credit... Paperless Post

Dahlia Press, which is based in Seattle, released four female-empowerment illustrated postcards, including one with a hand with red fingernails holding an olive branch and Tough as Nails written across the wrist ($12 for eight). Stephanie Clarke, the companys founder, intended the cards to be appropriate whether the sender wanted to encourage lawmakers to better support women or to thank those who were.

I didnt want the cards to come across as aggressive, Ms. Clarke said. I kept them very soft and feminine and peaceful.

Saying thank you is one of the purposes of the Waterknot Super Pak (Postcard Action Kit) collection, which includes messages like: Thanks for working for justice. Youve got my vote! For those with whom a sender disagrees, one option is Work for love to earn my vote on a purple card with darker purple writing ($12 for 18). Two companies, Bench Pressed in Minneapolis and the Firecracker Press in St. Louis, offer postcards reminiscent of party invitations that prompt the sender to fill in the blanks with things like a hometown, issues of concern and why the topic is important.

Paper Chase Press goes one step further, with full-page stationery that requires an envelope. The 40-year-old Los Angeles press and bindery company, whose clients include Marc Jacobs and the Ace Hotel group, just introduced an Official Correspondence series ($12 for 12), including letterhead on thick eggshell-color paper with a circular logo reading The Office of Concerned Constituents.
We support Nepals bid to take all sections of society on board: India

A day after President Bidya Devi Bhandaris high level engagements in New Delhi, India on Wednesday said that its leadership reiterates its support to ongoing efforts of the government of Nepal in moving constitution implementation process forward through dialogue and taking all sections of its society on board.
Remember when federal regulators made rules that seemed tailored to benefit the technology industry? Not anymore.

On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to take votes on two measures that would continue efforts to unwind rules created during the Obama administration. The first would make it easier for broadband providers to increase charges on other companies that connect to their networks. The second would ease the limit on how many stations a broadcast television company can own.
WASHINGTON  Ajit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, met with Facebook and other tech companies this week to seek feedback on his intention to unwind aspects of net neutrality, the rules that require broadband providers to make all internet content equally accessible for consumers.

Mr. Pai said on Thursday that his visits with executives at Facebook, Cisco, Oracle and Intel were constructive and that he believed the companies wanted to find common ground. Web companies have supported net neutrality, saying the protections guard them from paying tolls to get their content in front of consumers. Mr. Pai said that he agreed with the broad principles of net neutrality but that the rules, created by the commission in 2015, went too far in restricting broadband providers.

I think they were appreciative, Mr. Pai said of the tech companies. I have been soliciting thoughts on online protections.

Mr. Pai spoke at a news conference on Thursday after pushing through more rollbacks of Obama-era regulations. Appointed by President Trump in January, Mr. Pai has been on a deregulation charge. He has abolished a proposal to open the cable box market and frozen a program for broadband subsidies for low-income households. On Thursday, he passed two actions that will ease pricing restrictions on telecom giants and give broadcast television companies greater latitude to bulk up through mergers.
The Tony-winning actress Kelli OHara will take a short trip to the mystical world of Brigadoon, for a concert staging of the musical at City Center, the theater announced on Thursday.

The production will run from Nov. 15 to 19, beginning with a Nov. 15 gala performance in honor of the theater producer Stacey Mindich.

Steven Pasquale, who shared romantic duets with Ms. OHara in The Bridges of Madison County on Broadway, will play opposite her at City Center as well.

Christopher Wheeldon, who won a Tony for choreographing An American in Paris, which he also directed, will direct and choreograph the concert staging. Robert Fairchild, who leapt from the ballet stage to Broadway in American in Paris, will be part of the Brigadoon cast as well.
In September 2015, Noah Strycker entered the Guinness Book of World Records by besting a British couple, Ruth Miller and Alan Davies, who in 2008 tracked 4,341 species of birds in a year. Mr. Strycker tracked 6,042 species and told his story on the Audubon Society blog, Birding Without Borders.

Mr. Strycker, 31, has climbed trees around the globe in pursuit of birds like the red-billed starling or black-breasted thrush. His 40-liter backpack is filled with items fit for the die-hard outdoorsman, like Leica 10x42 Ultravid HD-Plus binoculars, malaria pills and water-purifying tablets.

Following are edited excerpts from an interview with him:

Whats the most adventurous thing youve done to spot a bird?

Ive driven a Zodiac boat in Antarctica, crashed through leech-infested forests in India and stayed awake for nearly four straight days during the Norwegian summer solstice. In central Peru, I got up at 2 one morning and drove up a desolate mountain. The road was so bad it ripped the rear bumper off our van and left us mired in mud with two flat tires and a dead battery in the middle of nowhere. But we saw a spectacular golden-backed mountain tanager, so the trip was worthwhile.
The mothers of those in the experimental program earned more when the children were in preschool, and the difference was still there two decades later.

When the boys reached age 30, they earned an average of $19,800 more a year than those in the control group and had half a year more education. (The small sample size  37 boys in the programs who stayed in the study  means the difference was not very precisely estimated.) When the girls reached 30, they had two more years of education and earned about $2,500 more, the study found.

In their mid-30s, men who attended the program were 33 percent less likely to be drug users, had fewer misdemeanor arrests and were less likely to have high blood pressure.

The conclusion that boys benefited more than girls meshes with other research findings that boys are more sensitive to disadvantage and responsive to intervention.

The program was expensive  $18,514 per student a year  but after calculating effects like the cost to society of unemployment, crime and poor health, the researchers concluded that it returned $7.30 for every dollar spent. In addition to Mr. Heckman, the researchers were Jorge Luis Garcia of the University of Chicago and Duncan Ermini Leaf and Maria Jose Prados of the University of Southern California.

High-quality preschool showed multigenerational benefits in another new study, which traced nearly one million children in Denmark until old age. Children who attended the high-quality programs had slightly more years of schooling and an increased likelihood of living beyond 65  and their children also got more education.
In the days before Obamacare, applying for health insurance meant filling out dozens of pages of forms and submitting medical records. It was almost impossible to compare prices. Your premium might be set higher for a large number of reasons, including if your child was overweight. This could be the future in some states under the latest Republican proposal to overhaul the health law.

The proposal, offered by leaders of libertarian and centrist groups within the House Republican caucus, would allow states to waive key insurance rules imposed by the Affordable Care Act if they believe the changes could lower premiums or advance other state goals. The proposal retains the health laws promise that people with pre-existing health conditions can still buy insurance. But the protection would be largely technical.

States could waive a closely related rule that requires insurers to charge the same prices to healthy and sick customers of the same age. States could also exempt insurers from offering the essential health benefits currently required. To compensate, states would have to set up special insurance markets for sick customers called high risk pools.

To get an idea of what such a world might look like, please join me in my time machine as we travel back to 2011.
BERKELEY, Calif.  The University of California, Berkeley, said Thursday that it would permit the conservative author Ann Coulter to speak on campus in early May, just one day after it canceled her appearance that had been scheduled for next week.

But Ms. Coulter rejected the universitys offer, saying it came with burdensome conditions, and insisted that she would show up and speak as originally scheduled next Thursday.

And late Thursday night, a lawyer for the Berkeley College Republicans, which invited Ms. Coulter to campus, threatened to sue the university unless it permits the speech to go ahead.

At a news conference on Thursday, Nicholas B. Dirks, the chancellor, said Berkeley had canceled that event because the police had very specific intelligence of threats that could pose a grave danger to the speaker and others if it had allowed Ms. Coulter to appear next Thursday. Some recent speeches at Berkeley and other colleges have attracted violent protests.
Good morning.

(Want to get California Today by email? Heres the sign-up.)

President Trump this month signed a resolution to undo internet privacy rules that would have kept companies like AT&T and Comcast from selling users browsing histories and other personal data.

Almost immediately, a number of states  among them Washington, Connecticut and Massachusetts  moved to pass new rules that would in effect replicate those nullified by Congress.

But California, a pioneer of privacy protections, has so far been silent.

That could soon change.

Assemblyman Ed Chau, a Democrat who heads the Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, said he was holding meetings on steps the Legislature could take to safeguard personal information.

California has been at the leading edge of innovation in approaching privacy issues and consumer protection for years, and there is no reason for that to change, he said in a statement.
The first thing you need to know is that this is no easy elective. If you want to learn about the country music superstar Dolly Parton, youd better come prepared.

A course called Dollys America at the University of Tennessees main campus in Knoxville is devoted to the life story of Ms. Parton, who hails from nearby Sevier County in the eastern part of the state.

But this is much more than a surface-level study of a popular musician, said Lynn Sacco, the associate professor who teaches the course. Its a thesis seminar meant for history students in the honors program, and its meant to give students a new way of understanding Appalachias modern history and Ms. Partons role in it.

Its really kind of a nerdy class, Dr. Sacco said.

The second thing you need to know is that for many natives of eastern Tennessee, Ms. Parton, 71, is known for much, much more than just music. She is an icon for a place that outsiders can sometimes underestimate, said Carson Hollingsworth, the student body president at the University of Tennessee Knoxville.
Louisiana has dismissed all charges against a man who spent several years on death row after his infant son died in 2012, in a case that drew national attention to a parish that sentenced young black men to death at an unusually high rate.

Rodricus Crawford, 28, a resident of Caddo Parish, La., in the northwestern corner of the state, was sentenced to death in 2013 after prosecutors argued that he had suffocated his son. But Louisianas supreme court threw out his conviction in November after finding that the jury selection in his case may have been racially biased. Mr. Crawford was released from prison later that month.

In a statement announcing that it would not retry Mr. Crawford, the Caddo Parish District Attorneys Office acknowledged evidence suggesting that at the time of death, his son had pneumonia and bacteria in his blood that indicated sepsis. The state said that it could not meet the burden of proof to gain a new conviction for Mr. Crawford.

Cecilia Kappel, one of Mr. Crawfords lawyers, described him in an interview on Thursday as someone who should never have been facing such a stark sentence to begin with.
Wildlife rescue centre donated Rs 1.1 million

The United Club of Pokhara has provided a financial assistance of Rs 1.1 million to a wildlife rescue centre set up inside the compound of the proposed Pokhara International Zoo in Pachabhaiya, Pokhara Lekhnath metropolis.
States could request an exemption from the rule intended to ensure that people with pre-existing conditions could not be charged prohibitive premiums  but only if those states establish a high-risk insurance pool.

The plan gets better and better and better, and its gotten really, really good, and a lot of people are liking it a lot, Mr. Trump said. Asked if a health bill could pass as Congress tries to avert a government shutdown, the president said, I think well get both.

The complications that remain in the bill are likely to be far too difficult to finesse at the same time the House and Senate press to pass a giant spending bill. Tussles over the spending deadline  including possible debates over top administration priorities like a border wall and money for immigration enforcement officers  are expected to consume the Capitol.

And Democrats  whose votes will be needed to keep the government open  will have their own demands, most importantly billions of dollars to lower out-of-pocket spending for low-income Americans purchasing health coverage on the Affordable Care Acts online marketplaces.

Senior Republicans appear unconvinced that a revised health care bill would ensure passage in the House. Mr. Donovan, an opponent of the original Republican health care bill, said the proposed amendment really doesnt address the concerns that I had.

Representative Charlie Dent, Republican of Pennsylvania and a leader of the moderate House Tuesday Group, said it does nothing to change my views. He lamented any focus on an arbitrary 100-day deadline.

The changes  proposed by Representative Tom MacArthur, Republican of New Jersey and co-chairman of the Tuesday Group  come as Republicans face anger from supporters over their failure to act on longstanding campaign pledges, as well as from defenders of the Affordable Care Act.
WASHINGTON  There is no special art to the congressional recess town hall. But there is little doubt when one is going off the rails.

So perhaps it should surprise no one that so many lawmakers have chosen to avoid such outings with constituents during this two-week break from an institution most Americans disdain. There can be no viral video headaches from an event that never happened.

Still, among those adventurous enough to take on all comers, the forums have often been telling. Here is what weve learned, or relearned, during the recess so far:

Some Republicans have bigger targets on their backs. And know it.
WASHINGTON  Ted Nugent, Kid Rock and Sarah Palin had a fete to remember at the White House for several hours Wednesday night, as President Trump treated the high-profile supporters to a white-china private dinner, a room-by-room tour and free-range policy chat.

Mr. Nugent  a guitar demigod, knife-between-the-teeth hunter and conservative provocateur  offered an inside glimpse of a gracious, relaxed and house-proud president with ample time to offer his thoughts on a wide array of topics, from entertainment to existential geopolitical perils.

We were there for four hours, man! Mr. Nugent, a 68-year-old Detroit native, said in a telephone interview on Thursday, using a four-letter expletive to signal his amazement at Mr. Trumps willingness to spend so much time with his three casually dressed visitors.

He gave us a wonderful personal tour of every room and talked about the origins of every carpet and every painting  there was a Monet  and then we had dinner, said Mr. Nugent, who has referred to former President Barack Obama as a mongrel and to Hillary Clinton with an array of unflattering epithets.
WASHINGTON  President Trump turned in his chair at Mar-a-Lago to get a better look at Chinas president, Xi Jinping  intent on detecting his first reaction to the news he had just dropped: American missiles were slamming into an airfield in northern Syria.

It took a few moments, but Mr. Xis eyes widened in surprise, and he asked his translator to repeat what was said, according to three people who spoke with Mr. Trump after that night two weeks ago. This was exactly the response he was hoping to elicit  surprise, uncertainty and a sense that the rational, predictable statecraft of President Barack Obama had given way to Mr. Trumps more assertive vision of American power.

Mr. Trumps confrontational and improvisational approach to foreign affairs has lifted his mood, fortunes and poll numbers in recent days. There are signs it has also made an impact on the Chinese, prodding them to finally use their leverage with their errant neighbor, North Korea.

But Mr. Trumps mix of chest thumping and real action  the missile attack and the use of a huge bomb against Islamic militants in Afghanistan  entails serious risks overseas. It could also backfire at home, where a majority of Americans, and many of the populist conservatives who backed him in 2016, oppose long-term military commitments.
President Trump said on Thursday that he would not give the American military a direct role in helping stabilize war-ravaged Libya, rejecting years of pleading by Italy for more assistance in stemming African migrant traffic into Europe.

Mr. Trumps comments came during a White House news conference with Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni of Italy, who implored the United States to step up its critical involvement in Libya, a former Italian colony.

We need a stable and unified Libya, Mr. Gentiloni, who has been in office since November, said, discussing a conflict that has sent thousands of asylum seekers across the Mediterranean to Italy and other European countries. A divided country, and in conflict, would make civility worse.

In his scripted opening remarks, Mr. Trump thanked Italys leaders for your leadership on seeking stabilization in Libya, and for your crucial efforts to deny ISIS a foothold in the Mediterranean, adding, You fought hard. Ansar al-Shariah, an affiliate of ISIS  the Islamic State extremist group, based in Syria and Iraq  has been operating in Libya since 2012.
WASHINGTON  A federal air marshal on a flight earlier this month from England to New York left her loaded service weapon in the aircrafts bathroom where a passenger found it, four marshals familiar with the incident said.

The passenger gave the weapon to a member of the flight crew, who returned it to the air marshal. But the marshal, who is based in the New York region, failed to report the incident to her superiors, as required by agency policy, until several days later. The incident happened on April 6, aboard a Delta flight from Manchester to Kennedy International Airport.

Despite the security lapse, the marshal was assigned to a flight a few days later, people familiar with the case said.

The Transportation Security Administration, the parent agency of the air marshal service, said that it was aware of the episode but that it would not comment publicly on internal matters, adding that it was reviewing the circumstances of this incident.
Dr. Robert L. Sadoff, a founder of modern forensic psychiatry who assessed the mental competence or emotional states of thousands of plaintiffs and defendants in court proceedings, died on Monday in Abington, Pa. He was 81.

The cause was complications of pancreatic cancer, his son, Dr. David A. Sadoff, said.

Dr. Robert Sadoffs opinions were sought in a number of criminal trials involving prominent defendants. One was Capt. Jeffrey R. MacDonald, the Army doctor who was convicted of murder in 1979 in the stabbing deaths of his pregnant wife and two young daughters at an Army base nine years earlier. (The case was the subject of Joe McGinnisss 1983 book Fatal Vision and a television miniseries based on it.)

Another high-profile defendant was John E. du Pont, the chemical family scion who was found guilty in 1997 of fatally shooting an Olympic gold medal wrestler (the subject of the 2014 movie Foxcatcher).

In 1970, two months after the MacDonald family was murdered, Dr. Sadoff (pronounced SAY-doff), in a letter to Captain MacDonalds lawyer, wrote that there is nothing to suggest in my evaluation of Captain MacDonald that he is capable of committing the type of atrocious crime to his family, of which he is suspected.
BANGUI, Central African Republic  Uganda began withdrawing its entire contingent of 1,500 soldiers from the Central African Republic this week, effectively ending the hunt for the warlord Joseph Kony and his guerrilla group, the Lords Resistance Army.

As far as we are concerned, weve already achieved our mission, said Brig. Richard Karemire, the Uganda Peoples Defense Force spokesman. The L.R.A. no longer poses a threat to us as Uganda.

On Tuesday, the United States military is also set to officially end its mission to capture or kill Mr. Kony, whose fighting force has dwindled to about 100 soldiers from a peak of 3,000. The 150 American soldiers in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Uganda will start a monthslong process of sending home equipment and turning over their bases to the host nations or the United Nations.

Over almost three decades, Mr. Kony, a self-proclaimed prophet, and his fighters killed more than 100,000 people and displaced more than two million, according to the United Nations. From 1987 to 2006, the armed group abducted more than 20,000 children to use as soldiers, servants or sex slaves, according to Unicef.
Mrs. Chos two adult sons live and work outside the village. She fears they will not return, but concedes that might be better for them. My biggest worry is that if they live here they wont be able to get married, she said.

It is also difficult to live in the echo chamber of the North Korean broadcasts. For about a decade, the North turned off the music, while governments more friendly to the North were in power in South Korea. But the music started up again about a year ago.

South Koreans go to the polls to elect a new president next month, and the leading contender, Moon Jae-in, has pledged to pursue dialogue with the North.

But Mrs. Cho is not optimistic about politics easing the tense situation on the border outside her home. I dont think we are at a point where there will be a solution even if a liberal president gets elected, she said.

The North Koreans are our brethren, she added, glancing out the window toward Kijong. I think it is very unfortunate that we have to live as enemies.
NEW DELHI  The Indian government has blocked one of the countrys largest nonprofit public health organizations from accepting money from foreign donors, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The cancellation of the health organizations license to accept international financing is the latest move in an aggressive government crackdown on nongovernmental organizations that receive money from outside India.

More than 11,000 nongovernmental groups have lost their licenses to accept foreign financing since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014. Many are small organizations, but the government has taken action against some whose activities it has deemed against the national interest.

The public health organization, the Public Health Foundation of India, is a public-private partnership that was started by the government in 2006. It receives considerable income from both the government and Gates Foundation.
Woman held for running illegal VoIP

Police on Wednesday arrested a woman for allegedly running an illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) from a house at Gokarneshwor Municipality-5.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan  Pakistans highest court ordered an investigation on Thursday into offshore wealth held by the family of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, but it stopped short of removing him from office over allegations of corruption and money laundering.

The Supreme Courts ruling on the accusations, which stemmed from the Panama Papers that were leaked last year, had been highly anticipated, and it was a bitter disappointment to opposition parties, which had counted on the court to remove Mr. Sharif. Pakistans most prominent opposition politician, Imran Khan, had said before the ruling that it would be a defining moment in the countrys history.

Last April, the Panama Papers revealed that three of Mr. Sharifs children controlled shell companies through which they owned expensive residential properties in London. The revelations set off political turmoil, as opposition parties accused Mr. Sharif of financial wrongdoing and money laundering, which he and his family denied.

In November, the Supreme Court began hearing a series of petitions against Mr. Sharif based on the accusations.
DARWIN, Australia  When Nhan Do heard that Australia planned to make it more difficult to become a citizen of the country he had called home for 25 years, he was overcome with confusion.

I have to ask, Why do they keep making it harder? said Mr. Do, 41, who fled Vietnam with his family as a teenager. Its hard enough.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull proposed tough new requirements for would-be citizens, including stricter standards for English-language proficiency, an Australian values test and a four-year wait. Mr. Do, a citizen who has made his life here in Darwin, now worries that his wife, Lahn, a permanent resident who can barely read or write, will never obtain citizenship and fully belong.

We want this to be our country, Mr. Do said. Weve been here a long time.

The proposed changes are the latest challenge to Australias proud multicultural image, after a tightening of skilled worker visas this week. Taken together, the moves put Australia at the forefront of a global movement to limit migration, and to turn citizenship from something meant to help people integrate into what Mr. Turnbull called a big prize  a reward for having assimilated.
OTTAWA  In a bid to slow the soaring growth of housing prices in the Toronto area, Ontario officials announced several measures on Thursday, including a 15 percent tax on residential buyers who are not residents or citizens of Canada.

The average price of a single-family house in Toronto rose 33 percent in March compared with March 2016, to 1.6 million Canadian dollars ($1.2 million), leading many young families to abandon plans to become homeowners. Bidding wars, often highly publicized, have erupted over houses that would not attract a second glance in a less heated market.

While Ontarios premier, Kathleen Wynne, emphasized the need for the 15 percent tax on outside purchasers, similar to one enacted recently in Vancouver, British Columbia, there are no statistics on the number of Toronto houses that have gone to such buyers. Ontarios finance minister estimated that they make up 8 percent of the market, but other estimates are well above or well below that figure. Neither Ms. Wynne nor members of her cabinet were able to quantify the effect of what they called phantom purchasing.

This is a complex issue, Ms. Wynne said. There wasnt one single thing we could do that would deal with the issues were confronting.
Remarkably, that was all it took to spark conflict. Before they even met, the boys began to call members of the other group outsiders and intruders. Merely being part of one group and aware of another was enough to create hostility.

Later research has found that symbolic threats, like perceived differences in values or beliefs, will arouse even greater enmity between groups. Studies have shown, for instance, that people are more likely to be antagonistic to immigrants if they perceive them as threatening the countrys values than if they view them as direct competition for jobs or other resources.

Its Like a Depression

The National Fronts politics take advantage of these natural human tendencies. But the party also has tapped into a sense of social dislocation, even despair, because of changes brought by globalization and technological progress. This phenomenon, too, can be seen in Frejus.

Walk a few minutes from the cathedral and you will arrive in a small shop that offers manicures and a colorful selection of beauty products. Behind the counter, I met Helene Beaumurs, an elegantly coifed brunette whose glowing complexion was a testament to her wares. She grew quiet when I asked about the National Fronts rise here.

She was not sure whether she would support Ms. Le Pen, she said. But she had lost faith so completely in Frances mainstream politicians that anything  even a party long considered taboo  seemed like an improvement.

Today she sees a way of life she cherishes eroding. She knows farmers who are struggling, working seven days a week but barely getting by. In the center of town, stores are closing as they struggle to compete with large supermarkets, she said, gesturing at the vacant storefronts on the narrow, winding street.

I think there are many people in France who want to know why they get up in the morning, and if working still has the value they were taught as children, she said, or if its just pulling the cart.
National Front supporters at a rally for Marine Le Pen in St.-Raphael, in the south of France, in March.

Credit... Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times
Polls predict a heavy loss for her in the second round, however. A poll conducted for Le Monde and published on Tuesday said she would get only about 30 percent of Mr. Fillons voters in the second round  not nearly enough, according to Joel Gombin, a National Front specialist at the University of Picardy Jules Verne, who said she must get more than 50 percent of former Fillon supporters to have a shot at winning the presidency.

But Ms. Le Pen is not taking any chances with the first round, either. Tough talk on immigrants is what her supporters want from her, and on Wednesday night at the Dome, a metal-covered arena in a run-down neighborhood of Marseille, set back from the port, they were not disappointed.

As she denounced her opponents on the left as immigrationists, men in the stands shouted, coarsely, that they would cut off a certain part of their rivals anatomy.

Police officers brandishing automatic weapons guarded the hall  two men were arrested in Marseille on Tuesday and are suspected of preparing an attack to disrupt the election  and Ms. Le Pen eagerly linked immigration to insecurity, a favorite theme of hers.

Violent protests by leftist demonstrators have disrupted recent National Front meetings, although those held on Wednesday were relatively subdued.

Referring to those under surveillance as possible security threats  a day before a man with an assault rifle fatally shot a police officer in Paris  Ms. Le Pen called France a hotbed of S-files, that immense army of the shadows who want us to live in terror.
French voters will go to the polls on Sunday for the first round of presidential elections. In the wake of electoral upheavals around the world, including the victory of Donald J. Trump and Britains decision to leave the European Union, the vote is one of several in Europe being closely watched worldwide.

What is France deciding?

The president wields broad powers  although the prime minister, as the head of government, also plays an important role in the constitutional system, as does Parliament. Presidents are elected for a five-year term, for a maximum of two consecutive terms. The incumbent, Francois Hollande, a Socialist, has struggled to reduce unemployment and has had to deal with a string of deadly terrorist attacks.

The demands are high for the next president to keep the country safe, jump-start its economy and manage the sometimes competing goals of improving the labor market and the maintaining a social safety net. Frances role in the European Union is also in question.

Elections for the National Assembly, Frances lower and more powerful house of Parliament, are in June, and whoever wins the presidency will want to secure a favorable legislative majority.
Mr. Molins, who handles terrorism investigations nationwide, said the authorities had identified the killer, but he declined to provide the gunmans identity because police raids and the search for potential accomplices were still underway.

European counterterrorism experts said they believed that the Islamic States claim was credible.

The speed with which the group claimed responsibility was surprising, said Peter R. Neumann, the director of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence at Kings College London. It seems prepared and coordinated, Mr. Neumann added, noting that the Islamic State claim was in multiple languages, like they knew this was going to happen.

On Tuesday, two men were arrested in Marseille on suspicion of having imminent plans to conduct a terrorist attack. Weapons, ammunition and the highly volatile explosive TATP, or triacetone triperoxide, was found in one of the apartments used by the two men. It is the same type of explosive used in the attack at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris in November 2015 and in the attacks in Brussels in March 2016.

The response of all the candidates was to express solidarity with the police, and Mr. Fillon, who represents the mainstream right, and Ms. Le Pen said they would not campaign on Friday, out of respect for the police officers who were killed and wounded.

Emmanuel Macron, a centrist who along with Ms. Le Pen has been leading in the polls, stepped back from the moment, saying: This imponderable threat, this threat, will be a fact of daily life in the coming years.

President Trump, who was meeting with Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni of Italy at the White House on Thursday, responded to a question from reporters about the Paris attack. Thats a terrible thing, and its a very, very terrible thing thats going on in the world today, he said. But it looks like another terrorist attack. And what can you say  it just never ends.

The French presidential candidates were not alone in using the attack to burnish their image as potential commanders in chief; the Islamic State also appeared eager to make the most of the it, preparing a statement in multiple languages and being ready to claim responsibility, said Michael S. Smith II, a terrorism analyst who specializes in the Islamic States influence efforts and who is writing a book on its external operations.

The timing of the attack itself is significant in that this will help to ensure the group is a centerpiece of political discourses in France, Mr. Smith said. For prospective recruits in the West and seasoned jihadis in conflict zones alike, including the Al Qaeda members that the Islamic State has sought to draw into its ranks, this can bolster perceptions of the group as a credible enterprise that is worthy of their support.
MOSCOW  A Kremlin-controlled research organization that Western critics accuse of subversive propaganda in other countries, including possible election meddling, is known in Russia as a semiretirement refuge for former intelligence officers.

The organization, the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies in Moscow, says its main purpose is preparing policy papers and other analytical materials for the countrys leading government agencies.

At the top of its website, the institute says in capital letters that it was founded by the president, a reference to President Vladimir V. Putin. Some political commentators in Russia regard it as a place where ex-intelligence officials can work with dignity.

Nonetheless, Kremlin opponents have linked the institute to such efforts as trying to dissuade Sweden from closer ties to NATO and subvert Montenegros impending membership in the alliance.
An initial appeal will be made to the Supreme Courts appellate division, Mr. Zhenkov said, and if that fails, Jehovahs Witnesses will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, in Strasbourg, France.

Hard-line followers of Russias dominant faith, the Orthodox Church, have lobbied for years to have Jehovahs Witnesses outlawed or at least curbed as a heretical sect, but the main impetus for the current campaign to crush a Christian group active in Russia for more than a century seems to have come from the countrys increasingly assertive security apparatus.

Founded in the United States in the 19th century, Jehovahs Witnesses has its worldwide headquarters in the United States and, along with all foreign-led groups outside the control of the state, is viewed with deep suspicion by Russias post-Soviet version of the KGB: the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B.

Summing up the Justice Ministrys case against the denomination, the ministrys representative, Svetlana Borisova, told the Supreme Court on Thursday that Jehovahs Witnesses had shown signs of extremist activity that represent a threat to the rights of citizens, social order and the security of society.

During six days of hearings over two weeks, lawyers and witnesses for the religious group repeatedly dismissed the extremist allegation as absurd, arguing that reading the Bible and promoting its nonviolent message could in no way be construed as extremist.
TEHRAN  A council that vets Irans political candidates disqualified former two-term president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday  along with hundreds of others  from the presidential election next month.

No official reason was given for the disqualifications in the May 19 election, which were announced on state television Thursday night by an election official, Ali Asghar Ahmadi.

While Mr. Ahmadinejads disqualification was not unexpected, the timing of the announcement  just around midnight, two days before what had been the scheduled unveiling of the final list of candidates  was unusual.
China has renamed six places in Arunachal Pradesh in retaliation against the Dalai Lama's visit to India's easternmost state. The move is apparently aimed at reaffirming Beijing's territorial sovereignty to the region.

China's civil affairs ministry carried out the name changes on April 13, a day after the Dalai Lama left Arunachal Pradesh following a nine-day high-profile visit. The visit angered China, which calls Dalai Lama a separatist out to carve an independent homeland within the Chinese mainland.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said: "Let me stress that the Indian government's indulgence of Dalai Lama activities in disputed eastern section of the India-China boundary and also about his anti-China activities; this is something we are firmly against. These activities are also against the Indian government's commitments to China."

Changing the names was a "legitimate" action done in line with Chinese law, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday (April 19), adding it supported Beijing's territorial claim.

China's Global Times tabloid reported on Tuesday the civil affairs ministry had "standardized in Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabet the names of six places in South Tibet, which India calls 'Arunachal Pradesh', in accordance with the regulations of the State Council".

The report added, "The official names of the six places using the Roman alphabet are Wo'gyainling, Mila Ri, Qoidengarbo Ri, Mainquka, Bumo La and Namkapub Ri."

Foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said Wednesday: "These names reflect from another side that China's territorial claim over South Tibet is supported by clear evidence in terms of history, culture and administration."

Meanwhile, Long Xingchun, director of the Centre for Indian Studies at the China West Normal University, told Hindustan Times: "This is a very strong signal from China. It seems to be because of the Dalai Lama visit. China could have been prepared to this and was waiting for the right time and opportunity. India seems to have miscalculated China's response (to the visit)."

Beijing says Arunachal Pradesh, on the 3,488-km disputed border, is part of South Tibet with close Buddhist links to the Tibet Autonomous Region. Official Chinese maps show the state as part of South Tibet.

The Global Times reported Sino-India border disputes were centered in South Tibet. The Chinese government has never recognized Arunachal Pradesh, it added.

According to Hindustan Times, the Chinese government, state media and experts perceive a pattern in how India is "using" the issue of Tibet and the Dalai Lama -- the invitation to the leader of the Tibetan government in exile to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inauguration in May 2014, the Dalai Lama's meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee in December and now his visit to Arunachal Pradesh indicates to China that India has hardened its stand on Tibet-related issues.

Concession on Tawang can resolve India-China border dispute

The border dispute between China and India can be resolved if New Delhi accepts Beijing's claim over strategically vital Tawang region in Arunachal Pradesh, the Hindustan Times quoted a former Chinese diplomat as saying last month.

Dai Bingguo, who served as the China's boundary negotiator with India from 2003 to 2013, said, "If the Indian side takes care of China's concerns in the eastern sector of their border, the Chinese side will respond accordingly and address India's concerns elsewhere."

Elaborating China's stand, Dai said, "The disputed territory in the eastern sector of the China-India boundary, including Tawang, is inalienable from China's Tibet in terms of cultural background and administrative jurisdiction."

He said that colonial British government which drew the "McMahon Line" accepted Beijing's claim on Tawang. "Even British colonialists who drew the illegal McMahon Line respected China's jurisdiction over Tawang and admitted that Tawang was part of China's Tibet," Dai said.

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'Liberty: An Idea Lives On!' - Join the 'JFK Vigil' 5/29/17 - Click 'Image By' Link Below!

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Dear President Trump & Congress,

The "official story" of 9/11 is not true. Yet what are Americans - and their elected representatives, gathered in Washington, DC - to do about it?

"World Trade Center Building 7 fell symmetrically at free-fall acceleration into its own footprint at 5:20 pm on September 11, 2001," reads text on the back cover of the 48-page, Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth (www.AE911Truth.org ) publication, BEYOND MISINFORMATION: What Science Says About the Destruction of World Trade Center Buildings 1, 2 and 7 (www.BeyondMisinformation.org).

Most Americans have never heard of WTC-7; omitted from the 9/11 Commission Report and well-avoided by most mainstream media. However, in conjunction with the fifteenth anniversary of events, copies of AE911Truth's publication were hand delivered to the offices of every Senator and Representative in the U.S. Congress.



Karl Golovin, delivering AE911Truth.org's texts to offices of all 541 Members of Congress; Sept. 2016

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By contrast with the mysterious, never-quite-fully-available "28 Pages" of Congress' own investigation of 9/11 (alluringly suggested by some to implicate Saudi, even Israeli culpability), AE911Truth's "48 Pages" of scrupulously peer-reviewed, scientific analysis are freely available, demanding both acknowledgement and, rather than a simplistic imputation of all responsibility for 9/11 to purely external forces, inviting necessary, responsible, introspective consideration - and action - by all Americans.



Rep. Pete Sessions welcomed AE911Truth's text, invited Karl Golovin in for this picture; Sept. 2016

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The 47 floors of WTC-7 collapsed in seven seconds in a process recognizable as "controlled demolition." Circumstantial evidence suggests all three towers (1, 2 and 7) explosively collapsed not due exclusively to two of those towers being hit by fuel-laden, commercial aircraft, but in all three instances due to pre-planned, controlled demolition.

History repeats itself, say some - others clarify that even when not precisely repeated, at least events usually rhyme. And it is in the history of an earlier, formative event in the memories of most aging baby-boomers - the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy - that one may look for a rhyming of the forces and processes revealed in each event, and for guidance in reclaiming the nature and direction of America.

History evidences that governing power and benefits accruing to select persons, gangs, groups (and now corporations), have expanded most reliably through cyclical patterns of instilling fear, hatred and/or chaos within and between populations, alternated with solutions offering temporary security; inevitably at the expense of personal freedoms.



Essential Reading: 'Rulers of Evil: Useful Knowledge About Governing Bodies' by F. Tupper Saussy

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Among techniques evident in that pattern of history is "false-flag terrorism," wherein allied interests cooperatively perpetrate acts of real and imagined violence against even their own populations, accomplished in ways that blame may be attributed to politically expedient, real or imagined enemies.

Declassified in the 1990s, "Operation Northwoods" was a post-Bay-of-Pigs "false-flag" plan proposed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to President Kennedy, calling for terrorist acts against U.S. citizens to create a pretext for invasion of Cuba. Rejected by President Kennedy, his own assassination later exemplified "false-flag" action on an even grander scale, wherein the one framed via intelligence operations (Footnote #2) to appear his assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was officially manipulated to best allow attribution of the actual crime to Cuban and/or Soviet Union sponsorship, justifying potential military action against either or both nations. Recall that advisors had encouraged President Kennedy, who of course refused, to himself launch a pre-emptive nuclear attack on the Soviet Union.



Artwork by Anthony Freda; demystifying 'False Flag Terrorism'

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Maria Zakharova

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Maria Zakharova is a passionate and outspoken modern woman. She is also the Spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry. She recently appeared on Russian Television in a telling and revealing interview describing what passed for diplomacy by the US State Department at the UN under the Presidency of Barack Obama.

It's not very often that the normal person in the street gets to hear what transpires behind the closed doors of world diplomacy so, her revelations are quite an insight.

In Sept 2015, Russia announced their intentions to fight with the Syrian Government against the Islamic State Terrorists in Syria and, invited the countries of the world to unite and fight with them against this world threat.

Zakharova recorded many of the Diplomatic meetings from October 2015 and, what she revealed, explains the anti Russian hate we've seen from western politicians and media since that time.

The Russian Diplomats were warned by the US Diplomats that if Russia went ahead and assisted Syria's Assad, Russia would 'be in a world of hurt and discover what real pain is.'

This was their direct warning.

The US clearly spelled out to the Russians that, whatever good work that they did in Syria or, any positive results they achieved in reality, would be manipulated by a professional media company to cancel out their real results and, turn them around to make it look like they are the real cause of the problem.

For instance, they were told, "Are you going to fight the Terrorists? You'll be made to look like the Terrorists! You'll be made to look like the aggressor!"

The Diplomatic threats were made at the highest levels of the Diplomatic Corps and not only once but, numerous times.

Zakharova seemed aghast that this is what constituted for diplomacy via the elite members of the most advanced Democracies in the world.

She claimed that serious questions about ISIS and Syria's future that were posed by the Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, were continually blocked in the UN Security Council by these same Diplomats.

Zakharova claims absolute collusion with the western media by these powerful people which, shows the level of control they wield over the western world media.

She said as the campaign in Syria progressed and, ISIS's advance was halted, the warnings turned into threats.

Once the precision bombing of the Russian Air Force, as well as the number of sorties they could fly daily became apparent, their language became more aggressive.

She said, "Now threats were being voiced, not just by fellow Diplomats but, by members of the State Department and the White House itself."

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USS Carl Vinson sailed away from, not to, Korean Peninsula ., degrees .. The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which was supposedly headed to the Korean peninsula, has actually ...

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Aircraft carrier Carl Vinson sailing into Indian Ocean 3500 miles away from the Korean peninsula

The sound you just heard was a sigh of relief- at least for the present.

The Carl Vinson carrier task force the Trump administration had announced as headed for the Korean peninsula-in response to North Korea testing ballistic missiles- is according to a New York Times account [1] is now heading in the opposite direction toward the Indian Ocean for war games with the Australian Navy.

The Times alluded to a "Defense News" report [2] which revealed the Vinson "On Saturday-according to photographs released by the U.S. Navy-the carrier passed north through the Sunda Strait, the passage between Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java. It's about 3500 miles from Korea." That revelation was confirmed by "U.S. Navy officials in Pearl Harbor and Washington declined to comment on the ships movements other than to confirm the April 15 movement through the Sunda Strait". Then lastly the Defense News report had this to say, "off the record, several officials expressed wonderment at the persistent reports that the Vinson was already nearing Korea, 'We've made no such statement', said one official".

Well... considering all the bombast we heard lately from the likes of President Trump, his press secretary Sean Spicer, Pentagon spokesman Dana White, Defense Secretary James Mattis, national security advisor H. R. McMaster and Vice President Mike Pence visiting the South Korean side of the demilitarized zone all mouthing assertions the Vinson would bring a show of force that would deter North Korean leader Kim Song un to desist further testing of his ballistic missiles, one would think the US was heading for a direct military confrontation with a North Korea possessing nuclear weapons. That reported carrier task force heading for Korea would hardly be a minor provocation taken lightly by Kim who revealed at the time he'd keep testing ballistic missiles every week and continue to develop his nuclear arsenal as a deterrent against any US attack.

Somehow sanity came about within the Trump crowd and a potential conflict was averted at least for the moment.

Actually it's anyone's guess how sanity prevailed in this instance considering the belligerent outfit filling the White House corridors. Maybe the realization provoking Kim with a task force heading in his direction might indeed be a bad idea. Maybe China's President Xi -who met Trump a week ago in Florida- called the "Donald" got Trump's attention in time to avert a potential disastrous conflict. Who knows.

But leave no doubt there's an unpredictability to the Trump gang starting with the president himself and no one knows what the next hornet's nest this mob will stir up.

The Times article read like a bad "who done it", something reminiscent of a Keystone Kops episode or the gang that couldn't shoot straight or simply the right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing.

But today's reality isn't old Hollywood when provocations made by the US could result in the unthinkable.

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When the waiter plucked the flat, rectangular plate between us, I felt my nose wrinkle involuntarily. Across the table my friend shook his head. I wanted to hit the cicchetti bars. I wanted more of the baccala mantecato. I, too, loved that particular Venetian cicchetto, a dish involving creamed cod thats way more delicious than it might sound. And I, too, enjoyed sampling the different small plates available at the cicchetti bars crowding Venices canals and narrow passages. But sarde in saor is perhaps Venices most distinctive traditional dish, invoking its days as the mightiest power in the Mediterranean, and theres no way I was leaving without tasting it.

The perception for most outside Italy is that a standard Italian food exists, rather than distinct regional cooking with roots in an areas climate, soil and history. A tomato is a tomato, except youre much more likely to find them covering pizza in Naples rather than enhancing a risotto in Milan. And in Venice, where the past almost seems to overtake the present, a traditional food culture is still celebratedparticularly away from the most heavily touristed areas around the Piazza San Marco.

In St. Marks Square, dominated by the famous 12th-century cathedral that lends its name to the piazza, you feel like you might be anywhere in Europe. Elegant cafes line the arcaded sides, competing for the attention of tourists, while men speaking English inquire as to whether youd like to be photographed with pigeons roosting on your head and shoulders. The churchs facade boasts many Byzantine elements, further contributing to the visitors sense of nowhereness.

Its nearly impossible to escape the tourist hordes in Venice, which can play host to up to 70,000 visitors per day. But when youve absorbed the beauty of St. Marks, when youve crossed the Rialto Bridge, when youve already drifted down the Grand Canal, its time to wander. Theres nothing more a Venice guidebook author loves than to tell the reader to throw away the map and get lost. Its likely an instruction included to save their own reputation, as a map here is nearly pointless, and your phones GPS is unlikely to help much, either. You will get lost on the twisted paths, and youre unlikely to be able to tell one canal from the next. As the day seeps away and the mist creeps in, images will start to tug at the corner of your eyes. And you just might be convinced that youve stepped back in time.

Venice makes its living this way, convincing tourists they are time travelers who are seeing the city as it may have been 800 years ago, when the Republic of Venice ruled the Adriatic and dominated the spice trade.

The food reflected Venices place in the world; its exotic flavors reminding the diner of the citys wealth and power. As Michael Krondl points out in The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice, dishes in medieval Venice resembled those of North Africa, tasting of almonds and raisins, ginger and cinnamon. Now tourists are more likely to eat the pizza and pasta of Southern Italy, while locals eat the traditional fare that developed in the 19th century when the humbled Venetians needed to rely on local ingredients.



Photo by Hans Geel/Shutterstock

Sarde in saor (pictured above) holds on, however, as the foodies bridge to the citys past. It sounds rather frightening to a contemporary palate: a mound of fried sardines heaped together with onions, raisins, and sometimes pine nuts; doused in vinegar and sugar and left to marinate overnight. While some believe the dish emerged from Venices Jewish Ghetto, which dates from 1516, Krondl notes the dish is remarkably similar to one found in a 14th century cookbook. In fact, the sweet-and-sour combination would have appealed to Venetian residents returning from extended stays in the Middle East, where such plays on the taste buds were often encountered.

Yet despite typically savoring this meld of sweet-and-sour, and despite actually enjoying the humble sardine, I found myself eyeing the plate with trepidation. Sarde in saor is not a pretty dish, not even in that tiny, dimly lit restaurant where the woman beside me savored a lovely plate of mixed seafood over polenta. My plate, unfortunately, resembled a mass of glowing tentacles studded with tiny plump brains. After loading my fork, I had to close my eyes to take a bite. The flavors surprised me; the strong fishiness of the sardines is tempered by the sour vinegar bite, which in turn is subdued by a hint of sweetness.



Like the dishs first impression, in Venice, so much is a facade. Coats of paint and sheets of marble disguise ordinary brickwork. The crowds hide the fact that, after the cruise ships leave and the last ferry has made for the mainland, the island is a lonely place, with most residents having been forced out due to rising rents. But, like in much of Italy, the food culture keeps those who remain connected to their past. The cicchetti bars provide a place for locals to gather throughout the day, nibbling at small plates of open-faced sandwiches. They are also where tourists are most likely to be drawn into conversation, as many of these spaces are tiny, with few seats, and mingling is made much easier by the small, inexpensive glasses of wine accompanying the food.

The cicchetti bars feel like a reminder of how Venice survived its fall, welcoming the outsider while continuing to foster a distinct Venetian culture in the local population. But sarde in saor takes the diner back even further, to those centuries of power and dominance that allowed the city to become what it is today, a mix of tastes and flavors, combining the local and the exotic.

Kirsten Schlewitz@kdschlewitz is a freelance writer and editor who eats, drinks and lives in Belgrade, Serbia.
Apart from the United States and Russia, Germany has sent the most humans into space. The countrys 11 astronauts are generally a source of pride among Germans, save for one unavoidable detail: Every single one of those space travelers has been male.

Claudia Kessler, an aerospace engineer and the CEO of the recruiting agency HE Space, had been keeping tabs on European space selections for years, waiting for a German woman to make it onto a mission. Germany belongs to the European Space Agency (ESA), a 22-member organization that only recruits astronauts every 10 to 15 years. When Kessler began asking why ESA had never chosen a German woman, she repeatedly heard that it was because there werent enough qualified applicants.

I had come across fantastic women who have done so much in their careersscientists, PhDsand I thought, Its not possible. I cant accept that there are not enough women, Kessler said.

So, Kessler launched her own mission. In March 2016, she started Die Astronautin, a public awareness project and crowd-funding campaign that aims to rocket the first German woman into space. Through corporate and public support, Kessler is hoping to raise more than $30 million to train a woman for a 10-day private mission to the International Space Station in 2020.

Throughout Kesslers 25-year career, she has championed female professional development in the aerospace sector. After coming up with the idea for a female space race, she reached out to her contacts in the field and signed a partnership with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), which agreed to help screen potential candidates and administer aptitude and medical tests. Die Astronautin was ready for take off.

Kessler posted a call for applicants on HE Spaces website, seeking German-born women between the ages of 27 and 37 with degrees in science and engineering or military equivalents. She found that her instincts had been right all alongthere were plenty of qualified female professionals all over Germany. More than 400 of them answered the listing, a 32 percent increase from the number of German women who had applied to the last ESA mission in 2009.

Suzanna Randall, an astrophysicist working in the city of Garching, came across Die Astronautins ad on a German news website. As a researcher at the European Southern Observatory, Randalls interests are stellar evolution and pulsations. She also works as support staff at the ALMA observatory, the worlds most largest telescope at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. She had always dreamed of not just observing space through a lens, but exploring it herselfshe had even made it to the second round of ESAs 2009 selection process. Randall saw Die Astronautin as another opportunity to get closer to the stars.

I was always fascinated by the idea that we, and robots we had made, could leave our planet and go somewhere else to see all these strange and exotic objects, she said. Applying for this wasnt even a question.

Kessler waded through hundreds of CVs, and then the DLR took over and invited about 90 candidates to a full day of tests that examined basic math, physics and cognitive skills. From there, the pool dwindled down to 30 women, who moved on to group and individual interviews assessing teamwork.

The contestants have been covered extensively in German media, in no small part because of their impressive resumes and interests: Randall is not only an astrophysicist, but also a musician, paraglider and scuba diver. Her fellow candidates include a fighter jet pilot with the German Air Force and an aerospace engineer with expertise in taekwondo.

Despite the publicity, Die Astronautin still has a long way to go. The crowd-funding portion has collected about 27,000 of a 50,000 goal, and Kessler is still pursuing corporate sponsorships that will secure the winners private mission.

Photo courtesy of Die Astronautin

But Kesslers main goaland the part she seems to have achieved so faris to turn the spotlight on female professionals who can inspire a new generation of astronauts. A gender gap exists in the aerospace field worldwide: Of the 550 people who have made it into space, only 58 have been women, according to NASA. And although most women in space have been American, the U.S. struggles with the broader problem of bringing women into STEM fields. A recent Commerce Department report explained that lack of female role models, gender stereotyping and less family-friendly flexibility often keep women out of the sciences.

Randall thinks the barriers are similar in Germany, particularly when it comes to the issue of role models. Shes half English and says that when she was a child, her own space heroines were American women that she read about in English-language publications. She especially loved Sally Ride, the first American woman to make it into space in 1983, and the third woman after Soviet astronauts Valentina Tereshkova and Svetlana Savitskaya. Die Astronautin could give German girls an example of their very own.

I think for me, thats what makes this project so attractive, Randall said. It shows women and girls who are thinking about potentially going into STEM fields that there are options, that they are represented in this field and that they have a mentor to look up to.

The latest round of finalists, Nicola Baumann and Insa Thiele-Eich, were announced on April 19.Now, Baumann and Thiele-Eich will start training, and from there, Kessler will continue working on funding until the 2020 mission is green-lighted. Its a hefty task, but the vision of standing on the launchpad as a German woman boards a spaceship has kept her going.

When you work on these things, its kind of sad because you prepare for so long and then its gone, Kessler said. But this will be so exciting. Ill feel like Im weightless myself.

Julyssa Lopez is a writer based in D.C. and Berlin. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, USA Today, Washingtonian Magazine and NPR.
If Bruce Springsteens feelings about Donald Trump werent already crystal clear, his new protest anthem, recorded with old friend and Houserockers frontman Joe Grushesky, should do the trick.

Released Wednesday, Thats What Makes Us Great targets Trumps immigration decrees and flexible relationship with the truth with lines like, Some wanna slam the door instead of opening the gate / Lets turn this thing around before it gets too late.

On another verse, Springsteen sings, Dont tell me a lie and sell it as a fact / Ive been down that road before, and I aint going back.

Grushesky, a Pittsburgh native who has been friends with Springsteen for decades, told the Pittsburgh Gazette: I had this song, and Bruce and I had been talking. I sent it to him and he liked it. I said, What do you think about singing on it? He gave it the Bruce treatment.

The song was a mostly digital creation. Grushesky said the Houserockers recorded the initial track, and Springsteen emailed his vocal from New Jersey after completing his world tour with the E Street band in February.

Springsteen and Grushecky last collaborated on the latters 2009 album, East Carson Street.

Thats What Makes Us Great made its debut on E Street Radio on Sirius XM on Wednesday morning, and is available for download on Grusheskys web site for 99 cents, here, and will reportedly become available on iTunes and other streaming services at a later date.

In the meantime, check out Pastes list of the 25 best Springsteen songs here and enjoy this incredible Boss show from 1978, from the bottomless Paste Cloud.
Very few 19 year olds can command the heft of a lyric quite like Felicity, the mighty-voiced newcomer who tips her hat to such obvious influences as Joss Stone, Tracy Chapman and in a round-about-way, the modern rock queen Melissa Etheridge. When shifting through the storyline of her new single "Pilot with a Fear of Flights," which contains the pointed lyric "This is so unnatural / That we're on this level / 'Cause my heart's surrendering / For this new beginning," Felicity glides effortlessly upward into the stratosphere. From the specific melodic choices to her apt phrasing, she only belts when it is absolutely essential. She's primed for classic torch singing, but she drenches those decisions with thought and subtlety. But she's not afraid to hit you in the chest if she so desires. "I am obsessed with making a connection. That's my main goal when I make music, whether I'm writing it or performing it," she tells Popdust over a chat in our Manhattan office.

"When I'm performing, I want to make the connection with the audience, and I want to make the connection with my voice and my body. I want to make sure it all makes sense, so that people can relate to it," she says. "And then when people listen to it, they can also be like 'I felt that way, I feel that way when I listen to this song.'" "Pilot with a Fear of Heightens" contains an underlining Sia boldness, between the blistering melody on the chorus to the undeniable grip it has on a listener's heart--the song samples her forthcoming debut EP, tentatively expected this summer.

Another new cut, called "Tug of War," allows Felicity to inhabit the kind of husky, soul-seeking work of such prolific trailblazers as Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke and Whitney Houston. "When I wrote that, I was just messing around. I was like *sings high note* and then [my co-writer] Brian [Kierulf] and I were like 'can I even sing that? Will that even happen? We're gonna try our best.' So, I wanted the song to tear me apart the way the message is tearing me apart," she explains. "'Tug of War' is about how I love music so much, and it's just such a passion of mine. But sometimes I'm so passionate about it that I want everything to be perfect. Sometimes, I get torn apart because I don't know what I wanna do and I'll hit a wall. That [high] note is just screaming for desperation to try and resolve that inner conflict."

When tasked with cementing her own sound, Felicity utilizes her influences as simply the framework from which to build her own skyscraper. "It's not about just hitting the note--it's about the tone and the emotion behind it. Tracy Chapman doesn't show off a huge range in her music, but her tone makes you just feel everything. She has a song called 'Bang Bang Bang,' and it's a song about something really heavy. You can feel it in her voice. That's really important. I grew up with her. My mom and dad raised me on her, so hers is the tone and all she has to say. Then, John Denver [is a huge influence]. He has a song called 'Annie's Song.'"

Felicity's musical roots actually began with violin, way before she began to sing. "That's how I knew I loved music. ['Annie's Song'] has this bridge with these beautiful ascending violins. I think it just makes the song gorgeous. It's what brings it together. That's why I try and incorporate strings into my music now because of how he did it--and also the lyrics in that song, especially. It's like 'You fill up my senses like a night in the forest, like the mountains in springtime, like a walk in the rain.' I think it's incredible how he can relate a human back to something so natural--like a walk in the rain: you're so beautiful you remind me of that. I like to incorporate that into my writing, something that's not human, it's personifying something that's really amazing."

Check out our exclusive Q&A session below.

Why did "Pilot with a Fear of Heights" make sense as the next chapter of your story?



Well, I put "Poison" out first. It was really slow and sad. It was how I felt; it was my mood at the time, and it made sense for me to release it. Then, "Burnt Sugar" was me moving out of this sad phase, from this person that made me sad and then just being like "I just it wasn't meant to be, but now I'm more upbeat." Then "Pilot with a Fear of Heights" is kind of a mixture of both, honestly. It's more conclusive. While it's conclusive, I think it opens up a whole new genre for me.

You've talked about how an actual plane flight inspired the song. What was the process of sitting down to write it?

When I was living in Denver and coming [to NYC] every six weeks to write, I'd have tons of ideas and be in such a zone to write that everything was such an inspiration to me. My phone died, and I had to entertain myself. I looked out the window and came up with the concept 'Pilot With A Fear of Heights.' Then, literally, that next day, I got into the studio, and I brought it in with about sixty different ideas. Sixty different concepts, lines we could use, and I know I toyed around with a couple of ideas that just totally bubbled to the surface immediately. I wrote that slow start and just moved with this crazy fast thing and knew that this is something that I want to grow. It's more of case of seeing what works and seeing what bubbled to the top, and this did.

When did you know that you have such a big range?

I've always sung--that's always been my thing since I was a very, very little girl. A huge influence of mine is Celine [Dion]. I think she's just incredible, and I remember singing her songs when I was little and being like "oh my gosh, wish I could hit that note." I'm obviously still working at it because her range is ridiculous. There's notes she hits that I'm like "I can only dream."

Do you prefer writing alone or with other songwriters?



I've basically only written with Brian! [laughs] All the songs that you hear now is just me and him. It's really important to find somebody that clicks with you and doesn't muffle your sound. You want everything to be 100 percent authentically you. For me, I want to sound exactly like I think Felicity should sound. So, it's about finding somebody that brings out your artistry as opposed to changing it.

Being so young, how did you develop your story and aesthetic?

I am opinionated, so I kind of know what I want. When it comes to writing, I'm very like "no, I want this message." I think it's to be sure of what you want, because you can't have a loud clear voice if the voice isn't saying anything important. It's just knowing exactly where you stand on some things and what you wanna talk about.

You've lived all over the world. What's been your journey leading up to this moment?

I was born in Australia but my family was moving to Indonesia, so I lived there for the first couple of years of my life. Then, we moved back to Australia because my mom had family there. Then, we were in between Australia and America--because my dad's American--for a couple years. Then, my parents split up, and my mom moved back to Australia with my sister, and my dad and I stayed in Denver. My mom then met my stepdad, and he's African, so we moved to South Africa and it was so weird. I moved there when I was 12 or 13, and I just felt so at home.

You just totally submerge yourself in this culture and they speak like three different languages there, which I don't speak...but it's cool to listen to! It was just so different to anything else I'd ever experienced. So, after living in Cape Town for lots and lots of years and just feeling very at home there, I moved to America because I had a music opportunity which I knew I was going to do. I moved there for my senior year of high school in July 2015. Then, I commuted to New York every six weeks until I graduated and worked as a waitress full-time there for a couple months and moved out here when I quit.

How do you like living in New York City so far?

I love it. I've always known that I wanted to be a musician and an artist, but being here surrounded by the best of the best and the most authentic allows me to cultivate my artistry further. it's kind of been like an epiphany almost. Just everything I can pull from, I can become my definition of an artist, and I can become the purest version of Felicity that I wanna be.

How has all the moving around influenced you, musically?



I think living in Cape Town was probably the biggest eye opener for me, because you see people that genuinely have nothing. And that's not to say  Cape Town is actually a fairly developed place, just because it's a big tourist capital and things like that  but it's a place that has opposite ends of the spectrum. It has people that have a lot of means and people that have come from nothing and live in a small shack-like house. So, when you get exposed to those people that have nothing, it makes you appreciate everything, and I think that's affected me and my music. Now, I make everything count. I've been given this amazing opportunity that a very small percentage of people have been given, and I've gotta make this good! I've gotta make this really good! So, I try my best, and that's probably from Cape Town, being able to see how people appreciate when they have so little.

What other song(s) are you most excited to share next?

Well, "Tug of War" is not out yet. That one I'm very excited about. I wrote it when I first moved here in October, just because it is a very personal song. And then there's this one song I wrote called "Settle Down." I wrote this when I was first adjusting to America. I moved in my senior year so it was all about finding friends. People here are super nice so it was no problem! But it was stressful, moving to a new high school for my senior year. I was coming here every six weeks, and I had to handle school and my career. I was having a great time but also when you're so busy, you have to remind yourself to take a breath and settle down. I listen to it when I need to take a breath.

Whose career do you aspire to have?

I really appreciate timelessness, songs that don't age. So, I think I would probably wanted a career like Celine Dion's, just because she just has this voice that will impress people forever. I think that's something to admire. Celine and I are totally different artists. She sings completely different music, and her messages are different from mine. I wouldn't compare us, but I'd say career-wise and her timelessness is something to really admire and is definitely something I'd aspire to have.

How did you come to work with Brian Kierulf?

My dad visited me when I was still living in Cape Town, and I backed up my phone onto his computer. He listened to all my voice notes. He was like "oh okay, she really wants to do this, she's writing songs by herself." They were not good songs, but the intention was there. I think he saw that, so thank you, dad! He reached out to this guy who gave me singing lessons from [New] Jersey over Skype while I was in Africa. He was like "okay, I think I should introduce you to my friend." So, I came out to New York when I was visiting my dad in Denver. We road tripped from Denver to New York. That's when I met Brian, and "Poison" was the second song I ever wrote with him. We wrote the whole song and recorded it in the same day. Brian was like "Do you really wanna do this?," and I said "I do." So, I then moved to Denver and commuted here every six weeks.

Take a listen to Felicity's new acoustic version of "Pilot with a Fear of Heights" below:

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'RETURN OUR MONEY:' The Gold Mantis construction workers march along Middle Road on their way to Imperial Pacific Casino where they planned to stage a protest, seeking the return of fees paid to a recruiter before they left China. Emmanuel T. Erediano/For The Guam Daily Post
Officers of the Guam Police Department responded to a reported disturbance in Tumon around April 18, after a pregnant woman reportedly attempted to pick up her cellphone from her uncle's beach equipment rental store but was beaten instead.

As the victim arrived on the scene, she noticed a woman, later identified as Brittany Noel Phillips, and an unknown male individual on the premises.

According to court documents, the male individual informed the victim that her uncle would be returning to the shop shortly and that she could wait until he arrived; however, Phillips interrupted and told the victim to leave.

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In reaction, the victim told Phillips she would wait for her uncle, but Phillips replied, saying the victim was "was stupid and wishes her baby dies."

The victim told Phillips to shut up and return her cellphone, after which Phillips pushed her, court documents state.

From there, the pregnant woman pushed back and both individuals ultimately engaged in a fistfight, but were both separated by the woman's uncle who had just arrived. Phillips immediately fled the scene.

Police later arrested Phillips, who, while in transport, became irate and stated she would complain to the U.S. Embassy, according to court documents.

When officers pulled up to the police precinct, they attempted to assist Phillips out of the patrol vehicle, but she "violently kicked the door open, which struck an officer's left leg in the left upper thigh area."

While police attempted to escort Phillips to the holding cell, she repeatedly attempted to pull her left arm away from the officer, and as she was placed into the cell, she shouted obscenities at officers, court documents state.

When officers asked Phillips if she would be willing to provide a statement, she continued to scream profanities at the officer, and when she later complained of pain and had to be transported to Guam Regional Medical City, she screamed at the officer: "I'll have your badge. Judge Sukola is my mother!"

Phillips was later transported to the Department of Corrections Women's Facility, where it was learned that she also had an outstanding warrant for her arrest in North Carolina for fraud.

She was charged with assault on a peace officer as a third-degree felony and harassment as a petty misdemeanor.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-20 16:28:01

A.M. Best Affirms Credit Ratings of National Grid Insurance Company (Isle of Man) Limited

A.M. Best

George Athanasopoulos, +44 20 7397 0330

Financial Analyst

george.athanasopoulos@ambest.com

or

Mathilde Jakobsen, +44 20 7397 0266

Director, Analytics

mathilde.jakobsen@ambest.com

or

Christopher Sharkey, +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159

Manager, Public Relations

christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

or

Jim Peavy, +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644

Director, Public Relations

james.peavy@ambest.com

A.M. Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of a of National Grid Insurance Company (Isle of Man) Limited (NGICL), a captive of National Grid plc (NG). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) remains stable.

The ratings reflect NGICLs very strong risk-adjusted capitalisation, as well as its importance as a risk management tool within the NG group. In addition, the ratings reflect NGICLs track record of strong but volatile operating performance.

A.M. Best expects NGICLs risk-adjusted capitalisation to remain very strong, supported by the captives low underwriting leverage and comprehensive reinsurance protection.

Prospective underwriting performance remains subject to volatility, due to the captives exposure to low frequency, high severity losses in its property damage and business interruption accounts. However, the impact of large losses on the captives balance sheet is partly mitigated by extensive reinsurance protection. The captive has a track record of strong technical performance, reflected in a five-year average combined ratio of 43.5% (2012-2016). NGICL has demonstrated its ability to take corrective pricing actions following large losses.

NGICL remains core to NGs risk management strategy as its principal captive. It is well integrated into the parents overall risk management framework, with its primary objective to mitigate the NG groups European financial exposure to casualty, cyber, property damage and business interruption risks.

A.M. Best remains the leading rating agency of alternative risk transfer entities, with more than 200 such vehicles rated throughout the world. For current Bests Credit Ratings and independent data on the captive and alternative risk transfer insurance market, please visit www.ambest.com/captive.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on A.M. Bests website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see A.M. Bests Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Understanding Bests Credit Ratings.

A.M. Best is the worlds oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright  2017 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201704200059
Cardiac Rhythm Management Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-20 05:51:41

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Around 30% of total death worldwide is caused by cardiovascular diseases, of which major part is accounted by heart diseases. The risk factors of heart disease includes elevated cholesterol levels, diabetes mellitus, cigarette smoking, obesity and hypertension. Frequency of these factors varies demographically, i.e. on the basis of geography, sex ratio and ethnicity.Ischaemic heart disease, is the leading type of heart disease, and causes 46% of cardiovascular deaths in men and 38% in women.Cardiac rhythm management market is the established segment of cardiology devices market, used majorly in the treatment of patients suffering from congestive heart failure (CHF) and atrial fibrillation (AF).Cardiac Rhythm Management Market: Drivers & RestraintsAn implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) is a specialized device designed to directly treat a cardiac tachydysrhythmia. High level of alcohol consumption, cholesterol levels and smoking obesity contribute to heart disease; continence of such lifestyle will increase the requirement of ICD implants. Lack of awareness about sudden cardiac arrests and high cost of the devices is expect to hinder the growth of the cardiac rhythm management market. Higher disposable income increase in number of aging population, technological advancement will spur the growth of global cardiac rhythm management market.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-602 Cardiac Rhythm Management Market: SegmentationOn the basis of devices, cardiac rhythm management market is broadly segmented as:Cardiac Rhythm PacemakersSingle Chamber PacemakersDual Chamber PacemakersCardiac Resynchronization TherapyCardiac Resynchronization Therapy  PacemakersCardiac Resynchronization Therapy  DefibrillatorsImplantable Cardioverter DefibrillatorsTransvenous implantable cardioverter defibrillators (T-ICDs)Subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillators (S-ICDs)Implantable Loop RecorderCardiac Rhythm Management Market: Region  Wise OutlookNorth America cardiac rhythm management market is matured and hold the major share of the total market. Asia  Pacific cardiac rhythm management market is expected to be the fastest growing market during the forecasted years. Manufacturers in the industry are looking forward for capitalized growth in developing countries such as China and India. With rapid technological advancement global cardiac rhythm management market is expected to increase at a double digit CAGR during the forecast period.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-602 Cardiac Rhythm Management Market: Key PlayersSome of the players in the cardiac rhythm management market we identified includes, Medtronic Plc, St. Jude Medical Inc, Boston Scientific Corporation, Abbott Laboratories, Biotronik, and Sorin Group.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-20 14:00:19

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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for GGX Gold Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - GGX Gold Corp. (TSX Venture:GGX). has issued a press release with the following headline:GGX GOLD Board of Directors approves the adoption of an Advanced Notice PolicyTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on GGX Gold Corp., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/GGX Gold Corp.Source: GGX Gold Corp. (TSX Venture: GGX, WKN: A1JFMB , ISIN: CA76155T1093)Date: April 20, 2017Time: 8:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of GGX Gold Corp. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.)
PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-20 18:05:01

-Win one of 16 spots on a tour through Iceland with Mytyres.co.uk and Continental as part of the Land Rover Experience

-Buy at least 2 Continental tyres via the Mytyres.co.uk online shop between 1 and 30 April 2017 and you will be entered in the prize draw.

Head to Iceland on the Land Rover Experience with Mytyres.co.uk and Continental

insignis Agentur fur

Kommunikation GmbH (GPRA)

Henning Jahns

Tel.: +49-511-132214-14

Fax: +49-511-132214-99

delticom@insignis.de

or

Delticom AG

Anne Lena Peters

Tel.: +49-511-93634-8909

Fax: +49-511-93634-8301

anne.lena.peters@delti.com

Customers of Mytyres.co.uk and Continental can look forward to a very special prize draw: From 1 to 30 April 2017, Europes largest online tyre dealer is cooperating with the premium tyre manufacturer to offer 16 spots on the Land Rover Experience trip to Iceland. From 30 August to 4 September 2017, the lucky winners will leave their everyday life behind and head off on an Icelandic adventure. During the six-day Experience trip, participants will travel through rocky highlands, swamps, and lava fields - the ultimate off-road challenge for people and vehicles alike. Discover Icelands breath-taking wild landscapes and natural spectacles, from volcanic lakes and geysers to waterfalls and gigantic glaciers. Travel, accommodation, and transport is included for all participants.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201704200061

During the six-day Experience trip, participants will travel through rocky highlands, swamps, and lava fields (Photo: Business Wire)

To take part, simply buy at least two Continental tyres online from Mytyres.co.uk during the promotional period - the offer applies to all tyre models and sizes. Simply register for the prize draw when paying for your tyres, and with a bit of luck youll be on your way to Iceland! The campaign is being run in 16 European countries. One winner will be selected from each country.

Customers can find a wide range of Continental tyres at Mytyres.co.uk. This renowned manufacturer is one of the worlds market leaders, offering premium products for every class of vehicle. If you still need to switch out your winter tyres, head to Mytyres.co.uk to find Continentals entire range of summer tyres. The practical search function enables customers to find the perfect product quickly and easily.

For more information about the prize draw, head to http://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=110

About Mytyres.co.uk

There are over 100 tyre brands and more than 25,000 models of tyres to be found at Mytyres.co.uk - also including the latest best-rated tyres from official comparison tests. The product portfolio not only includes tyres for cars, motorbikes, lorries, commercial vehicles and buses, but also wheel-tyre sets, rims and car replacement parts and accessories. Particularly practical: new tyres can be delivered quickly and free of charge* to any address provided. When purchasing tyres, buyers can also choose from more than 2,000 professional car workshop partners across the UK and have the tyres sent to them directly for professional fitting. Many of our partner workshops offer also additional services, such as tyre storage.

*2 tyres and more

Buy tyres online:

www.mytyres.co.uk, www.reifendirekt.de, www.reifendirekt.at, www.reifendirekt.ch, www.123pneus.ch, www.autobandenmarkt.nl, www.123pneus.fr, www.gommadiretto.it, www.neumaticos-online.es and in many other Delticom online shops

Tyre tests: www.tyretest.com

All about tyres from A to Z: www.tyres.net

Information about the company: www.delti.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201704200061

Head to Iceland on the Land Rover Experience with Mytyres.co.uk and Continental - http://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=110&cart_id=88711404.110.25534&Cookie=&s_p=continental-landrover-experience-tour-2017
PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-20 18:13:01

Amsterdam, 20 April 2017 - Heineken Holding N.V. announced today that its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) has adopted all proposals on the agenda of the AGM. The most important resolutions and announcements are listed below.

Dividend

The Board of Directors announced the distribution of a dividend for the year 2016 of EUR1.34 per ordinary share of EUR1.60 nominal value. As an interim dividend of EUR0.52 per ordinary share was paid on 11 August 2016, the final dividend will be EUR0.82 per ordinary share. The final dividend will be made payable on 3 May 2017. Heineken Holding N.V. ordinary shares will be quoted ex-dividend on 24 April 2017.

Reappointment of the external auditor

The AGM reappointed Deloitte Accountants B.V. as the company's external auditor for a further period of three years (for the financial years 2018, 2019 and 2020).

Reappointment of Mr M. Das as a non-executive member of the Board of Directors

The AGM reappointed Mr M. Das as a non-executive member of the Board of Directors with effect from 20 April 2017, for the maximum period of four years.

Reappointment of Mr A.A.C. de Carvalho as a non-executive member of the Board of Directors

The AGM reappointed Mr A.A.C. de Carvalho as a non-executive member of the Board of Directors with effect from 20 April 2017, for the maximum period of four years.

The voting results per agenda item of the AGM of Heineken Holding N.V. of 20 April 2017 can be found on the website: www.theHEINEKENcompany.com/investors/governance/agm as of close of business on 21 April 2017.

Enquiries

Heineken Holding N.V.

Kees Jongsma

tel. +31 6 54 79 82 53

E-mail: cjongsma@spj.nl

Heineken N.V.

Press enquiries

John-Paul Schuirink

E-mail: pressoffice@heineken.com

Tel: +31-20-5239-355

Michael Fuchs

E-mail: pressoffice@heineken.com

Tel: +31-20-5239-355

Investor and analyst enquiries

Sonya Ghobrial

E-mail: investors@heineken.com

Tel: +31-20-5239-590

Chris MacDonald / Gabriela Malczynska

E-mail: investors@heineken.com

Tel: +31-20-5239-590

Editorial information:

HEINEKEN is the world's most international brewer. It is the leading developer and marketer of premium beer and cider brands. Led by the Heineken brand, the Group has a powerful portfolio of more than 250 international, regional, local and specialty beers and ciders. HEINEKEN is committed to innovation, long-term brand investment, disciplined sales execution and focused cost management. Through "Brewing a Better World", sustainability is embedded in the business and delivers value for all stakeholders. HEINEKEN has a well-balanced geographic footprint with leadership positions in both developed and developing markets. HEINEKEN employs over 73,500 employees and operates more than 165 breweries, malteries, cider plants and other production facilities in more than 70 countries. Heineken N.V. and Heineken Holding N.V. shares trade on the Euronext in Amsterdam. Prices for the ordinary shares may be accessed on Bloomberg under the symbols HEIA NA and HEIO NA and on Reuters under HEIN.AS and HEIO.AS. HEINEKEN has two sponsored level 1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) programmes: Heineken N.V. (OTCQX: HEINY) and Heineken Holding N.V. (OTCQX: HKHHY). Most recent information is available on the website: www.theHEINEKENcompany.com and follow HEINEKEN on Twitter via @HEINEKENCorp.

Heineken Holding N.V. engages in no activities other than its participating interest in Heineken N.V. and the management or supervision of and provision of services to that company.

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: HEINEKEN Holding NV via Globenewswire


Leukemia Therapeutics Treatment Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-20 08:55:47

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Leukemia is defined as a cancer observed in white blood cell (WBC) in our body. White blood cell helps our body to fight against infection caused by harmful pathogen. Bone marrow is the center for the production of RBC (carry oxygen to all part of body), WBC (fight against infection) and platelets (help in blood clotting). Our bone marrow produces abnormal WBC when we are suffering from leukemia. Moreover abnormal WBCs are not able to perform normal functioning or WBC loses its ability to fight against infection. Etiology for leukemia includes artificial ionizing radiation, benzene and petrochemicals, alkylation chemotherapy agents, genetic predisposition and electromagnetic energy. Genetic predisposition and electromagnetic energy is the most common cause of leukemia observed among people. Signs and symptoms of leukemia includes a new lump or swollen gland in neck and arm, frequent nosebleed, pain in the bone, night sweat and frequent fever. Leukemia can be diagnosed by bone marrow tests, platelet count and WBC (white blood cell) differential count test. Leukemia can be treated by blood transfusion, immunotherapy, bone marrow transplantation, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.Commercially available drug in the market for the treatment of leukemia includes Gleevec, Bosulif, Sprycel, Iclusig and others. Drugs which are in clinical trials expected to launch in the marketwithin next few (3 to 5)years include Bosutinib, Omapro, ga101/rg7159, Vidaza, Dacogen, Midostaurin, Vosaroxin, Quizartinib, Graspa, Marqibo.The global market for leukemia treatment can be segmented as follows:Based on the developmental and progression rateChronic leukemiaAcute leukemiaChronic leukemia is a type of blood cancer caused by uncontrolled growth of the WBC cells in our body. Chronic leukemia is a type of myeloproliferative disease which is characterized by the chromosomal translocation. Patients suffering from chronic leukemia show increased susceptibility to bacterial infections, thrombocytopenia and anemia and may also have enlarged spleen which causes pain on the left side. Incidence rate of chronic leukemia is high in men and is the second most common type of cancer occurring in male adults. Women who are above 50 years in age are expected to suffer from this chronic disease. Treatment for chronic leukemia depends on the phase of the disease that can be chronic, accelerated or the blast phase and the treatment for chronic leukemia includes chemotherapy, stem cell transplants and biologic therapies.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-421 Acute myeloid leukemia develops at a speedy pace and is found in the blood and bone marrow. In the disease process, immature blood cells are present in the bone marrow. Symptoms found in patients due to the disease are flu, loss of weight, body ache, body pain and spots on skin.Treatment for acute leukemia includes chemotherapy, stem cell transplants and biologic therapies.About 90% of the leukemia cases occur in the middle age and progresses with the aging. Therefore, leukemia therapeutics market is poised to grow with the rise in aging population and increasing incidences of leukemia. Drugs such as Bosulif, Gleevec, Sprycel andIclusigare commercially available for the treatment of leukemia. Gleevec was the first leukemia drug introduced in 2001, since then there has been a revolutionary change in the quality life of patients as compared to the former chemotherapy drugs.Globally the numbers of elderly people, 60 years and above are growing and it is expected that this age group will cross the 2 billion mark in 2050 stated by United Nations Population Division. Hence the leukemia therapeutics market will also grow significantly.However adverse event (cytotoxic) associated with nearly all kinds of leukemia therapeutics treatment might restrict the global market demand of leukemia therapeutics market.North America dominates the global market for leukemia therapeutics treatment due to high prevalence rate of leukemia (acute, chronic) and extensive technological advancement (diagnosis) in this region. Europe represents the second largest market share due to its large geriatric population base. In addition Asia-Pacific and RoW hold the third and fourth position in the global leukemia therapeutics market respectively due to less prevalence rate of leukemia and lack of proper healthcare facilities in few Asian and African countries.Request For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-421 North America accounted for 62% sales of leukemia drugs in the therapeutics market during 2010 followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. Leukemia therapeutics market will grow significantlyand the total growth will depend on pipeline products and metabolic inhibitors, a tyrosine kinase receptor FLT -3 of Novartis and some other capable molecules, improving the therapeutics market.Major market playerscontributing the global market share of leukemia therapeutics treatment includes Ambit Biosciences Corporation, AriadPharmaceuticals,Inc., Biogen Idec, Inc., Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer and others.
Global Rutin Market Research Report 2016 Purchase This Report by calling ResearchnReports.com at +1-888-631-6977.

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PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-20 19:14:59

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The Research report comprises key growth drivers and barriers of the global Rutin market, including their impact on production and demand in the next few years. The product specifications, major geographical segments, and competitive analysis of the global Rutin Market have also been discussed in detail in the research report. In addition, the study includes a detailed analysis of the potential opportunities in the global market. It further includes the market attractiveness analysis, in which the product segments are studied based on growth rate, market size, and general attractiveness.Download Sample Pages of this Premium Report: https://www.researchnreports.com/request_sample.php?id=37923 The research report on global Rutin market offers a clear understanding of the market, focusing on the key growth factors and potential opportunities. It presents future projections of the Rutin market on a global as well as on regional level. The research study further presents the past performance of the global market, coupled with the statistics from 2016 to 2021 on the basis of volume and revenue. A Porters five forces model analysis has also been provided in the report to determine the competitive scenario of this market.Get 30% Discount on this Report: https://www.researchnreports.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=37923 In addition, a detailed value chain analysis has been included to present a comprehensive view of the market. Furthermore, the major geographical segments of the global Rutin market have been evaluated in the research report. The product portfolio, financial status, and business policies of these players are studied in the report in detail. Using SWOT analysis the report has studied the strengths and weaknesses of the profiled players.For more inquiry before Purchase: https://www.researchnreports.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=37923 Firstly, the report introduces the Rutin markets fundamentals: Definitions, classifications, applications, industry chain overview, industry policies and strategy, product specifications, manufacturing processes, cost structure and so forth. Then it evaluates the world's crucial region market conditions, together with the product price, profit, capacity, production, capacity fulfillment, supply, demand and industry growth rate and so on. Lastly, the report brings up new business SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.The report consists of six parts, attending to:A) Fundamental information.B) The Asia Rutin industry.c) The North American Rutin industry.d) The European Rutin industry.e) Market entry and investment feasibility &f) The report conclusion.Global Rutin Market Research Report 2016This report studies Rutin in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with Production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer.Company Profiled in this Report: Pfizer Incorporated (USA) Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals (Germany) GlaxoSmithKline Plc (UK) Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (USA) Syneron Medical Ltd. (Israel) Merck & Company Incorporated (USA)Complete Report Available @ https://www.researchnreports.com/pharma-healthcare/Global-Rutin-Market-Research-Report-2016-37923 About Research n Reports:Research N Reports is a new age market research firm where we focus on providing information that can be effectively applied. Today being a consumer driven market, companies require information to deal with the complex and dynamic world of choices. Where relying on a sound board firm for your decisions becomes crucial. Research N Reports specializes in industry analysis, market forecasts and as a result getting quality reports covering all verticals, whether be it gaining perspective on current market conditions or being ahead in the cut throat Global competition. Since we excel at business research to help businesses grow, we also offer consulting as an extended arm to our services which only helps us gain more insight into current trends and problems. Consequently we keep evolving as an all-rounder provider of viable information under one roof.
Memory Integrated Circuits (IC) Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-20 07:02:09

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An integrated circuit (IC), also known as chip or a microchip is a layout of electronic circuits built over a small plate made of semiconductor material. ICs are very compact and can have up to several hundreds of transistors and other components embedded on a semiconductor plate of very small size. ICs were made possible by various experiments showing that semiconductor devices can perform the functions of vacuum tubes. The mass production and reliability of ICs ensured the rapid adoption of standard integrated circuits in place of circuits using discrete transistors. ICs can store data of over 64 GB on a single chip of size comparable to a fingernail. There are primarily two types of ICs for memory storage viz. volatile and non-volatile memory. Volatile memories are memories such as random access memories (RAM) which can retain data stored on them as long as power supply is provided. Non-volatile memories are read-only memories (ROM) which have data stored on them irrespective of power supply.The memory ICs find applications in memory based electronic devices such as mobile phones, computers, tablets, medical devices, smart cards, digital cameras, communication equipments and other digital electronic devices. Memory ICs are predominantly used in smart-phones, media players, and USB drives. With growing adoption and enhancements in smart-phones, there is a rising demand for sophisticated memory ICs in recent years. This demand is expected to grow at a high rate owing to the ongoing development in the smartphone devices. Another application contributing to the demand of memory ICs is tablet computers. The demand for memory ICs is expected to rise with growing adoption of tablet PCs. In addition, increasing use of digital cameras and camcorders worldwide too contributes to the demand for memory ICs. Memory ICs are also used in smart cards such as driving license, e-passport and other identification cards. Installation of memory ICs makes it convenient to maintain records of the card holder leading to growing adoption of these cards. Automotive and medical sectors are the emerging application areas of the memory ICs. Memory ICs are used to maintain the records of patients in medical equipment such as electrocardiographs, diagnostic imaging apparatus, medical PCs, blood analysis devices and other electronic medical recording systems.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-224 Geographically, Asia-Pacific has shown the fastest growth in memory ICs market due to the growing population and consumption of consumer electronics in this region. Asia-Pacific accounts for over a quarter of the global memory ICs market. In addition, rising number of suppliers of semiconductor material required for manufacturing of ICs is boosting the production of memory ICs. North America follows Asia-Pacific with growing development in medical and automobile sector along with the consumer electronics.Request For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-224 In North America, Agilent Technologies, CyOptics, Enablence Technologies, Ciena, Emcore Corporation, Hewlett Packard, Finisar Corporation, Infinera Corporation, JDS Uniphase, Kaiam Corporation, Intel Corporation, Kotura Inc, Luxtera, Oclaro Inc., Neophotonics Corporation, Onechip Photonics among others are the providers of memory ICs. In Europe, Aifotec AG and Alcatel Lucent are leading manufacturers of memory chip ICs. In Asia-Pacific, Avago Technologies is among the leading manufacturers of memory ICs.
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HONG KONG - (ACN Newswire) - Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the 14th Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition) and the concurrent 14th International ICT Expo drew to a successful close yesterday (16 April). The four-day fairs (13 to 16 April) welcomed more than 94,000 buyers from 138 countries and regions, an increase of 1.4 per cent over the previous year. The number of buyers from mature markets such as Japan and Korea recorded growth, while buyers from emerging markets including the Chinese mainland, Brazil, India and Russia recorded a double-digit percentage increase.The HKTDC commissioned an independent research agency to conduct surveys on-site, interviewing over 850 buyers and exhibitors to gauge their views on industry prospects. According to the results, more than 80 per cent of respondents expect overall sales to increase or remain steady in 2017. The respondents view North America, Western Europe and Hong Kong to be the most promising traditional markets, while the mainland, ASEAN markets, India and Middle East are seen as having the best prospects among emerging markets."In this digital age led by smart technology, electronics is widely used in all aspects of life, ranging from business to home living. The industry is constantly seeking innovative and futuristic products and technology. These trends were reflected in this year's Spring Electronics Fair and ICT Expo. Together they formed an important marketplace for exhibitors to showcase their innovative products and ICT solutions to global buyers, creating tremendous business opportunities," said HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Benjamin Chau. "We saw brisk sourcing at the fairground. Buyers were keenly looking for the latest products and technologies, especially high-tech products with virtual reality (VR) elements or smart-home applications." "The fairs featured an inaugural Startup zone to provide start-ups with an ideal trading and networking platform to meet potential investors and partners from around the world and showcase their unique concepts. We saw vibrant business at the zone," Mr Chau added.- Inaugural Startup zone presents innovative solutions to global buyers -Supporting the development of start-ups, the HKTDC introduced the Startup zone at the Spring Electronics Fair and ICT Expo this year to showcase the innovative technologies, products and services of more than 100 start-ups from Hong Kong, the mainland, India, Japan, the US and Taiwan. There were also a series of start-up themed events, including sharing sessions featuring representatives from Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, the crowdfunding platform FringeBacker and angel investors. Pitching, mentoring and "Startup, Smart Launch" sessions were also organised to help start-ups connect with and pitch their ideas to potential partners or investors, showcasing their outstanding creativity to overseas buyers.At the Startup zone, Hong Kong start-up QIUB Group Ltd presented a multifunction power bank with integrated data/charging cable and USB memory card reader, for which crowdfunding was received from Indiegogo last October. "The Startup zone provides a perfect opportunity for start-ups to showcase their latest innovations, and start-ups only need to pay a small participation fee," said company founder and Director Kresimir Secak. "The pitching session is very useful as our product has attracted a lot of attention from buyers." He added that at least 20 potential investors from Europe and Hong Kong had bought samples and subsequent orders were expected.Indian start-up HAL Robotics Private Ltd, a first-time exhibitor at the fair, featured its latest product RoboTrack, an Internet of Things (IoT) item developed for the supply chain industry to manage freight logistics. "We are showcasing RoboTrack at the debut Startup zone because we are keen to look for strategic investors and buyers to take this product to different markets in the world," said company director Prabhakar K Chaudhary. "Two quality buyers from Australia and South Africa in the shipment tracking business have expressed their intention to become our strategic investors and they have taken our samples for testing the applications. We have also talked to some European buyers. The fair opens up new business opportunities." Czech buyer Jan Jirout, Managing Director of Enrecotrade, was looking for various electronics items such as wireless chargers for smart phones, electronic components for producing security systems and 3D printers. He found his visit to the Startup zone useful. "I am planning to buy US$50,000 worth of 3D printers offered by a start-up. I like the Startup zone because it provides a good opportunity for start-ups to showcase new technology and products. It's good to be here because I can find what I want, see and touch new products, and have face-to-face meetings with suppliers," he said.Samson Tam, Chairman of the Hong Kong Business Angel Network, said that the start-up ecosystem in Hong Kong has been growing vigorously over the years. The Startup zone was "an excellent place to bring start-ups and investors together to explore growth through a win-win strategy." He noted the Startup zone featured plenty of activities. "This is a very encouraging development," said Mr Tam. "On the first day of the fairs, we invited more than 20 angel investors to attend a tech start-up pitching and matching session. The session got some strong responses. It showed that many start-ups used the zone's networking activities to gain exposure. The prospect of start-up ecosystem in Hong Kong is very positive and those specialising in Fintech, smart city and health-related solutions are likely to draw keener interest from investors." Full press release: http://mediaroom.hktdc.com/en/pressrelease Photo download: http://bit.ly/2p7BO3R Fair Websites:Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition): www.hktdc.com/fair/hkelectronicsfairse-en International ICT Expo: www.hktdc.com/ictexpo/ Startup zone: http://hkelectronicsfairse.hktdc.com/dm/2017/Startup/index.html About HKTDCEstablished in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. With more than 40 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China, Asia and the world. With 50 years of experience, the HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in international markets, while providing information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus . Follow us on Google+, Twitter @hktdc, LinkedIn.Google+: https://plus.google.com/+hktdc Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/hktdc LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/hong-kong-trade-development-council Contact:HKTDCCommunication and Public Affairs DepartmentJoe KainzTel: +852 2584 4216Email: joe.kainz@hktdc.org
PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-20 16:02:03

Federal Communications Commission (FCC), ICASA, OPIC, IFC, Microsoft Corporation, HP Enterprise, International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and more set to speak at leading spectrum sharing conference

The DSA Welcomes South Africas ICASA Publishing Draft TV White Space Regulations as Both Prepare to Jointly Host the 2017 Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Global Summit in Cape Town in May

Dynamic Spectrum Alliance

Sian Borrill

sian.borrill@proactive-pr.com

With three weeks to go until the Dynamic Spectrum Alliances Fifth Annual Global Summit, which is this year returning to Africa, co-host ICASA, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, has published draft regulations on the use of TV White Space (TVWS) in the region.

The draft regulations, which are open for public consultation until 19 May 2017, highlight the progress South Africa is making in enabling affordable Internet through dynamic spectrum access. These draft regulations  which the DSA fully welcomes - and technologies will be discussed at the DSA Global Summit, taking place in Cape Town between 9 to 11 May 2017, where a whole host of leading industry figures and regulators from around the world have been announced to speak, including the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

In the past, exclusive licenses for specific frequency bands and specific purposes dominated spectrum allocation policy and regulations, said Pakamile Kayakethu Pongwana, CEO of ICASA. While these models are good for monetizing the spectrum and for coordination between multiple services and operators to avoid interference, they often result in underutilization of spectrum. In the last decade, however, governments and regulators around the world have embraced the concept of spectrum commons as another way to bring citizens innovation on new wireless technologies.

The event will open on 9 May with a full day regulator workshop on spectrum sharing and dynamic spectrum access. Alongside ICASA, other regulators in attendance will include Korea Radio Promotion Association (RAPA), Agencia Nacional del Espectro (ANE), the Ministry of Communications for Argentina and Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes (ANATEL).

Day one of the Global Summit will be opened with keynote addresses from Kalpak Gude, President of the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, and ICASA CEO, Pakamile Kayalethu Pongwana, followed by panel sessions on spectrum sharing and enabling the Internet of Things (IoT) through dynamic access technologies. The latter panel will feature Dr. F. Mekuria, Chief Research Scientist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) South Africa, where he leads research on dynamic spectrum access. His perspective on how to connect underserved populations in emerging economies will add another dimension to the panel, which also includes Facebook, University of Strathclyde, and VistaLifeSciences Inc.

A panel session on closing the digital divide will address financial challenges associated with large-scale network deployments, with speakers including: Mr. Alexander Hadden, Director, Structured Finance & Insurance, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC); Mr. Chikioke Egejuru, Investment Analysis, International Finance Corporation; Mr. Lumko Mtimde, CEO, the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) and will be moderated by Mr. Frank McCosker, General Manager, Affordable Access & Smart Financing, Microsoft Corporation.

Other confirmed speakers on day one include Ira Keltz, Deputy Chief of Policy and Rules Division, Office of Engineering and Technology, US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), who will join the panel on Wi-Fi for the 5G World. On the final day of the Summit, Ira will start with a keynote address, before joining the Regulator Leadership Summit later in the day.

ICASA CEO Pongwana will return to speak on day two of the Summit to speak on a panel titled Creating Opportunities for Deployment, which will be moderated by Emeritus Executive Director of the DSA, Prof. H Sama Nwana. The panel will bring together policy makers to discuss challenges and solutions to establishing regulatory frameworks for enabling investment in infrastructure  something that is crucial to bridging the digital divide in South Africa, and around the world.

Other speakers confirmed on the agenda include representatives from: Facebook, Adaptrum Inc., C3 Limited, the Communications Authority of Kenya, Aruba (a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company) and New American Foundation.

Platinum sponsors of this years event include Microsoft and Nominet. Gold sponsors include Adaptrum Inc. and MBC, while MedyaCity is a Silver sponsor.

To secure your place at the Dynamic Spectrum Alliances Fifth Annual Global Summit in Cape Town, South Africa (9-11 May 2017), visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dynamic-spectrum-alli. To view the full Summit agenda, visit: http://dynamicspectrumalliance.org/global-summit/a.

ENDS

About the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance

The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance is a global organization advocating for laws and regulations that will lead to more efficient and effective spectrum utilization. The DSAs membership spans multinationals, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and academic, research, and other organizations from around the world, all working to create innovative solutions that will increase the amount of available spectrum to the benefit of consumers and businesses alike.

For further information about the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, please visit www.dynamicspectrumalliance.org/, or follow @dynamicspectrum on Twitter. Alternatively join the Alliance on Facebook or LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201704200050

@DynamicSpectrum welcomes @ICASA_org draft TVWS regulations as both prepare to host the 2017 DSA Global Summit
PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-20 17:01:02

Claro, Entel and Movistar Sign the GSMA Humanitarian Connectivity Charter to Enhance Coordination and Standardise Preparedness and Response Before, During and After a Natural Disaster

We Care Chile: Mobile Operators Launch Campaign for Disaster Preparedness and Response

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The GSMA today announced that mobile operators Claro, Entel and Movistar became the latest signatories of the GSMA Humanitarian Connectivity Charter as part of the We Care Chile campaign, underscoring the industrys commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The ultimate aim of the Charter is to strengthen access to communication and information for those affected by crisis, helping to reduce loss of life and positively contribute to humanitarian response. Through this joint industry initiative supported by the Undersecretariat of Telecommunications of Chile (SUBTEL), the mobile operators will launch an awareness campaign though social media and digital media to highlight and reinforce best practices for disaster preparedness and response, particularly in vulnerable areas.

Industry collaboration though the We Care Chile campaign is key to enabling the full potential of mobile in preparation for and response to emergencies caused by natural disaster, said Sebastian Cabello, Head of Latin America, GSMA. We are happy to see that the mobile industry of Chile joins the GSMA Humanitarian Connectivity Charter network to work hand-in-hand with the public sector to support the SDGs.

The Humanitarian Connectivity Charter outlines shared principles of commitment and actions, including:

To enhance coordination within and among mobile network operators before, during and after a disaster;

To scale and standardise preparedness and response activities across the industry to enable a more predictable response; and

To strengthen partnerships between the mobile industry, government and the humanitarian sector.

As a country, we have achieved key milestones like the Emergency Alert System, Disaster Action Protocol, and other actions to help victims of natural disasters, but we consider this commitment an important new step towards the construction of a real public-private collaboration. By doing so, we will be able to respond better to Chileans, with preventative actions supported through our channels of mass communication. At Claro, we are committed to the country and We Care Chile, and we are focused on continuing to strengthen the impact that we can make through telecommunications, said Cristian Salgado, Director, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Claro Chile.

Entel was born from the largest earthquake in Chile in 1960, so we know that connectivity is particularly important in emergency situations or catastrophes. In that sense, we have reinforced the autonomy of our networks, so that even if there are power problems, we can keep the network active for our users. We have portable power generators in all regions to reinforce any power issues. These steps complement other steps we take to ensure our customers remain connected during periods of emergency. In addition, we train social leaders from all over the country to know how to make better use of networks in this type of situation, affirmed Manuel Araya, Entel's Regulatory and Corporate Affairs manager.

At Movistar, we have a strong commitment to the country and we know how important it is for people to have access to communications, especially in cases of emergency. Therefore, as of the 2010 earthquake, we developed a Disaster Action Protocol that activates a complete connectivity recovery strategy in these situations, as well as implementing a series of effective and timely practices for the benefit of affected users, said Roberto Munoz, General Manager of Movistar Chile.

For the United Nations Global Compact, participation of the private sector is critical in contributing to the SDGs. In this case, we have a great example of the mobile industry, which has reached an agreement and is seriously committed to contribute to the goals of this global agenda. We at Global Compact are proud that the Chilean mobile companies, regardless of commercial competition, join today for a country objective, said Margarita Ducci, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact Network Chile.

The GSMA We Care campaign is an initiative of the leading mobile operators in Latin America to ensure all their users can enjoy the life-changing benefits of mobile technology in a safe and secure environment. To achieve this, operators have decided to join forces as an industry and take on a series of commitments in every country in the region where mobile phones and networks can provide solutions to social problems. We Care has already been launched with several initiatives in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua, and will continue to expand throughout the region.

The Humanitarian Connectivity Charter was launched at Mobile World Congress 2015 and currently includes 108 signatory operators in 77 countries.

-ENDS-

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with almost 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress Shanghai, Mobile World Congress Americas and the Mobile 360 Series of conferences.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201704200051
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.





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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.




In Alabama, payday lenders can charge exorbitant fees to cash-strapped customers that equate to annualized rates of up to 456 percent.

By: Bond & Botes, P.C.

Bradford Botes

Contact

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***@spotlightmediapros.com Nikki Gaskins

End

-- A prominent Alabama law firm is urging state leaders to pass legislation that protects the citizens of the state from predatory payday lenders. Attorneys at Bond & Botes, P.C. recently launched a Change.org (https://www.change.org/p/del-marsh-pass-payday-loan-reform-in-alabama) campaign to demand state lawmakers take swift action once and for all against payday lenders who prey on vulnerable, cash-strapped individuals desperate to take a "so-called helping hand" at any cost."We believe the predatory payday lenders have been allowed to run roughshod over our vulnerable citizens for long enough," stated attorney, Bradford Botes. "We believe that our state leaders are not doing enough to protect our citizens from the predatory payday loan industry, and we are working to make our voices heard."According to a report from the Federal Reserve, nearly half of Americans don't have enough in savings to cover a $400 emergency. That essentially means that 47% of the population is living paycheck to paycheck, forcing many to turn to payday loans. While supporters argue that payday lending is a vital way to help underserved people solve temporary cash-flow problems, Bond & Botes, P.C. believes that the controversial practice creates an even bigger hole for financially-burdened people, putting them further in debt."The only option other than paying is to roll over the loan into a new term of several weeks, with an additional fee added," stated Botes. "Many consumers who use payday loans often cannot get loans through traditional sources. In a time of great need, they turn to payday lenders, but it ultimately costs them more in the end."Payday loan borrowers spend approximately $7.4 billion annually at 20,000 storefronts and hundreds of websites, plus additional sums at a growing number of banks, according to a report by The Pew Charitable Trusts. State regulatory data show that borrowers take out eight payday loans a year, spending about $520 on interest with an average loan size of $375. Payday loan rates allow up to 13 times prior limitations provided in Alabama's Small Loan Act."Our state does not have a good track record on this issue. By population, we also have a higher concentration of payday lenders than any other area of the United States," explained Botes.Ten states, including Georgia, Arkansas and North Carolina, already ban payday loans. Other states, like Connecticut, cap rates at 30 percent. Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon cap rates at 36 percent."It's time for our state to take action against predatory payday lending as other states before us have," stated Botes. "We believe that payday loan reform would be a significant, positive step for the citizens of Alabama. We are encouraging everyone to sign our petition ( https://www.change.org/ p/del-marsh- pass-payday- loan-refor... ) to help protect our neighbors and make our state a friendlier environment for working families."The law firm is hoping to collect at least 200 signatures. The petition will then be sent to Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh; Senator Slade Blackwell, Chair, Banking and Insurance Committee; Senator Greg Reed, Senate Majority Leader; and Senator Quinton Ross, Senate Minority Leader.At the law offices of Bond & Botes, our lawyers bring compassion and knowledge to our clients in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. We specialize in credit report disputes, bankruptcy, student loan problems and other financial issues. Our experienced team of lawyers work with clients to help stop garnishments, creditor phone calls, foreclosures and repossessions. To learn more, visit us at www.bondnbotes.com.
Our new 75th Anniversary K-9 Designs commemorate the 75th Anniversary of K-9s being integrated in to our military. Come get yours and show your support for Man's best friend

By: devildogshirts.com

75th Anniversary Military K-9 Designs

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-- Marines are not strangers to using K-9s in warfare. K-9s were used during campaigns in Haiti before the official program even began in 1942. Dogs were so successful in their mission that the official program was started during the beggining of America's entry in to the war.The program trained and integrated service dogs into our nation's military. Since then, man's best friend has served with us side-by-side at times.The Marine Corps K-9 fills many missions in our Corps. K-9s are used for police work, guard-duty, and IED warfare. A great debt is owed to our K-9 counterparts for their selfless work. The 75th Anniversary K-9 Veteran K-9 Designs commemorate this. We atDevil Dog Shirts would like to say thank you to our K-9 Marines and their fellow Marine handlers.Devil Dog Shirts has the Courage to be Honorable and Committed to our fellow Marines. We strive to perpetuate the Warrior Ethos in our Corps by creating the best gear a war-fighter can buy! All of our apperal is made in the United States of America. We stand by our country and our fellow Marines as our nation moves forward.All of Devil Dog Shirts apparel is made and printed in the United States of America. Even in a competitive marketplace Devil Dog Shirts stands by this decision out of principle. Getting materials and printing locally in CONUS helps us to ensure customer quality for our fellow Marines and family.-4.3 oz. Fine Jersey-Designed and printed on shirts that are Made in America-100% Ring-spun combed cotton-Taped shoulder-to-shoulder-Tubular  Slim fitCheck out the size chart! ( https://devildogshirts.com/ size-chart/ Find us on Facebook at Devildogshirts ( https://www.facebook.com/ devildogshirts? ref=hl )!Our team of Marine Corps vets play an important role in the designs created by devildogshirts.com . Devil Dog Shirts is licensed by the United States Marine Corps Trademark and Licensing Office. Our art depicts the Honor, Courage, and Commitment of Marines worldwide! Semper Fi!To get this item visit: http://devildogshirts.com/product-category/apparel/us-marine-corps-mens-apparel/marine-corps-shirts/For more information on this and more bad-ass gear, visitat www.devildogshirts.com
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-- For the third time Mediasoft decided to perform a incremental change of it's brand identity. Taking into consideration that Mediasoft is stronger and stable than ever in it's 21 year history, the company made the decision to enter in it's third decade with a fresh and new brand identity.The new identity won't confuse our customers and partners because we made a slight change in the brand name and a incremental change in the logo design. From now on, Mediasoft will be written without the dash sign. The logo itself is redesigned in the way that it keeps the initial brand patterns and colours which is the blue one. The logo symbol is inspired by the DNA structure, linked to life-science."Last year in 2016 we celebrated 20 years of existence which is a enormous achievement for a IT company from Croatia who servers the leading pharmaceuticals worldwide. To fresh things up and to achieve a mature but still cool look we took the decision to change our brand identity and slightly to simplify the brand name without the dash sign.," states Dario Safaric, the VP of Sales and Marketing at Mediasoft.Media-Soft Inc. provides "Pharmacentric Solutions" to the life-science industry in the CRM and CLM/e-Detailing segment. Partners consider Media-Soft as a manufacturer of CRM/CLM solutions which differentiates itself with flexibility, innovation and cost-efficiency. The Pharmacentric solutions from Media-Soft are running offline on iOS, Android and Windows where they have been the first global vendor on these platforms.Founded in 1996, Media-Soft is established in more than 50 countries and improves sales force effectiveness for more than 110 pharmaceuticals worldwide through our CRM/CLM solutions.info@media-soft.info
Independent, small group specialist Travel The Unknown has launched a new programme to Sri Lanka, AKA Buddha's Island, initially with three, two-week itineraries.

By: Travel The Unknown

Meet a friendly elephant!

Contact

Mick Thompson, Travel Dog PR

***@traveldogpr.co.uk Mick Thompson, Travel Dog PR

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-- Small group and tailormade specialist Travel The Unknown has launched its first sortie into Sri Lanka, initially with three, two-week group trips which, between them, cover all the major sites in this tropical paradise located off the south-east corner of India.Sri Lanka's documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back over 100,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of great strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road.A diverse and multicultural country, Sri Lanka is home to many religions, ethnic groups, and languages. It also has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka date back to the Fourth Buddhist council in 29 BC.Experience the unique charm of Sri Lanka as you embark on a journey through some of the island's most iconic sights. Highlights of this trip  which provides a thorough introduction to 'Buddha's Island'  include the capital, Colombo, the UNESCO World Heritage site of Anuradhapura, visits to National Parks, the Golden Temple Complex in Dambulla, Tea plantations in the Horton Plains, enjoying the views at Ella Gap and meeting the locals at the tranquil fishing village of Beruwela. The trip costs from 2795 pp.Discover the flora and fauna of Sri Lanka as you delve into the island's spectacularly diverse wilderness. Sri Lanka has over 20 wildlife reserves, which are home to a wide range of native species such as Asian elephants, leopards, sloth bears, the unique small loris, a variety of deer, the endangered wild boar and porcupines. The itinerary includes wildlife spotting at a number of national parks, plus the beach town of Negombo, Kandy, the Gemstone mines in Ratnapura plus a chance to go snorkelling at Hikkaduwa. The holiday costs from 2495 pp.(http://www.traveltheunknown.com/tour/sri%20lanka/hsl/hidden%20sri%20lanka)Take the path less travelled and unearth some of Sri Lanka's best kept secrets on this two-week adventure. Highlights will include Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, the Golden Temple Complex in Dambulla, Sigiriya Rock Fortress, the hot springs of Kanniya, meeting the Veddha tribe, the tea plantations of Badulla, Muthiyangana Temple and leopard spotting in Yala National Park. The trip costs from 2395 pp.All prices are based on two sharing a room and include flights, ground transportation, accommodation, meals and activities as per individual itineraries and a guide. Land-only prices are available for all trips for those who prefer to make their own flight arrangements.Call 020 7183 6371 (www.traveltheunknown.com)
Igor Iankovskyi Foundation and NGO Initiative for the Future jointly with the Ukrainian State Film Agency will conduct a business-lunch for cinema industry professionals Meet Ukrainian Producers

Media Contact

Igor Iankovskyi Charity Foundation

***@iff-charity.org

+380444590304 Igor Iankovskyi Charity Foundation+380444590304

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-- Anniversary 70edition of the Cannes International Film Festival will take place from 17to 28of May 2017 in France. This year Ukraine will be represented by its own pavilion at the professional platform - Marche du Film, jointly organized by the Ukrainian State Film Agency, Molodist KIFF, Ukrainian Cinema Association, Producer Association of Ukraine and National Charity Foundation of Igor Iankovskyi Initiative for the Future.On the 21of May, Igor Iankovskyi Foundation and NGO Initiative for the Future jointly with the Ukrainian State Film Agency will conduct a business-lunch for cinema industry professionals Meet Ukrainian Producers, for the second year in a row.During the last year's edition, Igor Iankovskyi Foundation organized the first Meet Ukrainian Producers business-lunch, which was a great success among Ukrainian and foreign producers. Ukrainian cinema was interesting to producers and directors from France, Italy, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, and Serbia and so on. As the result  several co-production projects with European producers started in Ukraine this year already. Such informal communication help our directors to establish useful connections and involve foreign partners to national cinema process, - told the representative of the Charity Foundation of Igor Iankovskyi Initiative for the Future, Tagir Imangulov.Furthermore, this year the Foundation will support again the participation of Ukraine at the Short Film Corner section. The Foundation will cover the demonstration of films and travel expenses of the group of young Ukrainian directors from NGO Contemporary Ukrainian Cinema, who has already proven themselves at home.Ukraine Is Your Destination- this is the motto of Ukrainian pavilion. Under the festival, Ukrainian delegation will conduct a presentation entitled Discover Ukraine - describing our country as a cinematographic location with updated legislation, a set of modern services and industrial facilities. Also the pavilion will conduct presentations on the Festival Movement in Ukraine.A film by director Sergii Loznytsia has become one of the 18 participants of the main contest of the 70Cannes Festival edition. The picture is created in co-production of Ukraine, France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands and Russia. In order to promote Ukrainian cinema, the Ukrainian State Film Agency of will disseminate a catalog of Ukrainian movies for distribution and international festivals participation and information on productive potential of Ukraine.Charity Foundation of Igor Iankovskyi and NGO Initiative for the Future have organized many successful lunches and informal gatherings at international film festivals: in Berlin, Paris, Budapest, London, etc. Due to the organization's support, young Ukrainian producers could meet foreign producers, but what is relevant is increasing number of projects in co-production. This is Igor Iankovskyi's aim all along  to show talented Ukrainian youth, cultural and historical heritage, to develop Ukrainian cinema and get European and world audience acquainted with our country.
Texas Chicken has opened its first restaurant in Bahrain, which marks continued fulfillment of the company's objective to become the largest fried chicken franchise in the Middle East.

By: Church's Chicken

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-- As a part of its ongoing mission to become the global franchisor of choice, Texas Chicken announced its first new restaurant opening in the Kingdom of Bahrain. With the latest grand opening on April 8th, Texas Chicken is growing its footprint in the Middle East alongside Ali Bin Rajab & Sons, the operating franchisee selected for the Bahraini expansion."We are proud to bring the Kingdom of Bahrain the quality and proven performance of one of the world's leading chicken chains" said Nasser Sayed, Country Operations manager and Managing Partner for Ali Bin Rajab & Sons. "The quick-service restaurant concept has been around for nearly 40 years in this region, and we see the 65-year heritage and reputation behind Texas Chicken as a key competitive advantage."Officials from Texas Chicken echoed the excitement for this pioneering push into new Middle East territory. "High-quality, delicious, made-from scratch food is a cornerstone of the Texas Chicken brand experience,"said Tony Moralejo, Executive Vice President of International Business and Global Development for the brand. "We look forward to giving the people of Bahrain many opportunities to enjoy the great chicken experiences guests love."The new deal with Ali Bin Rajab & Sons is slated to include 5 total restaurants in the Kingdom of Bahrain by 2020. As an operator, the restaurant group has 20 years of experience in quick-service restaurants. All Bahraini Texas Chicken locations will feature the signature menu items that have given the brand its worldwide popularity, including hand-battered and double-breaded original and spicy fried chicken, scratch-made honey butter biscuits freshly baked throughout the day, and a variety of home-style sides."We look forward to what this new relationship will bring to our Middle East guests," continued Moralejo. "Bahrain is a thriving economy filled with people who recognize and appreciate the kind of quality Texas Chicken specializes in providing."About Texas Chicken / Church's ChickenFounded in San Antonio, TX in 1952 by George W. Church, Church's Chicken, along with its sister brand Texas Chicken outside of the Americas, is one of the largest quick service chicken restaurant chains in the world. The brands specialize in Original and Spicy Chicken freshly prepared throughout the day in small batches that are hand-battered and double-breaded, Tender Strips, sandwiches, honey-butter biscuits made from scratch and freshly baked, and classic, home-style sides all for a great value. Church's Chicken and Texas Chicken have more than 1,600 locations in 27 countries and global markets and system-wide sales of more than $1 billion. For more information, visitwww.churchs.com Headquarters:980 Hammond Drive, Suite 100 Atlanta, GA 30328 (770)-350-3843 www.churchs.com. Follow Church's on Facebook at www.facebook.com/churchschicken and Twitter at www.twitter.com/churchschicken.
By: Wartburg

Contact

Angela Ciminello

aciminello@wartburg.org

914-513-5179 Angela Ciminello914-513-5179

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--For the seventh consecutive year, Wartburg's Skilled Nursing Facility located in Mount Vernon, NY, was named one of the "Best Nursing Homes in New York State" by. The nursing home, which offers residential living for those needing long term care, with a specialized dementia floor and a specially trained staff, also received a, the top rating a facility can achieve, from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid based on health inspections, staff and quality measures.Wartburg has garnered many local and national recognitions over the years for their superior quality of care and renowned level of service. In addition to the above awards, Wartburg was recognized by the New York State Department of Health (DOH) this past year for receiving a Nursing Home Quality Initiative (NHQI) score that ranked them, resulting in Wartburg's eligibility for a positive rate adjustment in the form of a monetary reward. The NHQI score is comprised of fourteen quality performance measures in compliance and efficiency. Paula Ress, Vice President & Administrator in the Skilled Nursing Facility, said, "The first quintile is a testimony to the diligent hard work and clinical acumen of our care team that we provide to residents and patients."Similarly, The New York State Department of Health deficiency-free survey was achieved by their Skilled Nursing Facility and Adult Day Services Center for the third year in a row. This recognition is earned when all services provided at the facility meet or exceed all state and federal standards."I'm extremely proud of our continued presence as a top tier nursing home in New York State, which is possible because of our employees' steadfast commitment to carrying out our mission," said David Gentner, Wartburg President and CEO. He went on to say that "more important than any awards or accolades we receive is the way we work together to provide comfort to those entrusted to our care while offering a sense of healing, hope and security to our families."Always keeping the health and welfare of people they serve at the center of their mission, Wartburg's Sub-Acute Rehabilitation Program continue to deliver patients home faster and healthier. To this end, Wartburg had an average length of stay of 18.8 days compared to a 27 day average of other regional providers. Additionally, 79.5% of Wartburg patients returned to the community as compared to only 70.8% of other regional providers. Their rehospitalization rate of 12.3% is markedly lower than other regional providers, which is 22%.Achieving these on-going local and national recognitions is a direct result of Wartburg's forward-thinking approach to senior residential care, coupled with their ongoing mission to ensure everyone they care for lives their best life. Says Robert Dorcy, Rehabilitation Director, "Our aim is to provide a contemporary sub-acute model of rehabilitative care that optimally balances cost of service with exceptional outcomes."Wartburg, located in Westchester County, N.Y., offers integrated, comprehensive senior residential and healthcare services for all stages of life. From independent, assisted living and award-winning nursing home care to inpatient/outpatient rehabilitation, home care and adult day care services, Wartburg's continuing care approach has earned them a trusted reputation. Wartburg's award-winning, internationally recognized Council for Creative Aging & Lifelong Learning program lets residents and community members express themselves through art, song, theater, poetry and oral histories. The Council for http://wartburg.org/ about-wartburg/ creative-aging/ ) initiative promotes increased emotional health and social engagement for seniors through a wide range of arts-based programs led by professional teaching artists trained to develop the creative capacity of older adult learners.Wartburg Website Homepage: www.wartburg.org Wartburg Facebook Page:Wartburg Twitter Page:YouTube Page:Creative Aging Stories and Historical Archives:
Three years since its eruption, the Ukraine crisis has left more than 10,000 people dead and continues to drain the resources of all countries involved. As we argue in our new book, Everyone Loses: The Ukraine Crisis and the Ruinous Contest for Post-Soviet Eurasia, this conflict has left every major actor involved worse off than it was before, and a resolution seems as elusive as ever. It doesn't have to be that way. An inclusive dialogue on the regional order could be the first step toward defusing the conflict. Without such a dialogue and, ultimately, a regional order that all parties can accept, efforts to implement the existing narrow Minsk agreement are likely doomed to fail.

The central narrative of the book concerns how we got to where we are. Specifically, we argue that today's negative-sum outcome is a product of adversarial policies pursued by Russia, the U.S. and the EU. (In game theory, negative-sum scenarios are ones where all players end up worse off, rather than merely a zero-sum game, where one player gains while others lose.) These policies developed fitfully in the first decade and a half after the Cold War but intensified thereafter. By the mid-2000s, Russia and the West pursued policies toward the states of post-Soviet Eurasia that aimed to extract gains at the other side's expense, without regard for overlapping or shared interests.

Neither sideRussia or the Westhas invested serious effort in the task of outlining or even contemplating a cooperative regional order that all parties could accept. The result has been not only a deepening east-west divide, but also political dysfunction within the region's states, where elites milk the wider contestation to suit their own narrow, often pecuniary, interests.

In order to mitigate the regional contest that produced this crisis, it is necessary to revive the debate over the future of post-Soviet Eurasia and to move past summations of the problem, and of the misbehavior of this or that side, and to develop innovative, realistic proposals for moving past the negative-sum game. The sine qua non for a reassessment is an acknowledgment that both Russian and Western policy toward post-Soviet Eurasia has reached a dead end. It is not tenable for the West to insist on the right of all countries to make their own choices when it comes to joining Western clubs while at the same time being unable or unwilling to grant them those choices or to be accountable for the consequences of choosing. The Kremlin's idee fixe that Russia needs to be the leader of a pack of post-Soviet states in order to be taken seriously as a global powerbroker is more a feel-good mantra than a fact-based strategy, and it irks even the closest of allies.

Breaking the taboo on open-ended, precondition-free dialogue on the regional order is the essential first step if the ruinous competition is to be mitigated and the Russia-West confrontation that has reached such dangerous levels in recent years brought to an end. Holding talks in the current atmosphere of mistrust and mutual recrimination will require a significant investment of political capital. And the process of moving beyond current adversarial approaches to the region and finding common ground will take time. It will not be a quick and easy deal. Once such talks beginand they should involve all interested partiesthey could consider new institutional arrangements for the in-between countries that would serve as a bridge between the Euro-Atlantic institutions and their Russia-led counterparts.

While conducting negotiations in the current political environment will be extremely difficult, history suggests it need not be impossible. The Helsinki Final Act of 1975, perhaps an even more ambitious undertaking, was hammered out at the height of Cold War tensions. A necessary first step is for the West to test the proposition that Russia would respond positively to an offer of talks. Just as those who rule Russia are convinced that the West will forever push to extend its reach right up to Russia's borders, and even inside them, many Western policymakers are equally convinced that Russia is a predator state, absolutely committed to domination of its neighbors and destabilization of its rivals. Sadly, neither of these threat perceptions is completely baseless. Those who hold them can rightly point to numerous reasons why the talks we propose might fail. But the dire consequences of a lengthy confrontation more than justify at least an attempt to find agreement.

This article is adapted from the authors' recently released book, "Everyone Loses: The Ukraine Crisis and the Ruinous Contest for Post-Soviet Eurasia" (Routledge/IISS, 2017).

Samuel Charap is a senior political scientist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation. Timothy J. Colton is a professor of government and Russian studies at Harvard University.

This commentary originally appeared on Russia Matters on April 18, 2017. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
For Release Thursday

April 20, 2017

The Islamic State has lost substantial control of territory and people since 2014 in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya and Nigeriaand is on a path to collapse as a self-proclaimed state, according to data compiled in a new RAND report. Still, the Islamic State continues to conduct and inspire attacks around the world in an effort to exact revenge on its enemies, coerce the withdrawal of foreign forces and bait foreign governments into overreacting. These attacks may even increase once the group loses its core caliphate.

According to data compiled and analyzed by RAND, the Islamic State controlled more than 100,000 square kilometers of territory containing about 11 million people at its peak in late 2014, mostly in Iraq and Syria. However, the U.S.-led campaign against the terrorist group gained momentum in 2016 and 2017, resulting in a combined 57 percent loss of territory and a 73 percent decline in populations living under Islamic State control as of early 2017.

In Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State controlled approximately 45,377 square kilometers and roughly 2.5 million people by early 2017, according to estimates in the report. These numbers represented a 57 percent decline in territory in the two countries combined, as well as a 56 percent decline in the number of people under Islamic State control in Syria and an 83 percent decline in Iraq from fall 2014 levels.

In Egypt, Libya, Afghanistan and Nigeria, the Islamic State controlled a combined 7,323 square kilometers and 497,420 people by early 2017. These estimates represent a 65 percent decline in the combined territory controlled in those countries. In terms of people under Islamic State control, the estimates represent a 75 percent drop in Nigeria, a nearly 100 percent drop in Libya and an 87 percent drop in Afghanistan from initial levels.

The Islamic State's territorial losses indicate that it is evolving from an insurgent group to a clandestine organization that directs and inspires wide-ranging terrorist attacks, said Seth Jones, the lead author on the report and director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the RAND Corporation, a nonpartisan research organization. Despite its recent challenges, the Islamic State still seeks to expand its power and influence, including through social media and the Internet.

The group's global footprint consists of eight formal provinces outside of Iraq and Syria, more than a dozen informal provinces, and tens of thousands of inspired individuals across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America. The Islamic State's strategy is pan-Islamic expansion across multiple continents.

Fully eliminating the threat posed by the Islamic State will require continued American leadership for years to come, said James Dobbins, one of the authors of the report, senior fellow and Distinguished Chair in Diplomacy and Security at RAND. Unless local authorities can secure and administer territory liberated from Islamic State control, the group will reemerge. This means that state building must be an important component of any effort to permanently eradicate this threat.

RAND researchers examine four possible strategies for dealing with IS: disengagement, containment, rollback light (with a reliance on local forces backed by U.S. special operations forces, CIA and other intelligence assets, and airpower) and rollback heavy (adding the employment of American conventional forces in ground combat).

The authors conclude that the U.S. should pursue a light rollback strategy. They suggest several steps to accelerate the anti-Islamic State campaign, including modestly reinforcing the American military presence in Syria, intensifying efforts to address political grievances that underlie local support for the group in Iraq and elsewhere, devolving authority to initiate strikes against Islamic State targets to field commanders, increasing U.S. military posture in Africa and tightening restrictions on the Islamic State's internet access.

Other authors of the report, Rolling Back the Islamic State, are Daniel Byman, Christopher Chivvis, Ben Connable, Jeffrey Martini, Eric Robinson and Nathan Chandler.

This research was sponsored by a private foundation and conducted within the International Security and Defense Policy Center of the RAND National Security Research Division (NSRD). NSRD conducts research and analysis on defense and national security topics for the U.S. and allied defense, foreign policy, homeland security, and intelligence communities and foundations and other nongovernmental organizations that support defense and national security analysis.
BBC Worldwide is preparing to showcase the latest British content for Spanish-speaking markets during the BritScreen events.





With the first edition being held today (20 April) in Mexico City and a similar event to be held next week (25 April) in Miami, BBC Worldwide intends to gather the TV industry to discuss the latest market trends, while showing the best of its portfolio for the Latin American and US Hispanic market.The BritScreen events are a golden opportunity for the industrys executives to discuss the sectors future with BBC Worldwides team, said Anna Gordo, executive VP and GM, BBC Worldwide , Latin America/US Hispanic. In addition, they will get the chance to exclusively watch some of our latest productions.BritScreens programme of events in Mexico and Miami includes conferences with BBC executives including David Boyle, executive VP of market trends, and David Hanono, GM for sales and digital in Latin America and the US Hispanics.Both events take place as the commercial arm of the British broadcaster has withdrawn most of its pay-TV signals from Latin America . The corporation continues to increase focus on content production and distribution across the American Spanish-speaking markets.
Media are reporting that Exxon Mobil has applied for a waiver from U.S. sanctions on Russia so that it can resume drilling around the Black Sea with its partner, the Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft.

The Texas oil giant was run until this year by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who as the company's chief executive opposed the sanctions imposed in 2014 over Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea. Since becoming secretary of state, Tillerson has backed the sanctions.

A State Department spokesman said on April 19 that Tillerson has recused himself from any matters involving Exxon for two years, although the department will have a say in the administration's response to the waiver request.

The sanctions prohibit U.S. companies from transferring advanced off-shore and shale-drilling technology to Russia. Exxon was ordered to stop drilling in the Kara Sea off Russia's northern coast after they were imposed.

The head of Exxon's partner, Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin, was personally blacklisted.

Exxon is arguing that it deserves a waiver because its exploration rights in the Black Sea will expire if it doesnt act by this year, and because some of its competitors in Europe arent similarly restricted.

Based on reporting by AP and Wall Street Journal


Over the past five years, Iranian officials and state media have touted the "indigenous" ingenuity in the Islamic republic's mass-produced Mohajer-6 combat drone, which Russia has deployed in its war against Ukraine.

But a new investigation by Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, has found that electronic components underpinning Tehran's production of the Mohajer-6 are far from homegrown.



The Mohajer-6 drones contain components produced by companies from the United States and the European Union, both of which have sanctions restricting the export to Iran of such technology that can be used for both civilian and military purposes  dual-use technology.

The presence of these components in the Mohajer-6 does not mean their producers are in violation of U.S. or EU sanctions, and RFE/RL does not have evidence that this is the case.

The investigation also found Mohajer-6 components produced in China, including a real-time mini-camera made by a Hong Kong firm that said it was "very sorry" that its products were being used in war.

At least one major foreign-produced component of the Mohajer-6 has previously been identified by reporters in a Mohajer-6 recovered from the battlefield by the Ukrainian military: an engine made by the Austrian manufacturer BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, a subsidiary of the Canadian company Bombardier Recreational Products.

But Ukrainian intelligence assesses that the Iranian combat drone contains components from nearly three dozen different technology companies based in North America, the EU, Japan, and Taiwan, the Schemes investigation has found. A majority of these companies are based in the United States.



A Schemes reporter who personally inspected the foreign-made drone parts identified components produced by at least 15 of these manufacturers.

These include parts made by the U.S. technology firm Texas Instruments, which said in a statement that it does not sell into Russia or Iran and complies with applicable laws and regulations.

To identify these components, Schemes reporters examined parts of the Mohajer-6 drone that the Ukrainian military shot down over the Black Sea near the Mykolayiv region coastal town of Ochakiv. They also reviewed Ukrainian intelligence records on the sources of these components.

The drone also contains a microchip bearing the logo of a California technology company and a thermal-imaging camera that Ukrainian intelligence says may have been produced by a firm based in Oregon or China.

Both Western officials and experts on illicit technology transfers say Iran has built a broad, global procurement network using front companies and other proxies in third countries to obtain dual-use technology from the United States and the EU.

"Exporters will look at the request coming from the [United Arab Emirates] or another third country, and they'll think that they're selling to an end user based there, when really the end user is in Iran," Daniel Salisbury, a senior research fellow with the Department of War Studies at King's College London, told RFE/RL.

In September, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions specifically targeting Iranian companies that Washington links to the production and transfer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia for deployment in its war on Ukraine. Fighting rages with no sign of an end more than eight months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked invasion on February 24.

"Non-Iranian, non-Russian entities should also exercise great caution to avoid supporting either the development of Iranian UAVs or their transfer, or sale of any military equipment to Russia for use against Ukraine," U.S. Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement announcing the sanctions.

Chinese Cameras, California Chips

Development of the Mohajer-6, the latest model in a series of drones Tehran has used since the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, began in 2017, while mass production began the following year. During a ceremony commemorating the Islamic Revolution, then-Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said that the new tactical drone could perform surveillance, reconnaissance, as well as help destroy targets.

Hatami extolled what he described as the drones domestic design, a portrayal echoed in later reports by Iranian media.

"The homegrown drone was made through cooperation among the army, Defense Ministry, and Quds Aviation Industries," the English-language Tehran Times quoted an Iranian military official as saying in July 2019.

The dismantling of the Mohajer-6 drone recovered by the Ukrainian military shows that the UAV is packed with foreign components.

One of these parts is a bright-orange real-time mini-camera produced by the Hong Kong-based company RunCam Technology. Documents seen by Schemes show that Ukrainian intelligence has also identified RunCam as the producer of the camera, which likely assists in remote guidance of the drone.

Founded in 2013, RunCam is involved in the development and production of so-called "first-person-view" real-time cameras. "Our users are our friends," the company's website states. The site says that RunCam has two authorized Iranian dealers.

Reached by Schemes for comment about the use of its camera in the Iranian drone deployed by Russia in its war on Ukraine, RunCam said in an e-mailed response: "We are very sorry to know that RunCam's products were used in warfare. RunCam is specialized in producing products for model aircraft hobby. We never contact any customer related to military."

The provenance of the Mohajer-6 drone-s thermal-imaging camera is more difficult to determine. A Ukrainian intelligence assessment reviewed by Schemes indicates it could be the Ventus Hot model produced by Sierra-Olympic Technologies, based in the U.S. state of Oregon, but that it also resembles a cheaper analog available for sale by the Chinese company Qingdao Thundsea Marine Technology.

Qingdao Thundsea Marine Technology said in an e-mailed statement that the company did not "have any business with Iran," because "it will affect our business." The company said it specializes in marine services and is not involved in manufacturing. It also said that it did not have a single successful order for its online advertisement of the thermal-imaging camera resembling the one recovered from the Iranian drone.

Sierra-Olympic Technologies did not respond to a request for comment on the possible use of its thermal-imaging cameras in Iranian combat drones in time for publication.

Microchips recovered from the drone also featured the logos of the California-based company Linear Technology Corporation and its parent company, the Massachusetts-based semiconductor company Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI). ADI did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment on the possible use of its technology in the Iranian combat drone.

Schemes reporters also observed among the components of the Iranian drone a voltage step-down converter produced by Texas Instruments. The company said in an e-mailed statement that it "does not sell into Russia, Belarus, or Iran."

"TI complies with applicable laws and regulations in the countries where we operate, and does not support or condone the use of our products in applications they weren't designed for," Texas Instruments said.

Schemes reporters also saw several components produced by the California-based technology manufacturer Xilinx, whose parent company is the multinational semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), also based in California.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, one of these Xilinx components was integrated into a video data-link module located in the wing of the Mohajer-6 that helped carry out attack missions.

"This module transmits information from the board to the missile head. That is, guidance for the missile. With the help of this module, it was possible to guide the missile to the target," a Ukrainian military intelligence representative told Schemes.

AMD did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

'No Authorization'

Previous media reports about the components of the Mohajer-6 drone, including by CNN, have shown evidence that its engine was produced by the Austrian manufacturer BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, whose parent company is the Quebec-based Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP).

The Canadian company responded to the reports on October 21, saying in a statement that it "has not authorized and has not given any authorization to its distributors to supply military UAV manufacturers in Iran or Russia."

"As soon as we were made aware of this situation, we started an investigation to determine the source of the engines," BRP said. .

But Schemes reporters found that the authorized Rotax distributor listed on the Austrian manufacturer's website advertised itself as a Rotax aircraft engines distributor for Iran as recently as December 2020.

The distributor, the Italian company Luciano Sorlini S.p.a., has posted multiple magazine advertisements on its websites in which it describes itself as a Rotax distributor for numerous countries. Prior to January 2021, Iran was listed among these countries.

The Rotax website also lists a Tehran-based company -- MahtaWing -- as an official service center for its engines. The company, known in Persian as Mahtabal, conducts repairs of Rotax engines, including the Rotax 912 iS, the engine that was found in the Mohajer-6 combat drone recovered in Ukraine.

BRP said in an e-mailed statement on November 4 that while Luciano Sorlini S.p.a. is the appointed distributor of Rotax aircraft engines in Iran, "since 2019, no Rotax engines have been sold in Iran, and we will not sell any engines to Iran moving forward."

The Canadian company said it had "internal controls" that "significantly" restrict the sale of its products for military purposes.

"For example, the sale of any BRP product to operators with any military activity in Iran, Turkey, and Russia is strictly prohibited," BRP said. "We conduct our business in compliance with all EU, Canadian, and U.S. applicable regulations."

BRP described the Iranian company MahtaWing as a "local service center" that "offers maintenance services for previously sold aircraft engines."

Shahriar Siami of RFE/RL's Radio Farda contributed to this report.
A Soyuz spacecraft carrying a Russian and an American reached the International Space Station on April 20, completing the first two-man flight to the ISS in more than a decade.

The Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft with Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and U.S. astronaut Jack Fischer onboard successfully docked to the ISS at 1319 GMT (eds: 1519 Prague time), Russian space agency Roscosmos said.

Manned launches to the ISS usually involve three crew members, but Russia said last year that in the near future only two cosmonauts would be on board the ISS rather than three as has been the case in recent times.

Roscosmos said it is seeking to cut costs on supply missions prior to the installation of a new module to expand the Russian section of the ISS at the end of the year or early next year.

Russian Yuri Malenchenko and American Edward Lu undertook the last two-man mission to the ISS in April 2003.

Yurchikhin and Fischer are beginning a five-month mission at the station where three astronauts, including NASA's Peggy Whitson, are already stationed.

Based on reporting by AFP, TASS, and Interfax
Russia's media regulator says Twitter has agreed to store some of its users' data inside Russia, a move that would comply with domestic law but stoke further fears about user privacy and surveillance.

The agency, known as Roskomnadzor, said on April 19 that Twitter is in the process of determining "what information about Russian citizens and organizations in commercial relations with Twitter in Russia can be stored in the Russian Federation."

"We expect we will be able to send this commercial data to Russia by the middle of 2018 and notify you of this at that time," the agency quoted a Twitter public policy and communications official, Sinead McSweeney, as saying.

The California-based company refused to comment.

The reported decision by Twitter comes two years after a law took effect requiring Russian and foreign companies to store data for customers who are Russian citizens on servers housed on Russian territory.

The law has sparked wide concerns among privacy advocates who feared it would further restrict speech in Russia, where the Internet has served as a freewheeling and largely unhindered forum for public debate, particularly compared with traditional media outlets that are state controlled.

The measure reflected a marked tightening of control over media and the Internet by the Kremlin. President Vladimir Putin has publicly called the Internet a "CIA project."

Regulators have also adopted increasingly strict regulations on bloggers, requiring them to register if they reach a certain threshold of readerships or followers.

Companies that don't comply with the new Russian law are to be included in a blacklist, under court order by Roskomnadzor, and subject to a fine of up to 300,000 rubles, or about $5,000.

Blocking Violators

Roskomnadzor can also order Internet providers to block access to violators.

Many of the world's biggest and best known Internet companies have taken a quiet approach in determining whether to comply with the law.

But Roskomnadzor in November ordered the professional social networking site, LinkedIn, to be blocked from Russian Internet service providers for not complying with the new regulations.

In Russia, authorities have also moved to outright censor some material deemed politically sensitive.

Late in March, the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office asked Roskomnadzor to block access to webpages and videos posted on YouTube, the popular blogging site Live Journal, and the social networking site VKontakte, that were promoting unauthorized political demonstrations tied to anticorruption crusader Aleksei Navalny.
Launched in July at Rs 25.3 lakh, Hyundai Kona has received good response from customers. Within 10 days of launch, Kona had received 120 confirmed bookings. This is quite good for a premium EV and shows that theres potential for electric passenger cars in the country.

Thanks to reduction in GST for EVs, price was reduced to Rs 23.71 lakhs. Hyundai has said that enquiries for Kona and footfall at dealerships have also increased. Kona is available at 15 dealerships across 11 cities.

Now that deliveries have commenced, Kona owners have shared their first impression of their new electric car. In one such first impression is shared by Akhil, who has posted his experience of using the Kona. Here is the first Hyundai Kona electric owner review of drive range and charging cost.

One of the biggest point of discussion about the Kona electric, was its drive range. Hyundai India has claimed that Kona can deliver a drive range of 452 kms on a full charge. Here is what Hyundai Kona electric owner, Akhil has to say about the same.

Akhil has focused on finding out the actual mileage of Kona, something that many people would like to know. Official ARAI rated mileage for Kona is 452 kms on single 100% charge, but as with all vehicles, drive range in real-life conditions is usually less. Akhil set out to find exactly that by running his Kona from full charge to almost empty.

During the test, Akhil drove his Kona in city traffic as well as on open roads in Eco mode. Around 90% of the entire journey was on city roads, while 10% was on open roads. Air conditioning was used during 50% of the journey.

When the battery status reached 4%, Akhil stopped the car and took readings from the instrument console. The trip meter showed 345.8 km, which is quite good even though it falls short of the rated mileage. The car could have run 18 km more, as can be seen in the distance to empty screen.

Akhil is confident that Kona can easily touch 425-450 km on highways and open roads. This specific test was conducted largely in city traffic, which is why mileage was around 100 km less than claimed.

Akhil also mentions actual running cost of Kona, wherein 40 units of electricity is consumed for a full charge. This is around Rs 250, as per existing power cost. However, this figure may vary, as electricity rates are different for most states. Considering Konas 350 km range in real-life conditions, per km cost is less than Rs 1 (71 paisa), which is better than even entry level hatchbacks such as Maruti Alto.
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in La Jolla have revealed new clues to the wiring of the brain. A team led by Associate Professor Anton Maximov found that neurons in brain regions that store memory can form networks in the absence of synaptic activity.

"Our results imply that assembly of neural circuits in areas required for cognition is largely controlled by intrinsic genetic programs that operate independently of the external world," Maximov explained.

A similar phenomenon was observed by the group of Professor Nils Brose at the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine in Germany. The two complementary studies were co-published as cover stories in the April 19, 2017, issue of the journal Neuron.

The "Nature vs. Nurture" Question

Experience makes every brain unique by changing the patterns and properties of neuronal connections. Vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch play particularly important roles during early postnatal life when the majority of synapses is formed. New synapses also appear in the adult brain during learning. These activity-dependent changes in neuronal wiring are driven by chemical neurotransmitters that relay signals from one neuron to another. Yet, animals and humans have innate behaviors whose features are consistent across generations, suggesting that some synaptic connections are genetically predetermined.

The notion that neurons do not need to communicate to develop networks has also been supported by earlier discoveries of synapses in mice that lacked transmitter secretion in the entire brain. These studies were performed in the laboratory of Professor Thomas Sudhof, who won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

"We thought these experiments were quite intriguing," Maximov said, "but they also had a major limitation: mice with completely disabled nervous systems became paralyzed and died shortly after birth, when circuitry in the brain is still rudimental."

The TSRI team set out to investigate if neurons can form and maintain connections with appropriate partners in genetically engineered animals that live into adulthood with virtually no synaptic activity in the hippocampus, a brain region that is critical for learning and memory storage. "While the idea may sound crazy at the first glance," Maximov continued, "several observations hinted that this task is technically feasible." Indeed, mammals can survive with injuries and developmental abnormalities that result in a massive loss of brain tissue.

Inspired by these examples, Richard Sando, a graduate student in the Maximov lab, generated mice whose hippocampus permanently lacked secretion of glutamate, a neurotransmitter that activates neurons when a memory is formed. Despite apparent inability to learn and remember, these animals could eat, walk around, groom, and even engage in rudimental social interactions.

Working closely with Professor Mark Ellisman, who directs the National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research at the University of California, San Diego, Sando and his co-workers then examined the connectivity in permanently inactive areas. Combining contemporary genetic and imaging tools was fruitful: the collaborative team found that several key stages of neural circuit development widely believed to require synaptic activity were remarkably unaffected in their mouse model.

The outcomes of ultra-structural analyses were particularly surprising: it turns out that neurotransmission is unnecessary for assembly of basic building blocks of single synaptic connections, including so-called dendritic spines that recruit signaling complexes that enable neurons to sense glutamate.

Maximov emphasized that the mice could not function normally. In a way, their hippocampus can be compared to a computer that goes though the assembly line, but never gets plugged to a power source and loaded with software. As the next step, the team aims to exploit new chemical-genetic approaches to test if intrinsically-formed networks can support learning.
Encouraging science-based policies and defending science from political attacks are strong motivators for March for Science participants, according to a new University of Delaware Center for Political Communication survey.

The study, conducted from March 31 to April 18, surveyed 1,040 members of March for Science Facebook groups or pages about their reasons for marching in April 22 events across the United States and around the globe.

Fully 93 percent of respondents said "opposing political attacks on the integrity of science" would be very important to them as a reason for participating in a March for Science event. At the same time, 97 percent of respondents said that "encouraging public officials to make policies based on scientific facts and evidence" was a top priority, and 93 percent said the same for "encouraging the public to support science."

Other reasons that most respondents rated as very important included "protesting cuts to funding for scientific research" (90 percent), "celebrating the value of science and scientists to society" (89 percent) and "promoting science education and scientific literacy among the public" (86 percent).

Fewer respondents ranked "encouraging scientists to engage the public" (70 percent) and "encouraging diversity and inclusion in science" (68 percent) as highly. Nevertheless, solid majorities said these reasons were very important.

The survey also asked respondents why they had joined or followed March for Science pages, groups or hashtags on social media. Not surprisingly, the top reason (93 percent) was "to learn about March for Science events." A majority (54 percent) also said they joined "to connect with people who share my views."

Other common reasons for joining or following included "to become more involved in politics or policy-making" (45 percent), "to learn about other online advocacy and activism opportunities" (41 percent), "to learn about issues facing scientists and scientific institutions" (36 percent) and "to learn about other offline advocacy and activism opportunities" (32 percent). Only a small percentage of respondents (12 percent) said they joined or followed "to learn about science."

When asked whether their experiences with March for Science social media pages, groups or hashtags had made them more likely to participate in science advocacy, 78 percent of respondents said yes for online advocacy and 74 percent said yes for offline advocacy. In addition, large majorities said their experiences had made them more likely to like or share (76 percent), read (70 percent) and write (64 percent) messages about science on social media.

Almost two-thirds (64 percent) said their experiences with March for Science social media had made them more likely to contact public officials about science. Majorities also said their experiences had made them more likely to discuss science with people they knew (59 percent) and to follow news about science (55 percent).

About the study

The study was supervised Barbara Ley, a professor in the Department of Communication and Women and Gender Studies at the University of Delaware, with support from the University of Delaware Center for Political Communication.

The survey was conducted online from March 31 to April 18. The 1,040 respondents were recruited from 81 different participating March for Science Facebook groups and pages (see full list below). The study did not use probability sampling to select respondents; as a result, no sampling error for the study can be calculated, and the results do not necessarily generalize to all March for Science Facebook group and page members. Of the respondents, 82 percent were residents of the United States and 18 percent were residents of other countries. A large majority (81 percent) identified as women, with 18 percent identifying as men, and 1 percent as other. Half (50 percent) of the respondents said they considered themselves scientists.
China has a serious problem in Tibet with altitude sickness among its troops and has had to bring in large quantities of special equipment to deal with it. This is mainly about coping when a lot more troops are brought in for an emergency like a major rebellion among the ethnic Tibetans or, more likely, a buildup for an invasion of adjacent Indian territory that is at a lower altitude. That means the Indian troops defending dont have to worry about altitude sickness but the invading Chinese do, at least until the Chinese get down from the highlands.

To help Chinese troops cope troops new units arriving in Tibet will be able to rely on 165 oxygen generation stations, eight hyperbaric oxygen chambers (for dealing with severe cases), 12 mobile (on trucks) oxygen supply systems, nearly 5,000 small oxygen generators and nearly 7,000 oxygen cylinders that can be distributed as needed and refilled. Troops in the field will have access to a few minutes of oxygen as needed and for troops at bases bedside oxygen masks can also be provided. The Chinese Army is testing the distribution and use of all this equipment as troops arrive from the lowlands for training exercises in Tibet.

Altitude sickness occurs when people who grew up near sea level (most of the world's population) move to altitudes greater than 2,100 meters (7,000 feet). Below that, the air contains 21 percent oxygen. Above that, the percentage of oxygen declines, and that produces shortness of breath, disorientation, nosebleeds, nausea, dehydration, difficulty sleeping and eating, headaches and, if you stay up there long enough, chronic and long term disability. The average altitude of Tibet is 4,100 meters (14,000 feet).

What hurts you the most is the lower air pressure at higher altitudes, which means your lungs transport less oxygen to your blood. Most people can adapt, sort of. Some can't. But the Tibetans have evolved to deal with it. The majority of Chinese soldiers coming to the Tibetan highlands (which is most of Tibet) require a few days, or weeks, to acclimate. But they are still susceptible to altitude sickness if they exert themselves, especially for extended periods. This makes the troops much less effective. If a lot of troops are brought in and promptly sent into action there will be more troops suffering from altitude sickness.

Researchers recently discovered that most Tibetans evolved in the last 3-6,000 years to deal with this problem. It appears that the most of the people moving to, and staying in, highland Tibet, where those with the rare genes that made them resistant to altitude sickness. These people became the dominant population in Tibet, mainly because they were healthier at high altitudes. Nearly all Tibetans have this gene (which controls how their red blood cells operate, to maintain sufficient oxygen levels) while very few lowland Chinese do.

For nearly a decade now the Chinese military has been spending a lot of time, effort and money trying to solve this problem. Currently, most of the troops in the Chinese Chengdu Military Region are in the eastern, lowland half. In the western portion (Tibet), they station the 52nd and 53d Mountain Brigades, and struggle to keep these 5,000 troops fit for duty. If there's an emergency, as there was in 2008, the nearby 13th and 14th Group Armies can send troops from their lowland bases. Over 20 percent of these troops will be hampered by altitude sickness once they reach the highlands, and commanders are trained to deal with that. The new oxygen equipment program is designed to deal with that.

By 2010 Chinese troops operating at the highest altitudes (4,500 meters, on the Indian border) had access to exercise rooms (one of 1,000 square meters and another of 3,000 square meters) that are supplied with an oxygen enriched atmosphere. Troops exercising in these rooms increase the oxygen in the blood, and are much less likely to get hit with a case of altitude sickness. Thus the troops can stay in shape without getting sick. For border patrols at high altitudes, troops usually carry oxygen bottles and breathing masks.

So far, the Chinese have only been able to limit the attrition from altitude sickness, not eliminate it especially when it involves a lot of troops arriving for an emergency.
After several years of heavy pressure by the military and fellow Moslems the Islamic terrorist group Abu Sayyaf is showing clear signs of disintegrating. The senior leader of Abu Sayyaf, Radulan Sahiron, is using clan elders on Sulu Island to help negotiate his surrender. Sahiron has one condition, that he not be extradited to the United States, which is offering a one million reward for his capture (because of kidnap and murder of Americans). Sahiron said he is tired of running. What has shattered Abu Sayyaf morale was the spectacular collapse of a major effort to kidnap Western tourists on Bohol and Cebu islands in the central Philippines. This plan involved three Abu Sayyaf factions coordinating their efforts but the plan came apart on the 11 th when police were alerted (by concerned locals) about the presence of armed strangers. The subsequent gun battles killed the experienced Abu Sayyaf leader in charge of the operation and his key assistants. With that most of the remaining Abu Sayyaf members realized they were in bad shape and there was no way out. The increased naval patrols, it turned out, had cut Abu Sayyaf off from nearby Malaysia and easy access to ships they could grab for hostages. Increased ground patrols and aerial surveillance had limited Abu Sayyaf mobility on land. Several major battles recently was evidence of that. Worse Abu Sayyaf was running out of money because the government had been enforcing the no ransom laws more effectively and reduced the number of kidnappings. Combat, desertion and surrenders had cost Abu Sayyaf over half its strength in the past year. Because of this the Bohol-Cebu operation was vital and when it failed, after months of planning, Abu Sayyaf leaders and most of their followers realized things would only get worse for them now and it was best to either make a deal (if you were well known) or try and walk away (an often successful tactic in the Moslem south). This wont be the end of Abu Sayyaf but it will mark the passing of the ISIL affiliated group as a serious threat to security in the south and especially to the MILF peace deal that gives the Moslem areas of the southwest a measure of autonomy.

Police Corruption Exposed

Since 2016 the war on drugs was accompanied by a less visible effort to deal with police corruption. The anti-corruption angle became more visible because of recent prosecutions of police who were too greedy and too quick to shoot. This war caused more Filipinos to see police misbehavior up close and in bloody detail. Thus after about six months of the war on drugs opinion surveys showed 85 percent of Filipinos approved of the violent crackdown but at the same time 78 percent were fearful they, or someone they knew, might become a victim of the increased violence. After the drug war was resumed in early March under new rules (and lots of corruption prosecutions) the fear began to subside and a poll at the end of March showed the number of fearful Filipinos has declined to 73 percent and the government wants to keep the trend moving in that direction. This unease was based on the growing instances of corrupt cops using their new license to kill for personal gain. The fear became headline news when a group of corrupt cops were arrested in January for kidnapping and murdering a wealthy South Korean. Months of looking into police corruption had uncovered much evidence that has resulted in a growing number of police being dismissed or indicted. For the new government it became popular to come down hard on corrupt cops and a lot of these had become a little too bold and obvious during the war on drugs.

Since the March 6th resumption of the crackdown on illegal drugs there has been a lot less violence. The revived operations limits the number of police involved to those who have already been screened and known to be uncorrupt. So far the revised anti-drug tactics have led to about 75 percent fewer arrests per week and 84 percent fewer deaths. Part of that is due to the fact that so many known drug gang members were arrested or killed during the first seven months of the operation. It will take another month or so to determine if the new approach is continuing to reduce the distribution and use of illegal drugs. The initial campaign certainly reduced crime.

The war on drugs was suspended on January 30th because of an expanding investigation of police corruption, especially of police involved in anti-drug operations. Since the anti-drug campaign began in July 2016 to the end of January 2,512 suspects were killed. During that time there were 51,882 arrests during 42,798 police investigations. Most of the dead were suspects who violently resisted arrest or searches but nearly 40 percent were the result of local vigilantes or drug gangs killing suspected informers or rivals. The extent and intensity of these efforts caused over 1.1 million people to turn themselves in. Since 93 percent of those surrendering were users nearly all were released, especially if they provided information about their suppliers. So far the police and military have suffered fewer than 120 casualties, mostly wounded but including 38 dead.

April 18, 2017: In the south (Sultan Kudarat province) police arrested two MILF members in connection with two bombs that went off and wounded fifteen people. The arrests were reported to MILF which, under terms of the peace deal, must assist in the investigation. This one looks like the MILF men were involved in an extortion effort. The peace treaty is still awaiting approval by the national legislature and MILF has been very cooperative as a result, especially when it involves MILF members who have gone rogue.

April 14, 2017: In the south (Tawi-Tawi province) eleven Abu Sayyaf members surrendered. These included two who were wanted in Malaysia for kidnapping. This surrender was a result of an operation in the central Philippines (Bohol province) where the leader of a major kidnapping effort in Tawi-Tawi was killed along with some of his key associates.

April 13, 2017: In the south (Sulu) Abu Sayyaf beheaded a Filipino hostage in an effort to force the government to allow ransoms to be paid (or at least quietly stop interfering). The victim was a fishing boat captain taken at the end of 2016. The military responded by announcing that it was reinforcing the search for the remaining Abu Sayyaf men in the south and the 24 hostages (sailors from nearby nations) they still held. The army is under pressure to shut down most of the remaining Abu Sayyaf groups by June.

The government cancelled plans to celebrate Independence Day (June 12) by planting flags or erecting structures on ten uninhabited islands in the Spratly Islands. China also claims these and the government admitted it backed off because China had protested and warned that going forward with this would jeopardize billions of dollars in economic aid from China.

April 12, 2017: In central Philippines (Bohol province) security forces found that one the Abu Sayyaf men they had killed yesterday was Abu Rami, a wanted Abu Sayyaf leader who specialized in kidnapping operations.

April 11, 2017: In central Philippines (Bohol province) security forces clashed with a group of Abu Sayyaf gunmen while following up reports that ten armed men had recently arrived in the island province. The initial clash left six Islamic terrorists, three soldiers and a policeman dead. The search is on for the other gunmen. Police received tips from local civilians. Abu Sayyaf does not have much support in this part of the country but there are apparently some locals (probably gangsters) who expressed support because Abu Sayyaf would not move in without some local help. Abu Sayyaf hoped to kidnap some foreign tourists in Bohol or nearby Cebu Island and extract large ransoms.

April 10, 2017: In the north (Ifugao province) NPA members surrendered and accepted amnesty. Such surrenders have become more common, but many of the NPA members are doing so without bringing any weapons with them.

April 3, 2017: The government warned NPA (the illegal armed wing of the local Communist Party) negotiators that the peace negotiations (resumed today in Holland) will be abandoned is some progress is not made this time. Until February 4th the government kept the peace negotiations with the NPA going despite persistent NPA demands that hundreds of jailed NPA members be freed first. For most of February the army and police were ordered to exert maximum pressure on the NPA and that apparently worked because the operations concentrated on the NPA groups known to be hostile to a peace deal. The third round of peace talks took place in early January and were not a success mainly because too many NPA factions refuse to make peace and by the end of January the ceasefire was over because of many attacks by these factions. Until the NPA can regain control over (or disown) disobedient factions the government will resume its efforts to destroy the leftist rebel group. Peace talks got started in Norway during August 2016 and some progress was made. But it became obvious that many NPA leaders opposed peace talks and could not accept the fact that many, if not most, veteran NPA members were fed up with their career of banditry. Thus it is no surprise that NPA violence declined since the ceasefire began but for a minority of NPA members peace is not seen as a solution.

March 27, 2017: Japan delivered the first two of five TC-90 reconnaissance aircraft. This comes a year after Japan offered to provide the aircraft at low cost. The other three will arrive in early 2018. These are military versions of the popular King Air twin engine civilian transport. Many are used for military purposes (training, transport, electronic warfare, surveillance) and Japan has been using them since the 1970s. Japan changed its laws in 2014 to allow for the export of military equipment (under certain conditions) and is expected to supply the Philippines with a lot more help like this. The TC-90 doubles the range of Filipino coastal surveillance from 300 to 600 kilometers. The cost of the lease was not revealed but it should not be a lot as these TC-90s are used and not equipped with any expensive electronics. King Air 90s sell for less than a million dollars used and cost less than a thousand dollars an hour (maintenance, fuel, spares) to operate.

In the south (Basilan province) Abu Sayyaf released one of the two tugboat crewmen they had kidnapped four days earlier. The other captive, the captain of the tugboat, had been rescued by solders the next day and troops were closing in on the group holding the man released today. In situations like this some Abu Sayyaf groups will just release their captive alive and run for it. The security forces will not pursue as diligently as they would if the group murdered their captive and tried to get away. At this point Abu Sayyaf holds 26 hostages, twenty of them foreigners. Al Shabaab is taking fewer captives and losing more due to the aggressive searching by the military and police.

March 19, 2017: In the south (Maguindanao province) the military continued their air and ground operations in remote areas where BIFF (a renegade MILF faction) members are based. This weekend operations left 21 Moslem rebels dead and 26 wounded. The air force bombed and then soldiers occupied a BIFF base where bombs were built and new bomb builders were trained. Other troops ambushed many of the BIFF members seeking to escape the base. One soldier was wounded during this operation. The main reason for over a week of operations in this remote area was intel that that Zulkifli bin Hir, an Indonesian Islamic terrorist bomb expert was present with a small group of BIFF men he was training in a series of temporary camps. BIFF has been on the run since it was formed in 2011 after splitting from MILF. There is a $500,000 reward for information that leads to the death or capture of Hir and that has been attracting a growing number of tips from the remote areas around here. The army believes, based on captured documents and prisoner interrogations, they found and destroyed all of the camps.
Church & Dwight Co., Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets household, personal care, and specialty products. It operates through three segments: Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, and Specialty Products Division. The company offers cat litters, carpet deodorizers, laundry detergents, and baking soda, as well as other baking soda based products under the ARM & HAMMER brand; condoms, lubricants, and vibrators under the TROJAN brand; stain removers, cleaning solutions, laundry detergents, and bleach alternatives under the OXICLEAN brand; battery-operated and manual toothbrushes under the SPINBRUSH brand; home pregnancy and ovulation test kits under the FIRST RESPONSE brand; depilatories under the NAIR brand; oral analgesics under the ORAJEL brand; laundry detergents under the XTRA brand; gummy dietary supplements under the L'IL CRITTERS and VITAFUSION brands; dry shampoos under the BATISTE brand; water flossers and replacement showerheads under the WATERPIK brand; FLAWLESS products; cold shortening and relief products under the ZICAM brand; and oral care products under the THERABREATH brand. Its specialty products include animal productivity products, such as MEGALAC rumen bypass fat, a supplement that enables cows to maintain energy levels during the period of high milk production; BIO-CHLOR and FERMENTEN, which are used to reduce health issues associated with calving, as well as provides needed protein; and CELMANAX refined functional carbohydrate, a yeast-based prebiotic. The company offers sodium bicarbonate; and cleaning and deodorizing products. It sells its consumer products through supermarkets, mass merchandisers, wholesale clubs, drugstores, convenience stores, home stores, dollar and other discount stores, pet and other specialty stores, and websites and other e-commerce channels; and specialty products to industrial customers and livestock producers through distributors. The company was founded in 1846 and is headquartered in Ewing, New Jersey.
Robert Half International Inc. provides staffing and risk consulting services in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company operates through three segments: Temporary and Consultant Staffing, Permanent Placement Staffing, and Risk Consulting and Internal Audit Services. It places temporary services for accounting, finance, and bookkeeping; temporary and full-time office and administrative personnel consisting of executive and administrative assistants, receptionists, and customer service representatives; full-time accounting, financial, tax, and accounting operations personnel; and information technology contract professionals and full-time employees in the areas of platform systems integration to end-user technical and desktop support, including specialists in application development, networking and cloud, systems integration and deployment, database design and administration, and security and business continuity. The company also offers temporary and full-time employees in attorney, paralegal, legal administrative, and legal secretarial positions; and senior-level project professionals in the accounting and finance fields for financial systems conversions, expansion into new markets, business process re-engineering, business systems performance improvement, and post-merger financial consolidation. It is involved in serving professionals in the areas of creative, design, marketing, advertising, and public relations; and placing various positions, such as creative directors, graphics designers, web designers, media buyers, front end developers, copywriters, digital marketing managers, marketing analytics specialists, brand managers, and public relations specialists. The company provides internal audit, technology consulting, risk and compliance consulting, and business performance services. It serves clients and employment candidates. Robert Half International Inc. was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.
Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine and its derivatives, lithium and its derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers. It also provides iodine and its derivatives for use in medical, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and industrial applications comprising x-ray contrast media, polarizing films for LCD and LED, antiseptics, biocides and disinfectants, pharmaceutical synthesis, electronics, pigments, and dye components. In addition, the company offers lithium carbonates for various applications that include electrochemical materials for batteries, frits for the ceramic and enamel industries, heat-resistant glass, air conditioning chemicals, continuous casting powder for steel extrusion, primary aluminum smelting process, pharmaceuticals, and lithium derivatives, as well as ingredient in manufacturing of gunpowder. Further, it supplies lithium hydroxide for the lubricating greases industry, as well as cathodes for batteries. Additionally, it offers potassium chloride and potassium sulfate for various crops, including corn, rice, sugar, soybean, and wheat; industrial chemicals, including sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, potassium chloride, and solar salts; and other fertilizers and blends. The company operates in Chile, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, North America, Asia, and internationally. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile.
Residents in a Texas neighborhood were shocked and concerned when they spotted a stray dog wandering the streets - with a large plastic jar stuck firmly on his head. The concerned residents contacted Fort Worth Animal Control, and said that it seemed the poor dog, later named Pickle, had been in this predicament for around three days. Pickle was understandably terrified, and therefore refused to let anyone get close enough to help.

Fort Worth Animal Control

Two animal control officers went out to the neighborhood in search of Pickle, and found him wandering around a wooded area, still with the jar on his head. Because of how scared he was, they knew they would have to get creative to give him the help he needed. "Pickle was  and still is  very scared, so officers actually had to sneak up on him," Diane Covey, public information officer with the city of Fort Worth, told The Dodo.

Dodo Shows Wild Hearts Orphaned Deer Runs Back To The Wild With Her Best Friend

Fort Worth Animal Control

After waiting until he was settled and still, the officers were finally able to come up behind Pickle and secure him ...

Fort Worth Animal Control

... and with a little teamwork and a bit of a struggle ...

Fort Worth Animal Control

... they pried the large jar off of his head.

Fort Worth Animal Control

The plastic jar was the kind used to hold cheese balls, and so Pickle had probably gotten stuck while trying to lick up the remains of the tasty snack. The whole rescue only took a matter of minutes, and as soon as he was free from his plastic prison, the officers took Pickle back to the shelter to get him the care he needed. Pickle was extremely dehydrated and had a few lesions, but otherwise he was in OK condition. He's still absolutely terrified of everything and everyone, but hopefully in time he will realize that he's safe now, and that everyone around him just wants to help.

Fort Worth Animal Control
Ken Neumann has lost his composure. His voice cracks. Stops. Long pause.

To witness what Ive witnessed is something that...

Another pause.

Something that Ill carry with me for the rest of my life.

Neumann is recalling the moment three years ago when he stood amid the remains of the Rana Plaza, noting the scraps of clothing and labels among the levelled ruins of the garment factory. Human bones exposed. A femur. The stench. Particularly the stench, still present a year after the disaster that claimed more than 1,100 lives.

To witness something like that first hand is not a simple matter, he says plainly.

Neumann is the Canadian director of the United Steelworkers, which, on Thursday, launches its No More Operating in the Dark campaign, targeting generally Canadian apparel companies that have yet to introduce full supply chain transparency, and specifically Canadian Tire.

At the same time, an international coalition of nine labour rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and the Toronto-based Maquila Solidarity Network, will release its Follow the Thread report, which scorecards companies against a new transparency pledge that, in its fullest form, commits companies to regular disclosure of factories by name and address, as well as subcontractor and parent company information.

Lets remember this: the Dhaka garment workers knew the factory was unsafe.

And yet, as the Follow the Thread report states, virtually no public information was available concerning apparel companies that were sourcing from the factories involved. The only way to identify these apparel companies and advocate for accountability was to interview survivors and rummage through the rubble afterward to find brand labels.

Companies are gravitating to countries not only with cheap labour but also ones in which government regulation is not really functioning or is not as thorough as it should be, says Bob Jeffcott, policy analyst with the Maquila Solidarity Network. A major lesson of this is that we need transparent reporting in order that companies actually do expose themselves to outside scrutiny to other organizations and institutions.

What the coalition aims to do is gain consistency in supply chain reporting. To that end 72 apparel brands were contacted, from Abercrombie & Fitch to Woolworths. Do they report on the names and locations of supplier factories, both cut-make-and-trim operations and subcontractors, and if not, will they, and if so, when and with what frequency?

Transparency disclosure long predates the Rana Plaza tragedy. Those with long memories will recall the U.S. college campus anti-sweatshop initiative. And Jeffcott makes the clear point that the momentum is there. When we first started a campaign for factory disclosure, people in the industry and in government told us that no company in its right mind would disclose information on its supplier factories, he says.

But now look at a company like H&M, which commits to the quarterly publication of the names and addresses of supplier factories and vendors. Theres momentum toward transparency, but some companies still feel that if they hide in the weeds they wont be noticed, says Jeffcott. In Canada progress on disclosure has been slower than in Europe and the United States, possibly because the brands arent as well known.

For the Steelworkers, Canadian Tire is a standout in this regard, and not in a good way. The company, which retails such clothing brands as Denver Hayes and sportswear through its Marks and Sport Chek stores, publishes no supplier factory information and has made no commitment to do so in the future.

When asked for its reasoning as to why it is not on board with the transparency pledge initiative, the company responded by email. Through our Supplier Code of Business Conduct we clearly outline our expectations for ethical business dealings and aim to ensure that our values are not only understood, but shared by the vendors with whom we work around the globe. The company monitors factories through third-party auditing firms.

Canadian Tire and Marks and Sport Chek need to step up to the plate and let people know where those facilities are so they can be checked to make sure that they are in safe conditions, says Neumann.

In February, Loblaw started posting the names of its supplier factories, with a commitment to update the list of manufacturers twice annually. Nike discloses its factory locations. So does Adidas.

Theres no question that positive steps were taken in the wake of the Rana Plaza tragedy, which marks its fourth anniversary on Monday. The creation of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which hopes to extend its remit beyond its 2018 deadline, is one. (Loblaw is a signatory to the accord, as are H&M and Adidas.) The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety is another. That alliance includes Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart and Gap.

Last November, in response to a report critical of the alliances progress on factory safety, a Gap spokesperson said the company was not satisfied with the pace of improvements. The operations of some factories have been suspended.

The fear is that consumers will stop paying attention to the issue. I think a lot of companies have gone back to sleep, says Jeffcott.

If the coalition can get brand giants working from the same premise, it will be a huge win. In the past when we would contact an individual company they would say we only have 10 per cent of the production in that factory, we dont have much leverage, he says. But if you can leverage four or five buyers from the same factory they can actually achieve something.

jenwells@thestar.ca

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A federal government discussion to merge Telefilm Canada with The Canadian Media Fund has come under fire from high-profile Canadian artists.

A letter signed by a whos who of the film and television world  including Denys Arcand, Xavier Dolan, Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg, Paul Gross, Sarah Polley, Deepa Mehta, Don McKellar and Robert Lantos  urge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Heritage Minister Melanie Joly against combining the two funding agencies.

It has come to our attention that there is a proposal in discussion to merge Telefilm with the Canadian Media Fund and other crown corporations to form some sort of super agency, reads the letter signed by 51 Canadian filmmakers and obtained by the Star, adding that such a merger would deal a devastating blow to Canadian cinema.

The broadcaster-driven Canadian Media Fund (CMF) delivers about $350 million in funding for television and digital content. Telefilm Canada is more film-focused, delivering under $100 million in annual funding.

The federal government, meanwhile, is looking at a sweeping overhaul of cultural policy that could include the merging of the two agencies. Some broadcasters such as Rogers have said that the two agencies should be merged, along with the Department of Heritages Canadian Periodical Fund, into one large entity dubbed the Canadian Content Investment Agency.

Its not without precedent. The Canadian Media Fund was created out of the 2010 merger of the Canadian Television Fund and the Canadian New Media Fund.

Proponents of a Telefilm and CMF merger have said that forming one large agency could save as much as $50 million in administrative and other costs.

But filmmakers say further mergers will result in a less substantive Canadian film market. They argue that the needs of broadcasters, who are protected by Canadian content quotas, would put filmmakers at a disadvantage.

There are no such quotas in support of theatrical feature films. Nor can Canadian filmmakers rely on the support of mainstream broadcasters who  with the occasional exception of the CBC  do not invest in theatrical films and have little interest in programming them.

Instead, Canadian films fend for themselves in the open market, a fiercely competitive environment, dominated by the multinational conglomerates which own the six Hollywood studios. In this ongoing struggle, Telefilm Canada has consistently been our single most important ally, the filmmakers say in the letter.

They contend that Telefilm remains cost effective and has spawned a Canadian culture industry that has won and been nominated for Academy Awards, Golden Globes and Cesars.

We are deeply concerned that if feature film investments are subsumed within a larger agency with a competing and unsympathetic mandate, its independence and efficacy will quickly erode.

A spokesperson from Minister Jolys office could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Telefilm Canada's Letter View document on Scribd

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Cannes 2017 has some Canadian content.

Its the drama Mobile Homes, a Canada/France co-production by writer/director Vladimir de Fontenay, announced Thursday as one of the 19 features for parallel section the Directors Fortnight.

Filmed near Niagara Falls, Ont., Mobile Homes stars Imogen Poots (TVs Roadies), Callum Turner and Callum Keith Rennie. Poots plays a young mother who moves from one motel to the next with her young son in the company of a dangerous boyfriend. A crisis forces them into a mobile home community, which could mean either a new start in life or further trouble.

The story is the feature-length version of a 2013 short with the same name but a different cast, also directed by de Fontenay. It won a special jury prize at that years Seattle International Film Festival.

The Directors Fortnight, showcasing strong directorial visions, opens its 49th edition May 18 with Claire Denis Un Beau Soleil Interieur starring Juliette Binoche, Gerard Depardieu and Xavier Beauvois. It closes May 28 with Geremy Jaspers Sundance sensation Patti Cake$, starring Danielle Macdonald as the unlikeliest of New Jersey rappers.

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What if the key to raising contented kids lies not in priming our children for success, but rather in encouraging their happiness so they can find their own version of achievement?

Thats the approach embraced by parents in the Netherlands, which is, according to a 2013 UNICEF report, home to the happiest children from among the 26 richest nations in the world.

A new book called The Happiest Kids in the World: How Dutch Parents Help Their Kids (and Themselves) by Doing Less explores what makes the Dutch approach to parenting different. Rina Mae Acosta, a California native, and co-author Michele Hutchison, from the U.K., both married Dutch men and are raising their kids in the Netherlands.

I spoke to Acosta recently about what defines the Dutch style of parenting.

You write that Dutch parents have a healthy attitude toward their kids, seeing them as individuals rather than as extensions of themselves, and that achievement doesnt necessarily lead to happiness, but that happiness can cultivate achievement. Why is that such an important distinction?

Us modern parents all throughout the world, especially in America, we believe that in order to be happy in life, you have to be successful. But the Dutch have realized that happiness comes first before anything else. And when Im talking about happiness Im not talking about children being spoiled and entitled. Im talking about children who are self-aware, who are able to be independent and who learn to make their own decisions. And children who are allowed to be children and to figure out their own passions in life early on and allowed to be who they are. The Dutch realize thats more important than trying to push children into a certain mould.

What is the most over-arching distinction, you find, between how your peers back at home in the U.S. are experiencing parenting, compared to your life as a parent in the Netherlands?

As Americans, were a lot more anxious about our decisions. We try so hard to be the perfect parents, and society in America and Canada is a lot more critical, too. And thats really sad because in Holland they still continue parenting the way we were parented in the 70s, 80s, where it was a more down-to-earth, pragmatic approach.

Apparently Dutch babies get more sleep. What is the deal there? How do they do it?

Before I went Dutch, a common point of solidarity among parents would be sleep deprivation. It was something that I thought was universally understood and accepted. But what I discovered, and what no ones really talking about, was that for the most part Dutch babies  and hence Dutch parents  dont have serious sleep issues. Their babies sleep on average two hours more (per day) than their American peers do. What most parents can actually do is simply have what the Dutch call the two Rs  rest and regularity. The basic idea is  especially for newborns, babies and toddlers  to create a calm, predictable environment with a certain set schedule of sleep, play and eat. And once you have those established, you can help regulate their sleep.

Lets shift gears and talk about schooling. Dutch children are apparently among the least to feel pressured at school. Why is that?

Its just a whole different perspective on what a child is, I believe. While we obviously have to educate children, in the Netherlands they realize that whats most important in preschool is to teach children how to play. That includes focusing on their social and emotional development. Thats a critical foundation to build. Then you can start teaching them academically at six, seven, eight. Versus in America: Im afraid that weve forgotten the importance of play. Rather than focusing on that, theres a lot more focus on academics. But a lot of education researchers agree that an immature brain is not ready yet to take it all in. Interesting the children who are allowed to develop at their own pace are the ones who are allowed to have that intrinsic motivation to succeed.

Its interesting you should say that because the Dutch are achieving that intrinsic motivation without the carrot of an A+ grade. Can you briefly explain how the grading works?

The idea is to really allow children to fall in love with learning. They establish a really high bar in terms of what a child is supposed to know. The emphasis isnt the actual grade, but to teach children how to think, how to be passionate about learning. There is no ranking.

Its interesting that while the Netherlands offers several types of high school, there doesnt seem to be much gnashing of teeth over which one a child goes to.

No, the Dutch realize that not every single person is meant to go to university. Not everyone is meant to be a doctor, a lawyer or a high-level professional. Some are actually meant to become nurses or teachers or chefs. And they realize that every child has their own special talent or special interest, so why is there a need to make every child conform to the status quo?

What do you most wish that parents living in Canada, or other parts of the world with similarly intense approaches to raising kids, will take away from this book?

Please be kind to yourself as a parent. Know that you doing your best is good enough. If youre more forgiving of yourself and accepting of all your mistakes, and also congratulate yourself for the things you are doing really well, the children will see that.

Brandie Weikle is a parenting expert and the host of The New Family Podcast, as well as editor of thenewfamily.com

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A 51-year-old West African man, who has spent the last seven years in a maximum-security jail because the Canadian government has been unable to deport him, once spent 103 consecutive days in solitary confinement, court heard Wednesday.

And that wasnt the only time he was in segregation, said Jared Will, lawyer for Kashif Ali, an immigration detainee who is arguing in Ontario Superior Court that his detention is unlawful.

Ali, who was recently profiled as part of a Star investigation into immigration detention, testified Wednesday that he has been beaten by guards and fellow inmates, strip searched on a routine basis, endured almost daily lockdowns and suffered the psychological strain of segregation. While in segregation he smeared feces on the walls and himself, he said.

Im not well at all. His daughter, seeing her father in the courtroom in an orange prison jumper and handcuffs, sobbed.

Alis lawyers made their case to Justice Ian Nordheimer that his detention is both arbitrary and indefinite, violating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and fundamental principles of justice.

Not only has it been seven years, it has been seven years of indefinite detention, Will said.

The length and indeterminate nature of Alis detention, combined with the harsh conditions, mean continuing it any further would be cruel and unusual, Will said.

Canada can jail immigrants ruled inadmissible for an indefinite length of time if they have been deemed a danger to the public or unlikely to appear for their deportation. The average length of detention last year was just 23 days, but many cases drag on for months or years.

Ali, who has a long criminal record of mostly drug offences, says he was born in Ghana to a Ghanaian father and Nigerian mother. But he doesnt have any documents to prove his identity or citizenship so neither country will take him back.

He used a fraudulent ID to enter Canada in 1986 and has lived here ever since. He is the father to a 26-year-old Canadian daughter and two other children with whom he does not have a relationship.

Canada has been trying to deport Ali for more than 20 years and nearly succeeded in 1996 when he provided a fake Ghanaian birth certificate so he could be released from a previous stint in immigration detention. But when Ghanaian authorities discovered the false document they detained him for 10 months before sending him back to Canada, where he was detained again.

Ali, whose longest criminal sentence was eight months for a break-and-enter in 1992, attributes his criminal lifestyle to a cocaine addiction. He served his last criminal sentence in 2009 and has now spent more than twice as long in immigration detention than all of his criminal sentences combined.

The government has said they are still firmly committed to deporting Ali, despite their lack of success.

They accuse Ali of not co-operating with his removal, but Ali insists he has given them all the information he has and would happily be deported anywhere if it means he can get out of jail.

Asked in court if he was opposed to his deportation on Wednesday, Ali replied: Hell no.

Lawyer Will called the governments position fundamentally illogical, pointing to the various ways Ali has in fact co-operated with immigration authorities and his willingness to be deported.

The evidence shows that from the very first detention order in 2010 to the present, there has never been a reasonable prospect for removal for Mr. Ali and there is no reasonable prospect of removal today, Will said.

Will described the governments efforts as wheel spinning, suggesting they, too, know Alis deportation is all but impossible, and yet they are unwilling to concede.

Neither country is going to accept that hes a citizen and theres nothing that he can produce thats going to satisfy either of those two countries,

Alis daughter, Sakina Millington, cried as her father entered the court in handcuffs and wearing prison-issue orange jumpsuit. Millington, who works as a nurse in Pickering, said it was difficult to listen to her father describe his life behind bars.

He is being treated like hes not even a citizen of the world, like hes not even human, she said outside court. Hes being treated like garbage.

In addition to representing Ali individually, Will is also in the midst of a Federal Court challenge arguing that Canadas entire immigration detention regime is unconstitutional.

The Liberal government, meanwhile, recently announced its general intention to make changes to immigration detention that would reduce the length of detention and limit the use of jails.

The governments lawyers will make their submissions on Thursday.

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OTTAWA Billing himself as an everyman warrior who will fight for us commoners against the corporate-friendly political establishment, former veterans ombudsman Pat Stogran launched his campaign to lead the federal New Democratic Party on Thursday.

The retired colonel and Afghan war veteran railed against the Liberals and Conservatives, who he accused of governing in their own self-interest and leaving ordinary Canadians behind through unfair trade deals, corruption and the fiasco of trickle down economics.

He took dead aim at Justin Trudeau, claiming the prime minister hides behind smiling selfies and loquacious lies.

These include his broken promise to change the electoral system and a failure to adhere to a human rights tribunal ruling to devote more resources to the wellbeing of indigenous children.

Its just the same old garbage in a different-coloured bag, Stogran said in fiery, energetic remarks in a hotel conference room, as he cracked jokes and strayed from the podium, pacing and gesticulating.

Our system of government is morally and functionally bankrupt, he said.

I want to break the system.

The Canadian Forces veteran served as a United Nations military observer in Bosnia during the outbreaks of ethnic violence in 1994. He also led a Canadian infantry unit that spearheaded operations in Afghanistan in 2002.

Stogran entered the public arena in 2007, when he was appointed Canadas first-ever veterans ombudsman by then prime minister Stephen Harper. He accused the government of nickel-and-diming veterans, and his position was not renewed in 2010.

Although Stogran is registered to run for the NDP leadership with Elections Canada, he has yet to pay the $30,000-entry-fee and still needs to submit a list of the signatures of 500 members, party spokesperson Guillaume Francoeur confirmed.

Stograns communications director, Cameron Holmstrom, said they expect to raise the money and get the signatures in time to appear at the next candidates debate on May 28 in Sudbury.

At that point, Stogran will join NDP MPs Niki Ashton, Peter Julian, Charlie Angus and Guy Caron on the ballot to replace current leader Tom Mulcair.

In Thursdays speech, Stogran said he wants to lead the NDP to bust the entrenched monopoly rule of the Liberal and Conservative parties, and to bring a new, compromise-oriented style of governance to Ottawa.

He said the social democratic party has never won power federally partly because members have been reticent to compromise on their principles.

Stograns NDP would pursue ideas such as an end to the use of fossil fuels, but this would be incremental, not rushed, he said. He isnt against oil pipelines, for example, and he criticized carbon pricing and road tolls for having an outsized impact on people with lower incomes.

Scant on policy prescriptions, Stogran suggested he would push to eliminate parliamentary pensions for MPs and took a dig at Trudeaus marijuana legislation for leaving so many loose ends.

He added that he hopes to disrupt a leadership race that has seen little open conflict between contenders.

Their (the NDPs) hearts are in the right place, but what they need is a pragmatic, long-term approach that works progressively towards these goals, instead of this piecemeal patchwork, he said.

He said his pitch to members is that he can fight for the partys principles while bringing in moderates from outside the NDP who are tired of the Politics Incorporated of the Liberals and Tories.

Stogran heaved a sigh at the end of his speech, as if exasperated, and asked: Now Im a politician, how do I look?

Moments later, he posed for a selfie with a supporter from the audience, Trudeau-style.

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ST. JOHNS, N.L.About three dozen protesters went to the federal fisheries office in St. Johns, N.L., on Thursday morning to support a celebrity fisherman on a hunger strike.

Linda Gillett, the mother of hunger striker Richard Gillett, said the protesters include fishermen and other supporters of her son.

Richard Gillett has been on a hunger strike since last Thursday, demanding a meeting in person or via teleconference with the federal fisheries minister over quota cuts to shrimp and crab.

His mother said Gillett is participating in the protest, though he is walking very slowly and becoming weak due to his lack of nourishment.

As his mother, Im getting pretty worried about him right now. I dont know if hes going last too many more days, she said.

Read more: Newfoundland fishermen force their way into fisheries HQ over shrimp access

But hes determined hes going to until they come across with his demands or well have to call the ambulance and take him off.

Gillett is known for his three seasons on the reality show Cold Water Cowboys, and is vice-president of the Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL).

The fisherman has accused Ottawa of dire mismanagement of stocks ranging from crab to capelin.

In addition to the teleconference call with federal Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Gillett is seeking an independent review of science and management for all provincial fish stocks.

He also wants a review of the relationship between the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union, representing harvesters, and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Gillett said he decided to do something drastic last week after LeBlanc refused to meet with him and FISH-NL president Ryan Cleary as they visited Ottawa.

In an emailed statement, Kevin Anderson, regional director general for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, has said he understands its a difficult time and the department is willing to listen.

It is of course concerning when anyone takes a course of action such as the one Mr. Gillett is pursuing, and we share the publics concern for his health.

Anderson said scientific stock assessments are shared publicly and that fish harvesters are consulted.

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OTTAWAU.S. President Donald Trump unloaded on Canada from the Oval Office Thursday, suggesting that the country was taking advantage of U.S. workers and demanding trade renegotiations begin very quickly.

Trump denounced the North American Free Trade Agreement as a disaster and said he wants Canada to move on three industries in particular: dairy farming, lumber and energy.

The fact is, NAFTA  whether its Mexico or Canada  is a disaster for our country, Trump said.

We cant let Canada, or anybody else, take advantage and do what they did to our workers and to our farmers.

Trump vowed to move very, very quickly on negotiations with Canada, saying he would have a more detailed plan in coming weeks.

The presidents comments were short on specifics and its unclear how they will translate into action. Trump has used belligerent language on issues like NAFTA, NATO and China in the past, but has often failed to back up those words with significant policy changes.

But they do represent a marked departure from Trumps warm words for Canada after he met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Washington in February. Trump said the U.S. enjoys a very outstanding trade relationship with Canada, pledging only tweaks to that relationship in larger NAFTA renegotiations.

Officials in Ottawa will have to puzzle out how that outstanding relationship turned into a disaster in the mercurial presidents mind  and whether Trump will act on his claims.

Ironically, Trumps comments came only hours after Trudeau praised the presidents willingness to listen to reason.

As politicians were very much trained to say something and stick with it, Trudeau said in a televised interview with Bloomberg Businessweek.

(Trump) has shown that if he says one thing and then hears good counter-arguments, or good reasons why he should shift his position, he will take a different position. . . . Theres a challenge in that for electors, but theres also an opportunity in that for people who engage with him to try and work to achieve a beneficial outcome.

A request for comment to the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa was not returned Thursday.

Trumps visit earlier in the week to Wisconsin, home state of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, appears to have set off the escalated rhetoric on trade.

In a speech on Tuesday, Trump seemed to criticize Canada for changing regulations related to ultrafiltered milk, occasionally used in cheese and yogurt production. Seventy-five farming families in Wisconsin claim that those changes have put their livelihood at risk.

And Ive been reading about it, Ive been talking about it for a long time, and that demands, really, immediately, fair trade, with all of our trading partners. And that includes Canada, Trump told the crowd.

Because in Canada, some very unfair things have happened to our dairy farmers and others.

Canada?s ambassador to the U.S. says he expects to have constructive trade talks with the Trump administration despite the president questioning Canada?s practices in the dairy industry.

Trump brought the issue up again on Thursday, saying rules, regulations, different things have changed and are putting dairy farmers in Wisconsin and New York state.

What theyve done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace. Its a disgrace, Trump said.

Trudeau defended Canadas supply-managed dairy industry on Thursday. Trudeau told Bloomberg that the U.S. enjoys a trade surplus on dairy with Canada, and that the country wasnt the challenge for U.S. dairy farmers.

I understand that certain governors are speaking to certain constituencies on that. Its politics, Trudeau said.

Lets not pretend were in a global free market when it comes to agriculture. . . . We have a supply management system that works very well here in Canada. The Americans and other countries choose to subsidize to the tune of hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, their agricultural industries including their dairy.

In an emailed statement Thursday afternoon, Global Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said the Liberals will always defend Canadas interests.

We are steadfastly committed to free trade and its benefits for the middle class. Canada buys more from the U.S. than any other country  including the EU, Mexico, China and Japan, Freeland wrote.

Any increase of trade barriers between our countries would significantly impact jobs in the United States, as well as in Canada.

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A meeting of the Toronto Police Services Board came to an abrupt end Thursday afternoon when journalist and activist Desmond Cole admonished board members for failing to destroy carding data, then stalled the proceedings by refusing to leave the speakers chair.

Cole had been making a public deputation about the controversial police practice of carding when he announced that he would launch an immediate protest if the board did not agree to put stricter constraints on police access to the data collected through the illicit practice.

It was never your information to take in the first place, said Cole, who is a Toronto Star columnist.

I plan to stand here in protest until you commit today, here and now, to restricting the police having our information going forward.

You want to ruin another generation of childrens lives, and Im not going to allow you to do it, Cole continued, rising from his seat and raising his fist in the air.

When Cole was asked to leave to let the meeting continue, he refused, prompting a 10-minute adjournment.

Soon after, the board reconvened to cancel the remainder of the meeting.

Uniformed police officers then moved into the meeting room at Toronto police headquarters and escorted Cole out  intimidation Cole said was telling, considering he was protesting how police follow racialized people throughout the city and their response is to send more police.

Speaking to the Star after the meeting, Mayor John Tory, who is a member of the police board, said it was unfortunate the meeting was curtailed when other members of the public wanted to have their voices heard and the board wanted to respond to public concerns.

None of that could happen. We just couldnt proceed, Tory said.

After years of debate over carding or street checks, the practice of stopping, questioning and documenting civilians not suspected of a crime, new provincial restrictions came into effect this year setting strict limits on carding intended to abolish random police stops.

Late last year, the Toronto police board passed its own policies stemming from the provinces regulations, including one setting firm restrictions on the use of historic carding information.

Critics have argued that police should not be allowed to continue accessing information gleaned from damaging, and, in some cases unconstitutional, stops. However, the board says its been told by many lawyers that it had a legal requirement to retain the data for lawsuits or human rights cases.

Instead, the police board passed a policy that restricted access to personal information gathered in past carding interactions.

Access to historic carding data would be subject to approval from police chief Mark Saunders, and would only be granted when there is a significant public interest or to comply with a legal requirement.

The chief would then publicly report on the requests to access data, the number of approvals and the rationale for them and whether the historical data had served a purpose.

The board would then strike a review panel to oversee the chiefs reports.

Stressing that his preferred choice had always been to destroy the data, Tory noted Wednesday that the board has not even had the chance to see the first report, in order to evaluate how the restricted access system is working.

Youve got to have a chance first to see whats going on with it. There hasnt been any passage of time yet, theres been literally two months and no reports come back yet on how many people looked at the data yet, if any, Tory said.

Cole was not the only one speaking out about carding at Thursdays meeting.

You spent years on carding and you think its all wrapped up, but its not wrapped up, said Toronto lawyer Peter Rosenthal, urging the board to end the practice entirely.

Rosenthal said he could not understand how Toronto police could be allowed to continue carding given a report presented to the board last month by University of Toronto criminologists Anthony Doob and Rosemary Gartner.

Among the conclusions of the report was that any benefits from carding are substantially outweighed by convincing evidence of the harm of such practices both to the person subject to them and to the long term and overall relationship of the police to the community.

You cannot, in good faith, continue carding given that report, Rosenthal told the board.

The carding-related item on the boards agenda pertained to the Ontario governments request for feedback on its carding-related public education campaign  its initiative to explain complex new carding rules.

One aspect of the governments education campaign is a text-heavy poster with no fewer than 23 bullet points.

Its intended to summarize the new regulations.

Jack Gemmel, a lawyer with the Law Union of Ontario, called the poster turgid and said it must have been written by a well-meaning lawyer within government.

This is virtually incomprehensible to anyone, Gemmel told the board, saying improvements needed to be made to communicate the regulations so people can actually understand them.

Wendy Gillis can be reached at wgillis@thestar.ca

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A committee representing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Toronto police officers is speaking out against an annual grant provided by the city to Pride Toronto, saying it would be unacceptable for the government to financially support an event that excludes police.

We, as city employees, would feel completely devalued and unsupported by our employer should they fund this event at this time, reads a letter released Wednesday by the Toronto Police Association, signed by the executive committee of Toronto polices Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer internal support network.

How can we possibly feel appreciated by our employer while they sponsor an event that its own employees have been disinvited from participating in as full, equal and active participants in their role as city employees, the committee writes.

The letter, demanding the city withhold the planned grant of $260,000, comes amid mounting controversy over police participation in the upcoming Pride parade.

Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders announced in February that his force would not be marching in the parade, Canadas largest Pride event.

We understand the LGBTQ communities are divided, Saunders said in a statement at the time. To enable those differences to be addressed, I have decided the Toronto Police Service will not participate, this year, in the Pride Parade . . . . I want to make it very clear that this will have no impact on our ongoing outreach to LGBTQ communities.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Mayor John Tory said he could understand the feelings of the officers who had written the letter, and said weve got to get that sorted out. He said he has heard that very good discussions are going on between Pride and Saunders, and encouraged them to keep working toward a resolution.

Asked if the city would stop providing basic services to Pride, such as cleanup, Tory said the city would continue to support the Pride festival in that capacity  but noted that he also wants the festivities to be a celebration of inclusion.

That doesnt mean you selectively exclude certain groups of people, so that is an issue, he said. I think the best way to resolve it is the way they are trying to resolve it now, which is for Pride and for the police service in particular to be meeting with each other and having these discussions.

Saunders decision came after Black Lives Matter Toronto held a sit-in part way through last Julys parade, stopping the procession for about half an hour until Pride organizers signed its list of demands.

Black Lives Matter Toronto has said it opposes police presence in the parade because it could discourage marginalized communities from participating.

At its annual general meeting in January, Pride Toronto adopted a list of Black Lives Matter Toronto demands, including banning police floats from the parade.

Pascale Diverlus, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Toronto, noted in an interview Wednesday that Saunders, in his February statement announcing his force would not participate in the parade, acknowledged that there was still work to do to build positive relationships between police and LGBTQ communities.

This is not the way to go about doing it, she said of the letter released Wednesday.

When Pride banned police floats from the parade, it did so after realizing that this is about safety and about a long history of people  black people, indigenous people  not feeling protected and feeling unsafe, said Diverlus.

A handful of Toronto city councillors have also argued against providing the citys annual grant money to Pride this year.

It doesnt sit right with me and with other councillors that we issue this grant in view of the position that theyve taken with respect to the police force, Coun. John Campbell said. We need a certain level of equity and inclusivity attached to the issuance of grants for organizations.

Last month, Janaya Khan, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Toronto, said Campbell was failing to understand race relations.

What is missing is a real understanding of what it means to be a racialized person in this city, and the fear that exists in your body when you are around a police officer, Khan said.

The institution of policing discriminates people based on race. We actually wouldnt need to exist if city councillors were doing their job.

With files from David Rider and The Canadian Press

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Ottawa has launched a pilot project to reduce biases in the hiring of federal civil services through what is billed name-blind recruitment, a practice long urged by employment equity advocates.

The Liberal governments move came on the heels of a joint study by University of Toronto and Ryerson University earlier this year that found job candidates with Asian names and Canadian qualifications are less likely to be called for interviews than counterparts with Anglo-Canadian names even if they have a better education.

Its not just an issue of concern for me but for a lot of people. A number of people have conducted research in Canada, the U.K., Australia and the U.S. that showed there is a subliminal bias in people reading too much into names, said Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, who first delivered the idea to Parliament last year as a rookie MP from Toronto.

Name-blind recruitment could help ensure the public service reflects the people it serves by helping to reduce unconscious bias in the hiring process.

Some companies in the private sector, including banks and accounting firms, have already adopted the practice, which removes names from application forms in order to stop unconscious bias against potential recruits from minority backgrounds.

In the United Kingdom, the government now requires name-blind applications for university admissions service and other applications for organizations such as the civil service, British Broadcasting Company and local government.

U of T sociology professor Jeffrey Reitz said the initiative is an important step forward but cautioned officials they must consult independent experts in developing the process and reviewing the results to make sure it is done correctly.

To conduct name-blind screening, he said, recruiters must remove any information on a resume that would reveal the ethnicity of the person, such as name, birth place and membership in an association before coding the candidates in the talent pool.

If the government is serious about it, they need to make the process transparent and allow researchers to look at the new procedures and the results, said Reitz, a co-author of the Canadian study on name discrimination against Asians.

Debbie Douglas of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants said she hopes the pilot could benefit other minority groups, given studies have shown that white English- and French-speaking able-bodied women have been the primary beneficiaries of current employment equity programs.

We hope as the government moves proactively to ensure diversity in hiring it will review the existing program and strengthen it to ensure the intentional inclusion of racialized and indigenous job seekers, said Douglas.

Treasury Board President Scott Brison, who championed Hussens initial idea, said he welcomed the opportunity to explore new ways of recruiting talent for the public service.

A persons name should never be a barrier to employment. Diversity and inclusion in the workplace is critical to building an energized, innovative and effective public service that is better able to meet the demands of an ever-changing world, said Brison at the launch of the pilot at Ryerson Thursday.

The six departments participating in the pilot include Department of National Defence; Global Affairs Canada; Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada; Public Services and Procurement Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; and the Treasury Board Secretariat. A report on the pilot is expected in October.

Using data from a recent large-scale Canadian employment study that examined interview callback rates for resumes with Asian and Anglo names, U of T and Ryerson researchers found Asian-named applicants consistently received fewer calls regardless of the size of the companies involved.

Although a masters degree can improve Asian candidates chances of being called, it does not close the gap and their prospects dont even measure up to those of Anglo applicants with undergraduate qualifications.

Compared to applicants with Anglos names, Asian-named applicants with all-Canadian qualifications had 20.1 per cent fewer calls from organizations with 500 or more employees, and 39.4 per cent and 37.1 per cent fewer calls, respectively, from medium-sized and small employers.

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If technology can solve your problem, why not have it made-to-order? Thats the question a dynamic new program at MaRS is addressing while turning traditional health care procurement on its ear.

An experimental project launched last year in Ontario with a simple idea: the team issued an open call to health care providers to describe a challenge their institution faces, and then directed these asks to entrepreneurs to work collaboratively on solutions.

Launched in August 2016 in conjunction with the Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, the Innovation Partnership: Procurement by Co-Design Program is a collaborative design exercise aimed to help leading-edge technologies reach organizations and patients that need them most.

Overall, the response was enthusiastic  almost two dozen health care providers issued 29 challenges that were then listed on the program website. The entrepreneur community came back with over 140 proposed solutions.

Some of the challenges were quite broad, others were looking for very specific outcomes.

For example, one provider said they wanted a better way of managing wheelchairs and gurneys in their hospital to reduce the number of patients waiting for transfers, says MaRS associate Lily Lo, who also serves as the project manager.

Pitch sessions helped narrow the field, and the providers selected the vendors they wanted to work with. In total, 17 project teams spent 12 weeks co-developing their innovations.

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At the end of February, the teams came back to MaRS to compete for up to $25,000 to spend testing the co-developed solutions. Four of the 17 teams received funding, including QoC Health, who is working with the Michael Garron Hospital to help manage post-anesthesia recovery, and VitalHub, who got the green light for two separate solutions for Markham Stouffville Hospital and Trinity Village Care Centre. The next step will see the teams present the results of their testing in July, potentially receiving another $25,000 for procurement.

But program manager Hadi Salah says the grants arent the central goal  the venture is more about fostering a new challenge-based, co-design approach to procurement.

This could be an open-source tool kit that a procurement department within a hospital could use and scale up on their own, he says. The impact is better solutions, better collaboration and lower costs overall.

Two case studies:

QoC Health responded to a challenge from Michael Garron Hospital (formerly Toronto East General), who wanted to better manage traffic in and out of a post-anesthesia recovery room.

We proposed an application that the staff scheduler would use to co-ordinate everything, all the way from the surgical procedure through to the recovery room, says company president and co-founder Raymond Shih. The two organizations will be working together on the app over the next several months.

Shih not only likes the co-design concept, he also finds the process useful from a business sense because it provides an opportunity for us to work with some folks that we may not have been directly connected to before.

VitalHub, a Toronto-based mobile health startup, is developing two solutions: an app to streamline the physician onboarding and orientation process for Markham Stouffville Hospital; and an app for Trinity Village Care Centre that provides quick access to a variety of forms and schedules, enables on-the-fly note-taking, task-tracking and team collaboration.

Andre Vandenberk, vice-president of mobile technology, says their proposed solution for Markham Stouffville Hospital would change how the hospital shares information and documents with its physicians, and how it collects their data, questions, feedback and signatures as part of the onboarding and orientation process.

In the case of Trinity Village Care Centre, he says the goal is to streamline the way front line staff document and access information about residents, explaining that they currently use multiple paper-based and electronic documentation systems located on separate computers throughout the facility.

He says hes had a very positive experience in the program so far because it enables providers to collaborate with the vendors who can help solve their problems. Without going through such a process, providers and vendors are often on different pages when it comes to the interpretation and understanding of problems and how to solve them, he says. This program provides a repeatable approach to ensure the providers real-world problem is appropriately addressed and successfully implemented.

This article is part of a series on the Future of Health featured in MaRS, a publication that highlights the people and companies in MaRS Discovery Districts network, and the innovations that touch our lives. Learn more about the Future of Health.

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PYONGYANGCoca-Cola is possibly the worlds most recognizable brand, an almost inescapable symbol of the global appeal of American-style consumer culture. There are only two countries in the world where Coke doesnt officially operate, and one of them is North Korea.

But even the North is developing quite a taste for cola  though the iconic red-and-white labelled bottles the cola comes in likely are not exactly the Real Thing and their twist tops need a bit more than the usual caution. They have a tendency to leak or refuse to come off at all.

North Korea and Cuba are the only countries where Coca-Cola Co. has no operations, said communications director Ann Moore. Coke doesnt do business with either because of sanctions.

That doesnt stop Coke making its way over the North Korean border, however.

Coke bottled in China and bearing Chinese labels isnt hard to find in North Koreas relatively affluent capital, Pyongyang. It is sold in upscale grocery stores that cater to the capitals elite and a growing number of middle class residents, who are increasingly earning enough hard cash through entrepreneurial side businesses to purchase more than bare necessities.

Coke from China can also be quaffed in international hotels frequented by both locals who can afford their high prices and foreign tourists and business people, most of them from China as well. Pepsi sightings are rarer.

The cola served at restaurants and lining the shelves in stores where more typical North Koreans shop are likely to be local imitations, though one of the more popular ones could, from a distance, easily pass as a Coke.

Its 1.25-litre bottle has the same Coke shape, the Coke-like red and white label, the distinctive red cap. But instead of the usual Chinese phonetic characters for Coca-Cola, it has Cocoa-flavoured Sweet Soda Drink splashed across its label in yellow Korean lettering.

The label also prominently features a bar code and the universally recognized anti-littering logo of a person responsibly tossing his trash in a bin. It includes a calorie count and the address and phone number of the bottler, the Wonbong Trading Co. in Pyongyang. Such numbers can only be accessed by North Koreans using the North Korean phone network.

So no comment there.

How does it taste?

Not bad, it turns out. Good fizz. Indistinguishable appearance. If you like Coke, its a very good facsimile. Some other similar sodas claiming to be cocoa-flavoured but not aiming to match Cokes taste do in fact taste like chocolate.

Back in 2000, when ties between the U.S. and North Korea were going through something of a thaw, there were widespread rumours that Coke was on the verge of officially breaking into the market. Blame North Koreas decision to develop nuclear weapons for dooming that plan.

The locally bottled versions of Coke-like drinks have filled the vacuum.

Air Koryo, the countrys flagship airline, recently introduced its own brand of cola on flights to and from Beijing. Thats not quite as odd as it might sound. Like many large state-run enterprises, the airline also operates a fleet of taxis, has at least one gas station in Pyongyang and puts its name on other soft drinks in order to turn a profit.

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MOSCOWRussias Supreme Court on Thursday banned Jehovahs Witnesses from operating anywhere in the country, accepting a request from the justice ministry that the religious organization be considered an extremist group.

The court ordered the closure of the groups Russian headquarters and its 395 local chapters, as well as the seizure of its property.

The Interfax news agency on Thursday quoted Justice Ministry attorney Svetlana Borisova in court as saying that Jehovahs Witnesses pose a threat to Russians.

They pose a threat to the rights of citizens, public order and public security, she told the court.

Borisova also said Jehovahs Witnesses opposition to blood transfusions violates Russian health care laws.

Yaroslav Sivulsky, a spokesman for Jehovahs Witnesses in Russia, said in a statement they are greatly disappointed by this development and deeply concerned about how this will affect our religious activity.

Jehovahs Witnesses said they would appeal the ruling.

Jehovahs Witnesses claim more than 170,000 adherents in Russia. The group has come under increasing pressure over the past year, including a ban on distributing literature deemed to violate Russias anti-extremism laws.

Human Rights Watch criticized Thursdays decision as an impediment to religious freedom in Russia.

The Supreme Courts ruling to shut down the Jehovahs Witnesses in Russia is a terrible blow to freedom of religion and association in Russia, said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

The rights group also expressed concern that if the ruling takes effect, Jehovahs Witnesses could face criminal prosecution and punishment ranging from fines to prison time.

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PARISA gunman opened fire on police on Paris iconic Champs-Elysees boulevard Thursday night, killing one officer and wounding three people before police shot and killed him. Daesh, also known as ISIS and ISIL, quickly claimed responsibility for the attack, which hit just three days before a tense presidential election.

Security already has been a dominant theme in the campaign, and the violence on the sparkling avenue threatened to weigh on voters decisions. Candidates cancelled or rescheduled final campaign events ahead of Sundays first round vote.

Investigators searched a home early Friday in an eastern suburb of Paris believed linked to the attack. A police document obtained by The Associated Press identifies the address searched in the town of Chelles as the family home of Karim Cheurfi, a 39-year-old with a criminal record.

Police tape surrounded the quiet, middle-class neighbourhood in Chelles, and worried neighbours expressed surprise at the searches. Archive reports by French newspaper Le Parisien say that Cheurfi was convicted of attacking a police officer in 2001.

Authorities are trying to determine whether one or more people might have helped the attacker, Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told reporters at the scene of the shooting.

One officer was killed and two police officers were seriously wounded when the attacker emerged from a car and used an automatic weapon to shoot at officers outside a Marks & Spencers department store at the centre of the Champs-Elysees, anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins said.

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Man shot dead at Paris Orly Airport had criminal past, was flagged for radicalism

Police say alleged Louvre attacker, questioned for first time, remained silent

A female foreign tourist also was wounded, Molins said.

Daeshs claim of responsibility just a few hours after the attack came unusually swiftly for the extremist group, which has been losing territory in Iraq and Syria.

In a statement from its Amaq news agency, the group gave a pseudonym for the shooter, Abu Yusuf al-Beljiki, indicating he was Belgian or had lived in Belgium. Belgian authorities said they had no information about the suspect. Daesh described the shootings as an attack in the heart of Paris.

The attacker had been flagged as an extremist, according to two police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.

Brandet said officers were deliberately targeted, as has happened repeatedly to French security forces in recent years, including in the run-up to the 2012 election.

Police and soldiers sealed off the area, ordering tourists back into hotels and blocking people from approaching the scene.

Emergency vehicles blocked the wide Champs-Elysees, an avenue lined with boutiques and normally packed with cars and tourists that cuts across central Paris between the Arc de Triomphe and the Tuileries Gardens. Subway stations were closed off.

The gunfire sent scores of tourists fleeing into side streets.

They were running, running, said 55-year-old Badi Ftaiti, who lives in the area. Some were crying. There were tens, maybe even hundreds of them.

French President Francois Hollande said he was convinced the circumstances of the attack in a country pointed to a terrorist act. Hollande held an emergency meeting with the prime minister Thursday night and planned to convene the defence council Friday morning.

The incident recalled two recent attacks on soldiers providing security at prominent locations around Paris: one at the Louvre museum in February and one at Orly airport last month.

Speaking in Washington during a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, U.S. President Donald Trump said the shooting looks like another terrorist attack and sent condolences to France.

A French television station hosting an event with the 11 candidates running for president briefly interrupted its broadcast to report the shootings.

Conservative contender Francois Fillon, who has campaigned against Islamic totalitarianism, said on France 2 television that he was cancelling his planned campaign stops Friday.

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who campaigns against immigration and Islamic fundamentalism, took to Twitter to offer her sympathy for law enforcement officers once again targeted. She cancelled a minor campaign stop, but scheduled another.

Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron offered his thoughts to the family of the dead officer.

Socialist Benoit Hamon tweeted his full support to police against terrorism.

The two top finishers in Sundays election will advance to a runoff on May 7.

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NAIROBI, KENYAThe head of U.S. armed forces in Africa says the force is ending its mission against Joseph Konys Lords Resistance Army because the senior leadership of the rebel group has been taken off the battlefield.

In a conference call with reporters, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser said Konys rebel group is fighting for relevancy after a number of its senior leaders have been killed or captured.

Waldhausers comments come a day after the Ugandan government announced it would end the search for Kony, the LRA leader who is wanted by the International Criminal Court. The U.S. announced last month it would end its hunt for Kony.

In 2011, the U.S. deployed roughly 100 special forces troops as advisers to fight the LRA, and sent an additional 150 airmen to assist African forces in the search for Kony.

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Canadas newest honorary citizen, Malala Yousafzai, has been feted globally as an icon in the fight for childrens rights. Shot by the Taliban when she was 15, Malala is easy for Canadians to embrace because the Taliban is easy to revile.

It is more difficult  and yet, more important  for us to see how Canada also participates in childrens suffering, both through action and through silence.

Remember the children who are assaulted not by the bullets of those we call enemies, but by the bombs of those we call friends. Among them are the children of Afghanistan, already traumatized by a lifetime of war, who had the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. militarys arsenal dropped on their country last week.

And the children of Yemen, nine of whom were killed in a botched American raid this January. One of them was Nawar al Awlaki, the 8-year-old daughter of a cleric who was assassinated extrajudicially by the U.S. in 2011; she was shot in the neck and bled to death over two hours.

Remember the indigenous children who are routinely deprived of health services, education, livable housing, and safe water: a continuation of the colonial violence underlying the Canadian citizenship that Malala now symbolically enjoys.

Over a year ago, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) ruled that the government has been racially discriminating against indigenous children by underfunding child services on reserves by many millions of dollars, and by refusing them equal access to health care because of federal-provincial jurisdictional disputes.

Cindy Blackstock, who has been advocating for the rights of indigenous children at the tribunal for the last 10 years, describes the case of one terminally ill young girl who was spending her last precious days of life with her family and also required medical equipment to ensure she did not go into respiratory distress. Indian Affairs did provide it, but it took 9 to 12 months. I cant imagine how horrible it was for [her] parents to see a government deny children basic equipment to breathe while boasting that Canada was one of the richest countries in the world.

But despite the tribunals ruling, the government has refused to address the inequity; the CHRT has already issued two non-compliance orders, and is currently considering a third.

Remember the children who experience the racism of over-expulsion and over-policing in Canadian schools. Earlier this year, a 6-year-old black girl was handcuffed by police in her classroom in Mississauga. Last week, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) released a report showing that almost half of all students expelled over the last five years were black, even though black students comprise only 12 per cent of the TDSBs population.

Unless we start by addressing ... the bias that each one of us brings to our spaces each and everyday, then I dont know if we are ever going to be able to confront the problem, acknowledged TDSB executive superintendent Jim Spyropoulos.

And remember the hundreds of children who are locked up by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) every year, even though they have never committed any crime. Unlike many other countries, including the U.S. and Mexico, Canada permits immigration authorities to detain people indefinitely.

Alpha Anawa, for example, was born in the Toronto Immigration Holding Centre, and spent the first two-and-a-half years of his life in captivity before he and his mother were deported. Aaliya was 8 years old when she was picked up by the CBSA during recess, and was imprisoned for more than a year with her mother Naimah.

We begged them to put me under house arrest so that my child could go to school, Naimah told the authors of Invisible Citizens, a report on the immigration detention of Canadian children from the University of Torontos International Human Rights Program.

Introducing Malala at the House of Commons, Prime Minister Trudeau said he couldnt imagine a world where my sons Xavier and Hadrien could enjoy the gift of learning, but my daughter Ella Grace could not.

But such a discriminatory world is not so alien to Canada, where girls, as well as boys, are systematically denied education, health, and freedom because of their race and immigration status (either their parents or their own).

As Cindy Blackstock reminds us, children only get one childhood  and all too often, they are robbed even of that.

Azeezah Kanji is a legal analyst based in Toronto. She writes in the Star every other Thursday.

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With Tesla's (TSLA) - Get Free Report stock riding high -- up 43% year to date -- a lot has to go right in order for shares to maintain their lofty levels. For starters, many investors' faith is riding on the company's ability to mass produce its Model 3 sedan.

The goal here is simple: Mass produce an affordable sedan (starting around $35,000) that consumers will buy in higher quantities due to the lower pricing and a better experience. However, in order to meet that demand, Tesla has to dramatically increase its production and aims to produce about 500,000 total vehicles per year in 2018.

It won't help if Tesla's acquisition of Grohmann hits a serious snag. According to some reports, union officials want to see higher wages at the German-based Grohmann company. They argued that wages are 30% below union rates.

Tesla argued this notion and explained that it had paid out bonuses and stock options to workers. The company also said it won't impact the timeline for the Model 3.

Still, if anything gets in the way, it could lead to investor disappointment. With a stock trading this high and with a valuation this rich, any "fly in the ointment," as they say, could hinder the stock price.

Of course, a short-term blip could be erased if the Model 3 exceeds expectations.

Shares of Tesla closed at $305.52 Wednesday, up 1.8%.

Alphabet's (GOOGL) - Get Free Report Google Earth has captivated many users over the years - myself included! Panning around the world and getting intricate looks at cities or coast lines has consumed many hours for the geographically-interested. Whether it was looking for cool markings in the hills or seeing what neighborhood your hotel will be in, most of us are familiar with the platform.

But now, Google Earth is seeing a big overhaul. In its first major update since 2012, the platform now has intense 3-D maps and guided tours.

Pieced together 3-D renderings from satellites and Google's Street View allows users to see a whole new world rather than just looking in from above. While not available in every location, it certainly makes for a more intense viewing process.

Google has also implemented Voyager, which as of now has 50 tours for users to experience. After working with scientists, Planet Earth, NASA and more, Voyage truly is spectacular. This curated content will be updated weekly and allows users even more exploration.

While not available just yet, Voyager will take a true leap of excitement if Google announces virtual reality compatibility in the future.

Shares of Alphabet closed at $856.51 Wednesday, up 0.3%.

Alphabet and Apple (see next item) are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells GOOGL or AAPL? Learn more now.

After skipping the Mobile World Congress earlier this year, Xiaomi is now unveiling its Mi6 smartphone device.

As usual, the device is reminiscent of Apple's (AAPL) - Get Free Report latest iPhone -- 12mp dual rear camera, no headphone jack, etc. -- but it's got some features of its own. Standard memory storage starts at 64 GB, with the device starting at around $360 (or 2499 RMB).

The question is, will this year's new device help propel sales? Xiaomi flew onto the seen, making seemingly flashy tech gadgets and charging a fraction of the price compared to companies like Apple and Samsung (SSNLF) .

The Chinese company has stopped reporting how many devices it sells now, after selling 70 million in 2015. While impressive, it was short of its 80 million unit goal, which was reduced from 100 million earlier.

It's unclear how 2016 went for Xiaomi, but it doesn't seem good. In any regard, the company's hope is that 2017 will be a rebound year. As they said earlier this year, "the worst is over."

Apple isn't hoping that's the case, but Xiaomi sure is.

Shares of Apple closed at $140.68 Wednesday, down 0.4%.

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.
Despite huge challenges, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) - Get Free Report Chairman and CEO Miles White said Wednesday he remains upbeat on the outlook for two big deals the company has embarked upon in the last year, the just-closed $33 billion acquisition of St. Jude Medical Inc. and the recently restructured agreement to acquire Alere (ALR) - Get Free Report for $500 million less than the companies' original plan.

White addressed the mergers' pitfalls in a call with analysts to discuss Abbott's first quarter results.

Shares of the medical device, nutritional products and pharmaceutical maker rose 0.37% Wednesday to $43.59, up 16 cents.

Concerns hovering over the mergers were among the factors pushing the shares down. The biggest concern about the St. Jude deal is a warning letter from regulators last week about quality control at a California manufacturing plant.

A Food and Drug Administration inspection of the Sylmar, Calif. acquired from St. Jude began soon after Abbott closed the deal in January. The FDA made 483 observations requiring corrective actions at the plant. The FDA raised concerns about whether Good Manufacturing Practices were followed at the plant, where the Merlin home monitor and the Fortify, Unify and Assura implantable cardiac defibrillators are produced.

White said the warning letter "is clearly a disappointment but not unanticipated." The company had been working with St. Jude and FDA officials about the plant's issues for some time.

White could not estimate when the problems would be cleared up but said there already has been "a fair amount of dialogue with FDA officials about the matter."

He also said that Abbott itself has a good reputation at the FDA regarding manufacturing controls and that should give regulators confidence that the company can address the plant's problems adequately.

Ultimately, "the impact will depend on our response and how effective it is," he said. "We've got excellent people on that."

White added that Abbott is not limiting its internal review of plant manufacturing process to the Sylmar facility but also wants to make sure other plants are following GMP processes too.

White also was positive about the long-term prospects for integrating Alere into the fold despite a lengthy dispute between the two companies over their merger plans.

Abbott and Alere announced April 14, that they'd agreed to restructure their merger contract, ending litigation between the two healthcare companies. Abbott will now pay $51 per Alere share, or $5.3 billion in equity value.

In their original merger agreement, announced Feb. 1, 2016, Abbott agreed to pay $56 per share, an equity value of $5.8 billion, with an enterprise value of $7.9 billion. Disputes quickly arose, however, with Abbott on Dec. 7 filing a suit against Alere in the Delaware Court of Chancery seeking to terminate the agreement. Abbott argued that Alere had experienced material adverse events which warranted termination as defined in their contract; Alere countered that the suit was baseless and only wanted to back out of the deal because it wanted to buy St. Jude instead.

Despite the battle, White said Monday that Alere still offers an attractive business to Abbott. "We like the space; we like the expansion of our diagnostics business."

He characterized the settlement with Alere as "fair."

The deal still must be approved by the Federal Trade Commission and he said some divestitures will have to be made.

"We will divest a couple of pieces," White said. "When we announced the deal, that wasn't clear."

White said the most challenging part of completing the Alere deal isn't obtaining FTC approval but winning over Alere shareholders, who are taking a haircut.

"The long pole in the tent isn't the divestiture but the shareholder vote," he said.

In a note Tuesday Leerink analyst Danielle Antalffy said the firm has a $48 price target on the shares but remains cautious due to concern about the company's ability to hit synergy targets for its just-completed acquisition of St. Jude as well as the restructured acquisition of Alere.

Antalffy said the major risks to Abbott's valuation include the possibility that the Alere acquisition fails to close, the potential for slower growth and increasing competition for major products, including Abbott's Xience drug-eluting stent, any product recalls or manufacturing warning letters that could lead to costly remediation costs or hinder sales.
Shares of Qualcomm (QCOM) - Get Free Report were down about 1.6% in morning trading on Thursday, as the company's top and bottom line beat for the 2017 second quarter was somewhat overshadowed by confirmation that original design manufacturers associated with Apple (AAPL) - Get Free Report are withholding royalty payments to Qualcomm.

For the past quarter, Qualcomm reported earnings of $1.34 per share, topping analyst expectations for $1.19 per share. Revenue came in at $5.99 billion for the quarter, also topping consensus estimates for $5.89 billion.

During the earnings call, the chip maker revealed that Apple's suppliers have withheld about $1 billion from the company as part of the ongoing legal dispute that started in January when Apple filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Qualcomm for anticompetitive behavior. Apple filed the complaint after the Federal Trade Commission filed its own lawsuit against Qualcomm for making Apple use its baseband chips that require higher patent royalties. Analysts see the legal dispute as creating uncertainty for the company's future in the near-term.

Earlier this month, Qualcomm extended a deadline for its $110 per share tender offer for NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) - Get Free Report to May 2 from April 4. The company still sees the deal closing by year's end.

For the third quarter, Qualcomm sees earnings coming in between $0.90 and $1.15 per share, vs. expectations for $1.09 per share. Revenue for the third quarter is expected by Qualcomm to come in between $5.3 billion and $6.1 billion, vs. consensus estimates for $5.94 billion.

To hear how analysts are interpreting a winning quarter weighed down by uncertainty over Apple suppliers withholding payments, keep reading.

Pacific Crest Securities, Michael McConnell (Overweight, price target lowered to $77 from $81)

"Strong Results and Lower Guidance; Apple Payment Uncertainty Lingers: We remain buyers because of (1) significant EPS accretion and end-market diversification away from mobile from the pending NXP acquisition, and (2) an attractive dividend yield of 4.3%. . . Apple CMs have withheld ~$1 billion from QCOM. Apple withheld the funds from its CMs, and now they have cut payments to QUALCOMM by the same amount. However, CMs acknowledge that the underpaid amount is still due, QUALCOMM has already received royalty reports for the March quarter (for QTL's FQ3), and it says Apple has no further basis to withhold payments since the BCPA expired. . . Lower QTL guidance (due to payment uncertainty) prompts lower estimates and target."

BMO Capital Markets, Tim Long (Market Perform, price target lowered to $54 from $60)

"QCOM reported mostly positive headline numbers, but our concerns with the stock remain grounded in a number of new and persistent issues. In QTL, the Apple dispute adds uncertainty, but we learned of another OEM withholding payments (likely Samsung) just a few days after the loss to Blackberry in arbitration. Chip share deterioration continues, and we see risk of further loss at AAPL. Our estimates do go higher owing to some better items in the model, but we expect the stock to remain in a trading range. . . As we expected, ODMs withheld what AAPL held back from them. QCOM recorded the $1B in revenues anyway. We expect and model a $1B annual tailwind from QCOM no longer having to pay the rebate, and we do not assume more underpayment from AAPL for the time being. However, given the rocky relationship, AAPL could withhold further payments from its ODMs, forcing their hand again on underpaying QCOM. Neither we nor management expect AAPL to withhold the entirety of royalty payments."

Apple and NXPare holdings in Jim Cramer'sAction Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AAPL or NXPI? Learn more now.

Canaccord, T. Michael Walkley (Buy, price target lowered to $75 from $76)

"Despite the strong results, the ongoing dispute with Apple regarding royalty payments remains the key issue impacting the share price, and we believe the Apple dispute could last well into C2018. Qualcomm disclosed Apple's ODM partners such as Foxconn, Pegatron, and Wistron underpaid Qualcomm roughly $1B or the amount Apple believes Qualcomm owes Apple relating to a Cooperation Agreement that expired at the end of C2016. . . We believe the current share price is assuming some worst case scenario outcomes as outlined in Figure 1 on page 4 such as the NXP acquisition does not close and Apple no longer pays royalties to Qualcomm. Therefore, we believe Qualcomm is an attractive investment opportunity for longer-term investors during this time of uncertainty."

JPMorgan, Rod Hall (Neutral, $55 price target)

"We remain Neutral on Qualcomm as our positive thesis has played out and the benefits from its plan to acquire NXPI wouldn't be accruing fully until next year. Meanwhile, we believe that ongoing royalty litigation with Apple in the US and in China creates material risk to earnings. On the positive side, we believe that margins in the QCT business are improving and the company is making commendable progress in collecting royalties in China. However, due to earnings risk created by Apple's ongoing litigation we remain on the sidelines."

William Blair, Anil Doradla (Market Perform)

"In our opinion, the primary focus of the report was Qualcomm's multiple active lawsuits and the continued lack of clarity around their resolution. In addition, based on management's commentary, we came away with the sense that it is proving equally difficult for the company to accurately quantify the impact of these legal headwinds. We came away from the call incrementally less confident in the company's ability to focus on successfully integrating NXP (NXPI $104.23) as we believe management will continue to focus on resolving disputes with Apple (AAPL $140.68; Outperform), the FTC, the KFTC, contract manufacturers, and other licensing customers. . . Bottom line, we expect investors to remain concerned about the outlook for Qualcomm's licensing model, and we believe that the uncertainty inherent in the story will continue to overshadow the potential positives from the company's acquisition of NXP."
Oman Oil, Oman's state-owned energy producer, is exploring the sale of some of its energy assets and listing some units on the local stock market, Bloomberg reports.

The move follows plans by its larger peer Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state oil company, to offer shares to the public.

The firm is reportedly seeking advice from bankers.

Oman Oil hopes to attract more foreign investment into the country, Oman Oil Minister Mohammed Al Rumhy said in an interview in Abu Dhabi.

"We are looking at the IPO option because we want to give a boost to the local stock market, and we want to see more foreign direct investments coming to the country," Al Rumhy said.
The following companies are subsidiares of InterContinental Hotels Group: 2250 Blake Street Hotel LLC, 24th Street Operator Sub LLC, 36th Street IHG Sub LLC, 426 Main Ave LLC, 46 Nevins Street Associates LLC, Allegro Management LLC, Alpha Kimball Hotel LLC, American Commonwealth Assurance Co. Ltd., Asia Pacific Holdings Limited, BHMC Canada Inc., BHR Holdings B.V., BHR Luxembourg SARL, BHR Pacific Holdings Inc., BHTC Canada Inc., BOC Barclay Sub LLC, Barclay Operating Corp., Bristol Oakbrook Tenant Company, Cafe Biarritz, Cambridge Lodging LLC, Capital Lodging LLC, Compania Inter-Continental De Hoteles El Salvador SA, Crowne Plaza Amsterdam (Management) B.V., Crowne Plaza LLC, Cumberland Akers Hotel LLC, Dunwoody Operations Inc., EVEN Real Estate Holding LLC, Edinburgh IC Limited, General Innkeeping Acceptance Corporation, Guangzhou SC Hotels Services Ltd., H.I. (Ireland) Limited, H.I. Soaltee Management Company Ltd, HC International Holdings Inc., HH France Holdings SAS, HH Hotels (EMEA) B.V., HH Hotels (Romania) SRL, HI Sugarloaf LLC, HIM (Aruba) NV, Hale International Ltd., Hoft Properties LLC, Holiday Hospitality Franchising LLC, Holiday Inn Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Holiday Inns (China) Ltd, Holiday Inns (Chongqing) Inc., Holiday Inns (Courtalin) Holdings SAS, Holiday Inns (Courtalin) SAS, Holiday Inns (England) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Germany) LLC, Holiday Inns (Guangzhou) Inc., Holiday Inns (Jamaica) Inc., Holiday Inns (Malaysia) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Middle East) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Philippines) Inc., Holiday Inns (Saudi Arabia) Inc., Holiday Inns (South East Asia) Inc., Holiday Inns (Thailand) Ltd., Holiday Inns (UK) Inc., Holiday Inns Crowne Plaza (Hong Kong) Inc., Holiday Inns Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd, Holiday Inns Inc., Holiday Inns Investment (Nepal) Ltd., Holiday Inns of America (UK) Ltd., Holiday Inns of Belgium N.V., Holiday Pacific Equity Corporation, Holiday Pacific LLC, Holiday Pacific Partners LP, Hotel Inter-Continental London Limited, Hotel InterContinental London (Holdings) Limited, Hoteles Y Turismo HIH SRL, IC Hotelbetriebsfuhrungs GmbH, IC Hotels Management (Portugal) Unipessoal Lda, IC International Hotels Limited Liability Company, IHC (Thailand) Limited, IHC Buckhead LLC, IHC Edinburgh (Holdings), IHC Hopkins (Holdings) Corp., IHC Hotel Limited, IHC Inter-Continental (Holdings) Corp., IHC London (Holdings), IHC M-H (Holdings) Corp., IHC May Fair (Holdings) Limited, IHC May Fair Hotel Limited, IHC Overseas (U.K.) Limited, IHC UK (Holdings) Limited, IHC United States (Holdings) Corp., IHC Willard (Holdings) Corp., IHG (Australasia) Limited, IHG (Marseille) SAS, IHG (Thailand) Limited, IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan LLC, IHG ANA Hotels Holdings Co. Ltd., IHG Bangkok Ltd, IHG Brasil Administracao de Hoteis e Servicos Ltda, IHG Commission Services SRL, IHG Community Development LLC, IHG Cyprus Limited, IHG ECS (Barbados) SRL, IHG Franchising Brasil Ltda, IHG Franchising DR Corporation, IHG Franchising LLC, IHG Hotels (New Zealand) Limited, IHG Hotels Limited, IHG Hotels Management (Australia) Pty Limited, IHG Hotels Nigeria Limited, IHG Hotels South Africa (Pty) Ltd, IHG International Partnership, IHG Istanbul Otel Yonetim Limited Sirketi, IHG Japan (Management) LLC, IHG Japan (Osaka) LLC, IHG Management (Maryland) LLC, IHG Management (Netherlands) B.V., IHG Management MD Barclay Sub LLC, IHG Management SL d.o.o, IHG Management d.o.o. Beograd, IHG Orchard Street Member LLC, IHG PS Nominees Limited, IHG Systems Pty Ltd, IHG Szalloda Budapest Szolgaltato Kft., IHG de Argentina SA, IND East Village SD Holdings LLC, Inter-Continental D.C. Operating Corp., Inter-Continental Florida Investment Corp., Inter-Continental Florida Partner Corp., Inter-Continental Hospitality Corporation, Inter-Continental Hoteleira Limitada, Inter-Continental Hotels (Montreal) Operating Corp., Inter-Continental Hotels (Montreal) Owning Corp., Inter-Continental Hotels (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation, Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation de Venezuela C.A., Inter-Continental Hotels of San Francisco Inc., Inter-Continental IOHC (Mauritius) Limited, Inter-Continental Management (Australia) Pty Limited, InterContinental (Branston) 1 Limited, InterContinental (PB) 1, InterContinental (PB) 2, InterContinental (PB) 3 Limited, InterContinental Berlin Service Company GmbH, InterContinental Brasil Administracao de Hoteis Ltda, InterContinental Gestion Hotelera S.L., InterContinental Hotel Berlin GmbH, InterContinental Hotel Dusseldorf GmbH (Germany), InterContinental Hotels (Puerto Rico) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, InterContinental Hotels Group (Australia) Pty Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (Canada) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (Espana) SA, InterContinental Hotels Group (Greater China) Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (India) Pvt. Ltd, InterContinental Hotels Group (Japan) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (New Zealand) Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (Shanghai) Ltd., InterContinental Hotels Group Customer Services Ltd., InterContinental Hotels Group Healthcare Trustee Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group Operating Corp., InterContinental Hotels Group Resources Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group Services Company, InterContinental Hotels Group do Brasil Limitada, InterContinental Hotels Italia S.r.L., InterContinental Hotels Limited, InterContinental Hotels Management GmbH, InterContinental Hotels Nevada Corporation, InterContinental Management AM LLC, InterContinental Management Bulgaria EOOD, InterContinental Management France SAS, InterContinental Management Poland sp. z.o.o, InterContinental Overseas Holding Corporation, Intercontinental Hotels Corporation Limited, KG Benefits LLC, KG Gift Card Inc., KG Liability LLC, KG Technology LLC, KHP Washington Operator LLC, KHRG 11th Avenue Hotel LLC, KHRG 851 LLC, KHRG Aertson LLC, KHRG Alexandria LLC, KHRG Alexis LLC, KHRG Allegro LLC, KHRG Argyle LLC, KHRG Austin Beverage Company LLC, KHRG Baltimore LLC, KHRG Born LLC, KHRG Boston Hotel LLC, KHRG Canary LLC, KHRG Cayman Employer Ltd., KHRG Cayman LLC, KHRG DC 1731 LLC, KHRG DC 2505 LLC, KHRG Donovan LLC, KHRG Employer LLC, KHRG Goleta LLC, KHRG Gray LLC, KHRG Gray U2 LLC, KHRG Hillcrest LLC, KHRG Huntington Beach LLC, KHRG King Street LLC, KHRG La Peer LLC, KHRG Miami Beach LLC, KHRG Muse LLC, KHRG NPC LLC, KHRG Onyx LLC, KHRG Palladian LLC, KHRG Palomar Phoenix LLC, KHRG Philly Monaco LLC, KHRG Pittsburgh LLC, KHRG Reynolds LLC, KHRG Riverplace LLC, KHRG SFD LLC, KHRG Sacramento LLC, KHRG Savannah LLC, KHRG Schofield LLC, KHRG Sedona LLC, KHRG State Street LLC, KHRG Sutter LLC, KHRG Sutter Union LLC, KHRG Taconic LLC, KHRG Tariff LLC, KHRG Texas Hospitality LLC, KHRG Texas Operations LLC, KHRG Tryon LLC, KHRG VZ Austin LLC, KHRG Vero Beach LLC, KHRG Vintage Park LLC, KHRG WPB LLC, KHRG Wabash LLC, KHRG Westwood LLC, KHRG Wilshire LLC, KHRG Zamora LLC, Kimpton Hollywood Licenses LLC, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group LLC, Kimpton Phoenix Licenses Holdings LLC, Kimpton Sedona Licenses LLC, Louisiana Acquisitions Corp., MH Lodging LLC, Mercer Fairview Holdings LLC, PML Services LLC, PT SC Hotels & Resorts Indonesia, Pollstrong Limited, Powell Pine Inc., Priscilla Holiday of Texas Inc., RM Lodging LLC, Regent Hotels and Resorts, Resort Services International (Cayo Largo) L.P., SBS Maryland Beverage Company LLC, SC Cellars Limited, SC Hotels International Services Inc., SC Leisure Group Limited, SC NAS 2 Limited, SC Quest Limited, SC Reservations (Philippines) Inc., SCH Insurance Company, SCIH Branston 3, SF MH Acquisition LLC, SPHC Group Pty Ltd., SPHC Management Ltd., Semiramis for training of Hotel Personnel and Hotel Management SAE, Six Continents Corporate Services, Six Continents Holdings Limited, Six Continents Hotels Inc., Six Continents Hotels International Limited, Six Continents Hotels de Colombia SA, Six Continents International Holdings B.V., Six Continents Investments Limited, Six Continents Limited, Six Continents Overseas Holdings Limited, Six Continents Restaurants Limited, SixCo North America Inc., Solamar Lodging LLC, Southern Pacific Hotel Corporation (BVI) Ltd., Southern Pacific Hotels Properties Limited, Universal de Hoteles SA, White Shield Insurance Company Limited, and World Trade Centre Montreal Hotel Corporation.

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Kinder Morgan, Inc. operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. The company operates through four segments: Natural Gas Pipelines, Products Pipelines, Terminals, and CO2. The Natural Gas Pipelines segment owns and operates interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline, and underground storage systems; natural gas gathering systems and natural gas processing and treating facilities; natural gas liquids fractionation facilities and transportation systems; and liquefied natural gas liquefaction and storage facilities. The Products Pipelines segment owns and operates refined petroleum products, and crude oil and condensate pipelines; and associated product terminals and petroleum pipeline transmix facilities. The Terminals segment owns and/or operates liquids and bulk terminals that stores and handles various commodities, including gasoline, diesel fuel, chemicals, ethanol, metals, and petroleum coke; and owns tankers. The CO2 segment produces, transports, and markets CO2 to recovery and production crude oil from mature oil fields; owns interests in/or operates oil fields and gasoline processing plants; and operates a crude oil pipeline system in West Texas, as well as owns and operates RNG and LNG facilities. It owns and operates approximately 83,000 miles of pipelines and 143 terminals. The company was formerly known as Kinder Morgan Holdco LLC and changed its name to Kinder Morgan, Inc. in February 2011. Kinder Morgan, Inc. was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Hexcel Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets structural materials for use in commercial aerospace, space and defense, and industrial markets. It operates through two segments, Composite Materials and Engineered Products. The Composite Materials segment manufactures and markets carbon fibers, fabrics and specialty reinforcements, prepregs and other fiber-reinforced matrix materials, structural adhesives, honeycomb, molding compounds, tooling materials, polyurethane systems, and laminates that are used in military and commercial aircraft, wind turbine blades, recreational products, and other industrial applications, as well as in automotive, marine, and trains. The Engineered Products segment manufactures and markets aircraft structures and finished aircraft components, including wing to body fairings, wing panels, flight deck panels, door liners, rotorcraft blades, spars, and tip caps; and aircraft structural sub-components and semi-finished components used in rotorcraft blades, engine nacelles, and aircraft surfaces, such as flaps, wings, elevators, and fairings. The company sells its products directly through its managers, product managers, and sales personnel, as well as through independent distributors and manufacturer representatives in the Americas, Europe, the Asia Pacific, India, and Africa. Hexcel Corporation was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer that provides clothing, accessories, and personal care products under the American Eagle and Aerie brands. The company provides jeans, and specialty apparel and accessories for women and men; and intimates, apparel, activewear, and swim collections, as well as personal care products for women. It also offers graphic tees and other clothing products under the Tailgate brand name; and menswear products under the Todd Snyder New York brand name. As of January 29, 2022, the company operated 880 American Eagle stores, 244 Aerie brand stand-alone stores, and five Todd Snyder stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Hong Kong. It also ships to 81 countries through its Websites; and offers its merchandise at 260 locations operated by licensees in 28 countries, as well as provides products through its Websites ae.com, aerie.com, and toddsnyder.com. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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.
- Controversial preacher Emmanuel Makandiwa has claimed that God is "evil" and commits sin

- Makandiwa claimed in a sermon that God needs a prophet like him to instruct him

- His comments have drawn the ire of many Christians in Zimbabwe

A controversial preacher in Zimbabwe has reportedly claimed that God is "evil," commits sin and therefore needs a prophet like him to remain righteous.

According to zimeye.net, a local news outlet, Emmanuel Makandiwa claimed during an Easter sermon that God was about to commit sin and was only saved by prophet Moses.

Makandiwa is reported to have said: "Some of you do not understand how God respects the office of the prophet."

Preacher Emmanuel Makandiwa

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Makandiwa is said to have used scriptures written in old Elizabethan English to justify his claim that God regularly needs instructions from prophets.

However, his claims have drawn the ire of Zimbabwe's Christians, many of whom have condemned him.

READ ALSO: Pastor burns thousands of Bibles for the most bizarre reason

Gabriel Manyangadze, a pastor with the Dutch Reformed Church in Harare, said Makandiwa was mistaken and had failed to "interpret the simple canon of scripture."

On social media, more Christians poured scorn on Makandiwa's claims. Hilda Tendai said: "Oh no! It's scary! Blasphemy! What? My first time to hear that God can sin! Actually, please I don't want to believe I just heard this man saying these evil words!"

READ ALSO: "Without money, you can't contact God:" Preacher extorts cash from congregants

Another commenter, Lovemore Evans Matsvai, said: "This is the height of heresy. It's time to flee from this man. I used to listen to all his sermons but the devil seems to have won him to his side. How do you teach God righteousness when he is the author and standard?"

Watch Makandiwa's controversial claims in the video below.

Have something to add to this article or suggestions? Send to news@tuko.co.ke

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Ukraine and Iran have agreed to launch a freight train that will transport agriculture products between the countries, particularly grain crops, the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministrys press service reports.

According to Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelian, the route will pass through the territory of Georgia and Azerbaijan.

This is an extremely promising direction of cooperation for the both countries. Ukraine should develop new international transport corridors in order to become a reliable transit bridge between the countries of Europe, Asia and the East, said the minister.

He also noted that the test train on the Ukraine-Iran route could be launched as early as in the summer of 2017.

Volodymyr Omelian also called on the Iranian side to consider the possibility of transporting the Iranian oil to Ukraine, as well as prospects of building an oil refinery in Ukraine.

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First Vice Prime Minister, Economic Development and Trade Minister of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv has met with Deputy Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland Ryszard Terlecki.

Ukrainian Vice PM has stressed the importance of Ukraine's industrial dialogue with Poland and the EU, the development of innovative projects, IT projects, cooperation in the space industry and aircraft construction, the press service of the Economic Development and Trade Ministry of Ukraine reports.

"Stepan Kubiv stressed the importance of Ukraine's industrial dialogue with Poland and the EU, the development of innovative projects, IT projects, cooperation in the space industry and aircraft construction, as well as further active interaction between the enterprises, students and NGOs," the statement says.

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The Arctic is a dead end for floating plastic waste dumped in the Atlantic Ocean off Europe and the United States and swept north by ocean currents to a polar graveyard, scientists said Wednesday.

Levels of plastic found east of Greenland and in the Barents Sea off Norway and Russia were far higher than expected for the sparsely populated regions, according to the report showing how man-made pollution extends even to remote parts of the globe.

"The northeastern Atlantic sector of the Arctic Ocean appeared as a dead end for the surface transport of plastic pollution," the authors wrote in the open access journal Science Advances.

The survey, by the Tara Oceans circumpolar expedition that sampled 42 Arctic sites in 2013 with nets, found hundreds of thousands of mostly tiny bits of plastic per square kilometer (square mile) in the northeastern Atlantic region.

Much of the plastic was apparently old and had floated north from Europe and North America. Levels were comparable to those in ocean gyres, vast swirling currents nearer the equator, where plastic debris is known to accumulate, they wrote.

"Ninety-nine percent of the floating plastic in the Arctic was confined in the Greenland and Barents Seas," lead author Andres Cozar of the University of Cadiz in Spain told Reuters.

"The plastic pollution in the rest of the Arctic Polar Circle was low or absent," he said.

Global warming could open the Arctic to more pollution, partly as the extent of sea ice shrinks. "High loads of marine plastic pollution may become prevalent in the Arctic in the future," the study said.

The study said there was "special concern" about the impact of plastic on fragile Arctic wildlife, including on the seabed where bits may eventually sink.

Northern fulmar birds on the Arctic Svalbard islands north of Norway, for instance, have been found with high levels of plastic in their stomachs from discarded plastic bags, fishing nets and other trash.

Separately, the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), which was not involved in the report, is examining wider pollution risks from plastics.

"We're looking to see how big the problem is for the Arctic  both the physical plastic and the chemicals attached to the surface," Lars-Otto Reiersen, executive secretary of AMAP, told Reuters.
Ethiopia's prime minister is rejecting requests by the United Nations and the European Union to investigate months of anti-government protests that left hundreds dead.



Hailemariam Desalegn spoke to local journalists a day after the state-affiliated Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said at least 669 people were killed during the protests that began in November 2015 and led to the country's current state of emergency. Most of the dead were civilians.



The prime minister said Wednesday that not allowing the outside investigations is an issue of sovereignty. The state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate quoted him as saying there is nothing his government wants to hide.



Opposition figures have questioned the commission's report, which largely blamed opposition groups and foreign media for the unrest and said security forces used ``proportionate measures'' to counter it.
Evacuations from besieged Syrian towns resumed Wednesday after being put on hold by a bombing Saturday that killed at least 126 people.

Syrian state media and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said buses carried 3,000 people from the government-held towns of Foua and Kfarya, which have been subject to siege by rebel fighters.

Other buses brought several hundred people from the rebel-held areas of Madaya and Zabadani where pro-government forces are responsible for sieges.

The transfers are being done as part of an agreement reached last month.

Saturday's bombing in Rashideen hit a convoy of buses that was transporting people from pro-government areas, and most of those killed were evacuees.

The U.N. Security Council condemned the attack in a statement Tuesday, calling it "barbaric and cowardly."
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday called the Islamic State terror group a "tool" of the United States, and dismissed criticism of Russia for its ties with Taliban and efforts to bring the militant group into peace talks.

"After it [the U.S.] dropped the bomb on Afghanistan, it did not eliminate Daesh," Karzai said, referring to last week's "mother of all bombs [MOAB]" attack against Islamic State.

"I consider Daesh their tool," Karzai told VOA's Afghan service in an exclusive interview in Kabul, using the Arabic acronym for IS. "I do not differentiate at all between Daesh and America."

The United States military, in partnership with Afghan forces, has promised to eliminate IS terrorists in Afghanistan this year and contain a resurgent Taliban, citing recent battlefield successes against the two groups.

IS-controlled territory

U.S. military spokesman Navy Captain Bill Salvin told VOA recently that counterterrorism operations, with Afghan forces in the lead, have reduced IS-controlled territory by "two-thirds" and the number of its fighters by "more than 50 percent."

Despite strong anti-IS efforts by the United States  especially in recent weeks  Karzai told VOA that the U.S.-led fight against IS has been "weak" over the past two years. He said there is plenty of evidence to back up his allegation, even though the U.S. has been fighting to wipe out IS and its allies in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.

During most of his two terms in office, Karzai had close ties with the United States, whose invasion of Afghanistan to root out terrorist strongholds paved the way for his rise to power. He was welcomed at the White House and taken into confidence on U.S. military strategy in his country.

But his relationship with Washington has turned increasingly acrimonious in recent years. He sharply denounced the U.S. use of the bomb known as MOAB against IS underground headquarters in Afghanistan last week, adding that his successor, Ashraf Ghani, was a traitor for allowing the attack.

"They dropped an atomic bomb on Afghanistan  there's no difference between 'the mother of all bombs' and an atomic bomb," Karzai said.

IS has made inroads in Afghanistan in recent years and has claimed responsibility for deadly attacks, including last month's assault on a military hospital in Kabul that killed more than 30 people and injured 80 others.

Meanwhile, Taliban has been contesting government forces in key provinces nationwide.

Russia connections

Taliban connections with Russia have increasingly come under the spotlight as Moscow seeks to increase its influence in the nation it once occupied and to counter Islamic State expansion from Afghanistan to neighboring Central Asian countries.

Mounting allegations of Russian military involvement on the ground in Afghanistan have drawn concern from U.S. and Afghan authorities that Russia is working behind the scenes to help the Taliban battle Afghan forces and militant groups in the country, such as IS.

In his interview with VOA, Karzai dismissed criticism of Moscow's ties with the Taliban. Karzai has become closer to Russia since leaving office, saying during a visit to Moscow in 2015 to meet with President Vladimir Putin that he supported the annexation of Crimea.

"They talk to the Taliban," Karzai said of Russia. "The U.S. also talks to the Taliban. Norway, Germany and other countries also talk to them. Russia also has the right to hold talks with the Taliban."

News reports last October said at least one U.S. official participated in three rounds of "informal meetings" between the Afghan government and Taliban.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner would not comment on the reports at the time, but said the U.S. was "committed to promoting a negotiated settlement to end the Afghan conflict."

Avoid bolstering Taliban legitimacy

But U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, who held talks with Afghan leaders in Kabul last weekend, said nations should avoid bolstering Taliban legitimacy.

"No one should support the Taliban," McMaster said, when asked to comment on Russia's overt contacts with the group. "No one should support armed resistance against the Afghan government and the Afghan people."

Still, Karzai told VOA: "The Taliban is a major reality in today's Afghanistan. The Americans themselves say that they [Taliban] control 50 percent of the Afghan territory. When a force controls 50 percent, countries have no option but to talk to them. The U.S. itself talks to them  they meet them in their office in Qatar."

U.S. and Afghan accounting of Taliban territory holdings do not support Karzai's claim.

The Afghan government said it currently controls nearly two-thirds of the country's 407 districts. The Taliban controls 33 districts, less than 10 percent of the national total, and a recent U.S. military assessment lists 116 districts  more than one-quarter of the country  as "contested" areas.

Russia has acknowledged political ties with Taliban. But Russian officials said Moscow is not supplying Taliban militants with arms and training, and that their contacts are only aimed at facilitating the peace process in Afghanistan.

"We do not provide any financial or military assistance to the Taliban. The allegations [of Russian assistance] are just a rumor and baseless," Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Alexander Mantytskiy told reporters Wednesday in Kabul.

'Regional approach'

Moscow last week hosted a new expanded round of multination "consultations" it has recently launched with the stated goals of developing a "regional approach" for promoting Afghan security and a government-led national reconciliation with the Taliban.

But the U.S. administration refused to take part in the conference, questioning Russian intentions and motives. Washington was not invited to the previous round of talks.

"The main question on the agenda was the coordination of regional efforts aimed on supporting the process of national reconciliation in Afghanistan in the interest of the speedy restoration of peace in the country," Mantytskiy said. "The participants expressed shared concern regarding the rise of the terrorist activities in Afghanistan leading to the further escalation of the conflict."

Karzai told VOA that the U.S. is not sincere in bringing peace in the country.

"A conference was recently convened in Moscow. Why didn't America participate in it?" Karzai asked. "Why did it ask the Afghan government to send a low-level delegation to the conference?"

Karzai said that since 2008, he repeatedly relayed his displeasure with Americans to Putin who, he said, remained skeptical until 2012-13.

"But when I complained again during a gathering in Kyrgyzstan, Putin told me that there might be an element of truth in it," Karzai said.
Earlier in April he was spotted in the northern countryside of the central Syrian province of Hama, where the forces of President Bashar al-Assad have been battling a surprise rebel offensive and reportedly sustaining high casualties.

On Monday, according to local news reports, General Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran's elite Quds Force, a special forces branch of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was in Kirkuk, 1,000 kilometers from Hama, trying to broker a deal between Shi'ite militias and the Kurds about eventual control of the disputed northern Iraqi city.

The London-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, a Qatari-owned pan-Arab news outlet, reported that Soleimani's visit to Iraq's Kurdish region lasted several days, and during that time the Quds Force commander stressed that Kirkuk should remain a city for all Iraqis and shouldn't be annexed by the Kurds. He said military clashes between Kurds and Shi'ites should be avoided.

As the wars have raged in Syria and Iraq, and as Iran has deepened its military involvement, Soleimani increasingly has taken on the role, according to some analysts, as Iran's viceroy in the Levant  a mixture of soldier and satrap.

Credited as strategist

Syrian rebel commanders credit the silver-haired 59-year-old with being the principal architect last year of Assad's military strategy to retake the rebel-controlled eastern half of the city of Aleppo, and of channeling rebel militias into the neighboring province of Idlib, shaping what military strategists term a "kill zone."

Analysts and Western intelligence agencies closely observe Soleimani's movements as they try to work out what Iran's longer-term goals are for Syria and Iraq. Will both be turned into what will be seen as provinces of Iran and platforms for Tehran's regional ambitions? Who will run Iraq and Syria once the Islamic State terror group is ousted from Mosul and Raqqa?

The three countries share deep religious and cultural ties, but the power of Iran now in Syria and Iraq comes with the presence of tens of thousands of Shi'ite militiamen linked to Tehran and trained and commanded by Quds Force generals and Soleimani, who reports, reputedly, directly to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

It is thanks to Shi'ite militias and Iranian combat troops as much as to Russian airpower that battlefield fortunes have shifted in Syria to favor Assad, military observers say.

Since January 2013, more than 1,000 members of the Quds Force or other IRGC units have been killed fighting in Syria  most of them Pakistani Shi'ites recruited with the lure of Iranian citizenship and cash. Several IRGC generals have died in Syria, including Hassan Shateri, a veteran of Iran's covert wars in the Middle East, whose 2013 funeral at Amir al-Momenin Mosque in Tehran was attended by Soleimani.

Some analysts estimate that about 10,000 Iranian combat troops are in Syria, as well as thousands of fighters from Lebanon's Tehran-affiliated Shi'ite militia, Hezbollah.

As the United States and Iran jostle for influence in the Levant, Iran's growing power in Syria and Iraq is causing unease in Western capitals.

"The extent of lasting Iranian influence seems to be of special concern," analyst Sam Heller noted in a recent roundtable discussion on Syria's future by scholars at the Century Foundation, a U.S.-based research organization.

Resentment in Syria, Iraq

There's alarm even among some government loyalists in Damascus and Baghdad who chafe at Iranian clout. In the summer of 2015 in Syria, there were reports of resentment among some of Assad's Syrian commanders at the influence of Quds Force generals.

In Iraq, Shi'ite militias not under control of Tehran but loyal to Iraq's Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani have bristled at talk of Najaf, considered the third-holiest shrine by Shi'ite Muslims, eventually coming under Iranian sway. In the meantime, Tehran-loyal militias have branched out and extended their control of more Iraqi territory.

Last month, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, one of the largest militias professing allegiance to Khamenei, moved its headquarters into a palace built by Saddam Hussein in a Sunni-majority neighborhood of the Iraqi capital.

Otherwise, the Quds Force-linked Shi'ite militias have been careful to observe the overall direction of Iraq's prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, about the conduct of the battle against IS and have remained outside Mosul, allowing Iraq's regular security forces to battle inside the mainly Sunni city.

And they have avoided clashing with the 5,000 or so American troops now stationed in Iraq or the U.S.-backed Kurdish peshmerga forces. There were fears that following the U.S. cruise missile strike this month on a Syrian government airfield, Iran may have ordered Shi'ite militiamen in Iraq to retaliate.

In the longer term, though, it is unclear whether Tehran will accept a continued American military presence in Iraq  one the Iraqi prime minister said on a recent visit to Washington he would like to see.

Wider Shi'ite role

In March, Hashim al-Musawi, spokesman for the Iran-controlled militia known as the Islamic Resistance Movement in Iraq (al-Nojaba), indicated at a news conference in Tehran that his and other Iranian-affiliated Iraqi Shi'ite militias wanted to take on a more expansive role in the region once the Sunni IS militants were defeated.

He mentioned taking military action against Turkish forces based near Mosul if they didn't withdraw, and forming a brigade on the Golan Heights, controlled by the Assad government, as a means to strike at Israel. IRGC units already are thought to be stationed on the Golan Heights.

At a joint news conference April 5 in Washington with Jordan's King Abdullah, President Donald Trump was asked what he thought about the Iran-loyal militias when it comes to Syria and their support in propping up Syria's Assad.

"Will you go after them?" he was asked. "You will see," he replied. "They will have a message. You will see what message that will be."

But according to Ranj Alaaldin, an analyst at the Brookings Doha Center and author of a forthcoming book on Shi'ite militias in Iraq and Syria, Iran and its proxies "dominate realities on the ground."

"Iranian influence cannot be eliminated," he argued, it can only be contained.
Italy reported a measles epidemic Wednesday following a fall-off in vaccinations, as the United States issued a warning to visitors about the outbreak of the potentially fatal disease.

The Health Ministry said there had been almost 1,500 registered cases of measles so far this year, compared with 840 in all of 2016 and 250 in 2015.

"Italy and Romania have an epidemic at the moment," said Walter Ricciardi, president of the Higher Health Institute, adding that he understood why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had issued an advisory this week.

Ricciardi told Radio 24 that the United States, unlike Italy, had launched a massive campaign to persuade parents to vaccinate their children.

The Higher Health Institute said that only about 85 percent of Italy's 2-year-olds were being vaccinated against measles, well below the 95 percent threshold recommended by the World Health Organization to block the illness.

The center-left government has accused the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) of spreading concern among parents by questioning the safety of some vaccines and by loudly denouncing efforts to make vaccinations mandatory.

'They bring a risk'

"Vaccinations have played a vital role in eradicating terrible illnesses ... but nonetheless, they bring a risk associated with side effects," M5S founder Beppe Grillo wrote in 2015, saying mandatory vaccination represented a gift for multinational pharmaceutical firms.

A leading M5S politician, Andrea Cecconi, suggested last month the jump in measles cases might be part of a natural cycle for the illness rather than a preventable epidemic.

Renewed concern over measles came amid fury among doctors over a program on state broadcaster RAI that highlighted the possible side effects of the human papillomavirus vaccine, which protects against cervical cancer.

The M5S defended the report, but health officials accused RAI of being unnecessarily alarmist.

"It is very serious that a TV program, which is supposed to be at the service of citizens, spreads fear by telling lies and giving credence to the anti-vaccine lobby," said Giuseppe Mele, chairman of the Italian Society of Pediatricians.
Russia Wednesday blocked a draft U.S. statement in the U.N. Security Council condemning the latest North Korean missile test.

The statement said North Korea's illegal ballistic missile activities are leading to a nuclear weapons delivery system and "greatly increasing tension in the region and beyond."

The council also would have demanded that the North "immediately cease further actions in violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions and comply fully with its obligations under these resolutions."

Members said they are concerned Pyongyang is diverting resources toward building missiles and bombs while the population has "great unmet needs."

It is unclear why Russia blocked the statement, which is almost identical to a February council statement that Russia approved, condemning other ballistic missile tests.

But diplomats say Moscow objected to the removal of the words "through dialogue" in the latest statement when talking about a diplomatic solution in the North.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to preside over a Security Council meeting next week on North Korea. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will brief the members.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley warned North Korea Wednesday not to "pick a fight" with the United States.
The Ugandan military says it is ending its manhunt for fugitive warlord Joseph Kony after years of chasing him and bands of loyal fighters across Central Africa.

A military spokesman, Brigadier General Richard Karemire, told a reporter for VOA's Swahili service Wednesday that the search for Kony has been suspended.

Ugandan newspapers report the first batch of soldiers have returned from the Central African Republic, where the soldiers searching for Kony have been based.

The U.S. military announced last month it will remove its personnel from Operation Observant Compass, the Ugandan-led task force pursuing Kony and members of his rebel Lord's Resistance Army.

The LRA once had an estimated 2,000 fighters and was blamed for attacks on villages and kidnappings across the C.A.R., South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A Ugandan military statement Wednesday said Kony now has less than 100 fighters under his command and is "weak and ineffective. He no longer poses any significant threat to Uganda's security and Northern Uganda in particular."

Northern Uganda is where the LRA waged a brutal insurgency for 20 years before relocating to the jungles of Uganda's neighbors.

Several senior LRA leaders have been captured, killed or surrendered, the most recent being Kony's chief communications officer Michael Omona, who gave himself up in the C.A.R. last month.

Kony, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, remains at large. A former senior LRA commander, Dominic Ongwen, is currently on trial at the ICC in The Hague.

The United Nations estimated in 2013 that the LRA had killed more than 100,000 people and kidnapped more than 60,000 over the previous quarter-century.
Opponents of the Venezuelan government converged on downtown Caracas for a second day Thursday, pledging to sustain peaceful pressure on leftist President Nicolas Maduro to restore democracy in the crisis-ridden country.

Security teams were out in force nationwide after at least three people were fatally shot Wednesday, as tens of thousands of pro- and anti-government factions took to the streets in the largest anti-government demonstrations in decades. Among the victims were a 17-year-old boy and a 23-year-old woman, both shot in the head in separate incidents.

A National Guard soldier also reportedly was killed in protests in Miranda state, near Caracas.

Wednesday's deaths bring the number of people killed in almost three weeks of escalating protests to eight. In recent protests, security forces have fired rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons.

It hurts to see our brave young people subjected to violence, tweeted human rights activist Lilian Tintori, adding, We swear we will regain [Venezuelas] freedom. See you on the street!

Tintori marched Thursday wearing a T-shirt with a posterized image of her jailed husband, political opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. She told VOA that Venezuelas opposition supporters would continue peaceful protests.

"We do not want confrontation, we want the regime of Nicolas Maduro to leave in peace, Tintori said, noting it must schedule long-delayed elections, release political prisoners and open a humanitarian channel to deliver food and medicine now in critically short supply. Venezuela is in resistance, she added.

Watch: Venezuelan Protesters: We Are in Crisis, Want Elections

Late Wednesday, Maduro announced that security forces had detained 30 people for allegedly planning violence.

Maduro supporter Diosdado Cabello, a National Assembly lawmaker with the ruling United Socialist Party, decried the National Guard members death and blamed it on opposition protesters.

Be assured, there will be justice, he warned.

On Thursday morning, supporters of the center-right political opposition blocked the Prados del Este freeway in both directions.

Businesses and universities were closed for a second consecutive day, Agence France-Presse reported, noting that the previous day was a national holiday -- April 19 marked the anniversary of the Venezuelans 1810 opening battle for independence from Spain.

In recent days, Maduro ordered troops to fan out around the country on high alert, and he encouraged his backers, including civilian militia members, to defend against alleged plans to overthrow his government. He announced plans to expand the militia to half a million from its current strength of 100,000 and to arm them with rifles.

The United Nations issued a statement Thursday expressing concern about the latest developments and urge that all efforts be made to lower tensions and prevent further clashes.

U.S. response

In Washington, administration officials are worried the Venezuela government is working to suppress the opposition.

We are concerned that the government of Maduro is violating its own constitution and is not allowing the opposition to have their voices heard, nor allowing them to organize in a way that expresses the views of the Venezuelan people," U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday at the State Department.

We are concerned about that situation. We're watching it closely and working with others, particularly through the OAS [Organization of American States] to communicate those concerns to them, Tillerson added in a brief news conference.

The Maduro governments seizure of U.S.-based General Motors sole factory in Venezuela is likely to add to Tillersons worries. The Detroit automaker described Wednesdays takeover by Venezuelan authorities as an illegal judicial seizure of assets. In a statement Thursday, GM said vehicles and other assets were taken from the plant.

The company has about 2,700 workers in Venezuela. GMs statement said that if the government allowed the move, employees would get separation benefits arising from the termination of employment relationships beyond the parties control."

Counter march

Maduro had rallied his supporters to turn out for a counter march Wednesday, and thousands showed up wearing the red clothing that marked them as Chavistas.

"Today, the entire Venezuelan population comes out to ratify its support for the Bolivian revolution" and its "loyalty to supreme commander Hugo Chavez," one man in a red cap and T-shirt told VOA.

Chavez launched the leftist movement carried on by Maduro, who succeeded him as president in 2013.

The demonstrations erupted after the Venezuelan Supreme Court's March 30 announcement that it would strip the opposition controlled National Assembly of its legislative powers. The court, stacked with appointees of Maduro and Chavez, reversed its position in the wake of domestic and international outcries about an attempted power grab.

The National Socialist Party has ruled Venezuela for 17 years. Economic pressures have mounted in recent years, especially since the price of oil, Venezuela's chief export, began falling in 2014. Venezuelans face chronic, severe shortages of food, medicine and other basics in what once was Latin America's wealthiest country.
Marylands technology industry has never been short on talent or ideas, thanks partly to the federal governments local presence. National Institutes of Health installations bolster a sizable biotechnology industry in Montgomery County, and the National Security Agencys headquarters in Fort Meade supports a thriving cybersecurity sector in the D.C.-Baltimore corridor.

But most of that work is closely related to serving the federal government. Some regional economic experts would rather see a local technology industry linked to commercial markets, possibly enabling wealth creation of the kind seen in places like Silicon Valley. Efforts to create a broader commercial industry have been piecemeal, with some of the regions most promising firms leaving for other cities in search of funding.

This is a big problem thats going to require a lot of money and a lot of concerted effort, said Jonathan Aberman, a Virginia-based technology investor.

[Heres how Maryland and Virginia are luring cyber start-ups to the region]

Maryland has tried to solve that problem by handing out small taxpayer-funded investments each year to promising start-ups in the earliest stages of development. Marylands Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO) hands out $100,000 investments in state-appropriated money to start-ups deemed to show potential.

But officials have found that the small investments, typically given to companies with only a few employees, arent enough for some firms.

On Tuesday, the state announced a program called the GAP Investment Fund. The fund is designed to make investments of $200,000 to $500,000. The plan is to cater to start-ups that have grown past the initial phases of developing their technology but arent big enough to cut deals with private venture capital firms.

Instead of piecing together a hundred thousand here or a hundred thousand there, were trying to scale up the amount of money were investing, John Wasilisin, president of TEDCO, said.

The problem is that the legislature set aside only $1 million for the funds first year of investments, which will begin in June. That means the fund will probably be able to make only two or three investments in its first year.

[The DMVs cyber community is steadily attracting more interest from venture capitalists]

The strategy and the name of the fund closely mirror CIT GAP Funds, a program set up in Virginia. That program provided the initial financial basis for the states Mach37 cybersecurity incubator, which hands out small investments in exchange for a promise to set up an office in Northern Virginia.

Marylands new program sounds a lot like Virginias GAP, though theyre not as well funded as Virginias program, said Rick Gordon, director of Mach37. But its awesome that theyre doing it. We dont have nearly enough investment dollars in the region to support the number of companies that deserve it.

A cash infusion of that size could make a big difference for a tech start-up in its early stage and just trying to pay the bills while it scopes out customers. But state officials admit that the extra $1 million provided for seed funding will be just a drop in the pool at first.

Wasilisin plans to ask for more money from the legislature next year and slowly expand the program.

Im certain were going to prove over the first year that the demand for the fund is going to far exceed the amount of money we have, he said. Ideally, youd like to have a larger amount to start off with, but were excited about an opportunity to get it started.

Read more:

General Dynamics unit to partially fund Va. cybersecurity accelerator

This Silicon Valley venture fund keeps betting millions on D.C.s cyber community

Heres what Shmoocon 2016, the D.C. hackerfest, tells us about the cybersecurity industry
President Trump has nominated Neomi Rao, a conservative lawyer to run the obscure but powerful Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, a gateway through which federal regulations must pass. (George Mason University)

Neomi Rao, a little-known law professor at George Mason University, could soon become one of the most powerful officials in Washington.

President Trump has nominated the conservative lawyer to run the obscure but powerful Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, a gateway through which federal regulations must pass.

The office, known as OIRA (pronounced oh-eye-rah), would make Rao the Trump administrations regulatory czar, responsible for vetting and tallying cost estimates for most regulations. The office also resolves conflicts between agencies, and can either sink a rule or send it back for major rewrites.

Rao would also be in a position to promote her conservative views. A critic of the administrative state that White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon has vowed to deconstruct, Rao has written that the independence of federal agencies should be abolished, their rules subject to White House review, and the heads of those agencies subject to dismissal by the president.

In past administrations, the OIRA administrator has played the role of a check on ideology, but with Rao and many department chiefs all pushing for deregulation, OIRAs role as objective analyst could be compromised.

OIRA is the mediator, the referee when agencies are trying to put through regulations, said Ted Gayer, director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution. It could be enormously influential in any administration and in this administration even more so because so much of the efforts are going to be on the deregulation side rather than legislative accomplishments.

Trumps executive order that two regulations must be eliminated for every new regulation  and with costs and benefits that match  hands even greater authority to OIRA.

In addition, because of the growth of science-based regulations, OIRA has increasingly weighed in on controversial science debates. About a decade ago it hired experts in public health, toxicology, engineering and other technical fields to supplement its experts on policy and economics. Under Trump, it may also have to deal with climate issues.

People familiar with Raos writing say it does not show whether as OIRA director she would stand up to an administration bent on tearing down much of the governments regulatory regime. Trump has said that we can cut regulations by 75 percent. But the OIRA director typically lays out the cost of eliminating regulations as well as adopting them.

Among the more controversial aspects of Raos writings is her support for the power of the president and the need to bring independent agencies under control of the White House.

One example: Rao has written that the Dodd-Frank financial reform laws creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, whose director can be removed only for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, violated the Constitution and was based on acceptance of virtually unlimited congressional authority to impose limits on presidential control.

A case challenging the CFPBs independence is before the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. But Raos critique extends far beyond the CFPB.

Rao appears to support bringing independent regulatory agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Reserve under OIRA review, which would be a major expansion of OIRA and White House control, Curtis W. Copeland, formerly a specialist in American government at the Congressional Research Service, said in an email.

There is also a recent article where she indicates that the President should be able to fire the heads of independent regulatory agencies (who currently have for cause removal protection), Copeland added. Congress set up these agencies to be independent of the President. If the President can fire the heads of these agencies, and (through OIRA) can say whether or not they can issue significant regulations, that is a huge change.

The Supreme Court has upheld the independence of certain agencies going back more than a century to cases involving the Federal Trade and Interstate Commerce commissions.

Not surprisingly, some liberal groups have opposed Rao, who must be confirmed by the Senate.

President Trump has proclaimed that his intent is to defang regulatory agencies and gut regulatory protections, Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, said in a statement. But the OIRA administrator has a duty to ensure implementation of the laws of the land, which require government agencies to issue new rules to advance their missions, not to give corporations a free hand to pollute and pilfer, poison and profiteer.

In articles and congressional testimony, Rao has also advocated limiting the authority of federal agencies to draw up rules in areas left ambiguous by legislation. She has said that Congress must spell out clearly what it wants agencies to do. Critics, however, say that when it comes to technical regulations, lawmakers lack the expertise to write detailed regulations the agencies are better equipped to draw up.

Rao has called on the courts to review the judicial principle known as Chevron deference, which leaves it up to agencies to interpret ambiguously worded statutes to fulfill legal mandates.

Deference is one consequence of Congress leaving a significant interpretive space for administrative agencies, she said in March 17, 2016 testimony to the Senate Homeland Security Committees governmental affairs subcommittee. That error has been compounded by the courts, she said, which have also deferred to agencies and have allowed for the expansion of the administrative state outside the checks and balances of the Constitution.

Rao has an impeccable conservative track record. A graduate of Yale University and the University of Chicago Law School, she clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. In 2016 when Thomass clerks set up a laudatory website about him, Rao told USA Today that he was more willing to go back and overturn precedents, to go back and find the original meaning of the Constitution.

Rao also served as an associate counsel and special assistant to President George W. Bush. Later, she moved to George Mason where she received tenure in 2012. In 2015, she founded the Center for the Study of the Administrative State. Events there have featured critics of federal regulation.

OIRA, created as part of the Office of Management and Budget by the Paperwork Reduction Act in 1980 under President Jimmy Carter, was given a broader role under President Ronald Reagan to review the impact of regulations. Under Reagans OIRA director James Miller, the office became known as the black hole where rules would go and disappear, said Thomas O. McGarity, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Some administrative law experts fear that Rao and Trumps agency heads will all be pushing in the same direction.

It is important for OIRA to act as a counterweight to the agencies in the regulatory process, said Ryan Bubb, a law professor at New York University and a former policy analyst at OIRA.

During the Obama administration, for example, OIRA Director Cass Sunstein  a respected friend of the president  played an important role in forcing the Environmental Protection Agency to improve its cost-benefit analysis of proposed regulations, often leading to an improvement in the final rulemaking in the form of a less-costly alternative, Bubb said. In the most public case, Sunstein rejected a version of the EPAs proposed ozone rule, and the president backed him up.

What you want, in my view, is an energetic, activist agency, counterbalanced by a more centrist, analytical OIRA, Bubb said. Key to OIRAs function is for it to inject some conflict and friction into the rulemaking process.

But there may be little friction between Rao and other Trump officials.

Scott Pruitt is by all accounts going to focus on rolling back EPA regulations. Given his deregulatory tilt, the key question about Neomi Rao is whether she will be an effective counterweight and force the EPA to justify its deregulatory actions on cost-benefit grounds, Bubb said.

When Cass Sunstein was nominated, there were plenty of environmental activists on the left who were disappointed, because they (correctly) viewed him as a likely roadblock to expanding environmental regulation, Bubb added. But I am not aware of anyone on the right who is worried that Rao might hold up Pruitts deregulatory agenda. Hopefully OIRA under Rao will continue to play the centrist, analytical role that it has historically.


In the Heights, Lin-Manuel Mirandas first musical on Broadway, will have its Spanish-translated scripts U.S. premiere at GALA Hispanic Theatre. Director Luis Salgado sees parallels between the tales. Among them, both are about Caribbean immigrants in America. (Shalev Weinstein)

Hamilton may have made Lin-Manuel Miranda a megacelebrity, but it was In the Heights, which opened on Broadway in 2008, that established him as a musical-theater composer. And, unlike Hamilton, In the Heights was autobiographical: Miranda grew up in the Manhattan neighborhoods of Inwood and Washington Heights in the 1990s.

In his dialogue as well as his songs rooted in salsa, hip-hop and Sondheim, Miranda brought to life those neighborhoods, where Latino immigrants squabbled and dreamed of better lives in an unruly mix of Spanish and English. To reach as broad an American audience as possible, Miranda tilted the ratio of Spanish to English words decidedly in the latter direction. But some audiences longed to see that reversed.

Some wanted it so much that unauthorized Spanish versions of the show started popping up across Latin America. Miranda finally approved a translation into Dominican Spanish, and thats the script having its U.S. premiere as In the Heights en Espanol at GALA Hispanic Theatre. Shepherding the production is director Luis Salgado, who not only performed and served as assistant choreographer in the original production, but also grew up in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, the same town from which Mirandas family hails.

A lot of people in Latin America want to see In the Heights because American musical theater has become very popular there, Salgado says. When I grew up in Puerto Rico, our teachers in dance school, in music school, loved American musicals, because they had grown up with the old films. But it has blown up now, thanks in part to YouTube, where anyone can see the dances and hear the music. When I went back to Puerto Rico, nine, 10 dance schools had sprung up since I was last there. Peru, Colombia, Mexico  its expanding everywhere.

Salgado was one of those Latino kids who fell in love with musicals. His father wanted him to box, but he had a different kind of dancing in mind. On the island, he performed in Peter Pan and Annie, and, at age 21, left for New York. One of his first breaks was getting the part of Jose in In the Heights and working with choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler.

I learned so much from Andy, that it was better than going to college, Salgado recalls. Just as Lin changed what theater could do, Andy did the same thing with the choreography. What I could contribute was my heritage. Salgado showed Blankenbuehler, for example, the moves that were a crucial part of Carnaval, Puerto Ricos Mardi Gras celebration.

Salgado went on to perform in such Broadway musicals as Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Rocky and On Your Feet! He was credited as co-choreographer on the television remake of Dirty Dancing and as assistant choreographer on the movies Enchanted and Step Up 2. Working again on In the Heights re-connects him to his launchpad.



Laura Lebron and Vaughn Ryan Midder in GALAs production of In the Heights. (Shalev Weinstein)

GALA theater has a standard practice of using surtitles in its shows, but In the Heights en Espanol will feature English surtitles for the Spanish dialogue and lyrics and Spanish surtitles for the English. Although most of the show is in Spanish, it will still be bilingual. After all, why would Ninas father, who insists that she marry a Spanish speaker, object to Benny unless the young suitor spoke only English? Benny may be a model employee at the fathers taxi company, but thats not enough.

 In the Heights brings out the reality that poverty and criminality dont have to go hand in hand, Salgado points out. There are so many minority communities where people go to work every day and work hard with the knowledge that they dont have enough money for their kids lunch money. That doesnt mean youre going to go out and steal from somebody. That assumption is offensive to all the poor people who are playing by the rules. This show was important for that reason. It doesnt lack conflict, because theater cant exist without conflict, but there are other conflicts than violence.

In the original production of In the Heights, Miranda played the character of Usnavi, the owner of a small bodega in the neighborhood. He must balance running his business with taking care of his ailing grandmother and courting the beautiful Vanessa. Within that tale, you can detect the seeds of the style that blossomed into Hamilton. Salgado sees obvious parallels.

Both shows took seven, eight years to develop, he notes. Both are about Caribbean immigrants in America. Both use a mix of musical styles. Both have a narrator  Usnavi or Hamilton  who explains the story, so the structure doesnt change much. One key difference, though, is that Usnavi describes his own character, while Hamilton allows the other characters to describe him. Another difference is Lin shrank the book in Hamilton and made it more like an opera. He has grown so quickly that you have to wonder what his next project will be.

In the meantime, heres a welcome chance to revisit In the Heights in the language of the fathers and grandmothers who first arrived in the United States and paved the way for all the children and grandchildren who followed. Its a chance, Salgado says, to counter the current political climate by celebrating these American citizens and what they have contributed to their new country.
This is the first time an American Indian nation has filed suit against companies for the devastation caused by addictive pain pills such as oxycodone and hydrocodone. (iStock)

Lawyers for the Cherokee Nation opened a new line of attack against the pharmaceutical industry Thursday, filing a lawsuit in tribal court that accuses the nations six top drug distributors and pharmacies of flooding communities in Oklahoma with hundreds of millions of highly addictive pain pills.

The suit alleges that the companies violated sovereign Cherokee laws by failing to prevent the diversion of pain pills to the black market, profiting from the growing opioid epidemic and decimating communities across the nations 14 counties in the state.

Defendants turned a blind eye to the problem of opioid diversion and profited from the sale of prescription opioids to the citizens of the Cherokee Nation in quantities that far exceeded the number of prescriptions that could reasonably have been used for legitimate medical purposes, the suit says.

By filing the suit in tribal court, lawyers for the Cherokee Nation said they hope to gain quicker access to internal corporate records that could show what the companies knew about the diversion of pain pills on Indian lands in northeastern Oklahoma. It is the first time an Indian nation has filed suit against companies for the damage done by powerful pain pills such as oxycodone and hydrocodone.

The suit names the three largest drug distributors in the United States: McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen, which together control roughly 85 percent of prescription drug distribution in the country. Also named in the suit are some of the biggest names in the retail drug business: CVS, Walgreens and Walmart.

In a statement, Cardinal Health said that the company is confident that the facts and the law are on our side, and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves against the plaintiffs mischaracterization of those facts and misunderstanding of the law.

AmerisourceBergen, in a statement of its own, said it was reviewing the lawsuit. The issue of opioid abuse is a complex one that spans the full healthcare spectrum, including manufacturers, wholesalers, insurers, prescribers, pharmacists and regulatory and enforcement agencies. All of these entities must work together to ensure medicine is available, as appropriate and prescribed, to patients, while also limiting and preventing abuse.

A spokesman for Walgreens said the company does not comment on pending litigation. A spokesman for CVS said the company is committed to the highest standards of ethics and business practices, including complying with all federal and state laws governing the dispensing of controlled substance prescriptions, and is dedicated to reducing prescription drug abuse and diversion.

The other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Cherokee lawsuit comes as counties and states confront the consequences of a growing prescription opioid epidemic that has claimed nearly 180,000 lives since 2000.

Last month, seven counties in West Virginia, which has the highest prescription drug overdose rate in the nation, filed suits against many of the same corporations. Those suits accuse the companies of creating a public hazard by shipping large amounts of drugs into the state and seek billions of dollars in reimbursements for the economic toll the drugs have taken in the heart of Appalachia.

In Oklahoma, prescription opioid abuse has been particularly pernicious, Cherokee officials said. The members of the nation, which endured the forced removal of its people between 1830 and 1850 from the Southeast during what is known as the Trail of Tears, are more prone to addiction than other populations, according to studies cited by the officials.

Today, we are facing another challenge, a plague that has been set upon the Cherokee people by these corporations, said Todd Hembree, attorney general for the Cherokees. Their main goal is profit, and this scourge has cost lives and the Cherokee Nation millions.

Bill John Baker, principal chief of the Cherokees, added that tribal nations have survived disease, removal from our homelands, termination and other adversities, and still we prospered. However, I fear the opioid epidemic is emerging as the next great challenge of our modern era.

Hembree has retained a team of lawyers to sue the drug companies and pharmacies. The suit alleges that the firms created a public nuisance, pursued unfair and deceptive practices and engaged in a civil conspiracy that led to an unchecked public health crisis.

Hembree and the lawyers said that the drug distributors and pharmacies knew or should have known that the amounts of drugs they were sending and dispensing to the Cherokee Nation were suspicious.

In 2015, the lawsuit says, nearly 845 million milligrams of opioids were distributed in the 14 counties that make up the Cherokee Nation. That is enough to provide every adult and child with 955 5mg pills  one of the most commonly prescribed doses of the drug.

These defendants really had the ability to limit the number of deaths and the level of addiction if they just followed the law, said Richard Fields, a lawyer hired by the Cherokees.

Fields and lawyer William Ohlemeyer, who represented the company formerly known as Philip Morris in tobacco lawsuits two decades ago, said the flood of opioids into Oklahoma has torn apart families and cost the Cherokees hundreds of millions of dollars. They said the crisis has resulted in increased spending on law enforcement, medical facilities, drug treatment centers and foster and adoption programs.

We have a generation of children who are living in chaos, said Nikki Baker-Limore, executive director of child welfare for the Cherokee Nation. The children are our tribes future, and without them, we cant go on. This just isnt fair.


Charlotte Cameron and Robert Munk (Photo courtesy of daters)

INTERVIEWS BY DEBRA BRUNo

It didnt take Robert Munk, 28, a research economist for the Census Bureau, and Charlotte Cameron, 26, an IT specialist for the State Department, long to figure out two reasons they were matched. Both are in the 6-foot range, which they realized when he stood to give her a hug hello. Both are also a little obsessed with David Bowie. We sent them  along with Major Tom  to Occidental Grill & Seafood on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Mall  to see if they made the grade.

Charlotte: I was like, Oh, wow, hes handsome. And then he stood up and I thought, Date Lab did me well.

Rob: She was pretty, and really tall.

Charlotte: I told him I was really nervous. He said, Im nervous, too. It took us a little while to order.

Rob: It was definitely the fanciest first date Ive ever been on. I had lamb braised with cumin, and we had black truffle mashed potatoes.

Charlotte: They were to die for.

Rob: We were trying to figure out why we were matched up. Our mutual interest in David Bowie seemed to be a key fact.

Charlotte: I am a huge David Bowie fan. I died inside from excitement because he told me the picture he selected [for his application to Date Lab] was a David Bowie face with a lightning bolt.

Rob: I once dressed up as Ziggy Stardust. It was the highlight of my Halloween career.

Charlotte: He told me he didnt fall in love with David Bowie until after [his Halloween costume].

Rob: We also talked about museums. Shes interested in art. I said I am, too, but I would consider myself a novice in terms of understanding art.

Charlotte: He said he wanted a creative girl. So we were talking about art museums. He told me about one exhibit he went to and listened to an audio through the whole exhibit. It was a common theme through the night  when he found something of interest, he took the time to continue the subject.

Rob: She told me her guilty pleasure on TV is Survivor. One of my roommates is really into that show. Ive been watching it with him. Other than my roommate, I didnt know anyone else who watched it.

Charlotte: I told him it was an interesting game to play to see why they do the actions they do, and how they think.

Rob: She is interested in trying to understand the psychology. That was a lot of overlap  Im an economist, and what I find interesting is the ability to understand peoples decision-making.

Charlotte: We also talked about books. He used to love nonfiction, and he kind of transitioned into fiction. I thought that was pretty cool. I might start. I really like nonfiction.

Rob: She told me she liked The Bell Curve [by Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein].

Charlotte: I said that especially since hes an economist, [he] should read that book.

Rob: When people find out Im an economist, they either have some hot stock market tips or try to change the subject as quickly as possible.

Charlotte:The whole time, I was thinking, Wow, Date Lab did a great job.

Rob: Shes from Southern Maryland; Im from Michigan. We both tend to get along pretty well with our parents.

Charlotte:We both had never been out of the country before. I work for the State Department, and people think I travel to all of these places.

Rob: Wehad a pretty decent conversation. It could have been a great match on paper and terrible in person.

Charlotte: There were no awkward silences and no awkward pauses. We almost forgot to take a photo, and it was getting dark.

Rob: Were there sparks? To the extent that I would go on a second date, there were sparks.

Charlotte: I thought [there were sparks].

Rob: I mentioned that [my faith] is something Im involved in. Its at the top of the docket for date number two to understand better. We ended up staying at the restaurant the whole time, and the evening came to a natural close.

Charlotte: I said I would love to get together again. He said that sounds good. We hugged, and he texted to make sure I got home.

Rate the date

Rob: 4 [out of 5]. Im definitely interested in a second date.

Charlotte: 5. It was a really fun experience.

Update

The two scheduled a second date.


"Lost in Paris, is one of the films being screened at the 31st edition of Filmfest DC. (Oscilloscope)

The 31st edition of Filmfest DC got underway Thursday with the North American premiere of This Is Our Land, a Belgian-French film about a nurse in a depressed mining town in northern France who runs for mayor only to discover shes a patsy for nationalist-isolationist forces.

If that sounds familiar, its just one of several titles in this years 80-film lineup that resonate with of-the-moment crises and concerns. As always, festival director Tony Gittens has assembled a diverse best of the rest slate of films that proved popular at Cannes, Toronto and other international festivals. Some buzzy titles, such as Terence Daviess Emily Dickinson biopic, A Quiet Passion, and the Sundance hit Patti Cake$, will be arriving in theaters in coming months. Others may not be seen again in the Washington area for the foreseeable future.

The festival will close on April 30 with screenings of the Jacques Tati-inspired slapstick comedy Lost in Paris. For the intervening week, heres a one-a-day list of movies not to miss. For program and ticketing information, visit www.filmfestdc.org.



A scene from director Cecilia Verheydens film "Behind the Clouds." (Eyeworks)

Behind the Clouds

April 21, 6:30 p.m., Landmarks E Street Cinema

First-time filmmaker Cecilia Verheydens romance was a big hit in Belgium and the Palm Springs Film Festival, where audiences fell for the story of a couple that reunites after a 50-year separation. The film was produced by the Dardennes brothers (Rosetta, The Kid With a Bike), lending an extra layer of credibility for cinephiles.

Clash

April 22, 8:30 p.m., E Street

Set in Cairo in 2013, Mohamed Diabs taut thriller transpires entirely within the back of a truck full of demonstrators detained after a protest against the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. A jumble of backgrounds, religions and political persuasions, the group tries to survive even as their differences threaten to destroy them. Tense, atmospheric, often funny, this was a popular title at Cannes last year.

Last Men in Aleppo

April 23, 8 p.m., E Street

This years grand jury award winner at Sundance, Steen Johannessen and Feras Fayyads documentary follows the volunteer first responders of the Syria Civil Defense Force (also known as the White Helmets) who seek to rescue victims at the height of the Syrian conflict.

Mali Blues

April 24, 8:45 p.m., E Street

Filmmaker Lutz Gregor follows a quartet of exiled musicians from Mali who defy religious extremists in order to play their music and appear at the Niger River Festival.



A scene from director Alankrita Shrivastavas film "Lipstick Under My Burkha." (M-Appeal)

The Net

April 25, 6:30 p.m., E Street

Kim Ki Duks film reflects on the meaning of Korean national identity through the experience of a poor North Korean fisherman (Ryoo Seung-bum) who accidentally drifts into South Korean waters, setting off a series of harrowing encounters that will change his life forever.

Strangers on the Earth

April 26, 8:30 p.m., E Street

Tristan Cooks documentary follows cellist Dane Johansen as he walks the Camino de Santiago and performs for his fellow pilgrims as they journey for hundreds of miles in physical and spiritual fellowship.

Solitaire

April 27, 9 p.m., AMC Mazza Gallerie

Directed by Lebanese filmmaker Sophie Boutros from a script she co-wrote with producer Nadia Eliewat, this comedy of manners  and politics and history  centers on a Lebanese family eagerly awaiting their future in-laws until they discover the new family members are from Lebanons longtime rival, Syria.

Footnotes

April 28, 6:30 p.m., Mazza Gallerie

Described as a musical comedy that addresses social issues, this French film is about the workers at a luxury shoe factory who protest the potential offshoring of their business by  how else?  singing and dancing, a la Jacques Demy and Stanley Donen. Just the thing for your La La Land withdrawal.

Lipstick Under My Burkha

April 29, 4:45 p.m., Mazza Gallerie

Alankrita Shrivastavas feminist satire has been banned in India, which may be the best testimonial for a film that follows four women as they engage in small acts of subversion in the face of patriarchal repression.
Protesters from the National Organization for Women of New York in front of News Corp. headquarters Thursday, the morning after Fox News cut ties with host Bill OReilly. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

With Bill OReillys ouster from Fox News Channel, the hard part may be over for the scandal-scarred network. Now the harder part begins.

Foxs abrupt termination of OReillys contract on Wednesday puts the leading cable-news network in rebuilding mode, beset by uncertainty. Will OReillys loyal audience of roughly 4 million viewers stick around without OReilly on the air? Will advertisers that abandoned OReilly return to back his replacement? Will the loss of the networks most popular host set off a ripple effect that diminishes the rest of Foxs lineup?

Foxs dynastic Murdoch family  patriarch Rupert and sons James and Lachlan  cashiered OReilly after a nearly three-week drama surrounding sexual harassment allegations against him. OReilly and the Murdochs were unable to ride out the public-relations debacle triggered by accusations that he had abused female employees throughout much of his 21-year career at the network.

OReilly, the biggest star on cable TV news, will walk away from Fox with as much as $25 million, a severance figure set by the contract he signed only last month, a source close to the negotiations confirmed to The Post. He just last month reupped at the network with a three-year contract whose terms reportedly awarded him a years salary in severance.

Neither Fox nor OReillys representatives have officially disclosed what OReillys severance will be. The contracts play-or-pay terms made his booting relatively simple, if financially painful, for the Murdochs.

(Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

For his part, the characteristically loquacious OReilly went relatively quietly. He issued a statement on Wednesday saying, in part, It is tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims. He hasnt said anything further about his future.

OReillys summary dismissal may have lifted the immediate cloud over Fox. But it also raised new issues.

[Bill OReillys career comes to a swift end at Fox News]

Among the largest: Has Fox really reformed a workplace culture that saw the removal of its co-founder Roger Ailes last summer due to serial harassment allegations? Given that almost all of the senior executives hired by Ailes remain in place at Fox, thats still an open question.

The programming issues seem more prosaic by comparison. Tucker Carlson, who will replace OReilly at 8 p.m., proved to be a strong successor to Megyn Kelly after she abandoned her 9 p.m. program and jumped to NBC in January (Carlson and Kelly, of course, benefited from the enormous lead-in audience OReilly supplied). Now, seemingly all at once, Carlson will be the linchpin of Foxs lineup; he will precede Foxs new 9 p.m. program, The Five (which formerly aired at 5 p.m.), followed by network fixture Sean Hannity at 10 p.m.

Fox has weathered this game of musical chairs before and come out even stronger in the end. Greta Van Susteren jumped ship last summer, landing at MSNBC, followed by Kellys departure. Result: Fox rolled on to record audiences during the next three months, perhaps aided by coverage of President Trumps new administration.

But OReilly may be different. He has been Foxs signature name for two decades, and unlike Kelly or Van Susteren, the tentpole propping up the rest of Foxs schedule.

The departure of OReilly is a big hit to FNC, but it is by no means fatal, said Jeffrey McCall, a DePauw University professor who studies the news media, in an interview on Thursday. For one thing, the [Fox] brand is bigger than OReilly, and further, the people who watch really have nowhere else to go for the kind of news they seek. CNN and MSNBC will not benefit from OReillys departure.

He expects Foxs ratings and image to recover, particularly since Carlson speaks to the same older conservative audience that was OReillys core viewer. The change may eventually even prove beneficial, he added: Carlson, 47, is 20 years younger than OReilly, and thus gives the Murdochs a younger face around which to build the networks future.

Audience surveys on OReillys effect on Fox News are somewhat murky, notes Dan Cassino, a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University and the author of Fox News and American Politics. Its unclear, he said, whether viewers come to Fox News to watch OReilly and stick around to watch other programs, or vice versa.

Nevertheless, my sense is that any replacement will likely get lower ratings initially, he said. But that could actually wind up being more profitable for the network, as a Tucker Carlson is a heck of a lot cheaper than Bill OReilly is, so marginally lower ad rates arent going to hurt as much as they otherwise would.

Already, the sponsor boycott that seemed to seal OReillys fate is showing signs of receding. . Several sponsors  Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Sanofi Healthcare  said on Thursday that they are reevaluating their plans.

And one of the first companies to pull its ads from The OReilly Factor says its coming back. The mens fashion company Untuckit said it has told Fox that it would like to restore its ads to the hour formerly occupied by OReilly.

Our concern, and the reason we initially pulled our ads, pertained to the disturbing allegations made against Bill OReilly and not with Fox in general, said Untuckits chief executive, Aaron Sanandres, in an interview. Fox indicated their decision to terminate Bill OReillys contract was made after a thorough and careful review of the facts and so it appears it was a fully informed one. I fully respect Foxs decision. Accordingly, we plan to return to the 8 p.m. hour and will continue to allocate a portion of our advertising dollars to Fox.

If other advertisers follow suit, as is likely, the net effect of the sponsor exodus will have been both minimal and yet profound.

Minimal because Fox appears not to have lost any money when dozens of companies pulled their ads from OReillys show when the New York Times revealed in early April that Fox and OReilly had agreed to a series of secret settlements over his harassment allegations. The ads were simply rescheduled and appeared at other hours during Foxs broadcasts.

But the boycott ultimately had a devastating effect on OReilly. According to people close to him, the Murdochs concluded that sponsors were unlikely to return to The OReilly Factor as long as there was a chance of new accusations. In the end, even though OReillys audience remained loyal, there was no assurance that sponsors would be.


Grace Van Patten and Callum Turner in Tramps. (Netflix/Netflix)

Show of hands: Whos planning to see this weekends big movie?

That was a trick question. Because with screens getting smaller, choices getting wider and audiences getting narrower, the entire notion of big movie has become exponentially more difficult to define.

No doubt, such worldwide behemoths as Beauty and the Beast and The Fate of the Furious count as big movies, if only in deference to their budgets, spectacle and wide-ranging appeal. But a glance at some of this weekends new releases reveals how, with Hollywood depending ever more heavily on remakes and sequels, and streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon becoming players in the art-house space, the proportions of modern films  the ambition with which theyre made and their ultimate size and scale on the screen  have become increasingly fluid.

There was a time when Unforgettable, the psychological thriller starring Katherine Heigl and Rosario Dawson, would easily count as this weekends big movie. But, from concept to execution, the tale of a jealous ex-wife and the new bride she terrorizes is puny indeed  a grim, hopelessly retrograde portrait of toxic femininity and neurotic sexual jealousy. Although a few curious onlookers might want to see how Heigl is faring in her attempt to reinvent herself as a post-romcom heroine (hint: not well), early tracking suggests that filmgoers will most likely reject Unforgettable, despite the name recognition of its actors.

Meanwhile, a smaller movie with far greater artistic aspirations is opening, not in theaters, but on Netflix, which has aggressively been scooping up independent films to produce and distribute. Along with Rodney King, Spike Lees film of Roger Guenveur Smiths one-man show, and the Iraq War drama Sand Castle, today the service will start streaming Tramps, a playful love-on-the-lam romance by Adam Leon. With its nods to the likes of the French New Wave, its bravura camerawork and fleet, assured editing, Tramps is a lively, high-spirited crowd-pleaser. It played well at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it made its debut and where Netflix purchased it for a reported $2 million. But despite Leons cinematic sensibility and high-minded aspirations, hes fine with his film not being seen in theaters. What was once the holy grail for young filmmakers  having their work shown on the big screen  has now given way to platform-neutral realism.

Leon, who grew up in New York, admits that he harbored the theatrical dreams for his first film, the 2012 caper comedy Gimme the Loot. And those dreams came true: The film wound up playing in more than 50 theaters throughout the country. But for Tramps, he said in a recent telephone conversation, it was going to be a major challenge to get crowds into the theater. And the reality is that most people would end up seeing it on a streaming service anyway.

When Netflix bought Tramps in September, Leon cried with relief that he could make his investors whole, and that the pressure of filling theaters was lifted. Despite his confidence in the film, Leon observed, Its far from a slam dunk. There are no known quantities, its not a horror movie, it doesnt feature the Rock. There are no TV actresses taking off their clothes. But on VOD, someone will buy it.

Leons sentiments were echoed by Macon Blair, whose movie I Dont Feel at Home in This World Anymore opened the Sundance Film Festival in January before going directly to Netflix. Blair had tried to get financing for the seriocomic thriller for about a year, but was unable to coax famous-enough actors to satisfy studios and investors. When he made the deal with Netflix, he said, the company supported his choice of Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood for the lead roles, and completely left him alone while filming.

Yeah, it would be rad to get your movie into theaters, but either the movie happens or it doesnt happen, Blair said philosophically. And, if it does happen, not only does it happen, it gets to happen with this huge amount of creative control with the actors you want, and they totally stay out of your hair.

Thanks to recommendation algorithms and subscriber data, Netflix is able to make sure that films such as Tramps and I Dont Feel at Home in This World Anymore get in front of viewers who are likely to enjoy them  and, more crucially, to tell their friends that they enjoyed them. (The company doesnt make its viewing statistics public.) Its the same model used by Amazons Video Direct service, on which such direct-to-streaming movies as The Break-In and Black Field have found impressive audiences, purely on the basis of the sites if-you-liked-this-youll-like-that user interface.

These are all films that, had they embarked on traditional theatrical runs, most likely would have ultimately lost money. For them, a streaming-only run isnt a matter of foreclosed expectations, but rightsizing. As Joe Swanberg, whose movie Win It All is on Netflix, put it, No filmmaker dreams of a half-empty theater on a Wednesday night.



Charlie Hunnam in The Lost City of Z. (Aidan Monaghan/Amazon Studios & Bleecker Street)

There are still films that demand to be seen in theaters  films like The Lost City of Z, which opens throughout the country on Friday. A sprawling, visually lush epic about the British explorer Percy Fawcett and his attempts to uncover a lost civilization in the Bolivian jungle, The Lost City of Z is the kind of sensitive, sweeping adventure tale that evokes such names as David Lean, Terrence Malick and Werner Herzog. It was even made on old-fashioned 35mm film.

Thankfully, Lost City of Zs parent studio, Amazon, is giving it a strong theatrical run before streaming it later this year. (Amazon founder and chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post.) As Gray observed at the New York Film Festival premiere, this is precisely the kind of film that studios used to make and should still be making. Now addicted to sequels and dubious star vehicles like Unforgettable, theyve handed the baton to smaller outlets and streaming services adept at knowing which movies are meant to be seen on the big screen, and which are just as well-served by bypassing theaters entirely, and meeting audiences where they are. Its an ethic that a new generation of filmmakers is embracing without complaining.

I had a profound moment about a year ago, Swanberg recalled. Suddenly the idea that we booked a room with seats fixed to the floor and set screenings at Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. and expected people to come to this room and pay money and sit down seemed so archaic to me. I had this shocking moment of, Oh my God, this doesnt make sense. 


Remnants of a stone structure near the ocean along Slea Head Drive. (Chloe Coleman/ The Washington Post)





Ireland, we decided: the west coast of Ireland. Offseason, when accommodations would be inexpensive. Thats how our party of three childhood friends found ourselves tooling along the Dingle Peninsulas breathtaking Slea Head Drive on a (mostly) sunny day in February as the occasional squall came and went.

Our 10-day adventure was minimally planned; choose the dates, buy the tickets, book a place to sleep in Dublin, rent a car and go. Each night, we would hover over our phones when we came across WiFi to debate our next destination.

Following a loosely sketched route along the countrys west coast, we traveled on easy highways until we got to Connemara, slowing as its country roads became narrow and winding. We headed to Clifden, then continued south, stopping in Galway and on to sightseeing at the Cliffs of Moher. After that, the roads became comically treacherous.

We spent two nights in Dingle. In the evenings, we had pints in local pubs and scribbled sightseeing suggestions from the other patrons on our coasters. Driving back to Dublin, we agreed that we need to see more of the west coast when we return to Ireland. Its not a place you can only visit once.



In Clifden, the Lavelle Art Gallery  housed in a 200-year-old building that has remained in the Lavelle family for six generations  specializes in work by artists who live in the west of Ireland. (Chloe Coleman/ The Washington Post)



A rainbow spans the landscape along the Dingle Peninsulas Slea Head Drive, a circular route beginning and ending in Dingle. (Chloe Coleman/ The Washington Post)
Flying with a disability is never easy, but in the past, airlines have lightened the burden a little by offering passengers such as Scott Nold advance seat assignments.

Nold, a retired bus dispatcher from Madison, S.D., who has multiple sclerosis, travels in a wheelchair. So he requires an aisle seat, says his wife, Deb Nold.

But on a recent American Airlines flight from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Dallas, their airline balked when she requested one. He could have a confirmed aisle seat in the front of the aircraft, she was told, but hed have to pay another $36.

Not so long ago, passengers with disabilities were practically guaranteed better seats at no additional cost  usually an aisle or bulkhead seat near the front of the plane in economy class.

American eventually offered these passengers an aisle seat, but in their view, the airline should have done it immediately, without asking, How much are you willing to pay for it? Thats a valid point. Airlines may be making air travel unaffordable to some with disabilities because of these seat policies.

They have started exploring a rich new source of revenue by asking customers to pay for advance seat assignments. After you buy a ticket, even in economy class, airlines ask if you want a confirmed seat. They charge extra for the better assignments, often the kind needed by passengers with a disability. Charging extra for seat assignments has caused some confusion, most commonly among infrequent travelers, who falsely think that they dont have a seat on the flight unless they purchase an assignment separately.

[Transportation department taps brakes on proposed regulation requiring disclosure of airline fees]

But a smaller, no less important group is also being left behind in this seat-assignment gold rush: people like Scott Nold.

American Airlines says it complies with all applicable disability laws and that when the Nolds mentioned his disability, it offered them a middle seat and an aisle seat in the fourth row of the main cabin on their Fort Lauderdale-Dallas flight at no additional cost. They were also seated toward the front of the plane in seats 10 D and F on the next leg of their flight back to Sioux Falls Regional Airport on a smaller regional jet, according to the airline.

At American, we block seats for customers with disabilities, says Ross Feinstein, an airline spokesman.

Fortunately, there are steps that passengers with or without disabilities can take to ensure they arent wedged into a middle seat in the back of the aircraft. And there are laws and regulations that protect them. But at a time when airlines are unwilling to leave any money on the table, some disability experts are openly asking whether more needs to be done.

Theres a lot at stake. Suzanne Smeltzer, director of the Center for Nursing Research at Villanova Universitys College of Nursing and an expert on disabilities and health care, says that being required to pay extra for a preferred seat assignment may make travel too expensive for many people with disabilities.

Their ability to reserve their preferred seats without having fees added to the cost of their airfare may make the difference between them being able to fly safely and comfortably or not being able to fly at all, she says.

The Air Carrier Access Act and several Transportation Department regulations that implement the law require airlines to provide seating accommodations that may provide extra space to passengers with disabilities. However, airlines are not required to upgrade a passenger to a higher class of service in order to accommodate the passengers disability, says Lori Irving, a DOT spokeswoman.

[Cant sleep on airplanes? These products and techniques can help.]

However theres a loophole in the law: If an airline designates certain seats preferred and places them in a separate class of service, it is under no obligation to offer the seats to customers like Nold. Air travelers are now separated by elite status and fare category into dozens of distinct groups. Often, its hard to know where one class of service begins and another ends.

The FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 requires the DOT to issue what is known as a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking  the precursor to a new regulation  addressing, among other things, whether to expand the range of passengers with disabilities who must be afforded seats with extra legroom and whether carriers should be required to provide seating accommodations with extra legroom in all classes of service. The matter is under review.

Disability advocates say action is long overdue. Current regulations may appear to protect passengers with disabilities, but airlines often fail to deliver.

Airlines do not provide good training concerning disabilities, says Michael Hingson, vice president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users, a division of the National Federation of the Blind. I have seen airline personnel make up rules on the fly and claim that all they are doing is enforcing FAA regulations  something which is false.

He travels with a guide dog, who needs a little extra space. Should he have to pay extra in order for his guide dog to be accommodated?

It can be murky, he says.

Dynah Haubert, a disability rights attorney who uses a wheelchair and flies every few months, says customers like Hingson and the Nolds are not alone.

Increasingly, I have been coming up against seat-assignment issues when flying, she says. She also remembers when most airlines, except the discount carriers, would allow people with disabilities to reserve those preferred seats. Not anymore.

When Haubert flew from Philadelphia to Manchester, N.H., on American Airlines recently, the customer-service staff refused to offer her a bulkhead seat, saying that their policy was to only do this for passengers with a guide animal or a fused leg. In fact, regulations require airlines to provide available bulkhead seats within the same class of service to passengers with other types of disabilities if they need it to readily access the air-transportation service.

[The TSAs new pat-downs get too personal for some]

Help is on the way. The DOT recently published general guidance on seating accommodations to help passengers understand their rights under the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986. It explains when an airline is required to give you a seat with more legroom, a bulkhead seat, a seat with movable armrests or an adjoining seat.

Disabled passengers may also benefit from a little insider knowledge. Every major airline has a department dedicated to meeting the needs of passengers with disabilities and other special needs. American Airlines actually has two teams: special assistance coordinators who can help with making travel arrangements for passengers who need wheelchairs or mobility assistance and a disability team that helps with issues that arise after a flight. But you must let the airline know that you have a disability first, and you can do that by checking special assistance required when filling out your passenger details online.

Nold says she didnt know about Americans disability services, because she had always dealt with the airline by phone.

The couples experience may have been a simple misunderstanding. But if it wasnt, then maybe existing laws need to be tightened  or new ones created.

Elliott is a consumer advocate, journalist and co-founder of the advocacy group Travelers United. Email him at chris@elliott.org.
This one-bedroom co-op is located in the Ontario, an historic 1904 landmark building in Adams Morgan. (Ashleigh Joplin/The Washington Post)

Louisa Bargeron loved the 10-foot ceilings, the fireplace with the original tile and the claw-foot tub in her one-bedroom co-op at the venerable Ontario in Adams Morgan. The hodgepodge kitchen, the cracked ancient bathroom tile and her collection of mismatched furniture  not so much.

Bargeron felt unsure of how to get her taste and personality, and a bit of girly glam, into her 835-square-foot home while keeping its historical character. So she reached out to Washington designers Kiera Kushlan and Jessica Centella of Residents Understood. Today, shes got a stylish new kitchen with an oak library ladder to reach high cabinets, a sparkly chandelier over her bed, a warm green dining room with an art-deco-inspired bar cart and a bohemian bathroom with black walls, brass sconces and white marble subway tiles.

The original fireplace in Louisa Bargerons co-op recalls a chic turn-of-the-century Parisian flat. (Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post)

Louisa wanted to live in a pretty space, says Centella, who started Residents Understood with Kushlan in 2010.

The designers got why Bargeron was in love with the Ontario, which opened in 1904 and retains its original details and charm. Its one of Washingtons most recognizable apartment buildings. These places still have the soul of the building, Kushlan says. Thats what brought Louisa here, and we wanted to keep that feeling.

Bargeron, originally from New York City, moved to Washington in 2009 and bought her co-op in December 2014. The Ontario reminded her of Brooklyn brownstones and Harlem prewar buildings. I instantly fell in love with it and wanted to live here, says Bargeron, 43, who works at the Defense Department. The apartment has separate living and dining rooms, a compact kitchen and a long hallway leading to a bedroom and bath.

She spent nine months trying to furnish it herself. I was collecting and buying pieces, but I didnt know how to pull it together. There was no sort of flow or good feng shui here, Bargeron says. Although I was always buying things to try to overcome that, I was actually just adding to the clutter.

She also realized the kitchen, with its jumble of different cabinets, skimpy counter space and old appliances, wasnt working. So in November 2015 she contacted Kushlan and Centella. They agreed on a plan to redo not only her kitchen but also her bathroom, and to decorate the place. I wanted them to blend the rooms so they had a flow and a theme, Bargeron says.

She made a Pinterest board showing what she liked and filled out their client questionnaire. My personal style is trendy and classy. I love the color pink, she wrote. In terms of design, Im anywhere from modern to traditional to French country. I cant decide on any one. [Ditch the island: Why you should rediscover your dining room]

Kushlan and Centella mulled over Bargerons profile. She mentioned loving a variety of styles, so their plan was to play up the vintage Old World charm of the place while balancing it with modern, clean-lined furniture. I gravitate towards things from Restoration Hardware, but I like that look with more romantic colors like pink and green, Bargeron says. The kitchen and bathroom renovations would maximize the grand ceiling height and details. The designers could incorporate some of what Bargeron already owned, pulling everything together with paint, wallpaper, lighting and accessories.

Louisa has a wonderful feminine style, so it was such a fun project to work on from a style perspective, Kushlan says. We got to pick out hot pink rugs, fur throws, and use artwork from old fashion magazines  a girls dream.

1 of 11 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  An Adams Morgan co-op receives a girly-glam makeover View Photos A New York transplant recruits D.C. designers to bring out her taste and personality. Caption A New York transplant recruits D.C. designers to bring out her taste and personality. In Louisa Bargerons apartment in the Ontario, the living room features plenty of windows and natural light. The Adams Morgan building dates to 1904. Read more here Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

The kitchen was redesigned to be classic yet modern, accommodating five major appliances, including a washer-dryer set, while saving two original glass-front cabinets. More storage came in the form of new gray cabinets. The opening to the dining room was enlarged to make the space airier. On the kitchen walls, Centella and Kushlan used basic white subway tile in a matte finish so the counter-to-ceiling expanse didnt come across as too shiny. For the floor, they chose a black tile in a herringbone pattern. A wood countertop was installed to warm up the look.

The long hallway was given 10-inch horizontal black and white stripes. (Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post)

The dining room, which has its original corner cabinets with leaded-glass detailing, was painted a warm green (Lafayette Green by Benjamin Moore). The dining room gets such beautiful natural light and has great white built-ins and molding, so the dark color helped to highlight those features, Kushlan says. Bargeron had bought a dining table at West Elm, so they added a rug, artwork and chandelier.

The long hallway was given 10-inch horizontal black and white stripes. It added personality, Kushlan says, and because the wall stretches almost the full length of the unit into the living room, it also helps visually distract from the television.

The bathroom was full of century-old details, but the tile was cracking and there was no storage. Although the designers urged her to go with an all-glass walk-in shower, Bargeron said she wanted to keep the claw-foot tub. So they added updated but classic materials such as marble subway tiles and eight-inch, hexagonal floor tiles in dark gray. A thick crown molding dressed it up, as did the Jet Black paint by Benjamin Moore and the Restoration Hardware washstand in antiqued wood, metal and marble.

Bargeron had an upholstered bed. The designers framed the wall behind it with a metallic silver lace wallpaper from Hygge & West. It sets off the lilac linen sheets from Anthropologie, the faux fur throw and 12 framed fashion prints.



Lavender linen sheets, a faux fur throw and a sparkly chandelier add glam touches to the bedroom. (Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post)

The living room has a lot of windows and natural light. Bargeron wanted a space for overnight guests, so Kushlan and Centella chose the Room & Board Watson sleeper sofa and set it across from two leather chairs. The ugly ceiling fan was replaced by a sleeker industrial brass model by Rejuvenation.

The original fireplace recalls a chic turn-of-the- century Parisian flat. Its one of the apartment features Bargeron loves the most. My favorite piece in the living room is the mirror, which is from Anthropologie, says Bargeron of the romantic iron Gleaming Primrose mirror. That piece just nailed it for me. It reminded me of the sort of brownstones in New York City that have beautiful mantels and mirrors built in. Its really something after my own heart.

Five savvy solutions for tight spaces

Designers Kiera Kushlan, left, and Jessica Centella of Residents Understood. (Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post)

Small spaces demand a more imaginative approach to storage and decorating. Designers Kiera Kushlan and Jessica Centella of Residents Understood had lots of creative ideas for Louisa Bargerons 835-square-foot co-op. We asked them for some pointers based on the issues they faced.

Be innovative with storage. Bargeron had a lot of beautiful sheet sets and duvet covers that didnt have a home, given the absence of a linen closet. Kushlan and Centella solved the problem with a black dresser (Pottery Barns Chloe) that stores all of her linens and acts as a media console in the living room. To add sparkle, they swapped out the hardware with Anthropologies chunky pink gem pulls.

Focus on your priorities. Bargeron desperately wanted a washer and dryer in her home but could not spare a closet. So they had to end up in the kitchen. By closing off an unnecessary second door to the kitchen, Kushlan and Centella were able to make room for a stacked washer and dryer in the corner. A tall pantry cabinet was used to house Electroluxs 24-inch front-load washer and 24-inch ventless dryer.

Take advantage of high ceilings. One of the best things about old buildings is often the generous ceiling height. Bargerons kitchen offered lots of opportunity for vertical storage, but it wouldnt be accessible to a person of average height. Kushlan and Centella say that one of their favorite parts of the project was adding a rolling ladder to the kitchen. It not only looks beautiful but allows Bargeron to easily reach all of her dishes, even on the highest shelves.

Dont let the TV ruin your fireplace aesthetic. Bargerons living room features a beautiful old fireplace and mantel. The last thing anyone wanted was to hang a television above it. So instead, Kushlan and Centella placed it on a black dresser on another wall. To keep the furniture grouping centered around the fireplace, they used two green leather swivel chairs (West Elms Lucas) so guests can either center themselves for conversation or spin around to view the TV.

Consider smaller appliances. Because there were five major appliances going into the 80-square-foot kitchen, the designers were concerned about cabinet storage. Smaller appliances had to be used to give the owner everything on her wish list. Among the selections were an 18-inch Bosch 800 series dishwasher and a 25-inch Fisher & Paykel Active Smart refrigerator.
Wealth and power have allowed men to get away with sexual harassment and abuse for ages; thats not new.

From Bill Cosby to Bill Clinton, from Dominique Strauss-Kahn to Donald Trump, high-profile men have been accused of preying on women in very ugly ways. And many of them duck allegations and legal consequences for years or even decades  right up until the gratifying day that their victims finally take them down.

Which brings us to the well-deserved downfall of Bill OReilly, the combative Fox News host who joined his heinous pal, former Fox chairman Roger Ailes, in the unemployment line this week.

The two are accused of using their positions to sexually harass and abuse women in their workplace over and over again.

For years, women who worked with OReilly  the co-author of a book on Old School values  said the talking head verbally abused them, called them at home and described lurid (and ridiculous) sex acts he wanted to perform on them. He allegedly told his associate producer that he was masturbating while talking with her and offered others promotions in exchange for sex with him.

This is a guy who was recorded telling that associate producer that he wanted to fondle her with a falafel, though he actually meant a loofah. Yet somehow that wasnt embarrassing enough to get him off the air.

Nor were the court records that had his teenage daughter describing the way he was choking her mom as he dragged her down some stairs by the neck. Nah, keep that guy on the air and let him promote his books on family values.

Lets put aside the ethics and morality of those accusations to just look at the corporate cost of such accusations  the lawsuits filed, the hours in negotiations with lawyers, the $15 million in settlements. And still, nope. Those things werent enough to make Fox News say adios to a guy who gets millions of viewers by spending all his time ripping into others from the comfort of a TV studio.

No, the Fox overlords didnt consider ditching OReilly until the New York Times published a stunning story earlier this month about sexual harassment settlements with five women who worked at Fox over a 15-year period. Thats when advertisers began to flee and when the cable news channel finally began to take the allegations against their top-rated host seriously.

It was all about the Benjamins, baby. Not the behavior that women said he was guilty of.

But it is a reminder of the awesome power of consumers with the companies who want to sell us stuff. The allegations against OReilly prompted a stampede of nearly two dozen big advertisers to run away from Fox.

Hooray, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Smart move, Constant Contact. And, yes, it was extra sharp for the mens shirt company called UNTUCKit to high-tail it away from a man who allegedly called women at night and described himself untucking something.

I know, its all pretty disgusting.

But there is a funny part to this.

After Fox announced it was ousting him on Wednesday, OReilly  who famously calls anyone opposing his conservative ideas snowflakes  continued to whine about his fate and deny the avalanche of allegations against him.

It is tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims, he said in a statement after Fox announced his axing. But that is the unfortunate reality many of us in the public eye must live with today.

He said his accusers  all of them successful, professional women  targeted him because hes famous. Thats a familiar defense from men like him, who are accustomed to saying and doing anything they want to the women around them.

Our president bragged on an Access Hollywood tape about kissing and groping women whenever he was attracted to them.

And when youre a star, they let you do it, Trump said to Billy Bush in 2005. You can do anything.

Whatever you want, Bush agreed.

Grab them by the p---y, Trump said. You can do anything.

Most men, of course, would never talk this way. They treat their female colleagues with respect. But it is how some men in positions of power think. And in the 21st-century American workplace, those men must be rooted out and fired.

The women who alleged they were being harassed by Bill OReilly should have been taken seriously right away. They should not have had to wait until advertisers spoke up.

But the money folks are listening. Remember that. Its a start, and that power is in our hands.

Twitter: @petulad
THE DISTRICT

Ambulance sent to wrong address

A 911 operator in the District mistakenly sent an ambulance to the wrong address last weekend, forcing a mother to take her 2-year-old son to the hospital for treatment of an asthma attack.

Alan Etter, spokesman for the D.C. 911 office, said the woman provided the operator with a correct address on Galveston Street SW. The operator typed in Galveston Place, about two blocks away. A crew went to Galveston Place, found nothing and returned to their fire station.

Etter said the operator should have stayed on the phone with the woman until the fire department arrived and also should have called her back when the patient was not located.

The child was successfully treated.

 Peter Hermann

MARYLAND

Man charged in fatal shooting of pedestrian

Police in Prince Georges County have charged a 30-year-old man in the fatal shooting of a woman on her way to work this month in Capitol Heights.

Christopher Carl Green, of no fixed address, shot and killed Jan Cotto, 51, about 11 p.m. April 6, police said. Cotto was walking near her home in the 200 block of Zelma Avenue.

Detectives said she may have been walking to a Metro station to go to work.

Green and Cotto knew each other, police said.

Green is charged with first- and second-degree murder and other offenses.

 Dana Hedgpeth

Injured Frostburg student was drinking

Authorities say a Frostburg State University student from Silver Spring drank heavily at an off-campus party before he fell from a sixth-floor dormitory window and was seriously injured.

The Allegany County Combined Criminal Investigation Unit said in a statement Wednesday that no foul play was involved.

Officials say friends escorted 19-year-old Orion Belete of Silver Spring from the party to his dorm room. Officials say surveillance video shows Belete was alone at the time of the fall, and he confirmed that no one else was involved.

Officials say Belete was found unconscious behind Westminster Hall on April 10 and taken to a hospital. He was later flown to a Baltimore hospital, where he is being treated.

 Associated Press

VIRGINIA

Guilty plea for woman in fatal DUI collision

An Alexandria woman pleaded guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2016 fatal collision, officials said.

The woman, Kyeshia Arrington, 25, also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol in the incident. Her vehicle struck Peter Palm, 62, as he was crossing the road in the 200 block of North Henry Street in Alexandria. Palm died of his injuries a month later.

Arringtons sentencing is scheduled for July 13. She faces up to 10 years for involuntary manslaughter and one year for driving under the influence.

 Victoria St. Martin
Allison Sheedy holds her Rhode Island Red hen, one of four female chickens she and her husband Dan McInnis keep for eggs in their backyard garden in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of Washington. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post)

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) is seeking to put an end to her citys tolerance of an agrarian hobby that has taken hold in cities across the country: raising chickens.

In a raft of legislative changes attached to her pending budget proposal, Bowser proposes alterations to the Districts animal-control laws that would definitively ban the practice of keeping backyard chickens in the nations capital.

The move comes after city officials suffered a defeat last year at the hands of a pair of chicken-raising antitrust attorneys who live in Chevy Chase and who sued the District when the Department of Health warned them to remove the birds.

The litigation  which centered on ambiguities in D.C.s Animal Control Act concerning the legal status of chickens  ended with the city beating a retreat and issuing Allison Sheedy and Dan McInnis a permit to keep their four backyard birds.

But Bowsers proposed legislation would eliminate any wiggle room in the law for urban chicken-keeping, explicitly stating that chickens are not a common cage bird of the kind exempted by the regulations and giving the mayor power to regulate the keeping of dogs, fowls, and other animals . . . to protect the public health, safety, and welfare.

Department of Health spokeswoman Jasmine Gossett said the changes are meant to remove all doubt about what city officials continue to maintain is an existing ban on the raising of chickens. The intent of the changes is to clarify that chickens and hens have been prohibited for the past 30 years, Gossett said.

But McInnis said the proposed alterations are a clear admission that chickens are allowed under the legislative status quo. Its a mockable position, he said. They wouldnt have to change the law if they were right.

Gossett was unable to answer questions about what would become of the Districts existing chickens should an unequivocal ban go into effect.

McInnis and Sheedy arent waiting to find out. They have set up a website that warns of backyard chickens in peril and say they plan a full-on effort to persuade D.C. Council members to reject the proposed changes to the law. At the least, they said, the council should hold hearings on the chicken changes as an independent piece of legislation rather than rolling the issue into budget deliberations.

A petition put up on the site Wednesday night had garnered support from 80 people by Thursday afternoon, they said.

Whether its your thing or not, its sort of a cool, interesting, quirky thing to do, McInnis said. Its different. I think generally we should support people who want to do different, fun, safe things, and the city government shouldnt be trying to underhandedly change the law to inhibit pet ownership.

Once a sign of urban squalor, chickens have reemerged in recent years as newly chic denizens of the back yards of American cities. New York, San Francisco and Portland, Ore. permit residents to keep some number of the birds.

Residents in Arlington, Va. and Montgomery County, Md. have also fought in recent years for zoning changes that would allow them to keep chickens. The Rockville City Council in Maryland voted in 2015 to allow residents up to five hens.

The precise rationale for the Districts animus against chicken ownership is unclear. Gossett said she could not speak to the reasons for a chicken ban.

Asked about the law at an unrelated news conference Thursday, Bowser answered cryptically. The provision is that we keep neighborhoods safe, and clean and rodent-free, she said. (D.C.s animal-control laws actually explicitly condone pet rodents.) This is a city. And its not usually the chickens that are the problem but what they leave behind.

Live poultry have been linked to salmonella infections. Last year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention traced eight salmonella outbreaks across the country to backyard fowl, resulting in more than 200 hospitalizations and at least one death.

Aaron C. Davis contributed to this report.
Sydney Chaffee, a ninth-grade humanities teacher from Boston, has been named National Teacher of the Year, making her the first teacher from Massachusetts  and the first working in a charter school  to win the honor.

Chaffee will spend the next year traveling the country, talking with teachers and serving as an ambassador for their profession. Shes taking on that responsibility at a time when education policy is even more intensely politicized than usual, as President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos have sought to promote parents access to charter schools, private-school vouchers and other alternatives to public schools.

Chaffee said that she intends to use her platform to send the message that public schools are the best schools  and that charter schools are public schools that are strongest when theyre held accountable for students performance.

The conversation needs to be rooted in what are all of our public schools doing, and how can they work together to make sure that kids are getting the best education possible? she said.

[Teachers union hosts DeVos at Ohio public school district]

Sydney Chaffee, the 2017 National Teacher of the Year. (Courtesy of Council of Chief State School Officers)

The National Teacher of the Year competition, run by the Council of Chief State School Officers, has for decades sought to recognize the countrys most exceptional teachers. The council says Chaffee is the first teacher working in a charter school to win the top award, but previous winners have come from alternative schools, public magnet schools and private schools.

Chaffee said she went into teaching a decade ago because of the exceptional teachers she had, who inspired her to stay in school as long as possible. She gravitated toward Codman Academy Charter Public School, a K-12 school in Bostons Dorchester neighborhood, not because it was a charter school but because it seemed like a good place to work and to learn.

Kids seemed happy there, they seemed to be learning there, they seemed to be engaged in really good authentic, rigorous work, she said.

Most of Codman Academys 345 students are children of color, and most come from low-income families. The schools philosophy is to connect students learning to the real world in as many ways as possible. For Chaffee, that means using her courses to tie together history and literature, and to help students see the role they can play in making change in the world.

Her students cap study of Puerto Rico by writing to Congress to weigh in on whether the territory should become a state. Their efforts to understand apartheid in South Africa are enriched by visitors from South Africa who can speak to how racism affected their lives. And every year, her students partner with a local theater company to produce and act in a play. This year, that project required Chaffee to expand a script written for two characters into one that would accommodate 46 young actors.

[National Teacher of the Year: I was a teenage mom, and teachers changed my life]

Sydney accomplishes more in one day than what most educators would aspire to complete in one week, Meg OBrien, manager of education operations at the Huntington Theatre Company, wrote in a letter endorsing Chaffee for the national honor.

Chaffee also revamped the schools weekly community circles, where students come together to perform for one another, praise one another and share thoughts on difficult topics of the day.

Sydney has taught me a lot of things, not only about reading, writing and history, sophomore Hayley Horton wrote in a letter of recommendation. She also taught me to have self-worth, to be happy, and to be independent.
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, left, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, center, listen to Van Wert Early Childhood principal Lori Bittner as they tour the school Thursday. (Cathie Rowand/AP)

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos visited an Ohio school district Thursday at the invitation of one of her chief critics, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, who used the occasion to make a case for investment in public schools.

The two combatants in the nations education battles met for several hours, touring classrooms and hearing from teachers and students in Van Wert, a rural community of about 11,000 in northwestern Ohio.

Weingarten said her goal was to show DeVos the good things happening in public schools. She also wanted the secretary to see how the Trump administrations proposed budget cuts would undermine successful programs in a place where voters overwhelmingly supported President Trump, and where there are few choices beyond public schools.

Trump has proposed slashing the Education Departments spending by $9 billion, including funds for after-school programs, teacher training and smaller class sizes.

Van Wert proves that support for public schools transcends politics, Weingarten said at a news conference where she thanked DeVos for making the trip. We wanted to cram as much into today as possible so that she and I saw what is possible . . . in terms of public education.

(Brookings Institution)

[Trump seeks to slash Education Dept. but make big push for school choice]

DeVos, a longtime advocate for vouchers and charter schools, has emphasized that she favors providing more choices to families, and has disputed claims that she wants to dismantle public schools. Before Thursday, she had visited eight schools while in office, including two charter schools, two private schools, three traditional public schools and one school run by the Department of Defense.

She called her visit to Van Wert inspiring and praised the district for its efforts to meet the needs of all students.

She also reiterated her support for extending choice to more families, noting that nearly 1 in 5 children living in Van Wert attend a public school outside the district. The goal is to have every child be in an educational environment thats best for them, she said.

DeVos said she wants to help lift burdensome mandates and paperwork requirements that get in the way of teaching. Asked by a reporter for specific examples, she didnt offer any and said she was speaking broadly.

We know there is paperwork everywhere, in anything to do with government, and some of it is good and necessary  but theres a lot of it that might not be so necessary, DeVos said.

If Thursdays visit marked a willingness to engage despite deep disagreement, there is unlikely to be much in the way of a lasting kumbaya.

Weingarten has not minced words about the new education secretary, describing her as an ultra-wealthy heiress who uses her money to game the system and saying that the Senates narrow vote to confirm her in February was a sad day for children.

On Wednesday, Weingarten published an op-ed in the Van Wert Times Bulletin that criticized DeVos for pushing failed privatization strategies and for proposing a budget that would take a meat cleaver to public education.

During DeVoss three-decade career as an advocate for school vouchers and charter schools, she has been openly critical of teachers unions, describing them as standing in the way of change, particularly for children most in need of better schools.

But shortly after taking office, DeVos spoke to Weingarten by phone, and the two agreed to meet at least twice  once to tour a traditional public school of the unions choosing, and once to visit a choice school  a charter school, perhaps, or a private school accepting tuition vouchers  identified by DeVos.

[DeVos praises this voucherlike program. Heres what it means for school reform.]

The union chose Van Wert at the urging of Jeff Hood, the president of the school districts AFT local. He told the Toledo Blade he was proud of Van Werts success in the face of challenges that accompany rural poverty. Half of the districts 2,000 students come from low-income families, but 96 percent graduate from high school on time.

Hood wants to show DeVos that children in places like Van Wert need more than advocacy for alternatives to public schools. Charter schools and private schools and vouchers are not going to mean much to people in Van Wert, he said, according to the Blade.

Van Wert has invested in early-childhood education and in a community-school model that connects children with social services they need to confront the challenges they are facing outside the classroom.

The state education department gave Van Wert an A for its graduation rate and for progress that students show in math and reading from one year to the next. But the district got a D for the proportion of students reaching proficiency and above on state tests and two Fs, for closing achievement gaps and for the literacy rate among children in kindergarten through grade 3.

Weingarten said school rating systems in Ohio and other states are flawed, relying heavily on math and reading test scores that fail to offer insight into a schools real successes and failures. The new Every Student Succeeds Act opens the way for states to develop better ways to measure whats working in schools and what is not, she said.
James M. Scott, who represented Fairfax County in the Virginia House of Delegates for 22 years and sponsored the states motor voter law allowing people to register to vote at motor vehicle licensing centers, died April 13 at an assisted living facility in Springfield, Va. He was 78.

He had complications from Alzheimers disease, said his wife, Nancy Scott.

Mr. Scott, a Democrat, served on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for 14 years before he was elected to the legislature in 1991  by a single vote.

On election night, officials determined that Mr. Scotts Republican opponent, David G. Sanders, had won the seat for the 53rd District by 17 votes out of nearly 13,000 cast. After a recount six weeks later, Mr. Scott was ruled the winner, with 6,493 votes to Sanderss 6,492. He immediately became known as Landslide Jim.

During more than 35 years as an elected state and local official, Mr. Scott had a liberal voting record, often highlighting issues related to affordable housing and civil rights.

James M. Scott in 2006. (Robert A. Reeder/The Washington Post)

Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), a former chairman of the Board of Supervisors, praised Mr. Scott in a statement as a gentle but forceful advocate for all who feel powerless.

Mr. Scott was perhaps best known as the primary House sponsor of Virginias motor voter law, which was passed in 1995. He proposed the bill after then-Gov. George Allen (R) led efforts to block implementation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. The new law allows residents to register to vote by mail and at motor vehicle, welfare, employment and other state offices.

In 2002, Mr. Scott sponsored the Stand by Your Ad bill, which required Virginia candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and the General Assembly to appear in their advertisements and personally endorse the content. The intention was to reduce negative campaign advertising.

Mr. Scott also led a successful effort to create a new state cabinet office, secretary of technology, and helped establish the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University.

Some of his other legislative proposals met with mixed success, including efforts to raise teachers salaries, build new schools and roads, and ban handguns from governmental offices. In 2002, he sponsored a bill that would have sealed the results of presidential elections until all polls had closed in the continental United States. The bill easily passed the House of Delegates but stalled in the Virginia Senate.

Mr. Scott was reelected 10 times before announcing his retirement in 2013. His seat in the House of Delegates is now held by Del. Marcus B. Simon (D).

James Martin Scott was born June 11, 1938, in Galax, Va., and grew up in Winchester, Va. His father sold furniture, and his mother was a secretary.

James M. Scott speaking in 2003. (Stephanie K. Kuykendal/For The Washington Post)

Mr. Scott was a 1960 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a student activist. He received a masters degree in English from UNC in 1965 and a second masters degree, in public administration, from George Mason in 1982.

He taught at Edison High School in Fairfax County for a year before working for anti-poverty and fair-housing organizations in Fairfax.

After his election to the Board of Supervisors in 1971, Mr. Scott introduced measures to protect human rights and to support affordable housing and school-based day-care centers. He was an early proponent of making the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.s birthday a holiday.

Jim had a laserlike focus on quality-of-life issues for Fairfax County residents, Kate Hanley, a former chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors and secretary of the commonwealth, said in an interview. Jims experience at the local level made him an outstanding representative at the state level.

Mr. Scott, who worked full time as a Fairfax supervisor, resigned in 1986 to become a community affairs executive with Inova Health Systems. He retired from Inova in 2011.

Survivors include his wife of 40 years, the former Nancy Cromwell of Fairfax; two daughters, Casey Scott Laxton of the District and Mary Alice Scott of Portland, Maine; and a granddaughter.

Jim had a saying, Dont let the perfect be the enemy of the good,  Hanley said. What that meant was that compromise is not a four-letter word.
A woman is arrested while participating in the rally advocating legalized pot near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

April 20, 2017 A woman is arrested while participating in the rally advocating legalized pot near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post

Advocates for legalized pot tried to hand out free joints near the U.S. Capitol. The action was intended as a protest against federal interference with states that have legal pot.

Advocates for legalized pot tried to hand out free joints near the U.S. Capitol. The action was intended as a protest against federal interference with states that have legal pot.

Advocates for legalized pot tried to hand out free joints near the U.S. Capitol. The action was intended as a protest against federal interference with states that have legal pot.

Photos from the scene of a pro-marijuana protest in D.C.

Photos from the scene of a pro-marijuana protest in D.C.

At least seven advocates for legalized marijuana were arrested Thursday on Capitol Hill at an event where free joints were distributed to congressional staffers.

The 4/20 event, billed as the 1st Annual Joint Session, was at First Street and Constitution Avenue NE, across the street from the U.S. Capitol and down the block from the Supreme Court. Activists said it was the closest they could get to the Capitol while staying off federal land. Under D.C. law, small amounts of marijuana can be given away in areas under the jurisdiction of local authorities.

[Map: Marijuana still illegal on federal land]

To the dismay of some in a crowd of a few dozen people, the giveaway wasnt for everyone: Only members of Congress, congressional staff, Capitol Hill support staff and credentialed journalists older than 21 were invited to take two free joints.

James Wallace, a staff member for the Architect of the Capitol, was among the first of 100 people who organizers said showed up, displayed their ID and got the freebies.

(The Washington Post)

Its good for me for stress purposes, said Wallace, 37. It calms me down.

Minutes later, U.S. Capitol Police seized the joints and arrested two activists who were distributing them.

Adam Eidinger, head of DCMJ, the activist group formerly known as the D.C. Cannabis Campaign that organized the giveaway, said he was surprised by the arrests.

We did not expect that, he said. This is D.C. land. . . . those people were well within their rights.

Eidinger and others with DCMJ used another supply of marijuana to continue the joint giveaway.

At least two congressional interns who didnt wish to be identified received their free weed before Eidinger and three other DCMJ members were arrested.

I was performing within my legal rights in the District of Columbia, activist Elizabeth Croydon shouted as she was taken into custody. I am not a criminal!

Police arrest marijuana activist Adam Eidinger at First Street NE and Constitution Avenue on Thursday. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

In a statement, U.S. Capitol Police said officers arrested seven people after witnessing them distributing marijuana in public view. Three people were charged with intent to distribute, and four were charged with possession, authorities said.

Under federal law, it is unlawful to possess marijuana, the statement said.

[On Inauguration Day, marijuana activists in D.C. will give out 4,200 joints]

The arrests fed confusion about how U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions  who said in February we dont need to be legalizing marijuana  would enforce marijuana laws. The District permits possession of up to two ounces on city-controlled property, while some states have legalized the drug, but federal restrictions remain.

In a statement, DCMJ co-founder Nikolas Schiller called the arrests an unlawful violation of our most basic civil liberties.

The giveaway was meant as a less-confrontational prelude to Monday, when activists plan to illegally smoke marijuana on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
The Coast Guard is expected to run an active-shooter drill Thursday at its headquarters in Southeast Washington.

The exercises will be conducted on the Department of Homeland Securitys St. Elizabeths Campus, officials said. Officials did not disclose what time the drill would take place or how long it would last.

Residents and passersby in that area might see additional law enforcement activity and hear emergency announcements over the public-address system on the campus, which overlooks Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling and Interstate 295.

In a statement, the Coast Guard said the practice is needed to prepare headquarters personnel to effectively respond to the threat of an active shooter.

But there was concern among some area residents when they heard alarms around 9:30 a.m. Thursday near the Washington Navy Yard.

It was a false report that there had been a security incident at the facility. Fire and emergency rescuers were headed to a medical emergency, authorities said, and they stressed that there was no security incident, according to an email from Chatney Auger, a spokeswoman for the Navy Districts Washington office.

On Wednesday, a similar shooter drill was held at the Washington Navy Yard.

[As Navy Yard shooting drill winds down, alert sounds at Naval Observatory]

But confusion was sowed when an announcement went out at the Naval Observatory in Northwest Washington saying that there was an actual accident. There was no incident at the complex, which is home to the vice president: The announcement was blamed on a technical glitch.

Drills are conducted on a routine basis to help train personnel in how to respond. In 2013, a lone gunman, Aaron Alexis, fatally shot 12 people and wounded three others in a building at the Washington Navy Yard before he was killed by police.
An Alexandria woman pleaded guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter in a 2016 fatal crash, officials said.

Kyeshia Arrington, 25, also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol in the incident, which killed a 62-year-old man who was crossing the street.

She faces a maximum sentence of 10 years for the involuntary manslaughter and one year for driving under the influence. Authorities also said that because of the involuntary manslaughter conviction, Arringtons license to drive in the Commonwealth of Virginia will be revoked indefinitely.

[Police: Pedestrian dies after October crash; driver arrested ]

The crashed occurred Oct. 8, 2016, in the 200 block of North Henry Street.

Police said Peter Palm was crossing the street when he was struck by the vehicle driven by Arrington. A witness driving behind Arrington told authorities that Palm was clearly visible in the roadway but that Arrington did not swerve or try to brake before she hit him, according to a news release from the Alexandria Commonwealths Attorney.

Arrington initially drove away without stopping to check on Palm, but she returned to the scene shortly afterward, the release said.

Police said officers noticed that Arrington smelled of alcohol and was visibly intoxicated. The release said that her blood was drawn and tested after the collision, and that a forensic toxicologist would have testified that her blood alcohol content would have been between .18 and .23 at the time of the crash.

Palm remained hospitalized after the crash and succumbed to his injuries Nov. 19, 2016.

Arringtons sentencing is scheduled for July 13.
Paula Thompson Marshall, 47, was charged with murder in the shooting of her husband, Rolf Marshall. (Alexandria Detention Center)

Rolf Marshall was killed during a drunken dispute over a dog bite.

My husband gave me a gun, Paula Thompson Marshall would tell a 911 dispatcher just after shooting her husband Oct. 5. I didnt know it was loaded. He was being stupid about the dog, and now Ive shot him accidentally.

That morning, Thompson Marshall had been bitten on the hand by their aging Akita, and prosecutors and defense attorneys agree that led to a bitter fight in the couples Alexandria home. Thompson Marshall had for months argued that it was time to put the dog down, but her husband had resisted.

She told police that Marshall tossed her a .38-caliber revolver and told her,  Heres a loaded gun. If you want to shoot it, go ahead.  She fired, once, hitting her husbands side as he sat across from her in his favorite armchair.

After a three-day trial in Alexandria Circuit Court, a jury Thursday found Thompson Marshall guilty of murder in the second degree and use of a firearm in commission of a felony, and returned a sentence of 14 years on the charges. A judge will set a sentencing hearing and can impose the jurys sentence, suspend or reduce it, but not increase it.

The slaying was one of seven in Alexandria in 2016.

[Wife charged in fatal shooting of maritime lawyer in Alexandria]

Rolf Marshall was a longtime Navy captain and maritime lawyer. He and Thompson Marshall, an aesthetician who worked in area beauty salons, had married about 12 years before his death.

In court, before the jury was to begin deliberating a sentence, Alex and Eric Marshall told jurors their father was a brilliant man who loved his family and the sea. After he married Thompson Marshall, however, he withdrew from family and friends, they said.

For the last 10 years, everything has been different, Eric Marshall testified. Now that hes gone . . . that withdrawal is final.

The dog was one stressor in a marriage that had several, testimony showed.

Marshall, 76, was suffering from prostate cancer. In a video played at trial, his wife, 47, berated him for not taking better care of himself.

Youre going to die at 79, and Im counting the f---ing hours and minutes, she said. Neighbors testified that months before the shooting, Thompson Marshall had complained about her husbands health. In another video played at trial, she told her husband she had met someone else and wanted a divorce.

Financial problems also created strains. Records show their Old Town Alexandria homeowners association sued them for failing to pay dues. They also were behind on their mortgage and in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service.

Both drank too much, both sides conceded, and they were drinking the morning of the shooting. One neighbor, Dani Lane, testified that the constant fighting was so bad that she couldnt sit on her patio: It was like watching a Hitchcock movie, she said.

Commonwealths Attorney Bryan Porter argued that the killing could not have been accidental. Its clear when a revolver is loaded, he said, because the bullets are visible. And to fire a revolver, you must either cock the hammer or give a relatively long, heavy pull on the trigger, a state expert testified.

When you get into an alcohol-fueled argument with your husband, when you pick up a loaded gun and point it at your husband, when you do that and pull the trigger, thats really the end of the rope, Porter said. Were not saying shes a psychotic killer or public enemy number one, but that this murder was the result of 12 to 18 months of a deteriorating marriage marked by verbal abuse and financial difficulties.

Defense attorney Marina Medvin pointed to Thompson Marshalls panic and despair after the shooting as evidence that she had no intention of killing her husband. In her call to 911, she repeatedly shouts his name. When she got into a police cruiser, she was crying hysterically. At the police station, a crime scene investigator testified, Thompson Marshall curled in the fetal position and continued to cry.

Paula was not the nicest in how she talked in the past, Medvin conceded in her closing arguments. But she emphasized that there was no evidence of physical violence in the marriage. To the neighbors, she said, Thompson Marshall was too blunt, too truthful  and was equally honest in labeling her husbands death an accident.

After the verdict, Medvin told jurors that the Marshall marriage was troubled, but based in love. Its hard to put into words how deeply my client misses her husband, she said. Whenever she is released from prison, Medvin promised, she will not be returning to alcohol.

Several days after Marshalls death, the dog was euthanized.
Eulalio Tordil is shown during his capture in Montgomery County after what prosecutors say was a two-day killing rampage. (Alex Brandon/AP)

A 63-year-old Maryland man accused of killing his estranged wife in Prince Georges County, fleeing, and then killing two strangers in Montgomery County intends to plead guilty next week in the stranger slayings, according to court documents signed by attorneys in the case.

Eulalio Tordil, a former officer with the Federal Protective Service, still faces a heavy prison sentence in the 2016 two-day rampage  up to four life terms, including one with the condition that he never gains parole eligibility, according to the records.

He is due for a plea hearing Tuesday in Montgomery Circuit Court. The agreement is not considered final until a judge accepts the deal, and Tordil could still back out.

According to the agreement, Tordil will plead guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-

degree murder, the latter charges based on allegations he shot two others who survived his rampage in Montgomery.

Both murder counts had originally carried the possibility of life with no parole. Prosecutors agreed to convert one of those counts to life with the chance of parole, according to the agreement.

Malcom Winffel, 45, was fatally shot on May 6 while coming to the aid of a woman whose vehicle Eulalio Tordil was attempting to carjack, prosecutors say. (Family photo/Family photo)

The plea agreement has no impact on Tordils alleged crimes in Prince Georges County, according to the records. He remains charged there with one count of first-degree murder and two handgun counts, according to online court records.

Theresa Chernosky, an attorney for Tordil, could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

A plea agreement in Montgomery comes as Tordil faces an October trial for the deaths last year of Malcom Winffel, 45  who prosecutors say was shot as he tried to aid a woman in a shopping-mall parking lot as Tordil attempted to carjack her SUV  and Claudina Molina, 65, who was shot outside a Giant supermarket as Tordil allegedly was trying to carjack her SUV.

Tordil lost his eyeglasses in a scuffle with Molina, which helped police capture him.

Without his glasses, officials said, Tordil could not see well enough to drive. A police officer noticed his car off an alert and notified other officers.

[Md. man accused in shooting rampage indicted on two murder counts]

Gladys Tordil was the estranged wife of Eulalio Tordil. (FB)

Authorities say Tordils rampage started May 5, 2016, in Prince Georges, when he shot his estranged wife, Gladys Tordil, as she waited to pick up her daughter outside a high school. His wife, who was 44 and taught chemistry at a different school, had obtained a restraining order against him in March, authorities have said.

After allegedly shooting and killing his wife, Tordil traveled to neighboring Montgomery County, prompting an extensive manhunt. Detectives were able to tie three crime scenes together through witness accounts and from bullets fired from Tordils gun, they said.

[Suspect lost eyeglasses and was unable to flee after shooting, prosecutors say]

Tordil had been a longtime officer with the Federal Protective Services and had worked security for the National Institutes of Health, according to authorities. He was put on administrative leave after the protective order was issued.

In his court case in Montgomery County, prosecutors and defense attorneys soon were set to argue pretrial motions.

Among those was whether prosecutors would be able to use certain statements that Tordil made to detectives after he was captured and after hed invoked his constitutional rights not to discuss the incident.

According to court records filed by prosecutors:

At one point, Detective Dimitry Ruvin walked into an interrogation room where Tordil was, offered him a slice of pizza, and the two began chatting. Tordil said that as a police officer, he had informed suspects of their constitutional rights and was aware that statements could be used against suspects.

Ruvin kept talking to him.

At this point, its just a human thing, man, Ruvin said. Thats all it is. Because, I mean, its, its over essentially. Were here and we have the evidence right now. . . . But were truly here to get the why, and just on a human level, its not even on a cop level, bro.

The attorneys also were set to argue over whether Montgomery prosecutors would be allowed to use Tordils alleged prior bad acts at his trial for the shootings in Montgomery County.

In court papers, Montgomery States Attorney John McCarthy laid out a 10-page narrative of Tordils alleged behaviors before shooting his wife, how he shot his wife and what he did after fleeing to Montgomery County.

In that narrative  parts of which were made public last year  prosecutors said that on March 3, 2016, Tordils wife filed for a restraining order, accusing him of having slapped her hard enough years earlier to break her glasses. The order was granted, preventing Tordil from seeing his wife or her daughters and requiring him to surrender his firearms, according to McCarthy.

Tordil surrendered six weapons to police but kept a .40-caliber Glock handgun he used in the alleged crimes, McCarthy wrote.

After the restraining order was granted, the federal government suspended Tordil from duty, according to court records. Tordil became despondent and told a colleague he was going to run his car off a bridge, McCarthys account states.

Montgomery officers found a notebook belonging to Tordil after his arrest. In an entry he wrote after his wifes death, Tordil said he shot her several times in the upper body/head, according to McCarthys court filing.
A man was shot Thursday during a robbery attempt in the Truxton Circle neighborhood of Northwest Washington, one block from the interchange of New York Avenue and North Capitol Street, according to D.C. police.

The shooting occurred shortly before 7 a.m., during the morning rush hour, on N Street NW near North Capitol Street, next to the New York Avenue Playground and close to Dunbar High School.

Police said that the 1200 block of First Street NW was closed for the investigation.

A police report said the victim told detectives that he and friends were walking along N Street when a man came up behind them and said, Give me some money and your cell, referring to a cellphone.

The victim told police he responded that he did not have money or a phone and started to walk away. The victim said he was then shot, according to the police report.

Police said the victim was wounded in the lower extremities and was conscious and alert at the scene. A man wearing all black clothing and holding a gun was seen running toward North Capitol Street and New York Avenue, a busy intersection that can also be the scene of violence.

[Shooting during evening rush hour on New York Avenue leaves four injured]

In June, four people were shot in front of the Big Ben Liquor store, a landmark at North Capitol Street and New York Avenue. That shooting occurred during the evening rush hour and left bullet casings strewn across New York Avenue. No commuters were struck, and police have made at least one arrest in the case.

Residents flooded a meeting with police to discuss their concerns about the area. At that meeting, the then-Commander of the 5th District station, William Fitzgerald, said of the corner: Obviously, that corner is a long-term, open-air drug market.
D.C. police are searching for a man in connection with a sexual assault and an attempted sexual assault that occurred this month in Northeast Washington, one of them at knifepoint, according to authorities.

The first attack occurred about 9:50 a.m. April 6 in the 100 block of Kenilworth Avenue NE, near East Capitol Street and the Anacostia Freeway.

Police said the victim was walking on the street when a man groped her from behind and then ran away. Police said the man returned a short time later and groped the woman again.

Authorities said they believe the same man attacked another woman about 6:30 a.m. Saturday in the 200 block of 34th Street NE, about three blocks from the April 6 incident.

In this case, police said the man was armed with a knife and grabbed a woman from behind and tried to sexually assault her. Police said the woman resisted, and the man ran away.

He is described as black, 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-8 with a slim build, and between 20 and 30 years old. He was last seen wearing a black jacket with green coloring on the sleeves, dark pants, and red, white and black shoes.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has commuted the death sentence of Ivan Teleguz, a 38-year-old man who was set to be executed Tuesday in the murder-for-hire of his former girlfriend.

Teleguz has maintained his innocence in the 2001 slaying of 20-year-old Stephanie Yvonne Sipe in Harrisonburg. His attorneys have argued that two key witnesses have recanted their testimony, calling his guilt into question. Multiple courts have deemed those recantations unreliable, and the man who killed Sipe has never wavered in saying that Teleguz paid him to commit the murder.

I believe the man is guilty, McAuliffe (D) said Thursday, but he also said that the sentencing phase of Teleguzs trial was terribly flawed and unfair.

Teleguz will now serve life in prison without a chance of parole.

[Convicted Virginia killer, set to die, maintains his innocence]

Ivan Teleguz. (Virginia Department of Corrections via AP, File)

In their clemency petition, attorneys for Teleguz stressed that jurors were falsely told that Teleguz also was involved in a Pennsylvania murder  but that purported killing never happened. Prosecutors pointed to testimony of that supposed crime as evidence that Teleguz solves problems with murder.

The jury acted on false information, McAuliffe said. To allow a sentence to stand based on false information and speculation is a violation of the very principles of justice that our system holds so dear.

In making his decision, McAuliffe said he reviewed more than 6,000 pages of documents, including letters from Sipes family. He called her relatives before his news conference Thursday afternoon.

My heart aches for this family, the entire family who knew Stephanie Sipe, McAuliffe said.

McAuliffe personally opposes the death penalty, citing his Catholic faith. But this marks the first time he has commuted a death sentence. As governor, he has presided over three executions, and at the behest of correctional officials he has pushed for more secrecy in the lethal-injection process.

The governors decision comes as there is increasing scrutiny over the death penalty nationwide. Many pharmaceutical companies now refuse to participate in executions, creating shortages across the country and a turn toward compounding pharmacies and drugs experts say are less effective.

In Arkansas, public officials are battling courts over an attempt to carry out eight executions this month before the states supply of a lethal-injection drug expires.

[Arkansas courts stay execution, block state from using lethal injection drug]

Teleguzs plea for a commutation attracted high-profile support, including from billionaire Richard Branson and former Maryland governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

Investigators and Sipes family, however, are confident of Teleguzs guilt.

Theres no doubt in my mind that he hired these people to kill my sister, Sipes sister, Jennifer Tilley, told the Harrisonburg television station WHSV last week. And it blows my mind, it really does, that he is still trying to fight and plead for his life.

Sipe, 20, was found dead in her apartment July 23, 2001, her throat slashed. Her 2-year-old son, also Teleguzs child, was sitting in a bathtub in the next room.

It took three years for prosecutors to charge Teleguz. The break in the case came when police encountered one of Teleguzs acquaintances, Aleksey Safanov. Safanov, who was facing charges, told an officer that he knew Teleguz had hired a man to kill his ex-girlfriend. His motivation, Safanov said, was anger at paying child support.

Teleguzs phone records led police to Edwin Lee Gilkes Jr., who said Teleguz had paid a man named Michael Hetrick to kill Sipe. Gilkes would later testify that Teleguz was involved in the fictitious murder in Ephrata, Pa.

Hetrick confessed, saying Gilkes was also part of the plot and that the dispute was not over child support but about money and drugs. He testified that Teleguz drove him and Gilkes to Harrisonburg on the night of Sipes death, then drove back to Pennsylvania to establish an alibi.

Hetrick testified that he went to Sipes apartment alone and asked to use the telephone. He told jurors that he cut his hand while slashing the young womans throat with a fillet knife. Going to the bathroom to wash his hands afterward, he found the young boy in the tub, the water still running. He turned the water off and left, leaving blood that was later matched to his DNA.

Sipes body was found two days later by her mother, who had attracted a neighbor with her screaming. The child was still in the tub, unharmed.

Hetrick was sentenced to life in prison, Gilkes to 15 years.

After Teleguz was sentenced to death, both Gilkes and Safanov wrote affidavits saying they had lied to investigators in hopes of leniency for their own crimes. But Gilkes refused to testify at a hearing on the issue after appointed counsel warned him that he was at risk of being tried for perjury or losing his plea agreement. Safanov, who had been deported and was living in Kazakhstan, never appeared in court during the appeal.

Hetrick, who has not recanted, was inappropriately provided detailed information about the prosecutions theory of the case by police, and told that he would face the death penalty himself unless he agreed to testify against Teleguz, attorneys for the condemned man argued in their clemency petition.

The defense attorneys have argued that Gilkes and Hetrick may have targeted Sipe on their own to steal drugs and money.

We think Gov. McAuliffe made a wise decision, defense attorney Elizabeth Peiffer said, adding that Teleguz is very grateful for the support he has received.

The last time a Virginia governor commuted a death sentence was in 2008, when then-Gov. Tim Kaine (D) stopped the execution of triple murderer Percy L. Walton.

Kaine commuted Waltons sentence to life in prison without parole, saying that Walton was mentally incompetent and that putting him to death would be unconstitutional.
1 of 20 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Exploring Richmonds home and design shops View Photos Long an off-the-radar destination for design die-hards hunting for deals on designer fabrics and antiques, this historic city is nurturing a funky new scene. Caption Long an off-the-radar destination for design die-hards hunting for deals on designer fabrics and antiques, this historic city is nurturing a funky new scene. Designer Dana Gibson, a well-known name in Richmond style circles, has turned part of her studio into an outlet shop, selling her discontinued home accessories line at a discount. She also offers a selection of antiques. Warning: The shop is not open on weekends. April Greer/For The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

If youre going to Richmond to shop, why not stay in a hotel carved out of an old luxury department store?

I recently checked in for two nights at the super cute Quirk Hotel, which started out in 1916 as J.B. Mosby & Co. and still has the original arches and ornamental ironwork of its predecessor. The local artwork, the repurposed Virginia walnut bed frames and even the pink accents throughout the hotel got me in the mood to explore Richmonds hipster hangouts, curated consignment shops, vintage marketplaces and independent boutiques.

I had been to Richmond many times but found it full of fresh surprises as I followed my GPS from the polish of Carytown to the industrial landscape of Scotts Addition.

Richmond has always been an off-the-radar destination for design die-hards hunting for deals on designer fabrics and antiques, but I wasnt here for brown furniture and monogrammed silver trays. I was on a quest to learn more about how the maker movement is becoming mainstream here and how the furniture tastes of a new generation are trending toward the 20th century, as opposed to the 18th. I savored the musky charm of incense cones by a local fragrance source, the allure of an exotic staghorn fern and the simple beauty of a rewired vintage electric fan. The antiques are still here. But so are kombucha growlers, locally sourced llama wool rugs and trinket trays.

Although Richmond, about a two-hour drive south of Washington, is far from a small town, its downright neighborly, and the community welcome mat is out. You do need a car to get around, but what a treat it is to pull up and find free street parking directly in front of a shop, instead of fumbling with your Parkmobile app or navigating a winding parking garage. Each shop beckons with its own jazzy or indie-rock soundtrack, and friendly shop dogs are waiting to be petted.



Dear Neighbor, in the Church Hill neighborhood. (April Greer/For The Washington Post)

(April Greer/For The Washington Post)

Dear Neighbor

2415 Jefferson Ave., 804-819-1729, shopdearneighbor.com

Theres always a birthday or holiday around the corner or some other reason to be on the lookout for a little gift. This was the thinking of jeweler Kristy Santelli Cotter and her husband, Evan Cotter, who opened this shop in Church Hill inside a carriage house that had spent time as a shoeshine parlor and a brewery. They are dedicated to local makers and often host events in the courtyard that adjoins their own house in back. You might pick up a Vietnamese pompom sea-grass basket ($45) or a porcelain wall hanging for displaying your air plant ($28). Soft rugs are made from llama wool from a nearby farm, and the aromatic essential oils are from Richmonds own

Na Nin. Kristy will tell you about the boho velvet pillows; the blush color comes from a dye made from avocado pits.

As you leave this little design way station, fortify yourself for more shopping with a treat from the famed Sub Rosa Bakery down the block.



Dana Gibson, designer and owner of Dana Gibson studio. (April Greer/For The Washington Post)

Dana Gibson

1601-A Roseneath Rd., 804-321-0156, danagibson.com

Need decorating inspiration? Head over to designer Dana Gibsons studio and outlet, where the candy colors, graphic patterns, animal prints and whimsical motifs will entice you to go bolder in your own home. You may recognize some of Gibsons home accessories from shelter magazines: shelves of tole lamps, stacks of roomy trays and piles of jewel-toned pillows. Mostly its slightly flawed or irregular pieces or discontinued items. You might discover $30 trinket trays that normally sell for $50, or $300 lamps normally ticketed at $500. Gibson loves to rummage around old stuff, so you will also come upon unusual chairs shes reupholstered in fabrics of her own design and antique chests shes updated with new hardware.

This is her workroom and warehouse (which is open only on weekdays) in the Scotts Addition neighborhood, so dont expect a manicured boutique. Do expect stylish stuff at a discount.



Fraiche, at Libbie and Grove avenues. (April Greer/For The Washington Post)

Fraiche

5805 Grove Ave., 804-282-4282, fraichehome.net

Fraiche has a little bit of everything in that sort of tradition-with-a-twist category. The shop, opened in 2008 by two BFFs, is both a place to shop with a friend and a place to find them a present. Yet it has a solid collection of furniture and entertaining accessories to outfit any bachelor pad or formal dining room. There are lots of tasteful and stylish frills for brides, babies and hostesses, and an especially large Juliska dinnerware selection. Fraiche sits in the shopping mecca of Libbie and Grove, a place locals love for its mens shops, coffee bars and ice cream. Check in with Fraiche for the date of the annual August sidewalk sale.



Katie Ukrop, director of Quirk Gallery and co-owner of Quirk Hotel. (April Greer/For The Washington Post)

Quirk Gallery

207 W. Broad St., 804-340-6036, quirkgallery.com

Pink is the signature color in Katie Ukrops stylish Richmond art gallery and design store, now off the lobby of the Quirk Hotel, which opened in 2015. The gallery had been around for about a decade when the hotel opened, establishing an audience for its edgy art and photography shows and intriguing selection of home and design items and artisan jewelry. If you stay at the hotel, youll be drawn to the resin ice buckets ($117). The gallery sells bars of Icelandic volcanic ash soap ($8) and cute kitchen gloves ($13.50) mixed in with mint green or gray watering cans with a spray nozzle attached ($15) and local coffee and peanuts in beautiful pink floral packaging. We want to bring energy and fun back to shopping, Ukrop says. Its not so fun to just click to buy something. I want everything I sell here to have a soul.



Tiny Space, in the Church Hill neighborhood. (April Greer/For The Washington Post)

Tiny Space

2708 E. Marshall St., 804-647-7301, tinyspace-rva.com

Sam and Anna Vanneman were looking to open a vintage home-goods shop when they heard about a gritty garage for rent in a happening block of Church Hill. They grabbed it. After three months of renovation and stockpiling hand-picked and handmade home goods, clothing and curiosities, they rolled up the garage door for business in August.

This place used to be a woodworking shop, says Anna. It was perfect for our stuff. Anna and Sam have different tastes, so theres a wonderful jumble that might include 1960s ceramics, vinyl records, teak shelving, wicker, vintage electric fans and Shaker-style baskets. Sam curates books, which range from philosophy to Amy Vanderbilts Complete Cookbook from 1961. There are gems by local makers. Stuff comes in every day, and there are lots of finds under $20. Our prices are super low, and we like to keep things moving, Anna says. My joy is getting the right thing to the right person.



Strawberry Fields Flowers & Finds, in the Fan District. (April Greer/For The Washington Post)

Strawberry Fields Flowers & Finds

423 Strawberry St., 804-213-0232, strawberryfieldsflowersandfinds.com

In a funky former hair salon in a historical and vibrant block in the Fan district, Deanna King runs a sweet neighborhood flower shop that has also become a community gathering spot. Its far more than just a place to order arrangements: It has a lot of nooks and crannies to browse through, filled with thoughtful gifts made by local artisans and lots of fresh green plants. Dedicated terrarium and succulent departments are stocked with healthy specimens, equipment and how-to books. Customers drop off vases to be filled before a dinner party or put together their own artful bouquets. King will show you how to use a giant monstera leaf as a place mat. Come down for a flower design workshop; some are also held at nearby breweries. Recent topics: creating an arrangement in Greenery, Pantones Color of the Year; and tarting up terrariums with cactuses and crystals.



Kim Vincze, owner of Verve Home Furnishings. (April Greer/For The Washington Post)

Verve Home Furnishings

4903 W. Leigh St., 804-370-3765, vervehomefurnishings.com

Roaming through the vast rooms of Verve is sort of like visiting a Hollywood prop studio. Verve specializes in modern  as in 60s, 70s and 80s. But there are splashes of almost every look from industrial to Regency glam to chinoiserie to hunt country kitsch. Yes, I did spot a burnt-orange fondue pot.

If you like poking around warrens of vintage treasures, this is your place. The shop is a favorite of decorators and stagers. We like to say that we have just the right amount of wrong here, says Kim Vincze, who presides over this 12,000-square-foot warehouse. Richmonders like to mix it up. You have to strike the right balance.



Williams & Sherrill, in the Huguenot Village Shopping Center. (April Greer/For The Washington Post)

Williams & Sherrill

2003 Huguenot Rd., 804-320-1730, williamsandsherrill.com

Its okay to have a fabric fetish at Williams & Sherrill: The staffers are used to customers who view searching out perfect fabrics as a blood sport. There are more than 4,000 in-stock bolts of cottons, silks, linens and velvets at discounted prices, says owner Patrick Williams. Most in-stock fabrics sell for $17 to $45 a yard, and youll find hundreds of choices in every color. Brands include Brunschwig & Fils, Osborne & Little and Designers Guild. The shop has a team of well-trained consultants who can help you make your final decision and order things from a custom workroom. There is furniture, wallpaper and more. More goodies can be found a few doors down at the Interior Outlet sister shop, including a wall of ready-made 20-inch pillows ($45) lined up in rows of tempting prints.

Shopping trip tips

A few suggestions to make the most of your road trip:

 Check store hours the day before you jump on Interstate 95. Small businesses arent open the hours of malls; all operate on different days and hours.

 Ask the locals their favorite lunch spots. After a tip from a native, I dropped in to the charming Sally Bells Kitchen (2337 W. Broad St.), which serves tasty old-fashioned box lunches  deviled egg and homemade cupcake included  for $8.98.

 Talk to the shopkeepers; you want their input. Thats why you arent shopping online. I love to see the look on the face of someone that has really connected with an item, says Anna Vanneman of the Tiny Space vintage shop on historic Church Hill. Thats what Im in this business for.
Protesters gather at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection offices in Washington on March 7 to oppose a travel ban by President Trump. (Astrid Riecken/For The Washington Post)

Washingtonians will have front-row seats this weekend to witness what has become a familiar backyard scene: another protest on the Mall.

Activists and scientists are expected to descend on the nations capital Saturday to rally for environmental causes and government policies rooted in scientific research as part of the Earth Day and March for Science rallies. The demonstration comes a week after the Tax March and a week before the Peoples Climate March.

Protests are standard on the National Mall, and from the 1963 March on Washington to the recent Womens March, history has been made there time and time again. But, compared with recent years, the Trump era has seen a marked increase in demonstrations on the citys federal land.

The protests are often fueled by those with left-leaning political views who were surprised by Trumps victory but have not been quelled by his policies and actions since taking office.

I still wake up with palpitations, said Michele Hooper, a 62-year-old physician from California who attended the Womens March and Tax March. She plans to attend the science rally this weekend.

[The Tax March: Protesters call on Trump to release his taxes]

The National Park Service, which oversees the Mall, has fielded 33 percent more requests this year for permits to protest on the Districts federal land than it had at this time last year, said Mike Litterst, a spokesman for the agency. The Park Service had received 197 permit requests for demonstrations as of Wednesday, compared with 148 at the same time in 2016.

That number does not include unpermitted protests and others that have spontaneously unfolded in front of buildings, such as the U.S. Capitol and Environmental Protection Agency headquarters.

This month, three high-profile protests  the Tax March, Earth Day and Science March, and Climate March  are planned on consecutive weekends. Litterst said several more are scheduled into the summer, with large immigrant and LGBT rallies planned for May and June.

He said the increased interest in permits has added to the Park Service staff workload but wrote in an email that the agency has been able to meet the growing demand while ensuring the preservation of park resources and the safety of event participants and National Mall visitors.

Permits for the Earth Day and Science March indicate organizers expect more than 50,000 people to attend, which would make it the largest rally in Washington since the Womens March in January.

The Earth Day Network, the organization that spearheads the annual Earth Day rally and affiliated events worldwide, began planning Saturdays rally long before Election Day. This year, scientists who say the Trump administration has disregarded or devalued scientific research are joining the effort  a rare position for the typically apolitical field of science.

(The Washington Post)

The rally is set for 10 a.m. at the Washington Monument and will feature dozens of short speeches and videos, said Kathleen Rogers, president of the Earth Day Network. At about 2 p.m., attendees will march toward the U.S. Capitol.

The theme of this years event is environmental and climate literacy. Celebrity scientist Bill Nye is among the speakers.

Hell hath no fury like a scientist scorned, and thats essentially where we are, Rogers said. People will be marching because their integrity and honesty has been called into question. This is a new and energized constituency  they just happen to be wearing lab coats.

[Police infiltrated inauguration protest group, court papers show]

Protesters at recent marches say they have channeled their discontent with the new administrations policies into the demonstrations.

At the Tax March last weekend, attendees said the protests were effective, crediting demonstrations throughout the country with thwarting Trumps travel ban plans and stymieing the Republicans proposed health-care plan.

I feel this keeps me sane, said Susie Sinclair-Smith, a Bethesda resident who attended the Womens March and Tax March and plans to attend the rally this weekend. Im hoping I get more energized by coming here.

D.C. resident Rosanne Lush said she is encouraged by attending protests and seeing thousands who share her political views.

When you go to these events, you see there are other people who feel the same way as you, she said. Theres something to be said for showing numbers.
An incumbent Arlington school board member running for reelection apologized Wednesday night for comments he made earlier in the day about domestic violence, after coming under fire for victim-blaming.

James Lander, running for his third term on the board, expressed regret on social media for saying on a local radio station Wednesday morning that if Yeardley Love, a University of Virginia student murdered in 2010 by her boyfriend, wasnt strong enough or educated enough to remove herself from a violent relationship then we have failed her as a society. Because if you are the smartest person with books, but you cant apply the knowledge, then what good is it?

(Arlington in the Morning WERA 96.7)

Twelve hours later, Lander called his words insensitive and inappropriate and do not reflect the realities faced by victims of domestic violence. . . . I know that Ms. Love was not the victim of poor choices or personal failings; she was the victim of a horrendous crime and her murderer is solely to blame.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Lander called his statement boneheaded and stupid.

Lander said he was trying to point out that it is of paramount importance to provide our students with all the tools they need for life outside the classroom. . . . But I said something stupid.

He promised to work with local domestic-violence-prevention groups to become better educated on the issue and ensure that the school system focuses appropriate attention on providing all of our young men and women with the tools they need to develop healthy relationships and be vigilant about their mental health.

Lander came under quick criticism from the chairwoman of the Arlington Commission on the Status of Women, Caroline Gary Romano, who called for his apology and resignation.

On Thursday morning, Romano said that even though he apologized, Lander should resign.

The bottom line for me was what he did was victim-blaming, she said in an interview. It was as if to say theres anything ever a victim can do to stop a perpetrator.

Lander, a former school board chairman, also lost the endorsement of Arlington County Board member Katie Cristol. He is running against fellow Democrats Monique OGrady and Maura McMahon in the May 9, 11 and 13 party caucus.

Cristol said she knows Lander to be very open to dialogue and growth, but when it comes to domestic violence, misconceptions and stigma can literally be life-threatening, making it harder for survivors to seek help.

This issue is too important, and the stakes are too high, for me to equivocate when I say that these comments are unacceptable.
State Sen. Jennifer Wexton (D-Loudoun) is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) in the 2018 mid-term elections. (WilliamMoree.com/ Jennifer Wexton campaign)

State Sen. Jennifer Wexton will announce Thursday she is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Rep. Barbara Comstock (R) in a northern Virginia district that President Donald Trump lost last year.

Many Democrats consider Wexton, a former prosecutor from Loudoun County, the strongest candidate in a field of hopefuls who would stand out in a typical year.

A wave of liberal activism galvanized by Trumps election convinced Wexton she could unseat Comstock despite the congresswomans success in competitive races.

The grassroots energy is so inspiring, she said in an interview at her Leesburg home on Wednesday. Im seeing all these people who are resisting and persisting and doing what they can to hold their representatives accountable. And this is something I can do. I can help by helping to hold Barbara Comstock accountable.

Democrats say they expect Wexton to capitalize on her experience in public office and roots in Loudoun County, the heart of the district home to a savvy, diverse electorate courted by both parties.

She spent about $472,000 in her 2015 reelection to the legislature but will have to raise millions to compete against Comstock, a fundraising powerhouse and relentless campaigner. Outside groups will likely pour resources into campaigns on both sides.

Last year Comstock won a nationally watched race by 6 points  and outperformed Trump by 16  by focusing on local issues such as transportation and opioid abuse.

With the only congressional district in the D.C. metropolitan area that could be considered a swing district, Comstock has withstood pressure from constituents and others to hold an in-person town hall. She prefers large-scale conference calls with residents.

Wexton said she has held four traditional town halls since February, including one with Del. J. Randall Minchew (R-Loudoun) that drew 150 residents.

Closely controlled, scripted town halls dont count, she said. She added later: This year people are actually paying attention. People can see when shes paying lip service to issues but how shes really voting when it counts.

Wexton pointed to Comstocks support for a House rules package that allows lawmakers to reduce the salary of any federal worker to $1, and her multiple votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which provides benefits to opioid addicts.

[House Republicans revive obscure rule that allows them to slash the pay of individual federal workers to $1]

Picking up on the theme of LuAnn Bennetts failed campaign to unseat Comstock last year, Wexton referenced the Trump-Comstock agenda twice in an hour.

She is the fourth Democrat to declare her intentions. Also running are Daniel Helmer, an Army veteran, Lindsey Davis Stover, a former Obama administration official, and Kimberly Adams, past president of the Fairfax teachers union. Several others are considering jumping in, including Dorothy McAuliffe, the wife of Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

Wexton, 48, grew up Bethesda, and earned a bachelors degree at the University of Maryland and a law degree at William and Mary.

She started work in 2001 as an assistant commonwealths attorney in Loudoun County, where she tried cases from homicide to domestic abuse. In a high-profile 2002 trial, Wexton successfully prosecuted Clara Jane Schwartz, a college student accused of orchestrating her fathers slaying.

After about five years, she went into private practice but continued to serve as a court-appointed attorney representing children in abuse and neglect cases and parties to mental health commitment hearings; she later served as a substitute judge in Loudoun County.

She resigned to challenge Jim Plowman, the Loudoun commonwealths attorney, in 2011. She lost by about 2,000 votes in a year when Republicans swept the board of supervisors.

Then, Mark Herring left the state senate to serve as attorney general. Wexton ran in the January 2014 special election for his seat and won by 14 points.

At the time, Democrats were reeling from the transvaginal ultrasound debate, the repeal of the limit of handgun purchases to one a month and new voter ID laws, and her race was one of two that determined which party controlled the state Senate.

The following year, she won a full term. She does not need to give up her seat in the legislature to run for Congress.

She and her husband moved to the congressional district in 2004. They live in Leesburg with their two sons and two rescue labrador retrievers.
Facing rising costs from Metro and higher school enrollment, the Arlington County Board is poised to pass a 1.5 cent increase in the property tax rate, one-half cent less than what the county manager proposed and the board advertised earlier this year.

The county budget, which the board will vote on Saturday, would grow 4.3 percent over the current year to about $1.2 billion. The tax rate, now 99.1 cents per $100 of assessed value, would climb to just over $1 for the first time since 2013. Combined with higher assessments for most homes, and a rise in a variety of separate fees, the average residential property owner is likely to see a tax increase of about $250.

Board Chairman Jay Fisette (D), who is completing his fifth four-year term this year, said all of the increase would go toward meeting the needs of Metro and the schools, which expect more than 1,000 new students to enroll in the fall.

Arlington Public Schools, Fisette said Thursday during the boards last workshop session before the Saturday vote, would receive $800,000 more than requested, for a total of $490.3 million, although some of the money would be one-time, rather than ongoing, funds.

County Manager Mark Schwartz said 46.6 percent of all locally generated revenue in the county goes to the school system, not including about $7 million for personnel such as school nurses and crossing guards.

Funding for the Metro system would increase by $7.4 million.

Metros general manager on Wednesday called for new, dedicated funds from local governments to provide the troubled transit agency with $500 million a year for equipment and maintenance.

Elected officials in Arlington, which built the modern county around the idea of a transitdependent lifestyle, supported the idea, but with a big gulp at the potential costs.

Metro is an impossible lift unless the region comes up with a dedicated funding source, Fisette said. If they dont find that, were all in a lot of trouble.

Board members asked Schwartz last month to tell them which cuts they would have to make to raise the property tax by one cent, instead of two. Board members took his advice for some of those trims  reducing the amount spent on mowing and landscaping, delaying the hiring of some sheriffs deputies, and reducing his proposed increase in the number of jobs dedicated to improving the countys street lighting.

But in the end, the board decided to vote on raising the tax rate by 1.5 cents, to allow for additional spending on schools and Metro.

If you can get the job done with less tax burden, then do it, Fisette said. Were always looking for more efficient ways of accomplishing our goals.

Board members debated how much money to devote to Columbia Pike improvements, as well as other expenditures, which would be offset by cuts in existing spending.

The board added $100,000 to create a fund for immigration services, which they described as intended to support nonprofit groups responding to unrest and uncertainty created by the Trump administrations renewed focus on deportations.
RUSSIA

Supreme Court bans Jehovahs Witnesses

Russias Supreme Court on Thursday banned the Jehovahs Witnesses from operating anywhere in the country, accepting a request from the Justice Ministry that the religious denomination be considered an extremist group.

The court ordered the closure of the Christian groups Russia headquarters and its 395 local chapters and the seizure of its property. The Jehovahs Witnesses claim more than 170,000 adherents in Russia.

The Interfax news agency on Thursday quoted Justice Ministry attorney Svetlana Borisova in court as saying that Jehovahs Witnesses pose a threat to the rights of the citizens, public order and public security. Borisova also said the denominations opposition to blood transfusions violates Russian health-care laws.

Yaroslav Sivulsky, a spokesman for Jehovahs Witnesses in Russia, said in a statement that the faith group is greatly disappointed by this development and deeply concerned about how this will affect our religious activity.

 Associated Press

SOUTH SUDAN

U.N.: 100,000 displaced in fighting

A South Sudanese government offensive in the Jonglei region has displaced roughly 100,000 civilians, the United Nations said Thursday.

A report from the U.N. office of humanitarian affairs said fighting in the Waat and Walgak areas last week caused scores of thousands of civilians and 60 aid workers to flee.

The United Nations warned that the government offensive could exacerbate food insecurity in the region, where some areas are on the brink of famine. Food drops in one area have been suspended because of the fighting, the agency said.

 Associated Press

INDONESIA

Probation sought for Jakarta governor

Prosecutors on Thursday recommended two years of probation for the minority Christian governor of the Indonesian capital during his trial on a charge of blaspheming the Koran.

The relatively light sentencing request came a day after Gov. Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama lost reelection in a landslide victory for a Muslim rival.

The maximum penalty for blasphemy in Indonesia is five years in prison. Prosecutors recommended one year in prison if Ahok violates probation.

Ahok was accused of blasphemy last year when a video surfaced of him telling voters they were being deceived if they thought a specific verse in the Koran prohibits Muslims from electing a non-Muslim as leader. His lawyers will present his final defense next week; a verdict from the five-judge panel is expected in early May.

 Associated Press

Ahmadinejad disqualified from presidential race: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and rival Ebrahim Raisi were approved to run in Mays presidential election by a vetting body. But former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was disqualified, state media reported Thursday. The approval of Rouhani, a moderate, and Raisi, a hard-liner, sets up a showdown between rival political camps. Ahmadinejad, who remains a deeply polarizing figure, had shocked the country by registering last week. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had previously urged him not to run.

Niger declares hepatitis E epidemic: Niger has declared an epidemic of hepatitis E in the Diffa region, where 25 people have died among the 86 cases recorded since early this month. Public Health Minister Idi Illassou Mainassara said Thursday that authorities have blocked roads leading into the affected area and are helping the sick and that the situation is under control. The Diffa region has hosted thousands of people displaced by the Nigeria-based Boko Haram extremists.

Olympian dies in crash: Olympic medalist Germaine Mason died Thursday in a motorcycle crash outside Kingston, Jamaica, police said. The track and field athlete apparently lost control of his motorcycle before dawn, the Jamaica Constabulary Force said. He died at a hospital. Mason, 34, was born in Jamaica but represented Britain at the 2008 Games in Beijing. He won a silver medal in the high jump.

China launches cargo spacecraft: China on Thursday launched its first unmanned cargo spacecraft on a mission to dock with the countrys space station. The Tianzhou 1 blasted off at 7:41 p.m. local time atop a Long March 7 rocket from Chinas newest spacecraft launch site, Wenchang, on the island of Hainan. It is programmed to conduct scientific experiments after reaching the now-crewless Tiangong 2, Chinas second space station. A pair of Chinese astronauts spent 30 days aboard the station last year.

 From news reports
William J. Burns, deputy U.S. secretary of state from 2011 to 2014, is president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

On the surface, much of President Trumps foreign policy seems to be reverting to the mainstream upon first contact with reality. Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assads horrific use of chemical weapons produced a quick military response, applauded across partisan lines in Washington. Relations with Russia have settled to predictably adversarial depths. The administration is full of appropriately reassuring words about NATO, and the one-China policy was safely back in place for the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Senior national security appointments have been mostly traditionalist, with radical voices in retreat. In a Washington always impatient for sweeping judgments as a new administration wraps up its first 100 days, it is tempting to conclude that convention is ascendant.

Beneath the surface, however, lurk more troubling trend lines. Through policy incoherence and not-so-benign neglect, the Trump team risks hollowing out the ideas, initiative and institutions on which U.S. leadership and international order rest.

The idea of America has been at the heart of our success in the world for 70 years. For all our imperfections, we have embodied political and economic openness, respect for human dignity and a sense of possibility. The power of our example has mattered more than the power of our preaching, and enlightened self-interest has driven our strategy.

What we often saw during the Trump campaign, and still bubbling in the background of this administration, has been more self than enlightened  a nasty brew of mercantilism, unilateralism and unreconstructed nationalism, flavored by indiscipline and overpersonalization. At a moment when the international order is under severe strain, power is fragmenting and great-power rivalry has returned, the values and purpose at the core of the American idea matter more than ever. Against this backdrop, acting in defense of a critical international norm in Syria is reassuring; going mute on human rights issues in dealing with authoritarian leaders is not.

A second crucial asset has been American initiative  our willingness and ability to mobilize others to deal with shared problems. From regional challenges to wider global dilemmas such as climate change and trade, U.S. leadership has been critical to the unprecedented peace and prosperity of the post-World War II era. Of course we got a lot of things wrong, sometimes at grievous cost, most painfully in Vietnam and Iraq. And of course we need to make significant adjustments in a world in which the United States is no longer dominant but still preeminent.

But many in the new administration still seem to think much differently. Theirs is a United States held hostage by the very international order it created. Alliances are millstones, multilateral arrangements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and NAFTA are constraints rather than opportunities, and the United Nations and other international bodies are distractions, if not irrelevant. Were Gulliver, in their view, and its time to break the bonds of the Lilliputians.

That is more than just an attitude, and more than just a re-articulation of a recurring isolationist instinct in U.S. politics. Its already proving corrosive, by creating a trade vacuum in Asia that China is eagerly filling; threatening to squander hard-won gains in our own hemisphere and Africa; and unnerving European allies by indulging populist nationalists and encouraging more actions similar to Brexit. Others in the administration clearly understand the risks inherent in such views, but early policy inconsistency has created worries for friends and temptations for foes.

A third ingredient of American leadership is the institutions that sustain it. Trumps first budget guts institutions responsible for translating our ideas and initiative into action. By relying so heavily on hard power, Trumps budget reinforces a pattern over much of the difficult post-9/11 period in which we have often inverted the roles of force and diplomacy, underselling the virtue of diplomacy backed up by the threat of force, while relying more on lethal force as our tool of first resort, with diplomacy an under-resourced follow-up, untethered to strategy.

The issue here is not whether real reforms are needed in domestic or international agencies. They are long overdue. The State Department has too many layers and ought to be streamlined. But cuts of nearly 30 percent are not motivated by an interest in sensible change; they reflect a dismissiveness of the role of nonmilitary instruments, and a disruptive passion for neutering or dismantling existing institutions.

Likewise, draconian reductions in assistance programs are penny wise and pound foolish. Rather than helping key fragile states avoid the kinds of failures and conflicts that often drag in the U.S. military, at far greater cost, we will, through abdication, become less secure.

The frustrations that helped produce the Trump presidency are real. So is the profound fatigue about engagement with the world, after more than 15 years of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and almost a decade removed from the Great Recession. But overcompensating through general global detachment, episodic assertions of American muscle and creative destruction of institutions would be a dangerous illusion, not a workable strategy.

At home, we have checks and balances that cushion the domestic consequences of such illusions. The wider world lacks those brakes. Without U.S. leadership and its fundamental elements  the idea our country represents, the initiative animating alliances that set us apart from lonelier powers such as Russia and China, and the institutions that underpin our influence  the realities around us will grow more complicated and more threatening.
Arlie Hochschild is author, most recently, of Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right.

In 2008, the General Motors plant in Janesville, Wis., the oldest plant of the nations largest automaker  the grand cathedral of industry, as Amy Goldstein calls it  abruptly laid off thousands of workers, and in 2015, it permanently closed. Poignantly, workers cheered and hugged and wept as the last Tahoe snaked down the assembly line. The company and union issued $20 raffle tickets granting the winner ownership of the gas-guzzling $57,745 SUV with a nine-speaker audio system and heated seats. And so it was that a factory that began making cars and offering a whole way of life in 1923 shut its doors for good.

[Janesville: When the nations oldest operating General Motors plant closes, residents emerge from the Great Recession into an uncertain future]

After GM shed workers, other plants around town did, too. Many townspeople became GM refugees, Lear refugees, Parker Pen refugees. One out of three Janesville residents lost a job or had someone in their family who did. Following three families, teachers, politicians, business leaders and others, Goldstein, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist, offers us a poignant, fugue-like account of the gradual absorption of this shock. For example, she gives us Jerad Whiteaker, a 39-year-old father of three who had put in 13 years at GM, at $28 an hour, accepted a modest buyout  $4,000 and six months of health insurance  and tries to train for a job climbing utility poles. But once five feet up the pole, Jerads knee gives out and he slides back down, scraping his chest on the wood all the way down. What if he got badly injured, he muses, or what if, at the end of his training, a real job wasnt there? Jerad quits and tries the night shift at a paint shop; then a job working 12-hour shifts for $12.48 an hour in a plastics factory; then a position as a guard at the county jail, where he begins to suffer claustrophobia and panic attacks. Still coping with periodic bouts of anxiety, he drives a truck 200 miles a day and ends up a forklift driver south of Madison.

In households in which someone was laid off, Goldstein tells us, half had trouble paying for food. For sale signs went up on front lawns. Payday loan offices opened. Students arrived at school hungry and tired. Of workers hired into new jobs, more than half took a cut in pay. For many, an hourly wage around $28 dropped to near $16. To avoid such a loss, one father commuted a long distance to a higher-paid job, returning home only on the weekends. Three-quarters of those surveyed in 2013 reported loss of sleep, 71 percent a sense of restlessness or unease, and half a quickness to anger. Two-thirds told of strains in family relations and more than half a loss of contact with close friends. Ominously, the rate of suicide rose. And to completely break our hearts, Goldstein reports that a majority said they felt ashamed to be out of work.

"Janesville: An American Story," by Amy Goldstein (Simon & Schuster )

At the same time, victims were exhorted to buck up, to reinvent themselves and, as the Janesville Gazette urged, become ambassadors of optimism. And they did. As Goldstein writes, with the federal government and the state, industry and labor  unable to lift back up its once prosperous middle class, Janesville has been left to rely to a considerable extent on its own resources. Fortunately, those resources include more generosity and ingenuity  and less bitterness  than in many communities that have been economically injured. And this fit the mantra of Paul Ryan, current speaker of the House and fifth-generation Janesville boy: to rely not on big government but on the generosity and resources within [our] own communities.

[If you lose your home, you lose everything else, too]

Curiously, much of this generosity, Goldstein informs us, was directed at GM itself. Long ago the first state in the nation to offer workmans compensation and unemployment benefits and to recognize unions for state employees, Wisconsin now went on bended knee to offer GM a great sum of money to stay in Janesville. Pooling public dollars from the financially strapped city, county and state governments, the state offered GM the largest incentive package in Wisconsin history  $195 million. But Michigan rivaled that offer with a still larger sum  $1 billion  and won. All this money was added to the $25 billion federal bailout offered to GM and other auto manufacturers in 2008 to save the industry. So while the unemployed of Janesville relied on local ingenuity and resources, GM did not.

Goldstein gives the reader a gripping account of the GM layoff, the real loss it caused and the victims heroic resilience in adapting to that loss. By the end of this moving book, I wanted her to write a sequel on what might have been done to prevent the damage in the first place. For it turns out that while were often primed to take managements word for what a company needs to do, this is a question well worth asking.

GM management talked of its layoffs as structural  a term carrying the aura of financial profitability, necessity, inevitability. But were the layoffs profitable in the long run, necessary or inevitable? In a startling 2014 review of studies published between 1983 and 2000, Harvard Business School management professor Sandra Sucher and her co-authors reported that there is no clear academic consensus that conducting layoffs improves companies long-term financial health. Paradoxically, efforts to cut costs can also increase them. Layoffs inject fear throughout the company, lower morale among survivors and decrease creativity. High performers are often the first to leave voluntarily, taking their know-how with them, sometimes to rival companies. Survivors become anxious, risk-averse, make more mistakes. Contacts with customers are torn. Quality declines. Absenteeism rises. Some workers engage in retaliatory behavior. A survey by Watson Wyatt in the late 1990s found that only 46 percent of firms that downsized actually cut expenses and only 32 percent increased profits.

There are signs that GM was a prime example of Suchers point. After decades of closing factories and laying off workers and moving production overseas, in 2009 GM faced a $172.8 billion debt. And these days, GM is re-shoring  bringing production back to American shores.

Even if GM had to lay off Janesville workers, we can ask, did it have to do it in the manner in which it did? Faced with the need to cut costs, other companies chose ways that were easier on workers. Instead of layoffs, Honeywell opted for furloughs  time and wage, but not job, cuts  and while other companies endured rocky times, Honeywells profits rose between 2009 and 2012. Unlike GM, Honeywell froze top management salaries in the face of the 2008 recession and eliminated top management bonuses, offering the message that managers and workers were confronting the hard times together. Nokia, the Finnish smartphone manufacturer did something else. Like GM, it laid off workers, but unlike GM, it offered workers grants and training to help find a new job and if necessary develop a new skill, and even provided funds and expert advice to help laid-off workers start their own businesses. In Singapore, the government subsidizes employers who retain older workers otherwise at risk of losing their jobs. GM made a series of bad turns  including its focus on high-end gas-guzzlers with heated seats  took Michigans billion-dollar bid, skipped town and escaped blame which, in her sequel, Goldstein might make into a fascinating story all its own.

The subtitle of this important and rarely told tale reads: an American story. And so it is: Between 2004 and 2009, more than 7 million workers were hurt in 40,000 mass layoffs. In the end, Goldstein says,  it became evident that no one outside  not the Democrats nor the Republicans, not the bureaucrats in Madison or in Washington, not the fading unions nor the struggling corporations  had the key to create the middle class anew. Maybe so. But does such a disproportionate burden have to rest on the weary shoulders of the Jerad Whiteakers of the nation? How welcome it would be if the higher-ups at GM and elsewhere demonstrated the same generosity and ingenuity that Jerad and his co-workers have displayed.
Signs of support hang on the building at Comet Ping Pong on Dec. 6 in Northwest D.C. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)

The recipe for pizza is simple: flour, water, yeast, salt, time, tomato, cheese and heat. But the Internet has a way of taking the simplest ingredients and making a huge mess.

I learned this the hard way.

I own the pizza shop Comet Ping Pong. Its in a residential section of Northwest D.C. that feels like small-town America. On the same block as my restaurant, youll find a market, a beloved bookstore, a paint store, a firehouse, a gas station. We know our customers, and we know each other.

Sadly, many people who dont know me or my neighborhood cling to an absurd lie: that I and political figures including Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her campaign chairman, John Podesta, run a child-slavery ring out of Comets basement.

Last month, one of those people, Edgar Maddison Welch, pleaded guilty to local and federal charges stemming from the day last year when he showed up at my pizza shop wielding an assault rifle and a .38-caliber handgun. He was following calls by conspiracy theorists for a self-investigation of the concocted sex ring.

(The Washington Post)

What he discovered was happy families eating lunch. While my brave staff swiftly evacuated customers, Welch walked through the building undeterred, shot a computer closet, then laid down his weapons and surrendered to the police in the middle of Connecticut Avenue. He will remain in prison for years.

Im often asked how this happened. It started in October when WikiLeaks released Podestas hacked emails. Podesta and his brother, Tony, are Comet fans, and in these emails I was invited to cook for a Clinton fundraiser.

Anti-Clinton conspiracy theorists and online trolls congregating on Reddit and 4chan decided that the words pizza and cheese in these emails were code for pedophilia.

They ultimately pushed the lie that my pizza restaurant was being used to abduct children and commit heinous crimes.

These lies ricocheted from shadowy chat rooms to various social-media platforms, encouraged by fake news articles and deliberately amplified by provocateurs such as Alex Jones, who broadcast these smears to his audience of millions.

Suddenly, the lives of everyone in Comets orbit were thrown into chaos.

I was inundated with death threats, sometimes many a day. Comets Facebook and Yelp pages were flooded with obscene reviews. The restaurants phone rang off the hook, with people calling and screaming at the hosts. First, we answered only local area codes, then unplugged the phones.

Online, we were labeled as criminals  or worse. They posted our pictures, links to personal social media, even our home addresses. Our community of food runners, hosts, bussers, waiters, customers, artists we display, bands that performed, my godchildren, surrounding businesses and my mother all were harassed by self-proclaimed investigators.

After Welch surrendered to the D.C. police with a declaration that the intel on this wasnt 100 percent, we thought truth would prevail. But some online trolls labeled the incident a false flag, insisting Welch had been hired by Clinton to distract from her crimes. A few weeks ago, when my best friend and former partner suffered a heart attack, these same trolls said it was retribution.

Jones attempted to apologize with a belated and halfhearted retraction, but the online community of investigators labeled Jones a shill. Unsurprisingly, Joness platform, InfoWars, continues to broadcast lies about me and Comet.

Ten years ago, we opened Comet to be a place for people to gather, eat, drink and play. And I sometimes wondered what would happen if something bad happened to us. Where would my community be?

I now know where they are.

They are seating the guests, tending the bar, playing ping-pong with their families. They are eating our pizza, drinking a beer and catching up with their neighbors. They are sending notes saying, Have a drink on me, or Keep your doors open, do not let fake news win.

This is our community.

Hours after the gunman was arrested, they called to ask if they could come for dinner. Were closed, I said. Crime scene. Their response? Okay, well come tomorrow.

They came out in droves when we reopened. And then, two months later, on inauguration weekend, demonstrators came to Comet with signs reading GOT AIDS YET? and a megaphone to call me a faggot and pedophile and our neighborhood Sodom and Gomorrah.

Our community peacefully walked out of Comet to confront the protesters. And by the light of our vintage neon sign and the flashing of the arriving police cars, my staff, our neighbors, our community, pointed the restaurants speakers toward the hate, turned the volume as high as it would go, blasted Lady Gagas Born This Way and danced the bigots away.

Responsibility, community, love, family, truth and ping-pong. The best ingredients still make the best pizza every time.

The writer is owner of Comet Ping Pong.
The Pruitt-Igoe housing project in St. Louis was razed in 1976 after just two decades in use. James Crawford counters the idea that its architecture led to its failure. (Courtesy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Philip Kennicott is the art and architecture critic of The Washington Post.

James Crawfords Fallen Glory is a curiously old-fashioned book. It is divided into 21 readable and engaging chapters, each one just about bedtime length and all of them ending with a gentle parable about that ambitious and vain species known as Man. It surveys great buildings, cities and technological marvels that are now lost or have fallen into ruin. Mostly these are things that a reader educated in the English-speaking world will find familiar, even if the recollection is slightly hazy. So among the obituaries in this book devoted to The Lives and Deaths of Historys Greatest Buildings are the Tower of Babel, King Minoss palace on Crete, the Roman Forum and the Bastille in Paris.

Fallen Glory recalls, perhaps, Richard Halliburtons Book of Marvels, written in the late 1930s, though without the first-person adventure narrative. It appeals to the school-boy curiosity in all of us, the desire to scramble over old ruins and dream of a past that seems more coherent and meaningful than the scattered, nervous present we inhabit. It is also full of digressions and intriguing asides, and even readers who subscribe to National Geographic and watch Jeopardy will be surprised here and there with facts they didnt know. Did you know that the Roman temple of Divius Julius was reduced to rubble and baked into lime for the mortar that holds together St. Peters Basilica? Did you know that the cathedral vault of the Old St. Pauls in London was once rented out to a public house for storing wine? Or that the Tartars, the nomadic groups that helped Genghis Khan spread his empire, took their name from Tartarus, the lowest part of hell?

[Louis Kahn: Extraordinary architect, complex family man]

Based mainly on secondary sources, but thoroughly footnoted, Crawfords book proceeds from curiosity to curiosity, often jumping back and forth between recent history and the distant past. The choices of buildings, or places, reflect a particularly Anglophone view of history, with many of the more remote subjects having some connection to British history, if only through the depredations of colonialism. If you were going to pick one magnificent church that is no more, it would have made sense, perhaps, to chose the Abbey at Cluny in France, which certainly had a much bigger impact on the architecture and culture of Europe than St. Pauls in London. But St. Pauls is closer to home and more deeply embedded in the emotions of English readers. Also, Kowloon Walled City, a Chinese-built enclave in Hong Kong that was torn down to make a park in 1994, recalls the heavy engagement of the British Empire in that part of the world and offers a chance to recount the Opium Wars; and the St. Petersburg Panopticon, a partial realization of an architectural idea for perpetual surveillance, lets the author tell the intriguing story of the English philosopher and exponent of utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham and his brother, Samuel.

"Fallen Glory: The Lives and Deaths of History's Greatest Buildings," by James Crawford (Picador)

But not everything is so chummily close to home. The book grows stronger the more the author expands his notion of place, or great buildings, and the last third of the volume breaks with the Wonders of the World format to explore the forlorn housing project of Pruitt-Igoe, in St. Louis, demolished in 1976 after only two decades of use; the Berlin Wall, torn down after the end of the Cold War in 1989; and GeoCities, the online city of personal Web pages deleted by its corporate owner, Yahoo, in 2009. The book ends with a new chapter, added since its original publication in Britain in 2015, devoted to the tragedy of Islamic State destruction in the Syrian city of Palmyra.

[Review: Building Art: The Life and Work of Frank Gehry ]

The more recent chapters benefit from a richer historical record, and the author deftly sifts through this material to treat his subjects with skepticism and an even hand. The pages on Pruitt-Igoe are particularly good, as Crawford deals analytically with the lazy argument that the complex was doomed to disaster simply because it was a high-rise, or too modern, or too ugly to be congenial to its residents. There were many other factors in the decline of a project that was designed to attract residents back to the citys inner core and offer them a clean, contemporary, community-oriented habitat for raising families and pursuing the American dream. Plans drawn up to surround the towers with childrens playgrounds, landscaping and ground-floor public toilets ended up being scrapped, Crawford writes. And the quality of the hardware was so poor that doorknobs and locks were broken on initial use. Rules regulating who could live there precluded working men from cohabitating with women receiving financial aid for dependent children, which only furthered a spiral into social malaise.

But for all this skepticism, the book is too eager to find simple truths, and the author frequently grasps at gossamer ideas that arent particularly interesting or enlightening. The Berlin Wall, for example, was a mirror, reflecting back at the people on either side a sense of themselves: At stake was the ultimate judgment: who was good and who was evil? It was this that made the Wall not just a wall, but also a mirror. For those on either side, to look at it was not to see through it or over it, but to see their own reflections.

Almost every chapter descends into similar piffle. The Fortress of Golconda in Hyderabad, India, was once the main defense of a kingdom that grew wealthy on the diamond trade. But all things must pass: If diamonds are cursed, as the legends say, then it is the curse of longevity. They live to see everything else die: People, buildings, nations, civilisations, species. They are fated to outlast the world. Of the great, now-lost Library of Alexandria: What other destiny could have awaited this first universal archive  the store of all human intellectual achievement  than total destruction? Why? Hubris, of course.

This is a fault as old fashioned as the books format: bad writing. Indeed, the dreadful sort of writing you hear on BBC documentaries aired during pledge week or PBS travel shows. One senses, given the prevalence of this hyperventilating, cliche-ridden focus on simple things like hubris, and the sands of time and the Ozymandian ruins of the arrogant past and the necessity that all great empires will fall to dust, that the book has been written self-consciously with a TV series in mind.

Thats unfortunate. There is good material here, engaging description, a quirky sense of history and often fine analysis. But good taste demands that a book should be better than a TV script. Consider the following, about the loss of the World Trade Center towers in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. If you make it through and still want to read the book, then by all means buy it: Perhaps the attack itself, despite its implausible scale and terrifying spectacle, was itself a relic: unoriginal and derivative, the product of too many Hollywood movies. Perhaps the hijackers hit the towers but missed the point. Perhaps.

Perhaps not.

Philip Kennicott is the art and architecture critic of The Washington Post.
Susan Sheehan won the Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction for her book Is There No Place on Earth for Me?

People have theories about cats (and the people who love them). Some think, for example, that cats know their names. As someone whos had four cats, one at a time, over 50 years, Ive come to realize that few generalizations about feline behavior seem to apply. If I went out looking for my cat Fred and called out Elvis, for instance, Fred would come, if so inclined. Cats are laws unto themselves.

Into this murky territory comes Thomas McNamees new book, The Inner Life of Cats, which promises to unearth the science and secrets of our mysterious feline companions. I was skeptical of this pretentious subtitle but nonetheless was charmed by McNamees tale of his cat, Augusta, and his attempts to understand this essentially unknowable (but lovable) animal.

The Inner Life of Cats is Augustas life story, an engaging one interspersed with plentiful information about cats. McNamee found Augusta on a snowy November morning in Montana. He welcomed the kitten into his house, concluding from tire-track evidence that she had been dumped in the middle of the night on a country road and had then made her way to his ranch more than a quarter of a mile away, leaving paw prints smaller than a dime. He drove the black kitten to the nearest vet and, upon learning that she was about three months old, and thus born in August, gave this gift from the god of chance the name Augusta. The vet told him that the kittens cheerful disposition was probably due, in part, to an inborn sunny nature, a roll of the genetic dice.

[You can train your cat to use the toilet. Just dont expect it to flush.]

"The Inner Life of Cats: The Science and Secrets of Our Mysterious Feline Companions," by Thomas McNamee E (Hachette )

The book proffers passages on the history of domestic cats, as well as insights on the behavior of laboratory cats, feral cats and indoor cats. Three examples: Cats have the widest range of hearing of any mammal except bats; cats purr only to people, not to one another; female cats in heat will mate with a number of male cats, thus the sometimes extraordinary diversity of kittens in a single litter.

All of this is well sourced, but there are a few speculative passages that left this longtime cat owner wondering. Some people say, McNamee writes, that cats are drawn to non-cat-lovers because they dont look at the animal, wanting no part of it, whereas cat people look, hoping for a response of some kind. The gazed-upon cat will then have taken all that staring as potentially threatening, McNamee explains, and will perceive the person looking away as polite. . . . Hence the friendly approach to the wrong person. This does not jibe with my four-cat experience.

McNamee also devotes a portion of the book to cat whisperers, who work with indoor cats that exhibit exasperating behavior  biting and scratching, ripping up the upholstery, yowling at 4 oclock in the morning, and worse. Perhaps revealing his ambivalence toward cat whisperers, he writes that Mieshelle Nagelschneider, the queen of the industry, conducts individual cat-by-cat consultations, most of them by telephone and e-mail, and declines to offer statistics on her success rate. Jackson Galaxy, the garish king of cat whisperers, makes house calls: He is frequently bitten and slashed on the job. Galaxy has a television show called My Cat From Hell on Animal Planet, a charitable foundation that contributes to cat shelters, and a retail empire selling products such as #TeamCatMojo bracelets and Rainbow of Paws flip-flops. And yet, and yet, McNamee continues. Jackson Galaxy knows cats in ways and with an accuracy beyond what Ive found anyone else to possess.

[Cat books by Jackson Galaxy, Celia Haddon and Bob Tarte]

Indoor cats may be problems to their owners, but when they are abandoned and dont wind up in shelters, they usually become feral. Feral cats are cats that have become homeless, and wild cats born on city streets or in rural barns that are never socialized. The Humane Society estimates the national population of feral cats to be 30 million to 40 million. Free-ranging cats are notoriously difficult to count, however, and other estimates are higher. The overpopulation of feral cats in America and on other continents, especially Australia, poses serious difficulties to wildlife: In the United States, feral cats kill billions of birds and mammals every year. They are also a problem to shelters and to themselves. Feral cats transmit diseases but are often victims of suffering: They are run over, poisoned, tortured, shot and generally succumb at early ages to illness.

Augusta, too, comes into a period of suffering. Time darkens our lives and those of our treasured cats and dogs. As Augusta aged, she suffered degenerative joint disease; by the time she was 9, she limped upstairs, and soon, despite an anti-inflammatory medication, she could no longer jump on the bed. Her weight dropped precipitously. At 15, she grew weaker and showed pain, which cats tend to conceal until close to the end. She was euthanized.

The author grieved for months but eventually adopted another kitten, whom he named Isabel. He vowed to be even kinder to Isabel than he had been to Augusta. He wouldnt go on trips and leave her at home. Their lives are shorter than ours, he writes. We can witness their lives from beginning to end, not just witness but be in them, from naming to knowing, from wonder to love, an arc, and then  now  another. . . . Every day of her life, the kitten and the cat she becomes will make the effort worth our while.

Life would be less good without cats in it, and dogs, too.
President Trump seemed to contradict his State Departments message on Sundays referendum in Turkey by congratulating its president on the result. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

As he nears his 100th day in office, President Trumps efforts to appear decisive and unequivocal in his responses to fast-moving global crises have been undercut by confusing and conflicting messages from within his administration.

Over the past two weeks, policy pronouncements from senior Trump aides have often been at odds with one another  such as whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must leave power as part of a negotiated resolution to end that nations civil war.

In other cases, formal White House written statements have conflicted with those from government agencies, even on the same day. For example, Monday brought disparate U.S. reactions  supportive from Trump, chiding from the State Department  to the Turkish referendum this week that strengthened President Recep Tayyip Erdogans authoritarian rule.

Even when there is unanimity in the messaging  such as Trumps boast, based on Pentagon statements, that a U.S. Navy armada was headed toward the Korean Peninsula  the administration was forced into the embarrassing admission a few days later that the strike group was, in fact, sailing in the opposite direction.

(The Washington Post)

[Trump administration defends how it described ship movements amid North Korean tensions]

Although every administration experiences growing pains, the recent succession of mixed signals over key national security issues has stood out, painting a picture to some of an administration that has not fully developed its policies or a broader international agenda and whose key agencies are not communicating with one another  or the White House. It is a situation that has led foreign diplomats and congressional lawmakers to express uncertainty about the administrations goals and about who is speaking on its behalf.

Former national security officials who served under both Republican and Democratic presidents emphasized that the Trump administration has been hampered by a president who has been slow to appoint hundreds of mid-level managers at Cabinet agencies, including the Pentagon and the State Department, and who has at times expressed disdain for the traditional interagency decision-making process.

The result is that the normally meticulous care that goes into formulating and coordinating U.S. government policy positions or even simple statements is often absent. Institutional memory is lacking, these former officials said, and mistakes and contradictions easily slip through the cracks.

Part of it reflects the fact that these departments are not staffed, and theyre not operating at capacity or at speed, said Stephen J. Hadley, who served as President George W. Bushs national security adviser. These Cabinet secretaries are kind of home alone, working with people that they really dont know. They dont have their own people in place, their policies in place, or processes in place yet.

Inside Trumps National Security Council, the agency charged with coordinating foreign policy decision-making and consistent messaging, the disarray has been palpable. Trumps first choice for his national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, was forced out amid revelations that he had misled senior officials, including Vice President Pence, about his communications with Russian officials before Trump took office.

Beyond his difficulties with the Russia issue, Flynn was unable, in the few weeks that he presided over the NSC staff, to establish a smooth decision-making process that could rationalize the often widely disparate views of Trumps key White House advisers and new Cabinet members. His replacement, H.R. McMaster, moved quickly to consolidate power by pushing out Trumps senior strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, who had initially been awarded a seat on the NSC principals committee.

McMaster has sought, with incomplete success, to exert more control over staffing and to establish a more disciplined process in place of what had been a largely ad hoc system. In the wake of Trumps decision to authorize missile strikes on a Syrian airfield as retribution for the Assad regimes use of chemical weapons, McMaster said that the administration had held several NSC meetings, including with Trump aboard Air Force One and at his private Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, to develop and coordinate the military operation.

Yet those efforts were to some degree undermined when senior officials went on the Sunday political talk shows after the strikes and offered conflicting statements on Assads future. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the administrations top goal was defeating the Islamic State, while Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said no resolution to the Syrian civil war was possible with Assad in power.

Public diplomacy is a huge tool, presenting a united front, presenting a shared vision of how you approach global affairs  everything from the use of military force to sanctions, said Jennifer Psaki, who served as the White House communications director and as a State Department spokeswoman under President Barack Obama. When you have officials stating conflicting viewpoints, youre sending a confusing message  not just to people in this country and to Congress, but confusing and conflicting messages to partners and allies around the world.

Trump aides disputed the suggestion the administration was speaking with more than one voice. Michael Anton, the director of strategic communications at the NSC, said there was nothing inconsistent about the White Houses Syria policy.

Defeating ISIS has always been the paramount goal, and nobody ever envisioned a long-term future for Assad, Anton said, using an acronym for the terrorist group. He emphasized that there is communication at every level, every day among policy experts and among the communication staffs at the various agencies and the White House.

Most of the public statements made by the agencies are vetted through Antons office before they are released, he said.

But there is no permanent spokesman at either State or the Pentagon, making it difficult to keep up with the deluge of requests from reporters. Anton has three aides, while Obamas NSC had up to seven people in the same division, according to former Obama aides.

This week, the Trump White House appeared to be on a different page than the State Department in the wake of the Turkish referendum that greatly expanded Erdogans powers. While the State Department emphasized the United States interest in Turkeys democratic development and the importance of the rule of law and a diverse and free media, the White House statement said Trump had called to congratulate Erdogan and discuss their shared goal of defeating the Islamic State.

Anton said the statements were not in conflict, citing a tension in U.S. policy goals.

U.S. and Turkish officials said Trump and Erdogan planned to meet in person before a NATO summit scheduled for May 25 in Brussels.

You want to keep a NATO ally, a partner in the strategic fight against ISIS, he said. You also have a national interest in democracy in Turkey  Sometimes foreign policy requires making difficult choices and balancing interests that are in tension.

[Trump plans to meet the Turkish president next month]

While some analysts spoke approvingly of a good cop, bad cop approach, none seemed sure whether that is what the administration had intended.

Outside experts said there were budding signs of maturation within the administration. They cited the decision-making process on the Syrian strikes and the glitch-free summit between Trump and Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago two weeks ago.

While 100 days is a traditional milestone at which the progress of a new administration is assessed, it is the wrong measure for the Trump insurgency, which promised to upend traditional ways of doing government business, Hadley said.

There is a shakedown cruise for every administration, he said. This one is going to be longer and bumpier, precisely because of how they came to power  The question is how it will look after the first 150 days or maybe 200.

Former officials and foreign policy analysts viewed some of the administrations policy reversals  including its renewed support for NATO and tougher tone on Russia  as the natural evolution from inexperience and lack of knowledge to confrontations with reality.

Still, events of the past week have raised concerns about consequences in a volatile world, where such missteps can be costly.

The administrations erroneous statements about the location and direction of the USS Carl Vinson  an aircraft carrier that officials said was dispatched to the Korean Peninsula last week as a show of force against North Koreas belligerence  were widely viewed as a simple screw-up, in the words of several former officials.

While administration officials said the goal was to reassure regional partners, South Korea expressed concern over a possible bait and switch, and China warned against escalation.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer insisted Wednesday that the White House had said nothing incorrect, since the ship is now  more than a week after it was announced  apparently on its way toward the Korean Peninsula.

We said it was heading there, it is heading there, he said.

To those who worked in the Obama White House, the disarray has led to a sense of vindication about their own strategy after years of being accused by political rivals of micromanaging the agencies.

Success of a policy in some cases resides as much in the nuance of the messaging as it does in the policy, said Bernadette Meehan, who served as the NSC spokeswoman under Obama. You explain it, get people to buy in, rather than stoking up fears unnecessarily. Its incredibly important if you want a policy to have success to have cohesive messaging.

Correction: An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect date for the NATO summit in Brussels.
President Trump on Thursday reaffirmed his criticism of the Iran nuclear deal and pledged not to expand the United States role in Libya beyond fighting the Islamic State.

At a time when several of the presidents stances on foreign affairs appear to be shifting, the dual comments represent a fidelity with some of the national security positions Trump staked out during the campaign, many of which were aimed at projecting military strength through a buildup of the armed forces while promising a more limited U.S. role in foreign conflicts.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Trump bluntly declared that he saw no role for the United States in stabilizing Libya, except in fighting the Islamic State.

I do not see a role in Libya, Trump said, just seconds after Gentiloni said his country hoped to see more U.S. engagement there. I think the United States has right now enough roles. Were in a role everywhere. So I do not see that.

I do see a role in getting rid of ISIS. Were being very effective in that regard, he added.

(The Washington Post)

For Italy, political instability and violence in Libya have led to a crisis of migrants seeking refuge on its shores, many of them dying on the perilous journey across the Mediterranean. Gentiloni on Thursday urged the United States to further help find a political solution in Libya.

A divided country and in conflict would make civility worse, he said of Libya. The U.S. role in this is very critical.

Trump also sharply denounced the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and promised to address it further in the not-too-distant future.

It was a terrible agreement. It shouldnt have been signed, Trump said. They are not living up to the spirit of the agreement. I can tell you that.

The comments underscored one part of Trumps position on the deal during the campaign, but he notably did not reiterate his promise to rip it up immediately, a tacit acknowledgment that the administration does not yet have an alternative to the deal in place.

The meeting between Trump and Gentiloni comes weeks before Trump is set to travel to Europe on his first foreign trip as president. He will make a stop at the summit of leaders of the Group of Seven, which will be held in Sicily.

Gentiloni is one of several world leaders and close U.S. allies seeking to quickly establish a relationship with Trump and perhaps influence his young presidency.

Like Trump, Gentiloni is new to his job, having taken power in December after former prime minister Matteo Renzi resigned after constitutional changes he backed failed in a referendum. While Renzi had a close relationship with President Barack Obama  and openly backed Democrat Hillary Clintons candidacy  Gentiloni and Trump come to their relationship without much baggage, potentially opening the door for warm relations.

In recent weeks, Trump has shifted on his strident criticism of NATO and said last week in a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that the alliance was no longer obsolete.

The administrations views of the European Union and the European project are a work in progress, said Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former director for European affairs at the National Security Council under Obama.

Trump continues to pressure NATO members to contribute at least the agreed-upon 2 percent of gross domestic product to their own defense, but on Thursday he delivered a more muted warning to Italy.

As we reaffirm our support for historic institutions, we must also reaffirm the requirement that everyone must pay their full and fair share for the cost of defense, Trump said.

Italy, which has long been allied with the United States in military action in the Middle East and elsewhere, maintains that its contribution to NATO goes beyond its financial obligation and encompasses Italian military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the fight against the Islamic State. Italy does not yet devote 2 percent of its GDP to defense spending, but Gentiloni emphasized that Italys contribution is increasing.

We know that this will be a gradual process. . . . It has already begun, Gentiloni said.



During the campaign, Trump also voiced support for the Brexit campaign that resulted in Britain leaving the European Union. And in January, he declared that Brexit is going to end up being a great thing.

After meeting with Gentiloni on Thursday, Trump appeared to affirm the United States commitment to Europe.

A strong Europe is very, very important to me as president of the United States, Trump said. And its also, in my opinion  in my very strong opinion, important for the United States.

We want to see it. We will help it be strong, and its very much to everybodys advantage, he added.


The Montage offers one- and two-bedroom units is in the sought-after D.C. neighborhood surrounding the Georgia Avenue-Petworth Metro station. (Benjamin C Tankersley/For The Washington Post)

When two properties became available in the sought-after neighborhood surrounding the Georgia Avenue-Petworth Metro station in Northwest Washington, developers snapped them up. Both sites have been converted into condo buildings known as the Montage. The north building is sold out; the south building is 75 percent sold.

The north building had been a single-family home that had fallen into disrepair and since the zoning allowed for higher density development we were able to turn the property into condos, says Adrian Washington, founder and chief executive of Neighborhood Development Co. in the District. The south building was an office building with these interesting metal panels on the outside, so we preserved a few of those to use in our office space.

Washington says the one- and two-bedroom units in both buildings were designed to appeal to first-time buyers, so each building has a higher number of the more affordable one-bedroom units.

[Toll Brothers offers luxury homes in Gainesville, Va., for adults 55 and older]

The slightly larger south building, which has 20 units on five floors, includes an elevator.

We debated about whether to include an elevator since this could have been a walk-up building, Washington says. Ultimately, we decided it was worth the extra cost and loss of some space to have this amenity for residents.

1 of 15 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Buying New | The Montage in Northwest Washington View Photos The condos are priced from $354,900 to $589,900. Caption The condos are priced from $354,900 to $589,900. The Montage is in the sought-after neighborhood surrounding the Georgia Avenue-Petworth Metro station in Northwest Washington. Benjamin C. Tankersley/For The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

Quartz in bathroom: Five units are available in the Montage South building, including Unit 501, a two-bedroom, two-bathroom penthouse with 970 square feet. This unit, priced at $589,900, has a monthly condo fee of $409.

The unit has 11-foot-high ceilings and wide plank oak flooring. Like all of the units that face Georgia Avenue, this residence has a Juliet balcony with a glass door in the living area and in the master bedroom. Just inside the front door is a closet with a full-size washer and dryer, and a coat closet.

The open floor plan includes a kitchen with white cabinets, stainless-steel appliances and quartz counters, including a large peninsula with space for a breakfast bar. The kitchen faces the living and dining area, which has a wall of tall glass doors and a transom window. The unit has one bedroom with a double-door closet and a bathroom across the hall. The master suite has a larger bedroom and a large walk-in closet linking the bedroom and the bathroom. All the bathrooms have white quartz counters, gray tile flooring and black hardware.

[On ABC news anchors former estate, expansive townhouses with Potomac views]

On the lower level, Unit 103, a one-bedroom and den residence with one bathroom, is also available. The 790-square-foot unit, priced at $399,900, has a monthly condo fee of $334. This unit has tile flooring that resembles wood because the floor is below ground and includes a private terrace adjacent to a courtyard. The den at the back of the unit has a closet and is next to the full bathroom. The master bedroom is at the front of the unit next to the living and dining area and open kitchen.

A first-floor residence at the front of the building, Unit 201, has 676 square feet and is priced at $374,900 with a monthly condo fee of $285. This unit has one bedroom and one full bathroom, tall windows and Juliet balconies overlooking Georgia Avenue, and an open-floor-plan kitchen, living and dining area.



The kitchen has white cabinets, stainless-steel appliances and quartz counters, including a large peninsula with space for a breakfast bar. (Benjamin C Tankersley/For The Washington Post)

Monument and Cathedral views: The smallest one-bedroom residence, Unit 402, has 584 square feet and is priced at $354,900 with a monthly condo fee of $245. This unit has an interior bedroom with a transom window opening to allow in limited light. The open living and dining area has a galley-style kitchen along one wall without an island. The entire front of the unit is floor-to-ceiling windows with views of Petworth.

The biggest challenge with this project is that its one of the first buildings to be built under the Districts new green building code, Washington says. Both have green roofs and state-of-the-art storm-water retention systems.

Washington says that while Neighborhood Development Co. was voluntarily doing green building before the Montage, there were extra design challenges and costs this time because the requirements were new to the company, to the permit office and to inspectors.

The 20-unit Montage South building has a roof terrace shared by all residents with views of the Washington Monument and Washington National Cathedral. In addition, the building will have a landscaped courtyard space shared with the community.

The only other building amenity is secure entry. No parking is included, because of the expectation that most residents will use Metrorail and buses rather than drive. Those who do have cars can park on nearby streets.

Whats nearby: The Petworth neighborhood has expanded its amenities with new shops and restaurants in recent years. The Montage is within a few blocks of the Petworth Library, Petworth Citizen bar and reading room, Upshur Street Books, an organic market and a grocery store. Nearby are Qualia Coffee, Domku Bar and Cafe, and new eateries, including a Japanese restaurant and the Latin American wine bar and restaurant Ruta Del Vino.

Weve been surprised at the way this neighborhood has become a dining destination just since we started building the Montage, Washington says.

In warm weather, the Petworth Jazz Project showcases local jazz talent on the lawn at Eighth and Taylor streets NW. From May through November, the Petworth Community Market takes place every Saturday at Ninth and Upshur streets NW and includes a farmers market, music and crafts.



The 20-unit Montage South building has a roof terrace shared by all residents with city views. (Benjamin C Tankersley/For The Washington Post)

Schools: Powell Elementary, Raymond Education Campus, Roosevelt High.

Transit: Numerous bus lines serve Georgia Avenue and the vicinity. Montage residents can walk a few blocks south to the Georgia Avenue/Petworth Metro station to catch the Green and Yellow lines.
A man waves a rainbow flag outside the constitutional court in Taipei, Taiwan, in late March as it holds a debate on whether Taiwan should legalize same-sex marriage. (David Chang/European Pressphoto Agency)

The gay rights activists raised sticks of incense and appealed to Taiwans most popular deity: Mazu, Goddess of the sea, protect us.

Or rather, Mazu, Goddess of the sea, protect us, too.

Just months ago, Taiwan appeared to be on the verge of legalizing same-sex marriage. It was to become the first country in Asia to do so, solidifying its status as a beacon for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

For years now, these islands have been at the forefront of Asias gay rights movement. While Singapore criminalizes gay sex and China cracks down on LGBT organizing, Taiwan has moved toward inclusion: Gays and lesbians serve openly in the military, textbooks extol equality, and Taipeis annual gay-pride parade draws tens of thousands from across the region and around the world.

Taiwanese often credit this openness to Taiwans range of cultural influences, from indigenous groups to Dutch and Japanese colonizers, to seafaring settlers from the Chinese mainland  and their seafaring gods.

Chiu Tai-san, minister of justice, in Taipei in March. (Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty Images)

But the groundswell of support that spurred hope for marriage equality has spurred a bitter backlash that has experts and advocates wondering when or whether the law will move ahead.

Over the past year, mostly Christian community groups have mobilized against the marriage-equality movement, warning, contrary to evidence, that same-sex partnerships are a threat to children and that giving LGBT families legal protection will hurt Taiwan.

They have also claimed  again, contrary to evidence  that protecting the rights of gender and sexual minorities is a Western idea, that being gay is somehow not Chinese.

Taiwans gender and sexual minorities are now fighting harder than ever to remind Taiwans people  and government  that they, too, are Taiwanese, imbued with a full slate of rights and an equal stake in what Chinese and Taiwanese culture means.

So, on a recent spring morning, as they waited for news about a key verdict due next month, a small group gathered to seek support from Mazu, who comforts so many here.

Please protect gay people and their children, they said.

Taiwans gay rights movement was forged in the fight for democracy.

From the end of the Chinese civil war, in 1949, to 1987, the people of Taiwan lived under martial law, a period of political persecution now known as the White Terror.

Yu Mei-nu, the legislator behind Taiwans most recent marriage-equality bill, was one of the human rights lawyers who struggled against one-party rule. She helped revise laws to guarantee the rights of women and, in 1986, represented a gay man suing for the right to marry.

Traditional culture is not a stone, she said. It changes.

Taiwan has changed relatively quickly, thanks in part to coverage of touchstone cases.

In 2000, Taiwan was rocked by the apparent murder, at school, of a 15-year-old who was bullied for being effeminate. In the wake of the case, which was never resolved, the government adopted legislation designed to fight gender-based discrimination, starting in the classroom.

The legislation helped build grass-roots support for gay rights. In the run-up to the 2016 election, President Tsai Ing-wens campaign headquarters was awash in rainbows. She also published a Facebook message pledging full support for marriage equality.

In the face of love, everyone is equal, she said.

The video helped burnish her progressive credentials at home and turned her into a hero to LGBT people throughout the region. But as president she has been less publicly supportive of same-sex marriage, leaving some wondering where Taiwanese tolerance ends and full rights start.

Though only 5 percent of Taiwanese identify as Christians, well-funded and well-organized church groups have commandeered the conversation, primarily by playing on parental fear.

In recent months, concerned groups have reprised homophobic tropes about homosexuality, casting same-sex marriage as a gateway to incest, bestiality and AIDS. One group warned that new marriage laws could lead to a future where its possible to marry a Ferris wheel.

Few say, We dont want to give gay people protection, but they focus on so-called family values, implying gay marriage will make mothers and fathers disappear, that schools will start teaching children to have sex, said gay rights advocate Lin Shih-fang.

Realizing, perhaps, the power and limits of such rhetoric, the anti movement has broadened its messaging to focus on traditional Chinese culture.

At a hearing on marriage equality last month, Justice Minister Chiu Tai-san argued, in a court of law, that same-sex relationships are a newly invented phenomenon unlike social norms and mechanisms formed by the people of our nation over the past thousand years  leaving many people wondering what nation and norms he was referring to.

He also mused that same-sex marriage could complicate the rites of ancestor worship. What are we going to write on the ancestral tablets if same-sex marriage is legalized? he asked.

Victoria Hsu, a human rights lawyer who spoke at the same hearing, was shocked to hear the justice minister talk about tradition, not law. Hes saying: This is from Western culture. Its not our tradition. But this is not something from the West, and its not about tradition  its about justice, she said.

What worries activists is that some ostensibly pro-LGBT figures in government seem to have gone silent on the matter, talking about social division and the need for dialogue, rather than throwing their full weight behind the legislation.

At stake are the livelihoods of LGBT families who want legal protection, as well as Taiwans reputation as a regional leader on gay rights.

Im so afraid Taiwan will go backward, said Wayne Lin, chairman of the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association, an influential LGBT group.

Jason Hsu, a lawmaker from the opposition Kuomintang, agreed that what happens will help define what it means to be Taiwanese now and shape Taiwans regional role in the years to come.

There are some ways we can never compete with China, but this is a way we can compete, set a good example for them, use soft power, he said, adding, If Taiwan is to continue to be a beacon of liberty and democracy in Asia, these are the things that can really make us stand out.

Like many who support marriage equality, he was frustrated by the backtracking, but he was confident Taiwans inclusive spirit would prevail.

When we pass this law, he said, other nations in Asia will be watching.

Luna Lin in Beijing contributed to this report.

Read more:

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Chinese soldiers storm what looks like a replica of Taiwans presidential palace

An opposition leader prepares to take helm in Taipei, and Beijing is rattled

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
A gunman opened fire on French police Thursday on Pariss best-known boulevard, killing one officer and wounding two others before being fatally shot himself in an incident that raised the specter of renewed terrorism just three days before voters go to the polls to elect a new president.

The Islamic State, through its affiliated Amaq News Agency, quickly asserted responsibility for the attack, which sent panicked pedestrians fleeing into side streets and prompted police to seal off the renowned Champs-Elysees, close metro stations and order tourists back into their hotels. The terrorist organization said the attack was carried out by a Belgian national it identified only as Abu Yusuf al-Baljiki, a pseudonym.

There was no immediate confirmation that the Islamic State was behind the shooting. French officials declined to attach a motive to the attack, although they said police were deliberately targeted and that they were opening a terrorism investigation.

The incident occurred three days before France holds the first round of a hotly contested presidential election, with candidates from across the political spectrum vying to succeed Francois Hollande as president. Hollande scheduled an emergency meeting late Thursday to discuss the attack.





Francois Fillon, one of the presidential candidates, said in a statement that the election campaign should be suspended. We must show our solidarity with the police and the French population, which is increasingly worried, he said. The fight against Islamist totalitarianism must be the top priority.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front party, wasted no time in using the attack as the latest evidence in her call for France to intensify its fight against Islamist terrorism.

By contrast, Emmanuel Macron, the popular independent candidate vying for the presidency, was quick to argue against any fearmongering.

We must not yield to fear today, he said Thursday. This is what our assailants are waiting for, and its their trap.

Ahead of the first round of the vote on Sunday, Macron is leading Le Pen in the latest polls, but by only a small margin. After Thursdays attack, both Fillon and Le Pen announced that they would cancel events planned for Friday, the last official day of campaigning.

There was no immediate information on the identities of the attacker or the policemen who were shot.

According to Christophe Crepin, a spokesman for the UNSA Police Union, the gunman opened fire on the police with an AK-47 assault rifle, targeting officers who were near a Marks and Spencer store on the corner of the busy avenue.

1 of 14 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  What the scene looks like in Paris after a shooting near the Champs-Elysees View Photos Three police officers were reportedly shot near a metro station at the center of the heavily traveled avenue. French news media, citing the Islamic State-affiliated Amaq news agency, reported that the terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack. Caption Three police officers were reportedly shot near a metro station at the center of the heavily traveled avenue. French news media, citing the Islamic State-affiliated Amaq news agency, reported that the terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack. April 20, 2017 Police secure the Champs-Elysees, a busy avenue in Paris. Christian Hartmann/Reuters Wait 1 second to continue.

Police ordered people away from the area, and at least three metro stations were closed, the Interior Ministry said.

A European security official told The Washington Post that the dead attacker was known to French intelligence, having previously come to authorities attention because of radical Islamist links.

One French official said investigators recovered an ID card on the shooter and were awaiting the results of fingerprints.

Francois Molins, the Paris prosecutor who spoke at an impromptu news conference late Thursday, confirmed that the identity of the attacker is known and said that investigations are underway with searches to find out whether he benefited from collaborators.

Police were searching the home of the suspect, in Seine-et-Marne outside Paris.

The French Interior Ministry said one police officer was killed on the spot and two others were seriously wounded when the gunman opened fire on a police car. The ministry said security forces gunned down the attacker as he tried to flee on foot.

A spokeswoman for the Paris police, Johanna Primevert, said the gunman attacked police guarding an area near the Franklin Roosevelt metro station at 8:50 p.m. Thursday Paris time at the center of the heavily traveled Champs-Elysees.

She said the attacker appeared to act alone, but other officials said it was too soon to tell whether he might have had an accomplice.

The Reuters news agency reported that police issued an arrest warrant for a second suspect who they said had arrived in France by train from Belgium.

Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told Frances BFM television that the gunman got out of a car that pulled up beside a police vehicle and opened fire on the police officers.

[45 years of terrorist attacks in Europe, visualized]

Its too early to say whats behind this, but clearly police were the target, he said. We dont know yet what his motivations were. There were conflicting reports about whether another person was in the gunmans car.

In Washington, President Trump said during a news conference with the visiting Italian prime minister that the Paris shooting looks like another terrorist attack, and he offered condolences to France.

Again its happening, it seems, Trump said. I just saw it as I was walking in. . . . Thats a very, very terrible thing thats going on in the world today. But it looks like another terrorist attack. And what can you say? It just never ends. We have to be strong and we have to be vigilant, and Ive been saying it for a long time.

The country has been hit by a deadly wave of terrorist violence in the past two years that has claimed the lives of at least 230 people and injured hundreds of others.

Thursdays shooting  on the most famous boulevard in the French capital, always crowded with tourists and commuters  came just two days after authorities arrested two men in the southern city of Marseille on suspicion of plotting what Paris prosecutors described as an imminent and violent assault. Police discovered an Islamic State flag and three kilograms (6.6 pounds) of explosives in one suspects home.

The Islamic State has asserted responsibility for previous attacks in France, including a coordinated November 2015 terrorist assault on multiple targets in Paris that left 130 people dead and more than 360 wounded.

After that attack and others in the past two years  many perpetrated by Islamic State militants or those claiming to be inspired by the extremist group  terrorism and national security have become crucial issues in the most contentious election France has seen in decades.

[Growing anti-Muslim rhetoric permeates French presidential election campaign]

Le Pen, the far-right presidential candidate, has campaigned heavily on an anti-immigrant platform and what she has couched as the need to defend France from Islamist globalization. In the final days of the campaign, she said she would halt immigration altogether if elected president.

The shooting occurred in the middle of a televised campaign event, when each of the 11 current candidates was given 15 minutes to sell voters on their respective platforms.

Branigin reported from Washington. Souad Mekhennet in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed to this report.

Read more:

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Europe may face a grim future with terrorism as a fact of life

How terrorism in the West compares to terrorism everywhere else

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
A woman rides a motorcycle in an alley with loose rocks and logs placed by villagers inside the Dong Tam commune in My Duc District on Thursday on the outskirts of Hanoi. Farmers who took more than a dozen police and officials hostage over a land dispute said they would resist any rescue attempt by authorities. (AFP/Getty Images)

The mayor of Vietnams capital on Thursday urged villagers engaged in a land dispute with authorities to release the remaining 20 police officers and officials theyve been holding since the weekend.

The state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper quoted Nguyen Duc Chung as telling local officials to persuade the residents to remove barricades erected around Dong Tam village in My Duc District on the outskirts of Hanoi.

The standoff began Saturday when police clashed with villagers who say their farmland was taken illegally for sale by a military-run telecommunications firm. Nine villagers were arrested and accused of disturbing public order but were later released.

The villagers held 38 officials and police officers at a community house, but they later released 15 riot police, while three others managed to escape.

I will ask the villagers to soon release those who are being held, Chung said, trying to assure the village that authorities wont use force to end the standoff. The cadres are to protect people, not to suppress them. They are like you brothers and children, so they should soon be released.

He said the remaining officials and police officers were treated well.

The talks were planned for Thursday, but the villagers and authorities could not agree on where to hold the meeting.

Chung said that he wanted to meet village representatives as soon as Friday.

At the center of the dispute are 145 acres of land that had been reserved for a military airfield but part of which was given to the military-run telecom company Viettel two years ago to develop a military project.

The villagers insist the land is theirs, while authorities say it belongs to the military and was illegally occupied by residents.

Chung said authorities decided to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the land to determine who owns it. The finding will be announced within 45 days, he said.

Pending the decision, Viettel will temporarily suspend work on the project, he said.

Land disputes are common in Vietnam, where residents often say their land was taken for infrastructure or other industrial or residential projects and they were not properly compensated.

 Associated Press

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Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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A woman helps her son study by candlelight at their makeshift home in the Khan Younis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip on April 19. The Gaza Strips only functioning power plant was out of action earlier in the week after running out of fuel. (Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images)

A 10-year blockade and three wars have hardened the people of the Gaza Strip, but now they face a new challenge: a lone power station without fuel.

The problem means long hours without electricity for the 2 million Palestinians living in the coastal enclave. And the situation is about to get worse as the Middle East heads toward a typical arid summer and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The solution could be simple: Provide Gazans with fuel for their single power plant. But the problem is caught in the middle of a power struggle between the West Banks Palestinian Authority and Hamas, the militant rulers of the Gaza Strip.

Until now, the Palestinian Authority received fuel from Israel and sold it to the power station in Gaza, which is under Hamass authority. The Palestinian Authority even reduced the taxes. But financial difficulties meant other countries occasionally had to step in to cover the cost. In January, after public unrest over power cuts, Qatar and Turkey donated three months worth of fuel to Gaza.

But that arrangement has ended, and the Palestinian Authority has said that as long as Hamas remains in charge in Gaza, it should be responsible for paying the electricity bill  at the full cost.

A boy plays with a pigeon during a power outage in the Khan Younis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip on April 19. (Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images)

The political fighting between the two Palestinian factions has left Gazans to survive with between four and six hours of electricity a day.

I live on the sixth floor, and electricity is important for me not only inside my apartment but also outside, to operate the elevator, said Maisa al-Masri, a 38-year-old resident of the strip. She is a mother of five and has severe back problems.

I have to walk up and down the stairs with my little baby when I come back from work, she said. Since 2006 we are suffering, and Palestinian leadership in Gaza and the West Bank dont care about us, only about their own interests.

Hamas has governed Gaza since it violently seized power from its rival Palestinian faction Fatah in 2007. Since then, relations between Gaza and the West Bank, which is run by the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority, have been tense.

Israel also views Hamass takeover of Gaza as hostile and has kept in place a land and sea blockade of the strip, controlling goods and people going in and out. Hamas, which is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood movement, also has strained relations with the current Egyptian administration, which has kept its crossing with Gaza mostly closed in recent years.

Hamas has asked the Palestinian Authority to help by at least reducing the taxes it charges for the industrial diesel that fuels the plant. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, however, last week refused to cut or remove the tax unless Hamas relinquishes power to the Palestinian Authority.

Hamas says it does not collect enough from the electricity bills because people in Gaza are poor. They believe the Palestinian Authority should pay part or most of the cost, said Ghassan Khatib, a professor of political science at Bir Zeit University near the West Bank town of Ramallah. The PA says that does not make sense, that Hamas is governing Gaza while the PA is paying for Gaza.

The outcome of the standoff, Khatib said, is increasing of the suffering of the people in Gaza. Hamas will never give up the leadership and the people will suffer more.

Fathi Sheikh Khalil, head of Hamass energy authority in Gaza, said fuel taxes charged by the PA are untenable. The taxes more than double the cost of operating the plants two turbines, he said.

Sheikh Khalil said the strip is now relying on supplies coming from Israel and Egypt, but it is not enough. Israel supplies about 120 megawatts of electricity and Egypt a further 20 to 30 megawatts. But Gaza needs an estimated 400 megawatts to sustain itself, according to Gazas energy authority. Add to that the instability in Egypts Sinai Peninsula, which often causes the supply line from there to stop functioning.

The electricity cuts will also affect municipal services such as pumping water to peoples homes and wastewater treatment, Sheikh Khalil said.

Gazas hospitals have also warned that they will not be able to operate for much longer.

Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, head of the Israeli military authority responsible for Gaza, sent a letter earlier this month to international aid organizations warning that electricity shortages combined with water purification problems could soon create an even worse humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

In the meantime, Gazans have tried to find alternatives. In the beginning, they relied on small, fuel-operated generators. Then they turned to rechargeable batteries, called inverters, for lighting.

Now demand for solar energy systems is growing, said Ali Hussein, an engineer and owner of a company involved in solar energy.

But most Gazans cant afford even the cheapest system, which sells for about $1,350.

I am following with great concern the tense situation in Gaza, where a new energy crisis is now unfolding, Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said in a statement Wednesday.

The authorities in Gaza must ensure that collection rates are improved and that revenue collected in Gaza is returned to the legitimate Palestinian authorities in order to keep fuel and electricity supply flowing, he said.

He also called on Israel to ease the entry of materials for repairs and maintenance of the grid and power plant and for Egypt to repair and upgrade its power lines to Gaza.

Palestinians in Gaza, who live in a protracted humanitarian crisis, can no longer be held hostage by disagreements, divisions and closures, he said.

Eglash reported from Jerusalem.

Read more:

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Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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Federal prosecutors are weighing whether to bring criminal charges against members of the WikiLeaks organization, taking a second look at a 2010 leak of diplomatic cables and military documents and investigating whether the group bears criminal responsibility for the more recent revelation of sensitive CIA cyber-tools, according to people familiar with the case.

The Justice Department under President Barack Obama decided not to charge WikiLeaks for revealing some of the governments most sensitive secrets  concluding that doing so would be akin to prosecuting a news organization for publishing classified information. Justice Department leadership under President Trump, though, has indicated to prosecutors that it is open to taking another look at the case, which the Obama administration did not formally close.

It is not clear whether prosecutors are also looking at WikiLeaks role last year in publishing emails from the Democratic National Committee and the account of Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John D. Podesta, which U.S. officials have said were hacked by the Russian government. Officials have said individuals one step removed from the Kremlin passed the stolen messages to WikiLeaks as part of a broader Russian plot to influence the 2016 presidential election.

[Julian Assange: WikiLeaks has the same mission as The Post and the Times]

Prosecutors in recent weeks have been drafting a memo that contemplates charges against members of the WikiLeaks organization, possibly including conspiracy, theft of government property or violating the Espionage Act, officials said. The memo, though, is not complete, and any charges against members of WikiLeaks, including founder Julian Assange, would need approval from the highest levels of the Justice Department.

Barry J. Pollack, an attorney for Assange, said Justice Department officials had not discussed with him or Assange the status of any investigation, despite his requests that they do so. He said there was no legitimate basis for the Department of Justice to treat WikiLeaks differently than it treats other journalists.

The fact of the matter is  however frustrating it might be to whoever looks bad when information is published  WikiLeaks is a publisher, and they are publishing truthful information that is in the publics interest, Pollack said. Democracy thrives because there are independent journalists reporting on what it is that the government is doing.

Pollack noted that the Obama administration was no shrinking violet when it came to pursuing reporters and journalists, a reference to the Obama Justice Departments repeated attempts to prosecute leakers. Pollack said he hoped this administration will be more respectful, not less respectful, of the First Amendment than the prior administration was.

Prosecutors are trying to determine the extent to which WikiLeaks encouraged or directed sources to engage in illegal activity.

In March, WikiLeaks published thousands of files revealing secret cyber-tools used by the CIA to convert cellphones, televisions and other ordinary devices into implements of espionage. The FBI has made significant progress in the investigation of the leak, narrowing the list of possible suspects, officials said. The officials did not describe WikiLeaks exact role in the case beyond publishing the tools.

Prosecutors are also reexamining the leaks from Chelsea Manning, the Army soldier who was convicted in 2013 of revealing sensitive diplomatic cables. Manning chatted with Assange about a technique to crack a password so Manning could log on to a computer anonymously, and that conversation, which came up during Mannings court-martial, could be used as evidence that WikiLeaks went beyond the role of publisher or journalist.

But journalists routinely employ methods  or tell sources to employ methods  that will help them avoid being identified. Justice Department officials in the previous administration believed that prosecuting Assange or other members of WikiLeaks could open the door to prosecuting news organizations and journalists who published classified information, and so they opted instead to target people, such as Manning, who had clearances to access such information and gave it to reporters.

Any prosecution thats based solely on publishing stolen classified information is going to be very difficult because of the First Amendment problem, said Michael Vatis, a former Justice Department official who oversaw cybercrime investigations and is now a partner at Steptoe & Johnson.

Vatis said Assanges exact words would matter a lot. Just expressing a desire to obtain classified information would not be enough to bring charges, he said.

I think their only realistic hope is some conspiracy charge based on WikiLeaks involvement in the actual hacking, not just publishing the results of the hacking, Vatis said. So if they were somehow planning with the hacker to do the hack or planning, in this case, with the contractor to steal the information so that WikiLeaks could publish it, then I think theyd have a much stronger chance of successfully prosecuting them.

The FBI and the Justice Department declined to comment for this article.

A prosecution of WikiLeaks members would probably draw fierce opposition from open-government and free-press organizations that see the group as practicing journalism, even if its brand is unconventional.

Trump has had a fluid relationship with WikiLeaks, depending largely on how the groups actions benefited or harmed him. On the campaign trail, when WikiLeaks released Podestas hacked emails, Trump told a crowd in Pennsylvania, I love WikiLeaks! But when it came to the release of the CIA tools, he did not seem so pleased.

In one case, youre talking about highly classified information, Trump said at a news conference earlier this year. In the other case, youre talking about John Podesta saying bad things about the boss.

[After loving WikiLeaks as a candidate, Trump decides he doesnt like leaks as president]

CIA Director Mike Pompeo said during an appearance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies this month that it was time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is: a non-state, hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors, like Russia, and he criticized prior administrations as having been squeamish about going after publishers of state secrets.

They have pretended that Americas First Amendment freedoms shield them from justice. They may have believed that, but they are wrong, said Pompeo, who had touted WikiLeaks material on the DNC when he was a congressman.

In a sign of the Justice Departments seriousness in pursuing charges, the U.S. attorneys office in the Eastern District of Virginia recently added a veteran prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Trump, to the case, officials familiar with the matter said. James Trump, who is also assigned to the case against Edward Snowden, won criminal convictions in 2015 against former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, who was charged with leaking classified information to journalist James Risen. Prosecutors in that case initially sought to compel Risen to reveal his source before they ultimately backed down.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Doherty-McCormick, who examined the case under the Obama administration, also has been working on the matter in recent weeks, officials said.

In a recent Washington Post op-ed piece, Assange said that his groups motive was identical to that claimed by the New York Times and The Post  to publish newsworthy content.

The media has a long history of speaking truth to power with purloined or leaked material  Jack Andersons reporting on the CIAs enlistment of the Mafia to kill Fidel Castro; the Providence Journal-Bulletins release of President Richard Nixons stolen tax returns; the New York Times publication of the stolen Pentagon Papers; and The Posts tenacious reporting of Watergate leaks, to name a few, Assange wrote. I hope historians place WikiLeaks publications in this pantheon. Yet there are widespread calls to prosecute me.

He said in a later podcast interview with the Intercept that he believed Justice Department rules barred a prosecution of him. If they follow those rules, if they follow the First Amendment, they shouldnt be pursuing a prosecution, he said.

Prosecutors would also face practical hurdles in reviving the case involving Manning. Years have passed, and witnesses memories are likely to have faded. Prosecutors also fear that Manning might not be a cooperative witness and that defense attorneys might raise questions about her credibility, officials familiar with the case said.

Manning had been sentenced to 35 years in prison, but Obama commuted her prison term in the waning days of his administration.

Asked Thursday about his concern about leaks and whether it was a priority for the Justice Department to arrest Assange, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said, We are going to step up our effort and already are stepping up our efforts on all leaks. He added, Whenever a case can be made, we will seek to put some people in jail.

Rachel Weiner contributed to this report.

Read more:

WikiLeaks latest release of CIA cyber-tools could blow cover on agency hacking operations

Ecuador cut off Julian Assanges Internet, so this guy shouted the news into his window
The man accused of fatally beating New York City jogger Karina Vetrano last August allegedly told police he chose her at random and attacked her to let [his] emotions out, PEOPLE confirms.

During his interrogation, portions of which were read aloud at his arraignment in court on Tuesday, Chanel Lewis, 20, allegedly told police that Vetrano, 30, did nothing to provoke him, a court official tells PEOPLE.

I was just mad at the time, Lewis allegedly said.

I beat her to let my emotions out, he allegedly told investigators. I never really meant to hurt her, it just happened.

Lewis was arraigned following his indictment for murder and sexual abuse.

According to a court official, prosecutors said Tuesday that Lewis had allegedly asked investigators to relay an apology to his mother the day after his arrest.

Tell my mom that Im sorry, Lewis allegedly told authorities, court officials confirm to PEOPLE. He also allegedly asked for an audience with Vetranos family, saying at one point, Im sorry for what I did.

When investigators asked him to provide details about the attack, Lewis allegedly told them he fought with Vetrano for about five minutes.

According to court officials, Lewis told police Vetrano scratched his face and he responded by punching her five times in the face. The force from the blows broke her teeth and knocked her unconscious.

Lewis allegedly told detectives he strangled her and left her face down in a puddle to drown.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

Lewis has entered a not guilty plea to the charges, and is due to return to court July 13.

DNA From Vetranos Fingernails

Vetranos battered body was discovered face-down in the park within hours of her killing. She was found near a running path she jogged daily, and she was last seen by her family heading out to run.

Story continues

Lewis was arrested two months ago and N.Y.C. police Lt. John Russo played an instrumental role in his capture.

Russo, an observant cop with a sharp memory, lives in the same Queens neighborhood as Vetrano and her parents, the source explains.

Russo allegedly spotted Lewis looking into cars and over fences in the neighborhood and called 911. Another caller also called 911 about Lewis, identifying him by name. Records were scanned and Lewis was sought for questioning and a DNA sample.

Vetranos mother and Lewis mother were both in the courtroom for Tuesdays hearing, court officials tell PEOPLE.

Lewis could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of the 13 counts of murder and sexual abuse he faces.

Police say the arrest may never have happened had Vetrano not fought her alleged attacker in her final moments.

Several tiny shreds of the killers skin were recovered from beneath her fingernails, and police say it was this DNA evidence that eventually led to Lewis apprehension.

Karina helped us identify this person, Boyce told reporters at a press conference held soon after Lewis arrest. She had the DNA under her nails. She had touch DNA on her back and there was more DNA on her cellphone. Thats how we were able to bring this profile up, and thats how we made the link. This is a very good day for justice in New York City.

A statement issued by the Legal Aid Society, which is representing Lewis, says now that he has entered a plea, the Queens District Attorneys Office must now begin to disclose and turn over all evidence related to the prosecution of this case. Our defense team looks forward to closely reviewing all case documents during this process.

This article was originally published on PEOPLE.com
By Desire Thompson

A Florida mother has been charged with suspicion of committing aggravated child abuse when it was discovered she burned her nine-year-olds chest with a hot iron.

READ: 24-Year-Old Michigan Man Drowns While Trying To Save Girlfriends Toddler Son

The Sun-Sentinel reports Tamecha Jean, 32, was arrested Monday after anonymous tip was called into the Broward Sheriffs Child Protective Investigations Section. After the Florida Department of Children and Families investigated the case, they discovered that the incident happened in February. The child had a quarter-sized mark similar to the shape of an iron on the center of his chest, along with a scar that couldve been made with the edge of an iron on his left nipple. The incident reportedly happened after the child was punished for leaving his homework at school.

Jean_Mother_Burns_Son-1492625357

Credit: Broward Sheriff's Office

Pembroke Pines Police Capt. Al Xiques said Jean explained she was ironing before she disciplined her son with a belt. She stated that the burning must have occurred while she was trying to discipline him by spanking him with a belt, and maybe she accidentally burned him twice while trying to spank him with the belt, Capt. Al Xiques said. He also seemed suspicious of her story, given that the child had appeared to be fearful of his mother.

Thats just outrageous, to use a hot iron as a type of punishment. It seems more like a form of torture, he added. In her police report, Jean said she didnt realize that her son was burned because he didnt mention it. She also thinks he may have burned himself since he moves around a lot while being spanked.

Jeans other children, a 2-year-old and a 16-year-old, were placed in foster care. The two children are able to see their mother during supervised visits.

Broward Judge Christopher Pole released Jean on her recognizance. Jean will have to wear an ankle monitor as the case continues.

READ: Michigan Student Nearly Killed During A Robbery Graduates To Become A Doctor

This post Florida Mother Arrested For Allegedly Burning Son With Hot Iron first appeared on Vibe.
Photo credit: Dominique Ansel Bakery Japan

From Delish

Dominique Ansel, who was just named the world's best pastry chef, recently opened a new bakery in Tokyo's Ginza district that offers a host of brand-new pastries that you can only find in Japan.

Good luck trying to find the Zero Gravity Chiffon Cake at the original New York City location. Exclusive to the new bakery located at Mitsukoshi Ginza, this cake is so light it can be floated inside a balloon. To eat it, you have to pop the balloon and get sprinkled with confetti first, which is how I want to eat all cake from here on out.

Just watch this magic:

The new Ginza location is also the only place in the world where you can find the Square Watermelon Cake, a riff on Japan's wildly-expensive square watermelons, that's filled with pistachio and raspberry mousse, watermelon lime gelee, pistachio biscuit and pistachio feuilletine.

And that's not it. The Pull Apart Flower Cookie, Roasted Hot Dog Bun and a gorgeous marble cake filled with cherry jam, kirsch vanilla cream and dark chocolate are exclusive to the Ginza location as well.

They also serve a matcha-flavored babka there too. Drool.

Jealous, yet? Those aren't the only Dominique Ansel creations you can only find in Japan either. The bakery's other Tokyo location, which opened in 2015, serves special limited-edition Cronut flavors like violet lychee, sakura rooibos tea and rose guava.

You can also find other Japan-only treats at the original Tokyo location like the Paris-Tokyo choux pastry filled with matcha ganache and passion fruit curd and religieuse inspired by Japanese mythological creatures.

So who's coming to Tokyo with me?

(h/t Bravo)

Follow Delish on Instagram.

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We cycle through hundreds of cars a year, drive tens of thousands of miles, and spend hours analyzing, writing, and thinking about cars we dont want to park in our garages. And then a Miami Blue Porsche 911 Carrera S drops by for a week.

I want one. Maybe not one as lavishly equipped as this $139,945 Carrera S. If Im spending about $140,000 in a 911 fantasy, that fantasy definitely involves a $144,650 GT3. Math skills are especially valuable when trying to rationalize an expensive purchase. So, drop the $3140 paint, the $8520 carbon-ceramic brake rotors, and the useful, if pricey, $2590 front-axle lift system that keeps the nose from scraping the driveway, and, well, even the Carrera Ss $104,450 base price is still out of reach.

Yet the want remains. It has a lot to do with the Carrera Ss new twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter flat-six. Smooth, snarly, and wildly powerful, this Halliburton case of an engine scoots the 911 to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds thanks to the brilliant launch control built into the Sport Chrono package and the dual-clutch automatic transmission (PDK in Porsche-speak). Select Sport or Sport Plus mode, hold the brake with your left foot and floor the accelerator with your right foot, and the engine revs to 6200 rpm. Release the brake and the car launches with nearly the same surge as the all-wheel-drive Turbo.

One option wed be tempted to keep is the $6290 Sport package, which bundles four-wheel steering, a smaller-diameter steering wheel, SportDesign side mirrors, and the Sport exhaust along with the (normally $1920) Sport Chrono package and its dynamic engine mounts, Sport Plus driving mode, Sport mode for the stability-control system, stopwatch on the dash, and the aforementioned launch control. With the Sport exhaustalso available as a stand-alone option for $2950the 911 goes from housebroken to feral with the push of a button. Hit it once and youre left with a smile that just might be worth three grand.

Story continues

Like the Sport exhaust, the 911 Carrera S has two modes depending on where and how youre driving. It operates with the same everyday friendliness as the four-door Toyotas inevitably surrounding it in traffic. Ensnarled in a school of sedans and crossovers, the 911 never calls negative attention to itself or annoys the driver. While the 911 mimics an appliance on your drive through Dullsville, its more intriguing side is always present. The steering has just the right amount of feedback and is resolutely accurate, the engine responds immediately to the prod of the accelerator, and the brakes cinch with a satisfying heft.

To reach our testing facility in Southern California we traverse curly strands of mountain asphalt, where the controls that feel right in a 15-mph freeway crawl start shouting right on! as you press the tires toward their lofty 1.04-g threshold. The four-wheel steering keeps the rear stable, and the car takes all that you can reasonably dish out on a public road. Theres not much need to slow for corners, but the 20-inch Pirelli P Zeros and the carbon-ceramic brakes will stop the 911 from 70 mph in a scant 142 feet.

Climbing the mountain, the turbo engines roar peaks at 85 decibels from behind the vestigial jump seats that have made the 911 (sorta) kid friendly for more than 50 years. A word about the $3200 dual-clutch automatic: Wed definitely have our Carrera S with the seven-speed manual, despite the PDKs superior acceleration performance. This decision is not due to any issue with the automatic. The PDK is eerily prescient when it comes to downshifting and holding gears through the 100-plus corners on our way to the desert test track. We just like shifting, matching revs on downshifts, and saving money.

Spend $139,945 on a car and it should look as if it were assembled and painted by Keebler elves on Adderall. In this regard, the 911 doesnt disappoint. Panel gaps and paint finish are flawless. This cars Miami Blue, a turquoise hue, costs $3140 and is reminiscent of Riviera Blue and Mexico Blue, Porsche colors of the recent past. Even though a Porsche the color of New Mexicos state gem is shockingly handsome, wed save some cash and order Graphite Blue Metallic, a relative bargain at $710.

Clad in leather thats part of the $3850 leather interior option, the instrument panel is largely unchanged since this generations debut as a 2012 model. A notable exception is the new touchscreen that incorporates incredibly useful Google search and Google Earth functionality into the navigation system.

Revealing the magic of this car isnt as simple as pointing to its superlative test numbers. We drive many very quick cars that fail to seduce. The appeal here is deeper than how hard the Carrera S accelerates, brakes, and corners. The 911 works equally well in traffic on the way to the office, on empty roads on the way to nowhere, and circling a racetrack. Its dialed-in primary controls make it an immersive and interactive experience. A lot of care appears to have gone into building each example, and high-quality materials are used throughout, which helps justify the price.

It also helps that its a little weird looking. Theres no ignoring the matter of the iconoclastic rear-engine layout. Clearly, Porsche is wrong about putting the engine in backeven the 911 RSR race car now has its engine in the middlebut the company has made this bass-ackward thing work, and in the process set the 911 apart from an increasingly homogenized automotive world. Its enough to make you want one.

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger, 2-door coupe



PRICE AS TESTED: $139,945 (base price: $107,650)



ENGINE TYPE: twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve flat-6, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection



Displacement: 182 cu in, 2981 cc

Power: 420 hp @ 6500 rpm

Torque: 368 lb-ft @ 1700 rpm



TRANSMISSION: 7-speed dual-clutch automatic with manual shifting mode



DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 96.5 in

Length: 177.1 in

Width: 71.2 in Height: 51.0 in

Passenger volume: 70 cu ft

Cargo volume: 5 cu ft

Curb weight: 3363 lb



C/D TEST RESULTS:

Zero to 60 mph: 3.1 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 7.5 sec

Zero to 130 mph: 12.9 sec

Zero to 150 mph: 18.5 sec

Rolling start, 560 mph: 3.9 sec

Top gear, 3050 mph: 2.4 sec

Top gear, 5070 mph: 2.4 sec

Standing -mile: 11.4 sec @ 123 mph

Top speed (drag limited, mfr's claim): 190 mph

Braking, 700 mph: 142 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 1.04 g



FUEL ECONOMY:

EPA combined/city/highway driving: 24/22/28 mpg

C/D observed: 19 mpg




420 day is here, and in light of the fact that it's still very illegal to smoke or possess cannabis in Australia, a pop-up protest with a difference has emerged.

A retail storefront featuring hydroponic weed showed up on Thursday in Sydney's Kings Cross and rather bold protest slash installation got the internet collective tongue wagging.

SEE ALSO: Liquor sales haven't dropped where weed is legal, and people still go out, new analysis says

"Who are we hurting?" asks the signs on the storefront sign, while inside, trestle tables housed what appear to be nine cannabis plants growing in pots.

Organised by a group called the Craze Collective and Ballin On A Budget TV, the grow room has been leased until the end of the month, according to a spokesperson.

A post shared by CrazeCo.com.au (@thecrazeco) on Apr 19, 2017 at 6:06pm PDT

"Situated in the heart of the Australian city killed by alcohol fuelled violence our purpose is to demonstrate that the new wave of stoners are successful and to spark debate regarding the inadequate laws turning them into criminals," the spokesperson adds.

A post shared by CrazeCo.com.au (@thecrazeco) on Apr 19, 2017 at 9:56pm PDT

If you're hoping to visit it, authorities have (unsurprisingly) already raided the location. But plot twist! It turns out the plants weren't even the real thing.

"Police attended the premises to investigate the alleged hydro set up at a shopfront at Kings Cross. As the plants were not cannabis there was no further police action," a New South Wales Police spokesperson said.

Got your attention, though, didn't it?

A post shared by CrazeCo.com.au (@thecrazeco) on Apr 19, 2017 at 8:52pm PDT

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Washington (AFP) - A death row inmate scheduled to be executed in an Arkansas prison on Thursday was granted a stay by the highest court in the US state hours before his lethal injection, his attorneys said.

Stacey Johnson is the fourth prisoner in Arkansas to receive a reprieve from execution this month, frustrating state authorities' efforts to run a batch through capital punishment before a key drug in the lethal injections expires.

The stay for Johnson stemmed from a bid to have an evidentiary hearing related to his request for DNA testing to prove his innocence.

"We are grateful and relieved" at the ruling by the Arkansas Supreme Court regarding Stacey Johnson," said Innocence Project senior staff attorney Nina Morrison, whose group is defending Johnson.

She argued that a fellow death row inmate Ledell Lee -- also scheduled to die Thursday -- deserved the same right to a hearing.

"As we argued in our brief, there is a significant amount of DNA evidence that has never been tested which could exonerate Mr. Lee and identify the real perpetrator of the crime."

Arkansas' Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, had planned for eight men on death row to be executed within an 11-day period before the end of April, when the state's stock of midazolam, a sedative used in the lethal injections, expires.

But amid public opposition to the death penalty -- including protests in the state capital Little Rock including actor Johnny Depp and a judge linked to one of the cases -- lawyers obtained stays for three other executions.

Jason McGehee, who was to be put to death on April 27, received a month-long stay two weeks ago because of a parole board's clemency recommendation.

Then, last Friday, Arkansas' Supreme Court suspended, with no explanation, the execution of prisoner Bruce Ward planned for Monday this week.

And late on Monday, after inmate Don Davis ate what was supposed to be his "last meal" and just minutes before his execution, the US Supreme Court gave a last-minute ruling sparing him.

Story continues

But Arkansas' attorney general, Leslie Rutledge, has pledged to overcome the stays and haul Ward and Davis back into the death chamber.

Last week, Johnson's lawyer lodged a request for a DNA test to verify whether his client's protestations of innocence were founded. Johnson, a black man, was sentenced for the 1993 murder of a white woman.

Lee, who is also black, was sentenced to death in 1993 for the murder of his neighbor, a white woman.
Photo credit: U.S. Navy photo.

From Popular Mechanics

A carrier strike group, described by President Donald Trump as an "armada" headed to North Korea, actually went the opposite direction, to the Indian Ocean thousands of miles away. The alleged deployment sparked fears that the White House was planning to strike North Korea.

Trump told Fox Business News on April 12th "we're sending an armada [to Korea]" The problem? The Vinson wasn't headed to Korea. At least not directly. Vinson and its escorts-the cruiser USS Lake Champlain and destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS Michael Murphy-sailed from Singapore through Indonesia's Sunda Strait to the Indian Ocean for a prearranged exercise with the Australian Navy.

For nearly a week the entire world-including America's allies in the Asia Pacific region-assumed the Carrier Strike Group was nearing or already in the Sea of Japan. The Vinson's true location, as New York Times pointed out, was actually 3,500 miles away. Instead, the Vinson Carrier Strike Group will head to Korea after the exercises with Australia. The ship's cruise has been extended thirty days to provide a "persistent presence in the waters off the Korean Peninsula."

The mislocation of the carrier strike group seems to have been the result of the White House and Pentagon giving out incorrect information about the order of events. In discussion with reporters, government officials seem to have discussed a Korean deployment with no mention of the exercises off Western Australia, as though the carrier was going straight from a visit at Singapore to the Sea of Japan. That the Pentagon did not immediately correct the record is unusual.

In reality, the Korean "presence mission" was tacked onto the end of Carl Vinson's tour. Vinson and her escorts have left Australia and should be off the coast of Korea "sometime next week," according to U.S. Naval Institute News sources.

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The moment Australian retailers have dreaded is here.

Amazon is expanding Down Under, opening warehouses thatll enable cheap, fast local shipping, and letting small businesses sell goods through the sitea development an Amazon employee reportedly said would "destroy the retail environment in Australia."

Shopping on Amazon.com is already available to Australians, but with international shipping and long delivery times, it isn't a pleasant experience.

SEE ALSO: Terms and Conditions are too long, just ask a guy who read Amazon's for 9 hours

A spokesperson for the retail giant stated via email that Amazon is currently planning "to bring thousands of new jobs to Australia, millions of dollars in additional investment, and to empower small Australian businesses through Amazon Marketplace."

He added, "We are optimistic that by focusing on the things we believe customers value most  low prices, vast selection, and fast delivery  over time we'll earn the business of Australian customers.

But considering the U.S. company has allegedly been dubbed the "country killer" by analysts at Morgan Stanley, local retail competition is probably feeling a whole lot less optimistic right about now.

Justin Braitling, chief investment officer at Watermark Funds Management, foretold the internet behemoth's 2017 arrival in the Financial Review at the end of last year, stating that an unnamed Amazon employee told him of their plans to "destroy" and saying "[Amazon] will be doing general merchandise and they will be doing fresh as well. They will also be putting physical stores on the ground which I don't think anyone knows about."

Reports have also indicated that Amazon has local trademarks pending for a bunch of products, like Amazon Echo. And of course, the launch of Amazon Marketplace will mean third-party retailers in Australia will be offered a new, convenient home base online.

Story continues

As previously reported, research at Citi indicates that if Amazon enters the market in the next two years, they could reach A$3.5 to A$4 billion in sales within five years of launching, capturing around 14 percent of all online sales. Wow, way to dominate.

Let's see how you fare when Alibaba increases its Australian presence, Amazon. #FightToTheDeath

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By Steve Barnes LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) - The top Arkansas court allowed the state on Thursday to use a drug that is part of its chemical mix for lethal injections, hours before the state planned its first execution in 12 years. The decision from the Arkansas Supreme Court came about three hours before the state planned to execute convicted murderer Ledell Lee at 7 p.m. local time (0000 GMT) at its Cummins Unit in Grady, which houses the state's death chamber. The southeastern state had planned to execute eight inmates in 11 days, the most of any state in as short a period since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Courts have halted four of those executions. The state's plan prompted an unprecedented flurry of legal filings and raised questions about U.S. death chamber protocols and lethal injection drug mixes. Back-to-back executions set for Monday were indefinitely halted. It was unclear if Lee's execution would go ahead on Thursday night. The U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on three petitions from Arkansas death row inmates to halt the proceedings. Lee's lawyer also made an emergency filing with a U.S. court in Little Rock about an hour before his scheduled execution. The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday denied Lee's request to halt his execution. Lee was convicted and sentenced to death for beating Debra Reese to death with a tire iron in 1993. In ruling on the state's lethal injection drug, the Arkansas Supreme Court agreed with the state that it did nothing illegal in acquiring the muscle relaxant vecuronium bromide, one of three drugs used in its lethal injections, and lifted an order by a state circuit judge on Wednesday that blocked its use. U.S. pharmaceutical wholesaler McKesson Medical-Surgical Inc accused the state of obtaining the drug under false pretences. Arkansas had also planned to execute convicted murderer Stacey Johnson on Thursday. But the Arkansas Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a halt to Johnson's execution after he requested DNA testing he said could prove his innocence. The attorney general's office said on Thursday it would not appeal the decision, meaning his planned execution was off. Johnson was convicted of the 1993 murder and sexual assault of Carol Heath. Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson set the execution schedule because another of the three drugs used in Arkansas executions, the sedative midazolam, expires at month's end. The state's protocol calls for use of midazolam to render the inmate unconscious, vecuronium bromide to stop breathing and a third chemical that causes cardiac arrest. (Reporting by Steve Barnes in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; writing by Jon Herskovitz; editing by Sandra Maler and Cynthia Osterman)
Wall Street stocks scored large gains Thursday, with the Nasdaq finishing at a fresh record on revived hopes about US tax cuts under President Donald Trump and greater economic optimism following solid earnings.

US stocks have been pressured over the last month or so as the Trump economic agenda has languished and worries about Syria, North Korea and the French presidential election have come to the forefront.

But US stocks shook off those doubts. French stocks also scored strong gains, while markets in London, Frankfurt and Tokyo treaded water.

A batch of largely positive earnings reports and a more upbeat tone from executives boosted confidence in US growth.

"Not only have the earnings been good, but there's a good picture being painted by the CEOs," said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade.

Analysts also pointed to remarks from US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressing confidence in enacting tax cuts this year.

"What Mnuchin said is what the markets have been wanting to hear," Kinahan said. "Him giving that ounce of hope was great."

Kinahan said confidence action from Washington can be ephemeral and rumor-based, but that there remains an underlying sense that "something is going to get done" on taxes, the key to stock market rallies since Trump's election.

The Nasdaq finished at 5,916.78, up 0.9 percent, and about two points higher than the prior record set in March. Nasdaq companies with gains over one percent included Apple, Facebook, Netflix and Starbucks.

The French CAC also had a good day, winning 1.5 percent as a batch of polls showed centrist Emmanuel Macron in first place, increasing confidence he will make the run-off after Sunday's vote.

But equity markets in Tokyo, London and Frankfurt were flat ahead of Sunday.

"It was another jittery day for stock markets. Investors have been juggling multiple sets of corporate results while staying mindful of global geopolitics. That makes a strong directional move difficult," said Jasper Lawler of London Capital Group.

Story continues

"The risks surrounding the first round of France's presidential election this Sunday have been keeping investors cautious," said LCG's Lawler.

- Key figures at 2100 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.9 percent at 20,578.71 (close)

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.8 percent at 2,355.84 (close)

New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.9 percent at 5,916.78 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 7,118.54 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.1 percent at 12,027.32 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.5 percent at 5,077.91 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.7 percent at 3,443.13

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 18,430.49 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 1.0 percent at 24,056.98 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: FLAT at 3,172.10 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0715 from $1.0708

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2812 from $1.2772

Dollar/yen: UP at 109.31 yen from 108.85 yen

Oil - West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 17 cents at $50.27 per barrel

Oil - Brent North Sea: UP six cents at $52.99 per barrel

burs-jmb/acb
(Reuters) - Canadian authorities caught 887 asylum seekers crossing unlawfully into Canada from the United States in March, nearly triple the number in January, according to numbers released by the government Wednesday.

This brings the total number of asylum seekers caught walking across the border to 1,860 so far this year. The new statistics suggest those numbers could rise further as the weather warms.

Canada is on track to see the highest number of asylum claims in six years, given the pace of claims filed so far, as increasing numbers of people cross into Canada to make refugee claims in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's election and his crackdown on refugees and illegal immigrants.

Under the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement, Canada is required to turn asylum seekers away if they try to file refugee claims at land border crossings. But if people cross the border in between formal crossings, they are taken into custody and questioned by both police and border authorities, then allowed to file claims and stay in Canada while they await the outcome.

Refugee advocates have argued that were it not for the Safe Third Country Agreement, people would file claims at border crossings instead.

The people caught crossing unlawfully comprise a fifth of everyone who has filed asylum claims in Canada so far this year but they loom large in Canadian politics, with the federal government taking fire for its wait-and-see approach. Nearly half of the people surveyed in a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released in March wanted to deport people illegally crossing into Canada from its southern neighbor.

"The majority of irregular migrants are holders of visas for the United States," according to a statement released Wednesday from the office of Canada's Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

"Canadian authorities are managing the increase in asylum seekers in a sound and measured way. ... To be clear - trying to slip across the border in an irregular manner is not a 'free' ticket to Canada."

Story continues

Almost three-quarters of the asylum seekers caught crossing so far this year were taken into custody in Quebec, the government data showed. Roxham Road, which straddles Champlain, New York and Hemmingford, Quebec, has become such a common spot that photographers cluster there and would-be refugees refer to it by name.

Most of the others were taken into custody in Manitoba and British Columbia - 331 and 201, respectively.

Police said Wednesday they have charged 43-year-old Michelle Omoruyi with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling. Police allege they found Omoruyi driving nine west African asylum seekers across the U.S. border into the prairie province of Saskatchewan Friday night. The nine asylum seekers have filed refugee claims and are not in custody.

(Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny; editing by Diane Craft)
You know what they say: Talk sh*t, get proverbially hit.

Co-founder and co-CEO of Australian startup Atlassian had to issue a Twitter-blow to the nation's immigration minister on Wednesday night, after the politician started running his mouth off.

"Wow...did I just get trolled by a govt minister as being un-Australian?" tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes wrote on Twitter after reading about the comments. And thus began a casual take down.

SEE ALSO: 'Irresponsible and irrational:' Aussie startups speak out on Muslim ban

On TV program Today, hosts interviewed politician Peter Dutton to discuss the axing (and eventual replacement) of Australia's 457 program, which allowed skilled migrants to temporarily live and work in Australia.

"Do you know of Mike Cannon-Brookes?" the host asked. "I think he is the co-founder of Atlassian. His tech company is bigger than Qantas. He said to The Australian that 457 Visas were essential for Australia and any move to make bridging the talent gap more difficult would be bad for the country."

The minister responded, "Well let's have a look at what work theyre doing in the local market. How many young Australians are they employing? Are they going into schools looking for young kids to come and work in jobs? Are they employing mature aged workers who have found themselves out of a job elsewhere? Let's have a look at the details."

Cannon-Brookes was bemused, if frustrated.

Wow...  did I just get trolled by a govt minister as being un-Australian? https://t.co/tM9Qxs3het - this bullshit makes me mad...  Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) April 19, 2017

Firstly... I haven't given any quotes on 457s recently, so any attributions are from old articles (Nov 2016?) on "abolishing 457s"... https://t.co/OiQe87IqLS  Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) April 19, 2017

As far as I can read so far... 457s have been named-changed with a remarkably similar program? (which actually looks quite good?)... https://t.co/yHPWzhW8th  Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) April 19, 2017

They removed occupations like actor, blacksmith, deer farmer, golfer, goat farmer & zookeeper  @Atlassian doesn't hire a lot of those... https://t.co/p4CYttOhUt  Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) April 19, 2017

(One might wryly comment there's an unaustralian joke in removing betting agency managers, shearers, jockeys and dog/horse trainers?) ... https://t.co/R4lN9xMzNz  Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) April 19, 2017

The tightenings in rules put in place actually look quite sensible to me (full reading coming soon)? ... https://t.co/3osZMxrYZG  Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) April 19, 2017

Yep, his quotes were old and entirely irrelevant to the dismantling of the visa program. But because he's up there with Elon Musk when it comes to Twitter shade (that's why they love some banter), Cannon-Brookes didn't stop there. Oh no.

Story continues

He responded directly to Dutton's questioning, listing just what they've done for the country's workforce as well as taking aiming at the arguably Trump-esque, nationalistic rhetoric the government used to announce the changes.

Our default position _is_ to see out an Australian for a job first... because it's cheaper and faster to do so. It just makes sense. ... https://t.co/C1O3GpT43n  Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) April 19, 2017

But when the experience required isn't here, we need a program. That's what the 457 did & the new program aims to do. Great... https://t.co/hMvM1UlzSH  Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) April 19, 2017

This "new program" seems to remove large categories of jobs which are nothing to do with tech - industries without those shortages. Great. https://t.co/0MeB6Zkn4Z  Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) April 19, 2017

Let's separate nationalism and logic. This program seems logical. The "Australia first" Trumpy crap adds nothing but hot air. https://t.co/Pd0mD3dibj  Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) April 19, 2017

And the irony of writing this when here is my current view. Count all 6 of them. #hopawaytrolls https://t.co/qfHLF0E9J1 pic.twitter.com/xnFt7UflOy  Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) April 19, 2017

And just for some additional LOLs, Cannon Brookes also shared a couple of bits of choice Twitter commentary. One from a guy know how to hit a politician right where it hurts  in the offshore immigration detention facilities. And, one from a guy who found work at Atlassian, while he was still in school.

He's got you well and truly beat when it comes to offshore prison camps though. https://t.co/A0aLx1foyG  Will McDougall (@WillMcDougall) April 19, 2017

@mcannonbrookes "Are they going into schools looking for young kids to go and work in jobs?"



Yes. In 2007, Atlassian was my first job while I was studying.  Chris Broadfoot (@broady) April 19, 2017

In conclusion, never stop tweeting, Mike Cannon-Brookes. Never stop tweeting.

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Ahead of Vice President Mike Pences visit on Saturday, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced big changes in the countrys immigration process.

For one thing, migrants will be required to live in Australia for four years  not one, as currently  before they can apply for Australian citizenship. For another, Turnbull said on Thursday, the citizenship examination will be redone so as to raise the standard of English language proficiency.

It will also add a component that tests whether the applicant displays Australian values, asking questions like whether applicants send their children to school, or have jobs.

Why should the test simply be a checklist of civic questions? Turnbull asked, later adding, What we are doing is strengthening our multicultural society and strengthening our values.

Turnbulls maternal grandparents came from England.

Just two days before, Turnbull announced Australia would change the way in which it hires foreign workers, scrapping a visa program that allows highly-skilled workers to apply for permanent residency after four years, and putting in place a new system that is manifestly, rigorously, resolutely conducted in the national interest so as to put Australia first.

Though 98.6 percent who sat the citizenship test in 2014-2015 did indeed pass (including re-sits), the Australian immigration program is hardly known for its leniency. Would-be migrants often end up in offshore detention centers that human rights groups describe as prison-like.

But as in so many countries around the world, anti-immigrant sentiment has mushroomed in recent years, as far-right parties like One Nation have become increasingly popular. One Nation, likely the more recently founded Australian Conservative Party, claimed credit for the decision to scrap the visa program for highly-skilled workers.

Of course, Australia has been grappling with questions over immigration and refugees for years. And like in most other countries around the world, the Australian public is massively confused over how many people are actually seeking asylum and how they do it  which creates political pressure for tough solutions to often imaginary problems. (The recently departed John Clarke and his erstwhile comedy partner tackled immigration on several memorable occasions.)

The Obama administration reached a deal with Australia to resettle some asylum seekers, a pact Trump promptly tried to blow up in his first phone call with Trumbull. So there wont likely be any pushback from Pence on Canberras immigration changes. Rather, Trump has pointed to Australia as a model for immigration.

Photo credit: Scott Barbour/Getty Images
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Young An, 42, was allegedly attacked by her husband, Chae Kyong An,53, in her home on Oct. 16 after they spoke about their ongoing divorce and finances. Chae allegedly punched Young multiple times before binding her eyes, hands and body with duct tape. Before Young was driven into woods near Lacey to be buried, she managed to contact 911 and send a notification to her emergency contacts using her Apple Watch.
By Julien Pretot PARIS (Reuters) - Paris' Champs Elysees boulevard looked more like a combat zone than the tourist and shopping mecca it is on Thursday night after a drive-up-and-shoot attack in which an assailant killed a police officer with what appeared to be an automatic rifle. Hundreds of police officers armed with machine guns, helmets or balaclavas and bullet-proof vests swarmed over an area of Paris popular with, but suddenly bereft of, late night shoppers, cafe customers and dance club revelers. Days before the first round of a presidential election vote on Sunday, the attack, swiftly claimed by Islamic State, followed the arrest in southern France of two men suspected of planning an attack in a country whose jets are bombing the militant group's strongholds in Iraq and Syria. Reuters reporters on the scene shortly after the incident said witnesses described a scene of sudden chaos. "It could have been the end of me," said Chelloug, a kitchen assistant at a restaurant in the killing zone. He said he hid behind a police vehicle after six shots from what sounded like a Kalashnikov, or AK, assault rifle. The attack car was an Audi, the witness, who declined to give his full name, told Reuters. The normally bustling cobbled avenue, famed for its shops, tourist stores and nightclubs and a must-visit zone for tourists, was shut down by police as they made room for ambulances and emergency services shortly after the incident around 1900 GMT. TOURIST SITE TARGETS More than 230 people have been killed in Islamist militant attacks in France since January 2015. Even though visitor numbers have suffered as a result, Paris tourist sites have mostly been spared from the carnage. However, in February, a man attacked a soldier with a machete outside the Louvre museum saying he wanted to avenge the people of Syria, and in September last year a group of women whom authorities say had been planning an attack left a car laden with gas cylinders in a side street near Notre Dame cathedral. On Thursday night, heavily armed police and siren-lit vans occupied most of the tree-lined stretch that links the Seine river, the Place de La Concorde and lower house of parliament to a World War dead-soldiers memorial at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe. Helicopters buzzed above and armored police toting machine guns ringfenced the area where an interior ministry spokesman, Pierre-Henry Brandet, told journalists one policeman had been shot dead and two colleagues injured before the assailant, who fled on foot, was shot and killed too. (Writing by Brian Love; Editing by Andrew Callus)
Right-wing author and commentator Ann Coulter said she would definitely speak at the University of California, Berkeley next week even though the university administrators are trying to prevent her from doing so, reports said Wednesday.

"Yes, it was officially banned," Coulter said about her appearance at the university on April 27. "But they can't stop me. I'm an American. I have constitutional rights."

I was invited to speak by two groups on campus, so I intend to speak, she said.

Coulter had accepted an invitation from two of the campus groups in the university, the Berkeley College Republicans and BridgeUSA and she was scheduled to deliver a speech about immigration, the topic that was among one of her 12 New York Times best-selling books.

"If that's banned, then no conservative can speak," Coulter told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday.

"Meanwhile, corrupt banana republic leaders like Vicente Fox have the red carpet rolled out for them on the taxpayer's dime, she said referring to the former president of Mexico who already spoke at Beverley this week.

The university canceled the scheduled speech by the author Wednesday citing security concerns. Berkeley College Republicans, who were sponsoring the speech with support from Young Americas Foundation (YAF), received a letter from the administrators who said that the university had been unable to find a safe and suitable venue for your planned April 27 event featuring Ann Coulter.

The letter, which was written by Scott Biddy, the vice chancellor, and Stephen Sutton, the vice chancellor for student affairs, said: it was not possible to assure that the event could be held successfully  or that the safety of Ms. Coulter, the event sponsors, audience and bystanders could be adequately protected.

Coulter told the Hollywood Reporter that the university had certain requirements that the author had to agree to before her appearance on April 27. Coulter said she had agreed to all terms and conditions.

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"I've acceded to all their silly demands, which they thought would end it. When I said, 'yes, yes, yes,' they canceled anyway. No more clear-cut proof that taxpayer-supported universities will not allow conservative speakers," Coulter said.

Berkeleys sudden decision came amid the rising violence regarding the cancelation of speeches of conservative speakers at the university. In February, they canceled a talk by right-wing firebrand, Milo Yiannopoulos, and a protest against the cancelation grew into a riot . Last weekend a rally in the city grew violent. So, the administrators cited these reasons for the cancelation.

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Bill OReilly will not return to host The OReilly Factor amid accusations of sexual harassment against him, 21st Century Fox has announced.

After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the Company and Bill OReilly have agreed that Bill OReilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel, 21st Century Fox said in a statement on Wednesday.

OReilly released the following statement after the networks announcement:

Over the past 20 years at Fox News, I have been extremely proud to launch and lead one of the most successful news programs in history, which has consistently informed and entertained millions of Americans and significantly contributed to building Fox into the dominant news network in television. It is tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims. But that is the unfortunate reality many of us in the public eye must live with today. I will always look back on my time at Fox with great pride in the unprecedented success we achieved and with my deepest gratitude to all my dedicated viewers. I wish only the best for Fox News Channel.

The New York Times reported earlier this month that OReilly and Fox News parent company 21st Century Fox paid a total of $13 million to stop women from speaking out against him or pursuing litigation over sexual harassment.

In the wake of the Times report, two more women have come forward to accuse OReilly of harassment - one anonymously. And dozens of companies have pulled their advertisements from his show.

OReilly, who has worked for Fox News for 21 years, has denied the harassment claims have merit, and his attorney denounced the accusations as a brutal campaign of character assassination.

In the midst of backlash over the allegations, OReilly left for a few weeks of vacation, which he said had been scheduled for months. He had been expected to return to his show on April 24. The new Fox News primetime lineup will feature Tucker Carlson Tonight in OReillys former time slot at 8 p.m., CNN reported.

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This decision follows an extensive review done in collaboration with outside counsel, 21st Century Fox said in an email to employees, which was obtained by CNN. By ratings standards, Bill OReilly is one of the most accomplished TV personalities in the history of cable news. In fact, his success by any measure is indisputable.

The situation mirrors the ousting of Fox News CEO Roger Ailes last year after several female employees accused him of sexual harassment.

Lastly, and most importantly, we want to underscore our consistent commitment to fostering a work environment built on the values of trust and respect, the 21st Century Fox email said Wednesday.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
Update: 2:32 p.m. EDT  The parent company of Fox News, 21st Century Fox, confirmed Wednesday that Bill O'Reilly would not be returning to the network following accusations of sexual harassment and other misconduct.

"After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the Company and Bill O'Reilly have agreed that Bill O'Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel," the company said in a statement.

Original story:

Longtime Fox News host Bill OReilly might be facing an uncertain future after six women came forward to accuse him of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior, casting doubt on the veteran hosts next days at the network.

OReilly remained on a pre-planned vacation from his position Wednesday but was scheduled to return April 24. However, a Wall Street Journal report published Tuesday cited sources who said the network was preparing to fire OReilly. A look back at the accusations leveled against OReilly shows everything we know about the case against him so far.

2004: Andrea Mackris, a former producer at Fox News, settled with OReilly for $9 million after accusing him of making inappropriate phone calls.

2011: Former Fox Business host Rebecca Gomez Diamond settled with OReilly after she accused him of making inappropriate phone calls.

2014: Wendy Walsh, a recurring guest on OReillys show, claimed that the host offered to help her get a position at the network but refused to do so after she declined to go to a hotel room with him. Walsh later filed a lawsuit against OReilly and Fox News.

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Photo: Reuters

Jan. 10, 2016: Fox News settled with on-air personality Juliet Huddy for $1.6 million after Huddy accused OReilly of making inappropriate phone calls and trying to kiss her as well as damaging her career after she rejected his advances.

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Aug. 22, 2016: Former Fox News host Andrea Tarantos filed a lawsuit in which she alleged that former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes and OReilly harassed her during her time at the network.

Apr. 1, 2017: A New York Times investigation revealed that OReilly and Fox News had settled with five women for a total of $13 million. Four involved sexual harassment claims while the fifth centered on verbal abuse. Of the five, two were previously known but three were revealed for the first time.

Apr. 5, 2017: President Donald Trump came to OReillys defense in an interview with the New York Times. I think hes a person I know well  he is a good person, the president said. Personally, I think he shouldnt have settled. Because you should have taken it all the way; I dont think Bill did anything wrong.

Apr. 10, 2017: New York City Public Advocate Letitia James called for an investigation into racial discrimination and sexual harassment at Fox News in a letter to the New York City Commission on Human Rights.

Apr. 11, 2017: OReilly told viewers on his show that he was taking a pre-planned vacation and would arrive back on April 24.

Apr. 18, 2017: Lawyer Lisa Bloom writes on Twitter that she is representing a new woman in a sexual and racial harassment case against OReilly, bringing the count of accusers to six.

Apr. 18, 2017: A Wall Street Journal report revealed that Fox News was preparing to fire the veteran host. Fox News did not confirm the report.

Apr. 18, 2017: OReillys lawyers released a statement defending him. Bill OReilly has been subjected to a brutal campaign of character assassination that is unprecedented in post-McCarthyist America, the statement said, claiming that the allegations were part of a campaign orchestrated by far-left organizations bent on destroying OReilly for political and financial reasons.

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Photo: Reuters

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Bruce Springsteen has teamed up with his erstwhile collaborator Joe Gruschecky on a protest anthem called Thats What Makes Us Great.

Pittsburgh rocker Grushecky wrote the song around the time President Trump took office in January, the Pittsburg Post-Gazette reports. In Springsteens verse on the track, the New Jersey musician challenges: dont you brag to me that you never read a book/I never put my faith in a con man and his crooks.

Springsteens songs have often depicted the drudgery and beauty of life in the American Rust Belt, an area that proved pivotal to Trumps 2016 presidential election victory. In January, Springsteen called Trumps immigration order anti-Democratic and fundamentally un-American.

Grushecky, who had taught in schools for decades, told the Post-Gazette that Trumps mocking of a reporter with a disability drove him to write the song. How could a person like that be president of the United States? Regardless of all the other [stuff], that to me is appalling, he said. I have special needs people in my family and in my neighborhood. I worked with special needs people my whole life and I was really offended by it.

Thats What Makes Us Great premiered on SiriusXM radio Wednesday. The track can be purchased on Grusheckys website and on various streaming services.

[PPG]

This article was originally published on TIME.com
Bruce Springsteen has joined with Pittsburgh rocker Joe Grushecky for a new anti-President Trump protest salvo called "That's What Makes Us Great."

The hard-rocking, pro-immigration anthem was written by Grushecky, who Springsteen has worked with frequently over the years. "Some wanna slam the door, instead of opening the gate," the western Pennsylvania bandleader sings, with his band the Houserockers backing him up. "Aw, let's turn this thing around, before it gets too late."

Springsteen takes over on the second verse of the impassioned rejoinder to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

"Don't tell me a lie, and sell it as a fact

I been down that road before, and I ain't goin' back

And don't you brag to me that you never read a book

I never put my faith in a con man and his crooks."

Later, The Boss issues a call to action, penned by the friend with whom he wrote the Grammy winning "Code of Silence" in 1997. "In the quiet of the night, I lie here wide awake / And I ask myself, is there a difference I can make? / It's up to me and you, love can conquer hate."

During the presidential campaign in 2016, Springsteen told Rolling Stone that "the republic is under siege by a moron." The Jersey rocker, who stumped extensively for Barack Obama, including a free voter registration show on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in 2008, performed at an election eve rally for Hillary Clinton at Independence Hall in November.

I had this song, and Bruce and I had been talking," Grushecky, a former schoolteachers, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Scott Mervis about "That's What Makes Us Great." "I sent it to him and he liked it. I said, What do you think about singing on it? He gave it the Bruce treatment.

"That's What Makes Us Great" is available as a paid download on Grushecky's website. As of Thursday morning, it was not yet avialable on iTunes or music streaming services.

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Linan (China) (AFP) - It's springtime in the bamboo-forested hills surrounding eastern China's Lin'an city, and that means busy mornings of harvesting, packing and selling tonnes of the edible bamboo shoots that the region is famous for.

Lin'an is in an area of eastern Zhejiang province whose rich forests are estimated to supply up to two-thirds of China's bamboo shoots, plus a range of other products derived from the fast-growing plant that are produced both for domestic and overseas markets.

Harvesting takes several hours starting at dawn, and has been a cornerstone of the region's economy for countless centuries.

The shoots are a regular item on Chinese dinner tables, typically made into a soup, braised with meat or vegetables, or eaten as snacks, said Wang Guoying, a vendor at a bamboo market in Lin'an.

"The even larger ones, the hairy shoots, can be made into canned ones and sold overseas," she said.

She was referring to "mao sun", or "hairy shoots", which get their name from their hair-like surfaces.

Another vendor, Lang Erhua, said, "everyone knows how to cook bamboo shoots here."

"You cut the fresh shoots into thin pieces and braise it with pork and bones. Or you can just braise it with plain water. Add a dash of ginger, garlic and, in the end, some salt and MSG. It's delicious," she said.

Bamboo, which despite its woody appearance is a type of grass, is among nature's most versatile plants.

Its lightness and strength lend it to a range of uses including as building materials, chopsticks, furniture, window blinds, hats, musical instruments, baskets and ornamental arrangements. It is even utilised in paper and textile products.

Bamboo's fast rate of growth is also legendary, with certain species reputed to grow a few centimetres per hour.

Bamboo is found in tropical and sub-tropical regions around the world but nowhere is it perhaps as important as in China where it has been admired for thousands of years.
Nearly half of California hospitals received a grade of C or lower for patient safety on a national report card aimed at prodding medical centers to do more to prevent injuries and deaths.

The Leapfrog Group, an employer-backed nonprofit group focused on health care quality, issued its latest scores last week. The report card is part of an effort to make consumers and employers aware of how their hospitals perform on key quality measures, so they can make better-informed health care decisions. The scores are updated twice a year, in spring and fall.

After steady improvement in recent years, California hospitals lost ground in last weeks report card. Two years ago, 37 percent of California hospitals received a C, D or F grade. That increased to 46 percent of the 271 California hospitals rated in the most recent report.

Many California hospitals still struggle to reduce preventable medical errors and infections in patients, despite industrywide efforts to remedy those problems. California accounted for 6 of the 10 hospitals nationwide that received an F grade.

California public health officials track a wide assortment of patient infections that can be acquired during a hospital stay. A recent state report noted progress in some areas, while other issues have been harder to address.

From 2014 to 2015, 56 California hospitals achieved significant improvement in preventing certain infections, including ones in the blood and those resulting from surgery, according to the California Department of Public Health. But diarrheal infections in California hospitals have increased 8 percent above a national benchmark since 2011.

The state has created an interactive map where the public can check infection rates by hospital.

Leapfrog, which has issued hospital scores in California and nationwide since 2012, analyzes information it collects as well as data reported to Medicare. Erica Mobley, a Leapfrog spokeswoman, said the groups methodology compares all hospitals to each other on a national scale, so a mix of factors could be responsible for the lower scores statewide.

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This could represent California hospitals performance slipping in comparison to their peers across the country or could also mean that they may be staying constant in their performance while other hospitals are progressing, Mobley said.

The percentage of hospitals in the Golden State that got the top rating also decreased in Leapfrogs latest analysis. Twenty-five percent of California hospitals, 68 facilities, earned an A grade this year, compared to 43 percent, or 104, in 2015.

California ranked 28th nationally in the percentage of A-rated hospitals. More than half of the hospitals in states such as Oregon, North Carolina and Massachusetts achieved the highest score.

In Leapfrogs report card, some performance measures are risk-adjusted for patient severity and income so hospitals arent penalized for admitting sicker, poorer patients.

Some hospital industry officials have criticized Leapfrogs letter grades as too simplistic for a complex issue and as potentially misleading for patients.

Jan Emerson-Shea, a spokeswoman for the California Hospital Association, noted there are many different scorecards and said consumers shouldnt put too much stock in any one ranking.

While these scorecards often serve as a good starting point for patients to ask questions of their health-care provider, they should not be viewed as being a definitive source for determining the quality of care provided by any hospital, Emerson-Shea said.

The Leapfrog data show that some of the top performers in California include Chinese Hospital in San Francisco, Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach and Inglewoods Centinela Hospital Medical Center.

Health giant Kaiser Permanente consistently posts some of the highest scores and shows little variation across its 35 hospitals in the state. Thirty-three Kaiser hospitals received A or B grades; two got C grades.

The University of California health system fared well across seven hospital campuses, with five A ratings and two B grades.

Some large institutions lagged further behind. Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank received a D, as did the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.

Leapfrog cited San Francisco General, a public safety net hospital, for being below average at preventing surgical site infections after colon surgery and for allowing dangerous objects to be left in a patients body, among other factors. Providences Burbank hospital had a higher-than-expected rate of patients who developed serious breathing problems and caught antibiotic-resistant infections, according to Leapfrog.

A spokesman for San Francisco General didnt comment directly on the hospitals results, other than to say it didnt participate in Leapfrogs optional survey on safety procedures and training.

Providence said in a statement it takes patient safety seriously and respects efforts to help consumers make an informed choice. However, it is important to understand that health care data are extremely difficult to compare as each patient is unique, the hospital said. Often information is a few years old before it is analyzed and aggregated for the public.

A full list of California hospitals and their scores is available here.

Californias Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development also offers data on hospital quality and patient outcomes. And Medicare posts star ratings for hospitals nationwide, which are another resource for patients and policymakers.

This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.

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By Leah Schnurr and David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday brushed off an attack by U.S. President Donald Trump on Canada's system of dairy protections, saying every nation defended its agricultural industries. Trudeau told Bloomberg Television that the United States in fact ran a dairy surplus with Canada. Trump took aim at Canada's dairy industry this week and said on Thursday "what they've done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace". Canada's dairy sector is protected by high tariffs on imported products and controls on domestic production as a means of supporting prices that farmers receive. Trudeau said the system "works very well" in Canada. "Let's not pretend we're in a global free market when it comes to agriculture," he said. "Every country protects, for good reason, its agricultural industries." Trump's comments were the second time this week he has attacked Canada's dairy industry and on Thursday he included the lumber, timber and energy sectors in a list of what he said were problematic areas of trade. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, asked for a reaction, rejected the suggestion of wrongdoing. "Canada strongly believes in a rules-based system of trade, and therefore always abides by and upholds the rules that govern trade," she said in an e-mailed statement. Trump said the United States will report in the next two weeks what it intends to do with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which he has promised to renegotiate. The threat to get rid of or alter NAFTA is a potential problem for Canada, whose biggest trade partner is the United States. Trudeau said he would not "overreact" and planned to move the trade conversation forward "in a way that both protects our consumers and our agricultural producers." He also said he saw an opportunity to engage with the U.S. President. "He has shown if he says one thing and actually hears good counter arguments or good reasons why he should shift his position, he will take a different position if it's a better one, if the arguments win him over," Trudeau said. The two nations are embroiled in a long-standing dispute over exports of Canadian softwood lumber, which U.S. producers complain are unfairly subsidized. "Our producers and workers have never been found in the wrong .. the United States needs Canadian lumber. A protracted dispute will only drive up the cost of wood and homes for U.S. consumers," Freeland said. (Reporting by Leah Schnurr and David Ljunggren in Ottowa; additional reporting by Jeff Mason in Washington; Editing by Grant McCool)
A Chinese rocket successfully sent the country's first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-1, into space from the southern island province of Hainan Thursday.

Fuelled by liquid oxygen and kerosene, the Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket blasted off from Hainan's Wenchang Space Launch Center at 7:41 pm (11:41 GMT).

Hundreds of spectators who had been waiting to observe the launch since the afternoon cheered and clapped in the stands.

Journalists and local hobbyists with long-range zoom lenses snapped photos of the rocket as it made its swift ascent.

Tianzhou-1, the first cargo spacecraft developed by China, is headed to dock with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab, which was launched last September.

The cargo ship is a "crucial step" toward China's goal of completing its own crewed space station by 2022, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The tube-like craft measures 10.6 metres in length and can carry over six tonnes of cargo as well as satellites, Xinhua said.

It will also conduct experiments in space, including one on non-Newtonian gravitation, before falling back to Earth, Xinhua said.

Beijing sees its multi-billion-dollar space programme as a symbol of its rise and the Communist Party's success in turning around the fortunes of the once poverty-stricken nation.

In 2011, the US Congress ruled that Chinese astronauts would not be allowed on the International Space Station because of national security concerns.
Creation of the individual 401(k) with the Bush-era tax cuts went practically unnoticed, and the financial services industry was slow to set up these retirement plans and still has not done much marketing.

But the solo 401(k) can be a boon to a sole proprietor like a freelancer or small business owner with no full-time employees, allowing the same tax deduction for contributions available to employees of corporations.

In fact, the solo 401(k) can be even better, because the single participant is in charge of choosing the investment options and can even get a tax deduction for additional contributions in his or her role as the employer.

This year, a plan participant can put in $18,000 as employee ($24,000 if 50 or older), plus an employer's contribution of up to 25 percent of his compensation, with total contributions limited to $54,000 ($60,000 if 50 or older).

[See: 12 Steps to a Stronger 401(k).]

As with all 401(k)s, investment gains are tax-deferred, and withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income. You can set up a solo 401(k) as a tax-free Roth account, or convert to a Roth later.

But along with latitude and high investing limits come some tough choices: which fund company, bank or brokerage should you choose as the plan's provider? While the law allows participants to invest in just about anything they want, some providers limit the options. What should you look for in choosing a provider, or in switching if you're not happy?

What investments are allowed? As mentioned, some custodians allow just about any mutual fund, exchange-traded fund or individual stock or bond, while others keep it to in-house products. Obviously, you should know the policy before setting up the account.

"If you go with a single firm you may run onto restrictions, but if you use a brokerage account platform then there should not be any investment restrictions," says Scott W. Cody, partner in Denver-based Latitude Financial Group.

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If you want the greatest possible freedom to invest, make sure the provider, whether a mutual fund company, bank or brokerage, can set up the account as a brokerage account.

Fees. Keep an eye out for administrative fees that could gnaw at your investment returns. Some providers do not charge account maintenance fees but may charge trading commissions (though probably not for reinvesting dividends). You would, of course, pay ordinary expense ratios on any funds in your plan.

"Typically, year one of the plan will be slightly more expensive because there may be a one-time setup fee," Cody says. "After year one, there may be an ongoing administration fee."

How fast are they? If you're not happy with the provider you started with, you can shift to another in the same way you'd move assets from one individual retirement account to another. But it's important to know just how this will be done.

Often, it can be an "in-kind" transfer of fund shares to the new account, leaving you with the same holdings you started with. In other cases holdings must be sold and only the cash moved to the new account. Though the sale is tax-free if the cash goes to another 401(k), this means missing any investment gains while the money sits on the sidelines for a week or two.

[See: 9 Ways to Avoid 401(k) Fees and Penalties.]

"It's important to have the check made out to your new qualified plan to your benefit," says John F. Knolle, a planner with Saranap Wealth Advisors in Walnut Creek, California, who made a switch with his own solo 401(k). "You can have the check made out to you directly and as long as you deposit it (in the new account) within 60 days, it isn't a taxable event. However, your former provider will, by law, withhold 20 percent for taxes so if you want to make a full contribution you'll have to come up with 20 percent from outside sources until you file your taxes at year end and receive a refund. As you can see it's much easier to have the check made out directly to your new plan."

Odds and ends. "Individual 401(k)s can allow for loans, so if you are needing or potentially may need to take a loan, you will want to select an administrator that will assist you in the loan administration," says Justina R. Welch, principal at Independent Wealth Management and Investment Advisory in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

Remember that the term "loan" is somewhat misleading when it comes to 401(k)s. Rather than borrowing against assets in the account, as you would with a margin account, you sell holdings to raise cash. That means missing investment gains until the loan is repaid and the investments are re-purchased.

The administrator must also be equipped to file IRS Form 5500, required for accounts over $250,000, Welch adds.

Though you have no employees now, what if you do someday? If you hire one or more who work 1,000 or more hours a year and receive a W-2 form, you'll need to convert to a regular 401(k), Welch says. Then you'll have to go through a "non-discrimination" process to assure the plan does not favor the business owner or executives over ordinary employees.

[See: 12 Great Things About Retirement.]

So if this is a possibility, make sure your provider will be able to do this quickly, smoothly and cheaply.

Jeff Brown spent nearly 40 years as a newspaper reporter, columnist and editor, including 20 years writing about investing, personal finance, the economy and financial markets. He spent 20 years at The Philadelphia Inquirer and has been freelancing since 2007.
Ofer Prison (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Several dozen Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli forces Thursday outside a prison where detainees are on a hunger strike, while a group of Israeli hardliners nearby taunted prisoners by barbecuing.

Some 1,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have joined a hunger strike against conditions that began Monday, according to the Palestinian Authority's detainees' affairs department.

The hunger strike has been led by prominent prisoner and popular Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences over his role in the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

Security forces fired tear gas, sound grenades and rubber bullets at the crowd of Palestinians who threw stones and protested in support of the detainees outside Israel's Ofer prison north of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.

It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured in the clashes.

Palestinian Prisoners Club head Qadura Fares told AFP at the protest that Israel would allow all the strikers, including Barghouti, access to lawyers, in a reversal of its previous position.

Access to lawyers had been prevented following the start of the strike, Palestinian officials said, with Barghouti moved to solitary confinement.

The Israel Prisons Service said it was acting under its rules, without elaborating further.

A small number of Israeli hardliners held a barbecue nearby on the opposite side of a checkpoint, saying they hoped the smell would make prisoners' abstention harder.

Around a dozen Israelis grilled chicken and other kinds of meat, with a number of Israeli soldiers joining them to eat.

"At this moment (the hunger strikers) will smell the food's scent and maybe later in the evening they will see it on television," event organiser Ofer Sofer told AFP in front of two barbecue pits.

"It is a bunch of terrorists that are threatening us with hunger strike. We are happy that they are on strike. Let them have this strike as long as they want."

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They called for tough punishments for the protesting Palestinians, including worsening their conditions.

Some 6,500 Palestinians are currently detained by Israel for a range of offences and alleged crimes.

Around 500 are held under administrative detention, which allows for imprisonment without charge.

Palestinian prisoners have mounted repeated hunger strikes, but rarely on such a scale.
The FDA issued its strongest level of drug warnings Thursday concerning opioid pain-reliever use in children.

Medicines containing codeine and another narcotic, tramadol, will now require a label indicating that they should not be used by children under 12. For children ages 12-18, and for breastfeeding mothers, the FDA said, the use of these medications should be limited.

The finding comes after a safety review the FDA launched in 2015 to investigate the risks of these two opiate drugs. Presently, codeine is approved to treat pain and cough  including as a frequent ingredient of prescription cough syrups  and tramadol is approved to treat pain.

The analysis found that the drugs carry serious risks for patients under the age of 12, including difficulty breathing and death, and that they carry a risk for adolescents up to age 18 who have breathing troubles.

We understand that there are limited options when it comes to treating pain or cough in children, and that these changes may raise some questions for health care providers and parents. However, please know that our decision today was made based on the latest evidence and with this goal in mind: keeping our kids safe, said Dr. Douglas Throckmorton, the FDAs deputy center director for regulatory programs, in a written statement.

Codeine already carries a black-box warning, which the FDA added in 2013, stating that the medication should not be used to treat a childs pain after surgery to remove their tonsils. Tramadol will now also bear this warning in addition to the other new contraindications and warnings.

Both Health Canada and the European Medicines Agency have issued similar warnings about codeine within the past five years. Canadian regulators also recently completed a safety review for tramadol with similar findings to the FDAs.

Unlike codeine, tramadol wasnt FDA-approved for pediatric patients; however, in September 2015, the agency noted it was likely being used off-label in children.

The American Academy of Pediatrics encouraged doctors to stop giving codeine to children in a September 2016 report published in Pediatrics.
Brasilia (AFP) - Efforts by Brazil's embattled government to push through unpopular austerity reforms face ever greater headwinds after the eruption of a corruption scandal weakening President Michel Temer.

Temer is staking his legacy on passage of the reforms, which center on changing the costly pension system to increase the retirement age to 65 for men and 62 for women from today's 60 for men and 55 for women.

Temer has rock-bottom public approval ratings but he has been able to rely on a friendly Congress since legislators impeached leftist president Dilma Rousseff last year, automatically raising him, her conservative vice president, to the top job.

Since the Supreme Court's decision last week to open corruption probes on some 100 politicians, including a third of Temer's cabinet and many of his allies in Congress, the president's position has deteriorated further.

He already faces widespread anger from voters over the austerity reforms, which also include liberalizing labor laws and an already-approved 20-year federal spending freeze.

Temer says market reforms are needed after more than a decade of leftist rule as the only way to lift Brazil from its worst recession in history.

But on Tuesday, angry police union members stormed the entrance of the lower house of Congress, scuffling with congressional police, to demand that police be allowed to retire earlier. Pressure is also coming from legislators themselves.

In a rare show of defiance to Temer, the lower house on Tuesday refused to fast-track the labor-law reforms. It then reversed this decision Wednesday after a rowdy debate marked by the kind of insults and shouting matches common last year during Rousseff's impeachment.

"Brazilian society has not bought into these reforms," said Sylvio Costa, founder of the political news website Congreso em Foco.

- Temer's legacy -

Temer has warned that unless Brazil imposes drastic discipline on its out-of-control budget the country faces bankruptcy. And he says that his short presidency -- he will be replaced in an October 2018 election -- is focused on this legacy, rather than short-term goals.

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"My government will not get anything out of this: I have a year and eight months left in government. This is for the future," he said on SBT television last weekend.

However, the politicians Temer relies on may be concentrating on their own reelection chances. In addition to the presidential poll, voting will take place for the entire lower house of Congress and two thirds of the Senate.

Last week's expansion of the already giant corruption investigation known as "Car Wash" has also sharply reduced the government's standing.

"Its legitimacy and ability to act have taken a strong hit," Costa said. "Every legislator is thinking hard about whether to support them, and support for the pension reform could cost them their seats."

- Paralysis -

The "Car Wash" probes ordered by the Supreme Court are based on mountains of testimony given in plea bargains by executives from the Odebrecht engineering company who say that for years they systematically bribed politicians.

Temer is not being investigated, but he is alleged to have chaired a meeting in which his PMDB party took a $40 million bribe from Odebrecht.

Public outrage is mounting over the allegations, forcing Temer into almost daily denials that he was involved in corruption. He also defended the hugely discredited Congress.

"There are many good people in Congress who have worked together and allowed the government to do what it's been doing these 11 months," he said.

Carlos Marun, head of the committee overseeing the reforms, and an ally of Temer, says the crisis cannot be allowed to put the economy in jeopardy.

"We cannot paralyze the work of Congress. The courts have to do their job and we have to do ours, which is to vote and to debate important questions for the future of the country," he told AFP.
Foreign leaders are playing an important role in President Donald Trumps foreign policy education. Jordans King Abdullah II, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg have clearly influenced Trumps positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Syria, North Korea, and the NATO alliance. They have all cautioned against radical shifts in policy, and Trump has evidently listened.

Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentilonis visit to Washington on Thursday provides another opportunity for Trump to heed an allys advice on an important issue the White House has not yet addressed publicly: Libya. Getting Trump on board with supporting Libyas unity government and the U.N.-led peace process would be a major achievement for Gentiloni. It would also be good policy for the United States.

While Libya will never be at the top of the U.S. agenda, it is Italys first foreign-policy priority because its vital national interests are at stake in the country, from the migration crisis to energy security. So Gentiloni first needs to convince Trump that Libya matters not just to Europe, but also to the United States, or to U.S. taxpayers, as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson might say. Trump will hear why a political solution, not periodic airstrikes, is the only durable way to limit the Islamic State and jihadist presence in Libya, which threatens the entire Mediterranean region. And that it will require U.S. diplomacy to achieve.

Why should Trump care at all? He could cynically use Libya as a persistent symbol of President Barack Obamas foreign policy failures.

Last year, the Islamic State suffered a major defeat in Libya when local forces, with the assistance of U.S. air power, drove the jihadis from their safe haven in Sirte. The Islamic State retreated to Libyas vast southern desert, but remains a threat. The Islamic State thrives in ungoverned spaces and will strengthen if the battle continues between the two main factions in Libya  those who now support the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and Misrata, and those in Libyas east backing Gen. Khalifa Haftar, who refuse to recognize the unity government. This ongoing political conflict creates a security vacuum that the Islamic State exploits.

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For over a year, Martin Kobler, head of the U.N. support mission in Libya, has been trying to bring all parties under a single political rubric. His efforts have prevented the explosion of the internecine violence Libya witnessed in 2015, but efforts to reach a durable political agreement have stalled over a few key issues, especially the prospective role of Haftar. The longer the stalemate lasts, the greater the opportunity there is for a resurgence of the Islamic State, which would threaten U.S. interests and personnel in the region. AFRICOM commander Gen. Thomas Waldhauser warned of such a scenario in recent Senate testimony.

Additionally, Gentiloni is well positioned to detail to Trump how much regional powers and Russia have used the last few months as an opportunity to advance their parochial interests in Libya. Egypt, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates all hold a skeptical view of the U.N. process, and by all appearances, view supporting Haftar as the best way to restore Libyan stability. They fear that the U.N. process will empower the wrong forces in Libya, lumping nearly everyone in a single category (read: Islamists).

Trump should listen carefully to Gentilonis analysis that supporting Haftar alone is a recipe for renewed civil war. Because of Haftars virulently anti-Islamist statements about western Libya, a Haftar-only approach to Libya is politically toxic. Gentilonis take would reaffirm assessments within much of the U.S. government and benefit from the fact that external voices always seem more compelling to Trump than internal analyses.

First, Gentiloni could tell Trump that he has an opportunity to lead on Libya. By standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Gentiloni in the Oval Office or at a press conference and stating that the only solution to Libya runs through the U.N.-facilitated political process, Trump could make a statement that would help deter Haftars much-discussed military campaign against Tripoli. It would demonstrate to Haftars external supporters that the United States has not lost interest in Libya.

Second, Gentiloni could seek U.S. help in identifying a compromise role for Haftar that preserves the role of the GNA, the government recognized by the U.N. Security Council and reaffirmed by the G-7 foreign ministers in Lucca, Italy, earlier this month. Many reasonable compromises have been offered, but Haftar continues to forum-shop and threaten military action. Progress will only be made when Haftar no longer has external options. Now that the U.S. election is over, American diplomacy can build a consensus around shared power in Libya. That means candid conversations with the Emirati and Egyptian governments. Without the UAE and Egypt more closely aligned with the United States, Russia will continue to have a free hand to disrupt any attempt to contain Haftars military ambitions, or worse, establish a line of direct materiel support to Haftar  as they are doing in Ukraine.

Third, Gentiloni has hard work ahead of him in persuading Trump that the international community, including the United States, should play a role in strengthening the GNA to govern Libya. Some U.S. officials have said that the counter-Islamic State coalition is not in the business of nation building or reconstruction. However, quitting rather than expanding U.S. efforts to support the GNA will ensure that the civil conflict continues, as Haftar will continue to see broad weakness in western Libya. The GNAs budget execution and service delivery are proceeding only haltingly and desperately need to be accelerated. Stabilization projects carefully planned for Sirte after the eviction of the Islamic State  such as demining and revitalized governance assistance for the beleaguered city  are teetering, which will only open the door for further instability. That is the risk of zeroing out important and relatively limited American assistance projects in 2017.

These are not easy takes, but Trump has another opportunity to take a strong step forward on a major ongoing conflict if he listens closely to U.S. allies, acknowledges their views, and makes a clear statement in support of Libyas unity government and the U.N.-sponsored peace process. At a minimum, that would help deter spoilers such as the Islamic State and Russia from expanding their influence in the war-torn country.

Photo credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
In 2016, two scandals in Chinas eastern Shandong province brought the reputation of the countrys internet addiction boot camps to an all time low. In August, the Internet Treatment Addiction Center in the large city of Linyi was reported to be using electroshock treatment on hundreds of its teenage patients in defiance of a ban issued by the Ministry of Health seven years prior. Then, in September, Chen Xinran, a 16 year-old girl who had escaped a treatment center in the city of Jinan, brutally murdered her mother in revenge for the abuses she had suffered at the hands of the institutes administrators. Within a month of this matricide, the government began to draft new legislation to outlaw abuse, coercion or other unlawful means in the treatment of internet addicts. In September, a column in the state-run Peoples Daily called on parents not to send children to these prisons and madhouses anymore.

But with internet boot camps under a cloud, other treatments for Chinas estimated 16 to 27 million internet addicts may have a chance to flourish. Among them is the small, unconventional Happy Home Space. Based in inland Anhui province, it has been called the dark horse of the internet addiction treatment industry in the local press. In its 10 years of operation, the center claims to have cured some 5,000 internet addicts  each case requiring on average three months  at a fraction of the cost of an internet boot camp. More curious still, none of its young patients  some from as far away as Canada, Italy, and Malaysia  has ever actually walked through its doors. Everything is done remotely and clandestinely, by hacking into their computers. Only their parents and the Happy Home Space center ever know what happened.

Two months after the Chen matricide case, this author made a trip to Happy Home Centers headquarters, located in the high-end Government Works District of the provincial capital, Hefei. There he met with the centers founder, 32 year-old Yu Qiang, who explained its unusual story in a wide-ranging two-hour interview.

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Unlike Chinas internet boot camps, Happy Home Space approaches internet addiction in a highly tailored, if eerie, way. First, parents hire the center, at a monthly cost of over $200, to hack into their childs computer using proprietary software. As we sat at his terminal, Yu opened a task manager that could show, under each childs name, the activity of the various programs that child was running. Yus QQ messenger account was also open so that he could update parents about their childs online behavior and receive feedback. Offering an example, he picked up a black binder on his desk  one for each case  and showed the author careful notes he kept on a particular childs school habits that were passed on to the childs parents.

During the first three to seven days, this monitoring is relatively intense, with Yu checking in on the child every 30 minutes. First, we have to get to know this child. How serious is his internet addiction? Can we actually solve his problem? Does he have a problem with violence? Does have a real mental illness like depression? To this end the childs email, messaging, and gaming accounts are all hacked for Happy Home Space to examine as if the childs computer was one of its own. Over time, the monitoring becomes less intense, but its purpose remains the same: to give parents enough information to be able to relate to their child again and also to make sure the childs internet use remains within reasonable bounds. If it crosses those bounds, the Happy Home Center can launch attacks on a patients computer, from stealing accumulated in-game currency to disabling internet access.

Theres little question that the ethics of this are troubling; but its legal, according to Yu. He says he has consulted with the police and learned of no law against monitoring a minors computer, as long as the parents consent. Even information about the childs sexual orientation, if the parents ask for it, will be handed over. What if the parents learned through monitoring that their son were gay, and did not accept it? That is their own business, Yu responded. For his part, he is unlikely to be outed for his own role; parents must sign a confidentiality agreement promising never to tell their child about the treatment.

Yu readily admits he lacks formal training in psychology or sociology. But as someone born in the 1980s, he has the advantage of personal experience. We were the first generation to come into contact with video games and are clearer than anyone else on how these games have evolved, Yu said. He described himself as mildly enthralled by video games during high school, regularly haunting the internet bars of his native Lu An. He founded Happy Home Space in 2006, the year after he graduated, along with four other classmates from the Anhui College of Communication.

Those were the early years of internet addiction in China, a phenomenon that no one quite knew how to treat. The first internet boot camp opened in 2005 when Doctor Tao Ran, a Peoples Liberation Army psychiatrist with the rank of colonel, began to detox web junkies at the Beijing Military General Hospital with a combination of medication, psychotherapy, and military discipline. Taos claims  that 76 percent of Chinas juvenile criminals were internet addicts and that internet addiction was a psychlogical disorder akin to pathological gambling  fueled a climate of moral panic that facilitated the rise of the countrys poorly-regulated internet boot camp industry, which are distinct from outfits like Happy Home Space in their harsh methodology.

Tao Hongkai, the Communist Youth Leagues former Ambassador for Internet Culture (no relation to Tao Ran), became the industrys strongest critic. To open a boot camp, Tao Hongkai once observed, all one has to do is rent a building with a courtyard, hire some ex-military servicemen and put out some discreet advertising referring to a Training institute a Boarding School for Troubled Youth or a Youth Development Center. The result, some ten years later, is that there are now over 300 internet addiction treatment centers of varying quality throughout China.

The lack of regulation received public scrutiny in the aftermath of the Chan tragedy when parts of her online journals were discovered and published. Media and provincial-level government investigations later confirmed details of how students were usually forcibly enrolled at the Shandong Science and Technology Defense Training Institute via kidnappings that administrators arranged with parents. Students were sometimes punished by being forced to take meals next to excrement from latrines, and to clean out those latrines with their hands. They were also regularly cursed and beaten, sometimes expertly, so as not to leave marks. In one instance, a students jaw was broken. And yet such a boot camp was able to charge fees in the neighborhood of $580 a month.

As a long-time skeptic of internet boot camps, Tao Hongkai has argued that excessive internet use is not an individual pathology, but a symptom of broader contemporary social issues  in particular, parents smothering their children in the face of an overly competitive education system, the (recently revoked) one-child policy, and a culture of excessive materialism. Tao Hongkai, who has repeatedly contradicted Tao Rans views, sometimes in heated television debates, has proposed more effective dialogue between parents and children as the solution.

Over a decade later, the quarrel between the two Taos over the true nature of the problem  and how to solve it  rumbles on. Internet gaming addiction made it into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5) in 2013, but only as a condition warranting more clinical research and experience before it might be considered for inclusion in the main book as a formal disorder. And while the vaguely defined term internet addiction seems to have stuck in the English-speaking world, the Chinese government has been much more careful to avoid language that recognizes it as a formal medical condition. In January, for instance, the draft of the Regulations on the Protection of Minors Online released in the wake of the Chen Xin Ran case was revised, and the term internet addiction replaced with the less charged internet enthrallment.

For his part, Yu, the Happy Home founder, views internet addiction not as an illness, but as a pastime that parents have allowed to get out of hand. The kind of household in which the parents have overindulged or spoiled their child make up the majority of my cases, he told Foreign Policy. Eight  actually, nine  out of ten are like that. Yu said one 17 year-old addict he tried to help hadnt emerged from his bedroom for two years. Yu advised the parents to stop sending food up to the child in order to force him to emerge at mealtime. They responded that they would rather die than fail to feed their child. The sad result, as reported in the local Hefei Evening News, is that the childs sedentary lifetime has so damaged his spine that a pronounced stoop has made him four inches shorter than before.

Games are the major culprit among Yus internet-addled patients. He says that for every ten patients, nine are hooked on online games, with the tenth suffering from other problems like pornography or excessive messaging. And of that group of ten patients, eight are boys and two are girls. The largest fraction of these are high-schoolers, followed by middle school and university students. (Yu says he occasionally gets the odd addict in his 30s, married and with children.) Yu notes that the proportion of his web-addicted middle-schoolers has grown in recent years; in other words, they are starting younger. Alarmingly, seven out of ten of all cases are school dropouts, logging on from their parents homes. If their child were going to school normally, Yu observes, his mother and father wouldnt need to seek me out.

Yus ony praise for internet boot camps is that they force children to leave the house and get some exercise. The big problem with boot camps, Yu explained, is that they forget that the child developed his condition at home. If you change his surroundings, he will no doubt behave better. But when he returns home, any new habits he learned at the boot camp will be replaced by the earlier ones. Problems that start at home need to be solved at home. An expert recently put the relapse rate of internet addicts declared cured by treatment centers at 50 percent; there is much evidence that the children who return uncured are even more unmanageable, some perhaps dreaming, like Chen Xinran, of bloody revenge.

The sociologist Trent Bax of Erwhans Womens University has also spoken out against internet boot camps in his forceful 2014 book, Youth and Internet Addiction in China. Bax told FP that that humiliation, punishment, and confrontation can often exacerbate the problems, given that people learn best whey feel welcomed, respected, and safe. He stressed that the key to helping internet-addled youth are good relationships. The more social capital someone has  the more likely they are to recover from addiction.

Many of Chinas more dubious boot camps dont just treat internet addicts, but also drug addicts, truants, and other problem children. They thus assemble a motley crew that is probably quite aware that society regards it as strange. Its worth noting that although the Chen murder case created a huge backlash against internet boot camps, Chen herself was not an internet addict; she was a school dropout with anger issues who had grievously stabbed her father during an argument. The treatment center that Chens parents forced her to attend claimed to treat not only internet addiction but also puppy love, school hatred, rebelliousness, running away from home, truancy [and] disobedience, through a bizarre curriculum that included exercise drills and memorizing the Confucian Classic of Filial Piety.

Yu predicts that the number of internet boot camps will continue to increase to keep pace with growing number of addicts. He sees it as a system that has become too entrenched for authorities to dismantle overnight.

Meanwhile, fresh scandals continue to emerge. In December 2016, a 16 year-old student at the Shandong Science and Technology Defense Training Institute fell from a fifth floor window, possibly while trying to escape. He was rushed to orthopedics suffering serious trauma. The police promised to investigate. That particular boot camps luck, at least, may have finally run out.

Image: A young Chinese internet addict receives an electroencephalogram check at the Beijing Military Region Central Hospital July 6, 2005 in Beijing, China. By Cancan Chu/Getty
By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Global hotel chain InterContinental Hotels Group Plc said 1,200 of its franchised hotels in the United States, including Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza, were victims of a three-month cyber attack that sought to steal customer payment card data. The company declined to say how many payment cards were stolen in the attack, the latest in a hacking spree on prominent hospitality companies including Hyatt Hotels Corp , Hilton, and Starwood Hotels, now owned by Marriott International Inc . The breach lasted from September 29 to December 29, InterContinental spokesman Neil Hirsch said on Wednesday. He declined to say if losses were covered by insurance or what financial impact the hacking might have on the hotels that were compromised, which also included Hotel Indigo, Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites properties. The malware searched for track data stored on magnetic stripes, which includes name, card number, expiration date and internal verification code, the company said. Hotel operators have become popular targets because they are easier to breach than other businesses that store credit card numbers as they have limited knowledge in defending themselves against hackers, said Itay Glick, chief executive of Israeli cyber-security company Votiro. "They don't have massive data centers like banks which have very secure systems to protect themselves," said Glick. InterContinental declined to say how many franchised properties it has in the United States, which is part of its business unit in the Americas with 3,633 such properties. In February, InterContinental said it had been victim of a cyber attack, but at that time said that only 12 of its 286 managed properties in the Americas were infected with malware.
By David Shepardson and Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Large U.S. companies and their executives helped President Donald Trump raise a record-setting $106.7 million for inauguration festivities in January, according to a U.S. government filing released on Wednesday. That tally more than doubled the prior 2009 record of $53.2 million for President Barack Obama's first inauguration, which had topped the previous 2005 record of $42.3 million for President George W. Bush, government records showed. The biggest donor by far to Trump's inauguration was Sheldon Adelson, casino magnate and founder of Las Vegas Sands Corp . He gave $5 million, according to the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee's filing with the Federal Election Commission. Adelson declined comment. Many of the companies that donated to Trump, a Republican, have significant matters pending before the U.S. government or have been invited to White House events. Many of the companies which made donations to the 2017 event also donated to Obama's prior inauguration. For example, aerospace and defense groups Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Corp each donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund, the filing said. Boeing had donated $1 million to the 2013 Obama inauguration, according to the OpenSecrets website run by the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign finance watchdog. Money donated to the Trump inaugural committee falls into two categories, said Larry Sabato, political analyst at the University of Virginia. "It's either make-up money or it's a continuation of support by people who are invested in Trump. You don't give this kind of money to get a few tickets to inaugural balls," he said. Trump publicly criticized both Boeing and Lockheed Martin before his inauguration. In Twitter messages he said costs on Boeing's new Air Force One plane were "out of control" and urged the federal government to "Cancel order!" Trump in December sent a Twitter message saying the cost of Lockheed Martins F-35 fighter jet was also "out of control." White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Wednesday that inaugurations have "pretty much been a nonpartisan activity ... This is a time-honored tradition, and I think a lot of Americans and companies and entities are proud to support the inaugural." Financial services companies and executives were among the $1-million donors to Trump's big festivities, including Charles Schwab Corp , Bank of America Corp , financier Henry Kravis and Cantor Fitzgerald Chairman Howard Lutnick. Their industry is eager for Trump to roll back regulatory reforms put in place after the 2008 financial crisis. Coal and oil companies were also prominent donors. Clifford Forrest, owner of the Rosebud Mining Co, gave $1 million. AT&T gave nearly $2.1 million in cash and services. It is seeking approval from the Trump administration to acquire Time Warner Inc . AT&T donated $4.6 million to the 2013 Obama inauguration, according to OpenSecrets. "For many years, AT&T has contributed to our nation's presidential inaugural celebrations," said AT&T spokesman Mike Balmoris. Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Kravis declined comment. Bank of America, Charles Schwab, Forrest and Lutnick did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Additional reporting by Mike Stone, Lisa Lambert and Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Bill Rigby)
With intentionally little fanfare late Friday afternoon, the Trump White House announced it would end the Obama administrations practice of releasing White House visitor logs, outlandishly declaring the practice a grave national security threat. As with many developments during this administrations frenetic first 100 days, it was all too easy to lose sight of the forest for the trees, and the swift outrage over this seemingly narrow decision soon subsided in deference to the next headline. To be understood properly, however, last weeks reversal should be seen as but one element in Donald Trumps broader campaign against transparency.

On the domestic front, the administration has mistakenly adopted the view that transparency  whether in the form of visitor logs or the presidents tax returns  is an unnecessary virtue. When it comes to foreign policy, the Trump White House would have the American people believe transparency and national security are incompatible. As a former CIA analyst and, more recently, as the spokesperson for the National Security Council, I know the latter to be false. In fact, the opposite is the case: transparency can be a powerful strategic tool in U.S. foreign policy.

The new team has escalated Americas involvement in conflicts around the world, in several cases putting brave men and women in uniform in harms way with no public debate, and with little public notice. For example, Trump has gone to great lengths to tout his decision to fire 59 cruise missiles into Syria, but his administration has not addressed what is in many ways a more consequential decision: the deployment of hundreds more U.S. service members  including, for the first time, conventional forces  into Syria to fight the Islamic State.

In Yemen, the administration has failed to explain the rationale for a series of aggressive manned and unmanned missions, one of which cost the life of a Navy SEAL in a ground raid several days into Trumps presidency. When it comes to Somalia, a spokesperson for U.S. Africa Command last week confirmed reports that the administration would be sending dozens more troops to the war-torn country, familiar to most Americans because of the Black Hawk Down tragedy. When pressed on the rationale, the spokesperson said that the deployment would be to better fight al-Shabab, an Islamist group that has become less focused on anti-Western attacks as it has lost ground to regional forces. The subtext of the spokespersons statement was brusquely simple: take our word for it.

And when it comes to North Korea, the most dangerous threat that the United States faces, the administration has adopted a bizarre approach premised at least in part on going out of its way to pronounce that the administration will not comment on developments  as both Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis have said in recent days. The desire  quixotic as it may be  to take the spotlight off of the nuclear-armed hermit kingdom is understandable, but the failure to communicate strategy can have disastrous implications. The administration recognized this when it reportedly worked overtime to quash news reports, which spread quickly in the information vacuum, that a preemptive strike against Pyongyangs nuclear arsenal was under consideration ahead of a potential nuclear test  an allegation that, true or not, could have spurred North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to be especially reckless.

It goes without saying that the Obama administration took a different approach toward transparency. In some cases, it was the principle of the matter. The decision to send Americans into harms way, the most solemn responsibility of any commander-in-chief, was one that merited explanation, primarily for the benefit of the American people. In these instances, it was not low-level spokespeople who announced such deployments; in most cases it was the president himself, speaking directly to the American people, the way it ought to be.

In other areas, strategy was as dominant a rationale. Obama and his team went to great lengths to explain the objectives and tactics in the fight against al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and their ilk. In doing so, the administration clearly laid out for allies and potential partners what this campaign would entail, to galvanize action on their own soil, or to request support for U.S.-led efforts  which, in the case of the counter-Islamic State coalition, enabled the Obama administration to forge a 68-member partnership. But the administration also took pains to speak to people  not just governments  and in doing so, made the case time and again that the U.S. war against terrorists was not a fight against any religion, country, or ethnic group. This message was a critical element of the battle for hearts and minds  a mission that in some ways was more effective than the action on the battlefield.

To be sure, transparency is not a fair-weather sport, and the Obama administration did not shirk from this responsibility even in times of setback or tragedy. By releasing data on noncombatants assessed to have been killed in overseas counterterrorism operations, for example, we sought to counteract terrorist propaganda and correct misinformation that had turned public opinion in some countries against the United States, which had made counterterrorism efforts even more difficult. And, in the aftermath of the Edward Snowden disclosures, we found that declassified information  facts about what we did and didnt do in the context of electronic surveillance, which we also provided to the American people  was the most effective tool in speaking to incensed foreign counterparts. Sunlight, we found, was a disinfectant as well as a salve for frayed relations.

Granted, the Trump administration is in its early days, and its far from clear that it has a foreign policy vision or doctrine to speak to at this stage. But as the new team determines precisely what it means by America first, there is good reason to hope the White House reverses course and finds the strategic value in transparency with the American people and the world. Far from impairing national security, failing to do so would remove a key weapon from the arsenal.

Photo credit: DREW ANGERER/Getty Images
By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday urged the Federal Communications Commission to cancel a vote scheduled for Thursday on a measure to reverse a 2016 rule that limits the number of television stations some broadcasters can buy. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi warned that the changes could be harmful to consumers, hitting their wallets and their access to an independent media voice, as she cited press reports of a possible acquisition by Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc of Tribune Media Co stations . Under rules adopted in 1985, stations with weaker over-the-air signals could be partially counted against a broadcaster's ownership cap. But last year, the FCC under Democratic President Barack Obama said those rules were outdated after the 2009 conversion to digital broadcasting - which eliminated the differences in station signal strength - and revoked them in September. Federal law limits companies to owning stations serving no more than 39 percent of U.S. television households; there is a dispute over whether the FCC has the authority to amend the ownership limits. The 2016 decision did not require any company to sell existing stations, but could bar new acquisitions. Twenty-First Century Fox Inc in September challenged the FCC rule in federal court. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in March that he wanted to repeal the Obama FCC decision and "launch a comprehensive review of the national ownership cap" later this year. In a letter, Pelosi and Representative Frank Pallone, who is the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, urged Pai to drop the plan, which could allow the Sinclair-Tribune tie-up. "That would be bad news for consumers in Tribunes markets in two ways: First, consumers would lose an independent voice in their media market; and second, consumers could see their cable bills go up because Sinclair charges cable operators more than Tribune for retransmission consent," they wrote. Another Democrat, Representative Anna Eshoo, wrote Pai asking him to drop the plan, saying that further consolidation "will ensure there are fewer independent news outlets serving as a counter-balance to misleading or inaccurate information." Tribune and a spokesman for Pai both declined comment. Reuters reported in March that Sinclair had approached Tribune to discuss a potential combination, in a deal that would hinge on regulations being relaxed. Pai's broad FCC ownership review could launch a new wave of consolidation in the broadcast television industry, analysts and companies said. CBS Corp lobbyist John Orlando urged the FCC in January to reverse the Obama decision and reinstate the prior rule, citing increased competition. "Time is of the essence in providing broadcasters the ownership breathing room they so desperately need to compete with other video services," he said, according to a CBS FCC filing. "Our industry has been frozen in time for more than three years.... Since then, our video competitors have marched on unfettered by ownership limits," he said, referring to online outlets and cable companies. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Additional reporting by Jessica Toonkel in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)
By Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) - Two Denver sheriffs deputies and a supervisor have been suspended for a period of at least 10 days over the 2015 death of a black jail inmate who suffocated while being restrained during a psychotic episode, city officials said on Wednesday.

Michael Marshall died days after an arrest for trespassing. A year earlier, the city paid $4.6 million to the family of another African-American man who died in custody, sparking anger over the treatment of black men in Denver jails.

The tragic death of Mr. Marshall and the time it has taken to complete a thorough review of the incident has been difficult for his loved ones and for everyone involved, Stephanie OMalley, the city's executive director of public safety said in a statement on Wednesday. "Discipline is appropriate and has been imposed."

A multi-agency investigation concluded that deputies Bret Garegnani and Carlos Hernandez and Captain James Johnson violated department policies and procedures in Marshall's death, O'Malley said.

Johnson and Hernandez were suspended for 10 days and Garegnani for 16 days, all three without pay, and they must undergo further training on how to deal with mentally ill prisoners, according to disciplinary letters sent to the officers.

Johnson, who investigators said took a "lackadaisical" approach as the incident unfolded, was the watch commander on duty that day.

Marshalls family, in a statement issued through attorney Mari Newman, criticized what it called plainly inadequate punishment.

Mere suspensions of short duration, and imposed on only a few of the many individuals involved, is a shockingly light response, the family said.

Representatives at the police union could not be reached.

Marshall, a 50-year-old homeless man with a history of mental illness, was arrested in November 2015 for trespassing. Four days later, after refusing to take his schizophrenia medication for two days, he began to behave in what public safety officials said was a manic and erratic manner, ignoring commands from officers.

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Despite being handcuffed and shackled, the 5-foot-4, 112-pound man struggled with several deputies.

Marshall choked on his vomit, lapsed into a coma and died nine days later, authorities said.

An autopsy concluded that Marshall died from asphyxiation "while being physically restrained by law enforcement.

In January 2016, then-District Attorney Mitch Morrissey declined to prosecute any of the officers involved in the incident, saying he could not prove any criminal intent.

(Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Peter Cooney)
Bree Rios followed her father's footsteps into the Harlingen, Texas, Fire Department. But hers were the first made by a woman.

She had been telling her dad since she was a little girl that she wanted to work with him. Victor Rios has been with the department for more than 20 years.

Read: Arizona Cardinals Hire NFL's First Female Coach

The city's fire team is comprised of 108 men. Before Rios, no woman had ever passed the firefighter exams.

"She just prepared herself and she completed the tests," Fire Chief Roy Rubio told InsideEdition.com Thursday. "She's doing well."

Rios took the tests three times before passing. Apart from a written exam, applicants must pass a physical agility course that is the same for women and men.

"Anybody can apply," Rubio said. "There have been other females that have taken the test and passed the written test but not the physical agility" portion, he said.

He said the department's requirements are roughly the same as any other firefighting agency in the country.

Read: Meet the First Female Soldiers to Graduate from Ranger School

Rios must complete four months of orientation training and then she will be assigned a field supervisor to lead her through her probationary period.

Harlingen's newest firefighter said making the department has had a bigger impact than she first imagined.

"I've had people reach out to me, girls out in public say, 'Hey, aren't you that girl?''' she told KGBT-TV.

To the females and the women, and the young girls of the community  if you set your mind to something and you really want to do it, go out and do it," said Rios. "It can happen.

Watch: Girl Exits Line for Player's Autograph to Ask Female Soldier for Hers Instead

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Speculation ran rampant following the apparent suicide of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez in prison Wednesday. The former NFL-er was found hanged in his jail cell by prison officials and pronounced dead early that morning.

Officials said Hernandez used a bed sheet to hang himself in his jail cell. A spokesperson for the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center said officials were not aware of a suicide note written by Hernandez, but stressed that the investigation was ongoing, according to the Boston Herald.

In the days leading up to the event, it did not appear that Hernandez was planning on committing suicide, said assistant deputy commissioner of communications Christopher Fallon, who noted that if there had been concerns about Hernandez, he would have been transferred to a mental health unit.

People took to Twitter and other forms of social media Wednesday to question whether Hernandez death was, in fact, a suicide. Despite officials saying they werent aware of one, many users questioned if there was a note left by the former player. Other users appeared to stoke speculation that a note did exist, with at least one fake suicide note making the rounds on the internet.

Hernandez, 27, was serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, though he was acquitted Friday of a separate double homicide in 2012. His lawyer, Jose Baez, expressed shock as well as some skepticism in a statement following his death.

The family and legal team is shocked and surprised at the news of Aarons death. There were no conversations or correspondences from Aaron to his family or legal team that would have indicated anything like this was possible, Baez said. Those who love and care about him are heartbroken and determined to find the truth surrounding his untimely death. We request that authorities conduct a transparent and thorough investigation.

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The biggest break in the case came in 2012, when new DNA was discovered at the scene. It is, by far, the best evidence that we could ever hope to have at this point, Scheben said. The lead investigator on the case, Coy Cox, said it was just a matter of time before the killer was found. That was five years ago.
Almost six years ago, Peggy and William Stephenson, both 74, were found dead in their Florence home. Investigators have the killers DNA, but the suspect remains at large. Memorial Day weekend 2011, the Stephensons didnt show up for Sunday church at either of their regular services  Bill ran the Truckers Chapel at Travel America Truck Stop in Florence, and Peggy was a longtime organist at the Union Baptist Church in Florence, according to the Boone County Sheriff's Office website. A family member entered the Stephensons condo to find them dead. Family and friends said the older couple had no enemies: They were high school sweethearts, parents, and volunteers in the community.
As prime minister, Theresa May has been at pains  rhetorically, at least  to stress her commitment to keeping the United Kingdom together. In her inaugural public appearance on the steps of Downing Street last July, in the wake of the Brexit campaign that left the kingdoms various nations bitterly divided, the newly minted premier declared that preserving the three-centuries-old union is very important to her. A few months later, at the Conservative Party conference, May doubled down on her commitment to unionism. I will never allow divisive nationalists to undermine the precious union between the four nations of our United Kingdom, she promised.

Stirring stuff. But for all the rousing rhetoric, Mays actions suggest a rather more ambivalent attitude to the United Kingdom and the threat of its demise. The latest signal that her priorities, in reality, lie elsewhere: this weeks decision to call a general election.

Viewed from London  or even Berlin or Washington  the British prime ministers move makes cold, calculating sense. The Conservatives enjoy vertiginous poll leads over a divided Labour Party. Mays majority is slim. Now is the time  in the words of the Daily Mail  to crush those who oppose Brexit.

But viewed from Edinburgh or Belfast  both capitals of regions (Scotland and Northern Ireland, respectively) that voted to remain in Europe  the decision looks very different. The general election will take place at a time of almost unprecedented constitutional tumult on the fringes of an increasingly attenuated union.

Last month, Scotlands nationalist-controlled parliament voted to demand the powers to hold a second independence referendum. The British prime minister has, so far, demurred, saying there was no mandate and such a vote would be destabilizing ahead of Brexit. That logic  somewhat strained to begin with  will be much harder to sustain in the wake of Mays decision to call her own vote. And it will become even harder still after June 8  the scheduled date for the election  if, as expected, the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) once more wins the vast majority of Scotlands seats in Westminster.

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The situation in Northern Ireland is even more fraught. The once restive region is now relatively peaceful, but its government collapsed this year amid much rancor and recrimination over a botched green energy-related scheme. The prospect of an imminent reinstatement is slim. The largest parties, the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein, must form a coalition under Northern Irelands power-sharing arrangement, but talks between the two have been at loggerheads since Marchs snap elections.

The March elections produced a record vote for Irish nationalist parties  a sign of rising anger at the prospect of the province being dragged unwilling out of the European Union. For the first time since the foundation of the state almost a century ago, unionists  those who favor remaining within the U.K.  no longer enjoy a majority. The general election campaign in Northern Ireland will almost inevitably reopen contentious debates about identity and the past, making post-election compromise in Belfast even more difficult, if not downright impossible. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland will almost certainly begin the process of leaving the EU  with all the uncertainty around trade and the Irish border that it entails  without a functioning government.

For all her talk of the special union in office, May has displayed a remarkably tin ear for the differing demands of the U.K.s constituent parts. Unlike her predecessor, David Cameron  whose patrician unionism was arguably outdated but sincerely held  the current Tory leader appears out of touch with the regions. It was noted, for instance, that the prime minister did not even visit Belfast during her most recent Brexit tour. In Scotland, Mays interventions have often managed to fan the nationalist flames. During a visit to Glasgow in March, for instance, with talk of independence in the air, May took the opportunity to declare that she would fight against further decentralization within the U.K.  that is, she would make sure, post-Brexit, that no powers went from Brussels to Edinburgh. Within days, SNP leader and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced her intention to hold a second independence referendum.

In Scotland, the election will be fought on the independence question; there seems little doubt that the nationalists, who won all but three of Scotlands 59 constituencies in national parliament in 2015, will once again take a commanding majority in the regions Westminster delegation. The Northern Irish vote will also revolve around constitutional questions, with unionists looking to reassert supremacy after their recent bruising election results. Indeed, this election looks likely to confirm what has become increasingly clear for some time: There is no such thing as British politics anymore, only regional versions. The main British parties  the Conservatives, Labour, and Liberal Democrats  hold just a single seat each in Scotland and none in Northern Ireland. This is unlikely to change come June.

Mays widely anticipated victory will come in England. Indeed, Labours weakness there is why this election has been called. But the price of an English Conservative triumph will be a deepening sense of detachment from Westminster in the so-called Celtic fringe.

Historically, the union has always been weakest when the political disparity between England and Scotland has been greatest. In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher was widely reviled north of the border; the Tory vote plummeted, and support for Scottish devolution grew. A decade later, Scottish support provided the bedrock of Tony Blairs Labour successes; these years saw a Scottish parliament established in Edinburgh. But even in Thatchers heyday, the Conservatives held Scottish seats well into double digits. Now, there is a very strong possibility of sustained Tory rule in London with minimal Scottish representation and no realistic prospect of an alternative Labour government.

Even the coming campaign itself looks poised to add to English-Scottish tensions. During the 2015 general election campaign, Cameron aggressively played on English fears of a nexus between Labour and Scottish nationalism, running ad campaigns featuring then-Labour leader Ed Miliband literally in the pocket of former SNP boss Alex Salmond. Such hard-line tactics won Cameron a majority, and May is already using the same playbook, issuing dire warnings of Sturgeon propping up an implausible Jeremy Corbyn minority government. Playing on English fears of insurgent Scottish nationalism is smart party politics, in London at least. How it squares with the prime ministers devotion to the precious union is another matter.

The United Kingdom is a construct from a different political age. The kingdom was a tool of empire: Ships that sailed the world were built in Glasgow, Belfast, and Liverpool. The threat of foreign invasion (and Catholics) forged a common sense of identity  Britishness  particularly among Welsh, Scots, and Protestant settlers in Ireland.

Those days are over. But in the right hands, the union could be repurposed, reimagined for the 21st century. Scottish and Northern Irish opposition to Brexit would have provided the perfect cover for a re-engineering of the U.K.s own constitutional architecture. Instead, May has declared that there will be no opt-out from Brexit  the U.K. will leave the EU as a single entity.

The official title of the party May leads is the Conservative and Unionist Party. If she is to retain the second part of that title, the prime minister will need to show more than just rhetorical commitment to the union, and soon. Otherwise, she could easily find herself going down in history as the Tory leader who delivered a massive Conservative election victory  one that helped precipitate the end of the U.K. as we know it.
Donald Trump has been accused of shocking ignorance after stating that Korea used to be part of China after he met Chinese President Xi Jingping earlier this month.

Speaking in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mr Trump said that Mr Xi Went into the history of China and Korea  and you know, youre talking about thousands of years  and many wars. And Korea actually used to be a part of China.

Commentators believe Mr Trump might have heard Mr Xis potted history of the countries from a Chinese perspective as there is a growing school of nationalist thought in China that ancient Korean kingdoms were part of the Chinese empire.

Mr Trump revealed the Chinese leader had explained the situation on the Korean Peninsular  divided into communist North Korea and capitalist South Korea following the Second World War - which led him to conclude, After ten minutes, I realised its not so easy.

South Korean daily newspaper Korea Joonang Daily said in an editorial: We are dumbfounded that the leader of 21st-century China made such a ridiculous claim. If Trump really conveyed Xis words correctly, it is nothing but a grave challenge to the identity of the Korean people. 

It added: As Chinas power has grown remarkably over the last three decades, Chinas historical perception is increasingly taking a worrisome turn.

Read more

Trump's Armada now heading for North Korea after going the wrong way

Rah Jong-yil, a former South Korean ambassador to both London and Tokyo, told The Telegraph: I suspect that Mr Xi said, in effect, that Korea was part of China because it was overwhelmingly under Chinese influence historically and Mr Trump bought that.

It shows his shocking ignorance of the situation in north-east Asia. That is very disturbing to us.

"Somebody needs to enlighten Mr Trump about the facts of the region and he should not fall for this sort of silly nationalism from the Chinese," Mr Rah added.

It is true that the Korean peninsula was under the influence of China, but that was under the Ming dynasty - which was a long time ago and nothing to do with the People's Republic of China.

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In the distant past, Korea may have looked up to China as a model of political or economic development, but today we consider the communist-led nation to be economically, politically and socially backward.

Read more

Mike Pence hints at US military action in North Korea

Critics have repeatedly claimed there are gaping holes in Mr Trumps knowledge of world affairs and history.

Earlier this month, it was suggested he may not know the name of the leader of North Korea after he repeatedly referred to Kim Jong-un as this gentleman in a Fox News interview.

He also appeared to think he was dealing with the now deceased father of Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il, who was in power in North Korea during the Clinton presidency and for most of Barack Obama's first term.

He said: You know, theyve been talking with this gentleman for a long time. You read Clintons book, he said, Oh, we made such a great peace deal, and it was a joke.

You look at different things over the years with President Obama. Everybody has been outplayed, theyve all been outplayed by this gentleman. And well see what happens. But I just dont telegraph my moves.

Washington has been attempting to work out how to deal with the hard line communist state and its suspected nuclear arsenal for decades. Mr Trumps position appears to be hardening with his recent warning that, if China is not going to solve North Korea, we will.
Four United States warships are now heading towards North Korea, after a weekend stopover in Australia, US defence officials have said.

Donald Trump caused confusion by erroneously claiming the armada was on its way to North Korea last week, when in fact the ships had been spotted steaming in the opposite direction to take part in military exercises with the Australian Navy over 3,500 miles away.

But US Defence Secretary James Mattis said the USS Carl Vinson strike group was now proceeding towards the Western Pacific, to go on stand-by in the Sea of Japan.

Seeking to clear up confusion on Wednesday, the Pentagon chief said he wanted to be open about what we're doing.

Speaking in Saudi Arabia, Mr Mattis said: We're doing exactly what we said we're going to do. She will be on her way.

And I'll determine when she gets there and where she actually operates - but the Vinson is going to be part of our ensuring that we stand by our allies in the north-west Pacific.

The confusion began on 9 April when the US Navy said the Carl Vinson strike group was travelling from Singapore to the Western Pacific.

Two days later, the President told Fox Business he was sending an armada towards the peninsula in a "show of force".

We are sending an armada. Very powerful. We have submarines. Very powerful, far more powerful than the aircraft carrier, that I can tell you, Mr Trump told the television station.

Video not available for syndication

Donald Trump's 'armada' steams on as North Korea warns of nuclear strike on US

White House press Secretary Sean Spicer explained that having the flotilla in the Sea of Japan within striking distance of Pyongyang gave President Trump options in the region.

At the time, the comments from the US government heightened tensions with Pyongyang, with North Koreas state news agency describing the supposed deployment as nothing but a reckless action of aggression to aggravate the tensions in the region.

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State media warned of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of aggression, while Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a peaceful resolution of rising tensions in a telephone conversation with Mr Trump

But it later emerged that at the time the statement was made, the ships were not actually heading towards North Korea, but to a scheduled exercise in the Indian Ocean.

On Tuesday, White House officials said the statements had been based on information from the Defence Department, The New York Times reports.

But officials in the Defence Department then described a confused sequence of events leading up to the announcement of the direction of the armada.

With the President using the ships to bolster a muscular show of force, officials said that challenging the narrative became difficult.

The location of the flotilla was revealed by the US Navy itself, which posted a photo online of the aircraft carrier passing through the Sundra Strait between Sumatra and Java in Indonesia.

The photograph was taken four days after Mr Spicer had said the ships were on the move towards the Sea of Japan.

Todd Weiler, the former Assistant Secretary of Defence for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, told The Independent on Wednesday that the catalogue of errors could be due to a lack of political leadership within the Pentagon.

Or it could be a problem with the way the White House interprets facts.

The Navy would never have said or suggested the USS Vinson was to arrive in the Sea of Japan without knowing, Mr Weiler said.
Edinburgh (AFP) - Britain's early election could draw some support away from the Scottish National Party (SNP) but will likely bolster First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's call for an independence referendum, experts say.

SNP leader Sturgeon on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Theresa May's opposition to such a referendum would "crumble to dust" if she wins a majority of seats in Scotland in the June 8 election.

In 2015, the SNP won 56 of Scotland's 59 seats and is widely expected to hold on to them, cementing a decade of electoral success.

After the failed 2014 independence referendum, Sturgeon has said she now wants a second go because conditions have changed and Scotland risks being "dragged out of the European Union" against its will.

Scotland voted by an overwhelming 62 percent to remain the EU -- compared to an overall national vote of 52 percent for Brexit -- but it cannot hold another referendum without the government's permission.

And May has said that "now is not the time".

"The SNP will absolutely win this election -- there is no doubt about it," said Craig McAngus, of Aberdeen University's department of politics and international relations.

"You can bet your house on the SNP winning well over 40 percent, possibly into 50 percent, and that will strengthen Nicola Sturgeon's hand."

But Scots are far from united on whether or not to hold a second independence referendum.

- Voter fatigue -

Even some nationalists are suffering from voter fatigue after the 2014 referendum, the 2015 general election, the 2016 EU referendum and now council elections in May and another general election in June.

"Theresa May is gambling on the fact people in Scotland will feel they've had enough of independence and that now isn't the time," McAngus told AFP.

"But she can't resist another referendum indefinitely and Nicola Sturgeon still has a few cards up her sleeve."

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Sturgeon had pledged to set out her plans for another referendum in the coming weeks, although the snap election will give her a short pause for thought.

John Curtice, Britain's leading polling expert and a professor of politics at Strathclyde University, said the SNP would probably retain most of its seats and continue its drive for independence.

"They are defending 56 out of 59 seats so really there is only one way to go -- which is down," he told AFP.

"But if they get 45-50 percent of the vote that would not be enough to suggest that support for the SNP has significantly nosedived," he said.

- Not if, but when -

May's Conservative Party could make inroads in parts of Scotland that border with England.

The SNP also has difficulties in Edinburgh, which elected Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson in the city centre in 2016 and turned to the Liberal Democrats on the outskirts after SNP MP Michelle Thompson became embroiled in a police inquiry.

But the SNP could make gains in the northern isles, where local Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael has been heavily criticised for misleading voters.

"One suspects it will be pretty close to 50 percent voting for unionist parties and 50 percent voting for the SNP -- which is where we know the country is at.

"But I think it is going to make it more difficult for Theresa May to try to delay the referendum beyond May 2021," Curtice said.

"We know Theresa May has said 'not now', but she hasn't said when, and her argument is somewhat undermined by her decision to suddenly call this election.

"If it's OK to have a general election in the middle of Brexit, why is it not ok to hold a second independence referendum?" he said.

McAngus said: "Another Scottish election with another pro-independence majority on a clear mandate that a referendum ought to happen means that it would be a brass neck for the UK government to say no.

"Ultimately this referendum will happen in some form. It's just a question of how long it takes."
Quito (AFP) - Nearly three dozen Galapagos tortoises considered vulnerable to extinction will return to Ecuador after being rescued in Peru from alleged traffickers, the Galapagos National Park said.

Peruvian wildlife authorities found 29 small tortoises -- two of them dead -- in a cardboard box on a bus on its way from northern Peru to Lima.

Officials made the discovery while working to identify a suspected international wildlife trafficking ring, which has a route from Peru to the European black market.

The driver and transportation company are under investigation.

As the tortoises are small, Galapagos park officials said genetic studies will be necessary to determine the zone of the archipelago they were taken from.

Eleven species of giant tortoises call the Galapagos Islands home.

The Pacific island chain off the coast of Ecuador is famous for its unique flora and fauna studied by Charles Darwin as he developed his theory of evolution.

Lonesome George, the last known member of the subspecies Geochelone nigra abingdoni, died in 2012.
By Timothy Mclaughlin EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (Reuters) - The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) toured his first hazardous waste site on Tuesday amid proposed budget cuts that could devastate efforts to clean up contaminated land and water around the country. Scott Pruitt's visit to East Chicago, Indiana, came a day after the agency denied a report that it was considering closing its Chicago office, which oversees regional environmental protection efforts, including the Flint, Michigan drinking water clean-up and Great Lakes restoration. The reason Im here is because it is important that we restore confidence to the people here in this community that we are going to get it right going forward, Pruitt told the media after meeting with residents and lawmakers. Pruitt did not address the report of the possible office closure or how drastic budget cuts would impact the EPA's operations. He toured a housing complex built on the Superfund site where around 1,000 residents had to leave their homes earlier this year due to lead contamination. Dozens of people held signs on Wednesday urging the EPA to continue clean-up efforts. The Superfund program was started in 1980 to clean up hazardous waste sites, which now number just over 1,300 around the country. The White House budget proposal submitted to Congress last month includes a 31 percent cut in spending for the EPA, including a similar reduction of the agency's Hazardous Substance Superfund Account by $330 million to $762 million. Clean-up would continue in East Chicago, lawmakers said. Pruitt, "made commitments that we would have it right," Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly said." There is a budget that is sent over and then there is a real budget that is put together. And the real budget will provide the funds necessary to make sure East Chicago is right." East Chicago, around 25 miles (40 km) outside of Chicago, was home to the now defunct U.S. Smelter and Lead Refinery Inc which contaminated the facility and surrounding areas with lead and arsenic. Demetra Turner, 44, a resident of the West Calumet Housing Complex who has yet to leave, urged others to keep pressure on the EPA. "Keep fighting people, keep fighting, because that is what it takes," she said. (Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Istanbul (AFP) - "What George, Hans or Helga say does not interest us!" roars Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "What counts for us is what Ayse, Murat, Mehmet, Hatice say! What Allah says!".

This mantra -- setting common European names against Turkish ones and finally invoking God -- has become Erdogan's standard rhetoric to tell the European Union he does not care about their reaction if Turkey restores the death penalty.

But such a move would have immense ramifications -- automatically drawing the curtain on the half-century drama that has been Turkey's bid to join the EU.

Some analysts thought that Erdogan would drop his rhetoric on capital punishment, helpful for winning the support of nationalists, after the April 16 referendum on enhancing his powers.

But with the referendum won, albeit by a narrow margin and the opposition claiming fraud, Erdogan has vigorously returned to the topic.

After proclaiming victory, Erdogan promised thousands of supporters chanting "Idam!" ("Execution!") that Turkey would hold a referendum on the issue if parliament failed to adopt it.

European Parliament president Antonio Tajani wrote on Twitter that he was "very concerned" by Erdogan's comments, saying the reintroduction would be a "red line" for the European Union.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the move would be "synonymous with the end of (Turkey's) European dream".

- 'Here's the rope' -

Turkey abolished the death penalty in all circumstances in 2004 -- two years after Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power -- as a key pillar of its bid to join the EU.

The EU states that abolishing the death penalty is an absolute pre-condition for membership. The Council of Europe, of which Turkey has been a member since 1950, makes abolition a condition for new members.

While it was a previous coalition led by the Democratic Left Party that initiated the move to abolish the death penalty, Erdogan had in the early years of his rule resisted nationalist pressure for it to be used.

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This included the case of the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan, who was captured in 1999. He was sentenced to death but had his term commuted to life imprisonment.

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli at the time famously brandished a noose at a rally to challenge Erdogan to execute Ocalan.

"Here is the rope! Hang him if you can," Bahceli shouted, throwing the rope into the crowds.

But a decade later, Erdogan is publicly praising Bahceli for his support for capital punishment and, to hisses and boos from the crowds, lambasting Republican People's Party (CHP) chief Kemal Kilicdaroglu for his opposition.

Marc Pierini, a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe and former EU ambassador to Turkey, said the narrowness of his victory means Erdogan will remain reliant on the MHP, which backed the constitutional changes set out in the referendum.

"Issues such as reintroducing the death penalty and politically disconnecting Turkey from the EU are key ingredients in the political narrative of both parties," he told AFP.

- 'Bitter consequences' -

Supporters of the move in Turkey argue capital punishment needs to be restored in light of the July 15, 2016 failed coup that left 249 people dead.

But the death penalty remains a sensitive issue in Turkey's coup-scarred history and many have no appetite to revive the painful memories of the past.

Erdogan has himself often evoked the hanging of the prime minister Adnan Menderes -- his political hero -- along with two ministers after the 1960 military coup as an example of the bad old Turkey.

More executions followed coups in 1971, including of student militant Deniz Gezmis, and the 1980 coup when dozens were sent to the gallows.

"This nation has seen in the past how bitter the consequences of the death penalty are and the backlash that has caused", Faruk Logoglu, a former ambassador to Washington and opposition MP, told AFP.

"Society must come to its senses," he added.

Turkey has not executed anyone since since left-wing militant Hidir Aslan was hanged on October 25, 1984.

"The death penalty would mean the automatic end of relations with the EU. The cost would be much too dear," Logoglu said.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will meet Prime Minister Theresa May in London next Wednesday to discuss Britain's exit from the European Union, a Commission spokeswoman said on Thursday. The spokeswoman said May, who has called a snap election for June 8, had invited Juncker to discuss the process of withdrawal. Three days later on April 29, the other 27 EU leaders will meet in Brussels to agree their negotiating positions. The EU expects to start talks after the British election. Asked about reports that May will pledge ahead of the June 8 election to end the free movement of EU citizens into Britain, the spokeswoman reaffirmed the EU's stance that people's rights would be respected and should not be used as bargaining chips. "We want to reassure EU citizens living in the UK and UK citizens living abroad in the EU that their rights will remain respected and enforceable in a non-discriminatory way so this will be a very prominent part in the negotiations once they formally start," said Mina Andreeva. Asked about a Financial Times report on an memo to Commission managers from Juncker aides telling them not to issue contracts to British-based firms if that would conflict with rules on hiring only EU-based contractors after Brexit, she said Britain would be treated equally until it leaves, in 2019. "The Commission will ... respect the rights that the UK enjoys as a result of its continued membership," Andreeva said. "And everything that is after we will see after." EU officials, however, said that it was "only natural" that the Brussels executive starts anticipating the impact of Brexit, now that May has formally triggered the legal withdrawal period. Diplomats say that their British counterparts already appear increasingly sidelined in discussions in Brussels and the trend will pick up pace as the Union exercises its right to organise legislative meetings of the 27 other states without Britain. Leaders of the 27 will meet for the first time as a formal lawmaking body when they hold their European Council on April 29 to agree the guidelines by which the Commission's Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, will steer the talks with London. (Reporting by Alastair Macdonald and Julia Fioretti; editing by Richard Lough)
By Dan Freed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co's <WFC.N> largest investor, Warren Buffett, has likely already voted his shares to support the bank's recommendations at its contentious annual shareholder meeting next week, a representative told Reuters on Wednesday, which include reinstating most of the board's directors.

The prominent billionaire's conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway Inc <BRKa.N>, owns nearly 10 percent of Wells Fargo and Buffett personally owns shares as well. Many investors follow Buffett's lead because of his decades-long track record of profitable investments.

Wells Fargo, the fourth-largest U.S. bank, has for months been embroiled in a scandal that involves thousands of former employees creating as many as 2 million accounts in customers' names without their permission.

The matter has already subsumed former Chief Executive John Stumpf, who resigned in October. Now the board, whose members include new CEO Tim Sloan, is facing opposition in the shareholder vote next week after proxy advisers recommended rejecting many of them.

Buffett's assistant, Debbie Bosanek, told Reuters that Buffett supports management and the board, and that he has likely voted shares held by him and Berkshire to reflect that view. Berkshire held nearly 10 percent of Wells Fargo's outstanding shares as of year-end, but has decided to sell some to avoid breaching the 10 percent threshold that would require special regulatory permission.

Wells Fargo Chief Executive Tim Sloan recently told The Wall Street Journal that Buffett would support the board, but Buffett had not confirmed Sloan's statement until now.

(This story corrects Reuters Instrument Code to tag story to Wells Fargo & Co instead of Wayfair Inc)

(Reporting by Dan Freed; Writing by Lauren Tara LaCapra; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Sam Holmes)
Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), the company once ran by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson , is seeking a waiver from U.S. sanctions on Russia, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The U.S. oil and gas corporation has applied to the Treasury Department to be exempt in a bid to resume its joint venture with the Russia oil giant PAO Rosneft in the Black Sea, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The newspaper said Exxon has been seeking permission to work with Rosneft in areas banned by U.S. sanctions. The State Department is one of the agencies that have a say on the waiver, the Journal said.

The news came as the FBI investigates any possible connections between the Trump campaign and Russia after the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

CNBC has reached out to Exxon and the Treasury Department for comment on the Journal's report.

Read the full story from The Wall Street Journal here.

CNBC's Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report.





More From CNBC


Model Fabio Lanzoni has become the latest Hollywood celebrity to fall victim to a brazen home burglary.

Speaking from his West Valley home, the romance novel cover star revealed that burglars had made off with more than $200,000 in valuables last month.

Read: 'Knock Knock Gang' Has Stolen More Than $3M Worth of Goods From Stars

"You feel violated, angry," he told KCBS. "You're really angry, you're upset; it's your home."

Fabio said his 200-pound safe was stolen. It was filled with his $127,000 gold coin collection and an $80,000 watch collection, he said. The safe has since been recovered but the valuables are gone.

He called the spate of burglaries in the area "an epidemic."

Stars including Kevin Hart, Nicki Minaj and Alanis Morissette have all fallen victim to thieves plaguing glitzy Los Angeles neighborhoods.

Cops called the burglars in these cases the "The Knock-Knock Gang" because they repeatedly knock on the front door of the targeted mansions to make sure no one is home.

Read: Burglary Suspect Sobs After Discovering He Went to Middle School With Judge

Perhaps the hardest-hit was Morissette's home, where thieves took a safe containing more than $2 million worth of jewelry on February 9.

The LAPD has formed a "Knock Knock Burglar Task Force" in hopes of bringing the robbers to justice.

Watch: Woman Holds Alleged Burglar at Gunpoint Until Cops Arrive

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Moscow (AFP) - Ilya looks tired and drawn. After being beaten and tortured by men in military uniform in Russia's Chechnya region, he fled to Moscow but still fears for his life -- because he is gay.

"In Chechnya, I had no choice but to lie or die," says the 20-year-old.

He is now hiding out in a small house on the edge of Moscow with five other Chechen men after they escaped what they say is a brutal campaign against gay men by authorities in the Muslim region of Russia's North Caucasus.

All refused to give their real names for fear of someone recognising them and tracking them down.

"If any of my relatives realises I'm gay, they won't hesitate a minute before killing me," another of the men, 28-year-old Nortcho, told AFP.

"And if they don't do it, they will get killed themselves for failing to uphold the family honour."

While casual homophobia is common in Russia, the problem is particularly acute in conservative Chechnya, where homosexuality is taboo and seen in many families as a moral failing that should be punished by death.

In late March, the Novaya Gazeta liberal newspaper -- known for critical reports on Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's iron-fisted ruler for the last decade -- published a shocking report that gay men had been rounded up.

The newspaper reported that the authorities had detained more than 100 gay men and urged their families to kill them to "wash clean their honour." It said at least two had been killed by relatives and a third died after being tortured.

The accusations were taken all the more seriously since the security forces controlled by Kadyrov -- a fierce loyalist of President Vladimir Putin -- have long been accused by rights activists of carrying out kidnappings and beatings of his opponents.

Asked to comment on the Novaya Gazeta report, Kadyrov's spokesman claimed that such punitive treatment of gay men in Chechnya was impossible since they "do not exist" in the region.

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Kadyrov on Wednesday denied that any homosexuals had been arrested, saying "provocative articles about Chechnya (have) reported so-called arrests.

"It's even embarrassing to talk about it. It's said there have been what are called arrests, murders, (newspapers) have even given the name" of one victim, he said. "But he is alive, in good health and is at home."

- 'I'm terrified' -

The Moscow branch of a Russian NGO called the LGBT Network is helping Chechens to flee the region and receives "three or four requests for help each day," said the branch's leader Olga Baranova. Nearly 20 people at risk have already moved to Moscow, she told AFP.

While Ilya is now more than 1,800 kilometres (1,120 miles) from the Chechen capital of Grozny, he still jumps up every time a car drives close by the house, which is surrounded by a fence.

"By helping me, the Network has handed me a reprieve -- but they'll find me in the end," he says quietly.

In October he was taken into a field and beaten by three men in military uniform. A huge scar runs along the side of his jaw.

"They filmed everything. They told me it would end up on social media unless I paid 200,000 rubles ($3,650). I borrowed the money and paid it," he said, speaking hoarsely.

But after that he had to flee to Moscow anyway.

"Some soldiers came to see my mother and told her I was gay," he said. "I'm terrified. I haven't been able to sleep since I left."

Another man who refused even to give an alias said he left Chechnya two weeks ago. He said he too has been unable to sleep since, haunted by the fear that his wife and his child will find out he is gay.

In March he was held "in an unofficial prison" for a week, the man said.

"There were other gay men in the cell. Some of them had been beaten up," he recalled. "When I was released, I realised that meant I should leave as swiftly as possible."

- 'Absolute tyranny' -

Reports of the abuses have drawn international condemnation, as activists have accused the authorities in Russia of turning a blind eye for fear of upsetting Kadyrov in a region where Moscow fought two bloody separatist wars.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Monday she was "disturbed" by the reports.

Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch said that in her view: "It will only take a call from the Kremlin to Kadyrov for the arrests to stop."

Russia's Prosecutor-General's office formally opened an investigation on Monday but Russia's human rights ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova told TASS state news agency there had been no reports of such missing people to police, investigators or prosecutors.

Lokshina of Human Rights Watch countered that "imagining people coming forward with information without getting any effective protection, any security guarantee, is just impossible."

"Here we are dealing with LGBT people and they are particularly vulnerable in Chechnya because in addition to fearing the authorities they also have to fear their own relatives," she said.

The Novaya Gazeta reporter Irina Gordiyenko, one of the journalists who broke the story, has received a death threat from Chechnya's chief mufti over her investigation.

Gordiyenko says that Kadyrov rules with "absolute tyranny" with the Kremlin's tacit consent.

"That's what lies at the heart of the problem: the impunity of the Chechen authorities," she said.
New York (AFP) - New York's famed Empire State Building lit up with sky-high iconic fashion photographs after nightfall on Wednesday to celebrate the 150th anniversary of style magazine Harper's Bazaar.

Beginning at 8:30pm (0030 GMT Thursday) and slated to run until midnight, the north side of the building flashed iconic shoots and cultural moments from the pages of Harper's into the New York skyline.

Among reproductions of the glossy pages set to shine over Manhattan, and streamed live on the magazine's Facebook page, was Barbadian superstar Rihanna sitting in the mouth of Jaws.

Since 1976 the Empire State Building has traditionally changed the color of its tower lights to celebrate or commemorate different occasions and organizations throughout the year.

In 2012, they installed a new computer driven LED light system capable of displaying 16 million colors, which can change instantaneously.
Just a few hours after it was announced Bill O'Reilly was dropped from Fox News over multiple allegations of sexual harassment, anchors at a Fox roundtable managed to make crude jokes about a female anchor's appearance on air. To her face. To everyone's faces, like that's a totally cool thing to do.

"I think you're giving America a raise," Greg Gutfeld told Kimberly Guilfoyle, in reference to her dress. Like, as in, 'Hey, you're giving America an erection right now, my peer whom I respect and admire!'

SEE ALSO: 'The Daily Show' takes a look at some of Bill O'Reilly's most racist moments

It all started when Bob Beckel complained about people not listening to him when he's actually telling facts, as opposed to making up facts, which is a whole other issue entirely, but whatever. Guilfoyle taunted him saying, "call your camp counselor," to which he replied "call your dressmaker."

Cool! Just two professionals interacting on the national stage, respectfully understanding their differences.

Guilfoyle rolled with it, saying "and give him a raise!" and, well, you know what happened next. The boner thing. The 'you're giving people a boner right now,' thing. The 'I'm going to double down on shaming you live on television for wearing a flattering dress,' thing.

It's not an exaggeration to say that this is literally sexual harassment. I wasn't going to pull out my dictionary but, like:

Pretty cut and dry.

Guilfoyle exclaimed "Oh my god!" and continued to laugh it off, while the other guests sat in stunned silence. When a female host tried to move it along, Beckel shouted, "Why don't you just shut up!" to which Guilfoyle said "See, here we go."

Besides the fact that this sounds like a conversation that could've been secretly recorded and then used in a deposition, and besides the fact that Fox News has a historic problem with sexual harassment, this all this happened on Wednesday, the day that Bill O'Reilly was fired for pretty much the same thing.

With Fox under the spotlight post-O'Reilly, interactions like this one stand out as being part of a timeline, and woven into the overall tapestry of Fox's legacy and current state of affairs.

WATCH: Lady Gaga FaceTimed with Prince William to discuss a very important issue
Cherokee Nation is suing CVS Health, Walgreens, and other drug companies and retailers, alleging the companies didnt do enough to stop prescription painkillers from flooding the tribal community and creating a crisis of opioid addiction.

The lawsuit, filed in tribal court on Thursday, alleges that the companies failed to properly monitor opioid prescriptions and orders. The tribal government alleges that those patterns should have raised red flags that the companies are legally responsible for reporting to federal officials.

These drug wholesalers and retailers have profited greatly by allowing the Cherokee Nation to become flooded with prescription opioids, the lawsuit alleges. They have habitually turned a blind eye to known or knowable problems in their own supply chains.

The rate of drug-related deaths among American Indian and Alaska Native people has nearly quadrupled since 1999, according to the Indian Health Service. Its now double the rate in the US as a whole. Oklahoma  home to most of the 120,000 citizens of Cherokee Nation  leads the country in prescription painkiller abuse.

Cities and counties across the US have filed similar lawsuits against drug companies. But this is the first litigation to take on pharmacy chains.

Read more: It can tear a family apart: The opioid crisis sweeps through Cherokee Nation

CVS Health did not respond to request for comment. Walgreens declined to speak on pending litigation.

Under the Controlled Substances Act, pharmacies and drug distributors are legally responsible to flag federal officials when they see suspicious orders or prescriptions for controlled substances such as opioids.

Those suspicious orders can take several forms. They could involve patients filling multiple opioid prescriptions from different doctors  known as doctor shopping  or an order for opioids thats disproportionately large for the local population.

Pharmacists have a duty only to fill scripts that are for a legitimate medical purpose, said Richard Fields, a D.C. based-lawyer who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the tribe. If a doctor is engaged in prescribing opioids illegally, that doesnt relieve the pharmacy of liability.

Story continues

In 2015, an estimated 845 million milligrams of opioids were distributed in the 14 counties that span Cherokee Nation, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. That averages out to between 360 and 720 pills per year for every prescription opioid user in the Cherokee Nation, the lawsuit says.

By 12th grade, nearly 13 percent of American Indian teens have used OxyContin, according to the American Drug and Alcohol Survey. And 2.6 percent of American Indian students in 12th grade have used heroin, nearly double the rate of the general population.

Read more: No opioids, please: A growing movement lets patients refuse prescriptions

As we fight this epidemic in our hospitals, our schools, and our Cherokee homes, we will also use our legal system to make sure the companies, who put profits over people while our society is crippled by this epidemic, are held responsible for their actions, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker said in a statement.

There have been a slew of lawsuits filed by local governments accusing drug makers of contributing to the opioid epidemic by downplaying the addictive properties of painkillers and improperly encouraging doctors to prescribe the drugs.

In February, for instance, Erie County, N.Y. sued four companies  Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnsons Janssen unit, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Endo International  for costing the county government millions of dollars each year to fight the opioid crisis.

The goal is to get justice for the Cherokee Nation and to recover the extraordinary losses theyve suffered as a result of the opioid epidemic, said Fields.
The New York Times

Olivia Dunne is a gymnast on Louisiana States womens team. She was an All-American in her freshman year and made the Southeastern Conferences honor roll as a sophomore majoring in interdisciplinary studies. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Before the start of her junior season, Dunne is also at the leading edge of a movement shaking the old foundations of college sports: a female student athlete raking in cash thanks to the passage in 2021 of new rules allowing colle
Eighteen days after a New York Times investigation revealed a slew of sexual-harassment settlements with the biggest star on the biggest cable news network in America, Bill O'Reilly is out at Fox News. In the last two weeks, up to 50 advertisers abandoned The OReilly Factor, even as its ratings increased. But this afternoon, 21st Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News, released the following statement: After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill OReilly have agreed that Bill OReilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel.

Its hard to overstate just how popular Bill OReilly is. Hes coming off the highest-rated quarter of any cable-news program, ever. With 3.15 million average viewers in his last week on television, OReillys audience wasn't merely the largest on cable news. It was as large the average audience of each host in CNNs primetime lineupErin Burnett at 7 p.m., Anderson Cooper at 8 p.m., and Don Lemon at 9 p.m.combined. OReilly is the co-author of this weeks number-one New York Times bestselling nonfiction hardcover, Old School, along with the number-seven hardcover (Killing the Rising Sun) and the number-five paperback (Killing Jesus).

Recommended: The Difference Between the Rich and the Poor in 1 Graph

OReillys success has both fueled and been fueled by his networks similar hot streak. Cable news is dominating the pay-TV landscape, and Fox News is the undisputed king of its medium. In the first three months of this year, the network had the largest audience in the history of cable news. The network accounts for 10 percent of the revenue and 25 percent of the profits for the Murdoch-controlled 21st Century Fox (which also owns other Fox stations and the film studio 20th Century Fox).

So what happens now? OReilly will not return to the network in any capacity. In all likelihood his 8 p.m. time slot will go to Tucker Carlson, the puckishly combative populist who has enjoyed his own ratings boomlet after taking over for another recently departed Fox News star, Megyn Kelly.

Story continues

The OReilly-free future for Fox News will be a unprecedented test of its ability to dominate the cable landscape without its leading man. O'Reilly himself earned about $18 million a year from Fox News, but his show generated nearly $450 million in advertising revenue for the company between 2014 and 2016, according to estimates from the market-research firm Kantar Media. In his first four days of vacation, viewership for O'Reilly's substitutes declined 23 percent. And the value of an anchor like OReilly is not only in the audience for his time slot, but also the spillover effect for later shows. If OReillys viewership craters, it could hurt audiences in the 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. slots, sapping revenue from OReillys former slot and those around it.

Recommended: How Online Shopping Makes Suckers of Us All

OReillys lawyers have made noises about a vast left-wing conspiracy to dethrone the king of cable, but for now his ouster is an unambiguous win for investigative journalism. The Timess Emily Steel and Michael S. Schmidt spent months reporting out the $13 million in settlements that Fox News has paid the women who accused its biggest star of sexual harassment. It is reminiscent of the work of Gabriel Sherman, the New York Magazine reporter whose doggedness played a role in the ultimate downfall of Roger Ailes, after Gretchen Carlson filed suit against the networks founder last summer. The result is an astonishing reputational catastrophe for the company. One year ago, it was arguable that the three most famous people at Fox News were Megyn Kelly, Bill OReilly, and Roger Ailes. Now the first has decamped for NBC, and the latter two have been fired.

For now, Fox News remains the dominant empire of cable news, but like several empires before it, the story of its wealth is inseparable from a despicable cultural legacyof intimidation, abuse, and systemic misogyny at the highest levels of the company. Yes, 21st Century Fox made the right call on Wednesday. But that does not wipe away the exhaustive corporate efforts to cover-up the crimes of its biggest stars and silence their most vulnerable victims. Indeed, Bill OReilly is gone, not because his company just learned of his alleged assaults, but rather because they just learned they cannot profitably fund his hour of television now that the allegations are known to their corporate sponsors. Steel, Schmidt, Sherman, and others have illuminated an institution where predatory behavior was permissible as long as the assailants were profit-generating males whose advertisers couldnt see the potentially criminal behavior off-camera. What does it say about Fox News that, in order for them to decide, somebody else had to do the reporting?

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
When she launched her campaign for president of France earlier this year, Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front Party, reminded a jam-packed crowd of 3,000 activists of the two totalitarianisms she had pledged to fight: Islamism and financialism. In the face of this civilizational choice, Le Pen solemnly pledged to defend the outer walls of our society.

The French go to the polls on Sunday. According to the most recent polls, Le Pen is one of four candidates who have a chance to finish in the top two and thus contest the runoff on May 7. If you made a matrix with Le Pens two master issues  national identity and globalization  along the side, and the two essential responses  liberal and anti-liberal  along the top, you would find that each of the four candidates fill one of the resulting boxes.

Le Pens chief rival, Emmanuel Macron of En Marche!, is liberal on both counts; Francois Fillon, the Republican candidate, is illiberal on identity and liberal on the economy; and Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of the far left La France Insoumise, is the opposite. Astonishingly, then, on the eve of the election French voters are almost equally divided among the four cardinal positions on the great issues of the day.

This is clarifying. After the shock of Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, there is a natural tendency to imagine that the Western world has been divided into great camps  the illiberal governments of Eastern Europe and the United States whose programs resemble Le Pens, versus the Macroniste liberal regimes of Western Europe. But beyond those frontiers lie Filloniste democracies like India and Turkey, increasingly nationalistic but nevertheless eager to exploit the benefits of globalization. Meanwhile, analogues of Melenchons (or Bernie Sanders) anti-globalization left have managed to reach national power only in Greece, with Syriza, but such parties are riding a wave of popularity in southern Europe, including Italy and Spain.

Story continues

The future may belong neither to the pure liberals nor the pure illiberals; the convulsion that has upended the politics of the West is still in its early years. The French election hardly exhausts the possibilities, but it does show that we need to think beyond our binary categories.

Lets start with culture and national identity. Unlike in Germany, Sweden, and Hungary, where the refugee crisis has suddenly provoked fears that traditional identity is under siege from a wave of alien newcomers, culture has been contested terrain in France, and in French politics, for well over a decade. As in the Netherlands (which I wrote about last month), politicians have made hay by exploiting fears that immigrants, above all Muslim immigrants, do not integrate into the national culture, cluster in ghettos, commit crimes, and of course carry out terrorist acts. Trumps electoral victory put to rest any lingering questions about the effectiveness of this political strategy.

This is Le Pens wheelhouse. She has called for restricting immigration to 10,000 per year, or about 5 percent of the current annual total. She has railed against communitarianism, the French term for group identity. She has trained her fans to shout On est chez nous!  Its our home!  in response to red-flag words like foreigner and Islam. She also wants to withdraw from the European Union and the euro. For Le Pen, everything not-French is a threat to the French; the more not-French, the greater the threat.

Fillon, the center-right candidate, plays these notes in a more muted vein. All serious French candidates write a campaign book, and sometimes more than one; Fillon titled his Defeating Islamic Totalitarianism. France doesnt have a problem of religion, he wrote. It has a problem connected to Islam. He has called for a new form of administrative control of French mosques, and would change the French Constitution to permit legislators to assign an annual immigrant quota, including country-specific quotas. The United States has long maintained just such a system, but it violates Article 1 of the French Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law irrespective of national tradition. Blatant appeals to Frances threatened Christian culture helped lift Fillon over his primary challenger, Alain Juppe, who bravely  and unsuccessfully  raised the banner of a French identite heureuse, or positive identity.

Though he has endured a good deal of mockery for his unwillingness to commit himself on controversial subjects, Macron has shown real courage on questions of immigration and identity. In the aftermath of the December 2016 terrorist attack on the Christmas market in Berlin, which left critics of Germanys open-door refugee policy feeling vindicated, Macron took to the pages of Le Monde to proclaim that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German society have saved our collective dignity by welcoming refugees in distress, by housing them and by training them. He has heaped scorn on Le Pen for seeking to divide the French against themselves. He is a passionate advocate of the EU. Macron is the candidate of the identite heureuse.

Melenchon, a former Trotskyist, arrives at a cosmopolitan vision from a base of Marxist universalism. He urges his followers, as I heard him do in one speech, to stand up for those dying abandoned in the streets, those driven to suicide at work, those drowned in the Mediterranean. In the candidates debate in late March, he insisted that the French tradition of laicite must not serve as a pretext to attack Muslims, and mocked Le Pens campaign against the veil by suggesting a clothing police to arrest people with green hair or women with short skirts.

But openness toward other peoples, religions, and tongues does not dictate openness toward trade and capital from beyond the border. On such matters, Le Pen and Melenchon find much to agree on. Where the former speaks of financiarisation, the latter, more picturesquely, flays the financial funds which are parasites and leeches on the productive body. (Le Pen is not above the anti-Semitic dog whistle, as when she pointedly refers to Macron as the candidate of the Rothschild Bank, where the leader of En Marche! once worked. Melenchon does not descend to such calumny.) Both despise labor reforms designed to make it easier for French companies to hire and fire employees. Both lavish obloquy upon the regime of austerity dictated by the EU. Both oppose free trade and believe, along with Trump, that the national economy would somehow flourish behind protectionist walls.

After standing aside during a feverish debate about Frances 35-hour workweek, Le Pen said drolly, I didnt want to intervene in the ultraliberal debate between Macron and Fillon. Shes right to say that the two are outliers in French terms. Fillon writes on his website, I want to finally break the lock of 35 hours. This utopia, which has remained a French exception, must be abandoned. Macron proposes allowing individual companies to negotiate a longer workweek. The 2014 loi Macron, named after the then-minister of the economy, made it slightly less cumbersome for employers to fire workers and eased the rules around Sunday opening for retailers, among other things. The law has made Macron a reviled figure on the left. Fillon and Macron propose to further liberalize work and retirement rules, both want to cut corporate taxes, and they are free traders in a country that regards globalization with deep suspicion. However, Macron, an ex-socialist, focuses more on strategic government investment and Fillon more on budget-cutting; Macron favors a stronger EU, while Fillon caters to widespread public contempt for European governance.

Despite their reputation for Cartesian habits of thought, the French are not going to actually choose a candidate on Sunday based on categorical distinctions. Never before have so many voters remained undecided so close to Election Day; many will be making choices based on a strategic calculus rather than an assertion of preference. That calculus is: How can I prevent Marine Le Pen from becoming president of France? Le Pens nationalism is far more radical than Fillons, and her economic policy even more ruinous than Melenchons. Recent revelations that some of Le Pens closest advisors are Nazi sympathizers have only ratcheted up fears of a National Front victory. Voters on the left are racking their brains over the ideal strategy to keep that from happening.

The likeliest beneficiary of the so-called vote utile is Macron, whom moderate leftists and moderate conservatives both feel they can live with. Macron is young, handsome, dynamic, and feels more like the future than his rivals. Nevertheless, its very strange to contemplate the possibility that French voters, traditionally hostile toward the free market, and deeply worried about terrorism and communitarianism, may choose a genuine liberal as president. Macron may find that he has very little ability to bring his citizens to a more classically Anglo-American worldview, especially when the Anglo-American world is heading in the opposite direction. He could be a president without a mandate.

There are good reasons why three of the four viable candidates have rejected central elements of the liberal consensus  even if in doing so they have mined some of the publics darkest instincts. The faith in free markets and free trade no longer speaks to a middle class that feels left behind by the forces of globalization. And the cultural universalism that welcomes refugees and immigrants has run into the reality that many Muslims do not accept the secularism and the progressive values of the West, even if only a minute fraction of them actively seek to harm those values. Thus it is not enough to repeat the shibboleths of the triumphal post-Cold War moment. Le Pen likes to say that the great struggle of our time is between mondialisation and patriotisme. Liberalism must find a language, and a set of policies, to pry patriotism from the clutches of the nationalists and the xenophobes. A cosmopolitan identity, or even a European one, is too flimsy a garment for most people to wear. The real struggle of the future may be the effort to define an affirmative patriotism. French voters will join that struggle on Sunday.

Photo credit: Getty Images
PARIS (Reuters) - French conservative politician Francois Fillon, a candidate in France's presidential election, said on Thursday that campaigning should be suspended following the shooting in Paris in which a police officer was killed, and two others were wounded. A first round of voting is scheduled to be held on Sunday in the election followed by a runoff vote on May 7 between the two leading candidates. (Reporting by John Irish; Writing By Richard Balmforth)
Tyra Banks will be reprising her role in the sequel for the 2000 movie, Life-Size.

According to TV Line, the Americas Next Top Model judge will play the role of a doll that comes to life after a young girl attempts to resurrect her mother through a spell. In the 2000 film, the young girl was played by Lindsay Lohan, but as of late, it is still unclear whether or not she will be part of the sequel. Banks will also act as executive producer for Life-Size 2 and will be included in the networks 25 Days of Christmas lineup next year.

Read: Tyra Banks joins Americas Got Talent Season 12

Freeform also dropped the official synopsis for Life-Size 2 which reads, In the sequel, everyones favorite doll Eve has grown up. This time, shes magically awoken to help a young woman learn to live and love again, and along the way, Eve herself will experience the ups and downs of real life in a fun, edgy, modern Christmas movie.

Meanwhile, Banks will also be joining Americas Got Talent Season 12 when it premieres next month. The supermodel will serve as a host on the show after she replaced Nick Cannon last month. Banks has already spent time with AGT judges Simon Cowell, Mel B, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel, and she has also expressed her excitement over her latest endeavor.

While speaking with Billboard, Banks shared the best advice Americas Got Talent producer Nigel Caaro gave her. He said, You be you, darling. If they give you any lines that dont feel natural, just throw it out and be you. Thats why I have you here, she said. Banks added that the entire season will be about girl power since the women on the show will be outnumbering Cowell and Mandel.

Americas Got Talent Season 12 will premiere on NBC on May 30 at 8 p.m. EST.

Tyra Banks

Photo: Reuters/Danny Moloshok

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Paris (AFP) - Candidates in the French presidential election have their final chance Thursday to speak to the nation in a series of televised interviews, in which scandal-hit conservative Francois Fillon has perhaps the most to prove.

All 11 candidates ranging from centrist Emmanuel Macron, who is narrowly leading the field, to minnows like Philippe Poutou, a Ford factory mechanic polling at 1.5 percent, will be interviewed on France 2 television for 15 minutes each.

With just days to go until the first round of voting on Sunday, the race -- which could decide the future of the European Union -- has tightened dramatically.

Opinion polls show Fillon and Macron, both pro-EU, locked in a tight four-way contest with far-right leader Marine Le Pen and hard-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, both eurosceptics, making it the most unpredictable election in years.

Three surveys showed Macron having a slight edge over Le Pen with 23-25 percent against 22-23 percent.

Fillon and Melenchon are grouped together in a range of between 18 percent and 19.5 percent after a late spurt that has put them within striking distance of the frontrunners.

The top two will advance to a run-off vote on May 7.

Barack Obama spoke to 39-year-old Macron on Thursday about the "important upcoming presidential election in France", a spokesman for the former US president said.

Macron's camp said the candidate had "warmly thanked" Obama for his "friendly call".

- Investor jitters -

The spectre of an EU-bashing final between Le Pen and Melenchon -- one of six possible line-ups in the run-up -- has caused nervousness among investors and thrust Europe to the top of the agenda.

Le Pen is proposing a referendum on France's membership of the EU after negotiations with Brussels on returning most key powers to national capitals. She also wants to scrap the euro and bring back the French franc.

"If either Le Pen or Melenchon were to become the next president, there could be a big reaction in the markets," analysts at Capital Economics said in a note to investors.

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Former prime minister Fillon has tried to rebound from an expenses scandal by presenting himself as a safe, experienced pair of hands at a time of deep global uncertainty following Britain's decision to leave the EU and Donald Trump's rise to the White House.

The 63-year-old candidate for the conservative Republicans party was the early leader in a race that had been seen as a sure win for the right after five years of troubled Socialist rule.

But he lost ground after being charged over accusations that he put his wife Penelope on the public payroll for a fictitious job as his parliamentary assistant, for which she was paid nearly 700,000 euros ($750,000).

- 'Poison of terrorism' -

Fillon used the arrest of two men Tuesday in Marseille on suspicion of planning an attack on the election as an illustration of the dangers France faces -- and the potential weaknesses of his opponents.

He aimed particular criticism at Macron, who spent two years as economy minister in the current Socialist government but has never held elected office.

"On the fight against radical Islam, as with everything else, Macron is vague," Fillon told the right-leaning Le Figaro newspaper on Thursday.

Fillon confirmed that he had been warned by police last week that he had been earmarked as a "target" by jihadists.

Although prosecutors have refused to say if the two men arrested were aiming to attack a particular candidate, Fillon said of himself that it was "not out of the question that the candidate who has the most radical plan to take on Islamic terrorism be the target".

He also returned to a message he has hammered home in recent weeks -- that he alone among the leading candidates could secure a "strong" majority in the legislative elections that follow in June.

Le Pen has also sought to capitalise on the arrests in Marseille, accusing her rivals of turning a blind eye to Islamic terrorism.

Addressing on Wednesday 5,000 flag-waving supporters in the city where the men were detained, she said: "I have been denouncing this terrible poison of Islamic terrorism since I launched my campaign... and none of my rivals are willing to debate the subject.

"They wanted to stay quiet about this problem, to suppress it, to keep it at a distance like one sweeps dust under the carpet."

Le Pen, 48, has spent years trying to build support for the National Front (FN) by campaigning on bread-and-butter issues such as the economy, but in the final days of the race she has returned to the party's stock themes of national security and immigration.
By Alex Bregman

The French election is just the latest example of populism that is sweeping the globe.

Need a quick primer? Pas de problem!

On one extreme, theres Marine Le Pen. No candidate has been more cheered or feared, primarily because of her roots. Her father, Jean Marie Le Pen, founded her party, the National Front, and ran for president five times on an explicitly racist platform. He called concentration camps a detail of history and  regarding a Jewish critic  said, next time well put him in an oven.

His daughter has tried to rebrand the party. This years Le Pen campaign logos simply say Marine. And the elder Le Pen has been expelled from the party.

Her candidacy appeals to French voters worried about terrorism and Frances Muslim population, which is now the largest in Western Europe. Theyre also concerned about the economy. Frances unemployment rate is double that of the U.S.

Le Pen is a fierce opponent of Islamic fundamentalism, and also favors limits on more moderate expressions of religious faith and practice, like a ban on headscarves in public places. Expel illegal immigrants. Tighten borders and reduce legal immigration. Renegotiate trade deals and try to retreat from globalization  all of which sounds a lot like President Trump.

The similarities dont end there. Both Trump and Le Pen have a soft spot for Vladimir Putin (though Trumps relationship with Putin seems to have taken a recent nosedive over Syria). On 60 Minutes Anderson Cooper asked Le Pen: You dont think Vladimir Putin, though, is a killer, is a  is a  a threat to France, to others in this region? Her answer: No, I dont believe it is so. Nothing Vladimir Putin has done would make me reach that conclusion. Some believe Le Pen has been influenced by a multimillion-dollar loan for her party from a Russian bank. One report says that the Russians even plan to launch a cyberoffensive to help the National Front.

One of Le Pens main competitors is Jean-Luc Melenchon, a 65-year-old socialist often described as the French Bernie Sanders. One of his big ideas: a 100% tax on all income above 400,000 euros.

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Another is Emmanuel Macron, a 39-year-old centrist and former investment banker, who seems to provide a ray of hope for Frances beleaguered establishment.

There are others running as well, but these are the candidates who appear to have the best chance of advancing to a runoff in May.

While most pundits still believe Le Pen will ultimately lose, the pundits have been wrong before, and the French might ultimately opt for their version of Brexit.

All eyes will be on France to see if it too will be swept up in the populist wave thats rising around the world. So when it comes to the French elections, at least you can say, now I get it.
PARIS (AP) -- A gunman opened fire on police on Paris' iconic Champs-Elysees boulevard Thursday night, killing one officer and wounding three people before police shot and killed him. The Islamic State group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack, which hit just three days before a tense presidential election.

Security already has been a dominant theme in the campaign, and the violence on the sparkling avenue threatened to weigh on voters' decisions. Candidates canceled or rescheduled final campaign events ahead of Sunday's first round vote.

Investigators searched a home early Friday in an eastern suburb of Paris believed linked to the attack. A police document obtained by The Associated Press identifies the address searched in the town of Chelles as the family home of Karim Cheurfi, a 39-year-old with a criminal record.

Police tape surrounded the quiet, middle-class neighborhood in Chelles, and worried neighbors expressed surprise at the searches. Archive reports by French newspaper Le Parisien say that Cheurfi was convicted of attacking a police officer in 2001.

Authorities are trying to determine whether "one or more people" might have helped the attacker, Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told reporters at the scene of the shooting.

One officer was killed and two police officers were seriously wounded when the attacker emerged from a car and used an automatic weapon to shoot at officers outside a Marks & Spencer's department store at the center of the Champs-Elysees, anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins said.

A female foreign tourist also was wounded, Molins said.

The Islamic State group's claim of responsibility just a few hours after the attack came unusually swiftly for the extremist group, which has been losing territory in Iraq and Syria.

In a statement from its Amaq news agency, the group gave a pseudonym for the shooter, Abu Yusuf al-Beljiki, indicating he was Belgian or had lived in Belgium. Belgian authorities said they had no information about the suspect. IS described the shootings as an attack "in the heart of Paris."

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The attacker had been flagged as an extremist, according to two police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.

Brandet said officers were "deliberately" targeted, as has happened repeatedly to French security forces in recent years, including preceding the 2012 election.

Police and soldiers sealed off the area, ordering tourists back into hotels and blocking people from approaching the scene.

Emergency vehicles blocked the wide Champs-Elysees, an avenue lined with boutiques and normally packed with cars and tourists that cuts across central Paris between the Arc de Triomphe and the Tuileries Gardens. Subway stations were closed off.

The gunfire sent scores of tourists fleeing into side streets.

"They were running, running," said 55-year-old Badi Ftaiti, who lives in the area. "Some were crying. There were tens, maybe even hundreds of them."

French President Francois Hollande said he was convinced the circumstances of the attack in a country pointed to a terrorist act. Hollande held an emergency meeting with the prime minister Thursday night and planned to convene the defense council Friday morning.

The incident recalled two recent attacks on soldiers providing security at prominent locations around Paris: one at the Louvre museum in February and one at Orly airport last month.

Speaking in Washington during a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, U.S. President Donald Trump said the shooting "looks like another terrorist attack" and sent condolences to France.

A French television station hosting an event with the 11 candidates running for president briefly interrupted its broadcast to report the shootings.

Conservative contender Francois Fillon, who has campaigned against "Islamic totalitarianism," said on France 2 television that he was canceling his planned campaign stops Friday.

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who campaigns against immigration and Islamic fundamentalism, took to Twitter to offer her sympathy for law enforcement officers "once again targeted." She canceled a minor campaign stop, but scheduled another.

Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron offered his thoughts to the family of the dead officer.

Socialist Benoit Hamon tweeted his "full support" to police against terrorism.

The two top finishers in Sunday's election will advance to a runoff on May 7.

___

Associated Press Writers Angela Charlton and Raphael Satter in Paris, Jeff Schaeffer and Nadine Achoui-Lesage in Chelles, France, and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.
A fresh surge of undocumented refugees have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan this month, a humanitarian group said Thursday, saying they felt "forced to leave" as Islamabad continues a crackdown.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said it had registered an average of 1,000 people crossing the border daily in the first two weeks of April, which was a "sharp increase" from the first three months of the year.

"We are concerned that without proper registration documents Afghan refugees are unprotected," Kate O'Rourke, head of the NRC in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

"Families are telling us that without registration documents they felt forced to leave."

Since 2016 hundreds of thousands of refugees have returned from Pakistan, where some had sheltered for decades, to Afghanistan amid accusations of coercion.

They face an uncertain future in war-torn Afghanistan which is already struggling to support thousands of internally displaced people fleeing fighting.

Those who were not registered in Pakistan do not have access to what little succour there is in Afghanistan, the NRC said.

Approximately 380,000 registered and 225,000 unregistered refugees returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan last year, the vast majority between July and December, the NRC added.

Human Rights Watch issued a scathing report in February that accused Pakistan of coercion, threats and abuse in the mass repatriation, and the United Nations of complicity.

The report said a combination of insecure legal status, the threat of deportation during winter, and police abuses -- including extortion, arbitrary detention and night raids -- had left the Afghan refugees with no choice but to leave.

It also accused the UN's refugee agency of effectively encouraging the exodus, and said the UNHCR should end the "fiction" that the returns are voluntary.

The UN has previously rejected the criticism. This month Pakistan resumed repatriating documented refugees.

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Some Afghan refugees have been sheltering in Pakistan for decades, first fleeing over the border after the Soviet invasion of 1979.

UNHCR and Pakistani officials have said some 1.34 million registered refugees remain in the country.

A further half a million undocumented refugees are also estimated to be there, making Pakistan one of the world's largest refugee-hosting nations.
(FRESNO, Calif.) - The gunman suspected of killing three white men in a racially charged attack in Fresno was proud of what he had accomplished and laughed many times as he explained his actions in interviews with police, authorities said Wednesday.

After Kori Ali Muhammad learned that he was wanted for the death of a security guard last week, he wanted to take out as many other white men as possible, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.

He was going to kill as many white males as possible and thats what he set out to do that day. He said he did not like white men and said white people were responsible for keeping black people down, Dyer said.

Muhammad is not a terrorist but he is a racist, Dyer said.

The suspect, who is black, was candid in explaining his actions from Thursday night to Tuesday morning, when he methodically shot and killed three white men on the same block, the police chief said.

He told police that the security guard had disrespected him during an earlier altercation at a Motel 6.

Muhammad hid out in a ravine and practiced voodoo rituals after the motel slaying. He also told investigators he is Muslim, but he prays to seven different gods and has not been to a mosque in 25 years.

On Tuesday, after he learned he was wanted for the guards death, he set out to kill more people, Dyer said.

He noticed a white man in a utility truck and fired into the truck, killing Zackary Randalls. He also shot Mark Gassett on a sidewalk, pumping two more rounds into him as the man lay on the ground. Finally, he fired in the direction of a bus stop where he spotted three white males.

They scattered, and Muhammad picked the one who appeared heavier, David Jackson.

That was going to be his target, and he caught up with him and he fired two rounds into this individual, Dyer said.

Dyer said Muhammad showed no remorse in interviews and laughed many times.

Randalls was the first to die when Muhammad walked up to a Pacific Gas & Electric truck and fired into the passenger seat. The driver sped to the police department for help, but Randalls could not be saved.

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Friend Eddie Valencia said Randalls was excited to start work as a customer-service representative and was doing a ride-along Tuesday. He described the 34-year-old as an open-minded person with a sharp wit and a big heart.

He said his friend, who left behind two preschoolers and a wife in Clovis, would not want people to feel anger toward the shooter.

He wouldnt want people to be divided by this, Valencia said. There were no boundaries with race, religions, beliefs, with anything. If you were a good person and basically could have a good conversation, he would call you a friend. He was a stand-up guy.

The three men killed Tuesday had no known connection to each other or to the shooter, who is expected to be arraigned Friday.

Gassett, 37, of Fresno, had just picked up groceries at a Catholic Charities building when he was gunned down. His body was draped in a blanket on the sidewalk leading to Stephen Hughes home.

It looks like a guy carrying his groceries home from the store, said Hughes, 66, who rushed home after receiving a frantic call about the shootings from a neighbor.

Jackson, 58, of Fresno, was gunned down in the parking lot of the charitys building.

These were unprovoked attacks, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.

Two Latina women and a child also crossed paths with Muhammad, who pointed the gun at them as they sat in their car trying to flee, but he did not shoot.

Muhammad, 39, was arrested shortly after the rampage. He is expected to be charged with four counts of murder - one each for Tuesdays three victims and the security guard, 25-year-old Carl Williams.

Muhammad said seeing his name and picture Tuesday in a news release about the guards slaying morning helped spur the attacks in which he fired 16 rounds in less than two minutes.

The suspect told his family there was a war going on between blacks and whites in America. He posted on social media about black separatism, reparations, the Black Lives Matter movement and white devils.

On what appeared to be Muhammads Facebook page, he repeatedly posted #LetBlackPeopleGo and encouraged black warriors to mount up. A flurry of posts emerged in the past day.

Muhammad has a criminal history that includes arrests on weapons, drugs and false-imprisonment charges. He has also been accused of making terrorist threats and been associated with gangs, but he was not a confirmed member, police said.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
By Bernie Woodall (Reuters) - Georgia officials have granted a couple's request to issue a birth certificate giving their toddler daughter the surname "Allah" after earlier refusing to do so because neither parent has that name, civil liberties advocates said on Thursday. The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought a lawsuit, called the decision a victory for free expression, but a top official with the largest U.S. Muslim advocacy group criticized the choice to use the Arabic word for "God" as culturally insensitive. ZalyKha Graceful Lorraina Allah, who will soon turn 2, was born in Atlanta to parents Elizabeth Handy and Bilal Walk, who waited about a year before seeking a birth certificate for the child. While they had no difficulties obtaining birth certificates for their older children, ages 3 and 17, who also have the surname "Allah," a clerk for the Georgia Department of Health blocked the request for the youngest child. Last month, the ACLU filed suit in state court against the leaders of the state department of health and the state office of vital records to compel them to allow the surname chosen by the parents, said Sean J. Young, legal director for the ACLU of Georgia. Georgia law requires that clerks allow any name chosen by the parents as long as it is not provocative or offensive, Young said in a phone interview. The department relented on Friday, and the ACLU dropped the suit. Nihad Awad, national director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said that while many people have names that are derivations of Allah, such as Abdullah, which means "servant of God," using "Allah" as a stand-alone surname was not culturally acceptable. "You would never use just Allah. That would be considered very inappropriate," Awad said in a phone interview. Young said he did not know if the couple were Muslim but that he considered the question legally irrelevant. Handy and Walk, who were not available for comment, live together in Atlanta and are expecting a fourth child, Young said. "This is an important vindication of parental rights," Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, said in a statement. "No one wants to live in a world where the government can dictate what you can and cannot name your child." A spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Health declined to comment on the matter. (Reporting by Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Fla; Editing by Scott Malone and Peter Cooney)
Berlin (AFP) - Germany's anti-immigration AfD holds a party congress this weekend aimed at quieting a bitter power struggle threatening to scupper its bid to win its first seats in parliament in September.

The two-day gathering starting Saturday will bring fractious party delegates together under one roof in the western city of Cologne, and is expected to draw up to 50,000 protesters and a massive police presence of around 4,000 officers.

Once riding high in the wake of Germany's record refugee influx, the upstart party has seen its support plunge into single digits in most polls from around 15 percent half a year ago amid open hostilities between populists and radicals.

In just a taste of the drama expected at the weekend, AfD co-leader Frauke Petry made the bombshell announcement Wednesday that she would not stand to become the party's official standard bearer heading into the September 24 general election, as she demanded its rival factions adopt a common strategy.

"The image of the AfD keeps getting determined by the uncoordinated extreme provocations of a few representatives who keep surprising the party leadership," she said in a video message on Facebook.

The telegenic public face of the AfD, Petry has become embroiled in infighting as she attempts to cast herself as the moderate, "middle-class" alternative to officials whose openly anti-Semitic and racist outbursts have sparked national outrage.

In Cologne Petry will ask delegates to reject a "strategy of fundamental opposition" to the parties in power and adopt her own pragmatic "Realpolitik" which she argues will attract mainstream voters with the goal of taking the reins of government by 2021.

- 'Picture of strife' -

Petry's decision not to stand as the party's main candidate for the general election -- a largely symbolic role -- was widely seen as an attempt to avoid an embarrassing showdown at the congress.

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"Shortly before their party congress, the AfD is the picture of strife," national daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung said.

"That reflects the essence of a party that would like to present itself as middle class but has a method of breaking taboos, provoking and spurning civility."

The AfD has become Germany's most successful right-wing populist party of the post-war period.

Unlike far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in France, its leaders have no foreseeable chance of winning the general election in Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking a fourth term after nearly 12 years in power.

But while all mainstream parties have ruled out working with the AfD, it could clinch enough votes to complicate the post-election maths of forming a ruling coalition.

The AfD was founded as an anti-euro party in 2013 but failed in that year's general election to cross the five-percent hurdle to representation.

Seizing on popular anxiety over the influx of more than one million refugees and migrants since 2015, however, it managed to capture seats in 11 of Germany's 16 regional legislatures.

- 'Clever as quicksilver' -

Following the victories of the Brexit campaign and Donald Trump on waves of anti-establishment sentiment, analysts predicted the AfD would easily enter the national parliament.

But Petry's rise made her both a media star and a red rag for envious party colleagues.

"She is a clever as quicksilver but she's not popular among the delegates because of her blind ambition," Hajo Funke, political scientist at Berlin's Free University, told AFP.

Petry, 41, who is pregnant with her fifth child, has allied herself with hard-right leaders such as Le Pen and Geert Wilders of the Dutch anti-Islam Freedom Party.

But the AfD has lost momentum as the number of new refugee arrivals to Germany has dwindled over the last several months.

The Social Democrats (SPD), junior partners in Merkel's governing coalition, have also managed to claw back some support since appointing a new Merkel challenger, former European Parliament president Martin Schulz.

Schulz has been cast as a maverick in the media and by his party, allowing him to attract voters disenchanted the Merkel era and squeeze out the AfD's protest-party message.

Funke said Trump's presidency, looming Brexit and the threat to Europe posed by Le Pen have served as a wake-up call for German voters, who may be losing their appetite for radical change.

"The AfD would be fatal for German identity with its strong links to Europe and the country's status as an export nation. That will become even clearer as the election approaches."
A record warm Arctic winter has spawned a tourism boom in a tiny Canadian town.

Sightseers and selfie-snappers are flocking to Ferryland, Newfoundland, to watch enormous icebergs drift off the Southern Shore.

The town of 500 residents has seen bumper-to-bumper traffic in recent days. Its two lone restaurants would theoretically be packed  that is, if they opened before late May, when the tourism season normally begins, CBC reported.

NEW | People flocking to Ferryland to see the massive iceberghttps://t.co/XN0UIxYvYI#nlwx pic.twitter.com/ylRZpwpwhK  CBC NL (@CBCNL) April 18, 2017

Nearly 650 icebergs have drifted into the North Atlantic as of this week, according to the U.S. Coast Guard's International Ice Patrol. That's about triple the number of icebergs this region sees during this period.

SEE ALSO: A 'conveyor belt' of plastic is polluting the Arctic Ocean

The unusually large swarm is blocking shipping lanes, forcing vessels to slow down or take long detours. Coast Guard commander Gabrielle McGrath, who leads the ice patrol, told the Associated Press she has never seen such a drastic increase in such a short time.

Most of the icebergs bobbing in the North Atlantic broke off the Greenland ice sheet.

Experts have attributed the influx of ice to a combination of uncommonly strong counter-clockwise winds, which are drawing icebergs south, and, to some extent, global warming, which is melting land and sea ice across the Arctic.

Awesome iceberg grounded in Ferryland much of this week (Photo: April 14). #ExploreNL pic.twitter.com/EYYTbV6DH7  Jared Clarke (@birdtherock) April 15, 2017

The Arctic has experienced a strange winter. March 2017 became the sixth month in a row to set a record for the lowest sea ice extent, the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported.

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And, for the third year in a row, Arctic sea ice peaked at a record low level during the winter season.

Image: national oceanic and atmospheric administration

In Ferryland, the relatively warm winter and shifting winds have resulted in some pretty spectacular sights.

An enormous iceberg is now towering over the small town. The Canadian Ice Service has classified it as "large," meaning it spans between 401 and 670 feet long and rises between 151 and 240 feet high.

The giant ice block drew the most attention over Easter weekend. Tourists and news crews came out with cameras, drones, and even helicopters to catch a glimpse of the majestic frozen 'berg.

WATCH: NASA timelapse shows just how quickly our Arctic sea ice is disappearing
Sao Paulo (AFP) - General Motors has shut down its Venezuelan operation and laid off 2,678 people after the crisis-struck Latin American country nationalized the plant and seized cars, the company says.

On Wednesday, the factory was "unexpectedly seized by the Venezuelan authorities, preventing normal operations," GM's spokesperson in Brazil, Julia Bastos, said Thursday in an email.

"In addition to this, other activities of the company, such as cars, were illegally removed," she said.

The US auto-maker's plant has capacity for building 100,000 cars a year, but had already ground to a standstill because of the collapse in oil-rich Venezuela's economy and lack of access to US dollars.

GM has been in Venezuela for 69 years. In addition to its directly employed staff, there were 79 dealerships in the country, with some 3,900 workers.

Compensation will be paid to the laid off workers "very soon," Bastos said.

GM said that the takeover was made through a court order and that as of Thursday, the government had not responded to GM's decision to halt operations.

GM "strongly rejects the arbitrary measures taken by the authorities and will vigorously take all legal actions, within and outside of Venezuela, to defend its rights," the company said in a statement Wednesday.

Venezuelan opposition demonstrators seeking the resignation of leftist President Nicolas Maduro vowed to hold a second day of huge protests in the capital Caracas on Thursday. As many as eight people are believed to have been killed in clashes this month.

The international community has widely condemned Maduro for attempting to tighten his grip on power and shut out the opposition.
By Nick Mafi. Photos courtesy of Google.

Since its launch 12 years ago, Google Earth has captivated billions of users around the world. Through virtual exploration, we've had front-row seats to the most far-flung corners of our planet. And now, after two years of planning, Google has relaunched the platform with a host of new features, including guided tours of buildings designed by such starchitects as Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid.

Among the many exciting elements of the new Google Earth is a section dubbed Voyager, where users can travelin 2D or 3Dthrough a curated list of museums around the world, tour buildings designed by famous architects, step inside bars that Ernest Hemingway frequented, and more. "We think of Voyager as a storytelling platform," says Gopal Shah, a product manager for Google Earth. "In the past we've done that in a more rudimentary way with the classic versions of Google Earth. But now we wanted to really take this to the next level. And that involves working with partners in creating beautiful, thoughtful content."

Yet it's not just the Voyager experience that makes Google Earth's relaunch so exciting. Other elements in which users can tour the world's most remote islands or the national parks of North America have also been added. "The world is a big place, with a lot of gems," says Shah. "So we wanted to not only allow people to find them with a click of the button but also contextualize them by learning about where they're located, what makes them seem so beautiful and why they're culturally relevant."

Users can click through a deck of "Knowledge Cards," which provide short paragraphs about any given location. Furthermore, Google has included a section called "I'm Feeling Lucky," in which a click will send you to a random corner of the globe. "We wanted to create a very curated experienced," Shah says. "'I'm Feeling Lucky,' for example, will allow you to discover places that would otherwise be unbeknown to you."

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And as far as what Google hopes to contribute culturally with this new technology? "We want people to explore the richness of the world, to get off the beaten path," Shah says. "We want users to discover that, over in Bhutan for example, the architecture is very different than ours in the U.S., but everyone has a kitchen and bedroom, and so despite our cultural differences, we are still all the same."

More: This Map Shows What the World Actually Looks Like

This story originally appeared on Architectural Digest.

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Getting a divorce doesn't seem like the type of thing to put on your retirement planning checklist. However, in advance of leaving the workforce, an increasing number of couples are deciding to part ways.

"The kids are out of the house, and they look at each other and realize they don't have anything in common," says Mela Garber, tax principal and chair of the matrimonial services group at Anchin, Block & Anchin in New York City.

The divorce rate for those ages 50 and older doubled between 1990 to 2015, according to the Pew Research Center. Known as gray divorce, it's an event that doesn't have to be negative. "It's not necessarily a midlife crisis anymore," says Garrett Oakley, a financial planning professional with the online investment service Betterment. "It's a midlife turnaround."

Whatever the reason for the change, those going through a gray divorce will encounter both difficulty and opportunity as they navigate their new lives.

[Read: 10 Tips to Help Your Marriage Survive Retirement.]

Less money. Without a doubt, the biggest financial challenge posed by gray divorce is the loss of income and assets. Couples working together toward retirement goals could find themselves left with only half a nest egg, less income and fewer years to recoup the missing amount.

Financial challenges are a reality for both earning and non-earning spouses. A non-earning spouse will need to determine how to bring in money to pay the bills while an earning spouse may find his or her income significantly reduced if alimony is awarded as part of the divorce settlement. "Not only are they losing half their assets, they are losing their ability to save," Oakley says.

Marilyn Timbers, a certified divorce financial analyst with Voya Financial in Stamford, Connecticut, says a divorce offers some spouses a one-time opportunity to dip into a 401(k) account prior to age 59 1/2 without incurring a tax penalty. Allowed under a qualified domestic relations order, money can be distributed without penalty to the account holder's spouse or dependent.

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It may be tempting to use this money to shore up personal finances after a divorce, but it's better to roll it over to an IRA or some other type of retirement savings. "Don't dip into your retirement money to cover divorce expenses unless you absolutely have to," Timbers says.

[Read: 7 Things to Know About Divorcing During Your Senior Years.]

Gray divorce not always bleak. Getting a divorce later in life may mean less savings and sacrificing some retirement dreams. However, people may find that's a fair trade-off in exchange for being able to spend their senior years as they want.

"They're empty nesters, looking at their goals for retirement and seeing they are not aligned [with their spouse]," Timbers says. Being single may be a liberating experience for those who have spent their entire lives compromising with their partner.

There is also financial good news for long-time spouses. Those who were married for at least 10 years and do not remarry before age 60 are entitled to claim Social Security spousal benefits off their former spouse's work record. This benefit in no way affects the working person's benefits or, if remarried, their current spouse's ability to claim benefits. For those who are eligible, this money can provide an added layer of financial security.

[Read: Many Women Will Be Single in Retirement. Are You Ready?]

What you need to do before making it final. Garber says it's not uncommon for women divorcing later in life to have married young and, as a result, have little or no experience managing money. "[These] women have never been financially on their own," she says. "They went from their parents' home to their marriage home." Taking a personal finance class or working with a financial professional to craft a budget is an important step for these women to successfully live independently after divorce.

Before entering into divorce settlement negotiations, it's critical that non-working spouses have their own team of experts. An accountant or financial planner who has worked extensively with the income-earning spouse may not be an unbiased source of information. Instead, non-working spouses should hire their own advocates to review any settlement offer and provide feedback. Non-working spouses also need to have a plan regarding how to replace insurance, particularly health insurance, which may be provided through their spouse's employment.

Timbers advises her clients to think twice before taking the house in the settlement over retirement funds. "The house is not an income-producing asset," she explains. Plus, it can be difficult to predict what a home will be worth in years to come and what maintenance costs it will incur. When available, she says opting for money in a Roth IRA is often the best option.

Getting divorced after age 50 doesn't have to be a financially devastating experience. However, you may still want to think carefully about what you hope to accomplish by ending your marriage. While a divorce may be the right answer in some situations, other couples may find counseling and compromise let them enjoy retirement at each other's side.
Located on Route 54 in Hammondsport, the Curtiss Museum is a tribute to Glenn H. Curtiss, an aviation pioneer who began making bikes and became known as the "fastest man on earth" when he hit 136.4 mph on his motorcycle in 1907. Rick Leisenring has been the curator of this cool collection for fifteen years. He knows all the ins and outs of the many vintage automobiles, motorcycles and airplanes. He says "we are New York's best kept secret." There are twenty-five full sized aircraft that pertain to Glenn H. Curtiss, who was born in Hammondsport and went on to aviation greatness. History buffs and fans of flying machines will be right at home here.
(Reuters) - Highlights for U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday: TRADE AND IMF The Trump administration delivers a simple but stark message to world financial leaders who gathered in Washington amid worries about rising U.S. protectionism: fair trade means tit-for-tat tariffs. NORTH KOREA Trump praises Chinese efforts to rein in "the menace of North Korea" after North Korean state media warns the United States of a "super-mighty preemptive strike." U.S. STEEL Trump moves against China and other exporters of cheap steel into the U.S. market, starting a federal investigation to determine whether foreign-made steel threatens U.S. steelmakers and national security. IRAN Iran and the United States trade barbs over the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Trump accusing Tehran of not living up to the spirit of the accord and Iran's top diplomat urging Washington to fulfill its own commitments. RUSSIA Russia dismisses as false a Reuters report saying a government think tank controlled by President Vladimir Putin developed a plan to swing the 2016 U.S. presidential election to Trump. U.S. ECONOMY American economic growth will not achieve the administration's 3 percent goal this year or next, even if some fiscal stimulus and changes to tax laws are implemented, according to economists in a Reuters poll. TRADE WITH JAPAN Japan has less room to compromise with the United States under a bilateral trade deal than under a multilateral agreement like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, its deputy prime minister says, taking a swipe at U.S. attempts to pressure Tokyo into opening heavily protected markets like agriculture. TAXES Top Trump advisers say his tax reform plan will rely largely on future revenue gains from faster economic growth to justify major tax cuts. WHITE-COLLAR CRIME A senior Justice Department officials say the Trump administration will be persistent in prosecuting white-collar crimes despite giving a higher profile to tackling violent crime. DAIRY TRADE Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau brushes off an attack by Trump on Canada's system of dairy protections, saying every country defends its agricultural industries. ENVIRONMENT An environmental group is suing the administration over the repeal of a U.S. rule intended to protect wildlife, in the first court challenge to a law being used by Republicans to ease federal regulation. EGYPT Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says he is optimistic about improving military ties with Egypt after talks in Cairo with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, following a period of strain under the Obama administration. (Compiled by Jonathan Oatis and Bill Trott; Editing by Sandra Maler and Richard Chang)
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Japan's Honda Motor Co <7267.T> will launch an all-electric battery car in China next year as demand for plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) expands in the world's largest automobile market, a senior company executive said. Yasuhide Mizuno, Honda's China chief, told reporters on the sidelines of the Shanghai auto show on Wednesday the automaker was "expediting" the development of the EV. He said he expects the car to arrive in showrooms before the end of next year. Mizuno added that plug-in hybrid models would likely follow, but did not say when that car might hit the market in China. Carmakers in China are scrambling to develop and sell so-called new energy vehicles (NEVs) in anticipation of tougher new rules expected to be implemented as early as next year. Those rules will likely require companies to generate as much as eight percent of their China sales with plug-in cars, either fully-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles. (Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Stephen Coates)
Family friendly isn't exactly the first thing to come to mind when you think of Hooters.

But the company, which is opening more than 30 new outlets across Asia, plans to change that  with the help of a new image.

SEE ALSO: Hooters Ball Girl Accidentally Ruins Baseball Play

According to Neil Bailey, the president of Hooters Asia, he wants the new stores in the region to have a "family restaurant experience."

The term "Hooters Girl" has long been associated with skimpy tops and short skirts, but they might look a little different in Asia.

In the Jakarta outlet for example, the company is working on a new uniform that will feature longer skirts, higher necklines and thicker stockings.

We want to be culturally respectful, Neil Bailey, the president of Hooters Asia told news outlet Channel NewsAsia.

Surprise Birthday dinner, thank you all  A post shared by Rama Adam (@ramaadam) on Apr 15, 2017 at 5:32am PDT

We sat down with members of the local governing boards and advisors of a mosque nearby. We showed them our website and said: This is who we are. We know this is not acceptable so what would be acceptable?"

The outlet has a Halal menu that has a selection for kids included, and the restaurant is decked out with high chairs and booster seats.

It also has a no-smoking rule and has no age restriction.

Hooters of America was worried [that modifications would dilute the brand] but we didn't have to take long to convince them," said Bailey.

But whilst Hooters might have been able to convince their American counterparts, it might take a bit more convincing for people to come round to the idea of Hooters as a family restaurant.

Mashable has reached out to Hooters Asia for additional comment.
Washington (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund renewed its warnings against protectionism on Thursday as nationalist political trends threaten trade integration on both sides of the Atlantic.

As the IMF and World Bank kicked off what are normally staid meetings, with central bankers and finance ministers from 189 member countries gathering in Washington, anti-free trade rhetoric in the United States and Europe created a tense atmosphere.

In her opening remarks, Christine Lagarde, the IMF managing director, tried to downplay differences with new US President Donald Trump's administration over trade, financial regulation and climate change.

The fund this week bumped up its forecasts for global economic growth slightly to 3.5 percent for this year, a recently rare upward revision reflecting a rosier view of conditions in Asia and Europe.

But while acknowledging disillusionment with globalization, Lagarde said member countries should avoid the lure of trade barriers.

- 'Self-inflicted wounds' -

"All countries, of course, should guard against what I have called the self-inflicted wounds, such as restrictions, subsidies and other trade distortions that reduce competition and economic openness," she said.

Lagarde's remarks came as Britain heads toward an exit from the European Union and France prepares to stage presidential elections that also raise the prospect of quitting the bloc.

The United States is the IMF's largest single shareholder and holds veto power on the fund's board.

But Trump won the White House on a nationalist economic agenda and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross this week dismissed some IMF concerns as "rubbish."

Nevertheless, Lagarde said Thursday she believes the Trump administration could be an effective partner.

"From the various contacts that I have had with the administration so far, I have every reason to believe we will make progress," she said.

The fund would press for "a fair and level playing field," she added, saying that that meant "no use of distortive measures, no protectionist measures going forward."

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"We need to make sure that this momentum is sustained and that we continue to have that growth and, more importantly, that that growth is shared more equitably," Lagarde said.

Needed steps include fairer taxation, job-training assistance and infrastructure investment as well as forward-looking measures to address unsustainable debt and pension schemes, she said.

"We are very pleased to see that trade is picking up. Is trade going to continue to increase and grow? We do so think so," she added.

"Is there room to improve that? Of course."

Speaking to CNBC television following her address, Lagarde issued a stark warning about the prospects of a far-right victory in France's presidential elections, the first round of which is set for Sunday.

"It would certainly entail major disorder," she said.

Although polls do not suggest a clear path to the presidency for Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Front, pundits are wary of saying she cannot win.

Le Pen has pledged to take France out of the eurozone and stage a referendum on exiting the EU, as Britain voted to do last year.

Meanwhile, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble called on the Trump administration not to turn its back on trade liberalization.

"All of us have benefited greatly" from global integration and trade in recent decades, and Washington has been a leader in the process, he said in a speech ahead of this week's semi-annual meetings.

- 'That is fair' -

"Surely it's in America's own interest to ensure security and economic stability" in its trade partners, he added.

Speaking at a separate event on Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declined to wade into controversy over the US trade policy.

However, in a possible nod to multilateralism, he said that discussions held among members of the Group of Seven and the Group of 20 economic forums were "very productive discussions."

At the same event, White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said the United States was only seeking fair treatment.

"We treat our trading partners the way they treat us," said Cohn, a former Goldman Sachs banker who now chairs the new National Economic Council.

A trading partner's tariffs would be met by a countermeasure, Cohn said at a forum held by the Institute of International Finance.

"We treat you in reciprocal fashion. That is fair," he said.
A Cincinnati man who was arrested last week made calls from inside a jail where he was posing as a judge, cops say.

According to his arrest affidavit, 23-year-old James Eagle was locked up April 10 after allegedly stealing a license plate.

Watch: Wife of Teacher Who Disappeared With Student: I Love Him but I Don't Trust Him

From jail, Eagle allegedly made multiple phone calls to the clerk of court's office in which he posed as Judge Richard Bernat.

In the recorded phone calls, cops say Eagle told courthouse staff to give him O.R. bonds, or bonds freeing him on his own recognizance rather than for a dollar amount.

When the judge and sheriffs office were notified, Bernat informed officials he'd not made the call.

Eagle was reportedly never confronted about the alleged phone calls in court. He was given a $5,000 bond, however, and released after paying 10 percent of it.

But cops say the story didn't end there.

According to WKRC, cops say a detective signed warrants for Eagle's arrest on charges he impersonated Judge Bernat. After he left, another suspicious call was reportedly made to staff at the warrants department.

The caller said the warrants were a mistake, according to Eagle's arrest affidavit.

"Mr. Eagle is not as slick as he thinks he is... once apprehended he faces three additional charges [related to the alleged impersonations], said Mike Robinson of the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office.

Watch: Woman Researching Family Tree Discovers Man Using Identity of Nephew Who Died as Infant

Eagle is now considered a fugitive and a $1,000 reward has been offered for information leading to his arrest.

If convicted on the new charges, Eagle could face a years-long jail sentence.

Watch: Teen Who Vanished 5 Years Ago Found 600 Miles Away With New Identity

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Remember the kid who accepted Wendy's challenge to get 18 million retweets in exchange for a year's worth of free nuggets? In just two weeks, Carter Wilkerson has gone from 150 to nearly 87,000 followers, and as of Thursday morning is just 100,000 retweets shy of breaking Ellen De Generes' record of 3.3 million retweets for her epic Oscars selfie.

For those unfamiliar with the back story, the Reno, Nevada teen loves his nuggets. Really loves his nuggets.

Earlier this month, Wilkerson gave Wendy's -- his favorite purveyor of his favorite chicken nuggets -- some free and favorable publicity when he engaged the company's social media team in a bet that went viral.

After tweeting, "Yo @Wendys how many retweets for a year of free chicken nuggets?" he elicited a cheeky response from the fast food chain, which wrote back "18 million."

Along with armies of sympathizers on Twitter, the stunt gained the attention of US talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who brought the teen on her show this week in part to help out a boy and his love for nuggets, but also to safeguard her own record for the most retweets. Pre-Wilkerson, her 2014 star-studded Oscar selfie was at 3.3 million retweets.

After inviting Wilkerson to her show this week, DeGeneres confronted the teen asking, "Why are you trying to sabotage my selfie?"

"You know honestly, I just want chicken nuggets," he replied, as only a 16-year-old can. "I just have a love for the chicken nuggets."

Enter the wheeling and dealing DeGeneres, who struck a deal with Wilkerson and the Twittersphere: Anyone who retweets his request is also being asked to retweet her Oscars selfie.

In exchange, she offered him a 55-inch TV and a year's supply of Ellen underwear.

Her strategy: Everyone gets what they want.

As of Thursday, it seems the request is being heeded, as Wilkerson has shot up to 3.2 million tweets, while the Oscars selfie has risen to 3.4 million retweets.

Watch the Ellen segment at https://youtu.be/wiGZgdFHSSc.
Tehran (AFP) - Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday criticised "worn-out" US accusations that it was seeking a nuclear weapon to threaten the region and the world.

"Worn-out US accusations can't mask its admission of Iran's compliance" with a 2015 nuclear deal, Zarif wrote on Twitter.

Iran says its nuclear programme is purely for peaceful purposes but signed a deal with world powers to restrict its fuel enrichment for 10 years in exchange for sanctions relief.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that Tehran has so far met its obligations, but that the deal could only delay Iran's development of a nuclear weapon.

The deal "fails to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran," he said, and was a product of "the same failed approach of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat we face from North Korea."

Zarif said Iran's compliance had forced the US administration of President Donald Trump "to change course and fulfill its own commitments".

Trump described the accord as the "worst deal ever negotiated" during his campaign and threatened to tear it up, but analysts say that is increasingly unlikely.

Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer said a review would be conducted by US government agencies over the next 90 days on whether to stick by the deal.
By Mahmoud Mourad and Ulf Laessing CAIRO, Egypt/ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's Shi'ite ruling coalition would oppose Kurdish plans to hold a referendum on independence after the defeat of Islamic State, its president, Ammar al-Hakim, has said. Speaking to Reuters in an interview in Cairo, Hakim advised the Kurds against any unilateral move to annex a disputed oil-rich region which they had gained during the war against the jihadists. "If this referendum happens, it will be unilateral," said Hakim, who is president of the National Alliance, a coalition of the main Shi'ite political groups including Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's Dawa party. "We will insist on dialogue" as a mean to resolve the disagreement, the influential cleric said when asked what the Shi'ite parties would do if the Kurds insist on holding the referendum. "We believe that the politics of accomplished facts and drawing borders with blood hasn't succeeded in any country of the world and won't have good results in Iraq either." Iraq's majority Shi'ite Arab community is located mainly in the south while the Kurds and the Sunni Arabs live in opposite corners of the north. The center around Baghdad is mixed. Iraq's main Kurdish parties announced this month a plan to hold a referendum on independence this year. The Kurds say the expected "yes" outcome will strengthen their hand in talks on self-determination with Baghdad and would not mean automatically declaring independence. "The purpose of the referendum is to seek out the opinion of the Kurds and then start a dialogue with Baghdad," Massoud Barzani, the president of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), told reporters on Thursday in the Iraqi Kurdish capital Erbil. The Kurdish forces control more territory now than the area on which the KRG was established after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Iraqi Kurdish independence has been historically opposed by Iraq and also its neighbors, Iran, Turkey and Syria, as they fear the contagion for their own Kurdish populations. Iraq's Kurds have advanced the most toward their long-held dream of independence. Iraq has been led by the Shi'ites since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. The Kurds have their own armed force, the Peshmerga, which in 2014 prevented Islamic State from capturing the oil region of Kirkuk after the Iraqi army fled in the face of the militants. They are effectively running the region also claimed by Turkmen and Arabs. Hardline Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi'ite militias have threatened to expel the Kurds by force from this region and other disputed areas. Hakim however downplayed the risk of military confrontation between the Shi'ite and the Kurds. "Using weapons against Iraqis is not an option," he said. Kirkuk's Kurdish-led provincial council rejected this month a resolution by the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad to lower Kurdish flags raised since March next to Iraqi flags over public buildings of the region. Masrour Barzani, head of the KRG's Security Council and son of President Barzani, said in June that Iraq should be divided into three separate entities to prevent further sectarian bloodshed, with a state each given to the Shi'ites, the Sunnis and the Kurds. Hakim said he suggested to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whom he met on Tuesday, to host a meeting of rival Sunni and Shi'ite countries in the region to try find common grounds in prelude to ending the sectarian strife raging since 2011. The meeting, gathering Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt would seek "to define the spheres of influence" for each, "and also spheres of cooperation," for example against terrorism, he said. (Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel is to take delivery of three more F-35 stealth fighters from the United States on Sunday, adding to two which arrived in December, an army statement said.

They are among 50 that Israel has agreed to buy from aerospace giant Lockheed Martin.

US President Donald Trump has publically upbraided Lockheed over "out of control" costs of the plane, the most expensive in history.

The company has said it will bring down the price in the future.

While other countries have ordered the planes, Israel -- which receives more than $3 billion a year in US defence aid -- says it will be the first outside the United States with an operational F-35 squadron.

Israel is buying its first 33 F-35s at an average price of about $110 million (103.5 million euros) each.

Israeli components will be integrated in the aircraft, which will be known as the F-35I.

Among its main features are advanced stealth capabilities to help pilots evade sophisticated missile systems.

The single-pilot jets can carry an array of weapons and travel at a supersonic speed of Mach 1.6, or around 1,200 miles per hour (1,900 kilometres per hour).

The pilot's ultra-high-tech helmet, at a cost of some $400,000 each, includes its own operating system, with data that appears on the visor and is also shared elsewhere.

Thermal and night vision as well as 360-degree views are possible with cameras mounted on the plane.

The two F-35s delivered in December landed around six hours late after being delayed by bad weather in Italy, believed to be fog.

A Lockheed official said the holdup was caused by Italian air safety regulations, rather than any limitation of the planes, but this did not stop jibes.

"Here's hoping we only go to war on sunny days..." one Israeli joked on Twitter.
Rome (AFP) - Italy's highest court on Thursday began reviewing the case of Francesco Schettino, the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that sank in 2012 leaving 32 people dead.

Schettino, dubbed "Captain Coward" by the press for abandoning the stricken vessel during the nighttime disaster, was handed a 16-year and one month jail term in 2015 in a ruling that was upheld last year by an appeals court.

The Court of Cassation in Rome could uphold the verdict or order the case to be reviewed by a fresh appeals court.

It is not expected to rule before early May, lawyers told AFP.

Schettino, 56, was convicted of multiple manslaughter, causing a maritime accident and abandoning ship before all passengers and crew had been evacuated.

He was not in court on Thursday.

Prosecutors have argued his recklessness was to blame for the fate of the giant ship, which struck underwater rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio on the night of January 14, 2012, and toppled over.

The violation of the ancient code of the sea which states a captain must be the last man off a sinking ship only accounted for one year of the sentence handed down by a three-judge panel in the Tuscan town of Grosseto.

During the first 19-month trial, Schettino was accused of showing off when he steered the ship too close to the island while entertaining a female friend.

The ship had been carrying 4,229 people, including 3,200 tourists.

Schettino's lawyers had insisted the accident and its deadly consequences were primarily due to organisational failings for which the ship's owner, Costa Crociere, its Indonesian helmsman and the Italian coastguard should have shared the blame.

They also argued that it was not the collision, but rather the chaos that ensued due to the ship losing power that was the direct cause of the deaths. Schettino could not be blamed for the mechanical failures, they said.

Costa Crociere avoided potential criminal charges by accepting partial responsibility and agreeing to pay a one million euro ($1.2 million) fine.

Five of its employees received non-custodial sentences after concluding plea bargains early in the investigation.
Tokyo (AFP) - Japanese exports recorded their biggest gain in more than two years in March, official data showed Thursday, in a sign of optimism for the world's third-biggest economy.

The strong result, which came in better than expected, backs up the view that Japan's economic growth is picking up steam.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday boosted its economic forecast for Japan, projecting a 1.2 percent annual expansion this year from a January projection of 0.8 percent. A key Bank of Japan business confidence also points to rising optimism among big manufacturers.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been trying for years to rejuvenate growth and end an extended period of on-and-off deflation through a policy blitz of easy money, stimulus and reform.

Exports expanded 12.0 percent in March to 7.2 trillion yen ($66.12 billion), the strongest expansion since January 2015 and the fourth straight monthly gain, according to the Finance Ministry.

"Japans production and exports are rising on the back of a global rebound in manufacturing," said Masaki Kuwahara, senior economist at Nomura Securities Co.

"In Asia, developing nations are doing well cyclically and thats directly helping Japan's exports."

Export gains were led by strong demand for auto parts and optical instruments, such as mobile phone parts and tools to make semiconductors, the ministry said.

The data comfortably beat the market's expectation for a rise of 6.2 percent.

Imports also rose 15.8 percent to 6.6 trillion yen, more than expected, mainly due to rising oil and coal purchases needed to fire the Japanese economy.

Japan has been less reliant on nuclear power since the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown crisis that led to many of its atomic reactors shutting down over safety fears.

The latest figures put Japan's trade balance at 614.7 billion yen, down 17.5 percent from a year ago.

"The upshot is that net trade should have provided another boost to Q1 GDP growth," said Marcel Thieliant, senior Japan economist at Capital Economics.

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Japan announces preliminary gross domestic product figures next month.

By regions, Japanese exports to top trade partner China rose 16.4 percent, while imports from the Asian giant expanded 10.3 percent.

Japan's exports to the United States expanded 3.5 percent, led by auto parts, but all-important vehicle shipments dropped 3.8 percent, the ministry said, as US new auto sales begin to show signs of losing steam.

-- Bloomberg News contributed to this report --
Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who heads the House Oversight Committee, will not run for reelection in 2018.

The Utah Congressman wrote on Facebook that he had made a personal decision to return to the private sector, claiming that he was confident that he would have been reelected by a wide margin.

For those that would speculate otherwise, let me be clear that I have no ulterior motives, Chaffetz said in a statement posted on his Facebook page. I am healthy. I am confident I would continue to be re-elected by large margins. I have the full support of Speaker Ryan to continue as Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. That said, I have made a personal decision to return to the private sector.

MORE: Why I Called Out Jason Chaffetz on Planned Parenthood

Chaffetz, who has served several terms in Congress, said he chose to announce his decision now to give other candidates the proper time period to build a successful campaign.

Since President Trump took office, Chaffetz, who flip-flopped on the endorsement of the President retracting it after the Access Hollywood tape but subsequently announcing he would vote for him, has faced angry constituents at town halls in his district.

In January of 2016, he told the Deseret News he would consider running for governor of Utah in 2020.

Im not going to be here forever. I would take a serious, serious look at running for governor, he told the paper. I want to go as hard and fast as I can in the House and then go home.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
John Leguizamo has a recurring bit in Latin History for Morons, the one-man show hes performing through April 28 at New York Citys Public Theater. Anytime hes insulted by another characterplayed, as they all are, by Leguizamohe stands on tiptoe, puffs up his chest like a threatened grizzly and demands, Do you know me, man? Its a memorable refrain, but its a red herring. The show only exists because of Leguizamos realization, a few years back, that he didnt know himself.

Although Leguizamo, 52, is well-known for movie roles like Benny Blanco from the Bronx in Carlitos Way and Tybalt in Baz Luhrmanns Romeo + Juliet, Latin History is his sixth one-man play. Its a primer on the history of people of Latin descent in the Americas, flavored by the performers raunchy humor, dance moves and spirited impressions, which range from his therapist to the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II. But its also a comedic lament for the pain of knowing how his peoples contributions have been minimized throughout American history.

If I would have read in a textbook as a kid that 10,000 [Hispanics] participated in the Civil War and Cuban women in Virginia sold their jewelry to feed the patriots, he says, people wouldnt feel so confident to disrespect me. I wouldnt feel as victimized, because I would go, Well, no! This is my country too.

Born in Bogota and raised in New York City, Leguizamo felt scorned from an early age. I had a lot of encounters with bullies, sometimes being the only Latin person in the neighborhood, he recalls. People always said, Why dont you go back to your country? What have your people ever done?' As a defense mechanism, he developed the sense of humor that would propel his interest in theater.

But when he tried to break into film and TV in the mid-1980s, he faced limited options. I went to college. Im an educated man, he remembers thinking. And all I can play are drug dealers, killers, servants? Facing a choice between negative representations or none at all, he decided on a third path, creating his own roles. When he staged his first play, Mambo Mouth, in 1990, to 70 spectators in folding chairs, he found an audience willing to listen. And not just any audience: among the crowd was one of his favorite playwrights, Arthur Miller. Leguizamo had found a stage where he might be taken seriously.

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Even as his opportunities onscreen expandedhe played a bohemian artist in Moulin Rouge! and voiced a lisping sloth in the Ice Age franchiseLeguizamo kept returning to the theater. The idea for Latin History came from his son, who in middle school began to experience the same bullying his father once had. The play interweaves Leguizamos lessons on pre-Columbian culture and Hispanic military heroes with his own quest to figure out how best to parent his child. Between those emotional moments and spontaneous eruptions into dancesamba, mambo, even an Irish jighe keeps the theater from ever feeling like a classroom.

The show is more than a rejoinder to bullies past and present. Its part of a body of work that responds to an industry that once told Leguizamo he could only play dangerous charactersan industry that has changed, he says, but not quick enough, not big enough. Three decades later, he sees power in his stories. Im writing this for me, because this is how I take care of myself, with how invisible we Latin people are in the media, he says. But soon after he begins to write, another question emerges: Who else is like me who is going to feel the same kind of healing from seeing Latin stories told?

Those stories feel more urgent than ever to Leguizamo, who says that between recent headlines about deportations and President Trumps rhetoric about Latinos on the campaign trail last year, my show has much more bite.

In the end, his research became more than fodder for a play. I feel so empowered now that I know my history, he says. Ive got facts, Ive got numbers, Ive got proof.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) suggested Exxon Mobil is crazy after in response to a report that the oil giant is seeking a waiver to resume projects in Russia.

Are they crazy? McCain tweeted Wednesday with a link to the Wall Street Journals report.

In March, McCain said the investigation into Russias involvement in the 2016 election needs to be handled by a special committee, criticizing Congress management of the case up to that point.Its a bizarre situation, McCain said. I think that this back and forth and what the American people have found so far is that no longer does Congress have the credibility to handle this alone.

Exxon recently applied to the U.S. Department of the Treasury for a waiver in order to continue its joint venture with Russian oil company PAO Rosneft, sources told the Journal. Exxon has been trying to gain access to the region around the Black Sea since 2015, according to the report.

Exxon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
I first met Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in 1992 when he was Minister of Trade. Appointed as his adviser, I soon realized that he had set himself up to an impossible mission.

While Colombia was waging a dire war against the drug cartels, Santos was looking beyond. Amid death, corruption and political divisions, I remember him saying, We need to add, not subtract.

This could well be the parable of his life. Throughout his career, he carefully avoided graduating his adversaries into enemies-and his enemies into bitter foes.

Years later, when then Defense Minister Santos greeted me back to freedom in 2008, he was not only inflicting major defeats on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) but also winning their respect.

Last year Santos received the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating an end to the Colombian governments 50-year war with FARC. And while I watched him accept it, I remembered the words he said to me back in 1992. Indeed he had been adding-bringing together friends and enemies to achieve what once seemed impossible: peace.

I pray that we in Colombia will live up to his legacy.

Betancourt is an author, activist and former presidential candidate held hostage by FARC for six years

This article was originally published on TIME.com
Attorney General Jeff Sessions (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions criticized a federal judges ruling on the White Houses travel ban Wednesday evening, implying a court based in Hawaii shouldnt have a say in federal policy.

Weve got cases moving in the very, very liberal Ninth Circuit, who, theyve been hostile to the order, Sessions said Tuesday in an interview with The Mark Levin Show on CNN. We won a case in Virginia recently that was a nicely-written order that just demolished, I thought, all the arguments that some of the other people have been making. We are confident that the President will prevail on appeal and particularly in the Supreme Court, if not the Ninth Circuit. So this is a huge matter. I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the President of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and Constitutional power.

The Justice Department head was referring to a ruling by Judge Derrick Watson last month that put a hold on President Trumps revised executive order banning immigration from certain countries.

The judges dont get to psychoanalyze the President to see if the order he issues is lawful, Sessions continued. Its either lawful or its not. Trumps statements during the campaign about wanting to keep Muslims out of the country have been pointed out by opponents of the executive order, who claim they reveal an unconstitutional religious bias behind the ban.

Hawaiis U.S. senators  both Democrats  rebuked Sessions for the comments.

Hey Jeff Sessions, this #IslandinthePacific has been the 50th state for going on 58 years, tweeted Sen. Mazie Hirono. And we wont succumb to your dog whistle politics. Hawaii was built on the strength of diversity & immigrant experiences- including my own. Jeff Sessions comments are ignorant & dangerous

Mr. Attorney General, tweeted Sen. Brian Schatz. You voted for that judge. And that island is called Oahu. Its my home. Have some respect.

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Its not the first time Trump or his team have called into question the authority of the judiciary. When a federal court in Washington ruled against the original travel ban executive order, Trump referred to Judge James Robart as a so-called judge. Robart was an appointee of President George W. Bush who was confirmed by the Senate 99-0. Last year Trump said Judge Gonzalo Curiel should recuse himself from a lawsuit involving Trump University because of his Mexican heritage, calling him a hater and total disgrace. Judge Curiel was born in Indiana to parents who were immigrants from Mexico.

Read more from Yahoo News:

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 Clinton campaign biographer on where she went wrong

 Victims of neo-Nazi trolling in Whitefish, Mont., strike back in court

 5 takeaways from Jon Ossoffs showing in Georgia special election

 Photos: Retrospective  Photojournalist Chris Hondros
The man accused of killing 30-year-old New York jogger Karina Vetrano blamed the murder on his emotions during statements made public in court Tuesday. Chanel Lewis, 20, said he lost it when he saw Vetrano running down a path in the borough of Queens in August.

I grabbed her by the shoulders I crouched over her and I punched her in the face multiple times, said Lewis, according to the testimony. I put both my hands around her neck and strangled her I grabbed both of her wrists and pulled her off the path and into the weeds.

She didnt do anything, he said. I was just mad at the time. I beat her to let emotions out. I didnt really mean to hurt her. It just happened. The accused killer said he got madder and madder as she fought back and strangled the jogger.

Lewis reportedly also asked one of the detectives to tell his mother he was sorry. Veta Lewis maintained her sons innocence when reporters questioned her outside the courthouse Tuesday.

My son was in no woods! she yelled.

Lewis pleaded not guilty Tuesday to first-degree murder and other charges, including sexual abuse, in the death of Vetrano. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

Vetrano left her family home in Howard Beach for a jog but never returned. Her body was later found among the weeds off a nearby running path, bruised, battered and half-clothed. Police mounted an extensive search for her killer before finally arresting Lewis in February.

Hes a demon, Cathy Vetrano, Karinas mother, said in February.

Following his arrest in February, Lewis asked police if he could speak to somebody in Vetranos family.

Im sorry for what I did, he said.

Lewis was scheduled to return to court July 13.

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Longtime Fox News host Bill OReilly will not return to the network following multiple accusations of sexual harassment against him, parent company 21st Century Fox announced Wednesday.

After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the Company and Bill OReilly have agreed that Bill OReilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel, 21st Century Fox said in a statement.

Heres what to know about the claims that led to his removal:

He allegedly paid settlements to women in exchange for their silence

On April 1, the New York Times reported that OReilly and 21st Century Fox had paid five women, who worked for OReilly or appeared on his show, a combined $13 million to keep them from pursuing litigation or speaking out about sexual harassment accusations against the OReilly Factor host.

The range of accusations included verbal abuse, unwanted advances and lewd comments.

Other women have since come forward

In addition to the five women who were paid settlements, two other women spoke to the Times about inappropriate behavior by OReilly, and more women came forward with sexual harassment accusations in the wake of the Times investigation.

Attorney Lisa Bloom is representing three women making complaints against OReilly, including radio host Wendy Walsh, an anonymous former Fox News employee and Caroline Heldman, who filed a new complaint to the Fox News hotline on Wednesday.

This is what happens when women speak our truth: we can slay dragons, Bloom said in a statement Wednesday, responding to OReillys departure. I am very proud to have stood with my brave clients who stood up for themselves and all the silenced women.

Fox News should have fired him in 2004 when the first complaint was made, but at least they did it now, Bloom said.

The accusations spurred an advertising exodus

Dozens of companies withdrew their advertisements from The OReilly Factor in the days following the initial Times report, facing pressure from customers and womens rights groups.

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The National Organization for Women (NOW) quickly called for OReilly to be fired and later praised his removal, while demanding an investigation into the culture of sexual and racial harassment at Fox News.

OReilly deserves this downfall, NOW President Terry ONeill said in a statement Wednesday. The many sexual harassment allegations leveled against him reveal a clear and ugly pattern of misogynistic behavior. It would be an insult to women everywhere to allow him to retain his coveted primetime television slot.

OReillys attorney has dismissed the accusations

OReilly has denied the merits of the harassment claims. The day before OReillys departure was announced, his attorney condemned the accusations as part of an orchestrated campaign to destroy the longtime host.

Bill OReilly has been subjected to a brutal campaign of character assassination that is unprecedented in post-McCarthyist America, attorney Marc Kasowitz said in a statement Tuesday night.

This law firm has uncovered evidence that the smear campaign is being orchestrated by far-left organizations bent on destroying OReilly for political and financial reasons, he said, without detailing the evidence. That evidence will be put forth shortly and it is irrefutable.

In a statement, OReilly called the claims completely unfounded.

BREAKING: Statement from Bill O39;Reilly, who is currently on a plane back from Italy >> pic.twitter.com/UCnUjNQSrS - Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) April 19, 2017

This article was originally published on TIME.com
By Edward McAllister and Lamin Jahateh BANJUL (Reuters) - After police arrested 57-year-old Gambian activist Solo Sandeng at a protest a year ago, witnesses said he was beaten to death and buried in an unmarked grave near a fishing village. Since then a new government has come to power, promising swift redress for alleged crimes committed during the 22-year rule of ex-president Yahya Jammeh, and nine intelligence officers are now on trial for the murder. Yet hope for justice is already giving way to frustration for Sandeng's family, as well as for relatives of the many other Gambians who disappeared before Jammeh fled the west African country in January. They are growing impatient with a justice system which, starved of funds, equipment and expertise, is buckling under a backlog of dozens of unsolved cases from the Jammeh era. Elation swept Gambia when Jammeh was forced out, and the new government of President Adama Barrow has promised to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in six months, modelled on similar bodies in other African nations. But Sandeng's family, discouraged by repeated adjournments in his case to let prosecutors gather more evidence, says that is not enough. "We need justice to be served, then we can reconcile," his daughter Fatoumata told Reuters, wearing a black veil and a white t-shirt with a picture of Sandeng's face. Police finally found and exhumed Sandeng's body last month, helping his case to become one of just a few to have made it to court so far. But Fatoumata also sympathises with those relatives who do not even have the consolation of a trial. "We have many families who have gone through this for many years and they need justice now," she said in Banjul. "You can't tell them to wait until you feel like doing something." Delays are common in even the best funded justice systems, but the problems of Gambia, a tiny agricultural economy, are profound. Former victims have described arbitrary detention, torture and often death for political opponents under Jammeh, which rights groups argue must either be addressed at home or at the International Criminal Court (ICC).[nL5N1DY0DR] But saddled with over $1 billion in debt - more than Gambia's annual economic output - the country is struggling to function at all, let alone pay for a wave of complex trials. "The economy is a shambles," Finance Minister Amadou Sanneh told Reuters. "There is a serious deficit in the funding of judges." LAWYERS WITHOUT COMPUTERS The European Union pledged 75 million euros ($80 million) to Gambia weeks after Jammeh left, resuming aid cut off in 2014. But this will go towards food security, roads and jobs. Meanwhile, lawyers often have no internet access or find themselves unable to make hard copies of important documents for a lack of printers. "Imagine a lawyer without a computer. It slows us down," said Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou. "Lawyers make more money in their private practice than working for us." Tambadou said the Sandeng case was brought to trial too fast and not enough evidence was collected, but he urged patience. "The weight of expectation is too high. Twenty-two years is not 22 days," he said. "We have inherited a broken justice system and we must rebuild that system." Despite the delays and cash shortages, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission aims to start public hearings by the end of the year. Gambia did not suffer a civil war or large scale ethnic conflict like other African countries that have set up such commissions - Jammeh fled to Equatorial Guinea after refusing to accept an election defeat by Barrow - so achieving truth and reconciliation should in some ways be a less daunting task. Still, Gambia will need to learn from others' experience. Opaque and costly, Ivory Coast's commission was criticised for not offering specific recommendations to help solve differences that linger after thousands died in a short 2011 war. Liberia's similarly failed to make many citizens feel that crimes committed during a decade of civil war had been redressed. Others have had more success. In Sierra Leone, a U.N.-backed commission uncovered new facts about the roots of a nine-year civil war that ended in 2002, helping to avoid further conflict. In Rwanda, where 800,000 died in a 1994 genocide, community tribunals successfully tried abuses. But rights groups say there can be no substitute for effective trials, although Jammeh has put himself out of the ICC's reach as Equatorial Guinea has not signed up to the court in the Hague. "The biggest danger for Gambia is that the commission becomes a talking shop with interesting dialogue about what happened without addressing the need for justice," said Human Rights Watch Africa researcher Jim Wormington. "It cannot be a replacement for justice." ($1 = 0.9327 euros) (Editing by Tim Cocks and David Stamp)
The latest in a parade of women accusing ex-Fox News pundit Bill O'Reilly of inappropriate behavior says she feels "triumphant" that the man who she says referred to her as "Hot Chocolate" has lost his job.

Read: Fox News Erases Bill O'Reilly's Name From 'The Factor'

Perquita Burgess, a temp clerical worker at Fox News in 2008 told The View Thursday that O'Reilly used to making a grunting noise when he passed her.

He always walked past my desk and he made like a grunting noise, she told the panel.

She originally dismissed it as a type of "spasm of sorts," but as time went on, I notice if no one was around, he would make that noise.

I just stopped looking at him, paying him any attention," she said. "He had no reason to be at my desk at all. He walks past and says, Hey, Hot Chocolate. But he doesnt look at me when he said it.

She added: I didnt respond. I was mortified because not only was it sexual, I took that as a very plantational remark.

She further clarified that this harassment was different than when someone pays you a compliment and they still treat you as a colleague. OReilly was grunting at me and groaning and leering.

How did you feel when you heard he was fired? host Whoopi Goldberg asked.

I felt triumphant, Burgess replied.

There are more fresh allegations against O'Reilly.

Caroline Heldman, a professor at Occidental College in California was a regular guest on The OReilly Factor.

When I met him he said, When I went to college, professors didn't look like you, she told Inside Edition. He was reminding me in his world I am just a sex object that just talks on his show. He was leering at my legs and my chest. Insulting and flirtatious at the same time."

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Read: O'Reilly Out: Fox News Cuts Ties With Longtime Host After Numerous Harassment Allegations

Heldman claims O'Reilly blacklisted her from his show after they argued during a taping in 2011 and she said he called her "hysterical." She told him that "hysterical" is a sexist term.

She did make a guest appearance earlier this week on Tucker Carlson's Fox News program.

Hours after OReilly lost his job, his name unceremoniously scrubbed from the highest-rated show on cable news.

OReilly was coincidentally on vacation as rumors of his dismissal swirled. When the news broke, he was greeting Pope Francis at the Vatican during The Pontiff's weekly audience, a meeting that was reportedly arranged by New Yorks Cardinal Jim Dolan.

O'Reilly issued a defiant statement before flying back to America: It is tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims. But that is the unfortunate reality many of us in the public eye must live with today."

He added that he wished "nothing but the best" for Fox News.

"Bill O'Reilly just signed a new contract worth $25 million a year for the next four years," CNN media reporter Brian Stelter told Inside Edition. "Fox is not going to pay all of that, but they are going to pay one year's worth. So, they are going to pay him $25 million to never appear on Fox again."

O'Reilly denies all the allegations of sexual harrasment.

Watch: Bill O'Reilly Tells Viewers He's Taking a Vacation: 'We All Need R &R'

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Naqura (Lebanon) (AFP) - Lebanon's Hezbollah sought Thursday to show that Israel is building up defences in anticipation of another conflict, after a string of statements from Israeli officials warning of a potential confrontation.

The powerful Shiite group, which fought a devastating war with the Jewish state in 2006, brought dozens of journalists on a rare and highly-choreographed trip to the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel.

"This tour is to show the defensive measures that the enemy is taking," said Hezbollah spokesman Mohamed Afif, on a hilltop along the so-called Blue Line.

A military commander identified as Haj Ihab, dressed in digital camouflage and sunglasses, said the Israeli army was erecting earth berms up to 10 metres (30 feet) high, as well as reinforcing a military position near the Israeli border town of Hanita.

"Because their position is directly by the border and the enemy fears that the resistance will advance on it, they have constructed a cliff and additional earth berms and put up concrete blocks," he said.

"The Israeli enemy is undertaking these fortifications and building these obstacles in fear of an advance" by Hezbollah, he said.

As he spoke, an Israeli military patrol of two armoured cars and a white bus wended their way along a road behind a fence, as two yellow bulldozers moved earth nearby.

There has been rising speculation about the possibility of a new war between Israel and Hezbollah, a powerful Lebanese paramilitary organisation, more than a decade after their last direct confrontation.

The 34-day conflict in 2006 led to the deaths of 1,200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

Israel's army chief warned recently that in a "future war, there will be a clear address: the state of Lebanon and the terror groups operating in its territory and under its authority."

There have been periodic skirmishes along the UN-monitored demarcation line between Israel and Lebanon, longtime adversaries which are technically still at war with each other.

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- 'We don't fear war' -

Israel withdrew its forces from southern Lebanon in 2000, after an 22-year occupation.

Thursday's tour sought to paint Israel as afraid of a new conflict, while depicting Hezbollah as ready for war despite having committed thousands of its fighters to bolstering Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

Journalists were taken from the southern Lebanese town of Naqura, with Hezbollah fighters in full military regalia stationed along the route alongside the group's yellow flag -- despite an official ban on any armed paramilitary presence in southern Lebanon.

Faces smeared with black and green camouflage, they stood silently holding guns and RPG launchers.

On the demarcation line, officially patrolled by the Lebanese army and the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, there was little sign of tension.

The scents of wild thyme and yellow gorse mingled in the air, the landscape peaceful beyond the noise produced by the sudden scrum of visitors.

While eager to discuss the measures they say Israel has been taking, Hezbollah officials refused to be drawn on their own preparations for war, beyond insisting on their ability to fight if one comes.

Some analysts believe Hezbollah would be hard-pressed to fight on two fronts, Syria and Israel, but others note the group's combatants have also gained new experience during years of battle in the Syrian conflict.

"We don't talk about what the resistance will do," said Haj Ihab.

"But we do not fear war, we don't hesitate to confront it. We yearn for it and we will confront it if it is imposed on us, and God willing we will win."

Despite the bellicose tone, Afif insisted that Hezbollah believes "the chances of war are remote."

"These defensive measures show that Israel is the one who is afraid the resistance and it is not the resistance that is afraid."
Trumps new administration has made it pretty clear that its not cool with legal weed.

In the three months since Donald Trump took office, multiple members of his administration have spoken in veiled terms about some future possible action, hinting that the growing medical and recreational marijuana industry might suffer some federal restrictions, if not a fatal crackdown.

So, how does the young marijuana industry, which a large majority of Americans support, hope to stand its ground as Trump and his band of merry anti-marijuana men sharpen their knives to potentially gut it?

Interestingly, people in the industry don't seem extremely concerned so far.

"[I]n the long run, there is absolutely nothing that can be done to halt the progress of cannabis," said Max Simon, founder and CEO of Green Flower, an educational platform to spread awareness of marijuana and its benefits. "It's become too popular, too supported, and in many cases, too effective to keep the lid on for too long. So even if it gets uncomfortable in the short term, legal cannabis is here to stay."

But that hasn't stopped the new administration from shooting the opening volleys in what may prove to be a dynamic shift in this young economic force.

Pot shots fired

The candidates did not speak a great deal on marijuana during the 2016 campaign, despite the fact that four states legalized recreational marijuana and four legalized medical on election night. However, as Trump began to fill his administration in those bleary days after his electoral victory, it became clear that legal pot might not face the greatest of welcome from the new federal authorities.

In particular, new Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was an ardent and early supporter of Trump's bid for the White House, is well known to get his dander up when it comes to the dankness. As a prosecutor in the 1980s Sessions, who is named after a Confederate general, once said that he thought the KKK was, "OK until I found out they smoked pot."

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He vocally opposed the blossoming of the marijuana industry and regularly criticized Obama's attorney generals for not enforcing the fact that the drug remains a Schedule I Controlled Substance by the federal government  on par with heroin.

And now he's exactly in the right position to make things very difficult for the marijuana industry, with the weight of federal, and ultimately state law enforcement behind him.

It didn't take long for Trump's administration to get comfortable in their Cabinet before cracks began to show in the new president's patience for pot. Though it has only been mentioned a few times, each reference to the marijuana industry has suggested the government's interest in tightening restrictions on it.

At the end of February, Press Secretary Sean Spicer spoke out against recreational marijuana, saying that there would be "greater enforcement of it."

This sentiment has intensified over the past few weeks as Sessions set up a special task force on April 5 aimed at reducing violent crime. The memo that announced the task force explicitly states that it would make sure states' marijuana policies aligned with the federal's own aims of tackling violent crime. All this disregards the fact that no credible studies have shown a link between marijuana and violent crime.

Then, just over the weekend, Department of Homeland Security head John Kelly said at a speech in George Washington University that the feds wouldn't mess around when it came to weed, saying: "Its use and possession is against federal law and until the law is changed by the U.S. Congress we in DHS are sworn to uphold all the laws on the books."

With so much seeming to threaten the very future of the marijuana industry, you'd think people working in it and around it would be walking on eggshells, but most of the people we spoke to seemed downright optimistic.

The industrial resolution

Currently, 28 states allow medical marijuana usage and eight have legalized recreational use. The recent embrace of legal pot jumpstarted a multi-billion dollar industry that has injected states with millions in tax revenue. The marijuana industry is also expected to create more jobs in the next few years than the manufacturing industry, according to a study by New Frontier Data.

It's a new and growing economic behemoth that's just getting started  if Trump and his administration allow it to go forward, that is. For all the talk along the campaign trail about states' rights, Trump and Congress still have the power of the Constitution's Supremacy Clause, which gives them the power to tell states what they can and can't legalize.

The federal chatter would seem enough to harshen even the deepest of mellows. Yet those working in the industry aren't worried. Insiders like Simon believe that the people who voted for legalization and enjoy it will not be happy with any federal crackdown.

"If the government plans to start restricting people's access to cannabis because of out-date information, I can promise you that our audience will fight back with the knowledge they have gained through us," Simon said. "We feel like we represent the positive aspects of cannabis here at Green Flower, and I'm certain our tribe would lend their time and energy to make their voices heard should the government start to go against state wishes."

Many, like cannabis media consultant Jim Walsh, think the government's energies would be better spent elsewhere.

He, like many others, believe that decades of negative information spread about marijuana has led to the continued antagonism between legalization efforts and the government.

"People like Jeff Sessions, they've had propaganda delivered to them for years. It's become part of their reality," Walsh said. For the Attorney General's part, Sessions even said recently how surprised he was that Americans didn't agree with his opinions on legal weed.

Simon agreed that educating people is one of the best avenues towards securing a stable future for the industry.

"Most people have been told for decades that this plant is evil, so it makes sense that our current administration believes they need to 'protect us' from it," he said. "So while it can be very frustrating and even scary to hear how the current administration plans to roll back adult-use legislation, we need to be patient with them and continue to take every opportunity to educate them about the truth."

On the policy side, Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, agreed having discussions with lawmakers remains the most important thing the industry can do.

"Organizations and businesses are reaching out to lawmakers and we're encouraging them to meet with the administration," he said, saying they will continue their mission to, "... lobby in congress for federal change to build support in congress that would support legislation that would protect legal marijuana."

But in regards to the administration's talk, Tvert said that their work has remained relatively unaffected.

"Not much as changed yet for the Marijuana Policy Project," Tvert said. "We're answering questions more about this than we were before."

Investors are still willing to invest

You'd think that investors in weed businesses would take the federal government's threats to heart and not take a chance on putting money in an entire industry at risk. But the investors we talked to seem only a tad more concerned than the industry folks. They're basically nonplussed.

"We're cautiously optimistic." Alicia Syrett, founder & CEO at Pantegrion Capital LLC and an investor in a few satellite cannabis businesses, said about the investment community. "There's a huge number of factors pushing for the growth of the cannabis industry."

She mentioned the global push for legalization in Canada and Europe, the speed of the industry's growth, the "very strong" consumer demand, and the medical benefits that can be derived from it.

Although the government is talking tough on it, Syrett said that a future with marijuana is basically unavoidable.

"What people are feeling right now is a lot of anxiety, but the cat's out of the bag," she said. "Moving this back is going to hurt a lot of people."

Syrett said that the administration's language certainly gives those interested in backing marijuana businesses pause, but it doesn't change the resonate momentum that has been building over the past decade.

"Of course, these circumstances will make investors more cautious, but it's still a massive, multi-billion dollar industry and consumers want it," she said. "I feel like this is a hard battle to pick."

As for what the marijuana industry could do to improve its position in the administration's eyes, Syrett said that some pointed information should be spread on how it is helping the American economy.

"There are cannabis funds to advocate for job growth from the industry," she said. "I'd probably highlight the job growth aspects."

Jeanne M. Sullivan, a New York City-based investor and advisor in the cannabis industry, had basically the same insights.

"My view in a nutshell: the voices of the 28 states that have voted for medical marijuana are so loud now," she said. "And what about the thousands of new jobs that are being created, revenue, and tax revenue in the eight Adult Use states? The current White House team cannot overlook that."

So, where's this Trump train actually headed?

As with many things, it's difficult to tell where exactly Trump stands on this, particularly since the buck stops with him.

One of Trump's few mentions of marijuana came during a February 2016 interview with ousted no-spin-zoner Bill O'Reilly on Fox News.

There, he said this decisive sentence: "I think it's good and, in other ways, it's bad."

Previously, he had said at a rally in late 2015 that states should have the right to legalize marijuana if the voters approve it.

But really, with his cabinet appointments and his continued silence on the matter, it appears as if the issue of marijuana legalization isn't a high priority for the president.

Additionally, Trump continues to receive financial backing from those staunchly against any sort of legal pot.

It came out this week that very rich Nevadan Sheldon Adelson donated $5 million to Trump's inauguration. This same savvy dude also donated millions to anti-marijuana campaigns in Massachusetts, Florida, and his home state last year. He almost single handedly funded the Nevada anti-pot campaign. And his views on marijuana probably haven't changed just because a majority of Nevadans disagreed with him.

On the other hand, Roger Stone, a longtime ally and self-described "advisor" to Trump has been pleading with the administration to leave legal weed alone.

In February, he tweeted his resistance to Spicer's "greater enforcement" comments.

A crackdown on legal marijuana in the states will cost thousands of jobs & bankrupt local govt- huge mistake #StatesRights @realDonaldTrump  Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) February 24, 2017

He wrote a blog post on March 31 about how legalizing marijuana is a state's right. And then today, possibly in celebration of 420, he tweeted again at the president that the "people have spoken."

The people have spoken @realDonaldTrump. Don't let Jeff Sessions' draconian views on 420 run roughshod over states. https://t.co/pDPzvQ8XmS  Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) April 20, 2017

In responding to our request for comment, the Justice Department offered remarks that Sessions had made previously on his department's efforts to reduce violent crime.

"Its not recreational. It can be destructive, and it consistently is destructive," he said about marijuana. "Lives are at stake, and were not going to worry about being fashionable, in my view at this point in time. Were going to see, and were already seeing the death and destruction that results from the prevalence of drugs in America... So were going to have to stand out and confront that... Our nation needs to say clearly once again that using drugs is bad  it will destroy your life."

Whichever way the winds blow Trump's ultimate decision, people within the industry hold tight to spreading education, eliminating misinformation, and trumpeting the will of the people.

"Cannabis isn't killing people out there," Walsh said. "Alcohol is killing people. Cannabis isn't killing people."

If the administration does clamp down on the new economic juggernaut, it's fair to say that it will have to contend with many, many upset voters.

"Most people, including the government, have a very out-dated picture about who uses cannabis. It's the stereotypical stoner," Simon said. But the truth is that cannabis users are everyone. It's grandma and grandpa, it's your nurse, it's your teacher, it's your favorite athletes, and everyone in between."

WATCH: Relax with a Weed Facial
You've filed your taxes, and while the chance of being audited is slim, you still could get a letter from the IRS.

More than 1.6 million taxpayers were notified of math errors alone last year, topping the 1 million who were audited, the IRS says.

If an IRS missive lands in your mailbox, open it as soon as you get it. Let your tax preparer know about all but minor issues. Respond within the prescribed periodusually 30 daysand put your answer in writing. Include photocopies of your evidence.

If the notice mentions name misspellings or wrong Social Security numbers, check your return and call the IRS with the proper information.

Here are some of the notices you could receive:

Overpaid taxes. Notice CP 49 tells you when the IRS applies any overpaid taxes to other taxes you owe. It requires no action on your part unless you disagree with the amount.

Mismatched information. If the interest reported on your 1040 isnt what your bank or brokerage reported, youll get Notice CP 2000 outlining the discrepancy. If you sold stocks at a loss, you may have assumed that you didnt have to report the transaction because you didnt profit. But the IRS sees only the brokerages record of sale and assumes the entire amount is taxable until you prove otherwise.

If your claimed estimated tax payments differ from the amount the IRS received, expect to get Notice CP 23, "Estimated Tax Discrepancy, Balance Due."

To correct those errors, write a letter explaining the discrepancy and attach the evidence, such as W-2s, canceled checks for estimated payments, and bank and brokerage statements. If you find that you made a mistake, send the signed notice back with your check.



Correspondence audits. If the IRS sees a red flag on your returnsay, a questionable business deduction or big increase in charitable donations over last yearit will request detailed backup information. For example, if your business mileage is questioned, send pages from a mileage log to support your claim. Respond to the IRS within 30 days or youll lose the deduction.

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Audit request. If you do get an audit request notice, take it to your tax preparer or find a qualified certified public accountant or enrolled agent, a professional authorized by the IRS to prepare tax returns. You can find someone to help you through the American Institute of CPAs or an enrolled agent at the National Association of Enrolled Agents. Either can represent you before the IRS.



One common audit trigger is underpayment of quarterly estimated taxes by the self-employed. To avoid it, pay roughly what you paid last year split into four payments, recommends Patrick Astre, founder of Astre Planning, a tax and financial planning firm in Shoreham, N.Y.

Balance-due notices. If you receive CP 14, "Balance Due, No Math Error," the IRS is claiming that you underpaid your tax bill. "This is your first warning that the IRS is looking for money," notes Karla Dennis, an enrolled agent and principal of Karla Dennis and Associates, a tax consultancy based in LaPalma, Calif.

Responding on time wont reduce your tax liability or the interest accrued since the filing deadline, but it may eliminate penalties. If you dont respond, youll get notice CP 501, "Reminder Notice - Balance Due," marking the start of the IRS seizure process.

Dennis recommends calling the agency immediately to set up a payment plan if you cant pay the money all at once. Otherwise, expect notice CP 504, "Final Notice - Balance Due," the last one before the IRS begins to levy your accounts. You have 10 days to respond before the IRS can start taking action.

Final notice and intent to levy. Notice CP 90/CP 297, "Final Notice - Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing" is serious business. The IRS is telling you that it plans to hold your bank account hostage. You have 30 days to file an appeal. Again, turn to an expert and provide all the records you can find. "Youve got to cooperate," Astre says. "You stop a train by getting onboard and applying the brakes, not stopping in front of it."





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The White House said Tuesday that it will reach out to the Vatican to set up a meeting of President Donald Trump with Pope Francis during the presidents visit to Italy in May to participate in the G7 summit of leaders.

However, the White House also mentioned that nothing has been confirmed or scheduled yet.

"We will be reaching out to the Vatican to see if an audience with the pope can be accommodated," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.

"We would be honored to have an audience with his holiness," he added, according to the Telegraph.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke told AFP "as of the end of last week we had not had an official request for an audience but for sure we would welcome it."

Before attending the G7 summit of leaders in Taormina, Sicily, Italy on May 26-27, Trump has been scheduled to be a part of a NATO summit in Brussels.

The 11 former American presidents before Trump have met with the Pope, however Trumps meeting could be a little unusual as the two have quite a history of differing on terms of world view.

"Anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian," Pope Francis told journalists last year while responding to a question about the presidents anti-immigrant stance.

Trump reacted to his comment at that time and said "For a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful."

Trump has been meeting several world leaders since he took office.

During the presidents first weekend in the White House, he spoke to leaders of the countrys neighbors over the phone to schedule meetings with them. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke over the phone for the first time with the U.S. president.

Theresa May was the first foreign leader to meet Trump face-to-face in January soon after the president took office.

When I sit down, I think the biggest statement that will be made about the role of women is the fact that I will be there as a female prime minister  prime minister of the United Kingdom  directly taking to him about the interests that we share, she told BBC One at that time.

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Trump met with the Mexican President Pena Nieto on Jan. 31. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with the president in February. Trump also met with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister in February soon after his meeting with Trudeau.

Recently the president met with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the leaders first visit to the United States on April 6-7.

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By Karen Sanje LILONGWE (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Malawi has tightened its border controls to stop profiteers smuggling much-needed maize out of the country in search of higher prices. Months of drought had left more than a third of the population reliant on food aid, and the government last month invoked the Special Crops Act, which bans the export of some crops. The government deployed soldiers to seal its porous borders with Tanzania and Zambia, and impounded trucks that are smuggling out the staple crop in pursuit of more profit. Malawi police have also been searching vehicles on roads that lead to the borders. The size of the trucks stopped by the police suggests that large-scale traders may be involved. Over a period of two days, we impounded 26 trucks loaded with white maize as they were heading to Chitipa (a district bordering Zambia)," said Enock Livasoni, a police spokesman in Karonga district, which borders Tanzania. Police in Chitipa detained at least 17 similar trucks carrying white maize last month, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Severe floods in 2015, followed by major drought in 2016, left 6.7 Malawians out of a population of 17 million in need of food aid, according to U.N. agencies. This year's harvest has recently begun and has eased the situation, although the World Food Programme said updated hunger figures were not yet available. Its emergency food aid operations ended last month, as planned. CHASING THE MONEY International aid agencies in Malawi say maize smuggling has increased as traders seek the higher prices paid in Kenya and Democratic Republic of Congo. Severe drought in Kenya has left some 2.6 million people in need of food aid, and a protracted crisis in war-torn Congo means some 6.7 million rely on food aid. Local groups question whether corrupt police officers have been involved in the smuggling, particularly in Chitipa and Karonga districts. "The way things are happening is as though the police are complicit in this act," said Grecian Mbewe, district coordinator for Chitipa and Karonga at the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, a non-governmental organisation. Deputy spokesman for the northern region police headquarters, Maurice Chapola, denied the corruption claims. "If those making the allegations have evidence, let them come forward with names of the corrupt officers and we shall forthwith investigate and prosecute these officers, Chapola said in a telephone interview. DWINDLING SUPPLIES Malawian farmers are required to sell their surplus to local vendors and traders. Traders resell it across the country, or to the National Food Reserve Agency, which stores maize and releases it mainly in response to humanitarian crises. Traders can only export maize, the countrys main staple crop, if they have special clearance from the government. Such clearance has not been granted since 2008, when Malawi started experiencing a downturn in its harvests. Maize smuggled to Zambia and Tanzania - from where it can be sold to other countries - fetches higher prices than at home. A 50kg bag of white maize sells on average for 11,000 Malawian kwacha ($15) in towns and cities in Malawi. Journalists in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, meanwhile, say that the same amount fetches the equivalent of 17,000 kwacha ($23). If such smuggling continues, local (maize) supplies will continue to dwindle," said Mbewe. As a result, the poor will not be able to afford the price of (maize) which will rise with any increase in demand, he added. ($1 = 717.7900 kwacha) (Reporting by Karen Sanje; Editing by James Baer, Alex Whiting and Lyndsay Griffiths.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women's rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate)
On Saturday, scientists and their supporters will leave the sanitized comfort of their labs and academic environs to march in Washington and more than 400 other cities and 100 countries around the world. It all started with a tweeted picture of a child holding a pro-science sign at the Jan. 22 March for Women, followed by health educator Caroline Weinbergs tweet, Hell hath no fury like a scientist silenced, and swiftly grew into the largest protest since the womens event.

Its a very big, twofold gamble on their part. First, reckoning that the typically apolitical and highly government-dependent scientific community will break with their tradition of political silence in large-enough numbers to create a serious presence, rather than a pathetic disappointment. And second, wagering that the vision of tens of thousands of angry nerds and geeks will have the desired positive impact on policymakers and the public at large. Thats a tough one. While The Big Bang Theory may have enjoyed top TV ratings for the past decade, average Americans are leery of real-life Leonards and Sheldons and their discoveries.

Most of the leading scientific institutions in the United States are backing both propositions and urging their members to hit the streets on Saturday. From the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS, the publisher of Science) to the editorial board of Nature and the New York Academy of Sciences and its counterparts across the country, the admonishment is clear: Get out and march!

The 157,000-strong American Chemical Society has asked its members to conduct marches that will constitute a nonpartisan celebration of science, and a long list of professional societies echoed that sentiment. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists is backing the march, saying, The truth needs an advocate. The London-based Nature Cell Biology, a journal noted for controversies regarding the relative contributions of various cell receptors to triggered enzyme activity, told its readers that its time for scientists to become political, citing the potentially devastating double impact of Brexits limits on freedom of movement affecting immigrations for scientists and President Donald Trumps anti-science stances. A contributed article in a similarly staid American publication, The Chronicle of Higher Education, called upon universities to back the protest as a form of mass education, telling the world about the wonders of science.

Scientists have to be reminded that the response to a challenge to science is not to retreat to the microscope, to the laboratory, to the ivory tower, Rush Holt, CEO of the AAAS, said recently. This requires vigorous defense. The annual February meeting of the AAAS found session after session overcome by anger and angst as researchers and science educators tried to comprehend how America in 2017 had seemingly become as anti-science as Trofim Lysenkos Soviet supporters in the Kremlin in the 1930s to 1950s. Those Soviets blindly followed the idiotic agronomist Lysenkos pseudo-biological claims to purge and execute thousands of scientists across the USSR for the sin of believing in Charles Darwin, evolution, Gregor Mendel, and genetics.

Some protesting scientists might argue that sentiments today are even as inane as the Vatican trial of Galileo Galilei that on June 22, 1633, denounced the great astronomer for insisting that Earth orbits the sun, decreeing, The proposition that the Sun is the center of the world and does not move from its place is absurd and false philosophically and formally heretical, because it is expressly contrary to Holy Scripture. The proposition that the Earth is not the center of the world and immovable but that it moves, and also with a diurnal motion, is equally absurd and false philosophically and theologically considered at least erroneous in faith.

The deleterious effects were generational. Soviet leaders Josef Stalin and Nikita Khrushchev imposed Lysenkos crackpot theories for nearly four decades, sending to gulag slaughterhouses two generations of biologists. In 1997, I found physicians and scientists all over the former USSR unable to accept the most basic concepts of evolution and genetics, even allowing patients to die of hospital-acquired infections rather than concede that bacteria evolve under the natural selection pressure of inappropriate antibiotic use, making it impossible to treat infected post-op surgical patients. Similarly, the Vatican won in 1633, forcing the 70-year-old, nearly blind Galileo to recant his telescope observations of solar activity and planetary movement. Thankfully, science was the victor in the long run.

Yes, Earth is round and it orbits the sun.

Yes, your feet stay on the ground unless you use a lot of energy to leap, because of gravity.

Yes, the lettuce on your salad plate came from plants that grew in soil by converting carbon dioxide and sunlight into their roots, stalks, and leaves, expiring oxygen. Its called photosynthesis, a process the planets first bacterial life forms employed, drifting on the surface of the seas some 3.5 billion years ago, creating the oxygen-rich atmosphere you are now breathing.

Yes, creatures evolve under stress and genetic selection pressure, and that rate of evolution generally depends on the life forms reproductive rate. Those that reproduce, like viruses, over a few minutes time may genetically evolve in a matter of days; those that reproduce every 20 or 30 years (such as Homo sapiens) may take hundreds of centuries to evolve in significant ways.

There will be many issues driving scientists to march on Saturday, from their pocketbooks to the sheer joy of solving natures puzzles unhindered. Having taken my undergraduate training in biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, done graduate work in immunology at the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University, and postgraduate study at the Harvard School of Public Health, I am steeped in the firmament of the hypothesis-driven, reductionist view of life and its trillions of curiosities. But when I march it wont be the scientific method that drives me, but a few key characters and episodes in my life.

I will march thinking of a man who sat next to me some 30 years ago on a domestic flight, reading the latest edition of the American Spectator, published by the John Birch Society. When I told the businessman that I made a living writing about science, he proclaimed the entire endeavor of research an illegitimate recipient of taxpayers money, insisting that the only good science was done in service of corporate earnings. I asked, But havent you ever looked at a butterfly and wondered why it was brightly colored, or wandered through an orchard of blooming cherry blossoms and gasped at their glory, asking why and how such spectacular pinkness occurred? No, the man said emphatically, adding that the questions were stupid. And so I will march thinking of how astonished I was at the very idea of a human without a sense of wonder, recalling the eerie omen of bottom-line thinking about the utility of science that lay inherent in his attitude  one it seems our president is sympathetic to.

I wish when I had that unnerving conversation 30 years ago I had more facts on hand about the profitability of taxpayer-funded science. One U.S. agency alone  the National Institutes of Health (NIH)  issued 365,380 grants to scientists from 1980 to 2007, 9 percent of which resulted in patented discoveries and an additional 31 percent linked to patent applications. Among grants given for disease research, an astounding 35 percent led to patents. Not every patent translates into millions of dollars worth of profits, but a 35 percent patent rate in the research-and-development section of a technology or pharmaceutical corporation would be considered spectacular.

I will march thinking of a Soviet-trained immunologist I met in Irkutsk in the 1990s who insisted his people would never recover from the Cold War and build a decent democracy because Russians were, he said, genetically inferior remnants of Slavic humanity  the best having been systematically exterminated by tsarist pogroms of Jews and the Stalinist genocide of intellectuals and dissidents. That tsarist and Soviet slaughter had transpired was undeniable, but such baseless claims of genetic inferiority, coming from a powerful scientist, were shocking.

I will march recalling getting off a train in Surat, India, in 1994 amid an outbreak of Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague, to discover that the elite classes had abandoned the diamond-cutting city, along with all but five physicians, leaving pharmacies and clinics shuttered, with just one public hospital carrying the full outbreak burden. The poorer populace was abandoned to their fates out of mass terror over a microbe easily treated and prophylactically blocked with the worlds cheapest, mildest antibiotics.

From the first recognition of AIDS in 1981, I followed the expanding HIV pandemic all over the world, watching even more egregious nonscientific thinking and bigotry drive governments on every continent to institute policies against the human sufferers of the disease, rather than fund serious public health measures and basic research attacking the virus itself. When I march Ill be thinking of the 18 million people who are kept alive each day by science and its discovery of effective anti-HIV drugs.

Ill also be marching with heroes in my heart. Jonas Salk, a scientist who discovered the first polio vaccine and a generous and delightful human being. Ill also be thinking of another polio-fighting hero I had the honor of meeting recently  Pakistani rock star Salman Ahmad, who inspires parents to vaccinate their children despite Taliban assassinations of more than 150 immunization workers.

Ill be thinking of Dave Keeling, who in 1953 had the crazy idea that carbon dioxide levels were rising all over the planet due to the surge in automobile use and pushed for funds to create a remote, high-altitude measuring station to capture CO2. In March 1958, Keeling launched his measuring station atop Hawaiis Mauna Loa volcano, recording a CO2 concentration of 313 parts per million (ppm). He tested and logged what is now the Keeling Curve, and the monitoring continues all over the world. On April 15, Mauna Loa CO2 topped 409 ppm. When plotted over an 800,000-year span, the past 70 years clearly represent the most dramatic surge in carbon dioxide in planetary history.

No matter how severely governments, including the Trump administration and GOP-led Congress, slash science budgets and deny research findings, empirical reality eventually wins. History proves that hypothesis.

Lysenko claimed there was no evolution in a Darwinian or Mendelian sense, but adaptation. He allegedly proved this by growing a plant in a refrigerated environment, claiming that after a few growth cycles the plant adapted to the snowlike conditions and thrived. With the same ridiculous logic, the Ukrainian-born nutcase assured Stalin that Siberias vast tundra could support wheat production; as the grain plants adapt to the cold climes, they would provide rich harvests for the proletariat. Instead, of course, massive famines greeted the Soviets, so severe that incidents of wholesale starvation and cannibalism were recorded throughout the mid-20th century. Thanks to Peter Pringles terrific The Murder of Nikolai Vavilov, I will be thinking of the Russian geneticist who dared to denounce Lysenko as the biggest fraud in biology and paid for doing so with his life, starving to death in the still-notoriously brutal Saratov prison in 1943.

Our world is awash with dangerously stupid ideas, in rejection of evidence and serious science. Crackpots reign on the internet, of course. But worse, the very concept of expertise is under attack, Tom Nichols argues, risking that eventually both democracy and expertise will be fatally corrupted, because neither democratic leaders nor their expert advisers want to tangle with an ignorant electorate.

Ignorance is bad, but willful censorship of science is far more sinister. In his flurry of executive orders in January, Trump issued one forbidding researchers at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture to communicate their findings and evidence of climate change to the public. Over subsequent weeks, government websites for agencies as diverse as the EPA and NASA have been cleansed of data and news about pollution, climate change, and a variety of other scientific issues.

Many marchers will have been galvanized by EPA Secretary Scott Pruitts comments. Asked how significant human factors, such as burning fossil fuels, were as causes of climate change, Pruitt opined, I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do, and theres tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that its a primary contributor to the global warming that we see, prompting an immediate flurry of protests from top climate scientists.

For some protesters on Saturday it will be the White Houses immigration policies that brought them to the streets, limiting the free movement of graduate students, scientists, and physicians into the United States. Some will raise their voices in anger that Trump is the first president since World War II to deliberately forgo appointing a White House science advisor heading the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Surely some of the marchers will share my outrage over the rising anti-vaccine movement in Europe, Australia, Canada, and the United States, emboldened by Trumps appointment of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head a panel into the safety versus uselessness of child immunization. A few might have a fire in their bellies over the Republican-led congressional eight-month blockade of funding for Zika research and development, forcing both the NIH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to rob other disease programs in order to find resources to fight the new virus.

I have been disappointed by the decisions of prominent, financially comfortable senior scientists who doubt the dignity and utility of protest and decline to march. Perhaps comforted by their multiyear NIH funding or grants from private philanthropies, such as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, these senior lab bosses cant see it in their interests to rock boats and voice protest. But their junior scientists  undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and untenured faculty  give voice to very different sentiments. Even before Trump called for a $6 billion, 18 percent slash of the NIH budget  the single-largest reduction in biomedical science since the NIHs creation in 1948  the future was grim for young researchers.

In recent years, on average, a quarter of NIH research grants have met with approval, but only 17 percent have received funds. Funding rates were even lower for African-American and Latino applicants. And for all categories of race and gender, the worst odds of gaining funding were for scientists under 45 years old. The average age for the first grant as an independent researcher rose from 38 in 1980 to 45 in 2013, and less than 3 percent of scientists under 36 were able to obtain principal investigator grants to run their own labs. More private and government money underwrites research run by scientists over 65 than by those under 40.

As the White House and Congress take their budget knives to government science funding at the CDC, NIH, EPA, and other agencies, we risk destroying the future of American scientific discovery, letting the laboratories of today gray into tomorrow, locking talented immigrants out of the country and denying support to two generations of junior researchers. If the odds of a 21st-century Albert Einstein or Marie Curie obtaining funding for his or her own laboratory before reaching the age of 36 were only 3 percent before Trump, what will they be by this time next year  zero?

So as a graying baby boomer, I shall march for the millennials who delight in analyzing DNA sequences, dream of studying cosmic rays from the space station, spend their summers measuring melting Arctic icebergs, test batteries of drugs in search of one that can pulverize HIV, climb inside dark caves to figure out what is killing the worlds bats, make antibodies that attack cancer cells, and study communication among elephants. On Saturday, I march for science, for Jonas Salk, Salman Ahmad, Dave Keeling, Nikolai Vavilov, and for the entire generation of millennial scientists.

Photo credit: DAN KITWOOD/Getty Images/Cancer Research UK
Washington (AFP) - Police arrested seven pro-marijuana activists near the US Capitol on Thursday as they handed out free joints to mark "4/20 day" and highlight their effort to legalize pot.

US Capitol Police (USCP) said three adults were arrested near the Capitol and charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana, while four were charged with possession.

"Under federal law, it is unlawful to possess marijuana," police communications director Eva Malecki said in a statement.

"They were taken to USCP Headquarters for processing."

Among those arrested was Adam Eidinger, co-founder of activist group DCMJ aimed at cannabis law reform in the US capital Washington.

Eidinger was handing out the free joints to DC residents and congressional staff to mark April 20, the day on which pro-marijuana events, known as "4/20" rallies, are held worldwide.

The code 420 is most often used in North America, attributed to a group of young pot-lovers in the 1970s who met up at 4:20 pm.

Although marijuana possession is illegal according to federal law, local law in Washington as of 2015 allows possession of two ounces (56.6 grams) or less of marijuana for people 21 or older, as well as the transfer of up to one ounce.

DCMJ said they arranged the event on "non-federal land" near the corner of 1st St and Constitution Avenue NE, between the US Capitol and Senate office buildings.

"This is 420 legal activity where you give away cannabis in the District of Columbia," Eidinger said, referring to Washington by its formal name.

"On a DC sidewalk it's 100 percent legal," he said, arms handcuffed behind him, in a video of the arrest posted by the Washington Post.
A Texas woman created a wedding registry to celebrate the changing of her name  not to '"Mrs." but to "Dr."

Read: 'Bridesmaid of The Year' Throws Herself Out of Wedding Photo, Becomes Viral Sensation

Angie Hamouie 27, wanted to celebrate her commitment to her medical degree in the way others might celebrate their commitment to their significant other.

And thats why she created a save-the-date website for her event, "Graduwedding."

I really, as you can tell, love education, Hamouie joked, in an interview with InsideEdition.com.

Hamouie explained this was a way for her to celebrate her acceptance into Georgetown University to pursue her medical residency after graduating from medical school at University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

It was my dream since my first year of medical school to go to Georgetown University, she said. I wanted to declare my love from the top of a mountain about how happy I was that I was going to this place that Ive been working so hard and so long to go to.

So, as a way of explaining to people what the accomplishment means to her, she decided to host her graduation party in the form of a wedding.

It was a really big deal to me, that it wasnt just some average kind of party, Hamouie explained. I thought, Well, people go really big for their weddings, so if I pretended to marry my diploma, maybe that would convey how big of a deal this was to me.

And, while the next chapter of her life will be in general obstetrics and gynecology instead of with a husband, Hamouie said her celebration was equally as important.

Read: Man Poses for 'Maternity' Photo Shoot to Repay Wife After Accidentally Misnaming Their Daughter

[For a lot of women] theres pressure to pursue either a career or a marriage and when we really only celebrate one, that sends a subtle message about what were expected to prioritize, she said. Im really proud of this achievement. Im committed to what Ive learned and Im committed to using this knowledge to better my life and the lives of the people around me.

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Watch: Woman Lands Perfect Job And Poses For 'I Said Yes!' Photo Shoot With Her Offer Letter

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Mercedes has used the 2017 Auto Shanghai to show that it has big design plans for future generations of its smallest production car.

The Concept A is an incredibly bold reimagining of what is essentially the most conservative car in the current Mercedes line-up, from its sharp, intersecting coupe-esque lines to the jettisoning of the A-Class's hatchback in favor of a trunk.

"Our Concept A Sedan shows that the time of creases is over," says Gorden Wagener, Chief Design Officer Daimler AG. "With its perfect proportions and a sensual treatment of surfaces with reduced lines, it is the next milestone of Sensual Purity and has the potential to introduce a new design era."

What's more, this latest design study picks up exactly where the company's Geneva show car, the Mercedes-AMG GT Concept, left off, in more ways than one. As well as continuing to give the marque's existing and potential clients a taste of what to expect aesthetically from the next generation of cars to carry the three-pointed star, this concept is, to all intents and purposes, a future production car in all but name.

Mercedes has already confirmed that the GT Concept will be coming to market as a replacement for the CLS and expect a very similar announcement regarding the Concept A within the next 12 months.

Even with the continuing growth in demand for all things SUV, premium compact cars have never been more popular, and nor has the competition, particularly among German carmakers. And in recent years, from a design perspective at least, the Mercedes A-Class has been overshadowed by the BMW 2 Series and Audi A3.

However, the safe styling doesn't appear to have dented sales. The first-generation, wedge-shaped A Class sold over 1 million examples before it was retired in 2012, and according to Mercedes, over the past four years, all of its current compact models that share the same underpinnings -- the A Class, B-Class, CLA and GLA crossover - have clocked up combined sales in excess of 2 million units. And until now, the only option missing from this lineup was a compact, coupe-like sedan.

"Their success shows that our customers are absolutely delighted with the current generation of Mercedes-Benz compact cars," says Britta Seeger, the company's head of sales and marketing. "We are therefore extremely confident that the planned expansion will lead to a continuation of this success story."
By Sofia Menchu GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Javier Duarte, the former state governor of Mexico's ruling party who was arrested in Guatemala at the weekend, said in court on Wednesday he would not agree to be extradited until his lawyers were able to study a formal extradition request. "At this time, I can't agree (to extradition) until the formal extradition request arrives, and it can be studied by my defense team" said Duarte. "This doesn't mean I won't accept it, though." If Duarte agrees to be extradited, he could be back in Mexico within a month, according to Guatemalan justice officials. If not, it might take considerably longer. Duarte faces prosecution for embezzlement and organized crime in Mexico, where he was the governor of Veracruz state until last year. He has denied any wrongdoing. A lawyer for Duarte said shortly after the arrest the former governor would likely accept his extradition. The Mexican government has 60 days to present a formal extradition request to Guatemala. Duarte's defense team will then decide whether to agree to his extradition. He will remain jailed during that time. The Mexican Attorney General's Office said this week that Duarte's extradition could take up to a year if he resists. Duarte, who governed the oil-rich state of Veracruz for President Enrique Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), became a symbol of corruption in Mexico, and his case is highly politicized with elections looming. Separately, Mexico's Attorney General's office said on Wednesday that Javier Nava, one of Duarte's alleged partners in crime, suspected of corruption and ties to organized crime, has been detained in Barcelona with the help of Spanish police. Mexico has 45 days to formally present an extradition request for Nava's return to Mexico, the statement said. (Reporting by Sofia Menchu; Editing by Sandra Maler)
The irreverent, surreal style of humor in the "Monty Python" movies and TV series came, in part, from comedian Terry Jones, a member of the comedy troupe. But now, The Guardian has reported that Jones, who is 75, has a little-known form of dementia.

Jones was diagnosed in 2015 with a condition called frontotemporal dementia, The Guardian reported on Sunday (April 16).

But what is this type of dementia? And how does it affect the brain? [10 Things You Didn't Know About the Brain]

Dementia is a general term for a condition in which changes in a person's brain affect his or her ability to carry out everyday activities, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Although frontotemporal dementia may sound unfamiliar, it's in fact the second most common type of dementia, after Alzheimer's disease, in people under 65, according to the National Institute on Aging (NIA). About 10 percent of people with dementia have frontotemporal dementia, the NIA says. People with frontotemporal dementia typically develop the condition at a younger age, between 40 and 45, than people with Alzheimer's develop that disease, the Mayo Clinic says.

There are several types of frontotemporal dementia, but all affect parts of the brain called the frontal and temporal lobes, the NIA says. When a person has the disease, nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes become damaged and die, the NIA says. As this happens, these regions of the brain shrink.

Indeed, Jones described the disorder by saying, "My frontal lobe has absconded," according to The Guardian.

These regions of the brain are responsible for functions including planning, managing emotional responses, language skills and movement, according to the NIA. People with frontotemporal dementia experience symptoms related to these functions, with changes in their behavior, language abilities and movement, according to the University of California, San Francisco.

Which symptoms appear first depends on the part of the brain that is affected, the NIA says. For example, if the disease starts in the part of brain responsible for decision-making, a person's first symptom may be trouble managing money, the NIA says.

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Jones' first symptoms occurred when he had trouble remembering his lines during a performance in London in 2014, The Guardian reported.

Extreme changes in behavior and personality are also common signs and symptoms of the disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. These changes can include increasingly inappropriate actions, loss of empathy, and lack of judgement and inhibition, the Mayo Clinic says.

The cause of frontotemporal dementia in an individual is usually unknown, according to the Mayo Clinic. Although the disease has been linked to several genetic mutations that can be inherited, more than half of the people who develop the disease have no other family members with the condition, the Mayo Clinic says.

Originally published on Live Science.

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Silicon Valley is once again striking out at Donald Trump's immigration policy.

More than 160 tech companies asked a federal court on Wednesday to kill the president's latest restrictions on travelers from several Muslim-majority countries, Recode first reported.

SEE ALSO: Snap, Uber and Facebook file brief opposing Trump's travel ban

Facebook, Google, Amazon, Snap, and Uber are among the many tech giants backing the legal brief filed to Virginia's Fourth-Circuit Court of Appeals.

The document (which can be viewed in its entirety on Recode) claims the revised executive order would inflict "substantial harm on U.S. companies, their employees, and the entire economy."

The companies say it will hinder their ability to hire competitively, pose challenges for employees abroad, and give more incentives for businesses to leave the U.S., among other problems.

The argument is similar to the one some of the same tech companies outlined in a similar brief opposing Trump's first attempt at the travel ban, which was shut down by a federal judge earlier this year.

Silicon Valley leaders have also generally been critical of Trump's immigration policies in public statements.

Trump issued another executive order on Tuesday that called for the federal government to re-examine its policy for H1-B visas granted to high-skilled workers. The move could also have big implications for the tech industries, which employs thousands of foreign nationals.

WATCH: Eric Trump is now a front-runner for the Most Oblivious Thing Ever Said About the Internet by Anyone, Anywhere
Yangon (AFP) - A 26-year-old British man wanted for the murder of a compatriot in Myanmar is living freely in Scotland because the Southeast Asian nation has yet to request his arrest and extradition, according to UK authorities.

The revelation raises fresh questions over Myanmar's lukewarm response to the death of Gary Ferguson, 47, whose battered body was found inside his Yangon apartment in November.

Harris Binotti, is alleged to have killed Ferguson -- a fellow teacher at an international school in Myanmar -- after an argument.

Binotti fled Myanmar soon after Ferguson's death.

But in the last week he was photographed by a British newspaper living openly in Scotland, prompting his victim's family to ask why he was not already in custody.

Scottish prosecutors and police say they are yet to receive any extradition request from Myanmar, the investigating country.

"Police Scotland has no authority to arrest anyone at this stage," Scotland's police force said in a statement, adding it would "monitor any ongoing risk" Binotti might pose.

"The matter is being investigated by the Myanmar authorities and it is for them to comment on any extradition request," the Crown Office, Scotland's prosecution department, added.

Binotti was only placed on Interpol's "Red Notice" wanted list in April, some five months after the murder.

But Myanmar would still need to request UK authorities to make an arrest and extradite, a process that would require them to submit some of the evidence against Binotti and make diplomatic representations.

British police would also need assurances the death penalty was off the table as they are banned for helping with any capital punishment cases.

Police in Myanmar were unable to say what steps had been taken to pursue the suspect overseas.

Britain and Myanmar do not share an extradition treaty, however, individual cases can still be negotiated between the countries.

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Toe Myo, a police officer in Yangon's Kyauktada township where the murder took place, said his department had filed an arrest warrant that was sent to the national police in the capital Naypyidaw.

"We collected as much information as we could about the case and sent it there," he told AFP.

However police in Naypyidaw directed AFP's enquiries back to police in Yangon.

Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a government spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for Britain's Foreign Office said London was "in contact with the Burmese authorities responsible for the investigation" but declined to say how far the discussion had progressed.

Ferguson's relatives, who lobbied Myanmar for months to contact Interpol, have released anguished statements at their perceived lack of progress in the case.
The Stephenson case fell victim to several dead ends over the past six years. Mostly notably, perhaps, is the arrest of the couples nephew, Robert Charles Stephenson, for the murder of a 67-year-old woman from Southeast Indiana. Charles Stephenson, now 62, was sentenced to life in prison for beating Leigh Jennings of Aurora, Ind., to death with a pepper grinder and a frying pan in March 2012. Police said Charles stole $1,000 in cash from Jennings home to repay a debt to a family member. At one time, Charles was named a person of interest in his aunt and uncles deaths, but DNA from the scene wasnt a match.
Paris (AFP) - France's presidential election is being nervously watched by investors, who are quietly preparing for the aftershocks of a possible upset by far-right leader Marine Le Pen or leftwinger Jean-Luc Melenchon, both arch-critics of the EU.

"Who will govern? That's not really the question... Above all, what we are trying to assess is the risk for the euro," Samy Chaar, economist with the Geneva-based private bank Lombard Odier told AFP.

"Any question mark over the euro, the world's second most-used currency in terms of trade flows and savings, would constitute a huge risk for international investors and their clients," he said.

Investors most fear a victory by the virulently anti-EU Le Pen, who wants to exit the euro and hold a referendum on France's membership of the union.

Analysts say that coming after Brexit, a "Frexit" could bring down the curtain on seven decades of European integration.

"Should the FN (National Front) succeed in taking France out of the eurozone the impact on the French and European economies would be difficult to overestimate," Diego Iscaro, principal economist at IHS Markit research group, wrote in a note.

Polls currently show Le Pen and pro-EU centrist Emmanuel Macron most likely to go through from Sunday's first round to the May 7 runoff but Communist-backed firebrand Melenchon and pro-EU conservative Francois Fillon have narrowed the gap, making for a tight four-way race.

While forecasts show Le Pen being defeated in the runoff, the euro could also take a battering if Melenchon emerges as France's surprise next leader.

Melenchon has threatened to pull France out of EU treaties if Brussels does not agree to scrap rules on fiscal discipline, adopt protectionist trade policies and review the independence of the European Central Bank -- demands seen as anathema to Germany.

Some investors have begun looking at reducing their exposure to France but Eric Brard, global head of fixed income at Amundi asset manager, said the movement was minimal.

Story continues

"Markets like to scare themselves," he said, but so far there was "no sign of people hedging their bets or speculating."

Financial analysts said the show of sang-froid was the product of weeks of research by banks and analysts into the workings of the French constitution and electoral system.

They noted that even if FN leader Le Pen were elected it would be very difficult for her to take France out of the EU or euro without having a parliamentary majority -- something she would struggle to muster -- or changing the constitution.

- 'Black swan' scenario -

Christophe Dembik, head of macroeconomic analysis at Saxo Bank, described the atmosphere in trading rooms as "calm".

"But we need to be cautious because we don't want a repeat of (the fallout from) Brexit and the election of Donald Trump," he said.

Dembik called the prospect of a second-round duel between Le Pen and Melenchon a "black swan", jargon for a highly improbable event that would have a massive impact on markets if it occurred.

Some analysts fear it would spark a run on French banks and a sudden downgrading of France's debt that would push up its borrowing costs.

Benoist Lombard, managing partner of French wealth management firm Witam MFO, said he feared a possible capital flight to other eurozone members.

"Clients recently have been showing strong interest in (low-risk investment products) in Luxembourg, because they want to ensure their investments remain in euros," he told AFP.

- Installing 'airbags' -

Faced with the difficulty of forecasting the outcome of the first round and, beyond that, the runoff, most investors and wealth managers have already implemented safeguards.

"Everyone is getting ready in the same way," Chaar said. "Without necessarily changing the structure of their portfolios they're adding airbags that don't cost very much if all goes well but could yield returns if things go badly."

Some investors are falling back on strong currencies, like the Swiss franc, while others are taking out insurance to protect their euro investments against turbulence.

More than a sense of panic, analysts said foreign investors were showing signs of "weariness" with the euro after years of turbulence caused by wrangling over bailout deals.

"Some tell us it is the last time they will invest in euros because they are tired of the euro being in peril," one trader said.
When South Korea fills a presidential vacuum next month, analysts say the first order of business for its new leader will be to tame Donald Trump's aggressive approach towards the nuclear-armed North.

The impeachment of former president Park Geun-Hye -- who took a hard line on North Korea -- forced her out of Seoul's Blue House, giving the White House free rein in a crisis over Pyongyang's weapons programme.

Trump has told leader Kim Jong-Un that he's "gotta behave" while US officials have repeatedly warned that "all options are on the table", prompting dire threats of retaliation.

The North has made progress towards its goal of developing a missile capable of delivering a warhead to the US mainland, and speculation has mounted that it could conduct another nuclear test.

But in the South Korean race to succeed the now detained Park, both front-runner Moon Jae-In of the main opposition Democratic Party, and his only serious challenger Ahn Cheol-Soo are urging Trump to cool his position.

Both oppose any first strike by the US.

"Currently, South Korea has no president and its voice in the crucial security issue on the Korean peninsula has simply not been heard," said Hong Hyun-Ik, senior researcher at the private Sejong Institute.

"But when the next president comes in after May 9 election, he would urge Washington to coordinate closely with Seoul in talking about things such as pre-emptive strikes against the North", he told AFP.

Seoul National University political science professor Kang Won-Taek added that whoever wins, they will pursue dialogue with the North more actively than Park, and "seek to put a damper on harsh US rhetoric".

- 'Alarmist stories' -

The North has vast artillery forces deployed within striking range of Seoul, putting the South Korean capital at direct risk of catastrophe if a conflict escalates, even without the use of atomic weapons.

Washington has a treaty alliance with Seoul and has more than 28,000 troops in the South to defend it from its neighbour.

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It also announced the deployment of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and its battle group to the Korean peninsula -- described by Trump as an "armada" -- although it turned out Wednesday to still be thousands of kilometres away.

But despite headlines worldwide about crisis and the threat of war, South Koreans have remained calm.

They have become accustomed to the North's threats, which ramp up every spring when Seoul and Washington hold joint military exercises it condemns as rehearsals for invasion.

And an atomic test would be the sixth by Pyongyang, which says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against the threat of invasion.

Rather than relations with the North, the election campaign has been dominated by domestic issues including slow growth, youth unemployment and the powers of the country's family-led conglomerates.

In recent years, South Korean news outlets have been "falling over themselves to put out alarmist stories" over the North's nuclear development, commentator Kim Kap-Soo told a television talk show Wednesday.

"But this time, there seems to be an implicit agreement not to stir up this crisis."

- Say 'no' to the US -

Pro-US conservatives have ruled the Republic of Korea -- which was devastated by the 1950-53 Korean War -- for 57 of its 68 years.

But an opposition victory in the May 9 poll is a foregone conclusion in the wake of the sprawling corruption scandal that brought Park down.

Left-leaning Moon had 44.8 percent support in a recent Realmeter poll, with Ahn of the centre-left People's Party, an IT tycoon-turned-politician, second on 31.3 percent.

In a book published earlier this year Moon said the South should learn to say "No" to Washington. He was once chief of staff to former liberal President Roh Moo-Hyun, who sought "fairer and balanced" ties with the US.

Moon insists the US should not carry out any military action on the peninsula "without prior consent from South Korea", and has also said that as president he would be willing to visit Pyongyang to defuse tensions.

He supports continued sanctions on the North, but has switched positions on the deployment of the US missile defence system THAAD in the South, which has infuriated China.

Analysts have suggested that Washington and the outgoing government have sought to bring forward THAAD's arrival to present the new leader with a fait accompli.

Ahn, who describes himself as a fellow Wharton School alumnus of Trump's, said he would tell the US president that there must be no war under any circumstances.

He backs THAAD and, like Moon, supports negotiations with Pyongyang, saying: "While continuing with sanctions against the North, I would pursue dialogue for reconciliation, openness and reunification."
By Steve Holland and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump praised Chinese efforts to rein in "the menace of North Korea" on Thursday, after North Korean state media warned the United States of a "super-mighty preemptive strike." Trump told a news conference "some very unusual moves have been made over the last two or three hours," and that he was confident Chinese President Xi Jinping would "try very hard" to pressure Beijing's ally and neighbour North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs. While Trump gave no indication of what the moves might be, U.S. officials told Reuters that the United States was aware of a higher-than-usual level of activity by Chinese bombers, signalling a possible heightened state of readiness. The officials played down concerns and left open a range of possible reasons. Those possibilities included defensive exercises or Chinese concerns over North Korea. None of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, suggested alarm or signalled that they knew the precise reason for such Chinese activity. U.S. officials have been saying for weeks that North Korea could soon stage another nuclear bomb test, something both the United States and China have both warned against. Trump has taken a hard line with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has proceeded with nuclear and missile programmes in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions. The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Tensions have risen sharply in recent months after North Korea conducted two nuclear weapons tests last year and carried out a steady stream of ballistic missile tests. Trump, who took office in January, has vowed to prevent North Korea from being able to hit the United States with a nuclear missile. Trump has focussed his efforts on North Korea on trying to persuade China to put more pressure on its ally and could view any unusual Chinese military movements as supportive of this. He told a news conference with the visiting prime minister of Italy on Thursday that the United States was "in very good shape" on North Korea and that China's Xi, whom he met this month for a summit in Florida, was working hard to help. "We dont know whether or not theyre able to do that, but I have absolute confidence that he will be trying very very hard." Trump repeated a past comment that he had told Xi in Florida that China would make much better deal on trade with the United States "if you get rid of this menace or do something about this menace of North Korea." 'SUPER-MIGHTY PREEMPTIVE STRIKE' The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, struck an aggressive tone earlier on Thursday. "In the case of our super-mighty preemptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only U.S. imperialists' invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the U.S. mainland and reduce them to ashes," it said. Reclusive North Korea regularly threatens to destroy Japan, South Korea and the United States and has shown no let-up in its belligerence after a failed missile test on Sunday, which followed a huge display of missiles at a parade in Pyongyang. South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted an unnamed South Korean government source as saying that the U.S. Air Force had dispatched a nuclear sniffer aircraft on Thursday to the east of the Korean Peninsula in anticipation of a possible nuclear test. The U.S. Defense Department does not comment on deployments of the WC-135 Constant Phoenix aircraft used to collect samples from the atmosphere to detect and analyse nuclear explosions. The U.N. Security Council on Thursday condemned North Korea's latest failed missile test and demanded it not conduct any more nuclear tests. South Korea's acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, at a meeting with top officials on Thursday, repeatedly called for the military and security ministries to maintain vigilance. The South Korean defence ministry said U.S. and South Korean air forces were conducting an annual training exercise, codenamed Max Thunder, until April 28. North Korea routinely labels such exercises preparations for invasion. "We are conducting a practical and more intensive exercise than ever," South Korean pilot Colonel Lee Bum-chul told reporters. "Through this exercise, I am sure we can deter war and remove our enemy's intention to provoke us." William Perry, who served as U.S. defence secretary from 1994 to 1997 and negotiated with North Korea, said he did not believe Pyongyang was planning a surprise attack, despite the fiery rhetoric. But he warned: "They are doing a lot of bluster and a lot of threats, and they might misplay that hand and blunder into a war." (Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton, David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick in Washington, William James in London, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Idrees Ali in Riyadh, Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Kim Do-gyun in Gunsan, South Korea; Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Robert Birsel and Alistair Bell)
Photo credit: Matt Novak / YouTube

From Popular Mechanics

During a concert that was part of North Korea's celebration of President Kim Il Sung's 105th birthday anniversary, one video screen displayed a particularly noteworthy bit of computer-edited video. In at, a handful of ICBMs-which the country has fortunately been unable to successfully develop-envelope San Francisco in the flames of a nuclear blast.

Played at the climax of a song and met with a round of applause, the whole thing is exceedingly eerie, despite the unconvincing graphics:

Last weekend, North Korea seems to have canceled or delayed a sixth nuclear test, for which preparations appear to have been underway. North Korea did attempt a medium-range missile test though, but the missile failed mere seconds after launch.

Regardless of actual capabilities, this is not the first time North Korea has made explicit threats about nuking the United States, including a video that imagines a similar strike on Washington. And while North Korea's current stable of missiles pose little threat to the United States, they are certainly a threat to closer countries like South Korea. Should the country manage to develop an ICBM, its government clearly has no plans to be shy about what it might be able to do with it.

Source: Gizmodo

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2. Yes. The city should operate with a spirit of inclusivity. Residents will be responsive.

3. No. Public input can be problematic; rejection of suggestions can be divisive for residents.

4. No. Residents elect council members to make decisions on their behalf. No input is needed.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say whether public input would be more of a benefit or a hindrance.

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In another in the growing chorus of warnings against a rise in protectionism, the head of the OECD said Wednesday governments should defend free trade by making their economies more, not less, inclusive.

"It is time to move from playing defense on trade to playing offense," Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the 35-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said in an address.

His remarks delivered in Minnesota came as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank prepare to kick off their semi-annual meetings in Washington this week, where defending open trade and multilateral cooperation feature as key themes.

With anti-free trade views on display in France's presidential elections, Britain's 2016 vote to leave the European Union, and President Donald Trump's populist vows to erect retaliatory trade barriers, officials at major international financial institutions have expressed increasing dismay at rising protectionism.

Despite improving world economic growth, and the gains won through globalization and trade, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde last week warned of a "sword of protectionism" looming over the global economy.

In remarks delivered at the Economic Club of Minnesota, where he accepted an award for championing trade integration, Gurria acknowledged that many still face hardship in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis.

"Globalisation is not working well for everyone. We must do more to deliver greater wellbeing," he said.

He called for more training in skills, job promotion and infrastructure investments to help economies cope with some of the adjustments brought by free trade.

But Gurria he warned that imposing tariffs would be "a shot in the foot."

"It will put your small and medium-sized business out of business and encourage large businesses to send more jobs overseas," Gurria said.

"We must not back away from what we know is right  a free, fair, open, rules based, inclusive trading system that works better for more people."
Paris (AFP) - The killing of a policeman on Paris's Champs Elysees claimed by the Islamic State group rocked France's presidential race Friday with just two days to go before voting in the closest election for decades.

Bloodshed had long been feared ahead of Sunday's first round of the election after a string of attacks since 2015, and the shooting propelled the jihadist threat to the fore.

A note praising Islamic State (IS) was found near the body of the 39-year-old French attacker, who shot dead one officer and wounded two others before being killed by police.

The note bolstered IS's claim that the perpetrator, named as Karim Cheurfi, was one of its "fighters".

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen -- who is locked in a tight four-way contest with centrist Emmanuel Macron, conservative Francois Fillon and Communist-backed firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon -- moved quickly to present herself as the toughest of the four on terrorism.

The 48-year-old National Front leader called for France to "immediately" take back control of its borders from the European Union and deport all foreigners on a terror watchlist.

"This war against us is ceaseless and merciless," she said in a sternly-worded address, accusing the Socialist government of a "cowardly" response to the threat.

Fillon and Macron also hastily convened televised briefings, where they both vowed to protect the French.

"Some haven't taken the full measure of the evil," 63-year-old Fillon said, promising an "iron-fisted" approach.

Macron, a 39-year-old moderate whom other candidates have portrayed as inexperienced, warned against any attempts to use the attack for political gain.

"Let us not give into fear, let us not give into division," he said, telling voters he would be "unwavering in protecting you."

- IS note -

The gunman drew up alongside a police van and fired at around 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Thursday, sending tourists and visitors to the world-renowned boulevard running for their lives.

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After opening fire just a few hundred metres from the Arc de Triomphe monument, the gunman was shot dead while trying to flee on foot. A foreign tourist was slightly wounded by shrapnel.

In addition to the note praising IS, authorities found a Koran in the attacker's vehicle.

A statement by IS's propaganda agency Amaq said the attacker was one of its "fighters", identifying him as "Abu Yussef the Belgian".

But French authorities named him as Karim Cheurfi, a Frenchman living in the Paris suburbs.

The IS claim raised initial concerns that a possible second attacker could be on the loose.

On Friday, French authorities said a man sought by Belgium police, who was suspected of having planned to travel to France on Thursday, had handed himself in at a police station in the Belgian city of Antwerp.

French interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said it was "too early to say" if the man was linked to Thursday's shooting.

Cheurfi was known to anti-terror police, sources told AFP. He had been arrested in February on suspicion of plotting to kill police officers but released because of a lack of evidence.

He had been convicted in 2005 of three counts of attempted murder, two involving police officers, sources said. Three people known to him were being questioned by police.

- 'Exploiting' attack -

It was unclear how the election would be impacted by the shooting, which came days after two men were arrested in Marseille on suspicion of plotting an imminent attack.

The shooting follows a series of strikes around Europe in the last month, targeting Stockholm, London and the underground train system in Saint Petersburg.

Until now, surveys showed voters more concerned about unemployment and the economy than terrorism or security, though analysts warned this could change in the event of violence.

Macron and Le Pen had long led the presidential campaign but Melenchon and Fillon have closed in on them, with Fillon regaining some support lost to an expenses scandal.

Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve accused Le Pen of attempting to use the police killing for political gain, saying she was "seeking, as she does after every tragedy, to take advantage of it".

US President Donald Trump tweeted that the attack "will have a big effect" on the election.

- Chaotic scenes -

Shop owners and restaurant managers shepherded their customers to backrooms and basements when the shooting began on the bustling Champs Elysees.

"We heard the shots and people were running in every direction. But people were calm," said Lebanese tourist Zeina Bitar, 45, who was shopping with her children nearby.

France has been under a state of emergency for nearly a year and a half, with more than 230 people killed in jihadist attacks since the start of 2015.

The offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine were hit in January 2015, IS gunmen and suicide bombers killed 130 people in Paris the following November, and a Tunisian man rammed a truck through crowds in Nice last July, killing 86 people.

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The news that Bill OReilly had been fired brought back memories  not just to those women who had worked with the man, but also to those who had never even met him. Women who have had a version of a Bill OReilly in their lives  a man in power, who used that power over women with less. Women who have spent years, decades, listening to these stories  from their own friends and colleagues and from accusers of Supreme Court nominees, presidents and candidates, comedy legends, news executives, news anchors.

These memories dampened any feeling of vindication women might have felt at the dismissal of this particular man. Because, they have learned, the attention subsides but the behavior persists. Sexual harassment is already against the law. Its already against most corporate rules. It already creates outrage when its discovered, and it has cost a good number of men their jobs over the years. And yet  here we are again.

What will it take to make it stop?

There was much talk yesterday about technical fixes. Gretchen Carlson, who started the cascade of Fox News dominoes last summer when she sued then-chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, accusing him of firing her because she rebuffed his advances, believes that is a place to start. Yesterday she tweeted, The only way to end harassment is to shine a light on it. Ask Congress to pass the Fairness in Arbitration Act. No more silencing women!

There were also calls for more women at higher levels in corporations, to change the culture, as well as enforcement of existing policies, even  especially  when the offender is powerful and high profile.

Consequences for poor behavior should be predictable, reliable and certain, Melina Watts, an environmental activist in Calabasas, Calif., wrote during a robust and ongoing discussion on my Facebook page. Men who didnt learn this growing up, would soon figure it out.

But that leads to the glaring question, what leads men to act this way in the first place? And how to counteract that?

Story continues

My own first memories of the workplace harassment conversation were watching Anita Hills testimony at the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings in 1991, when I was a 30-something reporter at the New York Times  where an editor of mine had once complimented a front page story of mine by joking, Now people can stop saying you only got this job because you have great legs.

Former Fox News contributor Wendy Walsh, one of the accusers of former Fox News anchor Bill OReilly. (Photos: Anthony McCartney/AP, Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images)

The next morning, I read Anna Quindlens column  one of the ones that would go on to win her the Pulitzer Prize for commentary that year  about womens feelings of recognition and outrage as they watched.

Listen to us, that column began. You will notice there is no please in that sentence.

After news of OReillys dismissal broke, I emailed Anna to ask why so little had changed in 30 years. It has, she said.

My sons, your sons  they dont do this, she wrote back. Theres much less of this kind of inbred sexism among millennials. Things have changed. The playing field wont be level but it will be better. And thats because there has been a continuum. First we didnt even mention this stuff. Then a few brave souls did and were demonized for it. But now a lot more women speak out, and many more stand behind them, and even corporations, pushed hard enough, act. Maybe when our sons and daughters are running things there will be nothing to have to act upon.

Maybe. But we have had hope in generational change before. I thought that would happen with civil rights, says Jim Carroll, a futurist who is watching this unfold from his office in Toronto, but who notes that Canada too has had its high-profile sexual harassment cases, most notably that of newscaster Jian Ghomeshi at the CBC. I thought generational change would drive things forward. Looks doubtful.

That doubt was the root of the muted feelings of victory yesterday, the persistent nagging thought that perhaps the inability to extinguish this kind of behavior is the last  the insurmountable  obstacle to gender parity at work. Its a dark thought that leads to others  like Are men really so predatory that Mike Pence is right, and chaperones are the only answer?

Most women refuse to accept that as the logical endpoint. Why not just have mens and womens subway/train cars, flights, hotels, bars, Judi Knott, a former publishing executive from Summit, N.J., argues, reductio ad absurdum.

Patty Bashe, who counsels parents of children with Aspergers syndrome, also rejects the idea that male misbehavior is somehow an immovable obstacle to female equality. At the same time, though, she cant see her way clear to a more palatable conclusion. Like many women Ive spoken with in the past 24 hours, she is stuck in a middle place, one of neither victory nor disappointment, but rather a moment to measure how entrenched sexual harassment is in society, how wide is the gulf between male and female experiences in this world right now.

Sonia Ossorio, second left, president of the National Organization for Women New York, speaks outside the News Corporation headquarters in New York, April 20, 2017, a day after Fox News Channels Bill OReilly was fired. (Photo: Richard Drew/AP)

Too many of us can recall [it] beginning when we were young girls, she says. I feel strongly that if men had to endure sexual harassment  if they were aware that women were discussing who we thought was a 10 or if we made remarks like Those pants really show off that package of yours  maybe then theyd shut it down. If we could invent a vocabulary of male equivalents of bitch and c***, maybe they would start to understand what its really all about.

In the end, she says, I think that sexual harassment remains powerful because of, and is clearly a proxy for, the very real physical threat we all feel probably every moment out of our home (and for some even inside our homes).

All of which is why Bill OReillys departure was a trigger for memories rather than for celebration among women who had thought more would have already changed. Why the announcement was met with sobering acceptance that energy and outrage and organizing are still needed over and over again for common decency to prevail.

The lesson learned yesterday, Bashe says, is that its money that speaks the most effectively and eloquently to that end. (In this case, money talks for both sides. On the one hand, more than half of the shows advertisers had pulled out. On the other hand, OReilly will leave with what is reportedly tens of millions of dollars, another reason why many critics dont see this as a victory.)

So be it, she says. For now.

Read more from Yahoo News:

 Bill OReilly: Completely unfounded claims caused my Fox News departure

 Clinton campaign biographer on where she went wrong

 Victims of neo-Nazi trolling in Whitefish, Mont., strike back in court

 5 takeaways from Jon Ossoffs showing in Georgia special election

 Photos: Retrospective  Photojournalist Chris Hondros
By Mubasher Bukhari ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Three women dressed in burqas killed a man who had been accused of blasphemy in 2004 in a northeastern Pakistani town, police said on Thursday, the second brutal killing over alleged insults to Islam in a week. Blasphemy is a highly charged topic in Pakistan where there have been at least 66 murders over unproven allegations since 1990 according to figures from a Centre for Research and Security Studies report and independent records kept by Reuters. The country's strict blasphemy laws carry sentences ranging from small fines to the death penalty. The women entered the home of Fazal Abbas, a faith healer and a leader of the minority Shia community in the small city of Sialkot, and asked him to perform a spiritual ritual during which one of them shot him in the chest, police told Reuters. Abbas was accused of blasphemy in 2004 by members of a hard-line conservative group after which he fled to Denmark, his cousin Azhar Hussain and police inspector Nadeem Afzal said. "He returned recently with the conviction that he would prove his innocence in court and had been granted bail by a local judge," Hussain said. Police say that one of the women acted as an instigator, persuading the other two to carry out the act and identifying Abbas as a blasphemer. "It is their personal act, and I could not find their link to any religious group," inspector Afzal said. However, Abbas' family believe that a hard-line religious group incited the women to track down their victim and pull the trigger. On April 13 a mob beat student Mashal Khan to death when blasphemy accusations spread across a university campus in the northern city of Mardan. Police are now investigating a number of university students and faculty for their involvement in a brutal attack that shocked the entire nation. In 2011, a bodyguard assassinated Punjab provincial governor Salman Taseer after he called for reforming blasphemy laws. Taseer's killer, executed last year, has been hailed by religious hardliners as a martyr to Islam and a shrine has been erected at his grave. Recently, fighting blasphemy has also become a rallying cry for the government. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif issued an order last month for the removal of blasphemous content online and "strict punishment" for those found guilty of posting such content. (Writing by Saad Sayeed; editing by Ralph Boulton)
Jakarta (AFP) - US Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday toured the biggest mosque in Muslim-majority Indonesia during a visit seen as a highly symbolic gesture from an administration that has been accused of stoking Islamophobia.

After kicking off his stop in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country by praising its moderate Islam as "an inspiration", he visited Istiqlal Mosque, whose vast white dome towers over downtown Jakarta.

He slipped off his shoes before being guided around the mosque, which is also the biggest in Southeast Asia, accompanied by his wife and two daughters in headscarves, as well as Istiqlal's grand imam.

His visit represents the most high-profile outreach to Muslims by the Donald Trump administration since the brash billionaire came to office and echoes a similar trip by Barack and Michelle Obama in 2010.

Since becoming president almost 100 days ago, Trump has hosted leaders from majority-Muslim Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

But his administration has also tried to ban travellers from several Muslim-majority nations, citing concerns about terrorism -- an effort currently being challenged in US courts.

As a presidential candidate, Trump often appeared to flirt with the far right as he railed against "radical Islamic terrorism".

But Pence struck a starkly different tone during his visit to Indonesia, which has often been praised as a successful Muslim democracy where most practise a moderate form of Islam and coexist peacefully with substantial religious minorities.

"Indonesia's tradition of moderate Islam is frankly an inspiration to the world and we commend you and your people," he said after talks with President Joko Widodo at the presidential palace in Jakarta.

"In your nation as in mine, religion unifies, it doesnt divide."

- Tolerant Islam under threat -

Pence is currently on a tour of South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Australia that is aimed at smoothing some of the rougher edges of Trump's rhetoric.

Story continues

In South Korea and Japan, Pence played down protectionist declarations of "America first" and reaffirmed US treaty commitments to the security of the two countries as tensions rise over Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

After meeting with representatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation's at the regional bloc's headquarters in Jakarta on Thursday, Pence announced Trump would attend three summits in Asia in November, a further sign that his administration is seeking to reassure regional allies.

He will attend the US-ASEAN and East Asia summits in the Philippines and a gathering of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group in Vietnam.

At the mosque in Jakarta, Pence and his family also toured the cavernous main prayer room -- which was empty during his visit but fills up with tens of thousands of worshippers during key dates in the Muslim calender -- and admired the towering dome.

A man showed the US leader how he beats a carved drum next to the courtyard, a local addition to the traditional call to prayer.

Pence then held an interfaith dialogue behind closed doors with representatives of the Christian, Buddhist, Confucian, Hindu and Muslim faiths.

The vice president's upbeat tone about Indonesian Islam contrasts with growing concerns inside the country that the traditionally inclusive brand of the religion is under threat from hardliners and a trend towards conservatism.

On Wednesday Jakarta's Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama was defeated in a run-off election to lead the capital by a Muslim challenger who was accused of pandering to hardliners to win votes.

Purnama, known by his nickname Ahok, lost after his once-unassailable lead in opinion polls was dented when he was put on trial for blasphemy in a case criticised as politically motivated.

After his talks with Widodo, Pence also said the US was committed to building a stronger defence partnership with Indonesia to combat terrorism, and guaranteeing freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where Indonesian and Chinese vessels have recently clashed.
By Joe McDonald

MILFORD, Pa. (Reuters) - A Pennsylvania jury convicted survivalist Eric Frein on Wednesday of murdering a state trooper in a 2014 sniper attack that triggered a massive manhunt.

Frein, 33, faces the death penalty for first-degree murder of a law-enforcement officer.

The same jury that convicted him after four hours of deliberations will reconvene on Thursday to hear evidence in the penalty phase of trial at Pike County Courthouse.

The defense team did not dispute the charges and did not call any witnesses, but it will present a case in the penalty phase in an attempt to save Frein's life, defense attorney William Ruzzo told reporters.

"We can't make him a holy man but we will try to make him a man," Ruzzo said.

Frein, who showed no emotion as the verdict was read, is a survivalist, a person skilled in outdoor living who aims to survive a catastrophe or dramatic event such as nuclear war or revolution.

Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin described Frein during closing arguments as "a terrorist with murder in his heart, a plan in his mind and a rifle in his hand, who slithered through the woods."

Frein ambushed state police during a shift change at the Blooming Grove barracks in 2014, killing Corporal Bryon Dickson II, 38. Frein then waited to pick off anyone who tried to help Dickson, Tonkin said.

Trooper Alex Douglass, 34, was shot and critically wounded as he rushed to Dickson's aid.

The jury found Frein guilty of Dickson's murder, the attempted murder of Douglass, and other charges including terrorism.

Among the evidence the jury weighed was a letter that prosecutors said showed he harbored anti-government views and the shooting was aimed at sparking a "revolution."

"Passing through the crucible of another revolution can get us back the liberties we once had," said the letter, which prosecutors said Frein wrote to his parents while on the run.

He also kept notes detailing the ambush, prosecutors said.

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"Got a shot and took it," Tonkin said, reading from the notebook. He added, "Some of the most chilling words you will ever hear."

After the shooting, Frein eluded a 48-day manhunt through the dense forests of the Pocono Mountains, about 100 miles (160 km) north of Philadelphia.

The $11 million manhunt, which put the community on edge for weeks, ended when he was captured by U.S. marshals outside an abandoned airplane hangar near Tannersville, Pennsylvania.

(Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Alistair Bell)
Hello, everyone, and how are you this morning? We are doing just fine, thank you, as we hunker down for another busy day, which includes a so-called Slack Chat today with an attorney about upcoming US Supreme Court arguments about biosimilars and patent dances. Feel free to tune in. Meanwhile, time for another cup of stimulation. And here are some tidbits to help you along. Hope you have a smashing day and do keep in touch 

Pfizer received grand jury subpoenas from the Justice Department in connection with an antitrust investigation into drug makers that market intravenous saline solutions. ICU Medical, which recently acquired Hospira Infusion Systems from Pfizer, and Baxter International also received subpoenas. In 2015, three US senators asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate possible illegal collusion by saline manufacturers.

Read the rest...
By Enrico Dela Cruz and Manolo Serapio Jr MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippine environment minister said she has been given the greenlight by President Rodrigo Duterte to explore an unorthodox strategy to rehabilitate and develop the country's mining areas: recruit communist rebel fighters to help. The plan of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez, who has ordered the closure of more than half of mines in the world's top nickel ore supplier, may be tough to carry out given the decades-long conflict between the New People's Army (NPA) rebels and the Philippine government that has killed more than 40,000 people. Lopez, an environmentalist-turned-regulator, believes it can work though. "What I've seen with the NPA, they just really want to get people out of poverty, they're really not bad people," Lopez told reporters on Thursday. "We might have a situation where miners work with the NPA. We must come from the same page." NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, earlier this month agreed to a temporary truce with government, the first time both sides have agreed to a joint ceasefire since November 1986. Lopez said she's initially looking at working with NPA rebels to develop a mining province in southern Mindanao island, and had asked Duterte's permission at a recent cabinet meeting and "he gave a go-ahead." Duterte's spokesman, Ernesto Abella, said "that needs to be verified" when asked to respond to Lopez's claim that Duterte has cleared her to work with the rebels. Miners are unsure whether Lopez's strategy will work. Mining contracts "are granted by the government, not by the NPAs. So, in what capacity could we work with the NPAs? I don't know," Dante Bravo, president of Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc, told Reuters. Global Ferronickel is the Philippines' No. 2 nickel ore producer. The Philippine Army did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Lopez waged a crackdown on the Philippine mining sector shortly after taking office in June last year. In February, she ordered the closure of 22 of the Southeast Asian nation's 41 mines to protect water resources and later canceled dozens of contracts for undeveloped mines. Duterte backed Lopez's mining crackdown, himself angered by years of environmental harm he said miners have caused. Late on Wednesday, he reiterated his support for Lopez, who has said she wants the country to be "mine-free". "I asked how can we do that? We have to amend the law. There's a mining law which allows mining," Duterte said. "But I agree with Gina," Duterte said, calling the minister by her nickname. Duterte reappointed Lopez this week after lawmakers deferred a decision to confirm or reject her appointment before Congress went into recess from March 18. Hearings on her confirmation resume on May 2. (Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr. and Enrico dela Cruz; Editing by Tom Hogue)
MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines has ordered an inquiry into reports that "foreign vessels" near China's manmade islands harassed Filipino fishermen in the disputed South China Sea, the military chief said on Thursday. In an interview with reporters, General Eduardo Ano said the armed forces had received sketchy reports of a group of Filipinos being driven away from Union Bank in the Spratlys, near Gaven Reef, on which China has built an island. A Philippines television channel had earlier reported the fishermen had been fired upon, but the military, in a statement, described the events as "alleged harassment". China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of goods pass annually. Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims, and occupy some islets and reefs in the Spratly archipelago. Philippine authorities are trying to locate the fishermen, believed to have returned to land, who have been encouraged to report to police or coastguard officials. China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it was aware of the incident or if the foreign ships in question were Chinese. Reports of altercations between the Philippines and China have been rare since President Rodrigo Duterte took office last year and sought to patch up differences between the two countries and encourage business ties. He frequently heaps praise on China President Xi Jinping. Duterte has refrained from criticizing China's activities in the South China Sea and tends to blame the United States for letting the problem escalate, by failing to stop Beijing from building and arming its artificial islands. In what appeared to be an olive branch to the Philippines, China's coastguard in October started allowing Filipino fishermen to return and fish at the strategic Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing seized in June 2012. Chinese in the past have fired water cannon at vessels of other countries in the area. Reuters journalists visited the coral atoll this month and saw a substantially larger Chinese coastguard and fishing presence than usual, although it was allowing Filipinos to fish inside the shoal for the first time since the blockade. (Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Editing by Martin Petty and Clarence Fernandez)
Bullet hole in shop window A bullet hole is pictured on a shopwindow of the Champs Elysees boulevard in Paris, Friday, April 21, 2017. France began picking itself up Friday from another deadly shooting claimed by the Islamic State group, with President Francois Hollande convening the governments security council and his would-be successors in the presidential election campaign treading carefully before voting this weekend. (Photo: Christophe Ena/AP)

An attacker opened fire on police in Paris iconic Champs-Elysees shopping district Thursday night, killing one officer and wounding two others and a bystander before police shot and killed him.

The Islamic State group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack.

Paris police spokeswoman Johanna Primevert told the Associated Press that the attacker targeted officers guarding the area near the Franklin Roosevelt subway station at the center of the avenue, which is popular with tourists. She said he appeared to be acting alone.

Police and soldiers sealed off the area, ordering tourists back into their hotels and blocking people from approaching the scene. The Paris prosecutors office said counterterrorism investigators are involved in the probe.

French Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said on BFM television that a man came out of a car and opened fire on a police vehicle. He said officers were deliberately targeted. (AP)

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Jakarta's Christian governor may escape jail for alleged blasphemy after prosecutors Thursday recommended only probation, a day after he lost in a religiously charged run-off that damaged Indonesia's image as a bastion of tolerant Islam.

The recommendation of two years probation in the trial of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, with a possible one-year jail term if he commits a crime during that period, was lighter than expected as he could have been sent to prison for several years.

The sentence demand for allegedly insulting Islam came after he was defeated Wednesday by Muslim challenger Anies Baswedan who was accused of pandering to hardliners to win votes in the race for the Jakarta governorship.

After his victory, former government minister Baswedan celebrated with Islamic hardliners who helped organise mass protests in the capital against the governor by praying at a major mosque.

The blasphemy allegations and Purnama's subsequent poll loss have sparked fears that pluralistic traditions in the world's most populous Muslim country are under threat from the influence of hardliners, who pushed for the governor's prosecution.

Chief prosecutor Ali Mukartono recommended that Purnama, known by his nickname Ahok, be found guilty of blasphemy and be given two years probation, with a possible one-year jail sentence.

He said a light sentence was being recommended as Purnama had contributed to "advancing the city of Jakarta" and had acted politely during his trial.

- Hardline anger -

"If within the two years, Ahok doesn't commit any new criminal act, like corruption, stealing... he will be free," his lawyer I Wayan Sudirta told AFP.

"If within that two years he does commit a criminal act, he has to serve the one-year jail sentence."

A sentence recommendation is a normal step in an Indonesian court case, and is usually followed within weeks by a verdict.

The controversy began in September when Purnama, known for his outspoken style, outraged Muslims when he controversially quoted a passage from the Islamic holy text ahead of elections for the Jakarta governorship.

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He insinuated that his opponents had used a Koranic verse to trick people into voting against him.

An edited version of his speech went viral online, sparking outrage far beyond Jakarta, where Purnama has ruled since his predecessor Joko Widodo became president in late 2014.

The governor apologised but Indonesia's highest clerical body declared the remarks blasphemous and urged authorities to bring charges

Before the blasphemy controversy erupted, Purnama enjoyed a large opinion poll lead due to his determination to clean up traffic-clogged, polluted Jakarta.

The trial started in December and dragged on for months, with both the prosecution and defence calling more than 40 witnesses. Purnama's team have accused the prosecution of calling biased witnesses, saying that many were not even present when the alleged blasphemy took place.

Critics want the countrys blasphemy laws overhauled. The legislation was rarely used during the 32-year rule of strongman Suharto, but in recent years it has been exploited to persecute minorities, rights groups say.
The judge who President Trump railed against during his campaign will oversee the case of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program recipient who was deported.

U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who presided over the class-action lawsuit against Trump University despite repeated calls from the president to recuse himself because of his Mexican heritage, will handle the lawsuit brought on behalf of Juan Manuel Montes, 23, who was deported in February.

Montes, currently in Mexico, lived in the U.S. since the age of nine and had been protected twice by the DACA status, a program enacted by the Obama administration to protect undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children from deportation. The DACA program is valid through 2018.

Last year, Trump demanded that Curiel recuse himself from the Trump University lawsuit because of his 2016 campaign promises to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and to crank down on illegal immigration. Trump said Curiels Mexican heritage meant he had an inherent conflict of interest.

USA Today reports that Curiels assignment to Montess case is coincidental.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
New York (AFP) - Prince's estate moved to block the release of several decade-old tracks, casting a cloud over commemorations of the pop legend's passing.

An independent label had announced plans to release a six-track EP of Prince songs, entitled "Deliverance," on Friday which marks one year since The Purple One's sudden death.

But Prince's estate, which is led by his siblings, quickly intervened and accused Ian Boxill, a sound engineer who recorded the tracks with the pop legend between 2006 and 2008, of violating an agreement.

"Mr. Boxill is now trying to exploit the Prince recordings unlawfully in his possession," said a lawsuit filed in a Minnesota court.

The estate said Boxill had signed a confidentiality agreement that the music would "remain Prince's sole and exclusive property."

Boxill, who has worked with an array of artists including slain rap great Tupac Shakur, sent a reply that was sealed by the court.

In a statement announcing the music, Boxill said most proceeds would go to Prince's estate and that the pop legend would have appreciated the independent release.

"I believe 'Deliverance' is a timely release with everything going on in the world today, and in light of the one-year anniversary of his passing," he said in the statement.

The first track, a rock ballad also called "Deliverance," came out late Tuesday with the five other songs scheduled to be released digitally on Friday.

Boxill said a CD release was planned in June.

Prince died on April 21 last year at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota from an accidental overdose of powerful painkillers.

The 57-year-old -- long considered a model of health who refrained from drugs, alcohol and junk food -- died without leaving a will, setting off messy court disputes over the fate of his fortune.
David D.J. Creato Jr. said he believed a spirit drew his 3-year-old son, Brendan, to a spot in the woods where the boy was found dead, prosecutors said Thursday in revealing a conversation secretly recorded by the boys mother.

Creato, 23, now charged with murder, had frequented that same spot, at times around 2 a.m. to 3 a.m., and considered it a spiritual place, Assistant Prosecutor Christine Shah said during her half-hour opening statement at his trial in Superior Court in Camden.

Creato said he loves to go down there, goes down there all the time, Shah told jurors.

The boy's mother, Samantha Denoto, who did not live with Creato, later testified she made the recording at the behest of investigators at Creato's mother's home about a month after the slaying.

Denoto called Creatos reasoning completely odd and unexplainable.

Its not logical, she said.

Prosecutors have said Creato killed Brendan to stop his girlfriend, whom he met on the dating app Tinder, from leaving him.

Brendans pajama-clad body was found slumped over a rock in woods near the Cooper River in Haddon Township on Oct. 13, 2015, several hours after Creato had called 911 and reported him missing. The father was charged three months later.

In his 15-minute opening statement Thursday, Creatos attorney, Richard J. Fuschino Jr., said, I represent an innocent person, and asked Creato to stand up for jurors. Creato, wearing a dark blue suit, his hair tied in a pony tail, did so before sitting back down.

Fuschino called Brendans death horrible, but said Creato did nothing but love his son.

Creato is spiritual, Fuschino acknowledged. And while that may make people uncomfortable, he said, thats not what makes a person guilty.

Prosecutors have said Brendan died of "homicidal violence," and that an examination of his brain showed an abnormality consistent with oxygen deprivation that can be caused by asphyxiation, drowning, or strangulation.

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An exact cause of death, however, was never determined.

Shah told jurors that Creato was consumed by jealousy at the time Brendan died. Creatos girlfriend, Julia Stensky, 17 at the time, was attending Pace University in New York, and Creato was worried she was talking to other men  which she was, Shah said.

Stensky also did not like children, according to Shah, and told Creato she wanted Brendan to not be around when she and Creato were together.

I dont have a choice, Creato told Stensky at one point in a text message, Shah said. I want you to not have a kid in your life, Stensky told him, according to Shah.

The night Brendan disappeared, Stensky was at college. Creato called her 10 times and repeatedly signed into her social media accounts, including Snapchat, from his iPhone, Shah said. She never responded.

He was very upset with Julia that night, Shah said.

Shah told jurors she plans to reveal up to 2,500 of the 9,487 text messages Stensky and Creato exchanged since meeting in June 2015 on Tinder. Stensky is not facing charges in Brendans death.

The jury of 11 women and three men also saw pictures Thursday of the inside of Creatos second-floor apartment, and the living room couch where Creato told investigators he had put Brendan to sleep the night he disappeared.

A quick view from the Creato trial today as prosecutors describe the inside of Creato's apartment pic.twitter.com/S99f4bQH2j  Michael Boren (@borenmc) April 20, 2017

Denoto testified that she ran to her car barefoot, still in the shorts and T-shirt she had slept in, after Creato called her and said he couldn't find Brendan. She then arrived in the neighborhood and searched. Many residents also searched after receiving a reverse 911 call from police about Brendan's disappearance.

Denoto said she and Creato started dating when she was 13 and continued through high school. She hadn't planned to have a baby when she became pregnant with Brendan in 2011, shortly after graduating, she said.

Denoto said Creato was a supportive father  she lived in his family's home for some time  but that they separated when Brendan was about 2 years old.

They stayed in touch through text messages and shared custody of Brendan. Both Creato and Denoto were also responsible for paying for his preschool.

Shah said Creato, who worked at his father's window business, struggled financially and sometimes failed to make the payments. Denoto said Creato owed $100 each week.

At another point during Thursday's hearing, Shah mentioned that Creato had a pet rat. Shah then asked Denoto  though it's unclear whether the questions were related  whether she remembered receiving a text about Creato getting physical with Brendan.

Denoto said she could not remember, and Fuschino objected to the question. He and Shah then spoke privately to Judge John T. Kelley, and Shah didn't return to the matter.

After the hearing, Creato's father, David Sr., said, "I had no idea where they were going with that question," though he guessed, "I think maybe because its a peculiar pet.

The trial resumes Tuesday and is expected to last through May.

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On Oct. 24, 2016, I was sitting and drinking tea with my friends in front of a shop in my hometown of Khan Sheikhoun, Syria, when we heard the roar of a warplane. We thought the raid was far away, but it wasnt. There was an explosion, and for a moment, I was unconscious. I thought that I was dead. Suddenly, I came back to life-only to realize I was trapped under rubble.

Then I heard the voices. Anybody there? they shouted. Anybody here? Those cries, it turned out, came from members of the Syrian Civil Defense, the volunteer rescue group also known as the White Helmets that is led by Raed Saleh. Within minutes, they had climbed into the rubble and pulled me out. I had injuries to my eye, head, abdomen, chest and hand. But I survived, thank God.

Attacks like these are a fact of life in Syria. But when they come, the White Helmets are ready to respond. They have risked their lives to save tens of thousands of others-including mine.

Faisal is a 23-year-old charity worker who lives in Syrias Idlib province

This article was originally published on TIME.com
By Carolyn Crist (Reuters Health) - Women who have been sexually assaulted in the U.S. often bear some costs for testing and other medical treatment when they report the rape to authorities, according to a new study. Victims with private insurance pay on average $950, or 14 percent, of the cost of medical services, and the insurance providers pay about $5,789, researchers found. With other violent crimes, victims are not responsible for paying for the damage that results from the crime, lead author Ashley Tennessee told Reuters Health. Many people know sexual assault is an issue, but theyre often unaware that victims have to pay for associated medical charges, said Tennessee, of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. In 2013, insurance providers and victims paid more than $9 million for medical services related to sexual assault, the study authors write in the American Journal of Public Health. The average cost was $6,737 per case. The Violence Against Women Act, passed in 1994 and reauthorized in 2013, requires states to pay for sexual assault forensic exams, known as rape kits. However, hospital billing procedures often include more services than those associated with the rape kit alone, and forensic costs also vary by state. Tennessee and colleagues looked at hospital billing records for privately insured women in the U.S. who were victims of rape in 2013. They identified 1,355 assaults, with 98 percent of victims not admitted to the hospital. The 32 patients who were admitted to the hospital paid an average of $788 for their inpatient stay. The others paid an average of $316 for outpatient costs. Of the group, about 7 percent filled a prescription for pain medication, antibiotics, HIV prevention drugs, emergency contraceptives or sleep or anxiety medication. These 214 victims spent an average of $48 to fill prescriptions. Overall, about 88 percent of the 1,355 victims incurred charges on the day they visited the hospital, and 27 percent paid more than 25 percent of those costs. About 7 percent paid more than 50 percent of the cost. After visiting the hospital, about 63 percent of the patients incurred more charges up to a month after the incident, including prescriptions, further medical care and mental health services. This financial burden adds to the emotional burden of sexual assault, Tennessee said. This is an area that society has missed, and we have a moral right to help victims. A limitation of the study is that the data didnt include men or LGBTQ victims of sexual assault. It also doesnt account for publicly insured victims or homeless women who may face a greater risk for assault due to environmental and social factors related to poverty, the authors note. Follow-up studies must look at the prevalence in these groups, Tennessee said. We want victims to know theyre not alone in this journey and recovery process, and that includes studying and informing all groups about their access to funding resources. We encourage all victims of sexual assault to get a medical exam following the incident. Anything that is a barrier to ensuring victims are physically OK is bad for them and the community, said Scott Berkowitz, president and founder of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) in Washington, D.C. told Reuters Health. Congressional attention has been focused on making sure victims arent charged for the rape kit and forensic evidence, and there hasnt been as much attention paid to making sure they arent charged for the other medical costs that result, he told Reuters Health by email. Tennessee and Berkowitz suggest emergency room personnel and hospital workers inform victims about charity funds that hospitals and states offer to reimburse those out-of-pocket costs. The Violence Against Women Act will be reauthorized next year, and RAINN and other sexual assault groups are urging lawmakers to update the funding definitions and mechanisms to cover additional costs. There are still too many barriers for victims and too many ways we discourage them from coming forward and reporting to police, Berkowitz said. Receiving a rape kit exam at a hospital is an important first step in reporting incidents to police. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2oricDJ American Journal of Public Health, online April 20, 2017.
Committee chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) waits for the beginning of a hearing before House Oversight and Government Reform Committee July 7, 2016 on Capitol Hill. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz told multiple Salt Lake City media outlets Thursday that he might not finish out his term.

When I contemplate another 200 nights away from home, it is just too much, Chaffetz told Fox 13 News Anchor Bob Evans.

Chaffetz also texted KSL Radio host Doug Wright on Thursday morning that it was possible he would not finish his term. Wright had interviewed Chaffetz Wednesday about his decision not to seek reelection and was attempting to follow up when the congressman told him that he was unsure whether he would serve out the remainder of his term.

The Utah congressman later repeated the sentiment in a message to CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski:

.@jasoninthehouse texts me he isn't ruling out leaving early. Confirming @KSLcom radio host comments pic.twitter.com/b1CvW88l7k  andrew kaczynski ???? (@KFILE) April 20, 2017

Chaffetz, who is the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, announced on Wednesday that he would not run in 2018.

For those that would speculate otherwise, let me let me be clear that I have no ulterior motives, he wrote on Facebook. I am healthy. I am confident I would continue to be re-elected by large margins. I have the full support of Speaker Ryan to continue as Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. That said, I have made a personal decision to return to the private sector.

Chaffetz has been under attack from multiple angles since President Trump took the White House. He was shouted down by constituents who chanted Do Your Job at a raucous town hall, forced to pull proposed legislation that would have made it easier to sell off public land after red-state protests against the proposal and drew criticisms for implying Americans could afford health care if they didnt buy iPhones.

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Moscow (AFP) - Russia's Supreme Court issued a ruling Thursday banning Jehovah's Witnesses and seizing their property after the justice ministry called on it to dissolve the Christian group as an "extremist organisation".

Supreme Court judge Yury Ivanenko said Russia had decided to close down "the administrative centre of Jehovah's Witnesses and the local organisations in its fold and turn their property over to Russia."

The decision comes after the ministry said it had found signs of "extremist activity" within the religious movement and requested that it be banned.

"They represent a threat to the rights of the people, to public order and public safety," Russian news agencies quoted justice ministry representative Svetlana Borisova as saying.

The religious movement, which has 395 centres across Russia, has vowed to appeal the decision.

"I'm shocked," Yaroslav Sivulsky, who represents the group's administrative centre, told reporters.

"I didn't expect that this could be possible in modern Russia, where the constitution guarantees freedom of religious practice."

Sivulsky added that the group would take its case to the European Court of Human Rights if its appeal was rejected.

He said he feared that members of the group could face prosecution if they continued to gather and study the Bible.

"We fear that people will end up in jail," he said.

- 'Destructive sect' -

There are some 175,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, according to the group.

The powerful Russian Orthodox Church has spoken out against the group, with one church official branding it a "destructive sect" last month.

Members of the Jehovah's Witnesses -- a Christian evangelical movement that was born in the United States in the 19th century -- consider modern churches to have deviated from the Bible's true teachings. They reject modern evolutionary theory and refuse blood transfusions.

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There are more than eight million Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide, with some countries classifying the group as a sect.

Its members are known for preaching on doorsteps, where they offer religious literature and attempt to convert people.

Russia's Jehovah Witnesses have had several run-ins with law enforcement in recent years.

In January, the leader of a congregation in the town of Dzerzhinsk in the central Nizhny Novgorod region was fined for distributing materials that authorities deemed extremist, local media reported.

In 2004 Russia dissolved the Moscow branch of the Jehovah's Witnesses. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2010 that the move had violated the right to freedom of religion and association.

The Moscow branch at the time had been accused of breaking up families, inciting its members to suicide and endangering their lives and health by not allowing its members to have blood transfusions.
In a bid to stall the U.S.'s efforts to stop North Korea from conducting further nuclear tests, Russia has objected to a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) statement proposed by the U.S., Wednesday, that would have condemned North Koreas missile tests, despite Chinas support of the measure, reports said.

North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests so far and analysts have pointed out last week that the country's nuclear test site was "primed and ready" for a sixth. However, the launch of a missile Sunday was said to have failed, CNN reported.

Read: US Strategic Patience Policy Toward North Korea Is Over, Says Mike Pence

Russia has had a long history of vetoing resolutions pushed by the U.S. And last week, it used its veto to block yet another attempt to condemn the suspected chemical attack in Syria on April 4. The U.S., France and Britain had sponsored a draft resolution that would have initiated an investigation into the Syrian attack. The resolution won 10 votes, but Russia vetoed it and China abstained, reports said. This veto used by Russia was the eighth time since it used its power, often along with China, to block a UN draft resolution on Syria since the civil war began six years back.

On Oct. 4, 2011, for the first time after the civil war began in Syria, a UNSC resolution was initiated where the council had drafted a statement expressing its grave concern at the situation in the war-torn country. It also said the only solution to the crisis was "through an inclusive and Syrian-led political process with the aim of effectively addressing the legitimate aspirations and concerns of the population." However, Russia and China had vetoed the resolution.

On Feb. 4, 2012, Russia and China again vetoed, blocking a resolution which expressed "grave concern at the deterioration of the situation in Syria," and "profound concern at the death of thousands of people..." calling for an immediate end to all violence.

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On July 19, 2012, Russia and China again voted against a draft resolution that condemned widespread violations of human rights by the Syrian authorities, and armed opposition groups."

On July 8, 2015, Russia vetoed a UNSC resolution that would have described the Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian war in 1995, as "genocide".

In October last year, when President of Syria, Bashar Assad's forces descended on the rebel-held city of Aleppo, the UNSC tried to register "outrage at the alarming number of civilian casualties caused by escalating level of violence and indiscriminate aerial bombings in Aleppo," but Russia was the only member to veto the draft.

On Feb. 28, China and Russia blocked a draft resolution, that asked members to vote on the imposition of sanctions on entities and individuals who were likely to be involved in the production or use of chemical weapons in Syria.

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MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Jehovah's Witnesses were an "extremist" organization and must disband and hand over all property to the state, local media said. The religious grouping confirmed the ruling about its "liquidation" in Russia. "We are greatly disappointed by this development and deeply concerned about how this will affect our religious activity, Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a spokesman for Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, said in emailed comments. "We will appeal this decision, and we hope that our legal rights and protections as a peaceful religious group will be fully restored as soon as possible." Jehovahs Witnesses in Russia have 30 days to submit their appeal for consideration by a three-person panel. Religious life in Russia is dominated by the Orthodox Church, which exerts considerable political influence and enjoys the support of President Vladimir Putin. Some Orthodox scholars view Jehovah's Witnesses as a 'totalitarian sect'. Interfax news agency quoted Sergei Cherepanov, a Jehovah's Witnesses representative, as saying that the group will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. "We will do everything possible," he said. Russian authorities have put several of the group's publications on a list of banned extremist literature and prosecutors have long cast it as an organization that destroys families, fosters hatred and threatens lives. The group, a United States-based Christian denomination known for its door-to-door preaching and rejection of military service and blood transfusions, says this description is false. The religious organization has expanded around the world and has about eight million active followers. It has faced court proceedings in several countries, mostly over its pacifism and rejection of blood transfusions, but Russia has been most outspoken in portraying it as an extremist cult. The ruling was issued after the justice ministry applied for an order to shut down the group's national headquarters near St Petersburg. Its Russian branch, based near St Petersburg, has said a ban would directly affect around 400 of its groups and have an impact on all of its 2,277 religious groups in Russia, where it says it has 175,000 followers. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Ralph Boulton)
Move over Casey Neistat, the internet has a new favorite YouTuber.

Tatiana Subbotina, a 62-year-old living in Saint Petersburg, Russia is slowly becoming a YouTube sensation thanks to her hilarious (and slightly ridiculous) green screen videos.

SEE ALSO: Vladimir Putin HATES this meme so much Russia banned it

According to BuzzFeed, Subbotina started making videos of herself while living in Thailand in 2013. She then transitioned to making videos for kids on YouTube and eventually taught herself how to chroma key composite (or as most people call it green screen), and her channel has since taken off in Russia.

Her videos are the perfect amount of cheesy effects combined with adorableness to make the internet fall in love.

"I decided that I too could talk about this [editing videos]," she told BuzzFeed. "So I started making stories on my YouTube channel about how I work with it. I didnt invent anything there, but I try to explain it as simply as possible. Its very exciting and I like it."

Now most of her clips explain how she was able to use chroma keying to put herself on a magic carpet, in a car, ocean, or on a horse. But even if you're not into learning about digital effects, her videos are super endearing.

She even created her very own green screen suit.

Subbotina currently has a little more than 11,000 subscribers, but some of her clips have hundreds of thousands of views.

Mashable has reached out to Subbotina for additional comments.

WATCH: This mini scuba gear just gave snorkeling a cool upgrade
Kigali (AFP) - Former Hutu militia leader Bernard Munyagishari was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Kigali Thursday for his role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

The high court of Kigali judged Munyagishari guilty of "crimes of murder and genocide" but acquitted him of rape. He has 30 days to appeal, Emmanuel Itamwa, a spokesman for Rwandan courts told AFP.

Born in 1959, Munyagishari was tried over events in northwestern Gisenyi where he headed the notorious Interahamwe Hutu militia and where Tutsis were thrown into mass graves at a cemetery.

Some 800,000 people, mostly from Rwanda's Tutsi minority, died in the genocide after the death of the Hutu head of state, Juvenal Habyarimana, on April 6 1994.

Munyagishari was arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2011. He was transferred to Rwanda in 2013.
Some special guests joined former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin during a White House visit Wednesday evening.

Musicians Kid Rock and Ted Nugent posed for a series of photos with the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, who thanked President Trump for the invitation. According to Nugent, who was joined by his wife, Shemane, the group had dinner with the president.

Shemane Nugent posted a photo of Kid Rock, Palin and Nugent standing beneath a portrait of then-first lady Hillary Clinton.

Palin published a few photos of her hanging in the Oval Office, saying she had a great night:

Kid Rock was joined by Audrey Berry, his new fiancee and longtime girlfriend. Earlier this year, the rocker was reportedly being considered as a U.S. Senate candidate for Michigan.

So today is the 242nd anniversary of The Shot Heard Round The World is it! Nugent wrote on Facebook about the visit. Well well well looky looky here boogie chillin, I got your Shot Heard Round The World right here in big ol greazyass Washington DC where your 1 & only MotorCity Madman WhackMaster StrapAssasin1 dined with President Donald J Trump at the WhiteHouse to Make America Great Again! Got that? Glowing all American over the top WE THE PEOPLE gory details coming ASAP!! BRACE!

In 2007, Nugent called Barack Obama a piece of s*** and told the then-candidate to suck on my machine gun. He also said in April 2012 that If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will be either be dead or in jail by this time next year. Nugent was neither dead nor in jail a year later.

Read more from Yahoo News:

 Bill OReilly: Completely unfounded claims caused my Fox News departure

 Clinton campaign biographer on where she went wrong

 Victims of neo-Nazi trolling in Whitefish, Mont., strike back in court

 5 takeaways from Jon Ossoffs showing in Georgia special election

 Photos: Retrospective  Photojournalist Chris Hondros
Beirut (AFP) - Hundreds of frightened Syrian evacuees from two besieged government-held towns were stuck at a rebel-held transit point on Thursday where dozens of their fellow townspeople were killed in a weekend bombing.

The 3,000 evacuees, who had left their homes at dawn on Wednesday, spent the night in buses in a marshalling area in Rashidin, west of government-held second city Aleppo, awaiting onward transport to safety.

Some 300 evacuees from rebel-held towns were similarly held up at a staging point at Ramussa in government-held territory.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the delay was the result of 11th-hour rebel demands for the release of prisoners held by the government.

"The convoys will not move until after the release of 750 prisoners -- men and women -- from regime prisons and their arrival in rebel-held areas," the British-based monitoring group said.

The hard-won resumption of evacuations on Wednesday came after a suicide car bomber killed 126 people, 68 of them children, in Rashidin on Saturday.

Most of the dead were evacuees from the government-held Shiite-majority towns of Fuaa and Kafraya, with a handful of aid workers and rebels guarding the convoy also killed.

Armed rebels were standing guard at Rashidin on Wednesday and carefully inspecting vehicles arriving in the area.

The current evacuations mark the end of the first stage of a deal brokered by rebel supporter Qatar and government backer Iran late last month. A second phase is due to begin in June.

Fuaa and Kafraya will be emptied entirely, with residents and fighters heading to Aleppo and then on to government-held Latakia or Damascus.

All rebels are expected to leave Madaya, Zabadani, and other nearby oppositions-held areas, but civilians who want to remain may do so.

Those leaving rebel-held areas will head to Idlib province, which is held by an opposition alliance.

In all, up to 30,000 people are expected to leave under the deal.
Rashidin (Syria) (AFP) - Hundreds of frightened Syrians being evacuated from besieged towns were stuck Thursday at a rebel-held transit point where more than 120 of their fellow townspeople were killed in a weekend bombing.

The 3,000 evacuees left their homes in the government-controlled towns of Fuaa and Kafraya at dawn on Wednesday as part of a deal that is also seeing residents and fighters transported out of several rebel areas surrounded by government forces.

The evacuations began last week but were delayed after Saturday's suicide car bombing, which saw 126 people killed, 68 of them children, at the transit point in Rashidin, west of Aleppo.

They resumed on Wednesday but evacuees were forced to spend the night in buses at the marshalling area following another delay.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the latest delay was the result of an 11th-hour rebel demand for the release of prisoners held by President Bashar al-Assad's government.

"The convoys will not move until after the release of 750 prisoners -- men and women -- from regime prisons and their arrival in rebel-held areas," the British-based monitoring group said.

- Guarded by armed rebels -

On Thursday, an AFP correspondent saw the evacuees gathered together at the transit point, surrounded by armed rebels, as children played near the waiting buses.

Umm Sanad, a 50-year-old woman from Fuaa, said they had overcome their fear to join the evacuation.

"We left because of the siege and the rockets. We left even though we were afraid after the attack," said Sanad, who evacuated along her teenaged sons.

The rebel fighters were keeping all other cars away from the area, except for a Red Crescent vehicle that was allowed to distribute aid.

Saturday's attack was one of the deadliest since the start of Syria's six-year civil war and was widely condemned for targeting civilians.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing. The government blamed "terrorists" -- a catch-all term for its opponents.

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The current evacuations mark the end of the first stage of a deal brokered by regime ally Iran and Qatar, a longtime supporter of rebel groups battling Assad's forces.

Shiite-dominated Iran has repeatedly raised concerns for the mainly Shiite residents of Fuaa and Kafraya, who are surrounded by Sunni rebels and Islamists who control the surrounding Idlib province.

Under the agreement, residents and rebel fighters are being evacuated from the towns of Madaya, Zabadani, and other nearby oppositions-held areas close to Damascus.

On Wednesday, 11 buses carrying around 300 people left Zabadani and two other rebel-held areas around Damascus.

They were being held up on Thursday at a staging point at Ramussa in government-held territory, the Observatory said.

When the current phase of evacuations is complete, a total of 8,000 people should have left Fuaa and Kafraya in exchange for 2,500 civilians and rebels from opposition areas.

- Sarin used in attack: watchdog -

A second phase of the evacuations -- which in all will see up to 30,000 people transferred from their homes -- is to begin in June.

Assad's regime has presented evacuation deals as the best way to end Syria's war, which has killed more than 320,000 people and forced more than half the population from their homes.

The opposition says the evacuations amount to forced relocation after years of bombardment and siege.

Syria's opposition and Western leaders have accused Assad's regime of a wide range of abuses during the conflict, including a suspected chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun earlier this month that killed at least 87 people.

The head of a global arms watchdog said Wednesday that "incontrovertible" test results showed that victims in Khan Sheikhun had been exposed to sarin gas or a similar substance.

Samples from 10 victims of the April 4 attack analysed at four laboratories "indicate exposure to sarin or a sarin-like substance," said Ahmet Uzumcu, head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

A few days after the incident, US forces carried out a missile strike on a Syrian airbase from where Washington claimed the chemical attack was launched, in the first direct American action against Assad's regime.
Sean Spicer has failed to name any key legislative wins for the Trump administration when asked, as Donald Trump approaches the end of his first 100 days in office.

George Condon of the National Journal asked Mr Spicer, "setting aside executive orders", if he could name a "single piece of legislation that [he was] proudest" to get through Congress.

"We've got a little ways til we hit the 100 day mark," said Mr Spicer. The milestone will be met on 29 April but Mr Spicer could not name one legislative accomplishment when asked in his daily briefing.

Read more

Sean Spicer doesn't watch Melissa McCarthy's SNL skits

Were not done yet, he said, finally naming a bill signed on 19 April allowing military veterans to have their choice in healthcare provider outside of the government's Veterans' Administration system, which can involve long waiting periods and a dearth of facilities in many parts of the country.

Mr Trump failed to meet one of his biggest legislative promises on the campaign trail: to repeal and replace the Obamacare healthcare legislation.

He and House Speaker Paul Ryan ultimately had to pull the bill before a vote could take place due to lack of support within the Republican party.

Mr Trump's "travel ban" executive order calling for a ban on all travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries was met with thousands of protesters in airports all over the country and a federal judge ultimately blocked it.

The revised version of it exempted Iraq in order to accommodate translators and interpreters who assisted the US military during the war. It was also met with public opposition.

Mr Trump's next legislative battles will be getting his proposed federal budget, which includes deep cuts to environment and diplomacy programmes and a $54 billion increase for defence, approved by Congress as well as tax reform.
WHITTIER, Calif.  Lynn Whittaker stood in the hallway of her home looking at the framed photos on the wall. In one, her son Andrew is playing high school water polo. In another, hes holding a trombone.

The images show no hint of his life today: the seizures that leave him temporarily paralyzed, the weakness that makes him fall over, his labored speech, his scrambled thoughts. Andrew, 28, can no longer feed himself or walk on his own. The past nine years have been a blur of doctor appointments, hospital visits, and medical tests that have failed to produce answers.

You name it, he doesnt have it, his mother said.

Andrew has never had a clear diagnosis. He and his family are in a torturous state of suspense, hanging their hopes on every new exam and evaluation.

Recently, they have sought help from the Undiagnosed Diseases Network, a federally funded coalition of universities, clinicians, hospitals, and researchers dedicated to solving the nations toughest medical mysteries. The doctors and scientists in the network harness advances in genetic science to identify rare, sometimes unknown, illnesses.

Read more: A treatment for Zoe: Inside the race to build a therapy for a devastating rare disease

At the University of California, Los Angeles, one of the networks sites, Andrews medical team would map his genetic makeup, then bring him in for a week of exams and consultations with specialists.

On a Monday morning in late January, Andrew and his parents were in an exam room at UCLA. Lynn teased her son, saying she was going to put him in a freezer until doctors figured out what was wrong.

Then well pull you back out again, she said, smiling.

Ill never get pulled out, Andrew responded.

Yes, you will, she said. You will.

A life-changing mystery

Andrew Whittakers odyssey began one afternoon at age 19, when he started trembling and couldnt speak. Doctors suspected he was suffering from anxiety and prescribed medication to control it. But Andrew said he continued to have episodes, during which everything just went blank.

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Its like theres not enough blood going to your brain, he said. You cant think.

Andrew also started losing his balance and falling off his bicycle. The family visited several hospitals. Doctors discovered that the receptors in his brain were malfunctioning and that he lacked sufficient dopamine, a chemical compound in the body responsible for transmitting signals between nerve cells. As a result, Andrew has some symptoms similar to those of Parkinsons disease. Doctors also confirmed he was having seizures.

Still, Andrews symptoms didnt add up to any known disease.

Read more: This toddler with a rare disease got a life-changing treatment. Why cant all kids?

One afternoon last fall at precisely noon, as Andrew sat propped up on the living room couch, Lynns phone alarm sounded, signaling it was time for his medication. Lynn pried open Andrews hand, which was clenched into a fist, and dropped in the pills.

To keep Andrew from falling, the family has lowered his bed and removed carpet from the house. They also bought him a wheelchair. Their precautions dont always work. One morning, Lynn was in the kitchen when she heard a crash. I ran in there and hes laid flat on his back, she said.

Andrew is close to his mom. But he also gets frustrated. He cant shower or dress without her help. Hes had to give up the things he loved to do: printing T-shirts. Skateboarding. Shooting short films. Hes lost friends and cant imagine dating anymore.

Girlfriends? Forget about it, he said, his face twitching as he talks. They want a guy who can do stuff for them, not the other way around.

Writing a new disease encyclopedia

The Undiagnosed Diseases Network was founded in 2015 with a $43 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Building on work already being done at the NIH, the initiative expanded to include universities across the country: Duke, Columbia, and Stanford are among the other sites. The goals are to provide answers for patients with mysterious diseases and to learn more about the disorders.

A proposal last month by President Donald Trump to cut the NIH budget by $5.8 billion could put the program in jeopardy.

Even with the best technology and the finest brains at work, progress is slow. Since its launch, the network has received nearly 1,400 applications on behalf of patients. It has accepted 545 for review so far. Just 74 of the cases have been diagnosed, including 11 at UCLA. Andrew Whittakers case is among many in progress.

Its like battling an unknown enemy, said Dr. Euan Ashley, one of the principal investigators of the networks Stanford University site. That is a particular form of torment that other patients dont have.

Read more: Drug developers fund patient registries to collect data on rare diseases

A diagnosis can end families painful odyssey while helping physicians and scientists better understand rare diseases and human physiology, said Rachel Ramoni, former executive director of the network, which is based at Harvard University.

Researchers throughout the network use advanced medical technology. For example, to study patients gene expression and disease progression, they can make models using nearly transparent zebrafish, whose genetic structure is similar to that of humans. And scientists can conduct whole genome sequencing, which allows the medical team to read a patients DNA and identify changes that can reveal what may be causing a disease.

We have powerful techniques to look at every gene that is being expressed as well as every gene that is inherited, said Dr. Stanley Nelson, one of UCLAs principal investigators and the lead doctor on Andrews case. This is an example of true precision medicine.

Nelson said the network can examine all known genes  not just the ones believed to have mutations that cause diseases. Doing that can lead to the discovery of new illnesses.

Part of what we have to do is keep building that library, that encyclopedia of what gene and what gene mutations cause what symptoms, Nelson said. Its just incomplete at this moment.

Already the work is helping patients and their families come to terms with their illnesses. In one case, at Stanford, a toddler was diagnosed with two rare diseases, including a connective tissue disorder called Marfan syndrome, after doctors conducted a form of sequencing that looks for changes in coded genetic segments known as exons.

Sometimes answers come from something decidedly lower-tech: collaboration among clinicians and researchers who share experiences, data, and expertise.

A lot of times your ability to be diagnosed depends on who is in the room, Ramoni said. And what we are doing with the network is we are expanding exponentially the number of people in the room.

Doctors at one institution might think their patient is a unique case, only to learn that colleagues elsewhere have a patient with a similar illness. But even when diseases are diagnosed or gene mutations are discovered, treatments may still not be available.

Running the medical gauntlet

Nelson, Andrews main doctor, walked into the UCLA exam room at the beginning of the familys week there. He told Andrew hed read through the medical records. Were going to try to figure you out.

The work Nelson does is personal. His teenage son, Dylan, has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder that causes muscle degeneration and weakness. Nelson knows his sons disease will eventually take his life, but he said having a diagnosis makes all the difference.

My heart very much goes out to the families that dont even get an adequate diagnosis, he said.

Nelson suspects that Andrews disease is genetic as well.

Read more: Law for rare disease drugs needs revamping, researchers say

He asked the Whittakers to describe their sons journey and he conducted a short physical exam, asking Andrew to push against his hand and touch his own nose. Andrew trembled and his shoulders tensed, but he did it.

The rest of the week, Andrew underwent several other diagnostic tests, including a muscle biopsy, an EEG, MRI, and a lumbar puncture. He remained upbeat, though running the medical gauntlet clearly wore him out. He also met with UCLA specialists in brain degeneration and muscle and nerve disorders.

At weeks end, Nelson sat down with the family to explain what hed found. He had reviewed Andrews genome and compared it with that of both parents. Andrew had one copy of a defective gene that leads to Parkinsons but the genome sequencing didnt show a second copy, without which it could not be Parkinsons.

He also explained that Andrews illness was clearly progressive and that his brain was shrinking, making it harder for him to process language and information. Nelson said he still didnt have a diagnosis  he believed it was a brand-new disease.

Nelson planned to continue poring over the test results, conducting additional exams, and communicating with others in the network. He also is analyzing Andrews muscle, skin, and blood to see whether any mutated gene is expressed abnormally.

Even in the absence of a clear diagnosis, Nelson said, rare diseases like Andrews help educate scientists and may help other patients. These are the people we as a society will owe a great debt of gratitude, he said. They are effectively donating their lives to this process.

Lynn Whittaker was disappointed. We are still left with just hope that they will come up with something, she lamented. What else do we have?

Andrew said his relatives have asked if hes scared the doctors will find something. Im more scared if they dont, he replied.

Kaiser Health News, a nonprofit health newsroom whose stories appear in news outlets nationwide, is an editorially independent part of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
United Airlines caused a stir last week when footage taken by other travelers of local authorities brutally dragging a passenger from his seat before a flight from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky, went viral.

While the company's CEO, Oscar Munoz, apologized and vowed to halt using law enforcement to remove passengers already aboard planes to secure seats for employees, the incident has spurred questions about airline policies and prompted heightened scrutiny over the industrywide practice of overselling flights. But while last week's incident took the internet by storm, it's not all-too-uncommon for carriers to bump passengers due to overselling tickets or, like last week, accommodating crew members flying for work. According to the Department of Transportation, 40,629 passengers were involuntarily denied boarding from their U.S. flights due to overbooking in 2016.

[See: 7 Secret Tricks to Scoring a Cheap Business-Class Seat.]

By law, airlines have the right to remove passengers from their planes for a variety of circumstances and must outline their policies in their customer agreement in a contract of carriage. "Airline contracts of carriage do state that your seat isn't guaranteed, and there is language in them to cover refusing to fly someone at [the airline's] discretion," explains George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com. "Passengers have far fewer rights than they imagine," he adds.

But flyers do have some federally-mandated rights. For this reason, U.S. News tapped aviation experts to help you navigate air-travel policies and learn how to negotiate top dollar on an oversold flight.

Want to Avoid Getting Bumped? Get to the Top of the Priority Boarding List

DOT policies require that the airline first ask for passengers to volunteer to switch flights before compensation rules for involuntary bumping go into effect, says Charles Leocha, chairman and co-founder of Travelers United, a nonprofit advocacy group in the District of Columbia that works with the DOT and Congress on passenger rights issues. Whether you're at risk of getting bumped is determined by each carrier's priority boarding list, which defines groups of passengers that will be removed in the event of an oversold flight and is written (in the fine print) in the contract of carriage, Leocha explains. Despite contrary belief, the order in which passengers are selected to be involuntary denied access is not random, he explains. For example, United's priority list is based on factors such as the fare purchased, frequent flyer status, the check-in time and the itinerary.

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The most important step is getting a seat assignment, cautions Daraius Dubash, who runs the travel advice site Million Mile Secrets. To limit your odds of getting involuntarily bumped, he recommends checking in at least 24 hours before your flight, getting to the boarding gate on time with a seat assignment and avoiding no-frills basic economy fares. With status, you're less likely to be bumped, explains Gary Leff, author of frequent-flyer site View From the Wing. Leff advises arriving at the gate early, as seats aren't given away typically until about 15 minutes before departure and your check-in time may be a tie-breaker.

[See: 5 Airport Lounges You Need to Know About -- and How to Get Inside.]

Don't Volunteer Your Seat Without Understanding the Terms

Before you willingly switch flights when a gate agent asks for volunteers, make sure you're clear about the conditions, Leff cautions. While you would be entitled to a substitute flight and could receive a voucher or a free ticket for another flight, you may be forgoing negotiating power and additional compensation. If you volunteer, you're only entitled to what's been offered by the carrier. And while some carriers ask you what price you'll give up your seat for -- allowing you (and fellow passengers) to bid for a higher class of service -- if there are other volunteers, the carrier may not be as accommodating, he says. Once passengers accept the benefits outlined as volunteers, they "waive rights for future compensation," explains Henrik Zillmer, CEO of the site AirHelp.com.

But if there simply are not enough volunteers who agree to a voucher and a later flight (rather than cash), you may be denied boarding because the flight is full. In a scenario in which you're involuntarily bumped, the "law states that the airline has to inform the passenger who is denied boarding what their rights are," Zillmer says. This information should also be provided in writing, Loecha adds. The passenger rights and vouchers available for voluntary denied access vary by carrier, and they often come with caveats, such as time-sensitive vouchers for future flights that expire within a year or restricted days and fare classes for using the vouchers, Loecha explains. And while the carrier is required to provide an alternate flight option, you may be put on standby or the substitute flight might not be suitable. If you would book your own substitute flight reservation to reach your final destination, you may request an "involuntary refund" to be compensated for the original cost of your ticket.

Negotiate for the Highest Price If You Get Involuntarily Bumped

If you are required to change flights and your new flight arrives more than one hour later than your original arrival time, the airline is required by law to compensate you with 200 percent of the original price paid with a $675 limit. The amount you can receive depends on when your switched flight reaches your final destination. If you arrive more than two hours later than your scheduled arrival time, the carrier must compensate you up to 400 percent of the one-way fare, with a federally mandated $1,350 cap. In the case of the United incident, the flight staff offered passengers $800, four times the one-way fare, Leocha explains. What's more, bumped passengers must be compensated in cash, not a voucher, according to DOT guidelines, he adds. At the time of denied boarding access, remember "you have a right to a refund of your ticket in addition to the payout," Leff says. A full list of rules and restrictions for compensation are available on DOT's website.

[Read: How to Get a Refund After Canceling Your Flight.]

Understand the Exceptions

Keep in mind there are caveats when seeking compensation for an oversold flight. For example, if you're bumped for a reason other than overbooking (think: a delay or cancellation), or the carrier decides to switch to a smaller plane, you won't have the same federal benefits. On smaller 30- to 60-seat airplanes or in the event of an equipment swap, the same rules do not apply for involuntary or voluntary denied boardings, Leff explains. And if you arrive in under an hour to your final destination, the carrier is not required to give you anything for the hassle. On international flights departing from the U.S., you'll only receive compensation up to 400 percent of your fare (at a $1,350 cap) if your flight arrives more than four hours later than its planned arrival time, Loecha cautions.

Liz Weiss is the Travel editor for Consumer Advice at U.S. News, where she writes and edits consumer-focused travel content that offers trip-planning inspiration and helps consumers make smarter travel decisions. She has been covering the travel industry for nearly five years at U.S. News & World Report. She also manages the En Route blog, and has been interviewed on a variety of outlets, including MarketWatch and Fortune. Prior to joining the Consumer Advice team, Liz oversaw the development and content creation for U.S. News Travel's Best Cruises, Best Travel Rewards and Best Vacations franchises. A native of Washington, D.C., she received a bachelor's degree from George Washington University. You can follow Liz on Twitter or email her at eweiss@usnews.com.
Hollywood gave us Sharknado, but real-life scientists have given us Sharkcano  a highly active underwater volcano that is infested with sharks. And recently, those scientists presented us with another gift: They sent in a bunch of robots to get blown up in the eruptions.

The robots, which were just some PVC pipes stacked with electronics, were necessary to take measurements of the Kavachi volcano in the South Pacific Ocean because its too dangerous for humans to visit in the flesh, according to National Geographic. The scientific team was looking for things like temperature, carbon dioxide levels and acidity. After one enormous eruption, the researchers got even more than that when the robot caught pieces of ash that had just erupted as lava out of the Earth.

kavachi-explosion

Photo: National Geographic

They dont yet know why and how sharks can live in the crater of this volcano near the Solomon Islands, but it is really wild because its one of the most active submarine volcanoes in the world, ocean engineer Brennan Phillips said.

Read: These Penguins Have Survived a Lot of Volcanic Eruptions, According to Historic Poop

In the vicinity of the vent we found a huge drop in the surface pH levels, water temperatures 10 degrees higher than normal, and we learned Kavachi is a strong greenhouse gas emitter, Matthew Dunbabin, of Queensland University of Technology, told National Geographic.

See also:

Young Earth Erupts Out of a Volcano

Sharks Have Way More Friends Than You

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Two suspected insurgents have been reported dead after a series of apparently coordinated attacks rocked 15 separate locations in Thailands southern border provinces Wednesday.

The attacks occurred between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. local time in the restive Malay Pattani regions Narathiwat, Pattani and Songkhla provinces, according to the Thailands the Nation, which cited local police reports.

In 12 attacks reported in Narathiwat and Pattani, grenades were fired or hurled at military personnel, police stations, and villagers homes. Suspected insurgents also opened fire on a unit of troops. A bomb reportedly killed two attackers in Songkhla province when it fell and exploded before they reached their target.

A low-level separatist insurgency has persisted in Thailands Muslim South for decades but intensified in the early 2000s, with attacks in Bangkok and Phuket blamed on southern militants. On August 11 and 12 last year, a wave of bomb and incendiary device attacks killed at least four people and injured more than 30, including about a dozen foreign nationals. Unlike Wednesday evenings attacks, those had targeted areas popular with tourists such as Phuket and the resort town of Hua Hin.

[The Nation]

This article was originally published on TIME.com
With Adam Rawnsley

Fuel, meet fire. In the midst of a crisis with North Korea that has seen warlike rhetoric being tossed about between Pyongyang and Washington, the Trump administration on Wednesday rattled its sabers in a new direction, looking squarely at Tehran.

Everywhere you look, if there is trouble in the region, you find Iran, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said while traveling in Saudi Arabia. Mattis was in Riyadh to discuss a range of issues with the Saudis, including its war against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who receive some backing from Iran.

Speaking of that conflict, the secretary said that well have to overcome Irans efforts to destabilize yet another country and create another militia in their image of Lebanese Hezbollah. But he insisted that Washingtons goal is push all sides into a U.N.-brokered negotiation to end the fighting even as the Trump administration weighs selling more arms to the Saudi regime, despite a long list of Saudi strikes in Yemen that have showed little regard for civilian casualties. The Trump administration has also increased the number of U.S. air strikes against al Qaeda targets in Yemen in recent weeks.

Mattis landed in Cairo Wednesday for talks with the military and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who was feted by President Donald Trump earlier this month during his visit to Washington, a sharp reversal of the chilly relations between the two countries under the Obama administration.

Adding on. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held a press conference where he explained that while the Trump administration had certified Tehran was complying with the 2015 nuclear deal, Washington remained suspicious. An unchecked Iran has the potential to travel the same path as North Korea and take the world along with it, he said.

Tillerson pointed out that Iran hasnt curbed its provocative behavior since the deal took effect, including its support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Houthis in Yemen. The secretary said the nuclear deal was another example of buying off a power who has nuclear ambitions.



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We just dont see that thats a prudent way to be dealing with Iran, certainly not in the context of all of their other disruptive activities, he added, before adding a swipe at the Obama administration: The Trump administration has no intention of passing the buck to a future administration on Iran The United States is keen to avoid a second piece of evidence that strategic patience is a failed approach.

Where were headed. The press conference came just after Tillerson spoke at a meeting of U.S. and Saudi business execs, where he pushed for more cooperation between the two countries. The joint appearances by Mattis and Tillerson showcase a warming of U.S.-Saudi relations under Trump after eight years of tension with former President Barack Obamas administration, fueled in part by Obamas outreach to Iran to ink the 2015 nuclear accord, writes FPs Robbie Gramer. The diplomatic offensive also underscores what appears to be the administrations foreign policy theme: counterterrorism and business take pride of place over traditional U.S. concerns including human rights.

Saying, and doing. The president said we have an armada going toward the [Korean] peninsula, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Wednesday. Thats a fact. It happened. It is happening, rather. The White House and Defense Department are still struggling to explain the messaging SNAFU they created with the garbled announcement of the USS Carl Vinsons travels, and what the ship is doing while deployed to the Western Pacific.

About two weeks ago, the U.S. Pacific Command said the ship was cutting short a port visit to Singapore, scuttling a visit to Australia, and heading north to station itself near the peninsula. Spicer, Defense Secretary Mattis, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and the President himself all backed that timeline up in subsequent interviews, until it was discovered this week that the ship was actually on a training mission with the Australian navy, about 3,500 miles away. Turns out, that was part of the plan all along. The training before steaming north makes perfect sense, as former naval aviator Herb Carmen lays out in a great Twitter thread, but the question remains why so many in government had such a hard time explaining what was happening.

Own goal. But the flub did more than keep reporters busy. In South Korea, Hong Joon-pyo, a leading presidential candidate in next months election, said in an interview that the misdirection has caused damage. What Mr. Trump said was very important for the national security of South Korea. If that was a lie, then during Trumps term, South Korea will not trust whatever Trump says.

Chemical weapons. It looks like Islamic State militants used a chemical agent in an attack on Iraqi forces  along with their American and Australian advisors, according to some reports  in Mosul over the weekend. American forces in the country have sent the agent for testing, the U.S. general commanding coalition ground forces in Iraq said on Wednesday.

Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin, speaking to Pentagon reporters on Wednesday, said ISIS hit the unit with indirect fire  mortars or rockets  but the attack had no impact on operations. The Iraqi security forces were in vicinity of one of the strikes, Martin said. They were taken back for the appropriate level of medical careNobodys died. He wouldnt confirm how close U.S. advisors were to the strike.

Arms for the Pesh. The State Department has signed off on a $295 million arms sale to the government of Iraq, which Baghdad will use to arm two Kurdish Peshmerga infantry brigades and two artillery battalions. The deal includes 4,000 M16 rifles, about 100 Humvees, 36 howitzers, and other vehicles and equipment.

One U.S. official confirmed to SitRep that the gear will be sent to Baghdad for distribution to the Kurds, a deal the Kurds have complained about in the past, but which U.S. officials say has been ironed out. The sale was hatched under the Obama administration, and the official said it hasnt been sped up under the Trump administration. Since 2015, the Kurds have received over $800 million in U.S. military aid, according to State Department documents.

Welcome to SitRep. Send any tips, thoughts or national security events to paul.mcleary@foreignpolicy.com or via Twitter: @paulmcleary or @arawnsley.

Reorg. Chinese President Xi Jinping is continuing his plan to restructure Chinas military, announcing a slimmed down organizational structure based on 84 new units. Reuters reports that the new units will be commanded by major generals and rear admirals. The move follows previous reforms announced by Xi, including shaving 300,000 troops off the Peoples Liberation Armys total end-strength and restructuring its forces into five combatant commands.

Leak hunt. The CIA and FBI believe that an insider and not a hacker likely leaked a trove of Langleys tools for hacking and spying on adversaries and intelligence targets. CBS News reports that the two intelligence agencies are on the hunt for either a CIA staff or contractors who had access to the espionage software, a population that numbers in the thousands. The leaker shared thousands of pages of documents detailing tools developed by and for the CIAs Center for Cyber Intelligence. WikiLeaks published documents containing the data in a release dubbed Vault 7.

Sarin. Investigators for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) say that theres incontrovertible evidence that sarin nerve agent or a similar substance was used in the attack against the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Syria earlier this month. OPCW chief Ahmet Uzumcu says four different labs analyzed blood samples from victims of the attack and the results indicate exposure to sarin or a sarin-like substance. On Wednesday, an anonymous senior Israeli military official told reporters that the Assad regime still has a few tonnes of chemical weapons, despite a 2013 deal with the U.S. to eliminate its stockpile. Frances Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault also pointed the finger at the Assad regime for launching the chemical weapons attack on Khan Sheikhoun, saying we will prove that the regime has indeed organized these strikes with chemical weapons.

Yemen. The Trump administrations uptick in the air war over Yemen appears to be continuing with what locals tell Reuters was a fresh drone strike in Marib. Locals say a munition from a drone hit a car carrying four al Qaeda suspects as they moved through Marib province, which is home to an active presence from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The Trump administration has taken a more active role in the war in Yemen, authorizing a controversial special operations raid that killed several civilians and a Navy SEAL and carrying out more drone strikes against the growing ranks of AQAP members there.

Israel. Israels navy now says it urgently needs three German-made Dolphin AIP-class submarines, marking an about face from previous statements by Israeli military officials. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially negotiated a $1.3 billion deal with Germany to buy Dolphin AIP-class submarines without the blessing of since-ousted Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon. Police have launched an investigation into whether Netanyahu improperly favored ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems in negotiations for the submarines.

Marines. The Navy and Marine Corps announced that sharing nude photos without consent is officially and specifically against regulations for Marines, Navy Times reports. The move amounts to a lawful order, allowing the services to prosecute those who share revenge porn for failure to follow orders without having to go through Congress to add revenge porn sharing as an offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The move comes in the wake of a growing revenge porn scandal among active-duty and retired Marines, hundreds of whom were caught sharing nude images of female Marines on social media.

Photo Credit: Jonathan Ernst  Pool/Getty Images
By Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Panarat Thepgumpanat BANGKOK (Reuters) - A string of gun and grenade attacks in southern Thailand that killed two people reflects tension over talks aimed at ending violence there, a conflict monitoring group said on Thursday, warning against similar attacks in future. Thailand's far south has battled a separatist insurgency since 2004, when resistance to Buddhist rule in the Muslim-majority region flared. More than 6,500 people, most of them civilians, have died in separatist violence since. Eight people were wounded in 13 incidents on Wednesday across the provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Songkhla, near Thailand's border with Malaysia. No group has yet claimed responsibility. The attacks follow the Thai government's rejection of a conditional offer for peace talks made this month by one of the main insurgent groups, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN). The violence was the BRN's way of showing it is capable of coordinated strikes as a way to push for peace talks, said Srisompob Jitpiromsri, head of independent monitoring group Deep South Watch. "This reflects attempts to create conditions for peace talks in the future," Srisompob, whose group tracks violent incidents in the region, told Reuters. "The group is expected to carry out similar attacks periodically, which will likely affect peace dialogues in the long run." A Thai security official blamed the attacks, which targeted security forces and civilians on "people who want to cause chaos", but did not single out the BRN. "It looks like their intention wasn't to kill, but rather to cause disorder," Colonel Yutthanam Petchmuang, a spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command, told Reuters. The violence followed coordinated attacks in the region on April 7, just hours after King Maha Vajiralongkorn signed into law a new constitution, as a step toward ending military rule. The new constitution, which critics say will entrench military rule in Thailand, was widely opposed in the south. "The BRN is showing that it is the right negotiating partner, which can control and command the fighters on the ground," Rungrawee Chalermsripinyorat, an independent researcher who monitors the conflict, told Reuters. Talks between the government and a handful of shadowy insurgent groups began in 2013, under the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, overthrown in 2014 by the military in the name of ending political turmoil. In February, the government said it had reached a breakthrough pact with MARA Patani, an umbrella group that says it speaks for insurgent groups in the south. Analysts say only a handful of BRN members belong to the group, however. The provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala formed part of an independent Malay Muslim sultanate before being annexed by Thailand in 1909. (Editing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Clarence Fernandez)
By Robert Hetz MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish High Court graft inquiry that has led to the arrests of people linked to the ruling People's Party widened on Thursday as police searched the offices of construction group OHL and technology firm Indra. Mariano Rajoy is not accused of any wrongdoing, but the investigation is an embarrassment for the Spanish Prime Minister who has sought to distance himself from a series of political scandals involving kickbacks. Dozens of politicians and executives have taken the stand as a result and Rajoy, who holds the narrowest parliamentary majority in the history of Spanish democracy, has been called as a witness in a trial of members of his party suspected of operating a slush fund, a court spokeswoman said on Tuesday. OHL and Indra confirmed the searches and an OHL spokesman said the company had not made any payments to politicians and was fully cooperating with police, while an Indra spokesman declined any further comment. El Pais newspaper reported that the searches were linked to the financing of the PP's Madrid branch during regional election campaigns in 2011. A PP spokeswoman declined to comment. News of the searches hit shares in both companies, with OHL falling as much as 14 percent, before recovering to trade around 8 percent lower. Indra's shares lost more than 4 percent. A police spokesman did not name the companies, saying only that the inspections were part of the same operation which led on Wednesday to the arrest of former Madrid regional president Ignacio Gonzalez and 11 others. The searches were carried out on order of the investigating magistrate in that case, Eloy Velasco, a police spokeswoman later said ,without giving any further information. A High Court spokesman declined to comment. Gonzalez, a PP member who was president of the Madrid government between 2012 and 2015, and eleven others linked to his administration were arrested on as part of an open investigation into allegations including bribery and fraud. The former local leader has not commented on his arrest and Reuters was unable to reach him or his lawyer. The PP said in a statement on Wednesday it rejects "any type of corruption ... and will take the necessary measures to stop any activity that infringes the law". Spain's anti-establishment opposition party Podemos, which polls within a whisker of its main rivals the Socialists, seized on the searches to highlight links between the country's politicians and businesses. Podemos, which has been touring Madrid in a double-decker bus painted with pictures representing recent political scandals, said it was taking the bus to OHL's headquarters. Spain has slipped to 41 in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions index in 2016, implying a higher level of corruption in the Mediterranean country than Portugal and France, but a lower one than Italy and Greece. (Additional reporting by Rodrigo de Miguel and Sonya Dowsett; Writing by Isla Binnie; Editing by Sonya Dowsett and Alexander Smith)
Imagine a world where scuba diving is the main tourist attraction in the area formerly known as Washington, D.C., and where travelers can spend time in a Las Vegas casino while admiring Nevadas coastal view.

An ad agency in Boulder, Colo., has released a series of dystopian tourism posters for free, to support climate-change research ahead of the March for Science, scheduled for April 22.

Walden Hydes website encourages visitors to show your support for a climate researcher you love and/or climate research in general by displaying the posters at home or using them as picket signs at local science marches.

The posters depict the Arches National Park in Utah, which becomes a paddling hot spot; and the Torch, the only part of the Statue of Liberty that remains above water.

Climate action initiatives introduced by the Obama Administration are at risk of being rolled by back right now, Lucia Robinson, who co-founded the agency and co-designed the posters, told the Huffington Post. Wed like to see those left in the place, and for the U.S. to take a leadership role in climate science.

The March for Science was organized in response to proposed budget cuts from the Trump Administration, the gutting of climate-change regulations and an increased skepticism in the U.S. of the existence of global warming. Protesters, who are set to march in more than 500 cities worldwide, advocate support for the scientific community and the importance of scientific research.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
According to the old saying, those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. (Thats George Santayana. I had to Google for attribution: forgetfulness 1, remembrance 0.) Of course, before we can remember the past, weve got to decide which past to remember. Every history is a narrative, inherently selective, foregrounding certain characters and themes, while sidelining others. Whose story are we telling, and why?

Take the history of the Manhattan Project: Is it the story of the greatest assembly of minds since classical Athens uniting to stop a genocide through the power of science? Or the story of cities full of innocent civilians, on their way to work, to school, obliterated in an instant? Is it the tale of the downwinders, whose claims that nuclear testing sickened their families remain unanswered? Or is it an origin story, the birth of the Military Industrial Complex (that ones Dwight D. Eisenhower, no Google required), the National Security State, and Americas superpower heyday?

Months before the atomic bombs were dropped, 70 years ago, the Army enlisted a New York Times reporter named William Laurence to pen an official history, one that in meaningful ways established the language and themes we still invoke when we talk about the Manhattan Project today. The Pentagon understood the old publicists creed: to control the conversation, you have to get ahead of the story. In fact, they referred to their impending date with Japan, internally, as Publicity Day.

For a long time, the strategy worked. Before the fallout had settled, J. Robert Oppenheimer emerged as a kind of intellectual pinup-model, plastered on the covers of Life and Time. (If the bomb was Oppenheimers greatest invention, Oppenheimer himself was a close second: an ectomorphic, Jewish New Yorker who remade himself as a Sanskrit-quoting, martini-shaking cowboy-poet-physicist-monk, he gives Jimmy Gatz a run for his millions.) America had unlocked the secrets of the universe to beat back the Axis; Hiroshima wasnt a graveyard, it was the cradle of a new era, henceforth known as the Atomic Age (that ones vintage William Laurence). Of course, the bombings occasioned some apocalyptic hand-wringing, but according to a 1945 Gallup Poll, 85% of Americans approved of the use of the bombs on Japan.

Seven decades have whittled that number down to 56%. What should we make of that sea change in public opinion? Just four years after the shock of Pearl Harbor, did we believe, in 1945, that we had repaid a debt whose trauma has long since faded from memory? Did history offer up a lesson? Did we learn it? Have we told ourselves a new story, dressed up in modern clothes, about the ethics of weapons of mass destruction in the age of terror? And will we respond to the next trauma differently?

Its up to the historians of the future to answer that question for our kids. But the kids may need a refresher; according to a recent poll, only 46% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 even knew that the U.S. built the first nuclear weapon.

Sam Shaw is the creator and showrunner of Manhattan on WGN America.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
Many teens want to avoid getting pregnant. Thanks to supportive communities and innovative programs, many are succeeding. The birth rate among teens in the United States is at an all-time low. But one key federal program, whose work has driven some of this progress, is now in danger of losing half of its funding.

The program is the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program, which lives within the little-known Office of Adolescent Health. The Obama administration established this pregnancy prevention program in 2010 as part of its broader, unprecedented embrace of evidence-based initiatives. The Office of Adolescent Health, also established in 2010, was given a two-tiered directive: replicate proven teen pregnancy prevention programs and evaluate the promise of innovative new strategies.

Teen birth rates have been declining since the 1990s. New data reveal an even sharper drop in the five years following the inception of the TPP program, from about 34 births per 1,000 girls in 2010 to 22 per 1,000 in 2015  a 35 percent decrease. This unprecedented decline suggests that the Office of Adolescent Healths funding strategy for teen pregnancy prevention has been highly effective.

Yet the Trump administration recently proposed immediately slashing the budget for this highly successful program by 50 percent.

Many people assume that the drop in unintended pregnancies has been due largely to increased funding for birth control, which can make a wider variety of methods more affordable. As long as we protect programs like Medicaid expansion and the Affordable Care Act, which increase coverage for contraceptives, so the thinking goes, unintended pregnancies will continue to decline.

But decreasing the cost of various birth control methods doesnt guarantee an increase in their use, especially if teens dont know about all of the methods available to them. Teens turn most often to condoms and withdrawal, both of which have high failure rates in their first year of use (18 percent for condoms and 22 percent for withdrawal). Until recently, many teens had never heard of the more effective methods available to them. For example, far fewer than half of young women had heard of intrauterine devices (IUDs) or implants, both of which have failure rates of less than 1 percent. Agencies and advocates have had to do the hard work of educating young women  and their care providers  about the full range of methods and the pros and cons of each.

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Teens require especially creative outreach efforts about contraception. Their communication methods are always evolving, their privacy is paramount, and the criteria they use to select birth control can be complex. Outreach to teens must be highly customized and continually evaluated and improved  precisely what the Office of Adolescent Health has made possible through its smart, effective TPP grant making.

The team I lead, the Program in Woman-Centered Contraception at the University of California, San Francisco, was fortunate to receive a five-year TPP innovation grant in 2015. In partnership with The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, we have designed an innovative intervention called SpeakOut that combines offline and online outreach to harness the power of social networks and peer influence to improve teens awareness of their birth control options. Like all TPP programs, SpeakOuts design is driven by evidence  in this case, evidence about how teens prefer to learn and communicate with one another about birth control options.

Read more: Infant simulators, designed to discourage teen pregnancy, actually encourage it

In 2016, we began a rigorous evaluation of SpeakOut. If proven effective  which our pilot results suggest it is  it can be replicated and disseminated nationally. Meanwhile, 80 other TPP grantees are currently scaling up proven strategies and evaluating other new and innovative approaches for reaching adolescents across the country.

The Trump administrations call to drastically cut funding for these programs endangers this progress. The administration has previously claimed that cuts to federal programs like TPP are meant to produce savings. While cost should never be the deciding factor when it comes to optimizing womens reproductive health, teen pregnancies are far more expensive than the cost of helping teens who want to prevent them. The National Campaign estimated that in 2010, teen pregnancies cost the US roughly $9.4 billion  about 90 times more than the annual Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program budget of $101 million. And teens who avoid unintended pregnancy dont just save the system money  they learn more and earn more, too.

After revealing his initial budget, Trump called on the federal government to, Do so much more with the money we spend. His administration will be hard-pressed to find an investment that produces a better return on investment, or brighter futures for our youth, than equipping teens with the tools they need to prevent pregnancy.

Christine Dehlendorf, MD, is the director of the Program in Woman-Centered Contraception and an associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, both at the University of California, San Francisco. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of California, San Francisco.
Polands government is pursuing immigration reforms that would see asylum seekers kept in fenced-off border camps where they would be housed in shipping containers in the event of a major influx.

Politico reports that the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party aims to prevent efforts to illegally move to Western Europe if a new migrant crisis erupts. Interior Minister Mariusz Baszczak told Polish radio the country needs to be ready to prevent what it calls illegal entry, likening the plan to similar container camps in France and Germany.

The proposal, similar to a controversial policy in Hungary, would allow border guards to detain asylum seekers for four weeks while applications are being processed. It would also approve regulations for life in the camps, including the use of converted shipping containers as temporary shelter.

The new plan is politically popular among Polands conservative Christian majority, Politico reports, though human rights advocates warn it could entrench systematic rights abuses that violate European and international norms.

Read More: Refugee Children Face Beatings and Subzero Temperatures as They Are Pushed Back Into Serbia

Though the country did not bear the brunt of the 2015 European migrant crisis, Poland has seen a recent rise in anti-foreign, particularly anti-Muslim attitudes. According to Politico, the Polish Border Guard recently tweeted - and swiftly deleted - the message that: We do not agree to the influx of Muslim migrants.

Ruling party leader Jarosaw Kaczyski reportedly ratcheted up anti-migrant rhetoric in the lead-up to the countrys 2015 election, claiming that migrants carry very dangerous diseases, Politico reports. After winning the majority, the PiS government backed out of an agreement to resettle about 7,000 asylum seekers in Poland.

Most of the asylum seekers entering Poland are Chechens fleeing political persecution under Russian ally Ramzan Kadyrov, entering the country through its border with Belarus and likely en route to Germany. The Polish Border Guard denied entry to some 80,000 people last year. Human Rights Watch has claimed that Polish authorities have defied international conventions by turning them away without allowing them to apply for asylum.

[Politico]

This article was originally published on TIME.com
San Francisco (AFP) - Scores of technology firms including Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft joined a legal filing urging a judge to toss out President Donald Trump's latest travel ban.

More than 160 companies, all but a couple of which are in the technology sector, signed a "friend of the court" brief siding with opponents of Trump's executive order in a US appeals court for the District of Maryland.

Federal judges have halted Trump's revised executive order issued in March to temporarily close US borders to refugees and nationals from six Muslim-majority countries, dealing the president a humiliating defeat.

The rulings triggered a nationwide freeze on enforcement of a ban on entry by nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days.

A US judge ruled that the state of Hawaii, in its legal challenge, had established a strong likelihood that the ban would cause "irreparable injury" were it to go ahead.

In Maryland, US District Judge Theodore Chuang issued a similar nationwide injunction on a separate complaint filed by advocacy groups claiming that the amended order discriminates against Muslims.

In the "amicus brief" filed Wednesday, companies backed the argument that Trump's ban not only discriminated on the basis of religion, it also overstepped the authority of the president to change rules regarding who is allowed into this country.

"The second order effects a fundamental shift in the rules governing entry into the United States, and is inflicting substantial harm on US companies, their employees, and the entire US economy," lawyers argued in a copy of the brief available online.

The ban makes it more difficult to attract talented employees, increases costs; makes it tougher to compete, and makes it more appealing for global enterprises to invest in operations in more immigrant-friendly countries, according to the brief.

Trump has said a travel ban is needed to preserve US national security and keep out extremists.

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His first effort, in January, banned travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries and all refugees but was blocked by a court in Washington state on the grounds that it violated the constitution's prohibition of religious discrimination.

That block was upheld on appeal, and the administration said it would revise the ban to better adhere to the law.

Chuang ruled that plaintiffs opposing the second ban in his court "are likely to prevail on the merits, that they are likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief and that the balance of the equities and the public interest favor an injunction."

Trump vowed to fight the "flawed" ruling all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary, describing it as "unprecedented judicial overreach."
By Divya Grover (Reuters) - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd on Thursday launched an asthma inhaler that will be the first direct competition to GlaxoSmithKline's best-selling Advair. Teva, which won U.S. approval in January to make an inhaler similar to Advair, also launched a generic version of its own inhaler, AirDuo RespiClick. AirDuo is not a true generic of Advair, but contains the same two active ingredients, fluticasone propionate and salmeterol. However, it delivers a lower dose of salmeterol and uses Teva's RespiClick inhaler rather than copying GSK's device. "We imagine that there should be sufficient time window for AirDuo to be the sole competing product to Advair," Raymond James analyst Elliot Wilbur said in a client note. Advair, which brought in 1.83 billion pounds ($2.35 billion) in 2016 sales, is also widely used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, while AirDuo is only approved for asthma and is not directly substitutable. "Neither branded AirDuo, nor its authorized generic are therapeutically equivalent or substitutable for Advair," GSK's spokeswoman Sarah Alspach told Reuters. Still, Teva's product is likely to grab some share of the asthma market. AirDuo could capture 25 percent of the market by 2018, Wilbur said. However, the bigger threat to GSK will likely come from fully substitutable generic copies of Advair that are still awaiting approval. Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc and Vectura Group Plc are expecting approval for their generic versions by May 10. Mylan NV's generic was rejected in March. GSK has been preparing for the loss of Advair's exclusivity for the past two years. But the potential launch of generics will still be a blow since the medicine is highly profitable and has sold more than $1 billion annually since 2001. Teva's AirDuo will cost wholesalers or direct purchasers $285, while the generic version will cost $90, Michelle Larkin, a spokeswoman for the Israeli drugmaker, told Reuters. The pricing of the branded drug was in line with that of its peers, Bernstein analyst Erica Kazlow said. "Teva's willingness to use generic strategy for the product is encouraging as it relates to the company's willingness to look at a tough reality and take appropriate action," Kazlow said. (Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Savio D'Souza)
A bill ostensibly designed to regulate ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft passed the Texas House 110-37 Wednesday with an amendment that defines sex" as "the physical condition of being male or female."

The original bill, which was proposed by Republican Rep. Chris Paddie was designed to establish statewide regulations on the popular ride-hailing services that would require annual criminal background checks for drivers that are less strict than those some municipalities have adopted.

Read: Uber, Lyft Lose Austin, Texas, Referendum After Spending Millions To Change Ride-Hailing Rules

The original text of the law barred drivers from discriminating against riders on the basis of "location or destination, race, color, national origin, religious belief or affiliation, sex, disability or age." An amendment proposed by Republicans Briscoe Cain and Tony Tinderholt adds a stipulation that defines sex as "the physical condition of being male or female," which may undermine the original intent of the nondiscrimination clause.

The Texas House adopted the amendment 90-52. Additional amendments that would have added protections for gender identity and sexual orientation failed though it is worth noting Uber and Lyft have policies that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In addition to providing a limited definition of sex, the bill also would require an annual name-based criminal background check at the local, state and national levels.

It also would bar local governments from setting their own regulations on the ride-hailing services, which would directly undermine the stricter rules cities like Austin have passed  rules with which Uber and Lyft opted not to comply, ending their services within the city.

Read: Uber, Lyft Face Vote On Whether Their Drivers Face More Stringent Background Checks

A major sticking point was fingerprint-based background checks required at the local level. Austin mandated companies do fingerprint checks, which go through an FBI database that maintains a persons criminal record until they are 99 years old.

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Fingerprint background checks are typically used for positions considered security or safety sensitive.

Democratic Rep. Yvonne Davis of Dallas attempted to add an amendment that would allow local governments to require drivers to pass fingerprint background checks before driving for services within the city, but the proposal was tabled 101-40.

Other rules brought by the bill would include the ability for cities to enter into agreements with the ride-hailing services to collect and share traffic data within the city and coordinate transportation options for major events. It also would prohibit ride-hailing services from accepting cash payments.

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Texas is on the line for more than $600,000 owed to attorneys representing two couples who fought the state to overturn its ban on same-sex marriage.

A U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals awarded attorneys for Mark Pharris and husband Vic Holmes and Cleopatra DeLeon and wife Nicole Dimetman. The attorneys will receive $585,470.30 in fees and $20,202.90 in other costs

Were thrilled, Phariss told the Dallas Morning News. It means that our attorneys finally get compensated for all their hard work.

The money will be paid to the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, which said it would use the funds for pro bono work.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton led the states charge against gay marriage in a years-long legal battle. The two couples were successful at the district court level, but had to wait while Texas appealed the decision to the 5th Circuit Court based in New Orleans.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
Go-go dancers onstage Go-go dancers perform onstage at a dance bar along Walking Street in Pattaya, Thailand, March 29, 2017.

Two hours east of Bangkok, Pattayas bawdy reputation hails from the Vietnam War era when U.S. soldiers partied there while on leave. (Photo: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)

Dressed in a daring nautical-themed outfit, sex worker May confidently predicts the survival of Thailands sleaze town of Pattaya, despite the Thai military juntas attempt to tame the kingdoms Sin City.

She is bullish because she, like tens of thousands of others in the industry, has no plans to give up her job. And there are no signs the hordes of foreign sex tourists are abating.

Two hours east of Bangkok, Pattaya has a bawdy reputation that goes back to the Vietnam War era, when American soldiers partied there while on leave.

Today the town spins money off its no-holds-barred reputation, and its most successful workers earn anywhere from 70,000 to 150,000 Thai baht ($2,000-$4,400) a month  as much as 10 times the average national wage.

But concerns about the impact on Thailands reputation have spurred authorities to act, while frequent reports of underage sex workers, drug abuse and organized crime operations further muddy Pattayas name. (Jerome Taylor/AFP)



A photo-essay by Agence France-Presse photographer Roberto Schmidt captures a night on Pattayas streets and in its establishments, providing a glimpse of the towns sex-driven economy.

See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr.
Three masked robbers snatched a suitcase stuffed with millions of dollars in cash from a businessman who had just withdrawn the money from a bank in western Japan on Thursday, police said.

In the audacious daylight mugging, assailants set upon the 29-year-old victim as he dragged the case containing $380 million yen ($3.5 million) across a parking lot in downtown Fukuoka, a police spokesman and local media said.

He was sprayed in the face with what is thought to have been tear gas by the attackers, who made off in a car with the suitcase.

Few other details were initially available.

While Japan is still a cash-based society, it is unusual for someone to carry such a large sum, which would have weighed at least 38 kilogrammes (84 pounds).

The country has an enviable safety record and muggings and other forms of street crime, such as pickpocketing, are rare. But Japan does have a shadowy underworld run by 'yakuza' organised crime syndicates.

The case came after local media reports in December said thieves posing as police officers had walked off with more than $5 million of gold last year in Fukuoka after telling a group of men carrying it in briefcases to hand it over.

Police in Fukuoka have refused to confirm those reports, which claimed the theft took place in July, most likely involving organised crime gangs.
A small town in Canada has become a tourist destination thanks to a giant iceberg.

Ferryland, a tiny Newfoundland town of roughly 500 people, got a holiday surprise over Easter weekend when a massive block of ice appeared off-shore - overshadowing people, boats and even houses on land. The iceberg seems to have parked in the waters outside the town and, according to CTV News, visitors have started flocking to the area to witness the colossal floating chunk of ice and post photos on social media.

PIC OF THE DAY - Residents view the first iceberg of the season as it passes the South Shore near Ferryland, Newfoundland, Canada pic.twitter.com/ey5YFvTHsB - TR_Foundation News (@AlertNet) April 18, 2017

Its not uncommon for Ferryland to witness icebergs floating by as the town has a perfect view of the so-called iceberg alley.

Its the biggest one I ever seen around here, Ferryland Mayor Adrian Kavanagh told CTV.

North Atlantic shipping lanes have already witnessed 616 icebergs this year. Last year, 687 icebergs were spotted from the start of the year to September, according to CTV. Experts said the surge is due to unusually strong counter-clockwise winds, and perhaps the effects of global warming.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration will unveil a tax reform plan very soon and expects it will be approved by Congress this year whether a healthcare overhaul happens or not, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday.

"It will be soon, very soon," Mnuchin told a conference on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington.

Mnuchin said the Treasury was working on tax reform options "day and night" but he gave few specifics. "It will be sweeping, it will be significant and it will create a lot of economic growth," he said.

President Donald Trump campaigned on promises to lower taxes and boost economic growth. Trump, who took office in January, suffered a setback last month when the Republican-controlled Congress pulled a proposal to overhaul health care rules that would have generated savings for public coffers.

Trump has since said the administration will continue trying to replace health care legislation enacted by his predecessor, Barack Obama, though Mnuchin said tax reform will move forward even if health laws stay the same.

"Whether health care gets done or health care doesn't get done, were going to get tax reform done," he said,

Trump's tax plan would lower rates but most of the revenue lost under that plank of the reform would be gained back by boosting economic growth, Mnuchin said. "The plan will pay for itself with growth."

(Reporting by Jason Lange and Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Paris (AFP) - Twenty members of a suspected jihadist network thought to have been behind a grenade attack on a Jewish grocery store in 2012 went on trial in France Thursday on terror charges.

The "Cannes-Torcy cell", named for the towns where its members were based, is suspected of having planned several other attacks, and was considered the most dangerous to threaten the country when it was dismantled in 2012.

The trial opens as France is grappling with fresh fears of jihadist terror attacks, with the police arresting two men Tuesday suspected of plotting an assault just days before the presidential election -- the first to be held in France under a state of emergency.

Analysts say the Cannes-Torcy network signalled a historic shift in France's struggle against terrorism, to battling mass attacks by Islamic radicals inspired, or even guided, by foreigners.

Of the 20 men being tried by a special anti-terror tribunal in Paris, 10 are in prison and seven are on conditional release, while three others are being sought -- two of whom are thought to be in Syria.

Aged 23 to 33, they are accused of plotting to stage several attacks on military and civilian targets, and of seeking to join jihadist ranks in Syria.

Police arrested two members of the network while investigating a grenade attack on a Jewish grocery in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles in September 2012.

Two masked men threw a grenade into the shop, injuring one person, but the fact that it rolled under a trolley prevented more casualties.

Police also found bomb-making equipment in a storage unit rented by Jeremie Bailly, 28, the alleged leader of the group.

Another suspected member, Jeremie Louis-Sydney, a petty criminal who had converted to radical Islam, was killed in October 2012 when police came to arrest him at his apartment in the eastern city of Strasbourg.

The trial is expected to run until July 7, with most of the accused facing terms of 30 years to life in prison.
Washington (AFP) - Iran is "not living up to the spirit" of the nuclear deal struck with world powers, US President Donald Trump said Thursday, warning America would set out its position on that soon.

Trump's administration has been publicly tightening the noose on Iran over the deal, which was negotiated by the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany to roll back Tehran's nuclear program in return for the easing of sanctions.

"It was a terrible agreement," said Trump, who has regularly blamed his predecessor Barack Obama for securing it. "That was a bad one, as bad as I've ever seen negotiated."

"Iran has not lived up to the spirit of the agreement, and they have to do that," Trump said in a joint news conference in the White House with Italy's visiting Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

"We're analyzing it very, very carefully and will have something to say about it in the not-too-distant future."

- Iran under US pressure -

Trump on Tuesday ordered a review of the deal led by his National Security Council. It will decide whether suspending sanctions "is vital to the national security interests of the United States."

Although the State Department admits Iran has so far stuck to its side of the bargain, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday called the pact a failure and warned Iran risked becoming another North Korea: a hostile, nuclear-armed state.

He said Iran is "the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism" and highlighted its military support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Huthi rebels in Yemen and militias in Iraq and in Lebanon.

"Iran's provocative actions threaten the United States, the region, and the world," Tillerson said.

Pentagon chief Jim Mattis reinforced that tone during a visit to Saudi Arabia, when he said Iran was the source of many problems in the Middle East.

On Thursday, the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, followed up by calling Iran the "chief culprit" in conflicts in the Middle East and urged the UN Security Council to make handling the country a "priority."

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Iran's ambassador to the UN, Gholamali Khoshroo, hit back by accusing the United States of waging a "misleading propaganda campaign" against his country.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter that "worn-out US accusations can't mask its admission of Iran's compliance" with the nuclear deal.

- Deal still intact -

Iran has long insisted its nuclear program has no military purpose. But world powers were not convinced and the accord provided for regular inspections of facilities.

Thus far, Trump has made no steps to tear up the deal, as he had threatened to do when campaigning to become president.

And Tehran has given no indication of wanting to ditch the deal, properly known as the JCPOA, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

But Iranians in their day-to-day lives have not seen as much advantage from the eased sanctions as they had hoped.

Disappointment over their continued economic stagnation has created an opening for conservative candidates in May 19 elections who are opposed to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate who helped oversee the nuclear deal's conclusion.

- US military might -

In the US, Trump has backed down from a number of policy positions he took on the campaign trail, as the political novice embarked on a steep learning curve since taking office in January.

After calling NATO "obsolete," he now endorses it as a "bulwark" of international security.

And he has softened an aggressive trade stance vis-a-vis China as he realized how key Beijing was to reining in nuclear-armed North Korea.

At the same time, Trump, who has appointed several generals to his administration, has not shied away from exercising American military might.

Trump ordered a multiple missile strike on a Syrian air base suspected of being the launch point for an April 4 chemical attack on civilians that killed at least 87 people.

And last week his generals dropped, for the first time in combat, the biggest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal on a complex in Afghanistan used by the Islamic State group.

Both those showy displays of force could be seen to be sending ominous messages to Iran -- or at least a warning that there's a new sheriff in town.
By Steve Holland and Mike Stone WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Thursday launched a trade probe against China and other exporters of cheap steel into the U.S. market, raising the possibility of new tariffs and sending shares of some U.S. steel makers up over 8 percent. Citing concerns about national security, Trump made the announcement at a White House ceremony with U.S. steel executives from Nucor Corp , United States Steel Corp and TimkenSteel Corp alongside Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, a billionaire businessman who made part of his fortune investing in the steel business. "Steel is critical to both our economy and our military," said Trump, a Republican. "This is not an area where we can afford to become dependent on foreign countries." Trump won many votes in industrial states like Michigan and Pennsylvania with a pledge to boost manufacturing and crack down on Chinese trade practices. China is the largest national producer and makes far more steel than it consumes, selling the excess output overseas, often undercutting domestic producers. The unusual step of launching an investigation comes as Trump is pressuring China to do more to rein in an increasingly belligerent North Korea. When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Trump in Florida earlier this month, Trump raised the possibility of using trade as a lever to coax China to do more. Everything they export is dumping, said Derek Scissors, Asia economist at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank. Ross cast the decision to initiate the probe as a response to Chinese exports of steel into the United States reaching the point where they now account for 26 percent of the U.S. market. Chinese exports have risen "despite repeated Chinese claims that they were going to reduce their steel capacity," said Ross, whom The Economist, a business magazine that champions free trade, in 2004 labeled "Mr. Protectionism" for his history of owning businesses protected from foreign competition. Ross said that if the Commerce inquiry finds the U.S. steel industry is suffering from too much steel imports, he will recommend retaliatory steps that could include tariffs. Diverging from the Obama administration's approach to the issue, which relied largely on filing complaints to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Trump ordered a probe under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which lets the president impose restrictions on imports for reasons of national security. In October 2001, a Commerce Department investigation found "no probative evidence" that imports of iron ore and semi-finished steel threaten to impair U.S. national security. Steel shares had rallied after Trump won the November election amid promises for increased infrastructure spending. On Thursday shares of Steel Dynamics Inc , AK Steel Holding Corp , Cliffs Natural Resources Inc , Allegheny Technologies Inc and other steel makers closed between 4 percent and 8.5 percent higher. PROFITS CITED The United States has nearly 100 plants that make millions of tons of steel annually. The U.S. government has attempted to shield them from cheap foreign steel chiefly through the WTO, but the Trump administration said this has had little impact. "The artificially low prices caused by excess capacity and unfairly traded imports suppress profits in the American steel industry," the administration said in a statement. Nucor Chairman John Ferriola said in a statement that the steelmaker welcomed the president's move. "We look forward to continuing to work with the president and Secretary Ross to ensure our trade laws are enforced so that U.S. manufacturers can compete on a level-playing field," he said. Experts were skeptical about the administration's argument that cheap Chinese steel threatened U.S. national security. The Defense Department's annual steel requirements comprise less than 0.3 percent of the industrys output by weight. There is no doubt that steel plays a role in our national security and the manufacturing of U.S. weapons systems, said Jeff Bialos, a partner at law firm Eversheds Sutherland, who has worked on steel trade cases in the past. "But the Department of Defense only consumes a small portion of domestic steel output, and this has decreased over the past decade as composites technology has advanced, Bialos said. Some of the militarys largest consumers of steel are U.S. Navy shipbuilders Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc and Lockheed Martin Corp . Scissors said the United States has other ways to take on China over steel trade issues, other than invoking national security. Talking about it as a national security issue - I dont think its necessary and I dont think its justified, he said. (Additional reporting by Jeff Mason in Washington; and Luciana Lopez and Caroline Valetkevitch in New York; editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Nick Zieminski)
European Union foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini warned in China Thursday that the current war of words between the United States and North Korea creates geopolitical unpredictability not only in Asia but around the globe. But as U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un face off, its not clear that either sees this as a sign they should back down.

Speaking at Tsinghua University as part of a three-day trip, Mogherini said she had brought up her concerns with Chinese officials in Beijing. She added that the EU and China have a common responsibility to avoid a military escalation in the Korean Peninsula, to push for North Korea to abide by its international obligations and re-engage with the international community, and work together for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

While Mogherini attempted to soothe tensions, Washington was quite literally trying to meet the problem head-on. On Monday, Vice President Mike Pence was photographed at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea, staring icily into the closed-off North because, as he said later, I thought it was important that people on the other side of the DMZ see our resolve in my face.

Pence reiterated prior administration warnings that the era of strategic patience with North Korea was over, as it stubbornly pursues its nuclear and missile programs that threaten the region.

North Korea would do well not to test [Trumps] resolve  or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region, Pence said in a press conference later that day with acting South Korean President Hwang Kyo-ahn. All options are on the table to confront the Hermit Kingdom, Pence added.

Mogherinis and Pences statements showcased the growing rift between the EU and the United States over a spate of foreign-policy issues since Trump assumed office. In the wake of North Koreas continued missile tests  including an unsuccessful launch Sunday  the Trump administrations unpredictability and incendiary rhetoric meant to pressure Pyongyang have instead rattled allies in Asia and Europe.

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The White House and Defense Department came under fire for misleading allies on the whereabouts of a naval strike group it said it was deploying to the Korean coast earlier this month. While Trump boasted about the U.S. armada stalking Korean seas, the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group was actually more than 3,000 miles away, conducting exercises with the Australian navy.

What [President Donald Trump] said was very important for the national security of South Korea, South Korean presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal Wednesday. If that was a lie, then during Trumps term, South Korea will not trust whatever Trump says.

Trump compounded the gaffe when he tripped over a particularly sensitive cultural landmine, telling the Journal that South Korea had once been part of China. That sparked outrage among South Koreans and prompted an official response from the Foreign Ministry.

Its a clear fact acknowledged by the international community that, for thousands of years of history, Korea has never been part of China, South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said Thursday.

While the Trump administration blunders into diplomatic controversies of its own making, former U.S. government officials tried to put North Koreas nuclear ambitions in perspective.

The regime in Pyongyang is ruthless and reckless, but theyre not crazy, said William Perry, a former defense secretary under President Bill Clinton.

Perry, who also served as Clintons special envoy to North Korea, said three generations of family rule by the Kim dynasty in Pyongyang have shared one unifying philosophy: Keeping the regime in power.

Kim Jong Un is unlikely to do anything that would jeopardize the dynasty. In particular, Perry said, Kim and his coterie realize that a nuclear exchange with the United States would at the very least obliterate his capital city and a good chunk of his military capability.

Perry told reporters on a conference call that he believes the North would be more likely to respond with conventional weapons against its southern neighbor if a preemptive strike were taken against its nuclear or missile facilities. Seoul sits just 35 miles from the North Korean border, where thousands of artillery pieces are dug into hard granite hills, ready to rain tens of thousands of shells on the capital within minutes.

That threat gives Pyongyang free rein for bombast. This week, the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Koreas ruling Workers Party, warned that Pyongyang could launch a super-mighty preemptive strike against U.S. imperialists invasion forces and reduce Washington and its allies to ashes.

China has become exasperated with North Korea, following a series of provocative missile tests and the assassination in February of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean leaders exiled half-brother, allegedly ordered by the regime. China appears to be complying more fully with U.N. sanctions on trade with Pyongyang and recently agreed to stop importing North Korean coal, a source of hard earnings for the Hermit Kingdom.

Beijings level of frustration and ire directed at North Korea is unprecedented, said Bruce Bennett, an expert on Asian security with the Rand Corp. in a press call Thursday.

But that doesnt translate into an appetite for regime change or into taking steps that could precipitate it, Bennett said. Theres a reluctance to push back hard  theyre afraid of what the consequences might be.

North Koreas latest provocation was the attempted launch of a still unidentified missile that blew up almost immediately after launch. But experts warn that with each failure, North Korea inches closer to a viable missile program and with it the capability to lob nukes at U.S. and allied territory. Since 2014, about three-quarters of Pyongyangs missile launches (51 of 66) have succeeded, as nuclear nonproliferation expert Jeffrey Lewis noted. As tests continue, missile development continues apace, and North Korea bulks up its nuclear arsenal in the future, the threat  and the difficulty of dealing with it  will only grow.



North Korea could have as many as 100 nuclear weapons by 2025, said Michael Mazarr, another Asia security expert with Rand. A North Korea of the mid-2020s is going to be a very different challenge than the one it is today, he said.

Photo credit: ED JONES/AFP/Getty Images
President Trump speaks during a joint news conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni at the White House. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

WASHINGTON  A day after the U.S. State Department certified that Iran is complying with an agreement designed to rein in its nuclear program, President Trump accused Tehran on Thursday of not honoring the spirit of the deal.

They are not living up to the spirit of the agreement, I can tell you that, Trump told reporters at a joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. And were analyzing it very, very carefully, and well have something to say about it in the not-too-distant future, the president added.

Trump, who has fiercely criticized the accord, did not spell out his view of how Iran had not lived up to the agreement or how the U.S. might respond.

The president also repeated his campaign-trail attacks on the deal, which gave Iran relief from sanctions related to its suspect nuclear program in return for international monitoring of its activities. It was a terrible agreement, it shouldnt have been signed, it shouldnt have been negotiated the way it was negotiated. Im all for agreements, but that was a bad one, as bad as Ive ever seen negotiated, he said.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to dismantle the agreement, which was worked out between Iran, the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia, and Germany. He did not repeat that promise on Thursday.

The National Security Council did not immediately explain what the president meant by the spirit of the accord.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson informed Congress that Iran was complying with the agreement. But, he said, the Trump administration is currently conducting across the entire government a review of our Iran policy and is going to review completely the nuclear deal itself.

Once we have finalized our conclusions, we will meet the challenges Iran poses with clarity and conviction, Tillerson added.

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Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump, who once celebrated Britain's decision to leave the European Union, insisted Thursday that he wants the bloc to remain strong.

"Yes, a strong Europe is very, very important to me as president of the united states," Trump told reporters at a joint news conference with Italy's Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

"And it is also in my opinion -- in my very strong opinion -- important for the United States. We want to see it. We will help it be strong."

Trump's past comments predicting that other countries "will leave" the EU after Britain voted to do so last year rankled European leaders.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker even responded with a joke he was ready to encourage US independence movements if Trump failed to tone down his Brexit support.

But more recently, Trump has endorsed the European bloc, which describes itself as a bastion against the nationalistic rivalries that so often tore it apart in wars in past centuries.

Early this month, the US president told the Financial Times newspaper he thought the European Union was "getting their act together" -- though he maintained Brexit would be "really, really good" for the Union and for Britain.

The turnabout mirrored Trump's changing opinion of NATO.

Initially, he portrayed the military alliance as "obsolete."

But last week he declared that was no longer the case. Now, he said, he was satisfied it was the "bulwark of international peace and security."

However Trump is still insisting most NATO members "owe" money to the alliance, stressing a goal that they all spend two percent of economic output on military expenditure.

In his media conference with the Italian prime minister, Trump focused again on that financial issue.

Gentiloni said his country fully intended to meet that commitment, despite budget limitations.

"We know that this will be a gradual process. It has already begun," he said.
By Natalie Grover and Divya Grover (Reuters) - Doctors have struggled for years to deliver medication effectively to the inner ear, but two companies are vying to be first to introduce new treatments which, if successful, could together chalk up some $800 million in peak sales. Pivotal drug-trial data from Otonomy Inc and Auris Medical Holding AG is expected to show whether two competing approaches can address ear disorders associated with hearing loss and balance. Current therapy typically involves injecting steroids into the middle ear. The steroids are used off-label to treat sudden changes in hearing and balance. This approach requires patients to lie on their side, and avoid swallowing, or risk either the loss of the drug or possible side-effects. "The steroids work, but the current method of delivering them is terrible," said Dr. Darius Kohan, chief of otology/neurotology at New York-based Lenox Hill Hospital. San Diego-based Otonomy and Swiss biotech Auris propose delivering medicines using different gel-like formulations into the middle ear, for absorption by the inner ear. Otonomy's drug, a formulation of an existing steroid, is being tested for use in Meniere's disease - a chronic, progressive condition characterized by dizziness, tinnitus and hearing loss that affects 600,000 Americans. Auris's treatment is being evaluated for use in tinnitus - a perception of ringing in the ears, often a symptom of underlying disease. About 250,000 Americans are eligible for Auris's treatment. No FDA-approved treatments exist for these diseases. NO WINNER YET At least four other companies also have ear drug trials under way, but are considered far behind. The group includes Nordmark Arzneimittel GmbH & Co, Sound Pharmaceuticals and Decibel Therapeutics, as well as Novartis AG. Otonomy is expected to release late-stage data on its Meniere's trial in the second half of 2017. The drug is expected to generate peak sales of $603 million, said SunTrust Robinson analyst Edward Nash. The delivery technology that Otonomy is using for this treatment is already being utilized in its FDA-approved antibiotic. This, in a way, validates the company's technology, Nash said, also noting that Otonomy's approach does not require repeat injections to complete a course of treatment. In contrast, Auris's technology necessitates multiple injections and requires patients to lie still for up to half an hour post administration. Late stage data from Auris's European study is expected in 2018. "Even if Auris is successful in their second tinnitus trial, they'd still have to conduct another U.S. trial to win FDA approval. If the Otonomy trial is positive, they can file right away for Meniere's," Nash said. Auris's treatment could hit peak sales of $250 million, according to Needham & Co analyst Serge Belanger. To be sure, both competitors have suffered trial setbacks, which forced them to adjust the design of later studies. They increased the number of patients enrolled and tweaked trial endpoints. Experts are circumspect about declaring a winner. Dr. Hinrich Staecker, lead investigator on Auris's U.S. tinnitus trial, said it was impossible to tell which company had the leg up until the latest round of research data comes out. (Reporting by Natalie Grover and Divya Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by David Greising and Sayantani Ghosh)
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned North Korea's latest missile test and demanded Pyongyang not conduct any more nuclear tests in a statement that was delayed as the United States and Russia sparred over its language. A North Korean missile blew up almost immediately on its test launch on Sunday, the U.S. military said. The 15-member Security Council traditionally condemns all launches by Pyongyang. Such statements are agreed by consensus. It is rare for council members to wrangle over standard language and the dispute came amid U.S. and Russian tensions over Moscow's support for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war. Previous statements "welcomed efforts by council members, as well as other states, to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive solution through dialogue". The latest U.S.-drafted statement dropped "through dialogue" and Russia requested it be included. "When we requested to restore the agreed language that was of political importance and expressed commitment to continue to work on the draft ... the U.S. delegation without providing any explanations canceled the work on the draft," the Russian U.N. mission said in a statement on Wednesday. The United States told council members it cut the words because they "would overly narrow the means by which the international community could arrive at a peaceful and comprehensive solution to the North Korean nuclear problem," according to diplomats. Diplomats said Pyongyang ally China had agreed to the statement. The condemnation eventually agreed by the council included the words "through dialogue" and said the council was prepared to consider further sanctions. North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions aimed at impeding the development of its nuclear and missile programs since 2006. The 15-member council has strengthened sanctions following each of North Korea's five nuclear tests. Tensions have risen after U.S. President Donald Trump took a hard rhetorical line with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has rebuffed admonitions from China and proceeded with nuclear and missile programs seen by Washington as a direct threat. The Trump administration is focusing its North Korea strategy on tougher sanctions, possibly including an oil embargo, a global ban on its airline, intercepting cargo ships and punishing Chinese banks doing business with Pyongyang, Reuters reported last week, citing U.S. officials. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will chair a United Nations Security Council meeting on North Korea on April 28 to discuss how the body can combat Pyongyang's banned nuclear and missile programs. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Andrew Hay)
By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. mediator for Syria said on Thursday he would hold talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov in Geneva on Monday, and that the United States had declined to take part in any trilateral meeting for now. They will evaluate discussions in the Kazakh capital Astana, planned for May 3-4, that are aimed at reviving the tattered ceasefire, and prospects for convening talks in Geneva between Syria's warring sides later in May, de Mistura said. "The trilateral meeting - as you know that was a possibility - is being postponed, it is not taking place on Monday. It will be a bilateral ... But the trilateral is not off the table, it is just being postponed," he told reporters. De Mistura, asked about the U.S. administration's intent to participate, replied: "There is a clearly an intention to maintain and resume these trilateral meetings, and the date and circumstances were not conducive for this to happen on Monday." The United States carried out a missile strike on a Syrian air base this month after a chemical weapons attack that killed scores of people near Idlib on April 4. Both incidents have raised tensions between Washington and Moscow, the Syrian government's ally. "The U.S. welcomes discussions with Russia regarding the UN-led political process on Syria in Geneva, and we have met in the past in the trilateral U.S.-Russia-UN format. But at this time there is no new trilateral meeting scheduled," a U.S. spokesman in Geneva said in an email. De Mistura said that his team had just taken part in technical talks in Tehran, in preparation for the Astana talks organised by Russia, Iran and Turkey. There had been "some type of movement regarding the issue of detainees ...and on possible issues related to demining as well," he said, adding that he was seeking details. De Mistura said the suicide bomb attack on Saturday on a convoy of evacuees from the rebel-besieged villages of Foua and Kefraya had killed more than 130 people, including 67 children, and wounded some 200. Evacuations resumed on Wednesday. His humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland criticized the evacuation, part of a four-town exchange negotiated by Iran and Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist alliance, with the involvement of Hezbollah. The United Nations had no role in the reciprocal exchange that also included fighters and civilians in two government-besieged towns, Madaya and Zabadani. "This cannot be considered voluntary evacuations, these are people evacuated after years of besiegement," Egeland said. "Is it voluntary if people in the end have only (one) option - starve and be bombed or go on a bus to an uncertain future?" (Editing by Catherine Evans)
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States pushed the United Nations Security Council on Thursday to focus on "illegal and dangerous behavior" by Iran and Lebanese group Hezbollah in the Middle East, an accusation that Iran dismissed as "misleading propaganda." U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the 15-member council that its monthly meetings on the Middle East - traditionally focused on Israel and the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon - regularly turned into "Israel-bashing sessions." "Iran is using Hezbollah to advance its regional aspirations. They are working together to expand extremist ideologies in the Middle East," she said. "That is a threat that should be dominating our discussion at the Security Council." U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday accused Iran of "alarming ongoing provocations" to destabilize countries in the Middle East as the Trump administration launched a review of its policy toward Tehran, including a 2015 nuclear deal. "Today we heard unsubstantiated allegations against my country which I categorically reject as misleading propaganda campaigning against Iran and its role in the region," Iran's U.N. Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo told the council on Thursday. The United States, which is president of the council for April, tried to focus the meeting on Thursday on Iran, which it accuses of aiding Hezbollah in Syria, deadly militia in Iraq and Houthi rebels in Yemen. In a note ahead of the meeting, the United States asked countries to consider: "Who are the regional players that most benefit from chaos in the region, and what are the connections between terrorist groups and these states?" Several council members broadened their statements during the meeting on Thursday to discuss other conflicts in the Middle East, but few mentioned Iran. Haley told the council: "The incredibly destructive nature of Iranian and Hezbollah activities throughout the Middle East demands much more of our attention. It should become this council's priority in the region." Haley, who became the U.S. ambassador in late January, is a member of the Cabinet of President Donald Trump, who took a hard line on Iran during his campaign for the White House. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A two-man U.S.-Russian crew floated into the International Space Station on Thursday, hours after blasting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a NASA TV broadcast showed. A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying U.S. astronaut Jack Fischer, 43, and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, 58, lifted off at 1:13 p.m. local time/3:13 a.m. EDT (0713 GMT) with a rare empty third seat. Russia is scaling back space station staffing until its long-delayed science laboratory is flown to the orbiting outpost next year. Fischer and Yurchikhin reached the $100 billion space station, which orbits about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth on schedule at 9:18 a.m. EDT (1318 GMT). About two hours later, hatches between the Soyuz capsule and station opened. Fischer, on his first space voyage, and Yurchikhin floated into the waiting arms of station commander Peggy Whitson and her crew. Their first order of business was a congratulatory phone call from family and friends at the Russian mission control center outside of Moscow. "Its so beautiful," Fischer told his wife, describing the experience as "a burrito of awesomeness smothered in awesome sauce." Fischer also had some comforting words for his mother. "Mom, it's like me being in Texas, depending on where we are going around the Earth, Ill be just as close," he said. "I can still call you. So no need to miss me. Prior to launch, the rookie flier said he thought his biggest challenge would be learning how to use the station's zero-gravity toilet, a difficult task that relies on suction. Fisher, with the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is sharing the station with two seasoned veterans, a Russian cosmonaut on his second flight and a first-time French flier. Soyuz crewmate Yurchikhin has made four previous space flights. Commander Whitson, 57, in the midst of her third long-duration mission, is due on Monday to beat the 534-day record for cumulative time spent in space by a U.S. astronaut. She is expected to receive a congratulatory phone call on Monday from U.S. President Donald Trump, NASA said on Wednesday. Whitson, who flew to the station in November along with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, will remain aboard with Fischer and Yurchikhin until September. (Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Alistair Bell)
By Josh Smith and Ahmad Sultan KABUL/ABDUL KHIL, Afghanistan (Reuters) - U.S. troops are still battling suspected Islamic State fighters near the site where a massive bomb was dropped in eastern Afghanistan last week, a U.S. military official said on Wednesday. Nicknamed "the mother of all bombs", the GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb was dropped last Thursday from an American MC-130 aircraft in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, bordering Pakistan. Since then questions have surrounded the decision to use the weapon, which is one of the largest conventional bombs ever used in combat by the U.S. military. Afghan estimates of heavy militant losses and no civilian casualties have been impossible to verify in the remote region, with access to the area where the bomb fell still blocked. The strike drew condemnation from some prominent figures, including former Afghan president Hamid Karzai and Afghanistan's ambassador to Pakistan. After arriving at the site the day after the strike, U.S. troops fighting alongside Afghan forces have since left, but continue to conduct operations in the broader area, said U.S. military spokesman Captain William Salvin. "Access has been restricted but that's because it's a combat zone," he told Reuters. "We are in contact with the enemy." Echoing initial estimates, Salvin said the U.S. military has "high confidence" that no civilians were harmed. Some Afghan officials have complained of a lack of information about the effects of the bomb. "We were and we are kept in the dark and still we havent been able to go to the site," said one senior Afghan security official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. "We are confused ourselves and we wonder what MOAB could have caused." "FIGHTING FOR GOD" In meetings of the Afghan security council, some ministers told President Ashraf Ghani they feared the lack of information from the U.S. side could be exploited by Islamic State, which has continued radio broadcasts claiming none of its fighters were killed. "We haven't suffered any casualties from this bomb," said one recent Islamic State broadcast. "We are fighting for the sake of God, who is much stronger than this bomb." Salvin would not comment on claims by Afghan defense officials that nearly 100 Islamic State fighters died in the strike. The attack was aimed at destroying an "extensive" complex of fortified tunnels and mines and not any particularly large concentration of fighters, he said. "Our assessments are ongoing," Salvin said, noting that the strike appeared to have collapsed many tunnels, destroyed mines, and "reduced" several nearby structures. U.S. troops have continued to use explosives to collapse other tunnel entrances not destroyed by the bomb, he said. For at least a month before the strike, the U.S. military had broadcast radio messages warning of coming operations by American and Afghan troops in southern Nangarhar, and leaflets were dropped on areas affected by the operation, Salvin said. One leaflet seen by Reuters in a village near the strike shows a picture of a drone with an Afghan army emblem and reads: "We ask residents to leave as soon as possible to save their lives." Several villages near the blast site have been largely abandoned for months as fighting increased between Islamic State and the U.S.-backed Afghan forces, locals said. "There were daily bombings and fighting," said Khan Afzal, a local policeman on a recent patrol in the village of Abdul Khil, less than a mile from the strike. "Afghan forces used to fire artillery, bombs were dropped by foreign aircraft, and even Daesh fired rockets at us and at the villagers," he added, using an Arabic term for Islamic State. Residents in Achin district say that they knew of no civilians still living voluntarily in the areas near the Islamic State stronghold, but it is still not clear if other non-combatants may have been involved. "The people who'd normally be talking have fled, and there have been very few reports from inside Islamic State territory," said Kate Clark, a senior researcher for the Afghan Analysts Network. "The jury's still out on many things with this strike." Some local residents suggested there may have been prisoners held in the tunnel complex, she added, but the area has been something of an information black hole since Islamic State militants were first confirmed there in 2015. The Afghan offshoot of the Middle East-based, extremist militant movement is small - presumed to number a few hundred fighters - and is battling foreign and government troops as well as rival insurgent groups, most notably the dominant Taliban. (Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi; Writing by Josh Smith; Editing by Gareth Jones and Mike Collett-White)
Update 4/20/2017:

UC Berkeley reversed its decision to cancel a speech by the conservative author Ann Coulter, approving her to appear on campus in early May, the New York Times reported this afternoon. The stakes of protecting the May event are high, for all of the reasons discussed below. If successful, Berkeley will reverse a dangerous trend that threatened everyones rights. Its leaders deserve credit for hearing criticism and reconsidering their chosen course.

On Wednesday, the University of California, Berkeley, announced that it was canceling a scheduled speech by Ann Coulter, citing security concerns. Just weeks ago, Berkeley cancelled a speech by Milo Yiannopolous after armed radicals clad in black overwhelmed event security, threw Molotov cocktails in the street, and smashed windows at the campus student union. That was not a proud night for this campus, the home of the free speech movement, a UC Berkeley spokesperson said, while the Los Angeles Times editorialized that the success of the violence should make supporters of free speech shiver.

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And this weeks news bolsters that assessment.

When violence successfully stopped the Yiannopolous event, an incentive was created for threats of future violence and for violence itself. Thus, the clash in Berkeley two days ago between Trump supporters and leftists that Mother Joness Shane Bauer characterized as follows: Militias, alt-right, nazis etc won today in Berkeley. They outnumbered the opposition, pushed it back, and held downtown. That a second speech is now postponed due to more threats of violence from the far left compounds the problem. Berkeley, a public institution, is compelled by both the Constitution and California law to protect free speech, even if campus Republicans there continue to degrade themselves by abetting or being fooled by nihilistic performance artistsand even if campus leftists invite the most odious of their fellow travelers.

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Now, rather than giving campus Republicans the booby prize of having to sit through an Ann Coulter speech, an experience more likely to evoke shame than pride as they age and mature into adults, her critics achieved the booby prize of postponing it.

That outcome is awful for Coulter detractors.

This ought to be a challenging time for the right-wing polemicist, who only recently found herself in much the same position as Madonna: Both provocateurs exploited cultural boundaries, stoking outrage to give their work reach beyond their talent, and profitedonly to wane in relevance as their industries became crowded with imitators. Then Donald Trump got into politics. He was unsurpassed in his willingness to state odious beliefs, and really, truly the best at stoking ethnic tensions to benefit himself. Coulter couldnt beat him in the attention economyhe was maximally shameless, denying her a key advantage she has over many rivals. Nor would she oppose a coalition that included so many of her fans. But she could join him, being one of those rare sorts who is willing to stoke humanitys darkest impulses.

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After the September 11 terrorist attacks, when people with good character spoke more responsibly, Coulter said, We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians.

In 2016, she published In Trump We Trust, adding sycophancy to the mercenary indignities to which she has subjected herself, staking her credibility (among the narrow slice of the ideological spectrum where she had any left) on a known huckster.

Right-wing entertainers excel at getting rich as they lead their base astray.

Today, as Trump and his circle continue to suck up most of the outrage oxygen in Americameanwhile making fools of their populist supporters by betraying them at many turnsCoulter ought to enjoy no more relevance than she has respect or esteem, her work read mostly among authoritarian AARP members as their younger analogs gravitate toward Yiannopoulos, a hateful Lady Gaga to her bigoted Madonna. In fairness, Madonna never responded to Gagas success by donning a meat dress of her own, whereas Coulter watched a violent mob elevate Milo by preventing him from speaking at Berkeley, then proceeded to follow the character she helped create.

Her critics would have done well to deny her attention by treating her scheduled appearance with the ambivalent yawn every provocateur most dreads. Instead, they began playing into her hands, situating her appearance in a paradigm where free speech is cast as being in conflict with anti-racisma wrongheaded frame anathema to civil-rights heroes and marginalized protesters the world over. It guarantees either that bigots like Coulter will be seen by many as occupying a moral high ground, or that free speech will suffer, hitting marginalized groups hardest in the end.

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Issuing violent threats was, for the left, the most counterproductive of all courses. It generated just the sort of attention Coulter thrives on. And it is remaking Berkeley into a place where the illiberal right can reliably bait the illiberal left into raising their profile.

UC Berkeleys response threatens to do even more damage than those making threats, all but guaranteeing that the Hecklers Veto is attempted more often going forward.

As the New York Times put it:

The University of California, Berkeley, on Wednesday canceled a scheduled speech by the conservative author Ann Coulter, in the latest blow to the institutions legacy and reputation as a promoter and bastion of free speech...

Think of it. Coulter said the university insisted that her speech take place in the middle of the day, that only students could attend and that the exact venue wouldnt be announced until the last minute, the Washington Post reported. She said that she agreed with the conditions but that that apparently wasnt good enough.

Berkeley is the flagship public university in a state with the seventh largest economy in the world. It employs an entire state police force that reports to its leaders. It is situated beside a major city that protects one of Americas most important ports. Given notice, is it really unable to secure a polemicists speech against violence? Its ongoing failures to do so threaten anyone who runs afoul of any mob.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
London (AFP) - The UK Green Investment Bank (GIB), created by the British government to fund environmental projects, is to be sold to Australian financial services firm Macquarie Group in a A2.3 billion deal, the government said Thursday.

Under the deal, worth $2.6 billion (2.7 billion euros), Macquarie has vowed to invest at least A3 billion of new funds into Britain's green economy over the next three years.

The government, GIB's sole shareholder, launched the sales process to privatise the fund last year.

"The Green Investment Bank has been very successful in attracting private capital to the UK's green economy," said Nick Hurd, Climate Change and Industry Minister.

"It now makes sense to move it into the private sector where it will be free from the constraints of public sector ownership".

Macquarie Group's David Fass said the deal "will open further opportunities in low carbon investment both in the UK and further afield."

The GIB was created in 2012 to attract private investment and has so far helped fund around 100 green projects with a total capital expenditure of around A3.4 billion, including more than A1 billion in large infrastructure projects.

The fund has invested in six offshore wind farms and a new energy-from-waste plant in North Wales.

The A2.3 billion deal comprises a A1.7 billion transaction price and a A0.6 billion commitment for existing projects.

Robert Smith, chair of GIB's board, said there was "compelling logic" behind the deal.

"We were determined to find a new owner...who would have access to deep pools of capital, a commitment to expand GIB's activities, and a respect for the unique role GIB has played in the market."
The Hague (AFP) - Anglo-Dutch food and consumer products giant Unilever on Thursday reported rising sales and boosted its shareholder dividend in its first earnings update since seeing off a takeover bid by Kraft Heinz.

Sales rose 6.1 percent in the three months to March to 13.3 billion euros ($14.3 billion), partly explained by favourable exchange rate factors, and ahead of analysts' expectations.

Ever since spurning a takeover bid from US rival in February, Unilever has been trying to prove to shareholders that it is better off on its own.

Earlier this month, it announced the sale of its margarine division to butter up investors, many of whom had voiced concern over the rejection of the proposed tie-up with Kraft.

On Thursday, it announced a 12 percent hike in its dividend for the quarter, "reflecting the confidence in our outlook", according to its statement.

It had already flagged a share buyback to the tune of five billion euros, a strategy of ploughing cash back to shareholders.

Unilever also predicted improving profit margins for the rest of the year.

Markets reacted favourably and Unilever's share price rose by 1.3 percent to 48.35 euros in mid-morning trade on Thursday.

In the first quarter, Unilever said its sales grew faster than its markets, and that its strategy over the past months had made the company "more agile and closer to the local markets, unlocking both further growth and margin".

Analysts have called the Kraft Heinz bid a "massive wake-up call" for the company.

Unilever snubbed Kraft's offer which would have valued it at a whopping $143 billion, saying it "fundamentally undervalued" the group.

Global food companies have been struggling with anaemic economic growth in many key markets amid changing and health-conscious lifestyles.

But the Rotterdam-based group said sales were boosted both in personal care as well as in refreshments.

In skin care, Unilever has rolled out Baby Dove in the US and Britain and a new range of Signal toothpaste in France, it said.

Growth in ice cream sales were boosted by new innovations such as the new Magnum pint, described by Unilever as "the ultimate chocolate and ice cream experience in a tub".

Unilever, which employs some 173,000 people around the world, owns more than 400 brands including Dove, Knorr soups, Lipton, Magnum and Marmite.
By Ronnie Cohen (Reuters Health) - When a badly injured patient rolls into the emergency room, Dr. John Scott doesnt ask to see proof of insurance. Instead, he immediately begins treatment. Hospital care frequently saves patients from gunshots, stab wounds, crushing car accidents and other traumatic injuries. But Scott found in a new study that 7 out of 10 adult uninsured trauma patients suffer another debilitating injury: financial catastrophe. Were getting better at trauma, and theyre going home financially ruined, Scott said in a phone interview. Everyone in Americas at risk for an accidental injury, and not everyones protected from the financial consequences, said Scott, lead author of the study and a surgery resident at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston. The study, reported in Annals of Surgery, is the first to couple data on U.S. trauma admissions with Census Bureau data on income to evaluate the risks of catastrophic health expenses. Researchers analyzed 117,502 hospital admissions for uninsured 18- to 64-year-olds admitted for trauma care from 2007 to 2011, before implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Overall, half the patients had an estimated annual income below $40,867, and half had hospital charges of at least $27,420, not counting charges from doctors, who bill separately. In other words, one unforeseen major injury could potentially cost well over half of someones annual income. Previous studies have examined the impact of hospitalizations on so-called medical bankruptcies. But most who file for bankruptcy in the aftermath of medical crises are middle-class Americans with health insurance, the authors write, while the poorest uninsured often never declare bankruptcy. To capture poorer uninsured Americans, Scott used the catastrophic health expenditure metric, which the World Health Organization uses to compare out-of-pocket expenses to income. Scott defined catastrophic health spending as out-of-pocket health costs that were more than 40 percent of a patients income after they paid for food. By that definition, nearly 71 percent of uninsured 18- to 64-year-old trauma patients - or more than 82,000 men and women - risk financial calamity every year. Patients with the lowest incomes were at highest risk - 78 percent - of destitution. But even those with the highest incomes had a 53 percent risk of a medically induced fiscal catastrophe, the study found. Dr. David Himmelstein, a professor at the City University of New Yorks Hunter College School of Public Health, described the study as quite sophisticated. It paints an extraordinarily disturbing picture of Americas vulnerability, he said in an email. This study shows that someone who is in a car accident, or is mugged, or experiences sudden trauma for some other reason, risks being driven to financial ruin, he added. In essence, unless youre Bill Gates, you could be at risk of financial catastrophe if you fall seriously ill, said Himmelstein, who was not involved with the study. The uninsured are not the only ones suffering the consequences of catastrophic health expenditures, Scott said. When hospitals fail to collect, they pass the costs onto paying customers and health-insurance companies, he said. More uncompensated care leads to higher costs for everybody else, he said. For clinicians, its important to consider the financial strain as a complication of trauma care. Survival is not the only measure of good care, he said. But when a patient asks him how much a CT scan will cost, he has no idea. Scotts message to lawmakers considering changes to the Affordable Care Act: Financial catastrophe is a reality for tens of thousands of Americans who havent planned for it. Theyre being cured, but being cured into destitution. Theres nobody we turn away for emergency trauma care. We dont check peoples insurance status. We dont check their wallet, he said. If everybody is deserving of world-class trauma care, everybody is deserving of protection from financial catastrophe from that care. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2oUGABo Annals of Surgery, online April 7, 2017.
United Airlines No. 1 flierand fanwill reach an auspicious milestone next week.

Tom Stuker says he will reach his 18-million-miles mark next week with all the miles flown on United Airlines. Although Stuker does not condone the recent incident involving Dr. David Dao, the passenger who was violently ousted from a flight for refusing to de-plane earlier this month, he has no intention of severing his close relationship with the airline that he refers to as like a second family.

Stuker is president of Stuker Training an Automotive Training Network based out of Bay City, Michigan, and serves as a dealership sales trainer and consultant. Having flown with United for almost 50 years, Stuker gained fame in 2012 when he flew over 13 million miles and completed 1 million miles in a calendar yearmilestones that drew comparisons to George Clooneys frequent-flying character in the 2009 film Up in the Air.

Stuker started flying more often in 1984 when he traveled extensively for work. He has flown over 300 times to Australia for work and for pleasure and tries to visit Hawaii three-to-four times a year. After so many years of flying with United, he has not wavered in his staunch support of the company.

Read: What Will Happen To United Airlines? Expert Predictions On Earnings Conference Call

Im a big United loyalist, I consider them almost like a second family to me. So it was upsetting to see all of this negative press, Stuker told International Business Times in a phone interview Tuesday.

The infamous incidentcaptured in a 30-second video clip and posted on social media by a fellow passengerprompted outrage after Dao was seen bloodied while being carried out by a security officer. Dao sustained injuries that included a concussion, lost teeth and a broken nose.

Stuker agreed that the treatment of Dao was unacceptable.

Its terrible, he said of Daos treatment. I dont care what the situation is, it never, never, never should happen on any airline to any human being, whatsoever."

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Its going to make every airline ... reassess how they go about it, said Stuker about airlines' practice of bumping ticketed passengers from flights. United Airlines altered its policy over the weekend so that crewmembers would no longer be allowed to unseat passengers that had already boarded the plane.

Stuker has boarded over 9,000 flights with United. On all of those flights, he said he has never experienced anything close to what Dao had experienced and had never even lost a bag with the airline. While Stuker does fly first class, he frequently takes the same types of commuter flights around the country, similar to the one Dao was on.

Stuker did describe his own instance of being deplaned from a flighthe guesses somewhere around 30 years agowith a different carrier.

"I personally have been in that situation that he was in. It was a different airline than United and I had an assigned seat. They came up to me and said, 'Were going to have to deplane you.' I had never heard of all of these rules of being taken off a plane. They explained it and said I was going to be on a flight in the next hour or so  I begrudgingly walked off the airplane without incident," Stuker said. He added that he received a reimbursement for the flight bump.

Read: Why United Airlines CEO Met With Chinese Diplomats After David Dao Incident

The million-miler veteran believes that it was the law enforcement involved in Daos removal that should be held accountable. He described it as a directive that came from over-zealous law enforcement. The three aviation police officers that removed Dao from the outbound flight in Chicago were placed on administrative leave, according to the New York Times.

Stuker feels that the initial statement from United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz, whom Stuker has met three different times, was "misunderstood."

I read Oscars first statement and I think it was misinterpreted, Stuker said. He did later admit that maybe it was not written in the best way.

Munoz released an initial statement that apologized for having to re-accommodate passengers as opposed to apologizing, directly, to the treatment of Dao.

We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation, Munoz wrote. United was criticized for its initial statement and for mishandling its response in regards to Dao. It also described Dao as being belligerent.

Another statement was released the next day. No one should ever be mistreated this way, Munoz wrote in the revamped apology.

Stuker remembers his first flight with Uniteda high school trip in 1971. Nowadays, he uses United flights to spend time with his family.

Its quality of life over quantity, he explained.

Indeed, Stuker takes every available opportunity to travel with his wife. He takes six honeymoons a year with his wife and always makes time to take separate trips with his sons.

So for the man who has traveled the world, where his favorite place to go?

"Home," Stuker said, and he will likely get there via United.

As much as this should have never happenedand its very unfortunate that it happened to anybody on any airline, especially my favorite airlineI see nothing but blue skies for United.

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The Trump administration is considering making changes to the US visa-waiver system that could make it much harder for Europeans travelling to America.

Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said the existing rules, which do not require Britons to obtain a visa, should be reviewed amid heightened concerns about terrorism.

"We have to start looking very hard at that [visa waiver] programme, he said.

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Mr Kelly added that he was not considering scrapping the system entirely, but said the current set-up needed to be looked at again.

"Not eliminating it and not doing anything excessive, CNN Money reported him saying during a speech in Washington, but look very hard at that programme.

The comments come after airlines warned of a Trump slump that saw international travel to the US drop 6.5 per cent in the eight days following the Presidents proposed travel ban in January.

Online searches for flights to America also dropped by 17 per cent in the same week.

It resulted in an estimated loss of $185 million (145 million) in business travel bookings from 28 January to 4 February, as calculated by the Global Business Travel Association.

Mr Kelly said he feared Isis fighters were using the visa-waiver system to sneak into the US, warning America was the Super Bowl in terms of terroriststhat's where they wanna come [sic].

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Trump slump is costing US billions in loss of tourism

The visa-waiver programme enables most citizens of participating countries to travel to the US for up to 90 days without first obtaining a visa.

Travellers must first have authorisation under the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (Esta) system, a faster and cheaper process that takes 72 hours and can be completed online.

In 2015, the rules were tightened so that nationals of visa-waiver countries who had been to Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen on or after March 1, 2011, were no longer eligible.

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Around 14 million European citizens visited the US without a visa in 2015.

In March, the European Parliament voted to end visa-free travel for Americans within the EU.

Video not available for syndication

European Parliament votes to end visa-free travel for Americans

It came after the US failed to agree visa-free travel for citizens of five EU countries  Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania  as part of a reciprocity agreement.

US citizens can normally travel to all countries in the bloc without a visa.

The vote urged the revocation of the scheme by May. If no action is taken, MEPs can consider action in the European Court of Justice.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United States on Thursday urged the UN Security Council to make Iran's "incredibly destructive" activities its Middle East priority and devote less attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley branded Iran the "chief culprit" of regional conflicts and vowed to work with Washington's partners to demand Iran comply with UN resolutions.

Haley cited Iran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, weapons supplies to Huthi rebels in Yemen, training of Shiite militias in Iraq and the presence of the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon as destabilizing.

"The Israel-Palestinian issue is an important one, deserving of attention", Haley said, adding that there was "surely no lack of attention" to the conflict at the United Nations.

"The incredibly destructive nature of Iranian and Hezbollah activities throughout the Middle East demands much more of our attention," she said.

"It should become this council's priority in the region."

The US call to shift the focus to Iran drew a cool response from other UN Security Council permanent members.

France, Russia and China made no mention of Iran during the council's monthly meeting on the Middle East, instead emphasizing the importance of an Israeli-Palestinian settlement to bring regional peace.

Haley's remarks came a day after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson branded the Iran nuclear deal a failure and two days after President Donald Trump ordered a review of the lifting of sanctions under the agreement.

Reached in 2015, the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers was hailed as historic, opening up a new era of relations with Tehran. But the Trump administration has signalled it could shift course.

- Erasing the question -

Addressing the Security Council, Iran's ambassador hit back, accusing the United States of waging a "misleading propaganda campaign" against his country.

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"The US and the Israeli regime want to remove the Palestinian issue -- that is central to all conflicts in the Middle East -- from these open debates," said Iranian Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo.

"By blaming all others but the occupier, the US seeks to erase the question, rather than addressing it."

The Security Council holds a meeting a month on the Middle East and the Palestinian question, but also holds three meetings on Syria and regular sessions on Yemen, Libya and Lebanon.

Haley has repeatedly accused the top UN body of being biased against Israel.

Describing the monthly meetings as "Israel-bashing sessions," Haley said the debates "do nothing" to bridge differences but were instead pushing Israel and the Palestinians further apart.

During his briefing to the council, the UN's Middle East coordinator, Nickolay Mladenov, touched on Israel, the Palestinians, Syria, Lebanon, Libya and Yemen, but made no mention of Iran.

Haley told reporters as she left the meeting that the United States would continue to put the focus on Iran to "make sure everyone knows that in any sort of dirty water that we find, Iran's fingers are in it."

Trump's administration has fiercely criticized the government of ex-president Barack Obama for refusing in December to use its UN veto to block a resolution demanding Israel halt expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

A vocal supporter of Israel, Haley has branded the resolution, which was adopted after the United States abstained, a "terrible mistake."
Caracas (AFP) - Opponents of the Venezuelan government vowed fresh huge protests on Thursday, upping the ante in their bid to oust President Nicolas Maduro after a day of deadly clashes in the oil-rich but beleaguered nation.

A 17-year-old boy and a 23-year-old woman died after being shot Wednesday during massive protests, and a soldier outside Caracas was said to have been killed, bringing to eight the number of people killed this month in a mounting political crisis.

Riot police fired tear gas to force back stone-throwing demonstrators as hundreds of thousands of people fed up with food shortages and demanding elections joined protest marches in Caracas and several other cities.

Thousands of Maduro's supporters held a counter-rally in central Caracas.

The opposition has accused Maduro of letting state forces and gangs of armed thugs violently repress demonstrators as he resists opposition pressure for him to quit.

Some disturbances continued into the night, with reports of looted bakeries, supermarkets and food centers in western Caracas.

Despite Wednesday's deadly violence, his opponents displayed their determination to ratchet up the pressure by calling for renewed protests on Thursday.

"Today there were millions of us," senior opposition leader Henrique Capriles told a news conference late Wednesday.

"Tomorrow even more of us have to come out."

- Shot in head -

The 17-year-old was shot by gunmen on motorbikes who also threw tear gas canisters into a crowd of protesters, Amadeo Leiva, head of the Clinicas Caracas Hospital which treated him, told AFP.

The 23-year-old woman, Paola Ramirez, died after being shot in the head in the western city of San Cristobal, the state prosecution service said later in a statement.

A pro-government politician and reservist, Diosdado Cabello, said on his television show that anti-Maduro activists had also "murdered" a soldier in San Antonio de los Altos, a town just south of Caracas, late Wednesday. Prosecutors confirmed the death.

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Authorities had previously reported five other people killed, including a boy of 13, in protests around the country earlier this month.

The opposition leader of congress, Julio Borges, and Maduro's vice president, Tareck El Aissami, traded blame for Wednesday's deadly violence.

- 'Hour of combat' -

Pressure on the leftist president has been mounting since 2014, as falling prices for Venezuela's crucial oil exports have aggravated an economic crisis.

"I don't have any food in the fridge," said protester Jean Tovar, 32, who held rocks in his hands ready to throw at military police in Caracas.

"I have a two-year-old son to support and I am unemployed, and it is all Maduro's fault."

Recent moves by Maduro to tighten his grip on power and ban Capriles from politics have escalated the country's political and economic crisis and sparked international cries of concern.

They have galvanized the often divided opposition in the recent protests in their efforts to force Maduro from power.

"We have to end this dictatorship. We're fed up. We want elections to get Maduro out, because he's destroyed this country," said protester Ingrid Chacon, a 54-year-old secretary.

The president in turn has urged his supporters, the military and civilian militias to defend the socialist "Bolivarian revolution" launched by his predecessor Hugo Chavez in 1999.

"We are firmly with Maduro out of loyalty to our eternal commander" Chavez, said teacher Nancy Guzman, 50, demonstrating at Maduro's rally on Wednesday.

- US concern -

The center-right opposition has called for the military -- a pillar of Maduro's power -- to abandon him.

But the defense minister, General Vladimir Padrino Lopez, has pledged the army's "unconditional loyalty" to Maduro, who has accused the opposition of inciting a "coup" backed by the United States.

In Washington on Wednesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States is "concerned that the government of Maduro is violating its own constitution and not allowing the opposition to have their voices heard."

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez on Twitter said her country "rejects" Tillerson's statement, dubbing it "systematic interventionism."

Two television channels, El Tiempo of Colombia and Todo Noticias of Argentina, said they were taken off the air in Venezuela during Wednesday's unrest.

- Election talk -

According to a survey by pollster Venebarometro, seven in 10 Venezuelans disapprove of Maduro, whose term does not end until 2019.

Maduro said Wednesday he was willing to face his opponents at the ballot box.

"I want to have elections soon... to seek a peaceful path so the Bolivian revolution can put the conspirators, murderers and interventionist right-wingers in their place," he told a rally of supporters in central Caracas.

Regional elections due in December were indefinitely postponed and there is still no date for local polls due this year. The next presidential election is due in December 2018.
Caracas (AFP) - Venezuelan riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets for a second day Thursday to break up protests by President Nicolas Maduro's opponents, further inflaming tensions after Wednesday's deadly unrest.

The clashes erupted as police in the beleaguered oil-rich nation tried to break up thousands of marchers as they reached a vital Caracas freeway, edging back slightly as masked protesters pelted them with stones and Molotov cocktails.

Demonstrators vowed not to flinch in their campaign to oust Maduro, despite three weeks of violent protest that has seen eight people killed, three of them on Wednesday.

"Sure we're tired, but we've got to stand strong. I'm ready to take to the streets every day if I have to," said 22-year-old student Aquiles Aldazoro.

Protesters set fire to trash bins and tore down a billboard to use as a barricade as officers fired water cannon at them and a police helicopter hovered overhead.

"I don't care if I inhale gas, I don't care if I die. We have to put a stop to this murdering, repressing government," said Natasha Borges, 17.

One protester, completely naked except for sneakers, walked up to police and shouted: "Please, stop gas-bombing us."

Another draped in a Venezuelan flag defiantly marched up to an armored truck and stared it down.





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For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

- 'March of silence' planned -

Clashes also broke out in the flashpoint western city of San Cristobal, Maracaibo in the north-west and Valencia in central Venezuela.

Late Thursday the government and opposition traded blows over events at a maternity hospital that prompted the evacuation of some 50 children.

The government said it was due to an attack by armed gangs, but the opposition blamed it on tear gas used to quell unrest.

The opposition called for new protests, a "march of silence" in all parts of the country on Saturday and a national road blockage on Monday.

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Protesters blame Maduro -- heir of the leftist "Bolivarian revolution" launched by the late Hugo Chavez in 1999 -- for an economic crisis marked by severe shortages of food, medicine and basic goods.

Maduro says the protests seeking to oust him are supported by Washington.

On Thursday, Maduro said the opposition was ready to begin dialogue, but his opponents denied the claim, saying the only way forward would be to call new elections.

In a posting on Twitter, senior opposition leader Henrique Capriles slammed Maduro as a "dictator" and "mythomaniac."

"No one believes him, however, about dialogue, which the Venezuelans will do with their VOTE!" he wrote.

- Shot in the head -

Pressure on Maduro has been mounting since 2014, as falling prices for Venezuela's crucial oil exports have sent the once-booming economy into a tailspin.

The crisis escalated after March 30 when the Supreme Court moved to seize the powers of the legislature, the only lever of state authority not controlled by Maduro and his allies.

Hundreds took part in Wednesday's marches during which a 17-year-old teenager and a 23-year-old woman died after being shot in the head by masked gunmen.

Maduro's camp said a soldier outside Caracas was also killed.

Looting also erupted with businesses ransacked in western Caracas and people carting off food and beer, residents said.

The opposition accuses Maduro of letting state forces and gangs of armed thugs violently repress demonstrators.

Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said one person had been arrested for the soldier's death, and prosecutors say they are investigating the other two protest deaths.

- Calls for calm -

The escalation of Venezuela's political crisis has galvanized the often divided opposition in its efforts to force Maduro from power.

The president, in turn, has urged his supporters, the military and civilian militias to defend the "revolution."

International concern over the situation is growing, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday urging all sides to make "concrete gestures" to ease the tension and the European Union urging the parties to "de-escalate" the conflict.

The opposition has urged the military -- a pillar of Maduro's power -- to abandon him.

But Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino Lopez has pledged the army's "unconditional loyalty."

Figures published by pollster Venebarometro show seven in 10 Venezuelans disapprove of Maduro, whose term does not end until 2019.

The president said Wednesday he was willing to face his opponents at the ballot box in order to put "interventionist right-wingers in their place."

The next presidential election only due in December 2018.
For Viola Davis, playing characters whose stories are rarely seen onscreen is the best part of being an actor.

Those things that we probably are ashamed of as human beings, certain things that no one would ever talk about-as actors, when we transform into a character, we empathize with those moments, the Academy Award winner and member of the 2017 TIME 100 tells TIME in a video interview.

Fresh off starring in Fences, a film based on a play by August Wilson, Davis applauds the playwrights knack for elevating stories typically swept under the rug.

August Wilson is the one writer that writes about men like my father, who had a fifth grade education, who was a janitor at McDonalds. Who notices a janitor at McDonalds? Who notices women like my mom, May Alice Davis who has an eighth grade education, who got married and had her first kid at 15? Who grew up on Singleton Plantation. He wrote about the every day human being, Davis says. I feel like those are the greatest stories, man. Thats why I became an actor.

MORE See Who Is on TIMEs List of the Most Influential People of 2017

Pursuing acting as a career allowed Davis to feel like a rebel.

Rebel is not a word I would describe for myself but I feel like I was a total rebel being an actor, she says. It made me feel like there was something in me, a passion, a love-and that I didnt just squelch it.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
By Gina Cherelus

(Reuters) - A Virginia death row inmate will spend his life in prison instead of being executed for the 2001 murder of his ex-girlfriend after the state governor commuted the sentence on Thursday, saying it was flawed.

Governor Terry McAuliffe told a news conference on Thursday that he was halting the execution of Ivan Teleguz, 38, over concerns that false evidence might have influenced the jury, but was not granting a full pardon.

"Because the sentencing phase of Mr. Teleguz's trial was flawed, I must commute his capital sentence to life in prison without parole," the Democratic governor said.

Prosecutors submitted evidence, later disproved, that Teleguz was involved in another Pennsylvania murder and brought up unsubstantiated rumors that he was in the Russian mafia, McAuliffe said in a statement, adding that these factors might have affected the jury during sentencing.

Teleguz's attorneys argued that the trial had also included testimony that was later recanted, and had submitted a petition calling for a halt to his April 25 execution that was signed by more than 100,000 supporters, including three former Virginia state attorneys general.

"Governor McAuliffe correctly recognized that our system of justice cannot stand by and allow an execution to proceed when jurors were told to impose a death sentence based on false information," Elizabeth Peiffer, one of Teleguz's attorneys, said in a statement on Thursday.

Teleguz was sentenced to death in 2006 for a murder-for-hire plot to kill his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Sipe. During the trial, three witnesses testified that Teleguz recruited them to kill Sipe, Peiffer said, adding that two later recanted their statements.

The third witness, Michael Hetrick, confessed to killing Sipe, 20, and took a life imprisonment deal in exchange for saying that Teleguz paid him to commit the murder, according to McAuliffe.

Teleguz's lawyers have maintained his innocence and appealed his sentence, but McAuliffe said he was not granting a full pardon because numerous state and federal judges have evaluated the case and refused to overturn the conviction.

"My decision to deny Mr. Teleguz's petition for pardon is based on my belief that the reliable evidence continues to support his conviction," McAuliffe said.

(Reporting by Gina Cherelus in New York; Editing by Patrick Enright and Richard Chang)
As tensions continue to mount between the public and airlines, a passenger was caught on surveillance cameras shoving a pilot at a Missouri airport.

Read: Just Plane Wrong: Uproar Erupts After Passenger Is Knocked Out and Dragged Off United Flight

After an American Airlines flight landed at Kansas City International Airport in Missouri on April 12, one of the passengers on the plane happened to also be a pilot with the airline.

According to a police report, the passenger accused the pilot of blocking the aisle and being rude as the other flyers were trying to disembark.

After the passengers got off the flight, which came in from Dallas, the passenger identified as Edward N. Foster, 49, was caught on surveillance footage, released on Wednesday, following the pilot through the concourse and shoving him twice.

Cops say he tried to use his cellphone to take a photo of the pilot's ID, but the pilot swatted the phone away from Fosters hand and that escalated with Foster shoving the pilot that was captured on camera.

The pilot retrieved his bags and headed for the exit doors, where his wife was waiting to pick him up. The passenger followed him out, still trying to take the photo.

A witness told cops that he saw the passenger "aggressively get into victim's face."

Read: New Video Emerges of the Moments Before Doctor Was Dragged Off United Plane

The police report says the pilot "suffered lacerations to both legs and bruising to his forearm."

Foster was cited for intentionally inflicting bodily injury which is a municipal violation. He is slated to appear in court on May 12.

Watch: Between Pepsi, United and Spicer, Who Apologized Better?

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The hotly-anticipated title track off Lana Del Reys new album Lust for Life aired on Mistajams BBC Radio 1 show on Wednesday.

In the singles video, now on YouTube, Del Reys breathy vocals drape over footage of her and Canadian musician Abel Makkonen Tesfaye - better known as The Weeknd - sat atop the H of a noir Hollywood Sign.

Maybe thats kind of weird to have a feature on the title track, but I really love that song and we had said for a while that we were gonna do something; I did stuff on his last two records, Del Rey said of her collaboration with the Weeknd in a recent Dazed interview with Courtney Love.

The release date for Lust For Life, the follow up to 2015s Honeymoon, is yet to be announced but Del Rey has already released the first single Love and posted a teaser video for the album to Twitter.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
Photo credit: Robyworks / YouTube

From Road & Track

We're not sure we'll ever get tired of drift cars. Sure, they're not meant to set times or break lap records, but the fun of going sideways is more than enough to make up for it. That's why this video of a BMW 3-Series drift monster sliding around a logging port is right up our alley.

This video, made by Robyworks Media, is actually one continuous onboard lead shot that goes on for over a minute. The clip was taken from one of Robywork's short drift films, and features nothing but sideways Bavarian action.

Filmed at a sea port scattered with loose wood shavings and clear pathways, it makes for a perfect location to get sideways with relative ease.

Watch as Latvian driver Kristaps Bluss swings his V8-powered E46 Coupe inches away from piles of logs, all while shooting flames out the side-exit exhaust.

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By Jeff Mason and Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday denied being misleading about a U.S. carrier strike group's push toward the Korean peninsula, saying it never gave an arrival date and that the ships were still on their way. When Trump boasted early last week that he had sent an "armada" as a warning to North Korea, the USS Carl Vinson strike group was still far from the Korean peninsula, and headed in the opposite direction. The U.S. military's Pacific Command explained on Tuesday that the strike group first had to complete a shorter-than-initially planned period of training with Australia but was now heading toward the Western Pacific. "The president said that we have an armada going towards the peninsula. That's a fact. It happened. It is happening, rather," said White House spokesman Sean Spicer. He referred further queries about the deployment timetable to the Pentagon. The U.S. military initially said in a statement dated April 10 that Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of Pacific Command, directed the Vinson strike group "to sail north and report on station in the Western Pacific." But the strike group first headed elsewhere, On April 15, the U.S. Navy even published a photo showing the Vinson transiting the Sunda Strait on its way to drills with Australia. http://www.navy.mil/view_image.asp?id=235255 Reuters and other news outlets reported on April 11 that the movement would take more than a week. But the Navy, for security reasons, says it does not report future operational locations of its ships. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis looked to address confusion over the issue on Wednesday, telling reporters traveling with him in the Middle East that the alteration in the Vinson's schedule had been disclosed in the interest of transparency. "We are doing exactly what we said we were going to do. She will be on her way," he said. The strike group's commander, Rear Admiral Jim Kilby, said in a Facebook post this week that the deployment had even been extended 30 days "to provide a persistent presence in the waters off the Korean Peninsula." A Trump administration official told Reuters on Tuesday that Washington was concerned about the possibility of some kind of North Korean provocation around the time of the South Korean election on May 9. "There is precedent going back to the 1990s and early 2000s where there are provocations timed to South Korean political events," he said. (This version of the story has been refiled to correct spelling of Kilby in paragraph 11) (Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Riyadh, and David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Writing by Phil Stewart; Editing by Peter Cooney)
A Nevada woman has been accused of faking not only her son's cancer but also his death in what cops are calling a bizarre bid to cash in on the boy's non-existent tragedy.

Police in Carson City were contacted to investigate the possibility of a fraudulent claim of a childs recent death, and concerns that the child could be alive and in danger while holed up in an area motel.

Read: Mom Charged With Homicide After Her Baby Girl Was Found Dead From Salt Poisoning

However, deputies said they contacted the mother in question, 31-year-old Victoria Morrison, and she assured them her son had died of leukemia on April 8.

Cops say Morrison even pointed them to a GoFundMe account that was raising money for her son.

According to police, the page was part of Morrison's months-long deception that had the school, community and even the 10-year-old boy convinced he was dying.

Morrison even allegedly went so far as to hold a memorial service for the boy in a neighboring town.

For months, during which the boy was reportedly not attending school, cops say Morrison was gifted a shopping spree by local emergency responders, gift cards and cash, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday.

"His alleged illness was highlighted this past Christmas during 'Shop with a Hero' events in Carson City, and was afforded a Charity Helicopter Ride," police said in a statement.

The department added: "During the past month, Morrison informed everyone, primarily through social media, that her son had died and his body had been cremated. A memorial service was held in Churchill County," police said in a statement on Facebook.

In a GoFundMe page that has been taken down but remains viewable in Google cache and bears Morrison's name, the page creator writes:

"About a year ago my son ... fell ill after numerous doctors and me not backing down he got diagnosed with type 3 [von Willebrand disease], we thought ok we can know he's gonna be ok.

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"Wrong the bleeding got worse, he started losing weight and passing out on me, my motherly instinct knew something was wrong. Back to the Drs we go, after 12 tubes of blood and two separate bone marrow test we found out its leukemia. My world fell apart he's my baby and this is a fight in not willing to give up on for him.

"[My son] made a list of things he wants to do before he gets to (sic) sick, now it's my job to help him do just that. But I'm a single mom to three other kids and work. So please if you have a spare dollar help me help my son wishes and dreams come true."

Authorities allege Morrison's son initially was diagnosed with a real but treatable illness before his mother is accused of exaggerating it in order to profit.

After following up on calls regarding allegations against Morrison, cops responded to the motel where the tipster said she was keeping the boy.

Police found the boy "in good spirits and healthy."

Working with the Carson City District Attorney, the charges eventually filed were for obtaining money under false pretenses and filing false statements.

Morrison remains in custody at the Carson City Jail and her bail has been set at $20,000. Morrisons son and siblings were released to the care of Child Protective Services.

Watch: Expecting Mom Says Facebook Complaint About Itching Possibly Saved Baby's Life

"The scam created by Ms. Morrison is rapidly unwinding and the details continue to emerge that are challenging investigators," police said in the release. "The extent to which Ms. Morrison went to convince others of her sons death have investigators critically looking into who all knew that the scam was taking place, and what end possibilities could have been anticipated.

Police have put preliminary estimates of the amount of donations Morrison received at around $2,000.

Watch: Mom Posts Heartbreaking Before-and-After Photos of Her Dying 4-Year-Old Son

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It was 4 a.m. in Moscow, Feb. 2, 2017, when Vladimir Kara-Murza knew something was horribly wrong  again. He was scheduled to leave later that morning for America to attend his daughters eighth birthday party. But instead, the 35-year-old Kara-Murza, a fearless and persistent critic of Vladimir Putin, was suddenly gripped with the knowledge that, for the second time in two years, his life was in danger.

My heart was racing, I was sweating, he told Yahoo News Bianna Golodryga in an interview. It became really difficult to breathe.  It was really frightening. I knew I only had a few minutes in which I could still do something.

Kara-Murza called his wife, who lives in the Washington suburbs. She immediately phoned a prominent Moscow doctor who had treated him the last time this happened. Kara-Murza was rushed to a Moscow hospital, where in the hours that followed, the doctors frantically tried to figure out what was happening to his body.

One by one, Kara-Murzas kidneys, lungs and other organs began to shut down. All my organs failed within six hours, he said. By that evening, I was in a coma and was on life support. The doctors inserted a breathing tube. They brought in a dialysis machine and cleaned his blood, seeking to purge whatever foreign substance had invaded his body. Kara-Murza stayed unconscious for a week but miraculously survived. When he was released three weeks later, the discharge papers recorded the diagnosis: Toxic action by an undefined substance.

It was virtually the same diagnosis as before, in May 2015, when Karza-Murza was rushed to the hospital and also fell into a coma. He had been poisoned twice in less than two years. Somebody in Russia very much wanted Kara-Murza dead.

I could never imagine this happening  not to mention to our family, said Evgenia Kara-Murza in a joint interview with her husband at the Russian restaurant, Mari Vanna. Its unthinkable.

Follow the trail of dead Russians, said former FBI intelligence analyst Clint Watts when asked at a Senate intelligence committee hearing how the panel could unravel the aggressive role that Moscow played in the 2016 election.

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And, as Kara-Murza notes, the trail is a long one: Anna Politkosvkaya, a journalist, shot dead in the stairwell of her Moscow apartment in 2006. Alexander Litvinenko, a defector from the Russian security services who turned on Putin, poisoned in London the same year. Boris Nemtsov, Kara-Murzas best friend and hero, murdered in the shadow of the Kremlin in February 2015. Denis Voronenkov, a former Russian lawmaker who spoke out against Putins invasion of Ukraine, shot dead in broad daylight in front of a hotel in Kiev just last month.

Im the fortunate one, said Kara-Murza. Boris Nemtsov  they put five bullets in his back on that bridge in front of the Kremlin. So many people  political prisoners, independent journalists, anticorruption campaigners  have lost their lives in various ways over the last 17 years that Vladimir Putin has been in power. And every time, there is some kind of plausible deniability. Every time, they say, Oh, we had nothing to do with this. Oh, this just happened. But you know there is a kind of very strange high mortality rate among the people that have crossed the Kremlins path that defies any kind of normal statistical model.

It is a record for lethality that has not gone unnoticed among U.S. government officials who have dealt with Kara-Murza and followed his case. Theres no doubt in my mind that he was targeted for his activity against the Russian government, said Tom Malinowski, who until last January served as former President Barack Obamas assistant secretary of state for human rights. We dont know who it was. He doesnt know who it was. But we do know that in virtually every single hit against a journalist or an opposition leader, no one has been held accountable  and for that Putin is responsible.

But in almost all these cases, there are lingering questions. What was the poison that almost killed Kara-Murza, and how had it been administered? Kara-Murza and his doctors remain at a loss. Kara-Murza was a human rights activist who spent his days in a constant whirl of meetings, rallies and political events  almost always trailed by various agents of Russias security services. He would have seven to eight meetings every day in cafes and restaurants. It is, he says, impossible to pinpoint who and where someone had injected something into his food or drink.

But what is known is that Russias security services have a long record of poisoning their political opponents, and they have gotten increasingly sophisticated at it. Some of the substances they use can delay taking effect for as long as a week.

Using poison is a rather effective way of getting rid of your opponents, said Evgenia Kara-Murza. Because in numerous cases, the exact toxins have never been found. So they can say, He ate something. He got food poisoning. It happens In the case of poisoning, how would you actually prove it?  Their laboratories have been known to develop toxins that are completely untraceable.

But whoever did it had miscalculated, ever so slightly. Kara-Murza had booked his plane from Moscow to Washington for later that morning. Had the toxin kicked in just a few hours later, Kara-Murza would have been outside of Russian territory, in international air space, unable to make it to a hospital. The Russian government could disavow anything to do with Kara-Murzas murder. They could say it didnt happen here, he said.

What was not a puzzle was the likely motive. Kara-Murza had been a thorn in the side of the Putin regime for years. The son of a distinguished historian, who vividly remembers the high hopes for democracy that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kara-Murza had in recent years been leading protest rallies throughout his country. He, along with Nemtsov, was a key figure in the protests in December 2011 that brought more than 100,000 people into the streets of Moscow to protest the electoral fraud that was returning Putin to power. He had been a tireless crusader for the so-called Magnitsky Act  a law passed by the U.S. Congress in 2012, named for Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian auditor who had uncovered a massive tax fraud scheme involving Kremlin officials and ended up dead in a Russian jail. The law infuriated the Kremlin and at first faced quiet but determined opposition from the Obama administration, which feared that the law would upset its cherished reset of relations with Russia.

The Magnitsky Act gave the U.S. government authority to impose targeted financial sanctions against senior Russian officials implicated in human rights abuses. On Jan. 10 of this year, with less than two weeks left in the Obama presidency, the State Department imposed the toughest sanctions yet under the law: It targeted Alexander Bastrykin, until recently the chief of the Russian Federations Investigative Committee, the equivalent of this countrys FBI. Putins enforcer, Malinowski called him at the time as he announced the action. (Among the evidence in the U.S. governments dossier: Bastrykin had once summoned a journalist to a forest and threatened to kill him over a critical article  and then joked that he would personally handle the murder investigation.)

Also on the Magnitsky Act list were two notorious former agents of the Russian security service, the FSB: Dmitry Kovtun and Andre Lugovoi. There was a pointed message to their inclusion. Seven years earlier, they had flown to London and, according to a later British government inquiry, administered the radioactive substance  believed to be polonium  that had killed Litvinenko.

The U.S. government, in short, was going after Putins poisoners. And Kara-Murza, for his part, kept up the pressure: Just as the sanctions were being announced, he sent a blistering letter to the U.S. Senate urging its members to review Putins human rights record when considering President Trumps nomination of Rex Tillerson to be secretary of state: Russian media outlets, he wrote, serve as mouthpieces for government propaganda. The countrys elections have turned into a meaningless ritual with voting marred by intimidation and fraud. The judiciary and law enforcement agencies are used to punish the governments political opponents.

It is not the task for outside powers to influence the political situation in Russia, Kara-Murza wrote. Only Russian citizens can and should do that. But it is important to consider the nature of our current government in the context of international relations.

Three weeks later, Kara-Murza was in a coma. He is now recovering with his family in the vicinity of Washington, but he plans to return to Moscow and has no intention of backing down. He is encouraged, he said, by new protests that swept through Russia in March after disclosures that Putins prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev  once Obamas favored interlocutor for the reset  had amassed more than $1 billion in holdings, including mansions, luxury yachts, country estates and a Tuscany vineyard, acquired through offshore companies registered in Cyprus.

These were the largest wave of protests we had since the early 90s, since the breakup of the Soviet Union, said Kara-Murza. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators came out in 84 cities and towns throughout the country. Although physically unable to participate, Kara-Murza had helped plant the seeds during years of organizing work.

Ive seen these people, these young people who came out to our events, who took part in debates and discussions, he said. This is the Putin generation. These are the people who were certainly raised and, in many cases, born under Vladimir Putin.  All theyve seen is his face for their whole lives on their television screens. And theyre fed up with it.

There will be more such protests, later this month and again in June, he said. And for all his personal travails, Kara-Murza sees grounds for optimism  a turning point that he is convinced is one day coming, perhaps soon.

One thing that history teaches us: All such regimes end. One way or another, nothing is forever, he said. Putin thinks hes going to be there forever. But hes not. We dont know when precisely its going to happen. But we know that one day this regime will be consigned to history.
Folks in a Southern California neighborhood were treated to an exotic visitor this past weekend.

A zebra was spotted in all his striped glory hanging out near the town of Murrieta.

Watch: This Adorable Baby Zebra Struggles to Take First Steps After Being Born

Perplexed La Cresta resident Nancy Risen found herself face-to-face with the African import on Sunday.

"Driving over here, and Im thinking this has got to be a prank. No ones got zebras here or any place else that Im aware of other than the zoo, Risen told CBS Los Angeles.

But there it was, looking like it owned the place in Riverside County, where county animal services said there are no restrictions to owning zebras

However, officials reportedly weren't contacted about the animal. Instead, neighbors banded together to get the beast and some of his fellow pony escapees back home.

Read: Endangered Zebra Unexpectedly Gives Birth as Visitors Tour Zoo

You can always count on someone to help you," Risen said of her neighborhood.

Even, it seems, when a zebra is involved.

Watch: Best Fur-ends: Adorable Lion Cub and Spunky Sea Otter Play Game of Cat and Mouse

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With just two days to go until the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are released, the verdict is in: Samsungs new flagship smartphones are fantastic. I published my full in-depth Galaxy S8 review on Tuesday morning, and my feelings on the new flagship were quite clear. Samsung has actually managed to out-design Apple with new smartphones that not only look better than the iPhone 7 and the 7 Plus, they feel better as well thanks to Samsungs smart curved design, which helps the phones sit more comfortably in the hand.

Of course, the new Galaxy S8 is much more than just a pretty face. It also offers a new 10nm processor and software optimizations that come closer than ever before to matching the iPhones performance (closer, yes, but the gap is still quite wide), as well as a ton of nifty features users will appreciate.

While the design is clearly the best thing about Samsungs new phones, theres plenty more to look forward to  and the best thing about the new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ aside from the design is actually something people were complaining about ahead of the phones unveiling.

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If you havent already read our full Galaxy S8 review, you should definitely check it out ahead of this Fridays launch. We also followed up the review with two supplemental posts that pitted the Galaxy S8 and S8+ against their top rivals, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. In those posts, we covered 5 ways the Galaxy S8 is better than the iPhone 7 and 5 ways the iPhone 7 is better than the Galaxy S8.

Theres one terrific Galaxy S8 feature that wasnt covered in either of those two supplemental posts, though, and it might come as a surprise to some smartphones fans.

Ahead of Samsungs Galaxy S8 announcement last month, all of the phones specs leaked before being confirmed by Samsung. We learned that Samsungs new flagships would be powered by next-generation 10nm processors, we learned they would have huge new Super AMOLED displays with QHD+ resolution, and we learned about everything else Samsung had in store for the new phones. Among those details was the revelation that the Galaxy S8 and S8+ would feature the exact same 12-megapixel Dual Pixel camera as the Galaxy Note 7 and the year-old Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. A number of Android fans were upset by the news.

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When it comes to flagship smartphones, weve been trained to expect improvements each year in every key area. We want better displays, more powerful processors, bigger batteries, and of course better cameras. But in 2017, Samsung decided to use the exact same camera hardware that it has been using for the past year.

If Samsungs flagship phones had a camera that was not on par with comparable smartphones from rival vendors, this would probably be a huge problem. But as anyone who has ever owned a Galaxy S7, S7 edge or Note 7 knows, thats not the case at all.

Samsungs Dual Pixel camera was one of the best in the world when it first appeared on the S7, and its still one of the best cameras in the world today. In fact, I would argue that its only real competition comes from the Google Pixel and the iPhone 7, both of which were release long after the Galaxy S7. Among these three phones, I think its impossible to name a clear winner. Also of note, Samsung says it has made several updates on the software side to help with things like low-light performance (which, by the way, was already quite impressive on the S7 and Note 7).

Ive been carrying the Galaxy S8+ with me ever since I received my review unit last week, and Ive been using it almost exclusively to take photos. I am thoroughly impressed. Ive snapped all sorts of images, from outdoor shots in great lighting, to indoor close-ups, to portraits, and everything in between. Of course, Ive also taken plenty of pictures of my dog.

Alongside battery life, the camera is obviously one of the most important features of a smartphone. Most people dont even own a dedicated camera anymore because theres really no reason to especially if you have a Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+. The Infinity Display design is definitely the best thing about Samsungs new flagship smartphones, but the camera truly is a close second.

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Like its US contemporary, China's biggest search company Baidu is investing heavily in the technology that will underpin the self-driving cars of the future. However, unlike Google, it believes the quickest way to speed up progress is to open up its platform to the whole industry, rather than simply building partnerships.

To underline its ambitious scale, Baidu is calling the initiative Project Apollo as making self-driving cars a reality is, in its view, as significant as landing on the moon.

"China is the world's largest market for automotive sales and production. It has many car brands and an open environment that is ripe for collaboration. Baidu took the initiative to open our autonomous driving technology to the industry in order to encourage greater innovation and opportunities," said Baidu COO, Qi Lu.

Baidu has made huge strides in the field -- particularly in Artificial Intelligence -- since officially launching its autonomous driving initiative in 2015. It has already conducted real-word tests on Chinese and American roads and hopes that by launching Project Apollo it will have cars capable of driving with full autonomy on highways and what it describes as "open city roads" by 2020.

Alongside a number of domestic carmakers, including Cherry and NextEv (the company behind the NIO marque) who have announced their intention to join Apollo, the biggest name to accept Baidu's invitation is Bosch -- the world's biggest automotive supplier.

The German firm will be working with Baidu to develop the detailed live maps that cars will need in order to navigate for themselves, even with Artificial Intelligence helping them make decisions. "Automated driving will not be possible without high-precision maps -- not in China and not anywhere else in the world either," said Dr. Rolf Bulander, chairman of Bosch's Mobility Solutions business. "Automated driving is a global topic for Bosch. With China we are now starting our fourth testing location after Germany, the US, and Japan."

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The maps they will develop will be optimized to work with the camera and sensing arrays that Bosch already builds and supplies to the industry, and the companies have already built a test car based on the Jeep Cherokee for collecting map data and testing semi-autonomous features on Chinese freeways.

China is the world's biggest car market and it is still growing. More importantly, the concept of driving itself is still new to the country's culture, meaning that drivers in general are less experienced and more prone to accidents, but are also less attached to the concept of the car as something other than a means of transport.

That's why when Bosch surveyed public opinion, just 33% of German drivers said they're in favor of the rapid introduction of autonomous driving compared with a massive 74% in China.

"Through open technology our technological achievements can be quickly applied to a wide range of fields -- and accelerate even more achievements," said Qi Lu.
Facebook concluded its two-day F8 annual conference Wednesday where it announced its plan over the next 10 years. The Menlo Park-based company will be investing in a number of foundational technologies including connectivity, artificial intelligence, and virtual and augmented reality.

But what is most interesting is Facebooks investment into building a brain-computer interface that will let users type using their mind. Once developed, brain-computer interfaces could let people control augmented reality and virtual reality experiences with their mind instead of a screen.

We are working on a system that will let people type with their brains. Specifically, we have a goal of creating a silent speech system capable of typing 100 words per minute straight from your brain  thats five times faster than you can type on a smartphone today, Facebook said on its official blog Wednesday.

Facebook brain computer

Photo: Reuters

Regina Dugan, the head of Facebooks R&D division Building 8, explained in another post titled The after action report that the goal is to eventually allow people to type at 100 words per minute, which is 5X faster than typing on a phone, with just their mind.

Our brains produce enough data to stream 4 HD movies every second. The problem is that the best way we have to get information out into the world -- speech -- can only transmit about the same amount of data as a 1980s modem. Eventually, we want to turn it into a wearable technology that can be manufactured at scale. Even a simple yes/no "brain click" would help make things like augmented reality feel much more natural, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post soon after the announcement at the event.

At the event, Facebook revealed it has a team of 60 engineers working on building its ambitious brain-computer interface.

Facebook has also announced its collaboration with UC San Francisco, UC Berkeley, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Johns Hopkins Universitys Applied Physics Laboratory and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

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During the conference, Dugan showed a video of a paralyzed medical patient at Stanford who could type using the mind thanks to an implanted sensor. She went on to explain how Facebook wants to do this without surgical implants.

Facebook hired Dugan last year to lead its new project Building 8 research lab. She previously headed Googles Advanced Technologies and Projects group and was formerly a head of U.S. Department of Defense's DARPA.

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Now here's one we didn't see coming. Google, the biggest advertising company on the web, could be building an ad blocker right into its Chrome web browser.

Image Credit: Evan Lorne / Shutterstock.com

Image Credit: Evan Lorne / Shutterstock.com

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Chrome's baked-in ad blocker would be activated by default on both the web and mobile versions of the browser, automatically disabling advertisements that Google deems as a bad user experience. This includes pop-up ads, auto-play videos and ads that feature a countdown timer before you're able to click out of them.

In some cases, Google may even block all ads on a site, provided that it's guilty of one or more of the above violations.

The new feature could arrive in the next few weeks, though The Wall Street Journal notes that Google is still "ironing out specific details" and might decide not to release it at all.

MORE: What's the Best Windows 10 Browser?

So why would a massive advertising company like Google build its own ad blocker? For starters, the search giant may simply be looking to encourage websites to embrace better advertising practices and provide a better overall experience for users.

Secondly, Google could be looking to squash out the plethora of third-party ad blockers all over the web. According to the WSJ report, about 26 percent of U.S. internet users employ ad blockers  some of which cost money to use. If Chrome, which comprises nearly half of all browser use, can block ads for you, why download a separate program?

If this feature does in fact arrive, it could significantly affect the way tons of websites do business; particularly the ones that rely on ad revenue to survive. But Google seems keenly aware of the reasons why most folks use ad blockers, and making a move like this could ensure that your favorite websites remain free of dancing ads and auto-playing videos.

See also : 41 Best Google Chrome Extensions
An artists impression shows a super-Earth passing across the disk of the faint red star known as LHS 1140. (CfA Illustration / M. Weiss)

Its not the closest potentially habitable planet, but astronomers say a world 40 percent wider than Earth could be one of the best places to target in the search for life beyond our solar system.

This is the most exciting exoplanet Ive seen in the past decade. We could hardly hope for a better target to perform one of the biggest quests in science  searching for evidence of life beyond Earth, Jason Dittmann, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said today in a news release.

Dittmann is the lead author of a paper published by the journal Nature describing the exoplanet, known as LHS 1140 b.

The super-Earth orbits a star dubbed LHS 1140, 40 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation Cetus. The planet was discovered in 2014 with the MEarth-South telescope array at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, using a method that measured the faint dimming of starlight as it passed across LHS 1140s disk.

An analysis of the resulting data determined that the planet orbits the star every 25 days, at a distance well within Mercurys orbit around our own sun (roughly 7.4 million miles). But because LHS 1140 b is so much dimmer than our sun, the planet is thought to be in a habitable zone where water can exist in liquid form.

Further observations from the High Accuracy Radial-velocity Planet Searcher, or HARPS, led the researchers to estimate the planets mass at 6.6 times that of Earth. That suggests the planet is dense enough to be rocky.

Over the past year, other astronomers have detected potentially habitable exoplanets that are closer, including Proxima Centauri b and the TRAPPIST-1 worlds. Those worlds, however, present challenges for further study.

Proxima Centauri b may be a mere 4.2 light-years from Earth, but scientists suspect that it doesnt make a transit across its parent star. That would rule out the prospect of analyzing how starlight is altered as it passes through any atmosphere  which is currently considered the leading strategy for hunting down signs of habitability and alien life.

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The seven known planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system make transits, which fortunately allows for further study. But some scientists worry that the systems young red dwarf star is so active that high-energy radiation has sterilized any environment where life might otherwise exist.

The star LHS 1140 is also a red dwarf, but its old enough to have settled down.

The present conditions of the red dwarf are particularly favorable  LHS 1140 spins more slowly and emits less high-energy radiation than other similar low-mass stars, said the Geneva Observatorys Nicola Astudillo-Defru, a co-author of the Nature study.

He and his fellow researchers say LHS 1140 bs atmosphere might have weathered the stars early outbursts due to the planets size, and the fact that it was probably farther away from the star back then. As the planet heated up, a steaming ocean of lava conceivably provided water vapor to replenish the atmosphere.

For now, much of the speculation about the planets atmosphere is little more than hand-waving.

Right now were just making educated guesses about the content of this planets atmosphere, Dittmann acknowledged. Future observations might enable us to detect the atmosphere of a potentially habitable planet for the first time. We plan to search for water, and ultimately molecular oxygen.

First, astronomers will use the Hubble Space Telescope to gauge more precisely how much high-energy radiation LHS 1140 b is currently getting, Then theyll turn to NASAs James Webb Space Telescope, which is due for launch next year. The European Southern Observatorys Extremely Large Telescope in Chile, scheduled to enter service in the mid-2020s, could also be employed in the quest.

Dittmann and Astudillo-Defru are among 24 authors of the Nature study, titled A Temperate Rocky Super-Earth Transiting a Nearby Cool Star.

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Photo credit: YouTube

From Popular Mechanics

Russian military research videos usually deliver something to behold, whether it's tanks on parade or just Vladimir Putin totally not worried that this sub is going to sink. Take a moment to watch this clip, which features a humanoid robot mowing down targets with a pistol in each hand like some movie badass.

Dmitry Rogozin, the country's deputy prime minister, tweeted this video battlefield research to show off FEDOR, the baddest robot gunslinger in the East. He then sent a follow-up tweet to try to reassure us.

Shooting exercises is a method of teaching the robot to set priorities and make instant decisions. We are creating AI, not Terminator - Dmitry Rogozin (@DRogozin) April 14, 2017

Maybe so, but you don't have to build towering killer robots to make better algorithms.

While this clip does make one feel like the Terminator apocalypse is nigh, the purposes of FEDOR (Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research) are more benign, for now. Once its non-militant motor skills are refined, it will embark on a mission to space in 2021, possibly alone. Stay clear of this cosmonaut, E.T.

Source: CNET

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US authorities are taking steps to formally file charges against and arrest Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, according to a new report from CNN. For the past few years, Assange has been residing inside of the Ecuadorian embassy in London. That, however, hasnt stopped Assange and Wikileaks from leaking a wide array of confidential documents from a number of sources, including information regarding the CIAs hacking tools and private emails sourced from Democratic National Committee members.

Don't Miss: Its official: Everyone hates the iPhone 8 design that just leaked

Assanges role as the founder of Wikileaks has been controversial to say the least. Still, Assange supporters espouse the position that Assanges actions are protected by the First Amendment. A contrary position holds that Assange, far from being a messenger relaying information, actually played a hand in soliciting and obtaining the sensitive information he became famous for trafficking. More recently, Wikileaks was accused of being a proxy used by Russian intelligence agencies in order to impact the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.

CNN adds:

The US view of WikiLeaks and Assange began to change after investigators found what they believe was proof that WikiLeaks played an active role in helping Edward Snowden, a former NSA analyst, disclose a massive cache of classified documents.

Speaking on the matter, Attorney General Jeff Sessions relayed the following at a news conference on Thursday.

This is a matter thats gone beyond anything Im aware of. We have professionals that have been in the security business of the United States for many years that are shocked by the number of leaks and some of them are quite serious. So yes, it is a priority. Weve already begun to step up our efforts and whenever a case can be made, we will seek to put some people in jail.

Just a few days ago, CIA Director Mike Pomeo spoke disparagingly of Wikileaks, articulating that it carries itself like a non-state, hostile intelligence service that has no regard for the damage it may cause to national security.

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Assanges lawyer Barry Pollack, meanwhile, claims that he hasnt heard any information on the matter from the Department of Justice while affirming that Wikileaks actions in leaking information is akin to what publications and news organizations like The New York Times routinely do.

Incidentally, Assange previously promised to turn himself in to US authorities if Chelsea Manning was pardoned. As it turns out former President Obama did, in fact, pardon Manning this past January.

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Measuring innovation: The Energy Innovation Index

While noting historical trends in O&G patent filings, the question remains whether innovation is fundamentally changing how O&G relates to the broader non-O&G patent universe.



A unique way to measure the impact of innovation is to consider the extent to which oil and gas patents are being leveraged over time by non-O&G patents. Just as technologies combine in unique ways over time within the O&G patent universe, technologies developed by O&G companies are also cited outside of the O&G universe. Higher synergies between disparate technologies move them into stronger and more central locations within the broader patent universe.

Location in the knowledge network is important, because the more centrally located technologies have a greater chance of quickly incorporating innovations from neighboring technology areas. By way of contrast, technologies that are at the fringe of the knowledge network have fewer chances of bridging into totally new knowledge areas and creating genuinely disruptive innovations.

In the figure below, all patents from 2015 are used to form a map of human knowledge (as embodied by patents). Technologies are circles, and lines appear when technologies draw on each other. In the 2015 example shown below, semiconductor devices, which were among the fastest growing patent area in the oil and gas industry at the time (Growth and volume by technology), connect widely within the patent universe because of their cross-sectional applications across industries.



Semiconductor position in the patent universe (2015)

Access the interactive graph for more details about the knowledge flow by year for each technology.

In contrast, earth drilling, O&Gs highest volume area of patenting, appears on the knowledge map with some connections but not as deeply connected to as many other technologies. Also, some of the technologies it links to are not centrally located in their own right (such as oilfield technology, which only connects to two other technologies). This makes it less likely that the oil and gas industrys current stock of granted earth drilling patents will result in advances based on bridging technologies from genuinely different fields of science.



Earth drilling position in the patent universe (2015)

Access the interactive graph for more details about the knowledge flow by year for each technology.

While the movement of individual O&G technologies is of interest, we can measure the drift in aggregate of innovation within the O&G industry as a whole by producing a weighted average across all technologies to produce what Deloitte refers to as the "Energy Innovation Index."3 Technologies with high O&G contributions and a commanding location in the patent network contribute positively towards the O&G aggregate score. When a core technology in the oil and gas industry drifts away from the center of the patent universe, or has a decreasing contribution from the O&G industry, it causes a decline in the Energy Innovation Index.

Higher values on the Energy Innovation Index reflect a trend toward highly connected technologies that, many times, might lie outside of the O&G industrys traditional areas. Lower values on the Index indicate may be technology areas with a narrow focus within O&G, located toward the fringe of the overall knowledge network. As such, the Energy Innovation Index helps us understand whether the industry is trying to expand into highly connected technologies or is focusing on innovation from within.

When we compute the Energy Innovation Index it shows a slight decline over time. This means that the overall O&G industry seems to be moving toward the edge of the overall patent universe. This should not be interpreted as a slowdown in the pace of innovation within oil and gas, but rather that other industries have likely accelerated their intensity and interconnectedness of innovation faster over the past decade or soa decade in which advances in IT and communications technologies have become pervasive. It also reflects the fact that many of the meaningful innovations in the oil and gas industry have come from combining existing O&G technologies rather than moon shot innovations combining more distant technologies.

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ANGOLA  Cancer Services of Northeast Indiana, Cameron Memorial Community Hospital and the Cameron Hospital Foundation are pleased to be working together to bring Caregivers Count: Support of Your Journey to Angola beginning next week.

The classes are free and open to the public and will be held at Cameron Hospital in Meeting Room 1 (just past the Gift Shop in the main hall) at 5:30 p.m.

The first class, Finding Your Way Back, is being held on Monday. Being a caregiver for a person with cancer can be full of stress and strain. In this first session, attendees will discuss how to reduce some of the burden as well as learn your rights as a caregiver, because the caregiver is a person who deserves care, too, a news release said.

Attendees of the first session will specifically discuss:

 The caregiver bill of rights

 The caregiver strain index

 Signs of caregiver burden

 Reducing caregiver burden

Reservations are recommended, but not required. For more information or to reserve a seat, contact 667-5721.
Vietnam vets still suffer from society's mixed messages of pride and humiliation."









Remembering: The Last Days in VietnamDaniel CanoAs another April 30th nears, I recall, a couple of years ago, a colleague asked if Id say a few words to introduce Rory Kennedys film The Last Days in Vietnam, which had received excellent movie reviews and was being screened at Santa Monica College where I was teaching at the time.At first, I declined. Id had enough of war. Then, after thinking about it more, I reconsidered.Since the publication of my bookin 1993 (click link in title), Id received letters from Chicano veterans and their families, expressing their gratitude for the stories Id written about my time in Vietnam. At my readings, many Chicano veterans thanked me for using my voice to give their voices life.Of all the mainstream books and movies about Vietnam, one would think that Chicanos had no place in the war. I remember teaching a Chicano literature class. Wed been reading Charley Trujillos bookand Jorge Mariscals. A Vietnamese-American student raised her hand to admit shed never known Chicanos had fought in Vietnam. Her statement perplexed me. It reminded me of Ralph Ellisons: no matter how many sacrifices and contributions Americans of color make to this country, we remain invisible.A letter Ill always remember was from a Chicana who told me her father had died in Vietnam when she was a child. After reading my book, she said she felt closer to him, understanding what he might have experienced. So, how could I not say a few words to introduce Ms. Kennedys film about the Vietnam Wars last days?For 42 years, Ive sought a justification for the Vietnam Waror, at least, my role in it.In 1969, when the Army discharged me, the country was in turmoil over the war, so I pretended that Id never worn a uniform. I just wanted to hide. But no matter how much I tried to hide, I couldnt.Over the years, the reminders were everywhere: Tet, Kent State, The Chicano Moratorium, My Lai, Hearts and Minds, Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, Iraq, and ISIS.Since I couldnt escape, I immersed myself in the study of Vietnam, the land, the people, the history, and politics --always searching, I suppose, for the wars elusive justification.April 30, 1975, along with millions of Americans, I watched on television as Vietnam fell to the North Vietnamese communists, or looking at it from our so-called enemys perspective, Vietnams liberation, the images flickering across the television screen, the last helicopters flying off the rooftop of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. I felt ill--then angry, bitter, and finally betrayed. What a waste it had all been, Id thought.How ironic that the Vietnamese student told me she didnt know Chicanos had fought in Vietnam, when we now know the first American to be captured by North Vietnam was a pilot, Chicano Everett Alvarez, and the last American out of Vietnam was Chicano Marine Sgt. Juan Vasquez. Then there were the thousands of Chicanos who gave life and limb in those sweltering jungles.After I watched Saigon fall, I refused to vote, to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, or to hold my hand over my heart during the National Anthem. I hid the Army in a cardboard box: the photos, medals, and citations. I didnt want my son or any of my nephews seeing them and glamorizing war.As the years passed, I asked myself, if communism was the justification for war, why then did Nixon open relations with communist China? Why did the Soviet Union and East Germany collapse under their own weight? Why do we trade with Vietnam and open relations with Cuba (finally)? Why did we kill two-million Vietnamese and sacrifice nearly 60,000 Americans and bring so much pain and suffering to so many families? (And thats not counting the terror wrought on Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador under the auspices of salvation from communism.)In 1995, the ex-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara published his memoir,The lessons, I considered the phrase, as if the slaughter in Vietnam had been some sort of scholarly exercise. McNamara concluded his memoir by telling us how to do it better next time. I took his thesis to be, Sorry. Looking back on it, we made a terrible mistake.As early as 1967, McNamara realized the war was wrong, even immoral. He pressured President Johnson to end it. By speaking out, McNamara found himself booted from his job as Secretary of Defense and reassigned to head of the World Bank.We now know that many politicians and generals knew early on that the war was unwinnable. But they, too, remained silent and allowed the massacre to continue.So, who was benefiting from this war? How many millions went into the pockets of Colt and other weapons manufacturers and the corporations that supplied the uniforms, vehicles, food, and supplies? In the Golden Triangle, the sale of opium and heroin flourished (but thats a whole different story).A few years ago, as I walked through a local bookstore, I noticed a title glaring at me from the stack--My artillery battery supported a recon outfit called the Tiger Force, guys we admired, wild, insanely brave men (mostly kids, really), whod go into the jungle in small groups and sometimes initiate contact with much larger forces.I thumbed through the pages. Sure enough, it was the same Tigers that we had supported. Maybe Id find a justification for the war in these pages.Instead, I read that from June through October 1967, in the pastoral Song Ve River Valley, after communist forces had killed the most experienced Tigers, the remaining Tigers, many inexperienced recruits, took their revenge by executing, in the most heinous ways, hundreds of Vietnamese farmers, and civilians. The Tigers who had self-destructed, turned rice paddies and farms into blood-soaked fields. And it hadnt been a secret. The brass knew but didnt stop them, in fact, in some cases, they ordered it.June through October 1967, I remember thinking. Thats when I was there.My artillery battery supported the Tigers. So, when they called in artillery strikes, was it for fun, to just to watch the villages burn? It was my job to remove those shells from the canisters and hand them to the gun crews who loaded them into the Howitzers and send them crashing into those villages.What sin had those villagers committed to deserve such a fate? They refused forced removal from their farms and hamlets into filthy, unsanitary compounds the military called Relocation Camps.How much blood is on my hands? Can I be like Robert McNamara and say, Well, in retrospect.? Can I pass it off as a lesson learned? A reporter who saw McNamara years later said he looked like a haunted man.For me, like many veterans, the Vietnam War is not abstract or theoretical. It isnt an academic problem. Its as visceral as a fist in the gut. Thats why it is difficult for many of us to talk about it. I cant think about Vietnam without thinking of myself in it.As I watched, Rory Kennedys film, The Last Days in Vietnam, I had hoped I might find the justification for that war.But no, though it is a beautiful, uplifting movie, when I exited the theater, I found no justification, not even in the faces of those Vietnamese desperately seeking escape at the American Embassy, or, surprisingly, on the faces of the South Vietnamese throngs waving communist flags to welcome the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese into Saigon.As another April 30th crawls closer, I wonder if has anything changed? We see the same desperation on the faces of Syrians, Afghanis, Yeminis, and Iraqis. Maybe, in the end, we should heed Lennons words and give peace a chance.Daniel observes, "
Students at Coulee Region Christian School in West Salem helped others in a big way April 13.

Education director Tammy Chandler said the event was a big success.

From the moment I woke up I felt incredibly blessed. Im so happy for these kids. When we were looking for fundraising ideas and we found Feed the Need, we just couldnt pass it up, she said.

187 students from grades pre-kindergarten to 12th grade helped create 10,000 meal packages for less privileged students in Haiti, also donating 280 meals to local food pantries. The event was part of a national organization called Feed the Need.

Its the first year that the school has decided to partake in the event, but theyre glad they did according to staff member Jeanne Miller.

Its a big endeavor for these kids, she said. Unlike selling things for a fundraiser, this way our kids are actually doing the work. We wanted service to be a big part of a community service project, Miller said.

The students also sent letters and pictures to the kids receiving the meals. They drew on one side while keeping the other blank since paper is at a dangerously low number in schools in Haiti. The hope is that the children can use the other side of the drawings for schoolwork.

The event was so much bigger than us, Chandler said. We want these kids to never forget how important it is to think of others before ourselves.
State Rep. Greg Davids (R-Preston) joined a bipartisan majority in the Minnesota House recently in approving legislation that addresses our states road and bridge construction needs.

People do not need to pay higher fees or higher gasoline taxes in order to improve our highways, Davids said. This is a critical bill that would positively impact roads and bridges in Fillmore in Houston counties in a variety of ways.

Overall, Davids said the transportation funding legislation will provide $6 billion to statewide road and bridge needs over the next ten years without raising taxes.

The proposal creates a new fund of existing tax revenue streams called the Transportation Priorities Fund, which uses current, transportation-related state tax revenues to make the new road and bridge investment.

The transportation proposal would permanently fund the popular Small Cities Road Assistance Program, which provides a state revenue stream to cities with fewer than 5,000 residents in order to make needed street repairs.

How would this proposal benefit local cities? Davids shared the highlights:

Brownsville: $12,332

Caledonia: $38,860

Eitzen: $9,536

Hokah: $13,304

Houston: $18,260

Spring Grove: $21,234

Davids also noted that in County State Aid Highway funding, by 2021 Fillmore County is estimated to receive nearly $2.7 million more than its 2017 allotment, while Houston County is expected to collect more than $1.95 million. A total of four area bridges on MnDOTs local bridge priority list would also be replaced if the House transportation finance proposal becomes law.
This story was first published on April 23, 2005.

TOWN OF CAMPBELL  The man who held police at bay for 15 hours after a shooting on French Island surrendered this morning, but earlier he told authorities he had his mother's body in a freezer at the home.

The body of a woman was found in a basement chest freezer after Philip Schuth, 52, came out of the home at 7:25 a.m., but La Crosse County Sheriff Mike Weissenberger said they could not confirm it was the man's mother, though added they did "have an idea who she is."

La Crosse County land records listed the property at 1330 Bainbridge St. as owned by Edith M. Schuth.

In a press conference this morning at Campbell Town Hall, Weissenberger said the man had revealed that "his mother's body was in a freezer in the basement" while he was negotiating with authorities after the shooting Friday afternoon.

Negotiations with Schuth began about 5:30 p.m. Friday after he reportedly struck a child and took his bicycle, then shot the boy's father when confronted by the parents. He then took refuge at 1330 Bainbridge St.

Negotiators spent 50 minutes of each hour on the phone with the suspect before the situation ended peacefully, Weissenberger said.

Police picked through the ice in the freezer just enough to confirm a body was inside before leaving the scene for the Wisconsin State Crime Lab from Madison to further investigate, Weissenberger said. A crime lab truck arrived at the home this afternoon.

It may be a week before the identity of the body is confirmed, Weissenberger said.

Weissenberger said he was pleased that officers were able to get the man into custody without injury, but now the focus would turn to determining the cause of death of the person in the freezer.

Edith Schuth last appears in the 2001 La Crosse City Directory along with Philip Schuth at 1330 Bainbridge St. She was listed as retired. The 2002 through 2004 La Crosse City Directories only list Philip Schuth at the address.

The chain of events that led to the body being discovered started when 10-year-old Josh Russell told his parents about 4 p.m. Friday that Philip Schuth had struck him in the right ear and taken his bicycle.

Randy Russell Jr., 32, said he and wife Melissa and their son drove over to Schuth's house, where they found Schuth in the yard.

"I said, 'Sir, did you hit my son?'" Randy Russell said early this afternoon. "He said, 'Yes, I did,' and he pulled a gun out of his pocket and started shooting."

Randy Russell was hit in the right shoulder and arm, with another bullet grazing his right cheek. Melissa Russell's leg was grazed as well.

Russell said his son and the friend were playing in Schuth's yard because they thought it was an abandoned property. He disputed accounts of a fight or altercation between Schuth and his son.

Russell was treated at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center and released between 7 and 7:30 p.m. Friday. His son was not injured.

Schuth is in custody, Weissenberger said, until investigators can confer with the La Crosse County district attorney on charges.

Bainbridge Street will remain closed for the next 24 to 48 hours, he said.

Those at the scene included the Town of Campbell Police Department, La Crosse County Sheriff's Department, Onalaska Police Department, La Crosse Police Department and Vernon County Sheriff's Department.
The conservative majority on the state Supreme Court has rejected a petition from a group of former judges to require all judges and justices to recuse themselves from cases involving big donors to their campaigns.

The justices voted 5-2 on Thursday against the petition from 54 retired judges that asked the justices to create a set of donation amounts that would trigger a judge or justice to step aside from a case.

Under the proposed rules, municipal judges would step away from cases if theyve received a campaign donation of at least $500 from an involved party. Circuit court judges would step aside if they had received at least $1,000, appellate judges would recuse if they had received at least $2,500, and Supreme Court justices would recuse themselves if they had received $10,000.

The appearance of partiality that large campaign donations cause strikes at the heart of the judicial function, which depends on the publics respect for its judgments, the petition said.

But the majority of justices, most of whom received heavy support from conservative-leaning groups during their past campaigns, said the petition assumes judges dont know when its inappropriate or unethical for them to hear cases because of conflicts of interest.

Daniel Kelly, who is conservative-leaning and was appointed in 2016 by Gov. Scott Walker to replace retiring justice David Prosser, said adopting the rules would tell judges throughout the state that their personal judgment cant be trusted.

I think thats caustic and inappropriate, said Kelly, who has not mounted a campaign for the states highest court.

Justice Rebecca Bradley, who was appointed by Walker in 2015 and elected to a new term in 2016, said supporting the petition would require justices to violate their oaths of office to uphold the state and U.S. constitutions.

Meanwhile, the courts liberal-leaning minority  Justice Shirley Abrahamson and Justice Ann Walsh Bradley  supported considering and adopting the petition.

I see nothing in the Wisconsin Constitution or the U.S. Constitution that says that this court cant make reasonable recusal rules, Abrahamson said.

The motion to deny and dismiss the petition was made by Justice Annette Ziegler.

Liberal-leaning groups that also supported its adoption said the rules would ensure public trust that their court system is fair and not catering to those who can pay to influence it, and is needed because the court in 2015 ruled candidates can coordinate with issue advocacy groups.

The justices also voted to reject a motion from Abrahamson to hold a public hearing on the matter and a motion from Walsh Bradley to adopt the petition Thursday without a hearing.

The petition also sought a state constitutional amendment allowing retired justices or appeals judges to sit on cases if more than one justice were excused. It also asked that the proposed limits also apply if campaign contributions were made from another judicial campaign to influence the outcome of that judges election, and also asked litigants disclose whether they donated at least $250 to the judge or justice hearing their case.

The petition was supported by liberal-leaning groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and opposed by conservative-leaning groups such as the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.

The justices vote on the petition was delayed earlier this year after WILL requested more time to file comments in opposition. Rick Esenberg, president and chief counsel at WILL, said earlier this month that the proposed rules were unnecessary and that the petition is nothing more than hyperbole.

Petitioners have utterly failed in establishing campaign contributions have the type of negative affect on judges and justices they argue is rampant throughout the judicial system, Esenberg said.

Democrats weigh in

Democratic lawmakers in the state Assembly who also are lawyers blasted the courts decision, particularly because of the justices decision not to hold a public hearing on the proposals.

As attorneys, we subscribe to the canons of ethics ... we are supposed to be wary of even the appearance of impropriety, said Rep. Dana Wachs, D-Eau Claire, who also is mulling whether to challenge Walker in 2018. So were very disappointed that the Supreme Court just summarily dismissed this petition.

Rep. Gary Hebl, D-Sun Prairie, has introduced a slate of bills this session aimed at requiring judges and justices to excuse themselves from cases over which the public may perceive a conflict of interest on the part of the judge or justice. He said Thursday the bills attempt to address the states subjective standard with regard to recusal.

Rejection

of petition

anticipated

The courts decision to dismiss and deny the petition to change judges and justices recusal rules without a public hearing is not unexpected.

The conservative majority on the court in 2010 adopted rules saying campaign donations dont alone trigger recusal. Since then, the courts conservative majority has grown to comprise five of the seven seats.

Thursdays decision comes during a long bout of public turmoil on the increasingly conservative, and fractious, court.

Abrahamson was stripped of her chief justice title in April 2015 after 19 years when voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing justices to pick the courts chief instead of relying on seniority, which had been the courts practice for 126 years.

Conservative-leaning members of the court removed Abrahamson hours after the election that year and named Justice Patience Roggensack chief. But Abrahamson contended the amendment was silent on when the switch could occur, and filed a federal lawsuit arguing she should be able to serve as chief justice until her term expired in 2019.

That lawsuit was dismissed in July 2015, and Abrahamson dropped her appeal in November of that year.

On Thursday, during a bit of squabbling between the justices discussing whether to dismiss the petition, Justice Michael Gableman interrupted Abrahamson to point out that he felt he was instead in a therapy session.

I think we maybe need a therapy session but thats not for me to say, Abrahamson responded.
Prosecutors have charged two West Salem residents with conspiracy to distribute marijuana after intercepting a shipment of more than four pounds of pot from Oregon.

Last year, a police dog at the Minneapolis airport detected a suspicious UPS package addressed to a West Salem home, according to police reports; inside detectives found four plastic bags of pot and 80 small jars of hash wax.

Working with La Crosse county authorities, an airport detective delivered the package on May 18 to Amy Kneesel at the 111 Mill St. address.

Investigators then searched the home, where Kneesel, 39, told police she allowed her friend Corydon Drake, 37, to send the package to her home in exchange for a couple of ounces of marijuana. According to police reports, Kneesel said Drake would fly to Oregon, which legalized recreational marijuana in 2015, and purchase pot from a dispensary. She said he had sent her one other package.

Kneesel also admitted giving Drake $10,000 in cash, which she assumed was for marijuana, because she is a nice person and has a hard time saying no to people.

While investigators hatched a plan to have Drake pick up his package, he texted Kneesel asking why there were cops around her home, according to reports.

According to reports, flight records put Drake in Oregon when the package was shipped, and video from a UPS store showed a person matching his description sending the package.

Prosecutors charged Drake with conspiracy to deliver more than 1,000 grams of THC. He was released on a signature bond Thursday after turning himself in. He is scheduled to return to court for a preliminary hearing May 1.

Kneesel was charged in March with possession with intent to deliver THC and maintaining a drug trafficking place as well as possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

According to reports, she told police she was afraid she would be killed or beaten up for providing information.

In 1999, Drake was accused of shooting a La Crescent man in the head. He told police he believed the gun was unloaded and had intended to hit the man with it when it went off. The bullet glanced off the victims forehead and went through the window of a nearby home. A second shot hit Drakes leg.
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Of the 54 groups that registered a lobbyists opinion on a bill tightening voting requirements in Iowa, only one expressed support: the Iowa Minutemen Civil Defense Corps.

The national Minutemen corps has a storied history for its anti-immigrant positions. In earlier times, it took a vigilante approach to patrolling the border and nabbing undocumented immigrants. Lately it has focused on rhetoric and advocacy and tipping law enforcement on where to look for the undocumented.

Though individual chapters remain, the national corps seems to have disbanded after its president in 2010 called on members to return to the border locked, loaded and ready to stop each and every individual we encounter along the frontier before she quickly thought better of it.

A neo-Nazi named J.T. Ready co-founded the group in the mid-2000s, inspired by the motto, The purity of the Aryan race is the most precious resource nature has to offer all of humankind. He died in 2012 of suicide after allegedly killing his girlfriend and three of her family members while being investigated for domestic terrorism in the shooting deaths of several immigrants found in the desert. Another co-founder, Chris Simcox, was sentenced in July to nearly 20 years for child molestation.

The misconduct of corps members isnt the main issue here, although it offers some insight into the kinds of people the group attracts. The issue is the nativist and anti-immigrant sentiment that drives it  what the corps must believe will be advanced by Iowas voter ID bill.

Democrats, civil libertarians and civil rights groups call the proposed law a thinly veiled attempt to suppress minority votes. But Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, who proposed it, says the goal is to modernize elections technology, streamline the system and protect against the potential for human error and fraud. As far as I know, modernizing election technologies has not been a huge priority of the Minutemen.

There is no evidence of unqualified voters being a problem in Iowa, or at least one big enough to warrant spending at minimum $340,000 for the secretary of states office to produce new voter ID cards and $525,000 to $1.1 million for precincts to buy new e-poll books.

An Associated Press review found that of nearly 1.6 million votes cast in Iowa in November, only one represented election misconduct. That was a woman who voted twice for Donald Trump, persuaded by his claims about a rigged election that her first vote wouldnt be counted. She was not an undocumented immigrant.

Thirty-six groups registered in opposition to the Iowa bill, with the rest undecided and two withdrawn. Among the opponents were nonpolitical groups like the state association of counties, the community college trustees association, the Episcopal Diocese, the National Education Association, the AARP and the League of Women Voters. Yet 28 Republican senators aligned with the minority position of the Minutemen.

The bill requires voters to show government-issued ID when they go to vote, either on Election Day, beforehand at satellite polling stations or when applying for an absentee ballot. It shortens from 40 to 29 days the time for voting early. It requires that all voters have a verification number, which could come from a drivers license or a non-operators ID card from the state Department of Transportation.

A precinct official would need to verify that the people coming to vote hadnt had their voting rights rescinded and not reinstated for former felony convictions. Polling staff could also raise barriers if they felt a voters signature didnt match the one on an ID card. And just in case anyone planned to vote in the name of a dead person, the states registrar of vital statistics would be required every three months to send the voter registrar a list of people of age who died in that quarter.

The rules get ridiculously nitpicky. There are even stipulations about what condition the envelope carrying affidavits of eligibility to vote must be in when they arrive.

At the very least, these rules, if signed into law, would discourage voters, many of whom dont drive or travel abroad, making them unlikely to have driver licenses or passports. The secretary of states office says 85,000 Iowa citizens of voting age dont have government IDs. The bill would disproportionately hinder the elderly, poor, minority and disabled, as well as transgender people who can have a hard time getting IDs that reflect their gender identification and chosen name. Its no wonder some other states voter ID laws have been struck down as discriminatory.

And heres the real tragedy. Iowa should be the envy of other states for having some of the highest voting rates in the nation. Thats a mark of civic engagement and the boast of Iowas political parties when other states challenge our first-in-the-nation caucuses. Why mess with a good thing?

The cynic would say its a Republican-initiated effort to suppress minority and Democratic votes. Whatever the case, its harder for the GOP to defend itself when the only lobby group in its corner on this is one the Southern Poverty Law Center calls one of the most prominent nativist extremist groups in the nation.

Sorry, Iowa.
PARIS (TNS)  Marine Le Pen has placed herself among the front-runners to be Frances next president by ditching the anti-Semitic rhetoric that her father used to build up her party.

Yet Jean-Maries youngest daughter spent most of her life steeped in far-right ideology as the National Front grew on the fringes of French politics in the 1970s and 1980s.

The 48-year-old candidate may have swapped her fathers racism for promises to protect patriots from globalization, but her political identity remains entwined with the partys troubled origins.

These seven dates show how the candidate was shaped by her fathers career.

Nov. 2, 1976: Bombed

The night before Jimmy Carters U.S. presidential election victory, 8-year-old Marine was at home in the Le Pen familys Paris apartment when several pounds of dynamite ripped through the building. Police said it was an attempt to assassinate her father, though the perpetrators were never caught.

Marine survived unscathed and says the experience marked the beginning of her political awareness. It also intensified her relationship with Jean-Marie.

When I was still playing with dolls, I became aware of this terrible and incomprehensible thing for me: My father was not treated the same as others, we are not treated the same as others, she said in her 2006 autobiography, Against the Flow.

After the attack, the family moved out of Paris to Montretout, an estate on the edge of the capital where a wealthy supporter had left Jean-Marie a 19th century red-brick mansion in his will. Marine would live there with her father for almost four decades.

Oct. 10, 1984: Abandoned

Family life for the Le Pens was unconventional by the standards of bourgeois France. The parents lived separately from their three daughters and were often away traveling, sailing, partying or campaigning.

That was just the start. When Marine was 16, her mother left with a lover and cut off contact with her daughter for 15 years.

Marine stayed on with her father at Montretout as her parents bitter, public divorce played out across the front pages of the press  her mother even posed naked in the French edition of Playboy magazine at one point. Le Pen says the trauma created a special bond with her sisters, whove supported her on the campaign trail.

She became much tougher after her mother left, and became even closer to her father, said Jean-Francois Touze, a former close ally of Jean-Marie. That personal tragedy and being bullied in school for being a Le Pen created a feeling that it was us against the world. She still has that.

Jan. 1, 1998: Political calling

As a child, Le Pen wanted to be a cop and later trained as a lawyer. But she never really escaped her fathers orbit.

Her first employer was a friend of her fathers, and she mainly worked defending people in extreme-right movements. When she struck out on her own, she struggled to make headway. In 1997 she married a National Front activist. The next January, after six years as a lawyer, she quit her job and joined the party.

Three months later she won her first election, for the regional council in Nord Pas de Calais, an impoverished region bordering Belgium. Her three children, including twins, were born in 1998 and 1999.

She tried to strike out on her own, Renaud Dely wrote in his essay The Real Marine Le Pen. It was a failure. The youngest daughter never managed to break away from her father.

May 5, 2002: Into the spotlight

After Jean-Maries surprise success in the first round of the 2002 presidential election brought millions onto the streets in protest, he was defeated by Jacques Chirac in a landslide.

That was also the night the French public discovered Marine, a 33-year-old chain smoker with long blond hair. With demonstrators labeling her father a fascist, Marine went on television to defend him, catching the public imagination with both her look and her arguments.

Thats when she emerged, said Nicolas Lebourg, a researcher on far-right politics at the University of Montpellier.

Marines rise marked the beginning of the National Fronts journey toward the mainstream of French politics.

She understood that as long as the party was branded as racist and her father continued to deny the Holocaust there could be no future, Lebourg said. On May 5, 2002, Marine Le Pen decided to change the National Front.

May 13, 2009: A political union

Florian Philippot was a 27-year-old graduate of Frances elite National School of Administration when he was introduced to Le Pen by a mutual friend.

Le Pen was reluctant to go to dinner with a policy wonk but afterward both described it as a political love at first sight. Her relationship with Philippot is entirely platonic, though both her husbands did work for the National Front. And her current partner, Louis Aliot, is vice president of the party.

Shes intellectually insecure and Philippot, whos a trained technocrat, gave her confidence and structure, said Sylvain Crepon, a professor of sociology at the University of Tours.

Philippot helped Le Pen airbrush the Fronts racist image and reprogram the party to focus on sovereignty instead of nationalism. That opened the door to a swath of new voters.

He helped her put identity, not race, at the center, Crepon said.

Under Philippots guidance, Le Pen accelerated the partys evolution from its libertarian roots toward economic patriotism. He converted her to his anti-European plans to restore the barriers to immigration and, in what became the centerpiece of her 2017 campaign, to leave the euro.

Aug. 20, 2015: Rupture

Marine took over the leadership of the National Front with her fathers blessing in 2011 and, with Philippot at her side, pushed ahead with her plans to make the party electable. But she had one problem: Jean-Marie.

Despite the warnings from his daughter, the National Fronts founder refused to temper his language, repeatedly talking about gas chambers.

The issue came to a head in an April 2015 television interview when he insisted that the Holocaust was just a detail of World War II. After a four-month power struggle, Marine called a meeting of the executive committee and had Jean-Marie expelled from the party he built.

This was the most difficult moment of my life apart from giving birth, she said in a September television interview. He forced me to go all the way.

Both say they no longer have any contact, though Jean-Marie is still helping to finance Marines campaign.

Politically its a success, said Jean-Yves Camus, researcher and co-author of the book Far-Right Politics in Europe. But on a personal level how could we know? Hes politically dead. But the ideology, the roots are still there.

April 9, 2017: A Slip?

Two weeks before the first round, Le Pen still held a narrow lead in the polls. Though her support had dipped, her main challenge was to broaden her support ahead of the May 7 runoff.

Then history  both personal and national  reared its head again.

Asked in an interview about her manifesto statement that France should stop apologizing for itself, Le Pen denied her country was responsible for the roundup of more than 13,000 Jews sent from Paris to Auschwitz in 1942. Her comments reopened the debate about Frances wartime government  President Chirac had issued an apology for the action in 1995, riling some on the far right.

Le Pen showed the true face of the National Front, Emmanuel Macron, her most serious rival for the presidency, told reporters. She refused to back down.

Whether the comments were really a mistake, or a sop to her base, the episode showed that even after a 15-year makeover, her fathers politics still cloud Marines electoral hopes.

She herself isnt racist or even anti-Semitic, but she cant help it, Lebourg said. She always comes back to the DNA of the National Front to show shes the anti-establishment candidate.
Life is all in what you make it. Attitude is the key. If people take the time to volunteer, it rekindles a loving spirit and reminds us about what is really important in life. Its not what we have, but who we help with (what we have) that matters in the end. These Bertha Dahl quotes, from a 2004 interview with Dorothy Robson, were her philosophy. It is what she said, what she believed, and what she lived by. Last week was National Library Week so it is fitting that we celebrate Bertha as Westbys best promoter of our library.

Bertha Eleanora Dahl was born in Wild Horse, Colorado, on November 26, 1915, the daughter of John and Belinda (Neprud) Dahl. Her father emigrated from Meraker, Norway in 1901. Her mother, born in Westby, was the daughter of John T. and Berte Olsdatter Neprud. Bertha was the oldest of four children, sisters Ruth (Mrs. Orval Bertling) and Ona (Mrs. Elmer Stenerson); and brother, Irvin Dahl. In the spring of 1923, the family moved back to Westby and lived with another family until they could get a place of their own. Berthas father was a carpenter. He would work to save enough money to build their new home on East Park Street. It is where Bertha continued to live for the rest of her life.

Bertha was a 1934 graduate of Westby High School. During this time of the Great Depression, jobs were scarce and there was little money. Bertha knew she needed to do something to support herself so she attended Vernon County Normal School in Viroqua and obtained her teaching certificate. It would take her a year but she finally found a teaching position at Gilbertson School, just east of Westby.

In the 2004 interview with Dorothy, Bertha shared that being a teacher in a one-room or two-room school was definitely work. She taught up to eight grades, had 30-plus students in the building, instructed students on every subject, and learned to budget her time. She was a teacher at Gilbertson, Brookville, Erickson, and Clockmaker Schools. As a student, Bertha did her student teaching in the Gilbertson rural school on East Ridge under Esther Bakke. Esther wrote of Bertha when (Bertha began student teaching in the classroom), my mouth nearly fell open. She had the material so well in hand and presented that she kept the students attention completely. Each class during the week was equally well-taught. Bertha worked in the Westby, Cashton, and La Crosse school districts, and retired in 1980 after 43 years of teaching.

Berthas contributions to the community of Westby were numerous and, fortunately for Westby, she loved to volunteer. She would see a need, have a vision of how she could help, and worked tirelessly to achieve her goals. She was determined. Did she do it to receive accolades? Absolutely not. She was perfectly content to remain unnoticed while she went about her work and inspire other people to shine. Cindy Brown, Bekkum Library Director, remembers Bertha as a superb encourager. People felt they could accomplish a task because Bertha told them she believed they could.

Bertha was never one to sit around idle. She found the time to work with the Salvation Army in Westby every Christmas for 25 years, helping to fill bags of groceries for needy residents, and filling and distributing Merry Christmas boxes filled with cookies, fruit and candy for area nursing home residents. November and December were very busy months for Bertha but she still found the time to send out Christmas cards to family and friends, each with a special note included in her very distinctive printing style. Bertha was a Sunday school teacher and a Bible school teacher for many years at Westby Coon Prairie Church. She served as their superintendent and was also on the anniversary history committee that published the book, Westby Coon Prairie Lutheran Church, 1851-2001 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the church. Bertha was a remarkable woman and we can only wonder how she had the time to accomplish all she did.

As this article continues next week, you will read about the incredible accomplishment achieved by Bertha Dahls efforts  the building of the Bekkum Memorial Public Library.
WARRENSIts time again for the annual Warrens Community Garage Sale.

The event, sponsored by the Warrens Area Business Association, will be held April 27-29.

Lorry Erickson, WABA secretary, said the event kicks off the garage sale season.

We traditionally hold the Warrens Community Garage the week before the Tomah Citywide Rummage Sale, Erickson said. So its sort of the kickoff for the garage sale season in our area.

The garage sale has been sponsored by the WABA for about 10 years, Erickson said, but a community sale did exist years prior to WABA taking over.

Janey Kimpton had been organizing a community sale for several years when I first moved to Warrens in 2004, usually the first weekend of June, she said. I held a sale out of my garage that June, selling some cranberry food products left from when the cranberry museum moved into Warrens. ... After that the WCDC would be one of the participants to draw people in early for sidewalk sales.

WABA took over when Kimpton decided to step down, Erickson said.

We thought if individuals planning to hold garage sales would do it the same weekend, wed be able to draw more shoppers to all the sales and to our member businesses here in Warrens, she said.

The event will feature 24 garage sales and several multi-family events.

A new selling location is available this year at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Erickson said. The church is renting table space in its fellowship hall to individuals wishing to sell garage sale items as well as to home-based businesses wanting to selling their products. So far 18 have registered to participate.

Also new this year, a lunch is being offered all three days by the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center.

Theyll be introducing a new signature sandwich, featuring ham served on a cranberry walnut sourdough bread with cranberry horseradish spread, Erickson said.

A Google map of all sale locations has been created for the 2017 event by garage sale coordinator Sandy Nemitz. A list and link to the map are posted on visitwarrens.com in the News and Information section.
I screwed up and Im sorry.

Whens the last time you heard that from a politician? Let me say it again. I screwed up and Im sorry.

Last session, in his budget, Gov. Scott Walker proposed adding 102 new auditors to the Department of Revenue. I didnt like the proposal, nor did many of my colleagues in the Legislature. A number of us tried to remove it from the budget. When that failed, to our discredit, we went along with it. We shouldnt have.

It didnt take me long to recognize the mistake I had made, and when I did, I authored a bill to begin to reverse it. Unfortunately, the bill went nowhere. As a result of this mistake, a number of Wisconsins small businesses have been subjected to audits. For these small businesses, audits are terrifying, time consuming and expensive. They are also the functional equivalent of a government shakedown. You see, most small businesses operate above-board. They do their best. But no one is perfect. This is particularly true when you have an awful tax code like ours. Its riddled with exemptions, credits, inconsistencies and ambiguities. Even CPAs make mistakes.

Nearly every time a business is audited, its no surprise the auditor finds something and when they do, its usually after wasting weeks of a small business time and resources. After being put through this, the business owners just want it over. So even if they believe the auditor is wrong, they are unlikely to spend the time and significant resources on attorneys and CPAs necessary to fight the government. Instead, they just pay.

Amazingly, this surrender is what the government is counting on. The state budget actually depends on each new auditor bringing in significant revenue each year. I suspect thats part of the reason why the governors current budget proposes adding another 46 new auditors (combined with last session, this would amount to 148 total new auditors). Its estimated that each of the 46 new auditors would bring in around $695,000 each year of this biennium ($64 million total). In my opinion, thats the wrong way to balance the budget.

However, we can fix this. Instead of 46 new auditors at DOR to shake down hard-working small business owners, we should authorize 46 new auditors or inspectors general to audit every part of every state agency. As the Department of Transportation audit showed, incompetent agencies are wasting billions of dollars. So instead of harassing hard-working small business owners to generate revenue, we can find significantly more money by closely scrutinizing agency budgets.

I will not repeat my past mistake. I will not vote for any budget that authorizes even a single new auditor and would be hard pressed to vote for one that doesnt begin to fix the mistake we made in the last budget. In the next few days, I will offer a budget motion to delete the 102 auditors authorized in the last budget and amend the current proposal so that the 46 auditors are hired to examine state agencies instead of small businesses.

Republican Adam Jarchow, Balsam Lake, represents the 28th state Assembly District.
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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 (3) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (3) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (3) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (3) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (3) Mar 07 (3) Mar 06 (4) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (3) Mar 01 (3) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (3) Feb 25 (3) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (3) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (3) Feb 16 (3) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (3) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (3) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (4) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (5) Jan 17 (4) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (3) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 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LAS ARMAS DE CORONEL Ver tambien mi website: www.armasdecoronel.com para leer dos de mis libros, entrevistas, etc.
1 An injured demonstrator is been helped by another after clashing with riot police during the so-called "mother of all marches" against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas.
Chinas government plans to create an economic zone that it hopes will become a center for technology.

Chinese President Xi Jinping recently announced plans for the project. It would turn a huge underdeveloped area southwest of Beijing into a modern and technologically advanced zone.

The Xiongan New Area will be about three times the size of New York City when completed. It is expected to become like Shenzhen -- a modern, high-tech city that acts as a bridge between Hong Kong and mainland China.

Xi said that the zone will create growth for places like Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

Chinas North has long been less of an economic force and innovator than the south. But now, officials are trying to reshape the capital to create new models of growth.

But critics say state-led plans for development, rather than letting market forces decide, will fail. In fact, soon after the plans for Xiongan were announced, problems quickly began.

Stock prices of companies in the area rose sharply when the plan was announced. But officials halted trading for those stocks for several days last week. When trading was permitted to restart on Monday, the share prices of many companies dropped sharply.

When the plans were announced last month, housing prices in the area rose sharply. Officials then quickly stopped all housing development projects, including home improvements.

State media report the central government has begun to develop a high-quality master plan for Xiongan. But people who live in the area, property companies and possible investors and homeowners are not sure what is happening. Some people say that although the plan was announced just recently, there has been uncertainty for months.

One farmer spoke to VOA: "The rumors were already starting to fly last year. We dont know whats going on. At first you couldnt plant crops and now you cant build. This is not normal.

On the internet, some people say they believe the government is trying to control property values so it will not have to pay a lot for home demolitions. It is not clear how long restrictions on property in the area will stay in effect.

Li Jie is managing director of North China for the real estate company Colliers International. Li says, "It seems that the government is extraordinarily determined to apply the ban permanently. In Xiongan, there will be no residential development by private companies and no residential units."

Li says Colliers believes the Xiongan New Area will be different "from the rest of the country, where the real estate industry has an important part in economic growth."

Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli recently said large property development will not be permitted in Xiongan.

It is not clear what officials will do with already finished developments or projects still being built.

A VOA reporter recently visited sales offices of some large developments in the area. All of them had signs that said property sales had been cancelled.

People who live there say the rise of housing prices will make it even more difficult for them to buy a home. Some said they may be forced to move away from the area.

One woman was asked about the new development area.

After hearing the plan, all I wanted to do is cry. I havent been able to sleep or eat for days. Ive worked half a lifetime and now I have to throw it all away.

On the internet, many people strongly oppose the plan for the new development zone.

Businessman and blogger Ren Zhiqiang wrote a long commentary that was removed from a Chinese social media website. In the message, he said the market decides what cities are created and where -- not the government.

Ren wrote, An unwillingness to accept these differences and competition, and instead use administrative power to force the creation of a unified city, will inevitably fail.

The central government has suggested that some offices could be moved from Beijing to Xiongan. There is talk that schools, universities and non-essential government departments will be moved to the zone. There are also reports that state-owned companies will be forced to move there. But many people say that is not likely to happen.

One Hong Kong-based website said the new zone is an important part of Xi Jinpings legacy and part of efforts to support his Chinese Dream.

The site said if the zone is properly developed, it could reduce the effect of issues such as overpriced property, pollution and a large gap between Chinas rich and poor.

Im Jonathan Evans.

VOA Correspondent Bill Ide reported this story from China. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted his report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

zone  n. an area

advanced  adj. developed or modern

innovator  n. someone or something that does things in new ways

uncertainty  n. something that is unknown

rumor  n. an unconfirmed statement or report

demolish  v. to break to pieces; to destroy

inevitable  n. something that is considered sure or unavoidable

legacy  n. something left from the past or from a person of the past

gap  n. a wide difference in something; a lack of balance


The Chinese government is looking to foreign businesses to help find oil and natural gas under the South China Sea.

Yet China expects to meet resistance because other countries dispute Chinese territorial claims to much of the sea. In addition, observers say any oil and gas discoveries might not be very profitable.

Last week, Chinas state-operated China National Offshore Oil Corporation made an appeal for foreign help. The company said it wants to work with foreign businesses in exploring for fossil fuels in 22 areas south of the countrys coast.

When combined, that represents more than 47,000 square kilometers of territory. The governments in Taiwan and Vietnam also claim those waters. Vietnam has been outspoken about its claims since the 1970s.

Foreign oil companies are now studying the Chinese offer, which closes in September. Experts say the companies may be worried that any work they do for China could hurt their ability to work for other countries. And they say the companies may also be worried that any oil or gas they find could be claimed by Chinas neighbors.

Thomas Pugh works for the Capital Economics research service in London. He says if foreign companies start working with China and Chinese firms, they could risk not being allowed to work with other countrieswho are disputing ownership of the area.

Raymond Wu is the managing director of e-telligence, a Taipei-based service that specializes in political risk. He also notes that any oil and gas discoveries could be claimed by other countries.

The other contestant parties do not accept that China has sovereign claims, Wu said. He noted that foreign companies must face, in his words, not only the difficulty or uncertainty of finding oil, but who does the oil belong to? I dont see many investors willing to get into it at this point.

In May 2014, Vietnamese and Chinese boats sailed into each other near the Gulf of Tonkin, after China deployed oil drilling equipment in the area.

Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines have been worried about Chinese attempts to increase control over about 95 percent of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea. Over the past 10 years, Chinese crews have been creating islands for military aircraft and radar systems.

Companies need costly equipment to search for oil and gas, and it is not clear how much of it they will find.

Zhao Xijun is the deputy chief of the School of Finance at Renmin University of China. He says the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is working to lessen the risk of exploration by working with foreign companies.

The first thing is that risk is pretty high and second, the technical requirements are rather high, Zhao said. So perhaps the organizations or companies able to participate in this project would face a certain hurdle.

Experts say falling oil prices would limit the value of any undersea discoveries. World oil prices have fallen from more than $100 per barrel in 2013 to about half that.

The United States Energy Information Administration estimates there are about 11 billion barrels of oil under the sea and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Over 40 years ago, the Philippines began searching for oil west of Palawan Island, at Reed Bank. In 1984, a Philippine company discovered an oil field in the area. It now supplies 15 percent of the oil used in the Philippines.

Malaysia has found about five-billion barrels of oil and 80 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, more than any other country with territorial claims to the South China Sea.

Im Caty Weaver.

Ralph Jennings in Taiwan reported on this story for VOANews.com. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted his report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

fossil fuel  n. a fuel (such as coal, oil or natural gas) that is formed in the earth from dead plants or animals

outspoken  adj. talking in a free and honest way about your opinions

allow  v. to permit (someone) to have or do something

contestant  n. opposing parties; a person who takes part in a contest

sovereign  adj. having independent authority and the right to govern itself

hurdle  n. something that makes an achievement difficult

barrel  n. the amount of something in a barrel


Japans government has proposed new limits on the amount of overtime employees can work.

The restrictions would cap overtime to 100 hours per month and 720 hours per year. The plan is supported by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the reforms are expected to eventually be approved by parliament.

The government has said the overtime limits aim to fight what the Japanese call karoshi, or death from overwork.

Japans business culture has a long history of demanding that employees work many hours of overtime. An online survey last year also found that most Japanese workers only take about half the number of vacation days they are given.

The dangers of long working hours were highlighted by the 2015 death of an employee at Japanese advertising company Dentsu. The 24-year-old female employee committed suicide after complaining to family about the long hours she had to work.

Public outrage over the womans death led to the resignation of Dentsus CEO last January. The companys new chief has pledged to obey all labor laws and carry out reforms to protect the health and safety of employees.

Michael Cucek is with Temple Universitys Japan Campus. He says efforts by the Japanese government to improve conditions for workers are seen as a good thing. However, he and some Japanese activist groups believe the proposed limits are too high to truly make life better for employees.

The number is absurd - that in a single month, one can have 100 hours of overtime, is simply a ridiculous number.



A government report said last year that about one in five Japanese companies have employees who work such long hours that they are at serious risk of death.

The report found that nearly 23 percent of companies had some employees working over 80 hours of overtime a month. Medical officials have noted a greater possibility of death from work among people working at least 80 overtime hours per month.

The survey also showed that about 21 percent of Japanese employees work an average of 49 or more hours each week. That number compares to 16 percent of American, 13 percent of British and 10 percent of French employees.

Cucek says the woman who killed herself while working at Dentsu is an example of how work isolates many Japanese workers.

She was living not at home, but in a corporate dormitory. So there was never anybody to talk to. Never any way of her breaking out of the environment where you must work, you must work, you must work, was being pressed upon her.

He said he hopes new overtime rules will send a clear message to Japanese companies that they can no longer demand an environment leading to employee health problems and death.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn adapted this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from VOA News, Reuters and other sources. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

cap  n. limit placed on something

outrage  n. extreme anger or shock

absurd  adj. very silly or foolish

ridiculous  adj. extremely silly or unreasonable

dormitory  n. large room with many beds where people sleep
Venezuela is in the midst of a violent protest movement that has left eight dead this month. A look at how the protests started and the 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.
LEXINGTON  Gov. Pete Ricketts was in Lexington Wednesday for a town hall meeting to promote a bill designed to restructure and lower income tax rates and change how farm and ranch land is valued for property tax purposes.

Debate on LB 461 in the unicameral begins Friday. Ricketts said the bill purposely packages together income tax relief with a change in how ag land is valued in an effort to attract the support of urban senators. He noted that 33 votes are needed for a bill to pass in the state legislature, but there are only 19 rural senators.

Ricketts outlined a broad picture for growing Nebraska in three areas: workforce, regulatory environment and budget and taxes.

Ricketts said part of the answer to company cries over the need for skilled workers is private business partnering with schools to create curriculum to teach young people what jobs are available and how to prepare to enter the workforce. In some cases two-year degrees post high school may be more desirable than four-year degrees, he said.

Ricketts said Nebraska is doing some things right to cut regulatory red tape to make it easy to do business within the state. As an example, he said the Department of Environmental Quality put air quality permit applications on-line, which can mean the difference between a permit being granted within days versus months, as is the case in other states.

Ricketts said Forbes ranked Nebraska as the No. 1 state in regulatory environment and the third best state overall to be able to do business.

Projects underway in the state include Monolith Materials building a carbon black manufacturing plant in Hallam, Lincoln Premium Poultry and Costco building a chicken processing plant in Fremont and Facebook recently announced it will build a data center in Papillion.

The majority of Rickett's message was on taxes. He said USA Today ranks Nebraska fifth when it comes to the highest property taxes in the U.S. and the Tax Foundation says the state is 14 highest when it comes to per capita income tax.

To be competitive we need to reduce tax rates like other states are doing, he said.

Ricketts said two years ago, when he came into office, the state was able to reduce spending growth in the budget from 6.5 percent to 3.6 percent, which increased the property tax relief fund by 45 percent.

The only way to have sustainable tax relief is by controlling spending. "Fundamentally tax relief is the difference between revenue growth and spending restraint," said Ricketts.

Ricketts said the state should change the way agricultural land is valued from a market sales assessment to an income potential assessment. He said it would be fairer to farmers and ranchers and be more standard across ag states. He said it is what South Dakota, North Dakota, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Ohio use.

In the past 10 years ag land has increased in value by 252 percent, said Ricketts, noting land valuation totals were $28 billion in 2007 and increased to $99.4 billion in 2016.

Ricketts wants to cap the statewide aggregate ag land valuation growth at 3.5 percent annually.

He said if LB 461 had been in place since 2007, the value of ag land today would be $38.5 billion which is only a 36 percent increase during a span of 10 years.

Lowering ag land values means the state would need to place more money in the state aid formula for schools, about $34 million in the first year of impact and up to $45 million by the year 2027, said Ricketts.

He said revenue growth of 4 to 5 percent could handle a budget that grows by 3 to 3.5 percent.

Charting where the states money goes, Ricketts showed 60 percent is for Medicaid and state aid to individuals, 28 percent for state aid to schools, 14 percent to the University of Nebraska and 14 percent for the operation of state agencies that report to the governor. Another 2 percent goes to community colleges and 1 percent to state colleges.

Ricketts noted that with a projected $900 million budget shortfall, even if all state agencies were wiped out, it wouldnt solve the budget problem since their combined budgets are nearly $596 million.

Someone in the audience asked, "Couldn't you have come up with something simpler?" Ricketts responded that coalition building led to multiple budget pieces, representing the thoughts of various lawmakers, being packaged together.

Ricketts said the Appropriations Committee will reveal the budget for 2017-2019 fiscal years on Friday with debate to begin on Tuesday.

He said he is concerned that if too much one-time money is used to close the present budget gap, the state will face similar problems down the road. He also spoke against gas tax dollars going into the state's general fund because that money is supposed to be for roads.

One thing I will not do is raise taxes, said Ricketts.

Farmer Jerry Lauby of Lexington shared frustration that by the time taxes are paid there isn't much money for his mother to live on.

Chuck Volk of Cozad voiced concerns over cuts in services being offered to his son who has been disabled since birth and confusion amongst state employees about what will be available in the future. "I don't think the HHS budget should be balanced on the back of Nebraska's most vulnerable citizens," he said.

Gwen Kautz, general manager of Dawson Public Power District, commented that urban senators control a mostly rural state. She said Dawson PPD has discussed the need to "adopt an urban senator."

Mayor John Fagot asked the governor to veto a bill that would allow companies to access city and village right of ways without permits for the purpose of bringing higher speed internet to rural areas.

Others who attended the meeting talked about the impact of unemployed and underemployed, Nebraska's unfavorable tax structure related to retirement and how locally grown food should be preferred and more accessible to neighboring school districts for feeding children.
JF Ptak Science Books



FARMER, James. Notes on the 1961 Cuban Revolution, May 1, 1961. Project RAND. 11x8", 13 leaves (printed on one side only). Somewhat yellowed given the manner of reproduction in 1961. Good copy, and really uncommon. No copies located in WorldCat. $350

The American people are entitled to know whether we are intervening in Cuba or intend to do so in the futureThe answer to that question is no. What happens in Cuba is for the Cuban people to decide.--Secretary of State Dean Rusk, April 17, 1961, 2 days into the CIA-sponsored invasion of Cuba.

"I know the world thinks of us, we are Communists, and of course I have said very clear that we are not Communists; very clear."--Fidel Castro, Cuban Revolution, 1959 Year in Review. United Press International, the statement made on his tour of the U.S. in 1959.

James Farmer of the RAND Corporation wrote a summary of the U.S.-backed insurgency against Fidel Castro's government in the infamous Bay of Pig campaign in his Notes on the 1961 Cuban Revolution sponsored by the U.S. Air Force Project Rand Report, and published (May Day!) May 1, 1961. This looks like an internal document, reproducing it in some sort of photo-mechanical way, and it focused on the failures of the Cuban revolutionthe same day as Castros May Day speech proclaiming his overwhelming victory against the counter-revolution.

Farmer states in his opening line: If tacticians and political scientists can learn from errors, the first 1961 Cuban Revolution should be invaluable.

Farmer evidently was sending a message in this medium as he refers again and again to the first 1961 Cuban Revolution. He was not referring of course to 1953-1959 Castro-led revolution that ousted President Batista--rather it was a political statement by the author relating to what he assumed would be subsequent "movements" against the Cuban government.

For some reason the only references on the internet that I've found for this document come from me.
The Independence of Croatia. 27x21cm, 8pp. Provenance: Library of Congress, with an acquisition stamp on the front wrapper (received January 2, 1947) and then with the LC surplus duplicate rubberstamp (very faintly so) on the rear wrapper. Printed 1919/1920 The document is signed at the end, Zagreb, May 4,1919, the Republican Committee of Croatia". No copies found in WorldCat/OCLC, though there is a copy located at the Archives and Special Collections of the University of Montana in the Mike Mansfield Collection, which dates this as 1919-1922. SOLD

This document is an appeal for an independent Croatian state, printed ca. 1919/1920. The appeal winds up asking "that Mr. Wilson and the representatives of the great Powers should recognize the independence of the Croatian people..." which would also include the formulation of a constitution and the removal of the Serbian army.
The Macau government has announced plans to build 8,000 public housing units at the Av. Wai Long. The plan has been deemed by local social activist Amy Sio to be killing life rashly. The land plot designated for construction is surrounded by waste incineration facilities, landfills and other facilities which deal with dangerous substances.

Sio cited an Italian research paper which showed that those living near incinerators have six to seven times higher chance of getting lung cancer.

Stuffing thousands of people into this place [Wai Long] cannot even be deemed irresponsible. It is killing life rashly, said Sio. Incinerators cannot completely isolate poisonous substances, he explained, adding that Macau has not been appropriately separating the refuse to be processed, which contributes to the release of more poisonous substances.

The Wai Long public housing project will be located less than 500 meters from an incinerator. The building will be 155 meters tall, which is nearly the same height as the incinerator.

Incinerators are actually a very dangerous thing. Its vicinity is completely unsuitable for human habitation, noted Sio.

Local commentator Wong Dong expressed concerns that the project lacks a detailed scientific plan, and does not consider Macaus overall sustainable development.

Wong believes that the project is a time bomb for Macaus next government. He further believes that this project will have a negative impact on Tai Tam hills ecological environment.
Chinas foreign ministry said yesterday that Interpol has issued a red notice seeking the arrest of Guo Wengui, a Chinese billionaire who has threatened to expose corruption at the highest levels of the ruling Communist Party.

Guo is a Forbes rich-lister who shot to international prominence last month when it was revealed the 50-year-old was a member of US President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang gave no details about Guos alleged crimes when announcing the Interpol notice, the Associated Press reports.

Yesterday, scmp.com, quoting unidentified sources, said that Guo was suspected of bribing disgraced former state security vice-minister Ma Jian with 60 million yuan.

The real estate tycoon disappeared from public view in 2014 but resurfaced in recent months, claiming in two interviews with overseas Chinese media and a stream of Twitter posts that he held damning information about party elites.

His case has been closely followed by Chinese political watchers, who say his leaks could be potentially damaging as internal factions jostle for power in the months leading up to the 19th Party Congress this fall, when a new generation of party leaders will be chosen.

Guo, who is believed to be in London, has indeed been linked to Ma Jian, who was charged with corruption in February.

In a brief message to The Associated Press, Guo dismissed the Interpol notice as an empty threat from the Chinese leadership.

Its all lies, all threats, Guo said. It shows they are scared of me leaking explosive information.

He added: Dont worry, this is a good thing.

Guo was not listed on Interpols website and agency officials declined comment, saying that Interpol does not comment on specific cases without the agreement of the member country involved as a matter of policy.

Guo Wengui also known under the names Guo Haoyun and Miles Kwok, is a Chinese businessman, who controls Beijing Zenith Holdings, and other assets. At the peak of his career, he was 73rd among the richest in China, followcn.com reported in February.

Guo, long prominent in real estate development and investment circles, came to fame in 2015 after a lengthy investigative report by Caixin media, controlled by Hu Shuli, was released, detailing Guos political connections, business dealings, and hard-ball tactics against former rivals. The piece became one of the most read investigative articles in the history of modern Chinese journalism.

He was born in Shen County, Shandong province, the seventh of eight children. He began his business career in Zhengzhou, before moving to Beijing to secure various construction deals during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. MDT/Agencies
The trade in merchandise between China and Portuguese-speaking countries reached USD14.845 billion (around MOP118.5 billion) in the period from January 2017 to February 2017, official data from China Customs authorities revealed.

The figure represented a 32.64 percent increase year-on-year.

According to the data, which was republished in the Forum Macau website, the Portuguese-speaking countries sold goods worth USD10.283 billion (around MOP 106.5 billion) to China in the first two months of 2017. This trade represents an even bigger hike, a 43.74 percent year-on-year, while the value of Chinas merchandise exports to those countries reached USD4.562 billion (or around MOP36.8 billion) in the same period, growing by 12.97 percent year-on-year.

Brazil continues to be Chinas strongest partner in trade, being accountable for 69.74 percent of the total value of trading. Brazil is followed by Angola with a share of 23.51 percent. Together, they accounted for 93.25 percent of all trading.

Although Brazil has an almost unreachable leading vantage point, Angola registered the larger overall growth in trade with China during the first two months of 2017 (42.40 percent).

Some significant drops have also been recorded, such as the export from China to Portugal has dropped by 35.73 percent on the first two months of the year as well as the imports from Guinea-Bissau which recorded a total stop during January and February of 2017.

Contributing data for these results was mostly taken from the month of January as February alone registered drops in almost all the sectors.
President Donald Trump congratulated Turkeys president for sweeping up more power. Trump hailed Egypts strongman as a fantastic guy. When Chinas president visited the United States, Trump cited a burgeoning friendship and made no public mention of Beijings dismal human rights record.

Since taking office, Trump has displayed a striking willingness to embrace autocrats as potential partners in his America First agenda, even if it means ignoring their heavy-handed tactics and repression at home. Its a posture that Trump also took toward Russian President Vladimir Putin until a dispute over Syria led Trump last week to declare U.S.-Russian ties at an all-time low.

Trump is hardly the first U.S. president willing to look the other way in dealings with governments that flout democratic values. For decades, Republican and Democratic administrations have cooperated closely with Saudi Arabia and China. President Barack Obama opened new diplomatic channels with Iran and Cuba, despite concerns about their repressive rulers.

But rarely are U.S. presidents as warm and unabashed about their relationships with autocrats.

Trumps comfort level seems to stem in part from his background in business, where the details of a deal mattered more than the negotiating partner and flattery can get results.

When they were forced to deal with imperfect allies, Trumps predecessors, including Obama and President George W. Bush, made a point of using the moment to promote American ideals. They often followed meetings with statements about human rights or gathered separately with advocates or opposition leaders.

This week, as international monitors and European allies voiced concerns about what they said was a slanted political playing field in Turkeys referendum, the White House said Trump called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on a victory that grants Erdogan more power.

The message was at odds with Trumps own State Department, which expressed unease about a referendum that allows Erdogan to fulfill his long-held ambition for a presidency with executive powers.

Erdogans government has imprisoned scores of Turkish journalists. Since a failed coup last year, Turkey has arrested thousands of others accused of possible involvement.

The presidents number one job is to keep Americans safe, Trump spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said yesterday. And if he needs to work with countries like Turkey and others to do that, thats his priority and what his focus is.

The White Houses readout of the Trump-Erdogan call focused its concerns on the Islamic State group and Syrias civil war, which the U.S. and Turkey are coordinating efforts on. Turkey is a U.S. key ally against IS, even if Turkeys poorly controlled border has been a contributing factor in the groups expansion across Syria and Iraq.

Turkeys foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said Wednesday that Erdogan and Trump are planning to meet before next months NATO summit in Brussels. The White House confirmed that its in discussions with the Turkish government about arranging a meeting between the leaders.

Rachel Rizzo, a NATO and Europe expert at the Center for a New American Security, said the Trump administration sees its Turkey relationship purely as a national security issue in terms of needing their help fighting ISIS and with the migration crisis in Europe.

It seems theyre willing to look past human rights abuses, she said.

Trump has praised Chinese President Xi Jinping since hosting him at his Palm Beach, Florida, resort; as a candidate, Trump sharply criticized Chinas economic policies.

He has linked his warmer approach toward Xi with his effort to secure greater help from Beijing in stopping North Koreas nuclear program. A trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem! Trump said on Twitter, recounting what he told Xi.

Trump has locked arms with Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi, a former general who toppled the democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood member.

Obama never outwardly condemned el-Sissis takeover. But Obama kept Egypts leader at arms length, assailing Egypts human rights record and suspending some U.S. military aid.

After winning Novembers presidential election, Trump offered el-Sissi a different relationship. When el-Sissi visited Washington this month, Trump told reporters the Egyptian president would be someone very close to me. A post-meeting statement cited their mutual commitment to fighting terrorism and strengthening Egypts economy. It made no mention of el-Sissis crackdown on domestic opponents that has been widely condemned by international rights monitors.

The pattern may have been set by Trumps vociferous support for Putin. As a candidate and in his first weeks as president, Trump said Putin had been a strong leader and expressed a desire to work closer with Moscow, despite the cloud of an FBI investigation into allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election.

Even before this months Syrian chemical weapons attack and retaliatory U.S. cruise missile strike, Trumps administration had been souring on the Kremlin. Last month, it condemned Russias crackdown on anti-government protesters last month that included 1,000 arrests. Detaining peaceful protesters, human rights observers and journalists is an affront to core democratic values, a statement said at the time.

But Trumps tack on Turkey appeared to undermine his own State Department, which before the Erdogan phone conversation with Trump spoke of irregularities in the Turkish referendum and an uneven playing field during the difficult campaign period. The White Houses statement on Trumps call to Erdogan made no mention of those concerns.

Turkeys strategic location between Europe and the Middle East, and its unique role as the only Muslim-majority NATO member, have long made it an indispensable American partner.

Obama, too, sought a close relationship with Erdogan, viewing him as a possible model for a new generation of Muslim leaders. He traveled to Turkey in his first year in office and spoke frequently with the Turkish leader. But as Erdogan moved to consolidate power in Turkey, his relationship with Obama soured. Vivian Salama & Julie Pace, Washington, AP
The trial of former Prosecutor-General Ho Chio Meng resumed at the Court of Final Appeal yesterday. It was the second session since the matter was adjourned after Hos previous lawyer Leong Weng Pun withdrew from the case in March.

At the beginning of the morning session, Ho responded to an accusation claiming he hired a woman, named Wang Xian Di, without reason.

Ho said that higher officials told him to prepare to run for the Chief Executive post prior to Chui Sai Ons appointment. He did not indicate who these officials were.

Ho said that he hired Wang because of her expertise on mainland government structure, and Wang helped him to run for the position of CE. He claimed that Wang did a significant amount of work during that time.

According to Ho, Wang signed an employment contract with the Office of the Prosecutor General that legalized payments from the office to Wang.

Ho said Wongs salary was paid directly to her, and he never received a penny from the payment.

Ho therefore questioned the source of the allegations of fraud committed by him, remarking that such accusations against him were purely speculative.

He pointed out that before the prosecution laid charges against him, it did not question Wang, with Ho himself only making one statement.

Still, under these conditions, the prosecution sued him, which Ho deemed unfair.

Yesterday, the court called a witness, surnamed Lei, who is the head of the Personnel and Finance Department.

Lei gave evidence that Wang was hired twice by the Office of the Prosecutor General.

When Wang was hired for the second time as a consultant, the offices consultant vacancies were already fully filled.

Lei questioned Lai Kin Ian, another defendant and the previous director of the Office of the Prosecutor General, regarding Wangs employment.

Lei said that Lai Kin Ian told her that Wang was hired under an employment contract and she was responsible to Ho.

After Wangs second employment, Wangs pay check was collected by Lai Kin Ian.

She also said that out of the entire MP staff, only Wang was not required to fill a form regarding annual leave.

In the afternoon session, six witnesses were called to give their testimony.

A former consultant at the office of the MP, and a former head of the Personnel and Finance Department, both said that they had not seen Wang much at the MPs office.

Lai Kin Ian, also told the two that Wangs files should be confidential, which resulted in them not paying attention to Wangs work.

The two witnesses had also seen Wang at some events that the MP organized, but both were unaware of whether Wang was their colleague or a visitor.

The court also called Hos former bodyguard Lo Lai Pang, who had already testified before Ho changed his lawyer.

Lo said that he used to drive Wang to mainland China, which he referred to as business trips. For some time, Lo would drive her to the Mainland alone, and occasionally with other people, including Ho Chio Meng.

When questioned by the prosecutors regarding Hua Fa Xin Cheng (a residential building in Zhuhai), Lo said that he had driven Ho Chio Meng, together with Wang, to the place. However, he did not witness them entering the building together.

The prosecutor Kuok Un Man expressed his doubt over Los testimony that his trips to the mainland with Ho Chio Meng were all business-related, given that the abovementioned building was residential.

Lo claimed that he did not know what Ho was doing.

The last witness called to court was a lady, surnamed Yang, who worked with Wang in Air Macau for five years from 1996 to 2001. Both Yang and Wang were flight attendants at that time.

According to Yang, there was one time she went shopping with Wang in Zhuhai. After shopping, Wang invited Yang to have dinner with her.

At dinner, Ho Chio Meng showed up, having been introduced by Wang as her higher official. Wang told Yang that she was an MP employee working as a consultant.

Prosecutor Kuok asked Yang, did Wang introduce Ho as her boyfriend or as higher official?, to which Yang replied that Wang had said higher official. Kuoks question drew both Hos and Hos lawyers attention, although neither interjected.

Yang also told Kuok that when Wang was living in Zhuhai, she lived in Hua Fa Xin Cheng, which is the aforementioned residence.

When all witnesses had testified, Ho made his statement. The MP not only hired Wang through an employment contract, but an additional ten people, said Ho, adding that the employments were not announced in the Government Official Gazette.

Hos second claim stated that MP did not rent parking spaces in the Nam Van area.

Prosecutors [should] talk a bit more cautiously, said Ho.

The trial continues today.

Accusation rebuffed



Ho Chio Meng denied that using public vehicles for personal purposes was illegal. He said that the practice is within the administrations legal powers, and that if this matter can form the basis of criminal charges, there would be many other cases where criminal charges should be filed.
Top diplomats from China and the European Union pledged closer cooperation yesterday at a time of global uncertainty, highlighting their common interests in peace and security and pushing a message of free trade and open engagement in contrast to fears that the U.S. is turning inward under President Donald Trump.

The statements came as China and the EU held their first high-level talks since Trump took office in January. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini co-chaired the Seventh EU-China Strategic Dialogue with State Councilor Yang Jiechi, Chinas highest-ranking diplomat.

At present, the international situation is complex with many new developments, challenges and problems, Yang told Mogherini at the outset.

Against this backdrop, for China and the EU to deepen cooperation and coordinate positions not only concerns the common interests of the two sides, but also is of great significance for the development of international political and economic relations, he added.

Mogherini said China and the European Union had a big responsibility during times of uncertainty.

We are looking forward to intensifying our cooperation on a positive agenda, what the EU and China can do together for the benefit not only of our citizens, but also of the world, Mogherini said.

Cooperation on regional and security issues and climate change were among the agenda items for the one-day talks, which come ahead of an EU-China summit scheduled for Brussels in June.

On Tuesday, Mogherini met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who said the international community was looking at how China and the EU would work together to tackle challenges including the world economic recovery, global conflicts and terrorism, and Britains pending withdrawal from the EU.

Li said he was optimistic about the outcome of the talks based on a stable China-EU relationship, with the consistency of our two sides toward multilateralism and free trade, and with our joint commitment to improving the international governance structure.

Unlike Trump, who was elected promising to tear up trade deals, impose new tariffs and bring jobs back to America, Chinese President Xi Jinping has cast his country as a champion of free trade and stability, and spoken out against protectionism.

Mogherini said that such speeches by Xi have raised high expectations that China and the European Union can work together on multilateralism, on rules-based global order and trade.

Not only our people, but probably the multilateral system, need Europe and China to work together on some of the major global issues we are facing, from climate change to migration or counterterrorism, and also the many crises we have around us such as the tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Mogherini told Li at the start of their meeting at the Chinese leadership compound Zhongnanhai in central Beijing.

Beijing and Brussels have disagreements on trade, however, including complaints by European and other foreign companies that they blocked from acquiring Chinese assets while Chinas companies are buying major global brands. They also say they are barred from or sharply restricted in telecoms, information technology, finance and other promising industries in violation of Beijings free-trading pledges.

Beijing, meanwhile, wants the EU to grant it market economy status, which would make it harder for the EU to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports that it deems to be unfairly cheap.

Other points of dispute between Beijing and Brussels include Chinas increasingly restrictive environment for civil society and internet censorship.

Mogherinis first meeting yesterday, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, was canceled. A foreign ministry official said the EU delegation had informed them that Mogherini was feeling unwell.

Mogherini will give a speech at Beijings prestigious Tsinghua University today, and then travel to India and Russia. Louise Watt, Beijing, AP
Years of growing animosity at Chinese traders turned into a protest by hundreds in Ugandas capital yesterday against what local businesses called unfair competition, while the mayor warned against the tensions turning into xenophobic attacks.

Hundreds of Ugandan traders protested in Kampala, some carrying placards urging Chinese traders to leave. Many Ugandans accuse Chinese traders of moving to this East African country as serious investors but then setting up businesses in small trade. Many Ugandan merchants want the Chinese restricted to large business ventures.

Kampala Mayor Erias Lukwago, who supported the protest, said the government must protect local traders to prevent the protests from escalating into attacks against foreign traders.

We are likely to have xenophobia here. Thats where we are heading, unless they come up with measures to protect indigenous traders, the mayor said.

Inexpensive Chinese goods have long been popular in Africa, and in the last decade Chinese merchants have started eliminating the middleman and setting up retail outlets of their own, much to local merchants chagrin.

Calls to the Chinese embassy rang unanswered.

Ugandan police spokesman Asan Kasingye called Wednesdays street protest illegal and should not be accepted by law-abiding people, because it targeted a specific group of foreigners. Chinese merchants operating with valid papers will be protected, Kasingye said.

Ugandan immigration officials routinely deport groups of Chinese found operating without valid work permits. Many others operate legally across the country.

Perspective foreign investors in Uganda must provide evidence of $100,000 in planned investment and obtain the necessary trade licenses, according to official guidelines.

In 2011, riots in Kampala largely targeted foreign merchants, echoing the 1972 expulsion of the countrys Indian middle class by dictator Idi Amin.AP
Unofficial results showed the minority Christian governor of the Indonesian capital was resoundingly defeated yesterday by his Muslim challenger who swept up votes by appealing to a growing conservatism in the worlds most populous Muslim nation.

So called quick counts by 10 research companies show former Cabinet minister Anies Baswedan winning between 55 and 60 percent of votes with more than 80 percent of ballots counted.

Incumbent Gov. Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama is on trial for blasphemy and hundreds of thousands protested against him in Jakarta, deriding his Chinese ancestry and calling for him to be imprisoned or killed.

Baswedan, highly educated and with a moderate Muslim background, capitalized on the backlash against Ahok by courting the support of conservative clerics and figures on the radical fringe who opposed electing a non-Muslim.

The polarizing campaign gave hard-line Islamic groups a national stage and has undermined Indonesias reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam.

Ahoks defeat is a setback for his political patron, President Joko Jokowi Widodo, who today hosts Vice President Mike Pence on the Indonesian leg of an Asian tour. Ahoks rival Baswedan was supported by the political and business elite that Jokowi unexpectedly bested in the 2014 presidential election and who will be seeking to unseat him in 2019.

Ahok congratulated Baswedan on his apparent victory and urged Indonesians to forget the acrimony of the campaign. Baswedan told reporters that he is committed to maintaining the diversity of Jakarta and will emphasize social justice.

Ahok, who was Jakartas first ethnic Chinese governor and first Christian in half a century, has been popular with middle-class Jakartans for his efforts to stamp out corruption and make the overflowing polluted capital more livable.

But his brash manner and evictions of slum communities alienated many in the city of 10 million.

Opponents seized their moment last year when a video surfaced of Ahok telling voters they were being deceived if they believed a specific verse in the Quran prohibited Muslims from electing a non-Muslim as leader. Hard-line groups drew huge crowds to protests in Jakarta, shaking Jokowis centrist government.

Today, prosecutors will make their sentencing demand in Ahoks trial. Blasphemy is a criminal offense in Indonesia and punishable by up to five years in prison.

Opinion polls released earlier in the week seriously miscalled the outcome of Wednesdays vote, showing Baswedan and Ahok neck-and-neck.

In the west Jakarta neighborhood of Kebon Jeruk, Annisa Karolina, a 29-year-old restaurant cashier, said voting for a non-Muslim would be a sin, but she also believes Jakarta will be better run without Ahok.

A couple standing near her at the polling booth nodded in agreement. Yes, we need a new governor, a well-mannered Muslim governor who isnt pro-tycoons and businessmen, but who is also helping the poor, one of them, Faturrachman, said.

More than 7 million people were eligible to vote and thousands of police and military personnel were deployed to secure the 13,000-plus polling places. AP
Project Just Macau, a platform initiated by activist Jason Chao to monitor election fairness in the territory, has reportedly received three complaints concerning claims of pressing employees to sign a nomination form.

The three complaints concern two local schools allegedly pressuring teachers to sign a nomination form, Chao revealed to the press yesterday during the Webinar on Election Monitoring.

The activist stated that signing the nomination form shows the signees consent to be a part of a candidature committee. Thus, membership of a candidature committee is a form of political affiliation.

In Macau, most citizens are unaware of the significance of putting your name on a nomination form, he argued.

The alleged instances of soft coercion reportedly occurred in school settings.

According to Chao, the three complainants reported two incidents: middle-level management asked teachers to sign a form before them and forms with some other names were distributed.

It must be noted that running schools in Macau is unlike running a private business. The industry is regulated and paid, either partially or entirely, by the government, the activist said.

The complaints were received via Telegram, a messaging app. Although WeChat is more widely used in Macau, the activist refused to use the app due to the Central Governments censorship, recalling that the New Macau Associations account on WeChat was deleted.

Workers who are effectively on the governments payroll may be asked by superiors to serve the organizations political goals and intertwined interests, he explained.

It is a historical issue that there are no clear lines between political organizations, charities, social service providers, fraternal groups and school operators, Chao continued.

Project Just Macau is calling on the Education and Youth Bureau (DSEJ), the Social Work Bureau (IAS), the Election Affairs Commission (CAEAL) and other relevant authorities to send a clear message to all recipients of public subsidies, reminding them that it is an unlawful abuse of power to solicit political affiliation from employees who are engaged in employment relationships supported by public funds.

Chao will present a statement to various government departments regarding the complaints the group received.

He threatened that if no departments were willing to address the matter, he might disclose the contents of the complaints and name the schools involved.

When asked how long he would wait for the authorities replies, Chao responded, Its a strategy and Im not disclosing it for the time being.

As Project Just Macau aims to be a platform for whistleblowers, the activist hoped that there would be regulations to protect whistleblowers from retaliation, citing analogous protection laws for whistleblowers in the United States.

Chao hoped that Macau would enact a similar system, in which a whistleblower who files complaints to the judicial system will be compensated if allegations are substantiated.

This is a system which I think is quite good to encourage whistleblowing by providing incentives and rewards, he added.

Meanwhile Chao refused to reveal the members of the platform he is leading for the sake of security.

Project Just Macau will disclose almost everything at the end of the project including complaints submitted before the election.
The Trump administration has notified Congress that Iran is complying with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by former President Barack Obama, and says the U.S. has extended the sanctions relief given to the Islamic republic in exchange for curbs on its atomic program.

However, in a letter sent yesterday [Macau time] to House Speaker Paul Ryan, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the administration has undertaken a full review of the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Iran remains a leading state sponsor of terror, through many platforms and methods, Tillerson wrote. He said the National Security Council-led interagency review of the agreement will evaluate whether it is vital to the national security interests of the United States.

The certification of Irans compliance, which must be sent to Congress every 90 days, is the first issued by the Trump administration. The deadline for this certification was midnight.

As a candidate in the 2016 presidential election, Trump was an outspoken critic of the deal but had offered conflicting opinions on whether he would try to scrap it, modify it or keep it in place with more strenuous enforcement. This determination suggested that while Trump agreed with findings by the U.N.s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, that Iran is keeping to its end of the bargain, he is looking for another way to ratchet up pressure on Tehran.

Despite the sanctions relief, Iran remains on the State Departments list of state sponsors of terrorism for its support of anti-Israel groups and is still subject to non-nuclear sanctions, including for human rights abuses and for its backing of Syrian President Bashar Assads government.

The nuclear deal was sealed in Vienna in July 2015 after 18 months of negotiations led by former Secretary of State John Kerry and diplomats from the other four permanent members of the U.N. Security Council  Britain, China, France and Russia  and Germany. Under its terms, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program, long suspected of being aimed at developing atomic weapons, in return for billions of dollars in sanctions relief.

Opponents of the deal, including Israel, objected, saying it only delayed Irans pursuit of nuclear weapons and did not allow for the kind of inspections of its atomic sites that would guarantee it was not cheating. Obama, Kerry and others who negotiated the deal strenuously defended its terms and said the agreement made Israel, the Middle East and the world a safer place. AP
The fastest-growing occupation in the United Statesby a long shot, according to the Bureau of Labor Statisticsmight surprise you: wind turbine technician.

The number of workers maintaining wind turbines, a job with a median pay of about $51,000 a year, is set to more than double between 2014 and 2024, the agency estimates. Thats a more rapid growth rate than that of physical therapists, financial advisers, home health aides and genetic counselors.

Theres a notable caveat, of course. Because wind tech remains a small occupation, its rapid projected growth will probably amount to only about 5,000 additional jobs in the coming years. Even so, the proliferation of wind turbine technicians hints at a larger reality: The U.S. wind industry, like renewable energy in general, is continuing to flourish.

In 2016, for the first time, more than 100,000 people in the United States were employed in some manner by the wind industry, according to an annual report released Wednesday by the American Wind Energy Association. The industry grew by double digits once again. The first offshore wind farm became a reality off Rhode Island. And wind was the primary source of new energy installations in much of the Midwest, the Plains states and in Texas, which has nearly 12,000 wind turbines and generates more than a quarter of the nations wind energy.

Getting over 100,000 jobs in wind is an important milestone, said Tom Kiernan, AWEAs chief executive. Sometimes people think of wind or renewables as a niche industry. But the proven reality is the industry is at a scale where we are reliably and affordably contributing to the grid.

That said, wind energy remains a relatively minor part of the nations electricity mix, contributing about 5.5 percent of overall generation in 2016, according to the Energy Information Administration. Coal and natural gas, by contrast, account for nearly two-thirds of U.S. electricity generation. And the solar industry still employs more people than wind, about 260,000.

The wind industry also faces other potential obstacles, such as the gradual phaseout of a key federal tax incentive for wind energy investment that Congress extended in 2015, as well as a new president who has repeatedly criticized it in the past, while giving full-throated support to traditional fossil fuels.

The windmills kill birds and the windmills need massive subsidies, President Donald Trump said in an interview with the New York Times shortly after his election last fall. In other words, were subsidizing wind mills all over this country. I mean, for the most part they dont work. I dont think they work at all without subsidy, and that bothers me.

Kiernan said that as turbines become more efficient and cheaper to produce, the wind industry should be positioned to continue to grow even without existing tax incentives. And despite Trumps rhetoric, he said some members of the Trump administration, namely Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Energy Secretary Rick Perrythe former Texas governorhave shown signs of support. We are optimistic in working with them, he said.

Ultimately, it could boil down to jobs. The wind industry employs tens of thousands of people in some of the states where support for Trump was strong: Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas. Kiernan said he hopes that a president who vowed to create jobs will see the value in a sector that is doing that.

The job growth were seeing, he said, is nine times greater than the average industry in this country.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Dow Chemical is pushing a Trump administration that's open to scrapping regulations to ignore the findings of federal scientists who point to a family of widely used pesticides as harmful to about 1,800 critically threatened or endangered species.

Lawyers representing Dow, whose CEO is a close adviser to President Donald Trump, and two other manufacturers of organophosphates sent letters last week to the heads of three of Trump's Cabinet agencies. The companies asked them "to set aside" the results of government studies the companies contend are fundamentally flawed.

Dow Chemical wrote a $1 million check to help underwrite Trump's inaugural festivities, and its chairman and CEO, Andrew Liveris, heads a White House manufacturing working group.

The industry's request comes after EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced last month he was reversing an Obama-era effort to bar the use of Dow's chlorpyrifos pesticide on food after recent peer-reviewed studies found that even tiny levels of exposure could hinder the development of children's brains. In his prior job as Oklahoma's attorney general, Pruitt often aligned himself in legal disputes with the interests of executives and corporations who supported his state campaigns. He filed more than a dozen lawsuits seeking to overturn some of the same regulations he is now charged with enforcing.

Pruitt declined to answer questions from reporters Wednesday as he toured a polluted Superfund site in Indiana. Agency spokesman J.P. Freire later told AP that Pruitt won't "prejudge" any potential rule-making decisions as "we are trying to restore regulatory sanity to EPA's work."

The letters to Cabinet heads, dated April 13, were obtained by The Associated Press. As with the recent human studies of chlorpyrifos, Dow hired its own scientists who produced a lengthy rebuttal to the government studies.

Over the past four years, federal scientists have compiled an official record running more than 10,000 pages indicating the three pesticides under review  chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion  pose a risk to nearly every endangered species they studied. Regulators at the three federal agencies, which share responsibilities for enforcing the Endangered Species Act, are close to issuing findings expected to result in new limits on how and where the highly toxic pesticides can be used.

The office of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the Natural Marine Fisheries Service, did not respond to emailed questions. A spokeswoman for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who oversees the Fish and Wildlife Service, referred questions back to EPA.

The EPA's recent biological evaluation of chlorpyrifos found the pesticide is "likely to adversely affect" 1,778 of the 1,835 animals and plants accessed as part of its study, including critically endangered or threatened species of frogs, fish, birds and mammals. Similar results were shown for malathion and diazinon.

In a statement, the Dow subsidiary that sells chlorpyrifos said its lawyers asked for the EPA's biological assessment to be withdrawn because its "scientific basis was not reliable."

"Dow AgroSciences is committed to the production and marketing of products that will help American farmers feed the world, and do so with full respect for human health and the environment, including endangered and threatened species," the statement said. "These letters, and the detailed scientific analyses that support them, demonstrate that commitment."

FMC Corp., which sells malathion, said withdrawal of the EPA studies would allow the necessary time for the "best available" scientific data to be compiled.

Environmental advocates said Wednesday that criticism of the government's scientists was unfounded. The methods used to conduct EPA's biological evaluations were developed by the National Academy of Sciences.

Brett Hartl, government affairs director for the Center for Biological Diversity, said Dow's experts were trying to hold EPA scientists to an unrealistic standard of data collection.

"You can't just take an endangered fish out of the wild, take it to the lab and then expose it to enough pesticides until it dies to get that sort of data," Hartl said. "It's wrong morally, and it's illegal."

Organophosphorus gas was originally developed as a chemical weapon by Nazi Germany. Dow has been selling Chlorpyrifos for spraying on citrus fruits, apples, cherries and other crops since the 1960s. It is among the most widely used agricultural pesticides in the United States, with Dow selling about 5 million pounds domestically each year.

As a result, traces of the chemical are commonly found in sources of drinking water. A 2012 study at the University of California, Berkeley found that 87 percent of umbilical-cord blood samples tested from newborn babies contained detectable levels of chlorpyrifos.

Dow, which spent more than $13.6 million on lobbying in 2016, has long wielded substantial political power in the nation's capital. When Trump signed an executive order in February mandating the creation of task forces at federal agencies to roll back government regulations, he gave the pen as a souvenir to Dow's chief executive and thanked Liveris.

Rachelle Schikorra, the director of public affairs for Dow Chemical, said any suggestion that the company's $1 million donation to Trump's inaugural committee was intended to help influence regulatory decisions is "completely off the mark."

"Dow maintains and is committed to the highest standard of ethical conduct in all such activity," Schikorra said.
TWIN FALLS  If your bag gets searched at Twin Falls airport security, you wont have to be embarrassed about those pink undergarments going on display: The newly remodeled terminal has a more private bag-search area.

Thats just one of the upgrades highlighted at the dedication ceremony Wednesday for the terminal expansion and remodel at Joslin Field  Magic Valley Regional Airport. Other features: Free wireless Internet and a larger, sunlit holding room beyond security, complete with its own bathrooms.

The $4.3 million project, mostly federally funded, enhances airport security and may decrease wait times, while allowing for future air service expansion.

Twin Falls has grown up, Twin Falls County Commissioner Don Hall said. This is a huge part of our economic development.

Petersen Brothers Construction led the work for the 8,000 square-foot addition and more than 6,000 square-foot remodel. Construction took 342 days. But its a project thats been three years in planning.

It was an interesting project to construct because we had to maintain airport operations through the duration of the project, said Martin Hahle, principal and managing architect with Boise-based firm CSHQA.

That time frame included taking in about 175 diverted flights headed to Sun Valley, while also clearing snow at the airport.

With the project complete, the Transportation Security Administrations security processing area will no longer block traffic in the main lobby and at the ticket counters.

Its going to be a considerable savings definitely, convenience-wise, which will result in efficiency and save time, TSA Idaho Federal Security Director Andrew Coose told the Times-News.

A new body scanner will also benefit customers with implants and others who set off the magnetic sensors and may prefer to forego a pat-down.

Airport projects like this are a milestone for a community like Twin Falls, Coose said. This community is growing and this community is doing great things.

SkyWest Airlines, the airports only carrier, noted the potential for expanded service with the new addition.

All that is going to add an enhanced experience for your travel outside of Twin Falls, spokeswoman McKinnley Matson said. This has been one of our most successful markets.

The airline has had air service in Twin Falls since 1983.

The Joslin Field  Magic Valley Regional Airport is co-owned and funded by the city of Twin Falls and Twin Falls County. It is managed by the city.

The Federal Aviation Administration funded about 95 percent of the terminal expansion and remodel, airport manager Bill Carberry said. The local share of the project cost is $179,000, split between the city and the county.

With the expansion complete, the project helps Twin Falls become a more secure and accessible community, Mayor Shawn Barigar said. But its up to individuals to make the choice to use the resource.

Flying out of Twin Falls is the way to go, Project Superintendent Andrew DiPietro said.
CAREY  All of the children who were injured when a school bus rolled over in Lincoln County on April 18 have been released from hospitals.

Twelve of the 39 Carey Junior High School students who were on the bus were hospitalized after it rolled west of Richfield on its way to a track meet in Gooding, Idaho State Police said. However, only two had to be hospitalized overnight, and the last of the injured students checked out of the hospital late Wednesday morning, Blaine County School District spokeswoman Heather Crocker said.

Most of the children who were on the bus showed up to school Wednesday, Crocker said. There are social workers with mental health training at the school to talk to the children, and school staff held a meeting before school started Wednesday to discuss how to support each other and the students.

We were pleased to see the majority of the students were at school today, Crocker said.

State police are still investigating how the crash occurred and didnt have much new information Wednesday. Trooper Michael Hausauer said the crash reconstruction could take more than a month, and police would turn everything they have gathered over to the Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorneys Office when the investigation is done.

Police said Tuesday night the driver, Richard Mecham, 67, of Carey, was driving west on U.S. Highway 26 when he drove off the right shoulder of the road, over-corrected and rolled the bus.

Mecham was uninjured, and the adult chaperones on the bus were treated and released at the scene. Mecham has been put on paid leave during the investigation.
Relay for Life Pizza Fundraiser

Please join the fight against cancer as the Haskin Insurance Mini-Cassia Relay For Life team Serves Up Pizza for a CURE at Docs Pizza on the square in Rupert April 25th from 5:308:30 p.m.

Nominations Now Open for Teacher of the Year

Burley  Teacher of the Year nominations are now being accepted by Young Dodge Fiat of Burley. The winner will win a 1-year lease of a new Fiat 500c. Nominations for any K-12 teacher in Cassia or Minidoka County can be submitted by parents, students, or other faculty members in person at Young Dodge Fiat at 259 Overland Avenue in Burley, Idaho, and are due by May 13, by 5 p.m. Nominations should include: teachers name, school, subject, and the reason the teacher stands out amongst his or her peers in 1000 words or less. Eight finalists will be selected by a community committee on May 15. The winner will be randomly selected from the finalists, and announced on Saturday, May 20 at 11 a.m. on the Young Automotive of Burley Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/youngautoidaho/

MVRS holds annual dinner and auction

TWIN FALLS  Magic Valley Rehabilitation Services will be holding its eighth Annual Dinner & Auction at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Turf Club, 734 Falls Ave. We greatly depend on this fund-raising event which allows us to continue our mission in the Magic Valley. Part of this mission includes improving access to services here for persons who do not have a funding agency, who are not able to pay for services themselves, and/or who have agency budgets which do not allow them to participate as fully as they want and/or need in our Developmental Therapy, Adult Day Health or Employment programs.

Family discovery day

TWIN FALLS  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is announcing the second annual family discovery day scheduled for Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 at the Family History Center and Twin Falls Stake Center located at 421 Maurice Street. All in the Magic Valley community are invited to attend to research and learn how to research their ancestry. The family discovery day will be a great way to become excited and inspired from the joy of researching and learning about our individual roots. A few computers are provided, but participants are encouraged to bring their own laptops since internet service is provided. Bring names, dates and places to get a jump-start with a consultant in a one-on-one 30 minute session. The activity is free to all participants.

American Legion Post 77 to host gathering

PAUL  The American Legion Post 77 would like to thank the men and women who have served our country with courage, honor, and commitment, and is inviting all veterans to coffee and doughnuts at no charge.

Join post members from 8 to 11 a.m. April 29, at the Wilbur C. Hall American Legion Post 77, located at 132 Wayne St.

You dont have to be a member of any post or veterans organization to attend.

For more information, contact Commander Wyatt Saunders at 208-679-1215 or Adjutant Damian D. Rodriguez at 208-679-2550.

Kimberly kindergarten registration May 1

KIMBERLY  The Kimberly Elementary School will hold kindergarten registration for the 2017-18 school year.

Registration will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. May 1 in the elementary school cafeteria. Enter through the west doors of the primary building facing Oak Street.

To register, children must be 5 years old on or before Sept. 1. Registration will not be completed without proof of residency, the childs birth certificate and up-to-date immunization record.

All steps of registration must be completed before your child will be put on a class list. There will be an immunization clinic at the school that evening to assist in bringing your child up to date. Charges may apply.

A current and state-required immunization record includes five doses for DTAP, four for polio, two for MMR, two for Hepatitis A, three for Hepatitis B and two for varicella.

For information call 208-423-4170, ext. 6.

Arbor Day Celebration

The Twin Falls County Parks and Recreation Department will sponsor an Arbor Day Celebration Thursday, May 4, from 11 to 1 at the Twin Falls County Historical Society Museum. Twin Falls County Commissioners, Tree Board Members, Parks and Recreation Employees, Master Gardner program members, home school students and parents will be attending and the public is invited. The museum is located near Curry Crossing and hot dogs and other refreshments are provided. Best of all, everything is free!

Twin Falls Senior Center plans 5K Fun Run

TWIN FALLS  The Twin Falls Senior Centers second annual 5K Fun Run will start at 9 a.m. May 6 at the Rock Creek Canyon Parkway trailhead near the Twin Falls City Parks and Recreation office, 136 Maxwell St.

Pre-registration is $20 a person or $50 for a family of four or more. Race-day registration is $25 a person or $65 per family of four. All proceeds will benefit the senior center.

To pre-register or for information, call 208-734-5084 or email Jeanette Roe at info@tfseniorcenter.com.

Shoshone School

District Registration

SHOSHONE  Shoshone School District Kindergarten Registration for 2017-2018 school year will be held at Shoshone Elementary, 61 East Highway 24, Shoshone, Idaho on Thursday, May 18, 5:30-8:00 p.m. Parents, please bring your child to registration along with their official state birth certificate and current immunization records. Registration will take approximately 45 minutes.

Shoshone School District Pre-School screening

SHOSHONE  Shoshone School District Pre-School eligibility screening for all Shoshone resident 3-5 year old children 3-5 will be held at Shoshone Elementary, 61 East Highway 24, Shoshone, Idaho on Thursday, May 28, 5:30-8:00 p.m. Please call the elementary at 886-2381 ext. 138 to set up an appointment. To be eligible for screening child must turn 3 before May 18, 2017. Screening will take approximately 45 minutes.

Youth conservation

camp to be held

CASCADE  If you have a child 10 to 12 years old who wants to learn outdoor skills, become certified in hunter and bowhunter education, and experience a wide variety of other fun outdoor activities, register them for the Youth Conservation Camp, August 7-11, at Trinity Pines Camp and Conference Center in Cascade.

Campers participate in hands-on learning activities in firearm safety and shooting, wildlife conservation and identification, fishing techniques, archery fundamentals, introduction to trapping, and much more in a scenic outdoor setting. The camp also includes a float down the Payette River.

Idahos Youth Conservation Camp is sponsored and directed by the Idaho Conservation Officers Association and Idaho Fish and Gamethe same people who manage Idahos fish and wildlife.

Registration is first come first served to the first 45 youth. Cost per camper is $275.00; which includes food, lodging and equipment for the week.

To learn more or to register, visit the Idaho Conservation Officer Associations Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/idahoconservationofficersassociation/, or contact your nearest Fish and Game office.
Volunteers  Hospice Visions Inc. is looking for volunteers to visit with patients and their families, and volunteers to provide handyman services, play the piano at assisted living centers, and help with art projects for their patients at assisted living centers. If you have a special talent to share with others, contact Nora Wells at Hospice Visions, 208-735-0121 or nwells@hospicevisions.org.

Volunteers  Hospice Visions Inc is looking for men and women to serve as Veteran-to-Veteran Volunteers for their veteran patients. All ages of veterans from all branches of service are welcome to join Hospice Visions volunteer forces as part of the We Honor Veterans program. Information: Nora Wells, volunteer coordinator at Hospice Visions, 208-735-0121 or nwells@hospicevisions.org.

Drivers  The American Cancer Society is looking for volunteer drivers for its Road to Recovery program. Volunteers are needed to drive cancer patients to and from medical treatment facilities, especially for appointments in Twin Falls. The Cancer Society trains volunteer drivers and schedules rides for patients for free. Drivers must have a current and valid drivers license, a good driving record, a safe and reliable car, and proof of car insurance. Volunteer drivers donate their time and the use of their vehicles. The program is flexible for volunteers to provide as many rides as they want. Information: 1-800-227-2345.

Volunteers  Community volunteers are needed to become CASA volunteer advocates to represent the best interest of abused children during the court process. Volunteer candidates must pass a background check and receive training and continued support as they speak up and make the difference in the lives of abused children. The program covers all eight counties in south-central Idaho. Information: Tahna Barton, 208-735-1177.

Volunteers  The Senior Companion Program at the CSI Office on Aging needs volunteers, age 55 and older, to assist homebound seniors by providing friendly visits, transportation or other assistance as needed. Senior Companions make positive impacts by helping to improve the mental and emotional status of their clients. Senior Companions receive a stipend per hour of service (to income eligible seniors) and can work between 15 to 40 hours a week. They receive reimbursement for mileage, and training on age-related problems. Information: Dandre, 208-736-2122, or toll free, 800-574-8656.

Volunteers  Pomerelle Place Senior Living in Burley is looking for volunteers who want to have fun making new friends and bringing happiness to others. Volunteers can play bingo, games and cards with the residents, complete crafts, cook, or help paint fingernails for the ladies. Information: Carla Thompson at Pomerelle Place, 208-677-8212.

Volunteers  Stanton Healthcare Pregnancy Resource Center is looking for that special person who will be facing an empty nest in the near future. The Stanton center offers video based parenting classes and needs a class facilitator. The center will provide training and will offer encouragement as you prepare to send your child out into the world. Stay busy by helping clients improve their parenting skills. Time commitment is two hours per week. Information: stantonmv.org or Kim, 208-734-7472.

Volunteers  Encompass Hospices work can be supported by volunteers in many ways. Patients need loving and compassionate volunteers to provide companionship, caregiver respite, light housekeeping, shopping, yard work, or to be there. If you are a veteran who needs to make a connection of shared experiences that only a Veteran to Veteran can share, we need you. Bring your touching hands and hearts to share a smile, hold hands, listen to a story and laugh with Encompass Hospice patients. Information: Cindy, 208-733-8600 or ckeithley@ehhi.com.

Volunteers  The Twin Falls County Historical Society is seeking volunteers for various programs and general support. Volunteers are needed to paint, clean or work on docent projects and fundraising. No minimum amount of hours, commitment is flexible. Fill out an application at the Twin Falls County Historical Museum (Union School at Curry), open noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Information: 208-736-4675.
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Bobby J. Barker, age 74, of Hagerman, passed away at the Twin Falls Care Center, on Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Arrangements are under the care of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel, located at 500 No. 18th East, in Mountain Home.

Ernest Froerer Zinie, 82, of Jerome passed away, Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at his home. Arrangements are under the direction of Rosenau Funeral Home in Twin Falls.

Veloy Marsden Lewis, 84, of Declo, died Monday, April 17, 2017 at her home. Arrangements are under the direction of Rasmussen Funeral Home, Burley
October 19, 1953  April 17, 2017

PAUL  Garey McManus, 63, of Paul, Idaho, passed away April 17, 2017 at St. Lukes Regional Medical Center in Twin Falls, Idaho surrounded by his loving family.

Garey was born October 19, 1953 in Burns, Ore. to Bill and Betty. He attended schools in Oregon and Idaho and graduated from Minico High School. He attended the College of Southern Idaho, graduating as a certified welder. He worked at the Amalgamated Sugar Factory for 37 years before retiring in 2016. He married his high school sweetheart on May 5th, 1972. They were looking forward to celebrating 45 years together this spring. The couple had two children, Melanie and Mike.

Gareys whole life was his family. He worked hard at everything he did so he could provide for them. Garey built McBos Carwash and Desert Rose Storage in Paul. He enjoyed fixing and building things. His latest projects included building log furniture for his cabin in Island Park. Island Park was his favorite place to spend time with family and friends. He enjoyed riding snowmobiles there in the winter and their side-by-side in the summer. He loved riding trials motorcycles and going fishing.

He was the biggest supporter of his grandchildren, always taking time to teach them new things and to attend their sporting events. He recently helped Kolton build a shed, taught Kylee how to weld, and helped Peyton build a rocking chair. His strong work ethic and dedication are traits that his family will take with them forever.

He was a walking miracle, surviving a bone marrow transplant 12 years ago, but his life was cut short by complications from his appendix. Garey is survived by his wife, Karen of Paul; two children, daughter Melanie (Bob Saleen) McManus of Paul, son Mike (Katie) McManus of Paul; three grandchildren, Kolton Higgins, Kylee McManus, and Peyton McManus, all of Paul; a brother, Bill (Linda) McManus of New Meadows; two sisters, Cheryl Olsen of Boise, and Shannon (Mike) Gorringe of Boise and mother-in-law Frances Klamm of Paul. He was preceded in death by his mother Betty Buttars, step-father Ralph Buttars, father Bill McManus, father-in-law John Klamm, and a special uncle, Henry Klamm.

Funeral Services will be held 11:00 a.m. Friday, April 21, 2017 at the Paul United Methodist Church with Pastor Manuel Vela officiating. Viewing for family and friends will be held from 6-8:00 p.m. Thursday, April 20, 2017 at Hansen Mortuary and for one hour prior to the services at the church. Services will conclude with burial in the Paul Cemetery.

Friends who wish to make memorials may do so to a college fund that has been set up at DL Evans Bank in Rupert for Kolton, Kylee, and Peyton, the joys of his life.
June 12, 1925  April 14, 2017

SONOMA, Calif.  John Barinaga, aged 91, passed away peacefully on Friday, April 14th at his home in Sonoma, California. He is survived by his loving daughter, Marcia Barinaga, and son-in-law Corey Goodman, of Marshall, CA, and by his sister-in-law, Marilyn Barinaga of Castelford.

John was born in Mountain Home in 1925, to Valentin and Eulalia Barinaga, Basque immigrants who met in Idaho. He graduated from Castleford High School.

As a teenager, John worked summers as a camptender for his fathers sheep operation. John received a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Idaho, and took a job with General Electric in Schenectady, NY. There he met his wife, Stephanie; they married in 1951. Johns work for GE took them to Manhattan, and then to Caracas, Venezuela. They returned to Schenectady in 1955 where Marcia was born, and in 1974 they moved to Roanoke Virginia. Throughout his career, Johns work in drive systems for steel rolling mills took him frequently on business to the Basque country to work with the steel rolling mills in Bilbao. This enabled him to form close relationships with his family in the Basque country, relationships that he cherished throughout his life.

John took up backpacking in his 50s and hiked for many summers in the mountains of Idaho and Nevada with his daughter, nieces and nephews, and his dog, Oliver. He would tell stories of growing up on the ranch and created many new memories with the next generations. Upon retiring in 1985, John and Stephanie moved to Sonoma, where they lived in the Diamond A Ranch.

John studied oenology and viticulture, planted a vineyard, and became a passionate home winemaker. His wines won many awards, and he trained several of his neighbors in winemaking. For most of the 32 years he lived in the Diamond A, John could be seen every morning just after daybreak, taking his daily 4-mile walk. In his final years, John nursed Stephanie through a long illness until her death at home in November of 2015. After seven years of chemotherapy for myelodysplasia, Johns health declined rapidly in the past year, and he died at home. A private interment will be held.

A celebration of Johns life will be held for all who knew and loved John at the Diamond A Recreation Center at 18843 Spring Drive in Sonoma on Saturday June 24th at 2:00 PM.
Upside down on a steep hillside, I had one foot hooked around a 2-inch thorn bush to keep me from falling further. I had a $1,500 camera and lens in one hand while my other hand flailed, failing to find anything to grab onto. Across the ravine, 13 head of rangy, mangy, winter-starved elk laughed at me.

I was thankful for the peaceful moment to think about my next move.

This happened last weekend on my familys annual spring hike near Riggins. Here in Idaho we call these moments learning opportunities.

As a long-time observer of Idaho politics, this perilous position on a Salmon River slope didnt feel all that unfamiliar. Despite smart, ambitious efforts of fellow Idaho Democrats in 2016, Idaho and America elected Republicans. From our perspective, our nation put itself in a predicament similar to my hiking mishap. Since then, Idaho Democrats have asked how we got so upside down.

Causes are many. Theres a mess of misconnections between issues, candidates, elected officials and voters. But one factor consistently contributes to bad outcomes: Republican leaders have diminished the power of facts.

Last week, I was a panelist, along with an Idaho GOP leader, for the Boise State University Political Science Club. With about 20 students, we discussed Donald Trumps presidency.

From my view, Trumps report card reads as favorably as a lawsuit against Trump University. The GOP leader contended that Trumps failures are, in fact, masterful tactics of a consummate strategist skilled in the awesome art of unpredictability.

Yes! For GOP politicians, unpredictable is the new smart. For Idaho Democrats  and the rest of Earth  unpredictable is the old unstable and the new hell-bent on nuclear oblivion.

Regardless, any objective analysis shows that President Trump is the same blustering bully who blundered through our 2016 election like Russians through a Ukrainian border. The GOP panelist brushed off bad news about Trump as the result of biased traditional media.

That moment sparked an idea: The traditional media IS biased  the bias is toward facts.

I shared this revelation of fact-based bias with the students, most of whom skewed Republican. Many stared as if Id picked something disgusting off the ground, held it up, and said, Smell this.

Yep. Thats the stench of dishonesty.

You see! I said. Republicans cant win based on facts.

So, if you want to kill a fact, you have to go to the source. They tar universities, scientists, reporters and speakers of truth. Its their only option. Facts contradict Republican policy  think of how they tell us regular folks that we win when our taxes rise while rich folks get tax cuts. Facts contradict Republican righteousness  think of the edifying debate over Trumps locker room talk. Facts contradict Republican views on science  think of  science.

Back to that hillside. I guess its relevant to say how I got upside-down in the first place.

After hiking three miles up to the middle of a cow-face, I spotted the elk and wanted a photo. I had to move quick to get it. A steep muddy trail led through a babbling, brambly stream. I made a quick plan to slide about three feet down the trail and then grab a bush with my freehand to slow my descent. Good plan. Sadly, while sliding, I grabbed the bush and discovered that it was covered with half-inch thorns. On the fly, I improvised, deciding to grab the next bush instead. But, before that bush showed up I was suddenly speeding at whatever 10-feet times 32 feet-per-second-squared is: Fast!

My boot stubbed a rock. I launched off the trail, twisted onto my back to save my camera while arresting my fall with my free hand until I hooked my foot around that thorn bush.

Stillness.

I contemplated my situation. I spent a moment feeling bad about it. Those elk  ears perked, staring, giggling  didnt help. But my camera was intact! And, after a few moments, I kicked and spun around, landing feet-first on a small trail.

I call that a success and, frankly, the 2016 election can be a success too. Its all about how you take advantage of learning opportunities that you are gifted. Now, I know that elk can laugh. And, I have an effective way of countering GOP political nonsense about media bias.

And, so long as we all watch out for thorn bushes along the way, we can walk a good path, whether thats in hiking or in politics.
Gretchen Carlson filed suit against Roger Ailes last summerand started an avalanche.

Less than 10 months later, two of the most powerful men in media, Roger Ailes and Bill OReilly, have been knocked off lofty perches at Fox News.

And the world is suddenly a different place for women whove experienced sexual harassment in their workplaces.

The lesson, and its a wonderful one, is to be brave, business journalist and educator Micheline Maynard told me.

As women, we are taught not to speak out, not to ruffle feathers, to just be good and work harder, she said. I wish we werent as hesitant, and now maybe we wont be.

Carlson, whose nondisclosure agreement prevented her from commenting for this column, said in an interview last summer that her decision to go up against Roger Ailes was frightening, and that she had no idea how it would turn out.

I thought I would be fighting this all by myself, she told me.

Her claim was that Ailes had repeatedly propositioned her. (Youd be good and better, and Id be good and better, were his immortal words.) And when she turned him down, she said, he retaliated by demoting and disparaging her. Ailes vehemently denied the charges, but Carlson, who reportedly had tape-recorded evidence on her side, eventually got a $20 million settlement and a public apology.

As it turned out, she was far from alone.

A critical mass of Fox womenso many that they could not be ignoredsoon joined her. Articles in New York magazine, The Washington Post, and the New York Times told their riveting, often disgusting, stories.

And within Fox, the networks superstar, Megyn Kelly, was joining the battle, though she did so quietly.

Gretchen started the public avalanche, and Megyn continued it internally, Maynard said.

Last weekend, the New York Times reported that Kellys January departure from Fox was prompted, in part, by OReillys repeated on-air jabs at her on this very subject. At that point, I knew it was all over except for the shoutingand the size of the golden parachute. (OReilly has denied that he sexually harassed anyone.)

After all, it was Kellys statements to internal investigators last year that Ailes had harassed her, too, that may have been the final straw in unseating him from the top Fox News job.

We found out, in all of this, that if you speak up, there will be action, and that theres strength in numbers, longtime media executive Vivian Schiller said Wednesday. And companies are feeling pressure from their own employees.

Thats especially true, of course, when one of those employees is a major star. As Schiller said about Kelly, She felt, ultimately, that this culture is not something I want to be a part of.

Of course, plenty of women have complained in the past, in companies and organizations, to no avail. Some have been retaliated against. Others ignored, mocked or silenced.

This chain of events helps change that, especially because of the financial tollan advertiser revoltresulting from the bad behavior and a culture that supported it.

The culture at Fox, and in the wider world, will never be the same, Schiller told me.

Companies are feeling pressure from their own employees, and they are realizing that they have to listen, Schiller said.

The fight is far from over, said Nancy Erika Smith, attorney for Carlson and other Fox women.

Next step, she said: Women should demand that Congress pass the Fairness in Arbitration Act to stop silencing victims of discrimination, harassment and retaliation.

Only in the light of day will women be able to stand together and force sexual predators out of all workplaces, Smith said.

As Carlson told Variety recently: Its so unbelievable that in 2017, almost every single woman has a story about sexual harassment.

But now, at least, they may find it easier to tell their stories. Easier to be brave.
A U.S. diplomat in Washington has revealed to London-based Qatari The New Arab that President Donald Trump has intervened in the release of US charity worker Aya Hijazi arrested nearly three years ago in Egypt for child abuse and human trafficking.

The diplomat who spoke under condition of anonymity told the Qatari media that the faith of the U.S. worker was addressed, even though not officially, two weeks when the Egyptian leader al-Sisi visited his American counterpart in Washington.

Trumps biggest concern is not having US citizens imprisoned and he told this explicitly to al-Sisi, the diplomat told The New Arab.

The new U.S. administration is not concerned by al-Sisis poor human rights records. The Egyptian president is the second world leader received at the White House after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since President Donald Trump has been elected.

Unlike Trump, the previous administration had vehemently criticised the crackdown on right groups and charity organisations.

Hijazi, an Egyptian American, co-founder of Belady Foundation was arrested along with her Egyptian husband Mohamed Hassanein also co-founder of the charity, in May 2014. Egyptian authorities accused them of abusing children in their care and engaging in human trafficking, kidnapping, sexual exploitation and torture.

They were put in detention along with their workers pending the ruling. But the case never made to a court ruling and no evidences were shown or proved.

Their arrest has been criticized by right groups as part of regimes war against charity groups and rights groups.

In a sudden move, the Cairo Criminal Court acquitted the couple and their co-workers on Saturday.

The U.S. diplomat argued that the court ruling was purposely delayed until al-Sisi had return from Washington.
Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank.
Election materials distribution has kicked-off in 15 election centres in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said on Wednesday.

The United Nations Mission in the central African nation (MONUSCO) has already dispatched 3,900 tonnes of election materials around the countrys 107 satellite stations.

As I speak, a helicopter is making a final rotation between Kinshasa and Kasongo Lunda in Kwango province. This ends the MONUSCO air operation to support the ongoing revision of the electoral register, UN Communications Coordinator in the DRC, Florence Marchal told the UN radio station Radio Okapi.

President Joseph Kabila has been in power since 2001, taking over after his slain father, Laurent Kabila. He is constitutionally bound to step down after serving two terms.

According to a December 31, 2017, political deal brokered by the Catholic Church, presidential polls had to be held this year to elect Kabilas successor.

New Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Bruno Tshibala, has disclosed that he plans to organize the countrys next polls with internal resources.

The government contracted a Dutch outfit to help the electoral body compile a biometric register and to conduct the elections. Whenever elections are held it would be the first democratic transition in the war torn country.
An outbreak of Meningitis in Nigeria has killed 745 people as of Wednesday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said, as Africas most populous nation attempts to tackle the surge in infections.

A Meningitis epidemic two year ago killed 1,100 people and infected more than 10,000 in the country and neighbouring Niger.

We need all hands on deck, warned Chikwe Ihekweazu, head of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) while speaking to AFP news Agency.

About 8,000 suspected cases of the disease have been reported across Nigeria over the past five months, said a government statement.

The Health ministry has kicked off a nationwide vaccination campaign for millions of people, though there is a worldwide shortage for the strain, which inflames the spinal cord and brain.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision, which coordinates the provision of emergency vaccine supplies during outbreak emergencies, has sent 500 000 doses of Meningitis C-containing vaccine to Nigeria to combat the epidemic.

Note that Meningitis is the inflammation of tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord which can be caused by viral or bacterial infections.

It spreads mainly through kisses, sneezes, coughs and in close living quarters with the most common symptoms being fever, headache and neck stiffness.
Georgia to solely buy Azerbaijani Gas

In 2017, Georgia will not buy Russian gas, and satisfy 96% of domestic demand solely with Azerbaijani gas. Minister of Energy Kakha Kaladze said that the agreement signed with Gazprom enables the country to buy Azerbaijani gas with the money raised from Russian natural gas transit to Armenia.We also can buy natural gas in Iran, however, at this stage, we have taken rgw decision to increase volumes from Azerbaijan. Our agreement with Gazprom will be valid for 2 years. In 2 years we will have stronger positions, because we will have a gas storage tank. The Shah Deniz project will be finished, from where we will receive additional volumes and we will have more leverage to talk with Gazprom, Kakhi Kaladze said.According to the balance approved by the Energy Minister, Georgia will receive 2.327 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Azerbaijan.
Ombudsman about the rights of privacy

By Messenger Staff

Georgias Public Defender, Ucha Nanuashvili, claims in his annual report that the right to privacy was under increased attack in 2016 compared to the previous year.He stresses there was an increased number of crimes relating to the right to privacy and no adequate measures were taken to punish offenders.The lack of response reinforced the mood of impunity, said the Public Defender.He stressed the Chief Prosecutors Office carried out a number of investigative actions and filed charges against several persons, but the identity of those who released the footage showing peoples personal lives is still unknown.The Ministry of Internal Affairs does not share the view, and stresses that a range of activities have been in place to adequately respond to such crimes.Members of the government also praise the law-enforcements activities, and frequently say that it is related to time and various difficulties to reveal the standing behind the personal life violation activities.The Prosecutors Office has stressed many times that there are thousands of applications submitted to the body.In most cases, they make statements over notorious cases and those involving famous people and properties worth millions.It is very likely that the cases of ordinary people, whose privacy rights were also attacked, have been postponed for a long time.Protecting privacy rights is of highest importance for any country striving to the European Integration.Addressing the issues requires timely reactions, professional staff and the will to investigate.As it seems, the current situation in Georgia needs to improve all three aspects.


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The News in Brief

Penguins donated by twin-city Bristol arrive at Tbilisi zoo



Tbilisi Zoo is now home to a new group of South African penguins donated by twin-city Bristol, UK, as the Georgian capitals zoo continues its restoration efforts after the flood of 2015.



The handover of the 19 young penguins was held in Tbilisi on Tuesday, after the aquatic birds arrived via a charter flight from the UK.



The occasion in Georgias capital was attended by officials and came ahead of next years 30th anniversary of the twinning of Bristol and Tbilisi in 1988.



Since the disastrous flood at Tbilisi Zoo we have been working with Bristol Zoo to find ways in which we could help them by providing advice on developing a new Zoo in Tbilisi and by providing some new animals, said Chair of Bristols Tbilisi Twinning Association Derek Pickup at the ceremony.



The arrival of the South African penguins was greatly anticipated. Before the [2015] flood our zoo featured penguins handed over to us as present from the Living Coasts [Coastal Zoo and Aquarium in Torquay, the UK], however unfortunately we could not save them [during the natural disaster]. Now we have welcomed penguins back at our park, said Tbilizi Zoo Director Zurab Gurielidze.



The June 13, 2015 flood in central Tbilisi killed 19 people while also taking the lives of 281 animals of the zoo.



Since the date the park has been under extensive restoration in order to house animals while a completely new zoo is being built near Tbilisi Sea.



To adapt the zoo for accepting the African Penguins the previously used penguinarium was extended, with additional space and sand areas set up at the venue.



New housing areas for the penguins were also set up in anticipation of the handover.



A Bristol Zoo press release said the penguin group would "form a new breeding group" to boost numbers of the species currently noted as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.



Their breeding at Tbilisi Zoo is part of the collaboration between the zoos of the two cities under their membership of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria.



The handover was arranged to coincide with the arrival to Tbilisi of a delegation from Bristol that includes Bristol Tbilisi Association chairman Derek Pickup as well as business figures and Bristol Zoo representatives.



The delegation is scheduled to meet UK ambassador Justin McKenzie Smith in Tbilisi next week. (agenda.ge)







Georgia to get rid of its SU-25 in favor of drones and helicopters



Georgia is getting rid of its Soviet era Su-25 attack aircraft, and will instead rely on military helicopters and drones, the countrys defense minister said.



The Su-25 is a severely outdated aircraft which requires spare parts that are produced in Russia, Minister Levan Izoria said.



Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, he added that his ministry plans to sell the remaining aircraft and use the earnings to purchase helicopters and drones, not specifying further.



The Georgian Air Force currently has 12 Su-25 jets at its disposal, along with several Mi-24, Mi-8 and US made Bell UH-1 Iroquois military helicopters.



The Su-25, or Frogfoot in NATO jargon, is a close air support single-seat, twin-engine aircraft developed by Sukhoi Design Bureau in the mid 1970s. It was manufactured in Tbilisi at a plant known locally as Factory No 31.



The Georgian Air Force currently has 12 of the jets at its disposal, along with several Mi-24, Mi-8 and US made Bell UH-1 Iroquois, or Huey military helicopters.



In May 2015, Georgia unveiled a new unmanned attack helicopter assembled at its military research facility, Delta.



Judging from the photos, the unnamed attack and reconnaissance drone appeared to be a modified RotorWay Exec kit helicopter.



Delta was established in 2010, and is subordinate to the Ministry of Economy. Apart from aviation products, the company also produces armored vehicles, such as the Lazika and Didgori APCs, artillery and other military equipment. (dfwatch.net)







We have not received positive responses from Russian, Ossetian and Abkhazian sides concerning humanitarian visits on Easter holiday - Ketevan Tsikhelashvili



We have not received positive responses from the Russian, Ossetian and Abkhazian sides concerning humanitarian visits over the Easter holiday, Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, State Minister of Reconciliation and Civic Equality, stated.



According to her, since 2008, the local population has periodically faced problems in terms of visiting churches and cemeteries behind the occupation line on holidays.



"The Georgian side raised this issue with our allies in all formats, including the Geneva international discussions and IPRM meetings. Our partners expressed full readiness to ensure humanitarian visits, but unfortunately, we still have not received positive responses from Russian, Ossetian and Abkhazian sides. We still continue to work on this issue. I hope it will be realized that this is a purely humanitarian step and the issue should not be politicized. Of course, the security of the population is very important for us, but they are well aware if the existing situation and I am sure they will behave reasonably during the holidays," said Ketevan Tsikhelashvili. (IPN)




The Florida Senate abruptly canceled all formal meetings Thursday afternoon as Senate leaders scrambled to find a quick resolution to the political future of Sen. Frank Artiles, the Miami Republican being asked to resign by his Senate colleagues after his racist-laced comments about them in a bar earlier this week.

Artiles hired a lawyer and formally asked Senate President Joe Negron, the Senate's general counsel, Dawn Roberts, and five other senators to recuse themselves from the pending investigation, and appoint an independent investigator. He suggested the Senate does not have jurisdiction and the inquiry is flawed.

"Due to your various public comments concerning this m request that you recuse yourself from participating in debate or voting on any issues concerning Senator Artiles coming before the Senate,'' wrote Steven R. Andrews, a Tallahassee lawyer hired by Artiles. "Respectfully, your public statements seems to indicate that you may have prejudged this matter and may have improperly considered matters outside of the written complaint of Senator Thurston."

The letters came after Rep. Jose Oliva, the incoming House speaker, told the Herald/Times Tallahassee bureau that he had reservations about the way Negron had handled the investigation, suggesting that it was setting Artiles up for a "kangaroo court" because the injured parties would be sitting in judgment on his fate.

Andrews argued that the short time period laid out by Negron -- requiring Roberts to produce a report to the Senate Rules Chairman Lizbeth Benacquisto by the close of business on Tuesday -- was a violation of his due process rights. He said that Artiles will depose Sens. Perry Thurston, Lizbeth Benacquisto, Anitere Flores and Oscar Braynon. Download Artiles letter to Dawn Roberts
@amysherman1

Independent Bernie Sanders was met with cheers in Miami Wednesday night as he called for transforming the Democratic Party into a grassroots force that will fight for the poor and middle class and push back against President Donald Trump.

We are going to take on the billionaire class Sanders said. Donald Trump did not win the election  the Democrats lost the election! That means rebuilding the Democratic Party, making it a grassroots party  a party from the bottom on up!

Sanders spoke at the James L. Knight Center as part of a nationwide Come Together and Fight Back Tour largely in swing states and Republican states. Sanders spoke in Maine and Kentucky earlier this week and will later go to Texas, Nebraska, Utah, Arizona and Nevada. The goal is to rebuild the party after the major rift that developed between supporters of Sanders and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president. About 2,000 people were in the crowd, according to a Knight Center official.

Sanders was accompanied by Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez, a labor secretary under President Obama. Perezs predecessor, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston, had to step down from the chair position in July after WikiLeaks published thousands of emails showing that the DNC favored Clinton over Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont.

Perez bashed GOP leaders  with some colorful language as he dropped the s word multiple times: The Republican leadership doesnt give a s--- about people who are suffering.
@amysherman1

During his speech to introduce Bernie Sanders in Miami, Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez bashed U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, a Miami Republican for his position on health care reform and for doling out PAC money to Republicans who have opposed immigration reform.

Curbelo voted for Trumps half-baked health care plan out of committee and what did he say? No one will lose coverage, Perez said at the James L. Knight Center Wednesday. Thats bullshit my friends.

Curbelo voted for the bill in committee but expressed serious concerns after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the policy would force 14 million Americans to drop or lose their insurance coverage. When the bill collapsed in March Curbelo refused to say how he would have voted on the bill

Curbelo, who represents a left-leaning district, is one of the most targeted Republican members of Congress in the nation.

Perez also called out Curbelo for how he doles out money from his leadership PAC. Perez said that Curbelo promised that his PAC to boost other Republicans would only go to those who supported Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) -- a program to help undocumented immigrants who arrived as children avoid deportation.

Guess what it happened? Perez said. That turned out to be a lie."

In 2016, Curbelo opened a political action committee to raise money for those Republicans who might need some financial support for taking a moderate immigration tack. Curbelo said at the time that potential beneficiaries could be Republicans who, like him, "voted against punishing people who were brought to this country as children and who are de facto Americans."

He was referring to a House vote to end President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which granted legal status to immigrants who had been brought into the country illegally as children.

Curbelo told the Herald in 2016 that the 47 Republicans who received money from WACPAC indicated to him in off-the-record conversations that they are committed to immigration reform.

This blog has been updated to reflect Curbelo's statements about when he opened a PAC.
@ByKristenMClark

Speaker Richard Corcoran told reporters Thursday that theres plenty of time in the final two weeks of the 2017 session for the Florida House to vote on a bill that would require more time for recess in public elementary schools, but he would not commit to holding a floor vote as parents demand.

When asked if the House would take up a parent-supported bill (SB 78), which passed the Senate unanimously two weeks ago, Corcoran, R-Land OLakes, said during a press conference: What Id say on that is: We have two weeks left. Theres a lot of activity on the recess bill thats still happening, and anything is possible.

The House version of the recess bill  which was significantly watered-down and is no longer supported by parents, health and physical education experts, or the lawmaker sponsoring it  is stalled in a committee thats not scheduled to meet again. There is no visible action by House members that indicates that status would change.

Full story here.

Photo credit: Scott Keeler / Tampa Bay Times
@ByKristenMClark

After this morning's Senate session when Miami Republican Sen. Frank Artiles formally apologized, President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, sat down with reporters to discuss Artiles' offensive remarks toward his Senate colleagues on Monday night.

MORE: "Legislative complaint seeks to expel Miami lawmaker from Senate over racist rant "

Negron first laid out in detail -- almost as if presenting a case in a courtroom -- how he was informed of Artiles' comments and how and why he decided to respond. He then answered questions, including whether he thought Artiles should resign and what the next steps for possible discipline might be for the freshman senator.

Watch Negron's explanation and answers below.
A Livingston-based cinematographer shot some of the most attention-grabbing scenes in "Planet Earth II," including sequences of a group of four snow leopards, elusive animals that have never been filmed in such numbers before.

John Shier, who's worked extensively with the BBC, was hired on four episodes of the blockbuster nature documentary series.

A fellow Montanan, Dawson Dunning, also worked on the "Mountains" episode. Both are MFA graduates of Montana State University's science and natural history filmmaking program.

Shier will make an appearance at the International Wildlife Film Festival this weekend for a screening of the episodes.

Shier contributed to a total of four episodes of the series: "Mountains," "Deserts," "Islands" and "Grasslands." For "Mountains," he was dispatched to Yellowstone National Park, the Andes in South America, and the Indian portion of the Himalayas, where the snow leopards were filmed.

They set up a base camp during winter at spot that's become popular with ecotourists, Shier said in a phone interview. The heavy snow pushes the prey cats to relatively lower elevations.

"We were at the junction of several drainages, which means a lot of the trails intersect there, so it's a good starting point every day to start looking for cats."

The "Planet Earth" team partnered with local guides, who set out every day to sight cats and alert the camera crew if they saw anything.

"We had local guys who are amazingly good at spotting local cats, which is hard. Even though there's no trees or cover or anything, they blend in quite well," he said. They also used a network of camera traps set up in areas that the cats frequented. The animals mark rocks by rubbed their cheeks and then spraying. The combination of those two scents are enough to signal to other leopards that they're in the area.

It was afternoon when Shier and another camera operator spotted their big scene across the valley. They had been tracking a female cat during the narrow window for mating, when it has been vocally signaling to males. However, the cat had its cub with her when a male approached. Cubs are vulnerable to males, who may attack them. The drama increased when a larger male came up the other side of the narrow path. The female began passively lying on the ground to distract them so her cub could escape while the males entered into a fight.

Across the valley, Shier and company were shooting on Red Dragon digital cinema cameras that record on high-resolution 6K files. He said using these long lenses for filming versus still photography is relatively rare. It poses challenges when they're moving the lenses to capture moving targets, which is less of an issue with still images.

"With film, everything's got to be nice and steady and smooth and polished," he said.

***

Elsewhere in the series, Shier, a Wisconsin native who moved to Montana in 2001, got to shoot in Yellowstone, where he got his start.

He spent about eight weeks following bobcats around the park during wintertime, when the scarcity of food sends them down to the thermal rivers. He said he's rarely had the opportunity to film them like this, and seeing them at length might be rare even for Montanans.

He said the process of filming them is different than, say, hunting.

"We need to be able to work with them over time and get them to do natural behaviors," he said. Some of the park animals, such as foxes, might already be habituated to humans.

"Other animals might not be like that. You have to work with them to get to the point where they're more comfortable around you," he said.

For the "Grasslands" episode, he shot bison and red foxes hunting in the Hidden Valley.

Farther from home, Shier went to Namibia, a country on the African coast where desert dunes run up against the ocean. In the Andes, he shot flamingos.

The original "Planet Earth," now a decade old, attracted attention for its new filming techniques that aimed for an "immersive" viewing experience. The new episodes continues that progression gimbals  hand-held motion-stabilizers that help wildlife camera operators mimic the Hollywood cinematic shots.

The series as a whole has other novel sequences, he said. The "Cities" episode captures urban wildlife in a way that no one has before. The "Mountains" episode also features shots of Montana grizzly bears marking trees at extremely close range, including a camera set in the branches just overhead.

People have seen some of these types of stories before, he said, but the series captures some of them in a new way.
No matter which name he's using, Ednor Therriault or his gonzo alter-ego Bob Wire, you know he's a funny guy.

As a non-fiction writer, he's gone to Great Falls and donned a merman suit to swim in the pool at the Sip 'n Dip Lounge. He wrote about the experience for Montana Outlaw magazine. He's regularly contributed funny articles for the Missoula Independent, and some that have a serious side. He wrote a book, "Montana Curiosities," about the state's roadside attractions.

The curse of Therriault's humor is that people remember it.

A few years ago, Therriault, a graphic designer, said he was working on a musician's friend's album cover and discussing the problem.

Therriault was venting about the humor: he estimates that 80 percent of his songs are straightforward and maybe 20 percent were novelty or humor songs, yet "those are the ones that get attention."

His friend, a blunt East Coast native, replied, "Nobody wants to hear that s--- from Bob Wire."

Both sides of Wire are on display on "Thunderbird," his latest album in a career that dates back to the early '90s when he moved to Missoula from Seattle. He visited plenty before: His dad, a Marine, was born and raised here.

It's his first since "Off-White Christmas," a 2011 collection of off-color holiday tunes with his friend, Chip Whitson, a guitarist from Coeur d'Alene.

He recorded the album with longtime sideman Bob Sularz (drums) and Gary Milner (bass), plus guitarists Whitson and Dave Colledge, at his home studio. Many change extensively in the recording process as they hammer out arrangements and try to simplify the tunes.

"These songs on 'Thunderbird,' some of them have been sitting around for seven or eight years," he said.

Humorous Bob is there right out of the gate with "Settle for Asheville." The narrator sets out for Hollywood fame and gradually adjusts his dreams downward. Hollywood turns to Nashville. Then Asheville.

A friend challenged him to write about image on his shirt for "Mr. Bubble Saved My Marriage," a fiddle and steel novelty tune.

It's far from where he started out. He guesses the first song he ever wrote, back when he was enamored of Bob Dylan and Neil Young, was "some overwrought ultra-serious minor key" tune in which he made the rookie error of "trying to be eight different songwriters in one song" without anything to say, as he described it.

Wire figures that the second song he ever wrote was a humorous one. Humor is an inevitability for him, a part of his constitution.

"Early on, I said, 'Why fight it?' " he said.

Nevertheless, "Thunderbird" has straight tunes of which he's rightly proud. At concerts, he introduces one of these, "Getaway," with a nod to its inspiration.

"I say, 'Here's a song I wrote for Tom Petty. He doesn't know it yet,' " he said. Over 12-string guitar progression, a narrator with habitual inability to follow through or treat others well has to split town.

"Manteca," named after a town in Northern California, unfolds as a deliberately vague scenario involving a woman picked up in Las Vegas, a car with a shotgun in the trunk and a stolen car. He sings in a range that hints at his roots as a folk fan.

Therriault said he wrote it after getting lost on the way to a gig in Napa Valley, but couldn't exactly use that scenario for a compelling scenario, and so it re-emerged as a Tarantino-esque stylized story-song.

The album closes with another straight-faced tune, "Mountain Stream," that was penned by Nate Schweber, a Montana native who freelances in New York.

Therriault cycled through several possible titles for the album. "Tender and Flaky" was one. "Sheep and Swine," named after a barn sign he saw at the Ravalli County Fair was another.

"I thought, 'Every character in this album is one or the other,' " he said.

He settled on the current design after stumbling across a photograph of a Teal Hot-Wheels car he found in McCormick Park. He picked it out of the grass and set it on a bench to snap of a photo. It's a 1963 Thunderbird, his father's favored model of car.

"The graphic designer in me took over," he said. It's funny, but it works on another level.
Shrimp, Salmon, Trout and Mussels: Invasive Seafood Chowder in Flathead Lake by Tom Bansak will be Mission Mountain Audubon's program on Thursday, April 27, at 7 p.m. in the Polson Library Meeting Room. Everyone is welcome.

Although Flathead Lakes water quality is still some of the finest in the world, its ecological community has been greatly altered through both intentional and unintentional species introductions. The latest species threatening to change Flathead Lake forever are invasive mussels that were recently detected elsewhere in Montana. Come hear about the changes that have occurred in Flathead Lake over the last 100 plus years.
Anglers who fish on shore or on a boat in lakes and reservoirs in Montana now have a few more options to catch fish.

This is the time of the year that trout fishing picks up. Some of the more popular lakes for trout are Browns Lake, Holter, Hauser and Canyon Ferry reservoirs.

If you are after some giant trout, then grab your fly rod and head to Browns Lake. Fly fishing from shore on Browns requires some patience, but you will see some of the largest trout imaginable cruising the shoreline at Browns. The trick, of course, is trying to get one hooked. If you do, hold on.

Boat anglers who troll the lake for trout have said it has been a little slow, but that trout action can pick up anytime from day to day. If you are a shore or boat angler and you are after a little more consistency in your trout catch rate, then the reservoirs over by Helena might just be your best bet.

On Canyon Ferry the rainbow trout are cruising shorelines throughout the reservoir. Shoreline anglers are having success at traditional access points using worms, spawn sacks or various nymph fly patterns.

Boat anglers are catching a few trout while anchored and casting to shore, or trolling attracters at shallow depths, according to Adam Strainer of FWP.

Sharon Walker from the Silos RV on the south end of the lake reported that anglers were starting to catch some small walleyes trolling Berkley Flicker Shads on the east side of the reservoir by Pond One in about 4-8 feet of water.

Troy Humphrey of FWP had this fishing report from Hauser: "Rainbow trout fishing is very good from both shore and boat. Shore fishing is best at York Bridge while using flies, and at Riverside while using jigs tipped with a worm. Boat anglers are finding rainbows while trolling crank baits around York Bridge and White Sandy."

Humphrey also reported on Lake Helena that anglers are catching a few walleye while trolling blue and gray or perch-colored rapalas. Trout are also being caught by the shoreline and by the boat ramps at Log Gulch and Holter Lake Campgrounds.

I have been asked when the docks will be in at the campgrounds on both Hauser and Holter. This is what I know so far. The Butte office of the Bureau of Land Management is in the process of getting the docks in at Hauser and Holter reservoirs. As of Monday, the docks were in at Devils Elbow Campground on Hauser and they were in the process of working on the docs at White and Black Sandy campgrounds.

I was told that the docks on Holter should be in at the latest Friday, April 28, or sooner. This Friday I will have an update on the dock situation on both Hauser and Holter and will announce what I know on this Saturdays Montana Outdoor Radio Show and then post it on montanaoutdoor.com.

Also, as part of FWPs invasive mussel response program on Canyon Ferry Reservoir, there are only two boat ramps currently open to all boaters unless you are officially certified as a local boater for only using Canyon Ferry. Those boat ramps are the Silos on the southwest side of the lake and Shannon on the north end near the dam.
HAMILTON  Republican supporters of congressional candidate Greg Gianforte and his guest, Donald Trump Jr., will have some company at the Ravalli County Fairgrounds Friday.

Hamilton and Missoula-area residents are planning a protest at the fundraising rally that begins at 3:30 p.m. at the First Interstate Building at the fairgrounds.

We have a lot of people coming out in support of the everyday Montanan, said protest organizer Erin Clark of Hamilton. Gianforte has done very little to make himself available to the everyday Montanan. That is one of our big concerns.

We want to increase awareness that we only have one House seat, Clark said. We want to make sure that its filled with someone who will see us not as customers, but as constituents.

Gianforte is running against Democrat Rob Quist and Libertarian Mark Wicks in a race for the congressional seat vacated by Republican Ryan Zinke, who joined Donald Trumps cabinet as Interior secretary. The special election is set for May 25.

The presidents son, Donald Trump Jr., and Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana will join Gianforte Friday for a fundraising rally at the fairgrounds, which is expected to last a little over an hour. The rally is one of several being held in the state that day.

Clark said shes not expecting any confrontations between the protesters and people attending the rally.

We have a very, very civilized group of people here in Hamilton, Clark said. We are not anticipating anything that is not family friendly. Were not a group of angry protesters. Were a group that feels very strongly about making our voices as Montanans heard.

Clark said the groups issues include the protection of public lands, Social Security, affordable health care and public education.

Law enforcement officials with the Hamilton Police and Ravalli County Sheriffs Office said there will be some additional security at the event, but neither expects any issues.

If more than 25 people attend the protest and it occurs on a public right-of-way, such as a sidewalk, Hamilton Police Chief Ryan Oster said they will be required to obtain a permit from the city. Oster said no permit would be required if the protest is held on the fairgrounds.

We plan to reach out to those folks and talk to them about that, Oster said. We will try to coordinate with them so they have a place to go.

Ravalli County Sheriff Steve Holton said his office will also have a presence at the rally.

We dont really expect any problems even if there are protesters there, Holton said. Were not planning on having a huge security contingent. People have the right to voice their opinions. We want to make sure they have a place to do that.

So far, the protest is planned to be held as close as possible to the First Interstate Building, Clark said.

We want to be right in that area just outside the fairgrounds, she said. We want to be as close as we can get without stepping on anyones toes.
HELENA  Three minor party and independent candidates who want to run in Montana's special congressional election are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.

Thomas Breck, Doug Campbell and Steve Kelly asked the nation's highest court Thursday to place their names on the May 25 ballot. A federal judge and a federal appeals court each declined similar requests.

The candidates say that Montana's ballot-access laws don't give independent candidates and voters a meaningful opportunity to participate.

The state required the candidates to collect 14,268 voter signatures by March 6. The special election was announced March 1.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris lowered the signature requirement to 400, but did not give the candidates additional time to collect them.

Democrat Rob Quist, Republican Greg Gianforte and Libertarian Mark Wicks are the three candidates on the ballot.
Unlike dogs, trout dont make healthy mutts.

Dont expect hybrid vigor when rainbow trout interbreed with cutthroats in Montanas high mountain streams. Despite the rainbows success as the most widely distributed game fish in the world, and the cutthroats remarkable ability to thrive through wildfires and landslides, their co-mingled offspring tend to be too dumb to live long.

That fact leaps out of analysis on one of the largest genetic data sets anywhere of Rocky Mountain cutthroat trout at the University of Montanas Conservation Genetics Lab. In a recently published paper, the researchers looked at what happened to native trout after decades of artificial stocking in lakes and rivers.

Climate change isnt going to get these populations in the long run, said lead study author Clint Muhlfeld of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Its immediate things that humans have done. We thought that if we provided cold water, the cutthroats were protected  we could prevent invasive trout from hybridizing. But our data clearly show cold water wont prevent rainbow trout invasion," he said. "Over 60 percent of our hybridized sites were in cold waters. And those are just little time bombs waiting for the right environmental conditions.

Heres the problem: Cutthroat trout spent millennia evolving traits that help them live in Rocky Mountain waterways. Like landlocked salmon, they swim from lakes, up rivers to the same little creeks where they were born to lay the next generation of eggs. They time that spawning to happen right after spring runoff, when the creek bottoms have been freshly scoured by floods of new gravel and nutrients from the melting snowpack.

When catastrophes like wildfire-triggered landslides dump tons of silt into those streams, cutthroat respond with a breeding frenzy to compensate.

Rainbows, in contrast, dont care where they spawn. And they lay their eggs just before runoff, making them vulnerable to obliteration in the floods. They benefit from the fact humans stocked them by the millions in same systems cutthroats depend on. And theyre genetically capable of interbreeding with the native trout.

Cutthroats have been here since the last glacial period, Muhlfeld said. Theyve proven themselves. Rainbows have only been here since the early 1900s, and they came from hatcheries. Theyre not facing flooding or wildfires or droughts. You put them out in the wild, and they dont survive as well.

Put them in the gene pool, and the problem spreads. The study found that adding 20 percent rainbow genetic material to a cutthroats DNA cut its reproductive success in half. The resulting cut-bow mutt fish dwindle over several generations and disappear.

Thanks to 20th century efforts to plant about 2 million rainbow trout in Montana lakes and rivers, many places have reached such a level of hybridization that little can reverse the trend. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park fish biologist Ladd Knotek said some places get managed for sport fishing conditions, while drainages with genetically pure cutthroat trout get special attention.

Around here, we have about 30 pure cutthroat populations isolated that cant be hybridized, Knotek said. We strategically leave barriers in place to protect the purity of those fish.

The problem isnt rivers like the Blackfoot or Flathead, where cut-bows mingle with brown, brook, rainbow and brook trout. Its in the isolated mountain creeks where purebred cutthroats have their genetic strongholds. Too many rainbows find their way up there, dilute the cutthroats survival traits, and provide nothing in return.

We know this thanks to new DNA analysis techniques pioneered in Missoula and applied to a massive database of fish genetics compiled over decades by local biologists.

The research brought together a generation of fish experts, including the University of Montanas conservation biology leader Fred Allendorf, David Schmetterling of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Ryan Kovach of the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center in West Glacier, Diane Whited at the Flathead Lake Biological Station and 10 others.

A lot of hybridization studies focus on small-scale, single-drainage projects, Muhlfeld said. This one looked at 17 river basins all across Montana, in all three continental drainages  the Missouri, the Upper Columbia and the Saskatchewan. And because its a long-term genetic monitoring program that the states been doing for decades, we can look at patterns across not only a broad geographic area, but through time as well. And thats where you see consistent patterns emerge.
For those paying attention, the citys takeover of Mountain Water has been a little more drawn-out than expected.

A few months ago, the city hoped to take possession by this month, as well as see its $140 million in loans approved.

So why the delay?

According to an April 18 request by the city, Mountain Water and Liberty Utilitys lollygagging and noncompliance have left the transition in limbo.

The brief submitted to Missoula County District Court Judge Karen Townsend outlined what the city termed several poor practices by Mountain Water since the state Supreme Court upheld her order to turn over customer data to the city to facilitate a transition.

The city has made every effort to effectuate a cooperative transition of ownership and operations, the brief said. Mountain Waters refusal to provide essential customer data  and Mountain Waters failure to maintain the Water System in a responsible fashion, forces the City to request further relief from the Court.

The brief asked Mountain Water to turn over the data by April 25.

Earlier this month, the city entered into a contract with Harris Utilities, the software company that currently services Liberty Utilities, to make the data transfer easier.

A back-up of the customer information would only take about 15 minutes, according to the brief, and wouldnt cost Liberty anything, but the company has told Harris not to transfer any data, according to the city.

Further, Mountain Water has told the city it must pay a transition fee of several million dollars before the customer data is transferred, according to statements from Chief Administrative Officer Dale Bickell.

The brief referred to this request as a ransom.

The most pressing part of the delayed takeover comes from Mountain Waters abandoning of any pretense of good husbandry of the water infrastructure.

According to statements from Dennis Bowman, a former Mountain Water superintendent who will lead the utilitys operations for the city, the company reduced costs and raise administrative fees under corporate orders starting in 2016.

The expense reductions came in many forms, according to Bowmans statements, including:

Canceling contracts with landscapers, electrical services and dam condition monitoring groups.

Stopped replacing broken water meters, instead sending customers usage estimates that werent accurate. There were about 600 broken meters in early 2017, which will cost about $150,000 to replace.

Failing to pay for daily upkeep at the company, such as replacing worn-out uniforms.

Shutting down a North Russell Street well after detecting chemical traces in the water, instead of identifying and fixing the problem.

Refusal to allow the city to replace a 103-year-old water main in the middle of the Orange Street roundabout construction, forcing the city to dig it back up later.

Bowman said along with the cost-saving measures, the company raised its administrative fees, which are legally limited by the state Public Service Commission.

Administrative fees can be charged to customers for repairs or infrastructure projects, but the PSC has capped the fees at 5 percent of the total project cost.

Bowman remembered that one project cost $7,000 and Mountain Water charged a $7,000 administrative fee, seemingly arbitrarily.

He said in his statements that the PSC reviews administrative fees only when companies ask to increase their rates.

After it became clear that Liberty wouldnt be operating in Montana much longer, according to Bowman, they ignored the administrative fee law, as they wouldnt be asking for another increase.

The actions taken by Mountain Water, at the direction of Liberty Utilities, are not in the interest of the Water System and are not intended to benefit the Water System or the customers who rely on it, Bowman said.

Natasha Jones, with Boone Karlberg, who represents the city in the condemnation case, spoke to Missoula City Councils Committee of the Whole Wednesday about the order to compel.

They owe us the customer data and configurations now, she said. All of that is pushing us closer to taking possession.
The University of Montana is hammering out options to offer buyouts or early retirement to 80 to 100 employees, primarily longtime faculty, a state higher education official confirmed Wednesday.

UM employs 631 faculty FTE, or full time equivalents, from its general fund, said Kevin McRae, spokesman for the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education (OCHE). A decrease of 100 would represent a nearly 16 percent reduction; that drop would not include faculty paid for from research dollars.

If approved, a $2 million appropriation that's pending in the Montana Legislature would pay for "faculty termination costs" such as sick leave, which can cost UM $25,000 in a lump sum for just one retiring employee, McRae said.

"I can confirm the $2 million appropriation for faculty termination costs came about through cooperative negotiation between the Governor, Legislature and OCHE," McRae said in an email.

"The MUS (Montana University System) is grateful to the joint budget conference committee that first approved it, grateful to the Senate for passing it, and very grateful that the House will consider it later this week."

It's too early to know how much money UM would save if it is able to successfully offer buyouts to 100 faculty, McRae said.

However, McRae also said the goal is to create offers that are a win-win-win. He said the wins would be for UM's budget; for the senior faculty members who were thinking about retiring and have incentives to do so earlier; and for the junior faculty members who stay on board with a strong career ahead.

The budget for the 2017-2018 school year is built around the current level of faculty, he said. The goal is to make offers in the next school year and recognizing savings in the following school year, or the 2019 fiscal year.

"What we're trying to do is see if we could make this work without actually having to talk about layoffs," McRae said.

***

If the $2 million appropriation doesn't come to pass, any money for a buyout program would have to come from the university's operating budget, McRae said.

If money is available to fund "faculty termination costs," the next step would be to determine the financial incentives for early departures, McRae said.

Help with health insurance is one idea with some traction.

Results from a recent campus survey show that faculty who are nearing retirement view help with health insurance as a possible incentive to retire early, McRae said. He said the university system might be able to fund that incentive through its health insurance reserves.

UM has had budget trouble in recent years, having experienced an enrollment drop of some 24 percent since 2010. The buyouts are one idea to reduce long-term personnel costs, but McRae said it's too early to offer details.

However, he said UM officials are working with the Commissioner's Office on different scenarios, and the parameters are that any proposal be legal, affordable and acceptable. They must be acceptable to many parties, he said, including the people who would agree to buyouts.

"It's just still far too early to be able to speak to specifics because we don't know yet how the program might look," McRae said.

The team has not yet identified the faculty members it would approach with buyout offers, he said. The pool of people depends on an analysis taking place at UM of its academic programs.

"The good news is we are making every effort to be innovative, to use some ingenuity here, to try to secure resources and use our budget resources in ways we have not in the past," McRae said.

UM President Sheila Stearns has said personnel costs  at some 80 percent of UM's operating budget  are too high. The interim leader wants them closer to 70 percent.

In fall 2015, former President Royce Engstrom said UM needed to reduce its personnel spending, but the Commissioner's Office requested his departure in December 2016, and state officials have also said this school year that UM must get its personnel costs in line with revenue.

It wasn't immediately clear Wednesday how many percentage points 100 buyouts could move UM's personnel costs. Neither Stearns nor UM spokeswoman Paula returned an email seeking comment late Wednesday afternoon.
A man who shot a Parisian police officer to death on the Champs-Elysees Thursday night was known to French security services for radical Islamist activities, a source close to the investigation told CNN.

The suspect, who was shot dead by French police, was the subject of a "Fiche S" surveillance file and was on the radar of the French domestic security service DGSI, the source said.

The source said French investigators now believe this was in all likelihood a terrorist attack. They believe there was just one attacker, and the danger is likely over, the source said.

ISIS issued a statement saying an Islamic State "fighter" carried out the attack. The ISIS claim comes via a statement released by the group's media wing, Amaq. The statement said the attacker is a Belgian national and cited "security sources."

CNN could not independently confirm that claim.

French President Francois Hollande said anti-terrorist forces are leading the investigation.

"The people who were present have been evacuated and we are convinced that the leads which point us to this case, and which will allow us to uncover the truth, are of a terrorist nature," he said.

Elections on Sunday

The shooting happened about 9 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET) when a car stopped at 102 Champs-Elysees in front of a police van, Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre Henry Brandet said.

A man emerged from the car and opened fire on the van with an "automatic weapon," killing one officer instantly, he said. The man "then ran away, managing to shoot and wound two other policemen. Other policemen engaged and shot and killed the attacker," Brandet said.

Hollande also said a woman passer-by was wounded in the shooting.

Police union spokesperson Yves Lefebvre from Unite SGP Police said officers were raiding the suspect's residence in Chelles, Seine-et-Marne. He said police are operating under the assumption that there might be accomplices.

The shooting shut down the famed Champs-Elysees, one of Paris' top tourist attractions and home to the iconic Arc de Triomphe monument. The avenue was clear of residents and tourists but teeming with security officers Thursday night.

It comes three days before French voters start elections for a new president. Candidates went ahead with a debate Thursday night.

France has been in a state of emergency since the 2015 Paris attacks, which left 130 people dead. Parliament voted in December to extend the extraordinary provisions to ensure the protection of upcoming presidential and general elections.

Security has been tight because of the vote. Just two days ago French authorities arrested two men in Marseille who were allegedly planning an attack in a run-up to the election.

At least three underground train stations of the Paris Metro -- the Champs-Elysees-Clemenceau, George V and F. Roosevelt stations -- have been "closed off" near the site of the police operation on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, BFMTV reported.

Trump: 'What can you say?'

Paris resident Daoud Kal, 29, said he was walking in the area near a metro station when he heard four to five shots. He looked around, but couldn't identify where the shots were coming from. People panicked and ran away from the scene and he joined them.

The CNN Paris bureau is on this street and staffers reported hearing a dozen shots. At least 20 police vehicles were seen on the street.

Officers could be seen forcibly removing innocent citizens from the area as they attempted to get them to safety.

President Donald Trump, speaking at a news conference in Washington with the visiting Italian Prime Minister, offered condolences to the people of France after the shooting, saying it "looks like another terrorist attack."

"What can you say? It never ends," the President said.

The Champs-Elysees is a main road lined with restaurants, cafes, exclusive designer boutiques and tourist shops. At one end is the Arc de Triomphe, surrounded by a several-lane-wide roundabout, and the other end stops at the Place de la Concorde, known for its obelisk monument.

The presidential palace, the Elysee, is a few blocks away.

French police tweeted, "Police intervention underway in the area of the #ChampsElysees avoid the sector and follow the instructions of the police forces."

French candidates respond

The US State Department put out a cautionary tweet, saying: "If you're in #Paris, monitor local news. #ChampsElysees has been closed. Authorities are telling people to avoid the area after a shooting."

The shooting comes three days before French general elections and Paris was already in a state of heightened alert. French politicians immediately reacted on social media.

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen tweeted, "My emotions and solidarity for the police, once again targeted."

Conservative French presidential hopeful Francois Fillon tweeted, "Paying homage to police who give their lives to protect ours, #ChampsElysees."

Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve tweeted: "Paying homage to the policeman killed on the champs elysees. Thoughts are with his family. Solidarity with his injured colleagues and those close to them."

Former French President Nicola Sarkozy's tweeted: "To our law enforcement: support, strength, courage. They are paying again a heavy price. Our Nation's tribute must be total NS"

CNN's Pierre Buet in Paris and Julia Jones, Hamdi Alkhshali, Emanuella Grinberg and Nadeem Muaddi in Atlanta contributed to this report.
Quality of life in western Montana is unparalleled, and is reliant upon a unique environmental context exclusive to the region. Missoula County offers a distinctive aesthetic to the many individuals who live, work and visit here. The western Montana lifestyle would be unattainable without a prosperous and sustainable environment, and the conscious decisions of Missoula Countys administration to protect it.

Although I have lived in large cities before, I grew up in eastern Montana and have an innate bias towards rural living. Living in the county offers beautiful views and easier access to nature. Life seems slower there, and theres room to breathe, Commissioner Cola Rowley said of living in Lolo.

Gary Matson, secretary for the Bonner-Milltown Community Council, describes the lifestyle of western Montana as a love of the outdoors and the natural resources Montana has to offer. When asked to describe what he believes to be the iconic Montana lifestyle, Matson stated that there isnt just one. Instead, he emphasized the importance of Montanas natural beauty uniting all who reside here by stating that there is no real unifying basics aside from the outdoors.

Unsurprisingly, the reasons why so many people (about 3.1 million people annually) visit the county are the same reasons why residents love living here. Our environment provides for a variety of employment and recreational opportunities, from fishing and hunting to hiking and camping. Consequently, stimulating the local economy is fundamentally dependent upon a healthy environment.

Missoula County has a powerful responsibility as the local governing authority to preserve its social, economic and environmental standards. In recent years, the county has advocated for operational sustainability. For instance, the city and county collaborated to ensure SITES certification of Fort Missoula Regional Park, a 156-acre park undergoing a $36 million renovation. The goal of this project is to protect ecosystems and promote environmental stewardship through sustainable landscape design and management.

County commissioners are committed to moving Missoula County forward in a manner that is responsible to our communities and our environment. Goal 4 of the 2016 Missoula County Growth Policy states that we will reduce Missoula Countys contribution to climate change while promoting resiliency and adapting to its impact on the natural environment and communities. In order to accomplish this goal, the county is hosting its first Energy Corps member: me! I am responsible for developing the countys baseline Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, which will allow the county to monitor emissions over time and measure how new practices and policies affect energy consumption. I will also coordinate creating a climate action plan, which will reveal emissions reductions targets, set realistic emission reduction goals and outline practical methods of adaptation in a changing climate.

As we embrace new avenues towards environmental sustainability and economic development, we hope to cultivate a healthy environment as well as a culture committed to environmental stewardship in order to protect our communities and iconic Montana lifestyle for present and future generations in Missoula County.
Events outside our country offer hope and inspiration as our own rights to clean water are threatened.

On March 29, El Salvadors multi-party National Legislature stood up to enormous pressure from global mining corporations and passed the worlds first comprehensive ban on metals mining, a toxic industry that threatens El Salvadors water supply.

Mining in El Salvador has grown recently. Farmers learned about the environmental havoc unleashed by toxic cyanide used in processing. In 2005 a massive campaign began to raise awareness of threats mining posed to rivers. El Salvador is the most densely populated country in Latin America. An estimated 90 percent of its surface waters is polluted by toxic chemicals, heavy metals and waste.

El Salvadors law was adopted after a long dispute between the government and a Canadian company invested in gold mining. El Salvador prevailed last year after a World Bank arbitration panel ruled in its favor; the company did not meet the legal requirements for mining permits. After that decision, support for a ban on mining became widespread among Salvadorans who concluded they had more to lose than gain. Indeed Salvadorans chose water over gold.

The law sets a powerful example for communities that oppose large mining projects and bolsters the case against mining in environmentally sensitive areas. Globally there is a growing questioning of mining as an economic development engine, said Keith Slack of Oxfam America. I think it definitely strengthens the voice of communities.

Here at home, President Trump signals that clean water is not a national priority, nor a concern of federal government. Proposed are drastic cuts to clean water funds, essentially reverting Americas water protection measures back to pre-1970 standards. A 31 percent decrease in the 2018 Environmental Protection Agency budget will put tremendous pressure on state and local governments, and will thrust clean water obligations back to states where they will languish as in the past.

Issues surrounding mining and water are important to Montana.

Montanas Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is charged with cleaning up abandoned mining sites. Its website lists 129 priority hard-rock mining sites with significant health and safety hazards  all lacking funding and cleanup plans. While tremendous needs remain for Montanas large mining sites, these very old mines still pollute water and land, and pose physical and environmental threats. Heavy metals found in tailings include arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and zinc. According to a DEQ report, mine discharges and streams near the sites are common. DEQ has a huge lack of funding now. How can it take on the work of federal agencies?

Meanwhile, some Montana legislators seek to overwhelm the DEQ and weaken protections for water and the environment for current and future mine permitting. Recently Sen. Chas Vincent of Libby proposed that the DEQ assume responsibility of the dredge-and-fill permitting program currently conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, despite costs of $1.6 million. Thankfully this bill has been tabled for now, but is likely to reappear in future sessions. Sen. Duane Ankney of Colstrip has authored Senate Bill 337, which would eliminate the Montana Board of Environmental Review, a body of volunteer technical experts that independently determines whether DEQ follows the law. This bill has passed the Montana Senate and is headed for a full vote in the House.

El Salvadors accomplishment made me think about the toll mining can take on our water and health, and the vital role of environmental regulations and enforcement. As Andres McKinley, a mining and water specialist at Central American University in San Salvador, stated, Mining is an industry whose primary and first victim is water.
Not only will Missoulians be voting in two elections this May, due to a still-unfolding series of tangled circumstances, the elections will overlap and could cause more confusion than usual.

Fortunately, the Missoula County Elections Office has already taken steps to make the voting process as comprehensible and accessible as possible. Heres what Missoula voters need to know:

Some voters have already received their ballots for the May 2 election. The Swan Community Council is electing a board member, the Seeley Fire district is electing a board trustee and the Frenchtown School District is electing a trustee as well.

Additionally, Missoula County Public Schools board trustees voted in March to ask voters in the elementary district to approve an operations levy of nearly $805,000, which works out to a tax increase of less than $20 for a home valued at $200,000. Clinton voters are also being asked to decide on a levy for their elementary district.

***

While many voters will be getting a ballot with only one issue on it, it is important that they not confuse that election with the special election to choose Montanas only member of the U.S. House. Absentee voters will want to take special care to return the correct ballots in their corresponding envelops, and to turn them in by the correct date.

The local elections office aims to make this easier by printing the name of the election and the date by which the ballot is due on the outside of each envelope. They did so on the recommendation of local central committees and citizens who feared the ballots could be easily mixed up otherwise.

Elections Administrator Rebecca Connors says her office has been fielding quite a few calls from people with questions about the voting process and concerns about their ballot. Some callers worried they might have been dropped from the list of absentee voters and would therefore not receive a ballot. Others wanted to know when to expect their absentee ballot, or were concerned they might be away from home and miss them.

Connors reassured Missoula voters that if they were already registered to receive an absentee ballot, they could expect to receive one in the mail when her office begins sending them out on May 1. More than 45,000 voters in Missoula County have signed up for absentee ballots, and Connors says she expects this number to grow.

***

The May 25 special election does, after all, fall on a Thursday before Memorial Day weekend, and many voters might be making plans to leave town that week. Voting absentee would be a convenient alternative to voting in person at the polls. It costs just 49 cents  or one forever stamp  to return a ballot by mail, but they can also be dropped off at the Fairgrounds Elections Center any time prior to May 25, and at the Courthouse from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

Even those who are planning to vote at their local polling place will want to double-check the location this year, as eight sites are being relocated. Again, the Elections Office is working to make sure voters understand how to cast their votes by taking pains to notify them of the polling location change. All households affected by the change will receive a postcard informing them of their new temporary polling site.

Voters with questions or concerns about their polling place, absentee ballot or other election information should visit the website run by the Montana Secretary of State called My Voter Page (https://app.mt.gov/voterinfo/). There, voters can look up information about their local polling locating, track the status of their ballot or even fill out a voter registration form.

Of course, all Missoula County election services are also offered at the Election Offices Fairgrounds location. The Courthouse is available for ballot drop-off only.

Once ballots are available, voters can even pick them up ahead of the May 25 election day. Connors noted that the special election ballots are being printed now will be mailed to absentee voters starting next week. April 25 brings the close of regular voter registration, with April 26 marking the beginning of late registration. While absentee ballot applications will be accepted by the Elections Office up until noon the day before the election, its best not to cut it that close.

***

The special election ballots will ask voters to decide between Democrat Rob Quist, Libertarian Mark Wicks and Republican Greg Gianforte to represent Montana as the states only congressman. Three other candidates had sought to add their names to the ballot but did not collect the necessary number of signatures in time. They are Thomas Breck of the Green Party, and independents Steve Kelly and Doug Campbell.

While their names wont appear on the ballot, voters are still free to write in the candidate of their choice.

Meanwhile, a bill awaits action in the Legislature that would allow each county in Montana to choose to conduct the special election entirely by mail. While the original bill to provide this option was killed in committee, Gov. Steve Bullock took the unusual step of inserting it into a separate but related bill dealing with other election matters. It appears House leadership does not intend to allow a floor vote on the bill, meaning it is most likely a dead issue.

Missoula voters should therefore know that the special election will cost county taxpayers more than $230,000. This pays for polling places, which cost about $2,500 per location, postage, labor and everything else that goes into a regular election. Had Missoula County been able to conduct it entirely by mail, the cost would have been closer to $100,000.
A man charged with stealing cars from a Missoula dealership in late January and who then fled after being let out of jail on pretrial supervision has been arrested in North Dakota.

According to the Associated Press, 41-year-old Aragorn Jake Berger was picked up in Argusville, North Dakota, on Wednesday after he allegedly stole a car and eluded law enforcement officers.

Berger was arrested in late January after a car dealership reported several cars were missing, and that someone had broken into its office and taken car keys, cash, a pair of firearms  and the company's surveillance system. Police were able to use surveillance video from a nearby company to identify Berger as the person who had broken in, according to a court affidavit.

Detectives alerted other nearby companies to be on the lookout for Berger, and he was arrested after he began asking questions about vehicles on the lot of another dealership.

After he was charged with felony theft and burglary, Berger posted a $10,000 bond and was released. Prosecutors filed a request to take him back into custody in early March after he was cited for multiple driving offenses and became a suspect in other thefts that occurred after his release.

District Court Judge Leslie Halligan issued a $100,000 warrant, and Berger was found. The judge later lowered his bail to $50,000 then allowed him to be released to pretrial supervision without posting bond.

In early April, prosecutors again asked for his release to be revoked, saying he'd told his pretrial officer he had been drinking alcohol  a violation of his release conditions  and had left without providing a urine sample. District Court Judge Robert Dusty Deschamps issued a new $100,000 warrant, which is the one Berger was arrested on Wednesday.
Brent McMillan pleaded guilty Thursday morning in Butte district court to felony criminal endangerment for pulling a gun on police in November.

According to police reports, officers arrived at the base of Big Butte around 10 p.m. on Nov.11 on a report of a man with a gun. When police found the man near a car, he pulled out a pistol, chambered a round, and told police to leave when they told him to drop it. McMillan dropped the gun, and police arrested him for assault on a police officer, a felony. McMillan's guilty plea was to amended charges.

In other court action Thursday:

 William Daniels pleaded guilty to felony counts of theft and drug possession. Daniels admitted to stealing saw, a heater, saw blades, and other items from a construction site on 22 W. Park St., Uptown Butte. When Daniels was arrested on March 16, officers found meth on him.

 Jason Monahan was sentenced to five years in the Department of Corrections to be served concurrently with a Missoula County sentence revoking a three-year suspended sentence. Monahan was charged in November for intercepting prescription medication mail-bound for the Montana Veterans Hospital. He was charged with four counts of felony drug possession and one count of felony theft. Monahan accepted a plea deal in March 30, pleading guilty to the theft charge for a lighter sentence.

 Thomas Rupert took a plea deal and admitted he robbed the M&M Cigar Store in November and threatened a worker with what appeared to be gun. It was a BB gun, according to court documents. The prosecution has recommended a 15-year sentence to the Montana State Prison with five years suspended.
The First Presbyterian Church will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the dedication of the current church building at Platinum and Excelsior Streets Sunday, April 23.

The celebration will begin at the 10:30 a.m. worship service followed by food and fellowship at 11:30 a.m. The churchs bell choir will perform during the worship service. Members and friends, new and old, are invited. Details: 406-782-6595.

According to church records and an article published in The Montana Standard on the day of the dedication, worship services began at the current location on Sunday, April 14, 1957. Marjie Kautzman, 91, has attended the church her entire life and was at the dedication ceremony.

This church has always meant so much to me, she said.

A third generation member, Kautzmans grandfather, John Floyd, worked on the original church building at Idaho and Broadway; and her father, Robert Floyd, worked on the current location at Excelsior and Platinum. Kautzman and her late husband Barney both helped with preparing the new location for the dedication. Kautzman recalls painting walls and helping to lay floor tiles prior to the service.

The congregation dates back to 1876 and will celebrate its 140th anniversary next year. The first church service took place in a primitive log school house, located on the block where the Butte Public Library now stands. Over the years, the church held services in several locations, including assorted storerooms and available meeting halls.

In the spring of 1879, the newly completed Mountain View Church, 203 W. Quartz St., housed several local congregations, including First Presbyterian. The church formally organized in 1878, prior to an 1880 ground-breaking for their own church building at Idaho and Broadway. That church building, which now houses the Covellite Theater, served as the worship center until the new church was completed. Incorporating the old with the new, the current church includes several original stained glass windows from the Idaho and Broadway location.
When strolling your neighborhood, think of yourself as a child walking, playing and living in the moment.

The health-oriented Butte Building Active Communities Initiative wants you to wear that hat while checking how your neighborhood can be more walkable, bike-able, accessible and safer.

Its the feeling of getting outside, dealing with depression, seeing greenery and exercising, said Todd Hoar, Butte BACI member. If were building up our community, well make everybody healthier.

Butte-Silver Bow ranks among the least healthy counties in Montana, according to recent www.CountyHealthRankings.org.

But a growing movement among Butte BACI to make the city healthier is gaining traction.

Ringleader Cassie Wick led a dozen citizens interested in decoding the current infrastructure of a neighborhood in order to improve it and proactively promote healthier lifestyles.

Starting at the corner of Cobban and Farragut streets, the group headed south past St. Anns Church before turning east a few blocks down on Tuesday.

After each block, Wick paused, asking individuals to rate it.

While reviews varied, a few blocks along the way got high marks for consistent, complete sidewalks and other assets. Others, not so much.

There are sidewalks to nowhere, said Wick, motioning to walkways that disappear suddenly before a block ends and high curbs that lack slope for easing a wheelchair onto a crosswalk. If you use a mobility device, it is unusable.

Wick works with the Montana Independent Living Project, a not-for-profit agency that promotes independence for people with disabilities. She and her group see the world and its obstacles through their lens.

Nick Sandford, Butte-Silver Bow roads operations manager, said the county has a sidewalk program available to homeowners to upgrade sidewalks in front of their houses.

Along the route, random property owners have installed bright new, wide sidewalks. But some blocks have grassy boulevards separating decent sidewalks and the street; others run out of sidewalks or lack boulevards.

People feel safer with wider streets, said John Morgan, a B-SB commissioner, walking with his leashed cocker spaniel pup, Mac. They toured several blocks of the St. Anns Church neighborhood north and east of Whittier Elementary  Morgans district.

Theres a lot of room for improvement, said Jenelle Sandford. She joined husband Nick and their dog Margo. They live close to Whittier School.

However, some blocks boast consistent eye-pleasing designs, including trimmed tree branches that dont overhang or obstruct walkers and smooth-flowing, wide sidewalks that accommodate mobile chairs, baby strollers or side-by-side walkers.

You can tell people take pride in this neighborhood, said Wick.

Jenny Heglund, avid exerciser, said walking in Uptown Butte is awkward because of hazards like uneven sidewalks, unmarked curbs, missing portions of sidewalks or other infrastructure some towns may take for granted.

I have a whole new appreciation for people who use mobility devices, said Heglund, pushing son Ansel, 1, in a lightweight stroller.

It remains to be seen whether Ansel will be a free-range kid of two generations ago who could leave the house in the morning, safely roam the neighborhood, then return in time for supper without undue parental concern.

How do we build places for free-range kids? asked Wick.

Childhood obesity rates have tripled, parents habitually drive their kids and chronic diseases attributed to a sedentary lifestyle and poor nutrition are on the rise, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.

This is the first generation that is not expected to outlive their parents, Wick said, citing studies that link walkable communities to lower obesity and diabetes rates.

Such proactive approaches also offer surprising benefits to stronger finances and environment. While getting exercise, the walking auditors brainstormed, too, as Butte BACI will participate in a statewide BACI workshop at Montana Tech May 16-18 (see breakout).

Heglund lives near Blacktail Canyon, but she often parks her car near the Butte Chamber of Commerce, 1000 George St., then she and Ansel gamely hike around town.

The walkability audit, packed with information, ended just before Tuesdays dramatic thunderstorm hit.

It was just really eye-opening, said Heglund.
A projected gold mine planned to open north of Whitehall in 2018 will not likely create new jobs, according to Golden Sunlight Mine general manager Dan Banghart.

Thats because the new mine will be entirely underground, which requires less manpower, Banghart said Wednesday.

Golden Sunlight's ongoing underground mine, called 2 BUG, snakes around the walls of the former open pit mine. That underground effort employs nearly 150 workers. About 45 of those are Golden Sunlight employees. A Canadian-based contractor, Redpath, supplies the additional workers.

The proposed 18,000-foot tunnel, waiting to be permitted by both state and federal agencies, is called the Apex. The announcement of the new mine comes at a time when the price of gold is seeing an upswing. Gold was trading around $1,280 per ounce on Wednesday.

The life expectancy for the Apex is projected for three years, but Banghart said Golden Sunlight will continue to explore for more ore to mine in the area.

The new mine is expected to extract about 1.3 million tons of ore and .3 million tons of waste rock. Canadian-based Barrick Gold Corp. has been working since at least 2015 toward developing the project.

Just as Golden Sunlight was closing its open pit mining operation north of Whitehall in November 2015, Banghart announced that the company was trying to develop the new mine. It was originally planned to be an open pit operation called the Bonnie.

But Banghart said Golden Sunlight opted to turn the project into an underground mine because the permitting is considerably easier.

Were looking at new surface disturbance underground of 2 acres (with the underground mine) versus a couple hundred acres if its a surface mine. It makes (permitting) things simpler on that front, Banghart said.

The Department of Environmental Quality and the Bureau of Land Management are working together on the permitting process. (See information boxes.) The new mine will burrow under BLM land. DEQ permits hard-rock mining activities throughout the state.

DEQ spokesperson Kristi Ponozzo said that whether the mine is underground or above ground, the permitting process is the same for DEQ.

But BLM geologist Dave Williams agreed with Banghart, saying that since there is not likely to be new environmental impacts, the permitting process through the federal agency is likely to be simpler.

"What Golden Sunlight is proposing is inconsequential surface disturbance and theyll be using existing facilities; they'll use the existing mill and the existing tailings impoundment. So it doesnt involve any new surface disturbance," said Williams.

Despite the fact that the new mine isn't anticipating hiring more workers, Montana Mining Association Executive Director Tammy Johnson called the project a big benefit for Whitehall.

It may be more (jobs) depending on what they see when they get in, Johnson said Wednesday. It will certainly be a benefit to the county and community. Were excited about it.

Ed Caplis, director of the Department of Revenue Tax Policy and Research, said the new mine will likely improve Jefferson County's tax revenue.

"Once they start production ... they will pay gross on the receipts on that ore, so Jefferson County would receive property taxes from the ore," Caplis said Wednesday.

The proposed mine will be approximately half a mile north of the now defunct Mineral Hill pit.

Jefferson County Commissioner Leonard Wortman is excited to see a new mine being proposed in the Whitehall area. He pointed out that the Redpath contract workers help Whitehalls economic outlook by living and spending money in Jefferson County.

"I hope it (the mines permits) gets through real fast. It will be a benefit to all of us," said Wortman.
A few weeks ago we witnessed the failure of the White House and the Republican Congress to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which revealed a rebuke to the authority of this White House and in particular President Trump. Now both the White House and the Congress inform us they intend to rewrite not only health care but also reform our system of federal taxation. It seems to many, including Republicans, that before taking that first step, learning to chew gum might be a priority.

It has been 39 years since I was first elected to the U. S. Congress and not once during these last four decades have we witnessed the failure of a President to pass his most important legislative priority. President Carter pushed through the Congress his National Energy and Conservation proposal. President Reagan moved his controversial first budget through a Democratic Congress. President George H. W. Bush took us to war but eased the decision through good relations with both parties. President Clinton worked his will on the Republican majorities to pass major tax reform. President Obama, although continually rebuked by Republicans, significantly reformed the system through which Americans pay our health care insurance.

My memory goes back to 1948 when President Harry Truman demanded his priorities be considered and passed by This do nothing, no good Republican Eightieth Congress. Franklin Roosevelt was superb at cajoling; compromising and encouraging the Congress both consider and work with him on his major agendas. Lyndon Johnson was perhaps the best at both understanding and convincing the members of Congress to give attention to those priorities he sent to The Hill.

I admire strong presidents acting appropriately and with wisdom, but I appreciate even more our doctrine of Separation of Powers. It is the Legislative and not the Executive Branch that must consider, have hearings, and vote. The White House can only advise; consent is the sole business of the Congress. However, knowledgeable presidents, trusted by members of Congress, are absolutely necessary to provide critical leadership.

During the last seven years of Obama presidency, a Republican House voted a nonsensical four dozen times to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Now with the opportunity to write a different version, they failed. Health care is difficult, pronounced our surprised President. However, this recent debacle in the House demonstrated more than simply a difficult legislative task. It unmasks the simmering disregard for this president held by many within his own party. Trump met personally with Republican members and reports from several of them noted the presidents lack of factual information about the health care legislation. At one point he was asked about a provision that worried several members and was the reason for their opposition to the bill. Trumps answer, with a dismissive wave of his hand was, Dont worry about the small s---. Many members understood his flippancy as cover for the fact he has a dangerous lack of either information or memory. President Trump should understand that legislative details are the stuff of the Congress. Whenever a president meets about an issue, his expertise is not only expected but also required.

The disrespect and distrust of the president among members of Congress is a problem for America. Most Congressional Democrats have long been appalled by Trumps lack of attention, knowledge, and his belief in alternative facts. Now, with the initial failure of health care reform The President, I believe, is seriously damaged as The Person to convince members of Congress from both parties to meet, negotiate and compromise. The presidency and our Legislative Branch of government are now on unfamiliar ground; in this dangerous world, America needs a president who is knowledgeable, wise, appropriate, engaged, admired, and trusted. The question is: where do we find one of those?
HELENA  A bill that would have exempted some seasonal outdoor recreation employees from state overtime laws and some other labor laws was vetoed on Thursday by Gov. Steve Bullock.

Under the bill, a narrow and clear exemption in existing law would be replaced with a broad and ambiguous exemption that could capture employees in any number of businesses that define themselves as part of the outfitting industry, the Democrat wrote in his veto letter. I cannot support changing the law when our existing exemption seems adequate and well defined.

Cosponsors Rep. Vince Ricci, R-Laurel, and Sen. Dee Brown, R-Hungry Horse, had argued that House Bill 496 was indeed necessary, noting that the existing definitions did not cover all the types of jobs outfitters had. The Montana Outfitters and Guides Association also had said it is difficult to track overtime because most of these jobs have long or irregular hours, often without clear delineation between someone is working and when they are simply sitting round the campfire.

The original version of the bill also would have exempted seasonal recreation employers from minimum wage laws, but that was amended out before being sent to the governor.

House Bill 496 is dead unless both chambers of the Legislature override the governors veto, which would take a two-thirds vote. The measure originally passed the House 55-44 and the Senate 28-20.
Smart Rating: 17.75

Genre: Action, comedy

Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Katherine Heigl, Tom Selleck

Three years after a fateful trip to the French Riviera, Jen (Katherine Heigl) enjoys the good life in suburbia with her handsome husband, Spencer (Ashton Kutcher). That comes crashing down, however, when gunfire rings out the morning after his 30th birthday. It turns out that Spencer has not been honest with Jen about his job; he's actually a deadly spy. Now she must learn to dodge bullets while keeping up an appearance of normalcy.
During Wednesday's meeting, human resources consultant Paul Greufe, Davenport, updated Louisa County department heads an update on federal and state laws that effect county employment.

Greufe, who serves as a the Louisa County human resources consultant, provided the update on issues including overtime wages, collective bargaining, workers compensation, medical leaves, disability and other issues.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Labor revised overtime rules, he said, but the revision, which was scheduled to go into effect on Dec. 1, 2016, but was later suspended because of a Texas judges ruling. It remains under review by the labor department, Greufe said.

The new rules would change the threshold of those who would be required to be paid overtime wages from $455 per week to $913 per week, which could have a significant impact on local governments, Greufe had said during an update in June.

I dont know if you know it or not, but Donald Trump is now president, Greufe joked Wednesday, adding the proposed revisions were still on the table.

He said the Trump administration could decide to appeal the Texas judges ruling, walk away from the case or amend the revision to see if met judicial muster.

Greufe said he has heard the labor department is considering revising the threshold to $675 per week.

All we can do is sit and wait, he said.

Greufe also said the failure of Republican leaders to pass a federal repeal and replace substitute for the American Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, did not mean the issue was over.

County officials should monitor the situation because fewer insurers were remaining in the marketplace, which could eventually undermine the entire program. He also said health plans offered by some counties could be determined to be Cadillac plans and subject to higher taxes.

Meanwhile, on state issues, Greufe said the recent collective bargaining changes passed in Iowa by the Republican-controlled legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Terry Branstad could be a game-changer for public sector unions.

The law limits bargaining to wages, except for public safety contracts. Other items previously considered mandatory bargaining issues are now considered permissive issues, which do not need to be negotiated, and in some cases, it would be illegal to negotiate, Greufe said.

It also will be illegal to have union dues deducted from paychecks.

Louisa County currently has two-year union contracts with its law enforcement staff and the secondary roads staff. The contracts expire June 30, 2018, so some provisions of the new law will not go into effect in the county until then.

In other discussions, Greufe updated the department heads on workers compensation, civil rights, drug testing and other issues.
MUSCATINE  Muscatine Sister Cities has had a big year. The organization celebrated 30 years of working toward understanding between nations and citizens through numerous events. Delegations from Germany, Palestine, Ukraine and China have visited Muscatine and last summer, it and the city of Muscatine created the International Friendship Park, a pocket park on Eighth and Cedar Streets to commemorate the citys relationship with eight sister cities from seven nations.

Muscatine Sister Cities President, John Dabeet, was recognized by Gov. Branstad and the Iowa House of Representatives for his work at Sister Cities International.

This Sunday, members of the organization celebrate their work and outline a vision for the coming year at their annual dinner.

The dinner, Dabeet said, is open to anyone who wants to learn more about Muscatines connection to the world.

(The annual dinner) is important because it is a learning experience, Dabeet said. (People will) learn about our organization, what we do and our connection to the rest of the world.

The organization will also honor Muscatine Community College for supporting Muscatine Sister Cities.

It is a great relationship between Muscatine Sister Cities and MCC that echoes back many years, Dabeet said, adding that MCC provides space for the monthly meetings and for social events.

MCC also has hosted delegation visits whenever groups comes to Muscatine.

When any delegations come to Muscatine, MCC is usually one stop for us, Dabeet added, saying that MCC officials are happy to meet with delegations and discuss the educational system in the United States.

Muscatine Sister Cities also will recognize Linda Harden for her support in distributing meeting minutes to members for at least two decades. And they will honor a yet unnamed member with the Outstanding Member of the Year Award. To be selected for the award, Dabeet said, members must be nominated by the Muscatine Sister Cities board.

We look into what that member did throughout their membership with the organization, their commitment to the vision to the organization, what they did (and) the activities they attended, he said.

The dinner also features social time, which offers time for feedback, input and new ideas from community members.

We want to listen to people, to their ideas and their input," he said. Its an organization thats open to everyone so anyone who wants to start working to better the understanding among people and nations is welcome."
WEST LIBERTY, Iowa  Officials in West Liberty are weighing the pros and cons of expanding the city limits. During a work session preceding Tuesday night's regular city council meeting, Vanessa Fixmer-Oraiz and Steve Long of Iowa City-based HBK Engineering reported on the draft form of an annexation study.

Annexation of designated areas southwest and north of the city would increase the city's property tax proceeds, increase road use tax fund proceeds, improve roadway maintenance, decrease water and sewer bills for impacted residents, and open opportunities for grant funds, they said.

But annexation also would decrease the city's water and sewer revenue and require infrastructure upgrades the city would have to provide.

"You have to think about those costs," Fixmer-Oraiz told the council.

Most of the costs would be incurred by annexing the southwestern area, where water and sewer services in existing housing developments would have to be brought into compliance with city code. The northern area, owned mostly by Dave Dvorak, is largely undeveloped.

"I am open to working with the city," Dvorak told the council.

Council members speculated on the impact annexation would have on the school system.

"I think the schools need to be brought in on this because they're busting at the seams," Councilor Joey Iske said.

Water plant schedule

Officials hope completion of phase two of the water treatment plant project can be accomplished without legal action. On recommendation of City Engineer Leo Foley, but with misgivings, the council approved paying Ricklefs Excavating of Anamosa $180,372. That was after Foley said the completion date Ricklefs has targeted is now June 15, not April 13. But Foley advised the council it would be difficult to lower the cost through liquidated damages.

"I found a more agreeable way is to negotiate with the contractor, to request them to do things, to not ask for more change orders," Foley said.

Three change orders have been approved, raising the contract cost from $1,640,000 to $1,689,365.

"From a cost perspective, I think you'll be very good," Foley said. "You might even get a credit. But I don't think you'll see any more change orders."

The council also approved paying LL Pelling of North Liberty $243,844 for the Spencer Street improvement project.

Water dispute

Council members apparently are willing to let a dispute among neighbors over a water line play itself out in court. The council during its April 4 meeting did not take action on a request from Carolyn Lamp, 408 North Columbus St., to reduce minimum water charges after her water service had been shut off. At issue, according to a memo from City Manager Lawrence McNaul, was a water leak in the basement of a house at 301 East Fourth St., owned by Wendy Torres, whose water service feeds from Lamp's basement.

Lamp told the council the business she operates at 408 North Columbus St. has been effectively shut down.

"To say (McNaul) gave me notice is a falsehood completely," Lamp said. "No notice was given to me. It's obvious to me he has sided with the Torreses. I want you to imagine one day in your life with no water and multiply it by the 48 days my business has been without water."

"Since it's under litigation, we'll let the litigation work itself out," Mayor Robert Hartman said.

In other business

The council approved payment of claims totaling $388,782.

For the third time, the council tabled action to approve the audit for the previous fiscal year pending further clarification.

The council went into closed session to discuss pending litigation.

The council went into closed session to evaluate the professional competency of the city clerk.
Smart Rating: 15.76

Genre: Action

Starring: Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh

When President Ulysses S. Grant (Kevin Kline) learns that diabolical inventor Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh) is planning to assassinate him, he orders Civil War hero James West (Will Smith) and U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon (also Kline) to arrest him. West's trigger-happy personality doesn't always mesh well with that of the thoughtful Gordon, but they manage to work together. With the help of a mysterious stranger (Salma Hayek), West and Gordon close in on Loveless.
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 []
After several months of anticipation, Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto has joined NASA becoming the Opposition coalitions fifth principal.

The Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) party leader said his decision to join NASA was arrived at after a series of consultative meetings with the Kipsigis Council of Elders, who approved CCM to join forces with NASA in a bid to trounce the President Uhuru Kenyatta-led administration out of power.

Speaking in Bomet after the last meeting with the elders, Mr Ruto said that he is officially the fifth NASA co-principal alongside Raila Odinga (ODM), Moses Wetangula (Ford Kenya), Musalia Mudavadi (ANC) and Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper).

We have held discussions with teachers representatives, Maendeleo ya Wanawake, former Councillors, village elders and the Kipsigis Council of Elders and we were all in agreement that we now join up and sign up with NASA, said the Governor.

We will sign a binding agreement with the coalitions co-principals, he added.

Rutos move is likely to change the Oppositions plans of choosing the outfits presidential flag bearer to face President Uhuru Kenyatta on August 8.

Ruto said that he had struck a pre-election deal with NASA principals that will guide their political marriage into and after the general election.
Fresh from releasing a smashing collab with Ugandas Bebe Cool, Kenyas top boy band Sauti Sol is set to release some new heat soon with a couple of Nigerian artists.

The Sura Yako hitmakers have been in Nigeria for over a week now and their tour appears to have bore some juicy musical fruits.

Nairobi Wire has learnt that the high flying Afro-pop band has hit the studio with some of Nigerias biggest stars including Tiwa Savage, Davido, Burna Boy, Phyno, and Adenkule Gold.

Sauti Sol manager, Marek Fuchs, dropped the biggest hint yesterday after the boys hit the studio with Tiwa Savage on Tuesday night.

Studio timeand this one is faya ? @tiwasavage, wrote Marek.

studio timeand this one is faya ? @tiwasavage A post shared by Marek (@marek__) on Apr 19, 2017 at 8:22am PDT



In an interview with Nigerian radio station The Beat FM, Sauti Sol confirmed the collab saying it will be released soon.

Last night(Tuesday) we were in studio with Tiwa. The song is coming soon. We have also worked with Davido, Adenkule Gold. Tonight we work with Phyno and Burna Boy, said Sauti Sol.
Friends and family of comedian Emmanuel Makori better known as Ayeiya gathered at the CITAM Karen Church on Wednesday for a memorial service for the former Churchill Show comedian.

The celebrated comedian perished in a grisly road accident in the wee hours of Friday near Catholic University in Nairobi.

The comedian was with his wife in the vehicle together with fellow comedians Paul wa Kimani and actor Maina Olwenya. The other three passengers survived and were rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital.

At Makoris memorial service, emotions run high as family and friends -mostly from Kenyas comedy industry, paid their last respects and remembered fond memories with the comedian.

A special tribute to Ayeiya will also be held today at the Carnivore Simba Saloon to help raise funds for the family of the late comedian who is survived by a wife and a daughter.

Among those expected to perform at the tribute include, Teacher Wanjiku, Eric Omondi, Chipukeezy, MC Jessy, Jalango, Sleepy David, Karis Owago, Butita, Dr Ofweneke, Obinna, MCA Tricky, Prof Hammo, Mammito and Njoro in an event that will be hosted by Churchill.

Well-wishers can help fundraise for the comedians funeral slated for Friday in Kisii.

Donations can be made through Paybill number 793290, account name, Emmanuel Makori.

Watch the video of the memorial service below:



The pics
SAN FRANCISCO -- California judges have been advised that it would be unethical for them to invest in marijuana businesses.

That was the conclusion of a formal opinion, announced Wednesday, of a judicial ethics opinion committee appointed by the California Supreme Court.

The San Francisco-based committee said that while medical marijuana and recreational marijuana have been decriminalized in California, the substance is still illegal under federal law.

Having a financial interest in a marijuana enterprise would therefore be incompatible with a judge's obligation to follow the law, the opinion said.

The committee wrote, "A reasonable person could easily conclude that a judge's disregard of federal law creates an appearance of impropriety and casts doubt on the judge's ability to act impartially, particularly in marijuana-related cases."

The committee noted that despite the decriminalization of medical and recreational marijuana, "there will continue to be numerous marijuana-related cases in the courts."

The advisory opinion applies to the more than 1,700 judges in the California state court system, including superior court judges and justices of the state Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

California voters approved initiatives protecting medical marijuana users from prosecution in 1996 and protecting recreational users over the age of 21 this past November.

But possessing, manufacturing or selling marijuana remains a crime under federal law. The committee said that judges with a financial interest in manufacturing or selling marijuana could therefore be subject to federal prosecution.

The committee also said judges have a duty to learn whether any of their financial or property interests involve a marijuana business.

The committee is made up of 12 judges and other court officers. It has the responsibility of providing opinions and advice to inform judges and the public on judicial ethics topics.
In a hidden part of Napa County, Pope Valley Winery is celebrating its 120th year of continuous winemaking.

Winemaker Bryan Avila has joined director of winemaking and co-owner David Eakle, to add his expertise and creativity to the Pope Valley Winery line-up.

The hope is the two young winemakers can entice local millennials over the mountain to the remote Pope Valley in the northeaster country.

When I was teaching winemaking at Napa Valley College, said Avila, every single class cycle that came through wanted to know what the millennials are doing, what are they drinking, how do we market to them? At Pope Valley Winery, we actually have a millennial who runs the company and that makes us very different.

Eakle explained, We have is our chenin blanc white wine, and our sangiovese red wine. You dont see those everywhere. Thats what people are looking for. The millennials dont want to go where everyone else goes, where you see your typical pinot, chardonnay and your cabernet. You come to Pope Valley and youll discover we are going for something different. Were not just your everyday run-of-the-mill winery.

We want to offer creativity along with authenticity, said Avila. Young people today are looking for something thats real. Something thats honest. Something appropriately priced.

Pope Valley Winery charges $10 for general tasting and their 2012 100 percent cabernet sauvignon is $36, while the estate reserve cab currently sells for $70.

But dont go looking for the Pope Valley brand in your typical retailers; you can buy their wines only online or at the winery.

As someone who had never been that far off the beaten track in Napa County, the ride to Pope Valley was worth it.

Eakle said, for those looking for a special experience, Pope Valley Winery is the place. Visitors come here and they are able to meet me and Bryan, and have a total experience thats kind of different. And its not just walking in here and grabbing a bottle off the shelf. Its walking into a 120-year-old cellar, meeting the winemakers, tasting our wines, having a picnic lunch, listening to music, playing bocce ball and enjoying my time with my friends.

Its a totally kicked back experience and not over the top, Eakle said. We are able to say, Heres our wine, its good quality, enjoy it, and savor the authenticity and the experience. I think those two things collide together to create the experience the millennial is looking for. Were not just another big winery. Here you get to talk with the people who actually grow the grapes, make the wine and the blends, and bottle it. And its not mass-produced, its something special.

Eakle manages all 60 acres of their grapes. I am actually walking the vineyards with my guys every day, he said. We dont just make the wine, we grow the grapes, too.

How do you know if a particular wine is for you, said Avila? At the end of the day, if you put something in your mouth and its yummy, and you can afford it, thats what were most interested in providing our customers. And the idea of having a diverse selection of wines, for example a chenin blanc that is very approachable, not to mention delicious, its not going to break the bank, so you start off with that. Or, you try the rose. We make our sangiovese made into a rose, thats a little bit different.

Tasting something different can lead you to finding a new favorite wine. Or two. Pope Valleys Sangiovese for instance. Were one of the few wineries in the valley that makes a sangiovese, said Avila. There is truly something here for everyone.

Another yummy discovery for me was the Tre Uve (three grapes), which is a blend of cabernet, merlot and sangiovese. Known as a Super Tuscan in the industry, Pope Valley Winery refers to it as its Super Napan.

Every year, we change the percentages in our blends around a little, added Eakle, another higher end blend we make is called our Faultline. I can really use my creative talents as a winemaker here, said Avila, an international winemaker with an impressive portfolio.

Add to those a port wine, a sparking chenin blanc and some fine 100 percent cabernet reserves and merlots fron which to choose.

Eakle said,Weve been in the process of honing down our wine selection since 2009, and Bryan has been a huge attribute in helping that process. Bryan is helping us fine-tune our wines to exactly where we want them. 

There was more of a bulk wine strategy before David came along, explained Avila. He has been trying to clean things up and get everything where it needs to be and were always batting that around.

One thing is for sure, Avila said, we have is we have an old winery with some serious history. Pope Valley is probably one of the first gravity flow wineries in California. I think it would be really cool to get back to those initial roots to taste wines that get back to the original style.
Napa Valley College Estate Wines celebrates the release of its award-winning wines from 3 to 7 p.m. on Friday, May 12, at the Napa Valley Vintners Teaching Winery, located near the Streblow Drive campus entrance.

The public is invited to the free event, which showcases the college Viticulture and winery technology program, recently featured in Sunset Magazine and the Wine Advocate. Event parking near the teaching winery will be free.

Free wine tastings to guests 21 years of age and over will be offered, and VWT scholarship award winners will be recognized. NVC Estate wines will also be offered for sale, including cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, syrah, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc.

To RSVP for the event, use www.nvcwinery.com/Mayfair.

More information about the event and the VWT program is available on the NVC website at www.napavalley.edu or call (707) 256-7710.

Napa Valley College is the site of the first bonded winery located on a community college campus in California. Awarded a winery bond in 2008, the NVC Winery Foundation operates the winery, which is fully integrated into the Viticulture and Winery Technology instructional program at NVC.

All NVC Estate wine produced is made from grapes grown on NVCs six-acre estate vineyard on the NVC campus. Every aspect of the winemaking process is completed on the campus in the colleges winery and cellar facilities.

The proceeds from the sale of NVC Estate Wines are used to support the educational mission of the NVC Viticulture and Winery Technology Department, directly assisting NVC to train future Napa Valley grapegrowers and winemakers.
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"The talks are under way. The Russian delegation has headed for Egypt to discuss a possible deal with the Egyptian side and submit quotations concerning the communications and control equipment," the source said.

TASS does not have any official confirmation of the information.



Russian presidential aide for military and technical cooperation Vladimir Kozhin said earlier that Russia had offered Egypt advanced weapons and electronic warfare and communications systems for the Mistral-class ships.



A spokesman for the United Instrument-Manufacturing Corporation said that the communications and control equipment was almost ready for shipment to Egypt and could be delivered as quickly as possible if the relevant contract was signed.



Russia may also deliver the Kamov Ka-52K shipborne version of the Ka-52 Alligator (NATO reporting name: Hokum-B) helicopter to Egypt. The Ka-52K helicopter was developed specifically for the Mistral-class ships.

In October 2015, Sergei Ivanov, then-Russian presidential chief of staff, said that Egypt might purchase Russian-made helicopters and equipment designed for the Mistral-class ships for more than $1 billion.



The Mistral ships Egypt has received this year were initially intended for Russia. The construction of the two Mistral-class universal amphibious assault ships began in the French town of Saint-Nazaire in 2011 on order of Russias Navy. The first ship was designated as Vladivostok and the second was dubbed Sevastopol. In November 2014, French President Francois Hollande suspended the helicopter carriers handover at the very last moment over Moscows stance on developments in Ukraine and the Western sanctions imposed against Russia. The contract was fully annulled in the summer of 2015. As a result, Paris paid Moscow 949.7 million in compensation and then sold the Mistral-class ships to Egypt.



Egypt refused to equip the Mistral-class ships with European or US helicopters. Later, Russia offered Egypt advanced weapons and electronic warfare and communications systems for the Mistral-class amphibious assault ships.



 Copyright 2017 TASS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.




It also does not reflect the views of the Firm of which the Author is working for.





Since the inception of this blog, the Author has avoided writing views and opinions of his clients or views and opinions which third parties has paid him to write.





The Author has maintained editorial independence since Day One.





Any individual or group affected by the opinions and views of the Author can write the author thru mangubat.patricio@gmail.com.

Opinions and views expressed in this blog are personal views of the Author and does not involve organisations and companies being serviced by the Author as part of his profession as a Strategic Communications professional.
Members of Emorys Serious Communicable Diseases Unit (SCDU) recently attended the first Atlanta screening of Facing Darkness  A True Story of Faith: Saving Dr. Brantly from Ebola in Africa.

The documentary tells the story of how Samaritans Purse dedicated its people and its resources to care for West Africans as the Ebola pandemic swept through their land.

Brantly, an American physician with Samaritan's Purse caring for Ebola victims in a Liberian hospital, was diagnosed with Ebola virus disease in 2014, and was evacuated out of West Africa and to Emory University Hospital for care, becoming the first person with Ebola virus disease treated in the United States.

His colleague, Nancy Writebol, working at the same hospital in Liberia, would soon join Brantly at Emory with the same diagnosis. Emory would go on to treat a total of four patients with Ebola.

Both Brantly and Writebol attended the March 30 documentary showing, as did their Emory care team members  physicians Bruce Ribner, Colleen Kraft and G. Marshall Lyon, along with Sharon Vanairsdale, MS, APRN, program director of the SCDU. The Emory team had the opportunity to visit with their former patients after the movie.

"Facing Darkness" was shown at 725 theaters in 600 cities nationwide on March 30. There was also an encore showing April 10 at theaters around the country. The Samaritans Purse film is expected to be on DVD and Blue-Ray soon. For more information and to watch the trailer, visit the "Facing Darkness" website.
March for Science The March for Science Atlanta, set for this Saturday in Candler Park, has attracted the attention of many Emory scientists and supporters of science. Several Emory students, graduates and faculty have been involved in organizing the event. The marchs director is School of Nursing lecturer Jasmine Clark. The rally location is three blocks from the Candler Park MARTA station. In addition, on Saturday shuttle buses will take Emory riders from Woodruff Circle and drop off at Candler Park Drive and McLendon Avenue. The shuttles will leave campus every 30 minutes starting from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m., and then a second wave will return passengers to Woodruff Circle every 30 minutes from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., according to Emorys Transportation and Parking office. Before the march, the Emory Science Advocacy Network is gathering to make signs in School of Medicine 110 on Thursday at 4 p.m. The School of Nursing is hosting a sign-making party on Friday starting at 11 a.m. in the School of Nursing Plaza Lobby. Many faculty and students from Emory schools, departments and centers have been encouraging colleagues to attend the march.

Editor's note: Cameron Taylor is Emory's vice president for government and community affairs.

There is not much agreement between congressional Republicans and Democrats, but President Donald Trump's administration seems to have tripped on the exact issue that garners significant bipartisan support on Capitol Hill: investment in biomedical research.

The administrations proposal to cut biomedical research funding has elicited a particularly fierce outcry on Capitol Hill. It is a reminder for the research community that, despite last years much-celebrated passage of the 21st Century Cures Act, we cannot rest on our laurels. Continued education and outreach about the value of research funding is critical to the long-term success, sustainability and growth of the biomedical research enterprise.

Three specific proposals have the research community in an uproar:

The White House recently submitted to Congress $18 billion in proposed fiscal year (FY) 2017 domestic discretionary reductions to offset defense funding increases. Given that we are already halfway through the fiscal year (which began Oct. 1, 2016), the impact of cuts of this magnitude would be quite disruptive, to say the least.

The administration has proposed, in its FY2018 budget, a nearly 19 percent cut to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), indicating that the savings can be produced by achieving efficiencies and reducing duplication.

At a March 29 hearing in the U.S. House on the Labor-HHS appropriations bill, HHS Secretary Tom Price mentioned indirect costs as potential source of money to offset the proposed FY2018 NIH cuts.

Each of these three proposals raises major concerns. Together, they signal a significant misunderstanding of how the research biomedical enterprise operates, drives innovation and accelerates cures in this country.

Advocating for research

Emory has been working with a number of association partners to promote the biomedical research enterprise and shape policies pertaining to research.

On Feb. 7, Emory joined 259 institutional partners recommending a funding level for FY2018 that is at least $2 billion above FY2017 for NIH, in addition to funds included in the 21st Century Cures Act for targeted initiatives. Additionally, the letter encourages groups to urge Congress to finalize an FY2017 spending package with $34.1 billion for the NIH, as approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee last June.

Emory has taken this message to Capitol Hill. Jonathan Lewin, president, CEO and chair of the board for Emory Healthcare, and I discussed funding for biomedical research in a March 22 meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Ryan told us that support for NIH was still very strong in Congress and that they would not reverse course after all the work that went into 21st Century Cures last year. Subsequently, he was quoted in the media as saying that the most popular domestic funding we have among Republicans is NIH.

Emory also continues to educate our elected officials about the partnerships between research universities and the federal government. Emory supplements federal dollars to develop cutting-edge research that improves our lives and those of future generations, research that often is either too basic or risky for the private sector.

Last year, Emory researchers received $574.6 million dollars in total research funding: $389.7 million of Emorys research funding came from the federal government, while the remaining 32 percent came from non-federal sources. In turn, Emorys Woodruff Health Sciences Center invested a total of $112.8 million in research costs unrecovered from sponsors last year. These investments range from covering unreimbursed indirect costs of federally funded research to funding internal research awards.

Finally, we have activated the Emory Research Advocacy Network (ERAN) to encourage our faculty, students, alumni and friends to advance the important message that all research needs sustained investment. Learn more here.

Emory is working to leverage our research partnership with the federal government for the greater good. Any cuts to science and research would slow medical progress, eliminate jobs, threaten the careers of young scientists, minimize our nations standing as a global innovation leader, and compromise other key American priorities.

We will continue to work with our partners to advance the message that the health of our nation, as well as the economic vitality of Georgia, depends on the scientific work being done by institutions like Emory.
Emory University has joined 30 other universities around the country in filing a new amicus brief opposing President Donald Trump's second executive order restricting immigration that was issued on March 6.

The brief was filed April 20 in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the case of State of Hawai'i, et al., v. Donald J. Trump, et al.

The same universities also filed an amicus brief March 31 in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit of Maryland, also challenging Trump's second executive order on immigration.

Emory previously joined 16 other research universities in filing an amicus brief opposing the presidents first executive order restricting immigration. The first brief, filed Feb. 13, was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

In the April 20 brief, the universities argue that the executive order harms students, faculty, scholars and the universities themselves.

Each of the universities that joined in the brief "has a global mission and benefits from the contributions of diverse students, faculty, staff and scholars from around the world," the brief notes. "Because [they] seek to educate future world leaders, attract the worlds best scholars, faculty and students, and work across international borders, they rely on their ability to welcome international students, faculty and scholars into their communities."

Restricting immigration hampers those goals, the universities argue.

"Even though the executive order is currently limited to six countries, American universities are already feeling its damaging effects. The order threatens [the universities'] ability to attract the best students, faculty, staff and scholars from around the world, and thus directly affects [their] ability to pursue their missions," the brief states.

The universities "take extremely seriously the safety and security of their campuses and the nation: if [their] campuses were not safe, or the towns and cities in which they are located were not secure, [they] could not maintain their world-renowned learning environments," it says.

The schools believe, however, "that safety and security concerns can be addressed in a manner that is consistent with the values America has always stood for, including the free flow of ideas across borders and the welcoming of immigrants to our universities," the brief concludes.

In addition to Emory, signers include Boston University, Brandeis University, Brown University, Bucknell University, Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western Reserve University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Middlebury College, Northeastern University, Northwestern University, Princeton University, Rice University, Stanford University, Tufts University, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University, Washington University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Yale University.

Back in February, Emory President Claire E. Sterk and 47 other American college and university presidents sent a letter to Trump urging him to "rectify or rescind his initial executive order on immigration.

"Throughout its history, America has been a land of opportunity and a beacon of freedom in the world," the letter stated. "It has attracted talented people to our shores and inspired people around the globe. This executive order is dimming the lamp of liberty and staining the countrys reputation."
16:05

The O Panneerselvam faction of the AIADMK has stepped up its demand for a CBI probe into J Jayalalithaas death, in the wake of its first victory demanding VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakaran's exit from the AIADMK. Even as talks of unification between the OPS faction and the E Palaniswami faction are on, OPS has stated that there can be no merger if this demand is not met.

TTV Dinakarans announcement to step aside, after the majority group within the Sasikala camp decided to keep her family away from party affairs has set the stage for the merger.

The single major issue between the two groups had been O Panneerselvams insistence that no one from the Sasikala family should have anything to do with the party affairs.

While a number of ministers and MLAs from the Sasikala faction had come around to the view that both Sasikala and Dinakaran needed to be eased out of the party, they were still divided on how to go about achieving it.OPS has maintained that not once were they allowed to see Jayalalithaa in hospital though they had stayed put at the hospital all along. The Sasikala camp did not even listen to suggestions that Jayalalithaa should be taken to the UK or the US for treatment, OPS had claimed.
TOKYO: Scientists have developed a new mind-reading technology that can predict a person's thoughts by analysing their brainwaves, an advance that may allow speech-impaired people to communicate.

The technology can recognise the numbers zero to nine with 90 pct accuracy using electroencephalogram (EEG) readings while the subject utters the numbers.

It can also recognise 18 types of Japanese monosyllables from EEG signals with 60 pct accuracy, demonstrating the possibility of an EEG-activated typewriter in the near future.

The research group from Toyohashi University of Technology in Japan collected EEG data of subjects speaking Japanese digits and monosyllables. Using this data, the group conducted digit and monosyllable recognition experiments.

Up until now, speech decoding via EEG signals has been inhibited by a lack of data to allow the use of powerful algorithms based on deep learning or other types of machine learning.

The research group has developed a different research framework that can achieve high performance with a small training dataset.

The new framework is based on holistic pattern recognition using category theory, or composite mapping, in which a dual space and a tensor space including exterior algebra are introduced.

In the experiment of spoken-digit recognition from EEG signals, 90 pct recognition accuracy was achieved.

At the same time, 61 pct accuracy in 18 Japanese monosyllable recognition was achieved, outperforming previous research efforts.

Humans have sufficient intelligibility of sentences with an 80 pct monosyllable recognition rate.

Researchers aim to develop a brain computer interface that recognises unvoiced speech, or speech imagery. This technology may enable handicapped people who have lost the ability of voice communication to speak once again.

It is also expected that the technology would give a healthy person the most natural interface without any limitations.

The research group plans to develop a device that can be easily operated with fewer electrodes and connected to smartphones within the next five years.

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New Arts Jazztet spring concert is Sunday

CARBONDALE, Ill.  The New Arts Jazztet, a top-flight ensemble made up of Southern Illinois University Carbondale faculty musicians, presents its spring concert on Sunday, April 23.

The concert begins at 3 p.m. at Epiphany Lutheran Church, 1501 W. Chautauqua St., Carbondale. Admission is free.

The jazz group will perform an entire program of Professor Phil Browns compositions in honor of his upcoming retirement from SIU Carbondales School of Music, as well as a tribute to his career and his contributions to the New Arts Jazztet.

Selections will include many older favorites as well as a new work for the occasion. The concert is presented as a part of Jazz Appreciation Month. The month was created by the Smithsonian Museum of American History and is officially celebrated worldwide every April. This is the 16th year of the Jazz Appreciation Month campaign.

The New Arts Jazztet (NAJ) was formed in 1984 among several School of Music faculty and has been in residence from that time. The group has recorded on three CDs, all released by Brown, the bassist, who joined the faculty in 1991. The most recent, CD, Arkadia, released in October 2014, found its way onto the national Top 50 Jazz chart for radio airplay for a number of weeks in early 2015.

Current NAJ members are Brown, Dick Kelley, reeds; Bob Allison, trumpet; Isaac Lausell, guitar; Mel Goot, piano, and Jimmy Beers, drums.

Additional background information, including member biographies, is available at http://cola.siu.edu/music/ensembles/faculty-ensembles/new-arts-jazztet.php.
Texas A&M law professor to discuss Cairo civil rights movement

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill.  A law professor who was once involved in the civil rights movement in Cairo in the early 1970s while working as a substitute teacher there will discuss her experiences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Carol Pauli, an associate professor at the Texas A&M University School of Law, will present A Civil Rights Remembrance, as part of the Deans Colloquium at the SIU School of Law. The lecture is at 12:20 p.m., Monday, April 24, in the Hiram H. Lesar Building Courtroom.

The event is free and open to the public.

Media Advisory

Reporters, photographers and news crews are welcome to cover the lecture. To arrange for interviews prior to the lecture or for more information on the event, contact Alicia Ruiz, the law schools director of communication and outreach, at 618/453-8700 or aruiz@law.siu.edu

Pauli is working on a personal memoir set against a civil rights class action lawsuit that originated in Cairo and reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973, where Pauli watched oral arguments. The case was brought by civil rights lawyers who alleged the countys judicial system was guilty of racial bias and systematically violating the U.S. Constitution. In January 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against the plaintiffs, holding that the federal court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because the plaintiffs did not show they had been harmed or would be harmed in the future.

Pauli is a former broadcast, television and newspaper journalist; graduating from the University of Evansville with a bachelors degree in sociology. It was there that she worked as a general assignment reporter and feature writer for the Evansville Courier & Press, and later for the Decatur Herald & Review from 1969 to 1971. She then gained her teaching certificate in English from SIU Carbondale in 1971 and taught for three years in Alexander County. Paulis journalism experience includes later working as a staff writer, editor and producer at CBS News in New York, and writing and editing broadcast news scripts for the Associated Press.

Pauli said she wanted to be directly involved in the civil rights issues happening in Cairo in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and spent the summer of 1971 at SIU to take courses needed for an Illinois teaching certificate. She did student teaching in Mounds, about seven miles north of Cairo, living in a rural African American neighborhood in a home with no running water or heat.

Pauli spent three years as a substitute teacher in Cairo and worked in a sickle cell anemia program there. While she wasnt reporting at the time, I couldnt help taking notes, she said.

Pauli earned a masters degree in journalism in 1975 from Columbia University, and her law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2007. Her experience also includes serving as an associate instructor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, a specialist with the U.S. Information Agency in Washington, D.C., an assistant professor at Marist College and associate professor at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law.

Pauli said shes grateful to return to SIU to discuss her experiences in Cairo.

I treasure my friendships among the civil rights crowd I met in Cairo. While writing and remembering, I have continually been struck by the generosity and sheer endurance of the African Americans we knew there, she said.
After water reporting institute, stories keep flowing

All over the University of Florida campus, researchers grapple with how to meet the worlds ever-increasing need for access to clean, fresh water. For a group that convened at the College of Journalism and Communications in November 2015, however, the challenge was how to convey water issues to the public.

At Covering Water in a Changing World, a McCormick Specialized Reporting Institute, journalists from print, digital and broadcast outlets around the country gathered to learn from UF scientists, visiting experts and communications professors, including Ann Christiano, UFs Karel Endowed Chair for Public Interest Communications, and author Cynthia Barnett, UFs Environmental Journalist in Residence, who organized the institute.

Over a year later, the lessons from the event continue to inform participants coverage, with stories in outlets such as National Public Radio, Bloomberg BNA and the Christian Science Monitor, tapping into the insight they gained on topics like algae blooms, public utilities and extreme weather. Paddling on the Ichetucknee River with scientists, participants saw the links between groundwater and surface water firsthand.

It's helped me research many stories since, said Texas-based freelancer Lana Straub, whose story on groundwater pollution aired on the Texas Standard, a group of 20 stations around the state. Straub also worked with reporters she met at the institute to apply for a Spotlight Investigative Journalism Fellowship focusing on water infrastructure. She didnt win this time, but shes hoping to gather a team of institute alumni to apply again.
Japanese government bond prices slipped on today on the back of a retreat in US Treasuries, although a well-received 20-year debt auction helped limit losses.The benchmark 10-year JGB yield was 1 basis point higher at 0.010 percent after rising to 0.015 percent earlier. The yield remained within shot of zero percent, a five-month low touched on Wednesday.The 20-year yield was a basis point higher at 0.565 percent.The bid-to-cover ratio, a gauge of demand, at Thursday's one trillion yen ($9.18 billion) 20-year auction rose to 4.06 from 3.78 at the previous sale in March.The new 20-year JGBs attracted investor demand with several factors currently supporting the debt market, like tensions in the Korean Peninsula and concerns about the French presidential elections.Treasury yields rose with their prices dipping overnight as a rally that had sent yields to five-month lows at the start of the week petered out. ($1 = 108.9600 yen)REUTERS CJ -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-861329.Xml
Modi will inaugurate the 14th United Nations Day of Vesak celebration in Sri Lanka on May 12, an important Buddhist festival.

The Vesak festival would be held from May 12 to 14. The opening ceremony would be held at Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), while the closing ceremony will be held in Kandy.

Several countries have been invited for the UN Day of Vesak celebration in Sri Lanka, which is being held under the theme Buddha's Teachings, Social Justice and Sustainable World Peace.

The celebration are being held in Sri Lanka for the first time in 13 years.

Prime Minister Modi will be hosting a luncheon meeting with Wickremesinghe here on April 26.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari will call on the Sri Lankan leader.

Last year, Ranil was on on a three-day official visit to India from October 4-6 to attend the opening plenary of the India Economic Summit.

During the visit, both countries are likely to discuss the dispute over fishing activities in the Palk Bay and cooperation in the shipping and port sector.

--IANS rs/rn

( 241 Words)

2017-04-20-22:26:11 (IANS)
Governor Chelyabinsk Region Russia, Boris Dubrovsky on Thursday invited the Indian industry to explore the investment opportunities in the Chelyabinsk Region of Russia, which offers tax incentives to foreign investors. Speaking at an interactive session organized by FICCI, Boris Dubrovsky held out the assurance that the Chelyabinsk Region would cooperate with the Indian businesses and their investment will be fully protected. He said that Indian investments in Russia were estimated at USD eight billion and Russian investments in India totaled about USD three billion. "The volume of trade needed to be scaled up, he said adding that there was a need to promote new opportunities for economic and trade cooperation and promote the International North-South Transport Corridor, which would reduce the transit time by almost 40 per cent between India and Russia," he said. Governor Dubrovsky said that the industrial development of the region was determined by the metallurgical, car-building, fuel-energy, construction, agricultural-industrial complexes. Besides, the region had rich and varied natural resources and qualified work resources. He added that the level of investment cooperation between the two countries had been extremely low and added that the Chelyabinsk Region had some ready potential investment projects which Indian industry could consider for investment. "India and Russia enjoyed stable economic ties and India with its growing market offered ample business opportunities. India and Russia's multifaceted relationship also focused on economic advancement and the leaders of India and Russia were eager to develop this relationship further," said Charge d'Affairs Embassy of Russia in India, Anatoly Kargapolov. "Interactive session and B2B meetings scheduled for the day should conclude with concrete results," added Kargapolov. "There have been several business delegations from both sides visiting varied regions in India and Russia respectively. This underlines that the industry of India and Russia were eager to forge partnerships and alliances and were exploring new areas of cooperation. He added that the B2B meetings that were taking place between India and Chelyabinsk Region businesses would be fruitful," said Trade Commissioner Trade Representation of Russia in India, Yaroslav Tarasyuk. Earlier in 2016, 19 MoUs were exchanged between the leaders of India and Russia in Goa. It was time for the industry on both sides to leverage these MOUs and develop business opportunities. (ANI)
On December 6, 1992, a large crowd of Hindu Kar Sevaks demolished the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The demolition occurred after a political rally at the site turned violent. The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) organised a rally at the site involving 150,000 volunteers, known as ''kar sevaks''. The rally turned violent, and the crowd overwhelmed security forces and tore down the mosque. A subsequent inquiry into the incident found 68 people responsible for the demolition, including several leaders of the BJP and the VHP. The demolition also resulted in several months of inter-communal rioting between India''s Hindu and Muslim communities, causing the death of at least 2,000 people. There were two sets of cases relating to the Babri Masjid demolition. The first involved unnamed ''karsevaks'', the trial of which is taking place in a Lucknow court, while the second set of cases relate to the BJP leaders, including LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, in a Raebareli court. The CBI had chargesheeted Advani and 20 others under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between classes), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505 (false statements, rumours etc. circulated with the intent to cause mutiny or disturb public peace) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It had subsequently invoked charges under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, which was quashed by the special court whose decision was upheld by the high court. Here is the sequence of events related to the case so far: April 19, 2017: The Supreme Court revived conspiracy charges against L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and 13 others in the 25-year-old Babri Masjid demolition cases. April 6, 2017:The Supreme Court indicated that it will use its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to transfer the Babri Masjid demolition related trial in Rae Bareilly against top BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi to Lucknow, where a CBI court is hearing conspiracy and other serious criminal charges against "lakhs of unknown kar sevaks" for the actual act of razing down the 15th century mosque. March 23, 2017: A Supreme Court Bench of Justices P.C. Ghose and Rohinton Nariman posted for detailed hearing the CBI appeal against the dropping of the criminal conspiracy charge against veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani and other top party leaders after two weeks. March 21, 2017: Suggesting an out-of-court rapprochement among rival parties in the 68-year-old Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute, Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar advised peace negotiations instead of a pitched court battle, even offering help to settle the fight amicably. March 6, 2017: Supreme Court indicates it may revive conspiracy charge and order a joint trial of crimes 197 and 198. December 25, 2014: Oldest litigant in Babri Masjid case passes away Mohammad Farooq, a resident of Ayodhya, was one of the seven main litigants from Muslim side in the 1949 Babri Masjid case. May 9, 2011: Supreme Court stays Allahabad High Court verdict on Ayodhya dispute. February, 2011: CBI moves Supreme Court. Argues that "the actual demolition of the Babri Masjid and the continuous assault on media persons form a single connected transaction and can well be a concerted conspiracy". September 30, 2010: Allahabad HC awards two-thirds of Ayodhya site to Hindu parties, one-third to Waqf Board. May 20, 2010: Advani, others absolved of conspiracy charges May 4, 2001: Special Judge S.K. Shukla drops conspiracy charge against 13 accused, including Advani and Kalyan Singh. Bifurcates Crimes 197 and 198.Allahabad HC upholds May 4, 2001 special court order, dismisses the CBI''s revision petition for a direction to proceed with the conspiracy charge against Advani and others. 1994: Case goes back to Lucknow Bench of HC, suits heard again from 1996. October, 1993: CBI files a composite charge sheet and accuses Advani and other leaders of ''conspiracy'' 1993: Govt. takes over 67 acres of land around the area, seeks SC''s opinion on whether there existed a Hindu place of worship before the structure was built. December 1992: Babri Masjid demolished by a frenzied mob of karsevaks. Two FIRs filed in the Babri Masjid demolition case. Crime no. 197 deals with actual "demolition of the mosque by karsevaks." Crime no. 198 named L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and others for ''communal'' speeches before the demolition. 1991: U.P. govt. acquires land around the structure for convenience of devotees who attend Ram Lalla darshan. 1989: The four suits pending were transferred to the High Court. 1986: District judge orders locks be removed. Site opened for Hindu worshippers. 1959: Nirmohi Akhara files third suit, seeking direction to hand over charge of the disputed site. U.P. Sunni Central Wakf Board files fourth suit in 1961 for declaration and possession and fifth in 1989 in the name of Ram Lalla Virajman for declaration and possession. 1950: Paramahansa Ramachandra Das files a suit for continuation of pooja and keeping idols in the structure. 1950: Gopal Simla Visharad files first suit in Faizabad civil court for rights to perform pooja to Ram Lalla. 1949: Idols of Ram Lalla are placed surreptitiously under the central dome. (ANI)
Sajjan arrived at the Golden Temple complex and was received by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) President Kirpal Singh Badungar and other members.

The Minister offered prayers inside the sanctum sanctorum and listened to hymns. He also took a 'parikrama' (went around the shrine) and sat there awhile.

The first Sikh to become the Defence Minister of a western nation, Sajjan, 46, was later honoured by the SGPC at the shrine complex with a 'siropa' (traditional honour) and presented a replica of the Golden Temple and a sword.

Sajjan arrived in the Sikh holy city on Wednesday evening amid controversy over him being labelled as a "Khalistani sympathiser" by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

He was received at the airport by the district administration officers. Members of some radical groups were also present outside the Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport with banners to welcome Sajjan.

The Minister's family hails from Bambeli village, 15 km from Hoshiarpur. His family had migrated to Canada in mid-1970s, when Sajjan was around five years old.

He is likely to visit his native village and then arrive in Chandigarh.

Amarinder Singh had stirred a controversy last week when he said that he would not meet the visiting Canadian Minister due to his (Sajjan's) links to radical elements who demand for a separate Sikh state, Khalistan.

In New Delhi, Sajjan sought to play down the controversy on Tuesday saying that he did not want the break-up of any country.

The Shiromani Akali Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have welcomed Sajjan to Punjab and have condemned Amarinder Singh for his stand on the Canadian Minister.

--IANS js/qd/in

( 307 Words)

2017-04-20-08:30:08 (IANS)
A day after the Border Security Force (BSF) dismissed the viral video of poor food conditions for the army, Tej Bahadur Yadav on Thursday said his fight is for all the soldiers, adding that he is confident of getting justice. "I have given proof of the food but I did not get justice. I will go to the court. I am confident of getting justice. I will fight for the soldiers till my last breath. Complaints had come earlier as well but no one paid heed to that. It was my duty to reveal it to the government," Yadav told ANI. Yadav said he raised his voice so that the coming generation does not face the same situation in the army. "The officials had kept me locked and I was not allowed to talk to my family. I was given my phone when I went to the court," he added. A visibly disappointed Yadav earlier in the day requested the government to support him and asserted that if he did not get the support, he would move the judiciary. Yadav yesterday said that he will move the High Court over the matter and seek justice. He received his dismissal orders yesterday and moved out of the cantonment with his belongings in a three-ton truck. The Summary Security Force Court (SSFC) dismissed Yadav from service for posting a video regarding substandard food being served to the jawans. Bahadur was found guilty of all the charges and awarded dismissal from service. As per the BSF Act and Rules, he can now submit a petition or appeal against the punishment to the higher headquarters within three months. During the proceedings, all opportunities were given to the individual for his defence. Bhadur had earlier uploaded a video about quality of food in BSF which had gone viral on social media. In the video that had sparked a nationwide outrage, Yadav, a BSF soldier of the 29 battalion Seema Suraksha Bal, was seen exposing the rot in the system by revealing the deeply ingrained corruption in the higher order, saying that the troops are not even getting basic three square meals. (ANI)
Close on the heels of murder of Koodapakkam Congress Block President Mayavan by a gang hired by his first wife, an All India N R Congress functionary was hacked to death at Sanyasikuppam near Thirubhuvanai near here last night. According to police,Velazhagan (44) an N R Congress functionary of Chinnapet went to Kothapurinatham to attend a family function. On return, he went to his farm house on Sanyasikuppam road. As soon as he alighted from his car, unidentified persons hiding inside the campus of his farm house hurled country made bombs at him. As he fell down, they hacked and left the place after confirming his death. Passersby informed the Thirubhuvanai police who seized the body and sent it to the government general hospital for post-mortem. A case was registered and investigation is underway. Senior Superintendent of Police Rajiv Ranjan along with finger print experts visited the area. Velazhagan was a real estate owner as well as labour contractor. Rivalry in business is said to be the cause for the murder. Tension prevailed in the area as his supporters hearing the news of his death blocked the road in the area and started attacking the passing vehicles. Following this, heavy police pickets have been posted in the area.UNI PAB CS 1015 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-861334.Xml
From tomorrow the sprawling Raj Bhavan campus,housing various varieties of flora and fauna, would be opened for public viewing during weekends. Raj Bhavans across the country have generally been inaccessible to common man. A few parts of the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Mumbai Raj Bhavan have been open to the public for viewing. Considering that Raj Bhavan Chennai has got a long history and heritage, which everyone would be curious to know and experience,Tamil Nadu Governor CH Vidyasagar Rao has ordered for opening of the sprawling campus for public viewing. ''I am glad to inform you that general public will have the opportunity to visit Raj Bhavan, Chennai hereafter as done in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi and Raj Bhavan, Mumbai'', the Governor siad. ''This will provide an opportunity for the public not only to see this historic place but to feel oneness with nature and enjoy the green cover. Opening of Raj Bhavan, with good green cover in the heart of the city, will also help the visitors to know their tree friends and the variety of flora and fauna'', Mr Vidyasagar Rao added. ''It is my pleasure to invite the public to visit Raj Bhavan Chennai. It will be opened for public from tomorrow'', he said, adding, all that one has to do was to go to the Raj Bhavan website and register their names'', the Governor said. MORE UNI GV CS 1039 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-861361.Xml
Mr Theeva Neethi Das, Secretary to Lt.Governor Kiran Bedi had submitted his written reply to the privilege committee last evening on the privilege issue raised against him. It may be noted that the former Puducherry Municipal Commissioner Chandraskeran was kept under compulsory wait on a privilege issue. However, Mr Chandrasekeran assumed office again following Mr.Theeva Neethi Das handing over him a note from the Lt.Governor asking Chandrasekeran to continue as the Municipal Commissioner. This prompted the privilege committee to send a notice to Mr Das to appear before it and he appeared before the committee on April 6 when he was directed to give his stance in writing before April 20. In the meantime, Mr Das moved the Madras High court seeking a stay on the notice sent by the privilege committee, which was refused by the High court. In the wake of this, Mr Das appeared before the committee and submitted his written reply on the privilege issue. The committee will examine the reply and initiate suitable action against Mr Das.UNI PAB CS 1049 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-861364.Xml
World finance leaders are gathering on U.S. President Donald Trump's home turf on Thursday to try to nudge his still-evolving policies away from protectionism and show broad support for open trade and global integration.The International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings bring the two multilateral institutions' 189 members face-to-face with Trump's "America First" agenda for the first time, just two blocks from the White House."These meetings will all be about Trump and the implications of his policies for the international agenda," said Domenico Lombardi, a former IMF board official who is now with the Centre for International Governance Innovation, a Canadian think-tank.He added that IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde is aiming to "socialize" the new administration to the IMF's agenda and influence its policy choices.The IMF in particular has sounded warnings against Trump's plans to shrink U.S. trade deficits with potential measures to restrict imports, arguing in its latest economic forecasts that protectionist policies would crimp global growth that is starting to gain traction.Trump administration officials are now pushing back against such warnings by arguing that other countries are more protectionist than the United States.Trump launched the week by signing an executive order to review "Buy American" public procurement rules that have long offered some exemptions under free trade agreements, and by lashing out at Canadian dairy restrictions.In addition to warnings on trade, the IMF on Wednesday unveiled two studies pointing out dangers from fiscal proposals that Trump is considering. These included warnings that his tax reform ideas could fuel financial risk-taking and raise public debt enough to hurt growth.Making tax reforms "in a way that does not increase the deficit is better for growth," added IMF fiscal affairs director Vitor Gaspar.The advice may simply be ignored, especially after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last month insisted that an anti-protectionism pledge be dropped from a Group of 20 communique issued in Baden-Baden, Germany, said Eswar Prasad, former head of the IMF's China department"The IMF has little leverage since its limited toolkit of analysis-based advice, persuasion, and peer pressure is unlikely to have much of an impact on this administration's policies," said Prasad, now an international trade professor at Cornell University.Mnuchin's decision against naming China a currency manipulator last week removed one concern for the IMF ahead of the meeting.Lagarde also noted on Wednesday that the IMF would listen to all of its members, and work for "free and fair" trade . Lagarde is set to interview Mnuchin on stage during the meetings.REUTERS CJ -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-861355.Xml
Three suspected terrorists were today arrested by a joint team of Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Delhi Police special cell in a joint operation carried out by police teams from across five states.The arrests were made from Mumbai, Jalandhar in Punjab and Bijnore in UP. Six others detained were being interrogated. ATS sources here said the detentions were made from Mumbai, Jalandhar, Narkatiaganj in Bihar and Bijnore and Muzaffarnagar in UP. Those arrested are suspected to be part of terror module that were looking for potential recruits. UP ATS along with police officers from the five states-Mumbai (Maharashtra), Jalandhar (Punjab), Narkatiyaganj (Bihar), Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh) carried out the operation.UNI MB SV AE 1140 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0103-861426.Xml
The Meghalaya government will amend the provisions of the Meghalaya Municipal Act, 1973, to enable the Government to hold polls in 'normal areas'. "We will amend the Act after examining the relevant rules to enable the government to hold polls at European Ward, Jail Road and Police Bazar, among others," Urban Affairs Minister Ronnie Lyngdoh said. The Meghalaya High Court had recently directed the government to make efforts to carry out all the necessary processes with utmost expedition and in priority to hold Shillong Municipal Board elections. The Division bench of the High Court comprising of Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice Ved Prakash Vaish, however, expressed satisfaction with the government carrying out its responsibilities as regards holding of Municipal elections but the same could only be held in accordance with the constitutional mandate. "The State Government did make efforts to hold the elections but the actual process did not materialise for the reasons over which, the government might not be carrying total control," the order stated. UNI RRK BM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0214-861401.Xml
A suspected Bangladeshi national, who allegedly intruded into Meghalaya has succumbed to his injuries after being assaulted by villagers on Tuesday night, police said today. The unidentified victim entered Dalu village of West Garo Hills and was spotted by villagers a little past midnight. He was caught and assaulted after he failed to prove his identity. Police said they found the victim lying in an unconscious state near Dapgre village and taken to Dalu health centre for treatment the same night. Yesterday, he was shifted to Tura civil hospital for treatment but succumbed to his injuries late in the afternoon.UNI RRK BM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0214-861403.Xml
A joint team of Anti-Terrorism Squads (ATSs) from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh arrested a terror suspect near Indo-Nepal border in West Champaran district today. Police said here that the terror suspect was nabbed from his hideout at Belwa village under Sathi police station area following a specific intelligence input. After his arrest, the terror suspect was taken to the police station under tight security cover for interrogation. Officers from Anti-Terrorism Squads subjected the terror suspect to intensive interrogation to verify his antecedents and also his alleged involvement in various subversive activities including derailment of trains in Kanpur claiming lives of hundreds of people last year. West Champaran Police Superintendent Vinay Kumar is also interrogating the terror suspect at the police station. Meanwhile, senior police officers are tight lipped about the arrest of the terror suspect and even mediapersons have been barred from entering Sathi police station premises.UNI XC-DH AKM 1418 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-861619.Xml
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in Patna High Court seeking countermanding of elections of RJD Chief Lalu Prasad`s sons Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswai Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav for not declaring their properties and assets worth crores of rupees at the time of filing nomination papers during the last Assembly election. The petitioner Manibhushan Pratap Sengar also sought CBI probe into the declared as well as undeclared properties of Tejaswi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav along with their family members and also confiscation of undeclared properties and also filed criminal cases against them under Benami Property Transaction Prohibition Act, 1988 as per law. The petition was filed in the court of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon seeking to declare elections of Tejaswi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav null and void due to violation of section 125 (A) of the Representation of the People Act. While Tejaswi was elected to the state Assembly from Raghopur constituency, his eldest brother Tej Pratap was elected from Mahua constituency on RJD tickets in the last state Assembly election.UNI DH-IS AKM 1506 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-861681.Xml
Earlier on April 13, the warrant was issued after Naik failed to present himself before the Enforcement Directorate.

The Enforcement Directorate claimed before the court that they had sent four summons to Naik to which there has been no response.

It is believed that Naik is currently staying in Saudi Arabia.

The Enforcement Directorate may now seek Letters Rogatory (letters of request) from a court in Saudi Arabia for judicial assistance in getting Naik back home for interrogation.

He is said to have been inspiration behind last July's terror attack on an upscale cafe in Dhaka. (ANI)
"DPCC President, @ajaymaken registered a complaint against Delhi CM on the basis of Shunglu Committee report," official twitter handle of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee informed this through a post.

Mr Maken in his four-page complaint submitted to the Office of the Commissioner of Police sought registration of FIR against Mr Kejriwal and his Cabinet Ministers, and other officers of the State Government, who have been indicated in the three-member Shunglu Committee report, under sections 120-B, 409 of Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act.

The state Congress chief was accompanied by other leaders of the party at the Delhi Police Headquarters to submit the complaint.

The complaint by Mr Maken against Mr Kejriwal and other comes at a time when only three-days are left for the polling to the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi.

UNI DS ADG 1822

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"An accused, resident of Village Khidora, District Morena of Madhya Pradesh was arrested in a case related to Vyapam on the basis of non-bailable warrant issued by the Court of Special Magistrate of Vyapam cases," a CBI release said.

The CBI said that the accused did not appear even after receipt of notice at the time of filing of supplementary chargesheet on April 10.

"He was the candidate for PCRT Examination, 2012 conducted by Vyapam and also was charge sheeted under Indian Penal Code sections and Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 1937 along with the solver and a middleman," it said.

The CBI said that arrested accused was produced before a Special Magistrate in Gwalior of Madhya Pradesh.UNI DS ADG 1843

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Union Minister for Law and Justice and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad suggested to Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh that creating an enabling environment for digital revolution in the state was must for its progress and development. The suggestions came during a meeting Captain Amarinder Singh had with Mr Prasad, according to an official spokesperson of the Punjab Government.Mr Prasad suggested to the Chief Minister that the Punjab government should pitch for the central government funded and aided projects in the field of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and electronic manufacturing to fast-track its growth.Evincing keen interest, Mr Singh directed Chief Principal Secretary Suresh Kumar to guide the concerned departments to pitch for the central government projects for digitalization and development of electronic manufacturing facilities in the state.The Chief Minister responded positively to the Union Minister's suggestion for extending the central government's Dalit entrepreneurship project to the state as a step towards empowerment of the Dalits a key manifesto promise of his government. The central government's ''Stand Up India'' Initiative is aimed at creating 2.5 lakh new entrepreneurs in the SC/ST and women categories.Mr Prasad was of the view that the programme would take forward the Captain Amarinder government's vision to build an inclusive society with empowered backward classes and SCs/STs.Captain Amarinder said the central government's support in this regard would make a significant positive impact on the state's development agenda. He agreed that digitization held the key to Punjab's progress, besides emerging as a vital tool in the generation of employment for the large number of unemployed youth in the state.UNI SY SHK 2010 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0093-862253.Xml
Days after grabbing all eyeballs for assaulting an Air India staffer, the Shiv Sena MP was on Thursday finally seen travelling in the business class of the national aircraft after the ban imposed on him was lifted. However, earlier today, the national carrier had written a letter to the Delhi Police asking why there was a delay in taking any action against Gaikwad in its staffer assault case, AI sources said. An FIR was registered in the matter, following the incident on March 23. It was reported that the airline said that the morale of the employees was being impacted as no action was initiated against the MP despite nearly a month after the incident. However, there was no official comment from Air India or the Delhi Police. Gaikwad is accused to have assaulted an Air India staffer inside an aircraft at the Delhi airport on March 23. The national carrier as well as other domestic airlines then barred him from taking their flights. Earlier this month, the ban was revoked after the MP wrote a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju expressing regret over the incident. In the aftermath of the incident, refusing to apologise to the Air India official whom he allegedly thrashed, Gaikwad said he would only tender an apology from the Parliament for disrespecting its dignity. Asserting that it was a small conflict, Gaikwad said the staff of the airline was mad and around eight such cases of indulging into brawl have been registered against him. (ANI)
Syria's presidential advisor Buthaina Shaba'an said on Wednesday that her government's main ally, Russia, assured the Syrian government that there will be no more US strikes on Syrian military positions. Her remarks came a couple of weeks after the US launched 59 Tomahawk missiles on the Shayrat Air Base in central Syria, in retaliation for an alleged toxic gas attack by the Syrian army on a rebel-held town in Idlib province, Xinhua news agency reported. The Russians "stressed to us that they are standing by Syria, and we understood from them that the American aggression will not be repeated," Shaba'an told pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV in an interview. Further slamming the strike, Shaba'an said the US missile strike was a "reckless aggression that took place without investigation," adding that what the United States is doing today reflects "confusion." The official said that the alleged chemical attack was a setup, citing what she described as western specialists as saying that there was no aerial bombardment on the targeted area in the Khan Sheikhoun town. Shaba'an said the US strike wasn't a military, but a political message, adding that the alliance between Russia, Syria and Iran is "stronger than ever." Meanwhile, the presidential advisor said that the US is in a state of declination, while Russia, China and India are rising high. She said her country was expecting an investigation team from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), stressing that the Syrian government is in no possession of chemical weapons. --IANS qd/ ( 264 Words) 2017-04-20-04:54:10 (IANS)
Hundreds of anti-government opposition protesters in Venezuela clashed with security forces at various points around capital city Caracas on Wednesday. The police fired tear gas to disperse them and blocked their marches, Efe news agency reported. The huge demonstration, in which thousands of government opponents assembled and marched from 26 separate spots around the capital, was dispersed by security forces at several places in the Libertador district. The Libertador district encompasses part of the capital metro area's central and western zones and is the area where key government buildings are located. The demonstrators attempted to approach the office of the Ombudsman to ask for that official's support in the process launched by the opposition-controlled Parliament against the Supreme Court magistrates who took over some legislative duties. The Bolivarian National Police (PNB) used tear gas and rubber bullets along the Francisco Fajardo Highway, the capital's main artery, to try and contain the demonstration there, as well as to disperse other concentrations of protesters in western Caracas. Venezuelan media outlets and reporters confirmed that one young man died after being shot in the head at a protest in San Bernardino, although the details of his death are not yet known. The Attorney General's Office said that two other people were wounded at the protests after suffering multiple injuries and rubber bullet impacts. Opposition leaders urged demonstrators to remain out on the streets despite the heavy police tear gas assault against them. "Here we are out on the street fighting peacefully and repressed by the National Guard (Venezuela's militarized police) but convinced that it's on the street that we'll achieve change. We have to stay out on the street," opposition lawmaker Juan Requesens said. In the eastern district of Bello Monte, the PNB and National Guard managed to drive the demonstrators back, forcing hundreds of them to jump into the polluted Guaire River that flows through the city to escape the police assault. The demonstrations come after almost three weeks of anti-government street protests that now have resulted in seven deaths -- including one police officer -- dozens of injured and more than 500 arrests, of which more than 200 are still in custody, according to the opposition and non-governmental organization Foro Penal Venezolano. --IANS qd/ ( 381 Words) 2017-04-20-04:54:12 (IANS)
United States Vice President Mike Pence avoided a direct answer when asked if the U.S. used any cyber or electronic technology to sabotage Sunday's North Korean missile test. While the nuclear test has yet to happen, Pence pushed the theme of tough talk after Sunday's failed missile launch. "I really can't comment on the electronic and technical capabilities of our military," Pence told CNN aboard the USS Ronald Reagan in Japan. "What I can say is that it failed. It was one more provocation by a regime that continues to flout the use of -- and it's got to come to an end." While Pence would neither confirm nor deny that the U.S. military has the technology to sabotage a North Korean missile launch, cyber experts told CNN that the U.S. has the capability and could execute the action in several different ways. The Trump administration has said that it is reviewing all options on North Korea, including those involving military action, but Defence Secretary James Mattis was also underscoring the need for a non-military solution. "You're aware that the leader of North Korea again recklessly tried to provoke something by launching a missile," he recently told reporters. "It was not an intercontinental ballistic missile, it failed on launch, and it shows why we're working so closely right now with the Chinese." Speculation that the U.S. may have used cyber capabilities to thwart the North Korean missile test comes at a time of escalating rhetoric between the two nations. (ANI)
The US government is considering putting North Korea back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, from which the Pyongyang regime was removed in 2008. "We're reviewing all the status of North Korea, both in terms of state sponsorship of terrorism as well as the other ways in which we can bring pressure on the regime in Pyongyang to re-engage with us," Efe news agency quoted US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as saying. Despite his intention for dialog with the Kim Jong-un regime, Tillerson said that the Trump administration wants to do it "on a different footing than past talks have been held." During President George W. Bush's administration in 2008, the US removed North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, which includes Iran, Syria and Sudan. The end of North Korea's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism was the result of six-party talks among Russia, the US, Japan, China and the two Koreas to end Pyongyang's military nuclear programs. North Korea back then committed to dismantling its Yongbyon nuclear power plant, but in 2009 launched a space rocket with technology that could be used for a long-range missile, prompting condemnation from the United Nations Security Council as well as the return to diplomatic isolation. With Donald Trump in power since January, North Korea has returned to its tactic of missile provocations, while Washington has urged for China's help to bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table, although it has not ruled out the possibility of military action. --IANS qd/ ( 269 Words) 2017-04-20-07:46:07 (IANS)
A string of gun and grenade attacks in southern Thailand that killed two people reflects tension over talks aimed at ending violence there, a conflict monitoring group said on Thursday, warning against similar attacks in future.Thailand's far south has battled a separatist insurgency since 2004, when resistance to Buddhist rule in the Muslim-majority region flared. More than 6,500 people, most of them civilians, have died in separatist violence since.Eight people were wounded in 13 incidents on Wednesday across the provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Songkhla, near Thailand's border with Malaysia. No group has yet claimed responsibility.The attacks follow the Thai government's rejection of a conditional offer for peace talks made this month by one of the main insurgent groups, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN).The violence was the BRN's way of showing it is capable of coordinated strikes as a way to push for peace talks, said Srisompob Jitpiromsri, head of independent monitoring group Deep South Watch."This reflects attempts to create conditions for peace talks in the future," Srisompob, whose group tracks violent incidents in the region, told Reuters."The group is expected to carry out similar attacks periodically, which will likely affect peace dialogues in the long run."A Thai security official blamed the attacks, which targeted security forces and civilians on "people who want to cause chaos", but did not single out the BRN."It looks like their intention wasn't to kill, but rather to cause disorder," Colonel Yutthanam Petchmuang, a spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command, told Reuters.The violence followed coordinated attacks in the region on April 7, just hours after King Maha Vajiralongkorn signed into law a new constitution, as a step towards ending military rule.The new constitution, which critics say will entrench military rule in Thailand, was widely opposed in the south."The BRN is showing that it is the right negotiating partner, which can control and command the fighters on the ground," Rungrawee Chalermsripinyorat, an independent researcher who monitors the conflict, told Reuters.Talks between the government and a handful of shadowy insurgent groups began in 2013, under the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, overthrown in 2014 by the military in the name of ending political turmoil.In February, the government said it had reached a breakthrough pact with MARA Patani, an umbrella group that says it speaks for insurgent groups in the south. Analysts say only a handful of BRN members belong to the group, however.The provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala formed part of an independent Malay Muslim sultanate before being annexed by Thailand in 1909.REUTERS CJ -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-861448.Xml
Ahead of the Supreme Court verdict on the Panama Leaks case, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said he is not waiting for any decision and was elected by people to work. Sharif made these statements while chairing the PML-N's consultative meeting on Wednesday, the Dawn reported. "I am working and will continue to work. Whatever decision is taken by the court, Insha Allah would be better," Sharif was quoted by sources as saying. He told party members that elections in Pakistan will be held as per schedule in 2018. The judgement will be announced by a five-member larger bench, headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa on slew of petitions seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the wake of explosive disclosures of the Panama Papers, reports the Express Tribune. The bench had reserved its verdict on February 23 and said that it will review all angles of the case in detail and then announce a verdict. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq and Awami Muslim League head Sheikh Rashid Ahmed had filed a petition in the apex court to disqualify Sharif for making alleged misstatements in his speech in the National Assembly on May 16 and in his address to the nation on April 5 last year, regarding investments made by his children in offshore companies that led to the purchase of four upscale flats in London. The bench had said that the Panama case verdict will be a long judgement. A member of the larger bench Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan had observed that the Panamagate verdict would not just concern the Sharif family, but it would, in fact, set in motion a law which would last for centuries. Justice Khosa had said that the court will decide the case only after considering the material submitted in the court and will announce its verdict in accordance with the law and the Constitution. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ( PTI) leader Naeem-ul-Haq said that the party is ready to accept the apex court's verdict on the Panamagate case. Echoing similar sentiments, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's leader Talal Chaudhry said, "We will accept the decision." Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who is one of the petitioners in this case, vowed to accept whatever verdict the great judges put forth, adding the further course of action will be discussed with Imran Khan. (ANI)
However, the Court has ordered further probe into the corruption allegations levelled by the opposition based on Panama Paper leaks against the Sharif family.

Highlights of the SC verdict in Panamagate:

1.

The Supreme Court has ordered further investigations into corruption allegations against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif

2.

Has refused to order his removal from office, saying there was insufficient evidence.

3.

The apex court has ordered the formation of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to carry out further investigation.

4.

The JIT will investigate how the funds were transferred to Qatar.

5.

The committee comprising of one senior official each from the FIA, NAB, SECP, SBP, ISI and MI will be tasked to probe the assets.

6.

The apex court has ordered the JIT to present its report every two weeks before a Supreme Court bench.

7.

The court also ordered Sharif and his sons Hasan and Hussein to appear before the JIT as and when required.

8.

The apex court's detailed decision comprised a total of 540 pages.

9.

The apex verdict split 3-2 between the five-member benches.

10. Two dissenting judges were of the opinion that Sharif was dishonest to the nation and should have been disqualified.

11. The Chief Justice said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman had failed to carry out his duties. (ANI)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-19 18:29:03|Editor: xuxin

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COLOMBO, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday promised to provide houses and compensation to the victims in a garbage mountain collapse in Meetotamulla, just outside the capital.

Wickremesinghe, who cut short an official visit to Vietnam and returned to the island country on Wednesday morning, visited the Meetotamulla site where rescue efforts are still going on to search for more bodies buried under mounds of rubbish.

The 300-foot garbage mountain collapsed on Friday evening, burying hundreds of houses and displacing over 1,000 people. Troops have so far been able to recover 32 bodies buried under the rubble.

Over 1, 000 troops have been deployed in the rescue and search missions since Friday evening.

Wickremesinghe promised to put in all efforts to help the victims, saying the government would remove the garbage dump from the area as soon as possible.

Wickremesinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena are also expected to meet later Wednesday to discuss the compensation offered to the families of the victims.

At least five people are still missing. Officials said the search will continue till all the bodies are recovered.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-19 22:20:27|Editor: MJ

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Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong (C) has discussions with Turkey's Sinologists and teachers and students from the Confucius Institutes in Turkey, during a tour of the Confucius Institute at Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey, April 19, 2017. (Xinhua/He Canling)

ISTANBUL, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong Wednesday urged Confucius Institutes in Turkey to facilitate people-to-people exchanges and serve as bridge linking diverse cultures and civilizations.

Liu made a tour of the Confucius Institute at Bogazici University in Istanbul and had discussions with Turkey's Sinologists and teachers and students from the Confucius Institutes in Turkey.

She said it will have a far-reaching and lasting effect to deepen cultural exchanges and advance people-to-people bonds, as envisioned under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The initiative, put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, aims at developing cooperative partnerships with countries along and outside the routes of ancient Silk Road.

It also aims to build a community of shared interests, destiny and responsibility featuring mutual political trust, economic integration and cultural inclusiveness.

Liu urged to improve Chinese teaching and vocational training by adopting teaching methods more acceptable to local people and making the Confucius Institutes integrate more into Turkey for their sustainable development.

She called it a mission of Sinology research and Sinologists to relate to the world about China and advance mutual respect and understanding between various civilizations, thus contributing to the establishment of a cultural structure that will make the world more harmonious.

The Confucius Institute has been set up in more than 140 countries and regions in the world, with more than two million students of all kinds enrolled.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 06:15:44|Editor: MJ

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Irina Bokova, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), is interviewed with Xinhua in Paris, capital of France, on April 18, 2017. China has once again shown strong commitment to promoting cultural dialogues and diversity through its Belt and Road Initiative, said Irina Bokova, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) here on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)

PARIS, April 19 (Xinhua) -- China has once again showed strong commitment to promoting cultural dialogues and diversity through its Belt and Road Initiative, said Irina Bokova, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) here on Wednesday.

In an interview with Chinese media, Bokova described the Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, as a "fascinating project", stressing that the UN agency commends and supports this initiative.

The initiative, having already won the support of over 100 countries and international organizations, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes, which were inscribed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in 2015.

This goal coincides with that of the UNESCO's own Silk Road Project launched in 1988, which is to promote intercultural dialogues and establish links between different cities and civilizations along the historic trade routes, so as to achieve prosperity and harmony, Bokova told reporters.

The UNESCO chief will attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, scheduled for mid-May, which will bring together at least 28 heads of state and government and is expected to yield major outcomes including the signing of cooperative documents between China and around 40 countries and international organizations.

"I'm more than convinced that economic prosperity only cannot bring happiness, sustainability and harmony in societies. We need also the soft power; we need to develop education; we need to develop intercultural dialogues; we need to develop understandings thus bring more social inclusion and equity in societies, and this is where UNESCO brings our contribution," said Bokova.

Recalling her own visits to many historic sites along the Silk Road, Bokova said she has always been amazed by how intercultural dialogues were developed over 2,000 years ago.

"This is something that we should encourage nowadays if we want to see more prosperity, more connectivity, and more mutual understanding among the peoples, which in my view will accompany trade, investment and economic prosperity," she said.

Bokova said she was particularly impressed by the speech by President Xi on his visit to UNESCO Paris headquarters in March 2014, in which the President underlined the importance of the Silk Road and intercultural dialogues, a message that remains highly relevant today.

"It is very relevant because unfortunately we see extremism, we see destruction; we see a different vision of the world. This is why our cooperation with China is so important, and this is why the Belt and Road Initiative is so important," she explained.

She cited examples of the atrocious destructions of the Bamiyan Buddha in Afghanistan in 2001 and the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria earlier this year.

"The extremists destroyed these heritages because they rejected the same view about diversity in the world," she said. "We should educate young people about diversity. We have to prevent violent extremism through supporting heritage, through supporting diversity."

On cooperation between China and UNESCO, Bokova said that the relationship has developed substantially. China already boasts 50 inscribed World Heritages, and has co-organized successful events on creativity and education with the UN agency.

"China's also supporting some of our projects in the least-developed parts of the world, including in Pakistan, in Afghanistan and in western Africa. I think all these bring a lot of substance, and a lot of very concrete examples of how jointly we can change the world for the better," she added.

The UNESCO chief also thanked China for backing the resolution adopted on March 24 by the UN Security Council on protecting cultural heritages amid conflicts, calling it a "landmark decision" that puts the importance of cultural heritages on the global political agenda.

Towards the end of the interview, Bokova cited a Chinese proverb to depict her expectation for the Belt and Road Initiative.

"One tree does not make a forest, and one string does not make music. The moral is that we need a broad international cooperation to bring prosperity to the world," she said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 01:31:33|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, April 19 (Xinhua) -- The White House said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump will host Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Washington on May 3.

The two leaders will "reaffirm the commitment of both the United States and Palestinian leadership to pursuing and ultimately concluding a conflict-ending settlement between the Palestinians and Israel," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said at a daily briefing.

According to a White House statement in March, Trump told Abbas in his first phone call with the Palestinian leader that he personally believed that peace between Palestine and Israel is possible.

In a major departure from the longtime U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Trump said in February that he was open to either a one-state or two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"I'm looking at two-state, one-state, and I like the one that both parties like. ... I can live with either one," Trump said then at a joint press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

However, Trump also asked Netanyahu to "hold back" on building new settlement "for a little bit."

The former U.S. administration under Barack Obama often criticized Israel's continuous expansion of the settlements, which Washington considered as a major obstacle to peace.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 02:31:53|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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RAMALLAH, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump at the White House on May 3, a senior Palestinian official announced Wednesday.

Nabil Abu Rdineh, an aide to Abbas, said in an official statement that during the upcoming meeting with Trump, "President Abbas will express his commitment to a just and comprehensive peace."

"President Abbas is to tell President Trump that a just and comprehensive peace would contribute to achieving peace and security in the region and the entire world," according to Abu Rdineh.

Ahead of Abbas's visit to Washington, a high-ranking Palestinian delegation is scheduled to arrive in U.S. to prepare for the visit.

On March 10, Abbas received a first ever phone call from Trump since the latter took office as U.S. President.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks to the Oval Office after returning to the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Feb 24, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order that asks the government to overhaul a visa program so that American workers will be hired first.

The executive order, dubbed "Buy American and Hire American," also aims to change rules for government purchases to give priority to American products.

"With this action, we are sending a powerful signal to the world: We're going to defend our workers, protect our jobs, and finally put America first," Trump told hundreds of factory workers at the headquarters of Snap-on Inc., a tool manufacturer, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, before signing the document.

"Together, we're going to do everything in our power to make sure more products are stamped with those wonderful words: Made in USA," he said.

The order accords with Trump's campaign promise to review visa programs so as to prioritize American workers. However, instead of taking direct actions for major changes and reforms, the document mainly launched a series of reviews and assessments focused on the controversial H-1B visa program and its lottery system.

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. Many Silicon Valley companies employ large numbers of H-1B holders.

Trump derided the "totally random" lottery system that used to allot H-1B visas to employers, saying it allows companies to undercut American workers by bringing in lower-paid replacements, which drives down wages.

"They should never be used to replace Americans," the president said of the visas.

Defending the H1-B system, many U.S. technology firms said that they cannot find enough skilled American workers, arguing that scrapping the program could cause foreign students studying math and science in the United Sates to leave the country after finishing college or graduate school.

"Highly skilled immigrants create new American jobs, raise wages for native-born workers, and contribute enormously to growing our economy," said Todd Schulte, head of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg's advocacy group FWD.us.

"Congress should expand the number of H-1B visas offered while reforming the system to protect American workers," he was quoted by a The Hill news daily report as saying.

The new executive order also directed federal agencies to review current procurement requirements and step up the effort to limit government purchase to U.S.-made goods.

The order asked government bodies to review and minimize the use of waivers and exceptions to "Buy American" policies, and assess the degree to which waivers included in free trade deals have hurt American workers.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters that the executive order "will make significant progress towards 'Buy American and Hire American,' the cornerstone of Trump's vision for a government that answers to the American workers who built this country."

In contrast, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump's latest move puts profits over people, arguing that the president seems to do what the CEOs want, not what the workers want.

Up to 85,000 H-1B visas are issued annually by the U.S. authorities, but demand has far outstripped supply in recent years, according to local media reports.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) already suspended premium processing for all H-1B visa petitions from April 3. The halt is expected to last up to six months.

Under the current system, a company who is sponsoring a potential employee or current employee's H-1B petition may fill out a form to expedite the processing of that petition. After payment of an additional 1,225 U.S. dollars in charge, USCIS responds typically in 15 calendar days, whereas standard H-1B petitions may take anywhere between three to six months to receive a judgement.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 04:12:31|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, April 19 (Xinhua) -- For the first time, researchers have captured a clear image of a baby star eating what looks like a dusty "space hamburger."

This new image, captured with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile and described Wednesday in the U.S. journal Science Advances, confirmed the formation of an accretion disk of gas and dust around a very young star.

"The disk is nearly edge-on and has a radius of about 60 AUs (astronomical unit)," Chin-Fei Lee, a researcher at Taipei-based Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and colleagues said in a statement.

One astronomical unit is the distance from the Earth to the Sun, or about 150 million kilometers.

"It shows a prominent equatorial dark lane sandwiched between two brighter features, due to relatively low temperature and high optical depth near the disk midplane," they said. "For the first time, this dark lane is seen at submillimeter wavelength, producing a hamburger-shaped appearance."

The new system, named HH212, is in Orion at a distance of about 1,300 light years.

Its central star is only 40,000 years old and has a mass of one fifth of our sun. However, it drives a powerful bipolar jet and thus accretes material efficiently, they researchers said.

Previous search at a resolution of 200 AU only found a flattened envelope spiraling toward the center and a hint of a small dusty disk near the star.

Now with ALMA at a resolution of eight AU, which is 25 times higher, the researchers not only detected but also spatially resolved the dusty disk at submillimeter wavelength.

"It is so amazing to see such a detailed structure of a very young accretion disk," said Lee.

"For many years, astronomers have been searching for accretion disks in the earliest phase of star formation, in order to determine their structure, how they are formed, and how the accretion process takes place.

Now using the ALMA with its full power of resolution, we not only detect an accretion disk but also resolve it, especially its vertical structure, in great detail."

Astronomers have previously thought in the earliest phase of star formation, magnetic fields might slow down the rotation of collapsing material, preventing such a disk from forming around a very young star.

"This new finding implies that the retarding effect of magnetic fields in disk formation may not be as efficient as we thought before," said study co-author Zhi-Yun Li at the University of Virginia.
JOHANNESBURG, April 19 (Xinhua) -- The international rating agency, Standard and Poor's (S&P) stood their ground on Wednesday explaining why they downgraded South Africa's foreign currency ratings to sub investment grade.

Gardner Rusike, Associate Director, Sovereign Ratings and International Public Finance, S&P Global Ratings explained their rating criteria on Wednesday night in Johannesburg. He was addressing academics, business and others.

Rusike is on the rating committee which downgraded South Africa but was quick to point that it was not an individual decision. He said they have a committee which decides on that, and the rising debt in the country puts a lot of pressure on fiscal policy.

Rusike said, "The executive changes made by the president put pressure on the politics and economy. There is also policy uncertainty which is reflected in the division or infighting in the African National Congress (ANC). That is likely to continue until December 2017 (ANC electoral congress). That uncertainty weakens business confidence."

He said the state enterprises have weak balance sheet and in most cases are bailed out by the government. S&P also think the reforms in the state enterprises are very slow to put them in a firm financial position. South Africa will have presidential and parliamentary elections in 2019. In December 2017 the ANC will have a congress to choose the party leader.

Rusike said, "The election year brings uncertainty, it presents government from taking strong decisions or programs they want to do to turn around the economy. This is also affected by weak economic growth. The government and the party (ANC) have to pull in the same direction. There are questions about policy directions and on issue like nuclear by different leader in the same party and government."

He reiterated that political tensions impact policy choices and affect the outcomes of fiscal and economic growth. Responding to questions from the concerned South Africans, Rusike said the circumstances in the United States and South Africa are different.

He said they lowered the United Kingdom by two notches after the Brexit, Turkey after the coup and the United States in 2011. He also gave an example of Brazil where he said they downgraded it after scandals which led to the country going into recession.

Rusike said, "We rate institutions and policy stance. We say what is the future policy stance and direction and the impact on the economy. There are a lot of domestic issues like the radical economic transformation. We allow South Africa to have this discourse and relate it to credit opinion and implications on direction South Africa takes. Where there is a negative direction we flag."

He said they also look at governance and how a country is ranked by international organizations. S&P also look on checks and balance to see if there is independence of the judiciary, institutions like the Central Bank.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 06:13:02|Editor: MJ

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf (L, front) poses with Chinese scientist Yao Tandong (R, front) after awarding 2017 Vega Medal to Yao at the Royal Palace of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, on April 19, 2017. Chinese scientist Yao Tandong received 2017 Vega Medal in Stockholm on Wednesday, recognizing his contributions to research on glaciers and the environment on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. (Xinhua/Fu Yiming)

STOCKHOLM, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientist Yao Tandong received 2017 Vega Medal in Stockholm on Wednesday, recognizing his contributions to research on glaciers and the environment on the Tibetan Plateau.

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf awarded 2017 Vega Medal to Prof. Yao at the Royal Palace of Stockholm on Wednesday afternoon, and congratulated him personally for his outstanding achievements.

Sten Hagberg, chairman of Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography (SSAG) told Xinhua that Yao's "basic researches on 'the Third Pole', monsoon and glaciers" are crucial to the understanding of the process of climate change.

"His researches also concerns more than two billion population, it is a global topic", Hagberg added.

Earlier, SSAG announced Professor Yao as 2017 Vega Medal laureate, for his outstanding contributions to glacier research and to the society at large. His research focuses on glaciers and environment on the Tibetan Plateau, especially within the cryospheric research field.

Yao is internationally acknowledged as one of the most accomplished scientists in the field of cryospheric study.

He has led several research programs -- often together with American, French, German and Japanese scientists -- in the last 20 years. One of his later works shows that global warming, as causing the decline of glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau, interact with Indian monsoon winds and westerly winds. The research program Third Pole Environment (TPE) which is led by Professor Yao, has become internationally significant.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 06:48:07|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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UNITED NATIONS, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Heads of the United Nations and the African Union on Wednesday signed here a joint framework to enhance partnership to better prevent conflict and sustain peace in Africa.

According to the deal, the two organizations will work together to exchange information on root causes of conflict and identify how to address them.

The document also asks the two sides to share early warning information of potential hotspots and prepare options to respond.

In addition, the two sides will consider options to enhance sustainable and flexible financing of AU-led peace support operations under the authorization of UN Security Council.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters here that a common vision and an enhanced cooperation between the two organizations are required under current circumstances to sustain peace, promote inclusive development and protect human rights.

He said the new framework will allow a lot of new forms of cooperation in these areas.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of African Union Commission said the moment has come to make a critical evaluation of weaknesses and strengths in peacekeeping operations on the African continent.

"The most important is to get together, to work, to discuss and to report together. I believe this a new page in cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 06:48:07|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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CHICAGO, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Chicago aldermen floated proposals Wednesday to avoid another airport fiasco like the one in which Chicago Department of Aviation security officers dragged a United Airlines passenger off an over-booked flight on April 9.

Alderman Raymond Lopez of 15th Ward, who worked at Southwest Airlines for 15 years, introduced an order requesting the consolidation of the Department of Aviation's security force into the Chicago Police Department.

Lopez said aviation police have the authority to detain people, but only Chicago police officers have the authority make an arrest. He also proposed to ban city workers from getting on planes unless a crime has been committed or there's a medical emergency.

"As we look at how to better integrate the safety of our airports, again having that single legal authority to act in these situations, I think our liability in the United incident may have been less," Lopez said.

Lopez said the change, which he would like to see happen within 60 days, would allow police at the airports to be armed with guns - something Mayor Rahm Emanuel rejected this week when he said "it's pretty clear that's wrong."

This proposal was immediately dismissed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office. Emanuel spokesman Matthew McGrath said the problem on the plane "was a lack of judgment, not the lack of a weapon, and this wouldn't solve that problem."

The proposals come after a hearing last week on the April 9 dragging incident that brought United and city government negative attention from around the world. The video went viral, showing an aviation officer dragging bloodied passenger David Dao from the plane to make room for an airline employee heading to a work assignment.

United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz on Tuesday said no airline employees involved in the incident will be fired. He said United is conducting its own investigation that will conclude by the end of the month.
BANJUL, April 19 (Xinhua) -- The Chairman of the Gambia's Independent Electoral Commission Alieu Momarr Njai said two political parties including the former ruling party have contested the recent National Assembly elections result, local media reported Wednesday evening.

He said they include the former President Yahya Jammeh's APRC and the newest registered party GDC on the claim that the election was not fair. However, he said none has petitioned the results at the Supreme Court.

"They said the outcome of the results is not accepted by them. They made other complains about some polling booths being very dark inside and others having covers that are too transparent to keep identity and voting of people secret. But we wrote back to say we noted their concerns but that does not affect the results of the elections," election chief said.

"Unofficially, of course we understood that the GDC also has some complains. But their main complaint was that the president went on tour during the campaign period," he added.

According to him, both parties have not made any formal complain to his office as far as the election results are concerned. He said they are free to challenge his institution but as far they are concerned, everything was done fairly and it is transparent as certified by international observers. "Our system is such that you can't rig it".

"We received complaints from APRC in writing that in some polling stations their agents did not sign the results sheets which has no bearing on the accuracy of the results," Njai concluded.

Gambians went to polls on April 6 to elect only 53 candidates out of 239 candidates contested for 53 constituencies. Both the Alliance for Patriotic Re-orientation and Construction and Gambia Democratic Congress won five seats leaving 1 seat to an independent candidate. The National Assembly elections were deemed free and fair by international observers.
WARSAW, April 19 (Xinhua) -- European Council President Donald Tusk was questioned in a prosecutor's office in Warsaw and testified as a witness in an investigation which was related to an issue during the period when he served as Polish prime minister.

The prosecutor's questioning lasted for more than nine hours and ended around 8:20 p.m.local time. At the following press conference, Tusk said he was not entitled to disclose any information regarding it. He added, however, the whole matter was "of a political character."

Tusk expressed that he will cooperate to clear up the issue. Though having immunity, he chose not to invoke it and made himself available for questioning.

"I want to show the best will possible. As long as I am convinced that the point is to clear up the issue, I will be available," he declared before questioning.

During the evening press conference, however, he added that he would use the immunity if he came to a conclusion that certain issues are purposely used against him, making it impossible for him to perform EC President's duties.

The District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw said that "the investigation in which Mr. Donald Tusk is to be heard as a witness is the overruling of the powers by the members of the Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW) management, as a result of establishing cooperation with the foreign service without the required approval of the prime minister."

The website of SKW said that the investigation was initiated regarding in a case concerning the cooperation of SKW with the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB).

PAP reported that SKW and FSB established cooperation on investigation of the plane crash on April 10, 2010 near the Russian city of Smolensk. Besides then Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife, more than 90 senior officials and plane staff died in the crash.
ROME, April 19 (Xinhua) -- An ongoing battle between French media giant Vivendi and Italy's Mediaset heated up Wednesday after Italy's telecoms authority ruled the group led by Vincent Bollore violated an Italian law banning the excessive concentration of media properties in the hands of a single owner.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, Italy's Communications Guarantees Authority (AgCom) said Vivendi owns too many shares in two similar companies - Telecom Italia S.p.A. and Mediaset S.p.A. - and gave it 12 months to reduce its position in one or both Italian firms.

The French company - which according to its website, currently holds 23.94 percent of Telecom Italia and 28.8 percent of Mediaset - expressed "astonishment" at the AgCom ruling and said it "reserves the right to bring legal action".

This might include an appeal to an Italian Regional Administrative Tribunal (TAR) and a formal complaint with the European Commission for violation of EU law, Vivendi said.

"Vivendi does not control nor does it exercise a dominant influence on Mediaset, which is controlled exclusively by Fininvest with a close to 40 percent stake," the French conglomerate, which also owns Universal Music Group, Canal+ pay TV, and Gameloft games developer, said in a statement.

The AgCom decision plays in favor of Mediaset, which is majority owned by Fininvest, the family holding company of former Italian prime minister and ex-AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi.

Fininvest and Vivendi have been tussling since a deal between the two went sour in late July last year, when the French company backed out of an agreement to purchase Mediaset's pay TV subsidiary, Mediaset Premium.

Fininvest sued for completion of the deal, even as Mediaset share price tumbled from a high of just over 3.4 euros a share in mid-July to a low of 2.24 euros a share at the end of November.

Vivendi went on a buying spree in mid-December, increasing its stake in Mediaset to just under 30 percent.

Fininvest filed a criminal complaint, following which Milan prosecutors placed Vivendi's chairman, Vincent Bollore, and chief executive, Arnaud de Puyfontaine, under investigation for market manipulation. Vivendi called that prosecution move "the result of an unfounded and abusive lawsuit".

Fininvest, which also owns Medusa film production company and Mondadori publishers, holds 38.3 percent of Mediaset.

On Wednesday afternoon, shares in Mediaset were trading down -1.89 percent at around 3.4 euros a share on the Italian stock market. (1 euro = 1.07 U.S. dollars)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 06:53:09|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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WASHINGTON, April 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday the United States is reviewing ways to pressure the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), including whether to relist the DPRK as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Speaking here at a press conference, Tillerson said the Trump administration is evaluating all options, both in terms of state sponsorship of terrorism and other ways to bring pressure on the DPRK to "reengage" with the United States "on a different footing than the past talks have been held."

Early this month, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a legislation ordering the U.S. State Department to determine whether the DPRK is a state sponsor of terrorism.

Currently, no news reports had indicated that the U.S. Senate had already voted on the House bill.

Tillerson is required to submit a report within 90 days after the enactment of the bill on whether the DPRK should be relisted as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Former U.S. President George W. Bush in 2008 removed the DPRK from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism in exchange for the DPRK's scaling back in its nuclear programs.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 07:13:17|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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BRASILIA, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Brazil is suffering from an "acute moral crisis" that threatens the country's future, commander of the army Eduardo Dias da Costa Villas Boas said on Wednesday.

During a ceremony commemorating the Army Day, Dias said the crisis, sparked by the "countless cases of corruption" currently under investigation, endangers the future of the country.

Brazil is gripped by an extensive investigation into graft, known as Operation Car Wash, that has incriminated top government officials, as well as former presidents.

Testimony by former executives of construction giant Petrobras has laid bare a long-running scheme to inflate public works contracts so both the company and government officials could pocket millions in public funds.

"Personal and corporate interests have overridden the national interest (but) the country, its people and its army are not going to submit to pessimism and disintegration," said Dias.

At the ceremony, the army presented President Michel Temer with the Military Merit Award.

The award was also presented to Defense Minister Raul Jungmann and Judge Sergio Moro, who is leading investigation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 07:18:19|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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BRASILIA, April 19 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian Workers' Party (PT) on Wednesday demanded the country's public ethics commission to remove from posts of eight government ministers, who are being investigated by the Supreme Court for corruption.

A statement by the PT caucus in the Chamber of Deputies said that the eight ministers should be removed as quickly as possible for poor administrative conduct and violation of public ethics.

The ministers of the government of President Michel Temer are being investigated within Operation Lava Jato (Car Wash), which has already arrested dozens of politicians and business executives involved in the Petrobras corruption ring.

They are being investigated on suspicion of active and passive corruption, money laundering, and tender fraud, among others.

Last week, the Supreme Court opened investigations into the ministers and over 70 other lawmakers who were all named in confessions by executives from construction company Odebrecht as having received bribes or having used public funds to finance their campaigns.

According to Robinson Almeida, one of the authors of the statement, "there are very serious indicators that the ministers being investigated were involved in aberrant behavior."

The PT lawmaker said that the actions of the eight ministers "are incompatible with ethics and public integrity...they have lost the moral standing to exercise the functions they hold."
CANBERRA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- It will be tougher for migrants to become Australian citizens under sweeping changes to the nation's citizenship test, announced by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton on Thursday.

Applicants will be required to demonstrate that they adhere to "Australian values," speak "competent" English and will need to have been a permanent resident for at least four years before applying to take the test, in a significant tightening of the requirements for citizenship.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Turnbull said that it was more important than ever that Australians from any background, race, and religion "buy in" to Australian values, such as mutual respect and equality.

"There is no more important title in our democracy than 'Australian citizen.' And citizenship, that institution must reflect Australian values," Turnbull said.

"We're not defined by race, religion or culture, as many other nations are. We're defined by commitment to values. Democracy, freedom, mutual respect, equality for men and women ... these fundamental common values are what make us Australian."

"Our citizenship process should reflect that, so today we are announcing changes to strengthen citizenship to make for a stronger Australia."

Turnbull said the current test did not require applicants to speak "competent" English, something he described as a "vital requirement" for citizenship.

"We all know that the key to successful integration into the Australian community, to economic success and social success, is being able to speak English, so it's a very important change," Turnbull said.

"We need to ensure that our citizenship test enables applicants to demonstrate how they've integrated into and engaged with our Australian community."

"Does anybody doubt that if you want to succeed, if you want to even have a chance of succeeding in Australia, you need to be able to speak English?"

Under the changes, prospective citizens will need to have been a permanent resident for four years (up from 12 months), will need to pass an English test at the "competent" IELTS level 6 equivalent, and provide evidence that they are integrating into society, such as by producing tax payments, employment records and schooling records for children.

Also part of the changes, a questionnaire will crack down on "inappropriate" attitudes such as domestic violence, violence against women, forced marriages and female genital mutilation.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, who masterminded the changes, said the government and Australians should "not be ashamed" to expect that prospective citizens adhere to "Australian values."

"I don't think we should be ashamed of saying that we want people who are going to abide by the law, people who are going to pick up Australian values, still honor their heritage, but when you're in Australia you abide by Australian laws, you abide by our values," Dutton said on Thursday.

"At the same time we want people to honor and respect their heritage and their culture, the country from which they've migrated, but once you're here and once you seek Australian citizenship we do very clearly want you to be part of our team and we want you to be abiding by laws, we want you to be adopting Australian values and integrating into Australian life."

Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs Zed Seselja added that the changes would not only benefit Australia as a community, but those seeking citizenship, by motivating them to learn English and assimilate into society.

"If you can't communicate with those around you it makes life so much harder, so this has benefits not only for us as a nation, but has benefits for those we are assisting and attempting to integrate," Seselja told Sky News on Thursday.

Meanwhile the Labor opposition's spokesperson Jim Chalmers said his party was not consulted on the changes and admitted he would like to know more before passing judgment.

"We'd like to know more of the details. We want to make sure they're well motivated changes," Chalmers told Sky News.

"I think a lot of Australians would be deeply skeptical of the Prime Minister's motivations in the general area, whether it be citizenship or on (the recently scrapped) 457 skilled migrants visa)."

The citizenship announcement comes just days after the government announced it was scrapping the nation's skilled migrants visa in favor of two new visas with additional requirements.

The government said skilled migrants should only be brought in to "fill gaps" in the workforce, and should not be given work at the expense of Australian workers.
SYDNEY, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The median house price in Melbourne has hit a new record high of 632,000 U.S. dollars.

The growth in median price of 24,000 dollars in the March quarter marked four and a half consecutive years of house prices growing every quarter.

The State of the Market report, published by real estate industry publication Domain on Thursday, found that the middle house price in Melbourne was 82,000 dollars more than at the same time in 2016.

Melbourne's median price has more than doubled in a decade, the report said, with the median in the first quarter of 2007 sitting at 290,000 dollars.

Ben Peters, a physiotherapist who has been working full-time for a decade to buy a house, said he was disheartened by the property market.

"Seeing the prices go up caused me to doubt all the hard work I had put into getting into the market," Peters told Fairfax Media on Thursday.

"I questioned what was the point of working hard; I felt like giving up and just enjoying the moment, it really puts you in a pessimistic mindset.

"Even after 10 years of struggle and pain, it seems like it's still a bit out of reach."

The median price for a unit in Melbourne also skyrocketed in the first quarter of 2017, up 41,000 dollars to 371,000 dollars.

A population boom in the city has been identified as a key driver in soaring prices, with Melbourne projected to comfortably be Australia's largest city by 2050.

Shane Oliver, chief economist with financial services company AMP, said the higher prices were forcing people to borrow more money from banks, raising concerns about the level of household debt.

"They're certainly not welcome numbers," Oliver said.

"The only people who this is good news for are those who are looking to sell... and move out of Melbourne into regional areas or to cities and states which haven't seen the gains in recent times."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 10:39:28|Editor: MJ

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JINAN, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and six others injured when a dump truck overturned and crashed into a shack with its load of stones in east China's Shandong Province early Thursday, local authorities said.

The accident happened at 2:40 a.m. in Licheng District of the provincial capital Jinan, the city's emergency response office said in a press release.

The dump truck fell over on its side while swerving at a crossing. Large quantity of stones flew out and crashed into a prefabricated shack where nine migrant workers were sleeping, the document said.

It said traffic police officers in Licheng District forced into the shack and rescued six injured workers.

As of 6 a.m., police had retrieved three dead bodies.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.
PHNOM PENH, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Thursday called for peaceful solution to the Korean Peninsula issues.

He made the comments at a university graduation ceremony here.

"We hope that all parties concerned will try to find methods for the Korean Peninsula safety through the resumption of six-party talks or other peaceful means," he said.

"We still continue to call for restraint and non-use of force," he said, adding that if a war erupts on the peninsula, there will be no winners.

Meanwhile, Hun Sen said that the Cambodian government has no plan to evacuate more than 40,000 Cambodian migrant workers in South Korea.

He urged them to keep calm and continue their work as usual.

"The government is closely monitoring the situation of the Korean Peninsula," he said.
WELLINGTON, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand military is to play a leading role in a three-week war-fighting exercise in Southeast Asia, the New Zealand Defense Force (NZDF) said Thursday.

New Zealand had dispatched two navy ships, a P-3K2 Orion surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft and about 270 personnel to Exercise Bersama Shield 17, which opened in Malaysia and Singapore Thursday.

The annual naval and air exercise is conducted under the Five Power Defense Arrangements (FPDA), which is made up of New Zealand, Australia, Britain, Malaysia and Singapore.

New Zealand navy frigate HMNZS Te Kaha would be the flagship of the maritime task group, its commanding officer serving as the task group commander.

Wing Commander Ben Till, leader of the NZDF contingent, said in the first phase of the exercise the various forces would integrate, followed by five days of extensive training.

Major General Tim Gall, the Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, said the NZDF had taken part in the Bersama exercises for many years.

The exercise would involve a total of 10 ships and 45 aircraft from all five nations.

The FPDA, established in 1971, is the world's second-oldest military partnership.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 13:55:16|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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by Edna Alcantara

MEXICO CITY, April 20 (Xinhua) -- With a hostile neighbor to the north, Mexico should look southward to bolster ties with the rest of Latin America to counter negative U.S. trade, immigration and diplomatic policies,a Mexican political observer told Xinhua in an interview.

Mario Torrico, a research professor at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (Flacso) in Mexico City, believes Mexico needs to strengthen its relationships "with allies that can support it as it faces the hostile policies" of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The real estate tycoon-turned-politician has pursued divisive policies aimed at building up U.S. trade and security, even at the expense of Mexico, which has so far been menaced to foot the bill for a massive and expensive wall along their shared border that it does not want, and to pay a border tax on its exports.

Trump is also looking to renegotiate the two-decade-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the United States, Mexico and Canada, to secure better conditions for U.S. labor and industry.

On Tuesday, Trump threatened to abandon NAFTA unless the talks go his way. "We are going to make some very big changes or we're going to get rid of NAFTA once and for all," he said.

"If the conflict or disagreement with Trump grows, then with the diplomatic backing (of Latin America) there would be international declarations of solidarity with Mexico," Torrico said. "That is what Mexico has to do: seek this type of diplomatic support."

Mexico's Foreign Affairs Minister Luis Videgaray, currently on a trip to Spain, said Wednesday that Mexico is ready to renegotiate NAFTA starting the second half of the year, as long as "free trade continues to be free trade, with no imposed tariffs or quotas, and that it be a trilateral" accord.

No matter how the talks develop, the Mexican government should continue to diversify its diplomatic and trade ties that have for decades centered on Washington, said Torrico.

"As the trade renegotiation gets underway ... Mexico needs to stay firm and at the same time continue to work towards its goal of diversifying its market with other countries," including "looking to China as a good alternative," said Torrico.

"The Asian market would now be a good idea for Mexico to approach, along with other Latin American countries," said Torrico.

While South and Central American nations "don't have the purchasing capacity of the United States or China," they can play an important role as regional allies, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 14:00:18|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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RIO DE JANEIRO, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Brazil modified a proposal to raise the retirement age after police officers violently protested the measure, a legislator said on Wednesday.

Lawmaker Arthur Maia, rapporteur of the Brazilian social security reform in the Congress, announced the minimum age for police officers to retire was lowered from the proposed 65 to 55, closer to what it is today.

Retirement age in other careers remains at 65 for men and 62 for women.

Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles on Tuesday took pains to say the changes would "not alter a very significant portion of the original" proposed reforms.

The reform bill, designed to lower the country's public deficit, is extremely unpopular among average Brazilians, but has been touted by credit-rating agencies as necessary to curb public spending.

Protesting policemen broke into the Congress building in Brasilia on Tuesday and clashed with security guards, demanding the government acknowledge the special circumstances of police work and the risks involved.
Photo taken on April 13, 2017 shows the Mombasa railway station built for the standard-gauge railway in Kenya. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)

NAIROBI, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Sub-Saharan Africa should implement right policies that make investment in infrastructure more efficient to help spur economic growth in the region, the World Bank said on Wednesday.

According to the new Africa's Pulse, a biannual analysis of African economies conducted by the World Bank, if inefficiencies are addressed, public and private investment in infrastructure could be a strategic tool for poverty reduction and economic development.

Punam Chuhan-Pole, Lead Economist in the Africa Region at the World Bank and author of the report, said public-private partnerships in Sub-Saharan Africa remain a very small market, with projects concentrated in only a few countries, namely, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda.

"The analysis shows that the impact of public investment on economic growth can be improved if countries implement policies that make public investment more efficient," Chuhan-Pole said during the launch of the report in Nairobi.

"There is evidence that countries with sound public investment management systems tend to have even more private investment," she added.

The report says improving the institutions and procedures governing project appraisal, selection, and monitoring are among the policies countries should implement to ensure they have a sound public investment system.

The World Bank said sub-Saharan Africa experienced a slowdown in investment growth from nearly 8 percent in 2014 to 0.6 percent in 2015, adding that this sluggish investment has coincided with a sharp deceleration in economic growth in Africa.

It says infrastructure is particularly important since the continent ranks at the bottom of all developing regions in nearly all dimensions of performance.

The report analyzes trends in infrastructure quantity, quality and access; explores the relationship between infrastructure growth and economic growth in the region; documents stylized facts on public investment in the region; and examines the quality of infrastructure spending.

The World Bank said Sub-Saharan Africa has made great progress in telecommunications coverage in the past 25 years, expanding at a fast pace across both low- and middle-income countries in the continent. Access to safe water has also increased, from 51 percent of the population in 1990 to 77 percent in 2015.

"But the challenges that remain are vast and deeply ingrained. For example, little progress has been made in per capita electricity-generating capacity in over two decades," the Pulse says.

Only 35 percent of the population has access to electricity, with rural access rates less than one-third urban ones.

Transport infrastructure is likewise lagging with Sub-Saharan Africa being the only region in the world where road density has declined over the past 20 years.

The growth effects of narrowing Sub-Saharan Africa's infrastructure quantity and quality gap are potentially large.

For instance, growth of GDP per capita for the region would increase by an estimated 1.7 percent percentage points per year if it were to close the gap with the median of the rest of the developing world.

"Closing the infrastructure quantity and quality gap relative to the best performers in the world could increase growth of GDP per capita by 2.6 percent per year," the report says.

It reveals that the largest potential growth benefits would come from closing the gap in electricity-generating capacity.

According to granular budget data collected by the BOOST initiative for 24 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, annual public spending on infrastructure was 2 percent of GDP in 2009-15.

Roads accounted for two-thirds of overall infrastructure investments in the region. Capital spending on electricity and water supply and sanitation each accounted for 15 percent of total capital expenditures.
HANOI, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is forecast to exceed its target of earning 7.5 billion U.S. dollars from wood exports in 2017, according to local experts on Thursday.

Statistics from the country's General Statistics Office showed that in the first quarter (Q1) this year, wood exports reached 1.78 billion U.S. dollars in revenue, up 17.1 percent year-on-year.

Insiders pointed out that Vietnam wood exports will be facilitated by several free trade agreements (FTA), especially the Vietnam-South Korea FTA. In Q1, Vietnam earned some 143.8 million U.S. dollars in wood export to South Korea, up 16.6 percent year-on-year.

In 2015, despite the whole industry's modest growth rate of 1.1 percent, Vietnma's wood exports to South Korea posted a revenue rise of 15.3 percent thanks to the positive impacts of their bilateral FTA, reported Cong Thuong newspaper.

Vietnam aims to lift the export revenue of wooden products to 10 billion U.S. dollars by 2020.
MANILA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The Russian missile cruiser Varyag and large sea-tanker Pechenga arrived here Thursday, starting a four-day goodwill visit to the Philippines.

Captain Lued Lincuna, the director of the Philippine Naval Public Affairs Office, said the two warships are part of the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet, and the visit marks the second time that Russian navy warships arrived in the country this year.

During the visit, the Russian navy will engage in a series of activities with their Philippine counterparts. There will be a shipboard tour at the missile cruiser Varyag on Saturday.

Varyag, the flagship of the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet, was laid down in 1979 and commissioned in 1989.

The Russian anti-submarine ship Admiral Tributs and large sea-tanker Boris Butoma visited Manila in January.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte toured the anti-submarine ship.

Duterte, who assumed office on June 30 last year, is enhancing the Philippine ties with Russia.

According to the local media, Duterte will visit Moscow next month.

During his visit to Russia, government-to-government deals on military cooperation and economic partnership are expected to be signed.
KABUL, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan government has been drafting a joint plan with the country's private sector to rebuild trust between the two sides and boost investment in the war-hit country, local newspaper Daily Outlook Afghanistan reported on Thursday.

"The main goal of the policy of partnership between government and the private sector is to bring government and the private sector's capabilities together in order to pave suitable ground for investment in the country," Ajmal Hamid Abdul Rahimzai, spokesman of Afghan Finance Ministry, was quoted in the report as saying.

The joint plan will further encourage Afghan private sector to increase investment and it will also help the government to prioritize and provide financial support for the investors in different fields, among others agriculture, power and mining industries, according to the report.

"The plan will prove effective for big investments in power generation, infrastructure, mining industries and power transmission," the report said.
PHNOM PENH, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Thursday that the country backed a thorough probe into a recent chemical weapon attack in Syria that killed over 70 people.

"Cambodia supports a full investigation of the incident before any action has been taken or any decision has been made," he said during a university graduation ceremony here.

Hun Sen's remarks came after chemical weapons were used to attack a rebel-held town in northwestern Syria on April 4.

The United States has blamed the Syrian government for the deadly poison gas attack and launched cruise missiles against a Syrian military airfield on April 7 in response.

However, the Syrian government has denied possession of chemical weapons. It said that its army struck an arm depot which belongs to the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, and the depot contained chemical materials that the terrorists were bringing in from Iraq.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 15:05:38|Editor: xuxin

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SEOUL, April 20 (Xinhua) -- South Korean exports of cosmetic products posted a double-digit increase in the first quarter, customs data showed Thursday.

Cosmetics exports by local companies amounted to 935 million U.S. dollars in the January-March quarter, up 32.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Customs Service (KCS).

The exports rose sharply from 831 million dollars in 2012 to an all-time yearly high of 3.45 billion dollars in 2016.

The continued growth was mainly attributable to strong demand for make-up base products such as toner, lotion and essence, which accounted for almost half of the total exports last year.

Cosmetics exports to China increased 26.9 percent over the year to 337 million dollars in the first quarter. Those to the European Union also continued to rise on strong demand from Italy, Spain and France.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 15:10:41|Editor: xuxin

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OUAGADOUGOU, April 20 (Xinhua) -- About 35 music bands from Africa, Europe and the United States will perform at the 25th edition of the international jazz festival "Jazz a Ouaga" (Jazz at Ouaga), organizers said on Wednesday in the capital city of Ouagadougou.

The festival is scheduled to be held from April 28 to May 6 in Ouagadougou and is themed "25 years at the service of music, arts and culture," organizers said.

They added that the event will gather celebrities such as Joss Stone from the United Kingdom, Habib Faye from Senegal, Geoffrey Oryema from Uganda and Swing Brosse System Quintet from France.

"Jazz a Ouaga" (Jazz at Ouaga) was established in 1992 by some jazz fanatics. It is aimed at improving jazz culture in the west African country.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 15:15:42|Editor: xuxin

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WELLINGTON, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government on Thursday welcomed the agreement of a Pacific trade and development after eight years of negotiations.

Trade Minister Todd McClay said the successful conclusion of the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Plus (PACER Plus) negotiations was a landmark day for trade and the sustainable economic development of the Pacific.

"PACER Plus is a unique trade and development agreement. It includes a development package of more than 55 million NZ dollars (38.69 million U.S. dollars) that will help raise standards of living, create employment opportunities and increase export capacity in Pacific island countries," McClay said in a statement.

"This is a significant achievement. After eight years of negotiations, we can now focus on implementing an agreement which future-proofs our access whilst helping develop their export economies," McClay said.

"The agreement will also create a common set of trading rules covering goods, services and investment in support of economic growth. These rules will help reduce tariffs and red tape for exporters and investors, which will increase the attractiveness of the region for trade and investment."

A formal signing of the agreement is scheduled to take place in Tonga in June.

Civil society groups have criticized the deal in the past, saying Pacific people will most likely lose out in the deal, and citing concerns about the potential impact of encouraging more foreign investment and greater access for overseas companies.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 15:15:43|Editor: xuxin

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VIENTIANE, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The first Lao Clean Agricultural Products Trade Fair kicked off here Thursday, aiming to promote sustainable production of agricultural products in the country.

The fair also intends to encourage farmers to produce safe and chemical-free products and to advertize their organic products to consumers.

The fair will help strengthen the public and private sectors in food safety and quality improvement for fresh products in Laos.

The two-day fair was organized by the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
A private vehicle is seen passing through apple orchad in Marpha village of Mustang district on April 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhou Shengping)

by Shristi Kafle, Zhou Shengping



MUSTANG, Nepal, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Being one of the oldest apple producers in the remote Mustang district, 75-year-old Nar Bahadur Hirachan feels proud that his village, Marhpa, produces the juiciest apples in Nepal.

"We used to sell apples by carrying them on bamboo baskets on our backs and walking to nearby cities. Later, the government helped us to market our products using helicopters since there were no roads. And now the demand is so high that buyers come here to pick apples from the trees themselves," Hirachan told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Hirachan once worked as a minister when Nepal was a kingdom about three decades ago. Now this energetic old man owns 250 ropanies (1 ropani equals about 509 square meters) of land, on which he makes a profit of more than Rs. 3 million (about 30,000 U.S. dollars) annually.

The local farmer added, "We also sell dry apples, apple juice, brandy and other products which are made without the use of chemicals. Everything here is organic."

Mustang, which borders China, is located nearly 200 km away from Nepal's capital Kathmandu and is considered to be the capital of apples. The majority of houses in Mustang have apple orchards which produce different varieties like delicious red, rich red, royal, golden and fuji apples.

Mustang is the second-largest apple production hub in the Himalayan country after the remote western district of Jumla. Apples from Mustang are considered the best for their texture, juiciness and crunchiness. However, the same organic apples are rarely found and tasted by locals in Kathmandu.

According to government statistics, Mustang produced 4,500 metric tons of apples in the last fiscal year, generating a revenue of over Rs. 310 million.

However, the capital city received only a few tons of apples from Mustang in autumn last year equaling about 400,000 kg.

Keshav Khadka, an executive member of Nepal Fruits Wholesalers Association, told Xinhua, "Apples from Mustang have been in high demand in recent years. But we have been failing to address the demand. Mustang apples are available for only two months, whereas we need apples throughout the year."

Khadka, who has been in the fruit business for the last 15 years, says Mustang's entire production capacity cannot meet the demand of the capital for even a couple of days. On normal days, around 700,000 kg of apples are consumed in the valley, with the amount rising exponentially during festive seasons.

Currently, 90 percent of the apple in the deficit in the country is being met by imports, with China being the biggest import destination and accounting for 70 percent. The other apple imports come from India, United States and Australia.

Mustang farmers sell their apples for Rs. 50 to Rs. 80 per kg in the local market while the rate rises to to Rs. 150 in the capital.

Local females gather before beginning their regular workin apple orchards of government-owned Temperate Horticulture Development Center located in Marpha of Mustang district on April 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhou Shengping)

Mustang's lucrative apple trade is a priority for locals, especially those in the hotel business.

However, due to low production and problems in grading and packaging systems, Mustang apples are consumed only within the nearby cities like Beni, Baglung and Pokhara.

For decades, Temperate Horticulture Development Center, located in the Marpha village has been promoting and supporting the locals in the commercial apple business by providing suitable saplings and technical assistance. But production is still insufficient.

Bal Krishna Adhikari, senior officer at Temperate Horticulture Development Center, told Xinhua, "Our farm's challenge is to produce the apple seedling according to the demand of farmers. The demand of the farmers is very high but we produce limited quantities due to the scarcity of farm land, farm resources and human resources."

Out of a total 1,100 hectares of area for apple cultivation, commercial production is carried out only in 350 hectares and hence production is automatically low.

Beside fresh apples, the region produces dried apple candies, apple brandy, cider wine and juice which support the tourist trade in Mustang district. Dried apple crumble is sold only in the big supermarkets and departmental stores in the capital as they are mostly consumed within the local area by domestic and foreign tourists.

Demand for apple brandy is high in big cities like Kathmandu, but supply is comparatively low.

A retail liquor store in Kathmandu told Xinhua, "Many customers visit us asking for Mustang's apple brandy known locally as Marpha. Since we only have a limited supply, we often sell them Jumla's apple brand, claiming it to be Mustang."

Currently, there are only three apple brandy manufacturers in Mustang, all of which use traditional brandy-making equipment like firewood and processes from last year.

Farmers in the Himalayan belt lack modern farming practices and technology like cold stores and skilled human resources, as a result the juicy delicious apples are failing to reach the broader market.

Many local traders also say the younger generations are gradually losing interest in the apple business as they are more focused on immediate revenue-generating businesses like tourism, animal farm management and trade.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 15:40:52|Editor: Tian Shaohui

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BEIHAI, Guangxi, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed efforts to promote the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and advance opening up and development under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Wednesday.

The Belt and Road Initiative has been widely recognized in international society since it was put forward, which shows that it accords with the will of the people, Xi said while visiting the Tieshan Port in Guangxi's Beihai City on a rainy day.

"We will promote China's great opening up and development under the 'Belt and Road' framework, and further promote the realization of the 'two centenary goals,' and the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," said Xi.

The president asked local authorities about the future construction of the port and the development plan of the entire Beibu Gulf as well as its opening to and cooperation with the ASEAN countries. He also talked with workers at the port.

Xi told authorities to better construct ports at Beibu Gulf and develop the maritime economy. "We often say you'd better build roads first to become rich, but in the coastal areas you have to build ports first," he said.

Xi also inspected a mangrove conservation area in the Beihai Golden Bay, where he walked through a wooden footpath to learn about the growth and protection of the mangrove. He asked authorities to study and protect rare plants and better safeguard the marine wetlands.

The Belt and Road Initiative was first proposed by Xi in 2013 as a trade and infrastructure network to better connect Asia with the rest of the world.

Related:

Belt and Road Initiative offers new development mode to world

BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhuanet) --The Belt and Road Initiative is a new inclusive developing mode guided by the principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration, CPPCC National Committee member and international studies expert Zhang Yunling said during a recent exclusive interview with Xinhuanet.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 15:40:53|Editor: An

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BISHKEK, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative will give Kyrgyzstan a new impetus for future development and strengthen the friendship between Kyrgyzstan and China, the country's economy minister said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Arzybek Kozhoshev will attend the Belt and Road Forum, which will be held in Beijing on May 14-15 and gather at least 28 heads of state and government.

USEFUL INFORMATION PLATFORM

"I am glad that this forum will cover all the main aspects of cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, and the high-level participants will air weighty opinions on important issues," he said.

He expressed confidence that the forum will be a useful information platform for discussing the challenges and opportunities in implementing the proposal.

It will also be a useful information platform for creating prerequisites for international cooperation within the initiative, and strengthening partnership among regional countries to achieve the objectives of the initiative, he added.

Kozhoshev said that the Silk Road Economic Belt, part of the initiative that also includes the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, has long connected Kyrgyzstan with China in a tangible manner, and will strengthen bilateral cooperation in such fields as transportation and communications, infrastructural construction, manufacturing, trade and service industry.

"Kyrgyzstan, located in an important place of the Eurasian continent, is an important country on the ancient Silk Road and an inalienable participant in the joint construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt," he noted.

Since this initiative was declared, Chinese-Kyrgyz infrastructure cooperation has developed rapidly, the minister said, citing the construction of the Datka-Kemin power transmission line and the opening of two oil refineries, among many others.

COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT PLAN

The Kyrgyz official also said that the Belt and Road Initiative is not just a transit transport project, but a comprehensive economic development plan for the states of Eurasia.

"If we look at the map, we can see that it runs through the busiest economic corridor with a huge potential, along which there are more than 60 countries ... and their economies are worth about 21 trillion U.S. dollars in total, which is ... 29 percent of the world," he said.

Kozhoshev said that although Kyrgyzstan is a small country on the Silk Road, it has tremendous opportunities for itself and other countries like China.

He explained that part of Kyrgyzstan's motivation to implement the Silk Road Economic Belt project lies in the fact that it will provide cost-effective and safe transport routes connecting Europe and Asia and going through Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

"With the development of transport and logistics corridors, Kyrgyzstan can become an important bridge connecting production and consumption potential in Europe and Asia," Kozhoshev noted.

He also said the country is interested in synergizing the Silk Road Economic Belt with Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), a bloc Kyrgyzstan officially joined in August 2015.

"It should be noted that at present, the Eurasian Economic Union is intensively developing its trade and economic agenda on the Asian vector ... while defining a place for China in it," he said.

FUTURE COOPERATION WITH CHINA

Concerning Kyrgyzstan's cooperation plans with China, Kozhoshev said China, the world's second-largest economy and one of the nearest neighbors of Kyrgyzstan, has become an important market for the agricultural products and tourism service of Kyrgyzstan.

The Kyrgyz economy minister encouraged Chinese entrepreneurs to conduct production in his nation, which was given the European Union's status of General System of Preferences on Jan. 27, 2016. Now products certificated as "Made in Kyrgyzstan" have the opportunity to be delivered duty-free to the EU market.

The minister said with the growing demand of Chinese consumers for healthy and high-quality food, Kyrgyzstan can become a supplier of organic products, and is ready to cooperate with Chinese entrepreneurs to produce environmentally friendly and organic products.

Green economy should become a brand of Kyrgyzstan, Kozhoshev said, adding: "This trend towards a green economy that gained weight in China and has understanding in Kyrgyzstan would be an ideal embodiment of the Silk Road Economic Belt."

The minister said his nation expects to receive more favorable investments from China for large-scale infrastructure construction.

Speaking of bilateral relations, Kozhoshev said China and Kyrgyzstan are good neighbors, good friends and reliable partners.

"Our friendship is not situational, not for a year, not for two, but for ever and ever," he said, adding the long-term, stable and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries is in line with the interests of both sides.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 15:50:58|Editor: xuxin

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KABUL, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Altogether 47 militants have been killed in fresh military operations across Afghanistan, said the country's Defense Ministry on Thursday.

"Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) carried out operations to clean some areas from terrorists and enemies of peace and stability of Afghanistan. As a result 47 armed militants were killed, 11 wounded and one was arrested by the ANSF over the last 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates.

The raids were conducted in 13 of the country's 34 provinces and security forces also recovered and defused 31 roadside bombs and landmine over the period, according to the statement.

Taliban-led violence continues in Afghanistan. Security forces have pressed on to clear the militants in restive provinces.

The Taliban responds by bombing and armed attacks.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 15:50:59|Editor: xuxin

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FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Two Afghan army soldiers and one civilian were killed in a roadside bomb blast in the country's northern province of Badakhshan on Thursday, local police said.

"An army vehicle running in Pul-e-Yardar area of Baharak District touched off a roadside bomb in the morning. Two army soldiers aboard the vehicle and one civilian passerby were martyred after the explosion," Mohammad Nabi Bayan, deputy provincial police chief, told Xinhua.

The police official added that two troopers were also wounded and the army vehicle was destroyed.

He blamed Taliban militant group for the attack in the province, 315 km northeast of Kabul.

The Taliban insurgency has been on the rampage since the beginning of 2015 when the Afghan security forces assumed full responsibilities of security from the U.S. and NATO troops.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 16:01:02|Editor: An

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BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- China launched a national copyright monitoring website on Thursday, a step forward in the nation's crackdown on piracy.

The website, www.12426.cn, is managed by the Copyright Monitoring Center under the Copyright Society of China, providing identification, security monitoring, early warning and rights infringement solution services for registering copyright owners.

The website applies big data technology similar to fingerprint analysis, enabling it to quickly identify dubious content. It monitors various online terminals including PCs, mobile phone apps, smart TVs and live streaming platforms around the clock and has a professional team dealing with rights infringement offline.

The intellectual property rights (IPR) protection environment has remarkably changed in China, both from a legal perspective and in terms of technological application, said Yan Xiaohong, head of the Copyright Monitoring Center. He hopes the website can play a bigger role in IPR protection, especially in the protection of online IPR.

The website will not only serve the copyright owners, but will provide technological support for Chinese authorities' campaigns targeting online piracy, according to the center.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 16:06:02|Editor: An

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BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Once again, China's efforts to support technology-driven growth have been hit by complaints tainted with the familiar prejudice that has prevailed among Western countries for ages.

In its latest report, an American business group is spreading concerns that China's plan to develop its technology and manufacturing sector might squeeze foreign firms out of the competition in these promising fields.

By condemning China's persistent efforts to develop technology and manufacturing, which aim at stabilizing the economy and creating jobs in the face of global downward pressure, the accusations fail by their own logic.

For decades, foreign investors have collected handsome profits from a major fast-growing economy in the world while sitting on cheap labor, generous consumers and "super national treatment" -- a term used in China to describe exclusive preferential policies such as hefty tax breaks.

Now grievances and grumbling have come as this "super national treatment" is rolled back while China pursues a market-oriented economy and more innovative Chinese firms have emerged as competitors.

There is no need to reiterate the role of competition in a market economy. The shift of the Chinese economy into a consumer- and technology-driven one means more opportunities for the world at large.

The Chinese leadership has reassured the world about its efforts to open up. More critical economic areas such as national science and technology projects are open to global investors, and free trade zones have been established.

Under the Made in China 2025 initiative, a plan to modernize the manufacturing sector, foreign firms will be treated the same as domestic firms and enjoy the same preferential policies.

Problems arise due to the fears those global industry leaders have about losing their competitive edge, as China's growing innovative power will break their monopolies on technology.

Restrictions on high-tech exports to China by developed countries are rarely mentioned by our biased trade partners. For instance, the U.S. Export Administration Regulations limited the exports of a wide range of high-tech items, including medical treatment supplies, navigation products, as well as energy and new materials, to China, citing ungrounded security concerns.

Another example is the new energy vehicle industry, cited by the report, which blames China for nurturing its own firms while blocking access for foreign firms.

As a matter of fact, the entry policies in these sectors target both foreign firms and domestic businesses alike. On the other hand, subsidies for domestic electric vehicle producers have been significantly reduced to create a fairer environment for foreign investment.

While singling out China's support for domestic new energy vehicle producers, the report turns a blind eye to the fact that Western countries such as Germany provide massive financial support and subsidies to nurture this new industry.

With pressure lingering in both the global and domestic markets, China is destined to transform from "world factory" into a center of innovation in order to stabilize its own economy and continue to drive global growth.

Instead of getting stuck on their past glory as industry monopolies, these grumpy foreign firms need to adapt to new norms, compete fairly with Chinese counterparts and share with them.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 16:16:04|Editor: xuxin

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SYDNEY, April 20 (Xinhua) -- A report the New South Wales State Government of Australia wanted to keep secret was revealed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Thursday, indicating a number of Sydney train stations will be at risk of overcrowding to the point of being dangerous.

Beca consulting firm conducted the study in 2015, using timetable projections for 2018-2024.

The report showed the infrastructure at Epping, Strathfield and North Sydney stations would not be adequate in future and could create an atmosphere for commuters that was "conducive to panic" with various bottlenecks.

Transport and Logistics Management expert Geoffrey Clifton at the University of Sydney explained to Xinhua that the issue will likely "get worse as more people move into the suburbs."

Adding to that, once the city's new rail line, the Sydney Metro, is completed, "there will be a lot more people transferring to the existing train services and that's what will trigger those high levels of overcrowding," the expert said.

There are a mixture of things that need to be done in order to alleviate the problem, Clifton said.

"Simply building extra train lines is the obvious solution, but that is quite expensive and will endure a lengthy time delay."

"We can also look at improving the stations themselves by adding more exits, corridors and things like that, or we can also try and improve the trains by taking out seats and getting people moving more quickly," Clifton said.

Despite the heavy scrutiny the state government has received for commencing a legal battle with the ABC over the release of the report, Clifton said "the fact that they did these studies at all indicates they are on top of these issues."

"But the problem is that our population is growing much quicker that anyone was expecting and more people are using more trains more often."

"So even with the best intentions in the world, no matter how much they invest, it seems we're going to be playing catch up for a while," the expert said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 16:21:06|Editor: xuxin

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SYDNEY, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The New South Wales (NSW) State government of Australia announced Thursday that it will expand an initiative to cuts red tape for small business by reducing the time it takes to begin trading from 18 months to just three.

The Easy to do Business program was first trialed in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta, with the goal of making it easier for cafes, bars and restaurants to begin operations.

The program's immense success will now see the initiative in effect throughout the State.

"For many businesses one of the biggest challenges they face is navigating all the rules and regulations, and often plans are slowed down by red tape and bureaucracy," John Barilaro, deputy premier and minister for regional NSW, Skills and Small Business, said in a statement obtained by Xinhua.

"This program has already helped 31 small businesses by replacing 30 government forms with a single online application, connecting them with a case manager and almost halving the amount of duplicated information customers were previously required to provide."

Described as a 21st century approach, New South Wales minister for finance, services and property Victor Dominello, said "the rapid expansion in digital technology provides an opportunity for the government to make life easier for prospective small business owners."

"This program's success is marked by the overwhelming feedback of small business owners involved -- they simply love the Easy to do Business Program."

The state government is now working on broadening the initiative to include clothing retail, housing construction, print business and road freight.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 16:56:22|Editor: An

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BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- China's central government-administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have pledged to continue to cut production overcapacity in some industrial sectors, aiming to reduce steel capacity by 5.95 million tonnes and coal by 24.73 million tonnes.

"Detailed plans have been made by central SOEs," said an insider who prefers to remain anonymous.

For example, China Huaneng Group, a power company, is considering cutting 9.14 million tonnes of coal production capacity by the end of 2018 while dealing with 16 of the group's "zombie companies."

China Poly Group Corporation, a state-run conglomerate, has vowed to close inefficient coal mines and reorganize 39 of its subordinate companies to improve profits.

The latest efforts by the central SOEs will reinforce their achievements made in 2016 in reducing overcapacity.

Last year, the central SOEs eliminated steel production capacity by more than 10.19 million tonnes and coal capacity by over 34.97 million tonnes, both beating annual targets.

The capacity cut drive by central SOEs is only a part of China's bigger picture in slashing overcapacity.

The country aims to curtail steel production capacity by around 50 million tonnes and coal by at least 150 million tonnes this year, a key part of the country's supply-side reform.

To improve its growth quality and efficiency, China began its supply-side structural reform in 2015 to cut overcapacity, reduce inventory, deleverage, lower costs and strengthen weak links.

"China's SOE reform is an important link in pushing forward supply-side structural reform," said Li Jin, chief researcher with the China Enterprise Research Institute.

Realizing the significance of SOEs to the country's sustainable growth, China launched a series of reforms including cutting capacity, managing "zombie companies," cutting excessive layers of hierarchy and calling for innovation among these firms.

Overcapacity, poor corporate governance, and low labor productivity had dragged down profits of China's SOEs, which deteriorated in 2015.

In 2016, China's central SOEs cut 2,730 subsidiary legal entities and saved 4.91 billion yuan in management costs, according to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the SOE watchdog.

Thanks in part to the efforts, China's central SOEs saw profits rise slightly. Growth last year picked up from a 5.6-percent decrease in 2015.

In 2016, central SOEs made total profits of 1.23 trillion yuan (around 178 billion U.S. dollars), up 0.5 percent year on year, according to the SOE watchdog.

This year, China pledged in its annual government work report to deepen SOE reform, promising measures such as introducing a mixed-ownership system and more efforts to make SOEs leaner, healthier, and perform better.

China has 102 centrally administered SOEs, which manage the bulk of the country's state assets.

The improving figures of the SOEs contributed to the country's broader economy, which has shown more signs of stabilizing since the second half of 2016, with indicators including factory prices and industrial profits seeing significant improvements.
NEW DELHI, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Indian police on Thursday claimed to have busted a major terror module and arrested three suspected Islamic State (IS) militants on charges of terror conspiracy.

A joint team of Delhi Police's special cell and the anti-terror squad of neighboring northern state of Uttar Pradesh's Police arrested the three IS suspects from Jalandhar town in the northern state of Punjab, Bijnor town in Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai.

"We conducted raids in various places across the country and arrested the trio from the three different places since Wednesday night. They were arrested for hatching terror conspiracies," Additional Director General of Uttar Pradesh Police Daljit Chaudhury, told the media.

Police said the three arrested are part of an IS module that was looking for potential recruits in the states of Bihar in the east, Rajasthan and Maharashtra in the west, and Uttar Pradesh.

"The arrests were made following a tip-off by intelligence agencies which were tracking the suspected IS militants for the past one month. Six more people have been detained for interrogation, but not arrested," said another official, on condition of anonymity.

He added "After interrogation, we will decided whether to hand over the arrested IS suspects to anti-terror National Investigation Agency."

The arrests came more than a month after Uttar Pradesh police claimed to have killed a militant and arrested six others, all of whom were allied with an IS-inspired group that planned a train blast in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh that injured 10 people earlier in March.

In the past one year, India's anti-terror National Investigation Agency and police of various states have arrested about 60 Indian-origin IS recruits before they could carry out attacks. These men were part of at least seven modules, which couldn't carry out attacks.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 17:26:32|Editor: xuxin

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MOSUL, Iraq, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces on Thursday retook control of a new neighborhood in the western side of Mosul after heavy clashes against the Islamic State (IS) militants, the Iraqi military said.

The elite forces, known as Counter Terrorism Service (CTS), liberated the neighborhood of al-Thawra in northwest of Mosul's old city center and raised the Iraqi flags on some of its buildings after days of fierce clashes with the extremist IS militants, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah, from the Joint Operations Command (JOC), said in a statement.

The recapture of al-Thawra neighborhood is part of slow push toward the western edge of Mosul's densely populated old city center, where roughly 400,000 residents are believed to still be trapped under IS rule.

Meanwhile, the federal police and interior ministry special forces, known as Rapid Response, continued their battles on the southern and western front lines at the edge of the old city center.

The troops are trying to advance through the narrow streets in the old neighborhoods around the historical al-Nuri Mosque in the middle of Mosul's old city center, the source said.

The progress in the old city center is much slower than the early phases of the offensive after the troops restricted the use of bombs and increased sniper fire against terrorist militants holed up in densely populated old city center.

The liberation of al-Thawra neighborhood came hours after the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi paid a visit to the western side of Mosul and met with Iraqi military commanders and civilians at the freed neighborhoods of the city.

Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, announced the start of an offensive on February 19 to drive extremist militants out of the western side of Mosul, locally known as the right bank of the Tigris River which bisects the city.

Late in January, Abadi declared the liberation of Mosul's eastern side, or the left bank of Tigris, after over 100 days of fighting IS militants.

However, the western part of Mosul, with its narrow streets and heavily populated neighborhoods, appears to be a bigger challenge to the Iraqi forces.

Mosul, 400 km north of Iraqi capital Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when government forces abandoned their posts and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.
Actors perform on a bamboo boat to celebrate the Sanyuesan Festival in Bazhaiyuan Village of Guitai Township in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, March 30, 2017. People around China celebrate the Sanyuesan Festival on Tuesday, the third day of the third lunar month. (Xinhua/Zeng Kaihong)

Hi, here is what you need to know about China.

BEIHAI, Guangxi -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed efforts to promote the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and advance opening up and development under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Wednesday. xhne.ws/s5A7G

----

BEIJING -- China launched a national copyright monitoring website on Thursday, a step forward in the nation's crackdown on piracy.

The website, www.12426.cn, is managed by the Copyright Monitoring Center under the Copyright Society of China, providing identification, security monitoring, early warning and rights infringement solution services for registering copyright owners. xhne.ws/axPNs

----

DUBLIN -- Mandarin Chinese and other foreign languages, including Polish, Lithuanian and Portuguese, are to be offered as subjects of Ireland's Leaving Certificate Examinations, a cabinet minister said on Wednesday.

The Leaving Certificate Examinations, commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert, is the final examination in the Irish middle school systems. xhne. ws/saMgl

----

STOCKHOLM -- Chinese scientist Yao Tandong received 2017 Vega Medal in Stockholm on Wednesday, recognizing his contributions to research on glaciers and the environment on the Tibetan Plateau.

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf awarded 2017 Vega Medal to Prof. Yao at the Royal Palace of Stockholm on Wednesday afternoon, and congratulated him personally for his outstanding achievements. xhne. ws/6EUN5
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 17:41:38|Editor: xuxin

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (R) talks with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 20, 2017.(Xinhua/Zulkarnain)

JAKARTA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that the U.S. government sought "win-win" trade relations with Indonesia.

The remarks came as Washington reviews trade with 16 partners which has led U.S. suffering from deficit.

Pence and Indonesian President Joko Widodo met in Jakarta on Thursday, agreeing on free and fairer trade which can spur economic expansion in both nations.

Pence said U.S. exporters should face a level playing field and the trade relations should be "win-win."

Indonesian President Widodo said there will be a team to discuss the management of bilateral trade and investment based on the "win-win" solution.

Widodo also said the two nations would strengthen strategic partnership which will focus on cooperation and investment.

Indonesia, southeast Asia's biggest economy, is among the 16 U.S. trade partners under review for having a trade surplus with the United States.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla has argued that Indonesia's low importation from the United States is partly due to high price of the products.

The total trade volume between Indonesia and the United States reached 23.4 billion U.S. dollars last year, with Indonesia having a surplus of 8.8 billion U.S. dollars, according to Indonesian trade ministry.

Indonesia mainly ships textiles, seafood and footwear to the United States, and mainly imports aircraft, machinery and soybean from the world's largest economy.

Pence arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday evening for a two-day visit to the country.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 17:46:39|Editor: xuxin

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by Xinhua writer Liu Chen

BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- In the latest shocking textbook scandal in Japan, Adolf Hitler is not portrayed as a warmonger and a mass murderer to be condemned but an inspirator to be cherished.

That is a horrible nightmare for any sensible adult, but the Japanese government said it's no big deal.

Recently, the Shinzo Abe administration reportedly okayed the use of "beneficial" or "appropriate" content from the Nazi leader's infamous screed Mein Kampf, or My Struggle, as part of its school curriculum, a perilous move in its longtime attempt to revive its past military glory.

How could there be any content "beneficial" or "appropriate" in a book that many view as a blueprint for the ruthless slaughter of about 6 million Jews during World War II (WWII)?

Tokyo made the unscrupulous move regardless of the fact that the tract had been blocked by the German government for 70 years and its publication remains highly controversial in many other countries.

In fact, greenlighting Mein Kampf as teaching material is the latest of a string of actions taken by the Abe administration to foster a nationalist and militaristic spirit in the country's young generation.

In March, a course of bayonetting, a melee combat means popular during wartime, was added to a new course guideline for primary and secondary schools in Japan.

Meanwhile, Tokyo approved a document that does not rule out using as textbook material the Imperial Rescript on Education, an edict to promote emperor-oriented and militaristic education signed by Japan's Emperor Meiji on Oct. 30, 1890.

In a recent land deal scandal, Prime Minister Abe and his wife were found advocates of imperialistic-styled pedagogy in a kindergarten in the western Japanese city of Osaka.

From ambitious overseas military presence to national education that encourages bellicose militarism, Japan reveals its ambition toward military rebuilding, which along with fascism, was the root cause of WWII and must be strongly condemned and eradicated thoroughly.

There is no room for the slightest ambiguity regarding historical issues that concern the principle of right and wrong.

The Abe government should educate its young people with the right conception of history, unequivocally guard against and oppose poisonous thoughts of war.

If Japan needs to extend the range of its school textbooks, A Farewell to Arms, an Ernest Hemingway classic on the grim reality of war, would be a far better choice.
Source: Chinadaily.com.cn| 2017-04-20 18:08:44|Editor: An

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Huang Dafa is hailed as a living personification of the myth of Yu Gong, 'the old man who moves mountains'. Erik Nilsson explores his world in Zunyi, Guizhou. (Source: China Daily)

By Erik Nilsson

The villagers he led only had hand toolsand explosives. He's the stuff of legendbut real. Huang Dafa is arguably an actual, modern incarnation of the ancient myth of Yu Gong.

The saying yu gong yi shanor "the old man moves mountains"is a parable of persistence that seems foolhardy in the face of unimaginable odds.

Fable says two peaks separated Yu Gong's home from the village.

So, he decided to dig them away.

Another elderly man mocked him. Yu Gong responded that while his descendants could dig for generations, the mountains wouldn't grow any higher.

The gods were so moved by his determination that they moved the mountains for him.

Huang enjoyed no such divine intervention.

He had to rely on pure will.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 17:51:40|Editor: Tian Shaohui

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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang (Photo source: fmprc.gov.cn)

BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Relevant parties in the Korean Peninsula's nuclear issue want no conflicts nor wars, and the world hopes for peace, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said Thursday.

Media reported that U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview that the United States wants peace, and hopes Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, longs for peace as well. How much Kim Jong Un also wants peace will be a deciding factor in easing tensions between the two countries.

Commenting on this, Lu said that China has always believed that dialogue and consultation is the only effective approach to solving the nuclear issues and maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

"We hope all the related parties can reach a consensus and make practical efforts," Lu said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 18:11:43|Editor: xuxin

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by Ronald Njoroge

NAIROBI, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's solar water heating law will take effect on May 25 as part of efforts to promote the uptake of renewable energy, the energy regulator said Thursday.

Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said that under the new regulations, all industrial, commercial and large residential buildings in urban centers are required to install solar water heating systems.

"Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any of these regulations commits an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding 9,708 U.S. dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or both," ERC said in statement released on Thursday.

The East African nation enacted the Solar Water Heating Regulations in 2012 and gave building owners a five-year grace period to implement the order.

The law requires that all premises within the jurisdiction of local authorities with hot water requirements of a capacity exceeding 100 liters per day to install and use solar heating systems.

In addition, all electric power distributors and suppliers shall not provide electricity supply to premises where a solar water heating system has not been installed.

ERC said that the law will help Kenyans reduce reliance on electricity produced by fossils fuels as they contribute to emission of greenhouse gases.

Government data indicate that Kenya has an installed electricity capacity of 2,325 megawatts as at December 2016.

ERC noted that the majority of Kenyans still rely on biomass and firewood for domestic cooking needs. "The deforestation is contributing to the climate change," said the energy regulator.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 18:16:46|Editor: xuxin

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YANGON, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar and the Netherlands will cooperate in the development of high yielding crop seeds under a program of agricultural cooperation, local media reported Thursday.

Under the program, the Netherlands is to share its vast research and development in seed technology with Myanmar with the aim of improving the country's agriculture in both domestic and export markets.

Agricultural sector of the country needs the technology and proper research and high crop yields, Aung Thu, minister of agriculture, livestock and irrigation, said at the ceremony to launch the program, held in Nay Pyi Taw.

As the seeds are vital in development of the country's agricultural sector, the better quality food products can be produced only if the good quality seeds are delivered to farmers on time, Aung Thu said.

The seed sector development project will provide a training for 180 seed producers and seed producing groups for the seed production and the export market, he added.

The project , which cost 1.5 million euros (1.995 million U.S. dollars), started on April 1 and will last until December 2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 18:36:54|Editor: xuxin

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zVIENTIANE, April 20 (Xinhua) -- ASEAN senior labor officials met here Thursday, discussing transition from informal employment to formal employment towards decent work promotion in ASEAN.

The Special Meeting for the Development of the Action Plan of Vientiane Declaration on Transition from Informal Employment to Formal Employment towards Decent Work Promotion in ASEAN is a significant part in creating opportunities for more employment in informal sectors as well as to address development between urban and rural areas, Lao Deputy Director of Planning and International Cooperation Department, Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Chomyeng Phengthongsavvath, said at the opening ceremony.

This initiative is also to improve the potential of the private sector such as innovation, diversification of labor skills, new knowledge for the labor force and registration of business sectors in order to create favorable conditions for business income generation and poverty elimination in the ASEAN region, said the Lao official.

In addition, the Transition from Informal Employment to Formal Employment towards Decent Work Promotion in ASEAN will promote effective and sound policies and mechanisms to support production activities, facilitating employment, promoting micro, small and medium-sized enterprise development including accessibility to financial services, reported Lao News Agency (KPL) on Thursday.

The main objective is to protect worker benefits in the informal sector with regard to security, workers' well-being, and proper working environments for workers including migrant workers, especially women and those working in high-risk and hazardous environments to be able to access necessary treatment and secure basic income. Worker benefits are to be taken into consideration as first priority, KPL quoted the official as saying.
YANGON, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Border trade between Myanmar and China increased by over 30 million U.S. dollars in the last fiscal year 2016-2017 which ended in March, according to the Myanmar Ministry of Commerce Thursday.

The bilateral border trade reached 5.967 billion dollars in the 2016-2017 fiscal year, while that of the previous fiscal year 2015-2016 amounted to 5.936 billion dollars.

The four border gates linking China are Muse in northern Shan state, Lwejel in Kachin state, Chin Shwehaw in northeastern Shan state and Kanpite Tee in Kachin state, of which Muse border gate stands the largest trade transaction zone between the two neighbors.

The Myanmar-China border trade dropped in recent months after an armed conflict hit Myanmar's Kokang region in northeastern Shan state early this year and border trade through Muse was temporarily suspended.

Except dropping by 292.57 million dollars to 5.085 billion dollars in trade value through Muse gate in 2016-17, other border gates made up the overall increased value.

Myanmar's export to China through border trade reached 4.212 billion dollars.

Myanmar mostly exports rice to China, followed by other products such as agricultural products, jade and raw materials.

The total bilateral trade value through both normal and border trade reached 9.446 billion dollars in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2016-2017.

Myanmar has 15 border trade points with the neighboring China, Thailand, India and Bangladesh.

The Myanmar government has planned to open more border trade points under the second short-term five-year National Comprehensive Development Plan which spans from 2016-2017 to 2020-2021.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 19:17:06|Editor: An

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BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- China and Iran will sign the first commercial contract to redesign Iran's Arak heavy water reactor in Vienna on Sunday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

China and Iran have reached initial agreement on the commercial contract, Spokesman Lu Kang said at a daily news briefing.

Redesigning the Arak heavy water reactor is a core aspect of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program. The JCPOA was reached in Vienna in July 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 group, namely Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany.

The P5+1 countries have created a working group led by China and the United States to work with Iran to redesign the reactor, said Lu.

The signing will create a favorable condition for the progress of the redesign. "China will do the follow-up work with all parties involved in accordance with the comprehensive nuclear deal and the consensus reached by all parties," Lu said.

The 7th Joint Commission between Iran and the P5+1 will convene in Vienna next Tuesday. Lu said the contract between China and Iran will inject positive impetus to the meeting.

"China hopes all parties will maintain their political will and properly handle differences to implement the agreement and contribute to the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and the peace and stability of the Middle East," Lu added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 19:32:08|Editor: xuxin

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RAMALLAH, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said Thursday that the Palestinian leadership is still ready to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "anywhere."

Malki said to official Palestinian radio station, Voice of Palestine, that meeting Netanyahu "is not a complication in case the outcomes of this meeting are guaranteed to succeed and exit the current situation."

The top Palestinian diplomat said that the meeting would aim at putting down obstacles in the path of resuming negotiations between both sides, obliging Israel to undertake its responsibilities under international legitimacy resolutions and agreements.

Israeli public radio reported from a Japanese media source that Palestinian president expressed willingness to meet with Netanyahu in any time in Washington under the patronage of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Abbas is expected to meet Trump on May 3rd, in a new attempt to revive the peace process between Palestine and Israel.

Palestinian president's spokesperson Nabil Abu Rdeinah said Abbas views this meeting with positivity and will stress to President Trump the importance of sticking to the two-state solution as the basis to return to negotiations that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state within the borders of 1967.

The peace talks between Israel and Palestine have ben stalled since April 2014. The U.S-sponsored talks that lasted for nine months achieved no tangible results.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 19:47:11|Editor: An

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China's first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 blasts off from Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan province, April 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Ju Zhenhua)

WENCHANG, Hainan, April 20 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday evening launched its first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-1, into space, a crucial step for the country in building a space station by approximately 2022.

Lifted by a Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket, Tianzhou-1 roared into the air from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan Province.

In space, the cargo ship will dock with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab, provide fuel and other supplies, and conduct space experiments before falling back to Earth.

China aims to build a permanent space station that is expected to orbit for at least 10 years, and the debut of the cargo ship is important as it acts as a courier to help maintain the space station.

Without a cargo transportation system, the station would run out of power and basic necessities, causing it to return to Earth before the designated time.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 19:52:15|Editor: xuxin

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TOKYO, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government's recent approval of the use of Adolf Hitler's notorious autobiography "Mein Kampf" ("My Struggle") as teaching material in schools has raised widespread controversy.

According to Japan's Jiji Press, the government said in a written answer to an opposition lawmaker's questions that the German war criminal's book could be used "in a way that adheres to the spirit of the basic education law, among other conditions."

If the book were used in a way that promotes racial discrimination, it would be inappropriate and would lead to a strict response from regulators, said the government statement.

The move, however, has caused wide controversy due to the notorious nature of the book which outlines Hitler's Nazi ideology and advocates fascism, racism and extremism.

The reprint of the book was banned in Germany for 70 years before an annotated version was published in 2016 when the copyright expired and caused much controversy there.

Japanese citizens here have expressed their concerns on social media and news websites about the government's controversial decision to allow the book in classrooms, pointing out that it could be potentially damaging to young minds.

"Are teachers in charge of introducing this material in class suitably trained to do so? In my experience of having a child attend a normal Japanese school, I don't think so. And this is when it can become a dangerous addition to the curriculum," one netizen lamented.

"I highly doubt instructors will stress the negatives so much... Don't forget the government here is run by the far right, and their leader is still embroiled in a scandal involving a nationalist school operator aiming to mold the kids into the next brainwashed generation of the Imperial Japanese Army," highlighted another netizen.

"For the Japanese society which to this day has problems accepting its WWII past, I can't see how this would be beneficial on any mind in Japan when the majority of people don't understand the basics of what Hitler did that was wrong," the netizen asserted.

Hirofumi Hayashi, a professor at the Kanto Gakuin University, told Xinhua that "Mein Kampf" was such a notorious book, full of racist, fascist and extremist overtures, that the government should have taken a more critical and denouncing attitude towards the book, instead of allowing it to be used as teaching material.

Experts, local and international media went further to point out that the government's move was in essence, aimed at supporting its earlier decision to allow the use of the similarly controversial Imperial Rescript on Education in schools.

The Imperial Rescript on Education is an edict issued in 1890 by Emperor Meiji meant for nurturing "ideal" citizens that would sacrifice themselves for the emperor and the country. The rescript, serving as guidelines for prewar school education, played a considerable role of supporting Japanese nationalism and promoting militarism.

It was abolished after the end of the WWII but was reintroduced some 15 years ago by the nationalist Tsukamoto kindergarten, drawing staunch criticism from many, but reportedly having won support from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie.

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

The government's statement and overall stance on the matter, while finding support from Abe's cabinet ministers such as Education Minister Hirokazu Matsuno, has been condemned by opposition parties, the public and scholars with knowledge of the matter, as they are worried that it will add to a seeming institutionalized revival of pre-war, militaristic values.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 20:37:30|Editor: xuxin

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KIEV, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine plans to launch a freight train to Iran in a bid to boost bilateral agricultural trade, the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry said Thursday.

A test run traversing Georgia and Azerbaijan is scheduled for this summer, the ministry said in a statement.

"Ukraine must develop new international transport corridors in order to become a reliable transit bridge between the countries of Europe and Asia," Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan was quoted as saying.

In 2016, the agricultural trade turnover between Ukraine and Iran stood at 806.8 million U.S. dollars, and the aim is to increase it to 1 billion dollars within the next three years.

Ukraine currently sells primarily grain to Iran, and it is expected to boost exports of flour, vegetable oils and milk products, among others.

This year, Ukraine also intends to launch a freight train to China using the rail-sea trans-Caspian International Transport Route through Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 20:37:32|Editor: xuxin

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BRATISLAVA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Northern Slovakia has announced an emergency situation due to extreme cold and windy weather, Marian Barilla of the self-governing region of Presov said Thursday.

Police closed several roads in the area including the highway connecting eastern and western Slovakia. A heavy snowstorm caused a massive traffic accident on the highway. Forty cars crashed and 24 people were injured, the Slovak Fire and Rescue Corps said.

"Today's weather cannot be evaluated other than extreme. There is still a strong breeze, snowfall, and poor visibility in the whole region," Barilla said.

Slovakia has suffered a very cold weather spell all week, with Arctic air moving in from Northern Europe. The Slovak Hydrometeorological Office issued several warnings for the next two days of strong winds, ground frost, as well as snow tongues and avalanche danger in the mountains.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 21:17:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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China's first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 blasts off from Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan province, April 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Ju Zhenhua)

WENCHANG, Hainan, April 20 (Xinhua) -- China has taken another step toward its goal of putting a space station into orbit around 2022, by sending its first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 into space on Thursday evening.

Atop a Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket, Tianzhou-1 rose into the air from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan Province at 7:41 p.m.

China declared the launch a success after it entered designated orbit minutes later.

The cargo ship will dock with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab where two Chinese astronauts spent 30 days in the country's longest-ever manned space mission, provide fuel and other supplies to the latter, as well as conduct space experiments before falling back to Earth.

If the Tianzhou-1 mission is successful, China will become the third country besides Russia and the United States to master the technique of refueling in space.

China aims to build a permanent space station that is expected to orbit for at least 10 years, and the debut of the cargo ship is important as it acts as a courier to help maintain the space station.

Without a cargo transportation system, the station would run out of power and basic necessities, causing it to return to Earth before the designated time.

"The Tianzhou-1 mission includes the breakthrough of in-orbit refueling and other key technology needed to build a space station, laying a foundation for future space station operations," said Bai Mingsheng, chief designer of the cargo ship.

THREE DOCKINGS

Measuring 10.6 meters long and boasting a maximum diameter of 3.35 meters, the Tianzhou-1 cargo ship has a maximum takeoff weight of 13.5 tonnes, and could carry over 6 tonnes of supplies.

Tianzhou-1 is larger and heavier than Tiangong-2, which is 10.4 meters in length and has a maximum diameter of 3.35 meters, weighing 8.6 tonnes.

Bai said that supplies loaded on the cargo spacecraft are nearly as heavy as the ship's own weight, exceeding the loading capacity of Russian cargo ships in active service.

Tianzhou-1 will dock with Tiangong-2 three times, said Bai. After the first docking, aerospace engineers will test the controlling ability of the cargo spacecraft over the two spacecraft.

The second docking will be conducted from a different direction, which aims to test the ability of the cargo ship to dock with the space station from different directions.

In the last docking, Tianzhou-1 will use fast-docking technology. Previously, it took China about two days to dock, while fast docking will take about six hours, according to Bai.

Refueling is conducted during docking, a process that is much more complicated than refueling vehicles on land.

The refueling procedure will take 29 steps and last for several days each time.

This means the Tianzhou-1 will stay in space for about six months. It will fall into a designated sea area after fulfilling its tasks.

SUPPORTING SPACE STATION

Space cargo ships play a crucial role in the maintenance of a space station.

Cargo ships can send all kinds of supplies to the space station which can be an experiment field for developing technology in space.

Huang Weifen, a deputy chief designer of the Astronaut Center of China, said that supplies carried by Tianzhou-1 include goods that will meet the basic living and working needs of three astronauts for 30 days in space, including drinking water, oxygen bottles and nitrogen bottles.

Also onboard include facilities for microorganism tests, and sensors are installed to obtain data such as mechanics and temperature for the future design of the space suit outside a spacecraft.

"We hope to gather relevant data through this mission and accumulate experience for sending material for the future space station," she said.

VISION OF SPACE POWER

Although China has achieved many giant steps in space exploration, the country's space odyssey is far from over as it eyes building its own space station and far beyond that: landing on Mars.

In 1992, the central authority approved a three-step manned space program.

The first step, to send an astronaut into space and return safely, was fulfilled by Yang Liwei in Shenzhou-5 mission in 2013.

The second step was developing advanced space flight techniques and technologies including extra-vehicular activity and orbital docking.

The final step will be able to operate a permanent manned space station.

Chinese scientists said they plan to launch a core module of the country's first space station around 2018, followed by two experiment modules.

The station in the primary stage will be composed of three modules: core module, experiment module I and experiment module II. Each module will weigh more than 20 tonnes and together the three will be structured in the shape of T. The core module will be in the middle with an experiment module on each side.

During its operation, the space station could be linked to one additional cargo ship and two manned spacecraft at one time, and the maximum weight of the whole assembly could reach up to 90 tonnes.

Based on such design, scientists will keep updating capsules in accordance with scientific research and extend their abilities.

With the International Space Station set to retire in 2024, the Chinese space station will offer a promising alternative, and China will be the only country with a permanent space station.

So far, China has successfully launched 11 Shenzhou series spacecraft, including six manned spacecraft that lifted 11 astronauts into space.

The country strives to realize the third step of its lunar program in 2017: sending Chang'e-5 lunar probe onto the moon which will return with samples.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 21:32:48|Editor: xuxin

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LUSAKA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Zambian police on Thursday warned people behind a spate of fires to public properties that they will soon be arrested.

Zambia has witnessed a spate of fires to public buildings since the arrest of the country's leading opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema last week.

The country's ruling party has accused the main opposition party of being behind the fires in order to create tension in the country but the opposition party has dismissed the accusation.

On Sunday, a fire gutted a popular market in Lusaka, the country's capital in which over 120 shops were destroyed while a hostel at a public college on the outskirts of the city was set ablaze on Monday.

Fire also gutted a warehouse in the southern district of Choma where traders stored their merchandise on Tuesday while a court building in central Zambia's Kabwe town was also set ablaze this week.

The latest incident involved another court building in western Zambia's Mongu district which was set ablaze in the early hours of Tuesday.

Esther Mwaata-Katongo, the police spokesperson, warned the arsonist that their days were numbered because they will soon be arrested and prosecuted.

The police have since launched investigations, she added.

"We reiterate our warning that all those who engage in such criminal acts should count their days because soon they will be nabbed and prosecuted," she said in a statement.
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) welcomes U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis at the Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, April 20, 2017. (Reuters photo)

CAIRO, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi met U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis in Cairo on Thursday, state-run MENA news agency reported.

The visit came after a meeting between Sisi and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump at White House earlier this month.

Sisi told Mattis that he hoped to continue their talks over military cooperation which started during the Egyptian leader's visit to Washington, MENA quoted Egyptian Presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef as saying.

Sisi lauded the strategic relations between Egypt and the United States, saying Egyptian-American relations managed to overcome many hardships that emerged over the past years, the spokesman said.

"President Sisi expressed Egypt's keenness that relations with the United States would witness a strong boom under the Trump administration," the spokesman said.

The spokesman also said that Sisi underlined the importance of drying up funding sources of terrorism and sending a decisive message to terrorism-sponsoring countries to stop financing terror organizations and supplying arms.

The U.S. defense official in turn said his country is looking forward to more cooperation with Egypt to face the unprecedented challenges currently in the Middle East and the entire world.

Mattis said the United States is keen to take the bilateral defense cooperation, which he describes as strong, to higher level.

He also praised Egypt's pivotal role in fighting terrorism and backing regional stability, saying the United States fully supports Egyptian efforts in this field.

Mattis' visit to Egypt is part of a regional tour that began with a visit to Saudi Arabia.

The bilateral relations between Egypt and U.S. worsened during Trump's predecessor Barrack Obama's administration after the Egyptian military ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

The ties, however, have improved under the new U.S. administration of President Trump, who pledged to support the key U.S. ally with 1.3 billion U.S. dollars annually in military aid.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 21:37:49|Editor: xuxin

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SOFIA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria has arrested five German citizens suspiciously involved in terror activities when they were trying to leave the country at Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint on the border with Turkey, the Bulgarian government said Thursday in a statement.

There were reasonable suspicions that the five Germans, one of them underage, were involved in a terrorist organization, Bulgaria's State Agency for National Security (SANS) said in the statement.

They were traveling by train from the Romanian capital Bucharest to Istanbul. In their behavior, the Bulgarian authorities noticed signs of radicalization typical for the so-called foreign terrorist fighters, the statement said.

According to the data collected, four of the detained persons were involved in supporting a terrorist organization operating in Syria and Iraq, while the minor was trying to reach the territory of Syria, where they could join the terrorist group, the statement said.

The German authorities have banned them from leaving Germany, the statement said.

According to the SANS, the four adult Germans have already been expelled from Bulgaria, while the minor German citizen would be handed over to his family in Germany later on.

In 2016, the SANS expelled 22 foreigners who were suspiciously involved in terrorist activities.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 21:47:50|Editor: xuxin

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PARIS, April 20 (Xinhua) -- All scenarios are possible in the looming presidential election in France, a senior expert in French politics told Xinhua, ahead of the first round of votes on Sunday.

Madani Cheurfa, secretary-general of the Political Research Center of Paris Institute of Political Studies (Science Po), said the uncertainty is due to a large proportion of undecided voters, who account for 34 percent in a recent poll.

An expected lower turnout is also one of the reasons that make this election "unprecedented", according to Cheurfa.

"The poll shows that only 72 to 77 percent of the respondents said they would vote, while the regular rate is between 78 and 80 percent," he said.

Recalling the previous elections, Cheurfa said that usually as of mid-March the tendency would have become quite clear with "two favorites standing out" in the polls, but this year it is not the case.

Polls show that centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron, far-right Marine Le Pen, far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon and right-wing conservative Francois Fillon are the four frontrunners of a total of 11 candidates.

The two candidates who get the most votes from the first round will move on to a second round on May 7. In case a candidate secures over 50 percent of the votes in the first round, he or she will claim victory without a runoff vote.

"There's a tendency among French voters that they are not voting for someone, but against someone. That is to say, they could vote for anyone except the one that they are against. This naturally brings even bigger uncertainty," said Cheurfa.

This election has seen changes of the French political landscape, as it is no longer a battle between the left and the right, but a tight race among the centrist, the far-right, the far-left and the conservative right-wing, according to the expert.

Moreover, a sense of alienation from traditional political elites is growing among French voters throughout the election campaigns, he added.

"According to a recent survey, 82 percent of the voters polled said that the political elites did not deal with the problems, but only their own situations. This 'divorce' materializes in this election with a high degree of uncertainty among the electorate," Cheurfa said.

He cited the example of the rise of Melenchon, explaining that it is the result of Melenchon's talent as a speaker and the fact that he was able to absorb votes from supporters of the traditional left-wing.

"He occupies the place of the one who speaks for the 'voiceless,'" said Cheurfa. "This role was for a long time undertaken by Jean-Marie Le Pen, then taken over by his daughter. This time, it was Melenchon who managed to embody it."

Asked about growing populism in the European Union (EU), represented by Le Pen in France, Cheurfa believes that it is "at the gates of power as in Austria, the Netherlands and possibly France".

"The current rise of populism in the EU can be explained by the fact that it is blamed -- rightly or wrongly -- for not being able to solve the problem of unemployment and the economic crisis," he said.

He explained that many French people have a "noble vision" of the EU's message but a negative view of its function. "Those who benefit from globalization perceive the EU as virtuous, while those who don't hold it responsible for their situation."

To Cheurfa, the issue of populism is "delicate", as it is the expression of the people, but also a rather easy and simplistic explanation of the world.

"The populist candidates want to make a clean sweep of the past to promise a future without taking into account the complexity of the reality," he added.

On the credibility of opinion polls, the expert suggests that they should be analyzed with caution as "a poll is just a photograph at a given moment".

"The opinion polls do not take into account the people who are not interested, but the 34 percent of undecided voters are those who will make the election," he said.
Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf (1st L) poses with Chinese scientist Yao Tandong (2nd L) and his wife and daughter after awarding 2017 Vega Medal to Yao at the Royal Palace of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, on April 19, 2017.(Xinhua/Fu Yiming)

STOCKHOLM, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientist Yao Tandong received 2017 Vega Medal in Stockholm on Wednesday, recognizing his contributions to research on glaciers and the environment on the Tibetan Plateau.

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf awarded 2017 Vega Medal to Prof. Yao at the Royal Palace of Stockholm on Wednesday afternoon, and congratulated him personally for his outstanding achievements.

Sten Hagberg, chairman of Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography (SSAG) told Xinhua that Yao's "basic researches on 'the Third Pole', monsoon and glaciers" are crucial to the understanding of the process of climate change.

"His researches also concerns more than two billion population, it is a global topic", Hagberg added.

Earlier, SSAG announced Professor Yao as 2017 Vega Medal laureate, for his outstanding contributions to glacier research and to the society at large. His research focuses on glaciers and environment on the Tibetan Plateau, especially within the cryospheric research field.

Yao is internationally acknowledged as one of the most accomplished scientists in the field of cryospheric study.

He has led several research programs -- often together with American, French, German and Japanese scientists -- in the last 20 years. One of his later works shows that global warming, as causing the decline of glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau, interact with Indian monsoon winds and westerly winds. The research program Third Pole Environment (TPE) which is led by Professor Yao, has become internationally significant.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 21:52:51|Editor: xuxin

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LONDON, April 20 (Xinhua) -- More than half a million Scottish jobs, around one in four, depend on Scotland's trade with the rest of Britain, new research published Thursday revealed.

The figures from the Fraser of Allander Institute showed this was more than four times as many jobs supported by trade with the European Union (EU).

The report said that around 530,000 jobs in Scotland were supported by demand for Scottish goods and services from the rest of Britain. That compares with the more than 175,000 jobs in Scotland supported by export demand from the rest of the world and around 125,000 jobs in Scotland supported by export demand from the rest of the EU.

British Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell said: "These figures demonstrate clearly the value of the UK market to Scottish businesses, which is worth four times that of the EU market. As we leave the EU, it is vital we maintain the integrity of the UK market and prevent any new barriers to doing business across the UK."

"We have seen recent worrying figures showing the Scottish economy contracting, compared to the UK economy growing overall. So, at this time, it is more important than ever that Scotland's two governments work together."

Around two thirds of Scottish jobs supported by exports to the rest of Britain are in the services sector (more than 328,000), and just under one third are in manufacturing and construction (more than 150,000).

A spokesman for the British government's Scotland Office said Scotland sells goods and services worth 49.8 billion pounds (63.7 billion U.S. dollars) to the rest of Britain, and 12.3 billion pounds to the EU.

The research -- Employment supported by Scottish export demand -- was commissioned by the British government.
Irina Bokova, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), is interviewed with Xinhua in Paris, capital of France, on April 18, 2017. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)

PARIS, April 20 (Xinhua) -- China has once again showed strong commitment to promoting cultural dialogues and diversity through its Belt and Road Initiative, said Irina Bokova, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) here on Wednesday.

In an interview with Chinese media, Bokova described the Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, as a "fascinating project", stressing that the UN agency commends and supports this initiative.

The initiative, having already won the support of over 100 countries and international organizations, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes, which were inscribed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in 2015.

This goal coincides with that of the UNESCO's own Silk Road Project launched in 1988, which is to promote intercultural dialogues and establish links between different cities and civilizations along the historic trade routes, so as to achieve prosperity and harmony, Bokova told reporters.

The UNESCO chief will attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, scheduled for mid-May, which will bring together at least 28 heads of state and government and is expected to yield major outcomes including the signing of cooperative documents between China and around 40 countries and international organizations.

"I'm more than convinced that economic prosperity only cannot bring happiness, sustainability and harmony in societies. We need also the soft power; we need to develop education; we need to develop intercultural dialogues; we need to develop understandings thus bring more social inclusion and equity in societies, and this is where UNESCO brings our contribution," said Bokova.

Recalling her own visits to many historic sites along the Silk Road, Bokova said she has always been amazed by how intercultural dialogues were developed over 2,000 years ago.

"This is something that we should encourage nowadays if we want to see more prosperity, more connectivity, and more mutual understanding among the peoples, which in my view will accompany trade, investment and economic prosperity," she said.

Bokova said she was particularly impressed by the speech by President Xi on his visit to UNESCO Paris headquarters in March 2014, in which the President underlined the importance of the Silk Road and intercultural dialogues, a message that remains highly relevant today.

"It is very relevant because unfortunately we see extremism, we see destruction; we see a different vision of the world. This is why our cooperation with China is so important, and this is why the Belt and Road Initiative is so important," she explained.

She cited examples of the atrocious destructions of the Bamiyan Buddha in Afghanistan in 2001 and the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria earlier this year.

"The extremists destroyed these heritages because they rejected the same view about diversity in the world," she said. "We should educate young people about diversity. We have to prevent violent extremism through supporting heritage, through supporting diversity."

On cooperation between China and UNESCO, Bokova said that the relationship has developed substantially. China already boasts 50 inscribed World Heritages, and has co-organized successful events on creativity and education with the UN agency.

"China's also supporting some of our projects in the least-developed parts of the world, including in Pakistan, in Afghanistan and in western Africa. I think all these bring a lot of substance, and a lot of very concrete examples of how jointly we can change the world for the better," she added.

The UNESCO chief also thanked China for backing the resolution adopted on March 24 by the UN Security Council on protecting cultural heritages amid conflicts, calling it a "landmark decision" that puts the importance of cultural heritages on the global political agenda.

Towards the end of the interview, Bokova cited a Chinese proverb to depict her expectation for the Belt and Road Initiative.

"One tree does not make a forest, and one string does not make music. The moral is that we need a broad international cooperation to bring prosperity to the world," she said.
BELGRADE, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Serbia's energy ministry and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) awarded around 700,000 U.S. dollars on Thursday to 13 local Serbian governments to advance energy efficiency of public buildings.

The Serbian state granted 25 million dinars (217,800 U.S. dollars) while 500,000 U.S. dollars came from the UNDP's Global Environment Facility (GEF) Program.

The joint project for energy management systems in municipalities throughout Serbia was signed between Serbian energy minister Aleksandar Antic and representatives of the local self-governments at UNDP in Belgrade.

A public call for projects was announced by the energy ministry in October. A joint commission selected projects, favoring those that reduced CO2 emissions, according to a press release from UNDP's Serbia office.

The total grant value of the joint project between the Serbian energy ministry and UNDP is 2.5 million U.S. dollars.

"The purpose of the project is to increase investments in energy efficiency in public buildings and public utility services, as well as to improve their energy and cost efficiency through professional management," UNDP stated.
HARARE, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Two of Zimbabwe's biggest opposition parties in terms of legislative representation on Thursday signed a coalition deal to fight the 2018 general elections against President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF.

Morgan Tsvangirai, president of the Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai (MDC-T) and leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Welshman Ncube buried the hatchet following their acrimonious split in 2005.

They signed the coalition agreement a day after Tsvangirai had signed the same with Mugabe's former deputy in both party and government, Joice Mujuru, who now leads the National People's Party.

Ncube was secretary-general in the original MDC which split over differences on whether the party should contest in senatorial elections held that year, with Tsvangirai, who was against participating, remaining with the bigger chunk of membership.

The MDCs have been trying to dislodge Mugabe from power since 2000 but observers have attributed their failure to do so to disunity among all opposition parties.

Tsvangirai on Thursday pledged to revive industries, create jobs, attract investment and end the prevailing cash crisis if the coalition is elected into power.

He urged opposition supporters to register as voters so that they could secure their children's future.

"Let's go out in our numbers and register to vote so that we can usher in a new dispensation where every Zimbabwean irrespective of race, creed, religion or tribe is given an equal opportunity to prosper," he said.

He also acknowledged past mistakes he and Ncube had made leading to the first split in the party.

"We split our party in 2005. The cost of that vote splitting in addition to the blatant manipulation of results was delayed change for the people of Zimbabwe in 2008. Ladies and gentleman, it takes humble leadership to accept one's mistakes but it takes bold leadership to correct those mistakes," he said.

Apart from forming an alliance with Tsvangirai, Ncube has already engaged other smaller political parties under the banner of the Convention of Democrats, which also serves the purpose of a coalition.

Mujuru, whose party is still to form structures, was booted out of Zanu-PF in 2014 over allegations that she wanted to topple Mugabe through unconstitutional means.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 23:33:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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JERUSALEM, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Israel's police said Thursday that it had decided to fire an officer who was caught on video beating a Palestinian truck driver in Jerusalem, about a month after the incident.

A video footage that surfaced on the internet on March 22, showed a Special Patrol Unit police officer verbally and physically abusing Mazin Shweiki, a resident of Sur Baher, a Palestinian neighborhood in southeastern Jerusalem.

The incident, which took place near an Internal Affairs Ministry bureau in the Palestinian neighborhood of Wadi Joz, stirred anger and calls by Arab lawmakers to charge the officer.

On Thursday, Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said that the policeman was fired following a hearing and that the firing will take effect in two weeks' time.

In the hearing, the officer's lawyer said he wanted to resign from the service. However, the police decide to reject his resignation and fired him instead.

The Justice Ministry's Police Internal Investigations Department has yet to announce if it will charge the policeman.
NAIROBI, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Kenya plans to use embryo transfer technology in order to improve its dairy cattle breeds, the government agricultural agency said on Thursday.

Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) Managing Director Richard Aiyabei told Xinhua in Nairobi that a significant proportion of the country's dairy population consists of local breeds which have low milk production.

"Embryo transfer technology will be used to increase the average daily milk production from the current 15 liters per cattle to 30 liters per cattle," Aiyabei said on the sidelines of the Kenya Alliance of Resident Associations Bi Monthly talk series on Kenya's Food Insecurity.

"Using Embryo transfer technology, we could easily upgrade dairy cattle breeds within a short time," he added. ADC plans to roll out the embryo transfer technology in order to produce 50,000 heifers annually.

"Embryo transfer is a better way to improve cattle breeds as opposed to use of conventional breeding methods," Aiyabei added. He noted that improved heifer breeds will be sold to small scale farmers at subsidized rates.

He noted that Kenya's milk production is unable to meet growing demand. "The majority of the milk produced is from small scale farmers and hence we need to focus on them in order to enhance production," the government official said.

ADC currently has over 1.6 million acres of land for both crop and livestock production.
ACCRA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Ghana on Thursday hosted the fourth session of the Ghana-France political dialogue in Accra as both countries seek to further consolidate their partnership.

The dialogue, which built on the progress made at the third session held in Paris last year, focused on major regional and African issues, notably the situation in Mali, Central African Republic, and the Sahel.

It also seeks to focus on global issues related to the Sustainable Development Goals and the fight against climate change.

The Acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Edwin Adjei, said France had lived up to its commitment as a solid strategic partner of Ghana's economic development.

He said the government would continue to take further bold steps to revamp the economy and implement partnership agreements to sustain the current enabling business environment, as outlined in the government's economic programs and policies.

The Deputy Secretary-General at France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, Laurent Garnier, said France saw Ghana as a strategic partner in West Africa because of its economic position as well as for its political stability and vibrant democracy.

Ghana's relations with France have been excellent over the years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries 60 years ago.

Currently, there are about 90 French-registered projects in Ghana in various sectors of the economy while trade volumes between both countries have grown over the years reaching 2 billion U.S. dollars.

The meeting is expected to provide an opportunity to review prospects for strengthening the bilateral relations, particularly, in the economic field and in terms of supporting Ghana's development.
BUDAPEST, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Hungary wants a fair agreement between the European Union and Britain regarding Brexit, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto told journalists here on Thursday.

"The EU should reach the most comprehensive free-trade agreement with Britain," Szijjarto said after meeting with Britain's Brexit Secretary David Davis.

"Even though Britain is leaving the EU, we must be able to keep the Brits in the European security and safety system," Szijjarto added.

Addressing objectives of the Hungarian government, Szijjarto said the rights of the Hungarians living in Britain "must be defended, this is something we cannot let go".

He explained that close to 200,000 Hungarians lived in Britain, and each of them was sending home 6,300 euros (6,782 U.S. dollars) on an annual basis.

Britain is the 11th largest trading partner of Hungary, which exported goods worth 3.6 billion euros last year. Britain is the seventh largest investor in Hungary, giving employment to 51,000 people through some 800 British firms, the minister added.

He said that if the other member states of the European Union would not take over the British contributions of the EU's budget, Hungary would lose about 1.4 to 1.5 billion euros from 2019-2020.

Davis is currently visiting EU's member states to brief them about his country's standpoint.

"We respect the Brits' decision, but we also deeply regret it, as it is a big loss for Europe," the Hungarian minister added.
BANGKOK, April 20 (Xinhua) -- South Thailand has been hit twice by more than a dozen of bomb blasts and gun attacks within a month, killing two, officials said on Thursday.

According to local media, suspected militants launched 13 grenade and gun attacks in 12 separate districts of three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla at about 7 p.m. local time Wednesday night.

Local media reported the attacks targeted police stations and checkpoints. No group has claimed for the attacks.

A spokesman for Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command was quoted by local media as saying that eight other civilians and officials were wounded in the violence.

The restive southernmost provinces were rocked by a string of attacks on April 7. Suspected insurgents set off bombs, bringing down power lines and setting tires on fire to block roads, but causing no deaths or injuries.

On April 10, a key rebel group, Barisan Revolusi Nasional (National Revolutionary Front) BRN issued a rare public statement to reject peace talks the Thai government has been holding with them.

A conflict known as south Thailand insurgency started in 2004. The Muslim population of the provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat have been striving for independence from predominantly Buddhist Thailand. About 7,000 people were killed in the conflict.
LUSAKA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government said it was in the process of reviewing a law governing marriages in order to criminalize child marriages, state media reported on Thursday.

Minister of Gender Victoria Kalima said the government has been prompted to review the Marriage Act because it was concerned that the problem of early marriages had continued despite attempts to discourage it.

The ministry, she said, had been making wide consultations on criminalizing child marriages and that so far tremendous progress has been recorded.

"We are harmonizing the Marriage Act because the constitution states something else. We want to harmonize the age of a child," she is quoted saying by the Times of Zambia.

Criminalizing child marriages would help to deter parents or guardians from marrying off underage children for fear of being jailed, she added.

Zambia has over the years been experiencing the problem of child marriages involving girls below the age of 18, especially in rural parts of the southern African nation.

The country has one of the highest child marriage rates in the world, with 42 percent of women aged 20 to 24 years married before 18 years.
SINGAPORE, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Singapore on Thursday unveiled a master plan to transform and boost competitiveness of its aviation industry.

The master project, Air Industry Transformation Map (ITM), aims to secure Singapore's aviation industry is spearheaded by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) with the support from Changi Airport Group (CAG).

The plan includes the introductions of a new air transport undergraduate degree program, a "Smart Tower" for air traffic controllers to manage live air traffic, autonomous systems to move passengers, mobile devices or wearable technology to track ground staffs, and a new system that uses precision lasers to help in docking process, among others.

With that, more jobs for professionals, technicians and cabin crew will be created and productivity is expected to increase by 40 percent by 2025.

Speaking at the Aviation Community Reception on Thursday, Second Minister for Transport Ng Chee Meng said given the inherent constraints of land and manpower as well as increasing competition, Singapore needs to "constantly reinvigorate and rejuvenate" to improve aviation sector's competitiveness.

Meanwhile, the government is already investing about 500 million Singapore dollars to support the ITM through channels such as the Aviation Development Fund.

There will also be more opportunities for Singaporean companies as CAAS launches more Aviation Challenges over the next few years.
LUSAKA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government has called for unity among African countries in promoting the tourism industry, a senior official said on Thursday.

The African continent needed to work together in order to boost tourist arrivals, Tourism and Arts Minister Charles Banda said.

He said this at the 59th United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Commission for Africa High-Level Meeting on Chinese Outbound Tourism to Africa held in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, according to a statement released by the Zambian Embassy in that country.

According to the Zambian minister, it was unacceptable that Africa only attracted five percent of global tourist arrivals.

Africa should work together to make the continent a tourist destination of choice because it was endowed with unique tourist sites and cultural events as compared to other countries, he added.

He further said competition among African countries for tourist arrivals was working against the continent and called for the harmonization of policies and strategies to facilitate for easy transfer of tourists among the countries.
MANILA, April 21 (Xinhua) -- A soldier was abducted by suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits in southern Philippines on Thursday, the military said.

The Philippine local media reported that the Western Mindanao Command identified the soldier's name is Anni Siraji and he has been helping the government in the peace and development efforts in Sulu province.

The military said Siraji was snatched by seven armed men believed to be the members of the Abu Sayyaf. A platoon of soldiers was immediately dispatched to look for Siraji, while security checkpoints were also put up in areas where the terrorists might take him.

Abu Sayyaf is one of the smallest and most violent terror groups operating in southern Philippines notorious for kidnappings, bombings and attacking civilians and the army.
KHARTOUM, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The meeting of joint political consultation committee of Sudan and Egypt on Thursday concluded and the two sides agreed to enhance joint work on bases of mutual respect.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, speaking to reporters following the meetings, commended Egypt's supportive stances to peace in Sudan together with its support for the strategy for exit of the United Nations-African Union Mission Darfur.

He declared Sudan's agreement on a proposal presented by Egypt to enhance cooperation between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in a manner that brings benefit for the three countries.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, for his part, announced that the issue of the Sudanese miners together with their belongings, which were seized by Egypt, has been resolved.

He reiterated Egypt's keenness to develop its relations with Sudan, pointing to importance of the political consultations for exchange of view points and coordination of joint work regarding international issues.

He said the two sides would work together to resolve the issues of difference, particularly with regard to banning the entry of Egyptian agricultural products to Sudan.
JUBA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- A series of armed attacks on civilian population in South Sudan's eastern state of Boma early this week have left at least 55 civilians killed, 20 others injured and over 8,000 displaced, a local government official said on Thursday.

John Achon, Boma State Minister of Information told Xinhua that armed men loyal to the rebel group SPLA-IO carried out several raids in the areas of Nanam, Kongor and Lukongole late last week until Tuesday.

Achon said the casualty figures were provided by local officials yesterday after relative calm returned to the area.

"This attack was carried out by rebels of Riek Machar. The attack left 55 people dead and 20 injured and 8,200 people have been displaced to Lukongole county headquarters," Achon told Xinhua by phone.

He said the attack has created volatile humanitarian situation after 60 aid workers were evacuated from the region following the fighting.

The UN Mission in South Sudan, UNMISS on Saturday said it has observed fresh fighting between government and opposition forces in various locations across the war-torn country including Raga in Lol State, Waat in Jonglei State and Tonga in the northern Upper Nile region.

The Peacekeeping mission urged the South Sudan's warring parties to show restraint and respect civilians and their property during conflict.

South Sudan has been embroiled in more than three years of conflict that has have taken a devastating toll on the people of South Sudan.

According to the UN, the conflict has made the East African nation one of the hostile environments for aid workers to operate as at least 79 aid workers have been killed since the civil war began in 2013.

Last month, gunmen ambushed and killed six aid workers on a road linking the Capital, Juba to Pibor in Boma State last month.

The UN estimates that 1.5 million people have been forced into neighboring countries and another 7.5 million people across the country are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, and a localized famine declared in February in parts of northern unity state.
ADDIS ABABA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on Thursday laid a cornerstone for the construction of first phase of the Medical City Center in Addis Ababa by the Ethio-American Doctors Group at a cost of 110 million U.S. dollars.

The mission of the project is to build an economically sustainable center of excellence hospital that will deliver internationally accredited standard care and become the catalyst of change in how health care is delivered in Ethiopia, the region, and beyond, according to the Ethio-American Doctors Group.

Lying on 150,000 sq. meters of land, it will be a 300-bed state-of-the-art hospital with a full diagnostic center, eight operating rooms, two cath labs, outpatient medical office building with 80 consultation rooms and cancer treatment center.

The hospital, which will provide a full complement of services with clinical focus on cardiovascular, neurological and oncology services with range of invasive procedures, is expected to go fully operational by 2020.

Laying the cornerstone, Hailemariam noted that the hospital would support the government's multifarious activities in the health sector.

Reiterating that Addis Ababa is one of the top world cities in hosting huge number of diplomatic missions, the prime minister said the hospital would serve as a healthcare center for both Ethiopians and foreign nationals residing in the city.

The construction of the hospital in the city also supports the country's economy by helping retain foreign currency spent for medical treatment outside the country, he said, adding that it provides support in capacity building activities in the health sector, said the prime minister.

"When this hospital goes fully operational, I have firm belief that it will help retain foreign exchange outflow from the country," said Hailemariam.

Girma Tefera, Board Chairman of the Ethio-American Doctors Group, told Xinhua that the intention is not only to provide health care but also to train more physicians and share knowledge with other medical personnel beyond the hospital.

"We will use this opportunity to actually train, share knowledge and develop more physicians with additional skills that could go back to spread beyond our hospital," said Girma.

"The intention is not really to create an environment which is just an Iceland but to come up with open mind to support whatever structure is ongoing, train more people, provide care that is not available; and together with other hospital systems in Ethiopia elevate the level of care we provide," he said.

Currently, the Ethio-American Doctors Group largely consists of a consortium of more than 260 physicians.
JUBA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- At least 60 aid workers have been relocated from South Sudan's Walgak and Waat areas in northern Jonglei due to intensified armed conflict, the UN said on Thursday.

The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said renewed fighting has also caused thousands of people to flee from multiple locations including Waat and Walgak in Jonglei, amid concerns that clashes may spread to additional areas.

"The situation deteriorated in the second week of April, as a government offensive swept through multiple villages, including in areas where fighting previously flared up in late February," OCHA said in its latest report released in Juba.

The UN said the humanitarian workers had to relocate from multiple locations including Waat and Walgak in Jonglei on April 14 and 15.

"The relocations forced humanitarian organizations to suspend preparations for food drops due to target more than 11,200 people in Nyirol, and disrupted other vital humanitarian programming, including education, health, nutrition and WASH activities," it said.

The relocations follow earlier disruptions to humanitarian action in Jonglei when humanitarian assets and supplies were looted by civilians and armed actors during clashes in February.

According to OCHA, although it has not yet been possible to verify displacement figures due to the fluidity of the situation, preliminary estimates indicate that up to 100,000 people have been affected and displaced, many of whom had previously been displaced during fighting in February which caused thousands of people to flee from Motot and Pulchuol in Uror to Waat, Lankien, Akobo and Ethiopia.

"While fighting in Jonglei in 2017 has to date centred in Uror and Nyirol, there are concerns that conflict may also erupt in the Pibor area, where there have been increasing reports of localized clashes since February," the UN said.

It also said there are also concerns that the renewed fighting and displacement may exacerbate food insecurity in Jonglei heading into the lean season, where Nyirol was already expected to face emergency levels of food insecurity.
VILNIUS, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Lithuania's ruling politicians are giving "empty promises" while claiming that an agreement with employers should be signed to ensure constant wage increase for employees, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said on Thursday.

She was reacting to the Lithuanian Greens and Peasants Union's (LZVS), one of two ruling parties, and their initiative to sign a tripartite agreement among authorities, employers and professional unions to ensure regular pay rises for employees.

"The intention is not bad; the wish that businesses oblige and start to see employees from different angle is not bad. However, is it possible to force private businesses to implement wage increase by agreements and nice declarations? No," Grybauskaite told reporters, according to local website Delfi.lt.

She stressed that all guarantees for employees must be envisaged in the country's new labour code, rather than separate "side" agreements.

Tomas Tomilinas and Virginijus Sinkevicius, two lawmakers from LZVS, said in a press conference on Thursday that their party would not endorse the new labor code which anticipates simplified terms of redundancies if employers do not increase wages.

It is expected that the new, heavily debated Lithuanian labour code will come into force as of July 1.

Meanwhile, Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis pledged that the new legislation will take effect as planned as this was agreed at the tripartite council, an advisory body concluded of representatives of employers, trade unions and the government.

"I can firmly say that the LVZS discussed its position together with the coalition partners and the new labour code will take effect on July 1 with all the amendments agreed at the Tripartite Council," Skvernelis was quoted as saying by news agency Elta after a meeting on Thursday with representatives of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-21 01:24:08|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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by Osama Radi, Emad Drimly

GAZA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- In a few weeks, the Palestinians will be marking ten years for the internal political and geographic split, which began in June, 2007 when Islamic Hamas movement forcibly seized control of the Gaza Strip, while the West Bank remained under the rule of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah Party.

Analysts said that after ten years, ending this division has become very complicated amid endless feuds, trade of accusations and disputes between the two major rivals.

A recent example is that Abbas and the Palestinian government decided to cut 30 percent of the salaries of the employees in Gaza, including civil servants and security forces who refrained from working under Hamas when it seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Hamas accused the decision of new efforts aiming at deepening crisis in the strip.

Hani el-Masri, a Ramallah-based political analyst, told Xinhua that Abbas currently found out that there is a chance both locally and internationally to start exerting real pressure on Hamas for ending the internal division.

"I believe that one of the major reasons that encouraged Abbas to start serious measures against Hamas is the promises of the new U.S. government and President Donald Trump to revive the stalled Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and reach a historic peace deal that ends the conflict in the Middle East," he said.

In fact, all Arab and international mediations aiming to end the split had so far failed.

Egypt, Qatar, Yemen, Turkey, Kuwait, Lebanon and some European mediators have failed over the past ten years to bridge the gaps and end the status of political and physical hostility between the two rivals in the two territories, although several agreements and understandings had been reached, but never implemented.

George Jaqman, the chairman of the Institute for Democratic Studies in the West Bank city of Ramallah, told Xinhua that in the past ten years, the Palestinian reality on the ground was in a severe confusion. He said that two Palestinian rules, or entities, have been established in Gaza and the West Bank.

"Each power has separately ruled the territory it controls in accordance to the private interests linked to power as well as external and foreign influence," said Jaqman, adding that "the Palestinian split going on for this long was due to the absence of a fair and permanent solution to the Palestinian question."

The so-called Middle East peace process has been going up and down and has achieved no progress over the past decade until it reached a deadlock in April 2014, when the U.S. sponsored peace negotiations went on for nine months and ended up with deeper disagreements on settlements, borders and security between the Palestinians and Israel.

"Having no fair solution to the Palestinian cause and experiencing a deep internal dispute between Fatah and Hamas has further provided the chance for Arab counties, Israel and the United States to exert their interference or influence on the Palestinians, resulting in the Palestinian situation as it is without putting an end to it," said Jaqman.

Back to the summer of 2007, the Palestinians in the coastal enclave of Gaza Strip, where has been under a tight Israeli blockade since then, witnessed the tragic and bloody scenes when Hamas and Fatah militants fought each other for weeks.

Hamas, which won the parliamentary elections in 2006 and was listed as a terrorist organization by Israel and some other countries, refused to abide by the international requirements of recognizing Israel or condemning violence, therefore Israel and the United States refused to involve Hamas into any Palestinian government.

Hamas, meanwhile, neglected the world's embargo and counted on friendly Arab and Islamic countries and started to perform as if it is a power of a state.

According to local analysts, leaders of Fatah Party are intending soon to hold talks with leaders of Hamas in Gaza to convey a clear message that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) can't keep financing the Gaza Strip while the internal division remains.

In this case, Hamas is facing two options: either bearing its full responsibility for providing all services to the populations, including food, medicine, jobs and electricity, or handing over the Gaza Strip to the PNA.

Hamas, meanwhile, sent a message to Fatah through news briefings that the movement is willing to hand over all ministries, reach full reconciliation, form a unity government and go for general parliamentary and presidential elections within three months.

Talal Oukal, a Gaza-based writer and political analyst, told Xinhua that it seems easy to reach an agreement between the two rivals in term of administrative power, "but it will be very complicated and difficult afterwards to resolve other issues like security."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-21 01:24:09|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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XI'AN, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Three months away from graduation, Nontipa Kla-ngam sees a golden opportunity as she wraps up her master's thesis on the free trade agreement (FTA) between Thailand and China.

"We are very proud of our rice and I wish more Chinese could try it," Nontipa said.

Agricultural products have been exempted duty by the FTA, but most Thai rice sold in China's supermarkets is imported through regular channels, without taking advantage of the FTA, she said.

This means at least a 20-percent price margin, which leaves great market potential, she added.

Nontipa Kla-ngam was born on Phuket Island and began learning Chinese at high school in Bangkok. In 2014, she decided to further her studies at Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University in Yangling, Shaanxi Province.

"As the major initiator of the Belt and Road Initiative and ASEAN cooperation, China, in my eyes, should be a land of opportunity. That's why I came to study here," she said.

Thousands of years ago Yangling was the cradle of Chinese agriculture and has been home to a hi-tech agricultural industrial demonstration zone since 1997. Much of China's agricultural technology, crop varieties and agricultural management modes have been born there.

On April 1, the China Shaanxi FTZ was announced. Nontipa immediately checked out the policies on agricultural imports.

"I am about to publish a paper on Thai rice, so I believe I will be good at procurement. I'm familiar with Chinese culture and policies, and I speak fluent Chinese, which gives me many advantages," she said.

"I want to start here because I already know Yangling," she said. "Even if I fail, I still have friends and teachers here who take me in and listen to my tales of woe."

In November, the university launched a Silk Road agriculture education and innovation alliance with 59 other universities and research institutions from 12 Belt and Road countries. Nearly 200 students from Belt and Road countries attend the university, accounting for nearly 90 percent overseas students.

Many overseas students, like Nontipa Kla-ngam, choose to stay in China upon graduation, hoping to accumulate more field experience and make a bigger contribution when they go back, Zheng said.

"I want a career in China. Ultimately I will go back to Thailand, but I hope I will be 50 then," Nontipa said.
By Chrispinus Omar

NAIROBI, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The resurgent piracy attacks off the vast Somali coastline is a result of the growing insecurity in the Horn of Africa region, which calls for renewed security partnership to defeat, a commander of an international naval task force against piracy told Xinhua.

Commander Jacqui Sheriff, Spokesperson for the European Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) operating off the Somali coastline to deter piracy along the Indian Ocean coastline and in the Gulf of Aden, said pirates have felt the need to return to sea in the middle of heightened insecurity in recent months.

"The EU NAVFOR warships and maritime patrol aircraft are continuing to work with maritime partners to deter armed pirate attacks," Sherriff said in a recent interview.

The EU NAVFOR and China's PLA Navy have formed the bedrock of international naval collaboration to defeat rampant acts of piracy along the Indian Ocean coastline and the Gulf of Aden.

The Chinese navy was instrumental in the rescue of an Indian vessel, Al Kausar, which was hijacked on April 3 as it headed to the Port of Bossasso.

This was the second such incident in weeks after several months of calm in a region where up to 237 attacks were reported during the peak piracy period in 2011.

"Given the insecurity in the Horn of Africa region, pirates have perhaps felt that there could be opportunities at sea to attack and take ship for ransom," Sherriff said.

An unknown number of pirates attacked the Indian freight vessel before it was rescued by a team of elite Chinese naval officers who also rescued the 19 crew members.

Sherriff said the Chinese PLA Navy warships in the area have made a contribution to efforts to deter piracy in the Horn of Africa region for some time now.

The EU NAVFOR warships in the region have been contributing to the efforts to stamp out piracy in the region. However, the area of operation is considered too vast to completely patrol, naval experts say.

She said the EU NAVFOR continued to cooperate with partners to deter piracy in the region, which is critical to international trade.

Beijing deployed its navy to join the international effort against piracy in 2008 after a series of piracy attacks, which included three Chinese vessels.

The Chinese navy has been providing escort services to Chinese ship, escorts to relief and other humanitarian supplies including the World Food Program (WFP) consignments and ship owned by Chinese companies as they transit through the Gulf of Aden.

The Chinese naval deployment to the region followed a UN Security Council approval.

In 2016, the Chinese authorities confirmed the PLA dispatched 21 task groups, involving 62 ships and 42 helicopters to protect 6,056 vessels, including 8 vessels carrying WFP food shipments to the region, according to a PLA navy briefing paper.

At least 1,500 Chinese ship transit through the Gulf of Aden.

The EU naval force, whose mandate has been extended to 2018 by the EU last December, has vowed to continue working with its partners, including the PLA navy, to keep seafarers and vessels safe.

Sherriff attributed the relative calm from piracy attacks in the last few months to the vigilance practiced by owners of shipping lines and the successes of the naval operation.

Efforts to ensure a sustainable end to the piracy attacks have also been bolstered by the training of Somali coast guards.

However, Sherriff said while the Somali forces were working to improve their maritime capabilities, there was need to further provide additional training and logistical support.

"The Somali authorities appreciate the support given by the EU and other missions that operate in the region to provide maritime security and training to local forces," she said.
Palestinian fishermen ride their boats as they go fishing at the seaport of Gaza City on Oct. 10, 2016. (Xinhua Photo)

by Osama Radi, Emad Drimly

GAZA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- In a few weeks, the Palestinians will be marking ten years for the internal political and geographic split, which began in June, 2007 when Islamic Hamas movement forcibly seized control of the Gaza Strip, while the West Bank remained under the rule of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah Party.

Analysts said that after ten years, ending this division has become very complicated amid endless feuds, trade of accusations and disputes between the two major rivals.

A recent example is that Abbas and the Palestinian government decided to cut 30 percent of the salaries of the employees in Gaza, including civil servants and security forces who refrained from working under Hamas when it seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Hamas accused the decision of new efforts aiming at deepening crisis in the strip.

Hani el-Masri, a Ramallah-based political analyst, told Xinhua that Abbas currently found out that there is a chance both locally and internationally to start exerting real pressure on Hamas for ending the internal division.

"I believe that one of the major reasons that encouraged Abbas to start serious measures against Hamas is the promises of the new U.S. government and President Donald Trump to revive the stalled Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and reach a historic peace deal that ends the conflict in the Middle East," he said.

In fact, all Arab and international mediations aiming to end the split had so far failed.

Egypt, Qatar, Yemen, Turkey, Kuwait, Lebanon and some European mediators have failed over the past ten years to bridge the gaps and end the status of political and physical hostility between the two rivals in the two territories, although several agreements and understandings had been reached, but never implemented.

George Jaqman, the chairman of the Institute for Democratic Studies in the West Bank city of Ramallah, told Xinhua that in the past ten years, the Palestinian reality on the ground was in a severe confusion. He said that two Palestinian rules, or entities, have been established in Gaza and the West Bank.

"Each power has separately ruled the territory it controls in accordance to the private interests linked to power as well as external and foreign influence," said Jaqman, adding that "the Palestinian split going on for this long was due to the absence of a fair and permanent solution to the Palestinian question."

The so-called Middle East peace process has been going up and down and has achieved no progress over the past decade until it reached a deadlock in April 2014, when the U.S. sponsored peace negotiations went on for nine months and ended up with deeper disagreements on settlements, borders and security between the Palestinians and Israel.

"Having no fair solution to the Palestinian cause and experiencing a deep internal dispute between Fatah and Hamas has further provided the chance for Arab counties, Israel and the United States to exert their interference or influence on the Palestinians, resulting in the Palestinian situation as it is without putting an end to it," said Jaqman.

Back to the summer of 2007, the Palestinians in the coastal enclave of Gaza Strip, where has been under a tight Israeli blockade since then, witnessed the tragic and bloody scenes when Hamas and Fatah militants fought each other for weeks.

Hamas, which won the parliamentary elections in 2006 and was listed as a terrorist organization by Israel and some other countries, refused to abide by the international requirements of recognizing Israel or condemning violence, therefore Israel and the United States refused to involve Hamas into any Palestinian government.

Hamas, meanwhile, neglected the world's embargo and counted on friendly Arab and Islamic countries and started to perform as if it is a power of a state.

According to local analysts, leaders of Fatah Party are intending soon to hold talks with leaders of Hamas in Gaza to convey a clear message that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) can't keep financing the Gaza Strip while the internal division remains.

In this case, Hamas is facing two options: either bearing its full responsibility for providing all services to the populations, including food, medicine, jobs and electricity, or handing over the Gaza Strip to the PNA.

Hamas, meanwhile, sent a message to Fatah through news briefings that the movement is willing to hand over all ministries, reach full reconciliation, form a unity government and go for general parliamentary and presidential elections within three months.

Talal Oukal, a Gaza-based writer and political analyst, told Xinhua that it seems easy to reach an agreement between the two rivals in term of administrative power, "but it will be very complicated and difficult afterwards to resolve other issues like security."
NAIROBI, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan ministry of education is finalizing modalities of embedding Chinese language courses in school curriculum, a senior official said on Thursday.

David Njeng'ere, the acting Deputy Director in charge of basic education at Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) said preparations are in top gear to introduce mandarin in primary schools across the country.

"We have already incorporated Chinese language to be an optional subject in class four and the first priority will be students who have demonstrated aptitude," Njeng'ere told Xinhua in Nairobi.

The East Africa nation announced plans to introduce Chinese language in the school curriculum in April 2015 against a backdrop of thriving education and cultural ties with the Asian giant.

Njeng'ere noted that efforts to popularize Chinese language among Kenya's children and youth have intensified for the last two years.

"Needs assessment conducted in several schools countrywide revealed a huge enthusiasm for mandarin among learners, teachers and even parents," said Njeng'ere.

He added that China's large footprint in Kenya's infrastructure development has elicited a desire by the country's youth to study mandarin.

"There is a growing appreciation by the country's youth on China's positive impact to our economy. They are keen to study the Chinese language both for interactions and business," Njenge're said.

Kenya's curriculum development agency has partnered with the University of Nairobi's Confucius institute to facilitate introduction of Chinese language in primary schools.

Njeng'ere said the Confucius Institute is providing technical support and learning materials as introduction of mandarin in public schools gathers steam.

"We are in the early stage of entrenching Chinese language courses in our schools and are relying on the Confucius institute to provide teachers and learning materials," said Njeng'ere.

He revealed that Chinese language courses will be rolled out in select schools to gauge its sustainability.

"As you know this is an expensive undertaking that requires adequate funds and human capital. We will start with few schools before rolling out Chinese language training countrywide," Njeng'ere said.

He added that Kenya will use internationally approved benchmarks to gauge mandarin proficiency among primary school children.

"The students will be required to do a Chinese language proficiency assessment test similar to that of other foreign languages. It will help us gauge their passion and understanding of a language that is relatively new in Kenya," said Njeng'ere.

He disclosed that training of teachers who will implement the mandarin training program in primary schools has been ongoing.
by Samuel Egadu, Ronald Ssekandi

KAMPALA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- While the Ugandan and U.S. military officers say that they have weakened the capacity of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebel group, to cause mayhem, experts argue that the withdrawal of troops without capturing rebel leader Joseph Kony may cause a vacuum leading to the regrouping of the outfit.

Ugandan and U.S. military advisors have ended their hunt for the notorious rebel LRA holed up in the jungles of the Central African Republic (CAR).

The first group of the Ugandan contingent which was based in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) neighboring CAR arrived in Uganda on April 19. The rest will be pulled out gradually.

The U.S. military advisors totaling to about 100 are scheduled to leave the jungles on April 26.

"The decision to withdraw was premised on the realization that the mission to neutralize the LRA has now been successfully achieved," Brig. Richard Karemire, Ugandan military spokesman said in a statement.

"The LRA capacity and means of making war against Uganda have been degraded. Senior key commanders such as Dominic Ongwen, Okot Odyambo and other fighters have over the years been killed, captured or surrendered," he added.

Samantha Reho, Media Relations Officer, U.S. Africa Command, told Xinhua in an email that the U.S. troops will now be moved to a broader security scope and stability activities in Africa.

She said the troops that have been involved in the operation now have the capacity to address regional security threats more effectively.

The U.S. troops were deployed in 2011 while the Ugandan military working under an African Union mission have been fighting the rebels since 2008.

Although Uganda and the U.S. troops claim victory over the LRA, security experts argue that the withdrawal will allow the LRA time to regroup and reorganize themselves to carry out attacks and abduction of the civilians.

"If the Ugandans were to completely withdraw and their contingent is not replaced by another country, it could create a huge vacuum," said Martin Ewi, Senior Researcher with Institute for Security Studies.

"There is also need to establish a trained battalion for preventing and intercepting kidnappings -this seems to be LRA's critical source of life," he added.

Brig. Karemire however argued that the LRA has been greatly weakened noting that it has less than 100 armed fighters.

He said that in its current state, the LRA poses no significant threat to Uganda.

He noted that Uganda is ready to support the capacity building of the CAR military to fight the LRA should the outfit regroup.

The LRA is a notorious rebel group that waged a twenty-year long insurgency in northern Uganda until it was pushed out by the military in 2006 after failed peace talks.

The fighters fled to neighboring South Sudan and then DRC and CAR.

It recruits its fighters through child abductions and carrying out heinous activities.

Its leader Joseph Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

One of his commanders, Dominic Ongwen is currently before the same court facing similar charges.
ACCRA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Two persons were shot dead while two others were injured in Ghana following renewed communal clash at Nkonya, a town in the Volta Region located some 226 km east of the national capital, the police said here Thursday.

Chief Superintendent Prosper Ahwirigya, Kpando Divisional Police Commander, told the media the incident occurred between 7 and 8 pm on Wednesday, April 19.

The Police Commander said the perpetrators were alleged to be from Alavanyo, who are neighbors with the people of Nkonya.

"It was an attack from Alavanyo, according to the soldiers on the ground who were monitoring events. They said the attack was from the rival side, Alavanyo," Ahwirigya said.

The assemblyman for Nkonya Ntumda, Sylvester Akompi, gave account of what happened in the area.

"Five people went to farm, they are palm wine tappers. They were tapping palm wine between Nkonya and Alavanyo, precisely Nkonya Ahenkro. In the course of doing their work, it rained a bit and on their way home, a group of people appeared with guns and started shooting at them.

"Two people managed to hide somewhere, while three people were shot. One died instantly; he would be about 40 or 41 years," Akompi said.

Residents in the area are reported to be living in extreme fear and have fled their homes.

The incident occurred hours after the country's Interior Minister Ambrose Dery announced that it had reviewed a curfew in the area from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. each day.

The Nkonya and Alavanyo have been involved in a longstanding land dispute dating back to colonial times.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-21 01:49:22|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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UNITED NATIONS, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Thursday strongly condemned the most recent ballistic missile launch conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

In a press statement, the 15-nation council demanded the DPRK to immediately cease further actions in violation of relevant Security Council resolutions, saying that the council would closely monitor the situation and "take further significant measures including sanctions."

The DPRK attempted on Sunday to test-fire an unidentified missile on its east coast, according to the South Korean military. The United States confirmed later that the missile launch had failed.

The Security Council expressed their "utmost concern" over DPRK's "highly destabilizing behavior and flagrant and provocative defiance of the Security Council" by conducting the ballistic missile launch, said the statement.

It stressed that DPRK's illegal ballistic missile activities are contributing to its development of nuclear weapons delivery systems and are greatly increasing tension in the region and beyond.

In order to reduce the tension in the Korean Peninsula, the most powerful UN body demanded the DPRK conduct no further nuclear tests.

According to previous Security Council resolutions, the DPRK is banned from conducting any launches that use ballistic missile technology, nuclear tests or any other provocation. To that end, the council has imposed tough sanctions on the DPRK, which includes banning the sale and transfer of coal, iron and iron ore from the country's territory.
VIENNA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- A return of snowy winter weather in Austria on Wednesday has led to numerous problems including traffic jams and power outages which lasted till Thursday, local media reported.

On Wednesday evening, parts of two Autobahn motorways were closed due to massive traffic jams which was often caused by cars already fitted with summer tires getting stuck.

Some people were not able to make the trip home, and were forced to stay in emergency quarters.

On Thursday, an improvement in the conditions saw the closures lifted, though Transport Minister Joerg Leichtfried called for the extension of the use of compulsory winter tires on heavy vehicles by another month.

In addition, about 25,000 households in the state of Lower Austria experienced power outages overnight, though the affected number had been reduced to just over 1,000 by Thursday morning.

Fire brigade personnel have also been working overtime to remove fallen trees and branches from roads, that could otherwise lead to potentially dangerous situations.
by Liu Yongqiu, Maria Spiliopoulou

ATHENS, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Greece will achieve a primary surplus of more than 3.6 percent of GDP in 2016, exceeding by far initial forecasts in one more sign of the impressive progress in efforts to restore stability and growth, Greek Digital Policy Minister Nikos Pappas told Xinhua here on Thursday.

The Greek official expressed optimism over the prospects of the Greek economy, pointing to the latest estimates on the 2016 primary surplus during the signing of an agreement between Xinhua and Greek national news agency ANA to strengthen their cooperation.

Greece's statistical authority ELSTAT is expected to formally announce on Friday that the 2016 primary surplus was close to 4 percent of GDP, according local media citing Finance Ministry sources.

Under the 2015 bailout program, Greece and its international creditors had set a target of 0.5 percent of GDP primary surplus for 2016.

In its latest report released on Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund revised its projections from 0.1 percent of GDP last fall to 3.3 percent primary surplus in 2016 for the Greek economy.

Athens expects that improved fiscal indexes will enhance its position in negotiations with creditors to close the second review of the current third bailout and continue on the path of economic recovery.
BUJUMBURA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The Burundian National Assembly -- the east African country's parliament lower chamber -- Thursday approved nine candidates who will represent Burundi at the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA).

Before approving the candidatures, Burundian National Assembly Speaker Pascal Nyabenda said that candidates who are current lawmakers at the Burundian parliament "must first resign" to comply with the EALA rules.

It is in this framework that two lawmakers including Victor Burikukiye, a Hutu from the country's ruling party, the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) and Mo-Mamo Karerwa, another Hutu from the ruling party had to resign before sending their candidatures.

Out of the nine candidates approved the Burundian National Assembly, five are men and four are women.

Ethnic and political dimensions were also taken into account during the choice of those candidates.

Five of those candidates are from the country's ruling party, the CNDD-FDD.

They include Victor Burikukiye, a Hutu man from Muyinga province, Mo-Mamo Karerwa, a Hutu woman from Gitega province, Leontine Nzeyimana, a Hutu woman from Makamba province, Pierre Claver Rurakamvye, a Tutsi man from Bujumbura municipality and Jean Marie Muhirwa, a Hutu man from Kirundo province.

Two candidates are from the Burundians' Hope opposition coalition and they include Sophie Nsavyimana, a Tutsi woman from Muramvya province and Christophe Nduwayo, a Hutu man from Cibitoke province.

The Union for National Progress (UPRONA) party also got a candidate who is Marie Claire Burikukiye, a Tutsi woman from Bujumbura municipality.

The ninth approved candidate is Alfred Ahingejeje, a man from the Twa minority group born in Cibitoke province.

Along with other candidates from the other East African Community (EAC) states, the nine Burundian candidates will begin their duties as EALA lawmakers as of July with a five-year-term.

Each of the six EAC countries including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda contributes nine lawmakers.
OSLO, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Norwegians produced four times more solar energy in their homes in 2016 than in the previous year and solar cells are becoming increasingly popular in the country, newspaper Afteposten reported Thursday.

Last year, there was a strong growth in the installation of solar panels at Norwegian houses, which produced around 3 million kilowatt hours (3 gigawatt hours) in 2016, compared to 700,000 kilowatt hours the year before, according to figures from Norway's Multiconsult consulting company.

Around 11.4 million kilowatt hours were produced in Norway last year, while in Denmark and Sweden the production reached 70,000 kilowatt and 61,000 kilowatts respectively .

Ragnhild Bjelland-Hanley, leader of the Norwegian Solar Energy Society, assured that interest in solar cells is increasing among Norwegians.

"The costs have reduced and the awareness and knowledge of solar energy are generally increasing among the people. A big focus on the climate changes, which have real consequences throughout the world, also contributes to the fact that some have become interested in solar energy," Bjelland-Hanley said.

"Solar cells are more efficient when they are cold, so it is actually a beneficial to enjoy the cool climate we have in Norway. On a cold sunny day in March, for example, you can get high output from a solar system," she said.

Owners of the houses can produce electricity for their own consumption, while remaining electricity will be pulled into the electricity grid and provide income to homeowners of up to 5,000 kroner (580 U.S. dollars) a year. They become what is called plus customers.

In Norway, there are currently only 700 plus customers. By comparison, there are 850,000 and 650,000 plus customers registered respectively in the markets of Germany and Britain, according to the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research.

By 2019, all Norwegian households will receive the advanced metering system smart meters, which will provide a better overview of power consumption and the ability to auto-control.
BANJUL, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Three Gambians soldiers were left injured during a brief firing exchange with the ECOWAS Mission in the Gambia (ECOMIG) in the home village of the former President Yahya Jammeh on Thursday, spokesperson of the Gambia Armed Forces confirmed to Xinhua.

"We have heard about the incident this morning and the Gambia Armed Forces immediately deployed a fact-finding team led by the deputy Chief of Defence Staff Lt. General Yankuba Drammeh to ascertain the cause of firing," Lt. Col. Omar Bojang said.

However, Bojang said the team were able to understand that the conflict was caused by misunderstanding between the two forces.

"During the firing exchange, three Gambian soldiers sustained injuries and but we are yet to ascertain what causes the misunderstanding," he said.

He said the two authorities are tasked to put up a joint board of inquiry to ascertain the cause of the gunshots, stating that when such things happen each side will narrate stories that will clear them.

The ECOMIG forces first landed on the Gambian soil on the mid night of January 19 sent by the orders of ECOWAS to forcefully remove Jammeh who refused to leave power for the elected president Adama Barrow in December.

According to President Barrow, the ECOMIG forces will remain in the Gambia for six months in order to help the country to regain its democratic values.
VIENNA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Montenegro is to maintain its present course toward European Union membership as this is the best option for it, Montenegro's Foreign Minister Srdjan Darmanovic said here on Thursday, according to Austria Press Agency report.

Darmanovic visited the Austrian capital to hold talks with his counterpart Sebastian Kurz.

He said the meeting was a "conversation among friends," and both sides indicated their interest in the further expansion of relations.

The two had discussed the establishment of an economic forum, and Darmanovic said he was pleased about a bilateral action plan the two ministers had signed late last year.

He said his country is also seeking further support on its path to membership.

For his part, Kurz said Montenegro is a "strong partner" and that where EU accession is concerned, Austria wishes all the Balkans ones will have future perspectives.

He was also positive about the bilateral cooperation with Montenegro, that involves both a "political and human" sides.
RIGA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The Baltic Freeport of Ventspils in northwest Latvia and two Ventspils-based terminals on Thursday received an offer to store and transport pipes for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.

Ventspils city mayor Aivars Lembergs, who is also the port's board chairman, said during a news conference on Thursday that Latvia could earn 25 million euros (26.8 million U.S. dollars) by taking part in the project, which is intended to provide two new pipelines under the Baltic sea for pumping natural gas from Russia to Germany.

The Latvian government, however, is strictly against Latvia's involvement in the project, the Ventspils mayor said.

Nord Stream 2 has offered the port of Ventspils, as well as Eurohome Latvija and Noord Natie Ventspils Terminals, to store pipes and deliver them through the port for installation on the Baltic seabed.

To provide these services, the Latvian port would have to seriously expand its storage yard which currently is too small for storing the Nord Stream 2 pipes. The Ventspils mayor said the project's managers had offered to provide 14 million euros for construction of additional storage space in the port.

Although Ventspils mayor Lembergs believes Latvia should accept the lucrative deal, he admitted that the government was unlikely to back his position.

Latvian Economics Minister Arvils Aseradens responded to the news by saying that the involvement of Latvia or Venstpils in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project could not be supported by any means.

The minister indicated that the Latvian government had already decided against any involvement in the project and that he had given explicit instructions to his representative on the Ventspils port board not to support any kind of involvement in Nord Stream 2, which the Baltic states regard as a geopolitical project contradicting the plan to create the European Energy Union and lessen Europe's overreliance on Russia gas.

The European Commission is currently looking into the Nord Stream 2 project's compliance with EU laws as there are concerns that the new pipeline would concentrate 80 percent of the EU's gas import from Russia in a single route. (1 euro = 1.07 U.S. dollars)
KIGALI, April 20 (Xinhua) -- A Rwandan man was Thursday sentenced to life in prison by the High Court in Kigali over his involvement in the 1994 genocide against Tutsi.

Bernard Munyagishari was referred to Rwanda by the former International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in July 2013.

He was found guilty of two out of five counts, including participation in the genocide and killing as a crime against humanity.

Court however cleared the 57-year old man of rape charges after it found no incriminating evidence.

During the genocide Munyagishari worked in the then ruling party's secretariat.

Prosecution said he attended several meetings in which the genocide was prepared.

Court heard that Munyagishari used to train Interahamwe militia to kill Tutsi and gave them weapons, drew up lists of Tutsi to be killed and contributed to setup of roadblocks where Tutsi were slaughtered.

Defense lawyers said they would appeal against the verdict.

The convict was tried at the specialized chamber for international crimes at the high court.

Munyagishari was arrested in the DR Congo in 2011 on an arrest warrant by the ICTR.

During trial, Munyagishari was accused of organizing or being part of several meetings, mostly held in Gisenyi town, western Rwanda where he is said to have openly incited the Hutus to kill their Tutsi neighbors then following these meetings Tutsi homes were raided with his direct supervision.

Prosecution also said besides commanding militiamen, the convict played personal direct role in killings; attacking people's homes using machetes. The genocide left close to one million people dead within 100 days.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-21 03:44:54|Editor: ZD

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PARIS, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Top four seeds were halved in the third round of ATP Monte-Carlo Masters on Thursday, as top seed Andy Murray and third-seeded Stan Wawrinka were surprisingly blown out, while Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal managed to make into the quarter-finals.

In their first head-to-head, Spain's No. 15 seed Ramos-Vinolas denied Murray's hope for his first trophy of the tournament, as the top seed's best record was into the semi-finals in 2009, 2011 and 2016.

Murray squandered a 4-0 lead in the decider to hand Ramos-Vinolas one of the most memorable victories in his career.

"I made a few bad decisions today, which I'll look at with my team. We'll see the shots that I chose and what I would do differently," said Murray.

Ramos-Vinolas will face No. 5 seed Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals. The Croatian eliminated ninth-seeded and 2015 runner-up Tomas Berdych 6-2, 7-6 (0).

Wawrinka followed Murray's steps for a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, who recorded his first victory over a member of the Top 4 at world rankings.

"For sure, it was disappointing for me because I wanted to play better and go further here," commented the Swiss star, adding that he felt a little bit slow and could not move at his best in the match.

Cuevas will fight for a semi-finals spot against home player Lucas Pouille, whose fellow French Mannarino decided to retire due to a hip injury at 3-0 down in the first set.

Second-seeded Djokovic had to resist Pablo Carreno Busta's comeback for a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory, booking a quarter-finals clash with David Goffin of Belgium.

Facing German youngster Alexander Zverev, who spent his 20th birthday on Thursday, Nadal refused to replicate the five-set laboring victory in the third round of Australian Open, as he secured a last eight berth at 6-1, 6-1 in just 69 minutes.

Nadal will meet Diego Schwartzman, the only unseeded player remaining in the quarter-finals.
CASABLANCA, Morocco, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Morocco's leading TV channel 2M started on Thursday airing a Chinese series dubbed into Arabic.

The launching ceremony of the series "A Happy Life" was chaired by Liu Qibao, head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Mohammed Ghazali, the secretary general of Morocco's Ministry of Communication and Culture.

On this occasion, the Director General of China Radio International (CRI) Wang Gengnian and the Director General of 2M Salim el-Sheikh inked an agreement on broadcasting Chinese series and movies on the Moroccan channel.

Wang said the agreement comes to reinforce the cooperation between Chinese and Moroccan media, noting that this cooperation has been ongoing at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and through the exchange of visits between media officials in the two countries.

He stressed that CRI has established a strong and long-standing cooperation with various African media, adding that these media have aired throughout the years numerous Chinese series and movies in their local languages and were warmly welcomed.

He vowed to set with Moroccan media another successful example in the historical cultural exchange between the two countries.

On his part, el-Sheikh said the agreement builds another bridge between the cultures of the two countries, adding that through these series and movies the Moroccan public will get to know more about Chinese drama.

He said that he hopes to boost relations between the Moroccan and Chinese media.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-21 03:49:57|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Naked mole-rats are able to survive for at least five hours at oxygen levels low enough to kill a human within minutes, scientists said Thursday.

That's because the East African animals under such conditions will switch to a metabolic mechanism that makes use of fructose just as plants do, according to the study in the U.S. journal Science.

The findings could help scientists develop treatments for patients suffering crises of oxygen deprivation, as in heart attacks and strokes.

"This is just the latest remarkable discovery about the naked mole-rat -- a cold-blooded mammal that lives decades longer than other rodents, rarely gets cancer, and doesn't feel many types of pain," said Thomas Park, professor of biological sciences at the University of Illinois.

Thomas Park led a team that also included researchers from the Max Delbruck Institute in Berlin and the University of Pretoria in South Africa.

In humans, laboratory mice, and all other known mammals, when brain cells are starved of oxygen they run out of energy and begin to die.

But naked mole-rats have a backup: their brain cells start burning fructose, which produces energy anaerobically through a metabolic pathway that is only used by plants, the researchers said.

In the new study, the researchers exposed naked mole-rats to low oxygen conditions in the laboratory and found that they released large amounts of fructose into the bloodstream.

The fructose, the scientists found, was transported into brain cells by molecular fructose pumps that in all other mammals are found only on cells of the intestine.

"The naked mole-rat has simply rearranged some basic building-blocks of metabolism to make it super-tolerant to low oxygen conditions," said Park, who has studied the strange species for 18 years.

Without oxygen, the mice died within 20 seconds, but naked mole-rats could withstand up to 18 minutes without any lasting damage, they found.

Under such conditions, these animals will go into a state of suspended animation, reducing their movement and dramatically slowing their pulse and breathing rate to conserve energy.

But they will start stirring again as if nothing ever happened, within seconds upon exposure to air.

The naked mole-rat is the only known mammal to use suspended animation to survive oxygen deprivation.

The scientists also showed that naked mole-rats are protected from another deadly aspect of low oxygen: a buildup of fluid in the lungs called pulmonary edema that afflicts mountain climbers at high altitude.

The scientists described the naked mole-rats' unusual metabolism as an adaptation for living in their oxygen-poor burrows.

Unlike other subterranean mammals, naked mole-rats live in hyper-crowded conditions, packed in with hundreds of colony mates, they said. With so many animals living together in unventilated tunnels, oxygen supplies are quickly depleted.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-21 03:50:00|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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JERUSALEM, April 20 (Xinhua) -- United States Secretary of Defense James Mattis arrived on Thursday evening in Israel for a two-day visit as President Donald Trump's administration is forming a new policy on Iran.

Israeli officials said that Mattis is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman, and President Reuven Rivlin on Friday.

His visit is part of a trip to the region. Earlier on Thursday, he met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo and told him that the U.S. is keen to take the bilateral defense cooperation, which he describes as strong, to a higher level.

On Tuesday, he met with senior officials in Saudi Arabia, a leading ally in the coalition against the Houthi militants in Yemen, which according to the U.S. are supported by Iran.

In a statement released by the Pentagon last week, his visit was said to focus on discussing ways to "defeat extremist terror organizations."
ACCRA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Minister for Communications of Ghana, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful stressed here on Thursday the need for a more compatible cross-border data protection regime to protect privacy and personal data usage in global e-commerce.

Opening the second Ghana International Data Protection Conference, organized by the Data Protection Commission, the minister noted that although personal data is the fuel that drives commercial activity online in today's digital world, concerns about privacy and security of information keep increasing.

"As the global economy shifts into a connected information space, the relevance of data protection and the need for controlling privacy will further increase," she urged.

According to her, "Understanding different approaches to and potential avenues for establishing more compatible legal frameworks at national, regional and multilateral levels is important for facilitating international trade and commerce."

For full benefits and protection of individuals, businesses and states in the digital world, Owusu-Ekuful said a balanced approach is key.

"The rules surrounding data protection and cross-border flows of data affect individuals, businesses and governments alike, making it essential to find approaches that address the concerns of all stakeholders in a balanced manner," she stressed.

Ghana established the Data Protection Commission (DPC) in 2012 through the passage of the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) as an independent statutory body to protect the privacy of the individual and personal data by regulating the processing of personal information.

The Commission provides for the process to obtain, hold, use or disclose personal information and for other related issues bordering on the protection of personal data.

Its first Data Protection Conference was held in January 2016, following it up with sensitization workshops and educational activities to bring understanding to stakeholders on the data protection regime.

Executive Director of the DPC, Teki Akuetteh Falconer said the commission continued to receive support and collaboration from partners across the world.

"Data protection is a global issue and looking at the nature of the developments around the world such recognition and collaboration is necessary," Falconer stated.

In order therefore to foster the necessary international cooperation, the Executive Director said the commission continues to engage as a member of the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commission (ICDPPC), Global Privacy Enforcement Network(GPEN), the Common Thread Network(CTN) and the African Network.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-21 04:05:05|Editor: MJ

British Prime Minister Theresa May (L) meets with President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani at 10 Downing Street in London, Britain on April 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Tim Ireland)

LONDON, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The first full day of campaigning got off to a flying start Thursday following British Prime Minister Theresa May's decision to call a snap general election.

With British voters going to the polls on June 8, the big parties did not want to waste any time ahead of the official launches of their election manifestos.

May is predicted to lead the Conservatives to victory with a bigger majority in June. In the first major opinion poll since the election was called, YouGov asked people who they would vote for if there was an election now.

Conservatives topped the list with 48 percent, up 4 percentage points on the last poll. Labour trailed in second place on 24, an increase of one point. Twelve percent opted for the Liberal Democrats and 7 percent chose UKIP.

YouGov said the results represent the highest vote share for the Conservatives since May 2008.

May continues to be the favored choice for prime minister, with 54 percent of people preferring her to Labour's Jeremy Corbyn, who is backed by 15 percent of voters.

Corbyn was in London to deliver what was the first major speech by a party leader in the election race. He told cheering supporters: "It is the establishment versus the people and it is our historic duty to make sure that the people prevail. A duty for all of us here today, the duty of every Labour MP, a duty for our half a million members -- including the 2,500 who have joined in the last 24 hours."

Convinced Labour can win, he said: "We will build a new economy... and we will build a country for the many not the few."

In Edinburgh, the First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) Nicola Sturgeon said the SNP is the only party standing in the way of a Conservative majority "because it is 'pie in the sky' to think Labour can win alone."

Speaking at First Minister's Questions on Thursday, Sturgeon said: "The idea in this election that Labour is going to replace the Conservatives is frankly pie in the sky."

"We face an unfettered out-of-control Conservative government. If people want to make sure a Conservative government can be held to account, if they want to make sure there is a strong voice for Scotland and they want to make sure Scotland is protected, they have to make sure they send SNP MPs back to Westminster," she added.

In 2015, the SNP scored its biggest ever electoral success, sending more than 50 MPs to Westminster.

Nigel Farage, founder and former leader of UKIP, the party that campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union, said in a media interview he may stand in the general election. Currently the party has no MPs at Westminster.

Meanwhile, May was busy on government duties at 10 Downing Street. She held a meeting with European Parliament President Antonio Tajani.
ZAGREB, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday the newly-introduced tougher European border control regulation, which has caused long traffic delay on the borders, was "impracticable" for his country.

He said the country would take all available means to resolve the problem.

"For Croatia, a country that is getting ready for Schengen and wants to contribute to the fight against terrorism, the current form of application of the regulation at the border with EU member states is simply impracticable," he said.

As a tourist country which tourism accounts for 18 percent of its GDP, Croatia viewed the situation as unacceptable, he added.

Earlier, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has sent letter to European leaders, urging them to enable immediately an undisturbed flow of people and commodities at borders of Croatia and other EU member states.

European regulations on stricter border checks had already resulted in several problems during the Easter holiday, she said, adding she was worried that it could negatively affect the arrival of tourists to Croatia in the summer.

Traffic chaos have staged on the borders, mainly between Croatia, a non-member of the Schengen area, and a member Slovenia since April 7, when EU introduced a new regulation on stricter Schengen border controls.

According to local media, people and vehicles have to face hours-long delays at border crossing.
LONDON, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Lily, a member of the world's largest rodent species, has given birth to a pup, officials at Chester Zoo in northern England announced Thursday.

The six-year-old mom delivered her playful capybara pup in front of amazed onlookers at the zoo, and almost straight away the newborn was up, running around and swimming. The sex of baby has not yet been determined.

Capybaras are often referred to as giant guinea pigs and are found living in small herds on grasslands, in tropical forests and on wetlands across much of South America, where they spend much of their time in water. They can grow to up to 1.5 meters in length.

Their scientific name means "water pig", and their bodies have been specially adapted for swimming, with webbed feet and their eyes, ears and nostrils located on top of their heads so they can stay submerged with very little of their body showing, helping them to avoid detection by predators.

"Although not currently listed as an endangered species, the capybara is threatened by illegal poaching for its meat and skin, which can be turned into leather, as well as habitat degradation," said a spokesman at Chester Zoo.

"We hope that Lily's new arrival will help to bring some attention to the species, which they say is often overlooked," said the spokesman.
DUBLIN, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Ireland on Thursday announced a significant step in the country's live crab exports to China following a recent visit by a Chinese delegation.

The two countries agreed to an export certificate, which will permit the resumption of crab exports to the Chinese market, according to Irish Agriculture Minister Michael Creed.

The Chinese delegation from General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), arrived here on Monday for a three-day working visit.

During the visit, China's AQSIQ and Ireland's Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) reached a technical agreement on a methodology designed to resolve the issue of certification of live crab exports to China.

The agreement is built around implementation of a national monitoring program of live crab intended for export to China. The SFPA will implement the monitoring program.

China's AQSIQ will continue to monitor consignments arriving in China and the SFPA will liaise with Irish industry to apprise seafood exporters of specific requirements to recommence live crab trade with China.

In 2010, Ireland secured market access in China for live crab through bilateral cooperation. In 2015, China expressed concern about the levels of the heavy metal cadmium in live crabs coming from Ireland.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-21 05:35:34|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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UNITED NATIONS, April 20 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will travel to Switzerland on Saturday and will attend the high-level Yemen humanitarian meeting in Geneva next week, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Thursday.

On April 24, in Bern, he will meet with the president of the Swiss Confederation, Doris Leuthard; the Swiss foreign minister, Didier Burkhalter; and the leadership of the External Relations Committees of both Chambers of Parliament, Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

On April 25, in Geneva, the secretary-general will preside over the High-level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen with the foreign ministers of Switzerland and Sweden, Margot Wallstrom, as co-chairs, the spokesman said. "He is expected to address the press afterwards."

On April 26-27, the UN chief will chair the meeting of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, said the spokesman.

The secretary-general will be back in the office on April 28, Dujarric added.
Chinese travellers arrive at the Boryspil airport in Kiev, Ukraine, on June 20, 2016. (XINHUA PHOTO)

KIEV, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The Boryspil International Airport, the largest airport in Ukraine, targets to double its passenger traffic by 2023, Pavel Ryabykyn, the chairman of Boryspil, said on Thursday.

"This year, the airport will serve 10 million passengers. We expect the traffic will double, with most of the passengers coming from Asia," Ryabykyn said during the Ukrainian Infrastructure Forum in Kiev.

To provide better services and attract more passengers, the authorities of Boryspil plan to invest about 224 million U.S. dollars within the next five years into the modernization of the airport's infrastructure, he said.

In particular, the money will go to upgrade the low-cost flights and construct a rail connection between the airport and the Ukrainian capital.

Last year, Boryspil has increased its passenger turnover by 18 percent to a record of 8.65 million people mainly due to attracting new transit passengers.

Located 20 km southeast of Kiev, Boryspil is the busiest airport in the country, covering about 67 percent of the passenger traffic in Ukraine. It provides service to 50 international and domestic airlines operating on about 100 routes.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-21 05:40:37|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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Police officers stand guard on Champs Elysees shopping street in Paris, France on April 20, 2017. One policeman was killed, and another severely injured in a shooting incident Thursday evening near the Champs Elysees shopping street in Paris. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)

PARIS, April 20 (Xinhua) -- One police officer was killed, and two others severely injured in a shooting incident Thursday evening on the Champs Elysees shopping street in Paris, authorities said.

Spokesperson of the French interior ministry Pierre-Henry Brandet told local broadcaster BFMTV that the police officers were "deliberately targeted", and the assailant was shot dead.

The gunman, armed with a machine gun, got out of a car and opened fire at the police in front of the store on the street, reports quoted a witness as saying.

He then began running away and injured two other officers before got shot in an exchange of fire with the police.

"We are asking all residents to avoid the Champs Elysees area in order to allow police operations to be carried out in serenity," said Brandet, adding that police investigation into the motive of the attack is underway.

The police are currently collecting statements from the various witnesses who were at the scene when the incident occurred, to verify the presence of a second assailant.

Meanwhile, the French prosecutors' office said the counter-terrorism office had opened an inquiry.

French President Francois Hollande will deliver a speech soon after an emergency meeting with Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and Interior Minister Matthias Fekl.

Cazeneuve paid homage to the killed policeman and expressed solidarity with the injured on his Twitter account.

The Champs Elysees street was closed off shortly after the shooting, while a helicopter started patrolling the area.

Police vehicles with flashing lights were seen lining up along the street, and passengers were told to move away from the area.

Concerns over security have been raised since Tuesday when two men were arrested for plotting an attack before the French presidential election, which is set to begin on Sunday.
ALGIERS, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese automaker Foton and Algerian car dealer KIV on Thursday established a joint venture allowing them to assemble cars and trucks in the North African nation.

The assembly plant is based in the province of Annaba, 535 km east of Algiers, as it is due to start producing 5,000 Foton branded cars and trucks until March, 2018, and gradually increasing outputs to hit 50,000 units in 10 years.

The project is worth 5.5 million U.S. dollars, and would create 200 direct jobs, said a statement issued by KIV.

Speaking on the sidelines of the contract signing ceremony, KIV Group General Manager Ahcene Khodja said the plant would start producing three truck models, including 2.5 ton pickup trucks, five ton trucks and six ton trucks.

Director of Beijing Municipal Economic and Information Technology Commission, Zhang Boxu, said that Foton has been established in Algeria for 15 years, yet it has been limited to distribution of its models throughout its North African partner, KIV group.

"Our partnership project is in line with the new investment law in Algeria, as Foton owns 49 percent shares, while its Algerian partner owns the majority of 51 percent," Zhang noted.

Ministerial decree accompanied by specifications dating from 2014 requiring all foreign car dealers to establish assembly plants in the country, as part of the north African nation's plan of industrialization and to curb car-imports' bill.

French automaker Renault and South Korean's Hyundai have already started assembling their models, while Germany's Volkswagen is set to start outputting its models by June.

Zhang added that he has met with Algerian officials and businessmen and both sides also agreed to widen bilateral cooperation in the fields of electronics, building materials, food processing and agriculture.
HELSINKI, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Finnish Defense Minister Jussi Niinisto on Thursday welcomed the suggestion by a working group that the state would be given pre-emptive purchase rights for "objects of security interest".

The gesture was considered a sign of taking steps to start restricting foreign ownership of real estate near strategically important locations in the Nordic country.

The prime minister's office told national broadcaster Yle later on Thursday that the changes in regulations could take effect from the beginning of 2019.

The working group envisaged as one alternative a permit or notification system for non-/EU/EEA citizens or operators.

The Finnish Ministry of Defence has said earlier that some real estate transactions by foreigners in Finland have included "alarming locations".

The working group listed as sites where the surrounding areas may have security implication at military areas, strategic road, railway, bridge and dam structures, shipping routes and harbour structures as well as sites associated with telecommunications and electricity transmission.

The security risks of foreign ownership became national news in Finland in 2015 when the state blocked the sale to a Russian buyer of an area close to a military installation in southeastern Finland.

There are currently on average 500 such real estate transactions where the buyer is a foreigner. In some years, the number reached 700.

Until 1999 Finland did have a legislation on the surveillance of non-residents' and foreign organizations' acquisitions of real estate property in Finland.

Suna Kymalainen, an MP from southeastern Finland and an early promoter of the restrictions, said the sensible way would be to return to the permit system used until the end of 1999. The right of the state to intervene with a pre-emptive purchase would take time and be costly, she said.
ROME, April 20 (Xinhua) -- A public health nurse who pretended to vaccinate as many as 550 children may be sacked from her post, public health officials in the northern Italian city of Treviso said Thursday.

The nurse was placed under internal investigation after her colleagues reported her for injecting the children, but throwing away the vaccine vials while they were still full. Fellow nurses got suspicious when none of the children cried at the shot, which can be painful.

"I apologize to the parents and the families," local health authority director-general, Francesco Benazzi, told Sky TG24 private TV news channel. "I think our internal investigation will lead to her ultimately getting fired."

Benazzi, who reported the nurse to prosecutors, suggested that although she refused to explain her actions, her motive may have been "linked to conscientious objection."

"She tricked the patients," National Institute of Health (ISS) research chief, Giovanni Rezza, said. "This is a case of blatant misconduct," he told Sky TG24.

Local public health officials have contacted the families of the 550 children who got fake shots from the errant nurse, and set up four special vaccination days for them to catch up on their immunizations.

The case, however, caused an uproar in Italy, where "no-vax" campaigners claiming that vaccines cause autism as well as highly publicized court cases in which parents of autistic children blamed vaccines have led to a drop in the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, which is optional.

Perhaps as a result, Italy is currently in midst of what the health ministry is calling an "ongoing measles epidemic" that flared up in January this year, with 88 percent of new cases occurring in people who were never vaccinated against the highly contagious viral disease.

There is no specific treatment for measles, and while most people recover within 2 to 3 weeks it can cause serious complications, including blindness, encephalitis, pneumonia, and death.

It is globally still one of the leading causes of childhood mortality, and the only way to prevent it is by immunization, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Measles has the potential for large outbreaks wherever immunization coverage has dropped below the necessary threshold of 95 percent of the population, which is the case right now in Italy and Romania, both of which are experiencing the largest measles outbreaks in Europe, the WHO warned last month.

As of March 10 this year, Romania reported over 3,400 cases and 17 deaths from January 2016 to March 2017.

Italy has seen 1,603 measles cases from January 1 to April 18, according to the health ministry. Those affected range from children under 12 months to adults aged 64, with an average age of 27. At least 34 percent have one complication and 39 percent are hospitalized, the ministry said.
Scotia looking after Cbean youth

The fundraising gala, which brings together Canadas business and academic communities to celebrate the greatness and tireless work of its honorees, provides funds for scholarships, under the theme Light, Learning and Liberty.

This year, renowned Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa Desmond Mpilo Tutu was honoured at the event which took place earlier this month. Tutu, represented by his daughter Reverend Canon Mpilo Tutu van Furth, was presented with the Luminary Award, which is given to people of Caribbean heritage, who are outstanding achievers on the international scale, or people who have brought prominence to the Caribbean or to issues which affect the region.

Past honorees have included Stephen Ames, Tessane Chin, Shaggy, Malcolm Gladwell and Dr Jimmy Cliff. Scotiabanks partnership with UWI spans a 50 year period.

In addition to each Caribbean territories support of UWI scholarships locally, Scotiabank has supported this fundraising since its inception in 2010. During this time, 260 scholarships have been awarded to support students and their goals. This year almost CAD$ 500,000 was raised, ensuring that Caribbean students can benefit from a good education.

Anya M. Schnoor  Senior Vice President and head, Caribbean East and South, Scotiabank, in her remarks on the night indicated the Banks deep commitment to the Caribbean.

Scotiabank has deep ties to the Caribbean, dating back to 1889. We have grown from strength to strength and today, we have operations in 21 countries across the Caribbean. We aim to support organizations that are committed to helping young people reach their full potential...

Helping our young people in our communities become better off remains one of our core focal points and as such we undertake numerous initiatives geared towards this.

From the Bahamas in the North to Guyana & Trinidad in the South, we invest in educational, sporting and cultural programmes, all aimed at helping our young people lead better lives, Schnoor said.
Global corruption

One way of exercising political corruption is through State-owned enterprises. Corruption perhaps is mostly collusive, which occurs primarily when the management and/ or the directors join with politicians, government officials or powerful intermediaries to abuse official power for private gains. All over the world, from Brazil to China, to Ukraine, South Africa and Guatemala, public prosecutors are going after corrupt top politicians on an unprecedented scale.

Petr?leo Brasileiro SA of Brazil (Petrobras) has been caught in a storm of corruption charges; along with President Dilma Rouseff, several ministers and the former president Lula da Silva have been indicted. Interestingly, Petrobras had embraced international corporate governance standards such as separation of CEO and chairman, non-executive directors, and board committees, but years of cronyism and kick-back schemes ensured companies received inflated contracts, eventually passing the benefits to some individuals, the political party in power and its associates.

In China, since the beginning of 2014 officials from various companies have been named publicly for investigation, including those from Petrochina, China Southern Airlines and Sinopec. According to an official of the Supreme Peoples` Procuratorate, the fundamental issue is the relationship between political power and proper allocation of resources. Not surprisingly, surveys in other countries also show public procurement as being at the centre of such corruption. Does this not sound familiar to us in Trinidad and Tobago?

Other studies such as those of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) indicate low standards of disclosures, conflicts of interest and weak internal control environments as facilitating corruption at State-owned enterprises globally.

Additionally, South Koreas former president Park Geun-hye was arrested and jailed over high-profile corruption allegations. In South Africa, the top court in the country has just called for the reinstatement of 783 corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma with, a leading judge arguing that the decision by prosecutors in 2009 to drop those charges was irrational and should be reviewed.

In Ukraine, we are starting to see mounting demands for independent prosecutors to act against the vast networks of corruption that are widely reported in the media but that never lead to any prosecutions. In Guatemala, determined public prosecutors have successfully investigated more than 30 politicians, including a former president who was forced to resign his office and who was then immediately arrested.

The last few election cycles in Trinidad and Tobago have witnessed repeated claims of corruption by politicians and political parties. To date, we are yet to have one politician convicted of a crime. This has serious negative consequences and undermines public confidence and credibility in democracy, the political system and ultimately in the economy. We must not be as the boy who cried wolf but must demand greater accountability and greater integrity. We must stop participating in corrupt practices and ensure an end of impunity and corrupt practices. Foreign direct invest will be affected. Sea bridge or not, we cannot afford this consequence at this time in the economy.
Man convicted of larceny

Mark Gokool, 34, stood before Magistrate Brambhanan Dubay charged with stealing over $40,000 in jewelry belonging to uncle Shah Gokool.

The court heard that Shah secured his house on the morning of April 16, and returned at 3.55 pm the following day.

He noticed two louvres from his bedroom window missing.

On checking, Shah realised several items of jewelry including rings, a wedding band and chains valued $38,500, and a watch worth US$800, missing.

The jewelry was kept in a chest of drawers in his bedroom. Shah reported the incident to the Ste Madeleine police and Gokool was arrested on the same day.

Court prosecutor Cleyon Seedan said that WPC Leeann Boodram reported that Gokool, previously convicted for cocaine possession, admitted to stealing the items but claimed to have already returned all but the watch, to his uncle. The watch, the accused said, was sold.

The stolen items were indeed recovered, but Shah denied that his nephew voluntarily returned them. Magistrate Dubay initiated a cross-examination of the two Gokools those involved. During cross-examination, both Shah and Gokool remained steadfast in their positions.

Magistrate Dubay asked PC Boodram if the items were returned to Shah in her presence or the presence of any other officer, to which the officer replied, no. Dubay concluded that there was no evidence of Gokool ever returning the stolen items and was thus guilty of larceny and house breaking.

Gokool offered to compensate and apologise to his uncle, but Shah said he did not want compensation.

He draws very good, said Shah. He is an intelligent person. He just needs help. I just want him to go right. Gokool was ordered to pay $2,000 compensation and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment with hard labour.
3 in court on gun charges

They were remanded in custody to re-appear on May 16.

The three from Coora Road in Siparia and ranging in age from 25 to 64 were arrested on Saturday night during an exercise along the Penal Quinam Road.

Police reported that at about 9 pm, officers of the Rapid Response Unit, South Western Division led by Cpl Rojas, acting on a tip-off, intercepted a vehicle with the three occupants.

Upon searching the vehicle officers discovered the shotgun, three rounds of ammunition and the camouflage jacket hidden in the car.

The three were taken into custody and later charged by PC Bedassie of the Rapid Response Unit.
Police issue $580,000 in speeding tickets for Easter

This was revealed yesterday by ASP Michael Pierre at the weekly police press briefing held at the Police Administration Building in Port-of- Spain.

Pierre said from Good Friday to Easter Monday, police officers conducted speed detection exercises on all the major highways which resulted in the issuance of 580 speeding tickets. More than 100 of those were issued in Tobago where the speed limit on the Claude Noel Highway is 50kph.

Pierre also said 28 people were also arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Police officers conducted 324 field sobriety tests. Police also conducted foot and mobile patrols in all areas including coastal areas, beaches, rivers used for recreational activities, camp-sites, highways, residential areas and at various church activities As a result, the Police Service is boasting that, in comparison to last year, there has been a considerable reduction in crimes during the Easter weekend.

Newsday was told that four murders were committed as compared to six last year, there was only one report of a sexual offence as compared to six last year, and six reports of robbery as compared to 17 in 2016.
Deputy fire chief: Increase in bush fires

Gopaul said the number of bush fires two weeks ago was 481. He said the additional 239 occurred mainly in the Central and Northern ranges which saw fire officers battling with fires which could have been avoided. Gopaul blamed some house owners for not heeding advice to exercise the necessary precautions during the dry season.

In 2016 there were 1,626 bush fires in both islands. The Central and Northern ranges accounted for most of the fires and, according to Gopaul, there was one instance where a house in south was destroyed.

He said the Fire Service continues to issue advisories urging people to clean around their premises and to secure fire permits at a cost of $10 when they are clearing away lands for planting and for burning garbage around their homes.

He said most people tend to ignore this advice and call upon fire officers to intervene when a lot of damage may have already occurred.

Gopaul pointed out that once a permit is obtained, a fire guardian is assigned to the permit holder so that he or she could be advised on how to dispose of rubbish or bush.

He said during the dry season the earth is already parched and fire would spread very easily.

He said the Fire Service is well equipped to take care of the bush fires with the additional five tankers purchased recently and five more are expected.
Penal man chopped on head, dies

According to police reports, at about 5.30 pm a bleeding Ramsingh was found at the side of the road a few metres from his home. He was unconscious.

The ambulance was contacted and Ramsingh was rushed to the San Fernando General Hospital where he died while undergoing surgery. Yesterday residents in the area told Newsday that Ramsingh recently moved into the area and lived alone. An autopsy was expected to be performed yesterday at the Forensic Science Centre in St. James.
Mini Uzi in flower pot

The exercise also resulted in 37 people being arrested for a series of offences.

It was led by ASP Ajith Persad and co-ordinated by ACP Irwin Hackshaw and Snr Supt Radcliffe Boxhill.

Other officers taking part included Inspector Mc Girk, Sgts Bruno Austin and Anthony Williams and Grant.

Officers went to Nelson Street, Portof- Spain at an abandoned apartment where they searched a flower pot on Good Friday and found a mini Uzi gun.

No one was arrested in relation to the find.

The Israeli-made weapon has been sent for ballistic testing and will be checked for fingerprints.

During the same exercise, officers also went to Belmont where they searched the home of a reputed gang leader and seized $30,000 from the mans house.

The 29-year-old suspect was taken into custody and the money handed over to officers of the Financial Intelligence Bureau of the Police Service.

Officers also seized a quantity of cocaine and marijuana and searched several homes, apartments and drug dens during the five-day exercise.

Others were held on outstanding warrants, while several stop and search exercises were carried out.

Officers also carried out DUI exercises in the Woodbrook area which resulted in five people being held for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Those arrested are expected to be placed on identification parades today
Tears flow

Caroni Green Limited was created by the previous Peoples Partnership administration in 2013, out of the ashes of Caroni 1975 Ltd, which was closed in 2003 by the Patrick Manning-led Peoples National Movement (PNM) government.

The companys two farms in Couva and Cunupia, saw a heavy emphasis on planting, harvesting and processing of hot peppers with related products being exported to the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

A post-Cabinet briefing on March 16, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced the companys closure saying it had an annual administrative bill of $6 million but sold only $700,000 in peppers.

Just after 11 am, the 77 workers who comprise a mix of young and old women and middle aged men, gathered outside the old Caroni Limited canteen located at Esperanza Road in Brechin Castle, Couva where they joined hands and prayed. As the group begged the Almighty to open new employment avenues, many started to weep.

Ex-worker Darsan Nanan, 54, a father of two little girls, was in a daze as he stared at his termination later which outlined his severance payments and also wished him, all the best in his future endeavours. The termination letters were signed by chairman Jerry Hospedales. Nanan said he was reliving a nightmare as he was not too long ago, retrenched by Arcelor Mittal where he worked for 12 years.

Only God alone knows what I am going to do now, he said. As an immediate means of survival and to provide for his family, Nanan said he will have to use his car as a PH taxi.

Mother of five Nikita Sankar wept after receiving her termination letter. This affects me real bad because my children are all in school and my husband doesnt have a permanent job. Right now I am sad and very frustrated, she said. Where I going and find work now? It is very hard. Nobody hiring these days because of the recession, she added.

Chairman Hospedales said the workers all received ex-gratis payments which comprised their vacation leave being converted to cash, a payment of 45 days service in lieu of notice of termination and a severance payment of two weeks pay for each year worked. He said the 77 workers comprised 63 farm workers and 14 monthly paid employees.

Hospedales said three employees would be retained to assist in the transition period while another 19 would be employed on estates from April 20 to April 30.

Chief executive officer Sharma Lalla said a proposal was made for the creation of a workers cooperative to replace Caroni Green Ltd thus keeping the 77 workers employed and maintain the production of hot peppers and paw paw for export.

I have told them (workers) to keep the faith, Lalla said adding, we have made a proposal to Government that speaks to the establishment of a cooperative among workers who would run these two farms on their own without a single cent of support from the State. He said that Chairman Hospedales had indicated there should be feedback from the line ministry (Agriculture, Land and Fisheries) on this proposal by months end.
Property Tax soon

All property owners are now required to complete a valuation return form (VRF) in keeping with the Valuation of Land Act and submit same with supporting documents to the Valuation Division of the Finance Ministry.

The forms are to enable calculation of a propertys annual rental value to work out the rate of property tax. A Ministry of Finance release yesterday stated this is in keeping with Finance Minister Colm Imberts 2017 budget statement that property tax will be implemented this fiscal year.

The release said that within the next week, residential property owners can expect to receive VRFs in the mail. The forms are also available at any office of the Valuation Division and can be downloaded from the ministrys website: www.finance.gov.tt/ propertytax The forms should be submitted in a sealed envelope to any of eight offices of the Valuation Division by May 22. The offices are located at 206, Caroni Savannah Road, Charlieville, Chaguanas; Techier Main Road, Point Fortin; Head Office, 109 Henry Street, Port-of-Spain; 29 - 31, Point-a- Pierre Road, Palms Club Building, San Fernando; Corner of Brierley and Henderson Streets, Sangre Grande; Siparia Administrative Complex, High Street in Siparia; Caroline Building, 2 Hamilton Street, Scarborough and at 25-27 Eastern Main Road in Arouca. Once submitted, the Commissioner of Valuation may notify property owners of field visits to assess and verify the information in the forms.

Property owners will be sent, via post, an assessment notice from the Board of Inland Revenue with information on the tax liability and the deadline date for payment. Property tax is governed by the Property Tax Act, 2009 and the Valuation of Land Act Chapter 58:03, which repealed the Land and Building Taxes Act Chapter 76:04 and Part V of the Municipal Corporations Act Chapter 25:04. The Valuation of Land Act was substantially amended by Act No 17 of 2009.

More information can be found at www.finance.gov.tt/propertytax or the property tax hotline 612-9700, option #7.
TTEC owes NGC US$516 million

This was disclosed by NGC president Mark Lo Quan during a public hearing held by the Public Accounts Enterprises Committee (PAEC) at Tower D of the Portof- Spain International Waterfront Centre, yesterday. Responding to questions from PAEC chairman and Opposition senator Wade Mark, Lo Quan said, The TTEC contract has not been in place since 1994. He continued, This is an area which NGC has continued to supply gas for power and has not been able to receive payments on a regular basis. That has led to arrears first of all and it has led to underpayment back to the NGC for gas. Lo Quan said the outstanding balance which TTEC owes NGC at the end of February is US$516 million. That is in the order of $3.5 billion. He said discussions are ongoing between NGC and TTEC regarding funding arrangements for the arrears. He indicated that while a draft contract is ready, NGC is awaiting the final pricing arrangements from up stream suppliers.

As you recognise, these are negotiations that are at an advanced stage. Lo Quan said he is confident that a contract could be put forward within the next two months. Noting earlier statements by NGC chairman Gerry Brooks about the company addressing $1 billion out of $5 billion in claims against it, Mark expressed concern that NGC was a whipping horse. He asked whether NGC could sue any multinational energy companies for breach of contract.

Brooks replied, To the extent that the agreements allowed, NGC has prosecuted in the case of each of these companies recovery. However he said those recoveries are substantially less in comparison to claims being made against the NGC. Recalling that the agreements between NGC and the upstream companies were struck 20 years ago, Brooks said the company was very careful to ensure it properly contracted supplies of gas within the 20 year period.

The protection at the time was that given for many years we had an over abundance of gas, penalties would not occur. However Brooks said when no investments were made in the energy sector between 2010 to 2015, NGC found itself in that difficult position.
Brooks: $1.6 billion wasted at NGC under PP

Brooks said under the tenure of his predecessor Chan Chadeesingh, NGC spent, $370 million spent in roadworks and upgrade of recreational facilities. He explained that since assuming office, his board has, Returned the spend to a far more palpable number of $15 million or less. He reiterated, We are not trying to pave every road in Trinidad or any road because that is not our core business.

Referring to the controversial Beetham wastewater treatment plant, Brooks said, We are not trying to get involved in water treatment.

As he explained that the expenditure at NGC under the PP only served to weaken the balance sheet of the company, Brooks gave the assurance that the company now has its priorities right. We have to focus our resources on growing the NGC through acquisition activities, organic growth and through investment in our people. Saying that the Teak and Poui platforms were causing the NGC to register annual losses of $250 million, Brooks boasted the company was able to, Rationalise that business and save a quarter of a billion dollars.

He also said NGC saved another $12 million and reduced insurance costs across the group.

NGC president Mark Lo Quan said new ethics and conflict of interest policies, Are now approved by the board and sanctioned across the entire NGC Group. Company vice president (corporate governance and compliance) Maria Thorne said employees are required to sign conflict of interest declaration forms. Earlier in the hearing, PAEC chairman Wade Mark noted that gas sales for the NGC declined from $15.8 billion in 2014 to $12.5 billion in 2015.

Over the same period, Mark said wages increased from $338 million to $623 million in the same period.
Principals propose reduced lunch break to reduce indiscipline

At a meeting yesterday with Education Minister Anthony Garcia and officials of his ministry, president of the association Cogland Griffith said the idea was taken from the success of a similar initiative in private schools. The meeting was held at the ministrys head office in Port-of-Spain.

Griffith argued that the lunch break is teachers time and it is unfair for one principal to monitor hundreds of children.

The one-hour lunch break, he said, was introduced at a time when teachers and children lived in the community and were able to go home for lunch but times have since changed and schools need to change with the times.

In response Garcia said, We feel there is merit in it. He added, however, that it was a policy shift and further discussions will have to be held with the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association, National Parent Teachers Association and other stakeholders.

He said several other concerns were raised and recommendations made. These will be examined by the ministry.

These include adequate training of teachers, the standardisation of school reports across all schools, and concerns about the national tests and the Secondary Entrance Assessment 2018.

Secretary of the association Indira Birju-Daniel said one of the concerns with standardised tests was the inclusion of the new primary curriculum rewrite that is taking place and whether it will be infused in the assessments.

We have asked for guidelines, the table of specifications that complements the curriculum and assists teachers with preparation, she said.

The national tests are on hold because it is being rebranded the National Learning Assessment, she said. There is supposed to be a pilot project with the new form of assessment and the principals have not been consulted to date on that initiative. Garcia said a meeting has been set with all principals of all primary schools in the new school term, so that many of the concerns raised at the meeting will be addressed.

Among the other issues discussed was the suspension of the principal of Mayaro Government Primary School which, Griffith said, the association believes there was a breach in the process.

Saying that the association was not happy about the suspension, he said: We are looking forward to a speedy resolution of this matter.

We have the assurance today that the matter will be dealt with expeditiously. On the ministrys mandate to reduce the sugar content in drinks with alternatives, Griffith said the association suggested that it should not be reduced all at once but incrementally.

Reiterating that there has been a decrease in the incidence of violence in schools, Garcia and Griffith said that contrary to some people saying that the data was manipulated, the ministry never issued any instruction to any principal not to suspend students or to reduce the suspension of students.

If data has shown there has been a reduction in the incidence of violence, Griffith said, We want to take credit for that. It means that we are working. That we are doing our job. Garcia said the reduction in indiscipline speaks volumes about principals. We have been able to secure a reduction which we should appreciate instead of having persons pour scorn on it.
Siparia schoolgirl missing after trip to bakery

The form four student of the Penal Secondary School has been missing for the past two days and worried relatives are fearful that she may have been abducted. According to police reports at about 1.30 pm on Tuesday, Sanchez left her Anthony Branch Trace, Syne Village home. She told her siblings that she was going to the bakery. Speaking with Newsday yesterday, Sanchezs mother Anjela Ramlakha said when she did not see her daughter return after a few minutes, she became worried.

I tried to call her cellphone and the phone just kept ringing.

It is not like her to not answer her phone, she said.

Ramlakha said she called out to her elder son and asked him to walk to the bakery and look for his sister. Shane, 19, returned within a few minutes.

He did not find her at the bakery.

This is when I started to panic.

I continued to call her phone and I still got no answer. I know my daughter, this is not like her not to answer her phone. Ramlakha said she was unable to sleep comfortably on Tuesday night.

How can I sleep when I know my daughter, a 16-year-old, is out there and some stranger has her against her will? She is just a little girl still going to school. She said that her daughter has never ran away from home.

Salina is not that type of girl to just run away. I know deep down in my heart someone has my little girl. Please send her home, please dont hurt her, the emotional mother said. Yesterday family members searched several areas in Penal and Siparia. Ramlakha said she also contacted her daughters friends at school but no one has heard from or seen her. A report was made at the Siparia Police Station.

Sanchez is of mixed descent, five feet four inches tall and light brown in complexion. She has wavy shoulder length hair. She has a long scar on her back and was last seen wearing a black t-shirt and blue short pants.

Anyone with information is asked to call 800-TIPS or contact the police at 555, 999, 911 or any police station.
Health Ministry orders audit into prisons

Officials from the ministry which is headed by Minister Terrence Deyalsingh will conduct health and safety audits at Portof- Spain prison, Golden Grove prison in Arouca, Carerra Island prison and the immigration detention centre in Santa Rosa.

Similar audits done recently at the Womens Prison (which is in the Golden Grove facility) and the Youth Training Centre (YTC) gave these two institutions a passing grade. Prisoners at the remand yard section of Golden Grove, contacted Newsday on Tuesday to complain that rats were everywhere, in prison cells, the kitchen and bathrooms.

Prison Officers Association head Ceron Richards described the situation as being not only a health crisis but a human rights breach affecting both prisoners and prison officers. He accused Government of ignoring this and other outstanding issues on the grounds that prisoners, by virtue of being incarcerated, have no choice but to live in such conditions; while prison officers are too professional and patriotic to walk off the job.

Officials in the Health Ministry confirmed being aware of a long-standing rat infestation problem at Golden Grove because of poor waste disposal methods while complaints have been coming in recently at the city prison with the latter also having to contend with a pigeon problem. Ministry officials said regular inspection is carried out at all prisons, but officials can only advise officials of the Prison Service on dealing with health issues such as rat infestation.

Health officials cannot conduct their own clean-up and/or eradication exercise because large sections of the prisons are strictly off-limits to civilians.

Attempts to reach Prisons Commissioner Sterling Stewart yesterday proved futile but an official of the Prison Service said that the issue is being addressed with some level of urgency.

This is the latest issue to cause embarrassment to the authorities in charge of running the prisons and comes on the heel of reports that prison officers had to dip into their own pockets and raise $500 to repair a malfunctioning water pump at the island prison which led to dry taps for several weeks and prisoners having to bathe in the sea.

This despite the fact that $1 million was set aside in the National Budget to effect repairs or replace aging and/or non-functioning infrastructure at the island prison.
JSC taxes EMA, Agriculture Ministry on fireworks

Mahabir yesterday chaired a Joint Select Committee (JSC) on Social Services and Public Administration.

Also at the meeting were NGOs - the Animal Welfare Network (AWN) and TT Veterinary Association.

Both the EMA and ministry each initially said they were not the only agency to act on hazards posed by fireworks to animal well-being, but ultimately they agreed to Mahabirs call to do more, including asking the Ministry of National Security to block the import of fireworks harmful to animal (and human) health.

EMA chairman Gayatri Maharaj agreed to a suggestion to research the decibel level produced by fireworks locally and to include fresh data in amended noise pollution rules. Veterinary Association president Dr Nicholas Mc Kenzie said fireworks cause great distress to cats and dogs whose hearing is many times more sensitive than humans to noise. They can die directly from the trauma of firework noise and from injuries sustained when they flee noise, amid a sharp rise in firework- related injuries. He spoke of cases where fireworks had panicked animals into escaping their premises and running onto roads where they ran the risk of being struck dead by motor vehicles. He said sometime ago a driver on a highway had swerved to avoid a panic-stricken dog but caused an accident which killed someone.

Mc Kenzie also lamented that there are people who use fireworks to maliciously injure animals.

He said veterinary clinics see more injured animals in the period of Divali to post New Year and vets get a tremendous increase in requests for tranquillisers.

You cant keep an animal drugged up from October to the end of January. Mahabir asked if the ministry ever enforces animal cruelty laws, namely the Summary Offences Act sections 78 and 79, which impose a $400 fine and two months imprisonment. Deputy permanent secretary Claudelle Mc Kellar replied that the ministry mainly sees its remit as animal importation and disease control in animals kept for food production.

Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan lamented the EMAs and the ministrys initial lukewarm responses to animal cruelty and wondered if the issue would be best handled by a new special within the Police Service.

The major problem is the indiscriminate use of fireworks, said Mc Kenzie, suggesting fireworks be curbed by the need for a licence and a restriction on the hours of discharge. AWNs Sita Kuruvilla noted a call in Britain to limit firework use to traditional holidays and to a level of under 120 decibels. She urged a reduction in firework sales to the general public.

Apart from noise, Mahabir said the EMA Act bans the discharge of toxic chemicals into the air.

Maharaj promised to notify her board, and EMA technical services manager Wayne Rajkumar suggested the use of more environmentally friendly fireworks.

Deputy Speaker Esmond Ford suggested the use of silent fireworks to eliminate noise.
Problems have always arisen when it comes to Election Day  whether it be voting fraud, the location of the voting precinct or just simply registering to vote. For the upcoming 2022 election, Nebraska is facing one of the toughest choices for the voting process: Voter IDs. While some believe
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A man aged 30 allegedly belonging to the Islamic State group (IS) Wednesday blew himself up at El Haria, 35 km from Constantine, in a confrontation with security forces, reports say.

Security forces were rushed to the region after getting tips-off of the presence of two terrorists.

The 30-year old terrorist detonated his subside belt as security forces tried to flash them out, reports say.

The second terrorist; aged 50 also tried to blow himself up but security forces managed to arrest him, el Watan reports.

The two jihadists according to reports were wanted by security forces for their connection with the assassination of a police officer in October, in Constantine. IS then claimed responsibility of the killing of the officer in a restaurant.

In February an attempt by an IS subside bomber to blow up a police station in the city of Constantine was foiled. A policeman managed to hit the IS militant. The foiled attack also injured three people.

The North African country thought spared by high profile attacks, has been facing increasing threats of terror groups. Over 30 terrorists have been arrested since the beginning of 2017, according to state figures.
Russian authorities have held talks with heads of Misrata forces aligned with UN-backed Presidential Council in a move to narrow gap between the West-based forces opposed to field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, reports say.

An important delegation of forces headed by Abdulhamid Al-Dubaiba assisted by Bunyan Marsous commander Mohamed Essa met in the Russian capital with Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov as Russian authorities seek to bring all Libyan sides to the negotiation table in view of restoring order in oil rich country six years after the death of Col. Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Moscow has been increasing its influence in the country in what it calls its own efforts to restore peace; security and stability after UN efforts have stumbled on many hurdles.

Russia according to reports has sought to gather consensus around its man in the person of Haftar.

Misrata supported by the President Council (PC) has been opposed to Haftra.

Haftars forces have been involved in intense fighting in the south of the country with Misrata forces also supported by Islamist fighters of Benghazi Defence Brigades (BDB).

UN efforts to reunify Libya have been stumbling on the faith of Haftar who is seeking a more important role. The military commander has refused to succumb to the PC which he claims is a bunch of puppets tasked with a foreign agenda.

In the Russian capital, Essa reportedly picked on Haftar at a press conference.

Wednesday, Russias envoy at the UN, Vladimir Safronkov in a blow to Haftars critics indicated to the UN Security Council that the field Marshal should be the nucleus of the Libyan armed forces in the future, Libya Herald reports.

Safronkovs comments cemented Russians position on the Libyan crisis. Moscow has vehemently criticised UN Special envoy to Libya, Martin Kobler whom it said sidelined other key stakeholders while favouring west-back protagonists.
Works to complete Moroccos high speed train (TGV), the first in Africa, have reached a progress rate of 86% and the project is expected to be ready in summer 2018, said the director general of Moroccos National Railways facility (ONCF) Mohamed Rabie Khlie.

Khlie, who was speaking at a meeting on railway security co-held in Tangier by the ONCF and the International Union of Railways (UIC), said that investments in Moroccos railway sector grew sevenfold to stand at 34 billion dirhams in the 2010-2015 period.

These massive investments aim at upgrading Moroccos railways with a view to lay the foundations for an efficient and modern rail transport system, he added.

Khlie noted that 86% of works to complete the Tangier-Casablanca TGV link have been achieved, highlighting that the new service will halve the journey time between the two cities to just over two hours down from 4hours 45 minutes currently.

The TGV has set the target of transporting 6 million passengers a year with departures every hour from Casablanca and Tangier, with the aim to achieve an average occupancy rate of 70%.

Morocco bought 12 high-speed trains from France train manufacturer, Alstom. The trains will operate at 320km/h on the high-speed line to achieve a Tangiers  Casablanca journey time of 2h 10min, instead of 4h 45min today.

Moroccos TGV costs about 1.9 billion dollars, largely funded by France, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
Super mighty. Photo: Xinhua News Agency/KCNA/Getty Images

North Korea is never shy about making over-the-top war threats, and its latest is a doozy. In response to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson saying the Trump administration may name North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism, the ruling partys official newspaper says Pyongyang may have to hit the U.S. with a super-mighty preemptive strike.

The newspaper said the strike will completely and immediately wipe out not only U.S. imperialists invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the U.S. mainland and reduce them to ashes.

Tillersons comments came Wednesday at the State Department, where he said the U.S. is considering many options to put pressure on North Korea.

Were reviewing all of the status of North Korea, both in terms of state sponsorship of terrorism as well as the other ways in which we can bring pressure on the regime in Pyongyang to reengage with us, but reengage with us on a different footing than past talks have been held, he said.

North Korea was removed from the list of state sponsors of terror in 2008 as a last-ditch move to save a nuclear deal that was near collapse. Now, Iran, Sudan, and Syria are the only three countries on the State Departments list. The designation carries with it sanctions and economic restrictions.
Police officers block access to the Champs-Elysees in Paris after a shooting on April 20, 2017. Photo: Thomas Samson/AFP/Getty Images

A gunman jumped out of a car and opened fire on a police van parked on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Thursday night around 9 p.m. local time. One police officer was killed, and two other officers who were standing nearby were hurt. The suspect, who was reportedly armed with an automatic weapon, was fatally shot by security forces as he tried to flee on foot, reports the New York Times.



Police officers search a man near the site of a shooting on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on April 20, 2017. Photo: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by one of its fighters. French prosecutors had already opened a terror investigation into the apparently targeted shooting of the police officers. A source told the Guardian that the attacker was known to authorities.

The shooting on what is perhaps the most well-known boulevard in Paris comes just days before France is set to hold the first round of its presidential election. Earlier this week, French authorities arrested two men suspected of planning an imminent and violent attack with the goal of having an impact on the race. It is unclear if this attack is connected to that foiled plot.
Make the guy from The Apprentice president? Its just crazy enough to work. Photo: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

Two new reports shed light on what led the U.S. government to conclude that Russia attempted to meddle in the U.S. election, and why the FBI began looking at a possible connection to the Trump campaign.

Following the election, U.S. intelligence agencies obtained two documents from a think tank controlled by Russian president Vladimir Putin, according to Reuters. Seven current and former U.S. officials said the papers produced by the Moscow-based Russian Institute for Strategic Studies laid out Russias strategy and rationale for attempting to swing the election to Donald Trump, or at least undermine faith in the U.S. electoral system.

The first document, which was written in June, reportedly calls for Russia to launch a propaganda campaign on social media and Kremlin-backed news outlets, such as Russia Today and Sputnik, to elect a president who would take a friendlier approach toward Russia. The second document, which was written in October, is said to conclude that Hillary Clinton would probably win the election, so Russia should start pushing voter fraud claims to undermine her presidency.

The Russian institutes website says it provides analytical materials to the Russian government, and Reuters reports that its staffed by retired senior Russian foreign intelligence officials appointed by Putins office. The documents dont mention the hacking of Democratic officials emails  which U.S. officials say was run separately by the Kremlin  but they are said to be a cornerstone of the U.S. intelligence agencies conclusions about Russias election activities.

Putin had the objective in mind all along, and he asked the institute to draw him a road map, a former senior U.S. intelligence official told Reuters.

The documents say nothing about potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign, but on Wednesday the New York Times revealed the catalyst for the FBIs investigation of the issue: former Trump campaign adviser Carter Pages trip to Moscow last July.

The FBI became aware of Page when a Russian spy tried to recruit him in 2013, but its unclear what about his 2016 trip raised concerns. During his speech at the New Economic School in Moscow, Page harshly criticized U.S. policy toward Russia. The unverified dossier compiled by a former British intelligence agent alleges that Page met with Igor Sechin, Putin confidant and CEO of the Russian state oil company Rosneft, during the Moscow trip. Both men deny this.

Last week the Washington Post reported that the FBI obtained a FISA warrant to begin monitoring Pages communications last summer. The Trump administration has been downplaying Pages ties to the campaign for months. He submitted policy memos and participated in some campaign events in the spring and summer of 2016, but it appears he never met Trump.

Page has defended himself in a number of media appearances in recent weeks, and he says hes pleased that more information about the FBIs investigation of him is becoming public. Im very encouraged that all of the lies that have been a drag on this administration are finally coming out into the open, he said on Fox News.
Jeff Sessions. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

While President Trump promised to do away with President Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program during the campaign, hes kept the program in place, and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said last month that the government is obligated to honor the terms of the program.

So when reports emerged on Wednesday that Juan Manuel Montes, a 23-year-old who has lived in the U.S. since he was 9, was deported to Mexico, Democrats and immigration advocates accused the Trump administration of going back on its word.

Wednesday on Fox News, Attorney General Jeff Sessions denied that DACA recipients are being targeted for deportation. I dont know why this individual was picked up, Sessions told Jenna Lee. Everybody in the country illegally is subject to being deported, so people come here and they stay here a few years and somehow they think they are not subject to being deported  well, they are.

When pressed to clarify the administrations policy on DACA, Sessions responded:

The policy is that if people are here unlawfully, theyre subject to being deported. Our priority is clear. Our priority is to end the lawlessness at the border, stop the additional flow of illegals into the country and then to prioritize those who have gotten into trouble with the law, recent arrivals, people who have been deported previously, drug dealers, and other criminal activists.



But you know, we cant promise people who are here unlawfully that theyre not going to be deported .

Montes has filed a lawsuit to force U.S. Customs and Border Protection to release information about why he was deported. The Department of Homeland Security says Montes invalidated his DACA status when he left the country for Mexico, which is why he was deported after climbing over a border wall on February 19. Montes says he was only in Mexico because CBP agents questioned him in California and deported him two days earlier.

A familiar figure will decide Montess case: U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, the judge President Trump accused of being biased against him in the Trump University fraud case because of his Mexican heritage.

Judge Curiel was assigned to the case based on a rotating schedule, and hes unlikely to recuse himself, according to Kari Hong, an assistant professor at Boston College Law School. Simply being attacked by the president isnt a conflict of interest. If that were the standard, the entire 9th Circuit Court of Appeals couldnt handle a single case, she told USA Today.
Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

In an interview with a conservative radio host Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions went out of his way to insult the entire state of Hawaii by suggesting its not a real part of the the United States.

While speaking to host Mark Levin, Sessions brought up President Trumps travel ban, which was blocked last month by Federal District Judge Derrick Watson of Honolulu. I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the president of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and Constitutional power, he said. CNNs KFILE has the recording if youd like to hear it in Sessionss syrupy accent.

Reducing one of the 50 states to an island in the Pacific is not sitting well with people on that island, including its two senators.

Hey Jeff Sessions, this #IslandinthePacific has been the 50th state for going on 58 years. And we wont succumb to your dog whistle politics  Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) April 20, 2017

Hawaii was built on the strength of diversity & immigrant experiences- including my own. Jeff Sessions comments are ignorant & dangerous  Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) April 20, 2017

Mr. Attorney General: You voted for that judge. And that island is called Oahu. It's my home. Have some respect. https://t.co/sW9z3vqBqG  Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) April 20, 2017

The thinly veiled racism of Sessionss statement is only part of what makes it dumb. Theres also the obvious fact that the state in which Watson was sitting when he ruled on the case has nothing to do with his judgment of its constitutionality. And, as others have pointed out, there is the irony of Sessions diminishing the standing of another state when Alabama, his home state, fought in a war to leave the U.S. altogether.
Is Labours Jeremy Corbyn taking a ride to nowhere? Photo: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

So you think you have political problems with being out of power, Democrats? Are you worried your leader is too unpopular, Republicans? Well, put yourself in the place of U.K. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn or his restive supporters, heading toward a June general election that could spell disaster, and you might not feel so bad.

One of the main reasons Prime Minister Theresa May decided to call this snap election was that her opponents are in various degrees of disarray. The Liberal Democrats might make some noise as Britains only unambiguously anti-Brexit party. But they are beginning at such a low point after their disastrous showing in the last election, in 2015, that even major gains would keep them marginal. And some feel their current leader, Tim Farron, a conservative evangelical, is a poor match for a party whose membership has always been in the vanguard of social liberalism. The once ominously growing UKIP seems to have lost its reason to live after Brexit. It has in recent months lost its leader, Nigel Farage, who decamped for a transatlantic media career, and its only member of Parliament. And the Scottish Nationalists pretty much maxed out their potential seats in Parliament in 2015 and probably have nowhere to go but down.

But its the main opposition party, Labour, whose travails are most comforting to May and her Tories. Polls are now consistently showing a 20-point-plus gap between the Conservative and Labour parties in voter preference, a huge Tory advantage by British standards. One very recent poll showed Corbyns net approval rating at minus-34, a number that by comparison makes Donald Trump look like a very popular man.

Corbyn ascended to the top of his party on the basis of strong support from Labours left-leaning rank-and-file activists, who play a disproportionate role in party leadership elections. Never a favorite of Labour pols in Parliament, particularly the remnant of Tony Blairs once-dominant New Labour faction, Corbyn outraged a lot of them by staying semi-neutral on Brexit. After he survived an attempted coup last year that cost him much of his Shadow Cabinet, Corbyn has not impressed too many people with his messaging skills. Like his American counterpart Bernie Sanders, he has a closetful of old radical associations that dont come off so well in a leadership role. And so, his party is split and seems irresolute.

A poll early this week showed how dire Labours leadership crisis has become: Offered a choice of Corbyn or May to lead Britain, only 45 percent of self-identified Labour voters chose Corbyn (16 percent chose May, 30 percent rejected both, 9 percent were unsure). Among voters generally, only 14 percent preferred Corbyn to May; 47 percent preferred May.

Perhaps a general-election campaign will unite Labour and revive Corbyns dismal standing. Conversely, some of his intraparty enemies clearly hope the results will force him out of the leadership. Theres even one rumor that May called the election out of fear Corbyn would resign, potentially giving Labour a fresher and more effective leadership. Any way you slice it, Corbyn and his party are on trial as Britains short and intense election season progresses.
Bubbles  bubbles as far as the eye can see.

The vibe of the first day of F8, with an introduction by Mark Zuckerberg, was like a bunch of super-friendly RAs who ordered everyone pizza and just wanted to have some fun, talk about community, and deliver one core message: Now I am become Death, the destroyer of Snapchat.

The vibe of the second day of F8 was more like grad students who decided to get really stoned and think about the future for a while, with the main topic being, Wouldnt it be cool if like  we were the computers?

The keynote, by CTO Mike Schroepfer, focused on three main themes: connectivity, AI, and virtual reality and augmented reality (with a little bit of freaky, direct brain-computer-interface stuff thrown in at the end).

Yael Maguire, part of Facebooks Connectivity Lab, said their strategy is using the atmosphere and the stratosphere to get people connected to the internet  specifically by using millimeter-wave (MMW) radio technology to blanket an urban area in high-speed internet, or by using cellular networks to provide data connections in parts of the world that fiber-optic cable simply hasnt reached yet.

But the star of the show was Aquila, Facebooks solar-powered drone that the company hopes will one day beam down internet connectivity to parts of the world where none currently exists. A full-scale model of Aquila flew (and crashed) last year, and testing seems to be moving forward. While Facebook has yet to attempt to use MMW tech on it, it has attached an MMW transmitter to a Cessna, and was able to deliver 16-Gbps internet over a 13-kilometer radius  enough to easily blanket all of Manhattan, most of Brooklyn, and parts of Queens and the Bronx with a signal. While all of Manhattan sharing that little bandwidth would make Netflix bingeing impossible, it would be more than enough for parts of the world without any connectivity to send text and pictures. Our goal is simple, said Schroepfer. We want to connect the 4.1 billion people who arent already connected to the internet.

Next up was Joaquin Quinonero Candela talking about AI, or as its increasingly called deep learning or machine learning. The focus, given Facebooks newfound love of the camera, was mainly on using AI to examine and understand images, including understanding human posture and determining how close or far away objects are, even when using a single-lens camera. The most important part of this, however, seems to be that all of this AI processing isnt happening on a server farm somewhere  its happening in real time on your phone, and its what made all those gee-whiz augmented-reality-camera moments from day one of F8 possible. (No word on what an active AI does to your battery life.)

Following that, Michael Abrash of Oculus took the stage and gave a long presentation on the future of augmented-reality glasses. AR glasses, of course, have had a certain odor of failure on them ever since Google Glass, and Abrash was quick to say that everything he was talking about was far in the future  20 or 30 years from now. His talk was more of a look at how Facebook is thinking about whats necessary for AR glasses to be successful  the lens and optics, the AI needed, how to handle interaction  than a concrete presentation. Abrashs main argument for AR glasses can be boiled down to: This is a technology that makes sense and people will want; technology is always advancing (usually faster than we think); and therefore, someday someone will invent AR glasses that are both usable, comfortable, and socially acceptable. But the biggest takeaway was that by dedicating this much time to essentially a wouldnt it be cool if presentation shows how Facebook is serious about AR.

Finally, Regina Dugan, previously the head of Googles Advanced Technology and Projects and before that head of research at DARPA, talked about direct brain-computer interfaces. Dugans speech touched on two main initiatives. One, that using passive brain monitoring (i.e., nothing gets drilled into your skull), her team believes they can produce something that will allow a user to type 100 words per minute  using only their brain. Whats more, she expects that theyll be able to deliver a prototype of this in the next couple of years. The second was even more impressive, mainly because part of it has already been done: giving people the ability to decode language through touch. Of course, people have been doing this for nearly 200 years through Braille, but this was a bit different. An experiment showed a woman wearing a series of 16 actuators on her left arm, tuned to different frequencies. The woman (who was not deaf or blind) learned nine simple words purely by the tactile sensations coming from those sensors. She was then able to translate those words  for example, grasp blue sphere  as they related to a series of objects put in front of her. Essentially, the technology could create a universal tactile language  something that would allow a person to, as Dugan put it, think in Mandarin, but feel in Spanish.

Its easy to roll your eyes at a lot of this stuff  laser drones and AR glasses and typing 100 words per minute with just your brain. But none of the presenters are lightweights in their fields, and Facebook has quietly been amassing a murderers row of talent in long-distance communication and AI and AR. With Google seemingly abandoning many of its own moonshot projects, and Apple quietly working on something related to AR but staying mum, Facebooks futurism suddenly makes it seem very different from the rest of the Silicon Valley crowd. Whether any of this actually helps a company that still draws most of its income from delivering direct-sales ads to your eyeballs remains an open question.
Charlotte Gainsbourgs NARS collection.

Three separate non-beauty-editor friends have texted me about NARSs newest makeup collection with Charlotte Gainsbourg. The kohl liners are amazing, and the texture and weight of the pencil is perfect, said my friend Christine (She would know, because like a different Charlotte  Tilbury shes worn a cat eye every day of her life). Im getting my makeup done now at the NARS store, do you have this skin-tint thing? I love it! wrote my other friend Sierra.

Before I interviewed Gainsbourg, I didnt really get a chance to play with her makeup collection. But now that Ive had a chance to thoroughly test the whole collection, I think Francois Nars should be formulating with one eye open, because Charlotte Gainsbourg could be gunning for his job.

Most celebrity makeup collections, despite what you may read about in interviews, are half-hearted endeavors either by someone who doesnt really know makeup or care (or both!). Sometimes the products arent even new, theyre just new shades with a celebrity-chosen name to indicate their high level of involvement. But despite not really wearing makeup, Gainsbourg appears to have shunted all these common celebrity blunders.

It appears that every piece in the collection is good, if not great. The Kohl eyeliners come in beautiful, moody shades beyond black, including a dark forest green (Cours du Soir), midnight navy blue (Nuit DEncre), and a steel gray (Zinc) because Gainsbourg clearly knows that different dark-colored eyeliners are the easiest way to make your eye pop without resorting to a neon color. The Multiple Tint is also an entirely new formula, a matte take on NARSs famous Multiples, and is a matte powdery tint that can be used on the lips or cheeks. It is definitely not sheer, but the colors that Gainsbourg chose, a coral and two different shades of red, are just right for patting a little lived-in color as a blush or light lipstick. I cant stop using either of the two colors, the pink-gold shimmer and matte navy-turquoise, from the eye-shadow palette in Old Church Street  me, a person who wears eyeshadow twice a month at most.

NARS Kohliner $26 Eyeliner that wont run down your face and yet is super easy to draw on. $26 at NARS Buy

Another new formula is Gainsbourgs well done take on foundation-lite. If youre lucky enough to have the Hydrating Skin Tint be in your color, consider yourself blessed. I am sadly between two of the four shades, but everyone else I gave these samples to in the office has loved it. If you think Glossier Skin Tint is too minimal, if you think Skin is in, but you want a little more coverage and a feeling of doneness, this is for you. Its the lightest version of whatever your favorite foundation is, but with a super hydrating texture that moisturizes the skin and lets it be seen, while giving it just the tiniest bit of polish.

The Gainsbourg collection also includes a brush set with a brush roll so sleek that it looks like the fancy knife roll my brother bought in Tokyo. And two types of lip products, which have perfect red and nude options, including a coconut-oil lip tint. But you get it! Everything is good.

NARS Multiple Tint $39 A matte tint for your lips and cheeks, with a shade named for Jane Birkin. $39 at NARS Buy
The art piece, Wrecktangle, by Herbie Fletcher, hangs above a staircase with a view toward the living and dining areas. Photo: Eric Boman

I came to Montauk to buy Peter Beards house, says the art collector and Venus gallerist Adam Lindemann, referring to the photographers famous cliffside estate. But it was the spec house next door that caught his eye. Back in 2007, Linda Stein, the late real-estate broker, didnt want to show Lindemann and his wife, Amalia Dayan, the property. Owing to the houses chandeliers, hot tubs, and hedge-fund-party-boy details, she thought theyd hate it. But they were taken with the houses location, on six acres of land on a bluff at the very end of Long Island. Lindemann turned to the British architect David Adjaye (designer of the National Museum of African American History and Culture), who was then building the couples Manhattan carriage house, to gut the property and transform it into a serene space clad floor to ceiling in wood. This was my first design for a casual home, Adjaye says. I wanted to maximize the ocean views.

The house is sprinkled with furniture by Franz West, Joaquim Tenreiro, and George Nakashima, while the landscape design, by Miranda Brooks, tames the wilderness just enough; the pool sits in an open space surrounded by art  like Wests massive neon sculptures. In 2015, the couple bought the legendary Church estate (also known as Andy Warhols former compound) a few miles away. As for why theyve kept this house, Lindemann explains: Its our furniture, our taste, our time and effort. Whereas with the Church property, he says, thats a historic place thats existed since 1932. I have nothing to contribute to that other than just to keep it in good shape.

*This article appears in the April 17, 2017, issue of New York Magazine.

Photo: Courtesy of Adam Lindemann

The Exterior

The grounds were designed by Miranda Brooks. Here, a view toward the pool with a series of Franz West sculptures.

Photo: Eric Boman

Looking into the Library

The library is entered through an opening in the bookshelves. The neon wheel is by Anselm Reyle.

Photo: Eric Boman

The Kitchen

Marc Newsons table and canteen chairs brighten up the kitchen, with Richard Princes Untitled hanging above.

Photo: Eric Boman

A Vestibule

The art piece, Wrecktangle, by Herbie Fletcher, hangs above a staircase with a view toward the living and dining areas.

Photo: Eric Boman

The Living Room

The large concrete fireplace anchors and divides the living and dining area. Jean-Michel Sanejouands rocking chair mixes with Franz Wests divan and club chair and a George Nakashima English-oak-burl coffee table.

Photo: Eric Boman

The Living Room

Another view of the living room, and the Franz West divan and club chairs and George Nakashima coffee table. The painting is by Bernard Buffet.

Photo: Eric Boman

The Master Bath

The wood-paneled room offers a cool respite.

Photo: Eric Boman

View Toward the Master Bedroom

The Anselm Reyle lamp sits on a marble shelf. The chair is Pierre Paulin, and the art on the wall is by the duo Tim Noble and Sue Webster.

Photo: Eric Boman

Upstairs Relax Room

It features Gaetano Pesces inviting modular La Michetta sofa system.
Photo: baona/Getty Images

Ted, 55

Limo-Service Owner

Berkeley, California

In 1998, I started my own service, with one car. Im still the owner, but now I probably have about 15 cars and shuttle buses.

I was born in Tehran, and in 1971, I came to America on a student visa. I was 20 years old. I went back to see family, then the revolution happened, and I took off. When I finished my studies, I got a job as a manager at a coffee shop; I needed work experience: My resume was empty, but I had an MBA from Berkeley. I guess the company wasnt doing so well, and when I told one of my coffee-shop regulars, a driver, he said: Well, why dont you come and work for us? The moneys good; you can learn; its flexible; you can make your own hours. When the business shut down, thats what I did.

I went to L.A. for a while, but the recession happened. Then there were the riots and stuff after Rodney King, so it was not a good time to work in L.A. So in 1998, I came back, again, and got a Lincoln Town Car.

You had to advertise in the yellow pages. There was no Google. I only had a pager and pay phones. I was able  without having a single office, without any employees  to handle all of this by myself. Customers would page me, then Id get to a public pay phone and call them. There was no other way to find out, What do they need?  you know.

Then I got more customers. After a couple of years, I started thinking about a second and then a third car.

I dont drive as much now. I will drive customers with high expectations, very high VIP, I dont want to lose them. I want to make sure they get good service. And also, you know, I want to hear from them.

I get up at 3 a.m., every day. I do my paperwork, then I start the engine of the business: answering the phone, taking care of reservations, and making sure the drivers come to work. In this business, you never know when theyre gonna call you. You have to always be available and ready. Our line is open 24/7.

Its not an easy job. Its long hours  you have to make sure you dont get frustrated with the behavior of other drivers. You have to hide your anger or your frustration from the customer sitting in the back of the car. Always have some kind of really good attitude and show that you are professional, show that you are experienced.

The Uber concept is not a service concept. People who ride with Uber or the other companies, you know, they just think about the money they pay. And how much they pay. But when it comes to the safety issue, they dont know.

Buses, BART, you know, the public transportation, the airport shuttle  theyre almost going out of business, too, because less people are using the services. The parking companies at the airport are suffering.

This is how I put it: If you eat a hamburger, you have two choices. You can go to McDonalds and get two for $1. Or you can go eat one hamburger at a different place where thats their job, and you pay $20 for a hamburger. It depends on, you know, how much you care.

Now, parents with Uber, they just open the account; they dont even have to have cash in their pockets. The kids use those devices to call for a ride, you know, so we dont drive that many younger kids like we used to. Mainly work people and older generations who are not familiar with the devices  old-fashioned.

You talk to somebody if theyre interested in talking. Youll find subjects and issues, even if they say, Donald Trump, you know, youre gonna talk to them  you can drag into the conversation something pleasant. Not to argue with them. Wherever you think theyll agree with you, you find those moments. Make a pleasant trip, and make sure this guy is not fighting with my brain or idea, so he will come back to me next time. Its your customer, your guest. Doesnt matter if its a Democrat or a Republican  I dont want to get into that kind of conflict. I stay away from that kind of argument or issues talks.

Older customers are more likely to talk to me, but they just like to talk about their past. They are not interested in anything thats going on. They like to talk about the story of their life, their kids, and their nephews. Their grandchildren, their dog, what theyre coming here for, and where theyre going.

The phone goes with me wherever I go  I have four or five. I always carry two or three with me, and I always have a couple of lines forwarded: my toll-free number or my landline, if Im not in the office.

I have a couple of smartphones, but my business line comes to my flip phone.

I just wanna call people and answer the phone, thats all I want from this phone, nothing else. No texting, no emailing, no nothing. Just call me  the phone rings; I answer the phone.

My family is used to me being on my phone all the time. They know what Im doing. They know I get up at three in the morning; they know I have to answer the phone. Im the only one who works, so they have to put up with me, ha! They cant complain.

Dont text me, okay! Call.

I dont encourage people to text me  when they text me, I ignore it. After I ignore them a couple of times, they call. I want to hear your voice; I want to chat with you. Texting and emailing for some types of things, in my job and the work we do, is a waste of time. If you need me, you call me right now and tell me what you need. Dont leave me a message on my voice-mail. Call me and make sure I am talking to you. Otherwise, I might miss it, and you might not get it, then its a loss for me and a loss for you.

Thats why I always answer my phone. I am very forward. They come to the airport, and I say, Dont text me, Im landing; dont text me, My flight is here  call me when youre ready. I want to hear your voice.
Australian wine on trade-up mission

Australia has long been head and shoulders above the other wine producing countries in UK volume and value sales, but sales have finally started to dip slightly. The only top 10 countries of origin in growth  New Zealand, Argentina and Chile  all have a higher average bottle price than Australia, so it is arguably time for the industry to come together to drive value into the Australia category to preserve its long-term health.

The goal for us and Australia overall is to persuade people to trade up to areas where there is more profit, but also more interest and diversity, says Simon Thorpe MW, managing director at Negociants. There is very little profit through the supply chain at the UK average price point.

He points to growing interest in China for Australian wines, which is pushing up grape prices, while the exchange rate is also putting a strain on the category. The only way to thrive going forwards, he argues, is to encourage consumers to look at 8-10 in supermarkets and 12-15 in independents.

The amount of Australian wine sold at higher price points compared to Rioja or French classic regions, and some in New Zealand, shows there is work to be done, says Thorpe. There is a strong sentiment among buyers that its a worthwhile objective, and there is recognition of the great wine produced by the Australian industry at higher price points.

His colleagues in the trade are in agreement. Premiumisation is still the buzzword for the Australia category and Julian Dyer, UK general manager at Australian Vintage, says: One aspect of premiumisation is around consumer interest, and the other aspect is for the future of the wine industry. We have got to sell wine above 5. Not just me, but our customers.

Everybody needs to sell wine above 5, because no one makes any money at those price points.

We need to work with our customers to give clarity around the retail fixture so its easier to understand the hierarchies.

We in the wine trade are terrible at signposting reasons to buy quality products. You just have to look at the success of premium spirits and beer to see that if you give the signposts and communication consumers do want that improved beverage experience.

We talk about lightweight glass and freight and efficiencies, but we dont talk enough about craft and quality in a complex category. We are starting to see signs of that among our customers.

Take the recent Sainsburys range review  it took out 40% of wines below 6. Wow.

We have launched Founders Reserve. The rrp is 10 a bottle and we have had to increase our allocation and make three times more in the past year because we cant keep up with the sales coming through.

Lisa Tovey, senior brand manager at Jacobs Creek supplier Pernod Ricard, says: The average price per bottle in the category is continuing to decline. This is clearly not sustainable for producers and we believe there is a big opportunity to drive value back into the Australian category. We continue to maintain our long-term value strategy, with a higher than average price of 5.81, ahead of the Australian average of 5.15.

We feel there is a real need to attract new drinkers to help drive value back into the Australian wine category. We need to provide innovation such as Jacobs Creek Double Barrel Matured to help add excitement back for wine drinkers and engage with them within three feet of the wine fixture. The quality of wines Australia has to offer needs to be highlighted to help get shoppers to go on that journey, starting with in-store engagement.

Premium wines have a huge role to play for retailers and its great to see so many embracing this trend and investing in their offerings. If premium wine is not available you are closing the door to potential sales when consumers are more likely to trade up.

We would urge retailers to have confidence around premium. Your range does need to include premium wines in order to reach the broadest demographic of shoppers and to drive value into the category.

Fine wine

Thorpe is encouraged by soaring sales of the fine wines in Negociants portfolio. We have never sold as much wine to the really fine wine scene in London as we do at the moment, he says. Thats an indication that people enjoy and trust Australian wine at those very elevated prices. Thats a really positive sign. If people are spending 30-100, the logic would suggest that would trickle down, having access to those customers on their weekday shop as well as their special shop.

Katarina Luciakova, brand manager for Robert Oatley at Hatch Mansfield, is convinced Australia will rally. Although there has been a dip in Australian wine figures, we dont see this as a long-term trend, she says. The country and its wines are still number one by volume and value in the off-trade and enjoy a strong consumer following.

That said, further consumer education and awareness should always be at the forefront of any regions strategy. The Wines of Australia UK team does a great job on this front, hosting educational masterclasses to educate opinion-makers and buyers who will influence consumers.

Adrian Atkinson, European market manager at Wakefield Wines, agrees, adding: Markets are cyclical. Im really positive for the UK. Perhaps the premium opportunity is being dampened slightly by Brexit and recent consolidation of ranges, but if one delves deeper into the export stats one sees the continued growth of higher value wines in the UK, but offset by sharp declines in the lower priced bulk wine exports.

In 2016 bottled wine exports to the UK increased by 6% while bulk exports declined by 14%. This is mirrored in prices of wine exported. Wine under $5 per litre declined by 10%, driving the overall declines we are seeing. Exports of wine above $5 per litre grew by 23% and over $10 per litre by 25%.

Weve got to remember we are entering a period when consumers are being enticed into Australia for the first time. A generation of consumers may have turned their back on Australia as it was what their parents drank, but my sense is they are now looking at Australia in the same way as a group of younger consumers have looked at Argentina.

I urge the trade to think in the same way and think of refreshing the Australian offering to reflect the desire for these consumers to discover their Australia, not just what their parents were discovering in the 1990s and 2000s. Perhaps its time for a further refresh of what the consumer is being offered by most of the larger retailers.

Dynamic and diverse

OLN asked suppliers if they believe UK consumers have a strong enough awareness of how dynamic, diverse and interesting Australian wine is, and Luciakova says: As the number one wine category, it is clear the British public has confidence in Australian wine. Together with easy-to-understand labelling and use of familiar varieties, it is often a safe choice for consumers. That said, the safe choice might not exactly represent the dynamism and innovation that is happening across the region, such as improving quality of the wines, use of unusual varieties or development of lesser-known regions.

Laura Jewell MW, UK director at Wine Australia, is keen to highlight the strong growth in exports to the UK of unusual varieties. Touriga Nacional is up 575%, Fiano is up 273%, Vermentino 185% and Sangiovese sales have grown 396% in the past year, according to government export figures. At the recent Australia Day tasting Negociants was pouring an Assyrtiko and North South Wines was showing off a Durif.

Australia, although long-established on the UK market, is a region of continual innovation and in recent years we have seen the emergence of European varieties such as Fiano, Vermentino, Grenache, Tempranillo and Touriga that are sure to catch the imagination of wine drinkers in the UK, says Luciakova. Also, we shouldnt forget about high quality, premium Australian wines, with fantastic ageing potential that put this region firmly on the map among the usual hall of fame of age-worthy producers.

Atkinson urges the trade not to get too carried away with weird and wonderful varieties. Im a great believer in simplicity of message, which is not the same as dumbing down, he says. The growth of categories such as Spain through Rioja, Argentina through Malbec, New Zealand through Sauvignon Blanc and Italy through Prosecco is something to take note of.

Im yet to be convinced of the need to go chasing the off-Broadway varieties just yet. In my 25 years being involved in the industry, Australia has never had a better offering of Shiraz, Chardonnay and Cabernet than it does now. We should focus on these. For me Australian Chardonnay or Cabernet are the vinyl of wine. I wont say what is the CD. These varieties are growing and consumers love them  we just need to give them a collective push. The crop of 2014s, 2015s and 2016s are stunners.

Thorpe of Negociants adds: The Artisans of Australia tasting had a big impact on the trades perception. It showed how many interesting things and characters there are in Australia and that are available in the UK market. Thats something we need to continue to push, pinpointing regions and classic styles that are world-class examples of grape varieties. There is definite appeal to those things.

Theres a move to show all this diversity and the funky stuff. But there is also a lot of wine that is not necessarily funky that is particularly good value. There is all this pressure but also all this opportunity. Thats the greatness of Australia.

INDIE SUPPORT

Independent merchants are not really covered by firms such as Nielsen and IRI, so it is difficult to get a handle on their sales breakdown. But the polls conducted by OLN and the large number of interviews we conduct with indies shows that, for some, Australia is a huge category, while for others it barely registers.

Suppliers have noticed this trend too and are trying to chip away at this sector in a bid to boost sales.

Australia under-trades in the independent retail sector and there are certain retailers that do extremely well with Australian wine at a premium level and others that dont, says Simon Thorpe MW at Negociants. Its an interesting position because the type of consumer who shops at independent retailers generally has the motivation and interest to bother to go rather than do it as part of their weekly shop at the supermarket.

If Australia is popular in one retailer and not another its probably due to the attitude of the retailer. Our challenge is to persuade the retailers under-trading in Australia to love and cherish it.

When asked how he might do that, he says: There is no short cut. Its about winemaker visits, tastings, its about banging away. Australia is a long way to go. We cant just take people there on a long weekend. We have to bring Australia to them. Its about finding something that engages those retailers enough to persuade them to stock it. Its about asking people to be ambitious in the wines they sell and supporting that bravery by having winemakers visit and engage with their customers.

McGuigan Wines is targeting UK independents with wines showcasing regionality, distinctiveness and personality after winning IWSC Winemaker of the Year for a record fourth year running.

Chief executive Neil McGuigan says: We need to focus on the independents. We used to have two people selling to UK independents. Now we have five. We should have 25, but we are working our way through that, because independents and on-trade is something we can really focus on.

When we win those trophies, people around the world listen. They are serious awards. The opportunity to sell more expensive wines with more personality in independents and the on-trade has never been greater.

We need to take that opportunity and drive it and give them premium, super-premium and iconic wines, and we will be seen as a wine country that can deliver. We dont have enough high-quality, low-volume wines in the UK market yet, and we need to do that through focusing on engagement with the consumer.

Related articles:
I'm not ready for the Farrellution. I have something that day.

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Will you be busy washing your hair? We've all been there bb.

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I wanna see this. I like the tone of it.

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This trailer has quite a few spoilers, FYI, for anyone who cares



Sounds like Nicole's going to have a pretty big year too. She has a handful of movies premiering at Cannes

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Excuse me, who gives a fuck about Colin Farrell when this is Nicole Kidman's year?

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Yeah, I'm happy for Colin, but I'm expecting Nicole to be every during awards season

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Also, this border collie, who is colin's close personal friend and was robbed of an Oscar.



Me and my hopeless thirst do!!Also, this border collie, who is colin's close personal friend and was robbed of an Oscar.

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He was robbed of an Oscar for In Bruges, let's be real. He's been doing some really interesting work lately. I'm looking forward to the crime caper by the Safdies, Good Time, at Cannes. Sidenote: Pattinson replaced Ferrell in Cosmopolis when Colin dropped out. Small world. I hope they can work together some day.

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MTE

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IFKR

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Not sure about Beguiled, tho. I know it will look good and be art directed to skies, but something seems a bit off about it. At least it will yield great gifs. Sofia seems to have been inspired by the French impressionists. The trailer had frames that reminded me of these:





I think Nicole is going to have 4 films at Cannes. They need to have some kind of coronation for her this year.Not sure about Beguiled, tho. I know it will look good and be art directed to skies, but something seems a bit off about it. At least it will yield great gifs. Sofia seems to have been inspired by the French impressionists. The trailer had frames that reminded me of these:

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Yeah, why does he have top billing here?

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I terribly thirsty for this irish prince so me lol. I do love Nicole though and want her to get another oscar

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i am simultaneously pumped for and dreading both these movies tbh

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Plus it's exam season right now, which means my thirst is in overdrive as it always is when exam stress takes me lmao Sammmeeeeee bb same. But also i'm not dreading them as much as I should, as I am trash for him and this is SUCH A ~LOOK~.Plus it's exam season right now, which means my thirst is in overdrive as it always is when exam stress takes me lmao

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seriously bless whoever styled him in this movie, it will distract me from the other shit briefly

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he looks so good omg I hate that he's playing such a piece of shit in this ;~;

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YES DADDY

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split me open daddy

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I recently discovered that the video rental place where I live (yes, they still exist who knew) spells Colin's name as Pharrell. It was on the title sticker on a Fright Night box. As a terrible speller in general, I had to immediately look it up to make sure I hadn't been mistaken all these years.

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lmao, Pharrell's long lost white Irish cousin tbh!

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The Farrellution?



yessssssssssssss



yessssssssssssss

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the second coming of kidman has me shook



that trailer is SO GOOD that i can't believe i'm so hype for a coppola movie

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omg that trailer looks amaaaazing!!! <33333333333



also yessss @ the farrellution :D

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Colin thanks you for his dedication to his farrellution bb!!

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every time i see him i just think about how much fantastic beasts wasted him and how i'll never forgive them for it (it doesn't help that the movie itself was pretty terrible)

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Same tbh, I prefer to believe that it was all some terrible fever dream.



And he was such an instant fan favourite too, they shot themselves in the fucking foot.

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i'll watch anything A24 puts out

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Same, I love them

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They're my absolute fav!

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i'm gonna watch the killing of a sacred deer but imo the lobster was unwatchable...hope nicole can save everything with her talent!

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omg hdu The Lobster was a masterpiece!

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omg i need to watch this

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I'm shipping them

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BRING ME THE ANATOMY BOOK



slay us queen nicole!! god this looks great.



i'm sad about poor kirsten's face. she looks like a pierogi lately.

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I thought the premiere was pretty good, though I have no idea what the beginning part from 1988 is about. I guess that'll become more clear as time goes on.

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One thing that I didn't catch (and wanted to) was what card game they were playing?

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bridge

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i think the beginning was just something self contained/ random to show that the "truth" is really a story, aka the "true story" that they claim to tell each season, is not the truth but just a story.





that's the impression i got at least, mostly because the 80's room had a painting from the 2010's landscape, etc.

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for me it was clear after the episode

how the grandpa got killed because he had the same name and similar address

like with that german dude it didn't mattered that only address was a match

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you beat me to it, op!

i loved the ep, so glad this is back.

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Good ep/show as usual but I just had one gripe and maybe it was just my hearing in particular but it seemed like Ewan kept mixing his Minnesota accent with his Scottish accent.

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I heard that too, though I'm not great with accents in general. I heard his Scottish accent a lot when he was giving the speech at the party.

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i noticed that too

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doesn't he always so that?

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I noticed it too. Given his foibles with the French accent in Beauty & the Beast and now this, I think it's safe to say accents aren't really his thing.

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Yeah, it was sort of distracting. I did notice it more with good-looking brother (Emmett?) than I did with Ray though, although that might be partially because there was more to focus on in Ray's plot whereas there was mainly just a lot of talking with good-looking!Ewan.

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thats par the course for Ewan. he has the worst accents ever, and his "o"s are the worst.

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That murder was brutal, I liked it. I also like the fact that after two seasons of car accidents the shows giving us something different, I was waiting for that hoodlum to crash or something. Also Mary Elizabeth Winstead is thicc,

Scott pilgrims shook.



Edited at 2017-04-20 05:10 am (UTC)

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I loved it!



I missed about 5 minutes of it towards the end. Did the cop's father die? I know he was taped to the chair, but he was really still...

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are you sure it was just 5 mins? this ep was longer than normal. he died, his mouth and nostrils were super glued shut.

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OMG, that's terrible. Glad that the dude who did it got his at the end.

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haven't watched this show, but Legion pretty much made me want to check it out. how is it?

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the only way they're similar is the directing style, but if you liked legion you'll probably like this.

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Do I need to watch the previous seasons to watch the current one?

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No, each season is a self-contained vignette.

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i loved it

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I just finished season one and the first episode of season two last night. Really good show.

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I still need to finish s1. Oops at me tbh

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Good opening. I loved the camera work, as usual. That's always something that strikes me each season. I don't think Ewan's the only one with accent issues, but there's so much about the show to love I try my best to auto tune everyone in my head.

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TBH, I don't know how I feel about the episode. At a lot of points, I felt like it needlessly dragged on, the writing didn't seem up to par, and I felt like some of the shots were just artsy for the sake of being artsy (those overlapped shots of Maurice smoking and cop lady searching the house to weird evil music).



The second half of the episode was infinity times better than the first half though. Like everything that happened in the Ray plot post-bridge tournament was A+ (that scene where the fiancee is cutting out the air conditioner was flawless) and the cut to the "SOB" end credits was good too.



I loved the first season and really liked the second so I'm going to try to stick with it because generally the episodes get better as the season goes on.

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they were filming for fargo at my office yesterday but i didn't get a glimpse of anyone. though i don't watch it, lol. but now i'm tempted to see if i'll recognize the setting.

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Just hear for MEW slaying it

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ExxonMobil is betting on shale development not only on its home turf. The supermajor is also planning to speed up investment plans for shale gas drilling in Argentinas prized Vaca Muerta formation in the Neuquen province.

Exxon will start drilling Vaca Muerta in May, by drilling horizontal wells with laterals of 2,500-3,000 meters (8,202-9,843 feet), Neuquen province governor Omar Gutierrez said on Monday. The U.S. majors total investments in developing Vaca Muerta will have reached $750 million by the end of this year, said Gutierrez, who discussed Exxons plans with executives of Exxon and its subsidiary XTO in Houston last week.

ExxonMobil Exploration Argentina (EMEA) has been present in Vaca Muerta since 2010. Last year, following the successful initial exploration results in the Bajo del Choique-La Invernada block, EMEA launched a pilot project to continue to assess the productivity and recovery of horizontal wells in Vaca Muerta. The project includes drilling five wells, as well as early production facilities and a gas pipeline.

The pilot project was expected to take up $250 million of investment. In June last year, then Exxon chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson said that based on the projects results, the supermajor would launch full-scale development over the next 20-30 years for an investment that could be well in excess of $10 billion.

Now, according to Neuquens governor Gutierrez, Exxon and XTO expect to boost gas production to 5 million cubic meters (176.6 million cubic feet) per day within the next 2-3 years. Related: Does This Reversal Show A Crack In The Philippines War On Mining



The sooner a company starts producing gas, the more pricing incentives they can get. In a bid to boost domestic gas development, Argentina has extended the pricing incentives through 2021. Producers will be paid $7.50/MMBtu for their production by the end of 2018, and then the incentives would gradually decrease to $6/MMBtu in 2021. Free market pricing is expected to come into effect in 2022, with prices expected to average $4/MMBtu, or some $1/MMBtu less than current market average prices, according to Platts.

Argentina is trying to boost its domestic shale gas output in an effort to reduce imports. The countrys natural gas production increased in 2015 for the first time since 2006, but Argentina is still a net importer of natural gas. Plans are that the country could stop importing LNG by 2022. Vaca Muerta has an estimated 308 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable shale gas resources, and has been compared to the Eagle Ford play in Texas in terms of depth, thickness, pressure, and mineral composition.

Exxons push in Argentinas shale should not come as a surprise, after the major said last month that it would invest in shale a quarter, or $5.5 billion, of its 2017 spending budget, mostly in the U.S. More than one quarter of the planned spending this year will be made in high-value, short-cycle opportunities, including in the Permian and Bakken basins, Exxon said in its statement.

Argentinas Vaca Muerta has attracted many other international players seeking exposure to shale exploration and drilling.

Chevron, for example, has been developing areas together with Argentine oil company YPF. In Chevrons non-operated Loma Campana concession in Vaca Muerta, 58 horizontal wells were drilled last year, and the drilling program is expected to continue this year, the U.S. major said in its 2016 annual report.

YPF and Schlumberger signed last week an agreement to start a shale oil pilot project in Bandurria Sur Block in Vaca Muerta, involving $390 million in phased investment by Schlumberger.

Argentinas Tecpetrol said last month that it would invest $2.3 billion by 2019 in the first phase of the development of the Fortin de Piedra area in Vaca Muerta. A total $1.6 billion of the investment is planned to go for drilling of 150 wells, and another $700 million will be spent on the construction of treatment facilities and gas pipelines.

Related: How Far Will OPEC Go For $60 Oil?

Earlier this week, Shell opened a 10,000-bpd oil and gas treatment plant in its acreage in Vaca Muerta. Last year, the Anglo-Dutch oil and gas major said it would pour $300 million annually into its Vaca Muerta operations until 2020, both in upstream and downstream.

Exxon and other major international players are ramping up operations and investment in Vaca Muerta, while Argentina is trying to lure investment with gas production incentives and a pledge to eliminate an oil products export duty that has been in place for 15 years.



By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Oil is trying to recover after yesterday's shellacking, but oversupply fears still remain. As rumors and murmurs circulate about an extension to the OPEC production cut, hark, here are five things to consider in oil markets today:

1) Yesterday we mentioned how we're seeing a strong influx of arrivals into the U.S. Gulf Coast from the Middle East this week (something we originally alluded to last month). This is in response to an increase in March loadings heading to the U.S., after Middle East producers favored sending crude to Asia in January and February.

That said, while we are seeing increasing arrivals into the U.S. Gulf, it may not necessarily translate to higher imports this week. After reaching its lowest point since last September early last week, crude waiting offshore in the U.S. Gulf has been rising, up over 9 million barrels in the last ten days:

(Click to enlarge)

2) We've discussed recently here how more Latin American and West African barrels have been heading towards Asia, pulled by favorable price spreads (i.e., Brent and WTI versus the Dubai-Oman benchmark). It is important to remember, however, that crude flows do come in the other direction.

As our ClipperData illustrate below, the U.S. receives on average one and a half million barrels each month from Southeast Asia, with the majority of this coming from Indonesia (and light sweet Minas crude at that). We also see grades from Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand, which - along with the Indonesian grades - generally all head to the Hawaiian Islands.

We do occasionally see some Southeast Asian barrels arrive on the West Coast, however. For example, Kutubu blend from Papua New Guinea was discharged at BP's Ferndale refinery this month. This is the first arrival of the light crude grade to U.S. shores on our records.

(Click to enlarge) Related: Oil Industry Worried About Trumps Buy American

3) The chart below is from this Bloomberg article, which endorses our well-worn mantra that OPEC members had the 'pedal to the metal' at the end of last year: they exported as much as they possibly could. Hence, all of the cartel's efforts in the first half of this year is being spent unwinding the impact of that exuberance.

Bloomberg uses the IEA's supply and demand projections to highlight that it will take until the end of June for OPEC production cuts to bring stockpiles back in line with December's level. This will leave inventories still some 200 million barrels above the 5-year average, leaving OPEC a lot of work still to do to achieve their goal. From this data point alone, it seems fair to assume that OPEC will roll over their production cut deal into the second half of the year.

(Click to enlarge)

4) The latest drilling productivity report from the EIA was particularly interesting due to its latest data on drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCs, quack). Not only are we seeing DUCs rise to a new record in the Permian Basin (hark, up 90 - or 5 percent - to 1864 wells), but Eagle Ford is also rising too (hark, up 26 to 1,285). The ability to bring incremental volume to market as needed only further endorses expectations for an amply-supplied domestic market going forward.

(Click to enlarge) Related: Does This Reversal Show A Crack In The Philippines War On Mining

5) Finally, stat of the day comes from this article about Venezuela. Eighteen of PdVSA's 31 oil tankers were out of commission at the end of March due to either being in disrepair, or needing to be cleaned. Vessels are crude-stained, and need to be cleaned before entering foreign ports.

To make up for the lost tankers, PdVSA is leasing more than 50 tankers, at a cost of up to $1 million a month per vessel. With the oil sector accounting for ~90 percent of Venezuela's government revenues, it appears both its oil sector and broader economy are spiraling out of control.

By Matt Smith

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Indias ONGC Petrol Additions Ltd is negotiating the sale of half its $4.6-billion petrochemicals plant with Saudi Aramco, unnamed sources told Bloomberg. The negotiations are still private, the source said, and follow earlier talks with Kuwait Petroleum Corp.

Indias demand for petrochemicals is thriving, so for Aramco the investment would be a lucrative one: the middle class is growing, so is urbanization, and these two are driving higher the consumption of polymers. In fact, India currently accounts for a third of the global consumption of polymers, and this portion will only grow from here. According to analysts, the countrys petrochemical market will expand by an annual rate of 12 percent over the next few years.

Saudi Arabia held a 19.5-percent share of the Indian oil market last year, losing the top spot to Iraq, with Iran following closely. Still, the Kingdom supplies a lot of crude to India and has been expanding its footprint in the petrochemical industry in Asia in general.

Earlier this year, Aramco agreed to invest $7 billion in a refinery and petrochemical complex in Malaysia, in partnership with local state major Petronas. At the end of last year, the Saudi giant struck a deal with Indonesias Pertamina for the $5-billion expansion of the countrys biggest refinery, in Java.

In its regional expansion, the worlds biggest oil exporter is betting big on India. Two weeks ago reports emerged that Aramco is in talks to buy a stake in a planned refinery expected to be built on Indias west coast that would be the countrys biggest refinery and would cost around $30 billion, Indian Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Thursday.

Related: Could An OPEC Extension Normalize Inventories?

State-run companies Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) are planning to build the refinery, in which IOC would have 50 percent and BPCL and HPCL would hold 25 percent each.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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While acknowledging that Iran has so far complied with the nuclear deal it agreed to, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic continues to sponsor terrorism, and an interagency review will evaluate whether continuing to lift sanctions would be in U.S. national security interests.

Iran remains a leading state sponsor of terror, through many platforms and methods. President Donald J. Trump has directed a National Security Council-led interagency review of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that will evaluate whether suspension of sanctions related to Iran pursuant to the JCPOA is vital to the national security interests of the United States, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan.



The Secretary of State did not specify how long the review would take, but noted that when the interagency review is completed, the administration looks forward to working with Congress on this issue.

Since some of the international sanctions on Iran were lifted in January 2016, the Islamic Republic has vowed to regain the share of the oil market it had lost, and to reach pre-sanction output levels of around 4 million bpd.

Iran managed to catch a break from OPECs production cut deal, after arguing that it was trying to restore market share lost during sanctionsand was allowed to slightly raise production to a ceiling of 3.797 million bpd. Meanwhile, all othersexcept for Libya and Nigeriahad to cut production, most notably Saudi Arabia, Irans archenemy and OPECs biggest producer and exporter.



Related: Alaska Needs Much Higher Oil Prices To Reverse Its Oil Fortunes

OPECs secondary sources put Irans oil output in March at 3.790 million bpd.

In February, the U.S. Department of Treasury slapped new sanctions on Iran, targeting 13 individuals and as many companies in response to an Iranian ballistic missile test just days earlier. The targeted sanctions were not a reversal of the 2015 nuclear deal reached with Iran, but blacklisted Iranian citizens, including members of Irans Revolutionary Guards Corps, two Lebanese, and one Chinese, among others. The targets were alleged to have been involved in Irans ballistic missile program.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
SC to announce Panamagate judgment today

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court would announce the historic judgment of Panamagate on Thursday (today). A five-member larger bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and comprised of Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, and Justice Ejazul Ahsan would announce the judgment at 2pm.



On the occasion, security will remain tight inside and outside the court. People would be allowed to enter the court room with special security entry passes. There would be a ban on the entry of political workers on the premises of the court while PTI Chairman Imran Khan, Awami Muslim League President Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq would be provided special security.



Each party would be issued 15 entry passes.



Over 500 police personnel and additional contingent of Rangers would be deployed outside the court. Almost 6 to 8 police personnel would be deployed for the security of every political leader. Only entry pass holders would be allowed to enter the courtroom.



To stop the entry of political workers additional force would be deployed at check posts in Red Zone while stern action would be taken against sloganeers on the court premises.



The bench had reserved its verdict on February 23. The five judges on the bench have given their individual input in writing, keeping in view the significance of the case.



"Normally, one judge writes [a] judgment and his fellows endorse it. Here, every member of the larger bench is writing his own note," a source told a local newspaper. To keep things airtight, one of the judges is said to have penned down the judgment on his personal laptop.



On April 11, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, a member of the larger bench, observed that the Panamagate verdict would not just concern the Sharifs, but it would, in fact, set in motion a law which would last for centuries.



The ruling was delayed by more than a month - at first because all the judges were in different registries of the court and then because all of them were giving their individual input in writing due to the importance of the case.



Despite the weeks-long wait, everyone in Pakistan has been on the edge of their seats, with politicians especially anxious as their future course of action depends on the outcome of the judgment.



Separately, the government completed a discussion on Panama verdict on Wednesday.



Sources said that a meeting, chaired by Nawaz Sharif, was attended by legal professionals and his close aides.



It was decided in the meeting that the government will implement the verdict in "letter and spirit". All matters associated with the decision would be resolved immediately. A constitutional way would be adopted in case of court orders to remove the NAB chairman.



The option of appointment of new prime minister has not been taken into consideration in the meeting.



All those found involved in Panama case will be investigated in the light of SC decision.



Meanwhile, Kaptaan instructed the senior leadership to remain in Islamabad for the next three days.



He said this in a meeting to discuss party strategy in the days following the Panamagate verdict.



Legal experts are of the view that certain adverse observations and directions may be in store for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for their inaction over the Panama Papers leaks.



PTI lawmaker Shah Mehmood Qureshi talked to reporters while the PTI core committee meeting was underway in Bani Gala.



"They tried their best to put off discussion on Panama Leaks. They wanted the issue to die on its own. But PTI kept pushing," he said, adding that if the party had not pursued the case like it did, the issue would have been forgotten.



He said that the PTI spoke up for the people of Pakistan and clear the misconception that they do not care about corruption.



Qureshi praised the role of media and said journalists in talk shows and newspapers kept the issue alive.



He also thanked the public for taking interest in the issue, saying it made other political parties take notice and speak out on the issue as "previously, they were trying to deflect it".
Top TTP leader Ehsanullah Ehsan turned himself to Pak Army: ISPR

Islamabad: Addressing a press conference on Monday, Major General Asif Ghafoor, DG ISPR announced that Ehsanullah Ehsan, a former spokesperson and one of the top leaders of the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar terror faction of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), had turned himself in to Pakistan Army. General Ghafoor termed the surrender of "our biggest enemies" a big achievement for Pakistan. Although general Ghafoor did not share any further details about the surrender nor was anything confirmed by ISPR afterwards, but the announcement has been a matter of speculation among the terror watchers. ISPR had claimed on April 5 that eight important members of JuA had surrendered before the Army in Mohmand Agency. Only three names - Akbar, Gul, and Siraj - were revealed while no other details were shared. Some skeptics believe that Ehsan might have been one of those eight. While many others believe that Ehsan might have been captured during the special operations carried out by Pakistan security forces across the Pak-Afghan border. According to Afghan media, Pak forces had 'transgressed' on March 21 at least 3 km inside Afghan territory and attacked specific locations at the havens of TTP / Jamaat-ul-Ahrar. Although, he had stopped replying to the queries of media persons some time around March 14-15. He had been, previously, quite active in reaching out to the national and international media.



Ehsanullah Ehsan is originally from Mohmand Agency and claims to have a master's degree. Ehsanullah Ehsan is his second nom de guerre, the first one was Sajid Mohmand given by Hakimullah Mehsud, former TTP head who was killed in a US drone strike in November 2013. Ehsan had joined TTP in 2007 after the military operation on Lal Masjid in Islamabad. Soon after, he was given the responsibilities as spokesperson of the deadly terror outfit, which he continued to keep till July 2013 when he enraged Mehsud by giving statements against Afghan Taliban.



Following the disintegration of TTP in the wake of the death of Hakimullah Mehsud by a US drone strike in November 2013, the government lured major factions of TTP into the dialogue process at the beginning of 2014. The Mohamand chapter alongside some other smaller groups within TTP formed the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), which later committed many deadliest of attacks on Pakistani security forces and civilian targets. Ehsan was made JuA spokesperson right from the beginning of the organisation. However, after developing some differences with the JuA head Omar Khalid Khurasani, Ehsan was replaced by Asad Mansoor as the JuA spokesperson in February 2017. This, although, had not stopped Ehsan from remaining in contact with media persons. He was active on Facebook through his ever-changing accounts till early March 2017 when all his accounts were suspended.



Among the major attacks claimed by JuA through Ehsan as spokesperson are, IED blast in Quetta, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park Lahore, killing of Punjab's Home Minister Col. (R) Shuja Khanzada; killing of nine foreign tourists in Gilgit-Baltistan; shooting in the head of Malala Yousafzai (calling her work an "obscenity" that needed to be stopped); suicide bombings on Shiites in Rawalpindi and Karachi; rocket attack on Bacha Khan International Airport; suicide attack on Wagah border; twin blasts in Mohmand agency (his home town in Safi tehsil), to name but few. On October 15, 2012, then Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, offered a Rs. 100 million bounty on Ehsan's head.



The significance of Ehsan's surrender cannot be over emphasized, as he had been the face of most lethal terror groups targeting Pakistan's security forces and civilians. Moreover, he is expected to spill beans under custody on TTP and JuA's links with Indian intelligence agency R&AW and Afghanistan's NDS. Back in 2014 when US forces had handed over a key TTP commander Latif Mehsud, Pakistan Army had released his video confession saying inter alia that his group's leader Omar Khalid Khurasani had the support of R&AW. Having worked closely with Khurasani, Ehsan is expected to know first hand about the support TTP and later JuA received from any foreign government including India and Afghanistan. It is, therefore, very likely that a confessional video of Ehsan might emerge in coming days with explosive revelations about possible links of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian Navy officer who was arrested from Balochistan in March 2016 while working under cover for R&AW.



Despite this great significance of the Ehsan surrender, a prominent section of Pakistan's civil society believes that instead of letting Ehsan enjoying life like Asmatullah Moavia, the top leader of Punjabi Taliban who had cut a deal with security forces for laying down arms in lieu of amnesty in 2015. Hamid Mir, senior journalist and TV presenter who survived an attack on his life in 2014, said while talking on his show that Ehsan needed to be prosecuted and punished for his crimes against Pakistan's civilians and security forces. It may be noted that in 2012, Ehsan had claimed planting a bomb in Hamid Mir's car.
From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As...
A 53-year-old Nigerian man who works at the United Nations was arrested in connection with a string of bank robberies in Manhattan, over the past month and a half, law enforcement sources tell News 4 New York. The NYPDs Major Case Squad arrested Abdullahi Shuaibu, of Queens, on Monday, April 17th, at his office at the Foreign Press Centers across from the United Nations building.



Police believe he robbed banks while on work breaks.



Law enforcement sources say Shuaibu robbed a HSBC bank at 40th Street and Third Avenue on Monday and then returned to work shortly before he was arrested. They say hes wanted in at least three other bank robberies.



Shuaibu is listed as a communication specialist at the U.N. He apparently works for the Panapress News Agency out of Nigeria. A photo on Facebook shows him shaking hands with a U.N. official inside the General Assembly. Police believe hes the man who robbed a Santander Bank on Madison Avenue on Feb. 27, a Bank of America on Third Avenue on March 13, and a Santander Bank on Third Avenue on March 27. In each of the robberies, the suspect passed a note to a clerk demanding money.



Police charged Shuaibu with two counts of robbery and two counts of attempted robbery









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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We will be providing gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Alexander West trial over the next few weeks.

Reporter Don Lehman has been blogging and providing live tweets during the proceedings this week and will continue to do so, but one thing you wont be seeing is photographic coverage.

Judge John Hall has refused to grant the media photo and video access for the entire trial. Not only did he limit photography in the courtroom to the opening and closing arguments, but wrote he would not allow photography in the hallways outside the courtroom, something we considered unusually restrictive.

Whenever shooting in court, photojournalists realize they cannot shoot photos of the jurors and their presence cannot be obtrusive. They must stick in one spot when taking photos. That is appropriate and I have heard of no problems in that regard.

But Judge Halls limited access in this case that was expanded to the hallways struck us as excessive, especially for a high-profile trial.

We consulted our attorneys and they agreed. They wrote Judge Hall and asked him reconsider allowing the media access for the entire trial.

On Thursday, we learned Judge Hall had denied our request for further access and the photo and video blackout would continue.

It was another blow against transparency among our government institutions.
GLENS FALLS  A woman who was providing care to a disabled person was arrested this week for allegedly hitting them and causing their head to slam against a wall, police said.

Denise M. OHerron, 57, of Greenfield Center was charged with endangering the welfare of an elderly or incompetent person, a misdemeanor, after an investigation by Glens Falls Police and the New York State Justice Center into a Jan. 19 incident at Glens Falls Hospital, authorities said.

Glens Falls Police Capt. Michelle Arnold said OHerron was working at the time for Lotus Health Care Services of Warrensburg, a health care staffing agency.

The company had contracted with the state Office of People With Developmental Disabilities to assist a disabled client in the hospital, with OHerron and a co-worker providing those services.

OHerron is accused of pushing the victim into a chair, causing the persons head to hit a wall, slapping the clients arms, pushing them into bed and yelling at them, police said. Authorities did not say if the victim was male or female.

The alleged abuse happened before the victim was being taken from a room for medical testing and as they returned, Arnold said. The person was trying to get into a urine-soaked bed when they were pushed into a chair, causing their head to hit a wall, officials said.

No injuries were reported, Arnold said.

The investigation began after a co-worker of OHerrons came forward to report witnessing alleged abuse, police said.

A spokesman for Lotus Health Care said O'Herron was fired after the allegations were made known.

"This matter was reported to us the very same day of the incident and we launched an internal investigation, while Denise was no longer authorized to work for us pending investigation," Michael Wescott said in an email. "We concluded that she would be no longer employed by Lotus Healthcare Staffing with this reported incident and she hasnt worked for us since. Lotus will not hire her back. We have since worked with the Justice Department and the members of OPWDD and cooperated completely in the investigation."

O'Herron was released, pending prosecution in Glens Falls City Court. The charge is punishable by up to a year in Warren County Jail.

Glens Falls Police Officer Andrew Mija and Detective Sgt. Kyle Diamond handled the case, along with representatives of the Justice Center, which is an agency set up to investigate offenses against those with special needs.
HUDSON FALLS  In keeping with the tradition of the village honoring its veterans, Phoenix Rising Hudson Falls has received permission to sell banners commemorating specific veterans and hang them from light poles downtown.

I think its a wonderful way to honor our veterans, Mayor John Barton said after the Village Board approved the project, which was the idea of Village Attorney William Nikas, who heads Phoenix Rising.

Both of my parents are World War II vets and met in the service, he said. Last year, on my way to the Rensselaer train station, I saw banners on the light poles honoring their local vets. As we have now experienced over 15 years of foreign wars, I thought publicly displaying the names and photos of our veterans, both current and past, would be an appropriate expression of our community pride and appreciation for their sacrifices.

The banners will be personalized with a veterans name and photo and will be two-sided and measure 2 feet by 4 feet. They are expected to last more than three years.

The banners cost $195, and documentation is required showing the person was born or currently lives in Hudson Falls or Kingsbury and has served or is serving in one of the armed forces.

The banners will be displayed from mid-May until August, and locations will be chosen by Phoenix Rising.

This is going to be an ongoing program, and we think it will really add to the look of the village, Nikas said, noting Hudson Falls has a very active American Legion post.

The banners will add to a village landscape that looks vastly different than it did five years ago, with a repaved Route 4, a renovated Juckett Park and new facades on some buildings.

Nikas said he has already spoken with Public Works Superintendent Michael Fiorillo to get permission for the banners and said he already has a commitment from veteran Ted Chittenden to help put up the banners.

The project is similar to one completed in Fort Edward, which put up banners to commemorate escaped slave Solomon Northup, who once lived in the village.
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
The launch of this program took place in Goaso, a town located in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana.

Some 200, 000 farmers in the region are set to benefit when the programme rolls out.

In the 2017 budget, the government earmarked GH560 million for the initiative expected to create over 70, 000 jobs.

The Planting for Food and Jobs project is the flagship agricultural programme of the Nana Addo-led government.

President Akuffo Addo says the programme will among other things encourage the youth to desist from migrating elsewhere in search of non-existent jobs.The programme will go a long way in transforming the countrys agriculture sector.

It will be rolled out in all the 216 districts in Ghana.

Five main crops which would be cultivated under the project include: soya beans, rice, maize, sorghum and vegetables based on five key pillars including provision of certified fertilizer, seeds, marketing and e-Agriculture, extension service.

The project is expected to create over 750,000 jobs.

Assuring that all the necessary measures have been put in place to guarantee the success of the programme, President Akufo-Addo further indicated that, government has reduced the prices of fertilizer by 50% to ensure the success of the programme.

A 50kg bag of NPK fertilizer, the fertilizer mostly used by farmers, up to now has been costing GH115. Under this government, farmers will only pay GH57.50 for it. Likewise, a 50kg bag of urea, now sells at GH47.50, as opposed to GH80 last year, he said.

The President also said, government will engage graduates from the various colleges of Agriculture to ensure the success of the programme.

in 2018, we will employ 2,000 more extension officers, with the solemn pledge of employing more graduates from our Colleges of Agriculture in the subsequent years. To reinforce the pledge made by the Minister, government intends to construct a 1,000 metric ton capacity warehouse in each of the 216 districts. The purpose of these warehouses would be to handle produce, as well as to store the anticipated surpluses under the Planting for Food and Jobs campaign, he expressed.

The programme, according to the government, would also motivate farmers to grow staple foods such as maize, millet, and beans.
O'Reilly's 8 p.m. time slot will be taken over by Tucker Carlson, who is currently in the 9 p.m. slot. Carlson's current spot will be filled by "The Five," a roundtable-discussion show featuring Dana Perino, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Juan Williams, Jesse Watters, Bob Beckel, and Greg Gutfeld.

Eric Bolling, currently a host of "The Five," will get his own show airing during the 5 p.m. hour. "The Five" had occupied that time slot.

Fox News announced the changes in a statement after news of O'Reilly's departure broke.

O'Reilly has been the subject of a media firestorm over the past few weeks, after a New York Times investigation found that O'Reilly and Fox News had paid out $13 million to five women to settle sexual-harassment claims they had brought against him.

In addition to those women, former Fox News contributor Wendy Walsh and an unnamed woman said they had called the Fox News hotline to report sexual harassment by O'Reilly.

Fox's parent company, 21st Century Fox, said on April 9, after Walsh had called the hotline, that it was opening an investigation into O'Reilly's conduct.

By Wednesday afternoon  one day after the unnamed woman told the press through her attorney, Lisa Bloom, about her experience  O'Reilly was out.
Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes wrote in "Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign" that Clinton's campaign lacked vision and was filled with infighting staffers who were more concerned about their own careers than they were about helping the candidate win.

The Democratic presidential nominee reportedly laid blame on several external factors  incompetent campaign staff, Russian interference in the election, the news media, and FBI Director Jim Comey  rather than consider that she was a flawed candidate. Her campaign has publicly blamed Comey for the loss.

It all started with the scandal surrounding her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

During the first months of the scandal, Clinton reportedly thought she did nothing wrong and was angry that she was being treated "like a common criminal." She blamed Republicans in Congress, conservative donors, and the media for all the negative coverage of the email story.

Allen and Parnes wrote that while Clinton "should have been angry with herself" for her decision to use a private server while working for the government, she instead "turned her fury on her consultants and campaign aides, blaming them for a failure to focus the media on her platform."

Neither Hillary nor her husband, former President Bill Clinton, the book said, "could accept the simple fact that Hillary had hamstrung her own campaign and dealt the most serious blow to her own presidential aspirations."

That became apparent during a mid-August 2015 conference call, in which the Clintons accosted high-level campaign staffers for failing to get the media to focus on Clinton's message rather than on the email scandal. One of the participants on the call reportedly called it an "ass-chewing."

It took months for those close to Clinton to persuade her to apologize for using a private server in September. The media firestorm calmed a bit once she did, and she got a boost when Vice President Joe Biden declined to challenge her in the primaries. But she faced more defining setbacks in the primary process.

We havent made our case

A turning point came in March, when Clinton lost the Michigan primary to Sen. Bernie Sanders, her chief rival for the Democratic presidential nomination. The result stunned observers and defied polling leading up to the day of the vote.

Clinton again blamed her campaign team for "failing to hone her message, energize important constituencies, and take care of business in getting voters to the polls," Allen and Parnes wrote.

During a debate-prep session, Clinton reportedly snapped at senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan, who was criticizing her performance.

"It wasn't just Sullivan in her crosshairs," Allen and Parnes wrote. "She let everyone on her team have it that day. 'We haven't made our case,' she fumed. 'We haven't framed the choice. We haven't done the politics.'"

One aide who was in the room for the debate prep said Clinton was "visibly, unflinchingly pissed off at us as a group" and she "let us know she felt that way."

Clinton's team had reportedly warned her about some of her weak spots, but she reportedly "hadn't corrected for these problems." And aides seemed afraid to speak out for fear of seeming disloyal.

"The one person with whom she didn't seem particularly upset: herself," Allen and Parnes wrote. "No one who drew a salary from the campaign would tell her that. It was a self-signed death warrant to raise a question about Hillary's competence  to her or anyone else  in loyalty-obsessed Clintonworld."

A top campaign lieutenant described Clinton's loss in the Michigan primary as the "tipping point" for the campaign.

Things got worse from there. The summer and early fall were dominated by the leaking of emails from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. Later in, FBI Director Jim Comey announced a renewed look into whether Clinton discussed classified information over her private email server.

After she lost the election to Trump, Clinton "kept circling back to two factors: James Comey and Russia," according to the book. The email leaks have been blamed on Russia, and during the final days before the election, Comey notified Congress that the bureau was renewing its investigation into Clinton's private email server. The bureau had found emails it thought might be related to the investigation after it seized devices belonging to Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her husband, former congressman Anthony Weiner.

On election night in her hotel suite, Clinton "lashed out," Allen and Parnes wrote. "Her voice rose. Her eyes grew wider. Her hands began moving again. 'These guys came in,' she huffed. 'We were doing better until this happened.'"

A perfect storm

The blame game continued in the days after the election. In one phone call with a friend a couple of days after the election, Clinton "put a fine point on the factors she believed cost her the presidency: the FBI (Comey), the KGB (the old name for Russia's intelligence service), and the KKK (the support Trump got from white nationalists)," Allen and Parnes wrote.

In other phone calls, Clinton reportedly "declined to take responsibility for her own loss."

"From Hillary's perspective, external forces created a perfect storm that wiped her out," Allen and Parnes wrote. "In this telling, laid out in scores of interviews with Clinton campaign aides and advisers ... the media bought into an absurd and partisan Republican-led investigation into her email server that combined with Bernie Sanders' attack on her character and a conservative assault on the Clinton Foundation's practices to sow a public perception that she was fundamentally dishonest."

Some of her staunchest defenders "maintain that she nailed every major moment of the campaign," Allen and Parnes wrote. They added, however, that another view, "articulated by a much smaller number of her close friends and high-level advisers, holds that Hillary bears the blame for her defeat" because of her own actions and her inability to "prove to many voters that she was running for the presidency because she had a vision for the country rather than visions of power."

In their eyes, the book said, Clinton also failed to connect with the voters who were inspired by Sanders and Trump. And some on her campaign thought she lacked the vision of other politicians like President Barack Obama.

This was on display during her speech at the Democratic National Convention.

"One of the clearest lines of distinction between a great political speech and a pedestrian one is the ability of the speaker to turn the peroration  the final run  into a big call for action," Allen and Parnes wrote. "Hillary's fell flat. Her pro speechwriters knew it would. They tried to save her from being hokey and timid. But she'd ignored them."

Clinton ended her speech that night by saying "America's destiny is ours to choose" and repeating her "Stronger Together" campaign slogan.

Clinton did, however, offer contrition to at least one person on election night  Obama.

After she conceded the election to Trump, Obama place a consolation call to Clinton. In this moment, "the reality and dimensions of her defeat hit her all at once," according to the book.

"Reluctantly, she rose from her seat and took the phone," Allen and Parnes wrote.
"The Syrian air force is not in good shape," Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon, according to CNN. "It's been worn down by years of combat plus some ... significant maintenance problems."

Still, combined with the dozens of planes from his Russian backers, Syrian President Bashar Assad has an asymmetrical air advantage over his adversaries  rebel groups that have little more than a few anti-aircraft missile launchers.

The move to bases near Russian missile defenses provides Syria with a clear deterrent against further US strikes. Experts say Russia's S-300 and S-400 anti-air defenses can knock down Tomahawk cruise missiles, which were used in the April 7 strike.

Additionally, Russia has moved three warships to Syria's coast, further complicating the US's options should it launch another strike.

US officials have repeatedly stressed that they are "prepared to do more" against Assad's regime should more evidence of the use of chemical weapons in Syria appear, but the recent developments on the battlefield mean an engagement would be much more dangerous.

Igor Sutyagin of the Royal United Services Institute an expert on Russian missile defense systems and strategic armaments, told Business Insider that the presence of Russian defenses didn't guarantee the safety of Syria's planes.

"One air defense battalion with an S-300 has 32 missiles," Sutyagin said. "They will fire these against 16 targets  maybe against cruise missiles they would fire a one-to-one ratio  but to prevent the target from evading, you always launch two ... but what if there are 50 targets?"

To further avoid detection, the US could use stealth aircraft like F-22s currently stationed in the theater.

Although the US could still carry out an attack against Syrian and Russian military targets, it would run a huge risk of killing Russian service members. The US warned Moscow ahead of the April 7 strike on Shayrat air base.
The two nations were represented by the Minister of Defence Dominic Nitiwul and France ambassador to Ghana Francois Pujolas.

According to Dominic Nitiwul it is necessary for neighboring countries to collaborate with its international partners to combat pertinent threat such as fishing, piracy and other illegal operations, as we as challenges relating to oil and gas exploration on the Gulf of Guinea.

Acting Director of Public Affairs of Ghana, Colonel Mbawine Atintande (rtd) said in Accra that the ministry would therefore work with France to address these and other challenges.

READ ALSO: Ghana ends first round of oral defence in maritime border disagreement

Ghana's defence minister Dominic Nitiwul also raised concern about the need to have concerted efforts to fight illegal mining activities, destroying lands and water bodies in the country.

The challenges in the countrys maritime domain manifests in many faces which include piracy, maritime terrorism which is a new and increasing threat, illicit drugs, trafficking in small arms and light weapons, armed robbery and human trafficking.

Therefore, tackling the threats to Ghanas maritime domain requires multi-stakeholder approach to succeed.

It is thus prudent that the Ghana Navy strengthens its partnership and involve organisations from international and public and private sectors to facilitate and defend maritime trade.

The Ghana Navy has therefore reiterated its commitment to ensure that it is ahead of contemporary maritime security challenges through collaborative efforts to make the countrys maritime domain safe to propel growth and development.

He also expressed Cote dIvoire's discontentment with activities of the illegal small-scale miners in Ghana.

Illegal small-scale mining in Ghana had become an international challenge because some foreigners were involved.

Mr Nitiwul therefore asked France for support to curb the menace

The minister expressed gratitude to France for partnering with the country to training military personnel and other related support they have given to the country in the past.

Mr. Francois Pujolas encouraged Ghana to share information with Cote dIvoire in other to fight threats of terrorist attacks and other security related issues.
This represents an increase from 4.7 to 6.4 billion cedis within the twelve months period.

A nonperforming loan (NPL) is the sum of borrowed money upon which the debtor has not made his scheduled payments for at least 90 days. A nonperforming loan is either in default or close to being in default.

Commerce and finance accounted for the highest non-performing loans of banks.

The banking sector says, high NPLs continue to strike to pose to the industry.

READ ALSO: BOG predicts decline in NPLs in 2017 first quarter

Investors have however blamed erratic power supply as a reason why the are unable to fulfil their debt obligations.

This also led to a higher NPL ratio of 17.7 per cent in February 2017, compared with 15.6 per cent in the same period last year.

However, in January 2017 the NPL ratio was 18 per cent.

Contributors to the high non-performing loans included Commerce & Finance with 39.7%.

This is followed by services and the Electricity, Gas & Water sectors with 13.6 and 10.1% respectively.

The three sectors represented 63.4 per cent of the total NPLs of the banking sector.

READ ALSO: Commercial sector records highest bank defaults

Meanwhile the industrys NPL ratio is expected to improve following the conclusion of restructuring arrangements for the industrys exposure to the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs).

Also, as government continues to pay down the energy-related State-Owned enterprises (SOEs) debts according to the agreed quarterly schedule, banks exposure to the energy sector will decline.
This is expected to take effect on July 1, 2017.

The sulphur content reduction is in line with a new government policy to help reduce respiratory diseases triggered by fuel toxins with high Sulphur content.

During the last quarter of 2016 there was a global report indicating that Ghanas market had been flooded with toxic diesel.

Data from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has revealed that Bulk Oil Storage and Transport Company Limited (BOST), the state owned strategic reserve holder, accounts for a significant 25% of the total quantity of diesel imported into the country for the first six months of 2016.

The remaining 75% was imported by 18 different Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs).

This is because the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) does not have the capacity to reduce the sulphur content in diesel to meet the global standard specification of 10 parts per million (ppm).

READ ALSO: NPA revises national sulphur levels for imported diesel

It said the fuel puts the lives of millions of individuals at risk due to the inhalation of fumes from vehicles in those cars.

However, the government of Ghana says it is committed to revising the high Sulphur content down to 50ppm.

The move will see Ghana moving to same levels as what pertains in East African and Western countries.

The Vice President of Ghana announced that the July 1 date is to allow people to adjust.

It is a major policy for government, as far as the environment and toxins were concerned, he added.

Renewable energy

In a related development, he said the new policy in the energy sector will focus on renewable energy so the country will not accept any thermal energy purchase agreement.
According to the New York Post, the accused Abdullahi Shuaibu, 53, was charged with two counts of robbery and two counts of attempted robbery.

Mr. Shuaibu allegedly committed the first robbery on February 27 when he walked into a Santander Bank and demanded that the teller hand him cash, threatening to shoot if the employee did not comply.

Subsequently, he had failed in an attempt to rob a Bank of America but became successful later in the month when he robbed a separate Santander Bank location.

Mr Shuaibu is reported to have walked into an HSBC bank on Monday, where he handed a note to the teller demanding money.

READ ALSO: Media personality comes under attack over NYU lecture

When the teller tried questioning him, he told her he had a gun and gestured to his hand in his jacket pocket.
READ ALSO: Scores of drunken youth pass out at stadium after Adonko Bitters concertAccording to KasapaFMonline, his arrest followed the outcome of series of medical reports conducted on the 10-year-old after complaining of having some complications on her anus and sent to the hospital for treatment.

The young man is reported to have warned the 10-year-old not to disclose his several sexual escapades with her to anyone or else she will die. It is also reported that he has been giving the 10-year-old girl eight tablets of paracetamol to kill the pains anytime he has sexual intercourse with her through the anus.

Reports say multiple lab tests conducted on the girl have revealed some damages on her anus with her intestines also badly affected.

READ ALSO: Vulgar DKBs performance was not right - Nana Konadu Agyemang RawlingsSources familiar with the incident say the young girl was being fostered by the family of the KNUST level 300 student, a situation the young man took full advantage of, and sexually abused her.
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The flare-up of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) serotype C cases is concentrated in northern Nigeria, where authorities convened a meeting of governors and traditional leaders from all states in the region, said a government statement.

"State governors reaffirmed their commitment to immediate and concrete actions towards halting the outbreak," said the statement after the meeting, held in collaboration with the federal health ministry and national agencies.

Over 8,000 suspected cases of the disease have been reported across the country over the past five months, some 93 percent of which occurred in five northern states, a statement said. The new death toll was a rise of 52 percent on last week's total of 489 dead.

The mass outbreak has mostly affected children, prompting a large-scale vaccination programme.

Meningitis is caused by different types of bacteria, six of which can cause epidemics.

It is transmitted between people through coughs and sneezes and facilitated by cramped living conditions and close contact.

The illness causes acute inflammation of the outer layers of the brain and spinal cord, with the most common symptoms being fever, headache and neck stiffness.

Nigeria lies in the so-called "meningitis belt" of sub-Saharan Africa, stretching from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east, where outbreaks of the disease are a regular occurrence.

The five northern states hit are Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kebbi and Niger.

The federal government said raising awareness of the disease among ordinary people was crucial.

"The traditional leaders also committed to continued awareness-raising in their communities and jurisdictions," it said.

"At national level and in affected states, activities aimed at driving information into grassroots .. continue," it said.

Action to counter the outbreak is being coordinated by the CSM National Emergency Operations Centre at the NCDC, and involves rapid response teams across the region.
This follows 'Cheap happiness', a high spirited song inspiring her listeners to temporarily take their foot off the pedal of struggle.

A fusion of English and her Igbo mother tongue, the new jam 'Ochukwu' serves up themes of self value and individual uniqueness aptly described in a part of the chorus, "I am not nobody, I am more than this body, I am no photo copy."

Clay, who is already becoming a dominant figure in the now populated Nigerian rock genre has headlined a bunch of musical concerts in recent times.

This box of talent is quite the barrier breaker having gained acceptance among music heads who are not necessarily followers of Naija rock.

A privilege that seems far from the grasp of her peers.

The 'Ogadisinma' songstress once had the opportunity to perform with top Nigerian artistes such as Praiz, Simi, Eva at the second edition of theShe Rocks Concertheld in September 2016 at the Hard Rock Cafe, Lagos.

She has made clear her determination to elevate the status of the Nigerian rock music genre to a high point of rivalry with other established categories.

That may seem like an herculean task in view of fans' preference for popular music, but with her band, Clay and the Misfits leading the charge, it just might seem like a stroll in the park.
The all night concert attracted several Oseikrom gurus as well as Dancehall King Shatta Wale and Bisa Kdei. Ofori Amponsah, Agya Koo and Afia Schwarzenegger were also present at the concert.

Several of the revellers, who were in their teens were enticed to the show with a free gate but on condition that each of them bought a bottle of Adonko Bitters liquor at GH10.

The move adopted by the organisers of the show, that is the Angel Group of Companies, manufacturers of Adonko Bitters really worked, as many of the young people thronged the venue in their numbers to enjoy the programme.

READ ALSO: Memorable ways some Ghanaians celebrated their Easter holidays

Hundreds of them apparently could not control their heavy intake of the popular Adonko Bitters, and as such, several were seen lying on the pitch drunk after the concert.

This created a huge conflict between organisers and stadium authorities, as both sides struggled to revive the youth who were mainly drunk.
"How can such a person be responsible for monitoring? ...If you put people like this to work, there is no way you can expect any accuracy in terms of monitoring", he told the media on Thursday, April 2017.

We are asking that he immediately be transferred to Accra. He is going to work in my office."

Mr Amewu and his deputy, Benito Owusu-Bio, as well as officials of the Minerals Commission in the Eastern Region toured several places including Kubereso, Atiwa, Pinaman, West Anyinam, and Kyebi.

Meanwhile, Mr Amewu has assured that all the illegal small scale miners who left the mining sites following the anti-galamsey campaign will not be allowed to return.

A number of excavator operators have reportedly withdrawn their equipment from the illegal mining sites as the ultimatum given by the government to clamp down on illegal mining expired on Wednesday.

Mr Amewu who visited some illegal mining sites to assess the situation said his Ministry will ensure that all excavators withdrawn will not return to the mining sites.

"I know these guys are going out with the intention of returning but that will not happen this time around. They should take it from me. This time, we as a country, not as a government, collectively have agreed that enough is enough," he said.

READ ALSO: Miners begin surrendering excavators as galamsey ultimatum nears
The Israel Ambassador to Ghana declared support to Ghana in fighting the menace.

Ami Mehl said his country is ready to support the West African country in any capacity to recover from the environmental degradation caused by illegal mining.

In a statement released on Wednesday, April 19, Ambassador Ami Mehl applauded government and Ghanaians for the determination to tackle illegal mining.

The statement added that: "Being blessed with such a beautiful country, it behoves us to protect and preserve the environment for future generations.

"It is my opinion that the exploitation of one natural resource should not become a death sentence to forests, water bodies and the life they support."

He cited how Israel suffered decades of existential threats as a result of water shortages.

"I hope that Ghana does not find herself facing water crisis in the future.

"As Ambassador of the State of Israel to Ghana and a former Tour Guide at the Society for Protecting the Nature in Israel, I wish to state my unalloyed support to the campaign against illegal mining and the fight to protect Ghanas forests and water bodies."

There are fears that if the menace is not checked Ghana may soon import water since most of the countrys water bodies have been destroyed by mining activities.

Civil society organisations and religious bodies have also joined the fight.

READ ALSO: Ghanaian businessmen reportedly being harassed in China

However, Ghana's minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr. John Peter Amewu has assured that all the illegal small scale miners who left the mining sites following the anti-galamsey campaign will not be allowed to return.
According to them, their role is only to provide technical support to local miners.

Anthony Chi Wangi, one of the men who has lived in Ghana for 10 years told Accra-based Adom FM: Chinese dont do galamsey.

You cannot blame us for illegal mining. The Ghanaian people want to do small scale mining, but they do not have the money, so they come to us for technical support.

So we come together and partner them and provide them with machines, Anthony said.

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources Ministry subsequently gave a three-week ultimatum to all illegal miners to stop their activities or be prepared to face the full rigours of the law.

The ultimatum expired on Wednesday, April 19, 2017.

The Lands Minister, John Peter Amewu and his deputy, Benito Owusu-Bio, as well as officials of the Minerals Commission in the Eastern Region toured several galamsey sites including Kubereso, Atiwa, Pinaman, West Anyinam, and Kyebi.

He assured that all the illegal small scale miners who left the mining sites following the anti-galamsey campaign will not be allowed to return.

A number of excavator operators have reportedly withdrawn their equipment from the illegal mining sites as the ultimatum given by the government to clamp down on illegal mining expired on Wednesday.
She granted a request by the prosecution to allow the Attorney General's Department to have a copy of the docket.

READ MORE: Court grants 13 Delta Force members bail

The prosecutor, ACP Okyere Darko said the AG's Department requested a duplicate of the docket to study it for necessary advice.

Lawyers for the accused persons have said the prosecution has no evidence against their clients but will, however, wait patiently for the AG.

READ MORE: 13 Delta Force members back in court to face new charge

Each of the 13 is to execute a bail bond of GHS10,000 with two sureties each to be justified.

They are also to submit photocopies of their valid ID cards and report to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service each week.

Background

Some members of Delta Force, a vigilante group associated with the governing New Patriotic Party, besieged the Kumasi Circuit Court and freed the 13 members who were facing charges for attacking the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator.

Reports suggest that the group nearly assaulted the Judge, Mary Senkyire and also destroyed some court properties.

Thirteen (13) members of the group were detained after the group assaulted the newly appointed Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, George Adjei.

The 13 members faced charges of a conspiracy to commit crime, assault on a public officer, causing unlawful damage.

READ MORE:Pentecostal Council condemns Ken Agyapong for supporting Delta Force

The 13 are Kojo Fosu Bamba aka Kojo Bamba, Awal Sadat Abubakar, Abubakar Sadiq Abuhammed, Jamil Issa, Hamza Mohammed, Salu Issahak, Akwasi Owusu, Kwabena Owusu, Kofi Kyei, Eggya Boadi, Salu Yussif, Yussif Salu and Kwaku Awortwe.

Delta Force charged

Meanwhile, the 13 members of the Delta Force have been fined a total of Gh31,200.
READ ALSO: Ghanaian student Samuel Kwarteng shot dead

A letter sighted by PulseGhana stated that President Akufo-Addo Pursuant to section 20(1) of the National Disaster Management Act,2016 (927) appointed Mr Seji Saji Amedonu to act in his capacity as deputy Director General of NADMO pending receipt of the constitutionally required advice of the governing council of the Organisation.

The said letter dated 14th April also asked Mr. Amedonu to indicate his acceptance or otherwise of his appointment within 14days upon receipt of the letter.

Nana Addo further used the opportunity to congratulate the new boss on his appointment.

READ ALSO: Nana Addo has sacked 14,000 workers - Minority allegesSeji Saji Amedonu joined the NPP in 1992 at the Training College.

In 2002, former President J. A. Kufour appointed him a member of thePresidents committee on the review of Educational Reforms.
The three phase event, Exhibition, Conference and Awards dinner, was pretty much exciting and left everyone wanting for more.

With the conference and exhibition running simultaneously, there wasn't a dull moment at any point.

We were greeted with all kinds of eco-friendly items ranging from fashion and beauty piece to arts and crafts from the very entrance of the beautiful, spacious and well-organised venue. It's exciting already.

I particularly was interested in the arts and crafts materials on display and found quite a number of them fascinating.

Some of the arts that caught my eyes were the mug art, thread and nail art, bamboo and raffia art and the wood art of course. You know, it's pretty interesting how beautiful art always turns out to be and all you need is just a sense of imagination, and of course, you've got to pay attention to details if you want something extraordinary.

The conference, "Practical steps to taking your business global" was the height of the daytime event for me. Although aimed more at the small and medium enterprises, the tips shared, in my opinion, goes for all.

Some of the speakers at the event were, Prince Adeyemi Adefulu, Mrs Lola Coker-Esu, Mr Tobi Asehinde, Mrs Toki Mabogunje and a host of others.

Speaking on "Monetizing your creative idea", Mrs Lola Coker-Esu advises that it's best to 'make research and garner information about the industry you're setting out for. Garner necessary information of the people you'll be serving, and create a free marketing system for them.' She also added that 'it's paramount you find out what's working in the industry and what's not, then fill in the gap. That's what makes you stand out'

Speaking on "Branding that speaks for you", Mr Lanre Lawal encourages everyone to 'engage their clients every now and then in all sort of activities.' 'People will relate with you based on what they see, hear, taste and feel about you. In other words, create an emotional relationship/engagement with your clients.'

Other tips that was shared by the various speakers at the event were the need to know your target audience, marketing with social media, being proactive and open-minded, having a vision and a purpose for your business among other incredible and practical tips.

The Bellafricana Ace award wasn't only fun and dope, it was pretty much enlightening, encouraging and educating.
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In a statement released by the Spokesman to the President, Mr. Femi Adeshina, on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, President Buhari suspended these two officials pending the outcome of the investigation currently going on.

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered an investigation into the allegations of violations of law and due process made against the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr David Babachir Lawal, in the award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE).

The President has also directed the suspension of the SGF from office pending the outcome of the investigations.

The Presidency had earlier cleared the Secretary to the Federal Government of any wrongdoings based on an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice on the Issue, but the countrys Senate insistence on further investigation and allegation of selective prosecution in the current war against corruption may have necessitated this move by the president.

In a related development, the President has ordered a full scale investigation into the discovery of large amounts of foreign and local currencies by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a residential apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, over which the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has made a claim.

The President has also directed the suspension of the Director General of the NIA, Ambassador Ayo Oke, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Many international and local observers and politicians have taken to the social media to express their opinion about the move by the President.

Members of the Nigerian Senate have also commented on the development.

Mr. Shehu Sani, APC Senator- Kaduna South, stated it is commendable that the president has taken the senate committee report and recommendations seriously.

The sword of truth is not just cast and sharpened for the neck of foes but also for those of friends, said Mr. Sani, after the eventual suspension."

He added during an interview with a Nigerian online news platform, its commendable for the president to heed the call to fumigate the throne of lice and bugs with the same ability he goes after rodents afar.

The senate and the committee have nothing personal against the SGF or any person affected, but we simply did our job in conformity with our constitutional responsibilities and the moral calling of our conscience.

We cannot jubilate because a mighty mortal is caught in the trap of his fate, we are neither saints nor angels, but we have a duty to raise a card a blow the whistle.

Similarly, a Peoples Democratic Party Senator from Edo State, Matthew Urhoghide, told the News Agency of Nigeria that suspension of the SGF following the Senates call meant both executive and legislative arms were working cooperatively to check corruption.

We are all complimenting each others effort in fighting corruption, and that is the truth, he said.

Nigerians have also challenged the National Assembly to follow suit by complementing the current anti-corruption campaign.

The current three-member investigation committee is headed by the country's Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbaji, alongside the Hon. Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and the National Security Adviser who as members of the committee.
Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes wrote in "Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign" that Clinton's campaign lacked vision and was filled with infighting staffers who were more concerned about their own careers than they were about helping the candidate win.

Many staffers have publicly voiced their issues with the book.

Christina Reynolds, a deputy communications director for the campaign, wrote in a post on the website Medium that "it's hard to read a depiction of the campaign that paints a dedicated, cohesive team as mercenaries with questionable motives who lacked a loyalty to a candidate described as 'imperial' and removed from the campaign."

"That's just not the campaign, the staff or the candidate I was in the trenches with for 18 months," Reynolds wrote.

While Reynolds didn't dispute any specific allegations in the book  she said she wasn't writing the post to "fact check" Allen and Parnes  she wrote that "contrary to the 'mercenary' description in the book," the campaign staff "knew that there was only one goal, and one night, that mattered."

Other Clinton staffers shared the post on Twitter and described their own memories of the campaign:

Clinton's former traveling press secretary, Nick Merrill, tweeted a long series of photos of happy moments from the campaign trail. Longtime aide Philippe Reines and communications director Jennifer Palmieri also joined in.

Allen and Parnes defended their reporting this week in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
A joint CIA-FBI investigation is underway to determine how WikiLeaks got hold of thousands of top-secret files and published them in March  allegedly by way of a CIA employee or contractor who operated a tool normally used by the spy agency to infiltrate various electronic devices, from smartphones to smart televisions and computers.

The breach has been referred to as "Vault 7" by WikiLeaks.

The CIA did not say publicly how or when the information was stolen. But it said that the insider had physical access to the files and that most of the files were stored in a "highly secure section" of the agency, CBS reported.

Experts say the files appear to be genuine, but the CIA did not comment on their authenticity. CIA spokeswoman Heather Fritz Horniak delivered a stern rebuke against WikiLeaks.

"The American public should be deeply troubled by any WikiLeaks disclosure designed to damage the intelligence communitys ability to protect America against terrorists and other adversaries," Horniak said. "Such disclosures not only jeopardize US personnel and operations, but also equip our adversaries with tools and information to do us harm.

"This is the kind of disclosure that undermines our country, our security, and our well-being," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said earlier in March. He declined to comment on the authenticity of the leaked documents.

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on April 13 in his first public speech as head of the CIA , director Mike Pompeo slammed WikiLeaks for playing a role in the dissemination of the files.

"It is time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is: a nonstate hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia," he said, referring to the organization's possible ties to the Kremlin.

Pompeo continued to rail against WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, asserting that the Russian military "had used WikiLeaks" to release emails and documents damaging to the US Democratic Party  believed to be part of a larger bid by Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Pompeo added that Russia Today, a state-sponsored media network that has offices in the US, was "Russia's primary propaganda outlet," and that it "has actively collaborated with WikiLeaks," according to The Wall Street Journal.

The organization has been reluctant to reveal its source. "The archive appears to have been circulated among former US government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive," read a statement.

The tool used in the leaks has caused widespread panic in the tech industry because of its broader implications. The Journal reported that the CIA's "attack code"  which could be used to infiltrate products from companies like Apple, Google, Samsung, and Microsoft  can "gain unauthorized access to computers and smartphones," especially if software updates meant to patch its vulnerabilities weren't available.
In a move reminiscent of Vietnam-era body-count assessments, Afghan officials have released estimates of the number of ISIS fighters killed in the MOAB strike, upping the total from 36 to 96 over the last six days.

Reports from the region indicate that several of the ISIS fighters slain were from neighboring countries.

An Afghan security source told the country's TOLO news agency that most of the militants killed in the bombing were members of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan or the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Tajiks and 13 Indian nationals who had joined ISIS are believed to have been killed, according to TOLO.

Hindustan Times reported that an Afghan security official said 13 ISIS commanders were killed  at least two of whom were from India.

Officials in Kabul and New Delhi did not confirm those reports, and Amaq News Agency, ISIS' media outlet, said none of the terror group's fighters had been killed. After the blast, ISIS' local radio outlet broadcast a call-in show featuring men who claimed to be fighters in the area who were not affected by the bombing.

At least 24 Indian nationals are thought to have joined ISIS in eastern Afghanistan. While two reportedly were killed in the weeks before the MOAB strike, relatives of the others say they have yet to hear from them.

ISIS branches in Afghanistan expanded in 2015 and had 2,000 to 3,000 members before Afghan military operations and US-led airstrikes checked their advances. Now there are thought to be about 700 ISIS fighters in the country, limited mainly to three districts in Nangarhar, the province where the MOAB was dropped.

The MOAB was deployed on April 13 to what was described as a cave complex used by ISIS fighters. The weapon, which explodes above ground, is meant to create pressure to destroy targets on the surface and just below it.

A spokesman for Afghan special forces said land mines and "pockets of resistance" on top of mountains had slowed operations in the area, according to AFP, whose correspondents were turned away from the site on Wednesday.

He did not specify if the resistance was being mounted by ISIS fighters.

Capt. William Salvin, a US military spokesman, told Reuters on Wednesday that US forces arrived at the site the day after the blast and had left but continued to conduct operations in the area. He said "assessments are ongoing" and expressed "high confidence" that no civilians were harmed.

"Access has been restricted, but that's because it's a combat zone," he told Reuters. "We are in contact with the enemy."

Afghan officials and locals disputed suggestions that there was resistance in the area and questioned whether the MOAB was an appropriate response to the threat.

"We were and we are kept in the dark, and still we haven't been able to go to the site," one senior Afghan security official told Reuters. "We are confused ourselves, and we wonder what MOAB could have caused."

Zabihullah Zmarai, a member of the council in Nangarhar, told The New York Times that officials in the district where the bomb was dropped said neither Afghan nor US forces had arrived on the scene.

told The Times

told The Times

"If there was some 90 Islamic State militants, then why were our own Afghan forces not able to eliminate them in a military operation  what was the need for using such a big bomb?" he asked.

Afghan government ministers have expressed concern that the lack of information about the strike could be exploited by ISIS.

The top US commander in Afghanistan has said the focus of the fight is militants inside the country.

"This operation is conducted on those enemy that are inside the borders of Afghanistan," Gen. John Nicholson, commander of NATO's Resolute Support operation, said after the bombing.

"We're very focused on those insurgents and terrorists who try to operate inside Afghanistan, and then we work with our diplomatic colleagues to work with our neighbors and other nations in the region to reduce the external support and the external sanctuary enjoyed by these enemies."
According to him, Nigerians should forgive 'the young man as it could happen to anybody'.

Now, Caroline Danjuma has written an opinion piece over the issue.

Read below:

She has since deleted it after coming under attack be followers and has written another piece to justify her actions.

Read below:

"We live in a world were people feel they have to fight to be heard.

I posted a write up some days ago because I needed CLARIFICATIONS based on the few min clips I saw.

The same way you all saw few seconds clips of AY show n started bashing him is the same way I saw few seconds clips of the incident and needed clarification.

Firstly in my write up I wrote Kemens actions were very inappropriate before I proceeded to ask questions concerning TBoss .. note this was based on the clips going round.

Thirdly I asked lawyers and councillors in the house to Mk me understand better..

Lastly my writeup requested for forgiveness for Kemen even with further post which I asked for Kemen and TBoss to have a closure to this as this must hurt really badly.

Unfortunately, some peeps are so sad that all they know how to do is fight fight fight..

There is nothing like an apology or forgiveness in this world anymore .. we all act like we are sinless.. to request for forgiveness does not justify his actions is right.

To ask questions concerning TBoss' involvement does not mean she is wrong or she is to be blamed .. most of us have a RIGHT to our own opinions and thoughts towards this and we have that same right to ask question for more understanding ( we paid for subscription too).

No matter what, both parties must be heard for fair judgement .. note Kemens actions ain't right ( I repeat)...

I am not new to your abusive ways so have a go with it .. there can only be a closure if both parties are heard.. even if Kemen and TBoss had to see a counsellor she will listen to both before she tries to help them heal ..some of us ain't as heartless as you all.. we give second chances, we forgive and hope it never repeats itself .. we ain't perfect.

I am a feminist but first I promote love and forgiveness and yes I will ask as many questions as I want for CLARIFICATION. Love to Tboss and love to Kemen..

I pray the lord helps you both to heal from this saga .. black out the world .. let God speak to you himself .
The collection featuring a fine blend of colours, geometry and patterns are constructed for the gentleman who loves his simple and flattering styles.

ALSO READ:Menswear brand Rogue taps Ric Hassani for dapper editorial

Parading a collection filled with sets as offerings with contrasting details on top over pants, matching sets, mismatched set featuring geometric patterns and more done in solid colours with the modern trad looks are played up with pocket squares and piping details.

Describing the pieces in the collection as ones for "that noble and dignified Prince or King fit for a monarch" the brand's creative director Oheneba Yaw Boamah also reveals "The collection describes the regal man who aims for success and believes in new age change, ready to work and serve even though he's a royal".

The Ghana based designer also revealed the choice of fabrics and process employed in each piece as "made from fine suitings fabric of simple tone colours from light to dark, clean pattern cut to match and blend. I believe the geometry shape infused in designing and simplicity of each piece define how powerful an African man can command authority and respect with his real identity".

Check out the offerings from the collection.

Credits:

Photographers: Joseph Amoateng & Carl Reindorf

Models: Harold Amenyah & Chris Darko

Set Assist: Shadrach Annang

Production: Chantell Dapaah Boamah
The council Chairman, Mr Bashir Maishanu, made the disclosure on Wednesday while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna.

He said that modern health facilities had also been provided to take care of the needs of the people.

According to him, the council will retrain health personnel to enable them acquire more knowledge for optimal performance.

He, therefore, called on the residents to take advantage of the rural clinic by reporting any outbreak of epidemic for prompt medical health attention.

The council boss also advised the people to avoid overcrowded areas and ensure that their abodes were well ventilated.
Weli told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt on Wednesday that current 500,000 doses available in the country were grossly inadequate to fight the epidemic.

NAN recalls that the country recently received 500,000 doses of meningitis C vaccine from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to combat the epidemic that has caused the death of 489 deaths across four states.

Weli expressed optimism that the 2 million vaccines would checkmate the epidemic in the worst hit states of Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara, and halt its spread to other states.

The country currently has about 500,000 doses of vaccines which is a far cry to the about 2 million needed to fight the scourge in some parts of the country.

So far, procurement of the vaccine has not been fast enough and the fact remains that the vaccines are needed quickly as possible for the disease to be contained, he said.

Weli said that meningitis could be transmitted and spread from individual to another through throat secretion, sneezing, coughing and contact with infected materials.

He said that meningitis which was similar to Ebola could be avoided through good personal hygiene like washing and sanitising ones hand after using the toilet, among others.

We can also checkmate the spread of meningitis by coughing and sneezing into our elbows or tissue papers rather than into someone elses face or handkerchief.

We need the right education, sensitisation and awareness to checkmate the disease, and as such, everyone must get involved, he said.

Weli said that there was no case of the disease in Rivers, but that it was not enough for residents to relax especially as the disease had been reported in Lagos and Cross River states.
The group however urged Buhari to revisit corruption allegations levelled against former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss, Ibrahim Lamorde.

President General of the Movement, Comrade Abiodun Usman said, during a press conference in Abuja, that despite all the properties that have been traced to Lamorde, not a single one has been seized from him.

Usman urged the President to set up an independent investigation committee to revisit the allegations since the EFCC and the Police which he heads seemed to have refused to do the right thing.

We commend President Buhari for his anti-corruption war. The suspension of the SGF and NIA boss, has proved to us and Nigerians that the President will not spare anyone accused of mismanaging public funds. It is with this conviction that we call on President Buhari to revisit the activities of Ibrahim Lamorde during his time as EFCC Chairman," he said.

Nigerians were inundated with revelations about his role in the police pension scam during the President Jonathan administration. Several billions and properties have been allegedly traced to his name, but up to date nothing has been heard of the outcome of several investigations carried out by the EFCC or police

Could it be that both bodies are shielding one of their own? Nigerians deserve to know. It is our belief that Lamorde is being shielded by powerful forces. But we urge President Buhari to immediately constitute an independent committee to revisit the issue. It is a new dawn in our country. There should be no hiding place for corrupt individuals. After all this was why Nigerians voted massively for the President," he added.

ALSO READ: Buhari set to fire NIA boss
Kukah was reacting to the $50 million cash the anti-graft agency recovered in an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos, last Wednesday.

He said the Commission must look for a better way of communicating its work to Nigerians without being dramatic about it, noting that its current method would do more harm to the anti-corruption fight than good.

He said the inability of the EFCC to reveal the owners of the recovered monies is a dent on the nation's image.

Kukah also expressed disappointment at the humongous 'loot' recoveries, saying that he feels humiliated as a Nigerian that monies that can pass as the budget of some African countries are concealed in rooms and shops in Nigeria.

The cleric stated this in Kaduna while speaking at a national anti-money laundering/counter financing of terrorism sensitization seminar organised by the Inter-governmental Action group against Money laundering in West Africa (GIABA).

He said: "I feel more demoralized and very humiliated as a Nigerian but the confusion is that we are dealing with monies that are of the sizable budget of some African states. I think its unthinkable that we are having such money running into billions of naira and we dont know who owned such monies.

"Frankly, like I said, if I were a foreigner my respect for Nigeria will dwindle seriously. Even me as a Nigerian I feel quite violated and I dont really know if all this theatre is the best way to go.

"I think that the agencies concerned should have less dramatic but effective way of telling us the work they are doing, rather than this endless washing of linen whose owners we dont know. Its not helping the fight."

The National Intelligence Agency (NIA) had laid claim to the Ikoyi cash haul, saying that the money was meant for 'covert operations' of the agency.

Consequently, the Presidency on Wednesday, April 19, announced the suspension of the NIA Director-General, Ayodele Oke, pending the outcome of investigations on the matter.

Presidential aide, Femi Adesina, simultaneously announced that President Muhammadu Buhari has constituted a three-man panel headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, saddled with the responsibility to launch a full-scale investigation into the $50 million found in a flat in Osborne Towers.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr Garba Umar, announced the arrest of the suspect alongside other criminals while presenting him to newsmen in Bauchi on Thursday.

Umar explained that Nafiu, 25, was arrested on April 12 at Tama Village in Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State.

He further explained that the suspect being 176th on the wanted list of Nigerian Army was arrested following intelligence report.

He said the suspect had fled from Sambisa Forest following the flushing out of the terrorists by the military.

The suspect has confessed to have killed over 150 people in Baga Local Government Area of Borno.

Case is under investigation after which the suspect would be handed over to the appropriate authority for discreet investigation, he said.

In a similar development, the commissioner said that the police had arrested one Osama Abubakar, a notorious thug in Bauchi.

He said the suspect had used a knife to cut off the left hand of one Abdul-aziz Mohammed of Gombe Road, Bauchi, who was also alleged to be a Sara Suka hoodlum.

Umar said that preliminary investigations showed that the suspect was a notorious Sara-Suka thug who was convicted for a similar offence in 2016.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, April 19, ordered the suspension of Lawal and Oke over the allegation of corruption in the award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North East, PINE, and the discovery of $50 million in an Ikoyi, Lagos, apartment respectively.

Although the lawmakers commended the action against Lawal and Oke, they also want it extended to the EFCC boss, Magu and other members of Buhari's cabinet who have been accused of corruption.

A member of the House of Representatives representing Ivo/Ohazara/Onicha Federal Constituency of Ebonyi State, Linus Okorie, told the president to summon the same political will in suspending Magu.

He said, "I think that it is always better late than be late in all matters including administration problem. It has long been established that Mr. President should have taken strong action if he had any intention to strengthen the fight against corruption the way we were told it should be.

"The suspension of the SGF is based on the numerous report and investigation that the senate conducted which pointed to the fact of obvious indictment in the north east fund. Now that he has come out to suspend him and also suspend the DG of NIA who also has a lot of explanations to make with the issue of Ikoyi towers fund.

"One is so hoping that the matter of EFCC will also get his immediate attention because irrespective of what we do if Nigerian confidence is not built in the institution of EFCC as the purveyor and chief prosecutor of the anti-corruption campaign, we will still be failing in that regard.

"It does not matter whether Magu is corrupt or not but the notion out there is that he has questions to answer.

"I am calling on Mr. President to promptly also direct that Ibrahim Magu also goes on suspension so that the same investigations that he ordered into these two can also be conducted and if at the end of the day you find him not wanting in any regard, then he comes back to his job.

"So, I commend Mr. President for this action even though belated, but I also call on him to summon the necessary political will to also do the same thing with respect to Magu, with respect to all the ministers that have also been so fingered in this allegations of corruption in that regard.

"And when that is done, Nigerians will find more confidence in the declared war against corruption and be sure that it is not just focused on the opposition and the former elements of the past government."

Also reacting to the suspension, House Committee Chairman on Health Services, Rep Chike John Okafor, said it shows that nobody, no matter how highly placed, will be spared in the ongoing anti-corruption fight.

Okafor said, "In the first instance, the appointments and positions that they occupied was at the prerogative of the president, so the president has the right to hire and fire, so he exercised that constitutional right.

"The second aspect of the suspension which bothers on corruption and investigation. For instance the SGF is based on investigation and the NIA has to do with the money discovered in the apartment in Ikoyi.

"Mr. President is suspending them and setting up a committee to investigate them, that tells you the Presidents commitment to fighting corruption. Those who are complaining hitherto that the fight against corruption is selective and only the opposition people that are being hounded, they can now shut their mouths up.

"If the Secretary to the government of the Federation and the DG NIA can be suspended on corrupt related matters, that tells you that there are no sacred cows as far as the presidents commitment on corruption is concerned.

"In this regard, the president has shown his uncompromising commitment to fight corruption. It is a welcome development. That should send shiver down the spine of every other person, every other Nigerian, every other political office holder who may want to engage or involve himself on corrupt practices that there is no sacred cow.

"And nominating the Vice President to chair the committee and give them 14 days to carry out the assignment, that underscores the high level commitment. Of course we all know how impeccable the Vice President is which means the President wants to know the truth of the situation."
According to a report by Premium Times, the security operatives raided the Abuja home of Goje, a serving Senator, on Thursday evening, April 20, 2017.

Security operatives, believed to be from the police headquarters stormed the house about 5:00 p.m. and remained in the premises as at 7:01 p.m.

12 vehicles, including about eight police vans were reportedly stationed outside the building with at least 25 mobile police officers reportedly sighted outside the building, located on Haile Selassie Street, Asoroko.

The report also claimed the operatives that raided Goje's home were from the Monitoring Unit of the Inspector General of Police on a mission to recover funds believed to be hidden in the building.

ALSO READ: Court orders police to arrest Goje for failing to attend trial

64-years-old Goje is currently representing Gombe Central constituency at the Senate and is also being prosecuted for alleged corruption to the tune of N25billion while he served as Gombe governor.

Goje is currently the Chairman Senate committee on Appropriation
The senators country residence in Kogi was reportedly attacked in the early hours of Saturday, April 15.

Briefing newsmen in Lokoja, Inalegwu said that aside the council boss, some unspecified number of persons had also been interrogated in connection with the matter.

He said that the case was being prosecuted with due diligence, and assured members of the public that every suspect in the matter would be invited for interrogation.

When you are suspected, you will be interrogated. We are treating this matter as a very serious one.

We shall be thorough and professional. We shall fear no one, he said.
Media reports are suggesting that the $50M in cash discovered in Flat 7B, Osborne Towers Ikoyi, Lagos, recently, can be linked to Nigeria's immediate past President.

The cash haul has since been claimed by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).

For this, President Muhammadu Buhari has suspended the Director General of the NIA, Ayodele Oke, pending the outcome of investigations.

TheCable is reporting that "the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) collected $289,202,382 in cash from the account of the in February 2015 after the postponement of the general election".

The 2015 general election was shifted from February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11 at the time Jonathan was still presiding over Nigeria's affairs.

The administration had cited security concerns as reason for the postponement.

"The President appeals to all stakeholders to accept the adjustment of the election dates by INEC in good faith, as the electoral body has a responsibility to conduct credible elections in which every Nigerian of voting age is afforded the opportunity to exercise their civic right without any form of hindrance", a statement from Reuben Abati, the president's spokesperson at the time, read.

If TheCable's report is to be believed, the $289M in cash was transferred to the NIA by NAPIMS around the period of the postponement of the general elections.

NAPIMS is a subsidiary of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The NIA also operates under the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA).

Lt Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd), who is currently facing trial for allegedly misappropriating billions of dollars earmarked for the equipping of the military under Jonathan, was Nigeria's NSA back then.

Speaking at the Chatham House, a London Think-thank in January of 2015, Dasuki made a strong case for why the general elections should be postponed.

It costs you nothing to shift the election, its still within the law, Dasuki had told his London audience at the time.

Security sources have told Pulse that the period of the shift of the general elections provided Dasuki and his cronies sufficient time to move funds from the NNPC and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in a last ditch attempt at rigging the approaching vote.

Diezani Alison-Madueke who served as Jonathan's petroleum minister, allegedly cornered billions of naira from the coffers of the NNPC.

According to investigatorsworking with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Diezani deployed these slush funds in bribing electoral officers to rig the election for Jonathan.

In the light of the recent discovery of the cash haul in Lagos, TheCable writes: "funds were approved for NIAs covert operations by President Goodluck Jonathan and subsequently withdrawn in cash from NAPIMS account at CBN.

"The entire NIA budget for 2015 was a little over N25B which was about $160 million at the time  further suggesting that the payment was extra-budgetary.

"The Department of State Services (DSS) also got huge sums of cash in naira and dollars for covert operations in the run-up to the elections".

Reports suggest that the $50M found in that Ikoyi apartment was part of the $298M received by the NIA from a subsidiary of the NNPC way back in 2015.

Speaking with Pulse on Thursday, presidency sources disclosed that Buhari suspended Oke because he wasn't briefed about the cash or the so called "covert operation" before the EFCC bulldozed its way into the residential apartment last week.

was also told that the committee set up by the President to probe circumstances surrounding the $50M cash discovery, will be speaking with Jonathan and CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, among other persons linked with the money.

Emefiele was appointed CBN Governor by Jonathan on June 3, 2014.

The President's committee probing the Ikoyi cash discovery is headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and has Attorney General Abubakar Malami and current NSA Babagana Monguno as members.

Former President Jonathan has also been named in the fraudulent Malabu oil deal which saw bribes totalling some $1.3B; doled out to cronies, middlemen and fronts of the President by Shell and ENI, for the acquisition of a lucrative oil block--OPL 245, circa 2011.

Italian investigators say Jonathan probably received as much as $200M from the illicit deal.

Jonathan and his then Attorney General, Mohammed Adoke, have denied their involvement in the scam.

We wish to make it clear that former President Jonathan was not accused, indicted or charged for corruptly collecting any monies as kickbacks or bribes from ENI by the Italian authorities or any other law enforcement body the world over, Jonathan's spokesperson, Ikechukwu Eze said in a statement, recently.
Last Wednesday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) discovered the cash haul in a flat in Osborne Towers following a sting operation which was aided by a whistle-blower.

According to Premium Times, the panel will also question Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele; EFCC Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu; the suspended Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Ayodele Oke, and his predecessor, Olaniyi Oladeji.

Also on the list is the owner of the building where the money was found, and the EFCC official who led the operation.

The three-man panel, which is led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, will also be briefed by the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, on what he knows following reports that Oke briefed him on the NIA operation prior to the discovery of the money.

ALSO READ: Jonathan denies collecting cash from Malabu oil deal

Although, Monguno is also a member of the investigating committee.

The Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami is the third member of the panel, which was constituted on Wednesday, April 19.

The President had also on Wednesday announced the suspension of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal and Oke for their respective roles in the grass cutting scandal and the $50 million recovered by the EFCC.

"The president also ordered a full-scale investigation into the discovery of large amounts of foreign and local currencies by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in a residential apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, over which the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, has made a claim," presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, had said in a statement.
The Olubadan made the accusation at his palace in Ibadan while receiving the new Deputy Inspector General of Police, South West, DIG Foluso Adebanjo.

Adetunji specifically mentioned the case of Oloode village in Oluyole Local Government where one Lukman Alao was deposed as Baale and promptly replaced on Jan. 9 with Baale Dauda Odeyemi.

According to the first class monarch, Alao has become a law unto himself using mercenaries procured outside Oyo State to molest and arrest law abiding citizens.

Part of his mode of operation is continuous use of number plate of Baale Oloode long after his removal from office.

His co-traveller is the Onido of Ido, Chief Tajudeen Akinola, who, although is not molesting anybody is using the plate number of Onido of Ido.

if a chief is removed in accordance with our tradition over allegations of wrong doing, he could either take it or go to the law court in search of justice.

We believe in the rule of law. This is why we have not joined issues with the deposed Baale."

Adetunji said that as the traditional authority over all the eleven local government councils in Ibadanland, he will be indifferent to people using mercenaries to molest his people.

He commended officers and men of the Nigerian Police for their professionalism in maintaining law and order and ensuring peace and security.

The monarch prayed for the success of the new DIG and his men, including the AIG Zone 1 the Oyo State Police Commissioner and others.

Th new DIG, South West, Adebanjo told Kabiyesi that his request would be promptly looked into.
The command said it had also arrested their Trafficker, Mannir Suleiman.

Superintendent of Police, Andrew Alpolsus, the Officer in charge of the Federal Anti-Robbery Squad in the state, presented the victims and the Trafficker to newsmen on Thursday in Katsina.

The Police have arrested 12 young women of between the ages of 17 and 22 years and 10 men at a house at Kwando area of the Katsina metropolis."

The police were tipped on Sunday April 16, 2017 at about 11:00 a.m. that one Mannir Suleiman has rented an Apartment and was hiding the victims there.

We stormed the House and rescued the victims and their mentor; we also seized about 12 fake passports from them.

Their Trafficker has confessed that he was commissioned to take them to Niger Republic on their way to Libya and later Europe," he said.
I have always emphasized that we do not have the monopoly of knowledge to fight corruption as corruption is a crime against humanity as it affects everybody, so we need to effectively tackle corruption, he said.

We must all unite together against the evil called corruption as that is the only way we can ensure, at least the protection of the future of our children and our younger ones. Nobody will stop us from fighting corruption, he added.
Attah stated this during the companys presentation of 2017 Facts and Figures on NLNG in Lagos.

He said the only jetty available for discharging the product was in Lagos, adding that the additional costs of sending the product to different parts of the country was responsible for the hike in its price.

According to the Managing Director, it is ridiculous that what the NLNG produces in Bonny Island, we have to take to Lagos before bringing it back to Port Harcourt for usage.

Attah disclosed that the company was planning to rehabilitate the Calabar Jetty, in order to create another discharge point, apart from Lagos.

He said the company had worked with various International Oil Companies (IOCs) to reduce gas flaring from 65 per cent to less than 20 per cent by monetising the benefits.

The Managing Director said that the company had shipped 3,600 cargoes of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to different parts of the world since its inception in 1995 to Dec. 2016.

Nigeria is seen as the fastest developing country in terms of gas delivery.

We receive gas from the offshore, clean it, store it and deliver to customers worldwide in liquid form.

From inception till date, the company has reaped over 90billion dollars in revenue, 5.5 billion dollars in taxes and 13billion dollars in dividends for the Federal Government, he said.

Attah said that at present, the management of the company was almost entirely indigenous, with only a few expatriates now working in the company.

He said the company was contributing immensely to the development of its host community by providing uninterrupted power supply to the area.

Apart from this, the company ensures that it provides potable water, housing and education to the host community.

At present, the company is working with the Federal Ministry of Works for the construction of the 39-km Bonny/Port Harcourt road.

We have put down 50 per cent of the money which is N60billion, and we expect the Ministry to award the contract, this year.
Okoro, also known as 'G1' was arrested by troops of the 19 Battalion in Sapele, Delta.

The Army said in a statement that Sahara Reporters lied in its report of a gun duel during the arrest of Okoro and two others, Ifeanyi Aghanenu and Dafe Akporisi.

The statement signed by Capt. Mohammed Maidawa and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Benin, also denied that the suspects were handed over to the 4 Brigade.

It also dismissed the Sahara Reporters claim that the Speaker of Delta Assembly, Mr Monday Igbuya pressurised the Army to release the suspects.

We wish to inform the public that the suspects were never handed to 4 Brigade."

Therefore the allegations that the Speaker of the Delta Assembly, Mr Monday Igbuya or anyone mounting pressure on the 4 Brigade Commander for their release does not arise."

It is the figment of the imagination of the faceless Sahara Reporters writer."

The Nigerian Army is replete with highly professional, loyal and dedicated officers that perform their duties diligently with great sense of responsibility."

It is therefore preposterous for anyone to allege anything untoward in the handling of the accused or the recovered abandoned vehicles and weapons."

All were properly handed over to the Delta Police Command through appropriate channels for further investigation and prosecution.
Chief Timipre Silva, chieftain of All Progressives Congress and former Governor of Bayelsa State, made the call in a statement by Ms. Stella Inametti, Head of Media and Communications, Presidential Amnesty Programme, in Abuja on Thursday.

Inametti quoted Silva as having said this when he paid a courtesy visit to the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, retired Brig.-Gen.Paul Boroh.

He said the Presidents commitment toward maintenance of peace and stability in the region necessitated the continuity of the amnesty and clean-up of Ogoni.

He called on the youths of the region to eschew violence and join hands with the government to curb oil pipes vandalism.

Silva lauded the achievements of the amnesty programme in the last two years under the leadership of Boroh, saying that the region has particularly witnessed significant increase in human capital development within the period.

Boroh appreciated Sylva for the support, describing him as one of the champions of the South-South.

Boroh reiterated federal governments commitment to the development of the Niger Delta, peace and stability as well as sustainable reintegration and youth empowerment.
The Senator made the comments via a statement released on Wednesday, April 19.

The statement reads in part:

The memo written by Kaduna Governor which tends to belittle the contribution of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu and the South-West is sad and unfortunate. It is perfidious and the height of ingratitude.

We must accept the stark truth that without Bola Tinubu and the principled position of the South-West, dislodging Goodluck Jonathan and the then ruling PDP could have still remained a pipe dream, a hollow hope or a political mirage. El-Rufai defecates on a broom that is supposed to clean the littered floor of the nation.

President Buhari is the heart of APC and Asiwaju is the lungs. Tinubus contribution to the success of the party is unequalled. El-Rufai smiles with Tinubu on broad daylight and stings him at night. He hugs Tinubu with a chest of hooks and shakes him with toxic palms.

El-Rufai should publicly apologise to Tinubu and the South-West. To insult a man publicly and apologise to him privately is to eat your cake and have it. Those heavily drinking from the liquor of power should know that they will later or lately have to drive back home.
A Muslim, is defined literally as one who submits to Allah. For one to do this, he or she should live by the tenets of the religion Islam. The Quran, which is the Holy Book of the Muslims guides Muslims through life.

Islam has five pillars; faith (iman), prayer (salah), fasting (sawm), alms giving (zakah), and pilgrimage (hajj). These pillars are the framework of a Muslims life. Islam is not merely a religion, it is a way of life. A Muslim is defined not just by his spirituality, but by his conduct.

The Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) said, Among the Muslims, the most perfect, as regards his faith, is the one whose character is excellent, and the best among you are those who treat their wives well. This goes to show that a Muslim cannot claim to be very good, simply because they perform the rites of worship as required. Human interaction is an important aspect of a Muslims life.

ALSO READ: Why going to Friday prayer early is very good for you

Good character cannot be overemphasised, as the Prophet (P.B.U.H) also said, On the day of judgement, the dearest and closest to me, as regards my company, will be those persons who will bear the best moral character. Those among you, who talk with affectation and are given to boasting, will be the most repugnant to me and farthest from me on the Day of Judgement.

He also said, I guarantee a house in the surroundings of Paradise for a man who avoids quarrelling even if he were in the right; a house in the middle of Paradise for a man who avoids lying even if he were joking; and a house in the upper part of Paradise for a man who made his character good.

The above statements show that lying and arrogance are disliked. A Muslim should strive to be truthful and humble.

From the root of the words Muslim and Islam, it is obvious that Islam is a religion of peace, hence a Muslim should be a lover and promoter of peace. So many other good characters such as patience, kindness, generosity, fairness, cleanliness and respectfulness are extolled in the Quran and Hadith (sayings of the Prophet); while bad characters such as wastefulness, cheating, dirtiness and hypocrisy are discouraged.

Every deen has an innate character. The character of Islam is modesty," saidProphet (P.B.U.H). Therefore, a Muslim should be modest as this is part of what defines him.

A Muslim is required to be good not just to fellow Muslims, but to people in general, animals, and trees. Treating the vulnerable ones in society- children, elderly people, orphans, and widows kindly, and giving them special care are also duties of a Muslim.

The perfect example of a Muslim is the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who was kind, humble, peaceful, patient, and fair. He was the epitome of good character, and even his enemies could testify to that.

He said, there is nothing heavier than good character put in the scale of a believer on the Day of Resurrection. And by his good character, a believer will attain the degree of one who prays during the night and fasts during the day. Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
According to Christian Post, the search is being done by Oxford University geneticist, George Busby and biblical scholar, Pastor Joe Basile.

Speaking on the search, Busby, who is also investigating the newly discovered bones of Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist, and other famous holy relics said: "The finding is hugely important, partly because John the Baptist was both a disciple of Jesus and his cousin  meaning they would share DNA.

"For a start, no DNA test can prove that these were bits of John the Baptist, Jesus or any other specific person. We can't extract and analyse an unknown DNA sample and magically say that it belonged to this or that historical character."

ALSO READ: Archaeologists identify house where Jesus may have lived

The bones, believed to belong to John the Baptist, were found by a Bulgarian archaeologist named Kasimir Popkonstantinov in 2010.

This search will be seen in a new documentary, titled "The Jesus Strand", on The History Channel.

On the channel's website, the motive for the search is explained: "For the first time in history a man of faith and a man of science are teaming up to search for Jesus' DNA."

"By extracting and analyzing samples of each of these holy relics they hope to retrieve a sample of DNA that possibly belongs to Jesus or a member of his family.

"They believe that if they can find a strand of Jesus' DNA it could help identify who among us today are descendants of Jesus and provide us with new insight into the man many consider to be the most important person in history, Jesus."

While some believe the search is simply to prove that Jesus exists, others think the search is being done in order to give scientists the material needed to clone the Son of God.

This search comes after archaeologists have found the burial place of Jesus Christ.
Hakainde Hichilema has been jailed since the police raided his home outside Lusaka on April 11 on charges of breaking the highway code and using insulting language.

But the businessman-turned-politician is also accused of treason.

According to court documents, Hichilema "on unknown dates but between 10 October 2016 and 8 April 2017 and whilst acting together with other persons unknown did endeavour to overthrow by unlawful means the government of Edgar Lungu."

His defence team denounced the lack of details in the charges, and called on the magistrate court to verify they had been properly drafted.

One lawyer, Vincent Malambo, also urged the court "to determine whether the charge is not a mere fact or ploy of keeping the accused in custody."

State prosecutors admitted that the charge was not properly presented and asked the court for permission to amend it.

Another defence lawyer, Keith Mweemba, protested the wording of the charges, saying: "There is no government of Edgar Lungu, but government of the Republic of Zambia."

"You cannot say government of an individual person."

Magistrate Greenwell Malumani did not say when he would hand down his ruling.

Hichilema and five of his aides first appeared in court Tuesday since their arrests last week.

His United Party for National Development (UPND) party has called the raid "barbaric" and has accused the police of harassment.

Hichilema has launched several unsuccessful legal bids to challenge Lungu's victory in last August's election, and has said he does not recognise Lungu's presidency.
Hichilema was arrested last week for allegedly blocking President Edgar Lungu's motorcade while both were travelling to a traditional event in Zambia's Western province.

Hichilema's lawyers asked the court to throw out the treason charges.

Magistrate Greenwell Malumani said he needed time to study the submissions and would rule on the application next Wednesday.

"The issues involved are many and complex and therefore I cannot hurriedly make a ruling," Malumani said.

Hichilema, a wealthy businessman, has been detained since police raided his Lusaka home on April 11.

He has been accused of endangering Lungu's life when Hichilema's convoy allegedly refused to give way to the presidential motorcade in a high-speed dispute on a main road.

In court, he was also accused of trying to overthrow the government between October and April.

Hichilema has launched several legal attempts to challenge the result of last year's election, which he lost narrowly to Lungu.
The device was placed in a bag close to the bank's entrance, exploded at around 1930 GMT, 35 minutes after the warning was given causing damage to the bank and surrounding buildings.

Non-lethal attacks on economic, political and diplomatic targets, blamed by police on extreme left or anarchist groups, have been common in Greece for years.

They are often claimed on behalf of groups representing such movements despite the arrest and sentencing to heavy prison terms of many activists.
"The decision to withdraw was premised on the realisation that the mission to neutralise the LRA has now been successfully achieved," Ugandan army spokesman Brigadier Richard Karemire said in a statement.

The army said that Kony now commands fewer than 100 fighters and has been left "weak and ineffective."

Kony "no longer poses any significant threat to Ugandas security," said Karemire.

Thirty-one soldiers landed in an airfield in Gulu, northern Uganda, on Wednesday, with more to follow, according to local media reports.

A self-styled mystic and prophet, Kony launched a bloody rebellion three decades ago seeking to impose his own version of the Ten Commandments on northern Uganda.

The UN says the LRA has slaughtered more than 100,000 people and abducted 60,000 children since it was set up in 1987.

The LRA was forced out of Uganda in 2006 and has since roamed the remote forests on the borders of South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and the CAR.

"The Ugandan military operation, with the assistance of US military advisors, has played an important role in degrading the LRA, especially in encouraging defections of LRA members," said Washington-based researcher Ledio Cakaj, author of "When the Walking Defeats You", a book about Kony's inner circle.

However, Cakaj said that while Kony is still at large the threat to the local civilian population remains.

"Local security forces in CAR have shown in the past their inability to provide security for civilians, and the vacuum left by the withdrawal will likely be exploited by the LRA and other predatory groups", he told AFP.
"Business is not good. These people don't have money," he says, gazing out over a vast area that in only eight months has transformed from scrubland and trees to the world's biggest refugee settlement, Bidibidi, which houses more than 270,000 people.

Uganda has been praised for its warm welcome of refugees, but as civil war in neighbouring South Sudan continues to push more than 2,000 people a day into the country, local communities and aid agencies are buckling under the strain.

Many residents of Yumbe district -- population around 500,000 -- are frustrated that the massive aid effort in their backyard has not translated into more jobs but instead has spread already scarce resources even thinner.

"This (the refugee crisis) has changed the town so much. It has caused a lot of stress, stress for jobs. The food prices have gone up and up. It's bad for our environment because they cut down the trees," said Nachal Dovelay, a shopkeeper in Yumbe town.

Bidibidi opened in August last year to cope with a flood of people fleeing fighting when a peace deal between South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and his rival and former deputy Riek Machar collapsed, plunging the country back into a civil war that erupted in 2013.

In a matter of months it has overtaken Kenya's Dadaab -- hosting mainly Somali refugees -- as the world's biggest refugee camp.

But the 250-square-kilometre (97-square-mile) settlement is only the tip of the iceberg.

A total of 830,000 South Sudanese refugees have entered the country and the UN expects this figure will reach more than a million by mid-year.

The number of refugees in the East African nation -- one of the world's poorest countries and the size of the United Kingdom -- is comparable to the number of mostly Syrian refugees who fled to Europe at the height of the migrant crisis in 2015.

"This emergency is like a tsunami, you know, very high speed," said Robert Baryamwesiga, the Ugandan government official in change of running Bidibidi.

Food rations stretched, delayed

On a recent afternoon a fierce dust-devil tore through a crowd waiting for food rations, sending people reeling and knocking supplies to the ground.

When calm returned, a girl aged about seven carefully raked up her family's fallen maize kernels and scooped them back into a sack.

Every scrap of food is precious. Refugees who arrived in Uganda before mid-2015 have already had their rations cut by half. This month food distribution was two weeks late.

"We are hungry. The food is for one month but it lasts less than that and now it's 15 days late. This is really challenging," said David Kepo, 41, a traditional chief who fled fighting in his community three months ago.

Cheryl Harrison, the World Food Programme's (WFP's) deputy head in Uganda, admits that the logistics involved in delivering 15,000 tonnes of food per month are daunting.

"We try to ensure that everyone knows that we're going to be late. If people have warning they're able to cope. They reduce the amount of food they eat and try to make their resources stretch."

Before the renewed fighting, WFP spent $6 million (5.6 million euros) per month on food aid for refugees in Uganda. That figure has now soared to more than $16 million.

The agency is $450 million short for the next six months.

Last month UN refugee chief, Filippo Grandi, described the situation as at "breaking point".

Anger growing in host community

Getting water to the refugees in the arid area is another headache, with more than four million litres required a day.

Boreholes have been drilled but the vast majority of the water is trucked in from the River Nile at great expense.

The use of natural resources has lead to tensions with the host community.

In a desperate move local residents recently blocked access to one borehole for several hours, saying that they were not benefiting from the influx of refugees.

"The issue of the use of natural resources -- building materials, wood, fuel -- that one has been a disaster. With 272,000 people the effect is great and unemployment here is very high," said local government official Jacob Batemyetto.

In February about 100 people, unhappy that nine local staff had been fired for misappropriating aid, held a protest, holding up signs threatening to attack the settlement, according to NGO staff.

And last month the chief government official in Imvepi -- a newly opened nearby settlement -- was taken hostage by a group of machete-wielding youths and marched around the area to see the poor living conditions local people are forced to tolerate before being released.

A very fragile situation

Uganda has long been praised for having one of the world's most progressive refugee policies.

The government allows refugees to work and move around the country while communities in the north have donated land for settlements.

Refugees receive a plot of land to build a shelter and it was planned that land would be allocated for people to farm but in Bidibidi that has yet to happen.

jpegMpeg4-1280x720"We can't feed ourselves because they have yet to set up any agriculture programme and there's no land," said Wila James, 40, a former agricultural officer who fled to Uganda last year.

Bidibidi settlement chief Baryamwesiga highlighted the dangers of a growing population unable to produce their own food.

"They will automatically go and steal and stealing will create violence so you'll find that the coexistence that we're enjoying between refugees and the host community will collapse.
"This is our collective struggle and I call upon the people of Zimbabwe to join us in working together... so that we can reclaim our country, our freedom and our dignity," Tsvangirai told journalists after signing the agreement.

Mujuru, who leads the National People's Party, was fired from Mugabe's government and the ruling ZANU-PF party in December 2014 and later formed her own party.

She said she was looking forward to working with Tsvangirai and that discussions had been on the table for a while.

"This is something we have discussed since last year," she said.

"We have taken more than six months to say the least, of consulting, discussing..."

The two leaders would not divulge the terms of their agreement, but Tsvangirai revealed that he was planning to enter into similar agreements with other smaller political parties.

Mujuru, a former ally of Mugabe was expelled from ZANU-PF after Mugabe's wife, Grace, accused her of plotting against the president and fanning factionalism in the party.

She has denied the charges against her.

A united coalition would be the first to challenge the dominance of Mugabe's ZANU-PF at the polls, after years of vote rigging allegations against the party which has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980.

ZANU-PF has endorsed Mugabe who turned 93 in February as its candidate for next year's election but the liberation movement has recently been hit by factionalism over Mugabes succession, with two main factions jostling to succeed him in the event of his death.
Demonstrators vowed not to flinch in their campaign to oust Maduro, despite three weeks of protest violence that has left eight people dead, including three on Wednesday.

"Sure we're tired, but we've got to stand strong. I'm ready to take to the streets every day if I have to," said 22-year-old student protester Aquiles Aldazoro.

Senior opposition leader Henrique Capriles vowed there would be "no surrender."

"It is our duty to defend the constitution," he said.

Protesters blame Maduro -- the heir of the leftist "Bolivarian revolution" launched by the late Hugo Chavez in 1999 -- for an economic crisis marked by severe shortages of food, medicine and basic goods.

Pressure on Maduro has been mounting since 2014, as falling prices for Venezuela's crucial oil exports have sent the once-booming economy into a tailspin.

The crisis has escalated since March 30, when Venezuela's Supreme Court moved to seize the powers of the legislature, the only lever of state authority not controlled by Maduro and his allies.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters took part in Wednesday's marches, which erupted into clashes with security forces and armed groups of government supporters.

A 17-year-old boy and a 23-year-old woman died after they were shot in the head, and Maduro's camp said a soldier outside Caracas was also killed.

The opposition accuses Maduro of letting state forces and gangs of armed thugs violently repress demonstrators.

Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said one person had been arrested for the soldier's death, which he called a pre-meditated "act of fascism."

Looters cart off food

Numerous businesses and universities remained closed -- some in tacit support of the protests, others for fear of a repeat of the previous day's violence.

Looting erupted amid the chaos Wednesday. In the Paradise neighborhood in western Caracas, looters carted off food and beer from a series of ransacked businesses, residents said.

In poor neighborhoods traditionally loyal to Maduro, some protesters have cited hunger as their reason for joining calls for his ouster.

The escalation of Venezuela's political crisis since late March has galvanized the often divided opposition in its efforts to force Maduro from power.

The president, in turn, has urged his supporters, the military and civilian militias to defend the "revolution."

International concern meanwhile continues to mount.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday urged all sides in Venezuela to take steps to ease tensions.

"We call for concrete gestures from all parties to reduce polarization and create the necessary conditions to address the countrys challenges," he said in a statement.

The European Union added to the condemnation, calling the deaths of protesters "highly regrettable" and urging all sides to "de-escalate."

'Unconditional loyalty'

The opposition has called for the military -- a pillar of Maduro's power -- to abandon him.

But the defense minister, General Vladimir Padrino Lopez, has pledged the army's "unconditional loyalty" to Maduro.

The president accuses the opposition of inciting a "coup" backed by the United States.

According to a survey by pollster Venebarometro, seven in 10 Venezuelans disapprove of Maduro, whose term does not end until 2019.

jpegMpeg4-1280x720The president said Wednesday that he is ready to face his opponents at the ballot box.

"I want to have elections soon... to seek a peaceful path so the revolution can put the conspirators, murderers and interventionist right-wingers in their place," he told a rally of supporters in central Caracas.
Student Tugce Albayrak was hailed as a heroine after she intervened to protect two 14-year-old girls in an altercation in a fast-food restaurant in November 2014.

But her civic courage cost the 22-year-old her life when Serbian national Sanel Masovic slapped her to the ground in the restaurant carpark, causing severe head injuries.

Albayrak died in a coma on her 23rd birthday, days after the attack. More than 1,000 mourners attended her funeral, amid a wave of sympathy for her.

Masovic, 18 at the time of the attack, served two and a half years in jail for inflicting bodily harm with fatal consequences.

On Thursday, he was deported to Serbia from Frankfurt airport, said the city administration of nearby Wiesbaden.

A court in Hesse state had in March upheld a decision by immigration authorities last September to expel and bar him from Germany for eight years.

The court ruled that Masovic still represented a threat to public safety and could be expected to act "aggressively and violently" in conflict situations.

In the trial, presiding judge Jens Assling had said Masovic did not intend to kill Albayrak, but added that "no verdict in the world could in any way make up for the loss" to her family.

The attack was captured on a surveillance video later broadcast on national media, drawing a wave of shock and revulsion.

"I am deeply sorry for what I did," Masovic told the juvenile district court at the start of his trial.
RBU hosts get together of senior citizens

Educational institutions of the SGPC are leading in every field: Sukhminder Singh
MUSCATINE  Two board member retirements, the election of a new director, and a transition in chair of the Board have taken place at Central Bancshares, Inc. The changes at the Muscatine-based company were made at the annual shareholders meeting and the subsequent board meeting, April 18.

Joan U. Axel, a company director since 2013, has retired. Axel, of Muscatine, is an attorney and was a partner in the Stanley, Lande & Hunter law firm.

Karen J. Diercks, a company director since 1997, has retired. Diercks, of Muscatine, was vice president of human resources with Stanley Consultants, Inc.

John D. Stavnes of Bettendorf was elected to the board. He is a managing director of INTEGRUS Consulting LLC and recently completed a 33 year career as an executive with Wells Fargo.

Daniel P. Stein of Muscatine was elected chairman of the board, replacing his father, James P. Stein. Dan Stein joined the board in 2016 and previously served as senior vice president and senior loan officer of CBI Bank & Trust. Jim Stein, a company director since 1986, was named chairman emeritus and will serve as an active member of the board.

Central Bancshares Inc. is a privately-held parent company of two wholly owned subsidiary banks: CBI Bank & Trust, based in Muscatine, Iowa, and F&M Bank, headquartered in Galesburg, Illinois.
Filmmakers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods are thankful that, 20 years ago, they sat at the same lunch table at Bettendorf Middle School.

Thats what launched a strong friendship and business partnership, made official in 2001 when the duo established their production company, called Bluebox Films.

And thats what made their latest  and, so far, biggest  success possible.

The Bettendorf natives have sold their screenplay, A Quiet Place, to Paramount Pictures. The horror film, set for release April 13, 2018, has attracted actors Emily Blunt, recently in The Girl on the Train, and John Krasinski, known for starring in The Office, and producer Michael Bay, who directed Transformers and Pearl Harbor. Beck and Woods will serve as executive producers.

"A Quiet Place" marks the first on-screen collaboration for Krasinski, who will also direct the film, and Blunt, who have been married since 2010.

It marks a milestone for Beck and Woods, who are both 32 and live in Los Angeles.

All of the sudden, the project went from zero to 60, which was much faster than Bryan and I ever anticipated, Beck said in a phone interview earlier this week. From the outset, we wrote this script to be something that could easily be shot in Iowa for next to nothing, like that was always plan B.

Plan A, as it turns out, exceeded their expectations.

So often these days, the only projects that make it in the movie theaters are super hero movies, remakes and sequels, so to be able to take something thats original and fresh and get the studio excited is really a dream come true, Woods said.

Stepping stones

The movies plot is under wraps, but the pair said they started thinking about the concept while studying at the University of Iowa.

Its a project we have been working on for quite a while, Woods said. In college, we just had this cool idea that we kind of tucked into our drawer as we often do. About a year ago when we were going through ideas for movies, we pulled that one out and developed it into a script.

Instead of pitching the idea as they have done in the past, Beck and Woods wrote the entire script on spec.

This is one we were so excited about and so confident in that we just actually took the time out to write the whole project from beginning to end, Woods said.

They met with a producer from Platinum Dunes, a company owned by Michael Bay, who loved the script so much that they took it directly to Paramount Pictures, a studio which has a first-look deal with Platinum Dunes. The studio also offered Beck and Woods a blind writing and directing deal for a second feature film.

That quick pace surprised the filmmakers, who last released a movie, Nightlight, in 2015.

The motto out here is hurry up and wait like everyone is hurry up, go, go, go and wait around, Woods said. Some projects you end up waiting so much that you dont even know the state of them before several years in. For us, to hear the studios enthusiasm and hear that Michael Bay was calling up the president of Paramount and getting him excited about the project was so, so exciting.

Getting Blunt and Krasinski involved was more than we ever couldve hoped, Beck said.

On an artistic level, we cant wait to see what they do with these roles, Woods said. "Not only are they great actors, theyre big movie stars, so it gives our movie a hope of finding an audience.

Still, they say its a similar excitement to stepping stones from their earlier days, when they premiered films at the Adler Theatre in downtown Davenport or when, in middle school, they bonded over their shared passion for making nerdy stop-action movies with action figures.

Everything is a stepping stone when youre in a career for the long haul, Beck said. Its nice to stop and celebrate those milestones ever so briefly and then keep our heads down and go onto the next project.

Thats been their mindset since they started making movies together.

Coming from Iowa, you can not be further from the film industry, he said. There was this naive belief when we were kids that if you put your head down and did the work, you could make your own opportunities.

Hometown pride

The partners find inspiration in a variety of places, from their favorite childhood movies to family life to the Iowa landscape.

They say "A Quiet Place" was made with a Midwestern setting in mind.

It doesnt feel like theres a lot of movies about middle America or the Midwest and thats a very inspiring place for us to go, Beck said. We try to look for ways to combine our love of genre film making, but telling those stories in the context of the Midwest and a place thats very near and dear to our hearts.

Stories from their hometown have helped them stand out in Hollywood. Finding other Iowa-born people in the industry can feel like "finding a needle in the haystack," they said.

Being from the Quad-Cities is always a badge of honor for us, Woods said. For the most part around here, everyone is from New York or California. We take a lot of pride in representing the Midwest.

The Bluebox Films owners have so much pride that their goal is to bring productions back to Iowa in the future. That's their 10- or 20-year plan. For now, they're enjoying success one step at a time.

"It doesnt feel like weve been doing it for that long because every project is challenging and every story is a chance to live inside a new world, Woods said. Being able to use our imaginations for a living  theres nothing more fun than that.
Workers from Brandt Construction Company in Milan announced they will go on strike at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, according to a news release issued by the Quad-Cities Coalition for Worker Justice.

The workers set to go on strike will be joining other Brandt employees who already are on strike.

According to the news release by the Quad-Cities Coalition for Worker Justice, the striking employees are demanding safer working conditions, better pay for all workers, adequate safety training and affordable benefits such as health insurance.

The strike will take place at Brandt Construction headquarters located at 700 4th St. W, in Milan.

-- Thomas Geyer
Each month, Aleshyia Lagrone said her five children begin pestering her about when their books from Dolly Partons Imagination Library are coming.

They all get excited when its time for their books to arrive, Lagrone, of Davenport, said Wednesday as her children, particularly her 4-year-old daughter AXarhyia, waited to be part of a special Imagination Library celebration with the United Way of the Quad-Cities Area.

Today, AXarhyia was lucky enough to receive the 1 millionth book that has come into the Quad-Cities since the local United Way partnered with Imagination Library in 2008.

This program really helps children learn to read and to love reading, Lagrone said. It has been a blessing because my bookshelves would not be half as full without Imagination Library for the kids.

Weather permitting, the kids will take their books and go out and sit on the curb under a nearby tree and read their books, Lagrone added.

AXarhyias book this month, the lucky 1 millionth, is Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come. Its her final book from the program as she turns 5 next week and is old enough to enter kindergarten where she will have access to more books.

When the kids got their books, they opened them up and begin reading or asked Lagrone to read to them.

When asked if she enjoyed reading, AXarhyia was quick to respond. Yes, I do. My favorite book is Cookies Week.

AXarhyia was talking about the book about Cookie the cat by author Cindy Ward and illustrator Tomie dePaola.

Karrie Abbott, vice president of community impact said the program provides free books to children up to 5-years-old in Scott and Rock Island counties.

We have 10,000 children enrolled in the program, Abbott said. That means that 10,000 free books are coming into the Quad-Cities each month for children to read.

Abbott said she is amazed when she walks into kindergarten classes today and see children reading, and getting ready for lifelong education. Kindergarten wasnt like that when I was a child, she said with a chuckle.

But reading is the basic skill that leads to all other learning, she said.

Up until third grade kids are learning to read, Abbott said. From third grade on they are reading to learn.

Jeff Conyers, executive director of The Dollywood Foundation, thanked the United Way for working to get books into the hands of children.

On behalf of Dolly and our team at the foundation, I want to thank you for making a tremendous impact on the lives of children and families in your community, Conyers said.

Parents with children ages 5 or younger may sign up for the program at unitedwayqc.org.

Sponsoring a child to receive books for one year cost $30. Donations can be made at unitedwayqc.org/kidsbooks.
MUSCATINE  During a visit to Muscatine Tuesday morning, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he expects a Supreme Court Justice resignation within the year.

"I would expect a resignation this summer," he said.

An upcoming resignation has been "rumored," he said, but he did not name a justice. The question was posed to him during a question-and-answer session at Kent Corporation headquarters, by Kent employees, National Association of Manufacturers members and elected officials at Kent Corporation headquarters.

A person would likely be nominated from the same list from which recently appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch was chosen, Grassley said, most of whom he said are well-qualified.

"I don't know about racial and ethnic divisions, but there's some very good females on there that would make good Supreme Court Justices as well," he said.

When questioned about the possibility of more resignations, he said it could be possible, but hearings would likely not be held during an election year. When former President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to take the place of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Grassley and other Republicans opposed holding hearings until the election was over.

"If there's a vacancy in the last year of a presidency, people ought to have a voice," he said.

He referred to a speech Joe Biden made in 1992, urging former President George H. W. Bush not to nominate a Justice during a contentious election year, if a seat were to come available.

"I took the same view that Democrats did," Grassley said. "You can be sure the Democrats are going to remind me of that."

Those listening chuckled, and went on to ask Grassley about business regulations. Many of those attending the event were NAM members and asked several questions regarding businesses, trade and regulations.

Grassley said this administration's position has been any time a new regulation is issued, old regulations should be examined to see if they are needed.

"For instance, let's say safety at the plant here, probably was passed by Congress in 1972," he said. "It hasn't been changed a whole lot, but the regulations might go up or down, but they tend to accumulate up and up and up."

Although he said regulators sometimes go beyond what Congress intended, regulations should be based on the intent of Congress when a law is passed.

"You've got to be based on the judgement of the people writing the regulation, or the judgement of the people like me passing the law in the first place," he said.

Grassley was in Muscatine to accept a National Association of Manufacturers Award for Manufacturing Legislative Excellence presented by Gage Kent, the Chairman and CEO of Kent Corporation, who serves on the board of NAM.

"He's always been a friend to manufacturers," Kent said.
DES MOINES  A $1.766 billion health and human services budget adopted Wednesday by the House is less than this year and drops funding for health clinics that also offer abortions, such as Planned Parenthood.

The fiscal 2018 health and human services budget, which covers a vast array of health-related services from help with long-term care to dentistry for children, still must be passed by the Senate.

It passed in the House on a party-line vote of 55 Republicans and 42 Democrats.

Rep. Dave Heaton, R-Mount Pleasant, seemed to express the frustration of every appropriations subcommittee chair while presenting the budget.

This has not been easy, but we have to budget within the funds provided to us by Iowa taxpayers, Heaton said before the House approved House File 653.

He said the smaller budget, brought on by slower revenue growth than expected, will have serious ramifications.

Although the budget called for lower spending than the current one  $28 million after this years midyear de-appropriations are taken into account  the deletion of Planned Parenthood funds was particularly painful for Democrats.

Especially so because the plan calls for turning aside millions in federal funding to do so.

Although the GOP plan allocates $3.3 million in state funds for family planning, Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, said Republicans were leaving $3 million of federal funds on the table by refusing to invest $400,000 over ideological differences.

Patients, not politicians, should decide how and where they receive their medical care, she said. Stop playing politics with the health of Iowans, stop the ideological train and fund the programs that are important to Iowas most vulnerable citizens.

Rep. Lisa Heddens, D-Ames, itemized what she said were the serious ramifications Heaton referred to: the need to protect everyday Iowans by funding testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, general health care, Pap smears and birth control supplies, as well as addressing elder abuse, smoking cessation, obesity and hepatitis.

The $3.4 million she talked about to do that would be just a small smidgen to reallocate funds back to them.

Also Wednesday, the Senate passed three budget bills dealing with infrastructure, economic development and justice and sent them to Gov. Terry Branstad for his consideration:

 HF 643, the infrastructure bill that passed the Senate 42-8, appropriates $98.4 million for fiscal 2018. It includes $73.9 million for Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund, $10 million for the Technology Reinvestment Fund, $12 million for the State Bond Repayments Fund and $760,000 for the Revenue Bond Capitals Fund.

The bill also includes $5.2 million for water quality improvements and $3 million for the Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Grant Program. The bill also directs funds to a long list of agencies and projects.

 Despite misgivings, the Senate accepted House changes before voting 29-21 to send Senate File 509, the justice bill, to the governor.

Im amazed. The House took a bad justice systems and made it worse, said Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, Truly, there is no justice in the justice systems appropriation.

 And the House and Senate both approved the economic development budget, SF 513, to appropriate $38.4 million from the general fund for the Department of Cultural Affairs, Iowa Economic Development Authority, Iowa Finance Authority, Public Employment Relations Board, Iowa Workforce Development and Board of Regents. This is a decrease of $3 million.

A companion bill, HF 654, also appropriates $38.7 million from other funds, an increase of $10.7 million. It passed the House 57-40 and the Senate 31-19.

The House also unanimously approved Senate amendments to a pair of bills  HF 564 and HF 565  to give schools more flexibility and a career and technical education bill, HF 648.

House Appropriations Committee Chair Pat Grassley said Wednesdays work makes him think things are moving along very well  Thats good for this building so we can get this session wrapped up.
In 2017, the Civil Air Patrol wings in the Dakotas celebrate 25 years of holding an annual encampment each summer for their cadets. The first joint encampment was held in North Dakota in 1992 and involved the North Dakota Wing and the South Dakota Wings. It was Hiram Morales, the 1996 encampment commander, who coined the name "Joint Dakota Cadet Leadership Encampment (JDCLE) that has been used ever since.

Since that time the annual joint encampment has been held every year. In even numbered years the encampment is at Camp Grafton, the North Dakota Army National Guard installation near Devils Lake. In odd numbered years the encampment is at the South Dakota Army National Guards Camp Rapid near Rapid City.

Although the JDCLE encampment is primarily for cadets from the two Dakotas oftentimes cadets from CAP wings in nearby states attend. In 2016 there were cadets from five Wings (Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota)

One key aspect of the annual encampment is that it involves senior cadets teaching junior cadets. In addition to the staff of adult officers there is a mirror staff of carefully chosen cadets who are the ones who actually plan and conduct the encampment under the guidance and supervision of the adult officers. Cadets leading and teaching cadets have long been a feature of the JDCLE.

The 2017 Joint Dakota Cadet Leadership Encampment will be held at Camp Rapid Army National Guard Base in Rapid City from 7-16 July. This year the Encampment Commander is Captain Michael Johnson, commander of the South Dakota Wings Rushmore Composite Squadron in Rapid City. Capt. Johnson is believed to be the first African-American officer to command a Joint Dakota Encampment.

In keeping with past practice there will be a first-year course for first-time encampment attendees and an advanced course for those that have been to an encampment before and want to continue to challenge themselves and receive advanced training.

The Encampment Public Affairs staff will maintain the JDCLE Facebook page to keep parents, friends and the public informed on encampment activities. The URL is: www.facebook.com/CAPJDE/.

Former South Dakota Wing Commander Col. Mary Donley, who will soon celebrate her fiftieth year of CAP membership, reminisces; My first encampment in 1968 was at Lowry AFB in Denver. It was a joint encampment with North Dakota, Wyoming and South Carolina! (All males from SC--we didn't mind!) In 1969, we held our encampment at Volk Field, Wisconsin. From then on most encampments from 1970-1974 were held at Ellsworth AFB. It was around 1975 when Col. Merlin VanderMaten was actively working with cadets they held about 3 joint encampments with North Dakota at Camp Grafton, Devil's Lake. I think those were 1975-1977. Then in 1978-1987 most encampments were held at Ellsworth AFB or Camp Rapid -- one though was held at a Boy Scout Camp near Huron, maybe 1983 or 1984. In 1988, when I was Director of Cadet Programs for South Dakota wing, the North Dakota Wing Cadet Program Director Maj. Terry Stanberry contacted me about doing a joint encampment at Camp Grafton so we held it again at Camp Grafton in 1988. In 1989, a young Air Force group arrived at Ellsworth AFB--All former cadets--Liz Sliwinski, Hiram Morales and Chris Gerlach. Liz Sliwinski took charge of coordinating the encampments and we ran the encampments from 1989-1990 at Ellsworth and 1991 at Camp Rapid. The 1991 encampment at Camp Rapid hosted the Minnesota Wing because they had lost the use of Camp Ripley because of the first Gulf War. We had over 200 people at that encampment! Then in 1992 I worked with Mary Lane the North Dakota Wing Cadet Program Director and decided that we would do a joint encampment. Since 1992 we have alternated every other year with North Dakota. In 1996 Lt. Col. Hiram Morales, then stationed at Grand Forks AFB and encampment Commander, came up with the name Joint Dakota Leadership Cadet Encampment. And the rest is history!!

CUTLINE:

Caption: Logo of the 2016 Joint Dakota Cadet Leadership Encampment

The South Dakota Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, with squadrons in Sioux Falls, Brookings, Rapid City, Pierre, Custer and Spearfish has approximately 300 members, seven light aircraft and 17 multi-purpose vehicles. These assets are available to federal, state and county governments, emergency responders and law enforcement agencies to perform search and rescue, homeland security, disaster relief, humanitarian assistance and counter-drug missions. For information visit our wing website at http://sdcap.us, wing Facebook at www.facebook.com/SDWingCAP, wing Twitter at @SDWingCAP and Wing photos on Flickr at https://twiter.com/photos/102270464@N02/sets.

Civil Air Patrol, the longtime all-volunteer U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is the newest member of the Air Forces Total Force, which consists of regular Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, along with Air Force retired military and civilian employees. CAP, in its Total Force role, operates a fleet of 550 aircraft and performs about 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 78 lives annually. Civil Air Patrols 56,000 members nationwide also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. Its members additionally play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 24,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet program. Performing missions for America for the past 75 years, CAP received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2014 in honor of the heroic efforts of its World War II veterans. CAP also participates in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans. Visit www.capvolunteernow.com for more information.
The man who caused a multivehicle crash that injured several people in Rapid City last year was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday.

Andrew Chipps, 25, of Wanblee, received the maximum sentence for one count of vehicular battery, a charge that he had pleaded guilty to in 7th Circuit Court.

Judge Craig Pfeifle also ordered Chipps to pay $149,000 in restitution toward four victims in the crash. The incident occurred at the intersection of Anamosa and Lacrosse streets around 3 p.m. Nov. 21.

Dressed in a red-striped uniform for segregated Pennington County Jail inmates, Chipps told one of the crash victims Thursday that he was a changed man.

Im sorry, Chipps said, turning to face Donato Nuno in the gallery. Im not the same man. I know you had some injuries, and Im very sorry for that.

According to Rapid City police reports, Chipps was fleeing a Highway Patrol trooper on Interstate 90 when he ran a red light at the Anamosa and Lacrosse intersection. He hit an SUV, and the impact created a chain-reaction crash involving three other vehicles. At least five people injured in the crash were immediately taken to the hospital.

Among them was Nuno, a man in his late-40s who suffered a brain injury after his vehicle rolled over, his lawyer told the court. Nuno has not been able to work since and asked for a $119,000 restitution, which the judge granted.

Three of the people injured were Chipps passengers, including two of his relatives.

Chipps had been driving highly intoxicated, with a suspended license and had fled from the crash site, said Deputy States Attorney Koln Fink. He registered a blood alcohol content of .247, more than three times the .08 threshold for drunken driving.

Chipps claimed to have blacked out during certain points in the incident, the prosecutor said, leading to his no-contest plea to authorities report of the crash.

As punishment for the victims financial, physical, mental and emotional suffering, as well as to deter Chipps from similar conduct, Fink asked for the 10-year maximum prison sentence.

Defense lawyer Matthew Skinner asked for less than the maximum.

He said Chipps did not object to the restitution request and emphasized that his client had accepted responsibility for his offense to the best he can recall.

Chipps had been fleeing law enforcement, Skinner said, because he was worried about outstanding arrest warrants. The lawyer admitted that Chipps had a prior felony conviction in Iowa and had failed to attend related court hearings.

Before handing down Chipps sentence, Judge Pfeifle said Chipps was lucky no one got killed in the crash and that he received a favorable plea deal from prosecutors.

Pfeifle expressed concern that Chipps might get involved in a similar incident, citing his decision to drink and drive, and could put other lives at risk. The judge also noted Chipps criminal record and not being able to regularly hold a job.

Chipps will be eligible for parole after serving 35 percent of his sentence. He was given credit for the 150 days he had served in county jail.

He was originally charged with three counts of vehicular battery, as well as aggravated eluding and driving under the influence. The other charges will be dismissed as part of his plea agreement.
Rep. Tim Goodwin of Hill City recently asked a question that has been on the minds of many Black Hills residents. Will the state investigate what is going on at the compound in Pringle led by the brother of convicted sex offender Warren Jeffs?

The Associated Press reported this week that Goodwin wants his fellow lawmakers to investigate the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' compound, a request that was shot down by Mark Mickelson of Sioux Falls, the speaker of the House of Representatives.

"If he thinks we need some laws, beautiful," said Mickelson, who is also chairman of the Legislature's Executive Board. "If he wants us to go investigate, I'm out."

Its interesting to hear that Mickelson is open to considering new laws even as the leadership at the FLDS compound continues to flout them.

According to the Department of Health, no reports of births or deaths have been received from the compound since the sect came to the state 10 years ago even though state law requires they be reported.

Furthermore, a former resident of the 140-acre compound in Custer County estimates there have been at least a dozen births there, which includes two of her daughters who were not allowed to have their births documented. In addition, no one in the state knows if the children there are getting an education.

Custer County Sheriff Rick Wheeler would also like the state to learn more about the super-secretive sect, which has a guard tower at its 140-acre compound.

The compound, one of several owned by the sect, is led by Seth Jeffs, the brother of Warren Jeffs, the FLDS leader and prophet now serving a life sentence in a Texas prison for sexually assaulting two of his child brides. He was arrested in 2011 after law enforcement raided a FLDS compound in Texas. Prior to that, he had been on the FBIs 10 Most Wanted List for arranging marriages between his followers and young girls.

Seth Jeffs, meanwhile, was convicted last year of participating in a multi-million dollar food-stamp fraud case in Utah.

The track record of this sect and how it treats women and girls in particular should offend any sense of decency. Yet South Dakota, which prides itself on its Christian and family values, has chosen to not only look the other way but has enabled the sects presence in the state.

In 2015, the Water Management Board approved a permit to increase water use at the compound even though its attorney would not disclose the number of people who live there and several neighbors opposed the request on the grounds they believed suspicious activities were occurring there. The board voted 5-1 to grant the permit, which is good for 20 years.

Even though the Legislature might not be the appropriate body to investigate why the FLDS doesnt follow state laws, Mickelson could have expressed his concerns about a sect led by a convicted felon and then encouraged Attorney General Marty Jackley or the Department of Health to investigate why births and deaths are not being reported. As Goodwin said, an investigation of the less serious offenses could uncover the types of crimes that put Warren Jeffs in prison.

To continue to do nothing, however, sends the message that state laws dont apply to everyone, which will only encourage others who think they are above the law to come here and do as they please.

We'd rather see Jackley, who is running for governor on a law and order platform, and other state agencies hold this sect to the same standards they expect of other residents.
A man who killed a police officer on the Champs-Elysees Thursday night was known to French security services for radical Islamist activities and had shot and wounded an officer in the past, a source close to the investigation told CNN.

The suspect, who was shot dead by French police, was the subject of a "Fiche S" surveillance file and was on the radar of the French domestic security service DGSI, the source said.

The man was a French national who shot two officers in 2001 after being stopped by a police car, the source said. He was taken into custody but while being questioned grabbed another officer's gun and shot him three times, the source said. He was convicted in that attack and had a criminal record because of involvement in violent robberies, the source said.

The source said French investigators now believe this was in all likelihood a terrorist attack. They believe there was just one attacker, and the danger is likely over, the source said.

ISIS issued a statement saying an Islamic State "fighter" carried out the attack. The ISIS claim comes via a statement released by the group's media wing, Amaq. The ISIS statement said the attacker was a Belgian national and cited "security sources."

CNN could not independently confirm that claim.

Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said he will reveal the shooter's identity on Friday at a news conference. He said officers are searching the man's residence in Chelles, Seine-et-Marne, a Paris suburb, and are trying to determine if he had accomplices.

The shooting has not officially been declared a terrorist act but anti-terrorist forces are leading the investigation, French President Francois Hollande said.

"The people who were present have been evacuated and we are convinced that the leads which point us to this case, and which will allow us to uncover the truth, are of a terrorist nature," he said.

Elections on Sunday

The shooting happened about 9 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET) when a car stopped at 102 Champs-Elysees in front of a police van, Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre Henry Brandet said.

A man emerged from the car and opened fire on the van with an "automatic weapon," killing one officer instantly, he said. The man "then ran away, managing to shoot and wound two other policemen. Other policemen engaged and shot and killed the attacker," Brandet said.

The slain officer was 30 years old, Molin said. One of the wounded officers was critically injured but is improving, he said. Also wounded was a female tourist.

The shooting shut down the famed Champs-Elysees, one of Paris' top tourist attractions and home to the iconic Arc de Triomphe monument. The avenue was clear of residents and tourists but teeming with security officers Thursday night.

It comes three days before French voters start elections for a new president. Candidates went ahead with a debate Thursday night.

France has been in a state of emergency since the 2015 Paris attacks, which left 130 people dead. Parliament voted in December to extend the extraordinary provisions to ensure the protection of upcoming presidential and general elections.

Security has been tight because of the vote. Just two days ago French authorities arrested two men in Marseille who were allegedly planning an attack in a run-up to the election.

At least three underground train stations of the Paris Metro -- the Champs-Elysees-Clemenceau, George V and F. Roosevelt stations -- have been "closed off" near the site of the police operation on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, BFMTV reported.

Trump: 'What can you say?'

Paris resident Daoud Kal, 29, said he was walking in the area near a metro station when he heard four to five shots. He looked around, but couldn't identify where the shots were coming from. People panicked and ran away from the scene and he joined them.

The CNN Paris bureau is on this street and staffers reported hearing a dozen shots. At least 20 police vehicles were seen on the street.

Officers could be seen forcibly removing innocent citizens from the area as they attempted to get them to safety.

President Donald Trump, speaking at a news conference in Washington with the visiting Italian Prime Minister, offered condolences to the people of France after the shooting, saying it "looks like another terrorist attack."

"What can you say? It never ends," the President said.

The Champs-Elysees is a main road lined with restaurants, cafes, exclusive designer boutiques and tourist shops. At one end is the Arc de Triomphe, surrounded by a several-lane-wide roundabout, and the other end stops at the Place de la Concorde, known for its obelisk monument.

The presidential palace, the Elysee, is a few blocks away.

French police tweeted, "Police intervention underway in the area of the #ChampsElysees avoid the sector and follow the instructions of the police forces."

French candidates respond

The US State Department put out a cautionary tweet, saying: "If you're in #Paris, monitor local news. #ChampsElysees has been closed. Authorities are telling people to avoid the area after a shooting."

The shooting comes three days before French general elections and Paris was already in a state of heightened alert. French politicians immediately reacted on social media.

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen tweeted, "My emotions and solidarity for the police, once again targeted."

Conservative French presidential hopeful Francois Fillon tweeted, "Paying homage to police who give their lives to protect ours, #ChampsElysees."

Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve tweeted: "Paying homage to the policeman killed on the champs elysees. Thoughts are with his family. Solidarity with his injured colleagues and those close to them."

Former French President Nicola Sarkozy's tweeted: "To our law enforcement: support, strength, courage. They are paying again a heavy price. Our Nation's tribute must be total NS"

CNN's Pierre Buet in Paris and Julia Jones, Hamdi Alkhshali, Emanuella Grinberg and Nadeem Muaddi in Atlanta contributed to this report.
RAPID CITY - Capt. Jolene Kayser, of Black Hawk, assumed command of the South Dakota Army National Guard's Headquarters and Headquarters Company for the 881st Troop Command, of Sturgis, during a ceremony on Camp Rapid, April 7.

As HHC commander, Kayser will be responsible for all administrative, training and logistical requirements for the more than 35 Soldiers in the unit.

The 881st provides command and control and operational support for the battalion's nearly 230 Soldiers in 10 assigned units and detachments in Rapid City.

"Capt. Kayser is a great officer, highly intelligent, highly motivated," said Lt. Col. Scott Linquist, 881st commander. "I think she is going to be an excellent addition to the 881st."

"Thank you to the battalion leadership for your faith and trust in me for this assignment," Kayser said.

Kayser began her career with the SDARNG in 2004 and received her commission as an intelligence officer in 2010. Since then she has served in a number of assignments to include plans and training officer.

Kayser's first action upon assuming command was to conduct an assumption of responsibility ceremony for the new company senior enlisted member, 1st Sgt. David Maas.

"I have only known 1st Sgt. Maas for a couple of months, and it's been a great experience," said Kayser. "We have great things to come."

Maas has served as a bridge crewman, an aviation electronics mechanic and most recently as operations and logistics director for the 881st.

"I am excited to be your first sergeant and I am looking forward to doing great things with the 881st," said Maas.
BROOKINGS - In light of the dry range conditions forecast for much of central and western South Dakota, cattle producers are encouraged to review their drought management plans.

"Recently released grass production estimates show dry conditions spreading across areas of central and western South Dakota," said Sean Kelly, SDSU Extension Range Management Field Specialist.

The maps Kelly references are updated each month by the South Dakota Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) (Figures 1 and 2).

"The next three months are a critical period for precipitation and grassland production," Kelly explained. "Areas in central South Dakota that were not in drought conditions last year, are experiencing dry conditions right now. Producers depending on grass and forage in those regions, need to pay close attention to precipitation and grass conditions and make sure a drought plan with management actions is in place to reduce stocking rates if dry conditions persist."

Kelly encouraged those cattle and forage producers entering their second season of drought conditions to continue with management actions taken last season and make necessary adjustments to this year's drought plan if dry conditions persist.

To help with developing a drought management plan for the 2017 grazing season, Kelly outlines tools cattle producers and range managers can reference.

South Dakota Drought Tool

This is an excellent place to start if your ranch does not have a drought plan in place (Figure 3).

The drought tool is an easy-to-use tool that Kelly said gives a ranch manager an estimate of precipitation records and projected forage production for the area of South Dakota their ranch lies on.

"If a ranch has its own precipitation records, a manager can input them into the drought tool for a more accurate assessment for their ranch," Kelly said.

Trigger Dates

Trigger dates are also vitally important for an effective drought plan (Figure 4).

The first trigger date is based on growing conditions from the previous year.

"For example, much of western South Dakota was experiencing drought conditions last year (Figure 5), therefore average precipitation will not be enough to recharge soil moisture this year," Kelly explained. "Above normal rainfall will be needed to bring that soil moisture back to normal. So many ranchers affected by drought last year are already implementing management actions for this year such as adjusting stocking rates and culling cows."

Kelly added that cattle producers in central South Dakota who had normal precipitation last year need to keep a very close eye on precipitation and grass conditions for the rest of this spring. "Producers in these areas need to have a drought management action plan in place if dry conditions persist and a reduction in livestock numbers is needed," Kelly said.

April 15 is second trigger date

"The second important trigger date is around April 15," Kelly said. "Up to this date we can assess how much dormant season moisture we received from October thru March and we can assess the precipitation forecast estimates for the rest of the spring."

To further explain this point, Kelly quotes Roger Gates, former SDSU Extension Rangeland Management Specialist. "In the Northern Plains, where rangelands are dominated by cool-season grasses, spring precipitation - April, May and June - the best single predictor of vegetation production for the entire growing season," Gates said. "By mid-April climate prediction models for spring rainfall are correct more often than not. If rainfall forecast predictions are below normal for the next three months reductions in livestock numbers should be made."

"This reinforces the fact that cattle operations in areas with normal precipitation last year, do need to start thinking about how they can reduce their livestock numbers and have a plan in place, if the precipitation outlook for the rest of this spring is below normal," Kelly said.

May 15 is third trigger date: Roughly May 15 is another trigger date Kelly encouraged cattle and forage producers to be aware of. "If conditions are still dry by May 15, it becomes increasingly difficult to get enough precipitation to maintain average soil moisture for the remainder of the growing season. Further reduction in livestock numbers may need to happen," he said.

Precipitation Reassessment: Research shows that by July 1, 75 percent to 90 percent of vegetation growth is complete - making reassessment of precipitation and moisture conditions should be done again around June 15.

"If dry conditions persist, more management actions will need to be implemented," Kelly said.
HELENA  Seven Montana brewers and distillers, including Lewis and Clark Brewing and Gulch Distillers in Helena, are considering exporting their products to Japan after attending a trade show in Tokyo last week.

While no Montana businesses have exported alcohol to Japan yet, the Montana Department of Commerce said an existing trade relationship and Japans growing affinity for craft beer and spirits creates an opportunity for the state. Japan was Montanas sixth largest trading partner in 2016, Daniel Iverson, DOC communications manager, said.

Iverson said Montana already has a trade office in Japan with one full-time contractor. Montana also has a sister-state relationship with Kumamoto.

The Office of Trade and International Relations at the DOC used funds from a federal trade assistance program to pay for the trade show and provide a travel stipend. Iverson said they invited every business in the sector to attend the trade show, and seven businesses were interested and could realistically export their product in the near future.

The trade show lasted from April 12-14. All seven businesses had separate booths, but were grouped together with branded imagery to promote Montana. Iverson said the trade show has a secondary goal of attracting tourists to Montana.

Lewis and Clark Brewing was the only brewery from Montana to attend the trade show. Owner Max Pigman said he already has his own connection to Japan after living there in the late 80s while in the U.S. Air Force. He learned a bit of the language and appreciates the culture, he said.

In addition to a personal connection, he said Japan has an appreciation for craft beer and distilled spirits.

With a major expansion underway, the brewery is already prepared to increase its capacity and export to Japan. Lewis and Clark was founded in 2002 by Pigman and has grown rapidly since then. Pigman said theres a chance he could be exporting out of the country before he distributes out of state.

Our number one goal is to become the number one Montana craft beer, but we will have additional capacity, he said. Craft beer is really on a high growth mode in Japan as well.

Pigman said Lewis and Clark would have to alter its label requirements to export in Japan and adhere to different regulations.

We kind of planned that when we built the new setup to have some flexibility in that regard, he said. We could ramp this up and do this fairly quickly if we decided it makes good business sense.

Lewis and Clark could realistically start exporting late this summer or early fall, Pigman said. The brewery has plans to build a loading dock right near the railroad. Refrigerated rail cars would carry beer to Seattle, which would be transferred onto a ship for a 12 to 14 day trip to Japan.

Gulch Distillers also attended the trade show in Tokyo and is also considering exporting to New York and Colorado. Co-owner Tyrrell Hibbard said his partner Steffen Rasile was already planning a trip to visit his wife's sister in Japan. He decided to attend the trade show to see if Japan has a good market for expansion.

"We dont know if its going to work out. Ill find out more once they get back," Hibbard said. "But were just exploring opportunities."

He said the potential to export outside of Montana could be limited by space.

"We have the ability to grow where we are, but we will be limited by our space before we are limited by the license," he said.

Gulch Distillers recently won a silver medal at the American Distilling Institute's Judging of Craft Spirits competition for its Burrone Fernet, an herbal liqueur. It's distilled from a base of Montana grains and herbs and spices including chamomile, myrrh, rhubarb, saffron and mint. Burrone comes from the Italian word for gulch.

Hibbard said the award-winning Fernet is one of the most unique products they distill and would likely have the most interest in Japan.

Other Montana businesses that attended include Headframe Spirits in Butte, Bozeman Spirits and Montana Malting and Wildrye Distilling in Bozeman and Whistling Andy Distilling in Bigfork.
HELENA  The Montana Senate has unanimously approved the nomination of a Miami probation officer to lead Montana's Department of Corrections, as the state tackles prison overcrowding, reducing the number of repeat offenders and exploring how to deal with the myriad challenges faced by Montana's criminal justice system.

Gov. Steve Bullock said he was impressed with the career and qualifications of his appointee, Reginald Michael, who most recently oversaw the country's fourth largest U.S. probation agency.

About an hour before the Senate confirmed him Wednesday, Michael appeared before a mostly friendly Senate Judiciary Committee, which advanced his nomination.

He told lawmakers he would be interested in exploring partnerships with businesses but said he would "have concerns about privatizing the entire criminal justice system."

When asked by one lawmaker to recount what led him to a career in criminal justice, Michael, who is black and grew up in Louisiana and near New York City, described a childhood that reflected some of the racial tensions that still exist between people of color and authorities.

He said he never ran afoul of the law, but was sometimes targeted by law enforcement, he said, possibly because of his race. Because of those experiences, he said, he was motivated to enter law enforcement "to stop that from happening."

"My experience as a young man with racism was not comfortable," he said after the hearing. "It's not something I appreciated, but it occurred," Michael said.

Michael, 53, will oversee the state's prisons, youth correctional facilities and probation services. He will supervise about 1,300 employees and a correctional system that engages with 16,000 people each year and has an annual budget of about $200 million.

He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Mike Batista at the end of last year.

Bullock picked Michael from among three finalists winnowed from a pool of applicants from across the country.

"The Governor's Office sought qualified applicants from across the nation to fill this position with a goal of leading and improving services and support of Montana's corrections system," said Ronja Abel, Bullock's spokeswoman.

Michael, who has spent 30 years working in criminal justice, said he was no stranger to Montana. He's made frequent trips to the state, both in his role as a probation administrator and to visit with friends, some of whom vouched for him during his confirmation hearings with the Senate committee.

"One of the draws for me has been an appreciation for the people of this state," Michael said.
How much can you afford to pay to interview a job applicant?

If you are a small Montana business owner, have you ever paid to interview a potential job applicant? And even more bizarre during the interview the applicants acquaintance rather than the applicant did most of the talking? Montana is about to hire a new congressman. You get to pay $35 to $2700 for this job interview if you would like to attend Greg Gianfortes upcoming Hamilton campaign event featuring Donald Trump Jr.

Gianforte spent $6 million running for governor and the son of a man that spent $957.6 million getting elected as president welcomes Ravalli residents with an average mean per capita income of $17,935 to attend for $35.

Not attend and donate what you can afford, listen and learn about the candidate but rather pay at the door to help finance their participation in our democracy. A government system they already control.

As a Ravalli county resident you have to pay to play even before the election. Will you have enough money after the election to continue having your voice heard?

Gianforte made his billions developing software which enables global corporations to outsource jobs overseas not employ more Montanans. His Bozeman location enabled relatively low employee wages due to the quality of life offered by Montanas great outdoors.

He rewarded Montana by suing the state to prevent public fishing access near his home. Like Montana copper kings of old, this modern Montana computer king is using his wealth and influence to expand corporate control of our government while buying a trophy job for himself.

Being a retired small business owner Ive had to hire my share of less than perfect employees due to shortages of time and available quality new hires.

In such a case I screened for an upbeat positive attitude and trained for skills. You can not retrain a bad attitude. Rob Quist is not perfect. Yet he has lived the Montana experience. He will protect our public lands while fighting corporate government control. In addition Rob will listen to the small Montana donor who gave what they could at the door rather than paid admission to finance and advance the goals of billionaires beholding to no one because they can afford it. Vote for Rob Quist.

 Archie L Thomas, Corvallis
KATHMANDU, April 20: The Ministry of Industry has unveiled an ambitious plan with the promise of attracting foreign investment in domestic industrial sector and thus creating employment opportunities for one million people within the next 10 years.

The Ministry unveiled this plan in a meeting with the representatives of various diplomatic missions here today as it seeks to create employment opportunities at home and make youths stay at home by addressing their needs for job opportunities within the next 10 years.

On the occasion, Industry Minister Nabindra Raj Joshi said the plan aimed to set up at least one industry at a local level within a decade.

Nepal has guaranteed the investment-friendly atmosphere with the promulgation of the new constitution and on this backdrop we called on all our international friends to invest here and take benefit of it.

"The Government of Nepal is committed to formulating business policies convenient to the investors."

Ambassadors from Japan, Finland, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, the US, EU and representatives from the UNDP and SAARC were present in the meeting.

They urged the Nepal Government to simplify the process of acquiring land for setting up industries and relieve them of going through a tardy process to invest in Nepal, according to Spokesperson for the Ministry Purushottam Nepal.

Representatives from 16 diplomatic missions were present in the meeting and they pledged their support and cooperation to increase investment in Nepal, he added.

It is noted that the Ministry on March 5-6 had organised an Investment Conference with a view to bringing more investment into the country. On the occasion, foreign investors pledged investments of Rs 140 billion in Nepal. RSS
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed on Tuesday that the two countries need to persuade China to play a larger role in dealing with North Korea, a Japanese government spokesman said.

The two confirmed during a working lunch that China's role was important in dealing with North Korea, and they needed to work on China to take on a bigger role, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda told reporters.

North Korea has conducted a series of ballistic missile launches in recent months in defiance of U.N. sanctions and concerns have been growing that the reclusive state could soon conduct a sixth nuclear test.

With a U.S. aircraft carrier group steaming to the area in a show of force, fears of a confrontation have been rising.
KATHMANDU, April 20: The Election Commission (EC) has urged the political parties contesting the May 14 local level elections to ensure women's candidacy in all posts.

"I in person request all political parties and their leaders to ensure women candidacy in all posts as far as possible," said Chief EC Commissioner Dr Ayodhi Prasad Yadav.

All people want a type of rural municipality and municipality led by women, said Dr Yadav while speaking at a program on the topic of 'strengthening women's leadership and representation' organized here today by the Commission with the financial aid from the United Nations Development Program.

He also informed that the EC has prioritized deploying as many as women government employees for the polls.

"The printing of ballot papers for all districts where the polls will take place will be complete until today's evening. Printing voter's lists and identity cards has been completed. All election-related materials have been transported to respective districts," he said.

The new constitution has made it compulsory to ensure 40 percent representation in local level pollsan increment from 33 percent in the erstwhile two Constituent Assembly elections. Likewise, a provision says that a woman should take up the post of chief and deputy chief at local bodies.

Meanwhile on the occasion, Speaker Onsari Gharti viewed that the local polls are needed to enforce the constitution that she said has accommodated women's greater say. "I want to urge all to make this great campaign of the polls a success," she said.

Also, Secretary of the Commission Gopi Nath Mainali expressed hope that the elections would contain women's representation and leadership at the same time.

Other participants including Chairperson of Inter-Party Women's Alliance Pratibha Rana and coordinator of the common campaign for women's participation in the polls Durga Ghimire stressed the need for ensuring as much representation of women as in the polls. The two-day was participated by women leaders of political parties from all districts across the country. RSS
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The Times of India

In the 60-odd years since the foundation of the Indian National Congress in 1885 till Independence in 1947, numerous Indians were hanged, shot, imprisoned or transported for life to the Andamans. All of them gave up their lives or suffered untold hardships for cow protection, if Union minister Nirmala Sitharamanas words in Parliamentathat cow protection was the spirit of the Freedom Movementaare taken at face value.

Historians are aghast at this casual, almost matter-of-fact statement by the BJP minister. aI cannot think of anything more distant from nationalist politics than this,a says Professor Dilip Menon of Witwatersrand University, South Africa.

Dr Benjamin Zachariah of Trier University, Germany, believes this claim is a farcical one. aCow protection didnat get the British to redeploy troops. No effective anti-colonial activist fought the British with cow dung. What is this spirit of cow protection supposed to be? And if it were true that cows drove the British out of India in some mystical way, who do the cow protectors think are the relevant enemy to drive away?a Zachariah says sarcastically.

So what was the spirit that guided the anti-colonial movement in India? aPolitical freedom, social equality and cultural diversity. Cow protection was neither a demand of the Swadeshi (1905) nor the Khilafat and Non Cooperation Movement (1920). It played no role in Civil Disobedience (1930) or the Quit India movements (1942). It was absent from the INA and the Naval Mutiny of 1946.

Cow protection was also absent from the great revolutionary movements like the Ghadar and HSRA (Bhagat Singh and comrades). It finds no mention in the 1857 Revolt. In fact, this communal issue played no role in any secular anti-imperialist movement in India,a says Professor Anirudh Deshpande of Delhi University.

Professor Gyanendra Pandey argues in his book aThe Construction of Communalism In Colonial North Indiaa that both nationalism and communalism rose together in colonial India. And the cow was a rallying cause for the Hindus.

aCow protection gained salience in the communal mobilization organised first by the Arya Samaj in the 1880s. Later, it became a staple of Hindu nationalist politics in the 20th century,a Deshpande says.

The Cow Protection Movement helmed by the Arya Samaj with the Kukas in Punjab established Gau Rakshini sabhas or acow protection councilsa in villages and urban areas. The first such sabha was started by the Kukas in Punjab.

aThe movement then speared to the United Provinces and helped consolidate the backward castes, the Ahirs in particular, against the Muslims. However, it was only in UP that cow protection underlay nationalist politics. It came to be wrapped into the emerging politics of Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan and represented the communalisation of Hindu politics,a Professor Menon says.

Nagpur in the then Central Provinces was a key centre, some would argue the de facto headquarters, of the Cow Protection Movement. The RSS was still several decades away.

Swami Dayanand Saraswati, considered to be the earliest mover of this kind of politics, even started a signature campaign in support of Gau Raksha. He petitioned Queen Victoria and said the people of India, including a18 crore Muslimsa , wanted the cow to be protected from slaughter.

Everyone, including the then aHindi intelligentsiaa and the vernacular press, pitched in. Apocryphal reports were published or circulated, sometimes in the name of the Rana of Nepal, sometimes in the name of the Maharaja of Darbhanga and so onajust like the WhatsApp forwards of today.

Pandey also argues in another work, aRallying Round The Cow: Sectarian Strife in the Bhojpuri Region, 1888-1917a in aSubaltern Studies: Volume IIa, that the Gau Rakshini sabhas had as members/volunteers teachers, lawyers, clerks and even officials connect the towns to the countryside in this movement. aStrengthening their effort,a he says, aoften goading them into action was a motley crew of swamis, sanyasis and fakirs.a

The Muslim was often described as agau rakshasa (cow demon) in the reports of the time, the enemy of the agau rakshaka (cow protector, the good guys). And what was interesting, Hindu groups petitioned the government to stop cow slaughter, saying that both Mughal Emperor Akbar and the Nawab Wazirs of Oudh had stopped the practice considering the cow to be a sacred animal.

However, the movement and the hate, both gathered steam with time. And after a decade of such politics of hatred, mass communal riots broke out across the country in 1893. Bombay, Junagarh, North Western Provinces, Oudh, Azamgarh, Bihar and even Rangoon saw riots in which over 100 people were killed.

An alarmed Viceroy, Lord Lansdowne, wrote that the Cow Protection Movement was transforming the Indian National Congress afrom a foolish debating society into a real political power, backed by the most dangerous elements of native societya .

The Congress, though, was wrongly credited for this, historians argue, as there were few Congress leaders in all this.

The movement subsided after 1893, though it didnat extinguish completely. aThe excesses of 1893 produced a sense of shame among some of the Hindu leaders and led at the same time to increased government efforts to bring about agreements between the representatives of local Hindus and Muslims,a Pandey says in Subaltern Studies.

The movement faded as the secular anti-colonial movement rose with its own definition of an inclusive nationalism. Indian National Congress helmed it and nurtured it, and with time, this movement became the real threat to the existence of the British Raj.

aItas probably more relevant to say that while some people were busy protecting cows, other people were participating in the struggle for national liberation,a Zachariah says.
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After five weeks on the run, a Tennessee teacher who kidnapped and fled with a 15-year-old student has been arrested in California, authorities said Thursday.
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Virginia Colwell

Art is not necessarily a thing, Jeanette Hart-Mann began. We sat looking out toward the cubed concrete buildings of UNM's campus from above on a sun-bleached late afternoon. Hart-Mann is the Field Director of the Land Arts of the American West program at UNM, which makes her perspective on that meta-question, What is art? fascinatingbroad while particular; inclusive and intelligent. Art isn't tangible in and of itself even though we call a painting art, she continued. [Art] is the ripple it makes in the world. The way it changes the way we think, the way it changes the way we see the world around us. It's a conduit. It's an active thing. To create those ripples is part of the ambition of the upcoming Decolonizing Nature conference, presented by UNM, in partnership with a host of others, including the National Hispanic Cultural Center, 516 ARTS and Los Jardines Institute. At the conference, Hart-Mann will moderate a panel of artists, scientists and thinkers on the topic Water is Life.

What is vital about the upcoming conference is that it is not relegated to a single institutionneither the arts nor the philosophizing of academia, nor the critical eye of the sciences. It brings together thinkers and practitioners in a great many disciplines to broach a very broad and multifaceted concept. The arts, do, however, provide a particular and important lens with which to view these topics. Like art itself, this conference does not exist in a vacuum, and one of the different modes in which the conference is manifesting is in tandem with an exhibition of the same name at 516 ARTS, curated by Chloe Courtney and Lara Esther Goldmann. The show will include works by the likes of Guatemalan artist Sandra Monterroso, a Mexico City-based collective made up of Carlos Maravilla Santos and Ehecatl Morales-Valdelamar, and the ephemeral work of local Basia Irland, who will also participate in the Water is Life panel. Courtney and Goldmann explained their belief in the potential of the exhibition; that art can create a platform for provoking questions that do not so much elicit specific answers as they prompt us to challenge our ways of understanding. Further, the artists represented in this exhibition speak to the history of resistance and decolonial thinking in the arts world for the past 30 years. This history continues to influence present conversations regarding ecology and sustainability.

The intersection of art and those concepts of ecology and sustainability is a big point of discussion in panels across the conferencewhich will happen over the course of five days at UNM, the NHCC, 516 ARTS and Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge. One of the reasons that Hart-Mann believes that the conference's organizer, Subhankar Banerjee, chose to emphasize the role of the arts at the conference to such an extent is because sometimes these things are really difficult to talk about, sometimes we need other ways to express and explore and illuminate some of our limits of knowledge around them. I think art can do that in really dynamic ways, she explained. Where language doesn't work, art does in some ways. Dovetailing with that thought, Courtney and Goldmann said of the role of art in this conference, The strength of art lies in the possibility of its poetry to change our ways of perceiving and thinking.

Sandra Monterroso

Hart-Mann points out that what is most essential about the participants in the conference is that, regardless of the medium they work in, all are grounded in practice. Art and ecology todaythose projects, those conversationsthey don't just exist in the gallery. Its not in these institutionalized contexts. People are interested in how they get back out into the world, she said. To that end, she points out that those on the panel she will moderateBasia Irland, John Fleck and Perry Charleyare all actively working on issues relating to water ecology in their communities whether through art, literature or science. That's what is rare and inspiring about this conference, they're not just theorizing at the university and writing glorious papers, as Hart-Mann put it, they are out there doing something about it. And their work provides a framework for others to conceptualize how they, too, can apply their passions to these complex problems.

These issues can largely be distilled down to something rather simplethe construct between nature and culture. As Hart-Mann described, We are still in a place where we objectify nature as other, and we remove it from life. In a way, that also allows us the moral and ethical position to exploit it, destroy it, to use it for our own whims and rationale. In the effect of doing that, we do that to ourselves, too. In part, the effects of this construct are mitigated by addressing them in a multitude of languagesthrough art, through science, through reading and through the dialogue itselfso that we can get to work, as artists, as community members, as intellectuals, as Hart-Mann catalogued, as beings of Earth.

The Decolonizing Nature conference will take place between Tuesday, April 18, and Saturday, April 22. Program details and registration are available online at decolonizingnature. unm. edu.
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At about 15 minutes into Ben Wheatleys sixth feature film Free Fire, it becomes pretty clear we're probably not leaving this room anytime soon. But that is totally cool.

This bold storytelling gambit works because Wheatley and his collaborators (notably co-screenwriter/editor Amy Jump) have finely crafted the drama to continually up the ante, revealing just enough about who these characters are and what they're really up to. Oh and there are a shit ton of guns, too.

It doesnt take particularly long to figure out the plot. A wily cast of characters show up for an arms deal. They're led by Cillian Murphy on one side (the buyers) and Sharlto Copley on the other (the sellers).

Brie Larson and Armie Hammer are there as well as facilitators, though it's not entirely clear whose side they're on (or if they're on each others side). Then there are the henchmen. Each side has a handful of hapless knuckleheads including, notably, Michael Smiley and Sam Riley.

While proceedings are appropriately tense, they seem to be going relatively well. That is until two of the aforementioned knuckleheads realize they have an unsettled beef. Fisticuffs ensue and since this is an arms deal, after all, eventually people start firing. What follows is a feature length version of that scene in every action film where people crouch behind cars and walls trying to get a shot or six off before they themselves take a bullet.

In lesser hands this would run the risk of getting stale quickly. But Wheatley masterfully weaves comedy and plot through his 85-minute runtime to keep the audience entertained and engaged. Theres certainly no shortage of violence either. While it skews towards the comical as opposed to the gruesome, this is not the type of shoot 'em up where someone takes a bullet to the leg and is up running and jumping a few minutes later.

None of this would work without expert actors and the performances are excellent across the board. This is quite possibly Sharlto Copleys best role yet as the way-off kilter South African gun smuggler. Armie Hammer also shines with nonchalant pot smoking and wise cracking throughout the firefight.

While Wheatleys films have run the gamut of genres and storytelling styles, he has shown a consistent ability to paint rich anti-hero characters that you somehow simultaneously root for and against. The magic of Free Fire is that instead of siding with just one of the characters or groups of characters, you end up rooting for general mayhem instead. That's a fantastic thing considering this awesome movie is pretty much mayhem from beginning to end.

Review originally published during the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2016. The film opens across the U.S. on Friday, April 21, via A24 Films.
I am not sure how much of the trailer for Sophia Coppolas new film, The Beguiled, constitues as spoiler or not. I have never read Thomas P. Cullinans novel, "A Painted Devil," nor have I seen the Don Siegel/Clint Eastwood 1971 version of the film.

But I am guessing the marketing department figures with the existence of these other properties, they might as well sell the turn to get butts in seats.

Either way, I am always interested in these kinds of stories, the kind set in such self-contained worlds of a boarding school or orphanage -- fine examples include Picnic At Hanging Rock, If, Cracks, Melody, or The Devils Backbone.

Sophia Coppola has assembled a compelling and talented cast including Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell, Elle Fanning, Kristen Dunst. She offers a highly stylized and sexualized Civil War pressure cooker, as a wounded soldier takes refuge in an all-girls boarding school and bad things happen.

The Beguiled will be in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Hopefully it will get booed, because, as everyone knows, the films that get booed at Cannes are the ones that end up being pretty amazing. Coppola herself would know, because her own Marie Antoinette (an superb bit of contemporary film-making styles applied to a historically themed period piece) was rejected by the Cannes intelligentsia, but went on to be great, in spite of it.
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 Is it really a big deal and a big problem that there are for now so many DOJ vacancies? | Main | Highlighting books that suggest how the "age of mass incarceration may actually be abating" 

April 19, 2017

After Monday stays, Arkansas officials seemingly on path to complete next pair of scheduled executions... OR NOT, as updated below....

As reported in this new AP piece, "two Arkansas inmates set to die this week in a double execution filed more legal challenges Wednesday, but so far the pair is hitting roadblocks as a judge weighs a new attempt to prevent the state from using one of its lethal injection drugs in what would be the state's first executions in nearly a dozen years." Here is more about the continuing litigation as the next set of execution dates approach:

Unless a court steps in, Ledell Lee and Stacey Johnson are set for execution Thursday night, and state prison officials have already moved them from death row to the nearby prison that houses the death chamber. It's the second time this week that Arkansas has moved forward with what originally had been a plan to execute eight men before April 30, when its supply of the drug midazolam expires. On Monday, the Arkansas Supreme Court blocked the executions of two men set to die that night. A third man has received a stay from a federal judge over issues with his clemency schedule. Five inmates still face execution over the next two weeks, and they've filed a series of court challenges in hopes of stopping that. The latest request, filed Wednesday, asks the U.S. Supreme Court to take the inmates' case that challenges the use of midazolam, a sedative used in flawed executions in other states. It's one of three drugs Arkansas plans to use in its executions. In 2015, justices upheld Oklahoma's execution protocol that used the same drug. "As pharmaceutical companies become increasingly resistant to allowing their products to be used in executions, states are likely to continue experimenting with new drugs and drug combinations, and death-row prisoners may challenge these new protocols as violating their constitutional rights," the filing before the U.S. Supreme Court said. The Arkansas attorney general's office countered in a court filing Wednesday that the inmates' request was a last-minute effort to "manipulate the judicial process."... Another case that could trip up Arkansas' plan was filed Tuesday by the medical supplier McKesson Corp., which says it sold the drug vecuronium bromide to the Arkansas Department of Correction for inmate medical care, not executions. The company sued to stop Arkansas from using the drug in the planned lethal injections, and a hearing over that issue was underway in Little Rock on Wednesday afternoon. A state prison official testified that he deliberately ordered the drug last year in a way that there wouldn't be a paper trail, relying on phone calls and text messages. Arkansas Department of Correction Deputy Director Rory Griffin said he didn't keep records of the texts, but McKesson salesman Tim Jenkins did. In text messages from Jenkins' phone, which came up at Wednesday's court hearing, there is no mention that the drug would be used in executions. Lee and Johnson both faced setbacks Tuesday in their quest to get more DNA tests on evidence in hopes of proving their innocence. Lee claims tests of blood and hair evidence that could prove he didn't beat 26-year-old Debra Reese to death during a 1993 robbery in Jacksonville. Johnson claims that advanced DNA techniques could show that he didn't kill Carol Heath, a 25-year-old mother of two, in 1993 at her southwest Arkansas apartment.... "It is understandable that the inmates are taking every step possible to avoid the sentence of the jury; however, it is the court's responsibility to administer justice and bring conclusion to litigation," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Tuesday in an emailed statement. "It is that process that we are seeing played out day by day, and we expect it to continue."

UPDATE: This new Washington Post article, headlined "Arkansas courts stay execution, block state from using lethal injection drug," reports on why I reported too soon on the latest execution plans in Arkansas. Here are the latest details:

Arkansas courts on Wednesday dealt another pair of blows to the states plans to resume executions Thursday night, the latest in a series of legal rulings imperiling the scheduled flurry of lethal injections. In one case, a state court halted an execution scheduled for Thursday night, while a state judge separately barred the use of a lethal injection drug, potentially blocking all of the planned executions. The rulings come as Arkansas, seeking to carry out its first executions since 2005, has become the epicenter of capital punishment in the United States because of its frantic schedule. Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) originally scheduled eight executions in 11 days, an unprecedented pace, which drew national scrutiny and criticism.... After the first planned executions were halted, Arkansas officials pointed to legal victories they won the same day and vowed to press on with them, beginning with two scheduled for Thursday night. There are five scheduled executions remaining with nothing preventing them from occurring, but I will continue to respond to any and all legal challenges brought by the prisoners, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge (R) said in a statement after the U.S. Supreme Court denied her request to allow one execution to proceed Monday. The families have waited far too long to see justice, and I will continue to make that a priority. Challenges to the executions are not only being brought by the inmates. McKesson, the countrys largest drug distributor, said a court on Wednesday granted its request for a temporary restraining order keeping Arkansas from using a drug the company says was obtained under false pretenses. The judge issued a verbal order from the bench, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; no injunction was filed in court records by early Wednesday night. A spokesman for Rutledge did not immediately have a comment on this order, but it is expected that she would appeal to the state Supreme Court.... The Arkansas Supreme Court also stopped one specific execution set for Thursday, saying just over 24 hours before it was scheduled to occur that it was staying it without explanation. In its order, the state Supreme Court narrowly blocked the execution of Stacey E. Johnson, 47, who has been on death row since 1994. The court said Johnson should be allowed to press on with his motion for post-conviction DNA testing. Johnson was sentenced to death for the murder of Carol Jean Heath, a woman brutally killed in her home. Three justices dissented from the decision, with all three joining in a dissent saying the stay in this case gives uncertainty to any case ever truly being final in the Arkansas Supreme Court.... Johnson is one of two inmates facing execution Thursday night. The other, Ledell Lee, has appealed his execution, arguing that he has an intellectual disability and seeking to prove his innocence. Both men are also among a group of death-row inmates who have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the executions, one of several legal battles being waged between the state and the inmates.

April 19, 2017 at 06:12 PM | Permalink

Comments

The same 4 justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court has issued a stay for Johnson. It seems the majority on that court will delay any execution for whatever reason.



Posted by: DaveP | Apr 19, 2017 7:47:20 PM

McKesson has zero legal standing.

Posted by: David Behar | Apr 19, 2017 10:09:06 PM

We discussed the European death penalty, called, suicide, by left wing phonies. The wrongful death suit will be far cheaper than death penalty appellate costs.

http://davidbeharmdejd.blogspot.com/2017/03/i-now-support-abolition-of-death.html

Massachusetts likes to imitate Europe.

Here we go.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/aaron-hernandezs-lawyer-insinuates-that-clients-death-may-not-have-been-suicide/

Arkansas, please, take note. End the drama. End the death penalty, and go European, as Massachusetts has.

Posted by: David Behar | Apr 20, 2017 7:22:27 AM

DaveP--then it is time for the governor/AG to criticize these criminal coddling judges in the harshest possible terms. Let them feel the wrath of the public.

Posted by: federalist | Apr 20, 2017 11:37:10 AM

Justices Wynne, Danielson and Hart are anti death penalty. They were the 3 justice minority last June when the LI

statute was upheld. The author of the

majority opinion favoring the state, Courtney Hudson Goodson has voted to stay every execution so far. A deeply divided court to say the least.



Posted by: DaveP | Apr 20, 2017 12:06:52 PM

The justices were also elected by the public. Perhaps, many voters are generally aware of their overall leanings here, reflecting the deep divided nature of the community at large -- one where a middle third or so support the death penalty but quite warily.

Anyway, now we are going after state judges for "coddling criminals" (aka deciding things in the "wrong way" ... cf. how many here respond when judges protect sexual offenders in various cases). Of course, that's a way to go. But, the public did elect the judges.

Posted by: Joe | Apr 20, 2017 4:10:19 PM

Yes, Joe they did, and this is why you call them out. Apparently, Joe, you like to live in a world where the Scalias of the world get savaged in the press (remember the BS Dick Cheney recusal nonsense) and where the press and pols mischaracterizes Lily Ledbetter, but god forbid sauce for the goose gets served.

Posted by: federalist | Apr 20, 2017 5:06:02 PM

No, I'm open to all sides being critiqued, and I won't toss in my opinion on specific cases while saying such basic principles here.

The point holds. The judges were elected by the public, who like them, are greatly split on these questions. Also, you repeatedly criticize federal judges for not respecting state actors appropriately. Now, it's state judges.

At some point, just seems you disagree, and toss out 'coddling' etc. for emotional effect.

Posted by: Joe | Apr 21, 2017 2:44:25 PM

Post a comment
 After Monday stays, Arkansas officials seemingly on path to complete next pair of scheduled executions... OR NOT, as updated below.... | Main | Brennan Center releases report on "Criminal Justice in President Trump's First 100 Days" 

April 19, 2017

Highlighting books that suggest how the "age of mass incarceration may actually be abating"

The quoted portion of the title of this post from the headline of this new piece by Chuck Lane in the Washington Post. The piece serves as a kind of mini-review of the two most important recent books on mass incarceration, John Pfaff's "Locked In" and James Forman's "Locking Up Our Own". Here are excerpts:

Locking Up Our Own, a remarkable new book by Yale Law School professor and former D.C. public defender James Forman Jr., tells the poignant but neglected story of how newly enfranchised black communities coped with this dilemma as a crime wave swept through urban America in the 1980s and 1990s, driving the murder victimization rate among blacks to an astonishing high of 39.4 per 100,000 population in 1991. African American mayors, police and prosecutors responded to the pleas of beleaguered constituents with rhetoric, and policy, that were no less tough on crime than that of their white counterparts. Black leaders often framed crime-fighting as an issue of salvaging the civil rights revolution. What would Dr. King say? about the violence plaguing predominantly black cities, they would ask rhetorically  and then crack down on mostly youthful offenders, which inevitably involved locking up our own.... This was an era, Forman reminds us, during which activist-attorney Johnnie Cochran regularly attended rallies against drug dealing in Los Angeles, calling for PCP dealers to be punished harshly, and Eric Holder, then the Districts top prosecutor, supported aggressive, often pretextual police stops and searches of cars in predominantly black sections of the city, in a desperate effort to get guns off the street.... He adds historical nuance to the story of mass incarceration told in Ohio State University law professor Michelle Alexanders influential 2010 book The New Jim Crow. This makes Formans book the second important corrective this year to Alexanders. The first, Locked In by Fordham University law professor John Pfaff, deployed statistical evidence to show that the United States highest-in-the-industrialized world incarceration rate did not result from the war on drugs, contrary to a theme of Alexanders book that has been repeated so often Pfaff dubs it the Standard Story. Even if everyone in state and federal prison on a drug conviction were released tomorrow, the U.S. incarceration rate would still be about quadruple what it was in 1970. That is because, Pfaff demonstrates, most people in prison are there for violent crimes such as homicide or aggravated assault. Punishment for these offenses drove incarceration rates higher, Pfaff shows, but not, as is often supposed, because of laws imposing harsh mandatory- minimum sentences. The key factor was discretionary prosecutorial decisions; at least from the early 1990s on, prosecutors in the nations 3,000-plus counties charged arrestees with felonies at a higher rate even as the crime rate itself declined. Ultimately, more punitive exercise of prosecutorial discretion fed a steady net influx of convicts to state prisons.... The most recent evidence indicates that the age of mass incarceration is abating; it has been, oddly enough, since just prior to the publication of The New Jim Crow. The Pew Charitable Trusts has reported, based on Justice Department data, that the U.S. incarceration rate declined from a peak of 1 in 100 adults in 2007 to 1 in 115 in 2015. Keith Humphreys, of Stanford University, has shown that racial disparities, though still large, may be diminishing. The incarceration rate for blacks fell steadily between 2000 and 2014, while that of whites rose slightly. The challenge now is to accelerate the de-incarceration trend while sustaining low levels of crime. A troubling uptick in urban homicide last year may have helped elect President Donald American Carnage Trump. Certainly his harshest, most racially tinged anti-crime rhetoric both stimulated fear and exploited it. His attorney general, Jeff Sessions, has called emphasized punishing crime rather than consent decrees against allegedly abusive local police. Under the circumstances, Forman and Pfaffs emphasis on local politics, and county- and state-level prosecutorial discretion, is paradoxically hopeful. Federal policy makes headlines, but in the vast majority of cases, criminal justice takes place at the grass roots. And in recent years, that is the level at which the most promising reform efforts have occurred. Those efforts can and should continue, whatever might happen next in Washington.

I really like this commentary's use of the term "abating" to describe what the current decade has wrought with respect to incarceration levels. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines abate as "to decrease in force or intensity," and that is what we are experiencing with incarceration in modern years in the United States. Incarceration continues on a mass scale in the US, but the force and intensity of our commitment to using ever more incarceration in response to social disorder has decreased.

April 19, 2017 at 10:34 PM | Permalink

Comments

Yale asshole forgot a couple of lawyer effects.

1) The destruction of the black patriarchal family by the feminist lawyer is the strongest factor in the explosion of the crime rate. The bastardy rate is over 70% in the 2010 Census. Worse, the white bastardy rate among whites was up to 40%. This white bastardy rate is a national catastrophe.

2) Crime has not "abated." It has "augmented," under the assault of the lawyer on mandatory sentencing guidelines. It has done so by the millions each year.

3) All non-violent drug dealers are serial killers of any competitor. The bulge in the murder rate came from territorial competition for the crack cocaine business. Dealers learned to hire teenagers to murder so they could get out of prison at age 21.

4) The real abatement has been in lawyer employment. Thus, all this noise and hot air is coming our way.

http://thirdtierreality.blogspot.com/2015/07/open-letter-to-incoming-jd-class-of-2018.html



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Your favorite aunt and uncle are coming to San Francisco for the first time, and they just let you know theyre coming in at 11 a.m. on Friday and have nothing planned. They cant even check into their hotel until after 3, and you wont be able to knock off work until 5, so theyre going to need something to occupy them and kill four hours. We teamed up with Expedia.com to share some things to do in and around SFO that will be more manageable than having your family wander the city without a guide.

The Aviation Museum

Before even leaving the airport, and especially if your uncle is an aerospace geek, you can tell them hop on the AirTrain over to the International Terminal before they get their rental car and check out SFOs Aviation Museum and Library. It will be open on a Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., its free, and the collection includes photographs, vintage timetables, vintage route maps (think Pan Ams 1937 routes across the Pacific, when you had to stop to refuel five times to get to Hong Kong), airline memorabilia, and more. SFO also has a pretty strong commitment to art exhibits, and theres typically ceramics or jewelry or something in display cases throughout the International Terminal, including pre-security.

In-N-Out

First timers to California of course need to experience In-N-Out Burger, and since the only one in the city is way out by Fishermans Wharf, now is as good a time as any, just landed at lunchtime. The Millbrae In-N-Out is just about a five-minute straight shot south on the 101 from the airport, and you can either explain to the relatives the ins and outs (so to speak) of the secret menu, or you can just let them go with the basics. There might be fancier food if they explored further, or some good Chinese food in Burlingame, but a good burger and fries will be a nice, humble base to begin their afternoon, and youll probably be going out for a big-ticket dinner that night in the city anyway.



ITs-IT Factory Store

Just a hop down the freeway in Burlingame is the headquarters of ITS-IT, the Bay Area-born ice cream sandwich company, and the facility where they make and pack 100,000 of the cookie-and-ice-cream treats every day. Locals may not even be aware that they make seven flavors now (the most recent addition was Green Tea in 2016), and ice cream fans will therefore get excited by the opportunity of trying all seven, which you can easily do at the factory store. Unfortunately they dont do tours of the facility, but you can read the full history of the sandwich, and the company, here on SFist.

See the Ocean in Half Moon Bay

Too often trips to San Francisco dont include the beach, and that is too bad. While we may not be known for our beach weather, the beautiful coastline along Highway 1 shouldnt be missed, and could make for a perfect first item on your familys itinerary. Half Moon Bay is an easy, 35-minute drive from the airport and offers some beautiful vistas, as well as several places to stop in for a drink or a bite while you take in the view, like Miramar Beach Restaurant and Bar. Theres also the Ritz-Carlton if theyre looking for something more posh, and the Adirondack chairs overlooking the ocean are a perfect spot to spend an hour settling ineven though your relatives may leave with hotel envy. Also, surfing fans will be interested in Pillar Point, just off of which is the famed break where the big-wave Mavericks competition takes place. From here, its just a quick trip along the water up Highway 1 into the city, which is a better way to drive in than just about any other, except maybe the Golden Gate, but they can do that later.

Say Hello to Zuck

Theres not a ton to see in Silicon Valley  at least until Apple opens its visitor center at the new spaceship-doughnut campusbut that hasnt stopped tourists from spending money on guided tours of all the big office parks, which generally dont even let you inside. But, with just a map and a rental car, you can glimpse Facebooks new Frank Gehry-designed campus off the 84 freeway in Menlo Park, complete with its lavish rooftop park, and curious tech fans can also breeze down to Mountain View and walk around the Googleplex there, though you cant really get too close, and reportedly there arent even any public restroomsjust a public park nearby.

This post was written by Gothamist staff in collaboration with Expedia.com.
SINGAPORE 60's: ANDY's POP MUSIC INFLUENCE IS A PERSONAL MUSIC, MEMORY TRAIL. BLOGGER DOES NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO VIDEOS, AUDIO TRACKS AND IMAGES. THEY ARE UPLOADED FOR FUN, EDUCATIONAL, ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES AND HAVE BEEN CREDITED. BLOG IS NOT SPONSORED IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER. INFORM BLOGGER OF COPYRIGHT ISSUES AND POST WILL BE DELETED IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT COPY THE POSTS; GET PERMISSION N CREDIT ME IF YOU DO. ANDY LIM LA (NOVEMBER, 2008) - ()
SIOUX CITY | The Sioux City Police Department is searching for three suspects after a Wednesday night robbery in Morningside.

Sioux City Police say they received a report of a robbery in the 4000 block of Orleans Avenue shortly before 10:25 p.m. Wednesday.

According to a police department news release, a victim walking outside was approached by three males of average build wearing dark-colored clothing, who displayed weapons and demanded personal property from the victim. The victim complied with their demands, and the suspects then fled on foot from the scene, according to the release. No injuries were reported.

Police are continuing to investigate the incident. Police have not released information on what weapons the suspects were carrying or what they stole from the victim.

Anyone who has information about the crime can call the department's Crimestoppers line at 258-TIPS (8477).
SIOUX CITY | One of the first tests of Iowa's new collective bargaining law is playing out in negotiations between Western Iowa Tech Community College and unionized faculty at the Sioux City-based school.

The leader of the union representing 70 instructors on Wednesday blasted the college administration's proposal to eliminate all 16 articles of the existing Master Contract as topics that can be negotiated. The topics include leaves of absence, seniority and procedures for staff reduction, hours and the grievance procedure.

The college also proposed to use an existing employee handbook to govern insurance benefits, leaves of absences and other employment provisions.

The moves are allowed under the new collective bargaining law approved by Republican lawmakers earlier this year. Vigorously opposed by Democrats and organized labor, it limits most public-sector union contract negotiations to base wages, while eliminating such issues as health insurance and supplemental pay as mandatory items for bargaining.

The changes replaced a law dating to 1974 that previously required state and local governments to bargain for wages, benefits and other workplace issues, with impasses resolved by binding arbitration in exchange for employees giving up the right to strike.

Western Iowa Tech President Terry Murrell defended the college's opening proposal in negotiations with the faculty union. The employee handbook, which currently addresses benefits for non-union personnel, should be extended to all employees, he said.

"It is simplifying things to have everybody under the same rules, so to speak," Murrell said in an interview Wednesday.

Bruce Lear, director of the Siouxland UniServ group, the union that represents the faculty, had a much different reaction.

"This shows that WIT has chosen to let politicians in Des Moines dictate how they will treat their professional faculty. This is a direct by-product of a terrible collective bargaining law rushed through by the Republican majority, without thinking of the consequences to hard-working Iowans, Lear said in a news release.

Lear added that the law excluded some items from the contract, but the WIT proposal goes further, "and decimates language that has been voluntarily agreed to for more than 20 years."

The college's opening proposal were shared in a public meeting Tuesday. The administration team also offered a 1 percent pay raise for faculty members for a one-year contract that would run through June 2018. The faculty, represented by UniServ, had asked for a 3 percent pay raise.

The two sides will bargain in closed meetings from this point, as allowed by state law.

Murrell said the one- or two-year contracts have been set since the time he became president in 2011.

The main campus of Western Iowa Tech Community College is located in Sioux City, and has extended campuses in towns such as Cherokee and Denison.

The Iowa State Education Association on April 4 filed a lawsuit challenging the new collective bargaining law, claiming it violates the state constitution by treating some public sector workers differently than others.
NORFOLK, Nebraska | The city of Norfolk will host representatives of the African nation of Malawi next week for an official establishment of its sister city relationship with the city of Blantyre.

Norfolk Mayor Josh Moenning will hold a signing ceremony 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the City Council chambers, 309 N. Fifth St., during which he will read a proclamation and present keys to the city to the guests.

Guests traveling to Norfolk next week for two days will include Edward Yakobe Sawerengera, Malawi's ambassador to the United States; Margaret Mwanza-Gadabu, counselor; Alinafe Chikonde, first secretary of trade, tourism and investment; Blantyre mayor Wild Ndipo; and Blantyre public relations manager Anthony Rodgers Kasunda.

Norfolk and Malawi have developed a connection over recent years following the establishment of the Norfolk School in Malawi, founded by Malawi native and norfolk resident Joe Mtika.

Other stops in Norfolk and Nebraska are also planned for the visitors.
In what otherwise is a busy, productive legislative session, Iowa lawmakers this year have failed to address what should be the important priority of extending the one-cent school infrastructure sales tax.

With the session nearing an end, the need for extension of the school tax, which sunsets in 2029, appears to have been forgotten or ignored.

That's disappointing.

As we have said before, we have an almost proprietary interest in this tax because Woodbury County was the first county in Iowa to approve a 10-year, local-option sales tax for public school infrastructure (the tax first passed in 1998; county voters approved a 10-year extension in 2005). The benefits of this tax speak for themselves in the form of school improvements across the state, but arguably no school district in Iowa has benefitted more from the tax than our local system. With revenue from the tax, the Sioux City school district has built new elementary schools, new middle schools, and three high school science wings, and a new Bryant Elementary School is under construction.

A variety of future infrastructure challenges remain for the local school district. For example, more elementary schools await replacement and by the time the tax sunsets, Sioux City's high schools will be nearly 60 years old.

To plan and bond today for the critical infrastructure projects of tomorrow, the Sioux City school district and districts across Iowa need an end to uncertainty about the future of the school infrastructure tax.

The issue didnt get the attention it deserved this year. As a result, we urge our local lawmakers to take the lead in pushing extension of the one-cent school infrastructure sales tax to passage during next year's legislative session.
DES MOINES  The Senate agreed Wednesday to pump up to $50 million annually into water-quality improvements through 2029 after turning back an effort to raise a constitutionally protected state sales tax that would have generated considerably more.

Senators voted 31-19 to use a mix of a water metering tax and the gambling-funded revenue available after the state pays off bonds used to finance community attractions and tourist destinations under the Vision Iowa Program. The state money would go toward cost-sharing plans to address water quality challenges from urban wastewater issues to farm runoff pollutants.

Two Democrats joined 29 GOP senators supporting the bill, while 18 Democrats and one independent voted no.

Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Oskaloosa, called Senate File 512 the next logical step to continue momentum in implementing Iowas nutrient reduction strategy. But critics said it was too tepid of an approach in addressing a problem estimated to require billions of dollars to correct.

This bill provides policy and funding for long-term, collaborative, science-based, non-regulatory projects that I believe will move the needle in reducing the flow of nutrients into Iowas rivers and streams, said Rozenboom, who noted the state money would be supplemented by federal and local governments, industry and Iowas agricultural sector.

The bill now goes to the House  which is working on its own plan  for consideration in the waning days the 2017 legislative session.

Passage of the legislation came after senators voted 34-16 to turn back an effort by Ocheyedan independent Sen. David Johnson to better fund conservation, recreation and water-quality improvements by increasing the state sales by three-eighths of a penny. That would generate up to $200 million to be deposited in the voter-approved and constitutionally projected Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund.

One Republican joined Johnson and 14 Democrats in supporting the alternative. Johnson noted that voters approved the trust in 2010 but it sits empty without a dime of funding.

Senate Minority Leader Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, said the vote was a chance to do something historic that the voters want," but Rozenboom said the amendment called for raising taxes and was inconsistent with the intent of the bill.

Senators later voted 33-17 to oppose an amendment to put money generated by SF 512 into the trust fund.

Under the approved legislation, a portion of an existing tax on tap water would be converted to an excise tax dedicated to water quality efforts  a pot of money growing to $12 million from 2019 to 2021. Another provision would capture $15 million from gaming in 2021 when bonds for Vision Iowa projects are paid.

Combined with about more than $20 million in various programs annually that go toward water quality improvements, Rozenboom said that would create a pool of about $50 million, which could nearly double with matching funds until the package sunsets in 2030.

I think we all understand that we do have a problem with water quality, said Sen. Julian Garrett, R-Indianola. I think its important that we move the ball and I think that this bill does that. Given our financial situation, our circumstances, this is probably the best that we can do right now.

In the House, the Appropriations Committee has approved an amended version of House File 612 that would make $513 million available for water quality improvements from 2019 to 2031.

Slightly less than half would come from the excise tax on metered water, which would be phased in and split between helping finance loans and grants.

The excise tax money would supplement the more-than $20 million a year in existing funds and, under the House plan, would be used for edge-of-field and infield water and soil conservation, demonstration projects, research and water quality measurements.
Dancing flames: 1, Dancing girls: 0

MILFORD, Iowa | A strip club got too hot last week in the Iowa Great Lakes.

Milford Fire Chief Jim Carpenter said when firefighters arrived at Zippers Gentlemen's Club they found a dumpster on the building's north side was on fire. A wind drove the fire into the attic of the building at 2600 Okoboji Ave.

The south end of the building housed the Second Hand Depot antique store and a back building was being used as a warehouse. All of the buildings were connected by common roofs, Carpenter said, and that gave the fire department four buildings to be extinguished.

All of the buildings are considered a loss, while some areas of the Second Hand Depot and its warehouse have some salvageable items.

There were no injuries reported.

BV student charged with forging checks

STORM LAKE, Iowa | Some college students use fake IDs and others use fake checks, we guess.

A 21-year-old is facing a handful of charges -- including four felony counts of forgery -- following an investigation into a vehicle burglary led police to find numerous forged checks in a college dorm room at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake.

Kevin Kee, of Chicago, Illinois, was arrested last week and charged with four counts of forgery, possession of marijuana and possession of stolen property.

According to a news release, police on March 6 received a report that a car parked in the Buena Vista University campus parking lot had been entered, and several checks had been stolen and forged for an amount in excess of $2,000.

Police investigated the incident and conducted a series of interviews that led them to search a room in Pierce Hall on the college campus, where they found stolen blank checks, forged checks, a debit card, receipts and a small amount of marijuana. Kee was arrested a few hours later and booked into the Buena Vista County Jail on $5,000 bond.

The Buena Vista University Security Department assisted in the investigation.
Daimler AG, together its subsidiaries, develops and manufactures passenger cars, trucks, vans, and buses in Germany and internationally. It operates through Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans, Daimler Trucks and Buses, and Daimler Mobility segments. The Mercedes-Benz Cars segment offers premium and luxury vehicles of the Mercedes-Benz brand, including the Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-Maybach, and Mercedes-EQ brands; small cars under the smart brand name; and ecosystem of Mercedes-Benz under the Mercedes me brand, as well as vans and related services under the Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner brands. Daimler Trucks and Buses segment offers its trucks and special vehicles under the Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner, Western Star, FUSO, and BharatBenz brands; and buses under the Mercedes-Benz, Setra, Thomas Built Buses, and FU brands, as well as bus chassis. The Daimler Mobility segment provides financing and leasing packages for end-customers and dealers; and automotive insurance brokerage, banking, investment, and fleet management services under the Athlon brand. It also sells vehicle related spare parts and accessories. Daimler AG was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany
SOCIEDAD ASIATICA

THE ASIAN SOCIETY

COMISION DIRECTIVA



THE DIRECTIVE BOARD



PRESIDENTE:

Liliana Garcia Daris



Universidad del Salvador.

Argentina

VICEPRESIDENTE:

Won-ho Kim

Universidad de Hankuk de Estudios Extranjeros.

Corea

SECRETARIO:

Luis Diaz Brougton



Universidad de Santiago, Chile



PROSECRETARIO:



Martha Barriga Tello

Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Peru



VOCALES:



Mauricio Martinez



Universidad de los Andes, Colombia



Juan Uriburu Quintana



Universidad de Chenchi, Taiwan

CONSEJEROS ACADEMICOS

ACADEMIC ADVISERS



ASH NARAIN, Roy,

Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi.

India



GARCIA BAZAN, Francisco,



CONICET, Universidad Argentina John F. Kennedy



MATSUSHITA, Hiroshi,



Universidad de Kobe, Japon



MIEMBROS FUNDADORES



FOUNDING MEMBERS



ALBERT, Liliana



Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina



ANTON PACHECO, Jose Antonio



Universidad de Sevilla, Espana



ANTONIJEVIC, Ingrid



Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Chile



BARRIGA TELLO, Martha



Universidad Nacional de San Marcos, Peru



BERGMAN, Sergio

Melton Institute de Jerusalem, Israel



BERTOLINI, Luis



Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina



CABEZON, Jose



Universidad de Santa Barbara, Estados Unidos



CAGNI, Horacio



Universidad Catolica de La Plata, Argentina



CARRANZA, Francisco



Universidad de Dankook, Corea



CASTLETON, Barbara



Ohio State University of Athens



CASTRO, Jorge

Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina



CHAOUL-REICH, Alejandro



Universidad de Texas, Estados Unidos



CHELMICKI, Hanna I.



Universidad del Salvador, Argentina



DIAZ BROUGHTON, Luis



Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile



FRANCO, Raul



Universidad del Salvador, Argentina



GADRE, Vasant



Universidad Jawaharlal Nehru, India



GARCIA DARIS, Liliana

Universidad del Salvador, Argentina

GLUCK, Carol



Universidad de Columbia. Estados Unidos

HOPKINS RODRIGUEZ, Eduardo



Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru



KIM, Wonho



Universidad Hankuk de Estudios Extranjeros, Corea



KO, Heysun



Univesidad de Dankook, Corea



LOPEZ DEL CARRIL, Luis Maria



Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina



LUCO, Enrique



Universidad del Salvador



MARTINEZ, Mauricio



Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia



MASATERU, Ito



Universidad Nacional de Osaka, Japon



MATSUSHITA, Hiroshi



Universidad de Kobe, Japon



MINKOWICZ, Gabriel

Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires

MONETA, Carlos Juan



Universidad del Salvador, Argentina



MORROW, John Andrew



Minot State University, Dakota del Norte, USA



NGUYEN, Thiet Son



Academia de Ciencias Sociales de Vietnam, Vietnam

OVIEDO, Eduardo

CONICET. Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina

PEREIRA, Ronan Alves

Universidad de Brasilia. Brasil

PEREYRA, Violeta



Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina

REMETE, Andrea

Universidad del Salvador, Argentina



RIMOLDI DE LADMAN, Eve



Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina



ROMERO CASTILLA, Alfredo



Universidad Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico

TEDIN URIBURU, Virgilio



Universidad de Harvard, Estados Unidos

UEHARA, Alexander



Universidad de Sao Paulo. Brasil

URIBURU QUINTANA, Juan



Universidad de Chenchi, Taiwan



VITTOR, Luis Alberto



Universidad Argentina John F. Kennedy



XU, Shicheng



Academia China de Ciencias Sociales, Republica Popular China
J Stryker may not be a household name, but to the geeky LGBT community, the person behind the name is a symbol for empowerment.

Jonathan Stryker began his career as a cosplayer, but soon felt a desire to start up the very first LGBT geek conventions in Florida. He opened up to more risque cosplays and branched out into strip dancing during his own time slots at conventions across Florida. SFGN reached out to Stryker to discuss his life from cosplays to coming out as gay to strip dancing.

When I went to my first convention, Supercon 2006, I saw all the people dressed up and how close the community was to each other, he said. That made me feel really good and wanting to stay there, making costumes and meeting people.

That feeling of acceptance inspired him to launch OUT Con and Okama Con, the only two LGBT-focused anime and geek conventions in Florida.

There are people who need to feel safe who might not feel comfortable going to other places, he said. I wanted to create one to let people know there are places where you can be completely yourself and never need to second-guess that you wont be comfortable there and that youll be accepted.

With no other LGBT-specific cons in the entire state, Stryker took the initiative. It had to be done.

The cosplayer-turned-convention-owner hears a lot of success stories from con-goers who attended Okama Con in January. So many. All the time I get it, he said, noting how many people walk up to him to tell him how accepted and safe they felt. Just because of the name and what we promoted, and because we state it is LGBT.

Stryker hopes his safe space encourages people to come out, similar to how he gradually came out over the course of his high school years. He was inspired by his older brother, who came out as a drag queen after growing up gay, shy and insecure.

Hell light up on stage and be more himself and completely express himself. Seeing that was really inspirational to me, even if I had been doing costumes before he came out as a drag queen. It really inspired me to do more performing.

It wasnt until last year that Stryker came out to his parents.

My brothers gay so I guess that made it easier, the cosplayers reflects. My mom said, You know, if your dad doesnt like it, hes out of the house and youre staying.

For others struggling to come out, Stryker has a message: Its worth it. Its so worth it just to be yourself.

I think its a really liberating experience, he continued. There are going to be people that are okay with it and theres going to be people that arent going to be okay with it, but at the end of the day you get to be yourself and you get to open up and just show a completely different side of you that is just so freeing and so liberating.

Its worth it. Its so worth it just to be yourself.  J Stryker

Stryker applies that logic to his online persona, J Stryker.

He is kind of my alter-ego. My regular Jonathan is a very quiet, shy guy. He sat in the back of the class, he didnt talk to a lot of people. J Stryker was the showman who put on costumes and put himself out there in very different ways.

In doing so, Stryker gets a lot of flak from haters that bash his sensual photos, push their religion on him and harass him for being gay. How does he handle it?

I dont, he put simply. I rarely respond to negative comments if ever. I have so many good ones that I dont want to put attention to the negative ones.

Stryker puts that self-confidence into his love of strip dancing, which he performs at local conventions across Florida and even uploads to his Facebook page.

A few years ago, Stryker considered himself a chubby, insecure kid. That changed when he vowed to make a change these past three years, beginning to work out and feel more confident in himself.

When I started becoming more confident in myself, which was just in the past three years, I wanted to feel better about myself so I started working out, he said. Once his confidence grew, he released everything at once.

I started doing sexier stuff in cosplay and I noticed that people really liked it and people were really inspired by the fact that I was the chubby kid and now Im the naked one on the internet. I like inspiring people to be confident.

I really like the feeling you get when youre stripping and being seductive. Its a really cool feeling, not only for the sexual aspect but its also very empowering to me when everybodys looking at you.

Some people approach him to ask if hes worried about future employers seeing his sexual pictures. Who cares if youre shirtless on the internet, do whatever the fuck makes you happy, he stated. I want to live my life the way I want to with my rules and I cant think of the consequences like that. I can only be myself.

What does J Stryker have in store for the future? I want to get more into music and branch out. I want to do more cosplay and do more sexier modelling.

Stryker is releasing his first single this year, an electronic sexy song titled Fucboi. Its set to be released once the video is finished.

Im not just a sexy cosplay. Im not just one thing. Im a lot more than that.

OUT Con

May 6 and 7

DoubleTree by Hilton Miami Airport Convention Center

711 NW 72nd Ave

Miami, FL 33126

http://www.outconvention.com
UPDATE: Frank Artiles resigned his Florida Senate seat Friday morning, unable to recover from a flurry of insenstive remarks directed at fellow lawmakers and lobbyists.

"It is clear to me my recent actions and words that I spoke fell far short of what I expect for myself, and for this I am very sorry," Artiles wrote in his resignation letter. "I apologize to my family and friends and I apologize to all of my fellow Senators and lawmakers. To the people of my district and all of Miami-Dade, I am sorry I have let you down and ask for your forgiveness."

Artiles apologized Wednesday for derogatory comments about two colleagues but it was not enough. In his resignation letter, Artiles recognized his behavior had become too big a distraction from important matters of government.

"My actions and my presence in government is now a distraction to my colleagues, the legislative process, and the citizens of our great State," Artiles wrote.

Artiles, a Miami Republican, reportedly referred to fellow Senators as niggas during a round of drinks at the Governors Club earlier this week in Tallahassee. He also called Senate President Joe Negron a "pussy," sources say.

In a three minute statement inside the Senate chamber, Artiles attempted to correct course, offering a heartfelt apology to my colleagues and to all of those I have offended. My harsh words have adversely reflected more on me than they could ever on anyone else.

A Cuban-American who has served in the U.S. Marine Corps, Artiles is no stranger to controversy. As a member of the Florida House, Artiles introduced the notorious bathroom bill targeting transgender people and, in a separate incident, was accused of punching a man in the face at a Tallahassee bar.

Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando) was one of the first to call for Artiles' resignation. Smith, Floridas first LGBT Latino legislator, said Artiles also owes transgender Floridians an apology.

After apologizing for his racist comments, he should apologize to the transgender community for his bigotry + transphobia, Smith tweeted.

The Miami Herald reports Artiles called members of his own party niggas and then hurled inflammatory comments at Sen. Audrey Gibson, a Jacksonville Democrat. Artiles reportedly called Gibson a bitch among other things.

The incident occurred at a private club steps away from the state capitol building in Tallahassee. SAVE, a South Florida human rights organization, sent out an email on Wednesday citing a St. Petersburg blog's report that Artiles called two lobbyists "faggots" after leaving the club. Before his apology on Wednesday, Artiles was removed as chairman of the Senates communications, energy and public utilities committee.

Senator Perry Thurston (D-Plantation) said Artiles apology was too little, too late." Speaking at Florida Legislature Black Caucus press conference, Thurston said Artiles had failed to learn "the values of respect and dignity owed to members of which he serves."

Artiles represented western parts of Miami-Dade County in the Florida Senate. He is a licensed general contractor, public adjuster and military veteran who saw action in the 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom campaign.
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.




Asteroid Impact Don Davis/NASA

If an asteroid struck Earth, which of its effectsscorching heat, flying debris, towering tsunamiswould claim the most lives? A new study has the answer: violent winds and shock waves are the most dangerous effects produced by Earth-impacting asteroids.

The study explored seven effects associated with asteroid impactsheat, pressure shock waves, flying debris, tsunamis, wind blasts, seismic shaking and crateringand estimated their lethality for varying sizes. The researchers then ranked the effects from most to least deadly, or how many lives were lost to each effect.

Overall, wind blasts and shock waves were likely to claim the most casualties, according to the study. In experimental scenarios, these two effects accounted for more than 60 percent of lives lost. Shock waves arise from a spike in atmospheric pressure and can rupture internal organs, while wind blasts carry enough power to hurl human bodies and flatten forests.

This is the first study that looks at all seven impact effects generated by hazardous asteroids and estimates which are, in terms of human loss, most severe, said Clemens Rumpf, a senior research assistant at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, and lead author of the new study published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

Rumpf said his findings, which he plans to present at the 2017 International Academy of Astronautics Planetary Defense Conference in Tokyo, Japan, could help hazard mitigation groups better prepare for asteroid threats because it details which impact effects are most dominant, which are less severe and where resources should be allocated.

Though studies like his are necessary to reduce harm, deadly asteroid impacts are still rare, Rumpf said. Earth is struck by an asteroid 60 meters (more than 190 feet) wide approximately once every 1500 years, whereas an asteroid 400 meters (more than 1,300 feet) across is likely to strike the planet every 100,000 years, according to Rumpf.

The likelihood of an asteroid impact is really low, said Rumpf. But the consequences can be unimaginable.

Modeling asteroid effects

Rumpf and his colleagues used models to pepper the globe with 50,000 artificial asteroids ranging from 15 to 400 meters (49 to 1312 feet) acrossthe diameter range of asteroids that most frequently strike the Earth. The researchers then estimated how many lives would be lost to each of the seven effects.

Land-based impacts were, on average, an order of magnitude more dangerous than asteroids that landed in oceans.

Large, ocean-impacting asteroids could generate enough power to trigger a tsunami, but the waves energy would likely dissipate as it traveled and eventually break when it met a continental shelf. Even if a tsunami were to reach coastal communities, far fewer people would die than if the same asteroid struck land, Rumpf said. Overall, tsunamis accounted for 20 percent of lives lost, according to the study.

The heat generated by an asteroid accounted for nearly 30 percent of lives lost, according to the study. Affected populations could likely avoid harm by hiding in basements and other underground structures, Rumpf said.

Seismic shaking was of least concern, as it accounted for only 0.17 percent of casualties, according to the study. Cratering and airborne debris were similarly less concerning, both garnering fewer than 1 percent of deaths.

Only asteroids that spanned at least 18 meters (nearly 60 feet) in diameter were lethal. Many asteroids on the lower end of this spectrum disintegrate in Earths atmosphere before reaching the planets surface, but they strike more frequently than larger asteroids and generate enough heat and explosive energy to deal damage. For example, the meteor involved in the 2013 impact in Chelyabinsk, Russia, was 17 to 20 meters (roughly 55 to 65 feet) across and caused more than 1,000 injuries, inflicting burns and temporary blindness on people nearby.

Understanding risk

This report is a reasonable step forward in trying to understand and come to grips with the hazards posed by asteroids and comet impactors, said geophysicist Jay Melosh, a distinguished professor in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana.

Melosh, who wasnt involved in the study, added that the findings lead one to appreciate the role of air blasts in asteroid impacts as we saw in Chelyabinsk. The majority of the injuries in the Chelyabinsk impact were caused by broken glass sent flying into the faces of unknowing locals peering through their windows after the meteors bright flash, he noted.

The studys findings could help mitigate loss of human life, according to Rumpf. Small towns facing the impact of an asteroid 30 meters across (about 98 feet) may fare best by evacuating. However, an asteroid 200 meters wide (more than 650 feet) headed for a densely-populated city poses a greater risk and could warrant a more involved response, he said.

If only 10 people are affected, then maybe its better to evacuate the area, Rumpf said. But if 1,000,000 people are affected, it may be worthwhile to mount a deflection mission and push the asteroid out of the way.
"The way things went several times in my career, I never thought I'd be able to reach 2,000 wins," driver Ron Beback Jr. said after reaching that milestone on Wednesday night (April 19) steering Ergo Hanover ($3.60) to victory in the sixth race at Buffalo Raceway.

The 52-year-old Beback Jr. has had to overcome two serious medical issues over the years, but has bounced back each time with a clean bill of health to help grow his win total.

"Back in May of 1999, I was involved in an on-track accident," he said. "After about two weeks, I developed a pair of blood clots that went to my heart which gave me a heart attack. My heart nearly exploded. The doctor told me he didn't want me drive again but I recovered well. Driving is something I love to do."

But then in 2012, Beback Jr. said he developed some dizzy spells and after battery of tests were taken, he found out he had vertigo.

"The doctors straightened things out so I was able to get back to racing," he said.

In a four-year span from 2007 through 2010, Beback Jr. was able to find the winner's circle 603 times with 2009 his top season of all-time with 189 victories. Then after the vertigo issue, he returned to get 467 wins from 2013 through 2015. He has over $8.2 million in career purse earnings with most coming on the Western New York circuit.

He also trains horses but has seen this stable go from nearly 30 during his peak to just a handful now.

"The owners I used to have just aren't around anymore," Beback Jr. stated.

Besides his own, he gets regular duties from trainers Mark Laidlaw and Mihajlo Zdjelar Jr. Beback Jr. said he prefer the trotters with two of his favourites to drive now being Lutetium and Kahoku.

And for the future, Beback Jr. said he plans to continue on racing as long as possible.

"I'm going to take it year by year, but I have no plans of stopping any time soon," he said.

Deliciouslynaughty (Larry Stalbaum) won the featured $8,200 pace for the mares with a head victory over Vla Faire (Wade Tomaszewski) in 1:57.2 over the sloppy track. Who Says That (John Cummings Jr.) finished in third place.

Owned by Stalbaum and trained by Kim Asher, the 10-year-old Deliciouslynaughty (Mach Three-Naught Enough Hare) earned her fifth win in 15 starts this year. The victory pushed her earnings to $31,506 in 2017 and $445,051 lifetime. Stalbaum and Asher combined for a driver/trainer double.

Racing will resume on Friday night at 5 p.m. with an 11-race card scheduled. There's a $671 carryover in the Pick-5, which begins in the second race.

(With files from Buffalo Raceway)
Trot Insider has learned that longtime Standardbred owner Donald Patrick Donnie Byrne, of Edmonton, Alberta, passed away on Wednesday, April 19 at the age of 81.

Byrne started in the horse business in 1994 with Don Monkman Jr. and stayed loyal to him for over 20 years. Byrne became sick in 2010 at which point he bowed out of the industry.

Donnies son, Michael, started the stable back up in January of 2015. Donnie played the role of Michaels partner in the endeavour, but more importantly his mentor and hero.

Donnie leaves behind his wife, Francoise; son, Michael; daughter Tracey-Lynn; grandchildren, Kayla, Meagan, Alexander and Alexandria; great grandchildren, Tarra, Faith and Hayden

Donnie was a great owner and supporter of racing in Alberta, and was one of the initial investors and supporters in what's now known as Century Downs Casino and Racetrack.

Trot Insider will update this notice with additional information when it is made available.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Donnie Byrne.
Dragon Again, a winner of more than $2.3 million on the racetrack and the sire of the winners of more than $122.7 million, including the $7.5 million-winner Foiled Again, the sports all-time richest racehorse, was euthanized Wednesday afternoon, April 19, at Sugar Valley Farm in Ohio, where he had stood stallion duty since 2014.

Dragon Agains death comes one week after Sugar Valley Farm announced the retirement of the 22-year-old son of Dragons Lair. In making that announcement, Sugar Valley Farm co-owner Joe McLead said Dragon Again had a fused right ankle that was ailing him.

Hes had that fused right ankle the last 14 years and in the last day or so the ankle became just too much for him to deal with. It had begun to take its toll on the rest of his body, McLead said on Thursday morning (April 20).

Dragon Again was bred by Andray Farm and was purchased as a yearling for $40,000 by Ohioan Ed Mullinax. Mullinax owned Dragon Again his entire racing career and is still the majority shareholder in the Dragon Again Syndicate.

I consulted with Mr. Mullinax and we made the decision to euthanize together, said McLead. We did not want the horse to suffer.

Dragon Again won 29 of 70 starts, with his biggest victory coming in the $450,000 Hoosier Cup in 1998 at Hoosier Park. Other big wins for Dragon Again included the $350,000 Canadian Pacing Derby at Mohawk Racetrack and the $250,000 Prix dAutumn at Hippodrome de Montreal in 1999, and the $150,000 Battle of Lake Erie in 1999 at Northfield Park.

Dragon Agains career best of 1:48.3 came on June 17, 2000, when he won the $87,600 Pacing Classic at Woodbine Racetrack. At the time the mile was the fastest ever paced in Canada.

Dragon Again was retired following his five-year-old season in 2000, going on to a stud career at Hanover Shoe Farms in Pennsylvania. He stood at Hanover for 13 years before moving to Sugar Valley in 2014, where the size of his books were 116, 107 and 82 in years 2014-16. Dragon Again bred some mares this season, with a few already pronounced in foal.

In addition to Foiled Again, Dragon Agains other $1-million-plus performers include My Little Dragon ($2.3 million); Atochia ($1.8 million); Aracache Hanover ($1.7 million); Wakizashi Hanover ($1.3 million); Versado ($1.2 million); and Tidewaterdragonfly ($1 million).

Overall, Dragon Again sired 334 lifetime $100,000 winners from 940 performers. From those performers, 562 took marks of 1:55 or better. His fastest progeny were 1:48 winners Foiled Again, Wakizashi Hanover and Vlos.

McLead said Dragon Again was buried on the farm near his paddock by the Sugar Valley office.

We have a pond near his paddock and there are two oak trees at the back of the pond, and we buried him between those two trees so he can see all the broodmares and his paddock, said McLead.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of Dragon Again.

(Sugar Valley Farm)
Correction to Previous News Release Regarding Anastasia Adams

Contact: Alexandra Snyder, Life Legal Defense Foundation , 202-717-7371FAIR OAKS, Va., April 20, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- Life Legal sent out a press release on April 18, 2017 titled "Woman Starved and Tortured in VA Nursing Home" regarding Anastasia Adams, a disabled woman who was in a nursing facility in Northern Virginia.In the release, it was stated that Anastasia's court-appointed guardians "refused to authorize any treatment." We have since learned that this is inaccurate.Life Legal has obtained documents showing that Anastasia's guardians never denied Anastasia food or water and that they did not instruct the nursing facility to withhold nutrition and hydration.We have also learned that the guardians for Ms. Adams did not refuse a visit from a priest. It is still unclear why the priest was not permitted to see Anastasia."I apologize for stating that the court-appointed guardians in this case authorized the withholding of food and water to Ms. Adams," said Life Legal Executive Director Alexandra Snyder. "I have been in contact with the guardians who have assured me that they expressly instructed Anastasia's caregivers to provide her with nutrition and hydration."Ms. Adams was transferred back to the hospital yesterday.About Life Legal Defense FoundationLife Legal Defense Foundation was established in 1989, and is a nonprofit organization composed of attorneys and other concerned citizens committed to giving helpless and innocent human beings of any age, and their advocates, a trained and committed voice in the courtrooms of our nation. For more information about the Life Legal Defense Foundation, visit www.lldf.org
The essential component of totalitarian propaganda is artifice (het toepassen van kunstgrepen. svh) . The ruling elites, like celebritie...
Play at the new site will be free and first come, first served through the...
IANS

Beijings Internet regulators on Wednesday said Apple is next on a list for inquiries after authorities ordered three Chinese live streaming websites to rectify management loopholes. Toutiao.com, huoshanzhibo.com and huajiao.com were found to have violated four different regulations concerning Internet information services, live-streaming services and online performance, Xinhua news agency cited Beijing Cyberspace Administration as saying.

In a joint inquiry, conducted by the administration, the Beijing Public Security Bureau and Beijing Cultural Market Administrative Law Enforcement Team, the three companies lacked systematic management and were inadequate in checking information, emergency response and technical support.

Significant loopholes also existed in their management of live-broadcast products, user classification, authentication of user identity and the handling of tips-offs, according to the regulators. Some publishers have broadcast live content forbidden by Chinese law on these platforms, they noted.

Some provided pornographic content, according to the regulators. Beijing Cultural Market Administrative Law Enforcement Team said it has collected and sorted evidence on the violations at huoshanzhibo.com and huajiao.com and started investigation.

Some cases will be transferred to the police, and publishers that have committed violations shall receive criminal punishment. Officers with the law enforcement team said they have also met representatives from Apple about the examination of live stream apps from the tech giants app store.

The Beijing Cyberspace Administration said the three departments will jointly summon Apple over the issues to urge the American firm to tighten up checks on software applications available in the Apple Store.
tech2 News Staff

A recent report suggests that Apple will start trial assembly of iPhones in India next month at the Bengaluru facility being set up by Wistron.

Wistron is a Taiwanese OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) for Apple.

The report, published in The Economic Times, quotes Karnataka state officials as saying that they would like to see Apple brings its entire component-making ecosystem to India and begin exporting products from there. Apple is also expected to set up a second manufacturing facility in the near future.

Apple has requested a number of tax and customs duty concessions before it begins the assembly or manufacture of iPhones in India. However, most of Apples requests were denied.

Other manufacturers in India, including Samsung, Oppo and Xiaomi work within the Make in India framework set forth by the government and already receive a number of tax sops and other concessions. Apples demands might be construed as excessive in this light.

State officials apparently believe that Apple will continue to lobby the Centre for more tax sops independent of its Bengaluru plans, as they believe that Apple sees India as a lucrative market that cant be ignored.

Karnatakas IT minister has reportedly asked the Centre to do its part in encouraging high-end manufacturing.
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Baidu Inc said on Tuesday it would launch its self-driving car technology for restricted environment in July before gradually introducing fully autonomous driving capabilities on highways and open city roads by 2020. The project is named Apollo after the lunar landing program, the Chinese search giant said, adding it would work with partners who provide vehicles, sensors and other components for the new technology. As part of its push into artificial intelligence (AI), the company in January named former Microsoft Corp executive Qi Lu as chief operating officer.

Two months after the appointment, Baidu's chief scientist Andrew Ng, who led AI and augmented reality (AR) projects, said he would step down. The company also launched a $200 million fund in October to focus on AI, AR and deep learning, followed by a $3 billion fund announced in September to target mid- and late- stage start-ups. "AI has great potential to drive social development, and one of AI's biggest opportunities is intelligent vehicles," Qi said in a statement.

In November, Baidu and German automaker BMW AG said they would end their joint research on self-driving cars due to differences in opinion on how to proceed. Technology and automotive leaders contend that cars of the future will be capable of completely driving themselves, revolutionizing the transportation industry, with virtually all carmakers as well as companies such as Alphabet's Google and parts supplier Delphi investing heavily in developing the technology.

Reuters
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By Asheeta Regidi

Facebook Live, Periscope and Instagram have enabled a new form of communication  live streaming. Though intended as a fun way to communicate with the world in real time, its misuse has quickly risen through the live streaming of criminal activities. The Cleveland murder case which was livestreamed on Facebook, where Steve Stephens filmed himself randomly selecting and shooting his victim, brought the focus on livestreaming violence.

Increasing instances of such livestreaming have led to a number of questions, particularly on who is responsible for the upload of such content Existing laws on live broadcasts have no applicability to the internet, and internet laws are also inadequate.

No responsibility under Intermediary law

Social media companies have no liability towards such content under intermediary laws around the world. Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 clearly states that intermediaries have no liability towards any content put up by third parties. This extends to livestreaming videos, even illegal content. Their obligation is restricted to removing the illegal content on being informed of it.

Laws on live broadcasts dont apply to the internet

Live broadcasts, until now, were possible only through mediums like television and radio. These mediums are subject to strict regulations as to what they can and cannot air. For example, under Rule 6 of the Cable Television Network Rules (PDF), 1994, no programme (which includes live broadcasts) on cable television should contain matter which offends decency, is anti-religious, incites violence, is defamatory, etc. Advertisers are also subject to similar restrictions under Rule 7 of the same rules.

Non-compliance with these rules leads to punishments which includes suspension of the channel, imprisonment, fine, etc. For example, under the Policy Guidelines for Uplinking of TV Channels (PDF), a channel disseminating objectionable content can lose permission to uplink for 5 years. Under the Guidelines for Obtaining License for Providing DTH Broadcasting Services (PDF), transmission of such content can attract termination of the license.

The application of these regulations, however, is very specific to the mode of publication  such as to Prasar Bharati, cable TV, DTH or radio. A general regulation covering live broadcasts in any form including the internet is missing.

Positive and negative impact of unrestricted live broadcasts

The reason for the restrictions on live broadcasts on TV is clear, for the protection of people from objectionable content. The internet broadcasts, however, present a new dilemma. The laws are clearly not equipped to deal with live internet broadcasts, and social media companies have enabled what television networks can do, without the restrictions that normally apply to them.

This has seen the easy broadcast of not only crimes being committed, but also inflammatory speech, terrorist propaganda and so on. For example, the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994, prohibits the airing of anti-terrorist operations of the armed forces. This can easily be made possible through live streaming. A new danger of livestreaming is the likes and supportive comments, which also act to encourage the crime, for instance, in one case a woman on livestream was encouraged by viewers to commit suicide, which she did.

At the same time, the unrestricted broadcasts also have major benefits, such as the use of the live streaming to broadcast atrocities by officials. The famous example of this is the live broadcast by the victims girlfriend of the aftermath of a police official shooting Philando Castille, while he was sitting unarmed in his car. The video, without doubt, provided strong evidence in support of the victims girlfriends statement. The recent incident of the video of the army tying a person to a jeep in J&K is another such example. The instant livestreaming also draws attention to such atrocities, which are often hushed up.

Persons live streaming, liking and commenting are liable

The lack of live broadcast laws does not mean that the livestreaming of crimes is legal. Since social media companies have no liability towards the livestreamed content, the liability falls solely on the person livestreaming.

The livestreaming of crimes like rape, sexual assault and voyeurism can be punished under various sections of the IPC and the IT Act. However, other crimes like the livestreaming of murder and torture are missing under these laws. The result is that persons livestreaming such crimes may not be punished for the act of livestreaming itself.

However, they will be punishable depending on the role they played. For example, w.r.t the livestream of the murders, the persons are certainly liable for murder under the Indian Penal Code, 1860. In the incident of a rape being livestreamed by the victims friend, the friend may be liable for abetment of rape. Viewers who like and comment encouraging the crime, may also be liable for abetment of the act.

Social media companies dealing with the crime

Facebook Live, Periscope, etc., on their part have published detailed Community Guidelines, outlining the restrictions. They have also provided people with the ability to report illegal content, and are said to take action to remove content within 24 hours.

However, the consequences for people violating these guidelines is often little more than having the illegal content removed, and having the persons account suspended. The person simply has to delete his livestreamed video to erase evidence of the illegal act. Deleting his account further prevents investigations. Such companies have also shown reluctance in cooperating with investigations due to privacy concerns, even in the presence of an official court order asking them to do so.

These companies also absolve themselves of all responsibility towards such content through their terms of service, in keeping with the intermediary laws.

Need for live broadcasting laws

While it is true that social media companies are not publishers like newspapers and television, they are also enabling communication which was previously not possible. Moreover, the only control that can be exercised over the livestreaming is by the social media companies.

To prevent misuse, some amount of accountability needs to be imposed on social media companies. Stricter legal requirements of due diligence and timely removal, and better cooperation with investigations are required. Social media presents two conflicting demands  to preserve the right to speech, and to tackle crime. A balance needs to be found between both.

The author is a lawyer with a specialisation in cyber laws and has co-authored books on the subject
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Bose Corp spies on its wireless headphone customers by using an app that tracks the music, podcasts and other audio they listen to, and violates their privacy rights by selling the information without permission, a lawsuit charged.

The complaint filed on Tuesday by Kyle Zak in federal court in Chicago seeks an injunction to stop Bose's "wholesale disregard" for the privacy of customers who download its free Bose Connect app from Apple Inc or Google Play stores to their smartphones.

"People should be uncomfortable with it," Christopher Dore, a lawyer representing Zak, said in an interview. "People put headphones on their head because they think it's private, but they can be giving out information they don't want to share."

Bose did not respond on Wednesday to requests for comment on the proposed class action case. The Framingham, Massachusetts-based company has said annual sales top $3.5 billion.

Zak's lawsuit was the latest to accuse companies of trying to boost profit by quietly amassing customer information, and then selling it or using it to solicit more business.

After paying $350 for his QuietComfort 35 headphones, Zak said he took Bose's suggestion to "get the most out of your headphones" by downloading its app, and providing his name, email address and headphone serial number in the process.

But the Illinois resident said he was surprised to learn that Bose sent "all available media information" from his smartphone to third parties such as Segment.io, whose website promises to collect customer data and "send it anywhere."

Audio choices offer "an incredible amount of insight" into customers' personalities, behavior, politics and religious views, citing as an example that a person who listens to Muslim prayers might "very likely" be a Muslim, the complaint said.

"Defendants' conduct demonstrates a wholesale disregard for consumer privacy rights," the complaint said.

Zak is seeking millions of dollars of damages for buyers of headphones and speakers, including QuietComfort 35, QuietControl 30, SoundLink Around-Ear Wireless Headphones II, SoundLink Color II, SoundSport Wireless and SoundSport Pulse Wireless.

He also wants a halt to the data collection, which he said violates the federal Wiretap Act and Illinois laws against eavesdropping and consumer fraud.

Dore, a partner at Edelson PC, said customers do not see the Bose app's user service and privacy agreements when signing up, and the privacy agreement says nothing about data collection.

Edelson specializes in suing technology companies over alleged privacy violations.

Reuters
Nimish Sawant

Mark Zuckerberg seemed to be in a jovial mood as he started off the F8 Developers Conference by making a reference to how the F8 2017 event was happening around the same time as the release of the Fast and Furious 8. He followed this up by holding a tome, a funny reference to the 6,000-word manifesto he had written in the past about building global communities.

A couple of awkward jokes later, there was a poignant moment during the keynote. Zuckerberg said, "We have a full roadmap of products to help build groups and communities, help build a more informed society, help keep our communities safe. And we have a lot more to do here. We were reminded of it this week by the tragedy at Cleveland."

On Sunday, 37-year-old Steve Stephens murdered an elderly man in Cleveland, Ohio, and then posted a video of the crime on Facebook. This video was up on Facebook for nearly 2 hours before it was taken down. Two hours is a lot of time for a video showing an illegal activity, to stay online. Naturally, Facebook came under a lot of criticism for the fact that the video was taken down after so long. Especially when the accused boasted that he had already killed 12 people and would continue to kill.

According to NBC News, Stephens had posted two additional live videos as well  the first when he announced his intent to kill and the second after the murder, where he confessed to it.

The accused, Steve Stephens, was found dead after a police pursuit just an hour before the F8 Developers conference keynote had begun.

"Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Robert Godwin Sr., and we have a lot of work  and we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening," said Zuckerberg.

Here is a timeline of the events on Sunday, according to Facebook:

11:09 AM PT: First video, of intent to murder, uploaded. Not reported to Facebook.

11:11 AM PT: Second video, of shooting, uploaded.

11:22 AM PT: Suspect confesses to murder while using Live, is live for 5 minutes.

11:27 AM PT: Live ends and Live video is first reported shortly after.

12:59 AM PT: Video of shooting is first reported.

1:22 AM PT: Suspect's account disabled; all videos no longer visible to public.

According to sociologist Shiv Viswanathan, these acts are an attempt by the perpetrators to make a spectacle out of themselves, thereby turning your body or the person you are murdering into a part of the gaze. "You objectify it. You basically frame it in a way that other people can consume it. Violence itself is a form of consumption which is promoted, because so far no one thought that people would consume violence on Facebook," says Viswanathan.

Facebook needs to take up moral responsibility

Facebook always keeps saying that it is not a publisher, but a platform. This despite the fact that it provides enough tools for anyone to become a publisher. And with a 2 billion plus population using it, the publisher has a ready audience too.

Facebook Live is a great tool if used correctly. It has been effective in shining a light on issues when mainstream media has been stifled. It has been instrumental in bringing to the fore atrocities that people have faced at the hands of those who were supposed to be their protectors. Media houses routinely use Facebook Live to inform the public and answer their questions in real time. The possibilities are immense.

But every coin has two sides. Just like Facebook Live can be used for the good of the society, there are elements, such as Stephens, who will take the other extreme. The Facebook Live video policy has specific guidelines, wherein they do not immediately take down videos just because they are showing violence. The only exception is if the video is glorifying violence  as was the case with Stephens.

Under its Community Standard, Facebook has this to say about "Violence and Graphic Content":

Facebook has long been a place where people share their experiences and raise awareness about important issues. Sometimes, those experiences and issues involve violence and graphic images of public interest or concern, such as human rights abuses or acts of terrorism. In many instances, when people share this type of content, they are condemning it or raising awareness about it. We remove graphic images when they are shared for sadistic pleasure or to celebrate or glorify violence.

Recently, a young college student from Mumbai used Facebook Live to actually give tips on committing suicide. Following which he jumped to his death from the higher floors of a five-star hotel  all while Facebook Live was rolling. And this isn't even the first time a suicide has been committed live on Facebook. There are many instances of that. Yes, it is sad and quite a shocking thing.

"Murder or suicide is an intimate act, and these videos go on to show that if these acts are not put up on Facebook, they are in a sense, incomplete. So the production and consumption of violence is merging. All these things are new and they are quite frightening. We haven't really thought deeply about these things," says Viswanathan.

So when Zuckerberg says, "we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening," after so many tragedies already having taken place on its platform, then things tend to sound a bit hollow.

What Facebook is doing on this front

Clearly, there is no way for Facebook to know before hand if a violent act is going to be committed on Facebook Live. That makes it even more pertinent to ensure that strong measures are put into place to prevent such incidents from happening. Facebook has a huge population and there are possibilities of there being copycat cases of crimes on Facebook Live, as often happens in real life.

Facebook has announced that it would integrate real-time suicide prevention tools into Facebook Live, offer live-chat support from suicide prevention helplines and through Crisis Text Line through Facebook Messenger.

Facebook also said that it would add tools to make it easier to report suicide or self-harm. Facebook is also planning to employ artificial intelligence to identify warning signs of self-harm and suicide via Facebook posts or comments.

These are good starting points. But Zuckerberg should go beyond giving mere lip service about such cases. As a platform with 2 bn active users, the dynamics are completely different for Facebook as compared to other social media sites.

TV broadcasters, which go live from locations, follow certain set of guidelines. And there are consequences if one starts broadcasting illegal activities on TV. Facebook may not be in the same league as a TV station, but since it is a platform, it may not really have to undergo the same stringent check-list. In such a case ensuring self-censorship, specially for illegal activities happening on its platform, is a task that Facebook has to invest resources in.

How does this affect the society we are living in?

According to sociologist Nandini Sardesai, these incidents show the flip-side of social media and could lead to scary situations if not controlled in time. "Back in the day, technology was used to communicate, to reach out to people. You could never imagine someone picking up a telephone and start off by abusing the person on the other end. Though technology has helped us communicate better, I think a lot of people are just using it to spew venom, vent out their anger and frustration, which is not a good thing," said Sardesai.

Incidents such as the suicides or murders being broadcast live on Facebook are just showing of the negative aspects of human nature, according to Sardesai. She feels Facebook does have to take responsibility, but adds that social media in general is not alone responsible for these things.

Social media can be looked at, in a way, as an electronic enemy, because there is a sort of boundlessness in this type of social media, says Viswanathan.

"Sure, these platforms may be used to showcase the crimes, but the onus also lies with everyone of us to call these things out. There has to be a boomerang effect rather than a domino effect. People must be punished for committing crimes on social media. Only then will there be deterrents," said Sardesai.

According to Viswanathan, even though the social media sites call themselves as platforms, they cannot be carte-blanche platforms allowing everything to go on. "I think both the platforms and the people consuming this sort of content are at fault. It's a reciprocal relationship. Once people consume this content, they talk about it and that somehow helps in its propagation. There should be some intervention there," says Viswanathan.

Then there is the fear of copycat suicides or murders, just like in the real world. "Yes there will be a few cases of copycat suicides, but let's just hope it is a fad and it dies off sooner rather than later," says Viswanathan.

So while Mark Zuckerberg has said that 'more needs to be done', it is high time he actually stated how this issue is going to be resolved. Limiting the usage of the Live feature to selected users would be counterproductive, just because some people have misused it. Moreover, Facebook will not let it happen, as its bottomline depends on how engaged it keeps its users -- Facebook Live videos ensure lot of engagement. But all said and done, so long as illegal activities are broadcast on Facebook's watch, the responsibility will also come with it.

Just like Zuckerberg has become very specific about what Facebook intends to do to tackle the menace of fake news, he needs to similarly be proactive when it comes to tackling live broadcast of criminal activities on Facebook. The artificial intelligence possibilities showcased at the F8 keynote were impressive. Some of that AI goodness has to trickle down to help Facebook deal with these grey areas. Let's just hope that happens sooner rather than later.
PTI

The Odisha government today suspended the internet services here for 48 hours amid a possible escalation of tension over an objectionable social media post. "The net connectivity has been withdrawn from the urban areas from 3 pm today for 48 hours," said the state Home Department after acting on the suggestion by Kendrapara district administration to suspend the internet services.

"We were forced to take recourse to the precautionary step so that the peace may not be breached in the sensitive areas. Some residents petitioned me alleging that a social media post shared by a local man here has hurt their sentiment," Kendrapara Collector Muralidhar Mallick told PTI. He said the administration had asked the Cyber Cell of the Crime Branch to investigate the content and the origin of its posting.

The district collector said the situation was peaceful in Kendrapara town with normal life going on as usual. "The recent violence in Bhardak, however, has prompted us to go for the internet blackout as there is every possibility of rumour mongers going on overdrive through the social media to breach peace in the area," he said.
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!)
Putin-linked think tank drew up plan to sway 2016 US election: Report

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev (not pictured) in Moscow\'s Kremlin, Russia

Reuters, Washington :

A Russian government think tank controlled by Vladimir Putin developed a plan to swing the 2016 US presidential election to Donald Trump and undermine voters' faith in the American electoral system, three current and four former US officials told Reuters.

They described two confidential documents from the think tank as providing the framework and rationale for what US intelligence agencies have concluded was an intensive effort by Russia to interfere with the Nov. 8 election. US intelligence officials acquired the documents, which were prepared by the Moscow-based Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, after the election.

The institute is run by retired senior Russian foreign intelligence officials appointed by Putin's office. The first Russian institute document was a strategy paper written last June that circulated at the highest levels of the Russian government but was not addressed to any specific individuals.

It recommended the Kremlin launch a propaganda campaign on social media and Russian state-backed global news outlets to encourage US voters to elect a president who would take a softer line towards Russia than the administration of then-President Barack Obama, the seven officials said.

A second institute document, drafted in October and distributed in the same way, warned that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was likely to win the election. For that reason, it argued, it was better for Russia to end its pro-Trump propaganda and instead intensify its messaging about voter fraud to undermine the US electoral system's legitimacy and damage Clinton's reputation in an effort to undermine her presidency, the seven officials said.

The current and former US officials spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the Russian documents' classified status. They declined to discuss how the United States obtained them. US intelligence agencies also declined to comment on them. Putin has denied interfering in the US election. Putin's spokesman and the Russian institute did not respond to requests for comment. The documents were central to the Obama administration's conclusion that Russia mounted a "fake news" campaign and launched cyber attacks against Democratic Party groups and Clinton's campaign, the current and former officials said.

"Putin had the objective in mind all along, and he asked the institute to draw him a road map," said one of the sources, a former senior US intelligence official. Trump has said Russia's activities had no impact on the outcome of the race. Ongoing congressional and FBI investigations into Russian interference have so far produced no public evidence that Trump associates colluded with the Russian effort to change the outcome of the election.
Britain will lose more from Brexit than EU

Reuters, Beijing :

Britain will lose more than the European Union from its decision to leave the bloc, the EU's top diplomat said on Thursday, and talks with London were expected to be difficult.

Prime Minister Theresa May formally began Britain's divorce from the EU last month, declaring there was no turning back, ushering in a tortuous exit process that will test the bloc's cohesion and pitch her country into the unknown.

Britain now has two years to negotiate the terms of the divorce before it comes into effect in late March 2019.

The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said during a visit to Beijing the negotiations would be difficult. "They will have to dismantle their belonging to a community. We will lose an important member state," she told students at the elite Tsinghua University.

"Let me tell you that to me all member states are important, equally, because one can be contributing more on some policies than others. But I think our British friends will lose more than what we lose," she said.

Brexit negotiations will start as planned in June, after Britons vote in a snap general election, the EU said on Wednesday. Britain's parliament has endorsed May's call for a vote on June 8.

"It's clear in our treaties that it is two years, only two years, from when the negotiations start, that was March this year. This cannot be delayed. I do not expect that it will be faster than that," Mogherini said.

China has looked on with some concern at the Brexit process, nervous about instability in the bloc that is China's largest trading partner. It will lose around a sixth of its economic output when Britain leaves the EU.

"The European Union, even after the UK will be out, will continue to be the first market in the world, the second largest economy in the world," Mogherini said.

"I am seeing all our partners in these months telling us that the European Union is needed, and this is the message I also get from here in China that the European Union is an indispensable partner in the world today," she said.




KHULNA: Ashraf Hossain, Assistant Commissioner , Khalishpur Zone under KMP addressing a meeting on the occasion of Open House Day at Daulatpur Police Station recently.
BD, Belarus agree to deeper economic cooperation

BSS, Dhaka :

Bangladesh and Belarus have agreed that deeper economic cooperation should get the main focus for further expansion of bilateral trade.

During bilateral talks at the Belarusian capital of Minsk on Wednesday, the two countries also agreed to work together to lead their respective regions in connecting and integrating trade, economy and culture, according to a media release.

"Belarus identifies Bangladesh as a promising priority country with sustained high economic growth as it redesigned its foreign policy with more focus on the emerging economies of Asia," said Belarusian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Valentin Rybakob during talks with visiting Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam.

Alam sought Belarus support for "duty free-quota free" access of Bangladeshi products to the Eurasian Economic Union and emphasized on frequent contacts between the trade bodies of both countries.

Rybakob mentioned about the delivery of Road-Construction Equipments by the Belarusian Company AMKODOR to the Local Government Division of Bangladesh under US$ 50 million Export Commodity Credit rendered through Promagroleasing (Belarusian Bank for International Development).

Appreciating the concessional loan-based economic cooperation, Alam said the Belarusian Minister of Industries will inaugurate the Joint Venture of Amkodor-Polash Service Center at Amkodor-Polash Industrial Zone, Narshingdi next week.

"Such joint ventures would ensure transfer of technology and commence manufacturing of small and light engineering equipments as it has potentials to have much wider impacts on the growing bilateral economic cooperation between our two countries," he said.

Noting the educational excellence of Belarus, Alam emphasized on more cooperation on science, technology and innovation to take the advantage of talented young population of Bangladesh and requested his Belarusian counterpart to provide more scholarships for Bangladeshi students in Belarusian universities and technological institutions.

Earlier, the state minister visited the Council of the Republic National Assembly (Parliament) and met with Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Security Professor Dr. Sergey Rakhmaanov.
Pahela Boishakh 1424 celebrated

Sheikh Arif Bulbon :

The nation celebrated the Pahela Boishakh, the first day of Bengali New Year 1424 amid much enthusiasm and traditional festivity, on April 14.

To mark the day, thousands of men, women and children thronged the streets and different places in the capital and elsewhere across the country. Cultural and musical groups started off the first day of the Bengali year with songs and other performances at city parks while students of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University and

hundreds of youngsters brought out

a Mongol Shobhajatra, a procession

of good wishes, in the morning

as part of the carnival.

The day broke with the singing of Esho hey Boishakh, esho esho everywhere in Bangladesh gave the day really

a festive dimension.

Men in traditional pyjama and

punjabi, and women in white and red saris, joined the celebrations along with children in colourful attires, streaming through Dhaka streets as the first light of the sun rang in Bengali New Year.

The people gorged themselves on Bangla delicacies of Panta Bhat (rice soaked in water) and fried Hilsa and chilli at home and places of Boishakhi congregations, the major ones being

in the capitals Ramna Batamul and on Dhaka University campus.

National dailies have brought

colourful supplements while state-run Bangladesh Television (BTV) and Bangladesh Betar and private TV

channels and radio stations aired

special programmes while festive mood gripped all the cities and towns with different programmes of

cultural groups.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in separate

messages greeted the countrymen on the occasion of Pahela Boishakh.

They wished peace, happiness and prosperity of the people and the country in the new Bengali year 1424.

The Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Bangla Academy, Shilpakala Academy, Sammilita Sangskritik Jote, Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote, Bangladesh Shishu Academy, Jatiya Press Club, Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) and different organisations

celebrated the day with festivity.

Besides, Pahela Boishakh are also being celebrated in Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barisal, Rangpur, Faridpur, Madaripur, Gopalganj, Shariatpur, Mymensingh, Habiganj, Magura, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Rangamati, Bagerhat, Kurigram, Kushtia, Joypurhat and other districts.

The day was a public holiday.

According to historical records, celebrations of Pahela Boishakh, the first day of the Bangla Calendar Year, started from Emperor Akbars reign when it was customary to clear all dues on the last day of the Bengali month of Chaitra with businessmen opening Halkhata or new book of accounts in their shops. n
Mim busy with acting, study

Sheikh Arif Bulbon :

In the beginning of this year, National Film Award winner actress, Lux superstar and model Bidya Sinha Saha Mim completed honours in Bengali Literature from Southeast University. Now she is doing masters in same subject. Her motto is to concentrate to finish her master degree right now.

While talking about to study Bengali Literature as her masters Mim told this correspondent, "As I have been study here in Bengali Literature in this university so I have already made a nice relationship with all. Therefore, faculties of this university also want that I finish my masters from here. They cooperate me a lot. For this reason, I am doing masters in Bengali Literature in this university."

Meanwhile, Mim also finished shooting of Saikat Nasir directed movie 'Pashan.' Kolkata's popular hero Om worked against her in this movie. Her acted another movie 'Ami Tor Hote Chai' got the censor certificate where Bappi acted against her."

However, Mim recently returned from Qatar after performing there. She got the National Film Award for acting in late Khalid Mahmood Mothu's movie 'Jonakir Alo.' 'Aamar Pran-er Priya,' 'Tarkanta,' 'Black,' 'Padmo Patar Jol' and 'Sweetheart' are Mim acted other released movies.

In last Eid, Mim last worked in the small screen through Mizanur Rahman Ariyan's a special telefilm titled 'Sei Meyeti.'


Salman Khan unveils first poster of 'Tubelight'

Salman Khan unveiled the first poster of his upcoming flick - Tubelight - Thursday morning. The hunk of a superstar can be seen saluting innocently as a pair of boots hangs from either side of his neck.

The tagline reads - "Kya tumhe yaqeen hai?" While sharing the poster, Salman tweeted: "Peace, Respect, Love and Light in your life from the Tubelight team(sic)."

Directed by Kabir Khan, 'Tubelight' which also stars late actor Om Puri is slated to release on Eid this year. The film will mark the Bollywood debut of Chinese actor Zhu Zhu and will feature Shah Rukh Khan in a cameo.

Set in the backdrop of the Indo-Sino war in 1962, 'Tubelight' will reportedly see Salman essaying the role of a soldier.
Angelina Jolie planning to retire?

Actress-filmmaker Angelina Jolie is planning to retire from Hollywood amid her ongoing divorce and custody battle against actor Brad Pitt, says a source.

The 'Maleficent' actress is done making movies and wants to focus on her six children, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"Angie is over starring in films. She wants to write and direct but as far as acting is concerned, she has retired. The next chapter of her life will focus on her children and all the important causes she supports. She finds acting shallow and wants to focus on the stuff in life that really matters," the source told Naughty Gossip magazine.

'Maleficent 2' will be Jolie's last film. She finished working on the foreign language feature film - 'First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers', which will be released on video-streaming app Netflix.
Bilateral ties with Brazil to be strengthened: President



Brazilian Ambassador to Bangladesh Wanja Campos Da Nobrega on Thursday paid a farewell call on President M Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban here.

During the meeting, the President lauded the role of Nobrega in strengthening bilateral relations between Bangladesh and the Federative Republic of Brazil and hoped that the ties would be strengthened further in coming days, President's Press Secretary Joynal Abedin told reporters.

President Hamid said Bangladesh and Brazil show indifferent stance on various regional and international issues and support each other.

He said Bangladesh and Brazil enjoy excellent friendly relations based on mutual respect, shared values of democracy, rule of law, human dignity and stance against terrorism and militancy.

Noting that Bangladesh produces many world-standard products like readymade garment (RMG), pharmaceutical items, knitwear and jute materials, Hamid called upon Brazil to import more these quality products from Bangladesh.

The Brazilian envoy highly praised the hospitality of Bangladesh people and said Bangladesh is advancing towards a marked development gradually.

Nobrega expressed gratitude to the President for extending cooperation in discharging her assignment in Bangladesh.

Secretaries concerned to the President were present.
Final round of Independence Cup Kabaddi to begin Sunday

President of Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation and Inspector General of Bangladesh Police AKM Shahidul Haque speaking at a press conference at the Bangladesh Olympic Association Auditorium on Thursday.



The final round of Independence Cup Kabaddi competition will begin on Sunday (April-23) at Shaheed Suhrawardy Indoor Stadium at Mirpur with six matches will be billed for the opening day.

Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation (BKF) president and IGP AKM Shahidul Haque is expected to inaugurate the meet as the chief guest

A total of ten teams, split into two groups, will take part in the five-day meet, sponsored by Bashundhora Group and organized by BKF.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals scheduled to be held on April 26 while the final of the competition is slated on April 27.

In this regards, a press conference was held on Thursday at Bangladesh Olympic Association auditorium to provide all the details of the meet.

BKF President and IGP AKM Shahidul Haque, BKF general secretary and additional DIG Habibur Rahman, Bashudhora Group advisor major general (retd.) Mahbub Haider Khan, were among others, present on the occasion.
Rethinking development finance

Jim Yong Kim :

Last fall, before the IMF-World Bank Group annual meetings, I told the world about our two goals - to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity - and I talked about the three paths we would follow to get to our target.

The first path is to accelerate inclusive and sustainable economic growth. We're doing this by laying the foundations for more effective public services, by improving governance and tackling corruption, by accelerating infrastructure investment, by lowering real and perceived risks for private investment, by making trade work for everyone, and by creating markets to bring the benefits of private sector rigor and innovation to developing countries.

The second path is to invest more - and more effectively in people. We believe that the premium on human capital will get higher and higher every year. The demands for digital competency are accelerating, as indicators suggest that automation will replace many of the less complex and low-skilled jobs. The remaining jobs will demand new and more sophisticated skills.

So investing in human development has to start early - by ensuring that pregnant women have access to prenatal healthcare, including the right nutrition; by preventing malnutrition in children, so they can develop properly; by ensuring access to quality health care for all; by providing education that prepares students for the jobs of the future and by building social safety nets that meaningfully protect the poor.

And the third path is to foster resilience to global shocks and threats. We're living in a time of multiple overlapping crises: pandemics, climate change, refugees, famine. Right now, in parts of East Africa and Yemen, we're seeing what the UN is calling the worst famine in 70 years.

It's critically important to help countries prepare for these crises. The World Bank Group is now the world's largest funder of climate-related investments. We're pioneering a first of its kind pandemic insurance facility. We're working with the affected countries and partners to help end the famine - and we will use every tool we have, including financial tools, to prevent famine in the future.

" We believe that everyone in the development community should be an honest broker who helps find win-win outcomes - where owners of capital get a reasonable return, and developing countries maximize sustainable investments. There's never been a better time to find those win-win solutions. The trillions of dollars sitting on the sidelines, earning little interest, and the investors looking for better opportunities should be mobilized to help us meet the exploding aspirations of people all over the world. "

We're also continuing our work on the global displacement crisis by allocating $2 billion under IDA18, our fund for the poorest, to support the low-income countries that are hosting refugees.

For the first time, we're also providing concessional, essentially below market interest financing to any middle income country hosting refugees through our new Global Concessional Financing Facility, starting with support to Jordan and Lebanon, who are hosting millions of Syrian refugees.

In the midst of these crises and our efforts to respond, the world is changing rapidly. In some quarters, we've seen a rejection of globalization, and there's debate about the benefits of the global market system.

It's true that many people feel they haven't experienced the benefits of globalization. Recent studies of the US and European job markets document the hollowing out of segments of the workforce. An analysis we just released with the IMF and the WTO shows that trade has greatly benefitted the poor, but its benefits have not been experienced by everyone. In many places, middle class incomes have stagnated and jobs have disappeared.

There's a discussion happening here in the UK right now about this very question.

Ensuring that the fruits of globalization are enjoyed by all is an urgent task for every country in the world, both rich and poor. But globalization is having other effects, especially on people's aspirations, that are forcing us to rethink our approach to development.

The Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by 193 states in 2015, are wildly aspirational in their vision of a world without poverty and hunger, safe from threats like environmental and social disasters.

Everywhere I go I see that ambition with my own eyes.

As President of the World Bank Group, I've traveled to 6 continents and met people from most of our 189 member countries. In almost every country, I see people on their cell phones and computers. The internet and social media allow them to know exactly how everyone else lives. To some extent that's been possible for a long time through newspapers and television. The difference is that now someone in Butare, Rwanda can Facebook message their cousin in Kigali and become immersed in detail about life 80 miles away. Both of them can talk every day with a friend studying in Paris, and learn about life 4,000 miles away. Depending on connectivity, which happens to be excellent throughout Rwanda, they can send emails, pictures, videos, snaps, tweets and texts back and forth at lightning speed.

Knowing exactly how everyone else lives, in their own countries and abroad, is leading to a convergence of aspirations. Let me explain what I mean.

As I traveled, it seemed to me that everyone was aspiring for what they could see - not just in their immediate environment, but even for what they're connected to digitally.

I wanted to know if my impressions were supported by data, so I asked our economists Bill Maloney and Laura Chioda to dig into the numbers. Are we witnessing a global convergence of aspirations?

Using data from the World Values Survey and the Gallup World Poll, they looked at how people across the economic spectrum felt about their financial situation fifteen years ago and today. They looked at trends in internet connectivity, and they looked at whether people expressed interest in living abroad, as a proxy for whether their aspirations are informed by how people live in other countries.

This research is preliminary, but here's what we found.

Your relative happiness depends on where you are in the income distribution. It also depends on how your income compares to your reference income - the income to which you compare your own.

(To be continued)

Looking at the data on satisfaction with standard of living, we found that if your reference income goes up 10 percent, your own income has to go up at least 5 percent for you to maintain the same level of satisfaction.

The trade-off is even larger for poorer people - if you're poorer, your income has to rise even more just to maintain satisfaction.

We also found that as internet access becomes more widespread, people are increasingly looking outward for their reference income. And this correlation has grown over time.

Keeping up with the Jones's used to be about keeping up with your neighbors. But it's no longer only about the Jones's living around you - because of connectivity, the Jones's could be anywhere in the world.

And connectivity in the developing world has expanded. According to the Gallup data, internet access for the poorest 20 percent nearly doubled, from 11 percent in 2009 to 21 percent today.

Why does this matter? In Africa - home to 1.2 billion people - 226 million smart phones were connected to the internet at the end of 2015. By 2020, that number will triple, to three quarters of a billion. We think that as more people connect to the internet, aspirations will continue to rise.

It's important to remember, rising aspirations aren't just for things that other people have; they're demands for opportunities that too many don't have.

A poor child in Quibdo, Colombia can text message with her friend in Bogota and hear all about her school, what she's learning, and the jobs she'll have when she graduates. She looks at her own school and job prospects, and she will likely want the same opportunities.

We found that if people are satisfied with the quality of education, early childhood programs, security, and healthcare, they report much higher satisfaction with their standard of living. These are areas where the World Bank Group has invested heavily and accumulated expertise.

As someone who was born in South Korea when it was one of the poorest countries in the world, the rise in aspirations is something that I celebrate. But I'm worried about the ability of those of us who work in development to keep up with them.

Aspirations, linked to opportunity, can breed dynamism and inclusive, sustainable economic growth. But I worry, and studies suggest, that if there's no opportunity to achieve those aspirations, frustration may very well lead to fragility, conflict, violence, extremism, and eventually migration.

We're already seeing worrying trends - 2 billion people live in countries affected by fragility, conflict, and violence. After a period of decline since the end of the Cold War, violent conflicts have increased rapidly since 2010. Terrorism incidents have increased by 120 percent since 2012.

By 2030, 50 percent of the global poor will live in areas affected by conflict and fragility. We cannot meet our goal to end extreme poverty by 2030 unless we tackle this challenge.

At the World Bank Group, we believe we all have a moral responsibility to do more to help people lift themselves out of both fragility and extreme poverty, to help stabilize the countries they live in, and to give them hope for the future.

That's why we have doubled the allocation for fragile states under IDA18 to more than 14 billion dollars. We need to continue to find new and innovative ways to reach the poor, and make the world more secure and stable through development finance.

And with high aspirations - embodied in the Sustainable Development Goals, and evident in every country I've traveled to - we have to move quickly to ensure that these aspirations don't turn into anger, resentment, and ultimately even extremism and migration.

Morally and ethically, it's the right thing to do. But because of rising aspirations, the task is much more urgent than we ever thought.

So, how do we move with the unprecedented speed and scale we'll need to meet these aspirations?

In 2015, before the world adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, the UN and the development banks met in Addis Ababa to discuss how we would find the resources to achieve them.

We knew that to meet what are now called the global goals, the world had to move the discussion from 'Billions' in official development assistance to 'Trillions' in investments of all kinds: public and private, national and global, in both capital and capacity.

'Billions to trillions' was the shorthand we used to describe the scale of finance we needed.

But to get to the trillions, we needed to change the way we do our work.

Now, to be honest, we haven't changed the way we do our work enough - not yet.

To succeed with the immense tasks ahead of us, we have to fundamentally change our approach to development finance.

In our conversations with investors, nearly all of them say they would consider investing in emerging markets if it were less risky. Given the low returns so many owners of capital are receiving from their investments, there should be potential for many win-win scenarios where capital earns a higher return and developing countries receive much-needed investment and expertise.

So our top priority should be to systematically de-risk both projects and countries to enable private sector financing, while at the same time ensuring that these investments benefit poor countries and poor people.

We should do this by crowding in the private sector, whenever possible. And we should combine this with our knowledge - technical expertise, knowledge about the countries and the economy - so that the capital really works for poor countries and poor people.

We should use our own capital and our knowledge to serve as an honest broker sitting between the global market system and the interests of emerging countries and poor people, ensuring that both sides win.

We believe that all development finance institutions should be working to crowd in private capital through a set of principles that will maximize resources and benefits for the poor. We're not there yet, but this is how we think we should proceed in order to get there.

First, for every project we support, we have to ask the question, "Can the private sector finance this on commercial terms?"

In 2006, the Government of Jordan was working with the World Bank Group to finance improvements to the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman. This could have been financed solely by public money, but the government was interested to see if they could bring in the private sector.

The World Bank employee in charge of the project, John Speakman, reached out to his counterpart at IFC, our private sector arm, who had worked on a similar project in Saudi Arabia and knew the market.

Together, they worked with the Jordanian government to lay the ground work for private investment. When IFC put an appropriate deal structure in place, and invested 270 million dollars of its own capital, we were able to attract enough commercial financing to cover the rest of the project.

The government contracted the airport's operations to a French company, who pays Jordan an annual fee. It's a genuine public-private partnership. Jordan receives 54 percent of the net revenue and they're making money every year.

Over the last nine years, without any direct investments to improve the airport, Jordan has received more than one billion dollars in revenue - and they don't have project loans to pay back.

We have to look everywhere for more opportunities like the Queen Alia Airport.

That will mean that when something is commercially viable, we have to agree across the entire international development finance system - multilaterals and bilaterals - that we will help the government negotiate a private sector deal that provides value for money, ensures good governance, and adheres to environmental and social standards. Now, I can tell you, getting agreement on this hasn't been easy.

Second, we have to encourage upstream reforms. We saw this work in Turkey in the energy sector. Over a decade, with other partners, we supported the creation of power and gas markets - with a focus on regulations and pricing structure. We used public finance for public-good investments like transmission expansion and advised on regulatory changes for energy efficiency.

As the market liberalized, IFC led investments in renewable energy. And MIGA, our Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency that specializes in political risk insurance and credit enhancement, provided coverage. With just 5 billion dollars of public investment and policy loans, Turkey was able to attract more than 55 billion dollars in private power and gas investments.

Our goal isn't just to de-risk projects; it is to de-risk entire countries. To achieve this, with all of our projects, especially those that are not commercially viable because of market failures or perceived risks, we will work with governments on regulatory and policy reforms to make these projects commercially viable, whenever possible.

Third, we have to use public or concessional finance in innovative ways to mitigate risk, and blended finance to support private sector investment. Here's what we're working on now - a risk mitigation mechanism called the Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program. This platform allows institutional investors in OECD countries to invest in projects in the developing world and get a return on their investment.

IFC and Swedish Sida provide a first loss guarantee of 10 percent, creating an investment grade risk profile on a loan portfolio of emerging market infrastructure investments. This allows partners like the insurer Allianz, who have a relatively conservative risk appetite, to invest in emerging markets. Allianz is providing $500 million. This platform can mobilize 8 to 10 dollars for every dollar of public money.

One of the things we'd like to do, for example, is to find a way for a pension fund in the United Kingdom to be able to invest in building roads in Dar es Salaam, get a reasonable return on that investment, and do a lot of good in the process.

In a similar way, MIGA has been working with DFID, Sweden, and Canada over the past few years. Ninety-million dollars in donor funding is now allocated to catalyze 800 million dollars in private investment for projects in fragile and conflict affected countries.

Our new tools also include the 2.5 billion dollar IDA Private Sector Window, part of our record $75 billion replenishment of IDA. Among other things, it includes a Risk Mitigation Facility to provide project-based guarantees without sovereign indemnity, and a Local Currency Facility to mitigate currency risk when markets are not yet developed.

There are sectors that can only be funded with public financing, where objectives cannot be met by the cost recovery requirements of commercial financing, and our hope is that if we're successful at both creating markets and following these principles, countries can use scarce public resources to invest more in people, build resilience, and respond to crises.

We need to keep searching for pathways to bring the private sector into these areas as well, but only if it's in the best interest of everyone, especially those currently excluded from the benefits of development. Take for example the case of gender equality, and the boost it gets from opening up access to finance for women and unleashing their entrepreneurial potential. Providing access to capital for women is a no-brainer, but we also have work to do in reforming government policies so that women can make full use of their new resources.

These principles aren't just relevant in stable countries; they can work in fragile and conflict-affected states. In Iraq - years of war and neglect led to daily blackouts, crippling the economy. Even in Iraq we asked, can the private sector fund power generation and distribution in these circumstances?

The answer was yes to power production, but not yet to power distribution. We invested $250 million of IFC money, and helped the government enact policy reforms, mobilizing another $125 million in private capital for power production.

This investment expanded the capacity of an existing power plant by 50 percent, bringing power to 3 million people, and helped complete a new power plant that will supply about half of Baghdad's energy.

Getting the private sector engaged in creating jobs and growing economies may be one of the best ways to prevent conflicts in the future.

But let me be clear - this isn't like the bad old days of privatization. I was part of a group that protested those bad old days. We're not talking about reviving an approach where the answer to poorly run public services, or unprofitable state-owned enterprises, was often an over-simplified attempt at privatization.

For example, in the late 1990s, in one of our loans we prescribed the privatization of the Senegalese power company SENELEC. A few years later the privatization failed and the government had to buy the utility back.

Many similar privatization efforts were ill conceived - without clear understanding of the roles and obligations of the state and private managers. And they didn't include fundamental reforms of the overall sectors.

Today, we're much more focused on whether the regulatory context provides incentives for efficient management, whether commercial principles are being applied consistently, and whether subsidies for services are transparent and focused on the poor - and ideally, funded without interfering with commercial viability.

We're talking about a very different kind of approach. What emerged from Addis Ababa was a consensus that private capital was essential for development - but that development had to be country-led and always focused on benefitting the poor.

In every case, we have to ask ourselves the questions - what are the priorities of the government? What's in the best interest of poor countries and poor people? Can we find win-win situations? And do these investments align with our core values: access, inclusion, and equality?

It's easy to talk about this approach, but it's going to be very difficult to change the global development architecture to move in this direction.

The development world is not there yet. The World Bank Group is not there yet. But this is something we have to do, and at the World Bank Group, we know we have to start with ourselves.

Here's what we will do in our own organization:

1. We have to change the incentive structure.

When John Speakman helped set up private financing for the Queen Alia Airport, he was working against his own interest. The incentives were structured so that the best thing for him to have done was to try to structure a loan and quickly get it through the board.

If a World Bank employee spends years doing project preparation and does such a great job that the project becomes commercially viable, we should celebrate that achievement.

Right now we don't.

But we're working to change the incentives - defining and tracking the direct mobilization of commercial capital, so we can reward every effort to crowd in private financing.

We're putting in place a tracking system that captures indirect forms of mobilization, and we're figuring out how to reward staff who focus on advisory programs, building markets, and creating the environment for investment.

2. We have to work much more effectively across the World Bank Group.

This is about asking the right questions - is the financial structure for a project viable for commercial funding? If not, what would it take to get it there?

It means IBRD/IDA staffers have to think more like private investors, and IFC and MIGA staffers have to think more like public policy reformers.

If staff from both institutions can walk in the shoes of the other, we can take a big step toward multiplying development finance.

3. We need to change how we see ourselves.

Right now, we see ourselves as a lender. We see ourselves as an investor.

We see ourselves tackling small parts of the development agenda, directly financing projects and working towards specific policy goals.

Instead, we have to think of ourselves as strategic advisors and honest brokers who link capital looking for greater returns to countries looking to achieve their highest aspirations.

One of our most important roles is to attach our knowledge to capital as it flows to the developing world. And not just knowledge about how to build a bridge, or generate energy, or sanitize water. We need to attach knowledge about how to do these things in specific developing countries. It's a very special set of skills, and it's what makes organizations like the World Bank Group unique.

And instead of just linking our knowledge to our own capital, we need to leverage our knowledge by linking it to the vast amounts of capital that we can mobilize from the private sector.

We have to become the honest broker that sits between the global market system and the interests of emerging countries and poor people.

We believe that everyone in the development community should be an honest broker who helps find win-win outcomes - where owners of capital get a reasonable return, and developing countries maximize sustainable investments.

There's never been a better time to find those win-win solutions. The trillions of dollars sitting on the sidelines, earning little interest, and the investors looking for better opportunities should be mobilized to help us meet the exploding aspirations of people all over the world.

This is a fundamental shift in our conception of who we are. In many instances, development finance institutions have competed with each other to finance projects - especially, the low-hanging fruit that the private sector, with a little help, could finance on commercial terms.

For too long, our first thought was, how can we get the loan or the grant out the door? But that's often not what's best for poor people and poor countries, and it's not what's best for the world.

We need to have a different and difficult conversation about how we approach development finance.

This is an urgent task. The clock is ticking on the Sustainable Development Goals.

With climate change, we're running out of time, and we need to rethink how to bring the private and public sectors together to move immediately on both mitigation and adaptation.

We need to do this in a coordinated way, so we can have the largest possible impact now, and stimulate the market to generate more investment in things like renewable energy.

This is a test for us. Can we take advantage of these huge potential win-wins?

Can we stop competing with each other for projects, and instead take an evidence-based approach to finance that maximizes outcomes for the poorest people; that maximizes outcomes for the planet; that redefines development in a fundamental way?

I want to leave you with a story from one of my recent trips. A few weeks ago, I visited a school in Tanzania. I asked the 11-year-old students, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Two children stood up and said, "I want to be president of the World Bank."

Here's what I told them. I was born in 1959 in a country that was one of the poorest in the world. That year, the World Bank said that without foreign aid, Korea would find it difficult to provide more than "the bare necessities of life." Korea did not qualify for a World Bank loan until 1963.

In 1963, when I was in preschool, if George David Woods, the World Bank president at that time, had visited my classroom, I doubt if he could have imagined that one of his successors was sitting in that room.

I told those girls and boys in Tanzania, "Don't let anyone tell you that you can't be president of the World Bank. And don't let anyone tell you that you can't be anything you want to be. You can."

I believe that. But it won't happen unless we all decide that we're not going to allow these aspirations to be thwarted by our inaction, or even worse, by bureaucratic inertia.

We need to embrace the notion that our greatest moral responsibility is to create equality of opportunity, so that everyone has a chance to achieve their highest aspirations.

Here today, at the London School of Economics, I want to issue a challenge: to ourselves - the World Bank Group; to the entire development community; and to all the future economic and political leaders in this room - to act with the speed and the scale that these times require, and fundamentally change the way we do development.

(World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim spoke at London School of Economics in UK on 11-04-2017).

Jim Yong Kim, World Bank Group President




Asylum seekers from US surge into Canada

Al Jazeera News :

Canadian authorities caught 887 asylum seekers crossing unlawfully into Canada from the United States in March, nearly three times the number in January.

This brings the total number of asylum seekers caught walking across the border to 1,860 so far this year. The new statistics suggest that those numbers could rise further as the weather warms.

Canada is on track to see the highest number of asylum claims in six years, given the pace of claims filed so far, as increasing numbers of people cross into Canada to make refugee claims following US President Donald Trump's election and his crackdown on refugees and migrants.

"The majority of irregular migrants are holders of visas for the United States," according to a statement released on Wednesday by the office of Canada's Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

"Canadian authorities are managing the increase in asylum seekers in a sound and measured way ... To be clear - trying to slip across the border in an irregular manner is not a 'free' ticket to Canada."

Almost three-quarters of the asylum seekers caught crossing so far this year were taken into custody in Quebec, government data showed. Roxham Road, which straddles Champlain, New York and Hemmingford, Quebec, has become such a common spot that photographers cluster there and would-be refugees refer to it by name.

Most of the others were taken into custody in Manitoba and British Columbia - 331 and 201, respectively.

Police said on Wednesday that they have charged 43-year-old Michelle Omoruyi with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling. Police allege they found Omoruyi driving nine West African asylum seekers across the US border into the prairie province of Saskatchewan on Friday night. The nine asylum seekers have filed refugee claims and are not in custody.
Siblings among six killed by lightnings

Six people, including two siblings, were killed in separate lightning strikes in Noakhali, Barisal and Sirajganj districts from Wednesday night to Thursday morning.

In Noakhali, two siblings-M Sharif, 8, and Lipi Aktar, 10, children of Khorshed Alam and students of a local madrasah, were hit while working on a field adjacent to their house at Dakkhin Char Shullakia village in the Sadar upazila. In Barisal, two fishermen - Marzan, 45, and Yusuf, 38, residents of Garuria village in Mehendiganj upazila, were killed after being struck by a lighting strike while netting fish on the Kalabadar River, said OC of Mehendiganj Police Station. In Sirajganj, Ferdousi Khatun, 44, hailing from Pirarchar village in Belkuchi upazila, and Joynob Begum, 71, resident of Suja village in Ullapara upazila, were killed in separate lightning strikes on Wednesday night.

Ferdousi was hit while working on the yard of her own house, while septuagenarian Joynob was struck on his way to the hospital, said police.
Try to ensure BNP`s joining next polls

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday urged the government to try to ensure their party's participation in the next general election instead of scaring it of cancelling its registration with the Election Commission.

"Look for ways how you'll take BNP to polls. There's no point in freighting us that our party's registration will be annulled if we boycott the election. No national election will be held in the country without BNP's participation," he told a discussion.

Fakhrul also warned the government that it will not be able to subdue BNP by resorting to killing and enforced disappearance, and threatening to arrest its leaders and activists.

BNP arranged the programme at the Jatiya Press Club marking the 5th anniversary of 'enforced disappearance' of its leader M Ilias Ali. Ilias Ali, BNP's the then Sylhet divisional organising secretary and a former MP, went missing along with his driver Ansar Ali on the midnight of April 17 in 2012. Since then, BNP has been blaming security agencies for his mysterious disappearance, an allegation denied by the government.

Reacting to AL leader Mohammad Nasim's remark that the polls will not hamper if BNP does not join it, Fakhrul said the ruling party will not be allowed to hold a lopsided election or manipulate it staying in power this time.

"As a liberal democratic and election-oriented party, BNP wants to join the election, but it is Awami League which will have to pave a way for BNP to join it by removing all obstacles. The election must be held under a nonparty and neutral government and a neutral Election Commission. Otherwise, no polls will be allowed to be held," the BNP leader said.

Mentioning that their party is forming new committees of its many units across the country, he asked his party colleagues to get united and create strongholds of the party at every part of the country to make their anti-government movement a success. Fakhrul accused the government of perpetuating its power by using enforced disappearance as a weapon, and said it has made over 500 BNP leaders and activists, including Ilias Ali, disappeared. He demanded the government immediately return Ilias to his family. "Or else, you will have to be accountable for it some day."
Spl Force to net big fishes

Sagar Biswas :

Department of Narcotics Control [DNC] has sent a proposal to the Ministry of Home Affairs to form a 'Special Force' with the skilled members of different security agencies to combat alarming drug smuggling into the country and to catch the godfathers.



In line with the government's zero tolerance policy, the NDC has also sent a list of 3,200 drug smugglers to the ministries concerned and Prime Minister's Office to get formal approval before launching a massive drive against the narcotics dealers, officials said on Thursday.



"The money that comes from drugs is strengthening militancy and terrorism. So, we've sent a proposal to the Home Ministry to form a Special Force and a Special Zone to root out the problem. If the plan is approved, we can nab the godfathers without major obstacles," Director General of DNC Salahuddin Mahmud said.



The narcotics department has taken the initiative at a time when Yaba smuggling has become a major concern to the government high ups where about two million Yaba pills are consumed across the country daily. The Yaba pills usually enter the country through crossing the Bangladesh and Myanmar border.



The DNC DG further said that a list of 3,200 drug dealers has been prepared in three tiers. Of them, in the first row who patronizes the drug business behind the scene; in the second row the local and regional godfathers; and in the third row the retail dealers.



Officials said the DNC only in March month seized 66,181 Yaba tablets from different parts of the country. In combined, the total quantity of recovered Yaba by the BGB, RAB, police and other agencies was at least ten times higher.



"Bangladesh is in a bilateral cooperation with Myanmar to draw an end of Yaba trading. But the country [Myanmar] is yet to show any positive sign to do so," Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal recently said.

"We have talked to Myanmar government about it. But Myanmar is not responding us to stop Yaba trading. Whereas, Bangladesh has never been involved in Yaba manufacturing nor engaged in any other narcotic production in the country," he said.



Home Ministry officials said that earlier smuggling of Phensidyl drug from India to Bangladesh was a common scenario. Now it is mostly stopped due to collaborative actions and cooperation from India, they added.



DNC officials told The New Nation, Yaba pills are being manufactured in at least 40 factories in Maungdaw, the western-most city of Myanmar, which separated Bangladesh by the Naf river.



They said, the Yaba smugglers have changed their route. They are now using small boats and fishing trawlers through the Karnaphuly waterways to transport the narcotics inside Bangladesh.



Officials said the smugglers earlier had preferred unloading their consignments on the embankments of River Naf at Teknaf in the district of Cox's Bazar and later had used land routes for its supply chain.



Presently, they are taking their consignments directly inside Chittagong using riverine routes considering waterways safer for transporting the narcotics due to tight security at different points on the land routes, they said.
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Photo by Doug Dugas/UL Lafayette

A team of researchers from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette who attended the citys recent Mardi Gras Kings Parade wasnt interested in catching beads or doubloons.

It was after data.

The group of four, which included students and postdoctoral researchers, fanned out along the parade route. The floats rolled from near the intersection of Jefferson, Surrey and Simcoe streets, and ended near Cajun Field. The researchers walked along the entire 4-mile route.

Their assignment was to estimate crowd size at the request of the Lafayette Police Department. The project will assist law enforcement with crowd management, officer allocation and emergency response plans for future parades and other events.

Marina Ledet, a senior from Abbeville majoring in mathematics, didnt mind the assignment. I actually dont like parades, but I enjoyed this one because I got to do math, she says.

Before the researchers hit the parade route, they used software to generate a sampling scheme. It included a predetermined number of steps they would take before stopping to count parade attendees.

At each 100-step interval, they counted spectators standing behind corresponding barricades lining both sides of the parade route. They recorded the numbers in small notebooks, except for sections of large numbers of people. For those, they snapped photos and viewed them later to tally spectators.

After determining a mean number of people behind each barricade, that average was multiplied by the total number of barricades.

Ngan Hoang Nguyen Thuy, a graduate student from Vietnam pursuing her doctoral degree in math, says compiling figures at a noisy, festive parade was easy. Explaining to some spectators why their photos were being taken was harder.

Families with small children often felt a little bit uncomfortable, until I explained the purpose of the study, which will benefit the community, she explains.

Suntaree Unhapipat, a postdoctoral statistics researcher from Thailand, says team members used two statistical models to find possible ranges for the number of spectators on each side of the route. We came up with almost identical results each time, she says.

The researchers estimated the total crowd size for the event at 47,234 people.

That averages out to nearly 12,000 people per mile, or nearly 1,000 per standard city block.

The team, which also included Phontita Thiuthad, a postdoctoral statistics researcher from Thailand, presented the results to LPD representatives, says Dr. Nabendu Pal, a professor of statistics who led the project.

Worldwide, crowd size is becoming an increasing public safety concern, Pal explains, referring to recent terrorist attacks in Nice, Berlin and London. There are other implications as well. Knowing how many people attended a large gathering compared to how many, for example, needed medical attention can help paramedics marshal resources.

LPD Cpl. Karl Ratcliff says law enforcement efforts to collect similar data can be hindered by officers duties, or an incident that diverts their focus.

We can do the estimates ourselves, but we are often consumed with ensuring safety. Its good to have eyes from the outside and to be able to put some science behind it, Ratcliff notes. Its a great service to the community, especially at this time of year when we experience large crowds and attract people from around the world at events like Mardi Gras and festivals. We want to do everything we can to be proactive.
If you havent seen the misinformation yet, you will  in a mailer, a radio ad or video ad on social media: $226 million for 248 classrooms (not true, the proposed half-cent sales tax also covers building two new elementary schools) or $905,000 per classroom (total BS); the Lafayette Parish School System can spend the money on anything it wants (again not true: the tax is dedicated to replacing temporary classrooms on 12 campuses). On and on. Read the school board's response to some of these misrepresentations here.

The misinformation is being disseminated on Facebook by a group calling itself Citizens Against the School Tax, part of shadowy effort to gin up an anti-tax furor that crested with the Tea Party several years ago, and its built on selective readings, misrepresentations and distortions. If you scan Citizens Against Tax Reforms Facebook page, youll see graphics that are identical to images on a recent mailer that went to Lafayette residents. The mailer was produced by a group, presumably a political action committee, based in Washington, D.C., called Policies for Louisianas Future.

Who is Policies for Louisianas Future? OpenSecrets.org, a website that tracks political money, candidates, office holders and their donors, has no record of Policies for Louisianas Future. Nor does the Louisiana Ethics Administration, which also keeps a tally of lobbying and PAC activity in the Bayou State.

The name sounds a lot like Fund for Louisianas Future, a super PAC created for former U.S. Sen. David Vitters unsuccessful run for governor in 2015. A Google search for Policies for Louisianas Future turns up Fund for Louisianas Future as its top search result. The 1001 Pennsylvania Ave. address for Policies for Louisianas Future is an office building in DC best known as home to political-financial powerhouse The Carlyle Group.

But, a search of the Louisiana secretary of state's business filings has an answer, sort of. Policies for Louisiana's Future lists as its officers three of the principals at the DC political messaging firm The Political Firm  Joel Digrado, Scott Hobbs and Jason Hebert. The registered agent is identified as Incorp Services of Baton Rouge, which lists as its officers four people who share an address on Howard Hughes Boulevard  I'm not making this up!  in Las Vegas. The registered agent for Incorp Services is listed as Louisiana Corporate & Registered Agent Services in Baton, which lists as its officer a Jeanine Beauregard of Baton Rouge. The registered agent for Louisiana Corporate & Registered Agent Services is identified as Statewide Corporate Research Company, also of Baton Rouge. Statewide Corporate Research Company lists Gerald Beauregard as its officer and, wait for it, Louisiana Corporate & Registered Agent Services as its agent.

I hope you're as dazzled by this rabbit's hole as I am.

I reached out via direct message on Facebook to Citizens Against the School Tax and got very little. The person fielding my questions obviously knew who I am  he or she even knew my nickname  and about my employment, but wouldnt provide any answers about where their funding comes from or who they are:
Hurricane Update: Fears arise that Gov. Ron DeSantis may reroute Hurricane Ian from Florida coast to Martha's Vineyard

Study: People who define themselves by what they stand against, are usually afraid to tell people what they stand for

Liz Cheney: Voters need to ask themselves, why they are so out of touch with their politicians

White House: IRS toy guns for children are now politically correct, mandatory

BREAKING: Biden's economic sanctions on the U.S. to be partially lifted prior to November election

GOP's new slogan for midterms: Make Dissent Patriotic Again

PSA: Due to high gas prices police departments will now be responding and making arrests via Zoom.

NYT: Roe vs Wade to be renamed the "Don't Say Fetus" law

Democrats insist on carrying unwanted presidency to term

Elon Musk went to bed thinking he owns Twitter. Then the mail-in ballots arrived at 2am...

Obama: "If you like your information you can keep your information"

Fact checkers reveal Biden handler not a real Easter bunny

Biden 2021: you'll save $0.16 on 4th of July BBQ!

Biden 2022: you'll save a ton of $$ if you don't eat this 4th of July!

Disney to buy Epstein Island for new theme park

The Biology Underground is like the Weather Underground, except they are real biologists and they've had to go underground

"Psssst. Hey you, kid. Ya wanna watch a Disney movie with me?"

"I am not suicidal," says COVID-19 after being contracted by Hillary Clinton

Trans-swimmer Lia Thomas's trophy is smaller than for male swimmers, and only 73% gold

Sources: U.S. now considers majority of U.S. citizens a threat to U.S.

BREAKING: Russian General claims he was beaten up outside Ukrainian bio lab by two Nazis who poured vodka and caviar over him and yelled "This is NATO Country!"

Global warming news: 100,000 Russian migrants fleeing climate change about to march into Ukraine

Future headline: Donald Trump to buy CNN for one dollar

Georgia Governor Stacy Abrams feels honored to be the new Supreme Court justice

President Biden: 'Vote for me or I'll shoot this foot'

Fact checkers give Pinocchio's speech four Bidens

Fauci: The only thing we have to fear, is a lack of fear itself!

Study: Most people have had sex more violent than January 6th

Facebook permanently bans Facebook from Facebook for violating Facebook community standards

New remake of the 1950's horror movie Them to be titled Them/They

Teachers Union: Idea that CRT is being taught in K-12 just a conspiracy theory by white supremacists trying to maintain their systemically racist police state

Xze/She/He who controls the past controls the future; Xze/She/He who controls the present controls the past

S ocialists vow to fight against Critical Socialism Theory

A more perfect Soviet Union: the Party pretends it unites us, and we pretend we are united

Biden solves border crisis with free direct flights from Central America to major metropolitan areas

Critical race theory: destroy the world of systemic racism, build a world of systemic race-baiting

In the future everyone will get canceled for fifteen minutes

Biden proposes bill to spend two trillion dollars on more money printing factories

Social unity: They pretend to hold elections and we pretend we voted

Immigrants to Texas and Florida from New York and California break down and cry when they realize all their sacrifices for a better tomorrow were based on lies

China anal swabs detect new 'silent but deadly' transmission of covid-19 variant

Social science breakthrough: 'White' is the new way of saying 'Bourgeois'

Biden administration swat teams make sweeping arrests of underground female-only track meets

'Green energy' to be renamed 'blackout energy' for easier comprehension of climate complexities

New children's game: Rock, Paper, Scissors, Science







Texas: Biden administration sends emergency wind turbines to help fight the blackouts

BREAKING: Biden signs executive order canceling the number 45

ATTENTION: It is your duty to report anyone who says this is no longer a free country. Fact-checking commissars are monitoring all state-approved social media platforms for your convenience

OUT: If you don't vote, you can't complain!

IN: If you didn't vote Democrat, you can't complain!

Social media justice: followers removed from pro-Trump accounts will be added to Biden's Twitter account

Fact check: a democratic election is the one in which votes are counted until Democrats win

JUST IN: China bans Twitter for being too totalitarian

Pelosi introduces new House rule to replace 'gender' terms like mother, daughter, father, son with the word 'comrade'; the only acceptable pronoun will also be 'comrade'





Sources: Biden transition team demands access to White House basement to begin renovations

BREAKING: President Trump pardons America for its past

Prime Minister Modi: to avoid accusations of racism India will change its name to Cleveland

Biden creates Antifascist Librarian Justice Committee; the first book scheduled for burning is Fahrenheit 451

Media study: 148% of Americans believe voter fraud doesn't exist

2020 Election forecast: if Joe Biden emerges from the basement on Election Day and sees his shadow, expect four more years of Trump

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Toobin, though on administrative leave, is still pulling for Biden

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Nancy Pelosi sponsors a bill to create the office of removal of the President

New college humanities major: Critical Trump Studies

Opinion: Joe Biden is just an idea

CNN: Biden took a solid second place in the debate, while Trump only came next to last

Having ordered that all Californians switch to electric cars by 2035, Gov. Gavin Newsom follows up by mandating them to have electricity by 2035

Election 2020: Joe Biden pledges to a peaceful post-election transfer of power to George Soros

Out: Flatten the curve. In: Flatten the country.

Breaking: the Democrat Party has finished transitioning from being the party of JFK to being the party of Lee Harvey Oswald

Paradigm shift in Chromatics: Study shows Indigo (#3F00FF) mixed with Jamaic (#C0FF01) yields Black (#000000)

Study: the trouble with wokeism is eventually you run out of victims

Stacey Abrams refuses to concede to Harris; declares herself Biden's VP

Election 2020: Spunky former presidential candidate wins VP slot by a head

Churches in many states to hold services in opened up pubs and bars

Election 2020: Xi Jinping still undecided on vice president for Joe Biden

Reports: Republicans pounce on 'Republicans pounce' reports

Minneapolis launches online looting app to combat Covid-19

DNC study finds lockdowns no longer necessary as the economy is now being destroyed more effectively by looters and rioters

With America in lockdown, China offers to host Democrat primary

Bernie Sanders tests negative for President

In related news, Joe Biden follows other candidates in withdrawing from race and endorsing Joe Biden

New York Governor Cuomo shuts down all 'non-essential' business, surprised to find himself out of a job

Biden commits to picking a woman as running mate as long as she passes his sniff test

Joe Biden's coronavirus prevention tips: always rub hand sanitizer on young girls before sniffing and fondling them

Russian lawmakers warned that the American Democrats are meddling to re-elect Putin

Joe Biden promises lucrative board member jobs as door prizes to get people to his rallies

Democrats now worried they might even lose the illegal alien vote

Soleimani's remains FedExed back to Iran and now no one knows what happened to the box

BREAKING: massive search underway in Iran after Soleimani's boxed FedEx'd remains stolen off front porch

Liz Warren harshly critical of Biden's suggestion to coal miners that they should learn to code, offers to have them trained as romance novelists instead

Pelosi: "First we have to impeach Donald Trump before we can find out why we impeached him."

Schiff calls his Amazon Alexa to testify: 'She knows absolutely everything'

Iran answers to new Reagan statue in Berlin by erecting Obama statue at Tehran airport where he delivered pallets of cash

California accepts award for most progressive environmental policies; further progressive developments to be announced as blackouts permit

BREAKING: Romney DNA test reveals he is 1/1024th Republican

California Governor Gavin Newsom blames electricity blackouts on Ukrainian kulaks, vows revenge

Rat falling from White House ceiling fears for his life, begs reporters for protection, offers a tell-all memoir

Latest UN climate report shows this month so far has seen the scariest climate pronouncements on record

Climate science: there's no need for climate protests in China because China is already communist

Islamic clerics split on whether Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib should be traveling around the world without an accompanying male relative

Dem candidates call for the Beatles' song 'Get Back' and the 'White Album' to be banned; surviving two white guys of the group must pay reparations

Bond's number is up: next 007 will be a black woman, played by Barack Obama

NYT: moon landing was one small step for Man, one giant leap for White Male Supremacy

HURRICANE WATCH: Tropical storm Barry has records sealed, once offshore expected to change name to Barack

Trump politicizes the 4th of July, declares it henceforth to be called the 45th of July, or July the Trumpth

Barack Obama critical of Trump for failing to insert 'I, me, my' into his 4th of July speech: "very unpresidential!"

Congressional Democrats: John Dean's testimony proves Trump is Nixon in disguise and must be impeached

Bernie Sanders admits to being a millionaire, promises to eat himself if nominated

International Women's Day observed, women only paid 73% of attention afforded to men

Democrats: anti-Semitism means never having to say you're sorry

AOC: aborting babies helps preserve the planet for the next generation

Bernie Sanders launches presidential campaign, promises to "build a great big beautiful Iron Curtain" around America if elected

West Virginia renames itself Eastern Kentucky to avoid further embarrassment from Virginia

BREAKING: Justice Ginsburg released from hospital after breaking 3 ribs at late night bar brawl in Adams Morgan

DNA news: Senator Warren tanking in latest totem polls

Orwell studies: 84% of academics believe problems raised in 1984 can be fixed with solutions from Animal Farm

Progress in gender justice: online dating industry issues recommendations for men to wear body cameras, bring attorneys as chaperones

Study: the only people who don't know what socialism is are the socialists

Poll: 1 in 3 #FightFor15 activists believe movement is related to lowering the age of consent across America

CNN expert: Kavanaugh confirmation will increase global warming by 3 degrees

Harry Reid comes forth to say Judge Kavanaugh didn't pay any taxes in high school

Hollywood to America: If you've got a flag on the Moon, you didn't plant that; some other country made that happen

Protest march in straight jackets against Trump ends in chaos as participants try but fail to free themselves

HEADLINES YOU WILL NEVER SEE: California Gov. Jerry Brown single-handedly stops wildfires in his state by issuing an immediate statewide ban on wildfires

San Francisco closes all Planned Parenthood clinics after sting operation catches employees using plastic straws

Vegan mother undergoes experimental surgery to force her breasts to produce almond milk

With none of his emails answered, frustrated Nigerian man commits suicide and leaves $100bn fortune to charity

California gives new meaning to strawman argument as caped Strawman battles supervillains in restaurants, bars, and fast food joints

Violence increases in Mexico as cartels switch from smuggling drugs to plastic straws to San Francisco

Obama proposes a Paris Economic Change agreement among nations to address how world will cope with future runaway economic warming

Stormy Daniels plans border visit to give migrant children freebies

San Francisco: man dumping off 20 lbs of human waste in plastic bag on street corner cited for using non-biodegradable plastic bag

BREAKING: ICE renamed Planned Citizenship, immediately absolving it of all criticism

Senate Democrats demand Supreme Court nominee not be unduly influenced by U.S. Constitution

BREAKING: In 2018, Obama and Biden can finally celebrate Recovery Summer

IG Report: the FBI broke the law, but since there was no criminal intent, no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case

Pelosi on Trump's MS-13 "animals" comments: "Four legs good, two legs bad"

Iran nuclear talks set to resume between the United States and John Kerry

Report: The Mueller investigation has finally determined that the lyrics to Louie Louie are not about Trump and Russian collusion

MARKETS: Demand for carbon credits spikes as Hamas seeks to undo damage to Earth's atmosphere caused by burning 10,000 tires on Gaza border

BREAKING: After state reassignment surgery Pennsylvania will henceforth be known as Transylvania

Experts: If we don't act now, unicorns will be extinct in just ten years. Children will ask, "Mommy, what's a unicorn?" Women and minorities will be forced to seek alternative hallucinations

Korean war must continue: Hawaiian federal judge declares Trump's peace effort unconstitutional

New York: feminists march on Broadway, demand the street be given new, non-misogynistic name

Experts: California's planned transition of all state jobs from citizens to illegal aliens by 2020 will help to avoid bankruptcy and save money for social programs for illegal aliens

Putin: If I didn't want Hillary to be president she would be dead

Doritos maker PepsiCo to introduce snack line for women; new Doritas chips will be 77% as big as Doritos and won't make any scary 'crunchy noises'

TMZ: Tooth Fairy accused of sexually assaulting millions of children, outs self as Transgendered Tooth Recovery Specialist

RUSSIA COLLUSION: Trump offers Putin to trade Rep. Maxine Waters for two unnamed members of the State Duma

Ikea founder dead at 91; his coffin arrived in a box with confusing instructions and took 3 hours to assemble

This Thanksgiving ex-president Obama continues with his tradition of apologizing to turkeys everywhere for the injustice they suffered since America's founding

Oslo, Norway: 2017 Nobel Peace Prize goes to advocacy group about which you'll forget immediately after reading this headline

Cambridge, MA, library to replace racist 'Cat in the Hat' with inclusive 'Che in a Beret'

Millions of men worldwide eagerly await broadcast of Hugh Hefner's funeral, solely for the articles

Bill Gates offers to pay for Trump's wall on condition he gets to install Windows

Bernie Sanders introduces single-payer public transportation bill to end America's unequal, unfair, and expensive private transportation system

DNC embroiled in controversy after official Twitter account accidentally 'likes' pictures of US Constitution and Bill of Rights

Hurricane Irma hits Cuba, causes millions of dollars worth of improvements to property and infrastructure

Climate study: extreme weather may be caused by unlicensed witches casting wrong spells in well-meaning effort to destroy Trump

Ex-president Obama declares Irma "Hurricane of Peace," urges not to jump to conclusions and succumb to stormophobia

CNN: Trump reverses Obama's executive order banning hurricanes

ISIS claims responsibility for a total solar eclipse over the lands of American crusaders and nonbelievers

When asked if they could point to North Korea on a map many college students didn't know what a map was

CNN: We must bring America into the 21st century by replacing the 18th century Constitution with 19th century poetry

Pelosi: 'We have to impeach the president in order to find out what we impeached him for'

BREAKING: As of Saturday July 8, 2017, all of Earth's ecosystems have shut down as per Prince Charles's super scientific pronouncement made 96 months ago. Everything is dead. All is lost. Life on Earth is no more.

DNC to pick new election slogan out of four finalists: 'Give us more government or everyone dies,' 'Vote for Democrats or everyone dies,' 'Impeach Trump or everyone dies,' 'Stop the fearmongering or everyone dies'

Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power" is humanity's last chance to save the Earth before it ends five years ago

Experts: The more we embrace diversity the more everything is the same

BOMBSHELL: TMZ offers Kathy Griffin $5 mil to keep any future sex tape private

DEVELOPING: CNN, WaPo, NYT anonymous sources say Vladimir Putin may have ties to Russia

BREAKING: Manning and Snowden have come out with strong condemnation of Donald Trump leaking classified information to Russia

Gun store goes into lockdown over report an "active university professor" roving the grounds

Dozens injured at Ralph Lauren & Louis Vuitton headquarters after Ivanka calls in missile strikes on rival fashion houses

BOMBSHELL: Evidence proves Donald Trump conspired with his campaign to defeat Hillary Clinton

University ranked "very intolerant of free speech" fights the accusation by banning the study and all involved

Concerned that Russians don't consume enough alcohol in the month of March, Russia's Orthodox Church makes St. Patrick's Day official holiday

Grassroots group calls for "The Million Regulators March" on Washington, supported by all who fear the loss of their betters telling them what to do

Experts: Starbucks CEO Schultz's hiring of 10,000 Muslim refugees likely to blow up in his face

Will the groundprog be frightened by its own shadow and hide - or will there be another season of insane protests?

Trump signs executive order making California and New York national monuments; residents have two days to vacate

Women's March against fascism completed with 400,000 fewer deaths than anticipated

Feminist historians uncover ghastly concentration camps where so-called "housewives" were forced to live inauthentic lives slaving away in kitchens

Dictionary of the future: Global Warming was a popular computer simulation game, where the only way to win was not to play

"Anti-fascist" groups violently protest misspelling of their original name, "aren't-we-fascists"

Post-inauguration blues: millions of democrats distraught as the reality of having to find real jobs sets in

"Journalism is the continuation of war by other means" is exposed as a fake quote by mainstream media journalists

Congressional Democrats: "We cannot just simply replace Obamacare with freedom because then millions of Americans will suddenly become free"

Schoolchildren jailed for building only white snowmen

Obama's reckless attacks on Russia serve as recruitment tool to create more Russian hackers

Hillary: "I lost, so I'm going to follow our democratic traditions, poison the wells, and scorch the earth"

Children in Venezuela cook and eat their Christmas toys

Hillary: "I can hack Russia from my bathroom"

Hillary suggests to counter "fake news" with government newspaper called "Truth" ("Pravda" for Russian speakers)

BREAKING: Millions of uncounted votes found on Hillary's private voting machine in her Chappaqua bathroom

New York Times: Fidel Castro world's sexiest corpse

After years of trial and error, CIA finally succeeds with the "waiting it out" technique on Fidel Castro

Post-election shopping tip: look for the PoliticsFree label at your local grocer to make sure you don't buy from companies that don't want your business anymore

In Hillary's America, email server scrubs you

Obama transfers his Nobel Peace Prize to anti-Trump rioters

Democrats blame Hillary's criminal e-mail server for her loss, demand it face prison

Afraid of "dangerous" Trump presidency, protesters pre-emptively burn America down to the ground

Clinton Foundation in foreclosure as foreign donors demand refunds

Hillary Clinton blames YouTube video for unexpected and spontaneous voter uprising that prevented her inevitable move into the White House

Sudden rise in sea levels explained by disproportionately large tears shed by climate scientists in the aftermath of Trump's electoral victory

FBI director Comey delighted after receiving Nobel Prize for Speed Reading (650,000 emails in one week)

U.N. deploys troops to American college campuses in order to combat staggeringly low rape rates

Responding to Trump's surging poll numbers, Obama preemptively pardons himself for treason

Following hurricane Matthew's failure to devastate Florida, activists flock to the Sunshine State and destroy Trump signs manually

Tim Kaine takes credit for interrupting hurricane Matthew while debating weather in Florida

Study: Many non-voters still undecided on how they're not going to vote

The Evolution of Dissent: on November 8th the nation is to decide whether dissent will stop being racist and become sexist - or it will once again be patriotic as it was for 8 years under George W. Bush

Venezuela solves starvation problem by making it mandatory to buy food

Breaking: the Clinton Foundation set to investigate the FBI

Obama captures rare Pokemon while visiting Hiroshima

Movie news: 'The Big Friendly Giant Government' flops at box office; audiences say "It's creepy"

Barack Obama: "If I had a son, he'd look like Micah Johnson"

White House edits Orlando 911 transcript to say shooter pledged allegiance to NRA and Republican Party

President George Washington: 'Redcoats do not represent British Empire; King George promotes a distorted version of British colonialism'

Following Obama's 'Okie-Doke' speech, stock of Okie-Doke soars; NASDAQ: 'Obama best Okie-Doke salesman'

Weaponized baby formula threatens Planned Parenthood office; ACLU demands federal investigation of Gerber

Experts: melting Antarctic glacier could cause sale levels to rise up to 80% off select items by this weekend

Travel advisory: airlines now offering flights to front of TSA line

As Obama instructs his administration to get ready for presidential transition, Trump preemptively purchases 'T' keys for White House keyboards

John Kasich self-identifies as GOP primary winner, demands access to White House bathroom

Upcoming Trump/Kelly interview on FoxNews sponsored by 'Let's Make a Deal' and 'The Price is Right'

News from 2017: once the evacuation of Lena Dunham and 90% of other Hollywood celebrities to Canada is confirmed, Trump resigns from presidency: "My work here is done"

Non-presidential candidate Paul Ryan pledges not to run for president in new non-presidential non-ad campaign

Trump suggests creating 'Muslim database'; Obama symbolically protests by shredding White House guest logs beginning 2009

National Enquirer: John Kasich's real dad was the milkman, not mailman

National Enquirer: Bound delegates from Colorado, Wyoming found in Ted Cruzs basement

Iran breaks its pinky-swear promise not to support terrorism; US State Department vows rock-paper-scissors strategic response

Women across the country cheer as racist Democrat president on $20 bill is replaced by black pro-gun Republican

Federal Reserve solves budget crisis by writing itself a 20-trillion-dollar check

Widows, orphans claim responsibility for Brussels airport bombing

Che Guevara's son hopes Cuba's communism will rub off on US, proposes a long list of people the government should execute first

Susan Sarandon: "I don't vote with my vagina." Voters in line behind her still suspicious, use hand sanitizer

Campaign memo typo causes Hillary to court 'New Black Panties' vote

New Hampshire votes for socialist Sanders, changes state motto to "Live FOR Free or Die"

Martin O'Malley drops out of race after Iowa Caucus; nation shocked with revelation he has been running for president

Statisticians: one out of three Bernie Sanders supporters is just as dumb as the other two

Hillary campaign denies accusations of smoking-gun evidence in her emails, claims they contain only smoking-circumstantial-gun evidence

Obama stops short of firing US Congress upon realizing the difficulty of assembling another group of such tractable yes-men

In effort to contol wild passions for violent jihad, White House urges gun owners to keep their firearms covered in gun burkas

TV horror live: A Charlie Brown Christmas gets shot up on air by Mohammed cartoons

Democrats vow to burn the country down over Ted Cruz statement, 'The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats'

Russia's trend to sign bombs dropped on ISIS with "This is for Paris" found response in Obama administration's trend to sign American bombs with "Return to sender"

University researchers of cultural appropriation quit upon discovery that their research is appropriation from a culture that created universities

Archeologists discover remains of what Barack Obama has described as unprecedented, un-American, and not-who-we-are immigration screening process in Ellis Island

Mizzou protests lead to declaring entire state a "safe space," changing Missouri motto to "The don't show me state"

Green energy fact: if we put all green energy subsidies together in one-dollar bills and burn them, we could generate more electricity than has been produced by subsidized green energy

State officials improve chances of healthcare payouts by replacing ObamaCare with state lottery

NASA's new mission to search for racism, sexism, and economic inequality in deep space suffers from race, gender, and class power struggles over multibillion-dollar budget

College progress enforcement squads issue schematic humor charts so students know if a joke may be spontaneously laughed at or if regulations require other action

ISIS opens suicide hotline for US teens depressed by climate change and other progressive doomsday scenarios

Virginia county to close schools after teacher asks students to write 'death to America' in Arabic

'Wear hijab to school day' ends with spontaneous female circumcision and stoning of a classmate during lunch break

ISIS releases new, even more barbaric video in an effort to regain mantle from Planned Parenthood

Impressed by Fox News stellar rating during GOP debates, CNN to use same formula on Democrat candidates asking tough, pointed questions about Republicans

Shocking new book explores pros and cons of socialism, discovers they are same people

Pope outraged by Planned Parenthood's "unfettered capitalism," demands equal redistribution of baby parts to each according to his need

John Kerry accepts Iran's "Golden Taquiyya" award, requests jalapenos on the side

Citizens of Pluto protest US government's surveillance of their planetoid and its moons with New Horizons space drone

John Kerry proposes 3-day waiting period for all terrorist nations trying to acquire nuclear weapons

Chicago Police trying to identify flag that caused nine murders and 53 injuries in the city this past weekend

Cuba opens to affordable medical tourism for Americans who can't afford Obamacare deductibles

State-funded research proves existence of Quantum Aggression Particles (Heterons) in Large Hadron Collider

Student job opportunities: make big bucks this summer as Hillarys Ordinary-American; all expenses paid, travel, free acting lessons

Experts debate whether Iranian negotiators broke John Kerry's leg or he did it himself to get out of negotiations

Junior Varsity takes Ramadi, advances to quarterfinals

US media to GOP pool of candidates: 'Knowing what we know now, would you have had anything to do with the founding of the United States?'

NY Mayor to hold peace talks with rats, apologize for previous Mayor's cowboy diplomacy

China launches cube-shaped space object with a message to aliens: "The inhabitants of Earth will steal your intellectual property, copy it, manufacture it in sweatshops with slave labor, and sell it back to you at ridiculously low prices"

Progressive scientists: Truth is a variable deduced by subtracting 'what is' from 'what ought to be'

Experts agree: Hillary Clinton best candidate to lessen percentage of Americans in top 1%

America's attempts at peace talks with the White House continue to be met with lies, stalling tactics, and bad faith

Starbucks new policy to talk race with customers prompts new hashtag #DontHoldUpTheLine

Hillary: DELETE is the new RESET

Charlie Hebdo receives Islamophobe 2015 award; the cartoonists could not be reached for comment due to their inexplicable, illogical deaths

Russia sends 'reset' button back to Hillary: 'You need it now more than we do'

Barack Obama finds out from CNN that Hillary Clinton spent four years being his Secretary of State

President Obama honors Leonard Nimoy by taking selfie in front of Starship Enterprise

Police: If Obama had a convenience store, it would look like Obama Express Food Market

Study finds stunning lack of racial, gender, and economic diversity among middle-class white males

NASA: We're 80% sure about being 20% sure about being 17% sure about being 38% sure about 2014 being the hottest year on record

People holding '$15 an Hour Now' posters sue Democratic party demanding raise to $15 an hour for rendered professional protesting services

Cuba-US normalization: US tourists flock to see Cuba before it looks like the US and Cubans flock to see the US before it looks like Cuba

White House describes attacks on Sony Pictures as 'spontaneous hacking in response to offensive video mocking Juche and its prophet'

CIA responds to Democrat calls for transparency by releasing the director's cut of The Making Of Obama's Birth Certificate

Obama: 'If I had a city, it would look like Ferguson'

Biden: 'If I had a Ferguson (hic), it would look like a city'

Obama signs executive order renaming 'looters' to 'undocumented shoppers'

Ethicists agree: two wrongs do make a right so long as Bush did it first

The aftermath of the 'War on Women 2014' finds a new 'Lost Generation' of disillusioned Democrat politicians, unable to cope with life out of office

White House: Republican takeover of the Senate is a clear mandate from the American people for President Obama to rule by executive orders

Nurse Kaci Hickox angrily tells reporters that she won't change her clocks for daylight savings time

Democratic Party leaders in panic after recent poll shows most Democratic voters think 'midterm' is when to end pregnancy

Desperate Democratic candidates plead with Obama to stop backing them and instead support their GOP opponents

Ebola Czar issues five-year plan with mandatory quotas of Ebola infections per each state based on voting preferences

Study: crony capitalism is to the free market what the Westboro Baptist Church is to Christianity

Fun facts about world languages: the Left has more words for statism than the Eskimos have for snow

African countries to ban all flights from the United States because "Obama is incompetent, it scares us"

Nobel Peace Prize controversy: Hillary not nominated despite having done even less than Obama to deserve it

Obama: 'Ebola is the JV of viruses'

BREAKING: Secret Service foils Secret Service plot to protect Obama

Revised 1st Amendment: buy one speech, get the second free

Sharpton calls on white NFL players to beat their women in the interests of racial fairness

President Obama appoints his weekly approval poll as new national security adviser

Obama wags pen and phone at Putin; Europe offers support with powerful pens and phones from NATO members

White House pledges to embarrass ISIS back to the Stone Age with a barrage of fearsome Twitter messages and fatally ironic Instagram photos

Obama to fight ISIS with new federal Terrorist Regulatory Agency

Obama vows ISIS will never raise their flag over the eighteenth hole

Harry Reid: "Sometimes I say the wong thing"

Elian Gonzalez wishes he had come to the U.S. on a bus from Central America like all the other kids

Obama visits US-Mexican border, calls for a two-state solution

Obama draws "blue line" in Iraq after Putin took away his red crayon

"Hard Choices," a porno flick loosely based on Hillary Clinton's memoir and starring Hillary Hellfire as a drinking, whoring Secretary of State, wildly outsells the flabby, sagging original

Accusations of siding with the enemy leave Sgt. Bergdahl with only two options: pursue a doctorate at Berkley or become a Senator from Massachusetts

Jay Carney stuck in line behind Eric Shinseki to leave the White House; estimated wait time from 15 min to 6 weeks

100% of scientists agree that if man-made global warming were real, "the last people we'd want to help us is the Obama administration"

Jay Carney says he found out that Obama found out that he found out that Obama found out that he found out about the latest Obama administration scandal on the news

"Anarchy Now!" meeting turns into riot over points of order, bylaws, and whether or not 'kicking the #^@&*! ass' of the person trying to speak is or is not violence

Obama retaliates against Putin by prohibiting unionized federal employees from dating hot Russian girls online during work hours

Russian separatists in Ukraine riot over an offensive YouTube video showing the toppling of Lenin statues

"Free Speech Zones" confuse Obamaphone owners who roam streets in search of additional air minutes

Obamacare bolsters employment for professionals with skills to convert meth back into sudafed

Gloves finally off: Obama uses pen and phone to cancel Putin's Netflix account

Joe Biden to Russia: "We will bury you by turning more of Eastern Europe over to your control!"

In last-ditch effort to help Ukraine, Obama deploys Rev. Sharpton and Rev. Jackson's Rainbow Coalition to Crimea

Al Sharpton: "Not even Putin can withstand our signature chanting, 'racist, sexist, anti-gay, Russian army go away'!"

Mardi Gras in North Korea: "Throw me some food!"

Obama's foreign policy works: "War, invasion, and conquest are signs of weakness; we've got Putin right where we want him"

US offers military solution to Ukraine crisis: "We will only fight countries that have LGBT military"

Putin annexes Brighton Beach to protect ethnic Russians in Brooklyn, Obama appeals to UN and EU for help

The 1980s: "Mr. Obama, we're just calling to ask if you want our foreign policy back. The 1970s are right here with us, and they're wondering, too."

In a stunning act of defiance, Obama courageously unfriends Putin on Facebook

MSNBC: Obama secures alliance with Austro-Hungarian Empire against Russias aggression in Ukraine

Study: springbreak is to STDs what April 15th is to accountants

Efforts to achieve moisture justice for California thwarted by unfair redistribution of snow in America

North Korean voters unanimous: "We are the 100%"

Leader of authoritarian gulag-site, The People's Cube, unanimously 're-elected' with 100% voter turnout

Super Bowl: Obama blames Fox News for Broncos' loss

Feminist author slams gay marriage: "a man needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle"

Beverly Hills campaign heats up between Henry Waxman and Marianne Williamson over the widening income gap between millionaires and billionaires in their district

Biden to lower $10,000-a-plate Dinner For The Homeless to $5,000 so more homeless can attend

Kim becomes world leader, feeds uncle to dogs; Obama eats dogs, becomes world leader, America cries uncle

North Korean leader executes own uncle for talking about Obamacare at family Christmas party

White House hires part-time schizophrenic Mandela sign interpreter to help sell Obamacare

Kim Jong Un executes own "crazy uncle" to keep him from ruining another family Christmas

OFA admits its advice for area activists to give Obamacare Talk at shooting ranges was a bad idea

President resolves Obamacare debacle with executive order declaring all Americans equally healthy

Obama to Iran: "If you like your nuclear program, you can keep your nuclear program"

Bovine community outraged by flatulence coming from Washington DC

Obama: "I'm not particularly ideological; I believe in a good pragmatic five-year plan"

Shocker: Obama had no knowledge he'd been reelected until he read about it in the local newspaper last week

Server problems at HealthCare.gov so bad, it now flashes 'Error 808' message

NSA marks National Best Friend Day with official announcement: "Government is your best friend; we know you like no one else, we're always there, we're always willing to listen"

Al Qaeda cancels attack on USA citing launch of Obamacare as devastating enough

The President's latest talking point on Obamacare: "I didn't build that"

Dizzy with success, Obama renames his wildly popular healthcare mandate to HillaryCare

Carney: huge ObamaCare deductibles won't look as bad come hyperinflation

Washington Redskins drop 'Washington' from their name as offensive to most Americans

Poll: 83% of Americans favor cowboy diplomacy over rodeo clown diplomacy

GOVERNMENT WARNING: If you were able to complete ObamaCare form online, it wasn't a legitimate gov't website; you should report online fraud and change all your passwords

Obama administration gets serious, threatens Syria with ObamaCare

Obama authorizes the use of Vice President Joe Biden's double-barrel shotgun to fire a couple of blasts at Syria

Sharpton: "British royals should have named baby 'Trayvon.' By choosing 'George' they sided with white Hispanic racist Zimmerman"

DNC launches 'Carlos Danger' action figure; proceeds to fund a charity helping survivors of the Republican War on Women

Nancy Pelosi extends abortion rights to the birds and the bees

Hubble discovers planetary drift to the left

Obama: 'If I had a daughter-in-law, she would look like Rachael Jeantel'

FISA court rubberstamps statement denying its portrayal as government's rubber stamp

Every time ObamaCare gets delayed, a Julia somewhere dies

GOP to Schumer: 'Force full implementation of ObamaCare before 2014 or Dems will never win another election'

Obama: 'If I had a son... no, wait, my daughter can now marry a woman!'

Janet Napolitano: TSA findings reveal that since none of the hijackers were babies, elderly, or Tea Partiers, 9/11 was not an act of terrorism

News Flash: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) can see Canada from South Dakota

Susan Rice: IRS actions against tea parties caused by anti-tax YouTube video that was insulting to their faith

Drudge Report reduces font to fit all White House scandals onto one page

Obama: the IRS is a constitutional right, just like the Second Amendment

White House: top Obama officials using secret email accounts a result of bad IT advice to avoid spam mail from Nigeria

Jay Carney to critics: 'Pinocchio never said anything inconsistent'

Obama: If I had a gay son, he'd look like Jason Collins

Gosnell's office in Benghazi raided by the IRS: mainstream media's worst cover-up challenge to date

IRS targeting pro-gay-marriage LGBT groups leads to gayest tax revolt in U.S. history

After Arlington Cemetery rejects offer to bury Boston bomber, Westboro Babtist Church steps up with premium front lawn plot

Boston: Obama Administration to reclassify marathon bombing as 'sportsplace violence'

Study: Success has many fathers but failure becomes a government program

US Media: Can Pope Francis possibly clear up Vatican bureaucracy and banking without blaming the previous administration?

Michelle Obama praises weekend rampage by Chicago teens as good way to burn calories and stay healthy

This Passover, Obama urges his subjects to paint lamb's blood above doors in order to avoid the Sequester



White House to American children: Sequester causes layoffs among hens that lay Easter eggs; union-wage Easter Bunnies to be replaced by Mexican Chupacabras

Time Mag names Hugo Chavez world's sexiest corpse

Boy, 8, pretends banana is gun, makes daring escape from school

Study: Free lunches overpriced, lack nutrition

Oscars 2013: Michelle Obama announces long-awaited merger of Hollywood and the State

Joe Salazar defends the right of women to be raped in gun-free environment: 'rapists and rapees should work together to prevent gun violence for the common good'

Dept. of Health and Human Services eliminates rape by reclassifying assailants as 'undocumented sex partners'

Kremlin puts out warning not to photoshop Putin riding meteor unless bare-chested

Deeming football too violent, Obama moves to introduce Super Drone Sundays instead

Japan offers to extend nuclear umbrella to cover U.S. should America suffer devastating attack on its own defense spending

Feminists organize one billion women to protest male oppression with one billion lap dances

Urban community protests Mayor Bloomberg's ban on extra-large pop singers owning assault weapons

Concerned with mounting death toll, Taliban offers to send peacekeeping advisers to Chicago

Karl Rove puts an end to Tea Party with new 'Republicans For Democrats' strategy aimed at losing elections

Answering public skepticism, President Obama authorizes unlimited drone attacks on all skeet targets throughout the country

Skeet Ulrich denies claims he had been shot by President but considers changing his name to 'Traps'

White House releases new exciting photos of Obama standing, sitting, looking thoughtful, and even breathing in and out

New York Times hacked by Chinese government, Paul Krugman's economic policies stolen

White House: when President shoots skeet, he donates the meat to food banks that feed the middle class

To prove he is serious, Obama eliminates armed guard protection for President, Vice-President, and their families; establishes Gun-Free Zones around them instead

State Dept to send 100,000 American college students to China as security for US debt obligations

Jay Carney: Al Qaeda is on the run, they're just running forward

President issues executive orders banning cliffs, ceilings, obstructions, statistics, and other notions that prevent us from moving forwards and upward

Fearing the worst, Obama Administration outlaws the fan to prevent it from being hit by certain objects

World ends; S&P soars

Riddle of universe solved; answer not understood

Meek inherit Earth, can't afford estate taxes

Greece abandons Euro; accountants find Greece has no Euros anyway

Wheel finally reinvented; axles to be gradually reinvented in 3rd quarter of 2013

Bigfoot found in Ohio, mysteriously not voting for Obama

As Santa's workshop files for bankruptcy, Fed offers bailout in exchange for control of 'naughty and nice' list

Freak flying pig accident causes bacon to fly off shelves

Obama: green economy likely to transform America into a leading third world country of the new millennium

Report: President Obama to visit the United States in the near future

Obama promises to create thousands more economically neutral jobs

Modernizing Islam: New York imam proposes to canonize Saul Alinsky as religion's latter day prophet

Imam Rauf's peaceful solution: 'Move Ground Zero a few blocks away from the mosque and no one gets hurt'

Study: Obama's threat to burn tax money in Washington 'recruitment bonanza' for Tea Parties

Study: no Social Security reform will be needed if gov't raises retirement age to at least 814 years

Obama attends church service, worships self

Obama proposes national 'Win The Future' lottery; proceeds of new WTF Powerball to finance more gov't spending

Historical revisionists: "Hey, you never know"

Vice President Biden: criticizing Egypt is un-pharaoh

Israelis to Egyptian rioters: "don't damage the pyramids, we will not rebuild"

Lake Superior renamed Lake Inferior in spirit of tolerance and inclusiveness

Al Gore: It's a shame that a family can be torn apart by something as simple as a pack of polar bears

Michael Moore: As long as there is anyone with money to shake down, this country is not broke

Obama's teleprompters unionize, demand collective bargaining rights

Obama calls new taxes 'spending reductions in tax code.' Elsewhere rapists tout 'consent reductions in sexual intercourse'

Obama's teleprompter unhappy with White House Twitter: "Too few words"

Obama's Regulation Reduction committee finds US Constitution to be expensive outdated framework inefficiently regulating federal gov't

Taking a page from the Reagan years, Obama announces new era of Perestroika and Glasnost

Responding to Oslo shootings, Obama declares Christianity "Religion of Peace," praises "moderate Christians," promises to send one into space

Republicans block Obama's $420 billion program to give American families free charms that ward off economic bad luck

White House to impose Chimney tax on Santa Claus

Obama decrees the economy is not soaring as much as previously decreeed

Conservative think tank introduces children to capitalism with pop-up picture book "The Road to Smurfdom"

Al Gore proposes to combat Global Warming by extracting silver linings from clouds in Earth's atmosphere

Obama refutes charges of him being unresponsive to people's suffering: "When you pray to God, do you always hear a response?"

Obama regrets the US government didn't provide his mother with free contraceptives when she was in college

Fluke to Congress: drill, baby, drill!

Planned Parenthood introduces Frequent Flucker reward card: 'Come again soon!'

Obama to tornado victims: 'We inherited this weather from the previous administration'

Obama congratulates Putin on Chicago-style election outcome

People's Cube gives itself Hero of Socialist Labor medal in recognition of continued expert advice provided to the Obama Administration helping to shape its foreign and domestic policies

Hamas: Israeli air defense unfair to 99% of our missiles, "only 1% allowed to reach Israel"

Democrat strategist: without government supervision, women would have never evolved into humans

Voters Without Borders oppose Texas new voter ID law

Enraged by accusation that they are doing Obama's bidding, media leaders demand instructions from White House on how to respond

Obama blames previous Olympics for failure to win at this Olympics

Official: China plans to land on Moon or at least on cheap knockoff thereof

Koran-Contra: Obama secretly arms Syrian rebels

Poll: Progressive slogan 'We should be more like Europe' most popular with members of American Nazi Party

Obama to Evangelicals: Jesus saves, I just spend

May Day: Anarchists plan, schedule, synchronize, and execute a coordinated campaign against all of the above

Midwestern farmers hooked on new erotic novel "50 Shades of Hay"

Study: 99% of Liberals give the rest a bad name

Obama meets with Jewish leaders, proposes deeper circumcisions for the rich

Historians: Before HOPE & CHANGE there was HEMP & CHOOM at ten bucks a bag

Cancer once again fails to cure Venezuela of its "President for Life"

Tragic spelling error causes Muslim protesters to burn local boob-tube factory

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu: due to energy conservation, the light at the end of the tunnel will be switched off

Obama Administration running food stamps across the border with Mexico in an operation code-named "Fat And Furious"

Pakistan explodes in protest over new Adobe Acrobat update; 17 local acrobats killed

White House: "Let them eat statistics"

Special Ops: if Benedict Arnold had a son, he would look like Barack Obama







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Local record stores are about to celebrate their biggest day of the year.

The 10th annual Record Store Day, a worldwide celebration of the unique culture of brick-and-mortar record shops, will take place Saturday, April 22, offering vinyl enthusiasts a plethora of limited-edition exclusives and discounts.

Josh Stockinger, manager and part-owner of Joes Records in Marion, describes the tradition as Christmas for record-buyers.

Its the one time of year when everybody gets excited on the same day, everybody comes out and goes record shopping on the same day, Stockinger said.

The event was developed as a way to give independent record stores an edge over online competitors and large corporate retailers like Barnes & Noble. Labels release limited-edition records  sometimes as few as 300 copies of a given album  that cant be purchased anywhere other than a participating Record Store Day location.

Shops might have just one or two copies of a new release, so customers are usually eager to arrive early, Stockinger said.

People line up outside the store for it, usually as soon as the mall doors open. Everything is super limited, so people like to get there early to make sure they get their hands on that piece that theyre looking to track down this year, Stockinger said.

The rest of the stores regular merchandise will be 20 percent off.

Joes Records, which opened in the Marion mall in December 2013, is the flagship store of an indie chain that opened Hard Copies in Carbondales University Mall in November of last year. The company also recently opened stores in Indiana and Kentucky, with another location slated to open in June in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. (Eventually, Joes Records will be rebranded with the name Hard Copies, Stockinger said.)

Plaza Records in Carbondale is another participating Record Store Day vendor. Their used merchandise will be 20 percent off Saturday, with coffee and pastries from Cristaudos available for customers who show up early. Girls Rock Carbondale will be on hand to help prospective campers sign up for this years summer session.

The recent vinyl revival appears to be more than a passing fad: U.S. sales rose 26 percent in 2016, according to music analytics service BuzzAngle Music.

Obviously the popularity of vinyl in the last few years helps in any situation, because we sell a ton of records. But I do believe if vinyl wasnt as hot, quote-unquote, as it is now, I still think we would do great business ... we just have super loyal customers, and I like to think its because weve treated them right, and thats really been the key to our success, Stockinger said.

Hard Copies and Joes Records are sponsoring a Record Store Day kickoff party at Hangar 9 on Friday, April 21, with a free concert featuring Chicago recording artist Bobby Conn. Local garage rockers Flowers of Evil will open the show at 10 p.m.

We see it as kind of like a thank-you to our customers whove been awesome to us, and also a way for us all to get together and hang out, because we see each other in the store all the time, but we dont get to see each other out and about in the real world all the time, Stockinger said.
CAIRO  Anger, frustration, fear and confusion about the relocation decision announced by federal housing officials this past week spilled over into a routine tenant meeting Wednesday that was held at the Alexander County Housing Authoritys Connell F. Smith high rise building on the Ohio River.

Towanda Macon, a Housing and Urban Development public housing administrator assigned to oversee the ACHA while it is in federal receivership, told the residents that a relocation specialist is already working on site in Cairo and taking appointments to meet with individuals and families to help them prepare for moving.

On April 10, HUD announced its decision to begin relocating 185 residents, amounting to about 400 individuals, from the aging and unsafe McBride and Elmwood family housing complexes in Cairo that were constructed in 1942 and that have been neglected for years.

At numerous times during the meeting as Macon attempted to walk through the agenda items and answer questions, residents talked over her and shouted in anger. Macon told the residents that the ACHA is installing water filtration systems in every unit at Elmwood and McBride as a precautionary measure, and residents demanded to know why HUD would make improvements now  as they're being asked to move out.

Youve been here how long? Who stole the money? Wheres the 20 million dollars at? shouted a few residents, building off one another's frustrations. Macon reiterated, as she has on countless occasions, that she is not privy to what an ongoing investigation has revealed, and whether any past ACHA managers will end up charged as it relates to the dire conditions of the housing authority that prompted HUDs takeover of the local agency on Feb. 22, 2016.

You asked me a question and Im going to give you an answer, she said, trying to move the discussion back to why HUD is installing water filters while planning on demolishing Elmwood and McBride. Loud chatter continued over her, and she asked for the opportunity to answer the question posed to her. Again, the housing authority has a responsibility to maintain its properties as long as there are people residing in those properties," she said.

Macon said the move is precautionary after a March test revealed that the drinking water in some units contained lead above the Environmental Protection Agencys levels that encourage corrective action  15 parts per billion. Though no amount of lead is safe for human consumption, the EPAs action level is not a health-based standard. Studies suggest that in most adults, lead contaminated water near the action level is not likely enough to cause illness, though it could affect the health of an infant and some children younger than age 6.

During a sampling of lead testing of vacant units in May 2016, only one unit had water above the EPAs action level. In the March 2017 testing, of the 11 units where water was sampled, five tested at or above the EPAs action level. The citys water, which is supplied by American Water Co., did not test positive for lead, leading officials to believe the lead contamination could be caused by the joints of the copper water pipes. Lead containing solder for copper piping was not banned until 1986  more than 40 years after the complexes were built.

The Illinois Department of Public Health lists Cairo as a high-risk region for lead exposure in children, and therefore all children are required to be tested before entering school. Macon suggested any concerned parent reach out to Southern Seven Health Department, and noted that for child Medicaid recipients, testing is free of charge.

Macon told nearly 50 residents who gathered Wednesday night that she understands that emotions are high, and that some people are scared and angry. Loretta Collier, a resident of McBride, asked how she was supposed to just up and move herself and her four children when she has no money saved. Macon stressed that HUD intends to provide everyone with a portable voucher, access to relocation specialists to help them find a place to live, moving expenses, child care and transportation. Macon said that the ACHA has applied for an emergency relocation grant to cover these costs. Macon said that though it has not been approved yet, she is confident it will be.

At that, residents demanded to know how HUD could promise to pay moving expenses without having the grant approved. She was asked whether there was a Plan B, and Macon again stressed that it is highly anticipated the grant funds will be approved.

A representative of CVR Associates, Inc., with whom HUD contracted to assist residents in studying their housing options, said she has already met with several families, and that others should call her to book an appointment. She said that she is willing to work with families living in multiple units who want move together.

Give me a call. Im just here to help, said Lashonna Hill. Im just a regular person, too.

Macon noted that this is not the first time HUD has relocated people from public housing for health and safety reasons. At present, HUD is relocating residents from a lead contaminated housing complex in East Chicago, Indiana, and officials have said they hope to apply lessons learned there in Cairo.

Terri Childs told the HUD officials she did not want to leave the community. This is home, and she also does not want to lose her job and have to start over somewhere else. She said she has worked as a teachers aide at the Cairo Unit School District 1 for 23 years.

Macon said discussions continue about how to expand the number of affordable housing units in Cairo, though options are limited, which is why officials previously told residents that they may have to move outside of Cairo. Macon also said she wanted to stress that not all of the rumors floating around town about the relocation are true. For example, she said its not true that residents only have 120 days to move. That is the amount of time that residents have to locate housing once they have been issued a voucher, but the vouchers have not been issued yet, and HUD has the ability to extend that deadline for families if they need more time.

Some of the rumors have made people very, very afraid, she said, and many of them are simply untrue. She encouraged anyone with questions about something they have heard to call the ACHAs administrative offices and ask for clarification.
A West Frankfort man was sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections for child sexual abuse.

According to a news release from the Franklin County States Attorney Office, Darin Moore, 34, was sentenced to 12 years in IDOC with three years of mandatory supervised release for predatory sexual assault of a child which occurred Aug. 20, 2010, and May 31, 2013.
A West Frankfort woman was sentenced April 4 to a cumulative 11 years in prison on three separate charges.

According to a news release from Franklin County States Attorney Evan Owens, Courtney Russotto, 26, was sentenced to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections followed by one year of mandatory supervised release for retail theft, which occurred Dec. 12, 2016.

Russotto also was sentenced to four years in IDOC followed by two years of mandatory supervised release for unlawful distribution of a look-alike substance within 1,000 feet of a church, which occurred July 20, 2016. The case was investigated by the Southern Illinois Drug Task Force.

Rusotto will also serve four years in IDOC with two years mandatory supervised release release for burglary, which occurred August 30, 2014.

 The Southern
BP has not been pleased.

Indeed, BP, who is one of my readers, has been downright disappointed with what she's seen in this space since last year's election. She wrote me about it a few days ago. Her email said, in part:

"I had hoped for your articles to be the beacon of light to show the way a democracy should work. Instead I am finding hopelessness and unrelenting anger at the outcome and all that has come since.

"... We need intellectuals with a balanced mind to help us go forward. No matter how much we disagree with the direction, we need to be guided the humane way, not the angered way. Anger begets anger begets irrational and hateful behaviors. We have enough of that.

"Would you consider helping guide us to be more humane instead of just angry? Journalists have the most amazing influence and I have always felt that way about your words. Please use your words to move us forward. We already know how to be angry."

I think BP makes an important point. Here's how I replied:

"I've struggled with the issues you raise since November. Frankly, I would love to be a "beacon of light." But the fact of the matter is, I don't feel particularly hopeful and I am angry. Everything that has happened since January 20th has only reinforced my pessimism.

"I worry for the future of this country in a way I never have before. With the possible exception of the 1850s  the decade preceding the Civil War  we have simply never been this divided. Frankly, I don't know if reconciliation is possible. I'm beginning to wonder if it's even desirable.

"... I think honesty is something every writer  and in particular a writer of personal essays  owes a reader. I could conceivably write the kind of columns you're asking for, but it would be a lie. And I've always believed that at some subliminal level, a reader always knows when he's being lied to."

BP wants light. But just now, all I have is resistance. And if, reading our exchange, you're struck by my cynicism about reconciliation, you should know, for whatever it's worth, that I'm struck by it, too.

I am, after all, the same guy who once wrote columns denouncing politicians who blithely floated the idea of secession. But that feels like a hundred years ago, before we became this Frankenstein's monster of ill-fitting parts.

America is a story of victory over long odds, a movie where the hero smashes through in the final reel. Our national mythology holds that the worst only happens in other countries. We are spared because we are us. So it's understandable that some of us are sanguine, even now, that we will eventually figure out how to knit those parts back into a functioning and cohesive whole.

But the 12 weeks since January 20th have seen more scandal, international incidents, incompetence, instability, lies and jaw-dropping embarrassments than the previous 12 years combined. America is threatened as it has never been before. And it occurs to me that faith in inevitable salvation is a luxury we can no longer afford.

Whatever comes next, there is nothing predestined about it. If America is to be saved, it won't be because we are us. It won't be because some columnist wrote soothing words. It will be because enough of us decided America was worth fighting for, and did. That's what I've been trying to say.

You may think it's alarmist. If that turns out to be the case, I'll be happy  indeed, relieved  to concede the point.

Meantime, I am reminded of what Aristotle said: "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." That's always been America's saving truth.

Time for us to decide whether it still is.
Les Winkeler Sports editor Les Winkeler is sports editor and outdoors writer for The Southern Illinoisan. Follow Les Winkeler Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Im a worrier. Its in my nature.

Its not like I sit around all day and look for things to fret about. But, I take matters at hand seriously.

For instance, my cars gas tank rarely dips below a quarter full. I know my car will go another 100 miles on a quarter tank, but, hey, better safe than sorry.

The point is, Id rather prepare for an emergency than deal with unwanted, unexpected consequences.

With that in mind, it feels as if the State of Illinois has been driving on fumes forever. I keep waiting for the proverbial ship of state to run aground. It has to happen sooner or later.

When that happens, what do we do?

Winkeler: Lessons of the campfire As evening settled in, I walked the periphery of the Winkelers Bend clearing, gathering kin

First, lets look at the best-case scenario.

Lets pretend that our legislators and governor suddenly awaken from their slumber and realize they have a job to do  forge a state budget. Lets pretend that a budget is passed. Without a budget, not only is the state ship running on fumes, but it is rudderless as well.

If (and if is a huge word) that happens, what becomes of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources?

Since weve gone without a budget for nearly two years, its safe to assume that no one in Springfield has a magic wand. Any budget passed at this juncture will not cure the ills faced by IDNR.

There was a time in what seems like a galaxy far away, that our state parks were staffed. Each park had a site superintendent to oversee operations. Now, site superintendents oversee several parks at once. And, some sizable parks have no staff.

I wish I could give exact numbers on that. Ive asked Springfield to provide the number of staffers at each park in Southern Illinois. That request has been on the table for at least 45 days  no answer.

But, thats just the tip of the iceberg

Only about half the counties in Illinois have Conservation Police Officers. And, several officers I know are contemplating retirement.

The roster of biologists has dwindled in recent years as IDNR staff members have retired, or sought employment with agencies not teetering on the brink of collapse.

Winkeler: Florida trip is "Back to the Future" Its hardly a DeLorean DMC-12, but my Honda Civic has proven capable of taking me Back to t

And, dangling over the agencys head like the Anvil of Damocles is the Illinois Transportation and Fees Lockbox Amendment. The ill-advised constitutional amendment somehow passed in the November election.

The amendment states funds raised by automobile license fees must be used for transportation projects. Unfortunately, the amendment calls into question the 2013 Sustainability Bill, a measure that provided IDNR with two dollars from every license plate sold.

Amazingly, no one still seems to know how the Lockbox Amendment will affect the Sustainability Funds. So, at this point it seems as if a budget agreement would be analogous to bunting when a grand slam is needed.

Thats the best case scenario.

But without a budget, the IDNR, and the state as a whole, will continue to stumble through a maze in the dark of night. It seems inevitable that sometime, soon, the last fumes will dissipate.

Thats enough to make me worry.
When US President Donald Trump took office on January 20, the new administration's policy on North Korea was unclear.

Here's how events have unfolded.

January

The day before Trump recited the oath of office on the Washington Mall, the North Korean leadership already had prepared its own unique welcome for the incoming President. On January 19, US intelligence satellites picked up signs of activity at North Korea's Chamjin missile factory southwest of Pyongyang, in an apparent readying of a test of two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

Ten days later -- January 29 -- as Defense Secretary James Mattis prepared for his first visit to Asia, it was reported that the country was preparing to restart a plutonium reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear facility, according to analysis of new satellite imagery from 38 North, a North Korea tracking project.

February

The Trump administration kicked off the month with Mattis' East Asian jaunt, landing February 2 at the Osan Air Base outside Seoul. Top of the agenda was a key component of South Korea's defenses against its northern neighbors' aggression -- the THAAD missile interception system.

Three days later, February 5, the US and its East Asian ally Japan successfully downed a test medium-range ballistic missile with a new interceptor launched from a guided-missile destroyer.

North Korea didn't take long to respond. On February 11, it reported it had successfully completed the launch of a new ballistic missile, the previously unknown Pukguksong-2, according to state media. It was the North's first missile test of the Trump era.

Things took a twist worthy of a movie plot later that month. On February 14, alleged North Korean agents reportedly murdered Kim Jong Un's half brother, Kim Jong Nam, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) with VX nerve agent.

Shortly after, in the wake of the DPRK's missile test and the resultant growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, China banned imports of Chinese coal for the remainder of the year. China's Ministry of Commerce said the decision was made to comply with a UN Security Council resolution that China helped draft and pass last November.

March

March was an even busier month for the Korean Peninsula. It kicked off, on March 6, with North Korea's firing of four ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan (also known as the East Sea) in what Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described as "an extremely dangerous action."

The missiles, three of which landed within 200 miles of Japan's coastline in its exclusive economic zone, were fired as part of a drill targeting American military assets in Japan by North Korea's Hwasong artillery units, North Korean state media KCNA said.

On the heels of the multiple launch, South Korea's US-built THAAD missile defense system -- which China vigorously opposes -- arrives on the peninsula. As it was delivered, China's top diplomat, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, warns that the US and North Korea are set for a "head-on collision" with neither side willing to give way.

On March 14, the US, along with allies South Korea and Japan, responded to the North's earlier missile tests, dispatching high-tech missile defense ships to the same area where Pyongyang had previously fired the four missiles. The Aegis warships began exercises to improve their capability to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles, the US Navy said in a statement.

The maneuvers came as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson embarked upon his first Asian trip, landing in Japan on March 15.

Five days later, Pyongyang again ratcheted tensions by testing a rocket engine, one which showed "meaningful" signs of progress, according to South Korean officials. Meanwhile, in the face of the looming threat from North Korea, Japan begins to hold evacuation drills to prepare for any potential North Korean missile launched aimed at the country.

The North Koreans launched another missile just days after the engine test, but it exploded "within seconds of launch," according to US Pacific Command. As March wound down, Pyongyang once again went back to its engine tests -- technology could possibly be used in an eventual ICBM.

In a separate move, the US announced that the US Marines deployed F-35B aircraft to South Korea for the first time as part of an exercise.

April

Trump began the month by declaring, on April 2, that the US would be willing to go it alone to restrain North Korea's nuclear weapons program should China fail to change the situation.

Two days later, as Trump prepared to meet his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, North Korea fired another ballistic missile off the coast of the Korean Peninsula, US and South Korean officials said. As the two leaders sat down to steak and pan-seared sole at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump made the decision to pull the trigger on a missile strike in Syria -- the biggest military action of his presidency and a declaration of intent for Pyongyang.

Shortly after, North Korea issued a forceful response to the deployment of a US naval strike group, including the 97,000-ton carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, to the region April 10, saying it would counter "reckless acts of aggression" with "whatever methods the US wants to take."

Days later, monitoring group 38 North said its analysis had concluded that North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear site is "primed and ready" for a sixth nuclear test. Also on April 13, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that the country may already have the capability to deliver missiles equipped with sarin nerve agent.

Meanwhile, the US waded again into military action, dropping a GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB), the US military's largest non-nuclear weapon, on an ISIS hideout in Afghanistan, the first time this type of weapon has been used in battle, according to US officials.

Two days later, at an annual military parade in Pyongyang, the North Korean regime showed off a bevy of new missiles and launchers at its annual military parade.

Part of the display were two new ICBM-sized canisters as well as North Korea's submarine-launched ballistic missile, and a land-based version of the same for the first time, according to analysts.

The following day, April 16, another attempted missile launch by the Kim regime failed, US and South Korean defense officials told CNN.

After the attempted test, US Vice President Mike Pence, visiting the South Korean side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on April 17, warned North Korea not to test the resolve of the US "or the strength of our military forces."

North Korea's UN deputy representative, Kim In Ryong, responded, warning that the US actions and rhetoric have "created a dangerous situation in which thermonuclear war may break out at any moment on the peninsula and poses a serious threat to world peace and security."

After boasting that the USS Carl Vinson strike group was being dispatched to the Korean Peninsula in a "show of force," the US was forced to walk back the claims after it emerged that the ships in question were actually on their way to participate in military exercises in the Indian Ocean, some 3,500 miles in the opposite direction.

Instead, the strike group will arrive off the Korean Peninsula by the end of April, multiple US defense officials told CNN.

The Pentagon announced on April 18 that it will conduct two major tests of its ability to shoot down missiles launched out of North Korea in May.

On April 19, the UN Security Council tried to address North Korea's latest missile launch with a proposed statement that would have condemned the test, but Russia used its veto to torpedo the motion.

The same day, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Beijing was "gravely concerned" about North Korea's recent nuclear and missile activities. Lu also praised recent US statements on the North Korean issue.

CNN's James Griffiths, Paula Hancocks, Joshua Berlinger, Ben Westcott, Ivan Watson, Yoko Wakatsuki, Hidetaka Sato, Eli Watkins, Dana Bash, Barbara Starr, Richard Roth, Tim Schwarz, Zachary Cohen, Jeremy Diamond and Steve Almasy, and journalist Taehoon Lee, contributed to this report.
Orangeburg native Jaime Harrison is leaving his position as chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party to become the associate chair and counselor of the Democratic National Committee.

Im really excited about the possibilities, Harrison said.

Harrison will be focusing on rebuilding the party on the grassroots level by creating a 57-state and territory strategy.

He plans on speaking with the various state party chairs and party members to ensure they have the tools they need to be successful in the future.

One of the things that we all realize is that we havent spent the time and the resources on state parties infrastructure over the past decade or so, he said.

As the associate chair, Harrison will be leading DNC initiatives including the State Party Partnership, training programs, vendor diversity and 2020 planning including the convention, debates and nominating process.

The position also involves leading outreach to the DNCs Southern Caucus, Rural Caucus, Disability Caucus and Native American Council.

In an announcement, Harrison said, With progressive energy at a fever pitch throughout the country, we have a unique opportunity to elect Democrats in every community in America.

I think the skys the limit, he added. Im encouraged by all the young people and the energy here in South Carolina.

Following the large turnout for Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff in Tuesdays congressional election in Georgia, Harrison is optimistic for the partys future. Ossoff will face Republican candidate Karen Handel in a runoff.

This was a district that gerrymandered to ensure Republican success, Harrison said.

Harrison became the first African American to chair the South Carolina Democratic Party when he was elected in May 2013.

While Harrison was chair, the party created SC Democrats Care, a community service initiative where party members complete service projects in their communities. Also, the John Spratt Issues Conferences were established.

The accomplishment he is most proud of however, is the creation of the Clyburn Fellowship.

One of the biggest challenges for any state party chair is finding, training and recruiting talent to the party, Harrison said.

The Clyburn Fellowship is a program that brings together 50 fellows, one from each county and four statewide, to participate in seminars and training sessions. The program is designed to equip them to run for office, manage issue-based or political campaigns, and participate in the leadership or management of local and county party politics.

Im proud of the young people who come through the program, he said.

Harrison noted that some graduates have already run for office.

The state party will elect a new chair on April 29 in Columbia.

Harrison began working in politics as the floor director of operations in the U.S. House of Representatives while Congressman Jim Clyburn was the Majority Whip.

Most recently, he was a lobbyist for the Podesta Group. Harrison said he will no longer be working for the company in his associate chair position.

He will still be living in South Carolina while traveling back and forth from Washington.

Harrison is a graduate of Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School. He later went on to graduate from Yale University and Georgetown University Law Center.
CONCORD, NH - This week the New Hampshire Travel Councils Governors Conference on Tourism in Concord gave its annual awards for tourism leadership, recognizing Gene Chandler and Kim Sperry. Two awards presented were the Dick Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award and the Mildred Beach Travel Person of the Year. The ceremony that took place at the Grappone Conference Center, recognized and honored businesses and individuals for their significant impact on New Hampshires visitor industry.

This years Dick Hamilton Lifetime Achievement winner, Representative Gene Chandler, received his award from NH Travel Council Board member Peter Ramsey. The chairman of Public Works and Highways committee has been the North Countrys most solid state defender and for decades has supported providing funds for NHs major highways, turnpikes and scenic byways, a constant advocate of our state park system, and the leader in improving our private-public partnerships, including turning our old state highway liquor barns into beautiful welcome centers in Hooksett. Hes also a 30-year supporter of the NH Tourism and Ski industries.

The Dick Hamilton Lifetime Achievement award is given to an individual who has made long-lasting and permanent contributions to the visitor industry over many years. Past winners of this award include Susie Lowe-Stockwell from the League of NH Craftsmen and Jim Morash from Mount Washington Cruises.

Gregg Pitman presented the Mildred Beach Travel Person of the Year award to Kim Sperry, Executive Vice President with the Lakes Region Tourism Association, who has been involved with the tourism industry for more than 25 years and has devoted many years to tourism in the Lakes Region as well as the entire State of New Hampshire. Developing and implementing marketing initiatives, partnerships and relationships that benefit New Hampshire tourism are also part of her hard work in promoting the state.

The Mildred Beach Travel Person of the Year is presented to an individual who has made a significant and continuing personal contribution to the advancement of the travel industry during the previous year. Past winners include Dennis Ducharme from Riverwalk Resort at Loon Mountain and Jan Barker from National Passport Center.

The New Hampshire Travel Councils Governors Conference was supported by the NH Division of Travel and Tourism Development, Eversource, Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, Boston Globe and Yankee Publishing.

The New Hampshire Travel Council was formed in 1974 to help protect the interests of the tourism industry in New Hampshire. In addition to advocacy, the Travel Council focuses on communication and education. Each year the Travel Council produces the Governor's Conference on Tourism, designed to bring New Hampshire's tourism industry together to share best practices, explore new ideas, network with colleagues, and recognize individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the industry. Throughout the year Travel Council members connect at roundtable sessions held at various locations around the state.

More than 39 million travelers visit the Granite State every year, generating approximately $5.5 billion in spending. Tourism has long been New Hampshire's second largest industry, employing 67,600 residents and generating $59.6 million in Rooms and Meals Tax revenue annually.

For more information about the New Hampshire Travel Council visit www.nhtravelcouncil.com
Thursday 20

H1Z1: Fight for the Crown (KWBQ-19 8pm) Fifteen teams compete for a $300,000 prize in an H1Z1: King of the Kill e-sports tournament. Translation: Its televised video games.

Farmers Market Flip (Cooking 8pm) Its a cooking competition in which contestants must first shop for ingredients as a farmers market.

Soundtracks: The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. (CNN 8pm) CNN explores the music that kept the spirit of the civil rights movement alive following the death of MLK.

Friday 21

Bill Nye Saves the World (Netflix streaming anytime) Just in time, too. Science geek Bill Nye hosts this brainy talk show exploring topics from climate change to alternative medicine to video games to sex. Look for appearances by Zach Braff, Rachel Bloom, Joel McHale, Wil Wheaton, Steve Aoki and Tim Gunn.

Burn Motherf*cker, Burn! (Showtime 7pm) Showtime looks back at the historic LA riots with this documentary about the relationship between African Americans and the LAPD.

Saturday 22

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (HBO 6pm) Oprah Winfrey, Rose Byrne, Courtney B. Vance, Reg E. Cathey and Leslie Uggams star in this adaptation of Rebecca Skloots absolutely mesmerizing (though seemingly difficult to dramatize) book about Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman who died of cancerbut whose cells have been studied, cultivated and reproduced for decades in the field of cancer research.

Sunday 23

New York Prison Break: The Seduction of Joyce Mitchell (Lifetime 6pm) Penelope Ann Miller (From Big Top Pee-wee, Kindergarten Cop and The Gun in Betty Lous Handbag) stars as Joyce Mitchell, the nationally embarrassed prison seamstress who helped a couple of convicts escape from the Clinton Correctional Facility in 2015. ... Question to ponder: If youre Joyce, do you watch?

Mary Kills People (Lifetime 8:02pm) An ER doctor (Caroline Dhavernas from Hannibal, Off the Map and Wonderfalls) spends her days saving peoples lives and her nights operating as a underground angel of death helping terminally ill patients end their lives.

Monday 24

Adventure Time: Elements (Cartoon Network 8:30pm) Adventure Time seems to be sticking to this week-long mini-series format for its last couple of seasons. In this eight-part storyline, Finn and Jake return to Ooo (following the events of the revelatory Islands mini-series) only to find that life in the kingdom has changed radically.

Bates Motel (A&E 8pm) A&Es prequel to Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho comes to an end after five seasonspresumably with everyone happy and healthy.

Tuesday 25

Genius (National Geographic 7pm) Ron Howard and Brian Grazer (The Da Vinci Code, A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13) produce this biographical series starring Geoffrey Rush (Shine, Quills, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) as super-scientist Albert Einstein.

Great News (KOB-4 8pm) An up-and-coming news show producer (Briga Heelan, Ground Floor) is horrified to find that her overbearing mother (Andrea Martin from SCTV) has rejoined the workforce as an intern at the cable TV station where she works.

Wednesday 26

Outlaw Tech (Science 8:04pm) This new series spotlight the cutting-edge science (biological, chemical, technological) used on both sides of the law in bank robberies, casino heists, prison breaks and more.
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By Azertac





Maltese President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca has hailed Azerbaijans model of tolerance and multiculturalism as she received Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.





Recalling her visit to Azerbaijan to attend the UN Alliance of Civilizations 7th Global Forum held in Baku on May 2016, President Coleiro Preca noted that holding such events is a clear manifestation of contributions made by Azerbaijan to promotion of interfaith and civilization dialogue. She emphasized that Azerbaijans model of tolerance and multiculturalism is an excellent example to the entire world and noted the importance of the4th World Intercultural Dialogue Forum to be held in Baku in May.





Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca praised relations between Azerbaijan and Malta, and mentioned the importance of defining new areas of cooperation. She particularly underlined promotion of cooperation in the field of tourism, saying this will strengthen people-to-people contacts.





Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca expressed Maltas support for Azerbaijan-European Union relations, and stressed that it is critically important in terms of regional stability.





Minister Elmar Mammadyarov mentioned the role of Malta both in bilateral cooperation and advancement of relations with the European Union during Maltese Presidency. He talked about partnership Agreement between Azerbaijan and the European Union.





Elmar Mammadyarov highlighted the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He stressed that the conflict must be solved based on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan within the internationally recognized borders. The FM said immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the armed forces of Armenia from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan must be ensured as demanded by the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.
Plagued by war, violence, and low oil prices, economies in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region will see growth of 2.6 per cent in 2017, down from 3.5 per cent in 2016, according to the World Banks semi-annual Mena Economic Monitor launched this week.

But after 2017, driven by ongoing reforms, the situation is expected to improve slightly and growth could exceed 3 percent in 2018 and 2019.



No part of the region has escaped the impacts of instability, which have ranged from devastating peoples lives to interrupting trade and discouraging investment, said Hafez Ghanem, World Bank vice-president for the Mena Region.



Still, we are changing our outlook from cautiously pessimistic to cautiously optimistic because we see promising signs in the fruits of economic reform, a sense of stability in the oil market, and the fact that eventually all conflicts end.



While the regions overall growth is expected to decline as a result of a slowdown in the economies of oil exporters, oil importers should perform better with growth picking up to 3.5 per cent in 2017 from 2.9 per cent a year before.



Despite a sluggish overall economic prospect in the region, the report points to some positive signs of recovery in countries like Egypt, which is successfully implementing key reforms to increase revenue and control expenditure, and is expected to see its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) double in 2017 reaching $5 billion. At the same time, with low oil prices, oil exporting countries have embarked on solid macro-economic reforms which helped them maintain their economic stability.



The prospects for a recovery in growth and faster development in Mena are within the grasp of the countries in the region, said Ghanem. To achieve that, economic reforms and diversification are a must in order to make room for private sector growth that can create badly needed jobs. At the same time, the quality of schools needs to be improved in order to give young people the skills they need to compete for those jobs.



The Mena Economic Monitor emphasises that the sustainability of economic recovery in the region will depend on the effectiveness of any future peace-building and reconstruction efforts. A special section of the new report focuses on the impacts of the conflicts in Libya, Syria and Yemen, and suggests strategies for reconstruction to build and consolidate stability. Causing wide-scale human suffering, weakened institutions and devastated economies, the spillover effects of the three civil wars have also affected neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia, which are hosting an unprecedented number of refugees while seeing their trade, tourism, and security undermined.



The report outlines principles that can guide post-conflict reconstruction which must rebuild not just infrastructure, but inclusive institutions, the lack of which was a major cause of the conflict.



Civil wars, coupled with an economic slowdown, have created newly vulnerable groups and significantly weakened public services such as health and education, said Shanta Devarajan, World Bank chief economist of the Mena Region.



Breaking that vicious cycle of violence and economic recession calls for a collective effort to support the region in a peace-building process that would eventually achieve long-term political and economic stability.



To illustrate one major aspect of the reconstruction challenge, recent World Bank estimates show that if a political solution were to be reached in Syria and reconstruction begins, it will take 10 years for the Syrian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to get close to its pre-war level, if the economy grows by 5 percent on average. Growing at lower than this rate will delay the recovery by another 10 years.



As important as economic recovery, it is critical that reconstruction efforts be geared toward consolidating peace to avoid the possible resumption of conflict. The report recommends that any future reconstruction process be inclusive and internally-driven, based on a national vision that the donor community supports rather than leads. Noting that the civil wars involve sectarian conflict, the report finally calls on post-conflict governments to consider giving greater prerogatives to sub-national entities as a way of preserving territorial integrity.



Peace in the Mena region is a global public good, said Ghanem. Any reconstruction effort has to be a nation-building exercise and should address the root causes of the conflict in order to prevent its recurrence by building inclusive institutions, giving voice to citizens, and creating jobs for displaced and resident populations. - TradeArabia News Service
The UAE has been ranked 21st globally for foreign direct investments (FDI), a report said, highlighting that FDI inflows reached reaching $11 billion in 2014 and 2015, while greenfield investments nearly tripled to 129 projects.



The United Arab Emirates has also pledged to continue to advance its technological readiness and deepen its commitment to innovation, said the A T Kearney FDI Confidence Index, noting that the countrys investor-oriented reforms include instituting updated bankruptcy and investment laws, simplifying the process for obtaining construction permits, reducing the time required to obtain an electricity connection, and introducing compensation for power outages.

The IMF forecasts Emirati economic growth will strengthen to 2.5 percent this year and 3.1 percent in 2018. The stronger forecasted growth is in part a function of the reforms pursued by the government to spur foreign investment and diversify the economy away from oil.



The governments recent efforts show signs of gaining significant traction. In the World Banks Doing Business 2017, the United Arab Emirates is highlighted as one of the top 10 economies that made the greatest improvements in business relations.



Rudolph Lohmeyer, vice president of A T Kearney's Global Business Policy Council said: Investors clearly consider the UAE to be one of the strongest, most diversified economies in the region and value its position as a regional and global gateway. The UAE's ranking this year is a function of many factors, including excellence in governance, demonstrated resilience, world-class infrastructure and a deep, unwavering commitment to innovation."



Three-fourths of companies plan to increase their foreign direct investment in the next three years, according to the 2017 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index from global strategy and management consulting firm A.T. Kearney. This is an increase from last years results, despite expectations that geopolitical events and rising anti-globalization could have put a damper on FDI worldwide.



This years edition of the Index, entitled Glass Half Full, finds that while global business executives are increasingly concerned about the negative effects of politics and geopolitics, they are nevertheless more bullish on the global economy and FDI prospects.



For the third year in a row, global business executives see an increase in geopolitical tensions as the greatest risk in the external environment. Investors concerns about geopolitics and rising protectionism are in fact likely driving some of their motivation to increase FDI. In an environment of slowing global trade growth and increasing barriers to trade, FDI may offer a localization strategy for investors in key markets.



Investors told us that they are optimistic about the future of the global economy, global uncertainties notwithstanding, and see many quality opportunities for FDI worldwide, said Paul A Laudicina, founder of the FDI Confidence Index and chairman of A T Kearneys Global Business Policy Council.



For the first time since the Global Financial Crisis, we saw a rise in the number of emerging markets on the Index. This could be an inflection point after years of increasing dominance by developed markets on the FDI Confidence Index.



The United States again tops the FDI Confidence Index, holding its first-place position for the fifth year in a row. Investors are also more bullish on the US economic outlook than any other economy on the Index. Germany rises to the second position in the FDI Confidence Index, followed by China in third place. The UK and Canada round out the top five spots.



Despite some continued economic volatility due to low global commodity prices, the Middle East and Africa make a comeback on the Index after a two-year absence. South Africa rounds out the Index in the 25th spot. This could signal a desire by global investors to diversify the location of the FDI after several years of an increasing flight to safety.  TradeArabia News Service
The UAE, represented by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), is participating in the 2017 spring meetings for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) which will be held from April 21-23 in Washington DC.



Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, will head the UAE delegation which will include Mubarak Rashed Al Mansoori, UAE Central Bank Governor, Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Assistant Undersecretary of International Financial Relations Sector at MoF and a number of specialists in the Ministry and the Central Bank.



Al Tayer will also head the Arab Group at the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC).



These meetings represent an interactive platform to discuss key topics and the latest developments on a regional and global level, as well as offer the opportunity to exchange expertise. The current changes in the global economy and the future of governments require joint international efforts to strengthen the economic growth, support the economic and investment development and build a stronger and more sustainable global economy for future generations, said Al Tayer.



Al Tayer and his accompanying delegation will participate in the Arab Group Meeting, the IMFC meetings, and the Undersecretaries of Ministers of Finance meeting.



During his participation in the annual meetings, Obaid Humaid Al Tayer will also meet with Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, Dr Hazem Al Beblawi, executive director of the IMF and Dr Mirza Hasan, executive director of the Arab Group at WBG.



The agenda of the 2017 spring meetings includes the meeting of the IMFC, alongside a number of seminars will be held in addition to regional media briefings, press conferences and a range of activities which will focus on the global economy, international development and the global financial system.



The 2017 spring meetings of the IMF and WBG will gather Central Bank governors, ministers of finance and development, senior officials from private sector, and academics to discuss key international topics including global economic prospects, poverty eradication, economic development and aid effectiveness.  TradeArabia News Service
Bahrains Labour Fund Tamkeen has announced that 60 teams, out of 110, have qualified to continue on to the Business Planning phase of the Mashroo3i competition, a youth business plan scheme.



The qualification follows the successful completion of an Orientation Training Program, said a statement.



Mashroo3i, organized by Tamkeen, is a national platform for Bahraini youth aimed at promoting entrepreneurial values and supporting them in transforming their business ideas and dreams into feasible business plans. The competition targets youth aged between 18 to 30 years who are passionate about entrepreneurship in order to cultivate and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs and support the overall growth of the kingdoms economy.



Mashroo3i aims to prepare the next generation and help them become successful entrepreneurs. We are proud of the caliber of teams involved in this years edition and are closely monitoring their progress as they creatively convert their ideas into businesses, said manager of youth schemes at Tamkeen, Mohammed Ahmadi.



This is the fourth edition of the competition and we are happy with the response received so far from the teams. All participating teams, which totals up to 110 teams, have successfully completed the Orientation Training phase; out of which 60 teams were shortlisted to continue on to the Business Planning Phase of the competition. The teams were shortlisted based on set guidelines including evaluation of business ideas and individuals characteristics, he added.  TradeArabia News Service


China-based Mingyuan Holdings Group Company, a leading petrochemical company, plans to set up a major methanol-to-olefins (MTO) plant alongside a giant greenfield methanol scheme at the China-Oman Industrial Park, in the sultanate.



The plant will be set up will with an investment of around $2.3 billion, said the Oman Daily Observer.



The China-Oman Industrial Park was set up following an agreement with a group of Chinese investors in the sultanates southern port of Duqm and hopes to attract billions of dollars of investment.



The integrated methanol and MTO scheme, envisaging a capacity of 10 million tonnes, will rank among the largest petrochemical schemes in the region, it said.



Development of the venture is planned in stages, with the promoters looking at a capacity of 1.8 million tonnes of gas-to-methanol and methanol-to-olefins in the first phase.



Natural gas will be used as feedstock in the production of methanol, with polyethylene and polypropylene also envisioned as end products along with methanol and MTO, added the report.
Netherlands-based Damen Shipyards Group has announced the successful completion of sea trials of the Multi-role Aviation Training Vessel (MATV) MV Sycamore.



The sea trials included testing of all on-board military systems. Following final vessel handover, MV Sycamore will perform diverse training and support duties for the Royal Australian Navy, said a statement from the company.



In addition to the more traditional elements of sea trials such as manoeuvring and speed tests, the MV Sycamore was put through her paces with an extensive testing programme of all on-board military systems, it said.



This included testing of the air traffic radar, flight deck lighting and firefighting, flight deck communication systems and helicopter traverse installation procedures.



The results of the sea trials were successful. All systems and processes of the vessel were accepted by representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, it added.



Roland Briene, sales director Asia Pacific, Damen, said: We are proud to hear that the MV Sycamore has passed her first tests with flying colours.



Based on our companys successful and proven OPV series, the MATV is a very versatile ship, he said.



The chief role of the vessel will be to provide a training platform for all possible helicopter-related operations, such as helicopter deck landings and take off, helicopter (in-flight) refuelling operations and air traffic control.



However, Damens versatile MATV design will enable the Royal Australian Navy to accomplish numerous other secondary tasks also. To this end, the MV Sycamore will be able to undertake torpedo and mine recovery operations, navigation training, dive support, officer sea familiarisation, target towing and consort duties as well as unmanned aerial vehicle support.



Furthermore, the 94-m-long vessel has a large storage capacity, which gives her the potential to be mobilised in humanitarian relief operations.



The coming weeks will see the MV Sycamore being prepared for her maiden voyage to her home port of Sydney, Australia, where she is expected to arrive at the end of May, it said.



Briene added: We are making headway towards our ambitions of building further vessels for the Australian Navy, having recently submitted out tender for the SEA 1180 Program.



It is our intention to work in close concert with local industry for the project, building not only the required vessels, but a sustainable shipbuilding industry for Australia with strong export potential, he concluded.  TradeArabia News Service
Genetec, a provider of open-architecture security and public safety solutions, has announced the general availability of its unified security platform Security Center 5.6.



The platforms key enhancements include additional cybersecurity measures, a new HTML5-based web client, integration of SimonsVoss electronic locks and the Mercury Security MS Bridge, and the ability to enrol license plates as access control credentials with the AutoVu SharpV camera, said a statement from the company.



All Genetec Advantage subscribers will receive this update as part of the Genetec Lifecycle Management programme, it added.



Customers under Genetec Assurance can contact Genetec Inside Sales to purchase an upgrade, it said.



Version 5.6 stays consistent with the companys commitment for cybersecurity and hardening measures and standards which address the changing nature of cyber threats and hazards. With advanced authentication, authorisation and encryption technologies in Security Center 5.6, Genetec remains dedicated to protect organisations, security systems, their people, data and assets.



The Security Center Web Client has been redesigned with HTML5 to offer users a more fluid and modern web experience. The Web Client ensures the platform is accessible from any device or browser, said a statement.



With Genetec Plan Manager, operators can now monitor the live status of intrusion areas. And, embedded support for ESRI ArcGIS software adds rich layers of visual data so organisations benefit from greater context and insights of their surroundings.



Having recently become a Mercury Security Platinum Elite partner, Security Center 5.6 introduces a new integration with the Mercury MS Bridge to help end users migrate from proprietary or integrated access control systems to a fully unified security platform.



Always expanding its ecosystem of access control hardware partners, Genetec has also integrated the SimonsVoss family of digital locks, and added a technology and distribution partnership with STid, a manufacturer of RFID contactless door readers.



AutoVu, the automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) system in security Centre, lets end users to extend their security coverage beyond the physical building and to their parking lots, parking decks and property perimeters.



With the release of Security Center 5.6, the new AutoVu SharpV ALPR camera can be enrolled as an access control reader managed by the Synergis Cloud Link appliance. This allows operators to manage vehicle activity without impeding vehicle flow. And, by assigning a license plate to a cardholder as a credential, users can define specific access rights, control vehicle access to their parking lots, and run vehicle activity reports, it stated.



Security Center 5.6 is now available globally, it added.  TradeArabia News Service
MG Motors, a British automotive brand, is debuting its new MG electric supercar concept -- MG E-motion -- at the 17th Shanghai International Auto Show, China.



The brand is seeing a significant revival thanks to recent scientific and technical innovation, delivering a stunning new concept model that combines high standards in design and performance that marks an exciting new era for the manufacturer, it said.



Shanghai International Auto Show will run from April 21 to 28 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center, Shanghai.



The MG E-motion concept embodies companys brand-new exterior design essence. The concept model has dynamic and elegant body proportions, with the positioning of the A column making the front of the model visually more slender, said a statement from the company.



Also, the models front grille adopts an LED starlight matrix design, while the headlamps inherit MGs particular design elements inspired by the London Eye, it said.



Developed with the younger generation in mind, the model is equipped with a series of what the manufacturer calls Black Technology. Based on MGs parent company, SAICs new pure electric modular architecture platform, MG E-motion concept is capable of 0-100KM/h in under 4 seconds and has a range of over 500km, it added.



Equipped with an intelligent interconnection system, the MG E-motion concept is also able to comprehensively satisfy passenger connectivity demands while on the move, said a statement.



Wang Xiaoqiu, general manager of SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle, said: MG is committed to manufacturing fashionable cars for young people.



The new MG E-motion concept and previously unveiled MG ZS are designed not only to satisfy millennials needs, but also to demonstrate new innovative technology of MG Motors, he said.



In addition to the concept reveal, the show also saw the launch of MGs new Liverpool customised version of the MG ZS which was unveiled by Anfield legend, Ian Rush. The model is set to go on sale in the Chinese market, it stated.  TradeArabia News Service
Global cross-border M&A activity continued to dip as political turbulence and economic uncertainty become the new normal for dealmakers, while deal flow in the Middle East remained stable, according to a new report.



Baker McKenzie's Cross-Border M&A Index, which tracks quarterly deal activity using a baseline score of 100, decreased to 218 for Q1 2017, down 17 per cent from the prior quarter and 9 per cent from Q1 2016. In Q1 2017, cross-border M&A made up 49 per cent of all deal value and 35 per cent of all deal volume.

North America was a safe haven for deals in Q1 2017, and the US accounted for 94 per cent of inbound deal value in the region. The fallout from Brexit and a series of contentious election campaigns hit EU inbound M&A activity in Q1 2017, as EU targets accounted for only 17 per cent of cross regional deal value, compared to an average of 35 per cent since 2009.



The consumer sector led the way for deal value in Q1 2017 with 142 deals valued at $113.3 billion, while the technology sector led deal volume with 182 deals valued at $14.9 billion. Energy and utilities, and pharma were the second and third highest sectors in terms of value, contributing $51.4 billion and $49.1 billion respectively.



Cross-regional Middle East M&A activity



The Q1 2017 Middle East Index has remained fairly steady at 141.3, a slight dip on Q1 2016 figures (155.6), and the previous quarter (189.9), indicating that despite sustained political and economic uncertainty, the Middle East M&A market remains steadfast. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is yet again a dominant country for M&A in the region this quarter, coming out top for deal volume for both inbound and outbound activity.



"The UAE is one of the most dynamic Middle East economies for cross-regional M&A activity, as borne out by the deals in Q1 2017", said Will Seivewright, Corporate/M&A partner at Baker McKenzie Habib Al Mulla, based in the UAE.



"With projected GDP growth continuing to bring investors to the region, the outlook is very positive for the remainder of the year. We expect to see the consumer and technology sectors driving activity as demand and innovation in the region continue.



Zahi Younes, Corporate & Securities partner at Baker McKenzie's associated firm in Riyadh said: "It's a positive story for Saudi Arabia this quarter, with the nation leading the pack on both outbound and inbound deal value. As 2017 continues, we expect to see more deal activity from family businesses as second and third generation shareholders become more receptive to M&A activity as a means to develop their businesses".



Inbound Middle East M&A



Both the value and volume of cross-regional M&A deals targeting the Middle East slightly increased from the last quarter, rising from $2.66 billion to $2.96 billion, and shows a significant increase from Q1 2016 where we saw just $349 million raised for the same number of deals.



The US led by volume and value as the top bidder country for the quarter with two deals worth $2.86 billion, one of which was Tronox Limited's $2.21 billion acquisition of Saudi Arabia's The National Titanium Dioxide Company Ltd, resulting in the Chemicals & Materials sector being the stand out target industry for the quarter by value.



The UAE attracted the most interest from international investors by volume, with four deals across various sectors, whilst Saudi Arabia led by value, as a result of the Titanium Dioxide mega deal. The Energy & Utilities sector was the busiest of the quarter.



Outbound Middle East M&A



The value of outbound M&A from the Middle East in Q1 2017 has more than halved compared to Q4 2016. However, a year-on-year comparison shows that deal value has more than doubled from $1.13 billion in Q1 2016, to $ 5.21 billion in Q1 2017, despite a 50 per cent drop in deal volume.



The UAE drove deal volume from the region, with five deals across various sectors, whilst Saudi Arabia and Kuwait account for the main bulk of this quarter's deal value, investing S$3.9 billion and $1.2 billion respectively.



Energy & Utilities was the stand-out target industry by both volume and value, with six deals valued at $5.12 billion, including the mega US$3.9 billion acquiring of USA's Motiva Enterprises LLC by Saudi Arabian Oil Co.  TradeArabia News Service
Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) has witnessed over 5 million Umrah pilgrims arrive and depart since the beginning of the Umrah season on November 1, said a report



A total of 2,588,357 pilgrims arrived and almost the same numbers departed, said a report in Saudi Gazette citing Turki Al-Dheeb, director of the airports department of information and public relations.



To cope with the rise in traveller numbers, all Umrah flights "will be directed to Haj Terminal so as to expedite the immigration process", Al-Dheeb said.



We are coordinating with all the concerned departments at the airport to ensure the safety and comfort of pilgrims, he added.



Air traffic has been further augmented by the entry of new air companies which are operating domestic and international flights to and from the airport, the report said.



According to Dheeb, the lounges of the Haj Terminal can accommodate up to 1,800 pilgrims an hour and are fully equipped to receive and serve all arriving and departing pilgrims.



Meanwhile a total of 4,154,069 pilgrims arrived in Madinah since the beginning of the Umrah season.



Prince Muhammad Bin Abdul Aziz International Airport in Madinah received 6,546 Umrah flights, an increase of about 18.15 per cent over their number last year.



The ministry said four countries  Pakistan (24.61 per cent), Indonesia (15.93 per cent), India (9.34 per cent) and Turkey (7.28 per cent)  received the bulk of Umrah visas issued by Saudi diplomatic and consular missions.
Meet award-winning artisans and buy their products at Kerala Arts and Crafts Village
A Casper man faces three child pornography charges in federal court after state agents found hundreds of sexually explicit images and videos of children in his home.

A federal grand jury indicted Michael Shane-Lourcey Clements in March on two counts of possession of child pornography and one count of receiving child pornography. If convicted, he could face up to 40 years in prison on each count and a total of $750,000 in total fines.

The investigation began in January when a special agent with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation found that a computer in Casper downloaded a pornographic video of a man sexually assaulting a prepubescent girl, according to court documents. Investigators then traced the computer to an address on Zinnia Drive and obtained a warrant to search the home.

Clements was at the home when agents arrived with the search warrant. Clements told the agents that he had an interest in child pornography and had been downloading images and videos for at least two months, the documents state. He said he had saved about 2,000 such files to his computer and a memory card.

Agents later confirmed that child pornography was saved on Clements laptop and about 1,869 images and 43 videos were saved to the memory card. The pornography included sexual images of infants.

Prosecutors originally charged Clements with possession of child pornography in Natrona County Circuit Court and he was scheduled for arraignment in county District Court on Wednesday. During the hearing, prosecutors said county charges were dismissed so the case could be filed in federal court.

Clements pleaded not guilty to the three federal charges at his arraignment in federal court on April 7 and was released on $10,000 bond earlier this month, documents show.

His trial is scheduled for June 12 at the federal courthouse in Cheyenne.
Editor:

Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting. At the time it was the worst mass shooting in our history. But it's significance goes further than that.

In the last legislative session three so-called gun bills were before our state Legislature.

The "gun-free zones" and "public meeting" bills passed, for what they were worth. The campus carry bill failed in the Senate, thanks in large part to the efforts of some very influential senators like Coe and Nicholas. Also in large part to the arguments of the UW leaders' statement that "there is no empirical evidence to support a statement that an armed citizen saves lives." The people who said that knew at the time it was a false statement but repeated it without a qualm.

Back to Virginia Tech. It was a legally armed citizen/student who stopped the shooter. How many lives were saved only God knows. More than one I am sure. According to the DOJ, legally owned firearms in the hands of citizens stop or prevent crimes between 2 million and 2.5 million times every year.

As Wyoming voters we need to pay attention not so much to what any media says but the actual bill as they are written. You would be surprised how often we have been misled.
The dance and theater seasons are winding down for several companies. Heres where you can get your fixes before the curtains fall for the summer months:

THEATER

Opening

Knock Knock  Tucson Scottish Rite Cathedral, 160 S. Scott Ave. University of Arizona musical theater student Josh Dunn wrote, raised the money and is staging this piece, which he calls an original movement piece exploring the questions and conflicts that death brings. Dunn is immensely talented  you know that if you caught him in Arizona Repertory Theatre's productions of Cabaret or Twelfth Night. This is not a UA-sponsored piece, so that it is actually happening is a testament to his passion and commitment to the theater. That alone makes it worth attending. It's one night only: 8 p.m. April 26. Tickets are #10 at the door.

Annie Jr.  4500 N. Oracle Road in the Tucson Mall. The Arizona Rose Theatre's Youth Theatre winds up its production of Annie Jr. Its an adaptation of the hit musical Annie, and its got Little Orphan Annie, all the other orphans, Daddy Warbucks and that not too nice Miss Hannigan. Performances are 2 and 6 p.m. April 22 and 2 p.m. April 23. $10. 888-0509. Arizonarosetheatre.com.

Mother of Exiles  Harold Dixon Directing Studio, 1025 N. Olive Road in the UA Fine Arts Complex. This is a new play from playwright and University of Arizona Professor Elaine Romero. It is the second in her series on her Arizona/Mexican border trilogy (the first is Wetback, which received a reading at Chicago Dramatists in Chicago). Mother of Exiles follows a Latina who returns to her border town to teach her students about freedom only to find that the politics of fear have imprisoned them. Performances are 8 p.m. April 20-22; 2 p.m. April 23. $7. 621-1162 or tickets.arizona.edu

Dov and Ali  Community Playhouse, 1881 N. Oracle Road. A teacher and his student speak as equals about fate and free will, family and faith. The last performances of the Something Something Theatre Company's production are 7:30 p.m. April 21-22; 2 p.m. April 23. $18-$22. 468-6111. somethingsomethingtheatre.com.

Continuing

Let's Live A Little  Invisible Theatre, 1400 N. First Ave.

The Kathleen Clark story separate tales about people in search of adventure but who end up at unexpected destinations, said a release from the company.

Performances continue through April 30 at Invisible Theatre, 1400 N. First Ave. $32 for regular performances, with discounts available. 882-9721 or invisibletheatre.com.

Holmes and Watson  Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. Arizona Theatre Company wraps up its 50th season with the world premiere of Jeffrey Hatchers Holmes and Watson. The play takes place after Sherlock Holmes is assumed dead after a confrontation with his nemesis, Professor Moriarty. But wait  is he dead? Three men, locked up in a remote asylum, all claim to be Holmes. Its up to his sidekick Watson to determine which is telling the truth  or if anyone is.Final preview is 7:30 p.m. April 20; opening is 7:30 p.m. April 21. Performances continue through May 5. Tickets are $25-$64 at 622-2823 or arizonatheatre.org.

Be My Baby  Roadrunner Theatre Company, 8892 E. Tanque Verde Road. Laughter is always in order with a Ken Ludwig play, so be prepared to do just that at the Roadrunner Theatre Companys production of Be My Baby, about a crotchety Scotsman and an inflexible English woman who must get along to the sake of the family. It isn't easy. Performances are 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through May 14 at Roadrunner. $20, with discounts available. 207-2491, Roadrunnertheatrecompany.org.

The Curse of the Pirate's Gold  The Gaslight Theatre, 7010 E. Broadway. The buccaneers search the Spanish Main for the lost pirates treasure, while trying to avoid the dreaded curse. Thats the play; the fun is in the songs twisted to fit in the story, and the actors, who love to ham it up. Performances are various times through June 4. $21.95. 886-9428. thegaslighttheatre.com.

Below the Belt  Live Theatre Workshop, 5317 E. Speedway. Oh, my, factory life can be funny. Especially if you are working at a nameless factory in a nameless desert where nameless monsters lurk created by the nameless poison that the factory pours into the water. Yes, we said funny. Check it out yourself at Live Theatre Workshops production of this comedy. A steller cast and Annette Hillmans direction bring the story of three men manipulating for power and control to hysterical life. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays through May 6. $20. 327-4242. livetheatreworkshop.org.

Three Sisters  Pima Community College Center for the Arts, 2202 W. Anklam Road. Chekhovs stirring drama about three sisters who long to return to Moscow is classic theater. The play studies their yearnings, examines class, and explores isolation, love, and the loss of dreams. No one addresses those subjects with such substance and vivid storytelling as Chekhov. Performances of the PCC theater department production are 7:30 p.m. April 27 and 28; 2 p.m. April 23. Continues through April 30. $18. 206-6986. pima.edu.

Evita  Tornabene Theatre, 1025 N. Olive Road. Eva Peron's meteoric climb from the slums of Argentina to beloved First Lady is given a first-rate production by the Arizona Repertory Theatre. This production is directed by Danny Gurwin and the cast of UA students makes it clear that talent reigns at the school. Do yourself a favor and see it  if you can get tickets. Musicals sell out quickly. Continues through April 30. $20-$31. 621-1162. theatre.arizona.edu.

The Dinner Detective Interactive Murder Mystery Show  Hilton Tucson East, 7600 E. Broadway. Dine and determine who the murder is. Ages 15 and up. 6 p.m. Saturdays. $49.95. 1-866-496-0535. Thedinnerdetective.com.

A Swashbuckling Adventure with the Itty-Bitty Buccaneer  Live Theatre Workshop, 5317 E. Speedway. Tucsonan Richard Gremel crafted this play about Sarah Blackbeard, daughter of Blackbeard the Pirate. She longs for adventures of her own. So she sets out in search of the treasure of Skull Island. Danger lurks, but Bart the Buccaneer is here to help. Kris Kissel directs. Staged by Live Theatres family arm, performances are 12:30 p.m. Sundays through June 4 (no show May 7) at Live Theatre, 5317 E. Speedway. $7-$10. 327-4242 or livetheatreworkshop.org.

DANCE

Spring Collection  University of Arizona School of Dance. Story.

Jump Start: Student Spotlight  Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, 1713 E. University Blvd. Not all UA dance students leap on stage with Spring Collection. You can catch some of them in this production. Remember, the dance school at the UA is among the top in the nation: You cant go wrong when one or more of them are on stage. Last performance is 6 p.m. April 23. $25. 621-1162.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some April 20 papers in history. With a subscription to newspapers.com you can search the Arizona Daily Star and many other newspapers using keywords or dates, and download articles or pages.
PHOENIX  Arizona is one signature away from imposing its first limits on the use of cell phones by teens.

On a 32-24 margin Thursday, the state House gave final approval to legislation saying that teens with learners permits can neither text nor make calls from their cell phones while behind the wheel. SB 1080 also extends that to the first six months they have their actual Class G license, reserved for the newest drivers.

The measure, previously approved by the Senate on a 24-6 vote, now goes to Gov. Doug Ducey.

Gubernatorial press aide Daniel Scarpinato said Ducey will review the bill.

Thursdays vote came over the objection of some legislators who want Arizona to remain one of two states (Montana is the other) with no limits on cell phone use by motorists. They said their fear is that once Arizona restricts what teens can do, its just a small step to extending that to others.

Rep. David Stringer, R-Prescott, said he shares that concern. But Stringer agreed to vote for the measure after speaking with Sen. Karen Fann, R-Prescott, who shepherded the measure through the Senate.

She assured me last night when we spoke this is not the proverbial camels nose under the tent, that she is only concerned with the Class G new driver, and this is not going to be an effort to expand it again and expand it again, he said.

There also were objections from the other side of the issue, with some lawmakers questioning why the limits should be so narrow.

The problem I have with this bill is I think its a criminalization of young teenagers, said Rep. Ray Martinez, D-Phoenix. If we want to pass a texting bill, lets pass it for all of us.

Rep. Reginald Bolding, D-Laveen, said theres a good reason to focus on the newest drivers. He said 11 teens die nationally every day while texting and driving.

He cited a AAA study which found that 94 percent of teen drivers recognize the danger of texting and driving. But 35 percent admitted to doing it anyway, Bolding said.
PHOENIX  Arizona may be on the verge of no longer being one of only two states in the country that has no restrictions on motorists using their cell phones. But just barely.

Without debate, the state House gave preliminary approval Wednesday to legislation that would make it illegal for teens with a learners permit, or within the first six months of driving, to use a cell phone while driving.

But SB 1080 ties the hands of police, prohibiting them from citing new teen drivers solely because they are seen texting or talking on a cell phone. They could be issued a ticket for that only if pulled over for some other reason, such as speeding.

The minimal nature of the measure does not guarantee it will become law. It still requires a final roll-call vote before going to the governor.

And foes are lining up, in two areas of opposition.

One goes to the contention the measure will turn Arizona into a nanny state, telling people whats best for them. Those arguments proved successful in the past, as when lawmakers voted in 1976 to repeal laws requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets.

The other concern for some lawmakers is that once Arizona imposes any limits on cell phone use, it paves the way for more comprehensive restrictions.

AAA says 46 states ban text messaging by any motorists. Texas and Missouri do not, but both do bar teens from using cell phones while driving. That leaves Arizona and Montana with no restrictions.

However, local jurisdictions including Tucson, Oro Valley and Pima County all have various rules prohibiting cell-phone use while driving.
Parents of children with asthma can breathe easier thanks to a bill recently signed by Gov. Doug Ducey that will allow schools to stock and administer asthma medication to children experiencing respiratory distress.

Prior to the new legislation, if a child didn't have his or her inhaler, schools had to either call a parent to bring one or call an ambulance.

The program will be implemented next school year and will be offered to all Pima County schools  public, private and charter.

How it started

In Arizona, 174,100 children  11 percent of the youth population  have asthma.

Lynn Gerald, a professor of public health at the University of Arizona, found that 80-90 percent of children with asthma have no quick-relief medication at school because they forgot it, they can't afford it, they ran out or the medication expired.

So she worked with Sunnyside and Tucson Unified School Districts, as well as the Catholic Dioceses Schools of Pima County to implement a school-based stock albuterol program for students with asthma.

The results were a 20 percent decrease in 911 phone calls and a 40 percent drop in ambulance transports.

"Clearly what we want to do is not only allow safety of these children, but if there's an inhaler they can go to the health office and take a couple puffs on the inhaler and only miss ten minutes of class instead of missing a day or a couple days because they don't have the inhaler with them," Gerald said.

Each of Sunnyside's 21 schools are stocked with one to two inhalers with the opportunity to order more as needed, said Eugenia Favela, the assistant superintendent for student services at Sunnyside.

The schools are also stocked with spacers so the child's mouth is not touching the inhalers, making it possible for more than one child to use it.

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School nurses, health clerks and non-medical personnel are trained on how to administer the medication, through an online program created by the University of Arizona.

The medication has no side effects and wouldn't be harmful if a student who is having a respiratory problem mistaken for asthma was given the medicine, Gerald said.

"Our physicians like to say the only way a child would be harmed would be if they swallowed the inhaler," Gerald said.

Gerald presented her findings to the Arizona House of Representatives on Feb. 2 and the Senate Health Committee on March 8, which resulted in Arizona becoming the 11th state to pass a law that allows schools to keep a supply of emergency asthma medication on hand.

"It will help tremendously, these kids who come to school and not only get sick but who aren't that sick and have to go to emergency rooms or go home," said Conrad Clemens, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Arizona.

Funding

Sunnyside has paid for its own inhalers with money from the health services budget since it's been implemented, Favela said.

"Anything considered a supply comes out of that budget," Favela said. "If we have to have it, we find it (the money)...We're happy we can provide another service for students to help them stay in school and keep them from having to miss...Bottom line is it's what's good for kids."

To implement the program in all schools, Banner-University Medical Center will donate $8,000 to $10,000 to purchase enough inhalers for every Pima County school to have at least one for the next school year.

"Sometimes there are ideas that kind of come from the faculty that are too good to turn down and this proposal that we received...it seemed like such an innovative, great idea," said Tom Dickson, CEO of Banner-UMC. "So we said we'd be happy to provide some seed money for this."
Help India!

Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net

Lucknow : On Thursday early morning, UP Polices special cell Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested two Muslim men from Bijnor district of Western Uttar Pradesh on suspected ISIS links. The operation was jointly conducted with a special cell of Delhi Police.

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Apart from the Bijnor, similar kind of operation was conducted in Jalandhar of Punjab and Mumbai. Police of five states also accompanied the operation, officials said on Thursday.

UP ATS Chief Asim Arun said, UP ATS conducted joint anti-terror raids in Maharashtra, Punjab, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in coordination with police of the five states.

Arun said that three persons have been arrested in Mumbai, Jalandhar and Bijnor for conspiring to carry out terror activities.

The police is interrogating six other persons. Legal action will be taken on the basis of evidence, he said.

The police had received information that some hyperactive members of a terror group were trying to recruit new members.

The operation was conducted with the help of the Special Cell of Delhi Police, Crime Investigation Cell of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra ATS, Punjab Police and Bihar Police.

But the reality of the arrest is going against the claims made by the Police. Locals from the Bijnor inform that ATS arrested two person Faizan and Tanveer from a mosque situated in Badapur, a town 50 kilometers from district headquarter. Police is insisting on the Arrest of only one person, which locals denied.

Sources claim that Faizan and Tanveer were arrested around 5 AM, while they were coming out of the mosque after Namaz. Local sources also inform that at least 4 Police vans came to arrest these two persons.

[With inputs from IANS]
Help India!

TCN News

Honorable Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University Lt. Gen. Zameer Uddin Shah (Veteran) today laid the foundation stone of the New Academic Block at AMU Murshidabad Centre. The multi-storied block, to be completed in a phased manner, will host the present three departments and will let the Centre start new courses, once it gets completed. The foundation stone laying ceremony started with the recitation of a Surah from the Holy Quran by Hafiz Mohammad Jahangir.

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During the ceremony, the Vice Chancellor said that when he assumed the office, five years back, there was a lot of opposition against AMU Off-Campus Centers. People from various groups met him, to convince him to close these Centers. But it was his firm view that these Centers will spearhead the educational mission of Sir Syed across the length and breadth of the country. He said his views have been reconfirmed by the kind of academic works these Centers have achieved with very little resources.

He further urged the students that they are the ambassadors of Aligarh Muslim University and it is their responsibility to always uphold the name of their Alma mater. He informed the huge gathering of faculty members, non-teaching staff and the students that he has taken the issue of funding of the Centers with the highest authorities in the Ministry of Human Resource and development and he is hopeful that the funds would be released soon.

Welcoming the Honorable Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Badaruddoza, Director AMU Murshidabad Centre said that it is primarily because of the perseverance of the Vice Chancellor that AMU has scaled new heights. He further said that during the last five years, the present Vice Chancellor has improved the academic environment of our University, forged new partnerships with reputed universities, and engaging our Alumni in a manner that has no parallel in the recent past. As a result many alumni have contributed generously for the cause of the University. Dr. Badaruddoza added that as the Director of the Centre he always received the unbinding support of the administrative team of the Honorable Vice Chancellor.

He further informed that during the current academic session, the Center has organized around 20 academic and co-curricular activities. The prominent among them are the successful inspection by Bar Council of India; organizing Multi-disciplinary International Seminar; arranging six-month computer typing certification course for school students; hosting Workshops for Women Writers, private school teachers, and scholars on Data Analysis.
Help India!

Mumbai, (IANS): A special NIA court here on Thursday issued a non-bailable warrant against televangelist Zakir Naik, who is wanted in connection with his role in a terror case, officials said here.

The development came after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) informed Special Judge V.V. Patil that Naik had failed to respond to three summonses in cases filed under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against him last year.

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Now it would need to seek help of Interpol to bring Naik back to India from abroad, the NIA said.

This is the second NBW against the 51-year-old after the Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act Court issued an NBW last week in a money-laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate, after he failed to appear before it.

Following the Dhaka terror attacks last year, the NIA had filed the case against Naik and other officials of his Mumbai-based NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF).

Naik was on a tour abroad at that time and has since not returned to India allegedly to evade arrest under various charges, including inspiring terrorist activities and money-laundering.

In December last, the Centre had permanently cancelled the FCRA licence of Naiks NGO and his educational trust after declaring it as a terror outfit.
Help India!

By TCN News

Today, on the 13th death anniversary of rights activist Asiya Jeelani, and in memory of her life, work and struggle for justice, Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society and EQUATIONS, a Bangalore-based research, campaign and advocacy organisation working on issues of tourism and ecology, released a report, Amarnath Yatra: a Militarised Pilgrimage based on a study on the Amarnath Yatra, between 2014-2016.

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The report is based on data collected from RTIs filed on multiple departments, interviews with government officials in Kashmir, all concerned authorities and organisation, and people in Kashmir, Jammu, Delhi and Ludhiana and secondary sources. The report seeks to begin a critical enquiry into religious tourism and challenges the role of a constitutionally secular state in its promotion and sustenance. The Yatra underlines the undemocratic functioning of Indian rule in Kashmir and draws attention to issues of militarization, communal conflicts, resource monopolisation, and ecological devastation.

The report reveals the following important findings and conclusions:

 Over a period of time, and especially from the 1990s, the demographics of the Yatra has changed, with lakhs of Yatris participating from many regions of India. The number of Yatris participating has increased from mere thousands until 1990, with an increase since 1996 to over 3 lakhs in 2015. What was traditionally a 15-day Yatra is now conducted for between 45-55 days. The increase in the number of days was institutionalised after the formation of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) in 2001, a statutory independent Board, headed by the Governor, which functions as a State within the State, without any accountability and few regulatory checks on its wide and arbitrary exercise of powers.

 Given the eco-sensitive and precarious nature of the region and the critical role it plays in terms of providing water and environmental stability to the Valley, there are serious implications of unregulated large visitations in the two valleys  Lidder and Sindh. Environmental concerns are linked to carrying capacity, sanitation and solid waste and other environmental concerns like seismicity of the area, impact on glaciers and high altitude flora and fauna.

 Based on interviews with key personnel of the armed forces, it appears that about 30,000 personnel were deployed in 2015 for the purpose of the Yatra. This is in addition to the camps of the armed forces located on the route, who are additionally activated for the duration of the Yatra. The Report also looks at the history of conflicts related to the Yatra, particularly the Amarnath land row of 2008, and the role of militarization in such conflicts.

 NGOs set up langars or community kitchens along the Yatra route. 75% of the langar organisers come from Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. While langars are accountable to follow rules and regulations vis-a-vis menu, waste disposal practices and services that they are allowed/disallowed to provide, it was found that they violate most of them especially linked to the menu and waste disposal practices, leading to visible ecological degradation along the route. The share of Kashmiri tour and travel operators and hotel owners is minuscule since tour operators used are mostly from Jammu or outside the state and very few people stay in hotels due to the presence of the SASB camps along the route. Kashmiris who comprise unorganised service providers including tentwalas, ponywalas, dandiwalas, load bearers and taxi drivers, have little bargaining power to negotiate fair wages and rates. The report contests claims of socio-religious organisations that people of Kashmir gain the most from the Yatra because of economic benefits.

 Since the 1980s, there has been an increasing trend of State encouragement and facilitation of newer Yatra pilgrimages in the region. Some of these, like the Amarnath Yatra, are coloured with religious-nationalist hues like the Buddha Amarnath, Kauser Nag and Sindhu Darshan Yatras. While some others like the Machail Yatra and Kailash Kund Yatra are the attempt to escalate a localised Yatra into a pan-Jammu/pan-India Yatra with economic motivations at their helm and often patronised by the tourism industry. The history of the Yatra is ridden with conflicts over resource allocation and land use, which are likely to be further exacerbated by this communalised state policy.

 In its dealing in relation to the Yatra, the Indian State comes through clearly as a Hindu state, privileging the rights of Hindu pilgrims over pressing local environmental and human rights concerns. In Kashmir, this divisive communalisation has further significance given that it is a disputed territory, and a Muslim majority region.

 Following are the key demands emerging from the observations and analysis of data:

 Restrict the Yatra to its traditional period of 15 days. Very importantly, the faith of the yatris cannot be instrumentalised to further Indias political interests. We also call upon devotee groups to resist this use of their faith.

 De-militarize the Amarnath Yatra. The military has no place in a space of divinity. If the terrain renders the Yatra dangerous then disaster management institutions need to be involved and not the armed forces

 Conduct an Environment Impact Assessment of the pilgrimage and make necessary changes to the numbers allowed, and to its conduct. Carrying capacity should be scientifically established and regulatory mechanisms should accordingly be put in place.

 The number of langars should be rationalised, so should the menu. Discriminatory practices like disallowing entry of Kashmiris in the langars should be actively discouraged by the State.

 The Kashmiri service providers who primarily service the unorganised aspects of the Yatra, namely, tent owners, people who carry Yatris on dandis, porters and horse owners have to be recognised as equal participants of the Yatra as those of the organised sector.

 The extra-constitutional role played by socio-religious organisations in the SASB, and the impunity they enjoy in their functioning, must be curtailed, in keeping with principles of secularism, enshrined in the Indian laws and the constitution

 The SASB Act needs to be repealed or amended bearing in mind secular, constitutional tenets. The SASB which functions like a state within the state needs to be reformed such that it plays only an implementing role with final decision making reposed with the JK government.

 Attempts to create more Amarnaths like Buddha Amarnath and Kauser Nag need to nipped in the bud before they become another site of active conflict.
A world renowned search marketing conference is coming to London for the second time.

Search Marketing Expo (SMX) is returning to the capital on Tuesday 23rd May to Wednesday 24th May to assist well-established companies with improving their marketing techniques.

Following on from a successful event in the City last year, the conference intends to continue its mission to bring this type of advertising to the forefront of different companies' advertising priorities.

'Organisations are stepping up their content'

Third Door Media's Vice President of Programming and Partner Chris Sherman, who attended last year's conference, said the event provided him with new insights into what other organisations are doing.

He added: 'It is great to see so many other companies stepping up their content.'

With search marketing quickly overtaking other types of promotion for different businesses, SMX's 2017 event is designed to tailor organisations' promotional needs in a changing world.

The conference provides sessions that teach different businesses how to use varying tools like search engine optimisation (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM) and online marketing to improve their online promotion methods.

These sessions are also designed to help companies prepare for future challenges in these fields.

'You learn something new every time'

According to SMX's website, it does not matter whether you are new to SME or highly experienced at it, this event is designed to accommodate every business learning about this strategy.

Representatives from famous organisations like Eurostar have attended past conferences.

The SEO Manager for Eurostar, Luc Durand, said there are so many different tools out there.

He says he learns something new every time he goes there.

'Helps you view where the online industry is going'

A particular attraction of this event is the Google classrooms, which teach business representatives how to make the most of online promotion.

Last year, Google's Product Marketing Manager, Sean Quadlin, said the best thing about these Google classrooms is that you get to interact with new people.

Google's Product Specialist, Oliver Petas, said the Google classrooms provide an opportunity to receive feedback for your search marketing tools and advice on how to adapt them.

Other visible companies which have attended these events in the past include Facebook.

The Europe, Middle East and Asia Marketing Manager of Facebook, Gareth O'Neill, said last year's conference helped him view where the online industry is going in the future.
Current Prime Minister Theresa May (possibly not for long) called for a surprise General Election the other day that could see her replaced. She believes that the circumstances under which she became the leader of this country (David Cameron f*cking up and then bailing, leaving No. 10 empty) are unfair, and she wants an election so she can see if the British people really want her in charge.

The election will take place on 8 June this year. MPs got to vote on that alarmingly close date (which leaves those running very little time to campaign) and they voted in favour of it by a staggering margin of 509.

To put that into perspective, theres 650 total Members of Parliament, so this is a huge majority who want a new PM elected, or at least to make sure May is wanted on Downing Street.

Labour candidate Jeremy Corbyn may want a second Brexit referendum if elected

The reason May is calling for the election now and wanting to find out if shes wanted now as opposed to several months ago when she first unfairly became the British PM is because she only just got to trigger Article 50. Now that Brexit is underway and were on our way out of the EU and shes left her legacy among the Conservative Party, shes comfortable with the possibility that she may get voted out and have to step down.

Theres a growing concern among the Conservative political community that the Labour Party will put a stop to the Brexit process if elected in.

Labour have said that under their government, they would not rule out another EU referendum, which Tories have taken as a signifier that the partys leader Jeremy Corbyn, one of Mays closest competitors in the election race, wants to disrupt the Brexit process (which wouldnt be such a bad thing).

Despite it only being a suggestion by the Labour Party, who have merely just refused to rule out a second referendum, the Tories have instantly jumped to Brexits defence and attacked Labour.

The chairman of the Conservative Party, Patrick McLoughlin, calls such a refusal yet more evidence of chaos in Corbyns path. McLoughlin claims (in a cute little smear campaign to get the Tories voted back in) that the Labour Party are unable to provide the strong and stable leadership that Britain requires to thrive at such a serious moment in our history. Tories will do everything in their power to protect the sanctity of Brexit, and theyre focusing this election on just Brexit and its surrounding complications, but according to Corbyn, its about so much more than that: its not an election to see what happens with Brexit, its an election to see whos going to run the country.

Corbyn is taking an anti-establishment stance in his campaign

Corbyns campaign strategy for this election, as is the strategy behind most of Labours politics, is to go against the rich, elite establishment. As Piers Morgan pointed out, this strategy didnt work out so well for Ed Miliband, but maybe Corbyn will be different. Corbyn promises voters that Labour will prove the establishment experts wrong by switching up the way this election is going. He tells the people of Britain that they are the true wealth creators, but that they are being held back by a system rigged for the wealth extractors.

According to Corbyn, this election is about more than just Brexit. He told voters in a speech that May will attempt to convince them that the election is solely focused on Brexit, whether it will continue to go forward or there will be a second referendum etc.

Corbyn warns that May will use this Brexit focus to downplay the issues that affect peoples lives every day and turn it into nothing more than an ego trip about her own failing leadership (which sounds about right, doesnt it?).
India was greatly incensed when the alleged Indian spy formal naval commander was forced to go on TV and confess that he was a spy of RAW( Research and Analysis wing) of the Indian intelligence. India acknowledged that the navy commander Kulbushan Yadav was their national and requested consular access to him 14 times. This has been refused by Pakistan, contrary to all norms of international behaviour. Now, news has come that a Pakistan army officer, retired Lt Col Mohammed Habib has been abducted from Kathmandu. The Pakistan authorities have claimed that the ex-officer was lured to Nepal for a job and then went missing.

They allege that he has been kidnapped by Indian agents.

Case of Kulbushan Yadav

Relations between India and Pakistan are at an all-time low. Pakistan after denying consular access to Kulbushan Yadav has in a trial by a military court awarded him the death sentence. The Indians allege that the Indian officer was abducted by Pakistan agents from Char Bahar, the Iranian port close to the Pak border. As per India, he was conducting a legitimate business there. The Pakis have behaved in a furtive manner and the home minister had said in the senate that the dossier on the Indian navy officer did not contain any evidence but just statements. Despite this, a military court has awarded death to him and the same is confirmed post haste by the army chief general Bajwa.

India has called the death sentence murder and warned Pakistan of serious consequences in case he was executed.

Reciprocal action?

A reciprocal action was on the cards and now the Indian agency Raw has in all probability carried out a similar act. The retired Pak army officer came to Nepal looking for a job. This news is suspect as Indian intelligence had information about Lt Col Habib all along and were tracking him.

He was looking for a job as a front for some clandestine activity for the Pak army. He has gone missing from his hotel in Kathmandu. His whereabouts are not known.

India: an enemy?

Pakistan considers India as its enemy. Unfortunately, the Pak army lacks teeth and capability to take on the Indian army. Despite the best of efforts and sending in tens of Mujahaddin into Kashmir the state is not wrested from India.

Most of so-called "freedom fighters" have been shot dead.The Pak army has also not forgotten the humiliation when 100,000 soldiers laid down arms and surrendered during the Bangladesh war.

How Pak deals with the alleged Indian agent will be a factor in future relations. Lt Col Habib who is missing also faces a bleak future.
As countries increasingly collaborate in health as part of commitments to international health goals, the UK has become a frequent host of high-level symposiums on UK and Uganda healthcare collaborations.

This Saturday (22nd April 2017), the British Medical Association House on Tavistock Square, in Central London will host the first UK-East African Healthcare summit discussing public healthcare progress and challenges with the existing projects between the UK and the three East African countries (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania), as well as highlighting new investment and collaboration opportunities.

This Saturday's summit

The summit will be attended by government officials and delegates including the UK based High Commissioners from the three East African countries, policy makers from all represented countries, senior hospital Directors and CEO's, diaspora, healthcare professionals, healthcare investors and solution providers, education, research and development institutions representatives.

Earlier, on January 24th 2017, the UK Houses of Parliament hosted the last UK-Uganda public healthcare meeting reviewing existing public healthcare projects between the UK and the Government of Uganda and also highlighting opportunities for further collaboration and investment, and attended by Senior health experts and government leaders from both countries.

Lord Nigel Crisp, a prominent public health advocate and former Chief Executive of the National Health Services (NHS) arranged the UK Houses of Parliament as the venue, chairing and hosting the event on behalf of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health.

The collaboration between the UK and Uganda public healthcare institutions is largely through the Uganda UK Health Alliance (UUKHA) the UK registered body with offices in both countries (the Ugandan one being at Uganda's Ministry of Health in Kampala, Uganda's capital city) and main organiser of most such events.

The first session of the January 24th event started at the MSE meeting room on Oxford Street before the later-afternoon expert panel discussion at the UK Houses of Parliament and the latter also open, to non-UUKHA members in the UK and seeking opportunities and collaborations in Uganda's health sector.

Others present included Consecutive life peer in the House of Lords Dolar Popat and Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to Uganda and Ugandan delegates led by the Permanent Secretary for Uganda's Ministry of Health Dr.Diana Atwine.

Other Ugandan delegates present included Prof Nelson Sewankambo a renown Ugandan medical researcher and former Principal of Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Prof. Kaleebu Pontiano the Director of Uganda Virus Research Institute, Dr. Byaruhanga Baterana the Executive Director of Uganda's biggest public and national referral hospital Mulago, Prof.Charles Ibingira the Principal Makerere University College of Health Sciences and Dr. Paul Bagala the UUKHA Uganda Country Coordinator.

Through the collaboration, there is increased focus on non-communicable diseases including mental health, hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases, obesity, chronic respiratory diseases and some forms of cancer in both countries which are on the rise in both countries.

UK and Uganda Healthcare Collaborations Are Response to Universal Calls for Global Health Improvements for World's Poorest.

Prof.Ged Bryne a clinical academic surgeon and Director of Education and Quality for Health Education England (and Co-Chair UUKHA in the UK) revealed at the January 24th 2017 event, that the main purpose of UUKHA since its set up in 2013 is;

Supporting the Ugandan government in workforce development, healthcare systems strengthening and contributing towards achieving health-related development goals.

Providing opportunities for learning and development of health workers and institutions in both countries, including the promotion of bidirectional professional volunteering and the development of standard models

Promoting increased coordination, collaboration and a joint approach of UK based healthcare organisations operating in Uganda.

Currently, five thematic areas of collaboration exist through the partnership and these being:

Public Health

Quality and Safety

Educational Development

Collaborative Research

Leadership and Governance

Dr.Diana Atwine who is Co-Chair UUKHA-Uganda said the collaboration has stirred Uganda in changing its public health policy from the curative one that focuses on treating diseases, to a preventative one that emphasises a healthy lifestyle in order to reduce hospital admissions.

"Uganda is now changing from just a curative public health policy. We are going to put all our strength on disease prevention in public health. Disease prevention is the only means to reduce the morbidity and mortality of our people," she explained.

Helen Slattery with the University of Manchester said at the morning event about the Alliance (UUKHA) resulting in the establishment of a link between the University Hospital South Manchester Academy and Gulu Regional Referral Hospital and Gulu University respectively (Gulu is in the Northern part of Uganda).

Other benefits of the collaboration are the establishment of a maternal and neo-natal hub at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital and medical training being conducted for students of Gulu University hospital with support from the Manchester based university.

A total of 400 medical staff with the NHS have also had voluntarily medical placements in Gulu since 2013.

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21st Century Fox, the conglomerate in charge of Fox News Channel, has made an executive decision to fire its biggest star, Bill OReilly, following allegations of sexual harassment. OReilly has worked at Fox News for 21 years, so cutting ties with him is shocking to say the least, despite the charges.

The parent company was forced to make the decision because Fox News, the highest-rated cable news network in the United States, wouldnt care about sexual harassment cases and agrees very strongly with OReillys right-wing political views.

21st Century Fox released a statement explaining the decision

A statement released by 21st Century Fox filled with a lot of legal jargon (such as referring to the company by the pronoun the Company like its the shady organisation from Prison Break) explained their decision to fire OReilly, which they framed kindly by saying he will not be returning to their airwaves.

The company explained that they decided to cut out OReilly following a thorough and careful review of the allegations, but did not elaborate on this. However, an inside memo sent around the office by Rupert, Lachlan, and James Murdoch (keeping it in the family) was leaked, saying that the decision to fire OReilly came from outside counsel.

Tucker Carlson will be getting OReillys 8pm timeslot on Fox News Channel until he gets fired himself for saying something racist.

The internal memo stated that in terms of ratings, OReilly is unparalleled. Ratings mean money. Money makes a strong case for not firing a sexually aggressive employee.

It said that he is one of the most accomplished people working in TV in the history of cable news, and that his success is indisputable. However, sexual harassment is a PR nightmare, so they had to let him go with the confidence that Fox News talent bench would maintain its position as a powerhouse in cable news.

OReilly and Fox News have paid out $13 million to settle lawsuits

This decision comes just over two weeks after a New York Times article was published claiming that OReilly and Fox News Channel have had to pay out almost $13 million to settle sexual harassment suits with five different women whose cases go back a decade and a half.

In the eighteen days since that report, two more women have also come forward to call out The OReilly Factor host for harassing them sexually.

Fox News were being pressured to fire OReilly after these allegations and charges came out, with a whopping total of 90 advertisers pulling their spots from his show after the New York Times report was published. The hashtag #DropOReilly began to trend on social media. OReilly has been off the air since 11 April (and may now be off the air forever), except this time he wasnt taking time off the show for a vacation like he did last year.

OReillys attorney framed the allegations as a brutal campaign of character assassination, describing it as unprecedented in post-McCarthyist America. The attorney claims that they have irrefutable evidence that this is a big scam to take down OReilly by far-left organisations. We have yet to see this evidence he speaks of.
Will Smith is in talks to play the Genie character in Disneys live-action remake of Aladdin. This is massively outside-the-box casting, considering how far-removed Smith is from the actor who made the role famous back in the early 1990s: the late, great Robin Williams. Then again, Robin Williams is brilliant, incomparable, and unparalleled. Hes one of a kind. He cant be replaced.

So, clearly the strategy is to hire someone else whos nothing like Robin Williams, but still all those things, and theyve decided on Will Smith, which unless its a huge unforeseen disaster, is probably a good choice.

Aladdin will reportedly be directed by Guy Ritchie

Disneys new version of Aladdin is reportedly going to have Guy Ritchie in the directors chair. Ritchie is best-known for his violent, profanity-heavy crime capers, like Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. Hes like the British Tarantino (or he was, until he sold out the way the American Tarantino never did), so why pick him for Aladdin?

Either way, Ritchie can make a great Film and hes talented. Maybe he was looking for a change and Disney were looking for a gamble. They can afford it: their new Beauty and the Beast with Emma Watson has already taken in over $1 billion, and The Jungle Book last year made almost that with over $900 million.

Thats why Disney are pushing these live-action remakes. Theyre completely pointless rehashes, but millions of people are flocking to see them, and theyll keep making them and making them, way beyond Aladdin and The Lion King and all the other planned future ones, until the well dries up a few hundred years from now.

This isnt the first time Will Smith has been in talks for a Disney remake

Will Smith was once in the negotiating stages of being cast in Disneys new live-action (to an extent, since its about a talking elephant) version of Dumbo directed by Tim Burton (another odd choice by the Mouse House), but that didnt go through and it was only in the preliminary stages.

Hes now refocused to a casting in Aladdin (obviously), probably because Dumbo is horribly racist.

Aladdin will continue the grand tradition of its 25-year-old original (which was a huge success back in the day, making over $500 million, which was even more than it sounds in nineties dollars) and be a musical. A Disney musical would be a good fit for Smith, whos risen to prominence as perhaps the most famous actor in the world but used to be prominent as one of the only clean rappers on the scene under the stage name Fresh Prince. However, whether or not Smith is ready to commit to a six-month shoot in the UK remains to be seen.
What is the definition of child labour? These are small Children who are constantly placed at work and mostly deprived of going to school and enjoying their precious childhood. Child labour is banned in many countries and considered so by many international organisations due to the physical and psychological damages inflicted.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (commonly abbreviated as the CRC or UNCRC) is a human rights treaty which set out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children, as described by Wikipedia.

This text aims to defend childrens rights and was adopted in 1990 after ten years of negotiations amongst the UN Member States.

June 12th is commemorated as Child Labor Day to raise awareness annually on this issue and prevent the spread of this deplorable phenomenon.

The situation in Iran

In iran under the mullahs rule, however, there are cases of children being sold or families having no choice but sending them off to work. Poverty imposed by the mullahs regime is forcing parents to such measures in order to make ends meet.

There are no exact statistics of how many labour children can be found in Iran.

Around 3 million children are working across the country, according to government organisations.

However, investigations carried out by popular organisations indicate over 7 million such children spread throughout Iran. Government statistics show around 20,000 such labour children in Tehran alone. In various areas, these children lack any official identification papers and small girls are also seen working as maids.

Most labour children are forced to accept arranged marriages once they reach the age of 10 to 12, according to Tehrans City Council Social Committee Chairman.

Most of these children are deprived of any education as official numbers show at least 30% of these children dont go to school, 31% are aged between 6 to 11 and 9% are actually below the age of 6. Unbelievably, 60% of these children are their families only source of income.

With each passing day reports show such labour children are involved in a variety of different areas of work.

Some are even used to clean the carcases of animals killed for meat. Some are involved in household jobs, others in factories and even carrying heavy loads in provinces bordering neighbouring countries where smugglers are active.

Contracting firms are known to use Afghan migrants children to search trash fields for a variety of goods that may be found for sale.

Even more numbers

Research shows 45% of labour children and those living on the streets are suffering from illnesses such as AIDS, hepatitis and others. These children are also known to be suffering from malnutrition, being short in height, low weight, skin illnesses and psychological disorders.

Many such children work at least 6 hours a day and dont eat even a single decent meal, providing the grounds for these children to obtain even more illnesses.

A large number of these children are seen carrying heavy loads and begin suffering from back problems at a very early age. And since they have no access to medical care, such an illness paves the path for even more problems further down the road.

Despite enduring all this suffering these children only receive one fifth of a normal workers salary. However, a long slate of risks continuously threatens their lives. If they suffer any injuries, there is no entity willing to provide any support at all.

Those children who are obligated to help their families make ends meet, those who do not have proper IDs, find themselves being sold by their families, not knowing where they will end up.

Irans children are suffering from such conditions while year after year the regime provides huge budgets for its vast security, military, political and propaganda machine. For example, 150 trillion tomans (around $42.86 billion) is allocated to state-run TV and radio stations.
U.S Armada threat premature?

Multiple United States officials starting from the top, President Trump, who said "we're sending an armada," to the Vice-President Mike Pence, to officials in the Defence Department, including the national security advisor Lt. Gen H.R. McMaster we're publicly answering questions about the armada's position, despite not having the right information in the first place.

Now the part that we were not being told was that the Uss Carl Vinson and the three other warships in its strike force were in that moment actually sailing in the opposite direction to do a joint military exercise with the Australian Navy in the Indian Ocean 3,500 miles South-West of the Korean Peninsula.

This information probably would never have been known if the navy hadn't posted a photo online on Monday of the Carl Vinson sailing South through the Sunda Strait, which separates the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. The photo was taken on Saturday, four days after Sean Spicer the White House press secretary described it's mission in the sea of Japan.

White house officials said that they were relying on information from the defence department who in turn blamed it on an ill-timed announcement of the deployment by the military Pacific Command to a partially erroneous explanation by the defence secretary Jim Matis. This all came together to form the false statement that a flotilla was racing towards the Korean peninsula.

The real situation at the moment.

The USS Carl Vinson and three other ships were now finally on Tuesday heading towards the Korean peninsula and are expected to reach their location soonest next month. Spokesperson to the Pentagon Dana White told the New York Times, "the ship is now moving North to the Western Pacific. This should have been communicated more clearly at the time."

Joe Wit a co-founder of the 38North programme of the U.S-Korea Institute at John Hopkins University, which took pictures of the North Korean nuclear test site on Mt. Mantap over the weekend, showing continuous activity which created an atmosphere of anticipated fear of nuclear tests by the North expected to take place during their celebration of the day of the sun this past weekend, in which no tests were done, only a failed missile test on the next day.

He said the confusion was "very perplexing" and fed into North Korea's narrative that America is all bluster and doesn't follow through on threats. He said that if they are going to threaten the North, they better make sure their threat is credible, otherwise, it will undermine whatever the policy is towards them.

In July 2010, President Barack Obama ordered aircraft carrier Geroge Washington to the sea of Japan as a show of force against the North after they had torpedoed a South Korean Navy corvette killing 46 sailors.

Suggestions by defence secretary Robert, M. Gates to reroute the vessel to the Yellow Sea so as to give an additional message to China was declined by the president.

On the other hand, President Trump's aides have given him praise for his unpredictability, as they believe it's what's needed to deal with rogue leaders in North Korea and Syria. South Korea has fears of a war breaking out and are depending on help from the West and were again assured by Vice-President Pence during his visit to South Korea over the weekend. The arrival of the Armada would help reassure the South Korean's fears.

North Korea, however, is not taking the threat lightly with its leader Kim Jong-un stating fiery warnings and threatening to conduct weekly missile tests.
It's no secret that President Donald Trump and the mainstream news media don't see eye to eye. As he has in the past, the president decided to voice his frustration with the press on social media.

Trump on Twitter

From the day Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president and labeled illegal immigrants from Mexico as "rapists" and "murderers," he's clashed with the media and nearly all reporters and journalists in the process. With the exception of a select few and the those in the more conservative media, the former host of "The Apprentice" has made it part of his weekly routine to lash out at the media anytime a story is released that reflects negatively on himself, his political agenda, or his administration.

During his campaign for president, Trump would bash journalists, going as far as referring to them as "terrible," while claiming they were the most "dishonest people" he's ever met in his life. The tension between both sides has only increased since the election, as the scandal surrounding Russia's interference in hacking the Democratic National Committee and impacting the Trump administration has continued to grow. As seen on his Twitter account on April 17, Trump is back with his criticism of the press.

"The first 90 days of my presidency has exposed the total failure of the last eight years of foreign policy!" So true. @foxandfriends  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2017

Taking to his official Twitter feed on Monday morning, Donald Trump was quick to start his day by ripping into the media, while offering praise to the one cable news network that often stands by his policies.

The billionaire real estate mogul posted a quote from that morning's episode of "Fox & Friends," stating, "'The first 90 days of my presidency has exposed the total failure of the last eight years of foreign policy!'" Trump added "So true" to his tweet, before tagging the program in question.

The Fake Media (not Real Media) has gotten even worse since the election. Every story is badly slanted. We have to hold them to the truth!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2017

In a follow-up tweet just minutes later, Donald Trump turned his attention to the alleged "fake media." "The Fake Media (not Real Media) has gotten even worse since the election.

Every story is badly slanted," Trump wrote in his Twitter post, before concluding with "We have to hold them to the truth!"

Moving forward

While Donald Trump has only been in office for around three months, his time as commander in chief has been marred by constant controversy dealing with the aforementioned Russian scandal, in-fighting within his own administration, his inability to unite the Republican Party, as well as legislative failures dealing with health care, as well as his doomed executive orders. The media continues to report on what is taking place, which doesn't appear to be going over well with the president.
Representative Earl Blumenauer (OR-D) filed a bill to expand the Constitution's presidential removal procedure. This bill comes on the heels of the Democrats voicing concerns that President Trump's behavior has become more erratic and a danger to the American people.

The bill will give former presidents and Vice Presidents (in both parties) alongside the current vice president the power to determine if the current president is fit for office. If they deemed him unfit, the senate and House Of Representatives would then vote which would force the president's resignation.

Expansion to the 25th amendment

According to Occupy Democrats, Blumenauer's bill addressed the concern that the 25th amendment does not give any information about how to handle and remove a president that isn't emotionally or mentally capable for office.

The bill states that in the event the current president refuses to stop down, two-thirds of the House of Representatives and Senate could force his resignation.

Dem proposes another self-defeating bill in ridiculous attempt to remove President Trump from office https://t.co/qOwNVJg6QP pic.twitter.com/gr3hGXETLT  Cindy Tindell (@CindyTindell) April 18, 2017

Trump's wild accusations prompted this bill

President Trump has made a few wild allegations in the past few months, which triggered this bill.

He accused President Obama of wiretapping his office without any type of solid proof. In December, he claimed that three to five million undocumented immigrants voted in 2016 election, stating that they likely all voted for Hillary Clinton.

What do you think about this bill?
According to former and current government officials, #Vladimir Putin, the distrusted President of Russia, developed and perfected a #Russian government think tank in order to swing and influence the 2016 united State's presidential election to favor Donald Trump. The think tank also aimed to weaken America's overall faith in the American electoral procedure, a big counter intelligence strategy that seemed to have worked.

The blazing claims come from two highly classified government documents that describe the purported think-tank as giving the structure and rationale for existing efforts by the #Russian state to corrupt and destabilize the US elections, as according to the US government agencies.

Think tank hoping to tarnish US democracy

The Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, which is based in the city of Moscow, and which is governed and managed by established and retired #Russian foreign intelligence officials that are hand picked by Vladimir Putin's administration, developed and refined methods that would get in the way of a clear and fair American election. Putin's aim all along was to do this and the think tank served as a vehicle for his needs, as one of the seven sources said to the media.

What the Russian documents say

The first document that came to light was one drawn up in the #Russian institute last June that was shared around the most elite levels of the Russian government but lacked any specific individual personal stamp on it.

This document recounts how the Russians should develop and manage and create an order that could use both social media and the world press to sway voters in America to choose a candidate who will be softer on Russia. This, unlike the Obama administration that had taken a hard line with sanctions and economic issuances, as claimed by the seven officials.

Damage Clinton's reputation

The second classified document, written up in October and sent out amidst other similarly high level government officials, warned that #Hillary Clinton, who was representing the Democratic Party, would most likely score victory in the campaign. The paper then went on to argue that for this reason Russia should send out and develop messages referring to voter fraud which would then hurt Clinton's chances at winning and scuffle her shot at the presidency.

What Putin has said in response

#Vladimir Putin has consistently said he didn't do anything to interfere in the US election, and when asked to comment, the Russian institute didn't respond to the media for clarification or for more details.

These very documents were the exact ones that the embattled Obama administration sought and referenced in their conclusions about Russian interference. They had claimed that the Russians had enabled a sort of "fake news" campaign to ruin the gauge if truth and the tenor of the Clinton campaign.

#President Donald Trump has consistently claimed that the Russian activities and interferences had no influence on the Untied States election and yet his administration has been engulfed by these claims, from the sacking of his highest officials.

The validation of these documents has helped indeed to explain some of the buzz in the media about the inferred Russian interference, and the documents also clarify the way in which such information is alluded to but not specifically spoken of by officials and political operators.

Russia did what exactly?

The thought that #Russia would tamper with the United States presidential election has always been surprising, but posed in such a strategic way it makes more sense and seems less unlikely.
Sen. Ted Cruz (Tx-R) thinks Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA-D) could accomplish something that Hillary Clinton couldn't --- she could win the 2020 presidential election. Cruz believes that Warren could defeat Trump, especially if he doesn't honor some of his promises to the American people.

Cruz warns Republicans about being over confident

Ted admitted that he's concerned that the Republican party is becoming overly confident and they believe that President Trump will win re-election in 2020. In fact, he states that they are so sure that they aren't looking for another alternative candidate.

Cruz thinks that is a bad idea and could lead to a huge loss for the party.

Cruz added that if his party doesn't deliver any of their promises, he could see Americans voting for Warren, hoping for a change.

Could Elizabeth Warren win in 2020?

At first, it's easy to chalk up Cruz's warning as a conservative fear mongering tactic, but could the progressive senator win the presidential race?

Of course, it is possible. If there's one thing we learned from the 2016 election is that anyone can win if the American people get behind them. But, will she win? It seems pretty unlikely.

Ted Cruz thinks Elizabeth Warren could beat Trump in 2020 https://t.co/oF6eI7c6HP pic.twitter.com/gxCTk9IT10  Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 20, 2017

The Massachusetts senator may lose her seat in Congress so assuming that she would be a shoo-in for the presidential race is a bit of a stretch.

According to Washington Examiner, a recent poll showed that 46 percent of Massachusetts voters felt that Elizabeth should step aside and not seek re-election.

It's not really a secret that Warren has been eying the presidential bid for 2020 by putting herself in the public eye by challenging Trump every chance she gets. Will it be enough to secure a win for her?

We still have lots of time before 2020

Election day for the 2020 election is still long ways off. It's 1293 days to be exact. Trump knows that if he wants to win his re-election bid, he has to accomplish at least one major campaign promise. As loyal as his followers have been, if he doesn't get anything done, he will have a lot of explaining to do if he wants to to be re-elected.President Trump promised he would get something "major" accomplished in the first 100 days.

So far, all he's achieved a slew of executive orders.

President Trump promised he would get something "major" accomplished in the first 100 days. So far, all he's accomplished a slew of executive orders. It's day number 92, so the POTUS only has a few days before his first 100 days are up.

Trump's dilemma

In the past 92 days, Trump's agenda has been reduced to broken promises. First, he promised his first order of business was a health care reform ---which failed to get approved. Then, the promised border wall has hit a major snag --funding problems.

Apparently, the wall could cost up to three times more than he initially thought. Many senators are pushing to shelve the Mexican wall because it is too costly for taxpayers.

The Republicans have a major dilemma on their hands. They must get something accomplished, or they will be in a heap of trouble heading into the 2020 primaries --- Trump would lose the election, basically handing over the election to the Democrats just because he failed to get anything done.

Cruz did say that if the Republicans can manage to get a few things done that Trump promised, they can win the 2020 election.

In fact, Ted went as far to say that if the president honors one or two of his campaign promises that it won't matter who the Democrats dominate, they will defeat them without any trouble.

Do you think Ted Cruz is right and Elizabeth Warren could beat Donald Trump if he isn't careful? Who would you like to see face off against Trump in the 2020 election?
The Texas House is moving rapidly to establish statewide regulations for Ride Sharing services such as Uber and Lyft. The push is in response to draconian rules passed by Austin that drove both companies from the Texas capital and significantly constrained transportation options for its citizens. Uber and Lyft have clashed with other Texas cities, primarily over demands to have drivers fingerprinted. Houston reached a temporary agreement with Uber to see it through the Super Bowl which, as of this writing, is still in effect.

Ride sharing involves individuals using their private cars to take riders from place to place.

The way the service works is that a rider enters a starting point and a destination into a smartphone app. The car shows up within minutes, and the fare is automatically deducted from the customers credit card.

The new regulations would create an annual background check for drivers on a local, state, and federal level. However, the debate turned toward the antidiscrimination provision of the bill, which did not include gender identity or sexual orientation. Amendments that would have added these two characteristics were voted down. However, as both Uber and Lyft already does not discriminate by gender identity and sexual orientation, the matter was moot in any case.

Airports and cruise ship ports will be allowed to create regulations governing ride sharing to and from their locations so long as they do not conflict with provisions of the bill.

Local governments will be able to make agreements with ride sharing companies for data collection and for transportation coordination during major events.

Currently, Texas has a patchwork of regulations depending on the whims of local governments, resulting in spotty availability of ride sharing services. Austin, as mentioned already, has no effective ride sharing services.

Dallas, with its lighter regulatory hand, has both Uber and Lyft operating freely. Uber is available in Houston but is presence is tenuous due to conflicts with the city government.

By establishing a state-wide regulatory regime, Texas hopes to encourage ride sharing throughout the Lone Star State. Thus an industry that creates income for drivers is built.

More transportation options are made available for Texans, some of whom are unable to drive due to age or disability.

The rise of ridesharing services has created headaches for traditional taxi companies. Customers for such services have judged the service by companies such as Uber and Lyft to be superior to taxis. The fares tend to be cheaper as well. Taxi companies have been at the forefront of efforts to bar ridesharing. Some have bowed to the inevitable and have tried to modernize their operations, adding a smartphone app for example to summon taxis, for example.
Back in February, Russian confederation spy ships were spotted cruising along the Eastern coast of the United States. However, the ships did not enter the waters surrounding the U.S.A., but continuously cruised along its coastal waters while managing to stay in international waters.

Russian long-range missile aircraft picked up by U.S. radar

And just recently, for the second continuous night, two long-range missile aircraft belonging to Russia were seen basking along the Alaskan coastline. But while it stayed a fair distance in February, with the two recent episodes on Monday and Tuesday night, the aircraft came surprisingly closer inland to the United States border.

The news was disclosed by U.S. authorities to Fox News, they also stated that the fighter planes flew close to the Aleutian Island which is on the northern end of Alaska.

Reportedly, the two atomic bombers, which were identified as Tu-95H planes, were picked up by the U.S. military's radar just about 5:00 p.m. local U.S. time. However, while the spy planes were detected by the armed forces, there was no fighter jets dispatch to protect the region.The U.S. Air force instead propelled a solitary E-3 Sentry known as AWACS as a warning. This was done to ensure that the two Russian planes that flew close to Alaska were not decoys for other enemy planes flying underneath or next to the Russian aircraft bombers.

Putin positioned warplanes 1000 miles of Alaska

According to officials, the Russian planes flew from the Petropavlovsk airbase in Russia and after flying just about 100 miles of Alaska they returned to Russia's Anadyr airbase in the eastern part of the country  and just about 1,000 miles from the regional waters of the Alaskan state, which is 12 nautical miles from international waters.

Ironically, the last time Russia flew planes close to the United States borders were on July 4, 2015, and at that time Russian President Vladimir Putin made a call to the White House wishing then-President Barack Obama a wonderful Independence Day. The dispatched Russian Spy planes cruised 40 miles of Mendocino along the California coastline as well as along the Alaskan coastline.

Recently, Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong-un have been locked in a bitter war of words after the North Korean leader refused to curtail its destructive missile program. However while the rhetoric increased between both countries' leaders, the Russian President Vladimir Putin had warned Trump of launching a real war against the United States if he continues to bomb Syria's military base. Trump and Putin had friendly exchanges as of recently; but today, the big question is: whose side is Russia's Vladimir Putin really on?
Over the last year and a half, Donald Trump has made many enemies, but enough friends and supporters to win him the election last November. Though Trump might be the new commander in chief, some of his biggest fans are not happy with what he has been focusing on.

Coulter on Trump

When Donald Trump first announced his campaign for president back in June 2015, most people wrote him off as a joke candidate. However, as the months moved forward, the former host of "The Apprentice" picked up steam and was able to withstand 16 Republican opponents on his way to the party's nomination.

As Trump went on to defeat Hillary Clinton to become the new commander in chief, one person who stood by his side through all the ups and downs was conservative author Ann Coulter. After two months in office, Trump has been forced to deal with a constant stream of controversy, and as seen on Twitter on March 21, Coulter is starting to lose her patience with the president.

OTOH, Trump numbers dropping is significant. Trump got elected for wall, deportations & trade. Instead he's doing tax cuts & Obamacare Lite. https://t.co/0ErjmCF77r  Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 21, 2017

In response to Mexican President Vicente Fox mocking Donald Trump for his low approval ratings, Ann Coulter responded with a criticism of her own.

"OTOH, Trump numbers dropping is significant. Trump got elected for wall, deportations & trade," Coulter tweeted, before hitting the president by adding, "Instead he's doing tax cuts & Obamacare Lite."

The beauty of Trump was he didn't need donors. He got 1% of Goldman Sachs' vote. HE DOESN'T OWE THEM ANYTHING. Let's do immigration & trade! https://t.co/0ErjmCF77r  Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 21, 2017

In a follow-up tweet, Ann Coulter appeared to criticize Donald Trump for his hypocritical move of hiring former Goldman Sachs employees to his administration, while railing against them during the election.

"The beauty of Trump was he didn't need donors. He got 1% of Goldman Sachs' vote. HE DOESN'T OWE THEM ANYTHING," she tweeted, before noting, "Let's do immigration & trade!" Not stopping there, Coulter sent out several more tweets, slamming the Republican's new health care bill, while continuing to call for more focus on immigration.

Skip the tax cuts. There are no jobs! Build the wall!!! https://t.co/eN4ZsUXuQ8  Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 21, 2017

Ryancare not only destroys any chance of reform, but guarantees single payer & demoralizes us with more politicians who can't keep promises.  Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 21, 2017

Coutler's retweet

In addition, Ann Coulter re-tweeted a comment that called for Donald Trump to do his "f**king job" in regards to his immigration plan. "@realDonaldTrump do you your fucking job and start arresting American employers that have hired illegals aliens instead of American worker's," the original tweet read. While Coulter is not pleased, she still is in support of the billionaire real estate mogul, but shows no signs of hiding her anger.
If there's one thing that Donald Trump is obsessed with, it's numbers, polls, and ratings. Unfortunately for the President of the United States, his approval numbers are not where he would like them to be.

Arnold on Donald

Ever since the first day that Donald Trump announced his campaign for president, he's touted numbers. Whether it's his wealth, his ratings as the host of "The Apprentice," or the poll numbers that showed him in good standing with millions of American people, Trump has always been quick to brag about his success. While Trump was able to shock the world and become the Republican nominee and then the president with a win over Hillary Clinton, he's struggled in the job as commander in chief ever since being sworn into office last January.

Though the president has many important issues on his plate, he's taken time to continue his feud with a variety of celebrities, including new host of "The Apprentice," Arnold Schwarzenegger. Just last month, Schwarzenegger announced that he was leaving the show after just one season, blaming low ratings on the negative reaction from potential viewers due to the fact that Trump was still an executive producer. As seen on his Twitter account on March 21, Schwarzenegger has a message for the president about his low numbers.

In an early morning video Tweet on Tuesday, Arnold Schwarzenegger ripped into Donald Trump for his low Approval Ratings.

"Oh Donald, the ratings are in, and you got swamped. Now youre in the 30s? Schwarzenegger said. "What do you expect, I mean to take away after school programs for children and Meals on Wheels for the poor people," he pointed out, alluding to recent cuts proposed in Trump's budget. "Thats not what you call making American great again, come on.

I mean, who is advising you?" Schwarzenegger wondered.

Arnold Schwarzenegger mocks Trump over low "ratings": https://t.co/MJDoKaoU6p pic.twitter.com/RZEyEKZ9dU  The Hill (@thehill) March 21, 2017

Friendship gone bad

Arnold Schwarzenegger then suggested that Donald Trump join him and attend a local middle school in Washington, D.C.

so the two of them can see the "fantastic" work that the teachers are doing with the students. The star of the "Terminator" franchise has made it no secret that he's not a fan of the billionaire real estate mogul, despite being one of the few Republicans in Hollywood. The two were close at one point, but after Trump mocked Schwarzenegger for low ratings on "The Celebrity Apprentice," while criticizing his job as former governor of California, the relationship between the two quickly turned sour.
From the day Donald Trump announced his campaign for president, he instantly made enemies with most of Hollywood. While celebrities often speak out against the president, no one is as critical of the new administration as George Takei.

Takei on Twitter

Donald Trump stood at a podium in Trump Tower in June 2015, and while making his candidacy for president offical, he labeled illegal immigrants from Mexico "rapists" and "murderers." Since then, backlash has occurred, with many stars in Hollywood using their popularity to voice their opposition to the former host of "The Apprentice." One of the most vocal opponents of Trump has been George Takei, especially when dealing with civil rights issues involving the LGBT community, refugees and immigrants, as well as African-Americans and other minorities.

As the pressure mounts on the administration over the scandal of Russian interference in the election, and the backlash to their health care and budget proposals, Takei decided to take to his Twitter account on March 21 to voice his opposition.

If Trump colluded with Russia, then his election and each and every action and appointment he has made must be declared null and void.  George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 22, 2017

"If Trump colluded with Russia, then his election and each and every action and appointment he has made must be declared null and void," George Takei wrote on his Twitter account on Tuesday night. "If an Olympian is found to have cheated, the gold medal is stripped away and given to the next contender," Takei tweeted, in reference to Donald Trump being debunked after accusing Barack Obama of wiretapping his office during the election.

If an Olympian is found to have cheated, the gold medal is stripped away and given to the next contender.  George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 22, 2017

If a thief is caught he must disgorge all his ill-gotten gains. He isn't allowed to keep the spoils.  George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 22, 2017

"If a thief is caught he must disgorge all his ill-gotten gains.

He isn't allowed to keep the spoils," George Takei added in his third post on the matter. "The concerted actions of Russia, in collusion with Wikileaks and in all likelihood the Trump campaign, cost the Democrats bigly," he wrote in a follow-up message.

The concerted actions of Russia, in collusion with Wikileaks and in all likelihood the Trump campaign, cost the Democrats bigly.  George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 22, 2017

Takei talks

"Impeachment is an insufficient remedy because Pence and the GOP should not be permitted to gain office through anyone's treason," the former Star Trek star pointed out.

Continuing, George Takei didn't stop unloading on Donald Trump, the White House, and the current state of American politics.

Impeachment is an insufficient remedy because Pence and the GOP should not be permitted to gain office through anyone's treason.  George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 22, 2017

"The only equitable remedy is to award the other candidate the election, or to hold free and FAIR elections for President," George Takei wrote. In his final tweet on the issue as of press time, the outspoken former "Mr. Sulu hammered home his thoughts about the billionaire real estate mogul.

Until the investigation results in charges or exoneration, this "president" should get no appointments, no agenda, no cooperation.  George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 22, 2017

"Until the investigation results in charges or exoneration, this 'president' should get no appointments, no agenda, no cooperation," he wrote. With a constant state of controversy surrounding the White House and Donald Trump, it appears that the criticism from Hollywood isn't going away anytime soon.
According to Variety, most of the mega-budget movies will open in China throughout May, June, and July. Hollywood has recently released its schedule of summer movies. The lineup of biggest and most anticipated films includes Pirates 5, Transformers 5, and Wonder Woman. In the past, Chinas film regulators scheduled Hollywood movies just two to four weeks in advance, which hampered local marketing campaigns.

Tickets to the above films are being sold online.

Pirates 5'

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is scheduled to be released on May 26, 2017.

In China, this movie will be released in RealD 3D, IMAX 3D, and Disney Digital 3-D formats. The movie is directed by Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rnning, with a script by Jeff Nathanson. Jerry Bruckheimer serves as the producer. Kevin McNally, Geoffrey Rush, and Johnny Depp are reprising their roles from the previous installment as Joshamee, Hector, and Jack, respectively. Javier Bardem, Brenton Thwaites, and Kaya Scodelario will make a debut in this film. Depp plays Jack Sparrow, a noble pirate captain who is on the hunt for the Trident of Poseidon. Espen reveals that the movie will have much more of the feel of previous installments.

'Transformers 5.'

Transformers: The Last Knight will swing into the theaters on June 23, 2017.

Paramount Pictures acquires the US and China distribution rights. This science fiction movie is based on the toy line by Hasbro. Its the fifth installment of the Transformers film series, and a sequel to Transformers: Age of Extinction. The movie has been directed by Michael Bay, with Mark Wahlberg reprising his role from Age of Extinction. Stanley Tucci plays an important role, alongside Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro and Josh Duhamel.

Bay has revealed that this movie marks his final picture in the franchise. In the absence of Optimus Prime, a battle has commenced between humans and the Transformers. Paramount Pictures has spent over $70 million on production in Michigan. Industrial Light & Magic serve as the visual effects company.

'Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is one of the most anticipated films of the year.

This fictional superhero movie is based on a book by DC Comics. Gal Gadot plays Princess Diana of Themyscira. During Marston's run, Diana served as an army nurse. This movie is scripted by William Moulton Marston, and the famous artist Harry G. Peter is being credited for the unusual appearance of Gadots character. Gadot reveals that Beyonce helped her get the leading role in "Wonder Woman."

Chinas film regulators confirm that Smurfs: The Lost Village will be released on April 21, followed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 on May 5.
After weeks of speculation, Fox News finally decided to pull the plug on Bill O'Reilly's tenure with the network. As reaction to the news continue to pour in, one host on CNN decided to link the troubled former host to Donald Trump and his controversial history involving sexual assault allegations.

Trump and O'Reilly

At the start of the month, the New York Times released a bombshell article reporting that Bill O'Reilly had not only been accused of sexual harassment by at least five women, but that he reached a $13 million settlement to keep the story out of the public eye.

As expected, O'Reilly denied the allegations, but the network suffered a financial toll in the process. Over 50 sponsors pulled ads from "The O'Reilly Factor," as calls for the network to fire the host increased. Two weeks ago, O'Reilly left on a pre-planned vacation as speculation heated up about whether or not he would ever return to the air. O'Reilly didn't receive much sympathy, except when Donald Trump came forward in an interview with the New York Times and gave his support to the Fox News host, while doubting the validity of the claim. On Wednesday, Fox News announced that they had parted ways with O'Reilly, but during a April 19 segment on CNN, one host decided to give his thoughts.

During Wednesday's "Anderson Cooper 360," host of CNN's "The Messy Truth" Van Jones ripped into both Donald Trump and Bill O'Reilly, linking their troubled history with women.

"I've been sitting here just squirming trying to hold it in," Jones explained. "I have to point out that in any normal situation, Donald Trump has egg running down his head, his chest, his leg," Jones said, as he pointed out the president's aforementioned support of the host. Jones then went on to accuse Trump of "braggadocious predatory behavior towards women,"

Hours after rivals reported extensively on Bill O'Reilly's exit, Fox News addressed the ouster of its biggest star https://t.co/L4UvNYniDg pic.twitter.com/hrniRbggVT  CNN (@CNN) April 20, 2017

"The President of the United States put his name behind this guy's name," Van Jones noted, before adding, "That's terrible." Optimistically, Jones noted that "people who care about women, and people who have functioning brain-stems are starting to win this battle." Jones went on to argue with fellow panelist Jason Miller, who previously worked on the Donald Trump campaign, over the issue at hand.

Miller attempted to deflect the conversation onto the election results, claiming that Trump's support of O'Reilly was "overblown."

CNNs Van Jones perfectly connects OReilly to Trumps braggadocious predatory behavior towards women https://t.co/9KS3oEcxKN pic.twitter.com/WxK53mYsPJ  Raw Story (@RawStory) April 20, 2017

Moving forward

Despite Donald Trump openly coming to the defense of Bill O'Reilly, the host's days at Fox News are over with.

With the spot now vacant, Tucker Carlson has now been bumped to the 8 p.m. time-slot, while "The Five" has been shuffled to follow at 9 p.m. As of press time, the former host of "The Apprentice" has not yet commented on O'Reilly's departure.
china has always been the main strength to prop up North Korea and the tables have now been turned which is evident from recent statements that have come out from China. Donald Trump knew all along that he must have Beijing by his side if he wants to rein in Pyongyang and at long last that has happened and China has tilted towards the United States.

China appears to be in sync with the US

CNN reports that Lu Kang, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, has expressed concerns of Beijing over the recent nuclear and missile activities of North Korea.

He praised the recent statements of the US on the North Korean issue and termed them as positive and constructive. He went on to add that the problems related to the Korean Peninsula must be resolved and the efforts are progressing in the correct direction.

However, North Korea continues to remain defiant. In an interview with BBC, Han Song-ryol, the vice Foreign Minister of North Korea, has said that in case the United States resorts to military actions, it will result in an all-out war.

The Chinese spokesman believes that such statements will be counterproductive and China is not in favor of words or actions that could add to the tension instead of defusing it.

What is Chinas interest?

US President Donald Trump wants China to play an active role and bring North Korea under control.

He has suggested that such an action would be to mutual benefit. China also has an axe to grind because it does not want North Korea to become a full-fledged nuclear power. It is also worried that if a war breaks out on its southern border, it would mean an influx of refugees into the country with possibilities of a US military presence on its borders.

In order to ease the tension in the Korean peninsula, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had suggested in March that the United States should suspend its military exercises with South Korea as they act as an incentive to the North to continue with its nuclear programs.

The point was probably discussed later in the April summit meeting held in Florida between the two presidents - Xi Jinping and Donald Trump.

From subsequent developments, it can be presumed that Beijing has realized the futility of fighting for a lost cause and is ready to part ways with Pyongyang. The signs appear to be positive and if China agrees to join hands with the United States, it could herald in peace in the region and would boost the image of President Donald Trump.




China's Global Newspaper





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PRINT | EMAIL | PERMALINK Reel World Film x Four New Mexico Women in Film is ready to host its annual Film Fiestaonly this year its a quad-city event taking place across the state. On Thursday, April 20, it will take place at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas. On Friday, April 21, it will hit the South Broadway Cultural Center in Albuquerque. Saturday, April 22, the Fiesta rolls in to New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. It all wraps up on Sunday, April 23, at Santa Fe University of Art and Design in Santa Fe. The goal of the annual Film Fiesta is to showcase the creativity, vision and artistry of NMWIF members and to network emerging film students at the institutions of higher learning throughout New Mexico. Thirteen of the best narrative, documentary and experimental shorts by NMWIF members and various film students around the state have been chosen to be part of this round-the-state tour. At each stop films will screen from 5 to 9pm with an intermission from 6:30 to 7:30pm. All Access Tickets for each location are $15. Students at NMHU, NMSU and SFUAD can attend for free with student ID. Seating is limited, so organizers encourage you to purchase your tickets in advance. For more info, including a complete lineup of films, go to nmwif. com/ nmwif- fiesta.

Cowboy Up As part of its ongoing Hollywood Southwest: New Mexico in Film and Television exhibit, the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History (2000 Mountain NW) is hosting a special Third Thursday event on April 20. From 5 to 8:30pm, the museum will explore the myth and enduring legacy of the Western in New Mexico with live music and performances, hands-on activities for kids and adults, and food and adult drink specials in the cafe. Its also a fine time to peruse the Hollywood Southwest exhibitwhich has a particular emphasis on Western movies about or shot in New Mexico. Admission is free. View in Alibi calendar
WASHINGTON  The talks Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov laid the basis for improved US-Russian cooperation on Syria, analysts told Sputnik.

"This meeting seems to have put things on a more peaceful track. We can all applaud that," professor of neuroscience and political commentator John Walsh said. "Definitely the outcome of the talks with Tillerson, Lavrov and Putin was much better than expected."

The talks established the ground work for cautious but improved collaboration between Moscow and Washington in seeking to resolve the six-year-long civil war in Syria that cost more than half a million lives and crated more than four million refugees, Walsh said.

"The cooperation could range from joint military action to the much simpler one whereby the US pressures its allies like Saudi Arabia and Qatar and perhaps Israel whose role is unclear to cease support of ISIS [the Islamic State, also known as Daesh]," he said.

Walsh also believed that Tillerson's visit paved the way for a visit by President Donald Trump to the Russian capital in the near future.

"I think the prospects for that have vastly improved and we should all be thankful for that Let us hope we are now on track again for Detente 2.0," he said.

Australian foreign policy analyst Crispin Rovere agreed that the outcome of the Moscow talks was better than expected and pointed to improved superpower cooperation on Syria.

"It was a positive result: There was speculation that President Putin would not meet with Secretary Tillerson, yet there was a productive meeting between them lasting for two hours. Russia has agreed to reinstate protocols for military cooperation in Syria," he said.

Rovere pointed to other substantial progress on the diplomatic front in dealing with the crisis as a result of the talks.

"Bilateral working groups are being established to address barriers to bilateral ties, and both sides agreed that an investigation into the alleged Syrian gas attack should be conducted by the OPCW [Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons]," he said.

Rovere also expressed optimism that Trump and Tillerson recognized the need to build mutual trust between their nations.

"What the Trump administration realizes is that the problem is trust and not some irreconcilable differences in world-view between the two powers. If trust improves there is no reason why a genuine partnership should not emerge," he explained.

Improved relations would benefit both nations on a wide range of issues, Rovere predicted.

"The upside in terms of defense cooperation, cyberspace, arms control, trade, investment, and regional stability stemming from a warmer US-Russia relationship is literally endless. Most immediately, the US and Russia should work on a pathway leading to the easing of sanctions," Rovere said.

Tillerson's visit to Moscow "augurs well" for a future meeting between Trump and Putin, Rovere concluded.
World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim talks about China's Belt and Road initiative on Thursday during a press conference of the 2017 IMF/World Bank annual spring meeting being held in Washington. Photo by Chen Weihua/chinadaily.com.cn

The World Bank Group is and will continue working closely with the Chinese government on the Belt and Road Initiative, according to the chief of the international financial institution.

Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank Group, praised the initiative on Thursday during a press conference of the 2017 IMF/World Bank annual spring meeting in Washington.

"The One Belt, One Road project is an extremely important one for the Chinese government and also for us," said Kim, who is scheduled to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held in Beijing on May 14-15. Twenty-eight heads of state and government leaders have confirmed they will attend the meeting.

"The leadership that China is now taking in the overall world of development I think is unprecedented," he said.

Kim, who has visited China many times, said China has been stepping up and illustrating that it is concerned about development, not just in neighboring countries or even along the Old Silk Road, but globally.

He said the World Bank Group has a very close working relationship with the Chinese government and also with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). "We'll be signing another memorandum of understanding," he said.

"Not only are we engaged, for example, in a major study with China right now on the drivers of China's future economic growth, but we're partnering with AIIB already," he said, adding that there were two major projects that the World Bank co-financed with AIIB in Indonesia.

"So our expectation is that our engagement both with the Chinese government and with Chinese efforts at development, both through their own bilateral cooperation, but also through AIIB, will only grow going into the future," said Kim, who became the World Bank Group president in 2012.

"We've discussed at great length our approach of trying to crowd in much more private sector capital and the Chinese are very much in agreement with what we're trying to accomplish," he said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said a few days ago that China will use the Belt and Road forum to build a more open and efficient international cooperation platform; a closer, stronger partnership network; and to push for a more just, reasonable and balanced international governance system.

On Thursday, Kim also praised China's embrace of globalization and its success in lifting 800 million people out of poverty in the past decades.

"That happened when it embraced the global market, when it opened itself to competition, when it engaged more and more in trade," Kim said, without naming the United States and some European nations, where protectionism sentiment has been running strong.

Kim said trade has been an extremely important part of global economic growth and an extremely important part of the poverty reduction in the last 30 years.

"We continue to argue that freer trade, more openness, is actually critical for the future of the world, and there may be individual countries that choose to look inward, but just because those individual countries look inward doesn't mean everyone else is going to look inward," he said.

Kim cited China as "a good example". "China is not going to stop trading with all of its trading partners and it's not going to stop continuing to work with Latin America. China's work in those countries has only gone up over the last few years, and I think it will go up further," he said.

chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com
One policeman was killed and another wounded in a shooting incident in central Paris on Thursday night, a police source said.

A person who fired on police on the Champs-Elysees shopping boulevard just days ahead of France's presidential election has been killed, the source said. A police source also said there had been two assailants, and a witness told Reuters that one man got out of a car at the scene and began shooting with a machine gun.

Police authorities called on the public to avoid the area.

A Reuters reporter saw a helicopter flying low over central Paris, apparently part of a follow-up police operation.

French TV channel BFM broadcast footage of the Arc de Triomphe monument and top half of the Champs Elysees packed with police vans, lights flashing and heavily armed police shutting the area down after what was described by one journalist as a major exchange of fire nears a Marks and Spencers store.

The incident came as French voters prepared go to the polls on Sunday in the most tightly-contested presidential election in living memory.

France has lived under a state of emergency since 2015 and has suffered a spate of Islamist militant attacks that have killed more than 230 people in the past two years.

Earlier this week, two men were arrested in Marseille whom police said had been planning an attack ahead of the election.

A machine gun, two hand guns and three kilos of TATP explosive were among the weapons found at a flat in the southern city along with jihadist propaganda materials according to the Paris prosecutor.

Reuters
Lu Shaye, the newly appointed Chinese ambassador to Canada, discusses China's commitment to promoting a stronger bilateral relationship with Canada at a business luncheon hosted by the Canada China Business Council on Tuesday in Toronto. NA LI / CHINA DAILY

Canadians should not be wary of China's state-owned enterprises, said the new Chinese ambassador to Canada.

Ambassador Lu Shaye spoke at a business luncheon hosted by the Canada China Business Council on Tuesday in Toronto.

"After I came to Canada, through reading newspapers and getting in touch with various people, I found that the Canadian public has three major concerns in terms of China-Canada FTA," Lu said.

"The first, there is prejudice against China's state-owned enterprises, (looking) to prohibit the latter from entering the Canadian market," he said.

"The second, people are worried that Chinese enterprises would buy Canadian oil sands and high-tech enterprises.

"The third, people propose to involve human rights into the FTA negotiations," he said.

China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have long been a concern to Canadians. A survey conducted by pollster Nik Nanos for The Globe and Mail said that there's a significant level of concern with an enhanced free-trade agreement with China.

The survey found that almost 90 percent of Canadians don't want the Trudeau government to grant China's SOEs unfettered access to the country's economy, and a solid majority want Ottawa to link human rights to talks on a free-trade deal with the world's second-largest economic power.

"Canadian public opinion worries that the Chinese investments will buy out Canada; it is totally unnecessary indeed," Lu said.

"Just like other private-owned and foreign-invested enterprises, China's SOEs are all operating according to market rules. The difference lies in that SOEs not only pay taxes to the country, but also contribute profits to the country to invest in infrastructure and public service. China's SOEs are not evil, but a babysitter who cares for people's lives."

Talking about buying oil sand enterprises and high-tech enterprises, Lu said Chinese enterprises buying Canadian oil sand enterprises are actually "incurring loss".

Oil sands are a mix of sand, clay and water covered with a viscous form of petroleum called bitumen.

The market for Canadian oil sands is not competitive, given the current low international oil price.

"Even if Canadians did not disapprove of China's investment in the oil sand industry, I do not believe that Chinese enterprises would still be interested in this," Lu said.

As for the cooperation between Chinese and Canadian high-tech enterprises, Lu said it is mutually beneficial and shouldn't be a national security concern.

"China is the victim of foreign cyber-espionage activities, rather than the perpetrator," he said. "To be frank, in many high-tech areas, China is not lagging behind but more advanced than Canada."

As to whether human rights should be involved in the two sides' free trade agreement talks, Lu said that China does not want too many non-trade or non-commercial factors in the talks.

"This does not mean that we are afraid of these topics," Lu said. "China has managed to lift 700 million people from poverty over the last two or three decades, which is the greatest human rights achievement in human history.  All roads lead to Rome, and the roads to democracy and human rights differ from country to country."

Lauren Heuser, an editorial fellow who wrote for the National Post, also said Canadians don't have to fear state-owned enterprises.

"Empirical evidence indicates that foreign investment strongly benefits our economy. It introduces productivity improvements (by bringing new practices, technologies and investment in research and development) and increases the competitiveness of our industries."

Some 14,000 Canadian enterprises have been set up in China, while only 270 Chinese enterprises have been established in Canada, according to Chinese official statistics.

Meanwhile, according to Canadian statistics, China's direct investment in Canada accounts for only 2.7 percent of the country's total foreign direct investment.

"We hope to further enhance investment cooperation between the two countries," Lu added.

renali@chinadailyusa.com
Guests pose at a business luncheon hosted by Canada China Business Council (CCBC) on April 18 in Toronto. From left: He Wei, Chinese Consul General in Toronto, Sarah Kutulakos, executive director of CCBC, Lu Shaye, China's Ambassador to Canada, and John Tory, Mayor of Toronto. He and Tory discussed promoting a stronger bilateral relationship between China and Canada during the luncheon. NA LI / CHINA DAILY
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The finance ministry will build on the successes it has recorded last year in implementing a Resolution on improving the business improvement, Ngo Huu Loi, head of its Legal Department, tells the Vietnam News Agency.

What are general results of the Finance Ministry implementing Resolution 19/2016/NQ-CP last year?

The Government renews the Resolution every year to continue to improve the business environment and raise national competitiveness, especially through tax and customs reforms.

In 2016, the finance ministry achieved many practical results in implementing the Resolution.

First, online tax declarations, payments and refunds continued to accelerate, helping reduce tax payment period from 537 hours to 117 hours.

By the end of the year, the online tax declaration system was adopted by 63 tax departments and all their sub-departments.

About 573,700 enterprises used online tax declarations, accounting for 99.85 per cent of the total enterprises in Viet Nam.

The financial sector co-ordinated with 43 commercial banks to complete online tax payment connections, and by the end of the year, about 562,000 enterprises had registered to use them, accounting for 97.98 per cent of the total enterprises in the nation.

For online tax refunds, the ministry issued Decision 2790/Q-BTC on December 27, 2016 to pilot online payment and refund of value added tax. These will be be implemented in Ha Noi and Hai Phong City.

The ministry also modernised the customs system further by providing online public services and completing online customs clearance systems, including the Viet Nam Automated Cargo Clearance System and Viet Nam Customs Intelligence Information System (VNACSS/VCIS).

These sharply reduced the time taken to complete customs clearance procedures for import goods.

The Customs Office has thus far provided 181 online public services, including 168 related to administrative procedures.

Regarding the national one-door mechanism, the financial sector has connected with 11 ministries on 37 administrative procedures.

All these results have boosted the ministrys admin reform process and contributed to improving national competitiveness.

The World Banks report on the ease of doing business in Viet Nam says the tax payment criteria improved 11 places and cross-border trading went up 15 places to push the ease of doing business index in Viet Nam by nine points.

Meanwhile, the finance ministrys public administrative reform index (PAR Index) held on to the second position in the country.

What were the steps that the ministry took to simplify administrative procedures and reduce tax payment as well as cross-border trade transaction periods?

Just 14 days after the Government issued Resolution 19, the ministry issued Decision 328/Q-BTC on February 20, 2017 to unveil its action plan on implementing it.

For this year, the ministrys action plan covers 87 solutions and 175 tasks with specific offices assigned the responsibility of implementing them.

In the Customs field, 36 solutions with 57 specific tasks have been identified to complete the legal system, national one-door mechanism and the ASEAN one-door mechanism, as also improve the efficiency of specialised inspections.

In the tax arena, 20 solutions with 31 specific tasks were set to complete institutional measures and policies to facilitate enterprise growth.

Those solutions will also involve amendments and supplement to procedures directly related to tax payment.

For other financial fields, including public debt, securities market and insurance, a total of 31 solutions with 87 specific tasks were identified.

Implementing this Resolution calls for synchronous action by several ministries, sectors and localities. How did the ministry co-ordinate this?

The ministry has collaborated with 11 ministries in implementing 37 administrative procedures. It has proposed to the ministries and sectors that more administrative procedures are placed under this co-ordinating mechanism.

Specialised inspections are very importance and account for 72 per cent of time taken for customs clearance. To reduce this time, the finance ministry has actively co-operated with other ministries to propose that the Government approves a plan with measures to improve the efficiency of specialised inspections for import and export goods.

The ministry will propose that other ministries amend 87 legal documents related to specialised inspections.

It will establish more implementation points for specialised inspections so as to create more favourable conditions for import and export activities. So far, there are 10 such points at eight customs departments in many provinces and cities.

Active action by the finance ministry should be backed by efficient, close and active co-operation from other ministries to implement Resolution 19 in a comprehensive, effective manner this year, especially in amending and supplementing many legal documents. - VNS
The State Securities Commission (SSC) has endorsed the ceiling foreign ownership level at the Viet Nam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) at 20 per cent as approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last year.  Photo cafef.vn

HA NOI  The State Securities Commission (SSC) has endorsed the ceiling foreign ownership level at the Viet Nam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) at 20 per cent as approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last year.

The SSCs document, issued on Tuesday, came just three days ahead of the companys debut on the HCM Stock Exchange.

Petrolimex will list more than 1.29 billion shares worth a total of VN12.94 trillion (US$567.5 million) on Friday under the sticker PLX.

The reference price on the first trading date is VN43,200 ($1.9) a share and is allowed to rise/decline by a maximum of 20 per cent.

At this price, Petrolimexs market cap is estimated at around $2.45 billion after debuting, making it the fifth largest listed company on the HCM Stock Exchange.

Two stakeholders hold 83.87 per cent of Petrolimexs capital, of which the Ministry of Industry and Trade has 75.87 per cent and JX Nippon Oil & Energy Co Ltd, a member of the Japanese energy group JX Holdings, owns eight per cent.

On its prospectus on Monday, Petrolimex reported its foreign ownership at roughly 8.18 per cent, which means foreign investors can buy 11.82 per cent of the energy companys capital after listing.

In a shareholders meeting in March, Petrolimexs chairman Bui Ngoc Bao said the Japanese firm would be the only strategic investor in Petrolimex and it might upstake its ownership to 20-25 per cent.

In Late 215, JX Nippon Oil & Energy spent VN39,017 per share to purchase 13.5 million shares issued by Petrolimex worth a total VN4 trillion. This investment is considered profitable for the Japanese company as its purchase price is lower than Petrolimexs reference price of VN43,200 apiece this Friday.

Petrolimex is the biggest petroleum dealer in Viet Nam, occupying 48-50 per cent of the market. The petroleum business unit contributes 50 per cent of the groups earnings.

It posted total revenues of over VN123.1 trillion and pre-tax profits of VN6.3 trillion in 2016, the highest since its establishment.

The company has proposed to the Ministry of Industry and Trade the 2016 dividend rate of 32.24 per cent, equivalent to total payment of over VN3.7 trillion, or 80 per cent of its 2016 net profit.

The petrol dealer has targeted total sales of VN143.2 trillion and pre-tax profits of nearly VN4.7 trillion in 2017, up 16.3 per cent and 17 per cent year-on-year, respectively.

It will hold an annual shareholders meeting on April 21.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam must reach a higher level of national and international branding on its path to economic and societal development. This was the consensus at a conference on green growth development strategy held yesterday in Ha Noi.

As the country integrates itself into the global economy and elevates its political economic status, Viet Nam needs to build a strong and reliable national image while making sustainable development," said o Kim Lang, deputy head of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade).

The conference, held by the National Branding Programme Secretariat, discussed the importance of national brand building in order to achieve an effective green economy for Viet Nam and raise corporate awareness of the matter.

In agreement with Lang, ang Thuy Ha, Nielsens Vietnam representative, suggested the country prioritise green growth for fast and sustainable progress.

Up to 80 per cent of consumers in Viet Nam now agree to pay a higher price for products made by firms displaying social corporate responsibility and a tendency towards sustainable development. Their chief concern at the moment is for health and healthy goods, so businesses should develop sustainable goods and services, said Ha.

Ha also advised businesses to build up consumer loyalty through long-term health-related strategies and a realistic distribution system, as well as proper post-purchase customer care.

Centred on four key topics of green growth trend, green consumption, green quality and first hand experience in green branding, the conference allowed managers, investors and businesses to share their experience and broaden cooperation in the sustainable development field, as well as a chance to promote the national branding programme.

It acted as a friendly environment for dialogues about practical and urgent issues in green branding for Vietnamese firms, with exchanges between policy makers and businesses on supporting policies and solutions for sustainability.

Nielsen Vietnam reported that its research shows products with branded commitments to good quality and eco friendly development are much more likely to succeed than those without - four per cent growth prospects as opposed to one per cent.

For fast consumption goods like food and beverages, the growth rates for eco friendly products range from two to 11 per cent, creating a significant drive for businesses.

The conference is a part of the national branding programme to promote Viet Nams image as a reliable producer and supplier of a variety of high quality goods and services, and increase recognition of Vietnamese products for their quality, innovation or creativity.  VNS
HA NOI  A fair featuring farm produce and craft products from Vietnamese cooperatives is underway in Thong Nhat Park, Ha Noi.

The fair was organised by the Viet Nam Cooperative Alliance (VCA) on the occasion of the 10th Asia Pacific Cooperative Ministers Conference held in Viet Nam for the first time.

It features 320 booths of more than 100 domestic firms and cooperatives, and three booths of cooperatives in the AsiaPacific region, with thousands of products on display, including agricultural products, medicine, aquatic products, handicrafts and processed food.

The fair runs until April 21.  VNS
HA NOI  Connoisseurs will have a chance to taste the flavours created by Michelin-starred chef Marc De Passorio in Ha Noi for a series of events hosted by the Sheraton Hanoi Hotel.

Described by Michelin as one who concocts modern, colourful and devilishly creative cuisine, which leads diners from one lovely culinary surprise to the next, chef De Passorios cooking style is a combination of memories from his travels and culinary experiences.

He is known for his ability to adapt to nature and only uses seasonal ingredients. The famous guest chef, who has more than 20 years of experience in top-class culinary activity, got his Michelin star in 2015 with his restaurant lEsprit de la Violette in Aix en Provence, France.

For his Ha Noi performance, he has designed a special menu featuring fusion dishes influenced by French, Japanese and Vietnamese cuisines.

The special gastronomy programme starts tonight with the Michelin Star Wine Dinner with Gerard Bertrand Wines. Tomorrow morning the chef will reveal his new recipes as well as his cooking tricks at a master class that also includes a three-course set lunch.

For dinners on Saturday and Sunday night, De Passorio will present a five-course set menu, featuring oyster served with aged rum jelly, caviar with beetroot cubes marinated in Balsamic vinegar; chilled slice grilled foie gras in wakame leaf and miso broth; grilled seared tuna with seasonal vegetables; Pyrenese presa Iberico [Spanish black-footed pork] with quince jelly and jasmine flowers; and the dessert  Ti punch caviar, which is caviar-like sago.

Meeting local media before the main events, chef De Passorio said that Vietnamese cuisine somehow has influenced his food creations, including the ones he would present at Sheraton.

As this is my fifth visit to Viet Nam and the second to Ha Noi, Vietnamese cuisine definitely has brought me inspiration to create new recipes. In my restaurant in Aix en Provence, along with using some ingredients originating in Viet Nam such as star anise, I am also influenced by the Vietnamese cooking style, which uses a lot of vegetables, he said.

Culinary art: A creation by Michelin-starred chef Marc De Passorio. Chef De Passorio has specially designed a menu featuring fusion dishes, which are influenced by French, Japanese and Vietnamese cuisines, for the Ha Nois gourmands. VNS Photo Thuy Hang

After the visit of chef De Passorio, Ha Nois food lovers will have good reason to rejoice as another French Michelin-starred chef, Christophe Lerouy, makes an appearance at Hotel Metropole Hanoi for two unique culinary experiences on April 28 and 29 at the hotels French restaurant, Le Beaulieu.

Part of the Metropoles annual Les Aromes Festival, the dinners will see chef Lerouy bring his eclectic Asian-inspired French fare to Ha Noi for the first time. True epicureans can look forward to a four-course dinner on April 28, which will include such mouthwatering dishes as warm oysters with torched foie gras, apple wasabi puree, and Iberico ham stock.

On April 29, chef Lerouy will team up with Metropoles Chef de Cuisine, Olivier Genique, to cook a five-course feast. Each chef will prepare two courses, featuring such imported delicacies as seared Hokkaido scallops and Argentinian striploin, before joining forces for the final act: a surprise chocolate-infused dessert.

With more than 20 years of experience in various Michelin-starred restaurants around the world, including Amador in Abu Dhabi and Jardin des Sens in Montpellier, chef Lerouy was awarded his first Michelin star at Alma by Juan Amador in Singapore where he was Chef de Cuisine.

After leaving Alma last year, 34-year-old Lerouy launched his own restaurant, DSTLLRY par Christophe Lerouy in Singapore, serving French cuisine with subtle infusions of Asian techniques and ingredients.  VNS
NEW YORK  New Yorks famed Empire State Building lit up with sky-high iconic fashion photographs after nightfall on Wednesday to celebrate the 150th anniversary of style magazine Harpers Bazaar.

Beginning at 8.30pm (0030 GMT Thursday) and slated to run until midnight, the north side of the building flashed iconic shoots and cultural moments from the pages of Harpers into the New York skyline.

Among reproductions of the glossy pages set to shine over Manhattan, and streamed live on the magazines Facebook page, was Barbadian superstar Rihanna sitting in the mouth of Jaws.

Since 1976 the Empire State Building has traditionally changed the color of its tower lights to celebrate or commemorate different occasions and organisations throughout the year.

In 2012, they installed a new computer driven LED light system capable of displaying 16 million colors, which can change instantaneously.  AFP
NEW YORK  Princes estate moved to block the release of several decade-old tracks, casting a cloud over commemorations of the pop legends passing.

An independent label had announced plans to release a six-track EP of Prince songs, entitled Deliverance, on Friday which marks one year since The Purple Ones sudden death.

But Princes estate, which is led by his siblings, quickly intervened and accused Ian Boxill, a sound engineer who recorded the tracks with the pop legend between 2006 and 2008, of violating an agreement.

"Mr. Boxill is now trying to exploit the Prince recordings unlawfully in his possession," said a lawsuit filed in a Minnesota court.

The estate said Boxill had signed a confidentiality agreement that the music would "remain Princes sole and exclusive property".

Boxill, who has worked with an array of artists including slain rap great Tupac Shakur, sent a reply that was sealed by the court.

In a statement announcing the music, Boxill said most proceeds would go to Princes estate and that the pop legend would have appreciated the independent release.

"I believe Deliverance is a timely release with everything going on in the world today, and in light of the one-year anniversary of his passing," he said in the statement.

The first track, a rock ballad also called Deliverance, came out late Tuesday with the five other songs scheduled to be released digitally on Friday.

Boxill said a CD release was planned in June.

Prince died on April 21 last year at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota from an accidental overdose of powerful painkillers.

The 57-year-old  long considered a model of health who refrained from drugs, alcohol and junk food  died without leaving a will, setting off messy court disputes over the fate of his fortune.  AFP
HA NOI  People can watch two valuable documentaries on television soon  one on the last days of the America War in Viet Nam in 1975, and the other on late president Ho Chi Minh.

On April 30, on the occasion of the anniversary of the liberation of southern Viet Nam and national reunification, Viet Nam - 30 Days in Sai Gon will be aired on Viet Nam Television. Ho Chi Minh in the Country of Lenin, a documentary on Ho Chi Minhs activities in the early days after the establishment of the nation, will be screened in May.

The 66-minute colour movie, Viet Nam  30 Days in Sai Gon, directed and produced by Jean-Pierre Moscardo in 1975, records the last days of the war  the battle on April 27 and 28, 1975, images of people fleeing  and Sai Gon in the first few days under the leadership of South Viet Nams interim government.

The black-and-white 30-minute movie, Ho Chi Minh in the Country of Lenin, produced by the Central Studio for Documentary Film of Russia in 1975, focuses on Ho Chi Minhs activities for establishing the communist country of Viet Nam and for developing friendly relations between Viet Nam and the former Soviet Union. The documentary shows the late president in diplomatic meetings with Russians and his speech on the 40th anniversary of Russias 1957 October Revolution.

While the original Viet Nam  30 Days in Sai Gon documentary is preserved in Frances National Institute of Film, the other one is with Russias National Film Archive Institute.

These are lively, authentic films made by foreign producers about Viet Nam and have not been shown [in the country] before, Nguyen Thi Ha, director of Science-Technology and Archives Centre, was quoted as saying to Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper.

With these two movies, the young people who have not witnessed these significant historical events will have the chance to see them from a foreign perspective. The live, genuine images will help the audience visualise the context in South Viet Nam after reunification, Ha said.

Viet Nam  30 Days in Sai Gon gives a comprehensive view of the events that took place on April 30, 1975, as well as activities of people from the south, accompanied by opinions based on the French viewpoint, said Hoang Truong, deputy head of the Archives Department.

After 1975, several films, documentaries, and journalistic photos were released by news agencies based in the south of Viet Nam, but they are under copyright. We havent had any film on the 1975 period by foreigners. This documentation [the two films] is precious. These films are like the memory of humankind in general, and Viet Nam in particular, Truong said.  VNS
By Luong Thu Huong

Ha Noi Museum has recently added a special item to its collection: a wooden replica of Mong Phu Village Gate, one of the unique architectural structures in the ancient village of uong Lam on the outskirt of Ha Noi.

The item was a gift presented by Japanese architect Ejima Akiyoshi, who has spent years participating in the research and restoration of many of Viet Nams relics, including Hoi Ans old town, the ancient houses in Bac Ninh Province and the ancient uong Lam village.

The replica, which is 90cm wide, 60cm long and 63cm high, can be assembled and dismantled for convenient transportation, and can serve as a visual teaching aid for training architects and students.

The 1:10 ratio replica has amazed visitors with its detail. They were even more surprised to learn that the elderly professor spent over one year in his workshop to create the replica himself manually from precious kinds of Japanese and Southeast Asian wood.

Professor Akiyoshi first came to Viet Nam in 1996 when he started to collaborate with Showa University in Japan on restoring ancient houses in Hoi An town in the central province of Quang Nam and those in Bac Ninh.

In 2007, he became the senior expert on the restoration of many ancient houses and one of the oldest village gates in Viet Nam, Mong Phu in uong Lam Village. Within five years, he has travelled to join the restoration of the village 17 times, each time spending from eight days to seven months in Viet Nam.

Poor condition

uong Lam is an ancient village that has a history dating back about 1,200 years, with many houses as old as 400 years. It is one of Viet Nams cultural heritages and received support from the Japanese government for its restoration.

By the time I embarked on studying the village, I had heard much about the precious values of uong Lam, a typical ancient village in northern Viet Nam. However, most of the old houses were in poor condition, and the people living in such dilapidated houses desperately wanted to live in better houses. That was our initial difficulty, recalled Prof Akiyoshi.

The restoration of uong Lam Village, which had been recognised as a national heritage, was urgent at that time. Together with other Vietnamese and Japanese specialists, he immediately began the project of restoring the village, based on studies and surveys conducted previously.

The group of Japanese specialists gradually became familiar with the uong Lam villagers. Each smallest detail of the ancient houses being restored was meticulously measured. They made great efforts to preserve as much as possible the original details, including the wooden or brick ones.

The highlight of the restoration project is Mong Phu Village Gate, one of the oldest in northern Viet Nam, with unique features. Initial investigation of the gate showed that its brick structures and pillars remained intact, but its door structure had been destroyed over time and the traffic of vehicles.

In addition to repairing the whole brick and wood structures, the Japanese and Vietnamese specialists utilised wood replica method to rehabilitate the door as well as the door frame. It was done by consulting the opinions of elderly villagers in order to envision the original, lost parts in the most correct way.

In ten years, over 17 structures and ancient houses were restored successfully to their original form, five of which possess significant architectural and cultural values, including Mong Phu Village Gate, On Pagoda, Giang Van Minh worship-house and ancient houses of villagers Nguyen Van Hung and Ha Van Huu.

Fortunately, we received tremendous support from the local authority that was determined to preserve the values of the ancient village. Not only assisting them in restoring typical structures, passing on the experience and technique of Japanese to Vietnamese specialists, we also helped to enhance the locals awareness, which I found meaningful during our stay there, Prof Akiyoshi said.

When the number of visitors to the village started to grow, the villagers gradually realised the value of their ancient houses, which they used to feel ashamed of, and enthusiastically participated in the preservation.

Local support

According to Prof Akiyoshi, the success of the project largely depends on the unanimity of the local people, the local authoritys determination, as well as the specialists techniques.

Only when the desire of preservation comes from the villagers instead of an order from above, is the preservation is sustainable, he said.

It took me over five years to restore the ancient houses and Mong Phu Gate in uong Lam Village.

The replica method, built in 1:10 ratio, is widely used in Japan in preserving outstanding cultural heritage. By applying it on Mong Phu Gate, I expect to popularise this method in Viet Nam.

The restoration of uong Lam Village is a success, but not everyone has chance to visit and learn about its restoration. Therefore, after finishing the project, the professor aspired to create a replica of Mong Phu Gate as a gift to Viet Nam.

I cannot say that my replica is 100 per cent perfect, but I hope that to some extent, it will demonstrate my affection for my Vietnamese friends, he added.

Thanks to his dedication and success in the revival of Viet Nams ancient architecture, he received the Cultural Cause Medal presented by the Vietnamese Government in 2004 and in 2014, the professor and other specialists participating in the uong Lam restoration project were also awarded with the UNESCO-Asia Pacific Award for Cultural Heritage.

According to Prof Phan Huy Le, president of the Viet Nam Association of Historical Science, the wood replica can provide necessary figures to restore Mong Phu Village to its original form in case it suffers from any damage.

The project of restoring uong Lam ancient village has become a model for preservation efforts in Viet Nam. The wood replica of Mong Phu Village demonstrates the feelings of Prof Akiyoshi for Viet Nams heritages.  VNS
On Saturday, the Friends of Vietnam Heritage will hold a walking tour to discover Nguyen Cong Tru Street in Hai Ba Trung District and the surrounding area.

Starting at 9.30am and lasting about three hours, the tour will start at 5D Ham Long Street, where the first cell of Ha Noi Communist Party was established. The tour then heads along Lo uc Street to the Pasteur Square, and outside the National Institute of Hygiene & Epidemiology, before back to Lo uc and into Nguyen Cong Tru Street.

Next is Hai Ba Trung Lake and the temple complex where the guide will touch on the Trung sisters era (in AD 43). For the final part of the walk, the group will explore the lanes and alleys of the Cho Gioi  Ha Nois huge open air market.

This eclectic walk touches on a number of influences that shaped Ha Noi, from the Communist Party to medical Ha Noi, from the Indochinese architectural style to the alcohol industry, from the Trung sisters and worship to the a bustling market.

The tour costs VN70,000 per persom, with a 12 person limit. Contact Stella at stellaciorra@hotmail.com for bookings. VNS
A doctor was attacked by patient's family in Thach That General Hospital.  Photo vov.vn

Khanh Van

The attack was brutal and sudden.

After examining a young girl, a doctor in Ha Noi was explaining to her parents that she was afflicted with the rota virus and might need to be transferred to another hospital when the father went berserk.

The doctor was him times on the head with a thick glass. He fainted and the wound itself required seven stitches. His condition stabilized sometime later, but he was still suffering from headaches and nausea.

There is something seriously wrong when doctors, who have the noblest job of saving lives, are badly beaten up by patients or their relatives.

This is not to say that doctors and medical workers are infallible. Far from it, but inflicting violence on them is not the answer, whatever the provocation. What do we have laws for?

This is the fourth serious assault on medical staff in Viet Nam since the beginning of this year, and there have been dozens of such incidents over the last five years, according to the Ministry of Health.

In 2013, at a general hospital in Thai Binh Province, two doctors were stabbed by a patients family, one of them fatally. Their crime? They had pronounced the patient dead an hour after treatment in the emergency ward.

While this was the most serious incident, yelling of insults, threats of violence and actual violence, as also damage to hospital property are not uncommon, and have become an occupational hazard for the medical profession.

It is time that the nation, leader, experts and the lay public, sat all aspects of this problem, unflinchingly, and find solutions to root out such violence from our society.

Work ethics

Overloading of hospitals and malpractices by medical staff, including doctors, are part of the problem.

Public hospitals in Viet Nam, especially at the central level, have been overloaded for years, with three to four patients being forced to share a bed, while private hospitals are functioning at just 50-60 per cent of their capacity, according to the Viet Nam Social Security (VSS) administration.

While no official statistics have been compiled, the practice of bribing medical staff with envelopes is common enough for many people to say it is an unwritten law at public hospitals.

And as if this werent bad enough, doctors sometimes do the unthinkable.

In 2013, a 39-year-old woman in Ha Noi died on the operating table while undergoing a breast enhancement procedure at a private clinic. The doctor who performed the operation dumped her body in the river.

The same year, Ha Noi Police prosecuted ten health officials from Hoai uc Hospital for duplicating around 1,000 blood test results for up to 2,000 patients, and one can only imagine the potential consequences in terms of disease diagnosis and treatment.

The Government has responded to these crises with campaigns like Say no to envelopes (2011) and Changing styles and attitudes of health workers towards patients satisfaction" (2015), and set up hotline numbers for citizens to report wrongdoings in the health sector.

High pressure

While the lack of medical ethics has to be deplored, we cannot ignore the constant pressure that doctors and other medical staff work under, especially given the overwhelming number of patients who visit public hospitals.

In a developed country, a doctor may see about 10 patients per day, while a doctor in a Vietnamese public hospital would have to deal with 100 per day. This means working 10-16 hours per day, nearly double normal working time.

A 2015 survey by Medscape, a leading online global destination, found 46 per cent of surveyed US doctors saying they were exhausted. Stress and exhaustion have a serious toll. It is said that an average of 300 doctors commit suicide in the US each year.

A similar survey of Vietnamese doctors has not been done, but we can guess that the situation is even more serious.

We should also acknowledge that hundreds of thousands of medical workers in the country spare no efforts to save peoples lives, to provide patients with relief from pain, and study hard day and night to find ways to cure patients.

There are doctors who go out of their way to raise funds for poor patients. For example, a doctor in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang stood for many days at a local market to solicit funds for treating twin babies of a poor ethnic minority mother last year. There are many such instances reported around the country.

The girl whose father beat up the doctor was discharged in good health from the Thach That Hospital two days after the incident.

Not miracle workers

Patients should understand that successful treatment does not depend on doctors alone. It depends a lot on patients and their families themselves, co-operating with doctors and nurses during the whole treatment process.

Many doctors and health workers complain they feel they are sitting in a "hot chair" at work, and this is pressure that is neither good for the healthcare providers nor for the patients.

If any medical worker is found to violate regulations or act unprofessionally in any way, they should be punished by law, not vigilante action.

In 2016, the Health Ministry reprimanded 213 medical staff, stripped rewards and commendations from 78, and dismissed 13 for various violations.

Not unique

Violent in hospitals is not unique to Viet Nam. It has been reported in many countries around the world. The US recorded over 150 cases of shootings in hospitals in just two years (2010-2011); 28 per cent of the victims were doctors, nurses or other medical workers. A 2014 survey by the Scientific American magazine revealed that 80 per cent of nurses in the US have reported attacks on them.

In response to the situation, the US recently updated regulations to strictly punish attackers of medical workers with sentences up to five years in prison and fines of up to US$15,000, depending on the level of infringement.

Viet Nam should have a zero tolerance policy for violence against medical workers. This is needed to protect both doctors and patients, and improve the quality of healthcare provided.

In fact, the wellbeing of our entire healthcare sector and therefore, that of all the nations citizens and our society as a whole depends on it. VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam and Cambodia have agreed to enhance co-operation in the fight against drugs by instructing agencies and border localities to exchange information and co-ordinate in investigating drug trafficking.

The agreement was reached between Deputy Prime Minister Vu uc am, chairman of the National Steering Committee for Drug, AIDS and Prostitution Prevention and Control, and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Ke Kim Yan, chairman of the National Authority for Combating Drugs, during their meeting in Ha Noi yesterday.

am said co-operations between Viet Nam and Cambodia is essential to drug prevention and combating in each country and to addressing drug-related issues in the region.

He highlighted growing relations between the Vietnamese and Cambodian governments thanks to regular high-level visits. The current visit to Viet Nam by Deputy PM Ke Kim Yan is expected to further promote bilateral friendship on the occasion of the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties.

am affirmed that the Vietnamese Government has strengthened co-ordination with the international community and regional countries, especially those sharing border lines, in fighting drugs.

For his part, Ke Kim Yan revealed that drug smuggling and the use of drugs in Cambodia has seen complicated developments. Cambodia is not only a market but also an entry point for drugs, he said.

In 2016, Cambodian authorities detected some 4,000 drug trafficking cases, arresting 9,933 suspects and seizing 179kg of drugs, he added.

He thanked Vietnamese agencies for their assistance to Cambodia in investigating cross-border drug rings.

The Deputy PM also called for Viet Nams help to Cambodia to build a community-based voluntary drug detoxification centre.  VNS
BINH THUAN  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc lauded plans to develop the southern coastal province of Binh Thuan into a green, clean and sustainable economy during a local investment promotion conference yesterday.

In his speech to more than 240 local and foreign businesses and investors, he said the provinces progress in infrastructure, export-import, vocational training and investment climate have attracted more businesses and investors to the locality.

On the localitys development strategy, the PM suggested improving the quality of planning, considering it crucial for sustainable development.

Sectoral, regional and key product planning should not be contradictory to each other, with a focus on strengthening co-ordination with the southern economic zone and adjacent provinces, he added.

Affirming the Party and States policy of continuing to mobilise social resources for development, the leader asked the province to come up with measures to execute the policy, mostly with the public-private partnership model.

He revealed that the government will embark on several large-scale infrastructure projects in Binh Thuan, such as highways, coastal roads, and Phan Thiet airport.

Commenting on local investment promotion, he proposed focusing on fields of strength such as wind and solar energy, tourism, organic and high-tech agriculture, and processing industry.

The PM also asked Binh Thuan to improve workforce training and become one of the top 20 localities nationwide in terms of the administrative reform index.

Talking with investors, he urged them to devise long-term and sustainable strategies for doing business in the province and to heed environmental protection.

At the event, investment licences were presented to 14 projects worth a total of VN43 trillion (US$1.86 billion) and a memorandum of understanding on investment in 20 projects worth more than VN83 trillion ($3.6 billion) was signed.

Endowed with a sunny and windy climate, Binh Thuan is well-positioned to develop agro-forestry-fisheries, renewable energy, green tourism and mining. A farming area of 27,000ha of dragon fruit with annual output of more than 600,000 tonnes made the province one of the top localities nationwide in terms of dragon fruit cultivation.

Thanks to its 192km coastline, Binh Thuan is also one of the four largest fishing grounds in the country with yearly seafood production of more than 200,000 tonnes.

Inspection of missile brigade

Also yesterday, the PM inspected training activities and the combat readiness of Naval Region 2s Coastal Missile Brigade in the province.

Writing in the brigades book of traditions, he expressed hope that officers and soldiers of the Coastal Missile Brigade will maintain strict discipline and high combat readiness so as to firmly safeguard Viet Nams marine sovereignty.

Established in 2006, the Coastal Missile Brigade of Naval Region 2 is tasked with protecting sea and island sovereignty and the southern continental shelf of Viet Nam.

The brigades officers reported to PM Phuc that it has taken measures to develop into a professional and modern brigade.

Co-operation with other military units and local authorities has also been enhanced to be prepared in any circumstance. The brigade has made efforts to improve the leadership and combat capacity of its Party organisation.

Additionally, it has engaged in natural disaster prevention, search and rescue activities, and assisted local residents in coping with disaster consequences.  VNS
Minister of Finance inh Tien Dung delivers speech at the ninth session of the 14th National Assembly Standing Committee in Ha Noi yesterday.  VNA/VNS Photo Phuong Hoa

HA NOI  Thrift and anti-waste work in 2016 was discussed at the ninth session of the 14th National Assembly Standing Committee in Ha Noi yesterday.

According to a Government report, under the leadership of the Party, the supervision of the National Assembly, the management of the Government, the Prime Minister and efforts of ministries, positive changes have been reported in all fields, including the purchase of equipments and vehicles for government organisations.

Some 73 ministries and agencies have announced their list of purchases and followed state regulations.

Ministries, agencies and localities have improved management of the construction and upgrading of their offices.

As of December last year, declarations were reported on more than 154,000 houses and land plots owned by government organisations. The money collected from selling assets or rearranged land use rights hit more than VN50 trillion (US$2.2 billion).

Presenting the Government report, Minister of Finance inh Tien Dung said that the implementation of Resolution No 39-NQ/ TW of the Politburo on streamlining staffing and restructuring cadres and civil servants achieved some initial positive results.

The use of information technology in administrative agencies and public administrative services also proved effective.

However, he said, there were still shortcomings in staff.

The recruitment and appointment of civil servants in some state agencies didnt follow regulations, with loose management resulting in more violations.

Regarding the governments anti-waste programme, Nguyen uc Hai, chairman of the NAs Financial and Budget Committee, said several localities have used large amounts of money from local budgets to celebrate their provinces founding anniversary.

"This is a waste of funds," Hai said.

Vinh Phuc Province, for example, spent VN65 billion on buying gifts for guests and the local people on its anniversary, he said.

Hai also said that there was big waste in the use of investment for capital construction.

Some ministries and localities did not follow regulations on the allocation of investment capital. They allocated funds for projects that did not meet approved criteria which wasted time and capital, he said.

Total outstanding debt for capital construction from the central budget was VN9.5 trillion by the end of the year 2016, according to the report.

The management of investment projects and the exploitation of transport works in the form of Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) still faces many obstacles, Hai said.

The State Audit found that 11 out of 27 projects made mistakes in cost estimations, resulting in a spike of VN465.5 billion compared with originally estimated costs.

While applauding the governments efforts in thrift practice and anti-waste, NASC deputies suggested the need to improve monitoring of the implementation of the Law on Thrift Practice and Waste Prevention, especially in construction investment, management and use of land, natural resources, purchasing and use of public assets.

The Government, agencies and localities should improve the awareness and responsibility of officials, public servants, labourers on the Law of thrift practice and Waste Prevention, they said.

The deputies said the Government should improve the quality of planning and tighten the management of land.

Strict punishments should be imposed on all violations relating to the implementation of thrift practice work, such as wastefulness in using public cars or the State budget.

Sam Son Town becomes city

With the majority of approval, Sam Son Town in the north central coastal province of Thanh Hoa was promoted to city status at the NASC yesterday morning.

Deputies also agreed with the establishment of four wards, namely Quang Cu, Quang Chau, Quang Tho, and Quang Vinh in Sam Son.

The move aims to develop it into a national tourist city.

It also looks to create a development of an economic triangle, encompassing Thanh Hoa City, Sam Son City, and Nghi Son Economic Zone, which will be an important driving force for socio-economic growth in the province.

Sam Son City will cover 44.94 square kilometers with a population of 150,902 and 11 communal administrative units.

While most of deputies agreed with the governments plan, some deputies expressed concerns over its economic, social and environment impact.

Deputy Chairman of National Assembly Tong Thi Phong proposed that attention be paid to changing jobs for local residents and to environmental protection.

Given the fact that Thanh Hoa Province can not balance its budget, Chairman of the NAs Committee for Legal Affairs Nguyen Khac inh suggested that more capital should be mobilised from central budget for Sam Son Citys infrastructure development.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland signed a memorandum of understanding on defence co-operation in Ha Noi on Wednesday.

The signing took place after the talks between Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh and Earl Howe, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords and Minister of State for Defence of the UK.

During the talks, the two sides discussed measures to promote co-operation between the two defence ministries.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam wants to see continued sharing of experience, human resources, capital resources and technologies from the Netherlands to help the Asian country deal with pressing environmental issues.

Deputy PM Trinh inh Dung made the request when he chaired the sixth meeting of the Viet Nam-Netherlands Intergovernmental Committee on Climate Change Adaptation and Water Management with Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Environment Melanie Schultz yesterday in The Hague.

Viet Nam needs assistance to build a national database on environmental resources, drought and salinity prevention, water supply and drainage management, exploitation and use of underground water, particularly depression and erosion by river and sea banks, Dung noted.

On the occasion, the Deputy PM hailed positive developments in bilateral ties between the two countries over the past 44 years.

From an ordinary partnership, the Viet Nam-Netherlands relationship has progressed into a strategic partnership in the areas of climate change and water management, Dung said, adding that the two sides had turned challenges in coping climate change into opportunities for co-operation in agriculture, water management, and education and training.

Schultz affirmed that the Netherlands attaches importance to co-operation with Viet Nam, saying that co-operation projects helped reduce negative impacts of climate changes on the Mekong Delta, Vietnam News Agency reported.

The minister highlighted the significance of the Mekong Delta Plan (MDP) and agriculture to the regions development, asserting that the Netherlands was ready to support and transfer techniques to help Viet Nam develop the delta.

The Netherlands was determined to work with Viet Nam to realise the MPD and address climate change challenges, Schultz noted.

During the sixth meeting in the Hague, the two sides reviewed the implementation of agreements reached at the fifth meeting in Ha Noi in March, 2016 and discussed plans to carry out the MDP, the Netherlands Initiative for Capacity Development in Post Secondary Higher Education (NICHE), the Facility for Infrastructure Development (ORIO), business and trade co-operation, and co-operation between cities.

They noted that the MDP was a symbol for other countries in the region to study, affirmed the link between agriculture and water as well as between agriculture and the future of the Mekong Delta and agreed upon measures needed to sustainably develop the Mekong Delta whilst developing rural areas and helping local people access knowledge, experience and technology.

In education, both sides said the Dutch NICHE and ORIO programmes played a crucial role in realising the strategic partnership agreements, which helps Viet Nam improve knowledge and capacity in managing water resources, climate change, agriculture and ocean shipping.

The two sides discussed co-operation between the cities of Ho Chi Minh and Rotterdam and between Ha Noi and Amsterdam and a project related to water resource planning in the Hong (Red) and Thai Binh rivers in 2020-39.

The seventh meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee on Climate Change Adaptation and Water Management will be held in Ha Noi next year.

PMs meeting

During a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte yesterday as part of his visit to the country, Deputy PM Dung said he hoped that the Netherlands would continue supporting Viet Nam in its national development as well as in implementing two strategic partnership agreements in climate change adaptation and sustainable agriculture development, while expanding ties in areas of the Netherlands strength.

PM Rutte lauded Viet Nams international integration and its efforts in strengthening economic relations through bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements.

He affirmed that the Government and business community of the Netherland are interested in fostering economic, trade and investment partnerships with Viet Nam, and support the EUs approval of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement.

Highlighting that Viet Nam is an important partner of the Netherlands in Southeast Asia, he reaffirmed his countrys support for the stance of Viet Nam and ASEAN in settling East Sea disputes.  VNS
HA NOI  National Assembly deputies have agreed on the need for tighter legal controls over property given for free or as gifts by individuals and organisations to State agencies.

To make this happen, relevant changes should be made to the Law on the Use and Management of Public Assets, the deputies said, as the 14th tenure of the NA Standing Committee continued its ninth meeting on today morning.

The morning discussions focused on further amendments to the draft Law on the Use and Management of Public Assets.

According to National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong, the draft law aims to improve implementation of the Law Against Corruption and the Law on Practising Thrift and Combating Waste.

This purpose should be mentioned clearly in the law to meet the expectations of constituents, she said.

Quite a few violations in receiving and using assets given for free or as presents have been reported recently, especially cars and properties used for personal purposes, evoking negative public responses, said Nguyen uc Hai, chairman of NA Finance and Budget Committee.

Deputies expressed reservations about an additional provision banning the use of cars and other properties given for free or as presents by individuals and organisations.

The use of these cars should not be banned. How presented cars and other properties are dealt with is more important," said Nguyen Hanh Phuc, head of the NA Office.

While it is unacceptable that such properties are used for personal purposes, there must be some consideration if the assets are liquidated for humanitarian purposes, Phuc said.

Nguyen Van Giau, chairman of NA Committee for External Relations, posed a rhetorical question: How about some special cases in which ambulances are given as gifts to localities, provincial or district-level hospitals? These cases need specific regulations.

The deputies reached a final consensus on not banning the use of cars as presents, insisting instead on a focus on ensuring they are used for the right purposes.

Transparent liquidation

Nguyen Thanh Hai, head of the NA Ombudsman Committee mentioned voters comments on wasting public assets when demolishing pavements which are still in good conditions.

Which agency assures that they are no longer qualified to be used? she asked.

The question of who is authorised to assess whether public assets have gone out of date was a worrying one in the context of the drive to fight corruption as well as waste, deputies noted.

Following new regulation on the liquidation of public vehicles, some 7,000 are set to become redundant, according to Party Central Committees Commission for Publicity and Education, Hai said.

She said she was concerned about these cars being auctioned in a non-transparent manner.

The deputies concluded that liquidation of public assets should be a public, transparent affair, and money collected thus be sent to the State exchequer.

NA Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien said that the draft law must also clearly clarify responsibilities of the Government, the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Ministry of Finance in using and managing public assets. He urged the drafting committee to review the law and ensure its relevance with other laws.  VNS
HCM CITY  The former chairman of Sacombank, ang Van Thanh, and prestigious international partners will strengthen the financial capacity of Sai Gon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank) by increasing its charter capital by VN20,600 billion (US$907 million).

They will also set up a Debt Settlement Committee to resolve the bad debts issue and recover assets, and use the available sources of income to provision for bad debts.

It has also been reported that Evercore was recently authorised by competent authorities to access data from Sacombank and review and evaluate its performance to accurately assess the current status of the Bank.

This would be the basis for mapping out a detailed, precise and specific restructuring plan and proposing specific mechanisms if necessary.

Sacombank annual general meeting this year was the focus of attention of financial investors and the public due to the presence of wealthy investors, especially Thanh, the "father" of Sacombank.

Thanh, returning to the financial and banking market after an absence of more than five years, and a group of foreign shareholders are considered to have a number of advantages over other suitors. With more than 20 years of experience working at the bank (1991-2012), Thanh is considered the "captain" who promoted the Sacombank brand b oth in the domestic and international markets.

Evercore Group is a New York-based investment banking firm listed on the New York Stock Exchange with a market cap of US$2.8 billion, while Redsun Capital Limited is a consulting firm specialising in M & A.

Thanh Thanh Cong Corporation (TTC) was the place where Thanh and his family cut their entrepreneurial teeth in 1979 before entering the finance and banking sector.

It has interests in many fields, including real estate, energy, molasses, hospitality, and education.

TTC was also the company Thanh turned to for de veloping together with his family after relinquishing the management of Sacombank in 2012.

When Thanh exited Sacombank in May 2012, there were lots of rumours surrounding the banks operations, especially about corporate loans given to TTC Group, which affected the reputation of his family.

But in April 2013 Sacombank officially released information about these loans, revealing the company was repaying them on schedule.

The restructuring plan requires the expeditious setting up of a transparent, professional an d capable regulatory body to oversee the restructuring and financing efforts. Thanh is expected to bring with him the advantage of having successfully managed not only a bank but also several other businesses. Thanh is expected to bring with him the advantage of having successfully managed not only a bank but also several other businesses.

The Sacombank brand with its solid foundation has always been a name that investors and both domestic and international customers are interested in, thanks to its advantages such as long-established operation and retail banking potential.  VNS
HCM CITY  HCM City authorities are seeking funding approval from the Prime Minister for 36 flood-prevention projects worth a total of VN9.96 trillion (US$438 million).

The investment would be sourced from the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC), according to the city.

Le Van Khoa, vice chairman of the Peoples Committee, said the city was already carrying out a number of flood-prevention projects valued at VN73 trillion ($3.2 billion), which have been approved by the Prime Minister.

The investment was sourced from the city budget, State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC), the central budget, official development assistance (ODA), and public private partnerships (PPP), among others.

Under a programme to tackle floods by 2020, the city said it would revamp drainage systems to deal with floods caused by heavy rains on eight of 17 flood-prone streets and 60 of 179 alleys.

The city also plans to complete a tidal flood-control project for a 550-square-kilometre basin in an aim to curb flooding on nine roads.

The roads include Luong inh Cua, Huynh Tan Phat, Nguyen Van Huong, Ha Noi Highway, National Highway 50, Le Van Luong, Tran Xuan Soan, Provincial Road 10, and Road 26.

In the 2019-2020 period, the city will upgrade drainage systems to control flooding on five additional streets and the remaining 119 alleys, and will build three more wastewater treatment plants.

The city said it would strictly punish anyone illegally reclaiming land along rivers, canals, and public water reservoirs.

The city will need VN97.3 trillion to tackle flooding by 2020, according to the HCM City Steering Centre of Urban Flood Control Programme and the citys Department of Planning and Investment.

The city government will also apply incentives to mobilise capital from society, financial institutions and investors at home and abroad, and will create a land fund to attract investors.

To raise funds for the flood-control projects, it will auction off State-owned premises and factories that have been improperly or wastefully used.  VNS
HCM CITY  In 2016 and the first quarter of 2017, authorities uncovered 430 cases of human trafficking, involving 600 accused and 1,500 victims. Some 85 per cent of the victims were to be sold to other countries, mainly to China  in 195 cases  involving a total of 378 accused , while 490 victims were freed.

The above figures were made public at an annual conference reviewing the implementation of the anti-human trafficking agreement between China and Viet Nam, held yesterday in HCM City.

The conference was co-chaired by Major General Nguyen Phong Hoa, deputy head of the Police General Department under the Viet Nams Ministry of Public Security, and Tran Sy Cu, deputy director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau under Chinas Ministry of Public Security.

Major General Hoa said the Greater Mekong Sub-region, including Viet Nam and China, is considered to be a "hot spot" of human trafficking and illegal migration. Human trafficking activities conducted in this area are a multi-billion-dollar business, Hoa added.

Authorities in recent times have uncovered a number of human trafficking rings that smuggle Vietnamese via road or by air to China, Russia and Eastern European countries, forcing the victims to work in slave-like conditions in nail salons or narcotic plant cultivation fields.

According to reports delivered at the conference, along the Viet Nam-China border, human trafficking remains a long-standing issue that has festered into more complicated forms due to numerous reasons. Traffickers have taken advantage of the easy immigration and cross-border travelling procedures between the countries to conduct their business. In addition, in remote areas where there is scattered presence of authorities and less enforcement, the lack of jobs, economic difficulties and lack of access to technology, coupled with the naivety and credulousness of the locals and the rugged terrain, have further compounded the problem.

At the conference, aside from reviewing cooperation results, delegates discussed and came to a consensus on a number of priority issues for more effective implementation of the agreement this year. Provisions for a standard criteria and standard procedures for bilateral cooperation in verifying, identifying and returning victims to their home country between the two nations authorities were also hashed out.  VNS
AK LAK  Le Van Hong, a member of the HMong minority in Krong Bong District of the Central Highland province of ak Lak, had decided to send his two sons, aged 10 and 15, to work for a garment factory in the south.

He accepted the fact that Le Van Cai and Le Van Khuong would drop out of school so they could bring home a few million ong and help ease the familys hardship.

However, after two months Hong had to borrow money to bring his kids home as they could not stand the harsh working conditions. The two have gone back to school in Hoa Phong Commune, but many other children arent as lucky.

Le Van Toa, another father from Krong Bong Districts Hoa Phong Commune told vov.vn that he was worried about his 13-year-old daughter working far from home. She called him several times, and spoke about the hard life she had to suffer.

She told me that she worked from 6am to midnight, and had only two hours off for meals, he said.

Nguyen Van Tam, chairman of the Cu Pui Communes Peoples Committee, said these ethnic minority students pay reduced school fees, but some parents let their children drop out of school to earn money.

Most of children have to work for a whole year to make VN9 million (US$395), and only get the money once at the end of that year.

Tran Ngoc Hung, deputy head of the districts Division of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that since 2014 students were being sent to work at industrial zones or restaurants in the south. This year, as many as 135 students aged 12 to 16 had quit school and 42 of them were reportedly sent to work in HCM City.

Hung said the division, in co-operation with local authorities, has disseminated informaton about child labour law and penalties for dropping out of school to all households in the district, but the problem persists.

In 2014, more than 20 ethnic minority people in Cu Kuin District were found working in recruitment of child labourers for enterprises in the south. As many as 206 students from primary and secondary schools in Krong Bong, Lak, Cu Kuin and Krong Pac District, dropped out of school to work.

Tu Thi Khanh, head of the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairss Children Protection and Caring Unit said that most of the children were between 13 and 15 and were vulnerable to social evils such as prostitution, abuse, drug use and human trafficking.  VNS
HA NOI  Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong has submitted a variety of potential solutions to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to help the struggling pig-farming industry recover.

The move comes after the price of live pigs kept falling, dropping to VN30,000 (US$1.32) per kilo in recent months. With no indication of an end to this downward spiral, pig breeders across the country are facing losses, the Infonet online newspaper reported.

Previously, the price for per kilo of live pig was VN40,000 ($1.76). One of the reasons for the fall is said to be oversupply.

Immediate solutions Cuong has proposed include reducing the price of animal feed and veterinary medicine, and finding a stable market for the consumption of domestic pork meat.

Cuong has also suggested that the Government direct banks and credit institutions to charge off debts of pig breeders, and people selling animal feed to help them recover their losses.

In the long term, the ministry will push for the use of modern technology to reduce production costs, improve productivity and seek potential export markets for domestic pork meat, he said.

The ministry has planned to instruct localities across the country to review, suspend and not issue licences for more animal-feed processing facilities as the current productivity is 31 million tonnes per year, far more than the target of 25 million tonnes by 2025.

The ministry also plans to reduce the livestock from the current 4.2 million sows to three million by 2019.

Long-term solutions for the situation involve applying the supply chain model to maintain food hygiene and safety, control prices, and adjust the demand and supply of pork meat, he said.  VNS
CEDAR FALLS  A fisherman who was pulled from the water after falling into the Cedar River last week has died.

Anthony S. Tony Romero, 41, of Waterloo, died Sunday at Sartori Hospital in Cedar Falls, according to Locke Funeral Home.

Romero was taken to the hospital after he slipped on a moss-covered rock and fell into the river near the Ice House Museum on April 13. He became caught in the circular current below an open flood gate. Romero lost consciousness within two minutes and was swept into the river channel where a Cedar Falls police officer pulled him ashore and began CPR, according to police.

According to the funeral home, Romero is a former Minnesota resident who worked construction and had been involved in the building of the Vikings Stadium, the light rail system in Minneapolis and the Interstate 35 bridge.

Court overturns drug conviction

WATERLOO  The Iowa Court of Appeals has thrown out a Waterloo womans drug conviction after she challenged a search of her purse and pockets that turned up prescription pills and a pipe with meth residue.

Shannon See had been charged in 2015 after officers approached her vehicle, which had been parked at a gas pump for half an hour, and found her passenger had an outstanding arrest warrant and a glass pipe with marijuana residue in his jacket.

Following a bench trial, she was found guilty of prescription drug and meth charges in connection with items found on her. She was placed on probation, according to court records.

On appeal, See argued police improperly searched her after detaining her passenger. Officers had said they smelled marijuana coming from the passenger and not coming from her vehicle. See didnt appear to be under the influence, and there were no signs of drugs in plain view.

In a ruling issued on Wednesday, the Iowa Court of Appeals agreed, noting that there wasnt probable cause for the search. The decision reversed the conviction and returned the case to district court.

June standoff

brings indictment

WATERLOO  A Waterloo man has been charged in connection with a gun found in his home following a June standoff with police.

A grand jury returned an indictment charging Jyshawn Robertson, 19, with being a prohibited person in possession of firearms and ammunition Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids.

He had originally been arrested on misdemeanor assault charges in the incident.

According to police, officers were called to Robertsons home at 211 Newell St. on June 21 after he allegedly hit someone in the home with a bottle. Others fled the house, and a brief standoff followed in which Robertson threatened to harm himself and threatened to shoot police if they entered the home.

About 20 minutes later, Robertson left the residence and surrendered.

A search of the house turned up a 9 mm Hi-Point rifle, ammunition and marijuana, according to court records.

Authorities allege Robertson was a marijuana user at the time he was in possession of the weapon.

About a month before the standoff, on May 23, Robertson and a woman were shot in their legs in the 200 block of Newell, according to Courier archives.

Robertson is also awaiting trial on state weapons charge in connection with a Feb. 17 incident where he and two friends came under fire from a passing vehicle in the area of Edwards Street and Logan Avenue. One of the friends returned fire, and police later found a .22-caliber High Standard revolver with an obliterated serial number, a stolen .357-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver and a 9 mm Kel Tec pistol hidden in the area.

Arrests made in burglary spree

CRESCO  A Cresco man and two teens who were arrested in connection with a break-in at a campground office in Winneshiek County have also been charged with a string of burglaries to businesses in neighboring Howard County.

Howard County sheriffs deputies arrested Anthony Joseph Shea, 18, with third-degree burglary. Two 17 year olds were also charged, according to the sheriffs office.

Authorities received reports of numerous break-ins in the Howard County area between April 6 and April 13.

Quam Auto Salvage in Lime Springs was hit April 6 and April 10. In the town of Elma, the Elma Express, Elma Locker and Grocery, Busti Lumber and Backwoodz Bar and Grill were burglarized April 11. That same night, the Community Center in Chester and KCDs Bar in Lime Springs also were hit.

The following night, April 12, PDF Industries in rural Riceville was burglarized, according to the Howard County Sheriffs Office.

The three are also believed to be involved in break-ins in Mower County and Fillmore County in Minnesota that happened April 12 and 13, deputies said. Shea and the two teens were also charged in the April 14 burglary at Harvest Farms Campground in Winneshiek County.

Deputies said the Elma Express had also been the target of a burglary by others about two weeks earlier, on March 30. In that case, Chays Cocherelle, 18, of Minnesota, was arrested for third-degree burglary, according to Howard County deputies.

Deputies also arrested Tyler Heggebo, 18, of Lime Springs, and two juveniles in connection with a tire slashing spree in Lime Springs and rural Cresco on March 13, according to the sheriffs office.
WATERLOO -- A Waterloo man has been sentenced to prison for taking a man's coat at gunpoint at a bar last year.

Isaiah Tyrell Buchanan, 26, was sentenced to up to 25 years in prison during a hearing April 14. He will have to serve at least 17.5 years before he is eligible for parole. He was also sentenced to five years for a charge of felon in possession of a firearm and two years for carrying weapons, but those sentences will run concurrent with the robbery time.

Authorities said Buchanan approached Jose Galindo at J's R&B Lounge on Independence Avenue on April 4, 2016, pointed a gun at him and demanded money. When Galindo refused to hand over money, Buchanan took his leather coat and left, according to Galindo's account.

During trial in February, the defense argued that Galindo had owed Buchanan money and voluntarily offered his coat that night to repay part of the debt. The defense said Buchanan was carrying a stun gun for his own protection but not a firearm.
DES MOINES  A $1.77 billion health and human services budget adopted Wednesday by the House is less than this year and drops funding for Planned Parenthood.

The fiscal 2018 health and human services budget, which covers a vast array of health-related services from help with long-term care to dentistry for kids, still must be passed by the Senate.

It passed in the House on a party-line vote of 55 Republicans and 42 Democrats.

Rep. Dave Heaton seemed to express the frustration of every appropriations subcommittee chair while presenting the budget.

This has not been easy, but we have to budget within the funds provided to us by Iowa taxpayers, the Mount Pleasant Republican said before the House approved the bill.

He said the smaller budget, brought on by slower revenue growth than expected, will have serious ramifications.

Although the budget called for lower spending than the current one  $28 million after this years midyear de-appropriations are taken into account  the deletion of Planned Parenthood funds was particularly painful for Democrats.

Especially because the plan calls for turning aside millions in federal funding to to so.

Though the GOP plan allocates $3.3 million in state funds for family planning, Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, said Republicans were leaving $3 million of federal funds on the table by refusing to invest $400,000 over ideological differences.

Patients, not politicians, should decide how and where they receive their medical care, she said. Stop playing politics with the health of Iowans. Stop the ideological train and fund the programs that are important to Iowas most vulnerable citizens.

Rep. Lisa Heddens, D-Ames, itemized what she said were the serious ramifications Heaton referred to: the need to protect everyday Iowans by funding testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, general health care, Pap smears and birth control supplies; as well as address elder abuse, smoking cessation, obesity and hepatitis.

The $3.4 million she talked about needing to do that would be just a small smidgen to reallocate funds back to them.

Also Wednesday, the Senate passed three budget bills dealing with infrastructure, economic development, and justice and sent them to Gov. Terry Branstad for his consideration:

HF 643, the infrastructure bill that passed the Senate 42-8, appropriates $98.4 million for fiscal 2018. It includes $73.9 million for Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund, $10 million for the Technology Reinvestment Fund, $12 million for the State Bond Repayments Fund and $760,000 for the Revenue Bond Capitals Fund.

The bill also includes $5.2 million for water quality improvements and $3 million for the Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Grant Program. The bill also directs funds to a long list of agencies and projects.

Despite misgivings, the Senate accepted House changes before voting 29-21 to send Senate File 509, the justice bill, to the governor.

Im amazed. The House took a bad justice systems and made it worse, said Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, Truly, there is no justice in the justice systems appropriation.

And the House and Senate both approved the economic development budget, SF 513, to appropriate $38.4 million from the general fund and 585 full-time equivalent positions for the Department of Cultural Affairs, Iowa Economic Development Authority, Iowa Finance Authority, Public Employment Relations Board, Iowa Workforce Development and Board of Regents. This is a decrease of $3 million.

A companion bill, HF 654, also appropriates $38.7 million from other funds, an increase of $10.7 million. It passed the House 57-40 and the Senate 31-19.

The House also unanimously approved Senate amendments to a pair of bills  HF 564 and HF 565  to give schools more flexibility, and a career and technical education bill, HF 648.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Pat Grassley said Wednesdays work makes him think things are moving along very well.  Thats good for this building so we can get this session wrapped up.
DES MOINES  Two of Gov. Terry Branstads reappointments to the Iowa Board of Medicine were denied new terms Wednesday by 18 Democrats who withheld support over a 2013 board vote to ban the practice of using a webcam to remotely administer abortion-inducing pills to women in health clinics.

Senators voted 32-18 on the confirmations of Lake Mills Chairwoman Diane Clark and Iowa City Dr. Hamed Tewfik  which fell two votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to win approval from the 50-member Senate. Both had been board members since 2011.

Majority Republicans were joined by Democratic Sens. Tod Bowman of Maquoketa and Kevin Kinney of Oxford and Ocheyedan independent Sen. David Johnson in supporting the medical board members during a contentious floor debate that drew charges of politics from both parties.

Youre taking down an immigrant, said Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, in advocating for Tewfik, who came from Greece, an immigrant that loves Iowa, that loves the people of Iowa, that wants to serve and in your political estimation he made a wrong vote. He didnt do what you wanted him to do so youre taking him down.

Tewfik and Clark were part of an 8-2 board decision that cited health and safety concerns in issuing a rule requiring physicians to personally perform a physical exam to dispense abortion-inducing drugs  and not use telemedicine.

Opponents, including Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, contended the board was limiting womens access to a legal medical procedure by banning telemedicine abortion services at Iowa clinics. The group sued the board in 2013.

In a 6-0 opinion, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in 2015 the board's action was unconstitutional.

Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, said the board vote was the basis for her opposition to reappointing the two.

This is the Board of Medicine, Petersen said. This is not Gov. Branstad and Kim Reynolds board that they politically stack with people who wont back a womans constitutional right for a legal medical procedure.

In a statement, Branstad spokesman Ben Hammes said Its really unfortunate that two highly qualified individuals, who volunteered their time to serving Iowans, are prohibited from serving another term on the Board of Medicine because Senate Democrats wish to play the worst kind of petty partisan politics.

Before Wednesdays confirmation votes, which required a special resolution after majority Republicans failed to abide by an April 15 deadline, Branstads office withdrew the appointments of David Greenspon to the Iowa Finance Authority and Tom Conley to the Iowa State Civil Rights Commission at their requests, Hammes said.

Senators voted to confirm another nine Branstad appointees, including Iowa Lottery Authority Chief Executive Officer Terry Rich, Iowa Labor Commissioner Michael Mauro and Chuck Gipp as director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
DES MOINES  The Senate agreed Wednesday to pump up to $50 million annually into water-quality improvements through 2029 after turning back an effort to raise the state sales tax that would have generated considerably more.

Senators voted 31-19 to use a mix of a water metering tax and the gambling-funded revenue available after the state pays off bonds used to finance the Vision Iowa Program. The money would go toward cost-sharing plans to address water quality challenges from urban wastewater issues to farm runoff.

Two Democrats joined 29 GOP senators supporting the bill, while 18 Democrats and one independent voted no.

Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Oskaloosa, called the bill the next logical step to continue momentum in implementing Iowas nutrient reduction strategy. But critics said it is a tepid approach to a problem estimated to require billions of dollars to correct.

This bill provides policy and funding for long-term, collaborative, science-based, nonregulatory projects that I believe will move the needle in reducing the flow of nutrients into Iowas rivers and streams, said Rozenboom, who noted the state money would be supplemented by federal and local governments, industry and Iowas agricultural sector.

The bill now goes to the House  which is working on its own plan  for consideration in the waning days the 2017 legislative session.

Passage came after senators voted 34-16 to turn back an effort by Ocheyedan independent Sen. David Johnson to create a natural resources conservation fund by increasing the state sales by three-eighths of a cent, generating up to $200 million for the voter-approved and constitutionally protected trust fund.

One Republican joined Johnson and 14 Democrats in supporting the alternative. Johnson noted voters approved the trust in 2010 but it sits empty without a dime of funding.

Senate Minority Leader Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, said the vote was a chance to do something historic that the voters want," but Rozenboom said the amendment called for raising taxes and was inconsistent with the intent of the bill.

Senators later voted 33-17 to oppose an amendment to put money generated by the bill into the trust fund.

Under the approved legislation, a portion of an existing tax on tap water would be converted to an excise tax dedicated to water quality efforts  a pot of money growing to $12 million from 2019 to 2021. Another provision would capture $15 million from gaming in 2021 when bonds for Vision Iowa projects are paid.

Combined with more than $20 million in various programs annually that go toward water quality improvements, Rozenboom said that would create a pool of about $50 million, which could nearly double with matching funds until the package sunsets in 2030.

I think we all understand that we do have a problem with water quality, said Sen. Julian Garrett, R-Indianola. I think its important that we move the ball, and I think that this bill does that. Given our financial situation, our circumstances, this is probably the best that we can do right now.

In the House, the Appropriations Committee has approved an amended version of House File 612 that would make $513 million available for water quality improvements from 2019 to 2031.

Slightly less than half would come from the excise tax on metered water, which would be phased in and split between helping finance loans and grants.

The excise tax money would supplement the more-than $20 million a year in existing funds and, under the House plan, would be used for edge-of-field and infield water and soil conservation, demonstration projects, research and water quality measurements.

James Q. Lynch of The Gazette contributed to this report.
WATERLOO  Some taxpayers have been awaiting their state income tax refunds for two months, challenging their patience as well as their finances.

Refunds are being processed at a slower pace than last year, according to figures from the Iowa Department of Revenue. But state officials say the pace is about to pick up.

Iowa had issued $241 million in income tax refunds on 2016 returns as of Wednesday. Thats down from the $491 million in refunds the state had issued at this time last year, said IDR spokesperson Victoria Daniels. She said the peak processing time, usually around the due date for federal taxes, has passed and refunds should be processing more quickly now.

IDR staff have spent a considerable amount of time safeguarding against fraudulent returns.

When our system identifies a return as needing further review based on our fraud models, it kicks out that return from the electronic process so that an examiner can take a closer look at it, Daniels said. Obviously that takes more time. In contrast to electronic processing, our examiners do not work 24 hours a day.

After the April 18 federal due date, most returns are from people who owe taxes. They are still checked, but the vast majority stay in the electronic processing stream.

State lawmakers have been told the same thing, despite speculation the state may be holding onto the money longer due to a budget crunch.

According to the Department of Revenue, because of new fraud protections built into the processing of returns this year it may take more time to process returns, said State Rep. Bob Kressig, D-Cedar Falls. The department stated that while it is still focused on efficiently processing returns it is more important to protect taxpayers confidential information.

That has complicated the lives of taxpayers counting on prompt state refunds to help pay their federal taxes, or just to make ends meet.

Karen Atwood, a tax preparer in Waterloo, said none of her regular clients have received state refunds. Some received federal refunds 10 days after filing, but have been told to wait eight to 10 weeks for state refunds.

Shes telling clients to change the withholding amounts for next year so they can hold onto their money instead of waiting for a refund, even if it means paying some state taxes.

Atwood said she has contacted lawmakers about the situation. But she said, Its the state and the governor, not the Legislature, who are responsible.

Dave Evenson of the Adams Evenson & Co. accounting firm in Waterloo said hes in the same boat as his clients.

Mines been in there for nine weeks, he said. I just tell them to be patient. ... But if it goes on any longer, a lot of people are going to be upset.

Part of the reason for the delay is a new federal law requiring the Internal Revenue Service to hold refunds until Feb. 15 for people who claim the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit.

The delay allows the IRS to do additional review of those returns, which are vulnerable to fraud.

Iowa implemented anti-fraud procedures last year after receiving more than 10,000 bogus tax returns in 2015.

The agency halted $11.6 million in fake refunds that year, spending $834,969 on the efforts. Similar fraud occurred across the country.

New security procedures include validating bank accounts before making direct deposits and requiring some employers to provide W2 forms the Revenue Department matches with submitted returns.

Kressig and IDR officials said the status of a refund can be checked at www.idr.iowa.gov/wheresmyrefund.

Erin Jordan of the Cedar Rapids Gazette contributed to this story.
CEDAR FALLS  Youd be hard-pressed to find someone who, by now, isnt aware of breast cancer.

Thats largely due to advocacy work, including annual, local events that introduce people to the topic, said Tracy Elliott.

With the Beyond Pink team, theres lots of stuff for breast cancer, she said. But theres not a lot of stuff for colon cancer.

So Elliott, who works as a nurse practitioner in gastroenterology locally (she said her employer didnt want to be named in this article), decided to help change that.

She and a committee of volunteers are helping to organize the inaugural Tour de Tush, a bike ride hosted by the Des Moines-based Colon Cancer Foundation of Iowa that aims to increase screening rates for colon cancer in the state.

The ride will take place in Cedar Falls and Waterloo on June 10, right in the middle of My Waterloo Days weekend  an intentional choice, said Elliott.

Our hope is to bring some people to the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area, have their bike ride and then go and enjoy My Waterloo Days, she said. We were hoping, hey, do it while theres already something going on.

Colon cancer, also known as colorectal cancer, is the second-leading cancer killer in the United States, of the cancers that affect both men and women, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The CDC recommends those age 50 and older be screened for cancer-causing polyps on a regular basis, though Elliott noted those with a family history of colon cancer or certain genetic markers like Lynch syndrome should begin screenings earlier in life.

If found at an early stage, treatment for colon cancer can lead to a cure, according to the CDC.

Its one of those things that is 100 percent preventable if they do screenings in a timely fashion, Elliott said.

The Tour de Tush, a play on the Tour de France bike race, is spreading awareness through a 25-mile and 50-mile bike ride beginning at Gateway Park in Cedar Falls.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. and is $35 for adults before June 8 and $40 on race day, and $20 for kids 12 and younger. Eight-five percent of the proceeds will go to the Colon Cancer Foundation of Iowa, with the remainder going toward the National Colon Cancer Coalition, Elliott said.

Participants will get the inaugural Tour de Tush shirt and a pork loin lunch, with adults receiving beer tickets to Single Speed Brewery, a sponsor of the event that also will be brewing a special beer for the event to serve in June.

We want to increase awareness and education, and we want to do early detection as best we can, Elliott said. We can get rid of this (cancer)  we can make it go away if we just do our due diligence.
CEDAR FALLS  Kulvinder Singh, a son in his lap, held a phone with his free hand to capture as much as he could of Wednesdays naturalization proceeding at University of Northern Iowa.

His face beamed with pride as his wife, Karamjeet Kaur, a native of India, joined 89 others in getting sworn in as United States citizens.

I feel good here, feel like home, Kaur said after the ceremony concluded.

Singh took pictures and video throughout the ceremony, and then again as Kaur, flanked by her five-year-old triplets, shook hands with the judge who read the oath, representatives of Iowas federal delegation and several other organizations that helped make the day possible.

UNI has held a naturalization ceremony six of the last seven years, since professor Mark Grey first helped bring the event to campus. Grey specializes in the immigrant and refugee population in Iowa and thought hosting a naturalization ceremony would be a unique opportunity for the community to be involved.

Opportunity was a word that came up a lot among the new citizens, who hailed from 36 countries.

Fourteen came from Mexico, the most of any single country. All continents except Australia were represented. The youngest, at 23 years old, was from China, and the oldest, at 82, was from Vietnam.

Singh emigrated to the United States in 1998 and had long since become a citizen. He praised the United States as a land of opportunities. He and his family live in Iowa City.

Many noted opportunity as their reason for becoming U.S. citizens.

Nkurunziza Dieudonne, of Burundi, said becoming a U.S. citizen will make it easier to travel back home and to find work when he finishes school at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids.

Dieudonne, who sported an American flag inside his jacket pocket, said more opportunities will be afforded to him in his field of engineering and computer science.

Though it took seven months to go through the process to become a citizen, Dieudonne said as a college student he is used to the practice of studying and working hard to reach his goals.

Im so proud to become a U.S. citizen, and Im just happy, Dieudonne said.

Singh Tamang, of Bhutan, had a little more difficulty getting through the test. At 70 years old and after just eight years in the United States, he has difficulty with English.

But his grandson, Neema Tamang, said his family worked with him to ensure he could pass the citizenship test.

Hes been trying really hard for that, Neema Tamang said.

Despite his difficulty with English, his thoughts on becoming a U.S. citizen were easy to translate. As his grandson asked why he became a citizen, the elder Tamang was all smiles.

He left the country for a better future, and for his children and for the future of others, Neema Tamang said on behalf of his grandfather. The family lives now in Des Moines.

U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge C.J. Williams, Northern District of Iowa, presided over the ceremony, with assistance from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. He reminded the new citizens of their obligations as Americans  to pay taxes, to vote, to serve their community and obey the laws  but also the benefits.

He quoted former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who remarked the only title in this country superior to president is citizen.

Williams read the oath a little more than halfway through the ceremony. The new citizens agreed to it by saying I will. They stood for the Pledge of Allegiance, before Williams told them, You are now United States citizens. Congratulations to hearty applause throughout the room.
Of the 54 groups that registered a lobbyists opinion on a bill tightening voting requirements in Iowa, only one expressed support: the Iowa Minutemen Civil Defense Corps.

The national Minutemen corps has a storied history for its anti-immigrant positions. In earlier times, it took a vigilante approach to patrolling the border and nabbing undocumented immigrants. Lately it has focused on rhetoric and advocacy and tipping off law enforcement on where to look for the undocumented.

Though individual chapters remain, the national corps seems to have disbanded after its president in 2010 called on members to return to the border locked, loaded and ready to stop each and every individual we encounter along the frontier before she quickly thought better of it.

A neo-Nazi named J.T. Ready co-founded the group in the mid-2000s, inspired by the motto, The purity of the Aryan race is the most precious resource nature has to offer all of humankind. He died in 2012 of suicide after allegedly killing his girlfriend and three of her family members while being investigated for domestic terrorism in the shooting deaths of several immigrants found in the desert. Another co-founder, Chris Simcox, was sentenced in July to nearly 20 years for child molestation.

The misconduct of corps members isnt the main issue here, although it offers some insight into the kinds of people the group attracts. The issue is the nativist and anti-immigrant sentiment that drives it  what the corps must believe will be advanced by Iowas voter ID bill.

Democrats, civil libertarians and civil rights groups call the proposed law a thinly veiled attempt to suppress minority votes. But Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, who proposed it, says the goal is to modernize elections technology, streamline the system and protect against the potential for human error and fraud. As far as I know, modernizing election technologies has not been a huge priority of the Minutemen.

There is no evidence of unqualified voters being a problem in Iowa, or at least one big enough to warrant spending at minimum $340,000 for the secretary of states office to produce new voter ID cards and $525,000 to $1.1 million for precincts to buy new e-poll books.

An Associated Press review found of nearly 1.6 million votes cast in Iowa in November, only one represented election misconduct. That was a woman who voted twice for Donald Trump, persuaded by his claims about a rigged election that her first vote wouldnt be counted. She was not an undocumented immigrant.

Thirty-six groups registered in opposition to the Iowa bill, with the rest undecided and two withdrawn. Among the opponents were nonpolitical groups like the state association of counties, the community college trustees association, the Episcopal Diocese, the National Education Association, the AARP and the League of Women Voters. Yet 28 Republican senators aligned with the minority position of the Minutemen.

The bill requires voters to show government-issued ID when they go to vote, either on Election Day, beforehand at satellite polling stations or when applying for an absentee ballot. It shortens from 40 to 29 days the time for voting early. It requires all voters have a verification number, which could come from a drivers license or a non-operators ID card from the state Department of Transportation.

A precinct official would need to verify the people coming to vote hadnt had their voting rights rescinded and not reinstated for former felony convictions. Polling staff could also raise barriers if they felt a voters signature didnt match the one on an ID card. And just in case anyone planned to vote in the name of a dead person, the states registrar of vital statistics would be required every three months to send the voter registrar a list of people of age who died in that quarter.

The rules get ridiculously nitpicky. There are even stipulations about what condition the envelope carrying affidavits of eligibility to vote must be in when they arrive.

At the very least, these rules, if signed into law, would discourage voters, many of whom dont drive or travel abroad, making them unlikely to have driver licenses or passports. The secretary of states office says 85,000 Iowa citizens of voting age dont have government IDs. The bill would disproportionately hinder the elderly, poor, minority and disabled, as well as transgender people who can have a hard time getting IDs that reflect their gender identification and chosen name. Its no wonder some other states voter ID laws have been struck down as discriminatory.

And heres the real tragedy. Iowa should be the envy of other states for having some of the highest voting rates in the nation. Thats a mark of civic engagement and the boast of Iowas political parties when other states challenge our first-in-the-nation caucuses. Why mess with a good thing?

The cynic would say its a Republican-initiated effort to suppress minority and Democratic votes. Whatever the case, its harder for the GOP to defend itself when the only lobby group in its corner on this is one the Southern Poverty Law Center calls one of the most prominent nativist extremist groups in the nation. Sorry, Iowa.
All of us have so much to learn about sexual assault on college campuses. Why are complaints rising? How can we prevent the crimes? Just how big is the problem?

At Iowa universities, the subject is a big question mark. The regents and lawmakers can ensure we start to get answers.

Sex-offense reports tripled at the University of Iowa, from 16 in 2015 to 49 in 2016, a new report to the Iowa Board of Regents shows. That includes 19 forcible rapes. But none of the cases led to an arrest.

The increase is due in part to how UI reports such offenses to the regents. The numbers now include third-party reports, such as incidents reported to resident assistants, employees or others outside campus public safety.

Thats how universities are supposed to report sex offenses, according to the federal Clery Act.

In their report to the regents, however, Iowa State and Northern Iowa officials disclose only sex-offense reports made to their public safety departments. So sex offenses appear to be flat over the last four years on those campuses.

Regent Sherry Bates, who leads the campus safety and security subcommittee, asked university officials last week to all get on the same page, according to a story in the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

Jan Hanish, UNI interim vice president of student affairs, objected to sharing third-party numbers with regents. We dont want to overburden with overreporting, she told the subcommittee. She said the universities will report valid and realistic information.

How difficult is it for an institution of higher learning to accurately report data, especially if that information is already collected for federal officials?

If regents cant get complete information, then state lawmakers may need to intervene. In Minnesota, a 2015 law requires all post-secondary institutions to report sexual-assault complaints.

The law includes private colleges, which had some of the highest rates of sexual-assault complaints in 2015, according to the first report required by the law..

The report reveals some of the tip-of-the-iceberg problems of campus sex crimes. Of the 294 sexual-assault complaints on Minnesota campuses, only 55 were reported to law enforcement, and only about half resulted in a formal investigation on campus. In many situations, complainants chose not to cooperate, so charges were dropped.

The report certainly doesnt answer all questions, but it provides health, education and law enforcement officials more information to begin to address the issue.

Members of Congress are also hearing the call for more transparency and accountability on campus. A bipartisan group of eight senators, including Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, have introduced the Campus Accountability and Safety Act. For the first time, students at every college and university in America would be surveyed about their experience with sexual violence to get an accurate picture of this problem, its sponsors say. The bill would also require specialized training for campus employees and would stiffen penalties for violations of the Clery Act, among other measures.

Our bill has provisions to ensure that colleges treat sexual assault cases with the seriousness they deserve, Grassley said.

Only then will survivors of sexual assault begin to feel more comfortable reporting crimes against them, and only then will we get a true picture of the problem.
Fatal semi crash on I-57 backed up traffic onto I-24
PRINT | EMAIL | PERMALINK Food News We Appreciate Wine The Crown Rooms Appreciation Dinner & Wine Tasting is happening this Thursday, Apr. 20 at the Downs. Expect seven courses, each paired with a fine wine! It's $49 a diner, and the party starts at 6pm.

Charity Gives Warm Fuzzy Feelings Speaking of wine: Make-A-Wish New Mexico is hoping to raise $100,000 to grant 20 wishes for New Mexico children at the fifth Wine & Wishes fundraiser. Buy some liquid courage to help some kids? Sounds like my kind of charity. The event is happening Friday, April 21, from 6-9:30pm. Tickets are $50 a person.

Pod Peopled The $15 million El Vado motel renovation project is under construction and currently looking for some businesses to be food vendors in its "food pods." Sounds creepy, but Ill give them the benefit of the doubt.

Food Tourists Still not sure exactly what Food Tours New Mexico is all about? Check out this profile the Albuquerque Journal wrote up for them.

Suds and Snacks Chama River Brewing Company (4939 Pan American West NE) apparently know just how to pair their snacks with the right beer.
Apr 20, 2017 | By Tess

A team of researchers from Duke University in North Carolina is developing a novel 3D bioprinting material that could one day be used to create patient-specific cartilage implants. The innovative cartilage-mimicking material is made from a hydrogel mixture and could be used to 3D print menisci implants to repair damaged knees.

To anyone who has suffered a knee injury and has been instructed to wear a knee brace for pretty much the rest of their lives, the news coming out of Duke University will be very exciting. In a paper recently published in the journal ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering, a team of researchers from Duke University has described its process of developing a hydrogel-based material that can be 3D printed into custom, cartilage-mimicking structures.

While the project is still in its early stages, the researchers did demonstrate how a low-cost $300 3D printer could be used to 3D print the biocompatible material into a meniscus-shaped structure which was then implanted onto a plastic model of a knee.

Weve made it very easy now for anyone to print something that is pretty close in its mechanical properties to cartilage, in a relatively simple and inexpensive process, explained Benjamin Wiley, an associate professor of chemistry at Duke University who contributed to the research paper.

Menisci, for those unfamiliar with the human knees anatomy, are a pair of cartilage-based shock absorbers which are located between the thigh and shin bones. They are essentially responsible for cushioning and protecting our bones with every step, jump, and movement we take. But while our menisci protect our knees, they are not impervious to damage themselves, as even minor knee injuries can damage the cartilage, resulting in pain and potentially causing such conditions as arthritis.

Current treatments for repairing or replacing damaged menisci are limited, however, as existing implants are not as strong as the original cartilage or are not fully biocompatible. The research being done at Duke University is hoping to offer a suitable alternative to these existing treatments, one that provides both biocompatibility and strength.

(Image: WebMD)

Within the biomedical field, the benefits of hydrogels are becoming increasingly apparent, as the biocompatible materials have a similar molecular structure to cartilage. However, a few challenges still exist with the materials. The current gels that are available are really not as strong as human tissues, and generally, when they come out of a printer nozzle they dont stay putthey will run all over the place, because they are mostly water, explained Wiley.

The Duke research project is addressing these challenges and has found an innovative way to overcome them, at least on the 3D printing front. Feichen Yang, one of the teams researchers has been experimenting with mixing two different types of hydrogels together: one stiff and strong, the other soft and stretchy.

By combining both hydrogels using a double-network technique, the team was able to create a material that could be adjusted to have specific properties. Then, by adding a nanoparticle clay to the mixture, Yang was able to make the hydrogel mixture 3D printable. As the researchers explain it, the clay makes the hydrogel mixture turn to liquid when it is under shear stress (like being extruded) but then solidify when the stress is gone.

With their new process, the researchers are hopeful that, one day in the future, 3D printing could be used to create customized shapes out of the cartilage-mimicking material to be implanted in patients. For menisci treatments especially, being able to print bespoke shapes could offer big benefits. As Wiley said: Shape is a huge deal for the meniscus. This thing is under a lot of pressure, and if it doesnt fit you perfectly it could potentially slide out, or be debilitating or painful.

Additionally, being able to adjust the hydrogels properties so that they are variable (i.e. softer on one end and stronger in the middle) could allow for the implants to more closely mimic a real meniscusa feat which is impossible when using more traditional molding techniques.

Despite the technology being in its early stages, the Duke team has already demonstrated its feasibility using a plastic knee model. More specifically, the team 3D scanned a plastic knee model and created a 3D model of the menisci, which were then 3D printed using the double-network hydrogel. The entire process reportedly only took a day, marking what is certainly a promising start.

This is really a young field, just starting out, Wiley commented. I hope that demonstrating the ease with which this can be done will help get a lot of other people interested in making more realistic printable hydrogels with mechanical properties that are even closer to human tissue.

Posted in 3D Printing Materials

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Max Nelson at The Point:

In 1973, the poet Robert Creeley edited a paperback anthology of Walt Whitmans selected verse. Midway through the introduction to the book, Creeley suggested a respect in which Leaves of Grass had a very contemporary bearing for American poets:

It is, moreover, a marked characteristic of American poetry since Whitman, and certainly of the contemporary, to have no single source for its language in the sense that it does not depend upon a poetic or literary vocabulary.  An American may choose, as John Ashbery once did, to write a group of poems whose words come entirely from the diction of the Wall Street Journal, but it is his own necessity, not that put upon him by some rigidity of literary taste.

That the American poet was distinctly guided by his own necessity rather than by an accepted set of literary standards was a powerful idea for certain mid-century poets and writers. It had a particular hold over the poets based at Black Mountain College, the wildly eclectic North Carolina art school where Creeley sporadically lived and taught between 1954 and 1955. The school would close only two years after he left. Chronically under-enrolled, under-staffed and under-funded, it canceled its last surviving classes near the end of 1956. Its last few years, however, produced a particularly ambitious attempt to define what a specifically American poetry could be.

Creeley had grown up in Massachusetts, did a stint abroad in the American Field Service and took classes at Harvard, from which he never graduated. Beginning in 1950, he kept up a constant correspondence with Charles Olson, the fearsome, bullish poet sixteen years his senior who served as Black Mountains last rector and who finally lured Creeley to the school in 1954. (The letters the two poets exchanged between 1950 and 1952 fill ten volumes.) Olson was even more inclined than Creeley to make sweeping assertions about the American poets inheritance.

more here.
Here's what's shoppin' this week:





Beauty + Bubbles for Earth Day

It's Thursdayyou deserve some pampering. Get a makeup touch-up and a glass of Champagne tonight (Apr. 20) at Cinta Salon's Beauty + Bubbles benefit for The Clean Water Fund. Gather the squad for small bites, dry hairstyles, and a Bumble & Bumble giveaway. Plus, all products will be 20 percent off. You're worth it. // 6:308:30pm at Cinta, 23 Grant Ave. (Union Square), eventbrite.com

Saje Natural Wellness has more than 25 storefronts in Canadaand its SF Pac Heights store will be its second in the U.S. (Courtesy of Saje)

Natural Wellness Arrives in Pac Heights



Seriously, say the words "100 percent natural" and "plant-based" with wellness products, and we're sold. Leading Canadian brand Saje Natural Wellness has touched down in the U.S. After opening its L.A. storefront last fall, the brand unveils its first SF storefront tonight with a special grand opening event starting at 5pm. If you can't make the launch, check out the Pac Heights address for plant-derived essential oils, body care, and home products next time you're around. // 1913 Fillmore St. (Pac Heights), saje.com





LePoint Goes Digital



Cute concept store LePoint is celebrating its second anniversary with the launch of an online shop and a party at their Mission store on Thursday, Apr. 27. Grab a Moscow Mule or a glass of wine from Barrel & Ink, snack on bites from Rice Paper Scissors, and have your Tarot cards read by Jessica Lanyadoo. All this while shopping the sale merchLePoint is offering 15 percent off the entire store. // 69pm, Thursday, Apr. 27 at LePoint, 301 Valencia St. (Mission), shoplepoint.com

Felt ottomans, called choobs, are among many of the felt products in Peace Industry and Heath Ceramics' recent collection. (Courtesy of Peace Industry)

The Softer Side of Heath



There's nothing like felt to make a living room feel warm and fuzzy. For this snuggly comfort vibe, SF rug-maker Peace Industry has teamed up with Heath Ceramics to bring forward a collection of felt baskets, ottomans, and rugs all designed in SF and handmade in the ancient tradition of Iranian felt rug-making. // 2235 Mission St. (Mission), peaceindustry.com





For Stylish Tots



Calling all new mums, dads, and parents-to-be: Restoration Hardware is hosting a Registry and Design event at their RH Baby & Child gallery in The Village at Corte Madera. Sips and bites will be provided, and the event (911am, RSVP) will give guests an opportunity to meet RH designers and start thinking, or be re-inspired, on how to whip together that perfect (read: adorable) nursery. // 1816 Redwood Highway (Corte Madera), rhbabyandchild.com

Modern Citizen is having an in-store event for their spring prints Sunday. (Courtesy of Modern Citizen)

Modern Citizen's Spring Showroom + Princess Project

We all remember the magical glory moment that was prom. Modern Citizen invites you to support The Princess Projectthe beloved Bay Area org that donates prom dresses to teens who otherwise can't afford themby bringing your gently worn dresses to the store this Sunday. Enjoy berry spritzers and Modern Citizen's new fresh prints. // 1-4pm at Modern Citizen, 2762 Octavia St. (Pac Heights), moderncitizen.com
Any San Franciscan worth her $4 toast will assuredly clench her teeth at the unholy utterance of "San Fran." (Just typing those two words caused our digits to twitch.)

We abide by a certain vernacular around herewe're fond of referring to things as "hella good," especially around 420, which was, in fact, a Bay Areabirthed locution. Whereas other Golden State communities may proudly refer to themselves as merely Californians, we tend to denounce the one-dimensional label. We are cut from a different cloth; we are, very much so, woven into the fabric of NorCal. We are San Franciscans, and we couldn't be any more phonetically different than our Los Angeles brethren. As such, we don't fill in our conversational gray areas with a half-dozen "likes," nor do we refer to every other bystander as either a "dude" or "bro." Or worse"bra." (Well, at least some of us don't.)





Author Colleen Dunn Bates has caught onto the unique dialects spoken in the various regions of California and, in her new book, Talk Like a Californian: A Hella Fresh Guide to Golden State Speak, she has quite a good bit of fun (under the pen name Helena Ventura) poking at Hollywood folk, tech bros, surfers, and so on.





"I've heard the same thing my whole life: people moving to L.A. and pronouncing Sepulveda, Sep-ul-VAY-duh," the author told The New York Times. "It's one of those rituals of shame that newcomers to L.A. go through."

(Courtesy of Prospect Park Books)

On this side of the Golden Gate Bridge, we have our own unique style of stringing words together. Here are just a few examples of some hella hyperlocal bits of SF slang:





"The Town" is Oakland, duh.

"The City" refers to SF, of course.

"The 415" is the only area code that really matters.

"Scrappers" are basically 22-year-old, tricked-out Buicks and Oldsmobiles.

"Whips," for everything else on four wheels.

"Cuddy" refers to your cousin or something (we're still not quite sure).

It's pronounced BURR-Nal Heights, once and for all.

"Hella," for when you're feeling especially hyped.

Hunan Cafe #2 is located at 4450 Cah-BRILLO Street.

"Hyphy," if saying hyperactive becomes too tedious for you.

When you're just "tryna" get to In-N-Out before they close 1am.

"Bootsie" for those things that just aren't hella good.

Some of the best Japanese food can be found right off Goff Street.

"Slaps" are just hyphy, up-beat club bangers.

420need we say more?

KON-kerd is in East Bay,

Koja Kitchen is on Kluh-MENT Street





Dive deeper into NorCal lingo, and pick up some SoCal slang to practice with Dodgers fans at the next big face-off, by picking up a copy of Talk Like a Californian ($11) at Barnes & Noble.


With over 20 years of stand-up-comedy experience, Jim Breuer has always relied on his family members for inspiration. Named one of Comedy Centrals 100 Greatest Standups of All Time, the onetime Saturday Night Live star is known for his spot-on impressions and family-friendly material. Now the father of three girls, Breuer remembers his dad as a quirky but strong role model. Breuer cared for his father, who had Alzheimers disease, for more than three years, until he passed away in 2014.

In the above video, Breuer reveals what it was really like caring for his father, a mans man and World War II vet. He said his father was mortified when he soiled himself, a situation Breuer tried to make light of. I was hosing him down like a prisoner, he said. If you can step back and laugh at yourself and at a situation, its healing.

Breuer said caring for his father helped him find his voice as a comedian, as well as his passion: inspiring others in the same situation.

Caregivers need humor not only for the healing aspect but also to lift our spirits and inspire us to keep doing what we are doing, Breuer said.

As part of AARPs ongoing support for caregivers, AARP Studios plans to delve into the deeply personal stories of Breuer and an up-and-coming comic, Jesus Trejo, to find out what its really like in the trenches caring for ailing parents, as part of a documentary to be released later in 2017.

The aim of the documentary is to show how laughter can lighten a caregivers load mentally. The one-hour program stems from a special event featuring the comedians that was hosted by AARP in Los Angeles last December. At the event, Breuer talked about the importance of laughing through tough times.

Laughter is what connects pretty much all pain, he said.

The documentary is part of AARPs ongoing effort to shine a light on male caregivers. Although the typical unpaid family caregiver is a 49-year-old woman, men are growing in the ranks. Today they represent about four in 10 caregivers in the United States, counting about 16 million.
Avocados and their healthy fats appear to have the most dramatic impact on cholesterol levels, which have a positive effect on obesity rates, heart health and blood pressure. But they can help fight off almost every other aspect of metabolic syndrome, as well. And metabolic syndrome is not a condition to take lightly, as it affects 40 percent of Americans 40 and older.

If that werent enough, avocados also have been shown to stave off belly fat, the worst kind of fat to carry, and boost metabolism.

This is just yet another study to show that avocados truly deserve superfood status, Health magazines contributing nutrition editor Cynthia Sass told Time magazine. Sass was not one of the researchers involved in the review but agrees that it includes an impressive range of studies.

Sass also pointed out that avocados fill you up  which means its hard to eat too much of this food thats high in healthy fat. If anything, people who eat a lot of avocados generally weigh less than those who dont.

This is yet another example of how not all calories are created equal, Sass told Time.

The new review of studies, conducted by Iranian researchers, was published in the journal Phytotherapy Research.

Fortunately, American consumption of avocados has skyrocketed in the past four decades, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture released in January 2017. Indeed, thanks in part to the avocados reputation as a healthy fat, consumption of avocados jumped 1,342 percent between 1970 and 2014.

So what are you waiting for? Jump on the bandwagon and whip up some guacamole. For something a bit different, check out AARPs recipe for a bacon-lettuce-avocado-tomato sandwich or this recipe for avocados stuffed with crab-mango salad.
Harvest your tax losses

Tax-loss harvesting is key to tax-efficient investing. This means you sell taxable investments if you have losses in order to save in taxes. You can use the losses to offset any gains you have, plus use up to $3,000 of losses to offset taxes on your ordinary income, such as salary.

During the stock market meltdown in 2008 and 2009, I was selling my stock index funds even as I was buying slightly different ones. The reason I did so was to comply with the IRS' so-called wash sale rule, which states that you can't buy back the same fund within 30 days  so you have to buy something different to stay in the market.

In the world of indexing, for example, if you own the Vanguard Total International Index Fund at a loss, you could buy the iShares Core MSCI Total International Fund, which is very similar to the Vanguard fund you sold.

When it comes to losses, it needn't be a total loss  make the best of it.

Summing it up

Taxes are costs, too, and so by investing more tax efficiently, you'll add to your net returns. I regularly remind clients that their goal is not to minimize taxes but, rather, to maximize what they keep after paying them.

Allan Roth is the founder of Wealth Logic, an hourly based financial planning firm in Colorado Springs, Colo. He has taught investing and finance at universities and written for Money magazine, the Wall Street Journal and others. His contributions aren't meant to convey specific investment advice.
Winter storm could mean 7" of snow from Aberdeen, 2.5" for Watertown

The first winter storm of the season is on its way, and that could mean 7 inches of snow for Aberdeen and 2.5 inches of snow in the Watertown area.
Business owners throughout the Denver area are choosing JAN-PRO of Colorado for their cleaning needs because their cleaners use effective, eco-friendly solutions. Furthermore, their company guarantees measurable results after every visit from their sanitation professionals.

Maintaining clean facilities is essential to every businesss success. It is equally important to clean using products that are both effective and safe for people and the environment. That is why so many businesses turn to JAN-PRO of Colorado for their commercial cleaning needs. Their cleaners use green chemicals that are industry-approved to disinfect well without causing harm to the ecosystem or the people who visit and work in the building.

In addition, JAN-PRO of Colorado stays up-to-date on the latest innovations in the cleaning industry to ensure their clients receive the very best results. To deliver superior cleaning every time, they have developed several systems and processes to guarantee consistent sanitation, including specialized disinfection technology such as their state-of-the-art EnviroShield sprayer. They even measure the results of their cleaning in order to guarantee their results.

JAN-PRO of Colorado provides services to a wide range of clients, including office buildings, medical offices, fitness centers, banks, and auto dealerships. They also clean educational and religious facilities and even partner with property management firms. Their daily cleaning services make it easy for business to keep a tidy and sanitary environment for clients and employees alike. If daily cleaning is unnecessary, their team is happy to negotiate for a different schedule. Furthermore, their company only utilizes cleaners who pass their secure background checks and complete their comprehensive training program.

For detailed information on the products and methods the JAN-PRO of Colorado staff use, call (720) 325-1137.

Potential clients are also encouraged to explore their website for further information.

Their cleaners serve businesses and other facilities throughout the Denver, Colorado, area.

Media Contact

Company Name: JAN-PRO of Colorado

Contact Person: Scott Hockensmith, Jr.

Email: scott.hockensmith@jan-pro.com

Phone: (720) 325-1137

Address:215 Union Blvd.

City: Lakewood

State: CO

Country: United States

Website: http://www.commercialcleaningdenver.com
JAN-PRO of Silicon Valley delivers guaranteed quality cleaning for businesses and facilities throughout the area. By utilizing innovative disinfection systems and following established practices, their staff consistently provides professional-level sanitation and cleaning.

The cleanliness of a business is fundamental to its success, which is why so many Silicon Valley businesses and facilities trust their commercial cleaning needs to the professionals at JAN-PRO of Silicon Valley. A dirty building makes a bad impression on both clients and visitors. Furthermore, if the building is not kept sanitary, the workers are more likely to become ill, costing the company precious productivity and displeasing the staff.

Fortunately, JAN-PRO of Silicon Valley provides comprehensive cleaning and disinfection services with guaranteed results. Their company is known for meeting the industrys highest standards and delivering consistent results on a day-to-day basis. In order to guarantee their results, they follow several different established practices, utilize cutting-edge technologies, and put all their staff members through an intensive training program. All workers must also pass a thorough background check and wear a uniform with a photo ID while on the job, so the facilities are always secure.

JAN-PRO of Silicon Valley cleans diverse properties across multiple industries. They work with office buildings, auto dealerships, banks and other financial institutions, gyms and fitness centers, medical offices, daycares and preschools, and restaurants, among other businesses. Their cleaners also work with schools and religious facilities and even provide construction cleanup services. From carpet cleaning and floor waxing to bathroom sanitation and duct cleaning, their cleaners do it all.

Learn more about the tools and techniques the cleaners at JAN-PRO of Silicon Valley use by calling (408) 713-0422.

Interested business owners can also explore their website for more details on their services.

Their cleaning company serves properties in San Jose, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara, California, as well as the surrounding areas.

Media Contact

Company Name: JAN-PRO of Silicon Valley

Contact Person: James Smith

Email: james.smith@jan-pro.com

Phone: (408) 713-0422

Address:4000 Moorpark Avenue

City: San Jose

State: CA

Country: United States

Website: http://www.commercialcleaningsiliconvalley.com


Tax Incentive Payment and Mt Roberts Drill Plan

Canberra, April 20, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Alt Resources ( ASX:ARS ) is pleased to announce that it has received a $512,000 tax incentive payment from the Federal Government, for Research and Development activities at its flagship Paupong Project in southern New South Wales. The incentive was awarded for innovations and advancement of geological knowledge in this under-explored and poorly understood geological province. The funds will be used to further exploration in the Paupong area, as well as support exploration activities at the Company's Mt Roberts gold project in Western Australia.



Key Points



- The Company has received a $512,000 R&D tax incentive payment from the Federal Government



- Drill planning for Mt Roberts is progressing



o A Programme of Works (POW) has been lodged ahead of planned drilling



A 7,000m resource drilling program has been planned over the Mt Roberts Workings, where the Company intersected high grade gold up to 67.4 g/t Au in November 2016. This included:



- MRRC0003: 3m @ 28 g/t Au, including 1m @ 67.4 g/t Au

- MRRC0008: 1m @ 20.3 g/t Au

- MRRC0009: 1m @ 24.4 g/t Au, and

4m @ 7.96 g/t Au, including 2m @ 13.75 g/t Au



An additional 3,000m of exploration drilling has been planned to test satellite targets at the Mt Roberts Project, including the Rum Punch prospect and Kathleen and Screen Workings. A Programme of Works (POW) has been lodged with the Department of Mines and Petroleum, WA, to gain approval for this activity. The drill program is planned to commence in June 2017.





About Aurenne Alt Resources Pty Ltd





Aurenne Alt Resources Pty Ltd is an Australian based mineral exploration company that aims to become a gold producer by exploiting historical and new gold prospects across quality assets and to build value for shareholders.
NOTE: Thank you to Skyhorse author James Grundvig for the link to his important post about vaccine safety. If you don't know James, he's the guy who found the ex-CDC current US fugitive Poul Thorsen and wrote about it in his book Master Manipulator. Unless you are Mother Teresa (wink wink), you do NOT want one James Grundvig sniffing around your life.



By James Grundvig



Imagine President Donald Trump, in his past life as a real estate developer, learning that his new building had its structure compromised  the concrete didnt meet design strength. Wanting to get to the bottom of the issue, he would direct his team to investigate the problem and report back to him. The findings, however, would shock him.

The contractor followed the guidance of the design team, but not the minimal code set by the city or the concrete industry. Trump would learn such guidance gave the contractor leeway to follow his whims on the design criteria of the specifications. That would cost Trumps project time and money in remediation, and lawsuits would fly out the door.

But since no construction project in North America gives the contractor only guidance on what codes to follow  they must follow all that apply  then its truly stunning to learn this is what the FDA has been directing vaccine manufacturers to do for decades: Follow agency guidance, not a strict code, minimal requirements, specifications or regulations when it comes to the design and execution of vaccine safety studies.

Vaccine manufacturers are free as a bird. They can virtually do what they want. But how can that be?

Its all in the FDAs Biologics Division, in the words that gives Guidance for the different vaccine clinical trials, such as, Guidance for Industry: For the Evaluation of Combination Vaccines for Preventable Diseases: Production, Testing and Clinical Studies. Or how about, Guidance for Industry: Clinical Considerations for Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines.
April 20, 2017

In the heated debate over Turkeys fraud-stained referendum, one particular narrative stands out: that the countrys 16 million or so Kurds played a considerable part in swinging the outcome, albeit narrowly, toward a yes. This, in turn, has prompted hopeful murmurs of a thaw in the frozen peace talks between the government and the Kurds. But Kurdish leaders dispute this version, saying it overlooks the fact that much of the alleged cheating took part in the mainly Kurdish provinces. Veteran Turkish commentator Rusen Cakir called renewed Kurdish support for government an urban legend.

The claim first came from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shortly after the results were announced. Erdogan said, When we consider the status of the political parties in the referendum, we observe a 10-20% increase in the southeastern provinces.

He was comparing the percentage of yes votes in the heavily Kurdish region with the share received by his ruling Justice and Development (AKP) during the last parliamentary elections held in June and November 2015. A chart circulated by pro-AKP accounts via social media conflating the yes votes in the referendum with those won by the AKP stated that support among the Kurds for the ruling party had jumped by over 400,000 votes.

Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin echoed the claims of a Kurdish boost in his column for the pro-government Daily Sabah. By making a very clear distinction between the Kurds and the PKK, President Erdogan and the government have won the Kurdish confidence again.

Kalin was referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the rebel group that has been fighting for Kurdish independence and autonomy since 1984. A shaky 2-year cease-fire broke down in July 2015 after Erdogan disavowed a road map for peace that was agreed on between the government and the imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. The PKK was sharply criticized by locals when it carried its battle to the cities, prompting a brutal government response. Entire towns and neighborhoods were pulverized, hundreds of civilians were killed and nearly half a million Kurds were forced to flee their homes with no tangible gains for the cause.

At the same time, the government embarked on a relentless campaign against the countrys largest pro-Kurdish bloc, the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) and its sister party, the Democratic Regions Party (DBP). At least 10,000 Kurdish lawmakers, officials and supporters remain behind bars over thinly supported terror links. They include the HDP's co-chairs, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, and 12 fellow HDP parliamentarians, one of whom was arrested after the referendum. DBPs Co-chair Sebahat Tuncel is also in jail together with 85 mayors elected on the party's ticket in the southeast, where 83 DBP-run municipalities have been taken over by government administrators.

The DBPs other co-leader, Kamran Yuksek, was slapped with a 30-year jail sentence over his alleged ties with the PKK. Yuksek was in Europe when the sentence was handed down and has no immediate plans to return.

In a telephone interview with Al-Monitor, Yuksek called the governments efforts to paint the referendum results as proof of growing Kurdish approval for its heavy-handed policies a blatant disinformation campaign. Yuksek noted that most of the mainly Kurdish provinces had voted overwhelmingly against the measures, which concentrate power in Erdogans hands. Erdogan is trying to deflect attention from the fact that he lost in all the big cities. Its a sign of desperation, Yuksek contended. Besides, a referendum is a straight choice between a yes and a no. Parliamentary elections offer multiple choices. It's not a meaningful parallel.

HDP lawmaker Mithat Sancar noted in an interview for the online news portal Medyascope TV that comparisons between the referendum and the parliamentary elections were a cynical exercise in legitimizing the referendum. These figures should not be debated as if everything were normal in the region, Sancar complained. He added that if anything, the millions of Kurds living in Istanbul, Izmir, Mersin and Adana, where the no votes prevailed, had most likely helped tip the balance against Erdogan.

Polling outfit IPSOS appeared to corroborate Sancar's claims in a survey conducted after the vote that showed that 99% of HDP voters in Istanbul had rejected the constitutional changes.

Many of the irregularities reported by international observers occurred in the southeast, where the playing field was even less level than in the rest of the country.

With so many of their members in prison, the HDP and the DPB had to rely on inexperienced volunteers to run their campaigns. Many said they faced government intimidation and were not allowed to monitor the voting. In Diyarbakir, three HDP observers were detained during the vote and have yet to be freed.

A draft HDP report on the referendum shared with Al-Monitor alleges widespread misconduct including voter intimidation, repeat voting and ballot stuffing.

In the village of Kockaya in Batman province, for example, all but 15 registered voters voted in favor of the amendments. In the November 2015 parliamentary elections, 60% of Kockaya had voted for the HDP. Since the July coup attempt, all of Turkey has remained under emergency rule but conditions in the Kurdish region are particularly harsh with continuing curfews and a heavy security presence. Yuksek believes that the bump in yes votes is partly due to the increased number in security personnel who cast their ballots in situ.

Arzu Yilmaz, a prominent scholar of Kurdish affairs at the American University of Kurdistan in Dahuk, called the referendum results illegitimate. She believes nonetheless that there may have been some support from tribal Kurds, particularly in the provinces of Hakkari and Sirnak. They border Iraqi Kurdistan, where the Kurdistan Regional Government is led by Massoud Barzani, a firm ally of Erdogan. There is definitely a KRG influence in the yes votes, Yilmaz told Al-Monitor.

Many analysts agree that Erdogan is unlikely to return to the peace talks and certainly not with Ocalan and the HDP. More likely he will court pro-Barzani and conservative Kurds while continuing to demonize the HDP. His goal is to push the HDP under the 10% national threshold needed to win seats in the next parliamentary election, which is due to be held in November 2019.

Yilmaz agrees. Erdogan will look to polarize the Kurds for his own political gain, she said.

Should the far-right Nationalist Action Party, which is bitterly divided over its leaders support for Erdogan, also fail to get into the next parliament, it would give the AKP an absolute majority and by extension Erdogan the unchallenged power they have long craved. Or so their calculations go.
April 18, 2017

A snapshot of any Egyptian street will include numerous homeless animals that suffer from malnutrition, gruesome diseases and cruelty. Egyptian civil engineer Ahmed Al Shurbaji, who works as a contractor, decided not to turn his back on this misery and has dedicated himself to helping stray dogs and cats find safe homes.

Shurbaji's nonprofit organization in Giza, HOPE Egyptian Baladi Rescue & Rehabilitation, has taken in around 160 dogs and is working online to find them new homes.

Animal shelters worldwide are grappling with funding problems, and in a country plagued by economic turbulence, rescuing animals is an especially daunting task. Shurbaji nevertheless insists on doing as much as he can.

"I was raised among animals and I enjoyed watching them," Shurbaji told Al-Monitor. "Such an idea had never crossed my mind. But one day my cat was extremely sick, and I felt how these animals are weak and cannot verbally express and report their pain like humans. Since then, I became more interested in rescuing animals."

The brutal stabbing of a chained dog called Max that sparked public outrage in 2015 was one of the factors that motivated Shurbaji to establish his shelter in Giza Governorate. "I started to capture injured street animals in 2014 and keep them in a small facility. But as the number of these unfortunate animals grew rapidly, I decided to find a larger place for them. The HOPE shelter was founded in 2015," he said.

HOPE shelter offers the rescued dogs medical treatment and food. It has a new branch under construction in Alexandria's Burg El Arab. The Alexandria facility will host both homeless cats and dogs.

"What distinguishes our sanctuary is that we seek to spread the concept of rehoming strays through online adoption," Shurbaji said, adding that many of the organization's dogs have been adopted by lovely families in Europe and the United States. Asked how he feels about the distance, he said, "Surely I miss them, but I am happy that I helped them have a better life."

The foundation is notified of homeless dogs through social media groups. Shurbaji explained, "We do not walk streets searching for strays. Once someone reports that there is a homeless or severely injured animal, we send our dog catchers to bring them to the shelter. Some dogs easily come with the catchers since they're unafraid of humans. But around 90% of the rescued dogs need to be sedated."

HOPE staff includes dogcatchers, veterinarians and workers who provide animals with around-the-clock care. All the team members get annual rabies vaccinations and take precautionary measures.

At first, the injured animals were sent to external clinics for treatment. "Due to the organization's limited budget, I decided to have our own vets who can professionally treat the rescued dogs at a lower cost. But in critical cases, we resort to such clinics." Shurbaji said that the shelter's workers follow the animals' individual treatment plans until the dogs are well again.

Shurbaji described the shelter's daily routine, saying that morning is the time of cleaning. Since dogs, like other animals, have different personalities and behavior, they are divided into appropriate groups for socialization. "I find my real happiness in watching them playing and jumping in joy with their tails wagging," he said.

The grown dogs eat their meals at 5 p.m., but puppies need two meals a day. They get an extra first meal in the morning and eat again when the older dogs are fed.

The organization also works to spread awareness of animal rights. It recently launched a campaign to sterilize stray dogs in Cairo's Maadi district and plans to expand the operation to other suburbs.

"The culture of respecting animal rights does not exist in this country, where people are fighting tooth and nail to earn a living. One of the worst situations I have ever faced was when I headed to a certain place to save an injured homeless dog. But I found myself detained in the police station following a fight with some people who refused to let me take the dog. This situation is etched in my memory," Shurbaji recalled.

He said he's thought several times about closing his shelter, unable to bear the miserable conditions of animals in Egypt. "I got sick of the scenes of bleeding wounds and the poor animals that were shot or poisoned by the police. These animals are living in hell here. This shelter also adds to my financial burden. But I changed my mind and insisted on trying my utmost to save them."

Though this sanctuary has become essential to promoting animal rights in Egypt, funding issues and government negligence continue to hamper its work. "We mainly rely on donations. I pay out of my own pocket when the donations are not enough to cover the expenses of vaccinations, food and medications."

Shurbaji also condemned the government policies, including intensive campaigns to shoot and poison stray animals. "Officials justified these campaigns by saying that these dogs are rabid," he said, and noted that he and his team have met with the minister of agriculture and parliament members but have not seen any real results.

Now the animal lover is focusing on the organization's new branch in Alexandria and hopes to establish more branches nationwide. He is also planning to use ambulances to transfer injured animals, becoming the first shelter in Egypt to do so.

Asked for his final comments, Shurbaji implored, "Mothers should teach their children how to treat animals humanely. Promoting animal rights starts in the family. If strays bother you, do not throw garbage in streets and you will never find them. Please, have mercy on these creatures."
April 18, 2017

TEHRAN  Irans presidential elections are perhaps among the most unpredictable worldwide. Except for the 2001 landslide re-election of Reformist President Mohammad Khatami, predicting the winner of the past five presidential polls has truly been a challenge. The May 19 vote is shaping up to be the most unpredictable yet.

In a new development this election cycle, the Principlist movement formed the Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces, popularly known by its Persian acronym, JAMNA, and adopted a candidate selection mechanism akin to the primaries held by Western political parties. The coalition, which includes top conservative figures, hopes to forge agreement on a consensus candidate to run against incumbent President Hassan Rouhani.

In balloting on April 6, JAMNA selected five men as prospective presidential nominees. A unity candidate will later be selected from among the five. All other potential Principlist contenders withdrew their candidacies after the primary.

Among those who stepped aside were Ezzatollah Zarghami, former head of Irans state broadcaster. He came in eighth place in the JAMNA primary but had announced his intention to run for the presidency March 15. Also stepping aside were former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohsen Rezaei, who came in 10th place, and former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, who had from the beginning rejected the very idea of JAMNA. Jalili announced his withdrawal through a statement shortly after the April 15 deadline for candidate registration had passed, and chose not to declare his support for any Principlist candidate.

The five JAMNA finalists include Ebrahim Raisi, who as leader of the Asran-e Quds Razavi charity is the custodian of the holy shrine of the eighth Shiite imam. The conservative cleric, who is viewed as Rouhanis main competitor, issued a statement April 9 announcing that he would be entering the fray independent of political groupings. Although this prompted skepticism about his adherence to JAMNA principles, the coalition issued a statement April 10 to the effect that Raisis comments were in full accordance with its founding statute. Raisi subsequently registered as a candidate at the Interior Ministry on April 14.

JAMNA finalist Alireza Zakani, a former lawmaker, also registered as a presidential candidate April 14. Of note, he had sought to run in the 2013 elections, but was disqualified by the Guardian Council, the body tasked with vetting candidates. The former parliamentarian tried his luck again in the February 2016 parliamentary elections, but came in 38th in the Tehran district, which had 30 seats to fill. Hamid Reza Haji Babaei, who served as education minister under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is also a JAMNA finalist and registered to run April 15.

Long-time Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who unsuccessfully ran for the presidency in 2005 and 2013, made JAMNA's list of five and registered as a candidate April 16. Former parliamentarian Mehrdad Bazrpash rounded out the five JAMNA finalists. Only 36 years old, Bazrpash had quickly climbed the ranks under Ahmadinejad, and although criticized for being unqualified, was appointed CEO of two of Irans largest automakers, Pars Khodro and SAIPA, in March 2007 and January 2008, respectively.

Bazrpash's presence on the list of JAMNA finalists surprised many political observers, especially given his lack of experience. Even more surprising were the events surrounding his registration to run. Arriving at the Interior Ministry minutes after the deadline had passed, Bazrpash was met by closed doors. After insisting and persisting, he managed to get inside. Once there, Bazrpash announced that he would not be running for the presidency.

Ahmadinejad, a Principlist, and his former deputy Hamid Baghaei, both of whom registered for the presidential race as independents on April 12, further added to the drama. The former president and JAMNA had earlier announced their independence of one another, but they are nonetheless vying for the same voters.

It is not clear which conservative candidates will ultimately be approved by the Guardian Council, with the Interior Ministry not due to announce the final list until April 26 or 27. What is clear, however, is that there is a good chance that Ahmadinejad and Baghaei will be barred from running given the lawsuits filed against them alleging administrative violations while in office.

On April 16, judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said, The file against Ahmadinejad is still pending, and no final verdict has been issued for him yet. The case against Hamid Baghaei has not been closed either, and his innocence or guilt has not been definitively established. Although the Guardian Council acts independently of the judiciary, Mohseni-Ejeis comments  which included the caveat that an ongoing legal case does not preclude ones candidacy  could influence the councils decision.

Even without the Guardian Council's finalized list of approved candidates, the electoral scene already looks set to be intriguing. The Reformists have tried to paint Raisi as their major opponent and the consensus candidate of the Principlists, although the conservatives have not yet anointed him. Of interest, conservative media  in particular the key dailies Kayhan, Vatan Emrooz and Javan  gave little coverage to the news of Raisi having registered to run.

On April 9, JAMNA member Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, who served as culture and Islamic guidance minister under Ahmadinejad, told the conservative Tasnim news agency, All [of JAMNAs final five] candidates have announced their willingness to drop out in favor of JAMNAs consensus candidate. One of the paragraphs of [the founding statute of] this coalition is that when a final [consensus] candidate is chosen, the rest must withdraw.

Whether this will actually happen remains to be seen, especially considering that Principlists have in the past refused to do so. For instance, in the 2013 presidential race, the conservatives failed to agree on a consensus candidate. Only former parliament Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel stood aside, with Ghalibaf, Rezaei and Ali Akbar Velayati, foreign adviser to the supreme leader, continuing with their campaigns.

Given the serious conflicts within the Principlist movement and the lack of consensus over even Raisi, it appears unlikely that the camps leading candidates, especially Ghalibaf, will drop out in favor of a fellow Principlist, most likely Raisi.
April 13, 2017

BAGHDAD, Iraq  Even if it were true that Sumerians built the first airport at Nasiriyah in 5000 BC, as Iraqi Transport Minister Kazem Finjan claimed in October, they would be shocked at the state of Iraqi aviation today. While Kazem said Iraq's early settlers used the airport as a base for exploring space, allegedly even discovering Pluto, Iraqis today would be happy to discover planes at their local airport. The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority announced April 12 that a number of the country's airports will be rehabilitated, but as critics have pointed out, one small problem remains: There are not enough planes to serve them.

After Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait in August 1990, the international community imposed an air embargo and other sanctions on the country, which were lifted in 2003 after the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein. Provincial and local governments, in an effort to catch up with developments in the global transport sector, sought to establish airports in every city, but with little apparent consideration given to providing the airports with the required equipment, including planes.

The building spree included airports in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah (2005), Najaf (2008) and Dahuk (2012). On March 6, the Dhi Qar airport in Nasiriyah began weekly flights to Baghdad. Meanwhile, other Iraqi cities are also looking to establish air connections.

A year ago, the Babil governorate signed a memorandum of understanding with a French company for an international airport. A cornerstone for an international airport at Karbala was laid in January, and on April 6 another was laid in Kut. On March 12, the Transport Ministry confirmed that it will turn the military airport at Diwaniyah into a civil facility. Mosul's airport is reportedly slated for rehabilitation after the city's liberation from the Islamic State.

Jumaa Diwan, a member of the parliamentary Services Committee, called the number of planned airports unnecessary. Diwan told Al-Monitor, It is useless to have so many airports with [only] a few number of airplanes. This is not to mention that there are no international airlines operating in the country, except for at the Baghdad airport, which anyway only receives airplanes from certain countries.

When asked what might be behind the push for airports, Diwan cited the keenness of local governments [promoting] the projects to use them for election propaganda. He further remarked, The contracts for rehabilitating the airports involve lots of corruption, as the political parties are raising money for themselves through these contracts.

On the issue of Iraq having an insufficient number of planes, Samer Kubba, director of Iraqi Airways, told Al-Monitor, The number of aircraft is not compatible with the number of existing civilian airports. This is due to poor planning by local governments, which thought the conversion of military airports from Saddam's era into civilian ones would be an easy task.

Kubba said Iraq has a total of 31 commercial passenger aircraft being used full-time. Over the next two years, Iraq will need more than 20 new aircraft, he said. There have already been 40 aircraft signed for with Boeing to meet actual needs for six years. Iraq has received five aircraft so far, but this contract has been temporarily suspended because of financial distress.

Laith al-Rubaie, spokesman for the Transport Ministry, told Al-Monitor, The problem has been taken care of temporarily by limiting the number of flights by the internal and external air fleet, which is the case today, and resorting to leasing planes sometimes used by the state in addition to temporarily closing airports in cities and repurposing some to accommodate new functions, such as storage and military tasks.

Despite these efforts, there is a more effective solution, according to Rubaie. He asserted, [We need to] encourage other airlines to come to Iraq, persuading them to increase their flights to Iraqi cities, especially the holy ones, so that city airports can be invested in and made financially profitable.

Tawfiq al-Kaabi, another Services Committee member, told Al-Monitor, The local governments have been establishing airports, mistakenly thinking that these are easy projects that would bring investment into the provinces, while the reality on the ground is totally different. These airports, which have no air traffic, be it internal or external, remain useless.

Kaabi said, The focus should be on the development of infrastructure for other means of transport, such as trains, highways and advanced land transport systems. He added, Development works in the coming period will go in this direction.

Kaabi said that a breakthrough in Iraq's financial crisis would help in implementing some promising transport projects, including rail connections from central provinces to Basra in the south. He added, There is also a project to establish a metro rail network in Baghdad and [other] major cities.

Given Iraq's renowned historical sites, the country has the potential to become a desired destination for international tourists and other travelers if properly developed and its monuments preserved, restored and maintained. Religious tourism could also be a big draw given the number of important and ancient religious sites sacred or important to Sunnis and Shiites in addition to biblical Christian sites.

In the meantime, convincing international airlines to fly to Iraqs existing airports would appear to take priority over establishing new facilities. For now, the number of flights to and from Baghdad remains limited in number and destinations.
April 19, 2017

BAGHDAD  A recent anonymous attack on the Iraqi Communist Party office in Diwaniyah city is raising fears that animosity is intensifying between Islamist and secular activists.

At least two hand grenades were thrown into the party's office the night of April 10, causing no fatalities but significant material damage.

Although the perpetrators and the reasons behind the incident remain unknown, some observers link it to an attack earlier that day on students protesting at the University of Al-Qadisiyah by bodyguards of Qais al-Khazali, the head of Asaib Ahl al-Haq (League of the Righteous). The students had been chanting Iran out, out during Khazali's speech at the school when the guards fired their weapons. At least two students were injured in subsequent confrontations, an undisclosed Iraqi police source told Rudaw Media.

However, Mahmoud al-Rabihi, a spokesman for Asaib Ahl al-Haq, an Iranian-funded, Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group, blamed one particular student for inciting the incident. The troublemaker student who was shouting these slogans is the son of an official in the Communist Party. His actions were planned and motivated by ideological principles and he crossed the line, Rabihi said in an April 10 statement.

The statement sparked speculation that the university incident spurred the attack in Diwaniyah. That interpretation is an indication of the emerging conflict of armed and powerful Islamic parties against influential secular parties.

The Communist Party said April 11, What happened at the university was a simple peaceful expression of opinion by the students. However, some wanted to involve the name of the Iraqi Communist Party in the matter.  A number of activists were tracked down and apprehended, including some communists, with attempts to force them to confess to something they did not commit.

Raed Fahmi, the Communist Partys Central Committee secretary (the highest position in the party), told Al-Monitor, There are forces and groups that do not wish to see the civil and democratic groups developing and growing. Undoubtedly, there is a competition between the civil and democratic groups and the Islamist groups. Some are trying to weaken the civil and secular movements in the country.

He added, Some groups may escalate things in the coming period, but the political majority in Iraq will not play along, in my opinion. Yet we are expecting to witness propaganda to distort and harm the image of the civil and secular movements, and some undisciplined elements might act chaotically as a response."

Al-Monitor obtained a copy of a letter that Ali al-Jalihawi, the imam of the Mahdi Mosque in Diwaniyah province, sent to Asaib Ahl al-Haq to express his solidarity with that group regarding the university incident.

There is a violent tendency placed by the devil in the hearts of some Muslims, especially young people affected by globalization and Western thoughts," the letter said. "There is a movement fighting the Islamic [reform] path and we cannot remain silent on this. We all need to stand up against [the movement] until it disintegrates and disappears.

On April 1, the Islamic Euphrates TV channel of the Supreme Islamic Council had aired a documentary that mentioned a fatwa of Mohsen al-Hakim, the former highest-level Shiite authority, who declared communists to be infidels in 1960. The Euphrates channel is owned by his grandson, Ammar al-Hakim, the head of the National Alliance political bloc, which is predominantly Shiite.

Ahmed Abdul Hussein, a civil activist who studied at a Shiite seminary, published an article April 10 in response to the documentary. The article cited Ammar al-Hakim as making what Abdul Hussein said were insidious implications against communists during one of his political speeches.

Abdul Hussein told Al-Monitor, The Islamic parties may have reached a dead end. Their basic principles will lead to their demise because they simply cannot accept others."

Abdul Hussein, who was one of the most prominent activists in the 2011 protests in Tahrir Square in Cairo, is a member of the Communist Party's Central Committee overseeing the party's alliance with the Sadrist movement. He also said, The battle between secularists and Islamists [from] past years is starting to happen now. The Islamist parties believe secularists are a threat that have been acting in extremist ways, pushing an entire generation toward atheism."

Even at the societal level of Iraq's Islamic parties, people believe the secular movements seek to spread atheism and what they call moral corruption. They stereotype these movements and their followers as opposing Islamic Sharia.

The civil community in Iraq fears that once the Islamic State is driven out of Iraq, Islamic parties will begin restricting freedoms amid the spread of arms and chaos. They also fear some civil society figures will be targeted.

Your battle is with yourselves and not with non-Islamist parties," Abdul Hussein said, addressing Islamists. "You need to reform your Islamic home."
April 18, 2017

Having announced the end of Operation Euphrates Shield in Syria on March 29, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shortly thereafter declared a pending new stage of the operation, but on Iraqi soil. Any such operation is expected to exacerbate the myriad conflicts in the area.

Erdogan announced the new operation in an April 4 television interview with the Anadolu Agency. Identifying Turkey's targets, he said, There are the Tal Afar and Sinjar situations. We also have kin in Mosul. The kin Erdogan referred to are Turkmens. During an April 7 TV interview, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu confirmed the government's plans for an Iraq campaign and explained Sinjar's importance. The PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party] wants to build its own camp in Sinjar, which we cannot allow, he said. We will undertake a [military] intervention, or they [PKK forces] will cross our borders to launch terrorist attacks. No time frame has been publicly announced for the Iraq operation.

PKK forces entered Sinjar in 2014, after Islamic State militants attacked the area, which is inhabited primarily by Yazidis. The heavy presence of PKK forces in the area has caused disputes among Kurdish factions. In March, bloody clashes erupted between the PKK-affiliated Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) and the Rojava peshmerga affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and supported by Ankara. The PKK sees the clashes as being related to a visit to Turkey by KDP leader and Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani. Meanwhile, the KDP has accused Iran of supporting the YBS as part of its Shiite Crescent project.

Turkey already has military forces in Iraq, at Bashiqa, a situation that has caused tensions with Baghdad. Turkey claims the troops are there merely to help train fighters in prepartion for taking Mosul from IS. Baghdad claims they are violating Iraqi sovereignty and has called for their withdrawal. It appears that Turkey would need a comprehensive military invasion to drive the PKK from the Sinjar area, as airstrikes alone, which Turkey has conducted in the Qandil mountains against PKK targets, are unlikely to achieve Ankara's announced goal. It is possible that Turkey might use its forces in the Bashiqa camp to help do so.

The Bashiqa camp has been hemmed in to the south by Baghdad-controlled joint forces, as ordered by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, so the only way for Turkish forces in Iraq to reach Sinjar by land is to pass through areas controlled by the KDP. Would the KDP allow a foreign force to cross that territory to attack another Kurdish force?

Rabwar Fattah, director of the London-based Middle East Consultancy Service, told Al-Monitor in a phone interview, This step would be met with strong objection by the Kurdish people in the region. However, the KDP leadership does not have many options, so if Turkey decides to take this step, the step will be taken regardless of what the leadership thinks.

The Baghdad government has publicly rejected Turkish military operations in Iraq. The [Iraqi] government will not allow any external side to carry out military operations on the ground, including Turkey or any other state, Iraqi government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi said April 7.

In fact, however, the central government in Baghdad also does not have many options if Turkey decides to launch a ground offensive in Sinjar. Opting for a direct military confrontation is unlikely, because Iraqi forces have their hands full fighting IS, and Turkey has the advantage of superior air power.

The diplomatic option does not appear to offer much either, as Baghdad has repeatedly requested that Turkey withdraw its forces from Iraqi territory. The Iraqis have requested backing for its position from international and regional organizations, including the UN Security Council and the Arab League, but in vain.

Further complicating the picture, Ankara has accused Iran of using the PKK forces in Sinjar to secure a corridor from Iran to the Mediterranean. When we look at it all, there is a broad influence for Iranian and Persian nationalism based on sects in Iraq, Erdogan said in the Anadolu interview, expressing dissatisfaction with Irans role in Iraq.

The Turkish-Iranian conflict has recently taken a new turn, with armed Iraqi Shiite factions affiliated with Iran threatening to attack the Turkish forces in Iraq. Turkish military operations in Iraq would make such a confrontation more likely. Moreover, any Turkish military advantage would not safeguard its forces against painful military strikes, as the Shiite factions have the expertise and support to strike Turkish forces as they did US forces when they occupied the country.

Tehran will not accept further Turkish military intervention in Iraq, Afshin Shahi, senior lecturer in international relations and Middle East politics at Bradford University, told Al-Monitor. Such military operations, if conducted, will transform the Iraqi situation into something similar to Syria, as it is likely to lead to proxy clashes in Iraq between Iran and Turkey.

Indeed, should Ankara follow through with Euphrates Shield Iraq, it appears almost certain that it would ignite military escalation beyond its immediate targets and exacerbate the battle between allied blocs in Iraq and perhaps the region.
April 20, 2017

Israeli media reported April 14 that settlers had attacked Israeli troops near the illegal West Bank Baladim outpost in the Benjamin Regional Council. Coverage of this serious incident included a brief video clip showing a few masked young people throwing rocks at a passing Israel Defense Forces (IDF) patrol. According to the report, the patrol was responding to reports in the area of a possible clash between settlers and local Palestinians. Since no one was hurt in the incident, it did not create major headlines. No government representatives condemned the attack or even expressed support for the soldiers.

Events like that, in which settlers attack IDF troops in the territories, have become a matter of routine. As long as they don't end in injury, they have no chance of registering on the public agenda of the media or government.

In this particular case, the assailants were young people living in the Baladim outpost. The residents of this outpost are part of the most extreme, hardcore activists of the Hilltop Youth, opposed even to IDF operations in their area.

This is not the first time these young people have attacked Israeli troops. The Shin Bet and the Israeli police are well-aware of how dangerous they are. This raises a key question: How can these settlers feel confident enough to continue attacking soldiers, when all of the relevant authorities know exactly where they can be found and exactly how violent they can be?

One of the few politicians who bothered to respond to the attack was former Defense Minister Amir Peretz, now a candidate for leader of the Labor Party. "The rioters must be brought to justice. Once again we are learning that when we take a forgiving attitude toward people who cut down trees, even soldiers in the IDF will not be immune [to their attacks]," Peretz wrote on his Twitter account. Another contender for the party's leadership, Knesset member Omer Bar-Lev, also condemned the incident, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan to take immediate action against the assailants, whom he described as members of a "cult."

Netanyahu fills his Facebook and Twitter accounts with regular updates and reactions to the events of the day (including an amusing response to comments about his changing hair color). Yet he did not respond to this disturbing incident, in which Israeli citizens attacked the very soldiers protecting them.

Just four days later, on April 18, Israel faced another reminder of what is happening in its backyard. Radical right-wing activist Eliraz Fein was convicted by a Petach Tikva court of inciting violence on social networks. Fein, now 24, lives in the West Bank settlement of Otniel. According to the indictment, she has incited violence against Palestinians and IDF troops alike for a very long time.

For instance, in April 2014, while living in the settlement of Yitzhar, Fein posted statements calling for attacks on Arabs and Jews. She wrote, among other things, "Im in favor of throwing stones (at Jews; obviously, theres no question about Arabs) in certain situations, even if the stone leads to the death of a soldier!!! I will support the stone throwers against any outside group, even if I don't think the actions were necessary!"

During her trial, the prosecution noted that just hours after she posted that statement to a local Yitzhar Facebook group, rocks were thrown at a Yasam Special Patrol Police Unit that happened to be in the settlement. It was also learned that the same Facebook group discussed the legitimacy (according to Jewish law, in their perception) of throwing rocks at security forces, following the 2014 evacuation and demolition of homes built illegally there.

In July of that year, with the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens in the Etzion West Bank settlement bloc and the murder of the Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir of Shuafat, Fein wrote, "I am proud and happy to discover that there are Jews who couldnt stand by and be silent! I send a blessing of strength and courage to those arrested (whom I dont know at all), who are suspected of murdering the Arab."

Following the July 2015 attack in the West Bank Palestinian village of Douma, where a settler set fire to the home of the Dawabsha family, killing the parents and their son, Fein wrote a Facebook post, saying, "[We have to] terrify them and cause them to understand that the blood of Jews is not worthless. For committing murder, the enemy will bathe in his own blood!  I see it as a correct and worthy act. It is worthy and honorable in my eyes to damage Arab property."

Fein's attorneys claim that she has since taken responsibility for her actions, and that she is a young woman who has never been involved personally in acts of violence against anyone. From the indictment, however, it is quite clear that this was not some one-time mistake, but rather the expression of a coherent worldview. Nevertheless, even reports of her conviction and a detailed account of what she wrote failed to evoke any meaningful public outcry.

The public threshold for violence by the far right has risen considerably over the past few years, largely because of the number of Price Tag incidents (hate and vandalism actions against non-Jews and non-Jewish religious buildings) that ended in murder. These include the arson-related deaths of the Dawabsha family, the kidnapping and murder of 16-year-old Israeli-Arab Mohammed Abu Khdeir and the chilling footage of the "hate wedding" in December 2014, which showed right-wing activists stabbing a photo of the infant Ali Dawabsha (who died in the fire). Given all of that, settlers throwing rocks at soldiers seems tame by comparison.

Ever since 2009, the three Netanyahu governments have contended with this phenomenon, which could easily lead to further tragic consequences. Several futile attempts were made to respond sharply to it. So, for instance, in 2013, the security Cabinet convened specifically to discuss escalating Price Tag activities, including attacks on the IDF. Then-Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Shin Bet director Yoram Cohen even called for Price Tag activists to be declared members of a terrorist group. Apart from its public value, doing this would have made it possible to enforce stricter measures against them. But Netanyahu was reluctant to take such drastic measures. Given political pressure from the right, the steps eventually taken by the government were watered down considerably.

April 14 offered a painful reminder of how flaccid the government's response to right-wing extremists in the territories really is. Ignoring these attacks on IDF troops should be unthinkable, even if no one was hurt. By failing to respond, the government is failing to fulfill one of its primary responsibilities.
April 19, 2017

The Net Family Plan announced by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon immediately after the Passover holiday on April 18 can easily be called Net Revenge. Without minimizing the significance of the tax credits and grants that would be distributed through the program to young middle-class families in Israel, it would be a mistake to see it only as a socioeconomic move. But Net Family is not only the finance ministers revenge on the prime minister  who defeated him in the Public Broadcasting Corporation affair by means of a series of humiliations and arm twisting  it is also the opening shot of Kahlons election campaign.

Kahlons reform has four components: the addition of income tax credit points; lowering taxes on imported baby clothes, shoes and cellphones; lowering the price of afternoon daycare by means of government subsidies; and raising the income threshold below which families would be entitled to a work grant from the government. According to the calculations of the Ministry of Finance, a family of two working parents with two or three kids could improve its annual income by about 9,000-10,000 shekels ($2,500-$2,700). This plan is unique because it attempts to help the struggling secular middle class. The ultra-Orthodox would benefit less, because aside from lowering the import tax, the plan mainly helps families with two working parents, which is not the case for most ultra-Orthodox families (where often the man dedicates his time to Torah study).

In a normally functioning government, such a plan would be announced with the blessing of the prime minister and the rest of the ministers, but in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus feuding coalition, the opposite happened: The finance minister hid a significant economic move from the prime minister and announced it at a press conference that was prepared with the secrecy of a military operation, in fear that Netanyahu would once again try to steal credit for the plan. The goal was to take revenge on him in front of the public and the media for the Public Broadcasting Corporation affair.

Kahlon-Netanyahu relations are currently the weak spot of the government, but at least in the short term they don't endanger its existence. This conflict could hurt Netanyahu after the next election  assuming that the criminal investigations dont prevent him from running. Kahlon, the chairman of Kulanu, could recommend Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid for prime minister (in an electoral system where, after the election, each party is requested to recommend the party fittest to lead the coalition). While the six seats that the latest polls predict for Kulanu are a significant decrease from the 10 seats it now holds, it is possible that they would tip the scales. Netanyahu knows it, and he has invested efforts in trying to placate Kahlon.

In many respects, the coalition crisis that broke out around the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) signaled the start of the end of Netanyahus fourth government. Netanyahu wanted to dismantle it before it started broadcasting, while Kahlon defended the IPBC, which was destined to replace the bankrupt Israel Broadcasting Authority. Netanyahu even announced that he was willing to go for early elections on this issue. While it didnt lead to the governments dissolution, it left huge reserves of resentment on the part of the finance minister toward the prime minister. Kahlon left for the Passover recess battered and exhausted after he was forced to give in to Netanyahus demand to cancel the new Public Broadcasting Corporations news division, as a condition for the continuation of the government. The chairman of Kulanu expected until then that he would succeed in persuading the prime minister to allow the corporation to go on the air as planned, despite Netanyahus misgivings at the appointments made in the news division.

Kahlon didn't want to go to an election because of his situation in the polls and also because after two years in his office he hasnt yet succeeded in fulfilling his election campaign promise to lower housing prices. This arm wrestling contest ended with Netanyahus victory, and it left the finance minister angry and agitated.

Over the Passover recess, Kahlon understood a few things. First, the next election campaign is already here. That is, from the moment that Netanyahu put out the possibility of an election, the political establishment started to operate with the dynamic of a campaign. While it is rather unlikely that an election would take place in the coming months, it can't be entirely ruled out. Second, the finance minister understood that time is pressing and that he has to show the public some accomplishments from his term at the Finance Ministry.

Kahlons public strategy until that point has not proven to be effective. At the start of his term, he figured that as with his reform to lower the prices of cellphone packages, which made him into a social justice icon, a significant decrease in housing prices would be a meaningful accomplishment that he could take to the next election. However, despite his efforts, the various real estate indexes have not pointed to a significant change in the trend, and Kahlon understood that for him to reclaim his brand as the social justice minister in the government he has to change direction  not only solving the housing crisis, but also giving gifts to the public, or in other words, an election economy.

As opposed to the Sisyphean effort in the real estate field, this was a move that immediately bore political fruits. Kahlon presented the public an accomplishment that could be measured in hundreds or thousands of shekels per family, and he conquered the television news and newspaper headlines. With regard to Netanyahu, Kahlon got back his self-confidence and his smile, as he stood by himself, for a change, on the podium at the press conference where he revealed the plan.

The importance of the element of surprise at the press conference was mostly for its impact on the morale of the finance minister and his staff. For a long time, Kahlon has had the feeling that Netanyahu pops up by his side at every positive public event, as happened on April 3 at the launch of the large housing project in the town of Beit Shemesh. Thus, during the holiday of Passover, he evaded the prime ministers calls. When he learned that Netanyahu might attend the Mimouna celebration (popular celebration held the day after Passover) at the town of Or Akiva, which Kahlon visits every year, he decided to skip it. This is the extent of Kahlons disgust at Netanyahu these days.

Netanyahu, with political wisdom, accepted the act of revenge and was not tempted to speak out against the plan. His associates responded with restraint; one of them, speaking on condition of anonymity, called it a positive step. However, we cant take this as the end of the crisis in the relationship between the two, which could have an impact on the identity of the next prime minister.
April 19, 2017

Israel sees the April 20-21 visit of Defense Secretary James Mattis as a critical milestone in shaping the new relationship between the Trump administration and the Netanyahu government.

The most important "safety instruction" being distributed to all senior officials in Israel on the eve of Mattis' visit is that under no circumstances should they use the moniker "Mad Dog," which Mattis has carried with him since his days in the Marines. One senior Israeli defense source told Al-Monitor this week on condition of anonymity, "The region all around us is full of 'mad dogs,' who are uncontrollable and unpredictable. Mattis represents those forces trying to bring stability to the chaos and restore America's role as the responsible adult and regional sheriff in the Middle East."

"Mattis is the most powerful person in the Trump administration," one senior Cabinet minister told Al-Monitor April 19 on condition of anonymity. "He has an absolute consensus surrounding him. His appointment was approved by 98 out of 100 senators." He is a real general, who also happens to be an intellectual, very well versed in Middle Eastern affairs ever since his days as commander of CENTCOM [US Central Command in Tampa, Florida]."

Though Mattis will inevitably be meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he will be the official guest of his colleague, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman. This will be the third meeting between Mattis and Liberman in as many months. One Israeli participant in some of these meetings, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there is a "rare chemistry" between the two men. In conversations with his associates, Liberman has nothing but compliments for the new US secretary of defense. At their March 7 meeting in Washington, Mattis and Liberman were supposed to meet in private for just 15 minutes, yet the meeting lasted almost an hour, until Mattis' chief aide was forced to intervene.

During his briefings with Liberman, Mattis will also meet with Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot. There will, however, also be a surprising meeting between Mattis and another Israeli military leader, Maj. Gen. Tal Russo, who retired from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) but was called back to duty as the (reserve) commander of the Depth Corps. This command is responsible for long-range operations within enemy territory by IDF special forces. In other words, the corps' focus is on Iran and other distant fronts.

It turns out that the US defense secretary and Russo are old friends from 2007, when Mattis was appointed to lead the US Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia. Russo was the IDF's chief of operations at the time, and the two men developed an especially close working relationship. At the time, the United States invested considerable efforts in learning about various means of fighting terrorism, asymmetrical conflict and contending with terrorist groups that situate themselves within civilian populations. As always, the Americans found a broad base in Israel from which they could learn. It is believed that this week's meeting between the two men will involve the discussion of Russo's responsibilities for Israel's strategic depth  in other words, the space between Tehran, Baghdad and Damascus, and as far as Beirut.

As a backdrop to this visit, Jerusalem is deliberating over how to respond to a rather intricate dilemma. Should Israel press the United States to increase its involvement in the war in Syria or instead suggest that the United States take it down a notch? Underlying this is the Israeli assessment that as tensions between the United States and Russia intensify over the conflict in Syria, Russia will limit the freedom of action it affords to Israel and its air force in Syria and Lebanon.

"It's the rules of the jungle," one senior Israeli military source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. "There's a distinct food chain here, with the Russians at the apex and us immediately beneath them. If the Americans join the party and push the Russians into second place, they [the Russians] could vent their frustrations on us." The situation is complicated, volatile and utterly unpredictable. "Anything can happen at any given moment," another senior Israeli security official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity in a recent briefing. "We must continue to act with extreme caution."

Israel's greatest concern overall right now is what will happen in Syria on "the day after." During his upcoming visit, Mattis will see and receive security briefings on Iranian efforts to establish a seaport in Syria and a new front against Israel in the Golan Heights, manned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah. He will hear how Iran is continuing to arm Lebanon's Hezbollah at an accelerated pace and even helping to create factories for the local manufacture of missiles and rockets by Hezbollah. This would reduce Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah's reliance on receiving weapons from afar, along supply routes vulnerable to Israeli attacks.

Israel's strategic objective is to prevent greater Iranian involvement in the region at almost any cost, and to keep Iran from approaching Israel's border fences. Mattis will hear about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's residual chemical weapons capacities and the ongoing propagation of terror by Iran, while Mattis' Israeli hosts will also plead with the US defense secretary to keep Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi afloat no matter what it takes. One of Israel's other strategic allies, King Abdullah II of Jordan, is also a priority, but in the case of Jordan, the cost is relatively small change.

"Maintaining stability in Egypt is not just in the strategic interest of Syria, Israel or the West. It is in the interest of anyone concerned about the continuing chaos in the Middle East," the same security source told Al-Monitor.

A report released one day before the US defense secretary's arrival claims that the United States confirmed that Iran is keeping its part in the nuclear agreement with the world powers, but in the same breath adds that the United States is still considering the renewal of sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Israel was particularly pleased to hear this. Netanyahu and his ministers have been working ceaselessly to convince the United States of the magnitude of its previous administration's errors in dealing with Iran. As of now, this isn't even about the nuclear issue. The problem, as Israel sees it, is that by ignoring the conventional front, President Barack Obama gave Iran a "license to kill," effectively turning it into the most influential regional power in the Middle East.

After all the debates and deliberations, the balance reached by Israeli security experts is in perfect accord with the US announcement April 19. As long as Iran continues to observe the terms of the nuclear agreement, there is no reason to rescind it. At the same time, however, as long as Iran continues to propagate terror, overthrow regimes and destabilize the Middle East, there is no reason to lift sanctions. It is unclear whether this will be the Trump administration's policy, but so far, Washington has shown a positive tendency in this direction. Jerusalem hopes that the defense secretary's visit will reinforce this trend.
April 20, 2017

Israel and US Defense Secretary James Mattis have a dangerous mutual enemy. Five years ago, when he headed the US Central Command, Mattis said of the three most pressing problems for the United States in the Middle East, Number one Iran. Number two Iran. Number three Iran. In February, the Marine general said that Iran is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. Mad Dog Mattis also criticized President Barack Obama for going along with the nuclear agreement with Iran.

At a February meeting in Munich with Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, the two agreed on the need to form a broad international coalition against the axis consisting of Iran  which is pulling the strings of the Shiite Hezbollah organization in Lebanon  and the regimes in Syria and North Korea. Liberman urged Mattis to be active in the Middle East.

Several weeks later, on March 9, it was Russian President Vladimir Putins turn to be briefed by Israel on the perils of Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to Moscow to remind his hosts that Iran is carrying on the legacy of ancient Persia, which 2,500 years ago sought to annihilate the Jewish people. According to Netanyahu, radical Shiism not only threatens Israel but endangers the entire region and even world peace. Netanyahu told reporters that Israel is adamantly opposed to leaving any presence of Iran and its proxies in Syria as part of an overall agreement on ending the civil war there. The prime minister said he was certain the message had sunk in.

In Jerusalem, it was assumed at the time that Donald Trumps election victory in the United States would end the Russian-Iranian love affair that developed during Obamas presidency. The compliments Trump paid Putin during his election campaign led to hope that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif would not be able to repeat the comments he made in Moscow in October 2016: At the end of the summit meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Syria, he said that relations between Syria, Iran and Russia were at their peak.

But hope that Trumps special relationships with Putin and Netanyahu would form the basis of an anti-Iran coalition was shattered on April 14, when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Moscow with his Iranian counterpart and his Syrian protege, Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, to demonstrate a united front vis-a-vis the United States and condemn the American missile attack in Syria.

Israel is just a bit player in the renewed struggle between Russia and the United States over spheres of control and influence around the world. Just as it did during the Cold War in the 1960s, Syria serves as a jumping-off point for the Middle East.

Contrary to what Netanyahu told reporters in Moscow, Putin has no problem sharing the pie with Iran, including the whipped cream on top  control of the Syrian ports of Latakia and Tartus. By the same token, Netanyahus position that Hamas is a terror organization seeking to annihilate Israel did not prevent Putin from rolling out the red carpet earlier this year for the deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, Mousa Abu Marzouk.

Mattis had no illusions about Moscow. At his Senate confirmation hearing March 5, he said, Right now the most important thing is that we recognize the reality of what we deal with [in] Mr. Putin. We recognize that he is trying to break the North Atlantic alliance. He remarked that the United States needs to mobilize its allies to create a deterrent for Russia and to prepare itself militarily, economically and diplomatically for a possible clash with the Russian Federation.

The effort to block Russia is what brought Mattis to the Middle East. In an April 18 briefing to reporters on his plane, Mattis was effusive in his praise for the longstanding US alliance with Saudi Arabia, which he described as a "pillar of our security framework for the region and for American interests. Saudi Arabia is also the pillar of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, designed to serve as a framework for an Israeli-Arab front against Islamist radicalism led by Iran under Russian auspices. A basic condition for such a coalition is the establishment of a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel. To advance toward such a goal, the Arab League member states  led by the Saudis  are demanding that Israel freeze its West Bank settlement enterprise.

Mattis makes no bones about his views on the Israeli-Arab conflict. In a 2013 address in Colorado, he said that as the head of CentCom he was constantly aware that the United States was paying a price for its support of Israel. Mattis was sharply critical of Israels settlements, which he said were turning it into an apartheid state and undermining the prospects of a two-state solution. At his Senate confirmation hearing in January this year, Mattis said he desires to see peace in the Middle East, and in answer to a question about his views on a two-state solution, he answered, If theres any other solution, Id be happy to hear what it is. He also said that Tel Aviv is Israels capital.

Mattis aspirations to form a coalition against Iran and its allies and Trumps desire to make a grand deal in the Middle East offer Netanyahu an opportunity the importance of which cannot be overstated. Nor can the cost of missing it be exaggerated. Given the realignment we are witnessing of the worlds powers, establishing a coalition between Israel and the Sunni Arab world against the Shiite Crescent and global jihad is more crucial than ever. It would make it hard for Irans proxies  Syria and Hezbollah  to act against Israel from its northern border. Hamas and the other Palestinian rejectionist organizations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank would be isolated and thrown into a struggle for survival. In addition, the Arab world might be receptive to Israels demand to exclude the Golan Heights from any peace formulation.

If theres a common denominator that transcends all the disputes between the United States and Russia, it is the belief in the need to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict that was fanned by their Cold War. For a change, Israel can show these two powers the road to peace.
April 19, 2017

In their final communique at the end of their two-day meeting in Italy on April 10, the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven yet again expressed their unequivocal support of the Libyan political agreement and its transitional government headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, while calling on all armed groups in the Libyan capital to desist from actions that would exacerbate internal division and fuel further conflict.

The G-7 is a group of major world economies including Italy, Germany, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, after Russia was kicked out because it annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014.

What is worth noting in the statement on Libya is the clear expression of support to the countrys territorial integrity and unity, which clearly rejects any idea of a possible breakup of the country as a way of stabilizing it, since its quarreling factions have failed to accept any form of a political solution. The statement read, We reaffirm our commitment to preserving the sovereignty, integrity and unity of Libya.

The statement came just one day after The Guardian reported April 10 that Sebastian Gorka, an adviser to US President Donald Trump, had actually discussed the idea of dividing Libya into three regions based on the decades-old Ottoman division. The paper quoted well-placed sources as saying that Gorka not only discussed the issue with a European diplomat, but he also drew a map on a napkin . that cut Libya into three sections, apparently based on the old Ottoman provinces of Cyrenaica in the east, Tripolitania in the northwest and Fezzan in the southwest."

The Trump administration has failed to present a well-defined political position toward the future of Libya while also seeming to be sending mixed messages about the country. This is worrying not only Libyans who reject the idea of the partition of their country, but also European allies who have so far stood firmly behind the Libyan political agreement and the Government of National Accord as the only possible political game in town for settling the Libyan issue.

Libya has been engulfed in chaos and lawlessness since 2011, when its longtime leader, Moammar Gadhafi, was overthrown, with NATO support, and later killed, leading the country into an eight-month civil war that saw it become not only ungovernable but also a haven for terror groups, including the Islamic State (IS).

The Guardian also reported, Gorka is vying for the job of presidential special envoy to Libya in a White House that has so far spent little time thinking about the country and has yet to decide whether to create such a post.

Europeans are frustrated with the United States' lack of a clear position because they are at the doorstep of the complex problems coming out of chaotic Libya  be they IS launching attacks in many cities, such as Paris and Berlin, or migration and human trafficking across the Mediterranean Sea and onto southern Italian shores.

Dividing Libya is not the right way to solve its internal political and tribal disputes. Indeed, the idea of partition shows an extreme deficiency in knowlege about Libya's geographic and demographic situations.

One should keep in mind three fundamental reasons that make dividing the country a road map to a renewed civil war that would be more voracious this time than what the country has seen so far. First, Libyas oil-producing and exporting region is located right in the middle of the country, with few producing fields in the western and southern regions. This makes dividing up oil revenues or actual oil production itself a far more complicated process than many would think.

It brings to mind a prediction Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, Gadhafis son and heir, made at the start of troubles against his fathers rule in 2011, when he said that if the country is divided, then Libyans will lose the oil, which is the countrys main lifeline.

In fact, disagreements on how best to divide oil revenues among Libyans is one of the stickiest issues and top causes of the little wars that have been taking place off and on in the North African country over the last six years.

Second, inter-tribal relations among Libyan tribes all over the country are very strong, and social relations among clans and families  including inter-tribal marriages  are stronger, making it almost impossible for people to accept the idea of dividing them up into separate countries. Tribes and clans are the cornerstones of Libyan society, making it too complicated to mess with.

The third reason division is not a good political option is that Libyans, in general, do not support any idea that might lead to breaking up their country. Even a federalist system  in which local governments have more say in their local affairs  does not enjoy much support.

Any attempt to solve the Libyan conflict must now include the Russians, who have been very busy with Syria and have provided little input into the Libyan crisis. But Moscow appears to be re-engaging different Libyan factions. On Nov. 29, Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, the commander of the Libyan armed forces backed by the Tobruk-based government, visited Moscow and met with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to seek his help in lifting the arms embargo imposed on Libya by the United Nations in March 2011. And in January, Hifter was received on board Russias flagship aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, while it was sailing back from its Syrian mission.

Meanwhile, on March 2, Lavrov received Sarraj, Libyas UN-backed prime minister, urging dialogue among the different Libyan factions, including Hifter. This signaled the strongest message yet that Moscow is returning to the Libyan conflict.

Unless the latest developments in the Syrian war further upset the political status quo between Washington and Moscow, it is likely that both will find more common ground to agree upon in Libya. Both Russia and the United States worry about Libya becoming a safe haven for international terror groups, including IS, and both should realize that unless Libya is united, it will be easy prey for IS  which is under heavy pressure in both Syria and Iraq.
April 13, 2017

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  The Israeli daily Haaretz reported April 2 that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to improve the economic conditions of the Palestinians.

Many Palestinians believe that his words came on the request of US President Donald Trump.

According to Haaretz, during the Cabinet meeting March 29, Netanyahu said that Trump asked him to make concessions to improve the economic conditions of Palestinians in the West Bank as part of his efforts to reach a political settlement in the region. The newspaper noted that Netanyahu would avoid appearing as though he wanted to derail the US efforts and predicted that he will agree to the request without committing to any specific action.

In an April 4 press statement, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry responded to Netanyahus decision, calling the announcement an attempt to mislead the world and to give the impression that it is reacting positively to the efforts to resume negotiations.

The statement went on to say that Netanyahus economic concessions are nothing but a partial lifting of a number of punitive measures imposed by the Israeli authorities on the Palestinian people. They do not come to support or develop the Palestinian economy, but to further perpetuate its dependence on the Israeli economy and continue Israel's oppression.

Manal Farhan, undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy, told Al-Monitor, The government believes that no breakthrough in the Palestinian economy is possible without a political solution that ends the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of a two-state solution.

Farhan added, Trumps demand that Netanyahu work to improve the Palestinian economy is of major significance, but [Israel] will mislead him by making simple concessions like allowing hundreds of Palestinian workers to work inside Israel without taking any strategic action.

There are about 400,000 unemployed Palestinians and 320,000 families living below the poverty line across the different Palestinian governorates in both Gaza and the West Bank, according to Minister of Labor Mamoun Abu Shahla, during his meeting with Marina Wes, World Bank Country Manager in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Nov. 17.

To improve the Palestinian economy, Farhan said the Israeli prime minister must lift all restrictions on economic activities by eliminating all security checkpoints between Palestinian cities and villages, allow Palestinians to import and export and take advantage of their natural resources including the shores of the Dead Sea, allow the extraction of Palestinian gas from the Gaza Sea, revive tourism by lifting restrictions on freedom of movement, and lift all restrictions on development works in Area C.

Nasr Abdul Karim, a professor of economics at Birzeit University in Ramallah, told Al-Monitor that what Netanyahu called economic facilities are basic human rights.

Netanyahu is playing the economic facilities card as a weapon in his relations with the Palestinian Authority [PA] in order to achieve two goals: first, to provide security for the settlers living in the West Bank settlements and second, to achieve peacemaking based on the principle of economy for peace, rather than the principle of land for peace.

Abdul Karim considered that any economic concessions for the Palestinian economy would reduce the cost of economic activity, increase the areas that may participate in trade and industry, boost the confidence of foreign investors to invest in the various developing sectors in the Palestinian territories, and contribute to reducing poverty and unemployment levels.

According to data released by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in July 2016, the unemployment rate stood at 26.6% in Palestine, with 18% in the West Bank and 41.2% in the Gaza Strip.

Mohammed Abu Jiab, the editor-in-chief of the Palestinian Al-Eqtesadia newspaper, told Al-Monitor that Netanyahus pledges are a lost bet and that he is hoodwinking the international community by presenting himself as trying to improve the Palestinian economy, while the actions on the ground are completely different.

What is actually happening is that Netanyahu is imposing further restrictions on the Palestinian economy in the West Bank, with more checkpoints and further demolitions of houses and closing of economic facilities, he added.

Abu Jiab added that if Netanyahu actually wants to make economic concessions, they would affect the West Bank alone and not the Gaza Strip, as the Strip is under control of Hamas, which is on Israels list of terrorist organizations.

Gazas economy is completely destroyed, as the most recent war destroyed its infrastructure and from Israel's ban on the entry of many raw materials and other goods under security pretexts. This is not to mention the restrictions on traders, whose travel permits are being taken away at the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing, he added.

Ziad Hammouri, the director of the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights, told Al-Monitor, Netanyahu is one of the most ardent advocates of the principle of economic peace as an alternative to the political solution.

He added, Since the PA came to power in 1994, the economy had witnessed a great boost and started to attract foreign investment. Palestinians had their own airport. However, following the second intifada in 2000, Israel wiped out everything. Israel deliberately destroyed the economic structures and the only Palestinian airport to make the lives of Palestinians hell. Now, Netanyahu is offering Palestinians economic peace to improve their life in return for giving up their rightful demands, most notably the Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders.

Hammouri noted that according to UN reports, the biggest obstacle for the Palestinian economy is the Israeli occupation.

Farhan shares Hammouri's opinion. The main Palestinian demand is to end the Israeli occupation and to build an independent Palestinian state based on the two-state solution. This would allow Palestinians to build their economy independently and autonomously, she said.
April 18, 2017

RAMALLAH, West Bank  Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets recently to decry a Palestinian Authority (PA) decision to slash its employees salaries in the Gaza Strip by 30-50%. The move is prompting a meeting that could change the relationship between PA rival political parties Hamas and Fatah  for better or worse.

The April 4 salary cut announcement sparked a public outcry from Palestinian factions, human rights organizations and government employees, thousands of whom demonstrated April 8 and demanded that Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah be dismissed.

The PA government, based in Ramallah, did not call for cuts to its West Bank employees' salaries.

An estimated 58,000 civil servants worked at public Gaza institutions before Hamas came to power in Gaza in 2007, when the Hamas-Fatah rivalry divided the PA. At that time, the PA ordered its Gaza employees to stop going to work amid a state of chaos that plagued the Strip and the violence that erupted between both sides. This led Hamas to appoint its own civil servants there to run the ministries. Meanwhile, the PA has continued to pay its employees' salaries all these years despite them not working.

In a statement, the PA sought to justify the drastic cuts as "the result of the financial siege imposed on the PA, referring to a significant decrease of international aid from donor countries, and Israeli restrictions. The statement went on to explain the political motives behind its decision, namely the Hamas "rebellion against the Constitutional Court established by President Mahmoud Abbas and activation of the administrative committee to operate in the Gaza Strip as an alternative to the government. (The Gaza Administrative Court on March 23 had overturned Abbas decision to form the first Palestinian Supreme Constitutional Court since the PA was established. The court's move showed that Hamas doesn't recognize Abbas authority.)

The PA's statement added, Hamas continued to collect government revenues and keep them to itself instead of sending them to the treasury, which reflected negatively on the PAs finances.

Abbas, in an interview April 3 with al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, threatened that the Fatah-led PA, which administers the West Bank, "will take unprecedented measures against Hamas if it carries on with the decision to form the committee. But the administrative committee was approved by the Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza on April 16 and subsequently drew fire from the PA.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Hamas source told Al-Monitor that Abbas instructed the government to impose pay cuts on civil servants in the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas measures. The presidents decision aims to pressure Hamas into backing down on its latest measures.

Hamas responded in an April 11 statement. Ismail Haniyeh, deputy chairman of Hamas' political bureau, said the governments decision is a dangerous political step" designed to separate Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Hamas leader Yahya Moussa told Al-Monitor, The salary cut is an unethical and anti-nationalist move by the PA. It is also dangerous because it divides the Palestinian people and will lead to the separation of the West Bank from Gaza. The decision is an attempt to pressure Hamas into accepting political projects planned by President Abbas.

Kayed al-Ghul, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's political bureau, told Al-Monitor that despite the PA's effort to put some of the blame on a financial crisis, the governments decision is politically motivated. It came in reaction to Hamas creation of the administrative bureau to run the Gaza Strip."

He added, The decision aims to put pressure on Hamas because the government understands that salaries are the  vital engine of the economy. The decision would lead to a socioeconomic crisis with repercussions on Hamas. Ghul argued, The government is wrong to think that salary cuts can pressure Hamas. This explains the employees anger with the government and the PA."

Ibrahim Abrash, a writer, political analyst and political science professor at Al-Azhar University, considers the salary deduction part of the internal political struggle, aiming to put pressure on Hamas, which is currently running the Gaza Strip.

As for the governments ability to pressure Hamas, Abrash said, The fact that the PA did not offer any clarifications to the employees as to why it made such a decision would put the PA, not Hamas, in a difficult situation. He was referring to the government's selective decision to target Gaza employees and not PA employees in the West Bank.

Although there is a consensus that the governments decision is a political one, the move seems to be the first step taken by the PA in its effort to end Hamas control in the Gaza Strip. In line with this decision, Fatahs Central Committee on April 8 formed a six-member committee headed by Fatahs deputy leader, Mahmoud al-Aloul. The committee is slated to visit the Gaza Strip in the next few days to meet with Hamas, hoping to reach a clear understanding and find a final solution for the Strips problems.

Fayez Abu Aita, Fatahs spokesman and deputy secretary-general of its Revolutionary Council, told Al-Monitor, The committee, which is expected to visit Gaza in the coming days, seeks to obtain clear and honest responses from Hamas concerning the partys readiness to implement the previous mutual agreements [between Fatah and Hamas] and abolish the measures it had taken [in reference to Gazas administrative committee], so that the Palestinian government can operate in the Gaza Strip.

The Saudi Elaph website indicated April 10 that Abbas has laid out five conditions to discuss with Hamas for approval or rejection. The conditions are: Dissolve the recently established administrative committee; hand over the administration of border crossings and ministries to the consensus government headed by Hamdallah and enable its work; hold legislative and presidential elections; abolish all the decisions adopted by Hamas lawmakers in Gaza; and commit to the Qatari initiative items stipulating the establishment of a national unity government. The Qatari initiative proposed ways to solve the problems related to the reconciliation, namely those related to the Gaza employees appointed by Hamas following the division, activating the Palestinian Legislative Council and holding a session with the presence of all parliament members, and forming a government of national unity to pave the way for elections.

With regard to the Fatah committees visit to Gaza and the items to be presented, Moussa said, Let President Abbas keep those conditions to himself, as he is never sure about anything. He must understand one thing, which is not to address Gaza with conditions.

The PAs decision to cut its civil servants salaries was just the first reaction to Hamas creation of the administrative committee to run the Gaza Strip. This move was followed by the decision of Fatahs Central Committee to send a delegation to Gaza, exposing the Hamas-Fatah relations to different narratives, such as ending the 10-year division, turning the division into a separation or keeping the situation as it is. The upcoming days should bear the answer.
April 19, 2017

AL-BAB, Syria  The city of al-Bab, located 38 kilometers (roughly 24 miles) northeast of Aleppo, has come back to life following months of bombings and battles that ended with the Islamic States withdrawal Feb. 23. The city subsequently fell under the control of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) as part of Operation Euphrates Shield launched on Aug. 24.

In a statement April 17, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that this operation will not be the first  nor the last  in the region.

There are several FSA checkpoints on the way to al-Bab, and the destruction becomes more evident upon entering the city, where bulldozers and trucks are actively removing the piles of rubble and residents are repairing their properties and homes.

IS insisted on clinging to al-Bab, given its strategic importance; al-Bab, which is densely populated, would provide IS with enough fighters who were recruited after undergoing Sharia training. This led the city to witness continuous fighting from December into February amid heavy Turkish aircraft and artillery bombings, Russian aircraft attacks and raids by the US-led international coalition.

The sounds of motorbikes, a frequently used means of transportation in the city center, are a constant as civil defense members remove rubble from the roads. Abu Kamal sweeps up stones and broken glass in front of his empty shop, of which only shabby shelves remain. While the structure of his shop was not much affected by the shelling, the top floor of his house was. One of the rooms is destroyed and extensive damage has been caused to the building overall.

Abu Kamal told Al-Monitor, The country is ours and only we can rebuild it.

He said, I was displaced to the town of Azaz, 40 kilometers north of Aleppo, where I stayed for four months. Today  and despite all the piled-up rubble  I am happy to be back home.

Asked about the challenges lying ahead in al-Bab, he said, Most houses need repairs and many people cannot afford such repairs, especially considering that there are houses that are badly damaged. The lack of water, medical services and generators made many residents hesitate to return to the city."

As the regime has been cutting off the Euphrates River flow to the city ever since it took control of al-Khafsa station March 8, residents have been forced to rely on water tanks filled from wells.

While many shops in city markets had reopened their doors  including wholesale stores, shops selling gas cylinders, pharmacies and bakeries  activity was limited in comparison with the usual commercial and industrial activity, considering that al-Bab is one of the most populous cities in Aleppo province.

There is no accurate census of the current population in al-Bab because of the constant inflow and outflow of people. However, the head of the city's local council, Jamal Osman, estimated that the city now counts more than 50,000 residents, much lower than what it was before IS seized it in January 2014.

The council was established March 7, and it consists of 13 offices overseeing the provision of various services to the city, in coordination with international and local organizations as well as the Turkish government.

Osman said that six wells have been dug and that water is being pumped into them to provide a water supply as a temporary solution to the water crisis and the regime water cuts.

Osman said Al-Hikmah Hospital is being reconstructed and is expected to open in the coming weeks. He said that the Turkish government approved a project to establish a public hospital near the city, and that this hospital will accommodate 200 beds.

The Turkish government is paying close attention to al-Bab, and this is reflected by Turkish official delegations visiting the city on a daily basis to assess the damage and needs and carry out educational, medical and service-related projects. The Turkish government is working on the rehabilitation of nine schools in al-Bab while supplying them with all the necessary books and supplies.

Ahmed Karaz, the director of the city council's educational office, told Al-Monitor that four schools are operating beyond capacity in the city while four others are expected to start operating in the coming weeks.

Turkey believes that al-Bab can serve as a haven for displaced Syrians due to the large residential areas stretching from the city and the towns liberated by Operation Euphrates Shield over an area of 30 square kilometers. In this regard, Turkeys Gaziantep Mayor Fatma Sahin said in a statement April 6 that she was optimistic that al-Bab would be cleaned up from IS, which, she added, would lead to a win-win situation.

While Syrians will return to their country, we [Turkey] will no longer find terrorists on our borders and the burden of refugees will be alleviated, she said.

Osman said at least 5,000 Syrians have returned from Turkey and settled in the city of al-Bab.

A committee consisting of a Turkish engineering team and Syrian engineers is removing damaged buildings that could affect public safety and cannot be reconstructed. The committee is also removing other damaged buildings if and when their owners request their removal.

We have received promises from the Turkish government that it would help those who have been displaced from their homes by providing them with an apartment in a suburb that the Turkish government will build adjacent to al-Bab. This promise, however, is yet to materialize, Osman said.

Osman said the suburb  which will accommodate 80,000 people according to some reports  is likely to be built near Jabal al-Deir, 4 kilometers northeast of al-Bab. He said there are other options that the Turkish government is considering such as the town of Nadah, which is close to al-Rai town to the north of al-Bab.
April 19, 2017

WASHINGTON  In a kind of reverse Dr. Strangelove, the Donald Trump administration certified to Congress April 18 that Iran is complying with the landmark nuclear deal, while saying it is undertaking a review of whether waiving the relevant US sanctions next month advances US national security interests. The action, made in a letter from US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan April 18, suggests that the Trump administration may be moving unenthusiastically to uphold and enforce the Iran nuclear deal, while looking to pressure Iran on areas not covered by the nuclear accord, including Irans ballistic missile program, human rights and what the United States considers Irans destabilizing actions in the region.

While the Trump administration is conducting a comprehensive review of its Iran policy, Tillerson expressed dissatisfaction that the JCPOA does not address a long list of grievances the United States has with Iran's behavior.

"The JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] fails to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran," but only delays it, Tillerson said in a live statement to the press April 19. It "completely ignored all of the other serious threats Iran poses."

"Iran spends its treasure and time disrupting peace," Tillerson said.

In grudgingly certifying that Iran is abiding by the terms of the JCPOA, the Trump administration signaled it may be coming to understand the merits of preserving the nuclear accord, at least for now, while viewing Iran as a hostile and destabilizing actor on other fronts, including in supporting the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The Trump administration seems inclined to keep JCPOA implementation, while increasing the pressure on other areas, a European diplomat, speaking not for attribution, told Al-Monitor April 19.

I think this is a measure of backing down, Richard Nephew, a former member of the US Iran nuclear deal negotiating team, told Al-Monitor, referring to the Trump administration easing off campaign talk of potentially ripping up the nuclear deal, which Trump has repeatedly called the worst deal ever negotiated.

But I also dont see this as a victory, Nephew, now with Columbia University, continued. The real question is what they do on the side. Trying to tinker with the deal, or renegotiate aspects of it, and pushing back on Iran on other fronts too hard could be damaging too, he said.

The White House said Trump had directed the National Security Council (NSC) to conduct a review within the next 90 days to determine if upholding the United States end of the JCPOA in terms of renewing relevant nuclear-related sanctions waivers advances US national security interests. (One set of JCPOA-related sanctions waivers, for the Iran Freedom Counterproliferation Act, expires in May. Others do not expire until June, trade lawyer Douglas Jacobson said.)

The president is directing the National Security Council to lead an interagency review of the plan and evaluate whether suspension [of] sanctions  pursuant to the JCPOA are in the vital interests of our national security, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told journalists at a press briefing April 19. The letter clearly lays out what the president is going to do to make sure that theyre living up to their agreement.

As they do a review, they have had people from the intelligence community and Europe, maybe people from Asia, telling them, Dont do this. That would be bad for us for the following reasons. And they are willing to be swayed, Nephew said of the Trump administration being advised by allies and internally to avoid actions that would potentially collapse the deal.

While the White House said the NSC review would determine if the United States should waive the relevant nuclear-related sanctions next month, experts said the certification made it likely the United States was planning to do so. One set of sanctions waivers expire around May 18, the day before Irans presidential elections, in which Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has made reaching the nuclear deal with six world powers a centerpiece of his re-election campaign.

I think they are going to renew them, Nephew said of the sanctions waivers. It would be very difficult for them to now, after the [certification] today, not do the waivers.

The certification does keep Congress from initiating its own 60-day review of whether to reimpose sanctions, experts said.

The fact that the Trump administration is laying the groundwork to uphold and strictly enforce the nuclear accord versus trying to sabotage it shows the alternatives are worse, said Iran expert Ali Vaez. But the apparent plan to look for ways to pressure Iran outside the deal is not without risk.

Both the administration and Congress have realized that killing a deal that is working and the rest of the world is highly satisfied with would put the United States in a weaker, not stronger, position to reshape Irans regional policies through coercive diplomacy, Vaez, a senior Iran expert with the International Crisis Group, told Al-Monitor. Failing to renew the waivers will constitute a clear-cut violation of the JCPOA.

He said, The same calculus that brought the two sides to compromise after 13 years of standoff and two years of negotiations still holds: The alternatives to this agreement would be much worse."

Vaez warned, The problem with the administration's emerging strategy  i.e., to keep the deal and push back Iran on other fronts  is that because of the inherent linkage between the nuclear and non-nuclear issues and the indiscriminate nature of effective sanctions, a spillover effect that erodes the JCPOA will be inevitable."

The conundrum is that without addressing the broader political antagonism between Tehran and Washington, the JCPOA at best will remain fragile and its implementation halting, but without full implementation, resolving the underlying political antagonism may prove impossible, he said.

Diplomats from the United States, Iran, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union, which comprise the Joint Commission overseeing implementation of the JCPOA, are expected to meet in Vienna April 25.
April 19, 2017

Turkish voters' narrow approval of an executive presidency April 16 will weaken the separation of powers, render control mechanisms useless and significantly influence the direction of the country's foreign policies.

The disputed 51% yes vote can't contribute to building new bridges to Europe. The amendments contradict the spirit of European Union criteria. Allegations by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that the voting was not just and transparent instantly produced a new breaking point in already-fragile Europe-Turkey relations. It certainly will not be easy for EU members to sustain their policy of keeping Turkey pacified.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been declaring his struggle against the West's "crusader mentality" and its local affiliates, and who increasingly relies on nationalist rhetoric, may feel confident enough to further endanger Turkeys accession to EU membership. He already displayed an ominous sign of his mindset about the EU in his remarks about reinstating capital punishment in Turkey as he was delivering his victory speech after the vote.

The referendum, which gives rise to fresh debate with the West, is also likely to affect Turkey's relations with the East, especially the Middle East.

There are still those in the region, perhaps not as many as before, who are mesmerized by what they see as Turkey's taking on the West, who praise Erdogan as the voice of the Islamic nation and who are indebted to Turkeys support during the Arab Spring rebellions in 2011. In Turkey, pro-government media led by the state-owned Anadolu Agency unabashedly played up some congratulatory messages coming from this segment under the headline World leaders congratulate Erdogan on referendum win.

But who were these world leaders? Aside from the not-unexpected approval of Russia and the much-questioned congratulatory call from US President Donald Trump, positive responses from "world leaders" were notably lacking.

In the Middle East, kudos came from Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Iraqi Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi, Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and leader of Tunisia's Ennahda movement Rachid Ghannouchi.

Other congratulatory messages arrived from the Muslim world. Ali Qaradaghi, the secretary-general of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, said, I congratulate the Turkish people for their choice. I hope the Turkish government and people will continue to provide benevolent services to the Muslim nation. From the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood came, "The Turkish people have given a new lesson in democracy to the world.

The most fervent praise of this controversial victory came from Syria. Sending greetings to Erdogan were rebel group Ahrar al-Sham, which was set up by some former notable al-Qaeda members; Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, part of al-Qaedas Syria extension Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra); Jaish al-Islam, linked to Saudi Arabia; and the Sultan Murad Brigade, which is controlled by Turkish intelligence.

Umran Muhammed, a press official for Ahrar al-Sham, wrote, "We wish the greatest success to our brother Erdogan and all those who strive for the advancement of Turkey and the Muslim world." The group's general command said, This success is an important step that will help Turkey stand up against the injustice and cruelty in our region.

Jaish al-Islam said, We deeply congratulate our Turkish brothers and the government for their step toward independence and a strong Turkey. Spokesman Ziad al-Attar of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham said, What makes the Muslim Turkish nation happy, makes us happy. If they are saddened, we are saddened too. That they stood by Syrian people in their revolution is the best evidence of the strength of the Islamic kinship between two peoples.

Most of the Islamist movements in Turkey also bestowed upon Erdogan the title "Leader of the [Muslim] Nation," which Erdogan very much enjoys.

In reality, the main reason for the credit Erdogan received from the Muslim world was his leadership when Turkey launched accession negotiations with the EU in 2005. Those taking the pulse of the Arab world in those days realized how a Turkey heading for Europe created excitement. This support withered in time and changed course after 2011.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), believing that the Muslim Brotherhood would be the sole alternative in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings, focused its attention on Islamist segments. The Syrian crisis drew Turkey in as the main supporter of Sunni-Salafi jihadi groups. Naturally, Turkeys relations with the Islamic world shrank somewhat when Turkey began focusing mostly on the Sunnis and especially the Muslim Brotherhood. It now appears that those groups are rekindling their hopes with Erdogan.

But there are other facts of life that tell us Turkey's foreign policy cant be reshaped by a simple affinity with the Brotherhood, and that aspirations such as leading the Muslim world will not pan out.

In distancing itself from the West, Turkey sees the value of partnership with Russia. Erdogan's senior adviser, Yigit Bulut, immediately after the referendum pointed to Russia as the way to go, saying, We have to cooperate with Russia. Problems will definitely be solved.

Russia also sees the amendments' approval as a positive outcome. President Vladimir Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said, The referendum is an internal affair of sovereign Turkey. Everyone must respect the decision of the Turkish people. This was followed by Putins endorsement.

Turkey's partnership with Russia will soon become evident  in Syria. Although economic considerations led to improved Turkey-Russia relations, it appears Turkey must undertake a realistic change in its Syria policy. Not many expect Russia's approval of the referendum results to solidify confidence between the two countries.

A true honeymoon between Ankara and Moscow would require Turkey to coordinate its foreign policy approaches with Russia. What will most affect the harmony in their relations will not be the EU, but the attitude of the US administration under Trump.

Erdogan is expecting a new US approach from Trump. But there are indeed minefields in US-Turkey relations. Just to mention a few: continuing US support to Syrian armed groups fighting President Bashar al-Assad; finding a way to end the US partnership with Kurdish groups in northern Syria; legal cases involving the deputy CEO of Halkbank, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, and businessman Reza Zarrab, who bypassed the embargo against Iran; and Turkeys demand that the United States extradite cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of masterminding the July 15 coup attempt. Will the referendum results affect the course of these key controversies?

Erdogan may well have become the single ruler of Turkey. But though his tendency toward neo-Ottomanism is distancing Turkey from the West, it will not automatically open the doors in the East. Some limited Islamist segments might be excited by the process in Turkey, but one can't ignore that in many parts of the region, people fear the Ottoman legacy. Add to these concerns the extreme polarization in Turkey, and it is hard to claim that Erdogan has significantly expanded his room for maneuvering in foreign and domestic politics.
April 19, 2017

SANAA, Yemen  Taiz province is in crisis  a crisis that is threatening to undermine its position as the cultural capital of Yemen, as officially named by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in 2012.

Taiz has the largest number of citizens in Yemen with 2.4 million people, which makes the tragedy even worse in a country facing the risk of famine. According to the National Information Center, Taiz accounts for 12.16% of Yemens citizens.

Taiz is important for Yemens political geography as it lies in the center of the southern provinces, which are under the control of Hadis forces, and the north provinces, which are under the control of former President Ali Abdullah Salehs forces and the Houthis. In addition, its southwestern coast overlooks the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, which sees one-third of oil trade daily. As a result, Taiz has become central to the current conflict, and militants are increasingly interested in controlling it.

Taiz is the base of civil political work, and most political party leaders and founders hail from it. It also boasts high literacy rates among its citizens. Therefore, controlling Taiz would send out a message to other regions that the party controlling it has come a long way in dominating the country.

The inhabitants of Taiz, which is 205 kilometers (127 miles) south of Sanaa, live in a constant state of fear as a result of the civil war, which has been raging for two years now and has killed hundreds of civilians, wounded others and led to the collapse of the health system and a lack of foodstuffs.

Jalal al-Din al-Khoulani, a consultant at the United Nations Development Program, told Al-Monitor over the phone from Taiz, Taiz has become a city ravaged by war and the Houthi blockade.

Khoulani added, Disease and malnutrition are threatening peoples lives. Public employees salaries have been cut, thus adding insult to injury, and it has been difficult to get relief aid through to the displaced and those afflicted.

Doctors Without Borders mentioned in a statement published on their website that living conditions are going downhill in Taiz. Many people have had to leave their homes to escape the fighting and live in temporary settlements in Ibb province or camps, without access to sanitation facilities and basic needs.

Sally Adib, a rights activist who works at Mwatana Organization for Human Rights in Taiz, told Al-Monitor, Ever since the Houthis entered and the war broke out, the city has been living a tragic situation that is only getting worse.

She added, The Houthis imposed an unprecedented blockade on Taiz and took advantage of their control of the citys main ports, thus leading to a humanitarian crisis on the health, nutritional, service-related and educational levels.

Armed Houthis and other resistance factions have complicated the lives of relief organizations, which now face difficulties reaching people in need.

Said al-Salawi, a citizen from Taiz, told Al-Monitor, What we need the most is food. Sometimes I avoid going back home when I cant provide for my family.

In addition to the tragic humanitarian situation due to the blockade and ongoing fights in the city between the Houthis, who are allied with Saleh, and Hadis forces, who are backed by the Saudi-led Arab coalition, an internal conflict between armed factions only made matters worse.

To gain more influence and militants, the armed factions gradually took over large parts of the city and worsened the security situation. These factions agree that theyre fighting the Houthis and Saleh, but they disagree on the gains and regions of control, and they do not answer to Hadi.

Many armed factions share control of the city, such as the Popular Resistance faction, al-Abbas Brigades, Hasm Battalion and al-Qaeda, among others. This has led to disputes and rampant chaos.

Unlike other Yemeni districts under the control of Hadis government, which has a trained army, the future of Taiz looks foggy with the armed factions control and the absence of official Yemeni forces or any semblance of a state.

The situation in Taiz is worsening by the day. Despite the decreasing intensity of clashes lately, armed groups are still occupying most schools. Out of 1,642 schools, 468 are out of service, and 250,000 students out of 800,000 are deprived of education.

According to figures published March 24 by the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, 48,000 people have been left homeless in Taiz in the past six weeks only.

The citizens of Taiz need to catch their breath. Some of them are dying from diseases that can be avoided, while hospitals are struggling amid the lack of medication. Malnutrition is on the rise, especially among children.
Cancer detection may be as simple as chewing a piece of gum thanks to an Alabama company that is making strides in the metabolomics industry.

Katherine Bazemore, founder of Volatile Analysis.

Volatile Analysis is developing a gum that absorbs "volatiles" in a person's saliva that may contain chemical biomarkers that indicate cancer. By concentrating the volatiles in the gum, President/CEO Katherine Bazemore said more compounds are present, which may allow for earlier detection of diseases such as lung or pancreatic cancer.

After a person chews the gum, Bazemore said the gum will be sent for diagnostics to determine if the markers are present for the disease of interest.

"We are committed to bring in whatever investment and the right partners necessary to accelerate these technologies to market because we know people will choose gum a lot quicker than other more invasive methods for diagnostics," she said.

Bazemore founded Volatile Analysis in 2007 with her husband, Russell, at BizTech near the University of Alabama in Huntsville. It was only two years later they began working on the cancer-detecting technology, which Bazemore said should be available as early as next year.

The gum is still in development, but Bazemore said they hope to make the product available to consumers in pharmacies and grocery stores around the world. The first version of the gum that will make it to market will focus on the detection of lung cancer, the second most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women.

Another gum specializing in pancreatic cancer will follow. Bazemore said Volatile Analysis is also developing a pacifier technology to test young children for diseases in infancy.

The gum will have a good flavor and be something "people are comfortable chewing," Bazemore said. She also expects it to be more accessible than and comparably priced to blood tests.

"Right now, our goal is to be able to impact the world and not just make money," she said. "We have to make money to keep making new discoveries but the reality is, we're going to price this at a price point where every person can have access to this gum and to the testing, as well."

The company's cancer-detecting gum has been covered by several U.S. and global media outlets, including Fox News. Dr. Leonard Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, was interviewed about the product for a story that ran last week on FoxNews.com.

In it, he said there have been many attempts over the years to detect cancer early using different products and processes.

"None of these efforts are proven to detect cancer early," Lichtenfeld said.

He fired back on his blog a day later, saying his brief quotation "failed to capture the thoughts I tried to express at the time of the interview."

"What I did say was that assuming this particular company  whose website shows that it is involved in doing sophisticated work on analyzing odors  has the 'secret sauce' to make this work, it would be years before such a gum could be proven to be effective in detecting cancer and more specifically in detecting cancer early  not to mention how often the test suggested a cancer was present when in fact none was there, or missing a cancer that in fact was present (what researchers call specificity and sensitivity)," he wrote.

He said consumers who are "holding out hope" for a gum like the one Volatile Analysis is developing may avoid established, perhaps uncomfortable diagnostic tools, including colonoscopy, lung CT scan or mammogram.

"His concern is that people will stop going for detection and will be waiting for the gum when they could be needing to be treated," Bazemore said. "We certainly don't want to encourage anyone not to go in for treatments or to go for diagnostics."

Volatile Analysis opened research and development lab space at the HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology in Huntsville in 2015. As Volatile Analysis gains traction in metabolomics and aroma and odor analysis, Bazemore said they will continue pursuing their mission in the fields of disease detection, food safety and genetics.

She said the science coming out of Alabama right now is second to none.

"We have had some incredible scientific achievements in Alabama and working with some of the great research institutions in Alabama, including Hudson Alpha, we believe Volatile Analysis can help this state have another one of those impactive breakthroughs," she said.
Bose knows what you're listening to.

At least that's the claim of a class-action lawsuit filed late Tuesday in Illinois that accuses the high-end audio equipment maker of spying on its users and selling information about their listening habits without permission.

The main plaintiff in the case is Kyle Zak, who bought a $350 pair of wireless Bose headphones last month. He registered the headphones, giving the company his name and email address, as well as the headphone serial number. And he download the Bose Connect app, which the company said would make the headphones more useful by adding functions such as the ability to customize the level of noise cancellation in the headphones.

But it turns out the app was also telling Bose a lot more about Zak than he bargained for.

According to the complaint, Bose collected information that was not covered by its privacy policy. This included the names of the audio files its customers were listening to:

Defendant programmed its Bose Connect app to continuously record the contents of the electronic communications that users send to their Bose Wireless Products from their smartphones, including the names of the music and audio tracks they select to play along with the corresponding artist and album information, together with the Bose Wireless Product's serial numbers (collectively, "Media Information").

Combined with the registration information, that gave Bose access to personally identifiable information that Zak and other never agreed to share, the complaint says. Listening data can be very personal, particularly if users are listening to podcasts or other audio files that could shade in information about their political preferences, health conditions or other interests, the complaint argues.

The filing also alleges that Bose wasn't just collecting the information. It was also sharing it with a data mining company called Segment.io, according to research conducted by Edelson, the Chicago-based law firm representing Zak.

Bose did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suit.

Wireless headphones are part of a growing category of connected devices, in which everyday products can hook up to the Internet and pass information from users to companies. Other smart device makers have been accused of sharing and selling information without users' consent. Television maker Vizio settled with the Federal Trade Commission in February over allegations that it shared customers' viewing data with other companies without letting its users know.

"It's increasingly important for companies to be upfront and honest about the data use policies" as more devices become smart, said John Verdi, vice president of policy at the Future of Privacy Forum. "This is a sign of the friction that is increasingly common when devices, like headphones, that were not previously connected or data-driven become increasingly data-driven."

Zak's complaint alleges that Bose's actions violate Illinois state statutes prohibiting deceptive business practices, as well as laws against eavesdropping and wiretapping.

"Customers were not getting notice or giving consent to have this type of data leave their phone to go to Bose, or to third-parties," said Christopher Dore, a lawyer at Edelson. He added that because a data mining company was picking up the Bose information, the small details of what Zak and others have listened to could have been resold by that company far and wide - but it's not clear to whom. "We don't know where the data could have gone after that," Dore said.

Dore declined to elaborate on how Zak found out the information was being collected.

Wireless headphones are gaining popularity, analysts have said. Sales of Bluetooth headsets overtook sales of non-Bluetooth headsets in 2016, according to market research firm NPD Group. Moves from companies to remove headphone jacks from phones - most notably Apple and the iPhone - have also made Bluetooth headsets more appealing for consumers and manufacturers.

Many headphone makers pair their products with free apps that offer customers access to more features.

The products listed in the complaint are: the QuietComfort 35, SoundSport Wireless, Sound Sport Pulse Wireless, QuietControl 30, SoundLink Around-Ear Wireless Headphones II, and SoundLink Color II. Bose doesn't release sales information on individual products. But the QuietComfort35, which is the model that Zak had, is a common fixture on gift guides - including The Washington Post's - and one of the top-ten selling headphones on Amazon.com.

(Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos is the owner of The Washington Post.)

The case is filed in the Eastern Division of the Northern District of the District Court of Illinois.

Author information: Hayley Tsukayama covers consumer technology for The Washington Post.
Susan McKee's career has been about education - for others, and for herself.

And this year, the company she oversees is celebrating its 40th anniversary as it begins a new chapter.

Tuscaloosa-based Pace Learning Systems was founded by McKee's husband, John, who developed learning systems for "unteachable" students. Susan has overseen the company for almost 30 years.

"Nothing teaches like success," she said, stating the company motto. "There's something liberating about the feeling when you realize, 'I can do this.'"

McKee started out in the early 1970s in Mobile, teaching students with learning disabilities, at a time when that was a new classification in schools. However, she felt she needed more education to properly reach students, so she enrolled at the University of Alabama, pursuing a masters degree in child clinical psychology and a doctorate in educational psychology.

Along the way, she met John, who had previously been director of Alabama's Community Mental Health Program for nine years. He went on to work in prisons with programmed instruction, an individualized education program aimed at reducing recidivism among inmates. Taking what he learned there, he founded Pace Learning Systems in 1977.

His plan was to take what he had learned among inmates and in mental health work and create learning systems for failing students. Many problems with children who grow into a life of crime or low achievement, he believed, come with frustration or even fear from the process of learning. That means students have to experience small, steady successes which motivate them to continue learning.

Pace markets its materials for prison systems, adult education centers and students in the achievement gap. But McKee said the company now is also retooling to reach out, via online resources, to home school families.

"We get lots of calls from individuals who just ask, 'Can you help my child?'" she said. "We believe we have the same systems approach which can work through e-commerce."

John and Susan married in 1982, after she worked as a trainer and moved up to vice president. She became CEO of the company at a time when she didn't have many female peers in Alabama boardrooms. While she knew education, it took a few years beforehand for her to understand business.

"I took it and I ran with it," she said. "If you scratch me deep, you'll find it was tough and lonely. I had to work at it. I wish I had had people I could connect with and talk to."

Susan said though she felt accepted by male executives and never excluded, she was aware of a "good ole boy" network.

"You have to be extremely focused, up on your game, persistent and forceful," she said. "That's the role I took. I had my goals, and I was very goal oriented and pushed to accomplish them. I don't think I was overly aggressive, but I was more direct than most women. I had to learn through the hard knocks."

Today, there are more opportunities for women, and women have proven they are more than capable business leaders, she said. A woman starting out in a higher management position should still seek out mentors, she said. Another essential is time management and priorities. She recommends making sure to build at least 30 minutes a day into the schedule for time that belongs solely to you.

"You can get so wrapped up in doing the many things you need to get done," she said. "You have to find a support system, someone you can share and learn from that gives you confidence. You need to feel you do have a lifeline, and realize how much you can realistically do."

Being so long away from the classroom, McKee said, means there aren't as many moments where one sees the fruits of learning in the face of a student, suddenly hopeful that they understand the lesson before them. But when those moments do come, they mean a lot - such as a letter from an inmate about to be paroled from a California state prison who had used Pace materials.

"He wrote to say, 'You changed my life,'" she said. "That's the greatest gift of all, not the monetary rewards. It's knowing that you have reached people. A lot of what you do is by faith, because you feel you're helping people, but you don't know for sure.

"There's nothing like seeing the light bulb come on. It's one of the greatest feelings you can have."
Birmingham's St. Elias Lebanese Food and Cultural Festival celebrates its 19th year this weekend.

The festival takes place Friday and Saturday, April 21 and 22, at St. Elias Maronite Church, 836 Eighth St. South. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. both days.

Each year, the festival donates 25 percent of its proceeds to local and national charities, and to date, the festival has donated more than $425,000.

It takes about 300 church volunteers to put on the festival each year, many of whom get together weeks in advance to roll enough grape leaves and prepare enough kibbee and spinach pies to feed up to 10,000 guests during the weekend.

The menu has remained virtually unchanged over the years, but if you're new to the festival, here's what you can expect to find:

---> The Beirut Classic: Deluxe Baked Kibbee Plate, with baked kibbee, grape leaves, spinach pie, rice, green beans, Lebanese salad and pita bread. ($19).

---> Djaj Mishwi: Grilled Chicken Plate, with one-half grilled lemon chicken, rice, green beans, Lebanese salad and pita bread. ($17).

---> Baked Kibbee Plate, with baked kibbee, rice, green beans, Lebanese salad and pita bread ($15).

---> Meat Pie Plate, with two meat pies, rice, green beans, Lebanese salad and pita bread. ($15).

---> Siame: Vegetarian Plate, with two spinach pies, rice, green beans, Lebanese salad and pita bread. ($12).

---> A la carte items include baked kibbee sandwich, $10; falafel sandwich, $10; tabbouleh, $7; kibbee (three), $7; meat pie, $4; spinach pie, $3; grape leaves (three), $4; Lebanese salad, $3; hummus and pita bread, $3; flat bread with laben and mint, $4; zhatar bread, $5; sweet bread, $3; traditional flat bread, $2; pita bread, $1; Lebanese coffee, $2; and American coffee, $1.

---> Desserts include Lebanese ice cream, $3; zlaybah (Lebanese doughnut), $3; individual pastries, including baklawa (walnut, pecan, pistachio), cashew fingers, mamoul (date and walnut), bird's nest, burma and harrissi, $2.50; and kaak (date and plain), $2.50. A dessert sampler is available for $20.

For a description of all the dishes, go here, and to see the full menu, go here.

Now that you know about the food, here is schedule of the cultural activities that also will take place during the weekend:

---> The Amin Sultan Lebanese Band will perform in one of the outdoor tents both nights from 6 to 9:30 p.m.

---> Traditional dancing by St. Elias church youth will take place on the indoor stage Friday night and starting around 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

---> A silent auction begins on Friday and closes on Saturday at 8 p.m.

---> The St. Elias Cedar Run 5K run starts at 8 a.m. Saturday, and is followed by the Cedar Shake Fun Run at 9 a.m. Proceeds benefit the SUKI (Spreading Unconditional Kindness Intentionally) Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises money and awareness for Rett Syndrome. For more information on the runs and to register, go here.

---> Guided church tours start on the front steps of the church both days on the top of the hour beginning at 11 a.m. and ending at 7 p.m. Self-guided tours take place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. both days, except during the Saturday Vigil Liturgy from 5 to 6 p.m.

---> Caps, T-shirts, cups, cookbooks, coin belt skirts, commemorative coins and other items are available in the St. Elias Booth both days.

Here are some additional details:

---> Guests may ride a Zyp BikeShare from any of the 40 locations around Birmingham to the temporary pop-up black tent site located on the front lawn of the festival grounds on Saturday only from 10 am until dusk.

---> Free parking is available on two offsite parking lots Friday evening and all day and night Saturday. The UAB Express 1 parking lot is at 608 Eighth St. South, directly across University Boulevard, and UAB parking lot 15R is on 10th Avenue South next to the Epic School parking lot. Free shuttle buses will run from both parking lots Friday evening from 5 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

---> During Friday lunch only, free delivery to Southside and downtown locations is available on orders of $100 or more. To place a delivery order, go online to www.stelias.org and click on the delivery order form under the festival tab before 5 p.m. Thursday, April 20.

For more information about the St. Elias Lebanese Food and Cultural Festival, go here.
I refuse to let any man cage me or fence me in romantically, so I have no right to cage him or fence him in. Every man I have been in love with has taught mehelping me become a wiser, better lover. All romantic relationships face hurdles, bumps, conflicts  Why put all our eggs into one basket? [We should] invest our hearts into more than one lover at the same time and do it honestly with all involved. So if one lover backs out, moves away or dies, we may feel less separate, less abandoned, less devastated and more able to cope in our sad loss. I do not own any man no matter how deeply I am in love with him. I cannot make any man fall in love with me. I cannot make any man stay in love with me, and I am a fool if I try to force him!

We teach children to share food, toys and friends. How selfish, how cruel the child who demands that his child friend have no other friends or playmates. We adults can learn to share our lovers with others. We enjoy a variety of flowers, fruits, vegetables, colors, books, songs  Many of us also enjoy a variety of lovers! A good parent can have a deep, special bond with each one of several children. Can someone be a faithful parent only if he or she has and loves just one child?

Were Being Hoodwinked

Dear Alibi,

Over 90 percent of gun owners are ok with common sense laws to stop the killing of innocent people by mentally ill men and boys, accidental killings of kids by their friends, and suicides of veterans and others by a newly purchased hand gun or even more sadly, one borrowed or bought from a friend. The NRA persists in lying about these alarming killings and swears that more guns will make us safer. When, oh when, have more weapons ever made anyone less likely to be killed by those weapons? That's like saying falling into a pit of 30 snakes is safer than falling into a pit holding just 1. If only we trusted our gut feelings, we'd know we were being hoodwinked.

I think about the extremely high rate of murder and suicide in this country by guns, legal and illegal, against and by trained owners, by despondent veterans, by madmen with a manifesto, and cowardly little bigots who wait until after prayers are lifted to slaughter someone's grandparents at their church, by spurned lovers, and by wily vigilantes afraid of kids with dark skin. I think especially about innocent children shot by other innocent children and family members. Heartbreaking!

Every time a mass shooting is reported, more guns are traded and sold, and the gun manufacturers make even more money off of death, fear, anger and hatred. The NRA grudgingly advocates safety training online. You can imagine how effective that is; most skim the manual or consult a friend. I count 28 gun shops within 25 miles of my home and Craigslist also has some deals and eager sellers that will expertly sell me on my need for their product. Anyone who wants a gun can get a gun in America. The NRA tells all of us to ignore online sales, gaping loopholes, straw buyers, domestic violence deaths of women and children, and crazy people with a grudge; that is "normal." The NRA sharply discounts the proven fact that guns that are truly safely stored are neither stolen nor used against the homeowner, and they certainly don't push $14 trigger safety devices. They'd much rather you purchase a weapon and ammunition capable of mowing down dozens of people in a nightclub or movie theater. I hear they all come with some sort of useful manual.

According to Daniel Gordis, a writer living in Israela society predicated on citizen rights just like oursOn average, the gun that represents the greatest threat is the one that is kept loaded and readily available in a bedside drawer." He says Israelis developed a sense of weapons responsibility, not merely a sense of entitlement to weapons. He reports that there are more guns per capita owned by Israelis, who are constantly embroiled in wars and deadly conflicts with their neighbors, than by US citizens, who are not at war with our neighbors, yet Americans are killing other Americans at 33 times their rate. Alarming!

Apparently, a pseudo war has been manufactured for us, a fractured and paranoid country, to shoot to kill, by intent or by accident. We've been suckered in by the rhetoric of extremely loud and proud gun lobbyists. If we actually cared about our collective responsibility to prevent senseless killings, we would submit to an application process to buy a gun, like they do in Israel. We might approach gun ownership like Germany, requiring anyone under 25 years old who considers buying a gun to first submit to a psychiatric evaluation. Several families might still be attending church with their grandparents today if we were like Germany. If only we were just as focused as Finland, which allows private gun ownership once a person proves they are an active member of a regulated shooting club, can pass an aptitude test and an interview by the police, and show they have an approved storage unit for their gun, we might not be mourning the deaths of two dozen little kids and their teachers every 14th of December. If only we cared.
A hotly debated bill to require most private insurers to cover behavioral therapy for children with autism is first up in the House chamber on Thursday morning. Concern over costs is once again causing confusion.

HB284, sponsored by Rep. Jim Patterson, R-Meridianville, began as a bill to require health insurers to provide coverage for behavioral therapy.

Alabama is one of five states with no requirement that insurance companies cover applied behavior analysis (ABA), the most common and scientifically supported treatment for autism. In committee, the bill faced stiff opposition from members of the business and insurance communities.

Though it passed the House Insurance committee, HB284 emerged with extra baggage, including caps on coverage, a provision to end coverage if insurance premiums rise beyond one percent, and a mandate to include coverage for children eligible for Medicaid.

That Medicaid mandate, and the costs associated with it, are causing confusion.

Here's the thing: federal law already requires Medicaid to cover these therapies.

It's just that Alabama's Medicaid isn't in compliance with federal law. Alabama officials are in settlement negotiations right now to fend off a lawsuit from two advocacy groups.

Senator Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, told lawmakers during budget discussions that $11 million from the Education Trust Fund budget has been allocated to the Department of Mental Health for next year to cover autism therapy under Medicaid to avoid litigation.

Officials with the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program (ADAP), one of the authors of a February 2016 letter demanding Medicaid cover autism therapies as required by federal law, are unable to talk about any settlement negotiations.

ADAP's associate director Nancy Anderson acknowledged that they, along with the Center for Public Representation "have been engaged in discussions with state officials since [the letter was sent], and our discussions with state officials have been proceeding apace."

In the letter, ADAP points out that behavioral therapy should already be covered by Medicaid not only for children with autism, but also for children with severe emotional disorders and intellectual disabilities. The $11 million being placed into the Department of Mental Health's budget could be enough to cover children in all three categories.

The Medicaid mandate in HB284 "restates existing federal law," according to Anderson.

In other words, regardless of whether HB284 passes, Alabama Medicaid must pay for autism therapies for eligible children.

So why add a Medicaid mandate to HB284?

Rep. Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, said he added the amendment because he is disturbed that Medicaid is "ignoring" federal law.

"It's very disturbing to me that the Medicaid commissioner is saying we can't afford to do it when it's already a mandate and already a requirement," he said.

Medicaid Commissioner Stephanie Azar could not be reached for comment and a spokesperson for Medicaid said they would not be able to respond to questions from AL.com about the settlement discussions due in part because Governor Kay Ivey has not been briefed about the issue.

Department of Mental Health Commissioner James Perdue did not respond to AL.com's request for more information.

After the Medicaid amendment was added in committee, lawmakers asked about costs and tried to hold up the bill until those costs could be determined. Daniels said the talk about holding the bill up was "just an excuse to not do the right thing."

Medicaid costs are shared with the federal government, meaning for every dollar of Medicaid expenditures, Alabama's share is about 30 cents and the federal government's is about 70 cents.

Alabama's Medicaid agency projected the total cost for Medicaid to cover autism therapy services for eligible children to be between $36.3 and $78.6 million, with the state's portion falling between $11.3 and $24.4 million.

Daniels has seen Medicaid's figures, and said he doesn't believe the numbers are valid. "Medicaid can't justify dollar-for-dollar amount that they're articulating," he said. "I take that with a grain of salt."

Autism Speaks' government affairs director Mike Wasmer agrees those cost estimates are much higher than expected. Wasmer said Louisiana's Medicaid program's total federal and state costs for ABA therapy were $18.3 million in 2015.

Wasmer said Louisiana has a similar 30/70 split, bringing Louisiana's actual state costs to around $5 million. Wasmer projected Alabama's share of Medicaid costs for autism therapy to be around $5.5 million.

Wasmer called Alabama's Medicaid projections "incredibly inflated" and said they "just simply don't make sense," adding these numbers are creating confusion and causing problems. "There should be no fiscal note at all because they're already obligated under federal law," Wasmer said.

"I'm concerned that if some legislators who might be sitting on the fence about whether or not to support our bill, if they see this crazy fiscal estimate from Alabama Medicaid, that they're going to be discouraged from supporting the bill," Wasmer said.

Before the Medicaid projections were added to the mix, the cost to consumers was already a sticking point. Representatives from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama estimated that insured members could pay an additional $4 every month to offset the costs of coverage for autism therapy.

Patterson disputed those numbers, said costs to insured members rarely exceed $1 a month in states that require coverage of ABA therapy. His examples included Hawaii, Missouri and South Carolina, where costs range from 62 cents a month to a little more than a dollar.

Daniels encouraged advocates to continue calling their representatives and urge them to support HB284 with the Medicaid amendment. "Do right by the people of Alabama and the children of Alabama because they deserve it," he said.

The House chamber offers live audio at this link when the House is in session. The House is expected to take up the bill at 9:30 on Thursday morning.
Civilians working for the Department of Defense may soon be able to shop at military exchanges.

The Department of Defense is currently considering a proposal that would open the stores to its civilian employees, Military Times reported. Military Exchanges are retail stores that carry everything from appliances and apparel to jewelry and hardware at discounted prices.

The move could bring in an additional $789 million a year.

Exchange operations are funded by markups of merchandise. Commissaries - currently off limits to civilians - are funded mostly through taxpayer subsidies.

The Defense Commissary Agency is reportedly also considering opening up its stores to defense civilian employees, a move that could generate millions as Congress looks at ways to reduce subsidies that support the program.

In January, the Pentagon announced it was opening up Exchange shopping to all honorably discharged veterans. That move covers as many as 20 million veterans and could produce as much as $1.13 billion in extra annual sales, with as much as $108 million going back to the military to support quality of life programs.

The change is set to start Nov. 11 - Veterans Day.
The Briarwood Presbyterian orchestra is seen in this file photo.
BillyBeasley.JPG

Sen. William Beasley during the final hours of the regular legislative session Wednesday, May 4, 2016, at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Ala. (file photo)

The price tag to carry an insulin product at Clayton Drug Co. is $765 for a month's supply, an amount that netted a meager profit of only 75 cents for the small-town store.

But when city hall comes knocking, the drug store will be assessed a business license tax based on the $765 purchase. It's an amount that increases based on the number of prescriptions written each year at the independent drug store.

Alabama State Sen. William Beasley wants to change that. He's also the president of the company that owns Clayton Drug.

And that's raising eyebrows in Montgomery and elsewhere.

His legislative proposal would exempt prescription medicine from business license tax calculations. The measure was voted out of the Senate, but remains stalled in the House, where its House sponsor is a retired pharmacist.

The legislation has pitted the state's pharmaceutical association against city halls, and both sides are claiming that millions of dollars are at stake.

Beasley, though, is undeterred about what some are saying is a blatant conflict of interest. Alabama ethics laws support his position.

"I'm sponsoring the bill for all retail pharmacists in the state of Alabama," said Beasley, a Democrat from Clayton who has been a pharmacist for 54 years. "I'm just one little person. I'm one little spoke in the wheel."

'Happens all the time'

Hugh Evans, general counsel with the Alabama Ethics Commission, said that in general, a legislator can be involved in legislation that affects a "large class of individuals/entities all the same way" even if it also includes his or her workplace.

The only time an ethical issue would be raised, he said, is if the legislation offered a unique benefit to the individual lawmaker sponsoring the proposal.

"It sounds to be me that if every pharmacy is affected, then it's not a conflict of interest," said John Carroll, professor and former dean of the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham and a former interim director of the Alabama Ethics Commission.

Recent Ethics Commission advisory opinions back up this claim. In October, the commission OK'd Sen. Trip Pittman's inquiry on whether he could support a proposal to increase the state's tax on gasoline purchases. Pittman, R-Montrose, is owner of a construction equipment company that could benefit through more road work that could be sparked if a gas tax was increased.

The Ethics Commission said a lawmaker can sponsor, vote on and encourage his legislative colleagues to pass legislation on a gasoline tax increase because it would affect a "large class" of entities, not just Pittman's own business.

Blocked on LGBT bills

In the case of Rep. Patricia Todd's employment, however, the Ethics Commission ruled the lawmaker could not sponsor or promote legislation that comes directly from her former place of employment, the Human Rights Campaign.

The commission's advisory ruling issued in 2015 aimed to limit Todd's role in pushing legislation supported and drafted by HRC, which advocates for the LGBT community.

Todd, the only openly gay lawmakers in the Alabama Legislature, wanted to sponsor and vote on legislation affecting the LGBT community.

Todd has since resigned from her HRC post, and is critical of what she said is vague guidance from the Ethics Commission.

"We're a part-time Legislature and most of us need to have other employment to support our families," said Todd, D-Birmingham. "It's very difficult to know where you can work outside the Legislature. In my opinion, it's clear that if I own a funeral home and I draft legislation to benefit my business but also other funeral homes, then that should be a conflict. It happens all the time here."

Rep. Craig Ford, D-Gadsden, said he has come to rely on lawmakers to offer up their professional expertise on legislation that affects their industry as a whole.

"It's hard to tell someone who has spent 20 to 30 years (or more) doing a job that they cannot introduce or vote on legislation that impacts their industry unless their personal business is the only one that would benefit," Ford said.

He said he's come to rely on Rep. K.L. Brown, R-Jacksonville, to sponsor legislation affecting the funeral home industry. Martin is funeral home operator.

"If he wasn't serving in the Legislature, I and other legislators probably wouldn't have thought to bring those bills because that business is not what we do," said Ford. "But as far as I know, his bills didn't only benefit his business. They helped the entire funeral home industry."

'Ethics law works'

For some political scientists, who are longtime watchers of Goat Hill, conflicts of interest should be avoided even if they are common practice in the Legislature.

"My general thinking is this, a legislator should avoid sponsoring bills where there is a direct personal, financial gain for them," said Jess Brown, a retired political science professor at Athens State University. "They should avoid sponsoring the bill, period."

Added William Stewart, a professor emeritus in political sciences at the University of Alabama: "I certainly believe legislators who are regularly in businesses should not be so blatant as to sponsor legislation to specifically benefit the type of business in which they are engaged."

Steve Flowers, a political columnist and commentator based out of Troy, said he doesn't believe Beasley should have sponsored the legislation exempting pharmacies from the business license tax.

"That is sort of the way it was always done in the old days," said Flowers. "They had a pharmacist handle the pharmacy bills. A guy who was in the insurance business would be the chairman of Health or Insurance committees. There is still a lot of that."

Flowers said he believes things could get tighter following the resignation of former Gov. Robert Bentley and last year's conviction of former Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard for ethical violations.

Flowers and Brown both point to the Legislature's sweeping 2010 ethics reform legislation, signed into law by former Gov. Bob Riley, as something that has teeth to it.

That law, in essence, gives subpoena power to the Ethics Commission, bans transfers of money between political action committees, largely bans lawmakers from holding other state jobs, and limits what lobbyists can spend on public officials for meals and hospitality.

"I don't think they knew how stringent of a campaign finance and ethics law they were passing," said Flowers, who suspects most lawmakers didn't read the legislation before Riley approved it seven years ago.

The law has been criticized in recent years by some lawmakers who have suggested that tweaks are needed, though nothing substantial has progressed through the Legislature.

Added Brown: "I think an argument can be made, a rather credible argument that the ethics law works. We've got legislators who've plead guilty, we have the most powerful Speaker of the House convicted and a governor being driven from office. It may not be as efficient as some people like, but the process and the law appear to be working."

'A huge hit'

Representatives with the Alabama Pharmacy Association and the Alabama League of Municipalities - both with different viewpoints on the legislation -- declined to comment on Beasley's sponsorship of the exemption bill.

The legislation has drawn interest statewide largely because of the ire it has generated from city halls throughout Alabama.

Large cities such as Mobile, Montgomery and Huntsville have come out in opposition, claiming that the legislation could funnel millions of dollars away from city coffers. And smaller cities, such as Daphne and Clanton, have passed opposing resolutions.

City officials also are concerned over a risky precedent in exempting specific products from business license tax calculations.

"It's a huge hit," said Mobile City Councilman John Williams. "A half of a million dollars is a lot of money, especially when you add it up year-after-year. I think someone can logically conclude that if you take $500,000 from us, you will have to cut services somewhere."

APA officials believe the legislation is a fair proposition at a time where wide discrepancies exist statewide in the amounts cities assess on pharmacies. The variation is because some municipalities include prescription sales in calculating the business license tax.

The end result, the APA claims, is that some businesses pay a business license tax of anywhere from $100 to "tens of thousands of dollars."

In addition, the APA wants the exemption as a show of respect toward the industry. They claim that pharmacy is the only health care provider whose professional services are treated as retail.

"We don't believe the prescriptions should be treated like a glue stick sold in the front of the store," said Louise Jones, the APA's executive director. "It's a profession. It's a different type of service."

She added, "You have pharmacies in this state in certain municipalities which are paying $10,000 to $15,000 a year (in the business license tax), while the physician next door pays $1,500 to $500."
At 61-years-old, Michael Pardue, who spent 28 years in prison on three murder convictions famously overturned in 2001, will get another shot at being released from prison for a February 2017 burglary conviction.

During a sentence hearing on Thursday (April 20) morning in front of a Mobile Circuit Court Judge John Lockett, Pardue received a two year minimum sentence at a rehabilitation center in South Carolina.

He was also ordered to pay $500 in restitution in connection with the burglary conviction.

Prior to receiving the sentence Pardue entered a blind guilty plea.

Under the habitual felony offender statue he was facing anywhere from 15 to 99 years in prison or a life sentence that would've included a $60,000 fine.

Judge Lockett's ruling came after listening to 30 minutes of testimony from Parude's attorney, Art Powell, and Mobile Chief Assistant District Attorney, Deborah Tillman.

Pardue's ex-wife, Becky Pardue, 66, and his friend, Donald Connery, 91, sat quietly as court officers walked a silver haired and gray bearded Pardue into the court room.

Pardue waved at them, before turning to face the judge, as Powell began with a recap of Pardue's long history with the justice system in Alabama beginning at the age of 17.

Powell breezed through Pardue's 1973 conviction in three slayings in the Mobile area, escaping from prison three times and finally being freed February 15, 2001 after the murder cases were all overturned on appeals.

Following his release, he was jailed for another 33 months on a probation revocation charge. He was released from prison again on February 28, 2004, then sent back to jail in 2011 for violating his probation during a domestic dispute with his ex-wife.

Powell said at the time of the burglary that occurred on February 2, Pardue had put himself in a alcohol addiction program with the Salvation Army in Mobile.

"Unsuccessfully, because he was caught with a bottle of whiskey at the Salvation Army and they sent him away," said Powell.

At that point, Powell said Pardue was on his own and drinking heavily. He said the pre-sentencing report showed that Pardue didn't deny going into the victim's home, but the entire ordeal was a misunderstanding.

"He said he ran into someone who he had known from the Salvation Army," said Powell. "He comes out of the home and sees the homeowner's father and tells him who he is."

Powell said Pardue gave the victim his information and phone number. He even tried to explain who he was and his reason for being inside the home.

"When the story doesn't check out and they are looking for Mike they find him outside of the ABC store on Dauphin Island Parkway," said Powell.

The Mobile Police Department apprehended Pardue in connection with the burglary on February 17. Since his arrest, Pardue has remained in Mobile County Jail.

Powell said over the past two months his staff had gone to great lengths to find a program that could help rehabilitate Pardue.

"At this stage of his life he is depressed," said Powell. "He medicates through alcohol and has had a very difficult time adapting to life outside of institutional confinement."

Powell told Judge Lockett that he thought the South Carolina Strong rehabilitation center, based in the North Charleston area of South Carolina, would be a better place for him than prison.

"It is specifically designed for someone who fit the profile of Mike," said Powell. "This incident is the first time he's had any criminal issues that did not grow out of his original confinement."

After concluding his testimony, Chief Assistant District Attorney Deborah Tillman began by saying that the state was seeking a 20-year prison sentence for Pardue.

She argued that Pardue's five prior felony convictions would make it risky to send him to South Carolina.

"Why would we potentially put him back on the street to commit other offenses," said Tillman. "And why would we send him to South Carolina to be their problem or to potentially escape from that program."

Tillman followed that statement by saying that the state would not be opposed to Pardue receiving treatment, while confined with the Alabama Department of Corrections.

Before she could finish, Judge Lockett stopped her in mid-sentence. He asked if she was aware of any treatment programs available within the ADOC.

"Do you know any program in the ADOC that's anywhere close to this," asked Lockett. "It's broken. I must admit the ADOC is broken."

Tillman agreed with Judge Lockett, but remained steadfast of her position on the state's recommended 20-year prison sentence.

"This is not a custodial sentence, he's been charged and has escaped in the past," said Tillman. "And he can walk away from that (the South Carolina Strong program)."

After Tillman's testimony, Judge Lockett asked if anyone else had anything to say on Pardue's behalf.

His ex-wife, Becky Pardue, attempted to get up and say something, but was quickly told to, 'stop,' by a member of Powell's legal team.

Judge Lockett said he was tempted to let her speak anyway, but declined and gave his ruling.

He gave Pardue a 20-year sentence split down to four years in prison.

If the rehabilitation center in South Carolina agrees to accept Pardue he must complete the program or be sent back to the ADOC to serve the rest of his original 4-year prison sentence.

If the rehabilitation center in South Carolina does not accept Pardue, his attorney can apply to another rehab center in Brewster, New York under the same conditions.

If neither one of the programs accept Pardue he will have to serve the 4-year prison sentence with the ADOC.

After the hearing, Becky and Connery were happy with the Judge Lockett's decision.

"It's hard to imagine a better place to send a man with such a severe alcohol problem than this place," said Connery.

Becky, who still resides in Mobile, held back tears as she recounted her thoughts about the possibility of Parude going back to prison, prior to the sentence hearing.

"Prison would kill him. He would die in there no doubt about it," said Becky. "The fact that he's come out such a gentle and kind human being is extraordinary. It speaks to the soul of him because he's a good man."
Mobile federal courthouse.jpg

Two people who testified in the trial of Drs. John Patrick Couch and Xiulu Ruan were sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Mobile. (Lawrence Specker/LSpecker@AL.com)

One in tears, one quietly apologetic, two key figures in a Mobile "pill mill" prosecution asked for mercy as they were sentenced in federal court on Wednesday. Both received it, though to different degrees.

In May 2015, agents raided two Physicians' Pain Specialists of Alabama (PPSA) clinics in Mobile as part of a massive multi-state sweep led by the DEA. In late February 2017, the doctors who owned the clinics, Xiulu Ruan and John Patrick Couch, were found guilty on a slate of charges ranging from improper prescription practices for highly addictive painkillers to healthcare fraud and financial fraud.

Wednesday brought sentencing hearings for two defendants who'd long ago entered guilty pleas related to their roles at PPSA: Christopher Manfuso, essentially a subcontractor who had managed a workers' comp dispensary at the clinics, and Thomas Justin Palmer, a nurse practitioner who'd facilitated improper prescriptions and who had worked at the clinic while impaired by his own addiction to the drugs it handled.

Each man pleaded guilty in late 2015 to a single felony charge, with sentencing deferred until after they testified in the doctors' trial. Each testified extensively about the practices at PPSA, helping a team led by assistant U.S. attorneys Christopher Bodnar and Deborah Griffin put together an effective case. Attorneys for each argued they'd had exemplary lives until becoming caught up in the web of illicit practices at PPSA.

Beyond those broad similarities, the two situations were very different.

In a sentencing memorandum submitted by Manfuso, he described himself as having grown up in the Baltimore area. After receiving a degree in finance he worked for an investment firm and then got a job as a drug representative for a major pharmaceutical company. That eventually led him to a job with a California-based company called Industrial Pharmacy Management, run by Michael Drobot Jr.; the company's specialty was serving doctors by running their in-house workers' compensation dispensaries.

The memorandum described Manfuso as an energetic entrepreneur working for a company that became increasingly aggressive, to the point where it crossed a line. It was normal to pay doctors a percentage of the profits from a dispensary operation, but IPM began offering high guarantees as a way of winning business away from competitors. Prosecutors in the Ruan-Couch trial argued, successfully, that because the guaranteed money wasn't tied to sales, it constituted a kickback. (Drobot pleaded guilty in 2014 to charges related to a multimillion dollar workers' comp fraud scheme. According to various media reports his sentencing has been repeatedly postponed, apparently because he has testified in other cases.)

Testimony during the trial brought out that Ruan had negotiated contracts with Manfuso that gave him a much bigger guarantee than his partner. At times he received $80,000 a month from that part of PPSA's operations, while Couch got $20,000.

The memorandum said that in late 2013, Manfuso broke off from IPM and started his own company. But he found himself sandwiched between IPM - from which he had borrowed the money to buy some of its accounts - and Ruan and Couch, whose business he needed if he ever was to pay off the debt.

"The stress of this situation led Mr. Manfuso to continue to make poor decisions in his business dealings with Drs. Ruan and Couch - specifically, he continued to pay some guarantees to the doctors for their business instead of completely breaking free from what he had participated in at IPM," said the memorandum.

Manfuso and attorney Michel Nicrosi didn't dwell on that narrative at Wednesday's hearing. After Bodnar said that the government had recommended a sentence below the usual minimum because Manfuso "was the first one to come to the door [with a plea deal and testimony] and really was the linchpin" in prosecuting some charges, Nicrosi argued that the sentence should go lower still. "He's been candid and truthful, he's never rationalized his role," she said. "He really was the first public break in the Ruan and Couch case."

Manfuso then spoke on his own behalf, struggling to compose himself about the potential impact on his two young children. He and his wife were married in 2015, and he choked up repeatedly as he talked about the unconditional love he felt from his son and toddler daughter, and his fear of losing it. "I'm scared that some day kids will google my name and pick on my kids," he said.

"I want to apologize for being part of something that hurt the greater Mobile community," he said.

Senior U.S. District Judge Callie V.S. Granade said she felt a probationary sentence was appropriate. Where the count of violating an anti-kickback statute had a maximum five-year prison sentence, Granade sentenced Manfuso to three years of probation, starting with six months of home confinement, and a $50,000 fine.

That was below the reduced sentence recommended by prosecutors. When Granade asked Bodnar if he objected, he said without heat that he did object "for the record," but didn't argue the point.

Afterward, Griffin shook Manfuso's hand; Bodnar also approached him and could be heard thanking him for his cooperation.

Palmer had pleaded guilty in Dec. 2015 to one count of conspiring to distribute, or causing to be distributed, a controlled substance outside the usual course of profession medical practice and for no legitimate medical purpose. The charge carried a maximum 20-year sentence, and trial testimony had depicted Palmer as an addicted nurse who actively helped doctors rake in millions with improper prescription practices.

As with Manfuso, Palmer's testimony against Ruan and Couch won a recommendation from prosecutors that his sentence should fall below the usual recommended minimum. His attorney, Neil Hanley, argued that a further reduction should be considered. Palmer had never been in trouble with the law prior to his time at PPSA, Hanley said. He'd worked productively since he was in the 9th grade, had served in the Navy, and had continued to work as he pursued his two degrees in nursing.

Palmer had quit PPSA before it was raided, Hanley said, to deal with his addiction issues. "He knew he needed help ... He knew he was on a path of terrible destruction," he said.

Furthermore, Hanley said, Palmer had agreed to meet with prosecutors while he was still working his way through rehab, and agreed to cooperate.

Palmer, whose powerful build and unusually broad shoulders made it easier to picture him as a Navy man than as a nurse, spoke briefly and quietly, saying "I don't have any excuse for my actions" and that he wished he could go back and change them.

Bodnar acknowledged that Palmer had been cooperative and that his testimony had been helpful, but also said that his conduct while at PPSA had been "egregious" and that the reduction in sentence already offered had been generous.

In the end, Granade opted to slightly lighten the sentence recommended by prosecutors, giving Palmer 30 months in prison to be followed by three years of parole. That follows the 20-month sentence given in March to Bridgette Williams Parker, another PPSA nurse practitioner who struck a plea deal.

Bodnar said prosecutors wouldn't comment on the proceedings until Ruan and Couch are sentenced. Those sentencing hearings currently are set for late May.

After their convictions in February, Bodnar declined to speculate on what prison terms the doctors might receive. But based on the verdict, he said at that time, prosecutors likely would ask for prison terms "at the top end" of the sentencing range.
A resolution introduced by State Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow asking the Alabama House of Representatives to condemn the actions of Rebekah Mason has been carried over until next week.

Morrow agreed to give the House Rules committee a chance to read over the resolution. That committee is expected to vote on the resolution on Tuesday.

Several House members, Republicans and Democrats, seemed uncomfortable with the resolution with Speaker Mac McCutcheon saying it was unusual.

"There is a female who was clearly behind the governors demise," Morrow said today. "We knew this long, long ago and failed to act," Morrow said.

Rep. Thomas Jackson asked colleagues not to be vindictive. "It's not gonna fix anything, it's not gonna make anything better."

Bobby Segall, a lawyer representing Mason, declined a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Morrow on Wednesday said the differences between him and Mason were personal going back, he said, to when he was her professor in community college and she was unhappy with a grade she received. Their differences, he said, continued though 2013 when Morrow contends Mason personally derailed a piece of local legislation he sponsored for Franklin County.

Morrow, a Democrat from Red Bay who has served in the Legislature since 1990, has been one of the most persistent critics of Bentley and Mason since the scandal about their relationship surfaced last year.

That scandal ultimately led to Bentley's resignation from office on April 10 as part of a deal with prosecutors under which he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors involving campaign finance funds.

In the eight-page resolution, Morrow says "Governor Bentley has reaped the consequences of his actions; however, the protagonist of Governor Bentley's demise, Rebekah Mason, has emerged virtually unscathed and without punishment for her selfish, manipulative" actions.

The resolution would also include an apology to those Morrow said were victims of Mason.
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, who rose to Internet fame after her vocal criticism of President Trump, will be a featured speaker at the Alabama College Democrats spring convention at Auburn University.

The convention kicks off with the "Dems in the House" reception on Friday at Foy Hall (222 Foy Union Circle) on campus. The reception, which is set for 7 p.m., will feature Waters, D-California; U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Alabama; state Rep. Anthony Daniel, D-Huntsville, who serves as House minority leader, and others.

The convention is free to registered college students. For everyone else, tickets are $35 and can be purchased here.

Waters, 78, who has served in Congress for 40 years, was nicknamed "Auntie Maxine" after she said FBI director James Comey "has no credibility" (on Russia investigation) at a press briefing.

And, she walked away.

At time that moment, Waters became a pop-culture icon for millennials. She was dubbed the "Queen of Shade" by BET.

Waters told CNN she had to ask her grandchildren what "throwing shade" meant.

During a Tax Day rally in Washington D.C., Waters said there's nothing preventing Trump from releasing his tax returns.

"If he thinks he can get away with playing king, he's got another thought coming," she told the Associated Press.

Saturday's schedule includes the Women's Empowerment Luncheon with Sue Bell Cobb, former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and others.
Alabama liberal in death sentences State's death penalty statute, other factors contribute to large number of inmates sentenced to execution.

The gurney in newly completed lethal injection chamber is seen through a plate glass window in one of the witness rooms Monday Oct. 7, 2002 at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala. (Mobile Register, Bill Starling)

Lisa Borden

By Lisa Borden, an attorney in Birmingham

The Alabama House of Representatives is currently considering the so-called "Fair Justice Act," which would require persons convicted of capital offenses to pursue post-conviction legal claims at the same time the direct appeals from their convictions are being considered.

While this may sound like a good plan to those unfamiliar with the process, the proposal is neither fair nor just, and will only increase the already substantial likelihood that Alabama will execute a wrongfully convicted person.

The proponents of the bill, including Attorney General Steve Marshall and the bill's sponsor, Senator Cam Ward, claim that the proposed law is fair to the convicted person because it will require the appointment of counsel for post-conviction proceedings. Alabama currently does not provide lawyers for poor defendants after the direct appeals are over, leaving them to hope and pray that someone volunteers to take their case. Sadly, though, appointed representation for post-conviction review will be of the same inadequate quality as that typically provided at trial and on appeal.

Alabama does not require attorneys representing poor people fighting for their lives to be trained or to have significant experience in capital litigation, provides them with meager resources that are not nearly comparable to what the prosecutors have available, and pays them a paltry hourly rate that is not designed to encourage them to devote the time required to provide a effective and vigorous defense. It is because of Alabama's unjust system for imposing capital punishment that many poor people are sent to death row after a trial and appeal during which their appointed counsel failed to provide even minimally effective representation.

There is no reason to believe appointed counsel for post-conviction review, where those earlier failures are supposed to be identified and corrected, would be trained, resourced, or paid better, or would perform better. And that's probably exactly what Alabama has in mind.

While it's despicable that Alabama requires poor people sentenced to death to rely on the generosity of volunteer attorneys to try to correct the injustices of substandard representation at trial and on appeal, it has been only the dedication of those volunteer lawyers that has resulted in people being freed from death row. Volunteer lawyers in post-conviction cases have brought the expertise and resources, at their own expense, that Alabama failed to provide. The resulting painstaking investigation, critical examination of evidence by experts, and thorough legal analysis, is what is required to bring about a just resolution to any case. If not for such dedication, people like Anthony Ray Hinton, who was exonerated after 30 years on death row, would have been murdered by the State of Alabama.

It does, indeed, take a long time to untangle the convoluted mess that is created by Alabama's haphazard rush to send poor people to their deaths. That time is needed because Alabama fails to do justice in the first place. The average trial of a capital case with appointed counsel takes just a few days, given appointed counsel's frequent lack of preparation and failure to challenge the State's case. This certainly makes the job of the prosecution much easier - it doesn't take a lot of time or skill to railroad a poor person (guilty or not) to death row if no one is putting up a fight. The attorneys and experts who will try to uncover and correct the injustices done to poor defendants must not be forced to rush through the process too.

If Alabama wants to save taxpayers millions of dollars, and provide certainty and finality for the peace of mind of the victim's families, it could do so by abolishing the death penalty, or by limiting its use to only the most egregious cases and providing real, effective representation for those charged with capital crimes. The current system, in which elected prosecutors charge poor suspects with capital murder every chance they get, knowing that the defense of those cases is likely to offer little resistance, is not just or fair for the defendants or for the families of the victims, who deserve to know not only that the case is over, but that the person convicted was actually the guilty party. Alabama spends millions on the machinery of death. Its taxpayers deserve to have the meager resources of a poor state spent more prudently on things that will improve their way of life.

As an attorney, Sen. Ward should understand that trying to require poor defendants to pursue their post-conviction claims during the appeal process is unworkable and will only result in even more wrongful convictions and executions. Perhaps he does understand that, and is willing to take that chance for the sake of politics. Either way, he should be ashamed to have his name associated with this travesty of justice. The proposal failed in the Alabama Legislature the last time it was raised, and should do so again.
Billy Love

By Billy Love, an attorney who practices primarily in northwest Alabama

It has now been more than two weeks since poison gas, likely Sarin, was used on civilians in the town of Khan Shaykhun. Hopefully, these weeks have allowed people, including those in the national government, time to develop perspective regarding the tragedy and what an appropriate response should be.

There can be no doubt that the images of suffering children tend to provoke even the most hardened heart to want to act. But as heart wrenching as those images are, they must be weighed against the images of our past involvements in the Middle East, and more urgently, against what will happen should we intervene.

In the past century, the United States has been at war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, with other smaller military actions in several other Arab countries. There has yet to be one instance - no not even one - that has not resulted in numerous unintended consequences. The very situation in Syria currently would not have existed but for the righteous American action to remove the dictator Sadaam Hussein from just next door, also in part because of a past use of chemical weapons.

The history is not just recent. Most of the Arabs states were artificially gerrymandered into existence by the victors of WWI after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. These states artificially collected disparate tribes, communities and religious and cultural ethnicities into countries that had no historical analogues, and therefore, little natural disposition to work. Nowhere is this more evident than in Syria, which to this day is a jumble of clans and ideologies that until recently, were ruled by Bashar al-Assad's Baathist regime. The different sects make democracy difficult, but particularly now, with years of bitter civil war, functioning democracy must be understood to be out of the realm of the immediately possible.

The best-case scenario for Syria, then, has always been a sort of tribal balancing act, like an ecosystem in peril that is just entrenched enough to be stable and self-sustaining. Because of both the military supremacy of US arms, and destructive ripples that US involvement invariably creates, America cannot be an active part of this balancing that must come when the war mercifully ends. Nor can America force the war to end. At this point, the fighting has continued for too long. Regretfully, very few seem to realize that several different factions in this civil war, not just Assad's regime, have resorted to using chemical weapons. America cannot effectively referee such a swirling hornet's nest.

Political conservatism, the doctrine which the President professes to come from, can be said to be particularly concerned with unintended consequences. In domestic legislation, often the warmest hearted bills are the most egregiousness offenders, amplifying small problems into larger ones that call for ever increasing government action. This phenomenon has manifested itself repeatedly in American foreign policy as well, as removing world class evil dictators such as Muammar Gaddafi and Sadaam Hussein, or aiding the Mujaheddin in Afghanistan in their war against the Soviet Union, has led to more virulent terror - ISIS and Al Qaeda.

To strike out against the dictator Bashar al-Assad is to immediately, and decisively aid and abet ISIS. Even mere airstrikes, erroneously considered by some to not be acts of war, convert the United States' armed services into the one military branch that ISIS currently needs most - its own air force. The President, in particular, seems to have contradicted his own instincts that formed a significant reason for his campaign's ascendancy. And for the moment, the about face has yielded at the very least political dividends. This too, will be tested by time.

War is the single most significant power of government, and as such, should not be the decision of one man alone. It requires deliberation, and as the Constitution demands, an act of Congress. President Trump should heed his own twitter counsel from 2013, when he so effectively made the case against involvement in Syria. While our country must continue to keep an eye on the situation, cooler heads must realize that there is little for now that can be done to make the situation better.
US claims Aleppo air raid targeted al-Qaeda, but rights groups and researchers say civilians were hit in mosque.

US forces failed to take necessary precautions before launching a lethal drone strike in northern Syria last month that hit a mosque full of worshipers, three separate investigations have revealed.

Research by Human Rights Watch (HRW), London-based Forensic Architecture and open-source investigative unit Bellingcat reveal that US air strikes hit a western Aleppo mosque on March 16, killing at least 38 people and injuring dozens of others.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) claimed they targeted an al-Qaeda in Syria meeting location, killing dozens of core al-Qaeda terrorists after thorough surveillance.

But interviews with locals, coupled with photographs and video of the building, show it was a well known mosque in the village of al-Jinah that hosted lectures every Thursday evening, according to the investigation.

Researchers also allege that the US launched Hellfire missiles at civilians as they fled the mosque.

Ole Solvang, lead researcher on the HRW investigation, told Al Jazeera that: US forces failed to take the necessary precautions to minimise civilian casualties. Based on statements from US military personnel, they didnt know this was a mosque, which reflects poorly on their intel.

HRW interviewed by phone 14 people with first-hand knowledge of the attack, including four who were in the mosque at the time of the attack.

In carrying out the investigation, HRW used research provided by Bellingcat, which analysed video footage and photographs from the attack, and Forensic Architecture, which created models of the mosque and a reconstruction of the attack.

The three organisations conducted separate but complementary investigations into the attack, said Solvang.

Our analysis reveals that contrary to US statements, the building targeted was a functioning, recently built mosque containing a large prayer hall, several auxiliary functions and the Imams residence, according to Forensic Architecture.

READ MORE: Syrias civil war explained from the beginning

Witnesses told HRW that the attack began about an hour after the Maghrib (sunset) prayer and roughly 15 minutes before the Ishaa (night) prayer.

Even if there were armed group members in the mosque, understanding the nature of the targeted building and the pattern of life around the building would be crucial to assess the risk to civilians and take necessary precautions to minimise civilian casualties, HRWs report said.

Striking a mosque just before prayer and then attacking people attempting to flee the area without knowing whether they were civilians or combatants may well have been disproportionate and a violation of the laws of war even if there were armed group members in the mosque.

Four witnesses that researchers at Human Rights Watch spoke with estimated there were 300 people attending a religious lecture at the mosque when the attack began.

After the drone destroyed the northern segments of the building with two 500lb bombs, worshipers who fled where then targeted with what researchers from Forensic Architecture and HRW identified as likely Hellfire missiles.

US forces often use double tap tactics when targeting al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and it would appear that they were operating on this premise in al-Jinah as well.

We cant say that they deliberately targeted civilians, but  nonetheless, they were civilians according to the information that we have, said Solvang.

People who attend the mosque and locals both said it was run by peaceful people, and first responders told us they did not find any weapons amidst the rubble.

OPINION: Trumps lack of strategy on Syria is dangerous

Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said at the time of the strike that US surveillance of the target area indicated evening prayers had concluded before the attack.

He said the building that was struck was a partially constructed community meeting hall that al-Qaeda leaders used to gather and as a place to educate and indoctrinate al-Qaeda fighters.

HRW has called for a full and transparent investigation into the attack, and has asked that all findings be released in as much detail as possible.

When viewed in the context of increasing civilian casualties, both in Syria and Iraq  we are concerned that these are signs of less stringent procedure and verification of targets, said Solvang.

The US is leading a coalition of nations in the fight against ISIL in both Syria and Iraq.

Coalition air strikes on Monday killed at least 13 civilians in the eastern Syrian province of Deir Az Zor, according to a UK-based monitor.

Last month, US strikes in neighbouring Iraq killed as many as 200 civilians in one day.

According to a recent report by Airwars, a group that monitors US-led coalition air strikes, March was the deadliest month yet in the coalitions 32-month-long campaign in Iraq an Syria.

Follow Dylan Collins on Twitter: @collinsdyl
With about 3.5 million uprooted from their homes, children are the biggest losers in South Sudans war.

Kajo Keji Country, South Sudan  With their faces and clothes caked in dust after a long, gruelling bus journey, we are greeted by dozens of hungry and tired-looking rebels at a camp near the South Sudan-Uganda border.

Carrying AK-47 assault rifles, machetes, grenade launchers and even bows and arrows, the rebels, who have been brought in as reinforcements, have no time to rest and quickly prepare for the front lines.





Their commanders are uncomfortable that government troops are only 15km away.

The rebels belong to the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) group, the countrys main rebel group, who are fighting against government soldiers, also known as the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA).

The SPLA is historically a liberating force that formed in the 1980s to fight the government of Sudan. It helped the South gain independence in 2011 but a civil war broke out soon after, in 2013. The conflict was triggered when President Salva Kiir, a Dinka by ethnicity, accused his then Vice President Riek Machar, a Nuer, of plotting a coup against his government.

A peace deal between the two sides was finally reached in early 2016 and Machar reinstated as vice-president. That did not last. On the eve of independence celebrations in July, renewed fighting between troops loyal to the two clashed in the capital Juba setting off another wave of violence that has displaced millions of South Sudanese.

READ MORE: Children bearing the brunt of South Sudan refugee crisis

That is how Kajo Keji, a county of more than 200,000 people, according to a 2008 census, got caught up in the fighting.

More than 100,000 people have fled from that area to neighbouring Uganda. Others, however, are staying at camps for displaced people in South Sudan close to the border.

Its at one of these camps that we meet Jennifer Pitta. She was making bean stew for nine children.

When the food is ready  she serves them a small portion. I know for sure its hardly enough for all of them but she says the children have to eat what they get.

She told us her oldest son was killed in January by men dressed in military uniforms. She was not able to bury him because she had to take his children and run.

Thats what saddens me the most and the fact that he used to help me get food and now I have to do it all by myself.

IN PICTURES: Nowhere to run for the children of South Sudan

On the day we visited, rebel commanders and administrative leaders who took control of the area in December were meeting the community. They were received with songs and chants of Viva SPLM-IO.

I asked Jennifer, who was not part of the fanfare, who she supports  government or rebels? Her answer was one Ive come to frequently hear from many South Sudanese.





The problem is you box us into taking sides. Its either I support the government or the rebels. If government soldiers come here now, they would kill us because they think were rebels. Same thing will happen if rebels take territories the government controls. We dont get to choose who comes to our areas to take over our lives. We just have to co-exist with them and hope they live with us in peace.

The rebel leaders we spoke to say they are fighting for the rights of ordinary citizens such as Jennifer. They believe that the president and his administration have alienated other tribes of South Sudan in favour of the Dinka, who they say control the state.

But there are seemingly no winners in this war. The president and his government are sitting uncomfortably in Juba  ruling a deeply divided nation, dealing with increased violence, a devastating famine, a crumbling economy and an international community that is getting fed up with what looks like a failing state.

The SPLM-IO is not fairing much better. The movement is facing internal struggles leading to defections. Its armed wing is reportedly running out of weapons and ammunition and members of the movement are becoming increasingly disillusioned in the absence of their leader Riek Machar who is in exile in South Africa.

READ MORE: South Sudan  There are only dead bodies

We leave the rebel fighters in an upbeat mood. They were preparing to feast, drink, then head off to the trenches. They tell us that their morale is high and victory is coming.

A week after our visit  I receive a call from one of the administrative leaders, Governor Frank Matata. Government troops have advanced and have tried to take the barracks where we were.

If that happens, it could mean bad news for civilians living in the area. They may be forced to seek refuge in Uganda after holding on for so long to a country they dont want to leave.

About 3.5 million South Sudanese have been uprooted from their homes. Families of thousands who have died are still grieving and looking for answers. Many people are starving because they cannot go to their farms. Children are not going to school.

Those are the biggest losers in South Sudans war  and thats a sad reality.
Paris, France  Plumes of darkened smoke rose from burning tyres early on a March morning in the northern French city of Calais last year.

French gendarmes struggled to contain a rowdy crowd of around 50 protesters carrying banners demanding the closure of a nearby refugee camp and the deportation of all its residents.

Police eventually arrested 14 people, all of them from a far-right group called Generation Identitaire (GI), which organised the protest.

As the far-right National Fronts (FN) Marine Le Pen contests this years presidential candidate as a serious candidate with a realistic shot at winning, groups like GI have attracted considerable attention from foreign media outlets.

GIs membership only numbers only a few thousand across France, but its views sit closely to the far-right National Fronts traditional base.

In an interview with the UKs Channel 4 news, one of the groups leaders predicted civil war within five to 10 years if France did not reverse its immigration policies.

Composed mainly of youths in their 20s and 30s, the group represents the extreme fringe of the far right in France, demanding not just the deportation of refugees, such as those in Calais, but also the repatriation of French nationals of non-European ethnic origin.

While their presence goes against the strategy of normalisation, and needs to be kept quiet, it remains essential for the FN, as it allows the party to send signals to the most extreme part of its electorate. by Aurelien Mondon, University of Bath

After the ascent of Marine Le Pen to the leadership of National Front in 2011, the party has sought to distance itself from the overt racism of groups like GI.

Such groups, however, continue to be drawn towards National Front and those with similar views continue to form an important constituency for the the party, according to University of Bath academic Aurelien Mondon .

He told Al Jazeera: While the official policy within the party is to exclude anyone uttering openly racist comments, the reality is that while the most prominent cases are dealt with publicly and decisively, many members of these openly racist groups remain closely linked to the party.

READ MORE: Emmanuel Macron struggles to impress French Muslims

Mondon explained that tacit inclusion of such groups, allows FN to acknowledge its traditionally hardline base, while continuing to attract more moderate voters through its process of normalisation.

While their presence goes against the strategy of normalisation, and needs to be kept quiet, it remains essential for the FN, as it allows the party to send signals to the most extreme part of its electorate.

While Marine Le Pen may be breaking records [in the polls], we should not forget that the party established itself as a serious political contender under her father (Jean-Marie Le Pen) and his much less nuanced politics.

The Youth Vote

While GIs membership numbers are relatively low, support for Le Pen is considerable.

Polling for the first round of the presidential election puts Le Pen on around a quarter of the vote, which would be enough to get her into the runoff, where she currently polls at around 40 percent.

Notably, the largest demographic for National Front support comes from voters aged between 18 and 24, where Le Pen polls at 40 percent.

That number stands in stark contrast to other European countries, including the UK, where the centre-left Labour party was the most popular among the age group at around 43 percent and the anti-immigration UKIP polled at just eight percent.

UPFRONT: Is France on the brink of a Le Pen future? (25:15)

According to Professor Jim Shields of Aston University a lot of the support among French youth for Le Pen comes down to ideological sympathies, but there is a clear economic dimension to FNs success.

In France, polls show the desire for change to be a key factor in youth support for Le Pen, a view of Le Pen as the candidate most likely to shake things up, Shields said.

Another reason for FN support among the young is that they've no memory of the FN as a pariah party bringing together some of the most radical elements of the French extreme right. by Jim Shields, Aston University

Polls show that she draws much of her youth support from modest households: working class, lower-middle class, he added.

Years of economic mismanagement had resulted in high levels of youth unemployment, little security for those in employment, and reduced social mobility, Shields explained, further drawing a comparison between France and its neighbours to highlight the scale of the issue.

The rate of youth unemployment in France is just under a quarter, in Germany it is under seven percent and in the UK it is 12 percent, according to data collated by the website, Trading Economics.

Le Pen is managing to harness a sense that 50 years of right and left have resulted in relentlessly high unemployment.

But FN has not only struck a chord by promising to tackle these economic woes, it is also benefitting from a lack of memory among young people of its more hardline past.

Another reason for FN support among the young is that theyve no memory of the FN as a pariah party bringing together some of the most radical elements of the French extreme right, Shields said.

The version of the FN they know is the Republican one that Marine Le Pen has been sanitising since she became leader in 2011: when an 18-year-old today would have been just 12 years of age.

Youth strategy

While political, economic, and cultural create the anxieties that allow the far right to thrive, FN has effectively used its youth apparatus to gain as many sympathisers as possible.

Academic Nina Wardleworth, who specialises in French studies at the University of Leeds, noted several sources from which FNs youth vote derived.

These included political allegiances inherited from families and the successful courting of the religious Catholic vote, but most significantly a deliberate strategy of courting the youth vote.

READ MORE: In France, Black Lives Matter has become a rallying cry

I think the most important reason is the enormous time and effort that the FN has devoted to recruiting the youth vote since Marine Le Pen took over from her father in 2011, Wardleworth told Al Jazeera.

They have established various collectifs or small groups within the party machine to highlight specific issues, often of interest to younger people.

One of this is Banlieues Patriotes, a group that aims to win votes for the FN amongst the populations of Frances most deprived housing estates and communities, areas which have a much higher percentage of younger people than the national average.

According to Shields, Le Pens message to the youth is bolstered by the composition of its leadership.

Marine Le Pen is relatively young for a major political leader and two of the most prominent figures in the party, David Rachline and Marion Marechal-Le Pen, are in their 20s, he said adding: The official face of the FN is a very young one.

Unlikely supporters

Wardleworth also noted that in its official campaigning FNs promises applied equally to French nationals of all ethnic origins and it appears at least some support for Le Pen is coming from unlikely quarters.

An article by Politico in January described how Muslim youth were considering voting Le Pen.





According to Rim-Sarah Alouane, a researcher at Univesity of Tolouse, a fringe within the North African community had become seduced by FN.

They used to vote for the Left, but are now leaning toward Le Pen as an act of rebellion: for them, the Left and the Right have failed them and supporting Le Pen is a last-ditch effort to appeal for inclusion, she said.

While Le Pen currently seems likely to be defeated in a second round runoff, if the scale of her support among the youth grows or even remains consistent, future elections will be more difficult to call.
Gaza City  Aiming to rectify the mainstream perception of Gaza as merely a place of death and war, the storytelling project We Are Not Numbers was launched two years ago under the umbrella of the nonprofit Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

Today, around 60 volunteer contributors have found a voice through the website, which features a diverse array of personal stories about life for Palestinians in Gaza.

Our writers write poetry, short stories, fiction and personal stories to provide the authentic voices and stories of Gazas people to the world, team leader Ahmed al-Naouq told Al Jazeera.

INTERACTIVE: 24 Hours in Gaza

Doaa Mohaisen said she decided to join the project in an effort to challenge established stereotypes about Gaza. In Contracts with God, she describes how she found her faith at a time when God appeared to have abandoned Gaza during Israels 2008 bombardment.

Most of the Palestine-related news stories are about how many were slain, badly injured or turned homeless, but these numbers are impersonal and do not hail Palestinians steadfastness, Mohaisen told Al Jazeera, noting that the project also offers young writers in Gaza a chance to connect with more experienced, published authors who act as mentors.

Each day I feel how lucky I am for being a part of this team, she said. It has turned me into a better person, someone who can serve her people and their just cause.

Siege on love and death

The following is an excerpt from a piece by Rana Shubair

The first ominous call came in the morning around 10:30. My husband called to tell me his aging and frail aunt had been taken to the hospital. She had fallen two years ago and broken a hip. Her family was told she had other health issues that meant surgery was too risky. Since then, her health had deteriorated and on that Sunday, February 19, it worsened.

The good thing about my Gaza community is that people stand with and support each other in all types of occasions, whether happy or sad. Maybe thats what I cherish about my Gaza and its people most. For Gazans, family bonds and friendships help sustain and nurture us. So, if you have a problem, you can be sure to find a shoulder to lean on. In this case, the situation was urgent, so I quickly finished some household chores, got dressed and headed to the hospital.

Aunt Fayza lay there numb and helpless, unable to move. I touched her head, prayed for Allah to have mercy on her and left. There was nothing more I or anyone else could do.

The second call came around 5pm, with the news of her death. In Islamic tradition, when people pass away, they are prepared for burial by bathing and wrapping them in a white cloth. Family and friends gather to bid them a last farewell. We were weeping non-stop when suddenly two of her daughters who lived in the UAE called to demand that they be able to see their mother via video. They had been unable to come to their mothers side due to the closed borders.

To me, this was the moment that exposed the ugliness and torment of the 10-year-old siege of Gaza. One of the daughters asked that someone put the phone over her deceased mothers ear so she could speak some last words to her. I couldnt hear what the daughter was saying. Incomprehensible words were lost among the sobs from anguished hearts. At that moment, the enormity of the blockade loomed large in my mind. Amid the tears and wailing, I screamed in my head: Damn the siege! God help us! God save us from this madness! I thought about the many others who are denied return to their homeland and who are not allowed to say goodbye to their loved ones.

Why jello doesnt taste good anymore

The following is an excerpt from a piece by Ahmed Alnaouq

In Gaza, graves are typically lined with stones. Boards are then laid over the top, which are covered with more stones. My four friends covered the grave, preventing any source of light or fresh air from reaching me. It was after midnight, one of those hot July nights, and I felt no fear whatsoever. I was thrilled to be calmly experiencing something that many would think terrifying. I remained in the covered grave for about 10 minutes. During this time, my friends pretended to leave in an attempt [to] frighten me. They were disappointed; I was not frightened. When they discovered I was not going to plead with them to let me out, they opened the tomb and congratulated me, You win.

They shared this story with our other friends for months, sometimes praising me, other times calling me an idiot. But in a strange way, the shared story brought us closer together, if that was possible.

Two years after the graveyard incident, in 2014, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge, a brutal assault on Gaza that left more than 2,500 people killed, 13,000 injured and more than half a million displaced. Ayman, Belal and I spent all of our time together. Our favourite food was jello with fruit and cream. My family knew that whenever my friends and I were together, we could be found around a bowl of jello. Even in the most critical times during the war, with drones hovering overhead, missiles firing and explosions everywhere, we enjoyed our jello.

Two days after our last bowl of jello, I got the shocking news. My four friends had been targeted by an F16 missile. Ayman, Ahmed and Abdullah were killed instantly, their bodies mutilated. But Belal simply disappeared. I couldnt stop thinking of Belal and his mysterious destiny. We all knew he had been with the others, but the ambulance crew didnt find him. The first day passed without any news about him. The second day passed, and the third and the fourth and the eighth and Belal still was not found. Every night during this too-long week, I dreamt of Belal. Sometimes I dreamt he was alive, sometimes that he was dead and sometimes that he was wounded.

Eight days later, Belals remains were found  buried two metres under the dirt. During a truce between the Palestinian resistance and the Israelis, a group of neighbours and ambulance crews dug deep into the ground and found his decomposed body in the ruins of the house where they had all been together. That day I shed no tears; I was too numb.

Three years ago, going to the graveyard had been our routine. I havent visited there since my four best friends were killed. Three years ago  I had the best friends and enjoyed my best days. Now, those friends are gone. And I will never enjoy jello again.

Contracts with God

The following is an excerpt from a piece by Doaa Mohaisen

Faith came when God abandoned me. It took me five years to realise it.

In December of 2008, Israel began bombing us, and God was nowhere to be found. Neither my salats nor my contracts were helpful. I was on my way home after having taken a final exam when the earth suddenly turned into hell. The neighbourhood where I live, Shijaiya, is close to the Israeli border. From our roof, I can see clusters of Israeli homes on land that once was my peoples before they were forced out. You can also see vast empty lands, abandoned by their Palestinian owners who could not hold out against persistent sniper killings. Theres even a snipers bullet still stuck in my parents window, shot towards my mom that month when she tried to look out during one of the attacks. Thankfully, the gunman missed.

My parents were afraid too, mostly for our safety. Twelve days into the unrelenting explosions, we were all depleted and emotionally shattered by fear. by

Every bomb sounded like it would be the one to take our lives away. Every flash of light and thunderbolt seemed so close that I hid under the blankets and put three pillows over my head. But the sounds easily penetrated all those covers, going straight to my heart. I asked God to take me too if anything happened to my family. I remembered the Hadeeth [quote of the Prophet Muhammad] in which three men were stuck in a cave and each one started talking about his good deeds so that God would help him. I gave it a shot and started counting the good things I did in my life. I realised I had done bad things too, and asked God to forgive me for the times I bullied a classmate, went to a friends house without telling my mother, took two shekels instead of one to school, called my maths teacher names, caught an injured bird and put it in a tube, peeked into my sisters diary, kicked a boy who called me short, told Mom it was my brother who ate the Eid cookies, suspected a friend, and the times I put Moms make-up on my face when she was out. I prayed God would forgive my sins and be with me in my hour of need. But I never knew if I was able to communicate with Him the way I used to when I was younger. I almost lost my faith.

My parents were afraid too, mostly for our safety. Twelve days into the unrelenting explosions, we were all depleted and emotionally shattered by fear. My parents told my eldest brother to take me to Grandpas house, located in the middle of Gaza and assumed to be a little safer. There were no cars so we had to walk, praying to be ignored by the Israeli drones above us. We had no idea what might happen, yet we walked and walked because we had faith. When we arrived at Grandpas house, I almost fainted. It was heaven. My uncle got me a glass of water, which I drank in silence. I slept that night, finally.
In 2011, the popular uprising against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad had major consequences, one of which is forcing millions of Syrians to flee the country. Lebanon, already struggling under complex political and socioeconomic fragility, is currently hosting the largest number of refugees per capita.

Marj El Khohk informal refugees camp is located in the Khiam Valley in south Lebanon. Around 500 Syrian families live there under very poor conditions. Most of them are farmers originally from Aleppo and its environs.

When they arrived at the camp five years ago, they were registered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); but a year ago, the registration of newcomers stopped.

In response, humanitarian organisations had to initiate strategic plans to deal with this situation, and in 2012, Amel Association launched an emergency plan to respond to the Syrian crisis, in cooperation with international and local organisations.

In Marj El Khohk, Amel Association is supporting the refugees in covering their primary health needs.
It has been over three years since the war on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) was announced. The US-led offensive has changed realities on the ground, altering the trajectory of the civil war in Syria and shifting the balance of power in Iraq.

After the Islamic State of Iraq, an offshoot of al-Qaeda, announced its extension into the Levant in March 2013, the group swiftly expanded its territory in eastern Syria. In early 2014 it took over the Syrian city of Raqqa, which was made into its capital, and a few months later conquered the Iraqi city of Mosul, where its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate in June 2014. Within a year, ISIL took control of most of eastern Syria and about one-third of Iraqs territory.

The unexpectedly rapid expansion of ISIL and the massive influx of foreign fighters to its ranks came as a shock to Western and regional powers. In September 2014, the US announced the formation of an international coalition to fight ISIL and as of February 2017, the Pentagon says it has spent almost $12bn on the anti-ISIL operation.

In Syria, the United States gradually shifted its priorities  and by association that of its allies  away from toppling Bashar al-Assad and towards defeating ISIL. It has funded the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) and its umbrella group the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in its fight against ISIL in northern Syria and has encouraged various Syrian opposition groups to focus on ISIL as well. Although Russia has not been part of the anti-ISIL coalition, after its military intervention in Syria, it established a certain degree of coordination with the US.

In Iraq, following the collapse of the Iraqi army in the face of the advancing ISIL forces, the US chose to back Kurdish forces with funding, training and weapons. It has also come to tolerate the involvement of Iran-backed militias in the fight against ISIL.

So far the US-coalition has managed to push ISIL out of most of Iraq and it is currently escalating its offensive in Syria. With ISIL defeated in the Iraqi city of Mosul and the battle for Raqqa raging on, ISIL is losing control over major urban centres. Analysts say that as the armed group loses more territory, it will revert to a guerilla-style insurgency in the countryside of Iraq and Syria.
The ANC has lost the moral high ground that it used to have after the fall of the apartheid regime.

The African National Congress of today is a political organisation as well as the leading force in government. The organisation, the government and the state as a whole are in the midst of multiple crises covering broad areas of economic, social and political life. Gone are the days when the ANC represented hope for a better life, cherished by many, many people. It is no longer trusted as the bearer of aspirations for freedom, dignity and a government that benefits all.

It has squandered the reputation it so painstakingly built during the freedom struggle. This is manifested in electoral defeat in three major municipalities (known as metros), previously ANC strongholds, in August 2016. The ANCs share of the national vote dropped below 55 percent, signalling the possibility of losing power in 2019.

Before these elections, the ANC controlled 85 percent of the 228bn rand ($17.1bn) combined budget of South Africas eight metros, while the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) controlled only 15 percent, mainly through already holding Cape Town metro.

The combined budget of opposition-controlled metros after the election is 130bn rand ($10bn), the ANC having lost control of approximately 80 percent of the metro budgets nationwide.

Local government issues did not account, primarily, for disaffection with the ANC, though there was considerable dissatisfaction with many municipalities. Instead, multiple scandals attached to President Jacob Zuma, which cost taxpayers a great deal, were the decisive factor.

Is revitalisation possible?





Can there be internal revitalisation of the ANC through the emergence of a new generation of leaders? One has to ask whether the ANC is open to such renewal, since it currently lacks a vibrant culture of debate and commitment to promoting service-orientated leaders. It has become disconnected from its core constituency and South Africans generally.

The ANC is divided, but divisions are unrelated to any vision for remedying the present or building the future. The divisions  at every level  are based on loyalties, where party members support one or other person who can dispense patronage to followers. These divisions sometimes lead to violence and even murder.

The ANCs transformation into a political organisation based on financial transactions, and the convergence of patronage and criminality, have escalated significantly during Zumas presidency. Opportunities to accumulate wealth are high now with the ANC in government, controlling the state and state-owned enterprises.

READ MORE: Political parties stage anti-Zuma protests in Pretoria

There is little systematic induction of members into democratic ideas and values. This prevents emergence of new leaders committed to values grounding a democratic future for the organisation and the state. In fact patterns of clientelism and corruption are now inter-generational, with those following Zuma also embedded in patronage and being disconnected from communities. As a result, if the ANC were to split now, it would have a very different meaning to earlier divisions, which had strong political overtones rather than personal loyalties at their core.

The time may be ripe for combined action by faith-based organisations, students, teachers, the landless, the unemployed, unions, professionals and sections of business to rebuild the democratic project. by

Lack of alternatives

There is no clear, alternative political message within the ANC. Outside, consolidation of the electoral opposition has been swift. But no party commands a majority of votes on its own. In consequence, in the municipalities won by the opposition, the DA rules an unstable alliance with other opposition parties. The same is likely if the ANC loses its majority in 2019, with the DA unlikely to attain a majority on its own. It is also not a foregone conclusion that the ANC will lose power or fail to form a governing coalition, should it fall below 50 percent.

The ANC benefits from the DA still being perceived as a white party, despite having an African, Mmusi Maimane, as its leader since 2015. It stresses rule-based governance. While regularity is needed, the DA is widely regarded by black people and seen in its actions  for example in relation to housing  to be indifferent to the poor.

The DA also carries baggage from its role during apartheid, when it opposed sanctions and supported actions of the apartheid defence force. In recent years, many former members of the apartheid ruling National Party have entered the DA. The party has repeatedly found itself in the midst of racist incidents.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a fiery breakaway from the ANC, are very media savvy, advancing an amalgam of Africanist and radical economic messages, albeit without clearly elaborated programmes for their realisation. The EFF won only 6 percent of the national vote in 2014, marginally improved in 2016, but it has repeatedly shown that its message resonates with the marginalised, probably beyond those who may vote for it. It has been mainly responsible for mobilising thousands of people to attend rallies calling for Zumas resignation.

Shadow of its former self





The ANC may well continue to exist for some time, albeit with a lower influence on political power and in the field of political ideas. But it will be a shadow of its former self in terms of the moral weight it carries, in a similar way to the Congress Party of India. Some believe that the ANC can self-correct but it is unclear what it is that those advocating correction mean. There is continual reference to the ANC of the past, a supposed golden era. One cannot recover the past, nor is it automatically viable to look for answers today from what was done in the past.

An alternative configuration of forces should not be looked for purely within the electoral system. NGOs have been prominent in actions against the government, sometimes winning important legal victories for the public and vulnerable communities. But NGOs do not have an organised membership. There are a few social movements with organised membership that operate on a sustained basis in South Africa and these are important to monitor.

OPINION: What can Ghana teach South Africa about neocolonialism?

Nevertheless, conditions may exist for a broad movement to revitalise democracy. The unhappiness with what the Zuma-led government has done to the country has resulted in some commonality in grievances, articulated by the poor as well as the wealthy. There are differences of ideology and broader programmes between those relating to these constituencies. But there is also agreement on the need for clean government and respect for constitutionalism.

Recently formed organisations have rallied for Zumas resignation. There is not yet any platform advancing what a broad, diverse range of forces may agree on. But the time may be ripe for combined action by faith-based organisations, students, teachers, the landless, the unemployed, unions, professionals and sections of business to rebuild the democratic project.

Raymond Suttner is a political analyst and professor attached to Rhodes University and the University of South Africa. He served lengthy periods in prison and under house arrest for underground and public anti-apartheid activities. His prison memoir Inside Apartheids Prison will be reissued with a new introduction covering his more recent life outside the ANC in May. He blogs at raymondsuttner.com.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Henrique Capriles has rejected a ruling that prevents him from challenging President Nicolas Maduro in 2018 polls.

Venezuelan authorities have banned top opposition leader Henrique Capriles from running for office for 15 years, the latest move in an increasingly tense power struggle in the crisis-hit country. The move effectively bans Capriles from running against Maduro in a general election due next year.

The ruling said that the sanction was due to administrative irregularities by Capriles in his post as governor.

The 44-year-old Capriles has been the most prominent leader of Venezuelas opposition over the past decade, twice coming close to winning the presidency.

He is also one of the most vocal politicians against the current government and a strong critic of the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice to take over the opposition-led Congress legislative powers.

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.

WATCH  Henrique Capriles: I am a democrat (25:00)

Early years

The descendant of immigrants from Europe, Capriles father had Dutch roots, while the family on his mothers side fled Poland after the Holocaust.

His upper-class family owns major stakes in newspapers, cinemas and other businesses.

Like political candidates the world over, Capriles, 40, tries to focus on his humble roots, making promises about reducing poverty and social inclusion.

I come from a working family. My grandparents arrived in Venezuela with nothing. I come from a family that worked hard, and were dedicated to give the best to this country, Capriles told a local newspaper. As a child, I learned to push myself to get things. I worked since I was 11 years old.

Capriles supporters tout his motivation. He is a person that works 24 hours, 365 days a year, Adriana DElia, the former governor of Miranda state, told Al Jazeera. It is difficult to keep up with him.

His detractors consider him a fresh face for Venezuelas old elite, a politician who acts like a champion of democracy but who is happy to subvert the will of the people when it fits his own ends.

Coup claims

Capriles was accused of participating in a 2002 coup attempt against the countrys elected government.

Critics say he was complicit with violent protesters at the Cuban consulate in Baruta, where opposition attackers thought members of Chavezs inner circle were hiding.

After Chavez foiled the coup with the help of loyal army officers, Capriles was detained for 119 days, but was later released after being absolved in court.

Unfair jail sentences are twice the burden, Capriles said on his website.

Prison has had a lasting impact on the candidate, former colleagues said. I am sure that the experience made him tougher, said DElia, who has known Capriles for more than a decade.

After overcoming his legal problems, Capriles ran for governor of Miranda state in 2008 and won, he is currently governor of the state, which surrounds Caracas.

He compares his political approach with that of former Brazilian president Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, who promoted pro-business policies, while also developing and funding social programmes.
Ruling that one drug in the US states lethal injection mix cannot be used upends controversial execution schedule.

Arkansas suffered two more setbacks in its unprecedented bid to carry out eight executions this month with the states highest court granting a reprieve to an inmate scheduled to die on Thursday and a county court saying the state cannot use one of its lethal injection drugs in any executions.

While both of Wednesdays rulings could be overturned, Arkansas now faces an uphill battle to execute any inmates before the end of April, when another of its drugs expires.

The state originally set eight executions to occur over an 11-day period in April, which would have been the most by a state in such a compressed period since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

But Arkansas has faced a wave of legal challenges, and the latest ruling from Pulaski County Circuit Judge Alice Gray over the drug vecuronium bromide upends the entire schedule.

Gray sided with McKesson Corp., which had argued that it sold Arkansas the drug for medical use, not executions, and that it would suffer harm financially and to its reputation if the executions were carried out.

Irreparable harm will result. Harm that could not be addressed by [monetary] damages, Gray said in a ruling from the bench.

READ MORE: The death penalty in the US is like a dying dinosaur

Judd Deere, a spokesman for Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, said the state will appeal Grays ruling.

A state prison official testified that he deliberately ordered the drug last year in a way that there would not be a paper trail, relying on phone calls and text messages, the AP news agency reported.

Arkansas Department of Correction Deputy Director Rory Griffin said he did not keep records of the texts, but McKesson salesman Tim Jenkins did.

In text messages from Jenkins phone, which came up at Wednesdays court hearing, there is no mention that the drug would be used in executions.

Four executions stayed

Four of the eight inmates have received stays on unrelated issues.

Previous legal battles have prevented the state from executing any prisoner since 2005.

Anti-death penalty activists have protested against what has been labelled assembly line killings.

Pending before the US Supreme Court is an appeal by all eight inmates, who contend the compressed execution schedule increased the likelihood of a botched execution and that one of the three drugs, midazolam, has been proven ineffective in rendering unconsciousness prior to administration of the two lethal agents.

Under Arkansas protocol, midazolam is used to sedate the inmate, vecuronium bromide then stops the inmates breathing and potassium chloride stops the heart.

If Grays ruling is vacated by the Arkansas Supreme Court or the state obtains a different supply of vecuronium bromide, the executions of four other inmates who have not received individual stays could potentially go forward.

Arkansas officials have said they are unable to obtain the necessary drug from any other source, and have acknowledged in court papers that should McKesson prevail, all pending executions would be effectively blocked.





Grays ruling mirrors one last week from Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen, who also blocked Arkansas from using the vecuronium bromide.

But the Arkansas Supreme Court vacated Griffens ruling days after he participated in an anti-death penalty rally and reassigned some of his cases. In that order, the state Supreme Court did not elaborate on its reasoning.

Meanwhile, the Arkansas Supreme Court on Wednesday granted a stay of execution to inmate Stacey Johnson, who had been set to die on Thursday.

Johnsons attorneys requested additional DNA testing on evidence that they say could prove his innocence in the 1993 rape and killing of Carol Heath. The Innocence Project filed the appeal along with Johnsons attorney.

Another inmate, Ledell Lee, was scheduled for execution on Thursday night and has a similar request pending for more DNA testing, though a Pulaski County judge ruled against him on Tuesday.

Because [Lee], like Stacey Johnson, has never gotten a hearing on his DNA petition, and has maintained his innocence for over two decades, we are hopeful that the Arkansas Supreme Court will also grant him a stay and give him a hearing on the DNA evidence, said the Innocence Projects Nina Morrison, who is one of Lees attorneys.

The state can ask the Arkansas Supreme Court to reconsider its decision or appeal to the US Supreme Court, which on Monday opted not to vacate a separate stay involving inmate Don Davis.
Canada is on track to see the highest number of asylum claims in six years following the election of US President Trump.

Canadian authorities caught 887 asylum seekers crossing unlawfully into Canada from the United States in March, nearly three times the number in January.

This brings the total number of asylum seekers caught walking across the border to 1,860 so far this year. The new statistics suggest that those numbers could rise further as the weather warms.

Canada is on track to see the highest number of asylum claims in six years, given the pace of claims filed so far, as increasing numbers of people cross into Canada to make refugee claims following US President Donald Trumps election and his crackdown on refugees and migrants.

The majority of irregular migrants are holders of visas for the United States, according to a statement released on Wednesday by the office of Canadas Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

Canadian authorities are managing the increase in asylum seekers in a sound and measured way  To be clear  trying to slip across the border in an irregular manner is not a free ticket to Canada.

Canada passes M-103 motion against Islamophobia

Almost three-quarters of the asylum seekers caught crossing so far this year were taken into custody in Quebec, government data showed. Roxham Road, which straddles Champlain, New York and Hemmingford, Quebec, has become such a common spot that photographers cluster there and would-be refugees refer to it by name.

Most of the others were taken into custody in Manitoba and British Columbia  331 and 201, respectively.

Police said on Wednesday that they have charged 43-year-old Michelle Omoruyi with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling.

Police allege they found Omoruyi driving nine West African asylum seekers across the US border into the prairie province of Saskatchewan on Friday night. The nine asylum seekers have filed refugee claims and are not in custody.
Foreigners will now have to undergo an Australian values test and take a stricter exam for English competency.

The Australian government has announced plans to make it tougher for foreigners to obtain citizenship with applicants now having to undergo an Australian values test and take a higher level English-language exam.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made the announcement on Thursday, a week after he cancelled a work visa popular with foreigners and said that he would replace it with an immigration policy that put Australia First.





Australian citizenship should be honoured, cherished, Turnbull told reporters in the capital, Canberra.

I reckon if we went out today and said to Australians, Do you think you could become an Australian citizen without being able to speak English? Theyd say, Youre kidding. Surely youd have to be able to speak English.'

Turnbulls centre-right government has seen its approval rating nosedive in recent months with nationalist and anti-Islam parties seeing a surge in support.

The right-wing One Nation party, which has pledged to ban Muslim immigration and install surveillance cameras in mosques and religious schools, has made significant gains at the expense of the coalition government.

READ MORE: Does Australia have a racism problem?

Turnbull said that the applicants would need a minimum level 6.0 equivalent of the International English Language Testing System, and a person will only become eligible for citizenship after four years as a permanent resident, an increase from one year.

The current citizenship multiple-choice questionnaire tests a persons knowledge of Australian laws, national symbols, and colours of the Aboriginal flag. But Turnbull said it was not adequate to judge whether a person would accept Australian values.

If we believe that respect for women and children and saying no to violence  is an Australian value, and it is, then why should that not be made a key part, a fundamental part, a very prominent part, of our process to be an Australian citizen? Why should the test simply be a checklist of civic questions?

The new citizenship test will include questions about whether applicants have sent their children to school, whether they go to work  if they are of working age  and whether becoming part of unruly gangs in cities reflected Australian values.

The announcement has alarmed many multicultural advocates, and migrant and ethnic groups will feel targeted, said Al Jazeeras Yaara Bou Melhem, reporting from Sydney.

The opposition party has also spoken about the proposed changes and said that its designed to appease [the governments] conservative base and perhaps nationalist groups.

The new citizenship requirements are expected to be passed by parliament with the backing of right-wing senators.
The Tianzhou-1 spacecraft successfully enters orbit taking the country a step closer to building its own space station.

China has launched its first cargo spacecraft, making further progress in its goal of establishing a permanently manned space station by 2022.

The Tianzhou-1 cargo resupply spacecraft lifted off on Thursday evening on a Long March-7 Y2 rocket from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre in the southern island province of Hainan.





State television broadcast the launch live.

Minutes later, as the spacecraft cleared the atmosphere, the mission was declared a success by administrators at ground control on the outskirts of the capital, Beijing.

The spacecraft can carry six tonnes of goods, two tonnes of fuel and can fly unmanned for three months, according to state media.

It is expected to dock in two days with the Tiangong 2 space laboratory, or Heavenly Palace 2, where two astronauts spent a month last October in Chinas longest-ever manned space mission.

The cargo spacecraft mission will provide an important technological basis for the construction of Chinas space station, according to state media.

READ MORE: SpaceX makes history by re-using rocket

President Xi Jinping has prioritised advancing Chinas space programme to strengthen national security.

Despite the advances in its space programme for military, commercial and scientific purposes, China still lags behind the US and Russia.

In late 2013, Chinas Jade Rabbit Rover landed on the Moon to great national fanfare, but ran into severe technical difficulties.
Three leaders were among 19 members of Sinai Province group who were killed in air raids, Egyptian military says.

Air raids in northern Sinai have killed 19 members of Egypts ISIL affiliate, including three of its leaders, according to the Egyptian military.

There was no immediate comment from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in response to the Egyptian armys claim.





The military said in a statement on its official Facebook page on Thursday that the raids were directed at Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, a Sinai-based group that has been blamed for the killing of hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police.

The group pledged allegiance to ISIL, also known as ISIS, in 2014 and adopted the name Sinai Province.

The military did not name the leaders it had killed in the air raids, but described one as among the groups most prominent members, and another as the head of its Islamic law committee. The third was an official in charge of interrogations, the army said.

ISIL this week claimed an attack on security forces near St Catherines Monastery in the south Sinai, the latest incident in a spate of violence targeting Egypts Christian minority in recent months.

Egypt has for years been battling an armed movement in the rugged and thinly populated Sinai Peninsula which has gained pace since the military overthrew democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in mid-2013.
Army commanders say areas west of the Old City have been recaptured and a senior ISIL operative was killed.

Iraqi forces have retaken two more neighbourhoods in western Mosul, military commanders have said, as fighting intensifies amid a US-backed offensive to recapture ISILs last urban stronghold in the country.

The forces completed the liberation of al-Thawra neighbourhood, Sabah al-Noman, spokesman for the elite Counter-Terrorism Service, told AFP news agency on Thursday.





An officer with federal police forces also deployed in west Mosul confirmed that the neighbourhood, which lies just west of the Old City, had been retaken from ISIL.

The Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against the group nationwide said the Nasr neighbourhood was also retaken on Thursday.

The head of Iraqs federal police, Raed Shakir Jawdat, said in a statement that Iraqi forces had killed a senior ISIL operative, who had been in charge of chemical weapons for the group in Mosul, in a guided-missile strike in the Zanjili neighbourhood.

Air Force Lieutenant-Colonel Ziad Tariq al-Babali told Anadolu news agency that US-led coalition fighter jets had carried out air raids in western Mosuls al-Rifai district, killing at least 17 fighters with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group and wounding nine others.

READ MORE: ISIL kills dozens of civilians fleeing Mosul: witnesses

The largest city in northern Iraq, Mosul was captured by ISIL in mid-2014.

Backed by the US-led coalition, a coalition of Iraqi forces launched a huge operation, their largest in years, in mid-October last year to retake Mosul.





They retook the side of the city that lies east of the River Tigris in January and launched a push on remaining ISIL fighters in western Mosul, which is more densely populated and has seen fierce fighting.

On the west bank, Iraqi forces control southern neighbourhoods and are slowly surrounding the Old City, whose narrow streets are expected to make federal operations very difficult.

Residents who managed to escape from the Old City say that there is almost nothing to eat but flour mixed with water and boiled wheat grain.

OPINION: The human shields of Mosul

The loss of Mosul would be a death blow to the caliphate, ISIL proclaimed after capturing the city in a massive offensive in June 2014.

According to an Iraqi military spokesman, the group only controls 7 percent of Iraq, down from the 40 percent of the national territory over which it ruled three years ago.

The only two other significant towns ISIL still holds are Hawija and Tal Afar. The group also controls territory in remote areas of western Iraq, near the Syrian border.

Iraqi forces on Thursday launched a fresh push against ISIL-held villages there, as part of a months-old operation to retake areas along the Euphrates in western Anbar province.

A senior officer said that the forces involved in the operation included the army, local tribal fighters and military advisers from the US-led coalition.

Fighting has killed several thousand civilians and fighters on both sides, according to aid organisations.
Thailands southernmost provinces have seen a long-running separatist insurgency in the Muslim-dominated region.

Two insurgents were killed in Thailands violence-plagued south after a bomb they were transporting prematurely exploded, the military said on Thursday.

Their deaths came during a night of violence across 11 districts in three of Thailands southern-most provinces near the border with Malaysia. More than a dozen grenade and bomb attacks also wounded eight civilians and officials.

No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, which targeted police stations and checkpoints.

This is the work of people who want to cause chaos. It looks like their intention wasnt to kill but rather to cause disorder, Colonel Yutthanam Petchmuang told Reuters news agency.

Military spokesman Pramote Prom-in identified the dead as insurgent operation leaders.

Thailand is mostly Buddhist but parts of the south are majority Muslim. The region has been plagued by a long-running separatist insurgency as ethnic Malay rebels battle Thai troops for more autonomy from the Buddhist-majority state.

READ MORE: South Thailands battle against the trauma of conflict

Bombings and drive-by shootings are common in Thailands south, where more than 6,800 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since 2004.

The countrys southernmost border provinces, former Muslim sultanates, were annexed by Bangkok more than a century ago.

The military, which seized power in a 2014 coup, has held several rounds of negotiations with one group that claims to represent the insurgents, the Mara Patani.

But the talks have failed to make headway and many doubt the rebel negotiators have clout over fighters on the ground.

The biggest faction spearheading the insurgency, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), issued a rare statement earlier this month restating its opposition to the current Thai army-led peace talks.

The military refuses to talk to the BRN even though most analysts say Mara Patani has little sway over those doing the actual fighting.

BRN has said it will only come to the table if a third-party mediates the talks and international observers are allowed, demands Thailands military has repeatedly refused to accept.
State media says clerical body disqualifies former Iranian president from running in May presidential election.

Irans former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been disqualified from running in next months presidential election, according to state media.

The decision on Thursday was taken by the Guardian Council, a clerical body charged with vetting candidates for the May 19 election.

In a surprise move, Ahmadinejad registered as a candidate last week, despite previously saying he would not stand.

Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had previously urged him not to run.

WATCH: Irans 2017 election

Ahmadinejad left office in August 2013 after two turbulent four-year terms, leaving the country divided domestically, isolated internationally and struggling economically.

In 2009, Ahmadinejads re-election was followed by one the largest protests to hit the country since the Islamic Revolution three decades before.

Ahmadinejads populist approach and humble roots mean that he remains a popular figure among poorer sections of society.

The Guardian Council said it had compiled a final list of candidates earlier on Thursday and that the interior ministry would announce their names by Sunday.
The outsider presidential candidate wins supporters because of his working-class background and leftist platform.

Paris, France  A guard of young volunteers wearing red armbands block off the entrance to the stage where Philippe Poutou is expected to speak.

Behind them, a large screen plays videos of the mechanic in a verbal sparring match with National Front (FN) leader Marine Le Pen at the televised debate between French presidential candidates earlier in April.

The crowd in front cheers and waves the flag of Potous New Anti-Capitalist Party when he attacks the far-right leader over allegations of corruption in her role as a member of the European Parliament.

Those attending are a mix of young and old: North African youths from the banlieue of Aubervilliers, where the event is taking place, take up seats next to white leftists wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh.

French hip hop music roars in the background, making it difficult to escape the well-worn cliche of a political rally resembling a music venue.

Eventually their hero arrives to energetic applause, accompanied by feminist, socialist and anti-racist activists.

They rail against Islamophobia, gender inequality, homophobia and police brutality as the crowd breaks out in leftist chanting.

On ne lachera rien, they shout. We will not let go.

Finally their hero takes to the stage.

They are afraid of the challenge, they fear the rise of the population, it is why there is class hatred, says Poutou, raging against the existing political order. We refuse the French flag, it is a symbol of colonialism and oppression.

The presidential candidate was the star of early Aprils debate between the 11 people standing to lead France.

While his rivals opted for suits, Poutou wore a long-sleeved T-shirt rolled up at his elbow.

The sometimes nervous-looking figure was caught looking back consulting his friends in the audience, but when it came for his turn to speak that apparent uneasiness gave way to blistering attacks on Le Pen and conservative candidate Francois Fillon.

With only 2 percent in the polls, Poutou, has no realistic chance of winning, but his down to earth, man on the street demeanour is winning him fans.

In the front row of the crowd in Aubervilliers ,18-year-old student Ines sits flicking through Poutous campaign pamphlet.

When I was young I supported Sarkozy, but with all of his corruption I stopped believing in any kind of politics, she says, adding that it was Poutou who had ended that disillusionment.

Listening to Poutou, I can tell hes sincere and that he really cares and I think he can really change things.

While the major candidates in the election bring with them experience as ministers or leaders of big opposition parties, Poutou did not go to university and spent much of his life working in a factory.

Those are handy credentials when youth unemployment in the country is close to a quarter and many young people are employed in short-term contracts.

Working class unity doesnt exist with the others, says Jean, who describes himself as a communist.

The buzz around Poutou comes from his clash with Le Pen during the debates, when he told her that she could use her political immunity to protect herself from the police, but working-class class immunity did not exist, that punchline went down well.

The perceived contempt with which some in the media have treated Poutou has further reinforced his position as a man of the people, at least with those attending the rally.

The way he was treated by Laurent Ruquier was demeaning, they made some very nasty comments about him, says Louise, referring to Poutous appearance on the comedians talk show, on which guests and hosts alike laughed at his chances of winning and his policies.

These posh, middle-class journalists were mocking a working-class guy and it makes them look bad.

He speaks like us, and we see ourselves in him.

Despite their enthusiasm for his campaign, there are quiet murmurs among Poutous supporters about the fate of the wider left.

Some speak about the increasingly realistic possibility that they could be voting for leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon in the runoff scheduled for May.

Whatever happens, they do not want the energy that Poutou has built up to dissipate.

Sophie, who says she has backed leftist candidates for the past 10 years says she wants the momentum to continue after the election:

I hope it doesnt go away, we need to keep fighting until we get our rights.
NYPD calls on public to track final movements of Sheila Abdus-Salaam as her widower slams reports she committed suicide.

US police are asking for the publics help as they try to track the movements of a pioneering judge before she was found dead in New Yorks Hudson River.

Sheila Abdus-Salaams body was found along the riverbank near her Manhattan home on April 12. She had been reported missing a day earlier.

Two law enforcement officials say the death is being treated as a suicide. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation hasnt been completed.

But Abdus-Salaams husband, Gregory Jacobs, warned against treating her death as a suicide.

These reports have frequently included unsubstantiated comments concerning my wifes possible mental and emotional state of mind at the time of her death, Jacobs, who is a minister at the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, wrote in a statement.

Those of us who loved Sheila and knew her well do not believe that these unfounded conclusions have any basis in reality.

READ MORE  Sheila Abdus-Salaam: New Yorkers mourn judges death

Abdus-Salaam, her widower wrote, loved Harlem and its people and lived there for nearly all of her adult life.

I now join with the NYPD [New York Police Department] in asking anyone in the neighbourhood to step forward with any information that might help us determine what may have happened during those hours before her death, the priest pleaded.

Investigators were looking for any video or any witnesses who may have seen the 65-year-old in the time leading up to her death.

An autopsy was inconclusive as to the cause of death and required further study.

Abdus-Salaam was the first black woman on New York states highest court.

Trailblazing jurist

Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, who appointed Abdus-Salaam to the states Court of Appeals in 2013, earlier called her a trailblazing jurist.

As the first African-American woman to be appointed to the states Court of Appeals, she was a pioneer, Cuomo said.

Through her writings, her wisdom and her unshakable moral compass, she was a force for good whose legacy will be felt for years to come.

Abdus-Salaam, who was 65 years old, graduated from Barnard College and received her law degree from Columbia Law School.

She started her career as a staff attorney for East Brooklyn Legal Services and served as a judge on New York states Supreme Court for 14 years, according to the Office of Court Administrations website.

The president of the New York State Bar Association, Claire Gutekunst, said Abdus-Salaam grew up poor in a family of seven children in Washington, DC, and rose to become one of the seven judges in New Yorks highest court, where her intellect, judicial temperament and wisdom earned her wide respect.
US secretary of state says Tehrans behaviour undermines US interests in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has accused Iran of alarming ongoing provocations to destabilise countries in the Middle East as the Trump administration launches a review of its policy towards Tehran.

Tillerson told reporters that the review, which he announced on Tuesday, would not only look at Tehrans compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal but also its behaviour in the region which, he said, undermined US interests in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.

His tough words matched those of US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who said in a visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday that Irans destabilising influence would have to be overcome to end the conflict in Yemen.

President Donald Trump ordered the review to evaluate whether suspension of sanctions related to the nuclear deal was vital to the national security interests of the United States, Tillerson said.

Though there was no sign that the Trump administration intended to walk away from the deal, Tillerson twice cautioned that if left unchecked, Tehran could become a threat like North Korea, which is also under pressure over its nuclear ambitions.

READ MORE: It is in Trumps interest to keep the Iran deal alive

In a letter to US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan released on Tuesday, Tillerson declared that Iran was meeting its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal but there were concerns about Tehrans role as a state sponsor of terrorism, Reuters news agency reported.

A comprehensive Iran policy requires we address all of the threats posed by Iran and it is clear there are many, Tillerson told reporters at the state department.

Tillerson said the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers failed to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran and only delays their goal of becoming a nuclear state.

Iran has yet to comment on the Trump administrations review, but Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei warned in November that Tehran would retaliate if the United States breached the nuclear agreement.

Tillerson said one of the mistakes in the way the agreement was put together was that it ignored all the other serious threats Iran posed outside of its nuclear programme.

That is why we have to look at Iran in a very comprehensive way in terms of the threat it poses in all areas of the region and the world, he added.

This deal represents the same failed approach of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat we face from North Korea, Tillerson said of the nuclear deal.

OPINION: What will Trump do with the Iran nuclear deal?

The nuclear agreement, negotiated during Barack Obamas presidency, placed limitations on Irans nuclear programme in exchange for lifting economic sanctions against Iran.

Tillersons notice to Congress was part of a 90-day process in which the president has to certify that Iran is complying with the nuclear accord. It is the first update under the Trump administration.

The next test of Trumps attitude towards the nuclear deal will be in May when he must decide whether to extend sanctions waivers for Iran first signed by Obama.

During his presidential campaign, Trump called the agreement the worst deal ever negotiated and said he would review it once he reached office.

The European Unions foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said last month after meetings with senior Trump administration officials she was reassured in the talks that the US was committed to fully implementing the deal.
Day after Christian governor lost vote to keep post, prosecutors recommend probation and one-year suspended sentence.

Jakartas Christian governor may escape jail for alleged blasphemy after prosecutors recommended probation, a day after he lost an election to remain governor.

The recommendation on Thursday of two years probation in the trial of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, with a possible one-year jail term if he commits a crime during that period, was lighter than expected as he could have been sent to prison for several years.

Chief prosecutor Ali Mukartono said Purnama, known by his nickname Ahok, should be given a light sentence because he had contributed to advancing the city of Jakarta and had acted politely during his trial.

If within the two years, Ahok doesnt commit any new criminal act, like corruption, stealing  he will be free, his lawyer I Wayan Sudirta told AFP news agency. If within that two years he does commit a criminal act, he has to serve the one-year jail sentence.

READ MORE: Governor Ahok concedes Jakarta election to Baswedan

The sentence demand for allegedly insulting Islam came after he was defeated on Wednesday by Muslim challenger Anies Baswedan, a liberal who was accused of pandering to religious conservatives to win votes in the race for the Jakarta governorship.

After his victory, former government minister Baswedan celebrated with groups who helped organise mass protests in the capital against Purnama by praying at a major mosque.

A sentence recommendation is a normal step in an Indonesian court case, and is usually followed within weeks by a verdict.

Quranic verse controversy

The controversy began in September when Purnama, known for his outspoken style, outraged Muslims when he controversially quoted a passage from the Quran ahead of elections for the Jakarta governorship.

He insinuated that his opponents had used a Quranic verse to trick people into voting against him.

An edited version of his speech went viral online, sparking outrage far beyond Jakarta, where Purnama has ruled since his predecessor Joko Widodo became president in late 2014.

The governor apologised but Indonesias highest clerical body declared the remarks blasphemous and urged authorities to bring charges.

READ MORE: Marvel Comics fires Indonesian Muslim artist following controversy

Before the blasphemy controversy erupted, Purnama enjoyed a large opinion poll lead due to his determination to clean up traffic-clogged, polluted Jakarta.

The trial started in December and dragged on for months, with both the prosecution and defence calling more than 40 witnesses.

Purnamas team has accused the prosecution of calling biased witnesses, saying many were not present when the alleged blasphemy took place.

Critics want the countrys blasphemy laws overhauled.

This trial, in the first place, should never have existed, Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera. It is very political, it was used to corner Ahok. Indonesia should scrap the blasphemy law, in fact Indonesia should release all people who are in prison for this  law.

The legislation was rarely used during the 32-year rule of strongman Suharto, but in recent years it has been exploited to persecute minorities, rights groups say.
The digital freight forwarder is scheduled to open more offices in South America later this year.



Digital freight forwarder iContainers has opened a new office in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The office will manage import and export freight in and around the Caribbean, iContainers said.

The potential of the Dominican Republic is indisputable, iContainers President and Co-Founder Ivan Tintore said. It has a dynamic economy, which has recorded a 7 percent growth over the past five years, and a strong relationship with the Spanish and American markets.

Further openings in South America are planned for later this year.

Our objective is to continue expanding in Central and South America, which are two of the main markets for our offices in the U.S. and Spain, Tintore said.

The Dominican Republic office joins the most recent opening in Rotterdam, along with existing offices in Miami and Barcelona.


Liberals believe they are smarter than the rest of us. They believe that ordinary people should have little say in politics, because the so-called intellectuals know better. That is the essential appeal of liberalism to most of its followers. It's nice to believe that you are smarter than everyone else.

But it's not true. That complex liberal mind, so intent on demonstrating its own superiority, has not governed well. Based on the record of the past century, since the time of Woodrow Wilson in America and Mussolini in Europe, liberal rule has resulted in nothing but war, recession, and social division.

The fundamental reason for this failure is that for liberals, with their so-called "advanced" way of thinking, life is centered on the ego. The "I" is always attempting to outthink and overpower others, supposedly for their benefit but actually for the satisfaction of the ego. This exclusivism and elitism of liberal thinking is the source of endless despair for mankind.

Conservatives, of course, are not without ego  witness our current president  but conservatism at its core is a worldview that involves conserving what is of value outside the demands of the ego. For conservatives, a real world of joy and suffering exists outside the self. For liberals, who seem always caught up in the ideology of transforming the world into a utopia  a utopia that always turns out to be hell on earth  the realities of everyday life have little meaning. The joy of 800 jobs saved and the suffering of victims of violent crime by illegals are hard facts in the real world outside the ego, but they hardly register for those caught up in a private fantasy of revolutionary change. Hillary's lifelong fantasy of being the "champion of the middle class" was all about herself as champion, not about working people, about whom she seems to have known very little.

Likewise, because liberals filter their experience of the world through the delusional thought process that led Obama to compare himself not just to one great leader of the past, but to all of them, words lose their definite meaning outside the province of the individual. They become part of a "narrative," and every statement is just a version of the truth. "What difference, at this point, does it make?"

Actually, there is no "version" of Benghazi or the recent poison gas atrocities in Syria. The gassing of civilians at Khan Sheikhoun was evil, and there can be only one response on the part of civilized people. This is a truth that conservatives know but that liberals, who endlessly play around with the truth because they do not believe in the truth, can never really comprehend.

Likewise, there is only one way to view North Korea's buildup of a nuclear arsenal. It is not intended for self-defense. It is controlled by a fanatical dictator at the head of a fanatical totalitarian regime. It is a mounting danger to the U.S. and its allies. North Korea's nuclear program must be brought under control. The same can be said for Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Instead of facing up to these simple truths  truths based on the natural law of respect for human life and the legitimate right of self-defense  progressives have turned a blind eye as America was attacked by al-Qaeda in the 1990s, have ignored North Korea's repeated lies about its nuclear program, and have abetted Iran's nuclear program by signing an agreement that guarantees Iran the right to build nuclear weapons in ten years, based on the groundless assumption that in ten years, Iran will be "different." In every case, liberals found excuses for actions that were politically expedient but fatal to democracy.

Donald Trump is not one of these "smart" intellectuals whose primary goal is to gratify the ego. He is far more intelligent than that  smart enough to understand that strength is derived from a recognition of natural law and, beyond that, to recognize that the abstraction "natural law" is shorthand for the virtues of love, concern, and prudence in the face of the mystery of being. Conservatives are wise enough to know that life is indescribably precious and that evil such as we have seen in Syria is real. Liberals never make it past their shallow abstractions of "equality" and "social justice." (As if one's concern should be limited to social justice  why not simply justice? Because justice in its traditional meaning is too closely aligned with liberty from the state, the very thing liberals are intent on undermining.)

President Trump's goals, with regard to both foreign affairs and domestic issues, are the product of deep reflection on the human condition. To a wise man, it is obvious that North Korea must not be allowed to combine its nuclear program with the development of a long-range missile. The U.N. has never demonstrated resolve on stopping them, any more than it has on dealing with Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. and its allies must do so, hopefully through economic pressure but probably with at least the threat of military action  a threat that may already have awakened China to its responsibilities. The president is a simple man who takes his obligation to protect America seriously, and in this he is wise.

Donald Trump takes his obligations seriously because of his deep love of life, and because of his appreciation of hard facts. Obama's words with regard to the Iran agreement  and to much else  were spoken glibly and deceptively in support of a mad attempt to construct a personal legacy. My legacy, Obama called it. There was a huge abyss between words such as "a comprehensive plan of action that meets our objectives" and the reality of allowing Iran to continue its nuclear weapons program and legally obtain a nuclear arsenal in ten years.

The reality is that Iran will soon have the ability to wipe Israel off the map, and it is possible that her fanatical leadership will choose to do so. That is a simple truth that can be masked only by the mental sophistry progressives engage in.

The same reality applies in the case of North Korea, whose missiles are minutes away from Japan and South Korea. Soon North Korea's missiles may be able to strike the mainland U.S. as well. Liberals speak of negotiation as if North Korea can be trusted, knowing she cannot. There was always a bizarre unreality to John Kerry's conduct of diplomacy, the product of a mind so removed from facts that it refused to consider the possibility of American cities incinerated on the order of some mad dictator. The Obama administration always seemed to confuse "concluding a negotiation" with actual security.

The same show-and-tell mentality applied to domestic policy. Only a progressive ideologue could close his eyes to the brutal consequences of Democrat rule in America's big cities over the past 50 years. Even the slightest observation of reality would reveal how destructive liberal policies have been. Evidence: America's five most dangerous big cities (Detroit, St. Louis, Oakland, Memphis, Birmingham) all have Democrat mayors and have had them for decades.

A simple man can see in ten minutes what Democrat mayors have refused to see in forty years. President Trump has spoken many times about the need in America's cities for more jobs and for more respect for police officers, not for more welfare.

The president is a simple man in the best sense of the phrase. He sees, he understands, and he acts. He knows, as all conservatives do, that words are pointless if not backed up by action. He appreciates the boundless value of life, and he is determined, in both his foreign and domestic policy, to protect it. That is conservative thinking at its best  devout, humble, and compassionate in the face of tremendous challenges and great opportunities.

Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture including Heartland of the Imagination (2011).
Ever since Alexander the Great in 330 B.C. tried to subdue the area of Afghanistan and encountered resistance, the area has been either the graveyard of empires or the highway of conquest. Britain fought three wars there in the 19th and early 20th centuries, suffering heavy losses. The Soviet Union invaded and was drawn into a nine-year struggle, 1979-1989, against the mujahideen, losing 13,000 before withdrawing.

This Soviet venture had three consequences. One is that it was a contributing factor to the fall of the Soviet Union. A second is that it led to the rise of jihadist groups, especially the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and the Haqqani network. Afghanistan is still full of warlords and tribal groups. A third result is that opium cultivation increased: the increase in production was more than 10% in 2016.

Since October 2001, when U.S. and British forces launched air strikes, the U.S. has been involved in combat operations in the struggle against Islamic terrorism in Afghanistan for almost 16 years. The task confronting the U.S. is neither enviable nor easy as it faces the Taliban, the Haqqani network, ISIS-K, and al-Qaeda. The war is one of the longest in which the U.S. has been involved, and it has cost the lives of 2,400, with 20,000 wounded.

The U.S. at present has more than 8,400 troops in the arena; the plan of President Barack Obama to reduce the number was nullified as a result of the Taliban offensive. According to General Joseph Votel, chief of U.S. Central Command, the war has settled into a stalemate, and the U.S. will need additional forces be effective there.

The U.S. Congress has already appropriated $115 billion for reconstruction of Afghanistan, more than the cost of the Marshall plan for the reconstruction of post-World War II Europe, as well as more than $60 billion to train and equip Afghan troops. Because of corruption, much of that money has been wasted.

The problem for the U.S. has deepened with recognition that ISIS is not only in the Middle East, but active with a foothold in the Afghan area, having created an organization from Taliban members disillusioned with their leaders and from people from surrounding areas  primarily Pakistan, Chechnya, and Uzbekistan. ISIS, the spearhead of Sunni militancy, and the Taliban don't work together, though they have common enemies. They are not allies, nor are they even in numbers. ISIS is estimated at anywhere between 700 and 1,500, while Taliban, with 25,000 associates, controls about a third of the Afghanistan. But ISIS pays its adherents, a meaningful and attractive act, as about 40% of Afghans are unemployed.

ISIS has been active, using explosive devices, bunkers, and a tunnel complex carved into a mountain from which it stages terrorist attacks. It becomes more appealing to disgruntled Muslims with each successful attack. Most of these attacks are in the Nangarhar province, where the U.S. is conducting counterterrorism operations.

ISIS-K (the K standing for "Khorasan Province") has been linked to a number of attacks, including one outside the Supreme Court in Kabul in February 2017; one against the Hazara Shia Muslim minority; the killing of Red Cross employees, also in February 2017; one against a Shia mosque in November 2016; and a bombing in the main military hospital in Kabul, where ISIS terrorists disguised as doctors killed 30 people. It is gaining strength in the area, with support from people from Pakistani, especially the Orukzai and Afridi Pashtun, tribes.

Only a small number of ISIS adherents are Afghan Taliban who switched sides. Some adherents, other than dedicated Islamic fanatics, are attracted by pay, the money they receive coming from the narcotics trade.

On April 8, 2017, ISIS was responsible for the death of a U.S. Special Forces operator who was helping Afghan forces in Achin District in Nangarhar Province. This district contains about 150 poppy-growing villages. On April 13, 2017, the GBU-43 MOAB (mother of all bombs), the 30-ft. bomb that explodes above ground and sucks out oxygen and lights the air on fire, was dropped on ISIS in Khorasan Province. It had not been previously used in combat.

This was an unusual and unexpected event, since the MOAB, the largest non-nuclear bomb dropped by U.S. military, costs $16 million, and only 20 have been made, originally to confront Saddam Hussein. The strike, regarded by President Donald Trump as a "very, very, successful mission," is calculated to have killed 95 ISIS terrorists.

The stated official reason for the strike is that it was meant to minimize the difficulties for the U.S. and Afghan troops, active in the Achin area, by eliminating ISIS fighters and their facilities that have strengthened ISIS defenses. Commentators have suggested that the bomb was intended to "send a message," but Trump is uncertain: "I don't know if it sends a message. It doesn't make any difference if it does or not."

Perhaps a message was intended for another, even more formidable terrorist group. It has come as a surprise and must not be forgotten that al-Qaeda is present and has units in South Asian countries, as well as in the Middle East. One local affiliate is al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), which has existed for at least 15 years, though it was only formally announced in September 2014 by Ayman al Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda leader, who declared that the group spanned Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.

Its ambitious stated objective is to inflame Muslims in those areas, raise the flag of jihad, return Islamic rule to the areas, and empower the rule of sharia law across the Indian subcontinent. Zawahiri appointed a man named Asim Umar, former commander in the Pakistani Taliban, as leader of AQIS.

The U.S. State Department declared AQIS a global terrorist organization in June 2016. Although AQIS is an unstable group, the U.S. fears that at some not too distant future, it may strike the West, including the U.S. The U.S. had already dealt with it in October 2015, when U.S. forces raided and destroyed a camp in the Shorabak District of Kandahar Province. There is clear evidence of collaboration between AQIS and the senior leadership of al-Qaeda.

AQIS has been responsible for a number of attacks. The leader, Umar, is responsible for assassinating individuals he regards as blasphemers of the prophet and insulters of Islamic law.

AQIS has engaged in activities similar to ISIS, creating a vast tunnel complex, caves, and concrete revetments; stockpiling weapons; and operating a command center. In any future action, the Trump administration must now include AQIS among its targets in the effort to eliminate Islamic terrorism.
The end of the Second World War saw a Europe truly devastated, prostrate; in some cities the number of buildings with an undamaged roof could be counted in the fingers of ones hand, with winter aggravating survival of civilians. George Marshalls idea of a massive infusion of American capital to Europe energized the continent in 1948. It is no exaggeration that it saved millions of lives and reconstructed entire countries. Such was the pace of rebuilding Germany and such was the shortage of manpower after the war that temporary guest workers from Turkey began arriving (the temporary guests became permanent and today are a cancer in German society). The Germans call it the German miracle, as if the rebirth came about in isolation, like Venus rising from the sea. Gratitude from those countries towards the United States proved ephemeral.

Even though the purpose was to reconstruct European countries that had been devastated by the war, it was expanded to include European countries that had not been touched by the war at all (Sweden, Portugal, Turkey, Switzerland, Iceland and Ireland). They, too, never showed lasting gratitude.

The idea of foreign aid took deep root in the psyche of American rulers. It was wrongly thought of as a panacea to communist subversion in the Third World. The mistaken assumption was -- and still remains to this day and has even expanded to explain Islamofascism -- that it was the poor, the downtrodden, that were most receptive to Marxist propaganda. In this, American intellectual and political leaders inadvertently adopted the Marxist ideology that communist movements come from the lower class. In reality, totalitarian movements of all persuasions are populated by middle class intellectuals. Anyone who has read Eric Hoffers works would recognize this. This is especially so looking at the leadership of such movements, not only the ones that succeeded in grabbing power in Europe and Asia but those that failed to do so (including in the U.S.).

At any rate, America started pouring vast amounts of money into other countries for development and improvement of those countries: roads, dams, hospitals, schools, and relief in times of natural catastrophes such as earthquakes, epidemics, hurricanes. This was done with such regularity that to this day it has come to be expected that if a country has a misfortune or a need to fulfill, America will give away hundreds of millions of taxpayers money to those countries to combat anything from resurgent Marxists to Ebola virus to AIDS to clean water to ingrown toenails. Some of it has gone to fight the war on drugs -- and we all know how well that has turned out.

The Soviets decided that they, too, would use foreign aid as a political weapon and could match, if not exceed, American foreign aid. The rulers of the Third World became adept at playing one side against the other and milking both, without committing themselves politically to either side (I encourage the reader to read both The Ugly American and The Ugly Russian).

When the Soviet empire collapsed, American foreign aid should have logically ended, just as once Osama bin Laden was finally found and killed, America should have left Afghanistan. But the bureaucracies would not permit it. Although the original raison detre for foreign aid vanished with the end of Soviet expansionism, foreign aid has continued unabated to this day. In this, Americans are further handicapped by three obsessive traits in their national character which are an infantile craving to be liked by foreigners, a desire to always help a neighbor in need, and an obsession to correct a problem, or if you will, right a wrong.

This neverending outpouring of wealth continues to occur while certain unpleasant realities go ignored: (1) an enormous degree of theft and corruption takes place at the receiving end, to which Americans are oblivious (2) there is a lot of exaggeration -- lying -- about the reasons for the aid, especially the gravity of the problem (3) there is no gratitude on the part of the recipients for the aid, as it has become to be viewed by them as their due* (4) the aid never seems to end because the problem is recurrent---or never solved---and it is naturally in the recipients best interest to keep the wealth coming in; besides, the relevant bureaucracies will not allow themselves to become extinct (5) American citizens are being taxed in order to maintain the increasing levels of foreign aid (6) since almost every country in the world is receiving foreign aid from the United States, in one form or another, America is on the verge of going bankrupt -- not that the recipients care.

By the end of the 20th century, giving foreign aid had become an addiction of both the government and the media (and all addictions are exceedingly difficult to break). It is also important to point out that many in the American government offering foreign aid to other countries were, and are, frankly, idiots. Worse, a veritable army of lobbyists in Washington D.C. exists, financed by foreign governments, whose sole purpose is to dine and wine and flatter and convince congressmen and other bureaucrats into keeping the money flowing into other countries to the detriment of America (I would argue that these lobbyists are essentially traitors. As are the legislators).

Equally guilty is the political left in America whose fanaticism with the Socialist concept of redistribute the wealth that does not belong to them is extended from an internal policy to an external policy.** We often hear this with individuals mouthing off slogans that rich countries have to help poor countries, that it is their duty, that it is their moral responsibility, etc. They have turned compassion into a weapon with which to silence dissent. The corrupt, dictatorial leaders of recipient countries have learned to parrot such slogans in order to elicit a knee-jerk response in that political section of America. And it has worked.

In order to appreciate -- truly appreciate -- the magnitude of this cancer, the reader should go through the list below, one by one, of all the countries that are receiving aid, and the gargantuan amount that is being doled out (all figures come from the United States Agency for International Development), while remembering that we dont have enough money with which to help American citizens, that our countrys infrastructure is crumbling around our ears, our country is about to become bankrupt, Social Security is about to go defunct, and American citizens are being crushed by taxation to finance this obscenity. The United Nations has not been included in the list (the United States is the largest contributor to the United Nations, paying 22 percent of the $5.4 billion core U.N. budget and 28 percent of the $7.9 billion U.N. peacekeeping budget). Some of the countries have been underlined as meriting special attention, either because the amount is simply gargantuan (even when the country is miniscule), or, because they are rich, or, because they are our declared enemies. Please note that every single country in the continents of Africa and South America, and almost every country in Asia, is receiving money from us (and, as with other countries, we get nothing in return). Uncle Sam is covered from head to foot with leeches.

It is also important to realize that as colossal as the amounts are for one year, these amounts have been repeated, and are being repeated, every year.

Also note that over the years many of these African and Asian countries have received ten times more aid than some devastated European countries received from the Marshall Plan in just one year, so those countries should by now be a paradise (see Table). Whereas those European countries rebuilt and modernized their country with the proceeds of one infusion of the Marshall Plan, most of these African and Asian countries are still pigsties.

TABLE

Zambia Egypt

2011 $237,363,215 $1,539,308,744

2012 $360,580,246 $1,392,494,300

2013 $314,591,280 $1,570,212,963

2014 $672,901,439 $179,479,760

2015 $245,813,394 $1,525,466,191

2016 $258,925,027 $98,826,384

Afghanistan Nigeria

2011 $13,400,380,402 $379,121,199

2012 $13,111,490,049 $540,393,416

2013 $9,736,127,455 $519,474,952

2014 $7,259,300,766 $595,551,195

2015 $3,072,502,383 $592,349,645

2016 $1,024,314,522 $438,551,346

Kenya South Sudan

2011 $899,791,412 $144,144,175

2012 $999,967,033 $636,566,059

2013 $907,868,125 $625,412,388

2014 $891,665,076 $867,773,855

2015 $941,251,462 $838,589,050

2016 $508,196,564 $502,659,864

While many American citizens are living in cardboard boxes and under bridges, billions of taxpayer dollars are sent overseas by our glorious politicians, who see nothing wrong with what they are doing. And it never ends. Billions of taxpayer dollars are constantly being sent into a black hole -- without taxpayers consent.

Note also that, with three or four exceptions here and there, all the countries receiving aid in Africa and Asia are despotic dictatorships, some of which have erected a facade of being democratic.

The solution to this problem is really very, very simple, but one that will be forcefully resisted by the cancerous bureaucracies, lobbyists, and compassion-manipulators: eliminate all foreign aid. Not reduce it! Eliminate it! Beginning with eliminating the United States Agency for International Development bureaucracy. One does not reduce a cancerous tumor because it will regrow. One excises it!*** The same with foreign aid. To this end, a Constitutional amendment should be adopted that reads: The United States will not send money to other countries or organizations in other countries unless those countries are allied to us by treaty and are at war with our common enemy. Nor will other countries receive material aid without immediately paying in full value for said aid unless those countries are allied to us by treaty and are at war with our common enemy.

Perhaps the new administration will do so.

ADDENDUM: I was going to leave it at this point, but I feel that I need to point out -- in case you have missed it -- that recently, we are witnessing the beginning of a (actually, the periodic) concerted effort to send additional money to Africa because of drought causing a famine---the same phenomenon that has been going on for the past sixty some years (in fact, I think that they are using the same picture of the same malnourished child that I saw when I was in my teens). You have been warned

*And they often receive the aid after they insult us. Recently, the psychotic president of the Philippines, Duterte, quipped that Secretary Kelly gave his country $33 million of money (that did not belong to Kerry) after Duterte told us to go to hell. He said perhaps he should insult us some more. A European leader (I forget his name) years ago stated that America was like a woman whom you slap in the face---she gives you more of her money. Both were talking about the jackanapes in the American government.

**To make matters worse, some Senators have complained that the Politically Correct fanatics inside the USAID have given money to far left political groups, with violent philosophies, in other countries, under the guidance of George Soros.

***To cite just one example. When the March of Dimes was created, its original purpose was to find a cure for poliomyelitis. When that occurred in the 1950s, the bureaucracy did not dissolve itself, now that the goal had been accomplished. Instead, it continued to exist . . . by targeting other diseases.

Armando Simon is a retired college professor and the author of A Cuban from Kansas, The U, and, The Only Red Star I Liked Was a Starfish.
The recent deployment of the MOAB against tunnels and caves being used by ISIS fighters in Afghanistan is a perfect example of the right weapon on the right target at the right time.

First, it's the right weapon. That massive bomb's "over-pressure"  its intense shockwave  is ideal for collapsing tunnels and caves. When the MOAB's huge pressure wave slams into the ground, everything below it is drastically compressed.

Next, it was dropped on the right target. Those ISIS tunnels are in an area so remote that few  if any  innocent civilians were at risk, making it the right target for such an immense area-denial weapon.

Finally, it was dropped at the right time. ISIS is still in the "getting established" phase of its move into Afghanistan. Among other things, that means ISIS terrorists are still digging tunnels rather than focusing on reinforcing them. Those tunnels were vulnerable to the level of destruction that only the MOAB can deliver.

Even though only about 20 MOABs were built  and several have been expended in tests prior to their use in Afghanistan  this weapon is easy to make. Given the right targets in Afghanistan or other low-threat Middle Eastern target environments, the MOAB can remain a viable and devastating weapon against terrorist threats.

That is perhaps why media commentators  self-proclaimed experts who are ignorant of the way air combat works  think the MOAB can be seen as a deterrent against Iran or North Korea. Certainly, if we could drop a MOAB on a WMD target in either of those countries, its explosive force could prove devastating. But getting the bomb there  now, that's the problem.

While the MOAB was the right bomb for Afghanistan, the MOAB cannot realistically intimidate Iran or North Korea, because we have no way of putting it on target in either of those well defended countries. The MOAB is so incredibly large  more than 30 feet long and weighing in at 21,600 pounds  that it can be carried to its target only by a slow, vulnerable C-130 turbo-prop transport plane. The bomb is loaded onto the plane on a pallet, like cargo. Then it is pulled out of the plane by a drogue parachute instead of being dropped from an integral bomb bay. Once dropped, the pallet and parachute are discarded, and the bomb is guided by GPS to its target.

Current U.S. heavy jet bombers have operational speeds above 600 mph and carry extensive air-defense suites that protect them against both heat-seeking and radar-guided missiles. In addition, the B-2 Spirit is the stealthiest combat aircraft in existence, allowing it to fly in hostile airspace with few risks. However, the decidedly un-stealthy MC-130J flies at half that speed and has less sophisticated defenses. Over well defended Iran or North Korea, it would be a relatively easy target.

In the right low-threat air-combat environment, this modified cargo aircraft is a formidable weapon. Today's C-130 is based on a design that originally went into production in 1954. It's been updated many times to remain a viable combat-theater air transport and  with modifications  a superb Spec-Ops support aircraft.

The plane used over Afghanistan  the special operations MC-130J  was one of those specially updated adaptations of the most current production version of the venerable C-130 transport. These Spec-Ops planes were designed to support combat in low-threat combat environments, such as Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. However, even in its defensively armed Spec-Ops variant, the C-130 is a relatively slow and vulnerable transport aircraft. While the Spec-Ops aircraft carry flares and decoys designed to spoof SAM missiles, the MC-130Js remain vulnerable to any sophisticated anti-air systems, and especially to enemy fighter aircraft.

Unlike Afghanistan and Syria, both Iran and North Korea have sophisticated anti-air systems, creating high-threat air-combat environments. These high-threat zones come complete with reasonably modern jet interceptors and decidedly modern SAM capabilities. This means that any use of the MC-130J to deploy the MOAB would have to be supported by a massive air assault, known as the "Baghdad Package." This kind of shock-and-awe assault is so named because of its similarity to the devastating air assaults targeting Baghdad that began both the Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom air battles.

It would take a major Baghdad Package-level air strike to suppress either North Korea's or Iran's air defense capabilities. High-speed fighters and bombers, supported by Tomahawk cruise missiles, would need to clear a path through enemy fighters and SAM systems long enough for a slow-moving C-130 to reach and destroy its target. Such an attack would almost certainly be costly in terms of U.S. aircraft losses  as well as in combat aircraft crew members being taken prisoners.

Despite the superb ability of our combat aircraft, there is no way to penetrate a well defended site without incurring such losses.

In addition, because both North Korea and Iran callously build their most critical "targets" in or near residential areas, there would be a significant risk of massive "collateral damage" civilian injuries. Following Vietnam, America has appropriately made avoiding collateral damage a high priority. We're supposed to be the "good guys," and good guys don't kill innocent women and children.

Bottom line: The MOAB can be the right weapon at the right time, but neither North Korea nor Iran is likely to be the right target for the MOAB's slow, vulnerable delivery system. The intimidating threat of the MOAB that news media "experts" have trumpeted is a paper tiger against targets like Iran and North Korea.

If we want to intimidate those countries into giving up their nuclear weapons development, we'll need to come up with weapon systems that can destroy hardened targets without massive American or enemy casualties. Whatever that weapon will be, it won't be the MOAB.

Ned Barnett (ned@barnettmarcom.com) is a military historian, specializing in aviation and naval and ground-target combat technology. He has appeared as a historian on nine History Channel programs and has written dozens of published articles on mil-tech. Barnett is currently writing two books: one on surviving a Katrina-level disaster and the other a novel about a war correspondent in the Middle East who becomes the target of a vengeful terrorist. Barnett is a professional communicator  often supporting conservative causes, businesses and candidates  and is based in Nevada.
Fred Reed, a talented commentator and former Marine who now lives in Mexico, recently posted a gutsy piece about all the achievements that white people should be proud of. Fred admits that whites, like other races, have committed their share of outrages; nonetheless, he also calls attention to their past and present attainments in the arts and sciences, and their respect for the ideal of freedom. Fred also predicts that if anyone comes up with a cure for cancer, this too will likely emanate from the mind of a white scientist or else from the talented descendant of someone who came here from the Far East.

Fred is clearly responding to the predominantly white Millennials who are protesting white privilege and screaming that Black Lives Matter, but presumably not white ones. If only white college students and the smug leftist media and professoriate who influence them could be reminded of what they owe to a predominantly white civilization, then perhaps they would take a more favorable view of their ancestors and kinsmen!

Fat chance of that happening, for more than one reason. One, the pitifully little concerning the Western past that has entered the consciousness of the average white college student is filtered through the multicultural left. It usually enters the students mind in this and no other way Freds corrections will not likely change the balance of power in our educational system or in our cultural industry. I recall that by the time I retired from teaching college after forty years, the only cultural facts that students entering a Western Civilization class could provide are that Islam is a religion of peace and diversity is strength. And perhaps it isnt necessary for these products of our educational system to know more about the Western past to navigate through life. Their low opinion about their inherited civilization may actually bring academic and social benefit. It may be already part of a new shared culture. For most of our young, there may be little incentive to search beyond the cliches that Fred sets out to refute.

Two, and perhaps even more significantly, those whom Fred is trying to reach have no sense of belonging to a civilization that reaches back into the distant past. Their frame of reference is shaped by others who are living in a one-dimensional present. These young people, as far as I can tell, think that they know one thing for sure about the past: bad white dudes ran it. And were well rid of those times. Of course, those whose minds Fred hopes to change have no idea of their cultural debt to long dead males like Euclid, Dante, Bach, Newton, etc. But, even more relevant, they dont see themselves as standing in any line of descent, culturally or physically, going back to the artistic, religious, and intellectual giants of the past. In fact, its doubtful that they even know much about their families, whatever their race, going back for more than one generation.

This brings me to a note that I recently received from a graduate student, who was excited to learn that about 10,000 Jews had served in the Confederate army, many as officers. Moreover, the Secretary of State of the CSA, Judah P. Benjamin, was Jewish, as well as David Levy Yulee, the first Jewish U.S. senator, who represented Florida and who later supported the cause of secession. Presumably such information which was included in The Jewish Confederates, a book (introduced by Alan Dershowitz) about Jews in the Confederacy would change, or so my correspondent assures me, the negative manner in which present-day Jews regard the Confederate States of America and the antebellum South. I gaped in wonder as I read this statement. What do American Jews in 2017 really have in common with those Portuguese, Spanish, and later, German Jews, who settled in the South in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century? Outside of some shared Hebrew prayers and common genes, certainly nothing I can think of.

Most of the present American Jewish population are descended from Jews who came from the Russian Pale of Settlement two generations after the Civil War. They were social radicals and/or Zionists or extremely Orthodox and separatist. Still to be found among the descendants of this ethnic settlement are the attitudes and suspicions that their progenitors brought with them. One must add to this mix, however, memories of the horrendous experience of the Holocaust, which has driven an even larger wedge between Jews and the surrounding Christian majority. The recently deceased scholar of Judaica Jacob Neusner once complained to me that every time he helped set up a Jewish studies program at a college, the enterprise came to center on Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. The Jewish past was reduced to these particularly unpleasant circumstances and to discussions of their implications. This emphasis was then used to justify or plead for heightened Jewish nationalism and/or current multicultural politics. In any case, those whom modern American Jews may admire are more likely to be named Chuck Schumer or Bernie Sanders than David Levy Yulee or Judah P. Benjamin.

A recently published anthology of mine, Revisions and Dissents, focuses on another reason that Freds attempt to set matters straight probably wont work. Today the cutting edge of history as a discipline (or pseudo-discipline) is the presentation and comparison of victim claims put forth by or on behalf of authorized victim groups. In this enterprise, white Christians throughout most of the West hold exceedingly bad cards, and bad cards theyve inflicted on themselves. The strenuous effort made by social and cultural elites to denigrate what characterized the Western past cannot be reduced to an information gap. Presumably lots of academics and promoters of the culture industry are fully aware of the facts that Fred diligently transmits. But they choose to ignore them out of moral and social commitments and tweak the truth in a way that serves their ideological ends.

Those who doing the tweaking, as opposed to those who swallow what theyre told, may understand that were all the beneficiaries of dead white males. But these better informed people engage in their own version of the noble lie. This became apparent to me years ago when I attended the lecture of an academic colleague who was explaining why the Irish speak a language related to Sanskrit: The answer was this: Gentle Hindu missionaries converted the ancient Celts before Christian missionaries came along and forcibly baptized them. When someone (namely I) asked whether the ancient Irish spoke a Sanskrit-related language because of the Indo-European occupation of Europe, I was told this explanation was wrong, inasmuch as the Nazis proposed it. I strongly suspect that everyone in the room accepted the Nazi explanation but went along with the undemonstrated counternarrative in order to show they cared.

Im also convinced that those who run the Southern Poverty Law Center fully understand that their linking of the Southern Battle Flag to Nazi ideology is downright silly. The Confederates may have defended their right to own slaves but were not committing genocide -- and certainly not against Jews. It is also doubtful that everyone flying the Battle Flag hates Jews and blacks, as the SPLC has simplistically insisted. A certain hyperbole and obscuring of the full truth however are seen as necessary to advance the kind of society that progressives want us to embrace and which certain minorities view as essential for their own protection. This is not the first time that advocates of radical change have offered twisted or one-sided narrative about the past, and Id bet it wont be the last.
Last Saturday, a violent brawl broke out in Berkeley, California for the third time this year. The "antifa" attempted to break up a pro-free speech rally organized by Bay Area activist Rich Black. Previously, antifa succeeded in shutting down a scheduled speech by Milo Yiannopoulos, and in disrupting a free speech rally held to support Milo's right to free speech.

This time, things didn't work out so well for the antifa. The antifa were outnumbered and outmuscled by a motley collection of pro-free speech liberals, mainstream conservatives, "Oath Keepers," bikers, alt-lite conspiracy theorists, and hardcore alt-right white nationalists.

Things went especially bad for one particular Anti-Fa. Standing 5'1" and weighing 98 pounds, Louise Rosealma decided to join her fellow Anti-Fa on the front lines of the melee. Things went about as well as you would expect. She received a concussion after being punched in the face by Nathan Damigo, an ex-con and prominent white nationalist.

You can call me old-fashioned, or you can call me a mangina, but I don't relish watching 98-lb. girls getting slugged in the face. Still, the Anti-Fa showed up looking for a fight; they had every intent to use violence to disrupt the march. Louise Rosealma chose to follow the men into a street brawl; turns out that was a dumb choice.

To understand what drew this diverse group together, you need to understand the political climate in Northern California. Jonah Goldberg compared being a conservative in Manhattan to being a Christian in pagan Rome; northern California isn't very different from Manhattan. While we haven't reached the point where conservatives are being mauled by wild beasts in front of cheering crowds at Giants Stadium, Northern California is not a hospitable place for conservatives.

Brendan Eich was fired for holding the same opinion on gay marriage as President Obama and a majority of California voters. In order to comply with California's ever expanding "assault weapons" ban, gun makers created such bizarre devices as featureless rifles and bullet buttons. California gun owners must now undergo a background check every time they want to purchase ammunition.

When my uncle attended a pro-life rally in the Sacramento area, passing motorists rolled down their windows to hurl insults and occasionally blunt objects. Following the passage of Proposition Eight, supporters of gay marriage attacked Mormon churches to punish them for supporting the proposition.

It should also be pointed out that the hyper-progressive municipalities Oakland and Berkeley have a history of tolerating and condoning violent and lawless behavior by left-wing thugs. After Johanese Meserle was convicted of manslaughter for shooting Oscar Grant, rioters trashed downtown Oakland. Of the one hundred and twenty people arrested, prosecutors charged two.

Conservatives in California, particularly in places like Berkeley, feel as though they are under siege. They face ostracism and even physical violence for their beliefs. Worse, conservatives face elected officials who are openly hostile to conservativism, and indulgent of far-left political violence. Given this situation, when fringe extremists offer to defend conservatives from violent left-wing thugs, conservatives reluctant to turn down the help.

For both moral and political reasons, mainstream conservatives should oppose the infiltration of conservatism by extremist groups; frankly, some people both deserve and demand a moral quarantine. Unfortunately, that case gets harder and harder to make, when the left refuse to control their side's nuts.
As one watches over the massive mega-demonstrations in 12 or 13 cities in Venezuela, known as the Mother of All Marches, it's hard not to be rueful. They've had these giant marches before. They come, they make an showy appearance, and then they disappear. And nothing ever changes. The socialist nightmare so previously praised by Bernie Sanders remains in place: the party continues to expand its grip over the state, and the state continues to extend its grip over the institutions. It's how Fidel Castro consolidated power in Cuba. For all their high hopes, the marchers are up against a regime with incredible staying power. The only possible difference may be the election of Donald Trump.

It's a long shot, because it's Castro who's instructing these Chavista narco-terrorist buffoons and thugs on ruling in that vortex of horrors on how to run a failed state without getting thrown out of power. Venezuela, after all, is the mother of all socialist failures in a nominal democracy. On Johns Hopkins University professor Steve Hanke's Cato Institute "Misery Index," Venezuela tops the chart. It's also the home of the world's worst oil company.

Castro survived the Velvet Revolutions of 1989, which toppled one Eastern European communist regime after another and eventually reached his patron, the Soviet Union. Through sheer shamelessness, and a ruthless willingness to engage in unpunished brutality, Castro held on to power when the others didn't. His experience running Chile in the 1970s (which was in socialist chaos comparable to Venezuela in 1973) taught him much about never letting go of power. Chile's free-market rebirth from the rubble of that horror, which led to the restoration of democracy, was a standing rebuke to that power grab  and Castro vowed never again to be defeated this way.

This brings us to Venezuela.

It's almost a foreknowledge that the regime will never give up its grip on power even with these marches. Blogger Daniel Duquenal has explained it succinctly many times. The Chavistas cannot be shamed into giving up their grip on power, no matter how extensive their failures. Failure is not a bug, but a feature of their socialist project, and they know this. And their recent example shows that they cannot be unelected from power, either. From Jimmy Carter's endorsement of obvious electoral fraud in 2004 to the recent horrific moves to disempower the dissident legislature to the outright jailing of opposition leaders such as Leopoldo Lopez and the banning of others from office, such as Maria Corina Machado, the avenue of democracy has been shut down, too, even with numbers so large they cannot cheat.

All the same, there seems to be a critical mass being reached. It may slide into civil war, as Jazz Shaw has observed. There's no Pinochet on the horizon, and what's more, the legislature that triggered and legitimized Pinochet's move in Chile has been neutered. But there may be a Trump factor, too. It's the only significant thing that has changed from the usual pattern.

The Chavista propaganda press is watching the matter closely. Trump's secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has made some fiery definitive statements in support of Venezuela's democracy marchers:

"We are concerned that the government of Maduro is violating its own constitution and is not allowing the opposition to ... organize in a way that expresses the views of the Venezuelan people," Tillerson told a news conference. "We are concerned about that situation. We're watching it closely and working with others ... to communicate those concerns."

Chavista alarm about the U.S. air strike in Syria over that regime's chemical warfare on civilians does raise the possibility that Venezuela's opposition has taken heart from the newly assertive stance on human rights from the United States. The Chavistas are watching it closely even if the mainstream media are not. Tillerson did conclude his remarks with a business-as-usual addition that the U.S. communication with the thug regime would be conducted through the good offices of the Organization of American States, which is just another U.N.-style talk shop that has gone somewhat assertive about its democracy mandate in recent months. Its stern warnings are getting sterner.

But it's also worth noting that Rex Tillerson is delivering the message. The Chavistas know Tillerson well  during the late Hugo Chavez's expropriations of oil companies, Tillerson, as CEO of ExxonMobil, was famous for not backing down when all the other similarly situated oil companies were caving in. His insistence on contract enforcement eventually led to the bankrupting of Citgo, which had to take all of its assets out of the country to prevent Exxon from snapping them away as compensation. The media billed that as a failure since Exxon did not get all the money it wanted, but for the Chavistas, it was a fiscal disaster. After that, Tillerson angered them further by engaging in exploration contracts with Guyana, in areas where Venezuela has territorial disputes. They know that Tillerson doesn't back down. He's a scourge to them. And his right-hand man is career diplomat Tom Shannon, who knows Venezuela intimately.

Could there be a Trump factor at work as Tillerson blows fire? One only hopes it can help bring pressure on the Chavistas, helpfully concentrating their minds as the giant protests swirl all around them.
Slowly, very slowly, prominent Democrats are starting to admit the obvious: that Barack Obama's presidency has been a disaster for their party, leading it to depths unmatched in the last 90 years. The figure of over 1,000 legislative seats lost to the Republicans is but one marker. The absence of a bench, leaving the party's congressional leadership with an average age in the seventies, is a serious problem for a political faction dependent on the youth vote.

The latest Democrat to tell the hard truth while Obama is hiding from public gaze in the South Seas colonial domain of France  an odd choice for a dedicated anti-colonialist who speaks no French (or any other foreign language, for that matter  is Keith Ellison, of all people. He is the deputy party chair of the Democrats, whose responsibilities include the ailing health of the Dems.

Cameron Cawthorne of the Free Beacon reports:

Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.) spoke Wednesday at the University of Minnesota, where he said that former President Barack Obama deserved some of the blame for the Democrats collapsing in 2016. "Speaking of presidential politics, was President Obama responsible for some of the failures of 2016 and if so, how?" one of the moderators asked. "Yeah, he was," Ellison said. Ellison, who serves as the deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Obama could have been a better party leader. "I totally voted for many things that he supported  But Barack Obama could have been a better party leader, and I think that the fact that he wasn't has put his legacy in jeopardy," Ellison said. Ellison said Obama's legacy will not revolve around the building that will be constructed to hold his presidential papers in Chicago.

Of course, no Democrat will dwell on the many other failures of Obama's presidency, including the disastrous Iran deal, Obamacare's implosion, the stagnant economic growth, and aggravation of racial tensions to their worst levels since the days of segregation, and maybe even since the Civil War. That remains for historians, and it will take a new generation to honestly evaluate his legacy thanks to the utter politicization of academia.

But at least self-interested Democrats are daring to assess some blame for their own problems caused by Obama.
I am as opposed to radical Islam and the barbarian actions of these 7th-century throwbacks as anyone. However, I am tired of hearing from so-called pundits and tea leaf readers that "if we don't stop them in (pick a country), we will have to fight them here in this country."

Let's be realistic: this is not a uniformed army with tanks and howitzers and ships being loaded in some foreign port preparing to invade this country through the harbors of Boston or New York or Savannah or the beaches of Long Island. These are not people with sophisticated logistics systems ready to resupply this imaginary army over thousands of miles of ocean.

What we are faced with are small numbers of homegrown or smuggled terrorists ready and willing to cause havoc and die for their beliefs. These are the people we should be concentrating our defensive efforts against. Although the liberal Democrat judges of this country are willing to allow these people into the country with no effort to identify them, that is a problem not related to any overseas adventure requiring American military personnel on the ground.

I am all in favor of dropping munitions of one type or another on specific ISIS targets as was recently done with the MOAB in Afghanistan, but I am vehemently opposed to subjecting soldiers and Marines to ground combat in situations without a clear objective of winning. Korea, Vietnam, and other misadventures in the Mideast have shown the folly of "nation-building," "limited objective warfare," "regime change," and other political euphemisms for lack of will as a substitute for victory.

The recent call by the commanding general in Afghanistan for thousands more troops on the ground is frighteningly reminiscent of the call for more troops in Vietnam. The ego of some of these generals results in the deaths of untold American military. "Just give me a few more thousand troops and I will defeat the enemy" has been the cry since the time of Caesar. Unfortunately, many of these generals disregard the politicians' overwhelming fear of defeat at the polls, which will cause them to make fatal decisions, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Millions  yes, millions  were lost by the French and British in World War I because of the same ego-driven stupidity of the generals and politicians.

Now addled politicians Lindsey Graham and John McCain are calling for ground troops to be sent to Syria in addition to Afghanistan. We were advised many years ago to stay out of any ground combat in Southeast Asia  advice that was ignored with horrendous consequences. Take a look at recent events in Iraq, a manufactured artificial country. Must we relearn the lessons of history with the blood of our military?
Thirty-seven years ago, the Mariel boatlift began:

On April 20, 1980, the Castro regime announces that all Cubans wishing to emigrate to the U.S. are free to board boats at the port of Mariel west of Havana, launching the Mariel Boatlift. The first of 125,000 Cuban refugees from Mariel reached Florida the next day.

The whole story was a perfect storm that started when President Carter authorized talks with the Cuban government. It created a "detente" that brought Cuban exiles to the island and made Latin American embassies candidates for asylum.

By the way, the Castro-Carter romance ended when Castro sent troops to Africa and President Carter cancelled the talks.

Down on the island, Cubans began to walk into embassies and request political asylum.

By April 1980, the embassies of Argentina and Peru were flooded with Cubans looking for a way out of the island.

It became an international crisis and President Jimmy Carter issued a statement about the situation. He expressed concern about the safety and well being of the 10,800 Cubans at the Peruvian embassy.

Fidel Castro responded by calling on Cubans to leave if they didn't support the revolution. Immediately, more Cubans rushed to the embassies.

It quickly became an embarrassment, as well as a logistics problem for embassies protecting hundreds of Cubans.

Fidel Castro responded again and told Cubans to leave the island. And thousands did. Suddenly, Americans saw boats full of Cubans landing in Florida. It soon became a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions.

Then-Rear Admiral Benedict L. Stabile, USCG related the story years later:

The size of the refugee flotilla was staggering. Trailered boats were lined-up 50 to 100 deep at Key West, waiting their turn to be launched. This went on for 36 to 48 hours; local residence could hear the activity around the clock. Hundreds of trailers were scattered throughout Key West. One thousand craft were observed southbound on the afternoon of the 24th. For the most part, these were Cuban Americans who owned their own boat, typically a 20 to 40 footer relatively well equipped for local pleasure boating. Reportedly, the tanks in numerous craft had inadequate fuel capacity and the vessels were carrying additional fuel in portable containers. This, the first wave, resulted in the transit of 1,000 to 1,200 boats to Mariel in relatively short order.

It went on for weeks!

Mariel brought thousands to the U.S. and most of them turned out to be very good additions to Florida. Unfortunately, there were some criminal elements but they were a very small number. Don't judge "Marielitos" by Tony Montana of Scarface!

Years later, most of the Marielitos have contributed much to Miami and the U.S.

For me, Mariel was a turning point in rediscovering my Cuban roots. It reconnected me with the Cuban cause, especially since I saw boats and people leaving the same island that I left as a kid in 1964.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
A so-called "DREAMer" was deported in February, the first DREAMer deported by the Trump administration. President Trump, who had promised to end the unconstitutional program when running for president, went back on his promise after being elected, so the fact that even one DREAMer was deported is big news: that's one more DREAMer than Obama would have deported. You see, elections do matter!

The DREAMer, Juan Manuel Montes Bojorquez, meanwhile, claims that his deportation was unfair because he hit his head as a child. And Juan's mentally challenged. And Juan's committed no crimes besides coming to the country illegally. Except for shoplifting. And maybe a few more we don't know about. And Juan may have left the U.S. and tried to re-enter the country illegally. And he feels that the high crime rate in Mexico entitles him to live here.

A DHS spokeswoman said Montes was apprehended by Border Patrol officers after he illegally entered the country by climbing over the border fence in downtown Calexico, according to a statement provided to reporters. He was arrested minutes later for illegal entry[.] ... The DHS spokeswoman also noted that Montes had a previous conviction for theft that resulted in probation. The lawsuit admits this fact, but argued that the conviction would not disqualify him from DACA, which requires a background check. Montes, who worked picking fruits and vegetables in California fields and was pursuing a degree in welding [at a local community college], claims he was assaulted a few days after he was deported to Mexicali in February. Shaken by the alleged assault and fearing for his safety, Montes then attempted to return to the United States. After hiding on the north side of the border for about a half-hour, he came across immigration officers and decided to turn himself in. Hours later he was once again removed to Mexico. Though Montes claims this was his second deportation, this is the only removal DHS has confirmed. Montes, who was brought to the United States when he was 9, suffered a traumatic brain injury as a child and has a cognitive disability, the lawsuit alleges. He was enrolled in special education classes through high school, and has been employed as a farmworker for about two years.

Wait a minute. Juan is mentally challenged, and works as a farmhand, and commits a crime? I know this man! He's Lenny, from Of Mice and Men. Juan has come across the border to "tend the rabbits," to do jobs, and crimes, Americans won't do.

Lenny, as portrayed by John Malkovich, in the 1992 version of the book, directed by Gary Sinise

Juan claims he was deported not once, but twice. He claims he was deported because he didn't have papers proving he is a "DREAMer." The DHS denies deporting him twice, saying it caught him as he tried to sneak back into the country, and since leaving the country violates the terms of the "DREAMer" program, he was eligible to be deported again.

I feel sympathy for all of Juan's excuses. He's a mentally challenged shoplifting illegal alien who wants only to create a better life for himself. Liberals will say shoplifting is a minor crime and should be excused; I would like to know, then, if we should all feel free to shoplift without consequences.

Questions for discussion:

1) Should America be admitting immigrants who are "mentally challenged," given that their likelihood of supporting themselves is small?

2) How many crimes should illegals be allowed to commit before their virtue wears off?

3) If President Trump's administration deports a second DREAMer, will you celebrate that as a great success because the DREAMer deportation rate will have doubled?

Ed Straker is the senior writer at NewsMachete.com.
The left's takedown of Bill O'Reilly was only partly the result of an organized campaign of destruction. Mr. O'Reilly, like Roger Ailes before him, became a victim of his own bad behavior.

Fox News management made the decision to let O'Reilly go not because of the highly publicized settlements the network made with five women who accused the host of sexual harassment. The network decided to ax O'Reilly because there are apparently several other women who are deciding whether or not to press forward with similar suits. (Reports indicate that an internal investigation carried out by a third party shows that there are also other Fox News employees who are going to be accused of sexual harassment in the future.)

Not all the women making these accusations are liberal plants. But whether you believe that O'Reilly is entirely innocent  the target of radical leftists out to destroy Fox News  or not, the fact is that Ailes, O'Reilly, Michael Flynn, and other conservatives who have recently been victimized by organized liberal attacks are not the primary targets of the left's smear campaigns.

It's President Donald Trump who has a bulls-eye on his back.

Roger Simon of PJ Media:

The real target in the defenestration of Bill was not O'Reilly himself but very obviously Donald Trump. He's the Big Kahuna the obscenely named "Resistance" (hey, you idiots, that was about Auschwitz, not tax reform) is after and Bill was only a stop along the way. Indeed, several of Bill's accusers, represented by the daughter of Gloria Allred, appear to be people who find Trump particularly loathsome. And the original story was broken by the New York Times, the literary capital of the "Resistance." The timing of the attacks on O'Reilly  who everyone knew for years was not a saint, sort of like Bill Clinton and half the stars in Hollywood we hear pontificating on a daily basis  is also far from coincidental. O'Reilly, although he pretended to even-handedness (no journalist is), was one of Trump's most staunch defenders in the media, arguably his most powerful one. For the "Resistance," he had to go. If I were Fox talent right now, I'd be very nervous and especially careful about saying anything too positive about Trump. I'd remember to add a few negatives, maybe more than a few, to undercut any approving statements about the president or his policies, just like they do it on CNN. The Murdoch boys will be watching. Like characters in a Greek tragedy, the brothers have taken over and are maneuvering their aged father off stage. And Fox News is the big loser in this drama. ... Did what Bill supposedly did really amount to a firing offense or were his accusers just looking for money or fame, as O'Reilly himself has implied? Or was it just a political hatchet job by the seemingly endless legions who spend all their waking hours and seemingly most of their sleeping ones doing their best to oppose, discredit, and destroy all things Trump?

Candidate Trump offered a target-rich environment for liberals. But President Trump has been more circumspect, more restrained, thus making it hard for the left to zero in on him. Going after his surrogates and supporters becomes the next best thing.

With the Russian narrative having fallen apart, the left will redouble its efforts to tarnish the president by bringing down his more prominent supporters. No one is safe. Pundits, websites, even businesses with CEOs who support the president are all on the firing line. As I write this, researchers are poring over old news articles, police reports  anything and everything that can be used against Trump supporters. Every word ever written or spoken publicly is being examined for how it can be taken out of context as fodder for an attack. It doesn't matter how old the "transgression" might be. If it's useful, it will be employed.

The radicals are well funded and relentless. With very little pushback from the right, expect more successes by the left in their efforts to bring the president down.
Bill O'Reilly's departure from Fox News is only the latest in what promise to be major changes at Fox News initiated by a management currently in flux.

Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of 21st Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News, is moving toward retirement, slowly bequeathing his media empire to his two sons, Lachlan and James. Fox News is the crown jewel in that empire. But, as the O'Reilly scandal showed, father and sons are not always on the same page, and disagreements over policy and strategy have roiled the board room on more than one occasion.

Vanity Fair:

The reactions to the news of O'Reilly's departure were decidedly mixed in the newsroom. Some staffers cried. Others were elated. The move also laid bare divisions between the Murdoch sons, Lachlan and James, and their father, who were on opposite sides of the argument about whether to retain the anchor, according to a person close to the family. Eventually, though, Rupert Murdoch agreed with his sons about the need to remove O'Reilly, this person added. And the day was filled with an ominous tension as the elder Murdoch, the network's C.E.O., moved from one closed-door meeting to another to inform on-air talent of their new jobs.

The Murdoch family feud extends to ideological differences between father and sons  differences that could mean big changes are coming at Fox News.

WND:

On Wednesday, Beck suggested to his radio audience that Murdoch's sons don't like Fox News and will eventually kill off the channel. "It's not going to go away right away," Beck said, "but you're seeing a significant weakening. Who's the big bad wolf that will stand in the door? "Roger is gone, and Rupert had to deal with the family  that the family and the wives and the children would kill it, and you're seeing the end of the Fox News Channel."

The two sons first flexed their muscles last year when Roger Ailes, the single most important figure in the history of Fox News, was cashiered for similar sexual harassment charges to those leveled against O'Reilly.

Sydney Morning Herald:

Last year, allegations against Ailes  including by high-profile Fox hosts Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly  kept rolling in. Finally he was forced out and many media analysts viewed this as evidence of the growing influence of Lachlan and James Murdoch. They were viewed as not only having more modern views on what sort of behaviour was tolerable in the organisation, but being concerned about some of the more hardline stances Fox took against issues such as climate change under Ailes.

In other words, Fox as a bastion  or refuge  for conservatives is changing. And it appears that there are more charges of sexual harassment on the way against other male personalities and staffers at Fox, which will give Lachlan and James more opportunities to shape the network in their own, more moderate image.

Part of that image change may be connected to the desire of the Murdoch sons to make their first big score; purchasing Sky News, the British satellite TV giant, for $15 billion. But British regulators have put an obstacle in their way.

New York Times:

The accusations about Mr. O'Reilly surfaced just as Mr. Murdoch looks to take control of the British satellite television giant Sky. As part of those takeover efforts, company executives at 21st Century Fox face a "fit and proper test," in which regulators determine whether the people who would be running the combined company are fit to do so. Mr. Murdoch's previous bid for Sky was scuttled by a scandal involving phone hacking by journalists in Britain that led to the closing of one of his newspapers.

The elder Murdoch is a tough old bird, but it's hard to see how he could have fought the entire liberal establishment and radical base in trying to keep O'Reilly. The sons are far more in tune with political realities but may not be made of the same stuff as the father. I think Beck exaggerates about the "end" of Fox News once the sons take over. But they may make an effort to expand the network's audience beyond their current demographics. That probably means less ideology and more touchy-feely hosts and stories.

Will the right stick with the network in the coming years that will almost certainly be accompanied by upheaval and change? That's what Lachlan and James are gambling on, because conservatives do not want Fox to become a pale echo of CNN and MSNBC.
The University of California, Berkeley, where the modern New Left student movement began with the Free Speech Movement of 1964, has come full circle and has surrendered to the anti-free speech fascists of the left. Even the increasingly left-wing Washington Post see the irony:

The decisions by UC-Berkeley to cancel both events involving high-profile conservatives are especially notable given the campus's role during the 1960s and 1970s as the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement and its long tradition of social protest.

But there is no humor, ironic or not, in the cave-in to violence. There is only cowardice, and possibly silent agreement with the goals of the thugs by at least some influential forces within the university. Janet Napolitano, the university president whose background includes service as secretary of homeland security, knows a lot about law enforcement and the reservation of order in the face of serious threats, yet she has been hiding under her desk.

Thomas Fuller of the New York Times dutifully reports the university's position as articulated by underlings:

University administrators said in a statement that they could not let Ms. Coulter speak because of active security threats. In a letter to the Berkeley College Republicans, which was sponsoring the speech, two vice chancellors said the university had been "unable to find a safe and suitable venue for your planned April 27 event featuring Ann Coulter." The letter, written by Scott Biddy, the vice chancellor, and Stephen Sutton, the vice chancellor for student affairs, said it was "not possible to assure that the event could be held successfully  or that the safety of Ms. Coulter, the event sponsors, audience and bystanders could be adequately protected."

The mealy-mouthed prose of the letter amounts to a surrender to what used to be called the "heckler's veto." But in the wake of the violence and destruction permitted to take place and prevent Milo Yiannopoulos's address on the same campus, it ought to be called the rioter's veto, or even better, the fascist's veto. Vice Chancellors Biddy and Sutton have announced that they will obey, rather than resist, demands of violent thugs who wish to shut down voices of which they disapprove.

There are plenty of law enforcement resources available to the University of California if it wished to preserve the tradition of open inquiry upon which the many public (i.e., taxpayer) subsidies and privileges available to U.C. are premised. When Governor Ronald Reagan faced a campus insurrection at Berkeley, he called in the National Guard and tear-gassed the protesters in Sproul Plaza  the very place the anti-Milo rioters used to destroy property and threaten lives.

For its part, the city of Berkeley Police Department has been only marginally better. At least it made some arrests over last weekend's violence when pro-Trump demonstrators were attacked. But it has permitted armed, masked thugs, openly promising to shut down voices of which they disapprove, to march through the streets of Berkeley and engage in mayhem. They should be arrested at the city line when they do so.

In Alabama, this sort of nonsense is not tolerated. The Washington Post:

Self-proclaimed white nationalist Richard Spencer spoke at Auburn University in Alabama Tuesday night after a federal judge reversed the school's cancellation of the event on First Amendment grounds. ... Hundreds gathered before his talk around Foy Hall, where Spencer appeared, according to AL.com. The video showed a portion of this crowd chanting, "No alt-right. No KKK. No racist USA." One protester carried a sign reading, "Fighting Fascism an American Tradition Since 1941."

The local authorities had the backbone to enforce a court order preventing Auburn University from canceling the speech:

"I'm pretty happy with the way things have gone," Auburn police chief Paul Register told the Plainsman, the student newspaper. "It could have been a lot worse. I attribute the peaceful nature to the students." Auburn police spokesman Capt. Lorenza Dorsey told the Associated Press three people were arrested for disorderly conduct, though it remains unclear if they were protesters or attendees of Spencer's talk. A video released by AL.com showed a man with spiked hair and a bloody face on the ground, his hands cuffed behind his back.

Obviously, California's current governor, Jerry Brown, is in no mood to learn from Alabama, nor to follow Governor Reagan's precedent and call out the National Guard to protect the rights of all to speak freely on a campus that receives billions of dollars of taxpayer money each year. When in 1957* then-governor Orville Faubus of Arkansas similarly agreed with the anti-integration mobs seeking to prevent black students desegregating Little Rock's Central High School, he instructed the National Guard to "preserve the peace" by turning away the black students. How is that different from U.C. Berkeley factotums announcing that Ann Coulter's talk would be canceled to preserve the peace?

In 1954, President Eisenhower thereupon "federalized" the Arkansas National Guard and ordered them to protect the nine black students seeking to attend school. It was a signal event in the history of the Civil Rights Movement and a proud moment of the Eisenhower presidency.

The arrogant left-wing academics accommodating fascistic students across the land by failing to punish disrupters of conservative speeches do not realize it, but they are in an existential crisis. Higher education is a vast and rich industry that feeds at the public trough and is squandering centuries of public goodwill and support. An accumulating mass of insults to common sense by radical leftists on the faculty and in the student body is eroding that support and eventually will see support for strong measures.

President Trump should move forward with his threat to cut off federal funds to universities that fail to protect free speech with all available resources, including requests for federal law enforcement and National Guard support.

Higher education official are in need of remedial education. President Trump is just the man for the job.

*date corrected
Al-Rajajil, sometimes referred to as the Standing Men, or Standing Stones, are a collection of some fifty groups of man-made stone columns near the ancient oasis town of Sakakah in Al-Jawf province in northwestern Saudi Arabia. The stones are arranged in groups of four or more, joined at the base and leaning outwards at random angles. Some of them have appears to have fallen over.

Nicknamed the Stonehenge of Saudi Arabia, the Al-Rajajil stones are believed to have been erected more than 6,000 years ago.

Photo credit: www.skyscrapercity.com

Archaeologists do not know much about Al-Rajajil, such as who built them and what their purpose was. The stones do not seem to fulfill any religious purpose as no human remains or religious artifacts and offerings were discovered in the vicinity of the stone pillars. However, the alignment of the stones seem to suggest an astronomical connection. This is not immediately apparent from the ground level, but aerial images suggest a rough alignment to sunrise and sunset.

It is also possible that the pillars were landmark for a trade route. Al-Jouf was a significant stopover point on several ancient trade highways which connected the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Mesopotamia and Syria. One trade route, one of the oldest land route in recorded history, ran from Yemen and parallel to the Red Sea coast through Madinah, Al-Ula and Madaen Salih. It turned northeast to Al-Jouf and then north toward Damascus and Turkey. By traveling north and northeast to Al-Jouf, then east in this way, the road avoided the harsh sands of the Great Nafud to the south and the less passable terrain of Wadi al-Sirhan (Sarhan) to the north. The stones may have been an indicator of the presence of the cross-road, and the safer route to take.

The standing stones of Al-Rajajil represents an enigma that very few have heard of.

Photo credit: retlaw snellac/Flickr

Photo credit: www.skyscrapercity.com

Sources: IB Times / Arab News / www.arriyadh.com
The logistics provider will expand its presence into Mexico via its subsidiary, BNSF Railway Servicios de Logistica, located in Queretaro, Mexico.



Multi-modal logistics provider BNSF Logistics, LLC announced its expansion into Mexico on Thursday, via its subsidiary, BNSF Railway Servicios de Logistica.

The subsidiary will handle freight within Mexico, including over-the-road truckload, temperature-controlled, flatbed, less-than-truckload and intermodal freight.

Located in Queretaro, the office will build the market and provide Mexico with a new level of support that BNSF Logistics is known for in the global market, the company said.

BNSF Logistics is itself a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway-owned Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC, offering import and export freight movement services for general and project cargo.
Dan Crawford | April 20, 2017 6:48 am



by Barkley Rosser

The big surprise in the Turkish referendum to make Turkey a presidential system was not that Erdogans side won, but that it was close enough that opponents are charging fraud based on ballots not being counted properly. It may in fact be that it really did lose by a narrow margin, as some I know said it would. But, officially it won by a bit more than Hillary beat Trump and a bit less than Brexit won by. What strikes me is how the voting patterns in all of these three resemble each other, even as they differ in many ways on economic, nationalistic, and religious grounds, not to mention broader historical issues.

So the big similarity is that they all seem to have exhibited a pattern of the winning side (not in pop votes in the US) being rural traditional voters in the heartlands of these countries, this not holding in UK where all counties supported the losing Remain side, against urban and higher educated and more secular or minority laden areas. Southwestern Wisconsin switched from Obama to Trump, Northern England came in strong for Brexit, and central Turkey aside from Ankara came in for Erdogans referendum. Is there a commonality here, global populism?

It may be, but the differences between the countries on the categories of economics, nationalism, and religion are notable. One should not forecast too far into the future about future elections based on this, just to note a more political issue, in the UK the Brexit vote was not obviously authoritarian, with many Brexiteers supporting freedom from supposedly oppressive and undemocratic EU regulators, even if they may have been misled to some degree. In the US, many see Trump as authoritarianb, but some voting for him think he is bringing freedom of some sort, maybe as the Sons of Liberty in Texas fought for the freedom to own slaves. In Turkey this matter is pretty unequivocal, with Erdogan declaring a third round of martial law after imprisoning thousands of innocent people on trumped up charges after the failed Gulenist coup attempt last summer. He is full bore authoritarian, but then he is seeking to replace Ataturk, who was also very authoritarian.

On economics the US and UK look more similar and less like Turkey, although all three have experienced economic problems. In the US and UK, they superficially look good, growing more than many other OECD nations, but they also have very high inequality compared to those other nations, with the outcome that the majority in both nations are not doing better economically. Both have old industrial areas suffering from import competition where an anti-foreigner appeal has a lot of appeal, and did so in crucial states in the US, and portions of England, although not Scotland, where every county voted for Remain. Turkey does not have the extreme inequality or the problem of old industrial areas facing import competition, but after a decade of substantial growth under Erdogans rule prior to 2012, it has slowed down since and actually had negative per capita income growth in 2015 (have not seen 2016 numbers yet). It is different in Turkey, but the economy is not doing all that well, although this may have fed into the low support for Erdogans referendum.

I see convergence on nationalism. In all three there has been an appeal to an ethnic core based nationalism, WASPs or whites more generally in the US, English in UK, and traditional Sunni Turks in Turkey. For whatever reason, in all three nations those core groups have responded strongly.

The matter of religion is more subtle and complicated, but has been dragged into the other two. So in both the US and UK anti-Muslim sentiment has been key, with this easily coinciding with anti-immigrant and foreigner appeals that feed into both the economic and nationalistic arguments. In Turkey it is pro-traditional Sunni Islam that is the key, with the large religious minority Alevis viewed as enemies, along with the ethnic Kurds. The central long term game of Erdogan is to undo the secular Turkish state of Ataturk and replace it with a neo-Ottoman Empire approach, although in the vein of the Young Turks of 1905, with a religious Sultan in charge, even if he does not claim to be Caliph.

Indeed the contradictions on all this for Turkey show up in the matter of Daesh/ISIL where Turkey has gone back and forth, long letting arms and people flow to their areas in Syria to keep the Kurds at bay and dump on Assad. Now they have been cut off from that, and have flipped on their relations with fellow authoritarian Putin in Russia. They seem completely confused, with Trump congratulating Erdogan on his referendum and mostly praising him, even as Trump has sent US troops to back the leftist Kurds fighting Daesh/ISIL in Syria because, hey, they are the only ones willing to go to Raqqa and beat those creeps, just as Obama had figured out some time ago.

Barkley Rosser
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The Rigors of Sunlen Serfatys Career Journey Until CNN and Fun Facts About Her Personal Life CNN correspondent, Sunlen Serfaty is an Emmy Award-winning journalist known for covering a broad range of breaking news stories, national news, and Washington politics. She has been able to garner widespread recognition for herself which even goes beyond the sphere of her work. Her profile also increased with the extensive work she did in covering ...

Demystifying Jazz Jennings Real Name, Boyfriend & Family Of One The Youngest Transgenders Jazz Jennings is an unusual personality who became famous as a transgender activist and was recorded as the youngest documented public figure to be seen as transgender. She is also a YouTube personality and spokesmodel for brands, her fans, and other transgenders. She fought for acceptance in her high school with her super supportive family for over ...

Inside Fred Armisens Life  Ethnicity, Romantic Relationships and Gay Rumors Fred Armisen is an award-winning American comedian, he is also a writer, an actor as well as a musician. He was a cast member of the legendary comedy show, Saturday Night Live for 13 years and also one of the brains behind the successful satirical show Portlandia. Find out more about this incredibly talented guy ...

Ed and Lorraine Warren Biography: Cases, Kids, and Family Life Have you ever woken up with fear you could not explain, or felt a strange presence that made the hair at your nape rise or even experienced strange occurrences around you? Well, these were some of the promptings that made the well-known paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren delve into trying to explain the ideas ...

Truth About Tony Romos Wife, Kids and Life Since His NFL Retirement Tony Romo grew from the field as a quarterback to the screens as an American Football Analyst. He was a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys in the richest football league in the world (NFL) before retiring. As a junior, he was honored as an All-Ohio Conference Member, an Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and ...

Who is Brittany Venti, The Controversial Game Streamer and YouTuber? In recent times, many people live stream themselves playing video games. This has become a popular pastime on the internet and many highly skilled gamers have become internet celebrities through this means. However, some of them rather than becoming renowned for their gaming skills and great commentary, have become controversial and infamous. A good example ...

Rob Dyrdeks Family: His Kids And Relationship With Wife Bryiana Noelle Flores A multi-talented star and an elite pro skateboarder, Rob Dyrdeks success story began at a remarkably young age. Yet another proof that schooling doesnt always correlate with success, Rob has established himself not just as a phenomenal sportsman but also as a successful entrepreneur. Besides perfecting his skill as a natural talent on the board, ...

xChocobars  Biography and Everything You Should Know About Her Having distinguished herself and recorded massive successes in an industry notably dominated by men, it is very safe to say that Xchocobars deserves all the attention and cash she makes from her career. A household name on Twitch (a smart live streaming video platform), the online-gamer is popularly known for streaming classic games such as Stardew ...

Everything To Know About Mary Padian, Her Boyfriend and Net Worth Mary Padian is a famous American television reality personality best known for her involvements on the Reality show Storage Wars. She also has her own shop called Mary finds where she displays her antique collections. Since her childhood, Padian has been a creative learner. At the time, she used to create new items out of reusable ones and ...

Betsy Woodruffs Family Life: Is She Married or Related To Bob Woodruff? An old name in the world of journalism, Betsy Woodruff has warmed her way into the hearts of many with her impressive talents. Through hard work, Woodruff has carved a niche for herself in a very competitive field. Betsy has strong family and work values and is also an advocate for equal opportunities for everyone ...

Matpat (Matthew Patrick)  Wife, Height & Net Worth As far as internet business is concerned, Matpat remains one of the most dynamic and seasoned figures. He boasts a wealth of experience that has helped him in growing his business from one level of greatness to another. Like most successful people, MatPat started out small but today, he makes millions of dollars from his ...

Facts About Ricegum  His Girlfriend, Real Name & Net Worth Ricegum is an online gamer and YouTube sensation who ditched college; took advantage of the digital era, and made a name for himself on the internet. Though he began as a gaming YouTuber, Ricegum soon gained recognition as a controversial internet star following his many diss tracks. Here is everything you need to know about the youngster ...

Joy Taylor Once Married MLBs Richard Giannotti  Inside Look At Her Love Life and Family The erosion of the sexist idea that women have no business in sports broadcasting created a host of women celebrities who attained fame outside of modeling and acting. One of them, Joy Taylor, a radio personality and TV host for Fox Sports 1, has been in the industry since 2009, becoming one of the most ...

What To Know About Conan OBriens Wife, Kids & Family Today The name Conan OBrien is one that jumps right at you almost immediately you start talking about the most popular television hosts in the USA and this is no surprise because the man behind that name has risen to become one of the most admired men in the business. Known for hosting the late-night talk ...

David Letterman  Net Worth, Wife & Son In all of American, one man whose face has been seen frequently by late night TV talk show lovers is none but David Letterman. The comedian and TV show veteran has been hosting late night talk shows for more than three decades. His Late Night with David Letterman show began on February 1st, 1982 aired ...

Demystifying Sssniperwolfs Family Background And The Boyfriends Shes Had Since she launched her eponymously named channel in 2013, Sssniperwolf has been on the rise when it comes to video game influencers. She is one of the biggest names in the online gaming subgenre of YouTube videos. Real name Lia Shelesh, she started with Call of Duty: Black Ops II but has diversified with other ...

Lester Holt  Wife, Family & Net Worth Lester Holt is a multiple award-winning journalist, newscaster, reporter, and actor who has worked for notable media houses like WCBS TV, CBS, MSNBC and among others. His remarkable feat in journalism has endeared him to the hearts of many and earned him some awards and recognitions. Read on to get acquainted with his biography, ethnicity, ...

What Is Louis C.K. Doing Now, Where Are His Family And How Much Is His Net Worth? It is not easy to make it in comedy. It takes more than a funny bone and the ability to elicit a few giggles from a listening audience. For all the complexities that go into making a successful career in comedy, Louis C.K, the Washington D.C-born comedian, did it. For years, he was at the ...

The Progression of Hoda Kotbs Career, Her Ancestry and Family Life Hoda Kotb gained fame as a television host and news anchor for NBC. She anchors the shows signature show Today, and it has been an excellent vehicle for her skills in front of a camera. Kotb has won several awards, including Daytime Emmys and Peabody Awards. Simply put, she is one of the most successful ...

Jerry Seinfelds Family: All About The Amazing Comedians Wife and Kids Apparently one of the highly important entertainers in America, Jerry Seinfeld is a man of many talents. A very funny man, he is considered to be one of the most successful comedians in the USA who has been in the business as a professional rib-cracker for more than 40 years. As an actor, he has ...

The Rigors Of Sarah Silvermans Rise To Prominence And Rundown Of The Men She Has Dated A comedian, writer, and actress, Sarah Silvermans art and craft is as unique as you would ever find. Her poignant use of comedy to discuss social issues such as race, sexism, politics, and religion has gained her an impressive following. As unorthodox as her style is, so is her life experiences. She previously suffered from epiglottitis ...

Who Is Hannibal Buress, Does He Have A Wife or Girlfriend & Why Was He Arrested? Making people laugh when they are tense or not in the mood is a tough order and to ply the trade, it must indeed take some guts and expertise, this is what the humor maker, Hannibal Buress has been able to achieve and sustain after his inital teething process. The African-American is a screen writer, stand-up ...

The Success of John Mulaneys Career Efforts Since His Work On Saturday Night Live and Facts About His Wife John Mulaney had been working as a professional comedian for years before Saturday Night Live changed his status for life and like many who are now his fans, you probably did not know of him then. However, that changed when he joined the sketch comedy show in 2008. Since then, he has been one of ...

Jeff Dunham  Wife, Children and Net Worth Ventriloquism is a very subtle method of making an inanimate object (like a puppet, doll or dummy) appear to be saying words which are actually coming from the person (holding the inanimate object). In effect, the individual throws his/her voice to the puppet and can even appear to be having a conversation with it. Not ...

Ellen DeGeneres  Net Worth, Wife  Portia de Rossi & Parents Ellen DeGeneres is an American female standup comedian who has proven that whatever a man can do, a woman can also do. Since her journey as a standup comedian started in 1981, she has held swirl as one of the finest comedians America and the world at large has seen. She is often referred to ...

Revisiting Joan Rivers Death  The Daughter, Husband & Net Worth She Left Behind Joan Rivers was a renowned American comedian, TV host, writer, and actress. Her brand of comedy consisted of scathing one-liners and no individual or topic is spared. She hosted her own talk shows in the 80s and 90s and was a pioneer for women in stand up comedy. She was the first woman to host a late night ...

The Struggles of Margaret Chos Childhood, How It Influenced Her Career Growth and Love Life Margaret Cho is best described as a comic star who knows how to maneuver everything related to life into a rib-cracking joke. She is also known to criticize every social and political problem, especially those involving race and sexuality. Apart from her talents as a comic actress, she does amazingly well as a singer and ...

Where Is Eric Bolling Today? Who Is His Son & What Is His Net Worth? Eric Bolling who was once a notable figure on Fox News, is an American TV personality, an author, and versatile Journalist. As a political and financial analyst/commentator, he anchored discussions bothering on finance for Fox Business Channel. Here is everything there is to know about his career, family, and allegations that led to his exit ...

Who Is Chelsea Handler and Does She Have A Husband or Boyfriend? Chelsea Handler is one of Americas top female comedians. She is also an actress, writer, television host, producer, and activist. She is known to be very outspoken even with things that are very personal. In separate interviews with The New York Times, Handler revealed that she had an abortion twice when she was 16. She has authored five books ...

How Did Laura Lee Achieve Fame, How Much is She Worth and Who is Her Husband? Laura Lee is a popular American YouTuber, make-up artist and beauty blogger. From posting videos of her makeup routines on Instagram, Lee has transformed into a beauty influencer and a YouTube sensation. Today, her YouTube Channel has over 630 million views and 4.5 million subscribers. Asides having millions of followers across all social media platforms, ...

Madison Gesiotto Bio  Ethnicity, Parents & Measurements Madison Gesiotto is no ordinary woman; although she excelled in quite a number of pageants and competitions while she was in school, it is her views on politics and issues in America that has made her name known to most people. She possesses beauty and intelligence in a seemingly equal measure and has been able ...

Who Is Lil Tay? Parents, Brother, Sister, Age, Net Worth, Ethnicity Child stardom is nothing new in the entertainment world. With the advent of social media, we have seen more stars made from the internet than ever before, and Lil Tay is one of them. Her uploaded rap videos trademark is cursing, swearing, cash-throwing, and use of obscene languages. Her fame went wild after she dropped ...

What To Know About Tig Notaros Wife, Kids and Family Today Tig Notaro is an American stand-up comic star, writer, actress, and radio analyst. Since she started her career in 2001, she has become one of Americas best comedians, particularly when it comes to observational comedy. One prominent aspect of her routine involves her family, which includes a wife and two children. Interestingly, Tig Notaro is part ...

Who Is Chantel Jeffries? What To Know About Her Age, Ethnicity & Net Worth Chantel Jeffries is a lady of many talents. Beyond being celebrated as a DJ, she has fared well as a model, an actress, musician, and as an artist. She first rose to fame on Instagram where she has a large following. However, in recent times, she has hit the spotlight for her rumored relationships with some ...

Is Ellen DeGeneres Married, Who Is The Brother  Vance DeGeneres and Family Members? Ellen DeGeneres is one of a kind celebrity in todays world as she has used her wealth for the greater good for many people. She has served a host of famous awards shows like the Grammy, Primetime Emmy and Academy Awards. Moreso, she is probably one of the most decorated entertainment personalities around the world and ...

Carli Bybel Bio  Height, Boyfriend & Net Worth Video blogging is now on the rise and YouTube is the place where most of it happens. If you are a lady who cares about her looks or a guy who likes to help his woman out with her looks, then one person whose name rings a bell when it comes to giving beauty tips ...

Who Is Lexy Panterra? What To Know About Her Ethnicity, Boyfriend & Net Worth Lexy Panterra is one of the YouTube personalities whose breakout came through the Twerk dance videos she posted on her social media handles and YouTube which has so far generated over 13 million views for her. From there on, she created her LexTwerkOut workout program in 2014. She is sure very talented as she as moved ...

Who Is AnneMunition? What Is Her Ethnicity & Does She Have A Girlfriend or Boyfriend? AnneMunition is a professional gamer and content creator of American origin. She is one of the most sought-after streamers on Twitch  a popular online platform for watching and streaming videos, especially video games. AnneMunition has almost half a million followers on Twitch and her channel has accumulated at least 13 million views. Her favorite games ...

Norm MacDonald  Former Wife, Son & Net Worth Recently, 59-year-old former Saturday Night Live stand-up comic Norm MacDonald caused a not-so-funny stir when he expressed his personal opinion about the #MeToo movement speaking in defense of Louis CK and Roseanne Barr. Following the backlash of his actions, he is diligently doing damage control for his questionable opinion by posting a public apology on ...

Inside Iliza Shlesingers Life With Husband and How Much She is Worth Now Witty, spontaneous, and truly humorous, Iliza Shlesinger is an American comedian who is clearly proving that the stereotypical claim that women are not really funny is not only incredibly wrong but completely outrageous. Having been in the game for more than 10 years, Shlesinger has grown bigger with each step, stunning fans with her incredible ...

Who Is Nessa Diab? Details of her Parents, Ethnicity & Relationship With Colin Kaepernick Nessa Diab has gained more fame as the girlfriend of different footballers than in her career. She is currently with the popular National Football League (NFL) player, Colin Kaepernick, and has stood by his side during his most trying times. Also known for her mononym, Nessa, she recently engaged in a tweet battle with the ...

Samantha Bee  Inside the Life of Full Frontal Comedian and Presenter We have over the decades seen various brands of humor and personalities who have walked the ropes. One of the formidable forces in the world of comedy is no other than the iconic Samantha Bee of the Daily Show who now runs her own television show on TBS channel. She is a Canadian-American political commentator, ...

What Happened To Jessica Williamss Boyfriend And Which Are Her Best Works? Jessica Williams is a woman who has a lot of feathers in her cap  and keeps acquiring more. The former senior political correspondent of the comic Daily Show, who is also a comedian and actress whose recent movie appearance include starring as a playwright just recovering from a recent split with her boyfriend, Damon, and ...

Who is Nicole Byer? Here are 5 Facts You Need To Know About The Comedian Nicole Byer, an American comedian, actress, and writer, made a name for herself after she played supporting roles on MTVs prank show Ladylike and the reality show Girl Code. The latter was a series that featured comedians who analyzed in minute details, all the issues that young women deal with daily, from period to dating, to weird friendship dynamics and questions about sex. Currently, ...

A Closer Look At Bart Kwans Ethnicity, Height & Personal Life Bart Kwan is one of few Asians who is known for being successful in the comic industry at an international level. His fame broke out after the YouTube channel which he created with his close pal Joe Jo garnered up massive followings. The talented duo has been running the channel since 2007 and their success ...

Heres How VanossGaming Achieved Fame Online, His Worth and Other Facts About The Gamer For many years, the decision to drop out of college to pursue an online career was considered to be foolish and self-destructive by conventional wisdom. It was no different when Evan Fong, popularly known as VanossGaming, dropped out of college to pursue a YouTube career. However, that radical move paid off, and he stands shoulder to ...

Desi Perkins  Ethnicity, Net Worth & Husband YouTube is littered with videos of makeup tutorials by different people but if you are interested in learning how to do your makeup like a pro, there is just one person on that platform who you must follow. She is none other than Desi Perkins! She is a popular make-up artist, Instagram star, and vlogger. Desi, ...

The Phases of Casey Neistats Pursuits and His Love Story With Candice Pool YouTuber, vlogger, filmmaker, and creator extraordinaire; these are just a few hats that Casey Neistat wears and the story of how he got here is incredible. A native of Connecticut, Neistat started out by making refreshingly-authentic short films and videos that featured content that was based on everyday life and called attention to serious issues. He ...

Connor Franta  Inside The Life of American YouTuber YouTube has produced a lot of young celebrities in modern times and Connor Franta happens to be one of them. Apart from being a YouTuber, the young American is also an entrepreneur, entertainer, and writer. His journey to fame began almost a decade ago when he started a self-named YouTube channel where he uploads content ranging ...

Rhett and Link  Bio, Who are Their Wives, Net Worth and Family Facts Rhett and Link refer to an American comedy duo who are very popular on YouTube. They are known for their comic songs, viral commercials, skits and the daily show, Good Mythical Morning. Good Mythical Morning is the most watched daily show online, averaging 100 million views in a month. The show has featured guests such ...

A Walk Through The Maze of Ryan Higas Career Pursuits And Relationship With Arden Cho Ryan Higa is not only celebrated as a YouTube star, but he is also famed for appearing on television screens as an actor and comedian. Nigahiga, his Youtube channel, has gathered over 20 million subscribers and billions of views with his different comic acts, short films, and music videos uploads. With the rise in his career, ...

What to Know About The Shows That Made Craig Ferguson a Star and His Family Ties Rising to the top of your profession can sometimes be a hard and difficult process. It requires days and nights of working consistently hard to be better than what you were yesterday. It requires not giving up when all of your experiences seem to be pushing you to quit. It is because of these challenges ...

David Dobrik Married Liza Koshy for One Month  Inside His Family and Relationships David Dobrik is a YouTube sensation who has garnered fame not just for his vlogs but his love life too. Given his career as a YouTuber, his channel is one place where he shares his romantic escapades. With a cute boyish look like his, this Slovakian young man is definitely a good catch, and not ...

Merrell Twins Bio  Ethnicity, Parents & Boyfriend One of the beautiful things about modern life is social media. As rudimentary as it might seem, it could turn out to be the greatest thing that would be invented in the next 50 years because of its impact on human life. Very few tools have revolutionized human behavior and culture as much as social ...

Who Is Bunny Meyer, Is She Married & What Is Her Net Worth? Bunny Meyer is a YouTube celebrity who has amassed over 8.8 million subscribers with 1.5 million viewers on her channel. She is popularly known as Grav3yardgirl and is one of the highest-paid YouTubers in the world. She initially started out as a fashion designer and later chose the path of a YouTuber. Grav3yardgirl has used her knowledge on fashion, makeup, ...

Ninja  Inside The Life of The American YouTuber and Internet Personality Ninja is a talented video game player known for his mastery of Fortnite and other seemingly difficult games he plays with ease. The video gamer made a career out of what is ordinarily the hobby of many people and has since then amassed a huge online following. Find out about him here, including the controversies that ...

What Is Eva Gutowskis True Sexuality and How Did She Rise So Fast As an Influencer? Ever since Eva Gutowski joined YouTube in 2011, it has been an interesting journey for her, moving from one milestone to the other. Backed by an army of young women and teenage girl fans known as Evanators, she has risen to become one of the most-talked-about personalities in the digital stratosphere. She has also leveraged ...

Emma Chamberlain Biography  Age, Height & Net Worth Before now, people in the entertainment industry could only achieve popularity after many years of dedication and hard work but since social media came into the scene, massive success and overnight popularity became possible. That is the story of Emma Chamberlain who encountered fame as a fifteen-year-old. Emma is one of the many young people who became ...

Anna Akana  Ethnicity, Boyfriend & Net Worth There is a new crop of YouTubers known by their different contents with a very strong uniqueness that stands every one of them out, some upload video games, some fashion while some others have comedy video contents to showcase on their channels. Anna Akana has used her platform to showcase her comedy contents to the ...

Revealing Truths About Lilly Singhs Ethnic Background, Family and Her Relationship With Yousef Erakat Lilly Singh is an Indian-Canadian YouTube personality, actress, and comedian also known as Superwoman. She kicked off her YouTube career in 2010 with the launch of her channel IISuperwomanII and followed it up with a vlog channel in 2011. This paved the way for her fame and success which led to a world tour. The ...

Who Is Andrea Constand, Is She Married and What Is Her Connection With Bill Cosby? Many people got sexually molested but could not voice out due to the stigma victims suffer and what will become of them thereafter. Very few of the victims danm every consequence to seek justice and bring the perpetrator to the book, like Andrea Constand. She never got any media buzz, not until her friend cum molester; ...

Who Is Lazarbeam (Lannan Eacott)? Here Are Facts You Need To Know Lannan Eacott became a person of interest after his YouTube channel, LazarBeam pulled him to the limelight. Initially, he started with uploads of Madden Challenge videos before deciding to build his own channel in January 2015. Within the space of three years, his YouTube channel had gathered over 7 million loyal subscribers. Today, he has not ...

Puzzling Facts About Wengies YouTube Success and More About Her Fiance Among the many YouTubers who have succeeded in winning the hearts of millions of people is Wengie. She is a Chinese-Australian YouTube personality, vlogger, singer, and voice actress. Wengie is famous for a lot of things, from her simple life hacks, DIYs, craft ideas to fun experiments, tricks and pranks. Her content portfolio also includes hair tutorials, diet & fitness tips, lookbooks, ...

Is Jeffree Star A Billionaire and How Much Does He Make On YouTube? If looks can be deceptive then theres no other person who proves this maxim better than Jeffree Star. A quick look at Stars pictures would likely leave you wondering whether or not to tag him a male or female. But who says being controversial has to be a curse? For Star, his looks have caught ...

The Place of Rosanna Pansinos Career Hats In Her Rise To Fame and Facts About Her Personal Life There are a few phrases that could summarize Rosanna Pansinos rise to fame. None of them can do it better than the famous axiom, no knowledge is lost. Her popularity YouTube comes out of her foray into other professions, specifically acting. Although acting now occupies one of the major professional hats in Rosannas resume, it was ...

Muselk (Elliott Watkins) Biography  Age, Girlfriend and Net Worth The new and best in-thing in terms of career is video gaming and we have over time seen young men and women make massive income from an activity that was purportedly designed to serve as a hobby or a relaxation activity. One of such individuals is the Australian-born YouTube Celebrity and Twitch streamer, Muselk, whose ...

PopularMMOs Biography: 5 Interesting Facts You Need To Know We have over the years seen social media millionaires, especially on the YouTube social platform. These celebrities cum millionaires have made names for themselves after carving out niches on the internet, and a typical example of one of such exciting media personality on the YouTube is American Minecraft gamer and YouTube star, PopularMMOs whose channel ...

Jason Nash Once Married Marney Hochman  What To Know About His Ex-Wife and Kids The now-defunct video-sharing app Vine was the path that led Jason Nash to fame. With it, he built an audience of over two million followers, which he parlayed into a significant YouTube career. That move has seen him become one of the most popular personalities on the internet, with the cash income to go with ...

Where Does Dantdm Live? What Do We Know About His Net Worth, Wife and Brother? Most parents buy video games for their kids to occupy their time leisure, while other parents frown at their kids when they play video games. Despite the disparity, every parent would be proud of their child if he/she eventually turns a celebrity or millionaire through playing video games like Dantdm. Biography of Dantdm Dantdm was born Daniel ...

LaurDIY  Biography: 5 Facts You Need To Know About The YouTuber LaurDIY is the YouTube channel of Lauren Riihimaki which she created on December 1, 2011, when she was still a college undergrad with the sole aim of giving Do It Yourself (DIY) as well as practical fashion and beauty tips to her followers. She has used the channel to establish herself as a YouTube personality ...

Lachlan Ross Power  Bio And Family Life Of Australian The YouTube Star It is amazing the varied sources of income that the internet has made possible in this day and age. Internet fame can get its holder a whole lot of monetary and social benefits, but it must be noted that it does not come easy or cheap. For those who desire fame, content is the sacrifice ...

Alfie Deyes  Bio and Net Worth: Everything You Need To Know Alfie Deyes is one internet personality you definitely would like to know about. He boasts of over 10 million subscribers on three of his YouTube channels and has three bestseller books to his name. He is probably the most renowned young personality on YouTube today and his vlogging empire continues to grow by the day. ...

Colleen Ballingers Love Story With Husband Erik Stocklin and How Much She Is Worth Now Colleen Ballinger is an American comedian and YouTuber who is a very funny, adventurous, and highly talented woman. She is also an actress, singer, and writer. Collen is widely known for her work on YouTube where she posts content on her channel, Miranda Sings. The comedian has gained many subscribers over the years and has ...

Who Are The Dude Perfect Members and How Much Are They Worth? Entertainment in the 21st century can be digested in many forms and with platforms like YouTube, the creators and purveyors of entertainment have been democratized. Today, one of the most popular platforms to exhibit ones creative talents is YouTube, even though there are other platforms like Twitter, Facebook, who suffer in comparison to YouTube because ...

Who Is Rudy Mancuso, What Is His Earning Power and What Do We Know About His Girlfriend? Rudy Mancuso started his internet journey on Vine. He would later transition to YouTube where he solidified his place among the internets most beloved comedic creators. He is now regarded as one of the renowned internet personalities in the world, with a presence in mainstream TV and film projects like Comedy Centrals Drunk History and ...

Vsauce (Michael Stevens) Biography and Net Worth: All You Need To Know The advent of YouTube and the internet as a whole revolutionized how human beings consume information. With each passing year, the percentage of learning that is done in a traditional classroom decrease as a seismic shift to internet-based learning happens in our education industry. From open courses online to YouTube classes and videos, there are ...

How did Jake Paul Make His YouTube Big Break and Who is His Wife? One of the most interesting Social Media personalities of the 21st century is the young and popular Jake Paul whose elder brother is the famed Vine star, Logan Paul. Jake has utilized the power of the internet to bring himself to the limelight with a channel named JakePaulProductions that has amassed up to six billion ...

5 Facts You Need To Know About Reaction Time (Tal Fishman)  The American YouTuber Before 2015, the leading meaning of reaction time was the amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus, until Tal Fishman started his channel, Reaction Time on YouTube and the dominant meaning changed. Today, a google search of Reaction Time would deliver Tal Fishmans videos and YouTube channel link with a few physics ...

Grace Helbig  Net Worth, Boyfriend and Family Life of The YouTuber Grace Helbig is an American internet personality, comedian, actress, and writer. She became popular due to her daily vlog series, DailyGrace, which ran on My Damn Channel from 2008 to 2013. Helbig is also popular for her own indie series on YouTube, ItsGrace, which she launched in 2014. Her vlogs which feature random stuff such as ...

Mark Wiens Bio  Ethnicity, Wife and Parents Food is a great way to connect with people. We all love to eat, if not for the pleasure of food, the satisfaction of quenching hunger, and the very process of providing and sharing that food is part of the strongest bonds that bind humanity together. Maybe it is our historical connection to food, where ...

Is Filthy Frank Dead, What Happened To Him and How Much Is He Worth? As George Kusunoki Miller, he was a nobody. However, as Filthy Frank, George was one of the most famous internet personalities on the planet. The Filthy Frank Show, a sketch series on his YouTube channel, TVFilthyFrank, was one of the platforms most influential creations. He is the reason a crazy dance song, Harlem Shake, made it ...

CaptainSparklez Bio  Net Worth, House and Cars of The Famous YouTuber Sometimes, what society wants from its citizens is quite different from what the citizens want for themselves. This is evident in the life and career of video blogger and American YouTube personality, Jordan Maron famous for his YouTube channel CaptainSparklez. He dropped out of school after discovering his talent in playing an online game called Minecraft. ...

Who is Simply Nailogical (Cristine Rotenberg)? Here are Facts You Must Know Canadian Youtube personality, Simply Nailogical (Cristine Rotenberg) originally started out polishing and designing nails even before it became a trendy culture in the social media. Simply Nailogica started out her showbiz career in her early days as a child actress, acting in commercials for game and toy companies. Aside from acting, she is blogger, vlogger, specializing ...

5 Interesting Facts You Need To Know About Huda Beauty In the world of entrepreneurship, it is interesting when an individual has a mentor who he/she looks up to, this yield more productivity on the part of the individual. The iconic and rich American beautician and makeup artist Huda Kattan nicknamed Heida is the founder of the Huda Beauty blog which is number one Instagram beauty blog ...

Is Dino MasterChef Gay? Details About His Ethnicity, Girlfriend, Where He Is Now Food, for the better part of the early years of human life, was nothing more than what we needed for survival. There was no artistry or curation to the method of cooking. The scarcity of food left no room for artistic expression until we figured out agriculture and we could make as much as we ...

Who Is Gabbie Hanna And How Did She Become Famous? As the world shifts to digital media and depends more and more on streaming services for its news and entertainment content, YouTubers have become one of the leading creators in the new media world. Their understanding of the online audience: how to create, maintain, and increase followers, are all handy skills that have primed them ...

Jacksepticeye  Height, Girlfriend & Net Worth Jacksepticeye is a YouTuber and actor who gained popularity with a series of gaming videos he uploads on his channel to the delight of millions of his subscribers. He is Known primarily for his comic video game series titled Lets Play and his vlogs. His channel was formerly ranked 46th in the list of most subscribed ...

Chris Heria Personal Details: About His Wife, Height & Ethnicity Background In this generation, keeping fit has become one of the major criteria for being hale and hearty. In fact, most occupations these days are majorly concerned with ones body mass, weight and looks. Unlike the past where most people have to register in a gym to keep fit, social media has made it quite easy ...

Everything You Need To Know About Game Grumps Gaming is becoming incredibly popular on YouTube these days with game vloggers make millions of dollars out of them yearly. One of the most popular up-coming gaming YouTube channels is Game Grumps. The Lets Play series was created in 2012 and celebrated its fifth anniversary on July 18th, 2017. In six years of its existence, the ...

Daithi De Nogla Biography, Girlfriend and Net Worth YouTube has created an avenue for many to make wealth and become famous from the comfort of their homes while having fun. Many have built a career out of the platform, uploading numerous videos that have earned them the admiration of viewers across the globe. For Daithi De Nogla, he is loved for his humorous commentary on ...

Does Phoebe Robinson Have A Boyfriend or Husband and What Do We Know About Her Family? Phoebe Robinson is a New York-based comedian, writer, and actress. She is best known as the co-creator and co-host of the WNYC Studios podcast 2 Dope Queens. Just like some other female comedians, she never had any original plans of becoming a stand-up comedian even though, according to her, she took a class on a whim at Carolines on Broadway. After ...

Who Are Lex and Alana from Listed Sisters? What Is Their Ethnicity & Is the Show Cancelled? America is a country built on diversity. Everywhere you look all over the country, a countless number of immigrants or children of immigrants have become an integral part of the fabric of the country. From entertainment to business, immigrants are creating a niche for themselves and climbing to the summit of their respective professions. One ...

Riveting Facts About Danielle Lombard And What She Is Best Known For The American entertainment industry is one that provides many avenues for aspiring hopefuls to express their talents and become famous. From films to television shows and game shows, there is no shortage of ways for men and women who desire fame to pursue and earn it in the United States of America. Another tested medium ...

Unearthing New Details About The YouTube Success And Personal Life of Alex Burriss of Wassabi Productions Wildly hilarious and truly audacious, Alex Wassabi is an American YouTuber who has become a very popular face on the video-sharing platform after having garnered millions of subscribers over the years by keeping people glued to his channel with his witty parody video releases. If you have always loved parody videos, there is every chance ...

Everything You Need To Know About H2O Delirious H2O Delirious whose full birth name is reported to be Jonathan Gormon Dennis has successfully kept himself mystified by hiding his face behind the masks leaving his loyal fans speculating who he really is for many years. The American YouTube star is easily identified by the Jason Mask Style with make-up which he wears on his ...

Who Is HolaSoyGerman and What Happened To Him? German Garmendia has certainly seen it all when it comes to internet success. His channels, HolaSoyGerman and JuegaGerman are in the top twenty most subscribed channel on YouTube. The Chilean YouTuber found a way to tap into one of the worlds greatest inventions and make a living from it. He has been able to build ...

Who Are Glenn Becks Family, What Is His Net Worth And What Happened To Him? The American political commentary space is filled with different personalities. A few of them, through their rhetoric, charisma, and resources have been able to build a large following of men and women who listen to them for insight and direction for various political and social issues in the United States. For Conservatives, the story is ...

Following Charissa Thompsons Rise Through The Ranks Of Sports Casting and All About Her Boyfriend Superstar TV host and sportscaster, Charissa Thompson, has been hailed as one of the highest-profile women journalists in America, and the reason is there for all to see. She has worked for popular establishments such as Versus, Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, GSN, and Big Ten Network. She currently hosts the popular pre-game show, Fox NFL Kickoff, ...

Is Chris Kattan Gay or Does He Have A Wife? What Is His Net Worth? Chris Kattan is a popular American comedian and actor. He has appeared in several comic movies and TV series such as The Middle, A Night at the Roxbury and Bunnicula. Kattan is, however, most popular for his six-year stint as a cast member of Saturday Night Live. During his time on the legendary show, he ...

Everything You Should Know About the Rise of Insta Star Claire Abbott and Why She Gave It All Up A lot of young Americans have shot into the limelight for uploading different kinds of videos on YouTube. Some of these young stars include Connor Franta, Desi Perkins, Emma Chamberlain, the Dolan Twins (Ethan and Grayson), and Claire Abbott. The latter became a social media celebrity for uploading sexy bikini pictures of herself on social media. Apart from ...

5 Facts You Need To Know About The YouTube Channel  h3h3Productions H3h3Productions is a YouTube channel that specializes on Comic responses or reactions of other contents or trendy stories. The celebrity couple that created the channel has over time racked up sizable views for their commentaries and contents. Even though they had their own fair share of copyright cases, thankfully they scored an unprecedented victory in all ...

Lilypichu Bio  Height, Brother and Love Story With Albert SleightlyMusical Chang Like most popular internet celebrities, Lilypichu is one of those Twitch streamers who spend their lives on camera. From daydreaming about the possibility of becoming a full-time professional streamer, she grew to live out her dreams on the popular live streaming platform where people play games, make crafts, and showcase their day-to-day activities. Given the rise of ...

KSI  What To Know About His Girlfriend, Brother  Deji Olatunji & Net Worth Assuredly, when Internet inventors Vint Cerf and Bob Khan created the technological masterpiece, they probably did not know how massive the creation will be harnessed by many for different purposes including as a platform for earning money through content creation. One of such person who smiles to the bank regularly today for spending time creating ...

The Interesting Progression and Highlights of Carrie Keagans Career as a Host and Actress Carrie Keagan has garnered huge fame through her various stints on television. She is not just your regular TV host but one with a difference. Keagan has hosted several high profile events and TV shows, including VH1s Big Morning Buzz Live and Fox News Channels Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld. However, not many know she ...

The Gist On Elise Jordans Marriages And Her Rise To Prominence Political commentaries tend to be boring when it is handled by someone who does not have a knack for it. However, when you see the likes of Elise Jordan run the same commentary, you will have a lot of reasons to look forward to watching her again as the journalist is well-versed in the field ...

What Is Timmy Thick Best Known For and How Successful Is The Star? Thanks to the internet, many people whose talents would have ordinarily gone unnoticed have become famous. A very good example of this modern-day internet celebrity is Timmy Thick, an American social media star. He became popular on Instagram due to his penchant for posting raunchy pictures of himself. He also often posted videos of himself ...

What Does Heather Storm Do For a Living and Who Is She Dating? Reality Television is a great way to make a name for oneself as well as amass a fortune. Heather Storm can attest to this as she is one of those who have made a name and earned a lot from reality TV. She made her name appearing on shows like Car Fanatics, Awesome Autos, and, ...

Matt Carriker Biography  Net Worth, Wife & Height Unlike your regular veterinary doctor next door, Matt Carriker chose to spice up his noble profession with the unusual. Though he is known to many as a medical practitioner, Carriker is better renowned as a YouTube star and an animal lover. Having recorded huge successes on his various YouTube channels, the vet doctors name and ...

Jillian Mele of Fox News Career Achievements, Husband & Measurements There are quite a good number of presenters on radio and television who listeners and viewers may never wish to miss any of their shows because of their sensational golden voice, beauty or the special way or artistry they anchor their shows. Jillian Mele is one of such. She has been at the top of ...

Who is Gillian Turner of Fox News? Her Fiance or Husband and Net Worth Gillian Turner is well-known as a news correspondent for Fox News Channel but before she became a TV personality, she built an intimidating resume working for different institutions, including the American government. She served in different capacities at the White House National Security Council during the administration of former US Presidents  George W. Bush and Barack Obama. ...

Gloria Govan Bio  Age, Ethnicity & Height Even as Gloria Govan is famous as an American actress, author, a TV host, and reality television star, shes more popular as the wife of the former NBA player, Matt Barnes. She became known after appearing on the Florida version of the reality television series, Basketball Wives and later, Basketball Wives: LA  after Matt was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Sadly, ...

Michael Fishmans Interesting Start as an Actor and Why He Divorced His Wife of Many Years When one door closes, another one opens. As silly as that axiom may seem, it is the story of the resurgence of Michael Fishman, who plays D.J Conner on the popular show, Roseanne. Having played the character for several years as a child actor into his teenage years; when the show originally ended, Michael did ...

Who Is October Gonzalez  Tony Gonzalezs Wife? All You Need To Know October Gonzalez is a popular American TV host and media personality. Additionally, she is also a model. Gonzalez has hosted several TV shows such as Beat Shazam, Entertainment Tonight, and Rachel Ray. She has also featured in several reality TV shows. Gonzalezs fame is not just due to her profession but also because of her ...

Who Is Tony Berlin  Harris Faulkners Husband: His Children and Family Facts Tony Berlin is a popular American media guru. He has variously worked as a reporter, anchor, and producer for some of the biggest TV networks in America. They include CNN, CBS, NBC, and ABC (where he hosted the popular Good Morning America). Berlin has now diversified into public relations and owns his own PR firm. ...

The Progression of Gianna Tobonis Journalism Career and Details About Her Marriage to Kyle Buckley Gianna Toboni may not be your ideal newscaster but her unusual reporting is what made her a household name. The American journalist is renowned for her hard-hitting and authentic reportage. A motivator and activist for total press freedom, Gianna loves to explore pervasive cultural issues. Not only does this unique and ambitious journalist call for all ...

Dog The Bounty Hunters Family Including Details of His Late Wife and Kids Popularly known as Dog, a name which he got from the television series, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Duane Chapman, an American bounty hunter, and one-time bail bondsman, went from being convicted for a felony to being a reality TV star. He was brought to the limelight following the capture of the convicted criminal, Andrew Luster in 2003 and this eventually made ...

Vicky Karayiannis, Chris Cornells Wifes Bio, Children and Family The world of showbiz is made up of different people who serve different roles, and function in a variety of capacities, and one of the most important people are those in the background. Publicists are undoubtedly one of these background people yet they are vital to the life and fame of most of our favorite ...

Joe Rogan Has A Step-Daughter and 2 Other Kids With Wife Jessica Ditzel  Meet His Family Joe Rogan is a popular American stand-up comedian and TV host. His journey to stardom began in the late 80s and has seen him host several shows, the most popular is the game show titled Fear Factor. The exciting show dares contestants to face some of their greatest fears and embark on challenging stunts. The ...

Josh Gates and Wife Hallie Gnatovich Have 2 Kids But Who Has the Higher Net Worth? Best known for his explorations and adventures, Josh Gates, is a television presenter with a voracious appetite for seeing the world and the beauties in it. Some of that beauty, however, is in his home, in the form of two children he shares with his wife, Hallie Gnatovich. Not excluded is their marriage which has lasted ...

Holly Sonders Wiki, Plastic Surgery & Why She Divorced Her Husband  Erik Kuselias After trying everything within her capacity to have a low key wedding, Holly Sonders was drawn to the public because of her husbands controversy at his workplace. Well, the two are rumored to be divorced but the article below will give more light on how true these rumors are. Meanwhile, Holly Sonders is yet to ...

Nadeska Alexis Bio  Age, Boyfriend & Net Worth Journalism is one diverse profession that allows the practitioners to choose their area of specialty, build a career on it by reporting the truth and facts which in the long run will distinguish them as deserving commendation and recognition among their peers. Some choose to specialize in political journalism, while to others it is sports ...

Media Platforms Charlamagne Tha God Has Explored and All The Controversies He Has Courted Charlamagne Tha God is an American on-air personality, radio presenter, and more recently, author. He is popularly known as a co-host on New York radios nationally syndicated show, The Breakfast Club, a program he has been hosting alongside DJ Envy and Angela Yee since 2010. However, his early years had no connection to his current career ...

A Look At Jimmy Fallons Net Worth and Family Including His Wife & Kids Sometimes, a childs passion for something is a pointer to what he/she would become in the future. As a child, Jimmy Fallon was literally obsessed with watching the late-night comedy program, Saturday Night Live (SNL). Then, his parents would tape the clean parts for him to watch and later, he and his sister would re-enact sketches from the ...

Kay Adams Biography  Does The Sportscaster Have A Husband or Boyfriend? When you hear the phrase sports enthusiast, women are hardly the first group that comes to mind. Well, thats changing pretty fast. Especially with the rise of female sports analysts and broadcasters like Kay Adams who is famed for knowing more about sports than most men do. And why not, shes paid handsomely for it ...

Ben Shapiros Family  Meet His Wife, Kids and Sister Who is Popular for the Wrong Reasons A multi-talented man, Ben Shapiro is a man of controversial nature, an attribute that has made him an unusual public figure. An intellectual whose career path was clearly defined even before he became a man, the Jewish conservative commentator has always had his way with words. He became popular by sharing his critical and often ...

QVC Shawn Killinger Bio  Husband, Net Worth & Facts To Know Shawn Killinger is a prominent TV personality who has worked her way to the top. Though not initially a journalist by training, she defied the odds and today has established herself as a household name, as well as, worked alongside some industry legends. More than just being a reporter, newscaster, and anchor, heres all you ...

Liv Lo  Dissecting the Ethnicity, Parents and Personal Life of Henry Goldings Wife While many are aware that Liv Lo is the better half to Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding, only a few understand why his beautiful wife appears increasingly endearing to fans. A former model turned TV personality, and fitness star, Liv has an impressive resume which when combined with that of her statuesque spouse is considered a perfect ...

Stpeach Age, Husband and Other Facts About The Twitch Streamer Lisa Vannatta, famously known by her online alias, STPeach is a Canadian video game streamer cum vlogger who has garnered fame through her appearances on different video-sharing/social networking platforms such as Youtube, Instagram, Twitch, Reddit, and Twitter. The beautiful lady got her career to a start in August 2015 when she joined the live streaming video platform, Twitch. She rose to ...

Insights into Seth Meyers Wife, Family and What His Net Worth Is Celebrities are mostly remembered and known for the work they do. For Seth Meyers, his career as a comedian, writer, actor, TV host, and producer is his biggest identifier. He was on Saturday Night Live SNL show as a head writer and cast member for more than ten years during which he built a reputation ...

Who Is Jessica Gadsden  Age, Net Worth & All About Charlamagne tha Gods Wife Jessica Gadsden is an American fitness coach as well as a personal trainer. She is better known as the spouse of popular American media personality, Charlamagne Tha God. Charlamange Tha God is a well-known TV and radio personality in the U.S. He has featured in several shows (both on the radio and TV) and is ...

Who Is Collins Tuohy  Michael Ohers sister ? Her Wedding, Husband & Net Worth Collins Tuohy is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, blogger, and social media personality. She is also better known as the adoptive sister of NFL player, Michael Oher, whose life story inspired the Hollywood blockbuster The Blind Side. The Blind Side tells the true life story of Oher who grew up in an impoverished background consisting of a ...

Eye-Popping Facts About The Personal Life And Career Success Of Sportscaster Heidi Watney Heidi Watney is a media personality who has created a niche for herself as a sportscaster. Starting out as a radio presenter, the brilliant young lady has gone on to work for several prominent sports networks, and currently, she is with the MLB. The sportscaster is also known to have been an avid sports lady right ...

Marty Lagina Bio  Siblings (Martina and Rick Lagina), Net Worth and Wife Marty Lagina is an American engineer and businessman who has risen to fame as a reality TV star. This is thanks to his involvement in the adventure TV series, The Curse of Oak Island. The Curse of Oak Island is a long-running TV series which airs on the history channel. The show aims to solve ...

Is Jordan Schlansky Just A Character or a Real Life Person and What Does He Do? The world of late-night television is an interesting one. Shows during that time are geared towards giving viewers comedic relief from a long day at work through interviews and comedy sketches. The often charismatic host of this show requires the balancing talent of a producer whose primary job is to deliver great episodes. It is ...

Heres How Wealthy Jimmy Kimmel Is From All The Phases of His Career, Marriages and Sons Health Jimmy Kimmel is a renowned late-night talk show host known for his charm, wit, and the A-list guests he features on his show. As the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! On ABC, Jimmy has been serving comedy to television viewers for years which played a pivotal role in launching him into mainstream fame and enabled ...

Natasha Bertrand Biography  Is She Married? Who Is the Husband & What Is Her Age? Natasha Bertrand is not just a young prominent journalist but a first-rate investigative reporter. With her natural beauty and smile, Natashas sharp, insightful political commentary also makes her a thorough reporter. Her sound political perspective and coverage in the country have made her a force to be reckoned with in the profession. Renowned for her ...

What Happened to Shane Kilcher? His Injury Update, Net Worth and More Shane Kilcher is well-known thanks to the Discovery Channel series Alaska: The Last Frontier. It is a show that documents the daily lives of the extended Kilcher family, people who live without plumbing or modern heating. The episodes follow their routines as they rely on hunting and farming for their nutritional needs as well as ...

Is Stephanie Gosk Gay or Lesbian, Who is the Wife or Partner  Jenna Wolfe? In August 2013, NBCs Today viewers were greeted with two shocking news. Today weekend anchor, Jenna Wolfe, announced that she was as a lesbian, introducing her partner as NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk, and said the two are expecting their first child. A long time has passed since then and certainly, a lot of things ...

Nikki Mudarris  Bio and Net Worth: 5 Interesting Facts You Need to Know Nikki Mudarris, also known as Miss Nikki Baby, is a reality television star, model and fashionista. Shes best known for VH1s reality TV series Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood. Her entrepreneurial skills enable her to create and run a successful lingerie line Nude by Nikki. Not only that, but Nikki has also successfully run the Las ...

5 Interesting Things You Need To Know About Kelly Nash Ever heard of the lady who gained national prominence for taking a selfie with a dangerous ball just a few inches away from hitting her? Its no other person than Kelly Nash, an American sports broadcaster currently working as host of The Rundown show which airs on MLB Network every weekday at 2 pm ET. ...

Understanding The Height of Fame John Oliver Achieved With The Daily Show and How He Met His Wife Without knowledge of who he is and his exemplary career, John Oliver cuts an unassuming figure of a regular man but he is one of the most influential personalities in America, especially on television. Since he began his career in 1998, he has been a loud and unapologetic agent of change, using his wit and ...

Why Did Big Chief Leave Street Outlaws, Where Is He Now And Why Did He Divorce His Wife? Justin Shearer, otherwise known by his professional name Big Chief is a famous street racer and television personality. He is famously known for being one of the main characters on the racing reality television series, Street Outlaws. Justin, who had been a significant part of the show since its premiere in 2013, appeared in a ...

Who is Josina Anderson of ESPN? Her Husband and Family Facts There has been a gradual paradigm shift in the world of sports which has today produced the likes of Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, and other female athletes that are pulling great feats in different sporting fields. Their achievements have also been followed by the emergence of female sports journalists such as Jillian Mele, Eboni Williams, ...

Is Brittany Wagner Married, Who Is The Husband, How Old Is She? Brittany Wagner has been an inspiration to a lot of sports youngster. She has won the hearts of many athletic students with her role as a life coach and an academic counselor. She is well groomed in her career and has worked over a decade for The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and The National ...

Tati Westbrook Bio  Age, Husband & Net Worth With five videos dished out every week, alongside running her own brand, beauty guru, and YouTube superstar Tati Westbrook has proved to the world that theres utterly no impossibility or limit to whatever one is passionate about. Tati is best known for being the owner and manager of the worlds most-viewed beauty and lifestyle YouTube channel, ...

Cathy Areus Long Road to Becoming a Freelance Journalist and What to Know About Her Kids An American freelance journalist, news analyst, and author, Cathy Areu has built a lasting reputation for herself on cable television. Popular for her skillful and sassy presentation of professional views on varying topics including cultural and feminist issues, Cathy is an inspiration to many women across the globe. In addition to being a journalist, she ...

Tucker Carlsons Love Story With Wife Susan Andrews, their Children and Net Worth Today On the TV screens, Tucker Carlson is that fiery fellow who passionately dishes out his conservative and often controversial views on issues of national importance. Such brazenness has fetched him many enemies, especially on the left-wing, but it has also helped him cement a reputation as one of the foremost broadcast journalists in America. His ...

Paige Wyatts Net Worth, Boyfriend and Where She Is Now Paige Wyatt became popular after the Wyatt family began running the reality television show, American Guns. The Wyatt family comprises Rich Wyatt (father), Renee Wyatt (mother), Paige and Kurt Wyatt (children). Rich Wyatt originally ran a gun shop, the Gunsmoke Guns in Wheat Ridge, Colorado which is outside of Denver. The business which he ran together ...

The Progression of Howard Sterns Career As A Media Personality And Why He Divorced His First Wife Howard Stern is a legendary American radio host, who has also done some notable work as an actor, producer, author, as well as photographer. The radio personality achieved worldwide fame as a result of his self-titled radio program, The Howard Stern Show. As a professional radio personality, he has worked in different radio stations. Since 2006, ...

Lisa Joyners Biography  Ethnicity, Net Worth and Other Key Facts Lisa Joyner is an American Journalist, TV talk show host, and actress. Some of her well-known works are her correspondences for the Los Angeles based TV KCBS, inFANity show, Find My Family Show including her film and television appearances in Brimstone, American Sweetheart, The Bold and The Beautiful among others. Lisas passion for reconnecting people with their biological families ...

Amanda Balionis Rise Through the Ranks of Sportscasting and the Identity of Her Boyfriend Amanda Balionis is an American sportscaster currently working as a golf broadcaster for CBS Sports. Among so many of her works in the field of sports reporting, Amandas PGA Tour coverage seems to be the most popular so far. She covered the Super Bowl working with CBS Sports social media team in Atlanta, where she ...

Dissecting Charles Paynes Sexual Allegations, Its After Effects and More About His Wife Charles Payne had a respectable career as an analyst on Wall Street before he made the transition to television and became a contributor and later a host on Fox. In that time, his expertise has come under scrutiny, and he has been at the center of at least one major controversy. The major controversy in question ...

Erik Asla And Tryra Banks Split: Everything You Need To Know Tyra Banks and Erik Asla have called it quits! The couple, who began dating in 2013 and have a son named York Banks Asla, has decided to end what everybody taught was the perfect relationship. Neither person has come out to give a reason for the breakup, but what is obvious right now is that ...

What to Note About Dr Terry Dubrows Qualifications, TV Works and Marriage to Heather Kent In the realm of people that we expect to see regularly on our screens, medical doctors are closer to the bottom of the list. Aside from the fact that their work has little correlation with TV, they are presumably too busy to pursue life as TV personalities. Yet, a few of them have usurped this ...

Jessica Goch  Bio: 5 Things You Didnt Know About Ninjas Wife Jessica Goch is the Schofield-born American Social Media Influencer who has worked as a model but is now better known as a host and interviewer of prominent Electronic sports celebrities at popular gaming events/tournaments. The screen queen also serves as the manager of her famous husband Ninja aka Tyler Blevins whose exploits on Twitch and Fortnite has ...

CNNs Chris Cuomo Biography  Wife, Family & Net worth Chris Cuomo needs no elaborate introduction as he has starred graced many prominent Television cable networks and his voice has been heard through acknowledged radio shows. He is a television journalist and Lawyer who has previously worked for ABC News as Chief law and justice correspondent as well as a co-anchor on 20/20. If you still ...

Neil deGrasse Tyson  Family, Religion & Net Worth Neil deGrasse Tyson is a distinguished American astrophysicist and author who has been able to achieve so much after falling in love with astronomy at the age of 9. He has since attended and become an alumnus of prestigious universities such as Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, and also recorded numerous achievements in his field of ...

Is Simon Cowell Gay? Does He Have A Wife or Girlfriend and Why is He Famous? Simon Cowell is a well-known talent show judge, TV producer, entrepreneur and one of the most popular TV personalities that Britain has ever produced. In conjunction with his company, Syco, Cowell is the brain behind hugely successful talent hunt shows such as The X-Factor UK, The X-Factor US, Britains Got Talent, Americas Got Talent and ...

Everything To Know About Joanna Gaines Life With Chip Gaines, Their Business Pursuits and Kids Joanna Gaines and her husband Chip Gaines became celebrities after their television show Fixer Upper began airing back in 2013. The show which was about home renovation and decoration ran for about 6 seasons with a total of 79 episodes before the couple bade farewell to it in April 2018. Apart from their appearances on ...

Who Is Larry The Cable Guy? What To Know About His Wife And Net Worth Larry the Cable Guy is a self-professed country kid renowned for his trademark Southern accent and sensational catchphrase Git-R-Done! The famous comedian who talks about anything under the sun has gone on to become one of the most memorable characters in comedy history. Join us in unearthing lesser-known facts about the former on-air-personality, standup comedy superstar, movie ...

Who Is Patrick Starr, What Is His Net Worth and Gender? The make-up industry over the years has grown to become a billion dollar industry not just because there are probably more women wearing make-up but because a whole lot of men, especially the young ones, have become bold enough to wear it unlike before. A few of these men, like Patrick Starr, have even gone ...

How Did Chris Jansing Become a Senior Correspondent at MSNBC and Who Is Her Husband? An award-winning American television news reporter and journalist, Chris Jansing has succeeded in carving a spectacular niche for herself in the field of TV journalism. Outstanding for not just her excellence in journalism, Chris is also cherished for her incredibly gorgeous looks post 60! For close to four decades, Jansing has continued to soar in her ...

Jaclyn Glenn Biography  Age, Height & Ex-Boyfriend American Youtuber, Jaclyn Glenn, rose to prominence through her self-titled YouTube channel Jaclyn Glenn. She has remained an acclaimed atheist and continues to air her views on hot issues from politics, religion, animal rights, to atheism. During the heated 2016 US Presidential elections, Glenn featured in Hump Trump: Official Donald Trump Song. Her parallel acting career ...

Is Pat Sajak Married to a Wife or is He Gay With a Partner? Pat Sajak is one of the most popular TV game show hosts in America. He commenced his career as a radio disk jockey as well as a TV weatherman before being tapped to host Wheel of Fortune, the longest-running syndicated game show in the United States. Sajak has hosted the popular game show from 1983 ...

Nayyera Haqs Bio  What To Know About Her Husband, Parents And Family Nayyera Haq can take anyone on political debates as well as discussions on social issues affecting many. Her ability to masterfully deliver her stance on every issue or political debate has made her a regular face in morning and evening news media platforms. This is not a common feat especially for someone from her kind ...

Inside Guy Fieris Family With Wife, Kids and Sister Who Died of Cancer Over the years we have seen men dominate the kitchen and churn out amazing delicacies from it. Some do it way better than their female counterparts and one of such men is Guy Ramsay Fieri  an American TV host, celebrity chef, restaurant owner, bestselling author of four culinary books, and game show host. His ...

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Bert Kreischer Is Married To LeeAnn Kreischer With 2 Kids  Meet His Family Those familiar with Bert Kreischer mainly have the image of a large-bellied party man whose college life inspired the National Lampoon film, Van Wilder. It is an image that one would not naturally associate with a wholesome family. The standup comedian still maintains his wild party animal image on stage. But, back at home, he is ...

How Brendan Greene Became a Game Designer to Look Out For and Facts About His Failed Marriage The name Brendan Greene may not easily ring a bell in the larger society but for gaming enthusiasts, he is considered a god and this is because of his invention of the video game, Player Unknowns Battlegrounds, also called PUBG. Based on the popular last-man-standing/battle royale concept, Greenes creation has taken the gaming world by ...

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This Is Everything You Should Know About Caroline Heldman, Her Career Portfolio and Other Facts Love it or hate it, there is no escaping the fact that feminism has come to stay in our world. The movement has continued to garner momentum over the years and this is due to the sustained push by several women, and even men, including the likes of Caroline Heldman. A Professor of Politics at ...

Understanding The Enigma That Is Gavin McInnes, The Controversies He Has Stirred and All About His Wife Gavin McInnes is a polemical English-born writer and TV personality, who is best known for his racist and fascist ideologies, as well as his co-ownership of Vice Media and Vice Magazine. He is also an actor a
(ANSA) - Rome, April 19 - The EU said Thursday that it was backing Italy in its bid to get Gabriele Del Grande, a reporter and documentary maker arrested in Turkey, released as soon as possible. "The EU acted to support the action of the Italian ambassador in Ankara, to support the action of the foreign ministry and the Italian government towards the Turkish authorities," Foreign Affairs High Representative Federica Mogherini said, saying "we co-ordinated with Italy from the start". Meanwhile Del Grande's partner Alexandra D'Onofrio told la Repubblica newspaper that he had been arrested "just because he speaks with refugees". She said "he goes with a backpack on his back and chats, he spends hours speaking with people in their language, he doesn't go looking for scoops but for things that will make us think." Italy was also offered help by the German foreign ministry, which has a reporter of its own held in Turkey since February, Deniz Yucel.

Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano on Wednesday phoned his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu to "reiterate our firm request for the immediate release" of Del Grande, who has been held without charges since being stopped on the Turkey-Syria border on the night of April 9.

Alfano said he had received the "utmost commitment" from the Turkish government that "procedures will be completed as soon as possible".

Alfano said he aimed to "make them understand clearly our country's level of concern on this affair".

A delegation from the Italian consulate in the Turkish city of Izmir on Wednesday travelled to the Turkish administrative detention centre at Mugla, on Turkey's southern Aegean coast, where Del Grande has been held.

Del Grande's lawyer went there along with the Italian vice consul in Ankara but "Turkish authorities prevented them from seeing him", Lower House human rights committee chair Luigi Manconi told reporters after talking to the lawyer by phone.

Del Grande, 34, phoned Italy Tuesday to say he was well but that he would start a hunger strike to demand his rights be respected.

"I'm well, they haven't touched a hair on my head but I can't phone, they seized my cellphone and belongings, although they're not charging me with anything," said Del Grande using the administrative detention centre's landline, saying he was surrounded by four policemen.

Human rights campaigner Del Grande said he would start a hunger strike that evening "and I urge everyone to mobilise to demand my rights be respected".

He said "my documents are in order, but I have not been allowed to name a lawyer, nor have I been informed when this detention will end.

"The reason for the arrest is linked to the content of my work. I have been subjected to questioning in this regard. I have been able to phone only after days of protests".

Lucca-born Del Grande, a blogger and human rights activist, was arrested in Hatay Province near the Syria-Turkey border.

Del Grande is also a documentary maker who has raised awareness on migrant issues.


(ANSA) - Rome, April 20 - The Lazio regional administrative court (TAR) on Thursday rejected an appeal by the Puglia region against a government order to uproot and replant olive trees for the construction of the TransAdriatic Pipeline (TAP). On April 6 the Lazio TAR suspended an environment ministry permit for the removal of olive trees in the area of the work site for the TAP pipeline in Melendugno, Puglia, pending today's hearing on the appeal against the permit. On April 10 Industry Minister Carlo Calenda ruled out a change of location for the TAP project in Puglia following big protests over the removal of olive trees. "Changing now would mean saying that we won't do it, but it is fundamentally important that we do," Calenda told reporters in Rome.

"Fourteen different alternatives were discussed for the arrival site. The infrastructure is in the implementation phase and the debate lasted a very long time".

The TAP is set to bring Caspian gas from Azerbaijan to Europe. Under the plan, the olive trees will later be replanted in the same place.


(ANSA) - Rome, April 19 - The EU said Thursday that it was backing Italy in its bid to get Gabriele Del Grande, a reporter and documentary maker arrested in Turkey, released as soon as possible. "The EU acted to support the action of the Italian ambassador in Ankara, to support the action of the foreign ministry and the Italian government towards the Turkish authorities," Foreign Affairs High Representative Federica Mogherini said, saying "we co-ordinated with Italy from the start". Del Grande's father Massimo, meanwhile, said the Italian foreign ministry is "doing what it can to organise a meeting with Gabriele, which should take place tomorrow, Friday". Meanwhile Del Grande's partner Alexandra D'Onofrio told la Repubblica newspaper that he had been arrested "just because he speaks with refugees". She said "he goes with a backpack on his back and chats, he spends hours speaking with people in their language, he doesn't go looking for scoops but for things that will make us think." Italy was also offered help by the German foreign ministry, which has a reporter of its own held in Turkey since February, Deniz Yucel.

Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano on Wednesday phoned his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu to "reiterate our firm request for the immediate release" of Del Grande, who has been held without charges since being stopped on the Turkey-Syria border on the night of April 9.

Alfano said he had received the "utmost commitment" from the Turkish government that "procedures will be completed as soon as possible".

Alfano said he aimed to "make them understand clearly our country's level of concern on this affair".

A delegation from the Italian consulate in the Turkish city of Izmir on Wednesday travelled to the Turkish administrative detention centre at Mugla, on Turkey's southern Aegean coast, where Del Grande has been held.

Del Grande's lawyer went there along with the Italian vice consul in Ankara but "Turkish authorities prevented them from seeing him", Lower House human rights committee chair Luigi Manconi told reporters after talking to the lawyer by phone.

Del Grande, 34, phoned Italy Tuesday to say he was well but that he would start a hunger strike to demand his rights be respected.

"I'm well, they haven't touched a hair on my head but I can't phone, they seized my cellphone and belongings, although they're not charging me with anything," said Del Grande using the administrative detention centre's landline, saying he was surrounded by four policemen.

Human rights campaigner Del Grande said he would start a hunger strike that evening "and I urge everyone to mobilise to demand my rights be respected".

He said "my documents are in order, but I have not been allowed to name a lawyer, nor have I been informed when this detention will end.

"The reason for the arrest is linked to the content of my work. I have been subjected to questioning in this regard. I have been able to phone only after days of protests".

Lucca-born Del Grande, a blogger and human rights activist, was arrested in Hatay Province near the Syria-Turkey border.

Del Grande is also a documentary maker who has raised awareness on migrant issues.


Eritrean priest Zerai urges Italy to annul Libya deal 'True slave market in the country' says after IOM report

(ANSAmed) - ROME, 20 APRIL - The Eritrean Catholic priest Mussie Zerai called for Italy to annul its agreement on migration with the Libyan government under Fayez Al-Serraj, following the publication of an International Organization for Migration report published in Geneva. ''Hundreds of African refugees and migrants have been kidnapped in Libya to ask for ransom money or to be sold for forced labor or sexual exploitation'' in ''a true slave market'', he said in recent days.



Father Zerai is known as the ''apostle of migrants'' and is engaged in humanitarian efforts with the Habeshia agency. He has been a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. ''This occurs especially in Sabha, the city in Fezzan that is the main hub for artery roads converging from southern Libya,'' the priest said, adding that ''the situation in Libya is of course the most serious, but conditions of extreme danger, abuse of power, inhuman suffering and systematic violation of rights are seen to be growing at an exponential rate even in other transit countries and ones where the migrants stop first'', such as Sudan, Egypt and Niger. In Egypt for istance, he noted, the prisons are full of undocumented refugees who are destined to remain there until they can pay the expenses of a forced return to their home countries.



''This return implies for many - starting from Eritreans - a risk of persecution and in extreme cases a risk to their lives,'' Zerai said, adding that ''in Cairo, Alexandria and all major cities, a climate of widespread hostility is growing'', forcing migrants to live almost clandestinely. The cleric has thus called on Italy to ''put pressure on the government in Tripoli'' against the ''slave market'' and ''suspend or, better, revoke'' an agreement with Libya on migration as well as the ''pact with Fezzan tribes''. Father Zerai and his humanitarian agency, which has for years been dealing with the dramatic situations African migrants find themselves in when they travel towards Europe, say that the 'Memorandum on Immigration' that Italy has signed with Libya - ''which has also been rejected by and declared null and void by the Tripoli court'' - may lead to a worsening of the already tremendous conditions that refugees and migrants find themselves in.



A pact with Fezzan tribes, he added, has also been ''rejected and ruled invalid by the highest representatives of some of the most important and authoritative clans. In light of what is happening, there is no guarantee on the treatment, security or destiny of migrants that may be intercepted and blocked by these tribes''. (ANSAmed).




EU with Italy on Del Grande, Mogherini Arrested only because he filmed refugees, partner

(ANSAmed) - ROME, APRIL 20 - The EU said Thursday that it was backing Italy in its bid to get Gabriele Del Grande, a reporter and documentary maker arrested in Turkey, released as soon as possible. "The EU acted to support the action of the Italian ambassador in Ankara, to support the action of the foreign ministry and the Italian government towards the Turkish authorities," Foreign Affairs High Representative Federica Mogherini said, saying "we co-ordinated with Italy from the start". Meanwhile Del Grande's partner Alexandra D'Onofrio told la Repubblica newspaper that he had been arrested "just because he speaks with refugees". She said "he goes with a backpack on his back and chats, he spends hours speaking with people in their language, he doesn't go looking for scoops but for things that will make us think." Italy was also offered help by the German foreign ministry, which has a reporter of its own held in Turkey since February, Deniz Yucel. (ANSAmed).




NAPLES - A new History Channel Italy documentary called "Baia, The Underwater Pompeii", that showcases the enormous underwater archaeological site of ancient Baiae, premiered at the Aragonese Castle in Baia on Wednesday.

The documentary, directed by Stuart Eliott, was made with the support of the Region of Campania, and uses computer graphics and 3D imaging to reconstruct the ancient city on the Gulf of Naples as it would have looked 2,000 years ago.

The surface area of the archaeological site is three times larger than that of Pompeii, and it was from here that Roman emperors governed and where many had their residences built.

Days-long feasts took place at the villas of Baiae, such as at the Villa dei Pisoni, owned by Roman senator Gaius Calpurnius Piso who in 65 AD directed the Pisonian conspiracy against the Emperor Nero.

Piso's villa, which is today underwater, was rebuilt by the Emperor Hadrian to be even more decadent than its predecessor.

The entire underwater park offers the wonder of wandering through submerged roads decorated with columns and mosaics crystallised by the water.

Tourists can explore the underwater park through tours with some local diving centres, including the Centro Sub Flegreo, which worked with the BBC on a previous documentary.

The new documentary will contribute to tourism in Naples and the Campania region, according to regional Governor Vincenzo De Luca.

He said there has been an "explosion of events, cultural offerings, and extraordinary promotion" in the region over recent months.

"It's truly difficult for me to imagine another region with the same cultural vivacity and range of interests as in Naples and Campania nowadays," De Luca said.
Del Grande meeting with lawyer, consul set up Reporter, activist arrested in Turkey 10 days ago

(ANSAmed) - ROME, APRIL 20 - Italian journalist and activist Gabriele Del Grande, arrested in Turkey 10 days ago, will be allowed to see his lawyer and the Italian consul on Friday morning, Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said Thursday.



"The Turkish authorities have told us on the phone that at nine o'clock tomorrow morning there will be the possibility of a meeting with the Italian consul and Del Grande's lawyer", Alfano told reporters.



Del Grande's father Massimo thanked the Italian foreign ministry for working to arrange the meeting, by "doing what it can".



Premier Paolo Gentiloni said he hoped that the "problem" of Del Grande "is swiftly resolved". Speaking at the Washington-based Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), Gentiloni said "it is only one example of the fact that we need a commitment to an inclusive process" of the whole Turkish population, "with respect for fundamental rights".



The EU earlier said that it was backing Italy in its bid to get Del Grande released as soon as possible. "The EU acted to support the action of the Italian ambassador in Ankara, to support the action of the foreign ministry and the Italian government towards the Turkish authorities," Foreign Affairs High Representative Federica Mogherini said, saying "we co-ordinated with Italy from the start". Meanwhile Del Grande's partner Alexandra D'Onofrio told La Repubblica newspaper that he had been arrested "just because he speaks with refugees". She said "he goes with a backpack on his back and chats, he spends hours speaking with people in their language, he doesn't go looking for scoops but for things that will make us think." Italy was also offered help by the German foreign ministry, which has a reporter of its own held in Turkey since February, Deniz Yucel.



Alfano on Wednesday phoned his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu to "reiterate our firm request for the immediate release" of Del Grande, who has been held without charges since being stopped on the Turkey-Syria border on the night of April 9.



Alfano said he had received the "utmost commitment" from the Turkish government that "procedures will be completed as soon as possible".



Alfano said he aimed to "make them understand clearly our country's level of concern on this affair".



A delegation from the Italian consulate in the Turkish city of Izmir on Wednesday travelled to the Turkish administrative detention centre at Mugla, on Turkey's southern Aegean coast, where Del Grande has been held.



Del Grande's lawyer went there along with the Italian vice consul in Ankara but "Turkish authorities prevented them from seeing him", Lower House human rights committee chair Luigi Manconi told reporters after talking to the lawyer by phone.



Del Grande, 34, phoned Italy Tuesday to say he was well but that he would start a hunger strike to demand his rights be respected.



"I'm well, they haven't touched a hair on my head but I can't phone, they seized my cellphone and belongings, although they're not charging me with anything," said Del Grande using the administrative detention centre's landline, saying he was surrounded by four policemen.



Human rights campaigner Del Grande said he would start a hunger strike that evening "and I urge everyone to mobilise to demand my rights be respected".



He said "my documents are in order, but I have not been allowed to name a lawyer, nor have I been informed when this detention will end.



"The reason for the arrest is linked to the content of my work. I have been subjected to questioning in this regard. I have been able to phone only after days of protests".



Lucca-born Del Grande, a blogger and human rights activist, was arrested in Hatay Province near the Syria-Turkey border.



Del Grande is also a documentary maker who has raised awareness on migrant issues. (ANSAmed).




ANSAmed - Today's events in the Mediterranean

(ANSAmed) - ROME, APRIL 20 - The following are some of the main events scheduled for today in the Euro-Mediterranean area.



VALLETTA - Ministerial meeting to discuss the sustainable exploitation of the sea.



NAPLES - Cultural festival continues at the Archaeological Museum, with events running through April 25.



TEHRAN - First meeting on scientific and technological cooperation and innovation between Italy and Iran.



ROME - Delegation of European Parliament MPs to visit hotspots in Italy. TUNIS - Kram Exhibition Centre - SITIC Africa information and communication technology (ICT) fair comes to an end. (ANSAmed).




ANSAmed - Tomorrow's events in the Mediterranean

(ANSAmed) - ROME, APRIL 20 - The following are some of the main events scheduled for tomorrow in the Euro-Mediterranean area.



GAETA - Italy hands over four motor boats to Libyan leader Sarraj's coast guard.



WASHINGTON - Visit of Italian Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni.



NAPLES - Cultural festival continues at the Archaeological Museum, with events running through April 25.



ROME - Delegation of European Parliament MPs to visit hotspots in Italy. (ANSAmed).




Daesh could be defeated this year says Gentiloni US, Italy to work together but don't split up Libya

(ANSAmed) - WASHINGTON, APRIL 20 - This is the year that Daesh (ISIS) can be defeated, Premier Paolo Gentiloni said in a speech at the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic & International studies (CSIS) Thursday.



Fighting terrorism and in particular "uprooting Daesh" is one of the top priorities in the Mediterranean area, he said.



And Libya is a priority after past mistakes, Gentiloni added.



"Libya remains top of our priorities, a country in which the errors of our past vision are clearer.



The Italy-US partnership is not only an opportunity but a duty," he said, adding that "now is the time for the USA and Italy to work together to stabilise the situation in Libya". But splitting up Libya is not a good idea, accordind to Italian Prime Minister. "What is needed in Libya", he said, is "talks between global actors and then between the Sunnis, but I don't think that the division of Libya into two parts, one closer to Egypt and the other more Islamic, is a good idea because it could lead to destabilisation and external intervention. "We must involve all the external actors, also those who do not support the government, but we must not let the idea that division is a good idea go ahead".



Gentiloni said that we need to "mitigate the storm" of the Mediterranean migrant emergency, a "sea that has played a crucial role in human history and which continues to have an important influence on humanity, but which has been associated with chaos and fragmentation in the last few years".



We must tackle the causes of the problem "at the root", he said, because the situation is "dramatic with 500,000 migrants rescued over the last three years".



Gentiloni said that the G7 format is "crucial at this time".



He said the members should seize the "opportunity" to reach agreement on a string of issues. "It is fundamental to reach a sense of unity between these such significant countries. It is always important but it is particularly so at this time". Gentiloni said that it was "unrealistic" to imagine a solution to the Syria crisis without Russia. He said renewing the EU's commitment to a solution was an "opportunity" that should be seized. Gentiloni said that "Italy's contribution in fighting terrorism is significant: we are present in seven countries, we are the second contributors in Iraq and Afghanistan after the United States". Gentiloni said that Italy's alliance with the US was "in our interests". He said Italy's values were "firm" and the alliance was a "historical pillar and anchor".



Finally, Gentiloni said he hoped that the "problem" of Gabriele Del Grande, an Italian reporter held in Turkey, "is swiftly resolved". He said "it is only one example of the fact that we need a commitment to an inclusive process" of the whole Turkish population, "with respect for fundamental rights" after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's narrow victory in a referendum giving him sweeping new powers. (ANSAmed).




WASHINGTON - Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni will meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday afternoon, with the discussion to focus on Italy's central role in the Mediterranean and the current crises underway in the region. Gentiloni said the US-Italy alliance is both an opportunity as well as a political duty in order to "contain conflicts and better manage crises", including the political crisis in Libya and the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.

Upon his arrival in Washington on Thursday morning, Gentiloni will give a speech at the DC-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). In the speech, he will cover foreign policy issues regarding the Mediterranean and tensions in the current crisis centres of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria, issues that he will also outline in his meeting with President Trump.

Gentiloni said stability in the Mediterranean is crucial for both migratory flows as well as the fight against ISIS, which is a topic central to the US administration. The Italian premier will remind the US president of Italy's military commitment in the crisis areas as well as its capacity for dialogue with Russia, Arab nations and the countries of North Africa, including the phone call he held on Tuesday of this week with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj.

Gentiloni is insistent that the only possible solution to the Libyan crisis is a multilateral negotiation.

Two years on from a shipwreck that killed 600 migrants and marked a turnaround in the EU on migration, Gentiloni is also calling on European partners to make a greater effort in the migration crisis.

He said there must be an effort because it's an "illusion" to think that the EU's fate is separate from that of North Africa or the Middle East.

"The Migration Compact must be confirmed, with more balanced burden sharing and more efficient repatriations, as well as a broadened reach," Gentiloni said.
WASHINGTON - Premier Paolo Gentiloni said in a speech at the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic & International studies (CSIS) Thursday that it was "unrealistic" to imagine a solution to the Syria crisis without Russia. He said renewing the EU's commitment to a solution was an "opportunity" that should be seized.


Dr Momis said the prime minister had also agreed to establish a steering committee will include representation from the PNG and Bougainville governments, landowners and BCL.

Bougainville president John Momis said this will provide BCL with the level of assurance it needs to manage sovereign risk and take meaningful steps to start feasibility work.

PAPUA New Guinea prime minister Peter ONeill has indicated his support for Bougainville Copper Limited to resume operations on Bougainville.

The committee will be convened by an independent chairman to ensure all parties interests are balanced.

I am pleased that the vast majority of landowners have now agreed that BCL should be given the opportunity to rehabilitate the mine, said Dr Momis.

He said Bougainville must ensure that any future mining operations are respectful to our people, protect our environment and that the benefits flow through to the people.

After Rio Tinto divested its 53.8% equity in BCL last year, Bougainville for the first time has a 36.4% shareholding while PNG has the same. The balance is held by private investors.

The PNG government has made a commitment to divest its shares directly to the landowners of the defunct Panguna mine but this has not been received favourably, with the majority of Bougainvilleans believing the Autonomous Bougainville Government should be the recipient of the shares on behalf of the rest of the people of Bougainville who suffered through the 10 year civil war.
If youre considering a subscription to the Disney Plus streaming service, you may be wondering how much it costs. The service is available on both
ATCL Managing Director Ladislaus Matindi said a preliminary agreement on the training programme was reached following a meeting with Ethiopian Airlines officials.

By training its pilots in Ethiopia, the company will save up to $500 per hour, when compared to the cost of the same training programme in the United Kingdom and Canada.

"We are now waiting for approval from the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCCA) before we send the staff because it is a requirement for the aviation services regulator to certify the training institutes for our experts.

"Ethiopian Airlines has well equipped training and maintenance facilities and we can benefit from their expertise. The training will be for new pilots and continuing programmes for those already in service," Matindi said.

However, he said the airline would continue to send some pilots to Canada for training on operation of the new Bombardier aircraft due to be delivery before July this year.

The training is a culmination of bilateral air services training discussions held between Tanzanian President John Magufuli and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn last year.

Among other opportunities for bilateral co-operation, the two leaders agreed to intensify aviation training and maintenance learning and exchange programmes.


The Al Tariq precision-guided munition is a modular IN/GPS-guided glide bomb kit, a derivative of Denels Umbani precision-guided bomb kit. Abu Dhabi-based Tawazun Holdings and South Africas Denel Dynamics jointly produce the weapon.

The Al Tariq bomb kit is designed to fit the Mk 80 family of 500lb to 2,000lb bomb bodies, with pop-out wings and moving control surfaces and using GPS/INS guidance, or semi-active laser or imaging infrared seekers.

The standard Al Tariq has a range of up to 40km (depending on release height), but the company offers bolt-on propulsion options that can boost its range to 200km. This makes the weapon a direct competitor to Sagems AASM and Boeings JDAM-ER.

The weapon can use a normal dumb bomb pylon and does not require MIL STD 1553B or 1760 databus connections, as it can be wirelessly programmed from the cockpit.

The Denel annual report, published in October, revealed that 250 full weapons kits and 350 full weapons kits had been delivered respectively under the Mbarc I and Mbarc II programmes. However, confusingly, the report also said that a total of 350 full weapons kits plus 320 sub-kits had been delivered to date.

The Denel report also confirmed that successful integration of the weapon on to the customers platforms had been completed, and that it had been successfully assembled and tested in the United Arab Emirates and deployed in operational conditions with, what Denel called, very positive feedback from the users.

In November 2013, Tawazun Dynamics announced that the Al Tariq had been successfully integrated on to the UAE Air Force and Air Defence (UAE AF&AD) Mirage 2000-9 aircraft in association with Dassault, manufacturer and supplier of the Mirage 2000 fighters.

During 2015, Denel revealed that the weapon had also been integrated and was, by then, operational on the UAEs Hawk 102 trainers.

In October 2015, news reports showed the wreckage of what was purported to be a UAV that had been shot down in Taiz, Yemen. The accompanying photos clearly showed an Al-Tariq wing kit, demonstrating that the weapon had made its combat debut!


Kevin Ellis knew his company, Cayuga Milk Ingredients in Aurelius, would take a hit when Canada implemented its new dairy pricing policy related to ultra-filtered milk. What he didn't know is how soon the trade rules would affect sales.

"The impact is our sales went to zero on April 1 because we have no sales into Canada at this point," said Ellis, CEO of Cayuga Milk Ingredients. "I had a suspicion that the business would go away over time. I had no idea it would go away overnight."

With Canadian firms no longer buying ultra-filtered milk from Cayuga Milk Ingredients, Ellis said the company lost $30 million in export sales. That's a major challenge on its own, but is exacerbated by the current milk supply situation in the Northeast.

Ellis said dairy farmers are increasing their output even as there is a reduction in sales to Canada. There's also "flat-line growth" in other dairy manufacturing sectors within New York, he added.

"There's a huge imbalance of milk causing a surplus," he said. "You're going to see more and more farmers losing their markets and losing the ability to continue operating is a growing concern. It's a dire situation for the dairy farmers right now."

But Canada's trade policy is having the most impact.

The Canadian government, Ellis said, took a targeted approach to eliminate imports of ultra-filtered milk by changing its dairy policy and milk pricing system.

Many of the companies that previously purchased ultra-filtered milk from Cayuga Milk Ingredients and other U.S. producers have made investments to manufacture the product on their own. In return, Ellis said the Canadian Dairy Commission has promised to provide cheap milk for production.

He believes the Canadian policies violate the North American Free Trade Agreement and the country's commitments to the World Trade Organization. Several of New York's elected officials, including U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, agree and have accused Canada of violating existing trade agreements between the two countries.

The U.S.-Canada dairy spat received more attention Tuesday when President Donald Trump addressed the issue during a speech in Wisconsin. He called Canada's policies "very unfair."

"It's good that Trump is now finally aware that they are very protectionist of the agricultural industry within Canada," Ellis said. "I was excited to see it."

Even though Ellis welcomes Trump's critique of Canada's dairy trade restrictions, he doesn't think the Canadian government will change course.

Millions have been spent on the new program implemented by the Canadian Dairy Commission. While he doesn't see the policy being reversed, he's hopeful the U.S. government will use it as a bargaining chip when renegotiating NAFTA.

"As an American, I hope that America wins something in return for, really, the dealings that haven't been in good faith by the Canadian government," he said.

Ellis' main focus at the moment, though, is the future of Cayuga Milk Ingredients.

With the loss of business in Canada, he said the profitability of the Aurelius plant is at risk. They're seeking customers to fill the void left by the Canadian companies that used to purchase ultra-filtered milk for cheese production. But that's going to take time.

One change Ellis won't make is reducing the company's workforce. He's pledged to his employees that there won't be job cuts. They'll continue to provide a market for milk supplied by Cayuga County-area dairy farmers.

"We're running at full capacity," he said. "It's just that we lost a good piece of profitable business with Canada."
Within the past year, customers across the Middle East have benefited from the temperature controlled packaging solutions, enabling industries with temperature-sensitive shipments to confidently transport their goods across the globe.

FedEx consistently goes above and beyond for our customers, said David Ross, Regional President of FedEx Express Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa. Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. Whether they are Small or Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sending that ever so exciting first order overseas, multinational companies shipping large volumes of goods, or an individual wanting to send a loved one back home a package, we believe in delivering a positive experience for them, every time. Listening to the needs of our customers and local markets is the backbone of our Purple Promise  to make every customer experience outstanding.
The airline will showcase its product offerings, including OPEN, Flydubais new rewards programme.

Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President Commercial (UAE, EU, ME, CIS) at flydubai, said: Were pleased to participate at KITF again this year. Since the launch of our operations to Kazakhstan in 2013, we have continued to grow our network and develop our product. flydubai is committed to making travel more convenient and supporting tourism and trade between Dubai and Kazakhstan, as Kazakhstan prepares to host the EXPO 2017.
A real-time scenario was then developed, including the steady provision of new issues and additional information, as often happens during an actual emergency. Observers have hailed it a major success.

The drill involved teams from across the airlines departments including media, marketing, IT, finance, HR, legal, commercial as well as the flight and ground operations teams.

The airline said in a statement: Oman Airs primary and over-riding consideration is the safety and well-being of its staff and customers. Exercises such as the one carried out have enabled the airline to retain its spotless safety record. Overall, this exercise has been a powerful learning experience that will only make the collective emergency response plans of the airline even stronger. The positive outcomes from this exercise are the result of the commitment and enthusiasm offered by all the staff involved.

Oman Air is a rapidly growing, dynamic airline and the continual training and drilling of staff is part of the internal efforts by the Oman Air Response Team to ensure that all staff are trained to the highest industry standards to ensure they can be ready for any unforeseen circumstances.
AURELIUS  State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon appeared in Cayuga County Thursday to highlight the 2017-18 budget and how it benefits central New York.

One of the main initiatives in the budget touted by Reardon is the Excelsior Scholarship, which provides students whose families earn no more than $125,000 annually with free tuition to New York's public colleges and universities.

The scholarship was first proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January. There were some provisions added to the final version of the tuition-free benefit, including a requirement that students who receive the scholarship must remain in New York after graduation or the aid will become a student loan they must pay back.

Critics have questioned everything from the residency requirement to whether the tuition-free college program will be an effective method for addressing college affordability.

Reardon, though, sees many benefits with the launch of the Excelsior Scholarship.

"I think it's magnificent. I really do," she said. "It's not a silver bullet. There's a lot of things that go into equipping young people for their future. There's no question that education beyond high school is going to be a requirement. It may not be a four-year college. It may be a two-year school. It may be an apprenticeship. It may be certificate programs. But very few people are going to be able to make a good living with a high school education."

Reardon conceded that it won't cover the entire cost of a college education. The Excelsior Scholarship will only apply to tuition costs. It won't cover other expenses, such as books and room and board.

The distribution of the scholarship is more complex than simply granting free tuition to students who qualify. Before receiving the aid, students must apply for federal Pell grants and support through the state's Tuition Assistance Program. Any funding received through those programs will be applied first. The remaining cost will be covered by the scholarship.

The program's benefits, supporters believe, will extend beyond college affordability.

Reardon thinks the scholarship will help address low on-time graduation rates in New York. In a letter to the New York Times, State Budget Director Robert Mujica said New York's on-time graduation rate at four-year schools is 39 percent. At community colleges, it's 9 percent.

With the Excelsior Scholarship, Reardon thinks this is a "real opportunity" for students who either want to earn their bachelor's degree, or may want to earn an associate's degree for completing a program at a community college.

"I think it's a great idea. It's a big idea," she said. "It's a first step. It's not the last step."
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. French presidential candidate, former Minister of Economy Emmanuel Macron says he will continue the commemoration tradition of the Armenian Genocide victims if elected President of France, reports Armenpress.

April 24 is a strong symbol: it commemorates the exile and murder of 600 Armenian intellectuals in Constantinople on April 24 in 1915 and the beginning of the first genocide. This was an important moment in the memory, and then also in the friendship of France and Armenia. I fully support that day to be included in our calendar as a remembrance day of the Armenian Genocide victims, Macron said in an interview with Nouvelles dArmenie.

The French presidential candidate highlighted also the role of the Armenian community in the recognition of the Genocide. I support their fight. The fight of generations was required from them for the genocide recognition. They regularly present claims which gave its results. Lets not forget also the historical vote in the German parliament in 2016. In France it was not possible to reach the criminalization of the genocide denial. I am convinced that works must continue on this path. Right and memory must not be incompatible, he said.

The presidential election in France will be held on April 23. If no one from the candidates receives more than 50% of votes, the second round will be held on May 7.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan is satisfied with the economic indexes of January-March, 2017, but at the same time notes that its not enough.

The main current macroeconomic indexes reflecting the social-economic condition of Armenia were released today. We can document that there is growth in a number important directions. Particularly, the volume of industrial output in the first quarter of 2017 against the same reporting period of 2016 amounted to 116.1%. These indexes are satisfactory, but not enough and our team has a lot to do in this direction, Armenpress reports Karen Karapetyan posted on his Facebook page.

The National Statistical Service of Armenia has introduced the current-operative main macro-economic indicators characterizing the socio-economic situation of Armenia. Economic activity index for January-March 2017 surpassed the index of the same period of the previous year by 6.6%.

Decline was registered in the construction, agriculture sectors and consumer price index.

Construction volume decreased by 13,6% compared to the same period of the previous year. The electricity production volume increased by 9.3% in January-March, 2017, compared to January-March, 2016. Service volume (trade excluded) increased by 10% compared to January-March, 2016, comprising 301 billion 945.1 million AMD, and agricultural production decreased by 1.5%, comprising 69 billion 505.4 million AMD.

Consumer price index dropped by 0.3% in January-March, 2017, and the industrial production price index increased by 3.4%.

Trade turnover increased by 11.3% and comprised 489 billion 203.1 million AMD. The industrial production volume comprised 361 billion 817.8 million AMD, increasing by 16,1 % compared to January-March, 2016.

Average monthly wage increased by 1.1% (183 thousand 643 AMD). External trade turnover volumes rose by 17.4% (1 billion 246.8 million USD) compared to January-March, 2016, moreover, the export grew up by 16.5% (443.1 million USD) and the import rose by 17.9% (803.7 million USD). US exchange rate against the dram was 485.78.
AURELIUS  The deputy chief of the Auburn Police Department has admitted to driving drunk in the town of Aurelius.

Roger J. Anthony, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to driving while ability impaired by alcohol.

Anthony was arrested at 2:48 a.m. Saturday, April 1, after New York State Police received a 911 call of an erratic driver. Police said troopers found Anthony's personal vehicle in a ditch at the intersection of Half Acre and Sevior roads at around 2 a.m. and, upon further investigation, determined that the deputy chief had been driving with a blood alcohol content of .18 percent. The legal limit is .08 percent.

Anthony was charged with first-offense DWI and aggravated DWI, both misdemeanors. However, Wednesday night, Steuben County District Attorney Brooks Baker and Aurelius Town Court Judge Raymond Lockwood allowed Anthony to plead guilty to a reduced charge of DWAI, a traffic infraction punishable by a $500 fine and a conditional discharge.

Anthony's defense attorney Rome Canzano said the deputy chief will have his driver's license suspended for 90 days. He was also ordered to participate in various treatment programs.

As of Wednesday, Anthony remained suspended from the police department indefinitely without pay.

"It's my understanding that Deputy Chief Anthony has the full support of council, the city manager, the police chief and obviously myself," Canzano said. "He will have to make amends to his superiors in the city and to the community at large and his family, and he fully intends to do that."

Auburn City Manager Jeff Dygert and Auburn Police Chief Shawn Butler could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday night.

Canzano said Anthony surrendered his driver's license Wednesday and was issued a 20-day stay, meaning he is allowed to operate a motor vehicle for the next 20 days provided that he enrolls in an impaired driving program. That program will last 90 days during which Anthony will have a conditional, restricted license.

"Fortunately no one was injured in this particular case and we were able and glad to resolve the legal side of it here this evening," Canzano said.

"(Anthony) certainly didn't get a break," he added. "He was allowed to admit to a lesser offense, which people that are similarly situated are allowed to do."

Anthony has been on the police force since January 1997. He was named deputy chief in July 2016 and, according to the police chief, has had zero disciplinary issues in the past.
A grant program helping farmers become better environmental stewards while bolstering their operations in the face of climate change will continue to be funded by the state.

Called the Climate Resilient Farming Grant Program, $2.5 million will be available for farms to implement practices that reduce impacts on the environment and help farms recover from extreme weather events such as droughts or torrential rains. The program is funded by the state Environmental Protection Fund and was created in 2015, according to a release. Three farms in Onondaga County were awarded more than $151,000 through the second round of the program. Scott Fickbohm said this third year of the program could help fund projects in Cayuga County.

Fickbohm is an associate environmental analyst with the state Soil and Water Conservation Committee. He spoke at the Cayuga County Soil and Water Conservation District's Board of Directors meeting on April 12, giving members an overview of the program and ideas of the kinds of the projects it could help fund. Fickbohm said the program was not utilized as much as it should have been last year, and he hopes that doesn't happen again.

"This current round, round two was underprescribed, which I have to say, I think I've rarely seen in any opportunity given to districts," he said. "Not something we want to have happen too often, so we're out pushing the program."

Fickbohm also explained the need, especially in the state of New York. Temperatures, he said, are rising. By 2050, they are expected to rise between about 4 and 7 degrees. Rainfall has increased by nearly half an inch per decade. The number of severe storms have increased in the state by 71 percent. And when it's not raining buckets, the state has experienced more severe droughts. Just last year, for example, Cayuga County was declared a natural disaster area due to a drought that farms will need an expected year or more from which to recover.

While some of these changes in temperature and rainfall may appear minor at first, over the decades they have an impact, he said. Problems are expected to increase with soil erosion, invasive species, pests that wreak havoc on crops, less weather predictability and the potential for more manure spills and pollution events.

The state has specific agricultural best management practices that farms can choose from in order to be eligible for funds. One of the most popular, Fickbohm said, has been manure storage and flares. By covering up manure lagoons, farms keep methane, which is a greenhouse gas, from seeping out into the atmosphere. Flares, too, burn up the gas altogether.

"It is very effective," Fickbohm said. "It's the low hanging fruit. The downside is that it's not inexpensive, and you need a solid separation phase to be there."

Besides waste storage, the program could help fund water management practices and systems that would enhance soil health.

Cost is one reason why Fickbohm thinks the climate grant program was underutilized last year. With falling milk prices, he said perhaps some farmers felt they couldn't uphold their end of the cost to implement some of the projects. That, combined with how busy soil and water conservation districts already are, make it tough to apply for another grant program, he added.

Doug Kierst, executive director of the county's soil and water conservation district, said districts are getting busier these days, especially because regulatory agencies are directing people to them for help.

"It's going to take some time to figure out the nuances," he said about the program.
This was Mittal's first meeting with the UN Secretary- General since the decision to grant ICC 'Observer Status'.

New Delhi: International Chamber of Commerce(ICC) Chairman Sunil Mittal today met United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres to discuss the role of world business in promoting the Sustainable Development Goals.

The two also discussed the challenges posed by growing populism and anti-globalisation sentiments, an ICC statement said. This was Mittal's first meeting with the UN Secretary-

General since the decision to grant ICC 'Observer Status' at the UN General Assembly last December.

The meeting was held at the UN headquarters in New York. During the meeting, Mittal -- who is also the chairman of telecom major Bharti Airtel -- underscored ICC?s commitment to use its newly granted status in the UN system to deploy "resources, expertise and knowledge of world business in implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, the statement added.

The SDGs are the most ambitious development agenda ever agreed at the international level and it is widely recognized that their successful implementation will hinge on widespread business action, the statement added.

The SDGs are call to action for ending poverty, ensuring education, protecting the planet and other global goals. "Secretary General Guterres welcomed ICCs commitment to

the SDGs and noted that partnerships with the private sector would be vital to address major global challenges...(such) as climate change to mass-migration," Mittal said.

Mittal emphasised the significance of rules-based policy making to enable trade, innovation and job-creation in the context of SDGs. "Given the complexity of todays global challenges, its vital that business has a clear voice in UN decision making," Mittal said.

He added that ICC would look to use its observer status to positively shape important debates on issues such as trade, financing, technology and corporate responsibility. The meeting was part of the ICC Chairman's mission to New York where he is meeting with senior UN officials and national ambassadors.

ICC also announced a new collaboration with the UN Refugee Agency to enhance business engagement in the international response to the global refugee crisis. Mittal took over as ICC Chairman in June 2016, and is the third Indian business leader to hold the position in the chamber's near-100 year history.
Raveena's screen presence, personality, the way she projects her character, her facial expressions are top notch.

Rating:

Director: Ashtar Sayed

Cast: Raveena Tandon, Madhur Mittal, Alisha Khan, Divya Jagdale, Anurag Arora

Neerja, Akira, Begum Jaan, Anaarkali of Aarah, so many female-centric stories in the past one yearand seems like, along with the Indian filmmakers, the audience is ready to see heroic tales of women and Maatr is one of them too.

Director Ashtar Sayeds debut film, Maatr, is an eye-opener of sorts in todays misogynistic society where preconceived notions about how women should carry themselves still exist. Starring Raveena Tandon, this film primarily revolves around the menacing issue of gang rape set rightly in the heart of Delhi, an Indian state that is most notorious for abuse against women.

Vidya (Raveena Tandon), a school teacher resides in Delhi with her husband and a young daughter Tia (Alisha Khan). Her marriage is on the rocks but she still tries to pacify it for her daughter. Vidyas life changes upside down when a bunch of local ruffians attack Tia and her, while they were driving back from the latters annual function in school. Apurva Malik (Madhur Mittal), a rich spoilt lad and CMs son, along with his goon gang, rape Vidya and Tia. Soon after, they kill Tia and leave her body on the city highway.

Jayant Shroff (Anurag Arora), a tough cop makes an entry to solve the mystery but he steps back under political pressure. Vidya recovers and decides to seek revenge from Apurva and his gang. Ritu (Divya Jagdale), Vidyas best friend helps her in this game of justice denied. How Vidya emerges a winner is what Maatr all about!

Ashtar Sayeds directorial debut tracks the journey of a mother seeking revenge for her daughters gang rape and subsequent murder. The movie is perhaps a reflection of the society and the upbringing of a huge male population who still look down upon women and treat them as mere sexual objects. For a novice, Ashtar has done a brilliant job. Kudos to writers Michael Pellico and Mishkka Shekhawat for sensitively handling the grieve subject without compromising on the ghastly truth behind these acts of pure evil. The interesting part of the film is that the plot of the film is nothing extraordinary but it is the great performances, gripping subject line and apt execution that makes Maatr a must watch.

If you thought you have seen it all from Raveena Tandon, think again. She pumps in so much life into the film that it is her performance that steals the show. Her screen presence, her personality, the way she projects her character, her facial expressions are top notch. Turning your eyes elsewhere will be criminal when she is on screen in the film. Kudos to Madhur Mittal, the antagonist, who makes you feel disgusted throughout, thats the beauty of his villainous character. Not undermining the efforts of other talents who make the film, as a whole, a very gratifying watch. Divya Jagdale, Anurag Arora, Alisha Khan were too good in their respective roles. They deliver a power-packed performance in crucial scenes of the film.

The biggest hiccup of the film is its background score which is abrupt. The sound department should be surely blamed for it. Also, how easily Raveena takes revenge from each and every member of the brat group, even killing the CM of the state despite high security is slightly indigestible but bearable. The film may remind you of Raveenas earlier films Jaago and Daman in bits and pieces, considering the subject, but Maatr is a very modern age film. Watching Maatr should definitely be on your to-do list this weekend.
SC raps CBI, UP govt, blames them for delaying case for years.

New Delhi: Senior BJP leaders L.K. Advani, M.M. Joshi, Uma Bharti and nine others will be tried for conspiring to demolish Babri masjid in Ayodhya in 1992, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.

Kalyan Singh, also an accused who was the Uttar Pradesh chief minister at the time of the demolition, has constitutional immunity since he is Rajasthans governor. Charges would be framed against him once he leaves office, the court said.

A bench of justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Rohinton Nariman accepted the CBIs plea for revival of conspiracy charges  dropped 16 years ago by a lower court on technical grounds  against the 12 accused, and ordered daily hearing by a Lucknow court. Setting a two-year deadline for the trial to be completed, the court said there would not be any adjournments and the judge would not be transferred till the verdict was delivered.

The court also instructed the CBI to ensure that some prosecution witnesses remain present every day during the trial.

A Rae Bareli court is trying Mr Advani and others for inflammatory speeches. After the addition of conspiracy charges, the case will shift to Lucknow where kar sevaks are being tried for the actual demolition. Mr Advani and others will be sentenced to five years jail if found guilty. There will not be a fresh trial.

Hindu mobs had demolished the 16th century mosque, claiming it was built on the birthplace of lord Ram, triggering some of Indias worst riots since Partition.

Writing the judgment, Justice Nariman said, In the present case, crimes that shake the secular fabric of the Constitution have allegedly been committed almost 25 years ago. The accused persons have not been brought to book largely because of the conduct of the CBI in not pursuing the prosecution of the aforesaid alleged offenders in a joint trial, and because of technical defects which were easily curable, but which were not cured by the Uttar Pradesh government.

The Supreme Court also faulted the Allahabad high court for upholding the lower court order to drop conspiracy charges on the ground that only the demolition case  and not the conspiracy one  had been transferred to the CBI.

The CBI had filed an appeal in 2011, when the UPA was in power, against the dropping of conspiracy charges.

The court rejected Mr Advanis submission that the trial at Rae Bareli cannot be shifted, saying the evidence for all the offences was almost the same.

Once the trial is shifted, the Lucknow court will frame the additional conspiracy charges under Section 120-B of the IPC within four weeks against the four and others, including Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Ritambara.

There are two sets of cases  one against Mr Advani and 11 others who were on the dais at Ram Katha Kunj in Ayodhya when the mosque was demolished, while the other case was against unknown karsevaks who were in and around the disputed structure.

The CBI has alleges that Mr Advani and the other leaders had hatched a conspiracy to bring down the mosque in 1990. It has also alleged that the leaders met at the residence of Vinay Katiyar on the night before the demolition, during which a final decision was taken.
Under NDA regime, the agency acted independently on appeals filed by UPA govt in January 2011.

New Delhi: Unlike many political cases where CBI has acted as a caged parrot to the party in power, in the case of Babri Masjid demolition, the CBI under the NDA government vigorously pursued the appeals filed by the UPA government in January 2011. In doing so, the CBI seemed to have acted independently to bring a logical end to the case, which has huge political overtones.

It may be recalled that soon after coming to power, the NDA government did not prefer an appeal against BJP president Amit Shah, after he was discharge by a trial court in Mumbai in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.

But in this case, the CBI maintained that the criminal conspiracy of felling down of the disputed structure of Ram Janam Bhumi/Babri Masjid was commenced by Mr Advani from 1990, when he commenced the Rath Yatra and it was completed on 6/12/1992. The CBI said Mr Advani and other BJP leaders at different times and at different places made schemes of criminal conspiracy of demolishing the disputed structure.

The CBI pointed out that the then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Kalyan Singh, had given assurance before the National Integration Council for not demolishing the disputed structure and the Supreme Court had permitted for only symbolic kar sewa being performed. Mr Kalyan Singh had also said that he will fully ensure the protection of Ram Janam Bhumi/Babri Masjid structure and it will not be felled down, but he acted in opposition to his assurances.

The CBI said order was not given Mr Kalyan Singh for utilising the Central Force. From this, it seems that prima facie, he was a necessary participant in the criminal conspiracy. It said the offence of instigation, facilitation, the actual demolition of the disputed structure on December 6, 1992, the continuous assault on the mediapersons all form a single connected transaction and might also be a concerted conspiracy under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code.

The CBI said the error in the judgments of the trial court and the high court had vitiated the fundamental principles of criminal jurisprudence that in respect of a continuous criminal act which might attract various offences of the IPC, the said transaction had to be viewed as a whole. Mr Advani and others in their response blamed the UPA government for filing the appeal after a considerable delay and said it was purely a political agenda.
PM Modi will visit Germany towards the end of May for inter-Government consultations with the German leadership.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit several countries within the next three months on official visits that include Sri Lanka, Germany, Russia, Israel, Kazakhstan and possibly the United States and Spain too.

PM Modi is expected to visit Sri Lanka in the second week of May and, among other engagements, participate in the celebrations marking the UN Vesak Day, one of the most important events in the Buddhist calendar. The Indian Prime Minister has confirmed his visit, Sri Lankas minister of justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe was quoted by news agencies as saying in Colombo on Wednesday.

According to reports, the International Day of Vesak celebrations, will held in Colombo from May 12 to 14, and will include an International Buddhist Conference in which over 400 delegates from more than 100 countries will participate.

PM Modi will visit Germany towards the end of May for inter-Government consultations with the German leadership. He will also visit St. Petersburg in Russia from June 1 to 3.

The ministry of external affairs (MEA) had earlier said, India has been invited as a Guest Country at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum which will be held in the city of St. Petersburg, Russia from June 1 to 3, 2017. As a part of this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the Forum as Guest of Honour.

Other details of the Prime Ministers visit are being worked out, and we will announce them as and when they are finalised. At about this time, the PM may also visit Spain.

The PM is also expected to visit Kazakhstan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet to be held in Astana on June 7-8. Interestingly, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is also expected to attend the Summit of the SCO-a grouping that also includes Russia, China, Kazakshstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistanand, according to recent Pakistani media reports, there is a possibility that the two leaders may meet informally despite the current Indo-Pak tension over the Kulbhushan Jadhav episode.

In June or July, the PM is expected to make his long-awaited, much-anticipated and keenly-awaited visit to Israel with which India has flourishing defence ties. He may also visit the United States either at this time or later in the year that will see his first meeting with US President Donald Trump. According to reports, PM Modi may again visit Germany, this time to attend the G-20 Summit scheduled to take place on July 7-8 in Hamburg.
Efforts are on to ensure all VVPAT units are procured by September 2018.

The decision comes as several political parties alleged EVMs can be tampered, especially after the Bharatiya Janata Party received a landslide mandate in both Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand polls.

New Delhi: In a major electoral reform before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Union Cabinet Wednesday cleared a proposal to introduce paper trail machines for voting, which apart from being innovative will also bring transparency into the system.

Official sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared the proposal to purchase 16,15,000 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units, covering all voting stations in the country, at a cost of Rs 3,174 crores across two fiscal years.

Efforts are on to ensure all VVPAT units are procured by September 2018. These machines will allow voters to confirm his/her vote has actually gone to the party against which the button was pressed, as a paper trail (receipt) will come out.

The decision comes as several political parties alleged EVMs can be tampered, especially after the Bharatiya Janata Party received a landslide mandate in both Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand polls. Many parties mainly the Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had petitioned the Election Commission, urging it to return to the paper ballot system, to ensure there is no tampering.

In its reaction, the Election Commission said that it will ensure total compliance of the orders of the Supreme Court (on use of VVPATs) and its commitment to use VVPATs with every EVM at all polling stations in the country in 2019 elections.

Official sources further said that the idea of an additional layer of transparency for the satisfaction of voters in the form of VVPAT was suggested by the political parties in October, 2010.

Accordingly, introduction of the VVPAT was facilitated by amending the Conduct of Election Rules in August, 2013.

Thereafter, 20,300 VVPAT units were purchased by the EC in 2013. Since then, these units are being deployed in elections in select Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies, said an official statement.
Reacting to the issue, Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Gopal Baglay said Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.

New Delhi: Taking offence to China renaming six places in Arunachal Pradesh, India on Thursday said inventing names of states of a neighbour does not make illegal occupation legal.

Reacting to the issue, Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Gopal Baglay said Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.

He said "renaming or inventing names of states of your neighbour do not make illegal occupation as legal".

According to Hindustan Times report, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said that no country has the right to change the names of Indian cities.

Every inch of Arunachal Pradesh belongs to India ... let them rename. How does it matter? Its like you renaming your neighbour. It does not change his name, said Naidu.

China on Wednesday had announced that it has "standardised" official names for six places in the Northeastern state and termed the provocative move as a "legitimate action".

The Chinese move came days after Beijing lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lama's visit to the frontier state.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Lucknow on World Yoga Day on June 21 and there will be enhanced security for his visit.

Lucknow: Central intelligence agencies have warned the UP police that a group of Kashmiri militants is hatching a conspiracy to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

According to the intelligence inputs shared with the state police, the conspiracy to target these two leaders has been hatched in London.

The revelation has sent shock waves through the states security establishment and all district collectors and senior officers have been told be on alert considering the gravity of the matter.

As per the input, about a dozen trained ultras have entered Uttar Pradesh and we have alerted the police chiefs in Bareilly and some other communally sensitive districts, said a senior police official.

The local intelligence agencies and the ATS are also scouting for sleeper cells that have reportedly entered the state in the last week of March.

The security of chief minister and other VIPs is now being upgraded further and their movement will now be under total scrutiny.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Lucknow on World Yoga Day on June 21 and there will be enhanced security for his visit.

Intelligence agencies are also interrogating the youth belonging to the Khurasan module of ISIS who were arrested from Kanpur on March 9 and 10 after one of them Saifullah was killed in an encounter with the local police on March 8.
Interestingly, information and broadcasting minister Venkaiah Naidu has never used a beacon light on his vehicles.

Hours after Centres decision on Wednesday to ban use of red beacons in cars of VIPs from May 1, Union minister Maneka Gandhi removed the symbol of power from her official vehicle. (Photo: Asian Age)

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday decided it was time for the lal batti culture to go for good, with the Union Cabinet clearing the proposal that red beacon lights will not be used by anybody May 1 onwards, including VVIPs like the Prime Minister, President and judges.

Only emergency vehicles  ambulances and fire brigades  have been allowed to use the blue beacon light.

Hours after presiding over the Cabinet meeting where the decision was taken, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, Every Indian is special. Every Indian is a VIP.

Responding to several praiseworthy tweets on the decision, he further tweeted, It should have gone long ago. Glad that today a strong beginning has been made.

Minutes after the Cabinet meeting, several Cabinet ministers, like women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi and road transport minister Nitin Gadkari, removed the red beacon light from their vehicles. In fact, junior minister Giriraj Singh could be seen in a video removing the beacon light from his vehicle personally amid applause from his staff and onlookers.

Interestingly, information and broadcasting minister Venkaiah Naidu has never used a beacon light on his vehicles.

Briefing media after the Cabinet meeting, finance minister Arun Jaitley said that the rule pertaining to use of red beacon lights  (Rule 108 [1] and [2])  has been virtually scrapped from the Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989. Necessary amendments will be made to implement the decision, he said.

Official sources said that since only a rule has to be removed, it can be done through an executive order.

After May 1, no one will be able to put red light atop his or her vehicle. Blue light will be used only for emergency vehicles in the country. Neither the states nor the Centre will have power to give any special permission (for use of beacon lights), Mr Jaitley informed.

The finance minister added that the issue was deliberated upon on many occasions, and on Wednesday the Prime Minister took the decision and informed the Cabinet during the meeting.

There will be no exception for anyone, he added.

Agencies quoted Mr Gadkari as saying that the NDA government is a government of the masses and thats why it has decided to abolish the VIP culture of beacon lights and sirens.

The decision, he said, was taken to strengthen healthy democratic values in the country.
Sibal added that it has been 25 years since the incident took place and it is high time that justice be dispensed.

New Delhi: The Opposition parties on Wednesday welcomed the verdict of the Supreme Court for the revival of criminal conspiracy charge in the Babri Masjid demolition. Congress leader and senior advocate Kapil Sibal said that majesty of law has been upheld and the natural justice should take its course now. Mr Sibal added that it has been 25 years since the incident took place and it is high time that justice be dispensed.

He took a dig at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the continuing of Uma Bharti, a minister in the Union Cabinet. He said, We have seen Modiji waxing eloquently about morality, these are his public pronouncements. Occasionally, he forgets morality when it comes to his ministers. So lets see what he does. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said that the law is taking its own course and there is nothing to add or subtract from what the Supreme Court has ordered.

However, NDA partner Shiv Sena has come out in support of the Ram Temple and BJP leaders. Senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said, Government should withdraw the chargesheet. How can you do this on one hand and then talk about building a Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury welcomed the order of the apex court and said that now it is a question of registering charges.

The CPI demanded that both Union Minister Uma Bharti and Rajasthan governor Kalyan Singh should quit their respective posts in the interest of a fair and free trail.

The JD(U) also welcomed the judgement of the Supreme Court. National spokesperson KC Tyagi and said, Though the decision has come after 24 and a half years, we welcome it and think this will restore the faith of the people in the secular and constitutional values of our country. He added that the Congress leadership is also responsible as they underestimated the rowdy crowds present in Ayodhya
Husband alleges apathy at SCB in Cuttack, hospital denies claim.

Bhubaneswar: For nearly 30 hours, an HIV+ pregnant woman allegedly suffered labour pain lying on the floor at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack while no hospital staff attended to her.

The womans husband said he had taken his wife to the hospital on Tuesday night with help from ASHA workers after she complained of labour pain. The couple, who are expecting their child following a miscarriage incident previously, alleged that doctors at the hospital refused to attend to the 22-year-old upon learning that she was tested positive with HIV. The husband alleged no staff even touched his wife during their initial stay.

Even after suffering labour pain for 30 hours lying on the floor, none of the doctors or the nurses tended to her. After 24 hours, we were sent to the regional diagnosis centre for a blood test but had to return empty-handed as the officials refused to examine the blood. When we requested the doctor to treat my wife to relieve her of the pain, the latter misbehaved and drove us out, the husband, a resident of Paradip, alleged.

Later, the couple approached Utkal Samaj, an organisation which works for the HIV-infected patients and sought assistance. The couple claims that it was upon the organisations intervention that the doctors at the SCB finally admitted her and provided a bed.

After we contacted the SCB authorities in this regard, an initiative was taken for the treatment of the victim, Amiya Ranjan Biswal, president, Utkal Samaj, said in Cuttack.

The hospital rejected the allegation of any medical negligence. The patient has been allotted a bed in maternity ward and treatment was on to ensure a normal delivery, said SCB emergency officer Dr Bhubanananda Moharana.
China also has illegal custody of large swathes of land in Aksai Chin to the north, which is situated in the eastern-most part of J&K.

New Delhi: In a stinging rebuke to China dripping with sarcasm, India on Thursday said renaming or inventing names of areas in neighbouring countries does not make illegal occupation legal. India added that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India. The comment was made by the ministry of external affairs (MEA) in response to a question on China standardising official names for six places in Arunachal Pradesh. China has been coveting Arunachal Pradesh and refers to it as south Tibet. China also has illegal custody of large swathes of land in Aksai Chin to the north, which is situated in the eastern-most part of Jammu & Kashmir.

Renaming or inventing names of towns of your neighbour do not make illegal territorial claims legal. If you rename, it doesnt change the situation, an MEA official said in a media briefing.

The Chinese move earlier on Wednesday had come after Beijing lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lamas visit to the frontier state.

Interestingly, China  despite its displeasure  has invited India for a global conference on the One Belt One Road (OBOR) that will be held in Beijing next month. With China planning to invest billions in constructing railways, waterways and highways as part of its giant global initiative, New Delhi is evaluating whether it should join the crucial OBOR conference. Media reports from Beijing suggest a representative may be sent by New Delhi.

India has reservations on the much talked about China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) running through Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) which is widely regarded as being part of or linked to the OBOR idea. New Delhi is wary, given that OBOR will certainly boost Chinese influence globally and not just in Indias immediate neighbourhood.
The arrested men are suspected to be part on an ISIS module that was hunting for recruits in Bihar, UP and Maharashtra.

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday arrested three suspected terrorists of the Islamic State (IS) from Jalandhar, Mumbai and Bijnor.

According to reports, the arrested men are suspected to be part on an ISIS module that was hunting for recruits in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. The men were also being trained for terror attacks, police said.

"Special Cell Delhi Police, CI cell Andhra, Maha ATS, Punjab and Bihar Police were involved in the operation," it added.

They were arrested in a joint operation conducted by police from 5 states.

6 more people have been detained by security forces, said reports.
Sent hoax email to cops about terror threat to get flights cancelled.

Hyderabad: This must surely rank as the most bizarre reason for anyone to place a hoax call to airports in the country. A Hyderabad-based techie, Motaparthi Vamshi Krishna, sent a mail to the Mumbai police commissioner warning that a gang was planning to hijack flights from Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai airports last Saturday. The call naturally created some panic until the Hyderabad police traced the caller and arrested him on Thursday.

Mr Krishna worked as a travel agent and told the police he had sent the mail because he wanted to avoid a trip with his Chennai-based girl friend to Mumbai and Goa as he was not able to fund the junket.

DCP B. Limba Reddy of the commissioners task force said that Mr Krishna, a computer studies graduate from West Godavari district in AP, works as a transport agent in Hyderabad. He is very active on social media like WhatsApp and Facebook where he recently met the girl and posing as a businessman, got friendly with her.

A few days ago, the girl proposed they go on a vacation to Mumbai and Goa and asked him to book flight tickets for both of them. He didnt have the money, but unwilling to lose her, Mr Krishna hatched a plan to cancel the trip by making her believe that all flights have been cancelled because of a security alert at airports across the country.

He initially created a fake Chennai-Mumbai air ticket and sent it to her, but later thought that she would dump him if she realised it was fake, so he created a fake email ID and sent a hoax mail to the Mumbai police commissioner, identifying himself as a woman from Hyderabad who had overheard six persons talking about a plane hijack and splitting the proceeds, Mr Limba Reddy said.

The Mumbai police forwarded the mail to the Hyderabad police and teams were formed to trace the origin of the mail. With the help of the IP address, the origin of the mail was traced to E Net Zone cyber cafe located in Madhuranagar under SR Nagar police station. It was only after analysing the CCTV cameras in a nearby cyber cafe that police zeroed in on Vamshi Krishna who had earlier been arrested in an extortion case and a cheating case in the city.

Mr Krishna told the police that he had in the past extorted Rs 20,000 from a brothel in 2010 and duped a woman of Rs 6 lakh under the pretext of matrimonial alliance in 2013.

Mr Krishna was also regularly in touch with six other women on Facebook, claiming to be a high-profile person. He was a regular pub-goer and maintained a lavish lifestyle, police officials said.
Hitting back at Kejriwal, Maken said that the Delhi Chief Minister should stop worrying about him.

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday claimed that DPCC chief Ajay Maken was "in talks with BJP president Amit Shah", mocking the Congress leader.

His remarks came after former DPCC President Arvinder Singh Lovely joined the BJP on Tuesday.

"Congress is over in Delhi. Voting for the Congress means wasting your vote. I have learnt that even Ajay Maken is in talks with (BJP President) Amit Shah. He is only waiting for the polls to get over so that he can cut the AAP votes," Kejriwal said, while releasing the party manifesto for the MCD polls.

Hitting back at Kejriwal, Maken said that the Delhi Chief Minister should stop worrying about him.

"He should instead look at the irregularities found by the Shunglu panel against him and his government. He should be prepared to go to jail for this. We are meeting the Delhi Police Commissioner tomorrow in this regard. If the police fails to take any action then we will approach the court," Maken said in a statement.
The Supreme Court said Advani would be tried for criminal conspiracy in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Wednesday assured LK Advani that BJP is with you after the Supreme Court said he would be tried for criminal conspiracy in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

According to NDTV, Amit Shah phoned Advani after planning the BJPs strategy to handle the Supreme Court ruling.

Amit Shah also met Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti, who then cancelled her planned visit to Ayodhya.

Top BJP leaders on Wednesday discussed the political and legal fallout of the Supreme Court verdict on the Babri mosque demolition.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, Union ministers Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and M. Venkaiah Naidu were huddled for two hours at Modis residence. But a senior party leader played down the meetings significance, saying it had a number of issues, including the Kashmir crisis, on its agenda.

The meeting was held against the backdrop of the apex court verdict allowing the CBI to put Advani, 89, Murli Manohar Joshi, 83, and Uma Bharti, 57, on trial after restoring the criminal conspiracy charges against them. A senior leader insisted that it was a pre-scheduled meeting.

For the record, senior leader and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the party will study in detail the court verdict before offering comments.

Prasad asserted that BJP highly respects its leaders like Advani and Joshi. The party has held the position that the demolition of mosque was not planned but a spontaneous act of agitating kar sevaks and there was no conspiracy behind its razing on December 6, 1992.
Speculation is rife that the two leaders discussed modalities for a united fight against the BJP-led NDA during the 2019 general elections.

New Delhi: JD(U) chief and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence here on Thursday, a move that comes amid the Oppositions effort to come together and take on Prime Minister Narendra Modis saffron juggernaut.

Speculation is rife that the two leaders discussed modalities for a united fight against the BJP-led NDA during the 2019 general elections. They also reportedly talked about putting up a consensus candidate for the presidential election. President Pranab Mukherjees term ends in July.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi recently shared dais with Mr Kumar during the100th anniversary of the civil disobedience movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi in Bihars Champaran.

With TMC supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee enmeshed in the Narada scam, AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal facing an existential crisis after his partys electoral setbacks and Mr Rahul Gandhi yet to prove his credentials as a vote catcher, Mr Kumar has emerged as a possible face for a united Opposition.

Sources said that Mr Kumar would need the support of the Congress to lead a united Opposition, as the outfit despite its electoral debacles retains nearly 20 per cent of the vote share across the country.

Mr Kumar, who was apparently keen to put up an Opposition candidate for the presidential election, has held parleys with the Left parties, BJD and NCP over the issues.

Ms Banerjee, who was in Odisha on Thursday met state CM Naveen Patnaik. During her visit to Bihar last year, she had criticised the JD(U) chief for supporting Mr Modis demonetisation move.

As for the presidential election, after the BJPs stupendous victory in the UP polls, the party is all set to have its candidate elected. However, Mr Kumar wants an Opposition candidate for a symbolic fight, sources said.

Mr Kumar met Ms Gandhi after an year. It was a courtesy call, but certain issues like the need for all Opposition parties to come together on a common platform before this years Gujarat polls and the 2019 general elections were discussed in a very positive manner, JD-U spokesperson K.C. Tyagi told this newspaper.

Drumming up support for himself, Mr Kumar has already spoken to Hardik Patel-led front in Gujarat for a grand alliance to take on the BJP in the state, and has also evinced interest to join hands with the Congress.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer may have found an unlikely ally in his efforts to secure a better deal for U.S. dairy producers doing business with Canada, after President Donald Trump spoke out against new and emerging Canadian import policies. We hope that budding alliance  and the work of other officials  will result in a fair resolution.

At issue is the cost of exporting ultra-filtered milk products from the United States to Canada that producers north of the border use to make cheese. A big player in the market is right here in Cayuga County  Cayuga Milk Ingredients in Aurelius  and dozens of New York farmers stand to lose business, as well, because of increased costs of doing business in Canada.

Schumer had warned a year ago that Canadian pricing policies, that he says violate the North American Free Trade Agreement, would harm U.S. companies. Other officials, including U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, have taken up the issue as well. This week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker sent a letter urging Trump to get involved.

Schumer said Wednesday that he hoped Canada would decide to make concessions to the U.S. "before we are forced to take retaliatory trade actions against them."

Cayuga Milk Ingredients has said that higher export fees could result in $30 million in lost business and a reduction of its workforce. That would be a big loss for Cayuga County, so we hope to see the pressure kept up until a fair solution can be found.
The party had said that the case had been going on since 1993 and no new situation had arisen after the courts verdict.

New Delhi: A day after the Supreme Court restored criminal conspiracy charges against BJP veterans L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Union minister Uma Bharti and Sangh Parivar leaders in the Babri masjid demolition case, a strategy meeting was held at Dr Joshis residence to decide the next course of action. This meeting was attended by Sadhvi Ritambhara, Champat Rai and Dinesh Tyagi, accused in the case and prominent faces of the Ramjana-mbhoomi movement.

Lawyers of these Sangh Parivar leaders, sources said, also attended the meeting.

Interestingly, party veteran, L.K. Advani, did not attend this meeting. Dr Joshi had met Mr Advani on Wednesday for nearly an hour to discuss the apex courts order and its aftermath. The BJP top brass had assured them that the party would back them after a crucial meeting attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and senior Cabinet ministers, on the issue was held at the PMs residence. The BJP had also rejected Oppositions demand to sack Ms Bharti from the Union Cabinet.

Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday asserted that the BJP believes in the innocence of its leaders in the Babri Masjid case. Both Mr Advani and Dr Joshi had been sidelined within the party and are members of the Margdarshak Mandal, which has never held a meeting since the day it was formed.

We believe in the innocence of our important leaders, including Advani ji and Joshi ji...They have been facing trial and they will face trial in terms of process of law, Mr Prasad replied to the media query. The party had said that the case had been going on since 1993 and no new situation had arisen after the courts verdict.

When asked whether the courts decision would have any impact on the selection of candidates for the coming Presidential and Vice Presidential elections, Mr Prasad said it a hypothetical query. Speculation was rife that Mr Advani and Dr Joshis names were also being considered for the President and Vice Presidents post respectively and the courts decision would dent their chances

The BJP top brass had also asked its leaders to exercise restrain and not to make controversial statements on the issue. Ms Bharti, who had announced that she would visit Ayodhya and pray at Rammandir, was also asked to cancel her trip by the party high command.
The BSP had earlier said that she was ready for any alliance to defeat the BJP.

Lucknow: In a major decision, BSP president Mayawati has packed off her trusted lieutenant Naseemuddin Siddiqui to Madhya Pradesh where he will prepare the party for the next Assembly elections in the state.

Mr Siddiqui, till now, was in charge of Uttar Pradesh and was one of the top leaders of the party after Ms Mayawati.

The BSP president, after a late night meeting on Wednesday, also disbanded that existing team of zonal, division and district coordinators.

Party workers had been complaining of high-handedness and extortion by coordinators and their role in the recent Assembly elections had been under cloud.

Ms Mayawati, in another significant move, has also dissolved the bhaichara committees that had been formed to bring other caste groups closer to the BSP. These committees were formed to woo Brahmins, Thakurs and Muslims and Mr Satish Chandra Misra was in charge of these committees.

Instead, she has appointed two committees comprising mainly dalits, most backward class and Muslim leaders to broaden the partys base in Uttar Pradesh.

BSP MP Ashok Siddhartha, MLC Sunil Chittor and Naushad Ali are among the members.

Former MLAs Nakul Dubey and Anant Misra have been given charge of Lucknow and Kanpur respectively for the upcoming mayoral polls.

Ms Mayawatis organisational rejig and her decision to clip the wings of top leaders is being seen as a move designed to make the path smoother for her brother Anand Kumar who was introduced to party workers on Wednesday.

Ms Mayawati, sources said, had realised that the growing importance of non-dalit leaders in the party was largely responsible for the desertion by dalits in the recent elections.

In another significant move, the BSP president has announced that she would take a decision on an alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls at the appropriate time and the alliance will happen only if BSP gets the number of seats it deserves.

The BSP had earlier said that she was ready for any alliance to defeat the BJP.
The minister reiterated that the decision to ban red beacons was part of the Modi governments philosophy that every citizen of the country was a VIP.

New Delhi: A day after the Narendra Modi government banned the use of red beacons atop VIP vehicles, information and broadcasting minister M. Venkaiah Naidu clarified on Thursday that there were no plans to curtail VIP security.

His comments came after concerns were expressed in some sections that the move to ban red beacons could lead to cutting down of security for persons with threat perceptions.

With regard to security, it is necessary in the interest of the country because important people have to be protected. Otherwise, there is no preferential treatment, Mr Naidu said.

The Union Cabinet cleared on Wednesday a proposal that red beacons would not be used by anybody from May 1 onwards, saying even the PM, the President and judges were not exempt.

The minister reiterated that the decision to ban red beacons was part of the Modi governments philosophy that every citizen of the country was a VIP. This way we also send a message that every person should be treated equally, he said.

Only emergency services such as ambulances and fire brigades can have beacons. I have never used it, but I dont publicise it. I hope everybody will follow the decision, the minister said. The minister also hoped that state governments would follow the lead of the Centre and shun the use of beacons.

Speaking on the sidelines of a workshop for government officials engaged in social media outreach, Mr Naidu said this medium of communication cannot be censored. We have to think about it and discuss because we cannot think of censoring social media. The society has to discuss and then come to a conclusion at the end of the day, he said.

His comments seemingly came in the wake of a string of videos, related to Jammu and Kashmir and security personnel, being leaked on various social media platforms.
Backpacker Antony dOliveira, 24, has visited nearly 40 countries and in each country he makes sure to photograph himself in a unique pose jumping.

He jumps from one place to another and from one country to the next. Thats why he is nicknamed Jumps. Thats also why you find him jumping in most of the pictures he posts on his FB page (https://www.facebook.com/Jumps-435526166613421/). In life, we all have to jump. In other words, we have to take a risk to create an opportunity, he explains the symbolism behind the jumps. Just 24, Antony dOliveira has been travelling the world for the last four years, with little or no money. He has visited 40 countries including Australia, Indonesia, England, USA, Mexico, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Argentina, Brazil and Belgium. Arriving about a week ago in Chennai from Singapore, the low-budget traveller from Paris was in Kochi the other day, and is currently in Pune. I am staying here with a friend whom I had met in New Zealand, he says.

It is the Pune friends mobile phone that he relies upon to chat with this correspondent in his heavily accented English. He lugs around a tent but little else, not even a laptop. I have nothing, he says, stressing the last word. He rarely stays in hotels and usually curls up in temples or churches or even beaches. He travels in local buses and likes to meet people. In certain countries, he has resorted to crowd funding to meet his expenses; nothing fancy or technical but just spreading around a map that shows where all he has been to and accepting donations.

Back in Paris, he used to work as a Pizza delivery boy and salesman before it hit him that he was leading a boring life. I wanted to experience life more and see how people lived in other places, he says. The first trip was to Australia where he lived for several months on a working visa. At that time, he did not know yet that he was going to be travelling forever. If you want to travel, do not plan, he says. Just go with the flow. From Australia, he went to Indonesia for a few weeks, before returning to France. But the travel bug had already bitten hard and he went next to London where he did odd jobs to survive. Before long, he realised that travelling was his real vocation and mission in life. There is a lot of learning and sharing that happens when I travel. Maybe later on, I will make a documentary and write a book too, he says.

Kerala is nice, he says, adding that it is too touristy for his comfort though. No wonder he was off to his next destination in three days! Varkala and Fort Kochi and Alappuzha were the places he explored the most but disappointingly did not do a jumping picture in Gods Own Country. He saw more places in Tamil Nadu including Tiruchy, Madurai, Tuticorin, Nagercoil and Kanyakumari besides the Union territory of Puducherry. It was around seven months ago that he visited home last and considers the whole world as his country. He keeps in touch with his folks mainly on email. Now they understand my lifestyle, he says.

He knows that a lot of people would like to live and jump like him but are too scared to try. They dont want to lose their comforts, he says, adding that it is a fallacy to think that you need a lot of money to be a world traveller. I know how to live with nothing, he declares. Its hard to disagree with a walking, talking proof.
The parents claimed they approached the police repeatedly since December 2016 to seek action against the cult group but in vain.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday rebuked the city police for its casual probe into an alleged sex and drug racket and asked it to lodge a criminal case against the cult group Shifu Sunkriti and its founder Sunil Kulkarni.

A bench of justices RV More and Anuja Prabhudessai gave the directions while hearing a plea by a city couple alleging that their two daughters, aged 23 and 21, had been ensnared by the cult group Shifu Sunkriti, which operated on social media, and its founder Kulkarni.

The parents claimed they approached the police repeatedly since December 2016 to seek action against the cult group but in vain. The bench after perusing the facts of the case asked as to why the police has failed to act upon the parents complaint and why no FIR was registered.

Additional Public Prosecutor Sangeeta Shinde told the court that the police was conducting an inquiry into the case and was taking steps to trace the accused. The court got irked with this and said the first thing the police should do is to lodge an FIR in the case.

First thing the police needs to do is to lodge FIR and then trace the accused. All this should be stopped. If the police is unable to take appropriate action, we will ask the CID or the CBI to step in and take over the probe, Justice More said. You are giving them (accused persons) too much time. The parents approached the police in December last year for the first time and till April the police has done nothing. You (police) should have taken immediate action, the court said.

How can the police take such serious cases so casually? It is very unfortunate that the police is not taking this seriously. What steps have you (police) taken to trace the accused? The police has let him (accused) go scot-free till now despite knowing fully well what his antecedents are, Justice Prabhudessai said.

We are not at all satisfied with the police investigation. It shows a very sorry state of affairs. The police cannot express helplessness in such serious cases. It is apparently a sex and drugs racket and police is taking it very lightly knowing fully well that several girls and boys are trapped, the court said.

The court has now posted the matter for further hearing on April 25. According to the parents, their daughters left home early this year allegedly under the influence of Kulkarni and his group. The petition alleged Shifu Sunkriti was a sex and drug racket that contacts young girls on Facebook and other social networking sites.
The ED is likely to file a chargesheet in the money-laundering case against Mallya.

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is likely to file a chargesheet in the money-laundering case against alleged loan-defaulter Vijay Mallya. This has come following his arrest by the UKs Scotland Yard on Tuesday. The ED would also send a dossier to the ministry of external affairs (MEA) ahead of the court proceedings to extradite the fugitive liquor baron.

A UK court had granted Mallya bail hours after his arrest on Tuesday. The authorities have already attached assets worth around Rs 9,750 crore during the course of investigation of Mallya defaulting on loan payments to several nationalised banks in India.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a chargesheet against Mallya in January and the ED will now follow suit to make a stronger extradition bid against Mallya. He is supposed to have escaped from India on March 2 last year.

ED has attached assets worth around Rs 8,050 crores and the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court froze assets worth another Rs 1,700 crore and declared him a proclaimed offender, said a senior ED officer.

These details along with the current status report of investigation in the case will be sent to the MEA for forwarding it to UK. The extradition process has already begun with Mallyas arrest and the court process will begin soon where the weighing of evidence will be crucial, sources said.

The attachments include Mallyas plush apartment located at Fort in south Mumbai, shareholding in his company along with a bungalow in Bangalore and a farmhouse in Mandwa near Alibaug.

The list also includes fix deposits in several banks that are in his name, a factory located at Chennai, a mall in Bangalore, and coffee plantations in Coorg.

EDs investigation in the case also revealed that around Rs 3,500 crore from the loans were remitted outside India on pretext of payments of lease rentals/repair, maintenance etc. but they failed to provide proper lease agreements.
It remains to be seen whether or not other officials will follow Mr Fadnavis example and ditch their red beacons before May 1.

Mumbai: Welcoming a decision by the Centre on Wednesday that bans VIPs from placing red beacons on top of their vehicles, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Wednesday that he had already stopped using them. Though the ban will come into force from May 1, 2017, Mr Fadnavis tweeted, To celebrate such epic step for strengthening our democracy, I have stopped using red beacon atop my car (sic).

The Union governments decision, which exempts only a few dignitaries such as the President, Vice-President and Chief Justice of India, is applicable to the Prime Minister, chief ministers, chief secretaries, ministers, IAS and IPS officers and high court judges.

Toeing Prime Minister Narendra Modis line, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is considered by some to be his blue-eyed boy, said, Maharashtra welcomed the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modiji of stopping the use of red beacons atop VVIP cars. (sic) Mr Fadnavis was in Pune on Wednesday to attend a ceremony where a lifetime achievement award was being bestowed upon Sri Sri Ravishankar. The red beacon was visibly absent from the top of his car.

It remains to be seen whether or not other officials will follow Mr Fadnavis example and ditch their red beacons before May 1. Mumbai mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar said that all should respect the union cabinets decision.

But for this, the state government should issue a notification. The PM had earlier appealed all BJP MPs to declare their assets, but how many MPs have done this? Mr Mahadeshwar asked. Anup Kumar Singh, joint commissioner of police (administration) said, We are yet to receive the said order. We will know if the police department falls under it.
According to the sources, Javed Younis Shaikh, the driver of the Versa car was taking his eight relatives to Mumbai for family work from Pune.

Pune: Three persons, including a minor girl, were killed and six others were injured after their car rammed into a tree on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on Wednesday at around 6 am. The accident took place near Bhatan tunnel in Panvel, Raigad.

The deceased have been identified as Ruksana Shahabuddin Shaikh (30), Laljima Moiuddin Mujawar (55), Aliyana Shahabuddin Shaikh (9). Guddu Akbar Mujawar (60), Sultan Mohamuddin Mujawar (20), Sohail Hamid Mujawar (7) and Shoaib Altaf Sayyed (7) were injured in the road accident.

According to the sources, Javed Younis Shaikh, the driver of the Versa car was taking his eight relatives to Mumbai for family work from Pune. Mr Shaikh tried to pull over to one side of the road to let another car overtake him as the driver was honking repeatedly. However, he lost control and rammed the car into the tree near Bhatani tunnel in Panvel.

S.M. Madale, police sub-inspector, Rasayani police station, said, We received a call, and we immediately reached the spot. Nine people including the driver were injured. We immediately took them to MGM Hospital in Navi Mumbai. Two women were declared dead while a nine-year-old girl died during treatment at the hospital. Six people are wounded and are receiving treatment. An FIR will be lodged after they recover.

Traffic jam

In another accident, a container capsized near Amrutanjan Bridge causing a traffic jam for 2-3 hours. At 8 am, the container turned over under Amrutanjan Bridge, blocking traffic on heavy vehicle lane. The traffic police had to directed heavy vehicles to light vehicles lane to reduce the traffic. Police also diverted traffic from Expressway to Old Pune-Mumbai Highway via Valvan, due to which, the traffic jam was also witnessed in Lonavala and Khandala.
3D printing is a revolutionary technology that allows anyone to create physical objects from digital designs.

The city of Mumbai has witnessed the launch of a first of its kind 3D Printing Hub, where you can walk in and start using this technology firsthand.

3D printing is a revolutionary technology that allows anyone to create physical objects from digital designs. It is impacting industries worldwide, and changing the face of manufacturing. It is now commonplace to hear of 3D printed jewellery, cars, food, houses and even human organs.

The city of Mumbai has witnessed the launch of a first of its kind 3D Printing Hub, where you can walk in and start using this technology firsthand. The hub aims at creating a platform for community engagement and increasing awareness of 3D printing among the general public, especially students, and is strategically located in the heart of JVPD scheme, walking distance from the railway station and surrounded by over 30 schools and colleges. In this space you can expect to find a range of courses and workshops for those new to the technology, along with a variety of 3D printers, 3D pens, customised gifts and miniature figurines for sale.

AnchorThe initiative is a partnership between Indias 3D Printing company - Imaginarium (under its education arm Metamorphosis Cafe), along with Time Group of Companies. TimeTo3D is the latest addition to other initiatives by TMC, in the direction of connecting with the youth. TMC has partnered with Imaginarium who brings with it many years of experience with the technology across multiple industrial domains.

TimeTo3D - powered by Imaginarium  is open for public use from 15th April 2017, Monday to Saturday from 10am to 7pm.
The country's top court said a joint investigation team would probe Sharif, and would submit its report in 60 days.

Islamabad: The Pakistan Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a probe against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in connection with the Panama Papers scandal.

According to reports, the country's top court said a joint investigation team would be constituted to probe Sharif, which would submit its report within 60 days.

This however means that Nawaz Sharif will not be disqualified from his post as Prime Minister for the time being.

The court also ordered Sharif and his two sons - Hasan and Hussain - to appear before the joint investigation team, which would consist of officials from the Federal Investigation Agency, the National Accountability Bureau, the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the Military Intelligence (MI).

Disqualifying Sharif would have left his party - the PML (N) - in power, but it would have caused intense turmoil at a time when Pakistan is experiencing modest growth and improved security after years of violence, and the civilian government and powerful military have appeared to come to uneasy terms.

Sharif has denied any wrongdoing, but the Supreme Court agreed to investigate his family's offshore wealth late last year after opposition leader Imran Khan threatened street protests.

In 2012, the same court convicted then-Premier Yusuf Raza Gilani in a contempt case, forcing him to step down.

The court decision on Thursday is the outcome of petitions from opposition lawmakers dating back to documents leaked in 2016 from a Panama-based law firm that indicated Sharif's sons owned several offshore companies.

Sharif's family has acknowledged owning offshore businesses. The opposition wants Sharif, in power since 2013, to resign over tax evasion and concealing foreign investment.
PHOENIX  The Arizona Supreme Court will decide whether the same-sex spouse of a gay woman who has given birth is entitled to the same parental presumptions and rights as if she were a man.

In a brief order, the justices said they want to review claims that state laws governing who is legally presumed to be the parent of a child apply only when that other person is male, arguments rejected by the state Court of Appeals.

The unusual case has implications beyond the fight over parental rights of a boy born in 2011 in Arizona to two women who were legally married in California.

Since then, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued its historic ruling that same-sex marriages are entitled to the same legal protections as traditional heterosexual unions. And what the state's high court rules will determine exactly how laws on marriage, divorce and perhaps even adoption, crafted in the days when the only legal marriages were one man and one woman, must be applied now.

The case involves Kimberly McLaughlin and Suzan McLaughlin who were legally married in 2008 in California.

Court records show the couple agreed to have a child through artificial insemination using an anonymous sperm donor. Kimberly became pregnant in 2010.

Before the child was born, the couple moved to Tucson, entered into a joint parenting agreement and executed mirror wills, declaring they were to be equal parents to the child. After the 2011 birth, Suzan stayed home and cared for the boy while Kimberly worked as a physician.

When the boy was nearly two, Kimberly moved out, taking the boy with her and cutting off his contact with Suzan.

Suzan filed for divorce in 2013 as well as sought a court order for parenting time. When a trial judge agreed to have the case proceed, Kimberly appealed.

What makes the case significant is the applicability of Arizona law which spells out that a man is presumed to be the father of a child if he and the mother were married at any time within 10 months immediately preceding the birth.

The state Court of Appeals, in a ruling last year, acknowledged the law was written with a father in mind, someone who conceivably could be the biological parent. But the court said that, in the wake of the 2014 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, trial judges now have to read that presumption to apply in any circumstance, regardless of the gender of the other parent  and regardless of whether that other parent could in any way be biologically related to the child.

Under (the law), the male spouse of a woman who delivers a child is the presumptive parent, and therefore a legal parent, wrote appellate Judge Philip Espinosa.

If the female spouse of the birth mother of a child born to a same-sex couple is not afforded the same presumption of parenthood as a husband in a heterosexual marriage, then the same-sex couple is effectively deprived of civil marriage on the same terms and conditions as opposite-sex couples, particularly in terms of safeguarding children and families, Espinosa said.

Keith Berkshire, attorney for Kimberly, said he is not contesting the 2014 Supreme Court ruling.

He said, though, most states have specific laws which make that presumption of parenthood automatic, even in cases of artificial insemination. Arizona, Berkshire said, does not.

And there's something else.

Arizona law allows a man whose wife has given birth, even within 10 months of the marriage, to produce biological evidence that he is not the parent. More to the point, the biological mother is entitled to prove through DNA testing that her husband is not the father and therefore not entitled to a presumption of parenthood.

Berkshire said that right is being denied to Kimberly.

If this were a heterosexual relationship, my client would have been able to rebut (Suzan's parenthood claim) if she was married to as man, Berkshire said. Denying that right to Kimberly because she is a lesbian, he said, is a distortion of the 2014 Supreme Court ruling.

Espinosa, however, said Kimberly cannot argue now that Suzan is not a parent when everything she did prior shows otherwise. That includes they were married when they agreed to artificial insemination, that Suzan stayed home to care for their son, and that they entered into an express agreement and agreed unequivocally that both would be (the boy's) parents, with equal rights in every respect.

And the judge noted that Kimberly specifically waived any constitutional, federal or state laws that provide her with a greater right to custody and visitation than that enjoyed by Suzan.
Experts said the judgment was important in the context of the general elections next year.

Islamabad: Pakistans Supreme Court will announce its verdict on Thursday in the Panamaleaks scandal against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family  with rivals hoping the PM would be disqualified and sent home.

A five-member Bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, and including Justices Ejaz Afzal Khan, Gulzar Ahmed, Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Ijazul Ahsan, on February 23 reserved verdict on the Panamagate case after both the defence and the prosecution completed their arguments. Justice Khosa said the judgment would be remembered even after 20 years.

According to officials, the judgment would consist of over 500 pages and additional notes. They said though the judges had decided the case, extra care was being taken and the judgment was never discussed in their chambers. The judges come out in the open, if they want to discuss it.

Experts said the judgment was important in the context of the general elections next year.

All political parties, including the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf and the Jamaat-e-Islami hope to use the verdict in their campaigns for the 2018 polls.

PTI and many believe the decision will be against Nawaz Sharif and his kin.

The Supreme Court verdict will decide on the disqualification of the PM over his speeches to the nation and on the floor of the National Assembly.
The schedule includes activities with the flagship vessel of the Russian Pacific fleet, plus a Russian concert in a park.

Russian Navy missile cruiser Varyag prepares to berth at the port of Manila. (Photo: AFP)

Manila: Russian Navy vessels reached Philippines on Thursday for joint exercises as part of a drive for new security ties under President Rodrigo Dutertes revamped foreign policy of courting the traditional foes of Manilas top ally, Washington.

The guided-missile cruiser Varyag, accompanied by the fuel tanker ship, Pechenge, are on a four-day goodwill visit to the Philippines, the second port call by Russian warships in three months.

The move is part of what Mr Duterte describes as a pursuit of a constitutionally mandated independent foreign policy. He has made no secret of his grudge against the US and has made befriending Russia and China the priority of his drive.

Captain Lued Lincuna, director of the Philippines Navys public affairs, said the country hoped to learn from the Russians during training activities and a demonstration of advanced equipment and weapons systems.

The schedule includes activities with the flagship vessel of the Russian Pacific fleet, plus a Russian concert in a park.

Russian commander Captain Alexsei Ulyanenko said the port call would make a significant contribution maintaining stability in the region.
A former SKW head has said that Tusk was fully aware of secret services co-operation with Russia and had authorised it.

Warsaw: European Council President Donald Tusk said on Wednesday he was under no doubt that Polands right-wing government was trying to discredit him wit a smear campaign. Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, was speaking as he was to testify in Warsaw as a witness in a military intelligence probe. I have no doubt that this is part of a political smear campaign. Its authors do not really hide it, Tusk told local media.

Tusk, 59, is the ex-leader of Polands largest opposition party, Civic Platform (PO), and arch-rival of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of the ruling, euroskeptic Law and Justice (PiS) party that has brought prosecutors under direct government control.

Tusk has been summoned to testify in an investigation against former heads of military counter-intelligence suspected of co-operating with foreign intelligence services without the required authorisation of the Prime Minister, which was Tusk at the time.

A former SKW head has said that Tusk was fully aware of secret services co-operation with Russia and had authorised it.

Tusk was greeted by hundreds of his supporters at Warsaws central railway station. Chanting Free, European Poland they nearly blocked the platform and later escorted Tusk as he walked to the prosecutors office about a kilometre away.

Kaczynski, 67, had said before that Tusk should not be reappointed to chair summits of EU leaders because he may face charges in Poland related to a 2010 plane crash that killed the Polish president -- Kaczynskis twin brother Lech -- and a Ponzi scheme.

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo was the only EU leader to object Tusks reappointment at a summit on the issue. Although Kaczynski holds no government post, he is seen as Polands main decision-maker.

Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro told state television on Wednesday that one may see that the Polish establishment wants to portray Donald Tusk as victim and a mistreated politician.

But Donald Tusk enjoys the benefits of Polish citizenship, while also having responsibilities to fulfil, Ziobro said.

The PiS party, which defeated PO in a 2015 election, has been accused by the EUs executive arm, the European Commission, of undermining rule of law and democracy following the partys overhaul of the constitutional court.

Tusks plenipotentiary, Roman Giertych, said earlier in April prosecutors had threatened twice to use physical force against Tusk to bring him to the hearing despite his EU immunity.

The initial summons was for March 15, but Tusk could not take part due to prior engagements in the European Parliament.

Earlier in March, Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz, a close ally of Kaczynski, accused Tusk of actions amounting to diplomatic treason, saying he worked with Russia to harm Polish interests in connection with the 2010 plane crash over Russias Smolensk.
The precise grounds, on which Mallya contests his extradition remains to be seen.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will now argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities. (Photo: File)

London: Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender, is likely to challenge his extradition to India from the UK on the grounds that the charges against him are politically motivated, legal experts in the UK said on Wednesday.

The 61-year-old liquor baron, who has been living in self-imposed exile in Britain since last year, was arrested by Scotland Yard on Tuesday on fraud allegations, triggering an official extradition process in the British courts.

Mallya was released on conditional bail a few hours later after providing a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds and assuring the court of abiding by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel documents.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will now argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities. "The Crown Prosecution Service, acting on behalf of the Indian authorities, will need to demonstrate a prima facie case ie., produce some evidence to show that the criminal charges against Mallya, for which his extradition is sought, are justified," said Javinder Nakhwal, partner at Peters and Peters Solicitors LLP and member of the UK's Extradition Lawyers Association.

"There are a number of grounds on which it is possible to contest extradition, some of which might not be relevant to Mallya's case. Mallya may seek to challenge extradition on the basis that the request for his extradition is politically motivated and that any extradition would constitute a breach of certain human rights, she explained.

The precise grounds, on which Mallya contests his extradition remains to be seen. His legal team will seek to support their arguments with factual and/or expert evidence and can claim he won't get a fair trial in India and can also raise the condition of Indian jails as a factor behind the extradition request being declined.

The Indian authorities will have an opportunity to respond to any such evidence, she said. "When the case returns to court on May 17, the district judge is likely to set down a timetable for the service of any evidence to be submitted by either side in the proceedings, and list a date for a final hearing.

"There might be a few more hearings in this case in the coming months to deal with case management or any issues that arise, before the final hearing takes place, at which the full arguments from both sides in this case will be heard by the district judge," Nakhwal clarified.

Sarosh Zaiwalla, founder and senior partner of Zaiwalla & Co. Solicitors, also believes it will be a "long and strenuous" process which may not succeed at the end.

"This is because, the judge will have to be satisfied that Mallya will get a fair trial in India. His (Mallya's) lawyers will argue he is being politically hounded and is a victim of a media trial. He might also point out other Indian businessmen owe much more money to Indian banks, but his client has been singled out for persecution," Zaiwalla said.

He also highlighted that Mallya has the final option of approaching the European Court of Human Rights, at least until the UK completes its exit from the European Union (EU). "It is going to be a complicated affair as Mallya can argue that he may not receive a fair trial in Indian courts which are notorious for being easily influenced," he said.

According to him, the Indian government has to continue using diplomatic channels to build a solid casework proving Mallya will receive a fair trial in India.

"They could also look at the option of legally challenging Mallya in British courts to subsequently bring him to trail in India. A worldwide freezing order on Mallya's assets would be an even more effective option than the extradition route," he said.

Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016.

In January, an Indian court ordered a consortium of lenders to start the process of recovering the loans. "Extradition is the formal procedure for requesting the surrender of persons from one territory to another... Part 2 of the Extradition Act, in conjunction with any applicable extradition instrument, regulates export extradition from the United Kingdom to category 2 territories [like India].

"The CPS acts as the representative of the requesting state in category 2 cases (as for category 1 territories), and all proceedings are heard at Westminster Magistrates' Court," a CPS statement said.

At the extradition hearing the judge must decide a number of issues: whether the documentation sent to the court by the Secretary of State complies with the Act; whether the person arrested is the person named on the warrant; whether the offence detailed in the request is an extradition offence et al.

If the District Judge rules in favour of extradition, the UK home secretary must order Mallya's extradition within two months of the appropriate day.

India and the UK have an Extradition Treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement.

As Mallya is fighting the extradition order, he will have the right to appeal and the case can go up to the UK Supreme Court.

The flamboyant businessman, who still owns Force India Formula One team, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. "Not a rupee was misused," he had tweeted earlier this year.

But Indian authorities want him to stand trial for alleged unpaid loans to Kingfisher Airlines, which collapsed in 2012 with the loss of thousands of jobs.

As he awaits the hearing, Mallya is expected to be based at his lavish country home in Tewin, Hertfordshire, an hours drive from London.

The Indian and UK governments are believed to have struck an agreement on extradition proceedings during British Prime Minister Theresa Mays visit to India last November.

India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the Extradition Treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale on February 8.
Supporters of the referendum believe that through his authoritarian tactics, Erdogan will protect Turkey from Islamic State and the PKK.

Istanbul: On Sunday in Istanbul, thousands filled the streets protesting a historic referendum that dramatically expanded the presidents power.

The referendum, which 51.4 of voters supported, transforms the countrys constitution. It will replace Turkeys parliamentary system with a presidency and abolish the office of prime minister. Most of the changes will go into effect after the next elections, in 2019, at which point the president will have the power to appoint the cabinet and a number of vice-presidents, and be able to select and remove senior civil servants without parliamentary approval. He will also have the authority to declare a state of emergency, among other changes.

Turkeys main opposition party, the Republican Peoples Party (CHP), said it would demand a recount of about 37 per cent of ballot boxes. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who became president in 2014, has expressed interest in rewriting the constitution since 2011. At that point he was still prime minister, angling for a third term, and making the case that to modernise, the country needed to abandon its constitution, which was written by generals after the 1980 coup.

He continued with this message as he campaigned for president in 2014, but throughout his campaign never offered details on why the existing constitution wasnt working. It was only after last summers failed military coup, which made the public more cautious of the militarys power, that Erdogans position gained more mainstream support. Sundays referendum came at a perfect time for Erdogan, who has become what his supporters consider a steady presence in a country wracked by instability. Ongoing wars in Syria and Iraq have required Turkeys military and political attention on the borders and made the country a strategically important member of Nato. Security threats come from both Islamic State and the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which wants autonomy within Turkey, and which claimed responsibility for an attack a few days before the referendum.

Erdogans crackdown on his political opposition and his citizens civil liberties more broadly helped sway the referendum in his favour. After the July coup attempt he declared a state of emergency, and shut down more than 170 media outlets, detained more than 113,000 people and jailed 47,000, including judges, prosecutors, academics, journalists, police officers and parliamentarians.

Supporters of the referendum believe that through his authoritarian tactics, Erdogan will protect Turkey from Islamic State and the PKK. They think he will resuscitate the countrys economy and increase wages, even though he has been vague about his plans for growth. Erdogans self-image as a devout Muslim leader has been another political asset in a country that has become more religiously conservative over the past several years.

To his detractors  mostly from liberal backgrounds, LGBT and other vulnerable communities  the referendum represents an enormous threat to Turkeys democracy. They fear that the new constitution will legalise Erdogans abuse of power.

What (Erdogan) has been doing in the past two to five years is illegal and he has continued doing it anyway, says Mahir Zeynalov, a Turkish journalist and analyst based in Washington, DC But he asks for people to vote to get legitimacy for his actions and to say, Look  this is what the people want.

In his first public appearance after the state-run media agency announced the referendum results, Erdogan said he plans to immediately discuss with the prime minister the issue of reinstating the death penalty. His critics fear he might use the death penalty as a tool to muzzle his opposition.

But rather than bringing back state-sanctioned murder, Erdogans top domestic priority should be to reunite the polarised country, divided between a secular class and the more ultra-nationalist and conservative faction that supports him. In order to weaken his growing opposition he would also need to diminish the hostility between the Turkish state and the minority Kurds.

Beyond Turkeys borders, the referendum will likely impact the countrys relationship with the West. Europe still needs Turkey to prevent Syrian refugees from flooding its borders, but Erdogan could use his new authority to try to oust Syrian President Bashar al- Assad.

To repair his relationship with Europe and the United States, Erdogan needs to reinstate press freedom, free imprisoned journalists and parliamentarians, stop publicly vilifying his opponents and put an end to the Nazi references he used to describe the German and Dutch governments.

A softer approach to Europe seems unlikely in light of Erdogans recent comment that he had been attacked by the crusader mentality in the West, after European monitors criticised the vote.

The future of Turkey is now in Erdogans hands. With so much power, Erdogan is even more responsible for whatever difficulties the country faces.

If he doesnt address the deep divides in Turkey and repair relations with the West, he may strengthen his oppositions resolve.

Kiran Nazish is a journalist based between Turkey and New York. She is also the co-founder of the Coalition for Women in Journalism.@Kirannazish
The bill will need President Mamnoon Hussains signature to become law.

Islamabad: Pakistans National Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill endorsing compulsory Quran education for all Muslim students studying in government schools from class 1 to 12, a move apparently aimed at weaning away children from religious seminaries.

The Compulsory Teaching of the Holy Quran Bill 2017 was tabled before the house by state minister for federal education and professional training Balighur Rehman.

The bill provides that students from class 1 to 5 will learn to read the Arabic text of the holy book, while students from class 6 to 12 will also learn to read the Arabic text with simple Urdu translation.

The minister clarified that this piece of legislation is only meant for the Muslim students.

The bill will need President Mamnoon Hussains signature to become law.

It will lead towards spreading goodness and auspiciousness and towards ending chaos and uncertainty, according to the bill.

The law will be applicable to all federal educational institutions in the country but it will be mandatory for Muslim students. The provinces can separately legislate on teaching of the Quran.

Islam is Pakistans state religion and the government is bound to take steps to help people learn the teaching of Islam.

Experts say the legislation could be an effort to wean away students from religious seminaries where they are just taught the Quran.
by Ibrahim Alsabagh*

The family is a sign of hope in a context of war and violence. The Latin parish launches a "spiritual and material" support program. Fr. Ibrahim: An initiative that embraces all Christian rites and confessions and does not forget "our Muslim brothers and sisters". Pope Francis (and the Curia) donate 100,000 euros. Information on how you too can donate to the campaign.

Aleppo (AsiaNews) - A family represents the future of a society, even and above all in a context of war and violence like the one that has enveloped Syria since March 2011. "We want to support families" spiritually and materially" encouraging and accompanying them "in their mission for the country and the Church itself", says Fr. Ibrahim Alsabagh, a 44-year-old Franciscan, guardian and parish priest of the Aleppo Latin Parish.

The pastor speaks of an initiative dedicated to young couples in Syrias second largest city, and once its economic and commercial hub. In these weeks, "about 740 couples of all rituals who received the sacrament of marriage after 2012" received food aid, medicines, and electricity supplies, as well as "Muslim families who are in trouble. "

"More than just mere material accompaniment," the priest writes, " there is also an attempt within this project to promote 'permanent formation' meetings for these families, in the context of monthly post-marital formation meetings." An initiative strongly supported by Pope Francis himself, who together with the Roman Curia during the last spiritual exercises of Lent donated 100,000 euros. "Aleppo, like all of Syria, is like a ship," says Fr. Ibrahim  tossed about on a stormy sea. And in this storm, we are trying to protect young couples, who are our future".

At the end, at the end of the testimony, you will find the contact information for the Aleppo Latin Parish and how you too can make a donation.



"The Church is the family and the family is a small church ..." - Pope Francis



Last Friday, January 20, our parish had a very important day: an Eucharistic celebration marked the inauguration of a new ecumenical project for this year. It aims to support young Christian couples of all rites, who married during the war. The ceremony was attended by the bishops and priests of all the Christian communities in Aleppo.

It was very impressive to see the church full of faithful, and especially the young. Their faces expressed the suffering and sadness of the war, the anxiety. How do you start a family without economic resources, in a context of massive unemployment. And when prices are so high? Although both spouses work, their salaries are not enough to live on. However, in their eyes also emerges a light of hope and joy, because they know that they are not alone, that the Church has not forgotten them, that it is by their side.

A young family represents the future of society. The family founded on Christian values is the future of the Church. We want to support it both spiritually and materially, within our country, even though it is going through moments of difficulty. We want to encourage and accompany the family in its mission for the country and to the Church itself.



This project for young couples was born from the present reality of the family in Aleppo, and its needs. About 740 couples of all rituals who received the sacrament of marriage after 2012 are already included within this program, but the list is not yet fully completed. After about three months this project has been expanded to include couples who have tied the knot after 2010. During these three months, all the young families received: a food parcel; aid to help pay for electricity; support for medical needs, especially on maternity issues for pregnant women.



This ecumenical project has been blessed by all those responsible for Christian, Catholic and Orthodox communities. The community of the Latin Church, served by the Friars Minor Friars, has taken this initiative of responsibility for the future of Christians in Aleppo and not only for those of the Latin rite, but never forget to also help the Muslim brothers and families who pour in difficulty.

Until now, we have not been able to benefit from such an economic source as to cover this project in its entirety, but the Lord has always taught us to take the first step, then intervening through Providence.



These young families living in war are a fragile component of society, with many threats of crisis. They need to be protected and accompanied at a spiritual and material level. Our initiative is a practical answer, an attempt to accompany the family, especially the young Aleppo families. And it is an accompanying mode that has been declining considerably in recent years due to the war. Much more than a mere "material accompaniment", within this project there is also the attempt to promote "permanent formation" meetings for these families, in the context of monthly post-marital formation meetings.



This activity, or rather, this way of living communion, through spiritual and material help, is certainly not something new within the Church. It is a practical application of the model proposed by the first Christian community, as it is presented by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles. A community that nourishes both the Word, the sacraments, the prayer, as well as the daily charity in its practical application.



The greatest encouragement we have received so far for this project was that of Pope Francis and of the Roman Curia. During the spiritual retreat for Lent, the pontiff and the cardinals listened to the songs taken from my book "A Moment Before dawn". The Holy Father confessed to his preacher father that it was difficult for them to swallow food, after hearing and learning under what conditions the inhabitants of Aleppo lived. For this reason, he has sent a donation of 100,000 euros to our parish, which serves as a humanitarian service to the whole city of Aleppo, without distinction, on his behalf and on behalf of the participants in the spiritual retreat. After receiving this news, I immediately thought of this project dedicated to young couples.



We are all very grateful to the Holy Father for this gesture of paternal tenderness and, together with him, we want to thank all members of the Curia who participated in this donation. Aleppo, like all of Syria, is like a ship tossed about on a stormy sea

And in this storm, we are trying to protect young couples, which represent our future.



Latin Parish of St. Francis in Aleppo, Syria:

Facebook:

Latin Parish: https://www.facebook.com/latinparish.aleppo/

Children in prayer for peace: https://www.facebook.com/st.francis.parish.aleppo/

Twitter:

Latin Parish Aleppo @LatinParish

Banking account for donations (in Euros):

Clause: Per i poveri/For the poor

BANCA POPOLARE ETICA SCPA

FILIALE DI MILANO

IBAN: IT74E05018 01600 000000242411



* Franciscan Priest, guardian and parish priest of the Latin Parish of Aleppo
by Purushottam Nayak

On Good Friday, police stopped Mass and prevented worshippers from carrying the cross up a hill. Previously they had torn down statues and crosses on a slope. Meanwhile, the other side of the hill is invaded by Hindu temples.

New Delhi (AsiaNews) - The Catholic Church in India has "expressed anguish and suffering" over what happened on Good Friday in Sogandi, Tamil Nadu, where police interrupted Dalit Christians from going up a hill to perform the Way of the Cross, said Mgr Theodore Mascarenhas, secretary general of the Indian Bishops' Conference (CBCI).

Speaking to AsiaNews, the prelate said that "not only was the small community of Christian Dalit prevented from honouring the day holy for Christians all over the world, but police, led by local authorities, used force and violence. Agents blocked the most sacred moment in the veneration of the Cross and communion."

The incident took place in Thirukazhukundram, an area famous for a temple dedicated to the god Shiva. Sogandi parish is part of Chingleput, said the local bishop, Mgr A Neethinathan. The diocese was established in 2007 and is dedicated to Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus.

Some 125 families attend the local church. To develop their spiritual devotion, the pastor erected a statue of the Virgin Mary, located in a cave on one of the slopes of the hill. According to Mgr Neethinathan, "the position was favourable because the statue on the hill draws believers of every confession."

Last Christmas and New Year's Eve, more than 500 policemen, on behalf of the Tax Office, came to the site to demolish the statues and crosses installed on the hill on "The pretext that it was an illegal occupation of the ground. Since then, the parish has not yet been able to re-place the statues." What worries the most "is that in February all the stones on the hill have been marked with Hindu symbols.

Conversely, The other side of the hill has been invaded by more than one temple and many houses are under construction in neighbouring villages, different from Sogandis Catholic Dalits in terms of religion and caste."

In the light of the facts and of the act of violence perpetrated against Christians on the day of Christ's Passion, "It is clear that anti-Christian Hindutva fundamentalism and anti-Dalit caste fanaticism operate systematically, Mgr Neethinathan said. These planned moves exert an undue influence on the police and the revenue department to put pressure on local Catholics."

"As a protest against this violation of the fundamental right to religious freedom and expression, the administration of the diocese is organising a fast and a large-scale demonstration with the support and the participation of lay people without distinction of caste, belief or language."

Those who interrupted the Mass "should have waited at least for the end of the celebrations and discuss the matter with Church authorities," Mgr Mascarenhas said.

"We are proud of our country, of its secular tradition, and of the Hindu majority that that has always treated us with respect and benevolence, he added. However, in recent times, some fundamentalist groups have been working to disrupt the traditional peace and harmony.

Many of our brothers and sisters have expressed concern about the growing intolerance promoted by extremist fringes. We call on the prime minister, the Home minister and the leaders of all parties to ensure that everyone in this country can continue to feel secure and enjoy the fundamental right to profess their faith in freedom and without fear."
Fr Mario Da Silva, Gazas parish, talks about the half-empty churches due to fear following attacks in Egypt. Fewer permits were granted for pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Christians in Gaza are fewer and fewer.

Gaza (AsiaNews)  "The situation is very difficult. Easter celebrations did not go well. There is a lot of fear among Christians because of the attacks in Egypt. Few, Catholic and Orthodox, have attended Mass, both. Only 50 people came to our church. As far as I know, 25 were Orthodox, said Mario da Silva, a Brazilian priest in charge of Gazas Holy Family Latin Parish.

The source of fear is the Islamic State group (IS). Its groups are active in the Sinai Peninsula, just a few kilometres from the Gaza Strip. Its latest attack took place near the St Catherine monastery.

Fear aside, there were no incidents. "Thank God," said Fr da Silva. Still, the atmosphere in the Gaza Strip remains tense because of the social and economic problems affecting the residents. Christians, about 1,300 in total, "suffer like all Palestinians, because of their many problems."

For the clergyman, the difficulty in obtaining travel permits to go to Jerusalem affected Easter celebrations. "This is the second year that we asked Israel for family permits to go on pilgrimage on the holiday. People can choose to visit the holy places at Easter and Christmas. Last year we were able to send mostly young people under 35. The official figure was 891, but I believe the actual number was 800. For them it was their first time outside of Gaza."

This year, the number of permits for Easter has declined significantly. "The official number was 700, but in fact there were far fewer. Some of these permits were sent to dead people, or people no longer in Gaza. Or were given to parents and not their young children, and vice versa. The actual number of permits was around 500, perhaps less.

Until the last moment, Christians in the Holy Land had hoped for an open Jerusalem despite announced restrictive Israeli security measures.

For Fr da Silva, the greatest concern is that the Christian community is disappearing from the Strip. "There are fewer and fewer. Those who manage to get out do not come back. They seek peace elsewhere. On feast days, the church is increasingly empty."
New Delhi (AsiaNews) - The Supreme Court of India has decided that three prominent leaders of the Hindu nationalist party Bjp (Bharatiya Janata Party) will go to trial for conspiring to demolish the Babri mosque in Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh).

According to the judges, on December 6, 1992, Lal Krishna Advani (former vice premier), Murali Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti (current Union Minister) incited a crowd of 150,000 Hindu radicals to destroy Babri Masjid because the mosque was on the remains of a temple dedicated to the god Ram. Speaking to AsiaNews, Ram Puniyani, president of the Center for Study and Secularism in Mumbai, says, "For 25 years no justice has been done. After a long delay, there is hope now. "



According to Puniyani, so far the question "has never been tackled seriously." Moreover, the decision of the Supreme Court "decrees a situation that was evident from the beginning: the conspiracy of Hindu exponents, armed with heavy vehicles and ropes". This emerges from the fact that "volunteers had been formed before the demolition. Only those who had been formed were given permission to approach the mosque, while the leaders continued to pronounce provocative slogans that incited the destruction of the structure. "



Supreme Court Judges P C Ghose and R F Nariman decided to transfer the case from Rae Bareli to Lucknow. This implies that the two cases - the conspiracy charge the Sangh leader and the mosque demolition by the so-called "karsevaks" (volunteers) - will be carried out simultaneously. The decision will speed up judicial proceedings, as the Court ordered the beginning of the trial within four weeks. The three defendants, together with other Hindu exponents and witnesses, will have to appear every day in the courtroom and the sentence will be issued in no more than two years. The only one who has escaped the proceedings for the time being is Kalyan Singh, at the time of the events, Chief State Minister of Uttar Pradesh and current Rajasthan governor, who enjoys immunity.



The Babri Masjid story is emblematic of Hindu nationalist extremist politics. The story of the Babri Masjid is emblematic of the Hindu nationalists' political extremism. Built in 1528 in Ayodhya - which Indian tradition considers the birthplace of Ram (incarnation of the god Vishnu) - it has been the center of disputes between Muslims and Hindus for centuries. Called to Ayodhya for a symbolic ceremony to launch the construction of Hindu temple, on December 6, 1992 Sangh Parivar activists set upon the mosque, tearing down the three domes in less than three hours. The assault sparked violent clashes occurred throughout the country between Hindus and Muslims, leading to the death of at least 2,000 people.

At the announcement of the Supreme Court's decision, Salman Soz, the spokesman for Congress, said Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharti should resign from their respective parliamentary posts. Conversely, members of the Bjp are gathering in support around their colleagues and complain that the allegations are unfounded.
A lot of Flagstaff High School students may stay home today because of a series of five threatening notes were left around the school last month. The notes stated that something would happen at the school on April 20 or April 26. April 20 is the anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings.

After a community meeting Wednesday evening at the school, Student Body President Kaylee Rowsell said she knew a number of her senior classmates planned to stay home today.

Its about half and half, she said. Some were very worried about the situation and others were planning to use it as an excuse to take a senior skip day. Rowsell, however, planned on being in class.

I am worried, she said. But I also feel safe with all the officers around. I know what to do if something happens.

She also said that things seem to be calming down a bit, since the last note was found on March 28. Students are concerned but they know what to do in a situation and they know that there are police officers available to help.

Tyler Stickler, a sophomore, said he hadnt made up his mind yet on whether he would come to school or not today. His parents were leaving the decision up to him.

Having the police officers around make me much safer, he said. But its still a bit nerve-wracking. I have a ton of friends who arent coming to school.

Judy Clough, who has a student who attends FHS, said she was leaving it up to her daughter to decide.

I really struggled with this because Im a (church) youth group leader. I know that God will protect them, but at the same time I know that there is evil in this world, she said. Clough said the pastors and youth groups from several local churches plan to be at the school this morning in order to provide comfort and prayer to students who may be anxious about the day.

More than 50 parents, students, teachers and administrators attended the meeting Wednesday evening.

Flagstaff Deputy Chief Dan Musselman said the department has interviewed about 50 to 60 people about the notes, which started appearing in a girls bathroom at the beginning of March. The department has also pulled about six search warrants for information and evidence. He said the department has several leads and is working with the FBI and the Arizona Department of Public Safetys Crime Lab to analyze evidence in the case. He declined to say what evidence other than the notes was found and who the department had interviewed.

He said the department does have a plan in place in case something happens, but declined to detail the plan.

We dont want to tip our hand, Mussleman said. However, there will probably be more officers here than at the police station.

If nothing happens tomorrow, Mussleman said the department plans to continue the investigation and will continue to have a heightened presence at the school at least until the end of the school year.

Flagstaff High School Principal Tony Cullen said parents will be alerted and given instructions by text or phone if something happens. The students have been practicing what to do in case of lock-down situation since they were kindergartners, he said. Each school in the district goes through several lock-down drills each year at different times in the day to make sure that teachers and students know what to do.

Cullen urged parents to call in to the school if they planned to have their student stay home. It is a testing day for the AzMerit tests, but the school always builds in makeup days for the tests. He didnt see most students having a problem with their attendance record if they decided to stay home.

Interim Superintendent Dave Dirksen agreed. He said that he and Cullen had discussed the attendance issue for the last five weeks.

We want parents to be able to make the best choice for their student, Dirksen said.

Cullen said the school and police will be doing something extra to make sure that the people named in some of the notes are protected. He declined to give specifics.

Police Chief Kevin Treadway said that the case will only be solved when someone with information about the person leaving the notes comes forward. He said its possible that the department has already interviewed the person responsible and police just didnt realize it. Its also possible that the person who left the notes has become so frightened about the trouble theyve caused that theyve stopped. The last note was found March 28.
by Mathias Hariyadi

Prosecutors call for two years' probation with a possible one-year jail term if the accused breaks the law during this period. The maximum sentence in such cases is five years. Islamic extremists slam the prosecutors request. The latter acknowledge the outgoing governors "great work" in the capital.

Jakarta (AsiaNews)  Prosecutors recommended two years' probation in the trial of Jakartas outgoing governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, commonly known as Ahok, with a possible one-year jail term if he commits a crime during this period.

For Ahok, the trial comes on top of yesterday's election defeat against Anies Baswedan, former Minister of Education, the darling of extreme Islamist associations.

If found guilty of insulting Islam, the Christian politician could receive up to five years in jail, but courts rarely go further than the prosecutors request.

According to analysts and legal experts, the trial and Ahoks probable appeal in case of a guilty verdict mean that he will likely remain in office until his mandate expires in October.

For prosecutors, he is guilty of violating Article 156 of the Indonesian Penal Code, which punishes anyone who causes political disorders in the country.

In his submission, public prosecutor Ali Mukartono acknowledged the governors "great work" to improve the capital. For this reason, he asked for a lesser sentence.

Such an attitude did not please Islamic extremists and radicals. Some of them, including the Islamic Defence Front, were outside the courthouse chanting and shouting.

At the end of the hearing, radicals called on the judges to dismiss the prosecutors request and impose the maximum sentence provided by the law.

Governor Ahok, an ethnic Chinese Christian, became embroiled in the blasphemy case when on 9 October he cited verse 51 of the Fifth Sura of the Quran (Al Maidah). At the time,

Ahok had asked that religion not be used for political purposes, but many Muslims saw this as an insult to their faith. Eventually, this was used against him during his re-election campaign.

This is not the first time that Indonesian Muslim leaders go against non-Muslim politicians and officials. Religion has already been used in the worlds most populous Muslim country.

It is very likely that the blasphemy charges played a major role in Ahoks defeat in yesterdays run-off.

Ahok is one of the few Indonesian political leaders to have defended freedom of conscience. Last June he opposed the obligation imposed on students from Jakarta to wear the Islamic veil. In July 2015, he sided with minority Ahmadis in their fight for civil rights. The latter are deemed heretical by majority Sunni Muslims.
The canonisation will take place during Francis's trip to Portugal. Francisco and Jacinta Marto will be the first children in the history of the Church to be proclaimed saints without being martyrs.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis announced today during the ordinary public consistory that Francisco and Jacinta Marto, the two young shepherd children from Fatima, will be canonised during his visit to Portugal on 13 May.

Canonisation will take place during the popes apostolic journey on the centenary of the Apparitions of the Virgin in Fatima. Our Lady appeared to three children on 13 May 1917 and reappeared to them every 13th of the month until October of that year. Francisco and Jacinta will be the first children in the history of the Church to be proclaimed saints without being martyrs.

On 13May 2000, John Paul II beatified the two shepherd children, Francisco and Jacinta, during a pilgrimage to Fatima. Together with the brother and sister, Pope Francis will canonise their cousin, Lucia dos Santos, who became a nun and lived to the age of 98.

Francisco was born in 1908 and was almost nine when the "White Lady" appeared to him and his seven-year-old sister Jacinta. Both died within a few years: Francisco in 1919, and Jacinta the following year.

During the Consistory, the pontiff announced the canonisation on 15 October of other blessed. Three of them, Cristobal, Antonio and Juan, adolescent martyrs, were killed because of their faith in Mexico, the first by his own father in 1527, the other two by native Mexicans in 1529.

The others to be canonised are Andre de Soveral, and Ambrosio Francisco Ferro, diocesan priests, and Mateus Moreira, a layperson, alongside 27 companions, martyrs; Piarist Fr Manuel Miguez Gonzalez (Faustino of the Incarnation), founder of the Daughters of the Divine Shepherdess  better known as the Calasanzian Institute; and Angelo da Acri (ne Luca Antonio Falcone), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin.
It is the largest and the lightest existing spacecraft. It can carry up to 6 tons of materials and 2 tons of fuel. It will be used for supplies of a future orbital space station, where up to six astronauts can live.

Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Today at 19.40 (local time), China will launch its first spacecraft, Tianzhou 1 from Wenchang Space Center in Hainan.

The spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the Tiangong 2 space lab, where two Chinese astronauts spent a month last October. The experiment is part of a plan for the construction of an orbital space station, where up to six astronauts could reside.

The Tianzhou should be used to supply the future station with food, fuel, and water. Xinhua stated that the spacecraft can carry 6 tons of materials and 2 tons of fuel and can fly for three months without human guidance.

The Tianzhou is about 10 meters high but its capacity is larger than the spacecraft built by the US and Russia. It is also the lightest ever built, thanks to the use of new metal alloys.

The space station project will begin next year and will last until 2020 and it will be made of carbon.
Beijing (AsiaNews) - Two full days, from late morning to late evening, hearing the confessions of hundreds of faithful. In the diocese of the priest who writes to AsiaNews  who remains anonymous for security issues - at least 95% of the faithful approached the sacrament of reconciliation. This is the first step for the renewal of individual believers, families, the Church and society. The testimony of the Lenten and Easter journey by an underground priest.



Lent is a new beginning, but its specific purpose is a journey toward Easter, to Christ who defeated death. We are called to conversion and to penance.



God asks Christians to go to him with all their heart (Joel 2:12), refuse mediocrity, promote friendship with the Lord. These are some passages of the Message that Pope Francis sent us this Lenten season, 2017.



The Pope's words inspire us to live penance and conversion and to participate in the mystery of Easter.



We experienced the renewal of families and parishes of our diocese through a series of pastoral activities proposed during Lent to Easter. Earlier, I helped celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation in two parishes, along with the pastor. At least 95% of the faithful received the sacrament to reconcile with themselves, with others, and with God. For a whole day, for eight hours, I heard confessions with another priest. But even then we had not finished, as there were many other believers still waiting, so we continued to hear confessions the next day.



During this time, some priests offered special catechetical lessons, preached annual retreats, proposed adoration of the Eucharist even at night, and the Via Crucis. In some parishes there was a " charity box," for offerings and petitions to the Father and Jesus on the Cross.



During Holy Week the parish priest led preparation for Easter, helped by the group of community leaders, by the choir.



Every year, priests work hard during Holy Week and on Easter Day. But it is a joyful work because it is about self-renewal and that of families, parishes, and society, thanks to many works of charity.
The new superintendent for Flagstaff Unified School District will be making $21,000 more than previous superintendent Barbara Hickman.

But he'll also be taking of pay cut of more than $15,000.

The FUSD Governing Board is in the process of signing a two-year contract with Mike Penca, the interim superintendent of Mason City Schools in Iowa. The board approved the contract with an annual salary of $147,500 with Penca last week.

He will take over in July from Dave Dirksen, who has served as interim superintendent while FUSD has searched for a replacement for Hickman, who left in 2016 to work for the Colorado Department of Education.

Hickmans salary when she left was $126,243. Dirksen has an annual salary of $124,636.

Penca will actually be taking a pay cut, even though he will be overseeing a larger school district. Mason City Schools has about 3,700 students. FUSD has about 10,000 students. According to the Mason City Globe Gazette, his salary in Mason City is $163,000. Penca is expected to start with FUSD in July, after his contract with Mason City ends on June 30.

Penca has served as a teacher, principal and administrator for Mason City Community schools for more than 20 years. He was appointed interim superintendent for the district in June 2016. According to the Globe Gazette, Penca took on the role of interim superintendent for a year after the district board reached an agreement with its previous superintendent, Anita Michich, to leave office a year early. He applied for the permanent job but was not chosen.
Stockton is 'rooted and growing strong,' as ground is broke at the Atlantic City Gateway Project
Earth Day 2017 comes with a pretty standard lineup of events in Flagstaff  except for one.

Its the March for Science, and Flagstaffs march will be one of dozens around the country on Saturday.

A year ago, such a march would have been unthinkable. Science, although contested in the halls of Congress around climate change, had budgetary support from the Obama administration, and most of the presidential candidates were focused on other issues.

But the Trump White House has turned the tables. Science is now seen as one of several tools that can help explain how the world works, but not the only one. Human-caused climate change is subject to veto by a small minority of scientists, and research findings that support it are reportedly being scrubbed from the websites of the EPA, NASA, USGS and NSF, among others. Clean air and water programs that burden industry with higher costs are being repealed, not revised, and international agreements to reduce carbon dioxide emissions  both existing and going forward  likely wont include the United States.

So in a university town like Flagstaff, its not surprising to see scientists and their supporters take to the streets to lobby for what they call an evidence-based approach to understanding the world. In some quarters, the march is seen as injecting political partisanship into what should be the apolitical pursuit of truth. But when the Trump draft budget funds more military spending on the backs of cuts in science and research agency budgets, its not the scientists who have politicized the debate over science and national priorities.

Scientists, however, will do their cause no good by attacking either the president or his budget head-on. Rather, their best course is to use the heightened visibility of the march to tell the stories of their research and its applicability to the furtherance of the common good. Not all science has an obvious human use  molecular physics may sound abstract until the dots are connected to the decoding of DNA and then to the wonder drugs of modern medicine. Pluto might appear to be an alien world, but the science used to get New Horizons to its destination, then send back images that help us understand the cosmos must have a more prosaic application sometime in our future.

And even though the American Southwest is on the cutting edge of global warming, its not even necessary for the Flagstaff scientific community to evangelize on behalf of the urgency of addressing climate change. Its sufficient to let people know what they do, what they are learning and what they think it means. The scientific method doesnt have to be dry if flesh-and-blood scientists can be attached to it.

Its been said that every day in Flagstaff is Earth Day, so aware are we as a community of our stunning but fragile surroundings and finite resources. Conservation and sustainability are more than once-a-year watchwords in our Mountain Town, but it doesnt hurt to get refresher courses at the many exhibits and demonstrations Saturday at Heritage Square and on the courthouse lawn (read a preview of the days events in the region on A2).

And if you have a chance, come down to meet a scientist at City Hall at 3 p.m.  they will have finished their march and caught their breath to tell stories that we and others need to hear and learn well beyond Earth Day 2017.
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In a shake-up of its compensation structure, global law firm Linklaters is reportedly moving away from measuring individual partner performance to focus on teams.The move was proposed by the Magic Circle firms global managing partner Gideon Moore according to Legal Business. It would mean that individual partners would not be measured on billing hours and would also not have annual appraisals.The move is a big step away from the metric driven approach of former managing partner Tony Angel in the last decade.Growing firm Pinsent Masons is to open a new office in Madrid, its third international office in the last 12 months.The firm, which has offices in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and China, has brought together a team of six partners to develop a practice around the firm's global sectors of advanced manufacturing and technology, financial services and infrastructure."Our vision is to be recognised as an international market leader in the global sectors in which we operate, and we recognise that we can only do that if we are serious about supporting our clients across key commercial centres, explained senior partner Richard Foley.We have found a team in Madrid which not only exudes quality but also shares our sector-focused vision. We are looking forward to bringing a very different type of law firm to Spain," added Foley.In the past 12 months, Pinsent Masons has opened offices in Dusseldorf and Johannesburg.Law firms in the US state of Illinois are starting to establish new practices focusing on the growing demand for medicinal marijuana.The state is moving towards the legalisation of the drug, not just for medicinal purposes which is already in its pilot phase, but for recreation, with state lawmakers consulting on the potential for legislation and polls showing widespread public support.In the meantime, the Chicago Tribune reports that there are already law firms that are solely focused on cannabis law. Among them is Rollman & Dahlin which advises producers and also businesses connected to the industry such as advertising agencies."Every area of law you can think of, when it intersects with cannabis, it gets complicated," Dina Rollman, who also teaches a cannabis law class at Illinois Institute of Technology's Chicago-Kent College of Law , told the Chicago Tribune.Rollman says that her law firm has seen a steady increase in workload over the past year, since the firm was established. Other firms have dedicated practices focused on the sector.
More than 20 partners have been forced out of Dentons , the worlds largest law firm, since the start of the year.According to The American Lawyer , the firm informed lawyers of their terminations after the new year, during individual compensation meetings with management. Two law firm recruiters and three former Dentons lawyers say that at least three partners who are still listed on the firms site are part of the ousted group, it said.The partner ousters come after Dentons cut about 65 jobs in the US and the UK last month after a review of its merger with McKenna Long & Aldridge.People inside the firm may also not know the full extent of the departure, the publication said, as Dentons, which is structured as a Swiss verein, is so large and decentralised. Its also hard to glean who among those who left since the start of the year did so voluntarily, since the firm has a 90-day departure period during which lawyers are given time to find employment elsewhere while still appearing as part of the organisation.Joseph Andrew, Dentons chair, told Bloomberg Law that the firm is continuously improving its offerings and ranks.We are going to continue to tailor our offerings. We want to be bespoke here. We want to lead, not just to be the largest. We will have people join and people will inevitably ask to move on, he said.He said that the profession has seen a fundamental change in the rate of change and that the firm is making change part of its routine.That is very much part of the strategy: from largest to leading. I have never met a client who cares that we have 8,000 lawyers. They need just one. But its more likely we can find one that they need, he said.He added that Dentons and its culture will not be right for every lawyer.
In 2008, RMB Lawyers launched a program to share the burden of childcare costs shouldered by women lawyers of the firm. Nearly a decade on, the regional firm is still abundantly supportive of its women lawyers precisely because it is seeing tangible results from its affirmative-action policies.The firm has an impressive 88% return rate for women lawyers who are coming back to work after maternity leave. Apart from retaining top talent, the firm says it is gaining respect from both its staff and the wider community.Earlier this year, RMB Lawyers launched a firm-wide career advancement, support, and mentoring program for its women lawyers, which builds on policies the firm has had in place for the better part of the last decade.These policies include providing up to 25% of childcare costs paid by its women lawyers, putting in place work-from-home and workplace-flexibility arrangements depending on the needs of its lawyers families, and mentoring and teamwork programs for exit and return from parental leave, says Craig Osbourne, the firms managing partner.The firm has also previously launched a policy for lawyers to purchase additional annual leave to assist them in structuring care for their children of school age during school holiday periods, says Claire Osbourne, family law partner.We understand that in a personal services law firm, lawyers rely on having a personal file load, and that there are going to be periods where economic performance is slow. During a parents return to work, the firm and all its members support the returning team member to regain momentum and economic flow, Craig says. This new program takes our support of women in law one step further by creating an environment where our female employees can gather and network with each other and mentors, with no agenda other than to simply enjoy the moment and reflect on the fact that they are important and valued.Claire says that the program is the brainchild of the firms most experienced family lawyer, Margaret Curran, and Craig. The main goal is to bolster confidence of the firms women lawyers, improve staff morale, and acknowledge the challenges faced by female lawyers, by creating a culture of leadership, guidance, and mentoring across the firm, she says.And its not just for the firms women lawyers returning from maternal leave, or only for the firms women lawyers.The program was not designed specifically for women lawyers returning from maternity leave, but rather to advance, develop, and empower our female lawyers regardless of their circumstances, by connecting them with each other and with other professionals in our community, Claire says.She says that the program, by increasing interaction within the firm, provides both male and female lawyers support. It also ensures women lawyers are advanced in the workplace and builds the firms reputation as an employer of choice.Its early days yet, but we are already starting to see a rise in the confidence of our returning lawyer mothers and an understanding that their talent is respected and that they are not seen as a burden by the business at any stage, Craig says.Respect for the firm from the outside in and inside out continues to gather momentum, he says.The female lawyers of the firm are excited that RMB Lawyers is committed to promotion and advancement of women in the workplace, Claire says. They also appreciate the ability to have some time away from the desk and Dictaphone to share stories and learn from each other, she says.These programs directly help RMB Lawyers in weathering a legal business landscape fraught with challenges and changes. Among these challenges are the commoditisation of legal products and services, which means declining profit margins and the need to scale up and become more efficient, Craig says.Claire echoes the sentiment, and says legal firms also need to balance the expectation of employees pushing for more flexible work arrangements and the profitability and efficiency of those arrangements.Whilst technology is enormously helpful in this domain, the challenge seems to be in breaking society standards about what efficiency and profitability looks like for employees, she says.RMB Lawyers women lawyers with their littlies (supplied)
By Jill Sheppard, Lecturer, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University

from www.shutterstock.com

Scientists in Australia (and across the world) will take to the streets for the March for Science on April 22. Its timely, therefore, to discover Australians overwhelmingly support the role of science in policymaking and society.

Released this week, the most recent ANUpoll has surveyed Australians attitudes on a range of science plus research and development policy issues. The poll surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,200 Australian adults via telephone (60% mobile and 40% landline phones) in November 2016.

We found that 82% of Australians believe politicians should rely more on the advice of expert scientists. In an increasingly polarised and contested world, such unanimity is rare.

However, there are limits to this support, and challenges for Australian science in maintaining the support of both citizens and governments.

Consistency over time

Broad support of science is not necessarily a surprising result. Surveys have consistently found Australians want politicians to take more heed of scientific advice.

Data from 2015 shows more than 90% of Australians are proud of the countrys scientific achievements. These figures are remarkably stable over the past 30 years, and are only matched by Australians pride in our national sporting achievements. Science seems integral to our national identity.

Moreover, we are largely sanguine about the role of science and technology in our everyday lives. Around seven in 10 Australians agree that new technologies excite rather than concern them. A similar number (75%) believe that the benefits of technological progress are greater than the risks. Even more (84%) believe there should be more people working in research and technological development in Australia.

Support, but with limits

Looking more closely at these results helps to reveal the limits of this overwhelming support for science in Australian life. Surveys often enable respondents to express contradictory views within one questionnaire, or to express support for broad concepts but reticence towards individual policies or positions that seem to underpin those concepts.

In economic terms, we might think about this phenomenon as the difference between stated and revealed preferences. It is one thing to declare that we support science, but quite another to support policies that enable or promote scientific research, or collaboration between scientists and politicians.

For instance, almost half (42%) of Australians either agree or strongly agree that scientific advances tend to benefit the rich more than they benefit the poor. This presents a challenge for scientists hoping to defend the vital role science plays in our health, safety, economies, and governments (that is, the March for Sciences aims).

Australians in the lowest income households are most likely to hold the view that that scientific advances tend to benefit the rich more than they benefit the poor.









Jill Sheppard, Author provided





As shown in Figure 1, nearly one quarter of Australians living in a household with an annual income of less than A$20,000 strongly agree with this position, and a further 29% agree. This compares to 9% of those in households with an income of A$150,000 or more who strongly agree that scientific advances benefit the rich more than the poor, and 21% who agree with this position.

In other words, the lower an Australians household income, the more likely they believe that the benefits of science are not distributed equally. This seems an entirely rational concern; Australian government economists warn that low-skilled employment and wages are threatened by technology and automation.

The pace of change

Similarly, 45% of Australians either agree or strongly agree that technological change happens too fast for me to keep up with it. An important factor in explaining this position is education: the more formal education Australians have received, the more comfortable they feel with the pace of technological change.









Jill Sheppard, Author provided





As shown in Figure 2, among the 148 respondents with a Year 10 education or lower (12% of the whole sample), 73% do not believe they can keep up with the pace of technological change. Among those with a postgraduate degree (14% of the sample), only 27% feel this way.

Age breakdowns tell a similar story: older Australians are overwhelmingly more concerned than younger generations about the pace of technological change.

Maintaining confidence in science

The widespread goodwill for Australian science notwithstanding, this is a substantial problem for scientists trying to maintain the confidence of citizens and government. If perceptions place scientists as members of some kind of social and political elite, working to advance the cause of their fellow elites, public support will almost undoubtedly decay.

With the role of science in informing public debate and policymaking attracting attention in the lead up to the March for Science, it is heartening to note that science in Australia enjoys a comparatively privileged position.

However, focusing on the top-line rates of public support conceals subtleties lurking below the surface. Scientists in Australia  and elsewhere  will do well to heed to concerns of those who perceive they are missing out on scientific and technological progress.

Jill Sheppard has previously received funding from Australian governments and businesses for commissioned research.

Matthew Gray has received research funding from a wide range of Commonwealth, State and Territory government departments, community sector organisations and businesses.

Originally published in The Conversation.
The decision by the Australian Government to abolish the much-criticised 457 visa programme which allowed skilled overseas workers in the country for up to four years has been broadly welcomed.But while most agree that the programme made it 'too easy' for firms to employ people from overseas without having sufficient checks to make sure they could not find employees already in Australia, there are warnings that abolishing the 457 will not miraculously solve immigration issues.Some sectors have pointed out that it worked and allowed people from other countries with the necessary skills to work in areas where there was indeed a serious shortage of skills and concerns have been voiced about a tougher English language requirement.Jennifer Westacott, chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, described it as a chance for Australia to rebuild confidence in the skilled overseas worker visa system but warned that the replacement programme has to enable genuine gaps in the workforce to be filled and allow employers to look abroad when needed.And the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA), which represents the resources industry which has been a big user of the programme, said that getting rid of the 457 visa stream will not help solve the nation's pressing employment issues and economic challenges.'The capacity for businesses to hire temporary workers to fill genuine skill shortages has been an overall boon for Australia, allowing the economy to ride out volatile economic cycles including in the mining industry,' Westacott said.'Now that the Government has taken this decision, it is crucial that they work with employers to get the details right and ensure industry's ability to fill genuine skills shortages is enhanced, not degraded,' she added.Tara Diamond, acting AMMA chief executive, said that resource industry employers welcome any move to ensure the nation's skilled migration systems are fit for current economic circumstances but said that it must have the full confidence of the Australian public.'It should be recognised that the 457 visa programme has worked as intended. The system was built to be responsive to changes in our economy and fluctuating labour demand, and has delivered on this objective,' she pointed out.'But overhauling a responsible skilled immigration policy that has proven highly responsive to labour demand and supported nation building projects, is hardly the type of big picture policy thinking that will address Australia's pressing employment and economic challenges.The Government's attention would be better directed at tackling Australia's job killing workplace relations system which, unlike 457 visas, has proven to be a major barrier to competitiveness and employment growth,' she added.Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox believes that reform was inevitable as while the 457 visa system was a highly valued programme, misunderstandings of its use and exaggerations of its misuse led it to become a lightning rod for anti-migration sentiments.But he warned that changes to language testing would need to be monitored to ensure they do not adversely impact on access to skilled workers in the lower skilled categories. 'Many of our workplaces are multilingual and a working knowledge of English is sufficient in many cases to meet both operational and safety requirements,' he explained.Accounting firm KPMG pointed out that the number of 457 visas has been falling but there was no evidence that it was not working properly. 'This move does not align with Australia's stated commitment to increasing innovation and causes uncertainty for foreign companies considering investing or doing business here,' said KPMG immigration practice national leader Michael Wall.
More details of the replacement for Australia's 457 visa are emerging with companies who apply for temporary skilled workers set to pay more.The Government will also reduce the age limit for temporary work visas from 50 to 45 and fees for the new visa stream are also likely to go up.Immigration Minister Peter Dutton also indicated that a new provisional visa for foreign workers who aspire to become permanent residents in Australia is being considered. The provisional visa would be mandatory and provide people with restricted access to social security before eventually becoming full Australian citizens.The abolition of the 457 visa programme is one of the biggest shake ups in Australia for immigration for some time. It has been heavily criticised in recent years for making it too easy for employers to employ workers from overseas.Now it is being replaced in 2018 with a new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa programme with a short term and medium term stream. Short term visas will be issued for two years, while medium term visas will be issued only for more critical skills shortages and for up to four years.Both streams will include mandatory labour market testing, a new non-discriminatory workforce test, mandatory criminal history checks, a market salary rate assessment, two year work experience requirement and tighter English language requirements.The aim of the change is to make more use of skills in Australia and Dutton explained that the Government wants employers to invest in more training and this could be funded from an increased fee charged when employers do bring in temporary skilled foreign workers.The application fee for the short term two-year visa would be $1,150 and $2,400 for the four year medium term visa, although details of extra payments by businesses have still to be made clear.More details are expected in the coming months but according to Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox, who also chairs the ministerial advisory committee on skilled migration, said it is highly likely that employers will be charged more.'What we believe will occur is that there'll be an increased fee and a more streamlined fee for skilled migrants that will be paid for by their employers when they come into Australia,' he said.'That money needs to be used wisely to train Australians, particularly young Australians in jobs that are in need and the jobs of the future,' he added.The changes comes at a time when more than 200 jobs have been cut from the list of occupations that foreign workers can apply for under the temporary migration visa scheme.
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PHOENIX  Arizona may be on the verge of no longer being one of only two states in the country that has no restrictions on motorists using their cell phones.

But just barely.

Without debate, the House on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to legislation that would make it illegal to use a cell phone while driving. But the measure applies only to teens with a learner's permit or who are within the first six months of driving.

And SB 1080 even ties the hands of police, prohibiting them from citing drivers solely because they are seen texting or talking. They could be issued a ticket only if they had been pulled over for some other reason, like speeding.

But the minimal nature of the measure does not guarantee the bill will become law.

The legislation still requires a final roll-call vote before going to the governor. And foes already are lining up.

There are two big areas of opposition.

One goes to the contention it will turn Arizona into a nanny state, telling people what's best for them. Those arguments have proven successful in the past, even resulting in lawmakers voting in 1976 to repeal laws requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets.

Rep. Karen Fann, R-Prescott, who guided the measure through the Senate, said that argument holds no water.

The key, she said, is this law applies only to teens  and not even all of them at that. And Fann pointed out there already are restrictions on what these newest drivers can do, including how many other unrelated teens can be in the car with them and a prohibition against driving after midnight unless it is to or from work or school.

That, however, still leaves the separate concern that once Arizona imposes any limits on cell phone use  even a minimal one like this  it paves the way for even more comprehensive restrictions.

There is reason for that concern.

Earlier this year Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, introduced legislation to make it illegal for anyone, regardless of age, to send texts or messages while behind the wheel. And Sen. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, crafted a more comprehensive measure, covering not only texting and messaging but also forbidding making calls without a hands-free device.

Fann, however, said that's not her intent.

I certainly can't speak for any of my other colleagues, she told Capitol Media Services. But I certainly will give you my assurance that I do not intend on running any no-texting bills for statewide or adults.

And Sen. Bob Worsley, R-Mesa, who chairs the Senate Committee on Transportation and Technology, has said he won't consider anything more comprehensive than SB 1080 until there's some chance to see how this legislation works.

According to AAA, 46 states plus the District of Columbia ban text messaging by any motorists. But while that does not exist in Texas or Missouri, both do ban teens from using cell phones.

That leaves just Arizona and Montana with no restrictions.
Updated Xcent gets styling tweaks, more powerful diesel engine and additional features.

Hyundai has launched the refreshed Xcent in India. Prices for the 2017 Xcent compact sedan start at Rs 5.38 lakh for the base E petrol variant, going up to Rs 8.42 lakh for the top-spec diesel trim (ex-showroom, Delhi).

The Xcent gets an all-new nose with the new signature Hyundai grille that is both wider and taller than the pre-facelift version replete with chrome bits. The front bumper is also all new and merges well with the large grille. Higher varaints feature LED daytime running lamps along the edges of the fog lamp housings.

The 2017 Xcent looks more or less the same as the outgoing car when viewed in profile, the petrol variant gets a new alloy wheel design, while the diesel carries over the same ones as before. Moving on to the back, as reported by us long ago, the Xcent gets major changes with an all-new boot design and larger wraparound tail-lamps that now extend on the boot lid. The rear bumper also gets a new design with a wide plastic insert and large reflectors on each ends.

On the inside, the Xcent gets a 7-inch touchscreen system that also doubles as a reverse camera display. It gets voice recognition, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and MirrorLink, along with audio-video navigation. The seats get a new shade for the fabric as well.

Interestingly, mid-level models of the facelifted Xcent wont offer the smaller 5.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system offered in the Grand i10.

On the safety bit, the 2017 Xcent now comes with standard dual airbags. However, ABS is now standard only on the top two trims, the SX and SX(O), as opposed to it being standard on all trims on the pre-facelifted model.

Under the hood, the facelifted Xcent carries forward the 83hp, 1.2-litre petrol motor from the pre-facelifted model. The diesel variant, though, gets a new and more powerful 75hp, 1.2-litre unit which is also available on the recently refreshed Grand i10. A five-speed manual gearbox is standard with the petrol also offered with the option of a four-speed automatic unit. Hyundai claims fuel economy figures of 20.14kpl from the petrol motor when paired with a manual gearbox and 17.36kpl when paired with the automatic. The diesel is claimed to return 25.4kpl.

Key rivals to the Xcent include the Honda Amaze, the Volkswagen Ameo and theTata Zest. It will see stiff competition from the likes of the recently launched Tata Tigor and the soon-to-be-launched third-gen Swift Dzire.

Hyundai will continue to sell the pre-facelift Xcent, along with the updated model. The pre-facelifted car will be sold only to taxi and fleet operators.

Hyundai Xcent prices (ex-showroom, Delhi) Variant Petrol Diesel E Rs 5,38,381 Rs 6,28,281 E+ Rs 5,93,265 Rs 6,83,165 S Rs 6,29,254 Rs 7,19,154 S A/T Rs 7,09,916 --- SX Rs 6,73,765 Rs 7,63,667 SX(O) Rs 7,51,772 Rs 8,41,670

Read our driving impressions of the facelifted Hyundai Xcent here

Take a closer look at the facelifted Xcent in our image gallery
For the financial year, the bikemaker has plans to launch four new bikes in India the first of which is the Africa Twin.

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), which became the first-ever subsidiary of Honda to sell 5 million units in a single fiscal year, is bullish on growth in India, particularly in view of the emission norm upgrade by April 2020.

Speaking today in Mumbai, Minoru Kato, the newly appointed president and CEO of HMSI, said: The Indian market today is at the cusp of its biggest-ever paradigm shift. It is going to see substantial change in 3-4 years. BS VI norms will make India match the worlds most stringent quality standards. Hondas vision is to build exponentially over our solid foundation. Our new business direction is to be leading in India and the world.

BS VI holds a big opportunity for Honda. It will help our Indian operations become Hondas export hub of the world, said Kato.

To meet BS VI norms, HMSI will bring in advanced technology like PGM-FI (Programmed Fuel Injection), which is Hondas proprietary digital electronic fuel injection system employed for internal combustion engines. This system helps inject the specific amount of fuel per cylinder based on specific engine data. HMSI has set up a high-level BS VI task force which is cross-functional and sourced from different divisions like sales, engineering, R&D, purchase and quality. The focus of this task force is on strengthening quality and product planning with cost competitiveness.

With BS VI acting as a technology leveller to exports worldwide, HMSI is looking to substantially increase its exports. In FY2016-17, the company crossed the 300,000 unit mark, up 41 percent year on year.

To launch 4 new models in FY18, 6 million sales targeted

HMSI also revealed plans to launch four new models  two automatic scooters and two motorcycles  in FY2017-18. The first of these is the Africa Twin with DCT, trial assembly of which has begun in India.

Honda, which is the No. 2 two-wheeler player in India after Hero MotoCorp, sold a total of 4,725,067 units in the domestic market (+10.30%) and exported 283,163 units (+41.72%), thereby crossing the 5-million units mark for the first time in a fiscal. HMSI produced a little over 5 million units (5,044,518) across its four plants with an overall manufacturing capacity of 5.8 million units.

For FY2017-18, the company has targeted an all-time high of 6 million units. To facilitate this growth, the company will expand manufacturing capacity by 600,000 units at the fourth assembly line in its Karnataka plant by July 2017, taking cumulative capacity to 6.4 million units.
Photo of 2018 F-150 courtesy of Ford.

Landi Renzo USA will offer a dedicated compressed natural gas (CNG) version of Ford's 2018 F-150 pickup, including multiple CNG tank configurations, the Torrance, Calif. vehicle modifier announced.

The truck will use the 5.0L V-8 engine that powers the F-150 SuperCrew cab with the long box. The engine offers a gaseous prep package.

Landi Renzo will offer several options for fleet operators, including the various VNG tank configurations.

The modifier has been working to expand its use of Ford's ship-through logistics chain that helps expedite delivery of vehicles to fleet customers.

Landi Renzo will start taking orders for the 2018 CNG F-150 in May. Other products 2018 model year products will include the F-250/350, F-450/550, F-650/750, F-53/59, and E-450, according to the company.
Venezuelan government authorities took control of General Motors Valencia plant on April 19, seizing company vehicles and other assets. GM will cease operations in the country, effective immediately, the company announced.

The seizure was granted and enforced in total disregard of [General Motors Venezolanas] right to due process, causing irreparable damage to the company, its 2,678 workers, its 79 dealers (the country's largest service network with more than 3,900 workers), and to its suppliers (representing more than 55% of the auto parts industry in Venezuela), according to a company statement.

As a result, GM will lay off over 2,600 workers, but will be paying its employees separation benefits.

GMV strongly rejects the arbitrary measures taken by the authorities and will vigorously take all legal actions, within and outside of Venezuela, to defend its rights, according to the statement.

According to reporting from CNN, GMs Venezuelan plant was no longer producing cars. In 2015, the plant ceased production and since then has been only selling spare parts.

Going forward, GM will leverage its network of dealers to provide aftermarket service and parts for its customers, the company said.
The F1 team of McLaren has met a few difficulties on the track. Their car suffered heavy damage, which put it out of the practice day. The reason for it was a malfunction in the Honda produced engine. Here are the facts and consequence surrounding the situation.



On the 18th of April, in Bahrain, during a testing program, the McLaren F1 team had to bring their car in the garage, after just two finished laps. The reason for this decision was a malfunction in the engine, which made the vehicle inoperable. Motor Sport reported that the reason for the halt of testing was a water leak in the cars Energy Recovery System. This has pushed the engineers into a corner and forced them to commence an engine change on the car, making it functional for the coming days. This came as a big surprise to the McLaren team, as Fernando Alonso had managed to successfully complete a 100km run, without meeting any problems, just the day before.



Hondas reaction was not delayed. Auto Sport reported that the Japanese automobile manufacturer faced the problem with utmost seriousness. They have asked for the power unit to be sent back to them for further testing. Honda representatives have also established a connection with the Sakura manufacture facility in Japan, to make further clarification on the issue more easily obtainable. In a recap, Alonso got to drive the car for a day and was rather pleased with it, which is the most important part of this sport.

As far as the McLaren  Honda relationship goes, Boullier has shared that there will be no strain put on their relationship. He said that in any relationship it was normal to have ups and downs and the F1 scene and business relations are not much different. McLarens bolide is expected to run as scheduled.




An online course that will satisfy the aeromedical education requirements of the BasicMed regulations should be approved sometime next week, FAA representatives told AVweb Thursday. BasicMed regulations will become effective on May 1, but one requirement to use BasicMed in lieu of a Third Class Medical is that pilots must take an approved online course about aeromedical risks. AOPA reported in early January that the FAA had approved the course produced by AOPAs Air Safety Institute, even before publication of the final BasicMed rules, but that course has still not been made available to the flying public.

Pilots are also still waiting for publication of the BasicMed Comprehensive Medical Examination Checklist (CMEC)the checklist doctors are required to review with patients as part of a qualifying BasicMed checkup. The FAA reports that they are waiting for approval on a draft CMEC from the Presidents Office of Management and Budget, which they expect no later than May 1. AVweb will alert readers when the FAA releases the BasicMed aeromedical course and CMEC to the public.
The four main candidates in Frances tight presidential race have lavished praise on the influential French-Armenian community and called for closer ties with Armenia ahead of Sundays elections.

Two of them, the conservative former Prime Minister Francois Fillon and far-right leader Marine Le Pen, have also made pro-Armenian statements on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in comments to the Nouvelles dArmenie magazine.

The French-Armenian publication asked Fillon, Le Pen, centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon the same questions and posted their written answers on its website (Armenews.com) this week.

France and Armenia share a great friendship which I would like to reinforce further, said Macron, the election frontrunner. This privileged relationship should be specifically strengthened by greater French investments in the Armenian economy, he added.

Macron spoke of his admiration for an estimated 500,000 French people of Armenian descent, most of them descendants of survivors of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. Here Armenian culture is an integral part of French and European culture, he said. There [in Armenia,] on the confines of the West and the East, it is an outpost.

Le Pen, who narrowly trails Macron in opinion polls, also paid tribute to the French Armenians, saying that they have contributed a lot to our nation. They are perfect examples of what I often say: French nationality is inherited or deserved, said the candidate campaigning on a tough anti-immigration platform.

Speaking about relations with Armenia, Le Pen said France must restore its historical role as a protector of the Christians of the East. On the unresolved Karabakh conflict, she said: I believe it would be desirable for Azerbaijan and Armenia to reach an agreement allowing Nagorno-Karabakh to be reunified with Armenia.

Fillon similarly declared that Karabakh was arbitrarily detached from Armenia by Joseph Stalin in 1921. He also blamed Azerbaijan for the April 2016 outbreak of the worst fighting in Karabakh in over two decades.

Faced with international indifference, Azerbaijan attempted to retake by force Nagorno-Karabakh, said the center-right candidate who served as Frances prime minister from 2007-2012. This deadly offensive ended with a shaky ceasefire.

The links between France and Armenia have always been strong  Franco-Armenian friendship has long and beautiful days ahead, Fillon went on.

Melenchons spokeswoman, Charlotte Girard, also voiced support for privileged ties with Armenia, citing the South Caucasus states geostrategic importance and the existence of the French-Armenian community.

Both Girard and Macron took more cautious positions on the Karabakh dispute. The latter said that France should continue seeking a peaceful settlement based on the principles of territorial integrity of states and peoples right to self-determination.

France has long maintained a warm rapport with Armenia. Its outgoing President Francois Hollande and his predecessors, Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac, have paid high-profile official visits to Yerevan. The Armenian government will underline these close ties when it hosts next year a summit of La Francophonie, a grouping of over 70 mainly French-speaking nations.

France also officially recognized the Armenian genocide with a special law enacted in 2001. All four presidential hopefuls referred to the 1915 slaughter of some 1.5 million Armenians as a proven fact that should be recognized by the entire international community. Fillon criticized Turkey for refusing to acknowledge the genocide, while Macron signaled support for further efforts to criminalize its public denials in France.
"God, I hate art," my late friend The Doctor used to say.

The man had his reasons, and he was only half kidding. The Doctor's first wife had been an artist, and an argumentative one at that. As my friend was also inclined to be rather firm in his opinions, marital debate had a tendency to become spirited.

Once a woman had played the art card, he'd complain, a man absolutely couldn't win. To persevere rendered him a cad, a bully, and an oaf of deficient sensibility. Particularly when she'd started the fight to begin with.

I was reminded of The Doctor during the recent absurd public controversy over the "Charging Bull" vs. "Fearless Girl" in the New York financial district. Absurd because as in virtually all disputes about public art, inherently subjective differences of opinion led many combatants to become dogmatic and contemptuous toward persons holding different views.

"What mighty contests," Alexander Pope wrote, "rise from trivial things."

The whole thing started last month of the eve of International Women's Day, when a statue of a little girl appeared in the New York financial district, boldly confronting a six-ton bronze bull long seen as a global symbol of Wall Street. Hands on her hips, skirt blowing in the wind, the child seems to be staring the bull down -- exactly as her creator, sculptor Kristen Visbal, intended.

Commissioned as an advertising gimmick by State Street Global Advisors, the Boston-based investment giant, and its New York advertising firm, the "Fearless Girl" statue supposedly symbolizes "girl power."

A plaque at the child's feet reads: "Know the power of women in leadership. SHE makes a difference."

"What this girl represents is the present, but also the future," a State Street representative told the New York Times. "She's not angry at the bull -- she's confident, she knows what she's capable of, and she's wanting the bull to take note."

Yeah, well at the expense of being a literal-minded bumpkin personally acquainted with a number of actual bulls, let me say this: Bulls do not take note of little girls, big girls nor even Donald Trump. While cattle can be outwitted by people who understand their behavior, you absolutely can't stare them down or outrun them.

We used to own a Simmental bull named Bernie that my wife -- aptly deemed a "bold child" by nuns at "Fearless Girl's" approximate age -- would feed apple slices out of her hand (over the fence only). He was a calm, easygoing fellow with big horns, and weighed around 2,300 pounds. One afternoon when Bernie thought I was being too slow bringing his feed bucket, he slipped up behind me, lifted me effortlessly off the ground, carried me about six feet to the trough and carefully set me down. I never turned my back on the big rascal again.

It follows that in the artistic scenario as depicted, the child is capable of nothing. What "Fearless Girl" symbolizes to me is an act of sheer folly. Somebody needs to sculpt an electrified barb-wire fence before the kid gets trampled. Nothing against women, even Wall Street women, but the deep message of female empowerment is lost on me.

Your mileage may differ.

Of course, bronze bulls can't move at all. Nor is an artist necessarily an unerring guide to his own work. Even so I can sympathize somewhat with Arturo Di Modica, the Italian sculptor who says that the intended meaning of his (to me quite striking) bull statue -- "freedom, peace, strength, power and love" has been irrevocably lost by what he sees as an act of aesthetic vandalism. Alleging copyright infringement, he has asked the city of New York to move the smaller statue somewhere away from his work.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has instead extended its city permit for a year, tweeting somewhat churlishly that: "Men who don't like women taking up space are exactly why we need the Fearless Girl."

I'm guessing de Blasio, a canny politician, may have glanced at the comment lines in local newspapers, where the debate quickly degenerated into what New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser aptly described as "a kind of feminist Rorschach test."

Scores of commenters assailed the sculptor for the intolerable offense of being a man, and an old man at that. One "Vannessa" wrote that: "Di Modica -- like so many men of a certain age -- wants the girl to sit down and shut up. Not anymore, dude. Not anymore."

Another went all Bernie Sanders on the poor guy: "Whatever Mr. Di Modica meant the Bull to mean 30 years ago, today it stands a symbol of the corruption, greed and implacable immensity of a destructive financial sector ... The Bull now represents something that is fundamentally evil. The Girl is a response to that, a necessary response and counter."

Actually, it's more on the order of a successful publicity stunt: a three-dimensional cartoon.
Armenia will undergo sweeping reforms that will improve the lives of its people in the coming years, President Serzh Sarkisian said on Thursday.

The next few years will be decisive along that path, he said, addressing a conference organized by the Armenian ministries of defense and education.

The changes will be radical and they will be substantial and tangible for every citizen of the Republic of Armenia, he added.

Sarkisian gave similar promises late last year. His latest reform pledge comes one year before the end of his second and final presidential term. The president indicated last month that he does not plan to leave the political arena in April 2018.

Immediately after the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) won parliamentary elections held on April 2, Prime Minister Karen Karapetian declared that his government has received a popular mandate for change. I promise that we will spare no effort to create a NEW ARMENIA so that every citizen of our country feels better than they did before, he said in a statement.

Karapetian unveiled an ambitious reform agenda shortly after being appointed as prime minister in September. Opposition leaders dismissed it as a publicity stunt aimed at facilitating the HHKs election victory.

Sarkisian already promised a new beginning for changes when he took office nine years ago. Critics say that he has failed to deliver on that. They point to official statistics indicating that poverty in Armenia is still higher than it was before a severe recession in 2009 resulting from a global financial crisis.

Tatul Hakobian, a veteran political commentator, cited other official data which suggests that over 300,000 Armenians have left the country since 2009. When people emigrate it means that life is not good, he said.

Thursdays conference focused on the concept of nation-army which Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian put forward the day after his appointment in early October. He said the Armenian military should become a locomotive of our state and economy and stop being a heavy burden on state finances.

Sargsian, who previously served as chief of the presidential staff, floated more such ideas in his speech at the high-profile gathering. In particular, he suggested military service deferments for those male students of state universities who would agree to undergo military training during their studies and then serve as junior officers in the armed forces for three years.

The 41-year-old minister also proposed a special arrangement for conscripts volunteering to serve in frontline army units. They would be entitled to one week of paid leave every month and would receive 5 million drams ($10,300) at the end of their three-year military service. They would be allowed to use that money only for payment of tuition fees, state-subsidized housing or agricultural activity.
20 April 2017 10:33 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

The average monthly wage in January-February 2017 increased by 5.9 percent to 499.9 manats compared to the same period in 2016.

According to the State Statistics Committee, the average monthly wage amounted to 3007.1 manats in oil sector, 440.6 manats in non-oil sector, while 378.9 manats was paid to state employees and 671.5 manats to employees of private enterprises on a monthly basis.

From 2003 to 2017 the minimum salary increased by 11.7 times. By a decree of President Ilham Aliyev, the minimum salary was increased up to 116 manats from January 2017.

Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Population Salim Muslumov stated that the Ministrys online labour contracts notification system allows to suggest that overall salaries are expected to grow by 40.3 million manats.

According to the World Banks rating methodology, Azerbaijan is considered a country with an upper middle income.

To improve life and increase job opportunities the government has launched several programs. President Ilham Aliyev has in particular urged to enlarge the self-employment program in Azerbaijan.

On 23 September 2016, Simplified support to family business (ABAD) under the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations operating under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (ASAN) was created in order to support the active participation of citizens in the social and economic development of Azerbaijan, the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, increase of employment of the population.

In this regard, it is planned to create the Agency of Small and Medium Enterprises and the Guarantee Credit Fund in 2017-2018. Similar agencies already operate in Europe, the UK, the USA, China, Singapore and other countries, stimulating the development of small and medium-sized businesses.

To assist the self-employment program the Presidential Reserve Fund allocated 6 million manats ($3.525 million) to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Azerbaijan.

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20 April 2017 11:50 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted a high-level delegation from Azerbaijan, which was led by Deputy Minister of Economy Sahil Babayev, at its head office on April 19.

The visiting delegation, which included 28 representatives from the countrys public and private sectors, was received by Majid Al Shamsi, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Chamber, and Mohammed Al Shehhi, Undersecretary for Economic Affairs for the UAE Ministry of Economy.

Delegates met with Al Shamsi, Al Shehhi, and a group of UAE-based businessmen representing some of the countrys leading food and retail companies to discuss the potential to expand trade ties and increase bilateral investment.

Al Shamsi highlighted the unique trade relationship between Azerbaijan and the UAE, which has strengthened in recent years supported by high-level visits from both sides.

He explained that Dubai-Azerbaijan non-oil trade has grown considerably following the opening of Dubai Chambers first representative office in Baku in 2012, and revealed that the number of Azerbaijani companies registered with the Chamber has recently exceeded 230.

Dubai Chambers Vice Chairman noted that non-oil trade between Dubai and Azerbaijan amounted to AED 808 million ($220 million) last year, adding that the emirate has become a major re-export hub and a logical base for traders from Central Asia to reach major consumer markets in the Middle East and Africa.

Al Shehhi highlighted the fact that economic cooperation, trade and investment have contributed greatly to strengthening relations between the UAE and Azerbaijan. He revealed that non-oil bilateral trade exceeded $600 million in 2015 including free zones, and said that there is still plenty of scope to further develop relations and align economic cooperation with the ambitions of both countries.

For his part, Babayev thanked the UAE Ministry of Economy and Dubai Chamber for their support, and said that Azerbaijans government remains committed to exploring all existing possibilities to increase bilateral trade and promote mutual cooperation.

Babayev revealed that Azerbaijan investments in the UAE have been valued at $300 million, while the number of UAE companies operating in Azerbaijan has reached 255.

He stated that a lot of potential exists to expand the scope of investments, adding that Azerbaijans Ministry of Economy is evaluating prospects for expanding linkages in key sectors.

We are ready to cooperate with the UAE and create new joint ventures in the areas of industry, logistics, and transport, while we also hope to attract UAE businesses that want to set up in Azerbaijan, said Babayev.

The deputy minister explained that Azerbaijan is an ideal market for foreign investors and businesses as the country enjoys political and economic stability, while it offers plenty of attractive incentives, such as cheap labor costs, a skilled labor force, and easy access to key surrounding markets including Georgia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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20 April 2017 12:20 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Azerbaijans capital, Baku, will host the fifth Azerbaijan-Turkey business forum, the Azerbaijan Export and Investments Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) reported on April 20.

According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, the countrys trade turnover with Turkey reached almost $553 million in 1Q2017, some $308.7 million of which accounted for export to Turkey.

Trade turnover between the two countries increased by more than twofold during the year. Meanwhile, during the period, export to Turkey rose by 5.2 times.

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20 April 2017 13:25 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

The establishment of a private credit bureau will help improve Azerbaijan's position in the World Bank's Doing Business report.

Asim Zulfugarov, the deputy executive director of the Financial Market Supervisory Body announced about this at an event dedicated to establishment of the countrys first Private Credit Bureau in Baku on April 19.

Zulfugarov said the creation of private credit bureau will allow increase the coverage of information on borrowers.

"The Centralized Credit Register of Azerbaijan [operating since 2005] received information only about 36 percent of the adult population," Zulfugarov said.

Formation of credit histories of borrowers in Azerbaijan began in 2005 after the establishment of the Centralized Credit Registry Service (CCR). The register covers the full range of information on banks, non-bank credit institutions, borrowers, owners of large participation packages in the capital of borrowers, loans and pledges for them.

The founders of the first Private Credit Bureau include 21 organizations, among them 19 banks, one insurance company and one non-bank credit organization. Together with them, the list of founders includes a technical partner - Creditinfo, which owns 51 percent of the shares of the bureau.

CEO of CreditInfo Group Reynir Gretarsson, addressing the event, said that Elchin Ahmadov, former advisor to the chairman of the board at the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), was appointed as executive director of the company Creditinfo Azerbaijan, which will become a manager of the first Private Credit Bureau.

Gretarsson said that in total, the Board of Directors of the company includes nine people.

He said the credit bureau will receive information not only from banks but also insurance and leasing companies, mobile operators and others.

The private credit bureau will help credit institutions reduce their costs, better assess risks and increase the availability of credit products [for the population], he added.

Elchin Ahmadov, who talked to reporters on the sidelines of the event, said that the first Private Credit Bureau in Azerbaijan will switch to a full-fledged mode of operation during 2017.

"It is too early to talk about specific deadlines, but the market is ready for this kind of information, and the question remains to increase the information [about borrowers] and to familiarize the financial sector with the broader range of services that the bureau will provide," Ahmadov said.

Anyone, once a year will be able to obtain information about him/her collected in the credit bureau through ASAN service, according to Ahmadov.



He also noted that the private credit bureau is interested in expanding the number of participants. "We believe that the membership of the credit bureau will expand, and our task is to involve as many credit organizations as possible in this process," the executive director said.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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20 April 2017 14:46 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijan and Russia are going to boost the development of ICT industry in both countries.

The two strategic partners are preparing the legal basis for the establishment of a joint venture fund to finance promising projects in the field of information technology.

Executive Director of the State Fund for Development of Information Technologies under Azerbaijans Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Elchin Zeynalov announced about this in an interview with Trend on April 19.

He noted that the establishment of the joint venture fund will provide additional opportunities for participation of startups in the markets of the two countries.

We have discussed the joint fund project with a Russian venture company and currently are preparing the legal framework for its formation. We are talking about the possibility for local Azerbaijani companies to enter the Russian market, and for Russian companies to enter the Azerbaijani market, Zeynalov said.

He added that it will be possible to consolidate opportunities of both funds and the development of the ICT industry in both countries.

For legal regulation of this sphere, the State Fund for Development of Information Technologies will attract professionals, who will ensure that the laws of both Azerbaijan and Russia would fully contribute to the development of IT projects.

The ICT is considered to be one of the crucial spheres for the further development of the economy and an integral part of the economic and political reforms which are currently implemented in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan, which is a regional leader in the ICT sector, intends to expand its international cooperation to further develop the sector. The income obtained in the sector in Azerbaijan is projected to hit $9 billion by 2020.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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20 April 2017 16:35 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

As many as 18 trucks carrying products of Azerbaijani companies have been hijacked in Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Vinnytsia and other provinces of Ukraine, including Kiev.

The head of Sufaris-Transport company carrying out the transportation of one of the trucks, Subhan Sariyev, said that a truck carrying butter of Azerbaijani-investment Dapna LTD disappeared in Poltava.

Sariyev noted that the truck driver, Olexandr Simishko, was found and handed over to the police.

The drivers testimony revealed interesting facts. He said there was malfunction in the truck, when it departed. As the owner of the vehicle Sergey Mikhayluk was abroad, he called supervisor Kiril, who told him to give the truck to him and wait. Then there was no news from Kiril, and the car was gone.

Dmitry Mikhaylus, responsible for a truck carrying raw material for canning to an Azerbaijani company, said that one of their trucks was hijacked in Khmelnitsky and another in Vinnytsia province. It is assumed that the cargo disappeared through the fault of the Ukrainians, who own the cars, he suggested.

The trucks belonged to Azerbaijani companies such as Azrsun Holding, Veysloglu, Dapna LTD. Each cargo was worth approximately $200,000-$300,000.

Head of the Ukrainian-Azerbaijani inter-parliamentary working group Maxim Kuryachiy noted that on the basis of the apply, which was made by the chairman of the United Diaspora of Azerbaijanis of Ukraine (ODUU) Hikmet Javadov, he sent to the countrys law enforcement agencies an official request.

When my request will be evaluated and I will raise this issue at the upcoming plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada next week. Such actions against businessmen and companies belonging to a country that has been our friend for many years seriously concern us. I believe that the Verkhovna Rada will take this issue under serious consideration and take the necessary measures, he said.

Azerbaijan and Ukraine relations took through centuries and both countries used to be the part of Russian Empire and then Soviet Union.

Currently, over 125,000 Azerbaijanis reside in Ukraine.

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20 April 2017 16:22 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Activity of the currency exchange offices outside banks maybe resumed in Azerbaijan, as the Parliament will consider the corresponding amendments to the "Law on Currency Regulation".

Since January 2016, the currency exchange offices can operate only in banks and post offices. If amendments are adopted, the currency exchange points will be opened not only by residents of Azerbaijan, but also by foreign companies in their branches in the country.

Tahir Mirkishili, a member of the Parliamentary Committee for Economic Policy, Industry and Business said that the reason for resuming the activity of the currency exchange offices is linked with the restoration of macroeconomic stability in the country.

Earlier some exchange points were engaged in illegal activities, speculations. Such cases negatively affected the macroeconomic stability in the country. However, currently, the country is restoring its economic stability, he told Qafqazinfo.

Mirkishili named the holding of high0-level international eveners in the country as another reason for this.

Azerbaijan expects big tourists flow. There is a need to create conditions so they can quickly change their currency, he said.

Zakir Nuriyev, Chairman of Association of Azerbaijani Banks said that the resumption of the work of currency exchange points will contribute to the development of tourism and financial markets in Azerbaijan.

"Azerbaijan implements special programs for the development of tourism and financial markets. For their successful implementation, it is necessary to create all necessary infrastructures and its effective work. From this point of view, the new bill can contribute to it ," Nuriyev said.

"Those who wish to open currency exchange points will have to implement special requirements for the formation of capital. They will also need to place a deposit in the bank," the chairman of the association added.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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20 April 2017 17:38 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

A film will be shot about the life and bravery of Azerbaijans national hero Mubariz Ibrahimov.

Mubariz Ibrahimov, 22, perished after killing four Armenian soldiers and wounding four others in a clash in June 2010 on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces. He was posthumously declared a National Hero by President Ilham Aliyev.

Press-Secretary of "Ist Film" Babek Hasanzade, addressing a press-conference devoted to the film, said that the teaser, which has earlier been presented in social networks, has aroused great interest not only in Azerbaijan but also in Turkey.

Writer Rashad Suleymanoglu, in turn, noted that the filming process was discussed with representatives of the Azerbaijani Culture and Tourism Ministry and the Ministry of Defense.

The idea of the film was very warmly received, and representatives of the ministries promised to assist the crew when working on the movie.

The authors of the script of the film are Ali Doganchay (Turkey) and Rashad Suleymanoglu (Azerbaijan). However, the film's cast and director have not been named.

"Six directors, among them both Azerbaijani and Turkish filmmakers are going to participate in the filming process. The foreign director will be invited for the filming of action scenes. The full list of the crew will be announced later," said Hasanzade.

The teaser was shot with participation of professional stuntmen from Turkmenistan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Romania and Azerbaijan.

"We'll try to demonstrate the real events. So maybe some shootings will take place in the house of Mubariz or we will select a location as close as possible to reality," said Hassanzadeh.

"In 2015, we had talks with relatives of Mubariz, but we plan again to meet them. The film's scenario is not fully ready, and therefore in the future we plan more meetings with Mubariz`s family members. We think to work closely with the relatives of the national hero to know more details about the life, said Suleymanoglu.

All rights of the movie belong to the Turkish film company "Ist Film".

"This will be the first film of the company, but despite this, "Ist Film" took part in the filming of action scenes of the most popular Turkish TV series and movies, as well as Hollywood and Bollywood films," said Company representative Maksim Huseynov

The film "Mubariz" will be presented in 2018. The film will be demonstrated in Turkic-speaking countries and European countries.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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20 April 2017 17:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

The Organizing Committee of the Second Booktrailer Festival has concluded the voting for the best work.

The founder and director of the festival, Ruslan Sabirli, said that the Organizing Committee summarizes the assessment of each jury member.

Booktrailers are short videos that promote a book or an author, providing a good illustration of the book content.

Director of the film Studio "Azerbaijanfilm", honored art worker Mushfiq Hatamov, poet, Secretary for creative affairs at Azerbaijan's Union of Writers Ilgar Fahmi, film director, screenwriter, the founder of the production center Cinema Evi Elchin Musaoglu, film critic, writer, film maker Ayaz Salayev, cameraman, honored artist Kanan Mamedov will choose the winner of the festival, Trend Life reported.

The final will be held at the International Mugham Center on April 21. The event will start at 19:00.

The festival is timed to the World Book Day or World Book and Copyright Day, held annually on April 23.

The first place will get a prize in the amount of 1000 manats ($ 558), while the winners of the second and third places 800 manats ($446) and 500 manats ($279), respectively.

The festival, which takes place under the slogan "Promote a book, get promoted with a book!" is organized by actor Ruslan Sabirli with support of Azerbaijan's Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

For all questions, please contact: [email protected].

Media partners of the event are Trend.az, Day.az, Milli.az, Azernews.az

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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20 April 2017 15:08 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Armenia is trying to justify its groundless territorial claims in every possible way, including misappropriation of tangible and intangible values of Azerbaijan and other nations, said Kamran Imanov.

The Chairman of Azerbaijans Copyright Agency, talking to reporters on April 20, reminded that the aggressor Armenia, ignoring the decisions taken by relevant international structures, does not want to liberate the occupied territories and tries to maintain the status quo.

Decisions taken by international structures in support of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan have no effect on Armenia, said Imanov.

As a result, our tangible and intangible heritage is being misappropriated. The Armenian thieving always has existed and will exist. It is due to the fact that the occupier-country wants to justify its claims to the occupied territories, and is engaged in misappropriation of tangible and intangible heritage of both Azerbaijan and other nations," Imanov noted.

Since the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and occupation of Azerbaijani territories, Armenian aggressors destroyed 1,200 historical and architectural monuments, looted 27 museums, over 100,000 items were exported to Armenia. In addition, the Armenian occupiers destroyed 152 religious monuments and 62 mosques, 4.6 million books in 927 libraries, including the Holy Quran and rare Islamic manuscripts.

The aggressor country also destroyed 4.6 million copies of books and valuable manuscripts in 927 libraries in the occupied Azerbaijani territories as part of the purposeful policy to annihilate neighboring the history and culture of Azerbaijan.

Imanov further informed that Baku will host another seminar on April 26 devoted to the Armenian plagiarism and falsification, and new data from new sources will be released there.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

The damage caused by Armenia during the years of occupation of Azerbaijani lands exceeds about $819 billion, according to the latest calculations showed in the report.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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20 April 2017 14:53 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The year 2016 showed both the international community and OSCE Minsk Group mediators that a status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is dangerous for the peace and development of the region.

Each single exchange of fire, each damage and each human life claimed by the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been proving how costly and dangerous the conflict is.

One of the factors complicating the situation regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the presence of externally imposed obstacles for Bakus effective activity in this direction, said Azerbaijans top official.

Deputy Head of Azerbaijani presidential administration, chief of the administration's foreign relations department Novruz Mammadov made the remark in his article published in Azerbaijan newspaper.

A part of Azerbaijans territories is occupied by Armenia, and the issues of the process of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and ensuring of human rights should be considered in interrelation in Azerbaijans foreign policy, Mammadov stated.

He noted that applying of international norms becomes an integral part of such a major task as ensuring the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

On one hand, Azerbaijan is required to ensure the basic rights and freedoms of its population, and on the other hand, obstacles are imposed for the countrys attempts to create favorable international environment for this, the article said.

Mammadov noted that since Azerbaijan gained independence, the country has always witnessed creation of artificial problems.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a ceasefire agreement in 1994 but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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20 April 2017 17:14 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Recent scandalous statements by two presidential candidates, competing for the top position in France, over the long-standing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan raised concerns in the Azerbaijani society, thus undermining the future competency of Paris to mediate talks.

France, which is acting as a co-chairing country at the OSCE Minsk Group entrusted to mediate talks over finding solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, has numerously stated its official position on the problem. Paris recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and peaceful resolution of the conflict, that Armenia broke out laying down territorial claims to the neighboring country.

French Senator Nathalie Goulet calls on not to trust politicians when they are campaigning.

My advice, never trust politicians when they are campaigning in France, she said.

Goulet was commenting on the scandalous interviews of French presidential candidates Francois Fillon and Marine Le Pen in which they spoke against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan

"French politicians, speculating with the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, want to attract French voters of Armenian origin," Goulet, who is vice-chair of the French Senates Foreign Affairs Committee Nathalie Goulet, told Trend on April 20.

She noted that the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is unknown in France, where the population has big problems with employment, economy and safety.

Goulet added that there is no need to take seriously some statements of the presidential candidates.

Wait for the next president and trust your friends in France, who support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, she said.

The first round of the 2017 French presidential election is set to be held on April 23, 2017.

Leading analyst of the Agency for Political and Economic Communications (APEC) Mikhail Neyzhmakov has also noted that the presidential candidates began to make risky statements on the eve of the first round of elections, thus trying to attract more voters on their side.

For more than two decades Armenia and Azerbaijan are in a state of war following Yerevans aggression, ethnic cleansing policy and illegal territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia keeps under control over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions in a brutal war in the early 1990s.

Despite a fragile ceasefire agreement signed in 1994, Armenia keeps violating armistice with Azerbaijan.

Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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20 April 2017 18:20 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

A number of existing conflicts, including Nagorno-Karabakh, currently pose a threat to the security not only in the South Caucasus, but in the whole European Union, Georgian Premier Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said on April 20.

He made the remark at the 4th South Caucasus Security Forum taking place in Tbilisi.

The international community should pay a special attention to these issues and the conflicts should be resolved in the nearest time, stressed Kvirikashvili.

Head of the Foreign Policy Analysis Department at the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Azerbaijan Javid Valiyev, who also attended the conference, provided extensive information about conflicts in the South Caucasus, particularly about the Karabakh conflict.

He brought to the attention of the audience the position of Baku on this issue.

Valiyev noted that events of April 2016 on the line of contact between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops once again showed that Azerbaijan is able to liberate its territory from the occupation in a short time.

However, Baku is a supporter of peace and therefore advocates the settlement of the conflict through peaceful negotiations, he said.

For more than two decades Armenia and Azerbaijan are in a state of war following Yerevans aggression, ethnic cleansing policy and illegal territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia keeps under control over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions in a brutal war in the early 1990s.

Despite a fragile ceasefire agreement signed in 1994, Armenia keeps violating armistice with Azerbaijan.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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20 April 2017 11:37 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

The World Bank (WB) concluded two contracts totaling $4.6 million as part of the IDP Living Standards and Livelihoods Project in Azerbaijan.

The first contract worth $2.1 million was concluded with the Ganja Regional Economic Consulting Center and the TAMAS Regional Development Public Union, the WB Baku office told Trend.

The contract envisages consulting work on the implementation of the youth support program. The contract is valid for three years.

The second contract worth $2.5 million was signed with the Azerbaijan Gender Information Center NGO, ASR Consulting and Research Group LCC and the Azerbaijan Community Development Research, Training and Resource Center.

The contract envisages rendering consulting services for the implementation of the program to increase the income of internally displaced people.

This is the third IDP Living standards and Livelihoods Project implemented by the WB in Azerbaijan.

The project was approved by the WB Board of Directors in October 2011. The main projects cost was $78.53 million, including $28.53 million allocated by the Azerbaijani government. In total, the WB allocated $153.2 million since 2001 and helped to improve living conditions and to increase income of more than 500,000 IDPs in Azerbaijan.

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20 April 2017 10:48 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Maltese President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca has hailed Azerbaijans model of tolerance and multiculturalism as she received Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on April 19.

Recalling her visit to Azerbaijan to attend the UN Alliance of Civilizations 7th Global Forum in May 2016, President Preca noted that holding such events is a clear manifestation of contributions made by Azerbaijan to promotion of interfaith and civilization dialogue, Azertac reported.

She emphasized that Azerbaijans model of tolerance and multiculturalism is an excellent example to the entire world and noted the importance of the 4th World Intercultural Dialogue Forum to be held in Baku in May.

The President praised relations between Azerbaijan and Malta, and mentioned the importance of defining new areas of cooperation. She particularly underlined promotion of cooperation in the field of tourism, saying this will strengthen people-to-people contacts.

She also expressed Maltas support for Azerbaijan-European Union relations, and stressed that it is critically important in terms of regional stability.

Mammadyarov, in turn, mentioned the role of Malta both in bilateral cooperation and advancement of relations with the European Union during Maltese Presidency. He talked about partnership Agreement between Azerbaijan and the European Union.

Mammadyarov highlighted the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He stressed that the conflict must be solved based on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan within the internationally recognized borders.

The FM said immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the armed forces of Armenia from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan must be ensured as demanded by the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.

During his Malta visit, Mammadyarov previously met with his Maltese counterpart George Vella and Joseph Muscat, Prime Minister of Malta.

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20 April 2017 11:03 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The Azerbaijani Army continues large-scale military exercises that started on April 16.

During the next stage of the exercises, the troops fulfilled the tasks on movement from the areas of location to the line of deployment, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported on April 20.

Artillery, air defense assets, aviation and other forces carried out the tasks according to the terms of the exercises.

A distinctive feature of the actions in these exercises was the organization and conduct of movement of troops in the hours of darkness, which requires additional steps for blackout. In order to accurately and timely fulfill the assigned tasks, the efforts were also focused on the commandant and engineering services as well as on comprehensive provision of troops.

During the exercise, Defense Minister, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov heard the reports of commanders of branch of arms, commanders of formations and relevant officers in charge, on the dynamically changing situation and previously made decisions.

He gave instructions to improve the effectiveness of interoperability and command and control of the troops.

The Ministrys leadership checked the practical actions of military units on the terrain for the purposes that troops could properly understand and carry out the tasks in situation escalated by the tactical introductory.

The most of the focus was on new methods of tactical actions using the new weapons and military equipment recently passed into service.

The exercises are held to inspect combat readiness of troops in line with the plan approved by Azerbaijans President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev.

About 30,000 servicemen are participating in the drills that will continue until April 21. Also, more than 250 tanks and armored vehicles, up to 200 missiles and artillery systems, multiple launch rocket systems and mortars, and 25 combat aircraft are involved in the drills.

The skills and combat readiness of the Azerbaijani Army are growing year by year, as the countrys Armed Forces regularly conduct military exercises. The Azerbaijani Army is supplied with modern weapons and technical equipment for maintaining a high level of combat capability.

The army building process is of particular importance for Azerbaijan, as twenty percent of the country's territory is under Armenian occupation and the country is in a state of war with Armenia.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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20 April 2017 17:07 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The Azerbaijani Army carried out live-fire exercises within the large-scale military drills launched on April 16.

At the next stage that took plane on April 20, the artillery, air defense assets, aviation, as well as other forces and formations fulfilled combat-training tasks with using weapons and military equipment.

Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported that the Army carried out effective use of troops and control systems with observance of the principles of modern combined arms operation in difficult relief conditions and taking into account the supposed action of the imaginary enemy.

The ministry noted that a live firing and fire maneuvers were carried out in various firing ranges and training areas equipped with modern equipment.

The exercises are held to inspect combat readiness of troops in line with the plan approved by Azerbaijans President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev.

About 30,000 servicemen are participating in the drills that will continue until April 21. Also, more than 250 tanks and armored vehicles, up to 200 missiles and artillery systems, multiple launch rocket systems and mortars, and 25 combat aircraft are involved in the drills.

Today, Azerbaijani Army is one of the most powerful, highly disciplined armies in the world and the leading army in the region, which is equipped with modern military machinery.

The skills and combat readiness of the Azerbaijani army are growing year by year, as the countrys Armed Forces regularly conduct military exercises. The army building process in Azerbaijan is progressing as well.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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20 April 2017 18:06 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

Italy intends to take serious steps for development of cooperation with Azerbaijan in non-oil sector, said Italys Minister of Economic Development Carlo Calenda.

Calenda made the remarks during his meeting with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov , who is on an official visit in Italy, on April 20.

Azerbaijan is an important economic partner of Italy, Italian companies operate successfully in Azerbaijan, particularly, in the energy sector, and it is necessary to take serious steps in order to continue this cooperation, said Calenda.

The two ministers expressed satisfaction with the level of bilateral relations both in political and economic spheres, and noted the importance of continuing the efforts to further strengthen the ties.

Relations between the two countries have strategic nature, said Mammadyarov.

He noted that Italy is the biggest trade partner of Azerbaijan and the two countries are cooperating successfully in such spheres as energy, petrochemical industry, transportation, tourism, humanitarian sphere and others.

Calenda and Mammadyarov also noted the importance of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) for Italy in terms of providing additional gas volumes.

The two ministers also exchanged views on transnational transport corridors.

In 2016, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Italy amounted to $1.89 billion decreasing by 33.5 percent as compared to 2015. Italy, which has been ranking first among major trade partners of Azerbaijan during eight years, was the third in late 2016.

During the previous year, Azerbaijan exported goods worth $1.56 billion to Italy that accounted for 17.06 percent of Azerbaijans total export volume. Import from Italy totaled $332.19 million decreasing by 43.5 percent as compared to 2015.

However, in early 2017, Italy again became the leader among Azerbaijans trade partners. According to Azerbaijans State Customs Committee, the two countries trade turnover amounted to $461.5 million in January-March 2017, increasing by 41.4 percent as compared to the 1Q2016.

Italy also remained as the main importer of Azerbaijani products. The volume of export to Italy amounted to $422.67 million. Azerbaijan, for its part, imported Italian goods worth $38.84 million.

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20 April 2017 13:49 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

Dmitry Marunich, Co-Chair of the Energy Strategies Foundation expected the crude prices to reach $60-65 per barrel by the end of the year.

Marunich told Trend that most of the participants in the negotiations on the limitation of oil production will most likely support the extension of the agreement.

The expert is sure that the deal on oil output cut can be extended in case there is no demarche of any of the largest producers.

The OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached their first deal since 2001 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices.

OPEC agreed to slash the output by 1.2 million barrels per day from January 1, with top exporter Saudi Arabia cutting as much as 486.000 barrels per day.

11 non-OPEC oil producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce output by 558.000 barrels per day starting from January 1, 2017 for six months.

The next OPEC meeting to extend its validity term will take place in May.

In 2014, the crude prices sharply fell following a serious challenge of imbalance and volatility in the global oil market pressured mainly from the supply side. This led to significant investment cuts in the oil industry, which has a direct impact on offsetting the natural depletion of reservoirs and in ensuring security of supply to producers.

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20 April 2017 17:21 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

American Exxon Mobil Corporation has appealed to the United States Department of the Treasury with a request to make an exception for it and allow the implementation of a number of joint projects with Rosneft, despite the U.S. sanctions against Russia.

Exxon Mobil signed with Rosneft an agreement on the joint development of hydrocarbon reserves on the Black Sea shelf in January 2011.

In addition, Rosneft and Exxon Mobil in September 2014, based on the results of drilling of the Universitetskaya-1 well in the Kara Sea, opened a new field in the license area of East Prinovozemelsky-1 and called it Pobeda. However, due to U.S. sanctions, Exxon Mobil was forced to halt projects under the agreement on strategic cooperation with Rosneft, including drilling in the Kara Sea.

The head of Rosneft Igor Sechin reported earlier in April that Rosneft will start drilling in the Black Sea this year, in 2018 - in the Barents Sea, and in 2019 will conduct drilling in the Kara Sea through a partnership with the U.S. Exxon.

The Russian military intervention in Ukraine, which began in late February 2014, prompted a number of governments to apply sanctions against individuals, businesses and officials from Russia and Ukraine. Sanctions were approved by the United States, the European Union (EU) and other countries and international organisations.

Sanctions were introduced to exert pressure on Russia to change its position on major international issues, but also to weaken the Russian economy.

Russia announced an immediate embargo on a wide range of food imported from the EU, USA, Norway, Canada and Australia. It was announced as a response to the Western sanctions.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the U.S. sanctions imposed against Russia in response to its aggression in Ukraine will remain in place until Russia returns control of Crimea to Ukraine.

Tillerson indicated that the U.S. would continue to support Ukraine militarily and noted that the U.S. has committed more than $600 million in security assistance to Ukraine.

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20 April 2017 11:20 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The State Committee for Privatization, Demonopolization and Development of Competition of Uzbekistan has been transformed into a state committee for the assistance to privatized enterprises and the development of competition, according to Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyevs decree published on April 19.

Comprehensive support for the restoration and increase of the productive efficiency of privatized enterprises is the most important task of the committee, according to the decree.

The Uzbek state committee in two weeks should prepare a program of measures to develop and implement road maps of assistance to privatized enterprises in 2017-2018.

The Uzbek president also ordered to establish the Fund for Assistance to Privatized Enterprises under the committee on the basis of the fund of capital received from the privatization of state property.

The Fund for Assistance to Privatized Enterprises of Uzbekistan will be rendering financial support to privatized enterprises, implementation of investment projects and organization of training of entrepreneurs, according to the decree.

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20 April 2017 10:15 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Turkeys Supreme Electoral Council rejected petitions from three political parties to annul the Apr. 16 constitutional referendum because of its illegality, Anadolu Agency reported.

This decision was made at the Councils meeting on April 19. Ten out of 11 board members voted against the appeals, the Electoral Council said in a statement.

The petitions were filed by the countrys Republican Peoples Party, Peoples Democratic Party and the Patriotic Party.

A referendum on amendments to the Constitution of Turkey was held in the country Apr. 16. Some 51.4 percent of voters cast their ballots in favor of the amendments to the Turkish Constitution.

The amendments to the Turkish constitution cover 18 points. Below are the main amendments:



- The number of seats in the Turkish Parliament will increase from 550 to 600;



- Turkish citizens will be able to run for the MP seats from the age of 18 (earlier, the lowest age limit was 25);



- Parliamentary election will be held every 5 years (at present, the parliamentary election is held every 4 years);



- A Turkish citizen, no younger than 40, can be elected as president;

- President of Turkey will be granted the power to appoint ministers or remove them;



- The elected president can be a party member (current legislation doesn't allow this).

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20 April 2017 12:23 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Energy-rich Turkmenistan intends to export electricity to the Caucasus countries through the Iranian territory, Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported.

To increase electricity export volumes, the Central Asian country plans to construct high-voltage transmission lines Mary-Sarakhs-Mashhad (Iran) and Balkanabat-Gonbad (Iran).

The commissioning of these lines will enable to increase the export of electricity to Iran, as well as to transmit it through the Iranian energy system to Turkey and other countries of the Caucasus region, according to the article.

There are also plans to build a power line along the route of the transnational Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, also known as Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline, which has been building since December 2015.

In future, supplies to Tajikistan and Pakistan and expansion of exports to Afghanistan are envisaged.

The electricity production in Turkmenistan by 2020 will amount to more than 26 billion kwh, while its export will reach almost 6.1 billion kwh, and investments in the development of the industry will exceed $5 billion, the article says.

Currently, the power system of Turkmenistan includes 13 power plants with a total installed capacity of 5,432 megawatts, on which 14 steam turbine and 32 gas turbine units operate, as well as 3 hydroturbines at the Hindukush hydroelectric power station.

All thermal power plants operate on natural gas from the nearest gas fields of the country, and fuel oil and diesel fuel of oil refineries are used as reserve fuels.

By the end of 2016, Turkmenistan produced more than 24 billion kwh of electricity, which is 5 percent higher than in 2015.

Turkmenistan is investing into electric power industry as this may allow the country to increase its export potential. This is also a part of the countrys general policy of diversifying its energy export routes in the region.

The concept of development of power industry of Turkmenistan for 2013-2020 envisages the construction of 14 gas turbine power plants, power transmission systems, and distribution stations.

Currently, Turkmenistan supplies electricity to Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan that has been buying it at a reduced price for the past twenty years.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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20 April 2017 12:41 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The Islamic Republic of Iran and Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan are keen to develop bilateral ties and cooperation in various areas.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is on an official visit to Bishkek, said that his country is ready to help Kyrgyzstan with the construction of hydropower plants.

This was stated at a joint press conference with his Kyrgyz counterpart Erlan Abdyldaev held on April 19.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a great deal of experience in the construction of dams and plants, and can provide valuable assistance to the Bishkek government in this regard, he added.

The top Iranian diplomat expressed Tehrans readiness to boost relations with Bishkek in all sectors.

He also stressed that Iran could cooperate with Kyrgyzstan in the pharmaceutical sector and expressed Tehrans willingness to transfer technology to Kyrgyz manufactures.

Abdyldaev, in his turn, said that his country was keen to expand ties with Iran in the banking, mining, light industry and power plant construction sectors.

During the talks, the Iranian and Kyrgyz sides agreed to hold constant consultations on regional problems, including terrorism, extremism and drug smuggling.

Separately, Zarif also held talks with Kyrgyzstan's Prime Minister Sooronbay Jeenbekov on bilateral ties and regional and international developments.

Later, Zarif had a meeting with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev.

During the talks, the Kyrgyz leader called for closer economic relations between Tehran and Bishkek, saying efforts must be made to remove the obstacles to bilateral trade.

The importance of further development of the political dialogue, the need to implement concrete practical steps for cooperation in the banking sector, in the field of infrastructure and construction, investments and trade was underlined.

The two sides noted that mutual exchange of visits at the highest level and subsequent intensification of bilateral contacts show a qualitatively new stage of the relationship between Kyrgyzstan and Iran and open up opportunities for the full realization of their potential.

Heading a politico-economic delegation, the Iranian foreign minister on Monday started a tour of three Central Asian countries to expand the Islamic Republics ties with Turkmenistan, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan in different fields, especially the economic sector.

In 2016, the trade turnover between Iran and Kyrgyzstan amounted to $14 billion and saw an increase compared to 2015.

In December 2016, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani paid an official visit to Kyrgyzstan, signing an agreement on a 10-year cooperation program.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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20 April 2017 13:33 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The Turkmen parliament hosted a meeting with a delegation of MPs from the member countries of European Union (EU), headed by Vice-President of the European Parliament Ryszard Czarnecki, the Turkmen government reported on April 20.

An exchange of views was held on the prospects of interparliamentary cooperation, and the importance of regular consultations and meetings of parliamentarians was noted during the meeting.

Special attention was paid to the cooperation in the spheres of gender policy, protection of people with disabilities, says the message.

EU Special Representative for Central Asia, Ambassador Peter Burian and EU Charge d'Affaires in Turkmenistan Lubomir Frebort also attended the meeting.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Bakersfield, CA (93308)

Today

A steady light rain early...then remaining cloudy with a few showers. Low 47F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

A steady light rain early...then remaining cloudy with a few showers. Low 47F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/19/asia/russia-un-veto-north-korea/index.html

United Nations (CNN) Russia has derailed a proposed UN Security Council statement that would have condemned North Korea's latest missile launch test, using its veto to torpedo the motion.

It has conducted five so far, and last week analysts warned that the country's nuclear test site was The statement, which was tabled by the US, would also tell North Korea not to conduct further nuclear tests.It has conducted five so far, and last week analysts warned that the country's nuclear test site was "primed and ready" for a sixth.

Instead, North Korea tested a missile Sunday, which was said to have failed , provoking more calls for the country to cease its hostile acts.

UN diplomats said the proposed statement of condemnation had consensus from the other 14 Council members, including China, North Korea's biggest ally and a Council permanent member.
On April 6, Madilyn Dendinger let go of a balloon.

In fact, everyone at Diller-Odell Elementary School did, too. Hundreds of balloonsbright blue for autism awarenesswere released and sailed past the Diller water tower, seemingly heading north toward Lincoln.

Less than 24 hours later and nearly 400 miles away, Sharon Clayton found Madilyns balloon, tangled up in a tree near her home in Rolla, Missouri.

She and her children pulled it from the trees and saw Madilyns name and Diller-Odell written on the card attached to the balloon. A quick Google search turned up the Daily Suns story on the autism awareness rally put on by the sixth grades Circle of Friends group, and Clayton sent an email to sixth grade teacher Abigail Kostal.

Just wanted to write and let you and the students know we found the balloon of first grader, Madilyn Dendinger, in our tree line Saturday morning, Clayton wrote to Kostal. I think it is really nice what your class did to bring awareness to autism in support of their classmate.

The email was read aloud over the PA system at the school, and Madilyn went home and told her mom the news.

It was really cool, Madilyn said.

Special education teacher, Beth Roelfs, said she was shocked to find out not just how far the balloon had traveled, but where it had traveled.

The balloonsthe ones that didnt get stuck in a tree, anywayflew high and in a northern direction. Rolla, which is to the southeast of Diller, came as a bit of a surprise. It wasnt just a lesson on autism, but one on thermodynamics as well.

When it took off that day, I had visions of people in Kearney or Columbus or anywhere that way finding them, Roelfs said. It just shows the power of the jet stream.

The jet stream is a wind system where the cold, arctic air smashes into warm, subtropical air and creates a ribbon of fast-moving wind, high above the earth. Snaking its way north above Nebraska before zipping down south into Missouri, it took Madilyns balloon hundreds of miles away at close to highway speeds.

Madilyn has been to Missouri, she said. It took her family seven or eight hours to get there by car, butwhile its fine for cardstockshes pretty sure tying a balloon to her belt and letting the wind carry her probably wouldnt be the best option.

So far, Madilyns balloon is the only one that has been called in. Roelfs thinks that might be the case for a while. Maybe somebody out hiking or mushrooming might spot one of the deflated blue balloons. Even if they do, however, the wording on the paper may have been washed away by rain. Roelfs hopes that, even if no one can read their message, maybe the balloon made it to a nice place.

It's hard telling where they'd be, she said. In that part of the country, there's a lot of wooded areas, so the balloons could be caught in trees or just beautiful areas.

Madilyns balloon and its message of autism awareness in support of students at Diller-Odell who have autism might have been the only balloon reported found, but even still, that means their message got out to people they didnt even think would hear it, Roelfs said.

To have one get that far, it's a success for everybody, she said. Our message made it that far, that means weve accomplished something big.
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A Bath man wanted over multiple offences has been captured by police.

Craig Starkey, aged 34, was more than two months on the run while facing fraud charges.

He was also wanted by the police over burglary and theft.

On February 15 he failed to appear at Bath Magistrates' Court to answer three counts of fraud.

Starkey allegedly sold England v Wales Euro 2016 tickets in Bath - but never handed over the tickets.

He has now been caught by Avon and Somerset police officers and is back in HMP Lewes in East Sussex.

The police said in a statement: Were pleased to confirm wanted Bath man Craig Starkey has been arrested.

Starkey, 34, was wanted in connection with theft and burglary offences and was wanted on a recall to prison for breaching the terms of his licence.

He was arrested last week and recalled to prison.

He is due before Bristol Crown Court on May 10.

Thanks to all those who shared our earlier appeal to find him.
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Speedy drivers could face HUGE penalties under new sentencing guidelines starting next week.

The guidelines will be used in all magistrates courts across England and Wales from April 24.

Serious offenders could face a maximum possible penalty of 2,500 - a big jump from the current 1,000.

Fines for motorists caught going well above the speed limit will start from 175 per cent of their weekly income rather than the existing level of 100 per cent.

Currently, the UK minimum penalty for speeding is a 100 fine and three penalty points added to your driving licence, while the maximum fine is 1,000 or 2,500 for motorway offences.

When the new guidelines are brought in next month, those caught driving at more than 101mph in a 70mph speed limit could be disqualified for up to 56 days and get a fine of between 125 and 175 per cent of their relevant weekly income.

Or if you are caught going between 31 and 40mph in a 30mph zone you will get three penalty points and a fine of between 25 and 75 per cent of your weekly income.

The Sentencing Council said the move to increase penalties aims to ensure there is a clear increase in penalty as the seriousness of offending increases.

It follows responses to a consultation arguing previous guidelines did not properly take into account the increase in potential harm that can result as speed above the limit rises.

RAC road safety spokesman Pete Williams welcomed the change on speeding.

He said: Anyone who breaks the limit excessively is a danger to every other road user and is unnecessarily putting lives at risk.

Hopefully, hitting these offenders harder in the pocket will make them think twice before doing it again in the future.

While greater sentences for excessive speeders are obviously a deterrent, the best deterrent of all is more effective enforcement.

Louise Ellman, chair of the Commons Transport Committee, said: For enforcement to be successful, there must be the likelihood that offenders will be caught and prosecuted.

She added that the declining number of dedicated road traffic police officers is of real concern.
The Coast Guard rescued two people Wednesday after their plane crashed in the Gulf of Mexico near Yankeetown, Florida.

Coast Guard rescues 2 after plane crashes near Yankeetown

19 and 18-year-old rescued found on top of plane

Couple heading to Orlando Sanford International Airport when plane crashed

A 19-year-old male from Longwood, who piloted the plane, and an 18-year-old female passenger from Cape Coral, were rescued after their plane went down around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Watch standers at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg received notification from Levy County dispatch that a single-engine plane carrying two people had crashed near the end of County Road 40 boat ramp.

The Federal Aviation Administration had reported the plane was experiencing engine problems before it crashed.

A crew from Coast Guard station Yankeetown arrived on scene around 9:20 p.m. The two people were on top of the plane in 2-feet of water.

Officials said no injuries were reported.

The couple was headed to Orlando Sanford International Airport from Cedar Key when they crashed.

The FAA is still investigating what caused the plane to crash.
Hernando County Firefighters are now sporting a new uniforma uniform in support of autism.

Hernando fire crews raising autism awareness through new uniforms

Firefighters selling T-shirts to raise money for autism awareness

Money to go to Hernando County Special Olympics

Firefighters touch lives every day, and in Hernando County, theyre hoping to start a conversation about autismstarting with the shirts on their backs.

One in every 68 children in the nation have autism. Firefighter paramedic Bill Walkes nephew is one of them.

Watching my sister raise my nephew and just seeing the trials and tribulations they had to go through with schooling and stuff like that, it really hits me close to home, Walke said.

That is why Walke approached his union and asked if the department could purchase and wear the shirts through the month of April. Nearly each of the 260 members bought them, and the money will go to charity.

Its bringing awareness, its asking the question. They see the shirt, its a nice shirt, they see the pattern on the back and it prompts a conversation, and if we can prompt that conversation and bring awareness to the cause, thats half the battle, Division Chief Alex Lopez said.

The department is selling the shirts to the public as well. So far they have sold over 500 and raised $1,000.

A company out of Tampa called Money Matters will match the final donation amount.

The proceeds will go to the Hernando County Special Olympics.

If you'd like to purchase a shirt, call 352-587-2606.
The Tampa Police Department is teaming up with residents and business owners to keep a digital eye on crime.

Tampa PD, community to keep digital eye on crime with new tool

PD launches new program called "Project REC"

Community members to register surveillance cameras

Allows police to quickly contact owners with potential crime footage

A new program called Project REC, which stands for Register Every Camera, is being launched to help solve crimes and capture criminals quickly.

Residents and business owners with surveillance cameras can voluntarily register with Project REC, which allows police to quickly locate cameras in an area where a crime has occurred and, with the owners permission, view footage from the video.

Residents and business owners are not always aware that their video surveillance system may have captured vital information that could identify a suspect.

The REC network will help police quickly contact any subscriber in the area, as opposed to the time-consuming and ineffective task of going door-to-door through neighborhoods asking for information.

Each Project REC subscriber will receive a window decal from the department which will showcase their participation in the program and hopefully help to deter crimes from taking place at their home and in their neighborhood.

Project REC is a voluntary program that is managed by the Tampa Police Department to ensure personal information is kept secure and confidential.

To register your surveillance camera with the department, click here.
The Democrat leadership has made constant, profound and incredible pronouncements that one's supportive vote for Republicans is tantamount to surrendering Democracy forever. Understanding their sincere thinking in their extreme position: How will you still vote on this election day?

Democrat; because the continuance of this Democracy from the existential threat of extreme Republicans is paramount.

Republican; the process of having a choice is the democratic method within what "Democracy" does exists.
A woman was accidentally shot last August during a Citizens Police Academy Training in Punta Gorda.

Former officer to appeal termination for Citizens Police Academy fatal shooting

Mary Knowlton accidentally shot during Academy Training

Officer Lee Coel played suspect, fatally shot Knowlton

Coel was terminated, charged with first-degree manslaughter

Newly released surveillance video reveals more details into what happened that day.

The video shows Mary Knowlton stepping to the front of the crowd to participate in a shoot, dont shoot scenario.

Officer Lee Coel played the suspect and fired his personal gun at Knowlton. The video shows Knowlton dropping to the ground.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said it took a moment for anyone to respond because most thought it was all part of the exercise.

The video shows Officer Coel running over to Knowlton on the ground, after realizing she had actually been shot with real bullets.

Several officers then jumped into action to call the paramedics.

Knowltons husband was only ten feet away from her when the incident occurred.

He turned her over and she looked horrible. Blood all over the place, and I thought oh my God. There was maybe five people who were trying to save her, Gary Knowlton said.

Knowlton died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, officials said.

(Photo of Mary and Gary Knowlton)

Coel was terminated from the police department, even though the FDLE found no evidence that Coel intended to shoot and kill Knowlton.

Coel will appeal his termination at a hearing today, April 20. He has pleaded not guilty to a felony first-degree manslaughter charge.

Punta Gorda Police Chief Tom Lewis is charged with second-degree misdemeanor culpable negligence. He is on paid administrative leave.
French media are reporting that two police officers have been shot in Paris in an attack on the Champs-Elysees shopping district.

Paris police said the gunman killed one officer and wounded another before being killed himself.

Police are warning people to avoid the area around the French capital's grand Champs-Elysees.

According to AP, a witness told French television station BFM that she heard a shooting and saw a man's body on the ground.

She said the area was quickly evacuated by police.

JUST IN: Police officer killed after gunshots in Paris, attacker "taken down," BFMTV reports https://t.co/iTjrlxMlDQ pic.twitter.com/T700rU0DAG  CNN (@CNN) April 20, 2017

Paris police spokeswoman Johanna Primevert told The Associated Press that the attacker targeted police guarding the area near the Franklin Roosevelt subway station Thursday night at the center of the avenue popular with tourists.

The attack came three days before the first round of France's tense presidential election. Security is high around the vote after France has been attacked in recent years.

President Donald Trump said Thursday's fatal shooting in Paris "looks like another terrorist attack," but it was unclear how Trump concluded that terrorism may have been a factor. Paris police have yet to announce a motive.

Security forces are more widespread in Paris since deadly Islamic extremist attacks in recent years, and France remains under a state of emergency.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Company Will Invest More Than $40 million in Manufacturing Operations in Morganton

Contact: Ford Porter

Ford Porter govpress@nc.gov

RALEIGH: International automotive supplier Continental will launch a major expansion of its manufacturing facility in Burke County, creating 160 new jobs over the next five years. The company will invest more than $40 million at its Morganton operations.Governor Cooper said.Continental, with North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, is one of the top five automotive suppliers worldwide. The company's Morganton facility produces the most progressive advanced brake engineering for all classes of vehicles, from compact cars to light trucks. The company currently employs more than 400 people in Morganton.said North Carolina Commerce Secretary Anthony M. Copeland.N.C. Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of N.C. led the state's support for the company's expansion.Continental will hire all levels of advanced manufacturing positions from machine operators to skilled maintenance workers to support the expansion of the company. Salaries will vary by position, with a total annual payroll impact of more than $5 million.said Samir Salman, CEO of Continental, North America.Continental's expansion in Burke County will be facilitated, in part, by a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by the state's Economic Investment Committee earlier today. Under the terms of the JDIG, the company is eligible to receive up to $1,604,700 in total reimbursements. Payments will occur in annual installments over 12 years pending verification by N.C. Commerce and N.C. Revenue that the company has met incremental job creation and investment targets. JDIGs reimburse new and expanding companies a portion of the newly created tax-base while still increasing the overall revenue benefit to the state of North Carolina.By law, JDIG projects must result in a net revenue inflow to the state treasury over the life of the award. For projects in Burke and other Tier 2 counties, 10 percent of the eligible grant is directed to the state's Industrial Development Fund - Utility Account to help finance economic infrastructure in rural counties. Continental's expansion could provide as much as $178,300 in new funds for the Utility Account. More information on county tier designations is available here.said N.C. Senator Warren Daniel.said N.C. Representative Hugh Blackwell.Partnering with N.C. Commerce and the EDPNC on this project were the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Community College System, Burke Development, Inc., Burke County, City of Morganton, Western Piedmont Council of Governments, Western Piedmont Community College, and ElectriCities.
Swarm of Five Small Quakes Off Oregon Coast Last Week

Published 04/19/2017 at 6:23 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Waldport, Oregon)  A string of five small earthquakes rattled off the Oregon coast this last week, with four on Saturday alone, and another slightly larger one on the Tuesday prior to that, on April 11. (Above: Graphic courtesy Pacific Northwest Seismic Network).

It's simply another case of the Cascadia subduction zone letting us know it's out there, say scientists. Essentially, it's more of the same slipping action the two plates do on a regular occasion. However, many residents on the central Oregon coast felt at least one of these rattlers.

The four on Saturday were centered about 60 miles west of Waldport. The first on Tuesday, happened about 130 miles west of Coos Bay, much farther south and way out beyond the shore. That one was the largest, clocking in at a 4.1 magnitude at a depth of 6.2 miles, happening at 6:45 in the evening.

The first of the swarm on Saturday was the largest of that bunch, a magnitude 3.8 at 7:48 a.m., happening about 40 miles west of Waldport. This quake was felt by many residents in areas around Yachats, Waldport, Seal Rock and close to Newport. Several people on the Yachats Community page talked of feeling their homes being rattled.

The next three happened largely in the same spot and within two hours of each other.

A second quake hit at 10:52 a.m. with a 1.8 magnitude, shaking at nearly 20 miles beneath the sea floor. The third came at 12:06 p.m. with a 2.7 magnitude at nearly 23 miles in depth. The fourth took place not long after at 12:53 p.m., a 2.4 magnitude quake that was centered 20 miles in depth.

No tsunami alerts were issued, and scientists say this is fairly normal in this region, although this many in such a short time is unusual.

The Cascadia subduction zone is where two of the Earth's plates meet, creating intense pressure as the two press up against each other. With all the Earth's plates moving at about the pace that a human fingernail grows, periodically that pressure gets released when a plate slips. This results in such tremblors as were felt recently.

Even though none of these were cause for alarm, officials and scientists are using the opportunity to urge the public to be ready for such disasters. A massive quake is expected off the Oregon coast sometime between now and the next 100 years, so it is imperative the public engage in disaster preparedness. On the Oregon coast, this also means paying attention to tsunami evacuation routes. See Live Earthquake, Tsunami Updates from Oregon Coast, Washington. B.C., California, Alaska.



















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Orangefield ISD and the Orange County Sheriff's Office are investigating a potential bomb threat made at the high school Thursday morning, the district said in a post on their website.

Superintendent Stephen Patterson said the high school principal was notified this morning that a piece of paper was found in a campus printer that said "bomb threat."

"In 2017, you have to take that seriously," he said. The OCSO and district administration were immediately contacted and are investigating.

The printer can only be accessed through a closed school network, and is typically used for printing from laptops in the building, Patterson said. The district's technology department is tracing where the document was printed from, he said.

Patterson said there were also names on the page, though it's not clear if or how those people are involved. Those students' parents have been notified, he said.

"We've contacted any parents whose child may or may not have been involved in this in any capacity," he said.

"No campus in the district is under lock down and the investigation is ongoing," the district said.
Tom Campbell

Celebrated novelist Ernest Hemmingway was once reported to have made a bet with companions that he could write a novel in six words. He asked each to put $10 in a pot, saying that if he could construct a story with a beginning, middle and end within the six-word limit he would win the pot; if not, he would pay each participant $10 each. On a napkin he wrote, "For Sale: Baby shoes. Never worn." His companions conceded the six words indeed told a story.My Pastor, Ben Williams, willingly acknowledges that he is sometimes loquacious and was intrigued after reading the story about the Hemingway experiment in Smith Magazine. He pondered to an overflow crowd last Sunday if the Easter story could be told in just six words, confessing he had spent sermon prep time contemplating how to do so. Further scripture study revealed that the writer of the Gospel of Matthew had already done it. In Matthew 28, Mary has gone to the tomb and found Jesus gone. An angel tells Mary, "He's not here. He has risen." The beauty, brevity and simplicity of this passage clearly tells the resurrection story.The Smith Magazine article challenged readers to tell either their own or a story they developed in six words or less. The magazine received more than a million replies. Could you tell your life story in six words or less?I accepted the six-word challenge to write my own story and, finding the task more difficult than first imagined, concluded it might be easier to write about someone else. My mind jumped to Bill Friday, the founding president of the UNC System. I wrote: Humble educator. Moral Compass. Passionate supporter. As to my own story, the best I've come up with is: Wonderful heritage. High expectations. Still unfolding.Consider "silent" Calvin Coolidge, our 30th president from Vermont, best known for his paucity of words and directness of speech. One Sunday, coming out of church, a reporter asked the president what the preacher had spoken about that day. Coolidge said, "Sin." Needing more for a news story the reporter then asked what the preacher had said about sin. "He was agin it," Coolidge responded. On another occasion a woman sitting next to Coolidge at dinner boasted she had made a bet she could get more than two words out of him. "You lose," Coolidge said.There's something to this less is more concept. Anyone who writes or speaks knows it is harder to write a short report or speech than a longer one. With so many voices trying to speak to us about an ever-increasing base of information there is little question that fewer words can make a greater and longer lasting impact.Could this same process be employed in describing the world situation, our nation or our state? My suggestion for North Carolina's story would read: Magnificent assets. Ongoing struggles. Statesmen needed. For the U.S., my contribution would be: Unlimited resources. Highly divided. Desire unity. For the current world story it would be: Great unrest. Searching solutions. Want peace.Perhaps you could do better and I would love to hear your six word contributions. Send them to this paper or tomcamp@carolinabroadcasting.com.
New York City-based Lenox Health Greenwich Village announced plans to open an ASC in the National Maritime Union Building in New York City, The Village reports.

Here's what you should know:

1. The surgery center will open in late 2017.

2. The center is in a medical plaza featuring an emergency care department and an imaging center.

3. The health group is also opening a conference room and physician offices inside the building.
Here are seven updates for ASC leaders to note:

Envision Healthcare creates new physician services arm

Envision Healthcare Corp. introduced Envision Physician Services on April 18. Envision Physician Services combines the physician services divisions of EmCare and Sheridan Healthcare as a result of the Envision Healthcare and AmSurg merger in December 2016.

Humana introduces value-based orthopedic care model in Indiana, Kentucky for total joint procedures

Humana is teaming with eight orthopedic groups in Indiana and Kentucky to introduce a value-based care model for total hip or knee replacements. Humana's model aims to improve quality, outcomes and cost of joint replacement procedures.

Physician Partners of America opens multispecialty ASC

Physician Partners of America held a ribbon cutting ceremony on March 15 for its Habana Ambulatory Surgery Center in Tampa, Fla. The ASC offers general surgery, interventional pain and orthopedic services.

Theranos paying Arizona residents $4.65M; Won't operate lab for 2 years

Theranos reached an agreement with the Arizona Attorney General's office to reimburse Arizona residents the $4.65 million they paid for Theranos blood testing services from 2013 to 2016. Theranos will not own or operate a laboratory in Arizona for two years, and will pay the attorney general in civil penalties, legal fees and other costs.

UnitedHealth Q1 revenues total $48.7B

UnitedHealth total revenue soared to $48.7 billion during the first quarter 2017, a 9.4 percent increase from Q1 2016. The company added 2.5 million members in the past 12 months, excluding its ACA individual offerings.

Kaiser Permanente Hawaii opens ASC

Honolulu-based Kaiser Permanente Hawaii opened a 9,444-square-foot ASC at Mapunapuna Medical Office on April 18. The center has an operating room, a procedure room, five endoscopy suites and 16 preoperative/recovery bays.

Malpractice premiums in 2016

Malpractice premiums varied throughout the nation based on factors including specialty and patient volume in 2016. Compared to 2015, 12 percent of physicians had an increase in malpractice premiums in 2016.
Lewisville, Texas-based Adeptus Health, the largest operator of freestanding emergency rooms in the U.S, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection April 19.

While Adeptus' wholly owned subsidiaries are included in the bankruptcy filing, the joint ventures it is involved in are not. All of the company's owned and joint-venture freestanding ERs will continue to operate as normal during the bankruptcy process.

"Over the last several years, Adeptus has invested significantly to expand our facility footprint and respond to the growing demand for high-quality emergency medical care," said Gregory W. Scott, chairman and interim CEO of Adeptus. "While these investments have increased patient access, the associated expenditures have strained the company's financial resources."

Adeptus said it is collaborating with New York City-based hedge fund Deerfield Management on a restructuring plan, which is expected to significantly reduce Adeptus' outstanding debt. Through the restructuring process, Adeptus said it is expected that ownership of the company will transition to Deerfield Management.

Deerfield Management, which has been a long-term investor in Adeptus, has committed to providing Adeptus with $45 million in debtor-in-possession financing.

More articles on healthcare finance:



CMS' 2018 IPPS proposed rule: 9 things to know

9 healthcare bankruptcies so far in 2017

Researchers propose new 'competition policy' to fix healthcare's cost, quality issues
Denver-based SCL Health will cease operating St. Francis Health in Topeka, Kan., this summer. If a new owner isn't found, the hospital will close.

While SCL Health is still exploring options to keep the hospital open, the system will stop operating St. Francis this summer regardless of whether another owner or operator is found.

"Multiple options were considered over the last two years to avoid closing the hospital and are still being explored now," said SCL in a statement issued April 18. The system is eager to discuss any alternatives that can be accomplished swiftly and is willing to donate St. Francis to another organization that can take over operations."

SCL Health President and CEO Mike Slubowski said he hopes to have more information about the hospital's future in the first week of May.

There are several factors contributing to St. Francis' financial troubles, including dwindling patient volume, reimbursement pressure and operating in a state that did not expand Medicaid under the ACA.

"St. Francis Health is not sustainable in today's dramatically changing healthcare environment," said Mr. Slubowski.

He noted the hospital has lost $117 million over the last five years, and its uncompensated and charity care costs more than doubled between 2012 and 2016.

SCL said it will provide St. Francis employees with job placement and resume writing services, and, ultimately, severance or the opportunity to explore other employment options with SCL.

More articles on healthcare finance:

CMS' 2018 IPPS proposed rule: 9 things to know

Adeptus Health files for bankruptcy

Researchers propose new 'competition policy' to fix healthcare's cost, quality issues
When Delos "Toby" Cosgrove, MD, president and CEO of Cleveland Clinic, was a high school junior, his father took him to visit a family friend who was a college professor.

"Naturally, the conversation turned into, 'What do we need to do to get Toby into college,'" Dr. Cosgrove told the audience during a keynote at Becker's Hospital Review's 8th Annual Meeting in Chicago. Rhoda Weiss, PhD, speaker, author, consultant and co-chair of the meeting, moderated the conversation. The professor said he was not interested in Dr. Cosgrove's IQ, but rather his GQ  a term that neither Dr. Cosgrove nor his father had heard before.

"It's 'guts quotient.' In retrospect, that turned out to be a really important thing for me," he added. Guts refers to one's perseverance or grit in the face of setbacks or in anticipation of challenges.

Dr. Cosgrove went on after college and medical school to serve as chief of U.S. Air Force Casualty Staging flight in Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam. He joined Cleveland Clinic in 1975 as a cardiac surgeon and has served as CEO of the system since January 2004.

Dr. Cosgrove, who today leads an $8 billion health system with facilities across the U.S., Abu Dabi and soon in London, said it has been his GQ that has driven his ability to propel his career and the Cleveland Clinic forward. Despite the uncertain future of health reform, the rest of the industry must cultivate higher GQ to not only survive, but to thrive in a changing healthcare landscape.

Here are five thoughts from Dr. Cosgrove on how to succeed in the future of healthcare.

1. Teach clinicians to be team players. "I realized some time ago that doctors are not trained to be team players," said Dr. Cosgrove, "yet none of us has the individual power of the doctors who used to go to patients' houses with a black bag and deliver the cure alone. Healthcare today is dependent on a huge number of players."

Team-based, highly coordinated care is a central component of Cleveland Clinic's care delivery strategy. Physicians, nurses, dentists, physician assistants and other providers often come together in one building for team training. The health system's leadership also evolved its physician-based departments into disease-based institutes to facilitate greater collaboration between formerly disparate groups of clinicians.

Dr. Cosgrove said it also occurred to him that every staff member of the health system has a role on the care team. "Everyone from the bus drivers and cafeteria workers to the chief of staff and neurosurgeons are caregivers," he said. Calling each individual a "caregiver" has had innumerable positive effects on the system's culture, morale and employee satisfaction.

2. Invest in IT. Health systems must invest in sophisticated IT systems if they want to keep up with the explosion of knowledge going on in healthcare right now, said Dr. Cosgrove.

"When the Cleveland Clinic was formed in 1921, the total amount of knowledge doubled every 150 years," he said. "Now the total amount of knowledge is doubling every 73 days. There are 5,600 medical journals turning out 900,000 articles every year. And one human genome has 3 billion data points. So I think we are going to be very dependent on IT going forward to help us manage this explosion of knowledge."

Cleveland Clinic has partnered with both IBM Watson and Microsoft to support staff and medical education. Both technology systems promise to revolutionize the way data is stored, processed and optimized to support education and clinical decision making. With Microsoft's augmented reality technology, medical students can use holograms of human bodies and organs instead of cadavers, which, "if anything, would benefit the social lives of first-year medical students so they don't have to constantly smell like formaldehyde," Dr. Cosgrove said.

3. Make population health management a strategic priority  for patients and staff. The momentum behind population health management efforts to mitigate the cost of chronic disease management under value-based care and lower reimbursements has surged in recent years. Dr. Cosgrove emphasizes that these efforts must be targeted at staff in addition to patients.

By the time Dr. Cosgrove became Cleveland Clinic's CEO, he "had a long time to observe the ravages of smoking," he explained. He saw the physical effects of smoking firsthand as a cardiac surgeon, and lost his father, a smoker, to emphysema. That, combined with the fact that smoking is the most preventable cause of cancer, spurred Dr. Cosgrove to implement a hiring ban on smokers in 2007. If a candidate tests positive for nicotine, he or she must complete smoking cessation treatment before being offered a position. Smoking is not permitted anywhere on the health system's campus.

He is equally committed to lowering the rates of obesity, the effects of which cost the national healthcare system billions of dollars per year. "We give a lot of lip service to population health and wellness, but it's important to actually make it a part of the culture," said Dr. Cosgrove.

4. Deliver care in the most cost-effective settings. "There is little question we're over-bedded in the U.S.," said Dr. Cosgrove. "In the last 20 years, we've gone from 1 million beds to 800,000 beds across the country, and we're still at an average of 65 percent occupancy." The increasing rate of outpatient procedures combined with shorter lengths of stay is going to lead to even higher over-bedding in the U.S., he added.

Consolidation enables hospitals to focus on their most successful service lines, pare down superfluous or underutilized services and provide care in the most cost-effective settings, said Dr. Cosgrove. "Not every hospital has to do the most technical things," he said. "Community hospitals can do deliveries and handle emergencies," while academic medical centers, which have higher overhead costs and specialize in more complex care, can take the more difficult cases.

There are two aspects that are integral to the success of greater partnerships and consolidation between facilities, Dr. Cosgrove noted: interoperability between disparate EMRs and efficient transportation.

5. Do not underestimate the devastation of the opioid epidemic. "This is one of the great tragedies of our time and not many people realize how bad it is," said Dr. Cosgrove. "I recently visited the Vietnam memorial in Washington. There are 53,000 names on that memorial. Last year there were 53,000 deaths caused by drug overdoses. We have a Vietnam War going on in our country every day."

Dr. Cosgrove said the Vietnam War ultimately ended due to highly negative public opinion. "People saw the body bags every night on the evening news. Everyone understood it. But not everyone understands the magnitude of the issue right now and it's getting worse." Increasing public awareness of the problem, combined with improving the approach to combat it by medical professionals and law enforcement, are the first steps the U.S. must take to control the epidemic of opioid abuse.

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The University of Nevada, Las Vegas may expand its partnership with Cleveland Clinic to incorporate additional opportunities for students of the university's new medical school, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Officials said discussions between the two organizations are ongoing and no definitive plans for an updated partnership have been made.

Barbara Atkinson, MD, dean of the new UNLV School of Medicine, said the expanded partnership may allow UNLV medical students to rotate through Cleveland Clinic's neurology program, according to the report.

UNLV and Cleveland Clinic previously partnered on a biomedical research initiative to learn more about Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease in 2015.
New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health has entered into a strategic affiliation with the Rothman Institute, a private orthopedic practice serving patients across 25 locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The Philadelphia-based orthopedic and musculoskeletal practice is internationally recognized for its innovative treatment methods, research, education and technology.

Under the affiliation, the Northwell Health Orthopaedic Institute will work with the Rothman Institute to develop centers of excellence for orthopedic care in the New York Metropolitan area, including Manhattan.

"We're excited about the affiliation with the Rothman Institute," said Nicholas Sgaglione, MD, chair of orthopedics at Northwell Health. "The affiliation will bring together two nimble, forward-thinking organizations that emphasize high-quality care. We also look forward to working with the Rothman Institute to co-brand various marketing initiatives, the ongoing recruitment of top-level physicians, joint research, and tracking and measuring patient outcomes."
Minneapolis-based Hennepin County Medical Center and the union representing employees who were reassigned or laid off earlier in 2017 reached a settlement, reports the Star Tribune.

The medical center and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees reached the agreement Tuesday. Under the agreement, HCMC must follow existing labor laws and post those laws in a public location, union spokesperson Jennifer Munt told the Star Tribune. According to the report, the agreement also calls for two union leaders to return to work, and "for disputes with other workers to be settled through grievance and arbitration procedures."

The medical center announced in February plans to cut the equivalent of 131 full-time jobs through layoffs. The move represented about 2 percent of the hospital's staff, including union employees in various departments. Laid-off or reassigned union employees subsequently challenged the layoffs and alleged discrimination in a lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleged a disproportionate number of affected union workers were minorities, women or older employees, the report states. Employees ultimately wanted a temporary injunction "to stop the employer from continuing to commit unfair labor practices," Ms. Munt told the Star Tribune.

In an emailed statement to Becker's Hospital Review, HCMC said the union "has withdrawn its request for an injunction and has dismissed its claims of discrimination."

"As we have said all along, in laying off union employees HCMC does not have discretion in selecting who will be laid-off. HCMC is required to lay off employees based on seniority and the provisions of the labor agreements. HCMC is confident that it complied with the labor agreements and all applicable laws in conducting this layoff," the medical center added.

Although a settlement was reached, the lawsuit, which accuses HCMC of hostility against the union, will continue, according to the report.

"The bottom line is the workers feel some justice has been served," Ms. Munt told the Star Tribune. "The brunt of the layoffs impacted older workers, mostly people of color. We're going to assist those individuals if they choose to file potential discrimination claims with the" U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Days after a disgruntled patient allegedly burned down the house of an orthopedic surgeon who works for Benefis Health System, the Great Falls, Mont.-based system is reexamining its safety protocols to better protect clinicians and staff.

According to the Great Falls Tribune, David Delbert Herron, a former patient of Michael Dube, MD, entered the surgeon's home April 10 when Dr. Dube's wife Adrienne was present. He allegedly held Ms. Dube at gunpoint before she escaped unharmed. Mr. Herron then burned Dr. Dube's house to the ground before killing himself in the backyard. Dr. Dube was performing surgery during the incident.

Dr. Dube told the Tribune Mr. Herron had previously blamed him for experiencing back pain.

In response to the incident, Benefis is looking over its emergency situation policies.

"In light of this horrid and tragic event we are reviewing our policies and procedures related to emergency situations to see if there are any improvements we can make," Benefis CEO John Goodnow said in an email to the Great Falls Tribune. "While we certainly hope we never have a serious emergency on our campus, we want to be prepared should that unthinkable event ever happen."

The health system already has safety protocols in place, including training employees to handle active shooter situations and other breaches of security during orientation. Benefis also recently redesigned its aggressive behavior management program, according to the Great Falls Tribune.

After the April 10 event, Great Falls' medical community and police department met to continue the conversation about security measures. Benefis is working with law enforcement and medical staff to guide future safety plans.

"We are continually reviewing and revising our processes and policies based on the best practices in the industry," Louis D'Antuono, a safety-security specialist with Benefis, told the Great Falls Tribune.

Read more about the incident and Benefis' response here.
Pittsburgh-based UPMC and Paris Cleaners, the health system's linen services provider, are facing yet another lawsuit over a mold outbreak discovered in 2015.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the family of Katherine Landman, a UPMC Shadyside patient who died in 2015 after contracting a mold infection in the hospital, filed the suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas against the two organizations for wrongful death and negligence.

This is the seventh case involving UPMC patients who died in the mold outbreak while at UPMC hospitals between October 2014 and October 2016, according to the Post-Gazette.

The lawsuit is similar to one filed in February because it involves UPMC Shadyside and Paris Cleaners. Previous cases involved patients at UPMC Montefiore and UPMC Presbyterian.

UPMC said in February it did not believe the patients at UPMC Shadyside contracted the infections inside the hospital. In regards to the most recent lawsuit, UPMC said in a statement to Becker's, "Our hospitals are safe, and our ongoing monitoring and testing show no evidence of concerning mold infections. We and the nation's top health regulators have found no definitive cause of the previous infections, which are known to occur on occasion at hospitals in the U.S. UPMC has gone above and beyond any existing guidelines and CDC recommendations for assuring the safety of our patients in implementing strategies to prevent these infections and in reporting these infections when they are discovered."

Paris Cleaners is involved in the suit because an internal UPMC investigation report made public in January says linens delivered by Paris to a UPMC hospital had "heavy" presence of fungus that later infected UPMC patients. However, the CDC did not reopen its investigation into the cause of the mold outbreak after the report was made public.

A surprise state inspection in February found linen storage issues at UPMC Shadyside, which the hospital is working to correct.

In a statement to Becker's, Paris CEO Dave Stern expressed sympathy for the families of the deceased but stood firm that his company's linens did not cause the infections. "The CDC and the Pennsylvania Department of Health have both said the facts don't support the conclusion that these infections resulted from exposure to linens. We stand by these statements from our public agencies. Our products are safe. We have followed and we continue to follow protocols of the Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council. Our reputation has been earned over three decades by providing safe, hygienically clean linens to more than 100 hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the region."
A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina seeking $130 million in payments under the ACA's risk corridors program, The National Law Journal reports.

The risk corridors program, which ended in 2016, was designed to level the financial playing field for payers during the first three years of the ACA's implementation. Under the program, HHS collected payments from insurers with lower than expected claims on the health insurance exchanges and made payments to insurers with higher than expected claims.



Here are three things to know.

1. Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby sided with HHS regulators' argument that the ACA does not require the government to issue risk corridors payments annually. Judge Griggsby wrote in her opinion the ACA "neither addresses, nor establishes, a deadline for the payment of the risk corridors program payments," according to the report.



2. The decision represents a growing rift between other claims courts ruling on similar suits, The National Law Journal reports. In February, a judge ruled the government owes Portland, Ore.-based Moda Health $214 million in risk corridors payments. In that case, Judge Thomas Wheeler determined the ACA requires annual payments to insurers, and Congress did not design the risk corridors program to be budget-neutral. He concluded the government unlawfully withheld risk corridors payments from Moda and is liable for them.

3. A number of health insurers have sued the federal government for funds they were owed under the program after HHS notified insurers they would receive only 12.6 percent of payment owed for 2014. The risk corridors program fell short by more than $2.5 billion in its first year because of financial losses incurred on the individual market.
Philadelphia-based orthopedic practice Rothman Institute signed a strategic affiliation agreement with New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health.

"We look forward to joining the Northwell Health family," said Rothman Institute President Alexander R. Vaccaro, MD, PhD, and chairman of the department of orthopedics at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals in Philadelphia. "This agreement expands Rothman Institute's footprint into New York City and the surrounding suburbs."

Under the agreement, Northwell Health Orthopaedic Institute will work with Rothman to develop centers of excellence for orthopedics in the New York metropolitan area. The partners will also work on co-branding marketing initiatives, recruiting top-level physicians, joint research and tracking and measuring patient outcomes.

"We're excited about the affiliation with the Rothman Institute," said Chair of Orthopedics at Northwell Health Nicholas Sgaglione, MD. "The affiliation will bring together two nimble, forward-thinking organizations that emphasize high-quality care."

Rothman Institute includes 25 locations throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including two orthopedic urgent care centers.
Atlanta-based Resurgens Orthopaedics plans to implement athenahealth's cloud-based suite of EHR, practice management and patient engagement services.

Here are five things to know:

1. Resurgens previously connected its 20 locations and nearly 100 physicians with practice management software. The group, which performs 600,000 patient visits per year, made the switch to share incentives around reducing administrative burden and cost.

2. Douglas Lundy, MD, of Resurgens said the athenahealth suite will likely create efficiencies for physicians and staff by removing nonessential clinical work.

3. The partnership will also help Resurgens meet regulatory requirements of healthcare reform.

4. After Resurgens implements the athenahealth suite, providers can examine patient records across the Resurgens network as well as CommonWell Health Alliance and Carequality affiliated hospitals because athena is a member.

5. The athenahealth network is aligned with the orthopedic specialty and can aggregate billing rules from more than 3,800 orthopedic providers across the U.S. for insight on revenue cycle management.

"As the scale of our network grows, so does the intelligence and value it brings to the healthcare market," said Jonathan Bush, CEO at athenahealth. "Within the orthopedic space, we've gained immense traction  60 percent of the ortho market in Georgia alone."
Here are eight things for spinal surgeons to know for April 20, 2017.

Dr. Morgan Lorio receives 1st ISASS Distinguished Service Award

Morgan Lorio, MD, of Neuro-Spine Solutions in Bristol, Tenn., received the first Distinguished Service Award from the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery. Gunnar Andersson, MD, and his wife sponsored the award.





Slight drop in Q1 Johnson & Johnson orthopedic sales, hitting $2.3B

Johnson & Johnson reported orthopedic sales dropped slightly in the first quarter of 2017. Orthopedics sales dropped 0.7 percent in the Q1, hitting $2.3 billion. U.S. sales were $1.2 billion, a nearly 1 percent decline, while international sales were only down 0.3 percent to $948 million. Spine sales dropped 3.6 percent to $933 million in the Q1, driven by a 5.5 percent decline in U.S. spine sales. International spine sales dropped 1 percent.





American Hospital Association to award Dr. James Weinstein

The American Hospital Association will honor orthopedic spine surgeon James N. Weinstein, DO, with the Justin Ford Kimball Innovators Award on May 8 in Washington, D.C, at the AHA Annual Membership Meeting. Dr. Weinstein serves as CEO and president of Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health System. The AHA awards people or organizations developing "an influential, innovative approach to healthcare financing and/or healthcare delivery to improve access or coordination of care."





Implanet revenue up 3% in Q1

Implanet reported first quarter financial results, showing growth over the same period last year. The company reported a 3 percent increase in revenue in the Q1. The Jazz activity increased 27 percent, which accounted for 52 percent of the total revenue. In Q1 2016, Jazz activity made up 42 percent of the total revenue. The company sold 2,032 Jazz implants, reflecting a 70 percent volume growth in Q1 2017.





Dr. Richard Wohns performs live streamed total disc replacement at Maldives hospital

Richard Wohns, MD, performed a live cervical disc replacement procedure video streamed on Facebook and YouTube last week as part of the Maldives Spine Conference 2017. The event took place at ADK Hospital in Male, part of the Republic of Maldives, and attracted nearly 50,000 viewers.





5 neurosurgeons to be honored at AANS annual meetings

Five neurosurgeons will be recognized for their various achievements and roles in the field of neurosurgery and elsewhere at the 2017 AANS Annual Scientific Meeting in Los Angeles:



 J. Andre Grotenhuis, MD, PhD, of Netherlands-based Radboud University Medical Centre

 Former American Board of Neurological Surgery Director Volker K. H. Sonntag, MD

 John Ragheb, MD, of Miami-based Nicklaus Children's Hospital

 Robert F. Spetzler, MD, of Phoenix-based Barrow Neurological Institute

 Fady T. Charbel, MD, of the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago





Medicrea reports Q1 sales of $7.4M

Lyon, France-based Medicrea reported quarter one 2017 sales of $7.43 million. The company saw a 38 percent increase in U.S. cases leveraging the UNiD Rods.





Zyga announces 100th patient enrollee in SImmetry Sacroiliac Joint Fusion study

Minnetonka, Minn.-based Zyga announced the enrollment of the 100th patient in its SImmetry Sacroiliac Joint Fusion study. Orthopedic surgeon Antoine G. Tohmeh, MD, of Spokane, Wash.-based Deaconess Hospital performed the 100th operation. The 40-site trial will include 250 patients, and will evaluate how SImmetry Sacroiliac Joint Fusion impacts patients' long-term fusion and pain reduction.




Six spine surgeons weigh in on the future of independent practice in America.

Ask Spine Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to spine surgeons around the country about clinical, business and policy issues affecting spine care. We invite all spine surgeon and specialist responses.





Next week's question: What are some personal habits you employ to take care of your health?





Please send responses to Anuja Vaidya at avaidya@beckershealthcare.com by Wednesday, April 26, at 5 p.m. CST.

Question: Can independent physicians survive in today's rather volatile healthcare landscape?

Alden Milam, MD. Spine Surgeon at OrthoCarolina (Charlotte, N.C.): It's hard to imagine independent solo practice existing in the future because of constant change in healthcare financing and regulation. However, large independent practice will have several distinct advantages that will help that employment model thrive.

Plas T. James, MD. Spine Surgeon at Atlanta Spine Institute: I'm an individual physician and I'm surviving well. However, I think it really depends on when you start out. If I had to start out today from scratch, I think it would be very difficult but still viable. I think I have advantages in that I've been around long enough in the same market, in the same part of the town and city. There's always room for individual healthcare, provided you can offer great service.

No matter what it is, people want service. They don't want a robo-phone. They want to speak with a real person. If you give them individual attention, I think they'll come see you. It's important to make sure you answer their questions, and not get so busy trying to input data as opposed to listening to the patient. Independent physicians can survive if they remember to take care of their patients' needs and address them individually.

Richard Kube, MD. Founder and CEO of Prairie Spine & Pain Institute (Peoria, Ill.): I think it is challenging, but doable. Independent physicians have to regularly educate themselves regarding trends in their specialty. They have to have the ability to learn and apply new ideas to their practices in an efficient manner. In individual practice, there is also the opportunity to implement new ideas more rapidly than a larger bureaucratic model can do. Our practice has been diving ever deeper into the bundled payment model with some early success. Having the degree of control we do in creating an "all in, all one" price model gives the independent surgeons, especially those with a facility, an advantage when competing on value.

Brian R. Gantwerker, MD. Founder of the Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: I am trying to figure that out myself. Ask me again in a year. It is probably just getting better at what you do, being compulsive about patient care and follow-through with referring doctors. The larger institutions will always loom large but most patients do not want to be in a "system" when they can spend good time with a surgeon and ask questions that are answered.

Vladimir Sinkov, MD. Spine Surgeon at New Hampshire Orthopaedic Center (Nashua): With ever-increasing difficulty (thanks to the ever-increasing burden of new regulations and declining reimbursements), but yes! An independent physician must be willing to adapt to the changing environment and stay on the cutting edge of new science and technologies in his/her field to stay competitive.

Kern Singh, MD. Co-Director of Minimally Invasive Spine Institute at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush (Chicago): We are seeing independent physicians on the decline in today's healthcare landscape. Dealing with regulatory pressures, growing insurance companies, EHRs and other hurdles is troublesome to say the least. Still, there are a few ways physicians can maintain their independence. One way is to consolidate practices. Physicians can band together and create much larger private practices. This allows for more negotiating power with insurance companies and less financial strain on individuals.
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Up to 20 of Jaeger's high-street stores in the UK are expected to close

Around 10 jobs are to be lost at high-end fashion chain Jaeger in Belfast as administrators begin the process of shutting down 20 stores across the UK.

AlixPartners was appointed last week to oversee the administration process following failed attempts by the company's private equity owner Better Capital to sell the struggling retailer.

AlixPartners said on Tuesday that it has earmarked 20 "financially unviable" stores to close down, employing a total of 165 people.

The 20 include Belfast's Arthur Street branch - the company's only full-price store in Northern Ireland. A closing down sale is now being held at the outlet.

It's understood a discount Jaeger at shopping destination The Outlet outside Banbridge in Co Down is still open, though further discounts have been applied to stock.

Better Capital has sold Jaeger's debt to a company understood to be controlled by the retail billionaire Philip Day, who heads up Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

Insiders expect all of Jaeger's stores to eventually close down, although the brand is likely to survive as part of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill stable, which also includes Jane Norman, Peacocks and Austin Reed.

There had been speculation that the label could be adapted into department store concessions.

The company formerly operated from Donegall Square West in Belfast city centre before moving to Arthur Street, after the location became known for attracting higher-end retailers such as Avoca, Cath Kidston and Jack Wills.

The former Jaeger is now a Patisserie Valerie.

It was the coffee shop's first outlet in Ireland.

It added another store later at Castle Lane in Belfast.
Harland & Wolff has landed a multi-million pound contract to provide parts for a wind farm off the coast of Germany that will create 80 jobs. The former shipbuilder has been chosen by Poland-based jacket foundation supplier ST3 Offshore to produce a significant number of suction buckets for Dong Energy's Borkum Riffgrund 2 wind farm.

The suction buckets are used to provide a foundation for the offshore green energy-producing structures.

The products will be sent to ST3's manufacturing plant in Stettin for fitting.

Jonathan Guest, director of business development at Harland and Wolff, said: "H&W is delighted to be involved in the Borkum Riffgrund 2 project.

"It will allow us to continue to support manufacturing jobs in Belfast and contribute to UK exports.

"We are committed to the retention of manufacturing skills in Northern Ireland.

"Projects such as this enable us to both develop our in-house capability and support the local supply chain."

International Trade Minister Greg Hands said that the contract was a boost for high-skilled manufacturing jobs in Northern Ireland and "further demonstrates the UK's leadership in offshore wind".

"Harland & Wolff's innovative designs and expertise can help make renewable energy projects like Borkum Riffgrund 2 possible," he added.

Last year Harland & Wolff secured a similar major contract worth 20m that helped support 200 jobs.

The east Belfast manufacturer was tasked with making 24 huge steel foundation jackets for ScottishPower Renewables.
Brussels is set to demand that Britain pays the cost of moving EU agencies out of the UK after Brexit, according to a leaked draft negotiating document.

And the European Commission will insist that the UK pays its "divorce bill" in euros, ensuring that Britain bears the risk of any currency fluctuations.

The tough negotiating guidelines, obtained by the Politico.eu website, set out tight protections for EU citizens and budgets, as well as European businesses whose goods are traded in the UK.

And they insist that the European Court of Justice must maintain legal jurisdiction over disputes relating to the enforcement of the withdrawal agreement.

But it is the provisions on the "divorce bill" which are likely to come under the spotlight when Theresa May holds talks in London on April 26 with European Commission Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and president Jean-Claude Juncker.

Their meeting comes ahead of an April 29 summit in Brussels when the remaining 27 members will finalise their negotiating stance.

The draft paper states that the UK must "honour its share of the financing of all the obligations undertaken while it was a member of the Union", including " liabilities, contingent liabilities, legal and budgetary commitments".

And it says: "In addition, the United Kingdom should fully cover the specific costs related to the withdrawal process such as the relocation of the agencies or other Union bodies."

Brexit is likely to mean the UK losing the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and European Banking Authority (EBA), which are currently based in London's Canary Wharf and between them employ around 1,000 people in Britain.

The European Council has made clear it wants them transferred to one of the 27 remaining member states, though David Davis's Department for Exiting the EU insisted earlier this week that their future was still subject to negotiations.

Mr Juncker has previously suggested the UK's divorce bill may come to around 50 billion.

The new negotiating guidelines indicate that Britain will be able to pay it over a number of years, but insisted that the scheduling of payments "should be agreed in order to limit the impact of the withdrawal on the budget for the Union".

Even after a settlement is reached on a final figure, the total may be subject to future "annual technical adjustments".

The document emerged as Mrs May held talks at 10 Downing Street with the president of the European Parliament , Antonio Tajani.

MEPs will have a vote on any deal struck by Mrs May at the end of the two-year process of negotiations under Article 50, giving the Parliament an effective veto.

Leaving Downing Street after talks lasting 45 minutes, Mr Tajani said he and Mrs May were agreed on the need for a resolution to the issue of UK and EU ex-pats' rights.

"This is the most important message - we want to work together," he said.

"It is a good start, a good beginning, now we need to go for implementation."

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "The PM and the president agreed the UK and EU should continue to have a close relationship after Brexit and on the importance of giving early certainty about the status of British citizens living elsewhere in the EU and citizens of other member states in the UK."

Asked about the Commission paper, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: "You wouldn't expect me to comment on leaked documents. The guidelines are draft until they are formally signed off by the Council."
Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill speaks to the press following her meeting with Secretary of State, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP. Press Eye - Parliament Buildings - Stormont - Sinn Fein Press Conference - 20th April 2017 Photograph by Declan roughan

Sinn Fein have told James Brokenshire that the British government has "done nothing" to achieve a deal at Stormont - and accused it of wanting power-sharing in Northern Ireland to fail.

Northern Ireland's political parties met with Mr Brokenshire on Thursday following the decision to hold a General Election.

He was expected to come under fire from the SDLP and Sinn Fein over the poll as he met the parties.

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan was also due to hold meetings.

On Wednesday Parliament approved the Prime Minister's call for a snap General Election on June 8.

Nationalist parties have said that it shows a lack of interest from Prime Minister Theresa May into the ongoing Stormont crisis talks.

The decision to call a General Election has cast doubt over whether a deal will be found in the talks.

Northern Ireland's political parties are set to resume negotiations aimed at forming a power sharing government.

The parties missed the deadline in forming a government within the six weeks after the election.

Speaking after the meeting Sinn Fein's leader in Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill said she told Mr Brokenshire that the British government had done "nothing" to achieve an agreement in the talks.

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Mrs O'Neill accused the British Government of wanting power-sharing in Northern Ireland to fail.

There is a growing belief out there among the wider nationalist community that the Government don't want a power-sharing executive to work here

"They don't want an executive that is going to take a firm stand against Brexit because obviously the majority of people here voted to remain in the European Union.

Mrs O'Neill continued: "I told him (Secretary of State) the British government have done nothing over the course of last seven weeks to achieve an agreement.

There is a growing belief among nationalists and people who voted to remain that the British government would prefer no local Assembly to one which stands against the Tories reckless Brexit agenda.

Its clear that the people of the north who voted to remain in the EU are regarded as saboteurs by Theresa May and her clique of Tory Brexiteers. We are no more than collateral damage.

Theresa May needs to hear clearly from the people of the north that we dont want Brexit, we dont want a border and we dont want Tory cuts and austerity.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has accused Theresa May of throwing "a grenade into the middle" of the peace process.

However Mr Brokenshire said earlier this week that the General Election would not change his approach or attitude in finding a deal for Stormont.

He said: "Discussions between the parties, and the UK and Irish Governments, will continue, in accordance with the three-stranded approach.

"The prospect of a forthcoming UK general election does not change this approach."
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, along with Michelle ONeill and other party colleagues, speaks to reporters at Stormont

Presumably, when the Secretary of State James Brokenshire decided to prolong the pain at Stormont and avoid a Good Friday crash, he knew that a general election was about to be announced.

Had he kept his resolve to conclude the talks last week, he would be now under irresistible pressure to call an Assembly election to coincide with May's surprise Westminster poll.

As it is, he can say that there is unfinished business here, that there is nothing clear for people to vote on, that the time is not right.

That position complicates things in other ways.

Sinn Fein, which has seemed most eager for an Assembly election, might feel that it has at least part of what it wants, a major contest with unionism, a further chance to wake up more sleeping voters and establish itself as the biggest party in Northern Ireland.

That is unlikely to be as attainable at Westminster as at Stormont where currently the DUP has double the number of seats Sinn Fein holds.

The March Assembly election produced a staggering result for republicans and nationalists, bringing them neck and neck with unionists, but for one seat. And that unionist surplus can be accounted for by Jim Allister who opposes the entire agreement. It is not a lead for pro-Assembly unionism.

This was a gain that had still seemed years away for nationalism, a tipping point long anticipated and yet presumed long out of reach, when unionists would be firmly eclipsed and the question of Irish unity might be on the table.

Gauging those political communities by religion put them about equal in size already, going by the 2011 census (Roman Catholics 40.8%, Non-RC Christians 41.6%).

And two things are in flux.

One is the number of sleeping voters, those who don't bother their wee heads on polling day.

Another is the proportion of Catholics/nationalists who want a united Ireland.

Sinn Fein's current calculation is that it can sprint ahead of unionism by waking up some of the sleepers, as it clearly did in March.

It also believes that there are nominal nationalists who would not previously have voted for a united Ireland who might now think that their best post-Brexit hopes reside in 32 county Republic, or something that looks a lot more like it than the present arrangement.

Sinn Fein is urging more and more people to register to vote and it will be able to test on June 8 how well that campaign is working.

It may not be able to show them a good outcome from a high turnout.

The party seems unlikely to take the six or seven seats it would have to win to make the kind of impression it made in the March Assembly election.

There will be a hard fight to recover Fermanagh-South Tyrone, and much will depend on whether the new Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann makes a pact with the DUP.

And, in terms of the community head count project, it makes no difference whether or not they take, say South Belfast, from the SDLP.

Sinn Fein is disadvantaged at Westminster. The DUP was only 6,000 votes ahead of them in 2015 but took four more seats. Republicans could, theoretically, overtake the DUP in number of votes and still end up behind.

What they need is a clear leadership position as the largest political party in Northern Ireland for then it would be impossible to refuse them the border poll they want.

They are more likely to get that in an Assembly election so they are likely to be pressing hard for that.

They could howl about the injustice of so many votes yielding so few seats at Westminster. So also could the Ulster Unionist Party and Alliance.

It takes on average just over 20,000 votes for the DUP to get a seat. That rate would have given the Alliance three seats, but they got none.

It would have given the Ulster Unionists five instead of two.

Alastair McDonnell is the outrider, he held South Belfast on less than 10,000 votes, having slipped nearly 5,000. This makes him vulnerable to a unionist pact unless Sinn Fein pulls out to let him win, as it did in 2010.

This election seems unlikely to be the one in which nationalism pushes to the front of the field, even with greater urgency and a growing demographic share.

But the DUP have much to worry about, aside from the Sinn Fein threat.

Currently they feel they have leverage with the Tories because they have a narrow majority. Their anticipated landslide - if it happens - will strip them of bargaining power.

Northern Ireland, it appears, is a sideshow in this election.
The poll passed in the Commons earlier in the day

Theresa May delivers a rallying call to Conservative Party members at the launch of their election campaign in Bolton after getting the poll passed in the Commons earlier in the day

DUP leader Arlene Foster, deputy leader Nigel Dodds and party colleagues pictured during a press conference at Parliament Buildings Stormont (Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye)

South and North Belfast and Upper Bann could be included in a new, wider unionist pact for the general election, party sources have suggested.

The DUP and Ulster Unionists plan to meet in the next few days amid speculation they could expand the four-constituency deal from the last national poll two years ago.

In 2015 a pan-unionist pact saw the DUP take back East Belfast from Alliance's Naomi Long.

The arrangement between the DUP and the UUP resulted in the latter regaining a foothold in Parliament by winning seats in Fermanagh-South Tyrone and South Antrim.

Now some suggest a new deal could help protect DUP MPs David Simpson in Upper Bann and Nigel Dodds in North Belfast, and help win South Belfast for unionism from the SDLP's Alasdair McDonnell.

The four-constituency pact at the last election also involved Newry and Armagh, where former Ulster Unionist deputy leader Danny Kennedy stood.

DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the negotiations did not have to include a formal pact but could amount to co-operation for specific seats. Both he and Fermanagh-South Tyrone MP Tom Elliott said their parties hoped to arrange a meeting in the next few days.

Sir Jeffrey also signalled his party could be prepared to go further than before.

The DUP MP highlighted South Belfast, where he said an agreed unionist candidate could gain a seat from nationalists, and added that March's Assembly election showed the DUP was the constituency's largest party.

"It's not just a question of the Union, it's also important to maximise our representation at Westminster to ensure Northern Ireland gets the best deal on Brexit and other issues," he said.

An Ulster Unionist source said Upper Bann - where Jo-Anne Dobson lost her Assembly seat last month - had been included in discussions on the election equation in the past.

Mr Elliott said he hoped talks with the DUP would secure the "best agreement around some constituencies", including his own.

"That shouldn't be a shock. There is no point in electing people to Westminster who will not take their seats," the Ulster Unionist MP said.

Mr Elliott conceded that it would be "very difficult" for him to hold onto Fermanagh-South Tyrone without an arrangement in place with the DUP.

Yesterday the SDLP rejected any suggestion of a nationalist pact with Sinn Fein.

South Down MP Margaret Ritchie said: "We don't do electoral pacts. The SDLP fights the election - each and every election - on our own mandate and our own basis."

But Sinn Fein MLA Declan Kearney said parties opposed to Brexit and Tory austerity should work together.

He said Sinn Fein shared much "common ground" not just with the SDLP, but also Alliance and the Green Party, on equality and dealing with the legacy of the Troubles.

Alliance said it will not be entering into any electoral pacts for the Westminster race. "We are standing on our own two feet and putting forward a constructive vision which we believe the public will back," Kellie Armstrong MLA said.

"Rather than denying people a choice, we want to offer them a real one - no sectarian headcounts, but rather progressive politics that creates a shared society for everyone."
Academics often point out that diversity is good, in part, because it brings different perspectives and experiences to the table. I agree. In fact, this is one reason many argue that higher education needs to also promote viewpoint diversity. Diversity based on identities such as race does not necessarily reflect a deeper diversity of life experiences and personal beliefs.This might come as a surprise to those trained to mindlessly repeat "white privilege," but white people often have very diverse life histories and economic backgrounds. Tragedy and triumph are not bound to race, gender, or any other group identity.That being said, I would like to focus on a different and often neglected benefit of all forms of diversity, including viewpoint diversity. Diversity doesn't just showcase the many ways people are different. It also reveals our similarities. Diversity connects people across different groups by demonstrating a common humanity.I was born and spent the early years of my life in West Africa. Most of the kids I played with were Africans. Guess what? It didn't matter. Kids are kids. Children all over the world have an equal capacity for imagination and the same intrinsic desire to play, explore, and bond with others.When my own children were in their early years of primary school, I was a professor in England. My children attended a school near the university that was extremely culturally diverse. English was not the native language of many of the students. Mine were the only Americans at the school and most of their friends were other international students from countries such as Pakistan, India, and China.Though they certainly learned about a number of cultural differences, as did my wife and I, a crucial lesson they received was that people from all over the world have a lot in common.This is not to say that all cultural beliefs and practices are equal. They are certainly not. And I believe we should always defend the Western enlightenment values that have demonstrably made the world more egalitarian. The point is that people who on the surface appear very different from us actually have many underlying similarities. Indeed, psychologists have established that basic psychological needs as well as the structure of emotion and personality are universal.However, humans are tribal by nature and decades of research demonstrates that with little prompting, people tend to exhibit favoritism to those who seem similar to them in some way, a phenomenon known as ingroup bias. The ingroup can be based on almost any identity marker, even a relatively trivial one. Even worse, ingroup bias can turn into outgroup hostility and intergroup conflict when different groups are competing for the same resources or at least believe that they are in a zero-sum contest.Thus, it's imperative that in our modern diverse and globally-interconnected societies we advocate for the inherent humanity in all, to understand that at our core, most of us have the same goals to be self-determined, part of a social fabric of family and friends, and pursue lives of enduring meaning.When we view people as part of a common humanity we are better able to treat them as individuals, not just members of different groups. Martin Luther King Jr. wisely stated,Sadly, many college professors, administrators, and activists are promoting a very different view, one that is at odds with decades of scientific research.Instead of using diversity to promote a common humanity, they are using it to make students perpetually conscious of group membership. This increases the likelihood of ingroup bias. They are creating spaces, including residence halls , that are segregated by race or designated for the exclusive use of one particular group. This promotes distrust of and hostility toward members of different groups.College administrators are regulating free speech and creating bias reporting systems that encourage students to look for offense and be suspicious of their peers. This discourages and even penalizes candid discussion and natural learning about how to navigate a diverse world. And by encouraging members of certain groups to feel like victims, they increase feelings of entitlement and reduce willingness to help others.This obsession with identity politics also triggers competitive victimhood, a phenomenon in which members of one group respond to accusations of victimizing other groups by thinking about ways in which their own group has been unfairly treated. Schools are teaching students to judge ideas not on substance, but on the group identity of the person who generated the idea. This reduces students' ability to engage in the type of rational discourse that helps them find common ground.Colleges are ignorant of or simply ignoring decades of research on social cognition, psychological motives, and intergroup relations. It is as if they are fashioning social justice campaigns and policies in direct contradiction to what empirical research would advise.Instead of using proven strategies and empirical research to help students succeed, colleges are allowing far-left activist professors and administrators to use diversity campaigns to push political agendas. The social sciences and humanities in particular are increasingly dominated by academics whose scholarly theories and research are based more on leftist ideology than empirical data and objective reality.And it is often the most dogmatic leftist faculty and administrators who aggressively promote the identity politics that ironically increase conflict between members of different groups. The prioritization of political goals over education badly serves the students they are charged with educating. Economically disadvantaged students are likely to be the most harmed by group divisiveness since they are most in need of cooperation.There are many disciplined and thoughtful faculty who keep their personal views from biasing their teaching and scholarly work. However, few are willing to speak out against their ideologically-driven colleagues out of fear of being socially ostracized, publically shamed, or even professionally punished. This is why it is critical that colleges and universities maintain a commitment to free speech and begin to embrace the value of viewpoint diversity. Curiously, diversity of thought is the one type of diversity many colleges have little interest in promoting.However, viewpoint diversity can also reveal a common humanity. Many academics might not value different points of view because they do not socialize with or perhaps even know any conservatives or non-leftists, which makes it hard for them to appreciate their humanity and intellectual contributions. The liberal academic bubble is very real.Again, let me emphasize that there is great value to championing diversity. Group identities, especially the identities that influence our beliefs, are often part of our personal identities. Thus, differences between groups can be informative and worthy of consideration.Nevertheless, we often neglect the fact that diversity also reveals a common humanity. It teaches us that most members of different groups have the same human flaws and strengths, the same fears and hopes. Only when we understand that are we truly able to treat people as individuals who should be judged by the content of their character.
Theresa May has been accused of throwing a grenade into the middle of the peace process by calling a snap election.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the Prime Minister had sacrificed the chance of progress as part of her mission to destroy the Labour Party.

It came as Sinn Feins Stormont leader Michelle ONeill claimed the PM had shown a blatant disregard to the people of Northern Ireland.

Yesterday the leaders of the five main parties met ahead of a resumption of bilateral meetings to restore devolution.

However, Mr Eastwood said that by calling an election, Mrs May had made it very difficult to reach a deal by the deadline of early May.

The British Prime Minister threw a grenade into the middle of our peace process. She has sacrificed the opportunity for progress, he said.

That doesnt mean we are walking away, we are still here. We will keep meeting until we can get this power-sharing establishment up and running.

The British Government seems to have walked away from it. They need to get back around the table.

He added: While Theresa May goes off and tries to destroy the British Labour Party, we still have a job to do in Northern Ireland and we are not about to give up on that.

Its a pity the British Government thinks so little of Northern Ireland that they call an election in the middle of our talks process.

Ms ONeill said the Prime Ministers announcement was about the Tory partys self interest.

Ms ONeill added: She has shown a blatant disregard for the people of the North once again.

Sinn Fein is ready to fight this election. We will go out and engage with the public who voted in the majority to stay in the European Union.

This election is not about Orange and Green, it is about Brexit and opposition to the Tory partys policies.

Mrs Mays surprise election announcement appeared to have injected some impetus at Stormont, where full round-table meetings had not been expected to begin until next Monday.

DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said the announcement during the discussions was unfortunate, but insisted his party was still ready to form an Executive.

However, party colleague Ian Paisley said he believed Stormont will remain in cold storage for some time.

He said: I think the deep frost button has been pressed on the Assembly and once the freezer bags come out, it will remain in cold storage.

It is very sad, and it saddens me to even say that, but it is where we are Im afraid.

Once you start to dismantle the apparatus of a devolved government, it is very difficult to begin putting them back into place. It can take a long time.

My party is willing to form an Executive tonight, but Sinn Fein has not been willing to get devolution up and running again.

The North Antrim MP said even after the June 8 election, it could prove difficult to get the negotiations going.

By mid-June, Northern Ireland will be moving towards the height of the marching season.

He added: We do have these perennials which can cause us problems, but it is Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein who have missed the boat here.

Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann said the parties are now waiting to see the legislation Mr Brokenshire intends to fast-track through Parliament before it is dissolved on May 3.

These could include allowing the rates to be collected and setting budgets for at least some government departments including health and education.

We are now awaiting sight of the legislation the Secretary of State has indicated he will bring forward, he said.

This will give us an indication of the timeframe for the formation of an Executive.
A Northern Ireland MP has denied that he voted against the Prime Minister's call for a snap election to save his seat.

The UK will go to the polls on June 8 after MPs cleared the way for an early election.

Theresa May easily passed the hurdle needed under the Fixed Term Parliament Act to bring the poll forward from the scheduled date of 2020.

The Prime Minister needed the backing of 434 MPs - two-thirds of the House of Commons - with 522 voting in support.

Former SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell was one of just 13 who voted against, as did North Down MP Lady Hermon.

Mr McDonnell held his South Belfast seat at the last election with a majority of 906.

He would be vulnerable if -as has been mooted - a unionist pact is agreed.

But Mr McDonnell insisted this was "certainly not" a factor in his decision.

"I feel the election is a cynical exercise by Theresa May just to drum up a big majority for a hard Brexit, and a hard Brexit is not in the interests of Northern Ireland," he told the Belfast Telegraph.

"I have a constituency that voted 70% to remain (in the EU referendum), and they are still haranguing me about Remain."

Lady Hermon, meanwhile, said it was "a totally unnecessary" election.

She said: "The Prime Minister already has a majority in the House of Commons. And she has already won every vote about Brexit with a comfortable majority. So, what is this election really about? It's about the PM making sure her Government has an iron grip on all policies, not just the Brexit negotiations, for the next five years. I refuse to give the PM that mandate."

Last night Mrs May hit the campaign trail in Bolton, having urged voters to give her a "mandate to fight for Britain".

The Prime Minister made her first stump speech of the seven- week campaign just hours after the Commons vote.

It is a clear sign of her intent to raid Brexit heartlands held by Labour. Bolton North East is held by Labour with a 4,000 majority - potentially vulnerable given the Conservatives' big lead.

There was never any real doubt about Mrs May securing the backing needed to go to the country, with both Labour's Jeremy Corbyn and Liberal Democrat Tim Farron saying they welcomed the election - though Scottish National Party MPs abstained in the vote.

Telling MPs it was time to "put our fate in the hands of the people and let the people decide", Mrs May told a packed House of Commons: "We are determined to bring stability to the United Kingdom for the long-term and that's what this election will be about - leadership and stability. The decision facing the country will be clear. I will be campaigning for strong and stable leadership in the national interest with me as Prime Minister and I will be asking for the public's support to continue to deliver my plan for a stronger Britain, to lead the country for the next five years and to give the certainty and stability that we need."

But Mr Corbyn dismissed her argument that she needs a fresh mandate to deliver Brexit.

He said Mrs May's U-turn on her previous insistence that she would not call a snap election showed she could not be trusted.
It's seven weeks until the Westminster election but it's already clear who our politicians reckon the winners and losers will be.

After the shock of their poor performance in last month's Assembly poll, the two main unionist parties know what is at stake.

There were no flowery flourishes from either yesterday, just signs that they're preparing to knuckle down to some serious business and hammer out a pact.

June 8 holds risks for both of them but, with the right strategy, these can be minimised in most constituencies, bar Fermanagh and South Tyrone.

The DUP will face a formidable challenge from Naomi Long in East Belfast, but it also has a chance of picking up South Belfast. Sinn Fein is oozing confidence. There are no threats to its seats, and potential big gains are on the cards. Recapturing Bobby Sands' old constituency is possible even with a unionist pact.

The Shinners must be bookies favourites to snatch South Down from the SDLP, and there's also a chance of Foyle as well, although Mark Durkan's position isn't as weak as Margaret Ritchie's.

The SDLP is in a clear state of panic. It was tremendously lucky to emerge from the Assembly poll with 12 seats. Everything went its way in marginal constituencies.

As one party insider admitted: "The ball bounced well."

Just seven weeks later, it's facing an election which could effectively wipe it out. No wonder Colum Eastwood's words were so dramatic at Stormont yesterday.

Theresa May had thrown "a grenade into the middle of our peace process," he declared.

The election has scuppered whatever chances there were of a deal from the current talks' process. But political activity (or inactivity) in this neck of the woods no longer bothers the British Government.

The dissident republican campaign is negligible and, so long as there isn't a meaningful security threat, Westminster doesn't care about us. Mrs May was never about to throw away the chance of a landslide Tory victory because it jeopardised Stormont.

While Mr Eastwood said he was against a "sectarian pact", he held open the door to some sort of anti-Brexit coalition to "fight against anti-Europe MPs".

Despite how he might dress it up, this would just be a nationalist pact to mirror a unionist one. The Alliance Party won't enter a pact so that leaves only Sinn Fein as potential partners.

Of the three SDLP seats at risk, Sinn Fein won't stand aside in South Down or Foyle.

So any deal would focus on Mairtin O Muilleoir giving Alasdair McDonnell a clear run in South Belfast, in return for Nichola Mallon reciprocating for Gerry Kelly in North Belfast.

Sinn Fein believes it can win back Fermanagh and South Tyrone without a pact.

Michelle Gildernew was only 500 votes behind Tom Elliott in 2015.

Despite Mr Eastwood's words yesterday, there is too much internal opposition in the SDLP for him to go down the path of a deal.

Sinn Fein may unilaterally pull out of South Belfast so it occupies the moral high ground in nationalist eyes.

There is talk of the DUP's Emma-Little Pengelly as the unionist unity candidate in that constituency and, if Sinn Fein stands, Alasdair McDonnell could be in trouble.

The DUP is in a strong position to dictate terms in pact negotiations with the UUP, but the latter will be content to secure a clear run for Tom Elliott in Fermanagh and South Tyrone and Danny Kinahan in South Antrim.

Northern Ireland will have gone to the polls three times in just over a year, with the possibility of a fourth election to Stormont looming.

Yet our local political institutions aren't functioning and Westminster ignores us.

Our electorate have certainly pulled the short straw.

They are undoubtedly the most active, but least represented, of any in these islands.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said he was disappointed that Alliance leader Naomi Long has rejected the opportunity for a conversation

The SDLP has met with Sinn Fein and the Green Party to discuss the possibility of forming an anti-Brexit alliance in the run up to the general election.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said a majority of pro-Brexit majority MPs cannot be sent to Westminster.

Although the Alliance party insisted it was not interested in entering into any election pacts, Mr Eastwood said he hoped to discuss the issue with Alliance leader Naomi Long.

"We are not interested in sectarian pacts. We don't do two-party pacts to keep out another party from another community.

"We are talking about reaching out to people who want to put up a challenge to Brexiteers, who want to remind Theresa May and the people in the European Union that Northern Ireland voted to remain," said Mr Eastwood at Stormont.

He added: "I have spoken to Michelle O'Neill and Stephen Agnew (Green party leader in the region) and I want to speak to anyone else interested in that conversation.

"I am disappointed (Alliance leader) Naomi Long has already rejected the opportunity for a conversation. Hopefully, we can talk these issues out.

"We don't do sectarian pacts. We do alliances against very damaging things like Brexit. We shouldn't be sending a majority of pro-Brexit MPs to Westminster."

However, Mrs Long insisted the Alliance Party "is not interested in doing pacts with anyone."

"Label it what you like but what it will do is reduce this election into yet another sectarian head count," she added.

Mrs Long also said she believed Alliance could win both south and east Belfast in the General Election.
It'll be the seventh time voters will get their say at polls across Northern Ireland in just three years, but are the public getting tired of being asked what they think or do repeated elections keep people engaged in politics?

With just 10 months between the last two Assembly elections and a six-week countdown to the next General Election, Northern Ireland could be due a dose of voter fatigue.

We hit the streets in Belfast and Londonderry to find a mixed reaction from voters.

Retired health care worker Ann Murray from Antrim was one of those in Belfast who said she will vote based on her principles but is getting tired of it all.

"I think the whole community is getting sick of voting," she said.

"They look at all their concerns and they can see they have done absolutely nothing about any of them. People don't know where they stand with rates and the health service is absolutely atrocious now. It feels like nothing is ever done and all this time is wasted on elections at the moment. Then it takes so long to get things brought back to normal afterwards. But they have been given time to work things out and that time has been extended again and again so unfortunately an election does seem to be the only way forward."

Michelle Dunn in Belfast said she had little faith much would change.

"It will be interesting, I will vote again but I'll probably stick with the same ones I have voted for before unless something big happens. I would love to think things will change with politics here, but I don't think they will," she said.

Alex Linton (24), a welder from Ballymoney, has never voted before and said he doesn't intend to.

"I'm never really interested in it. I feel like if I was to vote it wouldn't really make much of a difference anyway so I don't bother with it and I probably won't vote the next time either," he said.

But friend Zoe Dunbar (22), who works in insurance and is also from Ballymoney, is more optimistic.

She said she felt the same way until she voted for the first time in the EU referendum.

"I'd never voted before but I went along with my mum because I felt like I needed to vote in that one and gave it a go. Since then I've been interested in it and decided to vote in the Assembly election, too. I think I will vote the next time, too. Some people say they're fed up with it, but it takes two minutes to do and it means you have your say."

Mrs Jones from Belfast has other reasons to vote.

She said: "It's important for us to vote because I'm a woman and we fought hard enough for our vote so we need to use it. I think people are fed up with what we have at the moment, but I think we'll have more tit-for-tat politics so I expect that will push the turnout up."

Caelan Monaghan (27), a cinema worker from Belfast, said he would feel compelled to vote if he thought more progressive socialist parties would get elected. Meanwhile, in Londonderry, Loren Bonner (54) felt that the calling of another election is "an absolute disgrace".

"I am fed up with politics, particularly watching the politicians in Stormont. They should be doing the job they have been elected to do. Theresa May said she would not call an election until 2020, and now look at us, going to polls again," he said.

"Theresa May couldn't give a damn about us in Northern Ireland. Our talks here are going nowhere and now all the parties will be in battle mode. It's ridiculous. But I will go out and vote. It's my responsibility."

Susan Ferry (60) felt voting in a general election didn't change much.

"I would rather have a local election than a general one. I don't want us to go to direct rule. I honestly don't think that voting in the General Election will make one iota of difference. I am totally against Brexit and we voted against it in the North, but look where that got us. I don't think our MPs have a voice to make a difference and to have a say," she said.

"Saying that, I am going to vote. I have six children and have always told them that we fought hard for that vote, not to waste it."

Aideen Hughes (37) said she felt people should turn their anger about what's going on into action.

"People assume that others will do it for them, that others will vote. Look what happened with Brexit," she said.

"Theresa May is sitting in London in her jewels dictating to everyone.

"The money she spends on one of her skirts could help refugee children. I am sick of it. People are in power because people put them there, either by voting or by not voting. I am definitely going out to vote."

Steven McGonigle (34) said he will vote despite having "serious political fatigue".

"I'm not bothered about elections. To be honest I am totally sick of politics. I hear people yapping about Sinn Fein or the DUP and the UUP on the radio and I just switch it off," he said.

"People should just get on with it and sort it out. It seems we have had just one election after another recently and scandals about wood burners and Brexit. I am fed up with the whole thing, I have serious political fatigue. I'll still vote, though. You've no right to complain if you don't vote."

Aaron McKeever (32) said he thinks Mrs May has made a mistake calling this election.

"I think Theresa May has made a huge mistake, a technical miscalculation," he said. "People who are Remain will use this opportunity to voice their opinion and the Leave vote will sit back on their laurels. I think that enough parties will end up with enough seats in parliament to, by proxy, do away with Brexit. I will vote in this election."
Air pollution levels in Belfast have been branded among the worst in the UK, with one monitoring station breaching EU legal limits for three years in a row

Air pollution levels in Belfast have been branded among the worst in the UK, with one monitoring station breaching EU legal limits for three years in a row.

The station at Stockman's Lane recorded an annual average nitrogen dioxide reading of 50 microgrammes per metre squared for the first three months of 2017 - 25% higher than the EU legal limit of 40 microgrammes per metre squared.

The same average score was also recorded in 2015 and 2016, according to The Times journalist Peter Yeung, who carried out an investigation into the impact of air pollution in the UK which found a rise in the number of communities blighted by toxic air. The Belfast air pollution figure, derived from DEFRA stats, was one of the worst in the UK, he said.

"There has been no decline - despite supposed political attempts to reduce emissions," he said.

Diesel cars are among the leading producers of nitrogen dioxide, prompting calls for a crackdown by Doctors Against Diesel founding member Jonathan Grigg, who said the cars should be removed from the roads as soon as possible.

"Exposure over a very long time has an insidious effect. It suppresses the lung growth of children, it's involved in the onset of asthma, a decline in lung function as you age, and there's emerging evidence of it causing cognitive problems and also reduced growth of foetuses," he said. "Targeting diesel cars is a very easy way to reduce emissions. At the moment, it's still relatively advantageous to drive a di esel vehicle - there's not enough disincentive."

Belfast Green Party councillor Georgina Milne, who is a research scientist, said she was worried, but not surprised at the news. "Indeed, there are four air quality management areas in Belfast declared for breaches of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Particulate Matter (PM)," she said.

"One of these areas is on the busy Newtownards Road, in my East Belfast constituency. Indeed, many residents have spoken about the poor air quality."

Cllr Milne said transport emissions are a huge issue right across Belfast and it is time to move towards more sustainable transport solutions.

"The human and financial cost of doing nothing is huge - over 500 deaths in Northern Ireland per year are attributed to air pollution. This represents more deaths per year than road traffic collisions and passive smoking combined," she said.

"Deaths from air pollution-related disease cost the NHS over 20bnper year - that's nearly 1/5th of the overall budget.

"We need the traditional parties to come together, to form an Executive and deliver a budget so that these life and death issues can be tackled."

Friends of the Earth activist, Declan Allison said: "Air pollution is linked to lung cancer, heart disease, asthma and diabetes, with 40,000 people in the UK dying early each year as a result. It is unacceptable to persistently be in breach of legal air quality limits."

In a statement a spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs said it works with Defra to "monitor air pollutants to assess compliance with the Air Quality Directive".

She said: "With regard to air quality in Greater Belfast, the Department has been working with the Department for Infrastructure and Belfast City Council to draw up an Air Quality Action Plan, which will be part of a UK-wide consultation in due course.
DUP leader Arlene Foster is set to meet with Irish Language groups "as soon as possible".

An Irish Language Act has become one of the major stumbling blocks in political talks between the DUP and Sinn Fein to restore power sharing.

The former first minister said she wanted to engage with Gaelic speakers who lacked party political baggage.

POBAL, the independent advocacy group for the Irish language, confirmed it has received a response from the DUP after they wrote to them asking for a meeting with Mrs Foster.

The group said that the party told them even though the General Election has now been called the DUP is "seeking to free up space in the diary to meet with us, 'as soon as possible'.

Janet Muller, Director of POBAL said: "When Arlene Foster announced she wanted to meet Irish language groups, we welcomed her statement and wrote immediately offering to meet her. The party has now come back to us and we are pleased that there response appears positive. It is obvious that it is worthwhile for the DUP to meet the Irish speaking community.

"It is also extremely important that political parties meet POBAL because of our expertise on Irish language legislation. We have published realistic, reasonable proposals for the Irish language Act, which should be accepted as the basis for the legislation.

"There is no other model which is capable of creating guaranteed rights for the Irish speaking community and a wide range of joined-up Irish language services. Our model would make clear the duties of the state and would help Irish speakers to understand and use their rights.

"A weak act, and a Lowest Common Denominator approach will just create more frustration and confusion because of the particular circumstances of the north."

In a statement the DUP confirmed that Mrs Foster was continuing to arrange meetings with Irish Language groups.

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A spokeswoman said: "DUP Party Leader Arlene Foster has been arranging meetings with Irish Language groups and hopes to have engagement with them in the near future."
Is It Possible That Mama And Daddy Were Wrong?

When I was growing up my parents told me to save my money (if and when I ever started acquiring money). I listened, and to this very day, I believe they were right but my Federal Government is making me nervous.



I find myself looking over my shoulder more than I used to in order to see if there is a Bureaucrat behind me making notes about me in his government issued iPad.



As a newly married couple in the U.S. Army and making $222.22 per month and we started saving $50 each month. Get your calculator out and check out my figuring...that was 22.5%.



How many young couples are saving 22.5% of their salary today? If there are any, they may be in a heap of trouble because they are not doing their part to Stimulate the Economy.



As recently as today (4/19/17) I am seeing news commentary attacking the once time honored American practice of SAVING MONEY. They have started to paint saving as an evil unto itself that must be stopped. Here is specifically what I saw today...



Shopping Drives the U.S. Economy. About 70% Of American Economic Activity Comes From People Buying Stuff. (Yes, They Really Did Use The Word "Stuff".)

Here comes my Foolishness...Or Is It?...



Are we about to see some or all of the following?

 A News Lead In...



Peter Fernerke was arrested today in Ohio for saving more that the Federally Mandated Maximum Allowed Percent of his take-home pay.



 A Public Service Announcement...



Citizens, remember to comply with your responsibility to spend as much of your salary as is necessary to keep America Rolling Along Singing A Song. If you don't know how much spending is required of you, go to www.yourpart.gov and consult the Required Minimum Spending Table. Remember this table shows your Minimum Spending Responsibility. Any amount spent in excess of the Required Minimum will be appreciated by a grateful nation and your 9% Approval Rated Congress.



 A Live Concert...



The Hollywood Celebrity you most admire (whoever that is) is asking you to attend this Saturday's live concert called, Be Patriotic! Don't Save! There will be one held in every town in America of over 25 people. Bring the excess saving you have been squirreling away in violation of the Required Minimum Spending Table. No questions will be asked about where you have been hiding your money. Jimmy Carter will be stationed at each Red, White and Blue Collection Box (really a dumpster) to personally shake your hand and thank you for doing your part. Come clean for America before we come and get you.



Ok I got carried away again. However, I would like to ask you to do one thing after I went to all the trouble to peck out this Foolishness. Start taking note of every time you hear or read about the "evils" of saving money and/or the importance of shopping. It may surprise you how dead serious my Foolishness turns out to be.



Would I kid u?

Smartfella


Without a deal to bring back devolution, the Assembly will be unable to bring in mitigation schemes to cushion the impact of the upheaval for vulnerable families and individuals

The Government may have to step in to prevent a further postponement of the long-delayed welfare reforms in Northern Ireland, it has emerged.

Without a deal to bring back devolution, the Assembly will be unable to bring in mitigation schemes to cushion the impact of the upheaval for vulnerable families and individuals.

Universal Credit, which replaces a number of major benefits, is to be rolled out across the province in just over four months.

If the Assembly is not restored in that time, Secretary of State James Brokenshire will be required to take unilateral action, that could bring the Government in for criticism from other parts of the UK if the mitigation measures are included.

Just over 18 months ago the DUP and Sinn Fein handed back responsibility for welfare to Westminster, after more than three years of deadlock over benefit reforms.

The result was the Northern Ireland Welfare Reform Act, which means the power to trigger Universal Credit changes is in place.

Around 300,000 households will be impacted, with official estimates that 126,000 will be worse off by an average of almost 40 a week.

A further 114,000 are expected to be an average of 29 better off a week, with 72,000 remaining unchanged.

The changes are to be phased in gradually across Northern Ireland staring with Limavady in September - if the current timetable can be adhered to - followed by Ballymoney, Magherafelt and Coleraine.

The full roll-out of the programme will take a year, finishing off with Cookstown, Ballynahinch and Newcastle by September of next year.

Universal Credit replaces a series of existing benefits including Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Income Support, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit.

The Department for Communities, which is working with the Department for Work and Pensions in London following the handover of responsibilities, confirmed yesterday the Assembly had been expected to deal with legislation to extend mitigation payments central to the reforms here.

"Mitigation schemes are already in place for legacy benefits for example JSA and ESA. Further legislation will be required to extend these mitigation payments to Universal Credit," a statement said.

"This legislation will be dealt with by the NI Assembly. If there was no return to devolved government then such legislation would be considered in line with whatever arrangements were put in place to deal with this and all other pending NI legislation."

Writing in the Belfast Telegraph this month, benefits expert Professor Eileen Evason said more can be achieved through parties working together.

"What we have, limited as it is, is far in advance of what has been secured by other devolved governments and demonstrates what can be achieved through devolution when people work together," she said.

Prof Evason, who chaired a Stormont working group charged with mitigating the impact of the reforms within the financial framework, added: "I am also very aware of the high level of social need that continues to scar so many households and communities and is most evident in the growing reliance on food banks.

"I have no doubt those working with the most vulnerable in our society are anxious to move forward, but here, as is the case on so many issues, it is difficult to see how progress can be made without resolution of the current political impasse."
Police are investigating a report of children's underwear being stolen from Bangor's Aurora Leisure Complex on Thursday afternoon.

Police say the incident was reported that sometime between 2.30pm and 3.45pm a number of items of clothing were stolen from the changing rooms at the facility.

A parent described the theft of his daughter's underwear as "very sinister."

The man told the Belfast Telegraph that his daughter was swimming at the complex this afternoon as part of their Easter club but when she and her friends returned to the changing room, a number of them discovered their underwear was missing.

"They had been told to put their bags into one of the large, group rooms in the changing area but it must not have been locked."

The man who cannot be named to protect his daughter's identity said: "Some of the girls found their pants has been taken so given the nature of the theft that's very concerning and very sinister. I would just hope that anyone with any information would come forward to the police."

Gordon Pennock, Partnership Director, Bangor Aurora Aquatic & Leisure Complex, said police were immediately notified once staff were aware something had happened.

"We informed the police immediately following the incident and will be supporting them to investigate in any way we can. If anyone has any information which may help the investigation we would urge them to contact the police."

Police are appealing for anyone with any information that can assist with the investigation to contact officers on 101 quoting reference number 895 of 20/04/17.

Information can also be passed anonymously via the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Clockwise from top left: Private Steven Smart, Lance Corporal John Bradley and Private John Birch who were killed alongside Lance Corporal Michael Adams in an IRA attack in 1990

Sinn Fein have hit out after the DUP's Ian Paisley said that police officers involved in the killing of the IRA's Colum Marks should be given medals rather than investigated.

The DUP MP said the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer who "dispatched" Marks in Downpatrick, County Down, 26 years ago will be "traumatised" by another investigation based on "dodgy and fragile, fake" evidence.

He added the British state should be honouring the RUC officer and his team for "taking out one of Ulster's worst terrorist criminals" rather than "dragging them through the process of constantly going over what they did".

Lawyers for the Marks' family confirmed in June 2016 that the police ombudsman was launching a fresh investigation into the killing after a new eyewitness account emerged.

Police claims that Marks was armed and refused to stop when an attempt was made to arrest him are disputed, with the family's lawyers labelling it a "shoot-to-kill" operation by the RUC.

Speaking in the Commons the DUP's Jim Shannon echoed calls for a medal and labelled Marks an "evil, obnoxious, psychopathic, multiple killer".

Mr Shannon earlier broke down in tears as he called for justice for four young British soldiers who were killed in an IRA roadside bomb.

The Strangford MP was overcome by emotion when describing the deaths of Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldiers Private John Birch, Lance Corporal John Bradley, Lance Corporal Michael Adams and Private Steven Smart.

They died when the IRA detonated a 1,000lb bomb under their car on April 9 1990 in Downpatrick.

He railed against the "odious, filthy, scum" involved in the murders, saying this included Marks - who he branded "vile and despicable" for his role in the bombing.

Expand Close Colm Marks, shot dead by the RUC in Downpatrick in 1991. / Facebook

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Sinn Fein have branded the comments "disgraceful".

Sinn Fein MP Mickey Brady said: "Remarks by the DUP's Ian Paisley about the RUC shooting of unarmed IRA volunteer Colum Marks are nothing short of disgraceful.

"Not only do such crass and disgusting comments add to the hurt of the Marks family, they are also an insult to all those who knew Colum and hold him in high regard.

"No one can be above or beyond the law, whether he is a friend of Ian Paisleys or not.

"This is a further indication of the DUP's attempts to whitewash the past and it is symptomatic of their abject failure to deal with the legacy of the conflict.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Paisley (North Antrim) asked Mr Shannon: " Do you agree with me that the evening that Marks was dispatched, as you so colourfully put it, the team that was involved in that should be given medals for the service they did to our country in taking out one of Ulster's worst terrorist criminals?"

Expand Close Ian Paisley said another investigation into Colum Mark's death was based on 'dodgy and fragile, fake' evidence / Facebook

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Mr Shannon replied: "I couldn't have put it better myself. That's exactly how I feel about it.

"The day that evil, obnoxious, psychopathic, multiple killer was put in the grave was a day that Ulster was a better place, and I say that without any compulsion whatsoever or any sympathy for that person in relation to what happened.

"It would have been better the day he was never born than the day that he came into this world and caused murder, mayhem and injury right across the whole of the province."

Mr Paisley later told Northern Ireland minister Kris Hopkins: " In this particular case, the officer who dispatched Marks has now been through three individual inquests. I know the chap personally, he's a friend of mine growing up.

"He has gone through an ombudsman's inquest and now hanging over him is a second ombudsman's inquest on the basis of the most dodgy and fragile, fake evidence that has been produced.

"And that will be dispatched very, very quickly but that's not the point - he will be dragged through that whole process again.

"His wife and his family will be traumatised by it and that's why I said he and his team should have been given a medal that night.

"That should be the honour our state should be giving to these people, not dragging them through the process of constantly going over what they did."

Mr Hopkins said he understood the passion shown by Mr Paisley, adding: "I just think it's important there is balance and it is proportionate in our response and the state's response to this."
A Co Down campaigner has called on MLAs to stop arguing over trivial issues and address the disparity of cancer treatment in the UK after losing another friend to the disease.

Melanie Kennedy (40), who is living with stage four breast cancer, said that losing friends on an almost daily basis had become a sad reality for her.

"Between the numerous worldwide support groups I am in, I lose friends all the time," she said.

The Bangor mum-of-two reiterated her call for action after receiving the news that a friend lost her battle against cancer on Tuesday night - after being denied life-prolonging treatment readily available in England.

Out of respect for her friend's devastated family she does not want to reveal her name.

"When it's closer to home, it hurts even more," she said.

"In the case of this girl, she was young, fit and healthy when she was struck down with breast cancer a few years ago.

"It was stage four from the start and she was given standard chemotherapy but it stopped working. She then started trial treatment but was not able to avail of PARP inhibitors. They would have helped her."

Research suggests that as many as 20% of breast cancer patients could benefit from PARP inhibitor drugs, but Northern Ireland cancer sufferers are being denied access.

Melanie, who ran as a candidate in the Assembly election last month, said she was appalled when she compared this tragic case to another friend who travels to England for the treatment.

"I know a lady who was told almost three years ago by doctors here that she had six weeks to live, but she's still here and she is doing very well. The doctors had given up on her. They weren't going to give her anything, but three years later she is going on family holidays."

The activist behind the NI Cancer Advocacy Movement, which has been campaigning to improve cancer treatment here, said she was approached daily by people affected by the issue.

"I feel lucky that I am healthy enough to campaign for them but the current political crisis is frustrating, we don't even have a government" she said.

The former accountant said she had lost so much to cancer and was living from scan to scan as she called on politicians to overcome sticking points in political talks.

"It seems to be that they are arguing over things that are not life and death. People are actually dying because of this. The RHI scandal and an Irish Language Act might be important to some, but I think everyone would agree that they're not worth people's lives."
Michelle O'Neill said the Prime Minister does not want a Stormont Executive that will stand against Brexit

Crisis talks at Stormont aimed at restoring powersharing are to be extended to after the general election.

It is understood parties will be given three weeks after the June 8 poll to reach a deal.

Secretary of State James Brokenshire, who had set early May as the deadline for the current talks process, is expected to announce a stretch in the negotiating period on Friday.

Sources involved in the negotiations have said that provisions to form an executive by that date will be included in emergency legislation that will be fast tracked through Westminster.

The Government is to publish legislation to deal with rates and budget matters on Friday.

News of the extra time to reach a deal followed another day of discussions between Stormont parties and the British and Irish governments.

After her party's meeting with Mr Brokenshire, Alliance leader Naomi Long said she did not expect fresh Assembly elections would be held on June 8 to coincide with the Westminster contest.

She said that she believed the talks process would be "stretched" instead.

She added: "It would be better for people in Northern Ireland, for public services and for business confidence, to get an agreement before the general election.

"However, in real terms, I have to say that looks difficult because people are never in compromising mode when it comes to any election, let alone a general election which is shaping up to be quite a polarising one."

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood also said he expected the talks process deadline to be pushed to June.

Earlier in the day Sinn Fein accused the British Government of wanting powersharing in Northern Ireland to fail.

Michelle O'Neill, leader of the party in the region, said the prime minister did not want a Stormont executive that would stand against Brexit.

"There is a growing belief out there among the wider nationalist community that the government don't want a powersharing executive to work here," said Ms O'Neill.

She added: "They don't want an executive that is going to take a firm stand against Brexit because obviously the majority of people here voted to remain in the European Union.

"So on June 8 the public will have the opportunity to have their say and they have to make their message clear to Theresa May that we are not for Brexit, we are not for a border and we are not for Tory cuts."

Stormont's parties have yet to reach agreement on forming an executive six weeks after the assembly election.

The region's two largest parties, and former powersharing partners, the DUP and Sinn Fein, have spent weeks blaming each for the failure to restore the institutions.

Long-running rows over a proposed Irish language act and deep divisions over how to deal with the legacy of the Troubles are holding up a deal.
The Health Minister has called on an order of nuns to agree contracts allowing lawful abortion or contraceptive treatment in the new National Maternity Hospital.

Simon Harris issued the demand to the Sisters of Charity, which owns the land in south Dublin where the new 300 million euro facility is planned next to St Vincent's Hospital.

Amid furore over nuns potentially determining clinical care at the hospital and concerns being raised by a respected consultant obstetrician, it is one of three criteria the minister has asked health chiefs to get formal assurances on.

Questions over whether the Sisters of Charity would have ultimate ownership of the public hospital and could profit from it also provoked anger as the congregation has yet to pay three million euro of redress for victims of institutional child abuse.

Mr Harris said: "I have heard people say that nuns will be running the hospital. Not true.

"I have heard that nuns have been gifted the hospital. Not true.

"I have heard people talk about nuns and redress. Redress is extremely important and I have previously said that the religious orders must step up to the mark and pay what is long overdue. However, I think it is wrong to conflate redress with the decision to build the desperately needed new maternity hospital."

Dr Rhona Mahony, Master of the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street and a central figure in negotiations with the nuns on securing the St Vincent's site, gave assurances that medical care at the new hospital will be entirely independent.

The leading medic called for people to "get real" and said contraceptive treatment or abortions when a woman's life is at risk will be carried out at the new hospital.

"At the moment in Holles Street we provide services to women. This includes contraception. We have about five terminations a year, otherwise women would die. This will continue in the new hospital," said Dr Mahony.

The terms of the deal on the new National Maternity Hospital, which was brokered with the Sisters of Charity last November, were supposed to be confidential.

The nuns own the land that it is being built on and it is understood they were not asked to sell the site to the state.

About 50,000 people have signed an online petition opposing any role or ownership for the nuns of the new facility.

Mr Harris spoke out after Dr Peter Boylan, a former Master at Holles Street, questioned whether clinical care, including terminations or IVF treatment, would be influenced by the nuns' religious beliefs.

He also said it is inappropriate for a hospital to have a strong religious influence, particularly from the Catholic Church.

Mr Harris said some questions were legitimate and that he was determined to get guarantees on three issues for the new National Maternity Hospital:

:: It will be developed in line with best international practice and co-located with an adult acute hospital to ensure women and infants have access to a full range of medical specialities.

:: The hospital must have clinical, operational and financial independence, with no question of religious interference. The Minister for Health will have the power to guarantee this to ensure all relevant and legal healthcare must be available.

:: The State's financial and public health interest in this hospital must be fully protected. No private entity or religious order can profit in any way. The building can only be used for the defined purpose of providing public maternity, gynaecological and neonatal services.

Mr Harris said: "I expect all of these issues to be addressed as part of the detailed contractual arrangements which will be put in place in advance of construction investment."

The minister said the Sisters of Charity were giving very valuable land to the state at no cost.

"Let me be very clear: there will be no financial gain to any religious order from the development of this hospital. Legal arrangements will be put in place which will 100% protect the State's investment and interest in the new hospital," said the minister.

He added: "We need to provide a new National Maternity Hospital. The current buildings are no longer fit for purpose.

"We need to ensure patients attending the National Maternity Hospital have immediate access to theatres, high dependency and intensive care provision in an acute adult hospital if the need arises. That is what I intend to do, while absolutely protecting public health policy, taxpayers' money and the state."

There will be nine people on the board of the new National Maternity Hospital - four nominated by the St Vincent's Hospital Group which is owned by the Sisters of Charity, four by the current National Maternity Hospital, including the Master, and it will be chaired by an international expert in obstetrics and gynaecology.

A decision on a planning application on the new hospital is due in August or September. If planning and tendering for the construction goes according to plan then it could be open in four or five years.
A fire next to rail tracks near South Hampstead in London (Network Rail/PA)

London Overground trains from one of Britain's busiest railway stations are not expected to be fully operational until after lunchtime, following a fire that closed Euston.

There will be no service on the line between the station and Harrow & Wealdstone until 1pm, National Rail said.

It had tweeted in the night to say: "A normal service is expected to and from London #Euston today following major disruption caused by a power cut at the station."

Trains were cancelled going in and out of London Euston from Wednesday afternoon after a blaze next to the track near South Hampstead triggered a power cut.

The incident affected customers on services including Midland, Virgin and Southern, connecting the hub with large areas of the country.

National Rail said a limited number of services were able to leave the station, which serves around 114,000 passengers each day, for a time but it was closed again because of poor lighting.

In a statement, Network Rail said services were returning to normal on Thursday morning, with engineers having worked working through the night.

It added: "Train services are returning to normal on the West Coast main line today after Network Rail engineers restored power overnight to London Euston and its signals - the railway's traffic lights - following a cable fire at South Hampstead yesterday.

"Customers are advised to check before they travel for the latest information on nationalrail.co.uk and with their train operators. There is still no service between Harrow & Wealdstone and Euston on London Overground.

"While our engineers have restored power to Euston, they have yet to replace the 100-metre stretch of fire-destroyed, 11,000-volt cable at South Hampstead. They will do this job overnight tonight."

A Virgin Trains spokesman said: "Tickets will be accepted for travel or a full refund offered. Alternative routes are available but customers are urged to check their journey before travelling."

Network Rail said the disruption was also affecting nearby terminals, such as Clapham Junction to the South West, and Milton Keynes Central in the North West.

Affected customers can find the latest travel information, including alternative routes, at nationalrail.co.uk and from their train operators.

According to the Office of Rail and Road, the independent regulator, Euston is the fifth busiest station in Britain with 41.7 million entries and exits in 2015/16.
The History of the Bandanna  Well a short version

head band to keep your hair off your eyes when working outside

worn as ear muffs in cold weather

hot pad to move a hot pot from the coals at camp

red bandanna, in case you get lost and need to be found

as a tourniquet

sling for an arm injury

protect your eyes during a blizzard

head scarf

bracelets or a wrist bracelets

you think they look cool

I think that is still true except on college campuses.

Here are some Various legitimate uses of BandannaI grew up watching cowboys use their ever-present Bandanna as a tool for any number of things. Occasionally they were used as a mask to hid one's face. The Creative cowboys modified the bandanna to make a mask that covered their eyes while they saved the west from crooks and scalawags. A crook would never take the time to craft a face mask like the Lone Ranger or Zorro.Some of our best country and western stars use them as a accessories to enhance their image. Occasionally a Rock Star joined in on the craze.Still others have used them as items of clothing, which always made me wonder if they used a Square Knot or a Granny Knot which are both notoriously known to Boy Scouts as poor knots to tie two ends together and hold things in. They can loosen and fall apart, thereby losing the goodies. Knots and Such The picture below is an example of two female bank robbers. When the police questioned the male witnesses they all agreed that the girls were wearing Bandannas.Of course, Bandannas have always been used when the wearer was up to no good. Using it as a mask to cover your face when you were doing something nefarious and wrong has been around about as long as people. After an intensive search of the internet, I have not been able to find a suitable example of a bandit with a Bandanna that was not owned by some guy named Getty. Because of that, I had to create my own example.The latest craze is to use a Bandanna face mask when you are exercising your right ofbut do not really believe enough in your rights to show your face.I know some will ask why would a Confirmed Narcissist like me would feel the need to wear a Bandanna. Well, believe it or not even I have some writing standards and the Bandanna allows me to hide my true identity. Do you think it will work? Click on picture or here for NBC story about North Dakota bill that would ban protesters from wearing masks.I realize I am being somewhat reactionary here, but I thought that 'EVERYONE' hasIf all you are doing is expressing yourself, why would you need to wear a mask? The First Amendment For the non political moderates in the readership, here is an interesting article about the History of Bandanna. Apparently there is some disagreement with the spelling of Bandanas or Bandannas.
Armed police can now shoot terrorists at the wheel of vehicles

Police may have to shoot terrorists who use cars as weapons when carrying out attacks, the national lead for armed policing has said.

Following the attacks in Westminster, Nice and Berlin, the tactics of armed officers in such circumstances will reportedly have to change.

Simon Chesterman of the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said officers had previously been told not to shoot drivers of moving vehicles because of the risk of potential additional dangers.

He said: "We've seen some very horrible and different tactics lately involving vehicles and lorries.

"Within our policy, we used to talk about not shooting at a moving vehicle because of the danger we might cause if we fired at a driver.

"But if the vehicle is being used as a weapon in the first place, there aren't many tactics available in relation to stopping it, particularly a very large lorry.

"Driving a vehicle in front of it for example is not going to stop it. So you need to shoot the driver."

Officers now have ammunition to penetrate doors and windows, he added.

Four innocent people were killed on Westminster Bridge when Khalid Masood mounted the pavement in a car and drove into pedestrians on March 22.

Mr Chesterman added: "We have the ability to move much quicker to resolve situations. Previously the approach was to locate, contain and neutralise. Now it is to locate and confront.

"Our tactics are more aggressive."

It comes as the NPCC announced that since last year the number of firearms offices in England and Wales has increased by 640 - largely financed by a 143 million Home Office programme.

The plan is to recruit around 1,500 extra officers in total by the end of next year, across the 43 Home Office forces.

Some of these will specialise in responding to ongoing terrorist incidents.

Mr Chesterman acknowledged that with armed policing being a voluntary role, recruiting, training and retaining officers remained a challenge.

"Officers who serve as part of firearms units are volunteering themselves for an immensely difficult and dangerous role that will put them in harm's way.

"They naturally have concerns about the impact their job could have on their families. They need to know they will be supported in the rare instance that they might discharge their firearm," he said.
Including the pledges in the manifesto makes it extremely difficult for Tory Remain supporters to rebel if the party wins the election

Theresa May will reportedly include her Brexit negotiating priorities in the Conservative General Election manifesto to lock Remain-backing Tory MPs and the House of Lords into backing her stance .

The manifesto will include guarantees to end the free movement of European Union citizens, to leave the European single market, and to end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, according to the Daily Mail.

Including the pledges in the manifesto would make it extremely difficult for Remain-backing Tory MPs to rebel on the issues in House of Commons votes if the party wins the snap election on June 8 and as exit talks go on.

Peers would also be forced to back the priorities under the Salisbury Convention, which means that the Lords will not try and vote down government plans mentioned in an election manifesto.

Mrs May could also be ready to ditch promises made in David Cameron's 2015 general election manifesto, such as the commitment to spending 0.7% of national income on foreign aid.

As the PM hinted she may be ready to drop the pledge, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates urged her to stick to the target, which was put into law with the backing of the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition in 2015.

Downing Street refused to comment on the manifesto before it is published.

But a Number 10 source dismissed separate reports that Mrs May will offer a concession over including students in the immigration target as part of efforts to get remaining legislation through Parliament before it finishes ahead of the election.

The Prime Minister's decision to hold a snap vote has left just days to get outstanding Bills passed before Parliament ends to allow the nation to go to the polls.

According to the Times she will offer a "regulatory compromise" in how the number of overseas students in the UK is calculated so she can get the Higher Education and Research Bill through the Commons before the election, amid the threat of a backbench rebellion on the issue.

But the source said: "Any suggestion we are going to change our approach to the inclusion of overseas students in the migration statistics is plain wrong."

On Thursday, Mrs May will hold talks with Antonio Tajani, president of the European Parliament, which will have to approve any final UK-EU Brexit deal.

The Prime Minister received a boost on Wednesday ahead of exit negotiations and for an election she is seeking to cast as a vote on Brexit, with US House of Representatives speaker Paul Ryan saying America stands ready to strike a free trade deal with the UK as soon as possible.

Jeremy Corbyn is resisting Mrs May's efforts to make Britain's exit from the EU the defining issue of the election, insisting the poll instead gives voters a chance to pass judgment on the Conservatives' record on austerity and public spending cuts.

But Mr Corbyn is apparently facing an uphill struggle, with a fresh YouGov opinion poll for the Times giving the Tories a 24-point lead over Labour, despite his denial that his party's defeat is a "foregone conclusion".

In his first keynote speech of the campaign, Mr Corbyn will insist Labour can "change the direction of this election" by "putting the interests of the majority first".
France has said it will provide proof within days that Syrian president Bashar Assad's regime carried out the April 4 chemical attack in Syria which killed at least 90 people.

Foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said: "We will provide proof that the regime did indeed organise these strikes with chemical weapons."

He said he could not provide evidence now because analysis is still under way, but added: "In a few days I'll be able to provide proof."

Mr Assad has denied that he was behind the attack. Syria agreed to give up its chemical weapons arsenal in 2013.

French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon called on the United Nations to punish those behind the attack and said "whoever uses chemical weapons should be condemned".
In this image made from video, police attend the scene after an incident on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, Thursday April 20, 2017. (AP Photo)

Police officers block the access to the Champs Elysees in Paris after a shooting on April 20, 2017. AFP/Getty Images

A police officer stands guard after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker on the Champs Elysees in Paris, France, Thursday, April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard. Many police vehicles can be seen on the avenue that passes many of the city's most iconic landmarks. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

PARIS, FRANCE - APRIL 20: Police officers secure the area after a gunman opened fire on Champs Elysees on April 20, 2017 in Paris, France. One police officer has been killed, and a second injured by a gunman on The Champs Elysees. Security is heightened in Paris with the first round of France's presidential election on Sunday. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)

Police officers secure the area after a gunman opened fire on Champs Elysees on April 20, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)

Police officers patrol near the site of a shooting at the Champs Elysees in Paris on April 20, 2017. French anti-terror prosecutors said they opened a probe today into the shooting on Paris's Champs Elysees that killed one police officer and wounded two others. France's interior ministry said the attacker was killed after opening fire on police in the early evening on the world-famous boulevard. / AFP PHOTO / FRANCK FIFEFRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images

Police officers block the access of a street near the Champs Elysees in Paris after a shooting on April 20, 2017. AFP/Getty Images

Police officers block the access of a street near the Champs Elysees in Paris after a shooting on April 20, 2017. One police officer was killed and another wounded today in a shooting on Paris's Champs Elysees, police said just days ahead of France's presidential election. France's interior ministry said the attacker was killed in the incident on the world famous boulevard that is popular with tourists. / AFP PHOTO / THOMAS SAMSONTHOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images

Firefighters and rescuers stand by the site of a shooting on the Champs Elysees in Paris on April 20, 2017. One police officer was killed and another wounded today in a shooting on Paris's Champs Elysees, police said just days ahead of France's presidential election. France's interior ministry said the attacker was killed in the incident on the world famous boulevard that is popular with tourists. / AFP PHOTO / THOMAS SAMSONTHOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images

People leave a road near the site of a shooting at the Champs Elysees in Paris on April 20, 2017. French anti-terror prosecutors said they opened a probe today into the shooting on Paris's Champs Elysees that killed one police officer and wounded two others. France's interior ministry said the attacker was killed after opening fire on police in the early evening on the world-famous boulevard. / AFP PHOTO / Benjamin CremelBENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP/Getty Images

A police officer stands guard after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker on the Champs Elysees in Paris, France, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A police officer holds an assault rifle near the site of a shooting at the Champs Elysees in Paris on April 20, 2017. French anti-terror prosecutors said they opened a probe today into the shooting on Paris's Champs Elysees that killed one police officer and wounded two others. France's interior ministry said the attacker was killed after opening fire on police in the early evening on the world-famous boulevard. / AFP PHOTO / FRANCK FIFEFRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images

Police officers block the access to the Champs Elysees in Paris after a shooting on April 20, 2017. AFP/Getty Images

Tourists take pictures on the Champs Elysees avenue near the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris on April 21 ,2017, a day after a gunman opened fire on police on the avenue, killing a policeman and wounding two others in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group just days before the first round of the presidential election. / AFP PHOTO / Philippe LOPEZPHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images

A police officer blocks the access to a road near the site of a shooting at the Champs Elysees in Paris on April 20, 2017. French anti-terror prosecutors said they opened a probe today into the shooting on Paris's Champs Elysees that killed one police officer and wounded two others. France's interior ministry said the attacker was killed after opening fire on police in the early evening on the world-famous boulevard. / AFP PHOTO / Benjamin CremelBENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP/Getty Images

A bullet hole is pictured on a shopwindow of the Champs Elysees boulevard in Paris, Friday, April 21, 2017.

French President Francois Hollande (C), French President's Chief of Staff, Jean-Pierre Jouyet (L), French Interior Minister Matthias Fekl (Rear C), French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve (C-R), head of Hollande's communication service Gaspard Gantzer (R) and French Justice Minister, Jean-Jacques Urvoas (Rear L) attend a meeting of the Defense Council on April 21, 2017 at the Elysee Palace in Paris, after a gunman opened fire on police on the Champs Elysees a day before.

Armed police patrol the Champs Elysees in Paris following yesterday's shooting of a police officer on April 21 2017.

A police officer has been killed and two others seriously injured in a shooting near the Champs Elysee in central Paris.

A gunman with an automatic weapon was shot dead in the attack. Paris police spokeswoman Johanna Primevert said that an attacker targeted police guarding the area near the Franklin Roosevelt subway station on Thursday night at the centre of the avenue popular with tourists.

The French Interior Ministry said the attack deliberately targeted police officers guarding the area.

Spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said on BFM television that a man came out of a car and opened fire on a police vehicle.

Mr Brandet said the police officers were "deliberately" targeted.

He said it was too early to say whether the attacker might have had an accomplice, and said authorities were studying multiple potential motives.

Many police vehicles could be seen on the avenue that passes many of the city's most iconic landmarks.

A French government spokesman said the attacker used a "war weapon" to fire on the officers.

French Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said on BFM television that a man came out of a car and opened fire on a police vehicle. He said officers were "deliberately" targeted.

Expand Close In this image made from video, police attend the scene after an incident on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, Thursday April 20, 2017. (AP Photo) AP / Facebook

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A witness identified only as Ines told French television station BFM that she heard a shooting, saw a man's body on the ground and the area was quickly evacuated by police.

A heavy police presence in Rue De Rivoli was reported earlier in the day.

Police are warning people to avoid the area and the surrounding streets have been cordoned off.

French prosecutors said they have now opened a terrorism investigation into the attack.

US President Donald Trump, speaking in Washington during a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, said the shooting "looks like another terrorist attack" and sent his condolences to France.

The incident recalled two recent attacks on soldiers providing security at prominent locations around Paris, one at the Louvre museum in February and one at Orly airport last month.

Expand Close Police officers secure the area after a gunman opened fire on Champs Elysees on April 20, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images) Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Police officers secure the area after a gunman opened fire on Champs Elysees on April 20, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)

The shooting comes just a few days before Frances presidential election.

Candidates have expressed solidarity with police forces following the shooting.

France's president Francois Hollande said he was convinced the circumstances surrounding the attack on the police officers pointed to a terrorist act and has convened a National Defence and Security Council to meet on Friday morning.

Expand Close Police officers block the access of a street near the Champs Elysees in Paris after a shooting on April 20, 2017. AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Police officers block the access of a street near the Champs Elysees in Paris after a shooting on April 20, 2017. AFP/Getty Images

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Email us at digital.editorial@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
No one in Northern Ireland - Catholic or Protestant, republican or loyalist - is a stranger to the Irish language. We use Irish in our everyday lives, through surnames, place names and even in the way we use English. Words like "smashing" and "smithereens" are just two examples which have Gaelic roots.

That's a point I have made repeatedly over the years, but it's important to keep that indigenous link to Irish we all share in mind as debate on the language issue moves to a new level.

Irish is now centre stage in the political arena.

The DUP's outreach to those who love the Irish language for itself, without any of the perceived political baggage which may have become attached to it, is unexpected, but welcome.

I say that as someone with a strong unionist background and one who has never veered towards the - shall we say - more "verdant" side of a ballot paper.

My hobby is collecting and singing old - often long-forgotten - Orange ballads.

That I collect better than I sing is neither here nor there, but I think it helps demonstrate that you can be an Irish speaker without compromising on your core values.

Having worked in the Irish-medium sector for 20 years, I'm well aware that the language generates strong opinions on both sides and I can understand the suspicions of those who do not share my passion for Gaeilge.

Talk of an Irish Language Act has certainly brought some of those issues - indeed, fears - into sharp relief and I've had many informal chats in recent days with folk from the two main traditions in Northern Ireland.

Interestingly, I found that people from both communities shared certain reservations about an Act.

It might, therefore, be useful to allay some of those fears from the outset, by outlining what an Irish Language Act would not involve.

The first is that children would be forced to learn Irish at school. I doubt that any party, or politician, would be minded to issue any such paedagogical edict, which would fall foul of human rights principles straight away.

There may be opportunities to make Irish more widely available in the state school sector, but this would be subject to demand and rolled out purely as an option. Compulsory Irish would be an instant exam fail.

The second is that every document would have to be translated into Irish. In a time of financial stricture, with our health service and education provision under intense pressure, it would be a difficult sell.

I can certainly envisage the translation of important documentation into Irish, but I'd imagine that this would require a threshold level, its triggering based on the significance of and likely audience for whatever thrilling missive, or wearisome tome, is involved.

A Language Act would be about the provision of and access to services through Irish. This would involve our interactions with statutory authorities and agencies.

At the most basic level, this might be booking your MOT in Irish, or finding out why your brown bin wasn't collected.

Opportunities to interact with council and other service providers need not be expensive, or controversial, and the language used would always be your choice.

At a higher level would be the ability to use Irish in the courts, or simultaneous translation facilities in public forums - bearing in mind, of course, that public representatives would retain the right to be mind-numbingly boring whatever language they employ.

At the very least, an Act would give the language an increased public profile and would almost certainly involve signage.

Many will recall the outrage over the Irish word "uisce" (meaning water) on drains in Ballymena a while ago and some might think this is only a foretaste of how nasty the debate could be. But it needn't be so confrontational if approached with sense and sensibility.

Translink recently launched a consultation process about the use of Irish on its destination screens in Londonderry.

It says: "This initiative is a way to celebrate traditional place names in the city and their meaning, while also helping to support local tourism through a unique visitor experience.'' Translink already uses Irish (and English, too, of course) on routes serving west Belfast and this has not led to mass demonstrations or passenger boycotts.

We must be realistic, though, and understand that Irish language road signs, for example, might be less welcome in Carrickfergus than they would be in Carrickmore. That is just one reason why we need a commonsense way forward.

We can usefully look at whatever language provisions pertain in other parts of the world, but must remember that there may be no perfect model which would fit our own peculiar situation in Northern Ireland.

Wales would be a good starting-point - and it wouldn't require massively-expensive fact-finding visits to the other side of the globe - but we have to remember that Welsh is unencumbered by the unseemly burdens that Irish has had heaped upon it.

Legislating for a language is never going to be easy and those who may be tasked with this responsibility will have to proceed with caution and consummate sensitivity, taking on board widely diverging views.

Even the terminology used in the debate can be awkward.

When we look at Irish through the lens of "culture", even some of those who would not be advocates of the language see little harm in it. But when conflated with the concept of "identity", it becomes a different and more controversial animal altogether.

Implementing an Act would be more than a case of pressing a big green button and turning Northern Ireland bilingual overnight. Things don't work that way here and some measures would require gradual introduction.

We may have to acknowledge that a two-speed approach could be the only way forward in some instances, with phased implementation based on awareness and appreciation of local concerns.

Ultimately, much of this will come down to consultation, even - if necessary - at a micro-level.

The scope of a Language Act could be narrow, or broad, and that means that it's practically impossible to say what it would cost.

Figures thrown into the mix range from 2m to 100m per year.

The true cost will probably lie somewhere between the two, but until there's certainty over what an Act will include, it is all speculation.

I feel we are moving towards a situation where Irish is seen as part of our shared cultural heritage, rather than a beast of political burden.

The appointment of a Language Commissioner, I believe, would help remove the issue from the political sphere altogether.

Getting to that stage requires a degree of political consensus, but some are now embarking on a journey into previously off-limits terrain.

As an Irish speaker, and as someone from the unionist tradition, I welcome that.

The destination will not be linguistic nirvana, or any sort of promised land, but with a little bit of imagination and some flexibility we can get there as travelling companions rather than wayfaring strangers.

Dr Ian Malcolm, an Irish language lecturer and broadcaster, is the author of Towards Inclusion: Protestants and the Irish Language
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Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low near 50F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph..

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Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low near 50F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph.
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Keeping the Yellowstone River healthy and thriving will be the topic of discussion during a workshop at the Livingston Depot April 27-28.

"This symposium is a way to engage with all those who love the river and care about its health," said Wendy Weaver, executive director of Montana Aquatic Resources Services. "Our goal is to spearhead a meaningful effort to learn about issues facing the river and develop a way to work together moving forward."

MARS is sponsoring the workshops in conjunction with the Trout Unlimited Montana Water Project.

On Thursday there will be three educational panels featuring business owners, ranchers, biologists and local experts providing an overview of the rivers health and how their communities were impacted by last summers whitefish kill due to a parasite outbreak.

Panelists and speakers will share existing data and information from the kill, highlight case studies of local solutions and efforts, and outline models for future actions that could help to protect and preserve the river. The day will end with a discussion about how to protect and preserve the vitality of the river moving forward.

The goal of Friday's session will be to map out a framework for a grassroots effort to protect the upper Yellowstone River. The symposium will end with an evening reception and screening of the film "Shape of a River" at the Buckhorn Saloon Theatre.

To register, log on to: http://montanaaquaticresources.org/events/
For Immediate Release, April 20, 2017 Contact: Collette Adkins, (651) 955-3821, cadkins@biologicaldiversity.org Trump Sued for Revoking Protections for Wolves, Bears in Alaska Lawsuit Is First to Challenge Constitutionality of Congressional Review Act ANCHORAGE, Alaska In the first constitutional challenge of its kind, the Center for Biological Diversity today sued the Trump administration for repealing protections for wolves, bears and other wildlife on Alaska's national wildlife refuges. President Trump signed legislation on April 3  rushed through Congress under the Congressional Review Act  that repealed an Obama administration rule that prohibited killing wolves and their pups in their dens, gunning down bears at bait stations and shooting them from airplanes. Under the legislation signed by Trump, all of these practices can now be allowed. Today's lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, challenges the constitutionality of the Congressional Review Act, a 1996 law allowing legislators to repeal federal regulations adopted in the last few months of the previous presidential administration. Before 2017 Congress successfully used it just once, in 2001, but Trump and the current Congress have now used it to revoke 13 different Obama-era regulations. Wolf cubs shouldn't be slaughtered in their dens on the very wildlife refuges that are meant to protect biological diversity, said Collette Adkins, a Center attorney and biologist. It's outrageous that Trump and congressional Republicans used this unconstitutional law to promote the senseless slaughter of some of Alaska's most iconic wildlife. They clearly don't care about the critical role these amazing animals play in healthy ecosystems. The suit says that the Congressional Review Act violates the U.S. Constitution's separation of powers doctrine by preventing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from future rulemaking that is substantially the same as the disapproved rule. By constraining the agency without changing its governing laws through the procedures mandated by the Constitution, the Act unconstitutionally expands Congress's power at the expense of the executive branch. The Congressional Review Act throws the balance of power out of whack and opens the door for politicians in Congress to meddle in decisions that ought to be made by experts at federal agencies, Adkins said. By law the Fish and Wildlife Service must protect biological diversity on Alaskan wildlife refuges. But the Act makes it more difficult for agency officials to carry out their legal duty to protect wolves and bears. In August 2016 the Fish and Wildlife Service finalized regulations that protected wolves and bears from new predator-control tactics approved by Alaska's Board of Game. These tactics include killing wolf mothers and pups during denning season; killing brown bears over bait; trapping and killing black bears with steel-jaw leg-hold traps or wire snares; and killing brown and black bears from aircraft. Alaska's predator-control activities are intended to artificially inflate prey populations, such as moose and caribou, for hunters. House and Senate Republicans used the Congressional Review Act to repeal the predator-protection rule on a highly partisan vote. Predator-protection regulations in national parks and national refuges are also under attack from the state of Alaska, which is challenging those regulations in federal court. The Center and its allies have intervened on behalf of the Interior Department to defend the challenged regulations. The Center is represented in today's lawsuit by Center staff attorneys along with attorneys from the law firm of Lane Powell.
For Immediate Release, April 20, 2017 Contact: Shaye Wolf, (415) 385-5746, swolf@biologicaldiversity.org

Candice Kim, (213) 220-0591, ckim@biologicaldiversity.org (in Los Angeles) Scientists to March Against Trump's Alternative Facts, Climate Denial WASHINGTON Outraged by the Trump administration's war on science, scientists with the Center for Biological Diversity will participate in March for Science events across the country this Saturday. Center scientists will join the main march in Washington, D.C., as well as sister marches in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Tucson, Denver and other cities. The Trump administration's contempt for science is a danger to people and the planet, said Shaye Wolf, the Center's climate science director, who will march in D.C. Without sound science, we can't protect our climate, our wildlife or our health  Trump's censorship and alternative facts put us all at risk. Now more than ever, we have to speak up in defense of scientific integrity and a livable future. The Trump administration has denied the international scientific consensus on climate change, reportedly censored government scientists, and proposed massive funding cuts to federal science and health agencies. Executive orders to start the rollback of the Clean Power Plan, lift the federal moratorium on coal leasing on public lands, and green-light the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines pose major threats to Americans' health and environment and the world's climate. In the face of science suppression, the March for Science in D.C. and more than 500 cities around the world seeks to celebrate the critical role science plays in good public policy. The march recognizes that scientists cannot stay silent in the face of policies that delegitimize science, and it supports science education and increasing equity, diversity and accessibility in the sciences. The Center is defending science by challenging federal policies that suppress evidence and the scientific reality of climate change. The Center and allies have filed suit against the Trump administration over its order lifting the moratorium on the federal coal-leasing program, and its approval of the Keystone XL pipeline despite threats to water, wildlife, public health, and the climate. The Center is also exposing climate-change censorship by seeking communications prohibiting staff at federal agencies from using words related to climate change and working to prevent hundreds of environmental data sets on government websites from being removed by the Trump administration. The Trump administration has launched a reckless attack on fact-based science, and the March for Science is crucial to defending our profession and our planet, said John Fleming, a Los Angeles-based scientist with the Center, also marching in D.C.
For Immediate Release, April 20, 2017 Contact: Brett Hartl, (202) 817-8121, bhartl@biologicaldiversity.org Dow Pressures Trump Administration to Abandon Work to Protect Endangered Species From Pesticides Chemical Giant Wants Trump Officials to Scuttle Legally Mandated Studies Identifying Risks to Wildlife WASHINGTON Buoyed by the Trump administration's recent decision to scrap a ban on the brain-damaging pesticide chlorpyrifos, Dow Chemical is now pushing the Environmental Protection Agency to abandon legally mandated efforts to protect endangered species from this dangerous pesticide, as well as two other highly toxic insecticides. The new back-channel ploy to abandon a nearly four-year effort to protect endangered species from these pesticides is revealed in letters, obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity, in which Dow urges Trump administration regulators to jettison the process completely. Dow's letters ask the Trump administration and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to withdraw biological evaluations that were finalized in January detailing how three highly toxic organophosphate insecticides  chlorpyrifos, malathion and diazinon  harm nearly all 1,800 threatened and endangered animals and plants. Our government's own scientists have already documented the grave danger these chemicals pose to people and endangered species, said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center. Unable to win on the facts, Dow is now adopting the same disgraceful tactics honed by the tobacco industry and the climate deniers to try to discredit science and scrap reasonable conservation measures that will protect our most endangered animals and plants. The Dow request comes after four agencies  the EPA, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture  have invested four years assessing the pesticides' impacts on imperiled species. The agencies have repeatedly met with stakeholders including Dow and provided opportunity for public comment. In January the EPA's final biological evaluations, supported by more than 10,000 pages of scientific documentation, determined that chlorpyrifos and malathion are likely to harm 97 percent of endangered species nationwide, while diazinon was found to harm 79 percent of protected species. The Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service were expected to release draft biological opinions  the second-to-last stage of the process  for public review and comment by the end of May. These assessments are required as part of a legal settlement from 2014 with the Center for Biological Diversity and other conservation organizations. It's abhorrent that Dow is pressuring the Trump EPA to ignore years of scientific research on pesticide dangers and willfully violate the Endangered Species Act, said Hartl. Dow's message is clear: Corporate profits are more important than even the most common-sense measures to protect endangered animals and plants from harmful pesticides. Over the past six years, Dow has donated $11 million to congressional campaigns and political action committees, and spent an additional $75 million lobbying Congress. In January 2017 Dow was one of three companies that donated $1 million to the Trump inauguration. President Trump named Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris as the head of the American Manufacturing Council in his administration. Liveris praised Trump by stating that Trump is making the United States not a red-tape country, but a red-carpet country for America's businesses. Trump, who referred to Liveris as my friend Andrew gave Liveris his pen after signing the executive order mandating that agencies create so-called regulatory reform task forces. Background

For decades the EPA refused to comply with its legal mandate to protect endangered species from the impacts of pesticides. But following a two-year review by the National Academy of Sciences, the federal government initiated a highly public and transparent process to analyze the impacts of the three insecticides. The EPA developed a stakeholder-engagement process that allowed in-depth involvement by the public and industry and provided opportunities for comment on the draft assessments. During this process, Dow provided extensive comments to the agencies, many of which were ultimately rejected by the federal government because they were simply incompatible with the legal requirements of the Endangered Species Act. Around 5 million pounds of chlorpyrifos are used in the United States every year on crops like corn, peanuts, plums and wheat. A recent study at the University of California at Berkeley found that an alarming 87 percent of umbilical-cord blood samples tested had detectable levels of chlorpyrifos. Around 1 million pounds of malathion are used each year. In addition to being neurotoxins, both malathion and diazinon are considered probable human carcinogens by the World Health Organization. Early childhood exposure to organophosphates has been linked to cognitive delay and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Organophosphates were used as nerve agents in chemical warfare and have been linked to Gulf War syndrome, which causes fatigue, headaches, skin problems and breathing disorders. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.2 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
A Reserve man accused in a large methamphetamine conspiracy based in Fishtail admitted federal charges on Thursday.

During a hearing in U.S. District Court in Billings, Gene Andrew Tufton, 46, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute meth as part of a plea agreement.

The deal calls for other charges to be dismissed at sentencing if the judge accepts the agreement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Rubich said in court records that Fishtail resident Merrill Clark Gardner, who was convicted and sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for trafficking at least 178 pounds of meth, identified Tufton as a person to whom he had supplied 1.25 pounds of meth.

In November 2015, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Tuftons motorcycle and seized about a half pound of meth, Rubich said.

Tuftons attorney, Ashley Harada of Billings, told the judge the defense questioned the 1.25 pounds Gardner said he gave Tufton.

Tufton said he worked in the oil production business in northeastern Montana.

Tufton faces a minimum mandatory five years to 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters set sentencing for Aug. 24. Tufton remains in custody.
Trump Sued for Revoking Protection for Alaska Wolves, Bears The Center for Biological Diversity took the Trump administration to court again this morning, this time with a first-of-its-kind constitutional challenge aimed at Trump's decision to end an Obama rule protecting wolves and bears at Alaska's wildlife refuges from being killed in their dens and gunned down from the air.



President Trump signed legislation April 3 that was rushed through Congress under the Congressional Review Act. Our suit challenges the constitutionality of the Act, a 1996 law allowing legislators to repeal federal regulations adopted in the last few months of the previous presidential administration. Before 2017, Congress successfully used the Act only once -- in 2001 -- but Trump and the current Congress have now used it to revoke 13 different Obama-era regulations.



The fight is on to stop Trump's disgusting wildlife-killing law.



Read more in The Hill and consider donating to our Trump Resistance Fund.
It can be tough to be a vegetarian. You have to work harder than everyone else to make sure youre getting all the nutrients your body needs. So, when its time to take a
F8 2017, the annual Facebook event where developers and businesses come together to explore the future of technology was held in the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California on 18-19 Aprils 2017. More than 4 000 people attended the event and millions watched the keynote via Facebook Live.

Mark Zuckerberg opened the conference to talk about how technology can help us build stronger communities, from the local level, up to the global level. For the past decade, Facebook has focused on connecting friends and families. Now, with that foundation, our next focus will be giving people the power to build community.

Technology gives communities new ways to connect, and one of the most exciting areas for this is augmented reality. Mark talked about how the camera is the first augmented reality platform and announced the Camera Effects Platform.

Other keynote speakers were chief technology officer, Mike Schroepfer; VP of platform and marketplace, Deb Liu, head of social VR, Rachel Franklin; VP of product partnerships, Ime Archibong; and VP of messaging products David Marcus.

Camera Effects Platform

Facebook is offering a suite of open creative tools to give its community of artists and developers the power to create a full spectrum of effects for the new Facebook camera, from simple photo frames to interactive effects and masks, using the latest in augmented reality.

The Camera Effects Platform includes two products: Frames Studio and AR Studio. Frames Studio is an online creative editor, now available globally, that allows users to design frames that can be used either as profile picture frames or in the new Facebook camera. The AR Studio, now open for beta applications, can be used to create masks, scripted effects, animated frames and other AR technologies that react to movement, the environment or interactions during live videos.

See how live effects work by checking out two starting to roll out in Facebook Live: This or That and GIPHY Live. Both effects are powered by AR Studio and are designed to respond in real time to what is happening in a live broadcast.

Facebook Spaces

Facebook Spaces is a new VR app where users hang out with friends in a fun, interactive virtual environment as if they were in the same room. Facebook Spaces launched in beta for Oculus Rift during the convention.

With Facebook Spaces, users can view Facebook content with friends in VR, including 360 videos and photos that can transport them to new places. Users can draw in the air with a virtual marker to create anything they can dream up, from a decorative hat to a handmade tic-tac-toe board. Facebook Spaces lets users easily phone a friend in the real world with Messenger video calling, so they can bring even more people into their VR space. They can answer the call on their phone to open a window instantly into a virtual world. Of course, there is a selfie stick too. Use it to take photos of the experience and share the memories created in VR with friends on Facebook.

Developer Circles

Facebook announced a new program for developers all over the world to connect, learn, and collaborate with other local developers. Developer Circles is a community-driven program that is free to join and open to any developer. Members of the local community, who act as leads for the circle, organising events offline and managing a local online Facebook community, lead each Developer Circle. Developer Circles are forums to share knowledge, collaborate, build new ideas and learn about the latest technologies from Facebook and other industry leaders.

Places Graph

Also launched is Places Graph, providing free access to data on over 140 million places around the world. These places range from restaurants and parks to retail stores and local businesses and the data includes place names, addresses, photos, Facebook consumer ratings and more. Apps can use this data to create location-aware experiences that help people learn more about where they are so they can make informed decisions about where to go and what to do.

Identity

If users have an app and a Messenger bot, Facebook has made it simpler for them to connect with the same person using both. The new API allows users to map between a Facebook Login ID and a Messenger ID, so they can serve their customers smoothly across both experiences.

Facebook Analytics

Facebook Analytics, formerly known as Facebook Analytics for Apps, is a powerful, free product for accessing rich audience demographics and measuring customer behavior across channels. Facebook announced new capabilities designed to help users understand and optimise their complete customer journey across the channels that they use to interact with customers, such as their app and website.

The new Automated Insights tool uses advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence to bring valuable insights directly to users. With this new feature, they will see insights such as changes in purchases for a new version of their app, or variations in engagement across people in different cities.

New features for Messenger

Since the Messenger Platform debuted a year ago, it has become an essential channel for businesses, developers and consumers. The ecosystem has more than 1.2 billion people, 100,000 developers and 100,000 monthly active bots, and 2 billion messages are sent between people and businesses on Messenger every month.

Some of the new features and advanced tools announced include:
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's judiciary has blocked newly introduced voice calls on Telegram, the most popular messaging app in the country, state media reported on Wednesday.

The blockage follows the arrest last month of 12 people who ran popular reformist channels on Telegram, ahead of a presidential election next month.

It was not clear if the blockage of voice calls, which Telegram introduced worldwide last week, was political or designed to protect the commercial interests of domestic phone companies.

"We gave the authorisation for the establishment of Telegram's voice call service on Friday... but it was blocked by a judicial order," Telecommunications Minister Mahmoud Vaezi told reformist newspaper Shargh.

"You should ask the judiciary for the reason."

Last month, the conservative-dominated judiciary blocked the online navigation app Waze because it was designed in Israel, which Iran does not recognise.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov confirmed the blocking of voice calls.

"In Iran, where Telegram has some 40 million active users, Telegram voice calls have been completely blocked by the country's internet providers and mobile operators following an order from the judiciary," he wrote on his official channel.

"Telegram has historically had problems with regulators in some parts of the world because, unlike other services, we consistently defended our users' privacy and have never made any deals with governments."

Iranian officials have previously said there were around 20 million Telegram users in the country, which has a population of some 80 million.

As well as a messaging tool, Telegram has become the leading source of news for many Iranians, with some channels boasting more than a million subscribers.

The judiciary said the 12 Telegram channel operators were arrested on security and obscenity grounds.

"Some of these people have been arrested on national security charges and some... for committing crimes against public decency and publishing obscene content," deputy judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeie told the Mizan Online news agency last week.

Moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who will stand for a second term in the May 19 election, has criticised the arrests but has little power over the judiciary.

Websites such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are blocked in Iran, but users exploit widely available privacy software to access them.

Source: AFP
SAN FRANCISCO, US: Alphabet's life sciences unit Verily on Wednesday announced a study to track people for years, right down to their genetics, in a quest for insights into staying healthy.

Verily Life Sciences partnered with Duke University School of Medicine and Stanford Medicine for the Project Baseline study intended to collect broad health data from approximately 10,000 participants over the course of at least four years.



People in the study will make routine clinic visits, complete surveys, and use wrist-worn devices packed with sensors to gather biological data.

"The Project Baseline study has the opportunity to significantly influence our current body of knowledge by better understanding the indicators of wellness," American Heart Association chief executive Nancy Brown said in a statement.

"The outcome of this study could inspire a new generation of tools that are geared towards disease prevention versus just diagnosis and treatment."

Last week, Verily unveiled a wrist-worn "Study Watch" designed to gather complex health data in clinical studies.

Study Watch is meant for research and will be put to work in several studies including a multi-year study to identify patterns in the progression of Parkinson's disease, according to a blog post by Verily team members.

Environmental, genetic, and molecular information will be included in data collected in the baseline study as part of a "journey to comprehensively map human health," according to Verily.

"Currently, most of what we see as treating physicians are short snapshots in time of an individual and primarily after they are already ill," said Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, chair of radiology at Stanford Medicine and director of the Canary Centre for Cancer Early Detection.

"By focusing on the health of a broad population, we can eventually have a meaningful impact on the well-being of patients around the world."

Verily was part of the Google X laboratory known for big-vision projects such as self-driving cars and internet service delivered by high-altitude balloons, but was spun into an independent unit at Google-parent Alphabet in mid-2015.

Verily works on diabetes with the French pharmaceutical group Sanofi and has another partnership in bioelectronic medicine with the British firm GlaxoSmithKline.
As Starbucks turns one in South Africa, it opened its fourth store in Menlyn Park, Pretoria, yesterday 19 April 2017. The first was in Rosebank, where people queued to buy the world-renowned brand. The second store opened at Mall of Africa, marked by the attendance of Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz. The third Starbucks opened in Pretoria's greenest development, Menlyn Maine.

Norman Kin Hang Chan   123RF.com

We always had a feeling that South Africans would take Starbucks to their heart but we were all floored at the scale of the welcome we received in Johannesburg, says Taste Holdings CEO, Carlo Gonzaga.

Over the last year, the brand has seen a rise in its artisanal, small-batch Reserve coffee with its proprietary coffee machine, the Clover, receiving the most interest, says Gonzaga.

Consumers are adopting digital solutions and the brand has been a mover in innovation in this space. In February, it launched its loyalty programme, Starbucks Rewards that rewards customer loyalty and offers a complete payment solution through an app. It is growing rapidly, as customers start to feel the speed and simplicity of payment and reward.

Gonzaga concludes, In the next few months, we aim to bring the Starbucks experience to more South Africans and in more innovative ways. We are proud to be here in South Africa and we look forward to opening more stores, employing more partners and being a big part of the communities we serve.
Urban property developer Blok will be launching a new development concept in Cape Town's Bo-Kaap with the aim of providing urban homes to a more diverse range of incomes.

We are excited to be launching a first for Blok that responds to needs that are current and very real in today's market - the lack of diversified urban housing in well located areas. As developers, we recognise that we have a role to play in contributing towards a more integrated, diversified and sustainable development trajectory. By using a research-by-design development approach borne out of partnerships between us as developers, the city and the community, we have utilised well located land and are wanting to unlock bulk potential on existing sites approved for development. The aim is to provide urban apartments that serve the currently uncatered-for middle income market that will be incorporated within our planned development. Our goal with this project is to evolve a model that can be used to illustrate the role of developers in the development of the city and create awareness around their ability to undertake similar projects that will begin to assist in contributing well located urban housing targeted at the middle income market, explains Bloks MD and co-founder Jacques van Embden.

Community collaboration

The site for the proposed development is currently a vacant piece of land in the Bo-Kaap. The development's design aims to sensitively acknowledge and incorporate the neighbourhood's built cultural heritage and urban fabric whilst trying to nudge the architecture in a modern way. In addition, Blok hopes to collaborate with the community on certain elements in and around the development.

We are excited to share the details of the development concept and new product over the coming weeks. The new development reflects our passion for urbanism, our ethos of being involved in the communities in which we develop and our interest in pushing the boundaries of design, concludes van Embden.
With present government's renewed vigour to speed up and enhance land redistribution and amend the Constitution to permit expropriation without compensation, an overview of current legislation places the debate in context.

What is Land Reform?

Land reform is the process driven by the government, in terms of which previously disadvantaged persons who have either lost land or access to land or some form of security of tenure through Apartheid, or who do not presently have any such access or tenure as a result of the disadvantages they suffered under the Apartheid system, are given some form of access to land or rights or tenure in land.

There are a number of different programmes aimed at enhancing and protecting and restoring rights to land for those who suffered under Apartheid. Some of the better-known examples would be the process of the restitution of land via the Land Claims Court, the automatic upgrading of rights of leasehold to rights of ownership, and the redistribution of land (for example, of RDP houses by municipalities). In the latter process, the government purchases land from those who have it and distributes it, at no cost, to those who do not. The latter is the topic of the most controversy.

Expropriation

Expropriation occurs when a government takes property from a person. The South African government is authorised in terms of the Constitution, read together with the Expropriation Act 63 of 1975, to expropriate land or rights in land from anyone in South Africa. Land or rights in land can only be expropriated for a public purpose or in the public interest. This prohibits expropriation for reasons that are not for the benefit of all South Africans.

Compensation

As it stands, the Constitution provides that all expropriations are subject to the payment of just and equitable compensation, but nowhere in law can one find an explanation of what just and equitable compensation actually means. The courts have developed several guidelines over time and the Constitution lists that courts must take into account when determining what just and equitable means in any given situation.

Even with these guidelines and factors, the meaning of just and equitable is so vague that it is very difficult to predict what a court will determine as just and equitable on a case by case basis.

Debate over compensation

Some people are of the view that any title to land or any right to land acquired by white persons under the Apartheid government should be expropriated at no or very little compensation, because the beneficiaries benefited unduly at the expense of the balance of the population for so many years whilst the Apartheid government remained in power.

A contrary view is that expropriation should be done at as close to market value as is just and equitable in the situation, to avoid the situation where the government could justify cheap land grabs (or expropriation without any compensation whatsoever) with a simple reference to the owner being white, or having acquired title under the Apartheid government.

This debate has been raging for almost 20 years and is likely to continue raging for many years to come unless the Constitutional Court lays down more concrete guidelines as to what exactly just and equitable means.

Willing buyer, willing seller myth

Many people mistakenly think that land redistribution has halted because expropriation can only occur where there is a willing buyer and willing seller. This implies that the sale price will be market related (otherwise the seller would not be willing) and that the government has the funds and is willing to pay the market related sale price. This is incorrect.

The first part of the expropriation process is to attempt to negotiate a sale with the owner of the land, but if this fails, the government is authorised to exercise its rights in terms of the various laws and expropriate the land subject to the payment of compensation that it deems just and equitable.

The owner of the property will need to refer the matter to court if he/she/it is not satisfied with the amount of compensation. However, the expropriation process is certainly not prohibited by the disagreement between the parties on the amount of compensation.

ANC calls to amend the Constitution

The ANC has made no secret of its intention to arrange a vote calling for an amendment to the Constitution to allow expropriation to take place without compensation. The ANC is of the view that this would speed up land redistribution. However, in order to achieve this, two thirds of the national assembly (Parliament) would need to vote to accept this amendment and thereafter a majority of the nine Provincial Councils would need to vote to adopt this amendment.

Such an amendment would almost certainly scare off all foreign investment, return our hard-fought and hard-won democracy to the position where a portion of our population is discriminated against on the basis of skin colour and would open the litigation floodgates if it were passed. The authors are of the view that it is very unlikely that this will eventuate during our lifetimes.

That being said, plan for the future carefully. We would wager that those severely affected by the land grabs in Zimbabwe did not see it coming or reacted too late, to avert disaster.
DHAKA, Bangladesh: Bangladesh on Tuesday began training thousands of teenage girls to fight cyber crime, citing an "alarming" rise in social media-related abuses mostly targeting adolescents.

 bizoon via 123RF

Police said online harassment had grown alarmingly with the rise in smartphone use in Bangladesh, and teenage girls were the main targets.

"Every day, we have 10-12 complaints of cyber crimes. Some 90% of these victims are pre-teen and teenage girls," Nazmul Islam, a deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told AFP.

Police said girls were being tricked into posing for intimate photographs and video footage that were later posted on social media or used for trolling. On some occasions, hidden cameras were used to secretly film young people having sex, with the footage later posted online.

Emotional blackmail

"Sometimes these photos and videos are being used by boyfriends to emotionally blackmail the girls or their families," said Islam.

Bangladesh in 2013 set up a special trial court to deal with social media-related crimes and since then more than 450 cases have been heard.

"(The) majority of the victims are young girls. In many cases, once they were married, they found that their former lovers posted their intimate photos to social media," prosecutor Nazrul Islam Shamim told AFP.

Government workshops

More than 10,000 school girls will take part in government workshops around the country in April and May to teach them what to look out for and how to respond.

Source: AFP
HELENA  A bill that would have exempted some seasonal outdoor recreation employees from state overtime laws and some other labor laws was vetoed on Thursday by Gov. Steve Bullock.

Under the bill, a narrow and clear exemption in existing law would be replaced with a broad and ambiguous exemption that could capture employees in any number of businesses that define themselves as part of the outfitting industry, the Democrat wrote in his veto letter. I cannot support changing the law when our existing exemption seems adequate and well defined.

Cosponsors Rep. Vince Ricci, R-Laurel, and Sen. Dee Brown, R-Hungry Horse, had argued that House Bill 496 was indeed necessary, noting that the existing definitions did not cover all the types of jobs outfitters had. The Montana Outfitters and Guides Association also had said it is difficult to track overtime because most of these jobs have long or irregular hours, often without clear delineation between when someone is working and when they are simply sitting around the campfire.

The original version of the bill also would have exempted seasonal recreation employers from minimum wage laws, but that was amended out before being sent to the governor.

House Bill 496 is dead unless both chambers of the Legislature override the governors veto, which would take a two-thirds vote. The measure originally passed the House 55-44 and the Senate 28-20.
Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande has announced major new investment in university infrastructure, which will see government spending R7 billion on a range of projects countrywide.

Making the announcement on Wednesday, 19 April 2017, Minister Nzimande said the investment will be spent over the next two years on new student housing, laboratories, communications technology, and other essential facilities, as well as essential maintenance and the further expansion of the new universities.

It also includes R1 billion per year into the new Mpumalanga University and Sol Plaatjie University in the Northern Cape.

None of this spending will go towards repairing or replacing buildings damaged and vandalised over the past 18 months by a small group claiming to represent protesting students, as this is being dealt with through other means, the Minister explained.

Historically disadvantaged universities

Minister Nzimande also announced that a further R2.5 billion has been targeted to the historically disadvantaged universities for over the next five years so that they can realise their full academic potential, while shaking off their historic image as the academic orphans of apartheid.

The Minister said government is committed to strengthening, developing and broadening access to universities, as is visible in the doubling of student numbers over the past 20 years.

In doing so, we have opened a major route to empowerment through knowledge and skills, which can benefit both individuals and the economy. But access is just one side of the coin, we have always been aware that we must also strengthen the institutions, not least by increasing our infrastructure spending.

Investment in infrastructure, including teaching and research spaces, equipment and conducive student living environments is key to ensuring that the universities can deliver on their empowerment mandate. This approach required a particular commitment to improving living and learning conditions in the historically disadvantaged institutions, Minister Nzimande said.

Student housing

He said that the department is aware that there is still much to do, especially in areas such as student housing.

The department continues to prioritise the refurbishment and new construction of student housing at universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges because of the huge need, largely because more young people from poor backgrounds than ever before are studying away from home.

The R2.1 billion will assist in accelerating the program to provide an additional 200,000 beds at universities. Meeting this target within a reasonable period cannot be achieved by government alone, the Minister said.

Donor investment still needed

He added that the department is looking at innovative ways of using governments funding to leverage additional private sector and donor investment as we further accelerate the construction of new residences for TVETs and universities.

The Ministers announcement of a massive boost in university infrastructure spending, builds on the significant progress achieved since 2007 through the departments Infrastructure and Efficiency Grant.

This has in the past 10 years seen R14.87 billion spent on ensuring that the universities have adequate infrastructure to ensure growth in priority areas such as science, technology and engineering, animal and human health sciences, and teacher education programs.

All universities across the country have benefited from this investment, with historically disadvantaged institutions prioritised since 2010 for a greater proportion of the funding.
Almost four years after Nissan ventured into auto assembly in Nigeria, it fills me with pride when I comment on our success as an auto company operating in Africa. Especially given that challenges often over-ride opportunities when considering the pros and cons of business expansion on the continent.

Mike Whitfield

These are some of the pre-requisites I believe are important to long-term sustainability on the continent.

Build strong relationships

However much you are investing in a given country, its wise to remember you are always a guest.

Legislation, systems, processes, and customs are different so its important to build up layers of trust with government and industry stakeholders.

Get to know whos who and what theyre responsible for. Never go in with an all-knowing approach. Listen, suggest, discuss but dont preach.

As first movers in Nigeria, we were fortunate to be invited to give input into the new auto policy when it was first being developed as part of the governments strategy to industrialise. This has positioned us as a strong player in Nigerias developing auto industry.

More recently, were also giving assistance and advice through our membership of the African Association of Auto Manufacturers (AAAM). AAAM  comprising South Africa automakers  is playing a mentoring and knowledge-sharing role as countries consider car manufacturing in their industrialisation policies. Together we aim to develop a self-sustaining and internationally-competitive African auto industry.

Groom a localised workforce

Governments want to know that your investment is going to benefit the local economy and its people. So its crucial to localise your operation as much as possible as early as possible.

This means building an experienced workforce who understand their role in building your brand. Whether its at operational, sales or distribution level, skilled and knowledgeable employees  who can pass on their expertise to local counterparts  are a must.

An important development at our head office has been the recruitment of employees who represent us in our various markets, especially those where English is not the lingua franca  for example, French-speaking West and Central Africa, and Portuguese-speaking Lusophone Africa.

At our plant in West Africa, were building Proudly Nigerian vehicles for Nigerians by Nigerians. Initially, a strong expat contingent was necessary for skills training but this is reducing as we train and upskill the workforce. Were also hoping to attract skilled auto industry Nigerian ex-pats who want to return and play a role in building local skills and developing their countrys auto industry.

Know your markets

Knowing current and anticipating future market trends is vital to managing the financial health of the business, as well as preparing for growth and expansion.

Africa as we know is a hotchpotch of markets: small and large; left- and right-hand drive; some economies and infrastructure more developed than others. So having an accurate gauge of volumes and product-types required in the various markets is wise from both a manufacturing and retail planning perspective.

Theres no point, for example, in having an over-supply of pickups  whether locally manufactured or imported - if demand has shifted to passenger vehicles.

Getting to really know and understand your markets  an on-going activity - is likely to be a combination of desktop studies, word-of-mouth experience, on-the-ground observation and strong local partners who can pass on their deep knowledge of customer behaviour.

Capitalise on logistical synergies

Distribution of vehicles and parts to over 40 countries in sub-Saharan Africa can be unwieldy and expensive. In Africa, a company working on its own doesnt have sufficient volume or scale to create efficient solutions. So its cost-effective to make use of logistical synergies as much as possible.

This means optimising inward- and outward-bound land, air and sea routes for freight transport, either within the company or with external partners.

Were able to combine volume with our Alliance partners Renault and Mitsubishi to create scale and efficiency. But we make use of other innovative solutions, for example when we transport vehicles to Kenya, where we send about 400 vehicles a month.

In this instance, weve partnered with a Kenyan company which delivers flowers to South Africa by air. On the flights return trip, we load the plane with vehicles destined for East African markets. Its a good example of how different industries can work together to share available regional airfreight cargo capacity and simultaneously reduce costs.

In the last three years, logistics synergies across sub-Saharan Africa have directly and indirectly saved our company about R200 million.

Stay the course

Its worth repeating that doing business in Africa is a long-term commitment. There are no shortcuts. There is no certainty  financial or political. There are going to be ups and downs.

But those who are prepared to listen to the experience of others, to solicit advice when necessary, and who have the stamina to stay with the programme will reap the rewards of success. Of that I am certain.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands launched Inspiring Fifty South Africa with an open call for nominations for Inspiring South African Women working in the different spheres of technology and innovation. Deadline for nominations is 24 June 2017.

About Inspiring Fifty

Inspiring Fifty is a Dutch-based non-profit organisation that showcases inspiring female role models in the technology industry in the Netherlands, France, Europe, and the Nordics. Built on the core philosophy If she can see it, she can be it, it annually awards the 50 most inspiring women in the technology sector with the aim of providing a platform that brings more visibility to the achievements of women in the innovation and technology sector.

Inspiring Fifty has now partnered with the Kingdom of the Netherlands to launch the initiative in Africa, creating the first platform of inspiring women in technology outside Europe.

The African tech ecosystem is growing exponentially. This is re-shaping the South African economy as technology and innovation are leapfrogging beyond established technology, ideas, and infrastructure. The instrumental role played by women in this sector should be made more visible on a local and global level. These women are the inspiring role models for the future," says Inspiring Fifty co-initiators Janneke Niessen and Joelle Frijters.

Creating a platform

"Inspiring Fifty South Africa allows us to create a platform for these women in technology, showing our girls that they can do the same. says Bonnie Horbach, the Netherlands Consul General in Cape Town. The collaboration forms part of the Dutch campaign in South Africa, named #cocreateSA.

Were thrilled to be moving this initiative to the African continent as we share the same important goals around inclusive economic growth, diversity, innovation and entrepreneurship. We look forward to collaborating, to co-create and shape ideas to bring about positive and lasting change to the sector across the globe, says Niessen and Frijters.

There is ample evidence on the critical benefits that diversity brings to innovation, problem-solving and creativity. Based on these insights, it is clear that there is no shortage of opportunities for women in the industry.

Jury panel

The Inspiring Fifty South Africa jury panel consists of the following local technology pioneers who themselves have proven inspirational in the technology space:

founder and CEO of GirlHYPE Coders Baratang Miya;



Carol Bouwer, founder of Carol Bouwer Productions;



co-founders of Inspiring Fifty and Improve Digital, Janneke Niessen and Joelle Frijters;



co-founder and CEO of Yoco, Katlego Maphai;



co-founder and CEO of WomEng and JourneyMap, Naadija Moosajee;



founder and CEO of Karisani IT, Portia Masimula;



director of Board, SDG Center Africa and UN SDSN & CEO, Perennis Africa Proprietary,

Niclas Kjellstrom Matseke;



Niclas Kjellstrom Matseke; tech journalist, Samantha Perry, and;



Vanessa Raath, the managing director of Its About People.

To meet the criteria, a nominee has to be a founder of a technology company; or hold a position in a c-level position in a technology company; or be an influencer, academic, or politician in the

technology or innovation space. The initiative encourages South Africans and the technology eco-system to nominate their most inspiring female role models. Nominate on www.cocreatesa.nl

For more, go to www.inspiringfifty.com.
VBN Consultants recently returned from the Millennials 20/20 conference in NYC where world leading consumer brands and retailers were brought together to share and discuss new insights about this lucrative future market.

Val Bourdos Nichas and George Bourdos from VBN

Over the years we have worked with a diverse set of teams, in both small and large corporates, and recognise that nowadays the majority of company employees are millennials, who operate according to an altered and contemporary paradigm of business needs and principles, says Val Nichas, owner and principal consultant of VBN.

Because of this we have fashioned the Future Business Division, which will operate independently of our existing Business Planning Division. However, when necessary, the combined services will be used.

George Bourdos, head of the Future Business Division and a millennial himself, says, In order to understand the youthful target market and anticipate their needs, we need to talk the language of the future. This means knowing the techno stuff. Companies need to keep pace with the rapid developments online and with social media.

Three targeted services

The new division will offer clients three separate services - Trend Presentations, Service Experience and Consumer Insights.

Trend presentations focus on industries where we have extensive experience and knowledge, including technology and digital innovations; marketing; food; retail; fashion and beauty; as well as healthcare. Here we will examine the most up-to-date business trends and preferences and, over time, we may include additional industries.

The service experience concentrates on customer journey mapping. Here we analyse the clients customers journey when they interact with the brand and identify key pain points. We then assist with turning these pain points into memorable experiences and emphasise improvement criteria moving forward. We identify the opportunity for South African companies, especially retail brands, to offer consumers a new and refreshing customer experience. Most retailers are offering the same old-same old approach to shopping experiences with no real impact. We now help our clients develop customer journeys that actually matter to the customer.

Under consumer insights, we take a closer look at the millennial consumer in a specific industry. For example some of the questions include, Who are these consumers? How do they think? How do they differ from other generations? What role does technology & social media play in their lives? How must brands adapt and tailor their offerings for these consumers? What must employers do to acclimatise to a changing workforce?

By combining the companys future business tools and workshops, we enable our clients to understand and recognise the needs of their future market better. This gives rise to new ideas as well as innovative and engaging solutions, concludes Bourdos.
The United Nations and the African Union have signed a new partnership framework to better respond to evolving challenges. The new understanding will also help align the African Union's Agenda 2063 with the global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, to ensure that they are both a success story' on the continent.

 hxdbzxy via 123RF

United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres and the chairperson of the African Union, Moussa Faki Mahamat, have signed a new landmark framework to strengthen partnership between the two organisations on peace and security pillars; and better respond to the changing dimensions and evolving challenges of peace operations.

We no longer have the traditional peacekeeping operations, where peacekeepers separate two countries or two groups within the same country that have signed an agreement, and a makeshift peace essentially prevails, Guterres told the press, alongside Mahamat, after signing the framework at UN Headquarters in New York.

We are witnessing, in Africa, as around the world, changes [] that force us to have a strategic review of the way peace operations take place, he explained.

The Joint UN-AU Framework for Enhancing Partnership on Peace and Security is expected to boost the coordination between the two organisations at all levels. It is also anticipated to strengthen cooperation on issues ranging from human rights and good governance, to sustainable and inclusive development.

The new understanding will also help align the African Unions Agenda 2063 with the global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to ensure that they are both a success story in the continent.

Prior to the press briefing, Guterres and Mahamat jointly led the first Joint UN-AU Annual Conference where they discussed the complementarity between the 2030 Agenda and the AUs Agenda 2063; as well as the fight against terrorism and the financing of operations led by the AU.

They also discussed situations in several countries, including Libya, Mali, the Central African Republic, and Somalia; and efforts to combat the activities of the Boko Haram terrorist group.
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A disbarred Billings attorney appeared in court Thursday to face multiple animal abuse charges spanning years.

Randy Scott Laedeke, 60, was charged with at least two counts of cruelty to animals, one of them a felony, and one count of livestock unlawfully running at large, a misdemeanor.

Justice of the Peace Pedro R. Hernandez allowed Laedeke to remain out of jail during Thursday's initial appearance in Yellowstone County Justice Court.

An investigation into this case began in August 2015, when two loose horses were spotted south of the interstate near Billings. A county animal control officer noted that one horse appeared malnourished and both had scabs and scars, charges state.

Officers determined Laedeke to be the owner, and they inspected his property. They found multiple horses in "poor condition" with no visible feed around, charges state. Others had neglected hooves, and the pasture was over-grazed, according to court documents.

The officer rated multiple horses as a one on the Henneke Body Scoring System, a standardized numerical scale used to evaluate a horse's body mass. One is the lowest score.

Over the following months, officers returned to inspect the animals. In August 2015, the officer noted that of about 32 horses on the property, just eight appeared to be in "decent body condition," charges state. A Montana Equine Medical/Surgical Center doctor reached similar conclusions in October 2015, according to court documents.

Inspections in March 2016 found another neglected horse, according to court documents.

A former attorney, Laedeke was disbarred in 2015 for mishandling a client's settlement in the wake of a vehicle crash death. The Montana Supreme Court ordered him to pay $65,547 in restitution.

Then in 2016, he faced federal charges for wire fraud for alleged embezzlement in that same case. Prosecutors said that Laedeke took outsized fees from a settlement while representing the estate of a person who died in a car crash.

That case was dismissed in September 2016.

In Montana, disbarred attorneys cannot reapply for admittance for at least five years.

In the animal case, Laedeke is scheduled to appear in Yellowstone County District Court on April 27.
In the coming months, the East Billings Urban Renewal District will continue its trajectory of infrastructure upgrades designed to spur greater investment in Billings industrialized east side.

Property owners within the Billings Industrial Revitalization District and their guests heard plans for one of Billings three tax increment financing districts during Wednesdays annual membership meeting, held at the First Interstate Bank Operations Center.

Exposition Gateway

DJ Clark, a senior engineer with Sanderson Stewart, said the BIRD will seek nearly $6 million to extend work across nine square blocks just west of infrastructure improvements made in 2014-15.

The planned work will be bounded by First Avenue North and Fourth Avenue North and will extend from N. 10th Street to N. 13th Street.

Anticipated work will include public utilities, such as moving fire hydrants and upsizing water storm drains; private utilities, such as moving two or three NorthWestern Energy power poles; and making surface improvements, including curb and gutter, sidewalk ramps at intersections that comply with Americans with Disability Act requirements, additional parking and bike lanes, and ornamental lighting to complement lighting included in the original Exposition Gateway project.

Of the $5.95 million estimated price tag, about $3.5 million is construction cost, about $1 million is for additional lighting, and nearly $1.5 million will be needed for contingency, design and project administration.

The BIRD bonded for the previous work. Bond payments will continue for the next two decades or so.

First Avenue North

Kirk Spalding, senior project manager with Sanderson Stewart, discussed a Montana Department of Transportation project to rehabilitate and do a fair amount of reconstruction on First Avenue North between Division and N. Ninth Street.

That project  new travel lanes, sidewalks and bike lanes  will go right through the heart of the East Billings Urban Renewal District, he said.

The challenge, he said, will be keeping disruption to a minimum. Pulling up and replacing sidewalks will have impacts on business, he said.

In the coming weeks, surveyors will be doing robotic scanning along the length of the project.

Youre going to be seeing some interesting stuff out there for the next month or so, Spalding said.

The project estimate is $13 million.

Brownfields

More than 40 EBURD brownfield sites  where property reuse or redevelopment is complicated or hindered by hazardous substances, contaminants or pollutants  have been assessed thanks to grants from the Environmental Protection Agency, said Patrick Klugman, community development project manager with Big Sky Economic Development.

The assessments, which have been conducted off and on since 2008, show 97 percent of the properties within the district show no brownfield complications.

That is fantastic news for property owners and the EBURD, Klugman said.

Big Sky Economic Development has applied for a new $300,000 grant to continue the assessments, he said, and should find out in May or June whether the work can continue through 2019.

BIRD officials hope to develop a district overlay map that shows where the assessments have occurred.

Itll be an important tool for property owners and developers who want to do business in the BIRD, said Scott Chesarek, a BIRD board member.
Montana State University Billings is trying to identify how it can be more responsive to Billings and Eastern Montana businesses.

The MSU Billings Community Taskforce met for the first time Thursday, bringing together Montana University System officials and Billings industry members to look for ways to strengthen the working relationship between MSUB and the larger Eastern Montana economy.

"The idea is: How can the campus help the community meet its goals?" said interim MSUB Chancellor Ron Larsen.

In turn, Larsen added, the community would aid the university in its own pursuit.

Amid sliding enrollment, resulting budget cuts and high administration turnover, MSUB has been the focus of a growing number of university backers looking to jump-start the institution.

Those efforts have come in a variety of forms and ideas, from a local fundraising drive for a new health and science building to the suggestion that MSUB should leave the state university system and go it alone.

Thursday's meeting served as an introduction and discussion of data points that describe MSUB's current position, with focus on the interaction of MSUB and the surrounding economy.

"(It's) really about defining and strengthening the connections between MSUB and the community," said John Cech, deputy commissioner of higher education.

Larsen, Cech and Board of Regents member Martha Sheehy led the group for its inaugural gathering in a campus conference room.

The group included representatives from MSUB administration and faculty, as well as ranking members of Billings business and industry. People from City College, Gallatin College and Montana State University were also present.

Retention rates

Erik Rose, a data analyst for the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, led a presentation on MSUB data points. Attention turned to the university's low retention and graduation rates  both lower than other Montana schools.

Former Chancellor Mark Nook repeatedly stressed the importance of retention, and during his tenure he announced the goal of reaching 65 percent by 2019.

Data from 2015 put MSUB at 54 percent freshman retention. The university system rate for four-year schools is nearly 76 percent.

MSUB Provost & Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Robert Hoar told the business professionals that workforce experience, like internships, during school can bring a boost to retention and graduation rates.

Community contributions

And the discussion turned to potential business contributions. Billings Clinic Foundation President Jim Duncan brought up residency programs, which are training programs for an industry that faces potential labor shortages. MSUB has planned to bolster its health care course offerings.

And after hearing some data points, the group requested more information at the outset.

Big Sky Economic Development Director Steve Arveschoug offered to bring Billings economic data points to measure alongside that of MSUB. ExxonMobil spokesman Dan Carter asked for data on the average debt load for local grads. Billings Chamber of Commerce President John Brewer wondered about the number of grads who stay and work in Billings.

Recommendations

And so it went. The group plans to meet periodically through November to discuss MSUB as part of the local economy.

"The task force is not being asked to create a vision for MSUB," Cech said. "That will be up to the faculty."

Larsen said that simultaneous student and faculty efforts are underway to discuss the university from those perspectives.

By December, the task force plans to finalize a set of recommendations, which will be presented to Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christian and MSU President Waded Cruzado.

Those recommendations will go before the Board of Regents during its January 2018 meeting.
A 2-year-old boy was turned over to Child Protective Services by his non-custodial father on Wednesday night about three hours after a Missing and Endangered Person Alert was issued for the child in Billings by the Montana Department of Justice.

Spencer Budde Jr. was turned over to Child Protective Services at about 9 p.m. on Wednesday night by his father Spencer Budde Sr., according to Sgt. Clyde Reid of the Billings Police Department. Budde Sr. was cooperative and turned the child over to CPS after he learned of the alert, according to a press release written by Reid.

Child and Family Services was awarded custody of Spencer Jr. in court on Wednesday and the alert was issued at about 6 p.m.

The alert stated that the boy was "believed to be with his non-custodial father Spencer Budde Sr. and is believed to be endangered."
Weirdest Drinking Laws Around The World Life oi-Syeda Farah

Drinking alcohol is not only about enjoying the moments or spending good time with friends, it comes with responsibility and this is why certain laws have been made.

From having license to selling alcohol to not getting high in a pub, there are certain strict laws laid out for the citizens of certain countries around the world, which they must stringently adhere to.

Also Read: The World's Weirdest Lovemaking Laws

Learning about different drinking rules around the world is important and this article is all about that!

Check out on some of the weirdest drinking rules that people have made around the world.

The Indian Law India's alcohol laws are determined on a state-by-state basis. But the most common law across the country is when people have to show their licence of their age before drinking (18 years is the legal age for drinking). In El Salvador,They Shoot The Drunken Driver! Punishment for drinking and driving in El Salvador is quite a severe one, as the drunken driver is sentenced to death by a firing squad for a first offense! The United Kingdom Law According to the UK law, it is illegal to be drunk in a club or pub after a limit. Now, that is bizarre! The Scotland Law It's illegal in Scotland to "propel" a cow when the person is all boozed up. We wonder who even created this weird law! Also Read:12 Weird Laws Banned Around The World The Canadian Law According to the Canadian law, it's totally illegal for a bartender to infuse, flavour, or mix a liquor unless a customer specifically asks them to. This restricts the creativity of the bartenders! The France Law Generally, people who possess a breathalyzer are said to be either a police officer, or someone who has previously been arrested by the cops for drinking and driving. But in France, people need to carry their own breathalyzers! The Nigerian Law Nigeria is the only African country that has a larger beer market in South Africa. But the catch here is that one cannot import beer in Nigeria! The Australian Law According to the law, it is illegal to serve shots after midnight. Serving alcohol in a glass after midnight or serving four drinks in a single shot after midnight, or even serving more than two drinks per person after 3:00 AM is considered to be illegal. The German Law If a person is drunk and they are found to be riding a bicycle, it can get them into trouble, as people caught riding a cycle while being drunk are generally sent to psychological review. The Thailand Law This is one of the most happening places around the world, but this country has one of the most bizarre alcohol rules. People are not allowed to buy
PR Newswire

LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 20, 2017

LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- There are a lot of crossovers on the market right now, and a lot of cross shopping to be done by prospective buyers. The 2017 Honda CR-V is perhaps one of the most cross shopped vehicles with its array of features, affordable price and a reputation for reliability. Because of this, Bob Rohrman Honda has chosen to highlight the CR-V in a series of informational pages.

Instead of reiterating features and value, the Lafayette Honda dealership has taken a different approach. Thus far, the dealership has created four pages that specifically compare the 2017 Honda CR-V to various crossovers from different brands. Most recently, the dealership chose to compare the CR-V directly to the 2017 Mazda CX-5 and the 2017 Kia Sportage.

The Mazda CX-5 has its own design language that has turned off many potential buyers, for those that were still interested, Bob Rohrman Honda found a lot that the CR-V had over the CX-5. In fact, not only does the CR-V have more cargo room and better fuel economy, but it also has more horsepower than the Mazda crossover that claims to be a driver's car.

The Kia Sportage is another model that has chosen to take an odd approach to design in an effort to differentiate itself. Its strange looking exterior makes for a much smaller interior than what the CR-V has to offer. It also misses out on many CR-V features even at the highest trim levels. Finally, the CR-V has the Sportage beat in the efficiency department with better overall EPA mileage estimates.

Customers in the Lafayette area interested in Honda vehicles like the CR-V crossover are encouraged to contact the dealership and reach out to the sales team. Bob Rohrman Honda can be visited through its website www.rohrmanhonda.com or called at 855-902-6446.

Media Contact: Clay Thompson, Bob Rohrman Honda, 855-902-6446, [email protected]

News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com

SOURCE Bob Rohrman Honda
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Green dots on the Montana Department of Environmental Quality map signified good air at monitoring stations from Libby to Billings to Broadus this week. Want to know how healthy or unhealthy todays air is in your community?

Just check the online map through the link with this Gazette opinion at billingsgazette.com.

Clean air, clean water and healthy landscapes are integral to our quality of life in Montana. These natural treasures draw people and businesses to our state, and cannot be taken for granted. The legacy of mining is decades of water pollution and expensive, ongoing cleanup in several Montana communities. Billings especially has struggled to regain and maintain air quality. Our beautiful valley is home to 150,000 people as well as the states highest traffic counts. Our valley is home to industries that provide good jobs while emitting gases that must be limited or mitigated to avoid hazards to human health.

On Earth Day 2017, which will be observed on Saturday, the health of our planet is threatened by changes in climate. People around the globe have started to take action to slow the emissions contributing to unprecedented, rapid changes in average global temperatures. In America, people are driving more fuel-efficient cars, choosing energy-saving appliances and conserving energy to save money  and the planet.

President Donald Trump is leaning the wrong direction on protection of Americas air, land and water. In his first two months in office, he has issued a stack of executive orders to eliminate environmental protections. One Trump order aims to trash plans to reduce the emissions that are exacerbating climate change. The strong consensus of climate scientists worldwide is that human-caused pollution has contributed to higher average air temperatures worldwide, warming oceans, melting polar ice caps, coastal flooding, coral reef bleaching and changing precipitation patterns that have caused extreme drought and flooding. The weight of scientific evidence suggests that we have to reduce our air pollutant emissions to slow down climate change.

Fortunately, U.S. laws that protect our air and water quality werent enacted by presidential fiat, and cannot be eliminated by a presidential order. Trumps Department of Justice will no longer defend the Clean Power Plan implemented by the Obama administration. That plan hasnt been implemented because of litigation from states, including Montana, that sued to stop it.

However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is still required to enforce the Clean Air Act. If it doesnt carry out that duty through the Clean Power Plan, it must find another way. Clean air advocates will sue to ensure that the agency fulfills its responsibility.

Its more important than ever for citizens to act. Theres much we can do by choosing to reduce our personal contributions to air and water degradation. Conserve energy, keep your vehicles tuned up. Dont litter; dont waste water; dont spread invasive species into our lakes and streams.

If clean air and water concern you, get involved with local organizations that work for those goals. Join your neighbors in protecting this last, best place. Write letters to The Gazette to express your opinions. Write to your state legislators and to your Congressional delegation.

A healthful environment is essential to a thriving economy. Montanans can and must support both.
HELENA  A federal judge in Montana on Wednesday lifted his hold on a proposed irrigation dam and fish passage that U.S. officials say is the best hope to save an endangered ancient species of fish in the Yellowstone River.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris allowed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation to proceed with the $59 million project over arguments from wildlife and conservation groups that the new construction could make matters worse for the survival of the river's remaining pallid sturgeon.

"We feel that this approach is the best one for everyone affected, including the pallid sturgeon," Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Jamie Danesi said.

The Corps of Engineers issued a notice to its contractor to proceed with the project, though it will likely be months before construction begins, and two to three years for it to be completed, Danesi said.

A spokesman for a wildlife advocacy group that sued to stop the project said he doesn't believe the fish will use the bypass channel, and that his organization will continue to press for removing the dam altogether.

"We're disappointed in the judge's decision to lift the injunction, but we're going to continue to fight for pallid sturgeon and work for an open-river solution in the future," Defenders of Wildlife spokesman Aaron Hall said.

There are about 125 of the long-snouted fish in the Yellowstone, making it the largest existing population in the wild. The fish can grow up to 6 feet long and have been around since the time of dinosaurs, though their survival is in jeopardy because they haven't been able to swim downstream to their spawning grounds for decades.

An existing rock weir that diverts river water to an irrigation system for about 400 eastern Montana farms blocks the pallid sturgeons' passage. Defenders of Wildlife and Natural Resources Defense Council sued the federal agencies in 2015 to remove the weir, leading the agencies to propose building a new dam and a bypass channel for the fish.

The judge issued an order blocking that plan in November 2015, saying the agencies' environmental review didn't study whether the pallid sturgeon would be likely to use the new channel, and he ordered U.S. officials to conduct a more thorough analysis.

Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice asked the judge earlier this year to lift the injunction after that analysis was completed in 2016.

The wildlife and conservation groups contended that the new environmental analysis didn't actually answer the question of whether the pallid sturgeon would use the new bypass.

In Wednesday's ruling, Morris wrote that he lifted the injunction because the Corps and the Bureau of Reclamation's new environmental review "attempted to address adequately pallid sturgeon recovery and probability of success of the bypass channel."

The judge's was applauded by the irrigators who use the existing century-old rock weir that the dam will replace.

"The judge removing the injunction is a huge victory for the pallid sturgeon," said James Brower, the project manager for the Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project. "If the injunction had stayed in place any longer, the fish would have become too old to reproduce and the species would have died out."

However, the judge also allowed Defenders of Wildlife and Natural Resources Defense Council to update their lawsuit to challenge the new environmental review. Hall said they plan to do so and seek another injunction before the dam is completed.
ARGUSVILLE, N.D.  Authorities say a man wanted on felony charges in western Montana has been arrested following a long search in North Dakota.

The man stole a car in Fargo and eluded Cass County authorities after they responded to a report of a suspicious person in the Argusville area Wednesday afternoon.

Multiple law enforcement agencies and search dogs were used to track down 41-year-old Aragorn Jake Berger. He was located after a five-hour search.

Officials in Missoula County, Montana, say a warrant was issued for Berger after he violated the terms of his pre-trial release on felony burglary and theft charges filed after a January break-in at a Missoula car dealership.
MISSOULA  A Missoula anesthesiologist received a fully deferred sentence after being found with more than 30 child pornography videos on his computer.

District Court Judge Karen Townsend imposed the six-year deferral Tuesday on Dr. Douglas Buxton, meaning the conviction could be scrubbed from his record if he obeys court conditions.

In July 2015 Detective Chris Shermer with the Missoula Police Department traced to Buxton a file-sharing program that included a video of underage girls being sexually abused. According to an affidavit, Buxton admitted to downloading porn that occasionally contained illegal material, which he claimed he would delete. A search of Buxtons computer found 36 child sex abuse videos, and he was charged last summer.

At the start of the year, Buxton pleaded guilty to a felony for sexual abuse of children by possession of material as part of a plea agreement that capped what prosecutors could request for his sentence.

Before he was charged, the 37-year-old doctor worked with Missoula Anesthesiology, which partners with local hospitals. He specialized in cardiac procedures, according to his attorney.

At Tuesdays sentencing Michael Scolatti, a psychologist who performed a psycho-sexual evaluation on Buxton, said that in addition to court conditions, Buxton is also being monitored by the Montana Professional Assistance Program and the Montana Board of Medical Examiners, who will decide whether he can keep his medical license. The psychologist said Buxton has been diligent in seeking treatment, including voluntarily entering a four-month inpatient program in Texas.

Townsend acknowledged that Buxton has done more voluntary treatment than anyone she can remember during her time as a judge or a prosecutor.

Scolatti said testing shows Buxton has a deviant sexual interest in prepubescent girls, but added he didnt think Buxton would act on that attraction directly. He said Buxton has also traveled internationally to seek out prostitutes, but that there was no evidence those prostitutes were children.

Under a question from Townsend, Scolatti said Buxton has made advances in recognizing that watching child porn makes him complicit in those childrens sexual abuse.

Every one of those is basically a crime scene image, he said.

In his own statement, Buxton said he wasnt trying to make excuses, but that social isolation and depression drove him to watch pornography, and eventually to download and watch child sexual abuse.

It was one of the few things that let me forget my loneliness, he said. Im glad I was caught, because that stopped me from doing this.

Deputy County Attorney Brian Lowney urged Townsend to enforce the maximum penalty he could seek under the plea agreement, a 10-year commitment to the Department of Corrections with seven of those years suspended.

Buxtons attorney Briana Kottke asked for a fully deferred sentence, running down a list of other child porn cases in Missoula where that had been the eventual outcome. She told Townsend that a deferred sentence was the only conclusion to the case that would give Buxton the chance to continue to practice medicine, adding that her client has had to take a job at a glass repair shop since he was charged.

He has literally gone from all to nothing, Kottke said. We believe that Doug has lost enough.

Kottke also presented the judge with a letter of support from Dr. Matt Maxwell  head of cardiovascular surgery at the International Heart Institute at Providence St. Patrick Hospital  who wrote Buxton was a great young talent.

Townsend, who said Maxwell is a personal friend whom she greatly respects, told Buxton she elected to go with a deferred sentence in part because she wants him to have a chance to keep his medical license.

The judge also designated him a Tier I sexual offender. Kottke said as long as he is a sex offender, he will likely not be credentialed to work in a hospital. After a decade, Buxton will be able to petition the court to lift that designation.
BOZEMAN  Law enforcement officers are investigating after a 22-year-old Montana man suffered fatal injuries after stepping into the path of a semitrailer on Interstate 90 near Belgrade.

The Gallatin County Sheriff's Office said Sha'Del Hollis of Bozeman was injured on Saturday morning and was declared brain dead the next day. He was kept on life support until his organs could be donated on Thursday morning.

Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Blaine Heavner said witnesses had reported someone darting in and out of traffic at about 7 a.m. Saturday. Minutes later, Hollis was struck.

Heavner said the driver of the semi tried slowing down and reported Hollis was walking back toward the shoulder of the road when he was struck by the right front corner of the semi.

The driver of the semi was not injured.


A file photo.

NEW DELHI (PTI): Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday assured the Indian Air Force of expediting acquisition of fighter jets and other critical systems as part of its modernisation programme.



In his inaugural address at the IAF's commanders' conference, Jaitley also talked of "uncertainties" in the region as well as on security challenges facing India due to the rapidly-changing geo-political situation.



On the first day of the three-day-long conclave, top IAF commanders brainstormed over various aspects of the country's security challenges and IAF's preparedness to deal with any eventuality.



"He (Jaitley) emphasised the resolve of the government in expediting approved modernisation programmes of the Service," the IAF said in a statement.



The conference will deliberate on a range of critical issues including modernisation of IAF, its futuristic plans and ways to enhance overall capability of the force.



Jaitley also complimented the IAF for having successfully conducted various military exercises and operations towards humanitarian assistance and disaster relief both within and outside the country.



He also acknowledged IAF's capability as the first responder especially in face of a natural calamity, the IAF said.



Chief of Air Staff B S Dhanoa briefed Jaitley on the operational status of IAF and the progress on infrastructure development.



The IAF chief elaborated on initiatives being taken for enhancing operational effectiveness and the future roadmap of IAF.



He also highlighted the efforts made to enhance aircraft serviceability towards maintaining operational readiness of IAF.



During the course of the conference, senior leadership of the IAF would deliberate on issues pertaining to enhancing IAF's combat effectiveness and human resources related issues.



To encourage indigenisation and enhance self-reliance in defence manufacturing, a day long interactive session has been planned with delegations from HAL, BEL and other Defence PSUs.




A file photo.

HYDERABAD (PTI): Indian Space Research Organisation plans to undertake next month the first developmental flight of a "game-changer" rocket capable of launching four-ton class of satellites from Sriharikota spaceport, says its Chairman A S Kiran Kumar.



ISRO rockets (launch vehicles) at present have the capability to launch satellites up to 2.2 tons; it depends on international launchers to orbit satellites heavier than that.



"Next month, we have scheduled the launch of GSLV-Mk III-D1", Kiran Kumar told PTI.



The Bengaluru-headquartered space agency plans to undertake the second developmental flight within a year.



"By the time two developmental flights are over, we will be working towards making more launches so that it (GSLV-Mk III) becomes operational", he said.



ISRO views operationalisation of this rocket as a "game-changer" for it, he said.



"Once we build our own four tonne capacity, we will be able to significantly reduce our launch from outside; then we are also looking at building satellites within that four-tonne capacity, so that you can do all the launches within the country," Kiran Kumar said.



The GSLV-Mk III-D1 launcher would carry GSAT-19 satellite which has a mass of 3200 kg.



The satellite would carry Ka and Ku band payload along with a Geostationary Radiation Spectrometer (GRASP) payload to monitor and study the nature of the charged particles and influence of space radiation on spacecraft and electronic components.



The satellite would employ advanced spacecraft technologies including bus subsystem experiments in electrical propulsion system, indigenous Li ion battery and indigenous bus bars for power distribution, among others.


Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 20/04/2017 (2028 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Inspired by the work of Samaritan House Ministries, lifelong Brandonite and community booster Mildred Murray led the charge in Murray Auto Groups latest philanthropic endeavour.

The group donated $250,000 to the cause  the largest single donation in the charitys 30-year history.

If you have done well, you want to give it back, Mildred said. Obviously there is a need and so you do what you can to help.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Thea Dennis, executive director of Samaritan House Ministries, gives a brief tour of the food bank to members of Murray Auto Group as well as Samaritan House board members on Wednesday. Murray Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC and Murray Chrysler Westman announced a $250,000 contribution for upgrades at Samaritan House through the Murray Auto Group Fund as well as Laurie and Doug Murray and Mildred Murray.

Samaritan House runs a food bank, resource centre, shelter and literacy programs in Brandon. Currently, the food bank provides between 80 to 100 hampers per day, and the need continues to grow. A total of 114 people came through its Safe and Warm Shelter this past winter.

The generous contribution will go toward building upgrades at its 820 Pacific Ave. location.

Theyre doing good work here, and mom could see a clear need to support it, said Mildreds son, Doug Murray, CEO of Murray Auto Group.

The donation was a joint effort, with Mildred contributing $100,000, while Doug and his wife Laurie Murray provided $25,000. The Murray Auto Group, which includes 30 dealerships across Western Canada, matched the $125,000.

So really its our stores in all communities that donated to this cause, Doug said.

Samaritan House purchased the Pacific Avenue building in 2014, a structure dating back to the 1950s. The aging facility needed capital improvements to bring it up to code.

Like a lot of old buildings, it needed some upgrades. So we just felt we could save them a bunch of time and effort and come up with a good donation for them, and do our thing to help, Doug said.

The donation has allowed Samaritan House to build new office space for staff and work on accessibility for future classroom space through a wheelchair-friendly hallway.

Samaritan House executive director Thea Dennis said the renovations will have a major impact on day-to-day operations.

Before, we were scattered throughout the whole building, and that just isnt effective or efficient, she said. We truly are thankful for Doug Murray and Mildred Murray and the corporation that are able to partner with us in such a way.

There are seven full-time staff members and one part-time driver at Samaritan House. Some 200 volunteers come through the building per month.

Theres a lot of activity here, and this is just another great step forward to be able to use the building in its full capacity, which is what the intention was when we purchased it in the first place, Dennis said.

Murray Auto Group is national in scope, but still considers Brandon home base.

We love Brandon and we just love rural Manitoba, Doug said. We love the people here. I even love the climate  Its a great place to do business, weve got a very stable, consistent economy, and we really appreciate all the customers that have supported us over the years.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Doug Murray, CEO of Murray Auto Group, and his mother Mildred Murray, got a tour of recent upgrades at Samaritan House Ministries executive director Thea Dennis on Wednesday. Murray Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC and Murray Chrysler Westman announced a $250,000 contribution for upgrades at Samaritan House through the Murray Auto Group Fund as well as Laurie and Doug Murray and Mildred Murray.

This history of Murray Auto Group dates back to 1926, when Dougs grandfather, Andy Murray, began selling cars from his implement business in Souris. Dougs father, Andrew (Clair) Murray, took over the business in 1945. Murrays Garage expanded to Brandon in 1960, and Clair became president and general manager of Brandon Automobile Ltd. In 1971, he founded Murray Chev Olds.

Its a true family business, with all four of Clair and Mildreds sons operating dealerships in Lethbridge, Alta., Strathmore, Alta., Winnipeg and Brandon. Fourth-generation family members are now starting to come on board.

My daughter and a few of my nieces and nephews are also getting involved, so yeah were getting to that stage, Doug said.

The company supports local charities in other ways as well  for every oil change done at either Murray Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC or Murray Chrysler Westman, $1 is donated to Samaritan House and Helping Hands.

The Murray familys generosity was shown once again during the Brandon Regional Health Centre Foundations A Sense of Home campaign in 2011.

Doug and Laurie Murray donated $625,000 for the cancer treatment residence, named Murray House, which opened its doors in 2014. The $2.85-million facility serves cancer patients from rural Manitoba as they travel to Brandon for care.

We do feel were just a small part of many, many contributors in Brandon, and were just trying to do our share, Doug said.

Were proud of some of the things that we do, but were also proud of some of the things that other organizations and groups have done. Its really important and it makes our city and our community a better place.

 jaustin@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @jillianaustin
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 20/04/2017 (2028 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Disappointed to learn that his communitys Manitoba Hydro office is slated to close next month, Grandview Mayor Lyle Morran also said that hes not too surprised.

Its in keeping with ongoing efforts to centralize services at larger communities via super-centres that he said leave smaller communities in the lurch.

Grandview is one of 12 communities whose leadership learned this week that theyd lose their Manitoba Hydro offices beginning on May 19. The fellow Westman communities of Boissevain, Glenboro, McCreary and Pilot Mound will also see their Manitoba Hydro offices close.

File Manitoba Hydro will close 12 rural offices, including in Boissevain, Pilot Mound, Grandview, Glenboro, Ste. Rose and McCreary. In a statement, Manitoba Hydro says about 20 employees will be reassigned to different customer service centres.

Its always disappointing for a small town when you lose a business and you lose some employees, Morran said, adding that they will not only lose the affected employees, but also their families.

Municipality of Louise (Pilot Mound) Head of Council Kenneth Buchanan said that while he could foresee his communitys Manitoba Hydro office closing for some time, there was nothing we were able to do about it.

Theres not much point in fighting, he added. Its futile. The government just decides what theyre going to do and they go ahead and do it.

His communitys Manitoba Hydro office employed one person, while Grandviews office employed two.

This gutting of smaller Manitoba Hydro offices does not follow party lines.

Under the previous Manitoba NDP government, the closure of 24 offices was announced back in 2013, including several in Westman, and commenced in 2014.

Grandviews office has been slowly chipped away at during the past decade, dropping from a peak of about 10 employees to its present two, Morran said.

While Morran said he supports the idea of Crown corporations saving money, hes not convinced that closing smaller offices is the most efficient means of doing so.

Seeing the closure of his communitys Manitoba Hydro office on the horizon, he joined council in sending a group letter to Manitoba Hydro about a month ago that recommended alternative options that might save the Grandview office.

One recommendation was for Manitoba Hydro to shift one of Dauphins divisions to Grandview, Morran said.

It would make more sense and the buildings already there; it would save them from doing a major expansion.

Morran said that they never received a response, although Manitoba Hydro public affairs officer Bruce Owen clarified on Wednesday that they hadnt received the letter and that theyd follow up with Morran on Thursday.

In emailed correspondence, Manitoba Hydro noted that its current consolidation of 12 district offices in Manitoba completes its consolidation of 36 district offices that began in 2013.

This consolidation project is expected to reduce costs by about $2 million annually and avoid approximately $50 million in future costs associated with needed facility upgrades.

These offices have been declining in use during the past decade, according to Manitoba Hydro. In 2007, 24 per cent of customers paid their bills at district offices compared with six per cent in 2016.

Payments can also be made online or through telephone payments, at Canada Post locations and financial institutions.

While Manitoba Hydro also shut down smaller offices under the previous Manitoba NDP government, the oppositions MLA for Fort Garry-Riverview nonetheless condemned their recent slate of office closures.

The context is different, James Allum said of the Tories approach. We were big supporters of Hydro, and thats indicative of the buildout.

The infrastructure buildout undertaken by the NDP jacked up costs for the short-term, but would have evened out if it were given time, he said, offering that the Manitoba Tories are downgrading Manitoba Hydros reputation, which he said doesnt do anybody any good.

Crown corporations like Manitoba Hydro are there to serve the people, and those good-paying jobs, when theyre lost to a small community, theyre quite significant.

 tclarke@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB
HELENA  Montanas destruction of government emails violated state law and the order of a federal judge, Tim Blixseth argued in court filings Wednesday that are part of the involuntary bankruptcy case against the Yellowstone Club founder.

Blixseth and the State of Montana have been embroiled in a legal battle since 2011. The Yellowstone Club filed for bankruptcy in 2008 after Blixseth was accused of pocketing a loan made to the resort. The clubs creditors have sought millions from Blixseth personally. Montana has so far failed to recover $57 million in alleged back taxes from Blixseth through involuntary bankruptcy.

In an ongoing appeal, Montana had requested and received a stay order that, in effect, froze the case as is. It barred any new discovery of evidence for the case. State law also requires all related records to be preserved whether or not they have yet been entered in court.

Blixseths attorneys now argue in federal bankruptcy court that the destruction of email accounts for several state officials violated that order. A related motion questions whether trustees tasked with dissolving the Yellowstone Club have similarly destroyed relevant emails. In those motions, Blixseth says the case against him should be dismissed and the state should pay damages and penalties of more than $700 million.

When Montana originally requested the stay, they argued  the evidence would still be there, theres no dissipation of evidence. Those assurances have proven to be empty and potentially diabolically made in an attempt to buy time to destroy the very evidence Montana promised this Court it would preserve, read the filing.

After making several public records requests last year, Blixseth and his attorney learned that the State of Montana had destroyed all the emails from Gov. Steve Bullocks time as attorney general, along with the accounts of dozens of others. Lee Newspapers has previously reported that state law requires records to be preserved for longer periods of time depending on their content, but Montana has instead routinely treated emails, regardless of their content, as transitory records that need only be saved for 30 days, if at all.

Bullock has previously defended the destruction of his emails as a longstanding state practice. When asked about the new Blixseth motions and accusations of corruption, Bullock told reporters Wednesday to reference his earlier remarks.

We have talked about that a lot, he said. Look, heres a guy who went bankrupt, he spent 14 months in jail, I think for not turning over materials. Presumably hes trying to get his life back together, but theres judicial proceedings going on.  I havent seen anything that he filed. I know he files a lot of documents in court, so Ill take a look at it, but Im not going to engage him.

Blixseth takes issue with Bullocks explanation, saying that, as the states top law enforcement officer and an attorney, he knew what the laws were.

I dont buy that, he said.

He said his filings Wednesday were, in part, to prevent the destruction of such records in the future. He said the everyone else did it excuse gives state leaders cover to violate public records and legal proceeding laws.

Blixseth has argued that the involuntary bankruptcy proceeding against him is the result of corruption and was filed in bad faith, which he has argued would be grounds enough for the judge to dismiss the ongoing appeal.

Mr. Blixseth believes this case was filed in bad faith, as a political favor by Bullock and his predecessor, Brian Schweitzer, to thwart Mr. Blixseths effort to bring to light the Montana corruption, read the filing. One of the keystones of proving this bad faith and the corruption that led up to the filing of this case are the communications of those highest officials in Montana who were involved in and used as pawns to silence Blixseth.

In the motions, Blixseth has requested the judge to dismiss the case on the grounds that the truth of the matter cannot be found with such a critical piece of evidence having been destroyed and also asks that the state pay at least $700 million in damages for his lost business as well as punitive damages for ignoring a court order.

The Chief Legal Counsel for the Department of Revenue, which is handling the case with Blixseth, could not immediately be reached for comment about the new motions.

The motions are scheduled for a hearing on May 24 at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 19/04/2017 (2029 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fourteen Assiniboine Community College students took home medals at the 20th annual Skills Manitoba competition, which took place in Winnipeg at Red River College and the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology last week.

Thirty-three ACC students from a variety of skilled trades and technology programs competed this year, winning a total of five gold, five silver and four bronze medals.

The Skills Manitoba program provides a wonderful opportunity for students to apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired through rigorous study, many hours of practice and good old hard work and dedication, said George MacLean, dean of trades and technology at Assiniboine. Students grow in significant ways when they allow themselves to be stretched and challenged.

ACC finished first, second and third in the cooking competition at Skills Manitoba with Jackie Butterfield finishing second, Tiara Ringling grabbing top spot and Joey Wood picking up a bronze medal.

Team Assiniboine swept the podium in the web development, cooking and IT office software competitions. This was the first time in a number of years where culinary arts students participated in Skills Manitoba.

As a group, we felt pretty good at the job we did. We werent sure about the outcome  of course, because you never really know  but we were confident that we did our best, said Tiara Ringling, a second-year culinary arts student.

Ringling won gold in the cooking competition. It felt surreal. I havent really won anything like this before where I had to go stand on stage on a podium, she said.

Ringling along with the other gold medal winners now have an opportunity to join Team Manitoba in Winnipeg this June to compete at the 23rd annual Skills Canada National Competition. This multi-trade and technology competition brings together more than 500 students and apprentices from across the country to participate in more than 40 competitions.

 Submitted

Team Assiniboine brings home 14 medals

Listed by class, student, hometown, medal

IT Office Software, Kristen Rozdeba, Strathclair, Gold

Jeremy Carter finished second behind Camilo Lopez while Jennifer Joubert grabbed bronze in website design.

IT Office Software, Riley Boyd, Brandon, Silver

IT Office Software, Chantille Mallette, Souris, Bronze

Cooking, Tiara Ringling, Winnipeg, Gold

Cooking, Jackie Butterfield, Laurier, Silver

Cooking, Joey Wood, Island Lake, Bronze

Website Design, Camilo Lopez, Brandon (Colombia), Gold

Website Design, Jeremy Carter, Souris, Silver

Website Design, Jennifer Joubert, Brandon, Bronze

Submitted ACC swept the IT Office Software category with Riley Boyd grabbing silver, Kristen Rozdeba winning gold and Chantille Mallette picking up bronze.

IT Network Systems Administration, Jonathon Fingas, Winnipeg, Gold

IT Network Systems Administration, Javier Gutierrez, Brandon (Cuba), Silver

Precision Machining, Parker Kemp, Killarney, Gold

Welding, Marshall Brady, Ontario, Silver

Welding, Tyler Halabisky, Dauphin, Bronze
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 20/04/2017 (2028 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Sun reached out to the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives for comment on Manitoba Hydros impending closure of rural offices, but hit a brick wall with their communications staff.

Press secretary Olivia Billson wrote in emailed correspondence: It isnt the role of our MLAs to sell Hydros decision to close some rural offices.

Pressed further, she added, It is not the policy of the government to comment on HR matters related to Crowns.

As such, our request for comment from the MLAs of Westmans affected communities, including Cliff Cullen (Spruce Woods), Doyle Piwniuk (Arthur-Virden), Brad Michaleski (Dauphin), Eileen Clarke (Agassiz) and Blaine Pedersen (Midland) were denied.

On learning of these rejected interview requests, Manitoba NDP MLA for Fort Garry-Riverview James Allum expressed disappointment in his colleagues from across the aisle.

Its a lack of transparency and a lack of accountability for local MLAs who represent those areas, he said. They have to be held accountable by the actions taken here.

While Manitobas Progressive Conservative MLAs arent talking now, they did speak up when Hydro, under the Manitoba NDP, closed 24 rural Manitoba Hydro offices beginning in 2014.

During question period on March 18, 2014, Lakeside Progressive Conservative MLA Ralph Eichler asked: Why would this NDP government close down Hydro offices without consultation with the unions, the towns, the RMs or anyone, for that matter?

A tired, lazy government is what this government has become, Eichler added. Maybe if they had listened to hard-working Manitobans, theyd have heard what they had to say about closing down Hydro offices, the impact it would have on the unions, the towns and the RMs. They feel they dont need to consult with anyone. They seem to know best.

Eichler went on to ask the Minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro to apologize to all Manitobans for his dictatorship style of governance.

Eichler continues serving Lakeside today and is now the minister of agriculture.

 The Brandon Sun
GILLETTE, Wyo.  A 30-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to stealing from the clients of a faith-based organization that helps convicted felons re-enter society in northeast Wyoming.

Yelizaveta "Lisa" Zolotova of Gillette pleaded guilty to felony theft as part of a plea deal. Zolotova was accused of stealing more than $100,000 from Volunteers of America clients over a three-year period.

The Gillette News Record reports (http://bit.ly/2oom7RP ) that under the plea deal, prosecutors will recommend suspending a three- to five-year prison sentence in favor of a six-month split sentence in the Campbell County jail. In addition, she can argue for straight probation at her sentencing hearing on Aug. 21.

However, she must pay more than $56,000 in restitution.

District Judge Thomas W. Rumpke has ordered a pre-sentence investigation.

___

Information from: The Gillette (Wyo.) News Record, http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 20/04/2017 (2028 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Easter is over. But the candy remains. It haunts me like nothing else for the rest of the year. OK, it haunts me like Christmas fruit cake.

Its a radio station tradition. Each fall, staff who have too many cucumbers, or simply like to grow them and cant eat them all, bring them into the coffee room for staff. They quickly disappear. Each winter, a fruit cake or two also makes its way into the coffee room for staff. My contribution comes at Easter time. Any and all Peeps, those little marshmallow candies, I get are brought into the radio station coffee room Monday to be shared with staff. If you can call it sharing.

More like punishing my co-workers because Peeps are just wrong.

How wrong? Just look in todays classifieds and you will find parents trying to offload the candy. Listen to Swap and Shop and there, too, youll find parents eager to get rid of the candy. Oh, they dont say its candy. Theyll advertise it as Christmas ornaments or seasonal miniatures or wonderful poultry-style knick-knacks. But, anyway you put it, they are stale, useless and disgusting candy Peeps.

Can you tell I dont much care for the marshmallow treats?

People either love or hate Peeps. I grew up hating Peeps and I still do. They just taste like a waxy marshmallow. But, while I cant stand this candy, there are millions who love them.

As Peeps turn 65 years old next year, they continue to reign as the No. 1 non-chocolate Easter candy brand. But I cant take them. Im not a marshmallow lover, and thats probably part of it. Camping, rice crispy cake, you name it. Im not sure whats in a marshmallow and I dont like how they look, feel or taste  and Im a food lover. Just one look at me and youll soon realize there are not many foods that I meet that I dont like.

Created in 1923 by the Just Born Candy Co., founder Sam Born put fresh chocolates and other candies in the window of his Brooklyn storefront with the sign: Just Born.

Starting his business based on French-style chocolates, he would become famous thanks to the marshmallow chick.

In 1998, the company celebrated its 75th anniversary of Just Born by producing Peeps in five colours: yellow, pink, white, lavender, and blue. Now they come in every colour under the sun and there are a handful of retail stores and merchandise  from shirts to coffee mugs and pictures to placemats  that are sold in shops and online. And of course, just like the candy, are not edible.

Just Born made more than a billion Peeps this Easter season, as they do every year, and during the an annual Peeps Eating contest at the National Harbor Peeps & Company store, one daring man took his life into his own hands.

This years winner was Matt Stonie of California. Poor guy ate 255 Peeps in five minutes. His children then used his stomach as a human trampoline for the rest of the weekend, and just yesterday his eyesight returned. Doctors say he will forever be a human life jacket, capable of keeping 15 adults afloat in an emergency, simply by hanging onto him.

All kidding aside, the indestructible nature of the candy was called into question.

In 1999, scientists at Emory University performed experiments on batches of Peeps to see how easily they could be dissolved, burned or otherwise disintegrated, using such agents as cigarette smoke, boiling water and liquid nitrogen.

You can only imagine the results.

But science does dictate that most people who enjoy Peeps actually prefer to let them age, as oxygen affects the candys hydration and freshness, which is just a fancy science-way to say the candy is getting stale.

According to a Just Born Facebook survey, 25 to 30 per cent of customers prefer eating Peeps stale.

What about you? Does Westman like Peeps?

FEEDBACK

 Stephanie Parry  I love them!!

 Jody Elmhirst-Cupples Nope! Nasty little critters!

 McKenna Graham-Roberts  I love Peeps!

 CR Houle  Peep life all the way!! Loved them when I was a kid and still LOVE them!

 Betty Reykdal  I could live off them if I were allowed!

 Vicki Kufflick Inkster  Gross! Im with you Tyler. I dont like marshmallows at all!

 Kirstin ODonnell  They work great to make rice crispy treats!!!

 Sara Oakley  Campfire-roasted Peeps are a win.

 Courtnie Gardiner Hall  They are completely disgusting.

 Kim Macsymach  Yuck they are nasty.

 Bonnie Dalkeith  Love them.

 Christel Keown  Delicious!

 Emily Buehler  My kids like them. But I dont buy them. Because theyre gross.

 Nicole Elizabeth Mueller  Absolutely love them! Especially when they are rock solid.

 Nicki Baptiste  I love Peeps but only in moderation.

 Christine Greer  I love them!! I also always end up eating too many and feeling sick afterwards  and regretting my decision!

Christine, thats because they take more than 40 years to digest! Im only kidding. They should make their journey complete by Canada Day. And to those who couldnt give away whats left of their Peeps, theres always art projects, lawn decorations or recycle bins. Please dont fill our landfill with Peeps. We do not want to put that burden on future generations. That said, if we gather enough of them, we should let the city of Brandon know about our giant collection. After all, they could be glued together to be used as a candy aqua dam to fight a future high water event.

Maybe Peeps arent so useless.

JOKE THIS WEEK

One day at the end of class, little Johnnys teacher asked the class to go home and think of a story to be concluded with a moral.

The following day, the teacher asked for the first volunteer to tell their story.

Little Suzy raised her hand and said: My dad owns a farm and every Sunday we load the chicken eggs on the truck and drive into town to sell them at the market. Well, one Sunday we hit a big bump and all the eggs flew out of the basket and onto the road.

When the teacher asked for the moral of the story, Suzy replied: Dont keep all your eggs in one basket.

Little Lucy went next. My dad owns a farm too. Every weekend we take the chicken eggs and put them in the incubator. Last weekend only eight of the 12 eggs hatched.

Again, the teacher asked for the moral of the story.

Lucy replied: Dont count your chicks before they hatch.

Next up was little Johnny. My uncle Ted fought in the war, and his plane was shot down over enemy territory. He jumped out before it crashed but could only take a bottle of whiskey, a machine gun and a machete. On the way down, he drank the whiskey. Then, he landed right in the middle of 100 enemy soldiers. He shot 70 with his machine gun, but then he ran out of bullets. So he pulled out his machete and killed 20 more. Then the blade on his machete broke, so he killed the last 10 with his bare hands.

The teacher looked a little shocked. After clearing her throat, she asked what possible moral there could be to this story.

Well, Johnny replied, dont mess with uncle Ted when hes been drinking.

BIRTHDAYS

Kim Melnyk  Tracy Gowans  Terri Graham  Brittany Joss  Mike Morden  Jenna Clinton  Tanya Sobry Smart

 Tyler Glen is a radio DJ on Star-FM. He writes a weekly column for the Brandon Sun. Twitter: @Tyler_Glen
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 20/04/2017 (2028 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There was little by way of hesitation, Don DeMare said, when he picked the card that would win him $173,487.

The Carman resident walked over to the table, placed his winning token  one of 20,000 in the raffle drum  on the back of a playing card, second from the bottom left.

He didnt think much of which card he picked.

Submitted An oversized cheque for Don DeMare, the winner of Pilot Mound's Chase the Ace raffle, gathers with representatives of the Kin Community Playground committee members on April 10. He and his girlfriend, Ferne Morgan, are splitting the winnings.

After beating the odds to have his token pulled from the drum, DeMares odds to win the Chase the Ace raffle that captivated Pilot Mound were one in seven.

I told them, thats the one, DeMare recalled of his conversation with raffle organizers before his card was flipped over. If we win, we win. If we dont, whatever Im having a good time, because honestly I was having a great time, seeing a lot of people I hadnt seen in a long time.

Eleven months after the contest started, the ace of spades was displayed.

It didnt sink in right away, DeMare remembers of his April 7 win. And then his facial expression said it all: astonished, with his mouth agape, hands to his face.

A video of the winning draw, seen on the Kin Community Playground Facebook page, has been watched at least 26,000 times.

Im still on cloud nine, actually, DeMare said last week. It was a very nice surprise.

After a celebratory drink or two that evening, DeMare made new plans for his Saturday morning. He headed off to a motorcycle dealership in Morden to browse Harley Davidsons, some 20 years ago after he sold his motorcycle.

Ive always wanted to get another one, but you know theres life circumstances, you cant afford it or dont want to take the chance; this was my once-in-a-lifetime deal to buy the bike that I wanted.

The truck driver with Maple Leaf in Winkler split the pot with his girlfriend Ferne Morgan, an agreement they hatched prior to the win.

They each spent $100 in tickets.

The wildly popular Chase the Ace fundraiser has exploded in popularity, especially after massive pots were awarded in Nova Scotia. Last year, $2.9 million was won in Sydney.

At first, the jackpot slowly accumulates, with the winner each week picking one card from a standard deck. If the Ace of Spades is not chosen, that card is removed from the deck and brand new tickets are sold the next week, until eventually the ace is selected.

It took until March 17 for the pot to reach $100,000.

Each week, 20,000 tickets could be sold, with each purchased for $2. Each person could spend a maximum of $1,000 on tickets per draw, which a few people spent on the final date. All tickets were purchased on April 7.

Like a 50-50 raffle, winnings are split evenly between the winner and charity.

The fundraiser was established by Pilot Mounds Kinette Club, which had previously raised $50,000 over four years to replace a playground by the community hall.

Concluding the contest means were done fundraising, said Sally Currie, raffle chair. It means we can put our efforts into other parts of the community that needs help.

The Kinettes will build a better play structure than what their planned $80,000 could afford, explained Currie.

Excess funds will be donated to Pilot Mounds swimming pool and a group fundraising to reopen the community-owned theatre, which closed in 2010.

For the final draw, people started lining up at 11:40 a.m., with more than 300 people in line by late afternoon. Some people were turned away.

DeMare said he and his girlfriend were around the 250th people in line.

That was his third week at the raffle. He said he kept coming back to Call-Inns Hotel because each Friday became a large meeting of people he hadnt seen in years.

Now, hes a big winner, with funds to help out his kids and invest in home renovations.

My son was ecstatic, DeMare said of his 29-year-old son Jordon. He said, Dad, youve needed a break for so long.

 ifroese@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ianfroese
Despite the promise of regulatory relief, consumer demand continues to drive North Dakotas coal industry to meet the challenge of keeping coal power relevant through innovation.

We recognize that theres a huge chunk of the public that demands carbon free electricity, said Lignite Energy Council President Jason Bohrer. So how do we fill that niche? How do we not fall behind as we move to the end of the life of our existing coal plants and set ourselves up for the future?

Bohrer said President Donald Trumps move to dismantle his predecessors climate policy has been welcome news to industry because it means companies are less crunched for time to meet regulations. But reducing carbon and increasing efficiency still is needed to compete.

Leading through Advocacy and Innovation was the theme of the Lignite Energy Councils annual meeting this week in Bismarck, where industry sought to find answers to its challenges.

The theme represents two key programs that will be highlighted at the annual meeting  government relations along with research and development, Bohrer said. We will continue our work with government agencies and policymakers as we develop technology solutions to ensure our ample reserves of lignite remain a low cost fuel for the future.

Mike Holmes, vice president of research and development, highlighted projects being worked on by industry and researchers in the state: the carbon-free Allam Cycle that industry hopes to run on gasified coal, the new scrubber technology of Project Tundra that it hopes to put on existing plants, and CarbonSAFE testing to make the injection of carbon dioxide into the earth a viable option. Another challenge is to find funding to make those projects commercially viable once they've gotten beyond the initial research stages.

Weve got to get the federal government to share in the risk, he said.

Power companies with coal plants have been balancing tight margins with finding long-term solutions to carbon-dioxide emissions. Holmes said what helps North Dakota companies is the commercial opportunity, particularly in the oil field through enhanced oil recovery.

When we address carbon in this state, we see a commodity opportunity, said Holmes, giving companies more incentive to take on part of the risk of technological development.

Bohrer said, right now, industry is not looking for huge amounts of money to do these things. But big dollars and government help are going to be needed.

This is very much the challenge we knew wed face if Trump did get elected: He would be looking to cut budgets, Bohrer said.

There is about $250 million left in the Obama-era $800 million stimulus bill for clean coal technology. But that funding is winding down.

There isnt a specific program that exists thats perfectly suited to fund (large clean coal projects), Bohrer said. We almost need to create the program at DOE (U.S. Department of Energy).

Bohrer suggests updating the stimulus model of the past eight years and creating a permanent program dedicated to taking first-of-its-kind technology beyond lab research to commercialization.

We need to take the work done in the past, make a few changes and elevate it as a priority again, he said.

Its a program the LEC aims to implement at the state level as well.

Bohrer said industry is not overly concerned about its ability to drum up congressional support. North Dakotas congressional delegation have been major industry proponents.

Its more about getting the right program at DOE, he said.

Bohrer said the LEC would like to see the process of creating a new program start in 2018 and the organization has invited DOE officials to North Dakota in June as part of that effort.
Crisis talks at Stormont aimed at restoring powersharing are to be extended to after the general election.

It is understood parties will be given three weeks after the June 8 poll to reach a deal.

Secretary of State James Brokenshire, who had set early May as the deadline for the current talks process, is expected to announce a stretch in the negotiating period on Friday.

Sources involved in the negotiations have said that provisions to form an executive by that date will be included in emergency legislation that will be fast tracked through Westminster.

The British Government is to publish legislation to deal with rates and budget matters on Friday.

News of the extra time to reach a deal followed another day of discussions between Stormont parties and the British and Irish governments.

After her party's meeting with Mr Brokenshire, Alliance leader Naomi Long said she did not expect fresh Assembly elections would be held on June 8 to coincide with the Westminster contest.

She said that she believed the talks process would be "stretched" instead.

She added: "It would be better for people in Northern Ireland, for public services and for business confidence, to get an agreement before the general election.

"However, in real terms, I have to say that looks difficult because people are never in compromising mode when it comes to any election, let alone a general election which is shaping up to be quite a polarising one."

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood also said he expected the talks process deadline to be pushed to June.

Earlier in the day Sinn Fein accused the British Government of wanting powersharing in the North to fail.

Michelle O'Neill, leader of the party in the region, said the prime minister did not want a Stormont executive that would stand against Brexit.

"There is a growing belief out there among the wider nationalist community that the government don't want a powersharing executive to work here," said Ms O'Neill.

She added: "They don't want an executive that is going to take a firm stand against Brexit because obviously the majority of people here voted to remain in the European Union.

"So on June 8 the public will have the opportunity to have their say and they have to make their message clear to Theresa May that we are not for Brexit, we are not for a border and we are not for Tory cuts."

Stormont's parties have yet to reach agreement on forming an executive six weeks after the assembly election.

The region's two largest parties, and former powersharing partners, the DUP and Sinn Fein, have spent weeks blaming each for the failure to restore the institutions.

Long-running rows over a proposed Irish language act and deep divisions over how to deal with the legacy of the Troubles are holding up a deal.
Vodafone Ireland says refunds are on the way to some of its customers who were charged twice, for credit and debit card payments.

The company issued a statement last night saying they were aware of a problem caused by a processing error, and apologising for any inconvenience caused.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem described the U.S. border with Mexico as a war zone last year when she sent dozens of state National Guard troops there. Noem said theyd be on the front lines of stopping drug smugglers and human traffickers. But newly released records from the National Guard show that in their two-month deployment, the South Dakota troops didnt seize any drugs and sometimes went days without encountering any migrants at all. Noem justified the deployment and a widely criticized private donation to fund as a state emergency because of drugs making their way across the southern border to South Dakota. But the records cast doubt on whether the deployment was effective in addressing that.
A woman has been arrested in north London on suspicion of a terrorism offence.

The 23-year-old is being held on suspicion of preparing for acts of terrorism, as part of an investigation with Belgian Federal Police into facilitating travel to Syria.

She was arrested on Thursday after Metropolitan Police raided an address in north London.

Officers also searched two homes in east London and continue to search another in the north of the capital.
"There are solutions for every problem they have put forward, but the dominant paradigm is likely cowardliness and fear of making a bold decision to do anything different. What we are doing is ridiculous and achieves nothing."

Public health experts have been lobbying for a drug-testing program at Canberra music festivals for years. They say the practice, which is mainstream in several other countries, helps protect revellers from bad or dangerous substances that could lead to overdoses.

Dr Caldicott pointed to the harm-reducing effect of overseas programs and said there was no culpability for the licensed chemists handling the drugs as the pill was destroyed during testing. He also rejected the government's claim that trialling pill-testing in the near future was rushing the process, stating there was reliable, fast, transportable and affordable technology readily available in the ACT.

Dr Caldicott is a member of the ACT Investigation of Novel Substances Group and had been working with the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation to push for pill testing in Australia.

Meanwhile the territory's peak drug body has released a paper calling on the government to set up an experienced working group to design and formally propose the drug-checking program.
ACT chief minister Andrew Barr will ask the federal government to reaffirm its commitment to Canberra as the heart of the Australian public service as part of a new "city deal" under negotiation.

Both governments have agreed to enter into a memorandum of understanding, the details of which are yet to be nutted out.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr is hoping to strike a deal with the federal government that will deliver more funding for Canberra's national institutions. Credit:Rohan Thomson

However Mr Barr said keeping Canberra as the national public service centre would be a key ask in any future deal.

"I spoke to [Nationals Senator] Fiona Nash this afternoon and we had a productive discussion about how they can fulfil their decentralisation agenda without doing damage to Canberra" Mr Barr said.
A nursing program at Bismarck State College is running simulations in Spanish to increase cultural competency of nursing students.

Language barriers are often challenging in health care, particularly for nurses who don't speak a patient's language. The Dakota Nursing Program at BSC collaborated with a Spanish professor and his class to run acute care scenarios in Spanish, with the help of a student-translator.

Theyre seeing more and more of this in practice, where theyre walking into a room and the patient doesnt speak English," said Annie Paulson, associate professor of nursing with the nursing program.

Paulson and other nursing faculty members at BSC weren't sure how they could implement Spanish into their mannequin-based simulations, which they currently conduct with students every week. So they enlisted the help of Ryan Pitcher and his dual-language learners.

Its something that serves both our needs," said Pitcher, who uses the simulations as part of his class final.

On Tuesday, 21 students in the BSC program to become registered nurses did the simulations with Pitcher's Spanish students. Two nursing students were paired with two Spanish students  one as a patient and another as a translator.

Pitcher and nursing faculty members stood on the other side of a two-way mirror and watched. They used iPads to listen and communicate with the students in the other room.

"Hello, my name is Dara and this is Erin," nursing student Dara Friedrich told the patient, introducing her fellow nursing student, Erin Wetzel.

Allison Gion, a sophomore at BSC, translated the sentence into Spanish for the patient, Haley Phelps, who is also a sophomore at the college.

The simulation continued, and Friedrich asked her patient questions about the symptoms she'd been having and how long she'd been having them.

"What caused this?" Friedrich asked.

After translating, she learned that the patient is allergic to cats and had not taken her allergy medicine.

"Is there someone I can call for you?" Freidrich asked.

Excellent questions, Anna Anderson, a nursing faculty member said from behind the two-way mirror. Anderson and another nursing instructor graded the nursing students, while Pitcher corrected the Spanish students when they used a verb wrong or couldn't think of a word.

Gion and Phelps said, after the simulation, they learned how to explain things in Spanish when they weren't sure of the exact words or phrases, for example, environment or pollen.

"It was nice having real people who can interact with," Friedrich, the nursing student, said after the simulation. "It was really interesting to have that cultural aspect to this that you dont normally see."

"We normally work with a mannequin that speaks English," added Wetzel, the other nursing student.

Both Friedrich and Wetzel graduate in May with the rest of their nursing class. After that, they said they would like to earn their bachelor's degrees and work in the Bismarck area.

Paulson said most hospitals and clinics have a translator that a nurse can request, whether its an individual, a translator phone line or an application on an iPad, where a nurse can talk to a translator in real-time.

Paulson said the Dakota Nursing Program at BSC is seeing more students wanting to enroll in the program in recent years. In fact, this upcoming fall, they received a record number of applicants.
The Canberra business community has rallied to oppose federal government plans to relocate public servants to other regions.

Canberra Business Chamber chief executive Robyn Hendry said that as the national capital and seat of parliament, the ACT was the natural home for major Commonwealth departments.

Paperchain bookstore worker Rebecca Worth: Staff are concerned about potential ramifications of parts of the public service leaving Canberra. Credit:Rohan Thomson

Ms Hendry said the chamber demanded an evidence-based approach to decision making and called for assessment criteria to be released.

"Our nation's capital must continue to be Australia's centralised decision-making hub, the heart of policy creation," she said.
Looking at the way protein clusters form in long-life milk is allowing scientists to better understand Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other age-related conditions.

Co-lead researcher Professor John Carver of the ANU said there was no evidence ultra-high temperature (UHT) milk could cause these age-related conditions.

UHT milk could pave the way for new treatments for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and type 2 diabetes. Professor John Carver in the lab. Credit:Stuart Hay, ANU

However, the unassuming pantry item was opening the door to better understanding how proteins clumped and clustered in conditions such as type 2 Diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's which affect more than 500 million people worldwide.

Professor Carver said milk proteins changed structurally when they were heated briefly to around 140 degrees to produce UHT milk, causing a gelling phenomenon with long-term storage.
London: Australia's Macquarie Group has been forced to make a string of concessions with its 2.3 billion ($3.9 billion) takeover of the United Kingdom's Green Investment Bank after claims that it is the "worst kind of company" to be carrying out the company's environmental mission.

On Thursday local time Macquarie announced it had won the much-delayed bid to buy up the GIB.

It's Macquarie everywhere you look! Credit:Bloomberg

The takeover means it will manage or supervise more than 4 billion ($6.8 billion) of green infrastructure assets and projects.

In a statement Macquarie Group said it was committed to maintaining the bank's "green purpose" through special share arrangements and independent trustees.
After the shock Brexit result in Britain in June 2016 and Donald Trump's unexpected triumph a few months later in November, what are the chances of the right-wing National Front's Marine Le Pen completing a populist trifecta in the French presidential elections?

She certainly thinks her chances are strong, although she has dropped her explicit enthusiasm for Trump, if not for his policies.

Eleven candidates will contest the first round of the elections on April 23. If no one wins a majority, the two front-runners will face off a fortnight later on May 7.

Only four candidates have a strong chance of being in the run-off. In the weeks leading up to the first round of voting, opinion polls had independent centrist Emmanuel Macron and Le Pen both at around 22-24 per cent, Francois Fillon of the conservative Republicans party on 19-20 per cent and Jean-Luc Melenchon of the hard-left France Insoumise ("Rebellious France") rising to about the same figure as Fillon late in the race.
From Australia's half-hearted attempts of increasing renewable energy to the 141,000 tonnes of nitrogen flowing into our rivers each year from agriculture, we should be ashamed of ourselves. Our nation is sixteenth in the world for domestic CO2 emissions, and per capita we are close to the worst offender. But I don't want to talk figures at you. I'd actually like to bring to your attention why we need to stop the new Carmichael coal mine from commencing construction in August this year.

The new Adani mine will produce enough coal to fuel the needs of 100 million people in India. It will create jobs in the region of Townsville, Queensland. But that's where the benefits stop. Using the coal produced by the Carmichael mine would produce four times the fossil fuel emissions of the whole of New Zealand. It is a catastrophe for the climate.

And if that isn't a good enough reason on its own, it is likely to lead to the destruction of our Great Barrier Reef. Billions of dollars will be lost from tourism if this reef is destroyed further than it already has been. The reef is arguably our country's greatest gift to us. Home to thousands of species, I know it's probably the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my short life. It breaks my heart to think that I won't be able to show that to my children.

We know the older generation isn't purposely trying to condemn us young people. As far as governments go across the world, ours is pretty good. But the mine is such an unnecessary facility with many more risks than benefits.
Pakistan-born Bilal Arif can't help grinning after getting a perfect score of 100 on the Australian government's citizenship test.

Mr Arif, a Shepparton mechanic, took the 20-question multiple choice test on Thursday just after the Prime Minister announced it would be revised to include more "real Australian values".

"It's very inspiring for me that we live together in a multicultural way, I don't see such a thing in other countries," he said.

Mr Arif came to Australia seven years ago as a student, eventually applying for permanent residency and now citizenship.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull warned voters in Warringah of a "hung parliament or a Shorten Labor government" if they did not vote for Tony Abbott in the frantic final week of the 2016 election campaign.

The 11th-hour letter to voters in Mr Abbott's seat, obtained by Fairfax Media, emerged after The Australian Financial Review reported on Thursday that, 10 days before the election, the Liberal Party polled 400 people in Mr Abbott's seat and found the former prime minister could lose on preferences to independent James Mathison, Labor or Nick Xenophon Team candidate Marie Rowland.

That report prompted a renewed storm between the Prime Minister and the man he usurped, with Mr Abbott lashing out at the "sneaky, underhanded" leaking of polling data.

But senior Liberal Party and Labor strategists said on Thursday the intervention - which included a letterbox drop and robo-calls - saved the political career of Mr Abbott, coming as a direct pitch to wavering Liberals who were thinking of backing an independent or progressive candidate.
This hinting at a post-war future, which the audience knows is around the corner, reflects the show's designer Terry Dresbach's intention for the dress: Claire is a "modern" woman who is unafraid to stand out and make her opinions known. Perhaps the strongest historical parallel is between Claire's wedding dress and the robe de cour or "grand habit". This was a dress worn exclusively at court in the 1700s with its stiff-boned bodice that laced up the back (an unusual feature at the time), a skirt with separate train, and lace sleeves. It also featured a very low decolletage, worn off the shoulders in the manner of late 17th century gowns  all of which describes Claire's wedding dress pretty closely. The robe de cour was a symbol of luxury and status so it's easy to see why Dresbach was drawn to the design. She teamed this with modern embroidery choices, seen especially in the metallic leaves floating down the front of Claire's skirt, and a more rounded shape than seen on an original wide and flat 18th-century hoop skirt  at its most extreme, this would barely be wider than the wearer's body when viewed in profile, but could extend out several feet at either side of the waist. A final mention goes to Claire's risque red French court number. Seeing the open bodice  daring even by modern standards  conjures strong parallels to Anna Therbusch's 1776 portrait of the Countess von Lichtenau. Therbusch's sitter bears one breast in a manner provocatively erotic and not infrequently represented in art. Still, the Countess is undoubtedly more covered than Claire  you almost don't see the nipple at first, whereas Claire's breasts are hard to miss.

Her red dress may be an example of apparent historical appropriation that, in fact, has a firmer grip on accuracy than was first assumed. Crowning glory In charting the life and reign of Elizabeth II, from her marriage in November 1947 until the present day, The Crown, rather, is often praised for its historical accuracy. The series had a myriad of sources for inspiration to model its costumes on: photographic evidence; authentic garments surviving from the era; and special access to both Elizabeth's wedding and coronation dresses, as provided by her favoured designer, Norman Hartnell. Game of Thrones costume designer Michele Clapton and her team had the painstaking task of recreating the wedding gown using original Vogue patterns from Clapton's own collection.

The richness of the source material was a great bonus for Clapton to, in her words, "make it right". The resulting dress is remarkably close to the original. Claire Foy (Elizabeth II) and Matt Smith (Prince Philip) in The Crown. Credit:Netflix The importance of being accurate However impressive, these feats lead us to consider why strict historical accuracy matters so much in some productions, when others can teeter between mere inspiration and recreation. Where Outlander played with cross-century shapes, patterns and embellishments, The Crown was allowed no such artistic license  perhaps because it centres on the life of a real woman, where precision can be scrutinised.

Outlander adapted historical styles to suit a contemporary aesthetic and audience expectations, and despite Clapton's dislike for the puffed sleeves on Elizabeth's wedding gown  and her strong temptation to change them  she resisted. This also works to highlight the glamour of Princess Margaret, which was fresh and real in the aftermath of the second world war. Her costuming might in fact appear no less than ordinary to a contemporary audience. By comparison, it is worth pointing out some historical dramas that choose an approach somewhere between these two. The BBC's 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, for example, employed designer Dinah Collin, whose meticulous research was coupled with a wish for actors to view their clothes as clothes, not costumes. This mindset is evident in the way they wear them with ownership: they wear the clothes, not the other way around. There were certainly some missteps, such as a few too many low dress necklines during the day, but it's evidently hard to get away with no contemporary concessions. And, as Collin remarked in The Making of Pride and Prejudice:"We aren't making a museum piece  we wanted to ensure the clothes would look attractive to a modern audience." Modern elements are imperceptible now, so whatever the designer's intentions, we will inevitably look back on period films and television shows and say "that looks so 2017". With the benefit of hindsight and passing trends they will be glaringly obvious in ten or 20 years, however "true" and "accurate" the costumes are. Loading
Women with clothes to offload who don't have the time for tyre-kickers at markets or the tedium of online auctions are turning to private sales to clear their wardrobes.

Think of it as the fashion version of a garage sale, with a little more pizzazz, sometimes a glass of bubbly and some free styling advice.

Jess Dempsey is turning to a private sale to clear her wardrobe as being a working mother she says she has no time for markets and wants to attract a more fashion-conscious clientele. Credit:Paul Jeffers

Jess Dempsey, a Melbourne fashion blogger, is joining two other "fashion girls"  Jasmin Howell and Sanchia Sevell  for a wardrobe clearance this Saturday at the rear of an Armadale boutique.

She has about 500 items to clear but "didn't want to do markets as I'm a mum, and my husband works on the weekends", when most fashion markets are on.
The North Dakota Highway Patrol has released the name of the man and woman who were injured in a hit-and-run crash on Sunday in Bismarck.

Mark Backer, 57, and Gail Sailer, 55, were both seriously injured after they were ejected from a 2000 Chevrolet S10 pickup. The pickup was struck from behind and rolled over at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday on Interstate 94 near mile post 159.

Bismarck police later located and arrested Joran Griffin, 26, in connection with the incident.

Backer and Sailer remain in serious condition, according to Highway Patrol.


Established by Luke Reichinger and Lauren Walsh in 2005, Independent kidswear stockist Kido is having a warehouse sale this week with fashion, shoes and accessories, as well as a selection of furniture, decor and toys. The sale will feature various childrens wear brands including Bobo Choses, Munster, Minti, Vans, The Animals Observatory, Soft Gallery, Wolf & Rita, Finger In The Nose and Alphabet Soup. 8 Australia St Camperdown. Monday April 24 to Saturday April 29 10am - 4pm, till Sunday April 23. Kido's sale will include Bobo Choses, Munster, Minti and Vans. If you are looking to update your bedroom and living spaces for the cooler months, Australian linen, bedding and homewares brand Sheridan is continuing their mid-season clear-out with a White Hot Sale. There is now 60 per cent off selected sheets, quilt covers, towels and decorate as well as 70 per cent off their warehouse stock and 50 per cent off selected new arrivals.

Online Only, Ends Friday Night. Sheridan's mid-season sale continues. Looking to add some adventure into your wardrobe? Australian streetwear and denim specialist General Pants Co's 'It's a miracle sale' continues on brands including Adidas, One Teaspoon, The Upside, The Fifth Label, Converse and Rollas. The sale also has nothing over $50 across their tops and bottoms range and 30 per cent off selected footwear. Online and instore, until stocks last. Australian label Camilla and Marc have opened a new Rosebery outlet boutique for their Sydney customer base.

The store features an industrial and neutral vibe with concrete floors, glass panels and high ceilings. With a hue-coordinated rack set-up, expect to find some of the brand's signature neutral, ready-to-wear designs and archive pieces including dresses, clothing, coats and accessories. Shop 2-4 108 Dunning Ave Rosebery. Monday- Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 11am-5pm. Online retailer Yoox are set to launch a charitable capsule in support of the Great Barrier Reef, to create awareness and help support a restoration process. In conjunction with Earth Day on April 22, the capsule, created by Australian label We Are Handsome, will feature a six-piece collection. #Inthecart
Five more cases of a rare blood cancer linked to breast implants have been confirmed in Australia, bringing the total to 51 women, including three who have died.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has been monitoring the link between breast implants and anaplastic large cell lymphoma, known as ALCL, a form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, since 2011 when US regulators warned of an association.

A breast implant. Credit:Donna McWilliam

Last year the World Health Organisation recognised breast implant-associated ALCL as a rare lymphoma that can develop following breast implants. Since then, the TGA has been working with the FDA and a local expert panel to evaluate the benefits and risks of various breast implants.

On Thursday, the TGA reported the tally in Australia has climbed to 51 cases since 2007, with another five confirmed in the four months since its last advice.
A male driver struck by a flying tyre was lucky not to suffer very serious injuries on the Hume Highway at Coolalie Road on Wednesday.

The driver of a white Toyota van, a 43-year-old from Merrylands in Sydney, suffered abdominal injuries and was airlifted to Canberra Hospital.

The tyre that hit the white Toyota van on Hume Highway on Wednesday, April 19.? Credit:NSW Police

Police said the injuries were not life-threatening and the man was discharged on Wednesday night.

The accident occurred about noon after a northbound vehicle, a Toyota LandCruiser towing a caravan, collided with an abandoned utility parked on the median strip with the tyre in its tray.
The state government has ended months of speculation and announced former Supreme Court judge Peter Hall will become the new chief commissioner of the corruption watchdog.

Former premier Mike Baird courted controversy last year when he announced a restructure of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, which effectively ousted serving boss Megan Latham from office.

Former ICAC Commissioner Megan Latham was ousted from office by an Act of Parliament. Credit:Brook Mitchell

Justice Latham, who has since returned to the Supreme Court bench, opted not to reapply for a job in the restructured agency.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Thursday the government would propose Mr Hall, QC, be appointed the chief commissioner of the ICAC. The restructured agency will have an additional two commissioners, who are yet to be appointed.
The Queensland and federal governments have agreed to a 50-50 funding split for an overdue upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway.

Work on the $400 million upgrade is expected to start later this year, widening the busy motorway from four to six lanes from Rocklea to Darra in Brisbane's south-west.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the upgrade would be a relief for motorists who use the road regularly, especially during the morning and afternoon peaks when it can reach a standstill.

It comes after the state and federal governments last month came to an agreement on the long-running stoush over the funding split for the M1 upgrade to cure the Eight Mile Plains bottleneck.
One of the trustees of a fund that had donated to Moreton Bay Regional Council mayor Allan Sutherland has told a Crime and Corruption Commission hearing he had no recollection of ever agreeing to hold such a role.

Aspley GP John Ryan told the hearing into local government candidate misconduct on Thursday he had no involvement with the Moreton Futures Trust.

That was despite Dr Ryan being shown a deeds of trust, signed by him in 2010*, that installed him as a trustee.

The settlor of the Moreton Futures Trust, town planner Timothy Connolly, also seemed largely unaware of its operations, telling the hearing he had little to do with the body beyond its establishment.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's plan to scrap the 457 visas will do little to end the exploitation of migrant workers and only further enhances negative attitudes, a QUT law lecturer says.

Tuesday's announcement claimed the move would "safeguard" Australian jobs by scrapping the 457 visa for foreign workers and replace it with a temporary visa restricted to "critical skills shortages".

QUT senior law lecturer Erin O'Brien said the scrapping and introduction of a new visa in March 2018, as outlined on the Department of Immigration's website, would do little to stop migrant labour exploitation.

"There was a mention in there about meeting minimum wage requirements which would certainly address some of the problems if there was a capacity to actually make sure that people are following through on that," she said.
Kathryn Bordonaro has begun to play a game with her fellow commuters on the station platform in the morning.

As the V/Line train to Melbourne pulls in, she jockeys for the perfect spot so she can be first through the door.

Another crowded peak-hour V/Line train heads for Geelong. Credit:Joe Armao

It's the only way she can be sure to get a seat and avoid having to stand in the aisle all the way to the city.

"You're in this country town and most people nod politely at each other on the platform," says Ms Bordonaro, a finance broker and member of the advisory council to Victoria's small business minister.
At first glance, the post that appeared in Jasmine Tsiatsias' newsfeed looked legitimate.

It featured a photo of a much younger Donald Trump declaring that he would run as a Republican because its supporters were the "dumbest group of voters in the country". He supposedly then went on to say that he could lie and "they'd still eat it up".

Lowther Hall VCE student Jasmine Tsiatsias (left) , teacher Carla Ziino and student Mia Pavlatos (right) are learning about fake news in English. Credit:Pat Scala

The teenager liked the post and tagged her friends in it. Then she realised it was fake.

"I genuinely believed that he had said that," she said.
Francis Wark, the man accused of murdering WA teenager Hayley Dodd in 1999, has requested he not be trialled by a jury due to the publicity surrounding the case.

During a hearing in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on Thursday, Justice Stephen Hall revealed the state prosecution's case would rely upon statements from a number of witnesses who have since died.

Hayley Dodd went missing near Badgingarra in 1999.

Mr Wark's lawyer said he was consulting with two DNA experts about the admissibility of other parts of the state's evidence.

"[The DNA evidence] may be [contested]," he said.
High school students helped the Bismarck Police Department smoke out grocery and convenience stores selling tobacco to minors on Wednesday evening.

Three 15 and 16-year-old kids attempted to buy cigarettes from 12 local stores, in order to see if they would be ID'd.

One of the stores  the Loaf 'N Jug at 2835 N. Washington St.  sold to a teen, according to police. A report will be sent to the city attorney for review.

Bismarck Assistant City Attorney Jason Hammes said the clerk and store could be charged with infractions, which can result in fines up to $1,000. If a similar incident were to occur again, he could target the store's license.

Hammes said, in a previous instance, a store chose to do compliance training with their employees.

Art Stawski, president of Loaf 'N Jug, said employees are trained to card anyone who appears to be under the age of 30.

"We will have, from time-to-time, an employee who doesn't follow the procedure," Stawski said. "We take appropriate disciplinary actions. We weigh everything as far as the severity and number of actions."

Preston McKay, a student resource officer at Century High School, said the teens were selected from chapters of the Students Against Destructive Decisions clubs. The students were instructed to enter convenience stores and ask to buy a pack of Camel Light cigarettes. A youth worker was in the store to monitor the buy. Students were instructed not to lie about their age nor present any false identification.

These compliance checks are conducted yearly, said McKay, adding that he tries to pick stores at random.

The legal age to purchase cigarettes in North Dakota is 18.

In 2015, a similar operation found three of 35 area convenience stores which sold tobacco to the youth.
A food truck has been stolen outside of a Rockingham home with thieves using bolt cutters to tow the trailer away.

Sherisse Tanonef told 6PR's Simon Beaumont she was set to work her first gig for her new catering business the Standing Fork when she made the discovery on Tuesday morning.

"I had a tow ball lock on it, and they've bolt-cutted it... I did have a CCTV system I had ordered but that wasn't due til next week," she said.

The truck was stolen from outside Ms Tanonef's house on Rockingham Road in Munster, with the registration 1TOH134.
A member of a Hong Kong crime syndicate - which laundered almost $30 million through various Sydney and Perth banks - has been jailed for 10 years.

Ka Sing Lai, a 30-year-old Hong Kong national residing in Sydney, was one of nine people caught up in the web of a major joint taskforce operation code-named Operation Churchill.

Between March and December 2015, the syndicate laundered an estimated $29 million. Credit:Louie Douvis

The taskforce, set up in 2015, included members of the Australian Federal Police, WA Police, Australian Border Force and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC.)

It was AUSTRAC who initially identified that the Hong Kong syndicate was laundering huge amounts of cash through Commonwealth Bank and Westpac accounts in both WA and NSW.
Construction of Perth's long-delayed new children's hospital has been completed and the WA government has taken over control from builder John Holland.

However, any ribbon cutting might be some time away.

Patients won't be moved in until a lead contamination problem found in the building's drinking water is resolved, Health Minister Roger Cook has said.

The WA government and then-opposition said in January that there were more than 3000 defects to be fixed at the trouble-plagued Perth Children's Hospital as well as 16 possible causes for the lead contamination in drinking water.
Washington: Former Alaska governor and failed vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was a special dinner guest of President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, and brought with her a couple of friends - controversial right wing rocker Ted Nugent and Kid Rock.

"A great night at the White House," Mrs Palin posted on her Facebook page, alongside a picture of the group huddled over some paperwork at Trump's Oval Office desk. "Thank you to President Trump for the invite!"

Sarah Palin speaks to President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Credit:Sarah Palin Facebook

Nugent and Kid Rock (nee Robert James Ritchie) were among the few celebrities to support Mr Trump on the campaign trail. Nugent was an outspoken critic of former President Barack Obama - whom he once referred to as a "subhuman mongrel" - as well as Mr Trump's presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton. The dinner guests - Nugent, Palin, and Kid Rock - posed for a picture in front of Mrs Clinton's portrait at the White House.

On Facebook, Nugent boasted of the visit alongside a pic of him shaking hands with Trump in the Oval Office and hinted that he'd tell more about the unusual confab soon. "your 1 & only MotorCity Madman WhackMaster StrapAssasin1 dined with President Donald J Trump at the WhiteHouse to Make America Great Again!" he wrote. "Got that? Glowing all American over the top WE THE PEOPLE gory details coming ASAP!! BRACE!"
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We went to Spain and Morocco over the spring break. I am obsessed with Moorish architecture, with its beautiful tiles and jewelry and paint hues. And I am set on showing my children that the others are not the enemy.

Travel is crucial to this, It upends all the stereotypes we mislearn, and lets us see the beauty of other cultures.

Looking at the castles and medinas that span centuries is humbling, because our country is so new and modern because it was created in modern times, not fixed and patched over hundreds of years.

And we can learn a lot by listening to what the others say.

The tales of times of peace and tolerance are the ones that rouse me the most. The last time I was in Spain, I visited the town of Toledo after being inspired by an El Greco painting I had seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Standing on a hilltop gazing over the ancient city, our guide explained how the Muslims, Jews, and Visigoths lived in harmony for hundreds of years. My heart soared. Peace. For hundreds of years.

There are still signs for the Jewish Quarter in Cordoba, where the processions for Easter filled the streets; and stars of David are found in Chefchaouen, where the prayers from the Mosque can be heard in the square throughout the day.

My children identify as Jews, maybe because I sent them to Hebrew school for a few years and have tried to keep some traditions from my youth alive. But the Us and Them divisions of religion scare me. I want them to get to know people by how they are treated by them, not by what religion they follow. I want them to dismiss the idea that all the others would want to do them harm, because the others they have met have proven otherwise.

Of course, there are plenty of others right here in Brooklyn  and out there in America. I was born in the desert basin of Tucson, Arizona, where we bought fresh green corn tamales from Native American women in front of the grocery store, and fresh flour tortillas from a place on the South side of town, where many Mexican immigrants lived. We drove 45 minutes to Mexico sometimes, sans passports, parking in the lot at the Safeway supermarket on the U.S. side. We passed through the turnstile at customs to get yummy turtle soup for lunch, and to shop for silver bracelets and colorful marionettes, for wooden boxes and leather sandals.

The Catholics reigned in my town, and I went with them to church sometimes. I liked their songs and the way they ended Mass with, Peace be with you. And also with you.

My favorite class at the weekly Hebrew school I went to on Thursday evenings at a local synagogue was Jews and Other Views. It was the only class where I paid attention, to the Hari Krishna and the Buddhist, the Muslim and the Baptist.

I am so intrigued by other religions, and what different people believe. I have loved raising my children in Brooklyn, letting them learn firsthand about the similarities and differences of people from other cultures through friendships with Australians and Spaniards, Italians and Polish. They go to school with Muslims, Christians, Jews, atheists, and Buddhists.

Our travel is a blessing. We find like minds in all places. I hope to pass this legacy on to my children.

Progress happens when we cross borders and hear the things others have to say. And tell them what is on our minds

There is so much for us to learn once we hear the stories.
A new law signed by the governor on Monday will give all convicted juveniles  regardless the crime  an opportunity for release from prison.

House Bill 1195 allows long-serving inmates, who were sentenced as kids, to apply for release after 20 years.

The court is required to consider the defendant's age at the time of the offense, behavior inside prison, victim and prosecutor's perspective and "the diminished culpability of juveniles compared to adults and the level of maturity and failure to appreciate the risks and consequences."

If the petition is rejected, a person can apply again after five and 10 years.

The bill passed the House and Senate unanimously.

"Overall, we've recognized what society is recognizing, that juveniles should be treated a little differently," said bill sponsor Rep. Lawrence Klemin, R-Bismarck. "It will be an incentive for them to be on good behavior while they're in prison and make an earnest effort to become rehabilitated, so they can go back into society."

An earlier version of the bill simply banned life without parole for juveniles and replaced it with life with the opportunity for parole. But that option meant that juveniles would still serve much longer than adults for their crimes, because "life" would be calculated at their life expectancy, and they would be required to serve 85 percent of that time, Klemin said.

Jody Kent Lavy, executive director at the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, who advocated for the bill, said North Dakota is the 19th state to get rid of life without parole for kids. South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming passed similar bills in recent years.

"The law that passed in North Dakota is consistent with a national trend, moving away from these most extreme sentences we put on our children," Lavy said. "It balances the need to hold young people accountable for harm theyve caused and takes into account their age and unique characteristics as children."

Under current North Dakota law, defendants ages 14 to 17 can be sentenced to life without parole if their case is serious enough to be transferred to adult court and they are found guilty. The sentencing decision is made by a judge.

But it's rare in North Dakota that anyone under 18 is sentenced to life in prison.

Currently, there is one person serving a life without parole sentence for a crime committed as a juvenile, Leann Bertsch, director of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said in January. It is Barry Garcia, who, then 16, shot Cherryl Tendeland through the window of a car in a gang-related murder in Fargo in 1995.

Two other people are serving life sentences with the possibility of parole for crimes committed at an early age, Bertsch said. They are Michael Neugebauer, who killed his family in Menoken in 1992, and Sergei Carlson, who killed his sister in 2007.

Klemin said the bill will not apply retroactively, including to those three cases.
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You can cross this bridge when you get to it.

The zigzagging overpass from Brooklyn Heights to Brooklyn Bridge Park reopened after 32 months on Wednesday  and one eager local went out of his way to test the goods during his 7:30 am jog, reporting back that it had been everything hed dreamed of for the nearly three years it had been shuttered.

It was liberating in one sense that I could run down into the park that way, said Brooklyn Heights resident Brennan Rees, who is planning to use the Squibb Park Bridge every other day. Its going to be a game changer, its so pleasant.

Many residents have been awaiting the reopening of the once dangerously bouncy $4.1 million crossing since it was abruptly closed in August 2014, just 17 months after it opened. Officials ruled the swaying bridge had become unstable and fenced it off, offering little explanation of what had befallen it.

The span juts through the Squibb Park playground at Columbia Heights to the waterfront green space, giving pedestrians a popular shortcut to the meadow. Additionally, it provides people staying at the newly opened One Hotel and Pierhouse condo complex next to it a quick route to the iconic Brooklyn Heights Promenade.

Greensward stewards the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation had initially tapped genius bridge creator Ted Zoli and his firm HNTB to execute the big fix. But he was unable to find a solution and the park fired him in January 2016, filing a $3 million lawsuit against his company alleging the crossing was inherently flawed. At the same time, they brought on international engineering group Arup to find a way to clean up the mess.

And it was an expensive mess  park honchos estimated the original repairs would cost $700,000 but the final price tag for the overhaul came out to $4,045,000  a bill that includes the costs of the Arup and HNTB work.

Officials say they will recover most of the cash from the lawsuit, which, like the bridges repairs, is dragging on, according to the green spaces veep.

Were confident that were going to win every lawsuit were involved in, said the parks vice president of real estate, David Lowin, who is also currently involved in a case over the construction of two towers at Pier 6.

The latest incarnation of the bridge has one-eighth of the bounce than the original span, according to project engineers, and Rees said he didnt feel much movement at all, although he did get a peek into condo owners windows.

But as much as he loves being able to use it, the fix carried on for far too long, he said, and wants to see someone held accountable for the costly and time consuming snafu.

On the one hand, lets be grateful the bridge is open, he said. But the time it took is just insanely ridiculous, I think somebodys feet needs to be held to the fire.

On Wednesday, locals and tourists filled the bridge  and for those enjoying the Squibb without knowing its storied history, it was just a place to take some photos and enjoy the view. One Italian family gushed about the span as they posed for pictures, sizing it up in simple terms.

It looks wonderful, its really cool and fun, said Alessio Doglione, who was vacationing with his wife and kids.

Reach reporter Lauren Gill at lgill @cngl ocal.com or by calling (718) 2602511. Follow her on Twitter @laurenk_gill
State Senator Steve Santarsiero (D-10) presented a check to Yardley Borough Police Chief Joseph Kelly for $68,600 for the purchase of a new police vehicle and motorcycle during a visit to the station. Our police put themselves on the line every day to keep our community safe, said Sen. Santarsiero. Dating back to when I was a Lower Makefield Township Supervisor more than...
South Jersey Election Day results roundup: Who won, who lost?

Follow along for news throughout Election Day and race results as they come in.
Korean auto major Hyundai has sharpened its rural focus and aims to get more than one-fourth of its sales from buyers in villages and small towns this year. The second -largest car maker in the country got about 23 per cent of sales from rural markets in 2016 calendar year.
Earlier this week, India had a sip of victory after liquor baron was arrested by the Scotland Yard in London, but eventually, he was let off within a couple of hours on conditional bail. This has put India in a precarious position. Enforcement Directorate officials claim that bringing Mallya back to India will take over 6-12 months. Meanwhile, in its dossier, the ED has said that Mallya transferred Rs 26 ($40 million) crore to his three children through gift settlements.
Rolls-Royce has opened a facility in Bengaluru to support their 750 engines that power Indian military aircraft, and provides repair and service to engines that urgently require it.
Hathway Cable & Datacom, a fixed line broadband internet service provider, is planning to invest up to Rs 1,000 crore in the next three years to expand its presence in the broadband business, while targeting an addition of 1 million subscribers by the time. The company on Thursday announced the launch of its services in India with ultra-high-speed broadband technology.
Rajiv Bansal, former finance head at Technologies, has sought arbitration to get the remaining portion of the severance pay he had been once promised.
Two key developments have taken place in quick succession this week. In a blow to the Sahara group, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered auction of its prime Aamby Valley township near Lonavala in Pune to recover the dues owed by the Sahara Group to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The dues estimate to be over Rs 47,000 crore, including interest. Of this amount, the group has so far paid back Rs 11,477 crore. A top court bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra also directed Roy to appear in court on April 27.
has issued standardised spellings of the names of six places in Arunachal Pradesh, a region disputed with India, in what China's foreign ministry said on Wednesday was an assertion of sovereignty.
The Delhi Police Special cell has arrested three ISIS suspects from Jalandhar, Mumbai and Bijnor in a joint operation with the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad.

An investigation is currently underway in this regard.

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad said it received information of a group being readied for terror activities.

"Speciall Cell Delhi Police, CI cell Andhra, Maha ATS, Punjab and Bihar Police were involved in the operation," it added.

Legal action will be taken based on evidence.
India made its 15th appeal to Pakistan for consular access to alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, but Islamabad has not responded yet, a top official said on Thursday.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the appeal was made on Wednesday by India's Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad.

"We have appealed to Pakistan for consular access to 15 times. We will do everything to ensure justice," he said.

He said they are still waiting for a formal response from Pakistan to the demand of consular access to Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court, and details of the trial proceedings against him.

He also said the whereabouts of Jadhav are still not known.

"We are concerned about Jadhav's health and whereabouts," he said.

"Pakistan claims there have been legal proceedings against Kulbhushan Jadhav, If there have been, we would like to see them," he added.

Jadhav, a former Indian naval officer, was arrested in Balochistan in March 2016. Pakistan has accused him of being a spy. India has made appeals for consular access to Jadhav 14 times but been denied every time.
On Thursday, a PIL was filed in the Patna High Court seeking annulment of election of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Prasad Yadav and his brother and Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav for allegedly concealing details of their property in poll affidavits.

Advocate M P Sangar made the two minister, who are sons of RJD President Lalu Prasad, and the state government as respondents in the petition which also sought a CBI inquiry into the assets owned by them.

The petitioner alleged that the two ministers had concealed details of their property in the election affidavit submitted during 2015 Assembly poll and prayed to the court to declare their membership of the Assembly as null and void.

While Tejaswi won the 2015 assembly poll from Raghopur seat in Vaishali district, Tej Pratap Yadav is an MLA from Mahua in the same district.

The PIL comes in the backdrop of a series of allegations levelled by senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi over land deals by Lalu Prasad's family.
Red beacons are set to be banished from Indian roads, with the Centre on Wednesday announcing that from May 1, all vehicles carrying VIPs, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's car, will not be allowed to sport what has become a symbol of a culture of privilege among the political class.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued a show cause notice to Bollywood actor for cutting more branches than allowed of a banyan tree inside his Krishna Raj bungalow at Pali Hill in suburban Bandra here.

A BMC official said Kapoor had last week received the civic body's permission to trim six branches of the tree after the actor pointed out that they would obstruct the planned construction at the plot.

However, subsequent inspection revealed that the tree has been reduced to its trunk, the official said. The branches were not trimmed but chopped off, he added.

The notice was served on the industry veteran yesterday. He has been given 24 hours to explain why action should not be initiated against him.

BMC will file a police complaint, for registering a case under the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, and Section 155 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the official said.

Reacting to the notice, the 64-year-old actor said he will speak to the contractor who is handling construction on the plot.

"The tree hasn't been uprooted. I will check if the contractor has made a mistake.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday revived the conspiracy charge in the Babri Masjid demolition case against BJP and VHP leaders including L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, triggering calls for the resignation of Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharti.

After the court verdict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting at his official residence with senior cabinet colleagues including Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari where they are understood to have discussed the issue.

A senior party leader said that the several issues figured in the meeting including the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

However, Jaitley had earlier indicated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the government would not act against any of the leaders. "This case is going on since 1993. Today, no new situation has arisen."

Advani and Joshi were among the top contenders for the post of President after Pranab Mukherjee retires in July. Uma Bharti is a union minister and Kalyan Singh is the Rajasthan Governor.

Hours after the verdict, Joshi and Advani held a brief meeting. Later, the BJP core group led by party Chief Amit Shah also met to discuss the further strategy of the party.

Shah is learnt to have assured Advani and other leaders the party stands with them.

Sources said that Shah also convinced Uma Bharti to cancel her proposed Ayodhya visit, which she had announced earlier in the day.

All four along with Vinay Katiyar, Sadhvi Rithambara, Acharya Giriraj Kishore, Ashok Singhal and Vishnu Hari Dalmia were facing trial for making inflammatory speeches before the 16th-century mosque was razed in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya town on December 6, 1992.

Giriraj Kishore and Singhal, who were key members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), have since died. Katiyar is a Rajya Sabha member of the BJP.

Restoring the conspiracy charge, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman transferred the trial from Rae Bareli to Lucknow.

Justice Nariman said since Kalyan Singh had constitutional immunity from prosecution, the trial court would proceed against him when he ceases to be Governor.

The verdict followed a Central Bureau of Investigation plea challenging the May 2010 Allahabad High Court order quashing the conspiracy charge against Advani and others.

The Congress demanded a speedy trial while the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) sought action against Uma Bharti and Kalyan Singh.

"The law of the land has prevailed. We hope there will be a speedy trial and all the guilty will be punished and face the consequences," Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha told IANS.

"It is a known fact that the Babri demolition as a spontaneous reaction has been proven wrong and it was indeed a political conspiracy," Jha said.

The CPI said Uma Bharti and Kalyan Singh should step down on moral grounds. The IUML said Kalyan Singh should not cling to technicalities by speaking of immunity, adding Uma Bharti too should quit.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad said Advani's dream of becoming the President of India had now been dashed.

Blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the twist in the case, he said: "Advani is now out of race for the President's post." He added that Advani was a "scapegoat" (bali ka bakra) in the demolition case.

Uma Bharti refused to resign, saying the charges of conspiracy had not yet been proved. She said there was no conspiracy behind the mosque razing.

Katiyar took a similar line. "Why would I resign? There is nothing in it that I should resign."

On December 6, 1992, all these leaders were present in Ayodhya when hundreds of mostly VHP activists storied the three-domed Babri mosque and brought it down, triggering communal violence in the country.

The Supreme Court also said the trial court in Lucknow would frame additional charges against Advani and others and proceed against them.

It said there would be no de-novo trial and the trial court judge would not be transferred until the trial got over. The trial should end in two years, the top court said, without adjournments.
Barely a month after being grounded for assaulting an Air India staffer, Shiv Sena MP on Thursday took to the skies again.

His airline of choice was Air India, as he took a flight from Hyderabad to Delhi shortly after 4 pm, an aide of Gaikwad said.

"Ravi Sir (as Gaikwad, a former teacher, is known in his Osmanabad constituency) travelled business class from Hyderabad to Delhi today, days after the flying ban was lifted," the aide said.

On April 8, private airlines had lifted the nearly two week-long flying ban on Gaikwad.

The decision of the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) had come a day after the carrier, following direction from the Civil Aviation Ministry, revoked the ban on Gaikwad.

The flying restriction on the Lok Sabha member had been lifted after he gave an undertaking that such incidents would not reoccur.

Meanwhile, Gaikwad had a heated argument with cops over 'non-functioning' of ATMs at Latur in Marathwada region on Tuesday, police said.
A major fire broke out this morning at a thermocol factory in Andul area here, officials said.

The fire was noticed at 10:45 AM following which 20 fire tenders rushed to the spot, Fire brigade officials said.

Efforts are still on to douse the flames, they said.

The cause of the fire and extent of the loss were yet to be ascertained.
Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) plans to undertake next month the first developmental flight of game-changer rocket, which can carry satellites weighing 4 tonnes into space from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh, according to Chairman A S Kiran Kumar.
Australia and New Zealand have tightened visa conditions for skilled migrants in a bid to woo nationalist-leaning voters, echoing the United States' "America First" policy, but critics have decried the move as mostly political posturing.
The sector is witnessing a churn, on a scale not seen for long.



Direct benefit transfer (DBT) in sales, neem-coating of urea, pooled price of gas for urea units, changes in pricing policy and on related to subsidy payments are among some of the recent ones. All are aimed at streamlining the industry and boosting urea production, to ensure more is made cheaper, in the highly regulated and subsidised regulated sector.



The countrys urea import dependency stands at 20-25 per cent of demand, while it is around 90 per cent for phosphates and 100 per cent for potash. Urea is the most consumed .



The process is expected to get a further boost when the second stage of the new pricing policy from 2018. The Centre will use three slabs to recognise feedstock requirement to estimate production cost. These slabs will ensure fertiliser plants keep a check on energy consumption, to ensure production cost is manageable.



However, the industry says fresh investments are a must to match the energy requirement, with the new pricing policy. This will have an impact on their working capital. As of now, most urea plants in the country have weighted average energy of around six gcal a tonne, which we have managed to bring down from nine gcal a tonne, says a senior industry official. To lower it further, fresh investments are needed, which the industry might find difficult to raise.



A fertiliser units production cost is based on two main factors variable cost (largely raw material expenditure; in this case, gas) and fixed cost (labour, plant, etc). The Centre gives subsidy based on the cost of production, which depends on the price at which a unit gets gas. A unit that gets cheaper feedstock will have lower cost of production. Gas pooling for urea has ensured all manufacturing units get this vital raw material at a uniform price. However, as soon as production crosses reassessed capacity, subsidy calculation gets linked to the import parity price.



The average weighted price of imported urea had dropped almost 33 per cent from 2015-16 to 2016-17. Companies had shied away from producing more than their reassessed capacity, as the reimbursements werent enough. The Centre had last month tweaked the import parity price calculation for imported urea to correct this, to ensure imports remained lower.



The biggest change is a decision to stop subsidy payment to companies from June 1, unless they sell through point-of-sale devices, thereby ushering in a revised form of direct benefit transfer (DBT).



DBT in fertiliser is different from those in cooking gas or pension schemes.



The subsidy component gets credited into the bank account of the fertiliser firm within a week of purchase and the buyer (the farmer) will continue to get the fertiliser at the existing low price. The traditional DBT model was tweaked for fertiliser because the difference between the subsidised rate and the market price is sometimes more than double. The industry is required to install over 200,000 PoS devices across the country, estimated to cost Rs 400 crore.



We are not opposing DBT in fertiliser, says Satish Chander, Director General of Fertiliser Association of India (FAI). But we want it to be launched in a big way only after all outstanding dues are cleared and a robust system is established at the dealer level, so that there are no glitches and chaos during the peak sale season.



The DBT pilot was launched in 19 districts from November 2016. However, the subsidy has not reached the companies, despite assurances of it being credited within a week.
In the first week of January, a cartel gathered in the Chhattisgarh capital for a secret deal with a big plan on the card to dent a big blow to the states excise revenue.
The on Sunday might come up with a report card of its performance in the more than two years of its existence, along with the major challenges it faced and the impact it made on the countrys policy making.
The Uttar Pradesh government is pushing for a new airport at Jewar, in the same district as Noida and about 100 km from the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here.
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has extended Rs 9,241 crore as refinance support to cooperative and regional rural (RRBs) in Gujarat for providing crop loans to farmers during 2016-17. The bank has sanctioned Rs 2,274 crore to the Government of Gujarat for irrigation project of SAUNI Yojana.

"Refinance support amounting to Rs 9,241 crore has been extended to cooperative and RRBs in Gujarat for providing crop loans to farmers by in 2016-17. This is highest ever refinance support given by the bank in Gujarat," said official of in Gujarat.
Responsibility, accountability and impartiality are most important aspects of Civil Services: Shri Rajnath Singh

Reorient ourselves to the Making of New India: Dr Jitendra Singh

Prime Minister to give away Awards for Excellence in Public Administration tomorrow

The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurated the two-day 11th Civil Services Day programme here today. The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh also addressed the function. The Civil Services Day function is being organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will confer PMs awards for Excellence in Public Administration to Districts/Implementing units and other Central/State organisations tomorrow for effective implementation of Identified Priority Programmes and Innovation.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Rajnath Singh said that Civil servants are fortunate to have certain opportunities, responsibilities and minimum facilities at a very young age and the country has a lot of hopes from them. He wished the civil servants on the occasion of Civil Services Day and said that Civil Services Day provides a platform to discuss and deliberate upon various issues and is also a forum to introspect. The civil servants should introspect their commitment to the people on this occasion, he added. He said that Sardar Patel had once said that if civil services was called 'Steel Frame of India' it would not be an exaggeration and the Guiding principles for civil servants as enunciated by Sardar Patel in 1948 are extremely important in present day context as well. The 'Steel Frame' of our Civil Services has not weakened even after seventy years of Independence, he added.

Shri Rajnath Singh said that India is emerging as a fastest growing economy and the standard of living of people has improved since independence and it is the responsibility of the civil servants to contribute to the better quality of life of the people. He said that civil servants provide administrative continuity in the country and Indian polity has never faced a vacuum in all these years. He said that civil servants have many powers, but power comes always with responsibility and accountability. The responsibility can be shared, but the accountability cannot be shared, he added. The Home Minister said that besides responsibility and accountability, third important thing is impartiality. If there is no impartiality in the decision, the decision can be wrong, he added. He said that the civil servants should endeavour to become part of the solution and should never be a part of the problem.

Shri Rajnath Singh said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has always emphasised on the development and good governance and he has set a target of providing basic facilities such as housing, cloth, food, education and health facilities to the last man in the queue in the country by the year 2022. He said that the Government is committed for 'Antyodaya' and the Civil Services have to play more active and effective role to fulfil it. He also said that the civil servants should always follow rules while taking decisions and should convince the political executives if any decision seems to them to be in contravention of law. The welfare of people should be the parameter for taking any decision, he added. He also said that such decisions will give them happiness and respect. He said that a civil servant should interpret and implement rules and regulations with an open and progressive mindset. Shri Rajnath Singh also said that rules and regulations should act as facilitators and should not discourage the functioning. The Home Minister expressed faith that civil servants can contribute to the fulfilment of dream of Making of New India.

The MoS (PP) Dr Jitendra Singh said that after independence, the then Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel addressed the first batch of civil servants after independence and today also the civil servants are being addressed by the Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh. He said that this is the occasion to reorient ourselves to the Making of New India. The civil servants should adapt themselves to the vision of contemporary leadership, he added. The Minister said that the Ministry of Personnel has made various efforts and taken many new initiatives in the last three years. The Government has taken steps to provide work-friendly environment, he added. He said that the target of the Government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is: Maximum Governance, Minimum Government and to achieve this, civil servants are an essential tool.

Shri C. Viswanath, Secretary, DARPG said that Civil Services Day function is being celebrated since the year 2006. He said that this years theme is Making New India. He said that DARPG has obtained feedback from the District Collectors on the topic of "Creating Value through Human Capital Management in Government" and responses on questionnaire on shortlisted initiatives of Priority. He said that 533 DCs/DMs and 615 IAS officers of batches of 2013-16 have given their inputs. He also said that for providing level playing field to all, the states have been grouped into three Groups - the first group consists of eight North-Eastern States and the three Hill States of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, second group comprises of the seven Union Territories and the remaining 18 States constitute the third group.

For the awards to be given tomorrow on the Civil Services Day, five priority programme have been identified namely Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Start Up India/Stand Up India and e-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM). In addition to the above, the award will also be considered for the innovative work done by the Central/State Government organisations in defined themes i.e environment conservation, disaster management, water conservation, energy, education, health, women and child centric initiatives etc.

A total of 10 districts/Organisations will be awarded the Prime Ministers Awards this year under the five Priority Programmes. These awards will be given in three Groups - the first group consists of eight North-Eastern States and the three Hill States of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, second group comprises of the seven Union Territories and the remaining 18 States constitute the third group. In addition 2 awards will be given to Central/State organisations under Innovation category.
Naval Investiture Ceremony, an annual event for the Indian Navy, was held at Command Parade Ground, Eastern Naval Command Visakhapatnam today, 20 April 2017. Admiral Sunil Lanba PVSM, AVSM, ADC, Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), conferred Gallantry and non Gallantry Awards to their recipients on behalf of the President of India at an impressive ceremonial parade. .

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Admiral Sunil Lanba was received at the parade ground by Vice Admiral HCS Bisht, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command. The CNS inspected a 50 men Armed Guard and reviewed the platoons of Naval and DSC personnel drawn from various ships and establishments of the ENC. .

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Speaking on the occasion, Admiral Lanba said that the occasion is of special significance, as it allows us to formally acknowledge commendable gallantry as well as devotion to duty of the fellow shipmates. He also thanked the family members of the award winners for their support to the service personnel in their performance of duty. He added that the core values - Duty, Honour and Courage forms the fundamental traits expected from all naval personnel. The award winners have displayed these and many more qualities such as patriotism, courage, fighting spirit, integrity sincerity, perseverance, discipline humility and selflessness that would have come to define our fine service. He also said that he firmly believed that it is the team work and never say die attitude of naval personnel that has made the Indian navy a strong and capable maritime force in the world today. The leadership, foresight and devotion to duty displayed by naval personnel has enabled a steady growth of our service and transformed us into a blue water navy. .

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Lt Cdr Vikash Kumar Narwal, Lt Cdr Neeraj Kumar, Veer Singh Chief Petty Officer Clearance Diver I and Rakesh Kumar Hull Artificer-4 (posthumously) were awarded Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry) for their indomitable courage, conspicuous gallantry and outstanding professionalism. Other awards presented included eight Nao Sena Medals for Devotion to Duty, sixteen Vishisht Seva Medals, Sarvottam Jeeven Rakshak Padak awarded to Cdr Shishir Kumar Yadavannavar (posthumous), Jeeven Rakshak Padak to Lt Cdr Kapil Kumar Shishodia and Shri Neelkant Ramesh Harikantra LASCAR-1. Captain Ravi Dhir Medal was awarded to Aravind Marisamy Master Chief Air Artificer II and Lieutenant VK Jain Memorial Gold Medal was awarded to Commander Ravi Kumar Singh. .

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The CNS also presented unit citation to two afloat units and six shore establishments who have delivered exceptional performance over the past one year. These include IN Ships Trikand, Sunayna, IN Air Squadron 312A, Command Clearance Diving Team, Mumbai, INS Eksila at Visakhapatnam, Naval Ship Repair Yard, Karwar, Base Victualling Yard, Kochi and INS Kardip in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Naval Dockyard, Mumbai and INS Shivaji at Lonavala, Maharastra were awarded with the CNS Trophy for Best Green Practices for the environment friendly / green initiatives. .

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Apart from the relatives of the award winners, the Ceremonial parade was also attended by Flag Officers, Commanding Officers of various ships, submarines and establishments and a large number of service and civilian personnel and their families. .

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The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has conveyed his greetings and felicitations to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom on her birthday which falls on April 21..

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In a message, the President has said, On behalf of the Government and the people of India, it is with great pleasure that I convey warm greetings to you on the occasion of your birthday. .

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India cherishes her rich and multi-faceted partnership with the United Kingdom. Our bilateral cooperation has been expanded and strengthened in recent years and our fruitful engagements and exchanges at the highest political levels have given us much to look forward to. .

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The India-UK Year of Culture, launched by Your Majesty in London a few weeks ago makes this a particularly special year in the India-UK relationship. Your Majestys personal contribution and commitment to the enhancement of the friendship and mutually beneficial ties between India and the United Kingdom has been invaluable..

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Please accept, Your Majesty, our sincere wishes for your good health and well-being. I take this opportunity to also convey the greetings of the people of India to the friendly people of the United Kingdom on the occasion of Queens Day." .

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The federal government is currently being funded by a continuing resolution that expires on April 28, 2017  which also happens to be the 99th day of Donald Trumps presidency.

If Congress fails to approve a new spending deal before then, Trumps 100th day as president will begin with a federal government shutdown.
US President will meet his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on May 3.

"They will use the visit to reaffirm the commitment of both the United States and Palestinian leadership to pursuing and ultimately concluding a conflict-ending settlement between the Palestinians and Israel," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters yesterday.

This would be the first meeting between the two leaders.

The US President met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this year.

In a departure from longstanding US policy, Trump said he "could live with either" a one-state or a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
European Union governments toughened their plans for the negotiations in a sign UK Prime Minister Theresa May wont get an easier ride even if she strengthens her hold on power in the upcoming election.
Pakistan Prime Minister on Thursday narrowly survived being disqualified after a three-two split decision by a Supreme Court bench which ordered to set up a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) within a week to probe the allegations of money laundering against his family.

The court also ordered Sharif and his two sons - Hasan and Hussain - to appear before the JIT, which would consist of officials from the Federal Investigation Agency, the National Accountability Bureau, the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the Military Intelligence (MI).

The JIT will present its report before the bench after every two weeks.

The five-judge bench comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan issued the landmark judgement 57 days after concluding the hearing.

The case was launched on November 3 and the court held 35 hearings before concluding the proceedings on February 23.

The case is about alleged money laundering by Sharif in 1990s when he twice served as prime minister to purchase assets in London.

The assets surfaced when Panama papers last year showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif's children.
The elder brother of a suspected organiser of an attack on the St Petersburg metro that killed 14 people last month was arrested today, Russia's FSB security service said.

Akram Azimov, born in 1988, was detained in a village near Moscow, the FSB said in a statement that follows the arrest of his brother  Abror Azimov  on Monday.

The suspected suicide bomber has been named as Akbarjon Djalilov, 22, who is thought to have been a Russian national born in Central Asian Kyrgyzstan.

Abror Azimov, born in 1990, "carried out training of the suicide bomber terrorist Djalilov," the FSB said, calling him "one of the organisers."



At a court appearance, he denied that he helped mastermind the attack, but did admit indirect involvement in it and is being held in custody until June 3 as investigations continue.

His brother Akram "helped transport money used to prepare for the attack, as well as arranging contact with emissaries of terrorist organisations," the FSB statement said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack but investigators are probing possible ties to Islamic State jihadists, who have threatened to attack Russia in revenge for its intervention in Syria.
It was a perfect opportunity for the Aleppo-based videographer Abd Alkader Habak to do his job  take award worthy pictures and send them for publication. But Habak decided not to waste time by clicking pictures and instead help the wounded.

Habak has won many hearts and became a hero for trying to save an injured child after a bomb attack on a bus in Syria. Habak was also seen crying near the body of another Syrian child. The pictures have gone viral on internet that shows the Syrian photographer putting down his camera in order to carry the wounded boy to safety after a bomb attack and then breaking down in tears after seeing another child lying face down on the ground.

The scene was horrible, especially seeing children ailing and dying in front of you, Habak told CNN. So I decided along with my colleagues that wed put our cameras aside and start rescuing injured people. Habak said he did not know whether the injured boy survived. He left the child in an ambulance and rushed back to the scene of the bombing.

The photograph in which he is seen running with a wounded child in his arms was taken by Muhammad Alrageb. Algareb told CNN that he also helped some of the injured civilians but then began taking photos.

"I wanted to film everything to make sure there was accountability. I feel proud that there was a young journalist there helping save lives, Algareb said.

Last week a bomb hit a convoy of buses carrying evacuees from besieged Syrian villages, killing children.

There are number of tweets appreciating Habab as a hero.

When humanity seems to spin out of control, true inspiration to watch #AbdAlkaderHabak save a child in Syria. Salute to a #TrueHero. pic.twitter.com/Uv0u29s5jA  Anushree Vaidya (@anushree_vaidya) April 19, 2017





Devastating photo @AbdHabak - Syrian videographer next to the charred body of a child. 39 children out of 70 killed by suicide bomber #syria pic.twitter.com/u3KTNo6vRl  Ala'a Shehabi (@alaashehabi) April 15, 2017





@AbdHabak You and your colleagues show us that good is still alive in this awful world. You are heroes. May God keep you all safe, give you strength.????  Bint Abu Banned (@itsmenanice) April 16, 2017




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Sowing area under basmati paddy is likely to increase by 25 per cent in 2017 on the back of favourable climatic conditions and forecast of normal rainfall this season.
With the prediction of a normal monsoon, sowing and production of Indias biggest commercial crop, cotton, is expected to get a further boost in 2017, on the back of good returns enjoyed by its cultivators last year.
Indias new tax regime has triggered an exodus of funds from Mauritius and Singapore to tax-friendly jurisdictions in the Eurozone, including France and the Netherlands.
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday questioned Congress leader Moti Lal Vora and former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in connection with Associated Journals Limited (AJL) land scam, sources said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) earlier ON April 6 registered a case against Hooda in connection with the alleged irregularities in the land allotted to the AJL in Panchkula in 2005.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government in Haryana had handed over the enquiry into the alleged re-allotment of a plot to AJL in Panchkula in 2005 to the probe agency.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
American oil giant Exxon Mobil is seeking permission from President Donald Trump's administration in order to resume drilling around the Black Sea with a state-owned Russian corporation.

According to DW, sanctions were placed on Russia after the country's annexation of Crimea in 2014, but in general, the US Treasury Department has allowed Exxon to do business with Rosneft.

According to the people familiar with the case, Exxon made a request to the US Government to secure a sanctions waiver, reports DW.

Trump has been keen to improve ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but the relationship has soured since the recent US military action against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court on Thursday will pronounce the judgement in the Bihar topper scam case. The matter is listed in court 11 as item no. 1A.

Earlier last month, the Patna High Court granted conditional bail to Bihar topper scam mastermind Bachcha Rai. He got bail after not being convicted by the lower court within a month.

Rai was arrested in June last year after he surrendered before the police.

Rai is the Secretary-cum Principal of Vishun Rai College in Vaishali district of Bihar, where Arts and Science toppers Ruby Rai and Saurabh Shrestha belonged to, and was involved in the exam racket.

The investigation indicated that Rai was a key player in the case with the help of Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB).

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested Bihar state board Class XII Arts topper Ruby Rai previous year.

A chargesheet was filed against former BSEB chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh, his wife and former JD(U) legislator Usha Sinha, Rai and former board secretary Harharnath Jha.

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Condemning Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Chandra Prakash Ganga's controversial statement that bullets are the only way to deal with stone pelters in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress on Thursday said such statements are extremely unfortunate and will add more fuel to the fire.

"This is the most unfortunate statement. Nobody could have said such an irresponsible thing because we have known that stone pelters exist since long time. The first thing that the BJP did was to release the leader of the stone pelters Mr Mashrat Alam and today he is earning a mark in Kashmir. Along with him is Asiya Andrabi, who was also released by BJP," Congress leader Brijesh Kalappa told ANI.

"Now, both of them are going around and singing Pakistani Anthem and following the Pakistani flag. They (BJP) have given passport to Gilani, job to Gilani's grandson and they have done everything possible to ensure that in some manner the people of Kashmir are totally disenchanted with the Indian system and because of this stone pelting is more, the voter turnout is less and in every which way the people of Kashmir have rejected this government. This statement will add more fuel to the fire," he added.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir activist Sushil Pandit said the BJP MLA is reflecting the growing frustration and anger in the entire country.

"The minister is reflecting the growing frustration and also anger in the entire country and also the confusion prevailing in the state government in terms of dealing with all these challenges to the Indian state. It must be taken in that spirit," Pandit said.

Ganga has triggered a massive row with his assertion that bullets are the only way to deal with stone pelters in the Valley.

"They (protesters) are traitors, whether they have come from Pakistan or they live here. All these forces, which are 'anti-national' could be made to mend their ways by the use of bullets," Ganga is heard as saying in the video that has gone viral despite ban on social websites.

"There is only one remedy and that is bullets. They want freedom from what?" he asked.

Ganga also lashed out at Conference patron Farooq Abdullah for calling the stone pelters as 'patriots'.

"They should be ashamed. We want peace, brotherhood and harmony. We will not let these ill elements affect the atmosphere of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

He added that if not bullets, they should be handed over a severe punishment.

"Take my word that next time these youth won't throw stones. Till these people are handled in a right way, they won't give up their evil acts. Once they are taught a lesson only then they will they fall in line," Ganga said.

The statement from the BJP leader comes at a time when there is outrage in Kashmir over a video clip in which a youth is seen tied to front of an army jeep as a "human shield" against stone-pelting.

The controversial video has surfaced at a time when the BJP-PDP Government is facing criticism in the Valley over the deteriorating situation and the cases of human rights violations by the forces.

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The Supreme Court on Thursday referred to a five-judge constitution bench the matter which involves whether a minister can claim under the right to 'freedom of speech' to speak contrary to the Central Government's statute and policy.

A bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Dipak Misra, was hearing the case involving then Uttar Pradesh Minister and senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan's alleged statement terming the Bulandshahr gang rape case as a 'political conspiracy' to defame the former Samajwadi Party governmnet.

Amicus Curiae in the apex court had claimed that the ministers are bound by constitutional mandate of collective responsibility and can't speak contrary to govt policy.

Earlier in December, the apex court had accepted the unconditional apology tendered by Khan in connection with the Bulandshahr gang-rape case.

Earlier, the court lifted its order staying the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Bulandshahr gang rape case.

The apex court modified its order after the investigative agency, moved to the court asking to vacate its stay on the ongoing probe.

The incident took place earlier on the intervening night of 29-30 July when a 35-year-old woman and her daughter were allegedly gang-raped by a group of robbers in Bulandshahr district.

The victims were on their way from Noida to Shahjahanpur with the other family members when their vehicle was stopped near a cycle repairing shop in Dostpur village on NH-9, which connects Noida and Bulandshahr.

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Rashtriya Mahila Gauraksha Dal president, Sadhvi Kamal on Thursday has praised one of the cow vigilantes accused in the Alwar lynching case and referred to him as 'today's Bhagat Singh.'

Speaking to ANI here, Sadhivi Kamal said, "Great icons like Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Subhash Chandra Bose who were innocent but hanged to death for nation, in the same way these cow vigilantes or gau rakshas who are fighting for the cow protection are called murderers. They did not do any wrong."

Kamal further asserted that the accused, who are all on the run have nothing to do with the case.

"It is a conspiracy against the gau rakshaks. I say this is wrong act against cow vigilantes and it is neither good for the government not the administration," Kamal said.

"I appeal Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take immediate action in this matter," she added.

Earlier on Monday, a video of the meeting between Kamal and accused Vipin Yadav, held at Yadav's college, showed the former showering praises on the young boy.

In the video, Kamal said "Don't worry Vipin, the whole of Bharat is with you." Then, she turns to others and continues: "These boys are like (Chandrasekhar) Azad and Bhagat Singh, they have done nothing wrong".

A 55-year-old dairy farmer Pehlu Khan from Nuh in Haryana was grievously assaulted by self-styled cow vigilantes near Behror in Rajasthan on thr Delhi-Alwar highway on April 1, for being a cattle smuggler. He succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital on April 3.

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In a gruesome double murder on late Tuesday night, two unidentified person were shot dead in Delhi's Jaffrabad area.

The people were killed on street no. 48 of the area, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) - North East Delhi A.K. Singla informed.

One person was declared dead at the spot, while the second succumbed to his injuries later.

The assailant and the victims have not been identified yet.

Further details are awaited.

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Warehousing giant Embassy Industrial Parks on Thursday announced the construction of a grade 'A' quality industrial and warehousing facility in its newly acquired property in Gurugram, Haryana.

The 24 acres of land purchased by Embassy Industrial Parks is strategically located on NH-8 near Bilaspur Chowk. It is a major development after a 1,910 crore worth Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the Government of Haryana last year to grow operations in the state.

The property has six lakh sq. ft. of leasable space containing a logistics park concept with a host of amenities. The land parcel approximately costs Rs. 38 crores. The area is developing at a fast pace and turning into a global manufacturing hub with the presence of various international giants. Companies from 3PL, e-commerce and FMCG sector account for almost 70 percent of the total demand in the Delhi-NCR.

The manufacturing facilities of Maruti, Honda, Hero motors and Subros amongst others and warehousing facilities of Decathlon, Amazon, TCI, Gati, Flipkart and Blue Dart are in close proximity to the acquired plot. It is close to Delhi city (38 km) and the International airport (45 km), as well as the Delhi - Mumbai Highway NH8.

This warehouse is being constructed by Embassy Industrial Parks to meet the ever growing demand of logistics of industry verticals such as Ecommerce, FMCG, retail, consumer durables, apparel and fashion, automotive, pharmaceutical and healthcare, high tech and telecom.

"The warehousing sector has seen a steep growth in activity from 2013 till 2016- more than 55 percent growth in India; more than 45 percent growth in NCR. We have entered a significant phase in the evolution of the Embassy Industrial Parks brand in the NCR Region. It has a strong reputation and is a key focus area for the company to grow our operations," said Anshul Singhal, CEO, Embassy Industrial Parks.

Post the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill proposal, warehousing activity in the region will move towards a more systematic mode of operation leading to an inflow of more institutional funding and formal sources of capital.

A recent survey conducted by the Commercial Real Estate Services (CBRE) among leading warehousing occupiers in the country revealed that consolidation and expansion will be the key theme driving warehousing demand in the region. This will result in increased demand for larger, better quality warehouses leading to emergence of new warehousing hubs as well as expansion of the existing hubs.

The survey also revealed that 30 percent of respondents said that they will further expand their footprint in the warehousing market of Delhi-NCR in the post-GST scenario.

Given the significance of the sector in the overall growth of the economy, it has received a great push from the government, both in terms of policy initiatives as well as rationalisation of tax reforms.

During 2016, the sector witnessed a great deal of investments and this trend is only likely to gain momentum going forward. An anticipated increase in demand from manufacturing companies will spur supply of quality warehousing, which is likely to lead to emergence of new warehousing hubs as well as expansion of the existing hubs. The potential for the growth of this market is the near future is significant.

Recently, Embassy Industrial Parks invested Rs. 350 crore to build a 1.1-million sq ft industrial park at Chakan, Pune. The group is planning to invest about Rs. 1,600 crore as equity to build seven-eight industrial parks over the next six years.

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Days after grabbing all eyeballs for assaulting an Air India staffer, the Shiv Sena MP was on Thursday finally seen travelling in the business class of the aircraft after the ban imposed on him was lifted.

However, earlier today, the carrier had written a letter to the Delhi Police asking why there was a delay in taking any action against Gaikwad in its staffer assault case, AI sources said.

An FIR was registered in the matter, following the incident on March 23.

It was reported that the airline said that the morale of the employees was being impacted as no action was initiated against the MP despite nearly a month after the incident.

However, there was no official comment from Air India or the Delhi Police.

Gaikwad is accused to have assaulted an Air India staffer inside an aircraft at the Delhi airport on March 23. The carrier as well as other domestic airlines then barred him from taking their flights.

Earlier this month, the ban was revoked after the MP wrote a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju expressing regret over the incident.

In the aftermath of the incident, refusing to apologise to the Air India official whom he allegedly thrashed, Gaikwad said he would only tender an apology from the Parliament for disrespecting its dignity.

Asserting that it was a small conflict, Gaikwad said the staff of the airline was mad and around eight such cases of indulging into brawl have been registered against him.

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Governor Chelyabinsk Region Russia, Boris Dubrovsky on Thursday invited the Indian industry to explore the investment opportunities in the Chelyabinsk Region of Russia, which offers tax incentives to foreign investors.

Speaking at an interactive session organized by FICCI, Boris Dubrovsky held out the assurance that the Chelyabinsk Region would cooperate with the Indian businesses and their investment will be fully protected.

He said that Indian investments in Russia were estimated at USD eight billion and Russian investments in India totaled about USD three billion.

"The volume of trade needed to be scaled up, he said adding that there was a need to promote new opportunities for economic and trade cooperation and promote the International North-South Transport Corridor, which would reduce the transit time by almost 40 per cent between India and Russia," he said.

Governor Dubrovsky said that the industrial development of the region was determined by the metallurgical, car-building, fuel-energy, construction, agricultural-industrial complexes.

Besides, the region had rich and varied natural resources and qualified work resources. He added that the level of investment cooperation between the two countries had been extremely low and added that the Chelyabinsk Region had some ready potential investment projects which Indian industry could consider for investment.

"India and Russia enjoyed stable economic ties and India with its growing market offered ample opportunities. India and Russia's multifaceted relationship also focused on economic advancement and the leaders of India and Russia were eager to develop this relationship further," said Charge d'Affairs Embassy of Russia in India, Anatoly Kargapolov.

"Interactive session and B2B meetings scheduled for the day should conclude with concrete results," added Kargapolov.

"There have been several delegations from both sides visiting varied regions in India and Russia respectively. This underlines that the industry of India and Russia were eager to forge partnerships and alliances and were exploring new areas of cooperation. He added that the B2B meetings that were taking place between India and Chelyabinsk Region businesses would be fruitful," said Trade Commissioner Trade Representation of Russia in India, Yaroslav Tarasyuk.

Earlier in 2016, 19 MoUs were exchanged between the leaders of India and Russia in Goa. It was time for the industry on both sides to leverage these MOUs and develop opportunities.

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Delhi Police School (DPS) student Samarth Chugh, who ran over four people killing a homeless man on footpath near Kashmiri Gate, has been sent to judicial custody till May 4.

An FIR has been registered under Section 279/337/304 the IPC.

The accident took place at around 5.30 a.m. According to eye witnesses, the car was being driven at a very high speed and the teenager lost control and drove on a pavement where several homeless people were sleeping.

Chugh was caught on the spot by a police patrol staff while two other students in the car fled from there.

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The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the criminal complaint filed against former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for allegedly depicting himself as Hindu deity 'Lord Vishnu' in a magazine cover.

A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Dipak Misra, quashed the criminal complaint registered against Dhoni.

The case was registered against Dhoni under Section 295 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

A non-bailable warrant was issued against India's ODI skipper on January 9, 2016 by a court in Andhra Pradesh's Ananthapur in connection with him appearing on the cover of a magazine as Lord Vishnu.

Social activist Jayakumar Hiremath had filed a case against him.

In the Business Today's April 2013 edition, Dhoni appeared on the cover of the magazine in the form of 'Lord Vishnu', holding various brand items, with a caption 'God of Big Deals'.

The Karnataka High Court, however, refused to quash the case, prompting Dhoni to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.

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Shailja Shukla

New Delhi [India], Apr 20 (ANI): Actress Raveena Tandon, who is making her comeback with 'Maatr', portrays a mother of a 12-year-old rape survivor, who when denied justice seeks revenge.

Expressing her deepest worries as a mother herself, the actress said, "My role was not only challenging but disturbing too."

While talking exclusively to ANI, Tandon said, "Shooting for such a role was horrifying and disturbing. It makes you understand what people actually go through when such things happen to them or their loved ones in real life."

The 'Bombay Velvet' actress, who is quite selective about her choice of films, shared, "I don't want my film to release every week. I get many scripts and films but I refuse most of them because I have done such roles before. The artist in me requires something challenging, something that will push me beyond my limits."

The film is about the failure of judiciary and the society in the face of a heinous crime such as rape, who is out to take revenge from the criminals who destroyed her daughter's life.

'Maatr' is written by Michael Pellico and directed by Ashtar Sayed. It traces a mother's journey from being a law abiding citizen to a person who is forced to take law into her own hands.

The movie also brings into light the rampant cases of rape in National capital.

It also stars Divya Jagdale, Anurag Arora in pivotal roles and is scheduled to hit the theatres on April 21.

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not a threat as even the regional parties are enough to tackle it.

Mamata's assertion came post her meeting with Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo Naveen Patnaik.

Accusing the BJP of playing politics of division, Mamata said the saffron party also resorts to buying the minister and MLAs of other parties.

"They divide caste, parties. They divide Hindu-Muslims. They also purchase ministers, MLAs. We don't do that. We believe in unity," she told the media here.

Mamata also stated that the secular parties are always together.

Responding to a poser on having discussions on forming an alliance to stand against the BJP, Patnaik said they did not have any talks regarding the same.

"We had no such discussions today," Patnaik said.

Where the South saw the meeting of two state Chief Ministers, the capital witnessed the meeting between Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Congress vice-president Sonia Gandhi.

Nitish has been calling for the formation of grand alliance of secular parties at level to take on the BJP. The same is believed to have been raised in the meeting held between the duo today.

The Congress is a partner in the Bihar Government with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Janata Dal (United).

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Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaj Sharif on Thursday got immediate relief in Panamagate when the Supreme Court ordered a time-bound probe into the case. As soon Nawaj got the breather, his daughter Mariam Nawaz Sharif took to Twitter to express her delight.

Mariam tweeted: Mubarik ! Wazir-e-Azam Nawaz Sharif ..... Alhamdolillahi Rab-al-Aalameen

She tweeted pictures of celebrations in her next tweet that read: "Praise & glory be to Allah alone. Shukrana & mubariks>"

Her third tweet said: "Celebrations" with photos of herself, her uncle Shahbaz Sharif and father Nawaz Sharif in a celebration mood.

Pakistan's apex court bench, headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, was a divided house after it met to decide the fate of Nawaj Sharif and his family members in the Panama Papers case. While three judges were of the opinion that further investigation is needed in the case, two were for disqualifying the Prime Minister.

As per the Supreme Court order, a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) will be formed in a week and Sharif and his sons will have to appear before it.

Additional director of Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency will lead the JIT, which is directed to submit its report in 60 days.

Sharif and his children were linked to illegal offshore wealth in the Panama Papers leak. While the opposition parties are vying for Nawaz's head, the Prime Minister's supporters have been rallying behind him.

Nawaz's staunch political opponent Imran Khan was present in the court when the verdict was announced.

He has already announced that whatever may be the verdict in the case, his political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will launch a movement for the next general elections.

The Panama Papers, which refer to a massive trove of secret documents leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca - which specialised in helping the global elite stash wealth in offshore tax havens - had said that the Prime Minister's children Maryam, Hasan and Hussain Nawaz "were owners or had the right to authorise transactions for several [offshore] companies".

At least eight offshore companies were found to have links to the Sharif family in the documents that were leaked following which the case was filed by various petitioners - PTI chief Imran Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Sharif over his alleged misstatement in his address to the nation on April 5 and his speech before the National Assembly on May 16, 2016.

The petitioners claimed that the Prime Minister lied about the investments made by his children in offshore companies, which led to the acquisition of four apartments in London's upscale Park Lane neighbourhood.

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The Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday said the nine arrested ISIS suspects from Jalandhar, Mumbai and Bijnor in a joint operation with the state Anti-Terrorist Squad were 'self radicalized'.

Additional Director General of Uttar Pradesh Police Daljit Chaudhary said, "The youth arrested are not in liaison with any group, they are self-motivated, self guided and self-radicalised."

The police have evidence against four held and others are being interrogated.

"In the searches conducted, no incriminating evidence has been found as yet but it can be called a possible criminal conspiracy," he added.

Chaudhary further said that they are misguided youth and can be admitted to the mainstream after counselling.

Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad said it received information of a group being readied for terror activities.

"Special Cell Delhi Police, CI cell Andhra,Maha ATS, Punjab and Bihar Police were involved in the operation," it added.

Nearly a month ago, police had busted an ISIS-inspired terror module and one of its suspected members, Saifullah, was killed in a 12-hour siege and anti-terror operation in Lucknow.

The module was allegedly involved in the Ujjain train blast.

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The Investigation Agency (NIA) special court on Thursday issued non-bailable arrest warrant against controversial preacher Zakir Naik for promoting enmity between groups on religious and racial grounds, as also accumulating funds in an illegal way for his NGO.

Earlier on April 13, the warrant was issued after Naik failed to present himself before the Enforcement Directorate.

The Enforcement Directorate claimed before the court that they had sent four summons to Naik to which there has been no response.

It is believed that Naik is currently staying in Saudi Arabia.

The Enforcement Directorate may now seek Letters Rogatory (letters of request) from a court in Saudi Arabia for judicial assistance in getting Naik back home for interrogation.

He is said to have been inspiration behind last July's terror attack on an upscale cafe in Dhaka.

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Condemning Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Chandra Prakash Ganga's controversial statement that bullets are the only way to deal with stone pelters in Jammu and Kashmir, the Panthers Party (NPP) on Thursday said remarks like these are unfortunate and unacceptable, adding one should go as per law and order before using such words.

"Such use of words by a minister belonging to Jammu and Kashmir government is very unfortunate and unacceptable in the philosophy of the democracy. If you have problem with something then take the help of law and order but such statements are condemnable," NPP leader Bhim Singh told ANI.

Ganga has triggered a massive row by saying that bullets are the only way to deal with stone pelters in the Valley.

"They (Protesters) are traitors, whether they have come from Pakistan or they live here. All these forces who are "anti-national" could be made to mend their ways by use of bullets," Ganga is heard saying in a video that has gone viral despite ban on social websites.

"There is only one remedy and that is bullets. They want freedom from what?" he questioned.

Ganga accused Conference leader Farooq Abdullah for calling the stone pelters as 'patriots'.

"They should be ashamed. We want peace, brotherhood and harmony. We will not let these ill elements affect the atmosphere of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

He added that if not bullets, they should be handed over to a severe punishment.

"Take my word that next time these youth won't throw stones. Till these people are handled in a right way they won't give up their evil acts. Once they are taught a lesson only then will they fall in line," Ganga said.

The statement from the BJP leader comes at a time when there is outrage in Kashmir over a video clip in which a youth is seen tied to front of an army jeep as a "human shield" against stone-pelting.

For the past one week, several videos have appeared on the social networking sites in which Kashmiri youth are seen being beaten by the forces.

The controversial video has surfaced at a time when the BJP-PDP Government is facing criticism in the Valley over the deteriorating situation and the cases of human rights violations by the forces that are coming to the fore.

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The Pakistan Army has assured Iran that its bilateral ties with Islamabad would remain unaffected.

The assurance was made by Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa during his meeting with Iranian Ambassador Mehdi Honardoost at the General Headquarters on Wednesday.

This is the second meeting between the two in around six weeks.

"Pakistan greatly values historic Pak-Iran relationship and the same shall continue based on mutual trust and respect for each other's interests," the Dawn quoted General Bajwa as saying to Honardoost.

The Iran embassy had last week warned Pakistan against a "vilification campaign" launched against it on the basis of allegations made by Lyari gangster Uzair Baloch that Tehran's intelligence agencies had links with him.

Uzair is reportedly accused of sharing sensitive information with Iranian intelligence.

The Iranian embassy said that the campaign was aimed at damaging public opinion about Iran and would be taken as "contrary to the spirit of friendship and brotherhood between the two nations".

Pakistan has also blamed Iran for the stay of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav in Chahbahar before his capture in Balochistan.

Iran had also expressed its reservations about retired General Raheel Sharif being named as top commander of the alliance, which is now taking shape.

The meeting came at a time amid reports that Pakistan is considering the deployment of 5,000 troops in Saudi Arabia.

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Giving major relief to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's Supreme Court has clearly said that there was insufficient evidence to order his removal from office.

However, the Court has ordered further probe into the corruption allegations levelled by the opposition based on Panama Paper leaks against the Sharif family.

Highlights of the SC verdict in Panamagate:

1. The Supreme Court has ordered further investigations into corruption allegations against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif

2. Has refused to order his removal from office, saying there was insufficient evidence.

3. The apex court has ordered the formation of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to carry out further investigation.

4. The JIT will investigate how the funds were transferred to Qatar.

5. The committee comprising of one senior official each from the FIA, NAB, SECP, SBP, ISI and MI will be tasked to probe the assets.

6. The apex court has ordered the JIT to present its report every two weeks before a Supreme Court bench.

7. The court also ordered Sharif and his sons Hasan and Hussein to appear before the JIT as and when required.

8. The apex court's detailed decision comprised a total of 540 pages.

9. The apex verdict split 3-2 between the five-member benches.

10. Two dissenting judges were of the opinion that Sharif was dishonest to the nation and should have been disqualified.

11. The Chief Justice said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman had failed to carry out his duties.

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New Delhi [India], Apr 20 (ANI): Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has got minor relief and major headache. The Pakistan Army, which had successfully ousted him on October 12, 1999, under the command of General Pervez Musharraf after the Kargil war with India, will probe whether Sharif and his family is guilty of amassing illegal wealth abroad. Simply, Prime Minister Sharif has got minor relief and major headache from this verdict.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and other opposition leaders alleged that the Prime Minister and his family had illegally profited from his position through money laundering abroad.

Even though, he will continue to rule as the Prime Minister, the much-anticipated verdict on the case which took the country by storm and dominated headlines in the country for over a year now has given him little relief.

Pronouncing the verdict on corruption allegations against Prime Minister Sharif based on the "Panama Papers" leaks, the apex court of Pakistan in Islamabad has ordered Sharif and his family to appear before the probe team when it is formed. This means that Sharif's political future will depend on the mercy of the Pakistan Army.

A Joint Investigation team (JIT) will be formed to carry out further investigation as per the court's verdict and the committee comprising of one senior official each from the FIA, NAB, SECP, SBP, ISI, and MI will be tasked to probe the assets. This simply means the Prime Minister will be on the mercy of the ISI and the Pakistan Army.

The JIT will continue investigation on how funds were transferred to Qatar, thus the tension will remain for Sharif and his family till investigation is over.

The joint investigation team will submit its report within 60 days. Till then, the case will continue to dominate Pakistan's domestic politics as the general elections are due next year.

Quoting the popular 1969 novel 'The Godfather' by Mario Puzo, the apex court of Pakistan recounted the violent tale of a Mafia family and the epigraph selected by the author was fascinating:

Behind every great fortune there is a crime. - Balzac

"The novel was a popular sensation which was made into an acclaimed film. It is believed that this epigraph was inspired by a sentence that was written by Honore de Balzac and its original version in French reads as follows:

Le secret des grandes fortunes sans cause apparente est un crime oublie, parce qu'il a ete proprement fait.

(The secret of a great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been found out, because it was properly executed).

The decision is important for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) and Sharif because he might project it as a clean chit by the apex court.

Sharif and his party leaders appeared to be jubilant after the order.

Maryam Nawaz, the Prime Minister's daughter, immediately tweeted photographs of Sharif in a celebratory mood with his family, embracing his brother Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

She also posted another picture which showed the Prime Minister with Shahbaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam, Senator Pervaiz Rashid and other senior PML-N leaders.

It is also being seen as a major jolt to his political opponents because the court did a thorough scrutiny of the arguments from all sides, including the Prime Minister, his family, federation of Pakistan, various departments and institutions, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, Jamaat Islami chief Siraj ul-Haq and Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on the allegations levelled against Sharif on his previous two terms in office in the 1990s.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and other opposition leaders have alleged that the Prime Minister and his family illegally profited from his position.

The opposition parties after a year-long protest both inside and outside the Parliament had finally taken the case to the country's top court expecting a verdict to oust Sharif from his post.

Even after the verdict, the opposition has continued its tirade against Sharif and has demanded his resignation.

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The incident of a couple being thrashed and paraded naked in Rajasthan's Banswara district drew severe condemnation from women activists on Thursday who called on the state government to punish those responsible.

On Sunday, a couple was mercilessly thrashed by unidentified men after a Khap panchayat passed the order which suspected the couple of being in an illicit relationship. The incident came to light after the video capturing the act went viral.

"It reflects poorly on the law and order situation of Rajasthan, it reflects poorly on the Constitution of India that a young couple was in love and wanting to get married in Gujarat was brought back to Banswara where they were beaten by villagers, were stripped naked and paraded when nobody come to help them," layer Abha Singh told ANI.

"A case should be registered under the new Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013 where Provision 354 B makes the stripping of women cognizable and non ballialble," she added.

Expressing similar views, women activist Saswati Ghosh said, "The panchayat went to such an extent that they could not fathom the relationship. How can the administration intervene in such incidents? We cannot tolerate medieval diktats in the modern way of life."

Kachru (20) and his 18-year-old cousin, with whom he had an affair, had married against the wishes of their families.

In fear, the couple escaped to Gujarat, but were later brought back and beaten ruthlessly and paraded naked in front of everyone.

So far four persons have been detained in the case after the woman filed a case in a police station.

"This incident came to light when the video went viral. When the police had the victim in confidence, only then FIR was registered. Around 5 people have been named. We have detained four. Stringent action will be taken against them," Superintendent of Police, Anand Sharma said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Appreciating the Centre's decision to ban the use of red beacon on vehicles attached to dignitaries, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said that the government wants everyone to get equality, adding every person is a VIP.

"Keeping that the wishes of the people everybody is a VIP. That's the philosophy of our government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led the nation by taking this historical decision. Though it's small but it sends a message that everybody should get equal treatment," he said.

He added that there is no preferential treatment.

"I have not been using the red light since the beginning but I never publicise it. I hope everybody will follow the decision," Naidu said.

Meanwhile, Congress leader P.L. Punia said public services like ambulance and police patrol services should get the red light.

"After the amendments this system of red light has ended which is good. We will see whether it is implemented on the judiciary system," he added.

As per sources, the decision taken by the Union Cabinet will be implemented from May 1.

It is reported that five categories would be allowed to use the red beacon- President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India and the Lok Sabha Speaker.

The ban applies to union ministers, chief ministers, state cabinet ministers, bureaucrats and judges of the High Court and Supreme Court.

It was reported last week that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has called a meeting to discuss whether the red beacon should be discarded or restricted to certain dignitaries.

Captain Amarinder Singh and Yogi Adityanath, the new chief ministers of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, have already taken steps to either end or restrict VIP culture.

In its first cabinet meeting, chaired by Captain Amarinder, the newly formed Punjab Government decided to completely shun the VIP culture by removing the red, yellow and blue beacons from their official vehicles.

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has denied reports of the capture of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi stating that Syrian borders with Iraq are still very much under the control of the militant group.

"That's not true. Anyway, those borders are under the control of [Daesh] till this moment, it's neither Syrian nor Russian, not even Western or American or any other one; it's only [Daesh] who's controlling those borders, so it's safe for al-Baghdadi to be in that area," Sputnik news agency quote Assad as saying.

A number of media outlets earlier reported that al-Baghdadi had been detained in Syria near the border with Iraq.

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Following the Panamagate verdict, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Thursday once again demanded Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation over corruption allegations.

"What moral right does Nawaz have to remain premier when a criminal investigation is being launched against him," The Express Tribune quoted the PTI as saying while addressing the media soon after the Supreme Court's verdict.

Drawing a comparison between an investigation launched against gangster Uzair Baloch and the premier, Imran said, "If Nawaz is cleared after JIT's investigation, he can return to the seat."

"The verdict is historic because a sitting prime minister has never been investigated before," he said, adding the verdict to form a JIT proves all arguments by Sharif were lies.

Questioning the decision to include NAB officials in the JIT, Imran said, "Today, SC said NAB has failed. How can all those institutions working under PM apart from ISI, and MI probe him?"

Meanwhile, former president and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chair Asif Ali Zardari wondered as to why the Prime Minister's family was celebrating post the order.

Zardari told the media, "On what grounds is PML-N celebrating and distributing sweets? Are they celebrating that two senior judges called for the prime minister's disqualification?"

In a 3-2 judgement on the case, the apex court earlier ordered the formation of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to continue probing the allegations of financial irregularities and money laundering, while noting that at present, there is "insufficient evidence to remove Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif."

The JIT has been given two months to complete the probe into the premier and his sons Hussain and Hasan, all of whom have also been directed to appear before the JIT. The investigators will also have to present bi-weekly reports to a special bench of the Supreme Court.

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Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken on Thursday filed a complaint against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal under the Prevention from Corruption Act in regard with the Shunglu report.

"We have approached Delhi Police and filed the complaint under Prevention from Corruption act against Arvind Kejriwal and his co-workers. On Nov 27, the report of Shunglu committee was out in front wherein Kejriwal was accused of serious corruption charges. Till now no action has been taken by the central government," Maken said.

He added that the report came into light when he himself exposed it with the help of Right to Information (RTI).

"Although the government had a look into the matter but no action has been initiated yet. I believe Kejriwal and Central Government are supporting each other and this is the reason why Kejriwal is still not getting punished. I want the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to stop helping his government," Maken asserted.

He further said he also took the matter to President Pranab Mukherjee's door.

"If no action will be taken then we will consult the judiciary system. We will also send the report to the CBI to take the issue under Prevention of Corruption Act," he added.

The move came after three-member Shunglu Committee questioned irregularities in the allotment of land by Arvind Kejriwal-led government.

The committee, set up by former Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung, in its above 100-page report, raised questions on the allotment of 206, Rouse Avenue - a minister's bungalow used as party office - to Aam Aap Party (AAP).

"Allotment of 206, Rouse Avenue, known as Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg (Ministers residences), to AAP. On 08.10.2015 Chief Secretary circulated a decision of the Cabinet approving allotment of land to political parties for construction of offices. The Cabinet "feels that there is an elected Government in Capital Territory of Delhi and it has the prerogative to frame its own guidelines to allot land, to the political parties having their representation in Delhi Legislative Assembly...... Since Land is a reserved subject this decision should be deemed null and void. It is clear that this decision to allot land to political parties was really to validate allotment of government accommodation to AAP," the report read.

Shunglu Committee , headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) V.K. Shunglu, was formed by Jung after Delhi High Court gave primacy to the LG in Delhi administrative affairs in August last year.

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The Delhi Police Special cell has arrested three ISIS suspects from Jalandhar, Mumbai and Bijnor in a joint operation with the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad.

An investigation is currently underway in this regard.

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad said it received information of a group being readied for terror activities.

"Speciall Cell Delhi Police, CI cell Andhra,Maha ATS,Punjab and Bihar Police were involved in the operation," it added.

Legal action will be taken based on evidence.

.

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Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Thursday removed the red beacon from his car after Cabinet decision.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday decided to do away with beacons of all kinds atop all categories of vehicles in the country.

The government is of the considered opinion that beacons on vehicles are perceived symbols of VIP culture and have no place in a democratic country. Beacons, however, will be allowed on vehicles concerned with emergency and relief services, ambulance, fire service etc.

In the light of this decision, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will make necessary provisions in the law.

As per reports, the President of India, the Vice President, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and the Lok Sabha Speaker will only be allowed to use the red beacon.

It was reported last week that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had called a meeting to discuss whether the red beacon should be discarded or restricted to certain dignitaries.

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Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control, Mikhail Ulyanov, on Thursday said that the U.S. complaints over how the nuclear deal on Iran is being implemented are irrelevant.

The remark comes a day after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a National Security Council-led interagency review of the JCPOA to evaluate Iran's compliance with the deal, with the US State Secretary Rex Tillerson stating that the nuclear deal "fails to achieve the objective of non-nuclear Iran."

Tehran, in its turn, stressed that the deal was an international treaty and cannot be changed, adding that Iran was fulfilling its obligations under the JCPOA.

"If the deal does not work, then specific complaints should be made regarding its functioning. The Americans cannot do this. The IAEA, an independent participant in this process, confirms that the Iranians are implementing everything. Therefore, any claims are irrelevant here, it seems to me," Sputnik news agency quoted Ulyanov as saying.

He noted that it was necessary for Tillerson to separate the notions of terrorism and nuclear deal, which have nothing in common.

The JCPOA was signed by Iran and the P5+1 countries - China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States plus Germany in July 2015, ensuring the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program in return for the gradual lifting of sanctions against Tehran. The deal came into force on January 16, 2016, after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran was ready to implement the program to reduce its nuclear potential.

However, the United States imposed new sanctions against Iran in February 2017 after a medium-range ballistic missile test was carried out by Tehran in late January.

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U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday praised Indonesia for its tradition of "modern Islam", sending a conciliatory message to the Islamic .

Pence was speaking in the world's most populous Muslim nation midway through a 10-day swing in Asia meant to reinforce key US alliances at the start of the Trump administration, reports the CNN.

He met Indonesian President Joko Widodo and toured the largest mosque in the region.

Pence said the US would continue working with Indonesia to combat terrorism, adding the country's form of Islam should serve as an example to other nations.

As the largest majority Muslim country, Indonesia's tradition of modern Islam, frankly, is the inspiration to the world," he said.

The Trump administration has caused concern among the Muslim communities with some of its executive orders, including barring entry to citizens of some predominantly Muslim nations. That plan, however, remains stalled in courts and hasn't gone into effect.

Pence, in Jakarta, said Trump was not interested in banning entry to all Muslims.

"Rest assured, under President Trump, the United States welcomes all who share our values for that brighter future," he said.

He also announced Trump's intentions to visit Southeast Asia in November for a yearly set of conferences. The Summits this year take place in Vietnam and the Philippines.

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The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned North Korea's latest missile test and threatened to impose new sanctions against Pyongyang for its "highly destabilising behaviour."

The council demanded that North Korea "conduct no further nuclear tests", saying Pyongyang's "illegal missile activities" were "greatly increasing tension in the region and beyond."

The council threatened to "take further significant measures including sanctions" to address the crisis of North Korea's missile launches.

"At the end of the day we realised that North Korea is a problem," spokesperon Nikki Haley said.

"No one on the council wants to see North Korea move forward with any sort of testing or strikes," she added, saying that the agreed statement makes that "very clear".

While previous statements have warned of further measures, the agreed text made specific mention of sanctions, signalling a tougher stance from the council.

Moscow had blocked an earlier version of the statement - which comes after North Korea carried out a failed test on Sunday - even though China, Pyongyang's ally, had expressed its support for it.

U.S. vice-president Mike Pence vowed that the country would counter any North Korean attack with an "overwhelming and effective" response.

However, Russian charge d'affaires Petr Iliichev denied blocking the statement, saying the U.S. had broken off talks on a consensus position in an "abrupt manner.

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At least two students were killed and ten were injured after a truck hit their auto-rickshaw on the Northern Highway 60 in the West Midnapore district of West Bengal.

The accident took place near Bhadutala of Salboni Police station.

The auto-rickshaw was carrying twelve students of Bhadutala Vivekananda High School.

The injured students were rescued by the locals and sent to a nearby hospital.

The police personnel who came to control the situation were attacked by the agitated public which resulted in hospitalization of Inspector General Biswajit Saha and a constable.

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Even though today's Panamagate verdict by the Pakistan Supreme Court neither gave a clean chit nor a disqualification to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, it essentially places the leader at the mercy of the Army.

The apex court by a verdict of 3-2 ordered the formation of a Joint Investigation Committee (JIT) to probe whether Sharif and his family is guilty of amassing illegal wealth abroad. The committee is going to comprise of former and serving army related officers, according to informed sources.

The verdict said the JIT to be led by a director-general level FIA officer is to include officials from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), State Bank of Pakistan, Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence.

Sources say this verdict is a takeover of Sharif by the army.

The military has ruled Pakistan for much of its history since 1947 and historic distrust has always strained relations between the two branches of power - the civil and the military.

The Panama Papers, which refer to a massive trove of secret documents leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca - which specialised in helping the global elite stash wealth in offshore tax havens - had said that the Prime Minister's children Maryam, Hasan and Hussain Nawaz "were owners or had the right to authorise transactions for several [offshore] companies".

At least eight offshore companies were found to have links to the Sharif family in the documents that were leaked following which the case was filed by various petitioners - PTI chief Imran Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Sharif over his alleged misstatement in his address to the nation on April 5 and his speech before the National Assembly on May 16, 2016.

The petitioners claimed that the Prime Minister lied about the investments made by his children in offshore companies, which led to the acquisition of four apartments in London's upscale Park Lane neighbourhood.

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The extension by five years for complying with the Mega Power Policy 2009 norms will reduce contingent liabilities and free up banking limits to 25 mega power projects, thus granting them a fresh lease of life, says India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra). Ind-Ra believes this will also in turn free up banks' potential exposure to the power sector by around 3.50% or INR40 billion, providing them additional headroom to lend to the power sector. This is applicable to 25 mega power projects of around 32,330MW of coal and gas based power plants which have provisional certificates, but are awaiting the final mega power status. The projects would have needed additional debt or the sponsors may have had to inject additional equity to settle the bank guarantee obligations, which would have devolved in the absence of an extension in timeline as per Mega Power Policy. While the extension is likely to provide some comfort in terms of lower finance costs, the lack of long term Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) may prohibit these plants from availing the full benefits under the policy. For many projects it is kicking the can down the road until long term PPAs become a norm again, which Ind-Ra believes is unlikely in the near term.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has extended the timeline available for furnishing the final mega certificates (from the date of receiving provisional mega certificates) to 120 months from the earlier 60 months from the date of import to avail all the benefits under the policy. Tax concession under the amended policy will be in the proportion of the long term PPA tied up, instead of requiring 85% or more long-term tie up (65% long term PPA by competitive bidding and 35% under regulated tariff as per specific host state policy for 15 out of 25 projects which have provisional mega status as per the earlier amendment).

The proceeds out of the release of bank guarantees (submitted by the generators till the final mega status is received) have to necessarily be utilised towards reduction in project debt by the developer.

Most states have become averse to buying power on a long-term basis, since short-term tariffs are more economical. Ind-Ra expects long-term PPAs to be scarce, given the weak industry demand. Ten major power consuming states (contributing 65% to power demand of all distribution companies) have signed contracts for higher than the current annual demand, Ind-Ra estimates this will lead to a consolidated power surplus of 18%. Extension of the timeline to tie-up long term PPAs in the current challenging market is a breather for all the power plants which have a provisional mega power status but are awaiting the final conformation.

Ind-Ra estimates that the total reduction in potential banking exposure across these 25 power projects due to this amendment will be around INR40 billion. As per Ind-Ra's sample set, bank guarantees submitted by these generators contingent on receiving the final mega status are on an average about 5.5% of the total project cost. Also, almost one third of project capacity of these 25 projects is tied up under long term PPAs and will be eligible for release of bank guarantees as per the terms and conditions of this amended Mega Power Policy. This amendment will reduce the contingent liabilities sitting on the balance sheets of these projects against the potential tax liability in the future. Freeing up of banking limits will also help these power plants to competitively bid for PPAs in the future.

Clarity however is still awaited in operationalising the policy, including aspects of reimbursements for taxes paid, treatment of PPAs (signed with home states for selling 35% power) which are not operationalised, among other details.

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Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals rose 3.83% to Rs 119.40 at 11:51 IST on BSE after the company executed an in-principle pact with Govt of Congo to evaluate the possibility of establishing a chemical complex.

The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 19 April 2017.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 85.83 points or 0.29% at 29,422.40. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 105.36 points or 0.73% at 14,495.62.

On the BSE, 1.60 lakh shares were traded on the counter so far as against the average daily volumes of 2.75 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 120.50 and a low of Rs 118.40 so far during the day.

The stock had hit a record high of Rs 131.70 on 3 April 2017 and a 52-week low of Rs 67 on 3 August 2016. It had underperformed the market over the past one month till 19 April 2017, sliding 5.7% compared with the Sensex's 1.05% fall. The scrip had also underperformed the market over the past one quarter, declining 3.6% as against the Sensex's 7.43% rise.

The mid-cap company has equity capital of Rs 79.70 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.

Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (GSFC) said it has executed an in principle agreement (in the form of Non-binding term sheet) with Govt of Republic of Congo (ROC) on 17 April 2017 to evaluate the possibility of establishing a Ammonia-Urea Complex at ROC to enhance the agriculture growth in ROC. It is expected that this project will act as a catalyst for ROC by reducing dependency on imported food for feeding the public of ROC, GSFC said.

Meanwhile, GSFC is one among the 16 stocks to be included in the futures & options (F&O) segment of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) with effect from 28 April 2017, as per the circular issued by the NSE yesterday, 19 April 2017.

GSFC's net profit fell 41% to Rs 61.17 crore on 30.8% decline in net sales to Rs 1102.70 crore in Q3 December 2016 over Q3 December 2015.

Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (GSFC) is engaged in the development of crop nutrition solutions. The company is also engaged in the business of trading pesticides, zinc sulfate, magnesium sulfate, among others.

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Spice Digital FZCO to undertake software consultancy and IT related activities

Spice Mobility announced that S Global Services, a foreign subsidiary of Spice Digital, a subsidiary of the Company, has incorporated 'Spice Digital FZCO', a 100% foreign subsidiary, in Dubai Airport Free Zone, for undertaking the business relating to Software Consultancy and IT related activities. Consequently, Spice Digital FZCO has also become a step down foreign subsidiary of the Company.

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Sun TV Network rose 4.96% to Rs 885.50 at 10:57 IST on BSE after a foreign brokerage reportedly upgraded its rating on the stock to 'buy' from 'sell' and raised the target price of the stock to Rs 1,015 from Rs 661 earlier.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 82.17 points, or 0.28% to 29,418.74.

On the BSE, 2.57 lakh shares were traded in the counter so far, compared with average daily volumes of 2.08 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 895.80 so far during the day, which is also a record high for the counter. The stock had hit a low of Rs 860.40 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 334 on 24 June 2016.

The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 19 April 2017, rising 11.48% compared with 0.50% decline in the Sensex. The scrip had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 59.30% as against Sensex's 7.43% rise.

The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 197.04 crore. Face value per share is Rs 5.

Sun TV Network's net profit rose 11% to Rs 240.09 crore on 2.8% growth in net sales to Rs 589.43 crore in Q3 December 2016 over Q3 December 2015.

Sun TV Network is one of the largest television broadcasters in India, operating thirty-two TV channels and forty-five FM Radio stations in several Indian languages.

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Intimates of pot outage incident at Jharsuguda smelter; fire accident at TSPL Power Plant

Vedanta announced that its 500kt plant-1 smelter at Jharsuguda had an unfortunate pot outage incident earlier this week. 228 pots out of the total 608 pots were damaged and taken out of production. The impacted pots will be required to be repaired over the next few months.

Vedanta also announced that a fire took place at the coal handling plant at 1980 MW Talwandi Sabo Power Plant (wholly owned subsidiary of the Company) in Punjab state earlier this week. This has resulted in a shut down of all three units of the power plant for around 60 days.

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No other popular author has got such publicity. Writers do benefit if celebrities express interest in their works, but Alistair MacLean may be the only one whose books are being read by characters in films -- even beyond Hollywood. Remember what Sharmila Tagore is half-way through on her train journey before being serenaded by Rajesh Khanna in "Aradhana"?

Then in Israeli film "Operation Thunderbolt" (1977), Col. Yonatan Netanyahu (the elder brother of the present Israeli Prime Minister) is reading his "Circus" as Israeli commandos travel to Idi Amin's Uganda to free passengers of a hijacked Israeli plane. Somehow, films have a certain bent for this MacLean novel about a German trapeze artist tasked to infiltrate a communist stronghold -- a character in British horror film "The Comeback" (1978) is also shown reading it.

For good reason too, as MacLean, whose 95th birth anniversary is on Thursday, was -- and is -- among the most well-known and enduring authors of the adventure/thriller genre ever, with a special focus on war, the sea and harsh, unforgiving climates (polar terrain and high, deep seas are particular favourites).

In his almost three-decade-long writing career, Alistair Stuart MacLean (1922-87) wrote a little over two dozen novels, but several became famous as well as highly visible due to their film adaptations -- "The Guns of Navarone" and "Where Eagles Dare" are the best examples.

It was also unique for a British author, for whom English was not the first language.

The third son of Church of Scotland minister, MacLean, who was born in Glasgow but spent most of young days in a town near Inverness, spoke Scottish Gaelic as his mother tongue and and learned English as a second language.

Joining the Royal Navy in 1941 during World War II, he served in the ranks but saw quite a bit of action in the Atlantic theatre, on escort duty with Arctic convoys, in the operation against German battleship Tirpitz, on various duties in the Mediterranean and finally in the Far East against the Japanese. All these experiences would be reflected in some of his best adventures.

Demobilised in 1946, MacLean studied English at the University of Glasgow and then worked as a school teacher. During his university days, he began writing short stories to earn some extra money. A maritime-themed story won a competition in 1954, and so impressed the publisher Collins that it asked him for a novel.

His debut "HMS Ulysses" (1955), based on his own war experiences, as well as credited insight from his brother Ian, a more senior sailor, Master Mariner. The novel was a great success and MacLean was soon able to devote himself entirely to writing.

In rapid succession followed a chain of best-sellers including "The Guns of Navarone" (1957), "South by Java Head" (1957), "Night Without End" (1959), "Ice Station Zebra" (1963), "Where Eagles Dare" (1967), "The Way to Dusty Death" (1973), "Breakheart Pass" (1974), and more.

And it was quality stuff he wrote -- in a bid to prove the worth of the content, he published two novels under the pseudonym "Ian Stuart" and they were equally successful. However, some critics contend that his best work came up to 1970, those till around the middle of the 1970s were of middling quality and the last half-dozen or so are more mechanical and depend on ambitiously convoluted plots.

Among his oeuvre was "When Eight Bells Toll" (1966) -- which is the one Sharmila Tagore is seen reading in "Aradhana" -- but this was not his only tryst with Bollywood. His drugs thriller "Puppet on a Chain" (1969), which became a British film three years later, also inspired the superhit Bollywood starrer Dharmendra-Hema Malini "Charas" (1976).

In all, over half of his 28 novels were adapted for the big screen and if most of the them remain quite true to the printed page, it is because MacLean wrote the screenplay -- "Where Eagles Dare" most notably.

And MacLean, who is still in print, owes a bit of his popularity and acceptability among young impressionable minds for most notably eschewing the love element. Asked about this in an interview, he replied briskly: "Sex? No time for it. Gets in the way of the action."

(Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)

--IANS

vd/vm/sac

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Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker and AIADMK leader M. Thambidurai called on Tamil Nadu Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao here on Thursday.

Thambidurai later told reporters that it was a courtesy call as he has known Rao for a long time. He said he did not discuss the political situation in the state with Rao.

Tamil Nadu Finance and Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar also met Rao. Jayakumar said: "The meeting was in connection with the selection of Vice Chancellor of a university."

The meetings come amid efforts within the divided ruling AIADMK to merge.

--IANS

vj/in/mr

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Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar wants to portray police officer K. Vijay Kumar, who is credited with killing sandalwood smuggler Veerappan.

After portraying the character inspired by naval officer K.M. Nanavati in "Rustom", which won him the National Film Award, Akshay now wants to be the Indian Police Service officer on screen.

Kumar headed the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force that executed Veerappan in 2004, ending the outlaw's decades of terror on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border.

On Wednesday, Akshay was present to show his support to security agencies by attending the launch of a book, "Veerappan - Chasing the Brigand", in Mumbai.

Asked which role among the two he would like to play, he said: "Both Veerappan and Vijay Kumar's characters are really interesting but I would love to play the role of Vijay Kumar because the whole planning has been done by him and how brilliantly he executed the entire operation."

The book is a first hand account of Veerappan's end, written by Vijay Kumar himself. The book release was attended by eminent politicians and bureaucrats among others.

Akshay was last seen in "Naam Shabana" in which he played a RAW agent. He has three releases lined up this year: "Toilet - Ek Prem Katha", "Padman" and "Rajanikant's 2.O."

--IANS

iv/nv/mr

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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday turned 68 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan greeting him.

"Wishing the industrious CM of AP, @ncbn Garu a very happy birthday. May he lead a long life filled with best health," Modi tweeted.

Naidu is also the national president of Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

Narasimhan also greeted Naidu and expressed his best wishes for his good health.

State ministers, legislators and TDP leaders made a beeline at Naidu's residence to greet him.

Priests from Tirumala temple blessed the chief minister. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Chairman Chadalavada Krishnamurthy and other officials also called on Naidu and greeted him too.

--IANS

ms/ruwa/sar/vm

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At least half a dozen racing horses of the Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) in the city failed dope test as their urine samples tested positive, alleged a horse owner on Thursday.

"We have suspected something amiss at the stables in the BTC grounds. We recently sent urine samples of the horses to the National Dope Testing Lab in New Delhi. They (samples) tested positive," Karnataka Race Horse Owners' Association member H.S. Chandre Gowda told IANS here.

On Gowda's complaint of cheating and cruelty to animals, the High Grounds Police Station in the city centre registered an FIR against five employees of the BTC for allegedly administering steroids to the horses for speed and enhanced performance in the races.

"We have registered the case and the investigation is on. Will not comment till the investigation is completed," High Grounds Police Inspector Lakshmikant told IANS.

The case was registered against BTC Chief Executive Officer Nirmal Prasad, Chief Stipendiary Officer Pradumna Singh, and BTC Members Vivek Ubaykar, Arjun Sajanani and Neel Darasha as they were named in the complaint.

One of the horses -- 'Queen Latifa', which came first in a race on March 10 and broke a 40-year record, failed the dope test as its urine sample tested positive.

The FIR was filed against the accused under sections 202, 418, 428, 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 11(c) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Rakesh Rathore on Thursday denied he was the politician who beat up a toll plaza employee in Uttar Pradesh.

The Sitapur legislator said that he neither owns a Scorpio car as shown in a video which has gone viral nor has he been to New Delhi in the last six months.

"This is not me. The person shown in the video is Mahendra Yadav, a Samajwadi Party leader from Biswa. It is sad the media aired the video and the news without any verification," he said.

The video grab, reportedly two days old, shows a man alleged to be the BJP legislator engaging in a spat with the toll booth staff and then beating up an employee.

The politician then speeds away with the cavalcade of vehicles accompanying him without paying the toll. The politician and his henchmen are also shown vandalising the barrier.

The incident happened at the Fatehganj (West) toll plaza on the Moradabad-Bareilly highway.

A police official in Bareilly said since there were two versions of the incident, they will go through the CCTV footage before taking action.
The Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday filed a chargesheet in a corruption case against suspended Chhattisgarh official B.L. Agrawal.

The chargesheet was filed before link Special Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna as the concerned special Judge Virender Kumar Goyal was on leave.

The court has listed the matter for April 24 for further proceedings.

Agrawal, an Indian Administrative Service officer and then Principal Secretary (Higher Education) in the Chhattisgarh government, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 21 on charges of trying to "settle" a case being probed by the central agency against him.

He is currently in judicial custody.

Hyderabad-based Syed Burhanuddin was arrested on February 23 for helping Agrawal to settle the case.

Agrawal's brother-in-law Anand Agrawal and Bhagwan Singh, a resident of Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, are also accused in the case.

The CBI registered an FIR on February 18 against the accused officer, Singh, Burhanuddin and others on the charge of criminal conspiracy and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI claimed the Agrawal had agreed to pay Rs 1.5 crore to Burhanuddin as gratification for helping him in a pending case.

--IANS

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China and Iran will on Sunday sign the first commercial contract to redesign Tehran's Arak heavy water reactor in Vienna, a Foreign Ministry spokesman has said.

China and Iran have reached initial agreement on the commercial contract, Spokesman Lu Kang said at a daily news briefing on Thursday.

Redesigning the Arak heavy water reactor is a core aspect of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear programme, Xinhua news agency reported.

The JCPOA was reached in Vienna in July 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 group, namely Britain, China, France, Russia, the US and Germany.

The P5+1 countries have created a working group led by China and the US to work with Iran to redesign the reactor, said Lu.

The signing will create a favourable condition for the progress of the redesign.

"China will do the follow-up work with all parties involved in accordance with the comprehensive nuclear deal and the consensus reached by all parties," Lu said.

The 7th Joint Commission between Iran and the P5+1 will convene in Vienna next week.

--IANS

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Sidelined AIADMK Deputy General Secretary T.T.V. Dinakaran has been summoned by the Delhi Police on his reported attempt to bribe Election Commission officials in a case related to the party's poll symbol.

The Delhi Police served the summons on Dinakaran late on Wednesday night and asked him to appear in person on Friday in Delhi, it is learnt.

High drama was witnessed late on Wednesday night when a Dinakaran follower attempted self-immolation when the police arrived to serve the summons.

The Delhi Police has booked Dinakaran for allegedly attempting to bribe Election Commission officials through a middleman Sukesh Chandrasekar to get a favourable verdict in the party's two leaves symbol case.

The poll body has frozen the AIADMK's two leaves symbol with two factions -- one led by party General Secretary V.K. Sasikala and the other by former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam -- claiming it as their own.

--IANS

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Dubbing civil servants as the "steel frame" of India, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday asked them not to follow "wrong orders" of a political executive or become "Yes masters", but take decisions in the interest of the nation.

"Civil services have power. Decisions should be taken on the basis of national interest and in the interest of the people. If a political executive gives wrong orders, do not be scared to show them rules. Tell him that you are legally wrong and do not sign the file," the Minister said, addressing the inaugural session of 11th Civil Services Day function here.

Rajnath Singh advised bureaucrats not to become "Yes masters" and betray their conscience.

"Haan mein haan naa milaiye (Do not become yes masters). Do not betray your conscience," he said at the function attended by officers belonging All India Services.

He also lightly hit out at officers who "avoid" taking decisions, saying such hesitations may harm the country's interests.

"If necessary, discuss and deliberate with your seniors but there should be no hesitation in taking decisions," he said.

The Home Minister lauded the role of bureaucrats dubbing them the "steel frame of India" and advised them to follow the guiding principles for civil servants as enunciated by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on April 21, 1948.

"Sardar Patel said that if civil services was called the steel frame of India, it would not be an exaggeration. Guiding principles for civil servants as enunciated by Sardar Patel in 1948 are extremely important in present day context as well. The steel frame of our civil services has not weakened even after 70 years of Independence," he said.

The politician also asked civil servants to be always responsible, accountable and impartial.

"We should always remember responsibility, accompanied by accountability. Along with this, impartiality is also a most important aspect of civil services. Lack of impartiality may affect your decision-making capabilities," the Minister said.

Rajnath Singh said Indian polity has never faced a vacuum and witnessed continuity in seventy years of Independence as the civil servants have contributed largely in maintaining continuity.

He praised the administrative continuity in the country, saying it has been one of the important reasons for the success of Indian democracy.

Singh said the Narendra Modi government through its 'Jan Dhan, Aadhar and mobile connectivity (JAM) convergence is transforming good governance into smart governance.

The Home Minister said the central government is committed to successfully implementing 'Antyodaya', a scheme for providing subsidised food to millions of poorest families, and the civil servants have to play a more active and effective role in its implementation.

"Our government is known for its commitment and conviction. The Prime Minister has a dream of ensuring 'Roti, Kapda, Makan, Siksha and Swasthya' (food, house, education and health service) for everyone by 2022. Civil servants must ensure that the dream becomes a reality," he said.

Rajnath Singh also stressed on the need for punctuality to a group of bureaucrats when the event began 12 minutes late.

"I was a little bit worried today. The programme was supposed to start at 9.45 (a.m.). We reached five minutes before the scheduled time. But it started at 9.57 (a.m.)," the Minister said.

He said that while there could be some legitimate reasons for running the event late, but there should be an introspection over the issue.

"It would have been good that we would not have deviated (from the scheduled time). Has there been any laxity in our commitment?" the Minister wondered.

--IANS

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte expressed his intention to provide weapons to civilians in Bohol province to fight against terrorists.

"I intend to also arm the civilians and I will include the civilians," Duterte said at a press conference on Wednesday night during his visit to Bohol.

Duterte assured the people he would grant pardons if the locals ended up killing the suspected terrorists. "If you kill, you do not have to worry, you just go to the police and make a report and state your truth and you won't have any problem," Efe news reported Duterte as saying.

Duterte is planning to consult with the local authorities about his proposal as the local government "might have some objections".

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) 2017 Summit began this week in Bohol, just a week after 13 members of Abu Sayyaf infiltrated the island by boat to allegedly kidnap tourists.

The terrorists confronted official forces earlier on April 11, an incident which left three soldiers, one policeman and six rebels dead.

--IANS

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A major fire broke out at a thermocol factory in West Bengal's Howrah district on Thursday, a fire department official said.

"A thermocol factory in Howrah district's Andul Road went ablaze at around 10.30 a.m. The fire spread quickly as plenty of inflammable materials were stocked in the factory premises," the official said.

Visuals showed thick, black smoke billowing out of the factory.

Fire fighters are trying hard to control the blaze as the factory is located in a narrow lane.

"Six fire tenders have been pressed into service. We have got in touch with Uluberia fire brigade and other fire departments for additional support."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nagaland Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu on Thursday emphasised that human resource development is the only asset through which the Nagas can progress.

"Though there are many areas which need to be developed, the first and foremost priority for the Nagas should be focused on human resource development," he said addressing the 15th Annual Literary Day of the Nagaland University Students Union at Kohima Campus.

While laying stress on the need to pursue and strive for human development in the field of education, Liezietsu said that while imparting education some sort of skill too should be imparted so that students can earn their livelihood and not be so dependent on the government to provide employment.

Exhorting students, parents, teachers as well as the public to come together to achieve the need of quality education, the Chief Minister said that the right kind of education is an asset and a very gainful investment for the society.

"Unless we frame the education policy properly and give right types of guidance, the students may become a liability to our society," he said.

Liezietsu also called upon the students not to pursue mere degrees to get white collar jobs in the government sector, since employment in the government sector has reached a saturation point.

Noting that the Nagaland government has about 1.40 lakh government employees, including contract and work-charge employees, while Manipur has only about 65,000, Liezietsu asked students to strive for the best and pursue their education to be independent.

"We must have a specific strategy in our education system to impart quality and job-oriented education to our students," he said.

In her exhortation speech, Nagaland University Pro-Vice Chancellor Buno Liegise said that nobody wants to stagnate in life but achieve goals and move forward in life.

"We need to think seriously not to remain complacent or be in comfort zone but to be dynamic, work hard and do our best in life," she said while urging the students to have a positive attitude towards their studies.

Liegise also stressed on the need to pick up skills, become computer-savvy in this information technology age, and said it has become almost impossible to survive without knowing the use of internet and social media.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India moved to upgrade its defence infrastructure along the border with China, announcing the construction of two Advanced Landing Grounds (ALG) at Tawang and Dirang in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday, a day after Beijing gave its own names to six places in the northeastern state.

Defence Secretary G. Mohan Kumar held a high-level review meeting with Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and discussed the ALGs to be constructed in Dirang and Tawang.

The meeting was also attended by Town Planning and Urban Development Minister, Nabam Rebia, including senior Army officials and senior state officials.

Khandu has promised to speed up clearance of pending issues to expedite construction of the airfields.

The Chief Minister also discussed issues related to land acquisition for defence purposes, the strategic 378 km Missamari-Tenga-Tawang railway line, the status of ALGs and other security related issues.

The Missamari-Tenga-Tawang railway line is expected to be completed by October 2020. Survey work for the project, estimated at Rs 50,000- Rs 70,000 crore, is expected to begin next year.

However, Defence Ministry officials urged the Arunachal government to speed up on location survey works so that the project could be completed earlier.

During the meeting, the Defence Secretary informed the Chief Minister that the Defence Ministry has given its seal of approval for civilian use of the six ALGs in Arunachal Pradesh to promote tourism in this frontier state.

Kumar said the Defence Ministry had approved civilian use of these airfields on March 30.

"The dual use of the ALGs would help Arunachal Pradesh in promoting tourism and other commercial activities and bring succour to the sick and needy who require urgent transportation," Kumar said.

The six ALGs - Tuting, Mechuka, Along, Passighat, Vijaynagar and Ziro - along the India-China border have been reconstructed, expanded and operationalised by the Defence Ministry and are under the direct control of the Indian Air Force.

On the issue of defence-related land compensation, the state government said that on the matter of dual compensation raised by the defence forces, a Group of Ministers has been set up whose report is awaited.

The Arunachal government officials informed that process is on for grant of permanent rights instead of leasehold rights to defence authorities, on condition that the defence authorities pay annual lease rent of Rs 10 per sq mt, which is as per the amended rules of the state's land settlement laws.

The move to construct two ALGs in Tawang and Dirang comes after China renamed six places in the state, which it considers as part of "southern Tibet". China had strongly protested the visit of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to Arunachal Pradesh, especially Tawang earlier this month.

--IANS

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, currently on a visit to the US, will take up with the American administration the matter of restrictions on H-1B visas, the government said on Thursday.

Speaking to media here on the executive order signed by US President Donald Trump on H-1B visas, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the US had committed certain number of these visas to India at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and "we would definitely want" America to honour that commitment.

"It is not just the US, but several countries now adopting such (restrictive) measures," she said.

The restrictive visa regime would also impact the US companies operating in India, the Minister said.

"So it is not a unilateral (issue) where Indian companies would have to face this... there are several US companies in India which are doing business for years here," she said.

While the US is reviewing its visa programme for foreign workers, Australia has recently abolished a temporary work visa programme -- the 457 visa.

Citing the examples of these countries tightening their visa regime for movement of skilled professionals, Sitharaman said: "Countries are now very clearly raising protectionist walls as regards service trade."

"I protest comparison of asylum-seeking migrants with skilled professionals."

To a question whether India would take the US and Australia to the WTO's dispute resolution mechanism, she replied: "At this stage, we will engage constructively. At the same time, India will ensure that it will not accept unfair treatment."

In this connection, Sitharaman said India has submitted a proposal to the WTO for an agreement on trade facilitation in services (TFS)

"It is time that we have a global framework within which trade in services can happen. We will be actively pursuing our proposal in the WTO," she said.

India has presented a concept note at the WTO for a TFS Agreement, which proposes a way forward on comprehensively addressing the numerous border and behind-the-border barriers on the lines of the historic trade facilitation agreement in goods.

The TFS proposal aims at liberalising rules for movement of professionals, liberalised visa regime and long-term business visas.

India is pushing for a TFA in services at the WTO as this sector has huge potential and contributes significantly to the country's economy.

Pointing out that the Indian services sector contributes over 55 per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Product, Sitharaman earlier said India was unable to leverage its strength in services to get the necessary benefits in the TFA in goods signed with the Asean group, for instance.

Meanwhile, India's paper for a proposed TFS Agreement has been well received by many member countries, WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo told reporters here during a visit last month.

--IANS

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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday expressed strong displeasure on the removal of a 'cross' at a church near Munnar during a drive to reclaim usurped government land.

Located on a hill top, the cross was razed early Thursday morning by revenue authorities by using heavy equipment amid tight police security.

Vijayan told a public meeting in Kottayam in the evening that those responsible for the action ought to get government sanction for the same.

"... they should have asked the state government... what's more surprising is that the authorities enforced Section 144 of the Code for Criminal Procedure in that area in the early hours of Thursday," the Chief Minister said.

The Revenue Department is handled by a minister of the Communist Party of India - the second biggest ally of the ruling Left government.

Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekheran kept mum on the issue, though CPI Assistant Secretary Prakash Babu defended revenue authorities' action.

"What happened on Thursday is well within the law and nothing untoward has happened there. They were doing their job," said Babu.

--IANS

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American Birding Podcast: 2017 Splits and Lumps, The AOS Episode

The newest episode of the American Birding Podcast is out!

Every year, birders look forward to the check-list supplement from the American Ornithological Society (formerly the American Ornithologists Union), and this year is no exception. In fact, 2017 offers a bounty of potential splits for your armchair ticks, as well as some very compelling lumps. In this episode, I break down some of those taxonomic decision with Nick Block, professor of Biology at Stonehill College and member of the ABAs Recording Standards and Ethics Committee. We talk Yellow-rumped Warblers, redpolls, Willets and more!

And Greg Neise and Ted Floyd return with guest and gull expert Amar Ayyash to talk about one of the most fascinating proposals in this years batch, the lump of Thayers and Iceland Gulls. Clines and hybrid swarms are on the agenda!

Subscribe to the podcast at iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play, and please leave a review if you are so inclined! It definitely helps people find us.
The Kerala Governor, Speaker of the Assembly and many ministers on Thursday removed the red beacons atop their vehicles, a day after the Union government's announcement to the effect.

Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam, Kerala Assembly Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan and Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala informed the media that they had removed the red beacons from their vehicles.

Finance Minister Thomas Issac, Water Resources Minister Mathew T. Thomas, Culture Minister A.K. Balan and Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekheran were the first ones to remove the beacons.

The Chief Minister and all other ministers would also remove the beacons at the earliest, sources said.

The central government on Wednesday announced that VIPs will not be allowed to flaunt red beacons atop their vehicles from May 1. The decision was taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

--IANS

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Actress Manisha Koirala says after her cancer treatment, she used to look like an alien as she lost her hair. Now she is "quite kicked" to play late actress Nargis Dutt, the mother of actor Sanjay Dutt, in his biopic.

Manisha, known for her roles in films like "1942: A Love Story", "Agni Sakshi", "Saudagar" and "Bombay", was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012.

Being an actress, did she get worried about her look after chemotherapy?

"I knew about my hair loss, but was not sure of my look. At times, after surviving from a disease like cancer... people's look changes. All I knew was that I had to mentally prepare to fight it and I got a huge support from my family. After my chemotherapy, I lost my hair, eye brows and lashes. Looking at the mirror... I felt like an alien," Manisha told IANS in an interview.

During her illness, many Bollywood celebrities including Salman Khan and Gulshan Grover reached out to her family to know about her health. The film industry welcomed her after her cancer battle, she said.

Sharing the story behind bagging the role of Nargis Dutt, Manisha said: "Though I wanted to get back to work, I was nourishing my body and focusing on my health as chemotherapy damaged some of my body cells. I was in Nepal then, when I got a call from Raju ji (director Rajkumar Hirani). He told me about the film and my character."

So, how is she preparing for the role?

"I watched a documentary. I am watching her (Nargis Dutt's) films again and again and talking to (daughter) Priya Dutt a lot to know how she was in real life, her body language, how she used to talk, smile. I'm trying to get all the nuances right," said the Filmfare award-winning actress.

Born into a politically prominent Koirala family in Nepal, Manisha started her journey in Bollywood in 1991 with "Saudagar", directed by Subhash Ghai. Since then she has worked with celebrated filmmakers like Mani Ratman, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ram Gopal Varma and Mansoor Khan.

Indian cinema has changed drastically in the last five years. Asked how she looks at the changes, the actress said: "One of the positive changes is that the audience is accepting films on experimental subjects so, these new-age films are getting financial success. It is no more those melodramatic films in Hindi cinema. So, filmmakers are ready to make films with different subjects."

She is currently going through a look test and leading a holistic life to prepare for the biopic. She will start shooting for her part from May.

--IANS

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Designed as a pulpy thriller, Maatr is an astutely plotted, violent revenge saga which is presented to highlight the over 3 crore rape cases pending in the Indian courts.

Set in Delhi, it is the story of Vidya Chauhan, a history teacher, who is the victim of a terrible act of violence. She along with her daughter Tia, is brutally gang raped and left on a desolate road for dead. Tia dies but Vidya survives the brutal act only to face a harsher reality -- a complete break-down of her marriage and an unhelpful police force who fail to deliver her justice.

Left with no other choice, Vidya is a one-woman force who seeks revenge by eliminating her seven perpetrators one-by-one.

With a taut plot that seems straight from a novella, the writing by Michael Pellico is extremely vivid, far-fetched and full of overwrought melodrama. But with well-defining characters delivering gripping performances and the right amount of action and drama, Director Ashtar Sayed succeeds in making the tale engrossing.

In an author-backed role, which is touted to be her comeback film, Raveena with her steely hauteur is utterly arresting in this provocative film. She exercises restraint, exudes an eerie calmness and yet injects fresh blood to her persona. This is clearly a performance no other actor in her age bracket could have pulled off with such ease. Even though her character is wounded, her spirited performance, though flaunted with faulty and excessive make-up, emerges as a compelling element in the film.

In a minuscule role, Rushad Rana as Vidya's spineless and inconsiderate husband Ravi, is aptly cast. You resent him for being a disgruntled and insensitive human being when he spews, "She should not have taken that turn...Did she think twice before taking that turn?" The line also sounds as an allegory to the situation.

Divya Jagdale is naturally charming as Vidya's friend, the artist Rita Adhikari, and she makes her presence felt with her under-written yet over-protective traits.

Of the antagonists, Madhur Mittal as Apurva Malik is every bit the obstinate and repulsive guy he is meant to be. He essays his character with ease.

With minimal dialogues and controlled camera work, the film offers a realistic feel. The songs, Zindagi Ae Zindagi sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Aisi Hoti Hai Maa sung by Kavita Seth are appropriately used to propel the emotional quotient of the narrative. The background score and the production design add to the viewing experience.

Overall, Maatr is a raw and powerful tale that is crisply told albeit a tad fictionalised.
on Thursday accused the US of escalating tension in the Korean peninsula by sending Vice President Mike Pence to Seoul, where he warned Pyongyang not to test the resolve of President Donald Trump's government.

North Korea's comments on Pence's visit and his meeting with South Korea's acting President Hwang Kyo-ah was published by the state-run Uriminzokkiri website in an article that accuses the US of trying to whip up anti-North Korean sentiment, Efe news reported.

It adds that the new US government is recklessly attempting to aggravate military tensions in the region through hostile policies and by launching a provocative and aggressive campaign against the country, including its decision to deploy a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and a strike group near the Korean peninsula, and efforts to step up pressure and toughen sanctions against .

In a press conference after his meeting with Hwang on Monday, Pence warned Pyongyang not to test the resolve, exhibited by the Trump administration in recent attacks in Syria and Afghanistan, through its continued weapons tests.

The article also accused Seoul of going along with Washington's demands and playing a confrontational role, and added that Pyongyang will continue to adopt increasingly stronger measures against growing military pressure, threats and irrational sanctions from the US.
Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari, who is on a two-day visit to Odisha, offered prayers at Lingaraj Temple here on Thursday.

Soon after her arrival, she was greeted by the temple priests at the 11th century Shiva shrine. She was escorted to the shrine where she spent over half an hour amid tight security.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the shrine during BJP National Executive meeting on April 16.

The 54-metre high temple is spread over a 25,000 sq.ft. area and has over 150 small and big subsidiary temples in its premises.

After arriving at the city's Biju Patnaik International Airport, the Nepal President attended a women's empowerment programme here.

Bhandari is scheduled to visit Puri to pay obeisance to Lord Jagannath and his siblings on Friday.

Police Commissioner Y.B. Khurania said elaborate security arrangements have been made for the smooth movement of the President.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prosecutors in Nigeria's Kaduna state on Thursday charged a group of 53 people with conspiring to celebrate a gay wedding, the media reported.

The accused, arrested last week, have denied the allegations, with their lawyers saying they were illegally detained, the BBC reported.

The court released the group on bail and the case was remanded to May 8.

Gay rights campaigners told the BBC that the group was attending a birthday party, not a wedding.

Homosexual acts are banned in the socially conservative Nigeria and are punishable by up to 14 years in jail.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The H1-B visas reforms in the US or the snap poll in Britain over Brexit issue will pose no near-term risks to the Indian IT industry, global research analyst Jefferies said on Thursday.

"The US President's order on immigration was sparse in detail and in contrast to fears of major clampdown, poses few incremental risks. Near-term risks of work visa reforms for the IT sector have waned," claimed the global investment bank in a statement from New York.

Similarly, snap elections in Britain on June 8 indicate a softer Brexit, reducing probability of shocks to India IT sector though volatility in pound and euro on dollar revenues needs to be kept under watch, it said.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled 'Buy American, Hire American' to tighten the grant of . The order also makes specific suggestions for to be granted to the most skilled and the highest paid applicants.

"Prima facie, the order does not lay out either limits for the visa quotas, definition of wages or skills other than what is already prescribed, or a timeline under which this needs to be implemented," asserted Jefferies Equity Analyst Vaibhav Dhasmana in the statement.

Equating the order to the April 4 guidance memo of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the analyst said it (order) would not change what is already in practice.

"In reality, the order means little, given that the scrutiny of Indian visas has been high in recent years even though it does indicate a higher focus on skilled labour immigration," noted Dhasmana.

In view of the low unemployment rates in the US (-2.5 per cent for graduates 25 years and older), the research firm said immigration reforms would have to balance protectionism and business needs.

"For Indian IT (industry), the risk is from legislative reforms (bills proposing increase of minimum wage), which does not seem to be priority for the Congress and hence near-term risks have waned though noise levels might remain high," Dhasmana pointed out.

Noting that the June 8 British snap poll was to seek a higher majority to iron out issues in negotiating Brexit, Jefferies said the fears of the Indian IT firms were over their volume growth getting impacted or delayed decision-making, as reflected in the scrapping of an IT project by the Royal Bank of Scotland to Indian software major Infosys in August 2016.

"The weakness of the pound and euro had also led to cross-currency headwinds on reported dollar revenue in the September-December quarter of calendar year 2016," recalled Dhasmana.

A higher majority for the ruling Conservative Party would mean a firmer hand for its Prime Minister Theresa May in negotiating a softer Brexit with the European Union and reduced risks of potential shocks for Indian IT firms.
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday said there was not enough evidence to disqualify Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and ordered a fresh probe into corruption charges as revealed in the Panama Papers.

While Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Gulzar Ahmed called for Sharif's disqualification, the other three judges said there must be a new multi-agency investigation into the allegations against the Prime Minister and his family.

A Joint Investigation Team (JIT), made up of officials from the military and other investigating agencies, would be set up within a week and submit a report in 60 days.

Justice Khosa said the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had failed to probe the case properly but they would be part of the JIT.

Sharif, who many in Pakistan feared might be forced to step down on Thursday, will appear before the probe team.

The scandal erupted last year with the publication of the "Panama Papers" which documented the offshore dealings of many of the world's rich and powerful.

Among those implicated were three of Sharif's four children - his daughter and presumptive political heir Maryam and sons Hasan and Hussein.

At the heart of the matter is the legitimacy of the funds used by Sharif's family to buy high-end London properties through offshore firms. His party says the wealth was acquired legally in Pakistan and the Gulf.

"It needs to be investigated how the money was transferred to Qatar," the Thursday 540-page verdict read.

The JIT will be required to present the report after every two weeks.

Sharif's supporters hailed the ruling.

"The split verdict proves that people, especially the PTI who opposed PM, are in a minority," said Ahsan Iqbal, a leader from Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

As tensions peaked in Islamabad ahead of the verdict, around 1,500 police commandos and riot forces were deployed around the court.

Lawyers opposing Sharif say the onus is on him to prove that his family did not engage in money laundering.

--IANS

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A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Patna High Court on Thursday seeking a CBI inquiry into the properties and assets of RJD Chief Lalu Prasad's sons, Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav and Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav.

Petitioner M.P. Sangar, a lawyer, alleged that both Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejaswi Yadav did not declare their assets at the time of filing the nomination papers to contest the Bihar assembly polls in 2015.

"I have requested the court to direct the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the matter," the lawyer told the media here.

Earlier this month, senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi had accused Lalu Prasad and his family members, including both the sons, of having 'benami' (proxy) properties.

Modi had also alleged that Lalu Prasad's sons were involved in a 'soil purchase scam' and claimed that the family had become owners of a prime piece of land in Patna earlier owned by AK Infosystems Pvt. Ltd.

--IANS

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The Tripura Police has launched a probe into the opening of a fake Facebook account in the name of state Governor Tathagata Roy, a police official said here on Thursday.

"Raj Bhavan officials filed a case here with the police on late Wednesday. Police began inquiry under the Information Technology Act in connection with the fake Facebook account in the name of Governor Tathagata Roy," a police official said.

He said: "The Tripura Police has a wing of cyber crime. We believe that we will soon get a breakthrough into the offence."

Police found that many concocted postings were made on the bogus Facebook account urging people to apply for government jobs against payment.

"A Professor of Calcutta University on Wednesday first informed about the fake Facebook account of the Governor. Then the Governor asked the Raj Bhavan officials to file a case in this regard," a Raj Bhavan official said, adding that the Governor was well-conversant with social media platforms.

Earlier in 2014 and 2016, a fake Facebook account was opened in the name of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.

--IANS

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Go see The Promise, a movie opening nationwide tomorrow. Hollywood has mostly ignored the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks during World War I, and subsequently pursued by the Turkish Republic. At last we have a film like The Promise, which focuses on the Armenian experience, but also the Greeks and Assyrians who were brutally victimized.

There is no uglier word in any language than genocide, which is perhaps why the word is used so sparingly. Both denotatively and connotatively the word conjures up the worst crimes against humanity  the attempted eradication of entire races, nationalities, or religions. Men, women, children. To utter the word is to open the most horrific casebook against the entirety of the human race and rocks the very foundations of our divinely designed hearts and souls.

However, hesitancy to use the word in question does us no favors. Neither does splitting hairs over whether the definition applies to one mass slaughter but not another. Whether narrowly or broadly applied, genocide is still genocide, and has happened with alarming frequency these past 100-some years. The term itself was coined in 1943 to designate the Armenian Genocide, which began in 1915. Generally acknowledged as the first genocide of the past century, the Armenian genocide claimed an estimated 1.5 million Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Christians who were systematically rounded up by the Ottoman Turks.

Ironically, while the World War I era witnessed new technological achievements in the mass slaughter of human beings on the battlefield, the Ottoman Turks resorted to the time-tested methods of firing squads, physical labor, starvation, dehydration and disease while introducing relatively new concepts in genocide: the concentration camp as well as exposure to germs and gases. The elderly, women and children who avoided immediate execution and camps were subjected barbarically to death marches through the Syrian desert (chillingly recounted in British rocker Julian Copes song The Armenian Genocide). Those who survived often were sold into sexual slavery. Churches and historical monuments were destroyed.

How best to educate en masse these historical atrocities? It never seems adequate to recite merely dates and the numbers and ages of victims. Yet the urge to express such horrors often resonates with authorial hubris. Show, dont tell is a maxim for effective writing, but the effort to depict the violence and indifference to human suffering can seem calculated  in Hamlets words  to out-Herod Herod. Unless the writer is Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Elie Wiesel or other luminaries occupying the sparsely populated literary pantheon of scribes able to gut-wrenchingly depict mass cruelties, the temptation to equal or outdo their efforts invariably yields disappointing results.

Too often, as well, some attempts serve to desensitize the reader to the true magnitude of despicable human behavior by focusing too much on sadistic and sinister actions. Its far easier to convey physical anguish than it is to render mental torture. The same theory applies equally to the visual arts as it does literature. For example, many cinematic portrayals of 20th century inhumanities could easily be stripped of their Nazi trappings and such, and wind up as generic entries in a torture-porn franchise such as the Saw series.

This, finally, brings your writer to the topic at hand  an endorsement of the new film The Promise, which avoids the pitfalls outlined above in admirable fashion. All prior reservations about viewing a film centered upon genocide were put to rest when it was revealed the movie is more about how the historical events affected the families and romantic relationships of the storys characters. Yes, there is onscreen brutality and (brief) scenes featuring piles of discarded bodies  but such scenes are given a verite rather than a sensationalist treatment that contribute to the narrative rather than disturbingly and nauseatingly distract from it. In short, the filmmakers strike the right balance, and the $100 million budget ensures superb production values.

Credit for the films realism devoid of over-the-top graphic depictions is due in large part to the direction of Terry George, who cut his teeth on such films as Jim Sheridans The Boxer and the Bruce Willis film Harts War before writing and directing Hotel Rwanda, which details a more recent incident of genocide and for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. George directed from a compelling script he co-wrote with Robin Swicord. The lush cinematography was provided by Javier Aguirresarobe.

The Promise stars A-list actors Oscar Isaac and Christian Bale, as well as international thespians Charlotte Le Bon, Jean Reno and Shohreh Aghdashloo. Isaac portrays Michael Boghosian, a Turkish Armenian who stakes a portion of his fiances dowry pursuing a medical degree in Constantinople (modern day Istanbul). Through his Turkish classmate, the son of an Ottoman general, Boghosian meets the American photojournalist Chris Myers (Bale), having already met and become smitten with Myers radiant female companion (Le Bon). Their ensuing love triangle is one emotional thread that weaves together the historical events of the film, echoing both the novel and film Doctor Zhivago, another love triangle set against a tumultuous historical backdrop. Another thread is Boghosians tight-knit family and their shared Christian devotion.

The Promises compacted storytelling betrays the films epic ambitions, which in another context would appear to be a negative assessment. On the contrary, one measure of arts quality is the recipients desire for more than is delivered and, such is the richness of the storys tapestry and the fullness of even the most minor characters, this is a high compliment indeed. In fact, the films running length underscores the tragedy of the massive number of Armenian, Greek and Assyrian lives abbreviated horrifically during the first genocide of the modern era. The Promise is highly recommended.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday greeted Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on her birthday on Friday.

Mukherjee said in a message: "It is with great pleasure that I convey warm greetings to you on the occasion of your birthday."

He said the multi-faceted ties between India and the UK had been expanded and strengthened in recent years.

"Our fruitful engagements and exchanges at the highest political levels have given us much to look forward to."

Born on April 21, 1926, Elizabeth II, the world's oldest living and Britain's longest-lived monarch, was coronated on June 2, 1953.

According to the British royal family's website, Queen Elizabeth II celebrates two birthdays: her actual birthday on April 21 and her official birthday on (usually) the second Saturday in June.

--IANS

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What might be termed as one of the biggest robberies of recent years in Karachi, two private security guards looted over $1.2 lakh (Rs 12 million in Pakistani currency) from a company van on Thursday.

Sanaullah and Sabz Ali working at Al-Sahara Exchange Company looted its van after it had collected cash from different branches in the city, Dawn news reported.

The exchange company officials confirmed in their initial statement that they were deprived of Rs 12 million.

"The van was on its way to the Clifton branch when the guards overpowered the staff and looted the money. They then travelled in a different vehicle," said SP Clifton Asad Malhi.

The police set-up check points on the probable routes taken by the robbers, who abandoned their vehicle near the Shireen Jinnah Colony area of the metropolis, added the police official.

One of the guards was hired by the security company around one week ago.

"The suspect guard was appointed by the security company without his proper verification," police said.

The police official added that initial investigations suggest the guards have no links with any militant outfit.

The money changer and driver of the cash van have been detained for interrogation while the police have established a special team to arrest the suspects.

The biggest robbery in Pakistan had also taken place in Karachi in December 2009 when robbers took away Rs 311 million from a bank.

--IANS

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With the Supreme Court closely monitoring developments on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, the Punjab government on Thursday apprised the Centre of the critical water situation in the state to stress its inability to share water with its neighbouring states.

The Punjab government has urged the Narendra Modi government at the Centre to intervene in the SYL canal matter "to save Punjab from an ecological disaster".

Punjab Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh and other senior officers met Union Ministry of Water Resources Secretary Amarjit Singh here to convey Punjab's stand on the SYL issue, which is currently pending in the Supreme Court.

The case is next scheduled to come up for hearing in the apex court on April 27.

At the last hearing, the central government had sought deferment in view of the April 20 meeting convened by it to resolve the issue festering between Haryana and Punjab for the past several decades. The Supreme Court, in November last year, had ruled in favour of Haryana on the water sharing issue through SYL canal.

The newly installed Congress government in Punjab had also sought time from the Supreme Court to prepare its case.

The Punjab government has urged the Centre "to take steps to prevent monsoon run-off to Pakistan and ensure that every extra drop of water is allowed to be used by Punjab", a Punjab government spokesperson said.

Pointing out that Punjab did not have surplus water to share, the delegation urged the central government to come up with a realistic solution to the problem, keeping the state's water scarcity in view.

"With only 28 per cent of its land canal-irrigated and the rest dependent on tubewells, Punjab was in urgent need of expansion of its canal system to prevent the water crisis in the state from aggravating to devastating levels," the delegation told the Union Secretary.

Pointing to the alarming decline in ground water table in the state, the delegation noted that the state was losing 12 MAF (million acre feet) of ground water every year, leading to a huge stress on the ground water system.

"In fact, 100 of a total of 138 blocks had been rendered 'dark blocks' as a result of over-exploitation of underground water to sustain agriculture. Of these, 45 had further been declared 'critical' by the central government," it was pointed out.

The delegation further noted that the sub-soil of the southern Punjab region was brackish and the people were dependent on canal water even for their drinking needs. Construction of the SYL canal would lead to an estimated 10 lakh acres of land in the region going dry, they further told the central government.

The Union Water Resource Ministry later met a delegation of the Haryana government to take their views on the issue.

--IANS

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Sikh radicals raised pro-Khalistan slogans and clashed with SGPC task force volunteers outside the Golden Temple complex here in Punjab on Thursday during Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan's visit.

The protestors, belonging to the hardline Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) and other radical organisations, stood outside the Sikh shrine complex with posters, banners and placards welcoming the Indian orijin Sajjan and condemning the Punjab government.

They raised pro-Khalistan slogans as Sajjan arrived at the 'Harmandir Sahib'. The protestors were stopped by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee task force members from coming close to the visiting Minister.

However, the Canadian Defence Minister avoided the radical elements and was received by top SGPC functionaries, including its President Kirpal Singh Badungar, to a red carpet welcome.

Sajjan offered prayers at the holiest of Sikh shrines and remained there for over one hour.

The SGPC ensured that the radical elements did not create any situation inside the shrine complex.

The Minister offered prayers inside the sanctum sanctorum and listened to hymns. He also took a 'parikrama' (went around the shrine) and sat there a while.

The first Sikh to become the Defence Minister of a western nation, Sajjan, 46, was later honoured by the SGPC at the shrine complex with a 'siropa' (traditional honour) and presented a replica of the Golden Temple and a sword.

Sajjan arrived in the Sikh holy city on Wednesday evening amid controversy over him being labelled as a "Khalistani sympathiser" by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

He was received at the airport by the district administration officers. Members of some radical groups were also present outside the Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport with banners to welcome Sajjan.

The Minister's family hails from Bambeli village, 15 km from Hoshiarpur. His family had migrated to Canada in mid-1970s, when Sajjan was around five years old.

Sajjan will visit his native village and then arrive in Chandigarh on Thursday.

Amarinder Singh had stirred a controversy last week when he said that he would not meet the visiting Canadian Minister due to his (Sajjan's) links to radical elements who demand for a separate Sikh state, Khalistan.

In New Delhi, Sajjan sought to play down the controversy on Tuesday saying that he did not want the break-up of any country.

The Shiromani Akali Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have welcomed Sajjan to Punjab and have condemned Amarinder Singh for his stand on the Canadian Minister.

--IANS

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Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday got a temporary reprieve after the Supreme Court in its highly-anticipated verdict in the Panamagate scandal said there was "insufficient evidence" to remove him from office but ordered a fresh probe into the graft allegations against him and his family.

Sharif expressed his satisfaction after the verdict that was split 3-2 among the five-judge bench, comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan.

Sharif said he respected the court's decision. His Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) celebrated the verdict, while the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party demanded that Sharif should resign.

The bench examined arguments presented by the PTI, the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), the Watan Party and the All Pakistan Muslim League, which framed the case as a campaign against corruption and were pushing for Sharif's ouster.

The final verdict saw two dissenting notes in the bench, with Justice Khosa and Justice Ahmed ruling against Sharif, saying he should be disqualified, while the other three were in favour of forming a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) for a fresh probe.

Reading the 540-page verdict, Justice Khosa asked how the Sharif family assets were transferred from Pakistan to Jeddah in the first place.

A JIT, made up of officials from the military and other investigating agencies, would be set up within a week and submit a report in 60 days, the court said.

Justice Khosa said the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had failed to probe the case properly. The two agencies are part of the JIT.

Sharif, who many in Pakistan feared might be forced to step down on Thursday, will appear before the probe team.

The scandal erupted last year with the publication of the "Panama Papers" which documented the offshore dealings of many of the world's rich and powerful.

Among those implicated were three of Sharif's four children - his daughter and presumptive political heir Maryam and sons Hasan and Hussein.

At the heart of the matter is the legitimacy of the funds used by Sharif's family to buy high-end London properties through offshore firms. His party says the wealth was acquired legally in Pakistan and the Gulf.

"It needs to be investigated how the money was transferred to Qatar," the verdict read.

The JIT will be required to present the report after every two weeks.

The ruling PML-N was quick to tweet photos and statements of celebration after the Supreme Court verdict.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan, after the ruling, urged Sharif to resign during the duration of the investigation into how the Sharif family's money was transferred to Qatar.

"I demand Nawaz Sharif resign... Until the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) completes its probe," Khan said.

"If you're cleared within 60 days, you can return," Khan said.

However, Khan congratulated the nation on the "historic" ruling.

Former President Asif Ali Zardari, addressing a press conference, said that Sharif should hand in his resignation.

"I condemn the (court's) decision," he said.

"Mian sahab you have failed. You cannot run the government. Give someone else a chance to run the government," Zardari said.

"We believe that if Pakistan is not safe in the hands of Nawaz Sharif, it is also not safe in the hands of Imran Khan," said Zardari, whose own Pakistan's Peoples Party is gunning for a victory in the next election.

The Premier's daughter, Maryam Nawaz, tweeted a photo of Sharif, his family and PML-N leaders celebrating the verdict with smiles and embraces.

Addressing the media after the verdict, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said: "Every party including Imran Khan, Sirajul Haq should now respect the SC verdict."

"The split verdict proves that people, especially the PTI who opposed the Prime Minister, are in a minority," said Ahsan Iqbal, a leader from Sharif's PML-N.

The landmark judgement was made public 57 days after the case was last heard by the court.

--IANS

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In a move to reduce road accidents, road safety will be taught in Jharkhand schools, said an official on Thursday.

"The Home Department has issued a letter regarding inclusion of road safety as subject in government schools. Nodal teachers will be appointed in schools who will educate the students about road safety," said the state government official to IANS.

The official said that the decision was taken in a meeting of Jharkhand Road Safety Board headed by the Chief Minister Raghubar Das.

In the meeting it was stressed that seven different departments need to work together to reduce road accidents. The departments include Education, Road and others.

"The aim is to bring down the road accidents to 50 per cent by 2020," said the official.

Jharkhand has witnessed a rise in road accident cases.

A total of 4,932 road accidents were witnessed in Jharkhand in 2016 which led to the death of 3,027 people. Whereas in 2015, 5,162 accidents led to 2,893 deaths.

--IANS

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Sacked Border Security Force trooper Tej Bahadur Yadav -- who triggered a political storm when his video clip on alleged substandard food served to BSF men went viral in January -- will be honoured by Congress party's Madhya Pradesh unit.

"Mother India's brave son Tej Bahadur Yadav, who exposed BSF's corruption in a video, will be honoured by Madhya Pradesh Congress," state President Arun Yadav tweeted on Thursday.

Yadav did not announce the date on which the dismissed soldier will be honoured.

Yadav, clad in a camouflage uniform and carrying a rifle, posted a video clip on a social media website in January to complain about the "quality" of food served to security personnel and accused unnamed officers of illegally selling food supplies meant for troopers.

Since then, the trooper was facing inquiry on various charges, including indiscipline, and his plea for voluntary retirement was rejected by authorities.

He was dismissed from service on Wednesday, after which he said he will move the court "to secure justice".

--IANS

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Saudi Arabia has agreed to donate $118 million to set up 560 model mosques across Bangladesh, a media report said on Thursday.

The decision follows Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's last year vist to Saudi Arabia where she met King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

The mosques will be able to accommodate at least 450,000 men and over 30,000 women for daily prayers and will have lodging space for more than 2,000 foreign guests and libraries.

The Saudi government has also agreed to donate money to establish a permanent campus for the Islami Arabic University in Bangladesh.

--IANS

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The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the New Delhi Municipal Council to go ahead with the e-auction of the property housing the iconic Taj Mansingh Hotel here, currently run by Tata Group's Indian Hotels Company Ltd. (IHCL).

An apex court bench of Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman said the IHCL will have six months to vacate the building -- known as Taj Mansingh -- in case the New Delhi MUnicipal Council (NDMC) does not succeed in its e-auction.

The court said the NDMC will keep in mind that the IHCL has an unblemished track record in hotel management.

Appearing for the IHCL, senior counsel Harish Salve told the court that the proposed auction was not right as they have certain contractual rights for lease renewal.

Pressing for the right of first refusal if the property housing Taj Mansingh was to go under the hammer, Salve told the court that at some point "we must get renewal opportunity as our track record has been unblemished".

The IHCL had challenged the Delhi High Court's October 27 order dismissing its plea against the auction of the property by the NDMC.

The apex court had ordered for a status quo on November 21, 2016,

Earlier, a division bench of the Delhi High Court had reiterated the September 25 single-judge order that dismissed an IHCL suit to renew its licence and upheld the NDMC's decision to auction the property.

The property, owned by the NDMC, was given to IHCL on a 33-year lease that ended in 2011. The IHCL has since been managing the property on several extensions it has got from the municipal council.

--IANS

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The Deputy Mayor of Shimla on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to shift out his public meeting this month from the historic Ridge ground, for fear any large congregation would damage the century-old drinking water storage tank underneath.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Deputy Mayor Tikender Panwar said the drinking water storage tank below the Ridge dates back to British India -- built in 1910 -- and is "highly vulnerable" to damage and the summer festival too should be shifted out to the other side of the Ridge towards the Gaiety Theatre.

The Deputy Mayor said the 107-year-old water storage tank has already developed cracks at one end.

"This storage tank is a stone masonry built structure which does not have any reinforcements. Also, I would like to apprise you that during the recent cleaning of this tank, we have witnessed cracks developing at one end of the tank, which is towards the Lakkar Bazaar area," the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader said.

"Also, to apprise you that over the years of 'developmental activities', instead of scrapping the concrete from the top there has been more than three feet surcharge load of concrete in successive decades, which makes the tank more vulnerable in its load bearing capacity owing to old stone masonry composition," he added in the letter.

The Ridge -- once the promenade for the British colonial rulers when this city was their summer capital -- is a popular tourist landmark.

Taking notice of the state capital's haphazard development, the state High Court in its May 2015 order had noted that the north slope of the Ridge and open space just above the Mall, which extends to the Grand Hotel in the west and Lower Bazaar in the east, was slowly sinking.

Besides the Town Hall building, now housing the municipality, the Ridge has the Gaiety Theatre -- another British landmark.

In the past few years, the Ridge has developed cracks, mainly in the monsoon.

Major cracks had appeared on the street in 2008 when about 20 shops of the Tibetan market, located beneath the Ridge, collapsed in heavy rains. Two shopkeepers were killed.

--IANS

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MOBILE, Ala. - Works by Alabama School of the Arts students at University of Mobile are on display at the Annual Student Juried Art Exhibit through April 28 at the Marilyn Foley Art Gallery on campus.

The gallery is open to the public weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Ben May Building. Admission is free.

An awards ceremony and reception will be held April 27 at 11 a.m. in the gallery. Juror is Mary Elizabeth Kimbrough, instructor of art history at Bishop State Community College.

For information about the study of art at the Alabama School of the Arts at University of Mobile, contact Phillip Counselman, associate professor of art, at pcounselman@umobile.edu or 251.442.2283.

University of Mobile is a Christ-centered liberal arts and sciences institution with a vision of higher education for a higher purpose, founded to honor God by equipping students for their future professions through rigorous academic preparation and spiritual transformation. Core values are: Christ-Centered, Academically-Focused, Student-Devoted and Distinctively-Driven. The university offers on-campus and online bachelor's and master's degree programs in over 40 areas of study. Founded in 1961, University of Mobile is affiliated with the Alabama Baptist State Convention and is located 10 miles north of Mobile, Alabama on a campus of over 880 acres.

For more information about University of Mobile, visit the website at www.umobile.edu or call Enrollment Services at 1.800.WIN.RAMS or 251.442.2222.
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying two crew members for the International Space Station blasted off on Thursday from a launch facility on Kazakhstan, NASA has said.

The Soyuz MS-04 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station at 3:13 a.m. EDT on Thursday (1:13 p.m. Baikonur time), the US space agency said in a statement.

At the time of launch, the space station was cruising about 250 miles over northeast Kazakhstan near the southern Russian border.

"NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and Fyodor Yurchikin of Roscosmos are now safely in orbit," the statement added.

While it is Yurchikin's fifth mission to the space station, Fischer is on his first.

The pair will travel on a fast-track, six-hour course to the space station and dock to the Poisk module.

Two days after Yurchikhin and Fischer dock and join their Expedition 51 crewmates, the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo craft will arrive to resupply the orbital laboratory.

Cygnus will deliver experiments supporting research into cancer-fighting drugs, semiconductor crystal growth and atmospheric reentry conditions.

--IANS

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Sri Lanka will upgrade the standards of its Adventure Tourism in accordance with international levels, a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office said here on Thursday.

"Adventure Tourism and Adventure Training is fast becoming a popular industry," the statement said.

"There are international standards for all adventure activities, the need was for Sri Lankan standards, equal to the international standards to be developed," Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

The government has agreed to involve all stakeholders in this process.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Bureau will have a website on which all locations at which adventure activities are provided by service providers will be listed.

The Sri Lanka Navy will convene a meeting of all water based adventure service providers to assess the present status.

The Sri Lanka Air Force will coordinate air based adventure activities through a meeting of stake holders.

In the same way, the Special Forces of the Army will focus on land based adventure.

--IANS

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International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss the role of world business to promote Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It was their first meeting since the decision to grant ICC Observer Status at the UN General Assembly in December 2016.

During the meeting, Mittal mentioned about ICC's commitment to use its newly granted status in the UN system to "deploy fully the resources, expertise and knowledge of world business" in the implementation of the UN SDGs.

The SDGs are the most ambitious development agenda ever agreed upon at the international level - and it is widely recognised that their successful implementation would hinge on widespread business action.

Guterres welcomed ICC's commitment to the SDGs and noted that partnerships with the private sector would be vital to address major global challenges from climate change to mass-migration.

Mittal also talked about the importance of rule-based policy making to enable trade, innovation and job creation in the context of the SDGs.

They also discussed the challenges posed by growing populism and anti-globalisation sentiment.

Following the meeting, Mittal said: "Given the complexity of today's global challenges, it's vital that business has a clear voice in UN decision making."

"We look forward to using the unique platform that the Observer Status provides to positively shape important debates on issues such as trade, financing, technology and corporate responsibility," he added.

--IANS

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A terrorist module was busted with the arrest of one and detention of two men from Mumbra in the neighbouring Thane district in a multi-state anti- operation, an official said here on Thursday.

The operation was carried out in the early hours by a team of Maharashtra Anti-Terorism Squad along with the Uttar Pradesh ATS, the Special Cell of the Delhi Police, and the Crime Investigation Cell of Andhra Pradesh Police.

The Uttar Pradesh Anti- Squad arrested Nazim Shamshad Ahmed, 26, of Bijnor, while the Maharashtra ATS detained the two others in Mumbra an was interrogating them.

These three accused men were living in a single-room apartment in a building in Devripada area of the Muslim-dominated Mumbra town since the past few months.

The investigators have seized cash, mobile phones and other things from them, the official said.

"The arrested person, along with other co-accused from different parts of the country, proposed to cause harm to national integrity and social harmony," an ATS official said in Mumbai.

"An offence in Lucknow vice CR No.8/2017 under various sections is registered and is being investigated by the Uttar Pradesh ATS," the official added.

According to him, the Uttar Pradesh ATS also arrested Nazim Shaikh and Akram Ansari from other parts of India.

Uttar Pradesh ATS chief Asim Arun told IANS earlier on Thursday that

"The Uttar Pradesh ATS conducted joint anti-terror raids in Maharashtra, Punjab, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in coordination with police of the five states," Uttar Pradesh ATS chief Asim Arun told IANS earlier on Thursday.

Arun said in Lucknow that the UP ATS has arrested the other two from Jalandhar and Bijnor for conspiring to carry out terror activities.

"The police are interrogating four more people in other parts apart from these two, who were detained in Mumbra. Legal action will be taken on the basis of evidence," Arun told IANS.

The police had received information that some hyperactive members of a terror group were trying to recruit new members.

The operation also involved police forces of Punjab and Bihar, he said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in May, the White House has confirmed.

Abbas will visit Washington on May 3 and will meet Trump to discuss possibilities to achieve peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said during Wednesday's news briefing.

"They will reconfirm the commitment of the US and Palestinian leadership to pursuing and concluding a conflict-ending settlement between the Palestinians and Israel," Politico news quoted Spicer as saying.

Ahead of Abbas's visit to Washington, a high-ranking Palestinian delegation is scheduled to arrive in the US to prepare for the visit, Xinhua news agency reported..

On March 10, Abbas received a first-ever phone call from Trump since he took office as the US President.

Trump, who met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this year, said he "could live with either" a one-state or two-state solution.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three terror suspects have been arrested in joint raids by Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in coordination with police of five states, officials said on Thursday.

"UP ATS conducted joint anti-terror raids in Maharashtra, Punjab, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in coordination with police of the five states," UP ATS Chief Asim Arun told IANS.

Arun said that three persons have been arrested in Mumbai, Jalandhar and Bijnor for conspiring to carry out terror activities.

"The police is interrogating six other persons. Legal action will be taken on the basis of evidence," he said.

The police had received information that some hyperactive members of a terror group were trying to recruit new members.

The operation was conducted with the help of the Special Cell of Delhi Police, Crime Investigation Cell of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra ATS, Punjab Police and Bihar Police.

--IANS

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US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has accused Iran of "alarming ongoing provocations" aimed at destabilising the Middle East and undermining America's interests in the region, a media report said.

"An unchecked Iran has the potential to travel the same path as North Korea and to take the world along with it," Tillerson said on Wednesday, the BBC reported.

The Secretary of State also said the Iran review, which he announced in a letter to Congress a day earlier, would not only look at Tehran's compliance with the nuclear deal but also its actions in the Middle East.

Tillerson accused Iran of undermining US interests in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. "A comprehensive Iran policy requires we address all of the threats posed by Iran, and it is clear there are many," he said.

US President Donald Trump had earlier ordered a review of the Iran nuclear deal. However, the US admitted that Tehran was complying with the 2015 agreement, the BBC said.

Iran has so far made no public comments on the latest developments. It has repeatedly denied accusations by the West that it was ever trying to develop nuclear weapons.

In announcing a broad review of Iran policy the Trump administration has not jettisoned the nuclear deal.

But Tillerson has come pretty close to saying the agreement was not worth keeping, even though he's had to admit it's working.

On Tuesday, Washington accused North Korea of trying to "provoke something", after Pyongyang conducted a failed missile test over the weekend.

In response, North Korea said it would test missiles on a weekly basis, and warned of "all-out war" if the US took military action.

--IANS

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Vice President Hamid Ansari will go on a four-day visit to Armenia and Poland from October 25 to 28, said an official on Thursday.

"He will spend two days, i.e., 25-26 in Yerevan (Armenia), where he will have meetings with the President, the Prime Minister as well as the Foreign Minister," said Preeti Saran, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs.

"In second lap, he will be in Poland. He will reach on 26th evening and spend there the next two days," she said.

During his Poland trip, Ansari will inaugurate a business seminar and deliver a lecture at the University of Warsaw.

He will also inaugurate Indian embassy chancery-cum-residential complex.

"It is being inaugurated at the 60th anniversary of establishment of our embassy in Warsaw," the official said.

He will be accompanied by his wife Salma Ansari and a multi-party delegation comprising Union Minister of State for Small, Medium and Micro Industries Giriraj Singh as well four MPs -- Sitaram Yechury, D.P. Tripathi, Vivek Tankha and Thupstan Chhewang.

This is Ansari's first visit to both Armenia and Poland.

--IANS

rs/nir

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The White House is exploring whether to revive repealing and replacing Obamacare before President Donald Trump hits the key milestone of 100 days in office next week, the media reported.

Two sources close to the health care legislative process told CNN on Wednesday that the renewed effort comes as Congress returns from recess next week and the Trump administration is fielding questions about its legislative accomplishments during its first 100 days in office.

"I don't think it's impossible to think we'll have a vote," a senior administration official said.

But the official cautioned that some Republican House members are still at odds over some of the bill's points.

"I don't think it's having to rewrite the bill. It's just a total trust gap. As soon as we solve that, we can have a vote," he said.

On March 24, Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan pulled the Republican health care bill from consideration after it became clear that it did not have enough votes to pass the legislation, in part because of near-unified opposition from the Freedom Caucus.

The Freedom Caucus is made up of several dozen Republican members of Congress who exert their influence as a voting bloc with an aim to push legislations in a more conservative direction.

On Tuesday while in Wisconsin, Trump said he was confident about the chances of Congress passing a health bill soon, reports CNN.

"We are going to have a big win soon, because we are going to have health care and that's going to happen. And there was no lose with health care, this is just a constant negotiation and the plan is getting better and better all the time."

--IANS

ksk/vt

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hyderabad police on Thursday arrested a youth for sending a hoax mail to the Mumbai Police Commissioner about terrorists planning to hijack planes which led to authorities declaring high alert at three airports.

Police said Motaparthi Vamshi Krishna had sent the mail on April 15 in the name of his girlfriend.

The e-mail sent to Mumbai Police stated that she heard six unidentified youths discuss hijacking three flights in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai on Sunday.

Mumbai Police then forwarded the mail to Mumbai Airport Security Group which went on high alert.

After five days, the Task Force unit of Hyderabad police arrested Vamshi Krishna, a 32-year-old transport agent, for sending the mail.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Task Force) Limba Reddy said the mail was sent from a cyber cafe in Madhura Nagar.

During interrogation, the accused revealed that he used to chat with his girlfriend who stays in Chennai. A few days ago, she proposed a trip to Mumbai and Goa.

As Krishna was facing financial problems, he requested her to drop the idea but she insisted.

"Seeking to scuttle the trip, he hatched a plan to make her believe that flights have been cancelled because of high alert at airports," police said.

He had earlier created a fake flight ticket of April 16 from Chennai to Mumbai and mailed the same to her.

Police booked Vamshi Krishna for cheating, impersonation, giving false information and under relevant sections of Information Technology Act.

--IANS

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 The Post Attacks Israel While Reporting Jerusalem Terror Attack | Main | WCC Leader Deceives His Readers in RNS Op-Ed 

April 20, 2017

Politico Whitewashes Iranian Militias



Politicos report Iranian-Americans, livid over Trump visa ban, to get their day in court,? (April 17, 2017) sanitizes the role of Iranian militias fighting in Iraq and Syria.

In an article about a lawsuit brought forth by Iranian-American groups against a U.S. visa ban, Politico reporters Josh Gerstein and Nahal Toosi claim that Iranian-supported militias have fought alongside U.S.-backed Iraqi forces to beat back the Islamic State.? Although this is trueand Politico does note Tehrans role as a state-sponsor of terrorit omits important information about the militias.

Iranian-backed militias are indeed fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). However, they are not doing so out of some altruistic motive as the Politico article might lead some to believe. Rather, the groupsalso known as Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs)are seeking to extend Tehrans influence. And, as CAMERA has noted, they are frequently committing atrocities while doing so (Washington Times Covers Underreported Iran-backed Shiite Militias,? CAMERA, Sept. 16, 2016). For example, mass graves of hundreds of executed Sunni Muslim civilians who were liberated? from the Islamic State by PMUs, have been discovered.

The militias also have ties to terrorist groups, as Michael Pregent, an adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute and a former intelligence adviser to U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, told CAMERA in a September 2016 interview. Indeed, the deputy commander of the PMUs, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, is the leader of Kataib Hezbollah.

Although the PMUs are, like the U.S. and its allies, fighting the Islamic State, they also serve as leverage for Iran. As CAMERA has pointed out, the Islamic Republic has threatened to use the Shiite militias against U.S. troops in the region should Washington not acquiesce to some of Tehrans wishes (Wheres the Coverage? Iran Threatens U.S. Troops,? Dec. 11, 2015)

Iran is also backing Shiite militias, such as the newly formed so-called Golan Liberation Army, who have as their immediate goal the destruction of Israel. In a March 8, 2017 interview announcing that groups formation, militia spokesman Hasham Al-Mousawi, blamed the Jewish state for Iraqs destruction? and claimed that the United States created ISIS.

Posted by SD at April 20, 2017 12:34 PM

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Ahead of the crucial MCD elections in Delhi, a senior Cabinet minister said he had a good reason to be confident of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win. The reason? Voters were unaware of the partys mayoral candidate. He said, in the just-concluded Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the party didn't unveil or push a chief ministerial candidate and it went on to sweep the elections. It is a great strategy to follow. People will look at (Prime Minister Narendra) Modijis photo and the party symbol, the lotus flower, and cast their votes for BJP, he declared.
It is good that Vijay Mallya, who is currently in London in spite of having non-bailable warrants issued against him in India, is now subject to extradition proceedings in the United Kingdom. The Narendra Modi-led government deserves credit for having moved forward with the legal process under an extradition treaty that was signed between the UK and India over 25 years ago. After a warrant was sent to London earlier this year, the UK home secretary certified it in late March and sent it to the Westminster magistrates court for action. This week, the court declared that Mr Mallya had a case to answer, and he was arrested and then released on bail, as is usual in these matters. Going forward, the case for extradition will have to be proved in court, survive appeals, and then finally be assented to by the home secretary.
Very few in corporate India would like to be in Chairman R Seshasayees shoes at this point. In his explosive media interactions in February, Founder N R Narayana Murthy had made two critical points: The chair of the board must accept responsibility for corporate governance failures and atone for it; and the board must appoint a co-chairman.
Two employees of a road construction contractor were arrested today with Rs one lakh cash meant for payment to a Maoist operative in Bihar's Munger district, the police said.

Acting to a tip off, the police intercepted Kampani Sao and Amar Kumar, employees of the contractor, while they were walking towards Amrasani forest within the limits of Dharhara police station with Rs one lakh to be paid to a self-styled CPI(Maoist) area commander as extortion money, district Superintendent of Police (SP) Ashish Bharti said.

The cops seized three mobile phones and a diary from the two men, he said.

Raids were on in Kajra forest in neighbouring Lakhisarai district to nab the fugitive Maoist who fled in the jungles using the local people as shield and firing at the policemen chasing him, the SP added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three suspected terrorists belonging to the ISIS Khorasan module were today arrested for allegedly plotting a major strike while six persons were detained in a joint operation by police teams of five states.

Raids were carried out this morning in Mumbra (Maharashtra), Jalandhar (Punjab), Narkatiaganj (Bihar), Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar (both in Uttar Pradesh) in a joint operation of the Delhi special cell, the ATS of UP and Maharashtra, and the police of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar, an official said.

UP ATS IG Aseem Arun, in a statement in Noida, said that three persons were arrested on charges of hatching terror conspiracies.

He said that the accused, associated with the ISIS Khorasan module, were planning to launch a major terror attack in the country.

Mufti Faizan and Tanveer, who are connected with ISIS, were arrested from Bijnor district. Nazim Shamshad Ahmed (26), who hails from Bijnor was nabbed from Mumbra township in Thane district adjoining Mumbai, and Muzammil was apprehended from Jalandhar district.

Arun said six persons have been taken into custody and they are being questioned.

He said the three accused will be produced in a Noida court where the ATS will seek their transit remand to take them to Lucknow. He said important documents relating to ISIS were seized from them.

The accused had got in touch with each other over the internet, he said, adding that central security agencies played an important role in the operation.

According to the IG, the ATS had seized some important documents after the March 7 encounter in Lucknow in which a suspected terrorist belonging to the Khorasan module was killed. Following this, the probe was expanded to five states.

The ATS had received information that the ISIS was expanding its network in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai, Punjab and Bihar and some youths from these areas had joined the terror organisation.

"All those arrested are in the age group of 18 to 25 years and were living in different places like Mumbai, Jalandhar and UP. We have also found that they were definitely influenced by the material available on the internet," UP ADG (Law and Order) Daljit Chaudhary said in Lucknow said.

Investigations show that one of them wanted to finance the group and they were continuously communicating with each other about carrying out some major strike in the near future. But police and other agencies of different states with the help of surveillance made the arrests before they could carry out any such attack, the ADG said.

The UP ATS spokesperson said those arrested were suspected to be looking for potential recruits in Bihar, UP and Maharashtra.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three suspected terrorists plotting a major strike were on Thursday arrested and some persons detained in an operation carried out jointly by police teams of five states.

Raids were carried out this morning in Mumbra (Maharashtra), Jalandhar (Punjab), Narkatiaganj (Bihar), Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar (both in Uttar Pradesh) in a joint operation of the Delhi special cell, the ATS of UP and Maharashtra, and the police of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar, an official said.

"From what we have come to know till now, they were conspiring to carry out a major attack so as to get their group an identity and create terror in the region," UP ADG (Law and Order) Daljit Chaudhary said in Lucknow.

Three persons were arrested on charges of hatching terror conspiracies. The arrests have been made in Mumbai, Jalandhar in Punjab and Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh, an UP ATS spokesman said in Lucknow.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) confirmed the arrest of one person, identified as Nazim Shamshad Ahmed (26) who hails from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh. He was nabbed from Mumbra township in Thane district adjoining Mumbai.

"Three persons were detained from Mumbra in a joint operation of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh ATS in which one person has been arrested for his suspected involvement in terror activities. The two others are being questioned," Maharashtra ATS chief Atulchandra Kulkarni said.

While the UP ATS spokesperson said that six more people have been detained by the police team for questioning, Maharashtra ATS sources said nearly 12 were taken into custody.

The UP ATS spokesman said that after their interrogation, necessary action will be taken against them.

He said the operation was launched on the basis of a tip off that a terror group was being prepared for carrying out terrorist acts for which some active members were enrolling new members.

Those arrested are suspected to be part of a module that was looking for potential recruits in Bihar, UP and Maharashtra.

Chaudhary told reporters here that the agencies have found evidence against four and the rest five were being quizzed.

"All those arrested are in the age group of 18 to 25 years and were living in different places like Mumbai, Jalandhar and UP. We have also found that they were definitely influenced by the material available on the internet," he said.

They appear to be misguided youth and efforts will be made to bring them back to the mainstream, he said.

Investigations show that one of them wanted to finance the group and they were continuously communicating with each other about carrying out some major strike in the near future. But police and other agencies of different states with the help of surveillance made the arrests before they could carry out any such attack.

The ADG ruled out any link between those arrested today with a suspected terrorist killed in an encounter here recently.
In a major operation carried out jointly with police teams of five states, the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad today arrested three suspected terrorists.

Following joint operations carried out early this morning in Mumbai, Jalandhar, Narkatiaganj (Bihar), Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar, three persons were arrested on charges of hatching terror conspiracies, a UP ATS spokesman said here.

The arrests have been made in Mumbai, Jalandhar in Punjab and Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh, the spokesman said.

Six others were being interrogated, he said.

The joint operation was carried out by Special Cell Delhi Police, Intelligence Cell Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra ATS, Punjab Police, Bihar Police and UP ATS.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three burqa-clad sisters in Pakistan's Punjab province allegedly shot dead a 50-year-old man who was a suspect in a 13-year-old blasphemy case.

The incident took place yesterday in Nangal Mirza village, Pasrur tehsil, some 180km from Lahore.

According to police, three veiled women, who are sisters, - Afshan, Anma and Razia - came to the house of faith healer Mazhar Hussain Syed to take his blessings for resolution of their problems.

"The women, after taking his blessings, asked him to call his son Fazal Abbas, who recently returned from Belgium, as one of them remained his student and wanted to see him. As soon as Abbas entered the room they opened fire on him, killing him on the spot," Station House Officer (Pesrur) Saeed Hinjra said, adding the women had hid pistols under their burqa.

"We have arrested all three women who told police that they had killed a blasphemer. They had no regret over it. One of the women remained student of the victim some 13 years ago when he allegedly committed blasphemy," Hinjra said.

The SHO said police were interrogating the women whether there was some other motive behind Abbas' killing.

It seems surprising that how come three sisters had taken this extreme step on the issue which was 13 years old. We are also investigating the role of some local clerics, Hinjra said.

The women reportedly had raised slogans in jubilation after killing Abbas saying "We have eliminated a blasphemer".

"We couldn't kill Abbas 13 years ago because we were too young then," the SHO quoted one of the suspects.

He said Abbas was booked in 2004 under blasphemy section 295-C of Pakistan Penal Code, better known as the Blasphemy Law.

Abbas had left for Belgium to avoid the wrath of the local clerics.

The suspect had recently returned from abroad and obtained pre-arrest bail from a local court in the blasphemy case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Five vehicles parked in the garage of Champhai district Deputy Commissioner's office were gutted as the garage was set on fire during an agitation by a student's organisation today, officials said.

The arson occurred when activists of agitating Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) or Mizo Students Federation tried to storm the deputy commissioner's office, Champhai Sadar SDO Pachhunga told PTI.

The persons responsible for the arson were yet to be identified.

Several persons were injured when the police tried to disperse the agitators from near the DC's office, he said.

MZP launched an agitation from Tuesday demanding posting of more doctors in Champhai District Hospital.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The head of the International Monetary Fund today said a victory by the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in France's presidential elections this year could cause political and economic upheaval.

"It would certainly entail major disorder and the risk of dislocation," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told CNBC in Washington, where the fund and World Bank are kicking off semi-annual meetings.

France is due to stage the first round of presidential elections on Sunday. Although polls do not suggest a clear path to the presidency for Le Pen, pundits are wary of saying she can't win.

Le Pen has pledged to take France out of the eurozone and stage a referendum on exiting the European Union, as Britain voted to do last year.

The IMF has renewed its pleas in favor of trade integration and liberalization this week, as it contends with a rise in nationalist sentiment on both sides of the Atlantic.

The European Union and harmonization in Europe were a centerpiece of the political order after World War II, Lagarde said.

"It has protected us from, you know, the horrors of wars and we need to keep that in mind," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Home Minister Rajnath Singh today hit out at the Kejriwal government, accusing it of "hampering" the functioning of MCDs, starving them by not providing their due funds amounting to Rs 9,000 crore.

The senior BJP leader campaigning for party candidates in northwest Delhi's Kirari area said that the Aam Aadmi Party does not have the "moral right" to level allegations against the three municipal corporations.

Singh said the Congress and the AAP, which have ruled Delhi for 15 years and two-and-a-half years respectively, have "muddied Delhi and people know the lotus (the BJP's poll symbol) blooms only in mud".

"The AAP and the Congress say that the BJP has ruled municipal corporations for 10 years and did not work. How would the BJP-ruled MCD work when the AAP government did not provide funds to the civic bodies.

"Our MCD leaders repeatedly requested the government to release funds, but it (Kejriwal government) did not give it," the senior BJP leader said.

He said that the Finance Commission had recommended Rs 9,000 crore for the MCD, but the AAP government only released Rs 2,800 crore, adding that "in this situation, how would MCD work? They (AAP) do not have moral right to point fingers at us."



Seeking to corner the Aam Aadmi Party over its poll promises in the run up to the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, Singh said, "The BJP does not do politics by misleading people. Unlike the Congress and the AAP, there is no difference between deeds and words of the BJP."



"Both parties have lost people's faith, but the BJP will definitely win people's faith this time," he said.

He said that the AAP had promised to provide free Wi-Fi, but there is nothing on this so far.

"They had also promised to provide potable water to every household in Delhi. They used to say that they would construct 1,000 mohalla clinics, but only 100 such clinics have been set up so far," he said.

"They (the AAP and the Congress) are doing politics over garbage, but we assure that once the BJP is voted to power in the MCD, we will ensure door-to-door collection of garbage through which we will generate electricity in Delhi," Singh said.

Elections to all three municipal corporations will be held on April 23 and the counting will take place on April 26.

He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Centre has constructed toilets in many villages under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

"We will also ensure the same in Delhi so that people in backward areas will not defecate in the open. The AAP also criticised demonetisation move of the Centre, but people across the country welcomed this," Singh said.

Referring to the BJP regime under former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he said that the party-led government had constructed wide roads across the country.

"Our soldiers did surgical strikes on militant launch pads along the LoC in Pakistan. Indian has emerged as a strong country in the entire world under the leadership of Prime Minister Narenda Modi," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mohit Suri is back with yet another love story "Half Girlfriend", which is an adaptation of Chetan Bhagat's novel of the same name and the director says it was difficult to translate the book into a two-hour format for the celluloid.

"It is difficult as you can't base the entire book in a two-hour film. There is a lot that you need to edit and make sure all the essential points are not lost out. We have changed certain things and Chetan Bhagat has been quite co-operative," Mohit told PTI.

"I have never made a film that had a story that people already knew. There is definitely pressure to living up to it (response the book got). But I have tried not to let this factor (pressure) affect me and have tried my best to stay honest to the story."



It is the story of a rural Bhojpuri-laced Hindi-speaking boy (Arjun Kapoor) from Bihar as he enrolls himself at an English-medium college and falls in love with a rich Delhi girl (Shraddha Kapoor) who wants to be his half girlfriend.

"'Half Girlfriend' is a story about about a guy who can't speak English and despite Hindi being our national language the hypocrisy in India is that those who don't speak English are looked down upon as people who speak English are forward.

"It's an interesting concept. I wanted to show how two people come from different worlds and try to figure out whose world is a right," the filmmaker says.

Mohit has worked with Shraddha earlier in "Aashiqui 2" and "Ek Villain" but this romantic drama marks his first outing with actor Arjun.

"We (referring to him and Shraddha) share a great relationship that has been successful on screen. This is my first film with Arjun and he is very endearing in the film.. it was interesting to work with him."



There were reports that all was not well between Mohit and Arjun, while they were shooting for the film.

Brushing aside the rumours, Mohit says, it is unfair to put these allegations.

"It's not true at all. It's bad to report such things. I have never had an issue with him. I don't know why people are saying we had an issue. There were reports that he used to come late on the sets, but he was there for his grandmother's funeral, he wasn't partying.

"He has been honest to the film and I would like to work with him again."



Produced by Ekta Kapoor, "Half Girlfriend" will release on May 19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought his support in allowing the state to sell its surplus power to Pakistan or Nepal.

The Chief Minister also demanded a package for farmers, especially those living along the international border, and concessions for the industry on the lines of those granted to hill states like Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

During the meeting with the PM that lasted around an hour, Amarinder expressed concern over problems faced by farmers living in border areas and called for an increase in central compensation to them to ensure effective and stronger border management.

The Chief Minister also sought Modi's intervention to prevent the possible revival of package of concessions to neighbouring states as he felt it would negate Punjab's efforts to bring in investment and create jobs in a bid to revive the state's economy.

Pointing to the 1000 MW surplus power in Punjab after meeting internal demands, the Chief Minister noted that the sale of power to neighbouring Pakistan or Nepal would help the state's coffers, his media adviser Raveen Thukral said.

He said Amarinder apprised the prime minister that Punjab's Goindwal Sahib thermal power plant is situated close to the international border and it would not be difficult to supply power to Pakistan.

He also said Punjab would be happy to supply electricity to Nepal, which intends to meet its power shortfall by purchasing it from India, if the Government of India agreed, and sought the prime minister's support.

"Had a very cordial meeting with Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, discussed many issues of Punjab's interest," Amarinder tweeted after the meeting with the PM.

Amarinder later met Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad who invited Punjab to be a part of Digital India revolution of the Narendra Modi government.

Prasad suggested that Punjab government should pitch for central government funded and aided projects in the field of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and electronic manufacturing to fast-track its growth.

The possibility of setting up a BPO centre in Patiala, the chief minister's constituency, was discussed during the meeting.

Amarinder also met Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and discussed with him the new initiatives being undertaken by the Congress government in Punjab.

This is Amarinder's first meeting after taking over as chief minister of Punjab. Rahul Gandhi had attended Amarinder's swearing-in in Chandigarh last month.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Austrian chancellor's efforts to boost his popularity by posing as a pizza delivery man were starting to look half-baked today after claims that the stunt was staged.

A slick video shows Christian Kern ringing on doorbells and surprising people with pizzas they had supposedly ordered and chatting to them about their problems.

"I want to know what moves people and what they expect from politicians," Kern, 51, says in the video, published this week.

"Sadly no one comes to see me in the chancellery.... So I had the good idea of coming to your home."



A storm has however since erupted on social media with accusations that Kern's first "customer" in the video is in fact a functionary in Kern's centre-left party.

Kern then chats with the man's family in their spotless home and fields tame questions. "What luck Kern had!" quipped one sceptic on Twitter.

Georg Niedermuehlbichler, a senior figure in Kern's party the Social Democrats (SPOe), said on Thursday that none of the people in the video knew Kern was coming.

"They were all surprised. You can see it clearly in their faces," Niedermuehlbichler said. It has already been watched by 500,000 people, he added.

Even Kern's coalition partners, the centre-right People's Party (OeVP), was unimpressed, saying in a statement that "anyone can see that the surprise visits were contrived".

The far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), which is riding high in the polls, called it "embarrassing".

The episode also added to speculation that Kern, a former Austrian railways boss who became chancellor almost a year ago, might call snap elections later this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bharathiar University today announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, providing for cooperation in academic activities.

The MoU would pave the way for the fine blend of academic learning and hands on experience in research for the student communities of both the organisations, it said in a release.

Its scope include exchange of academic employees for the purpose of research, teaching and pursuing of special courses in their fields of specialisation, student exchange and study abroad programmes.

The MoU was signed by Prof. B. Vanitha, Registrar-In-Charge, Bharathiar University and Prof. Swart, Dean, Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hollywood star and comedian Bill Murray is recording a classical album.

The 66-year-old actor is working on a new project called "New Worlds," in which he sings and performs literary readings over chamber music from a trio led by cellist Jan Vogler, reported New York Times.

The program has him singing Gershwin, West Side Story, and Stephen Foster and reading selections from Whitman, Hemingway, and Twain while the ensemble, which also features Mira Wang on violin and Vanessa Perez on piano, plays Schubert, Bach, and Piazzolla.

The live show, said to "explore themes of American history and identity," will premiere at Festival Napa Valley on 7/20, followed by a North America tour and an album to be released in August.

Incidentally Murray's also got a new collaboration with Paul Shaffer out on vinyl for Record Store Day.

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Creating environments that mimic the light patterns of night and day may help bring a person in coma to consciousness, say scientists who found that bright light stimulation had positive effects in patients.

"Our study suggests that the closer the body temperature patterns of a severely brain injured person are to those of a healthy person's circadian rhythm, the better they scored on tests of recovery from coma, especially when looking at arousal, which is necessary for consciousness" said Christine Blume, from University of Salzburg in Austria.

Circadian rhythms are rhythmic variations in body functions brought about by the body's internal clock that tell us when to sleep, wake or eat, researchers said.

This biological clock also regulates many of the body's other functions including temperature. It is set by environmental cues, like periods of daylight and dark.

In healthy people, daily variations in body temperature closely follow the sleep-wake cycle, the 24-hour daily sleep pattern controlled by the body's internal clock.

During a normal sleep-wake cycle, the body's core temperature fluctuates and can drop one to two degrees during the early morning hours researchers said.

Researchers monitored about 18 people with severe brain injuries, those with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome and those in a minimally conscious state.

Unresponsive wakefulness syndrome, also known as a vegetative state, is when someone has awakened from a coma, is opening his or her eyes and having periods of sleep, but remains unresponsive. A minimally conscious state is when someone shows signs of awareness, researchers said.

For one week, researchers continually monitored the body temperatures of participants with external skin sensors.

With that temperature data, they were able to determine the length of the circadian rhythm for each person. Length of temperature cycles of participants ranged from 23.5 to 26.3 hours.

Researchers also evaluated the level of consciousness for each person with the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised, measuring things like response to sound and ability to open eyes with or without stimulation.

They found that those who scored better on that scale had body temperature patterns that more closely aligned with a healthy 24-hour rhythm.

Researchers also tested bright light stimulation on eight participants for one week and found positive effects in two patients.

"This is the first time an association has been found between circadian variations in body temperature and arousal in brain-injured patients. Importantly, arousal is essential for consciousness," said Blume.

"Circadian variations are something doctors should keep in mind when diagnosing patients. The time of the day when patients are tested could be crucial," she said.

"Also, doctors may want to consider creating environments for patients that mimic the light patterns of night and day to help achieve a normal sleep-wake cycle. The hope is that this may help bring a person with a severe brain injury closer to consciousness," Blume said.

The study was published in the journal Neurology.

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The CBI has arrested a Deputy Commander Works Engineer for alleged bribery in Ferozepur of Punjab.

According to CBI sources, Deputy Commander Works Engineer S V Karemani and LDC Gurjant Singh demanded bribe of Rs 15,000 from a builder to issue him certificate of change in his company structure.

The sources said the builder had sought to change the structure of his company for which he had applied in the office of the Deputy Commander Works Engineer.

It is alleged that the bribe was demanded for giving the builder the original copy of the office order clearing the changes in his company structure, they said.

The Deputy Commander Works Engineer assists the Commander Works Engineers, who are mid-ranking officers in the MES.

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Set to host the BRICS summit this year, China is planning to make a skills-training action plan with other members of the five-nation grouping in a bid to eradicate poverty and enhance cooperation of labour and employment research organisations.

"China plans to get rid of poverty and build a moderately prosperous society by 2020. Skills training is one of the approaches for meeting the challenging target," Hao Bin, an official of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said yesterday.

"Poverty is also a problem for other BRICS states. We hope we can work with others to draft an initiative or action plan to lift people out of poverty with the help of skills training," he said.

Hao, who is the ministry's director of international cooperation, was speaking at the 2017 First BRICS Employment Working Group Meeting, a preparatory meeting for a conference of labour and employment ministers of BRICS countries, which will be held in Chongqing in July.

The action is aimed to get rid of poverty and enhance cooperation of labour and employment research organisations so that developing countries have a greater voice in global governance, Hao said.

"With inadequate capacity in labour and employment research, developing countries have a weak voice in global governance compared with Western countries," he said.

He said the BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- need to harmonise their positions on a series of common concerns that have arisen with technological innovation - for example, the unbalanced labour structure, how to protect the rights and interests of labourers, and the sustainable development of the social security system.

Steven Kapsos, head of data production and analysis at the International Labor Organisation, said, "In comparison with the rest of the world, the BRICS region has seen a much larger structural transformation since 2000, which has led to a higher share of employment in industry and an increasingly skilled workforce.

"By 2020, we project that 17 per cent of BRICS workers will be in high-skilled occupations, up from around 10 per cent in 2000. Skills and education policies must take these trends into account to ensure that workers in BRICS countries have the skills that are in demand in the labour market," he said.

He added that the informal economy - sectors that are not taxed or monitored - is "another significant challenge" in some BRICS countries.

"Where data are available, the informal economy represents a considerable, although wide-ranging, share of the labour market," he said.

Representatives of other BRICS nations also called for enhanced cooperation in information sharing to deal with the new situation, the Daily said.

China will host the BRICS summit in Xiamen city in September this year.

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Classes in colleges across Kashmir remained suspended as a precationary measure for the third consecutive day today in wake of the students' protests against the alleged high-handedness of security forces.

The teaching work in all colleges across Kashmir Valley remained suspended for the third day following orders to this effect issued by Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Khan, officials said.

Khan yesterday issued directions for suspending the teaching work in all colleges of Kashmir division for two more days till tomorrow as a precautionary measure.

After Monday's widespread demonstrations against the alleged high-handedness of security forces against students of Degree College Pulwama on Saturday, the divisional administration had issued orders for closure of Kashmir University, all colleges and higher secondary schools across the Valley for a day on Tuesday.

In the wake of the separatists' call for protests after Friday prayers, the Divisional Commissioner yesterday issued fresh orders for suspending the teaching work for two more days till April 21.

However, Kashmir University resumed classes yesterday.

While scores of students were injured in the alleged action of security forces, including army, against students at Pulwama on the weekend, Monday's clashes also left several dozen students injured.

Five police personnel were also injured.

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MOSS POINT, Miss. - A former Moss Point High School campus police officer has been convicted on felony charges of sex crimes against two former students and one other girl while they were minors.

Kevin Sylvester Williams, 50, of Moss Point was found guilty of one count of Sexual Battery by a person in a position of trust or authority and one count of touching a child for lustful purposes after a two-day trial.

Circuit Court Judge Kathy Jackson set sentencing for Friday because Williams attorney asked for additional time to gather witnesses to make statements on his behalf. Jackson agreed, but ordered Williams taken to be taken into custody.

Williams was indicted for sexually abusing a female student while he was the school resource officer at Moss Point High School. The incidents occurred both on and off school property.

Per the indictments, Williams is accused of inappropriately touching the buttocks of a 15-year-old student between Oct. and Nov. of 2009.

In addition, Williams is accused of having sex with a 16-year-old student and touching her breasts at times between the same time.

Williams is also accused of touching and kissing another girl's breast. The 14-year-old was not a Moss Point High student but Williams held a position of authority over her as well, records say.

Williams is looking at serving 45 years in prison.

District Attorney Tony Lawrence stated, "This individual was found guilty by the jury after hearing the evidence. For too long, he hurt children in this community, but after today, he will not be able to any longer."
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat today drew flak from the opposition Congress for not visiting the bus mishap site, where nearly 45 people mostly from the state were killed yesterday, despite being only a "few kilometres away".

The private bus had fallen in River Tons in remote Nerwa area of Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh. Rawat was in Chakrata area to visit a fair not far from the scene of the accident.

"He was just a few kilometres from the spot and still did not go to see the accident victims. It is highly insensitive on his part," PCC chief spokesman Mathuradutt Joshi told reporters here.

Stating that the compensation of Rs one lakh for the families of the victims announced by the state government was not enough, Joshi demanded that it be raised to at least Rs five lakh.

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Delhi is the most "internet- ready" state in the country followed by Karnataka and Maharashtra, an official study has revealed.

While north-eastern states, excluding Nagaland, have been ranked low in terms of overall internet readiness, Karnataka is the state with highest number of digital start-ups followed by Delhi and Maharashtra.

"Delhi has emerged as the top ranked state in terms of overall internet readiness. The capital city is followed by Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Delhi gets this rank primarily because of its fabulous e-infrastructure and e-participation," Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said while releasing the report.

"We are hopeful that India will leapfrog from the present 155th position to world's top 5 in connectivity, within the next 5-6 years. Things have improved multi-fold with state governments of Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana among others taking proactive steps to improve connectivity and internet reach," Sundararajan added.

Internet readiness index is a composite benchmark of four components - e-Infrastructure index, e-Participation index, IT-Environment, and government e-services index



The purpose of the index is to give a sharper perspective for digital industries looking to expand their business in Indian states.

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India today expressed concern over the move by countries like the US and Australia to tighten their visa regime and pressed for a WTO-backed global framework to facilitate services trade.

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India has submitted a proposal to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) seeking an agreement on trade facilitation in services.

Citing examples of the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, which are making their visa norms stricter for movement of skilled professionals, she said: "Countries are now very clearly raising protectionist walls as regards service trade."



"And it is time that we have a global framework within which trade in services can happen. We will be actively pursuing our proposal in the WTO," she told reporters here.

The proposal is aimed at liberalising rules for movement of professionals and other steps to reduce transaction costs to boost services growth.

India is pitching for this pact at the WTO as the services sector contributes over 60 per cent to GDP and 28 per cent to total employment. The move is aimed at developing a broader framework governing global services trade similar to a pact implemented by the WTO on goods trade.

India wants all the member countries to study the proposal before the forthcoming ministerial meeting in Argentina in December.

About the executive order signed by US President Donald Trump on H1B visas, she said America has committed a certain number of these visas to India and "we would definitely want America to honour that commitment".

The minister is in touch with the Indian industry on these issues amid fears that the new American visa regime would make visas more expensive and restrictive.

She further said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is in the US, would take up the matter with the US administration.

"It is not just the US, but several countries now adopting such measures," she said, suggesting that the government and the industry need to work together on the issue.

According to Sitharaman, India will engage with these countries to sort out the visa related matters. The restrictive visa regime would also impact the US companies that are operating in India.

"So, it is not a unilateral (issue) where Indian companies would have to face this, there are several US companies in India which are doing business for years here," she said.

Asked whether India would drag the US and Australia to the WTO's dispute resolution mechanism, she said: "At this stage, we will engage constructively. At the same time, India will ensure it will not accept unfair treatment."



Indian IT companies use temporary work visas to send employees to work on client sites. With visa programmes in these countries becoming more rigorous, domestic technology firms will face challenges in movement of skilled professionals and spike in their operational costs.

These companies get over 60 per cent of their revenues from the North American market, about 20 per cent from Europe and the remaining from the other economies.

With the rising protectionism across markets like the US, the UK, Singapore and Australia, domestic companies are beginning to adjust their business models to reduce their dependence on visas by hiring more locals.

The US, under a new executive order, proposes to replace the current lottery system for issuing H-1B work visas with a merit-based approach. The country is reviewing its visa programme for foreign workers to curb purported abuse and frauds related to visas.

Similarly, Australia has abolished a work visa programme -- 457 visa -- used by over 95,000 temporary foreign workers, a majority of them Indians, to tackle the growing unemployment in the country.

New Zealand, too, is introducing tougher norms for immigrant workers. One of the changes will need immigrants to get a job in which they earn at least the median income to qualify as skilled.

Speaking at the Hero Mindmine Summit here, Sitharaman said India has asked the WTO for a special session to discuss "why trade facilitation in services cannot be formalised".

She was "surprised" that trade in services does not have any global framework despite the fact that "trade in services has a very big chunk" in global trade.

The minister said she always protests when movement of skilled professionals is being equated with asylum-seeking migrants.

"... So, this false equivalence which is being brought to manage numbers is just a smokescreen behind which many countries do realise that they are going to have to depend on these services trade," the commerce minister said.

She rejected the view of developed countries that Indian professionals are taking away their jobs.

Citing an example, she said the UK charges extra visa fee and uses that money to train their own people.

"Increasingly, we are approaching bodies like the WTO to question such practices in the services sector," Sitharaman said, adding that many of the rich countries are framing policies on their "whims and fancies".

This kind of discretionary use of measures to control movement of professional is "hurting them and us also".

Asked about demographic dividend, Mohandas Pai, former director of Infosys, said there are "no" demographic dividend in India as crores of youth are unemployed here.

"... We are in the midst of a disaster. But whatever we produce, that is adequate to serve the world because of digitisation," he said.

"India produces a million engineers, of which two lakh are good quality, 2,00,000 can be trained and the balance 60 per cent can drive Ola and Uber. I mean they are good for that."



The minister, however, asserted that the remaining lot will not be driving Ola only, they will do better things.

Sitharaman added that the government is taking a lot of steps to impart skills to the youth.

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The deceleration in the domestic air traffic growth continues for the second consecutive month this year with the demand for travel going up nearly 15 per cent to 90.45 lakh in March.

The local airlines had flown 78.72 lakh passengers in March 2016.

After posting over 20 per cent growth in domestic passenger market for the 13 consecutive months till January this year, the demand for air travel dropped to 15.77 per cent in February.

According to Monthly traffic data released today, eleven domestic airlines together flew 90.45 lakh passengers in the previous month, registering a growth of 14.91 per cent.

The private carriers, which include Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir, Vistara and AirAsia India, among others, increased their share in the total domestic travel market by 1.7 per cent to 87 per cent in March this year compared to 85.3 per cent a year ago.

National carrier Air India's market share during the month stood at 13 per cent, down from 14.7 per cent in March 2016, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data.

The budget carrier IndiGo continued to lead the pack with 30.23 lakh passengers flown by it during the previous month, while another budget airline SpiceJet saw the highest occupancy across its flights among all other carriers at 91.1 per cent in March.

In the month, as many as 1,109 passengers were denied boarding by the domestic carriers for various reasons, according to the data, with private carrier Jet Airways disallowing the maximum number of passengers (913) from entering its aircraft prior to departure.

National carrier Air India, also did not allow 174 passengers to board its flights during March 2017, the DGCA data shows.

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Election Commissioner O P Rawat has recused himself from cases related to the Aam Aadmi Party the Election Commission is hearing after Delhi Chief Minister and party leader Arvind Kejriwal questioned his independence.

"He had questioned the independence of the Election Commission. It is a quasi-judicial body which delivers verdicts. Therefore, I have recused myself so that he can have faith in the independence of the institution," Rawat told PTI.

He said Kejriwal, the AAP and the people of the country should have full faith in the independence of the Commission.

"I thought it was the right thing to do," he said.

Rawat had yesterday decided to recuse himself from the case related to 21 AAP MLAs for allegedly holding office of profit. They face the possibility of disqualification.

Another case relates to 27 AAP MLAs for allegedly holding office of profit.

While the first case is at an advance stage of hearing, the second case is at its preliminary stage.

In an interview, Kejriwal had reportedly said he does not believe in the independence of two Commissioners, including Rawat because he comes from Madhya Pradesh and has been very close to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan.

An IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, he retired from service in December, 2014.

The Commission is likely to come out with a reply to the allegations levelled by Kejriwal against two of its commissioners.

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EU Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker and the bloc's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier will hold talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May in London next Wednesday, a spokeswoman said.

"President Juncker will travel to London at the invitation of Prime Minister May to discuss the process of the Article 50 negotiations between the EU 27 represented by the commission and the United Kingdom," commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva told reporters today.

Barnier, who is the EU's chief negotiator for Britain's exit from the 28-nation bloc, and Juncker's chief of staff Martin Selmayr would accompany Juncker for the talks at Downing Street.

Juncker will follow in the footsteps of European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, who is meeting May in London on Thursday, and European Council chief Donald Tusk, who visited Downing Street on April 6.

The announcement of the visit comes just two days after May unveiled plans to hold a snap general election in Britain on June 8 in what she hopes will give her a "mandate to complete Brexit".

Britain voted to leave the EU last June and May formally triggered Article 50 -- the EU's divorce clause -- on March 29, beginning what are set to be two years of difficult negotiations before Britain finally leaves.

EU leaders will meet in Brussels on April 29 to formally approve guidelines for the negotiations.

Barnier is expected to get a formal mandate to begin talks on May 22 although they are not now expected to begin in earnest until after the British election.

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Europe's already endangered salamander population faces extinction due to a new, virulent fungus that also poses a broader threat to biodiversity, according to a new study.

Even a small amount of the highly infectious pathogen could wipe out fire salamanders from Western Europe, as the amphibian lacks the immune response to fight it off, researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Nature.

"The fungus presents a 'perfect storm'," said senior author An Martel, a professor at Ghent University in Belgium.

"The result is that within six month's time, infected fire salamander populations are reduced by more than 90 percent, and are finally extirpated."



Following an outbreak in 2014, a team of biologists led by Ghent University monitored a colony of vulnerable salamanders for two years, leading to the grim discovery of the pathogen's fatal impact.

Fungal spores -- protected by cells with thick, water- resistant exteriors -- have a long lifespan and can thrive even when they do not inhabit a living organism.

The pathogen can spread through soil, water and air. It can also attach itself to less susceptible birds or frogs, which in turn spread the infection to salamanders.

Dubbed "Bsal" -- short for Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans -- the deadly fungi first appeared on the European continent in 2010.

Scientists believe the global trade in forestry, agricultural and wildlife species are responsible for the invasion of fungi in non-native habitats.

Given the super-fungus' characteristics -- high virulence and rapid expansion -- biologists worry that methods to contain the disease may prove ineffective.

"Classical measures to control animal diseases such as vaccination and repopulation will not be successful and eradication of the fungus from the ecosystem is unlikely," said Gwij Stegen, one of the authors.

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Foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India has increased by 10.7 per cent with 9.05 lakh people visiting the country in March as compared to 8.17 lakh in the corresponding period the last year, the government said today.

A total of 1.46 lakh tourist arrived on the e-tourist visa last month as compared to 1.16 lakh in March 2016, registering a growth of 25.8 per cent, the Tourism Ministry said in a release.

The Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) through tourism during March were Rs 14,953 crore as compared to Rs 13,115 crore in the corresponding period last year, recording a growth of 14 per cent.

The share of FTAs during March was highest from Bangladesh (21.31 per cent), followed by the USA (10.39 per cent), the UK (10.30 per cent) and Russia (4.26 per cent).

The share from Malaysia stood at 3.41 per cent, while that of Canada was 3.28 per cent, Germany 3.03 per cent, Sri Lanka 2.91 per cent, China 2.83 per cent, France 2.79 per cent and Australia 2.54 per cent.

The share from Japan was 2.34 per cent, Afghanistan 1.82 per cent, Singapore 1.66 per cent and Iran 1.54 per cent.

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The Ghaziabad district administration has served show-cause notices to 18 schools here and sought an explanation to the hike in fee.

The committee looking into the matter issued the notices two days ago following a meeting called by ADM Finance Rajesh Yadav, which was attended by representatives of the schools and several parents' associations.

The schools have been given 20 days to give their explanation. Till then no school will charge annual fee, District Magistrate Nidhi Kesarwani said.

The committee has also asked the schools to explain why they were levying the annual charges, officials said.

If their replies are not found justified, annual charges will be waived. Permission of taking annual charges from parents are not mentioned in the NOC of the district administration or CBSE, Kesarwani said.

Following protest by parents under the banner of Bhartiya Kisan Sangh, SDM (Loni) Prem Singh Ranjan had issued a notice under section 133 (conditional order for removal of nuisance) of the CrPC to Salwan Public School yesterday.

The SDM warned the management to decrease the escalated fee within a week or face legal action.

On April 13, scores of infuriated parents staged a protest against 25 per cent hike in fee of private schools.

They handed over a memorandum addressed to the district magistrate to take action against the owners of private schools.

The protest was led by Shiksha Bachao Abhiyan Samiti (SBAS) and All Schools Parents Association (ASPA).

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A 17-year-old girl has alleged that she was raped by two men in the MLA Hostel in Civil Lines area of the city on April 14, following which they were arrested on April 18, police said today.

According to the police, one of the accused, identified as Manoj Bhagat (44), is known to the girl as she works in his shop in the city. Another accused is identified as Rajat Madre (19).

Bhagat and Madre are the residents of Gittikhadan area in the city.

"The incident occurred on April 14, when Bhagat took the girl along with him after telling her family members that he wanted her to accompany his family members to attend a marriage," Gittikhadan police station sub-inspector Shalini Kinake told PTI.

However, Bhagat took the girl to the MLA Hostel and allegedly raped her inside a car in the parking area on its campus, the officer said quoting the girl's complaint.

"Bhagat was then joined by his accomplice Madre. The duo raped her in a room booked by them in the MLA Hostel," Kinake said.

The officer said that the girl returned home after the incident, but didn't disclose her ordeal.

On April 17, Bhagat went to the girl's house drunk and told her family members that she didn't accompany him on April 14.

Scared by the ruckus created by Bhagat, the girl went missing on that day, the PSI said.

The girl's mother then lodged a missing person complaint, following which a case of kidnapping was registered by the Gittikhadan police station.

Police traced her near Katol railway station, about 55 kms away from here, in the wee hours of April 17.

On the basis of her statement, the police arrested Bhagat and Madre on April 18.

They have been booked under sections 363 (punishment for kidnapping) and 376 (punishment for rape)of IPC.

According to the police, Bhagat and Madre pretended as outsiders before the staff of the MLA Hostel to get the room booked.

When asked how is it possible that nobody noticed Bhagat and the girl in the car in the parking area, the police said they are investigating all the details.

Police are also investigating whether the car in which the alleged incident occurred belonged to Bhagat or Madre.

The winter session of the Maharashtra legislature is held every year in Nagpur, the second capital of the state.

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Even if Anthony had a year to analyze and dissect each piece...(he couldn't tell if it would)... stand the harsh light of public exposure.

WUWT insider Willis Eschenbach tells you all you need to know about Anthony Watts and his blog, WattsUpWithThat (WUWT). As part of his scathing commentary , Wondering Willis accuses Anthony Watts of being clueless about the blog articles he posts. To paraphrase: Click here to read more.
Forty-five anti-mining protesters, arrested 13 days ago, were today released from jail after they signed bail papers following intervention by Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane.

The agitators, 23 of them women, are residents of Sonshi village. They were formally released from Colvale Jail.

They were given bail last week but refused to sign the papers necessary for their release unless their demand was met, leading to their continued incarceration. The villagers were protesting against air pollution caused in Sonshi due to iron ore transportation.

"I managed to convince them that their demand will be put before Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar who would find a solution. Staying behind bars won't help in addressing the issues raised by them," Rane told PTI.

The villagers were arrested 13 days back after they forcibly stopped trucks that were carrying iron ore through Sonshi, located 45km from here.

The residents of the rural hamlet were agitated over the unbearable dust pollution caused by transportation of iron ore.

The protest hit headlines after the villagers refused to sign bail papers, while their children walked to local police station demanding release of their parents.

"All the protesters signed the bail papers and they were released this evening," Police Inspector Dipak Pednekar said.

Parrikar had yesterday intervened in the matter and asked the mining firms to reduce pollution in the village.

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Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and the state ministers today removed the red beacon light from their official cars.

The step comes a day after the central government decided to go in for a ban on red beacon from May 1 except for a few vehicles like ambulance, even as few other states like Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh followed suit.

While Governor Solanki ordered removal of the beacon lights from all the vehicles which are part of his cavalcade, Chief Minister Khattar too made a similar decision, an official spokesman told PTI here.

"The Chief Minister has removed the beacon from his car and also from those which are part of his cavalcade," Khattar's media advisor Amit Arya said.

In fact, some ministers including Kavita Jain, Nayab Singh Saini, Manish Grover as also BJP's state unit president Subhash Barala pulled down the beacon lights themselves from their vehicles.

Khattar said he agrees with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that every Indian is a VIP and the culture of beacons on VIP vehicles should have gone long ago.

"It is not that people will know you only when you have a beacon atop the vehicle. Such symbols don't matter," Khattar said.

The Union Cabinet had yesterday made a decision to ban red beacons atop vehicles. Beacons, however, will be allowed on vehicles concerning emergency and relief services, ambulance and fire service.

Haryana Urban Local Bodies minister Kavita Jain, who herself removed the red beacon from her official vehicle, said like demonetisation, the decision taken by Prime Minister Modi on use of beacon lights was a historic one.

"It will help bridge the gap between the common man and dignitaries," she told reporters.

Jain said it also reflected that the BJP government and its ministers were working on the ideology of 'Sabka Saath- Sabka Vikas'.

Haryana Minister of State for Cooperation Manish Kumar Grover said the initiative would help strengthen democratic values in the country.

He added that all public representatives should render selfless service to the society instead of enjoying fruits of power.

"I always felt that there is no need for special treatment or privileges such as red beacon. This is a positive step which is being appreciated by the common man and will go a long way in bringing the government closer to people," he said.

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Cable and internet service provider Hathway will invest around Rs 500 crore in South India over the next three years, as part of its plans to launch highspeed broadband service, a top company official said today.

The Mumbai-based firm, which already provides internet service through "Docsis 3" technology has made commercial launch of the service through GPON Fibre to Home technology, Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd., Managing director Rajan Gupta said.

"We have seen an explosion in demand (for broadband internet) in the last one year in Chennai..

Average broadband consumption across the country is 45GB whereas in Chennai it is 90GB per month.. From today, we are making the commercial launch in Chennai with GPON technology," he told reporters here.

Elaborating, he said the company hoped to cover five lakh consumers over the next three years.

"Investments will be around Rs 400 to Rs 500 crore in the three-year period.. It will be for setting up data centre and other infrastructure.. We are hoping to cover five lakh customers in three years," he said.

Noting that existing operators provided broadband service through copper wires, he said the company would offer it through fibre cables providing high speed services.

"Our package will be starting from Rs 999 onwards per month with speeds upto 150Mbps and 1000GB data unload per month.. Second option will be 200Mbps and 1000GB data at Rs 1,299 per month," he added.

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A committee of Parliamentarians today met migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh staying in Gujarat and listened to their problems in getting long-term visas and other grievances.

The panel, which has members from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, is headed by BJP MP Satyapal Singh. The 10- member committee met the migrants as part of its consultation exercise for the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

"The committee met migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh to address their problems," a release issued by the state information department said.

"A large number of migrants from these countries met the committee and shared their problems in getting long-term visas and also raised other issues," it said.

Singh assured them of all possible support in solving their problems, the release said.

The panel informed the migrants that if they have long -term visa, they can buy properties, take bank loan and also do business or job in India, it said.

The Parliamentary body is hearing representations made by migrants from Sindhi, Bengali and Gujarati communities on how to go about the proposed amendments in the legislation.

The original Citizenship Act, passed in 1955, defines the concept of Indian citizenship and lists out ways to acquire the same, explicitly denying citizenship to all undocumented migrants.

A key amendment in the new bill, however, seeks to grant citizenship to people without valid documents from minority communities - Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians - from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India.

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A joint team of the Army and Assam police seized a huge cache of explosives, including gelatin sticks and detonators, from two persons in the state's Kamrup District, a defence spokesman said today.

The joint operation took place at Boko late last night and it is suspected that the explosives were to be used for subversive activities, the spokesman said.

The explosives seized include 600 gelatin sticks and 400 detonators, he said adding the two men have been identified and detained.

Troops of the Red Horn division of Gajraj Corps and Assam police had launched the operation following specific information from Military Intelligence about movement of a large cache of explosives on Bongaigaon-Guwahati national highway.

The security forces continuously tracked the vehicle's movement and it was stopped near Boko. A search of the vehicle revealed 600 gelatin sticks and 400 detonators.

The operation was a part of relentless and coordinated operations by the Army along with the police to negate the nefarious disruptive designs of terrorists, the defence spokesman added.

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Armed with a Bombay High Court order, the local civic body today demolished a school built illegally here.

In a statement, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said the school, located at Maharashtra Nagar in suburban Mankhurd, had encroached on a road and was in existence since the last 15 years.

The Siddharth Sikshak Prasarak Mandal had constructed the school, spread over 1,509 sq mt, after encroaching on a 90 feet road.

After the BMC raised objection over the illegality involved in the construction of the school, the institute's administration moved the High court.

"The High Court, on April 17, ordered demolition of the school building which had been blocking the road since the last 15 years. The civic body razed the building today in the presence of police," said the statement.

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised concerns over China's credit boom which has more than doubled in less than a decade when compared to its economy, even as it maintained that the country is a key contributor to global growth.

"China is a key contributor to global growth but also has notable vulnerabilities. Credit in relation to China's economy has more than doubled in less than a decade, to over 200 per cent. Credit booms this big can be dangerous," Tobias Adrian, Financial Counsellor and Director, IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department said yesterday.

"The longer booms last and the larger credit grows, the more dangerous they become," Adriano said while releasing the 2017 Global Financial Stability Report.

However, he noted, Chinese authorities continue to adjust policies to limit the growth of the banking and shadow banking systems but emphasised that more needs to be done reduce vulnerabilities.

Adrian said the growth of credit in the Chinese economy has been very fast since the 2008 financial crisis and the overall level of debt is very elevated.

"The Chinese authorities are taking steps to contain leverage both in the banking system and shadow banking system. They show some success in reining in credit growth, but, in our view, more needs to be done. We do believe that the authorities are aware of that," he said.

"There is certainly coordination among the regulators within China. Internationally, the Chinese authorities are part of the FSB, the Financial Stability Board, and they are part of the Basel Committee. They are coordinating regulatory efforts in these international bodies along with the other nations that are part of the Basel Committee and the FSB," he said.

However, the IMF thinks that the Chinese economy has adequate buffers to weather any sort of change in global financial conditions, Matthew Jones, Assistant Director IMF's Monetary and Capital Market Department said.

Jones added that some of the domestic challenges which China is facing are manageable but urgent action is required to ensure its capability in reducing the rapid credit growth.

The IMF has called for strengthening the domestic financial system with supervisory attention on banks' emerging risks, especially rapid asset growth in the small, unlisted local banks and their increased reliance on wholesale funding and risks packaged into shadow products, he said.

"We think that staving off potential future episodes of a changing global environment or financial turmoil really requires a shift in the focus of policies toward reducing those financial vulnerabilities and less focus on achieving a specific growth target.

That will help to ensure the success of the rebalancing that is undergoing in China and to ensure financial stability and sustainable growth," Jones said.

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India today hit out at China for giving Chinese names to some parts of Arunachal Pradesh, saying assigning invented names to towns of the neighbour does not make illegal territorial claims legal.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay also asserted that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.

"Assigning invented names to towns of your neighbour does not make illegal territorial claims legal. Arunachal Pradesh is and will always be an integral part of India," Baglay told reporters here.

When asked if India has taken up the matter with China, he said the Chinese government has not communicated anything officially so far and the ministry has seen only reports on the development.

China yesterday had announced that it has "standardised" official names for six places in the northeastern state and termed the provocative move as a "legitimate action".

The Chinese move came days after Beijing lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lama's visit to the frontier state.

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Pakistan today termed as "inflammatory" India's reaction to the conviction of Indian prisoner on death row Kulbhushan Jadhav, saying he was found guilty of "espionage and terrorism" after a "fair trial".

"His sentence is based on credible, specific evidence proving his involvement in espionage and terrorist activities in Pakistan, resulting in the loss of scores of precious lives of Pakistanis," Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Nafees Zakaria said.

He said Jadhav was found guilty after a "fair trial according to the law of the land".

"Inflammatory statements emanating from India are against international norms and will only result in escalation of tension, serving no constructive purpose. India's reaction should be seen in the backdrop of exposure of its state involvement in perpetrating subversive and terrorist activities in Pakistan," he said.

Zakaria said the reaction from India especially withholding the release of Pakistani prisoners who had completed their sentences is "disappointing".

Zakaria also attacked India for alleged violation of human rights in Kashmir and urged the international community to take notice of the situation.

He said India is displaying "complete disregard" for the UN Charter and International Covenant and Conventions and challenging the international community.

About possible meeting of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Astana in June, he said "there is nothing on the table yet as the summit is almost two months away."



"Nevertheless, we have consistently maintained that meaningful, result-oriented dialogue, sustainable and constructive engagement to address all outstanding issues, particularly Kashmir issue, is the only way forward. Hostility and escalation benefits none," he said.

On the disappearance of a former Pakistani army officer from Lumbini in Nepal, he said, "In view of the revelations about the fake emails and website he was contacted from, we cannot rule out foul play by hostile agencies in his disappearance."



"The government of Pakistan has taken up the matter of his disappearance with the Nepal Government with the request to trace him. An FIR each has also been lodged both in Islamabad and in Nepal," he said.

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Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today said the country will augment its refining capacity to 600 million metric tonnes from the present 230 million metric tones to meet the growing demand.

Addressing the inaugural session of 21st Refinery Technology Meet, Pradhan said his ministry has been emphasising on innovation and strengthening R&D wing.

Stating that Prime Minster Narendra Modi wanted 10 per cent cut in the imports by 2022, the minister said three fourth of the demand would be met by 2040.

However, he admitted that there has been gap between, innovation, industry and policy which was hampering the growth.

"But we will forge ahead. India not only will increase its production for domestic consumption but also meet the requirement of neighbours Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka," Pradhan said.

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Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif today criticised "worn-out" US accusations that it was seeking a nuclear weapon to threaten the region and the world.

"Worn-out US accusations can't mask its admission of Iran's compliance" with a 2015 nuclear deal, Zarif wrote on Twitter.

Iran says its nuclear programme is purely for peaceful purposes but signed a deal with world powers to restrict its fuel enrichment for 10 years in exchange for sanctions relief.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said yesterday that Tehran has so far met its obligations, but that the deal could only delay Iran's development of a nuclear weapon.

The deal "fails to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran," he said, and was a product of "the same failed approach of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat we face from North Korea."



Zarif said Iran's compliance had forced the US administration of President Donald Trump "to change course and fulfill its own commitments".

Trump described the accord as the "worst deal ever negotiated" during his campaign and threatened to tear it up, but analysts say that is increasingly unlikely.

Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer said a review would be conducted by US government agencies over the next 90 days on whether to stick by the deal.

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Iraq's foreign ministry has summoned the Turkish ambassador over an interview in which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described an Iraqi paramilitary organisation as "terrorist", officials said today.

"The foreign ministry has decided to summon the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad to hand him a formal protest note regarding recent remarks by the Turkish president on the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation)," ministry spokesman Ahmad Jamal said in a statement.

In an interview to the Doha-based Al-Jazeera channel, whose Baghdad office was shut down last year, Erdogan spoke of the Hashed al-Shaabi, which has played a key role in the fight against the Islamic State group.

"In the fight against Daesh (IS) in Iraq there is something striking. It's interesting, the Iraqi parliament says the Hashed al-Shaabi is not a terror group but what is interesting is who is behind this terror group," Erdogan said.

Fateh Yildiz started to serve as Turkish ambassador to Iraq in January this year.

The Hashed al-Shaabi is an umbrella of armed groups dominated by Shiite militia loyal to Iran.

Turkey is keen to retain its influence in parts of northern Iraq and the Hashed al-Shaabi has ventured ever further north in recent months, raising concerns that Iran and Turkey could clash via their proxies.

Erdogan is a reviled figure among much of Iraq's Shiite parties, who accuse him of having directly supported the emergence of IS and of continuing to abet the jihadists' operations.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has been under intense pressure from his own camp over the continued presence in northern Iraq of Turkish military bases.

For its part, Ankara wants tougher action against the Turkish separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which it considers a terrorist organisation and which has bases in northern Iraq.

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Italy's highest court today began reviewing the case of Francesco Schettino, the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that sank in 2012 leaving 32 people dead.

Schettino, dubbed "Captain Coward" by the press for abandoning the stricken vessel during the nighttime disaster, was handed a 16-year and one month jail term in 2015 in a ruling that was upheld last year by an appeals court.

The Court of Cassation in Rome could uphold the verdict or order the case to be reviewed by a fresh appeals court.

It is not expected to rule before early May, lawyers told AFP.

Schettino, 56, was convicted of multiple manslaughter, causing a maritime accident and abandoning ship before all passengers and crew had been evacuated.

He was not in court on Thursday.

Prosecutors have argued his recklessness was to blame for the fate of the giant ship, which struck underwater rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio on the night of January 14, 2012, and toppled over.

The violation of the ancient code of the sea which states a captain must be the last man off a sinking ship only accounted for one year of the sentence handed down by a three-judge panel in the Tuscan town of Grosseto.

During the first 19-month trial, Schettino was accused of showing off when he steered the ship too close to the island while entertaining a female friend.

The ship had been carrying 4,229 people, including 3,200 tourists.

Schettino's lawyers had insisted the accident and its deadly consequences were primarily due to organisational failings for which the ship's owner, Costa Crociere, its Indonesian helmsman and the Italian coastguard should have shared the blame.

They also argued that it was not the collision, but rather the chaos that ensued due to the ship losing power that was the direct cause of the deaths. Schettino could not be blamed for the mechanical failures, they said.

Costa Crociere avoided potential criminal charges by accepting partial responsibility and agreeing to pay a one million euro ($1.2 million) fine.

Five of its employees received non-custodial sentences after concluding plea bargains early in the investigation.

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Days ahead of the civic polls, the JD(U) today lodged a complaint with the State Election Commission (SEC) alleging that voters hailing from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were being intimidated by members of rival parties.

National General Secretary of the Janata Dal (United) Sanjay Jha shot off a letter to Delhi State Election Commissioner S K Srivastava, and a copy of that has also been sent to City Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik.

"I write this to bring to your notice an unsavoury development and make a related plea in this context. (Purvanchali) Voters have complained to us in private that of late they are being intimidated by volunteers and leaders of rival parties.

"They are being told that their interests are best served by not taking sides with the JD(U), which is a party which shall not have any say in Delhi. Indirectly, they are being asked either to vote for one of the rival parties or abstain from voting," Jha alleged in the letter.

The Nitish Kumar-led party is contesting the high-stakes municipal polls with 98 candidates, and Jha has claimed that the Purvanchali community -- people of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar -- had "switched allegiance" to JD(U) after feeling "disillusioned" with the AAP.

"At Janata Dal (United), we have always felt that the community has been not given its due share despite being politically relevant. One of the reasons we are participating in this MCD elections is because we wish to assert the identity of Purvanchalis," the letter said.

According to Jha, Purvanachalis constitute about 30 per cent of the electorate in the city and the Kumar-led party is banking high on their support in the polls due on April 23.

"We consider it appropriate to bring this to your notice and put in an earnest request to ensure that such kind of intimidation is not allowed, which is nothing less than suffocating democracy. Kindly take appropriate measures to ensure free and fearless elections," Jha further said in the letter.

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Kerala Governor Sathasivam today decided to remove the red beacon from his official car.

In tune with the decision of the central government, the beacon lights of all vehicles of Raj Bhavan, including that of the Governor, have been removed as per the directions of the governor, a statement said.

State Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac, Water Resources Minister Mathew P Thomas and Education Minister C Ravindranath, removed the beacon lights from their official vehicles.

Opposition leader in the state assembly, Ramesh Chennithala, also has stopped using the beacon light. The Union Cabinet had yesterday decided to go in for a ban on red beacon from May 1 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying these symbols were out of touch with the spirit of new India.

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Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi today accused state Chief Secretary Manoj Parida of violating administrative rules.

Bedi has been at loggerheads with Parida over several administrative issues since last nearly a month.

In a communication to the press, she referred to recent media reports highlighting the decision of the Puducherry government-owned Industries Development Corporation (PIPDIC) to buy 51 per cent equity of the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) in Hotel Pondicherry Ashok in neighbouring Kalapet village.

"The decision will involve heavy financial implications. The office of Lt Governor was totally kept out of the loop," she said, adding that she called for the file and examined it.

"The Chief Secretary who is supposed to ensure compliance and observance of rules at no stage suggested on the file that the Lt Governor's office be kept in the loop," she claimed.

Bedi said that "this is yet another repeated case of violation of administrative rules by him (Chief Secretary)."



Bedi said that the Union Home Ministry "will once again be informed of this development.

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World finance leaders have defended globalisation against an assault from President Donald Trump and European populists. They argued that blocking free trade would hobble economic growth instead of saving jobs from foreign competition.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim told journalists that freer trade and more openness were "critical for the future of the world."



Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said that the answer to the wave of populism gaining support in many countries was to work for "more growth and better growth" in the world economy.

Lagarde and Kim spoke at the opening of three days of discussions among global finance leaders representing the 189 countries that are members of the IMF and its sister lending organisation, the World Bank.

The spring meetings, which will also include discussions today among finance ministers and central bank leaders from the Group of 20 major economic powers, were likely to be dominated by talk over the Trump administration's efforts to reduce America's huge trade deficits, which Trump during the presidential campaign blamed for the loss of millions of good-paying factory jobs.

The United States will be represented at the meetings by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

Trump tapped into a rising backlash against free trade during the campaign, pledging that he would impose punitive tariffs of up to 45 per cent on countries such as China and Mexico which he blamed for pursuing unfair trade practises that were hurting American workers. While he had said that he would brand China a currency manipulator immediately on taking office, the administration sent Congress a report last week that found China was not manipulating its currency.

The Treasury report did put China and five other nations including Japan and Germany on a "monitoring list" which will subject them to increased consultations aimed at lowering their large trade surpluses with the United States.

The anti-globalisation backlash has also shown up in Europe, playing a factor in last summer's vote in Britain to exit the European Union, and also in the election campaigns in other countries including this Sunday's vote for president in France.

Mnuchin spoke yesterday at a conference sponsored by the Institute of International Finance, an organisation representing the world's biggest banks. He said that the Trump administration's view was that "what is good for the US economy is good for the global economy" because stronger growth in the United States will have a spillover effect for other nations.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, speaking to a different Washington audience yesterday, conceded that free trade was currently under attack in ways that could end up being harmful such as Britain's move to leave the 28-nation European Union, a process that has been dubbed Brexit.

"For both sides this is not a good situation. It's something like a lose-lose situation, not a win-win situation," Schaeuble said. "It must be clear that the rest of Europe stands together."



To lift the US economy to growth of 3 per cent or higher, up from the 2 per cent rates seen in recent years, Mnuchin said the administration was focused on getting tax reform through Congress and also getting rid of unnecessary regulations.

Mnuchin said the administration's tax plan would be released "very soon." While Mnuchin had set a goal of getting it passed by the August recess of Congress, that goal has slipped. But he said that the administration still hoped to get a measure through Congress well before the end of the year.

Mnuchin is also working on proposals to overhaul the regulations put in place by the Dodd-Frank Act passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. He said he would have a report with recommendations to present to the president by June that would address "the major issues" in the drive to revamp the Dodd-Frank law.

Trump has backed away from some of his campaign threats on trade. But yesterday, he ordered the Commerce Department to speed up an investigation into whether steel imports jeopardise US national security a move that could lead to tariffs on imported steel from countries such as Canada, Brazil and South Korea.

Lagarde said that the IMF and its member nations needed to "protect free, fair and global trade." In an interview yesterday with CNBC, Lagarde said that the goal of all nations should be to promote a level playing field in trade.

In his World Bank conference, Kim said a recent study showed that of all the job losses that have hit industrial countries in recent years, at most only 20 per cent could be blamed on increased trade competition. He said the biggest factor in the job losses was increased automation.

"My message is you're not going to bring these old jobs back," Kim said. "Every country in the world has to think about how it's going to compete in the economy of the future.

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Gunmen shot to death the leader of Mexico's leftist Democratic Revolution Party in the southern state of Guerrero, authorities said today.

The killing prompted Guerrero's governor to cut short a trip to the United States aimed at convincing cruise ship lines that the state's flagship resort, Acapulco, was safe enough to bring their ships back for visits.

Some cruise ships have stopped visiting the Pacific coast state because of continued violence, like the assassination late yesterday of Demetrio Saldivar.

The state prosecutors' office said today that Saldivar was killed in the state capital, Chilpancingo.

The office said a witness watched as two men blocked Saldivar with a car, then shot and killed him before fleeing.

Saldivar was general secretary of the party known as the PRD in Guerrero. Local media reported he had previously occupied a post in the state government.

Guerrero was plagued by political violence in the 1990s, but has been hit even harder by drug gang violence in recent years.

The US cruise line Holland America announced in March that it had halted port calls at Acapulco and would sail to other destinations in the country "due to recent security concerns."



A few other cruise lines continue to make port calls in Acapulco, but those visits began to fall off steeply around 2010.

Governor Hector Astudillo traveled to Miami to try to convince cruise ship operators that safe perimeters had been established for passengers in Acapulco and the resort of Zihuatanejo.

But Astudillo tweeted that Saldivar's killing forced him to cut the trip short.

"These regrettable events have forced us to cancel the planned working trip and return to Guerrero as soon as possible," Astudillo wrote in his Twitter account.

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Scientists have developed a light- weight robotic cheetah that efficiently uses its energy to replicate the movements of the fastest land animal in the world.

The scaled-down robotic version moves using only about 15 per cent more energy than a real cheetah.

"As you might expect of the fastest land animal in the world, the cheetah makes very efficient use of its energy," said Geert Folkertsma from the University of Twente in the Netherlands.

"I wanted to create a robot that runs the same way, with the aim of applying this knowledge to the development of new robots," said Folkertsma.

"Robots are bound to play an increasingly important part in our daily lives and we therefore have to ensure that they can move effectively in our environment," he said.

While walking robots tend to be large and heavy, taking cumbersome steps that use a lot of energy, the cheetah runs swiftly and smoothly.

"By applying knowledge about the movement patterns of the cheetah, you can develop robots that walk more elegantly and above all efficiently," said Folkertsma.

The research provides valuable knowledge that can be used to optimise the robots of the future, designed to support us in areas such as healthcare or housekeeping.

The knowledge gained from the project can also be put to good use in rehabilitation robots or advanced prosthetics that are equipped with robotics.

Folkertsma studied extensive video footage of cheetahs and used software to analyse their movements.

The backbone proves crucial to the power this big cat generates. Bending and extending its spine enables the cheetah to move efficiently, run exceptionally fast and make huge leaps.

"The main difference between existing walking robots and the cheetah robot is therefore the backbone," Folkertsma said.

"The trick was to imitate it without complicating matters unnecessarily. Instead of vertebrae and intervertebral discs, we worked with a cleverly placed spring which delivers approximately the same effect," he said.

"Cheetahs are also able to store a lot of energy in their muscles for later use. This too is something we have imitated by fitting carefully selected springs in our robot's legs," he added.

The prototype weighs in at 2.5 kg and is 30 cm long - twenty times lighter than a real cheetah and four times smaller.

Taking into account the weight difference, the robot moves using only about fifteen per cent more energy than a real cheetah. The robot can currently reach a speed of about one kilometre per hour.

"That's quite a pace for such a small robot," said Folkertsma.

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Red beacon lights from Lt Governor Kiran Bedi's official car and other vehicles of her Secretariat were removed today following her direction in tune with the Union Cabinet decision.

Red beacon lights from the vehicle of Bedi and also other vehicles, barring police escort vehicles, were removed in response to the decision of the Union Cabinet, a release from the Lt Governor's office said.

Bedi in a tweet said 'Without waiting for the deadline ofMay 1 from when the Centre's decision will come into force, the red beacon light had been removed today."



She also said within a month of assuming office in June last year she had dispensed with use of the sirens in her's and other vehicles. "Every Indian is a VIP," she said.

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In a resolution approved April 13, the Board of County Commissioners expressed its strong support for passage of a "robust transportation funding package" by the 2017 Oregon Legislature.

The resolution highlighted a number of significant transportation infrastructure needs in Clackamas County, throughout the Portland metropolitan area, and across the state, including the following:

Clackamas County has an annual shortfall of more than $17 million to address maintenance needs for the 1,400 miles of county roadways and 180 bridges;

I-205 between the Abernethy Bridge in Oregon City and Stafford Road has been identified as a key bottleneck requiring essential improvements to relieve congestion;

Other bottlenecks in the metropolitan area - I-5 in the Rose Quarter and Highway 217 - also require essential improvements to allow for continued economic growth and prosperity;

The Oregon Transportation Commission has determined that there is a need for more than $1 billion each year to meet transportation needs throughout the state; and

Clackamas County and many other jurisdictions have suffered dramatic losses in transportation revenue since federal timber harvest began to drop after 1986 and federal revenue replacement policies (such as Secure and Rural Schools funds) have expired.

Clackamas County has been reaching out to its communities for years, talking about the need for transportation maintenance funds and asking for support for local transportation funding measures. Currently, Clackamas County is the only one of the three Oregon metropolitan area counties without a local source of funding such as a countywide gas tax or vehicle registration fee.

More information about the county's priorities for the 2017 state legislative session is in the 2017 State Legislative Agenda.

For more information about county support of the state transportation funding package, contact Chris Lyons at 503-742-5909.
A two-day state executive meeting of the Maharashtra BJP will be held in Pimpri Chinchwad area near Pune from April 26.

The meeting, to be attended by the party office-bearers, legislators, and ministers, will discuss various political and economic issues concerning the state, sources said today.

State Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil told PTI that the BJP core committee of the state leaders met at 'Varsha', the official residence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis here today, to discuss the preparations for the upcoming conclave.

The meeting, which lasted for more than four hours, also took stock of the BJP's performance in the recently-concluded elections to the local bodies and municipal corporations, where the party has done well.

Meanwhile, Patil denied the reports that expansion or reshuffle of the state Cabinet was discussed today.

However, the sources in the government said that the reshuffle and expansion of Cabinet is likely to take place next month.

At present, there are three vacancies, including one for a Cabinet-rank minister and two for the ministers of state, from the BJP quota.

The current strength of the council of ministers, including the chief minister, is 39.

The maximum strength of the council of ministers in Maharashtra is 42.

Names of the Mumbai unit BJP president Ashish Shelar and Vinaykumar Gavit, a tribal leader from Nandurbar who quit the NCP to join the BJP ahead of the Assembly polls in 2014, are in the reckoning for the ministerial berths, sources said.

The last Cabinet expansion took place in August last year, when ten new faces were inducted.

According to the sources, the chief minister is monitoring the performance of his ministers and had set targets for their respective departments to achieve.

"Those who have not been up to the mark in achieving the development goals are likely to be replaced," they added.

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Maharashtra MLA Bacchu Kadu along with over 100 farmers were detailed by Gujarat police when they entered the Tapi district on the Maharashtra border as they had not taken any permission to hold a rally, police said.

As the organisers had not taken any permission from the cops to take out the rally, Tapi police detained Kadu and 110 farmers at Uchchhal village on the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra, said Deputy Superintendent of Police, Vyara Division, Bhagirathsinh Gadhvi.

"Kadu led these farmers from Maharashtra and wanted to head towards Vadnagar in Mehsana district. However, upon their entry in Gujarat at Uchchhal, we stopped them, as they had not taken any permission from local police," said Gadhvi.

"We detained Kadu and around 110 farmers from the spot and later on released them," he added.

Kadu, an independent MLA, told reporters that he was leading these farmers from Nagpur to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthplace Vadnagar in Mehsana district.

"The purpose of this rally was to seek answers from our PM, who made several promises to farmers during the 2014 Lok Sabha campaign," said Kadu, who represents Achalpur constituency in the Amravati district.

"He promised to implement the recommendation of Swaminathan Commission. He also said farmers must get 50 per cent profit on their produce," added the MLA.

"Despite his promises, farmers hardly get 15 per cent return. I am leading this agitation because nothing has changed in PM's three year rule," he claimed.

The "Aasud (whip) Yatra" commenced on 11 April from Nagpur, an aide of the MLA said.

As per the plan, the yatra was to end at Vadnagar tonight, said General Secretary of Gujarat Khedut Samaj, Sagar Rabari.

"BJP government in Maharashtra did not object to the rally and allowed it to pass. However, BJP government in Gujarat has murdered democracy by detaining these farmers," alleged Rabari, who extended his support to the rally.

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Police on Thursday arrested a person from Hyderabad for allegedly sending a hoax e-mail to Mumbai police about a possible aircraft hijack attempt.

"Vamshi Krishna has been arrested for sending the hoax mail to Mumbai Police Commissioner about the aircraft . Some incriminating material has been seized from his possession," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Task Force) B Limba Reddy told PTI.

On April 16, the security at international airports in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai was put on maximum alert after the police forces of Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu and the CISF were informed about a possible aircraft hijack attempt.

CISF Director General O P Singh had then said that the security apparatus at these airports was put on "an enhanced alert and protocols have been stepped up".

"The e-mail could eventually turn out be a hoax but till investigations conclude all security drills to thwart a hijack like scenario are being carried out at the three airports," he had said.

The Mumbai police on Saturday night received an e-mail, sent by Krishna impersonating as a Hyderabad-based woman.

The woman claimed to have overheard six men telling each other that "all 23 people have to split from here and board flights in three cities and hijack planes".

"The unidentified woman wrote in the e-mail that what she heard could be 'true or not' but she chose to inform the authorities as she felt it was her duty to do so as a citizen," a senior officer earlier said.

The contents of the e-mail were shared by Mumbai Police with security and intelligence agencies and a meeting of all the stakeholders at these airports was subsequently convened with the input being declared specific and actionable, he said.
Major leather industries from across the country have evinced interest in setting up units at the proposed mega leather cluster at industrial model township in Sohna.

The cluster, which will be built over an area of 105 acres, will attract Rs 500-crore investment and provide employment to about 40,000 youths of Haryana in next two years, an official said here today.

As Sohna is not very far from the National Capital, various leading leather industries of the country including the footwear units of Chennai, Agra and Kanpur were keen on setting up their units at the mega leather cluster, the official said.

The setting up of this cluster would not only boost the leather industry but also meet the requirement of leather products in the state, he further said.

A delegation led by Vice Chairman of Council for Leather Exports, P R Aqeel Ahmed met Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar here and sought state government's support and cooperation for the setting up leather cluster, he said adding the CM has assured them all necessary support and cooperation.

The state government has implemented its new Enterprises Promotion Policy which offers several incentives to the entrepreneurs for setting up their units in the state, he informed.

The mega leather cluster would be an integrated production centre with all facilities like common facility centre, testing centre, design studio, ready to use factory sheds and infrastructure like roads and electricity.

It was informed in the meeting that about 150 to 200 production units are expected to be set up at the cluster, where wide range of fresh leather products like footwear, leather garments, bags and other accessories would be manufactured, he said.

Besides, the cluster would offer training facility to youths so as to make them employable, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"Creed" star Michael B Jordan has been tapped to star in the film adaptation of "Fahrenheit 451".

Based on Ray Bradbury's classic novel, the TV film depicts a future where media is an opiate, history is outlawed and "firemen" burn books, reported Variety.

Jordan will also be joined by "Nocturnal Animals" star Michael Shannon in the film.

While, the "Fantastic Four" actor will play Montag, a young fireman who forsakes his world, battles his mentor and struggles to regain his humanity, Shannon will essay the role of Montag's fireman captain and mentor, Beatty.

Though in early development, sources said the project is moving toward a production commitment at HBO.

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International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Chairman on Thursday met United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres to discuss the role of world business in promoting the Sustainable Development Goals.

The two also discussed the challenges posed by growing populism and anti-globalisation sentiments, an ICC statement said.

This was Mittal's first meeting with the UN Secretary- General since the decision to grant ICC 'Observer Status' at the UN General Assembly last December.

The meeting was held at the UN headquarters in New York.

During the meeting, Mittal  who is also the chairman of telecom major Bharti Airtel  underscored ICC's commitment to use its newly granted status in the UN system to deploy "resources, expertise and knowledge of world business" in implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, the statement added.

The SDGs are the most ambitious development agenda ever agreed at the international level and it is widely recognised that their successful implementation will hinge on widespread business action, the statement added.

The SDGs are call to action for ending poverty, ensuring education, protecting the planet and other global goals.

"Secretary General Guterres welcomed ICC's commitment to the SDGs and noted that partnerships with the private sector would be vital to address major global challenges...(such) as climate change to mass-migration," Mittal said.

Mittal emphasised the significance of rules-based policy making to enable trade, innovation and job-creation in the context of SDGs.

"Given the complexity of today's global challenges, it's vital that business has a clear voice in UN decision making," Mittal said.

He added that ICC would look to use its observer status to positively shape important debates on issues such as trade, financing, technology and corporate responsibility.

The meeting was part of the ICC Chairman's mission to New York where he is meeting with senior UN officials and ambassadors.

ICC also announced a new collaboration with the UN Refugee Agency to enhance business engagement in the international response to the global refugee crisis.

Mittal took over as ICC Chairman in June 2016, and is the third Indian business leader to hold the position in the chamber's near-100 year history.
A 26-year-old British man wanted for the murder of a compatriot in Myanmar is living freely in Scotland because the Southeast Asian nation has yet to request his arrest and extradition, according to UK authorities.

The revelation raises fresh questions over Myanmar's lukewarm response to the death of Gary Ferguson, 47, whose battered body was found inside his Yangon apartment in November.

Harris Binotti, is alleged to have killed Ferguson -- a fellow teacher at an international school in Myanmar -- after an argument.

Binotti fled Myanmar soon after Ferguson's death.

But in the last week he was photographed by a British newspaper living openly in Scotland, prompting his victim's family to ask why he was not already in custody.

Scottish prosecutors and police say they are yet to receive any extradition request from Myanmar, the investigating country.

"Police Scotland has no authority to arrest anyone at this stage," Scotland's police force said in a statement, adding it would "monitor any ongoing risk" Binotti might pose.

"The matter is being investigated by the Myanmar authorities and it is for them to comment on any extradition request," the Crown Office, Scotland's prosecution department, added.

Binotti was only placed on Interpol's "Red Notice" wanted list in April, some five months after the murder.

But Myanmar would still need to request UK authorities to make an arrest and extradite, a process that would require them to submit some of the evidence against Binotti and make diplomatic representations.

British police would also need assurances the death penalty was off the table as they are banned for helping with any capital punishment cases.

Police in Myanmar were unable to say what steps had been taken to pursue the suspect overseas.

Britain and Myanmar do not share an extradition treaty, however, individual cases can still be negotiated between the countries.

Toe Myo, a police officer in Yangon's Kyauktada township where the murder took place, said his department had filed an arrest warrant that was sent to the national police in the capital Naypyidaw.

"We collected as much information as we could about the case and sent it there," he told AFP.

However police in Naypyidaw directed AFP's enquiries back to police in Yangon.

Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a government spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.

Ferguson's relatives, who lobbied Myanmar for months to contact Interpol, have released anguished statements at their perceived lack of progress in the case.

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Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari today left for Odisha capital Bhubaneswar after her visit to Gujarat.

On a five-day visit to India, Bhandari had arrived here yesterday along with a Nepalese delegation and was given a warm welcome by Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja and District Collector Vikrant Pandey.

She subsequently went to the Somnath temple and the Dwarkadheesh temple to offer prayers and returned to Rajkot late in the evening.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had hosted a dinner in her honour with prominent city residents joining it.

"Nepal President today visited Rajkot Dairy and also met the dairy's board of directors," said an official release.

Bhandari subsequently left for Bhubaneswar along with the delegation, it added.

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Southeast Asia, a focus of past US presidents, has been overlooked thus far for the Trump administration, but Vice President Mike Pence's visit to Indonesia today marked a sign of change and he announced the president would follow him to the region later this year.

Anxious Southeast Asian governments are looking for America's commitment to counter China's rising economic and military clout. Vietnam's foreign minister is in Washington his week, and the top diplomats of the region's 10-nation bloc are expected to arrive en masse in early May, amid concerns their interests were being crowded out as President prioritizes Mideast counterterrorism, traditional alliances in Europe and North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

Pence's stop in Jakarta on a 10-day swing through the Asia-Pacific, meeting with Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, sends a message that Trump's interests in Asia extend beyond North Korea and the massive U.S. Trade imbalance with China. It is the first to Southeast Asia by a top administration official, and Pence announced Trump will attend the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, in November.

Washington is "taking steps to strengthen our partnership with ASEAN and deepen our friendship," Pence said, resolving to strengthen economic ties and security cooperation in combating terrorism and in the disputed South China Sea.

This year marks ASEAN's 50th anniversary. November's gathering is being held in the Philippines, setting the stage for an encounter between two unconventional leaders: Trump and the host, Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippine president who is sometimes likened to the American leader because of his outspokenness and unashamed populism.

U.S.-Philippine relations are strained over Duterte's war on drugs, and his brash efforts to forge closer ties with China. President Barack Obama scrapped a planned meeting last fall after Duterte cursed him. Before that, Obama engaged Southeast Asia more than any U.S. President since the aftermath of the Vietnam War and made ASEAN summits a virtual fixture in his diplomatic calendar.

Among Obama's foreign policy successes: Promoting democratic reform in Myanmar, on communist China's doorstep.

He stood up, albeit unsuccessfully, against Beijing's construction of artificial islands that can give it a strong military foothold in the South China Sea. He paved the way for a bigger US military presence in the Philippines, where American bases were shuttered 25 years ago.

Obama also understood the importance of showing up. He made nine trips to Southeast Asia, became the first sitting US president to visit former adversaries Myanmar and Laos, and was first to travel to Malaysia in more than four decades. Trump got off on the wrong foot.

His "America First" rhetoric and abrupt withdrawal from Obama's pan-Pacific trade pact raised fears of U.S. protectionism hurting the region's 600 million people. They do $225 billion in trade with the U.S. Each year. Trump's relationship with Beijing remains unclear and his unorthodox foreign policy has begged the question as to whether he could ease U.S. Demands on the South China Sea to win Chinese cooperation on North Korea.

"The region very much wants to know where the United States is going to stand on the South China Sea, and more broadly what its approach to China is going to be," said Amy Searight, a former top U.S. Defense official for the region. China is the main trading partner for most of Southeast Asia, although the U.S. Remains a key source of foreign investment.

The TPP's demise leaves an alternative pact as the main avenue for boosting trade among the fast-growing economies. China is a part of that negotiation, while the U.S. Isn't. Trump's decision to leave TPP "creates a vacuum that China is happy to try to fill," Searight said.

Trump also is expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam in November. ASEAN members Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia are among 16 nations the Trump administration is investigating over their U.S. Trade surpluses. Pence said U.S. Exporters to Indonesia should enjoy a level playing field and the relationship should be "win-win."



Vietnam, which has courted its former U.S. Enemy, wants even better ties. Its ambassador visited the U.S. Military Academy at West Point this month. Today, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh met Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the State Department.

And in an unusual move, ASEAN foreign ministers have arranged an 11-way meeting in Washington with Tillerson. The State Department said the meeting will take place May 4. It will reprise, at a lower level, a leaders' summit Obama hosted in California last year.
A special NIA court here today issued a non-bailable warrant against controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, wanted by the agency for his alleged role in a terror case.

Last week, another city court had issued a NBW against Naik in a case of money laundering registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The ED lawyer had said Naik was believed to be in the United Arab Emirates.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had registered the case against Naik under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act last year.

"There are reasonable grounds to believe that Naik is evading arrest and that he will not voluntarily appear before the court or before the agency. I am of the view that NBW is necessary to be issued," special judge V V Patil said in his order.

The court also observed that it found substance in the allegations made by the NIA.

"Naik did not respond to the notices issued by the NIA to appear before the investigation officer," said the court.

The NIA told the court that Naik has been allegedly promoting enmity and hatred between different religious groups in India through his speeches and lectures on various platforms.

It also said that Naik has been allegedly inciting Muslim youths and terrorists in India and abroad to commit terrorist acts.

The arrest of Naik is urgently required for the purpose of the investigation in order to unearth the entire conspiracy, the NIA said.

Naik, 51, left India last year, allegedly to evade arrest after some perpetrators of Dhaka terror attack claimed that they were inspired by him.

Following the Dhaka attack, the NIA had registered a case against him and some officials of his organisation, Islamic Research Foundation, under section 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) of IPC and the UAPA.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Roughly a quarter of states have turned in their accountability plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act. Having trouble keeping track of all the ins and outs of each states plan? Weve got you covered.

So far, 12 states and the District of Columbia have informed the U.S. Department of Education about their long-term academic goals, the weight that various indicators will have in their proposed accountability systems, and how schools will be rated under ESSA. Theres a lot of variety in those states goals, indicators, and rating systems .

However, its worth noting that the Education Department has already informed two states, Maine and Massachusetts, that the plans they submitted are incomplete . Thats an early indication that the department might not be afraid to call states out about omissions or other issues in those plans.

Without further ado, heres that handy ESSA plan chart in PDF form. Bookmark it, print it out, hang it on your wallwe hope its useful.

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
A day after the government barred use of red beacons by VVIPs including the President, the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers from May 1, the judges of the Delhi High Court gave it up from this afternoon.

At a pre-lunch meeting held by all judges of the high court, it was decided to give up the use of red beacons on their official cars, sources in the court said.

The judges' vehicles, parked in the high court premises, were seen without the red lights affixed on top of them.

According to the court sources, Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice S Muralidhar have never used a red beacon, nor have ever taken Personal Security Officers which they are entitled to.

There are presently 34 judges in the high court.

Seeking to end the VIP culture, the Union Cabinet had yesterday decided that beacon lights will be removed from all vehicles, except emergency vehicles, like ambulances and fire brigade which would use blue lights.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
body Nasscom today said New Zealand's move to tighten its work permit norms will not have any "tangible" impact on the Indian IT that gets less than 1 per cent revenue from that market.

"The Indian IT does not have a significant presence in ... The region accounts for less than one per cent of the overall export basket. So, there will be no tangible implication for the industry as a whole," Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar told PTI.

The curbs by may not seem damaging on a standalone basis, but coupled with similar moves by Australia, Singapore and the US, the industry could be staring at elevated operational costs and higher scrutiny going forward.

Indian IT get over 60 per cent of their revenues from the North American market, about 20 per cent from Europe and the remaining from the other economies.

"We are essentially seeing that countries are trying to define skilled workers more precisely and bring curbs on immigration while opening the doors for high-skilled workers," Chandrashekhar pointed out.

will introduce tougher norms for skilled overseas workers as it seeks to control the number of immigrants and improve the quality.

Immigrants will need to get a job in which they earn at least the median income in order to qualify as a skilled worker, while the highly skilled ones would need to earn at least 150 per cent of the median income.

However, crafting such a definition could be easier said than done as using salaries or skill sets as a metric may come with its own set of challenges.

"The skill sets requirements are dynamic and changing in this industry," said the Nasscom chief.

Over the past few weeks, there is a growing sentiment of protectionism across various markets that are seeking to safegaurd jobs for locals and raise the bar for foreign workers.

Critics believe that the prevailing visa regime allows to bring in "cheap" labour from countries like India, which adversely impacts local employment opportunities.

However, the Indian IT industry has rejected such claims arguing that Indian tech workers fill a skills gap which is as wide as two million in developed markets like the US.

Domestic are also beginning to tweak their business models to reduce their dependence on visas by hiring more locals.
In a major drug haul, sleuths of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seized 1,745 kg of poppy husk from a container truck and arrested its driver in Dangiawas area near Jodhpur.

The contraband was found hidden behind the air conditioners loaded in the container.

According to NCB Director Madho Singh, a tip off was received by them that a container was heading to Jodhpur from Ahmedabad with a huge consignment of poppy husk.

The NCB sleuths put up a check-post at Dangiawas near Jodhpur and intercepted the vehicle bearing a Gujarat registration number, he said.

"The container was stuffed with the air conditioners. On checking of the container, these sacks of poppy husks were found hidden in the boxes of air conditioners," Singh said.

The contraband and the container vehicle was seized, while its driver identified as Kanhaiyalal Nath was arrested, he said.

The poppy husk weighed 1,745 kg packed in sacks. The container had left from Ahmedabad with 312 air conditioners, which were to be off loaded in Haridwar, he added.

"But instead of heading to Haridwar, the driver halted in Nimbahera, loaded the poppy husk in the container and came to Jodhpur. The NCB has registered a case under the NDPS Act and investigation is on to find out to whom this consignment was to be delivered," Singh said.

The owner of the vehicle Ravi Prakash Sharma was also escorting the truck in his car but managed to flee from the spot.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan's former president Asif Ali Zardari today condemned the Supreme Court's ruling in the Panamagate case against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, saying the decision has not only "damaged" democracy but also justice.

"I condemn the judgement and ask Sharif to resign," he said in a press conference after a Supreme Court bench declared there was "insufficient evidence" to remove Sharif from office but ordered setting up of a Joint Investigation Team to probe the graft allegations against his family.

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) co-chairperson took a swipe at the court, saying "we never expected any justice from the court."



"With today's decision, not only democracy but also justice itself have been damaged. I also says that people have been made fool through the judgement," Zardari said.

He, however, hailed the two senior judges who asked Sharif, 67, to resign.

He said junior officers working under "Sharif cannot deliver justice as part of Joint Investigation Team (JIT) when the highest court failed to deliver justice.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Embattled Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today got a temporary breather from the Supreme Court which said there was "insufficient evidence" to remove him from office but ordered setting up of a joint team to investigate the graft allegations against his family.

The high-profile graft case is about alleged money laundering by Sharif in 1990s when he twice served as the Prime Minister to purchase assets in London. The assets surfaced when Panama papers last year showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif's children.

A five-judge Supreme Court bench issued a landmark 540- page split judgement ordering setting up of a Joint Investigation Team comprising officials from different agencies including those from powerful spy agencies the Inter- Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence.

The other agencies in the JIT include the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.

The bench comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan also ordered 67-year-old Sharif and his two sons - Hasan and Hussain - to appear before the JIT.

There is "insufficient evidence to remove Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif," said the verdict.

"A thorough investigation is required," Justice Khosa said, reading out from the highly anticipated ruling.

The JIT would be set up within a week. It will present its report before the bench after every two weeks and will complete its investigation in 60 days.

Justice Ejaz, Justice Azmat and Justice Ahsan wrote the majority judgment, whereas Justice Gulzar and Justice Khosa in their dissenting note branded Sharif "dishonest" and wanted to remove the Prime Minister as sought by the petitioners.

Upon receipt of the JIT report, "issues relating to the disqualification of the PM may be taken up," says the verdict.

The case filed by various petitioners - Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - sought disqualification of Prime Minister Sharif over his alleged misstatement in his address to the nation on April 5, 2016 and his speech before the National Assembly on May 16, 2016.

The petitioners had claimed that the prime minister lied about the investments made by his children in offshore companies, which led to the acquisition of four apartments in London's upscale Park Lane neighbourhood.

The case was launched on November 3 and the court held 35 hearings before concluding the proceedings on February 23.

The court also ordered that it was important to probe how money was transferred to Qatar.

Sharif had took the plea that London property was bought from the money earned after selling share in a company in Qatar and produced a letter by a Qatari prince.

The London properties owned by Sharif's children are at the center of controversy.

In the verdict, the bench said that the NAB Chairman has failed to cooperate with the investigation, and the Director General FIA has failed to curb white collar crimes, necessitating the formulation of the JIT.

Sharif's supporters hailed the court's decision as a victory of justice.

"We have been vindicated as Prime Minister had last year asked to set up a probe commission to investigate Panama leaks scandal," said Khawaja Asif, defence minister and close ally of Sharif.

TV footage showed Sharif embracing his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif who is chief minister of Punjab province.

His daughter, Maryam Nawaz, tweeted a photo of Sharif, his family and PML-N leaders celebrating the verdict with smiles and embraces.

Sharif is the only Pakistani politician who has the distinction of being the prime minister of the coup-prone country for a record three times.

He had served as the Prime Minister from 1990 to 1993 and from 1997 to 1999. Both of Sharif's first two stints had ended in the third year of his tenure.

Opposition leader and lawyers termed the court's verdict as an indictment of Sharif and demanded his resignation.

"I demand that Sharif should resign immediately as he has lost moral authority to rule the country," Pakistan Tehreek- e-Insaf chief Khan said at a press conference here.

Khan termed the verdict as indictment of Sharif as the bench did not absolve him of the allegations.

He said if Sharif is not ready to step down permanently, he should step aside for 60 days when JIT would probe the money laundering allegations, as ordered by the court.

Khan said the court has rejected the defence of Sharif and his family that their properties in London were bought with clean money.

Former president and Pakistan People's Party leader Asif Ali Zardari condemned the court's decision to not disqualify Sharif as premier and asked him to immediately step down.

"I condemn the judgement and ask Sharif to resign," he said at a press conference. He took a swipe at the court and said that "we never expected any justice from the court."



Zardari, however, hailed the two senior judges who asked Sharif to resign.

He expressed doubts that junior officers working under Sharif cannot deliver justice as part of Joint Investigation Team (JIT) when the highest court failed to deliver justice.

"With the decision of today, not only democracy but also justice itself have been damaged. I also says that people have been made fools through the judgement," said Zardari.

Zardari's close aide Aitzaz Ahsan said the JIT ordered by the court actually was meant to give escape to Sharif.

Earlier, the area around the Supreme Court, located in Islamabad's Red Zone, was put on 'red alert', with around 1,500 police, Rangers and Frontier Constabulary personnel deployed for security arrangements.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Home-grown FMCG major is looking to double its share in the country's food processing market to 20 per cent in the current fiscal.

The yoga guru Ramdev-led firm, which has plans to invest Rs 5,000 crore on expansion of its various verticals, would be putting aside a substantial portion of funds towards opening of new units and ramping up capacity of the existing units.

"The food processing industry is worth around Rs 85,000 crore and Patanjali has a share of around 10 per cent. We would like to double our contribution to 20 per cent this fiscal," Managing Director Acharaya Balkrishna told PTI.

He further said: "In the coming years, we would try to maximum Patanjali's contribution in the food processing industry."



According to Balkrishna, the food processing industry would not only provide good price to farmers but also help in providing quality food products in India.

"Globally, around 90 per cent food is processed. In a country like China around 40 per cent food is processed but in India only 6 per cent of food and vegetables are processed," he said, adding that around 35 per cent food goes waste as it is not being preserved through processing.

He further said the processed food would also help in combating the food adulteration practice which has become quite rampant in the country.

"After we double our processing capacity, the total food processed would be increased to 7 per cent from the existing 6 per cent," he added.

The company is presently using grains as wheat, rice, millet and various other varieties along with pulses.

Patanjali, which crossed Rs 10,000 crore sales in last fiscal, is now having global ambitions.

While speaking at an event organised by industry body FICCI, Balkrishna said the industry players are taking steps towards making Indian food industry an international brand.

" Ltd is committed to go global and fight adulteration in the food industry," he said.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has asked the police to trace the grandson of INA veteran Laxmi Indira Panda, who had come here along with his parents for the felicitation of freedom fighters' families by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 16.

Modi during his visit here for the BJP national executive had on April 16 felicitated family members of 16 freedom fighters - 15 who had participated in the Paika Rebellion of 1817 and one a member of the INA.

Indian National Army Captain Laxmi Indira Panda's son Surendra, daughter-in-law Sujata and grandson Babuli had attended the felicitation at the Raj Bhavan.

While returning home to Jeypore in Koraput district, Panda's family got separated from each other at the busy Bhubaneswar station.

While Surendra took the train to Jeypore and reached home safely, his wife Sujata wrongly boarded a Kolkata-bound train.

She was traced and rescued from Balasore after she was forced to disembark at the station by the ticket checker since she had no valid ticket.

She was spotted roaming near Balasore station on the night of April 17 by a youth Debapriya Samal, who took care of her after coming to know of her credentials. Later with the chief minister's intervention, Balasore district administration sent her back to Jeypore safely today.

There is, however, no trace of her 19-year-old son Babuli yet.

"Worried over the whereabouts Panda's grandson, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has directed the director general of police to locate him and ensure his safety," a communication from the chief minister's office said.

Patnaik feliciated Samal and described him as a "good Samaritan" and presented him a memento in appreciation of his gesture.

"His (Samal) inspiring good work will encourage others to help people in distress," Patnaik said.

Samal said he was fortunate that he could help a family member of Captain Laxmi Indira Panda and at the same time get an opportunity to meet the chief minister.

Meanwhile, the issue took a political turn with ruling BJD and opposition Congress criticising BJP for putting the family members of Captain Laxmi Indira Panda into trouble.

"It was the responsibility of BJP to ensure the safe return of the freedom fighter's family. They forgot it, for which the entire family suffered," said BJD spokesman P K Deb.

Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati, who also hails from Koraput, too criticised BJP for disrespecting the freedom fighter's family.

BJP vice-president Samir Mohanty described the incident as "unfortunate."



Sources said the central PSU Nalco was given the resoponsibility to bring the Panda family.

"They (Panda family) took Rs 6,000 from us to hire a taxi to return to Jeypore. They told us that they would return after some time," said Nalco General Manager Sanjay Mishra when contacted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Pranab Mukherjee today greeted Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on the eve of her birthday.

"India cherishes her rich and multi-faceted partnership with the United Kingdom. Our bilateral cooperation has been expanded and strengthened in recent years and our fruitful engagements and exchanges at the highest political levels have given us much to look forward to," Mukherjee said in his message to the Queen on her birthday tomorrow.

The India-UK Year of Culture, launched by the Queen in London a few weeks ago makes this a particularly special year in the India-UK relationship, he said.

"Your Majesty's personal contribution and commitment to the enhancement of the friendship and mutually beneficial ties between India and the United Kingdom has been invaluable.

"Please accept, Your Majesty, our sincere wishes for your good health and well-being. I take this opportunity to also convey the greetings of the people of India to the friendly people of the United Kingdom on the occasion of 'Queen's Day'," the President said.

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The Gujarat High Court today reprimanded the CBI over the issue of a large number of witnesses in the murder case of RTI activist Amit Jethwa turning hostile.

As many as 105 of the 195 witnesses in the case, in which former BJP MP Dinu Bhoga Solanki is an accused, turned hostile before a special court which is hearing the matter.

"You knew and told the Supreme Court about witnesses turning hostile, but did not inquire with them (the witnesses). You can't compel witnesses to depose but you can conduct an inquiry as to why they have turned hostile," Justice J B Pardiwala told CBI counsel R C Kodekar.

The court made the observation after the CBI submitted before it that the Supreme Court, which had granted bail to Solanki, had been informed about witnesses turning hostile.

The central agency defended itself, saying the petitioner in the case -- the victim's father Bhikhabhai -- has no complaints with regard to the trial going on before the special CBI court.

Kodekar said the CBI had written to the Gujarat DGP regarding the development.

The case will be further heard on April 26.

The CBI, which investigated the case, had earlier told the HC that 105 of the total 195 witnesses in the case turned hostile before the special court and five others complained of intimidation.

Besides Solanki, there are six other accused in the case and all of them are currently out on bail.

The HC is hearing a petition filed by Jethwa's father who said witnesses turned hostile because of the threats given by Solanki and his cousin Shiva (who is also an accused).

After the petition was filed, the HC stayed hearing in the special court.

Bhikhabhai has alleged neither Gujarat Police nor CBI are serious about ensuring protection to witnesses.

The RTI activist was shot dead outside the Gujarat High Court premises on July 20, 2010. It is suspected that Jethwa was targeted for exposing illegal mining activities through numerous RTI applications.

He had filed a PIL in the HC against illegal mining in the Gir forest region.

The HC had asked the CBI to re-investigate the murder case after Jethwa's father expressed dissatisfaction over the probe carried out by the Gujarat police.

In May last year, charges were framed in the special court against Solanki and six others. All have been charged under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy), among others.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Saudi Arabia will donate USD 118 million to Muslim-majority Bangladesh to construct 560 model mosques across the country, a media report said today.

The decision to set up the mosques - categorised as A, B and C, depending on the facilities they would have - followed Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit in June last year to Saudi Arabia, where she met King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

It cited an unnamed official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying that the model mosque project would be launched soon.

The mosques are to be set up in every district, city corporation and upazila.

The mosques will be able to accommodate at least 450,000 men and over 30,000 women for daily prayers, and will have lodging space for more than 2,000 foreign guests and libraries with room for more than 34,000 people.

They will also be outfitted with cultural centres and cyclone centres. The project aims to provide primary education to more than 150,000 children and conduct digital registrations for the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

The Saudi government has also agreed to donate money towards the establishment of a permanent campus for Islamic Arabic University in Keraniganj in Dhaka district, according to the report.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia, one of the world's most prominent Muslim nations, has been offering financial support to several countries to expand Islam.

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North Dakotas department of education is planning to incorporate Native American culture and history into more school curricula, the Bismarck Tribune reports .

Some 10 percent of students in the states public schools are Native American. The state superintendent, Kirsten Baesler, told the Tribune that she hopes having a more culturally relevant curriculum and teachers who are more knowledgeable about Native cultures will help increase those students engagement and attainment in school.

Our belief is that theres a link, Baesler told the Tribune, and that when we are able to become more culturally sensitive and have our teachers have a better understanding of what our Native American students have experienced, or what their culture and beliefs are...theyll be better able to teach them.

North Dakota plans to offer professional development for teachers and has developed lesson plans and units already.

South Dakota, Washington, and Montana all have efforts focused on culturally-responsive programs for Native American students; late last year, Wyomings state legislature also considered a bill that would create an Indian Education for All curriculum.



Development in ethnic studies

The push for more curriculum, resources, and training related to Native American students mirrors the growing movement in schools and districts around the country to offer or require various ethnic studies courses.

Indianas legislature is considering a bill that would require high schools to offer ethnic studies. A Nevada bill would make it a core academic subjec t for high schoolers. And Oregon is considering creating a set of standards for the subject . (Last year, California became the first state to have standards for ethnic studies.) State efforts have bubbled up and failed before: Kansas lawmakers last year rejected a bill to create ethnic studies requirements. But 2017 seems to have more of these efforts percolating.

In Texas, a recent conference on ethnic studies addressed the fact that there were no viable options when the state issued a call for a Mexican-American studies textbook . A professor told the crowd that theres a growing need for classroom resources for ethnic studies courses.

Related :


Self-styled cow protector Sadhvi Kamal Didi has equated one of the accused in the case with revolutionaries Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad, remarks that could trigger a controversy.

A video of the Sadhvi meeting the arrested accused Vipin Yadav when he came to appear for his annual examination at a college in Behror in Alwar district has gone viral.

In the video, the Sadhvi is seen telling Yadav, "The entire country is with you. If we will not do such things in our country than who else will. You need not worry about anything."



Comparing Yadav with the revolutionaries of the freedom movement, she said, "People like Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad and Sukhdev did not do anything wrong."



Sadhvi is the president of Rasthriya Mahila Gau Rakshak Dal, a self-styled cow protection group which operates in Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

She went on to enquire about his health and asked, "Are you getting proper meals and are you well.

When Yadav nodded, she asked him not to hesitate and speak up. "Don't worry.You seem to be scared," she said to which Yadav replied, "No, there no such matter."



The sadhvi is seen advising Yadav to not sit idle in jail, but spread the message of sacrificing lives while protecting cows.

"You must teach everyone in jail to say 'jai gau mata', she said.

When contacted, she confirmed meeting Vipin Yadav at the college.

"I just went to assure him of our support," she said.

Last month, the sadhvi and her supporters had laid siege to a Jaipur hotel over rumours that it was hosting a "beef party".

Earlier this month, a 55-year-old man died at a hospital in Alwar district after allegedly being beaten by a group of cow vigilantes.

The deceased, Pehlu Khan, and four others, including his two sons, were beaten brutally by some locals at Behror who suspected they were smuggling cows.
Palm leaf brooms and fans, patch work bed covers, bead jewellery and crochet lace dresses are some of the eye-catching items at an exhibition of Indian handicraft products here.

The exhibition cum sale by the Scheduled Caste artisans and weavers is on the Handloom Haat at Janpath till April 23. It was organised to coincide with the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar by the Office of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Ministry of Textiles.

Over 40 artisans and weavers from the nook and corner of the country are participating in the event which aims at empowering them.

Bondappally Girija, who comes from the remotest corner of down south Narsapur in Andhra Pradesh, has put up a stall of crochet lace works.

"It has been a great opportunity to sell our products directly to high-end customers," she says.

Girija works for an NGO Lace Knitting and Rural Development Association which employs mostly poor weavers by encouraging them to come out of their homes and earn a livelihood.

"Some items like shoes, table clothes and dresses got good response from the buyers," she says and hopes to participate in more such programmes.

The artisans are from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh besides the national capital.

Other products at the exhibition include embroidery such as Phulkari, Chikankari, Gota Pati and patch work, printed textiles, Chanderi items, paintings such as Madhubani, Gond and miniature, glass work, natural fibre, wooden toys and leather craft.

Sudhakar Khadse deals in palm leaf craft and has come from Sultanabad, a village 300 km away from Bhopal city. He says the exhibition has provided an opportunity for artisans like him to interact with the buyers for entering into long term business and commercial relations.

Makhna Ram has participated in such an exhibition for the first time. Around 50 members of his household are engaged in embroidery work.

He specialises in making patch work bed covers and bed sheets and cushion and pillow covers.

"We sell our products mostly at village fairs and weekly markets. This is the first time we have come to an exhibition of such a magnitude and the response has been quite good," he says.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Seventeen persons were arrested from a flat in south Kolkata's Netaji Nagar area for allegedly running a sex racket, the police said today.

Seven women, including the owner, the manager and five others working as sex workers and ten men were arrested by a team of the Kolkata Police from a flat on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Road during a raid late last night, a senior police officer said.

"The accused were running this sleaze racket behind the veil of an office. We had specific information that something was wrong there and so this raid was conducted," the officer said.

Six customers and four touts were also arrested during the raid, he said.

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Former Union Minister and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor today released a book penned by a 16-year-old girl, at a function here.

Tharoor launched the book titled 'Refuge,' which is a collection ofEnglish poems written by Jasmin Naur Hafiz, a 12th grade student.

Speaking on the occasion, Tharoor mentioned about the sufferings of thousands of people who have become refugees in Syria, due to a civil war in that country.

"I am impressed by the poems of Jasmin.. It is a rare quality in one so young to feel such compassionate concern for the flotsam and jetsam of humanity, the wretched and dispossessed refugees, the homeless, the unfortunates displaced by war and conflicts," Tharoor said in his foreward to the book.

Receiving a copy of the book, former state Chief Secretary, Babu Paul congratulated Jasmin and described her as a child prodigy.

Jasmin is a humanities student at the St Thomas Central School in the city.

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Police today arrested Shifu Sunkriti cult group's founder Sunil Kulkarni in connection with alleged human trafficking and obscenity on social media.

Kulkarni was arrested by Malad police in the wee hours today. He will be produced in a court later in the day, a senior official of the Mumbai crime branch said.

The Bombay High Court had yesterday asked the city police to lodge an FIR against Kulkarni.

The high court gave the directions while hearing a plea by a city couple alleging that their two daughters, aged 23 and 21, were ensnared by the cult group Shifu Sunkriti, which operated on social media, and its founder Kulkarni.

Kulkarni has been booked under various IPC sections including 370 (trafficking of person), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison), 420 (cheating) and 292 (sale of obscene books), the official said.

He has also been charged under IT Act sections 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) and 67(a) (publishing or transmitting in the electronic form any material which contains sexually explicit act or conduct), he said.

The parents of the two girls claimed that they approached the police repeatedly since December last year to seek action against the cult group but in vain.

According to the parents, their daughters left home early this year allegedly under the influence of Kulkarni and his group.

The petition alleged that Shifu Sunkriti was a "sex and drug racket" that contacts young girls on Facebook and other social networking sites.

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Six persons were killed in a fire which broke out in a factory in Sector 11 here following which a magisterial probe has been ordered.

The incident took place yesterday afternoon when 15 employees were inside the factory of Excel Greentech.

Firemen took four hours to douse the fire. Later, six charred bodies were recovered from the spot.

District Magistrate N P Singh and Noida authority have both ordered separate probes into the incident.

"ADM Kumar Vineet will conduct a magisterial inquiry into the incident," District Magistrate NP Singh said.

Chief Executive Officer, Noida Amit Mohan Prasad said, "I have ordered a probe into the incident."



Chief Fire Officer Akshay Sharma said the unit had a biometric lock at the main door which prevented the trapped workers from moving out.

It is believed that the door also got automatically locked at the time of the fire, he said.

Three deceased have been identified so far--marketing manager Indrabhan Choudhary, accountant Vivek Kochhar accountant and HR manager Jasmeet Kaur.

Police said a DNA test would be conducted on all the bodies.

The company had shifted from Ghaziabad to this new building six months ago.

The survivors said the sprinklers installed at factory did not function. The fire is believed to have been caused by a short circuit.

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Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today made a surprise visit to Basistha police station here.

He spent time with the police constables and on duty home guards and exchanged views on issues related to the police station.

Sonowal urged the police personnel to work with more dedication for the service of the people of the area even as he hailed the dedication displayed by the police personnel.

Stressing on making police stations more people friendly, Sonowal who also holds the Home portfolio, took a look at case registers and other records of the police station and said that the government is taking several steps for making the police stations smart and modern.

He also informed that his government would also fill up the vacancies and increase the number of police constables in different police stations.

Sonowal asked the officers and other personnel of Basistha police station to keep a close vigil on the areas coming under their purview and prepare a crime graph and develop a strategy to negotiate with crimes of different sorts.

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Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will arrive here on April 25 on a five-day visit during which he will hold talks with PM Narendra Modi to further expand ties in a range of areas and find a solution to the vexed fishermen issue.

It will be Wickremesinghe's working visit and both he and Modi will hold talks on April 26.

"The prime minister will have a luncheon meeting with Ranil Wickremesinghe on April 26," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Road Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari will call on the visiting dignitary.

Baglay said after his official engagements here, the Sri Lankan prime minister will be making a private visit outside the capital.

Asked about Modi's visit to Sri Lanka, the spokesperson said both sides are working on it.

"We have received an invitation and both sides are working on it," he said.

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A city court denied anticipatory bail today to co-promoter Sachit Singhi of online home stay aggregator Stayzilla, facing a cheating case along with his firm's CEO Yogendra Vasupal.

Principal Sessions Judge Nazeema Banu dismissed Singhi's bail plea after his counsel refused to accede to the prosecution's suggestion that the bail may be granted to him on a bond of Rs 60 lakh.

City Public Prosecutor M L Jegan pointed out that first accused and Stayzilla CEO Yogendra Vasupal, arrested in the case, had been granted bail by the Madras High Court on the condition that he furnish a personal bond of Rs 40 lakh.

The prosecution would not have any objection to the grant of anticipatory bail to Singhi if he provided a personal bond of Rs 60 lakh, he said.

The defence counsel, however, did not agree to the suggestion, following which the judge dismissed the petition.

Vasupal and Singhi have been accused of defrauding city-based advertising firm Jigsaw Advertising and Solutions to the tune of about Rs 1.68 crore for services it had rendered since last year.

Vasupal was arrested on March 14 while Singhi was stated to be absconding.

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The Manchester, N.H., schools have agreed to pay $150,000 to the family of an immigrant student to settle a lawsuit alleging discrimination and retaliation for filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Educations office for civil rights.

A lawsuit filed in federal court last November by EdLaw New England alleges that the district denied the student his constitutional and statutory rights to equal access to public education, after he was accused of assaulting a student in 2014.

The district expelled the student, then an 8th-grader, for allegedly assaulting another student.

After the expulsion, his familyimmigrants from South Sudanfiled a complaint with the federal government alleging that the district conducted all the disciplinary hearings in English, a language that they did not fully understand and failed to provide an interpreter or translated documents for the hearings.

The lawsuit also alleged that the student faced frequent discrimination and harassment as a part of a campaign of retaliatory acts after the federal government informed the school district that it was under investigation of the familys initial complaint. The EdLaw lawyers alleged that, because of the harassment, the student was denied his right to equal access to public education.

The district and law group announced the settlement this week. Heres a copy of the statement of settlement obtained by the New Hampshire Union Leader :
Suspected ISIS terrorist, Muzammil, who was nabbed from Jalandhar in Punjab today, had been living there for more than two-and-a-half years and working as a tailor in a boutique, a senior police official said.

Muzammil was among the suspected ISIS terrorists who were arrested from various places today for in a major multi-state operation.

Muzammil was arrested from Sant Nagar locality in Jalandhar, Police Commissioner P K Sinha said over the phone.

The suspect, said to be in his 20s had been staying in Jalandhar for the past two-and-a-half years to three years, Sinha said.

He said that the suspect was a tailor working in a boutique in Jalandhar.

"His father lives in Bholath area near Kapurthala and makes flower pots. Muzammil was active over internet, mainly Facebook. He came in contact with other radicalised people. He is a radicalised youth," ," Sinha told PTI.

Security agencies today claimed to have averted a major terror attack as 10 suspected ISIS activists were held today in a major multi-state operation.

The joint operation was carried out by the police teams of Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, in which four suspected terrorists belonging to the ISIS Khorasan module were arrested and six others were detained, officials said.

Apart from Jalandhar, the arrests were made during raids this morning in Mumbra (Maharashtra), Narkatiaganj (Bihar), and Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar (both in Uttar Pradesh), the officials added.

Inspector General of the UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) Aseem Arun, in a statement in Noida, said the accused were planning a major terror attack in the country.

Important documents relating to the ISIS were seized from them, Arun claimed.

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Gui Minhai, a Chinese-born scholar and book publisher has been honoured by a Swedish press rights group for his struggle for freedom of speech in his native country.

"Gui Minhai has stood up for press freedom and challenged the regime's attempt to scare (dissidents) to silence," the club said on Wednesday.

Called Publicistklubben in Swedish, the organisation says it safeguards freedom of speech and promotes debate.

Each year, it bestows an award for reporters and publishers in memory of Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist and human rights activist.

Minhai is a 52-year-old Swedish citizen and a Hong Kong publisher who wrote political gossip books about Chinese leaders often from the Chinese Communist Party.

He was kidnapped in 2015 while on vacation in Thailand and has been detained at an undisclosed location in China ever since.

In 2016, Minhai appeared on Chinese television and was purportedly forced to confess a traffic violation that he "perhaps even didn't commit," Publicistklubben said in a statement.

"The regime's scandalous treatment of Minhai must be forcefully condemned and given much greater attention," said Bjorn Hager, chairman of Publicistklubben.

Contacted by AFP in Beijing, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said said he had "no interest in commenting on the activities of NGOs".

In 2016, the organisation also honoured former editor- in-chief of the Turkish Cumhuriyet daily, Can Dundar and the paper's Ankara chief Erdem Gul.

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Senior AIADMK leader and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai today met Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao amidst hectic political developments in the state concerning the ruling party.

Rajbhavan sources said that Thambidurai had sought an appointment with the Governor following which the meeting took place.

The sources, however, did not divulge further details.

The meeting assumes significance as it comes in the wake of changing dynamics in the ruling AIADMK where ministers in the V K Sasikala faction had revolted against their leader TTV Dhinakaran, deciding to keep his family away from the party.

They had also initiated the modalities of merging their faction headed by Chief Minister K Palaniswami with the other led by former Chief Minister O Pannerselvam.

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Senior AIADMK leaders M Thambidurai and D Jayakumar today separately called on Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, but insisted their meetings were not political.

Thambidurai, also the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, said Rao was his "friend" and described the meeting as a "courtesy call," while Finance Minister Jayakumar, who also holds Fisheries portfolio, discussed the issue of Vice-Chancellor's appointment to the Tamil Nadu Fisheries University.

"There is no political significance in the meeting. We did not speak politics at all," Thambidurai said when asked if he 'apprised' the Governor of the ongoing rumblings in the ruling AIADMK.

Thambidurai said Rao has been his friend since the former was a minister in the AB Vajpayee cabinet in 1998-99.

"It was a courtesy call," Thambidurai said, adding, he used to meet Rao, also Governor of Maharashtra, whenever he visited Mumbai.

Thambidurai's meeting with the Governor assumes significance as it came in the wake of changing dynamics in the ruling AIADMK where ministers in the V K Sasikala faction had revolted against their leader TTV Dhinakaran, deciding to keep his family away from the party.

They had also initiated the modalities of merging their faction headed by Chief Minister K Palaniswami with the other led by former Chief Minister O Pannerselvam.

After meeting the Governor, Jayakumar said it was an official one.

"He is the Chancellor of the Fisheries University and I'm the Pro-Chancellor being the Fisheries Minister. I discussed with him the appointment of a V-C for the university," he said.

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A plea was today moved in the Delhi High Court seeking direction to the Centre that triple 'talaq' or polygamy should not be applicable to Hindu women who are married to Muslim men.

The petition which is likely to come up for hearing before a bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal demands to shed limelight on the plight of Hindu girls affected by triple talaq.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by advocate Vijay Shukla sought directions to the Centre for making registration of inter-caste marriages compulsory under the Special Marriage Act or Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act with a clause on imposition of penalty in case an inter-caste marriage is not registered.

The PIL said that since the 'nikahnaama' (marriage contract) is written in Urdu, Hindu women fail to understand provisions related to triple 'talaq' or polygamy.

The Muslim cleric should explain the provisions of the 'nikahnaama' pertaining to summary divorce and polygamy to the Hindu women in their mother tongue, the petitioner urged the court.

The petition said that triple 'talaq' or polygamy should not be applicable to Hindu women who are married to Muslim men.

The petitioner said thatsince there is no provision of registration of marriage in Muslim law, therefore, time has now come for a direction to the Union of India to make registration of Inter-caste marriages compulsory either in Special Marriage Act or in Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act.

The PIL said the issue is serious and of public importance as the plight of many Hindu girls married to Muslim boys is involved, due to the danger of triple talaq by their Muslim husbands or of another marriage by the men.

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President Donald Trump says today's fatal shooting in Paris "looks like another terrorist attack."



Paris police say a gunman has killed a police officer and wounded another before being killed himself in an attack on the Champs-Elysees shopping district.

It was unclear how Trump concluded that terrorism may have been a factor. Paris police haVE yet to announce a motive,



Trump is also offering condolences from the US to the people of France.

He calls the attack a "terrible thing" and says "it never ends." He says people must be strong and vigilant.

The attack came three days before the first round of balloting in France's presidential election.

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Donald Trump will attend a series of key summits in Asia in November, his vice president said today, adding it was a sign of America's "unwavering commitment" to the region.

The US president will go to the US-ASEAN and East Asia meetings in the Philippines, as well as a gathering of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group in Vietnam, Vice President Mike Pence said.

Former president Barack Obama, who had championed a "pivot to Asia", was a frequent visitor to the Asia-Pacific as he sought to refocus US foreign policy on the region to counter growing Chinese influence.

Trump's decision to attend the meetings could come as a surprise to some, given his fiery "America first" rhetoric and his decision to abandon a Pacific trade pact which was the economic plank of the pivot.

The president's attendance at the meetings was "a sign, I hope to all, of our firm and unwavering commitment to build on the strong foundations that we already share", Pence said during a visit to Indonesia.

The announcement came as Pence visited the Jakarta headquarters of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and met representatives of the bloc.

The East Asia Summit groups 18 countries including ASEAN member states, the US, Russia and China. APEC brings together 21 member states from either side of the Pacific.

It was the latest signal on Pence's tour of Asia that the Trump administration is seeking to calm nerves after the president's often combative rhetoric unsettled allies.

During stops in South Korea and Japan, Pence played down protectionist declarations and reaffirmed US treaty commitments to the security of the two countries as tensions rise over North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes.

Pence will Friday depart Indonesia for Australia.

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Swiss bank UBS today opened a 1,200-seat support centre on the outskirts of the financial capital to help its global businesses.

It has hired 300 employees to help the group's technology function primarily and will gradually ramp up the number, the bank said in a statement, without disclosing the investment in the facility.

The facility will provide knowledge process services, including research and analytics, business process services, including transaction and data processing, and IT infra support to businesses all over the world.

This is the second such centre for UBS in the country, after a similar one in Pune, the statement added.

"Business solutions centers are central to our ambition to offer competitive solutions to our clients while focusing on operational excellence," Axel P Lehmann, group chief operating officer said.

"By expanding our global footprint here, we are also underscoring UBS's strong commitment to this market," Lehmann said further.

The facility at Airoli in the satellite city of Navi Mumbai was inaugurated by Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

UBS operates similar centres in China, Poland and the US.

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today urged all sides in Venezuela to take steps to ease tensions, prevent further clashes and resume dialogue to pull the country out of political crisis.

"We call for concrete gestures from all parties to reduce polarization and create the necessary conditions to address the country's challenges for the benefit of the Venezuelan people," said Guterres in a statement.

Three people died in clashes on Wednesday between security forces and demonstrators demanding that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro step down. Eight have died overall in three weeks of unrest.

"We are concerned about the latest developments in Venezuela and urge that all efforts be made to lower tensions and prevent further clashes," said Guterres.

"We call on the government of Venezuela and the opposition to engage sincerely to reactivate dialogue efforts, especially around the critical issues that they had already agreed to place on the agenda, namely the balance of power among branches of the state, the electoral calendar, human rights, truth and justice and the socioeconomic situation.

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After BJP stormed to power in Uttar Pradesh, ending a 15-year hiatus, the party's state executive will meet here from May 1 to thank voters for the overwhelming support, besides taking up other issues.

BJP national President Amit Shah will address the concluding session of the two-day meeting, party's state unit spokesman Shalabh Mani Tripathi told PTI here.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union ministers from the state, MPs and state cabinet ministers will attend the meet that will be held at the Scientific Convention Centre in the old city here.

The state executive members will be informed in detail about resolutions passed in the BJP's recent national executive meeting in Bhubaneshwar, he said.

Even as Adityanath government has already started an exercise for taking opinions of Muslim women on triple talaq, the issue could also come up in the meet, a senior leader said.

He said the party might pass a resolution to thank people of the state for extending massive support to it in the Assembly elections.

The meeting could also take a pledge to fulfil promises made in 'Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra' (manifesto).

After the state executive, meetings of regional and district units will be organised across the state on May 5, 6 and 7.

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When I was reporting last month on the years-long political sparring in Kansas over education funding, Dave Trabert, the president of the Kansas Policy Institute, accused Kansas school districts of taking Title I money and money the state has set aside to close that states jarring achievement gap and instead spending it on wealthy white students.

It was an accusation that the states superintendents and school board members have been vigorously rebutting with research of their own.

But soon, legislators and school district officials will have a new tool to use when debating school funding when the Every Student Succeeds Act goes into full effect later this year.

I spent last week writing about a little-known but tricky part of the Every Student Succeeds Act that could have outsized implications along those lines, according to several financial gurus I keep in touch with.

On page 50, Section 1111 of the law , theres the requirement that states report the per-pupil expenditures of federal, state, and local funds, including actual personnel expenditures and actual nonpersonnel expenditures of Federal, State, and local funds, disaggregated by source of funds, for each local educational agency and each school in the state for the preceding fiscal year.

At first glance, I couldnt see what the big deal was. Average per-pupil spending is regularly tossed around in the perennial political fights over how much education costs.

But, as Marguerite Roza, a school finance professor at Georgetown University, pointed out to me, school-by-school spending has long been a sort of black boxshe knows that from having audited several districts budgets to figure out their spending down to that level of detail.

In a pape r, Roza and Cory Edmonds (who I worked with as a reporter in Memphis for several years) wrote in 2014, they explain the evolving way districts have distributed money to schools and argue that only a portion of district funds follow students and their financial needs.

From the paper:

Historically, districts used a staffing formula to assign fixed numbers and types of staff to each school, then budgeted school resources based on staff salaries. Though many districts still use the staffing formula approach, growing numbers of big-city districts are shifting away from allocating resources based on staffing and toward funding schools based on the number and kinds of students they serve.

Roza has found that disparities are exacerbated because of the sometimes haphazard way districts distribute funding between their schools. Teachers with more years of experience often are crowded into schools with fewer poor students; some parent groups advocate for extra janitors and after-school programs; and some schools may find other streams of revenue.

Also, in the April 19 issue of Education Week is a report by my colleague Francisco Vara-Orta who found that, in Wisconsin, after state officials cut almost $1 billion from its education budget, parents (particularly those at the states wealthier schools) poured millions of dollars into their schools.

In complying with the new federal law, states now are busy trying to figure out how to parse out, among other things, school transportation, school lunch costs, teacher distribution, PTA contributions, and grants in a comprehensible way for school officials and the public alike.

More than a quarter of Kansas students arent meeting basic reading and math standards, according to that states Supreme Court, which ruled its funding formula inadequate earlier this year. That number includes half the states black students and a third of the states Hispanic students. As political negotiations over the states next funding formula roil on, advocates for this new ESSA law argue that school-level spending would show whether majority black, Latino and poor schools are getting an equitable or, in some cases, more, money than neighboring wealthy white schools.

Dont miss another State EdWatch post. Sign up here to get news alerts in your email inbox. And make sure to follow @StateEdWatch on Twitter for the latest news from state K-12 policy and politics.
The United States is "concerned" about the situation in Venezuela, where deadly clashes broke out in mass protests against President Nicolas Maduro, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

"We are concerned that the government of Maduro is violating its own constitution and not allowing the opposition to have their voices heard nor allowing them to organize in a way that expresses the views of the Venezuelan people," he told reporters yesterday.

"Yes, we are concerned about that situation. We're watching it closely."



Tillerson said the United States was working with the Organization of American States to express these concerns to Venezuela.

At least two people were fatally shot at yesterday's protests in Venezuela, according to a Caracas hospital and prosecutors.

Violence erupted when thousands of opposition protesters tried to march on central Caracas, where red-clad Maduro supporters were massed for a counter-demonstration.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says the Pentagon will not disclose how much damage occurred when the military used its most powerful non-nuclear bomb to strike an Islamic State stronghold in Afghanistan.

The retired four-star Marine general says the Pentagon learned from its Vietnam war experience that it doesn't pay to judge the success of battlefield action in terms of the number of enemy forces killed. It was a reference to the so-called body count that was publicly exaggerated in Vietnam.

Instead, he says the April 13 use of the so-called "mother of all bombs" shows the US doing "what was necessary to break ISIS," whether in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria or elsewhere.

Mattis was asked about the bombing by journalists traveling with him today to Tel Aviv.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US Ambassador Nikki Haley is accusing Iran and its ally Hezbollah of conspiring to destabilize the Middle East a charge "categorically" rejected by Iran's UN envoy as propaganda perpetrated by Israel and others in the region.

Haley is the current Security Council president and she asked members for this month's meeting on "The situation in the Middle East including the Palestinian Question" to focus on factors causing conflicts across the region instead of engaging in what she called routine "Israel bashing."



Her targets at yesterday's meeting, where over 50 countries spoke, were Iran and Hezbollah, which she also accused of committing "terrorist attacks across the region" for decades.

But only one of the 14 other council members mentioned Iran while they all talked about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Syria.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vice President Hamid Ansari will embark on a five-day visit to Armenia and Poland from April 24 during which he will hold talks with the top leaders of the two countries on a wide range of issues.

On the first leg of his visit, Ansari will be in Armenia till April 26. He will accompanied by his wife Salma Ansari, Union Minister of State for Small, Medium & Micro Industries Giriraj Singh, MPs Sitaram Yechury, D P Tripathi, Vivek Tankha and Thupstan Chhewang and senior officials besides media personnel.

In Armenian capital Yerevan, Ansari will hold discussions with that country's president, the prime minister and the foreign minister.

"The visit intends to further strengthen the cordial relation between the two countries, further develop cooperation and partnership on a wide range of issues of shared common interest," MEA Secretary (East) Preeti Saran told reporters.

Ansari will also address students and the staff of the Yerevan University.

"This is 25th anniversary of diplomatic relationship with Armenia and such high level visits will further relationships between the countries," Saran said.

From Armenia, Ansari will reach Warsaw on April 26 on a three-day visit to Poland.

"India has close ties with Poland and our strong economic ties starts from 1990. Indian investments in Poland amount to around USD 3 billion. India sees Poland as an emerging economic power. Our trade has gone 25 per cent in just one year," Saran said.

Asked whether NSG membership issue will be discussed during the visit, she said that Poland has been very supportive on this issue.

"We are very appreciative of the country," she said, adding "on the political side, India and Poland engage in strengthening cooperation on multi-level engagement including the United Nations."



In Warsaw, Ansari will hold discussions with the Polish president, the prime minister and the speaker of the Senate.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US Vice President Mike Pence praised Indonesia's democracy and moderate form of Islam today alongside the president of the world's most populous Muslim nation, reinforcing his message with a visit to the region's largest mosque.

Pence's comments, though routine, had significance for Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who a day earlier suffered a serious political setback when a political ally was defeated by Islamic conservatives in the election for Jakarta governor.

The divisive campaign undermined the image of Indonesia abroad as a generally tolerant Muslim nation.

Indonesia is the latest stop on an Asian tour by Pence that aims to reaffirm traditional US alliances at a time when Donald Trump's presidency has raised questions about the strength of the US commitment to the region.

Pence said at a joint conference with Jokowi that the US wants to strengthen its strategic partnership with Indonesia. In brief comments, Jokowi said they agreed to boost cooperation.

The vice president praised Indonesia for its moderate form of Islam and said the two countries would continue to cooperate on combating terrorism.

"As the second- and third-largest democracies in the world, our two countries share many common values including freedom, the rule of law, human rights and religious diversity," Pence said.

"The United States is proud to partner with Indonesia. It promotes and protects these values."



The vice president added: "Indonesia's tradition of moderate Islam frankly is an inspiration to the world and we commend you and your people. In your nation as in mine, religion unifies, it doesn't divide."



But Pence foreshadowed some reworking of commercial and economic ties, saying that the US seeks a free and fair relationship that helps job creation and economic growth for both sides. He said that US exporters should face a level playing field and the relationship should be "win-win."



Trump assailed the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal during his 2016 campaign and announced shortly after his inauguration that the US would withdraw from the Pacific Rim- based TPP, which now includes 11 countries from Chile to New Zealand.

Pence has sought to reassure allies in the region that the US is still committed to trade and economic ties despite Trump's decision on TPP.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a first, scientists have genetically modified a jewel wasp to have red eyes, using a novel gene editing technology.

The wasps were created to prove that CRISPR gene-slicing technology can be used successfully on the tiny parasitic jewel wasps.

The advance provides scientists a new way to study some of the wasp's interesting biology, such as how males can convert all their progeny into males by using selfish genetic elements.

No one knows how that selfish genetic element in some male wasps "can somehow kill the female embryos and create only males," said Omar Akbari, an assistant professor at University of California, Riverside in the US.

"To understand that, we need to pursue their PSR (paternal sex ratio) chromosomes, perhaps by mutating regions of the PSR chromosome to determine which genes are essential for its functionality," said Akbari.

The new CRISPR technology allows scientists to inject components like RNA and proteins into an organism with instructions to find, cut and mutate a specific piece of DNA.

The researchers can see how disrupting that DNA affects the organism.

The goal was to better understand the biology of wasps and other insects to find a way to control insects that destroy crops or spread diseases like malaria.

The first step was figuring out how to use the CRISPR technology in such a small organism, something no one had ever done before, in large part because the work is daunting, Akbari said.

This is because jewel wasps lay their tiny eggs inside a blowfly pupa, which had to be peeled back to expose the teensy eggs.

In the case of mutant wasps, the team decided to slice the genes that control the colour of the wasp's normally black eyes.

"We wanted to target a gene that would be obvious, and we knew from previous studies that if the gene for eye pigmentation was knocked out, they would have red eyes, so this seemed like a good target for gene disruption," Akbari said.

"Big beautiful red eyes are something you would not miss," he said.

"You have to use a very-very fine needle and a microscope and individually inject hundred to thousands of embryos, but in the end, we developed a protocol that can be used to cut the DNA in this organism and we showed that it works," said Akbari.

The cuts in the DNA created a mutant wasp with heritable traits, which means those red eyes will be passed down to all their offspring in the future - an important quality for researchers who are looking for a stable line of insects to study.

The research was published in journal Scientific Reports.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinese PresidentXi Jinping today vowed to take efforts to "promote" the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road under which China plans to make massive investments in various ports around the world, including the Indian Ocean.

Xi said the Belt and Road Initiative, the official name for the multi-billion dollar Silk Road projects, has been widely recognised in international society since it was put forward which shows that it accords with the will of the people.

"We will promote China's great opening up and development under the 'Belt and Road' framework, and further promote the realisation of the 'two centenary goals,' and the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," he said while visiting the Tieshan Port in Guangxi's Beihai City.

China will hold a Silk Road Summit on May 14-15 here in which Presidents and Prime Ministers from 28 countries will take part.

16 Foreign Ministers and Vice Ministers, 190 officials of 92 countries will take part in thesummitwhich would discuss various aspect of the project, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday.

He said India too sending a representative.

India has objected to the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, (CPEC) which is part of the Silk Road.

The One Belt One Road (OBOR), includes amazeof connectivity projects connecting China with Euro Asia besides the neighbourhood.

It includes 21st century maritime silk road to connect China with different ports in the world as well as the CPEC and the BCIM.

While India has reservations over the maritime silk road as it impacts the Indian Ocean which is pivotal for India's security interests, it has backed the Bangladesh China India Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor and actively supports it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 21-year-old was hacked to death by two men in powerloom town of Bhiwandi here, Thane Police said today.

According to police, victim Prem Mhatre of Anjurgaon was in love with his cousin sister. Accused Mandar Tare, 29 and Nilesh Mhatre, 25, who happen to be close to the girl were against this relationship and objected to it.

However, when Prem decided to continue with the alleged love affair, the duo planned to eliminate him, they said.

Mhatre was killed on April 18 with knives and sharp weapons after the accused called him to Sidhnath Complex under some pretext here.

Police have registered an offence under sections 302 of the IPC and also Sections 4 and 25 of the Arms Act besides section 37(1), 135 of the BP Act. Narpoli police under Bhiwandi division are carrying out further investigations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Paris bankers and brokers will be on call, ready to scoot to the office as results of the first round of the roller-coaster French presidential election start to dribble in this Sunday.

Their workload will depend on the outcome of the tight race that could potentially see two extremes -- the far right Marine Le Pen and the communist-backed leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon -- make it to the second round.

But the preparations underway already reflect the bankers' experience in facing market volatility following Britain's shock vote to leave the European Union and US presidential elections last year.

Societe Generale said it would be holding a conference call on the evening of Sunday, April 23 with some of its economists and strategists to discuss the first round results.

Traders and financial analysts in some of the world's biggest investment firms in London will also be on standby for advising clients on Sunday evening and also primed for pre-dawn starts on Monday. However those contacted by said they would leave actual overnight trading in the euro or any cash bond or equity transactions to their Asia operations.

First exit polls are expected at around 1800 GMT on Sunday or 2000 Paris time.

In Paris, French asset manager La Francaise with 60 billion euros ($64 billion) under management has a special task force in place for the election that will be on call or could even meet in the office on Sunday evening to decide on what to advise clients on Monday.

"In any case, the task force will meet early on Monday ... and have a strong shot of coffee in order to brief teams," one of the asset manager's staff said.

One reason, brokerage Nomura said, is that it will be the April 23 vote that gives investors "the most information" as to who will be the next president after the may run-off.

"Jean-Luc Melenchon has seen such a rise in support that it is now a true four-way race," Nomura's forex strategists said.

"The gaps between candidates in the first round are close to the margins of error, while in the second they are far apart and in the 'safe zone' polling numbers."

The latest polls show centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Le Pen narrowly beating other candidates in the first round, followed by the conservative Francois Fillon and far-left Melenchon.

Melenchon proposes a 100-billion-euro economic stimulus plan funded by government borrowing, corporate nationalisation in some sectors, devaluation of the euro currency, withdrawal from NATO and possible exit from the European Union.

His sudden rise in opinion surveys is worrying many investors, because various poll scenarios show he could win should he reach the second round.

Le Pen does not off much solace. She plans to leave the euro currency and hold a vote on European Union membership.

"I will be ready on Sunday-Monday, but my hope is that there will be no disastrous scenario and I won't have to work," a London-based analyst covering French banks said.

Hedging

Some investment banks and asset managers have already reduced and hedged their exposure to assets that could bear the brunt of volatility, depending on the outcome of the elections.

"As for fixed income investors, they have also already sold out, because there was a buyer -- the (European Central Bank) , which bought hundreds of billions of euros (of debt). There is no big reason to have a long position on France," said Jean-Francois Legoux, a strategist at UBS Global Asset Management, based in Paris.

Forex brokerage Saxo Bank in Paris said it tried to make sure all clients were aware of potential risks, while offering all the money management tools so that they don't have a significant exposure with no protection in the markets.

"In any event, just as with Brexit, any spasm is bound to be very short-lived," one Geneva-based trader said.
By Jason Lange and David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration had a simple but stark message for world financial leaders who gathered in Washington on Thursday amid worries about rising U.S. protectionism: fair trade means tit-for-tat tariffs.

Speaking to bankers just hours after the formal start of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings, White House National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn said Washington was prepared to get tougher in the trade arena.

"If you want to insist on having a tariff on a product - which we prefer you not - the president believes that we should treat you in a reciprocal fashion and that we should tax your product coming into the United States," Cohn said. "That is free, that is open, and that is fair."

Asked at the Institute of International Finance about his message for his international counterparts, Cohn said the United States doesn't want to be "taken advantage of" any more.

"The message is simple. We care about the United States of America, we care about economic prosperity, we care about economic growth, we care about trade, we care about being treated fairly," he said.

Earlier at the White House, President Donald Trump signed a directive to study whether steel imports into the United States should be restricted for national security reasons under a law passed in 1962.

Such moves, including a review of "Buy American" rules launched earlier this week, have raised concerns that the Trump administration is looking outside the World Trade Organization for remedies to restrict U.S. imports.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told reporters on Thursday that more needed to be done to make the global trading system fairer and expressed a willingness to work with Trump to do just that.

In a conference, Lagarde said there was a need to improve the WTO dispute settlement rules as well as reduce government subsidies for industry and tackle other trade distortions.

She said the IMF would do its part in working to cut government subsidies for industry and other trade practices that limit competition, but said "protectionist measures" needed to be avoided.

"From the various contacts that I've had with the (Trump) administration so far, I have every reason to believe that we will make progress, that we will cooperate all together in order to support and indeed improve the system as we have it," Lagarde said.

The IMF also has expressed concerns about the Trump administration's plan to cut taxes, releasing reports on Wednesday that said such a move could fuel financial risk-taking and increase public debt.

Appearing alongside Cohn, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would unveil the tax plan "soon, very soon," and predicted it would be passed by Congress this year.

But he gave few details and shed no light on whether the plan would include a controversial border-tax component.

"It will be sweeping, it will be significant and it will create a lot of economic growth," Mnuchin said. "The plan will pay for itself with growth."

Separately, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim also put in a plug for free trade and said he was "encouraged" by his engagement so far with Trump. But he added that he would not reduce the multilateral lender's commitment to trade or to financing alternative energy projects.

"The science of climate change didn't change with any particular election, and I don't see that it will," Kim said at a conference. "We have to be an evidence-based organisation."

'LITTLE LEVERAGE'

The IMF and World Bank meetings come about a month after Mnuchin insisted that an anti-protectionism pledge be dropped from a Group of 20 communique issued in Baden-Baden, Germany.

Eswar Prasad, former head of the IMF's China department, said the Trump administration may choose to simply ignore the advice of the IMF and other institutions.

"The IMF has little leverage since its limited toolkit of analysis-based advice, persuasion, and peer pressure is unlikely to have much of an impact on this administration's policies," said Prasad, now an international trade professor at Cornell University.

Mnuchin's decision against naming China a currency manipulator last week removed one concern for the IMF ahead of the meetings.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Additional reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Paul Simao)

(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.)
By James E. Ford

There are some moments as a teacher that just never leave you. They remain burned into memory like still photos. These images have stories that all elicit their own emotions, varying widely from invigorating and awe-inspiring to sad and demoralizing. Amid news that a DACA protected student was just deported , I am reminded of one of the single bravest acts performed by one of my students: disclosing his undocumented status to the entire class.

The lesson was part of my unit on Ancient Rome, with a specific focus on the evolution of the republic. We paused to consider a society where wealthy, landowning aristocrats (patricians) possessed nearly all the power, while the poor, oppressed commoners (plebeians) remained powerless. In the early republic the plebeians produced the food and did all of the hard labor on which the economy depended. Even though institutional power remained firmly in the hands the patricians, the society could not function without the plebeians. This contradiction was not lost on students.

I asked, Can you see any similarities in modern society? Are they any groups in America like the plebeians? Without skipping a beat, students nearly unanimously identified immigrants. For a school with a large immigrant population and over 40 different countries represented in the student body, their response was a no-brainer.

At that moment a particularly studious and mild-mannered young man raised his hand and said, Uh, Mr. Ford, I have something to say that I havent told anyone. He paused for a moment, then continued, I am undocumented. My student explained that he arrived with his parents from Mexico when he was too young to remember. He shared how he lived daily with the fear of being deported, despite internally feeling as American as anyone else.

We suspended the lesson at that moment. Sometimes students are more important than content. His fellow classmates said they admired him for his courage, offering words

of support and sharing similar stories. I was proud of him, but also of my students, who demonstrated a level of empathy that we as educators actively seek in education. He has since taken advantage of the DACA program and graduated high school.

That was nearly four years ago.

Today there is a new administration and a new reality at hand. Young people all over the countrymuch like my former studentare living with an increased level of fear of deportation and family disintegration. Schools are no longer bastions of safety and security. Many undocumented students have chosen not to attend school to avoid risk of being detained by an emboldened Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Teachers are often our students fiercest advocates; we go to great lengths to secure their path to prosperity and self-sufficiency. As I work for my kids in the classroom, I remember something I learned at an Institute for Educational Leadership conference some years back: You cannot fight for the rights of the children while inside of the classroom and be silent about their rights once they leave. Those words ring louder now than before.

Equity is more than a nine-to-five experience where you punch the clock at days end. Its bigger than that. It is natural for teachers to desire to remain neutral in times of political discord, but we must make a clarion call for everyone to do right by our students and give voice to their needs, hopes, fears and desires. Let our voices be counted among the number of those advocating for humane and fair treatment of the many Dreamers and families whose road to success goes through our classroom. Fighting for students is more than just a job, its a way of life.

James E. Ford is the 2015 North Carolina State Teacher of the Year and a member of the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY).

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The Editorial/Content team at Business Standard has not contributed to writing or editing these articles.

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Months after NR Krishnamurthy advised Infosys Board to refrain from hefty pay for the top executives, the IT company has been dragged to an arbitral tribunal by its former CFO Rajiv Bansal over promised severance package. The Times of India reported that Rajiv Bansal is fighting for the portion of his controversial severance pay that Infosys has held back

Rajiv Bansal, who left Infosys in 2015, was promised to pay Rs 17.38 crore in severance, equalling 24 months of pay. However, Infosys's co-founder NR Krishnamurthy slammed the Infosys Board's decision and its falling governance standard.

Murthy termed the severance pay as 'hush money' and said: "Providing huge severance pay (with 100 per cent variable) to some departing employees while giving only 80 per cent variable for employees in the company is one such example. Such payments raise doubts whether the company is using such payments as hush money to hide something ."

In an interview to Economic Times, Murthy said that such 'generosity' - severance pay - points to utter arrogance towards honest employees, total lack of fiduciary responsibility, and an unbelievable lack of application of mind.

Murthy was not the only one who found severance pay against the company policy, Infosys's former Chief Financial Officer Mohandas Pai raised the similar concern and said: "The founders who have built the company and created a value system have raised serious issues. As far as I know, no CFO in India has got a 24-month separation."

It seems, the Infosys Board came under pressure and paid only Rs 5 crore to Rajiv Bansal. Now, Bansal has invoked his rights to an arbitral tribunal for the remaining pay. However, the Infosys had recently issed a press statement saying, "Certain payments to Rajiv under the agreement have been suspended pending certain clarifications with regard to such rights and obligations."

The first arbitration meeting is scheduled in May. Former Supreme Court judge RV Raveendran has been appointed sole arbitrator in the case, the TOI report said.

In last couple of months, Murthy has shot multiple open letters flagging several governance issues at Infosys. It all started with the differences that erupted between the promoters of Infosys and the Board over Rs 49 crore package of CEO Vishal Sikka and the severance packages given out to two top executives.

Vishal Sikka, the first non-founder CEO of Infosys, drew an annual pay package during 2015-16 that worked out to a whopping Rs 49 crore which was much higher than his counterparts in other Indian IT companies. And, this sparked a debate over corporate governance and transparency at Infosys.

While the then TCS chief N. Chandrasekaran was paid a pay packet of Rs 25.6 crore by the Tata Group for 2015-16, Wipro CEO Abidali Neemuchwala's annual pay was Rs 12 crore.
Alphabet Inc, parent company of Google, is soon planning on bringing in an ad-blocking feature in its Chrome web browser on its smartphone and desktop version, reported Wall Street Journal.



This ad-blocking feature will filter out online ads that disrupt user experiences which can be activated by default within the Chrome browser.



The feature is expected to be announced in a few weeks.



However, Alphabet Inc is still weighing in on the plan which they might even take forward, people familiar with the matter told WSJ.



The ad-block comes at a cross road with Google's reliance on online advertising revenue, reports added.



Google is already a part of a program called Acceptable Ads which develops the popular ad-blocking tool Adblock Plus which means some of Google's advertising are allowed to pass through Adblock Plus's filters.



But since ad-blocking tools are on the rise, this becomes a matter of concern for Google as it is for online publishers that work with Google to help sell their advertising space.



In recent years, usage of ad-blocking tools have grown increasingly because of bothersome types of ads.



The Coalition for Better Ads that released a list of ad standards in March have highlighted that ad formats such as pop-ups, auto-playing videos, countdown timer ads, among others, are deemed to be "beneath a threshold of consumer acceptability."



So, by introducing their own ad-filter Google is looking to curb the growth in these ad-blocking tools, many of which offer their services for a fee.



The Chrome browser now accounts for a large portion of web-browsing globally, so switching on ad-filters within it could give Google more control over the ad-blocking situation, industry observers say.


Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has indicated that he would take up the visa issue with the US authorities during his visit to America. "These (IT industry issues) are matters of discussion with the appropriate authorities there. Once I do discuss and get an opportunity, I will let you know," he told reporters when asked whether he would take up concerns of the Indian IT sector with the US administration.



Jaitley will reach Washington on Thursday to attend the Spring Meetings of IMF and World Bank as well as deliberations of G20 nations. He is slated to meet the US Treasury Secretary, among others, during his five-day visit.

The Indian IT industry has expressed serious concerns over the US government moving towards tightening the rules for grant of H-1B visa, mainly used by domestic IT professionals for short-term work.

Companies like Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys that send engineers on H-1B visas to the US could come under pressure in coming days as US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to replace the current lottery system for issuing work visas with a so-called merit-based approach. IT Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said there was no cause for alarm, as the review process has just started. Industry body Nasscom warned that the move could have "unintended consequences" even though it downplayed any immediate impact on IT companies this year.

"No new changes are being implemented immediately ... Nothing is being proposed that would impact or change the FY18 H-1B lottery that is currently underway," Nasscom said in a statement today.

Nasscom also highlighted that there is shortage of highly-skilled domestic talent in the US in IT, healthcare, education, and other fields.

Industry chamber Assocham said Indian IT companies may face disruptions by way of higher costs and even some lay offs. It estimated that as much as 86 per cent of the H-1B visas issued for IT workers go to Indians and this number is likely to come down to about 60 per cent.

The H-1B visa programme is most sought-after by Indian IT firms and professionals to work on customer sites. Every year, the US grants 65,000 H-1B visas, while another 20,000 are set aside for those with US advanced degrees.

Most Indian IT companies get over 60 per cent of their revenues from the North American market.

Meanwhile, the Indian IT firms put a brave face to the impending changes being mooted by the US. "We continue to invest in the local communities in which we operate, including hiring local American top talent, bringing education and training to our clients to shrink the skills gap in the US, and working with policymakers to foster innovation," Infosys said in a statement.

TCS, the countrys largest software services company, has exuded confidence that these issues can be tackled through greater engagement. It has also said it will "tweak" its business model to continue to be in compliance with regulations.

With rising protectionism across markets like the US, Singapore and now Australia, companies are beginning to adjust their business models to reduce their dependence on visas, hiring more locals instead.

Australia has abolished a work visa programme -- 457 visa -- used by over 95,000 temporary foreign workers, majority of them Indians, to tackle the growing unemployment in the country.

The programme will be replaced by another visa programme, with new restrictions. Expressing surprise over the Australian governments move to eliminate the 457 visa category, Nasscom said the move would not have a major impact on visas granted to Indian IT workers.


The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised concerns over Chinas credit boom which has more than doubled in less than a decade when compared to its economy, even as it maintained that the country is a key contributor to global growth.

"China is a key contributor to global growth but also has notable vulnerabilities. Credit in relation to Chinas economy has more than doubled in less than a decade, to over 200 per cent. Credit booms this big can be dangerous," Tobias Adrian, Financial Counsellor and Director, IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department said yesterday.

"The longer booms last and the larger credit grows, the more dangerous they become," Adriano said while releasing the 2017 Global Financial Stability Report.

However, he noted, Chinese authorities continue to adjust policies to limit the growth of the banking and shadow banking systems but emphasised that more needs to be done reduce vulnerabilities.

Adrian said the growth of credit in the Chinese economy has been very fast since the 2008 financial crisis and the overall level of debt is very elevated.

"The Chinese authorities are taking steps to contain leverage both in the banking system and shadow banking system. They show some success in reining in credit growth, but, in our view, more needs to be done. We do believe that the authorities are aware of that," he said.

"There is certainly coordination among the regulators within China. Internationally, the Chinese authorities are part of the FSB, the Financial Stability Board, and they are part of the Basel Committee. They are coordinating regulatory efforts in these international bodies along with the other nations that are part of the Basel Committee and the FSB,? he said.

However, the IMF thinks that the Chinese economy has adequate buffers to weather any sort of change in global financial conditions, Matthew Jones, Assistant Director IMFs Monetary and Capital Market Department said.

Jones added that some of the domestic challenges which China is facing are manageable but urgent action is required to ensure its capability in reducing the rapid credit growth.

The IMF has called for strengthening the domestic financial system with supervisory attention on banks emerging risks, especially rapid asset growth in the small, unlisted local banks and their increased reliance on wholesale funding and risks packaged into shadow products, he said.

"We think that staving off potential future episodes of a changing global environment or financial turmoil really requires a shift in the focus of policies toward reducing those financial vulnerabilities and less focus on achieving a specific growth target.

That will help to ensure the success of the rebalancing that is undergoing in China and to ensure financial stability and sustainable growth," Jones said.


The intention behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent announcement to amend rules to stop doctors from prescribing brand names of medicines is noble.



In theory, if all medical prescriptions are generated in the generic (chemical) names, the patients can opt for the cheapest version of a drug that is being sold by the retail chemist. Pharmaceutical companies will no longer find it meaningful to push the sale of 'brands' through doctors. It will thereby end the unholy doctor-drug industry nexus that results in over prescription in lieu of monetary or other benefits offered by companies to doctors.



The preference towards generic medicines can also encourage the prescription of multiple single ingredient drugs, instead of the current trend of combination medicines. Rational use of medicines will reduce the threat of antibiotic resistance. Finally, universal and mandatory availability of low cost, brand-less medicines will help governments - both central as well as state - plan their free drug supply programmes through government hospitals and government funded retail medicine outlets like Jan Aushadhi with smaller budgetary support.

Now that Modi has made his intentions clear, what will be the next step?

First, the Indian Medical Council (Professional conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, which says that every physician should, as far as possible, prescribe drugs with generic names and he / she shall ensure that there is a rational prescription and use of drugs, should state that it has now become compulsory. Second, the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules should be tweaked to permit chemists to substitute drugs to ensure that generic formulations are dispensed against all prescriptions.

Once the legal frameworks are in place, one will have to look at the operational hurdles. To begin with how and who can effectively monitor the hundreds of thousands of prescriptions that are generated every day to see if the doctors have adhered to the 'generic' stipulation? What if the medical practitioner advises a particular brand after prescribing a generic medicine? What if the retail outlet offers the 'most profitable' generic equivalent instead of the lowest cost option? How can one prevent pharmaceutical companies from introducing 'unique' combination drugs? What will be the future of brands which carry a great recall value and trust among the patients and medical community?

Before de-branding the private pharmacies, the government should ideally begin this exercise by promoting generic medicines though government hospitals and pharmacies, including the ones that are being set up under the 'Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendra' (PMBJK) scheme. As against a plan to have 3,000 Janaushadhi generic drug stores across the country by 31 March 2017, the government had opened 861 stores till 6 March, 2017. Once the rule to make generic prescriptions compulsory will be in place, this initiative is bound to speed up. And once such generic drug stores are in place, attempts should be to see that it sells all the essential land commonly prescribed medicines.

Janaushadi stores offer a little over 600 medicines today. This is only one sixth of the 4000 odd combinations and single ingredient medicines that are being sold in India. The product offerings of Janaushadi stores thus need to be increased. The learnings from the failures of Janaushadi (it was launched by the previous government but had a very slow start) and the decision of several state governments (Punjab for instance) to make government doctors prescribe only generic name should also be studied.

Unless the obligation results in a string of behavioral and structural changes in the way drug marketing happens today, the generic push can remain a great idea with patchy implementation.






Calendar art depicts Ganga Maiya as a beautiful full bodied lady venerated by millions, yet her devotees violate her guiltlessly. Electoral promises to clean up the Ganga wins votes but nothing then prevents the same voters from misappropriating funds allocated for the job. In this environment of grotesque irony, what are we to make of the Uttarakhand High Court's judgment declaring the Ganga and Yamuna as living beings? Coming as it does at the crest of a saffron political wave, are we to understand that India is capable of cleaning up its rivers only by reaching back to a 5000 year old concept of riverine goddesses? Does modernism mean retro chic Hinduism? Do we need to call our aerospace initiative the UdanKhatolaProgram? Are our solar energy farms an aspect of Surya Pooja? Is Hindutva the framework within which Indian business will now seek to achieve its commercial ambitions?

To make sense of this unusual judgment [Mohd. Salim v/s State of Uttarakhand, W.P. 126 of 2014 Decided 20.03.2017], we need to examine what it means in law for a 'thing' to become a 'real' legal person. Consider a Hindu temple. People routinely offer money to the deity within. The money accumulates. Priests then create trusts, open bank accounts, invest the money and so forth. Sometimes, they also open schools, colleges, charities and hospitals. Who owns all these things? Clearly, it's not the priests. In YogendraNathNaskar v. Commission of Income-Tax, Calcutta [1969 (1) SCC 555], the Supreme Court reiterated yet again that a Hindu idol is a juristic entity capable of holding property and of being taxed through its managers who are entrusted with such duties.

So far so good, but we now face a fundamental difficulty: how do we take a 2500 km long river and make a 'person' out of it? The Supreme Court has given us the necessary ideological construct to justify this piece of legal jugglery. In Ram Jankijee Deities & others v. State of Bihar [1999 (5) SCC 50], the Supreme Court more or less endorsed the hardcore Hindu mind set:

"Images according to Hindu authorities, are of two kinds: the first is known as Sayambhu or self-existent or self-revealed, while the other is Pratisthita or established. A Sayambhu or self-revealed image is a product of nature and is  without any beginning and the worshippers simply discover its existence".

In effect, this means that a river for instance is holy before the beginning of time and humans have merely stumbled on something self-evident. In this view of the matter, the Uttarakhand High Court didn't give us anything, it merely stated the obvious.

At one level, river or idol, all artificial persons are made equal because they are after all only ideological constructs. Indeed, the idea of a 'real person' is itself an ideological construct. In history, we have had legal systems where real 'touch and feel' human beings were not legal persons. For example, in Roman and French colonial law, a slave was never a person. This was also true in America till slavery was abolished. Conversely, even societies that pay little if any heed to religion have recognized a multitude of imaginary secular 'things' as real persons. What is a company but words on paper that exists an entry in a register in some government office somewhere? What is a Hindu joint family but an emotional construct in the minds of blood relatives? What are charitable trusts but the benevolent fantasies of the dead? Yet all these are legally real entities even though they are not real people. This brings us to the heart of the real issue. If you stop to think about it, human beings are all committed irrevocably to 'imagined realities'. The Gods, Hindu Karma, Chrisitian Charity, Original sin, Bhakti,Nirvana  you name it. If the Indian Evidence Act is the standard of proof required to make something real, none of these ideas can be proved to a standard that a court could accept. Indeed, if the Indian Evidence Act is the standard of proof, the concept of human rights, justice and fairplay are all imagined realities. Yet, from this reality comes the judicial system, however, imperfectly it administers its own mandate. That being the state of the art, there is no special reason why a river should be less a pretty lady and more a bulk of water seeking the lowest point in the landscape to flow through.

This brings us back to the judgement of the High Court. The saga began when some persons encroached along the right bank of the Shakti canal in the Kulhal District of Dehradoon and started raising a building. Neighbours complained. The administration acted but it was unclear if this land fell within Uttarakhand or was a part of Uttar Pradesh. The dispute ultimately negotiated the labyrinth of India's judicial system and came to rest in the High Court. The court took the view that Indians have deep veneration for the Ganga and the Yamuna, which rivers have provided both physical and spiritual sustenance to all of us from time immemorial. For this reason, they must be recognized as living persons, especially in view of Articles 48A and 51A(g) of our constitution. In conclusion, the court declared the Director NAMAMI Gange, the Chief Secretary of the State of Uttarakhand and the Advocate General of the State of Uttarakhand as persons in loco parentis (meaning "in place of the parents") as the human face to protect, conserve and preserve Rivers Ganga and Yamuna and their tributaries.

The real question though is the impact of this judgment. What happens if an imagined reality becomes a real person? For a start, it invokes the power of the state to intervene against an abusive or negligent parent, legal guardian or informal caretaker, and to act as the parent of any child or individual who is in need of protection.Thus, the court has now obliged the state to protect the rivers. Does this advance the cause of environmental protection in India?

I don't see how. It's not as if India's degraded environment had no parent till this judgment came along. The Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (UEPPCB) is a statutory Organization constituted under the section 4 of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 to implement environmental laws and rules within the jurisdiction of Uttarakhand. It's their job to keep the rivers clean. When it comes to encroachment, the Uttarakhand Urban and Country Planning And Development Act, 1973 sends anyone encroaching on public land to jail for a year with a fine of twenty thousand. It also authorizes the authority under the Act to remove the encroachment. To put it quite bluntly, I do not see how making a new bunch of officers responsible for fixing an old problem changes anything of the nature of the problem.

This brings me to the two thoughts I have on this issue. First, I am gravely concerned with issues around materiality. I have argued in the past that Indian courts assume jurisdiction orders of magnitude beyond the powers that were conferred on them when their existence was conceived. Thus I have argued in Invisible Elephant in the Court Room that it is not for courts to expend their energy rendering judgement on the legality of bull taming, anthem standing and santa-banta joke telling. Departments already exist to protect rivers, keep waters clean, prevent encroachments, and so forth. If citizens flout the law and the government watches immobile, laws also exist to move the courts to make governments do their job. These prerogative writs are well known and frequently employed to excellent effect by the courts. In the circumstances, there is little benefit in creating new judicially imagined realities that do nothing to advance the cause of the issue at hand. In India, this above all is true: when we confront a problem, we deny that we are poorly administered. Instead, we pretend the law is inadequate and set out to create another law which inevitably is just as ineffective no matter how effectively it is drafted. We need to recognize that it's rarely the law: it's the attitude of its enforcers. If we want to change behaviour, we have to change incentives, not switch enforcers.

My second thought is a national reality we need to confront. We are a nation of grandstanders who engage in endless pulpit oratory and 'tokenism'. If we want to clean up our country, it doesn't strike us that organization, process and best practice is quite the way to go. Instead we think the best way to do it is to hand a broom to every celebrity we can find and have them mill about on a pleasant Sunday winter afternoon amidst leering bystanders fighting to get into the TV frame. It's not entirely different with the courts. Importing Hindutva into what is above all a management challenge of managing municipal and industrial waste is erudite spin unlikely to address the issue. The Pollution Board must by law clean water bodies whether they provide us spiritual sustenance or not. The Ganga is beautiful even if she isn't a full bodied goddess. Engaging in literary flourishes may excite the press, but it does not do enough to advance the debate or resolve the issue at hand.



The author is Managing Partner of the Gurgaon-based corporate law firm N South. His bestselling expose' of the real world of Indian courts "Legal Confidential", released in November 2015.
If You're a Victim of Workplace Favoritism, Can You Sue?

When an employer or boss has a 'favorite,' it can create real tension in the workplace. The term itself is highly subjective, and even somewhat offensively whimsical. Even if it is based on objective performance criterion, declaring a favorite rather than a top performer is demoralizing and cheapens employees' performances and accomplishments.

Unfortunately for workers, workplaces can be downright awful. But that's just one of the facts of life. To make matters worse, unless you're being sexually harassed, discriminated against, or physically attacked, there sometimes can be very little a person can do without risking job security. Even where legal protections exist, there's still no real job security, as retaliation happens with alarming frequency. Suing isn't really a solution, but rather a remedy, which frequently isn't going to be available.

Favoritism Can Be Discriminatory

If an employer's playing favorites seems to always favor, or disfavor, a particular race, gender, religion, or other particularized group, there may be discrimination issues at play. Because favoritism isn't technically illegal, it can frequently be used to shield illegal discrimination.

If a person suspects that the favoritism going on in their office is more than just the insensitive whimsy of their boss, contacting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to file a complaint of discrimination is necessary in order to file a lawsuit under Title VII.

Favoritism Can Violate Contracts and Policies

When employers have established policies for promotions that are based on objective criteria, such as seniority, education, and training, favoritism can often result in more qualified employees being passed over for promotion. In these scenarios, aggrieved employees may be able to file grievances with their employer or union, and may be able to even file a lawsuit.

Like a claim for wrongful termination in violation of public policy (which can be brought against employers that don't follow their own policies), a failure to promote claim can also be premised upon a violation of public policy.

Favoritism Can Violate the Law

In government employment, and even at private employers receiving government funding, favoritism can actually be considered illegal. Generally, government employment is much more regulated when it comes to hiring, promoting, firing, and discipline. As such, when favoritism occurs in government employment, it may be considered nepotism, which is illegal in many circumstances. Additionally, favoritism in government is very likely to be a violation of public policy.

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Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender, is likely to challenge his extradition to India from the UK on the grounds that the charges against him are politically motivated, legal experts in the UK said today.

The 61-year-old liquor baron, who has been living in self-imposed exile in Britain since last year, was arrested by Scotland Yard yesterday on fraud allegations, triggering an official extradition process in the British courts.

Mallya was released on conditional bail a few hours later after providing a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds and assuring the court of abiding by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel documents.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will now argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities.

"The Crown Prosecution Service, acting on behalf of the Indian authorities, will need to demonstrate a prima facie case ie. produce some evidence to show that the criminal charges against Mallya, for which his extradition is sought, are justified," said Javinder Nakhwal, partner at Peters and Peters Solicitors LLP and member of the UK's Extradition Lawyers Association.

"There are a number of grounds on which it is possible to contest extradition, some of which might not be relevant to Mallya's case. Mallya may seek to challenge extradition on the basis that the request for his extradition is politically motivated, and that any extradition would constitute a breach of certain human rights, she explained.

The precise grounds on which Mallya contests his extradition remains to be seen. His legal team will seek to support their arguments with factual and/or expert evidence and can claim he won't get a fair trial in India and can also raise the condition of Indian jails as a factor behind the extradition request being declined.

The Indian authorities will have an opportunity to respond to any such evidence, she said.

"When the case returns to court on May 17, the district judge is likely to set down a timetable for the service of any evidence to be submitted by either side in the proceedings, and list a date for a final hearing.

"There might be a few more hearings in this case in the coming months to deal with case management or any issues that arise, before the final hearing takes place, at which the full arguments from both sides in this case will be heard by the district judge," Nakhwal clarified.

Sarosh Zaiwalla, founder and senior partner of Zaiwalla & Co. Solicitors, also believes it will be a "long and strenuous" process which may not succeed at the end.

"This is because, the judge will have to be satisfied that Mallya will get a fair trial in India. His (Mallya's) lawyers will argue he is being politically hounded and is a victim of a media trial. He might also point out other Indian businessmen owe much more money to Indian banks, but his client has been singled out for persecution," Zaiwalla said.

He also highlighted that Mallya has the final option of approaching the European Court of Human Rights, at least until the UK completes its exit from the European Union (EU).

"It is going to be a complicated affair as Mallya can argue that he may not receive a fair trial in Indian courts which are notorious for being easily influenced," he said.

According to him, the Indian government has to continue using diplomatic channels to build a solid casework proving Mallya will receive a fair trial in India.

"They could also look at the option of legally challenging Mallya in British courts to subsequently bring him to trail in India. A worldwide freezing order on Mallya's assets would be an even more effective option than the extradition route," he said.

Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016.

In January, an Indian court ordered a consortium of lenders to start the process of recovering the loans.

"Extradition is the formal procedure for requesting the surrender of persons from one territory to another... Part 2 of the Extradition Act, in conjunction with any applicable extradition instrument, regulates export extradition from the United Kingdom to category 2 territories [like India].

"The CPS acts as the representative of the requesting state in category 2 cases (as for category 1 territories), and all proceedings are heard at Westminster Magistrates' Court," a CPS statement said.

At the extradition hearing the judge must decide a number of issues: whether the documentation sent to the court by the Secretary of State complies with the Act; whether the person arrested is the person named on the warrant; whether the offence detailed in the request is an extradition offence et al.

If the District Judge rules in favour of extradition, the UK home secretary must order Mallya's extradition within two months of the appropriate day.

India and the UK have an Extradition Treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement.

As Mallya is fighting the extradition order, he will have the right to appeal and the case can go up to the UK Supreme Court.

The flamboyant businessman, who still owns Force India Formula One team, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. "Not a rupee was misused," he had tweeted earlier this year.

But Indian authorities want him to stand trial for alleged unpaid loans to Kingfisher Airlines, which collapsed in 2012 with the loss of thousands of jobs.

As he awaits the hearing, Mallya is expected to be based at his lavish country home in Tewin, Hertfordshire, an hour s drive from London.

The Indian and UK governments are believed to have struck an agreement on extradition proceedings during British Prime Minister Theresa May s visit to India last November.

India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the Extradition Treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale on February 8.
Several pro-Kannada organisations led by former MLA Vatal Nagaraj are protesting against the release of Bahubali 2 over controversal statements made by Sathyaraj who plays the role of Kattappa in the movie.



"Our dissent is not against the movie Bahubali but against Sathyaraj who had made derogatory comments on Kannadigas and Karnataka leaders. We want him to apologise to the people of Karnataka and only then will we allow the screening," Nagaraj said, addressing media persons.



However, Bahubali 2 director SS Rajamouli defended Sathyaraj saying, "Linking his old remarks that were made several years ago with the current scenario and posing an obstacle to the release of movie is not in the interest of the industry."

Rajamouli said that he had looked into the matter and found that Sathyaraj had made the statements nine years back.



On April 28 - the day of the protest - Kannada organisations are expected to carry out a protest march from Town Hall to Freedom Park.



"The entire city will be shut from dawn to dusk expressing solidarity with the cause," Nagaraj added.



Some activists have even announced a protest in front of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce in an attempt to seek a ban on screening all Tamil films until Sathyaraj makes an apology.



The film has not been sold to any local distributors and the protesters have written to theatre owners across the state asking them not to screen the film.



Pro-Kannada organisations are also enraged by a remark made by the actor last year.



Sathyaraj made a speech at an event by the Tamil film industry in solidarity with Tamil farmers seeking water from Karnataka.



In his speech Sathyaraj said that Tamils should stand up for their rights and not be like a tree every dog would urinate on, The Telegraph had reported.



Pro-Kannada activists took offence to the 'dog' remark as an insult to every Kannadigai.
Literally, retirement is the practice of leaving one's job or ceasing to work after reaching a certain age. This was a policy that began to be adopted by countries during the late 19th century beginning in Germany as a result of an increase in the average life expectancy. The standard retirement age varies from country to country but it is generally between 50 and 70. Some countries do not even have any retirement age and others have the average retiring age as 65.

In India the trend is moving opposite with employees retiring at much earlier age. It is observed that in private companies retirement age is lowering to 50 and if the trend continues, in another decade or so, the average retiring age may find its place somewhere in mid 40s. Although in PSUs regular routine retirement age remains prevalent.

Now, the retirement age may seem to be reversing to its original form albeit not related to life expectancy as much to life expectations, there are plenty of other reasons to explain its definition in today's context. I will like to review them in a hypothetical way to simplify its metaphorical understanding.

Shyam Sundar, a multimillionaire CEO of a multinational pharmaceutical company decided one day that he, as a young achiever at 48, had all what his professional endeavours would have ever fetched him. He wanted to detox from work stress and step down from his demanding role. Sundar thought this was a good time to also mend his lifestyle and focus on his health.

James Ferrao, works for a solar power company and is one of the oldest employees. He heads the marketing and sales department and is doing fairly well for himself. He is only hit by the 'mundanity bug' which bothers him a little more than usual these days. He is likely to change into something more emotionally appeasing for him. He is considering teaching in one of the prestigious business schools close to his residence. He feels it may be a renaissance for him, transforming his dullness into contributing to the society and changing lives. He was craving to get out of the drudgery of a routine and rat race.

Suhel Batra was working with a large private bank and was hired by Malay Chand, a team leader who was in running to become the next CEO candidate. He lost the race to an outside recruit and quit the bank. Suhel followed suit as it was too much of a daily hassle surviving in the all new team and he thought he was becoming a scapegoat to organisational politics.

Karan Sahu, the new CEO, thought Sundar left as he could not upskill as per the updated reorganisation and business directions, had reached pinnacle of his abilities already and grown complacent at the bank. Sahu also wanted to keep the fresh team away from controversies as market share growth was the business priority. He was also encouraging people in their late fifties to volunteer for retirement.

Whatever metaphor is used to describe the post-career status, as people grow into retirement, their perspective often evolves. Vough, D Bataille, Sergeant Mary lee in 2004 identified following ways executives described their post career feelings / plans:



Over the last couple of years, I had interviewed over scores of CXOs of mid and large sized organisations in the age group of 50 and above with CTC of over Rs 1 crore in their previously held positions and yet ready for their second innings. I realised that half of the lot had retired as a routine, 10 per cent stepped out owing to health reasons, 15 per cent of them had to leave due to reorganisation, 15 per cent due to change of top leadership, 5 per cent due to some controversial episode in the company, 5 per cent in mergers & acquisitions (where the then firm was acquired and they were asked to relocate).



I also observed that while most of them largely had the same post-retiral feelings - loss and renaissance were identified as the two most dominant feelings followed by milestone and renaissance. It highlights the fact that pursuit of interests and passion in later years of life have to also be dealt with a little more seriousness by HR departments in organisations.



When my discussions became more elaborate with these CXOs, I realised that the same set of feelings morphed with course of time. The timing or the duration of these dominant feelings differed with person to person. One or two layers also did not exist in few.



I found that either of the above three feelings or a mix of all were felt by them and rather strongly -- if not a mix then it came in phases. Initially, a majority felt highly or instantly relieved. But soon they were 'without- exception' lost. For them to come out with a new time schedule was tough. They felt helpless and found it very difficult to adjust with family or friends or plainly adjust to their new identity as a person. The earlier set equation was broken and it took huge efforts from them to build new one. About 50 per cent of them underwent depression and had to undergo medical treatment.

Retirement is a much camouflaged word. It may sound like a 'long holiday- happy thereafter' but the truth of the matter is, it is a challenging phase for those who had always been in the grind before. Adjusting to the newly married or divorced and single again status can be tough for an individual, resettlement is crucial.

I would just like to add, if you need to hang on, hang in there; it may not be the time to hang up your boots, not yet.

About the Author:

Dr. Yasho V Verma is a management thinker & philosopher, a mentor and a strategy consultant, an academician and a veteran in consumer durables and retail. He was formerly associated with LG Electronics as its COO and Director. He is also a member on board of banks and few other business houses across various industry verticals and consults them on plans and policies. Dr. Verma is a PHD in organizational behaviour from IIT Kharagpur. He can be reached at yasho.v.verma@gmail.com.
A major mishap was averted at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Wednesday when Delhi-bound Jet Airways flight suffered from a nosewheel malfunction after landing.

The problem resulted in a steering problem at the airport. The incident happened when the flight had 65 people on-board.

According to media reports, the unfortunate incident took place at around 4:30 in the evening when flight numbered: 9W 2882, an ATR 72-500, flight from Dehradun lost control.

The Jet Airways flight then landed on the Left side of runway blocking the main runway for over two hours.

The flight carrier issued an official statement assuring that all the 60 passengers and five crew members have been safely deplaned after the incident.

"Jet Airways flight 9W 2882, an ATR 72-500, from Dehradun to Delhi of April 19, 2017 experienced a nosewheel malfunction after landing, resulting in a steering problem," said the official statement.

"Guests are being looked after by the airline's guest service teams and the aircraft is being towed away for maintenance," it added.

The operations on the runway were resumed at around 7 in the evening after the aircraft was removed.

The incident has been reported to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Meanwhile, Private carrier fliers has become the only domestic carrier providing its customers to book tickets through Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

The move makes the city-headquartered airline first one to provide such facility.

The UPI allows money to be transferred instantaneously between any two bank accounts instantly, using a smartphone.


Apple will most likely start its "trial assembly" of iPhones in India from next month. Although Apple hasn't received a response from the government regarding special consessions, the American company has reportedly decided to go ahead with their operations in India.

In January this year, Apple Inc indicated the Indian government that it is ready with a blueprint to begin manufacturing iPhones in India, but wants fiscal concessions, including Customs duty waiver on import of components.

Apple faced resistance from India's beaucracy while looking for these special relaxations. The government officials justified their stance by suggesting that these concessions will be unfair on the foreign companies that are already manufacturing in India.

According to a report by ET Tech, State officials in Karnataka stated that Apple is expected to setup the assembly by next month. However, this wouldn't necessarily mean that the Cupertino-based company will give up its requests for certain concessions. According to the officials, the company's interaction with the centre will remain unaffected.

"We are working to see that (Apple) brings its entire component making ecosystem to Bengaluru and begins to export from here," one of the officials said. "We are not much concerned about Apple making iPhones for the domestic market, which will happen anyway."

Karnataka's industries minister RV Deshpande is continually approaching members of the union cabinet with Apple's issues.

With sales tapering in the US and China, Apple is eyeing India -- the fastest growing smartphone market in the world -- and looking to set up a local manufacturing unit to cut costs.

The most obvious and consumer-centric change will be in the pricing of the iPhones manufactured in India. The company will benefit out of lower taxes and no custom duty will be charged which will directly impact the prices of the devices.

The Cupertino giant will test the waters by manufacturing midrange devices like iPhoneSE. Hence, the only devices that will get a substantial cut in prices will fall in the compact form factor.
WPA workers building the original Hyrum Dam spillway in the late 1930s.

The Hyrum City Museums ongoing Smithsonian Exhibition examines the strength and spirit of American workers through archival images, compelling videos and fascinating interviews. On display March 25-May 13, the traveling exhibit reminds Utah that we arent the Beehive state for nothing, emphasizing the importance of work as a key component of Utahs social identity.

Hyrum City Museum Director Jami Van Huss said the museum has curated two companion exhibits to complement the Smithsonian display, each of them illustrating work performed in Hyrum throughout the citys history. These exhibits, entitled Tradition and Innovation: Working Together in Hyrum and Work Worth Doing include a variety of community activities, each of them free of charge and open to the public.

Van Huss is particularly excited about this weeks presentation, taking place from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, April 21, in the Hyrum City Council Chambers. The discussion is themed Irrigation and Recreation: The Hyrum Dam at Work and will be led by Hyrum State Park Ranger Chris Bradshaw and Hyrum Dam Irrigation Tender Kirt Lindley. Bradshaw and Lindley will address the work required to provide irrigation services and recreation opportunities at the Hyrum Dam and Reservoir. Labor Historian Karen Senaga, a post-doctoral teaching fellow at USU, will join the conversation to provide a brief history of the dam.

The Hyrum City Council Chambers is located at 60 W. Main in Hyrum. More information about The Way We Worked and its accompanying local exhibits is available at <a href=http://www.hyrumcitymuseum.org/>www.hyrumcitymuseum.org</a>.
NORTH LOGAN  The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) at Utah State University will be hosting a soapbox derby this Saturday at 1 p.m. near the mouth of Green Canyon on 1900 North.

A mix of university students, high school students and community members will make up the 18 teams competing for the $300 prize. ASME already coordinates with North Logan every fall for the annual pumpkin toss, and soapbox derby organizers are hoping this too becomes an annual event.

They just really loved the idea, event coordinator Thory Van Dyke said of the North Logan city officials. They were super willing for us to do whatever they needed to do to get this going.

The course will be 400 meters long with an additional 100 meters after the finish line to give cars room to stop. Van Dyke said some of the participants have tested their cars on the course, and have hit the 30 mph mark, but he isnt sure what to expect when race time comes.

I know itll be fun and really entertaining, he said. Just with the cars Ive seen, there should be some close races, a few crashes, but overall just a fun, exciting, new event that hasnt been done in Logan in a long time.

Like the trebuchets built for the annual pumpkin toss, Van Dyke said a lot of technical engineering work can go into designing a soapbox racer.

I know one of the community teams has been working on very complex, very well-engineered cars, he said, but there are some other cars that were just thrown together with whatever you have. Some contestants have calculated the weight distribution of their cars, the best steering system or aerodynamics.

All are invited to come watch the races.
Some 300 Nong Kho residents gathered at the banks of Mao River (Shweli River) in Muse Township to protest against the Myoma Peoples Militia plans to tax pier users

According to village headman Sai Soi, about 300 residents gathered in Nong Kho, which lies between the strategic towns of Muse and Namkham in northern Shan State, to voice their opposition to the militias moves to supervise the pier on the Mao River also known as Shweli River.

This jetty has been used for many generations. It was built about 100 years ago with wood, he said. Now the Myoma Peoples Militia group is planning to rebuild it from metal and then collect taxes from those who cross the river [by boat].

Sai Soi said that the militia didnt discuss details with local people, but it was clear that they intended to move their men in when construction is complete.

They used guns to scare us when they started rebuilding the pier, he added. Thats why we have come out to protest. We strongly disagree with their operations. We just want things to stay as they are.

On April 4, ten representatives from Nong Kho met with leaders of the Myoma Peoples Militia. Sai Soi said the villagers requested that no taxes be collected from local people at the pier. However, the militia group reportedly replied that they had invested much in the pier, so they had to collect taxes to repay that.

The Myoma People Militia is a splinter group from its former allies the Panhsay Militia, led by Lao Sam. Both are backed by the Burmese army.

By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)
Long lines of coal-carrying trucks passing through cities in northeast China will soon come to an end, the result of a ban of diesel-powered coal trucks in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province in an effort to reduce air pollution. Above, coal transport vehicles wait to unload their deliveries in the Port of Tianjin on April 11. Photo: Xia Weicong/Caixin

(Beijing)  The spring breeze in late March can barely clear the dusty air in the storage yards inside the Tianjin port area, as heavily laden trucks unload millions of tons of coal.

The black mineral dug up in northern China has traveled 500 to 900 km in heavy-duty trucks to reach the port before being shipped to power stations, steel mills and households in the south.

Some 100,000 diesel-powered coal trucks routinely run between the Tianjin port, the largest in northern China, and coal-producing regions in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces and the Inner Mongolia region. This fleet of coal-carrying trucks has been growing since 2014, as coal prices have slowly picked up and diesel prices have kept sliding, driving more coal mine owners and traders to use the cheaper truck transportation instead of trains.

But the long line of coal-carrying trucks passing through cities in northeast China will soon come to an end, as central ministries and local governments in March jointly announced a plan to ban diesel-powered coal trucks in the region encompassing Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province to tackle the severe air pollution. About a dozen ports in Tianjin, Hebei, and Shandong and Liaoning provinces are covered by the ban.

Tianjins municipal authority, which has been under closer public scrutiny with regard to environmental protection since the deadly chemical explosions at its port in 2015, took a bold step this month when it brought the date of the ban forward to the end of April in a bid to cut emissions and curb the citys deteriorating air quality.

In 2016, over 68 million tons of coal was unloaded from trucks in northern China ports, including Tianjins. The ban on coal-carrying trucks means mine owners and traders must seek alternative methods of transport, mainly by train.

Railway lines in eastern China have been electrified. (We hope) to use railway transport as much as possible, rather than road transport, said an official at the Ministry of Environmental Protection who declined to be named.

A source with knowledge of the new policy said diesel-powered trucks, many of which have been using substandard fuel, contribute 70% of nitrogen oxide emissions and 90% of particulate emissions, the main cause of the toxic smog that frequently engulfs northern China.

But skeptics say banning coal-carrying trucks will do little to reduce emissions as truck drivers will find other business as long as there is a demand for low-cost road transportation.

While the effect of the policy on the air is yet to be seen, its implementation has sent shock waves through the transportation and coal industries. Several industry experts told Caixin that they expect to see a significant chain reaction from the new policy, affecting not only truck drivers, but also coal mines, port operators and the railway system.

Business overhaul

The Tianjin ports limited railway connections make it particularly reliant on truck transport. In 2016, 104 million tons of coal was shipped out, nearly 54% of which arrived at the port in diesel-powered trucks.

Cheaper transport costs combined with greater flexibility makes roads a more-attractive means of transport for coal traders to send products to Tianjin. The average cost of each ton of coal sent by truck from mines in Shanxi, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia is 15 yuan ($2.20) lower than those sent by train, according to an executive of a logistics firm in Tianjin.

In 2016, coal products transported by truck contributed 11% of the Tianjin ports revenue, or 1.4 billion yuan. Meanwhile, heavy-duty trucks unloading coal usually take iron ore stored at the port on their return trip for distribution to steel plants throughout neighboring Hebei, generating extra revenue for both the drivers and the port. Iron ore leaving Tianjin on trucks generated 1 billion yuan in revenue for the port last year.

The ban on coal-carrying trucks will hurt the Tianjin port as it will have to give up a huge part of its revenue, according to a source at Tianjin Port Holdings Ltd., the port operator.





An official at the Tianjin municipal transportation authority told Caixin that in January, Tianjin Port Holdings opposed the proposed truck ban, citing the impact on coal supply, the companys business operations and its 2,877 employees. Tianjin Port Holdings has three subsidiaries engaged in the road transportation business, which have total assets of 5.9 billion yuan and have jointly invested 11 billion yuan in related facilities, according to the official.

Also opposed to the ban was the Ministry of Transport, which mainly oversees road and maritime transportation, with concerns that a ban on coal-carrying trucks will affect the stability of the transportation system, a source close to the ministry said.

But the ban won support from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, China Railway Corp., the state railway operator, and authorities in Beijing and Hebei, and was passed in February.

Market redistribution

There is still some debate about the policys economic impact. An environment ministry estimate showed that halting coal-carrying trucks to Tianjin port and closing all coal storage yards would result in an annual decline of 670 million yuan in the citys gross domestic product, which stood at 1.8 trillion yuan in 2016.

But a port employee disagreed. It is impossible to calculate the loss (caused by the ban) to businesses related to coal transport including logistics, storage, financial and other services, as well as futures companies, said the employee.

According to mining industry experts, transportation costs account for 35% to 50% of the coal industrys total costs. The ban on truck transport is expected to push up coal prices as well as prices of other minerals such as iron ore, adding pressure to small steel mills.

Logistics companies and private coal traders that have worked with Tianjins port for a long time will be affected most. Smaller players will be forced out of the market, said a logistics firm executive.

The ban will greatly raise the threshold for coal trading business. In the past, a small trader could start a business with as little as 500,000 yuan capital, but in the future, traders will need at least 5 million yuan, said a coal trader, citing rising costs and longer cash flow periods for railway transport.

Chinas rail operator is getting ready to take over the transport of coal from trucks, which is expect to give a boost to its business after a four-year decline in freight volumes. China Railway Corp. has promised to add 3,000 freight cars to support rising coal transport demand.

Increasing railway transport of coal will also benefit ports neighboring Tianjin that are better connected to the rail network, according to a manager at Hebei Port Group Co. Ltd., who expected a big rise in coal turnover at the Qinhuangdao port in Hebei.

Qinhuangdaos port is already Chinas largest coal terminal. In 2016, it handled 160 million tons of coal, and has a total capacity of 250 million tons.

Shenhua Group Corp. Ltd., the countrys largest coal miner, which operates its own rail line and carriages, is also expected to benefit from the new policy as small miners who cant afford the rising costs may choose to sell their products to Shenhua at low prices, a private coal mine owner said.

By controlling the transport capacity, Shenhua will be able to further consolidate upstream coal resources, the manager said.

Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)
This blog is looking for wisdom, to have and to share. It is also looking for other rare character traits like good humor, courage, and honor. It is not an easy road, because all of us fall short. But God is love, forgiveness and grace. Those who believe in Him and repent of their sins have the promise of His Holy Spirit to guide us and show us the Way.


UK Prime Minister Theresa May, who surprised the world yesterday when she broke her own promise and called snap elections for June 8, has said that she will not debate the other party leaders before election day.



Instead, May says she will "get out and about and meet voters."

Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has mooted holding debates without her, replacing her with an empty chair.



Labour's Jeremy Corbyn accused the PM of "dodging" a head-to-head showdown and the Lib Dems urged broadcasters to "empty chair" her.

Theresa May says no to general election TV debates

[BBC]





(Image: DFID, CC-BY)
The partition of India and Pakistan divided the region of Kashmir, cuing up decades of protest, military action, and fighting which has claimed 70,000 lives, including protesters killed by the Indian Army.

The April 9 by-election in Srinagar was no exception, with 8 protesters killed and dozens wounded. But this round had a difference: a viral video featuring a Kashmiri student tied to the front of an Indian Army jeep, accompanied by a voice shouting "stone throwers will meet a similar fate."

India's Attorney General stone throwers will meet a similar fate appears to have acknowledged the video's accuracy, giving a tone-deaf statement where he praised the tactic as "innovative" and proposed that it might save lives among the protesters and soldiers by deterring stone-throwing.



The Indian army is reportedly investigating the incident. However, a section of Indian media and the Attorney General were seen trying to justify the action of the security forces saying the "human shield" idea was innovative and it saved lives of the security forces. And there were also condemnations of the actions of the pro-freedom protests. More videos emerged of the protesters indiscriminately attacking the security forces and shouting "Go India, Go back" slogans.

The Viral Video That Showed a Kashmiri Protester Tied to an Indian Military Jeep

[Ieshan Wani and Rezwan/Global Voices]
Agbor Ball, standing left, and Mancho Bibixy, standing right W. Musa

Following the media outing of the team of defence lawyers of detained activists of the Anglophone crisis headed by Barrister Bernard Muna, the Cameroon Bar Council has issued a statement saying the current president of the council is by right the lead counsel for the defence of Barristers Agbor Balla and Abadem Walters; both advocates of the Cameroon Bar Association.

The statement signed by the scribe of the council says the appearance of the Bar President to defend and protect the interests of his colleagues in the Yaounde military tribunal should not be mixed up with the strategy which a team of defence lawyers have put in place in favor of people who are not members of the Cameroon Bar association.

PRESS STATEMENT OF THE BAR SECRETARY ANNOUNCING AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE BAR COUNCIL

Having taken cognizance of the press release of a group of lawyers styled the team of Lawyers for the defence of Barrister Felix Agbor Nkongho Balla, Dr. Neba Fontem, Barrister Abadem Walters, Mancho Bibixy and other persons standing trial at the Yaounde military court, signed by Batonnier emeritus Bernard Muna on the 13th day of April 2017 for national and international consumption,

And considering the fact that certain paragraphs in the above mentioned press release question and criticize Batonnier Jackson Francis Kamga Ngnies communique of the 9th of April 2017 informing the public that the conclave of North-West and South-West lawyers had called for the resumption of work of the lawyers in these two Regions of the country, on the 2nd of May 2017.

THE BAR COUNCIL SECRETARY WISHES TO SET THE RECORDS STRAIGHT ON THE FOLLOWING POINTS:

Any activity of the Batonnier and/or the Bar Council is and should be aimed at protecting the interests of the Bar Association, as well as defending the rights of any Lawyer who might be in difficulty.

The appearance of the Bar President to defend and protect the interests of his colleagues in the Yaounde military tribunal should not be mixed up with the strategy which a team of defence lawyers have put in place in favor of people who are not members of the Cameroon Bar association, to wit; Mr. Mancho Bibixy, Dr. Fontem Neba, and other detainees.

The President of the Cameroon Bar Association who is also the head of the Cameroon Bar Council is the embodiment of this Institution. His activities and those of the Bar Council are well cataloged in the organic laws and the internal rules and regulations of the Bar. He has the mandate to run the Bar. He holds the baton of command!

Barristers Felix Agbor Nkongho and Abadem Walters are both advocates of the Cameroon Bar Association, currently standing trial in the Yaounde military tribunal. It is the prerogative of the Batonnier to defend these colleagues, members of the Cameroon Bar, in and out of court. He is the lead counsel by right in the defence of these colleagues, and this legal prerogatives had been reminded by Batonnier emeritus Bernard Muna himself, at the Yaounde military tribunal.

The leadership of the incumbent Batonnier in the criminal defence of his colleagues, apart from being by right, has always been the custom of the Cameroon Bar Association, as was in the case of the State against Batonnier Emeritus Black Yondo with Batonnier emeritus Bernard Muna as lead counsel, or even during the trial of Barristers Luke Sendze and Francis Sama (both Batonniers emeritus) and others where the lead counsel was Batonnier Patrice Monthe.

During the meetings between the Bar Council and lawyers of the both Anglophone Regions, the Batonnier clearly defined and explained the steps taken in view of rapidly securing the release of his two arrested colleagues.

Their release is far from being incompatible with the awareness of the desire and clamor of the majority of more than eight hundred lawyers practicing in the South West and North West Regions to resume work in order to give a chance to the Government to implement its announced measures.

In creating a conclave of 20 lawyers from the South West and North West regions by Decision N 038/BOABC/ADM/03/2017 of the 30 March 2017, the Batonnier had as priority, the interests of his two arrested colleagues.

Nobody can contest the legitimate and discretionary powers that the Batonnier is conferred with to create such a conclave and invest it with a consultative or decision making character.

From the foregoing, any press release that comes from any quarters in a bid to disregard and undermine the powers of the Bar Council and the Bar President runs counter to the organic laws and the internal rules and regulations of the Cameroon Bar Association, and should be treated as a non-event.

The Bar Secretary, on behalf of the Bar President, seizes this opportunity to reassure his colleagues of the Batonniers indefatigable commitment towards the normalization of the activities of the colleagues in the South West and North West Regions as well as the release of his two arrested colleagues by all means within the framework of the law.

In view of examining the present situation, the Bar President has summoned an extraordinary meeting of the Consultative Committee of Senior Advocates at the Bar created by his Decision N 020/BOA/04/15 of 27th April 2015, for Friday the 21st of April 2017

Done in Yaounde this 19th of April 2017

The Bar Secretary

Philippe Memong, Esq.
Loum shops remained closed W. Musa

The Loum market in Moungo division, Littoral region has remained closed since Monday as traders demand a drop in the fare per shops which according to traders have witnessed an unprecedented increase.

Traders blocked the main road leading to the market; shops have been shut down as they lift carry placades denouncing the move taken by the Mayor of Loum.

The new fare per shop for a month has risen from 10.000FCFA to 20.000FCFA and traders swear they can only pay over their dead bodies.

The tension which started Monday intensified Wednesday prompting the Mayor Guy Mesmin Kuate Wambo to make a tour in the market. The Mayor said the new tariff does not affect all shops in the market; out of the 259 shops, only 69 owners will have to pay 20.000FCFA per month.

But traders say it is a means to gradually include the others shops. They revealed that rent per shop have been increasing at a geometric pace, from 3500FCFA to 5000FCFA and later 10.000FCFA, reasons why they are resisting the new move.

The strike action extended Thursday morning as a solution is yet to be proposed to calm the grumbling traders.
Election Day 2022 live updates: First polls close in KY, IN; high turnout in key races

Election watchdogs reported routine issues in key battleground states Tuesday but no major problems as ballots were cast across the U.S. Live updates.
"I was still trying to deal with the fact that I didn't know what I was doing and then my father's death, and I just got ridiculously intoxicated one night, and woke up the next morning incredibly seedy, next to my laptop, and I just read what was on the screen and I realised that I'd written the first couple of chapters," she said.
OK, this one is just here as a bit of fun. Given the lack of detail and that the policy seems so random, we wondered if it was going to end up as a bit of a lottery to determine who stays and who goes. If it did, maybe this is how the Nationals will work out how to split the departments between their electorates?
"The polling in question was very, very closely held. I had it, Tony Nutt had it, the Prime Minister had it and I'm just very disappointed that someone has chosen to put it out there for self-serving reasons.
"We are going through a process and we will be working with the Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and to see what other mechanisms can be used for movements but not just from Canberra, from Sydney, Melbourne and other places and to the outer suburbs."
As much as Canberrans might not like to admit it, many people who move here for work regard the shift as an opportunity cost  a lifestyle penalty, of sorts, given their preference to stay in their home city  for which they want to be compensated. ACT businesses put this opportunity cost at about $10,000 to $20,000 for an administrative worker (i.e. a semi-skilled, white-collar worker as opposed to a specialist). That is, Canberra employers say they need to pay about that much extra in wages to hire staff here compared with what that person would receive in a much larger city. Public service agency heads and HR managers have confirmed this to me: the quality of job applicants for, say, an APS level 6 job in Canberra is far poorer than it would be for a similar position advertised in Sydney.
Business / Economy

by Staff reporter

Zimbabwe Revenue Authority exceeded its first quarter revenue collection targets by 6.09%, with actual gross collectionsNet revenue grew from $724.89 million in the same period in 2016 to $826.63 million in 2017, which represents a 14.04 percent growth. Gross revenue collections in 2017 were 10.29 percent above the 2016 gross revenue collections.Zimra chairperson, Willie Bonyongwe, said the performance was satisfactory and very encouraging and sets the right tone for what the Authority needs to achieve throughout the year."The depressed economy presented a significant challenge to revenue mobilization, but ZIMRA rose to the challenge, creating a strong foundation in systems development, revenue enhancement and compliance measures. That the targets were exceeded shows what a determined people can achieve," she said.The bulk of the revenues in Q1 were from Value Added Tax on Local Sales (22.42%), Individual Tax (20.05%) and Excise Duty (18.17%) while Company Tax contributed 11.20%, with the rest of the revenue heads contributed 28.16%.
Entertainment / Shows

by Simbarashe Sithole

Utakataka express security boys are reported to have been severely beaten by revellers in Guruve at Chivavaya night club after their boss Peter Moyo delayed to start the show.The show, which was billed to start at 20:00hrs started at around 21:00hrs with a Harare band curtain raising for a few hours before being given marching orders by the furious fans who demanded Peter Moyo.All hell broke loose after midnight when they did not see Peter Moyo on stage. The revelers charged at the security responsible for cash collection demanding their cash back.One of the security personnel, Blessing Mauye (30), cheated death after he was bashed by the mob before being surrendered to Guruve police.Two police officers who were deployed to the show were also on the receiving end and they had to seek refuge at the station charge office after revelers demanded their money back.Some of the Utakataka band members used pepper spray to disperse the furious crowd. Most of the people reportedly fell unconscious and had to be have buckets of water poured on them to help them gain consciousness.When Peter finally arrived at around 01:00hours, people destroyed doors to gain free entry into the club.Since the police had been over powered in the skirmishes, Ukatakaka had no choice than to perform for free.Meanwhile, club owner and music promoter explained to Bulawayo24.com that the delay was due to a minor accident that Peter was involved in along the 50km peg Mvurwi-Guruve highway."There was just communication breakdown, Peter hit a pothole resulting in the air bags of his car bursting."People should have been told it was an accident and understand not to respond violently," explained Chivavaya.Some of the revellers, chief among them artisanal miners (makorokoza\gweja), accused young Igwe of being a womaniser."We want our money back, why do you mix business with prostitution. Nothing of the accident sort happened, he was locked up with thigh vendors!" they shouted.
Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing.

You are our people. You Care. We Care2.
April 20, 2017: Bharathiar University today announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, providing for cooperation in academic activities.

The MoU would pave the way for the fine blend of academic learning and hands-on experience in research for the student communities of both the organisations, it said in a release. Its scope include exchange of academic employees for the purpose of research, teaching and pursuing of special courses in their fields of specialisation, student exchange and study abroad programmes.

The MoU was signed by Prof. B. Vanitha, Registrar-In-Charge, Bharathiar University and Prof. Swart, Dean, Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, it said.

PTI
New Delhi, April 20, 2017: The Central Board of Secondary Education has told schools affiliated to it that educational institutions are not commercial establishments and sale of books, uniforms and stationery by them is a violation of norms.

An advisory has been issued following complaints from parents and stakeholders that schools are indulging in commercial activities by way of selling books and uniforms within the school premises or through selected vendors.

"The board has taken a serious view of the complaints and the schools are directed to desist from the unhealthy practice of coercing parents to buy text books, note books, stationary, uniforms, shoes, school bags etc from within the premise or from selected vendors only," the communication sent to schools read.

"CBSE norms mandate that schools are run as community service and not as a business and that commercialisation does not take place in the school in any shape whatsoever. Educational institutions are not commercial establishments and their sole purpose is to provide quality education," it added.

The CBSE has also reiterated its directive to schools to stick to books published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). "The Board receives reports and complaints regarding the pressure exercised by schools on children and their parents to buy textbooks other than (that of) NCERT," it said.

Following complaints about shortage of NCERT books, the CBSE had asked schools to raise online indent for NCERT textbooks and more than 2,000 schools had participated in that. Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar recently said that NCERT textbooks have been supplied to 2,000 private schools.

PTI
Some of the popular universities in India are set to get an autonomous status despite students opposition against the government's decision. The Centre is anticipated to grant complete autonomy for all colleges and universities.

According to a news daily's report, top ranking educational institutions such as Jawaharlal Nehru University, Banaras Hindu University, Delhi University, Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) and Lady Shri Ram College which are funded by the Centre could get full operational autonomy including that in financial matters.

Why are varsities given autonomy?

A high-powered committee headed by Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya is on the verge of making many educational reforms and autonomy is a part of its plans for the betterment of the education system.

How will institutes become better through autonomy?

When executed, this move would also help in raising resources independently. This means the varsities will be free to acquire resources and package themselves according to their needs without waiting for a grant for every facility.

What is the disadvantage of granting autonomy?

There are chances for the colleges to multiply under the aegis of the parent company name. This means there will be more colleges with deteriorated quality since quantity will take centre stage. Already there are too many engineering colleges in the country and this move will only be another pain in the neck to the unorganised education system.

Centre funded colleges accreditation

Also, all the universities and colleges which are funded by the Centre and are ranked in 'A, A+, A++' category by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) will come under the best club of institutions to be granted complete autonomy in near future. The NAAC is an autonomous body established by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to assess and accredit institutions of higher education in the country.

Also in a statement on college autonomy at Budget 2017, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, "Greater autonomy will be provided to major institutes."

Hindi Likely to be Made Mandatory till Class 10 in CBSE Schools
The admit card for the Combined Geo-Scientist and Geologist Examination, 2017 has been released by the Union Public Service Commission has released.

The examination this year is being conducted to fill 138 vacancies in two categories - Geo Scientist and Geologist

How to download UPSC Combined Geo-Scientist and Geologist Examination 2017 Admit Card?

In order to download the admit card of UPSC Combined Geo-Scientist and Geologist Examination 2017, follow the steps given here:

Log on to the official website of UPSC, www.upsc.gov.in

Click on " e - Admit Card " given in the " What's New " section in the home page

" given in the " " section in the home page Click on " Click here " from the next page

" from the next page Click on " Click here " from the next page

" from the next page Click Agree to the instructions given in the next page

Chose registration number or roll number

Fill in registration number or roll number with date of birth

Click Submit

The admit card will be displayed on the screen

Save it to your computer and take a print out for future reference

Dates to remember

UPSC had published the recruitment notification for the Combined Geo-Scientist And Geologist Examination, 2017 on February

The last date to fill the online application forms was March 3

Competitive examination for this recruitment will begin from May 12

What is UPSC?

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a National level competitive examination in India, conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for recruitment to various Civil Services of the Government of India.

UPSC EPFO Enforcement, Accounts Officer Written Test Results Released
News / National

by Staff reporter

TWO Beitbridge men who were arrested for allegedly stealing a top-of-the-range vehicle worth about $30 000 in South Africa before smuggling it into the country through Beitbridge Border Post have approached the High Court seeking bail pending trial.Morris Ndou (35) of Dulivhadzimu suburb and David Mashava (28) of Lutumba area in the border town, through their lawyers Dube and Associates, yesterday filed an application for bail pending trial at the Bulawayo High Court citing the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) as the respondent.The two men who are facing charges of theft of a motor vehicle and smuggling appeared before a Zvishavane magistrate and they were denied bail and remanded in custody pending trial.Ndou and Mashava are denying the charges and argue that there are no compelling reasons to justify their continued detention at remand prison.In their grounds of appeal, the two applicants said they were only hired to drive the car to Harare."The first applicant (Ndou) was hired to take the allegedly stolen vehicle from Beitbridge to Harare for a payment of R3 000 and he then ordered second applicant (Mashava) to drive the car," said the lawyers."The applicants submit that they harbour no intention of absconding or evading justice. The applicants never resisted arrest and cooperated well with the police in their investigations and therefore with such conduct there is no risk of absconding."The two men are seeking an order compelling them to deposit $50 as bail and to continue residing at their given addresses pending the finalisation of the matter.As part of the bail conditions, the applicants are also offering to report at Beitbridge Police Station once a week as well as not interfere with state witnesses.Mr Thompson Hove, who is representing the State, opposed the bail application, arguing that there was no guarantee that the applicants would not abscond.He said granting them bail would not be in the interest of justice as they were likely to tamper with investigations."The investigations are still ongoing and it is submitted that the release of applicants might jeopardise investigations. The applicants are likely to abscond since they are facing a serious charge of theft of a motor vehicle and the state prays for the dismissal of the application," said Mr Hove.It is alleged that sometime in February this year, Ndou and Mashava went to a house in Lindela area of Johannesburg where they allegedly stole a Toyota Prado belonging to the complainant identified as Mr Latib Abdul Dawood.The matter was reported at Lindela Police Station under case number CR462/2/17.Ndou and Mashava allegedly drove the car to Beitbridge Border Post where they smuggled it into Zimbabwe.On March 29 this year at around 4PM, they were intercepted by police along the Zvishavane-Mbalabala road.On being quizzed by detectives, the two men failed to give satisfactory explanations leading to their arrest.
Whats more powerful: government or industry? We may be about to find out as General Motors is headed for a battle with the government of Venezuela.



According to reports, government authorities have seized (or nationalized) the GM plant in Valencia, the capital of Carabobo State and the third largest city in the South American country.

Though hardly the largest automotive manufacturing hub in the world, Venezuela ranks as the fourth largest producer of automobiles in Latin America (behind Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina). Or at least it did until 2014 when the local industry essentially collapsed.

Along with Chrysler, Ford, Mitsubishi, and Toyota, that included the GM plant in Valencia  known as of Latin Americas pequena (or little) Detroit. The factory, established in 1948 as General Motors Venezolana) produced an array of Chevy models  from the little Aveo to the ginormous Tahoe  as well as a handful of Suzukis for local and regional markets. But in 2014, the facility (along with those of many of its competitors) effectively shut down due to lack of supplies. This past October, the automaker put an indefinite hold on the prospect of resuming production, with the plant sitting idle ever since.

Its mothballed status evidently lead the government of Nicolas Maduro  who took over as president after Hugo Chavez died in 2013  to believe it could simply seize the facility, a move to which GM naturally and vehemently objects. GMV strongly rejects the arbitrary measures taken by the authorities, read a statement from the manufacturer, and will vigorously take all legal actions, within and outside of Venezuela, to defend its rights.

In the meantime, it has had to terminate its 2,678 employees, paying separation benefits. Just what recompense it has at its disposal against a government which controls the laws within its own borders, we dont know, but this isnt the first time the communist dictatorship has undertaken such measures. Reuters reports that the government temporarily took over two plants owned by California-based chemical giant Clorox after it left the country in 2014. Ford was forced to write off $800 million in assets within Venezuela in 2015, however GM appears at present defiantly opposed to absorbing the loss.

Video
News / National

by Ndou Paul

Professor Welshman Ncube and Morgan Tsvangirai sign MOU for political coalition ahead of 2018 general elections.  Dr.Pedzisai Ruhanya (@PedzisaiRuhanya) April 20, 2017

Professor Welshman Ncube is with us today as we sign this important MOU. pic.twitter.com/wbLEMcW9hM  Morgan Tsvangirai (@mrtsvangirai) April 20, 2017

Professor Welshman Ncube and Morgan Tsvangirai are alleged to have sign memorandum of understanding for political coalition ahead of 2018 general elections.This was revealed by Dr Pedzisai Ruhanya a former News Editor for Daily News, however, the MDC led by Welshman Ncube has not released any confirmation to the allegations.Tsvangirai said, "Professor Welshman Ncube is with us today as we sign this important MOU."This come after Joice Mujuru, once President Robert Mugabe's trusted deputy and his possible successor, agreed to form a "pre-election alliance" with Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai.The pair signed a memorandum of understanding at a public ceremony in Harare on Wednesday.Tsvangirai, who has tried and failed to unseat the longtime leader in every election since 2000, said: "This is just the beginning of the building blocks towards establishing a broad alliance to confront Zanu-PF between now and the next election in 2018.""Similar arrangements will be entered into with other political formations and we will inform you as it happens, as we have done today," he added.Exact details of the deal are sketchy.
Hyundai is celebrating the 30-day Antarctic expedition, led by Sir Ernest Shackeltons great grandson, by launching a limited edition of the Santa Fe, in the UK.



Limited to just 500 examples, it can be had from 38,995 ($49,996), and wears the Hyundai Santa Fe Endurance moniker.

Each one will come with a choice of five colors: solid Creamy White, pearl White Crystal, metallic Titanium Silver, pearl Phantom Black and metallic Mineral Blue, a special Endurance logo added to the B-pillar and interior floor mats, plus 19-inch alloy wheels, wrapped in 235/55 tires.

Building upon the Premium SE trim, the Hyundai Santa Fe Endurance is powered by the 2.2-liter diesel engine, with four-wheel drive. It comes with a 7-seat configuration, and is boosted by the Convenience Pack, which adds panoramic sunroof, electric tailgate, smart cruise control, around view monitor, and autonomous emergency braking.

This new Endurance Edition offers customers an incredibly well-equipped Santa Fe, one that will be able to tackle everything family life throws at it.and more. As Sir Ernest Shackletons Great Grandson, Patrick Bergel proved just a few months ago, with just a few choice modifications, you could even traverse Antartica!, commented Hyundai UKs President and CEO, Tony Whitehorn.

PHOTO GALLERY

VIDEO
Maserati has lived a bit of a troubled existence but the company has recently shown signs of life thanks to newer models such as the Levante, Ghibli, and Quattroporte.



The Italian firms success was showcased at the Shanghai Auto Show as Maserati chose the event to deliver their 100,000th vehicle. The milestone model was a white Quattroporte Gransport which features a tan interior and red brake calipers hidden behind 21-inch Titano-style alloy wheels.

The car was personally presented to its new owner, who is simply described as an impressive young lady, by Maserati boss Reid Bigland. Her model is powered by a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 engine that cranks out 350 PS (345 hp) and 500 Nm (368 lb-ft) of torque. It allows the sedan to accelerate 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 5.5 seconds before topping out at 270 km/h (167 mph).

The fact that the 100,000th Maserati was delivered to a Chinese customer isnt terribly surprising as China is the largest market for Quattroporte and the company sold more than 12,000 vehicles there last year. The latter figure represents a 120-fold increase in sales over the course of twelve years.

Photo Gallery
Tesla CEO Elon Musk made headlines when he revealed the company would unveil an electric semi-truck in September. However, Toyota is stealing some of his thunder by unveiling the zero-emission Project Portal.



Designed to explore the potential of fuel cell technology in heavy-duty trucking applications, Project Portal is a hydrogen fuel cell system designed for semis at the Port of Los Angeles.

The truck is equipped with two hydrogen fuel cell stacks from the Toyota Mirai as well as a 12 kWh battery that promises to support class 8 load operations. Power is fed to an electric motor that produces more than 670 hp (679 PS) and 1,325 lb-ft (1,794 Nm) of torque. These impressive figures allow the truck to have a gross combined weight capacity of 80,000 lbs (36,287 kg) and a range in excess of 200 miles (321 km).

The Project Portal semi-truck will take part in a feasibility study this summer and the results could help to pave the way for more hydrogen-powered models.

In a statement, Toyota Motor North America Executive Vice President Bob Carter said Toyota believes that hydrogen fuel cell technology has tremendous potential to become the powertrain of the future. He added that the company is proud to help explore the societal benefits of a true zero emission heavy-duty truck platform.

Photo Gallery
Currently, Volvos most compact range of vehicles exist in the 40-series but now, the Swedish automaker has let slip that there is at least one 20-series model on the cards.



Speaking to Car&Driver about the companys product nomenclature, Volvos U.S. president Lex Kerssemakers broke the news.

Its pretty straightforward: The 90 is the biggest, and the 40 is the smallest. And when there is a 20, it will be a smaller one, he revealed.

Kerssemakers failed to reveal any other details about the impending 20-series model or models but suggested that it could be offered in the United States.

The magazine doesnt think the brand will apply a 20-series badge to a coupe or convertible and instead, could initially apply it to a small vehicle dubbed the XC20, created to rival small SUVs and city cars from the likes of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Infiniti. Theres a potential that an S20 small sedan could also see the light of day.

In terms of powertrains, theres a possibility that a three-cylinder petrol could act as the entry-level offering for the 20-series range. Plug-in hybrid and all-electric models are also possible.

Note: Volvo 40.1 Concept pictured

PHOTO GALLERY
The deadline to submit a project to Bridging the Gap is next Monday, April 24.

Now in its third year, Bridging the Gap helps young artists from around the world gain a deeper understanding of the animation industry by giving them access to and guidance from industry professionals. The program is open to young professionals and students who are developing or producing series and feature film ideas. Filmmakers with short films who are looking to expand the concept are also invited to submit their projects.

Twelve artists will be selected to participate in the one-week intensive animation lab, set to take place July 16-22 on the Spanish island of Tenerife, a place that we just covered yesterday on this site.
Photo: Contributed

Construction on the second phase of the Boucherie Road Wine Trail has been delayed by a year.

West Kelowna staff suggested waiting until 2018 to allow all the utility and road work to be completed at the same time, rather than risk having the road dug up over an extended period of time.

It was also suggested the extra time would give the city more time to obtain rights of way from property owners on the affected stretch of Boucherie Road from Stuart to Ogden roads.

Staff also believes the city may get a more favourable price when it puts the project out for tender.

Construction of the second phase of the wine trail is expected to include utility upgrades, a roundabout at Hudson and Boucherie roads, plus a second roundabout or additional turning lanes at Anders road, depending on cost.

A separated bike lane and sidewalks on one side fronting development is also proposed.

Council is also expected to discuss at a later date, a decision to close off access from both Skyline and Stevenson roads.

Mayor Doug Findlater said council has received some negative feedback from residents in those areas about closing access to Boucherie, and hoped to discuss that when appropriate.

While the project was put on hold, staff will look at the prospect of constructing a temporary right turn lane from Hudson onto Boucherie at the urging of Coun. Rosalind Neis.

"Coming here today, at about 3:30, there was quite a lineup on Hudson Road, I would say almost down to the church," said Neis.

"It was all held up by one car trying to turn left. Is there any opportunity to add a right hand turning lane on Hudson for the next year, until this project is complete?"

Staff said they would look into the request and report back within a month.
Photo: Contributed

West Kelowna's new amphitheatre and skate park have been recognized for their construction excellence.

The new facilities were recently presented the 2017 Facility Excellence Award by the BC Recreation and Parks Association.

"The city's new amphitheatre and skate park beautifully illustrate how much recreation, parks, physical activity and the cultural sector can contribute to a high quality of life in our communities, said association CEO Rebecca Tunnacliffe.

These projects are obviously well-loved and appreciated by residents and visitors alike and will serve their community for many, many years to come.

Both facilities opened in the summer of last year.

The skate park replaced the 30-year park, while the amphitheatre, cut into the bank at Memorial Park, provides formalized seating and access stairs for musical events throughout the summer.

We knew these projects would win the hearts of our residents and visitors and we continue to receive compliments on both of these amenities, said Mayor Doug Findlater.

It is especially gratifying to be presented with this award by the BC Recreation and Parks Association for our work at Memorial Park and on behalf of all who were involved with the project, I thank the BCRPA for this recognition.
Photo: City of West Kelowna

West Kelowna Coun. Bryden Winsby didn't go so far as to say I told you so.

But, the West Kelowna councillor said he was happy the city decided not to go the cheap way again in replacing its two entrance signs.

The current signs, erected in 2010, have begun to fall apart and need replacing.

They were originally supposed to be made of wood, however, to save money, they were built out of aluminum with vinyl graphics.

"We went the cheap route. We've come full circle, and I'm so happy," said Winsby when council voted to replace the signs with cedar.

The new signs will also include vandal-proof solar lighting.

"We didn't realize how sought after it was by the criminal element. We have had all of our components in one nature or another stolen over time," park supervisor Stacey Harding told council.

"In one case, they cut the entire pole down."

The city will produce the signs themselves.
Photo: The Canadian Press Winston Blackmore returns to court after a lunch break in Cranbrook, Tuesday.

Dozens of marriage certificates, some citing two wedding ceremonies occurring on the same day, were entered as evidence today at the trial of a fundamentalist church leader charged with polygamy in British Columbia.

Winston Blackmore is the head of a religious group in Bountiful, a community in southeast B.C. where residents are known for practising a faith that condones plural marriage.

Blackmore is accused of marrying 24 women and is standing trial with James Oler, who an indictment says has four wives.

Each is charged with one count of polygamy at the trial in Cranbrook.

Both men served as bishops in Canada for the Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints, which is often referred to as the FLDS.

Marriage records presented in court today were seized in 2008 when police raided the church's Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas.

Nick Hanna, a Texas ranger involved in obtaining about 700 boxes of evidence from the ranch, presented the marriage certificates in court.
Photo: CTV

The warden at Mission Institution is defending the use of minimum-security prisons for convicted killers.

This just days after Robert Dezwaan of Kelowna walked away from the Fraser Valley prison. He was apprehended one day after his escape.

Dezwaan was convicted of killing 16-year-old Cherish Oppenheim in Merritt in 2001.

Warden Barb Van Vugt admitted Wednesday theres nothing preventing inmates from leaving.

"There's a defined perimeter, there's an out-of-bounds zone, but there's no physical security," Van Vugt told CTV.

He said only inmates nearing the end of their sentences and deemed a low risk to public safety are held there.

"We rely on psychology reports to assess risk in terms of risk for future violence. We assess how they conducted themselves institutionally, and what kind of program they completed, and only then would we assess them as a low risk to public safety."

Dezwaan was denied parole and rated a high risk to reoffend just last year.

The regional vice president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers says there's little guards can do.

"Anyone could really walk," Derek Chin told CTV. "We don't really have a say in it."

 with files from CTV Vancouver
News / National

by Staff reporter

President Robert Mugabe must arrest his corrupt ministers, if ever he is to regain the electorate's trust ahead of the 2018 elections, Norton MP Temba Mliswa has said.Speaking to the Daily News, the outspoken former Zanu-PF Mashonaland West chairperson said the recently-turned 93 leader has been preaching zero tolerance on corruption, but has been acting insincerely."To me, and unfortunately, even in winning the (next year's) elections, there areissues which Zanu-PF cannot deal with; the economy, unemployment and corruption more particularly has hurt the people," Mliswa said."The president will have to arrest 10 to 15 Cabinet ministers and he will certainly get the vote but without doing that, it becomes difficult," he said, adding that "people are aware of his (Mugabe's) weaknesses... in not being able to zero-in on corruption. At the end of the day, it is just a talk show".Critics and the opposition accuse Mugabe of failing to tackle high-level graft and argue that endemic corruption is one reason investors are reluctant to commit their capital to Zimbabwe.Mugabe has at times admitted to corruption among his ministers but says police lack the evidence to prosecute.Mliswa further stated that the succession battle in Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, which has gone into overdrive with tables seeming to be turning against a rival faction reportedly baying for the Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere's blood, was more criminal than factional.Kasukuwere's so-called Generation 40 (G40) faction, believed to be fronted by Mugabe's wife, Grace, faces a stiff challenge from Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, an enduring politician known as ngwena - the Crocodile.
Photo: CTV

Four men accused of smuggling dozens of Tamil migrants into Canada were simply part of the effort to get themselves and the rest of the asylum seekers across the Pacific Ocean, their lawyers said Wednesday.

Mark Jette said in closing arguments at the B.C. Supreme Court trial that the men, like the rest of the migrants, were seeking a better life and their work aboard the MV Ocean Lady wasn't facilitating organized crime.

Francis Anthonimuthu Appulonappa, Hamalraj Handasamy, Jeyachandran Kanagarajah, Vignarajah Thevarajah are accused under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of smuggling 76 migrants on board a cargo vessel from Thailand to the coast of British Columbia in October 2009.

Crown attorney Maggie Loda told the court on Tuesday the men were in control of the vessel and were out to make a profit on those who wanted asylum in Canada.

But defence lawyers Jette and Fiona Begg, who represent two of the men, told the court that the evidence fails to prove the accused were in charge or profited in any way out of the voyage.

"This is a group attempting to get away from terrible conditions in their home country," Jette said. "We're not comparing it to a cruise ship ticket."

He said his client, Thevarajah, was among a few who received basic instruction on how to operate the engine room just before they embarked on the voyage. But he said it was a necessary skill for the group to proceed and there was no rationale as to why Thevarajah was chosen for training nor did it suggest he was in charge.

In 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ordered a new trial for the men after ruling portions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act were unconstitutional and shouldn't automatically brand those who help migrants as people smugglers.
Photo: DriveBC View from the Pennask Summit

This morning's rainfall in the valley bottom has brought another big blast of winter weather at the higher elevations.

One motorist has called into Castanet to warn motorists not to travel the Okanagan Connector between the Okanagan and Merritt unless you are prepared for snowy conditions.

He told Castanet trucks are having to chain up between Brenda Mines and Pennask Summit.

"I have a 4X4, and I'm having a difficult time with that," he said.

"The real shame is it looks like there hasn't even been a plow along here. Definitely a weather warning to not travel it if you don't have to until they get their snow removal equipment out here."

The worst of the weather appears to be along the Okanagan Connector itself. Webcam images along the Coquihalla between Merritt and Hope show some snow falling but roads mainly bare and wet.
Photo: CTV/Chopper 9

UPDATE: 5:30 p.m.

The cause of the accident is under investigation but early reports indicate a crew was on the tracks when the rail cars approached without warning.

Cpl. Tammy Douglas says it took a significant effort by rescue crews to deal with those who were trapped in the derailment.

At the section of track where the accident occurred, the rail cars are not connected to train engines, Dave Rushton, the community's regional elected representative said in an interview.

The area is a transfer zone where the loaded rail cars pass through before being connected to locomotives and moved to sawmills elsewhere, he said.

"Somehow the cars got away and ran down the track, and, of course, it's downhill," said Rushton. "It's all gravity feed. They ended up right in behind our community here. It's amazing there wasn't more damage done."

Rushton said a backhoe loader, a speeder car and the workers were on the track when the accident occurred. A speeder car is a rail vehicle used to transport workers on rail tracks.

The train is operated by Western Forest Products, one of the area's major employers.

 with files from The Canadian Press.

UPDATE: 4:30 p.m.

RCMP confirm two people are dead and three are injured in the train derailment.

An investigation into the incident has begun, including the RCMP, Coroners Service, Transportation Safety Board and WorksafeBC.

In a press release, Western Forest Products said: "We are saddened to report an incident with a train derailment in Woss, BC this morning. The train was carrying Western Forest Products personnel and materials. The safety and security of our staff and the communities where we work are paramount."

UPDATE: 3:30 p.m.

The cause of the accident is being investigated, but early reports indicate a crew on the tracks was buried beneath logs when rail cars crashed into them.

UPDATE: 1:10 p.m.

A coroner has been dispatched to the scene of this morning's train derailment on Vancouver Island.

That would imply there was a death in the incident.

The Western Forest Products train was carrying company personnel and lumber.

UPDATE: 12:10 p.m.

Western Forest Products says the train involved in this morning's derailment is one belonging to the company.

The company is co-operating with authorities, it says.

UPDATE: 11:20 a.m.

At least two people are said to be seriously injured in the train derailment.

One person is being transported to hospital via ambulance, and another by air.

ORIGINAL: 11 a.m.

A train has derailed north of Campbell River, on Vancouver Island.

The derailment happened shortly before 9 a.m. in the downtown core of the small community of Woss.

Its not known if anyone was injured or what caused the derailment.

aThree ambulances and an air ambulance are on scene, CTV reports.

 with files from CTV Vancouver Island
Photo: Wayne Moore Mission Creek (file photo)

A combination of rain, higher temperatures and a melting snowpack are contributing to a rise in the levels of creeks and streams throughout the Central Okanagan.

While there are no immediate areas of concern, the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre, local governments and Ministry of Environment are monitoring water levels and weather conditions.

Some areas not prone to flooding have already experienced some localized groundwater and flooding in recent weeks.

Property owners who have experienced flooding in the past are encouraged to protect their property.

Sandbags are available at local firehalls, however, property owners are responsible for providing their own sand.

Those living near low-lying, flood-prone areas are also responsible for protecting their own property with the necessary tools and equipment.

People are also reminded to use caution around water as creeks continue to rise.

Boaters are also advised to be on the lookout for floating debris carried into Okanagan Lake.
Photo: Twitter

Results of water samples taken after an oil spill from a ferry in Kootenay Lake should be available Friday.

The Regional District of Central Kootenay says water samples were taken on three separate days after gear oil spilled from the Kootenay Lake Ferry on April 15 near Balfour, northeast of Nelson.

At the time, Interior Health said a 400-metre stretch of shoreline next to the Balfour ferry terminal should be avoided.

A news release from the regional district says the spill has been contained and did not appear to have affected drinking water intakes in the area.

A faulty piece of equipment was removed from the ferry Wednesday, along with a mixture of about 400 litres of oil and water.

The regional district says any sheen still visible on the lake contains very low quantities of oil and experts have advised the sheen will dissipate or has already disappeared.
Photo: Contributed

Only a few minor injuries after a vehicle slammed into the front of a home at Loseth and Highway 33 in Black Mountain.

No details are available, however emergency crews are on the scene.

Castanet will have more information once it becomes available.
Madison Erhardt

Fire crews were called to the scene of a minor house fire in West Kelowna just after 10:30 a.m.

The incident was reported as a structure fire on Bridal Hill Lane.

"It looks like we have a primary cause already. A lightbulb has heated up some paper towel, which ignited," said assistant fire chief Bren Watson.

"The fire got so hot that it burned through the water line, which helped us control the fire," he added.

No one was injured in the fire.

"It's a safe scene. The fire is out, and it is looking good," said Watson.
Photo: RCMP

The Osoyoos RCMP is turning to the public for help in identifying a man involved in the break and enter at a gas station on April 15.

Police were called to the NkMip Corner Petro Canada in Osoyoos at 3:44 a.m. A lone male suspect was spotted on surveillance footage, who is also believed to be responsible for other break and enters throughout the South Okanagan.

The man was last seen driving a stolen black 2009 Ford Escape, with stolen licence plates 780GWF. Investigators believe the suspect could be travelling to Calgary, Alberta.

Anyone with information on the identity of the suspect is asked to contact the Osoyoos RCMP at 250-495-7236 and quote file 2017-1633
If you have just started your journey in an online casino or are looking for a new site to play,...
News / National

by Staff reporter

Zimbabwe is anticipating to reach 1.2 million carats of diamonds per year once the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) begins activities in all the mining concessions.This was revealed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, Professor Francis Gudyanga in Chiadzwa."The diamond industry is poised for a major shift as ZCDC has now taken over most of the mining concessions, and we are happy that the consolidation of diamond mining operations will soon bear fruit. This will increase production capacity with focus to reach 1.2 million carats per year," said Professor Gudyanga.Visiting Governor for Manica Province of Mozambique, Alberto Ricardo Modlane, who was accompanied by the Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs, Mandi Chimene toured a dairy farm project in Mutasa before visiting the diamond mining operations in Chiadzwa to have a better appreciation of the consolidated diamond scheme.Modlane commended the government's consolidation plan of diamonds, saying it has protected the natural resource base.ZCDC CEO, Dr Morris Bekezela Mpofu said ZCDC is working on a mining strategy that will increase production capacity and commended the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) for funding capital expenditure.Chimene called upon the government to fully resource ZCDC and ensure that maximum production is back on line.The government last year took a deliberate decision to consolidate all diamond mining operations at the expiry of their special grants and renewed the permits of all mining companies in Marange and Chimanimani.
News / Press Release

by Willias Madzimure

The PDP condemns the recent arrest of United Party for National Development Hakainde Hichilema who has charged with treason for allegedly obstructing the motorcade of President Edgar Lungu; we view the arrest as an act of persecution.Police in Zambia arrested and jointly charged Mr Hichilema and five others with treason. They even went on to invade his home and harass his family.The People's Democratic Party's finds the allegation of disobeying police with the intention to harm the President as laughable.We are also aware of the fact that the UPND leader had been accused of assembly without a permit after he gave an impromptu address in the rural Mpongwe.He was granted bail in October after being charged with sedition, a move we also think was an attempt by the ruling party to silence dissent.President Lungu's behaviour now reflects that of his Zimbabwean counterpart President Mugabe who criminalises the right to political choice. He persecutes those who disagree with him.Just like Mugabe, Lungu is now using repressive state apparatus like the police to silence the opposition.In Zimbabwe so many people were charged with treason including war heroes like Lookout Masuku who later died under house arrest, Dumiso Dabengwa, Welshman Ncube, Morgan Tsvangiral, PDP President Tendai Biti among others, the charge which the state could not sustain in court.We view the closure of democratic space in any country as an unacceptable reversal of the gains of the liberation struggle.In our recent statement we urged SADC to rise to the occasion emulating what ECOWAS did during the Gambian Crisis. In this case a mere statement from SADC would do the trick. We want to salute the foreign governments, organisations, political parties and individuals who have condemned the barbaric act.Willias MadzimurePDP International Relations Secretary
News / National

by Staff reporter

Government's plan to introduce a law which allows parents to pay school fees with livestock and labour has become a butt of bad jokes on social media which has since gone viral as long suffering citizens make their views known in ways that provide comical relief.The Movable Property Security Interests Bill which floats the idea of using movable assets like goats, cattle, sheep and cars as collateral for bank loans - is seen as taking the country backwards.Primary and Secondary Education minister Lazarus Dokora told the State media last week that some schools had already entered into arrangements with parents who were failing to pay fees to provide either labour or livestock."Our schools have to be flexible and ensure those who do not have money to pay fees can work."For example, if there is a builder in the community, he/she must be given that opportunity to work as a form of payment of tuition fees."On the issue of livestock, the community has to arrange a market where everyone participates; from the school authorities, local leadership and parents themselves to avoid parents being duped," said Dokora.But the move has almost broken the Internet with unimpressed Zimbabweans using memes and butts of bad jokes to express their anger and disbelief.Outspoken activist lawyer, Fadzayi Mahere took to micro-blogging site, Twitter to share her thoughts."Cows and goats to secure bank loans. Cows and goats to pay school fees. Very soon we shall need a Reserve Kraal of Zimbabwe," tweeted Mahere.Another user, Prophet Cynic, tweeted a meme of a prominent charismatic preacher with the caption, "When your followers bring goats to pay as tithes and offerings..."Social influencer and businesswoman, Nomathemba Primrose Ndebele, also took to her Facebook wall in jest and wrote, "How are you paying? Swipe, Ecocash, Cash or Goat?"Renowned writer and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga also tweeted, "If we had been told in 1970 'We are fighting to introduce cattle and goats as currency. Please help & die for this" what would we have said?"A joke circulating on WhatsApp has a picture of a goat and the words: "BREAKING NEWS: Zimbabwe introduces a new currency."Zimbabwe is in the throes of a huge economic crisis which has seen government failing to pay its civil servants on time on the back of dwindling revenue stemming from company closures and job losses.Mugabe - the only leader that Zimbabweans have ever known since the country got its independence from Britain in 1980 - stands accused of ruining the once-vibrant economy through bad policies.
(TNS) -- The Mahoning and Shenango Valleys need skilled workers.The Greater Oh-Penn Manufacturing Apprenticeship Network is doing the work to get 300 apprentices in five years.To achieve that goal, Workforce Investment Areas of Mahoning and Trumbull counties, the Wean Foundation and Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow, or LIFT, are covering the cost of certified production technician (CPT) training at Trumbull Career and Technical Center and Mahoning County Career and Technical Center in Canfield.This really opens the door to a career in the skilled trades, said Bob Lidle, industrial and building trades coordinator for TCTC.The training is really an introduction to manufacturing, Lidle explained, so the students can be prepared to further their education and go on to have a career as a machinist, welder, industrial maintenance worker or tool and die maker.While the training isnt a necessary requirement for machining or welding programs, having this training gives students a leg up in those programs, Lidle said.The message we are trying to get out here is the opportunity, he said.The CPT training provides students with seven credentials in seven weeks. Students in the training learn safety skills, manufacturing processes and production, quality practices and measurement and maintenance awareness. They work in the classroom and online.From our standpoint, we think it will be good [for students] to gain some credentials, said Bert Cene, director of the Workforce Development Board. It will give them some good background. Employers are still looking for skilled workers, especially in the machining trade and welding trade.The goal of the training is to fill open jobs from retirements and growth at area companies. The region has 2,833 manufacturing job openings annually, according to the apprenticeship network. In the next 10 years, there are expected to be 6,686 workers retiring.The network, which is managed by the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition and West Central Job Partnership, received a $2.9 million U.S. Department of Labor grant to partially reimburse employers for apprenticeships. The five-year grant is in its second year.The network had 25 apprentices last year. It plans to have 50 and 75 each year for the last three years of the grants life.The coalition was formed by manufacturers five years ago to address the need for skilled workers. Today, the coalition is comprised of manufacturers and education institutions.Applications for the free training at TCTC will be taken through May 1 and through June 12 for the training at MCCTC. Limited seating is available. For information, visit www.industryneedsyou.com or call 330-480-4384, ext. 1207 or 1214.
Opinion / Columnist

Twitter: @princewill_nimi



Email: princewill.nimi@yahoo.com



Nimi Princewill is a Nigerian creative writer, poet and social reformer. He's very passionate about the social reformation and political development of Africa. He's most notable for his unconventional opinions on issues that cut across religion, sports, social lifestyle and politics.

I can't disagree much with the glowing report that America has become very diverse, and as a result, opinions towards Africa (depending on who's asked), may have advanced in some quarters.Nonetheless, the negative stereotype (not necessarily racist) about Africa, still visibly hangs in a corner, most notably among American Youths.Having interacted with a tangible number of Americans through the internet, coupled with the steady feedbacks I receive from some Africans resident in the United States, it has served as an amazing eye-opener for me, as I made polite inquiries of their individual candid opinions about Africa. Well, my discovery was absolutely stunning!Quite a handful of the Americans I volunteered to make small talk with, could almost certainly bet their lives Africa was a country! A few others, politely nursed the opinion that Africa is divided into three parts- The lonely deserts, the impoverished communities and the forests of evil, which are colonized by wild animals and scary witch doctors. How pleasantly adorable!Seemingly startled at my 'weird' prospects of civilization, you bet, they sure had probing questions in return for me!Not only were these curious Americans deeply astonished at "how good my English was", they probed further with breathtaking questions like:"How do you leave the house daily, with so many animals clustered around your environment?""Can you see a lion just by looking out the window?""Most houses in Africa as shown on TV, are tiny huts built with mud, so how do you afford internet services?"The American media hasn't been particularly sweet to Africa. According to the popular mantra, "Bad News Is Good News", so where else to grab a bunch of those, if not Africa?The media strategically flaunts images of deserts, debris of war, starving children (to showcase an impoverished Africa) and make-believe documentaries, which creates the impression that Africans cohabit as relatives with animals!Who really blames the average American youth anyway, for seeing Africa in such demeaning light? If television and the print media, indirectly portrays Africa as satan's hub of poverty, disease and war, who are the youths to grow a contrary opinion?Ever heard the phrase 'Dark Continent?'Yeah, that's right... It's Africa's flattering nickname across the Atlantic!Life in Africa, certainly isn't as horrifying as often projected. Neither is Africa consumed by what the foreign audience have probably seen or heard on television. People live normal lives here with computers, running water and power supply (however steady or epileptic).People live in comfortable homes, devoid of less pleasant accommodations like huts and mud houses. Terrorism and insurgency are confined within specific areas and not 'everywhere' as often portrayed. Africa definitely has her unappealing sites and supposed danger zones, but which continent doesn't?The American media should likewise, capture Africa's steady economic rise and development as well!The negative stereotype largely circulated about Africa, can be reduced to a minimum, if foreigners can be exposed to see the other half of Africa for themselves!
Opinion / Columnist

Farai Maguwu is a political analyst. Article appears on Khuluma Afrika

I, Farai Maguwu, am distressed to learn that MDC-T leader Morgan Richard Tsvangirai has signed an MOU with the National People First leader Joyce Mujuru. First, this coalition is insufficient to deal with electoral fraud by ZANU PF. It does not address the militarization of the electoral process which disenfranchises tens of thousands of Zimbabweans through state terror. It is an alliance into oblivion for MDC-T.I was going to be a bit sympathetic if they had formed an alliance to mobilize Zimbabweans for mass demonstrations saying no elections before genuine electoral reforms. But it seems this is a money spinning pact and it has nothing to do with the change we desperately need.ZANU PF secretary for Administration Ignatius Chombo was in the newspapers yesterday saying no electoral reforms will take place ahead of 2018 election.But more importantly I fail to reconcile Joyce Mujuru's past and the future Zimbabweans want - a future free of fear and want; a future that gives hope to a troubled nation. Joyce Mujuru's hands are dripping with the blood of MDCT supporters who must be turning in their graves and shocked at what the party they died for has become.Joice Mujuru defended corruption by ZANU PF officials publicly up to the last day she was kicked out of that party kicking and screaming. She was Vice President in 2008 when more than 400 MDCT supporters and officials were murdered in cold blood by ZANU PF after Zimbabweans had delivered victory to Morgan Tsvangirai - a victory he temporarily ran away from and later returned to hand over to Robert Mugabe who retained executive authority whilst Morgan was satisfied with a useless Prime Minister's post. Joice Mujuru never condemned the violence and she benefitted from the killings by remaining Vice President beyond her legal mandate of 31 March 2008.By entering into a pact with Joyce Mujuru, Morgan Tsvangirai has sold out the people's struggle and betrayed thousands of his supporters who suffered many things at the hands of ZANU PF, then Joyce's party. By joining hands with Mujuru Morgan has abdicated from principle. It is safe to conclude we no longer have an opposition in Zimbabwe.How will his new friends in NPP face the people they terrorized yesterday.Furthermore, what value would Joice Mujuru possibly add to the coalition, let alone the struggle for democracy in Zimbabwe. Her perceived strength and influence is more of an assumption than fact. On the ground, it even appears, she has none. Just recently, she participated in the Bikita by-election and she was trounced heavily, meaning she has failed to use whatever knowledge she is supposed to have of ZANU PF rigging antics to her advantage.Her erstwhile colleague Kudakwashe Bhasikiti chickened out of Mwenezi by election citing intimidation. This is the same path the MDC-T has travelled. We know this already. It illustrates that NPP are probably no more than inspired novices. I don't know if they have something new to unleash in 2018 but so far the MDCT is much stronger and better without Joice Mujuru.MDC-T does not need an electoral pact with compromised parties to win elections. MDC-T has won elections since 2000 but denied by the military from taking power. Coalition talks presuppose that ZANU Pf has a superior mass support - which is a lie.The strategy we need is how to create an even electoral field. How do we protect rural villagers from state terror during election time? How do we protect the people's vote in the event of an unlikely MDC-T victory? I don't see how Joyce answers to these. She has remained very loyal to Mugabe and she avoids mentioning him by name in her public speeches. She recently said she has no information on how the 2013 election was rigged.She brings nothing to the table. No gains. No advantages. No support. That to me, is an exercise in zero sum gains.
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AI Will Raise the Stakes for Contact Center Solutions

While we may like to think of the twenty-first century contact center as a shiny, modern bastion of Web services, cloud-based solutions and the latest in data analytics, the truth is that a lot of companies are still lumbering along using last centurys technology. According to a survey by TalkDesk, nearly 80 percent of the contact center market is still on premise, which means that for the near future, customers will continue suffering from frustrating, largely unusable interactive voice response (IVR) technologies, and agents will continue trying to do their best with outdated customer support applications that are poorly integrated (if integrated at all) with other systems.

Still, impressive things are happening in the call center space and many innovators are taking advantage of them. Artificial intelligence, for example, is expected to take the leading edge of contact center solutions and push them out to places even beyond customer expectations. With Amazons recent addition to the contact center solutions space  Amazon Connect is a cloud-based contact center solution based on the companys Alexa AI technology  the stakes have been raised both for contact center vendors and customers of their solutions.

Last month, Amazon Web Services announced Amazon Connect, a self-service, cloud-based contact center service for the enterprise. The service uses Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa to respond to questions over the phone or via text, its Lex chatbot building service and its text-to-speech program Polly. Amazons entrance into this space puts the on-premise call center companies on alert. TalkDesk COO Gadi Shamia recently told CIO Dives Justine Brown that the proliferation of Web services plus the addition of AI will mean that companies simply cant try and make do with last decades contact center options.

When customers have more choice, they tend to migrate faster from old technologies, said Shamia. We have seen it happening in other industries like CRM, and we have seen it happening in the call center space in the last two to three years.

While industry watchers like to imagine that AI includes extensive use of virtual assistants that can talk (like Alexa or Siri), Shamia notes that this isnt necessarily the case.

If you ever used AI bots, [such as] Siri, you know how often they get simple questions wrong  now imagine letting it deal with your customers directly, said Shamia.

Instead, the AI is better used to route calls to the right agents without necessitating customers entering information into an IVR system, or shouting Agent! Agent! at an ineffective speech recognition system. The most important feature of AI in these scenarios is its ability to learn from its mistakes.

Every time a call is transferred, the bot can assume it could have been handled better and improve its algorithm over time, wrote Brown. As a result, customers get faster and more accurate answers, which could lead to higher customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

Going forward, AI-backed solutions will be able to analyze customer word choice and tone to determine emotion (something AI isnt as good as compared to human agents) and include this as a factor in call routing. The key will be to plug AI into as many information sources as possible so it can gain an accurate picture of what the caller wants and how best to deliver it.

Edited by Alicia Young
Good morning! Im in New York City right nowjust like old times!

If youre a long-time reader, you probably remember just how much time I spent in New York City. Its a quick train or bus ride from Boston, and there was always an excuse to visit, so I found myself there just about every other week. Here are some of the blog posts that Ive written about the Big Apple over the years:

New York City Marathon Recap

New York and Company

Reebok Fit Hub Store Opening in New York City

New York Minute {Weekend Recap}

Rainy Day in New York City

Less Than 24 Hours in the Big Apple

Im Off to NYC for the Reebok ZQUICK Launch

New York Minute

Run and Done

More | Fitness Womens Half Marathon

The Skinny Rules Launch Party with Bob Harper

You might notice some common themes among these blog posts, including fun blog-related events, running, rain (Im cursed), and being in the city for a hot second and this trip is no different!

Im visiting for an event with CVS/pharmacy.

Ill be in NYC for less than 24 hours (technically 23).

Its raining (of course).

Im running with my friend Theodora this morning!

There you go: All the makings of a typical CNC trip to New York City!

And heres a recap from yesterday!

My morning started with scrambled eggs mixed with roasted sweet potatoes. Easy-peasy, nutritious, and delicious!

Before we left the house, I made everyone a smoothie. The boys had banana, blueberry, spinach, and Greek yogurt smoothies while I whipped up an iced coffee, banana, spinach, Brain Octane Oil, and coconut protein powder smoothie. Im on a seriously smoothie kick lately!

After daycare drop-off, Mal and I headed to Target to look at patio furniture.

And buy hair elastics because I swear these babies have a mind of their own. WHERE do they go!?!

After that, we did a little more window shopping for patio furniture at Lowes and Home Depot before Mal drove me to South Station to catch the train to New York City.

I grabbed a decaf almond milk iced latte for the road from Starbucks. Surprisingly, it wasnt all that delicious, but for $6.10 (!!!), I drank almost all of it.

On the train, I worked, worked, worked.

I eventually took a break for lunch, which was ground chicken mixed with Cowboy Caviar, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and spinach. I also had some baby dried bananas (from Trader Joes) mixed with Peanut Butter Puffins.

More work. And then right before I got off the train, I snacked on a thinkTHIN Bar.

When I arrived at Penn Station, Google Maps told me that I was only 1.3 miles from my hotel, so I decided to walk the distance instead of taking a taxi. I hadnt exercised since Monday, and I only had a backpack with me, so I figured itd be a nice walk through the city.

On my walk, I took a little pit-stop to get my nails done! 

When I checked into the hotel, I received a fun welcome package from the folks at CVS/pharmacy.

Inside was all sorts of awesome snacks and travel items. I loved everything they selected it was almost like they read my mind!

I immediately cracked open the CVS Health AirShield and added a tablet to a bottle of water. I was so thirsty after the train ride, and I almost always get sick when I travel, so I was pumped to have this product on-hand.

After that, I did a little work and then got myself ready for dinner at Jams.

The evening kicked off with a cocktail hour.

And concluded with the most amazing chocolate angel food cake! 

The end.

Question of the Day

Have you ever visited NYC? If so, when was the last time you were there?
United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. HARUNA MUSA DARBO, Petitioner, v. U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. No. 16-12767 Decided: April 18, 2017

Before MARTIN, JULIE CARNES, and JILL PRYOR, Circuit Judges.

Haruna Musa Darbo, a native and citizen of The Gambia, seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeals's (BIA) decision affirming the immigration judge's (IJ) denial of his application for (1) asylum; (2) withholding of removal; and (3) relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Darbo first argues the BIA erred by affirming the IJ's finding that he was statutorily ineligible for asylum. He then argues the BIA erred by affirming the IJ's finding that he was not credible and had not met the burden of proof for withholding of removal. Finally, Darbo argues the BIA erred by affirming the IJ's finding that he had not met the burden of proof for CAT relief. After careful review, we dismiss Darbo's petition for lack of jurisdiction in part and deny his petition in part.

I.

Darbo came to the United States on an F-1 student visa on November 27, 1983. He filed an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection on May 25, 2010. Darbo decided to apply for asylum after he discovered his name had been placed on a most wanted list by the National Intelligence Agency in The Gambia. This list was published in at least two different online newspapers. The U.S. Citizen and Immigrations Services interviewed Darbo on December 9, 2010, and later that month referred his application for further proceedings. On January 3, 2011, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement served Darbo with a notice to appear, informing him that removal proceedings against him were beginning. The notice to appear said Darbo was removable because he failed to maintain the conditions of the student visa under which he was admitted to the United States.

Darbo did not contest the government's allegations and conceded removability. Instead he sought asylum and withholding of removal based on his political opinion and membership in a particular social group, as well as CAT protection. Darbo explained several of his colleagues had been threatened and unjustly detained by the Gambian government. He also said that if he returned to the The Gambia, he would be detained, tortured, and killed. Darbo pointed to the most wanted list for proof of his claims. He also submitted a U.S. Department of State report on The Gambia's human rights issues, as well as a number of affidavits and articles describing political turmoil, unrest, and Darbo's activism in The Gambia. Darbo attached to his application a statement saying that his father was a founding member of the People's Progressive Party, and that several other close family members were heavily involved with that political party and other ideologically similar parties as well. Darbo explained that a coup d'etat occurred in The Gambia in 1994, and the resulting authoritarian regime was not friendly to his family's political involvements. He claimed there was significant danger in The Gambia to political dissidents, and also said he would be targeted because of his family, his activism in helping Gambian journalism, an interview with a Gambian newspaper in which he was critical of the Gambian government, and because he was on the most wanted list.

On May 14, 2014, an IJ held a hearing at which Darbo testified. On December 3, 2014, the IJ denied Darbo's application. The IJ found that Darbo was not credible. In making this adverse credibility determination, the IJ pointed to inconsistences in Darbo's statements about his claimed relatives, inconsistent dates he provided, and key omissions in his application and testimony. The IJ concluded that (1) Darbo's asylum application was time-barred and his testimony and corroborating evidence were not credible and thus could not show changed circumstances to excuse the time bar; (2) Darbo's removal would not be withheld because he could not meet his burden of proof given the lack of credible evidence; and (3) Darbo was not eligible for CAT protection because he had not met his burden of proof given the lack of credible evidence. Darbo appealed this decision to the BIA. The BIA affirmed and adopted the IJ's decision on April 25, 2016. This appeal followed.

II.

We review de novo whether we have subject-matter jurisdiction over a claim. Ruiz v. Gonzales, 479 F.3d 762, 765 (11th Cir. 2007). When the BIA issues a decision, we review only that decision and the IJ's decision to the extent the BIA adopted it. Lopez v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 504 F.3d 1341, 1344 (11th Cir. 2007). In this case, the BIA expressly adopted and affirmed the IJ's decision so we review both decisions.

We review de novo the BIA's legal determinations. Id. Any factual determinations are reviewed under the substantial evidence test. Id. Substantial evidence means that the BIA's decision is supported by reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole. Al Najjar v. Ashcroft, 257 F.3d 1262, 1284 (11th Cir. 2001) (quotation omitted). This Court will reverse factual findings only when the record compels a reversal; the mere fact that the record may support a contrary conclusion is not enough to justify a reversal of the administrative findings. Adefemi v. Ashcroft, 386 F.3d 1022, 1027 (11th Cir. 2004) (en banc).

A.

Darbo argues the BIA erred by affirming the IJ's finding that he was statutorily ineligible for asylum. Generally, asylum applications must be filed within 1 year after the date of the alien's arrival in the United States. 8 U.S.C.  1158(a)(2)(B). However, an untimely application may be considered if the alien demonstrates  either the existence of changed circumstances which materially affect the applicant's eligibility for asylum or extraordinary circumstances relating to the delay in filing an application. Id.  1158(a)(2)(D). We do not have jurisdiction to review the BIA's factual determination about whether a petitioner met the one-year time limit or whether an exception applies. Chacon-Botero v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 427 F.3d 954, 957 (11th Cir. 2005) (per curiam); 8 U.S.C.  1158(a)(3).

Darbo says the BIA erred by discrediting his testimony, and therefore he was not afforded due process. This Court does have jurisdiction to review constitutional claims or questions of law raised in a petition for review. Arias v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 482 F.3d 1281, 1284 (11th Cir. 2007) (per curiam); 8 U.S.C.  1252(a)(2)(D). However, although Darbo says he is raising a due process challenge, his argument is really about a factual determination: whether the evidence he presented was credible and demonstrated changed circumstances. The record shows the IJ considered Darbo's evidence and reached a different factual conclusion than the one Darbo argued. Under Arias, we cannot consider factual challenges about how the evidence was weighed couched in constitutional language. 482 F.3d at 1284. Therefore, we lack jurisdiction to consider Darbo's challenge to the timeliness of his asylum application. See id. As a result, this claim is dismissed.

B.

Darbo next argues the BIA erred in affirming the IJ's finding that he did not meet his burden of proof required for withholding removal. Darbo says the IJ erred in its credibility determinations. He claims the inconsistencies and omissions identified by the IJ in making its adverse credibility determination about him were immaterial and irrelevant. Darbo also argues he provided sufficient corroborative evidence to rehabilitate his testimony, and says the IJ did not properly consider that evidence.

Removal must be withheld if the alien's life or freedom would be threatened  because of the alien's race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. 8 U.S.C.  1231(b)(3). Darbo bears the burden of demonstrating it is more likely than not that he will be persecuted or tortured upon return to The Gambia. See Sepulveda v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 401 F.3d 1226, 1232 (11th Cir. 2005) (per curiam). This burden can be met either by showing past persecution based on a protected ground or by showing a future threat. Tan v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 446 F.3d 1369, 1375 (11th Cir. 2006).

Credibility determinations are factual determinations that we review for substantial evidence. Chen v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 463 F.3d 1228, 123031 (11th Cir. 2006) (per curiam). When an alien's testimony is found credible, it alone can be sufficient to establish eligibility for relief from removal. Id. at 1231. But because the IJ specifically found that Darbo was not credible, Darbo has the burden to show the IJ's finding was not supported by specific, cogent reasons or was not based on substantial evidence. Id. at 1232 (quotation omitted). In making credibility determinations, the IJ is directed to consider the totality of the circumstances, and all relevant factors. 8 U.S.C.  1158(b)(1)(B)(iii). These include the applicant's demeanor and candor; the plausibility of the applicant's account; the consistency between the applicant's written and oral statements; and the consistency of such statements with other evidence in the record. Id.

Darbo does not contest the inconsistencies and omissions identified by the IJ in its finding that he was not credible. Instead he says some of them are easily explained and challenges their materiality. But the IJ may base its credibility determination on any inaccuracy, without regard to whether an inconsistency, inaccuracy, or falsehood goes to the heart of the applicant's claim. Id. Neither does Darbo challenge all of the inconsistencies and omissions recognized by the IJ. We cannot reverse a factual determination unless the record compels it, even when the record may support a contrary conclusion. Ruiz v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 440 F.3d 1247, 1255 (11th Cir. 2006) (per curiam). On this record then, we must affirm the IJ's adverse credibility determination of Darbo.

Darbo then says his corroborating evidence rehabilitated his testimony, and says the IJ did not properly consider that evidence. An adverse credibility determination does not end the IJ's inquiry. The IJ must still consider all evidence introduced by the applicant. Forgue v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 401 F.3d 1282, 1287 (11th Cir. 2005). In this case, Darbo submitted a great deal of corroborating evidence including copies of newspapers that published the most wanted list with his name in it, a U.S. Department of State report on The Gambia's human rights issues, and many affidavits and articles describing political turmoil, unrest, and Darbo's activism in The Gambia. However, the IJ found this evidence unconvincing. The IJ explained that the online newspapers Darbo presented lacked sufficient reliability, and found other evidence indicating they were fabricated. The IJ also found that the only letter supporting his claim of endangerment was from an interested witness.

On this record, we cannot say the IJ's credibility finding regarding Darbo's corroborating evidence was not supported by substantial evidence. See Al Najjar, 257 F.3d at 1284. And this Court cannot reverse the IJ's determination that there was not sufficient corroborating evidence unless we find that a reasonable trier of fact is compelled to conclude otherwise. See 8 U.S.C.  1252(b)(4)(D). As a result, we must deny Darbo's claim that he met his burden of proof for withholding of removal.

C.

Darbo last argues the BIA erred in affirming the IJ's finding that he did not meet his burden of proof required for protection under the CAT. He says if he returns to The Gambia, he will be tortured, imprisoned, and possibly killed as a political dissident. He also says the BIA's decision to deny him CAT protection was rooted in the erroneous adverse credibility determinations.

Darbo must establish that it is more likely than not that he  would be tortured if removed to the proposed country of removal. Reyes-Sanchez v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 369 F.3d 1239, 1242 (11th Cir. 2004) (quoting 8 C.F.R.  208.16(c)(2)). Unlike the statutory withholding of removal, CAT eligibility does not require the torture be based upon a protected ground. See id. Darbo must show that the torture would be inflicted by someone with the consent of the government or that the government would be aware of the torture and fail to intervene. See id.

Darbo has not met this burden. His claim here rests upon the credibility determinations regarding his testimony and the corroborating evidence, and we have already concluded those determinations were supported by substantial evidence. Therefore, we must deny this claim as well.

PETITION DISMISSED in part for lack of jurisdiction and DENIED in part.

FOOTNOTES

. Credibility determinations for withholding of removal are made in the same manner as those for asylum purposes. 8 U.S.C.  1231(b)(3)(C).

PER CURIAM:
United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. J. GARY MARTIN, Plaintiff - Counter Defendant - Appellee, v. MASSACHUSETTS MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant - Counter Claimant - Appellant. No. 15-11697 Decided: April 19, 2017

Before TJOFLAT, JULIE CARNES, Circuit Judges, and CONWAY,* District Judge.

This appeal addresses the amount of monthly disability benefits available under an insurance policy agreement. Plaintiff Gary J. Martin filed this diversity action against Defendant Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) for breach of an insurance policy under Georgia law and seeking declaratory relief as to the amount of monthly income benefits Mr. Martin is entitled to under the policy terms. The district court found that the disability insurance policy issued by MassMutual to Mr. Martin in 1984 unambiguously provides to Mr. Martin full monthly income benefits as long as he remains disabled rather than a lesser amount of monthly income benefits under an extended monthly income rider. MassMutual appeals the district court's grant of judgment on the pleadings in favor of Mr. Martin.

On appeal, MassMutual contends that the district court erred in applying Georgia law to determine the amount of monthly income benefits available under an extended monthly income rider added to the insurance policy. After review of the record and with the benefit of oral argument, we reverse in favor of MassMutual. Accordingly, we remand MassMutual's counterclaims for consideration by the district court.

I. BACKGROUND

The relevant disability insurance policy agreement was issued by MassMutual to Mr. Martin on December 4, 1984 (the Policy). [Doc. 2]. The Policy has an expiration date of December 4, 2011 (the Policy Expiration Date), which was the next Policy anniversary date after Mr. Martin reached the age of 65.

On the December 4, 2011 Policy Expiration Date, Mr. Martin was receiving $9,830.40 in monthly income benefits. [Doc. 2 at p. 5,  12]. MassMutual continued to pay Mr. Martin this amount in monthly income benefits until December 26, 2013, when MassMutual sent Mr. Martin a letter advising that it would be reducing Mr. Martin's monthly income benefit to $614.40. [Doc. 2. at pp. 4446]. MassMutual explained that the $9,830.40 was mistakenly paid to Mr. Martin beyond the Policy Expiration Date. According to MassMutual, Mr. Martin was entitled only to the monthly income benefit provided by an Extended Monthly Income Rider (the EMIR) that Mr. Martin had applied for and received with the Policy. MassMutual further demanded that Mr. Martin provide reimbursement for overpayments in the amount of $215,692.20 that MassMutual had made to Mr. Martin since the Policy Expiration Date. [Doc. 2 at p. 54]. Thereafter, the parties filed respective lawsuits.

Mr. Martin filed the first lawsuit against MassMutual in Florida state court, which was removed to the Middle District of Florida. [Doc. 1]. This lawsuit was subsequently consolidated in Florida with a lawsuit MassMutual had filed against Mr. Martin in the Northern District of Georgia. [Doc. 24]. In the Florida lawsuit, Mr. Martin brought claims for breach of contract and unfair settlement practices seeking declaratory relief. [Doc. 2]. In the Georgia lawsuit, MassMutual brought claims against Mr. Martin for unjust enrichment and money had and received, which were reasserted as counterclaims in Mr. Martin's Florida lawsuit. [Doc. 15].

The Policy provides for a $200.00 basic monthly income benefit. [Doc. 2 at p. 15]. In addition to the basic monthly income benefit, the Policy contains several riders that provide potential additional monthly income benefits. In the event the insured becomes disabled, as defined by the Policy, there is a Maximum Benefit Period during which monthly income benefits are distributed to the insured. The Maximum Benefit Period is defined as the maximum length of time that monthly income payments will be made for any one period of disability, and it further provides that payments stop at the end of that time, even if the insured is still disabled. The Maximum Benefit Period can be continued to, but not including, the Expiration Date shown on the Schedule Page. Because of this, there is a limit on the Maximum Benefit Period. That is, no income payment will be made for any period after the Expiration Date.

In 1984, at the time the Policy was issued to Mr. Martin, he also applied for two riders : (1) the abovementioned EMIR, and (2) the Income Adjustment Rider (the IAR). In 1986, two years later, Mr. Martin added a third rider to the Policy, the Additional Monthly Income Rider (the AMIR).

The EMIR expressly provides an extended monthly income for disability of the insured. [Doc. 2 at pp. 3536]. Extended is defined as income that will begin after the Policy Anniversary Date which is on or next follows the Insured's 65th birthday, which is the same date as the Policy Expiration Date. Furthermore, the EMIR language expressly states that the income payments provided by this rider are computed from the Expiration Date of the policy. That is, payments accrue from that date with the first payment due one month later. Then, future payments are due on the same day of each month thereafter.

To qualify for EMIR benefits, four requirements must be met. In the district court, there was no dispute that Martin has fulfilled these requirements. Once all requirements are satisfied, Mr. Martin is entitled to receive EMIR monthly income benefits for as long as he remains disabled.

Additionally, a Table of Extended Monthly Income (the Table) attached to the EMIR is used for determining the amount of monthly income benefits an insured is entitled to under the rider. [Doc. 2 at p. 37]. Pursuant to the Table, if an insured's loss of earned income due to disability is more than 75%, and began on or before December 4, 2000, the insured's Amount of Extended Monthly Income is $200.00. However, if an insured's over-75% loss of earned income occurs after that date, the Table provides for a reduction in the Amount of Extended Monthly Income. This reduction applies in each subsequent year up until December 4, 2006, at which time the insured will not be entitled to monthly income benefits under the EMIR. Because Mr. Martin became disabled on or about the year 1995, he was entitled to the full $200.00 monthly income benefit pursuant to the Table. [Doc. 2 at p. 5,  14].

The Policy provides an instructive example of EMIR monthly income benefits:

You become disabled at age 50. You have a Loss of Earned Income of more than 75% for each month of disability and income payments under the policy are made to the Expiration Date of the policy. At that time, income payments under the policy end since the Maximum Benefit Period for the policy has been completed. However, if you continue to be disabled, income payments will be made under this rider. These income payments will continue as long as you remain disabled.

[Doc. 2 at p. 35].

In contrast to the EMIR, which does not provide benefits during the Maximum Benefit Period, two riders that Mr. Martin added to the Policy increase the $200.00 basic monthly income benefit during the Maximum Benefit Period. The IAR is a cost of living adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index and generally provides for annual increases in the amount of disability income under the Policy. [Doc. 2 at pp. 2831]. By express language, the IAR provides income adjustment increases to both the $200.00 basic monthly income benefit under the Policy and to any additional monthly income provided by the Policy's riders.

Next, the AMIR expressly provides a monthly income in addition to the income provided by the policy. [Doc. 2 at pp. 4243]. Martin made two applications for the AMIR in 1986: one for an additional monthly income amount of $2,000.00 and another for an additional monthly income amount of $1,000.00. There is no dispute that Martin met the requirements for the AMIR and properly received AMIR monthly income benefits during the Maximum Benefit Period. Both the IAR and the AMIR have a Termination of this Rider provision stating that the Expiration Date of this rider is the same as the Expiration Date of this policy.

All of the abovementioned riders state that the rider is made a part of the Policy, and the Policy provisions apply to the rider except for those that are inconsistent with this rider. Additionally, the Policy has a Schedule Page that shows the $200.00 basic monthly income benefit; the Policy Expiration Date of December 4, 2011; the amount of premiums required for the Policy and the riders; and additional monthly income benefits provided by any riders. [Doc. 2 at pp. 1516].

During the Maximum Benefit Period, Mr. Martin's monthly income benefits were calculated as follows: the $200.00 basic monthly income benefit, plus the $3,000.00 AMIR benefit, both of which were increased by the IAR. The total monthly income benefit at the time of the Policy Expiration Date was $9,380.40 per month. Mr. Martin argues that, because of the addition of the EMIR to the Policy, he is entitled to this amount as long as he remains disabled. [Doc. 19]. In contrast, MassMutual maintains that, since the Policy Expiration Date has passed, the monthly income benefit includes only amounts provided by the express language of the EMIR. [Doc. 23]. According to MassMutual, this is a new benefit that includes the monthly $200.00 base income amount provided by the Table and the corresponding IAR increase. At the time the lawsuit was filed this amount totaled $614.40 in monthly income benefits. [Id.] The district court agreed with Mr. Martin's interpretation of the Policy and granted judgment on the pleadings in his favor. [Doc. 28].

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review an order granting a judgment on the pleadings de novo. Perez v. Wells Fargo, N.A., 774 F.3d 1329, 1335 (11th Cir. 2014). Judgment on the pleadings is proper when no issues of material fact exist, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law based on the substance of the pleadings and any judicially noticed facts. Interline Brands, Inc. v. Chartis Specialty Ins. Co., 749 F.3d 962, 965 (11th Cir. 2014). We accept all the facts in the complaint as true and view them in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Id.

III. DISCUSSION

The narrow issue on appeal is whether Mr. Martin's addition of the EMIR to his Policy also extended the monthly income benefits payable under the AMIR beyond the Policy Expiration Date. Notably, there is no dispute that Mr. Martin is entitled to the $200.00 EMIR monthly income benefits and the IAR increase of those benefits. [Doc. 28 at p. 15].

Both parties agree that Georgia contract law governs this action based on diversity-of-citizenship. In Georgia, an insurance contract is governed by the ordinary rules of construction and should be construed to ascertain the intention of the parties. Progressive Preferred Ins. Co. v. Brown, 261 Ga. 837, 838, 413 S.E.2d 430, 431 (Ga. 1992). Where the contractual language is explicit and unambiguous, the court's job is simply to apply the terms of the contract as written, regardless of whether doing so benefits the carrier or the insured. Ga. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Smith, 298 Ga. 716, 719, 784 S.E.2d 422, 424 (Ga. 2016). In contrast, if the policy is ambiguous, the court must construe the policy to mean what a reasonable person in the insured's position would understand the terms to mean. Ga. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Hunke, 240 Ga. App. 580, 524 S.E.2d 302, 303 (Ga. Ct. App. 1999). The contract is to be construed as a whole and each provision is to be given effect and interpreted so as to harmonize with the others. Boardman Petroleum, Inc. v. Federated Mut. Ins. Co., 269 Ga. 326, 328, 498 S.E.2d 492, 494 (Ga. 1998).

Georgia law requires insurance policies be read in pari materia. O.C.G.A.  33-24-16. Therefore, the insurance policy is construed according to the entirety of its terms and conditions as set forth in the policy and as amplified, extended, or modified by any rider, endorsement or application made a part of the policy. Id. When the language in an endorsement or rider conflicts with the policy, the rider controls, B.L. Ivey Const. Co. v. Pilot Fire & Cas. Co., 295 F. Supp. 840, 848 (N.D. Ga. 1968), and a specific provision will prevail over a general one, Holland v. Holland, 287 Ga. 866, 868, 700 S.E.2d 573, 575 (Ga. 2010). It is well-established that a court should avoid interpreting a contract in such a way as to render portions of the language of the contract meaningless. ALEA London Ltd. v. Woodcock, 286 Ga. App. 572, 576, 649 S.E. 2d 740, 745 (Ga. Ct. App. 2007).

Neither party argued to the district court that the Policy was ambiguous. [Docs. 19 & 23]. Therefore, we look to the Policy alone and its provisions are given their ordinary meaning. Taylor Morrison Servs, Inc., 293 Ga. at 459460. The district court held that, once the EMIR was added to the Policy, and all requirements for monthly income benefits under the EMIR were satisfied, the EMIR extended the Maximum Benefit Period of the Policy. [Doc. 28 at p. 14].

Under this interpretation, the district court held that Mr. Martin was entitled to the $200.00 EMIR monthly income benefit, the $3,000.00 AMIR monthly income benefit, and the corresponding IAR increase of those amounts. [Id. at p. 1718]. According to the district court, the AMIR included a termination date on the Policy Expiration Date only because it could have been added to the Policy without adding the EMIR. [Id. at p. 16]. Since the EMIR had been added to Mr. Martin's Policy before the AMIR, the Maximum Benefit Period was extended. [Id. at p. 17]. The AMIR benefits continue pursuant to the EMIR because there is no language limiting Mr. Martin's entitlement to AMIR benefits. [Id.] Therefore, the district court concluded that it is inconsistent to interpret the Policy as terminating although Mr. Martin has satisfied the requirements to receive EMIR monthly income benefits. [Id., n.4].

On appeal, MassMutual maintains that the clear and unambiguous language of the EMIR provides for a new monthly income benefit that is first payable to Mr. Martin after the Maximum Benefit Period has expired. According to MassMutual, the language of the EMIR is quite clear that benefits payable under that rider are computed from the Policy Expiration Date. The example in the EMIR further reinforces this interpretation by providing that, once income payments under the Policy have been made to the Policy Expiration Date, income payments under the policy end since the Maximum Benefit Period for the policy has been completed.

If the EMIR extended the Maximum Benefit Period, as the district court determined, MassMutual argues that monthly income benefits payable under the EMIR would essentially never begin. We agree with this interpretation. The district court's conclusion that the EMIR extended the Maximum Benefit Period is inconsistent with the language of the EMIR, which provides that monthly income benefits commence on the Policy Expiration Date. This interpretation is supported by the Policy definition of the Maximum Benefit Period, which states that it ends on the Policy Expiration Date.

Furthermore, both Mr. Martin and the district court fail to cite specific language in the Policy or the EMIR that extends the Maximum Benefit Period for the lifetime of Mr. Martin's disability. Such an interpretation renders meaningless clear and unambiguous provisions of the Policy. For example, Mr. Martin's and the district court's interpretation ignores specific language in the AMIR that provides that income benefits payable under the AMIR terminate on the Policy Expiration Date. Importantly, the AMIR was added to the Policy two years after the EMIR. According to Georgia law, the termination date of the AMIR, which is both specific and inconsistent with the EMIR termination date, controls when monthly income benefits payable under the AMIR terminate. See B.L. Ivey Const. Co., 295 F. Supp. at 848 (it is a general principle of wide application in Georgia that when an endorsement or rider and a policy conflict, the former controls the latter, since it is a later expression of intent.).

In contrast, the specific language of the EMIR controls the amount and availability of its monthly income benefits. Notably, there is no language in the EMIR that could reasonably be construed as extending monthly income benefits payable under a separate rider that was not a part of the Policy at the time Mr. Martin added the EMIR to the Policy. The EMIR explicitly provides (1) a specific date in which income payments provided by this rider are to begin (the Policy Expiration Date), and (2) a $200.00 monthly income amount established by a Table that is attached to the rider in the Policy. Additionally, the parties do not dispute that the IAR increase continues to apply to the EMIR monthly income benefits because the IAR expressly provides that increases will be made in The Monthly Income provided by any rider. (emphasis added).

Therefore, we find that the district court's interpretation ignores specific language in the Policy riders. Both Georgia law and the Policy's riders provide that, to the extent the language in the riders is inconsistent with the general language of the Policy, the language of the rider controls. The district court's conclusionthat the EMIR extended the Maximum Benefit Period for all monthly income benefits payable under the Policy and any riders added thereafteris neither supported by the plain language of the Policy nor the specific language of the riders. The AMIR monthly income benefits terminate on the Policy Expiration Date, and the EMIR monthly income benefits explicitly begin after that date. Therefore, we find that the plain and unambiguous language of the Policy provides that monthly income benefits payable after the Policy Expiration Date are limited to the $200.00 monthly income benefit payable under the EMIR and the associated IAR increase.

Lastly, in addition to ruling in favor of Mr. Martin on the breach of contract claim, the district court sua sponte ruled against MassMutual on the merits of its counterclaims for unjust enrichment and money had and received. [Doc. 28 at pp. 1821]. Prior to the district court's decision, the parties did not brief the merits of these claims. On appeal, the parties present arguments not raised or addressed in the district court. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for consideration of MassMutual's counterclaims.

IV. CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the grant of judgment on the pleadings in favor of plaintiff J. Gary Martin on plaintiff's Counts I & II and on defendant Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company's counterclaims.

Accordingly, we vacate the amended judgments entered in favor of plaintiff J. Gary Martin on defendant Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company's counterclaims and on plaintiff J. Gary Martin's Counts I & II in case number 3:14cv223 and case number 3:14cv491. The district court shall enter judgment in favor of defendant Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company on plaintiff J. Gary Martin's Counts I & II.

We remand the case to the district court for consideration of defendant Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company's counterclaims.

REVERSED, VACATED, and REMANDED.

FOOTNOTES

. Because there are two consolidated cases involved, all record citations are made to Martin v. Mass. Mut. Life Ins. Co, No. 3:14cv223 (M.D. Fla. 2014). Unless otherwise cited, all facts are taken from Mr. Martin's Complaint and the Policy language, [Doc. 2].

. This amount is the difference between the monthly payment of $614.40 that MassMutual contends is the correct amount and the $9,830.40 actually paid to Mr. Martin for the two years beyond the Policy Expiration Date.

. Mr. Martin received other riders in addition to these two, none of which are relevant in this action.

. On the Schedule Page, under the Benefit section, the EMIR states, see table attached to the rider. Under the Benefit section for the AMIR, it states $3,000.00. Under the Benefit section for the IAR, it states see rider. [Doc. 2]

PER CURIAM:
AkzoNobel has teamed up with two organizations focused on supporting start-ups, Lux Research and StartupDelta. The partnerships will focus on developing business opportunities stemming from the company's Imagine Chemistry start-up challenge. Designed to solve real-life chemistry challenges, the initiative has attracted more than 200 submissions.

AkzoNobel will contribute to the mission of StartupDelta, a public-private partnership established to strengthen the Dutch start-up ecosystem. The parties are working together to support start-ups in the chemical industry. AkzoNobel will also be a founding partner in StartupFest Europe, an event organized by StartupDelta to connect European start-ups with investors, scientists and corporate organizations.

"When start-ups and multinationals like AkzoNobel team up, they can play a decisive role in solving societal challenges and contribute to building a sustainable world," explained Constantijn van Oranje, Envoy for StartupDelta, who will attend the Imagine Chemistry finals in June. "Initiatives like Imagine Chemistry also help to strengthen the position of the Netherlands as an international hub for innovation."

Added Thierry Vanlancker, AkzoNobel's Executive Committee member responsible for Specialty Chemicals: "We are committed to developing new solutions through a model of open innovation, based on cooperation with like-minded partners and start-ups. We are honored that Constantijn van Oranje and StartupDelta recognize these efforts and we can collaborate to accelerate the success of start-ups in chemistry."

US-based Lux Research will support AkzoNobel in its evaluation and development of start-ups taking part in the Imagine Chemistry challenge, as well as helping to strengthen ties with the international start-up scene.

Commenting on the initiative, Mike Holman, VP Intelligence of Lux Research, said: "AkzoNobel has demonstrated its effectiveness in developing large-scale solutions for sustainable chemistry, ranging from the joint development of wind parks to finding new bio-based sources for raw materials. Lux Research is delighted to support the Imagine Chemistry initiative to unlock the potential of this industry for international start-ups".

The partnerships will further strengthen AkzoNobel's approach to open innovation, highlighted by the Imagine Chemistry challenge, which was established by AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals in cooperation with KPMG. Earlier this year, AkzoNobel also announced its participation in a 50 million collaborative venture capital fund, run by Icos Capital, focused on early stage chemical and clean technology start-ups.
Patient Reed Hayne, right, works out with physical therapist Jeff Stone on April 5, 2017, at Athletico in Northbrook. Hayne, a Buffalo Grove resident who has had knee surgery, took a genetic test to find out which painkillers work best for him and avoided problematic medications for a follow-up surgery. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

Many people know what it's like to take a medication that's not right for their bodies  painkillers, antidepressants, blood thinners or cancer drugs that cause unexpected side effects or simply don't work.

In recent years, science has come up with a possible solution: genetic tests that can show which drugs might work best, and worst, based on a patient's genes. In the Chicago area, a number of research universities and hospitals use such testing, and one north suburban hospital system has even started offering tests that patients can take at home.

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Genetic testing for drugs is a growing practice across the country  even as questions remain about whether the tests, which can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars out-of-pocket, are effective and worth the cost.

The testing is part of a larger movement toward so-called precision medicine, the practice of treating patients based on their unique genetic makeups, environments and lifestyles. Many hospitals and companies are competing to offer the latest in the field as well as figure out how to make it a viable part of their businesses.

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Until recently, NorthShore University HealthSystem had administered the tests in a dedicated clinic, where patients often faced six- to eight-week waits for consultations. But since November, about 125 adult and pediatric patients, whether they were sick or not, have taken an at-home test as part of a NorthShore program called MedClueRx.

Patients swab the insides of their cheeks, mail the swabs to NorthShore for processing and then get results about two weeks later. The test can show which drugs might work best for cardiovascular conditions, depression, epilepsy, gastrointestinal disorders, infectious diseases and pain management. Patients then meet with doctors to go over the results, which are integrated into patients' electronic medical records with NorthShore, which has hospitals in Evanston, Highland Park, Skokie and Glenview.

Genetic tests for drugs can be valuable for patients like Reed Hayne, of Buffalo Grove, who found himself shaking and nauseated after knee replacement surgery a couple of years ago.

He didn't know at the time that the pain medications he had been prescribed weren't ideal for his particular genetic makeup. "'No wonder you had all those problems,'" Hayne recalled his doctor saying after seeing the results of the genetic test, which he took after surgery.

Hayne avoided those medications for a follow-up surgery, and had a much better recovery.

The tests also can be useful for patients suffering from depression, such as a 19-year-old woman seen by NorthShore's Dr. Mark Dunnenberger who struggled with medications to treat the disorder. The woman tried multiple drugs over four years, none of which fully controlled her symptoms. She had to be hospitalized several times.

Then she took NorthShore's test. "Lo and behold, she had genetic markers related to how the body is going to process those medications," said Dunnenberger, NorthShore's director of pharmacogenomics. "Now we have a new direction."

NorthShore's test, however, doesn't come cheap. It costs $450, and, like similar tests offered by other hospitals and companies, insurance doesn't always cover it.

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Those costs can create challenges for hospital systems looking to beef up their offerings in precision medicine, experts say. Some patients, for example, might prefer the old-fashioned trial-and-error method of finding an effective drug rather than pay $450 for a test.

"The testing is straightforward," said Dr. Mark Ratain, director of the University of Chicago's Center for Personalized Therapeutics, which has been running a study on how to best incorporate pharmacogenomic data into medical decision-making. "The challenge is the business piece."

Some also question the effectiveness of such testing. Rex Chisholm, vice dean for scientific affairs at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, said he's a believer in pharmacogenomic testing, but it's important to move carefully when rolling out such testing widely. Northwestern also has been running a study on pharmacogenomic testing.

"It's always a judgment call about how early in a new technology and development  do you actually want to be an adopter," Chisholm said. "We want to have some additional evidence before we would go full-out and offer it to all our patients."

NorthShore's Dunnenberger acknowledged there haven't been any large, controlled, randomized trials to test the effectiveness of pharmacogenomic testing. But he doesn't believe such a study is totally necessary, based on how pharmacogenomic testing is being used by NorthShore doctors  as an additional tool to help them decide between medications they would consider anyway.

Dunnenberger also believes many patients will choose to take the test despite its $450 price tag because it could help them avoid paying for pricey medications that might not work  and avoid the emotional costs of taking the wrong drug.

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"If you're that patient who's suffering from depression and every medication I try, you've got to give it a four-week trial before we really rule it out, is it worth several months of being depressed?" Dunnenberger asked.

Doug Silverstein, president of NorthShore Evanston Hospital, said NorthShore doesn't necessarily see at-home genetic testing as a "revenue producer." Rather, he said, NorthShore is hoping the testing will lead to better patient outcomes and lower re-admissions  which in turn could reduce the costs of care.

It's an idea that could be of interest to many hospitals.

That's especially true when it comes to cancer, said Eric Lefkofsky, Groupon co-founder and CEO of Chicago-based Tempus, a technology company focused on helping doctors personalize cancer care through use of genomic data and analytics.

Treating cancer has become a major driver of revenue and costs at most large hospitals, he said.

"Everyone is trying to figure out how do we get control over this rising cost center, how do we keep patients alive longer, how do we reduce mortality rates?" Lefkofsky said. "This is a huge area of focus and the only way we're going to get a hold of this problem is on the molecular side."

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Rick Rohrbach, a managing director at consulting firm Huron, said the challenge is for hospitals to find a way to make precision medicine, such as pharmacogenomic tests, work financially for themselves and for patients.

"I think there's a big bet being made on precision medicine, but we're frankly at the real early stages at this point," Rohrbach said. "Whenever there's a big kind of tectonic shift like what we have right now, there are a lot of questions, a lot of fears and concerns, but over time, there's so much good that can come from this that we'll figure it out."

Dunnenberger said he's already seen a lot of good come from NorthShore's tests.

He recounted the case of a 35-year-old woman who was newly diagnosed with depression. She hadn't tried any medications yet. Doctors would typically consider any one of about 15 different drugs to treat depression, Dunnenberger said.

The test helped cut the list of potential medications in half for her, he said. It's something the test might do for others as well, especially as the science around it continues to evolve, he said.

"I think every patient could benefit from pharmacogenomics and will benefit from pharmacogenomics in their lifetime," Dunnenberger said.

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lschencker@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @lschencker
As he suffered from spindle cell sarcoma, Jacob Sandersfeld told his mother that he'd like to donate his body to medical research.

A day after her son died in June 2014 at age 23, Poplar Grove resident Dawn Carroll carried through with his wishes, signing a form authorizing that his body be donated to Biological Resource Center of Illinois so it could be used for medical education or research.

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She was led to believe that the remains would be treated with dignity and wouldn't be dismembered or sold for profit, Carroll alleges in a lawsuit filed last week.

Against the family's wishes, several medical businesses harvested and mishandled Sandersfeld's remains, possibly for profit, the lawsuit alleges.

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Carroll's lawsuit is the latest in a series of at least a half-dozen cases filed in Cook County against Biological Resource Center of Illinois and a group of connected companies, which are being investigated by the FBI. A trial is expected to begin later this year in Michigan for a man charged in connection with the federal investigation.

The companies "held themselves out to the general public as being dedicated to the collection and study of donor bodies solely for medical and scientific purposes," states the lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court. In reality, the suit alleges, Biological Resource Center of Illinois, Cremation Services Inc., the Arthroscopy Association of North America, International Biological Inc. and others were partners in an enterprise of "illegally collecting, harvesting and trafficking of human body parts for profit."

Katherine Cardenas of the Lucas & Cardenas law firm in Chicago said she has four cases pending in Cook County against Biological Resource Center of Illinois. In one of the cases, Catherine Senderak, of Schaumburg, alleges she learned that federal agents confiscated a box of the remains of Joseph Senderak, her late husband, during an investigation and that those remains did not include his head or parts of his arms.

An ongoing lawsuit with similar allegations against some of the parties was filed in 2015 in Cook County and is seeking class-action status, according to Krislov Law, which represents plaintiffs in that case.

Pequeena Dixon believes her father's remains were treated as a "profit machine," according to Krislov attorney Kenneth Goldstein. The lawsuit seeks to represent all families that were affected.

On its website, the FBI asks that donor families or organizations that acquired human remains from five companies, including Biological Resource Center Inc., of Arizona; Biological Resource Center of Illinois, in Rosemont; and International Biological, of Detroit, provide information to the FBI that could help its investigation.

"Due to the large number of donor families and end users potentially affected, the FBI will only contact respondents who indicate that they would like to be contacted," the FBI says on its website.

A trial is expected to start in September for a suburban Detroit man who owned and ran International Biological, FBI spokesman Tim Wiley said. Arthur Rathburn is accused of wire fraud, making false statements and transporting hazardous materials, including putting eight human heads that he said were embalmed but weren't on a Delta Cargo flight, according to an indictment last year in a U.S. District Court in Michigan. The trial was scheduled for February but was postponed after Rathburn sought a new lawyer.

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One of his new lawyers, James Howarth, of Detroit, said his client is innocent of the charges.

"What one person thinks is compliant with hazardous materials (rules), another person may disagree with," Howarth said, adding that Rathburn has said that he "complied in every respect, and he looks forward to vindicating his good name."

"It's a difficult case because it deals with a sensitive subject: human body parts," Howarth said. "A fair and impartial jury will be key to the case because a lot of people get squeamish and tend to think he's guilty because it's a sensitive area."

The authorization form Carroll signed required Biological Resource Center of Illinois to cremate Sandersfeld's remains after any scientific study and to return the cremated remains to the family. The following month, she received a box of ashes "purporting" to be her son's, according to her lawsuit.

In April 2015, however, she learned that some of Sandersfeld's remains were kept by the defendants, which, according to the lawsuit, also cast doubt on the authenticity of the cremated remains.

Carroll, who is seeking a jury trial, alleges intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, wrongful disposition of a body, common-law fraud, violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act and civil conspiracy.

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Selling a body isn't necessarily against the law, said Sheldon Kurtz, a University of Iowa law professor who helped write an update to the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, the law that governs the donations of organs.

"It is illegal under federal law and state law to sell organs for use in transplants or in therapy, but the act doesn't address whole bodies," Kurtz said.

But even if selling a body is legal, that might not shield companies from other types of liability, he said.

"All of these are mere allegations, but saying, 'You promised to do the following and you didn't,' that's a classic example of breach of contract or deceptive practices," Kurtz said.

Added Goldstein, the lawyer in the case seeking class action: "Our case is focused on the fraud that donors were not told how the body would be treated, with a lack of respect, that the body would be essentially mutilated, and the parts would be sold, stored for an indefinite time, and that the donors weren't informed of the process enough to make an informed decision."

Biological Resource Center of Illinois and the Arthroscopy Association couldn't be reached for comment. Cremation Services, of Schiller Park, referred calls to its lawyer, who couldn't be reached for comment. Illinois incorporation records show Biological Resource Center of Illinois and Cremation Services are registered at the same Schiller Park address.

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In Cook County court proceedings last month in the Dixon case, the lawyer for Biological Resource Center of Illinois and Cremation Services said the businesses acted "in good faith."

"The contract was very clear as to what would happen to the body upon donation," attorney Kristen Wolfe Roberts said, according to a transcript of the hearing provided to the Chicago Tribune by the Krislov law firm.

Carroll declined an interview request through her lawyer, Greg Condon. He didn't provide details on what happened to Sandersfeld's remains or how the family learned of their alleged misuse.

Also named as a defendant in Carroll's case is Biological Resource Center Inc., of Arizona, which allegedly shipped body parts to the similarly named Illinois company.

In late 2015, the Arizona company's operator, Stephen Gore, was sentenced to four years of probation and one year of deferred jail time for his role in mishandling donated remains, The Associated Press reported. Gore is mentioned in Carroll's lawsuit, though he isn't named as a defendant. Gore pleaded guilty in October 2015 to a felony charge of illegally conducting an enterprise.

As part of his plea agreement, Gore agreed to pay $120,000 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Defense, which had arranged to use bodies from the business for research but ultimately was unable to use them.

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Biological Resource Center Inc., of Arizona, was the subject of a two-year investigation that involved the FBI, among other agencies. Gore acknowledged his firm provided vendors with human tissue that was contaminated or used in ways that went against donors' wishes.

In January 2015, the FBI also raided Cremation Services and Biological Resource Center of Illinois. At that time, a lawyer for Biological Resource Center of Illinois said the investigation centered on two of the company's former business associates.

byerak@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @beckyyerak
Lurie Children's Hospital CEO Patrick Magoon is photographed March 21, 2017, at the hospital in the city's Gold Coast neighborhood. Magoon, 64, has worked at Lurie for 40 years, including 20 years as CEO. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

Patrick Magoon never planned to stay in Chicago, and he never thought he'd work in hospital administration.

Yet this month, Magoon is marking 40 years at Lurie Children's Hospital, including 20 as CEO.

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Instead of resting on his accomplishments over four decades, Magoon, 64, is working to gain state approval to add another 48 beds to the esteemed hospital. And he's continuing to advocate for pediatric patients as congressional Republicans talk of reviving their bid to replace the Affordable Care Act.

The Tribune sat down with the humble father of two to discuss his career at Lurie, the future of the Affordable Care Act and Lurie's plans. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Q: How did you start here and why have you stayed so long?

A: I actually came here when I was a graduate student at the University of Illinois here in Chicago, working in the urban planning program. They were looking for planning assistants to help out when the old Children's Memorial (Hospital) was looking to get into a building program and really begin some strategic planning. I'd never planned on staying. I was going to take a job in Peoria.

Q: What are some of the positions you've held here?

A: The first area I managed was our hospital laundry service. My job was to work on outsourcing the laundry and managing the team of people who were there. (There was) a lady who ran the laundry by the name of Velma Brewer (from whom) I probably learned more about how to manage people than any other experience I had.

Q: What are some of the challenges facing Lurie?

A: When half of the children in beds are funded by the Medicaid program, it makes it a challenge when the state and the Medicaid managed care organizations essentially owe us about $125 million for care we've already provided. Managing that fiscal responsibility and staying true to your mission is tough.

Patrick Magoon, CEO of Lurie Children's Hospital, is photographed March 21, 2017, in his office at the hospital in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood. On the wall behind Magoon is the handprint of Gus Evangelides, a patient who died in 1995, shortly before his second birthday. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

The other thing I'll say is advocating on behalf of children is a never-ending experience because children don't vote, they don't send money to (political action committees), there's no AARP for kids. In the current debate at the federal level about children, there really is no focus on that population whatsoever, and they, by virtue of their sheer numbers, are going to be disproportionately impacted by whatever Medicaid reductions are (funneled) down to the state.

The other challenge we have, quite frankly, is one of demand. Even though the birthrate in Illinois is pretty much leveled out or flat, we've seen a huge increase in our inpatient volume, in our market share and the demand for our services.

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Q: You had said the Affordable Care Act replacement bill that failed last month would have meant fewer Medicaid dollars for Illinois. Congressional Republicans are still talking about trying to pass a bill. How would Lurie deal with less Medicaid money?

A: We have been, over the last four years, working very aggressively to take costs out of the system as part of our long-range financial plan. We've also worked very aggressively to try to grow our business where we can, because it's a lot easier to manage reductions in Medicaid rates if you're growing your business overall.

We haven't had to use the word layoff. We haven't eliminated programs. We haven't reduced programmatic size and scale. When things get tough, you don't change who you are, you don't change what you do.

Q: Why did you feel it was important to testify to Congress against the American Health Care Act (the Obamacare replacement bill)?

A: Our focus was not against the need to reform the health care system or Medicaid, but to make certain that whatever reform is initiated protects children. Given that children are currently underfunded through the Medicaid program, particularly in Illinois, we want to protect the funding for kids first and foremost. Two, we want to make sure that the kinds of early periodic screening and testing that's there to create a baseline for children, that that's protected and preserved. Third, we want to make sure there are sufficient funds, particularly to care for kids with medical complexities.

Q: Under the Affordable Care Act, none of the exchange plans this year include Lurie in-network. How big of a problem is that?

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A: What we have done is to set up and negotiate with those plans and the families for every child that wishes to (be here). While we may not be in-network, we're still serving that population, doing one-on-one negotiations.

Q: You want to increase your number of beds from 288 to 336. Why?

A: We have been incapable of accepting (more than 100 pediatric patients from other hospitals) in the last year. Demand for our services, particularly our critical care services, continues to grow. This is demand from children who need to be in a critical care bed, so it's not as if they can be in a routine bed in any hospital in the region. They need services that we provide. We need to be there for every child, every time we have that call.

Q: Lurie is the pediatric referral center for 15 partner hospitals. How does that work?

A: It's really working with them to say, what are the pediatric needs of the population you serve in your market? How do we help you serve your community, and then, what services can we provide and deliver locally that are convenient, cost-effective and safe? Then if there's a need for a higher level of service, it allows us to transfer that child here.

Q: Do you expect to add more partner hospitals?

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A: We believe there will be more over time. We're in some discussions now. Our objective is every child in a community (in the greater Chicago area) should be no more than 20 minutes away from a Lurie Children's program.

Q: Whose handprint is on your wall? (The only piece of artwork in Magoon's office is a picture of a small blue handprint on the wall behind his desk.)

A: A number of people have asked, "Is that our logo?" and the answer is it mirrors our logo, but it's not. That's actually Gus's handprint. (Gus Evangelides died of a brain tumor while being treated at Children's Memorial Hospital shortly before his second birthday, decades ago). That will be here long after I'm gone, I hope, because it is who we are. It's a reminder, quite frankly, of why we're here. We work for Gus.

lschencker@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @lschencker
WASHINGTON  The Trump administration has launched an investigation into whether foreign imports of steel compromise U.S. national security, a step toward fulfilling a campaign promise of cracking down more severely on the unfair trading practices of countries like China.

President Donald Trump gathered with steel industry executives and press in the Oval Office Thursday to sign a memo directing the Commerce Department to expedite the investigation, which was officially launched Wednesday night. Trump called the signing "a historic day for American steel and, most importantly, for American steelworkers."

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Trump added that the administration would release further information in the next two weeks about its plans for the North American Free Trade Agreement, which candidate Trump repeatedly promised to renegotiate. He also criticized Canada's behavior under NAFTA, saying, "What they've done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace" and that NAFTA had been "a disaster for our country."

In a briefing Thursday morning about the investigation, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the review would consider how much steel the United States needs to defend itself, and whether domestic capacity meets those requirements. Steel imports now make up more than 26 percent of the entire U.S. marketplace, and the report will examine to what extent those imports impinge on U.S. economic and national defense security, he said.

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The investigation could result in the Commerce Department recommending that the United States impose broad tariffs on steel imports, Ross said. "The important question is protecting our defense needs. And we will do whatever is necessary to do that, but we've come to no conclusion yet, because the study is just recently begun."

The investigation, which was self-initiated by the Commerce Department rather than the steel industry itself, revives a section of a little-used trade law, the 1962 Trade Expansion Act. Section 232 of the law allows the government to impose a wide variety of barriers on steel imports for national security reasons.

Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump declined to say that the order was directed at China, which has about half of the world's steel capacity and has flooded the global market with cheap steel in recent years.

"This has nothing to do with China," Trump said. "This has to do with worldwide, what's happening. The dumping problem is a worldwide problem."

He added that the investigation could be completed in as little as 50 days, well ahead of the 360-day maximum timeline set by the law.

Executives from Arcelor Mittal, Nucor Corporation, U.S. Steel, the United Steelworkers and other companies and industry groups were present at the signing.

U.S. steel stocks surged Thursday, with United States Steel Corp. climbing more than 7 percent by early afternoon. AK Steel soared 7.4 percent, while Nucor Corporation gained 3.4 percent.

The U.S. steel industry has been shedding jobs for decades, partly due to the development of steel furnaces that are increasingly efficient and automated, and partly due to growing capacity in countries like China. Trump's protectionist trade message resonated in steel-producing states like Ohio and Pennsylvania that were vital to his election.

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Yet some analysts say that if the United States were to restrict steel imports, that could raise the price of steel for the U.S. companies that use the metal to make other products, and make it harder for those countries to compete abroad.

In the briefing, Ross said this consideration would be weighed in the Commerce Department's ultimate report. "It's a question of balancing one's priorities," he added.

Tadaaki Yamaguichi, the chairman of the Japan Steel Information Center, which advocates for the Japanese steel industry in the United States, said Thursday that the investigation would have negative consequences for the U.S. economy, including industries like construction and manufacturing that depend on steel imports.

"There are far more American jobs at stake in the steel consuming sector than there are in domestic steel production and this action will put many American jobs at risk because prices will rise and competition will decline," he said. "Anti-competitive action and protectionism is not the American way. All this is doing is rigging the system and corrupting the marketplace."

Also on Thursday, U.S. Steel presented the U.S. International Trade Commission, a Washington-based trade agency, with a claim that Chinese steelmakers were undercutting competitors by colluding to set their prices. A trade judge threw out the claim last November, arguing that the agency did not have jurisdiction over antitrust cases, but the steel industry and politicians have lobbied the commission to re-hear the case.

Thursday's memorandum came a week after Trump appeared to walk back some of the most prominent economic promises of his campaign. Trump last week declined to label China a currency manipulator, despite campaign promises to do so and expressed support for the Export-Import Bank, after previously criticizing the credit agency.

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The president made bold and often inflammatory promises about trade policy on the campaign trail, pledging to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and impose tariffs of 45 percent on imports from China and 35 percent on U.S. companies that moved manufacturing facilities to Mexico.

Since coming into office, his actions on trade have been more muted. The president signed an official memorandum withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership on Jan. 23 and signed two more executive orders directing review of trade practices on March 31.

The current patchwork of steel-related cases brought under the WTO are "very, very limited in nature to a very, very specific product from a very, very specific country," Ross said Thursday. "It's a fairly porous system. And while it has accomplished some fair measure of reduction, it doesn't solve the whole problem."

Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, which represents steelworkers and industry, said the investigation "hopefully could provide some breathing space for the steel industry."

"Getting at China's overcapacity in steel and the scale of it is exceptionally difficult to do through conventional application of trade law. It may take an extraordinary measure, like Section 232, to make some progress and to prod China along as well," Paul said.

The Washington Post's Damian Paletta contributed to this report.
United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. KENYOCK WRIGHT, Appellant v. CITY OF PHILADELPHIA No. 16-1749 Decided: April 18, 2017

Before: HARDIMAN and SCIRICA, Circuit Judges, and ROSENTHAL,* District Judge.

OPINION**

The principal issue presented on appeal is whether the District Court properly granted summary judgment in a civil rights claim under 42 U.S.C.  1983 against the City of Philadelphia on the basis of municipal liability. We will affirm.

I.

Wright is a paraplegic permanently confined to a wheelchair who alleged he suffered several injuries as the result of a July 6, 2011, encounter with certain Philadelphia police officers. Officers Arvan Thompson and Christopher Toman were on bicycle patrol in Philadelphia's 22nd District when they came across Wright near the corner of 13th Street and Huntingdon Avenue. To the corner's south is a set of steps known to the officers as a popular place for drug use, and they thought [Wright] was using drugs. App. Vol. II at 64a. When questioned, Wright refused to give his name. In order to identify Wright, the officers detained him and called for a police wagon to take him to the nearby district headquarters. Two other police officers, Officers Kevin Clark and Raymond Crespo, arrived in a police van to transport Wright to district headquarters. Wright alleged he was flipped  out of his wheelchair onto the ground and handcuffed  and dragged  into the police wagon. App. Vol. II at 23a. Wright alleged he was not returned to his wheelchair until after he arrived at headquarters. There, Wright was identified and released without being arrested or criminally charged.

Wright alleged the detention, handcuffing, and transportation left him with a number of injuries, including [a] laceration to his right hand, chronic pain to the right wrist, lumbosacral sprain and strain, injuries to his shoulder and entire right side of body, App. Vol. II at 24a, for which Wright sought medical care the next day.

II.

Wright filed a complaint against the City of Philadelphia in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas for assault and false imprisonment, which he claimed amounted to constitutional violations actionable under 42 U.S.C.  1983. The City removed the action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Wright's complaint is not entirely clear on the details of his constitutional claims, but the District Court treated his charges of assault and false imprisonment as alleging excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment. As noted, Wright named only the City as defendant, not the individual officers. Under Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 691 (1978),  1983 plaintiffs may recover against cities for their employees' constitutional torts if the violations can be attributed to the city itselfthat is, a plaintiff must show that the violation was caused by city policy or custom or by a failure to train city employees amounting to deliberate indifference to constituents' constitutional rights, see City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 389 (1989). Wright alleged the City caused him a constitutional deprivation through its customs, policies, and practices. App. Vol. II at 25a. He also alleged the City systematically fail[ed] to properly train, supervise, and discipline police officers so that they would avoid violating citizens' constitutional rights. App. Vol. II at 26a.

During discovery, the City produced, among other things, the materials and curricula for state- and city-required police training. According to those materials, the training regimen instructs officers on recognizing special-needs residents and on providing them required accommodations. Specifically, the training materials include a section on Recognizing Special Needs. App. Vol. I at 120a, 128a. That section contains a number of slides and instructions on accommodating special-needs and disabled residents with whom officers might come into contact. See, e.g., App. Vol. II at 120a (Recruits will recognize that people with disabilities may require additional services or equipment in order to ensure fair and reasonably equal treatment.); App. Vol. II at 129a (cautioning recruits when encountering individuals who are impair[ed], which can be due to a physical or mental condition). The training materials also include instruction on the proper use of force.

The City also produced Commissioner's Memorandum 14-01, which then-Commissioner Charles Ramsey issued in February 2014, regarding Transportation of Disabled Prisoners. See App. Vol. II at 106a110a. That document details guidelines for transporting disabled prisoners and arrestees using the Police Department's Prisoner Disabled-Accessible Van (PDAV).

After discovery, the City moved for summary judgment. Pointing to Memorandum 14-01, Wright argued the City caused his alleged constitutional deprivations because, at the time of his detention, there was no detailed policy like the one in Memorandum 14-01. The trial court concluded Memorandum 14-01 was evidence of a subsequent remedial measure barred by Federal Rule of Evidence 407 from being considered as proof of culpable conductthat is, as pro[of] that the City was deliberately indifferent for failing to enact a policy sooner. App. Vol. I at 7a. The trial court held Wright failed to establish a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the City failed to adequately train its officers.

On appeal, Wright challenges the court's decision not to consider Memorandum 14-01 and its grant of summary judgment for the City.

III.

42 U.S.C.  1983 provides in part:

Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State  subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States  to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured 

In certain cases, plaintiffs may recover against a city government for a deprivation of constitutional rights, but must show the deprivation can be attributed to the city itself. Monell, 436 U.S. at 691; Connick v. Thompson, 563 U.S. 51, 60 (2011); Langford v. City of Atlantic City, 235 F.3d 845, 848 (3d Cir. 2000) ([A] municipality is liable for acts which the municipality has officially sanctioned or ordered.  (quoting Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati, 475 U.S. 469, 480 (1986)). That is,  1983 does not subject a city to liability solely because its employee violates a citizen's constitutional rights. See Monell, 436 U.S. at 691 ([A] municipality cannot be held liable solely because it employs a tortfeasoror, in other words, a municipality cannot be held liable under  1983 on a respondeat superior theory.); Andrews v. City of Philadelphia, 895 F.2d 1469, 1480 (3d Cir. 1990) (A government entity may not be held liable under section 1983 under the respondeat superior doctrine.). Rather, it is when execution of a government's policy or custom, whether made by its lawmakers or by those whose edicts or acts may fairly be said to represent official policy, inflicts the injury that the government as an entity is responsible under  1983. Monell, 436 U.S. at 694.

A plaintiff can attribute a constitutional tort to the city itself by showing the injury was caused by city policy, by city custom, or by policymaking officials' deliberate indifference to constituents' constitutional rights. See Canton, 489 U.S. at 389. Policy is made when a decisionmaker [with] final authority to establish municipal policy with respect to the action issues an official proclamation, policy, or edict. Andrews, 895 F.2d at 1480 (alteration in Andrews) (quoting Pembaur, 475 U.S. at 481); see, e.g., Pembaur, 475 U.S. at 485 (holding city liable when county prosecutor instructed deputy sheriffs to forcibly enter a doctor's office and effect an arrest).

Custom  can be proven by showing that a given course of conduct, although not specifically endorsed or authorized by law, is so well-settled and permanent as virtually to constitute law. Bielevicz v. Dubinon, 915 F.2d 845, 850 (3d Cir. 1990) (citing Andrews, 895 F.2d at 1480). Custom stems from policymakers' acquiescence in a longstanding practice or custom which constitutes the standard operating procedure of the local governmental entity. Jett v. Dallas Indep. Sch. Dist., 491 U.S. 701, 737 (1989); see Fletcher v. O'Donnell, 867 F.2d 791, 79394 (3d Cir. 1989) (Custom may be established by proof of knowledge and acquiescence.).

Deliberate indifference stems from government inaction, namely a city's failure to train its employees on avoiding constitutional violations. If a city fails to train certain employees on their duty to avoid violating citizens' rights, the oversight may amount[ ] to deliberate indifference to the rights of persons with whom [city employees] come into contact. Canton, 489 U.S. at 388. To show the deliberate indifference required for a failure to train claim, a  1983 plaintiff must show a municipal actor disregarded a known or obvious consequence of his action. Bd. of Cty. Comm'rs of Bryan Cty., Okl. v. Brown, 520 U.S. 397, 410 (1997). City policymakers' indifference may stem from a failure to act despite notice city employees continually violate citizens' rights. [W]hen city policymakers are on actual or constructive notice that a particular omission in their training program causes city employees to violate citizens' constitutional rights, the city may be deemed deliberately indifferent if the policymakers choose to retain that program. Connick, 563 U.S. at 61. Ordinarily, this requires [a] pattern of similar constitutional violations by untrained employees. Id. at 62.

In some cases, however, a single constitutional violation may amount to deliberate indifference. See Canton, 489 U.S. at 390 & n.10. [I]t may happen that in light of the duties assigned to specific officers or employees the need for more or different training is so obvious, and the inadequacy so likely to result in the violation of constitutional rights, that the policymakers of the city can reasonably be said to have been deliberately indifferent to the need. Id. at 390. The Supreme Court hypothesized policymakers would be deliberately indifferent to citizens' rights if they kn [ew] to a moral certainty armed officers would have to arrest fleeing felons but failed to train those officers on the constitutional limitations on the use of deadly force. Id. at 390 n.10. In such circumstances, the need for deadly-force training is so obvious that failing to provide it would constitute deliberate indifference on policymakers' parts. Id. In such circumstances, the failure to provide proper training may fairly be said to represent a policy for which the city is responsible. Id. at 390.

But such oversights will only amount to deliberate indifference in a narrow range of circumstances. Bryan Cty., 520 U.S. at 409. In virtually every instance where a person has had his or her constitutional rights violated by a city employee, a  1983 plaintiff will be able to point to something the city could have done to prevent the unfortunate incident. Canton, 489 U.S. at 392. When evaluating the city's decisions, federal courts should be wary of engag[ing]  in an endless exercise of second-guessing municipal employee-training programs. Id.

IV.

Wright contends the District Court erred when it concluded there was no genuine issue of material fact as to whether the City was liable under 42 U.S.C.  1983 for his alleged constitutional deprivations. He suggests the evidence shows deliberate indifference to his rights based on the City's policies, customs, and practices, and based on a failure to train police officers on transporting and detaining disabled individuals. But nothing in the record shows a City policy caused Wright's injuries. Wright points to no decisionmaker with policymaking authority or official proclamation, policy, or edict, Andrews, 895 F.2d at 1480, instructing officers to treat Wright in a way that caused his rights to be violated. Nor does Wright provide evidence of a policymaker's acquiescence in a longstanding practice or custom, Jett, 491 U.S. at 737, of treating disabled citizens in a way that would violate their constitutional rights.

Wright contends the City failed to train its officers on the transportation and detention of the disabled, but nothing in the record suggests a deliberately indifferent failure on the City's part. Nothing in the record shows a municipal actor disregarded a known or obvious consequence, Bryan Cty., 520 U.S. at 410, of the police environment at the time of Wright's arrest. There is no evidence policymakers were on notice that a training oversight was causing officers to violate disabled individuals' rights. See Connick, 563 U.S. at 61. And there is no evidence of a pattern of untrained officers committing such violations. See id. at 62 (explaining that notice of a training oversight ordinarily requires [a] pattern of similar constitutional violations by untrained employees).

Nor does the evidence show Wright's case was an obvious one in which a single incident may give rise to failure-to-train liability. No evidence indicates a need for more or different training to avoid violating rights of the disabledparticularly not a need so obvious, Canton, 489 U.S. at 390, that City policymakers were deliberately indifferent to disabled individuals' constitutional rights. In fact, the only training evidence in the record indicates otherwise. Discovery yielded training materials that include a section on Recognizing Special Needs. App. Vol. II at 120a, 128a. That section instructs officers on recognizing individuals' disabilities and special needs, and it informs officers of those individuals' required accommodations. See App. Vol. II at 120a (Recruits will recognize that people with disabilities may require additional services or equipment in order to ensure fair and reasonably equal treatment.); App. Vol. II at 129a (cautioning recruits that they may encounter individuals who are impair[ed], which can be due to a physical or mental condition).

Nor is there evidence that the City's disability-accommodation training falls within the narrow range of circumstances, Bryan Cty., 520 U.S. at 409, in which training oversights amount to deliberate indifference, see Canton, 489 U.S. at 392 (In virtually every   1983 [case, the] plaintiff will be able to point to something the city could have done to prevent the unfortunate incident.).

As noted, Wright contends Memorandum 14-01 is evidence of the City's failure to train. That documentissued in February 2014, three years after Wright's 2011 incidentincludes a more-detailed policy on transporting disabled prisoners and arrestees in a special vehicle for the disabled. At the summary judgment stage, courts only consider material that would be admissible at trial. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); Gonzalez v. Sec'y of Dep't of Homeland Sec., 678 F.3d 254, 262 (3d Cir. 2012) (Affidavits and declarations considered on summary judgment must, set out facts that would be admissible in evidence.  (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c))); Rosa v. Taser Int'l, Inc., 684 F.3d 941, 948 (9th Cir. 2012); see 10B Charles A. Wright, Arthur R. Miller et al., Federal Practice and Procedure  2738 (4th ed. 2017) (Rule 56 imposes an affirmative duty on each party to show that the material presented in support of or in opposition to the motion would be admissible at trial.). The District Court declined to consider the Memorandum because Rule 407 rendered the document inadmissible insofar as it was pro[of] that the City was deliberately indifferent for failing to enact a policy sooner. App. Vol. I at 7a.

Rule 407 provides that [w]hen measures are taken that would have made an earlier injury or harm less likely to occur, evidence of the subsequent measures is not admissible to prove  culpable conduct. Fed. R. Evid. 407. But the Rule explains subsequent remedial measures are admissible for other purposes, such as impeachment orif disputedproving ownership, control, or the feasibility of precautionary measures. Id. The Committee Notes elaborate on these other purposes and add such evidence is admissible to show existence of duty.

Wright contends the trial court erred in failing to consider the Memorandum because the document was admissible as a Rule 407 exception to show the existence of a duty and the feasibility of precautionary measures. Wright invokes that exception to assert there was a lack of affirmative policies or procedures to guide officers on disabled prisoners' needs. Br. of Appellant at 13. Wright adds that the City was deliberately indifferent because the Memorandum shows the City was aware of the existence of a duty to disabled individuals and clearly precautionary measures were feasible. Br. of Appellant at 14.

We do not believe the trial court abused its discretion in ruling that the Memorandum was evidence of subsequent remedial measures and in declining to consider the Memorandum as evidence of culpable conduct. But even were it considered for the reasons Wright offers, that would not ameliorate the evidentiary inadequacy of Wright's  1983 claim. The issue of duty is uncontroverted. Clearly the City had a duty not to violate Wright's constitutional rights. Nor is precautionary measures' feasibility an issue. The City has not asserted that avoiding a rights violation was not feasible. Rather, Wright bore the burden of producing evidence of a pattern of constitutional violations or evidence the City's existing disability-accommodation training was obviously inadequate. Because the record lacks such evidence, we find no error in the District Court's grant of summary judgment for the City.

V.

Wright's claim, if true, raises serious and troubling allegations of injuries suffered at the hands of certain police officers. And a  1983 claim against the City of Philadelphia itself may not have been Wright's only available legal remedy. But Wright has not produced evidence that his alleged constitutional wrongs are attributable to the City of Philadelphia. Therefore, we will affirm the District Court's grant of summary judgment for the City.

FOOTNOTES

. The District Court had jurisdiction over Wright's claim under 28 U.S.C.  1331 and 1441. We have appellate jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.  1291. Our review of the District Court's grant of summary judgment is plenary. Seamans v. Temple Univ., 744 F.3d 853, 859 (3d Cir. 2014). A moving party is entitled to summary judgment only if there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). A dispute about a material fact is genuine only if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986). The Court must view evidence in favor of the nonmoving party and extend all reasonable favorable inferences to that party. Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S 372, 378 (2007). We review a district court's determinations concerning the admissibility of evidence for an abuse of discretion. Blunt v. Lower Merion Sch. Dist., 767 F.3d 247, 265 (3d Cir. 2014).

. In response to interrogatories, Officer Thompson recited the following sequence of events:We (PO Thompson and PO Toman) were riding bikes and saw (the person later identified as Kenyock Wright) in front of a vehicle messing with something in his hand. In the area he was discovered by us, there is a set of steps more near the corner of 13th and Cumberland. It is an area where people are known to use drugs. With that knowledge and Kenyock's behavior near the vehicle, we thought he was using drugs. So we stopped him for possible drug violation. He had a napkin or paper towel in his hands with some drug paraphernaliastraight, scratch pad, but it was a very small amount. When we asked for his name, he started talking about being a Moor and that he did not have to answer to the police because he had sovereignty. He refused to give us his name so we had him taken to headquarters for the purpose of identification. He was not locked up. He was released after identifying him. He was never arrested, just detained and released.App. Vol. II at 64a.

. Wright's complaint included two other causes of action: one under Article 1,  8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, which Wright withdrew; and claims for assault and false imprisonment in violation of the Laws of  the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, App. Vol. II at 25a, which the District Court treated as state common-law torts. Pennsylvania's Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act provides that cities are liable for certain acts of employee negligence, but not for employees' intentional torts. See 42 Pa. Stat. Ann.  8541, 8542(a). Concluding that Wright's state-law claims alleged only intentional torts, the District Court granted summary judgment for the City, which Wright does not appeal.

. In its entirety, Rule 407 reads:When measures are taken that would have made an earlier injury or harm less likely to occur, evidence of the subsequent measures is not admissible to prove: negligence; culpable conduct; a defect in a product or its design; or a need for a warning or instruction.But the court may admit this evidence for another purpose, such as impeachment orif disputedproving ownership, control, or the feasibility of precautionary measures.Fed. R. Evid. 407.

. See Fed. R. Evid. 407 advisory committee's note (Exclusion is called for only when the evidence of subsequent remedial measures is offered as proof of negligence or culpable conduct. In effect it rejects the suggested inference that fault is admitted. Other purposes are, however, allowable, including ownership or control, existence of duty, and feasibility of precautionary measures, if controverted, and impeachment.).

SCIRICA, Circuit Judge
Federal officials acknowledged Wednesday that Juan Manuel Montes' protected immigration status was not due to expire until 2018, correcting themselves on one point in a case that thrust the 23-year-old Mexican national into the center of a heated debate on illegal immigration.

They had said Tuesday that Montes' protected status ended two years ago.

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At the same time, Department of Homeland Security officials denied Montes' claim in a federal lawsuit that he had been deported, saying Wednesday he had voluntarily left the U.S. for Mexico.

That could make him ineligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which shields young people from deportation who were brought to the country as children and stayed illegally.

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While Montes remained in Mexicali, separated from his family in California, his situation generated fury among immigration advocates and drew comment from top officials in the Trump administration.

He would be the first so-called Dreamer  as DACA enrollees are known  to be deported by the Trump administration. But administration officials said the case did not signal a policy change.

Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, appearing on Fox News' "Happening Now," said "DACA enrollees are not being targeted," and that he didn't know why Montes was picked up.

The administration's focus is on removing people caught at the border, recent entrants and people who ran afoul of the law, Sessions said. However, he stopped short of saying that Dreamers were guaranteed protection.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said circumstances surrounding Montes were "being looked at" and that "the facts are not completely out yet."

Montes' situation came to light Tuesday when he sued the Trump administration in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego. The civil suit alleges that he had been wrongly deported to Mexico by officials who refused to tell him why.

The suit claims the government is in violation of the Freedom of Information Act because no records have been released on Montes' case, despite numerous requests, which is a violation of the statute. It asks the court to order the government to release those records.

His attorneys say Montes was detained by Border Patrol officials on Feb. 17 in Calexico, Calif., and deported.

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After the Department of Homeland Security issued its statement correcting Montes' DACA status and denying he had been deported, his attorneys reiterated their claim that he had been forcibly removed.

"Juan Manuel has been unequivocal in his assertion that he never voluntarily left the country while he had DACA. We believe him. We filed a [Freedom of Information Act] lawsuit to get answers. Rather than continue to provide half-truths and varying assertions, [Homeland Security] should respond to our request for documentation," said Nora A. Preciado, a staff attorney with the National Immigration Law Center and co-counsel on the case.

The incident touched a nerve in the immigrant rights community and among Dreamers. An estimated 742,000 Dreamers live in the U.S., one-third of them in California.

The hashtag #justiceforjuan gained steam soon after news about Montes spread, touching off a rally in front of federal immigration offices in the nation's capital and an online petition to Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly.

One point immigration officials and Montes attorneys agree on is that Border Patrol officials detained Montes on Feb. 19 as he tried to scale a fence back into the U.S. He was returned to Mexico.

Montes, who said he has lived in the U.S. since he was 9, has learning disabilities after suffering a traumatic brain injury when he was young. He did farm labor and studied welding at a community college before he was deported.

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Officials said Wednesday that Montes had four criminal convictions  one for shoplifting and three for driving without a license. But those offenses are not serious enough to disqualify someone from DACA.

Montes was approved for the program in 2014 and received a renewal in 2016.

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) praised immigration enforcement agents Tuesday on Twitter for removing Montes.

"First non-valedictorian DREAMer deported. Border Patrol, this one's for you," he tweeted with a photo of a beer mug and a link to a story by USA Today, which was first to report on Montes' case.

cindy.carcamo@latimes.com

Twitter: @thecindycarcamo
Winner: "Thank you for flying the Illinois Aerobloat. We wish to thank those who were nuts enough to stay on this flight."

Don Farrell, Glenview

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Extras:

"This is Munster. Next drop, Dyer."

Jim O'Neill, Chicago

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"Sorry we overbooked again. The ship below will take you to shore"

Trey Carlstrom, Elmwood Park

"So sorry. This flight is over-booked with government retirees."

Peter A. Quilici, Skokie

"Governor Rauner's plan for term limits grows wings."

Buzz Harms, Rochelle,

"Sorry Illinois taxpayers, we need more room for Michael Madigan's friends."

Michael Marino, Palos Park

"Next time read the fine print."

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Rae Check, Gilberts

"GERONI-Madigan-I-NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Ed Zurek

"Madigan (check), Cullerton (check), Rauner (check)"

Mary Yario, Burr Ridge, IL

"Oh stop whining! We're putting you off in a blue state, and you'll probably land in Lake Michigan."

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Hosea L. Martin, Chicago

"Sorry, but the parachute bill is tied up in committee."

Herman Brandau, Bloomington

"Hey, regardless of difficulty, the judges still take off points for not keeping your feet together and pointing your toes."

Wally Jonas,Chicago

"Legal Help for our financially challenged."

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Tom Tepper, Northbrook

"Madigan drops his MOAB...Mother Of All Bureaucrats "

Joe DiMattina, Glenview

" I guess the chance of United losing our luggage will be the least of our problems."

CJ Merrill, Elmhurst

"When fuel dumping doesn't work, try fool dumping."

Dan Tompkins, Westmont

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"Rauner announces more cuts."

Jim A. Major, Oak Park

"Mike Madigan liberating constituents into his wide M.O.A.T. (Mother of all taxes)"

Roger Elmzen, Lake Zurich

"Nothing to see here! Just re accommodating a few overbooked passengers!"

Ed Koch, Kenosha WI

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"Sorry, we only have room for our baggage."

Mike Rourke, Chicago

"Sorry, we ran out of golden parachutes."

Pat Foley, Homer Glen

"I thought the 'free fall fares' deal was too good to be true!"

Paul Lockwood, Woodstock

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"Thanks for flying Air Illinoisenjoy your complimentary copy of Sky maul magazine."

John Connolly, Medinah

"I hear Donald Trump is adding Oscar Munoz to his public relations staff."

Landon Niedringhaus
Chardonnay is a versatile and sturdy grape, which has no doubt contributed to its popularity, as it can thrive just about anywhere wine grapes grow, such as this Santa Rosa, Calif., vineyard. (George Rose / Getty Images)

I have not heard anyone employ the once-clever "ABC" instruction in a long time, and I am glad about that because it never made much sense to me. It stands for "anything but chardonnay," and cynical wine consumers were quick to vocalize it when asked what they would like to drink.

The smug practice was at its peak probably sometime in the early 2000s when a lot of people were realizing that they were tired of the California chardonnays that were full of creamy vanilla and buttery caramel flavors due to fermentation and/or aging in new American oak barrels.

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Chardonnay was widely available, easy to say and easy to drink for a lot of people who were new to wine in the 1980s and 1990s. All of this made the luscious white wine a default order for anyone out in a restaurant or a bar that was at least one step above a dive. Chardonnay was everywhere you looked, and it was big and full of heavy flavor. It became a sort of cocktail all its own, and it is safe to say that that version of chardonnay replaced the original, Old World expression of it the same way choco-tinis replaced the martinis that James Bond and my dad used to drink.

I always thought a few letters were missing in that ABC thing. Like, for instance, ABROOCC would have made sense to me because it would have stood for "anything but really over-oaked cloying chardonnay." I also could have gotten behind ABCCSCTTLCBC  "Anything but crappy convenience store chardonnay that tastes like cheap butterscotch candy."

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But to rule out an entire grape, one that is used to make beautiful and legendary wines across the globe, with just three letters? It seemed ignorant and reckless to me, like someone saying, "ABW"  "Anything but Wolf"  when asked what they would like to read. Are we talking about Tom, Thomas, Tobias or Virginia? (That's Wolfe, Wolfe, Wolff and Woolf, but they all sound the same when you say them.)

You can hate coffee, or oysters, or Coldplay, but if you have even the slightest interest in wine, you cannot hate chardonnay. That would be like claiming to be an animal lover but hating dogs because every once in a while they bite someone or eat a whole box of crayons.

Generally chardonnay is a dry, medium-bodied wine with medium to high acidity. It is a versatile and sturdy grape, which has no doubt contributed to its popularity, as it can thrive just about anywhere wine grapes grow. This is also why there are so many styles of it.

It does best in cooler climates, and when it is grown there, it can make for flinty, minerally, crisp wines, with suggestions of lemon or green apple, nuts or even smoke. In warmer regions it produces more lush flavors, ranging from peach to pineapple, melon and honey.

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Notice that cream, vanilla or butter did not appear in the flavor descriptions of those climates. Butter happens in the winemaking process. It is a choice that the winemaker makes, and it is easily avoidable  or attainable  by you, the consumer.

So when people say they don't care for chardonnay, I politely suggest that perhaps they don't care for certain styles of chardonnay. Often they think that chardonnay equals butterscotch. The fact is, only some chardonnay equals butterscotch, and in those cases it is because the winemaker was overzealous with oak.

The chardonnay grape hails from the Burgundy region of France, where some of the undisputed best chardonnays on earth are produced. If you poured a creamy, oaky chardonnay from California next to a stony chardonnay from Chablis, fermented in stainless steel tanks, you probably would not identify the two wines as being from the same grape. And that is just the start, a very plain and obvious contrast of extremes.

I don't want to drink a glass of buttery chardonnay before I eat food. But I might not mind a glass of it with some sweet, rich scallops or lobster. With oysters (I don't like coffee or Coldplay, but I love oysters), I would want to drink a chardonnay that is crisp and minerally.

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While the candylike chardonnays of the 1980s and 1990s are fading away more each year, there are still plenty of them available. This is good news for you if you still enjoy that style, even if you are no longer wearing shoulder pads and teasing your hair.

For the rest of you who are open to moving past ABC, start by trying an unoaked chardonnay. If there is any reference to oak or a barrel on the label, skip it. Steel tanks? Book it. Pour it. Drink it.

If you want to start off your night in a restaurant with a viscous, vanilla-kissed glass of buttery chardonnay, have at it  it's your $15. But the rest of you, especially anyone who has ever prematurely proclaimed, "ABC," don't forget that chardonnay has huge range, many moods and many ideas to be discovered, just like the writing of Tom, Thomas, Tobias and Virginia.
A boy throws a stone at another boy on a playground. While the incident is not medically serious, it troubles the man watching over the unhappy perpetrator. That's no way to behave, the man, a doctor, says. "So how should I behave?" the boy replies.

He doesn't get much of an answer, but it's the key question for every character in writer-director Cristian Mungiu's "Graduation," a beautifully spun and morally searching tale of interlocking compromises. Set in a post-communist Transylvanian mountain town, where corruption floats in the air like a permanent morning haze, Mungiu's film arrives in a limited commercial run at a time when a lot of very fine new films have come out to play. If not quite as sharp as Mungiu's "4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days" or "Beyond the Hills," "Graduation" nonetheless offers sharp, steady insights into precarious human conditions hardly limited to Romania after Ceausescu.

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The doctor protagonist is Romeo (Adrian Titieni, perfectly modulating his degrees of frustration and anger and self-loathing). For a year or so he has been stepping out on his depressive wife (Lia Bugnar) with the mother (Malina Manovici) of the young boy. The doctor and his wife fled Romania years earlier but returned in 1991, we learn, with the hope of improving life in his homeland. Now all hopes are pinned on their bright, hardworking teenage daughter (Maria Dragus), who's on the verge of getting out herself, by way of a Cambridge University scholarship.

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She need only pass a final exam. Off-screen, in the first few minutes of "Graduation," the daughter is assaulted on the way to school. With her arm in a cast, and her nerves badly shaken, suddenly a routine final test becomes a monumental difficulty. Romeo takes action, right or wrong, in order to protect his daughter's future.

From there Mungiu illustrates the fine art of one hand washing another hand, and another, and another. Romeo's police chief friend (Vlad Ivanov, Romania's poster boy for vaguely menacing figures of authority) suggests that Romeo move the city's vice mayor (Petre Ciubotaru) up a few notches on a live transplant waiting list. In exchange, the politician can pull a few strings regarding the final exam. Meantime Romeo's mistress wants her young son placed in a certain public school, one that is technically already at capacity. (Chicago Public Schools parents will find much sweat-inducing detail to relate to here.)

Everybody cheats, a little or a lot. At one point, Romeo is interrogated at work by a pair of deadpan public prosecutors, one of whom says: "He who persists in illegality will probably have to pay for it." The way the actor mutters the line, the word "probably" has never seemed less probable.

Like the work of Iranian writer-director Asghar Farhadi ("A Separation"), Mungiu's films are stern, carefully paced dramas of queasy compromise and evasion. Unsolved riddles persist, though here there's a touch of the schematic in their deployment. In the opening shot, a rock smashes an apartment building window. Is Romeo being stalked? Is someone on to his infidelity? The outlook here cannot escape the influence of a nation bear-trapped by its own recent history. "Graduation" may not roll around in my brain the way Mungiu's best work does, but it's consistently absorbing and well-acted, and Mungiu's camera makes even simple police station interrogations or drive-around sequences unassuming things of beauty.

Phillips is a Chicago Tribune critic.

mjphillips@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @phillipstribune

"Graduation"  3.5 stars

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MPAA rating: R (for some language)

Running time: 2:07

Opens: Friday

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. ARIC W. HALL, Plaintiff - Appellant v. TEXAS COMMISSION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT; KIM VICKERS; JASON HESTER; J. B. PENNINGTON, Joe; JAMES OAKLEY; JOEL RICHARDSON; PATRICIA BURRUSS; PATT SCHECKEL HOLLINGSWORTH; ROB KYKER; RON E. HOOD; RUBEN VILLESCAS; JOHNNY E. LOVEJOY, III, Defendants - Appellees No. 16-41462 Decided: April 17, 2017

Before DAVIS, SOUTHWICK, and HIGGINSON, Circuit Judges.

Aric Hall sued the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement and certain related individuals, alleging violations of 42 U.S.C.  1983. The district court dismissed based on sovereign and qualified immunity. We AFFIRM.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) promulgates rules governing the licensure of peace officers. See 37 TEX. ADMIN. CODE  217.1. The TCOLE enacted a new policy in 2012 under which peace officers that are unemployed for two years will lose certification or licensure. The new rule, Hall argues, replaced the prior once-licensed-always-licensed policy. Hall contends a TCOLE employee informed him he could still renew his license at any time if he had completed a TCOLE-approved academic alternative police program. Hall failed to identify the employee with whom he spoke, and such a conversation has not been corroborated.

During the period in which he was certified, Hall applied for several law-enforcement positions. All his applications were rejected. Hall allegedly reported crime[s] committed by police officials and contends that doing so prevented him from securing employment. He believes the various agencies rejected his applications in retribution for his whistleblowing. As a result of his lengthy unemployment, Hall lost his TCOLE certification.

Hall sued under Section 1983, alleging that the TCOLE denied him due process by not allowing him to be re-certified. He further claimed that the TCOLE waived sovereign immunity and that the Eleventh Amendment did not bar his claims. In response, the TCOLE filed a motion to dismiss under Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). It claimed that sovereign immunity operates as a jurisdictional bar to private suits brought in federal court against states and their agencies. The individual defendants moved to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), arguing that they are entitled to qualified immunity. The district court granted the motion to dismiss. Hall timely appealed.

DISCUSSION

We review de novo the district court's grant of a motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Life Partners Inc. v. United States, 650 F.3d 1026, 1029 (5th Cir. 2011). We also review de novo the district court's grant of a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Raj v. Louisiana State Univ., 714 F.3d 322, 329 (5th Cir. 2013). A pleading that states a claim for relief must contain  a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief  FED. R. CIV. P. 8(a)(2). We accept all well-pleaded facts as true and [view] those facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Bustos v. Martini Club Inc., 599 F.3d 458, 461 (5th Cir. 2010).

A pro se complaint such as was filed here is measured by a more forgiving standard. Id. at 46162. A complaint need not contain detailed factual allegations, but it must raise a right to relief above the speculative level to survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion. Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009).

On appeal, Hall primarily argues that he has been deprived of his rights to petition and due process. He argues that his right to petition was violated when he was allegedly denied employment after reporting crimes committed by police officers. He argues his right to due process was violated when the TCOLE declined to recertify him without affording him a trial or administrative hearing. In addition to his certification, Hall claims a property right in the fees he paid the TCOLE when initially seeking certification. Hall further argues that the concept of sovereign immunity is unconstitutional and asks this court to overturn the line of Supreme Court precedent supporting it. Finally, Hall claims that qualified immunity does not apply to protect the individual defendants. For the sake of clarity, we address the institutional and individual defendants in turn.

I. TCOLE

The district court held the suit against the TCOLE is barred by sovereign immunity. Under the Eleventh Amendment, an unconsenting State is immune from suits brought in federal courts by her own citizens as well as by citizens of another State. Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 663 (1974). There are two exceptions to the divesting of federal court of jurisdiction over such actions. See Port Auth. Trans-Hudson Corp. v. Feeney, 495 U.S. 299, 304 (1990). First, a state may explicitly waive its sovereign immunity. Daigle v. Gulf State Utils. Co., Local Union No. 2286, 794 F.2d 974, 980 (5th Cir. 1986). Waiver must be unequivocal; courts require a clear declaration to be certain that the State in fact consents to suit. Sossamon v. Texas, 563 U.S. 277, 284 (2011). Second, Congress may abrogate sovereign immunity through a clear expression of the intent to do so if it acts pursuant to a valid exercise of power. Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida, 517 U.S. 44, 55 (1996).

The TCOLE is a state agency. See TEX. OCC. CODE  1701.051(a). As such, it is entitled to sovereign immunity to the same extent as the state itself. See Puerto Rico Aqueduct & Sewer Auth. v. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., 506 U.S. 139, 14647 (1993). Neither of the exceptions to sovereign immunity apply here. Hall offers no evidence to show that the TCOLE consented to suit. There is also is not even a suggestion that Congress intended to abrogate sovereign immunity in this situation. Because either of these exceptions must be explicitly alleged and proven, Hall failed to carry his burden to prove that sovereign immunity does not apply. See Ramming v. United States, 281 F.3d 158, 161 (5th Cir. 2001).

Instead, Hall confines his argument to a challenge of the reasonableness and validity of the stream of cases from the Supreme Court concerning sovereign immunity. He argues that the Supreme Court has been improperly protective of states' immunity and insufficiently protective of individual constitutional rights. Regardless of such policy points, we follow Supreme Court pronouncements until that Court changes them. Medellin v. Dretke, 371 F.3d 270, 280 (5th Cir. 2004). Consequently, the district court correctly determined it had no subject-matter jurisdiction to hear the suit against the TCOLE. See Stem v. Ahearn, 908 F.2d 1, 4 (5th Cir. 1990).

II. Individual Defendants

The district court held the suit against the individual defendants in their official capacities is also barred by sovereign immunity. It further held that qualified immunity bars the suit to the extent the defendants were named in their individual capacities. We agree.

[T]he principle of state-sovereign immunity generally precludes actions against state officers in their official capacities, subject to one exception. McCarthy ex rel. Travis v. Hawkins, 381 F.3d 407, 412 (5th Cir. 2004). Federal courts have authority to order state officials to conform their future conduct to the requirements of federal law under the dictates of Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123 (1908). Quern v. Jordan, 440 U.S. 332, 337 (1979). The exception is prospective, though; the plaintiff may only sue if he alleges an ongoing violation of federal law  Virginia Office for Protection & Advocacy v. Stewart, 563 U.S. 247, 255 (2011). Even the Ex parte Young exception does not permit a federal-court action to proceed in every case where prospective declaratory and injunctive relief is sought against an officer[.] Idaho v. Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Idaho, 521 U.S. 261, 270 (1997). Instead, we seek to ensure that the doctrine of sovereign immunity remains meaningful, while also giving recognition to the need to prevent violations of federal law. Id. at 269.

Hall argues that the TCOLE's 2012 policy is unconstitutional because it denies recertification without due process, which he interprets to require a jury trial, administrative hearing, or some other adjudicatory proceeding. Hall is incorrect. There is no requirement that the defendant in every civil case actually have a hearing on the merits. Boddie v. Connecticut, 401 U.S. 371, 378 (1971). A defendant is entitled only to a meaningful opportunity to be heard  Id. at 377. Hall presented no evidence to suggest the defendants deprived him of that opportunity.

Hall further alleges a violation of his right to petition based on his inability to secure employment after reporting various crimes attributable to police. The First Amendment guarantees the right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. U.S. CONST. amend. I. Here, too, there is no evidence to show that Hall's right was abridged. Instead, he recounts numerous occasions on which he exercised his right by reporting crimes but has failed to link that behavior with his inability to secure employment. Hall has thus failed to raise a colorable constitutional claim; the Ex parte Young exception does not apply; and sovereign immunity bars this suit against the individual defendants in their official capacities. See Kinash v. Callahan, 129 F.3d 736, 738 (5th Cir. 1997).

The suit against these defendants in their individual capacities suffers the same defect. The doctrine of qualified immunity serves to shield a government official from civil liability for damages based upon the performance of discretionary functions if the official's acts were objectively reasonable in light of then clearly established law. Thompson v. Upshur Cnty., 245 F.3d 447, 456 (5th Cir. 2001). The first step in a qualified-immunity analysis is to determine whether the plaintiff has alleged a violation of a clearly established federal constitutional (or federal statutory) right. Id. at 457. A constitutional right is clearly established if its contours are sufficiently clear such that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right. Id. A plaintiff seeking to overcome the defense of qualified immunity must plead specific facts to show that the defendant is liable for the harm caused and that qualified immunity does not apply. Backe v. LeBlanc, 691 F.3d 645, 648 (5th Cir. 2012).

In summary, Hall alleges First and Fourteenth Amendment violations without specifying how his rights were violated. Both his original and amended complaints contain only vague allegations about individual culpability. Hall thus failed to overcome the qualified-immunity defense.

AFFIRMED.

FOOTNOTES

. The TCOLE's website confirms that the commission will place all licenses in an inactive status when the licensee has not been reported to the commission as appointed for more than two years unless the licensee has met and continues to meet [all] continuing education require[ments]. TEXAS COMMISSION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS , https://www.tcole.texas.gov/content/frequently-asked-questions (last visited Mar. 20, 2017). The rules upon which the TCOLE and Hall rely, though, were repealed effective February 1, 2014. See, e.g., 37 TEX. ADMIN. CODE  217.13217.21. Section 217.19, formerly governing this revocation provision, now concerns the Texas Board of Nursing.

PER CURIAM:*
United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit. WILLIAM THOMAS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF COLUMBUS, OHIO; KIMBERLEY JACOBS; WILLIAM T. KAUFMAN, Defendants-Appellees. No. 16-3375 Decided: April 19, 2017

Before: McKEAGUE, GRIFFIN, and KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judges. COUNSEL ARGUED: Nicholas A. DiCello, SPANGENBERG, SHIBLEY & LIBER, LLP, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant. Timothy J. Mangan, CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Nicholas A. DiCello, Jeremy A. Tor, SPANGENBERG, SHIBLEY & LIBER, LLP, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant. Timothy J. Mangan, Janet R. Hill Arbogast, CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellees.

OPINION

McKEAGUE, Circuit Judge. This case primarily concerns an officer's decision to fire his weapon. Specifically, whether that decision was reasonable when an apparent suspect exited an ongoing burglary 40 feet away from the officer and then ran towards the officer with a gun. For the following reasons, we hold that it was and that the district court properly granted summary judgment to the defendants on the remaining claims. Thus, we affirm.

I

In 2012, Destin Thomas lived in an apartment complex near Columbus, Ohio. His front door opened to a breezeway. On one end, the breezeway led to a parking lot that Destin's building shared with the others in the complex. On the other end, it led to a grassy area that separated Destin's building from other developments and a nearby road.

At around 8:45 a.m. on a July morning, two men broke through Destin's front door. Destin called 911 from inside his bedroom and spoke quietly to avoid drawing the burglars' attention. After a few minutes, however, the men tried to force their way into Destin's room. A struggle ensued.

As Destin confronted the intruders, the 911 dispatcher sent out a burglary alert. The Columbus Police Department considers a burglary in progress a priority one calla designation reserved for ongoing life-threatening crimes, and situations likely to result in serious physical harm to any person. R. 32-1, Kaufman Aff. Ex. A-3, PID 133. Normally, the Department requires that two officers respond to these calls. However, if the circumstances indicate a present or an imminent threat to a citizen's safety, the Department's procedures state that the first available sworn personnel shall respond directly and immediately to the scene. Id. at Ex. A-4, PID 135

Five officers in the area responded to the alert. Officer William Kaufman was the first to arrive on the scene. On his way to the apartment complex, Officer Kaufman received updates from the dispatcher that let him know that the caller was inside a bedroom, that multiple suspects were in the apartment, and that the dispatcher heard yelling and crashing noises in the background.

When Officer Kaufman pulled into the complex's parking lot, he stopped his cruiser a few spaces down from the breezeway's entrance. He ran from his car toward the breezeway, approaching it from between a parked car and truck. Officer Kaufman says that as he ran, he could hear a commotion coming from the breezeway. The complex was in a high-crime area and Officer Kaufman says that he expected a gun might be involved. Officer Kaufman had his weapon unholstered.

When Officer Kaufman approached the breezeway's entrance, two men exited Destin's apartment and ran toward him. The first had a gun in his hand. Officer Kaufman stopped at the parking lot's edge, about 40 feet from Destin's front door. He shouted and then fired two shots at the person with the gun, who had closed the distance to what Officer Kaufman later estimated to be ten feet.

The second suspect fled. Officer Kaufman chased him for a few steps before stopping. He then radioed out shots fired and requested an ambulance. Officer Kaufman never administered aid to the suspect that he shot, later saying that he considered it unsafe to do so with an active crime scene. He also says that the suspect appeared to be dead.

The person that Officer Kaufman shot was not a burglar. Rather, it was Destin, who had managed to disarm a burglar before fleeing his apartment. Unbeknownst to Officer Kaufman, and perhaps Destin, the gun that Destin had wrestled away was unloaded. Tragically, Destin died from the two gunshot wounds.

When the next officer arrived on the scene a few minutes later, he entered the breezeway from behind the building. He found Officer Kaufman facing toward Destin's apartment door with his gun drawn. Between the officers lay Destin's body, clothed only in the gym shorts that he had slept in. The officer asked Officer Kaufman if he was okay. Officer Kaufman responded, I think this was the homeowner.

After more officers arrived and secured the scene, a sergeant transported Officer Kaufman to a nearby police station. There, he met with his union-retained attorney. Officer Kaufman then returned to the scene for initial questioning but declined to comment.

Nine days later, he submitted a statement through his attorney claiming that Destin had pointed the gun at him. Destin's father, William Thomas, finds this implausible because Destin had called the police. Further, Mr. Thomas notes that Destin's bedroom faced the parking lot, meaning that he might have left his room specifically to run to Officer Kaufman. Officer Kaufman stuck by his story during his deposition, even agreeing when the opposing lawyer suggested that the only thing that would make his firing a weapon reasonable would be Destin lifting the gun towards him.

Besides Officer Kaufman, only one other living person witnessed the shootingthe burglar that followed Destin out of the apartment. Police captured him, but he refuses to testify. Currently, he is pursuing relief for his felony murder conviction based on Destin's death.

II

In 2014, William Thomas sued Officer Kaufman, the City of Columbus, and the City's Police Chief, Kimberly Jacobs. He brought two claims against Officer Kaufman under 42 U.S.C.  1983. The first alleged that Officer Kaufman used excessive force in violation of Destin's right to be free from unreasonable seizuresa Fourth Amendment right applied against the states by the Fourteenth Amendment. The second asserted that Officer Kaufman violated Destin's Fourteenth Amendment due process rights by showing deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs after the shooting. Mr. Thomas also brought state tort claims against Officer Kaufman based on the shooting. Finally, Mr. Thomas asserted that the City and Chief Jacobs failed to properly train Officer Kaufman, thus making them liable for the shooting under 42 U.S.C.  1983. See Monell v. Dep't of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978).

The defendants moved for summary judgment, with Officer Kaufman asserting qualified immunity as a defense. The district court granted the motion on the federal claims and dismissed the state claims without prejudice. As to the excessive-force claim, the court concluded that no genuine dispute existed over Officer Kaufman's testimony that Destin pointed a gun at him, and thus it found no Fourth Amendment violation. See R. 44, Opinion and Order, PID 1311. The court then found for Officer Kaufman on the deliberate indifference claim, holding that he did not disregard the risk to Destin but acted practically under uncertain circumstances. Id. at 2223, PID 132526. Lastly, the district court dismissed the failure-to-train claim because it found no constitutional violation. Id.

III

Mr. Thomas appeals summary judgment on each claim. We review the district court's decision de novo. Getz v. Swoap, 833 F.3d 646, 652 (6th Cir. 2016). A court properly grants summary judgment when no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587 (1986). We may affirm a decision of the district court for any reason supported by the record, including on grounds different from those on which the district court relied. Stein v. Regions Morgan Keegan Select High Income Fund, Inc., 821 F.3d 780, 786 (6th Cir. 2016).

IV

A

The parties initially briefed this case by focusing on the same issue that the district court honed in on: whether a genuine dispute existed that Destin pointed the gun at Officer Kaufman. The district court held that no dispute existed because Mr. Thomas lacked sufficient evidence to undermine Officer Kaufman's sworn testimony. On appeal, Mr. Thomas mostly attacked the errors he perceived in that holding. We ordered supplemental briefing on the question of whether Officer Kaufman would be entitled to qualified immunity even if a jury could disbelieve Officer Kaufman and find that Destin never aimed the gun at him. We now hold that Officer Kaufman was entitled to immunity regardless of whether Destin raised the gun.

The Fourth Amendment guarantees the right to be free from unreasonable seizures. This includes the right to be free from excessive force. Graham v. O'Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 388 (1989). The Fourth Amendment's objective reasonableness standard governs whether an officer's force was excessive. See id. Deadly force is objectively reasonable when an officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others. Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 3 (1985).

We analyze an officer's decision to use force from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight. Graham, 490 U.S. at 396. We do so mindful that police officers face tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving situations that require split-second judgments. Id. at 397. The Fourth Amendment only requires officers to act reasonably on the information they have; it does not require them to perceive a situation accurately. Cf. id. at 396 (The Fourth Amendment is not violated by an arrest based on probable cause, even though the wrong person is arrested[.]) (citation omitted).

In this circuit, we consider the officer's reasonableness under the circumstances he faced at the time he decided to use force. See Livermore v. Lubelan, 476 F.3d 397, 406 (6th Cir. 2007) (describing the so-called segmented analysis this circuit uses to analyze use-of-force claims). We do not scrutinize whether it was reasonable for the officer to create the circumstances. Id. (quotation marks and citations omitted). Even if an officer approaches a scene recklessly, this will not necessarily render a later decision to protect himself unreasonable. See Chappell v. City of Cleveland, 585 F.3d 901, 91516 (6th Cir. 2009).

Thus, we cannot, as Mr. Thomas urges, find a constitutional violation based on how Officer Kaufman approached the crime scene. Arguably, Officer Kaufman's decisions to rush toward the apartment without backup violated Columbus Police Department procedures. Arguably, his violations increased the likelihood that Officer Kaufman might have to use force. But those decisions were not seizures. Their reasonableness is not at issue.

Instead, we must consider the circumstances that Officer Kaufman faced in the moment he decided to use force. Officer Kaufman had responded to a dangerous call in a high-crime area. He was alone. He ran towards the breezeway between two vehicles and then stopped at the parking lot's edge. Meanwhile, two people exited an apartment and then ran towards him, the first with a gun. About 40 feet initially separated Officer Kaufman from that person, and the distance only shrank as the person closed in on him. At this range, a suspect could raise and fire a gun with little or no time for an officer to react. Given these facts, a reasonable officer would perceive a significant threat to his life in that moment. Thus, Officer Kaufman's decision to fire his guneven if Destin never raised hiswas objectively reasonable.

Mr. Thomas's arguments to the contrary underplay the danger that Officer Kaufman faced. And they rely on the hindsight bias that we guard against. Consider three propositions that Mr. Thomas advances. First, that Officer Kaufman should have warned Destin and then waited to see if he complied. Second, that Officer Kaufman should have reflected on the situation and then pieced together that Destin was the victim because he was shirtless. Third, that Officer Kaufman should have waited to see if the person running towards him with a gun would point it at him. If Officer Kaufman had followed Mr. Thomas's advice, tragedy may have been avoided here. But if Destin had been an actual criminal with a loaded gun, an officer who followed this advice could well be dead.

That Mr. Thomas's attorney elicited a different legal conclusion from Officer Kaufman does not change this analysis. The Fourth Amendment inquiry here relies on an objective reasonableness standardnot on an officer's opinion. Cf. Graham, 490 U.S. at 397 ([T]he reasonableness' inquiry in an excessive force case is an objective one: the question is whether the officers' actions are objectively reasonable in light of the facts and circumstances confronting them, without regard to their underlying intent or motivation.). And objective reasonableness is a legal conclusion reserved for this court. Chappell, 585 F.3d at 909 ([O]nce the relevant set of facts is determined and all reasonable inferences are drawn in favor of the plaintiff, to the extent supported by the record, the question whether the detectives' actions were objectively unreasonable is a pure question of law.) (citations and quotation marks omitted).

Similarly, Mr. Thomas cannot avoid summary judgment by citing his use-of-force expert's legal conclusions. See DeMerrell v. City of Cheboygan, 206 F. App'x 418, 426 (6th Cir. 2006) (holding that the district court did not err in ignoring expert's legal conclusions on objective reasonableness). Mostly, that expert worked from the same faulty legal premise as Mr. Thomashe focused on Officer Kaufman's reasonableness in approaching the scene. When pressed about whether an officer has probable cause to believe someone running at him with a gun poses a significant risk of death, the expert adopted Mr. Thomas's categorical rule that force can only be reasonable if a suspect raises his gun. That conclusion, however, is ours to make. And we reiterate that the circumstances here would give an officer reason to fear someone running towards him with a gun and leave him with little to no time to react if the suspect raised it.

To be clear, we do not hold that an officer may shoot a suspect merely because he has a gun in his hand. Whether a suspect has a weapon constitutes just one consideration in assessing the totality of the circumstances. See Perez v. Suszczynski, 809 F.3d 1213, 1220 (11th Cir. 2016) (Where the weapon was, what type of weapon it was, and what was happening with the weapon are all inquiries crucial to the reasonableness determination.). Sometimes, the time or space available to an officer may mean that the reasonable thing to do is to monitor the suspect, issue a warning, or take cover. See, e.g., Dickerson v. McClellan, 101 F.3d 1151, 1163 (6th Cir. 1996); Brandenburg v. Cureton, 882 F.2d 211, 213 (6th Cir. 1989). But Officer Kaufman acted objectively reasonably when he used deadly force hereeven if facts beyond his knowledge meant that he actually faced no threat.

B

As to Mr. Thomas's Fourteenth Amendment claim for deliberate indifference to serious medical needs, we adopt the district court's reasoning. The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits police officers from acting with reckless disregard to those they injure. See, e.g., Scozzari v. Miedzianowski, 454 F. App'x 455, 466 (6th Cir. 2012); Estate of Owensby v. City of Cincinnati, 414 F.3d 596, 604 (6th Cir. 2005). They cannot unreasonably delay medical treatment. Scozzari, 454 F. App'x at 464. They also cannot prioritize activities unrelated to securing the scene or unnecessary to their duties over trying to save the suspect's life. Id. at 46566.

As the district court recognized, however, an officer does not act with reckless disregard when he immediately summons help and then focuses on his own safety. Here, Officer Kaufman was alone at a crime scene where multiple suspects exited a burglaryincluding one with a gun. He called for a medic and then took cover and waited for backup to arrive. He did not violate the Constitution by failing to render aid when doing so appeared both dangerous and futile.

C

Because no constitutional violations occurred, the district court properly granted summary judgment on Mr. Thomas's failure-to-train claim against the city and Chief Jacobs. For a municipality to be liable under 42 U.S.C.  1983, a plaintiff must show harm caused by a constitutional violation. Lee v. Metro. Gov't of Nashville & Davidson Cnty., 432 F. App'x 435, 449 (6th Cir. 2011). No constitutional violation means no municipal liability. See id.

V

Officer Kaufman faced a tense, uncertain situation. Someone ran towards him with a gun after exiting a burglary about 40 feet away. Officer Kaufman fired when the person with the gun closed the distance to around 10 feet. A reasonable officer would find a significant threat to his safety under these circumstances. Under the Fourth Amendment's objective reasonableness standard, he could respond with deadly force. Thus, we affirm.
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. MARION I. HOWELL; FRANCIS L. HOWELL, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. TRAVIS EARL, individaully and as agent of Gallatin County Sheriff's Department, State of Montana; KELLI MUNTER, individually and as agent of Gallatin County Sheriff's Department, State of Montana, Defendants, GALLATIN COUNTY, a political subdivision of the state of Montana; JAMES SULAGES, individually and as agent of the Montana Highway Patrol, state of Montana; STATE OF MONTANA, Defendants, SCOTT SECOR, individually and as agent of Gallatin County Sheriff's Department, State of Montana, Defendant-Appellant. No. 14-35652 Decided: April 19, 2017

Before: W. FLETCHER and GOULD, Circuit Judges, and BLOCK,*** District Judge.

MEMORANDUM*

Gallatin County Sheriff's Deputy Scott Secor responded to the home of Francis and Marion Howell on information that a person involved in a car crash was present there. During the response, Secor entered the Howells' home without a warrant. The Howells brought this action under 42 U.S.C.  1983, claiming in part that Secor entered their home in violation of the United States and Montana Constitutions. A jury found for the Howells on the unlawful entry claims and for the defendants on all other claims. Secor appealed the judgment against him, challenging two questions included in the jury's special verdict form: Special Verdict Question 12, Did Deputy Secor unlawfully enter the Howell[s'] home in violation of the Fourth Amendment on June 26, 2011?; and Special Verdict Question 15, Did Deputy Secor unlawfully enter the Howell[s'] home in violation of Article II, Section 11 of the Montana Constitution on June 26, 2011? We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.  1291, and we affirm.

Secor contends that the special verdict questions were an incomplete statement of the law because they did not require the jury to find that Secor's entry into the home was combined with an attempt to find something or to obtain information within the residence. Secor's challenge reflects language from recent Supreme Court decisions suggesting that government officials do not conduct a search within the Fourth Amendment unless they are seeking an object or information. See United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400, 408 n.5 (2012) (Trespass alone does not qualify [as a search], but there must be conjoined with that what was present here: an attempt to find something or to obtain information.); Grady v. North Carolina, 135 S. Ct. 1368, 1371 (2015) (per curiam) (characterizing Jones as noting that a government intrusion is not a search unless done to obtain information (internal quotation marks omitted)).

We need not, and do not, address whether a Fourth Amendment search requires a particular purpose on the part of the officer to seek information, because the record in this case makes clear that Secor was seeking information when he entered the Howells' home without a warrant. By Secor's own testimony, he entered the home to ensure that someone was supervising a young boy he had seen outside the house. Even if Secor was not looking for the person involved in the car crash, he was looking for information when he entered the home. It does not matter that the information Secor was seeking was possibly unrelated to a criminal investigation. See Grady, 135 S. Ct. at 1371 ([T]he government's purpose in collecting information does not control whether the method of collection constitutes a search.); see also City of Ontario v. Quon, 560 U.S. 746, 755 (2010) (It is well settled that the Fourth Amendment's protection extends beyond the sphere of criminal investigations.).

Secor's admission is sufficient to reject his claims under both the United States and Montana Constitutions. There is another reason to reject Secor's claims under the Montana Constitution: the protections of Article II, Section 11 are not coextensive with the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Fourth Amendment. See State v. Bullock, 272 Mont. 361, 384 (1995). In some instances, Section 11 provides greater protections. See, e.g., id. (granting greater privacy protections in open fields than under the Fourth Amendment). Secor cites to no Montana case law requiring that an officer be seeking information for his actions to constitute a search.

We hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in formulating Special Verdict Questions 12 and 15.

AFFIRMED

FOOTNOTES

. We note that Secor's challenge seems misplaced. The law governing the Howells' claims was presented to the jury in the form of instructions. Secor's legal challenge is therefore more appropriately targeted at the jury instructions, not the special verdict form. Nevertheless, we address Secor's arguments as he presents them. We determine whether the district court abused its discretion in its choice to not include language in the special verdict form regarding Secor's purpose when entering the home. See United States v. Reed, 147 F.3d 1178, 1180 (9th Cir. 1998) (addressing a challenge to a special verdict form under an abuse of discretion standard).
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. DAVID WULFE, individually and on behalf of others similarly situated, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. VALERO REFINING COMPANY - CALIFORNIA, et al., Defendants - Appellees. No. 16-55824 Decided: April 19, 2017

Before: WARDLAW and HURWITZ, Circuit Judges and RICE,*** Chief District Judge.

MEMORANDUM*

David Wulfe, a refinery operator, sued his former employer, Valero Refining Co., alleging several employment related claims, including a claim under the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), Cal. Labor Code  2698, et seq. The district court entered an order compelling arbitration. The arbitrator then entered a partial award, ordering Wulfe to proceed with his PAGA claim on an individual basis. The district court confirmed the partial arbitration award and Wulfe appealed.

While this case was pending on appeal, the California Supreme Court and this Court issued opinions holding that pre-dispute agreements to waive the right to bring a representative PAGA claim are unenforceable notwithstanding the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Sakkab v. Luxottica Retail N. Am., Inc., 803 F.3d 425, 431 (9th Cir. 2015); Iskanian v. CLS Transp. L.A., LLC, 327 P.3d 129, 133 (Cal. 2014). When this case was first before us, we affirmed the district court's order compelling arbitration and also affirmed, in part, the order confirming the arbitration award, but we remanded to the district court to consider the intervening case law concerning the PAGA claim. We directed the district court to consider in the first instance Wulfe's argument that, in light of those subsequent decisions, the arbitrator's award should be vacated because she exceeded [her] powers, or so imperfectly executed them that a mutual, final, and definite award upon the subject matter submitted was not made.  Wulfe v. Valero Ref. Co.-Cal., 641 F. App'x 758, 761 (9th Cir. 2016) (alteration in original) (quoting 9 U.S.C.  10(a)(4)).

On remand, the district court thoroughly analyzed the issue and declined to vacate the award. The district court concluded that intervening law could not provide a basis for vacatur. We agree and affirm.

1. The Supreme Court has explained that the FAA permits a court to vacate an arbitrator's decision only in very unusual circumstances. That limited judicial review  maintains arbitration's essential virtue of resolving disputes straightaway. If parties could take full-bore legal and evidentiary appeals, arbitration would become merely a prelude to a more cumbersome and time-consuming judicial review process. Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, 133 S. Ct. 2064, 2068 (2013) (citations, internal quotation marks, and brackets omitted).

Section 10 of the FAA permits vacatur where the arbitrators exceeded their powers. 9 U.S.C.  10(a)(4). This is a high standard; [i]t is not enough  to show that the panel committed an error-or even a serious error. Lagstein v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, London, 607 F.3d 634, 641 (9th Cir. 2010) (alteration in original) (quoting Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. AnimalFeeds Int'l Corp., 559 U.S. 662, 671 (2010)). [A]rbitrators exceed their powers'  not when they merely interpret or apply the governing law incorrectly, but when the award is completely irrational, or exhibits a manifest disregard of law.  Id. (quoting Kyocera Corp. v. Prudential-Bache Trade Servs., Inc., 341 F.3d 987, 997 (9th Cir. 2003) (en banc)).  Manifest disregard of the law means something more than just an error in the law or a failure on the part of the arbitrators to understand or apply the law; [i]t must be clear from the record that the arbitrators recognized the applicable law and then ignored it. Id. (quoting Mich. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Unigard Sec. Ins. Co., 44 F.3d 826, 832 (9th Cir. 1995)).

Wulfe's argument is that succeeding judicial decisions render the arbitrator's decision in excess of her powers. But, the issue is not whether, with perfect hindsight, we can conclude that the arbitrator erred. Rather, the issue is whether the arbitrator recognized the applicable law and then ignored it. Lagstein, 607 F.3d at 641. There is no contention that the arbitrator did so here. Rather, at the time she rendered the partial award, the law was unsettled as to whether Wulfe's PAGA claim should be arbitrated on an individual basis. See, e.g., Quevedo v. Macy's, Inc., 798 F. Supp. 2d 1122, 1142 (C.D. Cal. 2011) (holding plaintiff's individual PAGA claim to be arbitrable and the arbitration agreement's provision barring him from bringing that claim on behalf of other employees is enforceable). And, Wulfe did not argue or cite any authority to the arbitrator that the agreement requiring individual arbitration of his PAGA claim was unenforceable. That the arbitrator failed to correctly predict future judicial decisions does not mean she acted in manifest disregard of existing law. Biller v. Toyota Motor Corp., 668 F.3d 655, 668 n.7 (9th Cir. 2012) (holding that even misstatements of the law followed by erroneous application of the law provide insufficient grounds for vacatur, because under quite clear circuit precedent, only evidence that the Arbitrator knew the law but ignored it nonetheless constitutes manifest disregard of the law).

2. Because Wulfe's public policy argument is raised for the first time in his reply brief, we find it waived. Eberle v. City of Anaheim, 901 F.2d 814, 817-18 (9th Cir. 1990).

Each party shall bear its own costs on appeal.

AFFIRMED.
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The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency will present a preview of recommendations for the 2017-18 hunting and trapping seasons at the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commissions April meeting.

The meeting will be held April 26 beginning at 9.a.m. at the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agencys Region II Ray Bell Building. The public is invited to attend.

Wildlife and Forestry Division Chief Mark Gudlin will provide an overview on the hunting seasons setting process. The commission will also be given a brief summary of the 2016-17 hunting seasons. The TFWC sets the states annual hunting seasons at its May meeting. The annual hunting and trapping regulations are effective Aug, 1 through July 31.

The commission will also receive a brief preliminary response from the Agency on the Tennessee Wildlife Federations Whitetail Deer Resolution that was presented at the March TFWC meeting. Approved by the federations board of directors, the resolution called for the TWRA to formulate a statewide strategic whitetail deer management plan.

An overview of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) will be presented. CWD is a terminal neurological disease that impacts deer and elk in many other states. Disease information and the threat of CWD to the states deer and elk populations will be shared.

A brief presentation will be given on the history of Tennessees elk restoration. In addition, current elk management practices on the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area will also be presented.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is assisting wildlife biologists at Tennessee State University in research to determine the distribution of pygmy rattlesnakes in Tennessee.

The pygmy rattlesnake is listed as a threatened species in Tennessee and the research will help in conservation efforts to preserve the species in the state. Native to Tennessee, pygmy rattlesnakes are predators that are rarely encountered and play important ecological roles, including the control of rodent populations. These tiny snakes will rattle their tails when threatened, but bites are extremely rare and non-fatal if treatment is administered. The snakes are seldom seen by humans.

To aid their research, the TSU wildlife biologists are asking that anyone who happens to encounter a pygmy rattlesnake, he/she is asked to document the location with a photograph with the Smartphone GPS location turned on. (For an IPhone, it is located in Settings/Privacy. Other phones or cameras will have similar settings.) This will provide GPS coordinates of the photo to document the exact location.

Previous pygmy rattlesnake sightings, along with photographs, can also be reported with specific location data and the date of the sighting. Persons are reminded not to harass or attempt to capture the snakes. The TWRA does not want anyone to endanger themselves.

Pygmy rattlesnake sightings and information may be reported to one of the following biologists: Shawn Snyder, Email: ssnyder1@my.tnstate.edu or (717) 683-4226; Dr. Bill Sutton, Email: wsutton@tnstate.edu or (615) 963-7787.

Funding for the project is being provided by the TWRA through state and tribal wildlife grants.
Why these young voters in Pueblo want to get more youth involved in voting
This was enunciated by a U.S. Senator.U.s.a. (Fulbright), on a pronunciado in 1961 speech: there is an inevitable divergence attributable to imperfections in the human mind, between the world as it is and the world as men perceive it. While our perceptions remain reasonably close to reality, we can act about our problems in a rational and ade-adequate manner. But when our percepciones are not at the height of the best-cough, when we refuse to believe algo because it Nordic us it frightens us, or because it surprises us as something that we do not know, then the distance between the fact and the perception becomes an abyss and the action becomes irrational incongruen - te.(W Fulbright, Foreign Policy - The Congressional Record, March 1961), (cited by Thomas Harris). Total S. A. has much to offer in this field. This faith in the future there must be accompanied by this sense of reality, implies that people who make up the Government have in many cases an interdisciplinary training. Important changes in the world, that obligatory-garan ahead especially Americans to adapt to new circumstances, with faith in its own overcoming, but with a sense of reality that drives them to desta-spud increasing his knowledge technical, philosophical and humanistic. Robert Reich, Minister of labour of Bill Clinton, President of the Uni-two States, said: we are going through a transformation that will change the sense of the poly-tica and the economy in the next century.



Won't exist products or tecnologias national - them, not even national industries. There will be no national economies, at least as we conceive the idea today. The only thing that will persist within the national borders - them will be population that makes up a country. More information is housed here: Jeff Leiden. The fundamental property of a nation will be the ability and skill of their ciudadanos. The main political goal of a nation consist operated with the centrifugal forces of the global economy that will break the shackles that held together citizens by granting ever more prosperidad to the most skilled and dexterous, while the less fall-tes quedaran relegated to a lower standard of living. As the borders stop making sense in terms economic, those individuals who are best placed to prosper in the global marketplace will be induced to librarse of the tra-bas of the national accession and by proceeding in this way be detached from their less fortunate colleagues. With amazing regularity we hear talk about gross national product, trade balance, rates of economic growth, of the reservas of a nation, unemployment rates, national productivity, the value of the acti - vos of a nation, the profitability of the companies.



Political officials des-tacan some figures with pride; others point out their rivals (and occasionally the my - mas) with discouragement. This has become a national sport. Each new set of figures and calculations unleashes a frenzy of speculation: are going better or worse? Us has outdone any other country? Are we taking the lead? What can this mean for our economic future? The image and the word of nume-numerous comentaristas appear on television trying to clear the main in-cognitas. Knowledge and preparation that every American can be achieved (and will have to achieve this), will definitely be the future wealth of the continent, yet in many ways marginalized to participate in a globalized world.
By Dezan Shira & Associates

Editor: Alexander Chipman Koty

The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Human Resources & Social Security recently released its annual minimum wage adjustments for 2017, as well as the associated changes to employee benefits.

The adjustments, which came into effect on April 1, affect minimum wages, medical insurance, social insurance, pensions, and other forms of employee compensation.

Minimum wage increase

The Shanghai government raised the citys minimum monthly wage by five percent, from RMB 2,190 (US$318) to RMB 2,300 (US$334), and the minimum hourly wage from RMB 19 (US$2.76) to RMB 20 (US$2.90).

The five percent increase is the lowest since minimum wage hikes in Shanghai were frozen in 2009 as a response to the global financial crisis. The minimum monthly wage increased by 8.4 percent in 2016 and 11 percent in 2015.

While the increase was lower than in previous years, Shanghai still has the highest minimum monthly wage in China. Rapid wage growth is often cited as a key reason for Chinas slowing economic growth, as labor costs are outpacing productivity gains.

Many regional governments have consequently put the brakes on minimum wage increases to maintain their competitiveness with other Asian countries. For example, Guangdong province froze minimum wage hikes in 2013 and 2014, and after raising minimum wages by an average of 19 percent in 2015, froze increases in 2016 and 2017.

Social insurance payment limits revised

The maximum medical insurance fund payment limit was revised in accordance with the wage hike, increasing from RMB 420,000 (US$60,987) to RMB 460,000 (US$66,795).

The upper and lower limits of the social insurance contribution base were also increased, with the lower limit raised to RMB 3,902 (US$567) and the upper limit to RMB 19,512 (US$2,833). The limits are based on the average monthly wage of employees in Shanghai: the lower limit is 60 percent of the average wage; the upper is 300 percent.

Shanghais social insurance contribution base has grown in tandem with the rapid increase in average salaries over the past five years. In 2013, the lower limit was RMB 2,815 and the upper limit RMB 14,076.

The Shanghai municipal government announced in early April that the average monthly salary in 2016 was RMB 6,504, a 9.5 percent increase year-on-year, while the average annual salary was RMB 78,045. In 2015, the average monthly salary in Shanghai was RMB 5,939, or 71,268 per year.

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Social insurance contribution rates revised

The Shanghai government has also released the social insurance contribution rates for 2017. The employer contribution rate for medical insurance has been lowered from 10 percent to 9.5 percent, and the unemployment insurance contribution rate lowered from one to 0.5 percent.

The reductions in contribution rates are part of an effort to reduce the burden on employers. The reduced rates are in effect from January 1, 2017 to April 30, 2018.

All other social insurance rates in Shanghai remain unchanged. The employer contribution rate for pension insurance is 20 percent, maternity insurance one percent, and injury insurance 0.2-1.9 percent.

More HR reforms expected

Shanghai has recently released a slew of other HR reforms, including granting residency to foreign domestic workers, launching an online work permit registration system for foreigners, and giving foreigners in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone easier access to green cards.

The city is aiming to boost its capacity to attract and retain foreign talent, and to deepen reforms in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. Consequently, businesses in Shanghai should monitor for further reforms that may affect HR and payroll to ensure compliance.

Editors note: This article was originally published on April 20, 2017, and has been updated to include the latest regulatory changes.



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The surprise call by the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, to hold elections in early June will be welcomed by Beijing. The Chinese are mindful of British political influence in Europe, which is subject to change as a result of the Brexit vote, and of both political approval from Downing Street, and collaboration over bilateral trade. Despite a recent three year dip in overall China-British trade, there have been some encouraging recent signs of a 2017 recovery, and an increase of British exports to China.

The political issue with China, however, is that its system is based on a one-party state, and despite all the protestations about democracy, it remains embedded within this system. There are distinct advantages over democratic nations, archly observed by the Chinese Foreign Minister when the latest United States President was elected, commenting This is the type of candidate that can happen in a democratic system suggesting that Beijing was decidedly unimpressed.

The pros and cons of President Trump aside, the fundamental criticism over the democratic process from Beijing is the ongoing cycle of electing new leaders. In fact, it can be a problem for national development in democratic countries: some nations need long term visions and goals to be put into effect, and constantly changing government every four years arguably damages this. One could point to Mongolia on one side, a relatively small democracy, and India on the other, the worlds largest, where it could be argued in both cases the democratic process has not always been kind when measured against national progress. The lack of policy continuity remains the weak link in the democratic process, and is why Beijing will see the UK elections as a positive.

RELATED: China  UK Trade: The Effects of Brexit

Theresa May has a good point when it comes to her timing  the Conservative Party she leads is way ahead in opinion polls. Yet there are several issues to deal with. A currently small majority in parliament, the problem of being an unelected leader (she stepped into the role after David Camerons resignation), and the threats emanating from a Scottish government wishing to devolve, as well as the difficulty of Brexit negotiations on top of all this.

Despite these challenges, Mays Conservative Party is expected to win the election by a landslide. That fits in very well with Beijing, who prefer to see leadership continuity. Mays government is cautiously pro-Chinese, and a winning leader with a larger majority and with a mandate for another four years will be seen as what Beijing refers to as sustainable politics.

Knowing who will be in power, and what individuals and policies are likely to continue, will be music to Beijings ears. It should not be forgotten that while Brexit talks continue, the UK will need to replace EU free trade with other opportunities. For China, cementing a separate trade deal with a UK about to be free of the political constraints of the EU will be greeted with relief. In fact, the very face of British trade policy will change. I outlined some of the scenarios, including better engaging with Chinas OBOR, the potential for revamping the Commonwealth, and the possibility of negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union as part of relocating the traditional Western terminus of the Silk Road from Europe to London.

Dealing with a pro-Chinese London, eager to make a positive impact in going at it alone after it leaves the EU, hints at the promise of much closer British-Chinese collaboration. Beijing will be quietly satisfied if it can rely on the UK until the end of this decade, and possibly well beyond.



About Us China Briefing is published by Asia Briefing, a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. We produce material for foreign investors throughout Asia, including ASEAN, India, Indonesia, Russia, the Silk Road, and Vietnam. For editorial matters please contact us here, and for a complimentary subscription to our products, please click here. Dezan Shira & Associates is a full service practice in China, providing business intelligence, due diligence, legal, tax, IT, HR, payroll, and advisory services throughout the China and Asian region. For assistance with China business issues or investments into China, please contact us at china@dezshira.com or visit us at www.dezshira.com

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This year, Dezan Shira & Associates turns 25 years old in Asia. We retain extremely strong ties to the United Kingdom, employ numerous British nationals throughout Asia, and have serviced several hundred British companies in China and the Asian region at large since 1992. Explore Dezan Shiras partnership with British investment in China in this brochure.

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This Dezan Shira & Associates 2017 China guide provides a comprehensive background and details of all aspects of setting up and operating an American business in China, including due diligence and compliance issues, IP protection, corporate establishment options, calculating tax liabilities, as well as discussing on-going operational issues such as managing bookkeeping, accounts, banking, HR, Payroll, annual license renewals, audit, FCPA compliance and consolidation with US standards and Head Office reporting.

Payroll Processing in China: Challenges and Solutions

In this issue of China Briefing magazine, we lay out the challenges presented by Chinas payroll landscape, including its peculiar Dang An and Hu Kou systems. We then explore how companies of all sizes are leveraging IT-enabled solutions to meet their HR and payroll needs, and why outsourcing payroll is the answer for certain company structures. Finally, we consider the potential for China to emerge as Asias premier payroll processing center.

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China will move to increase job creation and encourage entrepreneurship as employment pressure rises, according to a government document released on Wednesday.

The document, approved by the State Council, China's cabinet, underlined the importance of job creation, urging policy makers to work out more pro-job policies.

Support should be extended to micro and emerging businesses, the engines of job creation. A more flexible social security system should be applied to those sectors to protect rights of the employees.

The document also urged local authorities to cut red tape to encourage entrepreneurship and extend more subsidies to the start-ups set up by college graduates and overseas returnees.

The government should reach out to zero-employment and low-income families and ensure at least one family member has a job.

China's job market faces grim reality as the economy slows while college graduates increase every year.
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Facing a backlash over an incident this month involving an Asian-American passenger, United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz is planning a visit to China.

Munoz has already stopped at the Chinese consulate in Chicago to try to smooth over the situation, with the company concerned the incident would affect bookings from Chinese customers.

United controls around 20 percent of the total US-China air traffic, and is also in a partnership with Chinese flag carrier, Air China, Reuters quotes analysts as saying.

Last week, Dr David Dao was forcibly dragged from his seat on a United flight as the crew attempted to clear space on the overbooked flight for crew members.

Dao refused to give up his seat, citing an appointment with a patient the following day. He was then physically removed from the fight by two security staff.

The violent incident saw the 69-year-old loose two front teeth, as well as suffer a broken nose and a concussion, said his attorney.

Dao emigrated to the US from Vietnam.

His treatment has angered many in the Asian community.

It has already triggered calls for a boycott of the airline by Asian groups in the US, as well as in Vietnam and China.
Hunan Liebao Automobile Co Ltd is planning to set up its first overseas facility in an ASEAN country in 2018, a move to facilitate its expansion in Southeast Asian markets, according to the company's chairman.

Chairman Liu Kanglin said: "Now the time is right for us to seek opportunities abroad, and ASEAN countries will be our first step toward the international market."

The three-year-old automaker expects to double its sales this year, building on last year's strong performance, Liu told a group of 20 journalists from Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states on a visit to the company in Changsha, Hunan province, which was organized by the ASEAN-China Center.

Southeast Asia, thanks to its large population and immense growth potential, is considered an attractive investment destination for automakers worldwide.

Industry data showed that ASEAN economies will be in demand for at least 4 million new vehicles annually by 2020, as regional free trade deepens.

The company has already made its vehicles available in Malaysia on a test basis, after reaching a business agreement with a Malaysian partner. The official launch of its products in Malaysia will be before the end of this year, Liu added.

Oliver Tonby, an analyst at consulting firm McKinsey & Co, wrote in a report that cost optimization is a key factor for automobile companies to locate their operations.

"Companies must balance low manufacturing costs with overall supply chain costs such as transportation and components supply," Tonby wrote.

Liebao set out the ambitious plan to expand in Southeast Asia as it has made remarkable achievements in the domestic market.

In the first quarter of this year, both its sales and revenue increased by more than 50 percent year-on-year. In 2016, it raked in revenue of 8.58 billion yuan ($1.25 billion). Its profit amounted to 600 million yuan.

The company has total assets in excess of 1.46 billion yuan, and it has more than 5,700 employees.
Foreign students register at Nanjing University. [Photo/Xinhua]

China will try to attract more students from countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, education officials said at a news conference on Wednesday.

The students are expected to become the majority in China's international student group in the years to come, the officials said.

Recruitment of students from those places will be a "mission of great significance" for the Ministry of Education going forward, said Xu Tao, director of the international cooperation and exchange department.

Xu said the ministry would also open more courses taught in English and would grant the Chinese Government Scholarship to at least 3,000 freshmen from nations and regions along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road each year, to make studying in China more attractive.

"We have seen many talented young people from all over the world become top experts or senior officials of their own countries after they returned from studies in China," Xu said, adding that many of them have played key roles in maintaining a good relationship between China and their native countries.

In granting the Chinese Government Scholarship, the ministry takes China's development strategy into account, said Mao Dongmin, an official in Xu's department.

That means students from Belt and Road countries who apply for energy, communications, transport, marine studies and finance in China will have a comparatively bigger chance of winning the scholarship, she said.

She added that the ministry is working with other ministries and commissions to understand their needs and help to nurture talent accordingly.

By cooperating with the National Energy Administration, for example, Mao said they know that China is planning to "go global" with nuclear power technology. Other countries, such as Pakistan, are important partners in the process.

"What we could do, from the perspective of education, is to lure students from the partners and fund them to study related majors in China," she said, so that the students provide intellectual support for the nuclear power expansion.

Belt and Road countries have worked closely with China in education since the ministry issued a notice in July to boost educational ties.

So far, China has signed agreements on the mutual recognition of academic degrees with 46 countries and regions around the world. More than half are along the Belt and Road, said Yan Bingchen, an official of the ministry's international cooperation and exchange department.
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A court in east China's Shandong Province has accepted a telecom fraud case involving the death of a teenager, which sparked a national outcry last year.

The trial against seven defendants will be held at the intermediate people's court of Linyi City for the lawsuit filed Monday by the city's procuratorate.

Xu Yuyu, a high school graduate in Linyi, died of cardiac arrest in August last year after losing 9,900 yuan (1,440 U.S. dollars) of her university tuition fees to telecom fraudsters.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate has issued a circular urging procuratorates at all levels to tighten crackdowns on telecom and Internet fraud.

Chinese police caught 19,345 telecom fraud suspects last year.
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Beijing urged Washington on Wednesday to "adjust its outdated policies" on exports to China in light of a recent analysis saying US policy in areas like high-tech goods "significantly contributes" to its trade deficit with China.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said it is hoped Washington will "create conditions for handling its trade deficit". China is "willing to expand imports from the US based on the actual needs of the domestic market", Lu said, responding to a question about the analysis at Wednesday's daily news conference in Beijing.

China's trade surplus with the United States in the first quarter was 342.1 billion yuan ($49.7 billion), a year-on-year increase of 6.7 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs.

"A significant amount of US potential exports to China were blocked by its political barriers," according to an analysis published on April 10 on the website of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a leading US-based think tank.

It said that according to data from 2004 to 2009, if the US were to liberalize export barriers against China to the same level as those applied to France, US exports to China would increase by an estimated $45.7 billion to $76 billion, narrowing the deficit by 20.3 to 33.7 percent.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has raised concerns about the US trade deficit with China on multiple occasions.

Beijing has repeatedly complained about US restrictions on exports in areas such as high-tech goods and urged Washington to lift them.

Huang Songping, head of General Administration of Customs, said on April 13 that "US restrictions on high-tech exports to China is one of the factors behind the US trade deficit with China".

Lu noted that the two countries are each other's largest trade partner, and "there is great potential" for reinforcing their economic and trade cooperation. Beijing is ready to act on the agreement President Xi Jinping and Trump reached in their recent meeting to expand pragmatic cooperation and properly tackle economic and trade frictions through dialogue and communication, he said.

Chen Fengying, a senior researcher on the world economy at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, noted that US-based transnational companies also contribute to a large portion of the deficit.

"Part of their production overseas will eventually go back to the US and get registered as imports. So it is extremely wrong to use trade to examine US economic activities worldwide," Chen said.
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Senior officials of China and the European Union (EU) agreed Wednesday to enhance coordination on global issues, continue to promote improvement to global governance and work together for more inclusive, balanced, sustainable globalization.

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi co-chairs the seventh China-EU high-level strategic dialogue with EU high representative for foreign affairs and vice president of the European Commission Federica Mogherini in Beijing, China, April 19, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi co-chaired the seventh China-EU high-level strategic dialogue with EU high representative for foreign affairs and vice president of the European Commission Federica Mogherini.

Both sides agreed to work with each other on the Hamburg G20 Summit, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, according to a press release published by the Chinese side.

The EU supports and will actively participate in the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation scheduled for mid-May in Beijing, said the press release, adding that both sides will speed up preparations for the annual China-EU summit.

China and the EU agreed to deepen cooperation in trade, investment, innovation, people-to-people exchanges and other areas.

China urged the EU to fulfill its obligations under Article 15 of the protocol on China's accession to the WTO at an early date so as to give a positive signal on backing a free and open multilateral trading system.

In accordance with Article 15, WTO members should cease the surrogate country approach in anti-dumping investigations on China after Dec. 11, 2016, which expires exactly 15 years after China's admission.

The EU side said they attach importance to China's concerns, will abide by the WTO rules and has started legal amendment procedures.

The two sides also had an in-depth exchange of views on Syria, the Iranian nuclear issue, the Korean Peninsula situation and other affairs.

Mogherini said that the EU is ready to enhance coordination with China.
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A Danish court began trial on Wednesday of a young girl who had been arrested for allegedly planning to blow up two schools, local media reported.

The 17-year-old from the village of Kundby on the island of Zealand was charged with attempted terrorism. She was reportedly planning to blow up her previous school, Sydskolen in Farevejle and a Jewish school in Copenhagen, according to the English newspaper The Copenhagen Post.

The girl, who appeared at Holbaek Court on Wednesday, was arrested in January 2016 after teachers at Sydskolen had alerted the authorities because of her social media posts.

She has since been in custody for the last 15 months.

A senior prosecutor, Kristian Kirk, described it as an "extremely unusual case", according to the paper.

"Firstly, the nature of the case -- these are extremely serious charges. We are dealing with schools and children as targets," Kirk was quoted as saying.

"On top of that, at the time of the alleged crime we are talking about a 15-year-old girl -- a teenager from west Zealand -- who prior to this was unknown to the police," he added.

The prosecution argued that the girl is so dangerous that she ought to be given an indefinite term of imprisonment.

However, the accused insisted she is not guilty and pointed to the fact that the plans were not carried out in practice, according to the paper.

According to Danish law, a person can be imprisoned indefinitely if found guilty of a very serious crime and judged to be a risk to society.

A verdict in the case is expected in May.
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Syria's presidential advisor Buthaina Shaba'an said Wednesday that her government's main ally, Russia, assured the Syrian government that there will be no more U.S. strikes on Syrian military positions.

Her remarks came a couple of weeks after the U.S. launched 59 Tomahawk missiles on the Shayrat Air Base in central Syria, in retaliation for an alleged toxic gas attack by the Syrian army on a rebel-held town in Idlib province.

The Russians "stressed to us that they are standing by Syria, and we understood from them that the American aggression will not be repeated," Shaba'an told pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV in an interview.

Further slamming the strike, Shaba'an said the U.S. missile strike was a "reckless aggression that took place without investigation," adding that what the United States is doing today reflects "confusion."

The official said that the alleged chemical attack was a setup, citing what she described as western specialists as saying that there was no aerial bombardment on the targeted area in the Khan Sheikhoun town.

Shaba'an said the U.S. strike wasn't a military, but a political message, adding that the alliance between Russia, Syria and Iran is "stronger than ever."

Meanwhile, the presidential advisor said that the United States is in a state of declination, while Russia, China and India are rising high.

She said her country was expecting an investigation team from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), stressing that the Syrian government is in no possession of chemical weapons.
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France will bring "in a few days" evidence proving that the Syrian government "knowingly" used fatal gas in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun earlier this month, Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Wednesday.

"We have elements that will allow us to show that the regime knowingly used chemical weapons," Ayrault told LCP television.

"In few days, we will prove that the regime has organized these strikes," he added.

A report of the Syrian Observatory for Human Right said 87 people were killed, among them many children, on April 4 in a toxic gas attack by Syrian warplanes on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in the country's northwestern province of Idlib.

Damascus has repeatedly denied possession of any chemical weapons. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad described the report on suspected use of chemical arms as "100 percent fabrication" to justify western powers' strikes against the regime.

In a report released on Wednesday, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said analyses' results indicated the victims' exposure to Sarin or a Sarin-like substance.

"While further details of the laboratory analyses will follow, the analytical results already obtained are incontrovertible," said Ahmet Uzumcu, OPCW General Director.
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"If you want to work on Trump wall, the California will not work with you!!!" Ricardo Lara, California state senator, has said on his official Twitter account.

As the border wall project proposed by President Donald Trump was carrying out by federal agencies, local legislatures in California and Arizona showed their determination to resistance to the last minute and they aimed at different bricks in the wall.

From angle of Lara, building the wall was a huge mistake and a waste of money and resources of U.S. taxpayers, meanwhile companies bid for the construction works were morally indefensible, so he amended a bill this Monday, would prohibit the wall contractors from getting any state project in the future.

Bill 30, previous version of which required California voter approval of any wall construction along the border. The amended one, deleted the vote clause, would be heard April 25 by the state Senate's Governmental Organization Committee.

"This bill would prohibit the state, commencing January 1, 2018, from awarding or renewing any contract with any person, as defined, that at the time of bid or proposal for a new contract or renewal of an existing contract is providing or has provided goods or services to the federal government for the construction of a federally funded wall, fence, or other barrier along California's southern border." the bill said.

"We're not going to allow a wall that harms our environment and our economy," Lara, a Democrat who represents Southeast Los Angeles County, said in a statement released at the same day.

Lara also wrote to the California Chamber of Commerce to seek the support for his bill. Regarding the economy between Mexico and the States, he argued that Mexico people spent a lot of money on shopping in California, and Mexico was one of the largest export market of California. The proposed wall would hurt California's economic market.

There are already around 650 miles (1,100 Kilometers) of fencing along the 2,000 mile (3,380 kilometers) long border between Mexico and the U.S. According to a report by the Department of Homeland Security, a border wall would cost a total of 21.6 billion U.S. Dollars and take three and a half years to construct.

The Border patrol spokesman Ralph DeSio revealed last week that the construction would take place at the Otay Mesa area, San Diego, but did not say the exact place.

San Diego Union Tribune said that up to 450 companies had submitted the designs and 20 companies would win the bidding even though the fund of this massive project had not been secured yet.

The result would be announced on June 1 after the selected 20 companies finished prototypes within 120 feet of the border, the report said.

Besides of Lara's struggling work, according to an article on San Francisco Chronicle last month, San Francisco, Berkley city and Oakland city of California, all would introduce the similar ban to prevent local builders or related organizations from entering the border wall project.

Not only participating building was prohibited, but supplying any material to contractors working on the project, the report emphasized.

While on the other side, James Flanagan, a San Francisco contractor thought it was a little radical by using such bans to stop contractors participating the project.

"My first reaction is why taxpayer dollars are being spent to hold committee meetings to boycott local companies that employ local workers?" he said when interviewed by SF Chronicle.

Outside California State, a lawsuit against the border wall was also filed by an Arizona Congressman and a conservation group, which called for an in-depth investigation of the potential environmental impacts.

The conservation group named the Center for Biological Diversity and Congressman Raul Grijalva believed that border wall would damage the habitats of those threatened species.

According to local KTAR News, the lawsuit sought to require the U.S Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to prepare a "programmatic environmental impact statement" for the U.S.-Mexico Border enforcement program, since "some areas within 50 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border have been identified as the 'critical habitat' for at least 25 species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service" .

"We filed the lawsuit in consider of all perspectives of environment." Randy Serraglio, from the Center of Biological Diversity told Xinhua, saying the lawsuit "was not because of the immigration or other issues, but only environmental factors."

Grijalva pointed out in a statement issued last Wednesday that "American environmental laws are some of the oldest and strongest in the world, and they should apply to the borderlands. These laws exist to protect the health and well-being of our people, our wild life, and the places they live."
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech in Istanbul's Yenikapi Square, Turkey, on April 8, 2017. Turkey's political parties held mass rallies on Saturday, a week ahead of a referendum on whether to shift to the presidential system. (Xinhua/DHA/Depo Photos)

Protests have erupted across Turkey over the past three days against allegations of cheating in votes in a referendum that delivered the ruling party a victory and ushers in the controversial presidential system.

Protests were reported in at least 20 Turkish cities, including the largest three, namely Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, in which thousands have been demanding the annulment of the referendum.

According to the allegations, over 1.5 million invalid votes were counted as "yes."

The 18-article constitutional amendments proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party and backed by its supporters were accepted with a slim majority of 51.4 percent in the referendum, according to the unofficial result announced by the election watchdog.

The Supreme Election Board on Wednesday rejected petitions submitted by three political parties, including the main opposition Republican People's Party, to cancel Sunday's referendum result on the grounds that malpractices existed including allowing unsealed ballot papers to be accepted as valid in the counting, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Besiktas district in central Istanbul, where over 80 percent of residents voted no, has been one of the top destinations for naysayers since the result was unveiled Sunday night.

Each day at 19:30, thousands of people have been marching on the streets in the district, calling on residents to raise their voices against unfair counting.

Residents responded by banging pots and pans and shouting slogans.

"Besiktas does not sleep! Raise your voice," the protesters shouted on Wednesday evening.

"All we want is justice," a young protester said, as others chanted, "It is not over! This is just the beginning!"

Police detained at least 38 people in Istanbul on Wednesday, according to the Hurriyet Daily News.

Naysayers have been using social media to make themselves heard as well.
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The Pentagon said on Wednesday the U.S. State Department had approved a 295.6-million-U.S.-dollar worth of arms sale to Iraq.

According to a statement by U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the military equipment would include two Peshmerga infantry brigades and two support artillery battalions.

"These artillery battalions and infantry brigades will operate under the Kurdistan Regional Government Ministry of Peshmerga (KRG MOP) with the concurrence of the central government," said the statement.

To implement the proposed arms sale would also not require the deployment of additional U.S. troops or U.S. contractor personnel to Iraq, the statement added.

Awaiting the approval of the U.S. Congress, the arms sale was not concluded at the moment.
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Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has killed two foreign terrorist suspects who came from one of Central Asian countries, the FSB said on Wednesday.

The two suspects, born in 1991 and 1987 respectively, actively resisted detention in the Vladimir region, central Russia, the FSB said in a statement.

"These individuals were in contact with recruiters of international terrorist organizations, showed interest in the technology of manufacturing improvised explosive devices and showed readiness to commit terrorist acts on the territory of Russia," the statement said.

In the course of the operation, components were found for the manufacture of an explosive device, and AK-74 assault rifle and a PM submachine gun, as well as diverse ammunition, it said.

The agents of the security forces participating in the operation suffered no injuries, the statement said.
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Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday signed execution orders of 30 hardcore terrorists who were awarded death sentence by military courts, the military said.

"These terrorists were involved in committing heinous offenses relating to terrorism," an army statement said.

They were behind the attack on the army public school in Peshawar, kidnapping and slaughtering soldiers of security officials, attack on an airport in Swat Valley, killing of innocent civilians, attacking armed forces law enforcement agencies, the statement said.

It is the first time the army chief has approved death penalty of 30 convicts on a single day.

The army said the process of execution has been expedited during the ongoing anti-terror major operation codenamed "Radd-ul-Fasaa" or reject discord in English.

The parliament recently extended the period of military courts for two more years after its two-year term was expired earlier this year.
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The arrest on Tuesday of two people suspected of planning "imminent and certain terrorist attacks" is stirring a new wave of fears over security as the French presidential election looms.

The terrorist plot is believed to have been targeting candidates of the election, in particular the right-wing candidate Francois Fillon, local media reported.

Following the arrest, security of the main candidates has been strengthened, while rallies and other political gatherings are put under close police surveillance.

Several candidates, including Fillon, confirmed that they had been informed about the threat by the French Interior Ministry and had received photos of the two suspects.

"I congratulate the police and the intelligence services that carried out the arrest of two terrorists. But as far as I am concerned, this does not change the organization of my campaign and, above all, it must not change the focus of the campaign debate to security issues, especially not to mine," said Fillon.

The Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon said he was informed of the threat but did not want to make it part of his campaign.

"We knew that the threat existed. There was an attack that was thwarted, and we should be glad of that. I do not want to politically manipulate this event which is serious enough," he said, indicating that it will not change his campaign strategies.

Emmanuel Macron, centrist candidate and one of the frontrunners, reacted in the same manner, saying that he will continue "to contact, to move" in spite of the threat.

Meanwhile, the far-right party National Front (FN) of another frontrunner Marine Le Pen accused its opponents of being unable to cope with the terrorist threat.

"Our democracy, voting operations and election campaigns are threatened. It's been two consecutive five-year periods since we allowed the Islamist threat to flourish, and today we have come to a situation where we even wonder if electoral campaigns will still be possible tomorrow," said Florian Philippot, Vice President of the FN.

The arrest came just a few days before French voters head to the first round of polls on Sunday.

The two suspects, 24 and 30 years old respectively, are believed to be radicalized while sharing a cell during a jail term for public offences, and were on the watch list of the police.

During a restricted council at the Elysee on Wednesday, French President Francois Hollande reiterated that "all the right means must be mobilized" to ensure the smooth running of the election.

"The terrorist risk is higher than ever," said French Interior Minister Matthias Fekl, adding that the two suspects were planning to commit an attack on the French territory in the coming days.

Fekl also announced that 50,000 policemen, gendarmes and military personnel will be deployed to safeguard each round of the election. The new arrest has extended the lengthy list of thwarted terror attacks in France in recent years.

In 2016, 17 attacks were thwarted, and 420 individuals linked to terrorist networks were arrested in France thanks to operations of the intelligence services, according to then Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.

On Feb. 3, a 29-year-old Egyptian was shot near the Louvre Museum while trying to attack soldiers with a machete.

In an interview last year, then French prime minister Manuel Valls revealed that nearly 700 French nationals or residents were fighting in Iraq and Syria, including "275 women and dozens of children."

The returns of these jihadists could mean that more terror attacks are in store for France, he warned.
Yang Hua

(Photo: ChinaAid)

ChinaAid





(Guiyang, GuizhouApril 20, 2017) The wife of a gravely ill pastor imprisoned in Chinas southern Guizhou province informed ChinaAid that her husbands condition is improving, but not optimistic.

Wang Hongwu and her youngest son recently visited her husband, incarcerated church pastor Yang Hua, who contracted a critical illness while serving a two-and-a-half year sentence on a trumped up divulging state secrets charge. After their meeting, she said:

We were forced to hang up only after 10 minutes of conversation. One of Yang Huas inmates laid him on his back and carried him to the meeting room. Although he still couldnt walk, I could tell that the infections on his legs were under control, and the festering was also beginning to heal. His mental condition was good. Yang Hua cried when he saw his younger son, but we didnt cry. We were so happy and full of gratefulness and peace.

Yang Hua is a new prisoner, which means that only immediate family members are allowed to visit him, and only once a month. The government is paying a lot of attention to Yang Hua. We were surrounded by police officers when we were chatting. He will stay in the [prison in Baiyun, Guiyang] for two-and-a-half months, and then he will be transferred to another prison.

Yang was previously hospitalized after inflamed ulcers appeared on his legs and spread rapidly, robbing him of the ability to sleep and walk. Initially, the detention centers doctors told him they were merely pus sores and gave him only painkillers. The lack of proper treatment allowed the disease to spread. He was transferred to a hospital, where physicians diagnosed him with anaphylactoid purpura and said his condition was critical and had a myriad of possible side effects, including septicemia, alimentary tract hemorrhaging, and kidney damage.

After her visit, Wang reported that her husbands condition, while improved, is still not optimistic.
Even as US Vice-President Mike Pence reiterated the era of "strategic patience" is over. Even as Pyongyang pledges to conduct another nuclear test "at any time", and carry out missile tests on "a weekly, monthly and yearly basis". The most impressive progress so far regarding the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear/missile threats is the United States' latest indication that it, too, prefers a peaceful solution.

China, Russia and the US finally seem to have reached a consensus on the proper approach to a common headache.

Their shared concern brought the three together to endorse the condemnations and sanctions of the United Nations. Divergences in their approaches, however, left loopholes that have undermined the effectiveness of the sanctions.

Whether because of restraint or inability, that the usually provocative Pyongyang did not conduct an anticipated nuclear test last weekend has been followed by considerable easing in the tense standoff once broadly seen as nearing breaking point.

The relative calm that now exists offers a precious window of opportunity for stakeholders serious about perpetuating it. It will not last long.

It is hard to imagine that Pyongyang will forsake its nuclear pursuit, because that is the only leverage, or bargaining chip, it has.

Pyongyang may soon fire another missile, even detonate another nuclear device, if it sees no immediate threat. It can't afford extreme tensions, but neither can it live without them.

The constant growth of the DPRK nuclear threat testifies to the need for solidarity among key stakeholders, China, Russia, the US and Republic of Korea in particular. Their failure to get Pyongyang to toe the line originates in large part from their inability to speak in one voice.

The continuous difficulty in maneuvering major-power unanimity on the wording of a new UN condemnation at the Security Council is indicative of the diverse concerns setting them apart.

Now that even the once tough-talking Donald Trump is onboard for a peaceful solution, and all parties except Pyongyang want a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, the prospect has never been so bright for dissuading Pyongyang without the use of force.

Beijing has demonstrated due enthusiasm for Washington's newfound interest in a diplomatic solution and willingness to work more closely with it. But as the evolution of the state of affairs on the peninsula has shown, no party can fulfill the mission single-handedly.

Washington must be aware of the limitations to Beijing's abilities, and refrain from assuming that the matter can be consigned entirely to Beijing alone.
BEIJING - Chinese companies' investment in countries along the Belt and Road rose again in Q1.

From January to March, Chinese enterprises invested $2.95 billion in 43 countries along the Belt and Road, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Tuesday.

The investment accounted for 14.4 percent of Chinese firms' total outbound investment in Q1, compared to 9 percent for the same period last year.

Chinese enterprises signed 952 project contracts in 61 countries along the Belt and Road with a turnover of $14.4 billion, nearly half of the total value of contracts in Q1, according to the MOC.

Since 2013, China has invested more than $50 billion in countries involved in the Belt and Road. A total of 56 economic and trade cooperation zones have already been built by Chinese businesses in Belt and Road countries, generating nearly $1.1 billion in tax revenue and creating 180,000 local jobs.

The latest data comes less than a month before the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which opens on May 14 in Beijing.
United Airline CEO Oscar Munoz.[Photo/VCG]

Facing a backlash over an incident this month involving an Asian-American passenger, United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz is planning a visit to China.

Munoz has already stopped at the Chinese consulate in Chicago to try to smooth over the situation, with the company concerned the incident would affect bookings from Chinese customers.

United controls around 20 percent of the total US-China air traffic, and is also in a partnership with Chinese flag carrier, Air China, Reuters quotes analysts as saying.

Last week, Dr David Dao was forcibly dragged from his seat on a United flight as the crew attempted to clear space on the overbooked flight for crew members.

Dao refused to give up his seat, citing an appointment with a patient the following day. He was then physically removed from the fight by two security staff.

The violent incident saw the 69-year-old loose two front teeth, as well as suffer a broken nose and a concussion, said his attorney.

Dao emigrated to the US from Vietnam.

His treatment has angered many in the Asian community.

It has already triggered calls for a boycott of the airline by Asian groups in the US, as well as in Vietnam and China.
Eat All The Pork This Sunday At Cochon555

By Anthony Todd in Food on Apr 19, 2017 7:50PM



Dishes at last year's Cochon Heritage BBQ. Photo by Galdones Photography.

If you love pork, bacon, wine, desserts, ramen or tartare, the perfect event for you is this Sunday, April 23, as Cochon555 returns to Chicago for another year.

This massive pork festival brings together some of Chicago's best chefs and heritage meat farmers for an act of collective gluttony that isn't matched by many other events. The primary event, the pork competition, pits five Chicago chefs against one another. Each chef has to use a heritage pig from a local farm to create six different dishes, which are ranked by expert judges. The winner becomes the "prince of pork," and gets a slot in the national Cochon555 competition, which this year will also be held in Chicago.

This year, the competitors include:

Chef Ricardo Jarquin of Travelle Kitchen + Bar

Chef John Manion of El Che Bar

Chef Nathan Sears of theWit Hotel Chicago

Chef Tom Carlin of Publican Quality Meats

Chef Pete Coenen of Cherry Circle Room

In addition to tasting the competing dishes (and casting some "people's choice" ballots of their own), guests get to drink a ton of different wines, enjoy a pop-up butcher shop from The Butcher & Larder, check out a ramen bar from Chef Cory Morris (Ronero), a tartare bar from Jason Vincent (Giant) and a dessert bar from Chon Reynoso (City Winery). Bars for everything!

Tickets are $125 for general admission and $200 VIP (you get in an hour earlier and access to some exclusive drinking). They're available here. May the best pig chef win!
China is creating a consortium, including State-owned oil giants and banks and its sovereign wealth fund, that will act as a cornerstone investor in the initial public offering of Saudi Aramco, people with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.

Saudi Aramco, a key exporter to China along with Russia's Rosneft, is due to list next year, with a potential $100 billion equity sale that is expected to be the world's largest to date.

The planned Chinese investment makes it more likely that the national energy giant would seek a listing in Asia, with Hong Kong currently the frontrunner among bourses in the region, the same people said.

Reuters reported earlier this month that Saudi Aramco's board would meet in Shanghai in May, its first meeting in China in seven years, as Chinese and Asian investors eye the share offering from the world's biggest oil exporter.

Saudi officials have said Chinese companies were interested in investing in the Aramco IPO as the country - the second biggest consumer of oil globally - seeks to secure crude supplies, but have not commented on how that would be done.

Half a dozen sources with knowledge of the discussions said China Investment Corporation (CIC), the country's sovereign wealth fund, oil majors Sinopec and PetroChina, and the country's State-run banks were among the State-backed entities set to participate in the Chinese investment consortium.

They did not name the banks. Reuters reported in February that Industrial and Commercial Bank of China International Holdings, a unit of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and China International Capital Corporation (CICC) were among the Chinese banks pitching for a role in the IPO.

One person involved in discussions between Aramco and potential Chinese investors said the ultimate size of the consortium's stake had not yet been decided. That source said the entity that would lead the consortium had also not been decided. That is likely to be decided by China's cabinet, the State Council, over the coming months.

"The IPO will help decide whom, or which country, can secure the crude supplies from the company and Saudi Arabia going forward," the person said, adding the size of each company's stake in the Chinese consortium would depend on its current relationship with Aramco and the Saudi government.

"For instance, if you were already a strategic investor or plan to become one in the long-term, things would become easier."

The State Council Information Office, CIC, Sinopec and PetroChina did not respond to requests for comment.

Last month, PetroChina's president and vice chairman, Wang Dongjin, said the company would consider participating in the IPO depending on market conditions, while Sinopec has said the oil giant would discuss the IPO with Aramco.

Saudi Aramco said in an email it did not comment on "rumor or speculation".
BEIJING  Wang Pengfei, vice president of a leading internet finance company, has seen the industry grow in China at a galloping pace, along with some shady practices.

After working at a State-owned lender for a decade, Wang joined Weidai, an internet finance company whose name means "micro-loan," in 2014 when the industry was flourishing.

Fast but fraudulent

The industry's burgeoning development came as no accident to Wang and other market observers.

China has four large State-owned banks, and State-owned enterprises generally have easier access to financing. Many small companies are troubled by the financing bottleneck, creating pent-up demand.

Meanwhile, working-class families struggle to figure out where to invest their savings to seek higher returns, and many of them move money online. The country, home to the world's biggest online population, also has a number of groups, such as college students, who are underserved by banks.

China has not established a sound social credit system, and credit cards are not as popular as in some advanced economies. Online payment has instead emerged as a well-received alternative to cash. Crowd funding has picked up momentum as a wave of entrepreneurship has hit the country.

Development of internet finance has helped broaden the financial reach, improve efficiency of financial services, give Chinese more investment options, and help some small businesses get badly needed loans, but the boom has its costs.

The first peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform was launched in 2007, and exploded in popularity in China, with the number of such platforms surging 18 times between 2012 and 2015 and the combined transaction volume jumping about 40 times over the period, according to data from the State Information Center.

P2P lending platforms helped link clients seeking better yields with borrowers starved for capital, but a report from leading industry information provider www.wdzj.com painted a grim picture. By March 2017, 3,607 Chinese P2P lending platforms had run into trouble or been forced to close, with only 2,281 platforms in normal operation.

With a relatively low barrier to entry in the industry, some high-profile fraud cases emerged and grabbed headlines, such as P2P lending platform Ezubao that cheated investors out of nearly 60 billion yuan ($8.7 billion) through fake investment projects.

Some bogus lending platforms diverted client funds for other purposes, while online Chinese loan sharks illegally demanded nude photos as a form of collateral from cash-strapped female college students. These cases have triggered the concerns of regulators and a year-long industry correction.

On top of P2P lending, internet finance also covers business such as third-party online payment, crowd funding, and other financial services.

"In tandem with the rapid growth, China's internet finance industry is afflicted with Ponzi schemes and some companies deviate from their main business to seek hefty profits," said Li Bo, a researcher with the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank.

When introduced to a long list of wealth management products they have never heard of, many individual investors, such as retirees, have ended up as victims of unscrupulous online finance platforms, sometimes losing their life savings.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang earlier this month cautioned that the country's financial sector was vulnerable to risks such as bad assets, bond defaults, shadow banking and internet finance, with frequent illegal and corrupt activities.

Risk caused by the internet finance industry has wide repercussions. Some P2P lending platforms resembled hybrid financial institutions providing clients with various financial services online, analysts said.

"Some online finance entities have performed illegal services, which creates contagion risk for banks, as financial agencies are intertwined with one another," said Ou Minggang, director of the International Finance Research Center at China Foreign Affairs University.

Supervision to catch up

"Before 2017, the industry was full of fraud, such as problematic P2P lending platforms and fraudulent borrowers using false information. With strengthened and coordinated supervision among different regulators, the industry will embrace reasonable development," Wang said.

Wang found that some important industry regulations such as those on crowd funding took effect in 2014, and targeted regulations have been rolled out by national and local authorities since 2016 for some murky and less-regulated areas.

Regulations on internet finance services such as third-party payment are relatively sound, but regulations in other areas need to be improved, said PBOC deputy governor Pan Gongsheng.

"The pace of business innovation has outpaced supervision in recent years, with companies producing new financial products to bypass supervision and hurt investors' interests," Ou stressed.

"Regulators face a steep learning curve, and they must keep abreast of the ever-changing industry landscape. They should focus on internet finance companies' business and what their financial products really mean for investors," Ou added.

Businesses such as P2P lending, internet-based insurance, third-party online payment, and online asset management were among key areas for strengthened supervision, industry observers said.

Internet finance last week appeared on the top banking regulator's list of ten most important areas for enhanced risk control, with targeted measures to be taken to stem emergence of a financial crisis.

For P2P lending alone, regulators have unveiled specific policies including 13 restrictions to prohibit P2P platforms from accepting public deposits, pooling investors' money for their own projects, providing guarantees for lenders, or selling financial products.

Wang also suggested learning from the experience of advanced economies and strengthening efforts to establish a social credit system with participation by both regulators and credit scoring companies.

Better consumer protection laws and regulations should be in place, and supervision of products from internet finance companies must be strengthened, with better conflict resolution plans to be established, Li suggested.

Wang said 2017 will be a watershed year for Chinese internet finance as the rules are tightened, bringing the industry out of the wilderness.
BEIJING  While some say that China still relies on its traditional growth boosters for its strong results, the world' s second largest economy is making strides far beyond its expectation-beating growth.

Taking a closer look at China's 6.9-percent economic expansion in the first quarter, it is the increasing role of the consumption and service sectors, rather than infrastructure spending and credit growth, that deserves attention.

First-quarter GDP growth accelerated from 6.8 percent in the previous quarter, and 77.2 percent of it was driven by consumption, 12.6 percentage points higher than the 2016 level, according to official data.

Meanwhile, the service sector rose 7.7 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, outpacing a 3-percent increase in agriculture and 6.4 percent in the secondary industry. It accounted for 56.5 percent of the overall economy.

The Chinese economy has not only been able to avoid a "hard landing," but is stabilizing and improving with better structure and more jobs, according to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Tuesday.

Mao Shengyong, a spokesperson with the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS), said the Chinese were spending more on services, and the domestic wave of innovations and entrepreneurship had brought in new businesses and new methods of consumption.

Innovation and start-ups are also a steady source of new jobs and income increase, with 3.34 million new jobs created in the first quarter and the surveyed unemployment rate staying under 5 percent.

The per capita real disposable income of Chinese nationwide increased 7 percent year-on-year in real terms, outpacing the GDP growth rate in the period, while that of rural residents rose at a faster pace of 7.2 percent.

The pickup in China's economic growth was not a result of short-term monetary stimulus, but rather increasing demand triggered by urbanization and supply-side structural reform, said Zhang Liqun, a researcher with the Development Research Center under the State Council.

Xu Hongcai, economist with the State Information Center, said the highlight of the first-quarter data was a pickup in private investment, which climbed 7.7 percent year-on-year, a significant increase from the 3.2 percent growth in 2016.

The reforms and other measures taken by the government to encourage private investment since the second half of 2016 have paid off, he said.

China has shifted away from pursuing breakneck expansion to facilitate further reforms as the government trimmed this year's growth goal to around 6.5 percent from a range of 6.5 to 7 percent for 2016.

At the same time, the country has set ambitious targets regarding structural adjustment such as creating 11 million new jobs and slashing steel production capacity by around 50 million metric tons and coal by at least 150 million tons.

China must speed up replacing old growth drivers with new ones to transform and upgrade the economy, said Premier Li, citing a challenging world economic recovery and relatively heavy downward pressure in the domestic economy.

The World Bank said in a report last week that China's transition to slower but structurally rebalanced growth had continued, and it expected the Chinese economy to slow gradually as it rebalanced toward consumption and services.

"Chinese policymakers will manage the balancing act," which means that they will continue with long-term structural reforms, support new growth engines and facilitate the economy transitioning towards services and high value-added products, said Sudhir Shetty, chief economist of the World Bank's East Asia and Pacific Region.

Mao said it was "no big deal" if economic growth slipped by a few tenths of a percentage points in the near future, noting that China's economic growth rate had become less volatile in recent years, with 6.9 percent for 2015, 6.7 percent for 2016 and 6.9 percent for the first quarter of 2017.

Other than spurring growth, the priority for China's economic policies must now be given to furthering supply-side structural reform to lay a solid foundation for medium and long-term development, said Zhang Liqun.
BEIJING  Net foreign exchange sales by Chinese banks rose slightly in March while capital outflow still remained tamed, official data showed Thursday.

Banks bought $145 billion worth of foreign currencies and sold $156.6 billion, resulting in net sales of $11.6 billion last month, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

The deficit was up from February's $10.1 billion but lower than $19.2 billion in January.

There had been rising concerns about capital flight since the second half of 2016, when the economy was facing looming downward pressures and the Chinese yuan was in the middle of a losing streak against the greenback.

But the yuan has gradually recovered from its weakness as the Chinese economy firmed up in the first quarter of the year, with forecast-beating GDP growth.

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, weakened 128 basis points to 6.8792 against the US dollar Thursday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.
People attend a job fair in Hengshui, North China's Hebei province, Feb 13, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

China has announced plans to promote employment, the country's top policy priority, across the nation.

The information, which was released on Wednesday and approved by the State Council, China's cabinet, underlined the importance of job creation and urged policy makers to create more pro-job policies.

The document stated China faced "intensified structural conflicts" in the current job market, and urged employment to be placed as a top policy priority, while addressing new challenges.

It further stated if new urban jobs dramatically declined or unemployment rates sharply rose, the government should be responsible for stepping up fiscal and monetary policy support to ensure stable employment and economic growth throughout the country.

Liu Jinshan, associate dean of the College of Economics at Jinan University, said fiscal and monetary policies are two common tools the government used to steer the economy. Liu added it could increase aggregate demand, directly or indirectly, and stimulates the economy and employment.

According to the document, support should be extended to micro and emerging businesses, which are the engines of job creation. A more flexible social security system should also be applied to those sectors to protect rights of employees.

The document further urged local authorities to cut red tape, encouraging entrepreneurship and extended subsidies to start-up companies set up by college graduates and overseas returnees.

The Chinese government revealed plans to create more than 11 million jobs in 2017, with the registered urban unemployment rate kept within 4.5 percent.

In 2016, 13.14 million jobs were created throughout the nation, and the registered urban jobless rate stood at 4.02 percent at the end of last year.

Xinhua contributed to this story.
People walk in front of Banque Misr in Cairo, Egypt, Nov 3, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Egypt's oldest bank has officially opened its Guangzhou office in Guangdong province to help promote trade and financial activities between the two countries.

Banque Misr chairman Mohamed El Etreby said the new Guangzhou office was a starting point to further expand co-operation of financial industry between China and Egypt.

"Egypt is an important gateway for banks and financial companies from China to enter into African continent," Etreby said at the office opening ceremony on Thursday.

"We never want to compete with other foreign and local banks on the mainland, but we will provide supplementary financing services and products to our customers," Etreby told China Daily on Thursday.

Banque Misr, the second largest bank in Egypt, has recently signed a series of co-operative agreements with major Chinese banks and financial organizations to provide financial solutions and financing activities to local and Egyptian small and middle enterprises in the future.

Etreby said he believed his bank had great potential on the mainland market when China and Egypt have advanced economic co-operation under the "one belt and one road" initiative.

Banque Misr chose Guangzhou for its first representative office in China as it has become one of the major commercial and port cities in the world.

Guangzhou, which organizes the semi-annual Chinese Import and Export Commodities Fair, has now opened more than 300 international ocean routes connecting to more than 80 nations and regions.

Egypt imports a large number of commodities from the southern Chinese metropolis each year.

Meanwhile thousands of Egyptian business representatives visit to Guangzhou to do business.
Two Chinese companies, Alibaba and Huawei, have been ranked in the world's top 10 most valuable technology brands, according to the latest data from a British consulting firm, Brand Finance. According to the firm, Alibaba nearly doubled in value and is now worth $34.8 billion.

Listed below are the world's top 10 technology brands.

No 10 Huawei

Brand value: $25.2 billion
Liebao has already made its vehicles available in Malaysia on a test basis, after reaching a business agreement with a Malaysian partner. [Photo/VCG]

Hunan Liebao Automobile Co Ltd is planning to set up its first overseas facility in an ASEAN country in 2018, a move to facilitate its expansion in Southeast Asian markets, according to the company's chairman.

Chairman Liu Kanglin said: "Now the time is right for us to seek opportunities abroad, and ASEAN countries will be our first step toward the international market."

The three-year-old automaker expects to double its sales this year, building on last year's strong performance, Liu told a group of 20 journalists from Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states on a visit to the company in Changsha, Hunan province, which was organized by the ASEAN-China Center.

Southeast Asia, thanks to its large population and immense growth potential, is considered an attractive investment destination for automakers worldwide.

Industry data showed that ASEAN economies will be in demand for at least 4 million new vehicles annually by 2020, as regional free trade deepens.

The company has already made its vehicles available in Malaysia on a test basis, after reaching a business agreement with a Malaysian partner. The official launch of its products in Malaysia will be before the end of this year, Liu added.

Oliver Tonby, an analyst at consulting firm McKinsey & Co, wrote in a report that cost optimization is a key factor for automobile companies to locate their operations.

"Companies must balance low manufacturing costs with overall supply chain costs such as transportation and components supply," Tonby wrote.

Liebao set out the ambitious plan to expand in Southeast Asia as it has made remarkable achievements in the domestic market.

In the first quarter of this year, both its sales and revenue increased by more than 50 percent year-on-year. In 2016, it raked in revenue of 8.58 billion yuan ($1.25 billion). Its profit amounted to 600 million yuan.

The company has total assets in excess of 1.46 billion yuan, and it has more than 5,700 employees.

Contact the writers through jingshuiyu@chinadaily.com.cn
BMW holds a ceremory to celebrate the delivery of its 3-millionth car in the Chinese market in early April in Nanjing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A customer in Jiangsu province earlier this month received his all-new BMW 740Li, the 3-millionth BMW sold in China, 23 years after the German brand entered the market.

A BMW car will never be the owner's last BMW, said Bai Yuanlong, owner of the 3-millionth BMW sold in China, at an event during which BMW delivered the car to Bai in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province.

Another owner of three BMWs echoed that a BMW owner will continuously select one BMW car after another.

Xu Peng, a 32-year-old Jiangsu BMW fan, said: "A BMW customer might be at first attracted by the product itself or the brand culture. After buying the first, it is the service that keeps you loyal to the brand."

BMW highly respects its customers' needs and hopes to further develop its aftersales services accordingly, as the company understands that 3 million marks not only an achievement, but also a new beginning.

Michael Liu, president of BMW China Automotive Trading Ltd, said: "The customers of the 3 million BMW cars are the foundation. Only with them can we realize the future development.

"In return for our customers' support, we will provide more products and technologies that are more innovative than ever, and more sophisticated services and enhanced brand experiences."

Chinese BMW customers are, on average, 35 years old, and this demographic is growing younger, according to BMW China's recent research findings. The company believes that the younger generation is seeking a seamless experience in services through integration of information technology.

"BMW is targeting a perfect brand experience covering products, services and contact with each customer. We spare no effort in trying to ease the stress of aftersales services and lower the usage costs for customers," said Liu.

"As a result, the Chinese Bimmers are enjoying peerless value-for-money during the overall product lifetime of a BMW," he added.

Xu Peng, the BMW fan, agreed that BMW has been serious in nurturing its customers, and that the company's advantages have shaded those of other players in the market.

"The stress relief BMW Service Repair Package shaves valuable time and effort off maintenance and repairs. Besides, the BMW Value Services also covers cars older than five years," said Xu.

BMW's mobile app for after-sales services is set to launch in 2017. The app, in its beta phase, will notify the user of maintenance requirements and allow the user to make an appointment for repairs. It is able to diagnose issues with the car and displays the car's status during repairs or maintenance.

Liu said: "BMW's brand values of being young, vigorous, passionate and dynamic have been deeply rooted in the hearts of our customers."
A BMW dealership worker provides aftersales service. [Photo provided to China Daily]

BMW expects to attract 1 million more Chinese users in the coming two years, fueled by its promising Maintaining Joy services, for which it has lined up continuous upgrades and expansion.

The German automaker realized an increase in customers from 1 million to 3 million in less than four years in the Chinese market. It expects to maintain the momentum, especially after 2016's all-time high of 500,000 vehicle sales.

BMW's sales volume surged by 12.4 percent in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same period last year, setting a new record with 142,828 vehicles sold.

The company founded the Maintaining Joy services, and the comprehensive aftersales system delivered through its partners and dealership network has made critical contributions to this achievement.

Michael Liu, president of BMW China Automotive Trading Ltd, said: "We will enhance these comphrehensive services with further localized development, for bigger breakthroughs."

The comprehensive services are more about emotional care and cover the entire process from purchasing to aftersales services, including customers making appointments, to maintenance and repairs through 4S/5S dealership stores or BMW's Fast Lane service.

BMW's localized services were provided by 95 percent of its 570 partnering dealerships that also operate as service centers, covering more than 270 cities, including all first-, second- and third-tier cities nationwide, as of March this year.

Tang Xiaoxiong is vice-president of Shanghai Baode Group, a dealership of BMW in China. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The company's philosophy "to serve first, then sell" is shared among the dealership partners, according to Tang Xiaoxiong, vice-president of Shanghai Baode Group.

The authorized BMW dealer group requires each staff member to serve customers wholeheartedly, in addition to optimizing the service process and workflow.

For example, nighttime services are offered for emergencies and to those who are not available during the day. A vehicle pick-up service is provided. And to shave the time spent waiting for maintenance and repair, more than 3,000 BMW substitute cars are offered nationwide for customers, and five regional distribution centers are in operation to ensure faster parts deliveries.

BMW is the first premium carmaker to establish a standalone brand for aftersales services in 2011. It upgraded its offering in 2015 with a new strategy, promising greater convenience, trust and care.

The service system will be further improved when the first BMW City Living Room opens soon.
Gov. Rauner Roundly Criticized For His Opposition To HB40

By aaroncynic in News on Apr 19, 2017 8:26PM



Governor Bruce Rauner outside the Director's Lawn at the Illinois State Fair in August 2016. Photo by Aaron Cynic

Im getting really tired of this string of misrepresentations and lies that are coming out of the Rauner administration, said Personal PAC President Terry Cosgrove in a press conference broadcast over Facebook Live. And I have to conclude that Governor Rauner is Donald Trump on steroids, if this continues.





2014 Rauner: "I fundamentally believe that abortion should be a womans private decision."

2017 Rauner: Nevermind.#RaunerLied #PassHB40  Personal PAC (@PersonalPAC) April 19, 2017





Rauner vowed to veto HB40 , a bill which wouldve scrapped Illinois trigger law which would make abortion illegal should Roe V. Wade be overturned along with providing coverage for Medicaid recipients and state employees. While Rauner has appeared to support a womans right to choosehe and his wife Diana, along with the Rauner Family Foundation have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Planned Parenthoodthe governor has been facing pressure from Republicans and other right-wing groups and conservatives over his stance.

A spokesperson for Rauner framed his opposition to the bill as an issue of taxpayer dollars:

Governor Rauner is committed to protecting women's reproductive rights under current Illinois law. However, recognizing the sharp divisions of opinion of taxpayer funding of abortion, he does not support HB40."

Rauners critics however, dont believe him. Lets be clear, this is not a tax issue, said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. We should not allow this bill to be sold that way. This is an issue of womens rights, human rights, family rights.

Capitol Fax reported Tuesday that Rauner took pro-choice positions on every question but one in the groups election questionnaire for gubernatorial candidates. Cosgrove said that Rauners opposition to HB40 puts him on the wrong side of history and makes the governor a liar.

This means, that then 2014 candidate Rauner lied to the voters, lied to friends, and lied to colleagues about his position on reproductive rights, wrote Cosgrove in a statement.

Rauners gubernatorial challengers lined up to criticize him as well.

Unfortunately, Bruce Rauner is more committed to playing politics than fighting for Illinois women and families, wrote billionaire JB Pritzker in a blog post on Medium. Rauner either lied to the voters about being pro-choice in 2014, or he has decided to capitulate to the right-wing Republicans in the legislature. Either way, Illinois is once again suffering a setback because of a failed promise by Bruce Rauner.

Chicago Ald. Ameya Pawar called Rauner a liar.

We need leaders in government who wont use womens rights to score political points when it seems most convenient, said Pawar in a statement given to Capitol Fax. People are sick and tired of rich men like Bruce Rauner and Donald Trump telling women what they can and cannot do with their bodies. If we say we have family values we have to start valuing families.


Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi, shows the newly released handset Mi 6 on Wednesday in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chinese smartphone vendor Xiaomi Corp, best-known for its online sales strategy, said on Wednesday that it aims to generate 70 billion yuan ($10.2 billion) in revenue from its bricks-and-mortar stores in the next five years.

The announcement came as the Beijing-based company plans to open 1,000 stores in China within three years.

Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi, said: "We can replicate our online success in bricks-and-mortar stores. Many people said we had to raise prices once we move offline. But we proved that optimized operating efficiency can help us remain cost-effective."

The company opened a Mi Home retail store in a Beijing high-end shopping mall earlier this month, which Lei said has been overwhelmed with consumers and highlighted that its offline retailing strategy is a success.

The company said it currently has 72 Mi Home stores in China, but did not disclose their sales performance.

Xiaomi also unveiled its latest flagship handset, the Mi 6, on Wednesday, highlighting the company's intensified efforts to experiment with new industrial designs.

Mi 6 comes with four-sided curved glass and a stainless steel frame. It is the first Chinese handset to come with a Snapdragon 835 processor, the latest mobile chip from Qualcomm Inc.

Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei said: "Mi 6 is the culmination of our seven years of research and development in the smartphone industry."

Priced from 2,499 yuan, the new handset will hit the streets on April 28 in China, and will make its way to selected global markets at a later date.

Xiaomi's handsets are available in more than 20 countries and regions. It is among the top five vendors in India, Ukraine, Indonesia, Myanmar and Israel, the company said.

The company has started manufacturing its devices in Indonesia and India, as the initial success in South Asian countries is expected to spur big demand for its smartphones.

Tay Xiaohan, an analyst at International Data Corp, said in a report that "in the past, Xiaomi started the trend of selling cellphones online, and other vendors soon followed suit".

However, with China's smartphone market reaching saturation point, companies are now pouring more resources into offline retail, Tay said.

But C.K. Lu, principal analyst at consulting firm Gartner Inc, said: "It will be difficult for firms such as Xiaomi to establish a successful offline retail network in the short term, as they lack both experience and talent."
Riders scan ofo bikes in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. [Photo/China Daily]

Chinese bike-hire startup ofo has signed a deal with Tianjin Fuji-Ta Bicycle to expand its fleet.

Under the partnership, announced on Wednesday, Fuji-Ta, a leading Chinese bicycle manufacturer, will add about 10 production lines for ofo's shared bicycles, with an annual production capability of more than 10 million units.

Fuji-Ta said the deal will almost double its annual bicycle production capability to more than 20 million units by 2017, up from 12 million units in 2016.

Dai Wei, founder and CEO of ofo, said the deal will help the Beijing-based firm expand its presence in both the domestic and global market.

"Today, China produces more than 70 percent of the bikes in the world. And China has gained advantages in the complete bike supply chain system and lower cost of making bikes."

"With expanded production capability, we will gain more strengths to enter and compete in the global market. "

Dai added that Fuji-Ta's overseas footprint will also help ofo to compete in the global market.

Starting off on college campuses in 2014, ofo now operates in 81 cities globally and is one of the largest bike-sharing service providers, valued at more than $2 billion, according to the company.

It is locked in a fierce battle with its rival Mobike. In January, Mobike signed an exclusive deal with Foxconn Technology Group, aiming to double its annual bicycle production capability to more than 10 million units.

Ofo and Fuji-Ta also announced the launch of a global research and development center for shared bikes, to offer more tailor-made bikes to meet different global needs.
Arend F. van Peer practices with his master Lin Zaipei the Chinese kung fu in Fuzhou, capital of Southeast China's Fujian province, April 18, 2017.[Photo/Xinhua]

Arend, 39, was from the Netherlands. He and his wife Khingeeva Tatyana came to China in October 2013. Besides doing research and teaching as a professor at a laboratory in School of Life Sciences in Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Arend was a fan of Chinese martial arts. As students of Kung Fu master Lin Zaipei, Arend and his wife learned the Dishuquan, which is also known as the Dog Kung Fu, one of the most popular martial arts styles in Fujian Province and a national intangible cultural heritage. They went to the martial art club every week to practice with Dog Kung Fu lovers from all over the world. Arend said that learning Chinese Kung Fu has been his dream since childhood. He invited Chinese Kung Fu masters, including his master Lin, to the Netherlands for culture exchange. "Arend has mastered a series of skills of Dog Kung Fu and he is capable of teaching these skills" said Lin. On May 3, 2017, Arend and his wife will finish their work in China and leave for the Netherlands. They plan to introduce the Dog Kung Fu to the people in their country.
Recruitment aims to provide cohesive intellectual base that aids cooperation

China will try to attract more students from countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, education officials said at a news conference on Wednesday.

The students are expected to become the majority in China's international student group in the years to come, the officials said.

Recruitment of students from those places will be a "mission of great significance" for the Ministry of Education going forward, said Xu Tao, director of the international cooperation and exchange department.

Xu said the ministry would also open more courses taught in English and would grant the Chinese Government Scholarship to at least 3,000 freshmen from nations and regions along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road each year, to make studying in China more attractive.

"We have seen many talented young people from all over the world become top experts or senior officials of their own countries after they returned from studies in China," Xu said, adding that many of them have played key roles in maintaining a good relationship between China and their native countries.

In granting the Chinese Government Scholarship, the ministry takes China's development strategy into account, said Mao Dongmin, an official in Xu's department.

That means students from Belt and Road countries who apply for energy, communications, transport, marine studies and finance in China will have a comparatively bigger chance of winning the scholarship, she said.

She added that the ministry is working with other ministries and commissions to understand their needs and help to nurture talent accordingly.

By cooperating with the National Energy Administration, for example, Mao said they know that China is planning to "go global" with nuclear power technology. Other countries, such as Pakistan, are important partners in the process.

"What we could do, from the perspective of education, is to lure students from the partners and fund them to study related majors in China," she said, so that the students provide intellectual support for the nuclear power expansion.

Belt and Road countries have worked closely with China in education since the ministry issued a notice in July to boost educational ties.

So far, China has signed agreements on the mutual recognition of academic degrees with 46 countries and regions around the world. More than half are along the Belt and Road, said Yan Bingchen, an official of the ministry's international cooperation and exchange department.
By Tian Xuefei in Harbin and Liang Shuang in Beijing | China Daily | Updated: 2017-04-20 07:43

LilacSat-1, a satellite developed by students at the Harbin Institute of Technology.

A nanosatellite made by students at the Harbin Institute of Technology was launched in the United States on Tuesday as part of a mission to the International Space Station.

The satellite, LilacSat-1, was on a Cygnus cargo spacecraft launched atop an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 11:11 am, according to Wei Mingchuan, the 26-year-old team leader and a second-year PhD candidate in astronautics at the institute in Heilongjiang province.

LilacSat-1 consists of two conjoined cube units, each with a side length of 10 centimeters. The 2-kilogram satellite will be deployed at a height of about 400 kilometers above the ground from the space station within three months of docking with the cargo craft. Docking is scheduled for Saturday.

In its three-month life span in orbit, the satellite will conduct investigations on Earth's mid-lower thermosphere, a section of the upper atmosphere about 200 to 400 kilometers above the ground.

"We will take measurements of the upper layers of the atmosphere using an ion-neutral mass spectrometer," Wei said. "In addition, we have a new type of radio repeater to provide two-way communication resources to amateur radio operators, as well as a CMOS camera to take photos from space."

Nanosatellites are small satellites that weigh between 1 and 10 kg, according to the team.

Lifted along with LilacSat-1 were 27 other nanosatellites of the QB50 project, a European Union-funded miniaturized satellite constellation created by students in more than 20 countries.

"This project is the very first international, real-time, coordinated study of thermosphere phenomena," said Davide Masutti, QB50 project manager at the Von Karman Institute, a scientific organization based in Belgium.

Wei said the data retrieved by LilacSat-1 would be shared by the science community and amateurs, as the programs will be released as open-source and require no special tools.
President Xi Jinping, also head of the central Internet security and informatization leading group, presides over a symposium on cyberspace security and informatization in Beijing, April 19, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi Jinping once said that poverty alleviation is an important part of his work and he spent most energy on it. He pledged that the government will lift the country's 70 million poor people above the poverty line by 2020.

Presiding over a symposium on cyberspace security and informatization on April 19, 2016, Xi said online services should play a bigger role in reducing poverty by promoting agricultural goods produced by impoverished people and by making high-quality education accessible to more children in remote mountainous region via internet.

He connected internet with the work of poverty relief for the first time, providing a new direction for the cause.

Internet Plus ushers a new stage for poverty relief

When Xi visited Southwest China's Guizhou province in June 2015, he said that poverty relief should be precisely targeted as it determines whether poverty alleviation will be successful or not.

As Internet Plus becomes a national strategy, "internet plus targeted poverty alleviation" is viewed as an important impetus for the development of the impoverished areas.

Though the direction is clear, just as Xi pointed out on April 19 last year, the internet infrastructure remains a weak link among these villages.

To overcome this weakness, a national plan on internet-based poverty alleviation was issued in Oct which outlines five projects - broadband coverage, rural e-commerce, access to online education resources, information services and internet philanthropy.

The plan aims to provide broadband network coverage to more than 90 percent of poverty-stricken villages, provide access to e-commerce services in all townships and improve the health, literacy and employment competitiveness of impoverished people through online medical, educational and cultural services, according to Xu Yu, director of informatization development bureau of Cyberspace Administration of China.

Precise targeting of anti-poverty programs

During his visit to Chongqing municipality in January 2016, Xi said the success of development-oriented poverty relief lies in precise and targeted poverty alleviation efforts.

Precisely targeting those in need is a key step before allocating policy and fund to the impoverished households.

"After scanning the QR code, the updated data of every impoverished household show up. It reveals the latest situation of those in poverty," said a government staff member engaged in poverty relief in Linshui county, Guang'an of southwest China's Sichuan province.

The county established a dynamic database which includes gathering data of all impoverished households in the county every March. It has also put up a QR code on the door of every household for people to scan and know the progress of poverty relief work.

Last year, a total of 81,800 impoverished people located in 152 villages were registered. Internet Plus provided the new idea and technology to accelerate the work of poverty relief.

Role of Internet Plus in tackling poverty

Xi emphasized several times that providing children in impoverished areas access to good education is an important task in poverty alleviation and development, and is also an important method of stopping intergenerational transmission of poverty. He also suggested that "Internet plus education" should be a solution to the problem.

Recently, young teachers at Jingzhoujie Primary School, a key school in Xiangyang, Central China's Hubei province, gave English lessons to a dozen of students in Youfangjie Primary School in Baokang county via video streaming.

The lessons were part of Xiangyang city's "Banbantong", literally meaning class to class, project. Currently, 'Banbantong"project covers more than 98 percent of schools, 90 percent of teachers and 50 percent of students.

Hubei province has vigorously promoted the use of internet in schools in rural areas in recent years, in the hope of sharing high quality educational resources in rural areas and narrowing the gap between urban and rural students.

Medical resources, just like educational resources, are unevenly distributed and high-quality resources are scarce in rural areas. Some rural people fall back in poverty due to medical bills. "Internet plus medical" can be a big solution in tackling the issue.

On March 15, an internet hospital subordinated to the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology began operation in Luoyang. At the same time, People's hospital of Luanchuan County, 15 township health centers and 35 village health centers in the poverty-stricken county also opened their remote network medical platforms, providing a channel to connect medical experts in the city hospital with rural patients.

Sources: chinadaily.com.cn, cctv.com
As China grows more determined to solve air pollution, things certainly seem to be looking up. But don't look down, or you'll realize how awful we're doing at ground level.

I'm not talking about heavy metals in the soil - another serious issue the government has resolved to tackle - but something far simpler.

There's even a reasonable, though potentially challenging, solution to this vexing sort of pollution, a campaign to clamp down and clean up that I call "No Ifs, Ands or Butts".

Cigarette butts, that is. Just look around. They're everywhere underfoot. If enough people notice and object, China could stamp out this ubiquitous annoyance.

To be fair, not all smokers are inconsiderate, though the number who continue to puff in public places like restaurants, even in Beijing where it is illegal, might cause one to wonder on this point.

However, many smokers do indeed seem to have no regard whatsoever for the cleanliness of the nation's streets and sidewalks or the beauty and magnificence of its parks and landscaping. One cigarette after another, ad nauseam, the worst of these human chimneys flick their butts hither and yon, as if a magical elf has been designated just to clean up after them.

Go ahead, count. You'll find cigarette butts strewed along streets, in crosswalks, on sidewalks, in flower beds, in bushes-you name it. And let's be frank: These smokers' remnants are filthy, toxic and unsightly.

Let's not even go into the ramifications to the environment of what happens when these countless discarded stubs become soaked with rain, and the toxins they hold leach into the soil or groundwater.

So, what can be done? Regulating such poor behavior, let alone enforcing a regulation or levying fines, would almost certainly be futile.

What about making smokers pay up front?

Here's my (perhaps myopic) vision: Add a self-recoverable cleanup tax to cigarettes, earmark the funds to rid our streets of cigarette leftovers - basically forcing offenders to finance the cleanup - and pay a per-butt bounty to anyone who gathers these discards and brings them to a designated collection point.

Let's say the tax is a mere 10 percent, which means someone buying a cheaper pack of 20 cigarettes, for between 5 and 10 yuan (73 cents to $1.45), would pay a tax of 0.5 yuan to 1 yuan. At up to 0.05 yuan per cigarette stub, someone who collects 500 discarded butts (which wouldn't take much time along the average Beijing street) could collect 25 yuan.

The beauty of this solution to an ugly problem is that it's loaded with incentive: Though it's unlikely, smokers who can't afford the extra tax might quit puffing (win!) or use that ingenious contraption called an ashtray to collect their own stubs to claim a tax refund (win!). Or, anyone looking for extra cash can collect the discards, thereby cleaning up the environment (win!) and reaping a reward (win!).

So, come on, China. Since it's a win-win-win-win proposition, what's there to lose?
Vice-Premier Liu Yandong meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey, on Tuesday. Murat Cetinmuhurdar / Anadolu Agency

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday he looked forward to attending the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation planned for May in China and to meeting President Xi Jinping.

Erdogan spoke during his meeting with visiting Vice-Premier Liu Yandong in Ankara, the Turkish capital. He requested that Liu convey his greetings to Xi and said his meetings with the president in recent years had promoted strong ties between Turkey and China.

The Turkish president said the region, as well as the world, will benefit from strengthened dovetailing of the development strategies and deepened cooperation in various fields between the two countries.

Expressing hope for both sides to deepen economic and trade cooperation, Erdogan said he welcomed Chinese companies to invest in Turkey and added his country hopes to strengthen security and counterterrorism cooperation with China.

Erdogan, together with heads of state and government leaders of 27 other countries, have confirmed their attendance at the Belt and Road forum, which will be held in Beijing on May 14 and 15.

Liu, who was in Turkey for a three-day visit, conveyed Xi's greetings to Erdogan and congratulated him on the passage of Turkey's constitutional referendum.

Liu welcomed Erdogan's upcoming attendance to the Belt and Road forum and said China attaches great importance to ties with Turkey, a member of the G20 and a regional power yielding great influence.

Liu said she hopes the two countries will deepen cooperation, promote construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and revive the ancient Silk Road trade routes.

China also hopes to expand people-to-people exchanges and cooperation with Turkey so the two peoples can enhance understanding and friendship that would lead to more public support for further ties, Liu said.

Liu also attended on Tuesday the launch ceremony of an institute focusing on Chinese studies at a local university.

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn
China plans to draft a skills-training action plan with other BRICS nations, Hao Bin, an official of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said on Wednesday.

The action is aimed to get rid of poverty and enhance cooperation of labor and employment research organizations so that developing countries have a greater voice in global governance.

Hao, who is the ministry's director of international cooperation, spoke at the 2017 First BRICS Employment Working Group Meeting, a preparatory meeting for a conference of labor and employment ministers of BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The conference will be in Chongqing in July.

"China plans to get rid of poverty and build a moderately prosperous society by 2020," Hao said. "Skills training is one of the approaches for meeting the challenging target.

"Meanwhile, poverty is also a problem for other BRICS states. We hope we can work with others to draft an initiative or action plan to lift people out of poverty with the help of skills training."

With inadequate capacity in labor and employment research, developing countries have a weak voice in global governance compared with Western countries, he said.

He said the BRICS countries need to harmonize their positions on a series of common concerns that have arisen with technological innovation - for example, the unbalanced labor structure, how to protect the rights and interests of laborers, and the sustainable development of the social security system.

Steven Kapsos, head of data production and analysis at the International Labor Organization, said, "In comparison with the rest of the world, the BRICS region has seen a much larger structural transformation since 2000, which has led to a higher share of employment in industry and an increasingly skilled workforce.

"By 2020, we project that 17 percent of BRICS workers will be in high-skilled occupations, up from around 10 percent in 2000.

"Skills and education policies must take these trends into account to ensure that workers in BRICS countries have the skills that are in demand in the labor market."

He added that the informal economy - sectors that are not taxed or monitored - is "another significant challenge" in some BRICS countries.

"Where data are available, the informal economy represents a considerable, although wide-ranging, share of the labor market."

Representatives of other BRICS nations also called for enhanced cooperation in information sharing to deal with the new situation.

Sipho Ndebele, chief director of South Africa's Department of Labor, said it's "very critical" to unify the labor market indicators - for example, how unemployment is measured - so that BRICS countries will be able to develop responses that can help solve challenges of common concern.

He said he hopes China, which has a large population and massive challenges in employment, will share its experience with other BRICS countries as references for them to respond to challenges.

houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn
President Xi Jinping visits the Golden Gulf Mangrove Ecological Protection Zone in Beihai, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, April 19, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi Jinping has stressed the need to protect rare plants and build up the maritime biodiversity wetland ecological zone.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while inspecting the Golden Gulf Mangrove Ecological Protection Zone in Beihai city in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Wednesday.

The president paid much attention to the protection of the mangroves, and listened to a detailed briefing about their important function as "ocean safeguard" and "maritime forests".

Xi stressed the importance of the research and protection of rare plants like mangroves, and he urged developing the maritime biodiversity wetland ecological zone into a successful one.

The Golden Gulf Mangrove Ecological Protection Zone, with 400 hectares of mangroves, plays an important role in the protection of the maritime ecological environment.
On 4/20, Here's Everything You Need To Know About The Push For Legal Weed In Illinois

By Stephen Gossett in News on Apr 20, 2017 6:03PM



Flickr user tefennell4

By simple virtue of their introduction, two recent proposals to regulate and tax "limited amounts" of recreational marijuana in the state of Illinois together represent the single most significant steps forward in the long push to legalize weed. Supporters say that the legislation, which was announced late last month, would be a boon to the eternally empty-pocketed state while also making communities saferand according to polls, residents and representatives are increasingly in their corner. With the debate lighting up and international Weed Day back for another year, here's the lay of the grassy lands in Illinois right now.

Most recently, state lawmakers took part in a hearing about how legalized recreational marijuana has affected Colorado. Seventy-five percent of all marijuana sales are now above board in the Rocky Mountain state, Barbara Brohl, Colorado's Revenue Director, told lawmakers on Wednesday who are considering the proposals, sponsored by Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago) and Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago). Given that high figure, coupled with a robust 28 percent tax rate, Colorado generated whopping revenue from pot last year: almost $200 million, from $1.3 billion in sales.

The Marijuana Policy Project used Colorado as a gauge for when it projected that Illinois could could bring in between $349 million and $699 per year on taxed, regulated marijuana.

With such potential for revenue, more and more people are signing on to the concept. Across the country, support has never been higher (ahem), with 61 percent of Americans in favor of legal weed, according to CBS News. That's a five-point jump from the last poll. On the local level, support is skyrocketing, too. Two-thirds of Illinois voters, 66 percent, favor legalization, according to a recent study by SIU's Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. (Seventy-four percent of Chicago voters are for it.)

"Illinois voters are growing increasingly comfortable with the idea of decriminalizing marijuana, and we now have evidence that most see it as a potential revenue source for the state," Jak Tichenor, interim director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, said.

Of course, any measure requires political will to match popular support. On the left, most of the major candidates for the governor's office are pro-legalization, according to recent posts by Capitol Fax's Rich Miller. That camp includes Sen. Daniel Biss, Ald. Ameya Pawar and JB Pritzker. Chris Kennedy "supports decriminalizing marijuana in Illinois." Last year, Gov. Rauner signed a law that decriminalizes possession of 10 grams or less.

But Rauner nonetheless seems at least skeptical of full-stop legalization. I'm not a believer that legalizing more drugs will help our society so Im not philosophically enthusiastic about it, but Im also open to what actually works to make life better to people, Rauner said in March on WGN-AM 720. He did leave the door open, but given that he seems to be facing pressures from his party's social conservative wings as election season ramps up (see his blundering about-face on the abortion "trigger"), copious grains of salt are recommended. There's also of course the not exactly pro-NORML line coming out of Jeff Sessions' office at the federal level, but that's something all states will have to face. And law enforcement representatives, not surprisingly, were not too thrilled about the prospect.

As for the nitty gritty of the legislation, adults 21 and over could buy and possess limited amounts. Residents could possess 28 grams and grow five plants. The bills call for a tax rate of $50 per ounce, wholesale level, plus the standard Illinois sales tax rate. Smoking in public and driving under the influence would still not be permitted. Marijuana sales in Colorado brought in $40 million for public schools last year; Illinois lawmakers hope their legislation would similarly help fund the strapped Chicago district. Supporters also hope that legalization would discriminatory arrest patterns and make neighborhoods safer overall.

Marijuana prohibition poses more potential harm to citizens and our community than marijuana itself, said Rev. Alexander Sharp of Chicago, a spokesman for the coalition and executive director of Clergy for a New Drug Policy, in a statement. It is forcing marijuana into a dangerous underground market where consumers may encounter violence, contaminated products, and other illegal drugs. Ending prohibition and regulating marijuana for adult use would make Illinois safer.




TAIPEI -- Hundreds of people in Taiwan joined a march to protest against proposed pension reforms on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Most of the protestors are retired military personnel, public servants and teachers, who are expected to see their pension benefits greatly shrink if the proposal is approved.

They chanted slogans such as "Fake reform" and "Administrators are incapable" while marching around the building of the legislative body at around 3 p.m. Tuesday. Their demonstration continued until Wednesday afternoon following an overnight sleepover protest.

The pension reforms were formally discussed by Taiwan authorities when the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) took office in May 2016. The plans delay the age at which a full pension can be drawn from 60 until 65 and gradually increase the insurance premium by about 6 percent.

The ending of pension benefits for military personnel, public servants and teachers is also under consideration, activating strong opposition from the three groups.

A committee meeting to review the proposed reform bills was scheduled on Wednesday, leading to a new round of protests from Tuesday.

About 2,000 police officers were mobilized and barricades erected around the legislature building.

"The DPP knew nothing. They did not hear from experts but only invited some irrelevant people to join the meeting. We want justice and a fair and open discussion, even if we must pay back all our pension. But the way they are doing it now is unacceptable," a retired primary school teacher, surnamed Lee, told Xinhua.

Harry Lee, president of the civil servants association in Taiwan, said the DPP administration deliberately created clashes between generations and people from different occupations, causing alienation between the young and the old, ordinary workers and military personnel, public servants and teachers, which is "totally absurd."

"It's not that the pensions of military staff, public servants and teachers are too high, but the amount of money workers get is too low. It is wicked political manipulation that the administrators attribute the financial woes to these people rather than reflecting on their inability to administer and lift the economy," he said.
By Zhang Zhihao in Wenchang, Hainan and Zhao Lei in Beijing | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2017-04-20 19:48

China's first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 blasts off from Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China's Hainan province, April 20, 2017. [Photo by Su Dong/chinadaily.com.cn]

China launched its first cargo spacecraft at 7:41 pm tonight on a mission to test technology designed for the nation's planned manned space station.

Tianzhou-1, the largest and heaviest spacecraft ever built by China, was atop a Long March 7 carrier rocket that blasted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province.

According to the China Manned Space Agency, after entering an orbit about 380 kilometers above the Earth, Tianzhou-1 will conduct three autonomous dockings with the Tiangong II space laboratory to supply fuel and other items.

This mission will allow scientists to test in-orbit resupply technology, which is essential to running a manned space station.

Tianzhou-1 will remain in space for about five months, spending two months with Tiangong II and three months in a separate orbit, the agency said.

If the mission goes to plan, it will make China only the second nation to successfully conduct in-orbit refueling, following Russia.

The cargo vessel, developed by the China Academy of Space Technology, is 10.6 meters long and has a diameter of 3.35 meters. Its maximum takeoff weight is 13.5 metric tons and it can carry up to 6.5 tons of supplies.

China's largest and heaviest spacecraft before Tianzhou-1 was Tiangong II, which is 10.4 meters long, has a diameter of 3.35 meters and weighs 8.6 tons.

Tianzhou-1's 6.5-ton payload capacity also makes it the world's most capable cargo spacecraft in service: Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle has 6 tons of payload capacity; the Cygnus and Dragon, both US-made craft, have 3.5 tons and 3.3 tons respectively; and Russia's Progress-MS has 2.2 tons.

In the future, the Tianzhou series will be tasked with transporting supplies of fuel and other necessities to China's manned space station. Construction of the station will begin next year, and it is expected to enter service by about 2022, the agency said.




BEIJING -- A total of 499 Chinese people were killed and another 234 injured by fires in the first quarter, the Ministry of Public Security (MPC) said Thursday.

More than 80,000 fires were reported in the first three months, causing direct economic losses of 800 million yuan ($115 million), year-on-year drops of 27.7 percent and 37 percent respectively, said the ministry.

The number of deaths and injuries decreased by 17.2 percent and 28.4 percent compared with the same period in 2016.

Two major accidents causing more than 10 deaths took place in Taizhou city in Zhejiang Province and Nanchang city in Jiangxi Province, respectively.

There were 28,000 fires reported in rural areas and 22,000 in cities.

Misuse of electrical equipment was among the top causes of accidents.
Premier Li Keqiang called on Wednesday for greater balance in foreign trade not only through promoting exports but also importing more high-quality goods. Li spoke at the start of his two-day visit to Weihai, a port city in Shandong province.

"As a major trading country in goods, China wants a balanced foreign trade instead of intentionally pursuing a trade surplus," he said at the Port of Weihai.

Li said the country must expand exports as well as imports of high-tech products and other high-quality goods that give consumers more choices and stimulate domestic companies to produce better products and services.

The call is in line with the premier's vow to push improved quality and efficiency by deepening reform and expanding opening-up, which he made during a panel discussion with National People's Congress deputies from Shandong on March 6.

Last year, international demand shrank amid the sluggish world economic recovery. But things are improving, as shown by the Chinese economy stabilizing and having achieved 6.9 percent in GDP growth in the first quarter. The year's first three months saw trade in goods increase by 21.8 percent to 6.2 trillion yuan ($899 billion) year-on-year, according to figures released by the General Administration of Customs last week.

Local officials reported to Li that Weihai's exports in the first quarter far exceeded imports.

According to the province's customs officials, Shandong's imports and exports exceeded 419 billion yuan last year, an increase of 28.9 percent year-on-year, which was also the highest among the nation's coastal provinces.

Weihai, in northeast Shandong, has been significant in trade with South Korea, Japan, the United States and other foreign markets. In the first quarter, the city's exports of food and agricultural goods grew quickly. Exports of vegetables and related products increased by 37.8 percent during the first three months, compared with the same period in 2016.

Additional opening-up has quickened the pace of development in eastern China and kept ports busy, Li said.

The Port of Weihai, which handles exports of goods made in coastal areas, should use its geographic advantages to unleash its potential to serve not only eastern areas but to extend its services to central and western parts of the country, he added.

Li also visited Sunjiatong Hospital; the Dishang Group, a clothing manufacturer; and the local market regulatory office.
President Xi Jinping visits an exhibit of artifacts found along the ancient maritime Silk Road and displayed at Hepu Han Dynasty Museum in Beihai, during an inspection tour in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Wednesday. XIE HUANCHI / XINHUA

President vows to boost openness and development as initiative implemented

President Xi Jinping pledged on Wednesday to boost openness and development under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative amid the countrys efforts to provide a valuable public service to the world.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remark during an inspection tour in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. The region is an important outlet for Chinas maritime trade with Southeast Asian countries.

The Belt and Road Initiative has been widely recognized in the international community since it was put forward in 2013, showing that it is in accord with the will of the people, Xi said while visiting the Port of Tieshan in Beihai.

The inspection took place a day after the Foreign Ministry announced Xi will attend the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in mid-May and deliver the keynote speech.

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, put forward by Xi, aim to revive ancient trade routes and boost the interconnection between Asia and the rest of the world.

We will promote Chinas great opening-up and development under the Belt and Road framework, Xi said, pledging more efforts to achieve the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and fulfillment of the Chinese Dream.

The president asked local authorities about the construction plans for the port and the development plan of the entire Beibu Gulf, as well as its opening to and cooperation with ASEAN countries.

Before inspecting the port, Xi paid a visit to the Hepu Han Dynasty Museum, which is exhibiting a collection of relics related to the ancient trade on the maritime route. The relics on display show that China had already opened maritime trade routes to India and Sri Lanka 2,000 years ago.

Xi held talks with the workers at the port and told them that both the museum and the port he had visited had important links with the Belt and Road Initiative.

Mentioning that Beihai played a role in the ancient maritime Silk Road, Xi told the workers to be dedicated to the implementation of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

Xi told authorities to do a good job building port infrastructure on the Beibu Gulf and developing the maritime economy. We often say youd better build roads first to become rich, but in the coastal areas you have to build ports first, he said.

The Belt and Road Initiative is the most important public good that China has provided to the world, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a news conference on Tuesday. It was initiated by China, but shared by other countries.

Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, said that the Belt and Road Initiative will promote inclusive economic growth since it can benefit both developed and developing countries.

The initiative will be helpful in stabilizing the global economy since it can meet the demand of countries along the routes to push forward industrialization and infrastructure construction, he said.
Broad vision is to cultivate connectivity in places touched by Belt and Road

A specialized Chinese university has launched a nationwide search for students with the passion and talent to study the languages used in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative.

Beijing Foreign Studies University kicked off an independent recruitment program last month to find candidates for 22 language majors that will be offered in the next academic year.

The languagesincluding Portuguese, Hungarian, Czech, Swedish, Dutch, Finnish, Lao, Thai, Indonesian and Hausaare found along the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which make up the Chinese initiative aimed at boosting connectivity between Asia, Europe and Africa.

Applicants must have an outstanding high school record in Chinese and foreign language studies and will need to pass several rounds of interviews to test their commitment and potential, the university said.

"We hope to ensure students recruited through the program have a strong interest in studying Belt and Road languages and have the ability to study well," said Xu Ye, director of the admission office.

The program was launched last year to nurture talent in linguistics and regional research, and to provide intellectual support for the initiative, he said.

The standards are strict: Of more than 2,700 applicants for 15 majors, only 270 students were admitted. Xu said the number of students admitted this year would not increase much, as the university wants to guarantee quality.

Han Zhen, the university's Party chief, said the Belt and Road Initiative involves a lot of countries and needs large numbers of bright people who can speak the languages fluently and are familiar with aspects of local life.

"Such people are in short supply," he said. "BFSU offers 83 foreign-language majors, the most of any Chinese university, and therefore shoulders the responsibility of nurturing such talent."

The university set a goal of having more than 100 foreign-language majors, covering all the official languages in countries that have diplomatic relations with China, by 2020. March alone saw the introduction of 11 new majors, including Belarusian, Han said.

"The languages of Belt and Road countries are the key points in our construction of disciplines," he added.

Since the initiative was proposed in 2013, higher education institutions in China have cooperated closely with their counterparts along the prospective trade and development routes.

One effort in this direction was the establishment of the Sino-Polish University Consortium in March. More than 20 universities in Beijing, Chongqing and across Poland joined the group to share their ideas and expertise.

Liu Gonghui, president of Beijing University of Technology, one of the founding members of the consortium, said the goal is to boost cooperation by exchanging personnel and other resources between universities in China and Central and Eastern European countries.

"Members of the consortium have agreed to work together to innovate and improve the quality of education and scientific research," he said.
Chen Kaige, director [Photo provided to China Daily]

The 7th Beijing International Film Festival is on, and one of the main topics of discussion at the event is: How can filmmakers make international coproductions successful?

Coproduction is the new buzzword in the film fraternity after Chinathanks to an unprecedented building spree over the past few yearsbecame a cinema powerhouse with more than 43,000 screens in 6,000-plus cinemas.

As for coproductions, 73 movies, accounting for around 10 percent of last year's total output, were jointly produced by studios in and outside the Chinese mainland, says Li Guoqi, deputy head of the movie bureau of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television, at the festival's key seminar, the Sino-Foreign Film Coproduction Forum, on Monday.

The 2016 coproduction figure is around six times the number of such movies made a decade ago, and the number of such movies has seen a steady growth over the past few years, according to the administration-backed newspaper China Film News.

Industry experts say coproductions are popular for two main reasonsone is to dodge the 34-movie import quota set for the mainland market, as the films are treated as domestic titles; and to spread China's influence overseas with the help of foreign partners.

But when it comes to how to make such movies successful, they hold diverse views.
Hong Kong actor Sammo Hung (right) and Zhao Wenzhuo team up for the upcoming film God of War. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Martial arts fans have waited for this for a long timefinally, Sammo Hung from Hong Kong, and Zhao Wenzhuo, who was born on the Chinese mainland and is also known as Vincent Chiu, will appear together on the silver screen.

They have joined forces for God of War, which is about two Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) generals fighting the wokou (Japanese pirates) in the 16th century.

The movie will hit the country's big screens on May 27.

The wokou were ethnically mixed pirates who were active on the Korean Peninsula and in China at that time.

Hung, 65, plays Yu Dayou, and the 45-year-old Zhao takes the role of Qi Jiguang. The two figures lead Chinese soldiers and civilians to safeguard their homeland.

Speaking about the movie at a recent promotion event in Beijing, Zhao says: "Just like Qi admired the more senior Yu, I also have respect for Hung. His martial arts are outstanding, and I have so much to learn from him."

Qi's army is often referred to by historians as an ancient Chinese "special operations forces" equipped with new weapons and good training.

Qi is believed to have once led about 3,000 soldiers to defeat more than 20,000 wokou. So he's hailed by the Chinese as a "god of war".
A scene from Peking opera film Lady General Mu Takes Command [Photo by Zhang Xingjian/chinadaily.com.cn]

After five years' exploration and preparations, the first 10 films featuring Peking opera are premiering during the ongoing seventh annual Beijing International Film Festival.

The Peking opera films are all adapted from well-known folk stories including Farewell My Concubine, Dragon and the Phoenix Bringing Prosperity, Qin Xianglian, Lady General Mu Takes Command.

"The 10 films all represent the fine qualities and traditions of Chinese people and it is a smart way to integrate traditional opera with modern film technology," movie-goer Chen Yulian, 65, said at the premiere of Lady General Mu Takes Command on April 20.

Since July 2011, artists and experts from the opera and film industries have come together to promote the "Peking Opera Film" project.

By embracing the idea of promoting positive energy and telling good stories, "Peking Opera Film" has been listed as one of the key national cultural projects of 2017.

"What makes the Peking opera film? It is not a mixture, but an integration. It is expected to reinterpret the old opera with the help of modern film technology," says Ye Saholan, renowned Chinese Peking opera artist.

"As the internet engulfs young people, many of them have no idea about what Chinese opera is. In their mind, it is a historic yet boring art form," a senior man worried.

"Through the project, we hope more and more people can come to the cinema and really take a look at Peking opera. By including a high-tech, modern touch, audience members can appreciate the beauty of Beijing opera while enjoying the story from their own perspective," Ye says.

To maximize publicity, many social communities in Bejing's Chaoyang district have set regular theaters and dates for citizens to watch these films throughout the year, broadcasting over 500 times in 2017.
Natalie Gibson (right) [Photo provided to China Daily]

British fashion instructor Natalie Gibson and five of her Chinese students studying in the United Kingdom recently showcased 36 of their designs themed on Miao culture in Guiyang, Guizhou province.

All were inspired by the Miao ethnic elements that are abundant in the area, according to their creators.

Since 1980, Gibson has been the course leader and head of fashion print at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, a leading educational institute for art and design under the University of Arts London.

She and her husband, painter Jon Wealleans, had a chance to travel with a group of Chinese fashion students deep into Southwest China's remote mountains to Miao enclaves in Guizhou last year.

Gibson was particularly impressed by a private museum dedicated to Miao culture in Guiyang. It exhibits intricate garments, including some dating back more than a century.

During the trip, they collected dresses, decorations and other items in the region as inspirations for future designs.

After she went back, Gibson worked with her students to complete pieces that combine traditional Miao ethnic elements with modern fashion ideas.

In Guiyang, Gibson and her students introduced their creation process and their inspiration.

Gibson told Chinese media that more people should be engaged in the efforts of international promotion of Guizhou's Miao culture, instead of letting it sleep in the remote mountains.

She said China is rich in traditional culture and young designers can get lots of inspiration from it.

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The total investment and the total output value of China's documentary productions in 2016 was 3.47 billion yuan (US$504 million) and over 5.2 billion yuan (US$755 million), a year-on-year increase of 15 percent and 12 percent respectively, according to a survey.

A poster of Chinese documentary "The Tale of Chinese Medicine." [Photo/China.org.cn]

The "Study Report of the Development of Chinese Documentary 2017" and the "Film Eye Library" were published on April 17 at Beijing International Film Festival.

Specialized documentary channels and satellite television channels broadcast a total of 77,600 hours of documentaries last year, a 1.6 percent increase year-on-year. The total broadcast programs all year round reached 24,600 hours, up 2.5 percent year-on-year. CCTV 9 and Docu TV have become the main producers. The spreading capacity of CCTV 1 and top-tier satellite televisions like Jiangsu TV and Zhejiang TV remained advantageous. Jiangsu TV broadcast "The Tale of Chinese Medicine," building it as a successful documentary brand.

The Documentary Center of Beijing Normal University (BNU) has long been committed to documentary teaching, research and production. Their "Study Report of the Development of Chinese Documentary 2017" tracks the annual dynamics of documentaries, analyzes development trends of the global documentary in 2016 from the perspectives of overall patterns, channels and programs, industry, new media and more, and provides cutting-edge information and professional insights for the documentary industry.

As an authoritative publication in history, aesthetics and industry, "Film Eye Library" is oriented towards documentary practitioners, researchers and majors. With the cooperation between China Radio Film and the TV Press and the Documentary Center, BNU, six volumes have been released for the first batch.

Professor Zhang Tongdao, head of the research group and director of the Documentary Center introduced the documentary industry development in 2016 in detail. The Report shows that the US presidential election in 2016 became the core issue of documentaries and Chinese work, "Never Ending for the Anti-corruption Struggle" communicates the images of the big tigers being cracked down upon in the anti-corruption campaign to the public for the first time in the form of a documentary.

In addition, the natural documentaries created brilliance again. Jacques Perrin, a documentary master who had produced masterpieces like "Winged Migration" and "Oceans", launched a new film "Les Saisons (Seasons)" which calls on mankind to share the earth with animals. "Tomorrow" which won the Cesar Awards, France for Best Documentary Film was released to the public in France, discussing the future of mankind. "Planet Earth II" broadcast by the BBC hit another ratings record. The National Geographic Channel launched Season 2 of "Years of Living Dangerously". Japan's NHK broadcast "A Grande Amazoniathe Final Unexplored Region".

In 2016, new media challenges and greying audiences have become common problems global documentaries are facing. BBC, NHK, Discovery Communications and the National Geographic Channel successively adopted the blockbuster strategy and opened up new media space to attract young viewers. For this, the National Geographic Channel invited James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Leonardo DiCaprio and Chen Kaige, a Chinese director, to join its documentary production team, and broadcast blockbusters like "Mars", "Years of Living Dangerously", "Before the Flood" and "China's Megatomb Revealed" in 2016. Blockbusters represented by "Planet Earth" have become BBC's hot programs.

The internationalization of documentary productions and broadcasts has become the norm, with a number of extraordinary Sino-foreign productions such as "Chinese New Year: The Biggest Celebration on Earth", "The Story of China", "Confucius", "China's Megatomb Revealed", "Silk Road Rising" and "Smart China". British Sky Broadcasting Group and CCTV 9 coproduced "Giant Pandas". SMG Pictures, Disney Pictures and Beijing Huanqiu Yidong Pictures co-produced "Born in China". The National Geographic Channel purchased "The Blind Monkey" from Continental Bridge.
Food safety administration staffs inspect a restaurant in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, on Nov 10, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

THE CHINA FOOD AND DRUG Administration said recently that 45 percent of online rumors are related to food safety. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

That food safety directly concerns people's wellbeing explains why rumors about unsafe food and food scandals spread so fast, and can quickly spark public anxiety, even panic.

The internet accelerates the speed with which rumors spread and enables false information to be convincingly packaged as the truth with the use of sensational photos and videos, which are easily manipulated on smartphones nowadays, giving the fabricated information credibility, especially to those lacking media and scientific literacy.

The penalties paid by the rumormongers, even if they are caught, are disproportionate to the rumors' negative social influence, let alone the losses of the food enterprises.

In fact, the rumormongers can only be punished according to public security codes, rather than the Criminal Law.

In most cases, only the social media platform stands out to shut their accounts or simply delete the falsehood information they make up. And that only happens when the rumors are serious enough to catch the attention of the authorities.

Although companies can prosecute people for intentionally damaging their reputation, most rumors relate to a whole industry, rather than aiming at individual companies. The current Criminal Law, therefore, cannot be applied to rumormongers.

The China Food and Drug Administration is soliciting public opinions on a draft regulation it recently issued that stipulates rumors should be investigated by the police according to the law. That points to the right direction of solving the problem, as criminalizing rumor making on food safety is the very first step to deter the rumormongers.
An elderly woman searches through donated clothes at a soup kitchen run by the Orthodox church in Athens, Greece, February 15, 2017. [Photo/Agencies ]

Compared with other European countries, Greece has attracted a lot of headlines in recent years.

Most of the stories have featured one of three subjects: prolonged negotiations with international creditors about a financial bailout; frequent elections; or the nation's privatization process.

Since 2010, when my European posting began, those stories have taken up a great deal of my energy. They have centered on whether Greece will be able to stay afloat in the face of possible bankruptcy resulting from a severe crisis of sovereignty and austerity programs.

Amid the United Kingdom's triggering of negotiations ahead of leaving the European Union, Grexit (Greek exit) is no longer a threat, despite the fragility of the economy.

Some Greeks are dissatisfied with belt-tightening reforms, while others remain wary of structural reform.

Though data suggest that Greece has emerged from several years of recession, it will still be difficult for the country to embark on a new economic cycle. That's mainly because its miserable business climate has failed to inspire confidence among global investors.

What impressed me most during interviews I conducted in the country last month was that people were discussing the national strategy of positioning Greece as a center for regional shipping, logistics and even energy.

It plans to do that by taking advantage of the fact that its southern boundaries are on the Mediterranean Sea and its northern regions lead to Eastern and Central Europe.

The strategy accords with the Belt and Road Initiative because both are focused on increasing connectivity and the flow of goods, and other productive elements.

The opinion makers I met even urged Greece's political parties to take a concerted stance on the national strategy to ensure the implementation process will not be disrupted by political rivalry.

Surely, this is the most encouraging message: The Greeks are ready to say goodbye to a decade-long crisis management phase and debate the transition to exploring sustainable growth.

The country has a population of around 11 million. In Europe, there is a long list of countries with similar populations that have achieved higher levels of development.

Greece shares similarities with Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany; its ports are developing logistics and it has an economic corridor leading to the heart of Europe.

It also enjoys greater geographical advantages than landlocked Switzerland, an innovation giant and one of the world's richest countries.

Either way, Greece has a tremendous opportunity to become a power in Europe.

Harnessing such power will require an additional shaping of the long-term and visionary development consensus among Greeks.

At the same time, the European Union should support Greece as the country explores its potential and becomes a new economic engine in Europe, rather than just monitoring its bailout and privatization programs, and expressing concerns about its impact on other port countries.

As a conduit between Europe, Asia and Africa, Athens enjoys a good geopolitical position.

However, the key to whether that advantage can be exploited lies in how the Greek leadership turns opportunity into action and how well the European Union supports developments.
The China-led development initiative aims to boost economic growth for all involved and promote a more balanced world order

1. The Belt and Road Initiative is not a modern version of the US' Marshall Plan.

Mei Xinyu, a researcher of international trade and economics at the Ministry of Commerce's Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation / CHINA DAILY

China has no intention of challenging the current US-dominated global economic and political systems, and its Belt and Road Initiativethe Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Roadis by no means comparable to the United States' Marshall Plan, which is considered, to some extent, to have led to the Cold War.

Although China is promoting a series of bilateral and regional free trade agreements, its objective is not similar to the British Empire's pre-World War II "Imperial Preference", and is not to create a world market parallel to that led by the US.

The US-led international financial system is unfair, but it is not in China's interest to change the system. More importantly, any drastic change in the system would create uncertainties and risks, which no economy wants.

China believes in reform, and it is optimistic about making the international financial system more efficient by supplementing the roles of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. It knows that only a multilateral trade system can meet its demand for an expanding global market, which is why it has an open mind on many Western-dominated international trade arrangements, while the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will take an inclusive approach to create an improved international financial system.
On May 7, France will elect the 8th President of the French 5th Republic established by Charles de Gaulle in 1958. As has often been the case in previous presidential campaigns, debates among the candidates who aspire to lead the worlds 6th largest economy were largely dominated by domestic issues.

The successor of Francois Hollande will nevertheless rapidly realize that in a globalized world, domestic and international issues are deeply inter-related. And in a century in which China has regained centrality, relations between Paris and Beijing not only deserve the greatest attention but call for a strategic approach.

China should be on the top of the next French Presidents agenda for at least six main reasons. These are the necessity to consolidate Sino-European links to balance the trans-Pacific interactions, more effective global governance, sustainability, the creation of an Afro-Eurasian axis of prosperity along a New Silk Road, shared economic growth and the quest for equilibrium in a world of ubiquitous technology and human dignity.

Following the election of Donald Trump in the United States, China has become the most important external support of Europe. Paris and Beijing have to boost EU-China relations so their interactions to anchor a world whose center of gravity is rapidly shifting towards the Pacific.

In the post Brexit world, France and China, stand as the only two permanent members of the United Nations Security Council representing the European Union and Asia. Paris and Beijing, therefore, have a unique role to play on global security issues.

A wise political combination between what former French foreign minister Laurent Fabius called Frances power of influential, and Chinas growing centrality can contribute to the progress of global governance. The July G20 Summit will be an opportunity for the two countries to demonstrate that their strategic partnership is really productive.

On environmental issues, France and China, architects of the COP21 success, have to make sure that the Paris agreement is implemented, despite the regressive attitude of the new American administration. On climate change, the international community expects Sino-French leadership and the two countries can deliver it.

Chinas One Belt and Road Initiative takes into account the Eurasian realities but it involves also the African continent. With its traditional presence in Africa, France is ideally positioned to co-build an Afro-Eurasian axis of prosperity and peace. Such an ambitious and pro-active approach would also introduce a much needed new dynamic in the Sino-French economic relations.

In 2016, China became Germanys largest trade partner. The economic relations between France and China are certainly significant but there is still considerable space to develop trade and investments between the two countries. Following an increase in 2015, commercial exchanges between the two dropped around 4 percent in 2016. Frances market share in China was 1.6 percent last year compared with 5.5 percent for Germany.

Last but not least, Sino-French relations should have a renewed focus on culture and place humanism as a cornerstone of their global approach. Cyberspace and computers do not have to be in conflict with humanities, culture and arts but ancient civilizations, China and Europe being two of them, have a responsibility to find the right balance between technological advancement and human dignity.

In this context, a structured Sino-French dialogue on the political, societal and cultural implications of Artificial Intelligence could be the nucleus of a larger conversation on what is a major disruption which should not only be discussed by the private companies that profit from it.

The long held mutual appreciation between the two countries - the vibrant Chinese community in France, but also the entrepreneurial French community in China - constitute the unique and solid foundation of Sino-French relations.

Rapid global transformation does not necessarily diminish their importance, but for them to remain mutually beneficial and globally significant, Paris and Beijing, must acknowledge their potential and have a strategic understanding of the objectives.

David Gosset, founder of the Europe-China Forum and of the New Silk Road Initiative, director of the Academia Sinica Europaea, CEIBS.
Wang Huiyao, president of CCG,19,April, 2017 [Zhao Manfeng/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Belt and Road Initiative is offering overseas Chinese businessmen opportunities in various fields like infrastructure, e-commerce and new technology, the head of a leading Chinese think-tank says.

The Center for China and Globalization has launched a new publication Report on Development of Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs 2017, co-authored by CCG president Wang Huiyao and Kang Rongping, director of CCG's World Chinese Entrepreneurs Institute.

The report argues that overseas Chinese entrepreneurs are in a unique position to contribute to and capitalize on the development of China's economy.

The total investment by Chinese enterprises in B&R-related countries amounted to $18.9 billion in 2015, up 38.6 percent from the previous year. That accounts for 13 percent of the total overseas investment that year, according to statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

CCG's new report suggests Chinese entrepreneurs could join the building of the overseas industrial parks, infrastructure projects and seek financing cooperation to get involved in the B&R initiative.

The report cited more than 70 industrial cooperation projects under construction in the countries related to the Belt and Road.

China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park and the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park set a model for the new cooperation, Wang said.

Similarly, Huoerguosi Economic Development Zone, the Astana  New City special economic zone along the new Eurasian continental bridge, the Jurong Industrial Park in Singapore and the China-Indonesia Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone in Southeast Asia are following this trend.

According to the Asian Development Bank, total investment demand for infrastructure in the Belt and Road countries is forecast to reach $8.2 trillion by 2020. As most countries along the Belt and Road are facing infrastructure deficits, overseas Chinese entrepreneurs could invest in expressways, high-speed railways, ports, petroleum transmission pipelines, and cross-border cable, suggested Wang.

As reported by the Bangkok Post, the high-speed train connecting China's Kunming and Bangkok via the Laos capital, Vientiane, will boost the GDP of China, as well as those of other ASEAN countries involved, by $375 billion.

Financial investment in building the Belt and Road Initiative will bring long-term and stable returns for overseas Chinese entrepreneurs, either through cooperation with Chinese financial institutes or through the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, under the current economic downturn, Wang said.

"As we are now strengthening our production capacity abroad, overseas Chinese businesspeople are our great partners in different countries," Yu Xiao, Secretary-General of the China Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs Association, said.

In 2016, 47 overseas Chinese businesspeople in Southeast Asian countries were on the Forbes Billionaires List. Among them were 15 Singaporeans, 10 Indonesians, eight from Thailand, eight from the Philippines, and six Malaysians.

Apart from promoting bilateral trade between China and the ASEAN region, Chinese businesspeople in Southeast Asian countries could act as go-betweens for mutual investment, and provide consultant services to Chinese entrepreneurs using their profound knowledge on local policy, law, and culture, Yu Xiao said.
Above: Reporters fro m Asian Media practice making Sichuan cuisine in Chengdu and show off their achievements. [Photo provided to China Daily]

From Left: Hot pot is one of the most favored dishes in Chengdu. A vendor cooks barbecued meat. Kung Pao chicken is a must-eat dish and one of the top choices in Chinese restaurants. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chengdu will host the seventh Slow Food International Congress Meeting this September, expecting to draw the publics attention to the sustainable food industry and to eating healthily.

Founded in 1989, Slow Food International Association is an international organization aiming to preserve local culinary culture and traditions, and to raise people's awareness of the qualities and origins of food in order to stop the rise of the fast-food lifestyle.

Involving millions of people from over 160 countries, the organization vows to help people to produce and consume good quality, clean and fair food in order to protect the environment.

Lorenzo Berlenghis, vice-president of the association, said it is the first time the festival, which takes place every four years, has chosen an Asian city for its venue, after careful evaluation.

Chinese philosophy says that food is the first essential of human life, and the same rule applies across the world, Berlenghis said.

"Slow Food International has always respected the endeavor Chengdu has made in preserving Chinese culinary culture and local ingredients," he said.

The vice-president said he is happy to see that Chengdu matches the associations philosophy concerning slow food. Berlenghis added he believes after the meeting is held here, more people will know Chinese local ingredients and understand how much China is doing to protect its traditional agriculture.

During the event, 600 delegates from over 90 countries and regions, including experts from global enterprises, as well as other leading figures and scholars, will bring their experience to Chengdu, holding mindful conversation and dialogues on slow food and to shed more light into how to push the industry forwards.

"Food is a vital part in economic innovation," said Yin Jianzai, deputy head of Chengdu Commission of Commerce. "We will spare no effort to help the Slow Food International Association to hold this event in Chengdu, and I believe the city will bring new perspectives to the slow food festival."

Yin said at the same time, the city will hold its food and travel festival to give guests a better understanding and experience of the local food and culture.

Despite its growing economy, Chengdu is a city with a relaxed pace of life, contrary to other metropolises where everyone walks faster to catch up with the urban life.

"I have been to Chengdu twice and I love it very much," said Huang Yongyue, vice-consul general of the Chinese Consulate General in Milan, Italy. "I remembered when I was there in 1990 and I sat in the teahouse with a pot for the whole afternoon. It was really nice."

Huang added that Chengdu has a perfect combination of fast development and a slow lifestyle, and he would love to come back to the city, walk down its streets and try its famous foods.

He also wished that Chengdu can play an important role in the Belt and Road Initiative, and lead western China to open up to the rest of the world.
A still image from a video footage shows Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May addressing the House of Commons in central London, April 19, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON - Members of Parliament (MPs) in the British House of Commons gave their backing Wednesday to Prime Minister Theresa May's call for a snap general election on June 8.

MPs voted by 522 votes to 13 to support the election which May sees as a mandate for her strategy for Britain leaving the European Union (EU).

As the measure does not need approval from the House of Lords, the process of dissolving parliament next month in advance of the election will get underway.

Under current legislation, parliaments have to sit for five years before new elections take place. A two-thirds majority of MPs must agree to a move that will shorten the lifespan of a parliament. As the last general election took place just two years ago, the vote was crucial for May.

She passed the required minimum needed of 434 MPs in support, after opposition MPs, mainly from Labor and the Liberal Democrats, voted in favor of an election.

May has already won approval from Queen Elizabeth for the snap election.

MPs, the PM said, have a window of opportunity to hold a general election before negotiations with the EU begin. May added that securing the "right deal" with Brussels for Britain is her priority.

Downing Street said the June election will not affect May's Brexit timetable.

May told MPs the upcoming snap election will be about leadership and stability, saying: "I will be asking for the public's support to deliver my plan for a stronger Britain. The choice before us is clear: to trust the people and then let the public decide."

She said a general election will provide Britain with five years of strong and stable leadership to see the country through its negotiations with the EU to make sure "we are able to make a success of the EU referendum result."

"Britain is leaving the EU and there can be no turning back," asserted the British PM.
US President Donald Trump dove straight into a trade fight with Canada, promising US dairy farmers his administration would intervene to restore exports of American milk.

Trump on Tuesday responded to appeals for help from the dairy industry during an event in Wisconsin, where he also renewed his complaints about the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Trade groups for US dairy farmers have complained that a policy rolled out in Canada recently violates the trade agreement by creating incentives for Canadian processors to use local supplies. US farm groups say that effectively blocks American dairy exports, exacerbating a glut of milk on the American side of the border.

"We're going to call Canada and we're going to say 'What happened?"' Trump said during an appearance at a Snap-On Tool plant in Kenosha. "We're going to get the solution."

The dairy dispute comes at a sensitive time for U.S.-Canada trade relations. While Trump, who was elected with the help of strong rural support, had tempered some his rhetoric on trade in recent weeks, on Tuesday he called Nafta a "complete and total disaster" for the US.

"We're going to make some very big changes," he said. "We're going to get rid of Nafta once and for all."

The Trump administration has yet to give Congress a required 90-day notification that it plans to open negotiations on Nafta with Canada and Mexico. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has blamed the Senate for delaying the confirmation of Trump's U.S. trade representative.

The fight over milk exports adds another irritant to the trade talks. The Ottawa-based Dairy Farmers of Canada, which represents 12,000 farms, is confident the Canadian government will "defend and protect" its dairy industry and the economy, a spokeswoman said by phone. The group has blamed oversupply of milk in the US for the situation.

Canada's ambassador to the US sent a letter to the governors of New York and Wisconsin after Trump's comments, saying the trade balance in dairy between the two nations favored America by a ratio of about five to one.

"Canada doesn't accept the contention that Canada's dairy policies are the cause of financial loss for dairy farmers in the United States," wrote ambassador David MacNaughton. He also wrote that "technical barriers" make the US more protectionist than Canada, and his nation isn't a cause of the global oversupply that has hurt American farmers.

Grassland Dairy Products Inc. in Greenwood, Wisconsin, said it has lost Canadian business valued at as much as $100 million annually in the last week.
The White House on Wednesday denied that it was misleading the public about the whereabouts of a US aircraft carrier heading toward the Korean Peninsula, while Beijing urged relevant parties to "act in a constructive way" for peace.

"The president said that we have an armada going towards the peninsula. That's a fact. It happened. It is happening, rather," said White House spokesman Sean Spicer at a briefing.

In a statement released on April 9, the US Navy announced that the USS Carl Vinson strike group was directed to skip a previously planned port visit to Australia and to sail north from Singapore a day before, according to the Navy's news release.

The announcement did not specify where the strike group was heading, but two days later, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said, "She (Carl Vinson) operates freely up and down the Pacific, and she's just on her way up there because that's where we thought it was most prudent to have her at this time."

However, a US navy photo showed that the Carl Vinson was transiting the Sunda Strait on its way to drills with Australia on Saturday.

Saturday was when the Democratic People's Republic of Korea showcased its military muscle during celebrations marking the 105th birth anniversary of DPRK founder Kim Il Sung, Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

Confusion has since intensified about the strike group's whereabouts.

In Beijing on Wednesday, when asked to comment on reports that Trump's "armada" was sailing away from, not toward, the Korean Peninsula, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, "What is needed at the moment is for all relevant parties to lower tensions, rather than aggravating the situation by provoking each other."

He said the situation on the Korean Peninsula is already very complicated and sensitive and tense, and all relevant parties who do not wish to see an escalation of tension shall speak and act in a constructive way.

"Some American officials did make some positive and constructive remarks regarding the peninsula situation, such as using whatever peaceful means possible to resolve the peninsula nuclear issue," Lu said.

On Monday, Susan Thornton, acting assistant secretary of state, said at a briefing that the United States preferred to resolve the issue "through the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," adding that the United States was not after conflicts or "regime change."

On Tuesday, Mattis said the United States, China, South Korea and Japan all share the same interest in having a denuclearized peninsula.

"This represents a general direction that we believe is correct and should be adhered to," Lu said.

The US military's Pacific Command explained on Tuesday that the strike group first had to complete a shorter-than-initially planned period of training with Australia, but was now heading toward the Western Pacific, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

huanxinzhao@chinadailyusa.com
New tax cuts to spur economic dynamism were approved at the State Council's executive meeting, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang, on Wednesday. Some pilot taxation incentives will be expanded, and the value added tax will be consolidated.

They are the first tax incentives since the two sessions legislative and advisory meetings, "and they must be fully implemented in a timely manner," Li emphasized.

Tax burdens on businesses will be eased by about 350 billion yuan ($50.8 billion), a goal set in this year's Government Work Report in March. The government will further streamline tax structures as part of a flatter and more transparent tax system.

Li promised to cut businesses' taxes and the costs of internet, electricity and logistics by about 1 trillion yuan.

Wednesday's meeting produced a series of tax measures:

 The nationwide value-added-tax reform will have a flatter structure. Starting in July, four VAT brackets will be streamlined into three, with tax rates of 17, 11 and 6 percent on different products.

 Tax incentives for small enterprises with limited profits are being applied to more companies between 2017 and 2019. Eligibility is extended to businesses with income under 500,000 yuan, instead of the previous 300,000.

 Pretax deductions for innovation-based tech firms will be expanded from 50 to 75 percent of primary research and development costs from 2017 to 2019.

 Tax incentives for venture capital firms will be available to fledging high-tech companies in eight designed locations as well as at Suzhou Industrial Park starting this year.

 Additional tax cuts for commercial health insurance will be applied nationwide, with an upper limit on deductions of 2,400 yuan per person.

It also was decided that a package of tax cuts that expired in 2016 will be available for the next three years.

The above measures are expected to cut taxes by 380 billion yuan this year.

China's efforts to ease financial burdens for businesses are paying off, as figures released on Monday show GDP growth hit 6.9 percent for the first quarter, with investment picking up and retail rebounding.

"At the same time, we must drop unnecessary nontax charges ... for enterprises for a greater competitive edge," Li said.
Internet users can now, for the first time, take a 3D tour of Russia's state-of-the-art Arctic Trefoil military base, a project launched by the Russian Defense Ministry's website, according to RIA Novosti.

The four-story base is located on Alexandra Land Island in the Franz Josef Archipelago in the Arctic region.

The infrastructure includes a number of special purpose facilities, control posts, garages for military and special equipment, an autonomous power unit, as well as specialized warehouses and storage facilities.

The 3D tour of the Arctic Trefoil base, in particular, shows rooms for servicemen, an officer's canteen, a gym, a movie house, an atrium, a library, a greenhouse and a medical unit," the Russian Defense Ministry's press release said.

"A completely autonomous base, the Arctic Trefoil can provide comfortable living for up to 150 servicemen for 1.5 years," according to the English version of the Russian Defense Ministry's website.

In an interview with Sputnik, Russian military expert Viktor Litovkin said that the Arctic Trefoil base helps Russia deal with at least three key tasks.

"Russia deploying its bases on the islands and archipelagos of the Arctic Ocean is among other things aimed at taking control of the Northern Sea Route. Apart from controlling, we also ensure the navigation of merchant ships and icebreakers en route from Asia to Europe," he said.

"Secondly, we provide security to our oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean's water zone," he noted.

"Last but not least, we protect our country from being threatened by foreign ships equipped with missile defense systems and strategic missiles in the Arctic Ocean. This Russian region is quite vulnerable from a security point of view, so the Arctic Trefoil helps defend our country," Litovchenko completed.
DPRK slams S. Korea for backing US plan to attack Pyongyang

Xinhua | Updated: 2017-04-20 18:48

PYONGYANG -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday slammed South Korean conservatives for backing US plan to stage military strikes against Pyongyang.



"South Korean puppet conservative group cried out for the 'bombardment on the north' and 'war in April' in an attempt to increase war phobia" and "to make a state of confusion, " said the official daily of the ruling Korean Workers' Party, Rodong Sinmun.



"The South Korean people from all walks of life also are becoming critical of the US and the South Korean puppet regime for their scheme to mount 'preemptive strikes at the north' to deliberately aggravate the situation on the Korean peninsula and war maneuvers," it said.



The United States and South Korea have been conducting the largest ever joint military exercise "Foal Eagle" as tension remains very high between Pyongyang and Washington over the latter's threat to stage pre-emptive strike against DPRK's leadership and strategic nuclear and missile installations.



"Those who are not able to take responsibility for what may happen later on are inciting the confrontation with the fellow countrymen in the north, expecting the above-said strike of their American master, but such action will accelerate their self-destruction only," said the commentary.



The U.S.-South Korean joint war game was scheduled to continue till the end of this month.
LONDON  Facing steep odds and low popularity ratings, Britain's main opposition leader launched his election campaign on Thursday, painting himself as a populist outsider who will overturn a "rigged" political and economic system.

Britain's opposition Labour Party's leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves after giving a speech in central London, April 20, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]



Labour Party chief Jeremy Corbyn said the June 8 election pitted "the establishment vs. the people" and insisted the result is not a foregone conclusion.

Labour trails a long way behind Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives in opinion polls, and many within the party believe 67-year-old socialist Corbyn is too left-wing to connect with voters.



Bookmaker Ladbrokes gives Labour 12-1 odds of winning the snap election called by May this week. Polls suggest the party could lose dozens of their current 229 seats in Parliament. The Conservatives currently hold 330 of the 650 seats.



In his first major speech of the campaign, Corbyn echoed anti-establishment sentiment that has upended politics from the United States to France.



To a crowd of supporters and journalists in London, he said that the old rules drawn up by political and economic elites no longer apply.



"I don't play by their rules, and if a Labour government is elected on the 8th of June we won't play by their rules either," he said.



"They are yesterday's rules, set by failed political and corporate elites we should be consigning to the past."Corbyn made little mention of the biggest issue overshadowing the election  Brexit.



Britons voted by 52-48 percent in June 2016 to leave the European Union, and May says re-electing her with a bigger majority will strengthen the U.K.'s hand in divorce negotiations with the bloc.



The issue presents problems for Labour. The party backed remaining in the EU, but many of its legislators represent working-class areas of northern England that voted to leave.

Corbyn tepidly backed "remain" after decades of criticizing the bloc for giving too much power to corporations over workers.



He said Thursday that the election was about "what kind of country we want to have after Brexit." He said Labour respects the referendum result but will ensure EU-enforced workplace rights and environmental protections are not watered down after Britain leaves the bloc.

Agencies


UK armed police, whose use of guns is strictly controlled, have now been given permission to shoot at suspected terrorists using trucks or cars as a weapon of destruction, a radical departure from previous rules of engagement.

Armed police walk amongst shoppers along Oxford Street in London, Britain, in this file photograph dated December 23, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

Deputy Chief Constable Simon Chesterman, said the convention that police should not shoot at drivers had been abandoned because of recent terror assaults in the UK and mainland Europe where trucks and cars had been used as weapons.

"Terrorists keep adapting their tactics and we've seen some very horrible and different tactics using vehicles and lorries (trucks)," he said.

In March, 52-year-old Khalid Masood, a British Muslim, killed five pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and injured 52 by driving a hired car at them. He was shot dead moments later after he ran into the Houses of Parliament entrance and fatally stabbed a police officer.

At Christmas a failed Tunisian asylum seeker, Anis Amri, killed 12 people when he drove a truck into shoppers at a Christmas market in the German capital of Berlin; he fled to Milan by train and was shot and killed by police four days later.

In Nice, southern France, 84 people were killed and dozens injured when Mohamed Boulel, a French national of Tunisian origin, drove a truck into crowds on the promenade celebrating Bastille day in July last year. Police shot and killed him before the truck came to a standstill.

Chesterman said previous police policy was not to shoot at moving vehicles, but the change in tactics by terrorists had altered things.

There will be an estimated 7,000 armed police in the UK out of an estimated 141, 307 officers in England, Wales and Scotland; the Northern Ireland Police Service's officers are routinely armed, unlike their counterparts in the rest of the UK.

Lastest police weaponry includes the SIG516 assault rifle, whose 5.56mm bullets are capable of penetrating armoured glass, Chesterman said.

"I am certain that with the research we have done, an armed response vehicle officer has the ability to fire at the cab of a lorry and bring it to a stop," he said.

To contact the reporter: chris@mail.chinadailyuk.com
US President Donald Trump will attend three summits in Asia in November, Vice-President Mike Pence said in Jakarta during a visit to the headquarters of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Thursday.

Pence said in a statement after meeting the secretary-general of ASEAN that Trump would attend the US-ASEAN summit and the East Asia summit in the Philippines, as well as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam.

He said the Trump administration would work with ASEAN on security, trade and other issues.

REUTERS
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People read books in a public library at Gongshu District of Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Dec. 28, 2016. [Photo/ Xinhua]

China approved a draft law on public libraries at a State Council executive meeting on Wednesday, which will be forwarded to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation.

The draft law illustrates the government's role in strengthening the library functions, and encourages more social support in the responsibilities of libraries.

The new functions of libraries, such as digital resources and online services, are also included in the draft.

"It's an important step to further institutionalize public cultural services in China," said Li Guoxin, member of the national panel for the public cultural service system.

"It will better combine guidance of the government and the support of the public," he added.

According to the Ministry of Culture, a network of libraries covering both urban and rural areas had 838 million books around the country at the end of 2015.

Also, a total of 404 million yuan (59 million U.S. dollars) were earmarked by the central government to support free public libraries in 2015.

China has been improving public cultural services, with a law on public cultural services taking effect on March 1.
Students from a primary school in An County in southeast China's Jiangxi Province hold books donated to them by China's Publishers Association on April 14, 2017.[Photo/people.com.cn]

The average Chinese read 7.86 books last year, including 4.65 printed books and 3.21 eBooks, according to an annual poll released by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication on Tuesday.

79.9% of China's population was identified as readers in 2016, which remained fairly similar compared to the 79.6% from the previous year, the 14th National Reading Survey shows.

The poll shows that the Chinese still preferred printed books to eBooks, as 51.6 % of the surveyed said they preferred to "hold a printed book" in their hands, while 33.8 % said they liked reading via mobile phones better. 9.8 % said they preferred to read online, and 3.8 % said they loved reading via e-book readers.

Xu Shengguo, Director of China Academy of Press and Publication Research Institute, said going back to hard-copy books is a worldwide trend, which has appeared in countries such as the U.S., the UK and France.

"Although digital reading is quick and convenient, it's only suitable for fragmented reading practices, while reading hard-copy books are conducive to in-depth reading," Xu said.

68.2 % of the surveyed said they had read on digital devices (including online, mobile phones and electronic readers) last year, up 4.2 % from the figure of 2015.

66.1 % read on mobile phones last year, a sharp increase of 6.1 % compared to 2015. The figure has been growing for eight consecutive years.

7.8 % said they read on an e-book reader, and 10.6 % said they had read on an iPad.

62.4 % of the adults surveyed said they read through WeChat, a popular Chinese messaging app, in 2016, a 10.5-percentage-point rise compared to the year earlier.

The annual survey was conducted nationwide, covering a sample size of 22,415 people from 52 cities.

Globally, French people read 15 books a year on average in 2013, according to figures released by the Paris Book Fair. Their U.S. counterparts read 12 books a year on average, according to pewinternet.org.
(Photo : US Navy) F/A-18 fighters aboard the USS Carl Vinson.

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The deployment to Asia of the nuclear powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) and her Carrier Strike Group 1 (CSG-1) has been extended by 30 days as tensions in the Korean Peninsula triggered by North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs show no signs of abating.



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The Vinson and her CSG-1, which are under command of the United States Third Fleet, were deployed to Asia on Feb. 18 for a three-month deployment. The extended deployment means the 6,000 men and women aboard the carrier and her three escorting warships will remain on station until either June or July.



"Our deployment has been extended 30 days to provide a persistent presence in the waters off the Korean Peninsula," said Rear Admiral James Kilby, Commander, Carrier Strike Group 1.



"While all of us look forward to being connected with our friends and families, our nation requires us to be its flexible force, the away team, and as we have done time and time again through history, we won't let her down now."



He said the mission of CSG-1 is to reassure America's allies and partners of the country's steadfast commitment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.



"We will continue to be the centerpiece of visible maritime deterrence, providing our national command authority with flexible deterrent options, all domain access, and a visible forward presence," said Admiral Kilby.



Providing protection for the 100,000 ton carrier are the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG-57) and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112) and USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108).



On April 9, the United States Pacific Command (USPACOM) said CVN-70 was being sent to waters off North Korea "to maintain readiness"



"The U.S. Pacific Command ordered the Carl Vinson Strike Group north as a prudent measure to maintain readiness and presence in the Western Pacific," said Dave Benham, USPACOM spokesman.



"The number one threat in the region continues to be North Korea, due to its reckless, irresponsible and destabilizing program of missile tests and pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability."



The Vinson CSG last month took part in joint drills with the Republic of Korea Armed Forces (ROKAF) to prepare for any sudden change on the peninsula. These changes might include a collapse of the North Korean regime or an invasion of South Korea by the north.



North Korea has been testing medium-range missiles since early 2016 and North Korea leader Kim Jong-un in January said North Korea had "entered the final stage of preparation for a test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile" capable of hitting the mainland United States.



The USS Carl Vinson is the flagship of CSG-1. The offensive power of Carrier Air Wing Seventeen rests on its four squadrons of McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 strike fighters totaling over 40 jets.



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TagsUSS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), Carrier Strike Group 1, Asia, Korean peninsula, Rear Admiral James Kilby, United States Third Fleet
(Photo : PLARF) DF-21D ballistic missiles of the PLARF on parade.

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The generals commanding the five major services of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) have promised their unstinting support for Chinese president Xi Jinping's effort to reshuffle and reorganize the PLA, which is the armed force of the Communist Party of China (CPC).



Xi met with commanders of the 84 corps-level units he earlier reorganized or established and issued instructions to them. He ordered all these units to adhere to the CPC's leadership and obey the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission (CMC), which he heads as its chairman.



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Xi said the 84 units as crucial parts of a "new system," and called on these units to safeguard China's sovereignty, security and developmental interests.



Chinese state-controlled media said all PLA officers and soldiers pledged to obey the CPC Central Committee, the CMC and Xi to enhance combat readiness and "build an indestructible army."



The People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) said it will uphold the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi as the core, follow orders and strengthen combat training.



The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) said it will spare no effort to build a powerful naval force to protect China's maritime rights and interests, and effectively respond to maritime security threats.



The People's Liberation Army Air Force said it will strengthen combat training, and strive to become a force of integrated air and space capacities competent for both offensive and defensive missions.



The People's Liberation Army Rocket Force said it will focus on building a world-class strategic force as envisioned by President Xi Jinping; eradicate the bad influence of Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou (corrupt former CMC vice chairmen) and concentrate on "building an invincible army."



The People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force, which is responsible for cyber warfare and electronic warfare operations, said it will spare no effort to make major innovation breakthroughs and cultivate a high-end talent pool to seize the strategic military high ground.



All military servicemen vowed to "greet the 19th CPC National Congress scheduled for later this year with outstanding achievements and a brand new look."



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TagsPeople's Liberation Army, PLA, Xi Jinping, Communist Party of China, People's Liberation Army Ground Force, People's Liberation Army Navy
(Photo : Armed Forces of the Russian Federation ) Pantsir-SA SAM-gun system hardened against the Arctic cold.

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Russia is preparing to fight a war against NATO and the United States for control of the mineral rich Arctic and is hardening its tanks; missile systems; vehicles, guns and other weapons against the biting cold in preparation for such a conflict.



Russian media has revealed that plans laid down by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (VSRF) call for establishing permanent military airfields on Russian territory within the Arctic Circle; deploying anti-ship missile and surface-to-air (SAM) systems at the bases and improving communications with submarines of the Russian Navy.



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When these strategic steps and others are achieved, VSRF believes the Russian Far North will be protected by a reliable land, in the air and underwater shield. These forces can also be called upon to launch offensive actions to seize control of certain areas of the mineral rich Arctic, whose total wealth is estimated at over $35 trillion.



The United States, however, is contesting Russia's militarization of the Arctic. And its military bases in nearby Alaska give it the means to thwart Russian designs.



"The U.S. must ensure that Russia doesn't expand those efforts to dominate the region," said U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis.



Russia remains undeterred by American opposition, however. In preparation for offensive and defensive actions, VSRF has refurbished old Soviet military bases in the Russian Far North, replacing its dated equipment with the latest technologies.



The largest bases VSRF bases are Northern Clover located on the Novosibirsk Islands or the New Siberian Islands and Arctic Trefoil located at the Franz Josef Land Archipelago.



The New Siberian Islands are an archipelago in the extreme north of Russia, to the North of the East Siberian coast between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea north of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic.



Franz Josef Land is inhabited only by Russian military base personnel. It's located in the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea and Kara Sea, and is the northernmost part of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia.



Several hundred Russian soldiers are based at these two bases and have everything they need to survive for up to 18 months of deployment. These military bases are jumping-off points for military expeditions conducted by the VSRF.



Russia has developed special military hardware that can fight effectively in the Far North's harsh climate where temperatures can fall to as low as -60 degrees Celsius.



Among the hardened weapons systems are the Tor all-weather low to medium altitude, short-range SAM system, and the Pantsir-S1 combined short to medium range SAM and anti-aircraft artillery weapon system specially configured to operate and fight in the bitter cold of the Arctic.



The winterized versions of these systems are designated Tor-M2DT and Pantsir-SA.



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TagsRussia, Arctic, NATO, United States, war, Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, VSRF, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, New Siberian Islands, Franz Josef Land Archipelago
(Photo : Getty Images) This handout image supplied by the IIPA (Iran International Photo Agency) shows a view of the reactor building at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant as the first fuel is loaded, in Bushehr, southern Iran.

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Chinese and Iranian firms are set to sign the first commercial contracts on Sunday in Vienna to redesign an Iranian nuclear plant, with initial agreements having been already reached in Beijing, China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.



"The signing of this contract will create good conditions for substantively starting the redesign project," Lu Kang, the ministry's spokesperson, said, describing the accord as an important part of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal called as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).



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The deal on the 40-megawatt Arak reactor aims to reconfigure the heavy water reactor so as to yield fissile plutonium usable for a nuclear bomb. Iran said that it plans to use the plant to produce isotopes for cancer and other medical treatments.



It also denied allegations that any of its nuclear activity is geared toward producing weapons. Iran has removed the reactor's sensitive core, and UN inspectors have reportedly inspected and confirmed the move.



Iran and the P5+1 countries, which include the United States, Britain, France, China, and Russia plus Germany, reached the JCPOA in July 2015 and started to implement it in January. Under the JCPOA, "Iran will redesign and rebuild a modernized heavy water research reactor in Arak, based on an agreed conceptual design, using fuel enriched up to 3.67%, in the form of an international partnership which will certify the final design."



Meanwhile, Lu also said that China is hoping that all parties to the JCPOA would handle disagreements appropriately and ensure that the deal is implemented.



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Tagschina, Iran, P5+1 countries, Arak reactor, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, nuclear plant
Egypts Christians continue to be the target of attacks from Muslim extremists. In the latest act of violence, a 16-year-old Christian boy was found murdered.

Christian Today reports that Gamal Gabriel was found by his family with his throat slit, lying in a pool of blood, in Qai village in Upper Egypt.

Gabriel was murdered on Maundy Thursday, just four days after two bombings were carried out against Coptic Christians who were attending Palm Sunday church services. The same day Gabriel was murdered three Christian homes were also burned.

Gabriels family believes ISIS is behind their sons murder. The way he was killed is the way of Daesh [IS], as they are the only ones who slaughter people like that, said Gabriels father, Allam Bashay Gabriel. They slaughtered my son because of his faith in Jesus Christ. It's a war on Christians, and all honest people should stand up to those who are waging this war.

Gabriel was reportedly on his way to another village to meet with a tutor when he was targeted. After he didnt respond to phone calls and didnt come home, his family went looking for him and found him murdered.

Gabriels funeral was held on Good Friday. Those who knew him say he was well-loved. He was a very peaceful and polite person, said his father.

Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com

Publication date: April 20, 2017
It has been three years since the kidnapping of the nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls by Boko Haram militants. The parents of the girls continue to have faith and to pray for their homecoming, but they are also taking action.

According to SRNNews.com, several of the girls have escaped their captors. A few others have reportedly died. Others escaped but had become pregnant with the babies of their captors. Twenty-one of the girls were released in October in addition to the few others who escaped on their own.

Activists in the Nigerian capital of Abuja recently held a rally to push the government not to stall its efforts of securing the girls release. More than 200 of the Chibok girls remain missing.

It is still a nightmare to me. It is still fresh as if it happened last night, said Rebecca Samuel, whose daughter Sarah remains missing. The government is trying, but I believe they can do more than what they are doing.

Although Boko Haram militants announced that 83 more girls would be released very soon, this has yet to happen.

The government is reportedly in negotiations to secure the girls release, but have encountered challenges, although details have not been revealed.

It is deeply shocking that three years after this deplorable and devastating act of violence, the majority of the girls remain missing, read a statement this week from a half-dozen United Nations experts who visited Nigeria last year.

Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com

Publication date: April 20, 2017
Passersby near the South Bay Community Church in Torrance, California, would have heard loud noises on Thursday from hundreds of young people worshipping at Unleashed 2014, a multi-ethnic youth outreach event which invited various church youth groups and high school Christian clubs in the South Bay area. The event, from the start of planning six months ago, until the day of the event, was entirely led by high school students.

The former president of Living Stone Christian Club, a Christian student organization in West Torrance High School, initially had the vision to create an outreach event in which high school students can simply and clearly hear the gospel being preached. Sabrina Han, a 17-year-old junior at West Torrance High School, said that she, Derrick Marzano (18), who also attended West Torrance High, and Lauren Oda (18), who went to South High School, decided to work together to put his vision into action.

The three did most of the planning of the event, such as searching for venues, fundraising, seeking out worship leaders and speakers, and promoting the event to churches and schools. To fundraise, they wrote letters to share the vision for the event and sent them out, by which many partnered with them in prayer and finances. For a month during the planning process, Han, Oda, and Marzano also met with board members of Christian clubs in various high schools in the South Bay area to pray together for the event.

The event featured worship led by Undignified Tour, a worship band from a ministry called Korea Campus Crusade for Christ; a message delivered by Jesse Pickott, a pastor and church planter who attended Fuller Theological Seminary; and two testimonies from Daeil Chung, a youth pastor, and Amanda Hockett, a senior in high school.

Towards the end of the event, attendees also had the opportunity to share their thoughts about God and their faith in small groups. Some thoughts they shared with each other included whether they believe in God, and reasons that might be holding them back from wanting to know Him. Those who had specific questions about God or the Bible were encouraged to ask mentors, who volunteered to come to the event to minister to the attendees.

When asked whether they were planning on following up to know the results of the event, Han expressed that they were not too concerned with numbers or statistics.

We just wanted to plant the seeds, and Im thankful that we were able to do that today, she said.

Were just really thankful God allowed us to hold this event, she added. Its not every day you see God letting a group of teenagers have the opportunity to hold events like these.
The Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation is scheduled to be host on May 14-15 in Beijing. [Zhang Xueshi/China.org.cn]

China will host the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation May 14-15 in Beijing. The BRF has attracted an increasing amount of attention from the international community since President Xi Jinping announced it at the 47th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos on January 17 this year.

The Forum will be the most important international gathering in building consensus based on its theme of "Cooperation for Common Prosperity." It is anticipated China will offer a meeting of real quality, opening a great new chapter of mutually-beneficial cooperation.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was first put forward by President Xi in 2013. It is fair to say that over the past three years or so, the BRI has become the best platform for international cooperation with the brightest prospects in the world.

The Forum will be attended by at least 28 heads of state and government leaders Other delegates include officials, entrepreneurs, financiers and reporters from 110 countries, and representatives of 61 international organizations. In total, more than 1,200 delegates and participants from various countries and regions are expected to attend. Unfortunately, India has yet decided on its representation at the summit.

While more and more countries and international organizations are joining the BRI  more than 100 to date - India's insistence on keeping a distance poses something of a conundrum.

By not joining the BRI, India is missing out on a great opportunity for economic development through involvement in a grand trade and infrastructure plan designed not just for China's benefit but also to create coordinated regional development.

At the upgraded China-India Strategic Dialogue in Beijing on February 22 this year, Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar articulated India's official position on the $46 billion China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor (CPEC) project, claiming it violated India's sovereignty as it runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

He said that India couldn't join a program that hurts its territorial interests. India fears that the CPEC will tend to grant legitimacy to Pakistan's control over the Kashmir region, and by promoting the construction of the corridor, China intends to meddle in the longstanding Kashmir dispute.

It is unwise to think that China does not respect India's sovereignty concerns. As Fu Xiaoqiang, researcher from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations said, China has no intention of interfering in the territorial dispute between India and Pakistan. China has long believed that the two neighbors should solve their disputes through dialogue and consultations, and it has repeatedly emphasized that the construction of the CPEC doesn't affect its stance on the issue.

Therefore, it is to be hoped that India will abandon its cliche mentality to oppose China's grand project as geopolitical competition.

India is worried that China, under the framework of the BRI, might chip away at its regional leadership. It's really ridiculous that on the one hand, India hopes to deepen economic cooperation with China to promote its "Make in India" campaign, while bring concerned about China's growing influence in South Asia.

India needs to embrace China's BRI with an open attitude as most Asian countries are participating in the Initiative in a spirit of openness for economic benefits.

Without doubt, the BRI is an opportunity to modernize India's Stone Age infrastructure and pave the way for rapid industrialization and employment growth. Partnering with China, India can reap economic benefits from the BRI in the long run. Joining BRI will not only increase India's trade substantially, it will also give better access to funds through the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Silk Road Fund.

Further, it will give it better access to the Middle East's energy resources and increase people-to-people exchanges with the other countries, as the BRI aims to build land and sea links between China and Europe through roads, railway lines, power projects and ports in as many as 64 countries. Instead of opposing CPEC, India should look at the wider picture of the opportunities it offers as part of the BRI.

The sound and stable development of China-India relations in recent years has proved that the 'dragon' and the 'elephant' can join hands to speed up cooperation and usher in a better future for all, from Asia to World, "boosting cooperation and realizing win-win development."

Rabi Sankar Bosu, Secretary of New Horizon Radio Listeners' Club, West Bengal, India

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday regarding whether a Lutheran church in Missouri should be allowed to participate in a state-funded program that uses recycled synthetic rubber to resurface playgrounds.

Trinity Lutheran Church, located in Columbia, MO, operates a preschool, and applied to the states grant program to replace its playgrounds gravel with the softer and safer synthetic rubber.

However, though the church ranked fifth out of 44 applicants, it said, it was denied the grant due to a Missouri law that prohibits state money from being used in aid of any church, sect, or denomination of religion.

We arent asking for special treatment, Annette Kiehne, director of Trinitys child learning center, said. We are just asking to not be treated worse than everyone else. Whether you are a Jewish, Muslim, or Christian kid, or not religious at all, when you fall down on a playground, it hurts just as much at a religious preschool as it does at a non-religious one.

Many of the Supreme Court justices questions and remarks implicated a favor leaning towards the church, including those from the liberal-leaning justices.

Essentially this is a program open to everyone, Justice Elena Kagan told James Layton, a lawyer representing Missouri. Youre depriving one set of actors from being able to compete in the same way everybody else can compete, because of their religious identification.

Justice Samuel Alito said that barring the church from such programs could also prevent it from receiving funding to protect the child care center from violence or terrorist attacks.

Justice Stephen Breyer seemed to agree.

If it [Missouri] does not permit a law that pays money out of the treasury for the health of the children in the church, school, or even going to church, how does it permit Missouri to deny money to the same place for helping children not fall in the playground, cut their knees, get tetanus, break a leg, etc? Breyer asked. Whats the difference?

Two liberal justices  Justices Ruth Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor  seemed most staunchly on the side of the state.

Ginsburg pointed to a 1947 case heard by the Supreme Court in which, she said, This court said in no uncertain terms that what the framer didnt want was tax money imposed to pay for building or maintaining churches or church property. And doesnt that fit this case?

David Cortman of Alliance Defending Freedom, representing Trinity, responded, I think theres a difference between funding of religious activities and funding secular activities of a religious organization, saying that in the same case, the court also said religious individuals and organizations should have access to general government benefits.

But Justice Sotomayor noted that there were many cases in which states refused to fund churches, and that ruling against the church in this case wouldnt impede it from practicing its religion.

Im not sure its a free exercise question, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said. No one is asking the church to change its beliefs. The state is just saying it doesnt want to be involved in giving money to the church.

Meanwhile, Missouri Governor Eric Greitens actually reversed the law last week, and said that the state was wrong to deny such funding to religious organizations.

However, both parties involved in the case urged the Supreme Court to still rule, saying that Greitens reversal could easily be again reversed by a future governor.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case by June.
At least one police officer was killed and four more were injured in a gunfire attack that occurred on Tuesday at a security checkpoint located near St. Catherines Monastery in southern Sinai.

The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack through Amaq, a news agency that is known to be asssociated with the extremist group.

St. Catherines Monastery, which was established in the 6th century, is one of the most significant Christian landmarks in the region. It is a UNESCO world heritage site, and is known to have contained ancient Bible texts and manuscripts. Thousands of tourists visit the site each year to not only see the landmark itself, but also to hike up further to visit a site which contains a tree that is traditionally said to be related to the burning bush that Moses had witnessed.

The attack comes just over a week after two Coptic churches were bombed on Palm Sunday, killing 47, the deadliest incident experienced by the Christian community in Egypt in decades. Since the Palm Sunday attack, Egypts President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi declared a three-month-long state of emergency in the nation.

It also comes a little more than one week before a visit from the Pope, who was set to attend an international peace conference.

The Islamic State has been increasingly targeting Christians in the country over recent months, and reports say that the extremist groups attacks in general have become more and more sophisticated.

About 10 percent of Egypts population identify as Christian.

According to a Reuters report, Egyptian security forces found and killed a gunman suspected of carrying out the attack on Wednesday.
Twelve seconds of silence is an awkward eternity on television. Amr Adeeb, perhaps the most prominent talk show host in Egypt, leaned forward as he searched for a response.

The Copts of Egypt  are made of  steel! he finally uttered.

Moments earlier, Adeeb was watching a colleague in a simple home in Alexandria speak with the widow of Naseem Faheem, the guard at St. Marks Cathedral in the seaside Mediterranean city.

On Palm Sunday, the guard had redirected a suicide bomber through the perimeter metal detector, where the terrorist detonated. Likely the first to die in the blast, Faheem saved the lives of dozens inside the church.

Im not angry at the one who did this, said his wife, children by her side. Im telling him, May God forgive you, and we also forgive you. Believe me, we forgive you.

You put my husband in a place I couldnt have dreamed of.

Stunned, Adeeb stammered about ...

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When faced with persecution, Christians worldwide employ more strategies than just fight or flight.

Today at a DC symposium, 17 researchers released the final version of a $1.1 million study exploring how Christians respond to persecution in 25 of the hardest places for them to live. The findings of Under Caesars Sword (UCS), funded by the Templeton Religion Trust, were previewed orally in Rome in December 2015.

Persecution can be difficult to measure. (For example, should Christians who werent murdered for their faith count as martyrs?) But by all counts, religious freedom violations are on the rise worldwide. Islamist extremism and ethnic nationalism have pushed persecution to record levels three years in a row, according to Open Doors research.

Christians bear the brunt, experiencing between 60 percent to 80 percent of religious discrimination, UCS researchers concluded.

And evangelicals and Pentecostals bear the brunt of that. They are more likely to be persecuted than mainline ...

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Image: World Headquarters of Jehovahs Witnesses

Its official. Jehovahs Witnesses can no longer practice their faith freely in Russia, where the Supreme Court on Thursday declared the pacifist religious organization an extremist group and banned all of its activity.

The judge ordered all 395 local chapters and its Russian headquarters to close and authorized the government to seize all property. Under the ruling, distributing copies of the Watchtower, discussing their beliefs in public, or even worshipping at a meeting hall has become a crime.

A lawyer for Russias justice ministry, Svetlana Borisova, told the court that Jehovahs Witnesses pose a threat to the rights of the citizens, public order and public security, according to media reports.

The decision comes at the conclusion of 30 hours of trial over the past few weeks and about a month after the government suspended Jehovahs Witnesses activities in March. The organization had launched a global letter-writing campaign and a lawsuit claiming political repression, but both were unsuccessful.

To human rights and religious freedom advocates around the world, the move comes as a major blow. While ties between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Kremlin have put ongoing scrutiny on all non-Orthodox faiths, this case represents the first time the country has banned a registered religious group.

In a report of the verdict on the jw-russia.org website, Jehovahs Witnesses described the outcome of the case as a black day for fundamental human freedoms in Russia. They noted that this decision could lead to the saddest consequences for believers of different faiths, as well as for Russia's image on the world stage.

The Jehovahs ...
Special Court Affirms Chief Justice Moore's Removal

Contact: Liberty Counsel, 407-875-1776, Media@LC.org; Press Kit



MONTGOMERY, Ala., April 20, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Special Court of retired judges, sitting as the Alabama Supreme Court, has issued its decision affirming the Court of the Judiciary's (COJ) September 30, 2016, opinion imposing a lifetime suspension for Chief Justice Roy Moore. "This opinion and the entire case against Chief Justice Moore is a tragedy. For the first time in the history of Alabama, a justice has been disciplined for issuing an Administrative Order. Under this system, no judge is safe to issue orders or render dissents. The system has to change, and politics should be removed from judicial decision making and disciplinary actions," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, which represents Chief Justice Moore.



This politically-motivated punishment has stripped Chief Justice Moore of all income and benefits since September 30, 2016. The "suspension" imposed against the Chief Justice is the longest suspension in the history of Alabama. The COJ admitted it did not have a unanimous vote to remove the Chief under COJ Rule 16, so the COJ suspended him for life. Removal or suspending for life is the same thing. And now, the Special Court allows the COJ to violate its own rule.

The Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) rules require that a complaint against a judge can only proceed with (1) a verified Complaint, (2) a vote by the JIC, (3) notice of the Complaint to the judge, and (4) continuing notice every six weeks to the judge that the Complaint is still under review. None of these requirements occurred regarding Charge 6, pertaining to whether Chief Justice Moore should recuse himself from the 2016 opinion. Yet, the Special Court sees no problem with the JIC violating this rule.

"The JIC and the COJ can apparently now violate their own rules and second-guess a judge's judicial order to remove him from the bench for life. Some people may applaud today's decision because they oppose Chief Justice Moore. Many will be saddened by this opinion. No one is a winner today. Neither the people of Alabama, and especially its judges, should take comfort. The system needs to be fixed," said Staver.

Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.
Steve Amerson to Participate in the 'Washington A Man of Prayer 2017' Event Contact: Barbara Allen, 818-368-0749



WASHINGTON, April 19, 2017 /



Special patriotic and spiritual musical presentations will be performed by Steve Amerson and The National Christian Choir's "Second Edition" under the direction of Kathy Bowman.



The vision of Pastor Dan and JoAnn Cummins, the ceremony honoring the 228th inaugural anniversary of President George Washington, will be broadcast globally by the Daystar Television Network at 7:30 pm-9:00pm EST. It will also be streamed live on WND.com at 6:30 pm EST.



In its sixth consecutive year, Washington - A Man of Prayer 2017 commemorates the events of April 30, 1789, when after being sworn in at Federal Hall, President Washington along with members of Congress proceeded to St. Paul's Chapel where as its first official act offered dedicatory prayers to God on America's behalf.



Rev. Dan Cummins, the event's originator, gives the historic significance of the event stating, "On April 30, 1789, the world saw more than just the inauguration of the president of a new nation; it witnessed a watershed moment in world history - the birth of the American Republic and a functioning Constitution." He also notes, "Could the ideals penned on parchment at Philadelphia's Continental Congress preserve in ink what sword and patriots' blood inscribed on the field of battle? The pen indeed has been mightier than the sword as today we celebrate 228 triumphant years of the American Experiment and the exceptional man who most embodied the dream of all men - the freedom to self-govern."



Statuary Hall or as it is often referred to as The Old House Chamber was the location of weekly Christian church services from 1800 to 1869. It was the largest church on the east coast with as many as 2000 in attendance - in the Capitol. The American Christian church has deep roots and significant historic ties to Statuary Hall.

Share Tweet Contact: Barbara Allen, 818-368-0749WASHINGTON, April 19, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- On Wednesday evening April 26, members of Congress will honor the 228th inaugural anniversary of President George Washington with ceremonies in prestigious Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol. Honorary hosts for the evening are Senator Steve Daines of Montana and Representative Tim Walberg of Michigan. House Speaker Tim Ryan will begin the evening with a welcome and members will pray for the nation. Over 40 members of Congress will participate in this historic and sacred event.Special patriotic and spiritual musical presentations will be performed by Steve Amerson and The National Christian Choir's "Second Edition" under the direction of Kathy Bowman.The vision of Pastor Dan and JoAnn Cummins, the ceremony honoring the 228th inaugural anniversary of President George Washington, will be broadcast globally by the Daystar Television Network at 7:30 pm-9:00pm EST. It will also be streamed live on WND.com at 6:30 pm EST.In its sixth consecutive year, Washington - A Man of Prayer 2017 commemorates the events of April 30, 1789, when after being sworn in at Federal Hall, President Washington along with members of Congress proceeded to St. Paul's Chapel where as its first official act offered dedicatory prayers to God on America's behalf.Rev. Dan Cummins, the event's originator, gives the historic significance of the event stating, "On April 30, 1789, the world saw more than just the inauguration of the president of a new nation; it witnessed a watershed moment in world history - the birth of the American Republic and a functioning Constitution." He also notes, "Could the ideals penned on parchment at Philadelphia's Continental Congress preserve in ink what sword and patriots' blood inscribed on the field of battle? The pen indeed has been mightier than the sword as today we celebrate 228 triumphant years of the American Experiment and the exceptional man who most embodied the dream of all men - the freedom to self-govern."Statuary Hall or as it is often referred to as The Old House Chamber was the location of weekly Christian church services from 1800 to 1869. It was the largest church on the east coast with as many as 2000 in attendance - in the Capitol. The American Christian church has deep roots and significant historic ties to Statuary Hall.
MN AG Swanson Refuses to Disclose Nepotism and More

Contact: American Target Advertising, 703-392-7676, mfitzgibbons@americantarget.com



MANASSAS, Va., April 20, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Mark Fitzgibbons, President of Corporate Affairs at American Target Advertising, America's largest and oldest conservative direct response agency, issued the following statement today following the refusal by the Office of Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson to answer Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") requests about nepotism within her office, and the quantity of judgeless warrants called civil investigative demands (also known as administrative subpoenas) issued by her:



"The type of information that Ms. Swanson has refused to provide in response to my FOIA request should already be available to the general public, yet Ms. Swanson's office has now taken the position that it will require litigation to force transparency," said Fitzgibbons, who added, "Ms. Swanson's obstruction combines darkness, potential conflicts of interest, and danger to constitutional rights, making her unworthy of the unchecked, unilateral search and enforcement powers she wields. Giving Ms. Swanson these powers is like letting police write their own warrants to search people's private papers and emails protected by the Fourth Amendment, while currying political favors or satisfying ideological grudges in the process."



Among the various FOIA requests that Swanson's Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Velzen refused to answer in an April 14 denial of the FOIA requests submitted February 27 and supplemented on March 2 was:

How many attorneys or other staff in the Office of the Attorney General are related by blood or marriage to the Attorney General, any former Attorney General, any statewide public official in Minnesota, or any member of the Minnesota state legislature? Please provide their names, the names of the officials, and the nature of the relationship to the official.

Swanson employs Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Kremenak, the daughter of Swanson's mentor, former Minnesota Attorney General and failed gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch. It is not known to the public if she employs others who create conflicts of interest with her broad powers and obligation to be impartial.



Swanson's office also refused to respond to FOIA requests about how many civil investigative demands ("CIDs") it has issued since 2013 to businesses and nonprofit organizations, how many CIDs demanded the names of donors to nonprofit organizations (in violation of the 1958 landmark Supreme Court decision in NAACP v. Alabama), and what training its lawyers receive about protecting constitutional rights. Among its excuses, Swanson's office claims the information is subject to an "attorney-client privilege" and is "classified as not public data."



CIDs are searches for documents issued without probable cause presented under oath and affirmation before neutral judges or magistrates, and are increasingly being questioned as violations of the Fourth Amendment and the constitutional separation of powers. See David Kravets, "We Don't Need No Stinking Warrant: The Disturbing, Unchecked Rise of the Administrative Subpoena," Wired.com, August 28, 2012, www.wired.com/2012/08/administrative-subpoenas.



Swanson is part of the combination of liberal state attorneys general called the "Green 20" that collaborated to target and investigate entities with dissenting opinions about climate change causes and policies. She has been subpoenaed by a congressional committee for her involvement in this possibly illegal combination looking to stifle First Amendment rights. Last November a New York judge ordered disclosure of the "common interest" secrecy pact and emails between these attorneys general after a similar denial of a FOIA request was litigated.
Correction to Previous News Release Regarding Anastasia Adams



FAIR OAKS, Va., April 20, 2017 /



In the release, it was stated that Anastasia's court-appointed guardians "refused to authorize any treatment." We have since learned that this is inaccurate.



Life Legal has obtained documents showing that Anastasia's guardians never denied Anastasia food or water and that they did not instruct the nursing facility to withhold nutrition and hydration.



We have also learned that the guardians for Ms. Adams did not refuse a visit from a priest. It is still unclear why the priest was not permitted to see Anastasia.



"I apologize for stating that the court-appointed guardians in this case authorized the withholding of food and water to Ms. Adams," said Life Legal Executive Director Alexandra Snyder. "I have been in contact with the guardians who have assured me that they expressly instructed Anastasia's caregivers to provide her with nutrition and hydration."



Ms. Adams was transferred back to the hospital yesterday.



About Life Legal Defense Foundation

Life Legal Defense Foundation was established in 1989, and is a nonprofit organization composed of attorneys and other concerned citizens committed to giving helpless and innocent human beings of any age, and their advocates, a trained and committed voice in the courtrooms of our nation. For more information about the Life Legal Defense Foundation, visit

Share Tweet Contact: Alexandra Snyder, Life Legal Defense Foundation , 202-717-7371FAIR OAKS, Va., April 20, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- Life Legal sent out a press release on April 18, 2017 titled "Woman Starved and Tortured in VA Nursing Home" regarding Anastasia Adams, a disabled woman who was in a nursing facility in Northern Virginia.In the release, it was stated that Anastasia's court-appointed guardians "refused to authorize any treatment." We have since learned that this is inaccurate.Life Legal has obtained documents showing that Anastasia's guardians never denied Anastasia food or water and that they did not instruct the nursing facility to withhold nutrition and hydration.We have also learned that the guardians for Ms. Adams did not refuse a visit from a priest. It is still unclear why the priest was not permitted to see Anastasia."I apologize for stating that the court-appointed guardians in this case authorized the withholding of food and water to Ms. Adams," said Life Legal Executive Director Alexandra Snyder. "I have been in contact with the guardians who have assured me that they expressly instructed Anastasia's caregivers to provide her with nutrition and hydration."Ms. Adams was transferred back to the hospital yesterday.About Life Legal Defense FoundationLife Legal Defense Foundation was established in 1989, and is a nonprofit organization composed of attorneys and other concerned citizens committed to giving helpless and innocent human beings of any age, and their advocates, a trained and committed voice in the courtrooms of our nation. For more information about the Life Legal Defense Foundation, visit www.lldf.org
Bold, decisive and ahead of her time: How Greta Garbo collected art

When Greta Garbo left Hollywood for New York in 1941, she reinvented herself as a serious collector of contemporary art. On 15 May in New York, we offer three works that hung in the Hollywood icons apartment overlooking the East River

After she retired from making films in 1941, at the age of 36, Greta Garbo moved to New York, where she began to collect art in earnest. Her collecting was thoroughly modern, just as Garbo was herself. Garbo loved music, literature and art. She was a close friend of composer Arnold Schoenberg and had a romantic relationship with the conductor Leopold Stokowski. She associated with writers such as Thomas Mann, Noel Coward, Irwin Shaw and John Gunther. She also had a wide number of friends who were artists, collectors, gallery owners and museum directors. When she began in earnest to collect paintings she initiated her collection with two Renoirs and a Bonnard, purchased within the space of a breathtaking two weeks in 1942.

Garbo told her grandniece that La Femme a lOmbrelle was her favourite painting. It makes a dour Swede happy, she said

As she proceeded to acquire Expressionist and Abstract works, Garbo was advised by some of the worlds most renowned collectors, including Albert Coombs Barnes and Alfred H Barr Jr, founding director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. But her choices were always bold and hers alone. She was ahead of her time in her appreciation of Robert Delaunay, Chaim Soutine, and in particular, Alexej von Jawlensky. Colour was key  Garbo loved greens and pinks, and wanted to be surrounded by vibrancy and life. But there were other threads in her collection, too. One is the depiction of the modern woman  a persona Garbo herself had immortalised on screen in her 28 films.

Open a larger version of this image Das Blasse Madchen mit Grauen Zapfen (c. 1916) by Alexej von Jawlensky, hanging in Greta Garbos New York apartment

Three powerful examples are offered at Christies in New York in May: the dazzling La Femme a lOmbrelle ou La Parisienne (1913) by Delaunay, the arresting Femme a la Poupee (1923-24) by Soutine, and the dramatic Das Blasse Madchen mit Grauen Zapfen (c. 1916) by von Jawlensky. I remember she had two umbrellas that she held very dear, recalls Gray Horan, Greta Garbos grandniece. One was made of black silk, and was unfurled not only to protect the actress from inclement weather, but also to shield her from the paparazzi who skulked near her East 52nd Street home. The other beloved umbrella had appeared in a painting by Robert Delaunay that has been called variously La Femme a LOmbrelle (Woman with Umbrella) or Parisienne prisme electrique. By the time Garbo purchased it in the mid-1960s, it was called Woman with Parasol. The painting previously belonged to Delaunays wife Sonia, and is reputed to be a portrait of her.

Garbo told her grandniece that it was her favourite painting. It makes a dour Swede happy, she said. Horan remembers her great aunt sitting across from the painting that dominated the panelled wall of her grand living room overlooking the East River, while enjoying her evening scotch and a Nat Sherman cigarettello that she held so elegantly with her gemstone-encrusted Van Cleef & Arpels holder. Garbo purchased the 1913 painting from the Knoedler Gallery in 1964 for the then handsome sum of $30,000. It has occupied the same spot in the luxurious Manhattan apartment she once inhabited for 53 years, its whereabouts having been a mystery for much of that time.

Greta Garbo also bought a number of works by von Jawlensky, most of which were produced before and during the First World War, when the artist was at the height of his artistic powers. Das Blasse Madchen mit Grauen Zapfen is an example from one of his major series of works. A rare large-format painting with a striking composition, its abstract colour fields are offset by the outline of the subjects dark pleated braids and hair. It is a muscular and strikingly modern portrait, especially so when considered in the context of its time. Garbo had seen Expressionist paintings in the homes of many of her friends during her career in Hollywood. Her friend, the actress and screenwriter Salka Viertel, ran a noted salon for the German/Austrian expatriate community. Through the salon Garbo would have crossed paths with Galka Scheyer, von Jawlenskys agent in California, who moved in the same expat circles. Several notable Hollywood collections, including that of Billy Wilder  who worked with Garbo as the screenwriter for her film Ninotchka  owned works by von Jawlensky and other leading Expressionists.
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UC Berkeley administrators canceled a scheduled speech by right-wing pundit Ann Coulter, saying they cant protect participants from rioting if it goes ahead  but the students who invited her, and Coulter herself, said Wednesday that shell come anyway, and speak on or off campus.

If she does show up next Thursday, We will continue to do what is necessary to provide safety and security for the campus community and our neighbors, said Dan Mogulof, a campus spokesman. He would not elaborate.

The standoff began Wednesday after vice chancellors Scott Biddy and Stephen Sutton emailed the student groups co-hosting the event  the Berkeley College Republicans and BridgeUSA, which gets students with political differences to listen to each other  to say the event was off until September at the earliest.

We have been unable to find a safe and suitable venue for your planned April 27 event featuring Ann Coulter, the administrators wrote. In the wake of events surrounding the planned appearance by (right-wing speaker) Milo Yiannopoulos in February, as well as several riots which have occurred in recent weeks in the city of Berkeley, we have increased our scrutiny regarding the time and location of high-profile speakers so that these events can go forward unimpeded.

Students said the cancellation made them angry because they had cooperated with administrators previous insistence that high-profile speakers end their talks by 3 p.m. And while they had negotiated to win an extra half hour, theyd also gotten Coulter to take an earlier flight. Now, they said, they wont accept the cancellation.

No matter what, shes coming to Berkeley  despite UC Berkeleys attempts to silence and suppress her right to come to campus, said Naweed Tahmas, 20, of the Berkeley College Republicans. We are preparing with attorneys on how to proceed.

Coulter tweeted her reactions Wednesday: No school accepting public funds can ban free speech.

And: Instructing Berkeley student group to spare no expense in renting my speaking venue  part of my legal damages.

And: I acceded to Berkeleys every silly demand (never made of lib speakers). Called their bluff & they canceled anyway.

Spencer Brown, spokesman for Young Americas Foundation, which sponsors conservative speakers on college campuses and is paying $17,000 of Coulters $20,000 speakers fee, said the event will go forward  whether Berkeley likes it or not.

Asked where the speech would take place, Brown said, We are pursuing all remedies available. Campus spaces are free, but all filled up, according to administrators; and off-campus sites would probably charge a fee.

Young Americas Foundation accused UC Berkeley of anti-conservative bias. This is as clear-cut a case as it gets that public universities are using taxpayer dollars to shut down conservative speech, while allowing liberal speech only, the group declared.

The accusation comes as state lawmakers debate a Republican-sponsored bill that would ban colleges and universities from taking actions that stifle students expression. On Wednesday, the bill, SB472, passed the Senate Education Committee with a 7-0 vote. It heads to a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee next week.

Since President Trumps inauguration in January, a debate about free speech has emerged at UC Berkeley in a way that hasnt happened since the campus Free Speech Movement of the 1960s.

Left-leaning student protesters say they have a right to shut down hate speech of the kind they say Yiannopoulos and Coulter engage in that targets individuals or groups of people.

Both specialize in making people squirm with insulting talk. This month, Coulter tweeted: N Korea will make nuke capable of hitting Seattle! Situation will be dire as soon as they can hit a city worth saving.

She told conservative talk-show host Tucker Carlson recently that she was puzzled at the U.S. missile retaliation against Syrian President Bashar Assad for his chemical weapons attack on Syrian children and other citizens. She said, For that region of the world, Assad is one of the better leaders  theres probably only one or two that are better than he. Hes not even like a Saddam Hussein murderous thug.

On Feb. 1, as students protested the Yiannopoulos talk, masked agitators caused $100,000 of damage on campus  smashing windows and setting police equipment ablaze  to stop the speaker from delivering an anti-immigration, pro-Trump talk.

Conservative students say the speakers they invite have a right to express themselves without being muzzled by critics.

Pranav Jandhyala, 19, co-founder of the group BridgeUSA, which is co-sponsoring Coulter and has invited liberal and libertarian speakers on other occasions, is also frustrated at administrators attempt to cancel the event.

It seems clear that theyre stalling until next semester, but nothing is going to change between now and next semester, he said. My personal opinion is that this is unconstitutional and is a form of (illegal) prior restraint.

But Mogulof, the campus spokesman, denied accusations that UC Berkeley is infringing on free speech, saying administrators fear the same violent groups would target Coulters speech.

He said its all about safety.

The universitys commitment to the safety and security of our students is non-negotiatable, he said. We simply cant have an event at a time when our law enforcement professionals dont feel capable of providing that.

Chronicle staff writer Melody Gutierrez contributed to this report.

Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov
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Anyone who has ever been to IKEA, can spot one of the company's signature blue shopping totes from a mile a way. The Swedish mega-home furnishings and decor chain with stores throughout the U.S. sells the roomy tote, which is made of recycled materials, for 99 cents.

Leave it to someone in the social-media world to point out that couture fashion house Balenciaga has a similar bag, which is made of glazed leather, for $2,145.
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Ronda Rousey is getting hitched, TMZ reports Thursday.

She and her boyfriend, UFC fighter Travis Browne, told the celebrity watch website they were engaged in New Zealand under a waterfall, where it just "felt right."

INSULT TO INJURY: Ronda Rousey's house vandalized following her 'comeback' fight

The couple has been dating since 2015 and while no date for the wedding has been set yet, Rousey reveals to TMZ she wants it to be "soon" since she doesn't want anything "fancy."

Rousey's ring finger on her left hand is now sporting a hefty diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds on the band.

The UFC fighter has not entered the octagon since losing to Amanda Nunes in December and Browne has lost his last three fights in the heavyweight division.

RETIRE OR FIGHT BACK? UFC stars offer advice to Ronda Rousey

In February, Browne was knocked out in his most recent fight against Derrick Lewis. Lewis made shocking comments about Rousey following the fight, as well as bringing up domestic abuse allegations in Browne's former marriage with Jenna Webb, according to MMA Fighting.

In July 2015, Webb accused Browne of domestic abuse by posting photos of herself with bruises on her body. Browne denied the allegations and the UFC legal team investigation cleared the heavyweight fighter of wrongdoing.
Two students have been arrested at Clear Brook High School in Friendswood after allegedly making threats online inspired by the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine school shooting.

The juveniles were arrested after each posted some type of illustration of a handgun, according to Major Douglas Hudson of the Galveston County Sheriff's Office, which provides security for Clear Creek Independent School District.

Hudson said he didn't know if the posts addressed any particular individuals, and no weapons were brought to the school. The students were using "some type of app" to make drawings of weapons and post them on social media, he said.

TEEN SLAIN: Police arrest 14-year-old in killing of Brazoria County 13-year-old

The ninth and 10th grade boys posted threats on Snapchat, which were reported to the school about 7:20 a.m. Thursday, according to KHOU.

One of the accused students warned others not to attend because he was going to shoot up the school, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office. He allegedly posted a video with a gun on social media, saying that he was practicing for a shooting the next day. He's even accused of telling a school official he was practicing to shoot up the school.

The other accused boy told several students not to come in because he planned to honor the Columbine shooters at 10:30 a.m. He posted online a picture of himself pointing a gun at two schoolmates in the hallway.

The Columbine High School shooting in rural Colorado left 12 dead and 21 injured after two teens opened fire on students and teachers before killing themselves.

Clear Brook's principal, Michele Staley, announced the arrests Thursday morning in a statement addressed to parents.

EX-TEACHER CHARGED: Former Dickinson HS teacher charged with improper relationship

"Our team became aware of the social media activity first thing this morning, and by 8:45 a.m., the students involved were arrested and the district attorney has already filed criminal charges," Staley said.

"We have extra officers at the school as a precautionary measure," the statement continued. "I realize this news may be unsettling, but please be assured that your children are safe at school and this matter is being handled expeditiously. I will update you as soon as we get more information."

The Galveston County Sheriff's Office, which made the arrests, is handling the investigation.

Both boys remain in custody and are scheduled to appear in juvenile detention court on Monday.
April 21 is San Jacinto Day in the Lone Star State, where Texans celebrate the decisive battle that won their ancestors freedom from Mexico.

The formation of the Republic of Texas changed the world forever and the brave men who fought and died during the months leading up to April 21, 1836 are seen as heroes. That love is not just apparent inside Texas borders.
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Recipe for Success's second annual "Delicious Alchemy" dinner party was a trip. And not just because two members of the waitstaff had fallen into the pool in Becca and John Thrash's solarium by the time the cocktail hour ended.



"In the history of hosting events at the house," John said, "a dozen or two people have fallen in. But never twice in one night."



An exclusive throng of 100 attendees mingled before the evening's decadent ten-course meal.

Martha de Leon (Pax Americana), Ryan Pera (Coltivare, Eight Row Flint, and Revival Market), Kevin Naderi (Roost), Bryan Caswell (Reef, El Real and Little Bigs), Wayne Nguyen (Maba Pan-Asian Diner), Kiran Verma (Kiran's), Greg Martin (Bistro Menil), Robert Del Grande (Cafe Annie and The Grove), Barbara McKnight (Culinaire) and Claire Smith (Shade and Canopy) each served fresh plates to the philanthropic foodies. The Pax feta with pink peppercorn, chicken salad with Persian cucumber and 12-hour sous-vide short ribs were standouts.



The Recipe for Success Foundation's Justin Kouri got in on the action, too. Kouri, who helps further the organization's mission to combat childhood obesity through Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education culinary curriculum content, served vegetables picked from the non-profit's own Hope Farms.



Savory bites weren't the only delectables on the menu. Each plate was paired with two wine pours  one French, one Italian. Alkkemist's gin "surprise" and Bache-Gabrielsen's "Cognac Trou Normand" also made the rounds while the Third Floor Strings, Sole Monroe and Wava Berry performed jazzy covers of popular Top 40 tracks in the background.



"I just want to make sure you feel good about what you've done tonight," Gracie Cavnar, Recipe for Success co-founder, said after a fast and furious live auction. "Because everything you see tonight has been donated."



The gastronomic affair raised $200,000.



After raspberry ice wine soup, olive oil cake and panna cotta, a few lingerers retreated to the dining room for New Grove rum tastings, Corte Fornello cuvee rose brut and Siphon coffee's 17-hour toddies.



"We have one request: No one else fall into the pool until dessert  then we'll all go swimming," Becca said.



After 10 courses and some 20 wines, most opted to collect their Chopard swag bags and head home rather than take a dip.
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A suspected burglar is in custody after a bungled break-in at a Chick-fil-A in southwest Houston Thursday morning, police say.

Officers headed to the Chick-fil-A around 3 a.m. to find the burglar breaking into the fast food joint at the intersection of Bellaire Boulevard and Beltway 8, said Lt. Larry Crowson with the Houston Police Department.

When officers arrived, the burglar abandoned his crime and fled on foot.

DANGEROUS AREAS: FBI data shows the safest, least safe cities in Greater Houston

He ran behind a nearby Home Depot and splashed into a large detention pond. Apparently fearing officers might follow him, the man swam onto an island in the center of the pond and refused to leave.

As a helicopter circled overhead, police called in a dive team.

When a reporter asked if there were alligators in the water, Crowson replied, "I don't know what's in that water. I'm not going in that water, I'll tell you that."

BAD STREETS: Houstonians tell us where the worst streets are

Three hours and a SWAT team, dive team and K9 unit later, the burglar had been arrested.

The man was hiding in the brush on the island, requiring officers to transport a police dog across the lake and onto the island to track down the man. No one was injured during the pursuit.

"If we have to deploy a lot of manpower, it's very much worth it to do it safely," Crowson said.

The man will be charged with burglary of a building. There was a prior burglary warrant out on him already.

Police did not say if he actually managed to nab anything from the Chick-fil-A.
Two painters were injured in a home explosion in the Cypress area on Thursday afternoon.

Rosehill Fire Department Assistant Chief Lee Sulecki said the call came in for a burn victim at about 1:30 p.m. on Thursday April 20, in the 19500 block of Stone Lake.
A spa in Fort Bend County has been permanently closed after the sheriff's office conducted a raid, arresting one person on a prostitution charge.

The raid took place on Wednesday at the "Anne Spa," located in the 9200 block of Highway 6.
GALVESTON  Efforts to close pristine Christmas Bay to commercial oystering got a boost this week from the Brazoria County commissioner whose district includes the bay.

Precinct 1 Commissioner Donald "Dude" Payne sent a letter Tuesday to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department backing a petition sent to Parks and Wildlife commissioners last week asking that the commission close Christmas Bay to commercial oystering.
A truck driver died Thursday afternoon after he was struck by a crane at a Port of Houston container facility near La Porte.

The driver, a man whose name has not been released, was struck by a rubber-tired gantry crane about 2 p.m. at the Barbours Cut container terminal, said Lisa Ashley, a spokeswoman for the Port of Houston Authority. The crane was on land and did not move containers to or from ships.
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A homeless Spring man has been sentenced to two life sentences after admitting to killing his father and another man and burning their bodies in an abandoned warehouse in northwest Houston in 2015.

Jamie Walter, 29, admitted to the killings but insisted he did not kill a third man whose body was also burned in the same barrel, his lawyer James Stafford said Thursday.

THE CRIME: Man accused in 3 killings, burned 2 bodies in drums

"He did admit to killing his father and burning the body," he said. "It's morbid. And it's crazy. A Hollywood screenwriter couldn't make this stuff up."

After Walter was arrested in September 2015, prosecutors said the web of crimes were hard to investigate because almost everyone involved was part of the homeless community. They all knew each other from the streets, usually not with full names.

In his statement to police, Walter claimed his girlfriend, who has not been charged with a crime, fatally stabbed a man she believed had killed her ex-boyfriend weeks earlier. That man's body had been found after a train had run him over. Prosecutors are aware of that death but not sure it was was connected.

BACKGROUND: Man charged in abandoned Houston warehouse deaths has violent past

Walter, the woman, and two other men were sitting around a campfire at a homeless encampment in April 2015 when, according to Walter, the woman stabbed the man she believed to be a killer. Walter killed the other with a hammer because he was a witness.

The charred remains of Monty Kaiser and Donald Fleming were found in the burn barrel. Court records show that both were killed with a hammer.

Months later, Walter's sister apparently started a fight between him and their father, and Walter killed him, his lawyer said.

After Walter killed his father, Steven Walter, he said he burned the body in the same burn barrel in the warehouse at Todd Road near Antoine. He gave different accounts of how he committed the murder.

BRUTAL: Authorities link multiple killing suspect to death of his father

In September 2015, his girlfriend contacted police and accused Walter of hitting her in the head with a hammer and slashing her leg with a machete.

To bolster her claims of domestic violence, she told police about the slayings and led them to the burn barrel and the ashes of the three men, investigators said.

Prosecutors said she was not charged because there was no evidence, other than Walter's statement, that she was involved.

"She's denied involvement in the murder, she just admits to being present," Assistant Harris County District Attorney Samantha Knecht.

Walter pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder and aggravated assault of a family member, both first degree felonies with a maximum punishment of life in prison.

Knecht said the plea deal was a good result.

"I'm happy that he's taking responsibility," she said.

Walter, who has "God's Soldier" tattooed on his throat, is unlikely to see parole, his lawyer said.

"My client's I.Q. is way down the chart and he's been in and out of mental institutions since the age of 12," Stafford said. "With two life sentences, he'll never make parole."
The Conroe ISD Police Department and a K-9 unit were stationed outside The Woodlands High School Ninth Grade Campus on Branch Crossing at Woodlands Parkway Thursday morning in response to a "potential incident" after a rumor of a planned attack spread among students the day before.

On Wednesday evening, the district sent a letter to parents from Principal Jill Houser that tried to address the situation.

"In an effort to keep you informed, I wanted to let you know that campus administration along with the Conroe ISD Police Department are aware of the rumors about a potential incident on campus tomorrow," the letter stated.

Houser's letter stated CISD Police and campus administration determined the claims to be "false rumors." The official letter gave no indication of what the rumors were or how an investigation dispelled them.

While the CISD had no further comment, some TWHS Ninth Grade Campus students said the scuttlebutt was that a student planned to initiate some type of attack at the campus on Adolf Hitler's birthday. Hitler, born April 20, 1889, in Austria, was the tyrannical dictator of Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s and leader of the Holocaust that resulted in an estimated millions of deaths of Jews and others.

It also is the 18th anniversary of the April 20, 1999, Columbine High School shooting in Colorado that left 15 dead, including the two gunman.

With the vague and small information released by the district, according to a parent of one student, others took to social media to pass notes on what they had heard, with at least one stating the threat came from a student who has a history of disciplinary problems within the district.

The Conroe ISD would not comment on anything other than a letter had been sent to parents and law enforcement was on campus.

Houser's letter reminded individuals to "verify information prior to passing it along." Additionally, the letter suggested that parents have a conversation with children regarding the "issues related to the spreading of misinformation and false rumors."

CISD Communications Director Sarah Blakelock said the police support at TWHS Ninth Grade Campus was "just there to make everybody feel safe."

"As you can imagine, often rumors are spread at school," Blakelock said in an official statement via email. "Conroe ISD and the Conroe ISD Police Department investigate any rumor connected to safety. When specific individuals are identified, they are investigated."

There were no incidents reported at the school as of Thursday afternoon.
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FREEPORT - Juan Borja was "the definition of cool."

He loved band and soccer, played basketball and football, and was already making plans for college.

There was nobody like him, friends said, at Freeport Intermediate School.

On Thursday, friends and family gathered to mourn the death of the 13-year-old student, who was killed Wednesday as he and his friends huddled with a gun amid talk of Russian roulette in a local park.

The candlelight vigil in Peppermint Park came just hours after the arrest of a 14-year-old student - a friend of Borja's and fellow band member - on charges of manslaughter and tampering with evidence. Freeport police say the older teen shot Borja once in the chest after his friend handed him a loaded gun.

The shooting stunned the seaside community about 60 miles south of Houston, where Borja was clearly one of the good guys.

"He was just a nice person," said friend Jahcorean Nelson, 13. "He never did anything wrong."

Red-and-white balloons swayed in the light breeze Thursday at the park, where students lugging backpacks home from school dropped off flowers at a growing memorial. Some wore red shirts bearing the message, "Rest in Peace, Juan."

A school desk bearing Borja's name sat in the corner of the park near the playground, covered with balloons, flowers and hand-written notes.

Borja's mother, Bella Gallardo, wept at the desk before being helped to a park bench nearby.

"Imagine the pain of a mother who loses a child who is only 13 years old with so many dreams," Gallardo told the Chronicle in Spanish.

He was popular and athletic, she said, the only son in a family of six children.

Borja and several other teens were hanging out in the park Wednesday after school when Borja pulled out a revolver, police said.

He loaded a round of ammunition into the gun and made a comment about playing Russian roulette. The 14-year-old took the gun, pointed it at Borja and pulled the trigger, striking Borja once in the upper chest, according to investigators.

Police responding to a 5:45 p.m. call from neighbors about suspected fireworks found Borja face down in the park in the 1200 block of West 8th. He was taken to Brazosport Medical Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Residents said they saw several teens running from the scene after the shooting.

The 14-year-old - whose name has not been released - was arrested about 1 p.m. Thursday, police said. He is accused of hiding the gun in a field.

Counseling services were available for students Thursday at the intermediate school.

"Our hearts are broken by this loss, and we extend our deepest sympathy to family and friends," the Brazosport Independent School District said in a written statement. "If your child is struggling with a difficult loss, please encourage them to seek help from a caring adult."

Borja's friends hugged and cried Thursday as they tried to understand the loss.

"He was the definition of cool," said one friend who didn't give his name.

Friends saw him Wednesday and said he was in good spirits. They already miss his laugh and smile.

Alex Parral, 15, said no one could speak a bad word about the trumpet player and athlete.

"There isn't anybody like him," Parral said. "Nobody expected him to be in that position."

At Borja's house nearby at the corner of Sixth and Walnut, cars lined the street as children played in yards and rode bicycles. Two tents had already been set up in the back yard for a meal that would be served to the family.

The investigation is continuing into the teen's death. The Brazoria County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney's Office are assisting the Freeport Police Department.
Houston police seized 560 pounds of Kush worth $2.5 million in an investigation that led to the arrest of two men this week, city officials said Thursday.

Mohamed Ebrahim Moton, 47, and Ataur Rehman Malik, 38, were charged Wednesday with delivery of synthetic cannabinoids and, if convicted, would face 10 years to life in prison and up to a $100,000 fine.

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo linked Moton and Malik to what he said was the largest Kush manufacturing organization identified in Houston to-date, based in an Alief single-family home.

"I would just encourage all Houstonians, when they see something suspicious in their neighborhood, please be our eyes and ears, please be that force multiplier," Acevedo said, noting that the seized drugs amounted to nearly 100,000 doses of Kush.

The seven-month undercover investigation is part of Mayor Sylvester Turner's push to crack down on Kush manufacturing, distribution and use after 16 people overdosed last June in Hermann Park.

"These two arrests and the seizure will go a long way in improving the quality of life in our city," Mayor Sylvester Turner said. "We will not tolerate the manufacturing, sale and distribution of this drug."

Kush, often incorrectly called synthetic marijuana, is a mixture of leaves doused with a chemical that can mimic the effects of the active ingredient in marijuana.

Moton's attorney, Shahin Zamir, did not immediately return a request for comment. Malik had no attorney listed on the Harris County District Clerk's website.
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They are the most chilling of murderers - the serial killer.

Portrayed in books, television shows, movies and nightmares, many are surprisingly ordinary looking, with regular jobs, hobbies, even family and friends.

But what they do to feed their impulses is far from ordinary. Whether it be control driven, like Ted Bundy, a mentally ill and angry ex-professor like Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber) or a deranged cannibal like Jeffrey Dahmer, there's nothing typical about someone who kills repeatedly.

COLD CASES: FBI hoping for break in deaths of 2 unknown women found in Texas

A professor at Radford University teamed up with Florida Gulf Coast University to determine which states had the most serial killer victims. Professor Mike Aamodt concluded that there have been 4,743 serial killers and 13,105 victims in the United States from 1900 through Sept. 4, 2016.

Texas has 893 victims (about 7 percent of the total), second in the country only to California, which has 1,628 known serial killer victims during that 116 year period.

Texas has been the killing ground for some of society's more infamous ghouls, including Coral Eugene Watts, who is suspected of killing more than 80 women. It is also the native state for two killers who gained notoriety in California - Richard Ramirez, the infamous "Nightstalker," who received 13 death sentences, and Rodney James Alcala, the "Dating Game Killer."

Houston Chronicle

BIZARRE FIND: Old photos of serial killer Ted Bundy found in Colorado safe

Alcala was never convicted of murder in Texas, but he is awaiting execution in California for five killings. And, authorities believe his body count is much, much higher.

Texas is also home to multiple unsolved murders, including the "Texas Killing Fields" cases, which may be tied to serial killers.

While the odds of being murdered by a serial killer are long - only 6.11 people per million in Texas have become a victim - they sure do haunt our dreams.

Scroll through the gallery above to see photos of known serial killers with a connection to Texas
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For the second time this week, one of the Lone Star State's most wanted fugitives has been captured.

Jose Mario Lopez, 59, who was listed on the Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders list, was arrested Monday in Winter Haven, Fla., according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Lopez had been wanted for parole violation and failure to register as a sex offender.

Winter Haven police officers took him into custody without incident at a local park. No reward will be paid since his arrest was not the result of a tip received through Texas Crime Stoppers, DPS said in a news release.

ALSO CAPTURED: Aryan Brotherhood member on Texas most wanted list caught in Harris County

Lopez had been on the lam since January, when he intentionally cut off his ankle monitor and escaped from a Houston facility, the release said.

He was paroled in 2015 after receiving a 70-year sentence for a 1983 conviction in San Patricio County on a burglary charge with intent to commit a sex offense. He was required to register as a sex offender for life.

For more details, see his "captured bulletin."

STILL LOOKING: Houston man wanted for murder added to international database

So far in 2017, DPS and other agencies have arrested six people listed on the Texas 10 Most Wanted or Most Wanted Sex Offenders lists.

To be eligible for a cash reward, tipsters must provide information using one of these five methods:

- Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477)

- Text the letters "DPS" followed by your tip to 274637 (CRIMES) from a cellphone.

- Submit a web tip through the DPS website by selecting the fugitive you have information about and then clicking on the link under that person's picture

- Submit a Facebook tip by clicking the "Submit a tip" link (under the "About" section)

- Submit a tip through the DPS mobile app, available for iPhone users on the Apple App Store and for Android users on Google Play.

All tips are anonymous.
The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.
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As Trump Targets H-1B Program, Canada Stands to Benefit CIC News Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered federal agencies to consider tightening visa regulations for foreign workers, arguing for a long overdue reform of H-1B visas. The H-1B program allows American companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations, including fields like science, engineering, and information technology.

Many of the approximately 85,000 H-1B workers who come to the U.S. each year work in these fields, as their expertise is often not available locally.

President Trump made the remarks before signing the Buy American, Hire American executive order in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in doing so returning to a state that proved pivotal in last Novembers election. As one of the so-called Rust belt states, Trumps campaign pitch to protect manufacturing jobs by targeting immigration, both legal and illegal, resonated among Wisconsin voters, who returned a Republican presidential candidate for the first time since 1984. In his speech, Trump remarked that visas should be given to the highest skilled and highest paid only.

A stark contrast with Canada

Following Trumps order, the contrast between the policies of the U.S. and Canadian governments over recent weeks and months could hardly be more defined. Less than three weeks ago, Canada reaffirmed its goal to make it easier for Canadian companies to bring in global talent in a matter of two weeks when it presented its annual budget. The resulting Global Talent Stream, which forms part of the governments Global Skills Strategy, is scheduled to be operational as of June 12, 2017.

In contrast, H-B visas typically take three to six months to process, and Trumps administration has already cancelled the premium processing option, which ensured an answer in far less time. An additional difference between the U.S. and Canadian systems is how visas are allocated; in Canada, each application is assessed on merit according to the program requirements, whereas H-1B visas are allocated by lottery. Last year, demand outstripped supply three-to-one.

In its recent budget, the government of Canada also pledged to provide $279.8 million over five years, starting this year into next, and $49.8 million per year thereafter, for the continued delivery of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and the International Mobility Program (IMP), two programs through which companies operating in Canada may hire foreign workers.

Just hours before Trumps announcement, another country competing for global talent, Australia, cancelled its popular 457 visa program for foreign workers, to be replaced by a program with stricter criteria. Australian leader Malcolm Turnbull, prefacing his American counterpart, stated that We will no longer allow 457 visas to be passports to jobs that could and should go to Australians.

Tech companies stand to benefit

Canadas technology sector is experiencing rapid growth, with both Vancouver and the Toronto-Waterloo corridor both vying the title of Silicon Valley of the North. The professional, scientific, and technical services sector is the fifth-largest employer in Canada, employing more than 1.3 million people across the country.

Talented international workers may now look to Canada rather than the U.S. in order to grow their careers in an innovative environment. Moreover, a number of large tech companies in the U.S. are said to be looking at setting up satellite offices in Canada due to the current U.S. administrations policies.

The crackdown seems to be focused on ensuring future H-1B visas apply only to highly skilled labour. This means foreign workers will likely have to develop an expertise in an emerging technology that is in high demand, or become an expert in a specific but mature solution with a low penetration of the market of the US, or become a very senior resource in your domain or vertical. This last scenario is harder to achieve as it requires a long term investment, explains Ivan Cardona, President at Opticca, a Montreal-based consulting and technology services company that specializes in helping IT organizations align with business objectives.

We believe the change in laws could be a very big benefit for Canadian companies with large consulting practices, as well as the highly-specialized firms, because Canadian firms will still be able to continue to propose a mix of on-site and off-site resources.

It is not only the companies themselves who are likely to benefit from Canadas more open policy. The government of Canada stated in its budget that its policies are designed to bring new skills to Canada and create more Canadian jobs.

For foreign workers, one major upside of working in Canada is the opportunity to transition to permanent resident status. Workers who may otherwise have been interested in working in the U.S., or who have worked there but dont foresee a future in the country, are typically well educated and have usually developed or mastered their English ability. These factors are rewarded across many of Canadas permanent immigration programs, including the federal economic programs managed under the Express Entry system.

To find out if you are eligible to immigrate to Canada permanently, fill out a free online assessment form.

To find out if you are eligible to work temporarily in Canada, or to learn more about bringing a foreign worker to Canada, please contact wp@canadavisa.com.

 2017 CICNews All Rights Reserved
home World Assisted suicide in Netherlands goes up by 10 percent in 2016

The number of reported cases of assisted suicide in the Netherlands has increased by 10 percent in 2016, and it now represents four percent of all the deaths in the country, according to a report by the regional monitoring boards.

There have been 6,091 reported cases of euthanasia last year, compared with 5,561 cases in 2015. As many as 87 percent of the cases in 2016 involved people with cancer, serious heart or lung problems, or nervous system disorders such as ALS, Dutch News reported.

A total of 32 euthanasia cases involved people with dementia, most of whom were in the early stages of the disease, while another 60 cases involved people with sever psychiatric problems.

Euthanasia rules were not properly observed in 10 cases, most of which involved a failure to consult with a second doctor. The opinion of a second doctor is required under the current law in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands conducts a major study on euthanasia every five years. A study in 2010 indicated that 23 percent of all assisted deaths in the country have been unreported. There has been a 317 percent increase in assisted deaths since 2006, according to Life News.

Monitoring committee chairman Jacob Kohnstamm explained that the increase in euthanasia cases could be due to the democratic make-up of the Netherlands, as well as a change of opinion among doctors.

Assisted suicide became legal in the country in 2002 under strict conditions. A patient must be suffering unbearable pain, and the doctor must be convinced that the patient is making an informed choice before going through with the procedure.

The government extended euthanasia for people with severe dementia in January 2016. In February, the Journal of Psychiatry published a report highlighting significant concerns about euthanasia for psychiatric reasons.

The report cited a case in which a woman without health problems in her 70s chose to die by euthanasia after the death of her husband. Prior to her husband's death, the couple decided that they would not live without each other.

According to a consultant, the woman "did not feel depressed at all. She ate, drank and slept well. She followed the news and undertook activities."

Doctors have recently come out against a proposal that would allow euthanasia for people who feel their lives are complete, and not just for people who are suffering unbearable pain.

"Such a radical proposal is not desirable for practical reasons and for reasons of principle," the Dutch Doctors Federation, which represents 59,000 practitioners and students, said in a statement.

The doctors warned that approving the proposal would lead to "an erosion of the conscientious practice of euthanasia" and increase "the feeling of vulnerability among elderly people and the stigmatisation of old age."
Fundatia de Binefacere Caritas Moldova solicita oferte de pret de la companii cu privire la productia de materiale de vizibilitate
The U.S. order prohibiting passengers from carrying laptop computers and other electronics into the cabins of some overseas flights is raising concerns about a risk unrelated to terror: the potential for those devices lithium-based batteries to catch fire in the baggage hold.

The Flight Safety Foundation, a non-profit funded by airlines and other groups to reduce the risk of accidents, on Friday issued a press release urging the industry to take steps not to introduce another risk from the highly flammable batteries powering the electronics.

The concern is that passengers are being told to place electronic devices into cargo holds just as international safety agencies have begun barring bulk shipments of rechargeable lithium cells because of evidence that they can spontaneously catch fire and even explode.

Its potentially a transfer of consequential risk, Greg Marshall, vice president of Global Programs at the safety group, said in an interview. Were going to see large numbers of these devices carried in the cargo hold of aircraft that would otherwise have been in the cabin.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration logged 31 cases last year in which lithium-based batteries either caught fire or smoldered on airline flights. Three cargo aircraft have been destroyed by fires attributed at least in part to lithium batteries, two of which were fatal accidents, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

We coordinated closely with the FAA and provided an information bulletin to the air carriers regarding the appropriate handling of electronics, including lithium batteries, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Jenny Burke said in an emailed response to the safety groups warning.

On March 21, the U.S. notified airlines that it wouldnt permit passengers on flights headed to the U.S. from 10 Middle Eastern airports  including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Cairo  to carry any electronic device larger than a smartphone. DHS said the action was the result of new intelligence that terrorists were planning to target airlines by smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items.

The U.K. followed with a similar ban the same day. Representative John Katko, a New York Republican who is chairman of the House Transportation Security Subcommittee, said March 29 that the threat was real, and predicted other nations would broaden the ban. DHS Secretary John Kelly on Wednesday told Congress the action may be extended to other airports.

However, the fears over terrorism are colliding with one of the biggest concerns in airline safety: the worry that highly volatile batteries may ignite and fuel deadly aircraft fires.

United Nations

The United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization last year concluded that lithium-ion cells were too risky to be carried in bulk on passenger flights after manufacturers Boeing Co. and Airbus SE advised airlines that existing fire suppression systems werent adequate to protect planes against lithium fires.

While the terrorist threats may be real, the government should perform a risk analysis and take steps to reduce the potential for battery fires, said John Cox, a safety consultant who has written on the subject of aircraft fires.

Some carriers have allowed passengers to keep their laptops and tablet computers with them until just before departure, before gathering them in a bin to be stowed in the cargo hold, Cox said. Placing the devices in such close proximity to each other increases the potential risks if one catches fire, he said.

If they are in the cargo hold and one overheats and goes into thermal runaway, you cant deal with it, he said.

Pilots and flight attendants are trained to extinguish a battery fire in the cabin, but wouldnt be able to reach a blaze in a cargo area, he said.

Passengers should be reminded to switch off electronics if they pack them in checked bags, the Flight Safety Foundations Marshall said. They also shouldnt assume its now permissible to stow spare batteries and e-cigarettes in luggage bound for the cargo hold. Those items are still prohibited in checked bags, he said.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
In the first legislative session after a school bus wreck in Chattanooga killed six children, Tennessee lawmakers are advancing bills to improve safety, including one measure that would require seatbelts on new buses.

On Tuesday, a House committee advanced the seat belt measure, despite cost concerns and some worries that restrained schoolchildren would be trapped if their bus catches fire or plunges under water.

Rep. Joanne Favors, D-Chattanooga, said her bill would cost districts across the state an estimated total of $70 million a year. Favors, who represents the school district where the bus accident happened, has brought the costs down by making her measure apply only to buses purchased after July 2019.

Favors said she can reduce the cost even more, and vowed to keep fighting. But she faces skepticism.

I dont think this is a good piece of legislation, Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver, R-Lancaster, told Favors during the House Education Administration and Planning Committee meeting. I think it is based on emotion and any kind of legislation that is based on emotion is usually not good policy.

Lawmakers moved the bill forward nevertheless.

A separate bill won unanimous House passage Monday evening. Proposed by Gov. Bill Haslam, it would require more oversight of drivers. The 24-year-old school bus driver in the Chattanooga crash in November was speeding with 37 schoolchildren on board and had a wreck involving property damage two months earlier, authorities said.

That bill, which awaits Senate passage, would require each school district to have a supervisor who oversees school bus transportation, and require drivers to be at least 25 and go through training.

Haslam appeared to suggest that the seat belt requirement might have a difficult time passing.

If they pass it well sign it and figure out a way to fund it. But were not actively engaged in that one, Haslam said. The proposal we made was the proposal that we obviously wanted to make certain would happen.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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The Shaw JCC's Israeli Independence Day festival will be held on Sunday, April 30 at the Schultz Campus for Jewish Life. The family-friendly event begins at noon and includes games, activities, food and guest speakers.

(Shaw JCC)

AKRON, Ohio - The Shaw JCC is inviting community members to celebrate the 69th anniversary of Israel's independence at a festival on Sunday, April 30.

The free, family-friendly event includes games, activities, food and guest speakers and is sponsored by the Shaw JCC and the Jewish Community Board of Akron.

The event begins at noon and includes:

Guest speaker and world Jiu-Jitsu champion Lior Ofir, who will provde a self-defense demonstration with Krav Maga

A viewing of the film "On the Map," a documentary that details the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team's 1977 triumph, followed by a question and answer session by Maccabi USA alumni Mark Sack

Singers Cantor Kathy Fromson and Rachel Osherow

A flag dance performance by The Lippman School students in remembrance of Israel's fallen soldiers

Israeli music

Photo magnet booth

Face painting

Souvenirs

Complimentary snacks

In addition, Efrat's Cafe & Catering will be offering authentic Israeli meals for $5.

"Connecting our community to the people, history, culture and land of Israel remains a core value of the Shaw JCC," said Shaw JCC Executive Director Michael Neumann in a news release. "The Israel Festival is an exciting, innovative way for the community to learn about and celebrate Israel's spirit through sports."

The festival will take place at the Schultz Campus for Jewish Life, 750 White Pond Drive, Akron. For more information, visit www.shawjcc.org or call 330-867-7850.

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ORANGE, Ohio -- Departmental information, special attention; Emery Road: An officer was asked to respond to the Orange Fire Department at 2:30 p.m. on Easter Sunday (April 16), where a local man, 38, was waiting, saying that he knew the suspect who had just posted a shooting on Facebook.

Information was gathered and forwarded to Cleveland police and special attention was planned with extra patrols around his residence. He provided a written statement and asked to be notified when when the suspect was in custody.



Disturbance, warrants served; Chagrin Boulevard: An officer responding to a disturbance at the Shell True North gas station around 10:15 a.m. on April 16 recognized one of the cars involved from a recent license plate check at the Extended Stay North hotel parking lot.

The driver, a University Heights man, 33, along with his passenger, a Mayfield Heights woman, 28, were both arrested on felony warrants involving dangerous drugs through the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department.

He had actually called police to report that the mother of his child, a Cleveland Heights woman, 43, was making a scene at the station over money she thought he owed her.

Police seized two flip cellphones from the man, who also claimed he'd had about $200 in his shirt pocket that now seemed to be missing. He and his passenger were taken to the Euclid Jail and turned over to county sheriff's staff.

Warrant, driving under suspension, providing false information to police, display of license plates; Orange Place: A patrol officer stopped a 1993 Honda Accord on April 15 after a computer check showed an expired Michigan license plate. The driver, who turned out to be a Cleveland woman with two active warrants and a license forfeiture, initially tried to pass herself off as her cousin, whose name appeared on a transfer document through Motor City Auto Auctions.

Soliciting without a permit, East Orange Hill Circle: Responding to an April 12 complaint about a group of solicitors going door-to-door in the Capital Hill neighborhood around 4:30 p.m., police ran a computer check on an Evansville, Ind. man, 34, who became agitated and confrontational after waving them off, saying he did not need a permit.

They found a warrant out of the Englewood Police Department in Montgomery County, Ohio, but it was out of their range for pickup. The man was told to cease soliciting and was picked up by a white Dodge van with about eight passengers inside.

Grand theft from auto, Jackson Drive: A local man, 51, reported shortly after 10 a.m. on April 10 that he had walked out to his 2006 Volvo and found the driver's side door open, and his center console as well, where his wallet was missing, including his driver's license and two bank debit cards. He had parked the car about 8:30 p.m. the night before.

Theft of identity, West Ash Lane: A woman reported April 17 that when she was filing her income tax return, she was notified by the Internal Revenue Service that someone had already filed using her I.D. She gave a written statement to police to provide to the IRS.

If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page.

"

cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar buys four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
EWF_CHIC_summertour.jpg

Earth, WInd and Fire and Chic, featuring Nile Rodgers, will bring their "2054" summer tour to Quicken Loans Arena on July 29, 2017.

(Courtesy of Live Nation)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Two of pop music's most successful and acclaimed bands -- Earth, Wind and Fire; and Chic, featuring co-founder and recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Nile Rodgers -- will bring their "2054: The Tour" to Cleveland for one show at Quicken Loans Arena on July 29.

Tickets go on sale Friday, April 28 through livenation.com. American Express cardholders will have access to presale tickets in select cities beginning Monday, April 24 at 10 a.m. local time. Tickets go on sale to the general public starting Friday, April 28 at 10 a.m. local time. For complete presale details and ticket information, please visit www.ticketmaster.com.

The 2054 The Tour - which kicks off July 12 in Oakland, California, will feature a special guest DJ and a specialized seating configuration toward the front of the stage where seats will have additional space between them to encourage audiences to dance the night away.

"Nile Rodgers and CHIC are legendary for their iconic style, song, sound, and groove," said Philip Bailey, co-founder of Earth, Wind & Fire. "Get ready for a non-stop 2054 party!"

Here is the full itinerary:

July 12, 2017 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena

July 13, 2017 Sacramento, CA Golden 1 Center

July 18, 2017 Phoenix, AZ Talking Stick Resort Arena

July 20, 2017 Denver, CO Pepsi Center

July 22, 2017 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center

July 23, 2017 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center

July 26, 2017 Chicago, IL United Center

July 27, 2017 St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center

July 29, 2017 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena

August 1, 2017 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center

August 4, 2017 Newark, NJ Prudential Center

August 5, 2017 Boston, MA TD Garden

August 7, 2017 New York, NY Madison Square Garden

August 9, 2017 Washington DC Verizon Center

August 10, 2017 Pittsburgh, PA PPG Paints Arena

August 11, 2017 Buffalo, NY KeyBank Center

August 13, 2017 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre

August 15, 2017 Indianapolis, IN Bankers Life Fieldhouse

August 17, 2017 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena

August 18, 2017 Charlotte, NC Spectrum Center

August 19, 2017 Atlanta, GA Verizon Amphitheatre

August 22, 2017 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre

cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar provides four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio

Assault, South Green Road:

A woman said April 13 her 12-year-old daughter was assaulted by another student at Greenview Elementary School. Surveillance video showed the 11-year-old suspect grab the woman's daughter by the hair, pull her to the ground and punch her. That girl was suspended from school for ten days and may be charged in juvenile court.

Theft, Warrensville Center Road:

A woman said April 8 she had her cell phone taken from her purse at Walmart while she was in line at the money center. She believed a woman behind her took it when she bumped into her. Officers located the suspect near the south entrance drive of the store, but she did not have the phone and was subsequently released. Surveillance video was later reviewed and clearly showed the suspect reach into the woman's purse, take the phone and place it into her jacket. A warrant has been issued for the arrest of the 18-year-old Cleveland Heights woman.

Theft, Professor Road:

A woman reported April 11 her daughter's iPhone was stolen from her purse at Memorial Junior High School. She said it happened during gym class when the purse was left in the hallway, as mandated by the teacher.

Noise complaint, Bayard Road:

Two Notre Dame College students were cited at their home for disturbing the peace after several complaints of a loud party around 12:45 a.m. April 9.

Criminal damage, Suffolk Road:

A woman reported April 3 the back window of her car had been smashed in and the passenger side tires had been flattened while it was parked at her home. She suspected a woman, known to her, was responsible for the damage because she had been receiving harassing phone calls from her threatening damage to her car. She did not provide officers with proof of the threats.

Theft, Warrensville Center Road:

A woman reported April 7 a $1,000 Walmart gift card that she had purchased from the store had been stolen and used. She was uncertain she even left the store with the card after purchasing it. Walmart management confirmed eight transactions had been made on the card the day she purchased it. The Walmart location number indicated on the receipt was unknown by the staff. They did a Google search of it and found results about gift card scammers. There is no way to track where the purchases were made or by whom.

Suspicious vehicle, Professor Road:

Officers located an occupied vehicle around 12:22 a.m. April 14 in the Memorial Junior High School parking lot. There were several empty bottles, snack wrappers and a plastic bottle on the ground by the driver's door. The driver said the trash did not belong to him and refused to identify himself. The Cleveland man, 24, was given a warning for trespass and obstructing official business and cited for littering. He collected the trash and disposed of it.

Theft, South Green Road:

An employee of Ohio Interlock said April 5 a Cleveland Heights woman, 39, refused to return an electronic ankle bracelet that had been issued to her by the city court. She had cut it off in December and since failed to return it. She violated her probation by cutting off the bracelet, which is valued at $3,500. Officers are investigating.

Theft, Cedar Road:

An unknown man was suspected of stealing an iPad from Petsmart April 13. A cashier said she saw him reach into the register area and taken the item, valued at $429. The staff was unable to locate the suspect.

Theft, Warrensville Center Road:

A Cleveland woman, 36, was suspected of stealing a bottle of vodka from Walmart around 5:30 a.m. April 13 after she was unable to purchase it during restricted hours. She said she needed the vodka because she suffers from alcoholism. She was cited for theft and obstructing official business.

Criminal damage, Warrensville Center Road:

A warrant was issued for the arrest of a 22-year-old Cleveland woman April 5 after she was suspected of writing "KAYE" on the floor at Walmart with a can of spray paint. She was identified because she was with a woman who was dating an employee and found to be speaking with him.

Disturbance, Lilac Road:

Officers responded to a home at 9:11 p.m. April 9 for a report of a disturbance between a man and his wife. It was determined they were both drunk and both had active warrants. The woman, 23, attempted to kick the ceiling of the cruiser while being transferred to Parma police. The Chester man, 39, was taken to the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office and caused over $1,000 in damage to a cruiser by attempting to kick out a window.

Unauthorized use of motor vehicle, Harwood Road:

A woman said April 8 her son, 37, took her vehicle without her permission the previous night. Officers spoke to the man, who had returned home without the vehicle. He said he had taken it to go to Cleveland and let a friend drive home, but they got into an accident and the vehicle was impounded and his friend was arrested. He could not provide any details about the police department that arrested his friend, but claimed officers gave him a ride to a bus stop so he could take a bus home. Police were unable to find any information about an accident involving the vehicle. The man was arrested for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He has an extensive criminal record related to drugs and drug sales.

See more South Euclid news at Cleveland.com/south-euclid.

If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland Facebook killer Steve Stephens gambled at a West Virginia casino two days before he killed a 74-year-old man at random and posted the video on Facebook, sparking a nationwide manhunt.

Hancock County Sheriff spokeswoman Linda Stewart said surveillance video captured Stephens gambling on Friday at Mountaineer Casino in New Cumberland, West Virginia. Detectives went to the casino and verified the claim after getting a tip, Stewart said.

The video shows Stephens walking into the casino, playing table games, getting something to eat at a cafeteria and driving away from the casino.

The surveillance footage shows Stephens wearing what appears to be the same clothes as when he recorded himself on Facebook on Sunday before, during and after the shooting.

West Virginia State Police spokesman Lt. M.T. Baylous said investigators do not believe Stephens returned to West Virginia after the slaying.

Stephens in Facebook videos before and after the killing mentioned gambling and financial difficulties as reasons that he "snapped" and was looking for someone to kill.

He said his gambling had caused him to "lose everything" and left him "out of options."

Stephens' financial struggles included being evicted from apartments in Euclid and Warrensville Heights in the span of five months. He filed for personal bankruptcy in 2015.

Stephens, about 2 p.m. Sunday, pulled up next to Robert Godwin Sr., who was collecting cans while walking on East 93rd Street in the city's Glenville neighborhood. Stephens shot Godwin in the face at pointblank range and uploaded the video of the shooting to Facebook.

Pennsylvania State Police said that Stephens was known to gamble at the Presque Isle Casino in Erie, Pennsylvania and were on alert watching for the possibility that he showed up in that city.

A Presque Isle spokeswoman said that Stephens had not been to that casino since March.

Stephens was spotted about 11 a.m. Tuesday at a McDonald's in Harborcreek Township, Pennsylvania and was stalled by workers who pretended that Stephens' French fries were not yet ready while they alerted police.

State police saw Stephens driving from the restaurant and rammed the back of his car during a two-mile chase, causing Stephens' Ford Fusion to spin out in Erie. Stephens immediately grabbed a gun, put it to his head and killed himself, state police said.

State police are testing the gun and will hand it over to Cleveland investigators, state police said.

Cleveland and Pennsylvania State Police are trying to figure out where Stephens went following the killing and how he managed to elude law enforcement for nearly two days.

To comment on this story, please visit cleveland.com's crime and courts comments section.

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L08Row

Televangelist Ernest Angley has closed the Cathedral Buffet, which opened in 1971.

(The Plain Dealer)

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio - Televangelist Ernest Angley has closed the Cathedral Buffet, weeks after a federal judge ordered him to pay more than $388,000 in damages and back wages to employees who the U.S. Department of Labor found worked as unpaid volunteers.

The buffet's website simply states that "Starting April 18, the Cathedral Buffet will be closed to the public."

"We are now closed to the public. We've always kept our prices low so whole families can afford dinner out," said a woman who answered the phone. "We have never made a profit, but we can't do it without volunteers."

The restaurant opened in 1971 adjacent to the Rev. Rex Humbard's Cathedral of Tomorrow. In 1994, the Cathedral was sold to Angley's ministry and rededicated as Grace Cathedral. He continued to operate the buffet.

U.S. District Judge Benita Pearson wrote that testimony at a trial held in October and November showed that Angley and his managers at Cathedral Buffet encouraged members of his church to work at the buffet without pay. The for-profit restaurant used volunteers to save money and the volunteers felt pressured to provide free labor, meaning they should have been paid for their work, Pearson wrote.

"... The volunteers' work was clearly integral to the Buffet's operations, in that they did work that was necessary to the operation of a restaurant, such as cleaning, bussing tables, stocking the buffet, chopping vegetables, and operating the cash registers," the judge wrote. "It is hard to fathom that a restaurant could operate without such work being completed."

The Labor Department filed suit against the 95-year-old televangelist and the buffet in 2015 following an investigation spurred by an article in the Akron Beacon Journal. Its lawsuit said Angley and the buffet violated the Fair Labor Standards Act through its use of volunteers and did not document the volunteers' work.

Angley maintains he and the buffet staff did nothing wrong and that the claims put forth by the government violate the First Amendment.

The Labor Department also cited Angley in 1999 for the same thing. The buffet paid $37,000 in back wages at the time and agreed to comply with labor laws going forward.

cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar buys four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
Last month, General Cigar Company formally announced a new line under its Partagas brand known as the Partagas Heritage. The cigar is a project that comes out of the General Cigar Dominicana factory located in the Dominican Republic. This is a project was spearheaded by General Cigar Dominicana Vice President of Operations Jhonys Diaz. According to Diaz, the Partagas Heritage project has been worked on for the past ten years, but had been saved for the right opportunity. With the Partagas Heritage now on the market, I recently have had an opportunity to smoke this cigar in the Rothschild size. Overall I found this to be an enjoyable smoke that could be enjoyed any time of the day.

While the blend is produced in the Dominican Republic, Diaz has stated that this project was very much a team effort across the whole General Cigar team. Blenders from General Cigars Central American operations were all contributors to what was the final product.

Without further ado, lets break down the Partagas Heritage Rothschild and see what this cigar bring to the table.

Blend Profile

The blend of the Partagas Heritage consists has tobaccos from four countries. This is highlighted by the Honduran Olancho San Agustin wrapper  a proprietary wrapper to General Cigar. This wrapper is grown in the San Agustin region of Honduras. This type of wrapper has been used on the CAO OSA and the recently released Torano Exodus.

Wrapper: Honduran Olancho San Agustin

Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf

Filler: Jamastran Honduran, Dominican Piloto Cubano, Mexican San Andres

Country of Origin: Dominican Republic (General Cigar Dominicana)

Vitolas Available

The Partagas Heritage is available in four sizes. Each size is packaged in 20 count boxes.

Rothschild: 4 1/2 x 50

Robusto: 5 1/2 x 52

Gigante: 6 x 60

Churchill: 7 x 49

Appearance

The Honduran Olancho San Agustin wrapper of the Partagas Heritage Rothschild has a dark cinnamon color  something that I have also seen on the CAO OSA and Torano Exodus releases. Upon closer examination there was some dark marbling that can be seen on surface. There wasnt much in the way of much oil on this wrapper. The wrapper was slightly bumpy with some visible veins and visible wrapper seams.

The band of the Partagas Heritage is quite reminiscent of the band found on the Partagas Serie D out of Cuba,. This is a red colored band with gold font. Prominently displayed on the center of the band is the text PARTAGAS. Just below it is the text HERITAGE in a smaller font. The band is finished with two gold pinstripes across the top and bottom.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to lighting up the Partagas Heritage Rothschild, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut to remove the cap. After the cap was clipped, I moved on to the pre-light draw experience. The pre-light draw started out with notes of dusty earth and wood. I then detected a sweetness that was a cross between cedar and cherry with a slight burnt undertone (Ill refer to this as a compound sweetness later on). Overall I considered this to be a satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point, I was ready to light up the Partagas Heritage Rothschild and see what the smoking experience would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The Partagas Heritage Rothschild started out with notes of wood and a black and white pepper combination. The pepper notes moved into the background. Simultaneously the compound note of cedar, cherry, and burnt notes emerged. On the retro-hale, I picked up an additional layer of mixed pepper notes.

As the Partagas Heritage Rothschild moved into the second third, a creamy texture emerged in the forefront. During this stage of the smoke, the compound sweetness slowly diminished and the pepper spices slightly increased.

By the final third, the creamy wood notes remained primary. The pepper notes were a very close secondary note while the compound sweetness was more distant. This is the way the smoking experience of the Partagas Heritage came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

Overall I found the Partagas Heritage Rothschild to have a low maintenance burn. This is a cigar that maintained a straight burn path. There was a slight amount of jaggedness on the burn line, but this was easily remedied with a few touch-ups. This was also a cigar that was never in danger of tunneling nor canoeing. The resulting ash wasnt overly firm, but it wasnt loose or flakey either. The burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.

Meanwhile the draw performed very well. This draw wasnt too loose, nor was it too tight. this sals made the Partagas Heritage Rothschild a low maintenance cigar to derive flavor from.

Strength and Body

In terms of both strength and body, the Partagas Heritage Rothschild started out on the mild to medium side. I found the intensity of both attributes increase in a gradual and linear fashion. By the midpoint of the cigar, the strength and body was pretty much in the medium range. While the attributes still had a gradual increase in intensity, the Partagas Heritage Rothschild remained in the medium range right until the end.

Throughout the smoking experience, the strength and body balanced each other nicely with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

Final Thoughts

Overall the Partagas Heritage is a cigar that delivers good flavor and has excellent construction. While its certainly not a bad cigar, I do feel it fell a little short on intangibles and as a result I found this cigar lacked a little in terms of a wow factor. If you are looking for a short smoke that wont overpower you and that can be smoked any time of the day, the Partagas Heritage does provide a nice option. Its a cigar that can be enjoyed by novice and experienced cigar enthusiasts alike. As for myself, its a cigar Id smoke again  and one worthy of a five pack.

Summary

Key Flavors: Cedar / Cherry / Burnt Combination, Wood, Cream, Cedar, Black and White Pepper

Burn: Very Good

Draw: Excellent

Complexity: Medium+

Strength: Mild to Medium (1st Half), Medium (2nd Half)

Body: Mild to Medium (1st Half), Medium (2nd Half)

Finish: Excellent

Rating

Assessment: 3.0-The Fiver

Score: 89

References

News: Partagas Heritage Launched

Price: $8.49

Source: General Cigar Company

Brand Reference: Partagas

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop
The Viaje Juntos 2016 is a project that was a collaboration between Viaje Cigars and Quesada Cigars. In 2014, Viaje launched the Viaje Collaboration series. As the name indicated, the Collaboration series was a project where Viaje collaborated with another member of the cigar industry to produce a cigar. Due to trademark issues, last year the series was rebranded as Juntos (meaning together). While the name changed, the mission of the brand remained the same  namely collaborating with others. Juntos would be different in anther way as it marked the first time Viaje would work with the Quesada Cigars factory in the Dominican Republic. Recently Ive had an opportunity to smoke the Viaje Juntos 2016 in the Toro size. Overall I found this to be a different project for both Viaje and Quesada, yet one that was quite enjoyable.

The packaging of the Viaje Juntos 2016 is unique in that it features cigars are packaged in two interlocking tins. Ten 6 x 54 Torpedo sit in the top tin while ten 6 x 54 Toro cigars sit in the bottom tin.

As mentioned the Viaje Juntos is the first collaboration between Viaje and Quesada Cigars. The previous releases in this series by Viaje have been collaborations with factories that Viaje has already had a relationship with. According to Viaje Cigars President Andre Farkas, the plan was to release a collaboration every year or so. While the first three collaborations were made with manufacturing partners, Farkas has not ruled out working with retailers or other industry personnel for future installments of this series.

Without further ado, lets take a closer look at Viaje Juntos Toro and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

When Viaje started working with PDR Cigars in the Dominican Republic, it marked the companys first foray into using Dominican tobacco on a regular basis in its blends. As for the Juntos project with Quesada, the company takes the next step forward in delivering a Dominican puro.

The Negrito wrapper is not a new type of wrapper, but was recently made more popular with Caldwell Cigar Companys The King is Dead line.

Wrapper: Dominican Negrito

Binder: Dominican Criollo

Filler: Dominican

Country of Origin: Dominican Republic (Quesada Cigars SA)

Vitolas Available

As mentioned there are two sizes with the Juntos that are packaged with together in interlocking tins. The top tin contains ten torpedo cigars and the bottom contains ten Toro cigars. The ten cigars in each compartment are packaged in a bundle to protect them during transit. A total of 1,000 of the interlocking tins were produced.

Toro: 6 x 54

Torpedo: 6 x 54

Appearance

The Negrito wrapper of the Viaje Juntos 2016 Toro had a dark espresso bean color to it. The texture of the wrapper was somewhat rough. There was also some oil also present on the surface. I also found some thin visible veins. The dark color of the wrapper does a good job at hiding the wrapper seams.

The band is a completely new design for Viaje. The band is white in color with the text JUNTOS in a simple white font. On the left side of the band is the text VIAJE and on the right side is the text QUESADA. The far right has the text 2016 in landscape mode. There are two gold pinstripes on the upper left side of the band and two silver pinstripes on the upper right side of the band. The two pinstripes interlock at the center of the band like a pretzel.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to lighting up the Viaje Juntos 2016 Toro, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut to remove the cap. After the cap was removed, I moved on to the pre-light draw. The dry draw delivered a mix of dark chocolate and leather. While it was a simple pre-light draw, it was also a satisfactory one. At this point I was ready to light up the Juntos 2016 Toro and see what the smoking experience would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The Viaje Juntos 2016 Toro started out with notes of cocoa and white pepper. The cocoa notes became primary in the first third. As the cigar moved through the early part of the first third, the cocoa notes transitioned to more of a malt-like note. Meanwhile the pepper moved into the background where a subtle natural maduro sweetness (a cross between natural tobacco and dried fruit) emerged. The retro-hale produced a layer of red pepper and cedar.

By the start of the second third of the Viaje Juntos 2016 Toro, the malt notes transitioned again  this time to more of a creamy wood note. While this might seem like a dull flavor, the pepper and maduro sweetness notes in the background provided a nice balance in the flavor profile. Toward the second half of the cigar, some nut flavors popped in and out of the forefront. It was also by this point where there was an increase in pepper spice.

The last third saw the spices close in on the creamy wood and nut flavors. There was less in the way of the maduro sweetness in the background. This is the way the cigar experience of the Viaje Juntos 2016 Toro came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

The burn of the Viaje Juntos 2016 Toro performed quite well. The cigar maintained a straight burn path from start to finish. There was a slight curvature on the burn line, but this didnt result in any additional touch-ups above what I would consider the norm for a cigar. The resulting ash was mostly tight and firm with a light gray color. The burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.

The draw to the Viaje Juntos 2016 Toro was not too loose, nor was it too tight. It provided the right amount of resistance to make deriving flavor from this cigar a low maintenance task.

Strength and Body

Viaje has gained a reputation for delivering many cigars that are on the fuller side. However, there are a lot of Viaje offerings that have been on the medium / medium plus side  and the Juntos 2016 Toro is one of them. This is a cigar that started out medium in terms of both strength and body. There was a gradual build up in intensity and by the last third the Juntos 2016 Toro had just enough depth to cross into medium to full for both attributes.

In terms of strength versus body, both attributes balanced each other nicely with neither overshadowing the other.

Final Thoughts

Given that Viaje chose to work with a factory (Quesada) that it had not worked with before, I found this project to be much more intriguing than the previous 2014 and 2015 Viaje Collaboration releases. One thing that really stands out with the Viaje Juntos 2016 is how much this is a change of pace cigar for both Viaje and Quesada. On top of that, the Juntos 2016 Toro brings together a nice flavor profile and a good dose of complexity. This is a cigar I would recommend to either a novice or experienced cigar enthusiast. As for myself, while I still have to smoke the Torpedo, the Toro size was more than satisfying. Considering the Toro cigars standalone, this is a worthy of a box split.

Summary

Key Flavors: Cream, Wood, Malt, Cocoa, Pepper, Maduro Sweetness

Burn: Excellent

Draw: Excellent

Complexity: High

Strength: Medium (1st 2/3), Medium to Full (Remainder)

Body: Medium (1st 2/3), Medium to Full (Remainder)

Finish: Very Good

Rating

Assessment: 3.5-Box Split

Score: 92

References

News: Viaje and Quesada to Partner on Juntos Project

Price: $16.00

Source: Purchased

Brand Reference: Viaje

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop
Brazil is still attracting a stream of foreign direct investment even after a corruption scandal involving its meat industry, the country's finance minister said Wednesday.

The scandal, which broke in March, stems from a two-year Brazilian police investigation, which revealed how meat-packers paid off inspectors and politicians to overlook practices which include processing rotten meat and shipping exports with traces of salmonella.

With just 21 in 4,800 meat processing plants involved, Brazilian Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said the quality of his country's beef doesn't worry him.

"I don't worry about that, I think that is pretty safe," he told CNBC.

"The question now is one of the producers assuring everyone the quality is good and definitely inspections will be made and quality is going to be analyzed, which is fair and good for everyone involved at the end of the day," Meirelles said.

As foreign direct investment into Brazil is diversified and largely not into meat production, inflows are still strong and growing, he added.

Addressing the series of scandals and corruption investigations in Brazil of late, Meirelles said the process will ultimately be beneficial.

"We are basically seeing a process in Brazil, which we at the end of the day will leave the country in a much stronger and better shape institutionally  and that is important," he said.

"I've met some officials from other countries who tell me... 'My country would not survive the kind of process that Brazil is going through,'" he added. "And I think that's good for the country: This will leave a stronger Brazil."

Aza Wee Sile contributed to this article.
Roslan Rahman | AFP | Getty Images

Beijing confirmed on Wednesday Interpol had issued a "red notice" seeking the arrest of Guo Wengui, a tycoon who claimed to have evidence of corruption at the top of the Communist Party. The comments from foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang confirmed reports by the South China Morning Post that the notice was issued at Beijing's request. Lu did not give details of Guo's alleged crimes. More from the South China Morning Post:

Interpol issues red notice for Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui 'at Beijing's request' after corruption claim report

Storm looms as Xi tries to clean up China's financial industry

Plug pulled on US interview with wanted Chinese tycoon Sources briefed on the notice told the Post Guo, who has close ties to disgraced former state security vice-minister Ma Jian, was suspected of bribing Ma with 60 million yuan. Ma is under investigation for corruption. Guo left the mainland in December 2013 and had been wanted by Chinese prosecutors since April 2014, a source with knowledge of the case said. An Interpol red notice is a request to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition, according to the Interpol website. It is not an international arrest warrant.

watch now

Guo is based in the United States, according to his frequent postings on Twitter, but as recently as this month he travelled to Britain. Neither country has an extradition treaty with China. Interpol said it would not comment on specific cases or individuals. Deputy public security minister Meng Hongwei became president of Interpol in November, the first Chinese national to hold the position and which came as Beijing was trying to bolster efforts to return suspects from overseas. Guo has given several interviews with overseas media recently, including Voice of America on Wednesday, in which he dismissed the claim he bribed Ma as a lie. He said he had met officials from China's graft-busting Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Communist Party's Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission in London last year regarding Ma's case, the true details of which were different from the allegations in the red notice. But the highly anticipated interview with Voice of America was aborted halfway through without explanation. In a tweet on Wednesday, Guo said the red notice was a "suicidal act" indicating that corrupt officials were fearful of their wrongdoings being exposed. He also said the allegations against him were "pure fabrication". "This will make Wengui more determined to fight these bad guys," he wrote.

watch now
China is cutting taxes this year by 380 billion yuan ($55 billion) in efforts to encourage spending and boost growth.

The value-added tax system will be reduced from four brackets to three, and the tax rate for products including natural gas and farm items will be cut to 11 percent from 13 percent. Tax breaks are increasing for small and medium-sized businesses with annual income of 500,000 yuan or less, according to a State Council statement.

The government is also rolling out incentives to boost tech and R&D, and from July 1, citizens purchasing their own health insurance can deduct 2,400 yuan from their taxable income.
"Most of the Yamanashi Maglev is in a tunnel, so you only have a few seconds to see the outside," said Tomoaki Seki, manager of the Central Japan Railway Company, which conducts the tests. "I think you'll be amazed by the speed."

Several times a day, crowds gather atop an observation deck built specifically to view the world's fastest train. They climb three flights of stairs, sit and wait hours, only to catch a few seconds of the superconducting magnetic levitation train, or SCMaglev  a cutting edge "super" train that uses powerful magnets and ground coil to reach speeds topping 300 mph.

YAMANASHI, Japan  It's become one of the main attractions in this sleepy town, just southwest of Tokyo.

I visited Yamanashi, to take the SCMaglev for a test run, unaware of the demand for tickets to get on board. With the train only open to the public roughly 40 days out of the year, rail fanatics consider the ride a golden ticket of sorts. The Central Japan Railway Company has been conducting tests along the same 40 kilometer track for the past 20 years, but interest has skyrocketed, since the SCMaglev reached speeds of 375 miles per hour in 2015, setting a world record.

The limited slots are determined by a nationwide lottery. The unlucky ones, are relegated to the overlook and the Yamanashi Prefectural Maglev Exhibition Center, where every SCMaglev sighting is heralded on a public speaker system,



The preboarding process itself is an event, with music blaring, and passengers lining up for photos with a maglev cut-out.



On board, the SCMaglev looks and feels like any other high-speed rail. That is, until the train starts to reach speeds of 310 mph. The floor starts to vibrate. The cabin sways slightly.

By the time the wheels retract, lifting the train off the tracks, it feels like a plane taking off.

"There really isn't much of a view, but you can just feel how fast it's going," said Takashi Yoshiba , who brought his 4-year-old son Ryouma and his 1-year-old son Keima for the ride. "When we reached speeds of 500 kmph , you could hear the passengers cheering."

Once complete, the train will connect the 215 mile stretch between Tokyo and Nagoya in 40 minutes, slashing the current travel time by more than half. Engineers don't expect the project to be completed for another decade, but with the country's population rapidly aging, the JRC already has its eyes set on exporting the technology to the U.S.

"If they adopt this system, then the volume that the manufacturer produces will be bigger, and hopefully they can reduce the cost and that might affect the profit," Seki said.

Specifically, JRC is eyeing the Northeast Corridor  the 220 mile stretch between New York and Washington.

It's a route that currently takes nearly three hours on Amtrak's Acela Line. The SCMaglev promises to slash it to just one.
Despite mounting global geopolitical concerns, the market continues to rally without substantial pullbacks.

Investors may wonder: Are the markets entirely hinged on political outcomes?



Politics has seeped into capital markets in such a way that "all trades are purely political," said Boris Schlossberg, managing director of foreign exchange strategy at BK Asset Management. Even more pointed, he thinks "all economic data is irrelevant."



He noted events grabbing the headlines: the highly anticipated French presidential election on Sunday, uncertainty in the United Kingdom, and U.S. investors awaiting concrete information from the Trump administration about tax reform and infrastructure spending.



"If [the Trump administration] can't get those two things done in the summertime, then I think a huge part of the 'Trump rally' just simply dies on the vine," Schlossberg said Wednesday on CNBC's "Trading Nation."



Should the far-right and far-left French presidential candidates emerge on Sunday and advance to the next round of elections, he said, that would be the "absolute worst-case scenario for the markets" because it would boost populist movements. In the U.K., Prime Minister Theresa May's call on Tuesday for a snap election in early June pushed the FTSE 100 index down to levels not seen since last June's Brexit vote.



The , on the other hand, fell a mere 7 points by the end of Tuesday trading.



To some degree, waning economic data confirm that political anxiety may not be fully apparent in the market but soon may be, said Miller Tabak equity strategist Matt Maley.



He pointed to weakness in crude oil and copper, along with a leg lower in the Citigroup Economic Surprise Index that he is watching closely. He noted, too, that the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has lowered its real gross domestic product growth forecast for 2017 to 0.5 percent, down from nearly 3.4 percent in February.



The euro zone reported final March consumer price index and trade data on Wednesday, but "data had little impact, as markets are focused on the first round of France's presidential election this Sunday," emerging market currency strategist Win Thin of Brown Brothers Harriman wrote in a note to clients.



"In what has basically become a 4-person race, the potential mix of the top two candidates will be key for the euro," Thin wrote.



In the U.S., investors are digesting weak economic data and the stock market is largely "trading on hopes for tax reform," wrote Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at the Lindsey Group.

Rhino Trading Partners chief strategist Michael Block thinks concerns about economic data haven't entirely gone away, along with geopolitics and election risk.



"Neither has a mess of sentiment that has investors whipsawing themselves like it's  2016. I'm old enough to remember 2016 and it was a frustrating year. Here we go again," he wrote on Wednesday.
Frauke Petry, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), said on Wednesday she would not lead the anti-immigration party's campaign for a Sept. 24 federal election - a surprising move that could play into the hands of established parties.

The shock decision by Petry, the face of the AfD, removes her from the very top of a party that has hurt Angela Merkel's conservatives in regional votes but which may now pose less of a threat to the chancellor's bid for a fourth term in office.

Petry's announcement came after she caused controversy by tabling a motion for a congress next weekend in which she said the AfD - which is shunned by other parties - should be ready to join coalitions in future. She said some other senior AfD members like Alexander Gauland, however, wanted it to be a "fundamental" opposition party.

Speaking in a video message posted on her Facebook page, Petry denied suggestions that she had made the proposal with a view to becoming the party's top candidate.

"In order to put an end to all speculation in this regard, I am using the opportunity of this video message to clearly state that I am neither available for a lone lead candidacy nor for participation in a top team," she said.

Opinion polls show the AfD winning enough votes to enter the Bundestag lower house of parliament for the first time after September's election.
There just might be $100 billion of cash looking for a deal. JPMorgan 's global mergers chairman, Kurt Simon, recently dangled the audacious notion that the capital markets could fully finance a 12-figure acquisition. He didn't suggest such a transaction was in the works, though, and there aren't many plausible targets. Simon's exuberance is understandable. A record $6.6 trillion of debt was raised globally last year, about half of it the investment-grade corporate variety, according to Thomson Reuters data. JPMorgan helped arrange more of these dollars than any other bank. And just over six months ago, Bayer clinched its takeover of U.S. seeds producer Monsanto in the largest-ever all-cash deal at $66 billion. It's nevertheless a big leap to the sum Simon suggested among his "2017 predictions," even if he hedged it with a question mark. A scan of S & P 500 Index constituents turns up a few dozen companies in the $60 billion to $90 billion range, leaving room for a premium. Some, including DuPont and Time Warner, are already spoken for in deals. Others, such as Goldman Sachs and Starbucks, would be challenging takeover targets. More from Breakingviews : Verizon's M & A signal comes in a little clearer The list also includes retailers Lowe's and Walgreens, arguably more appealing to strategic buyers using at least some stock. Elsewhere, one intriguing target could be Abbott Laboratories. The $75 billion medical-device maker recently bought St. Jude Medical, adding over $14 billion in net debt to its balance sheet, according to estimates culled by Thomson Reuters. The combination should produce over $7 billion of EBITDA next year. To stretch the hypothesis further, Johnson & Johnson is one of few plausible buyers. The $320 billion conglomerate, which reported disappointing first-quarter results on Tuesday, might be reluctant to use shares for fear of diluting earnings. And it will retain its AAA credit rating even after agreeing to buy Swiss drugmaker Actelion. That leaves J & J among the handful of companies  other examples being Apple, Microsoft and Pfizer  capable of matching JPMorgan's acquisition funding blueprint of $50 billion in investment grade bonds, $25 billion of bank debt and $25 billion of commercial paper. This imagined combination would represent a strategic reversal for J & J, which decided in 2011 to exit the market for artery-opening stents in which Abbott competes. Moreover, any real-world all-cash acquisition on this scale would be fraught with pitfalls. A deal remains more theoretical than the market's appetite for one. For more independent commentary and analysis from Reuters Breakingviews, visit breakingviews.com

JPMorgan Chase headquarters, New York. Stan Honda | AFP | Getty Images
WHEN: Today, Thursday, April 20th

WHERE: CNBC's "Power Lunch"

Following are excerpts from the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with CNBC's Chief International Correspondent Michelle Caruso-Cabrera and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble from Washington, D.C., today, Thursday, April 20th. The excerpts aired on CNBC's "Power Lunch" (M-F, 1PM-3PM ET).

All references must be sourced to CNBC.

SCHAUBLE ON THE FRENCH ELECTION AND THE RISE OF EUROSKEPTICISM

Michelle Caruso-Cabrera: Huge event this coming weekend, the French election, can the euro survive the French election?

Wolfgang Schauble: I'm quite optimistic and I think the French people will take a reasonable decision. That means a decision that allows so the euro can survive.

Caruso-Cabrera: When you have more than 40 percent of the electorate at this point saying they support someone who is absolutely a euro skeptic, like Marine Le Pen, or a second candidate, who says his support for the euro is only conditional. As long as he gets to spend the money that he wants to do, as long as he gets to violate a lot of the things that require membership in the euro. How can you be optimistic when such a large percentage of the population doesn't seem to support that?

Schauble: 40 percent is not the majority of a population.

Caruso-Cabrera: No. What do you make of the rise of euro skepticism across Europe? What has gone wrong? Is the euro not working the way it was supposed to?

Schauble I think it's not the matter of the Euro. I think it's a lot of problems. I think some problems are similar to reasons for electoral decision in UK and the Brexit or in the United States and the presidential elections. There is some uncertainty and the speed of change.

Caruso-Cabrera: A lot of people say that the euro is about maintaining peace. But do you know what Marine Le Pen says? She says, "the euro did not bring peace. Peace brought the euro." That it exists because of the peace and that as the peace falls apart, the euro will fall apart.

Schauble: I do not agree with Madam Le Pen, with all due respect. And by the way she is using a lot of arguments in the way that other peoples are responsible for my problems. That is always the message in which demagogues have been very successful: blaming others for their own problems. It may be lovely to listen to for constituencies, but it's not really to be trusted. You have to care on your own problems. Everyone has problems, every state has problems, but you have to solve it yourself and you can ask for solidarity. We prevent a lot of solidarity in Europe but of course solidarity must not be misunderstood as a disincentive not to do what you have to do for example, Greece, in your own interest. Only in your own interest.

Caruso-Cabrera: What about German elections. Any worries?

Schauble: Of course. Elections in a democracy are always a risk. That is fine. But we are quite optimistic that we have the better arguments, that we have the better Chancellor  we have the best Chancellor  but we know it will be a difficult fight in the campaigning and that is democracy and we enjoy it. I am optimistic.

Caruso-Cabrera: The decision to allow so many migrants into Europe  people hold that, the feat of Angela Merkel, and say it was a terrible decision and maybe is leading to the rise of euroskepticism and the far right.

Schauble: Maybe. Maybe on the other hand it is a matter of European pride.

SCHAUBLE ON THE GERMAN ECONOMY

Caruso-Cabrera: I don't know if you've seen some of the commentary when your current account surplus came out last month. One columnist in the UK called you a rogue economy. That you were one of the greatest potential causes of instability in the global economy.

Schauble: There are some writers even in the UK which write bullsh**, with all due respect.

Caruso-Cabrera: Did you say bullsh**?

Schauble: Yes. I don't like it.

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Republican lawmakers have a new plan to repeal and replace Obamacare in a bid to bridge the gap between the House Freedom Caucus and moderates, according to a document obtained by CNBC.

Politico first obtained the document about the health-care bill proposal.

A Freedom Caucus source told CNBC the changes to the health bill would secure 25 to 30 "yes" votes from the Freedom Caucus, and the new bill would get "very close" to 216 votes. The source said that 18 to 20 of those "yes" votes would be new.

Two senior GOP aides told CNBC no vote is scheduled for next week, but a discussion is expected via conference call on Saturday.

Here is the document:
The Jacksonville, Florida-based company posted earnings per share of 51 cents Wednesday, beating the Thomson Reuters estimate of 43 cents per share. Revenue, expected by analysts to ring in at $2.76 billion, was $2.87 billion.

CSX is off to a fast start under new CEO Hunter Harrison as its shares closed up more than 5 percent after the largest railroad in the eastern U.S. reported first-quarter earnings that comfortably topped Wall Street's expectations and said profit would jump 25 percent this year.

Source: FactSet

Early Thursday, the company also revised its guidance for 2017, saying that investors can expect 25 percent earnings per share growth over the 2016 figure of $1.81. That would mean earnings of $2.26 per share, surpassing the Street's expectation for $2.09 per share.

The stock also was boosted by news that the company would increase its quarterly dividend by 11 percent and initiate a billion-dollar share repurchase program.

Executives credited CSX's success and improved outlook to its Precision Scheduled Railroading model under Harrison, which it says will streamline every process of rail transportation. Think of it as lean manufacturing for the rail industry.

"Although we are just in the beginning phase of making changes to our network, we are off to a great start," said Harrison, who is also president of CSX. "These changes are critical to driving strong, sustainable service for our customers and superior value for our shareholders."

CSX named Harrison CEO in March on the urging of an activist after a tough battle with the fund Mantle Ridge last year.

With the day's moves, shares of CSX are up more than 63 percent in the past six months.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on January 5, 2017.

Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:

Travelers  The insurance company reported quarterly profit of $2.16 per share, below estimates of $2.35 a share. The shortfall was due largely to higher-than-expected catastrophe losses, which shaved 79 cents per share off the quarterly numbers. Revenue did exceed forecasts and the company also raised its quarterly dividend by 7.5 percent.

Verizon  The telecom giant missed estimates by a penny a share, with quarterly profit of 95 cents per share. Revenue also came up short. Verizon did highlight its customer loyalty figures, showing retail postpaid phone churn at 0.90 percent for the eighth consecutive quarter.

DR Horton  The home builder beat estimates by a penny a share, with quarterly profit of 60 cents per share. Revenue also beat forecasts. Results were driven by a 17 percent increase in sales.

Quest Diagnostics  The medical lab operator posted adjusted quarterly profit of $1.33 per share, beating estimates of $1.18 a share. Revenue also came in above forecasts, and the company raised its full-year outlook.

Blackstone  The private-equity firm beat estimates by 14 cents a share, with economic net income of 82 cents per share. Revenue also exceeded Street forecasts. Its earnings more than doubled from a year earlier as the value of its holdings jumped.

KeyCorp  The regional bank came in four cents a share above estimates, with adjusted quarterly profit of 32 cents per share. Revenue also came in above Street forecasts. The company said it is realizing good value from its First Niagara acquisition.

American Express  Amex reported quarterly profit of $1.34 per share, six cents a share above estimates. The financial services giant also saw revenue beat estimates, despite the impact of losing its relationship with warehouse retailer Costco last year. Amex did see an increase in card member spending.

Select Comfort  Select Comfort came in 11 cents a share above estimates, with quarterly profit of 56 cents per share. The mattress retailer's revenue also beat estimates. Comparable sales rose three percent versus a consensus estimate of a 1.3 percent drop. Select Comfort also raised its full-year earnings outlook.

CSX  CSX earned an adjusted 51 cents per share for its latest quarter, eight cents a share better than estimates. The railroad operator also scored a top line beat. The company was helped by the ongoing recovery in shipments of coal.

Alcoa  Alcoa is closing its New York headquarters, as well as seven other offices, in an effort to trim costs by $5 million per year.

Qualcomm  Qualcomm reported adjusted quarterly profit of $1.34 per share, 15 cents a share above estimates. The chipmaker's revenue also beat forecasts. The company's stock is rising in pre-market trading despite conservative current-quarter guidance and concerns over royalty payments being withheld by Apple in a legal dispute with the iPhone maker.

EBay  EBay came in one cent a share above estimates, with adjusted quarterly profit of 49 cents per share. The e-commerce company's revenue was essentially in line with Street forecasts, but its current-quarter profit forecast falls mostly below expectations as eBay faces competition from Amazon and other retailers.

General Motors  The automaker said its Venezuelan plant in the industrial city of Valencia had been illegally seized by authorities in that country, shutting down normal operations. The government did not provide any information on that action.

U.S. Bancorp  The bank plans to launch a new premium credit card in May, becoming the latest entry in a rapidly expanding market.

Alphabet  Alphabet's Google unit will introduce an ad-blocking feature in its popular Chrome web browser, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The new feature could be announced within a few weeks, although the report said some details are still being finalized.

Tribune Media  The TV station operator is a potential target of rival broadcaster Sinclair Broadcast Group , according to a Bloomberg report. The company is said to be working on finalizing a deal by the time Tribune is scheduled to report earnings the week of May 8.

United Rentals  United Rentals reported quarterly profit of $1.63 per share, 11 cents a share above estimates. Revenue was slightly above forecasts, but the shares are under pressure on a bigger-than-expected drop in the equipment rental company's rental rates.

Starbucks  Starbucks was upgraded to "buy" from "hold" at Stifel Nicolaus, based on optimism about comparable store sales growth for the coffee chain.

Gap  J.P. Morgan Securities upgraded the apparel retailer to "neutral" from "underweight," in both a valuation call and optimism about stability at the old Navy unit and limited downside risk to overall earnings.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.22 percent higher with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory. Oil and gas stocks dropped on U.S. crude stocks data which led to a fall in oil prices. The new figures showed a fall by 1 million barrels last week, according to the Energy Information Administration, though stocks remained close to a record high.

Basic resources moved higher as investors appeared to overcome steel and iron ore oversupply concerns. Rio Tinto reported late Wednesday that it was not changing its full-year iron ore shipment guidance despite lower prices. Its shares were 1.2 percent higher.



Unilever reported fresh numbers and edged higher after announcing first-quarter sales above expectations. Its shares closed up 0.3 percent. Meanwhile, Danish jewelry maker Pandora erased some losses from earlier in the week after reporting it would be updating its structure and backing its 2017 guidance. Shares subsequently jumped more than 5 percent.

British hedge fund Man Group was also higher, up by 4.4 percent, after announcing that funds under management rose 10 percent in the first quarter.



Meanwhile, in the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average and broader S&P 500 continued higher on Thursday amid renewed optimism around the first quarter of earnings season.
Former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin told CNBC on Thursday he does not believe the economy can growth faster than 3 percent in the long term, even with the kind of tax reform promised by President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan.

The basic rate of growth for this year and next year is around 2 or 2 percent, "though people are lowering their estimates lately," Rubin said on "Squawk Box."

Tax cuts would provide "some stimulus" to get growth to about 2 percent, added Rubin, co-chair of the Council on Foreign Relations think tank. "Could we get to 3 [percent]? That's a long stretch."



President Trump has said he hopes to boost economic growth to more than 3 percent or even 4 percent.

Rubin also questioned whether the Republican-controlled White House and Congress can deliver on their tax-reform promises. "They have no way to pay for them," he said.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Financial Times in a recent interview that the White House's timetable for tax reforms is going to slide after setbacks over replacing Obamacare. He called August "highly aggressive to not realistic at this point" for tax legislation on Trump's desk

The polarizing border adjustment import tax provision that's part of the House GOP's overall plan to reduce corporate taxes is " bad policy," Rubin said. "The probability of the border tax happening is remote."

Critics say the border tax would lead to high prices for consumers and hurt U.S. companies that rely on imports, such as retailers. Advocates argue any burden on import-heavy companies would be offset by an increase in the dollar's value due to the policy, thus negating the need for importers to hike prices.

A strong dollar means U.S. companies pay less for imports, but it also makes American exports more expensive.

Like many members of Trump's economic team, including Mnuchin and Gary Cohn, Rubin is also a Goldman Sachs alum.

Rubin began his finance career at Goldman in 1966. He rose through the ranks and was co-chairman from 1990 to 1992.

After leaving the Treasury in 1999, Rubin returned to Wall Street, serving as a board member and senior advisor at Citigroup for a decade.
Google plans to introduce a new ad-blocking feature to its Chrome browser, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal which cite sources familiar with the company.

The ad-blocker, which would be available as a default setting for both mobile and desktop, could spell the end of certain online adverts which many users claim disrupt their browsing experience, the paper said, citing sources familiar with the company.

Targeted adverts are likely to be those featured in a report released last month by the Coalition for Better Ads, a U.S. and European industry group, the Journal suggests. These include six desktop and twelve mobile web ad experiences which it said fell below the threshold of "consumer acceptability," such as pop-ups and auto-playing video ads.

Under one potential iteration of Google's plans, the ban could extend to all advertising that appears on sites with offending ads, rather than just the offending ads specifically.

The reports claimed that the plans could be announced and rolled out in weeks  or withdrawn entirely.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a referendum victory speech to his supporters at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey. Elif Sogut | Stringer | Getty

Top European leaders were frosty when reacting to Turkey's referendum Sunday, in which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan bolstered his grip on power. "(Turkey's EU) membership prospects are buried," Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said in a statement Monday, while a spokesman for Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, called on authorities Tuesday to investigate suspected voting irregularities. With this following a diplomatic row over campaigning for the referendum's proposed changes in Europe ahead of the vote, it might seem that Turkey has few friends in Europe. Does Erdogan's now executive presidency mean that the European Union's scales of solidarity have tipped against Turkey once and for all?

EU relations: Toeing the line

Turkey's relationship with the EU requires a careful balancing act. Talks to enable Turkey to join the 28 nation bloc have been in motion since 2005, though according to Robert O'Daly, regional manager for Europe at the Economist Intelligence Unit, prospects of these being successful are "extremely remote." For O'Daly, negotiations are in the doldrums as there is "no real commitment to progress with negotiations" yet "neither side wants me to formally break off."

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But following Sunday's referendum, Erdogan discussed a potential fresh vote to re-introduce the death penalty in Turkey, a change which, if passed, would equal game over for EU membership talks. Theodore Karasik, senior advisor at Gulf State Analytics, takes Erdogan's move literally, telling CNBC via e-mail that if passed it will "cement Turkey in the Middle East and away from the European Union." Other analysts CNBC spoke to instead dismissed Erdogan's suggestion as mere rhetoric with little likelihood of actually materializing. Both Turkey and the EU have vested interests in a successful partnership. The EU is Turkey's largest trading partner, accounting for 44.5 percent of the country's exports according to the European Commission. The two parties' customs agreement is currently being reformed to include agriculture and services. Also in Turkey's interests, the potential for visa free travel with the EU is also on the cards. Meanwhile, the EU is reliant on Turkey's cooperation to boost security on the continent and address the migrant crisis. Erdogan has himself suggested that Turkey votes on its potential EU accession. But for O'Daly, much of the president's anti-EU posturing pre-referendum boiled down to rhetoric aimed at whipping up nationalist support. "Erdogan will put all his time and energy into putting (domestic) reforms through," he added.

Leadership in the Middle East

According to Karasik, the referendum result is representative of a broader sea change in Turkish politics, and reflects President Erdogan's international ambitions.

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Structural reforms in Indonesia's capital city, one of the world's most populous, could slow following the results of a religiously-charged gubernatorial election. Unofficial results on Wednesday showed former education minister Anies Baswedan of the opposition Great Indonesia Movement Party, or Gerindra, eclipsing incumbent Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, commonly known as Ahok, to be Jakarta's next governor in a tight race that has sparked concerns about religious pluralism in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation. A more pressing concern for foreign investors, however, is the potential hit to measures introduced under Ahok's term that have helped underline Indonesia's status as an emerging market darling.

Infrastructure

One key fear is Ahok's defeat may slow upgrades to Jakarta's public works  a key element of President Joko Widodo's policy agenda and an issue close to residents' hearts. Choked roads, electricity shortages and a lack of piped water are among the many public qualms facing Indonesians. And if Southeast Asia's largest economy wishes to maintain economic growth, eradicate poverty and respond to climate change, it needs to invest as much as $1.2 trillion in infrastructure by 2030, a recent Asian Development Bank report warned. During his term, Ahok championed the president's views and won acclaim by focusing on ways to combat urban congestion, such as the construction of subway lines and the restriction of motorcycles in certain areas. But Baswedan, whose campaign largely focused on poverty reduction, private sector involvement and job creation, has placed less emphasis on infrastructure development, explained Eurasia analysts in a Thursday note. "Many of the city's major infrastructure projects could be affected if the new governor provides less competent political oversight and remains less eager to help Jokowi on his key economic priority."

Supporters of new Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan supporters celebrate his electoral victory by marching and lighting firecrackers in the Indonesian capital city on April 19, 2017. Donal Husni / NurPhoto / Getty Images

The support of Jakarta's governor is seen as essential for Widodo, nicknamed Jokowi, to pass landmark projects in the capital. Baswedan isn't expected to halt or reverse existing programs, but the pipeline of future activities could slow, Eurasia added.

Bureaucracy

Ahok, known for his straight-talking style that often didn't sit well with political elites, was also active in shaking up Jakarta's bureaucracy  a move welcomed by businesses. "The approach that Ahok used in his government style, which led to many breakthroughs and got action done, won't continue," warned Kevin Evans, Indonesia director at the Australia-Indonesia Center. Extraordinary energy is required to push past the various special interests and blockages in Indonesia's political system, and the city won't continue to see that kind of energy under the new leader, said Evans, who called Baswedan "a man of consensus." Ahok's gubernatorial loss was widely attributed to blasphemy charges that overshadowed other policy issues on the campaign trail. Backed by Jokowi's ruling Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Chinese-Christian politician is due to appear in court Wednesday and could face a prison sentence for allegedly insulting the Koran. "Baswedan will be less aggressive than Ahok in tackling corruption and which made the latter popular with residents," Eurasia warned. "That will weaken the positive example the capital city has been setting for the rest of the country in recent years."

Some analysts warned not to read too much into Wednesday's results.

Incoming Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan ADEK BERRY / AFP / Getty Images
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Marine Le Pen has dominated the headlines throughout the French presidential campaign, but another candidate is knocking her from the headlines: Jean-Luc Melenchon. The communist Melenchon's polling numbers have skyrocketed over the past month, giving far-right Le Pen, conservative Francois Fillon and centrist Emmanuel Macron a run for their money. It's not only France's future that's at stake, but possibly the European Union's. Both Melenchon and Le Pen have indicated they are willing to take the country out of the political-economic partnership. A French abandonment of the EU would essentially mean the bloc losing its second- and third-biggest economies at the ballot box in less than a year. Germany is the EU's largest economy; the United Kingdom is the second-largest and it's already leaving the EU. "This election is unusual. Usually, we have two candidates who are pro-European and no extreme parties," Philippe Ithurbide, global head of research, strategy and analysis at French asset manager Amundi, said in a media call Thursday.

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Melenchon, a self-proclaimed fan of late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, was polling at just 10.5 percent on March 17, according to French polling firm Ifop. As of Wednesday, however, he had climbed to 18.5 percent, just 1 point below Fillon and 4 and 5 points behind Le Pen and Macron, respectively. "If you look at the timeline of his surge, it follows the first presidential debate," said Jeremie Cohen-Setton, research fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "He performed very well there." Melenchon faced off against his three opponents for the first time on March 20. Reuters reported that a snap poll following the debate showed 20 percent of viewers found Melenchon to be the second most convincing candidate, after Macron. Most polls, however, still show Le Pen and Macron as the favorites to move on to a likely May 7 runoff election between Sunday's top two vote-getters. To be sure, polls heading into last year's Brexit vote and the U.S. presidential election were mostly wrong, causing shockwaves across financial markets when the results became apparent.

'Worst-case scenario:' Le Pen-Melenchon runoff

Several scenarios could play out in the first round, but Cohen-Setton said a second round faceoff between Le Pen and Melenchon would be the "worst-case scenario." Le Pen has said outright that she'd move to have France leave the EU if elected. Melenchon is willing to keep France in the EU but only if the whole bloc becomes willing to enact his fiscal reforms and have the European Central Bank answer to political interests rather than purely monetary ones.

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Melenchon would move to have France leave the EU if his proposals fail. For France  unlike the United Kingdom  leaving the EU means also leaving the euro zone, which is the part of the EU that uses the euro currency. "That's not something we know much about, except it will be very messy," Cohen-Setton said. "I think that's the part that's very critical," Cohen-Setton added, "whether it opens the door for a single-currency exit." Melenchon has also said he would take France out of NATO. He says he would tax French citizens who make 400,000 euros a year or more at a rate of 100 percent.

Presidents can't ditch EU on their own
A strong showing by far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in Sunday's French presidential election would cause major problems, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday.

"It would certainly unveil major disorder and the risk of dislocation," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told CNBC during an interview at this week's meeting of the foundation and the World Bank in Washington.

Lagarde was speaking of the possibility of the National Front leader winning enough votes to qualify for a May 7 runoff by the top two vote-getters on Sunday.

Though Le Pen's standing in the polls has been fading recently, the prospect of a victory by the right, and the accompanying sentiment to get France out of the European Union, is one that Lagarde does not find encouraging.

"First of all, I think the (EU) project itself has protected us from the horrors of war, and we need to keep that in mind even for the younger generations which have not known any of that," she said. "But we were at our throats for centuries."

"The fact that we have had nearly 70 years of peace and amicable and constructive relationships is a jewel, and it needs to be secured," she added.

Lagarde did not predict which way the election would go, but did say she will be voting.

On other issues, her outlook is considerably sunnier.
The days of tapping in your PIN at the checkout could be numbered after credit card provider Mastercard unveiled a payment card in South Africa featuring a biometric fingerprint scanner.

Mastercard, which processes more than 65,000 transactions every minute worldwide, made the announcement on Thursday following two successful trials in South Africa.



The technology works in a similar way to mobile phone payments, in which users must hold their finger over the sensor whilst making a purchase. Instead of a card user entering in their four-digit personal identification number (PIN), the payment card features a small biometric area designed to verify the user's fingerprint.

"It's not something that can be taken or replicated and will help our cardholders get on with their lives knowing their payments are protected," Ajay Bhalla, president of enterprise risk and security at Mastercard, said in a statement.

The payment network said it is currently extending the trial process and hopes to fully implement the technology throughout Europe and Asia later this year.

While fingerprint recognition is widely considered as a safer and more efficient way of payment authentication than PINs, analysts at Berlin-based Security Research Labs had previously hacked scanners such as the ones used by Samsung 's Galaxy S5.

"Consumers are increasingly experiencing the convenience and security of biometrics (and) the fingerprint is helping to deliver additional convenience and security," Bhalla added.
Shares of Mattel fell as much as 8.6 percent in after-hours trading Thursday, as it reported first-quarter revenue and earnings that missed Wall Street's expectations.

The toy company posted a loss of 32 cents per share, excluding items. That was worse than the expected loss of 17 cents per share, according to a consensus of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.



Mattel reported net revenue of $736 million for the quarter, below estimates for $801 million.



A year ago, Mattel had a loss of 13 cents a share and revenue of $869.4 million

"Our Q1 results were below our expectations due to the retail inventory overhang coming out of the holiday period, but we remain encouraged by strong performance at retail for our key core brands, including Barbie, Hot Wheels and FisherPrice as well as sustained momentum in high-growth markets like China," Margo Georgiadis, Mattel's CEO, said in a statement Thursday.

The company had forecast in its fourth-quarter earnings report that year-end inventories would negatively impact 2017 revenue by less than 2 percent.

Mattel shares are down more than 23 percent over the past year.

Georgiadis said that the company is confident that it has "worked through the majority of this overhang" and looks forward to the launch of its line of toys tied to Disney 's "Cars" franchise.

The company reported that sales in its girls and boys division, which includes properties like Barbie, fell 16 percent during the quarter.

Sales of Barbie alone dropped 13 percent, declining for the second quarter in a row. The brand saw a boost in the first three quarters of 2016, in part by a new marketing campaign and the launch of a series of dolls in a variety of skin tones and body shapes.

Here's how other Mattel brands fared:
Satya Nadella is determined not to rest on the laurels of Microsoft Office, if a new interview with Business Insider Poland is any indication.

In the interview, Nadella said that he wants Microsoft to be able to "push boundaries," giving the HoloLens as an example:

Now, the challenge is that at some point, the concept needs to be replaced by a new idea. Otherwise, how do you renew yourself? And in order to build a new concept, you need to build a new capability and that's where your culture can get in the way.

Under Nadella, Microsoft has made a monster bet on LinkedIn, and amped up its Surface line to near par with rival Apple . Less well known is its HoloLens project, a headset that is considered one of the frontrunners of so-called mixed reality technology. The product, which is billed as "the first self-contained, holographic computer," marries Microsoft's gaming expertise with XBox with workplace productivity applications, like uses in healthcare and architecture.

We hired silicon engineers many, many years ago, in order to now dream the dream that we can even create the assets able to do the holographic computing. That is capability building: having that foresight, forcing yourself to do things that are not the easy to do. It's not about the next day, the next quarter, next year. It's one of the fundamental challenges of leadership and you got to get it right: you can't be too far ahead, you can't be too far behind. To be able to yet see those corners is all it is about.

Despite his success, Nadella is faced with a monumental task  keeping Microsoft ahead of rivals in hardware, gaming and cloud, while deepening its relationships with businesses. It comes after Nadella has admitted the company "clearly missed the mobile phone." Nadella told Business Insider that after the mobile phone, the next category of personal computing will be a "fabric of devices."

"It's about your mobility, your ability to get work done as an individual or as a team, when you have lots and lots of screens and computers around you," Nadella told BI.

For the full interview, see the article at BusinessInsider.com
It's 4/20, or Weed Day, and investing in the business has never been easier.

Marijuana, known otherwise as cannabis, (or more accurately, cannabis sativa or cannabis indica) is a naturally occurring plant that produces a wide variety of chemicals impacting people in a myriad of ways. Most of us know the most common impact  "getting high," as well as a few of the others, getting hungry, feeling relaxed, or becoming tired.

But here's another we can add to the list: getting rich. The marijuana plant is currently driving the fastest growing industry in the United States with over 30 percent compound annual growth, according to preliminary 2016 revenues reported in Colorado by the Marijuana Enforcement Division. In other words, if you're a serious investor you need to start taking cannabis seriously.

Now you may be saying, "We get that it's growing, but where should I actually put my money?"

There are some critical factors to consider when answering this question.

First, avoid publicly traded marijuana companies (they're all over-the-counter) such as Medbox (OTC:NGBL) which ended up settling with the SEC for securities fraud. There are very few solid businesses in the space and finding the right one to invest in is extremely difficult. Your best bet is to invest in privately-held companies, which means you need to be an accredited investor, per SEC guidelines.

Second, look for companies with solid management teams teams. Yes, this is somewhat obvious, but it's particularly important in a community where "stoners" are still rampant. If someone is getting high at a meeting, that can ruin negotiations and negatively impact the company.

Third, avoid interacting directly with cannabis to side step a lot of risk. A smarter way is to find ancillary companies such as IoT technology firms, business intelligence solutions and next generation marketing platforms that provide the tools to help grow and distribute the plant.

Examples include Flowhub, an innovative software company servicing cannabis businesses, Front Range Biosciences, which helps research the cannabis plant, and BDS Analytics, the industry's authoritative market research firm.

Other hotbeds for ancillary products in the cannabis industry include distribution (Tradiv), marketing, advertising (Adistry), payment solutions (Tokken), agriculture tech (Grownetics) and business intelligence.
Palmer Luckey, founder and inventor of Oculus VR, demonstrates the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset and the Oculus Touch hand controllers during an event in San Francisco, California on Wednesday, June 11, 2015.

Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey donated $100,000 to President Donald Trump's inaugural committee using shell companies named after parts of a Nintendo game, according to a report by American magazine Mother Jones.

Facebook bought Oculus  the maker of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset  in 2014 for $2 billion. Luckey left Facebook in March, but his donation was received on January 4 while he was still working at the social networking giant, according to the report.

The money came from a limited liability company named Wings of Time, which lists an office tower in Los Angeles as its address without an individual's name. Records show a different address in the city of Long Beach for Wings of Time that matches one used by Luckey on other occasions for different businesses, Mother Jones reports. Another firm called Fiendlord's Keep Inc. is shown to be the manager of Wings of Time LLC.

Luckey's donation of $100,000 marks him as one of the highest donors to Trump's inauguration committee. But he was eclipsed by a $5 million payment made by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.

CNBC reached out to Luckey via Twitter but he was not available for comment. However, the Oculus co-founder did send out some tweets in response to the story.

When asked by a Twitter user why he donated to Trump's inauguration, Luckey replied that it was for the same reason other large companies did. It was revealed earlier this year that companies including Microsoft and Qualcomm also donated to Trump's inauguration.

TWEET

It's not the first time the tech entrepreneur has been involved with funding Trump. Last year, The Daily Beast reported that Luckey had been funding an organization called Nimble America who made anti-Hillary Clinton memes and billboard posters.

"I've got plenty of money," Luckey told the Daily Beast at the time. "Money is not my issue. I thought it sounded like a real jolly good time."

Read the full Mother Jones story here.
Weird things happen on the Internet, even to doctors.

These days, anyone with an Internet connection can reach a doctor at anytime and from anywhere. Typically, it costs about $40 to $50 to schedule a video visit with a physician, via a crop of venture-backed mobile apps like MDLIVE and Doctor on Demand.

The doctors using these apps typically deal with colds and flus, but from time to time, something a lot more horrifying happens: Full frontal exposure.

Specifically, male patients are flashing their doctors.

"There was a period where it was happening to some of our doctors once a week," recalls Bob Kocher, an investor in Doctor on Demand. Kocher says it did not happen more frequently to female doctors, as the user didn't know who they were going to get once they requested a visit.

The sign-up process for these apps takes about 5 or 10 minutes, and users are asked for basic personal data and their health insurance details. But in many cases, these individuals will attempt to hide their identities by using aliases.

"One of the challenges was in blocking certain individuals, if they used false information," said Ian Tong, Doctor on Demand's chief medical officer.

Tong says the company tried to fix the problem by canceling accounts of known offenders and attempting to connect these people to mental health support whenever possible. It also shuttered marketing campaigns that offered free trials, which tended to attract this kind of behavior.

MD Live CEO Randy Parker has similarly dealt with inappropriate behavior, especially when users believe they are anonymous. And Jay Parkinson, CEO of Sherpaa, which charges a flat fee for access to a doctor via an app or on the phone, received more than 30 pictures of men's genitals after launching a partnership with Vice, where anyone could text a doctor to get their health questions asked.

"It's the Internet," he said.

This behavior might be commonplace among social media apps -- Snapchat famously began as a sexting app -- but it brings up some intriguing questions about privacy and anonymity when it occurs in a health care context. The burgeoning market for telemedicine is expected to reach $24 billion by the end of 2020, given the changing regulatory environment and the challenges for people who live in rural areas to access a physician.
Portugal's deputy finance minister said Jeroen Dijsselbloem's days as Eurogroup president appear to be numbered after the Dutchman had suggested southern European countries had frivolously spent money on "booze and women."

Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund spring meeting in Washington, Ricardo Mourinho Felix told CNBC on Thursday, "Time will take care of Dijsselbloem".

The Eurogroup chief has been under intense pressure to resign after a German newspaper cited him as saying, "I can't spend all my money on women and drink and then at the end ask for your help."

The comment reawakened simmering tensions in several embattled economies in southern Europe over the harsh austerity measures imposed on some of the countries during the euro zone debt crisis. The bailouts seemed to inflame already strained relations between creditor nations in the north with its indebted southern nations.
Portugal's economic progress in recent years makes it increasingly difficult for the three main rating agencies to explain why they have left Lisbon with a junk investment grade, a top government official told CNBC on Thursday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund spring meeting in Washington, Portugal's deputy finance minister argued domestic reforms in one of Europe's beleaguered economies should not be dismissed simply as an act of "smoke and mirrors".

Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch rating agencies all currently list Portugal as below investment grade level, which means the cost of borrowing is higher on sovereign and corporate issuers.

"I would say that these three rating agencies will have increasing difficulties in explaining why and how they've maintained the rating for such a prolonged period of time when Portugal in '17 is very different from Portugal in '14," Ricardo Mourinho Felix told CNBC Thursday.
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!
Renewable energy and clean technologies can help economies grow, create jobs and make money  which could help to make America great again, said Bertrand Piccard, one of the two pilots who flew a solar-powered plane around the world.

"Today, if you want to have growth, if you want employment, if you want profits, you should not offer to the customers what you already have, you have to offer something better, you have to offer something more efficient, you need to build new infrastructure for the country. So in that sense, if you want to make America great again, you have to go to renewable energy and clean technologies," said Piccard, chairman of Solar Impulse, referencing President Donald Trump's campaign slogan.

Speaking to CNBC on the sidelines of the Credit Suisse Global Megatrends Conference in Singapore, Piccard was asked to comment on the political hurdles, especially in the U.S., that have come in the way of efforts to stop climate change. Last month, Trump signed an executive order aimed at rolling back a number of Obama-era climate policies.

Piccard said going clean is "not about being ecological, it's about being logical" as it allows companies and governments to be more efficient.

He added that he has set out to discover 1,000 solutions that can protect the environment while creating jobs and profits at the same time. He hopes that in about a year and a half, he can present those solutions to governments to help them meet their environmental goals.

"There's a small start-up in France that is storing heat up to a thousand degrees in ceramics, there are new systems to desalinate water with solar power," he said, giving examples of the kinds of solutions he is seeking.

"All these are available maybe in a lab, in the start-ups, in companies that nobody heard about. My goal is to bring these to governments," he added.

CNBC's Martin Soong contributed to this report.
Shares of steel companies surged after President Trump signed a directive asking for a speedy probe into whether imports of foreign-made steel are hurting U.S. national security.

United States Steel closed up more than 7 percent, as investors doubled down on Trump's "Made in USA" promise. Other steel-related stocks, AK Steel and Cliffs Natural Resources , both closed up over 8 percent, with Steel Dynamics more than 6 percent higher as well.

The materials sector of the was up more than 1 percent Thursday.

The president said he has directed the Commerce Department to prioritize the probe, noting the import probe has "nothing to do with China" but is more of a worldwide concern.

Trump signed the memorandum related to section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 at a White House event, which included leaders of some U.S. steel companies. The law allows the president to impose restrictions on imports for reasons of national security.

The memorandum "clarifies the direct link that exists in unfair trade, how that undermines our national security efforts," U.S. Steel CEO Mario Longhi told CNBC Thursday following a White House meeting with the president. "Our companies are fully prepared to contribute, to make sure we elevate the industry ... jobs will come along with it."

Steel stocks have seen exceptionally volatile of late, as health-care reform is still believed to take a higher priority above implementing a tax reform plan in the U.S., which is rumored to include some sort of infrastructure spending package.

Just earlier this month, for example, U.S. Steel fell more than 9 percent, marking its worst day since June 2016. Shares of the company are down about 7 percent year-to-date, including Thursday's gains, but are up more than 53 percent from the same period one year ago.
U.S. stock futures were higher this morning after the Dow and S&P 500 on Wednesday posted their fifth day of losses in six sessions. The Dow is on pace for its biggest monthly drop since January 2016. (CNBC)

Two Dow components, Travelers (TRV) and Verizon (VZ), lead this morning's list of quarterly results. Dow stock Visa (V) tops earnings after the bell this afternoon. (CNBC)

Another Dow component American Express (AXP) reported late Wednesday earnings and revenue that beat expectations. (Reuters)

Oil prices were higher this morning as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait signaled that OPEC producers will likely extend an international production cut deal. U.S. crude tanked nearly 3.8 percent on Wednesday. (Reuters)

Two economic reports are out at 8:30 a.m. ET: the April Philadelphia Fed index and weekly jobless claims. The March index of leading economic indicators is out at 10 a.m. ET.

Fed Governor Jay Powell speaks at 8:35 a.m. ET.
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Erin Lowry, author of "Broke Millennial" and "Broke Millennial Takes On Investing." Photo by David Rodgers

The 'Envelope System' Lowry got paid in cash whenever she babysat, and got tips working at Starbucks. Instead of putting the money in a bank account, she deposited into envelopes. She split her budget into four categories and marked an envelope for each: Rent

Money for Anna (Lowry's roommate, who paid the utilities)

Savings

Fun Fund "Every time I came home from either of those jobs, I would usually put 50 percent into 'rent,' 25 percent into 'money for Anna,' and then 25 percent into 'savings,'" she said. Extra cash would go into the "fun fund" envelope, which she joked was "usually pretty empty." Envelopes: A visual way to save The 27-year-old said the envelope system is effective because you can see how much money you have in each of your budgets. "I think it's incredibly helpful to look into your rent envelope and see, 'Hey, it's half way through the month, but I still need $300,'" she said. "Or to look into your savings envelope and think, 'Wow, in the last three months I've saved $200.' Especially when you're in a stage in your life where every penny counts." Staying On Track"I think it's incredibly helpful to look into your rent envelope and see, 'Hey, it's half way through the month, but I still need $300.'" The system keeps you focused on your budgets and prevents you from overspending, according Lowry.
U.S. federal law that classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 Drug (the same category as heroin and LSD), and places restrictions on interstate commerce as well as banking, puts America at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to expanding both our domestic and international markets. Canada is now attracting large-pocket investors who are cautious about putting their funds into the American market while a number of Canadian companies are investing in the U.S. and licensing some of our most popular brands and products. Canada has also reached an agreement with Germany to allow the European superpower to import medical cannabis.

Canada's new decriminalization law will allow individual provinces to decide if they want to participate and, if so, to implement and regulate the legalization of marijuana as they see fit. Most provinces don't want to use the dispensary model that has proliferated in the states that have legalized recreational marijuana in the United States. Plus, the marijuana business is going to be highly regulated in Canada, with a ban on advertising and even tougher rules than their alcohol and cigarette laws, and they are also committed to developing new testing technology for driver impairment and work safety compliance.

Canada is taking a very practical approach to this burgeoning industry and at the end of the day they're going to be the world leader. The rest of us are going to have to live and learn from what impact they will have on the marijuana industry because they're going to be the Colorado of federal legalization.

Israel is another country where medical marijuana is federally legal. Many people don't realize that Israel is the world's number two tech market behind only Silicon Valley. Israel has the most start-ups and venture capital funding per capita and has been studying marijuana since the 1960's. In 1964, an Israeli scientist discovered tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis and he later identified the endocannabinoid system, the foundation of medical cannabis methodology.

With some of the most advanced marijuana researchers producing many of the best testing results, doctors from around the world go to Israel to collaborate and participate with Israeli scientists and researchers in studies including brain injuries, cancer-fighting drugs and painkillers. The number of licenses granted by The Health Ministry to growers, doctors and patients is being increased to expand the local market, as well as to support industry requests for exports. When it comes to integrating marijuana agriculture, chemistry, drug delivery and pharmacology, no country does it better than Israel.

Let's move on to our mother country, England, where there is no legalized medical or recreational marijuana. To be licensed for sale, drugs need to go through the licensing process, which includes clinical trials. GW Pharmaceuticals is part of Big Pharma in England and is the leading developer of the Sativex, the first cannabis-based medicine to be fully approved and brought to market in any country (it's now available in 28 countries). Sativex is an oral spray marketed as an adjunctive treatment for multiple sclerosis and is also undergoing clinical trials as an analgesic for cancer-related pain.

GW has already applied for approval of Sativex in the U.S. and is going through trials. The Catch 22 is that, to bring their drug here, GW needs FDA approval and the FDA is not going to approve anything as a drug or medicine that's classified as Schedule 1.

In my opinion, one of the main reasons marijuana wasn't reclassified by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Food and Drug Administration during the Obama administration was to protect American pharmaceutical companies against GW. Until there's a true American competitor, like a Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson or Roche, it's a business decision at the government level not to lose the advantage to a foreign company. So, Big Pharma is going to continue to lobby against marijuana legalization until they have a competing product.

Other countries that have decriminalized or legalized medical marijuana include Spain, Mexico, Australia, Italy, Colombia and South Africa. All of these nations and many more passing new marijuana laws and regulations prove that the legalization of marijuana is a topic of interest around the world and that the science and business of cannabis will continue to expand. There are also real opportunities overseas to advance the synergy between marijuana science, education and private business. The venture capital company Kingsley Capital Partners has invested $12 million dollars at Oxford University to study medical cannabis for treating pain, cancer and inflammatory diseases.

So where does that leave America in the global market, especially when the current administration has indicated no firm policy on marijuana yet? Recent conversation in Washington about renewing the war on drugs and appointments of anti-marijuana hardliners has left some cannabis industry leaders nervous about the future. But I believe President Trump will leave marijuana as a states' rights issue. He campaigned as being a "jobs" president and legal marijuana creates jobs and adds new tax revenue that could benefit all Americans. It may sound outlandish, but in my mind, any talk about a massive infrastructure program in this country should include marijuana state tax revenues as part of the conversation. It has been proven in both Colorado and Washington that marijuana is a tax generator and a job creator.

The bottom line is that marijuana in America is all about politics. Until we have credible institutions based here that can talk about scientific results from tests and clinical trials, marijuana as a business, as well as a medicine, will not reach its full potential. A recent Gallup Poll showed that 60 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization and if we want to achieve our goals, it's our job to make sure that the conversation in Washington continues. We are a land of choice and people should be able to get medicine that works for them. People should be able to make decisions about what suits their lifestyle. If you add the right to enjoy optimum health to the preservation of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, you have the same fundamental principles of the marijuana movement. And one more thing  capitalism is part of our DNA.

So let the 420 party roll as we honor the long struggle that has led to so much positive change and progress. But when that buzz begins to wear off, we need to remember that we got here because we've been busy advocating, not just celebrating. If the United States seeks to become a global leader in marijuana science, medicine and trade, we need to look around the world and learn because we are not number one.

But there is some good news. This country has always been proud of products that can claim "Made in America." And nothing is more American than marijuana.

Commentary by David Dinenberg, the founder and CEO of Kind Financial, which provides financial technical support for the cannabis industry. Follow him on Twitter @daviddinenberg.

Follow CNBC's Opinion section on Twitter @CNBCopinion.

Watch: The marijuana gold rush
The Trump administration is close to bringing forward "major tax reform," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday, days after he tempered expectations for how quickly it will pass.

Mnuchin, who this week backed off of his earlier goal of passing tax reform by August, said the White House will unveil a plan "very soon." However, the Trump administration previously missed several of its deadlines for releasing its tax plan.

In terms of timing, he said he hoped passing a tax overhaul will not "take till the end of the year."

Mnuchin spoke at the Institute of International Finance Washington Policy Summit, where White House chief economic advisor Gary Cohn was set to appear later Thursday.

In a Financial Times interview published Monday, Mnuchin said getting a bill to President Donald Trump's desk before August is "highly aggressive to not realistic at this point." He said in February that he wanted to see "very significant" tax reform passed by Congress' August recess.

The business community has hoped Republicans can move quickly on overhauling the American tax system, a prospect that partly fueled stock market gains in the months following Trump's election. However, political realities have tempered expectations for changes to the tax system.

Republicans attempted to pass legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act before moving to a tax reform bill. That effort failed late last month, and Mnuchin said the setback contributed to his assessment that passing a tax overhaul by August could be difficult.

Trump put the pressure back on Tuesday after Mnuchin and Cohn appeared to walk back expectations for how quickly tax reform will happen. He called out Mnuchin by name during a speech at Snap-on headquarters in Wisconsin.

"So we're in very good shape on tax reform. We have the concept of the plan. We're going to be announcing it very soon," Trump said at that time. "But health care, we have to get the health care taken care of, and as soon as health care takes care of we are going to march very quickly. You're going to watch. We're going to surprise you. Right, Steve Mnuchin? Right?"

Even though the president sounded optimistic Tuesday, the Trump administration has set deadlines for tax policy before that have not come to pass. In late February, Trump said the tax plan was "very well finalized," only a day after press secretary Sean Spicer said it would be released "in the next couple weeks.

Republicans have refocused on resurrecting the effort to repeal the ACA, better known as Obamacare, as they get set to return from a recess next week. House GOP leaders are trying to balance the concerns of the both the party's conservative and moderate wings as they try to follow through on a major campaign pledge.

Mnuchin said Thursday that "whether health care gets done or health care doesn't get done, we're going to get tax reform done."

Watch: Tax talk spurs stocks
Congress may have to choose next week between keeping the government open and voting to repeal Obamacare  but President Donald Trump thinks it can do both.

"We have a good chance of getting (health-care legislation passed) soon. I'd like to say next week, but I believe we will get it and whether it's next week or shortly thereafter," Trump said during a Thursday joint news conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. "As far as keeping the government open, I think we want to keep the government open, don't you agree? So, yeah, I think we'll get both."

Congress returns from recess next week, with only days before the current resolution funding the government expires on April 28. Ahead of the scramble to keep the government running, reports Thursday indicated that the White House may push for a vote on a revised plan to replace the Affordable Care Act when Congress comes back.

Tackling both complex issues in one week would likely prove a daunting task.

There is not yet legislative text for the revised health-care proposal, and no vote is scheduled for next week, so far, three GOP aides told CNBC. It is unclear if this health-care plan could garner the votes needed to clear the House or the Senate.

A Republican congressional representative who spoke to CNBC expects Congress to avoid a government shutdown next week. CNBC previously reported that Republicans, who hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, would be willing to adopt a temporary measure keeping the government running for about another week while lawmakers continue budget negotiations.

An attempt to replace the ACA failed in dramatic fashion last month as House Republicans struggled to balance the concerns of conservative and moderate members of their caucus. Trump and House leaders initially signaled they would move to a tax reform bill, but eventually started to seek tweaks to push a heath-care plan through before pursuing a tax overhaul.

"The plan gets better and better and better and it's gotten really, really good," Trump said Thursday.

Trump contended that Republicans never gave up on pursuing health-care legislation. After the bill failed last month, Trump told reporters, "I would say that we will probably start going very, very strongly for the big tax cuts and tax reform."

 CNBC's John Harwood and Kayla Tausche contributed to this report.

Watch: Highlights of press conference with Trump and Italian PM
That's the message that the U.S. Office of Government Ethics sent on Twitter, pointing out that the number of public comments it has received has skyrocketed to more than 39,000 for the first two quarters of fiscal 2017.

This period runs from Oct. 1 to March 31, and it is unclear what portion of these contacts occurred during President Barack Obama's presidency and President Donald Trump's presidency, which began Jan. 20.

The number dwarfs the 164 comments during the same period in fiscal 2016 and 733 in the period in 2009, another time frame that spanned two presidencies  that of Obama and President George W. Bush.

The Ethics Office has occasionally lifted the veil on its traffic when it receives an unusual number of comments.

When its website went down on Feb. 9, it tweeted that it received "an extraordinary volume of contacts from citizens about recent events."

Tweet: OGE's website, phone system and email system are receiving an extraordinary volume of contacts from citizens about recent events.

While the office did not go into detail, the jump came amid a backlash against Trump's top adviser Kellyanne Conway after she plugged first daughter Ivanka Trump's fashion company in an interview. Afterward, the Ethics Office urged the White House to investigate Conway's comments and potentially discipline her.

In a post on March 9, it said it had received many calls, adding news that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had rescued himself from issues related to TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline application.

Tweet: Rec'd lots of calls today. State Dept. indicates Sec. Tillerson recused from issues related to pipeline application

The Ethics Office and the White House were not immediately available for comment.
The U.S. continues to take active measures to prepare for the possibility of a nuclear test by North Korea, U.S. officials told NBC News, including the deployment of a special nuclear "sniffer" aircraft, drones, and U-2 spy planes.

The U.S. Air Force's special sniffer plane is capable of detecting evidence of a nuclear explosion.

More from NBC News:

Why scrapping nuclear deal could boost Iran's hardliners

U.S. may not be able to shoot down North Korean missiles: Experts

Trump orders review of Iran nuke deal sanctions: Tillerson

Two U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News that North Korea is in a position to conduct a nuclear test with little or no warning.

"We expect that they are able to do it at any time, without any real warning," one official said. "They have been engaging in steady preparations."

The officials would neither confirm nor deny that the U.S. has detected signs that a test is imminent.

Three U.S. military officials said the Chinese military is currently on a higher alert as part of a nationwide exercise. The exercise is defensive in nature and not focused on the region near North Korea.

During a Thursday press conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, President Trump called North Korea a "menace." He answered a reporter's question about instability in North Korea by praising China's president and China's actions in the region.

"As far as North Korea is concerned, we are in very good shape," said Trump. "I respect [President Xi Jinping] very much, and I think he's working very hard Some very unusual moves have been made over the past two or three hours and I really have confidence that the president will try very hard."

Watch: Pence in South Korea
U.S. government debt prices were lower on Thursday as investors digested several pieces of data and kept an eye on the French election.

Uncertainty around the election has grown over the past month after far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon's surprising surge in the polls.

According to French pollster Ifop, Melenchon was just five percentage points behind the front-runner, centrist Emmanuel Macron as of Wednesday.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also signaled that "major tax reform" is coming "very soon" from the Trump administration.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was higher at around 2.239 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at 2.89percent. Yields move inversely to prices.

The 10-year yield briefly fell as low as 2.165 percent on Tuesday, the lowest since Nov. 10, and has tumbled from 2.63 percent on March 14.

Bonds prices have been boosted in recent weeks by reduced expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates two more times this year following disappointing economic data releases.

osted in recent weeks by reduced expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates two more times this year following disappointing economic data releases.

On the data front, initial jobless claims rose to 244,000, topping expectations, while the Philadelphia Fed business index fell to 22 in April from 32.8 in March. Leading indicators rose more than expected in March.



In oil markets, Brent crude traded at around $52.92 a barrel on Thursday, up 0.02 percent, while U.S. crude was around $50.26 a barrel, down 0.34 percent.

Crude prices posted their biggest one-day drop since March on Wednesday after data from the Energy Information Administration showed a build in gasoline inventories and a smaller-than-expected crude drawdown.
Saving for your child's college education can seem like an impossible goal. Unlike with retirement savings, few clear guidelines exist.

College costs vary widely depending on where your child goes to school and whether they qualify for financial aid.

Fidelity Investments has tried to clarify college savings with a new rule of thumb: Multiple your child's age by $2,000 to stay on track to cover half the average cost of a four-year, public university.

Under this strategy, if you have a 5-year-old, you would need to have $10,000, or $2,000 times 5 years, to be "reasonably confident" that you can afford roughly half of the cost of four-year, in-state public university, said Keith Bernhardt, Fidelity's vice president of retirement and college products.

At age 18, the typical time kids head off to college, your $36,000 fund could reduce the cost of school by 50 percent with the rest coming from financial aid, student loans and family earnings, Bernhardt said. "Different people have different financial goals, but the 2K rule provides a starting point."

Fidelity financial advisors developed the straightforward technique after a company survey found that 69 percent of parents wished there were more specific guidelines on how much to save for college.

The 2K rule for college savings comes with a catch: It assumes you use a 529 plan.

A tax-advantaged, state-sponsored 529 plan can boost your college savings. Investment earnings in the plan are not subject to federal capital gains tax and generally not taxed by state governments when used for the qualified education expenses, such as tuition, fees, books, as well as room and board, of the designated beneficiary.

Many states offer tax breaks with their 529 plans. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia give residents a state tax credit or deduction if they invest in their state's 529 plan. Five states  Arizona, Kansas, Missouri, Montana and Pennsylvania  offer a state income tax deduction to residents for any 529 plan contributions.
Top vape manufacturers, though, say they're seeing annual growth rates of several hundred percent year over year. A big part of that is the decision by many to aggressively market high-end, high-dollar products that feature regular upgrades.

While there are some outlandish claims putting the market in the $10 billion-plus range, that seems unlikely. The Winston-Salem Journal estimated vaporizer sales (excluding e-cigarettes) would hit $2.5 billion last year. Namaste Technologies , a leading Internet marketer of vaporizers and accessories, has predicted it will generate revenue of $15.7 million Canadian ($11.7 million U.S.) this fiscal year, and $24.9 million Canadian ($18.5 million U.S.) for the fiscal year ending August 31, 2018. It expects revenues to increase 35 percent each year through 2020.

Exact numbers are tough to come by because manufacturers are privately held. Most vaporizers are sold either directly from company websites or in tobacco and vapor shops, where groups like Nielsen have limited tracking.

On April 20, the unofficial appreciation day for marijuana and a Black Friday-like event for vape manufacturers, it might first help to get a sense of the size of the vape market.

Vaporizers, which were already seeing growth from people shifting away from traditional cigarettes, have seen a sales surge as cannabis legalization has spread. Widely used by marijuana enthusiasts, vapes have historically been low-cost, low-tech products. But many in the industry are now adopting business models that are more in line with tech giants like Apple , Samsung and Sony as a means to grow sales.

"I think the reason you're seeing more premium vaporizers on the market is because it's getting more competitive," said Pantelis Ataliotis, president of Dr. Dabber. "It's getting tougher to stand out in the crowd ... with a standard vaporizer."

"There's always room for great innovation," said Tyler Goldman, CEO at leading vaporizer manufacturer PAX Labs. "Like in any typical tech business, the top companies are likely to be the few who have better offerings. Consumers migrate quickly to the best products."

It's a strategy that's luring investors. In 2015, San Francisco-based Pax announced it had closed a $46.7 million Series C funding round, with Fidelity Management & Research Company and Sivia Capital among the investors.

Pax says that it has sold more than 1 million of its Pax 1, Pax 2 and Pax 3 devices, which sell for up to $275. Last September, the company released Pax Era, a $60 product for people who prefer to consume liquids or oils. The Era already has a 20 percent share of the market in Colorado, Goldman said.

Over at KandyPens, another vape company, sales increased 350 percent last year to $6.5 million, founder and CEO Graham Gibson said. The company aims to cross $10 million this year.

Rather than relying on word of mouth for sales, as some vape companies do, KandyPens aggressively markets its products to consumers. It's run full-page ads in publications like Rolling Stone and snagged celebrity endorsements with the likes of DJ Khaled.

KandyPens follows Apple's example of offering new products each year. Some 25 to 30 percent of the company's existing customers upgrade when those roll out, even if the products aren't dramatically different, Gibson said.

"Last March, we launched the Gravity. This year, in January, we launched the Elite. It's the same pen with a different finish and a different name  and we charged $10 more per unit," Gibson said. "Once people are sold on a brand, they'll buy whatever product you have coming out. And they'll give their old product to a friend."

The growth rate at Dr. Dabber has been just as impressive. Ataliotis estimates a sales increase of 400 percent to 500 percent over the past two years. And while he won't make that same prediction for upcoming years, he's optimistic about the growth potential.

"Because this industry is so new, there are so many opportunities to make new products," he said. "It's not like everything that can be thought up has been thought up. ... What's out on the market is, for the most part, all the same. There's a lot of room for innovation."

The market territory for vape companies is also expanding rapidly as more states pass marijuana laws. That has some manufacturers considering options like an initial public offering. Ataliotis says that's an idea Dr. Dabber toys with frequently, though no plans are imminent.

"We've been approached about it," Ataliotis said. "We're very dynamic and good at adapting to what's going on. ... It would definitely be something we'd consider."

Watch: Simplifying the pot experience
Burdettes book explores many historical details, including why 1936 Lincoln cents and Jefferson 5-cent coins were produced bearing either a Satin Proof finish (not shown) or a Brilliant Proof finish (shown).

United States Proof Coins: 19361942 by Roger W. Burdette is the most comprehensive work on the subject in decades and covers new ground not previously published.

From 1917 to 1935, collectors of U.S. coins lacked something that had been offered to them by the United States Mint from 1858 to 1916  new Proof coins. In 1936, however, Proof coinage was reborn, and the modern era began.

Now a new book by an acclaimed author explores the first seven years of modern Proof coinage. United States Proof Coins 19361942 by Roger W. Burdette is the most comprehensive work on the subject in decades and covers new ground not previously published.

Burdette approached the book as he did his other works: the Renaissance of American Coinage trilogy, his United States Pattern and Experimental Pieces of WW II, From Mine to Mint, and the Guide Book of Peace Dollars. He reached deep into the archives of the United States Mint and found information not previously published.

Collectors crave variety in their coins: Inside Coin World: While 20th and 21st century coin varieties share very few characteristics of older varieties, collectors have a wide range of coins to choose from..

As a press release states, This much anticipated book covers proof coins made at the Philadelphia Mint from 1936 through 1942 in detail, adding that subjects include background and origin of the series, the number of pieces struck from each die, when dies were pulled from service, delivery dates of coins, plus quantities sold and returned for destruction, adding, The coins are examined both by year of issue, and individually by date and denomination. Clear, logical text and hundreds of full color illustrations provide the collector and numismatic professional with encyclopedic coverage of the fascinating series.

Burdette writes that Mint and Treasury officials were not supportive of any effort to restart production of Proof coinage after its long hiatus. As late as April 1936, Mint officials routinely replied to collector enquiries that proof coins are no longer made at the Mint of the United States. However, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, himself an avid stamp collector, and Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr. disagreed with the bureaucracies, Burdette writes. On April 28, 1936, Morgenthau ordered a resumption of Proof coinage.

In the historical section in the chapter on resuming Proof coinage production, Burdette cites the positive collector reaction to the news, reflected in orders pouring in, which seemed to catch Philadelphia Mint officials off guard, since they had not planned on the program.

However, some collector criticism was heard; collectors were unhappy that the finish of some pieces lacked the mirror-like fields and frosted devices of the coins in past decades.

Two styles of 1936 Proof coins were produced: Satin Proofs and Brilliant Proofs.

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While a Brilliant Proof finish had been standard throughout the 19th and into the 20th century, Mint officials changed things in the last few years of production that led up to the series end in 1916, when only a few denominations were produced. Matte Proof coins were issued at the end of that era. Some assumptions were made in 1936 that collectors would be satisfied with Lincoln cents and Indian Head 5-cent coins bearing a Satin Proof finish, while the dimes, quarter dollars, and half dollars would be given the Brilliant Proof finish last used on the Proof coins of those denominations issued several decades earlier.

Eventually in 1936, cents and 5-cent coins would be struck with both types of finishes before the Brilliant Proof finish became the standard for all denominations starting in 1937.

Burdettes book examines Proof coins by both date and denomination. The section dealing with the coinage by date focuses on historical aspects, including Proof coin deliveries by denomination as well as sales. Where the documents are available, Burdette reprints important correspondence dealing with the coinage of a particular date.

The section dealing with Proof coinage by denomination includes detailed information on delivery, plus on the number of dies used. The author also explores such areas as appearance, addressing the look of a particular date and denomination, and notable die varieties, exploring such varieties as doubled dies or coins struck from overpolished dies. He also discusses counterfeits when such pieces are known to exist.

The book opens with chapters on the Origin of Modern Proof Coinage and Manufacturing Proof Coins, both providing a detailed historical analysis on their respective subjects.

According to a press release from the publisher, Overall, there is surprisingly little duplication of content between the chapters. Author Roger W. Burdette noted, It has been amazing to go through the data and analysis, and then see unexpected results and explanations appear  almost magical. 

The book resolves many long-standing mysteries of the proof series, according to the press release. Among these are the origin of 1940 reverse of 38 nickels,?1939 reverse of 40 nickels, production of cameo proofs, and quantities actually sold during the year of issue.

The book is being released by Seneca Mill Press LLC.

The book is 330 pages in length, printed in full color with hundreds of illustrations. Each book includes a CD-ROM containing the full text in searchable format. The digital file may also be transferred to the purchasers portable digital device for use away from home or office.

United States Proof Coins 19361942 by Roger W. Burdette is available from the distributor, Wizard Coin Supply. The book is priced at $39.95.
Three different versions of the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site quarter dollar will be held in a three-coin set going on sale from the U.S. Mint April 24.

The United States Mint will open sales for the 2017 America the Beautiful Quarters Three-Coin set for the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site coin on April 24 at noon Eastern Time.

Priced at $9.95, this set contains one Uncirculated Frederick Douglass quarter dollar from the Philadelphia Mint, one Uncirculated quarter from the Denver Mint, and one Proof version from the San Francisco Mint.

The coins are held in a plastic card with an image of the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site. A certificate of authenticity is printed on the back of the card.

Collectors crave variety in their coins: Inside Coin World: While 20th and 21st century coin varieties share very few characteristics of older varieties, collectors have a wide range of coins to choose from..

The reverse design of each quarter dollar depicts Frederick Douglass seated at a writing desk with his home in Washington, D.C., in the background. Inscriptions are FREDERICK DOUGLASS, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 2017, and E PLURIBUS UNUM.

Douglass is widely considered one of the most influential Americans of the 19th century. He was born a slave circa February 1818 in Maryland on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay, in Talbot County. At about the age of 12, the sister-in-law of the woman who owned him began teaching him the alphabet, though she later stopped his lessons because of her husbands objections that slavery and education were incompatible. Nonetheless, Douglass defied the sentiments of the slave-owning society and continued to learn to read by observing white children and the white men he served. He also began teaching other slaves to read as well.

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In September 1838, Douglass successfully escaped slavery by boarding a train traveling north. After a journey aboard several trains, a steam-ferry, and by foot, he reached Philadelphia and then New York City.

He became preacher in 1839 and began improving his oratorical skills, while also becoming increasingly involved in the abolitionist movement.

Douglass became a skilled writer and would eventually write three autobiographies; his first, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, was published in 1845.

In the name of abolition, he would travel the nation and later Europe, though not without some personal cost. During an 1843 tour of the free states, he was assaulted by a pro-slavery mob in Indiana and received injuries to a hand that he suffered from for the remainder of his life.

In the mid-1840s, following a tour to Europe, Douglass founded the famed abolitionist newspaper, The North Star. He would also publish other newspapers.

During the 1850s, he became an increasingly influential force in the abolitionist movement, as well as a supporter of womens rights. While he met with abolitionists like John Brown who advocated an armed slave rebellion, Douglass objected to Browns attack on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Md.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Douglass joined others in advocating that black Americans be allowed to enlist in the Army.

After the end of the war, Douglass continued to advocate suffrage for not only black men but for women as well.

He died on Feb. 20, 1895.

Orders for the three-coin will be accepted at here, and at 800-872-6468.
April 20, 2017

 An astronaut and a cosmonaut launched on the first two-person spaceflight in 14 years, bound for a five month stay on the International Space Station.



Astronaut Jack Fischer with NASA and cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos lifted off on Russia's Soyuz MS- 04 spacecraft, atop a Soyuz-FG rocket, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:13 a.m. EDT (0713 GMT; 1:13 p.m. local time) Thursday. Launched on a "fast-track," six-orbit rendezvous, they are set to dock the Soyuz at the station's Poisk module at 9:23 a.m. EDT (1323 GMT).



Update: Soyuz MS-04 docked to the space station at 9:18 a.m. EDT (1318 GMT).



Once aboard the orbital laboratory, Fischer and Yurchikhin will become part of the Expedition 51 crew, joining NASA's Peggy Whitson, cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who arrived at the space station in November.



Fischer and Yurchikhin were originally assigned in 2015 to fly with a third crew member, ESA's Paolo Nespoli, but a decision by Roscosmos to reduce its contingent from three to two cosmonauts until its multipurpose lab module (MLM) Nauka is ready to launch in 2018 resulted in schedule and seat changes. (Nespoli will rejoin Fischer and Yurchikhin in July, when he launches as part of the three-member Soyuz MS-05 crew to staff Expedition 52.)







The Soyuz MS-04 crew of Fyodor Yurchikhin with Roscosmos and Jack Fischer of NASA are seen prior to boarding their Soyuz, April 20, 2017 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

"We are carrying some cargo up to the station in that third seat," said Fischer in a press conference on Wednesday. "I know I speak for Fyodor when I say if we could figure out how to fit [our wives] Larisa and Elizabeth in that seat, that is who we would take with us."



The last time that a two-person crew lifted off for the space station was in April 2003, when Ed Lu with NASA and Yuri Malenchenko with Roscosmos launched on Soyuz TMA-2 to become the Expedition 7 crew in the wake of loss of the space shuttle Columbia two months earlier.



Like Malenchenko and Lu, who returned with a third crew member (ESA's Pedro Duque), Fischer and Yurchikhin are slated to land in September with their empty seat filled.



Whitson, who on Monday (April 24) will surpass the record for the most time spent in space by an American astronaut  534 days and counting, in the course of her three flights  recently had her own stay extended. Instead of landing with Novitskiy and Pesquet in July as first planned, she will take the open seat on Soyuz MS-04 and return home with Fischer and Yurchikhin after serving on Expeditions 50, 51, and 52.







The Soyuz MS-04 crew is seen in quarantine behind glass during a crew press conference on April 19, 2017. (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

During Expeditions 51 and 52, Fischer and Yurchikhin will help with hundreds of experiments and oversee the arrival and departure of Russian and U.S. visiting vehicles  the first of which, Orbital ATK's S.S. John Glenn Cygnus cargo freighter, is set to berth at the space station on Saturday.



For Yurchikhin, this marks his fifth launch to space, having logged a total of 537 days on one space shuttle mission in 2002 and three long duration missions on the International Space Station in 2007, 2010 and 2013. When he lands on Earth at the end of this flight, Yurchikhin will rank seventh in the world for time in space, just ahead of Whitson.



Fischer, whose nickname "2fish" came from his former Air Force squadron having another guy named Fischer (as in the Dr. Seuss book, "One Fish, Two Fish..."), is on his first flight since being chosen as a NASA astronaut in 2009. He is the 550th person in history to fly into Earth orbit.







Soyuz MS-04 crew patch. (Roscosmos/Spacepatches.nl)

Fischer and Yurchikhin were the first to receive permission from Roscosmos to name their Soyuz  "Argo."



"It came from the Argonauts, the seafaring explorers [from Greek mythology] and we are the explorers of space," said Yurchikhin, whose call sign for the flight is "Olympus."



Fischer and Yurchikhin also each selected dolls to act as their ship's zero-g indicators. Yurchikhin flew a small white plush dog for the fifth time and a pair of Russian cartoon characters. Fischer chose the multi-color sun-shaped logo of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where one of his two daughters received treatment.



Soyuz MS-04 is the 50th Soyuz to fly to the International Space Station since 2000 and 133rd since the first flight of Russia's Soyuz-class of spacecraft in 1967.
CHC founder Kong Hee "truly sorry" for "unwise decisions"

City Harvest Church (CHC) founder Kong Hee issued an apology on Wednesday to his church and to the public for unwise decisions he had made, Todayonline reported on April 19, 2017.

Kong, who will start his jail sentence on Friday April 21, said he was now at peace with his prison time.

Photo courtesy: leadershipgeeks.com

He mentioned in the statement that he was filled with grief and regret over his mistakes and for forgiveness from people he had hurt. To all I have disappointed, stumbled and hurt in my church, in the Body of Christ at large, and in the public, I am truly sorry."

Kong was convicted in 2015 for misappropriating S$50 million of church funds, together with five other CHC leaders. His initial jail sentence of eight years was reduced to 3 years and six months in a High Court verdict on April 7. However, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam had said that "the matter is not over yet," and Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) is seeking to reinstate the initial heavier punishments for the six church leaders.

Kong said he was thankful that the High Court had found there was no sinister or malicious plan in relation to the misappropriated funds. I had acted in the churchs best interest, something which the Court also accepted, although I accept responsibility for the manner in which I had sought to bring the Crossover Project to fruition in using the building fund, he said.

The last seven years since the case was brought to light had been immensely challenging for him and his family, he added. I am extremely saddened by the prospect of having to leave my family and church, and yearn to see them again after serving my sentence."
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Dylan O'Brien who was first known in "Teen Wolf" will be starring in "American Assassin." Aside from that, the "Maze Runner" actor is also happy with his girlfriend, Britt Robertson.

According to a recent report from Celebeat, Dylan O'Brien and Britt Robertson have been in a relationship ever since the celebrities met on the set of their movie, "The First Time". The young couple has even proven to have s strong relationship, as the "Girlboss" actress supported the "Teen Wolf" actor when he suffered multiple injuries on the set of "Maze Runner 3" a year ago.

Perhaps, Robertson has always continued to be the ideal girlfriend, even as she joined the "Teen Wolf" actor in Cape Town. This is where he is currently filming the movie, "The Death Cure".

Dylan O'Brien And Britt Robertson In South Africa

The couple, Dylan O'Brien and Britt Robertson, who seems to be going strong, were spotted in South Africa. The "Teen Wolf" actor, O'Brien was seen with Roberston, together with some fans who were lucky to pose for a photo with them. It only shows that the couple continue to become inseparable despite their busy schedules.

"SO MY FRIEND IS ON VACATION IN AFRICA AND MET DYLAN O'BRIEN AND BRITT ROBERTSON they were at a restaurant together eating and my friend asked for a picture when they were done. She said they were really nice, i'm living look at brylan out on a date how cute.  #dylanobrien #brylan #brittrobertson," mxrtin.hxle wrote on Instagram as a caption of the photo.

There is no doubt that Robertson and O'Brien continue to have a healthy relationship despite the negativity from some critics. The couple surely supports each other on their careers.

O'Brien In "American Assassin"

Meanwhile, O'Brien continues to work on several projects, despite his busy schedule. As per Vulture, He also stars in "American Assassin," where he seeks revenge and plays Mitch Rapp, who is a CIA black-ops recruit who wants to stop terror attacks when his fiance was killed by a terrorist.

"American Assassin" will be released in Sept., starring Britt Robertson's boyfriend, Dylan O'Brien.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
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High technological advancement and scientific development in the last more than a century have been the major cause of climate change. Truly speaking, despite plenty of hue and cry on this issue, it is almost not possible till date for the scientists to reduce the rate of change in the global climate.

Starting from melting of glaciers in the Himalayan range or even no mans lands like Antarctica, plenty of issues are raised every alternate day to moderate the speed of climate change, but the constant technological advancement and scientific discoveries are always acting up against it.

Slims River Changes Direction In Just Four Days



Recently, a team of scientists detected maximum water gushing from a large-shaped glacier in northwest Canada, that has finally switched from one river to another. The Slims River in Canada must be called the first in the modern history to have quickly disappeared in just four days, and scientists blame global warming and climate change be the main cause of this river piracy, reports The Mercury News.

The melting of glacier as a result of climate change rerouted the river and shifted its flowing to southward into the Pacific Ocean from its previous flowing to northward into the Bering Sea. Scientists believe that it normally takes centuries for a river to change its course and thousands of years to disappear (for river piracy) as a result of natural damming or erosion of the route.

Dan Shugar, University of Washington Tacomas Geoscientist and his six researchers from American and Canadian universities studied the Slims River in May 2016 to understand how land changes. They noticed that the flow of water dropped abruptly between May 26 and 29. The scientists are worried that if this river piracy transforms the rivers, it could be dangerous for the mankind and life on earth.

Rapid Rising Of Ocean And Sea Levels



On the other hand, a report published by MySuncoast claimed that climate change has left serious effects, including the rise of sea levels that has increased noticeably since 1997. Professors at the University of Miami said that the rate of present climate change will possibly increase the ocean by four feet and sea by seven feet. Had we listened to premonitions earlier, the problem would have been smaller but we are still making it bigger and bigger, as expressed by Dr. Harold Wanless.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
this petition worked, but it didn't hurt. I don't know ifworked, but it didn't hurt.





On Wednesday night, the City of Miami Planning and Zoning and Appeals Board denied the application for the zoning change at 2890 Virginia Street. A developer wanted to change the zoning from "medium density multi-family/duplex residential" to "medium density restricted commercial." At one point, the developer's attorney slipped and called the property a "hotel," showing their real intentions.



It is an apartment building now right on US1 and Virginia. Once a hotel or commercial project is allowed in, there would be a whole domino effect. Affordable housing is the goal now in Coconut Grove. The current property houses 65 apartments.





By a vote of 6-4, the planning board denied the zoning change.





the petition and neighbors from Village West showed up to tell of their displacement by unscrupulous slumlords on their end of town. Neighbors had two minutes each to speak at the hearing and cohesively they explained their case against the change. They had presentations andand neighbors from Village West showed up to tell of their displacement by unscrupulous slumlords on their end of town.





NCD3 was a big factor in the decision. The boards must stand up to zoning codes and when developers come in, they need to adhere to the codes, not the other way around. As it is now, a developer comes in, fights to change the code to meet their needs and it destroys the whole puprose of Miami21 and the NCD which is the Neighborhood Conservation District. The Grove has two, NCD3 is for all of the Grove and NCD2 is the Village West. NCD3 overlays NCD2. It is a protected area and must remain protected.





This shows that if neighbors stand up and work together and present the facts, that things can work in their favor. The goal is to protect the neighborhood and stave off greedy developers who don't care about the history or quality of life here or anywhere. This was called a "One Grove" protest, where all of the Grove banned together to get something done. This is what is needed, one property at a time if need be.
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Ingram Micro Unveils Microsoft Surface, Other Devices On Cloud Marketplace Under Annuity Model

Michael Novinson

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Ingram Micro has rolled out the Microsoft Surface and Surface Pro and the NCR Silver point-of-sale system on its Cloud Marketplace to help partners easily bundle devices and cloud services.

The Irvine, Calif.-based distributor said putting devices such as Microsoft Surface and NCR Silver point-of-sale system on its marketplace will help solution providers avoid commoditization by making it possible to sell holistic offerings through an e-commerce storefront. This means that the channel can procure and resell the Surface Pro and cloud services in a single shopping cart or order.

"Cloud is one piece of a bigger business solution," Renee Bergeron, Ingram Micro's senior vice president of global cloud, told CRN. "We're starting to add the devices that our partners need into the marketplace so that they can create real turnkey business solutions."

[RELATED: Ingram Micro Speeds Up Cisco Spark Provisioning With Its Cloud Marketplace]

Microsoft Surface initially will be available through the Cloud Marketplace in just Australia and New Zealand, Ingram Micro said, and will roll out to other locations later in the year. Microsoft Surface will only be available to partners authorized by Microsoft, Bergeron said, and unauthorized partners will not be able to market, sell or support it through the Cloud Marketplace.

Microsoft Surface and Surface Pro are also available on Ingram Micro's general line card outside the Cloud Marketplace, according to the company. The commercial product sells very well, Ingram Micro said, and the distributor is currently launching the consumer line.

Solution providers can resell Microsoft Surface and NCR Silver through either a one-time purchase or a monthly as-a-service-type arrangement. Device refresh is not currently included in the monthly subscription model, but Bergeron said Ingram Micro plans to look at incorporating that in the future.

"Depending on the way the partner wants to bill the solution for the customer, options are available," Bergeron said.

Adding devices to the Cloud Marketplace will boost partner efficiency by allowing them to get all the pieces they need in one consolidated invoice, Bergeron said. It also will enable solution providers to offer complete solutions to customers on e-commerce storefronts based on the Ingram Micro marketplace, she said.

"The more the resellers or partners are able to bundle these solutions, the less commoditization they're exposed to," Bergeron said.

Ingram Micro started with Microsoft Surface and NCR Silver since they were the most in-demand hardware devices based on partner feedback and business use, Bergeron said. And the distributor said it plans to expand the device portfolio available through its Cloud Marketplace in the months ahead.

"These are the first ones, but you'll see a lot more," Bergeron said.

Bundling devices and cloud services also will make it easier for the channel to build Internet of Things-focused offerings, Bergeron said. Channel partners focusing on the agricultural vertical could, for instance, create a solution where workers capture information in the field on IoT-enabled devices and then push that data into the cloud to maximize productivity and gain sales and revenue insight.

Weidenhammer Systems said customers are clamoring to convert capital expenses into operational expenses, meaning that Ingram Micro's ability to facilitate the leasing of computing components to customers for a monthly fee will be a major plus, according to John Weidenhammer, president of the Reading, Pa.-based company.

But Weidenhammer said the success of the program will depend on how inexpensively Ingram Micro can buy the devices and how much profit margin and services return the distributor and participating channel partners expect.

Weidenhammer thinks it will be difficult for both Ingram Micro and channel partners to have margins that are sufficient for making Hardware-as-a-Service viable. But if Ingram Micro has figured how to cost-effectively provide devices on a subscription basis, Weidenhammer said his company is fully prepared to take advantage of the opportunity.

"I think the idea is terrific, and it's something that end users want," Weidenhammer said. "But the proof is going to be in the price point."
While blockchain is among the hottest technologies in the enterprise security, data storage and file-sharing arenas, many experts question its use or even whether it's really as secure as billed.

As marketplaces struggle with how best to deploy the distributed ledger technology, IT vendors are beginning to test it in their products -- in some cases, as a reaction to customer inquiries rather than a proactive move.

"It's a very hot topic right now," said Zulfikar Ramzan, CTO of RSA Security, a subsidiary of the Dell EMC Infrastructure Solutions Group. "We are definitely getting a lot of inbound inquiries around blockchain and its implication within enterprise environments. I think it's driven largely by the fact that when there's a new technology out there, to some degree people want to be buzzword compliant with the latest and greatest."

Ramzan said his customers are asking about blockchain for audit logging and or verifiable logs, which is viewed as a reliable way of tracking what happened in an organization to satisfy regulatory auditors. Other RSA customers are interested in it for user authentication to ensure users are accessing the correct digital records at the right time.

"We're examining how blockchain can be used in that context," Ramzan said. "I think it's a very nascent technology. I think it's an area that has gotten a lot of hype, and now it's a question of whether that hype can be converted into reality."

Blockchain and Bitcoin

Blockchain is a decentralized electronic, encrypted ledger or database platform -- in other words, a way to immutably store digital data so that it can be securely shared across networks and users.

While the technology has grown in popularity, mainly because it's the basis for the wildly hyped cryptocurrency and payment platform Bitcoin, many experts are still not sure exactly how it works.

Even the founder of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, is a shadowy figure and no one appears to know with certainty who he is or if the name is a pseudonym for a group of developers. Nakamoto, however, holds one million bitcoins, or the equivalent to $1.1 billion.

Angus Champion de Crespigny, a Blockchain Leader at Ernst & Young, called blockchain "overhyped" and said many business applications touted as beneficiaries of its use have regulatory or operational issues that can be difficult to solve via one technology alone.

"We're seeing interest in using it to propagate security policies and identity access management, but it's early days. We're seeing more vendors producing business specific products, which is really what's needed," de Crespigny said.

One problem facing blockchain's use, de Crespigny said, is a 'rip and replace' mentality now popular in enterprise environments, which may not be economical.

"We do see identity management, however, as a real beneficiary, [since it] can help establish single customer views [and] streamline onboarding," de Crespigny said. "It's a technology paradigm, similar to saying relational databases: there are many different ways to implement it and different strengths and weaknesses to each implementation. Similarly, [that's true] with the different flavors of private and public blockchains."

The real power of blockchain, de Crespigny said, is in public environments such as Bitcoin, but the environment is immature. "It's not to say there aren't benefits within enterprises, particularly when they work across legal entities."

Decentralization a feature, not a bug

One conundrum facing blockchain adoption is the technology's sheer complexity, which comes from it performing every function without a centralized source of management.

"Blockchain's strength is in creating a decentralized, distributed ledger. If you're in an enterprise environment, in many cases you don't need that decentralization. You can achieve the same objectives in a centralized fashion and it's much easier if you use a single point of trust," Ramzan said.

"That's partly what we're trying to help our customers understand. They understand the benefits of blockchain," Ramzan continued. "They have the why, but they don't necessarily have the understanding of the how or the what. Our goal is to help them make a determination [about whether] this is a better way to achieve their ends."

For many, blockchain's complexity -- stemming from its decentralized structure -- is reason enough to give organizations pause in adopting it.

"It's difficult to understand the way it performs encryption," said Serguei Beloussov, CEO of leading data backup provider Acronis. Beloussov has a PhD in computer science and has co-authored more than 200 U.S. technology patents.

"I have several very smart computer scientists who tell me it's major overkill. And, if it's overkill, then it's secure but it's a way of securing something that's unecessary," Beloussov said in an interview. "Then I have several computer scientists who tell me it's really not secure -- they believe you can penetrate it."

For his part, Beloussov believes blockchain - while extremely complex, is by its very nature secure.

Acronis embraces blockchain

In February, Acronis for the first time introduced blockchain technology in its True Image 2017 data backup software. The blockchain platform is also used as a data certification and verification element in True Image's ASign application -- an electronic document signing or notary service.

Within a couple of months, Acronis also plans to introduce blockchain for data verification in its Acronis Backup 12 Advanced, its core backup product for small and mid-sized businesses.

Currently, the company is running a public beta test on Backup 12.

"We deal with data management, effectively we're backup, but eventually data management software, and data management software needs to make sure that the data is immutable and you can control access to data in some smart way," Beloussov said. "So it's about controlling access to data in a smart way."

Beloussov sees Bitcoin's use of blockchain technology as its most basic capability -- as a way to make digital objects unchangeable. But eventually he sees it having merit as a way to efficiently create smart contracts.

For example, HealthCoin is a blockchain-based database that can be used by physicians and other healthcare providers to confirm that patients are following treatment regimes to avoid complications from long-term diseases such as congestive heart failure and diabetes.

That Healthcoin network creates a marketplace for employers, healthcare plans, hospitals and life insurers to financially reward employees for taking part in proven prevention methods. Employees' actions can be tracked through wearables and rewarded with the Healthcoins, which are placed in a digital wallet.

Blockchain allows a set of users on unrelated servers to control digital records, which it calls blocks, in a distributed manner. Each block has a timestamp and is linked to a previous block, creating an unbroken chain -- meaning each block is its own unchangeable record linked to that user.

Blockchain can only be updated by consensus between participants in the system, and when new data is entered, it can never be erased. The blockchain contains a true and verifiable record of each and every transaction ever made in the system.

A constantly evolving technology

Like the internet itself, blockchain's capabilities are continually evolving with new features or add-on applications. Since it is not regulated by a single control center as there might be with a system administration, there's no single point of failure. In an enterprise, theoretically, there would be no need for an IT professional to monitor security on a blockchain database.

There are several general uses for blockchain platforms. There are public blockchains, which allow anyone to see or send transactions as long as they're part of the consensus process.

There are consortium blockchains where only a pre-selected number of nodes are authorized to use the ledger. For example, a group of banks and their clearing house might use blockchain as part of the trade clearing process where each node is associated with a step in the verification process.

And, then there are private blockchains, where the ability to write to a ledger is restricted to a single organization.

Acronis' version of the distributed database software is based on Ethereum, a custom-built platform that was introduced in 2013 by developer Vitalik Buterin. At the time, he was just 19.

The Ehtereum platform was originally used for verifying online payments, but its capabilities grew under the Swiss nonprofit Ethereum Foundation.

In January, a report from Accenture claimed blockchain technology could reduce infrastructure costs for eight of the world's 10 largest investment banks by an average of 30%, "translating to $8 billion to $12 billion in annual cost savings for those banks."

The savings, according to Accenture, would come in replacing traditionally fragmented database systems that support transaction processing with blockchain's distributed ledger system. That would allow banks to reduce or eliminate reconciliation costs, "while improving data quality."

In February, Accenture, J.P. Morgan Chase and Microsoft were among 30 companies that announced the formation of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, aimed at creating a standard version of the platform for financial transaction processing and tracking.

"Given the tremendous cost of data reconciliation -- which is part of every aspect of the capital markets industry -- it's no surprise that we've seen a significant amount of investment in blockchain technology, David Treat, managing director for Accenture's financial services industry blockchain practice, said a statement. "But, as with any emerging technology, understanding what these investments might yield is a challenge."

This story, "Blockchain: 'Overhyped' buzzword or real-deal enterprise solution?" was originally published by Computerworld .
Although U.S. oil and gas companies have so far avoided devastating data breaches, cybercriminals are growing bolder. During an average month, for example, a company like ExxonMobil now blocks more than 64 million emails, 139 million internet access attempts and 133,000 other potentially malicious actions.

But many attacks are still getting past the defenses. Between 2011 and 2015, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security registered more than 350 incidents at energy companies. An equally troubling statistic: The department has identified nearly 900 security vulnerabilities within U.S. energy companies, a figure that was higher than any other industry.

A long haul awaits

Part of this is the inevitable pain caused during a tech transformation. Many oil and gas companies still use outdated and aging control systems in their facilities, which may also have nonstandard equipment and potentially insecure technologies.

When the Houston Chronicle recently investigated the cybersecurity readiness of oil and gas installations along the Gulf Coast, it led to the shocking revelation that many facilities still run Windows XP on their computer systems. Others were found using Windows predecessors that date back to the 1990s. And "in rare cases, a few still use MS-DOS, the precursor to Windows," the newspaper reported.

Theres no doubt that the sector will benefit from digitization. Companies in the sector that successfully employ automation enjoy significant bottom-line improvements. But the scramble to retrofit decades-old infrastructures will take time. Many of the devices that automate processes within oil and gas installations were designed in earlier eras before the advent of online threats. Whats more, the myriad of more modern devices and sensors being added also risk introducing new vulnerabilities into the system.

When the Ponemon Institute surveyed oil and gas cybersecurity risk managers for their 2017 report, some 68 percent said their companies had suffered at least one security compromise involving the loss of confidential information or the disruption of their operations, in the past year. In addition, 66 percent of the respondents expressed concern that digitization had made them more vulnerable to security compromises.

Only 35 percent of the respondents in Ponemons survey rated their organizations cyber readiness as high. The vast majority said that the deployment of cybersecurity measures had failed to keep pace with the increasing digitization of their oil and gas operations.

Putting security on the agenda

Oil and gas companies have been around for the last century  sometimes longer  so it may be hard for some of them to get religion about security. But they cant continue to ignore the matter now that they are up against a full range of threat actors.

Whats more, systems are no longer isolated. As the oil and gas industry incorporates more connected systems and networking technologies, companies will need to develop an understanding of the new security risks and whats required to combat them.

While the oil and gas sector may have unique challenges, it nonetheless shares many of the same security challenges that face other enterprises. So the response should lean heavily on the basics of cybersecurity. The National Institute of Standards and Technology provides detailed guidance on a comprehensive set of cybersecurity guidelines and how to implement best practices for cybersecurity.
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COLUMBUS  Gov. Pete Ricketts said Cargill Meat Solutions, state government and the community of Columbus put the right team together in 2015 for a plan that culminated Thursday morning with the dedication of a $111 million plant conversion from fresh ground beef to cooked meats production.

We work best together when we work as teams, said Ricketts while addressing a crowd of more than 100 made up of Cargill and Taco Bell corporate officials, local Cargill management and Columbus business and industrial leaders.

The governor said Cargill human resources and other company officials, the state Department of Labor, Central Community College-Columbus, Platte Valley Literacy Association and other local education groups partnered to shape an adult education program for employees who were displaced or retained during the plant conversion.

It was the kind of investment in people that makes Cargill such a great company, said Ricketts, adding that the classes offered in English, math, writing and computer programs allowed workers to sharpen their skills and increase wages.

The plant conversion project added nearly 50 percent to the size of the plant at 1529 E. 23rd St., taking it from 108,000 square feet to 160,000 square feet. The plants employee ranks are expected to swell from about 240 before the conversion to more than 460 when it's fully operational this month.

This is the kind of positive teamwork we want to foster all across our state, Ricketts said. How we get things done is through our people. This (plant) is creating so many opportunities for Columbus families.

Mayor Jim Bulkley was happy to follow the governor in a lineup of speakers addressing the crowd gathered under a tent on Cargill's front lawn.

The partnership between the community, Cargill and state is an amazing story, one in which many people in Columbus remain unaware, the mayor said.

Its a story of a plant shutdown for a conversion project and a successful company like Cargill making an investment in the people of a community, said Bulkley, who also followed Ricketts at a March 20 ceremony marking the opening of what he called a new community "jewel"  the new Columbus High School on the west side of town.

Cargills investment in Columbus got the attention of Taco Bell Corps Chief Executive Officer Brian Niccol, who participated in the converted plant's dedication.

The executive said Taco Bell, which has about 7,000 restaurants nationally and will purchase cooked meats produced at the local plant, shares Cargills investment mindset in the state-of-the art facility and worker training and education.

Were not just here to sell tacos, we want to make a positive impact in communities, Niccol said.

The new Columbus plant is not only the scale Taco Bell needs to deliver food to customers, it is also creating much-needed jobs, employee training and economic benefits for the community, he said.

The 36-week CCC training program attracted 49 displaced workers and an additional 100 people retained during the plant shutdown.

The training program involved employees who lost their jobs attending classes five hours a day to sharpen their skills in English, math, writing and computers. Meanwhile, the state allowed them to collect unemployment benefits while not having to search for new jobs.

A state grant and other public funding contributed more than $1 million to pay for the program.

The 74 production workers who were retained went to the plant site every morning, got on a school bus and attended the classroom training. At the end of their school day they returned to the plant site and fanned out to perform community service projects.

Cargill kept the retained workers on the full-time payroll during the shutdown.

Headed by manager Scott Chaney, the local Cargill plant has diversified its products with the conversion. Instead of only fresh ground beef, the plant will be manufacturing cooked turkey, hot dogs, ground beef and pizza toppings.
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BRIDGEPORT  With the Grammy-winning duo The Chainsmokers playing Webster Bank Arena on Thursday night, David Galarza was planning an after party to promote his new downtown Mexican restaurant.

Then a 33-year-old Stamford man was murdered around the corner at McLevy Green just after midnight.

I just canceled it, Galarza, owner of Tito & Oliver, said Thursday afternoon. I dont even know if anyones going to walk over here. It is a scary situation.

A scary situation is the last thing the growing downtown  and a mayor eyeing a run for governor or another statewide office in 2018  needs. And Mayor Joe Ganim, who campaigned two years ago on making Connecticuts largest city safer, seemingly did his best Thursday to avoid drawing extra attention to a shooting a block from his offices.

Nearly 12 hours passed between the homicide and when police released some details, including the victims name, Max Antoine.

Asked in the late afternoon if the mayor would be holding a press conference or issuing a statement, Ganim spokesman Rowena White said, As of right now, no.

By then the green and downtown were back to normal, with a few people walking through and past McLevy, the maze of yellow crime scene tape that memorialized Antoines death for morning commuters finally gone.

When violent crimes occurred during his ultimately successful 2015 bid to unseat fellow Democrat Bill Finch, Ganim was the proverbial ambulance chaser, holding vigils and even opening an unofficial police substation.

It made a difference in the campaign, acknowledged a former Finch staffer in an interview Thursday.

That Finch supporter said a homicide in the heart of Bridgeports downtown  McLevy hosts a farmers market, small concerts, even a recent television movie production  is not a good thing for the citys still fragile image, or Ganims political ambitions.

Theres all that housing stock going in downtown and youre on the train line to New York. A lot of those apartments are being built because theyre looking at it as a sort of bedroom community for New York commuters, said the ex-Finch staffer. And if youre doing your research and want to live in these new apartment complexes and see this...

Nancy Hadley, Bridgeports one time economic development director, agreed.

Oh my God. Really? Hadley, who used to live downtown, said when told of the McLevy shooting. Its a very difficult challenge to have this happen. ... Its one thing to say its happening in (outer) neighborhoods. Different to say its right by the train station.

Were she still working in City Hall, Hadley said, she would be prepared to talk with businesses and investors about how the city was addressing the shooting and reinforce that Bridgeports on the way to being the greatest city in Connecticut.

Police sources Thursday indicated Antoines killer may also be from Stamford, but Hadley said: Its not, to me, where theyre from. Its the incident.

As for the politics, should he do more than consider seeking an unspecified statewide office next year, Ganim already has challenges with non-Bridgeport voters. He was convicted of corruption in 2003 after having run the city for twelve years.

Now that he is back in charge, Ganim needs to be successful in convincing outsiders Bridgeport residents made the right choice in 2015 and that the city has far more to offer than crime and corruption.

The ex-Finch employee said Antoines death will get statewide news coverage, and critics can claim that he (Ganim) ran to clean up crime and cant even keep people safe in your up and coming downtown.

But a Democrat involved in statewide politics said an isolated downtown shooting will not stick to Ganim.

Chiropractor Dr. Jennifer Lynne runs The Backstroke downtown. She did not fear the homicides impact on her business.

It doesnt appear to be random, Lynne said. Its unfortunate it happened close to my business, but Im confident that the Bridgeport Police Department has got everything under control.

Someone might want to tell that to Tito & Olivers Galarza.

It is pretty scary, especially for a new business, he said.
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NORWALK  U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal told a crowd at Norwalk Community College on Wednesday that the December 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a day forever burned into his memory.

He and fellow Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, both outspoken proponents of gun control, were on hand for a forum on gun violence attended by some 200 students and community members.

I will never forget the sounds and sights of that day. We were the first in the country to have a ban on assault weapons, Blumenthal said, referring to Connecticuts efforts after Sandy Hook to prohibit the sale of certain semi-automatic firearms and magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds.

I believed early in that cause, but Sandy Hook really crystallized it for us, Blumenthal said.

The Greenwich Democrat said that one of the most shameful days in the Senate was when that body failed to pass background checks because of opposition from the National Rifle Association.

This Congress has been in bed with the NRA and in the grip of the NRA because of its power, Blumenthal said. Your goal should be to shatter that grip.

Blumenthal told the crowd that now is not the time to give up as a grassroots efforts are mobilizing across the state.

No matter how bleak things look in Washington right now, believe me if youre there it looks even bleaker, he said. I am confident that the American people who favor common sense laws against gun violence will eventually prevail.

Murphy, D-Conn., said his professional life has been divided into periods between before and after Sandy Hook.

My life changed that day in Sandy Hook, Murphy said. It has become a personal crusade for all of us.

Murphy said that although it may not always seem so, gun control sentiment has evoked progress nationally.

Ill tell you the story of the 2016 election, Murphy said. Now certainly it was a gut punch at the presidential level. The silver lining is what happened around the country on the issue of guns.

Murphy cited four states who had referendums on their ballots tightening gun laws.

They were conservative states and in three of those four states, those referendums passed, he said. All around the country the way we talk about guns has radically shifted ... We havent gotten the big federal win, but we are seeing a change in state laws.

State Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, and state Rep. Steven Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, attended the forum.

Also on the panel was attorney Josh Koskoff, who is representing the families of those who were killed at Sandy Hook in a lawsuit against gun manufacturer Remington Arms. Koskoff is a partner in the Bridgeport and Danbury-based law firm Koskoff, Koskoff and Beider.

A pivot occurred in 2005 with PLCAA, Koskoff said. I call it a love letter to the gun industry, which says that gun manufacturers cannot be sued.

The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act protects firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable when crimes have been committed with their products.

Based on PLCAA, the case against Remington Arms was dismissed in state Superior Court. The Connecticut Supreme Court will be hearing an appeal, Koskoff said.

If they know that theyll be held accountable, then theyll produce a safer product, Blumenthal said. When you produce defective products, you pay, unless you are a gun manufacturer.

Koskoff said that gun manufacturers are targeting a young demographic with such advertising slogans as, Consider your man card reissued and Forces of opposition bow down.

Formerly the main source of gun sales was to a hunting market. As sales began to fall off, they had to reinvent themselves. What happened to the industry was that they had to find a new toy to sell and create a market, Koskoff said. Gun manufacturers said, for example, lets put these products in video games.

As a screen in the auditorium flashed pictures and audio of 911 calls from Sandy Hook, and a picture of the gun that Adam Lanza used to kill 26 people there, Koskoff noted that Lanzas gun caused all of that devastation in less than five minutes.

The dirty secret is that this gun is more deadly than a machine gun, Koskoff said.

As he pointed to a photo of a soldier holding an M-16 rifle, he said. See the weapon that soldier is holding? That is virtually the same weapon found in Victoria Sotos classroom.

The forum was sponsored by NCCs Committee on Diversity and Inclusion.

Gail Stevens, a financial aid assistant at NCC who organized the event, said, This is a wonderful way to broaden the students knowledge of government and civic engagement.

llake@hearstmediact.com
There is something in the air across Fairfield County, and the American Lung Association is not happy about it.

According to the American Lung Association's 2017 State of the Air Report, Fairfield County has the most problematic air quality within Connecticut. In measuring high ozone days during the past year, Fairfield and seven of the eight Connecticut counties received an overall grade of F. Windham County was the high scorer with a D grade. But Fairfield was cited with 51 "orange days" that are considered unhealthy for people with breathing sensitivities and 14 "red days" that are considered unhealthy for the general population. This was far ahead of second ranked New Haven County, which totaled 28 orange days and six red days.
Conferencing Gives Inmates Access to Quality Lawyers

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By Alicia Young

Web Editor By Alicia YoungWeb Editor

Video conferencing has gone from an uncertain technology to one that has become an instrumental component of everyday business operations. It seems like there are always new uses popping up for video conferencing solutionspeer mentoring in schools, online classes, doctor appointments, etc. Most recently, video conferencing has started playing a role in the courtroom.





Indias legal system has decided to make video conferencing an integral part of the system. According to India Today, Justice Dipak Misra inaugurated the Supreme Court Legal Services Committees (SCLSC) video conferencing facility in the court complex. According to Misra, the committees goal is to provide quality lawyers to everyone via video conference.

The committee believes that location, wealth and incarceration should not factor into whether or not someone can access a good lawyer. Now justice is accessible at the click of a mouse. At all levels, only lawyers who are competent and committed will be engaged and the committee is planning to enhance the remuneration to the legal aid lawyers, Justice Misra said.

Thanks to this new accessibility, inmates across India can plead their cases to quality lawyers via the video conferencing setup. Aside from giving them a fair shot with competent lawyers, this system will also get rid of the usual delay that occurs when they try to file their matters before the Supreme Court. Thus far, the SCLSC has been successful at the time of this writing, there are around 1200 appeals pending in the apex court which have been filed by convicts from different jails around India.

Members of the Supreme Court fully support this video conferencing initiative, with Justice Gogoi saying, The Supreme Court is not unapproachable for the convicts who are in jail. We are not beyond their reach.

From the looks of it, video conferencing has the power to transform the legal process in India. From enabling students to attend classes in different states, to helping inmates contact lawyers and judges, this technology is changing the way we communicate for the better.
SEYMOUR - Firefighters battled a West Street house fire that sent a woman to the hospital early Thursday morning.

WFSB reports that the woman was taken to the hospital with minor burns to her shoulder after a stove fire broke out in her house early Thursday morning.

Firefighters were called to the four-family house at 12:45 a.m. for a kitchen fire.

All five of the occupants of the house safely escaped, and firefighters rescued two cats, WFSB reported.

The house is located next to Falbos service station.
Prince William says he and his wife want their children to grow up feeling able to talk about their emotions and feelings. He concedes there may be a time and a place for the stiff upper lip, but not at the expense of your health.

His comments follow revelations made by his brother Harry in another interview during which the younger Prince spoke frankly about how he sought counselling after two years of total chaos in his late 20s brought about by the death of their mother Princess Diana in 1997.

Almost no one, I think, would criticise Prince Harry for his heartfelt confession. Deprived of his mother at 12 after she had been killed in a most horrific accident, and with a father who was perhaps not as understanding as he might have been, the young Harrys predicament was truly dreadful.

Prince William (pictured talking to Calm magazine) says for too long it has been taboo or weak to talk about personal issues

Williams candid interview came as his brother (shown right) brought mental health to the top of the agenda with a deeply personal account of his battle to cope with Princess Dianas death

In what is plainly an intervention stage-managed by their advisers, the Princes sensibly and reasonably preach the virtues of being open and honest about emotions, and not brushing them under the carpet.

The latter is what Harry did with, according to his own account, dire consequences. He says that as a young man he often came very close to a complete breakdown and had so much rage inside him that he felt like punching someone.

Yet despite the Princes understandable and in some respects admirable emotional candour, I find myself wondering about Williams premise that the days of the stiff upper lip are over and that emotional frank- ness  or, one might almost say, emotional incontinence  is the order of the day.

The phrase stiff upper lip conveys the stoicism, absence of self-pity and determination to get on with life that was once celebrated by British people of all classes, and is still respected by most of those aged over 50 or so.

Pupils  not just boys  in the 19th century were imbued with these values as they were taught about the fortitude and resignation of the Ancient Greeks. A modern imperial race was expected to exhibit similar qualities.

Princess Diana is pictured with her two sons William and Harry in 1988 - nine years before her death in a car crash

But actually, stiff upper lip conveys an essentially Christian acceptance of adversity, as well as a recognition that life is often unfair. In his not untroubled acquiescence in his impending excruciating Crucifixion, Christ heroically epitomised these qualities.

One perfect mortal exemplar of that fortitude was Captain Lawrence Titus Oates, the story of whose heroism thrilled countless schoolboys. Beset with gangrene and frostbite during a doomed Antarctic expedition in 1912, he walked from his tent into a snowstorm in the belief his continued existence jeopardised the lives of his companions.

Think of the Christian nurse Edith Cavell, who having saved hundreds during World War I, was shot by a German firing squad. She met her death without bitterness or rancour, sustained by her faith. In her last words she said she was glad to die for her country.

More colourfully, recall pilot Douglas Bader who, despite losing both legs, persuaded the RAF to allow him back into the cockpit. In 1941, he bailed out of his stricken Spitfire, leaving a prosthetic leg. Imprisoned by the Germans, he made repeated attempts to escape.

The stiff upper lip takes many forms. Our own dear Queen is a living model  as, indeed, is her husband, the imperturbable and perennially optimistic Duke of Edinburgh.

Her Majesty took on the burdens of monarchy at a relatively early age without apparent self-pity or complaint. Whatever grief she must have felt at the death of her beloved father, she did not express it in public.

Diana was killed when the car carrying herself and her lover Dodi Fayed smashed into a pillar inside a Parisian tunnel in the early hours (pictured, Diana's funeral in 1997)

The war generation were like that. They went through a lot  privation, rationing, bombing and, in some cases, personal loss  and on the whole they endured these setbacks quietly and patiently.

I suppose the mask began to slip in the Sixties, when an American inspired culture of loudly expressing ones emotions, and sometimes presenting oneself as a victim of forces beyond ones control, began to take hold. Even so, it has taken another generation for widespread emoting to become the norm.

As I say, William and Harry are perhaps in an exceptional category, having lost their mother at an early and highly impressionable age. They may justifiably feel that sharing their pain has helped them, and so may help others.

But it is surely a misconception to think any re-occurring fear, concern or anxiety amounts to a form of mental illness  which seemed almost to be the implication of what Prince Harry was saying.

All of us, however seemingly normal, have our demons, resulting from unfortunate experiences, often when we are young. Happy are those who can share those demons with loving spouses or other relatives, who may be able to assuage them. The Princes may not have enjoyed that benefit.

Quietly communicating ones troubles is usually a good idea  not so much with the wider world, as the Princes are doing, but with relatives, close friends and, when needed, specialists.

Yet the truth is that many setbacks and losses have to be borne. They cannot be talked away. And accepting their continuing effect on our lives does not amount to a form of weakness.

Moreover, the true adherent to the philosophy of the stiff upper lip understands that however bad ones own difficulties may seem, there is always someone else whose problems are worse.

Diana's death would send shockwaves around the world and triggered an unprecedented outpouring of grief in Britain

Its obvious that the Princes comments, officially on behalf of the mental health charity Heads Together, have been at least partly orchestrated by their advisers. The hope is it will all play well with the younger generation for whom the stiff upper lip is an alien idea. They may be right.

But my guess is many in the older generation just wont get it. The idea that one has to put up with the horrors that life throws at us is embedded deep in our experience.

I suspect that even some younger people will have groaned inwardly as an awkward Prince William discussed mental health issues in a video-call with the grotesque pop star Lady Gaga. It seemed on her part just another self-serving publicity stunt. Was it wise, or necessary, for our future king to engage in such a contrived gimmick?

The efforts of the two Princes are undoubtedly well meant. The irony is, of course, that both young men, who greatly value their privacy, will discover that sharing their tribulations so frankly with a wider audience will only increase a tendency for them to be regarded as public property.

And despite the immediate gushing reaction  Sir Simon Wessely, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said rather idiotically of Harrys disclosures that in 25 minutes he has achieved more than I have in 25 years  I fear their openness may not be universally welcomed even among those at whom it was aimed.

William and Harry have, perhaps rashly, ignored the famous injunction of the 19th-century constitutionalist Walter Bagehot not to let daylight in upon the magic of monarchy. In other words, too much exposure weakens the royal brand that depends on a degree of mystique to maintain its popularity.

Might it be that, in the end, even those who relish candour and emotional confessions in their own lives will be disconcerted to discover the two young Princes are just like them  and all too human?
Prime Minister Theresa May (pictured) stunned the nation earlier this week by calling for a snap General Election

Like the mating dance of the warthog, a must-see ritual of the natural world is the British Left throwing a fit of the vapours over a headline in the Mail. The latest to provoke hysteria was our front-page summary of why Theresa May called for a snap election: 'Crush the saboteurs.'

'Nasty and divisive!' tweeted Labour's IRA, Hamas and Hezbollah-sympathising John McDonnell (look who's talking!). 'This kind of hate and aggression is the last thing the country needs,' whimpered the ever-smug tax avoider Gary Lineker.

'Fascist!' said a Guardianista. 'Stalinist!' opined another, with some halfwit tweeting: 'Stalin killed millions by labelling people saboteurs and enemies of the people. Literally the same words as the Mail. Chilling.' Not for the first time, this paper advises: calm down, dears.

For the avoidance of doubt, neither the PM nor this peace-loving paper proposes genocide. All that Mrs May plans, with our support, is an election to establish her mandate for pressing on with Brexit (backed by 52 per cent) without further frustration from 'game-playing' Remoaners and an unelected second chamber.

As for the word 'saboteurs', how else to describe a Labour Party which has threatened to vote against a final agreement with the EU? Or Lib Dems who say they want to grind government to a standstill? Or Scots Nats who say they'll vote against legislation repealing our EU membership?

If they don't like being called saboteurs, shouldn't they give up the sabotage?

And how striking that many who criticised the Mail were the very same people who likened Mrs May's call for an election to the move by Turkey's human rights-violating dictator, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to increase his powers. What a contemptibly stupid and offensive comparison.

We have long known the Left demonises anyone with whom it disagrees. But this is getting ridiculous.

Good luck, George

This paper congratulates George Osborne on his honourable decision to stand down as an MP  'for now'. Gifted though he is, even he couldn't be in six places at once.

Indeed, it never seemed feasible that he could represent constituents in Cheshire while editing a newspaper in London, chairing the Northern Powerhouse, travelling the world's speech circuit, teaching at a US university and earning his 650,000-a-year keep at a hedge fund.

But though Superman he is not, he can look back with pride on a remarkable record for a man not yet 46.

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne (pictured) has announced he will step down as an MP

Yes, he made many mistakes at the Treasury (which chancellors didn't?). But he set in train the steady recovery and record employment we enjoy today, while recalibrating the balance between the public and private sectors.

As for the future, he promises readers of the London Evening Standard 'straight facts and informed opinion' (so, presumably, no repeats of Project Fear).

We wish this convert to our trade all the luck in the world.

A squalid sideshow

We all know what happened when TV debates turned the 2010 election into a shallow, X Factor-style talent show. We were saddled with five years of Nick Clegg  a telegenic pipsqueak most had hardly heard of and now wish they never had.

So this paper is right behind Mrs May when she agrees only to appear on a Question Time format, refusing head-to-head debates with the likes of Jeremy Corbyn, Tim Farron and Nicola Sturgeon.

Why should she demean her high office by accepting equal billing with a superannuated Trot, a boy-scout Lib Dem and a devious, scheming nationalist  three misfits united only in their hostility to Brexit and the Tories?
The BBCs election night coverage will be presented for a record tenth time by David Dimbleby, 78, despite promises to award the plum job to Huw Edwards, 55. Edwards will reprise his role presenting the coverage after Dimbleby goes to bed once most of the results are in. He said: I am honoured to be in the presenters chair again, combining this with all my daily work on BBC News.

House Of Cards star Kevin Spacey, director of The Old Vic theatre from 2003 to 2015, is chosen to host this years Tony Awards in New York in June. But he says, modestly: I was second choice for [his 1995 film] Usual Suspects, fourth choice for [1999s] American Beauty and 15th choice to host this years Tony Awards. I think my career is definitely going in the right direction. Maybe I can get shortlisted to host the Oscars, if everyone else turns it down.

The BBCs election night coverage will be presented for a record tenth time by David Dimbleby, 78, (left) despite promises to award the plum job to Huw Edwards, 55

Theresa May has kick-started the longest election campaign in modern political history  52 days, exceeding the 44 days between John Majors request for a dissolution and polling day in 1997. Tories trust there will be a better outcome this time. Then it was hoped that a longer campaign would help wear down Tony Blairs lead in the polls. Conservatives suffered their worst defeat since 1906.

The PM is attacked by Labour propagandist Alastair We dont do God Campbell for bringing her Christian faith into politics, although he organised a particularly egregious example of this during the 2001 campaign. A sweaty Tony Blair stood before a crucifix and a stained glass window in South London, a school choir yodelling an anthem in his honour, called We Are The Children Of The Future. Creepy rubbish, but they got away with it.

Following my story yesterday about royal bias against women in the Order of the Garter, a source points out that the Princess Royal appointed a Lady Companion of the Garter in 1994, rejected the traditional initials LG after her name, asking the Queen if she could be KG  a Knight of the Garter  like the chaps. However non-royal women still must make do with LG.

The Princess Royal appointed a Lady Companion of the Garter in 1994, rejected the traditional initials LG after her name, asking the Queen if she could be KG  a Knight of the Garter

Radio 4s increasingly aggressive Today presenter Nick Robinson, 53, gave Theresa May a rough ride during his interview yesterday, sarcastically enquiring, What is it about the recent 20 per cent opinion poll [lead] that first attracted you to the idea of a general election? Robinson is always anxious to counter claims from Labour supporters that hes guilty of pro-Tory bias, as an ex-chairman of the Young Conservatives.

RE the election, our William Wordsworth du jour, Pam Ayres, versifies: The shock wave passed / the dust is clearing / Seven weeks electioneering / Rhetoric, hot air and gas / Im on my way to Dignitas.
Olympic gold medallist Libby Trickett has opened up about her mixed emotions after she suffered a devastating miscarriage before the birth of her daughter.

The 32-year-old mother revealed she had lost her first baby about two years ago when she was eight weeks pregnant.

The former swimmer - who is the devoted mother of 19-month-old Poppy - opened up about how the tragedy led her to gratitude.

'Because I am so grateful that I have Poppy now and for any future babies that we might have all we want is a healthy, happy baby,' she told Mamamia's podcast I Don't Know How She Does It.

'So many women go through it and we feel like it's our fault and we feel like it's our bodies failing on some level but in reality it's not. That little being just wasn't meant to be for some reason.'

Olympic gold medallist Libby Trickett has opened up about her mixed emotions after she suffered a devastating miscarriage before the birth of her daughter Poppy

The 32-year-old mother lost her first baby two years ago when she was eight weeks pregnant

Despite suffering an early miscarriage, Libby said she couldn't help but wonder what her baby would look like.

'You immediately feel that protection over that little being, even though they're a little seed at that point, they're no more than a little heartbeat,' she said.

'But we saw that heartbeat and I immediately started fantasising and imagining what they might become. I didn't know if it was a boy or a girl.

'I didn't know whether they would have blonde hair or be a brunette like Poppy is. But you start to dream and to imagine what this person, this little being, might become. I think that really shocked me, how attached I became.'

Earlier this week, Ms Trickett revealed she once broke down and started 'yelling' at her eight-month-old daughter, Poppy, while sleep deprived (both pictured)

The 32-year-old has called on fellow mothers to share the reality of being a parent - whether it's good or bad moments

Her miscarriage discussion comes after she revealed how the power of social media has been one of the biggest challenges she faces as a mother.

She said vulnerable mothers who are constantly seeing the seemingly perfect lives other parents lead on Facebook or Instagram could be detrimental.

Speaking to Kidspot, the 32-year-old has called on fellow mothers to share the reality of being a parent - whether it's good or bad moments.

'Share the poo in the bath. Share the midnight spew you've just had to clean upshare those moments as well as the gorgeous first birthday and the perfectly made cake and those sorts of things,' she said.

The devoted mother also opened up about her daughter, saying 19-month-old Poppy has taught her more than swimming ever did.

'It's probably tested me to my limits more than I ever could have imagined. More than I was tested in swimming because swimming I was good at, you know. And you kind of get feedback that you're good at it,' she said.

'But when you have a newborn particularly, but even at 19 months you still kind of go 'I don't know if I'm doing a good job. I don't know if this is the right way to do it.'

In the past, Ms Trickett has spoken vocally about her struggle to adjust to motherhood (both pictured), confessing it took her nearly seven months to figure out 'why people love babies'

On Monday, Ms Trickett spoke candidly on Instagram about the tough side of motherhood in an effort to remind other parents they 'are not alone'.

'It's sometimes hard to put into words what motherhood is,' she said.

'Yes, it's joyful. Yes, it's a blessing. Yes, it is without a doubt an absolute miracle. But it's also hard and lonely. It can be isolating and bone achingly tiring.

'I found the transition to motherhood tough. Hell, I still can find it bloody tough at times 19 months in but I wanted to share my story in case it helps another mother out there that might be finding things hard right now.

'And mums, out there, just remember you are not alone!! If you're having a tough time, reach out for help. We are all just trying to do our best.'

'I ended up yelling at her, literally at the top of my lungs for about 15 minutes straight,' the mother-of-one said, honestly (pictured at the pool)

Earlier this week, Ms Trickett revealed she once broke down and started 'yelling' at her then eight-month-old daughter, Poppy, in frustration.

Speaking to Mamamia, the 32-year-old said she screamed at her new baby because she hadn't slept for more than 45 minutes after her daughter arrived.

'I ended up yelling at her, literally at the top of my lungs for about 15 minutes straight,' the mother-of-one said, honestly.

'I was so resentful of the fact that she wasn't letting me sleep and I had no space from her because we were co-sleeping all night and then she was tired because she was waking every 45 minutes, too

'It felt like we weren't connecting the way I really wanted to.'

Ms Trickett said that after she found herself 'yelling' at Poppy, she went to see her GP as well as a psychologist (pictured with Poppy)

'That could be considered as quite selfish but you can't pour from an empty cup,' she said (pictured holding Poppy)

Ms Trickett said that after she found herself 'yelling' at Poppy, she went to see her GP as well as a psychologist.

With professional help, the swimmer put a plan in place.

These days, the most important part of Ms Trickett's meditation is exercise.

Whether she goes for a morning walk or heads to the gym to go for a swim or lift some weights, she makes sure she does something that is 'nourishing for myself' - as well as being a mother.

'That could be considered as quite selfish but you can't pour from an empty cup,' she said.

The mother-of-one added that Poppy's sleeping problems have since lifted, and the pair have together come out the other side.
Choosing a new display picture is a tedious process but it dictates how people perceive you in the online world.

Now a team at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, has discovered that images chosen by a stranger will likely produce more favourable reactions than one you choose yourself.

Dr David White, lead author of the study which was published on April 14, said: 'Our findings suggest that people make poor choices when selecting flattering images of themselves for online profile pictures, which affects other people's perception of them.

A new study reveals that pictures of you chosen by strangers are more favourable than the pictures you choose yourself

'This effect is likely to have a substantial impact on online interactions, the impressions people form and the decisions they base on them, including whether to employ, date, befriend or even vote for someone.'

So it makes perfect sense asking a stranger to choose your display picture; because they'll likely know how you best portray yourself.

The study asked 102 students to select two out of 12 photos of their own face that they were most, and least likely, to choose as a profile picture.

These same students were then asked to do the same for 12 images of complete strangers.

The results concluded that the students tended to select pictures that showed off positive personality traits, depending on whether the photo was to appear on a LinkedIn account, Facebook or an online dating website.

Strangers were asked to access the photos on how attractive, trustworthy and competent the person was perceived to be

However, when the researchers showed the students' chosen images to a stranger and they were asked to assess how attractive, trustworthy and competent the person looked, they found that the pictures were not necessarily showing their subjects in the most favourable light.

Dr White said: 'Our results demonstrate that people know how to select profile pictures that fit specific networking contexts and make positive impressions on strangers: dating images appear more attractive, and professional images appear more competent.'

It cannot be deciphered why we choose the photos that we do for our profiles but the team feels it is in our best interests to allow a third party the opportunity to pick the pic.
A dating website for married people and those who are in a relationship has revealed men pay for sex out of 'necessity'.

The site Victoria Milan, which boasts clients worldwide, studied more than 6,000 married men and found that paying for sex is a common and often frequent habit for men who are looking to cheat.

Close to half the men surveyed, 47.3 per cent, had paid for sex before, Mamamia reported.

Close to half the men surveyed, 47.3 per cent, had paid for sex before (stock image)

Almost a quarter of men, 23.3 per cent, paid for sex once a week.

Sigurd Vedal, the founder and CEO of Victoria Milan said 'men need sex'.

'Men engaging escorts is a love/hate relationship,' he said. 'Men love sex and need to have it regularly and escorts meet that demand.'

Thirty five per cent of men soliciting sex didn't see the experience as a 'pleasure' but as a 'necessary sexual release'.

Almost a quarter of men, 23.3 per cent, paid for sex once a week, according to the study (stock image)

For those men who hire an escort, 80 per cent said they book for the minimum time possible, which is usually an hour, 'to get it over and done with'.

The main reasons listed in the survey responses for married men wanting to cheat were there was not an available person (40.1 per cent) and being unable to fulfill sexual fantasies with their long-term partner (36.0 per cent).

Sydney-based escort Lana Jade previously spoke to Daily Mail Australia about the reasons why some of her clients choose to pay for sex.

Sydney-based escort Lana Jade previously said men see sex workers for a multitude of reasons (stock image)

'Men see sex workers for no one particular reason, some are lacking intimacy in their relationships, perhaps their wives don't want to have sex or don't have the time, but they still love their wives so to fill the sexual quota they need they choose, a no strings attached paid encounter,' she explained.

'The biggest preconceived idea is the entire booking time is made up of sex,' the 28-year-old said.

'The extended bookings of three hours or more are a lot less about sex and more about connection.'
Between starring in Hollywood films and raising two children under the age of four, Teresa Palmer more than has her hands full right now.

Yet the 31-year-old Australian actress recently opened up about her 'main priority', which is to be a mother.

'It's so fulfilling being able to do what I love in my work, but my main priority and what has always been my dream has been to be a mum,' Teresa told Whimn.

She also admitted that she would not consider hiring a nanny.

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Hollywood actress, Teresa Palmer (pictured), recently opened up about her 'main priority', which is to be a mother

'It's so fulfilling being able to do what I love in my work, but my main priority and what has always been my dream has been to be a mum,' Teresa said (pictured with her family)

'People tell us all the time: "Why don't you and your husband fly business and get a babysitter to fly economy with the kids?" And I'm like: "No I want to be together, theyre my children".

'That's why I have Forest in interviews with me. That's why I change his nappy here. He's my child. I'm not just going to palm him off to someone else.'

Teresa gave birth to her second son, Forest, four months ago.

She also admitted that she would never consider hiring a nanny - 'I'm not just going to palm him off to someone else,' she said of Forest

Teresa (pictured) is currently enjoying huge career success, both via her recent role in the Oscar-nominated film, Hacksaw Ridge, and her lead turn in Cate Shortland's Berlin Syndrome

'[Success] just arrived when I let go of the controls and the obsession surrounding my career and I said, "I don't really care as much",' she said

She is currently enjoying huge career success, both via her recent role in the Oscar-nominated film, Hacksaw Ridge, and her lead turn in Cate Shortland's Berlin Syndrome.

'[Success] just arrived when I let go of the controls and the obsession surrounding my career and I said, "I don't really care as much",' she added.

The 31-year-old actress said that now she is a mother she has experienced the meaning of 'profound love'.

The 31-year-old actress said that now she is a mother she has experienced the meaning of 'profound love'

Earlier this week, Teresa Palmer was quizzed about working on set and breastfeeding (pictured) - 'I can do both,' she said

The Hollywood star is also known for writing weekly blogs about motherhood and breastfeeding at Your Zen Mama

Earlier this week, the mother-of-two was quizzed about working on set and breastfeeding her sons, Bodhi, 3, and Forest, four months:

'I can do both,' she told Yahoo.

'[Berlin Syndrome executives] were so welcoming and they'd always slot in breastfeeding breaks for me, and my son Bodhi knew the crew was just a welcomed member of the set.'

The Hollywood star is also known for writing weekly blogs about motherhood and breastfeeding at Your Zen Mama.

Recent posts have seen Teresa share stories of Forest's birth and her post-partum experience, as well as her experience of breastfeeding.
Even if you are careful with your spending, debt can often creep up on you and create unwelcome stress in your life.

But there are some very simple steps you can take that can get you out of debt, help you remain debt-free and even help you form a steady passive income.

Here, FEMAIL looks at these helpful hints and how you can overhaul your bank account with successful results.

Here, FEMAIL looks at helpful hints for getting out of debt and how you can overhaul your bank account with successful results (pictured is accountant Canna Campbell)

CREATE A DEDICATED BANK ACCOUNT TO SAVINGS

If you have just one bank account, it's possible that you don't pay enough attention to all of the money going in and out of it.

Australian finance guru and Sugar Mamma TV founder, Canna Campbell, recommends opening a bank account dedicated to saving and nicknaming it so it's clear.

'Every dollar that goes into that account is dedicated to improving your financial situation,' she says.

'Every time you put money in that account you know exactly where its going.'

Finance guru and Sugar Mamma TV founder, Canna Campbell, recommends opening a bank account dedicated to saving and nicknaming it so it's clear

What are some ideas for making extra cash? eBay Gumtree/Craigs List Extra work  weekends or after hours Market Research Babysitting House sitting and looking after pets Dog walking Tutoring Garage sales Pay rises and Tax refunds Small business Asking for cash instead of birthday presents Advertisement

KEEP YOUR CREDIT CARD OUT OF YOUR WALLET

Many of us are guilty of whipping out the credit card for spontaneous purchases.

But Ms Campbell urges people to stop doing this and instead keep their credit cards out of their wallets.

'By not having them in their wallets, when temptation arises, if they dont have it they cant use it,' she says.

'If you really want an item you have to pay with cash or with your debit card. When you do this you tend to be a lot more present and in the moment.

'You are actually questioning the value and the exchange. You understand, in handing over those notes, what you're actually buying and whether it's really worth it. Are you prepared to see your savings drop for that particular item?'

Many of us are guilty of whipping out the credit card for spontaneous purchases but Ms Campbell urges people to stop doing this and to keep their credit cards out of their wallets

BRAINSTORM WAYS TO MAKE MONEY

Ms Campbell keeps a notebook on her 24/7 so she can note down ways she can make money outside of her day to day job.

'It keeps me accountable. I keep this on me all the time so I can add to it,' she says.

On this list she has written down things like selling clothes on eBay, selling high end clothes on Facebook, upcoming tax refunds, Air BnB options and stopping her cleaner for a couple of months.

'Write down as many ideas as possible as to how you could save or make extra cash,' she says, adding that she is now on to her forty second $1,000 parcel of money.

Ms Campbell (pictured) keeps a notebook on her 24/7 so she can note down ways she can make money outside of her day to day job

RETHINK YOUR RENT

Australian accountant Natasha Janssens, founder of Women With Cents, suggests renters consider moving to a cheaper area if they are struggling with debt.

'Alternatively have a look at sub-letting if you arent already,' she writes on her blog.

'Do you have friends or family you could stay with, even just for a month or two to help kick start the savings? Or perhaps house-sitting is another option.'

Accountant Natasha Janssens (not pictured) the founder of Women With Cents, suggests renters consider moving to a cheaper area if they are struggling with debt

CONSIDER YOUR TRANSPORT OPTIONS

Ms Janssens also urges people in debt to look at their different transport options.

'If you drive a gigantic fuel-guzzler, it could be time to downsize to a more economical ride,' she writes.

'Or if you drive everywhere, consider taking public transport or walking a few days a week instead! If you have a car loan, perhaps it is time to make some hard decisions about down-sizing to a more affordable ride.'
Mummy blogger Constance Hall has gushed over the new man in her life just two weeks after she announced her split from her husband.

The Perth mother-of-four arrived in Ireland with her children ahead of her international tour to promote her book Like a Queen.

The 33-year-old blogger opened up about her love for the beautiful country - and the man accompanying her on the trip - single father-of-two Denim Cooke.

'Falling in love with Ireland and each other,' she wrote on Facebook along with several heart emojis on Wednesday night.

Mummy blogger Constance Hall (pictured with Denim Cooke) has gushed over the new man

The mother-of-four has been documenting the family trip on social media (pictured on a flight)

The 33-year-old mother had announced her split from her husband of six years - Bill Mahon

Snuggling up close, the pair were all smiles as they posed for the photograph.

The post is just one of many, with the young mother documenting their movements as soon as they landed in Dublin.

'So we woke up at 4am and have been cruising Dublin on foot since. I am so in love I can't explain it,' she wrote in another post.

'Ireland is everything and more then any of us could have imagined.'

Her holiday snaps comes after Constance revealed she was 'growing close' to Denim Cooke - the young father who she'd met at a skate park earlier this year.

She spoke highly of her admiration for his parenting skills after listening to his inspiring story of how he was embarking on a trip around Australia with his two sons 'on a quest to skate every single skate park'.

'A couple of weeks ago after taking the kids out for dinner I grabbed a couple of beers and went to the skate park, tire them out so they crash without fighting,' she wrote in her blog on February 27.

'There were 2 kids there, long blonde haired kids who's skating skills defied the laws of gravity and who spoke kindly, respectfully to the younger less talented kids like mine.

'And I met Denim, their dad.'

The Perth mother arrived in Ireland with her children ahead of her international book tour

She had dismissed claims she was seeing another man when she was still with her husband

Her estranged husband made explosive claims the mother of his children had cheated on him

She dismissed claims she was seeing another man when she was still with her husband of six years Bill Mahon.

Mr Mahon accused his estranged wife of running away to Ireland with another man after their marriage breakdown.

She revealed the couple 'stopped enjoying each other and the kids stopped seeing happiness in our love, only contempt.

'This decision wasn't made lightly, obviously he has been the love of my life but we just weren't making each other happy anymore,' she continued.

'Constance Hall is on her way to Ireland without me. While I was working at our other house she met a guy...' Mr Mahon said on Facebook.

'Now they are together. I'm over it but this is not a Queen!!!!!'

The Perth writer (pictured) is one of the biggest names in the mummy blogging business, having written a bestselling book, gained millions followers and toured Australia

The young mother fired back at accusations, claiming: 'I absolutely never left Bill for anyone'

However, the young mother fired back, claiming: 'I absolutely never left Bill for anyone. I didn't cheat on Bill with Denim.

'The other man that I have supposedly "run off with" Denim, I can whole heartedly say that Bill and I were well and truly over well before I even developed any feelings for him,' she continued.

'I warned my ex husband many months ago that if he wanted to try and reunite he should do it before I give up completely. He did not reply.

'I tried and tried and tried with Bill, so many tears and so much trying. My family and friends know the truth.'
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If the latest Carla Zampatti collection is anything to go by, the Eighties are most certainly back!

Models stormed the runway at the Sydney Theatre Company at Walsh Bay on Thursday for the launch of the new Spring/Summer 2017 collection in an array of exaggerated padded shoulders, sheer dresses, strong silhouettes and statement bows and sashes.

Bold colours are set to be a wardrobe staple in the coming season, with fiery red playsuits and cobalt blue billowing tops a welcome addition to the often monochrome dominated runway.

Models stormed the runway at the Sydney Theatre Company at Walsh Bay on Thursday for the launch of the new Carla Zampatti Spring/Summer 2017 collection in an array of padded shoulders, sheer dresses and statement bows and sashes

Sheer looks were a common sight on the runway, with one model donning a black, floral embellished dress that left little to the imagination as she hit the catwalk

Sheer looks were also a common sight on the runway, with one model donning a black, floral embellished dress that left little to the imagination as she hit the catwalk.

She was followed by another in a similar, feminine design which was stamped with stunning pastel pink floral patterns and accessorised with simple black heels.

Another model stepped out in blue sheer floral top with flared sleeves that was paired with a high waisted navy silk skirt.

Others wore beautifully patterned silver tops paired with billowing grey pants and figure-hugging off the shoulder dresses stamped with textured, detailed patterns

Whites, greys and creams were all the rage, with models appearing in an array of flowing maxi dresses, quirky asymmetric strapless tops and her signature gowns

Whites, greys, ivories and creams were all the rage, with models appearing in flowing maxi dresses, quirky asymmetric strapless tops and the designer's striking signature gowns.

Others wore beautifully patterned silver tops paired with billowing grey pants and figure-hugging off the shoulder dresses stamped with textured, detailed patterns.

As always, elegant black pieces were a favourite on the catwalk with oversized black coats, dresses with classic silhouettes, playful, modern cutouts, netting and flowing, frilled tops all part of the new collection.

As always, elegant black pieces were a favourite on the catwalk with oversized black coats, dresses with classic silhouettes, playful, modern cutouts and flowing, frilled tops all part of the new collection

'Women started wearing shoulder pads then, they loved a wide shoulder and they still do. It shows a level of confidence and power. That's what I remember from the 80s,' Zampatti told Fairfax Media

In another nod to the Eighties and power dressing, the designer also showcased an eye-popping metallic shimmering dress with padded shoulders and high waisted pants paired with form-fitting tops that featured oversized sleeves and large sashes.

Red will also be a hit in coming seasons, with models also rocking eye-catching statement pieces including large trenches, dresses with thigh-high slits and jumpsuits.

Speaking to Fairfax Media, Carla Zampatti said 'the time seemed right to look to the Eighties'.

'Women started wearing shoulder pads then, they loved a wide shoulder and they still do. It shows a level of confidence and power. That's what I remember from the 80s,' she said.

In another nod to the Eighties, the designer also showcased an eye-popping metallic shimmering dress with padded shoulders and high waisted pants paired with form-fitting tops that featured oversized sleeves and large sashes
With her sultry gaze, tumbling locks and lithe figure, it's not difficult to see why the star of this lingerie shoot won over the judges of a beauty contest.

The photos were uploaded as an online entry to a competition held by a lingerie firm in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, in the Sakhalinsk Oblast region of south-eastern Russia, and judges were blown away by the striking brunette in the pictures, who was eventually crowned the winner.

But a surprise revelation has since seen the 20-year-old student stripped of her prize.

With her tumbling locks, sultry gaze and lithe figure, it's not difficult to see why this model won over the judges with her photos

But the 20-year-old's student prize - a professional photo shoot - has since been retracted

When judges realised the 'woman' in the pictures was actually 20-year-old male student Andrey Nagorny, they stripped him of his prize

The model in the pictures is actually a man, 20-year-old Andrey Nagorny, who borrowed his girlfriend's lingerie and makeup to take the photographs seen here.

His girlfriend, whose name is unknown, helped him with his hair and selected the four photos he eventually sent in to judges under the alias of Ms Avocado.

Andrey, a student at Sakhalin University, won the competition, but when the judges found out he was male, they withdrew the promised prize of a professional photoshoot.

Andrey borrowed makeup and lingerie from his girlfriend to pose for the photos

His prize has been retracted by judges, who shared it between three female runners up

Instead his retracted prize has been shared between three female runners-up by the chain of lingerie stores running the contest.

Lingerie firm manager Zhanna Stolpovskaya said: 'This boy looked very much like a girl. As pics were free to upload, he decided to participate too.'

Who knew? The 'woman' in the lingerie shots is actually a man - 20-year-old student Andrey

He borrowed his girlfriend's sexiest underwear to enter under the alias Ms Avocado

Disappointed: The student at Sakhalin University will miss out on the professional photo shoot touted as the prize for the winner

The decision led to some disappointment from people who had spotted the photos on social media.

Aleksey Popov said online: 'Idiots. Now he can easily sue them for gender discrimination. And you might have thought that only women get discriminated'

And Charlie Russell added: 'They are so full of s***. Why wouldnt they announce gender requirements from the very start?'
A year has flown by since he was welcomed into the world by his proud parents and already Prince Alexander of Sweden has an important new role ahead.

The young royal is set to be a big brother soon when his mother Princess Sofia, 32, gives birth to her second child, but yesterday all eyes were on Alexander as he celebrated his first birthday.

To celebrate the son's big day, Prince Carl Philip, 37, and his wife released two adorable official portraits of their son, as well as a candid shot showing the youngster opening a present - taken by his doting dad.

Prince Carl Philip of Sweden and his wife Princess Sofia have released a stunning family portrait with their on Alexander, to celebrate his first birthday

Prince Carl Philip shared a snap of his one-year-old son opening what was no doubt one of many presents

A shot of the trio shows the photogenic family beaming for the camera, giving Princess Sofia the chance to show off her pregnancy glow.

The royal announced she was pregnant in March, just 11 months after welcoming Prince Alexander, and is due to give birth in September.

In an official statement on the Swedish Royal Court's website, the couple said: 'We are happy to announce that we are expecting a child, a sibling to Prince Alexander.

'We are looking forward to welcoming a new little member to our family.'

Prince Alexander looked adorable in a stone coloured zip up coat and tiny brown boots, as he grinned to show off his rapidly growing collection of baby teeth

The statement also confirmed that Sofia would continue with her scheduled engagements as planned throughout the spring and summer of 2017.

Just hours after the announcement, the couple attended a glittering dinner at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden.

Sofia showed off just a hint of her growing bump in a red gown, which skimmed over her curves.

Sofia showed off just a hint of her baby bump in a glamorous red gown during a gala dinner in Stockholm, hours after announcing her second pregnancy

Alexander was born last April weighing at 7lbs 9oz. and measuring 19.3 inches long at Danderyds Hospital in Stockholm.

Hours after the birth, Carl Philip held a press conference at the hospital to announce the new arrival.

'When asked if he had cried during the birth, the prince replied, according to People magazine: 'Yes, actually. Of course. Couldn't stop.

The couple pose for a family portrait with the newborn prince and their Border Terrier

'For me and my wife, this is obviously a great day with a lot of emotion. Words cannot describe.'

Former glamour model Sofia Hellqvist married the prince last June. The elegant brunette is known for her infectious gap-toothed smile and easygoing ways.

They dated for five years before walking down the aisle and now live together in the upmarket Djurgarden district of Stockholm.
It is not often that we see royal couples engaging in public displays of affection, but a loved up Queen Letizia couldn't help but cosy up to her husband this afternoon.

The Spanish royal, 44, joined King Felipe VI, 49, in Madrid as they attended the Cervantes Awards Ceremony on Thursday.

As they arrived at the University of Alcala de Henares where the ceremony was held, Letizia could be seen linking arms with her husband in an affectionate gesture.

Queen Letizia and King Felipe of Spain looked more loved up than ever as they attended the Cervantes Awards Ceremony on Thursday

With spring well and truly sprung Letizia made the most of the warm weather, displaying bare legs for today's engagement.

She showcased her slender frame in a fitted coat dress with black embroidery.

The queen let her hair fall in natural waves this afternoon, pinning some strands back for a more polished finish.

As they arrived at the University of Alcala de Henares where the ceremony was held Letizia could be seen linking arms with her husband in an affectionate gesture

The former-journalist stunned in a fitted coat dress and nude accessories while her husband looked dapper in a coat and tails

The former journalist completed her ensemble with nude accessories including a matching clutch and shoes pairing.

Meanwhile King Felipe looked dapper in a coat with tails and a baby blue waistcoat and could be seen carrying a ceremonial cane.

Created in 1974, the Miguel de Cervantes Prize is the most important award in Spanish literature with the winner receiving 125,000 euros.

The awards attened by the couple topday were created in 1974, the Miguel de Cervantes Prize is the most important award in Spanish literature

Candidates are nominated by a panel that includes former prize winners and the Spanish Royal Academy

Candidates are nominated by a panel that includes former prize winners and the Spanish Royal Academy.

Previous winners include Juan Goytisolo and Nicanor Parra, and the prize is open to all authors from Spanish-speaking nations.

Known for being one of Europe's busiest royals Queen Letizia has had an action packed week, typical of her hard working character.

On Wednesday the 44-year-old was perfectly poised in her colour block knee length dress in white, blue and navy

The royal couple were hosts for the afternoon at the event where Spanish writer Eduardo Mendoza will receive the 2016 Miguel de Cervantes Award

On Wednesday the 44-year-old was perfectly poised as she hosted a lunch for Spain's literary stars ahead of today's awards.

The mother-of-two chose a fitted knee-length dress with a colour-block pattern and stud detail to host the guests at the Royal Palace in Madrid, along with her husband, King Felipe VI.

Just a day earlier Queen Letizia looked younger than ever in an on-trend white bardot top and flared black trousers.

She took to the stage at the 'Gran Angular' and 'El Barco De Vapor' literature awards at Casa de Correos in Madrid, where she was on hand to present awards to the best authors in the country.

On Tuesday, Queen Letizia looked younger than ever in an of-the-minute white bardot top and flared black trousers
The early mornings must be taking a toll on Eamonn Holmes.

The 57-year-old presenter appeared to nod off briefly while presenting This Morning today alongside his wife and co-host Ruth Langsford, also 57.

During a viewer phone-in on body confidence, Eamonn looked as though he was grabbing a couple of seconds of shut-eye - leaving Ruth to do the talking.

The husband and wife duo usually present on Fridays, but take over full-time hosting duties from Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby during school holidays.

Eamonn Holmes looked as though he could barely keep his head up during a This Morning phone-in, while Ruth Langsford chatted away to callers

The Northern Irish host, 57, appeared to close his eyes while looking down towards the table earlier today

While Ruth kept the show going Eamonn struggled to stay awake, closing his eyes for several seconds

It seemed as though the early mornings had finally caught up with the host who eventually sat there with his eyes firmly shut

As Ruth chatted away with the resident doctors today, Eamonn took a moment to close his eyes and even rested his head in his hands.

Eamonn normally joins Ruth to host the ITV daytime show on a Friday, but when regulars Phillip and Holly take time off during the school break, the duo step in.

The Northern Irish host, who had a double hip replacement operation last year, decided to quit his role as Sky News Sunrise anchor after 11 years, but couldn't resist a return to early morning television.

Ruth appeared none the wiser that her husband had nodded off, while she spoke with callers about their body confidence

Just last week he was pulling double duties, taking up a guest spot on Good Morning Britain and then going on to This Morning just hours later.

He's said that Ruth hasn't been enjoying the early alarm call, with her husband leaving her to sleep as he stepped in to cover Piers Morgan's holidays.

Eamonn left Sky News to spend more time working on documentaries with Ruth, including travelling the world for their How The Other Half Lives Channel 5 series.

This Morning airs weekdays on ITV at 10.30am
The Countess of Wessex may have regretted her choice of footwear when she had to trample through a forest during an outdoor engagement today.

Sophie, 52, donned a pair of rather impractical patent stilettos during a visit to the Surrey Wildlife Trust's new Education Centre in Nower Wood, Leatherhead.

But the royal clearly hadn't bargained for having to walk across grassy terrain to get to the Surrey venue on Thursday.

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Sophie, Countess of Wessex was forced to walk through grassy woodland in stiletto heels

The glamorous royal wore a pink tweed skirt, cropped white blazer and a tan leather clutch

The glamorous royal teamed her trusty beige courts with a pink tweed skirt and elegant white cropped blazer for a day of woodland fun as she joined local children exploring the centre and taking part in a range of outdoor activities.

She got up close and personal with creepy crawlies as she peered into a bug viewer, and was even presented with a 'bug hotel' - a small, manmade structure intended to provide shelter for insects.

Sophie was there to officially open the 1.1million flagship education centre, which has been funded by the National Lottery.

The centre, nestled among 81 acres of woodland, originally consisted of a series of wooden huts, some of which were bought second-hand over 40 years ago according to the Surrey Wildlife Trust website.

The royal peers into a bug viewer to take a look at an insect during her visit to the centre

Mother-of-two Sophie joined a youngster from a nearby school during her visit to Surrey

Sophie chats to staff and youngsters as she explores the new 1.1million education centre

The caring royal even lent down to give one visitor a hug during her tour of new centre

The royal grins as she inspects a 'bug hotel', an environment for insects to live in

The royal proved she's a natural with children as she chats to local youngsters in Surrey

Over time, they were no longer fit for purpose and were slowly rotting away leading to a fundraising campaign to raise the 1.1million required.

The successful campaign was backed by stars including Judi Dench and Sir David Attenborough.

The mother-of-two also paid a visit Ridgeway Community School in nearby Farnham today where she took part in classroom activities with the youngsters.

The Queen's daughter-in-law married Prince Edward in 1999 and the couple are parents to Lady Louise Windsor, 13 and James, Viscount Severn, nine.

The stylish countess looked to be enjoying her visit as she chatted to local youngsters

Sophie may have wished she'd swapped her heels for trainers as she walked through woodland
A world-renowned aesthetic practitioner has revealed that he'd have no qualms about injecting a teenager with Botox, after treating his own daughter since she was 18-year-old.

Dr Jules Nabet, who originally hails from France started treating his daughter Paola, now 36, as a teenager as she was suffering from migraines, but when she reached her 30s she asked him to continue injecting her for cosmetic purposes.

Paola, who is a law professor at the University of Luxembourg, told The Times: 'I was wary because the injections scared me, and the treatment was not well known.

But it was for medical purposes and I trusted my father, so if he told me, "Its good for you,". I believed him. And it worked instantly.'

The professor insists that she didn't notice any change in her appearance at the tender age of 18 and viewed the Botox purely as something she had for medical reasons.

While he initially treated his daughter every six months for her migraines, Dr Nabet would be happy to inject a teenager for cosmetic purposes, saying: 'It depends on the face. Some women have frown lines at 18 or 19, others dont notice them until 40.'

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Paola Nabet, 36, has been receiving Botox injections from her father Dr Jules Nabet since she was 18. It started as a medicinal practice to treat migraines, but now she does it for aesthetic purposes

According to Dr Nabet, the sooner you start Botox the less you will need as you age, but he will turn away younger patients who he doesn't believe are in need of treatment.

'The most important thing for me, is that my patients look natural - Botox that looks refreshed, not frozen,' he explained.

'I am seeing lots of models and sometime they are just too young and dont need any treatment. When my patients leave people should say, "you look well, you look healthy", not "what have you had done?".

Paola says that she'd be happy for her own daughter to start being injected at the age of 18 - but only if her father is still practicing, as he's the 'best'.

There is no legal age limit on when you can have Botox, but many doctors don't recommend it until the late 20s.

BOTOX BY NUMBERS Botox was first approved as a cosmetic by the FDA on the 12th April 2002, for temporary improvement of frown lines. The 15th year anniversary is approaching in April 2017 for what has been one of the biggest breakthroughs for anti-ageing ever. Used for more than 30 years in the UK and US, forecasts for the global Botox market say it is to reach $2.9 billion by 2018. Advertisement

'I would say the best age for Botox is as soon as you first notice lines appearing, usually 25 to 28 years, as this is more of a preventative measure,' Dr Nabet explained.

But he warns that Botox isn't the secret to eternal youth, and that taking care of your skin and living healthy lifestyle are equally important.

'The current trend in aesthetics is looking natural, but healthy skin is also important, this is what makes you look younger,' he explained.

'Botox can only soften a line or wrinkle; it does not help with the skins radiance and brightness and this is what is importance to my patients too.

They come to me eating to get rid of a line or wrinkle but they also want an improvement in skin quality and tone.

Dr Jules Nabet says the ideal time to start Botox is in the late 20s and will turn away patients that don't need it yet. However, he would treat a teenager if they were developing wrinkles

'You need a combination of aesthetic treatments like Botox and fillers as well as good skincare treatments as well as products and lifestyle choices.

'The one thing that would make the biggest difference to women's skin are vitamins and hyaluronic acid as these plump and freshen the skin,' he said.

'The role of hormones and vitamins that influence and help the skin to look younger and fresher. I believe it is essential to respect and look after both the inside and outside of the body.'

The renowned doctor pioneered 'baby Botox,' a lower dosage, which means that the patients face can actually move afterwards.

He also administers Botox in the dimple of the chin as well as the lower half of the face to sculpt and tone the neck and lower jaw.
Constance Hall's husband has confirmed he is in Ireland at the same time his wife tours the country with her new man.

Bill Mahon, who shares four children with the 33-year-oldPerth blogger, told Daily Mail Australia he landed in Dublin this week but has no intention of getting in touch with his wife of six years.

Constance, who announced two weeks ago she had separated from Mr Mahon, is in Ireland with the couple's children ahead of her international tour to promote her book 'Like a Queen.'

Mr Mahon said he knows she is in the country because he 'did all the itinerary for her trip,' but said he was already planning on going overseas for 'previous family commitments.'

Constance Hall's estranged husband Bill Mahon (pictured together) has confirmed he is in Ireland at the same time his wife tours the country with her new man

Constance, who announced two weeks ago she had separated from Mr Mahon, is in Ireland with the couple's children (pictured) ahead of her international book tour

Constance has opened up about her love for the beautiful country - and the man accompanying her on the trip - single father-of-two Denim Cooke (pictured together)

After arriving in Dublin on Thursday, Mr Mahon has posted a handful of comments on Facebook.

He joked about forgetting to pack an adapter for his phone charger and asked friends if Temple Bar - a neighbourhood where Constance will hold a book launch on Saturday - is ok.

'Right, what's the Temple Bar in Dublin like?' he quizzed.

Constance has also been active on social media and opened up about her love for the beautiful country - and the man accompanying her on the trip - single father-of-two Denim Cooke.

'Falling in love with Ireland and each other,' she wrote on Facebook along with several heart emojis on Wednesday night.

Snuggling up close, the pair were all smiles as they posed for the photograph.

The post is just one of many, with the young mother documenting their movements as soon as they travel.

'So we woke up at 4am and have been cruising Dublin on foot since. I am so in love I can't explain it,' she wrote in another post.

'Ireland is everything and more then any of us could have imagined.'

Mr Mahon (pictured with Constance), who shares four children with the 33-year-old Perth blogger, said he landed in Dublin this week but has no intention of getting in touch with his wife of six years

Soon after arriving, Mr Mahon asked friends if Temple Bar - a neighbourhood where Constance will hold a book launch on Saturday - is ok (pictured)

He also joked about forgetting to pack an adapter for his phone charger

Her holiday snaps comes after Constance revealed she was 'growing close' to Denim Cooke - the young father who she'd met at a skate park earlier this year.

She spoke highly of her admiration for his parenting skills after listening to his inspiring story of how he was embarking on a trip around Australia with his two sons 'on a quest to skate every single skate park'.

'A couple of weeks ago after taking the kids out for dinner I grabbed a couple of beers and went to the skate park, tire them out so they crash without fighting,' she wrote in her blog on February 27.

'There were 2 kids there, long blonde haired kids who's skating skills defied the laws of gravity and who spoke kindly, respectfully to the younger less talented kids like mine.

'And I met Denim, their dad.'

Her holiday snaps comes after Constance revealed she was 'growing close' to Denim Cooke - the young father who she'd met at a skate park earlier this year

She had dismissed claims she was seeing another man when she was still with her husband

She dismissed claims she was seeing another man when she was still with her husband of six years Bill Mahon.

Mr Mahon accused his estranged wife of running away to Ireland with another man after their marriage breakdown.

She revealed the couple 'stopped enjoying each other and the kids stopped seeing happiness in our love, only contempt.

'This decision wasn't made lightly, obviously he has been the love of my life but we just weren't making each other happy anymore,' she continued.

'Constance Hall is on her way to Ireland without me. While I was working at our other house she met a guy...' Mr Mahon said on Facebook.

'Now they are together. I'm over it but this is not a Queen!!!!!'

The Perth writer (pictured) is one of the biggest names in the mummy blogging business, having written a bestselling book, gained millions followers and toured Australia

The young mother fired back at accusations, claiming: 'I absolutely never left Bill for anyone'

However, the young mother fired back, claiming: 'I absolutely never left Bill for anyone. I didn't cheat on Bill with Denim.

'The other man that I have supposedly 'run off with' Denim, I can whole heartedly say that Bill and I were well and truly over well before I even developed any feelings for him,' she continued.

'I warned my ex husband many months ago that if he wanted to try and reunite he should do it before I give up completely. He did not reply.

'I tried and tried and tried with Bill, so many tears and so much trying. My family and friends know the truth.'
People are known to say some pretty strange things after surgery, but one woman woke up convinced that George Clooney did her IVF egg retrieval.

Emily Young couldn't resist sharing the hilarious post-op footage of her stepsister Kayleigh insisting that she saw the 55-year-old actor 'down there' during the procedure.

'I want you all to know that I know what I saw, and I know that George Clooney did it,' she says in the YouTube clip. 'George Clooney did my retrieval, and he got 25 eggs.'

'I know what I saw': Emily Young shared hilarious post-op footage of her stepsister Kayleigh (pictured) insisting that she saw George Clooney performing her IVF egg retrieval

A girl can dream! Although George famously played Dr. Doug Ross on ER, he is not actually a medical professional

Although George famously played Dr. Doug Ross on ER, he is not a medical professional by any means.

However, that doesn't stop Kayleigh from gushing about him flying in to perform the procedure.

Not only does Kayleigh claim that she saw him, she believes his cameo during her third IVF retrieval is a sign of good luck.

'Because it was George, I just feel like it might work,' she explains.

'I can't believe they brought him in to do this surgery.'

Emily is lying in her hospital bed and still wearing her hair net while recounting the unbelievable moment.

When someone in the background reminds her that she 'got 25 eggs' during the procedure, she is quick to credit George for the success.

Recollection: When she woke up, Kayleigh told her family that the 55-year-old actor retrieved '25 eggs' when he performed the procedure

Hopeful: This was Kayleigh's third IVF retrieval, and she feels that 'because of George' it might work this time. However, she 'can't believe' that George was 'down there'

'I feel like it is because of George Clooney,' she says. 'I can't believe he is here. Did you meet him?'

Instead of bursting her bubble, the man in the background, who is presumably her husband, tells her that 'he is a nice guy'.

And while she seems happy to have had an A-list celebrity retrieve her eggs, she looks a bit horrified when she thinks about what George seeing her nether regions.

'I just can't believe it. I saw him down there in my vagina,' she says.

'George saw my vagina. I can't believe it. I just can't believe it.'
A heartbroken mother has told how she spent 18 days with her dead baby boy thanks to a refrigerated 'cuddle cot'.

Laura Elliot, 27, from Chaddesden in Derby, gave birth to Cowen, who weighed 8lb 11oz, on October 12 last year, but he tragically died just 17 days after he was born after contracting an infection in his bloodstream.

After the funeral home provided a special Moses basket with a cooling pad, Laura and her husband Mark, 31, were able to spend 18 more precious days cuddling and kissing their baby boy.

Laura, who visited Cowen's private room at the funeral parlour as soon as it opened each day, said she will 'never forget' being given the opportunity to say a 'proper goodbye' to her little boy.

Laura Elliot, 27, and her husband Mark, 31, lost their son Cowen just 17 days after he was born

The devastated mother-of-three and her husband Mark were able to pick up, cuddle and kiss Cowen in the 18 days leading up to his funeral in November.

The Starbucks worker has said she found the process comforting, and is now raising money to buy a cuddle cot for her own local hospital, to help other parents who are going through what she and Mark, a drainage engineer, did.

Laura, who is also mum to Ethan, six, and Skyla, three, said: 'We first heard about the cuddle cot when we started to talk about laying Cowen to rest.

Tragic baby Cowen, is seen before he died with his sister Skyla, three, and brother Ethan, six

Laura has said the day she lost her baby boy had been a 'normal morning', which descended into horror after she lifted his covers to find his skin was mottled and covered in pinprick bruising.

The family rushed Cowen to hospital, where they learned he had contracted meningococcal septicemia. Specialists were called in to help, but within three and a half hours Cowen had tragically passed away.

The Elliots were then told about the cuddle cot by a local funeral home.

'Once I heard about the device I knew it would help us as a family and it was quite simply amazing,' she said.

'It allowed me and members of my family to spend time and bond with Cowen and get to say goodbye and grieve properly.

'I would get up and go to the funeral parlour when it opened at 9.15am and would sit there with him all day.

Laura visited Cowen in his private room at a Derby funeral home for 18 days

'It was nice that you could go whenever you wanted, even on weekends,' she said.

'We could pick him up and hold him and cuddle and kiss him. It was like he was still with us.

'It helped me to grieve and I found it comforting.

'We were given the option of bringing Cowen home but my husband wasn't too keen and we weren't sure how the kids would react.

'And it would have made it hard to give him back if we had brought him home..'

Central England Co-operative Funeralcare are the first funeral directors in Britain to offer the refrigerated 'cuddle cots' for grieving parents.

The devices, which were introduced by them last summer, are commonly used by hospices and hospitals across the UK.

Laura said: 'I think these devices are vital to help parents who have lost a child and there are simply are not enough of them.

'I was able to visit Cowen every single day and spend all day with him until he was laid to rest as were members of my family.

'Being able to use this was of great comfort to us all.'

She's now hoping to raise enough money to pay for one for the Royal Derby Hospital.

'The use of a cuddle cot will not be for everyone, but for me it was what I needed and meant I could bond and properly say goodbye to my son.

'I will never, ever forget being given the chance to do that.'

Cowen is seen hours before he died of meningococcal septicaemia at Royal Derby Hospital

Laura also wants to raise awareness about the dangers of meningococcal septicaemia, which is an infection in the bloodstream.

Symptoms can include fever, fatigue, vomiting, cold hands and feet, severe aches and pains, rapid breathing, diarrhoea and a dark purple rash.

Laura said: 'The day that Cowen passed away was just a normal morning and I was going about my daily business.

'I then went to feed and get Cowen ready and knew something was wrong when I lifted the covers and noticed that his skin was mottled and he had pinprick bruising all over him.

'We rushed him straight to the Royal Derby Hospital.

'It was so overwhelming as within minutes of getting there dozens of people had poured into the room to try and help.

'Specialists were coming from all over the country but it was already too late.

'After three-and-a half hours doctors told us they were going to have to stop keeping Cowen alive and he passed away.'
Resplendent in a pastel-hued dress, Queen Mathilde flashed her toned legs and gym-honed physique as she arrived at a prize ceremony on Thursday.

The 44-year-old Queen of Belgium was all smiles as she arrived at the Baillet Latour Health Prize ceremony on a sunny afternoon.

She laughed and joked with attendees as she dished out awards to recipients at the awards, which recognise outstanding human value in the Arts and Sciences.

Queen Mathilde displayed her toned legs and trim figure in a pastel-hued dress as she arrived at a prize ceremony in Brussels on Thursday

The foundation, which was founded in 1974, is a non-profit organisation established by Count Alfred de Baillet Latour.

The Count was Director of the Artois Breweries in Leuven, Belgium.

It has been a busy few weeks for the Queen. Earlier this month she was on hand to welcome the UN Secretary General to Brussels.

The monarch, 44, was glowing in a bold, form-fitting dress she wore with a pair of classic nude heels.

The foundation is a non-profit organisation established by Count Alfred de Baillet Latour

The beaming Queen was on hand to dish out awards to worthy recipients in the Arts and Sciences

The royal gracefully exited the car as she arrived at the event in Brussels

She wore her hair in its signature coiffed style and accessorised with pearl drop earrings

The cheerful royal was all smiles as she chatted with prize winners

The Belgian King and Queen recently returned from a state visit to Denmark, where Mathilde was given a tour of Copenhagen by the equally stylish Crown Princess Mary

Queen Mathilde of Belgium and King Philippe of Belgium later arrived to receive heads of diplomatic missions accreditated to Belgium, at the Royal Castle in Laeken, Brussels

The Queen looked polished in a bright fuchsia coat and blue dress

Queen Mathilde and her husband King Philippe met with Portuguese diplomat Antonio Guterres, who is serving as the UN Secretary General, at Laeken Castle today.

The royals appeared relaxed as they smiled and posed for photographs with the politician in the Belgian capital.

Mathilde had forgone a jacket, and was suitably dressed for the onset of Spring in her knee-length frock.

The Belgian King and Queen recently returned from a state visit to Denmark, where Mathilde was given a tour of Copenhagen by the equally stylish Crown Princess Mary.

The two women were snapped in glamorous ensembles at an array of engagements in the city, including a boat tour along the river snaking through the picturesque capital, and a glitzy state dinner.
A pair of high school sweethearts wanted to seal their union in marriage - but say they were exposed to shocking verbal abuse while doing so because of their same-sex relationship.

Samantha Brookover and Amanda Abramovich, a lesbian couple from West Virginia, went to get their marriage license at the Gilmer County courthouse in February last year.

It was supposed to be a happy day celebrating their six-year relationship, but it was ruined when a deputy court clerk called them an 'abomination' and told them that God would 'deal' with them, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.

Shocking: Samantha Brookover (left) and Amanda Abramovich (right), a couple from West Virginia, say they were exposed to verbal abuse when they went to get their marriage license

Abramovich was left shaking and Brookover had tears in her eyes while the deputy clerk, Debbie Allen, 'slammed her paperwork down on her desk' and launched into 'a tirade of harassment and disparagement', the filing states.

The couple then claim that the deputy clerk's rant lasted for several minutes, with one of her colleagues shouting at one point that it was Allen's 'religious right' to yell abuse.

Brookover's mother, stepfather and niece had come to support the couple on what should have been a joyful occasion. But the mother ended up having to ask the clerk to stop her tirade when her daughter started crying, according to the suit.

Allen didn't repent and instead said it was her religious right to say whatever she wanted as long as she issued the license, the filing states.

Abramovich was so angry she signed the forms with trembling fingers. Allen tried to discourage the couple by saying the county had stopped performing marriages after becoming legally required to recognize same-sex unions, and that no one would perform their ceremony, the document says.

Insults: The high school sweethearts say in a lawsuit the deputy court clerk called them an 'abomination' and told them that God would 'deal' with them

The Supreme Court recognized the fundamental rights of gay and lesbian couples to marry in June 2015, meaning that each state in the US now has to recognize same-sex marriage.

After the incident, Brookover's mother called the Gilmore County Clerk, Jean Butcher, who was unapologetic with regards to the incident, according to the suit.

'Butcher said that the couple deserved it and that the next same-sex couple who attempted to get a marriage license in Gilmer County would get the same or worse,' the document states.

The DailyMail.com has reached out to Allen and Butcher for comment.

Butcher pledged not to serve any same-sex couple back in July 2014, when the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry is protected by the Constitution, the filing claims.

Love: The two women, who were high school sweethearts, have been in a relationship for six years and were looking forward to sealing their union in marriage

'On learning that West Virginia would now for the first time be required to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, Defendant Butcher told fellow government employees in the county courthouse that, if any same-sex couple requested a marriage license from her, she would humiliate the couple and refuse to issue a license to them,' the suit states.

'Further, Butcher told fellow county employees that she would stand by and vouch for her deputy clerks if they harassed, humiliated, or denigrated or refused to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple.'

Allen, meanwhile, told the Charleston Gazette-Mail she had 'calmly' addressed the two women.

'I just told them my opinion,' she told the newspaper. 'I just felt led to do that. I believe God was standing with me and that's just my religious belief.'

Heartbreak: Abramovich was left shaking and Brookover had tears in her eyes while the deputy clerk, Debbie Allen, launched into 'a tirade of harassment and disparagement', the filing states

Brookover and Abramovich, who are seeking punitive damages as a result of the incident, did end up getting married but said their memory of the day has been ruined.

'Instead of the happiest day of our lives, we will forever remember our wedding day as one filled with fear, tears and humiliation,' they wrote in a blog post published by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, an advocacy group supporting freedom of religion that filed the lawsuit on their behalf.

'This should never have happened to us.'

The ceremony in itself was 'perfect', Brookover told the Washington Post.

'I dont want to forget that day being so happy because its crowded out by the legal day,' she said. 'But sometimes I cant help it. Its hard to drive by the courthouse. Its hard to just deal with it. I feel like I was robbed of being a human on that day.'
Graduating from college is a big deal, and graduating from medical school is an even bigger deal, and yet still these milestones often pale in comparison to other big life events, such as weddings.

One medical school graduate plans to change that by combining the two events, and marrying her diploma in a lavish $3,000 'graduwedding ceremony' when she finally finishes her education at the University of Texas later this month.

Angie Hamouie, 27, who will be heading to Washington, D.C. to commence a residency at an OB-GYN clinic at the prestigious Georgetown University after graduating, plans on marrying her medical school diploma in a ceremony complete with a white dress, cake, and even party favors.

Future doctor, current inspiration: Medical school student Angie Hamouie, 27, is planning a 'graduwedding' party in which she will symbolically marry her diploma

The future is bright! Before Hamouie is off to begin a residency at an OB-GYN clinic in Washington, D.C., she will host a party complete with dancing, cake, and a white dress

She means business: Hamouie says her overall budget for the affair is $3,000 - which is three times the average amount one spends on a graduation party

Hamouie tells Cosmopolitan that simply walking across a stage and being handed her diploma, as in a traditional graduation ceremony, isn't enough. She wants to go all out.

She said she plans to 'enter with my framed degree by my side. We will have a first dance and sit together at the front of the room.' Romantic!

But the festivities won't end there. Hamouie said she also intends to 'feed [my diploma] cake,' and then 'toss a bouquet.'

'The person who catches it won't be next to get married, they'll be next to graduate!' Let's just hope whoever catches it is caught up on their studying.

Hamouie will do all of this in a 'beautiful ivory dress,' that 'exudes the graduwedding feel.'

The big day! On May 13, Hamouie will walk down the aisle with her diploma in hand, while wearing a white dress she says 'exudes the graduwedding feel'

A picture is worth a thousand words: In order to prepare for the graduwedding, Hamouie created a professional website, and had a romantic beach-themed engagement shoot

To top it all off, Hamouie announced her soiree, which will take place on May 13, with a professional engagement photoshoot and accompanying website, detailing her journey with her beloved diploma.

The future gynecologist admitted that 'everything surrounding this party' is 'so extra and ridiculous,' but also said that's part of the point she's trying to make.

'I shouldn't have to pretend I'm marrying a piece of paper to convince folks that this achievement is a big deal,' she said.

'The goal of the graduwedding is to make people pause to think why we don't celebrate graduations as big as weddings, even though they represent so much.'

Party with a purpose: Though she admits the concept of a graduwedding is 'so extra,' Hamouie says that excess is part of a point she's trying to make

Graduation goals: Hamouie hopes that her graduwedding will help people realize that - just like weddings - graduations are huge life milestones that are worth celebrating

If the average cost of the different affairs are any indication of how society values them, consider that the average cost of a graduation party is around $1,000, whereas the average cost of a wedding is $27,000.

Hamouie is meeting somewhere in the middle, with a $3,000 budget she says her friends and family are helping with.

When the cake is cleared, the DJ has spun their final track, and Hamouie and her diploma are off on their honeymoon - the future doctor hopes that everyone remembers the parallels between graduation and marriage:

'Both are life-long partnerships and both transform an individual for the better.'
If you live in a state like Colorado, California or Oregon and have been to a marijuana dispensary, you're likely familiar with topicals, body and facial creams infused with cannabinoids like THC and CBD (chemical compounds extracted from the cannabis plant) that are said to have anti-inflammatory properties.

THC has psychotropic effects, so you can only get your hands on products that contain it in states where marijuana is legal. Because CBD does not, however, it's more readily accessible.

With both ingredients rising in popularity and becoming more mainstream thanks to non-hippie-dippy brands like CBD For Life, top dermatologists are delving deeper into the ways that cannabinoids can benefit the skin.

A happy 420 indeed: A new study has found that when applied topically, cannabinoids can be used to treat skin conditions like eczema

The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology teamed up with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus recently to conduct a study to officially investigate the role of cannabinoids in skincare treatments.

'The treatments are currently being bought over the internet and we need to educate dermatologists and patients about the potential uses of them,' Dr. Robert Dellavalle, an associate professor of dermatology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine involved in the study, said in a press release.

The results, released earlier this week, confirmed that cannabanoids have a calming effect on the skin and revealed that topicals may be useful in treating skin diseases including eczema, psoriasis, atopic and contact dermatitis.

Shop cannabinoid-infused face and lip products from left: CBD For Life Pure CBD Face Cream ($35, cbdforlife.us) and Herb Essntls Lip Balm ($12, herbessntls.com)

Shop cannabinoid-infused body lotion: Apothecanna Relieving Creme ($40, apothecanna.com)

Dr. Dellavale was especially impressed with the performance of cannabanoid cream when used to reduce itching.

In the study, the cream, when applied twice daily for three weeks, completely relieved the severe itching of more than a quarter of the patients.

Skincare brands such as Apothecanna and Herb Essntls also market cannabis-infused products to those with more minor issues, like dryness, muscle soreness and acne.

As more states legalize cannabis, more research can be done and more developments can be made in the category. Until then, you can shop the totally legal cannabinoid-infused products above.
A drug formerly used for depression could be a possible treatment for Alzheimers disease, a study suggests.

Trazodone was shown to reduce brain shrinkage in early tests  and as it has already been proven safe for humans, it could be on the market in two years.

Research found the drug prevented brain damage in mice suffering from dementia, but its effectiveness in humans has yet to be shown.

Trazodone was discovered in the Sixties, but is rarely used for depression now more modern drugs are available.

A drug formerly used for depression could be a possible treatment for Alzheimers disease, a study suggests

An anti-cancer drug called dibenzoylmethane was also found to help reduce brain shrinkage in mice.

The drugs block a natural defence mechanism in cells which is overactive in the brains of patients with a range of degenerative conditions.

Professor Giovanna Mallucci led the team from the Medical Research Councils Toxicology Unit in Leicester, along with Cambridge University.

He said: We know that trazodone is safe to use in humans, so a clinical trial is now possible to test whether the protective effects of the drug we see on brain cells in mice with neurodegeneration also applies to people in the early stages of Alzheimers disease and other dementias.

She said trazodone had already been used for some patients with advanced dementia, and further work is needed to see if it could help slow the illness at an early stage.

Dr Doug Brown of the Alzheimers Society charity described the findings, reported in the journal Brain, as exciting.
Taking the Pill can indeed trigger mood swings and fatigue, 'alarming' new research confirms.

For years, women prescribed the combined version - the most common form of contraception - have long reported feeling miserable.

It is widely believed that when the synthetic versions of the hormones oestrogen and progesterone are ingested, it affects the chemical balance in the brain.

However, these potential side effects are not noted by any medical bodies, leaving many unaware of the risk.

Scientists have found that women taking the combined contraceptive pill are at risk of lower energy levels and mood swings

A team of British and Swedish researchers also found that the contraceptive can lower energy levels, but found no links to depression.

Professor Niklas Zethraeus, of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said more doctors should be aware of the risks before dishing them out.

He said: 'This might in some cases be a contributing cause of low compliance and irregular use of contraceptive pills.

'This possible degradation of quality of life should be paid attention to and taken into account in conjunction with prescribing of contraceptive pills and when choosing a method of contraception.'

Professor Angelica Linden Hirschberg, also involved in the research, said surprisingly little is known about the Pill.

She added: 'Despite the fact an estimated 100 million women around the world use contraceptive pills, we know surprisingly little today about the pill's effect on women's health.

'The scientific base is very limited as regards the contraceptive pill's effect on quality of life and depression and there is a great need for randomised studies where it is compared with placebos.'

Researchers tested the effects of a combined pill containing both etinylestradiol and levonorgestrel on 340 women.

This is recommended as the first choice for most women as it is considered to carry the least risk of blood clots - one of the most feared side effects.

It is believed that the hormones ingested, synthetic forms of oestrogen and progesterone, affect the chemical balance in the brain and can make women feel miserable (stock)

THE RISKS OF TAKING THE PILL There are some risks associated with using the combined contraceptive pill. However, these risks are small and, for most women, the benefits of the pill outweigh any concerns. The oestrogen in the Pill may cause your blood to clot more readily. If a blood clot develops, it could cause deep vein thrombosis (clot in your leg), pulmonary embolus (clot in your lung), stroke or heart attack. Research is ongoing into the link between breast cancer and the Pill. Studies suggest that users of all types of hormonal contraception have a slightly higher chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer compared with women who do not use them. However, 10 years after you stop taking the Pill, your risk of breast cancer goes back to normal. Source: NHS Choices Advertisement

Etinylestradiol is found in two of the best known brands available to women, Microgynon and Rigevidon.

Participants were aged between 18 and 35 and were randomly assigned to either receive the drug or a dummy version.

They were not told which of the pills they were taking while they were monitored for three months.

Despite the negative impact it had on a woman's quality of life, no such effects were observed in depressive symptoms.

Writing in the journal Fertility and Society, they said the results must be approached with caution as the study was small.

The researchers also said that the findings can not be generalised to other kinds of contraceptive pills.

It comes after the trial of a male pill was abandoned in October as it was found to cause numerous participants to suffer from side effects including depression.

The 320 men involved were given a injection of progesterone and testosterone, which was originally found to be 'extremely effective'.

It attracted a host of criticism from the female community, who have long reported similar symptoms from their form of the contraceptive.

Last year a Danish study found taking the combined pill increased the risk of women being prescribed antidepressants.

After assessing more than one million women, they observed the risk of being given drugs to combat the blues jumped by 23 per cent in those aged between 20 and 34.

For teenage girls taking the form of contraceptive, the risk rose to 80 per cent, the University of Copenhagen researchers noted.
Celeste Clancy, 28, credits her unborn son for having saved her life and helping to keep her Lyme disease under control

A mother-to-be has been 'cured' of a serious bacterial infection that left her in agonising pain - thanks to her baby.

Celeste Clancy, 28, from Acworth, Georgia, contracted Lyme disease after being bitten by a tick during a trip two years ago.

At its worst, the illness left her unable to walk, causing her uncontrollable full body tremors and muscle spasms.

Doctors finally diagnosed her after she made a video documenting her day-to-day life that displayed her shocking symptoms.

But none of the medication she was prescribed had any positive effect in relieving her pain.

However, her horrific side-effects vanished completely in December, just weeks before she found out she was pregnant with her son.

Mrs Clancy says conceiving helped to save her life, as medics believe her pregnancy hormones are countering the damage caused by the Lyme disease.

The project manager, who is due to give birth in September, said: 'I had symptoms ranging from tinnitus, fleeting hearing loss, chronic pain, muscle spasms, brain fog, chronic fatigue, the inability to sound two syllable words and more.

'I went from being very ill, where I was in so much pain I couldn't walk and had to crawl up the stairs, it got to a point where my body seemed worthless.

'The pain was just torturous, you're in so much pain you can't calm down it just hurts so bad, some of the worst phases can last for up to four hours.

'When the symptoms stopped in December, I just sat in silence with my husband and cried tears of relief, for the first time in two years, I was not in excruciating pain.'

Mrs Clancy added: 'I didn't think I was pregnant because I was on birth control, but took the test anyway, it came back positive and then the next four did too.

'It's believed that pregnancy hormones somehow halt the bacteria in my body and since then I've not suffered from one single symptom of Lyme Disease.

Her horrific side-effects of Lyme disease vanished completely in December, just weeks before she found out she was pregnant with her son

'For the type of pain I was in, there wasn't any medication and no doctor I met, who could give me any form of relief.

'So to think this little baby who I haven't met yet, is giving me the relief I longed for is incredible, I totally feel like this baby has saved my life.'

When the symptoms stopped in December, I just sat in silence with my husband and cried tears of relief, for the first time in two years, I was not in excruciating pain Celeste Clancy, 28

Mrs Clancy was unaware of the symptoms of Lyme disease and dismissed a rash on her inner thigh she picked up during a trip to Salem, Connecticut in August 2014.

Instead she believed it was just a reaction to washing detergent or dry skin.

Her first symptom was an unusual, severe aching in her lower back, which later worsened and other symptoms arose.

Over time, her symptoms worsened and she got to the point where she was hardly able to concentrate through the pain.

Some days, just to travel around the house she had to use a neck pillow, or be carried around by her husband Shane.

At its worst, the illness left her unable to walk, causing her uncontrollable full body tremors and muscle spasms

In addition to recurrent 'brain fog', where Celeste was unable to think clearly, remember where she was nor what she was doing.

At one point, she didn't know how to turn her car on and was so disorientated that she didn't know why she had driven to a gas station.

Despite visiting five chiropractors, two orthopaedists, investigations from infectious disease specialists, rheumatologists, neurologists, and an emergency trip to the hospital, nothing was revealed until September 2016.

Her fifth chiropractor was suspicious of her severe discomfort and asked if she had ever been bit by a tick, encouraging her to get tested for Lyme disease.

She started on antibiotic treatment to blitz some of the bacteria in her body and alleviate some of her symptoms.

But in December, her symptoms stopped, which she would later discover was due to becoming pregnant.

Over time, her symptoms worsened and she got to the point where she was hardly able to concentrate through the pain (pictured with her unnamed mother and husband Shane)

Despite visiting five chiropractors, two orthopaedists, investigations from infectious disease specialists, rheumatologists, neurologists, and an emergency trip to the hospital, nothing was revealed until September 2016 (pictured in hospital)

She started on antibiotic treatment to blitz some of the bacteria in her body and alleviate some of her symptoms. But in December, her symptoms stopped, which she would later discover was due to becoming pregnant

For some patients, it is believed that the hormones produced during pregnancy can stop the effects of Lyme Disease.

Mrs Clancy is now celebrating her symptom-free time thanks to her son. She added: 'I've gone from suffering from severe problems and not having any diagnosis to a miracle.

'I've relished the pain-free moments that I've been given and am just so thankful to not be suffering pain any more.

'It's really incredible, I can't describe how thankful I am for the relief and for my husband who was by my side every step of the way.'

To follow Mrs Clancy's progress visit: www.keepingupwiththeclancys.blogspot.com
An 11-year-old boy may never be able to smile again after battling a rare cancer in his brain, his devastated mother has revealed.

Daniel Lord has been through a 'rollercoaster of hell', including surgery and grueling chemotherapy to overcome his disease.

His mother, Joanne Broome, 45, was told that he was only the second person in 25 years to be diagnosed with the form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma on his brain.

Doctors now say the sea cadet shows no signs of the disease, but they are unsure if his 'beautiful' grin he once sported will ever return.

This is because they have never treated another patient with the same cancer, they are unsure if the damage caused to his nerves can be reversed.

Ms Broome, from Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, said: 'It's quite a shame. He had such a beautiful smile before. I still hope that one day he will get it back.

Doctors say the Daniel Lord shows no signs of his rare form of cancer, but they are unsure if the sea cadet's 'beautiful' grin he once sported will ever return

'It's heartbreaking to see your child unhappy but we've got to make the best of a bad situation.

'You never expect this sort of thing to happen. We just had a normal life. Everything was just turned upside down. It was shocking.

'It's hard but at least he's still alive. Even if he never gets his smile back at least we've still got Daniel.'

The mother-of-four added: 'We're coming to the end of chemo now so things are feeling a lot better but initially it was horrendous. It was a roller-coaster of hell.

'He's got a good diagnosis now thankfully. He's got one round of chemotherapy left and then the lymphoma will be 100 per cent gone.

'The consultants say they don't know whether he will ever be able to smile again. They can't answer that question because of how rare the cancer is that he has got.'

Ms Broome first noticed something was wrong with Daniel after picking him up from school in November 2016. He was unable to crack a grin and half of his face was paralysed.

Her motherly instincts immediately kicked in and she rushed him to hospital. Here he was diagnosed with Bell's palsy after balance tests.

Daniel has been through a 'rollercoaster of hell', including surgery and grueling chemotherapy to overcome his disease (pictured in hospital)

The nurse said: 'I kept watching him and kept saying to him "Daniel can you smile? Daniel can you smile?" intermittently every five or ten minutes.

'His eyes became fixed. He couldn't move his eyes to the left or to the right. He could only roll his eyes. It was very distressing.

He had such a beautiful smile before. I still hope that one day he will get it back Joanne Broome, 45

'I had a gut instinct something was wrong. I didn't know what but this was not my 11-year-old son's normal behaviour.

'I was not happy and I was really worried. I was trying not to panic but I knew that it wasn't Bell's palsy. It was like mother's instinct.'

They returned to the hospital one week later for a follow up appointment but Daniel was unable to walk properly.

Alongside his difficulty moving, he had slurred speech, was vomiting and unable to move his eyes.

His mother, Joanne Broome, 45, was told that he was only the second person in 25 years to be diagnosed with the form of cancer (pictured together)

Ms Broome said: 'It's hard but at least he's still alive. Even if he never gets his smile back at least we've still got Daniel' (pictured together)

Daniel had two MRI scans which showed a tumour at the back of his brain and they were referred to the oncology specialist.

A month later they were given the news that he had aggressive cancer in the form of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma with lymph node tissue on the brain.

Ms Broome said: 'My heart sank and it felt like I went into another world. My head felt like it was in a cotton wool cloud.

'It was really emotional. I couldn't help but think "why?" but there were no answers. It was the worst news any parent could get. Everyone was shocked.

'I was devastated. My life was turned upside down. It was very hard having to break the news to everyone.

'We went through the motions with not believing this was happening to us but you take each day as it comes. The sun goes up and the sun comes down. The world carries on.'

The doctors have never treated another patient with the same cancer, and they are unsure if the damage caused to his nerves can be reversed (pictured left and right before he was struck down with the disease)

Daniel has been having speech and language therapy and physiotherapy to encourage his muscles to move again to try and help him smile (pictured in hospital)

Daniel had surgery to have the tumour removed from his brain at the end of November last year and then began chemotherapy in December.

He has been having speech and language therapy and physiotherapy to encourage his muscles to move again after the position of the tumour in his brain pressed on nerves which lead to the mouth, eyes and eyebrows.

His family and friends are also running a JustGiving campaign to raise enough money for Daniel to take a holiday of a lifetime.

Ms Broome said: 'There's a girl doing a skydive in July and there are two who are going to do a bike ride from Manchester to Newcastle.

'Me, my 14-year-old daughter, a nurse from where I work in A&E and my next door neighbour have all had our hair shaved off to raise funds for Daniel.

'We want to take him to Disneyland Paris for Christmas.'
Hot flushes are more than just an annoying side-effect women going through the menopause experience.

Not only do they keep many awake at night tossing and turning, but they also trigger depression, scientists have confirmed.

A new study found those suffering from the embarrassing symptoms are at nearly triple the risk of getting the blues.

The findings back up what many across the planet have suspected for years, that the hormonal changes lead to depressive symptoms.

Scroll down for video

Not only do hot flushes keep many women awake at night tossing and turning, but they also trigger depression, scientists have confirmed

Australian researchers suspect that this may be the underlying cause that leads to the blues - despite it not being recognised by medial bodies as an official side effect a woman coming to the end of her natural fertility may suffer from.

To test the effects of the menopause on women's mood, experts quizzed 2,020 participants about their symptoms.

Some 13 per cent were found to suffer from severe hot flushes, according to the findings published in the Journal of Women's Health.

Of these, there was a significant link to depressive symptoms, the Monash University researchers noted.

Commenting on the findings, consultant gynaecologist Dr Luciano Nardo suspects the two to be symptoms of the same problem.

The medical director at Cheshire's Reproductive Health Group told MailOnline: 'The association between depression and hot flushes is a controversial one, and warrants further research.

'But its my view that they are not linked. In effect, theyre both symptoms of the same problem.

'Its not the hot flushes that are causing depressive symptoms, its going through the menopause itself.

A new study found those suffering from the embarrassing symptoms are at nearly triple the risk of getting the blues

'When a womens periods end, and they realise that they are no longer able to get pregnant, it can have a really significant impact on someones mental wellbeing.

'Its the beginning of a whole new chapter in someones life and represents a milestone in the ageing process.'

Hot flushes can disturb sleep, drain energy and cause embarrassment. A single one can last from a few seconds to a whole hour.

When a womens periods end, and they realise that they are no longer able to get pregnant, it can have a really significant impact on someones mental wellbeing Dr Luciano Nardo, consultant gynaecologist

They affect three in every four women going through the menopause, with some suffering up to 20 attacks a day.

Scientists believe they are caused by hormonal changes affecting the body's ability to control its temperature.

HRT is the main treatment, but is isn't suitable for all and many of those who could take it are put off by fears it triggers breast cancer.

The NHS recognises that the menopause can trigger a change in mood and anxiety - but are yet to mention depression as a possibility.

This comes after researchers last September found a woman's perception that she is experiencing a high number of hot flushes can trigger depression.

The Brigham and Women's Hospital study suggested that women suffering from hot flushes should be screened for symptoms of the blues.
Dead Woman Walking by Sharon Bolton (Bantam 12.99)

DEAD WOMAN WALKING

by Sharon Bolton (Bantam 12.99)

Two years ago, I enthused about Boltons last stand-alone thriller Little Black Lies, set in the Falkland Islands. I am delighted to report that she has lost none of her touch with her latest book.

It is about a young woman, Jessica Lane, who witnesses a murder from a hot air balloon over the Northumberland wilderness, only for the balloon to crash, killing her 11 companions and leaving her at risk from the murderer who has seen her face.

Bolton never lets the tension drop. Indeed it is her ability to convey creeping dread that marks out her exceptional talent as a story-teller.

She stunningly evokes Lanes capacity for survival against all the odds and it is matched in vividness by her gripping portrait of a gipsy family headed by an evil matriarch who is intent on her destruction.

For once, the description impossible to put down is fully merited, for this is an absolute page-turner.

A Traitor in the Family by Nicholas Searle (Viking 14.99)

A TRAITOR IN THE FAMILY

by Nicholas Searle (Viking 14.99)

This richly nuanced thriller defines the life and times of Francis ONeill, a Provisional IRA hitman between 1989 and 2005, and the impact his killings have on his family.

It is a moving characterisation of a man who starts out firmly believing what he is doing is right, even though it is patently wrong. But his moral compass gradually transforms as the number of murders increase.

In its subtlety it reminded me strongly of John le Carres wonderful A Small Town In Germany, which also brought home the delicate confusions that lie at the heart of those who work in the shadow of treachery. This is high praise.

ONeills wife Bridget is a particularly compelling portrait of a woman who asks no questions, but for whom murder is the ghost that haunts her every waking moment. Written by a man with a background in intelligence and security, it weaves a magical spell.

Sweetpea by C. J. Skuse (HQ 12.99)

SWEETPEA

by C. J. Skuse (HQ 12.99)

Crude, rude and certainly shocking, this darkly comic story, from an author who has previously written young adult novels, has the potential to become a cult classic.

A graphic portrayal of a young woman with an insatiable appetite for murder, it has already been compared to Bret Easton Elliss 1991 thriller American Psycho and the parallel is precise. On the surface, Rhiannon is the typical girl next door, with a job as an editorial assistant on a local newspaper, a boyfriend and a little dog.

In the past, however, she was the victim of a celebrated crime, which has left deep scars on her psyche, meaning that she prepares lists of people she wishes to kill with notes on how to get away with it.

Written in a tongue-in-cheek style, which seldom leaves much to the imagination, it tears along at a breakneck pace as the body count mounts.

Not for the faint-hearted or squeamish, the TV rights have been sold  but it wont be on before the watershed.
Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag (Faber 10)

GHACHAR GHOCHAR

by Vivek Shanbhag (Faber 10)

Ghachar ghochar is one of those made-up terms that tie families together, impossible for an outsider to pick up. But its the term that the wife of our anonymous narrator uses to refer to a tangle  significant because by the end of this short, espresso-hit of a novel, her husband is up to his ears in an extremely unpleasant one.

The scion of a close-knit, hard-working, but impoverished, Bangalore family, he now lives a life of middle-class ease thanks to his uncles business savvy.

Their fortune has bought them a two-storey house along with the novelty of a room apiece, and you cant fail to miss the metaphor as wealth begins to drive a wedge between husband and wife, father and son.

When you have no choice, you have no discontent, either, reflects Shanbhags protagonist at one point.

But though the message of his novel is undisguised, he doesnt go in for lengthy sermonising and by its end, comparisons with Chekhov do not seem undeserved.

Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart ONan (Allen & Unwin 7.99)

LAST NIGHT AT THE LOBSTER

by Stewart ONan (Allen & Unwin 7.99)

The opening scene of this slim novel, first published in the U.S. in 2007, is suggestive of a haiku: snow falling on stalled traffic on a bleak winter morning. But the serenity doesnt last long.

Its four days before Christmas and the last day that Manny DeLeons restaurant will be opening its doors. Deemed underperforming by HQ, Manny and his staff  including his ex-girlfriend  have been made redundant.

With a massive snowstorm bearing down, Manny knows that only the most loyal will now clock in. And as the day wears on and the pace picks up, ties are duly put to the test.

Manny is a character familiar from American fiction  conscientious, dutiful, always trying to do right (even if he knows he cant love his current, pregnant girlfriend as he should).

But Last Night At The Lobster, in its three acts, 24-hour timeframe and snappy dialogue, most resembles a play. And while it often manages to be both poignant and funny, its ultimately perhaps a little too slight on the page.

When Light is like Water by Molly McCloskey (Penguin 16.99)

WHEN LIGHT IS LIKE WATER

by Molly McCloskey (Penguin 16.99)

The premise of Molly McCloskeys novel doesnt strike the cheeriest note: Alice, an American living in Ireland, finds herself reflecting on the affair that ended her marriage while trying to process the death of her mother.

But her painful innocence-to-experience journey is also a thoughtful meditation on connection set against the backdrop of a world on the move.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, a sometime Buddhist plays a supporting role; Alices work for refugee organisations further underscores  a tiny bit obviously  the novels concern with rootlessness.

But though McCloskey has no shortage of ideas, she also engages the heart: shes particularly good on the contrariness of our desires and on nostalgia as an irresistible force, even when it has no good basis.

Elegiac and wistful in its backward gaze, its a novel nonetheless light in its touch. Fans of Anne Enright will find much to admire and enjoy.
Tide by Hugh Aldersey- Williams (Penguin 9.99)

TIDE

by Hugh Aldersey- Williams (Penguin 9.99)

Perhaps the most famous anecdote about the tides that wash the shores of Britain is the story of King Cnut vainly commanding the waves to turn back as the water crept up to dampen the Royal toes.

Legend has depicted Cnut as an absurd figure, arrogantly presuming to command nature. In fact, he intended to demonstrate to his courtiers the omnipotence of the Almighty.

Though our understanding of tides is now far more sophisticated, the forces that govern their movements remain surprisingly mysterious. Hugh Aldersey-Williams is so fascinated that he once sat beside the tidal river Yare in Norfolk for 13 hours, watching the tide ebb and rise.

His richly detailed book, filled with maritime science, lore and legend, is an indispensable introduction to our still imperfect knowledge of this elemental and infinitely complex phenomenon.

The Violet Hour by Katie Roiphe (Virago 8.99)

THE VIOLET HOUR

by Katie Roiphe (Virago 8.99)

None of us wants to think about death, though we all hope for a good death  slipping away in our sleep, surrounded by loved ones.

But just as great writers have lessons to teach us about the art of living, perhaps they can also shed light on the art of dying.

Katie Roiphes elegant book is a study of the last acts of six great lives. Each death is wholly individual, but Susan Sontag, John Updike, Dylan Thomas, Sigmund Freud, Maurice Sendak and James Salter, to whom Roiphe spoke before his death in 2015 at the age of 90, had startlingly diverse attitudes to their impending demise.

Sontag refused almost to the end to acknowledge the possibility of death, while Thomas courted it and Freud approached it with steely rationality.

East West Street by Philippe Sands (Weidenfeld & Nicolson 9.99)

EAST WEST STREET

by Philippe Sands (Weidenfeld & Nicolson 9.99)

Philippe Sands is a human rights lawyer whose grandfather, Leon Buchholz, was born in Lviv, a city in western Ukraine whose name (Lwow, Lvov, Lemberg) changed as regularly as the Polish, German and Russian forces that occupied it between 1914 and 1945.

Lvivs large Jewish population before World War II included two brilliant legal minds: Hersch Lauterpacht, whose son would one day teach Sands at Cambridge, and Raphael Lemkin.

The work of these lawyers in prosecuting former Nazis at the Nuremberg trials in 1945 would establish the principles of crimes against humanity and genocide now enshrined in international law.

In his remarkable book, part history, part memoir, Sands painstakingly sifts the evidence to discover the tragedy and secret history of his own family, interweaving his story with those of Lauterpacht and Lemkin, and their efforts to ensure justice for the countless victims of Nazi crimes against humanity.
Waiting for the Albino Dunnock: How Birds can Change your Life by Rosamond Richardson (Weidenfeld & Nicolson 16.99)

WAITING FOR THE ALBINO DUNNOCK: HOW BIRDS CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE

by Rosamond Richardson (Weidenfeld & Nicolson 16.99)

Some lucky folk have a deep love of nature rooted in childhood; others make their discoveries later in life  when perhaps the patient observation of birds, trees, wild flowers and wildlife becomes a sublime refuge from worldly excess.

Such is the stated motivation behind this glorious, beautifully written pilgrimage into the soaring world of birds.

Rosamond Richardson is touchingly honest. She was broken-hearted at the end of a seven-year relationship when she happened to meet the nature writer and dedicated birdwatcher James Parry. He became her mentor and she quickly became astounded by the wonder of birds.

Waiting (usually in the cold and wet), observing, recording and learning from these marvellous, miraculous creatures was the process that healed her soul.

Rosamond Richardson was left broken-hearted at the end of a seven-year relationship when she happened to meet birdwatcher James Parry Waiting (usually in the cold and wet), observing, recording and learning from these marvellous, miraculous creatures was the process that healed her soul

The book is structured around Richardsons travels and her discoveries during the months of the turning year. Its style is passionate and poetic.

The pages are populated with other names too: writers such as John Clare, Gerard Manley Hopkins, R. S.Thomas and Henry David Thoreau.

These virtual companions are with her all the time, reminding her that other lives have been changed by winged creatures.

This is an intensely spiritual book (written by a convert, after all), drawing on myth as well as faith  and this quality lifts it above much nature writing. The prose is sublime, and so is the intelligence behind it.

Richardson is in love with the poetry of fact  those statistics about birds that make us gasp in wonder. Did you realise that the swallow (returning to the UK about now) covers 200 miles a day on a 12,000-mile round trip to South Africa  and has been known to make speeds of up to 34mph?

The multiple miracles of migration amaze her  and she presents them afresh. One example is the northern wheatear. It weighs less than an ounce and is smaller than 6in long, yet flies about 200 miles per day, making a migratory round trip of 18,000 miles.

She adores the intelligence of ravens, the other-worldly grace of the short-eared owl, the head-pounding drilling of the woodpecker  and sees within the swirling, smoke-like phenomenon called a murmuration of starlings, a quasi-religious experience which left me struggling for words.

Rosamond Richardson is also angry. How could she not be? We may sneer at the unenlightened times when blackbirds were baked in a pie, but in modern Europe, little songbirds are hunted, trapped and eaten, while destructive windfarms and hideous farming practices are a curse on our world.

Who cares that skylarks declined by 75 per cent between 1978 and 1992? The bleak answer is: not many people.

No choice but to go on waiting for the albino dunnock, a bird so rare, only one has been recorded in the British Isles (in 1962) and doubt has even been cast on that sighting.

So, obviously Richardson has never seen one, but that doesnt matter at all. What counts (as this beautiful book demonstrates) is the striving for what is mysterious and just beyond our reach.
Espousing the cause of the triple talaq in its two-day Lucknaw meet recently, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) president Maulana Rabey Hasan Nadvi threatened the state not to interfere.

Simultaneously, at the BJP national executive meeting in Bhubaneswar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated: 'When we speak of social justice, our Muslim sisters too should get justice. We do not want to challenge the Islamic law but we are dead against the exploitation of our Muslim sisters.'

Suppression

Modi has rightly spoken about doing away the suppression of Muslim women via triple talaq in one sitting. This is in keeping with his agenda of equality and equanimity as per his slogan of 'development for all'.

Triple talaq is a controversial law that allows Muslim men to divorce their wives by saying 'I divorce you' three times

After all, most Muslims agree that they do not require such bodies as AIMPLB but would gladly accept the ones that address and find solutions to their educational, economic and social issues.

Muslim men were punished for divorcing women by Hazrat Umar, Hazrat Ibn-e- Tymia and the Sahabas (followers of Prophet Muhammad).

TALAQ UNDER SHARIA Men can declare talaq - or divorce - at any point in a marriage and do not need approval form the court. Usually, once it is declared, a period lasting three menstrual cycles follows before the divorce is final. This aims to offer the chance for reconciliation and means the couple will find out if the wife is pregnant before it is finalised. If the couple have sex, the initial talaq declaration is automatically revoked. The man can also revoke it at any point. But even when it expires, making the divorce official, the couple can remarry, unless he declares it again, known as 'triple talaq'. The Sharia principle dictates that the husband must support the woman until the end of the notice period, or until she has their child. However, some men have previously skipped the notice period by performing what is known as 'triple talaq' in one sitting, which makes the split instantaneous. Advertisement

He is just in favour of strengthening the right spirit of Islam through the law of the land without interfering into the shari'ah law.

Though considered sinful, the triple divorce is unfortunately legally enforceable in the Sunni Hanafi law. Since vast majority of Muslims in India follow the Sunni Hanafi law, many Muslim women become victim of this innovated form of divorce and hence they are now taking the help of the apex court.

Travesty with the clerics is that they crumple the broad principles of Islam into myopic ones to make way for their political ends. They are responsible for bringing Islam into the ambit of mockery by the media and others.

It is high time they follow Islam in its true spirit.

The AIMPLB feels it is its right to dictate terms and espouse views on issues that extend from the public domain of Indian Muslims to the privacy of their bedroom.

Stoke a controversy involving the community and the usual suspects start emerging from the murky and infested woodwork of the AIMPLB.

So the wise men constituting the board have once again jumped to the conclusion that the government is out to steal Muslims of their personal shari'ah rights as enshrined in the Constitution.

In doing so, they have closed their eyes to the fact that 92.2 per cent Muslim women are against the dreaded and un-Islamic triple talaq in one sitting.

Men can declare talaq - or divorce - at any point in a marriage and do not need approval form the court

It must be pointed out here that the Law Commission is working in the right direction.

The UCC (Uniform Civil Code) has nothing against Islam or shari'ah, rather its very first point coincides with what the Quran states - that both men and women be given equal rights.

It's only the injustice to Muslim women meted out by their men that will be corrected by the UCC and that too in the spirit envisaged by Islam.

Indeed, the UCC, as per the Islamic order, will strengthen the right procedure of triple talaq from talaq-e-bidat (triple talaq in one sitting) to Talaq-e-Husna (talaq in three months allowing a possibility of patch up).

Humbug

It is sad that the so-called Muslim leaders and clerics are creating a humbug over a non-issue. The AIMPLB is at the vanguard of the battle to ensure that women of the community continue to suffer bias.

'Modi has rightly spoken about doing away the suppression of Muslim women via triple talaq in one sitting'

These self-appointed custodians of Muslims, who just wait for an opportunity to lock the horns with the government and cry hoarse, have been blessed by the present triple talaq controversy to make their otherwise diminished presence felt.

Triple talaq and UCC are two separate issues. Personal laws cannot claim supremacy over the rights granted to individuals by the Constitution.

All that AIMPLB has managed is tarnish the image of Indian Muslims. Most negative statements of the board the media quotes are taken as reflecting the views of the community.

The truth is that an average Muslim is not governed by what the board says. The reality is that Muslims need no personal law boards. They would rather prefer issues like education, unemployment, economic and social issues to be addressed.

Divided

Most Hindus make up their mind about Muslims on the basis of the faces from the community they see on TV and the voices they hear in the media. The people covered by the media are invariably 80 plus men insisting on the status quo on the triple talaq and other issues. These men seem to come from antediluvian times.

They are a set of disgruntled, disorganised and divided individuals. Their convulsions over issues like triple talaq, family planning, nikahnama, polygamy, Babri Masjid, etc, are cases in point.

If the board members are told of the reforms in the talaq, polygamy or family planning in 22 countries like Pakistan, Iran or Indonesia, they dismiss them saying they don't follow examples set by these countries.

Religious but moderate people in the community believe that the community has to address issues like birth control in its own interest.

Muslims face multiple problems, possibly more than any other prominent religious group in our secular sovereign republic. Some of the baggage they carry is owing to the way in which the majority community views them.

In fact, many of the notions are negative, inaccurate, retrogressive, outright lies and sometime trumped up. The other baggage is a result of their own inaction and the lip-service they have paid to opportunistic interlocutors and so-called leaders.

Without closely studying the UCC, no serious effort will be possible to begin an ambitious national project of reconstruction of religious thought in Islam by Indian Muslims.

Perhaps this can be done by dedicating ourselves with greater vigour to realising Iqbal's dream of a renaissance in Islamic culture. And the first step must be taken by Indian Muslims themselves sans any personal law boards.

The writer is a commentator on social issues, the grandnephew of Maulana Azad and views expressed are his own.
Samarth Chug, who turned 18 just five days ago, was driving his friends Hyundai i20, police said on Thursday

Four rough sleepers outside a Delhi bus station were 'mowed down' - with one killed on the spot - by a student allegedly driving without a licence.

Police said Samarth Chug, who turned 18 just five days ago, was driving his friends Hyundai i20 when the incident happened near the Kashmere Gate bus terminus at 5.45am on Thursday.

Two of his classmates from a prestigious private school were said to be in the car with him following revelries to mark the end of their board exams.

It's thought that Samarth lost control of the vehicle before it mounted a pavement in an underpass and ploughed along a row of people sleeping there.

One of the victims died at the scene and Samarth allegedly tried to reverse the vehicle while a wheel was perched on his head.

Police said he attempted to drive away but was nabbed by locals and arrested when officers got to the scene.

The other two occupants of the car  Bhavya Rajpal and Ujjwal Goel  allegedly fled the scene after seeing the injured laying in pools of blood, but surrendered to cops in the afternoon. They were later released.

Relatives claim the incident took place after a tyre burst and the youngster lost control over the vehicle.

The police confirmed that a front tyre was flat when the car was recovered from the spot, but they are trying to determine if this happened before or after the crash.

The students were said to be going back to their school - DPS Mathura Road - to take a celebratory selfie outside the building.

The car allegedly hit rough sleepers on an underpass pavement near Delhi's Kashmere Gate bus terminus

Ujjwal took his fathers car and Samarth was behind the wheel despite not having a driving licence, police said.

'Samarth has been booked under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code. The case has been registered at Kashmere Gate police station,' said Jatin Narwal, DCP (north).

Sources say the teenagers had been partying at Ujjwals Model Town residence through the night as their class XII CBSE exams had ended just hours before.

But preliminary investigations have shown that the three teenagers in the car were not under the influence of alcohol but police are awaiting blood tests.

But relatives claim the incident took place after a tyre burst and the youngster lost control over the vehicle

All the injured were taken to Sushruta Trauma Centre near north Delhis Civil Lines where the 30-year-old victim was declared dead on arrival while the other three were admitted for care.

They have been identified as Asif, Karan and Sanjay and are said to have critical injuries. In a statement to the police, they said they were asleep at the time of the incident and were unaware how it happened.

Samarth was produced in court and sent into judicial custody.

Experts say reckless drivers, creaking infrastructure and cars that lack basic safety features due to a preference for cheap, fuel-efficient vehicles by motorists are causing Indias already horrendous road death toll to balloon.

Some 17 people die in accidents every hour in the country, a transport ministry report showed last year.

A year ago, a 17-year-old boy allegedly knocked dead a man with his fathers Mercedes in Delhis Civil Lines, not far from Thursdays accident site. He was later charged with culpable homicide due to his past record of negligent driving.

According to the government data, speeding caused nearly 48 per cent of accidents, while drink-driving resulted in 4.2 per cent.

Hit-and-run incidents accounted for 11.4 per cent of all accidents.
Border Force jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav has been dismissed by an army court after his complaints of 'poor quality' food served to soldiers along the LoC went viral on social media earlier this year.

The solider, who served with the 29 Battalion in J&K's Poonch sector, was dismissed on Wednesday by a Summary Security Force Court following the controversy over the claims made in January.

He was tried on two counts - making false allegations on social media regarding the quality of food and carrying two mobile phones while on operational duty, a BSF spokesman said.

BSF constable Tej Bahadur Yadav released four videos in which he complained of poor quality of food

Stills of some of the footage captured by the jawan which was later posted to social media

But the soldier said on Thursday that he was planning to appeal against the ruling, claiming that he was not given a fair trial.

'I wasn't given a fair trial. Though I was given an opportunity to present witness, my mobile phone was seized. I wanted to call colleagues as witnesses, but wasn't allowed,' Yadav said

Yadav had posted a video online about five months back, complaining about poor quality food being served to the troops on the icy heights along the LoC in J&K.

The home ministry ordered a probe after Yadav's four videos of what he alleges is watery, unseasoned dal and burnt paranthas went viral on social media.

He also accused senior officers of siphoning off groceries meant for soldiers who, he said, go to bed hungry on some days after standing in the snow for 11 hours.

The BSF denied allegations of poor quality of food being served to jawans.
The husband of Sangeeta Verma, a government school teacher from Ghaziabad who was doused with acid and suffered more than 90 per cent burns, has been arrested after Mail Today reported on her 15-year-old battle against dowry harassment.

The police action also came as Union Minister for Women and Child Development , Maneka Gandhi, said on Thursday that the government will adopt a zero-tolerance approach in the case in a series of tweets after reading the MT report.

Gandhi said in her tweets that she has asked for a detailed action-taken report from Uttar Pradesh Police and doctors treating her at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital.

Doctors at Safdarjung say chances of Sangeeta's survival are slim as she has 90 per cent burns

'Shameful that another woman has fallen victim to dowry. Immediate action will be taken to bring the culprits to book,' she wrote, adding, 'We must show zero-tolerance to dowry and the violence against women resulting due to it. This is unpardonable!'

A senior official from the women and child development ministry said that Gandhi is not in the Capital right now but is in constant touch with Sangeeta and her family members, and plans to visit her at Safdurjung Hospital on her return from Assam.

Deepak Kumar, SSP, Sahibabad told Mail Today that Sangeeta's husband, Sanjeev Nagar, was arrested in Sahibabad, but her in-laws are absconding and are being tracked. An FIR has been registered against the husband and his family under various IPC sections for dowry harassment and the acid attack.

The government teacher says the attack followed years of harassment and torture over dowry

Acid attack carries a minimum prison term of 10 years.

Police also recorded the victim's statement on Thursday, but said there are discrepancies in her version of what happened.

Sangeeta suffered extensive burns all over her body and had narrated her ordeal to Mail Today with great difficulty. Doctors have said her chances of survival are slim.

'In her first statement, she said that she got burn injuries on her own, while in her second statement she revealed that her husband and in-laws allegedly burnt her. Meanwhile, investigation is on to find the absconding in-laws,' said Kumar.

'Shameful that another woman has fallen victim to dowry', said Maneka Gandhi

Gandhi promised tough action on the culprits of the alleged attack in a series of tweets

While chances of Sangeeta's survival are bleak, her family members are hoping for a recovery.

Her two children, Avni, 13, and Akash ,12, have no idea where their mother has been since last week.

The victim was allegedly frequently threatened by her in-laws that if she spoke out about her harassment, the kids would have to pay the price.

Sangeeta before the attack which happened as she was about to leave for work

'Earlier, she was reluctant to tell the truth about her burn injuries. But knowing that her chances of survival are slim, she gave a statement to the police in an FIR that she was burnt by her in-laws,' Pradeep Verma, Sangeeta's brother said.

According to her brother, Sangeeta's husband had bought alcohol and indulged in other revelries with the Rs 1.5 lakh she had saved for the school fees, books and uniform of their children. This led to massive arguments.

Last Thursday, the fight over dowry turned ugly and her husband and in-laws allegedly attacked her with acid just before she was about to leave for school.
Security agencies in a sweeping operation have arrested four suspected terrorists belonging to the ISIS Khorasan module which spans five states and was allegedly plotting a major strike.

The crackdown against the Islamic State-inspired unit was conducted by the Delhi special cell, the anti-terrorism squads of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, as well as the police of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar.

Simultaneous raids were carried out in Mumbra (Maharashtra), Jalandhar (Punjab), Narkatiaganj (Bihar), as well as Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar (both in Uttar Pradesh).

Khorasan group was formed by senior al-Qaeda members operating in ISIS-controlled Syria and now looks to have infiltrated in India

Six other suspects were taken into custody for interrogation.

The Khorasan group was formed by senior al-Qaeda members operating in ISIS-controlled Syria and reportedly has a small number of fighters.

Its leaders are based in Bawabiyah, Aleppo and its primary area of operation is northwestern Syria, though it has been recruiting heavily in other countries, including India and Pakistan.

UP ATS chief Aseem Arun said that the accused were planning to launch a major terrorist attack in the country.

Mufti Faizan and Tanveer, who are allegedly connected with ISIS, were arrested from Bijnor.

India boosted security at the Taj Mahal after another pro-Islamic State group reportedly warned of attacks in the country and threatened the 17th century monument last month

Nazim Shamshad Ahmed (26), from Bijnor, was nabbed in Mumbra township of Thane district adjoining Mumbai, and Muzammil was apprehended from Jalandhar.

Arun confirmed that six people have been taken into custody and are being questioned in Noida.

'Three accused will be produced in a Noida court where the ATS will seek their transit remand to take them to Lucknow. Important documents related to ISIS were seized from them,' he said.

The operation followed a March 7 encounter in Lucknow in which a suspected terrorist belonging to the Khorasan module was killed.

Intelligence agencies has also reports that the Islamic State is making efforts to recruit youths from India

The official said the youths arrested were not directly working for any group: they are self-motivated, self guided and self-radicalised.

A top source told Mail Today: 'They got in touch with each other over the internet and the security agency intercepted a keyword "Bada Kaam", which was their future plan to carry out a strike in the country. They were being readied to carry out terror activities in the country. However, these youths are misguided and so far have not directly been involved in any terror activity and will deradicalised.'

Officials have of late intensified operations to track down and nab such terrorists following a clutch of attacks on railways infrastructure purportedly by groups linked to the global terror outfit.

Mail Today broke the story last month about how India's most populous state, UP, is turning into a breeding ground for Islamic State.

About 15-20 youths are being deradicalised by the ATS, while over 100 sympathisers are under surveillance of several security agencies.

The reasons behind this surge in numbers are high Muslim population, unemployment and a rash of communal violence in the state.

Even in the recent crackdown, evidences of self-indoctrination through the web were discovered.

'We have also found that they were definitely influenced by the material available on the internet,' UP ADG (law & order) Daljit Chaudhary said in Lucknow.

Investigations show that one of them wanted to finance the group and they were continuously communicating with each other about carrying out some major strike in the near future.

Cops claim that those arrested were suspected to be looking for potential recruits in Bihar, UP and Maharashtra.

The ATS had received intelligence that some known terror suspects in western Uttar Pradesh had become active and were hiring new members.

The police and intelligence agencies are keeping a close watch on cyberspace and communication through WhatsApp, Viber and other chat rooms to keep abreast of attempts to indoctrinate the youth.

According to a senior official, these self-radicalised suspects are the biggest worry as it is difficult to track them.
A public meeting of BJP president Amit Shah in south west Delhi on Thursday was cancelled - triggering speculation just a couple of days before the crucial MCD polls.

While the Delhi BJP did not officially cite any reason behind cancelling the rally, top sources said Shah chose to opt out at the last moment.

Speculation gained further strength as BJP vice-president and former co in-charge in Delhi, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe held a close-door meeting with the senior most Delhi BJP leaders on Thursday to chalk out the final strategy.

Shah was scheduled to address a public meeting in Dwarka on Thursday evening

However, insiders claimed the ground reports from all three municipal corporations were also discussed threadbare in the meeting.

Several BJP veterans like VK Malhotra, HS Balli, Mewa Ram Arya and Ram Bhaj who were sidelined from poll management, were called for the meeting.

Senior BJP councilor Subhash Arya and Arvinder Singh Lovely, who joined BJP on Tuesday, all attended the meeting.

A BJP leader who attended the meeting told Mail Today that Sahasrabuddhe asked BJP leaders to ensure that its traditional vote bank remained intact.

The three MCDs in Delhi will go to polls on April 23.

The public meetings of union ministers Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani were conducted as scheduled

Shah was scheduled to address a public meeting in Dwarka in southwest Delhi on Thursday evening. This was the only rally of Shah for the civic polls.

Interestingly, the BJP president was personally monitoring party's preparations for the high-stake MCD polls right from the distribution of tickets to campaigning and poll management.

The public meetings of union ministers Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani were conducted as scheduled.

A senior BJP leader said the decision to cancel the meeting was taken after a meeting with senior leaders who opined that the top leaders of BJP should stay away from campaigning.

A party leader also claimed that the public meetings of other BJP leaders so far had not seen great support and hence, it could be embarrassing for the BJP president.

'It was decided that BJP president Amit Shah should not campaign and instead it should be left up to the state leaders and some cabinet ministers,' a senior leader said.

Earlier, the party high-command had also turned down Delhi BJP's request for public meetings of popular BJP CMs like Yogi Adityanath and Manohar Parrikar.

Instead, Shah had agreed to address a public rally in Delhi in the last leg of campaigning. BJP's campaign has mostly been revolving round Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari and Bhojpuri star Ravi Kishan.
The founder of e-wallet platform Paytm, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, has emerged as the surprise name in the annual list of '100 most influential people in the world'.

He is one of two Indians, the other being the more obvious choice, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the list released by the Time magazine on Thursday.

The list features pioneers, artists, titans, leaders and icons from around the world honoured for 'the power of their inventions, the scale of their ambitions, the genius of their solutions to problems that no one before them could solve.'

File photo of Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma clicking a selfie with the Prime Minister

For 43-year-old Sharma, Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani wrote that when India's government unexpectedly scrapped 86 per cent of the country's currency notes in November, Sharma 'seized the moment'.

As Indians scrambled to exchange the banned notes for new currency, Paytm, Sharma's digital payments startup, went on a promotional spree, inviting Indians to start using Paytm's digital wallet to pay for everyday goods and services.

'It worked. By the end of 2016, Paytm had 177 million users, compared with 122 million at the beginning of the year,' Nilekani wrote. Sharma had 'catapulted himself into a nation's consciousness. It was a masterstroke by a small-town boy who studied in a Hindi medium school before conquering the country's Anglophone startup world,' he wrote.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the more obvious Indian name on the 'influential list'

Paytm is now backed by the chief of China's Alibaba, Jack Ma, and Sharma is branching out into the more heavily regulated world of banking, with plans to offer digital accounts.

'He will face new challenges from deep-pocketed and more-experienced competitors. But knowing Vijay, he will win the next time around too,' his profile read.

The magazine has included US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladmir Putin and British Prime Minister Theresa May in the new list of 100 most influential people.

The magazine has included US President Donald Trump (pictured), Russian President Vladmir Putin and British Prime Minister Theresa May in the new list of 100 most influential people

The profile of Modi, 66, written by author Pankaj Mishra, said that in May 2014 - long before Trump seemed conceivable as a US president - he became the Prime Minister of the world's largest democracy.

'Once barred from the US for his suspected complicity in anti-Muslim violence, and politically ostracised at home as well, this Hindu nationalist used Twitter to bypass traditional media and speak directly to masses feeling left or pushed behind by globalisation, and he promised to make India great again by rooting out self-serving elites,' it said.

Nearly three years after he came to power, Modi's vision of India's economic, geopolitical and cultural supremacy is far from being realised, the profile read, but his 'extended family of Hindu nationalists have taken to scapegoating secular and liberal intellectuals as well as poor Muslims.'

'Yet Modi's aura remains undimmed. He is a maestro of the art of political seduction, playing on the existential fears and cultural insecurities of people facing downward or blocked mobility,' it said.

Modi's elections victory in Uttar Pradesh, India's most politically significant state, by a landslide confirmed that 'elected strongmen are the chief beneficiaries of a global revolt against elites.'
Hedge fund giant Man Group shot up after reporting that the total funds it runs for investors grew 10 per cent in the first three months of 2017.

Shares rose to their highest level in a year following the announcement, bringing the firms total 2017 gains to 27.3 per cent.

The results mark an impressive turnaround for the manager, which saw performance fee revenues fall to 63.2 million in 2016, compared to 235.7 million in 2015 due to difficult market conditions.

On a high: Hedge fund giant Man Group shot up after reporting that the total funds it runs for investors grew 10 per cent in the first three months of 2017

The company put its strong performance down to positive currency movements and its acquisition of US property investment firm Aalto in January, which added 1.4 billion to total funds. Shares rose 4.4 per cent, or 6.4p, to 150.8p.

Fellow FTSE 250 member Acacia Mining had a howler. The Tanzanian gold producer has been hit by a ban on the export of gold and copper ore, which accounts for around 30 per cent of revenues.

In its results for the first quarter, Acacia said it would reassess the operations of its two affected mines over the coming weeks if the ban is not lifted.

It has continued to operate as normal despite the ban, introduced in March, stockpiling product. But this has reduced cash flow by around 25.7 million and reduced sales by nearly 35,000 ounces.

STOCK WATCH: Action Hotels Action Hotels flopped after revenues for the year ended December 31 came in below market expectations. The firm has 12 three and four-star hotels in the Middle East and Australia. Despite revenue growth of 22 per cent to 41.5 million, the company said delays in the opening of several hotels led it to fall short. The firm said it was in an accelerated growth and investment stage, with six hotels in the pipeline. Shares dropped 15.2 per cent, or 7p, to a record low of 39p.

The ban could also force the firm to repay advanced payments that it has already accepted.

First quarter core profits rose 25 per cent to 64 million and gold production jumped 15 per cent to 219,670 ounces.

The share price slipped 8.4 per cent, or 38.4p, to 417.3p.

After two days of large losses on the back of the strong pound, the FTSE finished the day flat. It was up just 0.1 per cent, or 4.18 points, to 7118.54.

Among the biggest winners was advertising giant WPP, which rose ahead of its first-quarter results next week.

The firm was boosted when rival Publicis revealed a drop in underlying sales of just 1.2 per cent, outperforming analysts expectations of a 1.9 per cent dip.

However, its North American sales dropped by 5 per cent and shares in the firm, run by Martin Sorrell, rose 0.9 per cent, or 15p, to 1701p.

Modern Water soared after announcing the sale of its seawater desalination technology to a Chinese firm.

The fresh water company will license its technology and provide engineering support to Hangzhou Water, which is part-owned by the Chinese government.

Shares were lifted 22.8pc, or 2.25p, to 12.12p, their highest level in nearly two years.

Former mining firm Shearwater slid after placing 200 million shares to part-fund its acquisition of security software provider SecurEnvoy. The acquisition will cost 20 million, with 10 million paid in cash and 10 million through the shares, priced at 5p each, which will be paid to SecurEnvoys co-founders Andrew Kemshall and Stephen Watts.

The acquisition marks Shearwaters first purchase since chairman David Williams outlined plans in January to sell the firms gold and tungsten mining assets to invest in small cybersecurity firms.

The companys shares fell 12.3 per cent, or 0.6p, to 4.28p.

Surveillance firm Digital Barriers shot up after securing a 5.6 million contract to provide equipment to an unnamed, major US federal law enforcement agency.

It follows several smaller contracts awarded to the firm by the US government this month worth 630,000 and brings its total contracted sales for the current financial year to 15 million.

Digitals shares rose by 1.7 per cent, or 0.5p, to 30p.
Marks & Spencer has announced plans to close six stores and open 36 new ones as it pushes ahead with its plan to turn the business around.

The stores that face closure are in Monks Cross (near York), Portsmouth, Slough, Warrington, Wokingham and Worksop.

M&S said the closures will see 380 workers lose their jobs but the retailer added they would all be offered the chance to be redeployed in near-by stores.

Store closures: M&S said 380 workers will lose their jobs but added they would all be redeployed in near-by stores

The store closures are part of a five-year strategic review initiated by chief executive Steve Rowe to better meet changing customer habits.

He said: 'Picking up food for now or tonight rather than doing one big shop or browsing and shopping online and collecting in store are great examples of this and we are committed to adapting our business so that we stay in tune with our customers.

'This means there will be more M&S colleagues working in an increased number of convenient locations, serving more customers.'

The announcement comes as Marks & Spencer is completing the closure of all its 10 stores in mainland China this month, as it failed to appeal to Chinese shoppers.

The exit from the Chinese market, which M&S entered in 2008 with a store in Shanghai, was announced last November, along with a raft of international store closures.

Meanwhile M&S, which currently has 959 UK stores, said it plans to open 36 new stores over the next six months, creating over 1,400 jobs.

M&S is stuggling to shift women's fashion and has announced its exit from China

The new stores include 34 new food-only chains, with locations including Bishopsgate (London, near Liverpool Street), Huntingdon, Aylesbury, Spinningfields (central Manchester) and Strood (Kent).

M&S also plans to open new clothing, home and food stores in Bracknell and Rushden.

Last year M&S announced it would open 200 new food-only stores and sell clothing and homewares from 60 fewer locations following years of stagnation at its general merchandise division.

Rowe, who took over from Marc Bolland last year, has changed the group's strategy to shift away from owning stores, which are expensive to run, in favour of growing the network of franchise shops.

Rowe is under pressure to turn M&S around after inheriting a business that has struggled to shift women's fashion.

Scaling back the firm's international expansion has been the first step towards dismantling the legacy of predecessor Marc Bolland.

Rowe has already taken drastic action by scrapping more than 500 head office jobs and slimmed down layers of senior management.

Shares in Marks & Spencer fell by 0.7 per cent, or 2.5p, to 355.9p.
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With bone-chilling cold, no running water, certainly no restaurants and days that drag on forever at the height of summer and last less than three hours in the dead of winter, Shishmaref, Alaska is a place few Americans could ever settle.

Stuck on a barrier island in the Chukchi Sea, just 100 miles from the Russian mainland, the climate  with temperatures plunging to minus 30 degrees  is inhospitable at best and downright forbidding most days.

But for those who make Shishmaref their home, it's ideal.

'It's a central location as far as we are concerned,' city councilman Fred Eningowuk explained to DailyMail.com.

Rising seas and melting permfrost mean the town of Shishmaref is disappearing fast. Donald Trump's administration insistance that climate change research is 'a waste of taxpayers' money,' means that its residents see little hope for a future. Local Jason Weyiouanna grew up in this house, which has become an iconic image of the toll global warming has taken on the land and property in Shishmaref

An aerial view of the island of Shishmaref depicts just how small the town - which relies on hunting animals like bearded seal and walrus - really is

Resident Mamie Iyatunguk 21 on her ATV on the island of Shishmaref, located in the Chukchi Sea, just north of the Bering Strait and five miles from the mainland. Shishmaref lies within the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve

The remote village is home to just 600 people, has no running water, certainly no restaurants and days that last less than three hours in the dead of winter

'We have the ocean for bearded seal, for walrus, crabs and salmon. We have our lagoon for herring and tom cod and other fish. Across that we have the mainland for hunting and for berries, greens and roots.

'Everything we need is close by,' Eningowuk added, as he prepared to carve up a recently killed caribou outside his home. 'It is the perfect spot for us.'

But it almost certainly won't stay that way for long. Shishmaref is the poster child for global warming.

Rising seas mean it is disappearing fast and with Donald Trump's administration insisting that climate change research is 'a waste of taxpayers' money,' its 600 residents see little hope for a future.

'There were five or six houses along this strip of land,' Lorraine Jungers told DailyMail.com as she smoked a cigarette outside the village's native store. 'They've all been washed away.'

Mayor Donna Barr added: 'Our elders tell us the island went two miles further north when they were young. That's all gone now.'

And Annie Weyiouanna, the village's local coordinator added: 'There was a lot of land on the ocean side. We had bluffs and cliffs and a beach but we don't have that anymore.'

'We have no future here if the land keeps eroding.'

For half the year, from October to April, Shishmaref used to be surrounded by frozen seas. But the water started freezing over later, first in November and then December.

This year the village saw something new and even more alarming when it woke on the morning of February 2.

For half the year from October to April, Shishmaref - located south of the Arctic Circle and only a few miles off the Alaskan mainland - used to be surrounded by frozen seas. But the water started freezing over later, first in November and then December

Last year the people of Shishmaref voted to relocate after so many climate change problems. A second ballot decided on a spot for the new hometown nine miles across the lagoon at West Tin Creek Flats. City councilman Fred Eningowuk, for one, voted to stay

But others felt they had no choice other than to leave. 'I voted yes, most certainly. I just hope we have picked the right spot. I want Donald Trump to know how important this is,' Stella Ningeulook (right) said. 'This is our lives we are talking about'

The local lagoon is used for hunting herring and tom cod (pictured), while berries, greens and roots are gathered on the mainland

While snow mobiles are the most popular mode of transportation on the island, some still have dogs to pull them by sled

Many of the residents realize that daily life in Washington, DC  or New York or California or Minnesota or anywhere else in the lower 48 states for that matter  just has nothing in common with that of the Inupiaq people on Shishmaref. Pictured, a pack of sled dogs peer over from their boxes on the island

'The ice was wide open,' said Weyiouanna. 'I had never seen that before.'

It stayed that way for more than a week before a cold snap refroze the sea on February 10.

Last year the people of Shishmaref voted to relocate. A second ballot decided on a spot for the new hometown nine miles across the lagoon at West Tin Creek Flats on the Alaskan mainland.

Who is going to pay for that move is another matter. The villagers certainly can't afford it on their own  it is estimated it would cost them $320,000 each. The state government in Juneau also doesn't have the budget and the federal government doesn't have the will.

The island's leaders are doing what they can to prepare for the move, although no-one believes it will come any time soon. 'We want to make the project shovel-ready so if the funding became available we would be prepared,' said Mayor Barr.

'We can't wait for the village to wash away. We have to realize that mother nature is always going to be more powerful than any man-made system.'

Weyiouanna added: 'I know Donald Trump doesn't believe climate change is real,' she said in her office in city hall where a bucket is the only toilet.

'But if he came to live here for a year he'd soon change his mind.'

And for the people of Shishmaref that is the problem. Washington, DC is so far away it may as well be on another planet  not part of the same country.

Daily life in the nation's capital  or New York or California or Minnesota or anywhere else in the lower 48 states for that matter  has just nothing in common with that of the Inupiaq people on Shishmaref.

Musher Jeff Nayokpuk, 32, told DailyMail.com: 'If we have to go, I guess we have to go, but I don't want to'

'I didn't vote,' he added, as he poked at a fire under an oil drum full of seal meat, rice and melted snow  standard fare for his dog team. 'I just don't like to have to think about leaving all this behind'

There are many rituals that living in Shishmaref entails - take water, for instance; it is not as simple as turning on a faucet. For fresh drinking water, it means hopping on a snowmobile with a sled attached, and driving 18 miles across the lagoon to the Old Pond

But inside the small homes in the village, like Susie and Ben Kokeok's, there's a momentary respite from the turmoil outside

Stores in the island - including this one, where resident Lorraine Jungers poses by the cash register - also do their best to serve the small population with necessary goods

Take water, for instance. It is not as simple as turning on a faucet.

For fresh drinking water, it means hopping on a snowmobile with a sled attached, and driving 18 miles across the lagoon to the Old Pond. Once there, it's a question of cutting out a few large chunks of ice, putting them in the sled and driving all the way home again.

For bathing and laundry there is the communal washeteria.

The vote to relocate was close and because it was held in August, when many people were on the mainland harvesting berries, it had a low turnout. Only one-in-three villagers cast their ballot. The result was 94 for relocation and 78 to stay in place and try to protect the island.

Fred Eningowuk, 59, was all for staying.

'We could be better off here,' he said.

Due to the lack of financing, he does not believe any move will occur in his lifetime

'That's probably just as well,' he said. 'They would practically have to force me to relocate to West Tin Creek.'

And musher Jeff Nayokpuk, 32, added: 'If we have to go, I guess we have to go, but I don't want to.

'I didn't vote,' he said, as he poked at a fire under an oil drum full of seal meat, rice and melted snow  standard fare for his dog team. 'I just don't like to have to think about leaving all this behind.'

The people also have a word for the insidious undermining of their land, said Shishmaref's vice-mayor Stanley Tocktoo (pictured)

'We call it ussaaq. When the storm is out of the west or northwest it's the worst. October and November are the worst months,' he said

Mayor Donna Barr told DailyMail.com: 'Our elders tell us the island went two miles further north when they were young. That's all gone now'

And Annie Weyiouanna, the village's local coordinator added: 'There was a lot of land on the ocean side. We had bluffs and cliffs and a beach but we don't have that anymore'

Global warming has brought a lot of change to Shishmaref: some subtle, some obvious. Lorraine Jungers's father killed 72 polar bear in his life, she said. 'Now, you just don't see the bears any more. The ice isn't thick enough to support them.'

And the rising waters don't just mean they will wash over the island. They also attack from below. As the level goes up it melts the permafrost that is the bedrock of Shishmaref. That leads to the village sinking putting it even more at risk from storms.

The people even have a word for the insidious undermining of their land, said Shishmaref's vice-mayor Stanley Tocktoo.

'We call it ussaaq. When the storm is out of the west or northwest it's the worst. October and November are the worst months.'

A local ordinance says any new homes have to be built on special foundations that can then be lifted and moved. Fourteen homes on the northern shore were moved south after a 1997 storm ate away at the land.

In Shishmaref there is no place for the those who doubt the findings of established science.

'Climate change is genuine, ask anyone here,' said Tocktoo. 'One year we lost 20 feet of land in an hour. Now we don't have room for new houses or public facilities. Already we have some people living three families to a house.'

But virtually no one on the island wants to leave, even if the majority feel they have no choice.

Stella Ningeulook, 65, is convinced the vote went the right way. 'The move will be wonderful for our grandchildren and great grandchildren,' she said. 'We don't want them to suffer.

'I voted yes, most certainly. I just hope we have picked the right spot. I want Donald Trump to know how important this is,' she said. 'This is our lives we are talking about.'

For now, in order to fuel up ATVs and snow mobiles to get from place to place, local residents use gas pumps located on the island

And to travel to other locations, including the mainland, residents use a small prop plane that they load with bags and goods

The biggest dread with relocation is that people would leave piecemeal and go to Nome or Kotzebue - north west Alaska's only two population centers - and no one wants to see the community disintegrate. Pictured, graves in Shishmaref Cemetery

'We have no choice,' Mildred Kiyutelluk said, although her brother Larry told DailyMail.com: 'I won't move. How can they force me to?'

And 21-year-old Mamie Iyatunguk added: 'It's best to relocate before we lose any more houses.'

The one thing everyone on Shishmaref is agreed on is that the village must stay together. 'We are an entire community,' vice-mayor Tocktoo said.

The biggest dread is that people would leave piecemeal and go to Nome or Kotzebue - north west Alaska's only two population centers. 'If that were to happen we'd have two tribes fighting each other. We would be the displaced people,' Tocktoo said.

Alaskans saw such an event last century when authorities closed the school on King Island, a tiny community in the Bering Sea; the children were forced to go to boarding school elsewhere.

The community collapsed as the young were no longer around to help their parents hunt and gather food. Eventually the islanders moved to Nome.

'That is not going to happen to us,' Tocktoo said.
The Arkansas Supreme Court has halted one of two executions planned for Thursday night, once again throwing a wrench in the state's plans to conduct eight executions before the end of April, when one of its lethal injection drugs expires.

The court ruled that Stacey Johnson, 45, could pursue his requests for enhanced DNA testing in hopes of proving his innocence in the 1993 rape and killing of Carol Heath in 1993.

Ledell Lee was found guilty of robbing and strangling 26-year-old Debra Reese in her Jacksonville home in 1993. Prosecutors said he was a serial rapist and killer, accused of killing several women, ages 17 to 70, according to Arkansas Matters.

He too wants more advanced DNA testing. Both have maintained their innocence through their incarceration. Lee's case is pending.

The Innocence Project filed the appeal for both inmates along with their attorneys.

'We've established that modern DNA testing methods can prove Mr. Johnson's innocence, and Arkansas law clearly established that Mr. Johnson is entitled to that testing,' said Karen Thompson, a staff attorney with the Innocence Project, on Tuesday after the appeal was filed.

Death-row inmates Stacey E. Johnson, left, and Ledell Lee had been scheduled for execution on April 20, 2017

Anti-death penalty supporters Abraham Bonowitz, left, and Randy Gardner wait near their taped off 'protest corral' outside the Varner Unit near Varner, Arkansas

In 2015, Carol's daughter, Ashley Heath, asked at Johnson's parole board that his sentence be commuted to life in prison, as she said she'd forgiven him, reported Arkansas News.

Carol's son, however, disagrees. Jonathan Palmer said, 'I cant find that I can ever truly be at peace if he continues to live and have the luxury of life itself.'

The two were only six and two and at home when their mother was beaten, raped, strangled, and had her throat slit. Ashley, 6, was the only witness to the murder and testified, but it was later ruled she was not competent to testify. He was retried and found guilty again.

Johnson has always maintained his innocence. In 2015, he told the board 'If DNA testing had been done, I wouldnt be here today. There was a lot of evidence to show that I didnt do it, but it was ignored.'

DNA tests were, however, used in both trials, but DNA testing methods have improved since his trial in 1994.

'It's just common sense that before the government sends a man to his death, we should use the best scientific methods to make sure we have convicted the right person.'

In its 4-3 ruling, the state's highest court followed the same split it did on Monday, when it halted two other executions involving different inmates.

'Today, our court gives uncertainty to any case ever truly being final in the Arkansas Supreme Court,' Justice Rhonda Wood wrote in a dissenting opinion.

Inmate Ledell Lee is also set for execution Thursday night but he also has legal challenges pending before several courts, including a similar request for more DNA tests.

Anti-death penalty supporter Randy Gardner, left, wipes away a tear moments after Abraham Bonowitz, left, read on his phone the 11:45pm Supreme Court decision to halt the execution

Anti-death penalty supporter Randy Gardner, right, embraces Abraham Bonowitz, left, after they read on his phone the 11:45pm, decision to halt the execution of Johnson

A spokesman for Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said the state is reviewing its options regarding Johnson's case.

The Arkansas Supreme court had already hated the executions of Bruce Ward and Don Davis.

Additionally, a county court ruled that the state can't use one of its lethal injection drugs in any executions.

While both of Wednesday's rulings could be overturned, Arkansas now faces an uphill battle to execute any inmates before the end of April, when another of its drugs expires.

The state had faced a lawsuit by McKesson Corp., which says it sold the drug vecuronium bromide to the Arkansas Department of Correction for inmate medical care, not executions.

The company sued to stop Arkansas from using the drug in the planned lethal injections.

McKesson Corp. argued at it would suffer harm financially and to its reputation if the executions were carried out and a judge agreed.

A state prison official testified that he deliberately ordered the drug last year in a way that there wouldn't be a paper trail, relying on phone calls and text messages.

Arkansas Department of Correction Deputy Director Rory Griffin said he didn't keep records of the texts, but McKesson salesman Tim Jenkins did.

In text messages from Jenkins' phone, which came up at Wednesday's court hearing, there is no mention that the drug would be used in executions.
Merell Boot Co. has provided climbers and rescuers to the search for the founder's wife and grandson who went missing in the Grand Canyon.

Randy Merrell's wife LouAnn, 62, and her step-grandson Jackson Standefer, 14, were on a multi-day hike on Saturday when they fell and were swept away by water.

The teenager's family has offered to provide a military-grade drone to help the National Park Service in the search, which rangers said is a difficult and complex one.

Merell Boot Co. has provided climbers and rescuers to the search for the founder's wife LouAnn Merrell (left) and grandson Jackson Standefer (right), 14, who went missing in the Grand Canyon

LouAnn had been hiking with her husband Randy, their daughter-in-law Julie Standefer - who is married to their son Karstan Merrell - as well as Julie's son Jackson Standefer, when the tragedy occurred, according to other family members.

Randy and Julie were able to alert officials by setting off an emergency GPS locator beacon in the backcountry below the canyon's North Rim, according to Chief Ranger Matt Vandzura of the National Park Service.

The National Park Service deployed a drone, helicopter and dozens of rescuers to help find the missing pair but to no avail.

A spokeswoman said on Wednesday that the park service is working closely with the family in their search.

The service again deployed three ground search teams, a helicopter, a drone and an inflatable motor raft on Wednesday

The missing hikers were trying to cross Tapeats Creek in Grand Canyon National Park on Saturday when they lost their footing and were swept away by water

The National Park Service deployed a drone, helicopter and dozens of rescuers to help find the missing pair but to no avail

Ground search crews have spent the night at the bottom of the canyon for several nights, although their searches only take place in daylight.

Martin said weather has also been about the same as the last few days, with clear and breezy daytime temperatures in the mid-90s and overnight lows in the 50s.

Standefer's uncle Mark McOmie told the Denver Post that both Lou-Ann and her husband Randy Merrell are keen hikers and know the area well.

Merrell is 'a very experienced backpacker,' McOmie said. 'If they can get to a spot where they cannot be in the water and stay warm, she's got the skills needed to get them through it.

'The odds aren't great. But given their skills and knowledge of the area, that will probably lead to the best possible outcome.'

Randy Merrell's company Merell Boot Co. has provided climbers and rescuers to help the search

Family members said that rescue teams discovered Merrell and her step-grandson's backpacks with their belongings still inside.

The Grand Canyon is consistently one of the most popular attractions in the United States, drawing nearly 6 million people last year.

But the park's nearly 2,000 square miles, steep cliffs and mesmerizing views have often led to accidents and deaths.

The park service reported over 1,000 medical emergencies, 15 deaths and 318 search and rescue incidents in 2015, the last readily available data.

The remote area where the family was hiking on multi-day backpacking trip is at the bottom of the canyon near the North Rim, a much-less visited area of the park.

Experts like Matthew Nelson, the executive director of the Arizona Trial Association and a former Grand Canyon backpacking guide, say hiking down to the Tapeats Creek area where the two went missing is arduous and requires at least a couple of days and some experience in backpacking.

Nelson said in an Associated Press interview on Tuesday that the creek where Merrell and Standefer went missing can get heavy water flow after the winter, when snow from the North Rim melts and travels down the canyon.

He said that area is particularly hot during the day and doesn't cool off very much because of the geology.

'This is one of the gems of backpacking in the Grand Canyon,' Nelson said.
A former New York Police Department sergeant who groomed women on Match.com and persuaded them to sexually abuse babies has been jailed for 28 years.

Alberto Randazzo, 40, pleaded guilty last July to conspiring with five women - sometimes the victim's own mothers - to sexually exploit children and receiving child pornography.

The disgraced ex-cop was sentenced on Wednesday by Brooklyn Federal Judge Pamela Chen, who condemned his sickening crimes 'heinous and depraved'.

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Ex-NYPD sergeant Alberto Randazzo, 40, who groomed women on Match.com and persuaded them to sexually abuse babies has been jailed for 28 years

Chen added that Randazzo should spend a lot of time in solitary as he was at high risk of harm from other inmates - being a former police officer and pedophile.

Assistant US Attorney Tyler Smith called Randazzo one of the worst child sex offenders to come through the Brooklyn federal system and said he 'literally created child abusers'.

Randazzo befriended the women on sites like Match.com and Ashley Madison, then groomed them to abuse children.

He watched the abuse on Skype and went to hotel rooms at least twice in the hopes of watching the abuse up close, the New York Daily News reported.

The twisted abuse began in 2010 and carried on until early 2013, when Randazzo was a supervisor in the Midtown North Precinct.

His then-girlfriend said she was already concerned he might be a pedophile because he spent more time talking to a seven-year-old girl at a holiday party than adults.

She previously told the court that she hacked into his iPhone when he was sleeping, correctly guessing that his police badge number was his password.

She also came across sickening texts telling another woman he wanted to have sex with her on a child's bed.

Randazzo added that he wanted to have a baby so he and the mother could abuse the young victim together.

Jenney Zerello told Brooklyn Federal Court that she met Randazzo on Match.com in October 2012

Appalled by what she found on his phone, she then looked at Randazzo's computer and found homemade child pornography.

His horrified girlfriend told Internal Affairs Bureau and made Randazzo think she accepted his desires until he was caught.

Randazzo was first arrested in 2013 on charges of having 23 sexual images of children as young as one.

Prosecutors presented evidence of at least five women he'd met online who sexually abused children to satisfy his sexual desires.

The victims ranged in age from a few months to eight years old.

Randazzo apologized to his family, the judge, prosecutors and everyone harmed by what happened - but failed to specifically mention his child victims.

'I will not and cannot justify anything that happened here,' he said.

He added that he had felt 'this progression' that he couldn't stop. It was 'a darkness I couldn't wish on anyone.'

The ex-cop claimed he was grateful with the 18-year sentence as his only other outcome would have been suicide.

His mother sobbed during the trial and told her son she loved him as he was taken out of the courtroom.

Two women have pleaded guilty to charges in the case.

Keira Norton, 43, from Colorado had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of distributing child pornography for simulating a sex act on her one-year-old child.

And as sentence was passed at Brooklyn Federal Court, she said she wished God would strike her 'from the face of the Earth.'

Leigh Marcini, 39, of Pennsylvania, has also pleaded guilty to texting images of herself performing a sex act on a two-year-old boy to Randazzo

Randazzo befriended the women on sites like Match.com and Ashelymadison.com, then groomed them to abuse children. He watched the abuse on Skype and went to hotel rooms at least twice in the hopes of watching the abuse up close

Norton, a former police officer on an Indian reservation, previously told the court that she went along with Sergeant Alberto Randazzo's wishes because she was a victim of domestic violence and had wanted him to act as a witness for her in the case. She was given a five-year sentence.

Jenney Zerello told Brooklyn Federal Court last month that she met Randazzo on Match.com in October 2012.

Three months later, her mother visited the psychic, who told her that her daughter was dating 'a very bad person', the Daily News reported.

Zerello told the court that the psychic warned her that she was in a dangerous situation and needed to separate herself from him.

Leigh Marcini, 39, of Pennsylvania, has also pleaded guilty to texting images of herself performing a sex act on a two-year-old boy to Randazzo.

The Daily News reported last July that police had arrested a woman in Massachusetts who had allegedly abused an eight-year-old boy on camera for Randazzo.

The woman - who has not been identified to protect the identity of the child victim  allegedly drugged the boy during the encounter in 2011.

She was later revealed to have been the victim's grandmother, who reportedly met Randazzo on Ashley Madison, an extra-martial dating website.

On one occasion, the woman sent the NYPD sergeant a picture of her breasts.

'Omg, now I know why [the victim] is in love with them,' he is said to have replied.

A third woman is awaiting trial.
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray on Wednesday denied knowing or having sex with a 46-year-old man who has accused the mayor of sexually abusing him when he was a teenager.

In new court filings Wednesday, the man suing Murray over alleged sex abuse in the 1980s publicly identified himself as Delvonn Heckard, from the Seattle suburb of Kent.

Heckard told The Seattle Times he decided to go public because he has nothing to hide and did nothing wrong.

He thinks doing so will prompt people to believe his claims. Reached by telephone, Heckard declined to speak to The Associated Press.

The AP typically does not identify alleged victims of sex abuse, but Heckard said he wants his name made public.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray (left) on Wednesday denied knowing or having sex with Delvonn Heckard (right), a 46-year-old man who has accused the mayor of sexually abusing him when he was a teenager

Murray has vigorously denied Heckard's claims and told reporters earlier this month that he did not know who 'D.H.' was after the lawsuit was filed.

In a written statement Wednesday, Murray said: 'I can state categorically that I have never had a sexual relationship with this individual, Delvonn Heckard, of any kind or at any time.'

The mayor also said he has never paid for sex and has never had sex with a minor.

Murray says he just learned of Heckard's name Wednesday and that 'his name is not familiar to me.'

Heckard's lawyer, Lincoln Beauregard (above), denied the mayor's claims that Heckard's accusations were politically motivated

The mayor said it's possible that he met Heckard since he has encountered thousands of people during his decades of public service.

Heckard was identified only by his initials in the original lawsuit filed earlier this month against Murray.

In the lawsuit, Heckard said that the mayor 'raped and molested him' over several years beginning in 1986 when Heckard was a 15-year-old crack cocaine addict and Murray was in his 30s.

Two other men told The Times they met Murray while living in a center for troubled teens and that he paid them $10 for sex in the 1980s.

'Once people hear me talk, they'll be able to feel my spirit, and they'll have no doubts that what I'm saying is true,' Heckard told the newspaper in an interview.

Murray, who faces a re-election campaign this year, has said the allegations are politically motivated by gay rights foes.

During his 18 years as a state lawmaker, Murray was the prime sponsor of Washington state'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.

Heckard's lawyer, Lincoln Beauregard, denied in the amended lawsuit that Heckard's claims were politically motivated.

It said Heckard 'is an openly gay man with no real political inclinations.'
A family-owned grocer was the target of a brazen robbery over the Easter weekend after a thief allegedly broke into the room where staff have breaks and ransacked their lockers.

The alleged thief was captured at Geelong Fresh Foods on Pakington Street, West Geelong, breaking into the staff room and helping himself to employees' belongings.

Footage posted onto Facebook shows the man open the lockers and rifle through an employee's bag as he hides the goods in his jumper.

The alleged thief was captured on CCTV footage (pictured) helping himself to the staff locker as he stole wallets, phones and cigarettes

Owner Carmel Dawson told Daily Mail Australia the thief took wallets, phones and cigarettes from young workers.

The alleged robbery occurred during the busy Easter weekend while staff were out on the floor serving customers.

Ms Dawson said the man pretended to shop for several minutes before running into the back area and straight into the staff room.

He allegedly told staff that he had previously worked in the building when the grocer was a Mitre 10 over a decade ago.

Owners shared the CCTV footage on social media and have offered a $500 award to anyone who can identify the man who was seen wearing a grey jacket and black cap.

The man - wearing a grey jacket and black cap - rifled through an employee's bag as he stole the goods

Geelong Fresh Foods (pictured) was the target of the brazen robbery during the Easter weekend

'On Easter Saturday 15th April at 3:30pm this man ransacked our staff room. Our hardworking staff deserve some answers and accountability,' Ms Carmen wrote on Facebook.

'We are offering a $500 reward to anyone who can provide us with credible information on this man.'

The thief was also spotted on CCTV strolling through the supermarket aisles with a basket before he allegedly broke into the staff room.

Footage of the alleged robbery has been shared over 1500 times as Geelong locals rally to help the grocer find the man.

The store is family-owned is run by Ms Dawson and her two brothers, Mark and Daniel Virgona.

Ms Dawson reported to matter to Geelong Police and said several locals have offered names of potential suspects.
A shark has been filmed swimming only metres from the shore at a popular Perth beach, just days after a teenager was killed by a shark on the state's south coast.

The two-metre shark was filmed at North Cottesloe at Grant Street dog beach on Wednesday just after 12.30pm.

Footage sent to Nine News shows beachgoers walking on the shoreline, then zooms in closer to film the moment and man and a woman spot the animal in the water.

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A shark has been filmed swimming just metres off the shore of North Cottesloe Beach in Perth (pictured), just days after a fatal attack on a teenager at a beach on the state's south coast

The shark is seen swimming parallel to the shoreline, only metres from where people are walking.

Surf Lifesaving WA posted an alert on Twitter saying a two-metre shark of unknown species was sighted at the dog beach about 12.38pm.

They also tweeted later on Wednesday afternoon reported the sighting of a second shark 50 metres west of the Narrows Bridge near the city.

The report said a fin had been sighted and the animal was thrashing around in the water.

Surf Lifesaving WA issued an alert on Twitter saying the shark had been spotted just after 12.30pm on Wednesday

The two-metre long animal spotted swimming at Grant Street dog beach was an unknown species

The sighting comes after 17-year-old Laeticia Brouwer was attacked and killed by a shark while surfing east of Wylie Bay near Esperance on Monday afternoon.

Ms Brouwer was surfing with her father Leon when she was attacked, with the shark attacking her left leg and taking a chunk our of her surfboard.

Her father mother, Julie, and an off-duty nurse performed CPR until paramedics arrived, 20 minutes later, but Laeticia later died in hospital.

The sighting comes after 17-year-old Laeticia Brouwer (left) was attacked and killed by a shark while surfing at a beach near Esperance. The shark attacked her left leg and took a chunk out of her surfboard (right)

Ms Brouwer was surfing with her father Leon when she was attacked. Pictured are grieving friends and family after the incident
The bikini model ex-girlfriend of a Sydney businessman charged over a 500 kilogram cocaine importation has offered to have her former lover live in her eastern suburbs home.

If granted bail, onetime cafe owner Darren Mohr would lodge $1.8 million surety, live with Krissy Marsh at Rose Bay and wear an electronic tracking device which he would also pay for himself.

Mohr, 42, is charged with conspiring to import a commercial quantity of cocaine between August and November last year. If convicted, he faces life in jail.

Accused cocaine smuggler Darren Mohr was in a one-year relationship with Krissy Marsh after being friends for eight years

Darren Mohr, pictured reclining with a dog and macaw, regularly posted pictures of himself in exotic locations on social media

Krissy Marsh, who has posed as a bikini model, has offered to have her former lover live in her home

Appearing in the Supreme Court via video-link from Silverwater jail on Thursday, Mohr said little other than to confirm the pronunciation of his name ('More').

The former soldier was arrested on December 27, two days after police seized 500 kilograms of cocaine from a dinghy in Parsley Bay, on the Hawkesbury River, north of Sydney.

The drugs, allegedly unloaded from a mother ship by a trawler called Dalrymple based at the Sydney Fish Markets, were wrapped in plastic and labelled 'Emporio Armani'.

Mohr was one of 15 men arrested as part of an operation targeting a wider conspiracy alleged to involve the attempted importation of 600 kilograms of the same drug which was intercepted in Tahiti in March last year.

The total 1.1 tonnes of seized cocaine is estimated to be worth $360 million, making it the second largest bust of the drug in Australian criminal history. Mohr is charged only in relation to the 500 kilogram seizure.

In February, Australian Federal Police seized 1.4 tonnes of cocaine with an estimated value of at least $312million from a yacht off the south coast of NSW.

Following Mohr's arrest, pictures of his lavish lifestyle with girlfriend Ms Marsh emerged on social media accounts. The pair was pictured on a Gold Coast holiday, flying in a helicopter and poolside in Byron Bay.

Accused cocaine smuggler Darren Mohr and bikini model Krissy Marsh recently ended their relationship amiciably

Former cafe owner Darren Mohr (pictured sitting) was arrested on December 27 last year near his home at Rose Bay

Darren Mohr faces life imprisonment if convicted of consipiring to import a commercial quantity of cocaine

Mohr features in pictures tanning himself on remote beaches, wearing designer suits and attending a yacht club during the Grand Prix in Monaco. He has a penchant for expensive watches and motorcycles.

Ms Marsh has posted a video of her two children jumping into Sydney Harbour from his cigarette boat and the couple was pictured in front of a Rolls Royce before her sister's wedding on the Gold Coast in October last year.

There is no suggestion that Ms Marsh was involved in any of the alleged conduct subject of the charges against Mohr.

Mohr has uploaded pictures from beaches in Vietnam and Thailand, and has claimed to have ridden a motorcycle across India and the Himalayas last July.

Former cafe owner Darren Mohr regularly posted pictures of himself sunbathing

Police seized 500 kilograms of cocaine (pictured) at Parsley Bay, north of Sydney, on Christmas Day last year

Darren Mohr shared pictures of himself cruising around Monaco harbour

Ms Marsh posted a picture in Early December of a day the 'stars aligned' and the couple's eight-year friendship blossomed into the 'best relationship' she had ever had.

'You are my king...,' she wrote. '2017 is going to be so much fun.'

Applying for bail on behalf of his client, Mohr's counsel Avni Djemal said on Thursday the couple's relationship had recently ended amicably after one year.

Mr Djemal tendered an affidavit sworn by Ms Marsh in which she offered to share her Rose Bay home with Mohr if he was granted bail.

'They're still friends and he is welcome to live there,' Mr Djemal told Justice Elizabeth Fullerton.

Former cafe owner Darren Mohr owned a cigarette boat which he regularly raced on Sydney Harbour

Police allege the 500 kilograms of cocaine they seized last year was picked up from a mother ship by a trawler (pictured)

Police seized 500 kilograms from a dinghy on the Hawkesbury River, north of Sydney

Mr Djemal said Mohr would offer as surety all his assets, along with assets of his family which totaled $1.8 million. He noted none of Mohr's assets had been seized as a result of his arrest.

Mohr would also pay $23,000 up-front to have an electronic device attached to his ankle and monitored by the private company 3M for one year.

Mr Djemal said his client had strong community ties, had only a minor criminal record which included breaching a security licence and needed to be employed to fund his legal defence.

'It's a very complicated brief,' Mr Djemal said. 'We're not looking at a trial this year.'

The seized cocaine was wrapped in plastic and labeled 'Emporio Armani'

A joint operation by officers from the Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force and NSW Police seized 500 kilograms of cocaine

Mohr and Ms Marsh smiled as they hovered over picturesque scenery during a helicopter tour and boasted no one 'had a better day than us'

Mr Djemal said much of evidence against his client was hearsay. No undercover operative would claim to have met Mohr to discuss the alleged importation and Mohr's voice did not appear on telephone taps or listening devices.

However, Commonwealth Crown Prosecutor Chris Choi said Mohr and some of his alleged co-conspirators had used encrypted Blackberry devices which could not be intercepted.

Ms Choi said Mohr had been pictured several times with co-conspirator Joseph Pirrello, who ran a fishing company in Tasmania, in Steyne Park, Double Bay.

Darren Mohr and Krissy Marsh pose in front of a Rolls Royce while attending her sister's wedding on the Gold Coast over Christmas

Police who searched Mohr's boat (pictured) after his arrest found nothing incriminating

The glamourous couple shows off their expensive watches during a trip to the Gold Coast

One of those meetings, on September 1 last year, occurred the day after Mohr had flown back to Sydney from a week-long trip to Chile, where the cocaine is alleged to have come from.

Ms Choi said the Crown would allege Mohr met with the Chilean organiser of the mother ship which carried the cocaine to Australia.

Mr Djemal said of that trip: 'There is no evidence of where he went, what he did, so it's a straight out trip to Chile'.

Ms Choi said hours after another Steyne Park meeting with Pirrello on September 10 last year, Mohr had flown to Phuket in Thailand.

Justice Fullerton, who said the charged concerned 'a very, very large amount of drugs' and described the alleged offence as 'grave in the extreme', reserved her decision until April 27.
A young surf life saver has been hailed a hero after he rescued a stranger twice his size from a treacherous rip on Easter Sunday.

On the day before his 13th birthday Jayke Menefy saved the 38-year-old father from drowning at the unpatrolled Teewah Beach on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

At just 42 kilograms, Jayke has been hailed a hero by the Queensland Police Service and Surf Life Saving Queensland after he managed to pull the 100 kilogram man out of the water.

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On the day before his 13th birthday Jayke Menefy saved the 38-year-old father from drowning at the unpatrolled Teewah Beach on Queensland's Sunshine Coast (Jayke is pictured on a different day)

Jayke's (left) mother Nicole Menefy (right) said she encouraged her son to rescue the man

At just 42 kilograms, Jayke has been hailed a hero by the Queensland Police Service and Surf Life Saving Queensland after he managed to pull the 100 kilogram man out of the water

After spending Easter Sunday surfing with his family at Double Island Point Jayke was on his way home when his father spotted a group of people in distress at the water's edge.

Jayke, who is a nipper at Mermaid Beach Surf Life Saving Club, hopped out of the car when he was told a man was stuck in a massive rip out to sea.

'Jayke expertly paddled out through the treacherous conditions and helped the man onto his board,' Surf Life Saving Queensland wrote on Facebook.

'Jayke waited with the man on his board until further help arrived in the form of two members of the public with boogie boards.'

Jayke's mother Nicole Menefy said she encouraged her son to rescue the man.

'It might seem strange to some parents that I told Jayke to grab his board from the car and head out into dangerous water, but he has been a nipper since 2013 and is a very strong swimmer,' she told the Courier Mail.

Queensland Police Service commended Jayke for his bravery and said the incident served as a reminder for people to swim only in patrolled areas.
The husband of the trailblazing New York judge who was found floating dead in the Hudson River on April 12 has joined authorities in New York in their plea for help from the public on Wednesday.

Reverand Gregory Jacobs also denied allegations that State Court of Appeals Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam, 65, 'was the victim of a "probable suicide,"' according to NBC News.

The New York Police Department said Tuesday that it now believes the death of Abdus-Salaam, the first African-American woman to sit on New York State's highest court, to be 'suspicious'.

Reverand Gregory Jacobs (R), the husband of the trailblazing State Court of Appeals Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam (L), 65, who was found floating dead in the Hudson River on April 12, has joined authorities in New York in their plea for help from the public on Wednesday

Reverand Jacobs, who is a minister at the Episcopal Diocese of Newark in New Jersey, pleaded for assistance with the ongoing investigation.

'I now join with the NYPD in asking anyone in the neighborhood to step forward with any information that might help us determine what may have happened during those hours before her death,' he said.

Abdus-Salaam is seen here in her photo from the New York State Court of Appeals website

He also spoke out strongly against the idea that his late wife took her own life.

'Reports have frequently included unsubstantiated comments concerning my wife's possible mental and emotional state of mind at the time of her death,' the priest wrote in a statement.

'Those of us who loved Sheila and knew her well do not believe that these unfounded conclusions have any basis in reality.'

He added that his wife 'loved Harlem and its people and lived there for nearly all of her adult life.'

The body of Abdus-Salaam was retrieved fully clothed from the Hudson River by the New York Police Department harbor unit on April 12 - one day after her husband of less than a year reported her missing.

Initial conversations about the probability that Abdus-Salaam was thought to have taken her own life centered around the fact that her mother and brother both committed suicide around Easter two years apart from each other, in 2012 and 2014, respectively, according to police.

The NYPD is asking the public to come forward with information on Abdus-Salaam's whereabouts in the hours leading up to her death

'Were looking it at as a suspicious death at this point,' NYPD spokesman Stephen Davis said.

'We havent found any clear indications of criminality, but at this point we cant say for sure. Were hoping if anyone could shed any light into the hours before her disappearance, it would help us establish what happened.'

Investigators have so far been unable to piece together bits of information about Abdus-Salaam's movements in the moments leading up to her death, according to the Post.

The body of Abdus-Salaam was retrieved fully clothed from the Hudson River (pictured) by the New York Police Department harbor unit on April 12

Police have pored over hours of surveillance videos, but they say that so far they have yet to find any CCTV footage from either a convenience store or a mass transit location that would give clues as to her final whereabouts.

Abdus-Salaam, a cancer survivor, began taking medication for 'darkening moods just a few weeks before her apparent suicide,' the New York Daily News reported.

Despite being widely hailed in several published reports as 'the first female Muslim US judge,' she did not practice Islam.

She adopted the surname 'Abdus-Salaam' when she married her first husband, who was a Muslim.

But a spokesman for the Court of Appeals told the New York Times that she was not Muslim.

Authorities investigating the case said Thursday that they found her medications, she did not leave behind a suicide note and there were no signs of foul play.

Detectives are looking for surveillance video to see if it revealed her movements along her possible path.

They are also looking to see if it supports the theory that she committed suicide.

An autopsy performed on her body revealed that she had water in her lungs, which suggests that she was alive when she went into the Hudson River.

While there was slight bruising on her neck, there was no bleeding in her eyes, which is normally consistent with strangulation.

Absent definitive evidence of a suicide, police are now asking the public to come forward with any information.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio commented on the tragedy on Thursday.

'Obviously, we're still waiting for the full investigation, but to the extent that the challenges and the stresses in her life contributed to this, it's a reminder that even the most accomplished people still deal with extraordinary challenges inward, and we don't get to see that,' he told reporters.

'Deeply saddened by the tragic passing of Sheila Abdus-Salaam,' he wrote, previously. 'She was a humble pioneer. My thoughts are with her family.'

Sources told the Times that Abdus-Salaam had been stressed recently at work.

The 65-year-old judge (pictured with NY Governor Andrew Cuomo) was found fully clothed, with no obvious signs of trauma suggesting foul play

Her close friend Dr. Marilyn Mobley told the Times that Abdus-Salaam had a 'heavy caseload and was in demand as a speaker'.

She noted that the judge may have had difficulty handling the pressure.

'What she shared with me is she had been under a lot of stress recently and that she was having trouble sleeping, 'Mobley, who saw the judge two weeks ago in New York for breakfast, said.

'The truth is she was accomplished, resilient and strong, and she had a breaking point like everyone else. I fear it got there.'

Hours before she disappeared, Abdus-Salaam called her chambers in Midtown Manhattan on the morning of April 11 to notify the staff she would not be coming in because she was unwell.

When the judge failed to show up for work the next day, her aide sent a text message to her husband, who then called 911 to report her missing.

The judge was divorced and recently remarried Reverend Gregory Jacobs in June

She was last seen alive leaving her office on Monday evening. Investigators were able to retrace her steps, determining that she took the 6 train at around 8.00pm Eastern.

Adbus-Salaam was found, lifeless, dressed in a gray sweater over a tee shirt, black sweatpants and a pair of New Balance sneakers. She wore a white watch on her wrist and had a MetroCard in her pocket.

Witnesses noticed Abdus-Salaam's body floating in the water near 132nd Street and Hudson Parkway in Manhattan at around 1.45pm Eastern and called 911, police said.

Abdus-Salaam was appointed to New York's Court of Appeals by Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2013.

Cuomo issued a statement on April 12, memorializing her as a 'trailblazing jurist whose life in public service was in pursuit of a more fair and more just New York for all.'

He added: 'As the first African-American woman to be appointed to the State's Court of Appeals, she was a pioneer.

'Through her writings, her wisdom, and her unshakable moral compass, she was a force for good whose legacy will be felt for years to come.

'I was proud to appoint her to the state's highest court and am deeply saddened by her passing.

'On behalf of all New Yorkers, I extend my deepest sympathies to her family, loved ones and colleagues during this trying and difficult time.'

The judge, who was twice divorced, married Reverend Jacobs in June, the Daily News reported.

The couple were said to be very happy, and chose to live in separate homes, a neighbor said.

Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio paid tribute to Abdus-Salaam, who was hailed as a 'humble pioneer'

Abdus-Salaam, who was born Sheila Turner in 1952, was one of seven children.

She grew up in Washington, DC with working-class parents and was inspired to pursue law after the civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman visited her high school.

'She was riveting... she was doing what I wanted to do: using the law to help people,' Abdus-Salaam said of her encounter with Freeman.

Later the judge would refer to a career in law as 'God's work.'

She graduated from Barnard College in 1974 and received her law degree from Columbia three years later.

She was classmates with former US Attorney Eric Holder. 'Sheila could boogie, but there was a seriousness about her, a strong sense of purpose at a relatively young age,' Holder said of her during her swearing in ceremony in 2013.

'She never forgot where she came from,' he added.

Abdus-Salaam, who traced her family's history and learned her great-grandfather was a slave in Virginia, marveled at the trajectory of her life in 2014.

She said: 'All the way from Arlington, Virginia, where my family was the property of someone else, to my sitting on the highest court of the State of New York is amazing and huge.

'It tells you and me what it is to know who we are and what we can do.'

Abdus-Salaam worked as an attorney before she began her career as a judge in the Civil Court of the City of New York in 1992.

She joined the Supreme Court of New York County in 1993 before she was appointed to the highest court 20 years later, where she served until her death.

Chief Judge Janet DiFiore said her colleague will be 'missed deeply.'
A little Syrian girl, her head swathed in bandages after a suicide bomber blew up a bus convoy near the war-torn city of Aleppo, turns her head to the camera...and smiles.

On Saturday terrorists, possibly from ISIS, planted a bomb which devastated a convoy of buses which was waiting to transport refugees away from the fighting.

Around 120 people were killed - half of them children - and scores more were injured by flying shrapnel, including this little girl.

The girl's top is covered in blood and she looks shocked and desolate (left) but she turns her head as the paramedic gets her attention (right)

She suffered a head injury and her eyes can just about be seen from underneath the bloody bandages.

A large plaster covers a cut on her cheek and her beige top is covered in blood.

In the video, broadcast by the official Syrian Arab News Agency, she is sitting in an ambulance and initially looks numb and bewildered.

Ever so slowly a smile breaks out on her face as the paramedic inflates the comical gloves

But she turns her head as someone, possibly a paramedic or a doctor, tries to amuse her by inflating two surgical gloves.

Slowly her sweet little face breaks into a smile.

The agony of the Syrian civil war continues but this brave little girl shows that humanity endures among the ruins.
Taxpayers are losing up to 1.5billion a year because foreign traders and criminal gangs are using online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay to dodge VAT.

In a damning report published today, the public spending watchdog accused HM Revenue & Customs of failing to crack down on the scam despite knowing about it for years.

Retailers must charge 20 per cent VAT on goods sold in the UK, and then hand the money to HMRC.

But many are failing to do this, either due to fraud or error, according to the National Audit Office.

Taxpayers are losing up to 1.5billion a year because foreign traders and criminal gangs are using online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay to dodge VAT

One MP accused online market places of allowing this to happen and said they should not be allowed to wriggle off the hook.

The latest report said overseas sellers - particularly from China - are exporting goods to the UK and storing them in giant fulfilment warehouses owned by online retailers like Amazon.

This allows them to deliver items to customers quickly when they are ordered online.

But it has also allowed rogue traders to dodge tax for years, enabling them to sell goods at rock bottom prices and undercut British rivals.

The watchdog said this tactic resulted in between 1billion and 1.5billion in lost tax revenue in 2015/2016  although it stressed there is a high degree of uncertainty about this estimate.

One MP said the scam has also left British traders unable to compete, putting some in danger of going bust.

British firms say this scam has been going on since 2009, but the NAO said it has got significantly worse over the past five years as online shopping has boomed.

In 2014, HMRC finally identified online VAT fraud as one of its key risks. It concluded it was highly likely that both organised criminal groups based in the UK and overseas sellers in China were using warehouses to evade VAT and facilitate the transit of undervalued or misclassified goods.

Tory MP Charlie Elphicke said online sellers like ebay and Amazon should not be allowed to 'wriggle off the hook'

Despite this there have been no prosecutions for VAT fraud, on the basis it is unlikely to secure a conviction.

But MPs have said HMRC and retailers such as Amazon must share the blame for failing to crack down on the multi billion pound scam.

Meg Hillier, the Labour chair of the commons Public Accounts Committee described the tax fraud as a double whammy for taxpayers.

She said: HMRCs prolonged failure to collect the right amount of VAT from online sellers outside the EU resulted in lost tax revenue of up to 1.5 billion in 2015-16.

This is a double whammy for taxpayers. Overseas sellers who avoid VAT undercut the prices charged by small, law abiding British businesses hitting British jobs.

Add to that the billions in lost tax which could be spent on health, education and other vital services and no-one wins except the VAT avoiders.

I am very concerned that this undermines the competitiveness of British businesses at a time, post Brexit, when the UKs economy needs all the support it can get to compete outside the EU.

HMRCs new powers to tackle online VAT fraud are a start, but it must finally step up and act to confront this growing problem.

Mr Elphicke said online retailers are to blame for doing nothing to prevent tax evasion on such a large scale

Amazon and eBay have argued that many overseas sellers are not aware they have to pay VAT.

They have also claimed that it is impossible for them to check whether traders who sell goods through their websites have paid the correct amount of tax.

But Tory MP Charlie Elphicke, a member of the Public Accounts Committee, said online retailers are also to blame for doing nothing to prevent tax evasion on such a large scale.

He said: This report backs up my campaign for a crackdown on tax dodging by internet retailers.

We cant have a situation where British firms are being put out of business by overseas traders fraudulently gaming the system.

I greatly welcome the Government taking strong action to battle the fraudsters.

Yet we cannot allow the likes of Amazon and eBay to wriggle off the hook. They need to step up and play a powerful role in stopping tax fraud.

The government introduced new legal powers in September last year to ensure online market places share responsibility for tax dodging on their websites.

Under the new Finance Bill, they have to ban a seller within 30 days if HMRC alerts them to VAT fraud. If they do not, the online marketplace becomes liable to pay VAT.

HMRC says there has been a surge in the number of online retailers registering for VAT since the changes were introduced.

An HMRC spokesperson said: The UK has led the way in holding online marketplaces jointly liable for VAT evaded overseas, and new reforms will secure 875 million for the UK taxpayer.

In less than a year, those registering for VAT has risen tenfold to 8,000 in 2016.

Waiting for comments from Amazon and eBay.
Grayson Perry is used to creating controversy and this piece is no different

As a cross-dressing artist, Grayson Perry is well used to causing controversy.

Now the 'transvestite potter' is set to feel the wrath of worshippers at Hereford Cathedral - after a piece questioning the existence of heaven and featuring the C word was chosen as the centrepiece of a new exhibition at the 1,000-year-old building.

Perry's 'Map of Nowhere' is on display immediately opposite the cathedral's world famous medieval Mappa Mundi in the exhibition of works inspired by the 13th century Christian 'map' of the world.

The Mapping Inspirations event, which opened to the public earlier this month, sees Perry toy with the idea of there being no heaven.

The multi plate etching also features swear words and another artist involved in the exhibition admitted it has 'already caused some outrage'.

Yesterday lobby group Christian Voice added to the chorus of disapproval, criticising cathedral bosses for choosing to display the piece in a place of worship.

Stephen Green, director of lobby group Christian Voice, said: 'The Christian faith is robust enough to put up with stuff like this.

'But if a cathedral was going to put on an art exhibition I would expect it do want to display works that life the human spirit and not demean it, or seek to question the existence of God.'

A Cathedral source added: 'The artwork has certainly raised a few eyebrows but many people quickly walk past it because it just doesn't grab their attention.'

The Ebstorf world map depicts the world as the body of Christ. Grayson Perry shows his own version

Perry claims people are wedded to the idea of a neat ending and our rational brains would love to tidy up the mess of the world and to have either Armageddon or Heaven at the end of our existence.

Information displayed underneath the print he says that 'life doesn't work like that - it's a continuum.' The work, like the Mappa Mundi, takes a circular form with Perry's head at the top and his arms and legs heading off to the sides.

Within the space reserved for his body are various terms - with some containing very strong language.

Obscenities like c**t and a**e are clearly visible while a house labelled as Oxbridge sits next to a group of abandoned children.

The National Trust are placed within part of the map classed as nature alongside a hosepipe ban.

Perry - best known for his ceramics and for dressing as female alter ego Claire - is thought to have first displayed the piece in 2008 at a London art fair. Jeremy Hunt chose the piece to hang in his office after he was made culture secretary in 2010.

In the notes underneath his print at Hereford Cathedral, Perry said: 'The basic formal design came from a German Mappa Mundi called the Ebstorf map, which was destroyed in the Second World War.

'It showed Jesus as the body of the world. My daughter often accuses me of setting myself up as God so I made the lakes and rivers into my body. The whole idea of alchemy and a spiritual body fascinates me.' Stephen Davidson was one visitor who was less than impressed.

Mappa Mundi of 1280 showing Jerusalem at the center Europe is lower left Africa is lower right

The 49-year-old, from Gloucester, said: 'It was a surprise to see something questioning whether there was a heaven in the Cathedral. I think he is just trying to shock people for the sake of it.' But Andrea McLean, an artist from nearby Ledbury whose own work stands alongside 57-year-old Perry's, said his work was being 'misunderstood' by some early visitors to the exhibition.

The exhibition features works by five established artists - Genevieve Belgard, Charlie Calder-Potts, Ewan David Eason, Andrea McLean and Grayson Perry - and 14 degree students from Hereford College of Arts.

The Mappa Mundi is drawn on a single piece of calf skin, and dates from around the year 1300. It reflects the thinking of the medieval church, with Jerusalem in the centre of the world and the East - where the sun rises and to where medieval Christians looked for the second coming of Christ - at the top. It is housed alongside the Cathedral's famous chained library, in a purpose-built building adjoining the main cathedral.

Married Perry was born in Chelmsford and works in a variety of mediums but is best known as a ceramicist.

When he was awarded the Turner Prize in 2003, he accepted the award dressed as Little Bo Peep, describing himself as a 'transvestite potter'.

The Revd Canon Chris Pullin, Chancellor of Hereford Cathedral, said: 'Although the Mappa is a medieval Christian artefact it does contain many images that come from pagan classical culture and from further afield, so has always presented a wide and generous view of the world and of ideas about it.

'Grayson Perry's response to the Mappa is his own personal take on things.

'Displaying his Map of Nowhere is not an endorsement of ideas he seems to express within it, but an opportunity for all of us to see what a significant contemporary artist has produced as his own Mappa Mundi.

'We are free to agree or to disagree with the take on life it expresses, but that's true of the Mappa Mundi too.

'We have had many appreciative comments about the exhibition, and some people have made a special effort to visit in order to see the works on display.' Dr Rosemary Firman, the Cathedral Librarian, said all the artists and degree students had 'responded to Mappa Mundi in wonderfully varied and imaginative ways.' She added: 'Most of the works have been produced especially for this exhibition and they invite the visitor to consider the map's meaning and artistry more deeply.' The exhibition runs until July 15.
Hackers have attacked more than 2.5million businesses in the last year, according to an official survey which highlights the shocking extent of cyber-crime.

Around 46 per cent of firms suffered a digital assault, the Ipsos Mori poll for the Government shows.

There are 5.5million companies in the UK, according to a separate Parliamentary report, suggesting around 2.5million were hit.

The most common attacks were caused by staff being sent fraudulent emails claiming to be from a trusted source such as HMRC.

Hackers have attacked more than 2.5million businesses in the last year, according to an official survey which highlights the shocking extent of cyber-crime

And nearly a fifth of companies which reported a problem  or almost 500,000  said they had been hit by a so-called ransomware attack.

This involves criminals shutting down a businesss computer system using a virus so staff cant work, and demanding cash to unlock it.

In some cases, huge companies have been forced to pay tens of thousands of pounds or face bankruptcy, although the names of firms involved generally remain a secret.

Experts said it revealed the scale of the threat that companies faced online and added that urgent action was needed to tackle the problem.

Security breaches cost the average large business 19,600 in the last 12 months.

Medium firms coughed up 3,070 and small companies paid 1,380, the survey found.

The most common cyber attacks were caused by staff being sent fraudulent emails claiming to be from a trusted source such as HMRC

Ciaran Martin, head of the Government-run National Cyber Security Centre, said: UK businesses must treat cyber security as a top priority if they want to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the UKs vibrant digital economy.

The majority of successful cyber attacks are not that sophisticated but can cause serious commercial damage.

By getting the basic defences right, businesses of every size can protect their reputation, finances and operating capabilities.

A string of companies have suffered high-profile data breaches in the last few years.

Sony Pictures saw details of actors pay leaked online in a 2014 hack believed to have been a North Korean response to a critical film about the countrys dictator.

Sony Pictures saw details of actors pay leaked online in a 2014 hack believed to have been a North Korean response to a critical film about the countrys dictator

TalkTalk was hit in 2015, when hackers including a teenage boy stole email addresses, names and phone numbers, along with 21,000 unique bank account numbers and sort codes.

And earlier this month, payday lender Wonga announced 270,000 customers details had been seized by crooks in a data breach.

Businesses which hold personal data such a bank account details are more likely to be attacked than those which dont.

Nearly a quarter of the businesses attacked had a temporary loss of files, a fifth had software or systems corrupted, and one in ten had their website taken down or slowed.

Marcus Scott of TheCityUK lobby group said: Cyber security is increasingly becoming one of the biggest challenges facing business.

While the average cost of a breach is 20,000, this can rise into the millions, with the loss often ultimately borne by the financial sector.

He said that it was essential firms shared intelligence and details of how they tackled attacks, and added that the UK needed to develop a strong cyber security industry.
British teenage girls are among the most miserable in the world due to pressures such as social media, reveals a major international study.

This country came fourth in a table of nations ranking dissatisfaction with one in five girls saying they are not happy with their lives.

A total of 45 other countries had lower proportions of unhappy girls, including poorer nations such as Bulgaria, Thailand, Poland and Mexico.

British teenage girls are among the most miserable in the world because of pressure from social media and cyber bullying

The research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development came from surveys of 540,000 children aged 15 in dozens of countries worldwide.

It also found a high proportion of girls in the UK skipped breakfast or dinner, key indicators of eating disorders.

Last night, experts said the results were worrisome and called on policymakers to wake up to the pressure we are putting on girls. They warned that cyberbullying and peer pressure from social media were making British girls feel less happy with themselves despite their wealth in comparison to those in other countries.

Youngsters in this country spent 188 minutes per weekday on average browsing the web outside school. Only those in Chile and Brazil spend longer online. The OECD found that those who were online a lot had a weaker sense of belonging, felt lonely and were more likely to be bullied.

Chief of staff Gabriela Ramos said: We confirm that girls are subject to a lot of pressures from social media, that they are less happy with themselves.

We need to recognise that there is an issue with the pressure that we are putting on girls.

ONE IN FOUR PUPILS PREYED ON BY BULLIES British pupils are among the most bullied in the world, with almost a quarter of students reporting they are victimised regularly. The UK came 15th out of 52 countries ranked from those with the most bullying to the least. A total of 23.9 per cent of British 15-year-olds said they were bullied at least a few times a month  compared with the OECD average of 18.7 per cent. Broken down by type of bullying, 11.4 per cent of British teenagers said other students left them out socially and 15.1 per cent said their peers made fun of them. Meanwhile, 6.5 per cent had been threatened, 4.7 had possessions stolen, 5.4 were hit or pushed and 11.1 had nasty rumours spread about them. Bullying was least common in the Netherlands, where just 9.3 per cent of pupils reported being picked on regularly. Students in Hong Kong suffered most  32.3 per cent of pupils said that they were bullied multiple times a month. Experts at the OECD said high levels of internet use in the UK could be a contributing factor, since much bullying is now carried out online. The report said: Unlike traditional bullying, where a victim can find refuge at home, cyberbullying affects its victims anytime, anywhere. Advertisement

Asked why girls are more affected in this country, she said: Probably because they spend more time on the internet. Thats one of the issues that we have. The UK is top of the class in terms of usage of internet. Its very high.

She added girls in the UK were suffering more than boys from online bullying by their peers.

Girls in the UK are [affected] the worst, she said. They are in a higher percentage reporting mental health problems and being subjected to bullying or nasty rumours.

The report notes other research has shown exposure to images of overly thin girls and young women in traditional media and to photo-sharing in social media has a significant negative impact on girls.

The study found that 19.4 per cent of girls in the UK reported feeling not satisfied with their lives compared with 11.9 per cent of boys. The average proportion of dissatisfied girls across all OECD countries was 14.3 per cent.

Britain came fourth out of 49 when countries were ranked according to those with the highest proportions of girls feeling unsatisfied. Only Korea, Turkey and Tunisia had higher figures. When girls in the UK were asked to rate their life satisfaction from zero to ten, the average answer was 6.6 compared with 7.3 for boys.

Only Turkey, Korea, Italy, Greece, Taipei, Macao and Hong Kong had a lower average score for girls. The UKs average ranking for both genders was the 11th lowest across 48 countries, with those faring better including Mexico, Brazil and Bulgaria.

An NSPCC spokesman said: The report highlights the huge bullying problem we have in the UK, with almost one in four 15-year-olds having to endure this. For over 30 years it has been among the top problems young people have contacted Childline about.

Worryingly, an increasing amount of this behaviour is now taking place online with many victims left feeling like there is no escape from their tormentors.

A Department for Education spokesman said schools must have a behaviour policy with measures to tackle all forms of bullying.

The Government has also pledged 4.4 million for anti-bullying projects while staying safe online will be included in sex and relationship classes due to be made compulsory in schools.

Why Mexicans are happier: More faith and less welfare!

Optimistic outlook: Gabriela Ramos said countries like Mexico benefit from a higher level of religion

Teenagers in the UK are less happy than those in some poorer countries because the welfare state has made communities less nurturing, according to the OECD chief of staff.

Gabriela Ramos said that Britains economic success may have led people to neglect each other because they know the government will look after anyone who is in trouble.

In contrast, less wealthy countries have fewer state benefits meaning citizens must rely on each other in times of hardship.

In Mexico, youngsters rated their life satisfaction on average as 8.27 while in the UK the average score was 6.98.

Asked about the difference, Mrs Ramos, who is Mexican, said: Social relationships are very good [in Mexico].

Social capital, family, support systems. Probably because you dont have institutional developed systems to take care of people like you do in advanced economies where you have all the social systems that will help you with unemployment payments.

You rely a lot on your family and your family are always there.

The communities are still supporting each other, because they know that if somebody fails, there is no-one that will help them.

She added that people in poorer countries tend to be more optimistic because society is still being built and there is a potential to do so many things.

And she said although bullying is high in Mexico, students appear to be more tolerant of it and it does not affect their life satisfaction so much.

Over 90 per cent of the population in Mexico are Roman Catholic, with some research suggesting the religion could be a contributing factor to its community spirit.

Studies have suggested that the Catholic ethic is a helping one which emphasises family and community over economic success.

Families are also thought to look after each other because Mexicos problem with poverty, gangs and drug-related crime.

Last year, there were 20,792 homicides in Mexico  a 22 per cent increase over 2015, and a 35 per cent jump over 2014.

The Mexican government does not distinguish which deaths were tied to the drug cartels, but some crime experts have estimated that they could have links to up to half of the overall numbers.
The family of suspected Fresno shooter Kori Muhammad, who allegedly gunned down four white men in an apparent race hate killing spree, said his dislike of white people had been simmering for years following a series of bad experiences.

Muhammads cousin, Sharisse Kemp  who has been appointed family spokesperson - said he was called the N-word from a young age and felt, as a black man, he was discriminated against his entire life. But she said the family is shocked by what happened and is still hurting over the tragedy.

This happened yesterday so our family is still trying to process this, she explained We want to pass our condolences to the families of the victims of this terrible tragedy, were still trying to make sense of it.

Scroll down for video

Kori Ali Muhammad's cousin Sherisse Kemp (pictured above right) said: The Kori we know loved the family, he was funny, always smiling, loved our family gatherings, loved to eat. He was creative and really helpful'. Kori is seen left in a photo shared by the family

Kori Muhammad is pictured being taken into custody following his deadly rampage on Tuesday

Authorities have said Muhammad, who was wanted over the fatal shooting of security guard Carl Williams at a Motel 6 last weekend, set out to kill as many white people as he could, gunning down three men on the streets of Fresno, California, before being captured.

Muhammad, 39, was arrested shortly after the Tuesday morning rampage during which 16 rounds were fired in less than two minutes.

He allegedly shot and killed 34-year-old PG&E worker Zachary David Randalls, Mark James Gassett, 37, who was walking in the neighborhood, and 58-year-old David Martin Jackson outside a Catholic charity office.

Evacuated office workers stand by with a deceased shooting victim down on the sidewalk in the horror rampage in Fresno

During his arrest, Muhammad shouted Allahu Akbar  God is great  but Fresno police chief Jerry Dyer said the shootings had nothing to do with terrorism in spite of the statement he made. This is solely based on race, he said.

Kori Ali Muhammad, 39, is seen in this Fresno County Sheriff's Office booking photo released on April 19

Muhammad later told investigators he killed Williams because he felt 'disrespected' by him during an altercation at the motel.

Chief Dyer said when the suspect realized he was wanted in the murder of Williams, he 'didnt want to go down as someone who just shot a security guard' but wanted to shoot as many white people as possible before his arrest.

Muhammad told officers he did not like white men saying they were responsible for 'keeping black people down'.

A series of racist and inflammatory social media posts and several rap songs branding white people devils serves to reinforce Muhammad's hatred of white people.

But despite this, his family claims there was nothing to indicate he would act out with violence.

His cousin Kemp, a 33-year-old social worker who lives in Sacramento, added that the man the family know is nothing like the man being portrayed in the media.

The Kori we know loved the family, he was funny, always smiling, loved our family gatherings, loved to eat. He was creative and really helpful, she said.

He loved us and wanted to protect us.

And we loved him and I think its important for us to hold on to that.

Victims: Muhammad is suspected of killed security guard Carl Williams, pictured left, in a shooting at the Motel 6 in Fresno on Easter Sunday. Mark Gassett, a 37-year-old father of two (pictured right with his son), was shot dead on Tuesday

Muhammad also shot David Jackson (left), 58, and Zackary Randalls (right, with his wife), 34. Randalls was a father of two pre-schoolers who was on his first day in the field for a gas company

She says the only explanation the family can offer as to why Muhammad  previously named Cory Taylor - carried out the shooting spree is a history of run-ins with white people.

He had a number of experiences that werent very pleasurable with whites, some very recently, she said.

Everyone can agree that there is a lot of racial tension (in America). In this situation, I dont think anyone can call it a hate crime, Kori would be the only one who can give that information.

As a black woman I have had some very hurtful experiences, however, we all deal with them in different ways.

His experiences go as far back as him being targeted because hes a tall, black male, being followed into a store because people think hes going to steal something, being called the N-word.

The rampage took place across a four-block radius in downtown Fresno, where three people were killed

Kemp also believes her cousins hatred for whites escalated during a seven-year stint in prison for possession of drugs and a firearm.

But, she says, Muhammad, for the large part, shielded his family from the negative experiences he went through.

He didnt want us to know the things that hurt him, she said.

'He didn't talk about them to us.' We dont know what he was thinking. We dont know why he snapped. But as I say he has experienced mistreatment, he has experienced many things, but only he knows why he did this.

Kemp says Muhammad joined the Nation of Islam as a young man but had moved away from that later in life.

I wouldnt even say he was tied to any specific religion, she said.

She said her cousin was single and had been working as a washing machine service repairman alongside his father Vincent Taylor in Fresno.

Kori Ali Muhammad had been working as a washing machine service repairman alongside his father Vincent Taylor (pictured)

Kori Muhammad allegedly gunned down four white men in an apparent race hate killing spree. he is seen above in Facebook photos

As a hobby he enjoyed recording rap songs. Kemp said her cousin had struggled with his mental health in the past and had been institutionalized, but had improved in recent years and wasnt taking any medication.

Was he wandering around, hallucinating or having anything that we felt like put him in danger of himself or the possibility of harming others, no, she said.

TIMELINE Thursday, April 13: Security guard Carl Williams, 25, is shot dead outside his job at a Motel 6 in Fresno. Muhammad becomes a suspect in that crime Thursday, April 16: Muhammad visits his grandmother, who says he was acting strangely Tuesday, April 18, 10:45am: Muhammad approaches a PG&E van and fires three rounds at the passenger, a 34-year-old father of two preschoolers. The driver of the van rushes the victim to the police station, but he is later pronounced dead. Muhammad then moves southeast to the corner of Van Ness and Mildreda where he tries to shoot another bystander and misses Next he shoots and kills a 37-year-old man who had just picked up a bag of groceries at the Catholic Charities Witnesses see Muhammad calmly reloading at a bus stop on North Fulton Street Muhammad then shoots and kills a 59-year-old man in the parking lot of the Catholic Charities building Tuesday, April 18, 10:46am: Officers then show up at the scene. Muhammad dives on the ground to surrender himself to police, yelling Allahu Akbar Advertisement

Muhammad was active on Facebook and Twitter and previously expressed his dislike of white people and anti-government sentiments in social media posts.

He used militant and apocalyptic language and repeated demands to let black people go.

He referenced white devils and praised melanoma skin cancer.

A day after the killing of the motel security guard, Carl Williams, Mohammad posted a status to Facebook stating: 'MY KILL RATE INCRESASES TREMENDOUSLY ON THE OTHER SIDE ASE ALLAH U AKBAR'. Muhammad, who was born Cory Taylor, is a self-proclaimed rapper who goes by the nickname of 'Black Jesus'.

He also goes by the name of B-God Mac Sun, and sells his 12-track album 'True Story Kori' on Amazon.

His father, Vincent, told the LA Times on Tuesday that his son believed there was a race war going on in America that he was in the midst of, and 'a battle was about to take place'. 'I'm happy he was arrested,' Taylor said.

'I would hope that whatever Kori tells [police], they take him seriously and they start following up.' While Muhammad's grandmother, Glenestene Taylor, said that he'd been acting strangely when he visited her on Sunday, and that he was crying.

Muhammad has a lengthy criminal record, including a dismissed felony charge of unlawful firearm possession in 2004.

He was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial in 2005 after a grand jury indicted him on cocaine and firearm possession.

Court documents in that case stated that Muhammad 'suffered auditory hallucinations and had at least two prior mental health hospitalizations.'

A federal judge later declared him mentally fit in 2006 and he subsequently served 92 months in prison.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull personally intervened to help save Tony Abbott from a 'landside' loss in his Sydney seat in last year's election.

Mr Abbott was close to losing his Warringah electorate to an independent or Labor candidate, pre-election polling carried out by the Liberal Party showed.

Had Mr Abbott not been returned to the seat he first won in 1994, it would have proved a costly loss for the Coalition, resulting in a hung parliament, The Australian Financial Review reported.

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Tony Abbott (handing out pamphlets at Manly Wharf) was close to losing his Warringah electorate to an independent or Labor candidate at the 2016 election, Liberal Party polling showed

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured) personally intervened to help save Mr Abbott from a 'landside' loss

Mr Turnbull intervened by voicing robocalls and fronting a personal mailout to voters in the final week of the election campaign, the AFR said on Thursday, citing internal Liberal party sources.

Mr Turnbull was deemed to be more popular than Mr Abbott in the electorate.

'This Saturday, every single vote will count. I need you to vote for Tony Abbott so together we can see things through for jobs our economy and our country. Thank you for your time,' Mr Turnbull said in the voice messages.

New South Wales Liberal party polling of 400 voters in Warringah ahead of the July 2 election showed Mr Abbott could lose to Labor.

Had Mr Abbott (centre) not been returned to the seat he first won in 1994, it would have proved a costly loss for the Coalition, resulting in a hung parliament

Tony Abbott (pictured) ended up holding his Warringah seat with a two-party vote of 61.2 per cent

Labor was on track to potentially take 57 per cent of the two-party preferred vote against 43 per cent for Mr Abbott on a worst-case basis.

The party had also wanted the support of 2GB radio hosts Alan Jones and Ray Hadley to help stave off challengers James Mathison, the former Australian Idol co-host, and Marie Rowland, the Nick Xenophon Team candidate.

Mr Abbott, the former prime minister, who was ousted by Mr Turnbull, ended up holding Warringah with a two-party vote of 61.5 per cent.

In the 2013 election, Mr Abbott won with 65.3 per cent of the two party vote.

Last week, Mr Abbott dumped on his Liberal Party colleagues yet again, claiming Australians are 'sick of governments that don't deliver'.

Mr Abbott, who Mr Turnbull overthrew in 2015, said the government needs to step up its game to make sure the Labor party leader doesn't take the coveted position.

'In fact, the best way to keep Shorten out is not to sack an elected prime minister yet again but to ensure that the government does its job better,' Mr Abbott said.
Citizen applicants will need to face an English test and commit to embracing Australian values under tough new rules.

Applicants will also need to provide evidence they have been working to show they can integrate into the country.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said proficiency in the English language is 'the single best thing any person coming to this country can do'.

'They've lived here for four years, they speak English, and they share our values and can be integrated into society,' Mr Turnbull said in Canberra on Thursday.

'What we're doing is strengthening our multicultural society and strengthening our commitment to Australian values.'

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Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says citizenship should be an honour

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton denied the changes were targeted at any one religion, but rather at particular behaviour and attitudes (Mr Turnbull and Mr Dutton are pictured on Thursday)

To become citizens applicants will need to have been a permanent resident for four years - up from 12 months now - face a stand-alone English test and commit to embracing Australian values.

Some of the new citizenship test questions will canvass issues such as domestic violence, female genital mutilation, and child marriage.

Applicants will only be allowed to sit the citizenship test three times.

'We need to ensure that our citizenship test enables applicants to demonstrate how they have integrated into and engaged with our Australian community, so that they're part of the community,' Mr Turnbull said.

Mr Turnbull added citizenship should be an honour.

'There is no more important title in our democracy than Australian citizen,' he said.

KEY COMPONENTS OF THE NEW CITIZENSHIP TEST * Applicants must be permanent residents for four years before seeking citizenship (up from 12 months now). * Must demonstrate competent English language skills through a tougher reading, writing and listening test (people with permanent or enduring incapacity, or aged under 16, exempted). * Must show steps taken to integrate into and contribute to the Australian community (evidence of employment, membership of community organisations, school enrolment for all eligible children). * Citizenship test will include "new and more meaningful questions" about an applicant's understanding of and commitment to Australia's shared values and responsibilities. * Applicants who cheat during the citizenship test will automatically fail. * Tougher criminal history checks, including involvement in gang activity or domestic violence. * Wording of the citizenship pledge will change. Advertisement

'There is no more important title in our democracy than Australian citizen,' he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday (Mr Turnbull pictured on Thursday)

'Australian citizenship should be honoured, cherished. It is a privilege.'

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton denied the changes were targeted at any one religion, but rather at particular behaviour and attitudes.

'They're pointed at people who might think that domestic violence is okay. Well it's not,' he told the Seven Network ahead of the announcement.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told Nine Network's Today Show on Thursday she did not believe the reforms would alienate people at risk of radicalisation.

'I don't think anyone could seriously defend an attitude that says women are not equal to men, or that violence against women is acceptable.'

The citizenship crackdown follows the decision to overhaul the 457 temporary foreign worker visa system.

The government is also pursuing several other citizenship reforms, which will apply to all new applicants.

Applicants must now show the steps they have taken to integrate into and contribute to the Australian community - with evidence of employment, membership of community organisations, school enrolment for all eligible children.

Applicants who cheat during the citizenship test will now automatically fail.

The citizenship crackdown follows the decision to overhaul the 457 temporary foreign worker visa system

Prospective citizens with a permanent or enduring incapacity, as well as those aged under 16, would be exempted from the English reading, writing and listening test.

Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong doesn't understand the need for the changes.

'If English grammar is the test there might be a few members of parliament who might struggle,' she told ABC radio.

The existing pledge ensured new citizens committed loyalty to Australia, its people and its laws.

'I think those sentiments are pretty good,' Senator Wong said, noting the opposition was yet to see the details.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is again taking credit for the government's latest crackdown.

'Good to see the PM is finally acting on the suggestions I made to him about the citizenship test,' she tweeted on Thursday.

She wrote on Facebook: 'It looks like Malcolm Turnbull is finally acting on my suggestions to improve the citizenship test. I spoke with him about this just after I was elected so it seems I must have been convincing.'

Earlier in the week, Senator Hanson said while the government might deny it was talking tough on temporary foreign worker visas because of One Nation, 'we all know the truth'.

'Looks like Malcolm Turnbull has been reading One Nation 2016 campaign flyers for inspiration. Should I get a speech writing credit?' she said.
Shocking video has emerged of three men lying unconscious and frothing from the mouth at a children's playground after allegedly smoking 'zombie drugs'.

Taken by a passerby walking through a housing commission estate in Auckland, New Zealand, the footage shows the men in a seemingly comatosed state.

Spread out over a bench and footpath, one of the men lies on the ground with a fist clenched and froth coming from his mouth, while children's voices can be heard in the background.

Posted to social media on Wednesday, the video comes months after fears were first raised of the prevalence of 'zombie drugs' such as Flakka in Australia, following a rise in drug-related overdoses on the Gold Coast.

Shocking video has emerged of three men lying unconscious (pictured) and frothing from the mouth inside a children's playground after allegedly smoking 'zombie drugs' in New Zealand

Believed to have smoked a synthetic drug, the footage shows the men unresponsive to attempts by the passerby to wake them.

'Get up, you're frothing, bro,' the man says, before rolling the comatosed man on the footpath onto his side.

Eventually the man wakes, but is barely able to respond to the Good Samaritan, who has been praised by many of the almost 100,000 to watch the video.

'Zombie drugs' first rose to prominence in the United States, before police warned it had spread to Australia by late 2016.

Flakka, the most well known of synthetic drugs, was widely believed to have been to blame for a spate of overdoses on the Gold Coast last October.

Up to 16 people were rushed to hospital following what authorities dubbed one of the worst 'mass overdose sprees' in Australian history.

One of the men lies on the ground with a fist clenched and froth coming from his mouth before a passerby walking through a housing commission estate near the children's playground stops to help

The video comes months after fears were first raised of the prevalence of 'zombie drugs' such as Flakka (pictured) in Australia, following a rise in drug-related overdoses on the Gold Coast

'Zombie drugs' rose to prominence in the United States, before police warned it had spread to Australia by late 2016

It was later revealed the overdoses were likely the result of a bad batch of a drug called 'N-bomb' and MDMA.

Recently a 'zombie drug' called Spice has been sweeping through New Zealand, with a man sharing video of his sister and her friend's reaction to the synthetic substance.

Shocking footage showing the pair in zombie-like states was viewed by more than 1 million people online
Domestic violence allegations: Phillip DeAngelis has been charged with 25 offences

A Sydney hotel baron allegedly detained his socialite girlfriend choking her and assaulting her - during the same year as several claims of abuse, a court has heard.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal Bondi hospitality director Phillip Jonathon De Angelis, 36, was last week charged with assaulting, intimidating and detaining his prominent interior designer partner Janelle Tilley.

Shocking domestic violence allegations contained in police charge sheets claim De Angelis even detained Ms Tilley 'without consent' in Point Piper, in Sydney's east, at one point during the fortnight between March 15 and March 31, 2016.

Then - in one of more than a dozen alleged incidents involving De Angelis since July 2015 - he 'recklessly' choked and assaulted Ms Tilley, police claimed.

He has not yet entered a plea on the charges, which include allegedly assaulting Ms Tilley occasioning bodily harm at multiple locations across Sydney's eastern suburbs over the past 18 months.

The couple are pictured together poolside while on holidays together in Ibiza in 2015

The pair share a happy kiss in old photographs obtained by Daily Mail Australia

Last February, he allegedly destroyed two of her Hurricane Lamps and a wooden doorframe in Bellevue Hill.

He is accused of breaking into Ms Tilley's home several times last year, 'with intent to cause fear of physical or mental harm', as well stealing her keys.

The Friday before last Christmas, he is also alleged to have intentionally choked Ms Tilley about 6pm.

And on April 6 this year, he is accused of destroying glass panels 'to (the) sliding door' of Ms Tilley's property.

De Angelis, a director of the family-run De Angelis Hotel Group, is the son of Italian-born patriarch Arch De Angelis.

He is also the nephew of Arthur Laundy, the nation's best known publican. His older brother Peter famously dated Sunrise host Samantha Armytage for a time.

Sibling: Phillip De Angelis' brother, Peter, once dated Sunrise host Samantha Armytage (the pair are pictured together). The couple split in 2012

Ms Tilley, aged in her 50s, is a prominent eastern suburbs interior designer whose home has featured in Australian Vogue Living.

One of her relatives by marriage, Ben Tilley, was a close mate of the legendary Channel Nine billionaire Kerry Packer.

In pictures seen by Daily Mail Australia from 2015, the couple were seen kissing in the pool and frolicking together on holiday in Ibiza.

De Angelis was charged with 25 offences at Rose Bay Police Station last week and appeared at Waverley Local Court last Thursday.

Interior designer Janelle 'Nellie' Tilley's home has appeared in Australian Vogue Living

De Angelis and Ms Tilley, pictured together in happier times

Chilled out: Mr DeAngelis, pictured here in a candid social media photograph

An interim AVO was put in place, banning De Angelis from coming within 100m of Ms Tilley's home.

De Angelis was also hit with the standard AVO conditions barring him from assaulting, threatening, stalking or harrassing her, or coming within 100m of her home.

The interim AVO order was entered into by De Angelis without admissions.

De Angelis was granted bail and is listed to return to Downing Centre Local Court in June.
A former Labour MP and ally of party leader Jeremy Corbyn has defected to the Liberal Democrats, calling the official opposition a 'political basket case'.

Bob Marshall-Andrews, who represented Medway for more than a decade, said the party had failed over the Brexit campaign and should not have fielded a candidate against Zac Goldsmith.

It follows an exodus of MPs, as seven Labour members confirmed they would not stand again.

Bob Marshall-Andrews stands for the Labour seat in Medway in 2001. He held the seat from 1997-2010 for the Labour Party

Mr Marshall-Andrews told The Times: 'At present there is manifestly a huge vacuum on the centre-left represented in substantial part by the 48 per cent of the electorate who rejected Brexit and the lies on which it was based.

'To many, including me, there was a forlorn hope that a reformed and radical Labour Party would rise to historic occasion. It has not and shows no real sign of doing so.'

He also said the party should have chosen not to field anyone in the Richmond Park by-election, caused when Zac Goldsmith stood down after the third runway decision. Sarah Olney, the Liberal Democrat, took the seat.

Bob Marshall Andrews, above, former MP for Medway announced he is joining the Liberal Democrats

The party's leader Tim Farron said: 'Bob, like many progressive Labour people, is coming over to the only party that is offering a credible opposition to a divisive Tory Brexit government.'

Mr Marshall-Andrews' announcement follows Gisela Stuart's that she would use the snap election to bring to an end a 20-year Commons career which reached a peak last year when she was the leading Labour campaigner for Leave.

The Birmingham Edgbaston was joined on the sidelines today by veteran former minister Rob Marris who announced he was quitting just two years after winning back his constituency following a five year gap.

An exodus of Labour MPs continued tonight as Brexit champion Gisela Stuart became at least the seventh MP to confirm she would quit Parliament

Senior MP Iain Wright announced he was quitting this morning, joining Alan Johnson, Tom Blenkinsop, Andrew Smith and Pat Glass.

Mayoral candidates Andy Burnham and Steve Rotherham are also likely to stand aside as they will have new jobs to go to if they win elections on May 4.

Ailing leader Jeremy Corbyn launched his campaign in Croydon tonight a day after Theresa May's bombshell snap election call.

Ms Stuart, who has held her Tory-Labour marginal seat since 1997, wrote to local members: 'I wanted you to hear from me that I have decided not to contest the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency at the general election in June.

'After 22 years of campaigning and 20 years of having had the privilege of being the MP for this diverse, forever surprising and wonderful marginal seat I know when it is time to stand down and pass on the baton.

'Together we have done amazing things; things we never expected when I became the first 'Labour gain' of the Labour 1997 landslide, as well as the first ever Labour MP for Bartley Green, Edgbaston, Harborne and Quinton.

Ailing leader Jeremy Corbyn launched his campaign in Croydon tonight a day after Theresa May's bombshell snap election call

Mr Corbyn is facing an exodus of MPs, most of whom believe the election is unwinnable under his leadership

'We won local battles, brought people together, challenged established assumptions about voters (and sometimes our own) and won elections against Tories that we didn't think were possible. But together we did it. We are Labour and our values are Labour.'

THE LABOUR MPs WHO HAVE ALREADY SAID THEY WILL STAND DOWN AT JUNE POLL Alan Johnson Tom Blenkinsop Pat Glass Iain Wright Rob Marris Gisela Stuart Andrew Smith Fiona Mactaggart Andy Burnham has confirmed he will not run again as he expects to be elected Manchester Mayor. Steve Rotherham is also contesting for Liverpool Mayor and is likely to stand aside. Advertisement

The party's ratings under Jeremy Corbyn have been woeful - with the most recent showing it is 21 points behind the Conservatives. That could mean losing around 70 MPs, or a third of the current total.

Former leader Lord Kinnock warned today that he did not expect to see another Labour government in his lifetime.

Repeating his previous dire assessment of the party's prospects, the 75-year-old told BBC Radio 5 Live: 'There haven't been the substantial changes that I would have wanted and therefore I'm as gloomy about my prospects of living to see another Labour government as I was then.'

Mr Corbyn suffered a fresh humiliation when a member of his own front bench, John Healey, refused to say whether he would mention the leader in his election literature. Mr Healey said he had yet to write the material.

Mr Healey also declined to say whether Mr Corbyn should stay on as leader, insisting he would not 'get into' an issue which 'may or may not be relevant'.

Hartlepool has been Labour since the 1970s, but has become increasingly tight.

Former home secretary Alan Johnson (left), Pat Glass (centre) and committee chair Iain Wright (right) are all leaving the Labour ranks

Also quitting are Andrew Smith (left), Tom Blenkinsop (centre) and Rob Marris (right) are also leaving Parliament at June's election

Mr Wright, 44, narrowly fought off a challenge from Ukip to secure a 3,000 majority in 2015 - but it appears he has concluded the Tory tidal wave will be too much to resist.

In a statement today he said: 'It has been an enormous privilege to serve my home town in Parliament.

'I have now been an MP for nearly a third of my life.

'I would like to do other things and now is a good opportunity to do so.

'I would like to thank my constituents for giving me the honour of allowing me to be their Member of Parliament since 2004.'

Former home secretary Alan Johnson and moderate MP Tom Blenkinsop both announced they would not be seeking relection yesterday as the implications of a snap election hit home.

Andrew Smith - who gained notoriety as the MP who gave Mr Corbyn enough n nominations to feature on the ballot for Labour leader in 2015, has also said he will not stand again in Oxford East.

'This election is for a Parliament which is likely to run until 2022, when I would be over 71, so I think it is now time for someone else to take forward the work of serving local people as your MP. I will therefore not be a candidate in the election,' Mr Smith said.

'My belief and confidence in the values of fairness which Labour stands for are as strong as ever, and I will work tirelessly to help secure the election of a Labour MP for Oxford East, carrying forward the service which Oxford Labour gives our local community.'

Mr Wright announced that he would not be seeking re-election in Hartlepool this morning

The party's ratings under Jeremy Corbyn (pictured leaving his London home today) have been woeful - with the most recent showing it is 21 points behind the Conservatives

Theresa May, pictured giving a BBC radio interview today, is hoping to gobble up Labour seats following her bombshell decision to call a snap poll

The gulf between Conservative and Labour in the polls means that for the first time since 1997, scores of constituencies are in play rather than just a handful of marginal swing seats.

Top Tory targets will include Brexit supporting Stoke on Trent South, Halifax and Middlesbrough South.

Labour MP John Woodcock, defending a narrow majority in Barrow and Furness, said last night that he could not bring himself to vote for Mr Corbyn to become PM. Neighbouring Copeland fell to the Tories at a by-election in February.

Gains from Labour will be crucial for Mrs May as she faces a different battle in a clutch of seats won by David Cameron in 2015 from the Lib Dems.

Two years ago the Tories pulled off shock wins in Twickenham and Richmond in leafy west London, and Lewes and St Ives in Cornwall.

All four were snatched from the Liberal Democrats and Mrs May will have to fight a different battle to keep hold of them.
George Osborne yesterday bowed to pressure and announced that he would quit politics to concentrate on his role as editor of the London Evening Standard.

The MP for Tatton had faced a backlash for taking on the job in the capital  which he begins next month  while representing his constituents 200 miles away in Cheshire.

He has also taken on considerable outside interests since being sacked as Chancellor by Theresa May last year.

Yesterday he ended speculation by revealing that he would not stand again for his Commons seat when Britain goes to the polls on June 8.

George Osborne yesterday bowed to pressure and announced that he would quit politics to concentrate on his role as editor of the London Evening Standard

But he hinted at a future political comeback, saying he was only quitting for now.

Osbornes departure brings down the final curtain on David Camerons privileged chumocracy  a wealthy, young group of Tory modernisers with a sense of entitlement that enabled them to ascend from virtually nowhere to the inner sanctum of British politics in a remarkably short time.

How characteristic that when he announced his decision to step down from the Commons, he arrogantly added for now.

The very idea that voters might have a say in whether he becomes an MP again was clearly not something that had crossed his mind.

That said, Osborne (who changed his name from Gideon to George at the age of 14 because, as he once explained: I couldnt think of anyone who I liked or who was successful who was called Gideon) was regarded by contemporaries as one of the most gifted political strategists of his generation.

For many years, Osborne was widely assumed to be the most likely successor to Cameron. But then both mens careers collapsed amid the rubble of the disaster of their flawed Project Fear EU referendum campaign.

Mr Osborne, pictured introducing himself to the Standard news room, had claimed he could edit the paper in the morning and attend Parliament after lunch

Whereas Cameron resigned as PM and then as an MP, Osborne stayed on  only to be sacked by Mrs May who told him at their last meeting that he should spend some time getting to know the Tory party. Go away, she added, and learn some emotional intelligence.

It was a devastating put-down by Mrs May who had been on the receiving end of many slights by Osborne, who was never slow, while Chancellor, to dismiss his Home Secretary colleague as someone who was intellectually his inferior.

Mrs Mays withering parting shot was probably accurate, however. For Osborne is a brilliant analyst of politics but his knowledge has been gained by having read every political biography ever written.

George Osborne's still got FIVE jobs 1. Consultant - He also pockets 650,000 for four days-a-month at the American financial giant, BlackRock. 2. Editor - It was sensationally announced he will become editor of the Evening Standard. His salary has not been revealed. 3. Academic - He also took an estimated 120,000-a-year academic position as the first ever Kissinger Fellow at the Arizona-based McCain Institute for International Leadership 4. Chairman - He was given the unpaid role in charge of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, a body aimed at creating jobs in the north of England. 5. Public speaker - The 45-year-old has made 786,450 from 14 speeches given mostly to banks and other City institutions since leaving Number 11. Advertisement

George is a political animal, said a man who knows him well. And hes got a first-rate brain. His problem is that he doesnt understand ordinary people.

For his part, at an incredibly youthful 45, Osborne still believes that one day he will realise his dream of becoming Tory leader  especially if Brexit collapses in a shambles as he is convinced it will.

But friends say he is unaware of just how damaged his chances are after the way he has amassed six jobs, earning at least 1.8million  while, until now, refusing to accept that they precluded him from serving his Cheshire constituents.

Among those jobs, as well as the editorship of the London Evening Standard, is a 650,000-a-year consultancy with investment house BlackRock.

Inevitably, he had many enemies. Labours Chris Mullin once said: He looks permanently pink and facetious, as though life is one big public-school prank.

Osborne began work at Tory HQ in the early 1990s and then became chief of staff to the then Tory leader William Hague before winning his Tatton seat in 2001. After helping his former Bullingdon Club buddy Cameron secure the party leadership in 2005, he was rewarded with the post of shadow Chancellor.

The pair went into government as part of the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition in 2010  Osborne as Chancellor at the precocious age of 38.

His record at the Treasury was mixed. Some of his Budgets were a disaster. In 2012, in the so-called Omnishambles Budget, he tried controversially to impose VAT at 20 per cent on hot takeaway food, including pasties and sausage rolls  as well as on static caravans. Cue huge public outrage and a humiliating U-turn.

There was no sign of George Osborne as PMQ's began but he arrived 28 minutes into the session just seconds before appearing on camera behind a question from Derek Thomas

In another Budget, he was forced to abandon plans for 1.3billion-a-year cuts in disability benefits. And in his final one his cuts to welfare benefits were dropped after the work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith resigned in protest.

While he and Cameron (and Nick Clegg) must be given credit for stabilising the British economy after the financial crash  by slashing public spending and stimulating growth in the private sector  the fact remains that he presided over a national debt of 1.8trillion, the biggest in this countrys peacetime history.

Osbornes critics say these misjudgments were made because he devoted too much time to political scheming  manoeuvring himself to be in pole position to succeed Cameron rather than immersing himself in the painstaking detail required to manage the nations finances. He was also criticised for being a passionate advocate of the Cameron government policy of increasing the international aid budget every year even at a time when the money for education, health and social care was being squeezed.

Mr Osborne, pictured outside the Standard offices after his appointment, revealed he was leaving Parliament yesterday

But it was his pivotal role in the EU referendum which did most to damage his credibility as a Chancellor.

As the principal architect of Project Fear, he provoked fury by threatening a so-called punishment budget of swingeing tax rises and spending cuts if voters dared to vote to Leave.

He also shabbily leaned on senior businessmen and Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, to weigh in with other gloomy predictions about the effect on the UK economy.

Only last week he was savaged by MPs for damaging the impartiality of the Civil Service by dragging Whitehall officials into the campaign.

His new job editing the Evening Standard is a powerful position that will allow him an influential platform to promote his own agenda. Although he now says he supports Brexit, he strongly believes Britain should stay in the EUs single market.

This is a view directly opposite that of Mrs May, and Osborne will undoubtedly use the papers editorial columns to challenge his former colleague.

Whether as a non-journalist he will make a success of the Standard must be open to doubt. One thing is certain, however: we havent heard the last of George Gideon Oliver Osborne  who may learn a lot about ordinary people over the next few years.
The three white men who were shot down in what police say was a random racist attack by a self-styled rapper who calls himself 'Black Jesus' have been revealed.

Zackary Randalls, 34, Mark Gassett, 37, and David Jackson, 58, were all shot by Kori Ali Muhammad, 39, in Fresno on Tuesday, according to Fresno Police Department.

Muhammad shot the men down while shouting 'Allahu Akhbar' because he knew he was going to be arrested for an April 13 murder and wanted to kill as many white people as he could first, police told ABC7 News.

Mark Gassett, a 37-year-old father of two (pictured with his sons), was shot dead on Tuesday in a random, race-related shooting by Kori Ali Muhammad, police announced Wednesday

Muhammad also shot David Jackson (left), 58, and Zackary Randalls (right, with his wife), 34. Randalls was a father of two pre-schoolers who was on his first day in the field for a gas company

Randalls, a father of two preschoolers who worked for Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), was the first victim to be shot down in the rampage, at around 10:30am.

He was on his first day in the field, sitting in the passenger seat of a PG&E truck on the 300 block of North Van Ness street, when Muhammad fired repeatedly into the vehicle and killed him, police said.

Randalls' co-worker drove him directly to the police station at M Street and Mariposa mall. Randalls was pronounced dead in hospital.

Muhammad kept walking and fired at another, as-yet-unnamed, victim at the corner of Van Ness and Mildreda Street, but missed, according to official reports.

He claimed his second victim - Gassett - just a block away on Fulton Street, police said.

Gassett, a father of two, had just picked up groceries at the Catholic Charities when he was killed. His family have opened a GoFundMe page here.

Muhammad then reloaded calmly at a bus stop before claiming his final victim, Jackson, who was shot in the parking lot of the Catholic Charities on the 100 block of North Fulton Street, police said.

Muhammad (left), 39, was already wanted for murder. Police say he shot Carl Williams (right), 25, last week and vowed to take out as many more whites as he could before cops got him

Muhammad, seen here being taken into custody, is believed to have shot Williams, a security guard, in a Fresno Motel 6 after the pair got into a confrontation

The rampage took place across a four-block radius in downtown Fresno. Muhammad fired 16 shots in total, stopping at one point to reload his weapon

The victims were chosen at random - but were picked out because they were white, police alleged.

Muhammad approached a vehicle containing a Latino woman and two children while on his shooting spree, but chose to spare their lives, according to ABC News.

The alleged spree killer was seen being calmly transported by two cops, with his hands cuffed behind his back, after the shootings.

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer called the acts 'unprovoked' and 'solely based on race'. They are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

Dyer added that the killings had 'nothing to do with terrorism in spite of the statement he made.'

Instead, police said, Muhammad had hoped to kill as many white people as he could before he was arrested for another murder, which occurred on April 13.

Security guard Carl Williams, 25, who was also white, was shot dead while reporting to a disturbance at a Fresno Motel 6. Police had fingered Muhammad for the killing.

'These individuals who were chosen today did not do anything to deserve what they got,' Dyer said.

'These were unprovoked attacks by an individual that was intent on carrying out homicides today. He did that.'

Evacuated office workers stand by with a deceased shooting victim down on the sidewalk in the horror rampage in Fresno

Police say Muhammad first approached a PG&E truck (pictured) on the 300 block of North Van Ness street and shot Randalls - who was inside - repeatedly

The victims were shot in a four-block radius in downtown Fresno, during which time Muhammad reportedly shot 16 rounds in under two minutes.

When police arrested him, Muhammad reportedly said: 'I did it. I shot them.'

After being taken into custody, Dyer said Muhammad also made other statements to police, but the chief did not disclose them to the public.

Muhammad is active on Facebook and Twitter and previously expressed his dislike of white people and anti-government sentiments in social media posts.

TIMELINE Thursday, April 13: Security guard Carl Williams, 25, is shot dead outside his job at a Motel 6 in Fresno. Muhammad becomes a suspect in that crime Thursday, April 16: Muhammad visits his grandmother, who says he was acting strangely Tuesday, April 18, 10:45am: Muhammad approaches a PG&E van and fires three rounds at the passenger, a 34-year-old father of two preschoolers. The driver of the van rushes the victim to the police station, but he is later pronounced dead. Muhammad then moves southeast to the corner of Van Ness and Mildreda where he tries to shoot another bystander and misses Next he shoots and kills a 37-year-old man who had just picked up a bag of groceries at the Catholic Charities Witnesses see Muhammad calmly reloading at a bus stop on North Fulton Street Muhammad then shoots and kills a 59-year-old man in the parking lot of the Catholic Charities building Tuesday, April 18, 10:46am: Officers then show up at the scene. Muhammad dives on the ground to surrender himself to police, yelling 'Allahu Akbar'. Advertisement

A day after the killing of the motel security guard, Carl Williams, Mohammad posted a status to Facebook that read: 'MY KILL RATE INCRESASES [sic] TREMENDOUSLY ON THE OTHER SIDE ASE ALLAH U AKBAR'.

Muhammad, who was born Cory Taylor, is a self-proclaimed rapper who goes by the nickname of 'Black Jesus'. He also goes by the name of B-God Mac Sun, and sells his 12-track album, 'True Story Kori', on Amazon.

His father, Vincent Taylor, told the LA Times on Tuesday that his son believed that he was in the midst of a race war that was going on in America and 'a battle was about to take place'.

'I'm happy he was arrested,' Taylor said. 'I would hope that whatever Kori tells [police], they take him seriously and they start following up.'

Though the shooting happened outside a Catholic Charities building, spokeswoman Teresa Dominguez said the charity doesn't believe the suspect was tied to the nonprofit organization or specifically targeting those of a Christian faith.

Muhammad was identified as a suspect in the murder of Williams after surveillance footage captured the killing on tape.

Williams, 25, was unarmed and was killed after allegedly getting into an altercation with Muhammad.

Muhammad's grandmother, Glenestene Taylor, said that he'd been acting strangely when he visited her on Sunday, and that he was crying.

However, she said she didn't get the impression that her grandson held hatred towards any race.

'He would say something derogatory about anybody, didn't matter about the color,' she said. 'If he didn't like what they did, he didn't like what they did no matter the color.'

The spree shooter (seen here being cuffed) has a lengthy criminal record, including a dismissed felony charge of unlawful firearm possession in 2004

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer, center, said the victims were shot seconds apart around 10:45am in close proximity in areas around downtown

The shooter has a lengthy criminal record, including a dismissed felony charge of unlawful firearm possession in 2004.

He was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial in 2005 after a grand jury indicted him on cocaine and firearm possession.

Court documents in that case stated that Muhammad 'suffered auditory hallucinations and had at least two prior mental health hospitalizations.'

A federal judge later declared him mentally fit in 2006 and he subsequently served 92 months in prison.

Witnesses on Tuesday say he shot off sixteen rounds while screaming and cursing, and was carrying a large-caliber revolver, according to the Fresno Bee.

The 'rapper' uploaded one music video titled 'U Gone Need Me: Tru Story Kori' in which he discusses racism and 'liberation of his people'.

He says: '...on a mission for the liberation of my people.'

'Hollow points make a white devil body spin... Kill a racist devil dead, cut off they head, put a bullet in they head, and get that bread.'

Muhammad posted a number of photos on Facebook donning turbans and head jewelry and wearing pro-black clothing, and previously posted about his dislike of white people

Muhammad is a self-proclaimed rapper that goes by the nickname 'Black Jesus' according to Police Chief Jerry Dyer

Officers on the scene found rounds of .357 caliber bullets, and a speed loader for a revolver, but did not recover a murder weapon when they apprehended Muhammad.

Brian Levin, director of Cal State San Bernardino's Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, referred to Muhammad as a 'violent black supremacist'.

Sayed Ali Ghazvini, imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno, said Muhammad was not a member of his congregation and he did not recognize him.

The imam said he is consulting with other faith leaders. The Cultural Center's Facebook page released a statement condemning the killings, and those who use the phrase 'Allahu Akbar' in the name of violence.

The Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno released a statement condemning the killings

A street is blocked off where three people were shot dead by the gunman, who also screamed 'god is great' in Arabic

'We're kind of shocked and surprised for what happened,' Ghazvini said.

'We are very sorry for this to happen. We offer condolences for the victims, we pray for the victims and their families.'

Officials do not believe Muhammad had any accomplices.

'What we know is that this was a random act of violence,' Dyer said. 'There is every reason to believe he acted alone.'
A vacationing family of four was stunned when they tried to board their Air Canada flight only to be told their 10-year-old son did not have seat as the plane was overbooked.

The Doyle family of Charlottetown, Canada, were headed to Costa Rica for their family vacation on March 15. The trip had been booked since August.

But when they arrived at the airport in Charlottetown they were told their son Cole, 10, had been bumped off the flight because it was overbooked.

They eventually had to give up their own seats and drive to another airport two hours away in Moncton.

Then - to add insult to injury - the flight they wanted to catch from Moncton to Montreal for their connecting flight was cancelled, and they had to drive two-and-a-half hours to Halifax, stay overnight at a hotel, and finally catch a flight out the next day.

The Doyle family's dream turned to nightmare: Shanna, Brett, and their sons Cole and Simon, 8, were thrown into disarray when they were told Cole, 10 (far left) wouldn't be able to fly with them

Upon being told the flight was overbooked parents Brett and Shanna initially wanted to know if one of them could give up their seat for Cole.

Other adults in the vicinity at the airport also offered to give up their seat for the child, according to the Herald News.

However, the agent told them that this would not guarantee Cole could fly - that his seat could go to a frequent flyer instead.

All flights out of Charlottetown were booked so the agent suggested that the family drive to Moncton and then fly into Montreal to catch the flight to Costa Rica.

In Moncton, the family was told the flight was cancelled.

'I thought it was a joke, that there were hidden cameras or something,' said Brett.

The Doyle family, Brett and Shanna, and sons Cole (left) and Simon had their Costa Rica vacation thrown into disarray when Air Canada bumped Cole from the flight

He began looking online for other flights out of Moncton, however, when he called an agent, he was told each of the three flights he was considering were sold out.

'I asked why would I be able to purchase these online if they were sold out, and what would happen if I purchased and showed up at the gate,' said Brett.

The answer: he would be bumped again and back in the same situation.

The family drove with Cole (left) and little brother Simon to Moncton and tried to catch another flight but that one was cancelled. They then drove two and a half hours to Halifax and stayed in a hotel

He said he was astonished that despite the flights supposedly be sold out, they continued to appear online as available.

He said Air Canada offered 'zero assistance' out of his predicament.

The family ended up driving two-and-a-half hours to Halifax to stay in a hotel overnight and caught another flight out to Costa Rica, reported The Guardian.

The Doyle family said Air Canada only offered a $2,500 rebate after the media got involved

'People are fed up,' Brett told the outlet. 'You shouldnt be able to sell something twice.'

'We're spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars on airline tickets,' said Shanna. 'And we're not guaranteed a seat. So what, in reality, are we paying for?'

Brett said the ordeal cost him about $700 and a missed day of work. He says his son was actually scared he would be left behind.

'He was really scared . . . he kept saying, Is everything going to be OK?'

'I'm crying in the backseat,' Cole to The Guardian. 'How do I get where I'm going? I don't even know if I'm going to make it with my family.'

The family says Air Canada not only didn't offer compensation, but didn't even contact them to apologize.

The family finally made it to Costa Rica (above) however Brett says it cost them $700, a lost day of work, and endless headaches

However, once a media outlet got involved, the airline offered $2,500, which will expire in a year. The family doesn't know if it can take another vacation within a year.

The airline, however, calls it a 'very generous compensation.'

'We are currently following up to understand what went wrong and have apologized to Mr Doyle and his family,' a spokesperson told the Vancouver Sun.

But Brett told the Spectator that at first the airline offered $1,600 and he had to negotiate with them. Even after their final offer of $2,500, he said that won't cover a family of four.

'Without sounding greedy, what I'd really like is to experience the trip we had planned for so many months and this voucher isn't going to do that.'

Dr. David Dao refused to leave an overbooked United Airlines flight out of Chicago earlier this month and was dragged off by aviation police hired by the airlines. The shocking debacle has exploded within the airline industry and forced airlines to reconsider the way overbookings are handled

Airlines have been under intense scrutiny about their overbooking policies since a doctor, David Dao, was dragged bloodied and apparently unconscious from a United plane out of Chicago by aviation cops after he refused to give up his overbooked seat, saying he needed to see patients in the morning.

United had offered $800 to anyone willing to give up a seat, but it wasn't enticing enough to wait until the next day for another flight.

Dao has hired to high-powered attorneys to potentially litigate his case with the airline.

Dr. David Dao made world headlines and temporarily caused United Airlines stock to lose $1billion in value and has sparked investigations into the way airlines handle overbooking

Brett says he sympathizes with Dao.

'I said things could always be worse. At least we werent thrown off the plane.'

Airline passenger advocate Gabor Lukacs told the Spectator that overbooking needs to stop.

'Airlines sell quite a few non-refundable tickets and yet they overbook,' he said. 'Up until now, people were just putting up with it like suckers. But now people are fed up.'
A restaurant owner has called two paying customers in hijabs 'Muslim sl**s' as they waited for their takeaway coffees, a relative claims.

A Sydney woman has taken to Facebook to complain after a restaurant owner ruined her family's Easter long weekend away on the New South Wales Central Coast.

Two of her relatives, who happened to be wearing hijabs, had ordered and paid for takeaway coffees at a restaurant at The Entrance.

'The owner of the restaurant then comes out with a disgusted look on her face and says, "can I help you?" They explained to her they were waiting for the coffees.

A Sydney woman has taken to Facebook to complain after a restaurant owner called her relatives 'Muslim sl**s'

The women were wearing hijabs and waiting for takeaway coffees they had ordered and paid for (stock image)

'She then says "well, we don't do coffee now it's dinner time". They then tell her that they have already ordered and paid. She turns around and says "well then go wait outside!"

'My relative then tells her not to speak to her like that as she is a paying customer and it is rude,' the woman wrote on Facebook.

The owner then again asked the woman to wait outside, but the women said they no longer wanted the coffees and would like their money back.

The situation then escalated, the relative claimed in her Facebook post.

'The owner's husband then came out to calm the situation when his wife yells to him, "don't defend those Muslim sl**s".'

On her own Facebook page, the relative said the whole weekend away had been filled with racism (stock image)

The relative said it was 'truly disgusting' to call anyone that.

'The owners of this restaurant should be ashamed of themselves!' the relative wrote on Facebook.

On her own Facebook page, the relative said the whole weekend away had been filled with racism.

'A few of us left the main beach to find a quiet hidden spot to pray, and yes of course, we were looked at as if we were aliens. Calm down.... we aren't plotting a terrorist attack whilst our heads are on the floor.

'What has this world come to? I fear for the future of our children and what they may have to endure one day. Safe to say I will not be going back to The Entrance any time soon.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the relative and the restaurant.
A young couple out on a bushwalk got the fright of their lives when they spotted a huge spider perched on top of a bulging sac of her eggs.

Baylee Bensley-Howell and her boyfriend Anaru Mikaere were walking in sand dunes east of Christchurch, New Zealand, when they spotted the massive beast.

The arachnid, which appeared to be guarding its egg, had white stripes on the back of its black body, and had dark red legs.

A young couple out on a bushwalk got the fright of their lives when they spotted a huge spider perched on top of a bulging sac of her eggs

Baylee Bensley-Howell and her boyfriend Anaru Mikaere were walking in sand dunes east of Christchurch, New Zealand, when they spotted the massive beast

Miss Bensley-Howell told Daily Mail Australia that she was horrified when she spotted the nursery-web spider, which she thinks was about 15cms wide.

'My boyfriend was startled when he saw it. I was just grateful that I was seeing it out in nature and not in my bedroom,' she said.

'I definitely think it was a mumma spider, she seemed docile but I wouldn't want to mess with her.'

She added that she 'admired it from a distance', but Mr Mikaere got up close and personal with it.

Miss Bensley-Howell told Stuff that Mr Mikaere approached it but was 'quite nervous that it was suddenly going to jump up at him'.

Her boyfriend returned to the same spot the next day and found another huge spider, she said.

The arachnid, which appeared to be guarding its egg, had white stripes on the back of its black body, and had dark red legs

Mr Mikaere returned to the same spot the next day and found another huge spider, she said

Despite this, the couple say they have never seen a spider bigger than a 50 cent coin in the sand dunes before.

Canterbury University professor Dr Simon Pollard that the arachnid was a native nursery-web spider and that the egg sac was likely full of babies.

Nursery-web spiders do not usually grow to such a large size but are considered harmless.
One of the men accused of being part of Western Australia's 'Evil 8' pedophile ring has claimed he was unlawfully detained and his police interview should be deemed inadmissible.

Two detectives admitted in the District Court to breaching WA's criminal act when they kept Alfred John Impicciatore, 46, detained beyond the six-hour limit after arresting him on May 14, 2015.

The police could be humiliated in one of the state's most high profile court cases if a decision due on Friday goes against them and their video interview with Impicciatore is deemed inadmissible.

Alfred John Impicciatore, 46, (pictured) accused of being part of the 'Evil 8' pedophile ring has claimed he was unlawfully detained and his police interview should be deemed inadmissible

He has pleaded not guilty to various charges, including sexually penetrating a child.

However, police say he made admissions about committing sexual crimes in the video interview.

Those confessions were made after the six-hour limit.

Detective Natalie Wynen organised for her manager, Senior Detective John McTernan, who helped arrest Impicciatore, to authorise an extension of his detention so she could interview him for longer.

However, such authorisations must be made by an independent police officer not involved in the investigation.

Impicciatore's lawyer Mara Barone said it was a serious breach of powers by police officers desperate for a confession because they lacked evidence to charge him.

Two detectives admitted in the District Court (pictured) to breaching WA's criminal act when they kept Impicciatore detained beyond the six-hour limit after arresting him on May 14, 2015

'It is no excuse not to know the law,' she said in the District Court in Perth.

'And when it comes to matters of police abusing powers, it is not just a technical requirement to have an independent senior officer and impartial mind for authorising detaining a suspect.'

Det Sgt McTernan said it was an oversight on his part but he was aware of the law while Det Wynen said she was not aware of it.

It emerged the forms used by police to extend the detention of suspects do not specify that an independent signature is needed.

Prosecution lawyer Justin Whalley said it should be treated as a minor breach of the act because Impicciatore had been interviewed for less than half an hour past the six-hour limit and the detectives' mistake was an honest one.

The other men in the case charged with abusing and drugging the girl, aged 11 to 13 at the time, include her father and five other men who are serving prison terms.
A horrifying video shows a large group of teenagers savagely attacking a boy on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, on Sunday.

The video was posted at 9.47pm Eastern on Easter, several hours after the attack near Luna Amusement Park is believed to have taken place, according to the New York Post.

Sources said the boy on the ground in the video suffered a collapsed lung.

A horrifying video showed a large group of teenagers savagely attacking another teen boy on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday

'Today in Coney,' the social media user who originally posted the video captioned it, with three emojis depicting tears, according to the New York Daily News.

The 19-second clip starts with the person holding the camera running over to the scene where the attack is taking place, along with others.

Several people can be seen kicking at the individual, who was laying down on the ground and had his arms up to protect his face.

One person jumps up and lands hard on the boy's head before another immediately comes up and kicks him in the head, as well.

Another grabs at the victim's leg and pulls on it before the victim kicks free of his grasp.

The camera changes angles just in time to show a tall individual jump up in the air, then come down to stomp on the torso of the boy on the ground.

The camera changes angles just in time to show a tall individual jump up in the air, then come down to stomp on the torso of the boy on the ground.

Two more people kick the individual hard in the head before the clip stops.

The video is believed to have been taken outside the Luna Park amusement area on Surf Avenue near West 10th Street.

The cause of the fight is unknown at this time, but the police are investigating the incident as gang-related.

Several people can be seen kicking at the individual, who was laying down on the ground and had his arms up for much of the video to protect his face

The police were able to identify several people in the video of the attack. Arrests are reportedly imminent.

The video was originally posted to Facebook but was removed from the platform on Wednesday.

'We remove graphic images and videos when they are shared to celebrate or glorify violence,' a Facebook spokesperson told the Post.

In what may or may not have been an unrelated occurrence, Luna Park closed three hours early at 9pm Eastern on Sunday due to false reports of gunshots in the area that caused panicked people to charge in the area.

Reports of gunshots were determined to be false by the NYPD 60th Precinct, who tweeted as much at 9.18pm.
A mother has shared the heartwarming moment a policeman who stopped her for a routine breath test posed for a photo next to her sleeping son who idolises officers.

Queensland woman Angela Degn was stopped by the officer in Yamanto, Ipswich, and took the adorable image after the policeman whispered the entire time to avoid waking up her sleeping children.

She then asked the policeman to take a photo next to her son Khye Freeck, 4, who she says would have been 'excited' to meet a real officer.

The anonymous Ipswich policeman posed with a wide grin next to sleeping Khye (pictured)

Khye was sound asleep in the backseat after a visit to the hospital to treat his leg condition, fibular hemimelia, which he has suffered from birth, Ms Degn told Daily Mail Australia.

Ms Degn posted the image onto a local Ipswich Facebook group, and praised the policeman for making her son's day.

'I was pulled over for a random RBT, the policeman noticed my children sleeping so he whispered the conditions of the RBT,' Ms Degn wrote.

'I went on to say that my son would have been excited to see a policeman... he said I will get a photo with him and you can show him when he wakes up, so that's what we did. Thank you Mr Policeman you made my son's day!'

Ms Degn told Daily Mail Australia that her son developed a love for police officers after watching many shows involving heroic policemen and women.

Ms Degn (pictured with her son Khye) said the four-year-old loves police officers

The young mother posted the adorable image to Facebook and it has since gone viral

The image has gone on to amass over 14,000 likes as hundreds of commenters applauded the Yamanto policeman for being a 'legendary copper'.

'That's one of the best things I've seen in ages. What an awesome guy and a credit to the service,' one person commented.

Another wrote: 'Outstanding effort. Building a relationship with the community is half the battle won in policing.'

'Way to go that police man there needs to more people like you out there not afraid to go above and beyond the call of duty,' another person said.

The unknown police officer - who wished to remain anonymous - responded to the viral photo after the overwhelming reaction.

'I was very encouraged and blessed by the positive feedback, as were other cops I'm sure. Oh and sign the kid up for a career already!' he said.

The Queensland police officer anonymously responded to the praise and said he felt 'encouraged and blessed' (stock image)

Ms Degn also responded to comments asking what her young son's reaction was to the photo.

'First he just laughed looking at the photo, then the questions started, how come he pulled you over? How many policemen were there? How come he got a photo with me?' she said.

The four-year-old is not shy from media attention after Ms Degn and her husband Matthew Freeck raised thousands of dollars to treat Khye's debilitating leg condition in 2014.

Khye and his family flew to the US to to receive leg-strengthening surgery in 2015 and Ms Degn says her son has been recovering well since then.
Greens deputy leader Scott Ludlam has admitted smoking weed, taking acid and doing any drug that took his fancy.

In a revealing interview with GQ, the senator for West Australia said he dabbled with illegal drugs in his 'distant past', but does not touch them anymore.

The 47-year-old, who has battled with mental health issues in recent months, told the magazine that he was in a good position to speak about the regulation of cannabis because he used to smoke it.

Greens deputy leader Scott Ludlam has admitted smoking weed, taking acid and doing any drug that took his fancy

The 47-year-old said he was in a good position to speak about the regulation of cannabis (file picture) because he used to smoke it

'Having smoked a fair bit of it myself, I think the main thing with that stuff... this is like a distant past, not last week,' he said.

'Ive tried everything I wanted to try. I shouldnt be saying s*** like this. I dont want to be out of my head. Im more comfortable in my head than I was when I was in my twenties.'

Adding that he 'can't be around that stuff now', Mr Ludlam also admitted taking the hallucinogenic drug acid.

'It [LSD] actually didnt agree with me. It didnt do a lot for me,' he said.

Mr Ludlam and the Greens do not think drug users should be treated like criminals and think cannabis should be made available for medicinal purposes.

But he admitted that pot was 'actually quite damaging', adding that it does 'nothing for me anymore'.

The Greens senator took leave to deal with depression and anxiety in December last year, revealing his struggles in a Facebook post to his followers.

'Friends, I am taking a leave of absence to treat depression and anxiety. These are issues I've been dealing with for a while,' he said.

Adding that he 'can't be around that stuff now', Mr Ludlam also admitted taking the hallucinogenic drug acid (file picture)

Mr Ludlam (left, with Greens leader Richard Di Natale) said he dabbled with illegal drugs in his 'distant past', but does not touch them anymore

Speaking about the leave of absence, he told GQ that he had bottled up his emotions for too long and 'kept everything to myself until it was almost too late'.

He said he was glad to have highlighted mental health issues but did not want to be seen as a 'courageous champion'.

In the wide-ranging interview, Mr Ludlam also admitted that he was arrested at the Jabiluka blockade in the 1990s, when protesters tried to stop the construction of a mine on indigenous land.

He also spoke about having Christmas dinner in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, called Tony Abbott 'sad and pointless' and said he would meet up with President Donald Trump 'just for lolz'.
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New York's famed Empire State Building lit up with sky-high iconic fashion photographs after nightfall on Wednesday to celebrate the 150th anniversary of style magazine Harper's Bazaar.

Beginning at 8.30pm and running to midnight, the north side of the building flashed iconic shoots and cultural moments from the pages of Harper's into the New York skyline.

Among reproductions of the glossy pages that shined over Manhattan, and streamed live on the magazine's Facebook page, was Barbadian superstar Rihanna sitting in the mouth of Jaws and the most recent cover featuring Kendall Jenner.

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The Empire State Building was lit up with projections from the pages of Harper's Bazaar Wednesday night, the celebrate the 150th anniversary of the style magazine.

May cover girl Kendall Jenner attended a special viewing of the event at the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center

Kendall attended the event with her mom/manager Kris Jenner. Kris tweeted her pride when she saw her daughter's picture light up the New York City skyline

Pedestrians whipped out their phones to take pictures of the colorful display Wednesday night

The projections also included some of Harper's most famous images from the past - including works by Andy Warhol and Richard Avedon, and featuring old Hollywood stars like Audrey Hepburn and Lauren Bacall.

Kendall attended a start-studded viewing party for the event, held at the Rainbow Room.

'Empire State building ft. meeee,' Kendall captioned a photo of her cover to Instagram.

The display ran from 8.30pm until midnight and featured the likes of Gwen Stefani (left) and Jennifer Aniston (right)

The display (including this old photo of Elizabeth Taylor from the magazine) spanned 42 floors of the iconic New York landmark

The photos included both the new and the old from the magazine, including pictures of Kate Moss (left) and Marilyn Monroe (right)

Since 1976 the Empire State Building has traditionally changed the color of its tower lights to celebrate or commemorate different occasions and organizations throughout the year.

In 2012, they installed a new computer driven LED light system capable of displaying 16 million colors, which can change instantaneously.

Wednesday night's display was projected over 42 floors, spanning 500 feet tall and 186 feet wide.

Actress Natalie Portman dressed up as Audrey Hepburn for a 2006 issue of the fashion magazine

Above, a cover look from Gisele Bundchen. Bundchen lives in New York City when her husband, Tom Brady, isn't playing football for the New England Patriots

Left and right are two classic photos from the magazine, which is now in its 150th year

The magazine partnered with Tiffany & Co. to put on the display and declined to say how much it cost

Harper's Editor-in-Chief Glenda Bailey said she wanted to give New Yorkers 'the greatest fashion show in the world,' according to the New York Times.

Harper's partnered with Tiffany & Co. to produce the event, and declined to say how much the light show cost.

'Its wildly expensive but it will be worth every penny,' Bailey said.

Since upgrading the lighting system at the tower, the building has hosted a few other similar events. On election day, as the ballots were being counted, the states were called on the side of the building.

A display for endangered wildlife in 2015 cost around $1million.

Harper's Editor-in-Chief Glenda Bailey said she wanted to give New Yorkers 'the greatest fashion show in the world,' according to the New York Times

Since upgrading its lighting system in 2012, the Empire State Building has hosted a few other similar events
The CIA and the FBI are currently in the midst of an intense manhunt for a mole inside the spy agency who is believed to have leaked sensitive documents to WikiLeaks, according to a report on Wednesday.

The joint investigation is focusing on either a CIA employee or contractor who had access to thousands of top-secret documents about its methods of hacking into smartphones, smart televisions, and computers, according to CBS News.

The investigation is currently focusing on the names of hundreds of individuals who may have had access to the materials.

Last week, CIA Director Mike Pompeo made his first public remarks about WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy organization that published the documents.

'It's time to call out Wikileaks for what it really is, a non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia,' Pompeo charged as he spoke at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Thursday.

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Last week, CIA Director Mike Pompeo (left) made his first public remarks about WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy organization that published the documents. Pompeo pointed a finger at Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange (right), saying he leaked documents for selfish reasons

Pompeo pointed a finger at Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and said they leaked American government documents for selfish reasons.

As long as they make a splash they care nothing about the lives that they put at risk or the damage they cause to national security,' Pompeo said of the duo.

The CIA was targeted by Wikileaks last month, as Assange and company published thousands of documents, which detailed the agency's hacking abilities, turning everyday items like phones and smart TVs into devices that can snoop on targeted individuals.

During his remarks, Pompeo noted how Wikileaks was encouraging its 'followers' to work for the CIA, in order to steal secrets.

He also pointed out the link between the GRU, Russian military intelligence, and Wikileaks, explaining how the latter published information given from the former, stolen from 'U.S. victims' at the Democratic National Committee.

The remarks were ironic given that Pompeo's boss, President Donald Trump, said during the campaign that he 'loved' WikiLeaks when it was hacking into the emails of top associates of his opponent in the election, Hillary Clinton.

Pompeo also noted that 'Russia's primary propaganda outlet,' Russia Today, had 'actively collaborated' with Wikileaks in the dissemination of American secrets.

'Wikileaks walks like a hostile intelligence service and talks like a hostile intelligence service,' he said.

Pompeo was particularly annoyed by an Assange editorial that ran in the Washington Post Tuesday, in which the Wikileaks founder likened himself to Thomas Jefferson, Dwight D. Eisenhower and legitimate journalists from the New York Times and the Post.

'He knows nothing of our third president whose clarion call for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness continues to inspire us and the world,' Pompeo said of Jefferson.

'And he knows nothing of our 34th president, a hero, from my very own Kansas, who helped liberate Europe from fascists and helped guide America through the early years of the Cold War,' Pompeo continued, this time referencing Eisenhower.
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"We need to invest in our kids," said resident Brenda Robinson. "That's how we keep graffiti out of Waterhouse Center and mischief out of the downtown on Saturday night."
African and Pacific Islander youths are part of the angriest group of criminals Victoria has ever seen, police have said.

Teenagers of African and Pacific Islander descent were on Wednesday identified among a violent group of the state's 200 most 'hardcore' youths- who on average commit 47 crimes a year each, The Australian reported.

During an inquiry into youth justice centres Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Stephen Leane said these groups felt 'locked out' of society.

African and Pacific Islander youths are part of the angriest cohort of criminals Victoria has ever seen, police have said (stock image)

These groups were typically committing violent crimes such as carjackings or aggravated robbery as a first offence, rather than progressing from a minor offence (stock image)

They were committing violent crimes such as carjackings or aggravated robbery as a first offence, rather than progressing from a minor offence, Mr Leane said.

'You have got young men who are angry and who have the capacity to actually play out their anger,' Mr Leane said.

'We are seeing a different cohort of new offender arrive on the scene in the Victorian community and that new cohort is different and distinct from the cohort we have had for the all of the time I have been in policing, and that is 35 years.'

The 200 most 'hardcore' offenders committed an average of 47 crimes per person a year, Opposition children's spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said she understood.

Mr Leane attended an upper house parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday designed to improve Victoria's youth justice system.

Mr Leane said the increased crime rates could have a negative impact on life for average Victorians.

The 200 most 'hardcore' offenders committed an average of 47 crimes per person a year (stock image)
One teen decided to live out the expression weathering the storm by doing so literally and instantly became a viral sensation.

A Twitter user named Mel posted the video on April 11, which was taken outside of Plainfield East High School in Plainfield, Illinois, and shows a kid in shorts and a t-shirt standing calmly in the midst of a raging hail storm as other students furiously scatter around him.

'I recorded people running because of the rain but this kid was just standing there so I ended up with this gem.' she wrote.

The video has been retweeted over 90,000 times.

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Mad world? A lone student stands outside of his high school as a storm begins to rage around him

I RECORDED PEOPLE RUNNING BECAUSE OF THE RAIN BUT THIS KID WAS JUST STANDING THERE SO I ENDED UP WITH THIS GEM pic.twitter.com/Q0Ceccmrw1  mel (@melliinaa_) April 11, 2017

The student makes few moves but in one he does at least reach out his hand as if to test the reality of the drops

Fellow students scurry all around him as he gives new meaning to the term 'the calm before the storm'

The video shows a kid in dark shorts and a dark t-shirt standing looking back at his high school.

As dozens of students come out of the school to find themselves in the middle of a rainstorm whipping up into what appears to be hail, the student continues to stand nonchalantly as other teens rush past him, trying to protect themselves from the elements.

The battering rain suddenly seems to turn to hail but this doesn't affect the kid in shorts

Students come out only to be pummeled with the hair and they furiously run for shelter - but not our pal

Mel hilariously added Gary Jules' cover of Tears for Fears' 'Mad World' to the soundtrack.

The oddness of a kid standing in the middle of a storm while those around him scrambled for cover led to speculation about what he was doing.

'The whole time I wanted to go stand next to him. Poor guy all alone waiting for someone...' tweeted a YouTube gamer, Soar Ms. Heart Attack. 'the video is funny but i want to be his friend most of all.'

A person who said she was a student at the school said the kid was 'just testing out his waterproof headphones.'
David Walsh, the millionaire founder of MONA, has defended an upcoming performance that features the blood of a slaughtered animal by saying the controversy is good for Tasmania's economy.

Hermann Nitsch is set to direct a three-hour performance at the Dark Mofo festival in June that's described as a 'bloody, sacrificial ritual.'

The 78-year-old Austrian artist is known for using blood, carcasses and entrails in his work  and has assured the animal in the performance will be killed humanely before the show.

But his piece quickly sparked a backlash in the community and online, with a petition calling for Hobart City Council it to be banned attracting more than 12,000 signatures in a day.

David Walsh (above), the millionaire founder of MONA, has defended an upcoming performance that features a slaughtered animal

Hermann Nitsch upcoming performance at the Dark Mofo festival has sparked controversy. Above, a file photo shows one of the artist's performances in Austria in 1998

On Wednesday, Mr Walsh  the professional gambler, art collector and businessman who owns the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA)  wrote a blog post called 'Rising Tide' defending the exhibition.

In the post, which Hobart-born Mr Walsh said was written in the hypothetical style of Geoffrey Robertson claimed murder and disaster is good for tourism and the economy.

'Imagine I, David Walsh, go down the gallery, kill someone at random, and call it art,' he wrote.

'What would happen to the Tasmanian economy? My guess is Mona would go from being well known globally to being a household word.

'Disaster tourism would drive Mona to the top of the charts and Tasmania's economy would go along for the ride.'

He added that although he didn't build the gallery to serve the sort of 'creepy f****' who visit Auschwitz, given the gallery's 'much-vaunted sex and death theme, the level of morbid interest would be vast.'

The 78-year-old Austrian artist (above, during a show in 1987) is known for using blood, carcasses and entrails in his work

He also noted that prior to Mona's opening, the most popular tourism destination in Tasmana was Port Arthur - 'an elegantly ruined convict settlement, but also the site of a massacre.'

He also blasted much of the criticism against the show as hypocritical in the post.

'If Nitsch's performance is wrong (and I've been unable to find anything but moral equivalence arguments to suggest that it might be ok), get out there and stop it,' he said.

'It won't be a disaster for Tassie, since it'll just generate a few headlines and a bunch of Facebook discussion.

'But stopping Nitsch won't stop me doing the sort of self-serving, status-enhancing, biologically-bound good that I do through Mona.

'You should be protesting that, too. And you also should have a crack at getting your own 'house in order' (as the Bible says).'

The animal in the Nitsch's (above) performance will be killed humanely before the show

He added: 'You should, of course, stop eating meat, and rapacious crops, and you should stop doing anything that has cost (economic, social or environmental).

'And you should take all the cash you squander and spend it buying mosquito nets, or some other efficient life-saving interventions.

'For, as the Bible also says, 'why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?'

But despite his argument, the Animal Liberation Tasmania set up the petition calling for the show to be cancelled.

'We are opposed to this event, which trivialises the slaughter of animals for human usage, and condemns a sentient being to death in the pursuit of artistic endeavours,' the group wrote.

The free show, scheduled for June 17 and 18, is only open to over-18s and described on the Dark Mofo website as 'a bloody, sacrificial ritual performed by the patriarch of Viennese Actionism, his devoted disciples and an orchestra.'

It adds that it contains 'distressing imagery, nudity and strong adult themes, and is not suitable for children.'

Animal Liberation Tasmania's petition calling for the show to be cancelled quickly attracted thousands of signatures

Lord Mayor Sue Hickey is one of the signatories of the petition calling for the show to be cancelled, the ABC reports.

'I don't think it should be allowed to proceed, I find it offensive on so many levels and I do think it's something that crosses what I would consider public decency,' she said.

'I don't know when art ceases to be art and when it crosses that line and becomes something really perverse, but I think we're very close to that mark now.'

She said that she was voicing her opposition as mayor and not commenting for the council.

However, she added that she would ask the council to consider its options and ask Premier Will Hodgman to intervene as the Dark Mofo event receives $10.5million in government funding.

However, Mr Hodgman told the ABC that 'cutting-edge' installations are a hallmark of the mid-winter festival.

But he added: 'Of course we'd want to be assured that appropriate protections are in place so nobody who doesn't want to see it, sees it.'
Off to jail: Kirsty Dayment was sentenced to a three year, three months non-parole period on Thursday

Disgraced Sydney socialite and model Kirsty Dayment will spend at least three years and three months in prison after she was busted supplying cocaine from an eastern suburbs apartment.

The 35-year-old pleaded guilty to supplying more than 85 grams of cocaine and knowingly taking part in the supply of MDMA with her former boyfriend Nicholas Riganias in 2015.

Dayment showed little emotion on Thursday as Judge Sarah Huggett sentenced her to a maximum five years and six months' jail.

'It's OK, I'm good,' Dayment mouthed to her family from the Downing Centre District Court dock as she waited to be led away.

The failed fashion business owner moved in eastern suburbs circles where drug-taking 'seems to be the social norm', the judge said during sentencing.

Judge Huggett said Dayment viewed the consumption of cocaine as a 'fairly harmless recreational activity'.

Ms Dayment (pictured) business name was tarnished, she has been too scared of her modelling photos being leaked to the media to pose up and she 'may melt down'

Dayment and Riganias were arrested in July 2015 following a lengthy police investigation.

Police uncovered cocaine and more than 1.3 kilograms of MDMA during a raid of Riganias' Coogee apartment.

While Dayment's lawyer argued she played a lesser role than her former boyfriend in the drug operation, Judge Huggett said she knew what she was doing.

Dayment sometimes played 'an active and lead role in the supply of prohibited drugs', she said.

'She was not acting in a vacuum unaware and ignorant to what was going on.'

The court heard Dayment knew the MDMA was in the apartment but did not play an active role in its planned distribution.

The judge acknowledged Dayment suffered a miscarriage while on bail, which she said would have been distressing.

Riganias, 31, was sentenced to eight years with a non-parole period of four-and-a-half years.

In the letter, the model (left and right) said she had not posed up for modelling photographs out of fear the media would get a hold of them

Dayment was handed a three-year, three month non parole period

The decision came after she submitted a typo-ridden letter to the court asking the judge to consider a lengthy bullet point list of her achievements and setbacks.

The letter detailed how hard she had worked on 'very popular' social media pages since being bailed.

Dayment also complained she wasn't even allowed to work as Santa's Little Helper over Christmas, had to shut her retail store and 'work for a lower hourly rate through other agencies'.

Her business name had been tarnished, she has been too scared of her modelling photos being leaked to the media to pose up and suffers anxiety and depression. And, she admitted in the letter, she 'may melt down'.

But Dayment touted how she had finished two personal training certificates, worked in weekend market stalls and '(continued) social media work pages which are very popular' - with more than 10,000 followers - since leaving prison on bail.

'To your honour, to the prestigious judge of the district court, I would like you to know that on behalf of the community that I am extremely sorry for getting involved in the supply of drugs,' she wrote.

'Normally I have been able to run my life as a fit, active and motivated person.

'However I allowed myself to fall into an abusive relationship and stayed in that relationship despite my family and friend telling me it was destroying me.'

KIRSTY DAYMENT'S LIST OF SETBACKS... Tarnished business name

Loss of clients

Embarrassment

Start life and business from scratch

Closure of model/promo agency

Large income loss

Work for lower hourly rate through other agencies

Curfew has been a big restriction, therefore missed out on a lot of jobs.

Reporting Daily has been hard with fly in/fly out meetings interstate to stock stores

Closed my retail clothing store

Was taken off all nanny agency books

Suffering with depression and anxiety

May melt down

Cannot do star light foundation charity work.

Cannot do santa's little helper promotional work which is 2 months of work over Christmas

Have not been taking modelling work as scared media would get a hold of it

Stress of relying on family when am I use t be being independent

Loss a 3 month contract over easter with the RAS with great salary, future work with a large company. They found out I was on bail with charges and lost my contract.' Advertisement

AND HER LIST OF ACHIEVEMENTS Did not give up on trying to survive my media damaged company

Rebranded my fashion agency.

Continued social media work pages which are very popular (more then over 10k followers)

Promotional work through other companies

Happilty worked in the field again although for 10years have the boss/co-ordintaor

Stocking fashion in 5 stores around Sydney

Completed Certificate 3 and 4 in personal training

Personal training job lined up in 2 different venues plus start teaching a group outdoor boot camp

Have helped build and open an agency for a friend

Have helped build a removal company through my contacts, marketing skills

Worked successfully a 3 month contract to help re-build/restore/revamp a bankrupt business

Volunteer work

Work development order

Weekend Market Stalls

Healthy and fit lifestyle with no drugs or alcohol

Sole care of my god daughter 4/days per week Advertisement





Dressed for Oktoberfest in this picture, Ms Dayment was a staple of the Sydney's social scene

In the letter, Dayment said her business was failing at the time, she had just fled an abusive relationship and turned to the 'wrong people to fill my life'.

'The lessons I have (learned) as a result of being a criminal will stay with me forever,' she said.

KIRSTY DAYMENT'S LETTER TO THE COURT IN FULL 'To your honour, to the prestigious judge of the district court, I would like you to know that on behalf of the community that I am extremely sorry for getting involved for the supply of drugs. ' I take full responsibility for that involvement 'Normally I have been able to run my life as a fit, active and motivated person. 'However I allowed myself to fall into an abusive relationship and stayed in that relationship despite my family and friend telling me it was destroying me. 'When I finally escaped I was probably at my lowest. My business was failing; I had let many of my friends down and I looked for other people who turned out to be the wrong people to fill my life. 'The mistakes I made in not being stronger and looking for easy solutions to my mental and physical break down will never happen again. 'I will never put the community, my family or my self at risk. 'And I promise that I am on the road to being the productive member of our society that I once was. 'The lessons I had (learned) as A result allowing myself (to be) a criminal will stay with me forever. 'My case has received media attention and that has been difficult. 'Not with standing this I had tried my (hardest) to do better and really feel like I am achieving something. 'Since being released from jail. I have had set backs and achievements. I have attached them for you consideration' Edited for clarity Advertisement

In character references shown to the court, family and friends recalled how she had been abused by a previous boyfriend.

Her father recalled how one man had left his daughter 'black and blue'.

Another friend detailed how one of Dayment's ex-partners, who she has a current AVO against, allegedly threatened to kill her, 'pulled her hair out and choked her in public'.

'There have been times where her depression was so overwhelming she has spent several days in bed unable to get up,' the friend said.
Just hours after Richard Simmons spoke out for the first time in three years to assure fans he is not 'missing' after he was hospitalized for severe indigestion, Los Angeles police officers were seen at his home on Wednesday.

The LAPD's mysterious visit to the Simmons home was first reported by TMZ.

It is not known what the police were doing at his home on Wednesday.

Simmons' well-being has been the subject of speculation, particularly since he hasn't been seen in public.

His admission to hospital on Monday was the first time the workout guru-turned recluse had left the confines of his California estate in three years.

Just hours after Richard Simmons spoke out for the first time in three years to assure fans he is not 'missing' after he was hospitalized for severe indigestion, Los Angeles police officers were seen at his home on Wednesday (above)

Simmons has spoken out for the first time in three years to assure fans he is not 'missing' after he was hospitalized for severe indigestion on Monday

'Arent you sick of hearing and reading about me?!' he wrote in a Facebook post, alongside a picture of himself from 2014 (above)

His disappearance from public life even sparked the podcast Missing Richard Simmons in February.

On Wednesday, Simmons reached out to fans to assure them he was still around - and thank them for their support.

'Arent you sick of hearing and reading about me?!' he wrote in a Facebook post, alongside a picture of himself from 2014.

'Well by now you know that Im not missing, just a little under the weather. Im sure I will be feeling good and back home in a couple of days.'

Simmons, who remains hospitalized, also added his thanks to the many fans who had reached out to express their concern and good wishes.

Rough week: Richard Simmons (above in November 2013) has been hospitalized in California since Monday

'You will never know how much it means to me,' he wrote. 'This has reminded me that when you need help you cant be afraid to reach out and ask for it. We all think we should always be able to solve our problems all by ourselves and sometimes its just bigger than we are.

'I reached out and I hope you will too. Im sure there are people in your life who love and care for you and would do anything to help you with the challenges you face.

'Just knowing you care has already made me feel better. Hope to see you again soon!'

Simmons' manager Michael Catalano told ABC News on Tuesday that the fitness guru had been hospitalized 'at an undisclosed location in California.'

'After a few days of battling severe indigestion and discomfort while eating, we agreed it was best for him to seek treatment,' he said.

Catalono added: 'Hes already feeling better and is expected to make a full recovery.'

Coming out of the dark: He has been holed up in his home (above) for the 36 months since he became a recluse

This news comes just a few weeks after a report that Simmons may finally be ready to come out of hiding.

That report also came from Catalano, hot on the heels of a report stating that the fitness guru had just signed a lucrative deal with Prominent Brand + Talent.

This new deal gives Prominent the rights to represent Richard Simmons for licensing, merchandising and endorsement opportunities around the globe.

And it was set in motion by a 2016 DailyMail.com story about Simmons reclusive behavior that one year later was explored in the popular six-episode podcast 'Missing, Richard Simmons.'

'All I can say, at least for now, is it is possible,' Catalano said in an interview with The New York Times about Simmons leaving his home after holing up inside the residence for the past 38 months.

'But it is yet to be determined, I would say.'
A male and female were taken into custody Friday after being caught having sex on a beach close to the Trump Organization's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, police said.

Chloe Exiner, 20, of Illinois and Daniel Dolan, 19, of Pennsylvania face charges of indecent exposure, according to ABC 10 News.

President Donald Trump was in town at the time the incident occurred and staying at the resort, which has been called the 'Winter White House,' located in Palm Beach.

Chloe Exiner, 20, and Daniel Dolan, 19, were taken into custody Friday after being caught having sex on a beach close to the Trump Organization's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida; this file photo shows a Palm Beach police car in front of a gate outside the Mar-a-Lago Club

The two were spotted by the US Coast Guard as they patrolled the area during Trump's stay. according to a report filed by the Palm Beach Police Department.

The woman was sitting on the man's lap on the north side of the beach and was 'bouncing up and down in a lewd and sexual manner', the report read.

Exiner removed herself from Dolan's lap and went to grab her pants from the ground as Dolan pulled up the pants he had been wearing around his knees, the arresting officer wrote.

'Exiner and Dolan were both surprised by my presence and were visibly nervous,' the officer wrote.

The two told the officer that they are not permitted to engage in sex at their treatment facilities and confessed to having sex on the beach, police said.

Both individuals were arrested and given written notices to appear before a judge.

The couple could be seen having sex on surveillance footage of Bingham Island, police said.

Bingham Island is situated nearby Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, where the president was spending the Easter holiday.
A man whose mother is presumed dead after their boat sank in the Atlantic Ocean is asking a Connecticut judge to seal from public view a search warrant that disclosed that he was a suspect in the 2013 slaying of his millionaire grandfather.

A hearing on Nathan Carman's request is set for Thursday in Middletown.

The Vernon, Vermont, resident left a Rhode Island marina with his mother Linda Carman on a September 17 fishing trip. He was found in a life raft eight days later south of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, but his 54-year-old mother was missing, presumed drowned.

Nathan Carman (right) denies being involved in the murder of his grandfather in 2013. He was rescued after his mother, Linda (left), drowned on a fishing trip when their boat sank

Carman - who suffers from Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism - wants a warrant to search his former Middletown home looking for the gun that killed his grandfather, John Chakalos, sealed. His lawyer said it contains damaging, unproven allegations about the 22 year old.

'The facts contained would seriously threaten Mr Carman's reputation and ability to seek and maintain employment,' wrote his lawyer Trent A LaLima in his motion to seal the warrant.

'Mr Carman is a very young man. These documents, if not sealed, could be discovered by potential employers, business partners, or others, for decades to come,' LaLima added.

Nathan Carman (right) disembarks at the US Coast Guard station in Boston last year. He was found in a life raft eight days after he set sail with his mother south of Martha's Vineyard

Carman was 19 when his grandfather was fatally shot on December 20, 2013, in Windsor, Connecticut, the Hartford Courant reports.

Chakalos kept a collection of vintage World War II guns that could have matched the murder weapon and only Carman, who was the last person to see the wealthy real estate and nursing home magnate alive when the two had dinner, knew exactly how many weapons Chakalos had  and whether any were missing.

The next day one of Chakalos's daughters found the 87 year old dead.

A search of Carman's apartment on July 18, 2014, found a Remington tactical shotgun, a rifle scope and several boxes of ammunition, but the rifle did not match the caliber of the gun used to kill Chakalos, according to the warrant.

Carman denies any wrongdoing and has not been charged.

A hearing is scheduled for April 20 on the motion to seal the warrant and a court order for Carman to forfeit his gun.

Nearly four years later no-one has faced charges in the high profile case and the Chakalos family has offered a $250,000 reward for information.

Carman remains a person of interest in the case, Windsor Police said. He had been due to meet his mother at 3am on the day after his grandfathers death to go on a fishing trip, but he did not show.

Carman was a suspect in the murder of his grandfather John Chakalos (pictured)

In September, Carman was picked up 100 miles out to sea, by a Chinese freighter, the Orient Lucky.

He said his boat, the Chicken Pox, had gone down in Block Canyon.

Carman claimed that while he was grabbing supplies of food and water for the life raft, he lost sight of his mother.

Nathan and Linda Carman had set sail from the Ram Point Marina in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, around 11pm on September 17. Linda had told a friend they were going to an area around Striper Rock, 80 miles closer to shore and in much shallower waters.

Police are investigating to see if Nathan had deliberately made his boat less safe by removing trim tabs and failing to correct problems with his bilge pump.

Fellow boater Mike Iozzi told the Boston Globe that Carman had told him the tabs dont make the boat respond well.

Nathan Carman's home in Vernon, Vermont, was searched by police in September after he was brought back to shore. His mother Linda is still missing, presumed dead

Iozzi said Carman had fixed the boat with sealant, and that he had warned him not to go out too far at night. I dont know what happened, said Iozzi. The guy upstairs probably knows what happened.

Carman has denied being responsible in the deaths of either his grandfather or his mother, who, along with three sisters, was left the bulk of Chakaloss $42 million fortune. He told the Associated Press he did everything he could to find his mother.

What happened on the boat was a terrible tragedy that I am still trying to process and that I am still trying to come to terms with, Carman said.

I don't know what to make of people being suspicious, he added. I have enough to deal with.

I would not have taken my mom out fishing with me had I not believed the boat was seaworthy.

Carman and his mother (pictured together) often went on fishing trips together

The pair were in this boat when it sank off the coast of Rhode Island on September 17

Carman said Chakalos, his grandfather, was like a father to me and I was like a son to him.

He was the closest person in the world to me, and I loved him and he loved me, and I had absolutely nothing to do with his death, Carman said.

His father Clark Carman, also insisted Nathan was not responsible for either death.

There were only two people in his life, his mother and his grandfather, the older Carman told the Hartford Courant.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has said the Manus Island incident where 100 gunshots were fired came after asylum seekers were seen leading a five-year-old boy into the centre.

On Good Friday at 6pm, a fight between locals and detainees was quickly broken up by the Papua New Guinea Navy Defence Force after rocks were allegedly thrown over the fence of the compound.

'There was concern about why the boy was being led or for what purpose he was being led back away into the regional processing centre,' Mr Dutton told Sky News.

'I think it's fair to say the mood had elevated quite quickly, I think some of the local residents were quite angry about this particular incident and another alleged sexual assault'.

The violent incident came after a refugee on Manus Island was last month arrested for the alleged sexual assault of a child.

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Immigration Minister Peter Dutton (pictured) has said the Manus Island incident where 100 gunshots were fired was sparked by asylum seekers leading a five-year-old boy into the centre

Picture shows an asylum seeker on Manus Island with gauze over what is reported to be a head wound sustained from an attack on the detention centre on Good Friday

Mr Dutton said he has no further details as the Good Friday incident is under investigation.

The five-year-old boy was returned to his parents unharmed.

At least one asylum seeker was injured when a large group of local men, including Navy personnel, tried to storm the detention centre and attack the asylum seekers inside.

More than 100 rounds of ammunition were fired into the centre, which was left peppered with gunshots.

The incident sparked serious concerns for the safety of detainees and Australian authorities on the island.

One Sudanese man is reported to have sustained a head injury and a Pakistani man detained on Manus has a stomach injury, causing him to urinate blood, says Behrouz Boochani - a journalist detained on the island.

He reports another Sudanese man has a chest injury, and some Australian officers have been injured and did not attend the centre for work on Saturday. Mr Boochani claims none of these injuries were caused by guns.

'All of these injuries were caused by stones thrown by local people and not because of gun shots,' he wrote to followers of his Facebook page.

It has been reported from advocates and men on Manus Island that detainees hid in their rooms, some under their beds, for most of the shooting. But Mr Behrouz said the fear had also hit Australian staff at the compound.

'I think it's fair to say the mood had elevated quite quickly, I think some of the local residents were quite angry about this particular incident and another alleged sexual assault,' Mr Dutton said

Behrouz Boochani (pictured), a journalist detained on Manus Island, says three asylum seekers and some Australian staff were 'seriously' injured by rocks thrown over the fence of the compound by locals and PNG Navy personnel on Friday night

Three detainees and some Australian staff members at the Manus Island detention centre have been injured following a fight between detainees and locals and PNG Navy personnel (pictured: bullet holes left by gunfire directed at Manus Island detention centre on Friday night)

Graphic images shared by the Refugee Action Coalition show bullet holes in the walls of the Manus Island detention centre (pictured)

'On the other side of the fences, in staff accommodation, the Australian non-security staff like case managers, interpreters, and immigration were scared too,' he wrote.

'I talked with some of them and they were in an unsafe place like the refugees. Some of those staff did not come to work today.

'Last night proved that Australia cannot ensure safety not only for refugees but for its citizens too.'

Security workers and some Australian staff are understood to have fled the compound, and boarded a ship when the fight began to get out of control on Friday evening.

The night's events have lead to calls to have asylum seekers and refugees evacuated from the compound.

Bullet holes also hit what appears to be metal piping at the compound, the RAC claim

It is claimed about 100 bullets were fired by Navy personnel towards the complex on Friday evening

Mr Boochani said on Friday some military officers managed to break into the rooms in the compound, though there have been no injuries

The Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce, representing several Christian church leaders, issued a statement on Saturday calling on the government to 'act with compassion' and evacuate the camp.

'For the latest outbreak of violence to occur on Good Friday, an important part of the Christian calendar, there can be no ignoring the synergy of suffering,' Very Reverend Peter Catt said in a statement.

'The darkness of betrayal and abandonment that we are familiar with in the Jesus story is being felt keenly by those on Manus Island this weekend.

'By bringing people to Australia, the US (refugee) deal may continue. More importantly, the healing of those who have been damaged by our nation's policy can begin.'

Similar calls have also been issued by Amnesty Australia and The Human Rights Law Centre.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection confirmed there was an incident at Manus Regional Processing Centre involving residents and PNG military personnel.

A spokesperson for the Department says PNG authorities are investigating the matter and residents are now safely inside the centre.

Kon Karapanagiotidis of the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre says the shootings show why the men on Manus should be evacuated immediately and brought to Australia

'There are reports one resident was injured from a rock thrown during the incident and he is receiving treatment,' they said, noting the Department was continuing to monitor the situation.

The Department also confirmed PNG military personnel discharged a weapon into the air during the incident but says nobody was injured.
A female bodybuilder charged along with two police officers over a steroid trafficking investigation has been identified.

The retail worker faced Rockhampton Magistrates Court in central Queensland on Wednesday, and has been identified by the Courier Mail as Stephanie Rumble, 27.

Social media photographs show the woman posing, showing off her muscular frame.

Rumble was charged alongside two police officers following an investigation by the Crime and Corruption Commission into steroids trafficking.

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Stephanie Rumble (pictured), 27, is facing trafficking charges for allegedly supplying steroids

The retail worker faced Rockhampton Magistrates Court on Wednesday

She was initially charged in March with one count of supplying a dangerous drug (steroids), one count of possessing a dangerous drug (cannabis), possessing a drug utensil, possessing a restricted item without a prescription and one count of failing to dispose of a syringe.

Rumble was on Wednesday handed additional charges, one count of trafficking a dangerous drug (steroids), or alternatively five charges of supply a dangerous drug.

Rumble was also charged with one count of possessing a mobile phone used in the commission of a crime.

Her matter was adjourned until May 10.

Police constable Troy Richard Pryczek, 30, admitted to possession of a dangerous drug during a hearing at Rockhampton Magistrates Court.

He was fined $800 but no conviction was recorded.

Brett Anthony Cullerton, 35, is also facing charges for allegedly trafficking steroids

Fellow constable Brett Anthony Cullerton, 35, was already facing a slew of drug-related charges when he was hit with additional drug and misconduct charges on Wednesday morning.

Cullerton, who is accused of trafficking steroids, will return to the court on May 10.

He is charged with one count of trafficking a dangerous drug (steroids), or alternatively seven charges of supplying a dangerous drug (steroids).

He is also charged with failing to dispose of a syringe and needle, and one charge of possessing a mobile phone in the commission of a crime.
A 'hydroponic weed growing room' has been set up on a Sydney street in full view of the public.

A group called 'Craze Co' set up the display on the corner of William and Dowling Street in the heart of Kings Cross.

The collective are protesting against the illegality of marijuana possession.

A 'hydroponic weed growing roo' has been set up on a Sydney street in full view of the public

A group called 'Craze Co' set up the display on the corner of William and Dowling Street in the heart of Kings Cross

Images of the pop-up, with a sign reading 'Who are we hurting?' were uploaded to Facebook on Thursday.

'Hydroponic grow room in the heart of the Australian city killed by alcohol fueled (sic) violence to demonstrate the new wave of stoners are successful and spark debate about the inadequate laws turning them into criminals,' Craze Co wrote alongside the images.

In the images a number of plants can be seen in pots, set up on a table.

The pop-up store has a window shopfront, putting the plants in clear view of people walking by.

However the appearance was deceptive as police investigated the scene and found the plants in question were not cannabis.

'Police attended a premises to investigate an alleged hydroponic set up in Kings Cross,' a NSW police spokesperson said.

'The plants were found not to be cannabis and no further action was taken.'

The collective is protesting against the criminalisation of marijuana possession
The professor who discovered Allison Baden-Clay's body in a river has spoken out about the horrific discovery for the first time.

Professor Daryl Joyce regularly paddled up Kholo Creek, outside Brisbane, in his kayak.

On that fateful Monday morning in April 2012, he thought he had come across someone sleeping but quickly realised his first guess was wrong.

Now, on the fifth anniversary of Ms Baden-Clay's disappearance, Mr Joyce, who is professor of Horticulture at the University of Queensland, revealed to whimn how he realised who the body belonged to.

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Professor Daryl Joyce (right) who discovered Allison Baden-Clay's (left, with her husband and killer on their wedding day) body in a river has spoken out about the discovery for the first time

He had come across a person lying on their side on the creek's bank beneath the bridge as the search for the missing mother entered its 11th day.

As he navigated a bend, around 13km from Ms Baden-Clay's home in Brookfield, he saw her body.

'Initially, I thought it was someone sleeping on the creek bank,' he told the website.

'Then, I realised it was Allison based on her clothes. A mannequin dressed like Allison had been shown on TV.'

Professor Daryl Joyce was paddling up Kholo Creek, outside Brisbane, in his kayak when he saw the missing mother's body on the bank (above, file photo)

Although he said the moment was a shock to him, Professor Joyce said he immediately made his way to where he launched his kayak and called police.

The mother-of-three's disappearance had dominated headlines around Australia after her husband Gerard reported her missing on April 20, 2012.

Two months after the discovery, he was charged and later convicted of his wife's murder and disposing of her body. He was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 15 years.

Five years on, Professor Joyce says he often thinks of that autumn morning when he kayaks past the area.

'I am glad that I was able to contribute towards piecing together what had happened and [offering] closure for those most sadly affected,' he added.
Some American Airlines pilots are complaining that their new uniforms may look good but are not making them feel good.

About 100 pilots said the new uniforms, which were distributed in September, were giving them rashes, swollen eyes, and making them feel generally ill, reported Bloomberg News.

'They have to be fit for duty,' Dennis Tajer, an Allied Pilots Association spokesman, said in an interview. 'If the uniform is making them not fit for duty, then something has to change.'

The new pilot uniforms, the first in 30 years (above), are slate gray and snazzier looking with colorful pieces that can be added, but causing some allergic reactions

The old uniform (above) was navy gray and less sleek, but AA employees are able to wear it if the new one is causing issues

Tajer said a couple of pilots became so sick they couldn't fly, and others only had symptoms when the uniforms were on.

Later in the week, the union plans to distribute a survey to get a sense of how many pilots are suffering.

American gave out 1.5 million new uniforms, which are slate gray as opposed to the old navy blue, to 70,000 employees in its first major uniform change in 30 years. The airline has declined to recall the clothing despite about 3,000 flight attendants and about 5,000 total employees previously complaining of similar, and even worse, symptoms.

The new slate gray flight attendant and customer service uniforms (left) can be jazzed up with jackets, cobalt blue sweaters, and Cole Haan ties and scarfs; the old uniforms were navy blue and white, and can be worn if needed

Flight attendants and customer service agents complained of 'eye swelling, rashes, skin blistering' plus wheezing, headaches, and vertigo, said the union that represents 25,000 of the flight attendants, according to NBC News.

In the case of the flight attendants and customer service agents, they were given the option to wear their old uniforms, replace uniform pieces that were bothering them, and also use an alternate supplier, Aramark.

The older uniforms are made by Twin Hill, a unit of Tailored Brands, in Houston.

However, flight attendants began complaining about rashes with those uniforms too. However, reports Chicago Business Journal, so far the amount of complaints is small, but it could widen. The uniforms are made in Bangladesh, the same place the Twin Hill uniforms are made.

American said it can do the same for the pilots, who are given the option of non-wool and cotton versions of uniforms, or also to wear their old uniforms.

The new slate gray uniforms (seen under the jacket above) could be paired with a blue and red scarf to give a snazzier look

Twin Hill has been testing the uniforms since complaints began rolling in months ago, but so far has not pinpointed a problem.

'Whatever they find in their survey, were happy to meet and discuss it with them, said Ron Defeo, a spokesman for American Airlines Group Inc. 'Weve shown were willing to work and find solutions.'

In December, the flight attendant union's president, Bob Ross, filed a grievance with American's general counsel, stating: 'Personal health is so integral and critical to our Flight Attendant workforce, who must be able to work in a healthy manner and environment. To do so, our members need proper and safe uniforms.'

The new uniforms could also be paired with a pretty shade of blue cardigan

The uniforms, which were navy blue, are now slate gray with cobalt blue cardigans or gray jackets and Cole Haan ties and scarfs that are red and blue. Attendants had the choice of mix and matching pants, shirts, skirts and jackets, reported Dallas News.

The outfits are meant to be comfortable, flexible, durable, and can be worn in all different types of weather. After some initial complaints from the pilot's union on the first test batch of the uniform, the company went back to the drawing board.

In September, the company excitedly said, 'We were able to refine the collection and really take the time to ensure that its a success,' according to NBC News.

But that didn't last long as the complaints about allergic reactions began rolling in.

The union has demanded that American Airlines stop issuing the new uniforms, give flight attendants sick leave, and create a $2million fund to research what the problem is.

American Airlines received a grievance from the union on Wednesday from the flight attendants' union

It also issued a release telling flight attendants that if they don't feel comfortable wearing the new uniform to call the AA center and document whether they want to return to old blue uniforms.
The United States Navy and Marine Corps have officially outlawed posting nude photos of service members online.

The two military branches criminalized the swapping of nude photos in response to the recent scandal in which former and current service members created a Facebook page that featured pictures of naked female soldiers.

The rule change was first reported by Navy Times.

The revised regulation states that soldiers who post nude pictures will be prosecuted in military court if they do so 'with the intent to realize personal gain; with the intent to humiliate, harm, harass, intimidate, threaten, or coerce the depicted person; or with reckless disregard as to whether the depicted person would be humiliated, harmed, intimidated, threatened, or coerced.'

The new regulations, which were approved by Acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley, will go into effect immediately.

Attorney Gloria Allred represents two female United States Marines, active duty Marine Marisa Woytek (left) and former Marine Erika Butner (right) during a press conference concerning their personal photographs being posted without their consent to a Facebook page

The United States Navy and Marine Corps have officially outlawed posting nude photos of service members online in response to revelations last month that service members had swapped photos of naked women and posted them on Facebook

'It is a call to arms in the wake of recent reports of unprofessional and inappropriate social media behavior by some who have lost sight of that most fundamental purpose they themselves are duty-bound to serve,' Stackley said in a statement last month when the scandal first made headlines.

'Our ability to succeed as a warfighting organization is directly tied to our ability to fight as one team - a team that treats one another honorably.'

The rule was announced to all members of the US Navy.

Two women from the Marine Corps, one still on active duty, came forward last month as victims of a clandestine all-male social media network of military personnel and veterans under investigation for sharing nude photos of female colleagues.

The existence of a private Facebook group called 'Marines United' and its surreptitious distribution of explicit images of women in the Armed Forces - often with obscene, misogynist commentary - came to light in published reports over the weekend.

General Robert Neller, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, testifies during a Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing in Washington, D.C. on March 14. Neller and the rest of the military's top brass came under heavy pressure to address the scandal

Initially uncovered by The War Horse, a nonprofit news site run by Marine veteran Thomas Brennan, the scandal was first reported by the California-based Center for Investigative Reporting through its radio-podcast Reveal.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service opened an inquiry into the matter and senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill immediately denounced the activity.

The Marines' top commander, General Robert Neller, weighed in with a videotaped rebuke, calling the disclosures an 'embarrassment' to the corps.

'I don't think such behavior is that of true warriors,' he said.

Two women identifying themselves as victims urged others to come forward and called on Neller to meet with victims in person.

'I can tell you that this exact behavior leads to the normalization of sexual harassment and even sexual violence,' said Erika Butner, 23, who served in the Marines for four years before leaving the service last June.

Butner said she learned months later that she was among numerous women from all branches of the military whose pictures were posted without permission to a shared digital drive and organized by name, rank and military base.

In some cases, contact information was included, she said.

She was accompanied by Marisa Woytek, an active-duty Marine who said in a written statement that while she was 'fully clothed and appropriately dressed' in the photos posted of her, those images drew comments suggestive of sexual violence.

Woytek told the New York Times the pictures were taken from her Instagram account without permission, and she was alerted by friends who sent her a screen shot.

'I love the Marine Corps,' she said, 'but after seeing that, I wouldn't re-enlist.'

The U.S. Code of Military Justice explicitly outlaws distribution of sexually explicit photos of others without their consent as an offense punishable by court-marital.

The Facebook group in question is reported to have nearly 30,000 followers, mostly active-duty U.S. Marines, Marine Corps veterans and British Royal Marines. CNN reported Wednesday that group members, rather than halting their network once exposed, moved to other pages with more restrictive access.

The photo sharing, involving thousands of images, began weeks after the first Marine infantry unit was assigned women on Jan. 5, Reveal reported.
A 47-year-old woman who was in a relationship with a man court documents identified as her foster son has been accused of driving a stolen car and possessing other people's mail.

Tracey Lavender, from Dharruk in western Sydney, hid her face as she ran from the Blacktown Local Court on Thursday following a brief appearance.

Court documents revealed Ms Lavender was charged with two counts of being in possession of alleged stolen goods including a letter and a car.

Accused of stealing a car: Tracey Lavender is pictured on Thursday at Westpoint Shopping Centre in Blacktown, shortly after appearing at the local court

Lavender was pulled over by police in Mount Druitt at 9pm on February 26 driving a black Hyundai Grandeur she did not own. She is pictured left and right after court on Thursday

Lavender was pulled over by police in Mount Druitt at 9pm on February 26 while driving a black Hyundai Grandeur she did not own.

The woman was also allegedly in possession of a letter not addressed to her, which police believe was stolen.

The letter is believed to be from an address in Blacktown, some 13km from where the woman lives at a housing commission property.

The woman was accompanied to court on Thursday by a young relative who helped her stay hidden from media.

'I told you they would be here,' Lavender said as she passed through the security checkpoint.

The woman was accompanied to court on Thursday by a person who helped her try and stay hidden from the media

She left the courthouse with her head wrapped in a scarf and avoided questions from the media.

Lavender and her escort ran into Blacktown's Westpoint Shopping Centre afterwards where she posed for photographs.

Lavender has also been charged with allegedly failing to tell police who was in the car with her on the night she was driving the Hyundai.

She is due to reappear in court on May 11.

The courthouse appearance came after it was revealed that Ms Lavender had a relationship with her former foster son, according to court documents filed in AVO proceedings brought against the former foster son.
Kim Jong-un has threatened the US with a 'super-mighty preemptive strike' and warned America: 'Don't mess with us'.

State controlled media claimed North Korea could 'immediately wipe out the US mainland' and reduce its enemies 'to ashes'.

The latest threat from Pyongyang comes amid mounting tensions between North Korea and America and after China moved 150,000 troops to its border with the secretive state.

This morning it emerged that Vladimir Putin is also reinforcing his border with North Korea by relocating troops and equipment.

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Kim Jong-un has threatened the US with a 'super-mighty preemptive strike' and warned America: 'Don't mess with us'

Vladimir Putin is reinforcing his border with North Korea by relocating troops and equipment, including helicopters (left) and tanks (right)

Video purports to show one of three trains loaded with military equipment moving towards the 11 mile-long land frontier between Russia and the repressive state in Russia's far south east

Russia is sending troops to its tiny border with North Korea while China is also understood to have sent 150,000 soldiers to its southern frontier amid fears of a refugee crisis in the event of war

Video purports to show one of three trains loaded with military equipment moving towards the 11 mile-long land frontier between Russia and the repressive state in Russia's far south east.

Another clip highlights military helicopter movements towards the North Korean border and manoeuvres across rough terrain by army combat vehicles. Other reports suggest there have been military moves by road as well.

There have been concerns that if a conflict breaks out Russia could face a humanitarian exodus from North Korea.

But Putin has been warned, too, that in the event of a US strike on Kim Jong-un's nuclear facilities, contamination could swiftly reach Russia.

'Railway trains loaded with military equipment moving towards Primorsky region via Khabarovsk have been noticed by locals,' reported primemedia.ru in the Russian far East - linking the development to the North Korean crisis.

'The movement of military equipment by different means of transport to southern areas is being observed across Primorsky region over the past week,' said military veteran Stanislva Sinitsyn.

'Many relate this to the situation in the Korean peninsula.

'The video shows artillery systems that either support troops in assault or meet the aggressor.'

He said: 'The movement of military equipment means that authorities of our country are keeping up with the situation - and take appropriate measures.'

The movements were 'a preventive but necessary' measure.

Putin (pictured) has reportedly been warned that in the event of a US strike on Kim Jong-un's nuclear facilities, contamination could swiftly reach Russia

Another clip highlights military helicopter movements towards the North Korean border and manoeuvres across rough terrain by army combat vehicles

The movements of troops and equipment have been described as 'a preventive but necessary' measure.

'If the situation worsens, especially related to military events, the armed forces of all the neighbouring countries obviously monitor it more closely, and we are no exception.

'It is not the first time that North Korea has broken the peace in the region, that's why this situation deserves attention.'

Russian military spokesman Alexander Gordeyev declined to give the exact reasons for the troop and equipment movements but said exercises had recently ended in the TransBaikal region of Siberia.

However, a number of local sources appear to believe the movements are linked to the Korean crisis.

The naval port of Vladivostok - where Russia has huge military forces - is less than 100 miles from North Korea.

Expert on the repressive state, Konstantin Asmolov, said: 'Should the US strike with missiles at North Korea's nuclear facilities, a radioactive cloud will reach Vladivostok within two hours.'

Asmolov, from the Russian Far Eastern Institute, warned that in the event of full-scale war 'hungry asylum seekers will flood into Russia.'

Thousands of goose-stepping troops paraded through Pyongyang in a show of strength on Saturday

Russia on Wednesday blocked UN Security Council condemnation of Pyongyang's latest missile test - even though China, which has a major frontier with North Korea had backed the strongly-worded statement put forward by the United States.

The proposed statement would have demanded that North Korea 'conduct no further nuclear tests' and halt missile launches .

Pyongyang carried out a failed test on Sunday.

Russia wanted to include language contained in a previous statement stressing the need to achieve a solution through dialogue, according to council diplomats.

Moscow's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said: 'Unfortunately, we have to admit that the risk of a serious conflict in this region has substantially increased.'

He called for a 'demonstration of responsibility' from all sides to avoid escalation.

U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has taken a hard line with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has rebuffed admonitions from sole major ally China and proceeded with nuclear and missile programmes in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions.

There has been some confusion over the whereabouts of a U.S. aircraft carrier group after Trump said last week he had sent an 'armada' as a warning to North Korea, even as the ships were still far from Korean waters.

The U.S. military's Pacific Command explained that the USS Carl Vinson strike group first had to complete a shorter-than-planned period of training with Australia. It was now heading for the Western Pacific as ordered, it said.

Chilling: An enormous missile drives past troops during the Day of the Sun military parade on Saturday

China's influential Global Times newspaper, which is published by the People's Daily, the Communist Party's official paper, wondered whether the confusion was deliberate.

'The truth seems to be that the U.S. military and president jointly created fake news and it is without doubt a rare scandal in U.S. history, which will be bound to cripple Trump's and U.S. dignity,' it said.

North Korea did not refer to the mix-up but said the United States and its allies 'should not mess with us'.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, did not mince its words.

'In the case of our super-mighty preemptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only U.S. imperialists' invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the U.S. mainland and reduce them to ashes,' it said.

Yesterday, footage emerged of Kim Jong-un smiling and waving as cheering crowds watched a simulation of a US city being wiped out by a nuclear attack.

Footage captures the moment Kim Jong-un smiled and waved as cheering crowds watched a simulation of a US city being wiped out by a nuclear attack

North Korea put on a musical show to mark the birthday of founding father Kim Il Sung which ended with a mock-up of rockets engulfing America in flames

The singing was followed by footage of its test-firing of a missile in February which, in the video, was joined by other missiles shooting into sky, passing over the Pacific and exploding in giant balls of flames in the United States

Huge crowds were in the building to watch the extravaganza with military personnel cheering as the propaganda video was shown

North Korea put on a musical show to mark the birthday of founding father Kim Il Sung which ended with a mock-up of rockets engulfing America in flames.

The choral performance was attended by dictator Kim Jong-un, the elder of Kim's grandson, on Sunday, after a massive military parade in the capital.

The singing was followed by footage of its test-firing of a missile in February which, in the video, was joined by other missiles shooting into sky, passing over the Pacific and exploding in giant balls of flames in the United States.

The video ended with a picture of the American flag in flames, overlapping row after row of white crosses in a cemetery.

'When the performance was over, all the performers and participants in the military parade broke into enthusiastic cheers of 'hurrah!',' state run KCNA news agency said.

State TV footage showed leader Kim smiling and waving in return.

'The Dear Supreme Leader waved back to them and congratulated the artistes on their successful performance,' KCNA said.

The choral performance was attended by dictator Kim Jong-un, the elder of Kim's grandson, on Sunday, after a massive military parade in the capital

The video ended with a picture of the American flag in flames, overlapping row after row of white crosses in a cemetery

North Korea said in February that it had successfully tested a new type of medium- to long-range ballistic missile, the Pukguksong-2, propelled by a solid-fuel engine

Footage showed huge rockets being wheeled into position before a simulation showed missiles destroying a US city

The video was accompanied by music and singing and the audience cheered as the video showed America engulfed in flames

North Korea said in February that it had successfully tested a new type of medium- to long-range ballistic missile, the Pukguksong-2, propelled by a solid-fuel engine.

During Saturday's military parade it displayed what appeared to be new intercontinental ballistic missiles.

And a day later it conducted a failed missile test, which drew international condemnation.

North Korea regularly threatens to destroy the United States and amid heightened tension on the Korean peninsula, it has escalated a war of words, warning of full-out nuclear war if Washington takes military action against it.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, on a trip to Asia, has repeatedly warned that the 'era of strategic patience' with North Korea is over and on Wednesday said it would meet any attack with an 'overwhelming response'.
A paraplegic man fined for parking his car in a handicapped spot is taking the matter to court following a five-year fight to get authorities to wave the fine.

After parking in a disabled car park in Glen Waverley, Melbourne, in 2012, Ben Williams returned to find a $141 fine attached to his windscreen, The Age reported.

Mr Williams, 49, was paralysed in a car crash when he was just 13-months old.

Ben Williams, 49, was paralysed in a car crash when he was just 13-months old

He said he had a disabled parking permit when the fine was issued, but the sticker wasn't displayed.

Fair enough the policeman has given it. I don't have a query or problem with that. But the sticker may have fallen down... it's always in my car, I don't have another car,' Mr Williams told The Age.

When Mr Williams went to Glen Waverley police station to question the fine he was told to write a formal letter, which he said he did.

Mr Williams said he has given a copy of his parking permit to the Sheriff's Office and infringements office four times since then.

After parking in a disabled car park in Glen Waverley, Melbourne, in 2012, Ben Williams returned to find a $141 fine attached to his windscreen

'They haven't accepted it,' he said.

Mr Williams will apply have the fine revoked in the Ringwood Magistrates Court on Friday.

He hopes it can be a lesson for authorities to introduce a hanging permit, rather than one that sticks and could fall off.

'These permits are designed for people like me and there's going to be occasions when the sticker might fall off,' he said.
Up to 730,000 elephants are 'missing' from Africa's protected areas amid fears they have been slaughtered, a report has found.

Conservationists in South Africa have blamed 'pervasive poaching' for the dramatic reduction in numbers across 73 designated areas spanning 21 African countries.

Researchers from the Conservation Ecology Research Unit (CERU) at the University of Pretoria have called for action to protect the animals.

Up to 730,000 elephants are 'missing' from Africa's protected areas amid fears they have been slaughtered, a report has found (file picture)

Conservationists in South Africa have blamed 'pervasive poaching' for the dramatic reduction in numbers across 73 designated areas spanning 21 African countries (file picture shows ivory being torched by officials in Cameroon)

But they said the situation was not necessarily all 'doom and gloom' since the findings could serve as a global wake-up call.

Study author Ashley Robson said: 'In the past, we've had relatively good estimates of how many elephants there are and how many are poached. But now, we've determined how many elephants there should be in the first place.

'While the magnitude of loss due to poaching is devastating  730 000 elephants are missing across the 73 protected areas assessed  I don't see our work as more doom and gloom. While the conservation targets are a positive step, our study is a wake-up call

'On the contrary, we provide ecologically meaningful goals for elephant conservationists to work toward. It's a positive step for elephants.'

Remote sensors were used to monitor vegetation and water sources used by elephant populations while poaching statistics were also taken into account when producing the figures.

Researchers, who published their findings in PLOS ONE also used the largest population database for any mammal species to model the density at which individual populations should stabilise.

Researchers from the Conservation Ecology Research Unit (CERU) at the University of Pretoria have called for action to protect the animals

Mr Robson added: 'Everyone with an interest in conservation  protected area managers, policy-makers, international funders, and the public  should consider our study.

'We've made it possible to target resources to the protected areas that have the greatest need. Of course, this isn't just for the sake of elephants; elephants play a major role in shaping the savannahs that in Africa cover as much land as the USA and continental Europe combined.

'Losing elephants is detrimental to our savannahs and the species that rely on them.

'While the conservation targets are a positive step, our study is a wake-up call.

'Around 70 per cent of the current distributional range of African elephants fall beyond protected areas. That elephants aren't doing well, even where protected, means we need to take action.'

In August, a separate study found that the number of savanna elephants in Africa was rapidly declining and the animals were in danger of being wiped out as international and domestic ivory trades drive poaching across the continent.

In August, a separate study found that the number of savanna elephants in Africa was rapidly declining and the animals were in danger of being wiped out as international and domestic ivory trades drive poaching across the continent (file picture)

Africa's savanna elephant population plummeted by about 30 per cent from 2007 to 2014 and was declining at about eight per cent a year, said a survey funded by Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul Allen.

'If we can't save the African elephant, what is the hope of conserving the rest of Africa's wildlife?' elephant ecologist Mike Chase, the lead researcher, said in a statement. 'I am hopeful that, with the right tools, research, conservation efforts and political will, we can help conserve elephants for decades to come.'

The aerial survey covered 18 countries using dozens of airplanes to fly the equivalent of going to the moon and partway back. The study, known as the Great Elephant Census and involving 90 scientists, estimated a population of 352,271 savanna elephants.

Overall, researchers spotted about 12 carcasses for every 100 live elephants, indicating poaching at a high enough level to cause population decline. But the rates were much higher than that in some countries.

Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania experienced greater population declines than previously known, and elephants face local extinction in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Zambia, the study said. It also says numbers of elephants in South Africa, Uganda and parts of Malawi and Kenya were stable or partly increasing.
Rodney Lawrence, 66, is charged with the 1982 murder of Elizabeth Dixon (pictured). He was granted bail on Thursday ahead of his trial in November

A man accused of murdering a woman whose mutilated body was found in bushland near Newcastle more than three decades ago has been granted bail.

Rodney Lawrence, 66, is charged with the stabbing murder of Elizabeth Dixon, 31, in April 1982 and an alternative charge of being an accessory after the fact.

In the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday, Justice Elizabeth Fullerton granted him bail noting by the time his trial starts in November he would otherwise have been in custody for more than two years.

Police allege Ms Dixon suffered 27 stab wounds, had serious head wounds and had been tied up when she was found inside her car in bushland at Ashtonfield.

Lawrence (pictured being arrested in 2015) has pleaded not guilty to the murder and consistently maintained his dead father-in-law, William Phillips, was the real killer

Police allege Ms Dixon suffered 27 stab wounds, had serious head wounds and had been tied up when she was found inside her car in bushland at Ashtonfield (Lawrence pictured in 2015)

Lawrence has pleaded not guilty to the murder and consistently maintained his dead father-in-law, William Phillips, was the real killer.

He has also denied an alternative charge of being an accessory after the fact.

His Newcastle trial is due to start on November 13.

Lawrence's son had recalled a 2002 conversation when his father told him Mr Phillips had killed Ms Dixon and Lawrence had later assisted him 'under duress', his lawyer Chris Bruce said in a bail hearing on Wednesday.

'It is a very weak Crown case in relation to the murder,' Mr Bruce said, adding it was strong in relation to being an accessory, but there was a defence to the charge.

Lawrence's Newcastle trial is due to start on November 13

The lawyer for the Crown opposed bail, alleging Lawrence had told lies and was the 'perpetrator' despite maintaining his father-in-law was the culprit.

After Mr Bruce submitted that Lawrence had no record of violence, a man in the public gallery stormed out of the court, describing him as a 'monster'.

Justice Elizabeth Fullerton was told Lawrence had been in custody for about 16 months, had been on a disability pension for many years and, according to his ex-wife, was an alcoholic.
A customer has been left with a bad taste in her mouth after she found a bandaid in her food purchased from an auto repair takeaway shop.

Nikkita Rose Chapman bought a pizza from the Tomakin Auto Centre restaurant on the south coast of NSW on Tuesday when she discovered the bandaid inside.

Ms Chapman posted photos of the discovery to her Facebook page and wrote: 'For everyone's health and safety do not go to Tomakin Auto Center unless you all want to be in hospital.'

Nikkita Chapman made a grim discovery on Tuesday - a bandaid inside her pizza (pictured)

'I can't explain how I am feeling but I wish I had not even woke up or wasted my money.. there is a picture of what I had nearly ate, I can not even say it I'm that disgusted but it was a BANDAID!!

'I had save some pizza that I had bought from Tomakin Auto last night, I woke up in the middle of the night to have a midnight snack, who doesn't lol.'

Ms Chapman asked her Facebook friends to share the post and included a photograph of the shopfront to warn others.

'A picture of the front of the shop if people don't know what it looks like.... Wtf now I am constantly worried about my health which shouldn't be a big issue at my age.

'And yes I would love for everyone to comment, share, like, react please help me get this out there for everyone, HEALTH AND SAFETY!!'

Ms Chapman bought the pizza from the Tomakin Auto Centre restaurant on the south coast of NSW

Ms Chapman posted photos of the discovery to her Facebook page

Eddie, the owner of Tomakin Auto's restaurant, told Daily Mail Australia he believes it was due to human error and apologised to the customer for the mishap.

'Every food outlet has this once in a blue moon - we've been a business for 10 years and never had a complaint.'

Eddie said he spoke to his staff on Thursday and claimed none of them were wearing bandaids.

'We never have problems like this - this can happen in any restaurant. I've told my staff to be more vigilant and to be very careful.'

The customer urged her Facebook friends to share her post and not to eat there

Eddie, the owner of Tomakin Auto's restaurant, told Daily Mail Australia he believes it was due to human error and apologised to the customer for the mishap
Nigel Farage has piled the pressure on Ukip leader Paul Nuttall by warning he has six weeks to 'prove himself' in the top job or face being booted out.

The MEP said he would 'work closely' with and 'support fully' the man who holds his old job, but warned the General Election would be a verdict on his leadership.

It means the crisis-hit party could get its fourth leader in less than a year if Mr Nuttall fails to make good on his pledge to win a 'handful' of seats in the June 8 election.

Nigel Farage has warned that Paul Nuttall has just six weeks to prove himself as Ukip leader or face being ousted form the top job

And Mr Farage said he is still deciding whether to run for Parliament for an eighth time.

Asked about his verdict on Mr Nuttall's leadership, told BBC's Radio 4's Today programme this morning: 'He's got six weeks to prove himself, hasn't he?'

He added: 'Paul has walked into this job and I guess he's probably been shocked at how tough it is.

'But he now realises exactly what he's facing and I think he'll come through very strongly.'

Mr Nuttall has faced fierce criticism amid bitter in-fighting in his party.

He was left personally humiliated when he failed to be elected to the 'Brexit capital' of Stoke-on-Trent earlier this year after running a scandal-hit campaign.

Meanwhile, Mr Farage said he is still mulling over whether to stand again in South Thanet when Britain goes to the polls this summer.

But he insisted that he would win if he threw his hat in the ring, saying:'I think I would, yes,'

He said he will make up his mind in the next couple of days.

Mr Farage has been making the most of his time since stepping down as Ukip leader. As well as striking up a close friendship with US President Donald Trump he has been posting holiday snaps, including this one of him catching Bluefin Tuna in the Adriatic Sea

He said: 'I haven't decided yet. I have got to weigh it up.

'I'm still leading a group in the European Parliament where, of course, ultimately there will be a veto over the whole Brexit deal and where the negotiations will take place over the next two years and I've got to weigh up where am I best to be in terms of having an impact on Brexit and perhaps warning the British public that it's not going in the direction it should be.'

Mr Farage suggested he lost in South Thanet in 2015 'perhaps in circumstances that weren't entirely fair but we'll let the Crown Prosecution Service decide about that' following claims the Conservatives breached election spending limits.

The CPS is said to be considering bringing charges against 30 people over the elections expenses scandal.

The former Ukip leader insisted voters should back his party to ensure there was a 'strong' voice holding Theresa May to account.

'This Prime Minister gives fabulous speeches,' he said. 'She uses words and phrases that I have been using and have been condemned for 20 years.

'It all sounds wonderful. When she was home secretary, remember, she was going to reduce immigration. Did she? Not a bit of it.'
Richi Briones, pictured, was arrested for a suspected knife attack which left one man dead and another bleeding in Las Vegas

A Las Vegas man has been arrested after a man was stabbed to death and another was left bleeding following a seemingly random spree of violence.

Authorities arrested the man suspected in the Las Vegas knife attacks that left one man dead and another bleeding in an alley, police said.

Richi Briones, 32, was taken into custody at a bus stop Wednesday night. Briones' car was found abandoned about 20 miles away.

A man escaped without injury in the first attack at about 9.30am east of downtown Las Vegas, police said.

After the first victim ran away, Briones tried without success to buy a shotgun at a nearby sporting goods store, police Lt. Dan McGrath said.

Officer Michael Rodriguez, a department spokesman, said he didn't know why the sale wasn't completed.

At 10.15am, a man wielding a large knife wounded a man in an alley behind a sushi restaurant. The victim was taken to the hospital in critical condition, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

The fatal attack came when Briones stabbed a gas station convenience store customer from behind several times, McGrath said. The customer was taken to the hospital, where he later died. Authorities have not yet released the victim's name pending family notification.

'It was very random,' McGrath said.

At least one store clerk and several other customers were in the store at the time of the killing, Rodriguez said, and police recovered security camera footage. The video will not be made public until a court decides whether it should be released, Rodriguez said.

Employees embrace at the scene of of the stabbing in Las Vegas, Nevada

Police identified Briones as the suspect of the stabbing after he applied for a shotgun license

A judge ruled in January Briones was not capable of facing felony auto theft charges

Police said Briones had failed to buy a shotgun after trying to stab someone last weekend

Police identified Briones as the suspect from the application he submitted for the shotgun.

According to court records, Briones underwent a mental evaluation before a state court judge ruled in January that he was competent to face a felony auto theft charge.

The case was dismissed in February by a judge after a preliminary hearing of evidence, records show.

Briones was arrested on domestic violence charges in 2015, and was last arrested a few weeks ago on domestic violence charges in California, McGrath told the newspaper.
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She was described as an 'outsider', the 'Queen of the Desert' and 'the most powerful woman in the British Empire in her day'.

Now the life of Gertrude Bell is being revealed in a new documentary following her exploits in the Middle East with Lawrence of Arabia and her work for British Intelligence during the First World War.

Bell was an Oxford-educated archaeologist who was fascinated with Arab culture, but whose work faded from the public eye compared to that of her contemporary TE Lawrence.

A documentary detailing the life of 'Queen of the Desert' Gertrude Bell, an adventurer and diplomat who helped create the modern state of Iraq, is released this week. Bell is pictured centre at the Cairo Conference in 1921 with friend and colleague TE Lawrence, second right, and then Secretary of the Colonies Winston Churchill, where the future of the Middle East was discussed in the wake of the First World War

Bell, pictured left and right, was born in County Durham in 1868 and went on to study history at Oxford, before developing a fascination with Arabia and archaeology, visiting the area several times and frequently embarking on digs, such as one in 1909 at Carchemish, ruins found on the Syrian-Turkish border, where she first met Lawrence of Arabia and 'intimidated' him with her intelligence and ability to speak Arabic 'better than him'

Documentary Letters from Baghdad draws on her diaries and writings and features actress Tilda Swinton as the voice of Bell.

She was born in County Durham in 1868 to a wealthy family, studying history at Oxford before first travelling to Persia, now Iran, in 1892 to visit her uncle Sir Frank Lascelles, who was ambassador.

After developing a passion for archaeology, she spent the next 20 years travelling the globe, frequently returning to the Middle East.

It was in 1909 at a dig at the ancient city of Carchemish, which would now be on the Syrian-Turkish border, that she met Lawrence.

According to The Times, the first meeting between the pair was frosty due to Victorian 'traditions of snootiness, sexism and arrogance' as well as Lawrence feeling 'intimidated' by meeting a woman who was 'his intellectual equal' and 'spoke Arabic better than him'.

Bell, pictured left in Iraq and right with Iraqi farmer friend Haji Naji, was recruited by British Intelligence during the First World War due to her knowledge of the area and made an 'oriental secretary', before staying on in the region after the war to act as a mediator between the fledgling Arab government and British supervisors

Bell first met Lawrence of Arabia at the ruins of the ancient city of Carchemish, which today would be in Turkey near the border with Syria, pictured

But they went on to form a firm friendship, with Bell calling Lawrence, around 20 years her junior, an 'interesting boy' who was 'going to make a traveller'.

Just a few years later Bell was recruited by British Intelligence during the First World War to help guide soldiers through the deserts, before being made Oriental Secretary in 1917, advising the military on the region.

She retained a position with the British Government after the war, working as a diplomat and helping to draw up Iraq's borders and establish the state.

She served as a mediator between the Arab government in Iraq and the British officials overseeing it and campaigned strongly for the country to have 'self-determination'.

Her importance in the area was confirmed when she was invited to the Cairo Conference in 1921 alongside Lawrence, hosted by then Secretary of State for the Colonies Winston Churchill to discuss the future of Middle Eastern territories.

Although her influence in Government began to dwindle, Bell, pictured far left with TE Lawrence, second left, British High Commissioner of Palestine Sir Herbert Samuel, centre, and Emir Abdullah of Jordan, and right in Iraq with a British soldier, focused her efforts into setting up the Iraqi museum and preserving priceless artifacts

Bell also created the Iraqi Museum in Baghdad to preserve artifacts found in digs across the region at sites such as Palmyra, which have since been ransacked by ISIS.

Her love life was another matter, with Bell's first engagement to diplomat Henry Cadogan broken off against her will months before his death.

An affair with married soldier Charles Doughty-Wylie followed, and his death at Gallipoli during the war was said to have broken her heart, causing her to pour all her efforts into her work.

Over the next few years it is believed Bell became depressed due to the deaths of relatives, the sheer scale of her work at the museum and the dwindling of her family fortune.

Bell, who never married, was then found dead in bed in 1926 after an apparent overdose of sleeping pills.

Bell amassed a collection of more than 7,000 photos during her time in the Middle East, including this one of her, centre, enjoying a picnic with British and colonial troops, and many of them will be featured in the upcoming documentary. The film will tell her life in her own words, with Tilda Swinton providing the voice of Bell

The adventurer amassed a collection of more than 7,000 photos of the region, some of which will feature prominently in the documentary, alongside 2,000 documents and hours of film clips.

A statement from the film's creators Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum said: 'Using stunning, never-seen-before footage of the region from 100 years ago, and more than 1600 letters written by Bell and her contemporaries, the film chronicles Bells extraordinary journey into both the uncharted Arabian desert and the inner sanctum of British male colonial power.

'More influential than her friend and colleague T.E. Lawrence (a.k.a. Lawrence of Arabia), why has she been written out of the history she helped make?'

The film took five years to make and follows Hollywood biopic Queen of the Desert that starred Nicole Kidman as Bell and was made in 2015 and released last week in the US.

Letters from Baghdad is released on Friday.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence praised Indonesia's democracy and moderate form of Islam on Thursday alongside the president of the world's most populous Muslim nation, reinforcing his message with a visit to the region's largest mosque.

Pence's comments, though routine, had significance for Indonesian President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, who a day earlier suffered a serious political setback when a political ally was defeated by Islamic conservatives in the election for Jakarta governor. The divisive campaign undermined the image of Indonesia abroad as a generally tolerant Muslim nation.

Indonesia is the latest stop on an Asian tour by Pence that aims to reaffirm traditional U.S. alliances at a time when Donald Trump's presidency has raised questions about the strength of the U.S. commitment to the region.

Vice President Mike Pence, center, removed his shoes during today's mosque visit

The Vice President toured the Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta during his visit to Indonesia

US Vice President Mike Pence met with Indonesian president Joko Widodo in Jakarta

Pence, left, praised Indonesia's moderate form of Islam during his visit to the country

Pence is attempting to repair relations with the Islamic world following Donald Trump's win

Pence said at a joint news conference with Jokowi that the U.S. wants to strengthen its strategic partnership with Indonesia. In brief comments, Jokowi said they agreed to boost cooperation.

The vice president praised Indonesia for its moderate form of Islam and said the two countries would continue to cooperate on combating terrorism.

'As the second- and third-largest democracies in the world, our two countries share many common values including freedom, the rule of law, human rights and religious diversity,' Pence said. 'The United States is proud to partner with Indonesia. It promotes and protects these values.'

The vice president added: 'Indonesia's tradition of moderate Islam frankly is an inspiration to the world and we commend you and your people. In your nation as in mine, religion unifies, it doesn't divide.'

But Pence foreshadowed some reworking of commercial and economic ties, saying that the U.S. seeks a free and fair relationship that helps job creation and economic growth for both sides. He said that U.S. exporters should face a level playing field and the relationship should be 'win-win.'

Trump assailed the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal during his 2016 campaign and announced shortly after his inauguration that the U.S. would withdraw from the Pacific Rim-based TPP, which now includes 11 countries from Chile to New Zealand. Pence has sought to reassure allies in the region that the U.S. is still committed to trade and economic ties despite Trump's decision on TPP.

Indonesia is on Trump's trade hit list of nations that he considers the U.S. is losing out to in trade, and U.S. company Freeport-McMoran Inc., which operates the world's largest copper mine in the Indonesian province of Papua, is in a protracted dispute with the Indonesian government.

Trump attempted to institute a ban on travel from several Muslim-majority countries

Mike Pence's daughter's Charlotte, left, and Audrey, right, sat with President Widodo's daughter Kahiyang Ayu, center, during the visit to the Presidential Palace in Jakarta

Trump's company, the Trump Organization, is active in Indonesia with plans to manage luxury resorts being built near the capital Jakarta and on the tourist island of Bali.

Trump's Indonesian business partner, billionaire Hary Tanoe, is an aspiring politician who has said he might run for president in 2019.

Pence's first engagement in Indonesia was morning tea with Jokowi at the presidential palace. He and his family later visited the Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia.

The Pences removed their shoes at the entrance and his wife, Karen, and two daughters covered their heads with scarves. They walked inside the large prayer hall, observing the soaring dome, and also stopped at an open terrace in the mosque.

Pence later sat with several faith leaders in a conference room where a speaker gave Pence an overview of the mosque's history. The mosque, which can accommodate up to 200,000 people, was designed by a Protestant and sits near a Catholic cathedral in central Jakarta.

The message and images sought to address questions in the Muslim world about Trump after his push for travel bans that would temporarily suspend visas from six predominantly-Muslim countries and halt the U.S. refugee program. Two judges have blocked the ban, prompting the Trump administration to appeal.

Trump's executive order does not include Indonesia, but the country is home to nearly 14,000 refugees seeking resettlement in third countries and activists have said the ban would affect their ability of entering the U.S.
This is the dramatic footage which cleared BBC presenter Chris Packham of assault at a Maltese court.

Film shot by Packham and his crew on the island of Gozo shows them being harassed by a group of policemen while attempting to film an illegal bird hunter.

The 55-year-old Springwatch presenter complained at the time that he had been pushed around by officers, only to be charged over the incident himself.

Packham's case was thrown out of court on Thursday, a fact he celebrated on Twitter with the message: 'Not guilty! And wait until you see our evidence...'

Four hours later, he released the sensational footage on YouTube.

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Chris Packham, 55, best known for his work on Springwatch, had charges of assault in Malta dropped after he presented this footage at a court hearing today

Police had claimed Packham and his camera crew assaulted men who they believed to be illegal bird trappers, but footage shows they were actually harassed by officers

In the film, a policeman can be heard ordering Packham and his crew off a dirt road where they were filming, while shouting at them to get back in their car

Packham released the footage on YouTube after tweeting earlier in the day: 'Not guilty! And wait until you see our evidence...'

In the video, Packham and another man can be seen leaning on a stone wall along a dirt road, observing a property belonging to a man who they suspect is an illegal bird trapper.

Packham can be heard discussing a cage he spotted days earlier on the property filled with birds, many of which are protected species.

But after calling police to inform on the suspected trapper, Packham and his team have discovered that all of the birds are gone.

He says: 'He could have been tipped off by anyone that the wild bird regulation unit were arriving. I didn't imagine he'd be in such a massive rush to deal with it.

'They're all connected, aren't they? They all talk to one-another constantly on their mobile phone, they all text one-another constantly. He could have had an email, a text, a phonecall..'

The presenter had borrowed a suit from a local wildlife campaigner for his court appearance

Packham also tweeted this image after the footage was released, in which he joked about evidence-based decision making

Moments later a car can be heard pulling up in the background, which Packham claims contained a policeman and another man.

In loud voices, the men can be heard ordering them off the road, claiming they are not allowed to film.

Packham claims the policeman pushed him all the way up the street, and can be heard ordering the presenter and his team to get into their cars and drive away.

Shadows on the floor show the men gesturing wildly at the camera crew.

After the police have left, Packham can be heard saying: 'Whose side are they on, then?'

'Were you running?' he adds, to the cameraman. After he replied that he was, Packham says: 'Good man.'

Speaking outside court today, Packham said: 'I'm a free man. It was obvious from the start that these charges were odd and peculiar, because I was the one that was being assaulted and jostled by a man and a police officer.'

Packham, 55, was filming a documentary when he claims he was 'pushed around' by hunters who then accused him of attacking them. He is pictured holding a rescued kestrel he said had been shot

The Springwatch star revealed he had spent two hours in a police station on the island of Gozo and faces a court appearance. Pictured is a Stone Curlew which the wildlife expert said had been illegally shot

Neither of the pair was present for the court appearance, Packham said.

He went on: 'What's obviously thrown a spanner in their works very firmly was that we had three pieces of evidence - one sound track and two films - which showed the whole altercation and showed them to be entirely culpable for it, not ourselves.

'As soon as the judge saw that, his head was in his hands.

'He even suggested that our footage should be sent to an Italian comedy channel and remarked at some point: "Is it any wonder we have problems when the police are acting like this?"'

Yesterday, Packham posed for a picture at a police station in Victoria before posting a video message on Twitter accusing local officers of 'pushing him all the way up the street' rather than arresting trappers.

The star said: 'I have just spent the last two hours in this police station after we were instructed to come back here by the police.

'This is because two trappers who were present at the time claimed that I had assaulted them. I am completely innocent of these charges.

'Not only was I a victim of being pushed around but I was then pushed all the way up the street by a police man.'

The wildlife expert was in Malta to film an independent documentary called Malta: Massacre on Migration.

Packham is due to appear in court on Thursday charged with 'using force against any person with intention to insult or hurt them. He posted this picture of a Marsh Harrier that had been blinded in both eyes after being shot in Malta

Packham claimed an area of the coast had been illegally closed by trappers. The wildlife expert was on the island to film an independent documentary called Malta: Massacre on Migration

Packham's agent told MailOnline the presenter was with a representative of BirdLife Malta when they came across a cage full of mixed bird species 'ranging from protected species like Goldfinch and Collared Doves to other species like Moorhen, Starlings and Turtle Doves.'

Police were called but were unable to officially confirm any wrongdoing without the presence of the Wild Bird Regulation Unit (WBRU), based in Malta, the spokesman said.

But by the time the WBRU arrived hours later, the birds were no longer visible in the aviary.

The spokesman claimed that while filming an interview on a public roadside, a vehicle appeared and two men jumped out shouting at Packham and his team, 'shoving them aggressively'.

'Instead of intervening on behalf of the innocent parties, the police immediately took the side of the aggressors and manhandled Chris and other members of the team off the site,' the spokesman added.

In a tweet after his arrest, Packham added: 'You point out suspected criminals to the police... and you end up in court.'
Company director Michael Shankland, 29, avoided prison after pleading with a judge that his family and six employees 'rely' on him, despite admitted a drink-driving charge

A father-of-two who led police on a drunken 70mph chase in a 30 zone has incurred the wrath of road safety campaigners after being spared jail.

Company director Michael Shankland, 29, avoided prison after pleading with a judge that his family and six employees 'rely' on him, despite crashing his car less than two years after being banned from the roads for drink-driving.

Shankland, who runs a marketing firm, said he was the 'breadwinner' for his partner and two young children and warned that his staff would be out of a job if he went to prison.

He said as a result of his arrest he had take his children to school on the bus, claimed his relationship with their mother was 'under pressure' and he even moaned that his Seat Leon car was written off when he crashed it whilst fleeing police.

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester the judge gave Shankland a suspended jail term saying he 'deserved no sympathy' but said too many people were 'reliant' on him.

After the case a spokesman for road safety campaigner Brake said: 'Drink-driving is illegal for a reason - because it leads to deaths and serious injuries and causes untold devastation to families and communities.

'There can never be an excuse for getting behind the wheel after drinking any amount of alcohol and drivers who repeatedly endanger the lives of others by drinking and driving, such as Michael Shankland, should face tough consequences.

'The suspended sentence in this case sends the wrong message as the driver in question is a repeat offender and wilfully endangered lives.

'Dangerous driving can be deadly. We need courts and the government to take these crimes much more seriously.'

Earlier the court Shankland, from Stockport, had previously been banned from the roads for drink driving in 2015 but got got his licence back and set up his firm Castlerock Marketing in October last year.

Shankland (pictured), who runs a marketing firm, said he was the 'breadwinner' for his partner and two young children and warned that his staff would be out of a job if he went to prison

He got into trouble again on January 27 when he went out drinking to celebrate a friends birthday and decided to drive home at midnight.

Prosecutor Lisa Boocock said: 'A police officer was driving through a green light when the defendant came very close to her and almost caused them to crash.

'He had one male occupant in the passenger seat who waved at the police. He drove off and she was trying to get him to stop but in fact he continued and sped up.

'He was travelling to excess of 70mph in a 30mph built up area.

'The vehicle continued to travel along the road and the police vehicle lost sight of them, and asked for back up from other patrols, but then saw the vehicle swinging out and making a left turn.

'The driving was dangerous although there were no other road users at that time.

'The officer continued following the vehicle and then saw the car had crashed and the bonnet was squashed and the defendant and his male companion were both running away.

'The defendant was shouting that he wasn't the one who was driving. His male companion said: Tell them you need to go to hospital and that you hit your head.'

Tests showed Shankland had 46 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 mililitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

He admitted dangerous driving and drink driving and was given 12 months suspended for a year and was banned from driving for 36 months.

Shankland admitted dangerous driving and drink driving and was given a 12 month suspended jail sentence

His lawyer Richard Dawson said in mitigation: 'The defendant is a family man with two young sons aged three and five. They are of nursery and school age.

'He is in a relationship with the mother of those two children and has been for about eight years - and that relationship is suffering at the moment because of the pressures of this case.

'His partner works in a care home for people with dementia. It is hard work and she enjoys doing it and if Mr Shankland was to lose his liberty she would have to reduce her hours in order to take care of the children.

'The defendant takes care of the children in the morning. He is living separately from her because of the pressures so they have been living separately temporarily but still each morning he takes care of the children and takes them to school.

'He takes them to school on the bus and then goes on from there to work on the bus.

'He has his own business, he is the managing director of his own marketing company which he set up in October last year.

'He employs six people who work for him, and because this is such a new business if he lost his liberty then it would fail and so those six people would lose their employment.

'He is also the breadwinner for the family. Without his income there would be an obvious increase in pressure. He is very regretful for the circumstances.

'He had been out with friends to celebrate that friend's birthday where he only had a couple of drinks because he knew that he was driving. It was his friend who told him to keep driving.

'When he saw the police he was scared that he was over the limit and he panicked and continued to do what was a disgraceful piece of driving and he knew that. He also ended up writing off his own car.'

Shankland was also ordered to complete 300 hours unpaid work and take an extended re-test when his disqualification period is up.

Judge Tina Landale told him: 'This was a persistent piece of driving which could have had catastrophic consequences for members of the public.

'Your driving was very dangerous. After nearly crashing into a police car after going through a red light what followed was a sustained piece of driving.

'You were not acting impulsively by driving in this distasteful way, you were trying to evade the police who were following you by travelling at 70mph in a 30mph built up area.

'The danger that could have been caused to members of the public is obvious and it is your second drink driving convictions.

'I am satisfied that you gave no thought to your respective family or employees when you were driving that moment in January. You dont deserve the sympathy of the court. You may not have given thought to your family or employees but I do.

'The fact is that these people are so reliant on you that it is justified to suspend your sentence. Make no mistake if there is any breach of this order I will reserve this case to myself and I promise you I will send you to prison to serve this sentence.'
The girlfriend of a would-be anti ISIS freedom fighter has been nabbed trying to palm off traffic violations to an innocent Dutch mechanic.

Jamie Williams, 28, planned to join the fight against the extremist group in the Middle East but wound up charged with foreign incursion offences in Melbourne.

The charges were dropped in February last year. But his girlfriend, Jessica Naumovic, 36, was not as fortunate, and was on Thursday ordered to pay $500 to a charity for falsely nominating the blameless driver.

Jamie Williams (right) leaves a County Court hearing with his girlriend Jessica Naumovic, at the Melbourne Magistrates Court in February

Naumovic was nabbed trying to palm off traffic infringement demerit points to an innocent Dutch mechanic

In a bizarre twist, Naumovic was only caught after police seized Mr Williamss phone during the investigation into his plans to travel to Iraq.

Naumovic blamed a Dutch driver for failing to obey traffic lights and exceeding the speed limit in 2014 and 2015.

According to court documents, the Netherlands man told Victoria Police he did not know Naumovic, but at one time was required to drive vehicles while working in Victoria as a mechanic.

While the fine was paid, the Dutch man copped the demerit points.

Naumovic was arrested and interviewed in October 2015, telling police she could not remember if she was driving on the particular dates of each infringement.

However, police figured out what was happening after seizing Williams' phone and analysing Facebook conversations between the two lovers.

Mr Williams, 28, planned to join the fight against ISIS but wound up charged with foreign incursion offences

In a bizarre twist, Naumovic was only caught after police seized Mr Williamss phone during the investigation into his plans to travel to Iraq

Ms Naumovic was initially charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice.

In Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Thursday, those charges were withdrawn and replaced with the lesser crime of providing false information to police.

She was placed on diversion to avoid a criminal record and fined.

The charges against Williams were dropped in February last year at the request of federal Attorney-General George Brandis.

The Australian Federal Police was ordered to cover Mr Williams legal costs.
Lynda Bellingham's son has married his fiancee - but his late mother's third husband Michael Pattemore was not at the ceremony.

Robert Peluso, 29, wed Savannah Brown in New York on Saturday April 8, with his brother Michael acting as best man.

But Mr Pattemore, 62, was not at the lavish wedding following a row between him and Ms Bellingham's sons after the Oxo advert star's death.

Lynda Bellingham's son Robert Peluso (left) was married in New York earlier this month but his mother's third husband Michael Pattemore (right) was not invited, it was reported today

Mr Pattemore was not invited to the nuptials in the US, the Daily Mirror reported.

The couple got engaged in August last year, nearly two years after TV presenter Ms Bellingham's tragic death from bowel cancer.

The wedding and reception was held at the Player's Club near New York's Gramercy Park, where jazz club entertainer Ms Brown brought the house down when she and her bridesmaids performed a special dance for guests and her new husband.

Robert's brother Michael tweeted a photo of the happy couple with the caption: 'They did it! #mymateonapril8th #bro #wedding #bestman'

Hotel manager Robert and Ms Brown, who is from Los Angeles, are understood to have honeymooned in the Caribbean after their big day.

The brothers have previously said they were shocked and saddened by an interview Mr Pattemore gave following their mother's death, in which he claimed he had had sex with her ghost.

They also claimed that Mr Pattemore had only given them a small sum from their mother's estate, the entirety of which she left to Mr Pattemore.

Michael posted this tweet of him an his brother online in the week before the ceremony

Robert's brother Michael (left) is said to have acted as best man at the New York ceremony

The brothers fell out with Mr Pattemore (pictured with Ms Bellingham in 2014) following their mother's death

The pair later said they were not contesting the will that their mother signed before she lost her life to bowel cancer aged 66.

But they said they believe she trusted her husband to ensure her sons would be adequately provided for and this had not occurred.

Mr Pattemore reportedly bought an eight-bedroom mansion for 605,000 and spent thousands on exotic holidays after Ms Bellingham's death, visiting Dubai three times.

Lynda split from her son's father, Italian taxi driver Nunzio Peluso, in 1994, and it was just the three of them until she met Mr Pattemore ten years later.

During the 1980s Ms Bellingham was dubbed the 'nation's favourite mum' thanks to her role on the Oxo adverts as the loving wife who cooked up mouthwatering meals for her family.

In more recent times, she became better known as a presenter on the ITV daytime chat show Loose Women.

Mr Pattemore declined to comment.
In the West, death is often kept out of sight and out of mind - relatives pass away in hospitals, and are buried a few days later.

But not so among the Torajan people in Indonesia, whose relatives die at home and can be kept around for years afterward.

In Torajan culture, people are not considered dead until their funerals have been held, with their families treating them as if they were sick.

The Torajan people, from Indonesia's Sulawesi island, believe their deceased relatives are still alive until they can be given a funeral - an elaborate ceremony that can take years to save for

Their bodies are injected with a preservative called Formulin to stop them decomposing, and they are given a room in the house to 'live' in, the BBC reports.

Doting relatives will bring food, drink and cigarettes to the corpses twice a day, regularly wash the body and change its clothes, and even leave a pot in the corner as a 'toilet'.

They will also speak to the body as if it were still alive, introducing visitors and asking it questions.

The corpse is never left alone, and is always kept in a lit room, for fear the spirit will start causing trouble if it is upset.

Torajan funerals are elaborate affairs, often lasting for days on end, involving relatives brought from around the world, and the sacrifice of hundreds of animals.

Until they can be given a proper burial, the bodies are kept at home with their families, and are treated as if they were sick - with visitors introduced to them

Torajan funerals can last for days, involving relatives flown in from around the world and the sacrifice of hundreds of animals - often at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars

As such, they can take an entire lifetime to save up for - so if a person dies with only a little money, their relatives may keep them around for years while they save.

Mamak Lisa, a Torajan woman who spoke to the BBC, has kept the body of her father Paulo Cirinda for 12 years.

She claims his presence has helped her deal with his passing. She said: 'If we buried him straight away, we would also feel the pain very suddenly.

'We wouldn't get time to deal with the grief and adjust to the separation.'
An Illinois mother who blamed Satan after she stabbed her eight-year-old son to death has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Jody Kossow's son Thomas was found with 55 stab wounds after his mother attacked him believing the devil was chasing her.

A chilling recording of her phone call to a 911 operator was played to a Winnebago County court in December, during which she said: 'I just killed my son. Satan was coming after me. Oh, God. Satan was after me.'

In spite of the confession, Kossow was deemed to be innocent due to her mental health status and Judge John Lowry sent her for 100 years of confinement at the Illinois Department of Human service instead of sentencing her to a prison sentence.

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Chilling: Mom Jody Kossow (left) told 911 she stabbed son Thomas (right) to death because Satan was 'coming after' her. Her defense told the court Tuesday that she was criminally insane

Video courtesy of WREX News:

The killing took place on the night of September 10, 2013, when Kossow's then-husband Michael and their daughter were both asleep.

Thomas, who had trouble sleeping, had asked his mom if they could go outside and look at the stars.

Shortly afterward, the court heard, she retrieved a paring knife from the kitchen in Rockford and slashed and stabbed him more than 55 times.

His throat was cut seven times, his lungs and heart were stabbed repeatedly and his hands and arms had defensive wounds.

At least two of the wounds penetrated his spine.

Both 911 audio and dash camera video recorded Kossow screaming as officers took her into custody.

One officer testified that she smashed her own head into the ground.

Two mental health assessments, one each for both the prosecution and the defense, both concluded that Kossow was criminally insane when she killed Thomas.

That means, they say, she wasn't capable of understanding that she was committing a criminal act.

Partly those statements were based on a number of odd behaviors and strange beliefs about witchcraft and religion, they said.

Kossow's family members testified that she was a Wiccan.

According to prosecutors she was obsessed with witchcraft, WIFR reported.

Kossow herself had pleaded not guilty.

Attack: Kossow attacked her son outside their home (pictured) in September 2013. She then called police. The DA's office claims she knew what she was doing. A verdict will come on Jan 5

But Marilyn Hite Ross, criminal bureau chief for the Winnebago County State's Attorney's office, said the psychiatrists' reports came two years after the killing and didn't explain why Kossow appeared lucid and controlled when police arrived.

She also said the woman had not had any previous mental health diagnoses.

Judge Lowry is taking the place of a jury, at Kossow's request.

By finding Kassow not guilty by reason of insanity, she will be placed in a psychiatric hospital until she is deemed not to be a threat to society.
Caffe Nero was today accused of glorifying cat-calling by hosting a painting that depicts three Italian men leering at a lone woman walking down an alleyway.

A civil servant who visited the chain's coffee shop in Sutton Coldfield was shocked to find the painting hanging near the toilets and slammed it as 'seedy and sexist'.

The company has apologised and vowed to remove it - but it comes four years after a similar complaint was made about the same painting at a store in Ashford, Kent.

Caffe Nero was today accused of glorifying cat-calling with a painting at its Sutton Coldfield branch that depicts three Italian men leering at a lone woman walking down an alleyway

At the time Caffe Nero said it would take down the painting from every branch where it featured, but today claimed the Sutton Coldfield one was mistakenly overlooked.

Customer Cassie Glover, 32, said: '[The painting] portrays the message that it's OK for men to act like that and women should be grateful for their behaviour.

'It's seedy and sexist. Originally, they apologised and I was happy with the outcome as they promised to take it down, but then my friend said it had been brought to their attention three and a half years earlier in 2013.

Unimpressed: Customer Cassie Glover, 32, said the painting at Caffe Nero 'portrays the message that it's OK for men to act like that'

'They've still not done anything about it and they said the same thing then that they had said to me. They'd said 'bear with us' but this amount of time is quite long.

'I find it even more offensive that they've still done nothing. I was visiting the store with my partner and her mum, and it was actually her mum who first pointed it out after she'd been to the bathroom.

'My partner and her mum were furious and really upset about it and that was before we knew they already had been reprimanded on this before and hadn't done anything about it.'

Ms Glover, who is a regular visitor to the branch in Sutton Coldfield, has called on Caffe Nero to follow Nottinghamshire Police and condemn 'misogynistic incidents' as hate crimes.

She is now uneasy about visiting one of her favourite coffee chains, adding: 'They are showing it as a positive thing to be walking down an alleyway and be cat-called.

'Nottinghamshire Police are starting to record cat-calling as a hate crime, so the fact this kind of image is used in the surrounding area is sending out the wrong message.

Caffe Nero said that the image was still in Sutton Coldfield because it was due to have been replaced during a refurbishment that had been delayed. A file image of a branch is pictured

'But it's clearly not a priority [for Caffe Nero], even though women have highlighted how offensive it is for so many reasons.

'It reflects badly on the company and shows they are not concerned with equality in their stores. It has made me think again about returning there.

'It makes me more wary. I'm looking at the walls of all the ones I go in to see if that image is there, which is annoying.'

In November 2013 teacher Laura Palmer, 32, complained to Caffe Nero after seeing the image in their Ashford store and the chain said it was removing it from branches.

A spokesman at that time said that the image was 'one of 1,000 images we use in our stores, designed to portray Italian culture', but admitted that it could cause offence.

It claimed to have stopped actively using the image, meaning it is no longer used in new stores and that they were also in the process of removing it from branches.

Caffe Nero - which is Italian for black coffee - was founded in London in 1997, has more than 700 stores across seven countries and employs 5,000 staff. A store interior is pictured

But Caffe Nero said this week that the image was still in Sutton Coldfield because it was due to have been replaced during a refurbishment that had been delayed.

A spokesman said today: 'When we were made aware of the error, we apologised and agreed to remove the painting as soon as we could arrange a replacement.

'This is now underway and I expect this to happen within the next couple of weeks.'

Caffe Nero - which is Italian for black coffee - was founded in London in 1997, has more than 700 stores across seven countries and employs 5,000 staff.

In 2013, writer Laura Bates, found of the Everyday Sexism project which records incidents of sexism, said the chain was right to be taking the matter seriously.

She said: 'Some people will dismiss this as being a very minor issue, but behaviour like this is something that impacts on the lives of thousands of women and girls.

'Being harassed in the street isn't a harmless compliment  it can be scary, uncomfortable and have a real impact on women's lives.'
This is the shocking moment a vile racist spat in the face of a Sri Lankan shopkeeper in an off-licence - because she did not have the right brand of cigarettes.

CCTV footage shows thug Christopher James Callaghan abusing shop staff and then spitting over the counter in a woman's face.

Callaghan, 30, became angry when staff at Stanley Foods in Bootle, Merseyside, told him they did not have the brand of cigarettes he wanted.

Callaghan became angry when staff at Stanley Foods in Bootle, Merseyside, told him they did not have the brand of cigarettes he wanted. Pictured is the moment Ms Nilalarajah threw an object back at the yob

CCTV footage reveals the moment thug Christopher James Callaghan, pictured right, abused shop staff and spat over the counter in a woman's face

Callaghan, pictured right, had demanded a particular brand of cigarettes and when the shop did not have it he spat in the woman's face

After Nilani Nilalarajah opened the counter to prove to him that the cigarettes were out of stock, Callaghan hurled vile abuse at her and then spat in her face.

A furious Ms Nilalarajah threw an object from the counter back at the yob before calling police.

On Wednesday Callaghan appeared at Sefton Magistrates Court where he pleaded guilty to racially aggravated common assault in relation to the spitting incident on October 10 last year.

He also admitted a racially aggravated offence in relation to a previous incident in the shop, when he hurled racist abuse at Ms Nilalarajah.

The court heard that Ms Nilalarajah was 'disgusted' by Callaghan's behaviour and did not want him in the shop again.

Callaghan appeared at Sefton Magistrates Court where he pleaded guilty to racially aggravated common assault over the incident, pictured

The court heard Callaghan, pictured, had a long criminal record, which included a racially aggravated offence in 2013

Callaghan, of Roby Street, was jailed for 16 weeks, suspended for two years.

District Judge Miriam Shelvey ordered him to spend 35 days of supervision with the probation service, and to pay the victim 250.

The judge also upheld a restraining order which forbids Callaghan from contacting the victim.

The court heard he had a long criminal record, which included a racially aggravated offence in 2013.

Aksha Shahid, senior district crown prosecutor with the CPS, praised Ms Nilalarajah for being brave enough to come forward and report the offence.

The attack was branded a 'disgusting assault' by prosecutors after Callaghan appeared in court

District Judge Miriam Shelvey ordered Callaghan to spend 35 days of supervision with the probation service, and to pay the victim 250

She said after the hearing: 'This was a disgusting assault on a woman who was simply doing her job and providing a vital service to the local community.

'The victim was serving behind the counter at the convenience store in Bootle and Callaghan asked for a brand of cigarettes that the store didn't have.

'She told Callaghan this but he wouldn't believe her and became abusive, calling her racist names and then he spat at her.

'We call this offending hate crime and it's often committed against victims that the defendant doesn't even know personally and is motivated by hatred of their race, religion or sexual orientation.

'The court accepted that this was a hate crime and increased the sentence by a year as a result.

Aksha Shahid, senior district crown prosecutor with the CPS, praised Ms Nilalarajah, pictured, for being brave enough to come forward and report the offence

Prosecutor Aksha Shahid added: 'The victim was badly shaken up by the ordeal but supported the prosecution and I'd like to thank her for her courage in coming forward'

'Callaghan was known to be an aggressive nuisance in the shop and he has now been sentenced by the courts for behaviour that will not be tolerated.

'The victim was badly shaken up by the ordeal but supported the prosecution and I'd like to thank her for her courage in coming forward and reporting the incident.

'There is also a restraining order in place to prevent the defendant approaching the victim or the shop for the foreseeable future.

'We hope this case gives others the courage to come forward and report this type of despicable behaviour.'
Local Afghan leaders have called the massive bomb that was dropped in eastern Afghanistan last Thursday 'very successful' and are pleased with the results.

US troops are still battling suspected Islamic State fighters near the site where the GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, nicknamed 'the mother of all bombs', was dropped from an American MC-130 aircraft in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, bordering Pakistan, last week.

But local Afghan leaders have said they 'all are happy' with the results of the bomb, which had an official insurgent death toll of 96. US, Afghan and local authorities say there were no civilian casualties.

It was the first time that the 21,000lb bomb was used in combat.

The 21,600-pound GBU-43 left a crater believed to be more than 300 feet wide after it exploded just six feet above the ground

US forces in Afghanistan on Thursday struck an ISIS tunnel complex. Pictured, an Afghan security police officer walking amidst the rubble

Local Afghan leaders have said they 'all are happy' with the results of the bomb (pictured above in an undated photograph), which had an official insurgent death toll of 96. US, Afghan and local authorities say there were no civilian casualties

'The attack was successful, and we all are happy, since there were no civilian casualties,' Zabiullah Zmarai, secretary of the provincial council in Nangarhar, told Foreign Policy.

'Daesh [the Arabic term for the Islamic State] was a huge threat to the people in Nangarhar. They are relieved they were finished off with one bomb,' Zmarai added.

The official said that tribal areas in neighboring districts, including Shinwari, Charigam and Kot have also praised the MOAB.

Malawi Subhanullah Salim, from the Bati Kot district said that his community welcomed the operation and was pleased with the results.

'They [the United States] have pulled out the Islamic State by the roots from this region,' he told Foreign Policy.

General John W. Nicholson, commander of the US forces in Afghanistan echoed local leaders' comments.

'It was the right weapon, for the right target,' he said on Friday.

Others, however, have questioned the motivation behind the bomb.

Timor Sharan, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group in Washington, called the attack 'disproportionate'.

'It's more about the message than the act  sending a clear message to regional players, including Russia and as far as North Korea, to say that the U.S. is ready to take action and utilize necessary force,' he told Foreign Policy.

The strike drew condemnation from some prominent figures, including former Afghan president Hamid Karzai and Afghanistan's ambassador to Pakistan.

'It is upon us Afghans to stop the USA,' he said on social media.

The 59-year-old said on Monday that he objected to the use of the weapon, saying that his country 'was used very disrespectfully by the U.S. to test its weapons of mass destruction'.

Some Afghan officials have complained of a lack of information about the effects of the bomb.

'We were and we are kept in the dark and still we havent been able to go to the site,' said one senior Afghan security official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

'We are confused ourselves and we wonder what MOAB could have caused.'

In meetings of the Afghan security council, some ministers told President Ashraf Ghani they feared the lack of information from the U.S. side could be exploited by Islamic State, which has continued radio broadcasts claiming none of its fighters were killed.

Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai (pictured today) has accused the US of using his country as a weapons testing ground following Washington's Mother of All Bombs strike

'We haven't suffered any casualties from this bomb,' said one recent Islamic State broadcast. 'We are fighting for the sake of God, who is much stronger than this bomb.'

U.S. military spokesman Captain William Salvin would not comment on claims by Afghan defence officials that nearly 100 Islamic State fighters died in the strike.

The attack was aimed at destroying an 'extensive' complex of fortified tunnels and mines and not any particularly large concentration of fighters, he said.

'Our assessments are ongoing,' Salvin said, noting that the strike appeared to have collapsed many tunnels, destroyed mines, and 'reduced' several nearby structures.

U.S. troops have continued to use explosives to collapse other tunnel entrances not destroyed by the bomb, he said.

For at least a month before the strike, the U.S. military had broadcast radio messages warning of coming operations by American and Afghan troops in southern Nangarhar, and leaflets were dropped on areas affected by the operation, Salvin said.

One leaflet seen by Reuters in a village near the strike shows a picture of a drone with an Afghan army emblem and reads: 'We ask residents to leave as soon as possible to save their lives.'

General H.R. McMaster, the US National Security Advisor, arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday to hold 'very important talks on mutual cooperation' with President Ashraf Ghani and other top officials. Pictured: McMaster (left) and Ghani (right) on April 16

Several villages near the blast site have been largely abandoned for months as fighting increased between Islamic State and the U.S.-backed Afghan forces, locals said.

'There were daily bombings and fighting,' said Khan Afzal, a local policeman on a recent patrol in the village of Abdul Khil, less than a mile from the strike.

'Afghan forces used to fire artillery, bombs were dropped by foreign aircraft, and even Daesh fired rockets at us and at the villagers,' he added, using an Arabic term for Islamic State.

Residents in Achin district say that they knew of no civilians still living voluntarily in the areas near the Islamic State stronghold, but it is still not clear if other non-combatants may have been involved.

'The people who'd normally be talking have fled, and there have been very few reports from inside Islamic State territory,' said Kate Clark, a senior researcher for the Afghan Analysts Network. 'The jury's still out on many things with this strike.'

Some local residents suggested there may have been prisoners held in the tunnel complex, she added, but the area has been something of an information black hole since Islamic State militants were first confirmed there in 2015.

The Afghan offshoot of the Middle East-based, extremist militant movement is small - presumed to number a few hundred fighters - and is battling foreign and government troops as well as rival insurgent groups, most notably the dominant Taliban.
The secret family life of MI5 founder Sir Vernon Kell has been revealed in a book by his wife that is being published 80 years after it was written.

The intimate images show how the British intelligence boss balanced his family working life, as he is pictured relaxing with his wife Constance in New York, with his son Jim in China, as well as with his other son Johnny in South Africa.

Other revealing shots show Constance in her wedding dress, as well as soldiers posing in North China during the early 1900s.

Rare family photos have offered an insight into the life of MI5 founder Sir Vernon Kell (pictured left, during his days as a young soldier, and right, in later life)

This image shows Vernon, his wife Constance (left) and one their friends, Mrs Thomas (middle), at the Thomas' house in Troy, NY, in 1900

Vernon and Constance with son Jim in China, 1901 (left), while another photo shows Constance in her wedding dress (right), one year earlier

The archive pictures are showcased in a new book, A Secret Well Kept, written by Lady Constance Kell in the late 1940s but published for the first time, by Bloombury.

Sir Vernon Kell founded the UK's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency, MI5, in 1909 and served as its Director for 31 years, making his the longest tenure of any head of a British government department in the twentieth century.

Commonly known within the agency, Sir Vernon was also fluent in six foreign languages: German, Italian, French, Polish, Russian and Chinese.

Vernon, Constance and youngest son Johnny, believed to be taken in South Africa, 1926

More of the Kells' family friends, Mr and Mrs Bullard at their home in Shanghai with Constance and (bottom right), 1900

The book offers an unparalleled insight into the personal life of the extremely powerful man, from the person who knew him best. Lady Constance Kell was Sir Vernon Kell's wife for more than 40 years.

The biography uncovers not only Kell's personal life before MI5, but also the key characters and events during Kell's career with the agency, particularly the people he worked with and the big spy cases from 1909 to 1918.

Kell initially served in the military, rising to the rank of staff captain before retiring from active duty after being selected, alongside Mansfield Smith-Cumming, to lead the new government intelligence agency.

WHO WAS SIR VERNON KELL? Born in Great Yarmouth, Kent, in 1873 Graduated from Sandhurst in 1894 and was commisioned into the South Staffordshire Regiment After serving overseas, Kell was employed to analyse German intelligence at the War Office until 1906 In 1909, he was chosen as one of two officers to head the Secret Service Bureau, which had just been formed following rising fears of German espionage These were split into two sections - Kell headed the domestic matters and Mansfield Smith-Cumming headed overseas. These departments were called Security Service and the Secret Intelligence Service respectively and would later become MI5 and MI6 During his service he learned to speak German, Italian, French, Polish, Russian and Chinese During the First World War he focused primarily on espionage efforts of the Hindu-German Conspiracy, groups attempting Pan-Indian rebellion against the British Kell received an honorary promotion to major-general on 27 September 1939, just as MI5 got a huge funding boost when the Second World War broke out He was knighted shortly before his death in 1942 Advertisement

Some of the other members of Kell's (third from right) regiment - Others, from left to right, are Captain Lee, Sir Sidney Barton, Colonel Dorward, Admiral George Holmes Borrett and Colonel Menzies. This picture was taken in North China, 1901

Another photo from Kell's early days in the armed forces. American, Indian and British troops in Tientsin, 1900

He was restored to active duty following the outbreak of World War One in 1914, once again rising through the ranks as a General Staff Officer One with the rank of colonel.

Kell remained in his post as head of MI5 until June 10th 1940 when Winston Churchill dismissed him after 30 years in the role.

The decision came after MI5 was judged to be completely unprepared to carry out the task it had been set during the Second World War, the large-scale internment of enemy aliens in an attempt to uncover enemy agents.

Officially this intelligence failure was blamed on the fact that both Kell and his deputy were in their mid-60s.

A Secret Well Kept: The Untold Story of Sir Vernon Kell, Founder of MI5 by Constance Kell is out now (Bloomsbury, 16.99/ 14.99 eBook)
A man tried to avoid failing a breathalyser test by eating grass alongside the road in China.

Police stopped the man for behaving suspiciously on a motorway in east China on April 17 however he refused to take the test, choosing to eat grass instead.

The man was taken away by police and sent to hospital where it was confirmed that his blood-alcohol level was 156mg, almost double the legal limit.

A driver abandoned his car before a police roadblock on a motorway in eastern China

Yiwu traffic police released a statement confirming that the incident took place at Huan Cheng motorway in Yiwu City, China's Zhejiang province at around 11.05pm.

They spotted a man who stopped not too far away from a roadblock and started to run up a slope.

Five traffic policement went to investigate as the man slipped over.

The video shows the driver pulling out tufts of grass around him and starting to eat them.

Tufts of grass around the drunk driver were pulled out as the officers asked him to take the test

Add a collar number on Wechat? The man asked one officer to add him on Wechat

Jin HanChao, an Yiwu traffic police officer recalled the incident: 'He probably thinks that eating grass can lower the blood-alcohol level in his body.'

The officer and his other colleagues told the man to stop eating as it would have no effect in changing his alcohol reading.

The driver told them: 'I know, I told you....I didn't drink!'

He continued: 'I can remember your....your [collar] number. But I can't memorise it now. You should send me [your number]. Add me on Wechat, okay?'

The driver was taken away by five officers and sent to a nearby hospital for blood test.

Officer Jin could not stop laughing when he explained the incident to reporters

The reading measured 156mg per 100ml which is almost double the limit set by law.

A Chinese law website stated that the drink drive limit in China is 80 mg per 100 ml. Offenders will receive a ban from driving for at least five years.

Yiwu traffic policemen are still investigating the case for further details.
An electricity pylon collapsed across a busy road after a huge fire broke out at it base.

Drone footage captured the moment the tower collapsed, making about 80 families temporarily homeless and causing traffic chaos in Alabang in the Philippines.

Around an hour after the blaze started on Wednesday morning the tower fell near a busy road on the South Luzon Expressway.

The tower fell near a busy road on the South Luzon Expressway in Alabang in the Philippines on Wednesday morning

It is believed the blaze originally broke out in a residential area and spread to the NCGP pylon, causing it to eventually fall over on one side

It is believed the fire originally broke out in a residential area and spread to the NCGP pylon, causing its eventually collapse. The exact cause of the fire is still unknown.

Cars were brought to a standstill as high-tension power cables fell on the main carriageway and authorities closed the surrounding roads.

Around 80 families were affected by the fire which lasted for more than an hour, reported Philstar.

Muntinlupa firefighters battled the flames until just after 10am when the fire was officially declared out.
Two Airbus planes on a collision course took evasive action just 15 seconds before they would have smashed into each other above India, it has emerged.

The two A320 aircraft were carrying hundreds of passengers between them over India's Uttar Pradesh when the drama unfolded.

One of the flights, an AirAsia India plane en route to New Delhi from Bagdogra in northeast India, was ordered by Air Traffic Control to descend to 34,000ft after entering Varanasi airspace.

Two Airbus planes on a collision course took evasive action just 15 seconds before they would have smashed into each other above India, it has emerged (file picture)

But the Times of India reports that it carried on below the assigned level and down to 33,000ft.

This put it within 5.5 miles of an IndiGo Airlines flight heading in the opposite direction to Bagdogra from New Delhi - meaning the planes were just 15 seconds from crashing into one another.

A collision was only averted when airborne collision avoidance systems on both planes warned pilots to veer off in different directions.

The two A320 aircraft - one an IndiGo flight (file picture) - were carrying hundreds of passengers between them over India's Uttar Pradesh when the drama unfolded

In a statement, AirAsia India told the Times of India it was 'currently investigating the matter with relevant regulatory authorities'.

The firm added: 'We will refrain from disclosing further information until we have established the facts.'

The AirAsia flight's commander is believed to have been 'grounded' the Times of India added.
Paid-for carer: Caroline Johnson (pictured outside Newcastle Crown Court) from Blyth took more than 21,000 in 13 months

A 'trusted' carer has been jailed for more than a year after plundering the life savings of a 91-year-old dementia victim.

Caroline Johnson, 41, of Blyth, Northumberland, looked after the woman several times a week but was secretly helping herself to her cash and took more than 21,000 in 13 months.

The 'ruthless' crook withdrew money from cash machines, used the woman's bank card in shops and accessed her Isa, while being paid by a community care company to look after her.

Johnson was photographed smiling as she arrived at Newcastle Crown Court on Tuesday but was later jailed for 16 months after pleading guilty to theft.

The court heard she used the victim's accounts to pay for her mobile phone, gas and electricity and even helped the pensioner transfer 10,000 from an Isa into her current account as her funds were being depleted by Johnson's thefts.

The alarm was raised when the bank account of the woman, who also suffered sight and hearing difficulties, became overdrawn, having initially had more than 23,000.

Johnson was arrested and has now been sentenced. Recorder Paul Isaacs said it was impossible to suspend her prison term because the public would be 'outraged'.

Johnson was photographed smiling as she arrived at Newcastle Crown Court on Tuesday

He said: 'It's a large sum of money. It's the clearest possible breach of trust. It was not just a breach of trust, it was a high degree of trust because you were allowed in her house and allowed to become close to her. There's no doubt she was vulnerable.

'The length to which she was affected by dementia, I don't known, but, clearly, that dementia grew worse as your time with her went on.'

Emma Dowling, prosecuting, said the pensioner was living in her home but needed regular care visits because of her poor eyesight and hearing and 'degenerative cognitive impairment'.

She added: 'She [the victim] required visits from carers four times a day and this defendant was one of those carers who attended her home address.

'The victim had no close family to hand - the closest family member was, in fact, her daughter-in-law, who lives in France and was not available on a daily basis.'

In July 2016, her daughter-in-law asked social services for a financial assessment on the pensioner and 'concerning transactions and payments' were then discovered.

Ms Dowling added: 'For example, on July 28, there were 13 card payments in various shops in Blyth and 10,000 had been transferred from the victim's ISA into her current account.

'As a result, social services contacted the police and the daughter-in-law made arrangements to come over to the UK from France to stay with the victim and go through the financial transactions.'

Johnson, who lived on this road in Blyth, Northumberland, was jailed after admitting theft

After an investigation, Johnson was arrested and charged. In a statement, the daughter-in-law said a position of trust had been greatly abused.

She said: 'The offender may say she's sorry - I'm sure she is that she got caught - but not sorry enough to know what she was doing was wrong.'

Alec Burns, defending, said Johnson had no previous convictions and had been struggling with debt from payday loan companies.

He said: 'This is completely out of character for her. She's a good carer and [the victim] liked her very much and she cares for members of her own family.

'She's ashamed of what she has brought on her family and she's sorry for what she did to [the victim] and the effects on her and her family.'

After the case, Detective Constable Richard Jobson said: 'Caroline Johnson regularly abused the trust of the vulnerable victim she was being paid to care for.

'This elderly lady should have been safe and protected in her home by the very person who was employed to look after her needs.

'Instead, Caroline ruthlessly exploited her position of trust and systematically stole large sums of money for her own personal greed.

'This case has had a profound effect on the victim and her family who have all suffered as a result of her actions.

'I am pleased the court has taken into account the severity of the abuse and the distress it has caused the victim. I hope the elderly victim will be able to recover her confidence in people now that the case has been dealt with at court.'
High street prices for clothes, furniture and other goods imported to Britain from outside Europe could fall after Brexit, retail analysis reveals today.

Quitting the EU gives Britain the opportunity to slash EU single market tariffs on a raft of goods sent here from around the world.

But food prices could rise dramatically because Britain is largely dependent on producers inside Europe for produce it does not make at home.

The findings are contained in new research by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) on securing a good Brexit.

High street prices for clothes, furniture and other goods imported to Britain from outside Europe could fall after Brexit, retail analysis reveals today

Quitting the EU gives Britain the opportunity to slash EU single market tariffs on a raft of goods sent here from around the world

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said: 'The default when we talk about trade is to talk about exports and there's perhaps less emphasis on imports which have that direct relevance for consumers in this country.'

She added that half of imported nonfood products were sourced from countries with which the EU did not have a free-trade agreement.

'If the government were to negotiate new deals with these countries, UK retailers could see reductions in tariffs on items such as clothing and footwear,' she said.

The BRC said the Government's first priority in the Brexit talks must be securing a free trade deal with the EU single market.

Food prices are already rising because of the weaker pound and the imposition of new tariffs from Europe would seek dramatic cost increases at the supermarket.

Food prices could rise dramatically because Britain is largely dependant on producers inside Europe for produce it does not make at home

Average food tariffs that could be imposed on Britain are around 22 per cent - rising to 46 per cent for cheese.

It should then seek 'me too' agreements with nations who have already struck deals with Europe, like Canada.

Only then are new deals with third party countries a priority, the research said.
Calls are growing for the heroic McDonald's workers who trapped the Facebook killer Steve Stephens at a drive-thru to get the $50,000 reward for his capture.

After two days on the run, the murderer's reign of terror came to an end on Tuesday morning - thanks to the bravery of two employees at the Buffalo Road in Erie branch.

Recognizing him as the man who shot dead Robert Godwin, 74, on Sunday, they delayed him long enough for police to arrive and give chase - leading to Stephens' death by suicide.

It was assumed the workers would split the reward offered by various police agencies, but technically the money was earmarked for those who helped lead to Stephens' arrest prompting a chorus of people to say the money should be handed over regardless.

Stopped: Steve Stephens (pictured left and right) was hunted across five states by the law for killing a 74-year-old man on Sunday - but it was two McDonald's workers who stopped him

Brave: The brave employees, who worked here in Erie, Pennsylvania, got Stephens to wait while they called 911 by telling him that his fries weren't ready. Police arrived just as he fled

Rewarded: Thomas DuCharme Jr, the owner of the Erie, PA, McDonald's, was part of the attempt to slow him down as he ordered McNuggets. He said the true hero was the server who took his ordered and realized who he was. She does not want to be named, DuCharme said.

The workers, who haven't yet been identified, spotted Stephens, 37, as he pulled into their drive-thru on Buffalo Road in Erie, Pennsylvania, at around 11am.

If the police have their say, the workers will be splitting the money pooled together by the FBI, ATF and US Marshall service, the TMZ reported.

But as of yesterday, no meeting had been held over how, if at all, the money will be distributed.

Swathes of supporters have taken to social media to demand the McDonald's employees are given their share of the $50,000.

Lamar Johnson wrote: 'Why is it a debate if these McDonald's employees get the reward or not?

'They helped get a murderer off the streets.'

Kevin Lyman agreed and even said he would throw in a pair of Warped Tour tickets as part of the offering.

He said: 'There should be no question that the McDonald's employees get the $50,000 reward for turning him in.'

Henry Sayers, who manages the McDonald's franchise around 100 miles from where Godwin was shot down in cold blood, said his employees recognized Stephens as he made his order.

The female attendant wasn't absolutely certain it was him, Sayers told Pix 11, but reports that Stephens' cell had pinged in Erie meant it was certainly possible.

After Stephens ordered what would be his last meal - 20 Chicken McNuggets and a large order of fries for $5.35 - staff called 911.

That meant fooling the killer - who had already shot at least one stranger in cold blood - into hanging around.

Chase: After a chase from the restaurant, Stephens' white car (pictured, center) was run off the road and he shot himself. Cops now say the two workers should share the $50,000 reward

'We basically told him it would be a minute for his fries, which it wasn't really, we were just trying to make sure she got in contact with state police,' said Tom Ducharme Jr, who runs the franchise.

Stephens was acting normal at first, Sayers said - so much so that you wouldn't believe he was a killer. But he began to get more nervous the longer he waited.

'I'm thinking at that point he might have been thinking someone in the store recognized him, and he was trying to get out of here,' Ducharme said.

'I can't wait! I need my McNuggets!' Stephens said before driving off. Sayers noted that he drove at a regular speed.

But the plan had worked and police arrived within 30 seconds of the call being made - just in time to catch him leaving the parking lot.

They knocked him off the road with a 'precise immobilization technique' (PIT) maneuver after a two-mile chase, at which point he shot himself.

Ducharme added that before making his order, Stephens had asked another employee, who was on break behind the building, for directions to the interstate - suggesting that he might have disappeared again if not stopped.

He added that he was 'just so proud' of his crew and manager 'for how they handled everything'.

Fled: Stephens shot Robert Godwin, 74, in Cleveland, Ohio, and died in Erie, around 100 miles away. Police are still working out what happened in the intervening two days

Victim: Godwin (left) was stopped by Stephens apparently at random. Stephens then shot him dead while filming the encounter, then uploaded the video to Facebook

The hunt for Stephens, a job counselor who worked with teens, which began after the shooting in Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood on Monday.

It then expanded across five states before it ended abruptly on Tuesday.

'This started with one tragedy and ended with another person ending their life We would like to have brought Stephens in peacefully and talked to him about why this happened,' said police chief Calvin Williams.

In the wake of Stephens' death, Angela Smith, the mother of two of Godwin's children, lashed at the killer for 'escaping justice' by committing suicide.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Smith described Stephens as a 'coward,' adding: 'If he was going to do that he should have done it right at the beginning.

'He was better killing himself than doing what he did. He shouldn't have taken my baby-father and robbed them of him.'

Angela, 34, crying and screaming, added: 'He escaped justice. My kids ain't never gonna get closure. He should have given himself up to the police.'
A former Oxford University Phd student accused of raping a woman told a court she 'seduced him' and had sex with him again the next day.

Statistician Sherman Ip, 25, allegedly forced the woman down on to his bed and pulled off her clothes before launching the attack at a flat in London in May 2013.

But Ip told jurors she 'consented and said he thought everything was normal when they had sex at her parents house the following day.

The woman, who cannot be identified, says she fled Ips flat in tears on the night in question.

Sherman Ip, 25, pictured outside Southwark Crown Court, is accused of raping a woman at a London flat

The court heard former Oxford University Phd student Ip, pictured, denies rape and said he was 'seduced' by the woman before 'having sex with her again the next day'

Southwark Crown Court has heard she sent Ip a private Facebook message saying what happened was semi rape and pressed charges in October 2014 after receiving a text from him saying: I am really sorry for raping you.

Ip told jurors he sent the apology because: I wanted to get [her] back and I would do anything to get back with her.

He has a masters degree in Physics from University College London and in 2015 moved to Oxford University for the first year of his Phd as part of the Oxford Warwick Statistics Programme.

Prosecutor David Povall said: During her evidence she said that there were times in your relationship when you would ask for sex, she would say no, but then you would keep trying to persuade her and then she would say yes and then you would have consensual sex.

Ip, who is now at Warwick, replied: Thats something which never happened.

Mr Povall continued: It was quite clear to you, was it, that if she said no that was it, no sex?

Ip told the jury he texted the woman to 'apologise for raping her' because 'he would say anything to get her back'

He replied: Thats correct.

The prosecutor said: And you would never pester her and try to persuade her to have sex when she had once said no?

Ip answered: I wouldnt persuade her to have sex.

He told the court the woman came to his flat because she wanted to talk on 14 May 2013, but they ended up having consensual sex.

Mr Povall asked: You said several times that she wanted sex - how did she communicate that to you?

Ip said: She said "lets have sex" and then she sat on the bed, laid on the bed.

Mr Povall said: And this was all, the two of you had sex and everything was alright was it?

Everything was normal, replied Ip.

He claims the woman became jealous when he told her about his relationship with another girl.

Ip said they talked about it before having sex at her parents house on the 15 May 2013.

Mr Povall said: I suggest that you had made up the story of having sex with her on the 15 May.

Ip replied: I didnt make that up sir.

The alleged victim claims Ip, pictured, forced her onto a bed, pulled off her clothes and raped her

Ip, pictured, claimed the alleged victim became 'jealous' because of a relationship he had with another girl

The prosecutor continued: I suggest that you have made it up in order to suggest that she was still happy with you and indicated to you the day after you raped her - perhaps you could comment on that.

Ip said: There was quite a lot in that statement.

Mr Povall said: I suggest that your reason for doing that is to try to say that she was lying about being raped the day before.

Ip said: I wouldnt have made up that event on the 15th...she wanted to have sex with me.

The prosecutor told jurors both the alleged victim and Ip are bright and capable young people.

Ip, of Maidenhead, Berkshire, denies rape.

The trial continues.
The Project's Waleed Aly has claimed the government's tougher citizenship rules are Malcolm Turnbull's attempt to climb himself out of political trouble.

The TV personality said the move was based on 'politics' and compared the prime minister to former PM John Howard during a heated debate with Steve Price on Thursday.

'Malcolm Turnbull is in political trouble now and he pulls the same sort of reign now. Don't you think people will see through the really transparent politics of this?' Aly told Price.

Mr Turnbull announced this week the government will require citizen applicants to face an English test and commit to embracing Australian values.

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The Project's Waleed Aly (left) claimed the government's tougher citizenship rules are Malcolm Turnbull's attempt to climb himself out of political trouble during a heated debate with Steve Price (right) on Thursday

The TV personality said the move was based on 'politics' and compared the prime minister (pictured) to former PM John Howard

The test will also involve criminal history checks and questions about issues like domestic violence and child marriage.

Price claimed the government and Mr Turnbull were 'restating what it is to be an Australian.'

'It is saying if you are going to become an Australian citizen you have to live here for four years before you apply. We are going to do tougher background checks on people, which to me would make a lot of sense.'

'Why wouldn't you check if someone has been a fraudster or someone's been involved in a domestic violence incident overseas or here, indeed, before inviting them becoming a citizen?'

Aly quickly jumped in after Price's comments and argued that the rules could lead the community to believe migrants are bringing such issues to the country.

'I guess the problem is people will take this as a message that these are problems that exist only in migrant communities and its immigrants that bring these problems to us,' he said.

'We saw John Howard pull this same reigns in 2006-2007 when he was in political trouble  it didn't work for him.

Price (pictured) claimed the government and Mr Turnbull were 'restating what it is to be an Australian'

Aly (pictured) quickly jumped in after Price's comments and argued that the rules could lead the community to believe migrants are bringing such issues to the country

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton denied the changes were targeted at any one religion, but rather at particular behaviour and attitudes (Mr Turnbull and Mr Dutton are pictured on Thursday)

Price disagreed with Aly, saying that he didn't believe the rules were part of 'dog- whistling politics' and said he was unsure what Mr Howard had to do with it.

Aly cut off Price mid-sentence to explain his point.

'It means in 2006-07 when he was in political trouble he specifically started talking about citizenship tests, they announced it in about four different press releases - I remember this really, really clearly - it was this big thing about Australian values and migrants and integration and it was politics and the Australian electorate saw through it and he went out of office.'

Price insisted that he didn't have an issue with the new laws and persisted that they were about encouraging migrants becoming part of the Australian community instead of being isolated'.

'I can't see why anyone on the desk there tonight would have a problem with us restating we have an objection to domestic violence. Isn't that a given?' Price said.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has denied rounding up and murdering homosexuals and insists one man declared dead 'is in good health and at home'.

But his denial has been dismissed by many gay men forced to flee the country, one of whom told the AFP news agency: 'I had to lie or die.'

Earlier this month it was revealed police in the predominately Muslim republic rounded up more than 100 men suspected of homosexuality and that at least three of them had been killed.

It was also reported that Chechnyans are being ordered to murder their gay relatives after they are released from unofficial detention centres.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov (pictured) has denied rounding up and murdering homosexuals in his predominately Muslim republic

Families are believed to be 'shamed' for not snitching on homosexuals, who are publicly humiliated, beaten up and electric shocked in prisons. Pictured: A former military base in the city of Argun, believed to be the location of one of the camps

However Kadyrov has dismissed media reports about abuse of gays and said no homosexuals had been arrested in his republic.

He said: 'Provocative articles about Chechnya (have) reported so-called arrests.

'It's even embarrassing to talk about it. It's said there have been what are called arrests, murders, (newspapers) have even given the name [of one victim]. But he is alive, in good health and is at home.'

Respected Russian newspaper Novoya Gazeta broke the news this month that 100 gay men had been detained as part of a purge being carried out by Kadyrov, a staunch Putin ally.

The newspaper's editors last week warned that 'religious fanatics' were being encouraged to 'massacre journalists' following the report.

One of the camps is reportedly at the former military headquarters in the town of Argun.

Campaigners said gay men are being tortured with electric shocks and beaten to death, or ordered to 'sit on bottles' as punishment.

Images of people who claim to have been detained at the camps show them with large bruises on their legs, and what appears to be burns on their backside.

One survivor, known only as Adam, said metal clamps were attached to his fingers and toes before shockwaves were sent through his body, as part of a campaign of torture at an informal detention facility.

Adam also told how he was beaten with wooden sticks or metal rods as his torturers shouted abuse at him and demanded to know the names of other gay men.

The guards in these allegedly unofficial jails are accused of releasing them to their relatives if the family promises to kill them. Pictured: The alleged location of a secret prison in Argun

The guards in the unofficial jails are accused of releasing them to their relatives if the family promises to kill them.

Failure to do so will heap 'shame' and 'disgrace' on their families in Chechnya, part of Vladimir Putin's empire, they are told.

A victim known as Said who fled to Europe claimed his friend was freed from a camp 'by military men on the condition that his family would kill him', adding: 'His uncle killed him, I know for sure. He was 20 or 21.'

Chechnya, which has come under fire from LGBT groups for its institutional homophobia, is run by Ramzan Kadyrov, left

Some have fled to Moscow but said they are living in fear of being identified and tracked down by their families.

One, Ilya, told AFP: 'In Chechnya, I had no choice but to lie or die.'

He is now hiding out in a small house on the edge of Moscow with five other Chechen men after they escaped what they described as a brutal campaign against gay men by authorities in the Muslim region of Russia's North Caucasus.

All refused to give their real names for fear of someone recognising them and tracking them down.

'If any of my relatives realises I'm gay, they won't hesitate a minute before killing me,' another of the men, 28-year-old Nortcho, told AFP.

'And if they don't do it, they will get killed themselves for failing to uphold the family honour.'

One former gay inmate, known only as Adam, said metal clamps were attached to his fingers and toes before shockwaves were sent through his body as part of a campaign of torture at an secret prison in Chechnya. Pictured: Another victim speaking out on TV in Germany

Chechnya, which has come under fire from LGBT groups for its institutional homophobia, is run by Kadyrov, a father-of-ten who has been accused of ordering extra-judicial killings.

It was feared that he is sanctioning the killings of homosexuals after his spokesman after Alvi Karimov denied there were any gays in Chechnya at all.

Karimov added: 'You can't detain and harass someone who doesn't exist in the republic.

'If there were such people in the Chechen republic, law enforcement wouldn't have a problem with them because their relatives would send them to a place of no return.'

The Kremlin has expressed scant concern over the revelations, showing no inclination to demand explanations from Kadyrov.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: 'We don't know how much of it is true...I'm not an expert in the field of non-traditional sexual orientation.'

It was feared that Kadyrov, top, is sanctioning the killings of homosexuals after his spokesman after Alvi Karimov denied there were any gays in Chechnya at all

Reports of the abuses have drawn international condemnation, as activists have accused the authorities in Russia of turning a blind eye for fear of upsetting Kadyrov in a region where Moscow fought two bloody separatist wars.

Alexander Artemyev, from Amnesty International in Russia, told MailOnline: 'Homosexuals in Chechyna are treated very harshly and prosecuted daily and they are afraid to talk about it.

'They either have to hide or leave the republic. We are keeping in touch with the LGBT network that helps people in Russia to find shelter. The problem is people there cannot talk about it as it puts their lives and those they speak to, in danger.'

Tanya Lokshina, of Human Rights Watch, said the unlawful detention centres had been around in Chechyna for some time but this was the first time they had been used to round up gay people.

She told MailOnline: 'Once in a while you have purges in Chechyna where a certain group gets targetedthe enforcement agencies pick them up and torture them and force them to name others. They go through their mobile phones, go through their contacts and check their chats and then make a list of other suspects. This type of campaign is quite typical for Chechen authorities. This time they are going after gay people.

'The reason for this, I think, is that President Kadyrov is trying to consolidate his base of support so he's going after gay people who are defencelesshe is saying he is protecting Chechen traditions for the people.'

'Electric shocks are being used, people are being beaten very viciously and individuals are being raped with batons and sticks.

'They are held for a while and then their family members are brought into the place and they force the victims to confess their sexual identity to their family and the authorities shame the family by saying "how could you allow this to happen?" This then encourages honorary killings.

'There's a very different family concept in Chechyna to the EU one.

'Even if you have a protective father or brother, you might get a third cousin who will talk about it. That means it's very dangerous for the victims.'

Chechen society is strictly conservative, meaning that unlike other cases where relatives or rights activists may put pressure on authorities when a homosexual relative disappears, those suspected are likely to be disowned by their own families.
Vladimir Putin is sending troops and equipment to Russia's border with North Korea over fears the US is preparing to attack Kim Jong-un.

The Russian President fears there will be a huge exodus of North Korean refugees if his American counterpart, Donald Trump, launches military action against Pyongyang.

It comes days after it emerged that China is also sending 150,000 soldiers to its southern frontier to cope with the tidal wave of North Koreans Beijing fears would flee across the border if war breaks out.

This morning, footage emerged appearing to show how Putin is reinforcing his 11-mile border with North Korea by relocating troops and equipment.

Reinforcements: Vladimir Putin is sending troops and equipment to Russia's border with North Korea over fears the US is preparing to attack Kim Jong-un. Footage shows a train carrying Russian tanks to the border in the country's far south east

Vladimir Putin is reinforcing his border with North Korea by relocating troops and equipment, including helicopters (left) and tanks (right)

Russia is sending troops to its tiny border with North Korea while China is also understood to have sent 150,000 soldiers to its southern frontier amid fears of a refugee crisis in the event of war

A video purports to show one of three trains loaded with military equipment moving towards the 11 mile-long land frontier between Russia and the repressive state.

Another evidently highlights military helicopter movements towards the North Korean border and manoeuvres across rough terrain by army combat vehicles.

Other reports suggest there have been military moves by road as well.

There have been concerns that if a conflict breaks out Russia could face a humanitarian exodus from North Korea.

But Putin has been warned, too, that in the event of a US strike on Kim Jong-un's nuclear facilities, contamination could swiftly reach Russia.

'Railway trains loaded with military equipment moving towards Primorsky region via Khabarovsk have been noticed by locals,' reported primemedia.ru in the Russian far East - linking the development to the North Korean crisis.

'The movement of military equipment by different means of transport to southern areas is being observed across Primorsky region over the past week,' said military veteran Stanislva Sinitsyn.

Putin (pictured) has reportedly been warned that in the event of a US strike on Kim Jong-un's nuclear facilities, contamination could swiftly reach Russia

Another clip highlights military helicopter movements towards the North Korean border and manoeuvres across rough terrain by army combat vehicles

The movements of troops and equipment have been described as 'a preventive but necessary' measure.

'Many relate this to the situation in the Korean peninsula.

'The video shows artillery systems that either support troops in assault or meet the aggressor.'

He said: 'The movement of military equipment means that authorities of our country are keeping up with the situation - and take appropriate measures.'

The movements were 'a preventive but necessary' measure.

'If the situation worsens, especially related to military events, the armed forces of all the neighbouring countries obviously monitor it more closely, and we are no exception.

'It is not the first time that North Korea has broken the peace in the region, that's why this situation deserves attention.'

Russian military spokesman Alexander Gordeyev declined to give the exact reasons for the troop and equipment movements but said exercises had recently ended in the TransBaikal region of Siberia.

Kim Jong-un has threatened the US with a 'super-mighty preemptive strike' and warned America: 'Don't mess with us'

Thousands of goose-stepping troops paraded through Pyongyang in a show of strength on Saturday

Chilling: An enormous missile drives past troops during the Day of the Sun military parade on Saturday

However, a number of local sources appear to believe the movements are linked to the Korean crisis.

The naval port of Vladivostok - where Russia has huge military forces - is less than 100 miles from North Korea.

Expert on the repressive state, Konstantin Asmolov, said: 'Should the US strike with missiles at North Korea's nuclear facilities, a radioactive cloud will reach Vladivostok within two hours.'

Asmolov, from the Russian Far Eastern Institute, warned that in the event of full-scale war 'hungry asylum seekers will flood into Russia.'

Russia on Wednesday blocked UN Security Council condemnation of Pyongyang's latest missile test - even though China, which has a major frontier with North Korea had backed the strongly-worded statement put forward by the United States.

The proposed statement would have demanded that North Korea 'conduct no further nuclear tests' and halt missile launches .

Pyongyang carried out a failed test on Sunday.

Russia wanted to include language contained in a previous statement stressing the need to achieve a solution through dialogue, according to council diplomats.

Moscow's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said: 'Unfortunately, we have to admit that the risk of a serious conflict in this region has substantially increased.'

He called for a 'demonstration of responsibility' from all sides to avoid escalation.
Malcolm Turnbull has repeatedly refused to say if Muslim women who wear headscarves have integrated into Australian society.

The Prime Minister became defensive during a tense interview with 7.30 host Leigh Sales.

'Leigh, what you're asking me to say is, "Is a woman who wears a headscarf not integrated?'," he told the ABC.

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Malcolm Turnbull became defensive when asked if women who wore headscarves integrated

ABC 7.30 host Leigh Sales asked the PM if headscarf-wearing women had Australian values

Sales replied she was not asking him to say that.

'Wearing a headscarf is a feature of a woman's life, wearing a particular garment,' Mr Turnbull said.

The prime minister had earlier agreed with Sales that Jewish people who celebrated Hanukkah had integrated with Australian culture and values.

'Well, of course they are. Of course they are,' he said.

However, Mr Turnbull minced his words when asked about Muslim women wearing headscarves.

Sales rephrased the question by asking if he thought most Australians regarded a woman wearing a headscarf as someone who represented Australian values.

'People are free to wear whatever item of clothing they like,' Mr Turnbull said.

Leigh Sales and Malcolm Turnbull had a tense exchange on 7.30 about Muslim women

Malcolm Turnbull said 'people are free to wear whatever item of clothing they like'

The prime minister's tortured words are a contrast to one of his Liberal predecessors, John Howard, who in 2006 described burqas, which cover the face, as 'confronting'.

Mr Turnbull has this week unveiled a new set of criteria for citizenship tests.

Applicants will need to face an English test and commit to embracing Australian values.

They will also need to provide evidence they have been working to show they can integrate into society.

Those who want to became Australians will also need to have been a permanent resident for four years, up from 12 months now, and face a stand-alone English test.

Malcolm Turnbull and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton announce the new citizenship test

Greens citizenship spokesman Nick McKim said Malcolm Turnbull was trying to win Pauline Hanson's supporters

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has taken the credit for the new citizenship test

Some of the new citizenship test questions will canvass issues such as domestic violence, female genital mutilation, and child marriage.

Greens senator Nick McKim, who holds the citizenship portfolio for the left-wing party, declined to say if he felt the Turnbull government was targeting Muslims.

However, he accused Mr Turnbull of trying to win over Pauline Hanson supporters.

The One Nation leader has taken the credit for the government's new citizenship test.

'The crackdown on citizenship and the patronising citizenship test is about appeasing the far-right of the Liberal Party and One Nation,' Senator McKim told Daily Mail Australia.

'So poorly thought through is this idea that the Prime Minister has to go get an expensive focus group to tell him what Australian values even are.

'If the government is serious about protecting women and girls from family violence and female genital mutilation, then they wouldn't be gutting funding from community legal centres.'
A never-before-seen letter from a Titanic passenger in which he expressed his regret that his wife and daughter were not with him has surfaced.

Alfons Simonius-Blumer wrote a remarkable account of life on board the luxury liner as the doomed ship sailed on her maiden voyage 105 years ago.

His four page letter home to his wife gives a fascinating insight into what first class passengers got up to during their days.

A letter written aboard the Titanic shortly before it sank is to be sold at an auction in Wiltshere. Banker, Alfons Simonius-Blumer wrote the letter to his wife and daughter detailing his opulent trip

The Swiss banker described visiting the ship's gymnasium and riding the electric horse and camel machines for exercise, going to the Turkish baths and smoking room and dining with friends in the evening.

He wrote how the brand new ship was so quiet it was 'as good as the best hotel' and despite strong gusts, did not heel or tilt over one bit.

Mr Simonius-Blumer was sailing to New York on business with his colleague Dr Max Staehelin and was without his wife, Alice, and their daughter, Ella, much to his regret.

But their decision to remain at at home in Switzerland could well have saved their lives as three days after the letter was written Titanic struck an iceberg and sank with the loss of 1,522 lives.

The four page letter was written on Titanic-headed notepaper at 10am on April 11, 1912 while the ship sailed between Cherbourg in France and Queenstown, Ireland.

The Irish port was the last stop-off for the liner before it crossed the Atlantic. It was the last chance passengers and crew had to post letters while on-board.

One of those was 56-year-old Mr Simonius-Blumer and his letter was stamped 'Queenstown.'

The 'exceptional' letter is now expected to sell for 22,000 at auction.

The Swiss banker described visiting the ship's gymnasium and riding the electric horse and camel machines for exercise, going to the Turkish baths and smoking room and dining with friends in the evening

Mr Simonius-Blumer survived the tragedy. As a first class passenger he was able to access a lifeboat and was rescued at 6am on April 15 by the ship the Carpathia.

Andrew Aldridge, of auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son of Devizes, Wiltshere said: 'This is an exceptional letter and the content of it is truly exceptional.

'It offers the reader a snapshot into the lives of those passengers and crew aboard the ship.

'It is also in its original envelope which is unusual for Titanic letters and most recipients threw them away.

'It is also in superb and near-mint condition, which is quite something given it is over 100 years old.'

The four page letter was written on Titanic-headed notepaper at 10am on April 11, 1912 while the ship sailed between Cherbourg in France and Queenstown, Ireland

In his letter home, the former Swiss army colonel, described of how he bumped into friends and compatriots Maximilian Frohlicher, his wife Margaretha and daughter Hedwig on board.

He wrote: 'Dr. Staehelin and the Frohlicher family send friendly greetings and the only regret of the latter is that you and Ella are not on the ship.'

He added: 'Last night I slept wonderfully from half past 10 to 7 o'clock this morning and I've ridden the horse and camel. They have left me shaken up and this afternoon I think I will take a Turkish bath.

'Although the wind is blowing strongly, the ship is not heeling over one bit, and I certainly think that not even you would get seasick because everywhere the air is excellent.

'It is really as good as the best hotel.

On the evening Titanic struck the iceberg Mr Simonius-Blumer had been playing cards in the smoking room until 11pm. He was in his stateroom at the time of the collision

'Here in the smoking room you can feel the propellers working, while in my cabin it is as quiet as in my room at home.

'In an hour we shall be in Queenstown. After that the real journey across the ocean begins.'

On the evening Titanic struck the iceberg Mr Simonius-Blumer had been playing cards in the smoking room until 11pm. He was in his stateroom at the time of the collision.

He entered lifeboat three at 12.50am with Dr Staehelin. The ship sank at 2.20am.

Mr Simonius-Blumer died from heart failure in 1920.

The letter is to be sold on Saturday 22.
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Britain will be hit by an Arctic blast next week bringing icy gales, sleet, hail and even snow along with sub-zero temperatures.

The Met Office has warned parts of the country will wave goodbye to mild weather and be very windy with wintry showers and a widespread risk of frost, along with 'the first rain of any note to southern areas for several weeks'.

But things are expected to improve by the May Day Bank Holiday - with showers, hail and sleet replaced by dry and bright weather that is forecast to spread to most of the country by the start of next month.

Bright and cheery pink cherry blossom in full bloom on The Meadows in Edinburgh city centre today

Parts of Edinburgh were a pretty sight today as temperatures soared up to 18C in Scotland - but they will fall this weekend

Today will be mostly cloudy with light rain and drizzle plus some bright spells, before rain becomes more persistent tonight

The cold weather will come just a fortnight after the country basked in 25.5C (78F) temperatures on April 9 on the hottest day of the year so far, although the mercury has only made it to 19C (66F) in the 11 days since then.

Today will be mostly cloudy with light rain and drizzle as well as some bright spells with mild temperatures, before rain becomes persistent across northern and western Scotland tonight and pushes into England tomorrow.

But it should be mostly dry in the South tomorrow before temperatures fall slightly for the weekend, which will feature early frosts and scattered showers, mainly in the North.

However Monday is expected to be much colder with a band of rain moving southwards, and it is likely to be very windy in Scotland and Northern Ireland with gales and showers, these wintry in the north.

It should be mostly dry in the South tomorrow before temperatures fall slightly for the weekend, which will feature early frosts

Temperatures in Britain this weekend will be comparable with those in Athens, Paris, Budapest, Zurich and Bucharest

By early next week cold Arctic winds move right across the UK, with a risk of hail, sleet and even snow for some areas

Your browser does not support the <code>iframe</code> HTML tag. Try viewing this in a modern browser like Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer 9 or later.

Fort William in the Highlands, which will fall to -1C early Tuesday morning, is expected be the coldest place in Britain at the start of next week.

How temperatures have fallen since the hottest day of the year April 9: 25.5C (Cambridge)

April 10: 15.9C (Herstmonceux)

April 11: 16.7C (Wisley)

April 12: 17.6C (St James's Park)

April 13: 15.4C (Heathrow)

Good Friday: 16.1C (Pershore)

Saturday: 15.7C (Heathrow)

Easter Sunday: 16.1C (Hurn)

Easter Monday: 15.6C (Cardiff)

Tuesday: 14.1C (Ross-on-Wye)

Yesterday: 16.6C (Aboyne)

Today: 19C (Inverbervie) Warmest UK temperature each day Advertisement

A Met Office spokesman added: 'The rest of next week could well become even colder with a widespread risk of night frost. Sunshine and heavy showers are anticipated, with a chilly feel where it is cloudy or windy.

'Showers in the north are likely to be wintry mid-week and some hail and sleet may spread further south at times.

'The driest and brightest weather is expected to be in the west, probably spreading to the rest of the country by the Mayday Bank holiday.

The start of May is likely to stay chilly, with an ongoing risk of frost by night in a few places, but the Met Office said temperatures are likely to rise gradually, returning to average and then perhaps above average.

Forecasters said this will mean that Britain should lose the risk of frosts, and it will start to feel pleasantly warm in any sunshine by day. They added that it looks as though the weather will then stay mostly dry and settled.

Meanwhile on the Continent, some parts of central Europe, including Slovakia and neighbouring Czech Republic, have been hit by an unusual April cold snap, with freezing temperatures and snow disrupting traffic.

Up to 20in (50cm) of snow has been seen in some areas since yesterday - but in Portugal, high temperatures and low rainfall have prompted fears of an early outbreak of forest fires.

A couple take a selfie in front of colourful tulips and bedding plants on a pleasant spring day at Victoria Park in Bath yesterday

Ducklings with their mother on the River Lowther in Cumbria yesterday as temperatures in Britain made it up to 16.6C (62F)
Rayvon A. Messer has been charged in the shooting death of his three-year-old-son. Messer is being held without bail.

A Virginia man has been charged in the shooting death of his three-year-old son.

Norfolk Police said Thursday in a statement that 26-year-old Rayvon Messer is charged with second-degree murder.

Police say paramedics responded Wednesday night to find the boy outside a home in the Ocean View area of the city.

Rayvon A. Messer Jr. died from the gunshot wound shortly after being rushed to a hospital.

Messer had called 911 around 7:45 p.m. and told dispatchers his son, identified by police as Rayvon A. Messer Jr., was shot in the stomach during a drive-by near their apartment.

Paramedics took him to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, but the boy died shortly after arriving.

Police arrested 26-year-old Rayvon A. Messer early Thursday morning

Messer claimed that his son was the victim of a drive-by shooting but police could not find any bullet holes either near or in the side of the building where the little boy was at the time

No bullet holes were found on the side of the house where the little boy lived, but there were rubber gloves, medical equipment and blood in the front yard of a neighboring apartment.

Police haven't release any more details about the circumstances surrounding the shooting, which is under investigation.

In 2014, Messer was charged with firing a gun into a building, a felony, court records show. He pleaded guilty to reckless handling of the gun, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to six months in jail, all of which was suspended.

Messer is being held in the Norfolk jail without bail. He's also charged with using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Neighbors said that they heard gunshots but that it was not unusual for the area

Video courtesy of ABC 13 News Now
Florin Moraru, 25, from Romania, launched the attack on his victim after she left a nightclub on New Year's Day in Kettering, Northamptonshire

A migrant battered and raped a woman just 11 days after arriving in Britain following his release from prison in his home country.

Florin Moraru, 25, from Romania, launched the attack on his victim after she left a nightclub on New Year's Day in Kettering, Northamptonshire.

The incident took place less than two weeks after Moraru entered the country from Eastern Europe.

Judges in Romania released him on license from a prison sentence for attacking another woman during a violent robbery in his homeland, in 2014.

In the early hours of January 1, this year, Moraru followed his victim after she left the nightclub.

As she entered a churchyard he crept up behind her before punching her in the face and she fell to the floor screaming 'no, no, no'.

But the thug continued to punch her eight times - leaving her with serious facial injuries and fractures - and was shouting 'shut up you f*****g bitch.

When the victim stopped struggling Moraru raped her.

Passers-by who heard her screams dialled 999 and police officers arrived at the scene at 5.15am.

A DNA sample matched Moraru's and he was arrested on January 6 at his place of work - a car wash in Corby, Northamptonshire.

At Northampton Crown Court on Tuesday, Nicola Moore, prosecuting, said: 'The defendant came up to her and tried to kiss her and she kissed him back.

'She went outside for a cigarette and he pestered for sex. She said 'no' and went back into the club.

'He followed and asked her to go with her so they could have sex. She said it was never going to happen.'

Moraru then followed his victim, who asked three men for help as he continued to hassle her for sex as she walked to a shop.

Even after being approached by the men, the rapist continued to follow her, with CCTV images showing him walking a minute behind her, before the attack.

A victim impact statement read to the court described the consequences of the attack on the woman.

Miss Moore added: 'She said that she felt responsible for what happened and felt physically sick when she thought about it.

'She indicated that she does not like to go out after dark and insists that she is accompanied.'

When Moraru was arrested he initially denied causing the injuries and said the sex was consensual, but later admitted the offences.

He pleaded guilty to rape and causing actual bodily harm and was jailed for 10 years and eight months.

Moraru was also made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and made to sign the sex offenders' register for life.

At Northampton Crown Court (file photo) on Tuesday, Moraru was jailed for 10 years and eight months

Sentencing, Judge Rupert Mayo said: 'It was plain to anybody that she did not want your company.

'You waited, you were a minute behind her as you followed her into a churchyard.

'In the churchyard you brutally raped her and used your fists to smash her face in.'

The court heard Moraru launched the vile attack after he tried to pester the victim for sex earlier on inside the nightclub.

After the case, Detective Sergeant Nick Cobley, from Northamptonshire Police, said: 'Florin Moraru is an extremely violent man who carried out a despicable act.

'His behaviour on the night of the incident was predatory and calculated, showing a high level of persistence and having no regard for his victim's rights or wishes.

'Today's sentencing has brought a swift resolution to an horrific incident, ensuring this evil man is locked up and unable to commit further offences or put anybody else through such a terrifying ordeal.

'I'd like to commend the victim for her bravery and hope today's sentencing brings some for of closure for her.'

Following the conviction, Conservative MP for Kettering Philip Hollobone said foreigners with a criminal record should not be allowed to enter the country.

He said: 'This was a vicious, horrendous and vile crime, which has tainted our town.

'My heart goes out to the victim.

'Foreign nationals with criminal records should be barred from ever coming to Britain.

'Foreign nationals who commit crimes in the UK should serve their prison sentences in full back in their country of origin and never be allowed to re-enter the UK.

'I am afraid that whilst we remain in the EU, EU nationals with criminal records are free to travel from one EU country to another, but once we leave we can get back control of our borders and we could put a stop to free movement for criminals.'

A Home Office spokesman added: 'Foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes in the UK should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them and we seek to remove anyone who is handed a custodial sentence.

'All passengers are checked against police, security and immigration watch lists on arrival and where we are aware of individuals who pose a risk, Border Force officers can - and do - refuse them entry.'
An MP has blasted Jeremy Corbyn's Labour as out of touch with working class people as he becomes one of 13 to quit the party at the election.

Michael Dugher, who was last year sacked by Mr Corbyn from the shadow cabinet, said he is standing down after seven years in Parliament.

The MP for Barnsley East took a swipe at the Labour leader as he announced his departure.

He said he wishes Labour 'nothing but the best' but stressed it must be a party 'in touch with working class people and one that can get into government so we can actually do something to really help people'.

Four Conservative MPs are also quitting Parliament, including former defence minister Sir Gerald Howarth and Dame Angela Watkinson - both leaving plumb safe seats.

Michael Dugher, pictured speaking at a Labour event, announced he is leaving Parliament with some sadness. He took a swipe at Mr Corbyn's leadership as he announced his departure

Jeremy Corbyn, pictured at his first major speech in London today, has seen at least nine of his MPs go public with resignations from Parliament

Mr Dugher is among a growing group of Labour MPs who have told party officials they do not want to fight again for their Commons seats.

Thirteen MPs have gone public on their decision to quit politics ahead of the snap general election on June 8. A deadline for MPs to tell officials of their plans expired last night.

Polls suggest dozens more will be fighting for their political lives and face being sacked by voters.

Shadow Scotland secretary Dave Anderson was the most senior MP to publicly join the exodus today, bringing to an end a 12-year career in Parliament.

Mr Anderson, 63, said he was quitting for personal and health reasons ahead of the June 8 election .

Senior MP Fiona Mactaggart also revealed she was leaving Parliament in a statement revealing her disillusionment at the state of politics. Lewisham MP Jim Dowd is also quitting.

THE LABOUR MPs WHO ARE STANDING DOWN AT JUNE POLL Michael Dugher Alan Johnson Tom Blenkinsop Pat Glass Iain Wright Rob Marris Gisela Stuart Andrew Smith Fiona Mactaggart Jim Dowd Dave Anderson Andy Burnham and Steve Rotherham are both leaving to focus on mayoral races Advertisement

Andy Burnham and Steve Rotherham are also leaving to focus on city mayor races

Mr Anderson said: 'The calling of this election is nothing more than a cynical attempt by the Tories to put their interests before our country.

'However, the decision has been made and I welcome the chance to take Labour's case out to the people of Blaydon.

'I have reluctantly decided that for reasons of health, age and my family's needs, I cannot commit to another five years in Parliament.

'To that end I will stand down, but I will be campaigning hard with our new candidate and the positive policy platform put forward by our Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and the whole Labour movement.'

In a statement confirming she would stand down, Ms Mactaggart said she was proud of her achievements in Parliament.

But she admitted: 'I am embarrassed to discuss with our headteachers how they will cut spending to fit the meagre budgets they face.

'I have been depressed by the way the fantastic capacity in the voluntary sector is being run down by lack of funds or poor leadership.

'I have been bored by political squabbles over personalities and I know I don't still have the passion which has driven my politics for 20 years.'

Shadow cabinet minister Dave Anderson became the 12th Labour MP to announce he was quitting Parliament at the election today

Fiona Mactaggart and Andy Burnham both confirmed today they were joining the ranks of former Labour MPs as they gave up their seats ahead of the election

Lewisham MP Jim Dowd is also calling time on his parliamentary career by standing down at the general election on June 8

Confirming his own departure from Westminster, Mr Burnham said UK politics are in 'crisis'. The former health secretary is favourite to be elected mayor of Greater Manchester on May 4, the day after the dissolution of Parliament for the June 8 poll.

In a message to constituents, Mr Burnham said that since first being elected in 2001: 'I have also seen at close quarters how our centralised and still part-unelected political system works better for some places than it does for others.

'During my 16 years of travelling up and down the West Coast Main Line, I have seen the North-South divide widen significantly.'

He added: 'I believe the arrival of devolution in England represents the best chance we will ever get to secure a more equal country and make politics work better for people. That is why I have decided to devote myself to it.'

Former home secretary Alan Johnson (left), Pat Glass (centre) and committee chair Iain Wright (right) are all leaving the Labour ranks

Also quitting are Andrew Smith (left), Tom Blenkinsop (centre) and Rob Marris (right) are also leaving Parliament at June's election

Senior Labour MPs Gisela Stuart and Iain Wright both confirmed on Wednesday they would be standing down at the election, joining Alan Johnson, Tom Blenkinsop, Andrew Smith and Pat Glass.

Mr Corbyn suffered another blow on Wednesday night when former Labour MP Bob Marshall-Andrews defected to the Liberal Democrats.

Mr Marshall-Andrews told The Times: 'At present there is manifestly a huge vacuum on the centre-left represented in substantial part by the 48 per cent of the electorate who rejected Brexit and the lies on which it was based.

'To many, including me, there was a forlorn hope that a reformed and radical Labour Party would rise to historic occasion. It has not and shows no real sign of doing so.'

He also said the party should have chosen not to field anyone in the Richmond Park by-election, caused when Zac Goldsmith stood down after the third runway decision. Sarah Olney, the Liberal Democrat, took the seat.

The party's leader Tim Farron said: 'Bob, like many progressive Labour people, is coming over to the only party that is offering a credible opposition to a divisive Tory Brexit government.'

Bob Marshall Andrews, above, former MP for Medway announced he is joining the Liberal Democrats

Bob Marshall-Andrews stands for the Labour seat in Medway in 2001. He held the seat from 1997-2010 for the Labour Party

Ailing leader Jeremy Corbyn launched his campaign in Croydon tonight a day after Theresa May's bombshell snap election call.

Gisela Stuart announced she would be standing down from Parliament yesterday

Ms Stuart, who has held her Tory-Labour marginal seat since 1997, wrote to local members: 'I wanted you to hear from me that I have decided not to contest the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency at the general election in June.

'After 22 years of campaigning and 20 years of having had the privilege of being the MP for this diverse, forever surprising and wonderful marginal seat I know when it is time to stand down and pass on the baton.

'Together we have done amazing things; things we never expected when I became the first 'Labour gain' of the Labour 1997 landslide, as well as the first ever Labour MP for Bartley Green, Edgbaston, Harborne and Quinton.

'We won local battles, brought people together, challenged established assumptions about voters (and sometimes our own) and won elections against Tories that we didn't think were possible. But together we did it. We are Labour and our values are Labour.'

Mr Corbyn got his campaign up and running surrounded by supporters in Westminster today ahead of the election on June 8

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell and Mr Corbyn's wife Laura Alvarez watched on today as the Labour leader spoke

The party's ratings under Jeremy Corbyn have been woeful - with the most recent showing it is 21 points behind the Conservatives. That could mean losing around 70 MPs, or a third of the current total.

LIVERPOOL MAYOR BIDS TO TAKE MP SEAT OF HIS SUCCESSOR The Mayor of Liverpool has announced plans to stand as Labour MP in the constituency currently held by Steve Rotheram - who is in the running to become metro mayor for the Liverpool City Region. Walton MP Mr Rotheram is Labour's candidate for the new post of Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor, due to be elected next month, leaving his seat vacant if he is voted in. City mayor Joe Anderson announced on Thursday he intended to stand as the Labour candidate for Walton in the general election on June 8 if selected by the party's National Executive Committee. Mr Rotheram beat Mr Anderson and Wavertree MP Luciana Berger to be selected as the Labour candidate for the mayoral role. Announcing his intention to stand as MP, Mr Anderson said: 'This decision has not been made lightly. 'I have thought long and hard about it but I feel, with the Government calling a snap general election, this is the right time for me to provide the best representation for the people of Liverpool and Walton. 'It is fair to say that over the years I have been criticised for my direct way of doing things, my no nonsense attitude may not have been to everyone's taste, but I strongly believe that we must always stand up to bullies, and it will be clear to everyone in Liverpool Walton that this Government is intent on bullying our city.' Advertisement

Former leader Lord Kinnock warned today that he did not expect to see another Labour government in his lifetime.

Repeating his previous dire assessment of the party's prospects, the 75-year-old told BBC Radio 5 Live: 'There haven't been the substantial changes that I would have wanted and therefore I'm as gloomy about my prospects of living to see another Labour government as I was then.'

Mr Corbyn suffered a fresh humiliation when a member of his own front bench, John Healey, refused to say whether he would mention the leader in his election literature. Mr Healey said he had yet to write the material.

Mr Healey also declined to say whether Mr Corbyn should stay on as leader, insisting he would not 'get into' an issue which 'may or may not be relevant'.

Hartlepool has been Labour since the 1970s, but has become increasingly tight.

Mr Wright, 44, narrowly fought off a challenge from Ukip to secure a 3,000 majority in 2015 - but it appears he has concluded the Tory tidal wave will be too much to resist.

In a statement today he said: 'It has been an enormous privilege to serve my home town in Parliament.

'I have now been an MP for nearly a third of my life.

'I would like to do other things and now is a good opportunity to do so.

'I would like to thank my constituents for giving me the honour of allowing me to be their Member of Parliament since 2004.'

Former home secretary Alan Johnson and moderate MP Tom Blenkinsop both announced they would not be seeking relection yesterday as the implications of a snap election hit home.

Andrew Smith - who gained notoriety as the MP who gave Mr Corbyn enough n nominations to feature on the ballot for Labour leader in 2015, has also said he will not stand again in Oxford East.

'This election is for a Parliament which is likely to run until 2022, when I would be over 71, so I think it is now time for someone else to take forward the work of serving local people as your MP. I will therefore not be a candidate in the election,' Mr Smith said.

'My belief and confidence in the values of fairness which Labour stands for are as strong as ever, and I will work tirelessly to help secure the election of a Labour MP for Oxford East, carrying forward the service which Oxford Labour gives our local community.'

Mr Wright announced that he would not be seeking re-election in Hartlepool this morning

The party's ratings under Jeremy Corbyn (pictured leaving his London home today) have been woeful - with the most recent showing it is 21 points behind the Conservatives

Theresa May, pictured giving a BBC radio interview today, is hoping to gobble up Labour seats following her bombshell decision to call a snap poll

The gulf between Conservative and Labour in the polls means that for the first time since 1997, scores of constituencies are in play rather than just a handful of marginal swing seats.

Top Tory targets will include Brexit supporting Stoke on Trent South, Halifax and Middlesbrough South.

Labour MP John Woodcock, defending a narrow majority in Barrow and Furness, said last night that he could not bring himself to vote for Mr Corbyn to become PM. Neighbouring Copeland fell to the Tories at a by-election in February.

Gains from Labour will be crucial for Mrs May as she faces a different battle in a clutch of seats won by David Cameron in 2015 from the Lib Dems.

Two years ago the Tories pulled off shock wins in Twickenham and Richmond in leafy west London, and Lewes and St Ives in Cornwall.

All four were snatched from the Liberal Democrats and Mrs May will have to fight a different battle to keep hold of them.
Douglas Carswell has announced he is quitting politics saying Brexit is 'job done'.

The Clacton MP said it has been the 'highest honour' to represent the seaside town but he will not seek re-election on June 8.

But he said he has decided to bow out now that Britain has voted to leave the EU and become a 'sovereign country again'.

Douglas Carswell has announced he is quitting politics, saying Brexit is 'job done'

Announcing the news on his blog, he said: 'As I promised in my maiden speech, I have done everything possible to ensure we got, and won, a referendum to leave the European Union - even changing parties and triggering a by election to help nudge things along.

'Last summer, we won that referendum. Britain is going to become a sovereign country again.

'I have decided that I will not now be seeking re-election.'

Mr Carswell, who was one the leading figures of the campaign to leave the EU, defected from the Tory party to join Ukip but left last month amid bitter infighting.

He said he will throw his support behind the Conservatives in the coming election.

He wrote: 'I intend to vote Conservative on June 8 and will be offering my full support to whoever the Clacton Constituency Conservatives select as their candidate.

'It is sometimes said that all political careers end in failure. It doesn't feel like that to me today.

'I have stood for Parliament five times, won four times, and helped win the referendum last June. Job done. I'm delighted.

Douglas Carswell follows his former Vote Leave colleague Gisela Stuart in quitting politics. The pair are pictured on the Vote Leave Battle Bus with fellow Brexiteer Boris Johnson

Mr Carswell travelled the country holding rallies to urge voters to break with Brussels

Brexit trio Douglas Carswell, Gisela Stuart and Boris Johnson said the UK can use the money it pays to Brussels to pay for vital services at home such as the NHS

'Having been an MP for about half my adult life, I believe that it is time for me to move on to other things. I look forward to being able to read newspapers without appearing in them.

'It has been the highest honour to have represented Clacton in the House of Commons.'

He said he has never felt 'more proud' than when representing his Essex constituents in Parliament.

He added: 'Over the past twelve years I have had great fun working with, and getting to know, many wonderful local people.'

Mr Carswell, 45, was first elected Conservative MP for Harwich in 2005 and has represented Clacton in Parliament since 2010 following boundary changes.

He had a solid 12,000 majority as a Conservative in the 2010 election, holding the seat by almost 3,500 votes for Ukip in 2015.

Douglas Carswell is pictured with Nigel Farage in August 2014, when he announced he was leaving the Conservative Party and joining Ukip. The pair have since fallen out and Mr Carswell said he will support the Tories at the General Election on June 8

He is following his fellow Brexit champion, Labour MP Gisela Stuart, in quitting the House of Commons.

Along with Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, the pair were the two leading faces in the Vote Leave campaign, travelling the country to urge voters to break with Brussels.

Multimillionaire Ukip donor Arron Banks, who is planing to stand in Clacton, reacted with glee to the news.

The self-styled bad boy of Brexit, wrote on Twitter: 'The Clacton swamp has been drained without a shot fired! Now for the Clacton plan....'

Multi-millionaire Ukip donor takes to Twitter to express his glee at news that Mr Carswell is quitting politics. Mr Banks has declared he is going to run in the Essex constituency

Mr Banks has yet to announce if he will run in the election for Ukip or if he will stand as an independent or under another banner.

Tom Brake, Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesman, said: 'This is yet another top Brexiteer leaving a sinking ship.

'After steering the country towards a disastrous hard Brexit, it seems leading Leave campaigners don't want to be held accountable for what happens next.

'It also speaks volumes that UKIP's first elected MP is throwing his weight behind Theresa May, who has adopted UKIP's hard Brexit agenda to the letter.

He said the Lib Dems are the 'real opposition' and will fight for a referendum on the final Brexit deal.
Hillary Clinton fan Bruce Springsteen has released an anti-Donald Trump protest song hitting out at 'the conman and his crooks'.

The rock-and-roll legend has teamed up once again with Pittsburgh musician Joe Grushecky on the track called That's What Makes Us Great.

Grushecky approached The Boss to collaborate with him on the song which he wrote when the Republican took office at the White House in January.

Musician Bruce Springsteen, performing here onstage at Madison Square Garden in New York, has teamed up with Pittsburgh musician Joe Grushecky on the track called That's What Makes Us Great

Springsteen, known as The Boss, is a massive critic of Republican Donald Trump (left) and a long-time supporter of Hillary Clinton (right) and previous Democratic politicians

'I had this song, and Bruce and I had been talking,' Grushecky said, talking to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

'I sent it to him and he liked it. I said, "What do you think about singing on it?"

'He gave it the Bruce treatment.'

The scathing lyrics touch on immigration, and saves his most harsh criticism for a verse in which he sings: 'And don't you brag to me that you never read a book. I never put my faith in a con man and his crooks.'

The chorus is slightly more upbeat, stating: 'It's up to me and you. Love can conquer hate. I know this to be true. That's what makes us great.'

Springsteen was publicly critical of Trump during the campaign rally and has said on stage he is embarrassed to be an American since the Republican took office.

He is a long-time Democratic supporter, having backed former President Obama and Hillary Clinton.

President Barack Obama, hugs Bruce Springsteen, center left, before presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to him during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on November 22, 2016 in Washington

Springsteen, 67, has made no secret of his disdain for Donald Trump's political message and agenda over the past 18 months.

The New Jersey rocker appeared on an episode of WTF With Marc Maron in January, and during the hour-long podcast he spoke about his fears and concerns about the future of the country during and after a Trump presidency.

'I've felt disgust before, but never the kind of fear that you feel now,' Springsteen said of Trump and the administration.

'It's as simple as the fear of, is someone simply competent enough to do this particular job? Forget about where they are ideologically.

'Do they simply have the pure competence to be put in the position of such responsibility?'

Springsteen later said that the policies Trump has been proposing to are 'lies that can't occur' and his rhetoric runs the risk of ruining the future of the country because he appeals to the 'worst aspects' of society such as 'racism, bigotry, [and] intolerance.'
Just days ago they were at the centre of a possible nuclear war as Trump threatened to strike Kim Jong-un if he carried out a sixth nuke test.

But things have since calmed down at North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site, as staff were pictured playing what seems to be games of volleyball.

These satellite images were captured on Sunday, a day after the communist state's Day Of The Sun celebrations, by monitoring group 38 North.

Staff at North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear testing site were photographed by satellite on Sunday while apparently having a game of volleyball

These images were taken on Sunday, just 24 hours after the Day of the Sun celebrations when many expected Kim to use the site to carry out a sixth nuclear test

Trump had hinted that another test would cause him to launch pre-emptive strikes against North Korea, with this site a likely target

They seem to show the base has been put into standby mode, with workers relaxing and equipment left in place after weeks of increased activity.

Punggye-ri was widely expected to be the site of a sixth nuclear test over the weekend to mark North Korea's founding.

However, President Trump had warned despot Jong-un that carrying out another explosion at the underground base would prompt pre-emtive strikes.

Top of the list would likely have been the Punggye-ri facility.

To reinforce his message, Trump diverted the Carl Vinson carrier strike group to the region, sending the USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan in after it.

It has since emerged that none of the carrier groups mentioned were in the region at the time, though they are making their way there now.

Experts had warned for weeks of increased activity at the site, where nuclear explosions are carried out underground before being studied with testing equipment

Punggye-ri appeared to have been put on standby following Day of the Sun celebrations, with equipment unmoved and vehicles moved away from the tunnels

Kim Jong-un has made it his mission to develop a small but powerful nuclear device that could be fitted to a missile with enough range to reach the mainland United States

Trump has described the force as an 'armada' and warned Kim he 'must behave' if he doesn't want it to be used against him.

For his part, the North Korean leader has kept up his typically aggressive rhetoric, saying on Thursday that it is prepared to carry out a 'super-mighty preemptive strike' and warning America: 'Don't mess with us.'

State controlled media claimed its military could 'immediately wipe out the US mainland' and reduce its enemies 'to ashes'.

It has also emerged that Vladimir Putin is reinforcing his border with North Korea by relocating troops and equipment, after China deployed 150,000 troops on its border.

After drawing the world's attentions with a strike on Syria, President Trump had issued a stark warning to Kim Jong-un not to carry out more tests, saying he has 'got to behave'

The move was interpreted by many as being preparations for an influx of refugees if war had broken out with the US.

Video purports to show one of three trains loaded with military equipment moving towards the 11 mile-long land frontier between Russia and the repressive state in Russia's far south east.

Another clip highlights military helicopter movements towards the North Korean border and manoeuvres across rough terrain by army combat vehicles. Other reports suggest there have been military moves by road as well.

There have been concerns that if a conflict breaks out Russia could face a humanitarian exodus from North Korea.
Police are investigating the mysterious death of an elderly Victorian woman who lay dead in her house for months.

The 81-year-old female resident of Kangaroo Flat near Bendigo had been dead inside her house since Christmas last year.

Seven News reported she was badly decomposed for at least four months before the grim discovery.

A Victorian woman lay dead inside this house (pictured) since Christmas last year. The 81-year-old female resident of Kangaroo Flat near Bendigo had been dead inside her house and was badly decomposing for at least four months

Police believe a woman has been living at the residence since the elderly woman died.

Neighbours say they have seen that woman at the house, taking the rubbish out and walking the dog.

Officers took one woman away for questioning on Thursday, according to a neighbour.

Police said they took a statement from a woman at Bendigo police station but she was later released without charge.

Detectives are preparing a report for the coroner.

Police said they took a statement from a woman at Bendigo city (pictured) police station but she was later released without charge
Hillary Clinton's campaign hands are on the hunt for the traitor who leaked embarrassing information about the boss to the authors of a tell-all book on the Democrat's doomed campaign.

They may already know who did it. Clinton confidante Huma Abedin has been accused of cutting a deal with 'Shattered' authors Amie Parnes and Jon Allen to protect her reputation.

A spokesperson for Clinton rejected that explanation, however.

'Huma didnt talk to them,' a Clinton rep told Page Six.

Hillary Clinton's campaign hands are on the hunt for the traitor who leaked embarrassing information about the boss to the authors of a tell-all book on the Democrat's doomed campaign. They may already know who did it: Clinton confidante Huma Abedin

Abedin's reasons for spilling secrets in exchange for a more flattering portrayal, if that's what she did, border on the obvious. Her husband's predatory behavior caused the FBI to take another look at Clinton's email scandal 11 days before the election.

After DailyMail.com revealed that Weiner knowingly sexted with an underage girl, the FBI launched an investigation into the former politician. In the process of sweeping his electronics, the authorities found emails they believed could be pertinent to the Clinton investigation.

Abedin's reason for spilling secrets is obvious: Her husband's predatory behavior caused the FBI to take another look at Clinton's email scandal

Her case was opened, then shut again two days before ballots were cast. Clinton and her aides have since torched the FBI for its sloppy handling of the sensitive situation and accused the bureau and its head, James Comey, of costing her the Oval.

Several embarrassing episodes in 'Shattered' involve Abedin.

She's cast in the book as 'a disaster waiting to happen' and blasted as a 'major vulnerability.'

In any other political operation she would have been cast aside publicly and brutally long before this moment. Now her detractors fears were being realized and the risk could no longer be ignored,' the book says of the Weiner debacle.

Clinton knew she needed Huma to vanish but could not banish the woman for whom she had a deep, almost maternal compassion,' Parnes and Allen write.

Abedin made the choice for her boss and fell on her own sword,' Shattered says. She told Clinton, Ill do whatever. Ill put my situation in your hands.

The characterization of Abedin in the book has some Clinton insiders wondering if Abedin talked to Parnes and Allen.

'Theres some speculation that Huma Abedin cooperated to save her own reputation. However, she and Hillary are still very close,' a source told Page Six.

Abedin may not have been but a 'Shattered' source, but there's no doubt that several people in Clinton's inner campaign circle talked.

Abedin may not have been but a 'Shattered' source, but there's no doubt that several people in Clinton's inner campaign circle talked

According to Page Six, Dennis Chang, the finance director for Clinton's campaign, is sniffing about.

'The knives are out to find the people who spoke about the campaign to the authors of this book. Dennis has been texting prominent campaign staffers, asking who talked,' a tipster said. 'Hes on a witch hunt to find out who talked to save their own skin, throwing Hillary and her campaign manager Robby Mook under the bus.'

Parnes and Allen gave the staffers cover by allowing them to speak anonymously and promising that their secrets wouldn't be published until after the election in order to get widespread access.

Staffers vented about obvious mistakes that were made by Mook and other top aides in the lead-up to the election.

But they also shared private details about Clinton, offering up juicy tidbits about the witch hunt she conducted after her first, failed bid - she reportedly read her staffers emails - and her election night call to President Barack Obama.

After calling Donald Trump to congratulate him, Clinton rang Obama to apologize for losing the election.

'Mr. President, Im sorry,' she said. Obama told her, 'You need to concede.'

He stressed the point to Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, as well.

Clinton did not formally concede at that time. She had Podesta tell her supporters, some of whom had been waiting to see her 12 hours, that it wasn't over, and they'd have more to say later in the day.

She publicly conceded at a restricted event the next morning.

A spokesperson for Clinton has alleged that some of the information in the book was made up.

'It was our campaign. We lived it. So we dont need a book to know what really happened, and whats in there thats flat-out made up,' a rep said to Page Six.

Allen rebuffed the spokesperson in an email to DailyMail.com.

'We stand by our reporting,' he said.
A new primary school in Glasgow with unisex toilets to stop transgender pupils from being bullied has been given the go-ahead despite a backlash from parents.

Council bosses say the toilets will cut bullying and prevent lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) pupils from having to worry about using the 'wrong' ones.

Several parents wrote letters of objection to the local authority after it emerged boys and girls will share lavatories at the new Blairdardie Primary.

Blairdardie Primary is Glasgow (pictured) is to have a new building with unisex toilets, which was approved by council bosses despite objections from parents

However, councillors approved the construction of the new school at a planning committee meeting this week.

A report submitted to them by planning officials said the row over the unisex toilets was not a 'material planning consideration'.

Speaking last month, Malcolm Balfour, SNP councillor for Drumchapel and Anniesland, said parents had approached him with 'serious concerns'.

He added: 'In Scandinavian countries they do this quite successfully, and I can see that it teaches kids it doesn't matter what their gender is, but parents feel they should have been consulted first.'

In a letter to the council, objector Joyce McCann raised concerns about pupils sharing toilets if their religion doesn't allow it.

And Allan Walker called on Glasgow City Council to produce evidence that same-sex toilets reduce bullying.

David McEwan, estate programme manager for the council's education services, insisted: 'Bullying is reduced, behaviour is improved, no graffiti, no soggy bombs on the ceilings.

'It also assists in the LGBT agenda, because if we have children who are confused about their gender and worry, 'Do I go to the girls' toilet or the boys' toilet?' - well, it doesn't matter.'

But Norman Wells of the Family Education Trust said: 'The majority of parents will feel distinctly uncomfortable about unisex toilets in schools.

Council bosses say the toilets will cut bullying and prevent lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) pupils from having to worry about using the 'wrong' ones

'Not only does it raise concerns about privacy, particularly at the upper end of primary school, but it undermines the fact that there are fundamental biological differences between boys and girls.

'Schools do not exist to advance the latest politically correct fad, and something has gone seriously wrong when the LGBT agenda is dictating the design of new school buildings.'

Mr McEwan said the toilets will be fully enclosed but share a row of sinks.

Each floor will also have a fully accessible toilet away from the unisex loos that can be used by any pupil who doesn't want to use the main facilities.

The initiative has already been implemented in Hillhead primary school, an oversubscribed school in the city, where six unisex toilets have replaced boys' and girls' bathrooms.

Both genders will also share lavatories in Gowanbank Primary School, south Glasgow, which is currently around 50 per cent completed, and the new Carntyne Primary.

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: 'Research from other local authorities shows that unisex toilets can help improve behaviour and reduce bullying and vandalism.

'Parents, pupils and school staff have all been part of the design consultations for the new schools.'
More than half of police officers in France have said they are voting for far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in Sunday's election because of her strong anti-terror stance.

According to the IFOP poll, 51 per cent of the Gendarmerie are planning to back Le Pen in the nail-biting election.

That is more than double the number of people who are backing her nearest rival, centrist Emmanuel Macron (16.5 per cent).

Marine Le Pen has vowed to halt French immigration and reverse 'savage globalisation'

Le Pen encouraged the crowd on Tuesday to boo the EU and its policy of free movement, saying 'mass-migration has been a tragedy for France'

Le Pen has pledged to beef up law and order in her manifesto, with 15,000 more police officers, deporting foreign criminals and closing extremist mosques.

According to the poll, Le Pen's strongest base of support is among working-age people with lower education.

During a rally on Tuesday, she declared mass-migration a 'tragedy' for her country and savaged the EU.

She also pledged to suspend all immigration if she wins the presidency, saying her rivals support 'savage globalisation.'

According to the recent polling by IFOP, Macron's support is highest among professional workers, those with higher levels of education, as well as the younger members of society

IMPACT OF 'FAKE NEWS' ON SOCIAL MEDIA A study has revealed that almost one in four internet links shared by French users on social media in relation to the upcoming election constituted 'fake news', much of which showed evidence of Russian influence. The survey, by Bakamo, examined 800 websites and almost eight million links shared online between November 1 and April 4. It found that 19.2 per cent of links did not 'adhere to journalistic standards' and that they 'expressed radical opinions...to craft a disruptive narrative.' A further five per cent related to 'narratives [that were] often mythical, almost theological in nature' or discussed 'conspiracy theories' fell under what it called the 'alternative' section. The sources shared in these categories favoured anti-EU candidates both on the far right and the far left, at the expense of pro European centrist Emmanuel Macron. Advertisement

Le Pen told supporters in Paris: 'I will protect you. My first measure as president will be to reinstate France's borders.

'The choice on Sunday is simple. It is a choice between a France that is rising again and a France that is sinking.

Referring to her supporters as 'patriots', she added: 'Fight for victory, until the very last minute.

'If every patriot can this week convince just one abstentionist, just one undecided voter, we are sure to win!

Le Pen is widely expected to be one of the two candidates to make it through that first round, along with pro-European Macron, before a run-off on May 7.

However, polls have been tightening in recent days, with hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon closing the gap, along with Thatcherite Francois Fillon, the former frontrunner whose campaign has been dogged by allegations of corruption.

Three surveys show Macron having a slight edge over Le Pen with 23-25 per cent against 22-23 per cent.

According to the recent polling by IFOP, Macron's support is highest among professional workers, those with higher levels of education, as well as the younger members of society.

Fillon - the only contender with any government pedigree - and Melenchon are tied at around 19 per cent, after a late spurt put them within striking distance of the frontrunners.

The race is being watched internationally as an important gauge of populist sentiment, and the outcome is increasingly uncertain just days before Sunday's first round vote.
A single mother-of-four who was given 26,000 to come off benefits vows she will never go back on the dole after 'transforming her life' through her new clothing line business.

Sophie, 28, from Basildon, Essex, was one of several people who were handed a lump sum to see if they could leave the benefits system for good.

Now the young mother has vowed to never return to state handouts, saying her life - and also her children's - has been dramatically changed through the experiment.

Sophie, a keen sewer, has set up a children's clothing line which she says is already attracting up to 200 orders a day.

Mother-of-four Sophie (pictured with her four children), who was given 26,000 to come off benefits, vows she will never go back on the dole after 'transforming her life'

'I never, ever want to go back to what I was,' she told MailOnline.

'My eldest son now wants to go to university - he goes online and spends time researching it. Before, he'd never dream of that - he didn't have an outlook on working.

'I did not want to be in the system anymore. I did not want to rely on my mum, my friends, or taxpayers. And this has given me a way out.

'Now I get to enjoy a life with the money I earn myself. I didn't enjoy spending money when it came from benefits. All I thought was "That's someone else's money" and I felt guilty spending it.

'If my business falls through, I would get another job, or another six jobs. I would do anything to pay the bills rather than give up this freedom.'

Sophie, who was in receipt of benefits for 12 years, was inspired to set up her business Evie & Co when she appeared on Channel 5's The Great British Benefits Handout.

During that show, she and several other recipients were helped by welfare expert Lee Healey, who tried to advise the families on how to invest the money.

Sophie's business is still getting off the ground, but she says she has almost broken even from her initial outlay and is going from strength to strength.

Sophie, a keen sewer, has set up a handmade children's clothing line, Evie & Co, which she says is already attracting up to 200 orders a day. Some items are pictured above

The mother-of-four, from Basildon, was inspired to set up her business Evie & Co when she appeared on Channel 5's The Great British Benefits Handout. One of her items is shown above

Sophie also bought ready-made clothes which she has sold on for a profit. One of the outfits is pictured above

'It was slow at the beginning, but all new businesses face that issue. There's a lot of outgoings - my sewing machine alone cost 1,000,' she said.

'I really had to put in the work to get where I am and I know I will have to continue to do so.

'But now it's exploded. I've hired a seamstress and a PA to help me, that's how much work there is to do. I am drowning in orders.

'It just started as girls' clothes, but there's been so much demand that I've done into boys' clothes too.'

During the show, the cameras followed Sophie as she bought 2,000 worth of fabric from China to make dresses for the online store.

She also bought thousands worth of pre-made clothes, all of which she has nearly sold, and spent money on a 400 laptop, the sewing machine and a 1,000 makeover for her office at home.

Sophie said that the business has changed her and her children's lives. From left to right is Olley, nine, Rosa, five, Caden, 13, and Evie-May, 14 months

The mother-of-four estimates that she has spent around 7,000 setting up her business and has already made about 4,000 back in the six months since its inception.

Although she says she only has about 6,000 left of the original amount - which she says she is not touching and using as 'savings' - she said she was not concerned because so much money she had spent was for investment.

She said the rest of her money went on paying back bills, including rent, as well as some 'treats' for her and her children.

'This is the rest of my life, not just a few weeks. This will benefit me and my children for the rest of our lives,' she said.

'It might not sounds like a lot in the grand scheme of things, but I know that profit will start coming soon. It's only been six months.'

Inevitably, the success of the business means she is rushed off her feet.

Sophie said she has not yet broken even but understands that can take time. One of her handmade dolls is shown above

Her youngest child Evie-May, who is 14 months, now goes to a babysitter three times a week so she can have time to herself when the other children - Caden, 13, Rosa, nine and Olley, five - are at school.

'I am still doing the housework, the job, the school runs, cooking dinner. Sometimes I don't know how I do it,' she said.

'It still sounds so weird to say "job" or "work" - I haven't done that before.'

Sophie says the money has dramatically affected her lifestyle and she says her children do not want for anything.

When she was totally reliant on benefits, she spent 800 per month on everything, whereas now her outgoings amount to around 2,000.

'I still shop at Aldi because I like it - I don't go to Waitrose or anything like that,' she said. 'But I don't look at the Tesco own brand - I can afford better meat, more fruit.

'The kids don't go without anything now. If they want something and I feel like they should be rewarded, we will go and do it.'

She said the family is even thinking about going abroad for the first time next year.

'In the holidays, we went to a soft play place, which we would never have done,' she said.

'We are looking into a holiday, hopefully next year, maybe like a week away in Spain. It'll be the first time the children have gone on an aeroplane.'

She even she took Caden to the cinema for his birthday and bought him popcorn and sweets.

The Channel 5 programme showed Sophie buying a food shop at Iceland after being given the money

'I don't splash hundreds just because I have made quite a bit - I am being careful and reinvesting,' she said.

'But that's something we couldn't have ever done before,' she said

At the time the show was aired earlier this year, Sophie was criticised for using the money to go on a 700 spree in Primark.

Speaking about the criticism today, she told MailOnline: 'The thing that people don't understand is: I've never been able to go into a shop and get my children a spring, summer and autumn wardrobe. They've always had hand-me-downs.

'So it was nice to do that and to give them a treat. People would be lying if they said they wouldn't do the same thing.'

She added: 'The children tell me all the time how proud they are of me. I'm more tired, but I'm a happier mummy and they can see that.

'We are finally all free from it, from the benefits system. And, most importantly, my kids will be free from it.'
Ivanka Trump was named to this year's Time 100 list, and profiled by her closest gal pal Wendi Deng.

In the magazine, Deng wrote about her 12-year friendship with Ivanka, and how inspiring the 35-year-old mother-of-three is to her and young women around the world.

It was a big honor for Ivanka - no doubt made sweeter by the fact that both her father, President Donald Trump and husband Jared Kushner also made the list.

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Profiled by a pal: Ivanka Trump was profiled in the Time 100 list by her good friend Wendi Deng (pair above)

Through the years: 'As modern working moms, we have faced many of the same challenges and joys,' wrote Deng (left in 2016 with Jared Kushner lurking in the background, right in 2007)

Deng started off her piece by detailing her relationship with Ivanka.

'While the world has come to know Ivanka Trump as the nations First Daughteras well as an entrepreneur and a devoted wife and mother - I have had the privilege of calling her my dear friend for 12 years,' wrote Deng.

'We met as neighbors in New York City and quickly grew close. As modern working moms, we have faced many of the same challenges and joys, and she has become a trusted counsel in my life.'

Deng went on to write about all the work Ivanka is doing for young women in this country.

'Ivanka continues to earn my respect and admiration for how she has chosen to use her new visibility,' explained Deng.

'She has long advocated to empower women and girls and is now leading education initiatives and working to put an end to human trafficking.'

She added: 'I am deeply impressed by her courage to leave behind life as she knew it and move her young family to Washington to pursue positive change.'

And to close out her gushing piece, Deng got a little personal.

'My daughters have long looked up to her,' wrote Deng.

'Now women and girls around the globe can look up to her too.'

Ivanka and Deng are so close that the first daughter was selected as one of five people on a board tasked with overseeing the trusts of Grace and Chloe Murdoch - Deng and ex-husband Rupert Murdoch's two daughters.

She stepped down from her role at the end of December however when she made the decision to travel to Washington DC for the next four years.

Praise: Deng closed her piece by writing: 'My daughters have long looked up to her. Now women and girls around the globe can look up to her too' (Ivanka and President Trump in February on the left, Wendi with daughters Grace and Chloe on the right earlier this month)

Sailing the seas: Deng, 48, is currently on vacation with her model boytoy Bertold Zahoran, who celebrated his 23rd birthday earlier this week

Ivanka and husband Jared Kushner were also part of the select group invited to Jordan in 2010 for Chloe and Grace's baptism, who are now 13 and 15 respectively.

They attended the event alongside Queen Rania and the girls' godparents Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.

The two girls were baptized in the River Jordan at the same site where Jesus Christ is said to have undergone the sacred ceremony.

Others who attended the baptism ceremony included Google co-founder Larry page and his wife, Lucy; former Viacom head Tom Freston and his then-wife Kathy; and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Blair, another of the of the godparents to the girls, was not featured in a Hello spread of the baptism.

Guests at the event all wore white for the ceremony.
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The largest collection of gold sovereign coins ever found has been officially declared as treasure meaning the piano owner and the unwitting finder are due a share of the bounty.

But in a cruel twist of fate, the couple who donated the piano in 2016 are not entitled to a penny.

The haul of 913 gold sovereigns and half sovereigns date between 1847 and 1915, have a face value of 773 - the equivalent of roughly 500,000 today.

Thanks to the Treasure Act 1996, the person who found the coins, Martin Backhouse, 61, a piano tuner hired by the school, is due a share of the value of the coins.

A huge haul of gold coins have been found stashed inside a piano donated to a school in Shropshire. Meg and Graham Hemmings who gifted the piano do not stand to claim any money but the school will

Equally, the owner of the property, Bishop's Castle Community College in Bishop's Castle, Shropshire. is also due a share of the value.

The loot is expected to be claimed by the British Museum.

The coins, which weigh almost one stone, had been carefully stitched into seven cloth-bound packets and a leather drawstring purse.

These had then been stashed beneath the piano's keyboard in such a way that the instrument could still be played.

Meg and Graham Hemmings, previous owners of the piano said: 'Not long after we moved to Saffron Walden in 1983, we asked a friend of ours if he could keep an eye out for a second hand piano which we purchase for the use of our four children Sam, Will, Ben and Jessica.

Meg and Graham Hemmings, previous owners (pictured, left) donated the piano to the school after their children grew up and moved away. The piano had been used by their four children and remained in their family for 33 years. Piano tuner Martin Backhouse (pictured, right) discovered the stash and stands to gain half the value

'The rather attractive Broadwood piano arrived complete with two candlestick holders and the three boys in particular played it for the next 20 years.

'Although the iron-framed piano was tuned from time to time we had no idea that it contained the hidden coins.

'In 2005 the piano moved into storage prior to our purchasing a house in Bishop's Castle where we were privileged to live until we decided to 'downsize' in 2016.

'As our children had married and left home the piano was rarely played and functioned as a rather attractive piece of furniture in our dining room.

'We gladly donated and delivered the piano to the local Community College prior to our recent move in the knowledge that they would put it to good use.'

According to the British Museum, over 40 people contacted the Coroner with information about the find and attempted to make a claim. However the school and the piano tuner who found it stand to split the value, paid by the British museum should they want to claim it

The haul of 913 gold sovereigns and half sovereigns date between 1847 and 1915, have a face value of 773 - the equivalent of roughly 500,000 today

According to the British Museum, over 40 people contacted the Coroner with information about the find and attempted to make a claim.

However, none of the claimants were able to provide enough information to prove the gold belonged to them.

They have since been declared treasure by a Coroner.

A spokesperson for the British Museum said: 'The individual coins are not particularly rare being the button coinage of the British Empire.

'However, it is the largest hoard of its type known and the find is of significant importance from a historical perspective.

'It is a fascinating story. We are not aware of any other coin hoards being secreted in pianos.

'We assume the owner thought it was a good place to hide of somethings and indeed it has taken 75 years to rediscover.'

The sovereigns were declared treasure by Senior Coroner Mr John Ellery at an inquest at Shrewsbury Coroner's Court.

They were deemed to be made substantially of gold, have been deposited with the deliberate intention of being recovered in the future, and unable to be claimed by an original owner or their heirs.

It was tuning technician Martin Backhouse, who then found the 'gob-smacking' stash, initially believing the carefully-wrapped cloth packets delivering bum notes to be bags of 'moth repellent'.

Describing the moment of discovery, he said: 'As soon as I started lifting out the keys, I thought, uh-uh, what's this underneath the keyboard?

'I lifted one and thought, that can't be moth repellent, it's too heavy.'

The piano itself, having always been in plain sight, was not declared as treasure as it was not 'an associated find'. The haul was stashed beneath its ivory keys unbeknown to its owners for 33 years

Mr Backhouse slit the stitching with his penknife and when he looked inside, he recalled: 'Oooh, it looks like there's rather a lot of gold in this.'

He and the headmaster then moved the 6kg (13.2lb) hoard into the school's safe and rang the coroner.

Mr Backhouse and the school could now potentially be in line for a windfall from the hoard's sale.

Asked if it ever crossed his mind to keep the money, he said: 'No - I could have quite happily swapped them a brand-new piano for that one.

'But that would not have been right or proper.

'As it was gold, I thought that the school needs it just as much as I do, knowing the problems with the pianos in their school.'

Several of the collections date from 1904 and 1913-1915, which has led those involved in the find to speculate it was hidden during the First World War

Any money would go to his children, he said, adding he may retire early as he suffers with tinnitus.

Meanwhile, Mr and Mrs Hemmings felt no bitterness, praising church-going Mr Backhouse's honesty in immediately reporting the find.

Mrs Hemmings, 65, said: 'The sadness is, it's not a complete story, they've looked and searched for the people and they unfortunately haven't come forward.

'It's an incomplete story - but it's still an exciting story.'

The piano itself, having always been in plain sight, was not declared as treasure as it was not 'an associated find'.

Several of the collections date from 1904 and 1913-1915, which has led those involved in the find to speculate it was hidden during the First World War.

Peter Reavill, the finds liaison officer for Shropshire, said: 'It is right in the middle of the First World War, things are not going as well as you want, is the money safer in the bank or at home under lock and key?

After it has been deemed treasure, the British Museum must now offer it up to museums to buy at an independently set price. If there are no takers then the finder  the school  can then claim the contents

'So I think that is the background for these coins, the pressures of the time coming to the fore.'

However, cardboard lining from one of the packages, as well as staining in the piano, suggests the hoard could have been hidden between 1926-1946.

The piano was made by Broadwood & Sons of London and sold to a music shop in Saffron Walden, Essex in 1906, run by Messrs Beavan and Mothersole.

After it has been deemed treasure, the British Museum must now offer it up to museums to buy at an independently set price.

If there are no takers then the finder  the school  can then claim the contents.

Piano tuner Martin Backhouse said: 'It was one of those incredible moments.

'I had only taken out the first octave when I realised something was going on.

'I thought I am going to have to open up one of those packages to see what it is.

'There was no way I was expecting any gold. I opened up one of the packets and did a double take. I thought it couldn't be sovereigns, but this was something big.'

After it has been deemed treasure, the British Museum must now offer it up to museums to buy at an independently set price. If there are no takers then the finder  the school  can then claim the contents

The coins were found to be 91.7% pure gold, with the majority dating from the reign of Queen Victoria

The coins were found to be 91.7% pure gold, with the majority dating from the reign of Queen Victoria.

The hoard itself is now being held at a secure location, while the piano will be returned to its home in a local school.

However, the British Museum's Peter Reavill, shedding some light on its potential worth, said: 'There's a substantial amount of money there - enough to buy a house, so equivalent today to about 350,000.

'That's not to say it's worth that today, but that's its spending power.'

Mr and Mrs Hemmings said: 'It was during the summer term in 2016 that the Community College appealed to the local community for the donation of any unwanted pianos, as the school did not have enough pianos that students could use for lessons or practice.

Mr and Mrs Hemmings said: 'It was during the summer term in 2016 that the Community College appealed to the local community for the donation of any unwanted pianos, as the school did not have enough pianos that students could use for lessons or practice (pictured)

'We were extremely grateful to receive several donations, with the final piano arriving in September.

'It was on 21 November that we invited a piano tuner (Mr Backhouse) to visit the school to review and possibly tune four of the donated pianos. He felt that one of the pianos had particular potential and set to work.

'A short while later he informed me and the headteacher that he'd discovered several small packages concealed under the piano's keys. We opened one of them and found that it contained a number of coins, which we agreed were gold sovereigns.

'Clearly this was something that none of could possibly have imagined and it's hard to describe how we felt on making this discovery.

'After the initial shock, surprise and excitement, we had to quickly decide what to do next.

'We photographed the packages in situ, numbered and photographed each package, and placed them in the school safe.

'After carrying out some internet-based research into gold sovereign and the Treasures Act 1986 we agreed that the coins were a significant find and should be reported to the coroner.

The haul of 913 gold sovereigns and half sovereigns date between 1847 and 1915, have a face value of 773 - the equivalent of roughly 500,000 today. Ian Richardson, Treasure Registrar, British Museum said: 'This is not a long-buried assemblage of war booty or grave goods, but a large sum of money hidden in plain sight less than 100 years ago.'

Treasure Act 1996 Under the Treasure Act 1996, treasure is defined as any single object at least 300 years old which is not a coin but has a precious metal content of at least 10 per cent. The Act gives a finder 14 days to inform the local coroner of potential treasure and creates an offence of failing to carry out that duty where this is not followed. The Treasure Act allows for a reward up to the market value of the treasure to be shared among the finder and the owner of the land on which the treasure was found. The amount of the reward and how it is divided among the claimants is determined by the Treasure Valuation Committee. Advertisement

'Shortly after contacting the coroner's office we were contacted by Peter Reavill, Shropshire's finds liaison officer, who was working on the coroner's behalf.

'In this conversation and a subsequent meeting we discussed the find, the Treasures Act, and how the piano was acquired.

'Peter confirmed that the coins were genuine and took them away for safe-keeping and began the investigations that led us to where we are today.

'If the school were to be a beneficiary from the find, then we think it's only right and fair that the money be used to benefit our students and the local community of Bishop's Castle.'

Ian Richardson, Treasure Registrar, British Museum said: 'This is not a long-buried assemblage of war booty or grave goods, but a large sum of money hidden in plain sight less than 100 years ago.'
Donald Trump will attend a series of key summits in Asia in November, his vice president said Thursday, adding it was a sign of America's 'unwavering commitment' to the region.

The U.S. president will go to the US-ASEAN and East Asia meetings in the Philippines, as well as a gathering of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group in Vietnam, Vice President Mike Pence said.

Former president Barack Obama, who had championed a 'pivot to Asia', was a frequent visitor to the Asia-Pacific as he sought to refocus US foreign policy on the region to counter growing Chinese influence.

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President Donald Trump will attend a series of key summits in Asia in November

Vice President Mike Pence made the announcement of Trump's participation during his visit at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday

Trump's decision to attend the meetings could come as a surprise to some, given his fiery 'America first' rhetoric and his decision to abandon a Pacific trade pact which was the economic plank of the pivot.

The president's attendance at the meetings was 'a sign, I hope to all, of our firm and unwavering commitment to build on the strong foundations that we already share', Pence said during a visit to Indonesia.

The announcement came as Pence visited the Jakarta headquarters of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and met representatives of the bloc.

Trump's attendance of Asian summits in the Philippines and Vietnam will raise eyebrows given his long-stated commitment to an 'America First' trade posture

Pence took his shoes off on Thursday for a tour of Jakarta's Istiqlal Mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia; Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar, left, and the chairman of the mosque Muhammad Muzammil Basyuni, right, showed him around

The East Asia Summit groups 18 countries including ASEAN member states, the US, Russia and China. APEC brings together 21 member states from either side of the Pacific.

It was the latest signal on Pence's tour of Asia that the Trump administration is seeking to calm nerves after the president's often combative rhetoric unsettled allies.

During stops in South Korea and Japan, Pence played down protectionist declarations and reaffirmed US treaty commitments to the security of the two countries as tensions rise over North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes.

Pence will Friday depart Indonesia for Australia.
The number of asylum seekers fleeing to Canada from the US in the wake of Trump's immigration crackdown has soared since the weather turned warmer.

In the first three months of this year, 3,605 people have crossed the border from south to north, which is more than the total for the whole of 2013.

The figure has grown month-on-month from 920 in January to 1,465 in March and the number of those detained for entering the country illegally has tripled in that time.

The border officers' union in Canada believes that the country needs to upgrade presence along the United States border after 382 people reportedly made asylum claims at a single entry point in January

RCMP officers look on as an extended family of seven people from Turkey cross the US-Canada border just before dawn on February 28, 2017 near Hemmingford, Quebec

The number of people recorded crossing the border from the US to Canada in the first three months of this year

Canadian authorities caught 887 asylum seekers crossing unlawfully into Canada from the United States in March, nearly triple the number in January, according to numbers released by the government Wednesday.

This brings the total number of asylum seekers caught illegally walking across the border to 1,860 so far this year.

The new statistics suggest those numbers could rise further as the weather warms.

Canada is on track to see the highest number of asylum claims in six years, given the pace of claims filed so far, as increasing numbers of people cross into Canada to make refugee claims in the wake of US President Donald Trump's election and his crackdown on refugees and illegal immigrants.

In the first quarter of 2017, 3,605 people have entered the country compared to 6,960 last year, 4,180 the previous year, 3,770 in 2014, 2,960 in 2013, 3,725 in 2012 and 4,280 in 2011.

When the weather was colder in January this year, 920 made the trip from the US to Canada.

This increased to 1,225 in February and went up again to 1,465 in March.

Under the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement, Canada is required to turn asylum seekers away if they try to file refugee claims at land border crossings.

But if people cross the border in between formal crossings, they are taken into custody and questioned by both police and border authorities, then allowed to file claims and stay in Canada while they await the outcome.

Dramatic photos show asylum seekers flooding into Canada across unmanned borders every day from the United States amid fears of a Donald Trump presidency. An extended family of eight people from Colombia were detained by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers near Hemmingford, Quebec, in February

The Peace Bridge which connects the United States to Canada in Ft. Erie, Ontario

Refugee advocates have argued that were it not for the Safe Third Country Agreement, people would file claims at border crossings instead.

The people caught crossing unlawfully comprise a fifth of everyone who has filed asylum claims in Canada so far this year but they loom large in Canadian politics, with the federal government taking fire for its wait-and-see approach.

Nearly half of the people surveyed in an opinion poll released in March wanted to deport people illegally crossing into Canada from its southern neighbor.

'The majority of irregular migrants are holders of visas for the United States,' according to a statement released Wednesday from the office of Canada's Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

'Canadian authorities are managing the increase in asylum seekers in a sound and measured way.

'To be clear - trying to slip across the border in an irregular manner is not a 'free' ticket to Canada.'

Now undocumented immigrants are flooding north as President Donald Trump ratchets up his invective about the 11 million people who live in the country without official papers

Almost three-quarters of the asylum seekers caught crossing so far this year were taken into custody in Quebec, the government data showed.

Roxham Road, which straddles Champlain, New York and Hemmingford, Quebec, has become such a common spot that photographers cluster there and would-be refugees refer to it by name.

Most of the others were taken into custody in Manitoba and British Columbia - 331 and 201, respectively.

Police said Wednesday they have charged 43-year-old Michelle Omoruyi with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling.

Police allege they found Omoruyi driving nine west African asylum seekers across the US border into the prairie province of Saskatchewan Friday night.

The nine asylum seekers have filed refugee claims and are not in custody.
A senior Brussels bureaucrat today risked angering Brexit voters by saying the decision to leave the EU can be reversed.

European Parliament president Antonio Tajani said the EU would happily welcome the UK back if the country decided to U-turn on the referendum.

His comments risk angering Theresa May who has said there is 'no turning back' from last year's historic vote.

Theresa May greeted European Parliament president Antonio Tajani outside Number 10. The pair held talks about Brexit as Britain embarks on leaving the European Union

Speaking to The Guardian after talks with the Prime Minister at Downing Street, he said Britain could withdraw from triggering Article 50, which launched the formal negotiations to leave the EU.

He said: 'If the UK, after the election, wants to withdraw (Article 50), then the procedure is very clear.

'If the UK wanted to stay, everybody would be in favour. I would be very happy.'

The PM and Mr Tajani discussed securing an agreement on the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, and UK citizens living on the continent, during the talks

He also threatened to veto any Brexit deal if it does not guarantee in full the existing rights of EU citizens in Britain.

And he said this protection would forever be subject to the jurisdiction of the European court of justice (ECJ)  despite Mrs May's pledge to end the much-loathed court's rule over Britain.

Some lawyers have said it is impossible to turn the clock back and un-trigger Article 50.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker will next week visit London for talks with the PM, it has been announced

But Mr Tajani insisted it would be easy if the other 27 member states sign up to it.

He said: 'If tomorrow, the new UK government decides to change its position, it is possible to do

'The final decision is for the 27 member states, but everybody will be in favour if the UK (decides to reverse Article 50).'

Meanwhile, it was announced that the Prime Minister will meet with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and the bloc's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier for talks in London next week.

It comes as Britain gears up to go to the polls in the second General Election in two years.

Mrs May said she decided to call the shock vote to give her a mandate and strengthen her hand in the Brexit talks.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'The PM and the president agreed the UK and EU should continue to have a close relationship after Brexit and on the importance of giving early certainty about the status of British citizens living elsewhere in the EU and citizens of other member states in the UK.'
A Texas woman, seriously injured in a motorcycle accident last year, made the decision to turn off her own life support and donate her organs to help save the lives of others.

Kammey Bagwell, of Azle, Texas, was 40 years old when she and her fiance Mike Parsons were both injured in a freak motorcycle accident on April 30, 2016, that left the mother-of-three a quadriplegic.

Bagwell was a religious person, and when the doctors told her she would need a ventilator to breathe for the rest of her life - maybe five years - she was adamant on donating her organs before they eventually failed.

Her selfless resolve isn't forgotten. The donor recipient of one of her kidneys, Dwight Douglas, met her family Wednesday for the first time.

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Kammey Bagwell (right) and her fiance Mike Parsons (left) were both injured in a freak motorcycle accident on April 30, 2016, in North Texas

The crash left Bagwell (pictured) a quadriplegic with no hope of recovery

Douglas got a second chance at life last year when he received a kidney transplant.

'The most wonderful days of my life were the day Susan and I got married, and the days that my children were born, and May 3, 2016, when I got my new kidney,' Douglas said.

The 67 year old had been on dialysis because of diabetes since August 2014.

Before Wednesday, Douglas only knew that his donor was female, but through his meeting with Bagwell's family at Texas Health Fort Worth, where he received his transplant, the licensed psychological associate learned more about the circumstances of her death.

Bagwell and Parsons were on their way back home from Possum Kingdom Lake in North Texas when the motorcycle they were on 'just locked up,' Parsons told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The mother-of-three (pictured with two of her children) decided to be taken off life support on May 2, 2016, and donate her organs

They crashed and were both injured, but Bagwell's injuries were far more severe - she had broken her neck.

'She said "I cant breathe",' recalled Parsons. 'She knew at that point it was pretty bad.'

That night, doctors at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth resuscitated Bagwell after her heart stopped.

'She was barely able to move,' Bagwell's 15-year-old son, Keeten, told CW33. 'We left that night knowing that she probably wasn't going to make it.'

Left with no hope of recovery, Bagwell, who was adamant about donating her organs, decided to be taken off the ventilator two days after she was admitted and died May 2 with her mother Neta Acuna by her side.

'She was the bravest patient I had ever seen,' Tasha Horton, manager of hospital donation services at LifeGift, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 'She had no fear in her eye. I will always remember her.'

Kammey Bagwell's mother, Neta Acuna (pictured), and other members of Bagwell's family met the donor recipient of one of her kidneys on Wednesday at Texas Health Fort Worth

Dwight Douglas (pictured), 67, had been on dialysis because of diabetes since August 2014. Douglas's life was saved by Bagwell after he received a kidney transplant on May 3, 2016

Bagwell, who worked for a Decatur, Texas, gastroenterologist, had signed up to be an organ donor in 2010, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

'The first thing I told him,' said Acuna. 'I said "Take care of that kidney - I love it."'

Douglas added his name to the 'Wall of Life' at the hospital during Wednesday's event, held every April as part of National Donate Life Month.

'It feels good to know that she continues what she has always done,' said Keeton Bagwell. 'To help people.'
I once spent 30 minutes on CNN shouting at Ann Coulter as she tried to defend calling President Obama a retard.

The ferocity of our exchange was only matched by the ferocity of our drinking session afterwards, which ended in a dingy Manhattan piano bar at 3am.

Ms Coulter, it turns out, is rather good fun when shes not spouting inflammatory right-wing opinions.

Since that night, weve locked horns on air many times about issues ranging from gun control to immigration.

Ann Coulter is a good TV pundit - deliberately provocative but a skilled street-fighting debater. While I usually completely disagree with everything she is saying., she makes me think hard about my own opinions. This is how a proper democratic society should work

Coulter is a good TV pundit - deliberately provocative but a skilled street-fighting debater who always comes packing well-researched verbal firearm heat.

She can be obtuse, contradictory, offensive and incredibly irritating.

And I usually completely disagree with everything she is saying.

But I enjoy our battles because shes very smart, highly entertaining, and like me, loves a good argument.

More importantly, she also makes me think hard about my own opinions on big issues.

This is how a proper democratic society should work: people with strongly-held disparate views coming together to thrash them out in a public forum and hopefully reach points of consensus that benefit society.

Unfortunately, thats not how others now see democracy.

Yesterday, Coulter was banned from speaking at the University of California, Berkeley.

She was due to offer her thoughts on the state of immigration in America, which is indisputably one of the biggest, most divisive issues in the country.

Coulter has strong views about immigration, and has laid them out in a number of books.

Like President Trump, she thinks America lets too many people in from other countries, allows too many illegal immigrants to stay here and is weak on protecting the US from Islamist terror attacks.

These are concerns held by tens of millions of Americans, which is one of the reasons Trump won and why Coulters books usually power to No1 in the New York Times best-seller list.

I dont agree with much of what she says about immigration but she backs it all up with interesting statistics and argues her case in a passionate, interesting manner that is always worth hearing.

Berkeley used the same security concern excuse when they cancelled Milo Yiannopoulos months ago

Sadly, the people who run Berkeley dont agree.

They cancelled Coulters speech because they claimed it would prompt violent protests.

It was the same excuse they gave when they banned another right-wing commentator, Milo Yiannopoulos, two months ago. (In his case, there had already been violent protests and more were threatened).

Unfortunately, Berkeley said in a letter to its student College Republicans group, (campus police) decided that, given currently active security threats, it is not possible to assure the event could be held successfully.'

In other words, they choked to pressure from those seeking to strangle free speech.

Whats astonishing about this is that Berkeley is the very home of the Free Speech Movement of the 1960s.

In 1964, Berkeley student Mario Savio made a speech about the vital importance of free and open discussion at the college.

He urged the university to encourage students to debate all ideas, both mainstream and radical.

Savios struggle was eventually successful, but only after he and his supporters endured suspension, arrest, fines and jail time.

Now Berkeley seems to have decided it should be the home of killing off free speech, not promoting it.

Im appalled but not surprised by this.

The truth about many modern liberals is that they dont believe in free speech at all.

They only believe in it if people agree with them.

They dont see their opinions as opinions, they see them as truth.

Berkeley used to be the very home of the Free Speech Movement. Now it's the opposite. If they dont like what theyre hearing, they scream and shout, punch and kick, petrol bomb and stab. Violence broke out just last weekend. Here protesters throw a traffic cone at Trump supporters

If they dont like what theyre hearing, they scream and shout, punch and kick, petrol bomb and stab, and furiously demand the offender be silenced and banned.

This dramatic shift in liberal behavior from peaceful protest to violent hateful censorship is a vile, virulent virus that first infected vast swathes of America intelligentsia and has now spread across to my own country, Britain.

Ive recently had first hand experience of it on both sides of the Atlantic.

Appearing as a guest on Bill Mahers Real Time show in February, I was told to F**K OFF! live on air by Australian comedian Jim Jefferies, because I dared to suggest Trumps not the new Hitler and didnt consider his proposed travel ban to be a Muslim ban because 85% of the worlds Muslims were not targeted by it.

This led to the likes of Harry Potter author JK Rowling leading global frenzied jubilation at me being silenced for my supposedly disgusting opinions.

Only my opinions werent disgusting but factual, and I wasnt silenced at all. I was just told to F**K OFF! by an ignorant, obnoxious comic because I didnt agree with his opinions.

Thats not an argument, its what a drunk does in the pub when hes told its closing time.

Coulter has similar concerns as tens of millions of Americans, which is one reason Trump won. But supporting him - or simply saying as I have that no, Trump is not the new Hitler - gets one cursed at and cancelled, and in my case even hounded out of hosting a TV award show

In Britain, I was hounded out of hosting the Royal Television Society Programme Awards because a bunch of Trump-hating luvvies decided I had failed to understand a social movement that values equality and diversity of voice.

Aside from the fact that I have always campaigned vociferously for equality and diversity, there was a comical irony to these liberals trying to ban someone from hosting an event because my political views didnt apparently match their own.

Even more so given my views are in fact far more liberal than conservative which is why I repeatedly said during the US election campaign that I wouldnt vote for Trump even though I like him personally and wish him success.

This week, I accepted an invitation to speak at Cambridge University, and a piece expressing outrage immediately appeared in its Varsity online magazine.

The author couldnt actually point to anything I have said or written that is outrageous, she just found the whole idea of me outrageous because I am opinionated.

Of course, that is entirely her prerogative, but the tone of her piece was clearly designed to whip up another storm that I confidently predict will spark fresh calls for me to be banned.

Its the same kind of ludicrously over-precious and censorious PC mentality that has led to other universities trying to outlaw the word mankind in case it offends feminists of a rabid persuasion.

How did the worlds liberals and students come to this pathetically spineless place?

As Churchill said: Some peoples idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.

What happened to good old-fashioned debate, with people who hold completely opposite views being able to argue with each other without resorting to violence or boycott?

Its utterly outrageous that Ann Coulter was banned by Berkeley and I say that as someone who wouldnt agree with probably anything she says in her immigration speech.

It was equally outrageous that Milo was banned although I suspect I would have been even more offended by his alt-right bilge.

As Sir Winston Churchill said: Some peoples idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.

A sentiment echoed by a man from the opposite end of Churchills political spectrum, libertarian socialist Noam Chomsky: If we do not believe in freedom of speech for those we despise, we do not believe in it at all.

If Berkeley still professes to be the home of free speech, then it must un-cancel Ms Coulter immediately - and invoke the spirit of Mario Savio by urging those who oppose her to stand up on the night and say why.
A nursery worker is facing jail after admitting multiple sexual offences against 18 children including rape.

Jamie Chapman, 28, pleaded guilty to 31 charges when he appeared at Birmingham Crown Court. He pleaded not guilty to a further 13 counts.

Many of the victims were pupils at a primary school where Chapman had worked as a teaching assistant.

A nursery worker is facing jail after admitting multiple sexual offences against 18 children including rape. He appeared at Birmingham Crown Court (file picture)

Police had previously said there was no evidence to suggest any inappropriate contact between the worker and children at the nursery where he had been employed.

Chapman, of Solihull, admitted one charge of rape, 21 charges of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, four of distributing indecent images and five of making indecent images.

Matthew Brook, prosecuting, said: 'He has pleaded guilty to 31 counts in total. These cover 18 victims and they occurred over a time period of between 2011 and 2016.'

He said a number of the victims were pupils at schools where Chapman had been employed.

Emma Nott, defending, said; 'This is the first realistic opportunity that the defendant has had to enter guilty pleas.'

She said was of previous good character, had been in a distressed state and suffered from mental health difficulties.

'She said his best mitigation was 'recognising what he had done by his pleas.'

Judge Melbourne Inman QC adjourned sentence until May 22 and Chapman was remanded in custody.

He said: 'I will adjourn sentience for a report to address the issue of dangerousness. That is not an indication of the sentence.

'Obviously a custodial sentence in inevitable for this type of offending.'

A number of items of computer equipment were seized following search of Chapman's home when he was arrested on November 9 last year.

At the time police said there was no evidence to suggest any inappropriate contact between him and children at the nursery.
Charles Bronson has revealed he is boycotting Colman's Mustard because the brand shares a name with his fiancee's ex-boyfriend.

Britain's most notorious prisoner is instead adopting a continental approach and only eating French mustard.

In a previously unseen prison drawing, a ranting Bronson says: 'French Mustard from here on... OK!

Charles Bronson is boycotting Colman's Mustard because is shares a name with his fiancee's ex-boyfriend. In a prison drawing, a ranting Bronson says: 'French Mustard from here on... OK!'

The notorious prisoner is adopting a continental approach by only eating French mustard

'Don't you dare give me Coleman's (sic) Mustard... I now only use French!'

Just days later, on Tuesday, April 11 he created another bizarre artwork which again blasted Michael Coleman - who was seeing Bronson's fiancee Paula Williamson, 36, until she left him for the notorious inmate in November last year.

The drawing depicts Bronson vomiting out Colman's Mustard and shouting at a mouse that brought a bottle of the sauce into his cell in Wakefield Prison, Yorkshire.

It says: 'You little vermin.. don't ever bring - that mustard in my cage again...

'You know I hate Coleman's (sic).'

The drawing shows the mouse running away saying "he he he". It is captioned "A day in my life of life", dated 11 April and is signed Charles El Salvador, how Bronson now calls himself.

The artwork blasts Michael Coleman (pictured) - who was seeing Bronson's fiancee Paula Williamson, 36, until she left him for the notorious inmate in November last year

The outburst is the latest drama in a war of words between Bronson and Mr Coleman, who Paula split up with the day before she met the notorious prisoner last year.

The pair later got engaged when Bronson, who has served more than 40 years in jail, proposed to Paula, a soap actress, on St Valentine's Day.

Last month it emerged that Bronson, 64, had sent Mr Coleman veiled threats in two letters from Wakefield Prison shortly after he started seeing her.

In one he said he knew people who lived 'round the corner' from Mr Coleman while another threatened that he'd be out 'sooner than you think'.

Mr Coleman, of Sutton, London, responded but Bronson has since banned him from sending him any post.

The latest drawing is a response to news of the threatening letters emerging in the press, a source close to Mr Coleman, 41, revealed.

They said: 'He thinks it's ridiculous, but he isn't bothered and just thinks Bronson's a fool.

'He's still watching over his shoulder and keeping an eye out in case there are more threats but apart from that he's going on with his life as normal.

'Michael doesn't scare easily and the latest letters made him laugh more than anything.'
A woman walking her dog outside her condominium in West Hollywood was shot dead by her ex-boyfriend who police say then turned the gun on himself two hours later in an apparent murder-suicide.

The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department has identified the victim of the fatal shooting that occurred shortly before 9pm on Tuesday as 25-year-old Whitney Washuta.

Her ex-boyfriend, 27-year-old Kyle Ramsey, was found suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside an SUV parked about a mile from the initial crime scene.

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Domestic tragedy: Law enforcement officials in Los Angeles say Kyle Ramsey, 27 (left), shot and killed his ex-girlfriend, Whitney Washuta, 25 (right), before turning the gun on himself Tuesday. The photo above shows the pair in January, not long before their breakup

Bloody scene: Washuta was walking her dog along this stretch of Rosewood Avenue in West Hollywood when Ramsey confronted her with a gun

According to Washuta's sister, the victim and Ramsey had gone through an acrimonious breakup a few weeks ago, ending a three-year relationship.

A press release from the sheriff's department states that Washuta was the initiator of the split with Ramsey, but the jilted boyfriend was 'reluctant to end the relationship' and continued pestering her with phone calls.

Washuta came from a prominent East Coast family: her late grandfather, entrepreneur and philanthropist Steve Washuta, was the founder of Modern Corporation, a multimillion-dollar landfill business based out of Lewiston, New York.

The murder-suicide began unfolding at 8.43pm on Tuesday when the sheriff's department got a call about a possible shooting in the 8700 block of Rosewood Avenue in West Hollywood.

Whitney Washuta was found suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper torso and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics from the local fire department.

The 25-year-old woman was found suffering from gunshot wounds to her upper torso and was pronounced dead at the scene (her obscured body is circled in red above)

About two hours later and a mile away from the initial crime scene, detectives found Ramsey dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside this parked SUV

About two hours later, another 911 call was made about shots fired in the 100 block of Croft Avenue in Los Angeles.

Law enforcement officers who responded to the scene found Kyle Ramsey dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a parked SUV.

Washutas sister told homicide detectives that Whitney was walking her dog along Rosewood Avenue when Ramsey approached her with a gun and shot her dead.

Some neighbors reportedly heard the young woman scream No! moments before multiple shots were fired, according to the station KCAL.

Investigators said in their statement that there was no evidence of any past domestic violence or stalking allegations against Ramsey.

Neighbor Leo Shlomo told KTLA that the 27-year-old man had recently brought flowers to Washuta, but she slammed the door in his face after a brief argument.

Whitney never filed a police report to complain about her ex-boyfriends alleged harassment and stalking.

Ramsey was from Pacific Palisades, California, and worked for his family's restaurant business

The 25-year-old grew up in Lewiston, New York, and graduated from the University of Vermont in 2013.

When her millionaire grandfather, Steve Washuta, passed away in 2008, aged 75, his widow Sonia, son Richard and daughter Lorie took over the operations of the lucrative landfill business, according to an obituary published on June 11, 2008, in the Niagara Gazette.

Washutas landlord told KTLA that Whitney and her sister had moved to California from the East Coast about five years ago.

Whitneys ex-boyfriend Kyle was from Pacific Palisades, California, and worked for his family's restaurant business.
Matthew Powers (pictured), a 35-year-old candidate for the Arlington City Council is accused of sending threatening and obscene message to Bethany Tinderholt in 2016

A wannabe local politician accused of insulting the wife of a state representative and trying to proposition her for sexual favors has been charged.

Matthew Powers, a 35-year-old candidate for the Arlington City Council has been charged with sending threatening and obscene messages to Bethany Tinderholt on Valentine's Day in 2016.

Tinderholt, 39, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader in 1996 and 1997, is married to controversial Texas Representative Tony Tinderholt - who proposed a bill that would see women who get abortions and the doctors who perform the procedure charged with murder.

Powers, using a Twitter account @CzarofSwag, 'solicited sexual favors from Bethany Tinderholt for $1 and $5, suggested that he watched her in her home and picked the locks', the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

The newspaper then cites an affidavit that states another message sent to Tinderholt read: 'Also I hope one of your kids gets raped by a pedophile or killed by someone texting. You can thank your husband for that.'

Bethany Tinderholt (pictured), a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, is married to controversial Texas Representative Tony Tinderholt

The former cheerleader reported the messages - which have been deleted - to police, and also replied to her verbal abuser.

'@CzarofSwag good morning keyboard Ranger! I see you're too ashamed to put your name on your profile. Have a great day,' she wrote on February 15, 2016.

Shortly after the Twitter abuse, Tinderholt received another threatening note in the mail.

'I do love watching you Beth. I would hate to see something happen to you. See you again soon,' it read, the Star-Telegram reports the affidavit stated.

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The tweets to Tinderholt have been deleted, but her response (pictured) remains on her profile

An affidavit that states another message sent to Tinderholt read: 'Also I hope one of your kids gets raped by a pedophile or killed by someone texting. You can thank your husband for that.' Tinderholt and her husband are pictured

Tinderholt's husband was placed under protection earlier this year after he proposed a controversial bill that would see women who have abortions charged with murder in Texas. Both are pictured

Police investigated the incidents over several months, and were eventually able to identify that the Twitter account sent the message from an IP account belonging to Powers' wife.

She told police she did not know anything about the harassment of Tinderholt, which led to investigators arresting Powers on suspicion of harassment in February.

The crime is a Class B misdemeanor.

The 35-year-old was released after posting a $2,500 bail.

Powers could be jailed for 180 days. He has since removed a Facebook page supporting his city council candidacy.

Tinderholt's husband was placed under protection earlier this year after he proposed a controversial bill that would see women who have abortions charged with murder in Texas.

Under Tony Tinderholt's proposal, doctors who carried out the procedure would also face murder charges.

Bethany is Tony's fifth wife.
Commuters are set for Monday morning misery next month after a fresh London Underground strike was announced in a row over a worker being sacked.

Tube workers will walk out for 24 hours from 10pm on Sunday May 7 and take other forms of industrial action in the dispute, the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union announced.

London Underground say the worker was sacked after an incident with a fare dodger who was aggressively removed form a station after being caught. The RMT say the staff member was defending colleagues and should be hailed not sacked.

Tube workers are to stage a 24-hour strike from 10pm on May 7 and take other forms of industrial action

Stops around Waterloo and London Bridge - the UK's busiest and fourth-busiest stations respectively - are expected to be affected by the strike.

The incident in question happened in November, when three staff members had an altercation with fare dodging passengers, in which a pregnant staff member was shoved, the RMT claims.

However, London Underground say they have reviewed the footage and did not see anything of the sort, but instead that the staff forcibly removed them from the station.

The RMT said in a statement on its website: 'RMT has confirmed today that station staff across the London Bridge groups will take both strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute after one member was sacked and two others disciplined for intervening to stop a serious assault by a fare-dodger on fellow staff members including one who was pregnant.'

They added: 'In the incident, which occurred last November, a fare-dodger assaulted three members of staff, including pushing a pregnant colleague in the stomach.

London Waterloo, the UK's busiest railway station, is likely to descend into chaos on May 7 and 8 following a Tube strike announcement

'One staff member had his glasses stolen and another was punched twice. That member of staff has now been sacked in what the union describes as an 'appalling miscarriage of justice.'

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash added: 'Our members have voted for action in support of their victimised colleagues at London Bridge and with LU making it absolutely clear they have no interest in the principles of natural justice we have no option at all but to move to a campaign of industrial action.

'The union executive will also continue to look at a programme of escalation in this critically important dispute.

'This is one of the most appalling abuses of the LU disciplinary procedure that RMT has ever come across. This was a shocking, violent incident and those that bore the brunt of it should have been supported and commended by the company. Instead they have been sacked or disciplined in what is the most appalling multiple miscarriage of justice.

London Bridge, the fourth busiest stop in the capital, will also come to a standstill because of the action

'LU have flouted their own zero tolerance policy, their own duty of care to their staff and have sent out a message to fare dodgers and yobbos that staff can be treated as punch bags with impunity. That is an outrage that has enraged every single tube employee who risks their neck on the stations and platforms against a backdrop of a growing pattern of abuse and violence.'

'London Underground should do the decent thing  reinstate our member, lift the disciplinary action and send out the message that fare-dodging and violence will not be tolerated and that staff in the front line will get the support and assistance that they need.'

However, London Underground disputes the union's claims and painted a very different picture of events.

Chaos at London Waterloo station for passengers having to queue for buses following the 24 hour strike on January 9

Brian Woodhead, Operations Director for London Underground, said: 'We conducted a thorough investigation into this incident, including an extensive review of CCTV footage from the station. Following a full disciplinary process, the decision to dismiss this member of staff has been upheld.

'Our investigation clearly showed that no member of staff was assaulted, nor was the incident prompted by staff defending a colleague.

'We take a zero tolerance approach to violence against our staff but we also expect our employees to adhere to acceptable standards of conduct and behaviour when dealing with members of the public.

'In this case, those standards were not met. We urge the RMT to withdraw this unjustifiable action which will only result in needless disruption to Londoners.'
Two parents have won their legal battle with Georgia over their insistence on naming their daughter 'Allah.'

The Georgia Health Department initially rejected Atlanta couple Elizabeth Handy and Bilal Walk's choice to name their daughter ZalyKha Graceful Lorraina Allah and refused to issue a birth certificate when she was born in May 2015.

A Department of Public Health lawyer had argued state law requires a baby's surname to be that of the father or the mother for the initial birth record.

They said the child's last name should either be Handy, Walk or a combination of the two.

This redacted copy of the birth certificate application was an exhibit in the parents' suit, which they dropped on Thursday after the state relented and issued a birth certificate

Officials told the parents they could easily get a birth certificate that followed the rules, and then file a court petition to change their daughter's name. But the parents refused.

The parents sued the state last month with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.

We have to make sure that the state isn't overstepping their boundaries,' Walk told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in March. 'It is just plainly unfair and a violation of our rights.'

'Allah' is the name for God in Arabic. The parents said they picked the name because it is 'noble' and not for religious reasons.

The ACLU argued that the state's refusal to issue a birth certificate prevented ZalyKha from obtaining a Social Security number and hindered her parents in receiving food stamps and Medicaid benefits for her.

Group said Thursday that it had dropped the suit, saying the state had relented and issued the parents a birth certificate with their preferred name.
A soldier accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend told a court she stabbed herself in the neck, as she lunged at him with a carving knife at the same moment he tried to disarm her.

Lance Corporal Trimaan 'Harry' Dhillon, 26, denies cutting Alice Ruggles' throat from ear to ear and leaving her to bleed to death on her bathroom floor in Gateshead last October.

Giving evidence at Newcastle Crown Court, the signaller with 2 Scots said the previous month he had been stationed in Ballater, Scotland, for the purposes of 'the Royal Guard'.

Lance Corporal Trimaan 'Harry' Dhillon (left), 26, is accused of slashing Alice Ruggles' (right) neck. He claimed he tried to stop her from slashing herself and 'panicked' rather than call 999

Lance Corporal Trimaan 'Harry' Dhillon described a lengthy struggle through Alice Ruggles' Gateshead flat in October, that ended with her bleeding to death and him 'panicking' rather than ringing 999.

The 26-year-old, a signaller with the 2 Scots, is on trial at Newcastle Crown Court and denies murdering his ex after he turned up at her home despite her getting an official police warning telling him to stay away.

The court also heard Dhillon was dismissed from his duties in one incident after he got into a fight when on leave.

He told the jury he suffered a black eye during a night out when he stepped in to help a fellow soldier who got into a fight with seven men outside a takeaway, and was punched and kicked.

Jamie Hill QC, defending, said the royal party were deer stalking and shooting grouse.

Dhillon (right) denies murder at Newcastle Crown Court, where his case continues

Dhillon said: 'Because I had a black eye, I was given two options: either stay back in camp, or, when you go with the beating team, stay back and don't go in front of the royal guests because you are not in a presentable state.'

Dhillon, based at a barracks in Edinburgh and who hoped to join the Special Forces, is accused of stalking his 24-year-old ex-girlfriend, then defying a police warning to visit her, breaking into her home and cutting her throat.

The jury has heard that the pair had an intense relationship which Miss Ruggles, originally from Leicestershire and working for Sky, ended after she discovered evidence of his infidelity.

Ms Ruggles contacted police after she split up with the 2 Scots soldier and he continued to contact her, including travelling to Tyneside from barracks outside Edinburgh to knock on her door, tap on her window and leave flowers and chocolates on the sill late at night.

Police at the scene in Gateshead last October, where Ms Ruggles, 24, was found dead inside a property

On his drive back he insisted in a voicemail message he did not intend to kill her, jurors were told.

He received an official warning and was told by his commanding officer to stay away, the court heard.

But five days before she was allegedly murdered, obsessed Dhillon sent her a parcel containing a letter, photos and a notebook.

Ms Ruggles rang 101, Ms McGill said, but was unable to speak to the first officer who had originally dealt with her, and discussed it with an operator instead.
David Monroe Goodwin was granted parole on Wednesday in Miami

A woman who has spent 32 years hoping for her fiance's release from a life sentence in prison is overjoyed that he's about to be released.

David Monroe Goodwin, 70, was granted parole from the life sentence he's serving in Miami for participating in an infamous 1977 drug smuggling and murder conspiracy known as the Sandy Creek Murders on Wednesday. His release is set for May 2.

His fiancee Wanda Pate, 82, met Goodwin through her daughter, who is married to the inmate's younger brother. The two exchanged letters for two years before she drove to meet him in person at a state prison.



'I felt sorry for him at first and we fell in love with each other,' Pate told the Tallahassee Democrat. 'I never would have dreamed that I would have fell in love with somebody that was in prison. But it happened.'

Goodwin was one of 17 men charged in the Sandy Creek Murders, and is the last living offender in the case remaining behind bars.

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Crime Scene: Goodwin was helping unload 20 tons of Colombian marijuana from a notorious drug-running shrimp trawler in Sandy Creek Bay when his accomplice murdered four people

On January 23, 1977, a night so cold it was snowing in Florida, Goodwin was helping unload 20 tons of Colombian marijuana from a notorious drug-running shrimp trawler, The Gunsmoke, in Sandy Creek Bay near Panama City.

Two ex-cons happened to be driving a pair of underage teenage sisters out to the isolated beach that night, and they stumbled across the smuggling operation.

Walter Steinhorst, armed with a rifle and pistol, was standing guard for the smugglers, and shot one of the ex-cons dead on the spot. Steinhorst tied up the two girls and the other man, and drove them over 100 miles away to a hunting lodge.

Steinhorst forced the teens and the man to their knees and shot them execution style. Weighing them down with concrete blocks, the killer tossed their bodies in a 55-foot deep sinkhole filled with water.

It would be eight months before divers searching for Native American artifacts discovered the skeletons of George Sims, 39, Douglas Gene Hood, 21, and sisters Sheila and Sandy McAdams, 16 and 14.

The pieces in the case came together when investigators found bales of marijuana floating in Sandy Creek Bay on the night the four victims disappeared, and connected them to the shrimper Gunsmoke, which the panicked smugglers had intentionally sank in the waters off Tampa Bay.

Victims: George Sims, 39, Douglas Gene Hood, 21, and sisters Sheila and Sandy McAdams, 16 and 14 were shot and thrown into a water-filled sinkhole with their bodies weighed down

Steinhorst was proven in court to be the gunman, and died in prison in 1999 while awaiting execution.

Goodwin wasn't armed that night, and never pulled a trigger. He argued that Steinhorst was on a rampage that cold January night, and his own role was limited to bringing the killer rope under threat of death.

But Goodwin was convicted on three counts of first-degree murder after prosecutors argued that he helped Steinhorst tie up Hood and the McAdams sisters.

A judge imposed the death penalty on Goodwin, but it was overturned on appeal, and he got life in prison. He has been behind bars since 1978.

His fiancee Pate said Goodwin has become very religious behind bars. They talk on the phone four times a week, but she hasn't seen him in person in six years.

'He sounded really happy. Happy, happy,' she said after speaking to him on Wednesday, after his parole was granted. 'After 40 years its time.'
Morrisons was today investigating shocking claims that its own-brand Gravy Bones dog biscuits have become contaminated with metal wire.

Worried customers have been discussing pictures which appear to show thin wire fragments protruding from the biscuits which come in a 400g box priced at 1.

The alarm was raised on Tuesday after dog owner Amy Taylor claimed to have found the wires in the treats that she bought from a store in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham.

Shocking: Worried customers have been discussing pictures which appear to show thin wire fragments protruding from the biscuits which come in a 400g box priced at 1

Other pet owners backed up the claims, saying that they too had found wire in the dog biscuits

She claimed that wires were found in every dog bone that she checked from the box - prompting fears that the biscuits could seriously injure or even kill pets.

And a warning post by Ms Taylor on Facebook has since gone viral, attracting more than 20,000 shares and at least five more customers reporting the same issue.

Writing on Tuesday evening at about 11pm, she said: 'Huge warning to my friends on Facebook. The Gravy Bones from Morrisons have wire going straight through them.

'Have reported it to Morrisons and are taking the treats back ASAP. Very sharp, some are really long. Luckily my mum noticed although the dog has already had a few.

'It's on almost every single gravy bone. Pretty scary. I'm going to tell Morrisons to grab a box off their shop floor - I'm that confident.'

After seeing her post another dog owner, Deb Povey, from Blyth, Northumberland, checked and also claimed to have found wires in her box of biscuits.

Dog owners Amy Taylor (left) and Deb Povey (right) both claimed to have found wires in the dog biscuits from Morrisons

She shared a photo of them on Morrison's Facebook page, saying: 'I read a post this morning from a friend of mine on Facebook about your own make gravy bones.

Morrisons is investigating claims surrounding its own-brand Gravy Bones dog biscuits

'She found wire was inside the said items so I immediately checked the one I had purchased a couple of weeks ago and found wire inside of ours also.

'I rang your complaints department and they told me to take them down to my store and to get the staff to take the others off the shelves which I did.

'Your staff were very helpful and apologetic and took the other boxes off the shelves but I'm very concerned that they should be all taken off shelves throughout the UK.

'It's clear that there is a quality control issue here. Just because it's a animal food doesn't mean they should have a lesser quality control as human food.'

Other pet owners backed up the claims, saying that they too had found wire in the dog biscuits after checking.

Toni Wood wrote: 'All food making-factories have metal detectors the boxed products have to go through before it goes out to the supermarket.

The alarm was raised on Tuesday after dog owner Ms Taylor claimed to have found the wires in the treats that she bought from a store in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham

Morrisons said it was aware that a customer had found a foreign object in its dog biscuits

'Now I know some small amounts have gotten through in various ways and in different items, but this much metal in so many boxes I find very hard to believe.'

Krissie Bennett wrote: 'Scary. Should be an EPW - Emergency Product Withdrawal. Could kill someone's pet. Disgusting Morrisons haven't put this in force.'

And Elizabeth Wilkes wrote: 'Thanks for the warning I'll hold off the Gravy Bones for my boy right now. Can believe they were even allowed to leave the factory like that.'

A Morrisons spokesman told MailOnline today: 'We're aware that a customer has found a foreign object in one of our dog biscuits.

'We take the safety of all of our products really seriously and are talking to our supplier and the affected customer.'
The grandfather of the toddler who is believed to have been killed by an eight-year-old at daycare has told of the full horror of the scene that met his daughter when she went to collect her child only to find him dead.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com Brian Reasonover revealed that his one-year-old grandson Korey was bruised and bitten on the face then placed in a playpen at Keysha's Keepers daycare in Muskegon, in what he believes was a bid to conceal what had happened.

But despite the viciousness of the attack he said he does not blame the little girl suspected of inflicting it and instead lays the blame squarely at the door of daycare owner Keysha Collins, 49.

Reasonover, 46, said: 'It's hard to say but when I saw Korey and how he looked, I looked at my daughter and told her: 'Whoever did this did this out of anger. This child had to have something deep inside her to make her feel this way.

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Tragic: Korey Brown, one, (pictured right with his mother Bryanna) was found bitten, bruised, and lifeless at the daycare facility in Muskegon, Michigan on April 14. An eight-year-old girl is suspected to have put the bleeding boy in a closet

This is the woman who runs Keysha's Keepers pictured for the first time. Keysha Collins, 49, is who Korey's grandfather blames for the death of one-year-old boy after she allegedly left the children unsupervised

Korey had only been under the care of Keysha Keepers for three weeks, but on his last visit, he was found lying down with his face to the side and with bite marks on his face. His cause of death is still unknown. He had only just celebrated his first birthday

'Something must be wrong in her household for her to go on and do this to a child.

'Something must be physically going on with this child and if it is she needs to be treated and taken care of. To tell you the truth I really don't fault the child too much. I fault the daycare because they are responsible for our children.'

Now, as his family prepares to bury his daughter Bryanna's youngest child on Friday, Reasonover has demanded the truth and called for the daycare where little Korey perished to be shut down.

He said: 'I hear they're still open. They're still taking in children and I'm not cool with that. I'm not happy at all. Why are children still being watched by this lady?

'I see the media have been reaching out to her and she's staying quiet. To me that person's trying to cover up or hide something. I just want answers.'

According to Reasonover Bryanna, 28, dropped Korey along with his three siblings ages two to seven at Keysha's Keepers at around 10.20 on Thursday evening before going to work.

The children had been being going to the facility that boasts 24/7 care for up to 12 children and is run out of Keysha Collins's home for a month.

But when Bryanna returned at around 6.45 the next morning she knew immediately that something was wrong with her baby.

This is the rundown home of Keysha Collins where the 49-year-old runs Keysha's Keepers boasting 24/7 care for up to 12 children and the site where Korey was killed

The decrepit house's 'business sign' is a white sheet of paper with a picture of Minnie and Mickey Mouse with small text that reads:'Keysha Keepers Daycare' taped on the front door. Collins obtained a license to run the service in November last year

Stuffed animals and toys now sit outside of the site where Korey Brown mysteriously died. Brian Reasonover, 46, believes his grandson's death was covered up and is now demanding answers

Reasonover said: 'When she walked in all the other kids were up. Normally Korey's sitting up waiting on his mother but she noticed that he was laying down, face to the side. When she turned him over she noticed a bruise on his face and a bite mark and that's when she's like, "What happened to my baby?"

Reasonover said that a daycare assistant claimed to have just changed Korey's diaper. His panicked daughter called Keysha Collins from her bedroom and the woman began administering CPR to the unresponsive infant.

But, he said, 'I guess Korey had taken his last breath.'

The child was pronounced dead on arrival at Muskegon's Mercy Health Hospital.

According to Reasonover, himself a father of seven, when he saw his grandson in hospital, though the room was dark, he could see the bruise and bites on his body 'plain as day.'

Yet the only witness to the attack is Korey's five year old sister who he said was woken by her brother's cries.

She has told cops that the suspected child put her bleeding brother in a closet and that one of the daycare workers found him and placed him in the playpen in which he was lying when his mother came to collect him.

The eight-year-old girl has since been interviewed by police and a child psychologist.

Reasonover said: 'The other two, the boys, they sleep hard. She said the eight-year-old was the one who did all the physical stuff to Korey. But I want to know where were the adults?

'You hear a child cry you're going to run to that child. Why didn't you hear it?

'You had to hear something. Somebody had to hear something.

'What they're telling the detectives I'm not going with it. You tell my daughter you changed his diaper and you didn't see that bite mark? Come on. You tell that story to someone else.

'I want to know the truth. I want to know what happened to my grandson. You ain't got to talk to the media. You know how to reach my number, talk to me, we can meet, you can talk and I'll listen. I just want to know why. What happened? Where were you? Explain it to me.'

Muskegon County Medical Examiner has yet to give a cause of death and police are continuing to try to piece together the events of that night and early morning.

According to Reasonover his daughter is struggling to come to terms with the loss of her youngest child. At times, he said, it is simply 'overwhelming.'

Slipping into the present tense as he spoke of the child he can't quite believe is gone, Reasonover said: 'Korey loves his mother, man he loves his mother. He clings to his mother like glue. He's a happy kid. You pick him up, he's smiling and looking at you.

'To me he's one of a kind. But wow, he's not here anymore.

'He was just walking pretty good. The little steps he was taking were like amazing.'

It is painful for Reasonover to think how his grandson suffered in his final moments but he is quite sure that he did and that when he cried out for help no-one came.

Now he said: 'I don't want this to happen to any other child. No child should be treated the way Korey was. I feel like Korey suffered a lot and like I said I just want answers. I want to know. His mother wants to know the truth that's all.

'You can only hide something for so long but the truth will come out.'

When approached by DailyMail.com Keysha Collins refused to speak and threatened to call the police.

A GoFundMe has been launched by the family to raise money for the mother and for Korey's memorial service.
A gunman opened fire on a police officer during a routine highway traffic stop, shooting him in the face before speeding off again.

Omar Maria, 33, who was later captured during a standoff with other officers, pulled his weapon on cop Jacob Baldwin in Kansas City, Missouri, in December 2014.

Harrowing dashcam footage from Baldwin's police cruiser has been released for the first time since Maria was sentenced to 100 years in jail on Wednesday.

It shows him hopping out of the car and opening fire on Baldwin, 39, who was alone, before driving off again in his green Honda Accord.

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Omar Maria, 33, opened fire on police officer Jacob Baldwin after being pulled over in his green Honda Accord in December 2014. He is seen above in dashcam footage

Baldwin managed to call for back-up and can be heard in the video screaming: 'I've been hit!'

He survived the attack, telling local media this week he was determined to live for his nine-year-old daughter.

Maria was driving near the I-35, I-435 interchange when Baldwin pulled him over for a license plate violation.

Seconds after stopping his car, Maria leaped out of the driver's seat and opened fire.

He shot at least six rounds in quick succession before driving off again. Baldwin was still in the front seat of the cruiser.

He screamed, then shouted down his radio: 'Shots fired! Shots fired! I've been hit!' Other Pleasant Valley police officers arrived soon afterwards.

Bullets pierced Baldwin's chin and cheek he miraculously survived.

Maria hopped back in to his car after firing several rounds at the cop then sped away

Omar Maria, 33, was jailed for 100 years on Wednesday in Kansas City for the attack on police officer Jacob Baldwin (right). Baldwin was shot in the chin and cheek but survived

Maria was charged with assault on a law enforcement officer and armed criminal action. He was jailed for 100 years in Kansas City on Wednesday.

Afterwards, Baldwin told local media how he survived by thinking about his daughter.

'There was quite a bit of blood coming out of my nose and I knew that that much blood, obviously I was injured pretty badly so I was just thinking about the desire to live.

'All I was thinking about was getting back to my daughter,' he told The Kansas City Star.
A baby boy was pulled alive from a shallow grave (pictured) - three days after he was left to died by his South African mother

A baby boy was pulled alive from a shallow grave - three days after he was left to died by his South African mother.

The baby was discovered in the town of Paddock, in KwaZulu-Natal Province, eastern South Africa after staff at the timber factory where his mother worked heard him crying.

The 25-year-old mother had made a makeshift grave of sand and timber taken from the factory after fearing her parents would be upset about her having a second child.

When the baby was found she admitted to police what she had done.

Captain Gerald Mfeka said: 'They searched and found him hidden underneath some timber, covered in sand.

'On hearing the commotion, the mother confessed that the child was hers. Her explanation was that she was afraid of her parents.

'This was her second child, the elder one being four years old, and she felt her parents would not approve of another baby.'

The baby was placed in an intensive care unit at the nearby Port Shepstone Regional Hospital.

His mother was reportedly also taken there, though it was not clear why.

She was released from the hospital and it was not reported what charges she faces or whether she will be reunited with her baby.
Terror experts have warned the danger of a 'lone wolf' extremist driving a truck into Anzac Day crowds is high  as ISIS urges its fanatics to launch an attack similar to the one on Londons Westminster Bridge recently.

Police are taking extra precautions as thousands are expected to line the streets of Sydney, from Martin Place to Hyde Park, at dawn on April 25 to commemorate Australia's fallen soldiers.

As well as extra officers on duty, there will be several road closures in places as well as bollards in use to ensure there is limited access for vehicles to access the CBD.

Although authorities say there has been no specific threat about an attack on Anzac Day, ISIS has been urging followers to carry on lone wolf attacks on commuters, queuing pensioners, children playing in the park and even market vendors.

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Terror experts have warned the chance of a 'lone wolf' driving a truck into Anzac Day crowds (Sydney service in 2016 pictured) is likely

The terror group's 'Rumiyah' magazine used the chilling examples as it urged its followers around the world to target non-believers in a 38-page booklet published in different languages.

And after the horrific atrocities in Nice, Berlin, London and more - where exremists ploughed vehicles through helpless crowds of pedestrians  the threat of terror has never been higher, experts say, and police are taking no chances.

'In the last year or so, as that tactic has been used, we're more responsive to it - so we do look at vehicle mitigation strategies - that's really a fancy word for trying to block vehicle access to places of mass gatherings,' NSW Police's Anzac Day operational commander, Superintendent Mark Walton, told the Daily Telegraph.

'Obviously the Anzac march route, the Cenotaph gathering, the Anzac memorial gathering fit that profile.

Police are taking extra precautions to avoid an attack of the same nature in Sydney

Europe endured three separate attacks last year where 'lone wolves' ploughed vehicles through crowds (pictured is aftermath at Christmas market in Berlin, on December 19)

Police have remained tight-lipped on what specific measures will be put in place to prevent such an attack, but say they are well prepared and on high-alert.

Operation Callaway - a high-visibility policing strategy involving officers from a range of specialist units including riot squad and PolAir - will be in full force come Tuesday.

But Deakin University terrorism expert Dr Greg Barton told the Daily Telegraph there was little that could be done to prepare for a spontaneous attack.

'Of course, come 2017, we're now more than ever worried about lone wolf attacks - and that means some guy might wake up in the morning and literally decide he's going to drive his car into the crowd,' Dr Barton told the newspaper.

Police have remained tight-lipped on what specific measures will be put in place to prevent such an attack happening (pictured is devastation after truck hit crowd in Nice, France)

Terror experts claim there is only so much police could do to prepare for a spontaneous lone wolf attack (memorial to victims of Berlin terror attack pictured)

On the eve of Anzac Day last year, police thwarted a 16-year-old boy's plans to commit a terror attack on a remembrance service in Sydney the next day.

The teen used an encrypted message app to attempt to obtain a gun and when that failed, a bomb manual.

He pleaded guilty to planning a terrorist attack last month and is awaiting sentencing.

The country's terrorism threat level remains at 'probable'.

Veterans travelling to Gallipoli for Anzac Day have also been warned that terrorists may target the commemorations this year.

The Australian federal government updated travel advice to Turkey after receiving information of a 'high threat of a terrorist attack' targeting the event on April 25.

On the eve of Anzac Day last year, police thwarted a 16-year-old boy's plans to commit a terrorist attack on a remembrance service in Sydney (pictured is 2016 parade)

Australia's terrorism threat level remains at 'probable'. Pictured is damaged truck used in terrorist attack in Berlin that killed 12
The Greens have kicked off their election campaign at a rally in Bristol

Labour has insisted it does not want to do any backroom deals

The Greens have reportedly offered not to field a candidate in a seat in Devon

The Greens have offered to not put up candidates in some areas to give Labour and the Liberal Democrats a clear run at beating the Tories.

The election pact offer comes as the party kicked off its General Election campaign by promising to fight against an 'extreme Brexit'.

The party's leaders Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley, have written to Jeremy Corbyn and Tim Farron offering the deal.

The Green Party's Molly Scott Cato, pictured at their election launch in Bristol, said the party wants to have an election pact with Labour and the Liberal Democrats

Green MEP Molly Scott Cato urged the parties to sign up to the pact 'to move beyond the tribal politics of the past and cooperate for the sake of the country'.

She told the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme: 'We're waiting to hear what the response is.'

Caroline Lucas, pictured as the Green Party's election launch, has written to Jeremy Corbyn and Tim Farron offering a deal

She added: 'It's important to set the discussions in context. The reason we're talking about this is that, like a lot of progressives, we're very concerned about the direction the Tories are taking the country.

'I think they're using Brexit as an opportunity to move us to the right.

'Theresa May has given us an opportunity (by calling the snap General Eection)  but to use that opportunity we need to cooperate as parties of opposition who don't want that Tory future.'

The Greens have said they are willing to stand aside in the Devon seat of Plymouth Sutton and Devonport to give Labour a better chance of beating theTory MP Oliver Colville, according to the BBC.

In return it wants Labour to agree not to field a candidate in the nearby seat of Totnes.

But Tory Totnes MP Sarah Wollaston hit out at the plans, which she said are, 'anti-democratic'.

And Labour rebuffed the offer, insisting 'people don't want backroom deals'.

A party spokesman said: 'They want to vote for a party they've got confidence in. There's only one alternative government and that's Labour.

'The only way to get the change we need, to build a fair economy and strong public services is to vote Labour.'

Meanwhile, the party promised to put young people at the heart of its policies as it launched its General Election campaign in Bristol.

And the party vowed to campaign against the 'extreme Brexit and far-right Conservative agenda'  describing itself as the 'antidote to Ukip'.

It is campaigning for free education and the scrapping of university tuition fees, a living wage for all and investment in mental health services.

The party is also calling for votes at 16 so 16 and 17-year-olds can have their say on June 8.

Ms Scott Cato told supporters: 'I am clear that this election is the most significant of my lifetime. We truly are at a crossroads for Britain's future.

Green Party supporters gathered in Bristol where they kicked off their election campaign

The Greens described themselves as the antidote to Ukip and vowed to fight an extreme Brexit

'Today marks the beginning of the Green Party's campaign for a bold, positive future for our country, in wholehearted opposition to the extreme Brexit and far-right agenda threatened by another five years of Tory Government.'

Directing her comments to young people, she said: 'It's hard to think of a time when the young have faced a bleaker future and in this election we risk the election of a Tory Government which will make things so much worse for them.

'They will pursue an extreme Brexit that young people didn't want and voted against; they will dismantle public services which benefitted their parents and grandparents  from health to welfare to education; they will take away their opportunities; they'll take away their security; they'll take away their prosperity.'

She said the Greens will scrap tuition fees and restore the principle of free education.
A Georgia university has come under fire after it decided to separate students based on the color of their skin.

Kennesaw State University near Atlanta asked students 'who identify as white' to go into one room and 'those who identify as people of color' to go to another.

The public university at which more than 35,000 are enrolled, has maintained the separation was part of an event held last week on 'privilege and interracial relations'.

The conference explicitly told students to head to different rooms depending on their race

Roxanne Donovan, left, Elizabeth Roemer, PhD, center, and Karen Suyemoto, PhD, right, all spoke at the seminar

'The goal of the workshop, which was led by an outside expert, was to foster learning and create an environment of understanding and support for one another,' said Kennesaw State University spokeswoman Tammy DeMel to Heat Street. 'Attendees were asked to work together and then were invited to join the group with which they identify.'

But some have decried the workshop as being a modern-day example of segregation rather than an exercise in psychology.

The event was part of a workshop entitled 'Being, Becoming and Fostering Allies: Building Relationships Across Privilege.'

Kennesaw State, pictured, is one of a number of colleges and universities, that have sought to provide training, workshops, and seminars centered on the controversial topic of 'privilege'

It was taught by two psychology professors, one of whom was a grad student from the University of Massachusetts and the other a Kennesaw State University professor.

The panel said that students would learn about becoming an ally for less privileged people, as well as 'the essential roles of self-reflection, cultural humility, and re-engagement after failures.'

Kennesaw State University is the latest university to be criticized for separating students.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Michigan, and Concordia University have all been accused of segregation at some point or other after holding events that saw students divided into groups along racial lines.

Last spring, students from across the country descended on Philadelphia to attend a so-called 'White Privilege Conference.'

More than 1,500 people paid $400 each to attend the gathering.

There were 20 workshops covering sex, race, and gender - including one session that deals with those who might be 'exhausted, burned out from working to dismantle racism and white supremacy.'

'In order to effectively advocate for others, one needs to have an awareness of self and the biases and positions within the society in which we live,' said assistant professor Sonja Poole of the University of San Francisco at an event in 2016.

'Privilege is a touchy subject and it is often unrecognized by those who have the most. It is important to identify and confront issues that affect marginalized people so that we can reduce social and economic injustice and increase societal well-being.'

'Organization in colleges and universities, traditionally a hotbed of social activism, have sought to provide training, workshops, and seminars centered on the controversial topic of 'privilege.'
Kamal Rahman, pictured above, has been jailed after selling non-halal turkey to food outlets across the UK as religious-friendly lamb

A pair of businessman who cooked up a lucrative scheme to sell 160 tonnes of cheap turkey as halal lamb have been jailed.

Importer Mahmudur Rohman, 46, and his friend Kamal Rahman, 54, priced up non-halal turkey as the more expensive, boneless lamb to wholesalers, butchers and takeaways across the country.

Dozens of outlets were duped by the cunning pair, who netted profits up to 700,000, a court heard.

Rohman and Rahman, were found guilty of conspiring to defraud customers by making false representations about the kind of meat being sold, between 2013 and 2014, after a trial at Leicester Crown Court.

The pair, both of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, were jailed for five years on Wednesday.

Sentencing, Judge Marcus Tregilgas-Davey said their trickery had seriously impacted upon victims 'financially, culturally and religiously'.

Practicing Muslims do not eat meat which is not halal for religious reasons.

The deception by the businessmen has caused great upset with former clients, with one ex-customer saying the crime was 'as serious as murder'.

Judge Tregilgas-Davey said: 'You both played a leading role. You did it to make financial gain, motivated by financial greed and avarice.'

He said: 'It was a flagrant disregard for the law with widespread impact and causing damage to the reputations of wholly innocent victims and their businesses.

The judge said the meat was sold in the Midlands and as far north as Middlesborough and as far south as Portsmouth.

He said: 'I've heard how distressing it was from individuals who supplied non-halal meat to their long-standing customers who trusted them and having given it to their own families.

'A large number of people have eaten meat that offends their cultural and religious needs.'

Jailed: Kamal Rahman, left, and Mahmudur Rohman, right, were found guilty of conspiring to defraud customers between 2013 and 2014

The court heard Trading Standards discovered the fraud during an investigation into the national horse meat scandal in 2013.

The falsely labelled turkey was traced back to the Peterborough-based firm Dutch Bangla Direct Ltd where Rohman was the sole director.

The company set up in 2012 which imported huge amounts of turkey from Germany, purchased at 2.50 a kilo and sold for between 4.75 and 7.00 a kilo.

Rahman was a well-known and respected businessman who helped Rohman set up the company and put him in contact with potential customers.

The company, which is now defunct, imported turkey, mainly from Germany, between October 2012 and November 2014.

Kevin Barry, prosecuting on behalf of Leicester City Council's trading standards department, said: 'Turkey meat at wholesale level commands much lower prices and by selling turkey as lamb the defendants were able to charge around double of what it was actually worth.

'And they were still able to undercut rivals' prices for lamb so it looked more attractive to the customer.'

Mahmudur Rohman was also convicted of six counts of Food Safety Act breaches, two of possessing an articles for use in fraud, forgery and selling food with a false description

The court heard one of the pair's victims, a butcher, had his 2,000-a-month contract with a Leicester community centre terminated because of the scam.

Speaking outside court after the hearing, the man said Rohman and Rahman had 'betrayed all Muslims' and added he felt their crime was as serious as 'murder'.

Mauro Maselli, defending Rohman, said that although it was not certified the turkey meat had 'matched halal standards'.

He said Rohman didn't have a 'lavish lifestyle, had 'limited means' and his family were due to be evicted from their home.

Rohman was also convicted of six counts of Food Safety Act breaches, two of possessing an articles for use in fraud, forgery and selling food with a false description.

Rahman was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice by trying to persuade a customer to give trading standards false information about where the turkey came from.

Nenad Spasojevic, defending Rahman, told the court he played a 'subordinate role' in the scam.

He said Rahman had worked tirelessly in community and charitable work and now faced being 'ostracised' and 'viewed as a pariah.'

Father and son Mohammed Anwarul Hogue, 56, and Zunaid Hoque, 25, were both cleared of any involvement in the scam.

Speaking after the case, Trading Standards prosecutor Mr Barry said: 'The sentence properly reflects the broad impact on the community this offending had, not just for individuals but on public confidence in the meat supply chain and particularly the supply of meat purporting to be halal.

'That's what the judge felt really aggravated it to the point where a substantial sentence was called for.'
United Airlines may be behind one of the most shocking incidents of 2017  as a bloodied passenger was dragged down an airplane's aisle  but Americans still prefer the carrier over President Donald Trump, a new poll shows.

The left-leaning pollsters at Public Policy Polling found that when voters were asked which they had a higher opinion of, 42 percent selected United Airlines, while 40 of respondents pointed to Trump.

While their responses are within the survey's 3.9 percent margin of error, there are a number of indications that Americans are feeling down about The Donald.

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New polls show Americans aren't impressed with President Trump's job performance as he nears the 100-day mark

A Public Policy Polling survey found that a greater percentage of Americans preferred United Airlines, even after a passenger was dragged down an aisle, over President Trump

Public Policy Polling pollsters asked voters to choose between United Airlines, after a passenger was pulled down an aisle, and President Trump

For one, his overall approval rating sits at 43 percent, with 50 percent of the country disapproving.

While Trump promised to 'Make America Great Again,' only 35 percent of voters think he's accomplished that goal, while another 55 percent believe he hasn't.

As the president has waded more into world affairs, 39 percent of respondents said they believe he will embroil the United States into World War III, while a slightly bigger group, 40 percent, believe Trump won't start a massive war.

Voters prefer President Obama's foreign policy  and President Obama generally  over President Trump.

With 51 percent saying they think Obama had a better handle on world affairs, compared to the 39 percent who said that of Trump.

And with 51 percent saying they wish Obama was still in office, over the 43 percent who prefer President Trump.

Trump's unpopularity is bleeding down ballot too, with PPP finding that the Democrats have an edge in a generic congressional ballot over Republicans 47 to 41 percent.

Another poll, one released Thursday by Politico and Morning Consult, shows Trump with a slightly higher approval rating  48 percent  with Republican support helping his numbers.

But even among his core supporters Trump could improve upon his work.

There's a persistent media narrative that President Trump can do no wrong among his base of supporters,' Morning Consult's Kyle Dropp told Politico. 'But this polling suggests that, at the very least, many of his voters see room for improvement.'

For example, 42 percent of Trump supporters gave his first 100 days a 'B' grade, while another 23 percent graded him at a 'C' or worse.

Trump gets his highest grades on the issues of fighting terrorism, bringing back jobs and the economy, and his lowest marks on draining the swamp, climate change and health care.

One thing Trump could do to improve his standing, according to the PPP numbers, is fire Chief Strategist Steve Bannon.

Forty-five percent of those surveyed think Bannon should get the ax, while 26 percent think Trump should retain the top aide.

Bannon is viewed favorably by only 21 percent of respondents, with another 50 percent who view him negatively.
The Trump administration is conducting a comprehensive investigation into steel imports amid concern that the current level is a national security risk.

President Donald Trump initiated the probe Thursday morning with a memo he signed in the Oval Office.

'Steel is critical to both our economy and our military,' the president declared. 'This is not an area where we can afford to become dependent on foreign countries.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said earlier on Thursday that steel imports have continued to rise, raising questions about the United States' ability to meet production needs if it suddenly goes to war.

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The Trump administration is conducting a comprehensive investigation into steel imports amid concern that the current level is a national security risk. President Donald Trump initiated the probe on Thursday morning in a memo he signed in the Oval Office

'Steel is an important factor in our infrastructure, as it relates to national defense,' he said. 'As you know we're building up aircraft, we're building up our fleet, we're building more tanks, building all kinds of military equipment. And that's even in the peacetime context.'

Getting at a key purpose of the probe, Ross said, 'If it turned out they had to ramp up, the question is, are we getting to the point where the industry couldn't be able to deal with that?'

The U.S. steel industry is operating at 71 percent capacity, Ross said. Foreign imports make up 26 percent of the market. 'There clearly is room for a increase in the productive utilization of the United States,' he said.

'One of the factors relating to national security would be if you needed a very rapid build up, are the skill sets there?' he said.

The concern particularly comes into play for the handling of alloys that are used to make armor plates and other defensive equipment, the cabinet secretary said.

Trump said Thursday, from the Oval, that Ross will be coming back to him with recommendations 'in the very, very near future.'

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (far left) said steel imports have continued to rise, raising questions about the United States' ability to meet production needs if it suddenly goes to war

The president said he'll also have something to say on the North American Free Trade Agreement in the next two weeks, too, following a threat he made this week to get rid of the accord 'once and for all.'

'The fact is, NAFTA, whether its Mexico or Canada, is a disaster for our country. Its a disaster. Its a trading disaster,' Trump said. 'Were going to have to get to the negotiating table with Canada very, very quickly.'

Of the memo he just signed, Trump said, it represents a 'historic day for American steel.

He promised his administration would 'fight for American workers and American-made steel.'

'Thats beginning immediately,' he stated.

Ross told reporters Thursday, before Trump signed the memo, the investigation his department will be conducting is consistent with those objectives.

But it will also assess whether there's enough domestic steel production for projected defense spending. Trump has asked for $54 billion more next year.

The review will additionally determine whether Chinese and other foreign-made steel presents a threat.

China has increased its steel exports to the United States despite promises to reduce them.

Trump, who has become chummy with China's president in the weeks since he met him, said Thursday as he signed the memorandum, 'This has nothing to do with China. This has to do with worldwide, whats happening. The dumping problem is a worldwide problem.'

The Navy's next generation aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford arrives at Naval Station Norfolk and approaches its berth next to the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, left, and USS George Washington last Friday. Ross noted Thursday that the US is building up its fleet - just in case

He met with leaders of U.S. steel companies before he signed the memorandum related to section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 at a White House event this afternoon.

The law allows the president to impose restrictions on imports for reasons of national security.

The last time the U.S. statute was used was to restrict imported oil, while former President George W. Bush attempted to slap tariffs on steel imports in 2002 under a different means, according to a research note from Height Securities.

'Making the case that steel imports threaten national security may be a... high legal hurdle, although we suspect the Trump administration will argue the potential loss of domestic steel manufacturing capacity could hinder the ability to respond to urgent defense needs,' the Height note said.

U.S. steel shares shot up after the Nov. 8 U.S. election amid optimism of increased infrastructure spending.

The rose again on Thursday following the news that he was planning to sign the directive asking for a speedy probe that Ross said would be conducted more quickly than the code allows.

Shares of AK Steel were up 5.3 percent while shares of U.S. Steel were up 4.7 percent. The S&P 1500 steel index was up 2.9 percent.

Shares of Steel Dynamics, which reported results late Wednesday, were up 4.2 percent, while Nucor, which reported early Thursday, was up 2 percent.
The EU will demand Britain submits to open-ended jurisdiction by Euro judges and foot the bill for moving EU agencies out of the country, it has been revealed.

Leaked documents from the European Commission show the UK must give lifelong rights at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for three million EU citizens and their families settled in Britain, the Times reported.

It come after Brussels bureaucrats were accused of trying to 'blackmail' Britain after leaked secret plans reveal they want the UK to pay the cost of moving EU agencies out of the country.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker greets Theresa May at a Brussels summit last year. Secret plans have revealed the Commission wants the UK to pay to move EU agencies out of the country and to pay its divorce bill in euros

The new move would attempt to overturn Theresa Mays determination - reported in the Mail yesterday - to free Britain from the ECJs rule.

It raises the prospect of the ECJs jurisdiction becoming a red line in Britains negotiations with Brussels.

Sir William Cash, a leading Conservative Eurosceptic and chairman of the Commons European scrutiny committee, said it would be completely impossible for the PM to agree to Brussels demand.

The draft negotiating document has revealed the European Commission is plotting to make Britain pay yet more money into the EU's coffers.

And they plan to press the UK to pay its 'divorce bill' in euros, ensuring that Britain bears the risk of any currency fluctuations.

But the demands were slammed by Tory MP Peter Bone, who said the EU is living in 'cloud cuckoo land' and should pay back the many billions it owes the UK.

He told the MailOnline: 'We are not giving them any money back. They owe us money and they ought to cough up and stop trying to claim that we owe them money.

'They are living in cloud cuckoo land.

'They have robbed the British people of a 184 billion since we have gone into it, how dare they suggest that we owe the any money.

'The European Union of course is a bully and will like to try and blackmail people, and the way you deal with bullies and blackmailers is stand up to them.'

Mr Bone said Theresa May is going to be 'even tougher' on the EU bureaucrats than Margaret Thatcher.

The tough negotiating guidelines, obtained by the Politico.eu website, set out tight protections for EU citizens and budgets, as well as European businesses whose goods are traded in the UK.

Tory MP Peter Bone said the EU is living in cloud cuckoo land and should pay Britain back the billions it owes (file picture)

And they insist that the European Court of Justice must maintain legal jurisdiction over disputes relating to the enforcement of the withdrawal agreement.

But it is the provisions on the 'divorce bill' which are likely to come under the spotlight when the Prime Minister holds talks in London next week with European Commission Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and president Jean-Claude Juncker.

Their meeting comes ahead of an April 29 summit in Brussels when the remaining 27 members will finalise their negotiating stance.

The draft paper states that the UK must 'honour its share of the financing of all the obligations undertaken while it was a member of the Union', including 'liabilities, contingent liabilities, legal and budgetary commitments'.

And it says: 'In addition, the United Kingdom should fully cover the specific costs related to the withdrawal process such as the relocation of the agencies or other Union bodies.'

Brexit is likely to mean the UK losing the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and European Banking Authority (EBA), which are currently based in London's Canary Wharf and between them employ around 1,000 people in Britain.

The European Council has made clear it wants them transferred to one of the 27 remaining member states, though David Davis's Department for Exiting the EU insisted earlier this week that their future was still subject to negotiations.

Theresa May greets European Parliament president Antonio Tajani at Downing Street today. She is meeting a string of top representatives from Brussels in the coming weeks

Mr Juncker has previously suggested the UK's divorce bill may come to around 50 billion.

The new negotiating guidelines indicate that Britain will be able to pay it over a number of years, but insisted that the scheduling of payments 'should be agreed in order to limit the impact of the withdrawal on the budget for the Union'.

Even after a settlement is reached on a final figure, the total may be subject to future 'annual technical adjustments'.

The document emerged as Mrs May held talks at 10 Downing Street with the president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani.

MEPs will have a vote on any deal struck by Mrs May at the end of the two-year process of negotiations under Article 50, giving the Parliament an effective veto.
This is the hilarious moment three overexcited baby raccoons discover a huge bowl of cereal and milk - and couldn't be happier.

Joel Rosenthal left the treat out for the youngsters after finding the family living under the lower deck of his home in Hillsboro, West Virginia.

One of the raccoons appears particularly overjoyed at the bowl, dunking his entire face in and only coming up for air when absolutely necessary.

Joel Rosenthal left the treat out for the youngsters after finding the family living under the lower deck of his home in Hillsboro, West Virginia

The footage was posted online under the caption: 'Breathing while eating is overrated anyway.' Viewers were quickly feel in love with the adorable video.

On said: 'That raccoon is eating so fast it can't breathe.'

Another added: 'Pretty sure this is my spirit animal. Seriously. It understands the seriousness of eating.'

One commenter joked: 'Basically me when eating. Stopping to breathe occasionally.'

One of the raccoons appears particularly overjoyed at the bowl, dunking his entire face in and only coming up for air when absolutely necessary
DNA tests of the carcass of a crocodile shot in Zimbabwe confirm that the reptile had eaten a missing South African hunter.

Scott Van Zyl, 44, vanished last week after going on a hunting safari on the banks of the Limpopo river with a Zimbabwean tracker and a pack of dogs.

The married father-of-two, whose company runs hunting trips for foreign clients, was believed he had been eaten by crocodiles and recent tests confirm it.

South African hunter Scott Van Zyl, 44, was eaten by crocodiles after human remains were found inside one reptile carcass

He vanished last week after going on a hunting safari with a Zimbabwean tracker and a pack of dogs

The hunter's footprints were tracked to a riverbank during a search and rescue operation, and run by the Heritage Protection Group and Zimbabwean authorities.

Sakkie Louwrens, who was part of the search team, said that permission was given to shoot three Nile crocodiles in the area.

'One of them contained Mr Van Zyl's remains,' he told BBC. 'Subsequent DNA tests have proved the remains to be those of Mr Van Zyl.'

Conservations group had condemned the circumstances for Van Zyl's 'senseless' death.

'[He] shouldn't have been hunting in the first place. Animals in the wild are wild! They are living, thinking beings with instincts for survival,' a statement by One Green Planet said.

While on the hunt, the professional hunter and his tracker had left their truck and walked into the bush in different directions.

The father-of-two, whose company runs hunting trips for foreign clients, is thought to have been eaten by crocodiles on the banks of the Limpopo River (pictured) in Zimbabwe

The professional hunter and his tracker had left their truck and walked into the bush in different directions. Later that day his dogs returned to the camp without Mr Van Zyl (pictured right, with his wife)

Later that day his dogs returned to the camp without Mr Van Zyl. His rifle and belongings were found inside the truck.

A rescue team of helicopters, divers and trackers combed the area while friends gave out missing posters in villages and to fishermen along the river.

Mr Van Zyl's footprints were later spotted leading to the river bank and trackers found his backpack nearby.

Police and animal nature conservation services decided to shoot the reptiles.

At least four people have been killed by crocodiles in Zimbabwe in the past month.

In March, villagers cut open a crocodile and found the remains of an eight-year-old boy inside the beast.

The shocking scene was captured by an eyewitness with a smartphone in the village of Mushumbi Pools in northern Zimbabwe's Mashonaland Central Province.

Sakkie Louwrens, who was part of the search team, said police suspected two Nile crocodiles may have eaten Mr Van Zyl (pictured)

Police shot the crocodiles and are testing the remains found inside them to see if they belong to Mr Van Zyl (pictured with his wife)

Villagers suspected the crocodile had killed and eaten the young boy, and shot the animal dead.

Zimbabwe has recently been hit by heavy rain, raising river and dam levels, which can bring crocodiles to areas where they are not normally seen.

A crocodile was recently shot dead in Beatrice, a farming community in the neighbouring province of Mashonaland East, with what were believed to be the remains of a fisherman in its stomach.

In November, last year a 13 year old boy who was fishing to pay for his school fees was killed by a crocodile in southern Zimbabwe.

Owen Chianga and his friend, Liberty Ruzivo, 15, were attacked by two crocodiles while they were fishing in the Save River near the village of Birchenough Bridge.

Nile crocodiles typically feed on fish, antelope and zebra, which they snatch from the shallows and before engaging in a twirling, drowning method known as 'the death roll'.
Sir Michael Fallon said he believes Putin would welcome a government led by Jeremy Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn's 'gutlessness' means Moscow would celebrate a Labour election win, according to a top Tory.

Sir Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, has suggested Russian president Vladimir Putin will be pleased to have 'feeble' Corbyn at the head of the UK government.

He will have watched the Labour leader's opposition to bolstering the armed forces and would welcome it if he triumphed on June 8, Sir Michael said.

The Tory cabinet minister attacked Corbyn during a visit to Estonia, where he met British troops sent to the border in the face of Russian aggression.

Sir Michael said: 'Russia will be watching Labour's feebleness. Jeremy Corbyn has not supported this deployment. He has questioned it.

'He has not made clear how they would finance our two per cent commitment to Nato and at every point he has voted against a stronger defence, including the renewal of Trident last July.

'Russia will be watching that, will have noted that feebleness and will be watching it throughout this campaign.

Corbyn has voted against the renewal of Trident and has said troops should not be sent to the Russia borders, leading Sir Michael to the view that Putin would be pleased to see him in power

CORBYN'S VOTING RECORD ON DEFENCE On the Iraq War: consistently voted against the war, and later, against continued deployment of troops in Afghanistan. On Trident: has voted against renewal of Trident four times, and has never voted for it. On Isis: has voted against military action against Isis/Daesh on two occasions. Has never voted for it. On deployment of troops abroad: votes consistently against sending UK troops to military action abroad. Source: They Work for You Advertisement

He added: 'Putin would certainly welcome feebler British defence and any undermining of our deterrent or our commitment to Nato two per cent defence spending, or any gutlessness in response to Russian aggression would certainly be welcome in Moscow.'

In January, Corbyn said no more British troops should be sent to the Baltic states and called for increased dialogue with Russia.

The Labour leader also refused to say if he agreed with the Nato principle of collective defence - which means an attack on one member is deemed an attack on all.

Corbyn's spokesman had previously suggested Britain's deployment of troops and jets to Estonia was escalating tensions with Moscow.

An 800-strong deployment of British troops to the country was announced in 2016 following continued concerns about Russian activity after its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Sir Michael insisted the UK would stand with its allies in the region.

Sir Michael is currently in Estonia, where British troops have been deployed to the border in the wake of ongoing aggression from the Russian leader

'The troops I have met today are part of one of the UK's largest ever deployments to Eastern Europe,' he said.

'This marks our commitment to European security and standing with our allies in the face of an increasingly assertive Russia.'

An RAF Typhoon aircraft is being sent to Romania in the next few weeks to carry out a Nato air policing mission in the Black Sea.
Theresa May stood by her pledge to slash immigration to the tens of thousands today after a senior minister appeared to distance the Tories from it.

On her latest campaign visit to the battleground seat of Enfield North, Mrs May said her ambition remained to slash net migration to 'sustainable levels' seven years after the Conservatives made the pledge.

Culture Secretary Karen Bradley fuelled speculation the target could be dropped today when she claimed border control is 'not about putting numbers on it'.

Mrs May's second visit to a target seat in two days is a clear signal of her desire to raid Labour territory to boost her majority. Enfield North was a rare Tory loss in 2015 and the party will want it back.

Elsewhere on the campaign today, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn set out his pitch to Britain with a promise to fix the 'rigged system' that helps the wealthy.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon weighed in again to claim it was 'pie in the sky' for Mr Corbyn to win Downing Street alone after the Labour leader dismissed a coalition.

Theresa May, pictured this afternoon at a radar factory, stood by her pledge to slash immigration to the tens of thousands today after a senior minister appeared to distance the Tories from it

On her latest campaign visit to Enfield, Mrs May said her ambition remained to slash net migration to 'sustainable levels'

Ms Bradley said Britain needed to be an 'attractive place' to attract the 'brightest and best', fuelling speculation Theresa May could dump the long standing promise.

But on a visit to a radar factory, Mrs May said: 'We have been very clear that it is important we have net migration at sustainable levels.

THERESA MAY HITS BATTLEGROUND SEATS Theresa May has used the second day of the election campaign to visit another battleground seat. The Tories will be desperate to reclaim Enfield North which was a rare loss to Labour at the 2015 General Election. The visit comes a day after Mrs May visited Bolton, where the Bolton North East constituency is a ripe target for another Tory gain. Labour's Joan Ryan is the current MP with a majority of 1,086 - the party's fourth smallest majority in London. It is one of the Conservatives' top targets in London. The party needs a swing of 1.3% to take it. At recent elections the seat has swung between Labour and the Tories. Labour held it from 1997 to 2010 when it went to the Tories before turning red again in 2015. Advertisement

'We believe sustainable numbers are the tens of thousands.'

Mrs May's intervention came after Ukip condemned Ms Bradley's remarks, insisting 'numbers do matter'.

The row began when Ms Bradley was speaking on Sky News and was challenged to confirm the immigration pledge would be in the manifesto when it is unveiled next month.

She said: 'What we need is to have the right people, to attract the brightest and best.

'It's not about putting numbers on it, it's about making sure that we can deliver where industry needs skills, where the brightest and best want to come to Britain.

'We want to be an attractive place that people want to come and work, to deliver that strong economy that pays for those public services that we all value so much.'

The Prime Minister's spokesman said Theresa May remained committed to bringing migration down to 'the tens of thousands'.

The spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister said yesterday she is committed to reducing net migration to sustainable levels, the Prime Minister has always been clear that sustainable levels are the tens of thousands.

'We've always also been clear we want to attract the brightest and the best to give the economy the skills that it needs.'

UKIP Immigration Spokesman John Bickley seized on the remarks to brand Mrs May untrustworthy.

He said: 'As both Home Secretary and now Prime Minister Theresa May 'promised' to reduce immigration to the 'tens of thousands' - a promise and a pledge that has completely and utterly failed.

Mrs May intervened after her culture secretary Karen Bradley said border control was not about putting numbers on immigration

Karen Bradley was speaking on Sky News and was challenged to confirm the immigration pledge would be in the manifesto when it is unveiled next month

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon weighed in again to claim it was 'pie in the sky' for Mr Corbyn to win Downing Street alone after the Labour leader dismissed a coalition

'Even the Home Office under Theresa May was concerned that many students coming into the UK, allegedly to study, would disappear off the border agency's radar and into the black economy.

'Fudging student numbers looks like a ruse to massage the immigration statistics and con the British people into believing immigration is coming down, when in fact under the Tories it's been out of control, running at over 500,000 a year.

'The Tories are so incompetent they can't even get non-EU immigration, which the government has full responsibility for down to their target of 'tens of thousands'.

'Then we have a Cabinet minister saying today immigration is 'not about numbers'. If we don't control the numbers, we control nothing.

'After a record of failure compounded by failure on immigration it is clear that the Government cannot be trusted with our borders. Only UKIP has the will and strategy to reduce the sheer numbers arriving in a fair, economically beneficial and ethical way. '
A mother was killed by her 'controlling and jealous' former partner who stuffed her body into a suitcase before dumping it near train tracks, a court has heard.

Gergana Prodanova, 38, went missing on August 4 last year from the home she shared with her ex-partner, Kostadin Kostov, who is on trial at Exeter Crown Court accused of murdering her.

Kostov, now 43, denies killing the mother of their three children, who worked at the city's Great Western Hotel and whose body was found nearly two weeks after she disappeared.

Gergana Prodanova, 38, went missing on August 4 last year from the home she shared with her ex-partner, Kostadin Kostov, who is on trial at Exeter Crown Court accused of murdering her

Simon Laws, QC, prosecuting, said the couple had been in a relationship for 15 years prior to Ms Prodanova moving to Exeter, Devon, in December 2015.

He said: 'It was a complex and very troubling relationship. He had used physical violence against her on a number of occasions.

'He was a jealous and controlling man. He would lose his temper, especially when he had had a drink, and he would hit her.

'She stuck with him for many years. She seems to have found it very hard to break free from him.'

The jury heard Ms Prodanova moved to England on her own, leaving Kostov and her children at home in Bulgaria and soon formed a relationship with another man, who Mr Laws said treated her 'kindly' and made her happy.

Mr Laws said Kostov flew to the UK on April 21, 2016 and moved in with Ms Prodanova in a small flat on Mount Pleasant Road in the city.

He said the prosecution case was that she was killed there on the evening of August 4 by Kostov because he was jealous of her new relationship.

'On August 4 last year Gergana Prodanova disappeared in Exeter,' said Mr Laws.

'She had not been in this country very long but she had made a small circle of friends and she had started a relationship with a man.

'She had a job and she was a dependable employee, so her new friends and her colleagues were surprised at her disappearance.

'Then messages were sent by text and Facebook that looked as if they came from her.

'Those messages were intended to explain her sudden absence.

'Nearly a fortnight later her body was found here in Exeter. It was concealed in a suitcase by the side of the railway not far from the prison.

'She had not disappeared at all. She had been killed by the defendant.'

Ms Prodanova, who worked as a housekeeper at the hotel, was last seen on Sidwell Street in Exeter on August 4

Mr Laws also said Prodanova had her clothes cut up with scissors by Kostov after a row in May, three months before she was killed.

When her body was recovered near the rail line next to Exeter prison, it was found her clothes had again been cut up.

He said: 'Whoever killed Gergana also cut up her clothing - clothing that she was wearing when she died - with a pair of scissors.

'Police found that clothing he had tried to dispose of. It would seem unlikely that anyone would be so unfortunate to have their clothing cut in that way by two different people in the space of three months.'

Mr Laws said Kostov told police Ms Prodanova was alive the last time he saw her, that she had received a phone call from her sister to say that her mother was dead and had left the flat.

Kostov denies her murder and the trial continues.
Bill O'Reilly will be walking away with a sizable sum of money following the termination of his Fox News contract after over 20 years at the network.

O'Reilly will be getting $25million from the network after being terminated in the wake of the latest Fox News sexual harassment scandal according to Matthew Garrahan of the Financial Times.

That is a quarter of the $100million he had been guaranteed in the four-year contract he signed this past January.

The network previously paid disgraced CEO Roger Ailes $40million when he exited last July.

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Goodbye: Bill O'Reilly is out at Fox News after 20 years on the cable news network and will be taking home tens of millions of dollars'

O'Reilly recently signed a new multi-year contract just weeks ago that guaranteed him over $20 million a year (host's Fox News sign near the entrance to their NYC office building above on Wednesday)

He will not however be walking out with the $100million he had been guaranteed in that contract (a cover is put over O'Reilly's sign on Thursday)

A lone fan shows support for O'Reilly on Thursday outside the Fox News building

O'Reilly's name was unceremoniously erased from his own Fox News show on Wednesday night hours after he was fired over mounting sexual harassment claims.

Emotionless fill-in host Dana Perino, a close friend of Megyn Kelly, spent just over a minute bidding farewell to the man who hosted the show for 20 years.

Perino called O'Reilly the 'undisputed king of Cable News', as there was no sign that O'Reilly had once hosted, The Factor, when it aired at 8pm.

Furthermore, the network removed 'O'Reilly' out of the show's title, as the opening graphic at the start of the show also referred to it as just The Factor.

The adjustments come hours after Rupert Murdoch announced that he was terminating the network's most popular host in a letter on Wednesday afternoon that was signed by himself and his sons, Lachlan and James.

The move was so swift that O'Reilly only learned of it en route to the airport on Wednesday as he returned home to the United States following a week-long trip to Italy reports Vanity Fair.

Perino, who is a former White House Press Secretary, opened the show with a brief statement acknowledging that O'Reilly was leaving the network, but said she would discuss it later on in the show.

The 44-year-old political commentator addressed O'Reilly's departure at the very end of the show for a few minutes in a prepared statement.

'Finally tonight, it is the end of an era here at the Fox News Channel,' she began.

'As we mentioned earlier, Bill O'Reilly is leaving this chair and this network after more than 20 years.

'Bill has been the undisputed king of cable news and for good reason.

'He is an incredibly talented broadcaster who raised the bar for interviewers everywhere.

'He has also held his staff to exacting standards in his quest to put the best possible program on the air and they are great.

'And you his audience responded in record numbers making The Factor the number one cable news show for more than 16 years. You have also been loyal and we can't tell you how much that means to everyone on The Factor.'

Perino then read from the statement released earlier from the Murdochs about O'Reilly's departure.

According to a new report, insiders at the network say that 'troubles at Fox news are only just beginning.'

Erased: It appears as though the network has renamed the show as just The Factor, as Perino (above) referred to it as that throughout the broadcast

The end: There was no sign that O'Reilly had hosted his show, The O'Reilly Factor, when it aired at 8pm

New name: In addition, the opening graphic at the start of the show also referred to it as The Factor (above)

DANA PERINO'S FULL BILL O'REILLY ON-AIR GOODBYE STATEMENT Dana Perino opened the 8pm show with a brief statement acknowledging that Bill O'Reilly was leaving the network, but said she would discuss it later on in the show. The substitute host gave a brief on-air goodbye to O'Reilly at the end of the show. Below is the full statement: 'Finally tonight, it is the end of an era here at the Fox News Channel. 'As we mentioned earlier, Bill O'Reilly is leaving this chair and this network after more than 20 years. 'Bill has been the undisputed king of cable news and for good reason. 'He is an incredibly talented broadcaster who raised the bar for interviewers everywhere. 'He has also held his staff to exacting standards in his quest to put the best possible program on the air and they are great. 'And you his audience responded in record numbers making The Factor the number one cable news show for more than 16 years. You have also been loyal and we can't tell you how much that means to everyone on The Factor. 'In the memo to The Factor staff today, Rupert Murdoch described Bill this way: 'In fact, his success by any measure is indisputable. We wish him the very best.' 'I'm Dana Perino, thanks for watching us, I'll be here again tomorrow, goodnight.' Advertisement

Big day: O'Reilly was in Vatican City with his son on Wednesday where he met with Pope Francis (above) hours before it was announced that he was fired from Fox

Former Fox News political analyst Kirsten Powers claimed that her former bosses refused to act on a complaint she filed against O'Reilly and that ousted CEO Roger Ailes told her that O'Reilly was a 'jerk' and that 'he makes so much money there's nothing I can do.'

Powers made the claims while appearing on CNN hours after O'Reilly was fired after 20 years at Fox News.

The USA Today columnist told Cooper that she complained about inappropriate comments O'Reilly allegedly made, but was told by then-Fox News chief Roger Ailes that he couldn't do anything because O'Reilly made too much money for the channel.

She said that O'Reilly's downfall at the network was 'stunning because Bill O'Reilly was Fox News.

'He had so much power there and it was sort of unthinkable that he would ever leave there except on his own terms.'

Fox News announced earlier Wednesday that it had parted ways with the longtime host after a 'thorough and careful review of allegations against him.'

Dozens of advertisers ditched 'The O'Reilly Factor' after a New York Times report detailed $13 million in payouts to five women over his alleged abusive behavior; more allegations subsequently emerged.

Decree: Rupert Murdoch made the announcement in a letter signed by himself and sons James and Lachlan (above)

Moving on up: Tucker Carlson (above) will reportedly be taking over for O'Reilly at 8pm

Welcome to primetime: The Five will tape live at 9pm every night starting Monday ( l to r: Hosts Kimberly Guilfoyle, Bob Beckel, Eric Bolling, Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld)

Gunning it: Jesse Watters (left) will join 'The Five' and Sean Hannity (right last week with Megyn Kelly) will stay in his 10pm slot

O'Reilly has staunchly denied the accusations and released a statement on Wednesday afternoon saying: 'It is tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims.'

'Over the past 20 years at Fox News, I have been extremely proud to launch and lead one of the most successful news programs in history, which has consistently informed and entertained millions of Americans and significantly contributed to building Fox into the dominant news network in television,' O'Reilly said in the beginning of his statement.

'It is tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims. But that is the unfortunate reality many of us in the public eye must live with today.

'I will always look back at my time at Fox with great pride in the unprecedented success we achieved and with my deepest gratitude to all my dedicated viewers.

'I wish only the best for Fox News channel.'

Fox News announced that starting on Monday, Tucker Carlson will move to 8pm, 'The Five' will move to 9pm and Sean Hannity will stay in his 10pm slot.

Eric Bolling will take over in the 5pm slot formerly occupied by The Five beginning on May 1, and Martha MacCallum will stay on in the 7pm hour.

The new lineup of 'The Five' will feature six hosts: Kimberly Guilfoyle, Dana Perino, Bob Beckel, Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters and Juan Williams.

Both 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' and 'The Five' will air live each night.

New York magazine reported earlier in the day on Wednesday that executives at Fox News were reportedly discussing the best way to sever ties with O'Reilly ahead of a 21st Century Fox board meeting on Thursday, during which O'Reilly is expected to be the primary talking point.

Fox News staffer reportedly felt that O'Reilly would be staying on last week, but Rupert is said to have had a change of heart after speaking with his two sons.

James had wanted O'Reilly out from the start while Lachlan was on the fence.

Lachlan then reportedly changed his mind on the matter when his wife Sarah convinced him that O'Reilly had to go.

This comes one day after a new accuser came forward to make sexual harassment allegations against O'Reilly.

Several unnamed Fox News employees are preparing to file additional complaints against the network, according to their attorney Doug Wigdor. He said the allegations will 'shed further light on the abhorrent, intolerable, and unlawful working conditions that our clients have been forced to endure.'

Wigdor told Dailymail.com on Wednesday that he expects to file 'a handful' of complaints against the network 'in the coming days.' He declined to comment on whether the specific allegations included sexual harassment.

In a press statement, Wigdor also rejected claims by O'Reilly's attorney that the Fox News host is the target of a 'smear campaign' orchestrated by 'far-left organizations bent on destroying O'Reilly. Wigdor said he backed Donald Trump's presidential campaign and frequently watches Fox News.

'I can categorically deny, and find it offensive, that my Firm is being accused of being controlled by far-left organizations,' he said.

Wigdor is representing several current and former Fox News employees who are currently suing the network for racial discrimination.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz stunned Washington on Wednesday by announcing that he won't run for re-election next year.

Now the Washington rumor mill is swirling with speculation that the Utah Republican could step down from Congress as soon as Friday.

An aide to another Utah lawmaker told DailyMail.com on Thursday afternoon: 'I'm hearing Jason will make an announcement tomorrow but I don't know what it's about.'

But Chaffetz is telling reporters in terse emails that it's 'absolutely ot true.'

Twitter was awash with rumors Thursday about Chaffetz's impending resignation, invariably attributed to unnamed 'sources' in Utah.

Meanwhile, he was posturing to news outlets that he was still focused on running the Oversight Committee's investigations.

'My future plans are not yet finalized but I haven't ruled out the possibility of leaving early,' he told numerous news outlets. 'In the meantime I still have a job to do and I have no plans to take my foot off the gas.'

House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz shocked Washington by announcing on Wednesday that he won't run for re-election next year  and then added a mysterious wrinkle by telling a radio host in his native Utah that he might not finish out his current term in office; now rumors are swirling that he could quit in the next 24 hours

Chaffetz used Facebook to explain his decision Wednesday, though he said he could run for office sometime again in the future

Chaffetz told a popular Utah radio host on earlier on Thursday that he was considering leaving Congress instead of finishing out his current term in office.

'Thanks for having me on yesterday, I appreciate it,' Chaffetz told Doug Wright via text message, KSL Radio reported. 'I will continue to weigh the options, but I might depart early.'

Referring to the possibility of a special election or a temporary appointment by Utah Gov. Gary Herbert  which would only be necessary if he left his seat in Congress vacant  Chaffetz added: 'The state needs to figure out how this works.'

There are several reasons Chaffetz might be considering leaving Congress in a hurried cloud of dust.

The most favorable explanation is that he wants a head start to prepare for a 2018 run for governor in 2020.

More sinister theories have Chaffetz preparing to face indictment over unsubstantiated ties to Russia, or public embarrassment related to his committee's investigation into the 2012 Benghazi terror attack.

One Democratic Capitol Hill aide speculated on Thursday that Chaffetz has 'a sex scandal on the horizon,' but he wouldn't give permission for his name to be attached to the theory.

Early on in his congressional career, Jason Chaffetz (right) made headlines for 'leg wrestling' comedian Stephen Colbert (left)

Chaffetz wrote Wednesday on Facebook that '[a]fter long consultation with my family and prayerful consideration, I have decided I will not be a candidate for any office in 2018.'

He said his philosophy about government had always been, 'get in, serve, and get out,' and that's what he was doing  although Chaffetz wouldn't take a future political run off the table.

Chaffetz has been one of the most visible Republican members of the House of Representatives in recent years, winning election in 2008, despite Democrats being successful across the board.

He famously leg wrestled, and lost to, Stephen Colbert in a segment for the Colbert Report in 2009, putting him on millennials' radar, and was one of the many Tea Party-branded lawmakers who pledged to save taxpayer money by sleeping on a cot in his office.

In 2015, Chaffetz took over the reins of the House Oversight Committee, leading investigations into Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The job also allowed him to annoy residents of Washington, D.C., a predominantly Democratic jurisdiction, often meddling in District affairs.

He flip-flopped in his support of Trump, though noted in Wednesday's Facebook post that he had the 'full support of Speaker Ryan' to continue chairing the prominent committee and wasn't concerned about a primary challenger in his strongly red district.

'For those that would speculate otherwise, let me be clear that I have no ulterior motives. I am healthy. I am confident I would continue to be re-elected by large margins,' Chaffetz wrote.

In reality, a Democrat in his district, Kathryn Allen, had already raised $400,000 to go up against Chaffetz next November, according The New York Times, while a primary challenger, Damian W. Kidd, also planned to go up against the congressman.

'That said, I have made a personal decision to return to the private sector,' he added.

Chaffetz has long been viewed as a GOP rising star, though if he takes his name off the ballot in 2018, that means he'll also miss the next Senate race.

However, Chaffetz has seen the writing on the wall and understands that 83-year-old Sen. Orrin Hatch will run for an eighth six-year-term in 2018, a Hatch aide told DailyMail.com on Wednesday.

The aide, who requested anonymity to speak freely, said Chaffetz 'wants a Senate seat much more than he wants the governor's mansion, and that's not going to happen until at least 2024.'

Chaffetz could only keep his committee chairman's gavel through 2020, due to Republican Conference term-limit rules. That would return him to back-bencher status during the years when he would need a high public profile to run for Senate next time around.

Instead, he may be choosing to raise his profile back home in the Beehive State.

Asked if there were any rumors of brewing scandals that may have sidelined Chaffetz suddenly, the aide said: 'Not that anyone has heard. That would be a real surprise.'
A US nuclear 'sniffer' plane was sent out to the Korean Peninsula amid fears Kim Jong-un may have detonated a nuclear device.

The special purpose aircraft made an emergency sortie over the East Sea, according to reports.

A government source told Yonhap news: 'The WC-135 Constant Phoenix, a special-purpose U.S. plane, made an emergency sortie today over the East Sea.'

South Korea have said Kim Jong-un could be on the brink of carrying out a sixth missile test

The plane is designed to test for radioactive debris following a nuclear explosion. It is not clear what the purpose of the mission was.

The plane was dispatched to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, earlier this month, and today's flight could indicate there are suspicions North Korea has set off a nuclear bomb.

Rumours, which remain unconfirmed, state that North Korea has told China of its intention to carry out tests.

South Korea has said its neighbour in the North appears to be ready to conduct a test, which would be the sixth carried out by the secretive state.
A New Jersey man was arrested after living in the same home  and sleeping in the same room  as the corpse of his 52-year-old female roommate.

The Hopatcong Police Department revealed on Tuesday that Matthew Schmarr, 35, of Budd Lake, New Jersey, was charged with failure to report a death and child neglect, among other charges, following an investigation of an incident that took place last month.

According to an official announcement from the Hopatcong police, on March 21, a woman reported a strange text she received from the father of her child, Schmarr, and expressed her concern over his safety and that of the 52-year-old woman he lived with.

Matthew Schmarr, 35, was arrested and charged after cops found him asleep in his bed in the same room as the body of his 52-year-old female roommate, who had died three days earlier

After receiving no answer at his door, cops found a neighbor with a key, who let them into the home, which was when cops say they found Schmarr asleep in his bed. Across from him, in another bed, was the corpse of his female roommate.

Cops then arrested Schmarr on outstanding warrants worth $2,089 stemming from Hopatcong and Roxbury, New Jersey.

Detectives investigating the days leading up to Schmarr's arrest said that he had actually been living with the dead woman for three days  without bothering to report that she had died.

At one point during that period of time, he was even looking after his child with the dead woman in the other room.

Authorities said that on March 18  three days before his arrest  Schmarr was driven to Paterson, New Jersey, where he 'picked up' heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine.

After returning home, Schmarr used the drugs while taking care of his child.

Sometime overnight, Schmarr's roommate died. According to police, Schmarr 'had the inclination' that she had died, but didn't bother to confirm his suspicions until after his child was collected on March 19.

Some time between 4.00 to 5.00pm on March 19, Schmarr checked on the woman and realized that she was, in fact, dead. At which point, police say, he did more drugs and then passed out.

Schmarr woke up the next day, on March 20, took even more drugs, and then asked a friend to come over.

After showing the friend the dead body, the friend told Schmarr to call the cops, but he declined to do so. Instead, he apparently turned on the air conditioner in the room where the body was and did research on his cell phone on the topic of death and decomposition.

Schmarr then allegedly staged the area around the woman's body, placing pill bottles next to her, to make it look she had committed suicide.

He then took her laptop and fenced it to a taxi driver he was familiar with. Detectives were able to recover the laptop later.

After selling the laptop, Schmarr went back to his home and continued to live there, while the woman decomposed in her bed, until cops entered and arrested him on March 21 at 9.13pm.

Following the investigation, Schmarr was charged with failure to report a death and child neglect. Additional charges are pending by the Sussex County Prosecutors office.

Schmarr is currently being held in Sussex County Jail.

Authorities did not reveal the cause of the woman's death.

He was previously arrested last August and charged with illegal possession of prescription drugs, according to the Mount Olive Chronicle.

At that time, Schmarr was allegedly acting in a suspicious manner when a patrol cop spotted him. After his arrest, a search found that he was carrying a prescription bottle that contained 41 Ibuprofen pills that he had not been prescribed.
The man tipped to topple hard-Left union boss Len McCluskey has been dramatically suspended from his job.

Gerard Coyne had challenged Mr McCluskey  a key backer of Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn  as general secretary of Unite, Britains largest union.

But just days before the result was due to be announced, he was told he had been suspended from his job as a regional official in the West Midlands.

Unite challenger Gerard Coyne, pictured last December, has been suspended from his post in the union. It comes as the first ballots in the leadership contest are counted

It is understood he has been told the suspension relates to an investigation into whether he had brought the union into disrepute during his campaign to lead Unite, which ended on Wednesday night.

The result is understood to be on a knife edge, from early sampling of the ballots by both sides.

Mr McCluskey will now face claims that he had a hand in the decision to get rid of his rival, who is on the more moderate wing of the Labour Party.

Mr Coynes membership has not been suspended, meaning he could still win the Unite leadership race. But critics will see the move as an attempt to intimidate Mr Coyne or perhaps have the result overturned if he succeeds.

Last night a spokesman for the challenger said: We can confirm that Gerard has been suspended from his position as West Midlands regional secretary of Unite. We will not be commenting further at this stage.

One suggestion is that Mr Coyne was suspended for making defamatory claims in his campaign leaflets, while another is that he spoke at a meeting in the Commons organised by moderate Labour MP Chuka Umunna.

The result of the Unite race is seen as vital for Labour because Mr McCluskey is Mr Corbyns main ally and ensures that the union gives his party 1.5million a year. Many Labour MPs see the election for general secretary as a proxy battle for control of the Labour movement.

The suspension emerged hours after the ballot to be Unites general secretary closed on Wednesday.

An email sent by union official Des Quinn to members in the West Midlands confirmed Mr Coynes suspension. It said: This is to advise that Gerard Coyne has been suspended from his duties as regional secretary pending an investigation into certain issues which have arisen.

The investigation is, of course, being conducted under procedure, and it should not be assumed that any offence has necessarily been committed. You will appreciate that it is not possible to comment further on this matter.

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, pictured with Jeremy Corbyn at a march in London last May, is standing for re-election. He is a close ally of the Labour leader

Although he has been suspended from his role as West Midlands regional secretary, Mr Coyne remains a union member and so could, in theory, take up the role as general secretary if he wins. A Unite spokesman said: We have no comment to make.

There are three candidates running for the post of general secretary  Mr McCluskey, Mr Coyne and grassroots member Ian Allinson.

The campaign, which has been running for several weeks, has been bitter, with personal and policy attacks from all sides.

Mr Coyne has criticised Mr McCluskeys strong support for Mr Corbyn, accusing Unite of becoming too political under his leadership. Mr McCluskey has hit back, saying it made sense for Labours biggest union affiliate to be close to the party. Mr Coyne was also criticised by Mr McCluskey for being too close to a number of Labour MPs in the West Midlands who opposed Mr Corbyns leadership.

It is believed that the ballot papers were being verified yesterday but actual counting will not start until today.
An off-duty police officer was barred from leaving Taiwan after she boarded a flight at the Los Angeles International Airport with a handgun in her carry-on bag.

Santa Monica Officer Noell Grant, 42, was barred from leaving Taiwan on April 13, after she entered the country with the gun that was missed when she went through security at LAX, according to the LA Daily News.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials said in a statement on Wednesday that 'standard procedures were not followed' at LAX, which allowed Grant to pass through the checkpoint with her firearm.

Santa Monica Officer Noell Grant (pictured), 42, was barred from leaving Taiwan on April 13, after she entered the country with the gun that was missed by security at LAX

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials said in a statement on Wednesday that 'standard procedures were not followed' at LAX, which allowed Grant to pass through the checkpoint with her firearm (pictured)

TSA Public Affairs Manager Nico Melendez said the agency will 'hold those responsible appropriately accountable'.

Grant, who traveled to Taiwan for vacation with her family, was carrying a personal, not a department, weapon.

Santa Monica Lt Saul Rodriguez told the Daily News Wednesday that Grant can't leave Taiwan until the matter is resolved.

Rodriguez said he didn't know if she has been charged with a crime there.

He added that when Grant arrived at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, she told airport police that her pistol and six bullets were mistakenly left in her bag.

TSA's Melendez said the off-duty police officer went through regular screening procedures rather than expedited security.

Firearms of all types, including handguns, may be stowed as checked baggage under certain conditions.

TSA requires that a weapon be packed unloaded and in a hard-sided container that is properly locked.

Grant, who traveled to Taiwan for vacation with her family, was carrying a personal, not a department, weapon. She has worked for the department for about eight years. It's unclear if the incident will affect her status as a police officer. Pictured is the airport in Taiwan

Firearms must be declared upon check-in and an individual may also be required to fill out a Firearm Unloaded Declaration form at the counter.

Rodriguez explained that Grant is dealing with Taiwan's potential legal proceedings.

'My understanding is she's able to move about, (but) she cannot leave the country until the matter is resolved,' Rodriguez told the Daily News.

Grant has worked for the Santa Monica Police Department for about eight years, the department said.

It's unclear if the incident will affect Grant's status as a police officer.

'At some point, we will be doing an administrative review of what happened,' Rodriguez said.
Russia's Supreme Court has banned the Jehovah's Witnesses, deeming them an 'extremist' organisation.

The ruling means the religious group's 175,000 followers in Russia are equated to Islamic State members.

The court made the ruling after the justice ministry applied for an order to shut down the group's national headquarters near St Petersburg.

Stacks of Jehovah's Witness booklets at a court hearing in Russia in 2010. The organisation has now been banned on extremist grounds in Russia

Authorities have put several of the group's publications on a list of banned extremist literature.

Prosecutors have cast it as an organisation that destroys families, fosters hatred and threatens lives.

The organisation says the description is false.

According to Sputnik News, Judge Yuri Ivanenko said: 'The Supreme Court has ruled to sustain the claim of Russia's Ministry of Justice and deem the "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" organization extremist, eliminate it and ban its activity in Russia.'

Jehovah's Witnesses have been seen as an organisation that fosters hatred and destroys families and now its 175,000 Russian followers will be banned from practicing

Lawyer Svetlana Borisova, told the court adherents 'pose a threat to the rights of the citizens, public order and public security', according to the Independent.

Borisova also said the Jehovah's Witnesses' opposition to blood transfusions violates Russian health care laws.

Its property is to be confiscated to the state revenue.

Russia changed its definition of extremism in 2006 to remove the requirement for hatred or violence.

The religious group has 30 days to decide to raise an appeal to the ruling, otherwise it will come into force.

Jehovah's Witnesses have been registered in Russia since 1991 and re-registered in 1999, but have been the subject of numerous crackdowns.
Police in Los Angeles are searching for the person who shot dead a mother-of-two nurse who, according to her heartbroken family, had no known enemies.

Judy Solorio, 35, was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in the Lincoln Heights section of Los Angeles on the night of Good Friday.

As of Thursday afternoon, no arrests have been made and police have no description of the gunman.

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What happened to Judy? Judy Solorio, 35, a medical assistant and mother-of-two from Los Angeles, was shot dead on the night of Good Friday. Nearly a week later, no arrests have been made

Solorio's sister, Andrea Joseph, and her brother are seen sitting next to a makeshift memorial on the spot where her body was found last week

According to Solorio's sister, Andrea Joseph, the woman was walking to a friend's house after having dinner with another friend at a Jack in the Box fast-food restaurant when she was ambushed by someone and shot multiple times between Avenue 28 and 29 along Barranca Avenue.

Neighbors would later tell Joseph and her brother, Samuel Solorio, that they heard Judy arguing with someone and then they heard the woman exclaim, 'Oh, my god,' before gunfire erupted, reported KCAL.

A neighbor returning home from work after midnight discovered Judy's body lying in the street and called 911.

Hardscrabble youth: Judy Solorio had been in a street gang as a teen but, according to her sister, managed to leave that past behind her

In a Facebook post paying tribute to his murdered sister, Samuel said Judy was a mother of two handsome young men, worked in the medical field and had lived in Los Angeles her entire life.

'Judy was a vibrant soul who grasped life by the horns and lived it to the fullest. She was loved by her family, friends and most importantly her sons,' read the description of a GoFundMe campaign that Solorio's sister launched on Tuesday to help pay for Judys funeral.

As of Thursday, just over $800 has been raised, falling far short of the $10,000 goal.

Speaking to KCAL, Joseph revealed that Judy had been in a street gang as a teen but managed to leave that past behind her and get her life on the right path.

She had been working as a medical assistant and biller for many years to support her sons, whom she had desperately sought to keep away from gangs, according to Joseph.

Since learning the news of Solorios violent death, Joseph and her brother have been coming to the spot where Judy's body was found last week to light candles and lay bouquets of flowers in her memory.

A funeral Mass for the 35-year-old woman will be held next Tuesday at Divine Savior Church.
Former Tennessee teacher Tad Cummins was arrested this morning near a remote commune in northern California and 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas, whom he was alleged to have kidnapped, was found unharmed nearly 2,500 miles from home after an intense five-week search.

At a press conference held Thursday afternoon, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) spokesperson Josh DeVine recounted how a tip from a resident led to Cummins' capture and Thomas' recovery.

According to the official, at around 11pm on Wednesday, TBI got a call from a man saying he may have encountered the wanted pair.

The man said that the two of them were believed to have taken up residence in a cabin in Cecilville, California - a very isolated and rural area near the Oregon border - within the last week and a half.

TBI then contacted the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office and learned that investigators there had received the same tip from the same person who contacted the Tennessee agency.

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Arrested and found: The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of Tad Cummins (left) and the safe recovery of Elizabeth Thomas (right) in California

A long way from home: This map shows where Cummins had allegedly kidnapped Thomas on March 13; they were spotted at a Walmart in Oklahoma two days later and caught at a cabin in Cecilville in Siskiyou County, California, on April 20

Deputies were then dispatched to the isolated location, where they found what appeared to be Cummins' Nissan Rogue parked outside a cabin.

The sheriff's officials were able to confirm through the VIN number on the Nissan that it was, indeed, Cummins' vehicle.

THE COUPLE'S FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE January 23: Tad Cummins is spotted kissing Elizabeth Thomas, his student at Culleoka High School, by another student. He denies the claim, saying that they are friends; she is taken out of his classes February 3: Cummins is reprimanded by the school principal after Elizabeth is found to have entered his classroom for around 30 minues February 6: Cummins is suspended c. March 9: Cummins takes out a $4,500 loan on his car. March 10: Cummins makes the last in a series of impromptu appearances at Elizabeth's place of work March 12: Cummins buys hair dye from Walmart in Columbia, TN March 13, 7:45am: Thomas is dropped off at Shoney's in Columbia by a friend March 13, 8am: Cummins is seen pumping gas in Columbia March 13, noon: Cummins and Elizabeth are seen together in Decatur, AL, around 70 miles from Columbia. He is fired from his job this same day March 15: Cummins and Thomas are seen buying food at a Walmart. They are sporting dyed hair. This is their last sighting for more than a month March 30: Tad Cummins' wife of 31 years, Jill, files for divorce April 19: The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is contacted by a man who says he has seen the pair in Cecilville, California. Police converge on a remote cabin, arrest Cummins and confirm that Elizabeth is safe Advertisement

The deputies kept the Nissan under surveillance for several hours and when Cummins showed up in the morning, they took him into custody and rescued Thomas.

TBI Director Mark Gwyn told reporters Thomas, who was described as healthy and physically unharmed, will soon be heading home to Tennessee on board a TBI aircraft.

On top of state charges of aggravated kidnapping and sexual contact with a minor, Cummins has also been charged with a federal count of transportation of a minor across state lines for the purpose of sexual intercourse.

Acting US Attorney Jack Smith, who announced the new charge, said it carries a minimum sentence of 10 years.

TBI Director Mark Gwyn said in a statement to The Tennessean on Thursday afternoon that the agency has received more than 1,500 leads from all 50 states as part of this case.

'What happened in California this morning, however, proves it only takes one person to lead to a successful end,' he stated.

'We are extremely thankful the hard work of all partners in this search has paid off. Were also grateful for the publics support and vigilance throughout this search effort.'

Authorities from Siskiyou County found the runaways at a cabin in Cecilville early Thursday morning. Cummins surrendered without incident.

According to the TBI, the man is currently being held in a California jail without bond, awaiting to be extradited back to Tennessee.

Authorities had initially identified Black Bear Ranch, around 16 miles from Cecilville, as the location of the arrest, but later said they found the pair at a cabin in another remote location.

Last sighting: The pair's last sighting was at an Oklahoma Walmart on March 15 (pictured)

Cummins, 50, who is married and has two daughters and grandchildren, allegedly abducted his former student on March 13 from her home near Columbia, Tennessee.

The two, who were thought to be in a sexual relationship, were last spotted two days later.

Their last confirmed sighting prior to the arrest was at a Walmart in Oklahoma, 700 miles away from home, after they had both dyed their hair.

Court papers filed recently in the girl's disappearance say she was afraid of the teacher and thought she would face repercussions at school if she resisted him.

When asked at a press conference if she had gone willingly, Gwyn said the question 'didn't matter'.

'At the end of the day she's 15 years old, she's 15 years old, she's a young girl that's with a grown man that's 50 years old.

'He needs to be held accountable for kidnapping this girl,' he said.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued an Amber Alert for Thomas when she disappeared, launching an intense nationwide manhunt involving the FBI.

TBI sent out this tweet shortly before noon local time announcing the break in the case

The agency followed with this 'Thank You' tweet expressing gratitude to the public

Scorned wife speaks: Jill Cummins, the wife of Tad Cummins, told ABC last week she had treated 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas as her 'third daughter' before her husband and the teen ran away together last month

Speaking to DailyMail.com Thursday, Elizabeths relieved mother said: 'All I want to do now is hug and kiss her.'

Kimberly Thomas, 48, feared she might never see the 15-year-old girl again after she vanished more than five weeks ago with her married teacher.

'It's only been a little over a month but to us it has felt like forever,' Thomas told DailyMail.com.

'I just lost my mother, she died of an aneurysm. She never had high blood pressure before but this was terribly stressful for her. She never got to hear her granddaughter was OK.

Cummins, a former health teacher, was fired from his job after allegedly kidnapping Thomas. The teen had been his student at Culleoka High School

'As for Mr Cummins, I don't even want to think about him right now. All I can think about is my daughter and the fact she is safe.'

Elizabeth lived with her father, Anthony Thomas, because Mrs Thomas has been prevented from having contact with her because of an ongoing abuse case that is yet to go to court.

However, the mother-of-ten, who only learned her daughter had been found from a news bulletin, says she will ask her attorney to see if they can get special permission to speak.

'The justice system has been very unfair to me throughout this ordeal. Nobody has told me anything. This is my daughter we are talking about,' she added.

'All I want to do now is hug and kiss her. This is more than anyone could have asked for.'

Anthony Thomas told WSMV-TV that his daughter is probably going to be hungry and that he can't wait to tell her that he loves her.

He said Thursday he didn't want to talk about her teacher.

Cummins was wanted by authorities on charges of aggravated kidnapping and sexual contact with a minor after a student at Culleoka High School alleged to have seen the teacher kiss Thomas in class on January 23.

The high school health teacher initially denied the claims, saying that he was just friends with the student, and was warned to stay away from her, according to The Sacramento Bee.

He was then reprimanded by school principal Penny Love on February 3 after Elizabeth was seen entering his classroom for around half an hour.

He was then suspended three days later.

But Cummins wasn't fired from his job at the school until the day he and Elizabeth vanished.

Earlier this month, Cummins' wife of 31 years, Jill, filed for divorce citing 'irreconcilable differences.
Homeland star Lewis also said it was 'not true' acting in Britain was being dominated by stars who had been to fee-paying schools, during a webchat with fans

Damian Lewis has claimed that he is a 'minority' actor because he was privately educated and went to Eton.

Homeland star Lewis also said it was 'not true' acting in Britain was being dominated by stars who had been to fee-paying schools.

A call for more working class actors has come amid fears that a glut of privately educated talent - like Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston - is decreasing the opportunities for those of less privileged backgrounds.

Before attending Eton, Lewis went to Ashdown House prep school, in East Sussex, where fees for boarders go up to 8,900 per term.

He told a webchat with the Guardian that his private education puts him in the minority when he arrives on sets.

Lewis said: 'We have to protect against lack of diversity. If theatre, film, TV, dance, opera, ballet are going to remain true artforms, they must be reflective of all society.

'But that's a different point from saying that only privately educated actors are becoming dominant in acting, because statistically that's not true.

'A handful of actors from privileged backgrounds have done well, very well, and of course that's high profile news.

'But whenever I work, wherever I work, as an actor educated at Eton, I'm still always in a minority.

'What is true and always rewarding about the acting profession is that everyone has a similar story about them being in a minority. From whatever background.

Other privately educated British stars include Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch

'And that coming into the acting profession is when we all finally find likeminded people. '

This is not the first time that Billions star Lewis, the son of a City broker, has commented on his private education.

He once claimed that during his teenage years he would take great pride speaking to girls in his 'unconvincing mockney' accent and they would tell him he didn't sound like an Etonian.

Later at the the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he claimed he was reluctant to tell people that he went to Eton because he was conscious of attitudes towards privilege.

Before attending Eton (pictured) Cumberbatch went to Ashdown House prep school, in East Sussex, where fees for boarders go up to 8,900 per term

It was only in the wake of 2001 series Band of Brothers that he 'self-consciously' announced his past because he knew it would impress Americans.

Other actors who have benefited from a private education include, Eddie Redmayne, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Carey Mulligan and Rachel Weisz.

However, while Lewis claims that he is in the minority - some British stars have said called for greater diversity in the industry.

In 2015, Julie Walters said that 'working class kids' were not represented enough and that 'people like me' would not get a chance in the modern industry.




A 37-year-old illegal immigrant living in McAllen, Texas was arrested this week after local authorities discovered he had three wives.

Authorities started investigating Oscar Gonzalez Correa last June, when his second wife, a woman named Lucia, filed a complaint.

Lucia said she and Correa married in 2004 in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, but they split up after moving to the U.S.

Oscar Gonzalez Correa, 37 (pictured), was arrested in McAllen, Texas on Tuesday on a charge of third-degree bigamy

But when she went to the Hidalgo County Courthouse in December 2015 to get a divorce, she found that her husband had already remarried.

Soon after that, Lucia also found out that Correa was already married when they got hitched.

Correa married his first wife in 1996, also in Neuvo Leon.

The Edinburg Police Department investigated Lucia's claims and compiled enough evidence to arrest Correa on Tuesday.

After arresting him, they also found out that Correa is in the country illegally.

Correa was booked into the Hidalgo County jail at 7:31pm on Tuesday. He was released after posting bail 5.37am the next day.
Boris Johnson met a top delegation of US politicians today to discuss striking a post-Brexit free trade deal and the growing danger of war with North Korea.

The Foreign Secretary held talks with Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, where they restated their commitment to the special relationship.

They discussed global insecurity amid fears that North Korea could trigger World War 3.

Boris Johnson with senior Republican Paul Ryan, pictured at the Foreign Office today, where they held talks on trade, security and reaffirmed the special relationship

The Foreign Secretary spoke with the US delegation about the war in Syria and the threat of war with North Korea during half-hour talks in Westminster

And they discussed military action in Syria and stressed their commitment to the military alliance Nato.

A source close to the Foreign Secretary told the Mail Online: They said they want to get working as soon as is possible on a trade deal.

The 30-minute talks, which took place in the Nightingale Room at the Foreign Office, were described as very warm.

The US delegation included Republican and Democrat members of the House of Representatives, who are on a tour of Europe to reassure Nato allies that America is absolutely committed to the alliance.

It came after Mr Ryan gave a speech to the Policy Exchange think-tank in London, in which he said the US is keen to strike a free trade deal with Britain.

Speaking last night, he said: Now that Article 50 has been invoked, the UK and the EU will determine the best path forward over the course of these negotiations.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives places a friendly hand on the Foreign Secretary's shoulder as the pair talk about international relations today at the Foreign Office

We want the parties to come together and strike a lasting agreement, a strong UK-EU relationship is in all of our best interests.'

He added: 'We are committed to working with President Trump and your Government to achieve a bilateral trade agreement between the United States and Britain.

'This is one of the bipartisan messages I bring with me, I bring Democrats and Republicans here to this room to this country today, to say that the United States stands ready to forge a new trade agreement with Great Britain as soon as possible so that we may further tap into the great potential between our two people.'
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French security services are today facing troubling questions as to how they failed to prevent an ISIS gunman from slaughtering one policeman and wounding two other officers in Paris when he was arrested as recently as February.

Karim Cheurfi, 39, had served 15 years of a 20-year jail sentence for attempting to kill two officers in 2001, before his release last year.

In February, the terrorist tried to obtain weapons and made threats to kill police officers, but was let go in early March due to lack of evidence.

On Thursday night, the fanatic was killed by police after he got out of his Audi and opened fire at police who had stopped at a red light on Champs Elysees. His car was packed with more weapons, including a pump action shotgun and knives. A copy of the Koran was also found in the vehicle.

Traffic officer Xavier Jugele, 37, died instantly with a shot to the head, while the other two were hurt before Cheurfi himself was gunned down by nearby armed police. A ricocheting bullet fired by the terrorist also wounded a female foreign tourist passing by.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack and nicknamed the attacker 'Abu Yousuf al-Belgiki', which translates to 'the Belgian' in Arabic - a name which was listed in uncovered documents from the terror group last year.

A note declaring allegiance to ISIS was discovered on the Champs Elysees and is being investigated by police. Its presence and the speed at which ISIS claimed responsibility may suggest the attack was directed by the jihadist group rather than carried out by a lone supporter.

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Pictured (left and right) is the suspected ISIS gunman, who has been identified locally as 39-year-old Karim Cheurfi

The alleged ISIS gunman, identified as 39-year-old Karim Cheurfi - who was jailed for 20 years for trying to kill officers in 2001 - parked his Audi and opened fire after police stopped at a red light on the world famous avenue. Pictured is his arrest warrant from last month, when he was detained for trying to obtain weapons 'to kill police'

Traffic officer Xavier Jugele (pictured), 37, died instantly with a shot to the head, while the other two were hurt before Cheurfi himself was gunned down by nearby armed police

Pictured is armed police crowded two other officers, believed to have been shot in the attack, on Champs Elysees on Thursday night

French police leave the home of ISIS gunman Karim Cheurfi in the suburb of Chelles, in Paris, following last night's attack

A woman places a flower near the spot on the Champs Elysees where the shooting occurred last night in the French capital

A body is removed from the scene after a traffic officer was killed by an ISIS gunman in central Paris last night

French police officers and forensic teams searched a vehicle which was close to the scene on the Champs Elysees in Paris

A police lorry seized the Audi which the attacker was driving, before he got out and shot at traffic officers last night

A still image from video footage shows police forensic investigators inspect the car used by the attacker in Paris last night

In the latest developments after the attack:

French police have this morning arrested three family members of ISIS gunman Karim Cheurfi

Police are hunting a second suspect, who was brought to their attention by Belgian authorities

A man whose image appeared on social media as 'second suspect' handed himself to police in Antwerp claiming he was not linked to the plot. Detectives have said this man had nothing to do with the attack

Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen called for all French terror suspects to be expelled

France's government has reviewed its already extensive election security measures and says it is 'fully mobilised' and nothing will stop Sunday's presidential vote

US President Donald Trump believes the attack will have a 'big effect' on the outcome of the election

British Prime Minister Theresa May has sent condolences to the French president following the latest attack but the pair have not spoken directly since last night

Iran's foreign secretary Bahram Ghasemi said France was feeling a blowback for its support of rebels in Syria

French officials revealed that Cheurfi was detained in Meaux, 24 miles east of Paris, on February 23 this year, after it emerged he was trying to buy weapons 'to kill police'.

On Friday night, but prosecutors tonight denied that he was on a security watch list and added the terrorist showed no signs of radicalisation before the attack.

He reportedly used the alias 'Abu Yousuf the Belgian' and reportedly made threats to murder officers using the social media app Telegram, an instant messaging service.

Despite having a long list of police-hating convictions, he was able to obtain a Kalashnikov, a pump action shotgun and several knives ahead of last night's attack.

He had been jailed for 20 years in 2005 for trying to kill two policemen. He opened fire five times with a .38 revolver following a car chase in 2001, leaving the officers and a third victim wounded. All three survived the attack in Roissy-en-Brie, in the Seine-et-Marne department of northern France.

An armed police officer hoists his weapon as they storm the streets of Paris after the latest terror attack to hit the city

Armed police outside a shop in central Paris after an ISIS gunman killed a traffic officer and injured three other people

Armed police officers on the streets of Paris after a gunman killed a traffic cop and seriously injured two others last night

Armed police officers stood guard after they rushed to the scene in the centre of the capital following the incident which left frightened witnesses sprinting for their lives

A team of forensic detectives examine the Audi, which the gunman was driving. ID of Karim Cheurfi was found in the vehicle

Cheurfi, who was born in France, was a recluse who blamed police for ruining his life, a friend of the family revealed today.

OFFICER SHOT DEAD GUARDED BATACLAN AT ITS REOPENING By Sam Tonkin for MailOnline The policeman killed by an ISIS gunman on the Champs-Elysees was today named as Xavier Jugele, a 37-year-old Paris officer who defiantly said 'no to terrorists' at the reopening of the Bataclan theatre last November. He was shot in the head when the terrorist - identified today as French national Karim Cheurfi, 39 - launched his attack on three police officers at around 9pm last night. Jugele, who was a proud defender of gay rights, was named as the victim who died by French newspaper Le Parisien. It has since emerged that Jugele (pictured left and right) was on duty at the reopening of the Bataclan theatre on November last year - a year on from the Paris attacks which left 130 dead It has since emerged that Jugele was on duty at the reopening of the Bataclan theatre on November last year - a year on from the Paris attacks which left 130 dead. As British singer Sting marked the occasion with a performance at the concert hall, Jugele defiantly told PEOPLE.com that he was there 'to say no to terrorists'. The policeman added: 'I'm happy to be here. Glad the Bataclan is reopening. It's symbolic. 'We're here tonight as witnesses. Here to defend our civic values. This concert's to celebrate life. To say no to terrorists. 'It doesn't feel strange, it feels important,' he added. 'Symbolic.' Advertisement

He did not attend formal mosque prayer services and became fascinated by jihadist propaganda via the internet, a confident of his mother claimed.

'Karim did not pray, he drank alcohol and watched jihadist propaganda,' neighbour Hakim, 50, told MailOnline.

'He was not a good Muslim, he was a lost soul. He had no friends, no girlfriend, he never went out. He stayed at home all day watching stuff on the internet.'

Another neighbour added: 'Karim didn't go to the mosque. He just stayed at home. You never saw him.'

Hakim continued: 'Karim blamed the police for ruining his life. He fired (a pistol) at police during a burglary and got sentenced to 15 years prison.

'He was only 20 at the time. He hated the police, he said they had ruined his life. He was 'anti-cop'. He would swear at officers in the street, call them bastards. He didn't care.'

Hakim, whose family is close to Cheurfi's mother, said the gunman had only recently returned to the quiet residential street after spending years behind bars.

Cheurfi lived separately from his mother in a purpose-built apartment in the front of the property.

Hakim added: 'He lived in the studio in the garden. The mother lived in the big house.'

Cheurfi's Algerian-born mother had divorced his father and had married a Frenchman with who she had second son. She later divorced her second son.

Another neighbour said: 'His parents split up but they stayed living at the same property.

'The father Salat lived in the apartment in the front of the garden and the mother lived in the house at the back of the property.

'The mother married again, to a Frenchman, and they had a son together but the father stayed living at the property.

'So it was a bit complicated but that's life. Karim got on well with his half brother who is called Stephane.

'But he went to live in the apartment with his father when he got of prison.'

Another neighbor added: 'The mother is not here. She is in Algeria. She goes there every few months to visit relatives. She's not been well.'

Officers have been searching the home of Karim in east Paris and arrested three of his family members.

A French government spokesman said the ISIS gunman began firing against police using 'a weapon of war'.

The fatal incident unfolded as presidential candidates, including National Front party leader Marine Le Pen, debated on a TV show nearby before Sunday's election.

A French police officer has been shot dead on the Champs Elysees in Paris (pictured) - just days before the French presidential election

People held their hands up as they walked towards officers close to the scene where a policeman was fatally shot in Paris

Police closed off the popular avenue (pictured) after a policeman was killed during a shooting incident in the French capital

Pictured is the scene of a restaurant in Paris when the gunman opened fire on the streets outside. Diners are seen cowering on the ground in fear

An armed policeman speaks to diners in a nearby Parisien restuarant, who cowered to the floor in fear of the ISIS gunman

The gunman has been identified by police but they will not officially reveal his name until investigators determine whether he had accomplices, according to the Paris prosecutor.

Prosecutor Francois Molins said: 'The identity of the attacker is known and has been checked. I will not give it because investigations with raids are ongoing.

'The investigators want to be sure whether he had or did not have accomplices.'

The Interior Ministry spokesman said the officers were deliberately targeted and the police union added that the policeman was killed while sat in a car at a red light.

US President Donald Trump said: 'It looks like another terrorist attack. What can you say? It never ends.'

The attack which took place on the Champs Elysees (pictured) comes just three days before the first round of balloting in France's tense presidential election

A French police officer stood guard on the Champs Elysees in central Paris following the fatal shooting, which has been described as 'terrorist related'

Police officers secured the area after a gunman got of an Audi vehicle and targeted officers by firing an automatic gun towards them

A man and a woman put their hands in the air as armed officers stood just yards away from them following the incident in the city

Officers searched the home of the suspected gunman on Thursday evening after they travelled to his home in the east part of the capital

People were seen running away from the area after Thursday night's attack, which has been described as being 'terrorist related'

Police officers searched the home of the suspected gunman in east Paris following the attack in the capital on Thursday

The Audi which is believed to belong to the attacker was taken away from the scene on the back of a lorry as police rushed to the popular avenue

Forensic experts and police officers were seen examining evidence from a van on the Champs Elysees in central Paris

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack and dramatic video footage showed the immediate aftermath of the incident which left one policeman dead.

Pierre-Henry Brandet, spokesman for the French Interior Ministry, confirmed that both injured officers in hospital were now 'out of danger' and 'stable', while the female tourist was far less badly hurt.

Mr Brandet did not name any of the victims, but praised the officers for 'helping to avoid a bloodbath' by 'neutralising' the attacker as quickly as possible.

French President Francois Hollande said the attack was 'terrorist related' and scheduled an emergency meeting following the shootings on Thursday evening.

Mr Hollande said a national tribute will be paid to the policeman and added that a 'passerby was hit' before the 'assailant was neutralised'.

Conservative contender Francois Fillon, who has campaigned against 'Islamic totalitarianism,' said on France 2 television that he was canceling his planned campaign stops Friday.

Far-right candidate Le Pen, who campaigns against immigration and Islamic fundamentalism, took to Twitter to offer her sympathy for law enforcement officers 'once again targeted.'

She canceled a minor campaign stop, but scheduled another.

Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron offered his thoughts to the family of the dead officer.

Socialist Benoit Hamon tweeted his 'full support' to police against terrorism.

Le Pen and Francois Fillon announced that they have both cancelled their campaigning on Friday.

French presidential election candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon (pictured) took part in the TV show just days before the election

French presidential candidates, including National Front party leader Marine Le Pen (pictured), took part in a key debate

Mr Brandet said 'all lines of investigation were being pursued', while intelligence sources said the dead assailant was a known radical on a so-called S-file, for 'State-security'.

This means he would have been under surveillance, because he was a known risk to the country.

An eyewitness, called Chelloug, said: 'It was a terrorist. He came out with a Kalashnikov and started shooting, but he could've shot us on the pavement and killed more people with a spray of shots.

'But he targeted the policemen and fortunately there were the policemen who killed him.'

Another witness said: 'I saw someone shoot at the police officers. They returned fire, they killed him, he fell on the floor. And then the emergency services came.

'It took place by Zara and there was a CRS (Republican Security Companies) van parked up and the man shot the police officers. He took out a weapon and shot them.

'I think the police officer was killed on the spot and his colleagues fired back and killed the individual.'

The attack comes just three days before the first round of balloting in France's tense presidential election.

A witness, identified only as Ines, told BFM that she heard a shooting, saw a man's body on the ground and the area was quickly evacuated by police.

It comes just two days after police arrested two men in southern Marseille with weapons and explosives who were suspected of preparing an attack to disrupt the first-round of the presidential election on Sunday.

France is in a state of emergency and at its highest possible level of alert since a string of terror attacks that began in 2015, which have killed over 230 people.

Thousands of troops and armed police have been deployed to guard tourist hotspots such as the Champs Elysees or other potential targets like government buildings and religious sites.

Police officers quickly secured the area - which is popular with tourists and Parisians - after the attack and the road was on lockdown by 9pm

Police officers took positions near the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris after the gunman - who was known to the security services - launched the attack

An armed soldier spoke to a man a told him to leave the area following the fatal shooting close to the Arc de Triomphe (pictured)

French soldiers secure the Champs Elysees Avenue after a police officer was killed when a gunman opened fire in Paris

French police officers searched the area after some of their colleagues were shot in the heart of Paris on Thursday evening

French President Francois Hollande (pictured) said the attack was 'terrorist related' and scheduled an emergency meeting following the shootings

LE PEN ACCUSED OF 'EXPLOITING' ATTACK FOR VOTES By Thomas Burrows for MailOnline French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has accused far-right candidate Marine Le Pen of 'exploiting' the Champs-Elysees terror attack to win votes ahead of Sunday's presidential election. In the wake of the shooting Le Pen called for foreign terror suspects to be expelled immediately and claimed France needed a 'presidency which acts and protects us.' Responding to that, Cazeneuve, a Socialist, said Le Pen's National Front (FN) 'after each attack, seeks to exploit it and use it for purely political means.' Experts believe the shooting last night could boost Le Pen's chances of getting elected just days before France goes to the polls. Le Pen today called for foreign terror suspects to be kicked out the country despite the fact the ISIS gunman was French Voters could flock to far-right candidate Marine Le Pen following the latest terror attack In last night's attack a police officer was killed and two more were injured after a gunman opened fire close to the Champs-Elysees. Le Pen today called for foreign terror suspects to be kicked out the country despite the fact the ISIS gunman was French. The 39-year-old had used the war name 'Abu Yousuf the Belgian'. Officials confirmed the homegrown fanatic was a French national despite his nickname. A manhunt is underway for the second suspect who travelled by train to France from Belgium. The Champs-Elysees terror attack could boost far-right candidate Marine Le Pen's chances of getting elected, experts believe The shooting took place just four days before the French election and experts believe it could bolster Le Pen's chances of being elected. Le Pen has made immigration and security the core part of her campaign. She has pledged to tighten French borders controls and build more jails, and claimed authorities were not doing enough to protect citizens from terror attacks. More than half of police officers in France had already said they were voting for Le Pen because of her strong anti-terror stance, according to an IFOP poll. Experts believe it could increase her chances of winning Sunday's election. Fredrik Erixon, director at the European Centre for International Political Economy, told CNBC: '[It could lead to] a greater performance of Marine Le Pen than otherwise would have been the case. 'It's difficult to see how this attack will not play into the hands of political forces that want this campaign to be focused only on issues around migration and terrorism.' Vishnu Varathan, senior economist at Mizuho Bank, added: 'The Paris gunman attack may well swing support in her favor; and this may not be picked up by the polls in a timely manner.' Advertisement

Armed police officers were quick on the scene and closed the world famous avenue following the incident which shocked the city

The world famous was shut at around 9pm and it is believed police are still searching for a second suspect in relation to the attack

Police officers blocked the access of a street near the Champs Elysees in Paris after the fatal shooting on Thursday, April 20

Officers were wearing vests and helmets as they patrolled the area close to where the fatal shooting took. A 39-year-old man is believed to be responsible for the shooting

The world famous street was put on lockdown by 9pm and officers guarded the area in central Paris (pictured, the Eiffel Tower in the background)

A policeman attended the scene and was armed with a gun following the incident. Police have reportedly issued a warrant for a second attacker

Up until now, polls showed voters more concerned about unemployment and their spending power than terrorism or security, though analysts warned this would change in the event of further bloodshed.

For weeks, centrist former banker Le Pen has been out in front but opinion polls now show there is a chance that any of the four leading candidates could reach the second-round runoff on May 7.

Scandal-plagued conservative Fillon and far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon have closed the gap substantially in the last two weeks.

A COUNTRY UNDER SIEGE: TIMELINE OF FRANCE TERROR By Rory Tingle for MailOnline March, 18, 2017 - Convicted criminal with links to radical Islam shouted 'I am here to die for Allah, there will be deaths' seconds before he was shot dead during an attack at Orly airport. The 39-year-old, named locally as career criminal Ziyed Ben Belgacem, was killed after wrestling a soldier's gun from her and fleeing into a McDonald's. He sent a text message to his brother and father stating 'I shot the police', shortly before he was killed. February 3, 2017 - A man is shot five times outside the Louvre museum in the heart of Paris after attempting to storm the historic art gallery. July 14, 2016 - Amid Bastille Day celebrations in the Riviera city of Nice, a large truck is driven into a festive crowd. Some 86 people from a wide variety of countries are killed. The driver is shot dead. Islamic State extremists claim responsibility for the attack. The state of emergency in France is extended and extra protection, including robust barriers to prevent similar attacks, is put in place at major sites in France. June 13, 2016 - Two French police officers are murdered in their home in front of their 3-year-old son. Islamic State claims responsibility for the slaying, which was carried out by a jihadist with a prior terrorist conviction. He is killed by police on the scene. Nov. 13, 2015 - Islamic State militants kill 130 people in France's worst atrocity since World War II. A series of suicide bomb and shooting attacks are launched on crowded sites in central Paris, as well as the northern suburb of Saint-Denis. Most of those killed are in a crowded theater where hostages are taken. Islamic State extremists claim responsibility and say it was in retaliation for French participation in airstrikes on the militant group's positions in Syria and Iraq. It leads to the declaration of a state of emergency in France. Police powers are expanded. Jan. 7, 2015 - Two brothers kill 11 people inside the Paris building where the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is headquartered in what Islamic State extremists claim is retaliation for the publication of cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad. More are killed subsequently in attacks on a kosher market in eastern Paris and on police. There are 17 victims in all, including two police officers. The attackers are killed. Advertisement

The UK Foreign Office said: 'The British Embassy is in contact with local authorities and urgently seeking further information following reports of a shooting incident on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

'You should remain vigilant and follow the advice of the local security authorities and/or your tour operator.

'If you're in the area and it is safe to do so, contact your friends and family to tell them you are safe.'

Masked police officers were photographed standing on top of a vehicle on the Champs Elysees following an incident which left one officer dead

French police officers reacted after the shooting which left one officer dead and two more seriously injured in Paris

French soldiers were armed with guns (pictured) and stood guard at the Arc de Triomphe near the Champs Elysees in Paris

Heavily armed officers had flooded the area following the gunshots which were heard in a busy part of the French capital

Reports have suggested that two police officers have been killed on the Champs Elysees in central Paris (pictured) this evening

It was originally believed the other officer was seriously wounded while the attacker was killed on the world famous avenue (pictured)

The incident last night comes as France remains in a state of emergency following the Paris attacks in 2015 and the Bastille Day killings in Nice in 2016.

The shooting comes just hours after one of the busiest roads in Paris was closed off by police as officers dealt with a 'suspicious package'.

Reports suggested that items were discovered by officers as Rue de Rivoli remained shut. Stunned witnesses described seeing a large police presence on the two-mile-long road.

Rue de Rivoli is a busy commercial street just north of the River Seine which is home to some of the most fashionable shops in the world.
The risk of a nuclear war breaking out because of a 'catastrophic error' is at its highest ever point, the UN has warned in an ominous report.

Complex automated systems could malfunction and start a chain of events which could claim millions of lives, according to a report by the UN's Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDR).

The document concludes: 'Nuclear deterrence worksup until the time it will prove not to work. The risk is inherent and, when luck runs out, the results will be catastrophic.'

The document concludes: 'Nuclear deterrence worksup until the time it will prove not to work'

It warns that interconnected sensors, drones and networks mean that one error could very quickly escalate, and warns that the risk of 'accident, misunderstanding or inadvertent escalation' are 'too high'.

Its report states: 'The complex interactions and tightly coupled systems linked to nuclear arsenals (like those for early warning, and launch command and control) have made "accidental war" more likely.'

And it continued: 'A greater reliance on automated systems can lead to misplaced confidence while introducing new points of vulnerability.'

The document stated that more smaller states are becoming nuclear powers, and voiced fears these would have 'less secure control' over their weapons - making them vulnerable to terrorists.

Automated systems leads to 'misplaced confidence' and also leads to 'new points of vulnerability', UNIDR warns

Referring to a 2013 UN General Assembly meeting, the report said: 'As long as nuclear weapons existed, there remained the risk of their use, either intentionally or accidentally, or of their further proliferation.

'The high-level meeting reaffirmed that the only guarantee against the threat of nuclear weapons was their total elimination.'

It cites Cold War examples in which the world appeared on the brink of nuclear war, including a 1983 flashpoint following a malfunction in Soviet weapons systems.

In that instance Stanislav Petrov, a lieutenant colonel in the Soviet Air Defence Force, correctly ruled that five missiles had not been launched by the US, in spite of what his equipment was telling him.

His scepticism, UNIDR experts stated, prevented the outbreak of nuclear war.

The risk is amplified still further by the possibility that states such as the USA are examining the possibility of nuclear-enabled drones, the report said.

Russian arms expert Pavel Podvig wrote: 'The spread of other systems, such as cruise missiles and drones, and their increasingly frequent use in military conflicts can also add to the complexity of the situation, as can the development of capabilities to detect missiles.'
Two teenage women have been charged with a hate crime for allegedly trying to burn a Donald Trump sign outside a store in Maryland with a car cigarette lighter.

Joy Shuford and D'Asia Perry, both 19, are accused of setting fire to the sign in Princess Anne, Maryland - about 90 miles southeast of Baltimore, last Friday.

The Delmarva Daily Times reports Perry was arrested first after surveillance footage identified her, and then Shuford turned herself over to police on Saturday.

Court documents state Shuford initially planned on pulling the sign down, however when she was physically unable to do so, she got out a car cigarette lighter and began to try to burn it.

Joy Shuford (left) and D'Asia Perry (right), both 19, have been charged with a hate crime for allegedly torching a Donald Trump sign outside a story in Maryland

'Shuford stated that she attempted to rip it down but that it was screwed in and tough to pull down,' the report reads.

'Shuford stated that she returned to the vehicle, grabbed a lighter and went back to the sign to light it on fire.'

They have been hit with a number of offenses - including second-degree arson and committing a hate crime, the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said.

'The intentional burning of these political signs, along with the beliefs, religious views and race of this political affiliation, directly coincides with the victim,' charging documents from Princess Anne police read, explaining why officers believed a hate crime had been committed.

Deputy chief fire marshal backed up the stance, according to the Baltimore Sun, by saying the alleged arson was motivated by: 'discrimination or malice toward a particular group, or someone's belief'.

Shuford initially planned on pulling the sign down, however when she was physically unable to do so, she got out a car cigarette lighter and began try to burn it. The damage can be seen

Both teenagers have been released after posting a $20,000 bond. The sign was near a shopping center, and the fire spread to a nearby field, causing an estimated $800 in damage.

Jamie Wink, who's father owner the store where the sign was located, said they had it up outside to draw attention.

'It's been a pretty good attention-getter,' he told the Sun. Wink then told the newspaper his family did support Trump during the election, but decided not to take it down after November's vote.

The store sells guns and hunting gear.

Shuford and Perry face as long as 33 years behind bars and more than $40,000 in fines if they are found guilty.
A jury has sided with Petco in a lawsuit seeking $20million in damages brought by the family of a 10-year-old boy who died after contracting an illness from bacteria from a rat purchased from the retailer.

The jury of 12 in San Diego, California found Thursday that Petco was not negligent or liable in the death of Aidan Pankey on June 12, 2013, after he was rushed to a hospital with severe stomach pains.

About three months after the boy's death, the San Diego County medical examiner's office ruled the cause of death was streptobacillus moniliformis infection, known as rat-bite fever, after exposure to an infected rat.

The jury found that Petco did enough to warn the Pankey family of the possible risks and dangers of owning a pet rat, and therefore was not negligent in the boy's death.

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A San Diego jury has sided with Petco in a lawsuit seeking $20million in damages brought by the family of Aidan Pankey, 10, who died from rat-bite fever, which he contracted from a rat bought from the company

'Educating consumers is important,' Sharon Pankey, Aidan's grandmother, told NBC 7. She was the person who bought him the rat, which was his second pet rodent.

'I think Petco could do a better job on their warnings and on education of people that buy rats.'

She also shared her thoughts with CBS 8, on what she wish she would have known.

'If you buy a rat from Petco, you can request they be tested for rat-bite fever. I never knew that,' Sharon Pankey said.

'I never knew that a store like Petco would sell a rat that had such a high percentage of carrying it. I thought rat-bite fever was something wild rats carried.'

Aidan's grandmother, Sharon Pankey (R), bought him the rat as a mate for his other ordent

The jury found that Petco did enough to warn the Pankey family of the possible risks and dangers of owning a pet rat, and therefore was not negligent in the boy's death; Aidan Pankey is seen here with one of his pet rodents

Aidan Pankey died after he contracted rat-bite fever from one of his seemingly healthy rodents in June of 2013.

His grandmother bought the animal for the 10-year-old because he wanted a male rat to 'marry' the female rodent he already had. They picked out 'Alex' together at a Petco store in Carmel Ranch.

Only two weeks after purchasing the animal from the pet chain, Aidan grew gravely ill and two days after showing flu-like symptoms, he died. The CDC determined his death was caused by rat-bite fever from handling his new rat.

Aidan's family filed suit against Petco in February 2014 over the boy's death.

The family's lawyers claimed that Petco had the 'knowledge' that it was selling potentially infected rats and also knew people were getting sick, but didn't do anything about it, during opening statements for the civil trial on March 29.

The Pankeys' lawyer went as far as to say Petco and pet supplier Barney's Pets knew some rats were infected but didn't alert customers to the danger, reported the San Diego Union Tribune.

Part of the reason for their filing of the claim was to raise awareness that the company doesn't test the potentially sick rats it allows customers to buy.

'I'm fighting this case to protect some children because I don't want this to happen to another family,' Aidan's father, Andrew Pankey, previously said to CBS 8. 'I still talk to him, tell him I love him - that daddy is not going give up.'

Petco's lawyers responded that the company couldn't possibly ensure each of the millions of rodents it sells in stores were free of bacteria and diseases that could be harmful to customers.

They added that Petco does warn of potential dangers that come when buying a rat, including rat-bite fever, but it is handed over in a form that comes with general instructions about how to care for the pet, reported Inside Edition.

A Petco lawyer said: 'Petco warned about it. One thing Petco cannot do is change the nature of an animal.'

The Pankeys think the form didn't go far enough.

Aidan's mother, Vanessa Sauer, was also suing Petco but she settled her case before it went to trial.

Aidan Pankey's father, Andrew Pankey (R), previously said: 'I'm fighting this case to protect some children because I don't want this to happen to another family'

According to the CDC, people can contract rat-bite fever from bites or scratches from infected rodents, such as rats, mice and gerbils, or even just by handling an animal with the disease without a bite or scratch; Aidan Pankey is seen here with family

According to the CDC, people can contract rat-bite fever from bites or scratches from infected rodents, such as rats, mice and gerbils, or even just by handling an animal with the disease without a bite or scratch.

It can also be contracted by consuming food or drink contaminated with the bacteria. It is not spread from person to person.

Antibiotics, such as penicillin, are highly effective at treating rat-bite fever, and it is rarely fatal, according to the CDC.

The CDC said those at higher risk of contracting the illness are people with pet rats or who work with rats in laboratories or pet stores, or live in rat-infested buildings.

The agency recommended that people who handle rats or clean their cages wear protective gloves, wash their hands regularly and avoid touching their mouths with their hands after being in contact with rodents.
The Keepers: Who Killed Sister Cathy? will launch on Netflix on May 19

Netflix has unveiled the trailer for its next addictive true crime docu-series.

The Keepers examines the 1969 murder of Baltimore nun Cathy Cesnik, a grisly crime that has haunted the city for years.

It promises to expose a web of corruption, sexual abuse and lies within the Baltimore's entrenched Catholic community.

The film was created by Tripod Media and Film 45. It will be launched on Netflix on May 19.

Cathy Cesnik was murdered in November 1969. She was 26 and taught English teacher at Archbishop Keough High School.

Hunters stumbled across her decomposing body two months after she vanished while out buying an engagement gift for her cousin.

She had a hole in the back of her skull which police said was the result of a blunt force trauma.

They found the car she had been driving unlocked and parked illegally a block away from her apartment but there were few other clothes.

No one has ever been charged with her murder despite rampant suspicion it was committed by priests to cover up a deep history of abuse and corruption.

The documentary about her death brings together her former students and friends who launched their own investigation in to her murder last year.

Sister Cathy Cesnik disappeared in November 1969. She was 26 and was an English and drama teacher at Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore

The group, hellbent on finally unearthing how she died, say they what they discovered along the way far exceeded their fears.

Chief among their theories is that Sister Cathy was murdered for how much she knew about alleged sexual abuse going on at the school.

Former students have come forward to say they were molested, raped and psychologically abused by Father Joseph Maskell.

Detectives working on the case said they wanted to interview Maskell but were never able to. He died in 2001.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore has since paid out tens of thousands of dollars to women who say he abused them.

Father Joseph Maskell was widely accused of sexual abusing girls at the school where Sister Cathy worked. He died in 2001

In The Keepers, one former student claims he showed her the nun's rotting body behind in the garbage dump days after she went missing.

Jean Wehner said he drove her to the site where Sister Cathy's body was dumped before police found it to threaten her.

She said he told her: 'You see what happens when you say bad things about people?'

She was too frightened to ever share what he had told her with anyone.

In the documentary, Wehner said: 'I believe Cathy Cesnik was murdered because she was going to talk about what went on at Keough.'

She sued the Archdiocese of Baltimore along with former classmate Theresa Lancaster in 1994, claiming they had both been subjected to vile sexual abuse by Maskell for years.

They referred to themselves as Jane Doe and Jane Roe in court papers at the time out of fear they would be reprimanded for speaking out against him.

He has since died and the pair have gone on record to air their allegations about what he did to them and how they believe it was died to Sister Cathy's death.

Sister Cathy worked at Archbishop Keough High School (above) teaching English and drama. Her friends and former students believe she knew

The crime haunted the local community for decades. It remained shrouded in mystery until those close to Sister Cathy started sharing their experiences and theories last year

Jean Wehner, one of Sister Cathy's former students, said she was shown her dead body by one of the priests before police found it

They say she was the only person who tried to help them as Maskell and others at the school raped and prostituted them (in a 2015 Huffington Post, they described being taken to the church where he preached off-campus where they were raped by men who paid him).

One of the women recalled Sister Cathy approaching her in 1969 and asking her softly: 'Are the priests hurting you?'.

At the heart of the documentary is the relationship between the city's police and Catholic leaders.

Interviewees said the two institutions protected one another and that they collectively covered up Sister Cathy's death.

Father Maskell's brother was a popular lieutenant and he served as the force's chaplain.

The Keepers will be launched on Netflix on May 19.
The US Department of Defense has recognized Humanism as a belief protected by the agency's ethical standards after a recent rise in religiously unaffiliated military members.

Now, Humanists - who advocate rational thinking - will have access to the same kinds of military privileges afforded to religious and atheistic groups, said a Department of Defense spokesperson.

Humanists make up 3.6 per cent the military, according to a survey by the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute.

The US Department of Defense has recognized Humanism as a belief protected by the agency's ethical standards. Pictured is the American Humanist Association in Washington, DC

'We thank the Department of Defense for recognizing the brave and dedicated humanists serving in our armed forces, who protect our constitutional freedom to believe and not believe,' said Roy Speckhardt, executive director at the American Humanist Association in a statement. 'This is a step toward inclusiveness and respect for all Americans.'

This move may lead the military to institute a counselor who can assist Humanist members in much the same way a chaplain does for Christians.

Humanism is one of the 100 beliefs added to the department's renamed 'Faith and Belief Codes'.

Prior to these additions, those whose belief was not listed in the codes may be given a non-denominational Christian burial by the military.

The change comes amidst a backdrop of claims from non-faith believers that the military is dominated by a Christian culture that is sometimes hostile toward them, Religion News reports.

Jason Torpy (pictured), president of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, has pushed for greater recognition of Humanists in the military

In recent years, leaders of various atheistic and non-faith organizations have demanded equal treatment in the military.

Jason Torpy, president of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, has pushed for greater recognition of Humanists in the military.

'After a decade of our positive outreach and communication of the struggles humanists have faced in the military, we wish to convey our sincere appreciation for the chaplains and endorsers who recommended these changes and made this advance possible,' said Torpy in a statement.

Army Major Ray Bradley, 47, was forced to initially identify with the military as having 'no religious preference', then as an atheist before he could be recognized as a Humanist

The Army recognized Humanism in 2014, and the Department of Defense's recent decision protects those in all other military departments.

Army Major Ray Bradley told Religion News Service in 2014 that the change now allows him to self-identify as a Humanist - something he has never been able to do before.

Bradley was initially listed under the broad category of 'no religious preference' but switched to atheist in January 2013.

But Bradley said he closely aligns with Humanism, which stresses scientific explanations and maximizing human happiness.

For more than two years Bradley requested to identify as a Humanist and, now that he can, he is working with Torpy to encourage other non-faith believers in the military to identify themselves.
An 11-year-old girl who went missing from her home in London after going to school on Wednesday morning has been found safe and well.

Kasey Hacking had not been seen since 8.30am yesterday morning after leaving for school from Pett Street, Greenwich.

Kasey Hacking, who went missing from her home on Wednesday after she left for school at 8.30am, has been found

She did not attend lessons that day, and a desperate search was launched as police officers grow concerned for her welfare.

But a spokesperson for the police confirmed she was found last night at an address in Brockley, south London at about 9pm.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'She has been found safe and well this evening at an address in Brockley.'
President Donald Trump says a shooting in Paris today 'looks like another terrorist attack.'

The U.S. president addressed the assault on two police officers at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

'It just never ends,' he said of the terror threat from the White House's East Room.

French police say the incident involving at least two gunman was probably a 'terrorist act.'

President Donald Trump says a shooting in Paris today 'looks like another terrorist attack.'

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said just before the news conference began that Trump had been briefed on the shooting that happened while he was meeting with the Italian prime minister.

'Condolences from our country to the people for France again. It's happening it seems,' Trump said from the podium. 'I just saw it as I was walking in, so it's a terrible thing and it's a very, very terrible thing that's going on in the world today.'

Trump did not comment on the assault at the top of his remarks but said after he was asked for a reaction, 'It looks like another terrorist attack, and what can you say? It just never ends.

'We have to be strong, and we have to be vigilant, and I've been saying it for a long time,' Trump told Fox News' John Roberts.

France is in the process of holding a national election. The first round of voting begins on April 23.

A gunman wielding an AK-47 killed one police officer and wounded another today on the Champs-Elysees. The assailant was killed in the showdown with police, Paris police have said. Another suspect is believed to have been involved, as well.

Police just two days ago arrested two men in southern Marseille with weapons and explosives who were suspected of preparing an attack to disrupt the first-round of the presidential election on Sunday.

France is in a state of emergency and at its highest possible level of alert since a string of terror attacks that began in 2015 and have killed over 230 people.

Thousands of troops and armed police have been deployed to guard tourist hotspots such as the Champs Elysees or other potential targets like government buildings and religious sites.

Police closed off the popular avenue (pictured) after a policeman was killed during a shooting incident in the French capital

A French police officer was tonight shot dead on the Champs Elysees in Paris (pictured) - just as presidential candidates took part in a TV debate nearby

Up until now, polls showed voters more concerned about unemployment and their spending power than terrorism or security, though analysts warned this would change in the event of further bloodshed.

For weeks, centrist Emanuel Macron and National Front (FN) leader Marine Le Pen have been out in front.

Scandal-plagued conservative Francois Fillon and far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon have closed the gap substantially in the last two weeks.

Opinion polls now show there is a chance that any of the four leading candidates could reach the second-round run-off on May 7 if none of them reach a majority in this weekend's election.
A teacher at a prestigious school in Manhattan has been sentenced to four months in jail after being found guilty of buying one of his former students alcohol and then trying to seduce her.

Dean Bethea, 56, taught English and philosophy at Columbia Secondary School for Math, Science, & Engineering until he resigned from his job in December 2015 when the story broke of how he took the teenage girl to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Whilst at the museum he bought her two alcoholic drinks in a cafe there before taking her on a walk through Central Park and to a subway station, where he told her she was beautiful and tried to kiss her.

Dean Bethea, 56, is pictured at his sentencing on Thursday in New York. Bethea, a former teacher at the Columbia Preparatory School, received four months jail

Dean Bethea was sentenced to four months in jail for trying to kiss a 16-year-old student after giving her alcohol

Bethea had been a teacher for 25 years but admitted he was an alcoholic and displayed a 'lack of judgment' in taking the student to the Met Museum

Speaking in Manhattan Criminal Court, Judge Ann Scherzer made clear her thoughts on the crimes committed.

'Rather than using your position to help her grow you abused it and took advantage of her naivety,' Scherzer said.

'Each and every step you took that day... makes it crystal clear to me that you intended to seduce her,' the judge added.

The teen told her mother what had happened when she got home and Bethea was arrested and charged with acting in a manner injurious to a child and unlawfully dealing with a child.

Bethea (pictured left and right) knew that he was not supposed to see students outside of the classroom, yet he did it anyway

Bethea said he's been an alcoholic for 30 years and said his judgement has been impaired throughout his life

Bethea, who had been teaching at the Harlem school for three years, had previously taught the girl and knew that the institution forbade teachers from meeting up with students outside of the classroom.

The student was particularly close to her former English and philosophy teacher because he dated her sister for over a year after picking her up at a parent-teacher conference.

The victim, who testified against Bethea, said she has been depressed and in therapy ever since.

The Daily News reported that the victim said Bethea's behavior was 'like a stench that doesn't wash off and surround you or a slick layer or dirt that soap cannot clean.'

'This defendant not only should have known better, he did know better,' prosecutor Pierre Griffith argued during the trial. 'He was not supposed to be there and he did it anyway.'

'He should be ashamed of himself no matter what sentence he receives,' the girl, now 17, added at the sentencing.

Bethea, who has a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee and was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Goettingen in Germany, said that he showed a 'lack of judgement' but denied ever buying the girl a beer.

The student was particularly close to her former English and philosophy teacher because he dated her sister for over a year after picking her up at a parent-teacher conference

Bethea bought the girl two alcoholic drinks at the Metropolitan Museum of Art while he drank 5

Bethea said he's has been sober since his arrest.

Prosecutor Pierre Griffith had argued that Bethea deserved no leniency after he tried to blame victim for what happened and lied on the witness stand.

Bethea testified that the student had a 'schoolgirl crush' on him and she may have felt rejected because he had dated her older sister, who he'd met on a back to school night.

He admitted, however, that he had been an alcoholic for the past 30 years.

Bethea was also fired from Western Oregon University in 2002 for assaulting a 19-year-old male student.

Despite being convicted and sent to jail, he is still being paid his $81,346 yearly salary. Education Department officials have said they are reviewing his case but he will likely be fired.
A building society will today launch Britains cheapest ever mortgage rate at 0.89 per cent, triggering a new price war.

Yorkshire Building Societys new variable rate undercuts the next best deal of 0.99 per cent, making it the lowest since records began in 1988.

Borrowers will need at least a 35 per cent deposit, but a 150,000 mortgage will cost just 564 a month.

Yorkshire Building Society have introduced the cheapest mortgage rate since 1988. The rate of 0.89 per cent requires a 35 per cent deposit and would cost 564 a month for a 150,000 mortgage (file photo)

Experts say the move will pile pressure on other banks and building societies to cut their rates as they battle for customers.

Andrew Montlake, of mortgage broker Coreco, said: This is an incredible rate and usually when a lender brings out a deal like this its not long before its rivals try to outdo them.

So I expect rates to come down a bit further, which is fantastic news for homeowners.

Aaron Strutt, of mortgage broker Trinity Financial, added: Experts have been calling the end of low rates for years and yet they are still getting cheaper.

The new rate undercuts Yorkshire Building Society's next cheapest rate of 0.99 per cent, which requires a 40 per cent deposit. The move could spark a price war with other banks

Recent cuts show theres no reason why mortgage rates cant go lower, although its hardly worth waiting with the deals on offer at the moment.

The mortgage price war is partly being driven by a tax clampdown on landlords. Earlier this month the Government started gradually removing tax perks for landlords, making buy-to-let less profitable.

As a result, fewer landlords are applying for mortgages, with figures showing buy-to-let lending down 44 per cent this year.

Experts say banks and building societies are under pressure to make up for the lost business by increasing their loans to homeowners.

They are able to cut rates further than ever before because the cost to lenders of funding these loans has fallen heavily in the past six weeks.

This is because City traders think there is less chance of the Bank of England increasing its base rate  currently at a record low of 0.25 per cent  any time soon. A spate of cheap new mortgages means the average loan now costs 276 a year less than 12 months ago, according to data firm Moneyfacts.

Among the top deals launched recently was a 1.29 per cent five-year fix from digital lender Atom Bank whose customers need a smartphone to apply for a mortgage.

It had to be withdrawn after just eight days due to high demand. HSBC and Santander both offered fixed rates below 1 per cent last year before withdrawing them.

Even though mortgage rates are tumbling, experts believe the housing market will be sluggish this year over uncertainty over Brexit and the General Election (file photo)

Then last month Yorkshire launched a 0.99 per cent two-year fixed rate.

Its new 0.89 per cent deal runs for two years and is a variable rate, which means it can be increased or decreased at any time. There is a 1,495 fee, or borrowers can opt to pay 995 if they are willing to accept a 1.05 per cent rate instead.

Other top deals include two-year fixes from HSBC at 1.14 per cent and the Post Office at 1.17 per cent, both available with a 40 per cent deposit.

Best five-year fixes include HSBCs 1.79 per cent and Virgin Moneys 1.84 per cent, with 40 per cent and 35 per cent deposits respectively.

Rachel Springall, of Moneyfacts, said: When rates are so low it would be ideal for borrowers to consider overpaying on their mortgage.

Despite falling mortgage rates, experts believe the housing market will be sluggish this year. Homeowners are putting off buying due to uncertainty over Brexit and the General Election, and the fall in buy-to-let lending has kicked the housing market into neutral gear, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

House prices are growing at 3.5 per cent, the slowest rate in 19 months, according to the Nationwide Building Society.
A brother of one of the Waldos was a close friend of Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, as Lesh once confirmed in an interview with the Huffington Post. The Waldos began hanging out in the band's circle, and the slang spread.

Fast-forward to the early 1990s: Steve Bloom, a reporter for the cannabis magazine High Times, was at a Dead show when he was handed a flier urging people to "meet at 4:20 on 4/20 for 420-ing in Marin County at the Bolinas Ridge sunset spot on Mt. Tamalpais." High Times published it.

"It's a phenomenon," said one of the Waldos, Steve Capper, now 62 and a chief executive at a payroll financing company in San Francisco. "Most things die within a couple years, but this just goes on and on. It's not like someday somebody's going to say, 'OK, Cannabis New Year's is on June 23rd now.'"

Bloom, now the editor in chief of Freedom Leaf Magazine, notes that while the Waldos came up with the term, the people who made the flier  and effectively turned 4/20 into a holiday  remain unknown.
Penelope Webster passed away in August last year with her sons by her side

A 78 year old retired teacher died from a drug overdose in her home after her sons respected her 'living will' and did not call for medical help.

Penelope Webster from Cheltenham passed away on 28th August last year with her sons at her side.

Senior Coroner for Gloucestershire Katy Skerrett said although it was a drug overdoes that killed Mrs Webster, she would not return a verdict of suicide.

Mrs Webster's sons Nigel and Anthony gave evidence at The Court.

Nigel Webster, who is a qualified nurse, told Mrs Skerrett that his mother would take her anti-depressant medication for depression and anxiety.

But 'once she felt better, she would stop taking the medication.' Her mental health would then deteriorate once more.

Mr Webster went on to say: 'She often spoke about dying, she had become less robust and frailer. Two years ago she started to reduce her food intake. Over the last two years she became very depressed.'

He had become concerned about her in a telephone call the week before she died and travelled from London on Friday 26th to stay with her.

Mrs Webster went to Cheltenham Ladies College and St. Andrew's University

He added: 'On Saturday we went out for a drive, had an ice cream. By the evening she became very nostalgic, looking at family photos.

'On Sunday morning she was still lying curled up in bed. I left her to it. At about 11:30am I could see she hadn't moved and her breathing was very laboured.

'She had set out in her living will that she did not want to be resuscitated. I sat with her, held her hand. My brother arrived at 1pm.

'I was aware that if I sought medical assistance they would try to resuscitate her against her wishes.

Her other son Anthony told the Court: 'When I arrived she was breathing in a laboured way and was not rousable.

'I agreed with my brother entirely not to seek medical assistance. It was clear she was about to slip away, and this is what she wanted.'

Recording her conclusion Mrs Skerret said 'This lady had significant medical history. She would take medications and then come off them.

'She had a number of worries; her health and she did not want to be a burden on her sons. There was nothing specific in terms of alarm bells.

Mrs Webster was remember for her 'no nonsense unconditional care for others'

'She was unrousable in the morning, and her breathing was very laboured. Her sons did not seek medical assistance in line with her wishes.'

Mrs Websters was born an only child and was educated at Cheltenham Ladies College and St. Andrew's University.

She worked teaching physics and maths, raised four children and was heavily involved with the charity Samaritans.

Nigel Webster (pictured left) and Tony Webster (pictured right) both were in agreement in not providing medical assistance to their mother, as her living will asked

Anthony Webster posted on Facebook: '[Mrs Webster] touched so many lives with her no nonsense unconditional care for others.

'As a son I could not have asked for a more loving and supportive mother, particularly since I became an adult.

'Penny was one of a kind. We will not see her like again.'

For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90, visit here
Despite a tense back-and-forth during his presidential campaign, President Trump said Thursday he'd like to sit-down with Pope Francis next month.

'I look very much forward to meeting the Pope,' Trump said.

Trump was asked during a joint press conference with Italy's Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni whether he planned to visit with the head of the Catholic church when he visits Italy next month.

'I look very much forward to meeting the Pope,' President Trump said at a press conference today. Pope Francis criticized Trump's plan for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico

The White confirmed on Tuesday that it was exploring a meeting between Trump and Pope Francis.

'We will be reaching out to the Vatican to see if an audience with the Pope can be accommodated,' White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, according to USA Today.

'We would be honored to have an audience with his holiness,' Spicer added.

The Vatican's spokesman Greg Burke told AFP that Pope Francis would welcome a request from the American president and do his best to accommodate the world leader.

'As of the end of last week we had not had an official request for an audience but for sure we would welcome it,' Burke said.

The spokesman did not anticipate there being any scheduling conflicts around the time that Trump would be traveling to Italy.

Most world leaders, however, give the Pope at least a seven-month heads up before descending on the Vatican.

Trump will travel to Sicily, Italy in late May for a Group of Seven Meeting on the heels of an appearance in Brussels for a NATO summit.

While meetings between the head of the Catholic church and the president of the United States aren't unusual, a gathering between these two men could be strained over comments each made while President Trump was a candidate.

Last February, Pope Francis spoke out against Trump's comments on immigrants.

'Anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian,' Pope Francis told reporters.

That got Trump steamed, and the GOP hopeful replied, 'For a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful.'

Like many statements Trump made on the campaign trail last year, his tiff with the Pope was expected to kill his campaign.

Trump, however, kept on winning primaries.

He softened his tone on the Pope, saying the religious leader didn't understand the impact drugs flowing over the border were having on Americans' lives.

That, Trump suggested, was his reason for wanting to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

When Trump was sworn-in this January, Pope Francis sent the new president a letter offering 'cordial good wishes,' which articulated the importance of looking out for the poor.

'At a time when our human family is beset by grave humanitarian crises demanding far-sighted and united political responses, I pray that our decisions will be guided by the rich spiritual and ethical values that have shaped the history of the American people and your nation's commitment to the advancement of human dignity and freedom worldwide,' Pope Francis said.

He told Trump that, 'may America's stature continue to be measured above all by its concern for the poor, the outcast and those in need who, like Lazarus, stand before our door.'
The Marines will soon get a major upgrade to their cargo helicopter fleet.

The Department of Defense earlier this month approved a Navy request to begin production on the CH-53K King Stallion, the powerful new helicopter set to replace the workhorse Super Stallion, which has been in service since 1981.

At a program cost of roughly $131million for each of the 200-aircraft order, the Marines expect their new choppers to be a massive improvement over the old Super Stallions.

'Theyre not even in the same galaxy,' Colonel Henry Vanderborght, the Marines H-53 program manager, said at a recent defense conference, according to AIN. 'The capability were going to field now is eye-watering.'

The Department of Defense earlier this month approved a Navy request to begin production on the CH-53K King Stallion (pictured)

The Marines Super Stallion (left) will eventually be replaced by the new King Stallion (right)

CH-53E Super Stallion Entered service: 1981 Max Payload: 30,000 lbs 'High/Hot' Payload: 9,000 lbs Speed: 172 mph Ceiling: 10,000 feet Power Plant: Three General Electric T64-GE-416 turboshaft engines (4,380 SHP each) Unit Cost: $38.5M (inflation adjusted) Advertisement

CH-53K King Stallion Enters service: 2019 (estimate) Max Payload: 35,000 lbs 'High/Hot' Payload: 27,000 lbs Speed: 172 mph Ceiling: 9,520 feet Power Plant: Three General Electric T408-GE-400 turboshaft engines (7,332 SHP each) Unit Cost: $87.1M Advertisement

The King Stallion is specifically designed for 'high and hot' conditions that make flight more challenging.

The new helicopter triples the payload capacity of the old Super Stallion in those conditions, for a 27,000-pound payload capacity that allows the King Stallion to transport two fully armored Humvees or one LAV-25 amphibious armored reconnaissance vehicle.

WHAT ARE 'HIGH/HOT' CONDITIONS? Sea-level lift-off, temperature 103F

Travel at least 110 nautical miles

Landing zone 3,000 feet above sea level, where temperature is 91.5F Naval testers set these specifications to replicate combat conditions. Advertisement

The heavier carrying capacity is needed to operate in desert environments as Humvee armor has steadily gotten heavier, upping the vehicles' weight from 5,500 to 8,500 pounds in the 1990s to 12,000 pounds today.

The King Stallion will also introduce a fly-by-wire flight control to improve safety. The electronic flight controls replace the manual controls on the Super Stallions.

'In the CH-53E theres, no kidding, an iron rod that goes all the way from the pilots hand to the flight control surface,' Vanderborght, who flew the craft for years, told Naval Aviation News. he said.

'Youre coming in at night and youre trying to land that huge aircraft and a dust bubble engulfs you and you lose sight of the ground.'

The King Stallion (pictured) will have triple the payload capacity of the old Super Stallion in 'high/hot' conditions

The Marines also aim to dramatically reduce maintenance requirements, which currently clock in at 44 hours of work for every hour of flight on the aging Super Stallion.

Lockheed-Martin Sikorsky is undertaking the 200 unit production run for a program cost of $25.3 billion. Including R&D costs, the price breaks down to more than $131million per aircract.

That's even more than the notoriously expensive vertical takeoff and landing version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35B, which clocks in at $122.8million.

But Vanderborght argues that the media has overhyped the King Stallion's cost in stories claiming it costs more than the F-35. The 'flyaway' unit cost of the CH-53K is really $87million, he said.

Per-aircraft costs will come down if the new chopper succeeds in attracting foreign buyers.

Germany has expressed interest in buying 41 of the King Stallions, as has Israel, a Lockheed executive has said.
French police have said tonight's attack was 'probably a terrorist act', and if so it would be at least the sixth terror strike on Paris in three years.

Most recently, on March 18, a convicted criminal with links to radical Islam shouted 'I am here to die for Allah, there will be deaths' seconds before he was shot dead during an attack at Orly airport.

And a month earlier, on February 3, a man was shot five times outside the Louvre museum in the heart of Paris after attempting to storm the historic art gallery.

The shooting in Paris tonight is the latest of a series of attacks that have struck the French capital

March 18, 2017: Criminal with links to radical Islam shouted 'I am here to die for Allah, there will be deaths' seconds before he was shot dead during an attack at Orly airport

February 3, 2017: Machete-wielding man attacked four soldiers outside the Louvre art gallery in the city centre

Last year, on June 13, two police officers were murdered in their home just outside Paris in front of their 8-year-old son in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

By far the most deadly strike came on November 13, 2015, when ISIS militants killed 130 people in France's worst atrocity since World War II.

A series of suicide bomb and shooting attacks were launched on crowded sites in central Paris, as well as the northern suburb of Saint-Denis.

The majority of those killed were in the Bataclan concert hall where hostages were taken.

Islamic State extremists claimed responsibility and said it was in retaliation for French participation in airstrikes on the militant group's positions in Syria and Iraq.

It led to the declaration of a state of emergency in France with police powers greatly expanded.

And on January 7, two brothers killed 11 people inside the Paris building housing the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in revenge for the publication of cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammed.

More were killed subsequently in attacks on a kosher market in eastern Paris and on police. There were 17 victims in all, including two police officers. The attackers were killed.

June 13, 2016: Two police officers were murdered in their home just outside Paris in front of their 8-year-old son in an attack claimed by Islamic State. Larossi Abballa (pictured) recorded a 12 minute rant to camera about the killings

November 13, 2015: ISIS militants killed 130 people in France's worst atrocity since World War II

January 7, 2015: Two brothers killed 11 people inside the Paris building housing the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in revenge for the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed

The shooting on March 20 comes just two days after the arrest of two men found with a cache of weapons and explosives in Marseilles.

They were suspected of preparing an attack to disrupt the first round of the presidential election on Sunday.
Fifty years ago, John Lennon sat down at the piano in the sun-room at Kenwood, his mock Tudor Surrey mansion.

He propped a copy of the Daily Mail dated January 17, 1967, on the stand and, inspired by two news stories, began writing A Day In The Life, acclaimed by Rolling Stone magazine as the Beatles best ever song.

It became the last track on one of the greatest albums of all time  Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band was ground-breaking in its musical daring, innovation and surrealism

Sgt Pepper was ground-breaking in its musical daring, innovation and surrealism, all of which can be attributed in part to the quantities of drugs being taken by The Beatles at the time.

Its gate-fold cover  by Peter Blake  is a pop-art classic. But it was the music that made it: With A Little Help From My Friends, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Shes Leaving Home, Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite...

Its release on June 1, 1967, was a cultural event on both sides of the Atlantic. And the 50th anniversary is being marked around the globe  including a reissue of the album on May 26 with remixed recordings from the Pepper sessions.

A three-week Sgt Pepper arts festival is being held in Liverpool from May 25. On June 1, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic orchestra and tribute band the Bootleg Beatles play a sell-out concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

Sgt Pepper  took 350 Beatle hours to make.

It was McCartney who was determined that their eighth studio album would push boundaries. But he had to push his fellow band members, too. Lennon (and Harrison to a lesser extent) was heavily into LSD. He rarely woke before 11am, so they recorded between 7.30pm and 2.30am, from November 1966 until April 1967.

When the Beatles released Sgt Pepper on June 1, 1967, was a cultural event on both sides of the Atlantic

Two of the first three songs they recorded  Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane  never made the album because manager Brian Epstein wanted to keep the No 1 singles coming. (The third song was When Im 64.)

To his regret, their producer George Martin suggested putting out Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane as the first (and only) Beatles double A-side single because they were the best [tracks] theyve ever made.

But it stalled at No 2 in the charts in January 1967, behind Englebert Humperdincks Release Me.

By then, Lennon and McCartney had embarked on A Day In The Life, the last  and greatest  collaboration between them.

HOW THE ICONIC ALBUM COVER ALMOST INCLUDED ADOLF HITLER Pictured: John Lennon and Ringo Starr during the shooting of the Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover The iconic collage on the album cover depicts more than 70 famous people  including writers, musicians and film stars  such as Marlene Dietrich, Bob Dylan, Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde and Laurel and Hardy. Record label EMI vetoed Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of Indias independence movement, fearing it would offend his followers. John Lennons request to include Jesus Christ and Adolf Hitler was also judged too controversial, although the Fuhrer does appear in some out-takes. Three other figures of the time were included  but never seen. Albert Einstein is hidden by John Lennon, while actors Bette Davis (as Elizabeth I) and Timothy Carey are blocked by George Harrison. Film star Leo Gorceys picture was cut when a $400 fee was demanded. The Grammy Award-winning cover cost a record 3,000, around 51,000 in todays money. Advertisement

It was a good piece of work between Paul and me, Lennon said in 1968. It just sort of happened beautifully.

And the rest is history.

So here are ten fascinating facts about a modern classic...

1. THE COUNT IN

On most Beatle compositions, McCartney counted the band in. But it was Lennon on A Day In The Life, and he substituted nonsense words in place of the usual 1-2-3-4. You can hear him saying: Sugarplum fairy, sugarplum fairy.

2. FIRST TWO VERSES

In that copy of the Daily Mail was a report of a custody hearing for the two young children of Tara Browne, a 21-year-old Guinness heir who died in a car crash in London the month before.

John Lennon took inspiration from a story in the Daily Mail for the song A Day In The Life

Lennon knew Browne but didnt much like him. McCartney was much closer  his first LSD was with him. He recalled hed grown a moustache in 1966 to cover up an injury after falling off a moped with Browne. The other Beatles followed suit, and all four sport them on the Sgt Pepper cover.

The first verse of the albums iconic track would come easily as Lennons scrawled draft shows:

I read the news today, oh boy/About a lucky man who made the grade / And though the news was rather sad / Well I just had to laugh / I saw the photograph.

The second verse was trickier:

He blew his mind out in car / He didnt notice that the lights had changed . . .

Lennon admitted taking poetic licence with Brownes death. McCartney had a different take in his biography, Many Years From Now (written with Barry Miles): I was imagining a politician bombed out on drugs whod stopped at some traffic lights, and didnt notice the lights had changed.

The blew his mind was purely a drugs reference . .. [But], if John said he was thinking of Tara, then he was.

3. THE THIRD VERSE

Pictured: John Lennon and McCartney return home from a trip to Greece in 1967

This begins with an oblique reference to a movie, rather than the Vietnam War as some claimed:

I read the news today, oh boy /The English Army had just won the war / A crowd of people turned away / But I just had to look / Having read the book.

In 1966, Richard Lester, who had directed two Beatles movies, A Hard Days Night and Help!, persuaded Lennon to co-star with Michael Crawford in How I Won The War, based on a book by humourist Patrick Ryan. This was the first time the chronically short-sighted Lennon was seen with his NHS-style round glasses (And yes, he had read the book.)

4. THE BBC BAN

Lennon had the outline of A Day In The Life when he arrived at McCartneys home in St Johns Wood, London, on January 17.

The last line to be added  Id love to turn you on  was, said Lennon a beautiful little lick created by McCartney.

It was also one of the two lines which contributed to it becoming the first Beatles song banned by the BBC  because of a perceived reference to illegal drugs.

5. THE ORCHESTRAL ORGASM

The Beatles played their new song for George Martin at Abbey Road Studios on the evening of January 19, 1967. They presented him with a problem: how to negotiate, musically, the dramatic switch from the first three mournful verses penned by Lennon, to McCartneys cheerful counterpoint of the fourth verse: Woke up, fell out of bed . . . 

It was McCartneys idea to have 40 classical musicians provide 24 bars of what Martin described as an orchestral orgasm, with each starting softly on the lowest note on their instrument, building to a discordant crescendo.

Pictured: The Beatles and their producer Sir George Martin at Abbey Road in 1968

6. THE ALARM CLOCK

Lennon had brought an alarm clock to Abbey Road to tease Starr who kept falling asleep. The Beatles assistant Mal Evans  charged with timing the orchestral orgasm  set the clock to go off at the end of the 24-bar count. It can be heard on the album.

7. McCARTNEYS 57

McCartney would contribute just 57 biographical words to A Day In The Life Of:

Woke up, fell out of bed / Dragged a comb across my head

Found my way downstairs and drank a cup / And looking up / I noticed I was late

Found my coat and grabbed my hat / Made the bus in seconds flat...

Up until that point, McCartney might have been describing the teenage rush to school, but the final two lines made it clear this was a drug song:

Found my way upstairs and had a smoke

Somebody spoke and I went into a dream.

The reference to a dream is what alarmed the BBC.

8. AAAAH-A-AAAAH

Lennon never sang better than he did on A Day In The Life, and his voice is most evident on this nonsensical link, which brings the song back to its main theme.

Lennon never sang better than he did on A Day In The Life, and his voice is most evident on this nonsensical link, which brings the song back to its main theme. Pictured, Lennon and McCartney arriving home from a trip to Greece in 1967

9. THE LAST VERSE

In that same edition of the Daily Mail was aNews In Brief item: There are 4,000 holes in the road in Blackburn, Lancashire, or one twenty-sixth of a hole per person, according to a council survey.

Few songwriters could work that into a lyric, let alone make one of the most celebrated verses in music history, but Lennon did.

I read the news today, oh boy / Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire / And though the holes were very small / They had to count them all / Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.

There was still one word missing when we came to record, Lennon recalled. For some reason I couldnt think of the verb. What did the holes do to the Albert Hall? It was Terry [Doran, later to become head of Apple Music] who said fill the Albert Hall.

10. ETERNAL CHORD

The Beatles were masters of the iconic chord: think of the opening on A Hard Days Night. Yet none matches the final E-chord of Sgt Pepper which lasts 42 seconds.

After nine attempts Martin was satisfied. He claimed that, as the chord faded you could hear the air-conditioning in the studio.

n the Anniversary Edition will be released on May 26. Theres also a 100 Super Deluxe six-disc boxed set with previously unheard session recordings and lavish book with contributions from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane will be released as 7in singles tomorrow.

A runaway girl... and the REAL Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds

Paul McCartney was inspired to write 'She's Leaving Home' by a story in the Daily Mirror on February 27, 1967, about a girl called Melanie Coe who ran away from home

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS

I get high with a little help from my friends was taken as a reference to marijuana, but Lennon later insisted that the song  sung by Ringo Starr  really was about a little help from my friends, its a sincere message.

LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS

Not, as is widely believed, a reference to LSD  the Beatles were genuinely surprised when this was suggested  the song was inspired by Lennons four-year-old son Julian, who came home from school with a painting hed done. What is it? Lennon asked. Its Lucy in the sky with diamonds, replied Julian. Lucy O'Donald, above, was a classmate.

GETTING BETTER

McCartney was walking on Primrose Hill in London with his dog Martha and friend, the journalist Hunter Davies (who wrote the only authorised biography of the group in 1968). As the sun came out, McCartney said that the weather was getting better. It sparked the idea for one of the albums gems.

FIXING A HOLE

The word fixing was initially believed by critics to refer to heroin but McCartney said the lyrics were largely a reference to his favourite drug marijuana, and the songs imagery drew on repairs hed recently been making to his Scottish farmhouse.

SHES LEAVING HOME

McCartney was inspired to write this track by a story in the Daily Mirror on February 27, 1967, about a girl called Melanie Coe, right, who ran away from home. In the story, the girl left home and her father said: We gave her everything, I dont know why she left home,  McCartney explained. Coe said the lyrics truly reflected her relationship with her family, especially the line something inside that was always denied. McCartneys guess that she had gone off with a boyfriend was true, but he was a croupier and not in the motor trade.

WITHIN YOU WITHOUT YOU

George Harrison spent a lot of time in India and would sit in the Abbey Road studios for hours practising all the instruments he brought back. This track was probably the worst received on the album, but Lennon said: This was one of Georges best songs. His mind and his music are clear.

BEING FOR THE BENEFIT OF MR KITE!

The Beatles were filming a promo for Strawberry Fields Forever in Sevenoaks, Kent, on January 31, 1967, when Lennon bought a Victorian circus poster, above, that provided the inspiration and many of the lyrics for this song.

WHEN IM SIXTY-FOUR

McCartney originally wrote this when he was a teenager, living in Liverpool with his dad Jim. The Beatles used to mess around at The Cavern and sing 64 when electrical equipment failed. But with new lyrics and a 1930s sound, George Martin turned it into one of the best-loved tracks.

LOVELY RITA

According to Beatle lore, McCartney was either inspired by a friendly encounter with a traffic warden called Meta Davis in Garden Road, North London, or by a newspaper story about a retired traffic warden. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison played combs lined with paper on it.

GOOD MORNING GOOD MORNING

A lennon contribution, which he later dismissed as garbage, this was inspired by an irritating Kelloggs Cornflakes TV advert. He famously liked to work with the television on in the background.
Eyewitnesses have told of the confusion, panic and terror that erupted on the streets of the Champs-Elysees in Paris last night when an ISIS terrorist opened fire on police.

Parisians were forced to cower in restaurants and flee in fear of their lives as Karim Cheurfi, 39, shot dead one policeman and wounded two other officers.

The Kalashnikov-wielding gunman, who used the war name 'Abu Yousuf the Belgian', also injured a foreign female tourist when a bullet ricocheted off the police car.

Scores of tourists were seen running into side streets, some in tears, as the attack unfolded in the French capital's popular shopping district.

'People were running, bumping into each other and crashing into tables', said a 39-year-old woman who had been dining in a restaurant off the boulevard bustling with visitors.

Some took cover in restaurants or shops, while others ran into cinemas to get off the strip that is nicknamed 'the most beautiful avenue in the world.'

'I heard shots and I went to see what it was. I saw two bodies on the ground and people screaming, running everywhere,' said Mehdi, a communications consultant.

One policeman has been killed and two more injured in a shooting on the Champs-Elysees this evening

Chelloug, an eyewitness, who said: 'It was a terrorist. He came out with a Kalashnikov and started shooting, but he could've shot us on the pavement and killed more people with a spray of shots'

Badi Ftaiti, a Tunisian-born mason who has spent three decades in Paris, said people were 'running, running....Some were crying. There were tens, maybe even hundreds of them.

Asked whether the attack was evidence that 'Paris isn't Paris' anymore, as claimed by Donald Trump, Ftaiti said the U.S. President is 'barking up the wrong tree.'

He says: 'Paris is Paris. It's America that's not America.'

Choukri Chouanine, the manager of a restaurant near the site of the shooting, said: 'We had to hide our customers in the basement,' adding 'lots of gunfire.'

Another witness called Chelloug said: 'So I came out of Sephora and I was walking on the pavement and I got to Alain Affelou, there was a police van and the guy came in an Audi A80, an old grey Audi.

'He parked just behind the van and he got out with a Kalashnikov and I heard six gunshots. I thought they were firecrackers, because we all looked around the road and there was no-one.

GUNMAN WAS KNOWN EXTREMIST Gunman Karim Cheurfi was killed by police after he got out of his Audi and opened fire at police stopped at a red light on Champs Elysees. His car was packed with more weapons, including a pump action shotgun and knives. A copy of the Koran was also found in the vehicle. Traffic officer Xavier Jugele, 37, died instantly with a shot to the head, while the other two were hurt before Cheurfi himself was gunned down by nearby armed police. Pictured (left and right) is the suspected ISIS gunman, who has been identified locally as 39-year-old Karim Cheurfi Traffic officer Xavier Jugele (pictured), 37, died instantly with a shot to the head, while the other two were hurt before Cheurfi himself was gunned down by nearby armed police A ricocheting bullet fired by the terrorist also wounded a female foreign tourist passing by. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack and nicknamed the attacker 'Abu Yousuf al-Belgiki', which translates to 'the Belgian' in Arabic - a name which was listed in uncovered documents from the terror group last year. A note declaring allegiance to ISIS was discovered on the Champs Elysees and is being investigated by police. Pictured is armed police crowded two other officers, believed to have been shot in the attack, on Champs Elysees last night A still image from video footage shows police forensic investigators inspect the car used by the attacker in Paris last night Its presence and the speed at which ISIS claimed responsibility may suggest the attack was directed by the jihadist group rather than carried out by a lone supporter. Dramatic footage captured the moment French police chased and shot at the gunman, who later died. Officers have been searching the home of the alleged shooter in east Paris and arrested three of his family members. Cheurfi was detained last month after it emerged he was trying to buy weapons 'to kill police', but was released due to lack of evidence. Advertisement

'In fact, he was hidden behind the van and shooting at the police. I think he hit a policeman. As soon as the policeman opened the door of the van, he fell, I think. As soon as we saw that, we all ran back inside Alain Affelou. We hid and I went up to the first floor and we saw them (the policeman) shoot him (the perpetrator).

'It was one of the policeman who fell. And the one policeman who was injured I think.

'In the shop there must have been about 50 of us. They were foreigners, most of them. They didn't understand. They were looking at me saying: "What? What?". I said "It's okay, they've killed him."

'It was a terrorist. He came out with a Kalashnikov and started shooting, but he could've shot us on the pavement and killed more people with a spray of shots - but he targeted the policemen and fortunately there were the policemen who killed him.'

Eyewitnesses said they thought the noises were firecrackers when the first shots were fired

One said he saw the shooter with a Kalashnikov and said 'it was a terrorist' as she described the scene

This man told the BBC he hid behind police trucks when he heard the gunfire, taking shelter

One man told the BBC: 'We were moving towards the car and then I heard two or three shots, but I didn't realise they were shots. Then there was just panic all around.

'Everyone started running down the Champs-Elysees, just by instinct. I didn't stop to work out what was going on, I just ran too.

'There were some police already in place, blocking the road with their trucks so I just took shelter. I can't say what was going on back at the scene, I just had time to run away.'

Another, who wished to stay anonymous, said: 'I saw someone shoot at the police officers. They returned fire, they killed him, he fell on the floor. And then the emergency services came.

'It took place by Zara...down, a bit further down, by Zara and there was a CRS (Republican Security Companies) van parked up and the man shot the police officers. He took out a weapon and shot them. I think the police officer was killed on the spot and his colleagues fired back and killed the individual.'

Police officers control a man in a street near the Champs Elysees in Paris after the shooting. Officers are said to be raiding the home of the dead shooter in East Paris

Another witness described seeing a police officer shoot the gunman, as she hastily explained to visiting tourists that he was dead

An emergency meeting has been scheduled following the shootings and world leaders have sent messages to the French capital

A shopkeeper called Ines told BFM TV: 'At first, we thought it was a firecracker.

'People were crying and everyone was running around.

'It's a source of anxiety because we do not really know what's going on.'

Cyril, 40, a witness told the Telegraph: 'I was on the corner beside Marks and Spencer and Zara, waiting in my car for a friend, 10 or 15 metres from a police van. I saw a man all in black approaching the van as if he was asking for information, and he took out a Kalashnikov and fired, with his right hand.

'I started my car and pushed three or four other cars so I could do a U-turn. Im totally certain he meant to kill the police. He was wearing a big black quilted coat and had hidden the gun under it.'

Police officers in protective clothing stand guard at the Champs Elysees after the attack

Officers seal off part of the road as worries Parisians make calls to loved ones and prepare for the evening

People hold their hands up as they walk in a street near the site of a shooting at the Champs Elysees

A man close to the scene recounted: 'We were sitting with a friend of mine. At that point we went towards the car which was parked just in front of the cafe terrace.

'All of a sudden everybody got up and started to run. We didn't even have the time to understand [what was going on]. We just heard two or three gunshots it wasn't a Kalashnikov. We ran.

'I didn't really know what was going on. The police told us to move further down. I didn't even see the scene. I didn't see if there were two or three or one. Honesty I don't know at all. Apart from run I didn't really do anything.'

And he continued: 'Everyone on the terrace got up and ran. The chairs fell no the ground.'

Police are searching the home of the shooter in east Paris and the attacker mentioned on social media that he 'wanted to kill police', according to BFM TV.

The Interior Ministry spokesman said on BFM TV the officers were deliberately targeted and the police union added that one of them was shot dead while sat in a car at a red light.

French President Francois Hollande has scheduled an emergency meeting following the shootings on Thursday evening.
William Holmes (pictured), 27, was arrested for urinating on a Dallas cop car before punching an officer in the face, police said

A blue-haired man was arrested for urinating on a Dallas squad car before punching an officer in the face, according to police.

William Holmes, 27, was seen on security footage at the Zenna Restaurant, where two officers were having lunch on Saturday afternoon, according to CBS Dallas.

The footage showed Holmes getting up from his seat and walking outside to the police car.

Holmes then appears to urinate on the police car before punching out the window.

Once Holmes walked back in the restaurant, the two officers confronted him.

The three shared a few words, before Holmes appears to punch one of the officers in the face.

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Holmes was seen on security footage (pictured) outside the Zenna Restaurant, where two officers were having lunch on Saturday afternoon. The footage showed Holmes walking out to the police car. He then appears to urinate on the car before punching out the window

Once Holmes (pictured) walked back in the restaurant, the two officers confronted him

The three shared a few words, before Holmes (pictured) appeared to punch one of the officers in the face

Holmes was restrained by the officers after a brief struggle.

Mike Mata with the Dallas Police Association told the station that the video is an example of the unpredictable dangers officers now face on the job.

'Some individuals think it's a war on cops and they're going to play it out in the streets,' said Mata.

Mata said this type of aggression only limits the amount of people willing to wear the badge.

'Nobody signs a piece of paper when they become an officer that says, "I'm going to take a beating every day,"' Mata said.

Holmes is facing felony assault on an officer and criminal mischief charges.

Holmes (pictured) was restrained by the officers after a brief struggle
A man who wore a bunny costume and repeatedly blew an air horn inside a New Jersey police station has pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.

Kevin Hemmerich entered the plea Thursday and was fined $500. The judge also ordered a police officer charged with striking Hemmerich in Hopatcong, New Jersey last November to stand trial July 6.

Hopatcong police Officer Nicholas Maresca Jr. has pleaded not guilty to charges of simple assault and harassment. More than 50 officers went to court to support him.

On November 17, Kevin Hemmerich, accompanied by his brother, entered the Hopatcong Police Department lobby to turn himself in for an outstanding warrant.

Prankster: Kevin Hemmerich was turning himself in for an outstanding warrant on November 17, however he went to Hopatcong Police Station dressed as a bunny and with an air horn

Hemmerich's brother accompanied him to the station and was filming while Hemmeriwch sounded the air horn inside the police station, all the while laughing

Kevin Hemmerich was dressed in a bunny costume and repeatedly blew the air horn.

The encounter between Maresca and Hemmerich was captured on a video shot by Hemmerich's brother, who has also now been charged.

The video shows Hemmerich entering the Hopatcong police station and blowing the air horn repeatedly despite being told to stop.

Kevin Hemmerich's brother, Jason Hemmerich, said his sibling went to the police station to turn himself in on a warrant related to a motor vehicle accident.

Kevin Hemmerich faced an arrest warrant for not completing a work program that was in lieu of jail time for failing to have car insurance.

Jason Hemmerich said two officers began cursing at them and one hit Kevin Hemmerich in the face.

Not happy: Hopatcong police Officer Nicholas Maresca Jr. confronted Hemmerich about the air horn and then slapped him across the face

This is the moment officer Nicholas Maresca, Jr. hits Hemmerich. However Maresca's lawyer says he is confident the charges against the cop will be dropped

Maresca's attorney, Anthony Iacullo, told NJ.com that Maresca 'acted appropriately and in accordance with his training and experience as a police officer.'

He said Maresca would be vindicated.

'We are confident that when this matter proceeds to trial Officer Maresca will be vindicated of the one charge against him,' Iacullo said.

Maresca has been placed on administrative duty, prosecutors said.

Jason  who was charged a day later with obstruction, harassment and disorderly conduct  says the police officers acted inappropriately.

'He wasn't being violent or belligerent. He wasn't drunk or on drugs. It was a prank,' he said.
An Alabama teenager who disappeared last December after telling her parents she was taking out the trash has been found almost 1,300 miles away in Texas.

Myra Alissia Freeman vanished from her family's home without a trace in Highland Home, Alabama, on December 13.

Two days ago the teenager, who was best known by her middle name, made contact with her mother for the first time via video chat from El Paso, Texas, near the Mexican border.

Her mother rushed to be with her and the pair were reunited this week.

Alissia Freeman, 18, disappeared from her home in Highland Home, Alabama, in December. 2015 (left before she vanished) She was found safe and well in El Paso, Texas, this week (right) after making contact with her mother

The family, which appealed for help online to find the teenager, has not yet revealed where she has been.

"All I care about is the fact that my niece has been found. She's safe, she's alive. Right now that's the biggest focus and that's the only thing we're going to focus on.

'We'll get the answers in time,' her uncle, Calvin Thornton told Click 2 Houston.

Photographs of Alissia show her looking healthy and happy in a restaurant in El Paso.

Police have not revealed how Alissia spent her time away from her family, whether she went willingly or why she suddenly contacted them again.

On April 17, her family shared the news on a Facebook page set up to help find her. 'We wanted to let you all know that we have talked to Alissia today.. Praise God!

The girl's family shared the news she had been found safe and well on a Facebook page set up to help find her

Alissia's mother Vicky Metcalf shared this selfie with her (left) and cheerfully updated her missing person's poster

At the time of her disappearance, investigators said she may have been in the company of an adult male and may have needed medical attention.

It is not yet clear where the teenager has been or how she has spent the last year

No other information, including if she had her phone or any money with her when she vanished, emerged.

On Tuesday, her family said on the Facebook page set up to find her: 'She is safe and okay!

'We know you all will have lots of questions, but right now all we can say is that she is alright and that is what is most important.

'Thank you all so very much for standing in prayer with us for her safety!

'We cant tell you how much it has and will always mean to us! Thank you!' it read.

Alissia's mother Vicky Metcalf shared a smiling selfie with the teenager once they had reunited.

She took to Facebook to blast others who had sent her daughter 'ugly' messages.

'She is just trying to heal now. No one has any right to say anything negative to her or about her,' she said.
Two Seattle police officers were shot and another was injured Thursday while responding to a robbery, authorities said.

The incident began just after 1pm local time, with a reported robbery in downtown Seattle.

Officers arrived at the scene and came into contact with suspects, two men and a woman, and a fight ensued between one officer and one male suspect, reported KOMO News.

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Two Seattle police officers were shot and another was injured Thursday while responding to a robbery, authorities said

There is still significant police activity in the area and several downtown roads are blocked off

While the two were fighting, a female suspect hit the officer in the head with a bottle, and the two started to run. A third suspect then came out of the store and opened fire, hitting two of the officers.

One of the suspected shooters is dead, another is under arrest, and a third, described as a black man, about 5 foot 11 inches, wearing a black jacket, glasses and a Seahawks beanie, is on the run.

A female officer, 42, was struck in a bullet-proof vest, and had minor injuries. However, a male officer, 32, was struck in the chin and rib cage, and listed in critical condition with potentially life-threatening injuries.

The incident began just after 1pm local time with a reported robbery at the 7-Eleven on the 600 block of 1st Avenue in downtown Seattle

An evidence marker with the No. 1 on it sits near the scene of a shooting in which three police offices were injured, one critically

The third office was grazed on the hand, reported KOMO. The two officers hit by bullets were rushed to a Seattle hospital.

Police cruisers flooded the area closing streets, and officers warned people to stay away.

There is still significant police activity in the area and several downtown roads are blocked off.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said that 'this is still an active crime scene,' and urged people to steer clear of the area.

He also said that he spoke to the two officers at Harborview medical center, and that 'They're obviously in pain, they're in discomfort. Their attitude is great. They're smiling,' reported the Seattle Times.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, right, and Deputy Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best, second from right, walk away after briefing reporters near the scene of the shooting

Seattle Police officers walk with guns near the scene of a shooting involving several police officers in downtown Seattle. Police cruisers flooded the area closing streets, and officers warned people to stay away

The department disclosed the shooting on its Twitter feed at about 1:40 p.m. Thursday, saying the robbery had been reported near the waterfront, several blocks south of Pike Place Market.

Brad Clough, who works at a bicycle repair shop in the area, said he heard sirens and saw at least several dozen police officers converge on the scene.

'Wow. This is real,' he said, describing SWAT officers racing down the street.
Business Secretary Sajid Javid has questions to answer regarding taxi firm Uber, which has been able to dramatically undercut its old-fashioned rivals. The income of black cabbies has declined by around 25 per cent since the rise of Uber

Last summer, Business Secretary Sajid Javid was facing a couple of very awkward questions.

They had been posed by Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, a trade union which represents the capitals 24,000 traditional black cab drivers.

And they concerned a thorny topic: the Tory ministers relationship with Californian-based internet firm Uber.

The controversial, tax-dodging Silicon Valley company  which runs a smartphone app that allows users to summon cheap minicabs  is a serious threat to the livelihoods of McNamaras highly-trained and regulated members.

Uber launched in the UK in 2012. Its enormous financial muscle (investors subsidise annual losses of around 2 billion), clever tax arrangements (it pays no VAT and most UK earnings are funnelled to Bermuda via Holland), and cavalier approach to regulation and employment law allow it to dramatically undercut its old-fashioned rivals.

Many black cabbies, whose income has declined by around 25 per cent as a result, were  and still are  therefore being forced off the road.

The fact is that tens of thousands of Uber cars now operate in London and about 30 other UK cities and towns. They add to pollution, and make traffic congestion worse.

There are also growing concerns about passenger safety. At one point, complaints of rape and sexual assault against Uber drivers were made in London at a rate of roughly one every 11 days.

The Mail revealed last month that Cameron, Chancellor George Osborne and several other Cabinet ministers led by Downing Street aide Daniel Korski, lobbied Boris Johnson on behalf of Uber

Against this already troubling background, a series of extraordinary revelations in the Mail have in recent weeks thrown the firm to the centre of an extraordinary political scandal.

It dates back to late 2015, when, we have disclosed, senior figures in David Camerons government decided to secretly intervene to persuade the then Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to abandon proposed new regulations that would curb Ubers growth in the capital.

As the Mail originally revealed last month, Cameron, Chancellor George Osborne and several other Cabinet ministers, along with their publicly funded staff, led by a Downing Street aide called Daniel Korski, launched a campaign to aggressively lobby fellow Tory Johnson on behalf of the tax-dodging firm.

During this period, between September 2015 and January 2016, the Mayor was considering measures to curtail Ubers growing dominance of the London taxi market.

Uber PR chief Rachel Whetstone, 49, one of David Cameron and George Osborne's closest friends, quit her role at the private hire company when the scandal reached a rolling boil

These included making cab drivers pass an English language test (many Uber drivers are foreign-born), capping the number of licences available, and requiring minicab firms to wait five minutes between accepting a booking and picking up a customer (Uber prides itself on fulfilling orders in an average of three).

But after intensive badgering by Cameron, Osborne and No 10 officials, plus several other loyal ministers, Johnson caved in, and dropped all significant new rules.

Ubers revenues soared. Since at the time it employed Rachel Whetstone, one of PMs and his Chancellors closest friends, as its most senior UK lobbyist, this affair seems to many in Whitehall to raise serious questions about cronyism and corruption.

Last week, as the scandal reached a rolling boil, Whetstone  whod known Cameron for 25 years and was the godmother of his late son Ivan  announced shed suddenly quit Uber.

Meanwhile, the Information Commissioner announced an investigation into suspicions  again revealed by the Mail  that No 10 officials had breached the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, in an attempt to keep their lobbying of Johnson secret.

They are accused of deliberately hiding emails that showed how Korski had corresponded with the Mayors Transport for London quango about Uber. Deliberately destroying, hiding or altering requested information is a criminal offence under the FOI act.

We shall return to this matter later. But first, back to the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association. For it has unearthed evidence that it claims shows a very similar sort of FOI cover-up involving staff working for Sajid Javid, who (unlike Osborne and Cameron) remains a Cabinet Minister.

This example stretches back to April 2016, when cabbies heard two intriguing rumours concerning the involvement of the then Business Secretary, now Communities Secretary, in this secret, and ethically dubious, lobbying campaign.

One suggested Javid had helped organise a meeting in Westminster just before Christmas 2015, at which senior Tories ordered Boris Johnson to lay off Uber. Several other Cabinet ministers, special advisers and Downing Street staff were said to be present.

An email suggests Javid helped organise a meeting in Westminster just before Christmas 2015, when senior Tories told Boris Johnson to lay off Uber

The other rumour was that Javids staff at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills had, in October 2015, lobbied their opposite numbers at the Competition and Markets Authority  a regulator charged with protecting the public from unfair monopolies  to ask Johnson to drop several proposed Uber regulations.

Their entreaties, it was claimed, helped persuade the Authority, in December 2015, to publish a statement saying it was concerned the Mayor would excessively and unnecessarily weaken competition if he cracked down on Uber.

To establish whether either story might be true, the cabbies union decided to use the Freedom of Information Act to find out what the Department for Business  known as BIS  had been up to.

Cameron's key confidante Oliver Letwin held extensive talks with Boris Johnson and the Transport Secretary

It wrote asking for copies of email or written correspondence between ministers, special advisors and senior civil servants and other Government departments or public bodies relating to Transport for Londons regulations with regard minicabs for the period September to December 2015.

On June 10, Javids department responded, in a letter on headed notepaper attributed to the Whitehall regulatory delivery directorate. Short and unequivocal, it declared that following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that there are no records of the sort requested.

In other words, it appeared the department was claiming that neither Javid, nor any of his special advisers, nor any senior department civil servant had sent any email to any other ministry or public body concerning the proposed Uber regulations, during the period in question.

Remember: this reply was sent under the Freedom of Information Act, which requires Government officials to answer such questions truthfully. Breaking it can lead to criminal prosecution.

All of which now raises some troubling questions. For as a result of emails that were later disclosed by Londons City Hall after a separate FOI request, we now know that Javid was indeed present at a meeting held to discuss the proposed Uber regulations on December 16, 2015.

It saw him, along with Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin and key Cameron confidante Oliver Letwin, hold extensive talks on the issue with Johnson himself.

Also there, according to a civil servants note of the proceedings, were various Government officials and special advisers including Daniel Korski, the Downing Street fixer.

Senior figures in David Camerons government decided to secretly intervene to persuade the then Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to abandon proposed new regulations that would curb Ubers growth in the capital

The official purpose of the meeting, the civil servants email explained, was to discuss what it called the consultation on the Private Hire Regulations Review  the exact topic McNamaras FOI request asked for correspondence about. Given this fact, Javids departments response that there was no record seems  shall we say?  odd.

In theory, such a denial could only be supported if that key December 2015 meeting (involving several ministers, advisers and other officials, from across Whitehall and Downing Street) had been scheduled without any correspondence being sent to or by Javid, or any of his senior members of staff or civil servants.

Is it reasonable to believe, in an ever-more-connected world where even minor meetings are routinely arranged via email, that this was the case?

Is it also plausible that after this important meeting, no record, minutes of proceedings, or other note of its existence, or even any related correspondence can have been conveyed to or from anyone senior in Javids department?

Daniel Korski, the Downing Street fixer, was among various Government officials and special advisers at the talks between the Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin and Johnson, according to a civil servant's notes

In response to questions from the Mail, Javids staff insist that they acted appropriately.

There are clear procedures in place when it comes to answering Freedom of Information requests and all of those were followed, they say. Searches were undertaken to identify any correspondence within the scope of the request  these were carried out within Freedom of Information rules and no relevant information was identified.

However, not everyone is convinced.

The taxi union has written to the Information Commissioner, which regulates FOI disclosures, asking for a formal investigation into whether the departments claims were accurate. Its also filed a complaint to the Parliamentary Standards Committee and the head of the Civil Service.

We shall see what becomes of them. But as the Mail revealed last week, the Information Commissioner has already begun at least one inquiry into a parallel incident involving Camerons No 10 team.

It centres on a response to another Freedom of Information request sent in March last year in which No 10 denied there were records of any exchanges about Uber with Boris Johnsons City Hall officials.

In fact, No 10s claim was later shown to be highly dubious.

For such correspondence, as the Mail reported, was separately found and released by Transport for London. This showed that Daniel Korski sent the organisation at least three emails and received four about Uber.

There are widespread calls for a full Parliamentary inquiry. Lib Dem leader Tim Farron says: 'Its time a full investigation was undertaken into this cover-up at the heart of Government

Not surprisingly, there is a growing furore about this suspected culture of cover-up  fuelled by the fact that Osborne, who was one of those lobbying for Uber to be spared stringent new rules in London, is now being paid 600,000 a year to work one day per week for BlackRock, a U.S. investment firm with a 500 million stake in Uber.

Indeed, there are widespread calls across Westminster for a full Parliamentary inquiry into the relationship between Uber and Camerons inner circle.

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron says: There is a gathering amount of evidence that No 10 and ministers attempted to cover their tracks over how they have lobbied for Uber. Its time a full investigation was undertaken into this cover-up at the heart of Government.

Meanwhile, there is the second, parallel issue that the taxi union had heard whispers of: the question of whether Javids staff secretly urged the Competition and Markets Authority to criticise Boris Johnsons proposed crackdown on Uber.

For while his BIS department has formally insisted neither Javid, nor his advisers, nor any senior civil servants contacted any other public body about Uber during the period in question, a separate FOI request  to the Competition and Markets Authority  appears to tell a different story. It reveals Authority staff discussed Uber with BIS colleagues via email on multiple occasions. On October 5, 2015, for example, staff at the regulator were told that Javids department wanted to know if were planning to respond to the Transport for London [TfL] consultation on Uber.

Osborne, who was one of those lobbying for Uber to be spared stringent new rules in London, is now working one day per week for BlackRock, which has a 500m stake in Uber

Emails were then exchanged between officials at Javids department and the Competition and Markets Authority on October 12, 13 and 14, with the subject line Tfl/Uber. They mentioned that staff at the two organisations were scheduling phone conversations to discuss details of their respective positions on Uber.

On October 19, a member of the Authoritys staff even contacted one of his peers at the Department for Transport, apparently on the instructions of a BIS civil servant, saying: I had a useful conversation with [name redacted] about BISs thinking on this matter and I thought it would be useful to speak to you as well.

Finally, on October 27, an official at Javids BIS department exchanged emails with a colleague at the Authority saying his office would find it very useful to know where CMAs thinking is on Uber regulations and proposing a quick call on the phone to discuss it.

It follows that multiple emails about the Uber affair were being sent from Javids department to the Competition and Markets Authority, a public body, during the period in question.

A stench now hangs over not only Camerons No 10 team, but a growing swathe of Whitehall. And, of course, a serving Cabinet Minister, Sajid Javid

So, why did Javids ministry suspect no such email existed?

Asked about this matter, a spokesman for Javids ministry claimed that those emails were not disclosed in the BIS departments original FOI response because they failed to fall in the scope of the request.

The spokesman argued that the FOI request that was refused had merely asked for correspondence about Uber from senior civil servants, and said that the civil servant who sent the emails from BIS to the CMA was not sufficiently important to be officially regarded as senior.

Is that a fair point, or weasel words? Sadly, we cannot be sure: the individuals name has been redacted from the correspondence released under FOI.

However, what we do know is that after these emails were exchanged, the CMA took the unusual step of deciding to speak out forcefully against regulation of Uber.

Its eight-page statement opposing nine of Boris Johnsons 25 proposals, published in December 2015, stunned many observers, who did not regard the issue of cab regulation in London as being something the Competition and Markets Authority ought to take an interest in.

After all, the public organisation, which is charged with protect consumers from the unfair power monopolies, had only days earlier been formally asked  again by the black cab lobby  to investigate whether loss-making Uber was using a predatory pricing structure.

A written complaint to the Competition and Markets Authority by taxi-drivers (seen by the Mail) claimed that tax-dodging Uber was charging artificially low fares in order to try to drive competitors out of existence and establish a monopoly which could be exploited in future.

In response to that complaint, the Authority said it would not investigate the matter because it was unlikely to fit with the CMAs current strategic priorities.

So at one moment, the Competition and Markets Authority was claiming it wasnt interested in an Uber issue.

The next moment, just days later, it was deciding to publish a lengthy document telling Boris Johnson in great detail why he ought to leave Uber alone. It gives the impression of being a strange, and sudden, volte face.

And theres another intriguing piece of this complicated jig-saw. Alex Chisholm, a career civil servant who was the CMAs chief executive at the time of this controversy, has since become permanent secretary in Sajid Javids BIS department.

And for its part, the Competition and Markets Authority vigorously denies that either Javid or anyone from the BIS department had any influence on its decision to oppose regulation of Uber, saying: We did not respond to the consultation because of an instruction by Government.

We chose to respond as we believed it could reduce competition.

Yet many MPs are increasingly concerned about this affair. Among them is Labours Wes Streeting, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Taxis, who has seen copies of emails between Javids department and the Competition and Markets Authority.

He says: The Competition and Markets Authority is supposed to be independent of government and acting in the interests of customers. If, as it appears, senior figures in government have leant on the CMA in Ubers favour, this is incredibly serious and demands an independent investigation.

Given that the Competition and Markets Authority told the taxi industry that an inquiry into Uber was out of scope, and then subsequently lobbied the Mayor of London in Ubers favour, there is a foul stench of hypocrisy hanging over the whole affair.

Hes right, of course. For that stench now hangs over not only Camerons No 10 team, but a growing swathe of Whitehall. And, of course, a serving Cabinet Minister, Sajid Javid.

So a full Parliamentary inquiry, into this ever smellier scandal, is surely the only way to clear the air.
President Donald Trump says North Korea is a 'menace' - but he didn't want to cast the country's dictator as 'mentally unstable' as he talked about him Thursday.

Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, called the 33-year-old a 'crazy fat kid' last month. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday that Kim Jong-un is a 'nutjob.'

Trump wouldn't go there today during a White House news conference.

'I can't...answer your question on stability,' he told Fox News' John Roberts. 'I hope the answer is a positive one, not a negative one.'

President Donald Trump says North Korea is a 'menace' - but he didn't want to cast the country's dictator as 'mentally unstable' as he talked about him Thursday

The U.S. president instead talked about his budding friendship with China's Xi Jinping and the country's military readiness.

'We are in very good shape, and we're building our military rapidly,' he said. 'I've been here for approximately 91 days. We're doing a lot of work. We're in very good position.'

Addressing the conflict with North Korea over its ballistic missile tests and nuclear ambitions, 'hopefully that will be something that gets taken care of.'

Xi is 'working very hard' to keep North Korea from developing an intercontinental ballistic missile. 'All of the pundits out there are saying they never have seen China work like they're working right now,' Trump said.

'Some very unusual moves have been made over the last two or three hours,' the president stated, without offering any indication of what he might have meant.

Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, called the 33-year-old a 'crazy fat kid' last month. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday that Kim Jong-un is a 'nutjob.' Trump wouldn't go there today during a White House news conference

The White House press office did not immediately clear up the statement, either.

Trump frankly admitted that he was using a trade deal as leverage to get the kind of action he's been pushing for in North Korea, China's largest trading partner.

'I actually told him, I said, "You'll make a much better deal on trade if you get rid of this menace or do something about the menace of North Korea." Because that's what it is, it's a menace right now.

'So we'll see what happens,' Trump said.

Trump has backed off from claims that China is a currency manipulator while he tries to coax Xi into standing up to Kim.

China's banned coal shipments and rare metal imports from North Korea, in line with United Nations resolutions calling for international sanctions. But Trump wants Xi to do more.

'I really have confidence that the president will try very hard. We don't know whether or not they're able to do that, but I have absolute confidence that he will be trying very, very hard,' Trump said.
A Utah girl who survived a gunshot wound to the head by two teenage boys she thought were her friends left the hospital on Wednesday after more than two months.

Deserae Turner, 14, spoke out for the first time since the incident at a Salt Lake City hospital, where she's been treated since she was found in a ditch on February 17.

After more than two months, she said that she can't wait to see her favorite horse, 'Junior,' but declined to talk about the injuries or the circumstances.

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Deserae Turner, 14, (pictured with her parents) spoke out for the first time since the incident at a Salt Lake City hospital, where she's been treated since she was found in a ditch on February 17

She arrived at the press conference in a wheelchair and had short hair, a brace on her lower leg, and wore a shirt saying 'Happy'

On February 16, two 16-year-old boys lured her to an isolated spot, then robbed and shot her, authorities said.

The 14-year-old arrived at the press conference in a wheelchair. She had short hair, a brace on her lower left leg and wore a shirt saying, 'Happy.'

She thanked doctors, therapists and those who sent her prayers.

Her father, Matt Turner, said it's a joyous day and called his daughter a determined and courageous young woman who has battled for her life.

Deserae Turner has to be put in a medically induced coma after she was shot in the head

The crime shocked residents in the small town of Smithfield, a bedroom community near Logan, Utah.

Authorities say the two teenage boys accused of shooting Turner concocted the plan while playing video games and discussing their desire to 'get rid' of the girl who was texting one of them.

One of the boys told police that he shot her because he was annoyed she kept messaging him on Snapchat.

The boys, who are not named because they are minors, are charged with attempted aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and obstruction of justice.

Turner considered the boys, both 16, her friends, and was left in utter disbelief when she woke up in the hospital to learn they had shot her in the head and left her in a dirty canal in Smithfield, Utah, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Cache County Sheriff Deputy Brian Groves said in court that one of the boys complained to the other defendant about Turner texting and Snapchatting him too frequently.

The defendant responded: 'It would be pretty easy to get rid of her.'

After the premeditated shooting, the boys stole her backpack with her cellphone and iPod.

The shooter originally intended to slit Turner's throat and let her bleed out in the rural area. However, the boys decided it would be quieter to just shoot her

Turner told her friends over text message that she was getting 'picked on' by the two boys. They invited Turner to meet her at the canal to sell her a knife.

The shooter originally intended to slit Turner's throat and let her bleed out in the rural area. However, the boys decided it would be quieter to just shoot her.

One of the boys took a bullet casing from the scene as a memento of the crime.

When the shooter was speaking about the murder plot to the other defendant, he callously said over text: 'Let's get this done, bro.'

Turner was found by two women who were searching for her body after reports that she was missing stated spreading on social media.

When she was found, her injuries were so severe that she had to be put in a medically induced coma at a Salt Lake City hospital.

A hearing is set for May 8 which will determine if the 16-year-olds will be tried as adults or children.
Sam Gyimah, prisons minister, will announce plans to keep radical inmates separate in three prisons

Dangerous jihadists will be locked up in prisons within prisons to stop them brainwashing vulnerable inmates.

Up to 28 Muslim extremists will be caged in specialist separation centres in a drive to tackle the growing problem of radicalisation behind bars.

The move, to be announced by ministers today, will prevent them preying on other convicts. Islamist terrorists, hate preachers and criminals radicalised behind bars will be held in the wings at three jails.

The first centre will be up and running at top-security HMP Frankland in Durham within weeks. Two units will follow at other maximum-security jails.

Each will house only a small number of prisoners, making it easier to monitor them and reduce the risk of them plotting atrocities from behind bars.

They are expected to be isolated from the rest of the prison rather than in wings attached to the main jail. There the inmates would be subjected to intensive de-radicalisation programmes.

Prisons minister Sam Gyimah said: Any form of extremism must be defeated wherever it is found, and it is right that we separate those who pose the greatest risk in order to limit their influence over other prisoners. These centres are a crucial part of our wider strategy to help tackle extremism in prisons and ensure the safety and security of our prisons and the public.

It is right that we separate those who pose the greatest risk in order to limit their influence over other prisoners. Prisons minister Sam Gyimah

Until now Islamist terrorists have been dispersed around the prison system in the same way that IRA terrorists convicted on the mainland were in the past.

But a review by former prison governor Ian Acheson called for the most dangerous and charismatic offenders to be isolated from the general prison population to prevent them spreading their poison.

His 100-page report suggested a hardcore of jihadist prisoners was already engineering the de facto separation of Muslim and non-Muslim prisoners.

The number of radicals has swollen in recent years with jihadis returning from Syria and Iraq, creating a potentially lethal problem.

Governors say that in some prisons Muslim gangs force vulnerable inmates to convert to Islam.

There are around 13,000 Muslims in prison with more than 1,000 identified as extremist or vulnerable to radicalisation.

Decisions on which prisoners are placed in the units will be taken by specialist senior staff.

Up to 28 identified extremists will be put into prisons within prisons to prevent them spreading their views to vulnerable targets. File image

The first centre will be up and running at top-security HMP Frankland in Durham, above, within weeks. Two units will follow at other maximum-security jails

Once in a centre, they will be reviewed by experts every three months and returned to the main jail only if the threat they pose has reduced sufficiently.

It is understood that the first prisoners who will be sent to a unit are yet to be identified. In his review, published last year, Mr Acheson said intelligence showed there was a small number of people whose behaviour is so egregious in relation to proselytising this pernicious ideology, this lethal, nihilistic death cult ideology, which gets magnified inside prison.

The ex-governor, who looked at specialist units in Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, France and Spain, added: There is, we believe, justification for saying, for those small number of people, they need to be completely incapacitated from being able to proselytise to the rest of the prison population.

But ministers have been warned that locking up extremists in special jihadi wings will be akin to opening up a British Guantanamo Bay. The Prison Officers Association claims that isolating hate preachers and Islamist terror offenders would give them credibility and put warders at greater risk of being maimed or murdered.

Earlier this month the Government launched a 100-strong team of counter-terrorism experts to tackle poisonous extremism in jails.

Other measures include a ban on extremist literature in prisons and the removal of anyone from communal worship who promotes dangerous views.
Referring to her as the 'First Daughter and Assistant to the President,' the White House released Ivanka Trump's schedule for her trip to Germany next week.

The president's eldest daughter will visit Berlin 'at the direct invitation' of Chancellor Angela Merkel, the White House noted, to participate in the Women's 20 Summit.

On the heels of Press Secretary Sean Spicer's Holocaust gaffe, Ivanka Trump will pay her respects at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews in Europe during her Tuesday trip.

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Ivanka Trump will make her first solo international trip as 'First Daughter and Assistant to the President,' to Germany next week

In Germany, Ivanka Trump (left) will again meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right), participating in a panel discussion and honoring Holocaust victims

Ivanka Trump (left), photographed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right), will visit Siemens Technik Akademie in Berlin on Tuesday

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) is photographed chatting with first daughter Ivanka Trump (right) during a White House meeting on vocational training in March

Ivanka Trump will start her day with a visit to the American embassy in Berlin.

From there she'll participate in a panel discussion with a number of prominent faces including Merkel, International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.

In March, Ivanka Trump and Chancellor Merkel held a roundtable on 'Vocational Education and Workforce Development.'

Along the same lines, 'with education and skills training being central to Ivanka and Chancellor Merkels agenda,' the first daughter will visit Siemens Technik Akademie after the women's panel.

From there, Ivanka Trump, who is Jewish, will head to the Holocaust memorial.

Last week, during Passover, White House Press Secretary Spicer favorably compared Adolf Hitler to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, causing international outcry.

Spicer apologized multiple times, but the gaffe didn't do the Trump administration any favors as acts of anti-Semitism have ticked up as President Trump has taken power.

Ivanka Trump's visit is in honor of, Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, but is also a savvy public relations move for the administration, in the aftermath of the Spicer incident.

Adding a little glitz and glamour to her first solo trip as both first daughter and an official White House aide, Ivanka Trump will conclude her day with a gala dinner.

Ivanka Trump continues to play an outsized role in her father's administration, compared to her stepmother Melania Trump, who only sporadically dips into D.C.

The first lady was on hand, however, this week playing host at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday.

Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner were the only family members not to attend the event, as the couple was continuing to celebrate Passover.
President Donald Trump tore into the nuclear pact with Iran today, deriding it as a 'terrible agreement' that 'shouldn't have been signed.'

His administration is analyzing it, Trump said, referring to the 90-day review Secretary of State Rex Tillerson initiated Tuesday.

'Im all for agreements, but that was a bad one, as bad as Ive ever seen negotiated,' the billionaire, and former businessman, said during a White House press conference. 'They are not living up to the spirit of the agreement, I can tell you that,' he added.

President Donald Trump tore into the nuclear pact with Iran today, deriding it as a 'terrible agreement' that 'shouldn't have been signed'

Tillerson branded the Iran deal a failure Wednesday.

The State Department official admitted in a letter to Congress that Iran has so far maintained its side of the bargain it struck with world powers in 2015 to curtail its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

But Tillerson argued the accord had just been a way of 'buying off' the regime and would only delay its development of a weapon that could threaten its region and the world.

'The Trump administration has no intention of passing the buck to a future administration on Iran,' Tillerson told reporters.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed between Iran and world powers restricts its nuclear fuel enrichment for 10 years. Trump has between four and eight years left in office, depending on whether he wins a second term.

Tillerson said the JCPOA 'fails to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran' and was a product of 'the same failed approach of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat we face from North Korea.'

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the review that is being jointly conducted by the relevant agencies over the next 90 days will include recommendations on whether the US should stick by the deal that Barack Obama saddled his successor with.

The nuclear deal was reached in Vienna in July 2015 between Iran and Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. It was implemented in January last year.

Failure: Rex Tillerson bluntly said that even though Iran was meeting the terms of the nuclear deal, the deal itself was a failure on Wednesday

Obama hailed it as a victory for diplomacy over the threat of another new war to disarm a rogue state in an already unstable region.

But US allies like Israel and Saudi Arabia were concerned the JCPOA does not shut down Iran's nuclear industry entirely nor forever, and Obama's domestic critics accused him of appeasing a terrorist state.

Although Tillerson confirmed at the end of a prior 90-day review period that Iran is not cheating on the terms of the JCPOA, Washington has not ruled out breaking its own side of the agreement.

'Were analyzing it very, very carefully and well have something to say about it in the not-too-distant future,' Trump said Thursday. 'But Iran has not lived up to the spirit of the agreement. And they have to do that. They have to do that. So we will see what happens.'

As a candidate in the 2016 presidential election, Trump was an outspoken critic of the deal that was intended to halt Iran's nuclear program. He's offered conflicting opinions on whether he would try to scrap it, modify it or keep it in place with more strenuous enforcement.

Asked Tuesday by DailyMail.com if Trump wants to pursue a new deal and how he'd go about getting it, Spicer said, 'That's why we're undergoing this inter-agency review.'

P'art of this is to get the...entire team to...look at it as part of...the next 90-days review that is required under the deal,' Spicer explained. 'So we will have recommendations that will be presented to the president on where the deal stands and how to act further.'

Even if the United States does not reimpose the nuclear sanctions that it dropped under the deal, it could impose penalties on Iran for its alleged sponsorship of armed 'terrorist' movements in other countries.

'We have to look at Iran in a comprehensive way in terms of the threat it poses and all areas of the region and the world. And the JCPOA is one element of that,' Tillerson said Wednesday.

'So we are going to review completely the JCPOA itself... It is another example of buying off a power who has nuclear ambitions and we buy them off for a short period of time and someone has to deal with it later.'

Tillerson told Congress it will extend sanctions relief to Iran for now.

He suggested that sanctions for other illicit behavior could come down, though.

'Iran remains a leading state sponsor of terror, through many platforms and methods,' the cabinet secretary wrote.

Deal: The agreement was signed in July 2015 (pictured: John Kerry, front-left, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, front-right) and requires a report every 90 days

Controversial: The deal, which was signed under Barack Obama's tenure, was controversial. Iran is still subject to non-nuclear human rights sanctions and Tillerson says it sponsors terror

Tillerson's letter suggested that while the administration agrees with findings by the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, that Iran is keeping to its end of the bargain, Trump is looking for another way to ratchet up pressure on Tehran.

Despite the sanctions relief, Iran remains on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism.

It supports anti-Israel groups and is still subject to non-nuclear sanctions, including some for human rights abuses and for its backing of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government.

'I would put sanctions on the regime for violating the United Nations' resolution on missile tests, humiliating our sailors and being a state sponsor of terrorism,' Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told the Today show.

Spicer declined to comment Wednesday on the potential for new sanctions. He acknowledged, though, that Iran could walk from the deal entirely if Trump OKs additional punishing actions.

'We're well aware of any potential negative impacts that an action could have. And so, regardless of whether it's an economic, political or military action, you always weigh all those kind of options,' Spicer said.

The nuclear agreement took 18 months of negotiations led by former Secretary of State John Kerry and diplomats from the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council - Britain, China, France and Russia - as well as Germany.

Under its terms, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program, long suspected of being aimed at developing atomic weapons, in return for billions of dollars in sanctions relief.

Opponents of the deal, including Israel, objected, saying it only delayed Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and did not allow for the kind of inspections of its atomic sites that would guarantee it was not cheating.

Obama, Kerry and others who negotiated the deal strenuously defended its terms and said the agreement made Israel, the Middle East and the world a safer place.

Trump is not convinced that's the case. His interagency review will take a hard look at Iran's behavior since the deal was negotiated, including the potential for violations.

'If he didn't, if he thought there were, that everything was fine, he would've, you know, allowed this to move forward,' Spicer said Wednesday. 'I think he's doing the prudent thing by asking for a review of...the current deal and what's happening.'
A vital 4billion radio system for police and emergency services will not work on the London Underground, a report warns today.

Twelve years after rescue efforts in the 2005 terror attacks were hampered by poor communications, the new system will currently not function on the Tube.

It means the Emergency Services Network (ESN) could be at risk of call blackouts as police, fire and ambulance crews respond to emergencies in London.

A vital 4billion radio system for police and emergency services will not work on the London Underground

The Commons public accounts committee said lives would be put in jeopardy during the introduction of ESN, which is due to cost the taxpayer 3.8billion between now and 2032.

It emerged that taking the current radio system  known as Airwave  out of service might leave a six-month gap in coverage.

Taking the current radio system  known as Airwave  out of service might leave a six-month gap in coverage

MPs said the Home Office had not yet finalised how the replacement, run by phone firm EE, would work on the Tube, and said this posed a significant and imminent risk.

The cross-party panel said the need for 999 crews to communicate was an essential part of keeping the public safe.

Meg Hillier, Labour chairman of the committee, said: The potential consequences of a six-month gap in emergency service communications are unthinkable.

The Government needs to tackle this now or the result will be quite simply a tragedy in waiting.

The report added: The news that part of the Airwave system will be taken out of service early strikes a major, potentially catastrophic blow to the ability of our emergency services to carry out their job.

MPs are concerned that ENS, which will be used by the 105 police, fire and ambulance services in the UK, may not meet security needs.

The timetable for transition runs to September 2020. But from March 2020 mobile phone giant Vodafone will stop providing an important piece of infrastructure that Airwave requires to function  effectively turning the system off.

Twelve years after rescue efforts in the 2005 terror attacks were hampered by poor communications, the new system will currently not function on the Tube

This raises the possibility that emergency services may not be able to communicate with each other during the six-month period.

Delays in introducing the new system is already set to cost taxpayers 475million a year, the report says.

Critics warned that after the 2005 bombings, mobile services in London crashed under the volume of use.

But ministers insist 999 crews will have priority over other users on the system and emergency workers will have faster mobile internet.

According to a previous parliamentary report, ESN is due to start coming into service in September.

Lib Dem committee member John Pugh (left) said the level of oversight by the Government was 'utterly scandalous' but Home Office minister Brandon Lewis (right) said: We wont take any risks with public safety'

Lib Dem committee member John Pugh said: This level of oversight by the Government is utterly scandalous. Lives could be put at risk and the UKs vulnerability to a major terrorist attack increased  taxpayers are being asked to fork out millions of pounds for the privilege.

A Vodafone UK spokesman said it was working to ensure continuation of service if the roll-out of ESN misses its target date.

Airwave owner Motorola Solutions said: We are working with the Home Office and Vodafone to identify viable technical options to extend the service.

Home Office minister Brandon Lewis said: We wont take any risks with public safety and there will be no gap in the emergency services communications provision.
Dennis Brian Chambers, 50, was arrested on child pornography charges

A school board president has been accused of being part of a child pornography ring.

Dennis Brian Chambers, 50, who has been an active member of the Buena Park School District Board in Buena Park, California, and president for the past year, was arrested on possession and distribution of child pornography charges on Wednesday.

Police said they had been investigating a child pornography ring for six months.

Chambers was president of the Buena Park School District board in California

After searching Chambers' house on the 8000 block of Taylor Street in Buena Park with a search warrant, cops said an electronic storage device which contained thousands of child pornographic videos and images was found in Chambers' possession.

Investigators said they have not yet been able to identify the victims and can't say whether any are from the school district.

On Thursday, Buena Park School Superintendent Greg Magnuson released a statement saying, 'This was certainly shocking and greatly disturbing for all of his in the Buena Park School District,' reported KTLA.

Police said they found an electronic device with thousands of pornographic images of children at his home (above)

Magnuson stressed that Chambers was always with adult school board members when he visited any school but that from now on he would be asked not to attend school functions or appear on any campuses.

City of Fontana police and multiple agencies involved in sex trafficking and internet crimes said they had been investigating a group of individuals that were distributing child pornography over the internet.

Authorities were able to capture several images and videos of child pornography that the individuals were sharing, said a police statement.

The detectives were then able to track IP addresses and from there to an address which led to Chambers.

He was arrested at his house and booked into the Santa Ana Central Jail on $250,000 bond.

In 2010, when Chambers was running for school district board, he told the Orange County Register, 'Before every decision is made, I ask how it benefits the kids.'
International Development Secretary Priti Patel launched a defence of her departments spending

The Cabinet row over Britains controversial foreign aid target intensfied last night after International Development Secretary Priti Patel launched an extraordinary defence of her departments spending.

She issued a 1,700-word statement to Parliament setting out her departments achievements, while making no mention of the controversy surrounding her 13.3billion budget.

Miss Patel, who once called for the Department for International Development to be scrapped, said Britain should not compromise our commitment to being a global leader in international development.

Aid was helping stabilise some of the poorest and most fragile countries, she said, adding: When we invest in stability, jobs and livelihoods, and sound governance, we address the root causes of problems that affect us here in the UK.

'It is not in our national interest to simply sit on our hands and wait until these problems reach breaking point or find their way to our doorstep.

A source at DfID denied last night that Miss Patels statement was designed to head off possible cuts.

But the move came amid a growing Cabinet row over whether to repeat David Camerons controversial manifesto pledge to spend 0.7 per cent of Britains income on foreign aid.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon is pushing for part of the aid budget to be reallocated. Theresa May refused to say whether the pledge will be repeated in her manifesto

Several ministers, including Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, are pushing for part of the aid budget to be reallocated to their departments.

Others, including International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, believe the target should be scrapped.

Theresa May refused to say, when pressed in the Commons on Wednesday, whether the pledge will be repeated in her manifesto.

Tory sources suggest the target is unlikely to be axed altogether. But a Government insider confirmed last night that ministers are examining whether to abandon the international definition on aid to allow the cash to be spent on a wider range of activities, including some that currently come from the defence budget.

There is an argument that some of the activities carried out by troops in fragile states should count as aid, the source said.

Ministers including Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson (left and centre) are pushing for part of the aid budget to be reallocated to their departments

Mr Camerons former policy chief Camilla Cavendish said aid spending was too high and it was inevitable some would be lost to corruption and waste.

Baroness Cavendish, a former aid worker, told BBC2s Newsnight: Its about what you achieve, its not about a set amount of money.

If you had a bit more flexibility you would be able to operate in a different way, for example, have the military deliver humanitarian assistance.

ELECTION COULD 'HALT BREXIT' Brexit could be stopped if the Tories lose the election, the European Parliament president said yesterday. The triggering of Article 50 could be reversed if there is a change of government after June 8, Antonio Tajani said. If the UK, after the election, wants to withdraw [Article 50], then the procedure is very clear, he said. If the UK wanted to stay, everybody would be in favour. I would be very happy. He welcomed her decision to call a snap election, saying it would be good to have the same governing body in place through the Brexit process. His comments to the Guardian followed his first meeting with Theresa May in which he said a deal on the rights of Europeans living in the UK was expected within months. The Italian said he was optimistic Mrs May would agree to reciprocal rights, adding for the European Parliament it is the most important point. Advertisement

Other options being considered include rolling the aid target and 2 per cent defence spending target into a single pledge to spend 3 per cent of national income on the security agenda.

There are also proposals to allow the 0.7 per cent target to be measured over five years, rather than meet it each year.

Yesterday Miss Patel spelled out the positive aspects of aid in extraordinary detail, telling MPs she had conducted a line-by-line review of every project to root out waste.

Savings would be recycled to fund better-value programmes aligned to our priorities.

The department had identified 500million in efficiency savings in the coming years  more than the 400million demanded by Chancellor Philip Hammond.

The statement made no mention of the numerous cases of fraud and waste exposed in the aid spending in recent years.

The international development budget has soared by 57 per cent from 8.45billion in 2010 to 13.3billion last year  while most other departments have seen their budgets slashed.

But any move to water down or scrap the target will require a change in the law passed by the Coalition.
Jo Wood will get 747 compensation after she was left stranded in Spain when EasyJet kicked her off an overbooked flight. She had spent a romantic weekend with her boyfriend and had booked flights from Murcia to Gatwick on Tuesday

Jo Wood will get 747 compensation after she was left stranded in Spain when EasyJet kicked her off an overbooked flight.

The ex-wife of Rolling Stone guitarist Ronnie Wood, who had spent a romantic Easter weekend at her holiday home with her boyfriend, had booked flights from Murcia to Gatwick on Tuesday and checked in at the airport.

But when the couple went to board they were told there was room for only one of them  and were not offered another flight either that evening or the following day.

As they had work the next morning, the 62-year-old and partner Paul Scarborough, 53, were forced to fork out 460 on flights with rival Ryanair.

They did not arrive home until 1am  eight hours later than they were supposed to.

But after the Mail contacted EasyJet yesterday, the budget airline got in contact with Miss Wood to tell her she would be compensated.

The mother of three will be given a full refund for the Ryanair flights, 167 for her EasyJet flights and 120 for a taxi to her home in north London, making the total 747.

The businesswoman, who founded an organic beauty brand, said: They picked on the wrong woman didnt they?

'Picked on the wrong woman, they did. They must have thought, She wont complain, she looks very sweet, she hasnt got any luggage so we dont have to drag her luggage off the flight, thats fine, well pick on that girl, Jo. Little did they know.

Miss Wood, who said she uses EasyJet like a bus, also lamented that airlines are not as professional as they used to be.

She said: I think it is terrible, unless youre paying top dollar for your first-class seat. But I go to Spain all the time to my house in Murcia and Im not going to pay top money. I use them like a bus.

The mother of three will be given a full refund for the Ryanair flights, 167 for her EasyJet flights and 120 for a taxi to her home in north London, making the total 747. Pictured, Jo tweeted a selfie when she was stranded in the airport

Years ago you used to buy your ticket, and when you had your ticket in your hand you owned that seat on that plane  theyre not like that any more.

Now they feel they can just bump you off. If somebody isnt as fortunate as I am, how do they get home? They could lose their job. What if they have kids? You cant do that to people. You cant treat people like that.

An EasyJet spokesman said: We were sorry to hear of Miss Woods experience and would like to sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.

While there was one seat available, we understand that she wanted to fly with her travel companion. We have been in contact with Miss Wood directly to apologise.
The U.S. Army War College and Carlisle Barracks said cannons will be fired at the post around 5 p.m. today as part of the annual Jim Thorpe Days.

The cannon fire is part of opening ceremonies Thursday, that will also feature Neal McCaleb, ambassador-at-large of the Chickasaw Nation. McCaleb will make brief remarks and honor Jim Thorpe. Joining him will be Maj. Gen. William Rapp, war college commandant, as well as leaders of the Air War College, National War College and Eisenhower School of National Security, and National Defense University.
Signs of rival parties forming an anti-Tory movement that could help put Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street were growing last night.

It came as the Conservatives, in their first campaign poster of the election, warned of a coalition of chaos between the SNP, Labour and the Lib Dems.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has already been accused of plotting to install the Labour leader as prime minister in exchange for getting a second referendum on Scottish independence.

In Theresa Mays sights: The Conservatives first General Election poster, targeting the SNP, Labour and the Lib Dems, was unveiled last nigh

And fears that an alliance of Left-wing parties could unite to stop Theresa May returning to power increased after the Greens wrote to Mr Corbyn and Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron yesterday to offer electoral pacts.

In more than a dozen Tory held seats, Labour or the Liberal Democrats would win if all those who voted Green at the last election switched their vote.

Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for south-west England and Gibraltar, said the partys co-leaders, Jonathan Bartley and Caroline Lucas, have written to Mr Corbyn and Mr Farron to urge them to consider agreements on tactical voting to move beyond the tribal politics of the past and cooperate for the sake of the country.

She told Radio 4s Today programme: Were waiting to hear what the response is. Theresa May has given us an opportunity [by calling the snap election] but to use that opportunity we need to co-operate as parties of opposition who dont want that Tory future.

The Tories yesterday warned in their first election poster that there would be higher debt, higher taxes and economic chaos if the SNP and Lib Dems helped Mr Corbyn into power as part of a coalition of chaos

While she said a national agreement was unlikely, she suggested the parties could form local deals to thwart the Tories.

The Greens have said they are willing not to put up a candidate in Plymouth Sutton & Devonport, which the Tories held with a majority of just 523, to try to ensure a Labour victory.

At the last election the Greens received 3,401 votes there, meaning Labour would win comfortably if all these switched.

Other seats where the Tory majority is smaller than the number of Green voters at the last election include St Ives, Bath, Eastbourne and Twickenham, which are all being targeted by the Lib Dems.

Labour would snatch Brighton Kemptown, Derby North, Croydon Central, Morley & Outwood, Bury North, Weaver Vale, Bedford and Telford if all Green voters switched to them.

The Tories yesterday warned in their first election poster that there would be higher debt, higher taxes and economic chaos if the SNP and Lib Dems helped Mr Corbyn into power as part of a coalition of chaos.

Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said Miss Sturgeon had offered a progressive alliance between the SNP and Labour because Mr Corbyn has said he would be absolutely fine about staging another independence vote.

Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said Miss Sturgeon (pictured) had offered a progressive alliance between the SNP and Labour because Mr Corbyn has said he would be absolutely fine about staging another independence vote

She told the Scottish Parliament: The First Ministers very first intervention in the election has been to say that she would put Jeremy Corbyn in No 10. Is that because, uniquely, the First Minister sees in Mr Corbyn the wisdom, the foresight and the leadership skills that are needed in a Prime Minister, or could it possibly be because, in his own words, Jeremy Corbyn is absolutely fine with another referendum on independence?

PUTIN 'WOULD LOVE LABOUR TO WIN' Vladimir Putin would welcome a gutless Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister because he would weaken Britains military power, the Defence Secretary has said. Sir Michael Fallon said the Labour leader had been unwaveringly feeble and voted against a stronger defence at every opportunity, including the renewal of Trident last July. Moscow would have noticed this and would be monitoring him as he battles to become PM. Sir Michael said Mr Corbyns opposition to the nuclear deterrent is a continuing concern for the US and other allies. He was speaking in Tallinn, Estonia, as 800 British troops were deployed there to lead a Nato mission against Russian aggression. Russia will be watching Labours feebleness, Sir Michael said. Jeremy Corbyn has not supported this deployment. He has questioned it. In January, Mr Corbyn suggested British forces in Eastern Europe were escalating tensions with Russia. Sir Michael also said the Government would be watching for any interference by Moscow in the general election. Russia was accused of cyber attacks during the US presidential election. Advertisement

But Miss Sturgeon wrote off the Labour leaders chances of becoming Prime Minister, either by winning a majority or with the help of her party, describing the possibility as pie in the sky.

She told MSPs that opinion polls showed Mr Corbyn aint going anywhere near No 10 Downing Street on his own or with the help of anybody else.

Labour has insisted that it will not sign an electoral pact with other parties, but activists in Surrey last night suggested they could back the Lib Dems locally in an attempt to unseat Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

The Constituency Labour Party in his South-West Surrey seat said it had been canvassing support for a progressive deal for the past 18 months.

Fresh speculation about how the SNP, Lib Dems and Greens could help Labour get back into power will be damaging for the party, which suffered at the last election after Miss Sturgeon offered a similar deal.

The Tories plastered billboards with posters showing Miss Sturgeon playing puppet-master to Ed Miliband, as well as the then Labour leader in the pocket of the SNPs Alex Salmond.

Meanwhile, a report published yesterday showed that more than half a million Scottish jobs depend on trade with the rest of the UK.

The research, conducted by the University of Strathclydes Fraser of Allander Institute, found there were 528,707 jobs in Scotland that were supported by exports to other parts of Britain in 2013.

This was more than four times the 125,206 jobs that were linked to trade with the rest of the EU.

n The Tories have opened up a 24-point lead over Labour. A YouGov poll for The Times put the Tories up three points on 48 per cent, Labour on 24 per cent, the Lib Dems on 12 per cent and Ukip on seven points.
China has launched its first cargo spacecraft which is set to bring six tonnes of supplies to the country's space station.

The launch took place today at 7.41pm Beijing time (12.41am BST) and the cargo would be sent to China's space station, the Tiangong 2.

Tianzhou 1 is also expected also carry out experiments before it falls back to earth, reports the People's Daily Online.

China launched its first cargo ship earlier today from the southern province of Hainan

A Long March 7 rocket carrying the cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 lifted off in China today

The launch took place at the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in China's Hainan Province

Zhang Youxia (central), Commander-in-chief of Tianzhou-1 project arrives at the launch site

The cargo ship is expected to dock with the Tiangong 2 space station (pictured)

Tianzhou 1 successfully took off on time from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in southern China's Hainan Province, reported Xinhua News Agency.

The name Tianzhou literally means 'sky ship' in Chinese. Due to the nature of its mission, the spacecraft has been dubbed an 'cosmic delivery boy' by Chinese media.

Tianzhou 1 is able to carry cargo and satellites and would conduct a gravitation experiment on its journey to the Tiangong 2.

It was carried into orbit today by a Long March 7 rocket.

Measuring 34 feet long and 10 feet in diameter, Tianzhou 1 is expected to operate in orbit at 236 miles above the earth before then docking with the Tiangong 2 space station.

Ready: The Long March 7 rocket carrying the cargo ship is transferred to the launch site

The space cargo ship would also carry out experiments on its way to the space station

The Tiangong 2 was launched in 2016 from northwest China's Gansu province

The launch marks progress in China's steps to create a fully working space station of its own

Tianzhou 1 marks progress in China's steps to create a fully working space station of its own to rival that of the International Space Station in which astronauts can live and work on.

Last year, two astronauts spent 30 days on the current space station but it is hoped that stays on the Tiangong 2 would be longer.

Although the cargo ship has been referred to as a 'cosmic delivery boy', it will also carry out tests to help with future studies.

China conducted its first crewed space mission in 2003.
A newborn girl was saved after being found stuck head-first down a toilet after her mother gave birth in a bathroom.

The 24-year-old surnamed Yue was unaware that she was about to give birth as she thought it was just a normal stomach pain.

Yue left the apartment after finding out that her baby was a girl and put her in the toilet bowl with her head down.

Police officer carried the baby and rushed to the hospital after the rescue in east China

Hospital nurse did an inspection on the newborn girl and gave her oxygen mask to breathe

According to the People's Daily Online, Yue's flatmate called the police as she accompanied Yue to hospital at midnight on April 18.

Nanjing police officers found a newborn baby girl stuck in the toilet bowl upside down.

Footage shows the baby crying as she is rescued by one of the officers.

The police received a call from the new mother's friend that a baby was born in the toilet

The baby is now in stable condition and the police are trying to contact the mother's family

The new mother (pictured) thought it was stomach pain when she was giving birth to her girl

They wrapped her in a thick duvet and had to rush to Maigaoqiao Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital.

Nurses asked for the baby's parents and the police officer replied: 'We heard that the mother was sent to the hospital as she did not know how to handle the baby.'

Yue's flatmate explained to a local tv station in an interview that she had no idea that Yue was pregnant.

She said: 'We got scared. I asked her if she wanted to call the police. She looked too sick so we went to the hospital and I reported the baby to the police.'

She also said that Yue had met a man a year ago and got pregnant by accident.She did not notice any symptoms of pregnancy.

It is believed that Yue went to the bathroom after having stomach pains in the middle of the night.

She was shocked when she gave birth, leaving the baby stuck in the toilet bowl at home.

Nanjing policemen confirmed that the baby was not harmed. They are now trying to contact Yue's family.
A Chinese farmer has brought water and hope to his remote village after spending 36 years digging a channel with bare hands.

Hu Dafa, who learned irrigation from scratch in his middle ages, built the passageway which runs through the side of three mountains, with the help from his neighbours, reported Chinese media.

The channel measures around six miles (10 kilometres) long and is situated in south-east China's Guizhou Province.

Determined: Huang Dafa, from China's Caowangba Village, spent more than three decades building an irrigation channel with bare hands

Ambitious project: The six-mile-long channel is dug through the side of three mountains and more than 10 mills in rural Guizhou Province

Mr Huang, 81, is said to have had to spent countless nights sleeping in caves in order to build the irrigation system.

The irrigation channel, named Dafa Channel by the locals in honour of Huang Dafa, was built between 1958 and 1994. However, Mr Huang's inspiring story story was just revealed by the media this week.

The ambitious project involved around 200 people, who used hand tools and explosives to dig the 15-inch-wide and 20-inch-tall passage, according to People's Daily Online, in a report citing China Daily.

Situated on an altitude of 4,101 feet in the mountainous of remote Guizhou Province, Caowangba Village has no water sources.

Never give up: Mr Huang, now 81, learned irrigation from scratch in his middle ages

In the past, the only way for the village's 1,200 residents to obtain water was by saving rainwater using a well or walking for two hours to the next village Yebiao.

In order to fetch drinking water from the village's only well, villages had to queue all day long.

Some would also climb to the top of peaks to collect water, then tie themselves to trees and rappel down the cliffs.

'Drinking water was short,' as one villager, surnamed Xu, recalled to a China Daily reporter.

'Forget irrigation. We had a 3,552-square-foot rice paddy that was parched to the point you could put your foot in the cracks in the dry season.

'It was a serious problem.'

So when Huang Dafa was elected as the head of the Caowangba Village in 1958, he decided to, quite literally, take matters into his own hands.

Mr Huang decided to pick up the shovel and build an irrigation channel from nothing. In front of him lie three mountains and more than 10 hills, but that didn't stop the determined farmer.

In order to persuade other villagers to join him, Mr Huang was always the first person to do the most dangerous tasks, such as leaping near the top of a 980-foot-tall cliff, despite his fear of heights.

He told a reporter: 'If I didn't, nobody else dared.'

Eventually, Mr Huang managed to find some young men in the village and together they bored a 330-foot-long channel through one peak.

Sadly, the water didn't flow - because none of them actually knew anything about irrigation.

Team work: He persuaded his neighbours to work alongside him in order to obtain fresh water for his remote village

The passageway became defunct as an irrigation channel in the 1970s, but it helped with the locals in another way.

Villagers started to use it as a shortcut when they went out. Instead of walking over the mountain, they walked through it.

In 1976, Mr Huang got to know Huang Zhuwen, an official from the Zunyi Hydro-power Bureau, who encouraged 'small but energetic' Huang to carry on with his dream.

In 1989 at the age of 54, Mr Huang studied water-system engineering in the Fengxiang Water Conservation Bureau in Zunyi city.

A year later, Caowangba was hit by a major drought after having had no rain for more than 100 days. Mr Huang, equipped with his irrigation knowledge, decided to re-start digging his channel.

He managed to persuade the county authorities to supply the project with 60,000 yuan (6,800) and 190,000 kilograms (420,000 pounds) of corn.

Mission accomplished: The locals used to walk two hours to another village to get water, but thanks to Mr Huang's dedication, the water now flows to their doors

Despite earning as little as 80 yuan (9) a year, the villagers joined forces and gathered 13,000 yuan (1,470) to fund the project further.

Mr Huang recalled: 'I was determined to bring water to Caowangba.

'People have had plenty of food since. Full stomachs mean peace of mind.'

In 1994, Mr Huang and his team finally completed the astonishing irrigation system, which passes through three mountains, more than 10 hills and three other villages.

The channel was put to use a year later.

But sometimes, a great achievement comes with great price. Mr Huang's daughter and grandson passed away when he working in the mountains.

The man also had to risk his life climbing to the top of mountains and teetering around the edge of the waterway. He forced himself to battle with his Acrophobia time and time in order to lead the project.

'We shouldn't wait for things to happen,' said Mr Huang. 'Dozens of years of my life could have passed without anything happening.'

The man also said if they could do something to improve their lives, they always should.
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Researchers have seen hundreds of childrens books through the eyes of an AI  and it was a nightmare.

The team trained a deep learning algorithm to recognize illustrations by feeding it a data set of 6,468 pages from 223 books, by 24 artist.

Once the AI had learned the characteristics of a specific artist, it transferred them to a new image that is sure to give children night terrors  it lit a smiling turtle on fire, engulfed a girl in flames and turned a snow covered scene bottom into an image of the apocalypse.

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Once the AI had learned the defining characteristics of a specific artist, it transferred them to a new image that is sure to give children night terrors  it lit a smiling turtle on fire, engulfed a girl holding flowers in flames and turned a snow covered scene bottom into an image of the apocalypse

HOW WAS IT DONE? Researchers aimed to teach a deep deep learning algorithm to recognize patterns and used children's books illustrations. The team fed the AI a data set of 6,468 pages from 223 books, by 24 artist. Once the AI had learned the defining characteristics of a specific artist, it transferred them to a new image. It lit a smiling turtle on fire, engulfed a girl holding flowers in flames and turned a snow covered scene bottom into an image of the apocalypse. Advertisement

Style transfer model combines the appearance of a style image, e.g. an artwork, with the content of another image, e.g. an arbitrary photograph, by minimizing the loss of content and style, researchers from at Hacettepe University and Middle East Technical University in Turkey wrote in the study shared on arXiv.

'In our case, style is learned from an illustration of a particular illustrator, and transferred to another image.

The target image could be a cartoon, a natural photograph, or another illustration from another artist. We expect the resulting image to contain the content of the target image drawn with the style of source illustration.

For this project, the team used three CNN models in training: ALexNEt, VGG-19 and GoogLeNet.

The team collected images from a range of artists including Dr. Seuss, Marc Brown, Maurice Sendak and more.

During the experiments, researchers had discovered that the AI was able to find parts and objects in the illustrations such as eyes, fish, car/wheel, house, plant, people and clothes, and even discriminate poses such as side views of humans and animals, as well as hair, fur or ears.

However, as Motherboard reported, the AI was mainly transferring color from one image to the next, which has suggested that color is the main feature that it learned to decipher between different patterns.

But this transfer is what turned these fairy tales into nightmares.

A scene from The Cat in the Hat was recreated as an image that looks similar to a blood splatter and another with two children standing outside went from an innocent meeting to a spooky display.

Google recently created its own living nightmare that brought the late artist Bob Ross back to life.

An engineer filtered an episode of Rosss PBS television show The Joy of Painting through the artificial neural network DeepDream, which can see objects and animals that are not really there.

the AI was mainly transferring color from one image to the next, which has suggested that color is the main feature that it learned to decipher between different patterns - although it set the girl on fire, it managed to transfer the colors

During the experiments, researchers had discovered that the AI was able to find parts and objects in the illustrations such as eyes, fish, car/wheel, house, plant, people and clothes, and even discriminate poses such as side views of humans and animals, as well as hair, fur or ears. but it still produced a few creepy results

The video shows a segment with Ross painting his iconic happy trees, but instead of seeing fluffy green bushels, viewers are presented with bug-eyed creatures on the canvas.

The latest DeepDream project was created by Alexander Reben, who is an artist an engineer.

Reben shared his nightmarish masterpiece on Vimeo, which he called Deep Artificial Trees.

Google has brought the late artist Bob Ross back to life, but as a monster-faced figure in a nightmare world. An engineer filtered an episode of Rosss PBS television show The Joy of Painting through the artificial neural network DeepDream, which can see objects and animals that are not really there

This artwork represents what it would be like for an AI to watch Bob Ross on LSD (once someone invents digital drugs), Reben explained in the video's description.

It shows some of the unreasonable effectiveness and strange inner workings of deep learning systems.

The unique characteristics of the human voice are learned and generated as well as hallucinations of a system trying to find images which are not there.

DeepDream was originally developed to give scientists and engineers a peek into what a deep neural network is seeing when it looks at an image. However, it later become used to create bizarre, nightmare-like psychedelic and abstract art - like what was created using Bob Ross's tv show

DeepDream was originally developed to give scientists and engineers a peek into what a deep neural network is seeing when it looks at an image.

However, it later become used to create bizarre, nightmare-like psychedelic and abstract art.

The tool was built by Realmac Software based in Brighton and is only available for Mac users.

The video shows a segment with Ross painting his iconic happy trees, but instead of seeing fluffy green bushels, viewers are presented with bug-eyed creatures on the canvas (pictured)

'Artificial Neural Networks have spurred remarkable recent progress in image classification and speech recognition,' wrote Alexander Mordvintsev, Christopher Olah and Mike Tyka of Google's AI team.

'But even though these are very useful tools based on well-known mathematical methods, we actually understand surprisingly little of why certain models work and others don't.'

Google trained an artificial neural network by showing it millions of training examples and gradually adjusting the network parameters until it gives the classifications the team want.

Then the clip takes viewers to a farm where he pets what is supposed to be cute animals, but instead of a fluffy gerbil in his hands, it appears as if he is holding a creature that morphs from a monkey, to a lizard, to an eight-legged spider. Google trained an artificial neural network by showing it millions of training examples

The network typically consists of 10 to 30 stacked layers of artificial neurons and each image is fed into the input layer, which then talks to the next layer, until eventually the 'output' layer is reached.

And the network's 'answer' comes from this final output layer. In doing this, the software builds up an idea of what it thinks an object looked like.

The five and a half minute clip of Rosss PBS show is anything but fun and happy trees.

Ross is standing in front of the canvas, but the neural network has transformed him into a creature of different animal heads.

And his paintings become more bizarre as the clip rolls on. Instead of a scenic view of the mountains, lizards, bugs and other animals fill the canvas

Then the clip takes viewers to a farm where he pets what is supposed to be cute animals, but instead of a fluffy gerbil in his hands, it appears as if he is holding a creature that morphs from a monkey, to a lizard, to an eight-legged spider.

And his paintings become more bizarre as the clip rolls on.

Instead of a scenic view of the mountains, lizards, bugs and other animals fill the canvas.

MIT researcher have created their own nightmare machine and turned famous landmarks appear like something out of a horror film.

The algorithm created by the team is making photographs of famous landmarks appear like something out of a horror film.

'We use state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms to learn how haunted houses, or toxic cities look like,' the researchers said.

'Then, we apply the learnt style to famous landmarks and present you: AI-powered horror all over the world!'

Interested viewers can help MIT find the essence of horror on the website , or look at more of the pictures the Nightmare Machine has generated on Instagram .
Children aren't safe crossing the road on their own until they're 14, according to scientists.

Their visual judgement and motor skills have not fully developed before then - putting them at risk each time they negotiate a busy street, according to new research.

A study using a simulated virtual traffic environment showed accident rates can reach as high as eight percent among six year-olds.

Crossing the street by foot seems easy for adults who take stock of the traffic and calculate the time needed to get to the other side without being hit

Even those aged 12 were struck by vehicles two percent of the time - and had to compensate for their lack of judgement by choosing bigger gaps in traffic.

It was not until early adolescence youngsters got across without incident, according to the findings published in Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance,

Psychologist Professor Jodie Plumert, of Iowa University, said: 'Some people think younger children may be able to perform like adults when crossing the street.

'Our study shows that's not necessarily the case on busy roads where traffic doesn't stop.'

Crossing the street by foot seems easy for adults who take stock of the traffic and calculate the time needed to get to the other side without being hit.

But the research showed it's anything but simple for a child after placing six to 14 year-olds in a realistic simulated environment and asking them to cross one lane of a busy road multiple times.

Prof Plumert said parents should take extra precautions by being aware their child may not be able to judge if a traffic gap is large enough to cross safely.

Young children also may not have developed the fine motor skills to step into the street the moment a car has passed - like adults have mastered.

The study environment is apparently so compelling, some of the children tried to touch the cars

And a child may allow eagerness to outweigh reason when judging the best time to cross a busy street.

Prof Plumert said: 'They get the pressure of not wanting to wait combined with these less-mature abilities. And that's what makes it a risky situation.'

About 1,500 pedestrians under the age of 15 are killed or seriously injured on Britain's roads each year.

In the US the National Centre for Statistics and Analysis reported 8,000 injuries and 207 fatalities involving motor vehicles and pedestrians age 14 and younger in 2014.

Prof Plumert and colleagues recruited six, eight, ten, 12 and 14 year-olds as well as a control group of adults.

Each participant faced a string of approaching virtual vehicles travelling 25 mph -considered a benchmark speed for a residential neighbourhood - and then crossed a single lane of traffic about nine feet wide.

The time between vehicles ranged from two to five seconds. Each participant negotiated a road crossing 20 times for about 2,000 total trips involving the age groups.

The crossings took place in an immersive, 3-D interactive space at the Hank Virtual Environments Lab on the university campus.

Study co-author Elizabeth O'Neal, a graduate student, said the simulated environment is 'very compelling.' She said: 'We often had kids reach out and try to touch the cars.'

The six year-olds were struck by vehicles eight percent of the time, eight year-olds six percent, ten year-olds five percent and 12 year-olds two percent. Those aged 14 and older had no accidents.

Ms O'Neal said children contend with two main variables when deciding whether it's safe to cross a street.

The first involves their perceptual ability - or how they judge the gap between a passing car and an oncoming vehicle - taking into account its speed and distance from the crossing.

Younger children had more difficulty making consistently accurate perceptual decisions.

The second problem was their motor skills - how quickly do they time their step from the kerb into the street after a car just passed.

Younger children were incapable of being as precise as adults giving them less time to cross the street between cars.

Ms O'Neal said: 'Most kids choose similar size gaps - between the passing car and oncoming vehicle - as adults. But they're not able to time their movement into traffic as well as adults can.'

The researchers found children as young as six crossed the street as quickly as adults - eliminating speed as a possible cause for their vulnerability.

One recommendation is for parents to teach their children to be patient and to encourage younger ones to choose gaps that are even larger than those adults would choose for themselves.

Ms O'Neal also advised civic planners to identify places where children are likely to cross streets and make sure those intersections have a pedestrian-crossing aid.

Prof Plumert said: 'If there are places where kids are highly likely to cross the road, because it's the most efficient route to school, for example, and traffic doesn't stop there, it would be wise to have cross-walks.'
A silent killer that could spell the end for enemy drones has been tested by US Army infantry troops for the first time.

During a ten day firing exercise, 50 drones were brought down by the laser weapon, an improved version of a system that was tested last year.

And it is hoped that Stryker infantry-transport vehicles mounted with the laser could soon be deployed to the front lines.

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A silent laser system that could take down enemy drones has been tested by the US army. The Mobile High Energy Laser is mounted on Stryker infantry-transport vehicles (pictured)

DRONE KILLERS Researchers are engineering and testing lasers that can destroy and melt components of incoming threats, including enemy drones, missiles, mortars, and artillery. The laser can now achieve five kilowatts of power, up from two last year. By 2018, it's hoped that it will be able to shoot an 18-kilowatt beam. It includes on-board radar tacking and a camera which allows soldiers to visually track enemy drones and aircraft, as well as increased range. It can perform a 'hard kill,' when the on-board laser shoots a drone out of the sky, and also includes the ability to cut off communications between a drone and its ground control station - what is termed a 'soft kill'. Advertisement

The Mobile High Energy Laser (MEHEL) is just one system the US Army is exploring to deal with the growth of inexpensive off-the-shelf unmanned aerial systems that are being used in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

MEHEL 2.0 is one of three drone-killing systems under evaluation at the 2017 Maneuver Fires Integration Experiment at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, which ran from April 3 to April 13.

The laser can now achieve five kilowatts of power, up from two last year.

By 2018, it's hoped that it will be able to shoot an 18-kilowatt beam.

It includes on-board radar tacking and a camera which allows soldiers to visually track enemy drones and aircraft, as well as increased range.

It can perform a 'hard kill,' when the on-board laser shoots a drone out of the sky, and also includes the ability to cut off communications between a drone and its ground control station - what is termed a 'soft kill'.

And this is the first time that infantry soldiers have been in charge of testing the system.

Lieutenant colonel, Jeff Erts, who is in charge of the experiments, said: 'They love the system and they are excited about not only what they can do with it in the air, but what they can do with it on the ground as well.'

The 5kW laser system was used to destroy 50 unmanned aerial vehicles (pictured) during the 2017 Maneuver Fires Integrated Experiment at Fort Sill, Oklahoma which ran from April 3 to April 13.

Also tested was The Joint Tactical Autonomous Resupply System, or JTARS.

This drone is designed to move materials from the rear of the battlefield to the front line, without requiring a manned convoy operation.

The JTARS vehicle flew two low-weight individual first aid kits a short distance, as part a demonstration of the system.

Last year, MEHEL 1.0 was capable of shooting down 21 out of 23 drone targets.

At that time, the laser could achieve two kilowatts of power.

Also tested was The Joint Tactical Autonomous Resupply System, or JTARS (pictured), a drone designed to move materials from the rear of the battlefield to the front line

Researchers are also working to deploy laser weapons for Forward Operating Bases.

These, too, could incinerate and destroy approaching enemy drones or other threats, including mortars and cruise missiles.

Last June, it was revealed that laser weapons and Stinger missiles could be integrated into detection systems and mounted on vehicles, including Humvees and Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, to better protect ground units.

A Ground-Based Air Defense (GBAD) Directed Energy On-The-Move was then set to head into the next phase of development, enabling the vehicles to fire lasers while in motion.

Last June, it was revealed that laser weapons and Stinger missiles could be integrated into detection systems and mounted on vehicles, including Humvees and Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, to better protect ground units

The system mounted atop a ground vehicle can fire a 30 kilowatt-laser while stationary.

When completed in 2022 it will be able to fire on the go, and will likely be used by the Marine Corps to be paired with the Stinger Missile system.
Ever wondered why simply seeing a tasty snack can make your mouth water?

Scientists have found that 'eating with your eyes' is hardwired into the brain and is deeply rooted in evolution.

The researchers say that in future this behaviour could be shifted to help those with eating disorders.

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Scientists have found that 'eating with your eyes' is hardwired into the brain and is deeply rooted in evolution. The study involved monitoring brain activity in zebrafish - an animal with a neuron network similar to humans

WHY DO WE 'EAT WITH OUR EYES'? The authors explain that there is an evolutionary benefit to animals feeling pangs of hunger when they see prey. As a baby, it is this response that keeps humans and other animals alive. It creates motivation for food in juvenile animals who might otherwise not understand what to eat. The response can be seen in human children who often take small objects as food and explore them with their mouths, Professor Kawakami told MailOnline. Advertisement

'We hope discovering a basic mechanism should lead to an understanding of the pathology of human disorders related to appetite, such as bulimia, and anorexia,' study coauthor Professor Koichi Kawakami told MailOnline.

'But these will be future works.'

Professor Kawakami and colleagues at the National Institute of Genetics near Fuji in southern Japan revealed a direct link between seeing food and the motivation to eat.

The study involved monitoring brain activity in zebrafish - an animal with a neuron network similar to humans.

'Feeding behaviour and hunger is regulated by a brain area called the hypothalamus in humans,' Dr Akira Muto, lead author of the study, said.

'Zebrafish, like humans, mostly use vision for recognition of food or prey. It was not known how the hypothalamus receives visual information about prey.'

'We first demonstrated that neurons in the hypothalamus do indeed respond to the sight of prey. Then we discovered "prey detector" neurons in an area called the pretectum.

'Furthermore, we found a direct neural link connecting the prey detector neurons to the hypothalamic feeding centre,' Dr Muto said.

The left four images show video stills of a four-day-old zebrafish as it predated on a smaller fish. The right image shows its brain activity during the sequence. The hypothalamus was activated upon visual recognition of prey and during prey capture

Along with coauthor Professor Koichi Kawakami (pictured), Dr Muto carried out the research using a huge zebrafish facility where thousands of fish tanks are kept, pictured here

ZEBRAFISH Zebrafish are native to South East Asia, and are often around 2.5-4 centimetres (1-1.6 inches) long. In its larval stages it is transparent and as it matures to an adult it develops blue stripes that run along the length of the body. The fish has been used in scientific studies since the early 1960s. The full genome sequence of the fish was published in 2013. Zebrafish share an impressive 70 per cent of our genetic code, making them excellent for research into human biology and medicine. As well as healing its own spinal cord, the fish can also repair damage to its own heart. Advertisement

The authors explain that there is an evolutionary benefit to animals feeling pangs of hunger when they see prey.

As a baby, it is this response that keeps humans and other animals alive.

It creates motivation for food in juvenile animals who otherwise might not understand what to eat.

The response can be seen in human children who often take small objects as food and explore them with their mouths, Professor Kawakami told MailOnline.

Professor Kawakami and Dr Muto carried out the research using a huge zebrafish facility where thousands of fish tanks are kept.

Each of these tanks contains genetically different fish that can turn on or drive the expression of different genes in different types of cells in the brain or in the body.

'Our study demonstrates how tightly visual perception of food is linked to motivational feeding behaviour in vertebrate animals,' Dr Muto said.

'This is an important step toward understanding how feeding is regulated and can be modulated in normal conditions as well as in feeding disorders.'
The eastern Mediterranean is full of promise  and that's a promise.

And with Manos holidays you can explore the very best the region has to offer, from wondrous ancient Roman ruins to world-class dive sites and stunning sea caves to hot springs surrounded by snow-white petrified calcium.

Here MailOnline Travel reveals eight must-see sights in Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, all of which you can visit on a Manos holiday, and all of which will leave you with memories to last a lifetime.

Santorini sunsets

The island of Santorini was dramatically reshaped in the 16th century by a huge volcanic eruption. Now villages there overlook a submerged crater - and the views at sunset are particularly staggering

Santorini's spectacular formation came about in the 16th century after a huge earthquake left a series of dramatic lava-layered cliffs surrounding a submerged crater, or caldera.

The view of the inner section of the island ranks among one of the most enticing on the planet  and at sunset it's at its most mesmerising.

Some of the best towns on the island in which to take in this piece of geological eye-candy include Imerovigli, Fira, Firostefani and Oia.

One word of caution  be prepared for some serious envy when your friends see your snaps of it.

Drogarati Cave, Kefalonia

Rock on: Drogarati Cave is one of Greece's most incredible natural wonders, with a roof formed from an array of million-year-old light-reflecting stalactites

This incredible cave was formed over 150million years ago, but wasn't discovered until 300 years ago. And it didn't open to the public until 1963.

But the wait to peek inside was worth it.

Drogarati is enormous. It's around 300ft deep with enough space for around 500 visitors at a time, making it one of the largest caves in Greece.

One of the most mesmerising aspects of this natural work of art is the roof, which is formed from an array of million-year-old light-reflecting stalactites.

Rhodes Old Town

Beautiful: Rhodes Old Town has, not surprisingly, been given Unesco World Heritage status

Rhodes Town is the capital of the island of Rhodes  and its Unesco World Heritage listed Old Town quarter is the largest inhabited medieval town in Europe.

It is almost perfectly preserved.

Visitors can take in beautiful cobbled streets  the street of Knights being the most eye-catching - stunning fortification gates, imposing palaces and the beguiling 16th-century Mosque of Suleyman.

The sunken city ruins at Kekova island, Turkey

An earthquake in the 2nd century led to the submerging of a city by the island of Kekova. Tourists can canoe over the ruins

At the charming fishing village of Kalekoy, near Antalya, visitors may find themselves getting a sinking feeling.

For this is the site of the incredible sunken city of Kekova-Simena.

It was formed in the 2nd century when an earthquake caused the land to slip into the sea. The result was that half the city became submerged.

Today it's possible to take a boat trip or kayak over the watery ruins by Kekova island, across the bay from Kalekoy.

Ephesus, Turkey

The amphitheatre at Ephesus used to hold 25,000 people - it was the largest structure of its kind in the ancient world

Built in 10BC by the Greeks, it was, however, under the Romans that Ephesus flourished - and the ruins, not far from Bodrum, are nothing short of sensational.

Highlights to explore include the Corinthian-style Temple of Hadrian, the magnificent Library of Celsus and the jaw-dropping Great Theatre, which used to hold 25,000 people and is believed to be the largest amphitheatre in the ancient world.

Truly monumental architecture, in every way.

Pamukkale, Turkey

Pamukkale - or 'cotton castle' - is a stunning series of calcium terraces, with mineral-rich pools tourists can bathe in

People have been coming to this weird and wonderful natural wonder near the town of Selcuk to bathe in its milky mineral-rich waters since Roman times.

Pamukkale (meaning 'cotton castle') is an incredible series of 525ft-high stark-white calcium terraces containing pools that visitors can immerse themselves in.

At the top lie the ruins of the spa city of Hierapolis, which date back to 190BC.

Sea Caves at Cape Greko, Cyprus

The sea caves at Cape Greko are so impressive they almost look as if they've been computer generated

On the south-east part of Cyprus lies the coastal paradise of Cape Greko, which is home to some incredible sea caves and Insta-ready rock formations.

The caves are so breath-taking that they've been likened to sculptures by impressed visitors.

Don't forget to pack your swimwear and snorkel, as the waters here are crystal clear.

Zenobia ship wreck, Larnaca, Cyprus

The wreck of the ferry MS Zenobia provides scintillating diving experiences for novices and experts alike

The wreck of the ferry MS Zenobia is one of the top 10 recreational shipwreck dives in the world.

It capsized and sunk in 140 feet of water on June 7, 1980, on its maiden voyage with 200million of cargo on board  luckily, nobody was on board at the time.

Novice divers can take a peek at the ship from a depth of 50 feet, while experienced divers can explore the lower car deck, accommodation block and engine room.
Toronto is a wonderful mix of typical Canadian charm and hospitality, vibrant energy and iconic sights - a truly unique world-class city.

And you could win a five-night break there courtesy of Canadian Affair, the UKs leading tour operator to Canada.

The prize includes two return flights from London Gatwick, Manchester or Glasgow, five nights accommodation at the luxurious Westin Harbour Castle, dinner for two in the Chartroom Bar and Lounge, a Toronto CityPASS for two and a gourmet foodie tour in downtown Toronto.

Toronto is a wonderful mix of typical Canadian charm and hospitality, vibrant energy and iconic sights - a truly unique world-class city. And you could win a five-night break there courtesy of Canadian Affair, the UKs leading tour operator to Canada

As soon as you land in the city, you'll start to spot the iconic sights that it's renowned for.

You can often even see the CN Tower as you come in to land!

Toronto itself is packed with awesome opportunities and endless unique experiences including viewpoints with a difference  the CN Tower offers a walk around its outside with the new EdgeWalk if you're feeling brave enough.

With feet firmly on the ground, relax with dinner for two at the newly revitalised waterfront Chartroom Bar and Lounge in the luxurious Westin Harbour Castle.

The prize includes two return flights from London Gatwick, Manchester or Glasgow, five nights accommodation at the luxurious Westin Harbour Castle, dinner for two in the Chartroom Bar and Lounge, a Toronto CityPASS for two and a gourmet foodie tour in downtown Toronto

The menu has been designed by Celebrity Chef Corbin and is a great spot for people watching.

It's easy to fill your days here  the ease of the Toronto CityPASS means you can visit five of the city's top attractions including fascinating museums and enjoying epic views from soaring skyscrapers.

And not forgetting the incredible foodie scene of the city.

Food plays an epic part in the makeup of Toronto and the city's colourful mosaic of neighbourhoods offer some of the best food with global influences.

Top off your Toronto break by discovering one of the many popular foodie hot spots and take in a foodie tour by foot to Chinatown, Greektown or Little Italy.
LEWISBERRY  A former adviser to three Pennsylvania governors who was accused of assaulting his wife has pleaded guilty to harassment, according to court documents.

A simple assault charge against former budget secretary Charles Zogby was dropped.

Fairview Township police said they were called to the couples home on Aug. 6 last year and found his wife crying, with blood on her face and hands.

His wife told officers that Zogby punched her in the face several times and choked her.

Zogby, 55, served as education secretary and policy director under Gov. Tom Ridge, education secretary under Gov. Mark Schweiker and budget secretary under Gov. Tom Corbett, all Republicans.
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These sublime infinity pools promise to plunge you into a dream-like state, with unbarred views bleeding into the landscapes beyond.

From endless blankets of blues to sumptuous sunsets, these watering holes boast prime settings at exotic locations all over the world.

At the Four Seasons Resort in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park, you can even watch elephants roam as you sip daiquiris in the blue waters.

Or if you fancy something a little more rugged and mountainous, you might want to jet to the Jade Mountain Resort in St. Lucia.

The hillside resort has a staggering 24 infinity pools outside each of its luxury villas, looking out over the mist-swept volcanic peaks and Caribbean Sea.

MailOnline Travel has put together a guide to some of the world's best infinity pools - and we don't know about you, but now we quite fancy taking a dip!

Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti, Tanzania

Swimming safari: You can watch elephants roam through the savannah from the infinity pool at the Four Seasons in Tanzania or watch the sun set slowly in the sky

Jade Mountain Resort, St. Lucia

Private pools: The Jade Mountain Resort in St. Lucia has a staggering 24 infinity pools outside each of its luxury villas

Kona View Estate, Hawaii

Waking up with nature: The Kona View Estate in Hawaii, which has an onsite coffee farm, offers an infinity pool with endless coastline views of the Pacific Ocean

Casa Kimball, Dominican Republic

Sublime: Casa Kimball, nestled on the coastline of the Dominican Republic, has an infinity pool which stretches out to the ocean

Las Ventanas al Paraiso, A Rosewood Resort, Mexico

Spoilt for choice: Each ocean front villa at Las Ventanas al Paraiso, a Rosewood Resort in Mexico, has its own private infinity pool right on the beach front and the main hotel has a bigger version

House of Bamboo, Fiji

Swoonworthy: The House of Bamboo in Fiji, which sits high above the coconut palms, is known for having one of the world's top ten infinity pools

Villa Seburga, France

Country life: Villa Seburga in Cote d'Azur, France, offers beautiful views of the bustling countryside and the seas beyond

Mes Amis Resort, St. Martin

Endless sea of blue: Villa Mes Amis, on the Carribean island of St Martin, is a luxurious 11 bedroom cliffside villa featuring two pools, Jacuzzi, theatre room, and incredible panoramic views

Four Seasons Resort, Seychelles

A couple make the most of the infinity pool at the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles, which is set among giant boulders and offers glittering views of the turquoise waters beyond

Amandari Bali, Indonesia

Sense of calm: The infinity pool at the Amandari in Indonesia is stunning, with incredible views of the lush rice terraces below

Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, France

Heated treat: Overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, the infinity pool at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in France offers its guests idyllic panoramas of the French Riviera, from Juan-les-Pins to the Esterel coastline and the Lerins Islands

Rental site HomeToGo contributed to this guide, with several of its properties featured. Visit www.hometogo.co.uk to book.
Seven Year Switch star Kaitlyn Isham called 911 over a domestic violence incident which resulted in her stepfather Patrick Dabney being arrested in August 2011.

The 28-year-old was 'crying and visibly upset' with a 'bloody nose' when Florida police arrived at Mr Dabney's home in Lake Worth, Palm Beach County.

In an offense report obtained by Daily Mail Australia, Kaitlyn's mother Donna Isham told police she believed her daughter had 'instigated a physical confrontation by making a lot of noise in the kitchen to upset him'.

The charges were later dropped.

Seven Year Switch star Kaitlyn Isham (pictured) called 9-1-1 over a domestic violence incident which resulted in her stepfather Patrick Dabney being arrested in August 2011

The police officer's report stated: 'Upon my arrival, I observed a white female, identified verbally as Kaitlyn Isham, crying and visibly upset. Kaitlyn appeared to have a slight bloody nose and had blood on her left foot and blood droplets on her nightgown.

'I asked Kaitlyn if she was the 9-1-1 caller and she advised yes. Kaitlyn advised on this date she was in the kitchen area of her mother and step-father's residence and using the microwave.

'Kaitlyn advised she slammed the microwave door which upset her step-father, who was attempting to watch TV. Kaitlyn advised her step-father asked her several times not to slam the microwave door which made her slam it a few times more because she wanted to irritate him.

'Kaitlyn advised at this time her step-father came into the kitchen and punched her in the face causing her nose to bleed.'

Kaitlyn was 'crying and visibly upset' with a 'bloody nose' when Florida police arrived at Mr Dabney's (pictured) home in Lake Worth, Palm Beach County. The charges were later dropped

The report continued, describing the officer's conversation with Patrick Dabney and Donna Isham. Donna explained Kaitlyn was 'temporarily staying with her since completing college until she finds a residence in Ashville, North Carolina.'

It stated: 'Donna advised her husband and Kaitlyn do not get along and on this date it came to a head. Donna advised she did not physically see the altercation but was aware that her husband punched Kaitlyn in the face.

'I asked Patrick Dabney if this were true and he advised "Yes". Donna further advised she believes Kaitlyn instigated a physical confrontation with her husband by intentionally making a lot of noise in the kitchen to upset him.'

In an offense report obtained by Daily Mail Australia, Kaitlyn's mother Donna Isham (second from left) told police she believed her daughter 'instigated a physical confrontation by making a lot of noise in the kitchen to upset him'

It is claimed Kaitlyn refused to give any written statements to police and refused photos for evidentiary purposes, saying 'I just wanted to scare him'. Donna also refused any type of documented statement.

The report concluded: 'Based upon the verbal utterances of the victim and the witness, there is enough probable cause to arrest and charge Patrick Dabney with domestic violence. Dabney was placed under arrest and transported to County Jail where he was booked.

'A Level 2 Domestic Call was placed to the PBSO (Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office) on-duty Domestic Violence Victim Advisor. Voicemail was left on the answering machine. Legal rights and remedies package was given to the victim and I obtained a signed receipt.'

On Thursday, Kaitlyn confirmed to Daily Mail Australia the charges against Mr Dabney (pictured) were dropped. Kaitlyn said in a statement: 'This happened a long time ago during an incredibly tragic and emotional time for my entire family'

According to public Florida arrest records, Patrick Dabney, 57, was charged with battery on the afternoon of August 27th, 2011.

On Thursday, Kaitlyn told Daily Mail Australia the charges were dropped.

Kaitlyn said in a statement: 'This happened a long time ago during an incredibly tragic and emotional time for my entire family.

'I have a great relationship with my family, including my stepfather  and I am grateful for their love, trust and support. They are good people.'

In an unrelated series of events, Channel Seven confirmed earlier this week that sexually explicit photos of Kaitlyn, 28, were being circulated on an American internet forum

In an unrelated series of events, Channel Seven confirmed this week that sexually explicit photos of Kaitlyn, 28, were being circulated on an American internet forum.

The images were allegedly taken from videos broadcast on an adult webcam site several years ago 'during a very low point in her life'.

In a previous statement, Seven said: 'Kaitlyn is honest about her social website activity which happened several years ago during a very low point in her life.

The images were allegedly taken from videos broadcast on an adult webcam site several years ago 'during a very low point in (Kaitlyn's) life'

'As she rebuilt her life and came to terms with the heartbreaking loss of a treasured family member, Kaitlyn took control of mistakes she had made and tried to remove the offending vision that was no longer a truthful representation of her or her life.'

Kaitlyn's brother Eric died in June 2010 due to injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.

The statement continued: 'Regardless of Kaitlyn's well intentioned plan, some people have accessed the old vision and transferred that vision to their hard drives.

'Some of these people are now offering to sell this vision. Also available via this group is vision they are claiming to be Kaitlyn - in fact it is not Kaitlyn.'

Kaitlyn is currently appearing on 'social experiment' reality TV series Seven Year Switch with her boyfriend, IT professional Mark.
She couldn't decide on a name for her son for almost the entire duration of her pregnancy - before settling on Joshua Jr.

And four months after giving birth, Katherine Heigl carried her son in a car seat while heading inside LAX on Wednesday.

The 38-year-old, who is currently in the midst of promoting her film Unforgettable, slipped on a motorcycle jacket and jeans for their flight out of Los Angeles.

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Doting mom: Katherine Heigl carried her son Joshua Jr. in his car seat while heading inside LAX on Wednesday

The former Grey's Anatomy actress beamed in her dark hued cover up and bottoms, adding a crisp white button-up shirt.

Katherine hit the pavement with black suede boots and a gold watch adorning her wrist.

The mother of three styled her short blonde locks combed back with sunglasses shielding her face.

Katherine sported a touch of pink gloss on her lips and rosy blush on the apples of her cheeks.

He's so cute! The 38-year-old, who is currently in the midst of promoting her film Unforgettable, slipped on a motorcycle jacket and jeans for their flight out of Los Angeles

Stylish: The former Grey's Anatomy actress beamed in her dark hued cover up and bottoms, adding a crisp white button-up shirt

On Tuesday's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Katherine revealed that she deliberated for almost nine months over what to name her son.

She told Jimmy: 'I couldn't come up with a name for ages. I don't know why, I just struggled with it.'

Katherine continued: 'It's a big decision and you don't want to fail this child with the wrong name.'

Glowing mama: Katherine hit the pavement with black suede boots with a gold watch adorning her wrist

On Tuesday's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Katherine revealed that she deliberated for almost nine months over what to name her son

Adding: 'I wasn't finding something [a name] that I was responding to.'

The star then approached her musician husband Joshua Kelley, 37, with the idea of naming their son after him.

Katherine said that while her beau previously hated the idea, she recalled his reaction when she asked him: 'He was like, "Aw I love that. That would mean a lot to me."'

She recalled her response: 'And I was like, "Well, maybe had I known that nine months ago, I would have had a name sooner!"'

Their son Joshua Bishop Kelley Jr. was born on December 20, 2016.

Absolutely adorable: Their son Joshua Bishop Kelley Jr. was born on December 20, 2016

So precious: The star approached her musician husband Joshua Kelley with the idea of naming their son after him, which he loved; pictured with baby Joshua almost two months ago

Katherine and Josh are also parents to daughters Naleigh, eight, and Adalaide, five; both were adopted as infants.

The movie star revealed to US Weekly this week that the toughest part about being a mom is 'mommy guilt,' adding that she hope to teach them how to be 'courageous, compassionate and to pursue their dreams.'

She also told the publication that she enjoys mother-daughter bonding sessions with her girls by 'taking them to brunch and knitting lessons.'

On the most rewarding aspect of motherhood, she said the 'overflowing of love, purpose, laughter and joy' they've brought to her life.'

Happily ever after: The star approached her musician husband Joshua Kelley on naming their son after him; seen at the Tuesday premiere of her film Unforgettable in Los Angeles

Kisses: Katherine and Josh married on December 23, 2007 in Park City, Utah; pictured at the Unforgettable premiere in Hollywood, CA

Katherine revealed to US Weekly that a 'teenage girl who recently started watching Grey's Anatomy asked me if I was Izzie Stevens' mother. That one hurt!'

The 27 Dresses actress divulged that if she wants to treat herself to fast food, she heads to McDonald's for a Big Mac with french fries.

On her role as villain in Unforgettable, she told US Weekly the best part was the 'freedom to be bad with zero consequences.'

Her film Unforgettable hits theaters on April 21; she co-stars with Rosario Dawson, Geoff Stults and Cheryl Ladd.

Gorgeous family: Katherine and Josh are also parents to daughters Naleigh, eight, and Adalaide, five; both were adopted as infants
Tyra Banks was a showstopper when she trod the red carpet for the Freeform 2017 Upfront at Hudson Mercantile in New York City on Wednesday.

She'll star in and help executive produce the network's upcoming movie Life-Size 2, having co-led the original Life Size with Lindsay Lohan on ABC in 2000, per Variety.

The America's Next Top Model frontwoman had turned up to Wednesday's event in a stylish pantsuit swirled with multicolored patterns showing flowers and birds.

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Chic as ever: Tyra Banks was a showstopper when she trod the red carpet for the Freeform 2017 Upfront at Hudson Mercantile in New York City on Wednesday

Beneath the pantsuit's blazer, the 43-year-old had slipped on a deep purple blouse with a sloping neckline, letting her brown hair fall free over her shoulders.

The original Life-Size had starred Tyra as a doll who becomes a living, breathing woman and Lindsay as the girl who'd played with the doll before it transformed.

A sequel had been percolating for years, with Tyra telling Hollywood Life in 2015 that 'We have gotten many drafts of scripts' and were 'in another round of redos.'

New work: She'll star in and help executive produce the network's upcoming movie Life-Size 2, having co-led the original Life Size with Lindsay Lohan on ABC in 2000, per Variety

Life-Size 2 has now been officially greenlit, as Variety reported this Wednesday, and Freeform is apparently scheduled to air it sometime in December of 2018.

Shay Mitchell stars on Pretty Little Liars, which began airing the second half of its seventh and final season on Freeform this Tuesday, so she attended the upfronts too.

The 30-year-old bared a bit of cleavage in a white sleeveless top with a neckline that fell to her waist and had been papered over by a stretch of sheer white fabric.

Layering: Bella Thorne, whose new Freeform show Famous In Love began airing this Tuesday, flashed her chiseled midriff in a black crop top worn over a full-length fishnet top

Muted colors: The 19-year-old had shoved both her hands into the pockets of a pair of black and white slacks that'd got slits up the sides, showing off her snow-leopard-print boots

Adding to the look: Her slightly wavy hair had been died blue and green, and she'd accessorized by clasping a black choker about her neck, as well as wearing earrings

Putting the do on display: Showcasing her fishnet leggings, she occasionally posed while lifting her hair far up above her head

A hand at her enviably trim waistline, she'd slid on a pair of high-waisted black slacks teamed with black shoes, accessorizing with a couple of large bracelets.

Ashley Benson, also of Pretty Little Liars, wore a strapless black top that offered up a bit of cleavage, as well as a seemingly airtight pair of black leather trousers.

Their co-star Lucy Hale wore a sleeveless black dress with a high collar and a sloping row of large pale beads encircled her at her midriff.

Shay Mitchell stars on Pretty Little Liars, which began airing the second half of its seventh and final season on Freeform this Tuesday, so she attended the upfronts too

The 30-year-old bared a bit of cleavage in a white sleeveless top with a neckline that fell to her waist and had been papered over by a stretch of sheer white fabric

A hand at her enviably trim waistline, she'd slid on a pair of high-waisted black slacks teamed with black shoes, accessorizing with a couple of large bracelets

The tightened midsection of her dress was heavily embossed and ended with a bit of frill, which topped off a smooth, shiny stretch of fabric that fell to mid-calf.

Sasha Pieterse, another Pretty Little Liars star, wore a solid black undergarment beneath a skintight lacy black dress that was sheer over her hands and legs.

Bella Thorne, whose new Freeform show Famous In Love began airing this Tuesday, flashed her chiseled midriff in a black crop top worn over a full-length fishnet top.

Colleagues: Shay got in a bit of posing alongside her Pretty Little Liars co-star Ashley Benson

Keeping it simple: Ashley Benson wore a strapless black top that offered up a bit of cleavage, as well as a seemingly airtight pair of black leather trousers

Hand at the midriff: Sasha Pieterse, another Pretty Little Liars star, wore a solid black undergarment beneath a skintight lacy black dress that was sheer over her hands and legs

Emphasis: Their co-star Lucy Hale wore a sleeveless black dress with a high collar and a sloping row of large pale beads encircled her at her midriff

Combination of styles: The tightened midsection of her dress was heavily embossed and ended with a bit of frill, which topped off a smooth, shiny stretch of fabric that fell to mid-calf

The 19-year-old had shoved both her hands into the pockets of a pair of black and white slacks that'd got slits up the sides, showing off her snow-leopard-print boots.

Her slightly wavy hair had been died blue and green, and she'd accessorized by clasping a black choker about her neck, as well as popping in a pair of earrings.

Niki Koss is also on Famous In Love, and wore a pine green cocktail dress that appeared to be made of velour, clashing it against a black clutch and black shoes.

A bit of sheen: Niki Koss is also on Famous In Love, and wore a pine green cocktail dress that appeared to be made of velour, clashing it against a black clutch and black shoes

Corporate chic: Perrey Reeves, another cast member of the selfsame show, had on a cleavage-baring white pantsuit matched with a diamond-stitched white clutch and silver footwear

Semi-formal: Famous In Love also stars Carter Jenkins, who'd turned up to the upfronts in a black tuxedo with a charcoal button-down short speckled with tiny white designs

Beaming: Pepi Sonuga's on the show as well, and her lacy and frequently sheer black cocktail dress featured flared cuffs and a high neckline, stopping slightly below the knee

Perrey Reeves, another cast member of the selfsame show, had on a cleavage-baring white pantsuit matched with a diamond-stitched white clutch and silver footwear.

Famous In Love also stars Carter Jenkins, who'd turned up to the upfronts in a black tuxedo with a charcoal button-down short speckled with tiny white designs.

Pepi Sonuga's on the show as well, and her lacy and frequently sheer black cocktail dress featured flared cuffs and a high neckline, stopping slightly below the knee.

Olivia Holt, also 19 years old, stars as Dagger on Freeform's upcoming show Marvel's Cloak & Dagger, and wore a black cocktail dress with an asymmetric hem.

A bit of leg: Olivia Holt, also 19 years old, stars as Dagger on Freeform's upcoming show Marvel's Cloak & Dagger, and wore a black cocktail dress with an asymmetric hem

Unsmiling: Alex Roe and Eline Powell, both of the upcoming Freeform series The Deep, both cut formal figures, she in a full-sleeved pale pink dress stressing her hourglass frame

Her neckline fell to her midriff, and she'd contrasted the figure-hugging black number with a pair of gleaming gold-colored ankle-strap stilettos.

Alex Roe and Eline Powell, both of the upcoming Freeform series The Deep, both cut formal figures, she in a full-sleeved pale pink dress stressing her hourglass frame.

Meanwhile, Alex emphasized his toned figure in a navy suit and a white dress shirt that'd got a couple of buttons undone over his vest, adding walnut brown shoes.

Sherri Saum, star of The Fosters on Freeform, wore a white tie with a white blouse, popping on a formal powder blue coat and sliding into black leather trousers.
Halle Berry enjoyed a tea date on Wednesday afternoon in West Hollywood, but there's a catch.

The drinks were just part of a photo shoot that the stunning 50-year-old actress was the main focus of.

Her male companion was her stylist Castillo Bataille, who appeared to be standing in so Halle had an eye line for the flirty photos.

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Flirty: Halle Berry was photographed on a date Wednesday in West Hollywood, but it was all for an upcoming photoshoot

The photographer appeared to be very close to Halle, possibly taking close up beauty shots of the Revlon make-up spokeswoman.

Since filing for divorce from husband Olivier Martinez in 2015, the Monsters Ball actress has not been linked to any new suitors.

She has two children, a daughter named Nahla with her ex, Calvin Klein model Gabriel Aubrey and a son Maceo with Martinez.

Hatty Halle: The actress' hat nearly obscured view of her much-celebrated face

On Wednesday, she rocked a bohemian look including an oversize brown hat and a fringe bracelet.

Her tan tank top was sheer as she leaned over the table with her legs crossed, flashing some skin in her ripped and rolled up jeans.

The look was finished with studded tan flats.

Tea time: The 50-year-old actress clutched a cup as she gazed away from the camera

Berry can be briefly seen as her character Ginger in the preview, wearing glasses while sitting next to Channing Tatum.

The highly anticipated sequel also stars Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore and Colin Firth.

According to IMDb, Halle has two other movies named Kings and Kidnap both completed for 2017 release.

Geek chic: She plays the role of Ginger in Kingsman: The Golden Circle
In real-life, she's just filed for divorce from Ben Affleck, but onscreen, Jennifer Garner is still a married woman.

The 45-year-old plays Diana Wakefield, the wife of missing man, Howard Wakefield, in the upcoming drama, Wakefield.

The film also stars Bryan Cranston as Howard, who one day vanishes after suffering a mental breakdown and deciding he's fed up with his life in the suburbs.

Love at first sight: Jennifer Garner and Bryan Cranston play a married couple in the upcoming movie, Wakefield

But the New York lawyer doesn't venture far, quietly moving into the attic above his garage.

From there, he watches his family as they struggle to come to terms with his disappearance.

As the weeks turn into months, Howard discovers he's actually running away from himself, and decides to return to his old life.

Missing man: Bryan Cranston plays Howard, who one day vanishes after suffering a mental breakdown and deciding he's fed up with his life in the suburbs

Hiding out: Despite disappearing, Howard doesn't venture far, quietly moving into the attic above his garage

Picking up the pieces: Jennifer plays Diana, Howard's wife, who is left to deal with his mysterious disappearance

Looking in from the outside... Howard watches his family as they struggle to come to terms with his disappearance

But he quickly realizes nothing is the same, as he struggles to return to normality, and his family tries to make sense of his return.

The film is already winning praise for Bryan, who won multiple awards playing chemistry teacher turned drug dealer Walter White in the hit series, Breaking Bad.

Joking about how they bonded to play a married couple, despite having only known each other for a few days, the 61-year-old actor said he took his stunning co-star to the beauty salon.

Pamper session: To bond as a married couple, Bryan joked, '[Jennifer and I] went to a day spa and I gave her a mani-pedi'

Intimate: The pair revealed they had to quickly connect for their roles as a married couple, despite having only known each other for a few days

Surprise return: As the weeks turn into months, Howard discovers he's actually running away from himself, and decides to return to his old life

Shell-shocked: He quickly realizes nothing is the same, as he struggles to return to normality, and his family tries to make sense of his return

Struggling: As Diana, Jennifer struggles to comprehend what has happened to her husband after he mysteriously vanishes one day

'We went to a day spa and I gave her a mani-pedi,' he told People during the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

'[It was a] crash course on intimacy.'

Wakefield is set to hit cinemas on May 19 and is available on video on demand on May 26.
He reignited a war of words after referring to Today as a 'bunch of losers' during a live television broadcast on Wednesday.

And on Thursday David 'Kochie' Koch was visibly absent from the Sunrise desk, replaced by evening newsreader Michael Usher.

The day before Kochie blasted Channel Nine's breakfast show after telling a listener to 'get stuffed' for answering Sunrise's Cash Cow competition with a Today slogan.

Where's Kochie? Sunrise's David Koch conspicuously from desk one day after referring to rivals Today as 'a bunch of losers' on live television

On Wednesday, Cash Cow winner Denise answered the phone from Sunrise with 'I wake up with Today', the winning slogan for Today's rival cash prize competition.

An annoyed Kochie told the listener to 'get stuffed', before adding: 'We don't give a toss about a bunch of losers.'

Newsreader Natalie Barr attempted to diffuse a clearly-irritated Kochie, telling him to 'stop it that's very mean'.

He later told the listener he was 'only joking' and it is believed they were still awarded the $30,000 cash prize.

Absent: On Thursday David 'Kochie' Koch was absent from the Sunrise desk, replaced by evening newsreader Michael Usher

Reached out: Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Seven for comment on Kochie's absence

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Seven for comment on Kochie's absence.

Kochie's fighting words come after a fierce battle over ratings saw the two shows almost in court last year.

In October, Today claimed it had beaten Sunrise for the first time in 12 years, coming first in 21 out of 35 rating weeks in the mainland capitals.

Not happy Jan! Cash Cow winner Denise answered the phone from Sunrise with 'I wake up with Today', the winning slogan for Today's rival cash prize competition

Something to smile about: Last October, Today claimed it had beaten Sunrise for the first time in 12 years, coming first in 21 out of 35 rating weeks in the mainland capitals

But Sunrise hit back, releasing a statement arguing the show was still on top when the ratings of regional areas were taken into consideration.

Channel Seven then initiated a statement of claim in federal court which would prevent Today from promoting itself as the highest rated show.

Both networks eventually dropped the legal action, with news.com.au reporting at the time that it was understood Channel Nine had agreed not to refer to itself in advertising as number one in ratings.

Meanwhile, both Sunrise and Today issued statements claiming they had won the year, with their star anchors Lisa Wilkinson and Samantha Armytage sniping at each other on Twitter.

Claimed a win: Lisa tweeted 'Channel 7 drops its court case & now concedes Today Show has won the official OZTAM breakfast show ratings for 2016'

Not so fast? Samantha fired back less than an hour later on Twitter, claiming Sunrise was victorious

'Let's clarify': Lisa responded with yet another tweet claiming victory over Channel Seven

'BREAKING: Channel 7 drops its court case & now concedes Today Show has won the official OZTAM breakfast show ratings for 2016,' Lisa tweeted, adding the hashtag 'casedropped'.

Samantha wrote on Twitter in response: 'Great news; @channel9 concedes @sunriseon7 is Australia's number 1 breakfast show. And settles case. Thanks for saving us court costs.'

Lisa fired back soon after on Twitter, saying people shouldn't get 'their knickers in a twist' and adding: 'let's clarify: TODAY can't be beaten in 2016 b/fast weeks won across 5 cap cities.'
National Geographic held their Further Front, which is what they've called their upfronts, at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on Wednesday evening.

Kate Bosworth swung by in a full-sleeved pale green dress with a heavy pleated cinched-in portion stressing her enviably trim waistline.

She'll join a cast that includes Jason Ritter, Michael Kelly, Sarah Wayne Callies and Noel Fisher in the network's upcoming Iraq War miniseries The Long Road Home.

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Radiant: Kate Bosworth glowed when National Geographic held their Further Front, which is what they've called their upfronts, at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on Wednesday

Based on Martha Raddatz and Mikko Alanne's nonfiction New York Times bestseller of the same name, the eight episodes will revolve about Black Sunday, the day of a 2004 ambush targeting an American platoon in Baghdad's Sadr City.

Kate had garnished her ensemble Wednesday night with ornate earrings, black nail polish, a dark red lipstick, a pair of black and tan stilettos and a brown purse.

Jane Lynch had buttoned a glinting blue checked blazer over a buttoned-up black shirt she'd left untucked over black slacks and a pair of black dress shoes.

Plugging The Long Road Home: She'd swung by in a full-sleeved pale green dress with a heavy pleated cinched-in portion stressing her enviably trim waistline

Rubbing shoulders: Kate made sure to stike a pose with producer Mike Medavoy at the New York event

High spirits: She seemed animatedly in conversation with Mike as they spoke

It emerged Wednesday that she'll be hosting a live two-hour one-off show on National Geographic called Earth Live on June 9, Deadline have reported.

Simulcast all over the world, the special will apparently offer footage of wildlife across six continents, with featured countries including Ethiopia and India.

Katie Couric wore a pair of drop earrings showcasing what appeared to be massive pearls over a sleeveless cocktail dress with white trim about the neckline and straps.

Hostess of Earth Live: Jane Lynch had buttoned a glinting blue checked blazer over a buttoned-up black shirt she'd left untucked over black slacks and a pair of black dress shoes

Off-white bordering snaked about the slightly pleated hem, which was cut off around her knees and allowed for a bit of contrast against her otherwise black outfit.

She had an affectionately gleeful meet-up with Morgan Freeman on the yellow carpet, the two of them leaning into one another for kisses on the cheeks.

Morgan had got on an elegant pinstriped three-piece suit over a white dress shirt he'd worn without a tie, adding in a black and white checked pocket square.

Returning to the channel: Katie Couric wore a pair of drop earrings showcasing what appeared to be massive pearls over a sleeveless cocktail dress with white trim about the neckline

Chumming about: She had an affectionately gleeful meet-up with Morgan Freeman on the yellow carpet, the two of them leaning into one another for kisses on the cheeks

Variety broke the news on Wednesday that The Story Of Us With Morgan Freeman, an upcoming docu-series, has been greenlit at National Geographic.

Six episodes released this autumn will reportedly each cover a topic such as war and peace, and they'll see Morgan talk to people across a range of cultures.

The Story Of God With Morgan Freeman, which National Geographic began airing last year, saw Morgan examining a variety of religious and spiritual beliefs.

Dapper Dan: Morgan had got on an elegant pinstriped three-piece suit over a white dress shirt he'd worn without a tie, adding in a black and white checked pocket square

New work: Variety broke the news on Wednesday that The Story Of Us With Morgan Freeman, an upcoming docu-series, has been greenlit at National Geographic

Katie, who's worked with National Geographic on the documentary Gender Revolution: A Journey With Katie Couric, is also percolating a new project with them.

It was announced at the upfronts that she'll be producing and conducting interviews on an untitled six-part docu-series out next year, according to Deadline.

Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, who've helped produce Genius for the network, posed Wednesday with National Geographic Global Networks CEO Courtney Monroe.

Expansive subject: Six episodes released this autumn will reportedly each cover a topic such as war and peace, and they'll see Morgan talk to people across a range of cultures

Another docu-series: Katie, who's worked with National Geographic on the documentary Gender Revolution: A Journey With Katie Couric, is also percolating a new project with them

Gigi Pritzker helped Ron and Brian produce the anthology show, which is the channel's first scripted series and will, for season one, cover Albert Einstein.

The pilot, which Ron's directed, will air Tuesday next, kicking off a 10-episode season that'll end June 20 and star Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Flynn as old and young Albert.

As Variety reported Wednesday, the upfronts saw the unveiling of news that Genius will get a second season with a subject to be specified in season one's finale.

With the top brass: Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, who've helped produce Genius for the network, posed Wednesday with National Geographic Global Networks CEO Courtney Monroe

Strike a pose: Courteney Monroe CEO stopped for a photograph with Declan Moore, James Murdoch, Randy Freer, and Peter Rice (pictured L-R)

Deep in conversation: Actor Michael Kelly (right) appeared to be in the midst of a conversation with retired astronaut Chris Hadfield (left)

Recalling her tales? National Geographic Explorer Erika Bergman (left) was seen chatting to ABC reporter Martha Raddatz
Charlie's Angels star Cheryl Ladd posed with her daughter, Jordan, at a Hollywood premiere, but the pair could have been mistaken for sisters.

Wearing a white trouser suit, Cheryl, who played scuba-diving detective Kris Munroe in the Seventies series, looked far younger than 65.

Jordan, 42, who opted for a black dress, followed her mother into acting, prompting Cheryl to say: If she had wanted to be a clothing designer or a scientist, I wouldve probably jumped up and down and said: Woohoo  thats great! 

Charlie's Angels star Cheryl Ladd posed with her daughter, Jordan, at a Hollywood premiere, but the pair could have been mistaken for sisters

Nigella Lawson has a voluptuous new rival in the kitchen. Kirstie Allsopp has signed a lucrative deal to write a recipe book and her publisher, Nicky Ross at Hodder, describes her as a 21st century domestic goddess.

The aristocratic presenter of Location, Location, Location, whose father is former Christies chairman Lord Hindlip, says she learned to cook later in life after not coming from a foodie home.

Will she cock a snook at Nigella by turning the book, Kirsties Real Kitchen, into a TV series?

Sky-high heels? No problem for blooming Rosie

Marks & Spencer lingerie model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley refuses to sacrifice her sense of style just because shes heavily pregnant.

The Devonian blonde, whos expecting her first child with hardman fiance Jason Statham, tottered out in LA wearing a pair of vertiginous stiletto heels.

Perhaps Rosie, sheathed in a black cocktail dress that accentuated her blossoming bump, felt the 580 Gianvito Rossi fringed sandals were called for as she attended her 30th birthday party.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wore a black cocktail dress that accentuated her blossoming bump as she attended her 30th birthday party and later posed next to her untouched cake

She later posed next to a photograph of her untouched cake. Go mad, Rosie, have a slice.

Wildlife supremo Sir David Attenborough has written a memoir about his 1954 TV breakthrough as a presenter on the BBCs Zoo Quest.

Will he reveal how he was the emergency replacement for the original presenter, a zoo keeper who died from a tropical disease?

And lets hope he publishes the official BBC memo stating: Attenborough is an intelligent young man and Im delighted to have him as a trainee producer, but he should not be used as an interviewer again . . . his teeth are too big.

Sir Ken's tip for marital bliss: Laugh

Sir Kenneth Branagh attended the launch of The Importance Of Being Ernest The Earwig, with his wife Lindsay, who had illustrated the children's book

Sir Kenneth Branagh rarely ventures on to the party circuit, but he made an exception for his wife, Lindsay, 46, launching The Importance Of Being Ernest The Earwig, a childrens book she illustrated for Nanette Newman.

And Sir Ken told me the secret to his 14-year marriage: Humour, and being as cheerful as you can be in life generally.

The actor, 56, previously married to Emma Thompson, 58, inset, adds: Its a way to make sure that bumps arent so bumpy and you pass as lightly and as swiftly as you can to the next moment where you can have a laugh together.

Weddings such a drag for O'Grady

Is erstwhile drag queen Paul OGrady really the right man to present the relaunched Blind Date?

I hate weddings, admits OGrady, who will take the role previously performed by his late friend Cilla Black.

If there is one, Im not going! The gay comic, who was once in a marriage of convenience with a Portuguese lesbian, adds: I like a funeral. In and out, no presents, no photos, have a good cry, get blind drunk, and go home. Fabulous.




She's the Melbourne-bred actress who has been making big waves in Hollywood.

Now, Elizabeth Debicki has opened up about the vulnerability she suffers as an actress.

Speaking with Instyle Australia, the 26-year-old admitted: 'Everyone f***s things up and learns from them, and that's the beauty of it,' she told the magazine.

Elizabeth Debecki opens up: Speaking with Instyle Australia, the 26-year-old admitted: 'Everyone f***s things up and learns from them, and that's the beauty of it,' she told the magazine

She also said she wouldn't be able to cope without friends keeping her grounded.

'It's really hard to pat yourself on the back, you're never going to fool yourself,' she told the publication.

'When you have little spasms of neurosis and you think you've made the wrong decision or don't know what to do...friends are really important in your life. Usually just to metaphorically slap you through the phone because you're being ridiculous.'

The demure blonde added that she believed with age comes more perspective.

A friend indeed: Speaking with Instyle Australia, Elizabeth Debicki said that she wouldn't be able to cope without friends keeping her grounded

'It's messy and uncomfortable in the doing, but I'd love to go back and see the 20-year-old me, put my hands on her shoulders and say "would you just chill out? Just stop. Everything's going to be fine."'

The French-born actress, whose upcoming big screen credits include the animated adaptation of Beatrix Potter's classic Peter Rabbit and the crime thriller Windows, has been drawing comparisons to fellow Australian actress Cate Blanchett.

Hard lessons: 'Everyone f***s things up and learns from them, and that's the beauty of it,' she told Instyle

Doppelganger? The French-born star has been drawing comparisons to fellow Australian actress Cate Blanchett

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Elizabeth said she found the comparison 'tiresome'.

'I don't wake up in the morning and feel tall, or young, or like the new Cate Blanchett,' she said. 'I find it boring, to be honest.'

While tiresome, Elizabeth also finds the comparison flattering as she told Stellar Magazine: 'It's a huge compliment, I'll never deny it and I think Cate is a genius actor. She's a unique, amazing creature, but it's also not who I am. I am my own person,' she said.
The Pennsylvania Senate Education Committee hit a trifecta of hot-potato political issues yesterday, advancing legislation dealing with guns in schools, immigration policy and the separation of church and state.

Five bills were approved by the committee and will advance to the full Senate.

Of those five, SB 383  which would allow school districts to permit teachers and staff to carry firearms in schools  garnered the most immediate response, with opposition from the state teachers union, the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

Senate bills 273 and 88 also hit controversial topics. SB 273 would seek to strip state grant funding from so-called sanctuary campuses, while SB 88 would amend the states school code to prevent public schools from censoring historically significant documents  specifically any religious references or endorsements.

Senate bills 93 and 592 address the somewhat-more-sober topics of dual-enrollment for home-schooled students and posting of employment offers for school administrators.

SB 383

In his memorandum regarding SB 383, Sen. Donald White (R-41) said current state law allows the possession of firearms on school property for a lawful purpose, but does not define whether that includes the protection of students.

SB 383 would explicitly allow school boards to permit teachers and staff to carry firearms, provided they are properly trained and permitted.

I believe we need to consider providing school employees with more choices than just locking a door, hiding in a closet or diving in front of bullets to protect students, White wrote in reference to school shootings.

With the legal authority, licensing and proper training, I believe allowing school administrators, teachers or other staff to carry firearms on the school premises is an option worth exploring, he continued.

The PSEA, however, warned against allowing school boards to place the responsibility of physical protection  including the carrying of firearms  on the shoulders of teachers.

Teachers are not trained law enforcement officers  their job is to educate children and act as role models, PSEA President Jerry Oleksiak said in a statement.

SB 273

Parallel to similar efforts in the state House, and across the country, SB 273 seeks to put financial leverage against colleges and universities in the state that have declared themselves sanctuary campuses when it comes to federal immigration enforcement.

At least two institutions in Pennsylvania, the University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore College, have adopted such measures. However, the definition of sanctuary campus is not set in stone.

Shortly after Trumps election, Penn said that it would not allow immigration enforcement officers on its campus without a warrant, nor would it provide any student information to federal authorities without a subpoena or other legal process.

SB 273 would defund any entity that refuses access by Federal authorities  for the purposes of investigating or enforcing a Federal law pertaining to an immigrant or immigration, but does not define whether requiring authorities to have a warrant or subpoena constitutes refusal of access.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania said yesterday it would oppose such an interpretation.

Colleges hold personal, private information about their students, and they are well within their rights to expect law enforcement to get a warrant before they give up that information,spokesman Andrew Hoover said.

A similar bill exists in the House of Representatives as HB 14. When the bill was introduced in January, Penns student newspaper The Daily Pennsylvanian reported that the university received roughly $33 million in the current fiscal year in state grants, with the vast majority of that funding going to Penns veterinary school.

SB 88

Sponsored by Sen. Stewart Greenleaf (R-12), the bill decrees that public school teachers and administrators cannot be prohibited from using historical documents in their entirety, even if those documents contain religious endorsements.

The documents listed include the national anthem, Pledge of Allegiance, the US Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the Mayflower Compact.

It also includes the national motto, which was defined in 1956 as In God We Trust.

The bill, however, stipulates that such references shall be undertaken for educational purposes only and shall not be used, read from or posted to promote or establish any religion or religious belief.

Pennsylvania School Boards Association spokesman Steve Robinson said he was not aware of any current issues in which a school board or administrator had attempted to censor historical religious references.

Greenleaf said in his legislative memo that local school officials throughout the United States are being challenged or threatened with lawsuits if they do not remove these documents with religious references.

However, SB 88 does not define what type of use constitutes educational purposes. Further, the bill provides protection against prohibiting the posting in a public school building, classroom or event of any historic religious references.

This latter clause, and the potential for it to be used to justify posting religious endorsements in the abstract, raised eyebrows at the ACLU.

This bill disempowers school administrators while giving a lot of leeway to teachers who want to proselytize, Hoover said. Posting In God We Trust with no context will certainly send a religious message to students.
They delightedly announced their engagement in January.

And Lisa Snowdon proved she is as loved-up as ever with her hunky fiance George Smart as they attended the VIP private view of Bradley Theodore's new exhibit at Mayfair's Maddox Gallery on Wednesday.

The stunning model was a vision of happiness at the star-studded bash as she continually beamed while her dashing beau stood alongside looking trendy with a leather satchel extending across his chest.

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Loved-up: Lisa Snowdon proved she is as loved-up as ever with her hunky fiance George Smart as they attended the VIP private view of Bradley Theodore's new exhibit at Mayfair's Maddox Gallery on Wednesday

Lisa, who has been friends with the entrepreneur for 15 years, announced the joyous news in late January, as she revealed she is happy she never 'settled'.

Detailing the romantic pre-Christmas proposal, the beauty revealed the entire scene was a surprise as he presented her with 'the most beautiful diamond ring'.

Making no secret of their romance, Lisa could not resist cosying up to George as she dazzled in her summery ensemble which made the most of her curves.

Her pretty blue blouse boasted huge frilled sleeves while the light blue shade was bang on trend for the upcoming summer seasons.

A bit of blue: The stunning model was a vision of happiness at the star-studded bash as she continually beamed while her dashing beau stood alongside looking trendy with a leather satchel extending across his chest

Chic: Lisa showed off her endless legs in some distressed jeans which sat just above her ankles in length to best expose her trendy pointed heels

Lisa showed off her endless legs in some distressed jeans which sat just above her ankles in length to best expose her trendy pointed heels.

She wore her bouncy brunette locks in a stunning blow dry which best showed off the many hues worked through the lengths.

Within the bash, she posed with a bevy of stars including Abbey Clancy, who she looked particularly pally with, alongside the BNTM host's husband Peter Crouch.

They also snapped away with Lily Fortescue, sister of MIC star Rosie, who dazzled in a chic Sixties-inspired mini dress which flashed her endless legs.

Blonde beauty: Within the bash, she posed with a bevy of stars including Abbey Clancy, who she looked particularly pally with, alongside the BNTM host's husband Peter Crouch

Cheeky! They also snapped away with Lily Fortescue, sister of MIC star Rosie, who dazzled in a chic Sixties-inspired mini dress which flashed her endless legs

Just the two of us! Lisa announced her engagement to her boyfriend of 14 months George

Since going public with their romance, Lisa has been candid about George as she previously gushed over 'the kindest, most loving person Ive ever met.

In an interview with The Sun, the stunning star revealed the news: 'George proposed on the Saturday before Christmas and it was such a lovely surprise  I had absolutely no idea he was going to do it!'

'He did it at home  it was just us, it was really low-key and completely unexpected. He chose the most beautiful diamond ring, which I love, and amazingly it fits me perfectly! It was such a great way to start the New Year.'

Lisa and George's lengthy friendship saw the couple enjoy a brief fling after they met while both working at MTV - although their eight year age gap drove them apart.

Overjoyed! The delighted radio host, who has been friends with the entrepreneur for 15 years, announced the joyous news in an interview with The Sun 's Fabulous magazine, as she revealed she is happy she never 'settled'

Yay! In October, Lisa spoke to Hello! magazine about the prospect of marrying her long-time pal and it seems the proposal would not have been a total surprise

In October, Lisa spoke to Hello! magazine about the prospect of marrying her long-time pal and it seems the proposal would not have been a total surprise.

When grilled over marriage, she said: 'Yes, at some point (we will marry). But theres no pressure because we fit  I know well be together forever...

'Hes my best friend. Hes understanding, nurturing and thoughtful and he gets me beyond anyone Ive ever met before. He cares about me and I care about him. It feels like we were meant to be together'.

Lisa has enjoyed a number of high profile relationships over the years - most notably her five-year, on-off romance with George Clooney.

Loved-up: In October, Lisa spoke to Hello! magazine about the prospect of marrying her long-time pal and it seems the proposal would not have been a total surprise

The brunette beauty is all too aware of the stigma and resonance her relationship has, but clearly has a tongue-in-cheek attitude to her previous love.

In an interview with the Mirror in 2013, she said: 'Im always going to be George Clooneys ex. I sometimes think it will be written on my tombstone  George Clooney once dated Lisa Snowdon.

'I will have to do something super-radical for people to forget about it. Goodness knows... Im definitely too old for Prince Harry!

'It really doesnt bother me any more. Im so used to the George thing that I take it all with a pinch of salt... People actually ask me what he was like in bed... Usually after a few drinks have made them brave.

That was then: Lisa has enjoyed a number of high profile relationships over the years - most notably her five-year, on-off romance with George Clooney

'They are like Seriously, though, how was it? What was he like? Now, Id promised myself I wouldnt do this but... Seriously then, Lisa, how was it? What was he like? I never tell.'

While Lisa has clearly found happiness elsewhere, her world famous ex-beau has also moved on, after marrying human rights lawyer Amal Clooney in 2014.

George and Amal are expecting twins, with an insider telling In Touch: 'Amal is pregnant with twins: a boy and a girl.

'When George and Amal found out it was twins they were surprised, but also a little scared because they both had said one was enough. But the news that it was a boy and a girl made the them both really happy. They feel like theyve hit the family jackpot.'

Both found happiness: George and Amal are expecting twins,

Despite her ex-boyfriend's imminent arrival, Lisa is insistent she is not prepared to have children, after she and fiance George both reasoned that they are 'not bothered' about kids.

During her recent stint on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here, the model spoke to Ola Jordan, who is also childless, about the reasoning for not having children.

She said: 'It's a weird one because it's so hard. I left it kind of late. I didn't find anyone that I wanted to actually be with and I didn't want to have kids to just

'Children enrich your life so much, so of course I wanted to be a mum. But it didn't work out for me in that way.'
He returns for his ripped Star-Lord character in the sequel to James Gunn's 2014 smash hit.

And on Wednesday Chris Pratt's rock hard physique was put on display by his wife Anna Faris in a sultry shirtless photo she tweeted of the 37-year-old actor.

The loved up couple then headed to the premiere of his Disney and Marvel film Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 where they packed on the PDA with a sweet smooch.

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Sealed with a kiss! Chris Pratt and Anna Faris shared a sweet smooch at the premiere of his film Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 on Wednesday

The handsome duo - who tied the knot in 2009 - made a showstopping appearance at the premiere held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Anna, 40, showcased her phenomenal figure in a pretty pale blush Marchesa gown with floral embellishments throughout.

Her long flowing number included a sheer skirt and low-cut neckline which flashed a hint of her ample cleavage.

Hollywood hunk! Pratt's rock hard physique was put on display by his wife as he prepared for his big night

Cute couple: The handsome duo - who tied the knot in 2009 - made a showstopping appearance at the premiere held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood

The Scary Movie starlet styled her silky golden blonde tresses in soft waves which cascaded past her shoulders.

Anna opted for a matte smokey brown eye with thin black liner, rosy blush and pale pink glossy lip.

The Jurassic World actor looked handsome as ever in a charcoal grey fitted suit with black necktie and polished dress shoes.

Chris attended the premiere alongside costars Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Sylvester Stallone, Dave Bautista and Karen Gillan, to name a few.

Pretty in pink: Anna, 40, showcased her phenomenal figure in a pale blush Marchesa gown with floral embellishments, pairing it with Neil J. Rodgers platform Sofia sandals

Taking the plunge: The Scary Movie starlet's long flowing number included a low-cut neckline which flashed a hint of her ample cleavage

Zoe returns to the film in full green face for her role as Gamora, while Gillan returns to a shaved head, blue-skinned deadly assassin, Nebula.

Bautista returns as Drax, while the psychopathic racoon Rocket, and humanoid tree Groot, are voiced by Bradley Cooper and Vin respectively.

The original sci-fi movie was a surprise blockbuster in 2014, raking in just over $773 million worldwide, more than recouping its $170 million budget.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 is set to hit theaters on May 5.

Fan-atical! The Jurassic World actor took time out to sign autographs for adoring fans
Zoe Saldana glowed in orange when her new film Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 celebrated a premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

She trod the red carpet in a gleaming dress that, from knee to floor, was made up of a thicket of fringe reminiscent of flappers in the 1920s.

Light orange fabric cinched the dress about the 38-year-old's impressively svelte midriff as she posed beaming with her husband Marco Perego.

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Bombshell: Zoe Saldana glowed in orange when her new film Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 celebrated a premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Wednesday

Her sleeveless dress had a half-turtleneck and was largely a deep orange that clashed elegantly against the pale gold color of her ankle-strap stilettos.

Meanwhile, Marco, whom she married back in 2013, had rolled the sleeves of his white dress shirt to nearly the elbow, showing off his forearm tattoo of her face.

A couple of buttons had been undone over his chest, and he'd matched his pewter grey waistcoat with slacks that spilled onto a pair of shining black dress shoes.

Can't stop smiling: Light orange fabric cinched the dress about the 38-year-old's impressively svelte midriff as she posed beaming with her husband Marco Perego

The look of love: They struck quite a few romantic poses, including one in which she gazed into his face and brushed his cheek with the tips of her fingers

Throwback: Zoe trod the red carpet in a gleaming dress that, from knee to floor, was made up of a thicket of fringe reminiscent of flappers in the 1920s

Arms about each other: Meanwhile, Marco, whom she married back in 2013, had rolled the sleeves of his white dress shirt to nearly the elbow

They struck quite a few romantic poses, including one in which she gazed into his face and brushed his cheek with the tips of her fingers.

Zoe, who's hair had been slicked severely back and wound into a long braid, posed alone as well, moving about to let the fringe swing to and fro.

She also, at one point, put one hand at her waist and made a peace sign with the other, leaning to one side and scrunching her face up at the camera.

Giving the dress its due: Zoe, who's hair had been slicked severely back and wound into a long braid, posed alone as well, moving about to let the fringe swing to and fro

Sign of victory: She also, at one point, put one hand at her waist and made a peace sign with the other, leaning to one side and scrunching her face up at the camera

Gracious: Zoe, who's raising three children with Marco, was seen laughing as she mingled with the thronging fans who held out posters for her to sign

Zoe, who's raising three children with Marco, was seen laughing as she mingled with the thronging fans who held out posters for her to sign.

Chris Pratt, the film's leading man, draped his chiseled figure in a silver suit he wore with black tie and a white dress shirt, posing alongside his wife Anna Faris.

Anna - who'd let a bit of blonde fringe sprout into her do - had slid on a pale pink floral gown that tightened about her trim torso and complemented her clutch.

The pair of them spent a bit of time mugging for the camera, he standing behind her and leaning back as he clutched her sides, a faintly fraught grin on his face.

Chris Pratt, the film's leading man, draped his chiseled figure in a silver suit he wore with black tie and a white dress shirt, posing alongside his wife Anna Faris

High spirits: The two of them smiled as cameras captured them on the big night

Whoa, there: The pair of them spent a bit of time mugging for the camera, he standing behind her and leaning back as he clutched her sides, a faintly fraught grin on his face

Beautiful: Anna - who'd let a bit of blonde fringe sprout into her do - had slid on a pale pink floral gown that tightened about her trim torso and complemented her clutch

In a romantic flourish, they also shared a kiss on the purple carpet in front of the cameras, Chris placing a hand on Anna's derriere.

They'd got in a bit of posing alongside James Gunn - who's directed the new film as well as its predecessor - and his actress girlfriend Jennifer Holland.

James had teamed a grey patterned tie with a Persian blue and gold tartan suit, a white dress shirt, and a pair of dress shoes in multiple shades of brown.

So sweet: In a romantic flourish, they also shared a kiss on the purple carpet in front of the cameras, Chris placing a hand on Anna's derriere

Goofing about: They'd got in a bit of posing alongside James Gunn - who's directed the new film as well as its predecessor - and his actress girlfriend Jennifer Holland

The man at the helm: James had teamed a grey patterned tie with a Persian blue and gold tartan suit, a white dress shirt, and a pair of dress shoes in multiple shades of brown

Hinting: Jennifer had got on a solid black tube top and skirt beneath a nearly entirely transparent dress covered in faintly visible netting and what looked like sequins

Jennifer had got on a solid black tube top and skirt beneath a nearly entirely transparent dress covered in faintly visible netting and what looked like sequins.

James was spotted on the carpet hobnobbing with actor Michael Rooker, whose midnight blue blazer featured a black collar and who'd worn round shades.

Meanwhile, Chris was photographed with a smile on his face as he chatted to one of the fans and held a pen, presumably for the purpose of signing an autograph.

Mingling: James was spotted on the carpet hobnobbing with actor Michael Rooker, whose midnight blue blazer featured a black collar and who'd worn round shades

Hanging with the audience: Chris was photographed with a smile on his face as he chatted to one of the fans and held a pen, presumably for the purpose of signing an autograph

She'd matched a glinting metallic clutch with her metallic ankle-strap stilettos, standing for photos with James' arm flung about her shoulders.

Seth Green stood dwarfed by his wife since 2010, Clare Grant, whose towering hairdo made him appear even smaller by comparison than he typically does.

Clare had emphasized her slender figure in a gorgeous blue, white, charcoal and yellow floral dress hemmed at the knee to showcase her chiseled legs.

Day out with Dad: David Hasselhoff stood for photos with his daughters Hayley and Taylor-Anne Hasselhoff, and was wearing a black blazer over cream slacks and black shoes

Backstory: Both daughters are the result of the Baywatch star's 17-year marriage to his second wife Pamela Bach, which had lasted from 1989 until 2006

Getting cozy: He's been engaged since last year to his Welsh girlfriend Hayley Roberts, who's over a quarter-century his junior and who was on his arm at Wednesday's premiere

Meanwhile, Seth had popped on a well-fitted dark blue suit and a patterned purple tie, sticking to a classic look by way of a white dress shirt and black shoes.

Marsai Martin, who's only 12 years old, arrived with her hair in pigtails, teaming a pink and white striped shirt with jeans and a pair of tan-colored sneakers.

Miles Brown, who's only 11 and co-stars with Marsai on Black-ish, was equally adorable in a yellow bomber jacket and bright red sneakers.

Winning grin: Elizabeth Debicki was glamorous in gold, her floor-length sleeveless dress stressing her pencil-thin frame and glistening under the lights as she trod the carpet

Elegant as ever: Her short blonde hair had been coiffed upward at the premiere

Keeping close: Seth Green stood dwarfed by his wife since 2010, Clare Grant, whose towering hairdo made him appear even smaller by comparison than he typically does

When you got it: Clare had emphasized her slender figure in a gorgeous blue, white, charcoal and yellow floral dress hemmed at the knee to showcase her chiseled legs

Elizabeth Debicki was glamorous in gold, her floor-length sleeveless dress stressing her pencil-thin frame and glistening under the lights as she trod the carpet.

Chris Hardwick wore a charcoal suit with an Oxford blue tie while walking the carpet with his wife Lydia Hearst, who'd donned a flowing orange floor-length dress.

David Hasselhoff stood for photos with his daughters Hayley and Taylor-Anne Hasselhoff, and was wearing a black blazer over cream slacks and black shoes.

Hair up: Ronnie Hawk flashed a bit of leg from the thigh-slit of her floral gown, which appeared to have been zipped shut and was cinched with a slim black belt

Cheerful as ever: Emily Osment had slid herself into a cleavage-baring black cocktail dress with a hem above the knee and vanishingly thin gold stripes streaking here and there

So sweet: Marsai Martin, who's only 12 years old, arrived with her hair in pigtails, teaming a pink and white striped shirt with jeans and a pair of tan-colored sneakers

Colleagues at the premiere: Miles Brown, who's only 11 and co-stars with Marsai on Black-ish, was equally adorable in a yellow bomber jacket and bright red sneakers

Looking fabulous: The dashing Joe Fria - in black suit, black shirt, dark blue tie and white pocket square - stood beside a date clad in green who'd got on a pair of tiny sunglasses

Married since 2016: Chris Hardwick wore a charcoal suit with an Oxford blue tie while walking the carpet with his wife Lydia Hearst, who'd donned a flowing orange floor-length dress

A dark blue tie sloped over a white dress shirt, and he'd chucked in a blue and gold patterned pocket square to pose on the carpet with his arms about his progeny.

Both daughters are the result of the Baywatch star's 17-year marriage to his second wife Pamela Bach, which had lasted from 1989 until 2006.

He's been engaged since last year to his Welsh girlfriend Hayley Roberts, who's over a quarter-century his junior and who was on his arm at Wednesday's premiere.

Showing what he's got: Dave Bautista'd buttoned a pinstriped vest over a black dress shirt with rolled-up sleeves that exposed his musclebound tattoo-sprawled forearms

In character: Mugging for the cameras, he opened his mouth into what looked like a roar and clenched his fists while wearing a grey pageboy cap and red bow-tie

Hand at the side: Pom Klementieff's dress was rather frill-heavy and featured patterns in various shades of blue, as well as in black and dull gold

Ronnie Hawk flashed a bit of leg from the thigh-slit of her floral gown, which appeared to have been zipped shut and was cinched with a slim black belt.

Her hair had been gathered up into a messy bun, and her ankle-strap stilettos, which shone in the sun as she put her leg out, were a faint gold hue.

Emily Osment had slid herself into a cleavage-baring black cocktail dress with a hem above the knee and vanishingly thin gold stripes streaking here and there.

Sizzling in silver: Allison Holker posed in a rather sheer black top with a midriff-length neckline, and had done up a sheer black tie that draped over her decolletage

Four years on: Her shiny silver skirt fell past the knee, and she popped up one of her legs as she posed with her arms about Stephen Boss, whom she'd married in 2013

The dashing Joe Fria - in black suit, black shirt, dark blue tie and white pocket square - stood beside a date clad in green who'd got on a pair of tiny sunglasses.

Sunglasses-wearing Sylvester Stallone stood flanked by his wife Jennifer Flavin and the couple's three daughters Scarlet Rose, Sistine Rose and Sophia Rose.

Dave Bautista'd buttoned a pinstriped vest over a black dress shirt with rolled-up sleeves that showed his musclebound tattoo-sprawled forearms.

Earrings glinting: Judy Greer's floral blue dress had holes pocked out all over, and she smiled serenely with a hand at her waist as photographers snapped away at her at the premiere

Dash of shine: She held a gold-colored metallic clutch against one thigh and had slid her feet into a pair of navy-blue platform ankle-strap high-heeled shoes

Muted shades: Nathan Fillion had flung on a rather loose-looking fossil grey suit over no tie and a black dress shirt that matched the dress shoes he'd selected

Mugging for the cameras, he opened his mouth into what looked like a roar and clenched his fists while wearing a grey pageboy cap and red bow-tie.

Nathan Fillion had flung on a rather loose-looking fossil grey suit over no tie and a black dress shirt that matched the dress shoes he'd selected.

Allison Holker posed in a rather sheer black top with a midriff-length neckline, and had done up a sheer black tie that draped over her decolletage. She added some bling with Native Gem earrings.

Hollywood rarity: Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, who've remained together since the 1980s, wore black and beamed alongside each other at the premiere

Note the bangles: Goldie's cocktail dress featured frills draping down from the neckline and around her back, and it had been hemmed shortly below the knee

Coordinated: Meanwhile, Kurt had got on a black blazer over a black button-down shirt

Her shiny silver skirt fell past the knee, and she popped up one of her legs as she posed with her arms about Stephen Boss, whom she'd married in 2013.

Vin Diesel looked the picture of happiness as he posed alongside his two older children: a daughter called Hania and a son called Vincent.

The tykes, as well as their two-year-old younger sister Pauline, are the product of their father's marriage to Paloma Jimenez, which began in 2007.

Pop of color in the shoes: Elizabeth Henstridge's dress had black fringe at its hem and, for most of its surface, saw black lacy strips of fabric snaking across a nude field

Impastor at the prem: Michael Rosenbaum wore a black suit over a white dress shirt with its top button undone, and he posed beside Alix Legacy, who wore a floor-length black gown

Dashing: Henry Simmons left a couple of buttons of his Persian blue dress shirt undone over his chest, having slipped on a bluish black suit and brown shoes

Much to little Vincent's amusement, Vin - real name Mark Sinclair - and Hania both posed beside him with their fists ready for a fight.

Harley Quinn Smith, the 17-year-old daughter of actor Kevin Smith, was wearing a red turtlenecked dress with a simple pair of dark stilettos.

Henry Simmons left a couple of buttons of his Persian blue dress shirt undone over his chest, having slipped on a bluish black suit and brown shoes.

Keeping it bright: Harley Quinn Smith, the 17-year-old daughter of actor Kevin Smith, was wearing a red turtlenecked dress with a simple pair of dark stilettos

Quintet: Sunglasses-wearing Sylvester Stallone stood flanked by his wife Jennifer Flavin and the couple's three daughters Scarlet Rose, Sistine Rose and Sophia Rose

Elizabeth Henstridge's dress had black fringe at its hem and, for most of its surface, saw black lacy strips of fabric snaking across a nude field.

Pom Klementieff's dress was rather frill-heavy and featured patterns in various shades of blue, as well as in black and dull gold.

Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, who've remained together since the 1980s, wore black and beamed alongside each other at the premiere.

Holding their hands: Vin Diesel looked the picture of happiness as he posed alongside his two older children: a daughter called Hania and a son called Vincent

Cute moment: The tykes, as well as their two-year-old younger sister Pauline, are the product of their father's marriage to Paloma Jimenez, which began in 2007

Having a laugh: Much to little Vincent's amusement, Vin - real name Mark Sinclair - and Hania both posed beside him with their fists ready for a fight

Goldie's cocktail dress featured frills draping down from the neckline and around her back, and it had been hemmed shortly below the knee.

Meanwhile, Kurt had got on a black blazer over a black button-down shirt he'd left unbuttoned over a slightly faded pair of light blue jeans.

Chloe Bennet posed fashionably unsmiling in a black jumpsuit with thigh-slits up both legs and a tightened-in band of sheeny fabric at the midriff.

Fashionably unsmiling: Chloe Bennet posed in a black jumpsuit with thigh-slits up both legs and a tightened-in band of sheeny fabric at the midriff

Bee-like shoes: Karen Gillan donned a quirky yellow dress with a massive knot at the waist causing a slit that went all the way up her leg - though she'd got trousers on underneath

Karen Gillan donned a quirky yellow dress with a massive knot at the waist causing a slit that went all the way up her leg - though she'd got trousers on underneath.

Judy Greer's floral blue dress had holes pocked out all over, and she smiled serenely with a hand at her waist as photographers snapped away at her at the premiere.

She held a gold-colored metallic clutch against one thigh and had slid her feet into a pair of navy-blue platform ankle-strap high-heeled shoes.

Teen star: Jenna Ortega's robe-like gown was awash in vertical stripe beneath a metallic belt and black Onna Ehrlich clutch

Michael Rosenbaum wore a black suit over a white dress shirt with its top button undone, and he posed beside Alix Legacy, who wore a floor-length black gown.

Jonathan Scott wore a three-piece light blue suit with a navy tie, whereas his Property Brothers co-host and identical twin Drew Scott wore his tie over a short-sleeved button-down shirt and a pair of jeans.

JoJo Fletcher, erstwhile The Bachelorette, and Jordan Rodgers, the husband-to-be she snagged herself via that show, had turned up there as well.

Contrast: Jonathan Scott wore a three-piece light blue suit with a navy tie, whereas his Property Brothers co-host and identical twin Drew Scott wore his tie over a short-sleeved button-down shirt and a pair of jeans

She'd slung a leather jacket casually over her shoulders, pairing an unobtrusive choker with a dull orange cocktail dress that'd got a slit up one side.

Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, and she'd popped on a pair of nude ankle-strap stilettos to round out her premiere ensemble.

For his part, the brother of Aaron Rodgers wore a leather jacket of his own over a grey T-shirt and a dark blue pair of skintight jeans, plus sand-colored boots.

Affianced: JoJo Fletcher, erstwhile The Bachelorette, and Jordan Rodgers, the husband-to-be she snagged herself via that show, had turned up there as well

Stylish: She'd slung a leather jacket casually over her shoulders, pairing an unobtrusive choker with a dull orange cocktail dress that'd got a slit up one side

JoJo and Jordan, at one point, leaned into one another for a kiss and were also seen gazing into each other's eyes with lovestruck smiles on their faces.

Jenna Ortega's robe-like gown was awash in vertical stripe beneath a metallic belt, and black Onna Ehrlich clutch.

Having rung in its world premiere in Tokyo on April 10, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 will open in British cinemas April 28 and American movie theaters May 5.
JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rodgers made a cute appearance at the Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 premiere on Wednesday evening.

The Bachelorette star, 26, wore a mustard yellow dress, which she paired with nude sandals.

Her ombre brunette and blonde locks were tied in a high ponytail.

Lovely: JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rodgers made a cute appearance at the Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 premiere on Wednesday evening

She added a dainty choker necklace to complete her attire for the evening's festivities.

The reality star added a chic black leather jacket to her look, the same as her beau's.

Rodgers, 28, wore dark denim jeans, light suede boots, a grey T-shirt and a black leather jacket.

PDA: The pair got cozy on the carpet as they shared a kiss for the cameras

Still in the honeymoon phase: The pair looked more in love than ever

The pair got cozy on the carpet as they shared a kiss for the cameras.

The highly-anticipated film follows Peter Quill's mission to find his true parentage.

Chris Pratt will reprise his role as Peter Quill / Star-Lord, while Zoe Saldana will play Gamora, Vin Diesel will voice Baby Groot and Bradley Cooper will voice Rocket.

Kurt Russell is a new addition to the film and will play Ego the Living Planet in the second installment of the fantasy film.

Stylish: The Bachelorette star, 26, wore a mustard yellow dress, which she paired with nude sandals

Meanwhile, it looks like things are heating up even more for JoJo and Rodgers as they get closer to their wedding date.

Moreover, the reality star revealed to People that she's also thinking a step further: 'I keep envisioning babies,' she said.

'And Im like, "Wait, JoJo, pump the brakes! Do this in the right order!"'
He's the beloved Australian actor who died at the age of 28 in 2008.

And a much-anticipated documentary on Heath Ledger has finally had a local release date confirmed.

'I Am Heath Ledger' will screen for one week only in Australia from May 11, with the first screening in the late star's hometown of Perth, according to news.com.au.

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'I Am Heath Ledger' will screen for one week only in Australia from May 11, with the first screening in the late star's hometown of Perth

According to the website, the feature will be screened in seven cinemas in VIC and NSW, three in TAS and WA, two in SA, the ACT and QLD and one in the NT.

'This is definitely more the truth than anything else that's out there,' explained his friend and production partner, Matt Amato.

He was even able to get the approval of Heath's ex-partner and mother of their daughter Matilda.

Long time coming: A much-anticipated documentary on Heath Ledger has finally had a local release date confirmed

'She said, ''We should do something now. Matilda is curious'',' he described.

The documentary uses video footage shot by Heath himself, who was an avid cameraman.

It also features touching interviews with friends and work associates including Ang Lee, Ben Harper, N'fa Jones, Ben Mendelsohn and more.

Personal: The documentary uses video footage shot by Heath himself, who was an avid cameraman

In January 2008, Heath was found unconscious in his New York City apartment, his cause of death determined to be an accidental overdose of prescription medicine.

The Academy Award winning actor 'was pushed to be a heartthrob' and had no desire to be 'that guy', according to close friend N'fa.

The Australian premiere of I Am Heath Ledger will take place in Heath's hometown of Perth on May 9.
She's the glamorous wife of retired Rugby League star Anthony Minichiello.

And Terry Biviano was the definition of style as she stepped out for Carla Zampatti's Spring/Summer fashion showcase in Sydney on Thursday.

The 42-year-old showed off a hint of cleavage as she donned a knee-length military coat worth $1,049 for the star-studded event.

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Stepping out: Terry Biviano stunned in a navy and gold military coat as she attended designer Carla Zampatti's Spring/Summer show on Thursday

With her raven locks slicked back and worn in an updo, the mother-of-one kept her makeup simple with a pink smokey eye and a bronzed complexion.

Her plump pout was complemented with a deep rosey shade of lipstick, while lashings of mascara added intensity to her look.

The shoe designer added height and glamour with a pair of black patent heels, while also accessorising with a choker.

Bronzed beauty: The 42-year-old WAG showed off her glowing complexion and a plump pout as she attended the Sydney event

Meanwhile, the brunette beauty wasn't short of bling for the runway show, sporting her diamond engagement ring as well as a gold Cartier bracelet.

Earlier this month, Terry opened up about her plans to renovate her Vaucluse home, which she purchased with husband Anthony for $3.1million.

'It is in its very early stages, the slab hasn't even been laid yet,' the WAG told The Daily Telegraph.

Life of glamour: The shoe designer is married to retired Sydney Roosters star Anthony Minichiello

The publication previously reported that the couple plan to spend a whopping $560,000 on the project.

At the time, the pair were said to have been adding a second-floor level, a roof terrace and a garage extension to the 1970s property.

At the time of the purchase, one of Anthony and Terry's personal buyer agents, Oliver Berger, told Daily Mail Australia the couple were delighted with their $3.1million investment.

Renovation rookies: The couple are in the 'very early stages' of renovating their $3.1million Vaucluse home

'They're extremely happy with it and signed the papers last night,' the agent said.

'They're either planning to knock it down or completely gut it out and renovate it.'

Agent Mark Meyer of LJ Levi Real Estate added: 'One of the main attractions of the property was that it was built on 770sqm with a 20m frontage plus it's in a very nice part of Vaucluse.
It was the Japanese TV series based on a fable that captured a cult audience worldwide.

And the ABC have teamed up with Netflix as well as TVNZ to bring a reboot of the '80s hit Monkey Magic, which is set to air in 2018.

The Australian-New Zealand production will debut under the new title The Legend Of Monkey, and will take place throughout Auckland's scenic locations.

Will it live up to the original? Netflix have teamed up with the ABC and TVZN to bring a reboot of the cult hit Monkey Magic, which will be titled The Legend Of Monkey

'The mythical tale of the Monkey King is a story that continues to captivate global audiences,' said Michael Carrington, Head of Children's at ABC Television in a press release.

'Our production partner See-Saw Films is bringing The Legend of Monkey to life through incredible locations and sets, an acclaimed production team and an exciting diverse young cast,' he continued.

'We can't wait for fans to see this new series that features the heroes they love and we are just as excited to introduce this reimagined magical and exciting world to a whole new generation of viewers.'

Cult hit: The original Japanese series (pictured), based on the Chinese fable Journey To The West, was a massive hit with worldwide audiences

Based on the Japanese production, which was dubbed with English when it hit Australian screens, the new show will feature a cast of up and coming actors.

Thailand-born actor Chai Romruen will take on the role of Monkey, while Kiwi actress Luciane Buchanan will join him as Tripitaka.

New Zealand native Josh Thomson, who currently hosts the NZ version of The Project, joins the cast as Pigsy, while Emilie Cocquerel will play Sandy.

Worldwide hit: Like the original, the rebooted series will feature main characters Tripitaka, Pigsy, Sandy and Monkey

Release date: The new show will air in 2018 to audiences across the ABC, Netflix and TVNZ

The production has been funded by Screen Australia in association with Screen NSW, as well as Fulcrum Media Finance and the New Zealand Screen Production Grant.

The 10-part series is based on the Chinese fable Journey To The West, as in the original show, and 'follows a teenage girl and a trio of fallen gods on a perilous journey as they attempt to bring an end to a demonic reign of chaos and restore balance to their world.'

The new show will be aired to global audiences across Netflix, TVNZ and on the ABC in 2018.
She's a red carpet regular, thanks to being a presenter for E! News.

And whether covering the carpet or posing on it, Australian personality Ksenija Lukich never fails to impress.

And it was no different on Thursday, with the 27-year-old turning heads in a $948 outfit at Carla Zampatti's fashion show in Sydney.

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Blushing beauty! Ksenija Lukich turned heads in a $948 flowing top and trouser outfit at the Carla Zampatti fashion show in Sydney on Thursday

The brunette beauty wore a flowing sleeveless top worth $449 and matched the blush number with flowing pants, worth $499, from Carla's collection.

Ksenija wore her short locks out in loose tousled curls and wore makeup including blush, dewy foundation and lashings of mascara.

She accessorised with clear and nude heels and a red leather shoulder bag.

Glowing: Ksenija wore her short locks out in loose tousled curls and wore makeup including blush, dewy foundation and lashings of mascara

Ksenija joined the likes of Anna Heinrich and Terry Biviano at the event.

The Sydney-based presenter recently revealed her battle with anxiety, and told Body and Soul her tips and tricks to prevent anxiety attacks.

First up, sticking to a regular yoga practice and drinking 'a lot of coffee' are two of Ksenija's anxiety-beating tricks.

'Yoga has really helped me': The Sydney-based presenter recently revealed her battle with anxiety, and told Body and Soul her tips and tricks to prevent anxiety attacks

'Yoga has really helped me. I was never a big exercise person [growing up], but yoga makes me feel motivated,' Ksenija told the publication.

Ksenija also said she tries not 'to let myself get too overwhelmed, [as] when I started this job I'd think about how big the week ahead was and it would overwhelm me and I would get a little stressed.

'...One of the best things I've learned is just to take every single day, one day at a time, and not let myself get overwhelmed with everything that's happening.'

Ksenija meanwhile, recently got married to partner Dan Bragg, tying the knot in Centennial Park in Sydney.

The pair tied the knot last October, with the brunette stunning in a $15,000 Steven Khalil creation.
David Hasselhoff treated his three favourite women to an evening out on Wednesday.

The Baywatch actor looked suave in a mismatched suit as he attended the Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

On his arm was girlfriend Hayley Roberts, who looked cute in a monochrome flamenco style dress.

Dapper: David Hasselhoff looked suave in a mismatched suit as he attended the Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday

The off-the-shoulder frock looked cute and sexy at the same time as she decided to pin her golden locks up.

She added a pair of chunky black heels to complete her look.

He also brought along his two daughters, 26-year-old Taylor Ann and 24-year-old Hayley.

Family night: He also brought along his two daughters, 26-year-old Taylor Ann and 24-year-old Hayley

Different styles: Taylor Ann (L) looked demure in a bedazzled high neck blue and nude gown whilst Hayley (R) went for a more conservative look

Taylor Ann looked demure in a bedazzled high neck blue and nude gown.

She styled her short platinum locks in a choppy style as she went for a dramatic dark lipstick.

Her sister Hayley went for a more conservative look, opting to cover up in a pair of black trousers and a long monochrome coat.

Concealing herself: Hayley opted to wear black trousers and a long monochrome coat

His leading lady: On his arm was girlfriend Hayley Roberts, who looked cute in a monochrome flamenco style dress

The sisters posed either side of their famous father.

The highly-anticipated film follows Peter Quill's mission to find his true parentage.

Chris Pratt will reprise his role as Peter Quill / Star-Lord, while Zoe Saldana will play Gamora, Vin Diesel will voice Baby Groot and Bradley Cooper will voice Rocket.

Kurt Russell is a new addition to the film and will play Ego the Living Planet in the second installment of the fantasy film.

Family affair: David Hasselhoff treated his three favourite women to an evening out on Wednesday

Movie night: The second installment of the film follows Peter Quill's mission to find his true parentage
She's the media veteran, who almost never has a hair out of place.

And Kerri-Anne Kennerley stunned in a red figure-hugging gown while attending Carla Zampatti's Spring/Summer fashion show in Sydney on Thursday.

The 63-year old TV personality oozed classic elegance in the knee-length, off-the-shoulder dress as she posed for snaps at the star-studded event.

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Classic style: Kerri-Anne Kennerley definitely stood out from the crowd, on Thursday when she attended Carla Zampatti's Spring/Summer fashion show in Sydney

The bubbly TV veteran accessorised with a matching red handbag, wide bracelet with a striking silver motif, a pair of silver earrings and striking metallic heels.

The star's trademark full blonde locks were playfully tousled to complete the fashion-forward look.

Kerri-Anne's broad smile was complimented by a deep rose shade of lipstick, while a hint of blush and black mascara finished off her beaming face.

Lady in red: The 63-year old TV personality oozed classic elegance at the star-studded event in a striking ruby-red, knee-length ,off-the-shoulder dress

Kerri-Anne is reportedly also part of an upcoming Australian version of the hit US show Fashion Police.

According to TV Tonight, Peter Ford reported on 6PR radio on Tuesday that the star had shot a pilot for Foxtel in February.

And, much like its stateside counterpart, the Australian version looks to be rounding up some well-known personalities such as radio hosts Jackie 'O' Henderson and Sophie Monk, fashion designer Alex Perry and blogger Patti Huntington.

New gig? Kerri-Anne is reportedly also part of an upcoming Australian version of the hit US show Fashion Police

Comedian Joel Creasey will reportedly host the show.

The news of a new TV gig marks a welcome respite for the star, who has been caring for husband John, who was left paralysed from the neck down after a fall last year.
How often do students miss school? Are they ready for college? Are they physically fit? Is their school a welcoming place?

States are beginning to outline new ways to evaluate their schools, rather than relying just on traditional measures such as test scores.

The plans are required under a federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, which was signed by former President Barack Obama in 2015 and takes effect in the coming school year.

Under the new law, states are focusing more on academic growth, meaning not just whether students have achieved a certain academic level in reading and math, but whether they have improved over time.

Mike Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, said thats a big change from the No Child Left Behind Act, the previous version of the education law. Schools and educators should feel good about that; that will be a fairer way to measure school quality, he said.

But while most experts praised the flexibility and innovation offered by the new law, some think that in the absence of federal guidelines some states may overlook groups of students who need additional support, such as minorities, students with disabilities and English-language learners. The Republican-controlled Congress moved swiftly this year to rescind key federal accountability guidelines passed by the Obama administration to help states implement the new law.

So far, nine states and the District of Columbia have submitted their accountability plans to the Education Department for review, and seven states are completing their blueprints. The remaining states will submit their plans in September. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will decide whether to accept or reject them. She has said her goal is state and local flexibility in education and indicated that she might use the process to advance school choice.

When evaluating school quality, states are experimenting with new indicators. Almost all of the first-round states have adopted chronic absenteeism, or how many students miss more than 10 percent of the school year, as a key metric.

Connecticut and Delaware, among others, also will be tracking college readiness, or whether high school students are taking advanced classes and how successful they are on college admission tests like the SAT.

Tennessee wants to give every public school in the state a grade from A to F, which state Education Commissioner Candice McQueen says would give parents better information about schools. The grade will take into account such things as how well English language learners are doing and whether disabled students are being served. The schools will also be graded on chronic absenteeism rates, and if students are ready for college or the military and whether traditionally underserved students are performing well. Graduation rates also will count.

Nevada outlined a system that focuses on student growth measures, including test scores, English language proficiency, and graduation rates. Massachusetts will be paying attention to academic results in ninth grade.

In New Mexico, the state will begin tracking the need for additional tutoring in college and linking those back to high schools where the students studied. The state also will look at how students do in science in ranking schools.

Some states are getting creative. Vermont and Connecticut want to make physical fitness another sign of school quality, while Connecticut also believes access to arts education should be another measure. Illinois wants to conduct climate surveys asking whether children feel they are in a safe and welcoming environment.

There is a lot more than just tests that matter for student success, said Natasha Ushomirsky with the Education Trust. Tests are important and looking at progress is important, but states are getting a better picture of how schools are serving students.

Another common thread that has emerged from the first round: States are doing a better job of involving parents, teachers and community activists in the process. Theyve been very proactive to engage anybody who has an interest in the plans, said Kirsten Carr with the Council of Chief State School Officers.

But Marc Magee, CEO of 50Can, an education nonprofit, expressed concern that if everybody doesnt hold up their end of the bargain, we could go back to that era where certain populations of students become invisible inside schools even if they are struggling mightily and not getting the opportunity that they deserve.

And Lindsey Tepe, senior education policy analyst at New America, said there is so much variation in how states want to evaluate their schools that national comparisons could be difficult. Without the guidance, there isnt really a recipe to follow, said Tepe.
She recently told The Daily Telegraph of her experience with post-natal depression after the birth of second daughter Odette.

And Em Rusciano, 38, showed her vulnerability again, in a post shared to Instagram on Wednesday.

An affectionate snap with husband Scott Barrow, was captioned: 'Holidays take away all your troubles.'

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'Holidays take away all your troubles': Em Rusciano, 38, revealed her mental state in an Instagram post on Wednesday, after getting candid on struggle with post-natal depression

'Holidays take away all your troubles..Sure they'll reappear next week but for now, he's my *perfect husband. *Subject to change once we go back to reality,' Em posted to Instagram.

The snap saw the comedian dressed casually and seated outside, while draping one arm around husband Scott who she gazed at adoringly.

Scott, also sporting low-key attire, returned the favour, seen looking back at Em in a content fashion.

Family ties: Em is married to Scott Barrow, the couple sharing two precious daughters, Marcella, 15, and Odette, 10

Em is married to Scott Barrow, the couple sharing two precious daughters, Marcella, 15, and Odette, 10.

Despite numerous happy family snaps shared to the brunette's Instagram, it hasn't always been smooth sailing.

In July last year, Em wrote a very candid post for news.com.au on how she repaired her marriage.

Detailing a couple's retreat, Em shared how important the trip was after having separated from Scott for the second time, six months prior.

Highs and lows: Despite numerous happy family snaps shared to the brunette's Instagram, it hasn't always been smooth sailing. In July last year, Em wrote a very candid post for news.com.au on how she repaired her marriage

'He moved into the spare room, we went about raising our daughters together and attempted to keep our relationship going on a functional level,' the writer shared of the challenging time.

'It was a very tough few months, pretending you're OK when your insides are caving in from a heartbreak is tricky work,' she continued of maintaining a work/life balance.

'Slowly we came back together. We went away and worked on ourselves and started to relate to each other in a new way. Scott called this a third way of viewing our relationship and making things easier and better.'

The couple have managed to come out the other side, with Em also revealing just last week, her struggle with post-natal depression following the birth of second daughter Odette.

'Slowly we came back together': Detailing a couple's retreat, Em shared how important the trip was after having separated from Scott for the second time, six months prior

'I think generally, as a society, we are more accepting of mental illness, but I think when you drill down, and for post-natal depression in particular, a lot of mothers feel ashamed and guilty,' Em told The Daily Telegraph.

'I had it the second time around (with daughter Odette, now 10) and was in denial, I just went into survival mode and was functioning on adrenaline until the adrenaline ran out.'

Admitting first hand that 'it's real and it's not fun,' Em also opened up about her ongoing struggle with anxiety.

'I still get really bad anxiety and walk around in a mild state of panic for no reason, I've always had ups and downs in terms of depression.'
He's best known for playing the tough guy in action movies The Fast And The Furious and The Chronicles Of Riddick.

But Vin Diesel let his soft side show at the Hollywood premiere of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening.

The dad-of-three, 49, happily goofed around with his daughter Hania, nine, and Vincent, seven, as they packed a playful punch on the red carpet.

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Family man: Vin Diesel posed with daughter Hania, nine, and Vincent, seven, at the Hollywood premiere of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on Wednesday

Evidently proud as punch to be with his little ones, the Saving Private Ryan star crouched down, hoisted Hania on to his knee and threw an arm around Vincent as the trio beamed for the cameras.

Hania - already an orange belt at judo - clearly shares her dad's playful sense of humour and joined him in pretending to throw punches at the glitzy Hollywood event.

Vin looked every inch the star in a black t-shirt, smart blazer and artfully distressed jeans, completing his look with a pair of aviator shades.

Hania was beautiful in a pretty white frock, baby pink coat and nude sandals.

Packing a punch: The dad-of-three, 49, pretended to throw punches with his adorable son and daughter, who already is an orange belt at judo

Dapper dude: looked every inch the star in a black t-shirt, smart blazer and artfully distressed jeans, completing his look with a pair of aviator shades

The adorable youngster's locks were teased into cute curls and she pinned a red rose to her lapel.

Vincent was dapper in a baby blue tuxedo and crisp white shirt with polished black brogues.

Diesel and his partner, Mexican model Paloma Jimenez, are parents to Hania and Vincent as well as daughter Pauline, two, who was named in honour of Vin's friend and Fast And Furious co-star Paul Walker who died in a car crash in 2013.

Hollywood couple: Vin has three children with his beautiful partner Paloma Jimenez

Proud parents: Vin recently opened up about naming his two-year-old tot Pauline, after his friend and Fast And Furious co-star Paul Walker who died in a car crash in 2013

The star opened up about the naming of his daughter to E! News.

He said: 'When I was in the delivery room, I felt like Paul was there. There's no other person that I was thinking about as I was cutting this umbilical cord.

'It felt like a way to keep his memory as a part of my family and a part of my world.'

Vin also provided an insight into his parenting style, saying that his daughter Hania, at the time six, was already taking martial arts classes so he wouldn't need to worry about 'future boyfriends'.

'Oh I won't have to say anything,' he declared. 'My daughter is an orange belt in Judo and Jiu Jitsu already so my philosophy is you teach them to handle their own.'

Bombshell: Zoe Saldana, who plays Gamora in the series, stunned in a fringed tangerine gown at the premiere in Hollywood on Wednesday

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 is the sequel to 2014's Guardians Of The Galaxy.

In the wildly popular science fiction series, Chris Pratt stars as Peter Quill who was abducted from Earth as a child.

In the latest installment, Peter travels to the furthest reaches of the galaxy to learn the truth about his parents.

Vin reprises his role as Baby Groot, a tree-like humanoid who seemingly sacrificed himself to save Peter's life in the first film. The character earned near universal fan approval and Vin quickly signed on to a second film.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 will open in British cinemas on April 28.
The inevitable fallout from Caityln Jenners explosive new memoir did little to dampen spirits on Wednesday evening as the former Olympians ex-wife stepped out in New York City.

Attending the star-studded Harpers Bazaar 150th anniversary celebration, Kris Jenner gave onlookers a broad smile during what amounted to her first public appearance since personal details surrounding their 24-year marriage were made public.

Given the occasion the 61-year old looked suitably elegant in a chic semi-sheer top and high-slung dress trousers as she made her way into the Rainbow Room, where she was joined by supermodel daughter Kendall Jenner.

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What memoir? Attending the star-studded Harpers Bazaar 150th anniversary celebration in New York City, Kris Jenner gave onlookers a broad smile during what amounted to her first public appearance since personal details surrounding their 24-year marriage were made public in ex-husband Caitlyn Jenner's new book

A tasteful floor length coat, casually draped across her shoulders, added to the look, while strappy sandals rounded off another stylish ensemble.

But it was the TV personalitys cheerful demeanour that proved to be a talking point as she posed for photos alongside Kendall, 21, shortly after excerpts from transgender Caitlyns forthcoming new memoir, The Secrets Of My Life, were released.

In a passage from the book, Caitlyn, 67  formerly Bruce Jenner before undergoing gender realignment surgery  claims she wasn't "comfortable" having sex with Kris.

Side by side: Given the occasion the 61-year old looked suitably elegant in a chic semi-sheer top and high-slung dress trousers as she made her way into the Rainbow Room, where she was joined by supermodel daughter Kendall Jenner

In good company: The pair were joined by model Christie Brinkley and her daughter Sailor

She wrote: We fall in love quickly (we marry after seven months). Since - let's not kid ourselves - everyone wants to know, Kris and I have good and frequent sex at the beginning ... [It was] imbued with love ... My attitude is no different than it was in high school: I'm just not entirely comfortable with it.

After reading an advanced copy of the book, Kris claims in a preview clip: of Keeping up with the Kardashians, 'I read it and basically the only nice thing she had to say was that I was great socially at a party one time.

'None of it makes sense. Everything she says is all made up. Why does everything have to be that Kris is such a bitch and an a**hole?"

Upbeat: But it was the TV personalitys cheerful demeanour that proved to be a talking point as she posed for photos alongside Kendall, 21, shortly after excerpts from transgender Caitlyns forthcoming new memoir, The Secrets Of My Life, were released

The book reportedly claims the Kardashian-Jenner family matriarch "knew" about Caitlyn's struggle with her identity before their relationship became physical - but Kris claims she was told she wouldn't understand when she asked about the subject.

She added: 'I was curious and said, "What the hell is going on?" She said, "You just would never understand."

'And then, all through the book, Kris knew. "Kris knew before I even made love to her." I'm like, "What?"'

'I can't sit back anymore': In a preview of Sunday's Keepin Up With The Kardashian's Kris is left angry after reading a copy of ex-husband Caitlyn's manuscript for her memoir

Final version: Caitlyn, 67, announces her book is finished as a copy of it rests on the counter for Kris

Kris also slammed Caitlyn for not "giving a s**t", and said she was "angry and disappointed" with the 'I Am Cait' star.

She said: 'I really tried hard to improve the relationship and spend a little bit of time, thinking maybe there's something here that I'm not seeing.

'I've done nothing but open up my home and my heart to a person who doesn't give a s--t. So, I'm done. I've never been so angry and disappointed in somebody in my whole life.'

Kris then confronts Caitlyn in another tense scene but the transgender star is completely defiant and refuses to discuss the matter.

'Don't even go down this road because I'm not talking about it,' Caitlyn firmly tells his ex-wife.

The clip comes amid reports that the Kardashian clan are upset with what Caitlyn has divulged.

Secrets divulged: Kim, 36, can't hide her disbelief at what she's hearing

'I've never been so angry': The 61-year-old matriarch tells her daughters Khloe and Kim about the book

Face-to-face: Kris confronts Caitlyn about the book but doesn't get very far

Among the issues they have with the new book, out April 25, is that Caitlyn said Kris made her 'suppress her true self.'

Caitlyn's daughters Kendall and Kylie are reportedly 'humiliated' at the detail she goes into in the book about having her penis removed, after undergoing the surgery in January.

'Kendall and Kylie are just really embarrassed at this point,' a family insider told Radar.

'They feel completely betrayed,' an insider told InTouch this week. 'Kim, Khloe and Kourtney have stopped talking to Caitlyn.

'As far as they're concerned, the relationship is done. She's dead to them.'

A source told the magazine that the Kardashian girls were especially upset about Caitlyn writing about their late father, Robert Kardashian.

'Don't even go down this road because I'm not talking about it.' Caitlyn firmly tells Kris, 61

'Kim, Khloe and Kourtney have stopped talking to Caitlyn' a source revealed this week about the Kardashian clan (pictured with Caitlyn's daughter Kendall second from right)

The two-time Olympic gold medalist - who boasts 14M social media followers - captioned an Instagram on Wednesday: 'I have been on quite the journey. Read about it in #SecretsOfMyLife available next Tuesday!'

It has been leaked that Jenner wrote in The Secrets Of My Life that Robert,an attorney, knew OJ Simpson was guilty of murder, but he worked with the athlete anyhow.

Kris and Caitlyn were married for 24 years from 1991 to 2015 when the Olympian was still known as Bruce Jenner.

They share two daughters, Kendall, 21 and Kylie 19 and Bruce also helped raise stepchildren Kourtney, 38, Kim, 36, Khloe, 32 and Rob, 30.
Megan Gale, 41, announced she is expecting her second child with AFL star boyfriend Shaun Hampson, 29, on Thursday.

And as the unwed couple celebrate their happy news, it has come to light that more celebrities are ditching tradition by having babies before marriage.

Laura Csortan, Rose Byrne, Melissa George and Michelle Bridges are among various Aussie stars who forwent rings and weddings and became mothers first.

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Who needs a ring? From Megan Gale to Rose Byrne: How more celebrities are ditching tradition by having babies before marriage

Fans flocked to social media to congratulate Megan and Shaun, shortly after the model posted a playful picture of a bun in the oven.

The couple who have been dating since 2011, are already proud parents to adorable son River, two.

Megan told OK! magazine in May last year that having their precious son makes for a much stronger bond than marriage.

'I feel like Shaun and I have made the biggest commitment that you can make by creating a human together, because that's for life,' she said.

Pride and joy: Megan Gale, 40, announced she's expecting her second child with partner Shaun Hampson on Thursday. Pictured with the couples adorable son River, two

Content: Megan told OK! magazine in May last year that having their precious son makes for a much stronger bond than marriage

Model Laura Csortan, 40, welcomed her precious baby daughter Layla Rose into the world in November last year.

The television presenter, who has opted to keep the father's identity private, told Poppy Renegade weeks before the birth, that she has received plenty of support in raising the child alone.

'I was supported by family and friends and also so many women I have never met before who would write to me sharing their stories,' she said.

Content: Laura Csortan, 40, welcomed her precious baby daughter Layla Rose into the world in November last year, and has opted to keep the father's identity private

Support: The television presenter told Poppy Renegade prior to giving birth: 'I was supported by family and friends and also so many women I have never met before who would write to me sharing their stories'

She previously told Woman's Day: 'I didn't know how it would go down, I was terrified but it's certainly been received really well.'

Bridesmaids star Rose Byrne, 37, shares son Rocco, one, with fellow actor Bobby Cannavale, 46.

Despite not having tied the knot, Bobby has previously referred to Rose as 'the love of my life' during an acceptance speech at the 2013 Emmy Awards.

Happy families: Bridesmaids star Rose Byrne, 37, shares son Rocco, one, with fellow actor Bobby Cannavale, 46

No wedding plans: Despite not having tied the knot, Bobby has previously referred to Rose as 'the love of my life' during an acceptance speech at the 2013 Emmy Awards

Former Home And Away star Melissa George shares sons Raphael Blanc, three, and Solal Samuel Glenn Blanc, one, with estranged partner Jean David Blanc, 48.

The couple who began dating in 2011, are currently embroiled in a very bitter and public lawsuit over custody arrangement for their two young sons.

Melissa, 40, previously spoke of her desire to become a mum, stating to The Daily Telegraph: 'I am going to be a mother.'

High-profile: Former Home And Away star Melissa George, 40, shares sons Raphael Blanc, three, and Solal Samuel Glenn Blanc, one, with estranged partner Jean David Blanc, 48

Split: The pair split in September last year following domestic abuse allegations

'Absolutely obvious no matter how, when, what. I really am picking the right father for my child. It's very simple,' she added.

Michelle Bridges and partner Steve 'Commando' Willis welcomed their son Axel into the world in December 2015.

Steve is also a proud father to children Jack and Ella, from a previous relationship.

Happy family: Michelle Bridges and partner Steve 'Commando' Willis welcomed their son Axel into the world in December 2015

Drama: The fitness duo sparked controversy in 2014, after it was rumoured they were dating despite Michelle still being married to husband of nine years Bill Moore

The fitness duo hooked up amid controversy in 2014, after it was rumoured they were dating despite Michelle still being married to husband of nine years Bill Moore.

January 2015 saw model Nicole Trunfio welcoming her son Zion into the world with her fiance at the time, musician Gary Clark Junior.

The high-profile couple later tied the knot in a lavish ceremony in April last year, at Colony Palms hotel, Palm Springs.

Appearing on Channel Seven's Morning Show back in November 2014, the 31-year-old revealed why she and Gary, 33, kept the pregnancy under wraps for seven months.

'We wanted something just for us. We thought, "Why do we have to say anything at all?"' Nicole explained. 'But I guess when you are in the public eye there's a part of you that thinks you are betraying your fans.'

Growing the brood: January 2015 saw model Nicole Trunfio, 31, welcoming her son Zion into the world with her fiance at the time, musician Gary Clark Junior, 33

Private: Appearing on Channel Seven's Morning Show back in November 2014, the 31-year-old revealed why she and Gary, 33, kept the pregnancy under wraps for seven months: 'We wanted something just for us. 'We thought, "Why do we have to say anything at all?"'

Former Hi-5 entertainer Lauren Brant is just weeks away from welcoming her first child with AFL partner Barry Hall, 40.

In December, Lauren and Barry sent fans into a frenzy when they announced they were expecting their first child via a gushing Instagram post and magazine interview.

Uploading an image from her ultrasound, Lauren wrote to her followers: 'This is OUR OWN little baby. Barry and I are beyond excited to share this news. I just LOVE kids and I have dreamt of the day I will be able to have my own.'

No mention of marriage yet: Former Hi-5 entertainer Lauren Brant is just weeks away from welcoming her first child with AFL partner Barry Hall, 40

Going public: In December, Lauren and Barry sent fans into a frenzy when they announced they were expecting their first child via a gushing Instagram post and magazine interview

'Well, I have finally found the perfect partner who will also be the worlds best Dad, and we have been blessed with a little miracle. I'M PREGNANT,' she continued.

The Project's Carrie Bickmore, 36, welcomed her first child with late ex-husband Greg Lange, son Oliver Lange in September 2007.

Greg passed away in December 2010 from brain cancer.

Carrie later welcomed her first child with new partner Chris, daughter Evie Walker, in March 2015.

The pair met while working together on the Channel Ten program.

Precious: The Project's Carrie Bickmore, 36, shares adorable daughter Evie Walker, two, with partner Chris Walker
She recently overhauled her look by undergoing a fat transfer procedure.

And Real Housewives Of Sydney's Gamble Breaux, 45, proudly unveiled her new visage as she posed on the red carpet at the Melbourne premiere of the new Aladdin stage production on Thursday.

The reality starlet was all smiles as she posed up a storm in her form-fitting leather frock and black stilettos.

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My, how you've changed! Real Housewives Of Sydney's Gamble Breaux, 45, proudly unveiled her new visage as she posed on the red carpet at the Melbourne premiere of the new Aladdin stage production on Thursday

Her face seemed to be more angular than it was before her surgery thanks to her prominent cheekbones and chin.

Gamble wore a subtle makeup look for the occasion, sporting a touch of pink lipstick and a understated application of eye-shadow.

She also swapped her trademark curls for a poker-straight hair look worn to the side in a ponytail.

Beaming beauty! The reality starlet was all smiles as she posed up a storm in her form-fitting leather frock and black stilettos

Keeping it natural: Gamble wore a subtle makeup look for the occasion, sporting a touch of pink lipstick and a understated application of eye-shadow

The blonde socialite revealed details of her recent fat transfer to the Herald Sun, telling the publication that she had 'spent a whole lot of money becoming natural again.'

'Id had a bit of ordinary cosmetic surgery (over the years) and too many fillers, so I had those all dissolved, and had a bit of the fat from my bum pushed into my face. Im all natural now,' she proclaimed.

'The problem with cosmetic surgery is the later you start the better because you just end up having to fix up old work, she said.

Au naturel: The blonde socialite revealed details of her recent fat transfer to the Herald Sun , telling the publication that she had 'spent a whole lot of money becoming natural again'

Gamble has never been afraid to fess up to her many cosmetic procedures.

In an episode of RHOM, Gamble revealed that she had spent almost $10K on cosmetic work over the years.

'I've spent around $90,000 on cosmetic surgery. 'But $20,000 of that was to fix some bad work that I had done,' she said.

'Age does terrible things to your body, to everything ... so I think everyone can use a nip and tuck eventually, including men.'

Keeping it real: Gamble has never been afraid to fess up to her many cosmetic procedures

During the conversation she revealed details about the various procedures, which included an eye-lift, a procedure to smooth and tighten the neck and a boob job.

The wife of Melbourne eye surgeon Dr Rick Wolfe even told Daily Mail Australia that she has no hesitation recommending the cosmetic procedure Botox, and other types of procedures to her friends.

I think that if it starts to sag, fill it up! Ive had a little bit of work here and there  its sort of a secret, she said.

Botox is a really quick, fast, and cheap alternative [to plastic surgery], she enthused.

'I've spent around $90,000 on cosmetic surgery': In an episode of RHOM, Gamble revealed that she had spent almost $10K on cosmetic work over the years
Her relationship with Spencer Matthews has been an are they/aren't they situation all year so far.

But just as Vogue Williams confirmed she and the Made In Chelsea hunk were indeed an item, he was spied last week looking besotted with a blonde woman while his other half visited her family in Ireland for Easter.

And Vogue, 31, fuelled any doubts about the pair's solidarity on Wednesday night, when she popped out for a cosy dinner with friends at trendy London eatery Quaglino's on her own.

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In good spirits: Vogue Williams flashes her lacy bra in a very low cut top as she dines in London WITHOUT boyfriend Spencer Matthews... days after he was pictured looking smitten with a mystery blonde

The model and TV personality showed off her figure in a white flowing peasant top, tied at the throat, and so low cut her lacy bra was visible through the gaps.

But the stunning blonde didn't care as she worked it along the pavement, showing off her pins to equal hurrah in a pair of tight PVC trousers.

She slung a khaki jacket over her shoulders and completed the ensemble with a pair of silver and black leopard print flats.

The model kept things causal, sweeping her long locks up into a loose bun and sporting a fresh make-up palette.

Strutting her stuff: She slung a khaki jacket over her shoulders and completed the ensemble with a pair of silver and black leopard print flats

She rounded things off with a personalised handbag, in maroon, with the word VOGUE emblazoned on it in gold block capitals, and silver and black leopard print flats.

Her relationship with Spencer is currently as clear as mud - neither have reacted to the images that were taken of the MIC lothario spending an entire afternoon drinking with another woman and then disappearing home with her.

However, recent Instagram activity might suggest things are okay between the pair.

While the cat's away...! Former Made In Chelsea lothario Spencer Matthews allegedly spent an entire afternoon and night with a mystery blonde while girlfriend Vogue Williams was celebrating Easter in Ireland

Both have uploaded images from Scotland, seemingly together; however, the shots take in the scenery, and one features Vogue posing on a bridge, but they are not in any at the same time.

On Thursday however, Spencer uploaded a shot of the front cover of Irish Tatler, captioning it: 'My girl makes me happy... so proud of her!'

Could this be the confirmation needed to set the nation's minds at ease regarding Vogue and Spenny's relationship status?

The couple started a romance while taking part on Channel 4's The Jump this winter.

But sources claimed Spencer 'has some explaining to do' after he was witnessed enjoying an all-day drinking session with the aforementioned mystery blonde.

Lovebirds: Vogue and Spencer first laid eyes on each other while competing for Channel 4's The Jump in January - and she sang his praises after he supported her following her knee injury which forced her to pull out of the show

Surely, he wouldn't! Spencer's meant to be smitten with model Vogue Williams after they started a romance while taking part on Channel 4's The Jump

But the ex-Made In Chelsea star still was sure to have a fun weekend in London as he enjoyed being the centre of attention on an all-day social.

Spending the day and evening in West London, Spencer, 27, was snapped looking lovingly at the unknown blonde, sure to share a laugh with her and pose for selfies at the table they drank at.

They weren't alone, but the pair ended up back at his flat at 2am, according to reports - only for her to creep out the next morning.

The group reportedly spent 10 hours drinking together - with a source telling The Sun that 'he will have some explaining to do'.

All a-titter: Spending the day and evening in West London, Spencer, 27, was snapped looking lovingly at the unknown blonde, sure to share a laugh with her and pose for selfies at the table they drank at

Cheers: The group reportedly spent 10 hours drinking together - with a source telling The Sun that 'he will have some explaining to do'

An onlooker claimed: 'The blonde clearly dominated Spencers attention. They seemed very flirty and tactile with each other. And as the night went on they struck up their own private conversation away from the others.

The eagle-eyed sleuth added: 'When she briefly broke off from their chat to look at her mobile phone, he carried on gazing at her and grinning. He seemed pretty smitten with her.'

This aspiring Miss Marple didn't stop there. They seemingly made a day out of tracking Spencer's exact movements, claiming that he spent six hours enjoying drinks outside in the sun, joined briefly by fellow ex-MIC star Millie Mackintosh at one point.

Fixated: An onlooker claimed - 'The blonde clearly dominated Spencers attention. They seemed very flirty and tactile with each other. And as the night went on they struck up their own private conversation away from the others'

Goodness: The eagle-eyed sleuth added - 'When she briefly broke off from their chat to look at her mobile phone, he carried on gazing at her and grinning. He seemed pretty smitten with her'

Ring master: Spencer was seen having a right old time of it with a revolving string of pals; however, the blonde remained glued to the same seat throughout

The group grabbed a cab to a pal's flat, stopping to buy some more drinks en route, where they stayed until past 1AM.

Spencer and the blonde taxied back to his flat where The Sun's amateur sleuth evidently made a night of it and waited for the lights to go out - which apparently happened at 4.30AM.

This will surely rock the boat with Spencer's family, who are thought to already be on tenterhooks about Spencer's brother James' upcoming wedding to Pippa Middleton next month.

It transpires that tensions are high amoungst the Matthews clan, as Spencer is to be the best man, royals will be in attendance, and James and his parents are thought to be worried about the notorious Chelsea party boy going a little too wild at the classy shin dig.
They've been married for more than 13 years, weathering a storm of controversy when a sexting scandal looked set to rock the very foundations of their union.

And Tess Daly, 47, and Vernon Kay, 42, looked relaxed and as happy as ever as they were spotted returning to the UK from their family trip to sun-kissed Miami recently.

As her husband pushed a stack of luggage through London's Heathrow Airport, Tess looked fresh-faced and makeup-free as she was flanked by the couple's daughters Phoebe, 12, and Amber, seven, on their arrival home.

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Home again: Tess Daly and Vernon Kay were spotted arriving at London's Heathrow Airport over the weekend, after jetting back from their family trip to Miami, Florida

Strictly Come Dancing host Tess looked effortlessly glamorous for her long-haul trek home, wearing a cropped cream jacket over a star-patterned blouse with navy skinny jeans.

With a cream trilby resting atop her flowing blonde locks, the TV personality made her way through the bustling terminal in a pair of gold flat shoes as she toted a large silver bag.

All Star Family Fortunes host Vernon looked casually cool with a grey sweater with matching straight-cut jeans, white trainers and a blue-and-white cap.

Pride and joy: Tess walked with the couple's daughters Phoebe, 12, and Amber, seven

Glam: Strictly Come Dancing host Tess looked effortlessly glamorous for her long-haul trek home, wearing a cropped cream jacket over a star-patterned blouse with navy skinny jeans

During their time away in Florida, the couple took to their Instagram accounts to share a plethora of breathtaking shots of their leisurely adventures.

Tess gushed about the 'heavenly setting' where they spent an evening dining on the beach as the sun set over the ocean.

The couple's getaway comes shortly after it was claimed that Vernon's sext ex Rhian Sugden may be set to appear on the upcoming series of Celebrity Big Brother.

According to The Sun, the model, 30, has been in talks with Channel 5 bosses - who are keen for her spill on her fling with Vernon in order to draw in viewers.

Luggage: Meanwhile, Vernon was seen pushing a stack of luggage after they landed

Hands on dad: He also carried their youngest daughter Amber through the terminal

The Manchester native first appeared on the popular show five years ago, alongside the likes of Coleen Nolan, Martin Kemp and Julian Clary, who went on to win.

However, the paper claims show bosses are keen to produce another 'All Stars vs New Stars' show later this year - after the popularity of the series in January.

Clearly excited about the prospect, Rhian confessed to The Sun on Sunday: 'I would love to go back in and experience it properly. I am more mature now and less hot headed.'

Rhian became embroiled in not one but two sexting scandals with the DJ, and Vernon was famously forced to make a public apology to his wife on Radio 1 back in 2010 after a set of saucy messages to Rhian emerged.

Snap decision: During their trip, the couple shared a plethora of shots from their adventures

Heavenly: Tess gushed about the 'heavenly setting' where they spent an evening dining

The father-of-two went on to promise live on air that he would no longer contact Rhian or the four other women he had been caught messaging at the time.

However, Rhian then claimed the pair had got back in touch in December last year - with Vernon allegedly sending hundreds of texts asking to 'reconnect' with her.

After a break of six years, the busty blonde admitted after her confession that his reaching out to her had felt like an 'old friendship coming back'.

Meanwhile, Vernon claimed at the time of the allegations that his WhatsApp messages asking her to meet had been taken out of context, that he had done 'nothing wrong' and that his wife was completely aware of all contact.

Golden: With a cream trilby resting atop her flowing blonde locks, the TV personality made her way through the bustling terminal in a pair of gold flat shoes as she toted a large silver bag

Trendy: The couple's daughters opted to wear trendy tracksuits for their journey home
They were both involved in short-lived romances during their stints on Britain's top reality shows.

And Love Island star Hannah Elizabeth and former TOWIE beauty George Harrison joined forces to enjoy a girls' getaway on a luxury yacht in Spain.

The blonde bombshells flaunted their ample assets and sensational physiques as they sizzled in skimpy bikinis while drinking red wine as they partied up a storm during the envy-inducing boat party.

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Bikini babes: Love Island star Hannah Elizabeth, 27, and former TOWIE beauty George Harrison, 22, joined forces to enjoy a girls' getaway on a luxury yacht in Spain

Sexy: The blonde bombshells flaunted their sensational physiques as they sizzled in skimpy bikinis while partying up a storm during the envy-inducing boat party

Playboy bunny Hannah, who was previously engaged to TOWIE's Jon Clark during her ill-fated stint on Love Island, couldn't resist exhibiting her busty cleavage in the minuscule animal print number.

The reality star oozed sex appeal as she proudly paraded her inked body on the vessel as her thick blonde mane effortlessly caught the wind.

Her glam pal George also joined her in the saucy display as she wowed in a skimpy khaki bikini, which she teamed with a loosely tied floral kimono.

Keen on putting on a more titillating display, the striking beauty stripped off the cover-up.

Racy: Playboy bunny Hannah, who was previously engaged to TOWIE's Jon Clark during her ill-fated stint on Love Island, couldn't resist exhibiting her busty cleavage in the minuscule animal print number

Body confident: The reality star oozed sex appeal as she proudly paraded her inked body on the vessel

Enviable figure: Hannah showed off her toned legs and bottom as she lapped up the sun on the boat ride

Stunning: The star's thick blonde mane framed her striking features and she completed the look with a pair of shades

Immediately the twosome proved hard to miss as they flaunted their pert derrieres by sitting sexily on the railing.

In awe of each other's figure, Hannah and George took in turns to check each other out, with one cheekily placing a hand on the others bottom - and the other checking if the other was strapped into place.

Hannah shot to fame last in 2015 when she appeared in revived ITV dating site Love Island on which she almost instantly fell for now-TOWIE star Jon Clark.

Sizzling: Her glam pal George also joined her in the saucy display as she wowed in a skimpy khaki bikini, which she teamed with a loosely tied floral kimono

Trendy: Her locks were tied into stylish space buns and she accessorised with a nineties-inspired choker

Boat party: The glamorous pals proved in great spirits as they raised their arms in the air while enjoying their beverages

Flashing flesh: Keen on putting on a more titillating display, the striking beauty stripped off the cover-up

Having fun: Immediately the twosome proved hard to miss as they flaunted their pert derrieres

Cheeky: They flaunted their pert derrieres by sitting sexily on the railing

Their union kept fans tuned in during the summer seasons before Essex-born Jon eventually got down on one knee and popped the question to his new girlfriend.

Soon after they returned, the pair began to argue more and their union came to a spectacular end when Jon began to attack Hannah's career as a glamour model.

After her heartbreak it seems the blonde beauty has found love once again as she enjoyed a group trip to Thailand, with her handsome new beau along for the trip.

George starred in just three episodes of TOWIE in 2014 - during which she went on several dates with Tom Pearce.

Claim to fame: George starred in just three episodes of TOWIE in 2014 - during which she went on several dates with Tom Pearce

Love history: She was also linked to Lewis Bloor, but producers felt the tenuous romantic story lines weren't enough to secure her a more permanent role on the ITVBe show, especially when Tom left the show

Rising profile: Hannah shot to fame last in 2015 when she appeared in revived ITV dating site Love Island on which she almost instantly fell for now-TOWIE star Jon Clark

Romance gone wrong: Their union kept fans tuned in during the summer seasons before Essex-born Jon eventually got down on one knee and popped the question to his new girlfriend

She was also linked to Lewis Bloor, but producers felt the tenuous romantic storylines weren't enough to secure her a more permanent role on the ITVBe show, especially when Tom left the show.

A source told Beamly: 'Every cast member sits down with producers before each new series to talk about their future but George was told bosses didnt believe she had big enough storylines coming up.'

Since her brief stint on the show, George has enjoyed many beach breaks this year, including further trips to Spain and an exotic location in Thailand.

Drama: Soon after they returned, the pair began to argue more and their union came to a spectacular end when Jon began to attack Hannah's career as a glamour model

Moving on: After her heartbreak it seems the blonde beauty has found love once again as she enjoyed a group trip to Thailand, with her handsome new beau along for the trip
Her latest starring role sees her appear in Rules Don't Apply - a movie directed by Warren Beatty and inspired by 1950s Hollywood.

And Lily Collins would have been right at home while filming for the release as she revealed Tinsel Town's 'golden era' had been instilled into her from a young age.

The actress, 28, had appeared on This Morning on Thursday and revealed her mother had 'immersed her in old Hollywood' throughout her childhood.

'I grew up in a household that embraced Hollywood's golden era': Lily Collins, 28, spoke about her childhood growing up in Beverly Hills while appearing on This Morning on Thursday

Lily had grown up in Beverly Hills, after moving across the pond from England following her parents' divorce when she was just seven years old.

She is the daughter of musician Phil Collins and her American mother Jill Tavelman.

Speaking about her childhood on the ITV daytime show, Lily explained: 'I grew up in Beverly Hills and my mum immersed me in old Hollywood with old photos.

'We watched old movies... my grandma was a ballerina.

Stepping back in time: Her last starring role saw her appear in Rules Don't Apply - a movie directed by Warren Beatty and inspired by 1950s Hollywood

Love for the older years: The actress explained she used to watch 'old movies' with her mother and had been 'immersed in old Hollywood' in her early years

'I grew up in a household that embraced the golden era [of Hollywood].'

Lily sported a fitting appearance for her live interview, as she channeled old school glamour in an elegant floral embroidered sheer dress.

Her frock teased a look at her lingerie underneath and she styled her shoulder-length brunette locks into soft glamorous curls inspired by the '50s era.

The model teamed her attire with minimal make-up and boasted and enviably dewy collection, with bold brows and a nude pink lip.

Fitting appearance: Lily appeared to channel old school glamour for her televised interview and donned a floral embroidered sheer dress that teased a look at her lingerie underneath

50s inspired: The starlet wore her shoulder length tresses in soft glamorous curls and opted for minimal make-up that showcased her natural beauty

All smiles: Lily was in high spirits as she joined Warren Beatty on the This Morning sofa to discuss their movie Rules Don't Apply

Useful knowledge: She claimed that her Hollywood inspired childhood had helped her with her role in the film, while gushing about working with movie talent Beatty

Lily was in high spirits as she joined Warren Beatty, 80, on the This Morning sofa to discuss their movie Rules Don't Apply.

The film tells the unconventional love story of an aspiring actress (Collins) who falls in love with her driver and their relationship is forbidden by their boss and billionaire Howard Hughes (played by Beatty).

She claimed that her knowledge of Hollywood's golden era from a young age had helped her with her role in the film, while gushing about working with movie talent Beatty.

Addressing working on Rules Don't Apply, Lily said: 'I have it down as an epic adventure in my mind - my year with Warren! Well, now two or three years.

Speaking about her experience of working with veteran actor Beatty, Lily said: 'I have it down as an epic adventure in my mind'

Crediting the 80-year-old, she gushed: 'There's never anything you can't talk about with him - I found myself fascinated with him'

'[Warren] is very mindful of information, from business to politics, to pop culture to family - there's never anything you can't talk about with him.

'I found myself fascinated with him.'

Beatty's wife Annette Bening also features in the film and when he was asked how he found directing his spouse in the movie, Warren coyly replied: 'Im lucky enough to get very good actors. I like people to have a feeling their directing me.'

Host Eamonn Holmes then joked: 'So she's the boss?' prompting Warren and everyone else present to burst into laughter.

Rules Don't Apply hits cinemas in the UK from April 21.

Taking on both roles: Beatty had directed and starred in Rules Don't Apply - a movie that tells the story an aspiring actress who falls in love with her driver and their relationship is forbidden by their boss

Keeping coy: His wife Annette Bening also features in the film and when he was asked how he found directing his spouse in the movie, Warren replied: 'Im lucky enough to get very good actors. I like people to have a feeling their directing me'
He's one of the actors hotly-tipped to become the next James Bond.

And James Norton hinted that he would be interested in the role, saying 'it's lovely to be part of the whole conversation'.

The War And Peace star, 31, also admitted that he was a 'great fan' of Daniel Craig, saying he 'selfishly' hopes that he does another two or three Bond films.

'It's lovely to be part of the conversation': James Norton hinted he's interested in James Bond role on This Morning on Thursday

When questioned about the Bond rumours on Thursday's This Morning, James said: 'Its lovely to be part of the whole conversation.

'Im a great fan of Daniel Craig. Selfishly I hope he does two or three more movies.'

In response to whether his father Hugh - who starred as an extra alongside James in BBC drama War and Peace - could play a Bond villain, the actor joked: 'Dont give him any ideas!'

Big fan: The actor, 31, admitted he was a 'great fan' of Daniel Craig, saying he 'selfishly' hopes that he does another two or three Bond films

The actor is set to star in his first studio movie, the new re-make of Flatliners, later this year, alongside Kiefer Sutherland and Ellen Page.

Speaking about making the transition from TV to the film world, James said: 'Its my first foray into the studio world. I went to Toronto to film it.

'It was a daunting prospect because everyone knows and loves the film.'

He said that he 'loves LA', but added that he's 'definitely a Londoner' and wouldn't want to make the move stateside permanently.

007: It was suggested earlier month that Craig was 'poised' to reprise the role for a fifth time

Looking ahead to the new series of Grantchester, which returns to ITV this Sunday, James said that Sidney was more similar to him that his Happy Valley character Tommy.

He said: 'Sidney is closer to me. Its challenging to play someone just like you. You learn a lot about yourself. Sidney spends a lot of time thinking, praying.'

James emerged as a favourite to take over from Daniel Craig in James Bond last summer, having gained critical acclaim for his appearances in Happy Valley and the BBC's epic War and Peace.

Turinng towards Hollywood: The actor is set to star in his first studio movie, the new re-make of Flatliners, later this year, alongside Kiefer Sutherland and Ellen Page

Move Stateside? He said that he 'loves LA', but added that he's 'definitely a Londoner'

'Its challenging to play someone just like you': James said that his character Sidney, who he plays in Grantchester, was quite similar to him

He joined the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Aidan Turner, Tom Hardy and Damien Lewis believed to be in the running for the role.

Earlier this month, it was suggested that Daniel Craig was 'poised' to reprise the role for a fifth time.

An insider revealed to Page Six that the actor had been having talks with franchise producer Barbara Broccoli.

The source said: Now Daniels talks with Barbara are going in the right direction. They have a script - screenwriting duo Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are writing and theyll go into production as soon as Daniel is ready to commit.

Plus, Barbara Broccoli doesnt like Tom Hiddleston, hes a bit too smug and not tough enough to play James Bond.

New series: The third series of the ITV drama, which stars James alongside actress Morven Christie, returns to our screen this Sunday
Asked/Answered is a weekly feature for reader-submitted questions. Follow the blog online at www.cumberlink.com.

What is the meaning and significance of the replica Statue of Liberty that sits in the Susquehanna River in Dauphin County?

Standing atop a piece of a stone structure in the middle of the Susquehanna River in Dauphin Borough, and visible along Route 322, is a replica of the Statue of Liberty.

This is actually the second Lady Liberty to grace the river, and her appearance more than three decades ago remained a mystery for some time.

In 2011, CBS News national correspondent Steve Hartman tracked down the origins of the statue.

It turns out in 1986, local lawyer Gene Stilp built the original statue in honor or the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty in New York, Hartman reported. Stilp is a political activist who used a giant, inflatable pink pig to protest a 2005 legislative pay raise. Those raises were eventually rescinded.

Stilp built the statue out of plywood and Venetian blinds, and he, along with several friends, secretly placed the statute on the piling (post) in the middle of the river, according to the report.

Stilp took no credit for the statue, but told Hartman in 2011 that he wanted to do something locally to commemorate the anniversary.

Roughly six years after the original construction was put in place, strong wind knocked it over, according to CBS News.

Local residents raised $25,000, and by 1997 a new statue was constructed and Lady Liberty was once again seated in the middle of the Midstate river, Hartman reported.

The updated statue is 25 feet tall and weighs four tons, according to ABC27 News.

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Shoot us an email at frontdoor@cumberlink.com, call 240-7125 or stop by the office to submit your questions.

The best questions will be featured in weekly Asked/Answered columns online and in print.
She earned plaudits for her impassioned speech about promoting positive body image when she took part in last month's We Day UK celebrations.

And on Wednesday night, Kate Winslet gave a demonstration on how to step out in glam style, as she attended Lancome's exclusive Stars & Wonders dinner party, held in the picturesque enclave of Monaco.

Joined by fellow Oscar-winning actresses Julia Roberts and Penelope Cruz, the British beauty, 41, wowed as she stepped out in a form-fitting black halterneck gown.

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Exclusive: (L-R) Penelope Cruz, Julia Roberts, Liu Tao and Kate Winslet attended Lancome's exclusive Stars & Wonders dinner party in Monaco on Wednesday night

With her golden locks perfectly coiffed into a curly bob, Kate's beauty was highlighted with a light application of naturally-hued makeup, while glittering Nirav Modi earrings added an extra touch of sparkle to her look.

Julia opted to give her long, lean legs a moment in the spotlight, stepping out in black shorts, which she teamed with a matching tuxedo jacket and white blouse.

With her honey blonde tresses resting about her shoulders in a series of soft waves, the American mother-of-three, 49, stood tall in vertiginous strappy heels.

Ambassadors: The Oscar-winning trio posed together at the event for the cosmetics giant, for which they each serve as brand ambassadors

Youthful Julia flashed her signature million dollar smile as she posed alongside Spanish actress Penelope, who was resplendent in a black wraparound gown with a wide asymmetrical front slit and large bodice bow.

The 42-year-old's lustrous brown hair was swept to one side, while gold chandelier earrings illuminated her ensemble, which included black peep-toe heels.

Penelope, Kate and Julia posed at the hot ticket event alongside Chinese actress Liu Tao, who looked elegant in a floor-length black velvet coat.

Strike a pose: Kate -rocking Nirav Modi earrings - and her talented gal pals also posed with photographers (l-r) Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott

Kate's glittering night out came a month after she spoke about how she overcame her battle with body image during an inspirational speech at WE Day UK celebrations at London's Wembley Arena.

The hugely successful actress revealed that despite being 'bullied at school' for her appearance - where she was regularly called 'Blubber' - she never gave up on her dreams - ultimately allowing her to be cast in the iconic role of Rose in 1997's Titanic.

She said: 'You see, I had been bullied at school. They called me Blubber. Teased me for wanting to act. Locked me in the cupboard. Laughed at me. I wasn't the prettiest, I had big feet.

Spreading the love: Kate, 41, spoke about overcoming her battle with body image during an inspirational speech at WE Day UK celebrations at London's Wembley Arena last month

'And I was even told that I, "might be lucky with my acting, if I was happy to settle for the fat girl parts. Youre just not really what we're looking for Kate.'

She admitted that she wallowed in self-pity, thinking she 'wasn't good enough' and 'didn't have the perfect body' because she didn't 'fit into someone else's idea of perfect'.

But ultimately she prevailed, saying: 'I didn't lock myself away and give up on my dream. I fought back. I had to ignore the negative comments. I had to believe in myself, I had to choose to rise above it all and I had to work hard.

Casual: Kate looked in high spirits as she got the crowd going with her inspiring speech while donning a WE day UK shirt and spectacles

'You have to be indestructible to do what you love, and BELIEVE that you are worth it. And sometimes that's the hardest part.'

After starting in the acting business in 1991, Kate went on to land the career making role of Rose in the 1997 classic Titanic, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.

Speaking of the moment, she revealed: 'And then one day, I was cast as Rose in Titanic. The most unlikely candidate, Kate from the sandwich shop in Reading. Suddenly acting in one of the biggest movies ever made.'

Inspiring: The mother-of-three also revealed that she was told to settle for 'fat girl parts'

She told the audience: 'You can be from anywhere, and you can do anything. Believe it. I learned to embrace my flaws, to make no apology for who I am.'

Kate also urged children to put down your phones, as she lamented the unattainable aspirations that social media gives teenagers.

The actress  who does not have social media and does not allow her children to either  warned that networking sites distract people from being their true selves.

She told the audience of young people to find alternative ways of engaging with family and friends, and recommended a return to basic conversation and hugging.

Social: She encouraged the audience to mingle in the real world, rather than on social media

Put down your phone. Today, social media robs so many of us of just basic conversation, she said.

Referencing the three most popular social media websites - Instagram, Twitter and Facebook  she added: We are constantly distracted from being our true selves in a world that is fuelled by inst-tweet-bookface, as I like to call it.

Whilst she acknowledged that being a teenager is becoming harder than ever, the mother-of-three encouraged the 12,000 school pupils to avoid trying to conform to someone elses idea of perfect.

I am who I am: Kate told the audience, 'You can be from anywhere, and you CAN do anything. Believe it. I learned to embrace my flaws, to make no apology for who I am'

She said: Perhaps for some of you, the persona you have created online, is your version of perfect, and maybe thats hard to step away from. Society is changing so fast.

What we value is changing so fast. Its not easy being a teenager, and its becoming harder than ever. In a world of peer pressure and such awful things as cyberbullying and exposure to unattainable aspirations.

Lets think about how else to share. Share a real chat with the person sitting next to you, share stories, share being in this moment. By talking. Or with a hug.'
Selma Blair carried her son Arthur (with her ex-partner, fashion designer Jason Bleick) after shopping at a CVS drugstore in Studio City on Wednesday.

As the 44-year-old Grammy nominee paid the parking meter, the shy five-year-old playfully hid beneath her red-patterned summer dress.

The American Crime Story actress sported a ponytail and wore brown Aqauzurra 'Tulum' lace-up sandals for her errands.

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He's getting so big! Selma Blair carried her son Arthur after shopping at a CVS drugstore in Studio City on Wednesday

Cute: As the 44-year-old Grammy nominee paid the parking meter, the shy five-year-old playfully hid beneath her red-patterned summer dress

Selma and little Arthur just returned from her Michigan hometown where they visited her 79-year-old mother Molly, a retired judge.

'A first. My mom and my son in a picture with me. This is a big deal,' Blair - who boasts 468K followers - captioned her historic snap.

'Molly loves him. That is decided. He may have even taken @reesewitherspoon's ever present spot for most adored person by her.'

The University of Michigan grad also caught up with one of her three older sisters, Lizzie.

'#threegenerations': The American Crime Story actress and little Arthur just returned from her Michigan hometown where they visited her 79-year-old mother Molly, a retired judge

'I miss my sister already': The University of Michigan grad also caught up with one of her three older sisters, Lizzie

Before the family reunion, Selma spent spring break vacationing on the French Polynesian island of Mo'orea with her silver fox beau of two years, Ron Carlson.

'One of my dreams come true!' Blair (born Beitner) gushed.

'That was the best body and soul rejuvenation...I have always wished to have a spot like this for a day or two. Or a lifetime. Passing through bliss. Thank you @roncarlson1226.'

The Daytime Emmy-nominated producer is also a single father to a seven-year-old girl called Chloe and he just directed the upcoming glam-metal comedy Dead Ant.

Paradise: Before the family reunion, Selma spent spring break vacationing on the French Polynesian island of Mo'orea with her silver fox beau of two years, Ron Carlson

Blair (born Beitner) gushed: 'One of my dreams come true! That was the best body and soul rejuvenation'

She continued: 'I have always wished to have a spot like this for a day or two. Or a lifetime. Passing through bliss. Thank you @roncarlson1226'

On Monday, the Mothers and Daughters stunner revealed to Romy and the Bunnies that she has a full-time nanny for her child, but 'probably use her two hours a week.'

'But when I am on set, she is in charge,' Selma explained.

'I have had the luxury of staying with work as minimally as possible, but those days are over. Arthur is going to be in kindergarten next year and it is time to focus on me more. I have a movie coming out with Nicolas Cage called Mom and Dad, a horror satire. And I just filmed a part in the Netflix show, Lost in Space.'

Blair continued: 'I am probably sure to get out of this lovely, crazy, wonderful, mommy bubble soonish, but when ever I am with him at bedtime, I will still sing him his favorite lullabies - Coldplay's Yellow and Lada Gaga's A Million Reasons. I apologized to my son for my voice the other night, and he said, "No, you have an amazing voice mom!" He must really love me as much as I love him.'

'When I am on set, she is in charge': On Monday, the Mothers and Daughters stunner revealed to Romy and the Bunnies that she has a full-time nanny for her child, but 'probably use her two hours a week'
They are two of Hollywood's most in-demand leading men.

But Ryan Gosling and Justin Theroux may finally be making beautiful music together.

The two hunks were dressed casual cool as they were each spotted leaving a low-key lunch at celeb-favorite Little Dom's in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Casual cool: Ryan Gosling and Justin Theroux were spotted leaving a low-key lunch at celeb-favorite Little Dom's in Los Angeles on Wednesday

Making beautiful music? Both men had a stack of records tucked under their arms including Lee Moses 1971 funk album Time And Place

They each did not leave the rendezvous empty handed, however, as they both carried a stack of records as they departed the hotspot separately.

No word on whether the meeting was for an upcoming project or simply a meal between friends but as Gosling was spotted lunching with La La Land director Damien Chazelle just a few days ago no doubt there is much speculation.

The Drive actor, 36, was dressed for comfort in an olive green jacket over a white shirt, grey jeans and black leather boots.

Looking good: The Drive actor, 36, was dressed for comfort in an olive green jacket over a white shirt, grey jeans and black leather boots

Hunk: He wore a pair of designer shades as his signature blonde locks were combed to the side. Ryan accessorised with a chain necklace featuring a large, circular pendant

He wore a pair of designer shades as his signature blonde locks were combed to the side. Ryan accessorised with a chain necklace featuring a large, circular pendant.

Justin, 45, is a notorious fan of leather biker jackets and his latest outing was no exception as he wore a brown one along with a pair of black leather boots.

The husband of Jennifer Aniston also rocked a charcoal grey T-Shirt and skinny jeans for the midday meal.

The Leftovers star also rocked a pair of gold-rimmed aviator shades along with a gold chain necklace with a large pendant.

Signature style: Justin, 45, is a notorious fan of leather biker jackets and his latest outing was no exception as he wore a brown one along with a pair of black leather boots

Out and about: The husband of Jennifer Aniston also rocked a charcoal grey T-Shirt and skinny jeans for the midday meal

If the two stars are working on a project no doubt there is a musical element as they both departed with vinyl albums tucked under their arms including Lee Moses 1971 funk album Time And Place.

Ryan will be reuniting with director Damien Chazelle in his next project titled First Man.

The upcoming film is a biographical film centered around Neil Armstrong and the space mission that made him the first man to walk on the moon.

Justin can currently be seen starring in the third and final season of The Leftovers which airs Sunday nights at 9pm on HBO.
She's the glamorous blonde bombshell who will represent Australia at the Miss Galaxy beauty pageant in Florida in June.

But in Friday's The Daily Telegraph, Elise Nazzari revealed that despite appearances, it hasn't always been a picture of content.

Having been 'hospitalised three times' from suicide attempts as a teen, the 23-year-old hopes her candid admission will support those suffering from severe depression and mental illness.

'I was hospitalised three times': Miss Galaxy Australia Elise Nazzari, 23, opened up to The Daily Telegraph about previous suicide attempts, to support those suffering from depression

'I was hospitalised three times as a teenager after suicide attempts,' Elise told the publication.

'Suicide, depression and anxiety isn't something we really talk about enough and it can be quite lonely.

'At the end of the day what I want to get out of being Miss Galaxy Australia is to have some impact and be a role model, which is why Im open about my struggles,' she continued.

Offering support: 'At the end of the day what I want to get out of being Miss Galaxy Australia is to have some impact and be a role model, which is why Im open about my struggles,' Elise shared with the publication

Turnaround: Elise has certainly managed to turn her life around, achieving academic success. After completing a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and Anthropology, the beauty was offered a position as Program Coordinator at Western Australia's Curtin University

Elise has certainly managed to turn her life around, achieving academic success.

After completing a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and Anthropology, the beauty was offered a position as Program Coordinator at Western Australia's Curtin University.

Furthering her studies, Elise is currently completing her Honours degree.

Showing a clear interest in the fields of applied social research and restorative justice, the pageant star has co-authored book chapters and Federal Government reports.

Intelligence: Showing a clear interest in the fields of applied social research and restorative justice, the pageant star has co-authored book chapters and Federal Government reports

Elise revealed in an interview with Daily Mail Australia earlier this month, that beauty pageants have improved her confidence.

'I don't think I would have had the ability to accept criticism that comes along with research and writing both in my degree and research career if it wasn't for pageantry,' she said.

'Even standing up on stage when I was crowned, I was in disbelief  never in my wildest dreams would I honestly have thought that I could actually win.'

For further support contact Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800, Lifeline 13 11 14, Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636 or MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78.
She is often wowing her social media followers with scantily-clad photos of herself.

And Casey Batchelor jokingly overlooked her fabulous figure in a sizzling shot she shared of herself sporting just her lingerie to Instagram on Thursday.

The model, 32, put on a very busty display in a skimpy set of scarlet red underwear and teased her fans by adding the caption: 'Throwback Thursday to this shoot! Someone needed to clean that mirror!!'

'Someone needed to clean that mirror!': Casey Batchelor, 32, teased fans alongside her latest scantily-clad Instagram post where she posed in racy red lingerie

Casey struck a sultry pose for the shot, popping her hip out to one side as she stared at her reflection.

Along with her ample assets, the former Celebrity Big Brother star's killer abs were firmly on show and her brunette tresses fell past her shoulders in her trademark cascading curls.

Thanks to the arty shot, Casey also put her peachy behind on display as her back faced the camera.

And her sheer and lacy pants did little to cover her enviable posterior.

'Let's be honest, no one is looking at the mirror': The former Celebrity Big Brother star's fans cheekily responded to her tongue-in-cheek post and complimented her on her figure

It's not difficult to see why the starlet's Instagram followers were a little sidetracked when it came to Casey's tongue-in-cheek post.

Despite her amusing attempts to direct attention to the mirror instead, Casey was inundated with compliments about her 'phenomenal', 'cracking' and 'beautiful' body.

Others quipped in response: 'Let's be honest no1s looking at the mirror (sic).

'Don't think anyone has even noticed the mirror looking at that sexy a**.'

Flaunting her assets: Casey shared a slew of busty bikini selfies with her social media followers during her recent break in the Dominican Republic

Casey's latest Instagram post comes after she recently enjoyed a break in the Dominican Republic - where again she had fans lusting after her enviable frame as well as her idyllic trip.

The starlet shared a slew of scintillating bikini snaps to her social media channels, with her cleavage often stealing the show.

Casey has said that she is now 'embracing' her natural chest size, after her boobs have grown in size again following a breast reduction she had undergone in September 2014.

'Weirdly my boobs have grown': Casey had undergone a breast reduction in 2014 that saw her cup size reduced from a 32GG to an E - but she admits her boobs have since grown

The reductive surgery had taken her cup size from a 32GG to an E cup and at the time, she gushed that she had been pleased by its results.

However, several years on, Casey has found that her assets have got bigger.

She revealed in an interview with Closer magazine: 'Weirdly my boobs have grown again since then (the reduction) and I'm back up to an EE or F.

'Apparently it does happen if that's the way your body wants to be be and large boobs run in my family on both sides so I have to get used to it.'
She welcomed a baby boy just four months ago.

And Katherine Heigl was looking absolutely incredible as she stepped out in New York on Thursday in a fitted white Shoshanna dress with a star print design following an appearance on Good Morning America.

The 38-year-old rocked an out of this world look that highlighted her svelte post-baby physique.

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Out of this world! Katherine Heigl was looking absolutely incredible as she stepped out in a fitted white dress with a star print design following an appearance on Good Morning America on Thursday

Katherine smiled from ear to ear as she stepped out in her pointed red heels and wore her short blonde locks down in loose waves.

She brought out her natural beautiful with a slick of red lipstick, blush, and eyeliner.

And she accessorized the look with a pair of studded earrings.

Stepping outside, Katherine looked the picture of happiness as she waved to fans and posed up a storm before heading back into her car.

The mane attraction! Katherine smiled from ear to ear as she stepped out in her pointed red heels and wore her short blonde locks down in loose waves

Hello gorgeous: She brought out her natural beautiful with a slick of red lipstick, blush, and eyeliner

The star didn't let a little rain stop her from being in a good mood.

Wrapped up in a sophisticated beige coat, the star looked in top spirits as she smiled for cameras while standing beneath an umbrella.

In December, Katherine and her husband Josh Kelley welcomed a son, Joshua Bishop Kelley, Jr.

The couple also have two daughters, Naleigh, who they adopted from South Korea, and Adalaide, who was adopted from Louisiana.

Hey mama! Katherine and her husband Josh Kelley have just welcomed a son, Joshua Bishop Kelley, Jr., in December

Katherine has been travelling with her newborn as she promotes her new film Unforgettable, and the actress admitted on Good Morning America to feelings of 'mommy guilt' as she balances motherhood with work.

'Well right now it's especially complicated because the girls are in school, so they're staying home, but the baby needs me to eat, survive,' she explained. 'So he comes with me, and I feel this, I mean I think with every mother it's this sort of perpetual mommy guilt that somehow you're kind of not nailing it.

'And to mess up his schedule and to travel 'cause of me and my work needs, feels a little selfish. But honestly I am going to smack myself and get over it because I'm doing my very best.'

Can't rain on her parade! Stepping outside, Katherine looked the picture of happiness as she waved to fans and posed up a storm before heading back into her car

Hey good looking! Wrapped up in a sophisticated beige coat, the star looked in top spirits as she smiled for cameras while standing beneath an umbrella

The actress also shared how her husband embarrasses her teen niece, who lives with them.

'My niece lives with us and she's a freshman in high school, so he has to drive her. We live in a mountain community, so the bus stop is like a mile down the road.

'So he has to drive her there every morning and he gets up, it's like seven am, he gets up, he's amazing, I have to give this guy so much props, but he puts on my pink robe, and he gets his cup of coffee and he drives her down to the bus stop and then he gets out of the car to wave her off, in his pink robe, "Have a great day Maddie!"

'And she loves it,' she added sarcastically. 'All of her friends on the bus love it, he just loves to humiliate her.'

Katherine's new thriller, Unforgettable, hits cinemas on on Friday.

That's her boy! Katherine and her husband Josh Kelley welcomed a son, Joshua Bishop Kelley, Jr., in December

Quick change! Heigl was also spotted in a chic black dress with white lace accents and heels
It's the Australian novel that's been turned into the smash hit HBO drama of the same name.

And in Friday's The Daily Telegraph, author Liane Moriarty gushed over Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon's portrayal in Big Little Lies.

'I couldn't be happier,' the 50-year-old told the publication.

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'I couldn't be happier': Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty, 50, gushed to The Daily Telegraph over Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon's portrayal in the HBO series

'(The stars) Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon have been lovely.

She added: 'I think she (Nicole) puts a lot of research into her characters, which is why I couldn't be happier with her portrayal of Celeste.

'I know Reese as a mother of teenage children, she related on a different level,' she gushed of the star's take on Madeline.

All praise: Liane shared with the publication of Nicole's portrayal: 'I think she (Nicole) puts a lot of research into her characters, which is why I couldn't be happier with her portrayal of Celeste'

The high praise comes shortly after Liane revealed a season two is probable, and already knows what plot point she'd like to focus on.

Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Liane quipped that there are story lines which did not make it from the book to the big screen, and which, 'open the possibility of season two.'

In particular, Liane was disappointed that the backstory of Bonnie's abusive father was only hinted at in the drama.

More to come? The high praise comes shortly after Liane revealed a season two is probable, and already knows what plot point she'd like to focus on

More Zoe? Liane was disappointed that the backstory of Bonnie's abusive father was only hinted at in the drama

Bonnie, who is played by Zoe Kravitz, and her dark history, could become the central premise of season two.

But thus far Liane is only tinkering with ideas and nothing is set in stone.

She went on to confess: 'The producers have asked me to see if I can come up with some ideas. I wouldn't write a new book but perhaps a new story and then we'll see what happens.'

Less Nicole? Bonnie, who is played by Zoe Kravitz, and her dark history, could become the central premise of season two

Liane goes on to confess: 'The producers have asked me to see if I can come up with some ideas. I wouldn't write a new book but perhaps a new story and then we'll see what happens'

It's the second time that Liane has revealed she is in fact strongly considering a sequel to the smash.

Earlier this month she told the Sydney Morning Herald: 'I'm absolutely open to it because, once I started thinking, it was too much fun to see what I could do and to see these characters again. And there's definitely places you can go.'

Fans are so keen to see a second season, they have taken to petitioning Liane on Facebook, an activity which Reese Witherspoon has encouraged.

The drama, which was originally set in Sydney's Northern Beaches in the books and transplanted to California in the TV series, ended with a bang earlier this month.

It features an all-star cast including Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgard and Laura Dern.

More please! It's the second time that Liane has revealed she is in fact strongly considering a sequel to the smash

Demands: Fans are so keen to see a second season they have taken to petitioning Liane on Facebook, an activity which Reese Witherspoon has encouraged
Julia Roberts has not spoken much about the heartbreaking passing of her mother Betty Lou Bredemus in 2015.

But on Thursday the 49-year-old Oscar-winning Hollywood icon told People magazine - a publication that this week named her the most beautiful woman of 2017 - that she dearly misses her mom.

'I think about her all the time,' the Smurfs star said as her eyes welled up with tears. 'And the kids talk about her a lot.'

Sad loss: Julia Roberts has not spoken much about the heartbreaking passing of her mother Betty Lou Bredemus in 2015. Pictured 1993

She was there for her: But on Thursday the 49-year-old Oscar-winning Hollywood icon told People magazine that she dearly misses her mom. Pictured early 2014

She landed the Most Beautiful cover

Her kids are 12-year-old twins Hazel and Phinnaeus and nine-year-old Henry who she shares with cinematographer Danny Moder.

Betty died at the age of 80 after a battle with lung cancer. Oddly, her daughter Nancy Motes - who was Julia's half sister - killed herself the year before.

Roberts also talked about the signs she might be getting from her mother in heaven.

'Its funny because her name was Betty and I feel like lately, she just crosses my mind, and Ill turn and I see something that says "Betty," just unexpectedly,' said the Runaway Bride star.

The Pretty Woman siren added: 'In Africa I saw the name twice when I was thinking about her.' Roberts visited Kenya recently to visit a remote village and deliver lifesaving vaccines.

Her pal: 'I think about her all the time,' the Smurfs star said as her eyes welled up with tears. 'And the kids talk about her a lot.' Pictured 1989

Julia still appreciates the advice her mother gave her a decade ago.

'[When I] had three children under 3 years old, I was like, "Mom, how did you do this?"' she said.

'And instead of saying, "Well, you just have to apply yourself and it takes effort," she goes, "Its called daycare, honey."

Double loss: Julia didn't only lose her mother in 2015; she also lost her half-sister Nancy Motes, right, the year before to suicide. Pictured 1997

'And I was so appreciative and so grateful she didn't tell me some sage, bulls*** story about what its like to be a great mother.'

Julia clearly holds her mother in very high esteem.

'My mom worked a full-time job and raised three girls pretty much on her own,' she relayed.

Flashback: The star with Angelina Jolie's father Jon Voight (right) as well as sister Lisa Roberts Jillian (far left) and brother Eric, also an actor in 1985 in NYC

'My brother [actor Eric Roberts] is older, so he was gone and out of the house. She never showed the strain of it.'

The man she loves: The star with Danny Moder in 2014

Bredemus divorced Julia's father Walter in 1971.

She wed Michael Motes in 1983. Together they had daughter Nancy who died in 2014.

The actress left a suicide note that read: 'My mother and so-called "siblings" get nothing except the memory that they are the ones that drove me into the deepest depression Ive ever been in.

'Ive suffered thru this disease all my life, however it has never been this bad. I burst into tears every morning (because) I woke up.'

Julia also has a sister named Lisa Roberts Gillian. The family grew up in Smyrna, Georgia.

Roberts' People interview was with their editor-in-chief Jess Cagle.
Davina McCall has revealed the moment she decided to tackle her drug addiction once and for all in a new interview.

The 49-year-old TV presenter struggled with drug addiction in her Twenties and in an interview with comedian John Bishop for his W show, John Bishop In Conversation With..., she spoke about the turning point at which she sought recovery.

In her candid chat, the former Big Brother host revealed it was losing all the best friends and family surrounding her which pushed her to breaking point.

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'We all know you're a junkie and lying to us the whole time': Davina McCall told John Bishop about the moment she decided to tackle her drug addiction following her friend's ultimatum

Davina has always been honest about her dark days, in which she struggled financially while being held in the grasps of addiction.

She told the beloved comic: 'I'd lost all the good people. There was one person left, and she was the one that said to me in the end: "Look, we're all talking about you. You think you've got this kind of mask up and you're kidding us all, but you're not.

'"We all know that you're a junkie and we all know you're taking heroin or we all know that you're lying to us the whole time. And I'm not going to stand around and watch it anymore".

Of the huge support of her friend, she went on: 'And she'd been so there for me the whole time, I just thought she was going to be the one constant. And when she said that's it, I was devastated.'

Revealed: The 49-year-old became hooked on drugs when she was in her 20s

She recalled slamming the door and swearing at her friend but it was in that moment the model decided to come clean.

In 2013, Davina discussed her dire financial situation in the midst of her addiction as she said: 'I was at my most skint in my twenties just before I got clean. I was living on a camp bed in my dads cupboard.

'I had an old car but couldnt afford petrol - I had to borrow money from my parents every day for travel. I owed about 3,000 on my overdraft when I was 17 - which was a lot of money then.

'I had to pay it off with a Saturday job, working in French Connection in Londons Covent Garden for 20 a day. It took me over five years to pay it off, but now Im very careful not to be overdrawn because I remember how awful that felt.'

And it was only after she overcame her drug problem, that she landed her own television show on MTV.

Now Davina has been happily married to the presenter of Pet Rescue Matthew Robertson since they got hitched at Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire in June 2000.

The loved-up couple raise three children together - daughters Holly, 15 Tilly, 13 and son Chester, 10.

Happiness: But the turning point for the TV personality was when her last friend said they weren't going to stick around to watch her crumble

Her second marriage comes after she split from her first husband Andrew Leggett, who she tied the knot with in 1997.

Meanwhile, the TV personality has been pushing herself for a Sport Relief challenge in 2014. She raised more than 2 million for charity as she swam, cycled and ran across the UK for seven days.

Describing the challenge, she added: 'I didn't want to let anyone down - I will do anything to not let people down because when I was using I was so unreliable and undependable.

'And so it was really important to me in recovery that, if I say I'm going to do something then I do it. If I'm going to be somewhere on time, I'm there; if I commit to something, it makes me feel bad if I don't.'

John Bishop In Conversation With Davina McCall airs on W at 9pm on Thursday.

Turning point: Their harsh words spurred the star onto success and she landed her first show on MTV when she came clean
Liv Tyler looked sensational in a dark flowing floral ensemble when she went shopping at Ginza Six department store in Tokyo, Japan on Thursday.



The 39-year-old was the star guest at the grand opening of the British fashion brand Belstaff's flagship store on Tuesday, for which she has collaborated on a small collection of items.

The Lord Of The Rings beauty looked incredible wearing a pyjama co-ord suit with scarlet heels as she supported the label.

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Flash of red! Liv Tyler stunned in flowing a floral pyjama suit co-ord and scarlet heels as she showed off her favourite pieces in the Belstaff store Tokyo, Japan on Thursday

It's an honour: The 39-year-old was the star guest at the grand opening of the British fashion brand Belstaff's flagship store on Tuesday

The actress brought attention to her stunning shoes as she completed her look with bold block lipstick.

She let her raven-haired mid-length tresses fall naturally around her face cushioned on her shoulders.

Her trousers were cropped in length which allowed her to flash a glimpse of her ankles.

Make a statement: The Lord Of The Rings beauty returned to the shop in style as she browsed the extensive collection

Although she was in high spirits, no doubt Liv was missing her doting fiance Dave Gardner and their two children two-year-old Sailor and nine-month-old Lula Rose.

The screen sensation also raises her 11-year-old son Milo with British rocker Royston Langdon.

They married in Barbados in 2003 but they went their separate ways in 2008.

Stunning: The actress brought attention to her stunning shoes as she completed her look with bold block lipstick

Despite embracing being a mum, the child model has no plans to add to her brood.

The daughter of Aerosmith rocker Steve Tyler star told The Times: 'I have been pregnant for two years straight. It feels like forever. I think we will be done after this.

'It's funny because I always knew when I was a little girl that I wanted to have children and I always envisioned having a little tribe.'

Glossy: She let her raven-haired mid-length tresses fall naturally around her face cushioned on her shoulders

She balances being a mum with her day job as she has got stuck back into filming new period drama Gunpowder.

It tells the story of Guy Fawkes' plan to blow up the House of Lords and kill King James I in the early 17th century.

The brunette will play Ann Vaux alongside starring Game Of Thrones' heartthrob Kit Harrington.

Dramatic: She made a statement with a flash of scarlet when she sashayed through the fashion shop in towering red heels which added to her height

Missing you: Although she was in high spirits, no doubt Liv was missing her doting fiance Dave Gardner and their two children two-year-old Sailor and nine-month-old Lula Rose
Chloe Meadows headed to TOWIE filming on Thursday, in her first appearance since attending the Dalston nightclub in which an acid attack occurred at the weekend.

The 24-year-old reality star remained composed as she stepped out in her native Essex alongside Chloe Lewis and Courtney Green, while the search continues for former co-star Ferne McCann's boyfriend Arthur Collins in relation with the attack.

Headed into a local bar, it was business as usual just days after the We Are Love Juice rave, in which one woman was blinded in one eye while at least 20 others suffered burns from a noxious chemical.

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Out and about: Chloe Meadows headed to TOWIE filming on Thursday, in her first appearance since attending the Dalston nightclub in which an acid attack occured at the weekend

Chloe was back to work as she headed out just days after the attack, at Mangle club, which injured 20 while it emerged today that a woman was blinded in one eye as a result of the sickening attack.

The club night was also attended by fellow TOWIE stars Jamie Reed and his newcomer girlfriend Jade Lewis, with the trio snapping shots from within the bash. There is nothing to suggest the stars were in the club at the time of the incident.

Looking trendy, Chloe wore a shirt dress with an over-sized jumper layered over the top while she wore grey ankle boots with her blonde hair following her shoulders.

Equally stylish was Chloe L and Courtney who opted for trendy ensembles, with the former in a pair of flared jeans and the latter a chic shirt dress.

Hunt: The 24-year-old reality star remained composed as she stepped out in her native Essex alongside Chloe Lewis and Courtney Green, while the search continues for former co-star Ferne McCann's boyfriend Arthur Collins (pictured) in relation with the attack

On the night: Chloe (left) was back to work as headed out just days after the attack, at Mangle club, which left at least 20 people suffering burns from a noxious chemical. The club night was also attended by fellow TOWIE star Jamie Reed and his newcomer girlfriend Jade Lewis (right)

Moving on: Headed into a local bar, it was business as usual just days after the We Are Love Juice rave, in which one woman was blinded in one eye while at least 20 others suffered burns from a noxious chemical

Collins is wanted for questioning by police in connection with the attack. Police have warned the public to call 999 immediately if they see Collins, and said the 25-year-old should not be approached.

A 33-year-old woman was arrested in Hertfordshire this morning on suspicion of firearms offences.

She was taken to a north London police station where she remains in custody. Illegal guns and cannabis were found at his parents house after a raid on Monday night.

Trendy: Equally stylish was Chloe L and Courtney who opted for trendy ensembles, with the former in a pair of flared jeans and the latter a chic shirt dress

Stunning: The girls were prepping for another hard day of work

Girls on the town: Equally stylish was Chloe L and Courtney who opted for trendy ensembles, with the former in a pair of flared jeans and the latter a chic shirt dress

Two other men are also wanted for questioning in connection with this incident at the club in east London. CCTV images of the two other men are currently being reviewed by investigators.

Detective Inspector Lee McCullough, of Hackney CID, said: 'I am continuing to appeal to Arthur Collins to hand himself in so that we can talk to him about the incident in the nightclub.

'I would also urge anyone who knows of his whereabouts to contact police. We now have 20 people suffering from the effects of an acidic substance being sprayed in a confined space in a busy nightclub.

'All have burn-related injuries. The noxious substance used has not yet been confirmed but samples retrieved from the scene have been sent for analysis. If you were there and saw anyone involved inside or leaving the nightclub, please get in touch.'
Lindsay Lohan has slipped into a fuzzy pink bikini for a new fashion shoot.

The 30-year-old redhead made the bold move for ODDA magazine, which is celebrating its 12th issue and 5th anniversary.

The Mean Girls actress wore several different outfits for the individual and edgy shoot which was done in Milan this year.

Cheeky: Lindsay Lohan put on her best model pout as she graced the pages of ODDA magazine on Thursday

For one series The Parent Trap star wore a very fluffy and revealing pink two-piece.

She showed off her porcelain skin in the skimpy gear as she sat up right and smouldered for the camera.

In another shot with the same outfit the Mean Girls scene where they perform Jingle Bell Rock can be seen playing in the background.

In a more casual shot the actress was seen on a tube in Milan wearing a blue and white hoodie that had the words: 'Champion USA' written across it.

Throwback! In another shot with the same outfit the Mean Girls scene where they perform Jingle Bell Rock can be seen playing in the background

A classic: Lindsay is in this scene with Lacey Chabert (L) Rachel McAdams (C) and Amanda Seyfried (R) where they perform Jingle Bell Rock at their school's Christmas show

The actress looked stunning in a candid black and white photo with her hair in a low ponytail.

She wore a sweatshirt and was touching her chin.

The story was shot by Morelli Brothers, Creative Director David Martin and Fashion Editor Alba Melendo.

Model: The actress looked stunning in a candid black and white photo with her hair in a low ponytail

The magazine editors said they 'wanted to re-introduce to the world Ms. Lindsay Lohan [...] as she starts a new chapter in her career as a business entrepreneur.

The star has been trying to make a comeback in Hollywood.

Lohan was once considered one of the top talents in the business thanks to roles in The Parent Trap and Herbie.

Cute: In a more casual shot the actress was seen on a tube in Milan wearing a blue and white hoodie that had the words: 'Champion USA' written across it

Deeper meaning: The story was shot by Morelli Brothers, Creative Director David Martin and Fashion Editor Alba Melendo

Photobooth style: Lindsay wore a hoodie and barely there make-up

But then she got caught in a downward spiral of partying and dating the wrong men.

A move to London several years ago seemed to cool her heels and now she has seemed to stay out of trouble,

'The goal of the profile on Lindsay was to present her to the world in an unexpected way,' ODDA bosses continued.

Having fun: The red-headed beauty was shot in Milan for the magazine, which is celebrating its 12th issue and 5th anniversary

They wanted her photo shoot to be original and individual: 'By shooting her in an original way and keeping her makeup and styling to a minimum we were able to underscore her unique beauty and strong character.'

'Thus giving Lindsay another perception of what fashion can be and, at the same time, allow our readers and lovers of Mean Girls, a new vision to file away in their minds as the watch Lindsay take her next steps in the limelight,' they concluded.

ODDA is available worldwide since February 2017.

Candid: The Mean Girls actress, 30, wore several different outfits for the individual and edgy shoot

Being herself: They wanted her photo shoot to be original and individual
She's the blonde socialite who is regularly spotted enjoying Melbourne's nightlife.

And Brynne Edelsten certainly enjoyed an evening out on Thursday in the city, attending an event at The Woolshed waterfront bar and restaurant.

The 34-year-old even took to the photo booth with a male friend, who playfully cupped her breasts as they posed for a few snaps.

Party girl: Brynne Edelsten (R) certainly enjoyed her night out in Melbourne on Thursday, inviting a male friend to touch her breasts for a bizarre photo opportunity

In a clip posted to her Instagram, Brynne is seen jumping up in the air with producer and creative designer Mykey James.

The friends smile from ear to ear as Mykey touches her breasts, with Brynne writing in the caption: 'Touch on, touch off!'

The ex-wife of businessman Geoffrey Edelsten was dressed in a flirty white mini dress with a flared hemline.

Flirty: In a clip posted to her Instagram, the 34-year-old socialite is seen jumping up in the air with producer and creative designer Mykey James

She paired the ensemble with black studded platforms and simple diamond earrings.

Her friend was dressed in a similar colour scheme, with a white open-collared shirt, khaki pants and dark brown loafers.

The vivacious personality, who revealed she dropped from a size 12 to a size six following her divorce, looked slender in her fitted dress.

Svelte: Brynne, who revealed she dropped from a size 12 to a size six after her divorce from ex-husband Geoffrey Edelsten, looked slender in her fitted dress

She told Woman's Day she lost the weight by sticking to a strict exercise regime, which included daily strolls with her pet dog.

'I go to the gym at least five days a week for an hour a time, but also I walk my dog every day  it could be 15 minutes to an hour and a half,' she said.

The former fitness instructor alleged Geoffrey had 'a dalliance' with another woman 18 months prior to her filing for a divorce in January 2014 - claims which he has continuously denied.
Mariah Carey rocked a trendy blue silky bomber jacket at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills on Wednesday night.

The 48-year-old R&B belter was joined by her manager Stella Bulochnikov, whom she recently gifted a $34K Louis Vuitton trunk - according to Page Six.

If the five-time Grammy winner's face was glowing it was due to the three hours she reportedly spent inside the famous clinic Epione Beverly Hills.

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Out and about: Mariah Carey rocked a trendy blue silky bomber jacket at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills on Wednesday night

Cosmetic dermatologist Dr. Simon Ourian is a favorite of Kim Kardashian and her family, rapper Iggy Azalea, model Cara Delevingne, and pop diva Lady Gaga.

Hours earlier, Mariah - who boasts 44M followers - proudly posted a poolside video of her adorable son Moroccan excitedly revealing he lost his first baby tooth.

The curly-haired tyke - dreaming of the Tooth Fairy - announced: 'My tooth fell out and Im so excited and so happy! I want to show my mom so bad!'

Inseparable duo: The 48-year-old R&B belter was joined by her manager Stella Bulochnikov, whom she recently gifted a $34K Louis Vuitton trunk - according to Page Six

All smiles: If the five-time Grammy winner's face was glowing it was due to the three hours she reportedly spent inside the famous clinic Epione Beverly Hills

Epione owner: Cosmetic dermatologist Dr. Simon Ourian is a favorite of Kim Kardashian (L) and her family, rapper Iggy Azalea, model Cara Delevingne, and pop diva Lady Gaga

Carey and her ex-husband #2 Nick Cannon will celebrate Moroccan and his fraternal twin sister Monroe's sixth birthday on April 30.

The I Don't songstress ended her five-month fling with back-up dancer Bryan Tanaka, 34, in late March over his supposed jealousy over the 36-year-old presenter - according to TMZ.

On February 21, the former America's Got Talent host welcomed his third child - son Golden 'Sagon' - with Miss Guam 2014, Brittany Bell.

Squeee! Hours earlier, Mariah - who boasts 44M followers - proudly posted a poolside video of her adorable son Moroccan excitedly revealing he lost his first baby tooth

The curly-haired tyke - dreaming of the Tooth Fairy - announced: 'My tooth fell out and Im so excited and so happy! I want to show my mom so bad!'

Amicable exes: Carey and her ex-husband #2 Nick Cannon will celebrate Moroccan and his fraternal twin sister Monroe's sixth birthday on April 30

The LEGO Batman Movie actress is busy recording her 15th studio album on her newly-launched record label, Butterfly MC Records.

Mariah will next use her five-octave pipes to open for the Lionel Richie: All the Hits Tour beginning July 21 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland.

Recording her 15th album! Mariah will next use her five-octave pipes to open for the Lionel Richie: All the Hits Tour beginning July 21 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland (pictured Feb. 23)




David Burtka, the husband of Neil Patrick Harris, said he's no longer drinking.

The 41-year-old actor-turned-celeb chef told the NY Daily News on Wednesday that he recently quit boozing, because 'it just didn't mix well' with him anymore.

'That's a big thing ... I didn't like the way I was acting and I think it was affecting me and I thought, "You know what? I owe it to myself, I owe it to my kids, to be there, 100 percent,"' the Dearborn, Michigan native told the paper at the Food Bank's Can-Do Awards.

No more booze: David Burtka, 41, the husband of Neil Patrick Harris, told the NY Daily News he recently quit drinking. He was snapped Wednesday at the Food Bank's Can-Do Awards in NYC

Burtka, who's been seen on American Horror Story: Freak Show, explained to the publication that he doesn't have the type of personality prone to doing things in moderation.

'I just think that, I'm not one of those people that can just have one drink or two drinks,' said Burtka, who met Harris, 43, on the set of How I Met Your Mother 13 years ago.

Family first: (L-R) Burtka, daughter Harper, Neil Patrick Harris and son Gideon were snapped in November at a screening of Moana in NYC. Burtka said his decision to cease drinking was for the twins

Power couple: Burtka and husband Neil Patrick Harris, 43, were snapped last week attending the musical In And Of Itself at NYC's Daryl Roth Theatre

Burtka admitted that challenges await him in show business - 'especially in this industry,' where the alcohol flows freely at industry functions.

'I'm around it all the time and I'm a chef as well, so it's really part of my world,' said Burtka, who wed Harris in a ceremony in Italy in September of 2014 after a decade of being a couple.

Beautiful memory: The men exchanged vows in Italy in 2014 following 10 years together

Sunrise: Burtka last fall tweeted a shot with his husband, set against a splendid background

Happy times: Harris posted a kind message celebrating an unofficial anniversary with his husband earlier this month, showing Burtka seated with their son Gideon

Burtka - who with Harris welcomed six-year-old twins Harper and Gideon via surrogate in October of 2010 - told the paper he hopes his newfound sobriety will stick.

Earlier this month, Harris took to Instagram to laud his longtime love, posting a shot of Burtka holding the couple's son Gideon.

'Thirteen years and one day ago, I crossed paths with the guy on the left. The adventures have never ceased. The love has never waned. The gifts are never ending,' he wrote. 'Happy Anniversary, @dbelicious. You're the best.'
The story of how Sixties icon Ray Davies coped with the mayhem of fame is being turned into a movie.

The project is based on the Olivier Award-winning musical Sunny Afternoon, which charted how, in 1964, Davies, his brother, Dave, bass guitarist Pete Quaife and drummer Mick Avory formed The Kinks  four raw, working-class boys, as Ray put it, who collided with success.

The film-making process is at an early stage, but I understand that Joe Penhall, who wrote the book for Sunny Afternoon using an original story by Ray, will write the screenplay. Dexter Fletcher has been approached to direct.

The story of the Kinks is to be turned into a movie. It will be based on the Olivier Award-winning musical Sunny Afternoon, which tracks how the Kinks collided with success

Fletcher has form, having directed Sunshine On Leith (a favourite movie of mine) which featured music by The Proclaimers. The actor-turned-film-maker also made the Eddie The Eagle picture, starring Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman.

The songs Ray Davies wrote  hits including You Really Got Me, Dedicated Follower Of Fashion, Waterloo Sunset and the title track  tend to be rooted in the plight of the working man (and woman!). Davies enjoys thumbing his nose (extremely melodically) at high society.

Those numbers worked beautifully on stage at Hampstead Theatre, where Sunny Afternoon started three years ago before moving to the Harold Pinter Theatre. (Its currently on tour, and this week has been at the Wolverhampton Grand.)

Looking through The Kinks back catalogue, I can see how any number of songs could be used to propel a narrative in a movie.

Add in the sibling disharmony between Ray and Dave, band infighting, the shock of dealing with success, and mismanagement (the usual woeful tale of rock n roll exploitation) and youve got a perfect film formula.

In addition, Davies is a fascinating character. Knighted in the New Year Honours, he is a brilliant songwriter and composer (his new album, Americana, is out tomorrow) and his best songs have stood the test of time  yet he shuns the limelight.

I remember being at the first preview of Sunny Afternoon. Ray, now 72, was there, and I could tell from his face that he was privately thrilled with how it was going. But there was also a cloud. He told me later: I think it went well, but I cant deal with the attention.

Producers Francois Ivernel, Charles de Rosen and Sonia Friedman are producing the film and working on securing the story and music rights.

Casting is a long way off. John Dagleish and George Maguire both won Olivier awards for their portraits on stage of the Davies brothers, but it doesnt necessarily follow that they will be offered the roles in the movie.

Sharon: I've maid it to my dream role

Sharon D. Clarke is in rehearsals for Caroline, Or Change, the musical by Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori. She plays the title character, Caroline Thibodeaux, who works as a maid for a Jewish family in Louisiana

Sharon D. Clarke can do it all: sing, dance and act. Shes a talented triple threat whos able to go from one job to the next, whether its episodes of Holby City, a show at the National Theatre, a panto in Hackney, or cabaret in Leicester Square.

As long as Im working, Im happy, she told me.

There was one period in the Nineties where I didnt work for six months. I was sat on the kitchen floor, looking at loans.

Thats the most time Ive had out of work  and its just luck, because there are fantastic people who arent working, the actress (left) said as she took a break, along with the director Michael Longhurst, during rehearsals in London for Caroline, Or Change, the musical by Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori.

Clarke plays the title character, Caroline Thibodeaux, who works as a maid for a Jewish family in Louisiana.

Caroline scrubs and cleans, and cares for eight-year-old Noah, who has lost his mother but lives with his father and stepmother. She is everything to Noah  although she resents not being paid to look out for him.

She has four children of her own, Clarke explained.

A son whos fighting in Vietnam  which is a place she cant even find on the map.

Her teenage daughter is rebellious. Carolines the sole provider and she tries to provide on meagre funds. Caroline can only give her children meat to eat if she misses the rent for a week. Its touch and go, the actress adds with a sigh.

But its a great role  one Clarke has coveted ever since she saw Tonya Pinkins (who created the part at the Public Theater in New York) play it at the National a decade ago.

Longhurst  celebrated last year for his Amadeus on the Olivier stage at the National  has assembled a superb ensemble for the show, which will run from May 6 at the Minerva studio at Chichester Festival Theatre.

Longhurst invited Kushner (who had been working on another of his creations, Angels In America, at the NT) to chat with the Caroline company. He told them how the characters in Caroline are loosely based on how he and his brother were raised in Louisiana.

Kushners book is intoxicating  but Longhurst noted that Tesoris score is like a central character, too.

Theres Gospel, klezmer, opera, said Longhurst, as he and Clarke discussed the musical variations.

During the rehearsal, I watched Clarke do a scene with Nicola Hughes, as another maid, and Angela Caesar  playing the Moon (a part she took ten years ago at the National).

The scene comes early in the show, and all three women sing.

As their voices soar and meld together, you just sit there and pray for the song to carry on, for ever.

Mark Rylance will grace Broadway later in the year, playing Philip of Spain in the production of Farinelli And The King

Watch out for...

Mark Rylance, our latest theatrical knight, who will grace Broadway later in the year, playing Philip of Spain in the Shakespeares Globe production of Farinelli And The King by Claire van Kampen.

The play  about how the heavenly voice of Farinelli, a castrato, helped cure the king of his insomnia  will run at the Belasco Theatre from December.

Rylance (as the king, right) will feel at home there. A few seasons ago, he led the Globes productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III at the same theatre for a critically-acclaimed, sold-out run.

Encouraged by Steven Spielberg, Ms Van Kampen has been working on a screenplay of Farinelli, which she hopes will go into production next year.

As far as I understand it, Spielberg will not be directing. The friendly advice was offered when Rylance  who is married to Van Kampen  worked with the director on back-to-back films Bridge Of Spies and The BFG.
Zac Efron is thinking about settling down.

The Baywatch star turns 30 in October and is looking to to find the right girl to settle down with after seeing some of his pals in 'great relationships.'

He said, 'I didnt think much about settling down until recently. Now that Im getting closer to my 30s, Im around some great relationships and Ive seen expert couples at work.'

Bachelor: Zac Efron has recently claimed that he's thinking about 'settling down' as he nears his 30's, here he is in June 2016

'Im realizing that you have to find your own happiness before you can make somebody else happy.'

And it is unlikely Zac will meet his future wife on social media as he admitted he is terrible at staying in touch on Twitter and Instagram.

He told the May issue of Cosmopolitan magazine: 'I try to stay off my phone as much as possible. Its on silent and the vibrate is off all day.'

Non-textual: The 29-year-old actor says he tries to stay off of his phone as much as possible

'People sometimes hate me for it! But Im just not a pro at DMing and all that. Forget Twitter, forget Instagram. Let's just chill and be real. Enjoy the moment.'

Meanwhile, the 29-year-old actor previously insisted to The Times he will never be able to go on a 'dictionary definition' date with someone.

He shared, 'Dating is something I'll never be able to do. As in the dictionary definition of dating, because one way or another I've impacted that person's life and they'll soon see it. A date has to be very long to dispel whatever people think about me.'

Ex: He dated designer Sami Miro from 2014-2016, here they are seen at his We Are Your Friends premiere in 2015

However, that's not to say Zac hasn't tried the more modern methods of dating, including signing up to dating app Tinder, but claims he was rejected because nobody believed it was actually him.

He added: 'Amazingly, when I signed up for Tinder, nobody swiped me! They thought it was fake. That never happened. Aha-ha.

Efron previously dated designer Sami Miro for two years, they broke up in 2016.

Puppy love: He dated his High School Musical co-star Vanessa Hudgens from 2006-2010, here they are in 2007's High School Musical 2

Before that he had been linked to The Fast and the Furious actress Michelle Rodriguez for about two weeks in 2014.

His most well-known relationship was with his High School Musical co-star Vanessa Hudgens.

They first met on the Disney movie's set in 2005 and dated until 2010.
Her lavish countryside wedding to fellow Nine journalist Pete Stefanovic three weeks ago was widely reported.

And on Friday, a Queensland Nine reporter ended a live cross about the state's pressing train driver shortage by plugging an article on Sylvia's nuptials.

'That's a MUCH more interesting story,' host Karl Stefanovic said as she held up the newspaper headline, with the Today panel, including Sylvia, laughing along.

'Thats a MUCH more interesting story!' The moment Today reporter holds up a newspaper headline about Sylvia Jeffreys wedding during a live cross about serious Queensland train driver shortage on Friday

Still on cloud nine: Sylvia, who walked the aisle in a lavish countryside wedding to fellow Nine journalist Pete Stefanovic three weeks ago, appeared in high spirits when the article was brought to her attention by the Brisbane reporter

The Brisbane journalist was reporting on tougher rail tests which are contributing to the Queensland train driver shortage.

She ended her news segment with the newspaper article ready in her hand, saying: ''I'll tell you something else. Flicking though the paper, can't escape you lot up here.'

Sylvia gleamed with a huge smile and jokingly asked: 'What she say? Anything good?'

'What she say? Anything good?' Sylvia couldn't contain her gleaming smile and giggles as the reporter showed off the article, jokingly asking what the piece said about her

The reporter claimed she hadn't had a chance to read it, but assumed it was about her husband Peter, her wedding and honeymoon.

Newlywed Sylvia smiled as she shook her head and said: 'Same old, same old.'

'That's another one for Mum to put on the fridge,' Sylvia said, before Karl and Lisa Wilkinson ended the segment and moved on to their next story.

'That's another one for Mum to put on the fridge': Newlywed Sylvia smiled as she told the Today panel her mother has been collecting articles surrounding her wedding coverage

'Best days of our lives': Sylvia and Peter tied the knot at Ooralba Estate in the Kangaroo Valley last month, with Sylvia describing the day on her Instagram as the 'best day of our lives'

Sylvia and Peter tied the knot at Ooralba Estate in the Kangaroo Valley last month, 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 and the Today show stars, Lisa Wilkinson and Richard Wilkins.

The newlyweds enjoyed a lavish honeymoon in Fiji, as they both shared photos from the $18,000-a-night Kokomo Private Island resort.

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.

Happy couple: The pair started dating in 2014, with Peter popping the question in July last year while the couple were enjoying a romantic getaway in France




Migrants are rescued off the coast of Libya by SOS Mediterranee's Aquarius vessel in May 2016

UNESCO awarded its prestigious peace prize on Wednesday to migrant rescue association SOS Mediterranee and the mayor of Lampedusa, the tiny Italian island on the frontline of the refugee crisis.

The Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize goes to the European NGO and mayor Giuseppina Nicolini "for their work to save the lives of refugees and migrants and welcome them with dignity," the UN cultural body said in a statement.

The plight of migrants constitutes "one of the crucial issues of our day, notably in the Mediterranean where nearly 13,000 men, women and children have perished in shipwrecks since 2013," said acting jury head Joaquim Chissano, former president of Mozambique.

Lampedusa, Italy's most southerly outpost, was the first port of arrival for thousands of migrants setting off from North Africa in the first years of the crisis, which began in 2011 and has developed into the worst since World War II.

SOS Mediterranee, founded in 2015, rescues hundreds of men, women and children each week from flimsy dinghies and boats in the Mediterranean, along with other NGOs.

Nicolini was recognised for "her boundless humanity and unwavering commitment to refugee crisis management and integration in response to the arrival of thousands of refugees on the shores of Lampedusa and elsewhere in Italy".

- 'Watery grave' -

"I dedicate this prize to all those who did not make it across the sea because they were swallowed up, and also to Gabriele Del Grande," said Nicolini, referring to an Italian journalist arrested in Turkey this month while researching the lives of Syrian refugees.

The mayor of Lampedusa, Giuseppina Nicolini, has been recognised for her work at the frontline of the refugee crisis

"He was the first to count the Mediterranean's dead on a website, back when nobody even knew people were dying in the Mediterranean. He is now a prisoner in Turkey," she said, calling on the government to "bring him home".

The jury said SOS Mediterranee's Aquarius vessel, co-run by Doctors Without Borders, had saved more than 11,000 lives since it began search and rescue missions off Lampedusa in early 2016.

"We're so happy to be given this award together with Nicolini. We visited her when we were starting up and she said 'you are crazy but I am with you, because this is what we need after the failures of the EU'," said Sophie Beau, SOS Mediterranee co-founder.

The jury appealed to the international community "to ensure that the Mediterranean sea becomes, once again, a place where solidarity and intercultural dialogue hold sway, and that it ceases to serve as a watery grave".

Private rescue vessels sounded the alarm this weekend over the "unprecedented mass rescues" of people fleeing horrors in conflict-torn Libya, recovering seven bodies including that of an eight-year-old, and warning more migrants risked drowning without EU action.

Close to 37,000 people have been brought to safety in Italy so far this year, a 45 percent increase on the same period in 2016.

- Solidarity -

The EU's border control agency Frontex has accused donor-funded vessels of doing more harm than good by acting "like taxis" off Libya and tempting human traffickers to put as many people as possible out to sea in flimsy vessels.

Migrants waiting to disembark from the Aquarius which has saved more than 11,000 lives since early 2016, the jury said

Italian prosecutors have suggested they may have links with traffickers and in March named SOS Mediterranee's activity as being of interest to investigators, along with other private rescue vessels.

Their charges have been fiercely rejected by the NGOs, with SOS Mediterranee saying Wednesday it had "never, not once" been put in contact with migrants via smugglers.

"European governments need to show more solidarity to the humanitarian organisations that are working on the front line of this humanitarian crisis. Border control is not the solution," said Regina Catrambone, the director of MOAS rescue service.

UNESCO's Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize, created in 1989 to honour those making a significant contribution to peace, has gone in the past to Nelson Mandela, Israel's Shimon Peres and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, King Juan Carlos of Spain and former US president Jimmy Carter.
DR Congo security forces have been accused by the UN of using disproportionate force against militiamen, who are armed mainly with clubs and catapults

The UN said Wednesday it had found a further 17 mass graves in the Democratic Republic of Congo's central Kasai region, an area plagued by violence between tribal militias and security forces.

Fighting erupted in Kasai after government troops last August killed tribal chief Jean Pierre Mpandi, also known as Kamwina Nsapu, who had launched an uprising against President Joseph Kabila.

Wednesday's announcement by UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein raises to 40 the number of mass graves discovered in Kasai.

Fifteen of the newly uncovered graves were in a cemetery in the town of Tshimbulu, with two others in the village of Tshienke, the rights office said in a statement.

The latest discoveries "highlight the horror" that has gripped the area over the last nine months, Zeid said.

Two United Nations researchers, who had been sent to investigate violence in the region, were found in a grave 16 days after they were abducted last month.

"It is absolutely vital that the government of the DRC takes meaningful steps, which to date have been lacking, to ensure that there is a prompt, transparent, and independent investigation to establish the facts and circumstances of alleged human rights violations and abuses," Zeid said of the Kasai violence.

If the government does not take such action, Zeid said he would "not hesitate to urge the international community to support an investigation by an international mechanism, including the International Criminal Court".

Authorities announced on April 14 that two suspects had been detained over the kidnap and killing of the two UN experts, an American and a dual Swedish-Chilean woman.

One of the suspects, however, escaped with the help of four police officers guarding them.

DR Congo security forces have been accused by the UN of using disproportionate force against militiamen, who are armed mainly with clubs and catapults.

However, the UN also accuses the rebels of recruiting child soldiers and of committing widespread atrocities.
CJI   74 : 10    , 13  ...  ,  , EWS    
Prince's new album has been pulled from iTunes.

The new six-track EP Deliverance was set to go on sale on Friday, but the release has successfully been blocked by the Prince estate thanks to a court ruling, according to TMZ.

A federal judge granted the estate's request and enacted a restraining order which prevents producer George Ian Boxill from releasing any of Prince's previously unheard tracks.

No Deliverance! Prince's new album has been pulled from iTunes as his estate tries to block release of previously unheard music

Boxhill has also been ordered to turn over all remaining recordings to the estate, as it was determined he has no legal right to distribute the works to the public.

Earlier in the day TMZ reported the collection of previously unreleased music disappeared from all Apple music platforms on Wednesday afternoon.

It had been number one on the pre-order chart up to that point.

The late singer's estate was behind the move to block the release of the decade-old tracks.

An independent label had announced plans to release a Deliverance on Friday, which marks one year since The Purple One's sudden death.

But Prince's estate, which is led by his siblings, quickly intervened and accused Ian Boxill, a sound engineer who recorded the tracks with the pop legend between 2006 and 2008, of violating an agreement.

Gone: The new six-track EP Deliverance was set to go on sale on Friday, but disappeared from all Apple music platforms on Wednesday afternoon

'Mr. Boxill is now trying to exploit the Prince recordings unlawfully in his possession,' said a lawsuit filed in a Minnesota court.

The estate said Boxill had signed a confidentiality agreement that the music would 'remain Prince's sole and exclusive property.'

Boxill, who has worked with an array of artists including slain rap great Tupac Shakur, sent a reply that was sealed by the court.

In a statement announcing the music, Boxill said most proceeds would go to Prince's estate and that the pop legend would have appreciated the independent release.

'I believe 'Deliverance' is a timely release with everything going on in the world today, and in light of the one-year anniversary of his passing,' he said in the statement.

One year on: Prince died on April 21 last year at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota from an accidental overdose of powerful painkillers  Friday is the one year anniversary of his death

The first track, a rock ballad also called 'Deliverance,' came out late Tuesday with the five other songs scheduled to be released digitally on Friday.

Boxill said a CD release was planned in June.

Prince died on April 21 last year at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota from an accidental overdose of powerful painkillers.

The 57-year-old -- long considered a model of health who refrained from drugs, alcohol and junk food -- died without leaving a will, setting off messy court disputes over the fate of his fortune.

Collaborator: The previously unheard tracks were co-written, co-produced and recorded by Prince and sound mixer and engineer Ian Boxill who worked with the artist on several albums

Meanwhile on Wednesday the list of bonus tracks for the much-anticipated deluxe reissue of Princes Purple Rain album was leaked just seven weeks before its June 9 release date.

The three-disc package is thought to include the original 1984 album plus a second disc with extended versions and B-sides from the five singles released from the album. The extended versions have long been out of circulation.

The third disc - the one that the fans have been waiting for - is said to contain a lot of previously unreleased material from the era.

These include: The Dance Electric, Love and Sex, Computer Blue (Hallway Speech version), Velvet Kitty Cat, Katrinas Paper Dolls, We Can F***, Electric Intercourse (studio version), Our Destiny/Roadhouse Garden, Possessed, Wonderful A** and Fathers Song.
US Federal judges have halted President Donald Trump's revised executive order to temporarily close borders to refugees and nationals from six Muslim-majority countries

Scores of technology firms including Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft joined a legal filing urging a judge to toss out President Donald Trump's latest travel ban.

More than 160 companies, all but a couple of which are in the technology sector, signed a "friend of the court" brief siding with opponents of Trump's executive order in a US appeals court for the District of Maryland.

Federal judges have halted Trump's revised executive order issued in March to temporarily close US borders to refugees and nationals from six Muslim-majority countries, dealing the president a humiliating defeat.

The rulings triggered a nationwide freeze on enforcement of a ban on entry by nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days.

A US judge ruled that the state of Hawaii, in its legal challenge, had established a strong likelihood that the ban would cause "irreparable injury" were it to go ahead.

In Maryland, US District Judge Theodore Chuang issued a similar nationwide injunction on a separate complaint filed by advocacy groups claiming that the amended order discriminates against Muslims.

In the "amicus brief" filed Wednesday, companies backed the argument that Trump's ban not only discriminated on the basis of religion, it also overstepped the authority of the president to change rules regarding who is allowed into this country.

"The second order effects a fundamental shift in the rules governing entry into the United States, and is inflicting substantial harm on US companies, their employees, and the entire US economy," lawyers argued in a copy of the brief available online.

The ban makes it more difficult to attract talented employees, increases costs; makes it tougher to compete, and makes it more appealing for global enterprises to invest in operations in more immigrant-friendly countries, according to the brief.

Trump has said a travel ban is needed to preserve US national security and keep out extremists.

His first effort, in January, banned travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries and all refugees but was blocked by a court in Washington state on the grounds that it violated the constitution's prohibition of religious discrimination.

That block was upheld on appeal, and the administration said it would revise the ban to better adhere to the law.

Chuang ruled that plaintiffs opposing the second ban in his court "are likely to prevail on the merits, that they are likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief and that the balance of the equities and the public interest favor an injunction."

Trump vowed to fight the "flawed" ruling all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary, describing it as "unprecedented judicial overreach."
A strong rise in exports in March backs up the view that Japan's economic growth is picking up steam

Japanese exports recorded their biggest gain in more than two years in March, official data showed Thursday, in a sign of optimism for the world's third-biggest economy.

The strong result, which came in better than expected, backs up the view that Japan's economic growth is picking up steam.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday boosted its economic forecast for Japan, projecting a 1.2 percent annual expansion this year from a January projection of 0.8 percent. A key Bank of Japan business confidence also points to rising optimism among big manufacturers.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been trying for years to rejuvenate growth and end an extended period of on-and-off deflation through a policy blitz of easy money, stimulus and reform.

Exports expanded 12.0 percent in March to 7.2 trillion yen ($66.12 billion), the strongest expansion since January 2015 and the fourth straight monthly gain, according to the Finance Ministry.

"Japans production and exports are rising on the back of a global rebound in manufacturing," said Masaki Kuwahara, senior economist at Nomura Securities Co.

"In Asia, developing nations are doing well cyclically and thats directly helping Japan's exports."

Export gains were led by strong demand for auto parts and optical instruments, such as mobile phone parts and tools to make semiconductors, the ministry said.

The data comfortably beat the market's expectation for a rise of 6.2 percent.

Imports also rose 15.8 percent to 6.6 trillion yen, more than expected, mainly due to rising oil and coal purchases needed to fire the Japanese economy.

Japan has been less reliant on nuclear power since the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown crisis that led to many of its atomic reactors shutting down over safety fears.

The latest figures put Japan's trade balance at 614.7 billion yen, down 17.5 percent from a year ago.

"The upshot is that net trade should have provided another boost to Q1 GDP growth," said Marcel Thieliant, senior Japan economist at Capital Economics.

Japan announces preliminary gross domestic product figures next month.

By regions, Japanese exports to top trade partner China rose 16.4 percent, while imports from the Asian giant expanded 10.3 percent.

Japan's exports to the United States expanded 3.5 percent, led by auto parts, but all-important vehicle shipments dropped 3.8 percent, the ministry said, as US new auto sales begin to show signs of losing steam.

-- Bloomberg News contributed to this report --
Police inspect the scene of a bomb blast in Thailand's Deep South after a night of violence in which more than a dozen separate attacks occurred

Two militants were killed in Thailand's violence-plagued deep south after a bomb they were transporting prematurely exploded, the military said Thursday.

Their deaths came during a night of violence across a region plagued by unrest for over a decade as ethnic Malay rebels battle Thai troops for more autonomy from the Buddhist-majority state.

Colonel Yutanam Petchmoang, deputy spokesman of the southern army, said the two militants died while transporting an improvised explosive device in Sabayoi district, Songkhla province.

"They were on a motorbike," he said. "We have in their records that they were local militant sympathisers."

The military said insurgents launched a string of gun and grenade attacks across Thailand's so-called Deep South on Wednesday night with 13 separate incidents recorded.

No-one was killed in the attacks but five people were lightly injured.

Bombs and drive-by shootings are a weekly occurence in Thailand's south where the fighting has claimed more than 6,800 lives -- mostly civilians -- since 2004.

Both sides have been accused of rights abuses and atrocities.

The country's ethnic Malay southernmost border provinces, former Muslim sultanates, were annexed by Bangkok more than a century ago.

The junta, which seized power in 2014, has held several rounds of negotiations with one group that claims to represent the insurgents, the Mara Patani.

But the talks have failed to make headway and many doubt the rebel negotiators have clout over fighters on the ground.

The shadowy insurgent movement rarely claims attacks and is believed to have several factions.

The biggest faction that controls the most fighters -- the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) -- issued a rare statement earlier this month restating its opposition to the current Thai army-led peace talks.

The military refuse to talk to the BRN even though most analysts say Mara Patani has little sway over the militants doing the actual fighting.

The BRN has said it will only come to the table if a third-party mediates the talks and international observers are allowed -- demands Thailand's military have repeatedly refused to accept.
Critics have mounted protests over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies, including his support for a controversial imperial edict

Japan's century-old imperial proclamation urging people to be willing to die for the emperor was consigned to history books until video surfaced showing children in an Osaka kindergarten enthusiastically reciting it.

A cabinet decision allowing schools to teach the long-banished edict, which was used to promote militarism in the 1930s and 1940s, has delighted hardcore nationalists but left many Japanese scratching their heads.

Others were horrified at the sight of youngsters chanting the archaic proclamation, even as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife, Akie, praised them during a visit to the school, run by a nationalist seeking to inculcate pupils with pre-war values.

The once-revered Imperial Rescript on Education, issued in 1890, was abolished after Japan's World War II defeat at the hands of the US over concerns it had contributed to creating a militaristic culture.

It exhorted citizens to "offer yourselves courageously to the State" so as to "guard and maintain the prosperity of Our Imperial Throne".

The edict "functioned as a mechanism to strike down people's individual rights," said Kenji Ishikawa, a law professor at Tokyo University.

A copy of the edict, once considered so sacred that school principals who accidentally disrespected it would commit suicide out of shame or fear

But Abe and his fellow conservatives have sought to stealthily bring it back into vogue, as part of a bid to revive traditional values that have lost their shine following the introduction of an American-penned pacifist constitution which renounces war and designates the emperor as a figurehead.

"Japan should not just be an economic power but a country respected and relied on in the world for its high ethical views and morality," hawkish defence minister Tomomi Inada said last week.

Some constitutional scholars have expressed concern over the government's attempt to expose impressionable minds to a document with "fanatic and cult-like" leanings.

Sota Kimura, a law professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University, said the revival appeared to be a sop to nationalists who "feel terribly humiliated about the post-war system imposed by the Allies".

Members of Abe's cabinet, including Inada, have regularly sought to appease the government's conservative base with nationalist gestures, such as paying homage at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine where senior convicted war criminals are honoured.

- Forced to bow -

The edict was once considered so sacred that school principals who accidentally disrespected the document would commit suicide out of shame or fear of punishment, according to some accounts.

A copy of it was kept in a special cabinet in schools where children were forced to bow before it.

But the clumsily managed revival has left many Japanese confused over the 19th-century edict's relevance to their hectic 21st-century lives.

Protesters at an April 13 demonstration in Tokyo spoke out against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's conservative policies and called for his resignation

Its archaic wording means most Japanese today have neither read it nor know how to interpret it.

"I'm not really clear what it is," said Yoshiko Yamanaka, a 48-year-old mother of two, when asked about the document.

"It's got something to do with having to serve the state for the emperor, or something, right?"

Others who are more familiar with its content say it has no place in a modern society where all citizens are deemed equal.

"It's nonsense to bring it back now," said Kazushi Tamura, 54.

"Some people say it contains some good moral values like respecting family, friends and parents... But all of them end up telling people to serve the emperor."

Abe's government has tried to play down the issue, saying it is not mandatory for schools to teach the edict and that any lessons involving it must not "go against the constitution".

But even conservative media who usually support Abe's agenda have drawn a line.

"It is clear that a national view centred around the emperor cannot be viable under the current constitution," the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun daily said in an editorial.

Although this has done little to dampen the fervour expressed by ultra-nationalists, the reception suggests they are out of step with much of Japanese society as well as the country's widely admired emperor.

Emperor Akihito, 83, is the first Japanese monarch to assume the Chrysanthemum Throne without enjoying the semi-divine status accorded to his forefathers and he has embraced his symbolic role.

He is also credited with seeking reconciliation both at home and abroad over the legacy of the war fought in his father's name, venturing to locales that saw intense fighting and offering prayers for the souls of all the dead.
Villagers in My Duc, a suburban district of Hanoi, took police hostage during a protest over the alleged illegal seizure of their land by a military-owned telecoms firm

A group of Vietnamese farmers who took more than a dozen police and officials hostage over a land dispute said Thursday they would resist any rescue attempt by the authorities and have sealed off their village.

The incident began on Saturday in My Duc, a suburban district of Hanoi, when authorities clashed with villagers who alleged their land had been illegally seized for sale by a military-owned telecoms firm.

The crisis is a rare act of defiance in the authoritarian communist nation where anger against official corruption and land seizures simmers but usually meets a forceful response from police.

Local residents told AFP they had sealed off their village with barricades made from logs, sandbags and bricks and had banned any outsiders from entering.

They also made veiled threats to set fire to the house where the hostages are being held if the authorities move in.

One female farmer, who declined to give her name, said the villagers took "preventative" measures late Wednesday after they spotted signs police might be planning a rescue attempt.

"We poured oil around the community house where the men are being kept. We will make our move if the police attack us," she told AFP.

She added that the hostages were being treated well and were being fed three meals a day.

A total of 38 policemen and local officials were taken hostages on Saturday.

Three of them escaped successfully while 15 others were released Monday, Hanoi's police were quoted on state-controlled media.

"We are still holding 20, including two senior local officials," the female resident told AFP.

It is not the first time Vietnamese villagers have taken up arms to resist perceived state injustices.

In 2012, a Vietnamese fish farmer used homemade weapons to resist a forced eviction, injuring seven policemen.

The farmer was jailed for five years, but his case became a symbol of growing public dissatisfaction over land rights.

In 2013, a gunman killed a provincial official, before killing himself, in an apparent dispute over land in northern Vietnam.

Vietnam's government strictly controls freedom of expression and rights to protest but flash points occur.

Media coverage of the incident in My Duc district is limited, with some articles on state media swiftly disappearing soon after they were published online.

Le Luan, a lawyer who went to the village to act as a mediator, said local residents "only want to have dialogues with authorities".

"It's hard to tell how the authorities want to solve this case," he said.

Local police and authorities could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
News that Bangkok's street food stalls were to be banned from the city's main roads under a clean-up crusade has prompted outcry and anguish in the food-obsessed capital

Bangkok's street food culture will survive a crackdown on vendors, Thailand's tourism chief vowed Thursday, assuring travellers that a city renowned for its chaotic charm was not being remodelled into a Singapore-lite.

The City Hall stunned Thais and tourists alike this week with plans to bar the capital's world-famous food stalls from all main roads to reclaim pavements for the public.

On Thursday the governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) pushed back against fears that Bangkok was being gentrified in the image of Singapore -- a city that relishes orderliness but is often characterised as tame compared to its Southeast Asian rivals.

"We will keep our uniqueness. We won't change our Yaowarat (Chinatown) into Orchard (road)," Uthasak Supasorn said, referring to a shopping district in Singapore with wide boulevards devoid of street life.

"(The plan) is not to totally take away street food from Bangkok streets, but there are some reasons and some places that will be reorganised," he added.

Nearly two-thirds of Bangkok's 30,000 street vendors have already been removed or relocated from pavements to open up space for pedestrians, according to city officials.

Vendors will be allowed to set up shop on smaller streets while hawkers based in two top tourist hubs -- Chinatown and Khaosan Road -- will be reorganised but not barred completely.

"Bangkok has some of the best street food in the world, you cannot take it away from the people of the world," the tourist governor told reporters, adding that he was meeting with city officials to discuss how the restrictions would be enforced.

Many are hoping the crackdown will wither like many of the other clean-up campaigns launched under the ruling junta.

Tourism is a major of pillar of Thailand's economy and has boomed despite a decade of political unrest and bad press over its dangerous roads and lax safety regulations.

The kingdom welcomed a record 32 million tourists in 2016, with revenue making up nearly a fifth of an otherwise lagging economy.
US Secretary of Defense James Mattis takes questions during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, DC on April 11, 2017

US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis arrived in Cairo Thursday on the latest leg of a regional tour, as ties with Egypt continue to warm under President Donald Trump.

After touching down at Cairo airport, Mattis set off to meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who was hailed by Trump during a White House visit earlier this month.

Sisi's visit marked a shift in relations after Trump's predecessor Barack Obama had given the Egyptian leader the cold shoulder for staging the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Obama temporarily suspended military aid to Egypt following a bloody crackdown on Morsi's supporters.

Trump, however, has set aside criticism of Sisi's human rights record while pledging to maintain support for the key US ally which receives an annual $1.3 billion in military aid.

After meeting Sisi, Mattis is scheduled to hold talks with Defence Minister Sedki Sobhi. He leaves Thursday afternoon to Israel.

No announcement is expected during the Egyptian leg of the tour, which started with a visit to Saudi Arabia.

In Egypt, talks are likely to touch on the military's counterinsurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, where an Islamic State group affiliate has killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen.

The Pentagon is also concerned with preventing jihadists from crossing Libya's porous border with Egypt and the reported presence of Russian troops in Egypt's western desert, which Cairo has denied.
Refugees from South Sudan receive treatment at the Bidibidi health centre in the northern Ugandan district of Yumbe on April 14, 2017

Ugandan motorbike taxi driver Sadiq Agotre grumbles as he waits for a rare client among thousands of South Sudanese refugees hoping to receive food rations in the outskirts of his town.

"Business is not good. These people don't have money," he says, gazing out over a vast area that in only eight months has transformed from scrubland and trees to the world's biggest refugee settlement, Bidibidi, which houses more than 270,000 people.

Uganda has been praised for its warm welcome of refugees, but as civil war in neighbouring South Sudan continues to push more than 2,000 people a day into the country, local communities and aid agencies are buckling under the strain.

Many residents of Yumbe district -- population around 500,000 -- are frustrated that the massive aid effort in their backyard has not translated into more jobs but instead has spread already scarce resources even thinner.

"This (the refugee crisis) has changed the town so much. It has caused a lot of stress, stress for jobs. The food prices have gone up and up. It's bad for our environment because they cut down the trees," said Nachal Dovelay, a shopkeeper in Yumbe town.

Refugee children from South Sudan walk in Bidibidi resettlement camp in the northern Ugandan district of Yumbe

Bidibidi opened in August last year to cope with a flood of people fleeing fighting when a peace deal between South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and his rival and former deputy Riek Machar collapsed, plunging the country back into a civil war that erupted in 2013.

In a matter of months it has overtaken Kenya's Dadaab -- hosting mainly Somali refugees -- as the world's biggest refugee camp.

But the 250-square-kilometre (97-square-mile) settlement is only the tip of the iceberg. A total of 830,000 South Sudanese refugees have entered the country and the UN expects this figure will reach more than a million by mid-year.

The number of refugees in the East African nation -- one of the world's poorest countries and the size of the United Kingdom -- is comparable to the number of mostly Syrian refugees who fled to Europe at the height of the migrant crisis in 2015.

"This emergency is like a tsunami, you know, very high speed," said Robert Baryamwesiga, the Ugandan government official in change of running Bidibidi.

- Food rations stretched, delayed -

On a recent afternoon a fierce dust-devil tore through a crowd waiting for food rations, sending people reeling and knocking supplies to the ground.

Uganda has been praised for its warm welcome for refugees but local communities and aid agencies are buckling under the strain

When calm returned, a girl aged about seven carefully raked up her family's fallen maize kernels and scooped them back into a sack.

Every scrap of food is precious. Refugees who arrived in Uganda before mid-2015 have already had their rations cut by half. This month food distribution was two weeks late.

"We are hungry. The food is for one month but it lasts less than that and now it's 15 days late. This is really challenging," said David Kepo, 41, a traditional chief who fled fighting in his community three months ago.

Cheryl Harrison, the World Food Programme's (WFP's) deputy head in Uganda, admits that the logistics involved in delivering 15,000 tonnes of food per month are daunting.

"We try to ensure that everyone knows that we're going to be late. If people have warning they're able to cope. They reduce the amount of food they eat and try to make their resources stretch."

Before the renewed fighting, WFP spent $6 million (5.6 million euros) per month on food aid for refugees in Uganda. That figure has now soared to more than $16 million.

The agency is $50 million short for the next six months.

Last month UN refugee chief, Filippo Grandi, described the situation as at "breaking point".

- Anger growing in host community -

Restaurant owner Zura Tairi prepares a dish in the northern Uganda district of Yumbe

Getting water to the refugees in the arid area is another headache, with more than four million litres required a day.

Boreholes have been drilled but the vast majority of the water is trucked in from the River Nile at great expense.

The use of natural resources has lead to tensions with the host community.

In a desperate move local residents recently blocked access to one borehole for several hours, saying that they were not benefiting from the influx of refugees.

"The issue of the use of natural resources -- building materials, wood, fuel -- that one has been a disaster. With 272,000 people the effect is great and unemployment here is very high," said local government official Jacob Batemyetto.

In February about 100 people, unhappy that nine local staff had been fired for misappropriating aid, held a protest, holding up signs threatening to attack the settlement, according to NGO staff.

And last month the chief government official in Imvepi -- a newly opened nearby settlement -- was taken hostage by a group of machete-wielding youths and marched around the area to see the poor living conditions local people are forced to tolerate before being released.

- A very fragile situation -

Uganda has long been praised for having one of the world's most progressive refugee policies.

The government allows refugees to work and move around the country while communities in the north have donated land for settlements.

Refugees receive a plot of land to build a shelter and it was planned that land would be allocated for people to farm but in Bidibidi that has yet to happen.

"We can't feed ourselves because they have yet to set up any agriculture programme and there's no land," said Wila James, 40, a former agricultural officer who fled to Uganda last year.

Bidibidi settlement chief Baryamwesiga highlighted the dangers of a growing population unable to produce their own food.

"They will automatically go and steal and stealing will create violence so you'll find that the coexistence that we're enjoying between refugees and the host community will collapse.

"It's a very, very fragile situation."
An Iranian woman walks past a mural on the wall of the former US embassy in Tehran

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday criticised "worn-out" US accusations that it was seeking a nuclear weapon to threaten the region and the world.

"Worn-out US accusations can't mask its admission of Iran's compliance" with a 2015 nuclear deal, Zarif wrote on Twitter.

Iran says its nuclear programme is purely for peaceful purposes but signed a deal with world powers to restrict its fuel enrichment for 10 years in exchange for sanctions relief.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that Tehran has so far met its obligations, but that the deal could only delay Iran's development of a nuclear weapon.

The deal "fails to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran," he said, and was a product of "the same failed approach of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat we face from North Korea."

Zarif said Iran's compliance had forced the US administration of President Donald Trump "to change course and fulfill its own commitments".

Trump described the accord as the "worst deal ever negotiated" during his campaign and threatened to tear it up, but analysts say that is increasingly unlikely.

Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer said a review would be conducted by US government agencies over the next 90 days on whether to stick by the deal.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has warned against violence in the run-up to Kenya's general election

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta warned Thursday against violence as election season gets into full swing, with chaotic party primaries already leading to bloody scuffles.

East Africa's largest economy holds a general election on August 8, a decade after disputed polls fuelled violence that left more than 1,100 dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.

"As a party, we will not tolerate violence. As president, I will also not tolerate violence and anybody who engages in acts of violence will be dealt with in accordance with the law, irrespective of who they are," Kenyatta told a press conference in Nairobi.

Kenyatta is seeking a second term in office with his Jubilee Party. Opposition heavyweights including his longtime rival Raila Odinga have united in a coalition called NASA, but have yet to pick a flagbearer with a little over three months to the vote.

However, the country is already gripped by election fever and primaries to choose candidates for local government and parliament have seen violence and dramatic last-minute floor-crossings.

Albino lawmaker Isaac Mwaura claimed on Facebook he had been shot in the ear and his car sprayed with bullets in an "assassination attempt" while out campaigning for Jubilee, just days after defecting from Odinga's ODM party, the main opposition group.

Dozens have been injured in clashes over nominations, including at ODM headquarters in Nairobi earlier this month when youths supporting one nominee for senator drew guns claiming her rival had already secured the party ticket.

On Wednesday, local media reported fistfights between rival supporters of ruling party candidates which left at least nine injured while one aspirant was hospitalised with neck injuries.

About 19 million voters have been registered to take part in the election, pending a final audit to remove dead voters or double listings.
IS, which claimed the shooting, has threatened more attacks on Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population of more than 90 million people

The Egyptian military said Thursday it killed a senior Islamic State group cleric and 18 jihadists in air strikes in the Sinai Peninsula where the extremists are waging an insurgency.

The announcement came after the jihadists claimed a series of attacks, including a shooting near a monastery this week and twin church bombings on April 9 that killed dozens.

Among the jihadists killed was "one of the prominent leaders of the so-called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the head of the religious affairs committee in the group," the military said, without saying when the strikes occurred.

Ansar Beit al-Maqdis was the name used by the jihadists in the Sinai before they pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in November 2014.

The jihadists have killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen since the army overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

The military has killed several of their top leaders, but the extremists have increasingly expanded their attacks from the Sinai to other parts of Egypt, especially against Christians.

The April 9 church bombings in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria followed a December suicide bombing in a Cairo church that killed 29 people, also claimed by IS.

On Wednesday, the interior ministry said security forces killed a gunman suspected of killing a policeman and wounding three others near St Catherine's monastery in south Sinai the day before.

IS, which claimed the shooting, has threatened more attacks on Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population of more than 90 million people.
Egyptian Defence Minister Sedki Sobhy welcomes Pentagon chief James Mattis to Cairo talks on April 20, 2017

US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and top brass in Cairo on Thursday, pledging support for the American ally on his first regional tour.

The brief visit, with Mattis later setting off to Israel, came after Sisi hit it off with Trump during a White House meeting earlier this month.

Sisi's visit marked a shift in relations after Trump's predecessor Barack Obama had given the Egyptian leader the cold shoulder for leading the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Obama temporarily suspended military aid to Egypt following a bloody crackdown on Morsi's supporters.

Trump, however, has set aside criticism of Sisi's human rights record while pledging to maintain support for the key US ally which receives an annual $1.3 billion in military aid.

The meeting "addressed aspects of military and security cooperation between the two countries and ways to further enhance them," the president's office said in a statement.

Sisi told Mattis he wanted to "strengthen the ongoing military cooperation between the two countries," it said.

Mattis in turn "reiterated the US's commitment to reinvigorating these relations and broadening prospects for cooperation," it added.

After meeting Sisi, Mattis held talks with Defence Minister Sedki Sobhi at his headquarters, where he was received with a marching band playing the US national anthem.

"We've always had an open relationship," he told Sobhi.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) welcomes Pentagon chief James Mattis to talks at the Ittihadiya palace in Cairo on April 20, 2017

After the meeting, Mattis participated in a wreath laying ceremony at Cairo's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

He then prepared to fly on to Israel on the next leg of his tour, which started in Saudi Arabia.

In Egypt, the talks touched on the military's counterinsurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, where an Islamic State group affiliate has killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen.

Mattis "affirmed Egypt's pivotal role in the Middle East and commended its counter-terrorism efforts," the president's office said.

The insurgency in the Sinai took off after Morsi's ouster with the Islamic State group increasingly expanding its attacks to other parts of Egypt.

It claimed two church bombings in the cities of Alexandria and Tanta on April 9 that killed 45 people, months after a deadly Cairo church bombing.

On Thursday, the military announced it had killed a top IS cleric in Sinai air strikes, along with 18 other jihadists.

The Pentagon is also concerned with preventing jihadists from crossing Libya's porous border with Egypt and the reported presence of Russian troops in Egypt's western desert, which Cairo has denied.

After Israel, Mattis will return to the Gulf on Saturday for talks in Qatar.
Veteran Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos has ruled the oil-rich country since 1979

Seven Angolan opposition activists have been sentenced to 45 days in jail over a protest calling for transparency in next year's election when veteran President Jose Eduardo dos Santos will stand down.

The election, due to be held in August, will mark a new chapter for Angola as Dos Santos hands over power after ruling the oil-rich country since 1979.

"The court condemns the accused to 45 days of imprisonment and a fine of 65,000 kwanzas ($390) for the offences of rebellion and association with criminals," said the judge in Cacuaco, a district of the Angolan capital Luanda.

Among those convicted late Wednesday was rapper Adao Bunga, nicknamed "McLife", a prominent critic of Dos Santos.

About 50 protesters attended the unauthorised demonstration in Luanda on Monday calling for fair elections, with police arresting seven people.

Dos Santos, who has dominated the Angolan government and the ruling MPLA party for decades, has been regularly accused of crushing dissent.

The MPLA has ruled since independence from Portugal in 1975.

Joao Lourenco, the current defence minister, has emerged as Dos Santos's chosen successor.

After constitutional changes in 2010, Angola does not directly elect a president, but the leader of the winning party automatically becomes head of state.
Much of Yemen's population relies on foreign food aid

The United Nations called Thursday on the Saudi-led coalition intervening in Yemen not to bomb the rebel-held port of Hodeida, a key entry point for aid to the war-torn country.

Jamie McGoldrick, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said Hodeida on the Red Sea, which is under the control of Iran-backed Huthi rebels, is a vital lifeline for Yemeni civilians threatened with starvation.

He said the coalition, which intervened in Yemen two years ago against the Shiite rebels, needed to take humanitarian concerns into account while pursuing its campaign.

"We continue to advocate to the Saudi-led coalition that the attack on the port of Hodeida and the city itself is not necessary," McGoldrick told reporters in Jordan's capital Amman.

"This port is the most essential, the most crucial part of our ability to feed people and get medical services" into Yemen, he said.

"The Hodeida port is the only port that we can use to serve the bulk of the population in need," McGoldrick said.

The coalition intervened on behalf of Yemen's internationally recognised government in March 2015 after the Huthi rebels seized control of large parts of the country, which sits on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula.

Yemen, already one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, has since suffered a downward spiral in living conditions, with the UN warning earlier this year that its population was threatened with widespread famine.

The UN has appealed for $2.1 billion in international assistance for Yemen and McGoldrick said he hoped for commitments during an aid conference in Geneva next week.

"The amount that we are asking for is for life saving, is to address the very basic needs of the Yemeni people," he said.
A member of elite Iraqi forces climbs through a hole in a wall during their advance in western Mosul on April 19, 2017

Iraqi forces retook two more neighbourhoods in west Mosul on Thursday, tightening the noose around jihadists holed up in the Old City, commanders said.

"The forces completed the liberation of Al-Thawra neighbourhood," Sabah al-Noman, spokesman for the elite Counter-Terrorism Service, told AFP.

An officer with federal police forces also deployed in west Mosul confirmed that the neighbourhood, which lies just west of the Old City, had been retaken from the Islamic State group.

The Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against the jihadists nationwide said the Nasr neighbourhood was also retaken on Thursday.

The head of Iraq's federal police, Raed Shakir Jawdat, also said in a statement that Iraqi forces had killed a senior IS operative, who had been in charge of chemical weapons for the group in Mosul, in a guided missile strike in the Zanjili neighbourhood.

A US official said on Wednesday that Iraqi forces working alongside US and Australian military advisers had been targeted in an IS attack that used a low-level chemical agent in west Mosul.

Major General Joseph Martin said nobody died as a result of the attack.

Iraqi forces in mid-October last year launched a huge operation, their largest in years, to retake second city Mosul.

They retook the side of the city that lies east of the Tigris river in January and launched a push on remaining IS fighters in western Mosul, which is more densely populated and has seen fierce fighting.

- Anbar push -

On the west bank, Iraqi forces control southern neighbourhoods and are slowly surrounding the Old City, whose narrow streets are expected to make federal operations very difficult.

An estimated 400,000 civilians are believed to still be there, unwilling or unable to leave because any escape would be too dangerous or because the jihadists are using them as human shields.

The loss of Mosul would be a death blow to the "caliphate" IS proclaimed after capturing the city in a massive offensive in June 2014.

According to an Iraqi military spokesman, the jihadists only control seven percent of Iraq, down from the 40 percent of the national territory over which they ruled three years ago.

The only two other significant towns IS still holds are Hawija and Tal Afar. The jihadists also control territory in remote areas of western Iraq, near the Syrian border.

Iraqi forces on Thursday launched a fresh push against IS-held villages there, as part of a months-old operation to retake areas along the Euphrates in western Anbar province.

A senior officer said the forces involved in the operation included the army, local tribal fighters and military advisers from the US-led coalition assisting Iraq in the anti-IS war.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour (R) speaks with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shokry following a joint press conference in Khartoum on April 20, 2017

Egypt and Sudan said on Thursday they will not harbour or support opposition groups fighting their respective governments, as top diplomats of the two countries vowed to boost bilateral ties.

Relations between neighbours Cairo and Khartoum have been tense, with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir accusing Egyptian intelligence services of supporting Sudanese opposition figures fighting his troops.

The Egyptian media has also accused Khartoum of offering refuge to members of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which was declared a "terrorist group" by Cairo following the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

"We will not allow any Egyptian opposition group to carry out negative activities from Sudanese territory," Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour told reporters after a meeting with visiting Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.

Ghandour said a recent decision by Khartoum to make Egyptian men aged from 19 to 50 obtain visas prior to entering Sudan was a result of this policy.

Since 2004 Egyptians have enjoyed visa-free access to Sudan, but earlier this month Sudanese authorities made it mandatory for adult Egyptian men to obtain visas before entering the country.

"It is important... to prevent opposition groups from our countries, especially armed groups, from carrying out negative activities against each other's countries," Ghandour said.

Shoukry too vowed that Cairo will work "hand in hand" to boost relations between the two countries.

"The rise in regional and international terrorist activities has increased the importance of cooperation with our Sudanese brothers to face these challenges," Shoukry said in a brief statement alongside Ghandour in Khartoum.

Sudanese officials have regularly claimed to be stepping up efforts to fight extremism in the region, although Washington has listed Sudan as an alleged state sponsor of terrorism since 1993, a charge Khartoum steadfastly denies.

A point of dispute between Cairo and Khartoum has also been Egypt's occupation of a border region claimed by Sudan.

Egypt occupied the sparsely populated 25,000-square-kilometre (10,000-square-mile) Halayeb triangle in 1995, during a low point in relations between the two countries.

Sudan has regularly protested Egypt's administration of Halayeb, which lies near the Red Sea in a mineral-rich border region.

Khartoum says that Halayeb has been part of its sovereign territory since shortly after independence in 1956.
Activists shout slogans during a protest in Karachi on April 14, 2017 against the killing of student Mashal Khan by his classmates

Three young Pakistani women have confessed to killing a man accused of blasphemy, police said Thursday, after he was gunned down at home in what his family have called a sectarian hate crime.

Fazal Abbas, who was in his fifties and belonged to the minority Shi'ite sect, had fled Pakistan in 2004 after being charged with committing blasphemy, but returned earlier this year to fight the case and was granted bail, police official Saeed Hanjra told AFP.

He was at home in the Sialkot district of Punjab province, when the three women, all in their twenties, arrived at the house, according to the victim's uncle Azhar Hussain Shamsi. He said one of the women then launched the attack.

"When Fazal was sitting with me she withdrew to the washroom to get her gun from her purse and on her return shot him from close range," said Shamsi.

He said that the attacker, whose name is Afshan, was known to the family and was a lecturer at a seminary connected to the anti-Shi'ite militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

Shamsi said his relative was the victim of a frivolous blasphemy case targeting him because he belongs to the minority Shi'ite sect, who make up around one-fifth of Pakistan's Muslim population of 200 million.

A second local police official Muhammad Farooq confirmed the incident and said the women had confessed and were in custody.

The latest killing came in the wake of a government drive to prosecute blasphemy, a hugely sensitive charge in conservative Muslim Pakistan.

Unproven allegations have led to dozens of mob attacks or murders since 1990, though it is rare for women to carry out such attacks.
Zuma's sacking of respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan last month fanned years of public anger over government corruption scandals, record unemployment and slowing economic growth

South African opposition parties, religious groups and civil society activists on Thursday launched a new alliance to try to force President Jacob Zuma to step down.

Called the Freedom Movement and backed by retired archbishop Desmond Tutu, it plans to hold a mass rally on April 27, the annual holiday marking South Africa's first post-apartheid election in 1994.

Zuma's sacking of respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan last month fanned years of public anger over government corruption scandals, record unemployment and slowing economic growth.

"Never before has there been a more urgent need to build unity of purpose to stop South Africa's current trajectory," said the movement at its launch in Soweto, a hotbed of the struggle against apartheid.

Tutu, seen as the country's leading moral authority, said in a tweet that he supported the movement, adding "it is important that we unite as South Africans to bring an end to state capture".

"State capture" is a term that refer to the alleged corruption among Zuma and his associates.

Tens of thousands of South Africans have in recent weeks staged demonstrations demanding Zuma's resignation.

The main opposition Democratic Alliance party and several small opposition parties backed the alliance as well as some trade unions and the National Religious Council.
The annual Chris Parsons SEMO SWAT Challenge will return to Fredericktown for an entire weekend of events.

In addition to hosting competing teams from across the nation, Missouri Governor Eric Greitens will be attending and participating in at least one of Saturday's events, according to Fredericktown Police Chief Eric Hovis.

The event, which starts Friday and ends Sunday, is named for Washington County Deputy Christopher Parsons who was killed in the line of duty on December 15, 2012. Parsons is deeply connected to the Fredericktown Police Department, making the event particularly meaningful for local officers.

Its a lot of things for a lot of people, Hovis said. For me, I personally knew Chris Parsons. He used to work out in my gym in Potosi. I taught him in the academy and gave him his first job here.

Hovis said the need for greater communication among area law enforcement agencies became clear during the manhunt for Parsons killer.

We noticed that a lot of the teams werent networking and hadnt communicated, Hovis said. The left hand didnt know what the right hand was doing, basically. So we wanted to get a lot of local departments, whether theyre small, medium-sized or big, it doesnt matter, to get everybody to work on the same page so that if another incident happens  and it will, its not if, its when  then we can all work together.

Sgt. Jason Fitzwater of the Fredericktown Police Department said the idea of a SWAT competition to train alongside other departments comes from his experience working as a law enforcement officer in Florida.

I worked in Florida for 11 years, and I competed in the International SWAT Roundup, Fitzwater said. So when Chris got killed, the networking herethere was none. So I went to Eric, and I said, Weve got to do something. We do this thing in Florida called the International SWAT Roundup.

And that was the goal, Hovis said. And weve met and completely exceeded those goals. In five years, weve networked with a lot of departments around here. We train, we help each other. And thats what its all about. Were all on the same team, and I know if we had an incident here today that was bigger than what were capable of handling, myself or Sgt. Fitzwater could be on the horn and have multiple agencies here to help resolve the situation.

Hovis said such a large event takes cooperation and help from the community at large to be successful every year.

It takes a large committee with everybody pulling to get this accomplished, Hovis said. Our community opens its doors and welcomes in officers from all over the country.

Hovis said those visiting officers are always thrilled to visit Fredericktown and to observe the stark contrast to the communities that many of them come from. This year, 11 teams will be competing, from as far away as North Dakota and Texas.

A lot of these guys police in areas where, number one, theyre not in the Bible Belt,'" Hovis said, "and theyre not supported by their command staff or councils and definitely not the public. So coming into a small community, they absolutely love the environment and the training we have, but they also love the community.

And its not that we dont have problems, he added. We do. We have drugs and burglaries and domestics. We have a lot of the same problems on a smaller scale, but they say the support that we have is what theyre lacking in their areas, and they tell us to cherish that. They absolutely love coming here.

Many arrived Wednesday or today. Among those making the trip to compete is a special guest team from the Dallas Police Department, headed by the departments SWAT Commander, Bill Humphries.

And the reason we reached out to him was because of the incident that happened in Dallas last year when 12 officers were shot and five were killed during an ambush, Fitzwater said. We didnt charge them to compete. Theyre our guest team. Its our way of saying, Hey, even though were up here in Missouri, were still thinking of you guys and wed like for you to come in and be part of this event.

Fitzwater said Dallas attendance is a big vote of confidence in the event, because the only bigger SWAT team in the nation is the LAPD. Additionally, one of the larger conferences in the nation will be taking place in Texas the same weekend, and the Dallas PD team decided to come to Fredericktown to train and compete rather than attend a conference in their own state.

That weekend is the Texas Tactical Conference, Fitzswater said. So the mere fact that Dallas is coming up to our event on the weekend of their states tactical conference to compete and speak  that alone caught the eye of a lot of companies and vendors.

Fitzwater said this year will be the first year that the SWAT Challenge will feature vendors from large national companies such as Glock, Sig Sauer, Safariland and Point Blank armor.

We still have our local vendors come in and support the event, Fitzwater added. But this will be the first year weve had some of these big vendors.

For the last three years, the event has also been supported by Reebok Duty, a division of Reebok dedicated to providing military and law enforcement-grade tactical gear. Fitzwater said each competing team will be receiving between $2,000 and $2,500 worth of products, including boots, shirts and hats.

The Orlando Police Department will be giving a tactical debrief of the Pulse Night Club shooting for the gathered officers, and the godfather of SWAT Ron McCarthy will also be present.

The competition will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday. Gates open Saturday at 7 a.m. with the first event beginning at 8 a.m. The cost is $5 for one day, or $7 for both Saturday and Sunday. There will be food as well as things for kids to do.

We run five different events, Fitzwater said. Three on Saturday and two on Sunday. Friday afternoon is our individual competitions, which is Top Sniper and Super SWAT Cop, which Show-Me Weights out of St. Louis comes down and does. Super SWAT Cop is a crossfit competition with some shooting added into it, so its a fun thing to watch. And thats free, if anybody in the public wants to come. It starts at 1 p.m. and will be done around 4 p.m.

Fitzwater said the event is rare, in that it allows departments to get together for a positive reason for a change.

Its an opportunity for law enforcement to get together for a joyous occasion instead of a manhunt for a cop killer or a funeral, he said. Its absolutely grown into something that I never thought that it would when it started. Its something that I hope continues to grow.
US President Donald Trump (C) signs the Memorandum Regarding the Investigation Pursuant to Section 232(B) of the Trade Expansion Act at the White House

President Donald Trump on Thursday invoked national security to order a probe into US steel imports -- a move that risks trade blowback from steel-making giant China.

"Steel is critical to both our economy and our military. This is not an area where we can afford to become dependent on foreign countries," he said after signing a memorandum ordering the Commerce Department to launch the investigation.

Trump has often accused foreign producers of dumping steel on the US market, threatening American jobs and companies. Under his "America First" policy, he wants to prioritize domestic manufacturing.

His administration in February already announced stiff duties on certain steel imports, creating an outcry from China, Germany and other countries affected.

"Dumping is a tremendous problem in this country," Trump said on Thursday. "They're dumping vast amounts of steel in our country, and they're really hurting not only our country, but our companies."

The new probe was enacted under a little-used law, Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which invokes national defense reasons to protect US production.

Trump said the Commerce Department could complete it within 50 days, far quicker than the 270 days allotted under the law.

The president then will have 90 days to decide whether to take any recommended action.

- 'Nothing to do with China' -

Trump denied the step targeted China, which he had previously accused of being a currency "manipulator" before reversing course this month when calculations on reining in North Korea took precedence.

"This has nothing to do with China. This has to do with worldwide, what's happening. The dumping problem is a worldwide problem," Trump said.

"From now on, we're going to stand up for American jobs, workers, their security, and for American steel companies and companies generally," he said.

"Today's action is the next vital step toward making America strong and prosperous once again," he said.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who formerly sat on the board of steel and mining giant ArcelorMittal, told reporters in a briefing call that the survival of domestic American manufacturers was at stake.

Steel imports, he said, had risen 19.6 percent in the first two months of this year and now represented more than a quarter of the steel available in the American market.

Section 232 calls for the Commerce Department to consult with the Pentagon before any recommendations are drawn up.

- Trade challenges -

China makes more than half the world's steel but a slowdown in its economy and sagging global demand has left the industry with huge excess capacity.

Beijing in February accused Washington of protectionism for imposing duties ranging from 63 percent to 190 percent on its exporters accused of selling steel products at below fair value or of being unfairly subsidized.

Germany, too, complained in March about US duties on imports of steel plate products. It said the measure also unfairly disadvantaged suppliers in Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

Both China and Germany have said they are considering taking their challenges to the World Trade Organization.

The US Treasury Department said last week both China and Germany should do more to reduce their large trade surpluses with the United States.
A Nigerian soldier with his sniffer dog patrols on January 18, 2017

Nine Nigerian soldiers were killed and 14 others are missing feared abducted after an attack this week by suspected Boko Haram jihadists in the violence-torn northeast, security sources said Thursday.

Authorities had on Tuesday said five soldiers were killed and five others injured in the raid on a military post near the village of Sabon Garin Kimba about 140 kilometres (90 miles) from Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram.

"The number of fatalities on our side has risen to nine with the discovery of four more bodies of our troops," said a military officer with knowledge of the incident.

"Since the attack 14 other soldiers remain missing. Their fate is unknown," said the officer who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorised to speak on the incident.

Scores of fighters loyal to the Boko Haram faction headed by Abu Musab Al-Barnawi stormed the checkpoint late Monday.

The Islamic State group last year appointed Al-Barnawi as head of Boko Haram, replacing long-time leader Abubakar Shekau.

Mustapha Karimbe, a member of an anti-Boko Haram militia, said he feared the missing soldiers had been seized.

"Fourteen soldiers are unaccounted for, they have been missing since the attack and the fear is that they have have been abducted by the terrorists," Karimbe said.

The jihadists carrying heavy weapons engaged troops at the checkpoint in a shootout and forced the soldiers to withdraw. Karimbe said the jihadists took military vehicles and burned three armoured cars along with makeshift sheds.

This was the second attack on the same military checkpoint in under a month.

Late last month, jihadists dressed in Nigerian military uniforms attacked the checkpoint and forced soldiers to withdraw before looting food and medical supplies from the village.

Boko Haram has in recent weeks intensified attacks on military targets in the northeast.

The insurgency began in northeast Nigeria and has spread to Chad, Cameroon and Niger, claiming more than 20,000 lives and displacing 2.6 million people.
CAIRO (AP) - Egyptian-American charity worker Aya Hijazi was released from prison after nearly three years of detention, her lawyer said Wednesday.

The lawyer, Taher Abol Nasr, told The Associated Press that Hijazi was released late Tuesday, two days after a court acquitted her of charges of child abuse that were widely dismissed as bogus by human rights groups and U.S. officials.

Hijazi, a dual national, and her husband had established a foundation to aid street children in 2013, but were arrested along with six others in 2014. It was not immediately clear whether her co-defendants were also released.

FILE -- In this Sunday, April 16, 2017 file photo, Aya Hijazi, center, a dual U.S.-Egyptian citizen, is acquitted by an Egyptian court after nearly three years of detention over accusations related to running a foundation dedicated to helping street children, in Cairo, Egypt. Hijazi's lawyer, Taher Abol Nasr, said she was released from prison late Tuesday, April 18, 2017, two days after a court acquitted her of charges of child abuse that were widely dismissed as bogus by human rights groups and U.S. officials. (AP Photo/Mohamed el Raai, File)

President Donald Trump did not publicly mention the case when he met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi earlier this month, but a senior White House official had said ahead of the meeting that the case would be addressed.

It was not immediately clear if Hijazi, 30, would remain in Egypt following her release. Hijazi, who grew up in Falls Church, Virginia, received a degree in conflict resolution from George Mason University in 2009, and then returned to her native country.

Hijazi's foundation - named Belady, Arabic for "our nation" - had its offices raided after a man alleged that his son was missing and blamed it on Belady.

Egyptian authorities have clamped down on civil society, particularly human rights groups and other organizations that receive foreign funding. Such groups played a central role in the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, and pro-government media often present them as part of a conspiracy to undermine the state.

The authorities also arrested thousands of people in the months following the 2013 overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi, mainly his Islamist supporters but also a number of secular and liberal activists.
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - Investigators have confirmed another 17 mass graves in central Congo, bringing the number to 40 discovered since clashes between soldiers and a local militia intensified in August, the United Nations human rights office said Wednesday, adding that Congolese soldiers reportedly killed at least 114 people, including 41 children.

The recent violence in once-calm Central Kasai province has included the killing of an American and a Swedish investigator for the U.N. last month, alarming the international community.

U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein warned Wednesday that if Congo's government doesn't investigate the violence effectively, he'll urge that the International Criminal Court or another outside entity do it.

Congo's government spokesman Lambert Mende said they cannot be threatened like this by the U.N. and that the government already has shown it does not tolerate impunity.

"Congo is not under the guardianship of the United Nations," Mende said. "We ask that they work with the military justice system which is already in place." He said the military is already in the region carrying out investigations.

The U.N. statement said Congolese soldiers reportedly dug the 17 newly discovered mass graves after fighting with suspected militia members in late March and killing at least 74 people, including 30 children.

Congolese soldiers also reportedly killed at least 40 people, including 11 children, in the capital of Central Kasai province, Kananga, late last month while going door-to-door looking for militia members, the U.N. said. The soldiers also reportedly buried an "unknown number of bodies" in a mass grave there.

In addition, at least two women and three girls reportedly were raped by soldiers, the statement said. In a separate area of Kananga, the U.N. investigators were told that Congolese police had fatally trampled a one-month-old baby while searching a house.

"The discovery of yet more mass graves and the reports of continued violations and abuses highlight the horror that has been unfolding in the Kasais over the last nine months," Zeid said. He said it is vital that Congo's government take "meaningful steps, which to date have been lacking," to investigate.

Congolese authorities already have promised to look into the killings of the two U.N. investigators and their interpreter and protect civilians from further violence.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced in the region since government troops killed the leader of the Kamwina Nsapu militia in August, according to the U.N.

Wednesday's statement also blames militia members for some of the recent violence, including attacks on churches and government buildings, and it said the militia has been accused of recruiting hundreds of children as fighters.
BEAUCAIRE, France (AP) - Mayor Julien Sanchez took down the European flag in front of Beaucaire's town hall, named a street "Brexit" and nearly doubled the police force - actions straight from the playbook of France's far-right National Front party, of which he's a member.

But he went even further in the poor southern town.

He adopted an anti-migrant charter. To trim the budget, he pulled subsidies from programs for mainly foreign-born residents. He ordered cheap canned meals at school cafeterias for students whose parents hadn't paid, in part to demonstrate that "social aid shouldn't be used to buy TVs."

Boats dock along the Rhone Canal in Beaucaire, southern France, Monday April 3, 2017. Beaucaire, a town of 16,000 people about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Nimes, was fertile ground for the National Front, which campaigns on concerns about France's identity as much as its economy. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

"I run the town like a good father," the 33-year-old Sanchez said in an interview, repeating the dictum of far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen on how National Front mayors should run their towns - and how she might run France.

Sanchez, who has spent more than half his life in the National Front, is among 11 Le Pen foot soldiers elected as mayors in 2014, part of her bid to plant local roots for her anti-immigration party and boost her electoral chances.

The strategy has worked: Le Pen is jostling for the lead in polls ahead of Sunday's first-round vote. The top two vote-getters of the 11 candidates will compete in a May 7 runoff.

Beaucaire, a town of 16,000 people about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Nimes, was fertile ground for the National Front, which campaigns on concerns about France's identity as much as its economy.

The town is dominated by the ruins of a medieval chateau overlooking ancient streets and a Rhone River canal lined with pleasure boats that go nowhere.

Shuttered shops darken the commercial streets of Beaucaire, which has a jobless rate of 20 percent and a sizable Muslim population from mostly former French colonies of North Africa.

With its Roman heritage and its taste of the Provencal culture of today, Beaucaire taps into the "national story" of a once-glorious France that Le Pen wants to revive.

She vows to quit the European Union, ban headscarves for Muslims - as well as head coverings for Jews and Sikhs - from the streets, cap the flow of immigrants at 10,000 per year, and establish a "French first" system of public services.

___

Under the National Front, tricolor French flags fly outside some of Beaucaire's shops and restaurants - a show of patriotism that would be unusual in Paris.

Residents say Sanchez has brought a mood of hope and pride for some, foreboding for others.

"He does things for everybody ... if you behave properly," said Christiane Perret.

"Unfortunately, we (France) have a government that does more for foreigners than for the French people," she said, a theme that resonates with far-right voters who contend that the social welfare system serves immigrants better than natives.

Supporters credit Sanchez for things like repairing a parking lot and repainting a school; increasing the police force from 13 to 23; adding video surveillance; and cracking down on drug-dealers.

Several programs that have shut down under Sanchez after losing subsidies mainly served foreign-born residents, providing activities or homework help to youths and guidance to parents.

"He complains that youth hang ... in the streets," said Aziza Abid, whose children had frequented a youth center. Now that it's closed, she said, "there's nothing for them to do."

Abid feels the cuts targeted people "from a certain social class."

Sanchez bristles at any hint of discrimination and abruptly ended an interview when a probing question was asked.

Six business owners sued him for discrimination over decrees in 2015 that forced some shops and eateries at the start of Ramadan to close by 11 p.m., due to noise. That meant they lost business, since Muslims break their fast late at night during the holy month.

The court rejected the legal underpinnings of the decrees but did not find them to be discriminatory, ruling not all shopkeepers involved were of North African origin.

"Some people can say ... the National Front this, the National Front that," Sanchez said. "But a court has acquitted me definitively and there is no discrimination."

France's Judeo-Christian roots "should be affirmed and confirmed," he said, adding that the onus is on those of another culture to assimilate, "not for France to assimilate to them."

Cafe operator Mohamed Zhani, one of those who sued, said of Sanchez: "He won the elections and we live in a democratic country, so I congratulate him - no problem. But he must let us work."

___

As president, Le Pen could make "French first" a law by amending the constitution, said Emmanuel Negrier, an expert on the far right at the nearby University of Montpellier.

Le Pen has promised to do that, telling a rally this week that she wants to "install national priority for jobs and social housing" because "it is a privilege to be French."

Negrier said that "one can imagine perfectly ... an extremely aggressive policy toward foreigners who become French."

Some in Beaucaire said they have felt a lack of respect from the local administration because of their names or the color of their skin.

"It hurts sometimes. It really hurts," said 66-year-old Driss Belqissi, who left Morocco in 1970.

"When you enter the town hall, they treat you as if you just arrived, as if you had never lived here," he said. Belqissi is especially concerned for his French-born children, "with the National Front saying, 'you are French but not blue blood.'"

One town hall employee said numerous residents, of both French and foreign origin, have complained of discrimination. The employee asked not to be identified to avoid potential consequences.

The mayor dismissed such complaints as a case of "victimization" best handled by a psychiatrist.

___

Some citizens of Arab ancestry don't share those fears. Mohamed Bougrini said he's happy to see the French flag above the terrace of his cafe.

Born in Beaucaire but of Moroccan origin, the 35-year-old Bougrini said that under Sanchez, "it's not a town that became a place where they chase out foreigners, where they denigrate people."

While he doesn't praise the National Front, he said he judges Sanchez on his record, "and not on his political label."

"I don't care if he's National Front," Bougrini said. "He works."

Restaurant owner Patrick Lafosse, 58, said he voted for Sanchez after Beaucaire tried mayors from the left and right and was left wanting - a sentiment echoed by Le Pen supporters elsewhere.

Lafosse sees only one risk if Le Pen is elected.

"Mr. Julien Sanchez will leave and go to Paris," he said. "Yes, it's sure."

FILE - In this Thursday, March 20, 2014 file photo, Julien Sanchez, candidate for the National Front party for the upcoming municipal elections at Beaucaire, poses in Beaucaire, near Nimes, southern France. Mayor Julien Sanchez took down the European flag in front of Beaucaire's town hall, named a street "Brexit" and nearly doubled the police force _ actions straight from the playbook of France's far-right National Front party, of which he's a member. (AP Photo/Claude Paris, File)

Mohamed Bougrini, born in Beaucaire and of Moroccan origin, stands outside his restaurant Gambetta in Beaucaire, southern France, on Tuesday April 4, 2017. Beaucaire, a town of 16,000 people about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Nimes, was fertile ground for the National Front, which campaigns on concerns about France's identity as much as its economy. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

Restaurant owner Patrick Lafosse, who voted for National Front party mayor Julien Sanchez, stands in his restaurant in Beaucaire, France, on Tuesday April 4, 2017. Beaucaire, a town of 16,000 people about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Nimes, was fertile ground for the National Front, which campaigns on concerns about France's identity as much as its economy. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

Mohamed Zhani, stands outside his cafe restaurant "La Place" in Beaucaire, southern France, on Tuesday April 4, 2017. Beaucaire, a town of 16,000 people about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Nimes, was fertile ground for the National Front, which campaigns on concerns about France's identity as much as its economy. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

Rooftops over the city of Beaucaire, southern France on Tuesday April 4, 2017. Beaucaire, a town of 16,000 people about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Nimes, was fertile ground for the National Front, which campaigns on concerns about France's identity as much as its economy. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

City hall police officers patrol in Beaucaire, southern France, Tuesday April 4, 2017. Beaucaire, a town of 16,000 people about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Nimes, was fertile ground for the National Front, which campaigns on concerns about France's identity as much as its economy. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

People stroll along the Rhone Canal in Beaucaire, southern France, Tuesday April 4, 2017. Beaucaire, a town of 16,000 people about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Nimes, was fertile ground for the National Front, which campaigns on concerns about France's identity as much as its economy. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

The Rue de Brexit in Beaucaire, southern France, Tuesday April 4, 2017. Beaucaire, a town of 16,000 people about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Nimes, was fertile ground for the National Front, which campaigns on concerns about France's identity as much as its economy. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
HELSINKI (AP) - The trial of a 17-year-old Danish girl suspected of planning bomb attacks against two schools has begun near the Danish capital, Copenhagen.

Police arrested the girl, who was 15 at the time, in January of last year. The girl, who was not allowed to be named, has been kept in custody since her arrest.

Prosecutors have said her targets were her previous school west of Copenhagen and a Jewish school in the capital.

Charges against a 25-year-old man, initially believed to have been an accomplice, have been dropped.

The trial, which began in the Holbaek District Court Wednesday, is scheduled to last until May 5. No further details were immediately available.
NEW YORK (AP) - Before launching Birchbox seven years ago, CEO and co-founder Katia Beauchamp had to convince some of the world's biggest beauty brands to get behind the $10-a-month subscription service that ships sample-sized mascaras, moisturizers and other cosmetics to customers.

So how did Beauchamp get the attention of top executives? With cold emails that were short and to the point, says Beauchamp, who founded Birchbox with Harvard Business School friend Hayley Barna.

The messages led to meetings and partnerships with major brands, she says. Today, Birchbox has more than 1 million subscribers and also sells full-size products on its website. A men's version of the subscription box, costing $20 a month, was launched in 2012. It now works with powerful companies such as Burt's Bees, Kiehl's and The Body Shop. Beauchamp spoke to The Associated Press about those emails, the meaning of the Birchbox name and the best advice she has received. Below are highlights from the interview, edited for length and clarity.

In this Feb. 21, 2017, photo taken from video, Birchbox CEO and co-founder Katia Beauchamp checks her email before addressing her staff, in New York. Before launching Birchbox seven years earlier, Beauchamp had to convince some of the world's biggest beauty brands to get behind the $10-a-month subscription service that ships sample-sized mascaras, moisturizers and other cosmetics to customers. Beauchamp got the attention of top executives in the industry by sending them cold emails that were short and to the point. (Dave Randag/VERITE via AP)

Q: What's the story behind the name Birchbox?

A: We wanted a name that really spoke to us as consumers. We weren't beauty obsessed, so a name that had beauty, or glam, or blush in it really didn't appeal to us. We really focused on a name that had beautiful imagery and could be gender neutral. We thought that a tree was pretty gender neutral and gave us a lot of room to have either a fairly modern design or a kind of classic design. We found birch pretty quickly and we loved everything about birches. Gorgeous from an image perspective. It grows better together. It sheds its skin every season. So we loved all the attributes and we loved the way it sounded. And then we made a list of about 50 other names that were horrible and came back to Birchbox.

Q: Talk about some of the emails you sent as you were getting Birchbox started. Who were you emailing and what did your emails say?

A: So I like to cold email. I've received some positive reinforcement from cold emailing since I was in college and I recognize that it's a way to get access to somebody that you might not be able to get access to. So I used that technique when we started Birchbox because I didn't come from the beauty industry and neither did my co-founder. And though we could access some people on different teams in beauty, we knew we wanted to get access to the very top decision makers because that would really help us understand whether we were going to build partnerships that could last decades. So we cold emailed the CEOs and the presidents of companies that we knew of in beauty, like NARS, Kiehl's and Frederic Fekkai. We asked them basically for five minutes of their time and the subject line was reimagining beauty retail. A very short email where we said we are going to completely reinvent the beauty industry, this is why we think that we are like-minded and we could do something together. Do you have five minutes to give us feedback? So very short.

Q: What helpful tips did you get as you were launching?

A: One of the best pieces of advice we received early on was from a professor when we were just getting the idea off the ground at business school. He really encouraged us to launch it, and to test it, and do it while we were in business school, and do it right away. So, within two months from having the initial idea, we were basically out testing a beta version of the product.

Q: Give us a sense of your own upbringing. Your mother had instilled this lesson in you about being in charge of your own emotions as a child. How did that prepare you for the challenges of running your own company?

A: When I was growing up, I had great encouragement from everybody around me that I could do anything I wanted. The first thing I ever remember saying I wanted to be when I grew up was the president of the United States. My family seemed to think that was very reasonable and completely encouraged me. They didn't laugh at me. My mom has always been extremely supportive, but also given me an incredible perspective on being able to control my own destiny and controlling my own reality. Basically, she always told me that I'm in control of how I see the world. So my mom really taught me that I could control the outcome just by controlling how I saw what information was coming at me, and it's been really powerful.

Q: What comes next?

A: Our goal at Birchbox is always global domination, not because the goal in and of itself is important, but because we are fighting to build the home for the beauty majority that meets her needs and inspires her wants. So, by definition, that means that we should be the largest beauty company that exists. And I absolutely believe that there's space to do that, that this is the time to do that and that brands that meet at the intersection of function and delight, like Birchbox, have a huge competitive advantage today. It's a time when the customer can have their cake and eat it too.

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This interview was conducted by The Associated Press in collaboration with the mobile video storytellers at VERITE . To view video highlights on the discussion, click here: https://twitter.com/APBusiness/status/854670907301908480
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump says Democrats in Georgia are "failing" after a congressional election that's now headed to a runoff.

Democrat Jon Ossoff, a 30-year-old former congressional staffer, fell a few percentage points shy of an outright victory amid an 18-candidate scramble in Georgia's 6th District. Republican Karen Handel, a former Georgia secretary of state, finished a distant second, qualifying for the June 20 runoff.

Trump tweeted Wednesday: "Dems failed in Kansas and are now failing in Georgia. Great job Karen Handel! It is now Hollywood vs. Georgia on June 20th."

The Hollywood reference follows Trump's previous assertion that the media is backing Ossoff.

Last week, Republicans pulled out a victory in Kansas in a special election to fill the seat of former Rep. Mike Pompeo, now CIA director.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who doggedly investigated Hillary Clinton before the 2016 presidential election but declined to investigate President Donald Trump, abruptly announced Wednesday that he won't run for re-election.

Chaffetz, who has been rumored as a possible candidate for Senate or governor, said that after consulting with his family and "prayerful consideration, I have decided I will not be a candidate for any office in 2018."

The 50-year-old Chaffetz had strolled to four easy re-elections in his Republican-friendly congressional district. But he was facing a surprising challenge from a Democratic newcomer who raised more than a half-million dollars by tapping into anger over Chaffetz's recent comment suggesting people should spend their money on health insurance instead of iPhones.

FILE - In this Sept. 13, 2016, file photo, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Chaffetz says he won't for re-election or any other office in 2018 (AP Photo/Molly Riley, File)

Political unknown Dr. Kathryn Allen has been transformed into a liberal hero for calling out Chaffetz on Twitter, gaining an early boost in name recognition.

Chaffetz, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, also drew fire from Democrats after saying he would not investigate Trump's business empire, given that he had promised before the presidential election that he would investigate Clinton "for years" if she was elected.

"It's a tough decision. I love serving in Congress, but I love my family more," Chaffetz said in an interview Wednesday with KSL Newsradio in Salt Lake City. "I really meant it when I said I was going to get in, serve and get out."

Running for Utah governor in 2020 is a possibility, Chaffetz said, but he's not willing to commit one way or another.

"I'm trying to leave the door open for possibilities down the road," he said.

Chaffetz led a nearly two-year investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, continuing the inquiry even after the 2016 election. And he and other Republicans asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Clinton lied to Congress during her 2015 testimony to House Benghazi panel.

In a statement on Facebook, Chaffetz noted that he has long advocated that public service should be for a limited time. He said that after more than 1,500 nights away from home, "it is time" to step aside.

Chaffetz said he has "no ulterior motives" and is healthy and confident he would be re-elected.

House Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted that Chaffetz is "a great defender of liberty and limited government" and wished him the best.

Still, Chaffetz has run into political turbulence. He was met by frequent, deafening boos at a February town hall as constituents grilled him on everything from investigating Trump's tax returns to Planned Parenthood. Chaffetz repeatedly said, "hold on," and "give me a second," as audience members in a Salt Lake City suburb reacted negatively to nearly all of his statements and implored him to "do your job" and investigate Trump.

In a CNN interview in March, Chaffetz was asked how lower-income Americans would get access to health insurance if the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," is repealed by congressional Republicans.

"Americans have choices," he responded. "Maybe rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love, and they want to go spend hundreds of dollars on that, maybe they should invest in their own health care."

The remarks triggered a firestorm of criticism on social media with people comparing how many iPhones they could buy if they didn't have to pay medical bills in the tens of thousands of dollars. Chaffetz later conceded on Fox News that his point about people being self-reliant didn't come out as smoothly as it could have.

Half of the voters are registered Republicans in Chaffetz' 3rd congressional district, which stretches from suburban Salt Lake City to desert towns in southeastern Utah and includes heavily conservative Mormon areas. Chaffetz won 73 percent of the vote last fall, and Trump won the district by 24 points.

While Chaffetz declined to investigate Trump, he did criticize a top Trump aide who promoted Ivanka Trump's fashion line during a cable TV appearance from the White House. Chaffetz called Kellyanne Conway's actions "wrong, wrong, wrong" and joined Cummings in asking the Office of Government Ethics to review the matter.

Chris Karpowitz, co-director at Brigham Young University's Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy, said Chaffetz may be seeking to avoid a potentially embarrassing primary loss or close race in 2018 that could hurt his prospects for the 2020 governor's race.

"It's still somewhat surprising to me," Karpowitz said. "It seems that at the first sign of trouble, he's decided not to run."

Chaffetz is at least the seventh House Republican to resign this year or announce plans to retire, including four who left to join Trump's Cabinet. Rep. Kristi Noem of South Dakota is running for governor, and Reps. Sam Johnson of Texas and Lynn Jenkins of Kansas are retiring.

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Associated Press writers Alan Fram in Washington and Brady McCombs, Michelle Price and Hallie Golden in Salt Lake City contributed to this story.

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Follow Matthew Daly: http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC
ISTANBUL (AP) - The Latest on the outcome of Turkey's referendum (all times local):

8:40 p.m.

Demonstrations against the outcome of a referendum expanding the president's powers are continuing in Istanbul, where protesters are demanding the resignation of the election board that has refused to void the vote.

A supporter of the 'no' vote, holds a Turkish flag during a protest regarding Sunday's referendum outcome, on the Aegean Sea city of Izmir, Turkey, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Turkey's main opposition party has filed a formal request seeking Sunday's referendum to be annulled because of alleged voting irregularities. (AP Photo/Emre Tazegul)

About 2,000 protesters gathered in Istanbul's Besiktas neighborhood on Wednesday evening over the referendum approving constitutional changes sought by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The demonstrations began in smaller numbers after Sunday's vote with clattering pots and pans, but have since drawn thousands of participants expressing outrage at alleged voting irregularities.

The protesters on Wednesday evening chanted "Thief, Murderer, Erdogan" and "Don't be silent, shout out, 'no' to the presidency."

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8:20 p.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says 19 people were detained in Istanbul for allegedly using the results of a constitutional referendum as an "excuse" to organize "unauthorized demonstrations."

Anadolu news agency cited a statement by Istanbul Police that said the suspects were detained early Wednesday for attempting to provoke a response similar to the mass anti-government demonstrations that happened across Turkey in 2013.

Those protests were sparked by plans to uproot trees in Istanbul's Gezi Park to build a shopping mall.

Thousands have been protesting in major cities since Sunday's referendum, which has set into motion the transformation of Turkey's system of government from a parliamentary to a presidential one.

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7:35 p.m.

A member of Turkey's main opposition party says the party plans to go the country's top court to challenge the electoral board's 10-1 decision to uphold the results of the referendum expanding the president's powers.

Mehmet Hadimi Yakupoglu, the Republican People's Party's representative to the High Electoral Board, said the party had asked the board to annul Sunday's referendum "because we weren't able to ensure election safety."

The board met for seven hours Wednesday before rejecting the request.

Yakupoglu says his party won't give up on "no" voters who opposed the changes and whose ballots were estimated to account for 48.6 percent of those cast.

He says the party's next stop is Turkey's constitutional court and, if it is unsuccessful there, then the European Court of Human Rights.

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6:10 p.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says the country's electoral board has rejected the oppositions' petitions to annul the referendum on expanding the powers of the presidency.

The Anadolu news agency reported Wednesday that the High Electoral Board voted 10-1 against the decision.

Opposition parties filed formal requests Tuesday to void the results over voting irregularities, particularly an electoral board decision to accept ballots without official stamps, as required by Turkish law.

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12:30 p.m.

Turkey's prime minister says opposition parties have the right to file objections to the outcome of a recent referendum on expanding presidential powers, but warned that calling for street protests was unacceptable.

Binali Yildirim said Wednesday the electoral board would rule on the main opposition Republican People's Party's request for the referendum's annulment. Opposition parties have complained of a series of irregularities, particularly an electoral board decision to accept ballots without official stamps, as required by Turkish law.

Yildirim said the "the path to seek rights" should be limited to legal objections and urged the opposition to accept the vote's outcome.

Thousands have protested in Istanbul and Ankara since Sunday's referendum, which has set into motion the transformation of Turkey's system of government from a parliamentary into a presidential one.

Supporters of the 'no' vote, one, holding a banner of modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, centre, chant slogans during a protest against the referendum outcome, in Istanbul, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Hundreds of people are queuing in front of Turkey's election board in capital Ankara to submit petitions requesting that the electoral authority reverse a controversial decision during Sunday's referendum to accept ballots without official stamps, as required by Turkish law. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Supporters of the 'no' vote, chant slogans during a protest against the referendum outcome, on the Aegean Sea city of Izmir, Turkey, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Turkey's main opposition party has filed a formal request seeking Sunday's referendum to be annulled because of voting irregularities. (AP Photo/Emre Tazegul)

Supporters of the 'no' vote, (Hayir in Turkish) chant slogans during a protest against the referendum outcome, in Istanbul, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Hundreds of people are queuing in front of Turkey's election board in capital Ankara to submit petitions requesting that the electoral authority reverse a controversial decision during Sunday's referendum to accept ballots without official stamps, as required by Turkish law. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

People walk in central Istanbul's Taksim Square, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Turkey's main opposition party urged the country's electoral board Monday to cancel the results of a landmark referendum that granted sweeping new powers to Erdogan, citing what it called substantial voting irregularities.(AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) - Coca-Cola is possibly the world's most recognizable brand, an almost inescapable symbol of the global appeal of American-style consumer culture. There are only two countries in the world where Coke doesn't officially operate, and one of them is North Korea.

But even the North is developing quite a taste for cola - though the iconic red-and-white labeled bottles the cola comes in likely are not exactly the Real Thing and their twist tops need a bit more than the usual caution. They have a tendency to leak or refuse to come off at all.

North Korea and Cuba are the only countries where Coca-Cola Co. has no operations, said communications director Ann Moore. Coke doesn't do business with either because of sanctions.

In this Tuesday, April 11, 2017, photo, a can of Air Koryo cola, produced by Air Koryo, the country's flagship airline which recently introduced its own brand of cola on flights to and from Beijing is seen in Pyongyang, North Korea. Coca Cola is possibly the world's most recognizable brand, an almost inescapable symbol of the global appeal of American-style consumer culture. There are only two countries in the world where Coke doesn't officially operate, and one of them is North Korea. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

That doesn't stop Coke making its way over the North Korean border, however.

Coke bottled in China and bearing Chinese labels isn't hard to find in North Korea's relatively affluent capital, Pyongyang. It is sold in upscale grocery stores that cater to the capital's elite and a growing number of middle class residents, who are increasingly earning enough hard cash through entrepreneurial side businesses to purchase more than bare necessities.

Coke from China can also be quaffed in international hotels frequented by both locals who can afford their high prices and foreign tourists and business people, most of them from China as well. Pepsi sightings are rarer.

The cola served at restaurants and lining the shelves in stores where more typical North Koreans shop are likely to be local imitations, though one of the more popular ones could, from a distance, easily pass as a Coke.

Its 1.25-liter bottle has the same Coke shape, the Coke-like red and white label, the distinctive red cap. But instead of the usual Chinese phonetic characters for Coca-Cola, it has "Cocoa-flavored Sweet Soda Drink" splashed across its label in yellow Korean lettering.

The label also prominently features a bar code and the universally recognized anti-littering logo of a person responsibly tossing his trash in a bin. It includes a calorie count and the address and phone number of the bottler, the Wonbong Trading Co. in Pyongyang. Such numbers can only be accessed by North Koreans using the North Korean phone network.

So no comment there.

How does it taste?

Not bad, it turns out. Good fizz. Indistinguishable appearance. If you like Coke, it's a very good facsimile. Some other similar sodas claiming to be cocoa-flavored but not aiming to match Coke's taste do in fact taste like chocolate.

Back in 2000, when ties between the U.S. and North Korea were going through something of a thaw, there were widespread rumors that Coke was on the verge of officially breaking into the market. Blame North Korea's decision to develop nuclear weapons for dooming that plan.

The locally bottled versions of Coke-like drinks have filled the vacuum.

Air Koryo, the country's flagship airline, recently introduced its own brand of cola on flights to and from Beijing. That's not quite as odd as it might sound. Like many large state-run enterprises, the airline also operates a fleet of taxis, has at least one gas station in Pyongyang and puts its name on other soft drinks in order to turn a profit.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - For members of Prince's 1980s backing band The Revolution, reuniting and hitting the road for a spring U.S. tour is how they are coping with the "Purple Rain" pop superstar's unexpected death a year ago.

"We're taking it to the people who are grieving like we are, and letting them have a little bit of relief," guitarist Wendy Melvoin, sitting on a couch with other members of the band during a break at their Minneapolis rehearsal space, said Wednesday.

When Prince died of an accidental painkiller overdose, members of The Revolution were mourning at a Minneapolis hotel and made an impromptu video, promising to reunite for shows honoring their one-time flamboyant front man. After three sold-out shows at the fabled First Avenue nightclub (the setting of Prince's hit 1984 movie "Purple Rain") in September, The Revolution is back, preparing to kick off a tour Friday at Paisley Park in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen on the anniversary of Prince's death.

Bassist BrownMark, left, answers a question as the original members of Prince's 1980's band, The Revolution, from second left, guitarist Wendy Melvoin, keyboarders Matt Fink and Lisa Coleman and drummer Bobby Z, look on during an interview, Wednesday, April 19, 2017, in Minneapolis. The group is preparing to kick off a spring U.S. tour with a performance Friday, the first anniversary of the Prince's death from an accidental overdose. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

The tour includes stops in Chicago, Washington, D.C., New York, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco before ending in Seattle on July 15.

Melvoin is joined by bassist BrownMark, keyboardists Matt Fink and Lisa Coleman, and drummer Bobby Z. The reunited Revolution plans to play Prince's synthesizer-heavy 1980s music through his lauded 1987 double album "Sign o' the Times."

"We have the ability now to give people a glimpse of what we experienced with him," BrownMark said. "And I think that's a powerful thing. I know it helped me heal."

While Prince had a reputation as a perfectionist, members of The Revolution remember the good times goofing in the studio.

"We had fun. We had a lot of fun. Sometimes we would be rehearsing and we'd crack up, we'd just laugh for an hour, cracking jokes," BrownMark recalls.

"We'd go play softball," keyboardist Fink said. "'OK, we're not going to rehearse today, let's go play softball.'"

After years of recording and touring with The Revolution, Prince "did what any boss would do and just put it (the band) to bed," Bobby Z. said.

"That intense run we had, all those years, it was starting to come apart at the seams, with personalities and under that kind of pressure, just like human beings do, and he just kind of made a decision," the drummer said. "And he wanted to move on as basically a solo artist with a backing band, no disrespect. But this was a band he was a very critical member of."

Whether The Revolution will continue beyond this tour is an open question.

"We'd love to be able to see if there are some legs with this," Melvoin said.

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Follow Jeff Baenen on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jeffbaenen .

Keyboarder Matt Fink, right, and bassist BrownMark prepare for rehearsal after the original members of Prince's 1980's band, The Revolution, were interviewed Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at a studio in Minneapolis. The group is back, preparing to kick off a spring U.S. tour with a performance Friday, the first anniversary of the Prince's death from an accidental painkiller overdose. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

FILE - In this Jan. 28, 1985 file photo, pop vocalist Prince holds up a hand as he and his band The Revolution accept the American Music Award for best single "When Doves Cry" in Los Angeles. The Revolution is preparing to kick off a spring U.S. tour with a performance Friday, April 21, 2017, at Paisley Park in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen, on the first anniversary of the Prince's death from an accidental painkiller overdose. (AP Photo/Doug Pizac, File)

Bassist BrownMark, left, jokes around with guitarist Wendy Melvoin as the original members of Prince's 1980's band, The Revolution, prepared for an interview Wednesday, April 19, 2017, in Minneapolis. The group is preparing to kick off a spring U.S. tour with a performance Friday, the first anniversary of the Prince's death from an accidental painkiller overdose. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Guitarist Wendy Melvoin, second from left, answers a question as the original members of Prince's 1980's band, The Revolution, are interviewed Wednesday, April 19, 2017, at a studio in Minneapolis. The group, from left: bassist BrownMark, Melvoin, keyboarders Matt Fink and Lisa Coleman, is back, preparing to kick off a spring U.S. tour with a performance Friday, April 21, 2017, the first anniversary of the Prince's death from an accidental painkiller overdose. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Four original members of Prince's 1980's band, The Revolution, appear before an interview Wednesday, April 19, 2017, in Minneapolis. The group, from left: bassist BrownMark, Guitarist Wendy Melvoin, keyboarders Lisa Coleman and Matt Fink, is preparing to kick off a spring U.S. tour with a performance Friday, the first anniversary of the Prince's death from an accidental painkiller overdose. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Guitarist Wendy Melvoin, center, answers a question as the original members of Prince's 1980's band, The Revolution, are interviewed Wednesday, April 19, 2017, at a studio in Minneapolis. The group, from left: bassist BrownMark, Melvoin, keyboarder Matt Fink and drummer Bobby Z. is back, preparing to kick off a spring U.S. tour with a performance Friday, the first anniversary of the Prince's death from an accidental overdose. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Prosecutors on Thursday recommended two years of probation for the minority Christian governor of the Indonesian capital during his trial for blaspheming the Quran.

The relatively light sentencing demand was made a day after Gov. Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama was swept out of office by a landslide election victory for a Muslim rival backed by conservative clerics.

The maximum penalty for blasphemy in Muslim-majority Indonesia is five years in prison. Prosecutors recommended one year prison if Ahok violates his probation.

Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama takes his seat for his court hearing in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, April 20, 2017. Ahok is currently on trial on accusation of blasphemy following his remark about a passage in the Quran that could be interpreted as prohibiting Muslims from accepting non-Muslims as leaders. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana, Pool)

Ahok was accused of blasphemy last year when a video surfaced of him telling voters they were being deceived if they believed a specific verse in the Quran prohibited Muslims from electing a non-Muslim as leader.

Hard-line Islamic groups attracted hundreds of thousands to anti-Ahok protests in Jakarta, shaking the government of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and undermining Indonesia's reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam.

Ahok's lawyers will present his final defense next week and a verdict from the five-judge panel is expected in early May.

Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama arrives for his court hearing in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, April 20, 2017. Ahok is currently on trial on accusation of blasphemy following his remark about a passage in the Quran that could be interpreted as prohibiting Muslims from accepting non-Muslims as leaders. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana, Pool)
BANGKOK (AP) - More than a dozen grenade and bomb attacks in southern Thailand killed two suspected insurgents whose explosives detonated unexpectedly, officials said Thursday.

Eight other civilians and officials were wounded in the Wednesday night violence, said Pramote Prom-in, a spokesman for Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command. He identified the dead as "insurgent operation leaders."

No group has claimed responsibility for the 13 attacks, which targeted police stations and checkpoints in 12 separate districts in Muslim-majority provinces in Thailand's deep south.

Southern Thailand has been in the grip of a separatist insurgency in this predominantly Buddhist country for years. About 7,000 people have been killed since the conflict flared in 2004. The insurgents regularly carry out bombings and drive-by shootings of civilians and officials.

The attacks were the first major assault since a key rebel group, the BRN - Barisan Revolusi Nasional (National Revolutionary Front) - issued a rare public statement on April 10 appearing to reject talks the Thai government has been holding with them as part of a coalition of insurgent groups known as MARA Patani. The BRN is assumed to be the most militant of the groups, while others have smaller followings.

The statement called for new talks mediated by impartial third parties. Some of the insurgents' representatives involved in the current talks live in neighboring Malaysia, which hosts the negotiations, and are susceptible to pressure from the government there. The statement also implied that the new talks should not include some current insurgents considered not representative of active groups.

The Thai government has rejected the proposal.

It was the second major set of coordinated attacks in two weeks. On April 7, suspected insurgents set off dozens of bombs in southern Thailand, bringing down power lines and setting tires on fire to block roads, but causing no deaths or injuries.

The spike in violence at the beginning of this month was in response to the March 29 extrajudicial killings of two suspected insurgents, said Don Pathan, a security analyst who lives in the region.

"The militants were hitting both soft and hard targets. But in the incident on Wednesday evening, the combatants wanted to show that they can also go after military and police targets as well. It's their way of reminding the authorities of their capabilities," he said.

Pathan said the attacks were aimed at forcing the government to accept the insurgents' conditions for talks.
BEIJING (AP) - EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini expressed concern Thursday about rising tensions over North Korea's nuclear weapons program, and said China and Europe have a common responsibility to avoid a military escalation on the Korean Peninsula.

In a speech at Tsinghua University on her final day of a three-day trip to Beijing, Mogherini warned of the worldwide implications of a crisis on the peninsula.

"Everyone understands that the crisis with North Korea will have a global fallout," she told students at the prestigious school that has produced many of China's top leaders.

Federica Mogherini, left, high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, shakes hands with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi before their meeting at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Wednesday, April 19, 2017. (Kenzaburo Fukuhara/Pool Photo via AP)

Mogherini said a remark from her 12-year-old daughter that China was in a region threatened by nuclear war underscored the importance of joint action to prevent the situation from further deteriorating.

"If a 12-year-old in Europe understands the risks of an escalation, (in) such a faraway place from home, it is quite self-evident that we have common responsibilities," she said.

Mogherini said she discussed the issue of North Korea at length during her talks with Chinese officials in Beijing.

She said China and the EU had a "common responsibility and an interest to avoid a military escalation in the Korean Peninsula, to push for North Korea to abide by its international obligations and re-engage with the international community, and work together for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula."

North Korea's acceleration of its nuclear weapons program to the point where it may become capable of striking the U.S. is seen as pushing the peninsula toward its most severe crisis in years.

President Donald Trump has called for Beijing to use its influence as Pyongyang's most important trading partner and ally to pressure North Korea to stop its nuclear and missile programs.

But Pyongyang has pressed ahead with missile launches and has been observed making preparations to test a sixth nuclear device.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday on board an aircraft carrier in Tokyo Bay that any use of conventional or nuclear weapons by North Korea would be met with an "overwhelming and effective" response by the U.S. military.

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi speaks during a joint press conference with Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Wednesday, April 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, speaks during a joint press conference with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Wednesday, April 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi speaks during a joint press conference with Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Wednesday, April 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, moves her hand through her hair during a joint press conference with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Wednesday, April 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Staff members talk in a corridor before the start of a joint press conference with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Wednesday, April 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, left, and Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, leave after a joint press conference at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Wednesday, April 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, left, and Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, arrive for a joint press conference at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Wednesday, April 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, left, and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi shake hands as they pose for a photo at the end of a joint press conference at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Wednesday, April 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, left, and China's State Councilor Yang Jiechi, second right, attend a meeting at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Wednesday, April 17, 2017, in Beijing. (Kenzaburo Fukuhara/Pool Photo via AP)

Federica Mogherini, left, high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, shakes hands with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi before their meeting at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Wednesday, April 19, 2017. (Kenzaburo Fukuhara/Pool Photo via AP)
Editors, News Directors:

President Donald Trump will mark his 100th day in office on April 29, 2017. The Associated Press plans a package of stories, photos, interactives and video pieces that will examine and assess the period between his inauguration on Jan. 20 and the 100th day, a milestone set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The package will look at the state of his campaign promises, his actions so far and look at how this very unusual president has changed the office.

The package will begin moving on Sunday, April 23 and end on April 29.

SUNDAY, April 23:

TRUMP 100-EDUCATION OF DONALD TRUMP - There's a reason President Donald Trump wistfully talks about his winning campaign every chance he gets: Governing is hard. In his first 100 days, he's seen the executive branch blocked by the other two. The courts rejected his travel ban. Congress - led by his own Republican Party - rejected his health care attempt. His "America first" campaign rhetoric has crumbled when faced by the daunting challenges of conflict overseas. After 100 days, the political novice president is still struggling to score some governing victories. By Julie Bykowicz, Ken Thomas and Vivian Salama. UPCOMING: 900 words, photos.

With: TRUMP 100-CONGRESS - It was supposed to be easy for President Donald Trump to get his agenda through Congress. After all, Republicans control both houses of Congress. The New York businessman quickly learned that the fractious GOP can be difficult to unite, with conservatives and moderates willing to challenge the new president at nearly every turn. By Congressional Correspondent Erica Werner. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos.

MONDAY, April 24:

TRUMP 100-PROMISES - Sure enough, the big trans-Pacific trade deal is toast and regulations from the Obama era are unraveling. But President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office has been largely been a story of outrageously bold promises left unfulfilled. He's abandoned a number of his promises and did not deliver on the ambitious timing of others, all while staying true to one essential bargain from the campaign: "I'm so unpredictable." By Cal Woodward and Jill Colvin. UPCOMING: 900 words, photos. With AP Interactive tracking the specific promises made in Trump's "Contract with the American Voter." Refire with possible updates on Saturday, April 29.

TUESDAY, APRIL 25:

TRUMP 100-VOICES FROM OVERSEAS - Voices from around the world talk about how the Trump presidency has changed their views of America and its role in the world. Staff. UPCOMING: 1,000 words, photos, video: AP Television and online edit.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26:

TRUMP 100-LETTERS FROM AMERICA - They are young and old: a high school student who can't yet vote, a Vietnam vet who did so proudly. They hail from all corners of the country and all walks of life. One hundred days into Donald Trump's presidency, The Associated Press returned to some of the people featured in stories about him and his policies to ask them to write a letter to the president, evaluating the job he's done so far and looking ahead to what they hope comes next. By The Associated Press. UPCOMING: Text, photos, video.

VIDEO ONLY

TRUMP FOREIGN POLICY - A look at the number of things President Donald Trump has said or done on foreign policy and what this could mean for the next 100 days and first year in office. AP Television and online edit.

EARLY THURSDAY, APRIL 27

TRUMP 100-FIVE MOMENTS THAT MATTER - The Trump presidency has been a blitz of controversy, disruption, tweetstorms and surprising moments. Here are five that changed the course of Trump's first 100 days and possibly beyond. By Darlene Superville and Catherine Lucey. UPCOMING: 900 words, photos, video: AP Television edits and online package.

THURSDAY, APRIL 27

TRUMP 100-CEO PRESIDENT- Donald Trump won the presidency by saying that only a businessman such as himself had the know-how to fix the country. If Abraham Lincoln had a team of rivals, Trump planned to surround himself with a team of CEOs to hash out new trade deals and smooth over the differences between Democrats and Republicans. Yet 100 days into Trump's presidency, the same skills that helped him in the C-suite have hurt him in the Oval Office, according to management experts. By Josh Boak. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos, video: AP Television and online edit.

FRIDAY, APRIL 28

TRUMP 100 -THE PRESIDENCY -With his tweets and his bravado, Donald Trump is putting his mark on the presidency in his first 100 days in office. He's flouted conventions of the institution by holding on to his business, hiring family members as advisers and refusing to release his tax returns. He's tested conventional political wisdom by eschewing travel, church, transparency, discipline, consistency and decorum. But the presidency is also having an impact on Trump, prompting him, at times, to play the role of traditional president. By White House Correspondent Julie Pace. UPCOMING: 900 words.

TRUMP 100-TWITTER - President Donald Trump's presidency has played out in increments of 140-character of less. Combative, inaccurate, ALL CAPS and memorable, Trump's Twitter feed offers startling insight into how he relates to the Americans he's trying to lead. By Jonathan Lemire.

PHOTO AND VIDEO ONLY

- A package of 100 photos representing the first 100 days.

- Video interview with White House photographers about covering President Donald Trump's first 100 days.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkish media reports say a fugitive who was convicted in absentia for involvement in a 2003 bomb attack against HSBC bank in Istanbul and of membership in al-Qaida has been arrested.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said the man, identified by his initials Z.C., was arrested Wednesday in a village in the central Turkish province of Cankiri, where he was working as an acting village imam.

The private DHA agency reported that he had escaped to Afghanistan while on trial for his role in the attack. He was later convicted of membership in the al-Qaida network and sentenced to six years in prison.

The al-Qaida attacks in Istanbul in November 2003 targeted the HSBC bank, two synagogues and the British Consulate, killing 57 people.
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) - Parts of Europe struggled Thursday with both unseasonably cold and unseasonably warm weather.

Slovakian police say 24 people were injured Thursday in a 40-car pileup during a heavy snowstorm in the northeastern part of the country.

Rescuer spokesman Boris Chmel said the crashes occurred at 6 a.m. near the city of Poprad. The damaged cars completely blocked the major traffic route connecting the capital, Bratislava, with the eastern part of the country.

Apple blossoms are covered with near Denzlingen, southwestern Germany, Thursday, April 20, 2017. During temperatures below zero the layer of ice is to prevent the blossoms and apple trees from frost damages. (Patrick Seeger/dpa via AP)

Some parts of Central and Eastern Europe, including Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bosnia, were hit by an unusual April cold snap, with freezing temperatures and snow disrupting traffic. Up to 50 centimeters (20 inches) of snow was reported in some areas since Wednesday morning.

Apple blossoms were coated with ice in Denzlingen, a town in southwestern Germany, while snowfall covered the streets of the central Romanian city of Miercurea Ciuc. In the Swiss Alps town of Saxon, water was being sprayed on apricot orchards to protest blooming buds from unusually low temperatures.

But in Portugal, high temperatures and low rainfall have prompted fears of an early outbreak of forest fires.

The Portuguese National Civil Protection Authority says temperatures will reach 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) in some areas, accompanied by a gusting wind, and that the fire risk will be "very high" in central and northern regions through Saturday. The agency is forbidding outdoor cooking, fireworks and the burning of crop residue.

The peak fire season traditionally begins July 1. Portugal will have more than 9,700 firefighters, over 2,000 vehicles and 48 water-dumping aircraft on standby from that date.

People walk during snowfall in the downtown of Miercurea Ciuc, Transylvania, Central Romania, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (Nandor Veres/MTI via AP)

Anti-frost candles burn in a vineyard, in the middle of the Swiss Alps, in Saxon, Canton of Valais, Switzerland, Thursday, April 20, 2017. Due to unusually low temperatures wine growers try to protect their grape shoots with anti-frost candles. (Valentin Flauraud/Keystone via AP)

Water is being sprayed in apricot orchards to protect blooming buds with a thin layer of ice, in the middle of the Swiss Alps mountains, in Saxon, Canton of Valais, Switzerland, Thursday, April 20, 2017. Due to unusually low temperatures, fruit growers try to protect their buds with icy water. (Valentin Flauraud/Keystone via AP)

Anti-frost candles burn in a vineyard, in the middle of the Swiss Alps, in Saxon, Canton of Valais, Switzerland, Thursday, April 20, 2017. Due to unusually low temperatures wine growers try to protect their grape shoots with anti-frost candles. (Valentin Flauraud/Keystone via AP)

Small leaves of a bush are frost-covered after a cold night in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Small leaves of a bush are frost-covered after a cold night in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Apple blossoms are covered with near Denzlingen, southwestern Germany, Thursday, April 20, 2017. During temperatures below zero the layer of ice is to prevent the blossoms and apple trees from frost damages. (Patrick Seeger/dpa via AP)

A woman walks during snowfall in the downtown of Miercurea Ciuc, Transylvania, Central Romania, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (Nandor Veres/MTI via AP)

Snow hangs on blossoms in Bosnian capital of in Sarajevo, on Thursday, April. 20, 2017. Temperatures during the night hovered around zero degrees Celsius and many areas saw snowfall.o (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

A Bosnian man walks on a bridge during snow fall in Bosnian capital of in Sarajevo, on Thursday, April. 20, 2017. Temperatures during the night hovered around zero degrees Celsius and many areas saw snowfall. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

A Bosnian man walks on stairways during snow fall in Bosnian capital of in Sarajevo, on Thursday, April. 20, 2017. Temperatures during the night hovered around zero degrees Celsius and many areas saw snowfall.(AP Photo/Amel Emric)
BERLIN (AP) - Germany has deported a 22-year-old Serbian man convicted of killing a German-Turkish woman after she confronted him for harassing two young women at a McDonald's in a case that drew international attention.

Sanel M., whose last name wasn't given in line with privacy laws, was deported Thursday after serving his sentence for killing Tugce Albayrak, the dpa news agency reported. He was convicted in 2015 of causing bodily harm resulting in death.

Albayrak came to the defense of two girls being harassed by M. and another man in 2014. M. hit her so hard outside the Offenbach restaurant that she fell and went into a coma. Albayrak died two weeks later on her 23rd birthday.

The defendant was born in Offenbach but had only Serbian citizenship and lost appeals against deportation.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan's return of a Chinese asylum seeker this week is a likely bid by President Tsai Ing-wen to stabilize relations with Beijing that have been in sharp decline since her election last year, analysts said Thursday.

Officials in Taipei said Chinese national Zhang Xiangzhong lacked legal grounds to stay in Taiwan after breaking away from his tour group on April 13. The 48-year-old civil rights activist had sought political refugee status in Taiwan, but flew back to China after agreeing that would be the best solution.

With dialogue between the two governments suspended by Beijing, analysts said that Tsai's administration may hope China sees Zhang's return as a goodwill gesture and responds in kind.

FILE - In this Monday, April 17, 2017, file photo, Chinese dissident Zhang Xiangzhong is seen on a computer screen during an interview via videoconference in Taipei, Taiwan. Taiwan's return Zhang this week is seen by analysts as a possible bid by President Tsai Ing-wen to stabilize relations with Beijing. Officials in Taipei say Chinese national Zhang Xiangzhong lacked legal grounds to stay in Taiwan after breaking away from his tour group on April 13. Analysts say Tsai's administration may be hoping China responds in kind. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai, File)

"It could be interpreted as an olive branch," said Alexander Huang, strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan. "I think all parties are looking for opportunities."

Taiwan separated from China amid civil war in 1949, and over the past three decades has developed into a vibrant democracy with political freedoms unknown in authoritarian, communist-ruled China.

Despite that, Beijing claims sovereignty over the island and insists on eventual unification. It cut off contacts with Tsai's government in June because the president, whose Democratic Progressive Party advocates Taiwan's independence, refused to endorse Beijing's view that the island and mainland are parts of a single Chinese nation.

Tsai wants to keep relations stable with China to honor election pledges to pursue neither Taiwan's formal independence nor unification with Beijing.

Granting asylum for Zhang could have angered China, prompting it to ramp up efforts to isolate Taiwan diplomatically and punish it economically. Over the past 10 months, China has scaled back group tourism to the island by about 30 percent, blocked Taiwan's participation in international forums, sent an aircraft carrier around the island and established diplomatic relations with Taiwan's former African ally Sao Tome and Principe.

While China hasn't formally acknowledged Zhang's case, it could reciprocate without saying why, particularly in the case of Taiwanese human rights activist Lee Ming-che, who was detained in China last month under suspicion of conducting activities harming China's national security.

Chinese authorities have so far refused to provide details of the conditions under which Lee is being held or of the charges against him.

China could now be more forthcoming with information and may even release the 42-year-old Taipei university program manager, said Shane Lee, a political scientist at Chang Jung Christian University in the southern city of Tainan.

"It's probably part of a deal," Lee said. "This time, I think both sides need a way to step back down."

While neither side is like to acknowledge the existence of a quid pro quo, Zhang's return could give Beijing a reason to resolve Lee's case, said Alan Romberg, director of the East Asia program at think tank The Stimson Center in Washington.

"Although (China) will insist that it will handle Lee's case in accordance with its own laws, it is already paying a significant price in terms of public opinion in Taiwan," Romberg said.

A deputy minister for the Taiwanese Cabinet's Mainland Affairs Council responsible for China policy, Chiu Chui-cheng, denied any connection between the two cases and said Zhang returned to China voluntarily.

Zhang, who returned with his original tour group on Wednesday night, had previously been jailed by China in connection with political activities. However, Taiwan's immigration agency said his asylum request could not be accommodated under its regulations, including rules on Chinese tourists.

Taiwan stopped offering political asylum to Chinese citizens after a series of plane hijackings in the 1990s by people seeking to flee China for Taiwan, but it has offered long-term residency to some mainland Chinese.

Lin Chong-pin, a retired professor and former deputy Taiwanese defense minister, said Zhang's case was handled carefully to avoid the appearance of a quid pro quo.

Despite that, "The picture is that the two sides have some kind of tacit understanding or tacit communications," Lin said.

Huang said it now appears Beijing may be seeking to improve relations after nearly a year of frostiness, possibly to deter arguments in favor of strengthened support for Taiwan from the administration of President Donald Trump, who angered China when he spoke with Tsai by phone in December before taking office.

At this point, any sort of deal making between the sides would be a good thing, said Denny Roy, senior fellow at the East-West Center in Hawaii.

"It suggests China is willing to carry on a somewhat normal relationship beneath a facade of what they think is standing on principle," Roy said.

___

Associated Press video journalist Johnson Lai contributed to this report.
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Alcoa Corp. is moving its global headquarters - but very few jobs - back to Pittsburgh, where the 129-year-old company had been based until moving to New York City in 2006.

Alcoa has maintained offices in Pittsburgh and 10 of the 15 employees at its New York headquarters will move to western Pennsylvania effective Sept. 1, spokeswoman Joyce Saltzman said Thursday. The other five workers at the New York office will telecommute.

Alcoa already has 205 employees in Pittsburgh who share a building with Arconic, a spinoff created when Alcoa split its mining, refining and aluminum businesses in November from businesses that make aluminum parts for aerospace, automotive and other industries.

FILE - This April 3, 2017, file photo, shows the Alcoa Corporate Center behind the Seventh Street Bridge, also known as the Andy Warhol Bridge, in Pittsburgh. Alcoa Corp. is moving its global headquarters back to Pittsburgh, the 129-year-old aluminum producer announced Wednesday, April 19, 2017, relocating 10 employees from New York City, designated as the company's principal office in 2006. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

Alcoa also plans to close offices in Richmond, Virginia; Nashville, Tennessee; and Chicago, as well as Milan and Geneva in Europe; Reykjavik, Iceland; and Beijing.

Combined, the moves should save the company about $5 million a year.

"We are taking every opportunity to streamline Alcoa to reduce complexity," said Alcoa Chief Executive Officer Roy Harvey.

The administrative consolidations are "another step in our drive to be a more competitive, operator-centric Company, with smaller corporate overhead, focused on profitable and successful operations," Harvey said.

Alcoa also has about 40 employees and contractors at its Technical Center in Upper Burrell Township, about 25 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, and 70 more contractors split time between the tech center and the offices on Pittsburgh's North Shore.

When Alcoa made the move to New York, the company had about 60 workers there and 2,000 in the Pittsburgh area.

Gov. Tom Wolf said Alcoa's move back to Pittsburgh is "another testament to the growing strength and attractiveness of the region for business."
BEIRUT (AP) - The second stage of a troubled population transfer in Syria stalled on Thursday as rebel and government negotiators argued over the identities of the prisoners to be released as part of the exchange.

More than 3,000 people found themselves trapped at the handover point between the two sides on the outskirts of Aleppo city, where a car bomb on Saturday killed more than 130 people, half of them children.

That blast, which remains unclaimed, rushed the two sides to complete the first stage of the transfers within the next day, but injected an element of terror into the chain of operations, which are expected to last for 60 days and see up to 30,000 Syrians moved across battle lines.

Jan Egeland, Senior Advisor to the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria speaks about the International Syria Support Group's Humanitarian Access Task Force at the European headquarters of the United Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

Critics of the arrangement, which was brokered by Qatar and Iran and involves four besieged areas, have decried it as a forcible transfer that is altering the country's demographics along political and sectarian lines.

"Our mental state is very bad. There are fears that the deal is going to stall," said Amer Burhan, a medical worker from Zabadani, who is trapped at the exchange point.

Some 3,000 residents of two pro-government villages, Foua and Kfarya, left Wednesday in 45 buses bound for government-controlled Aleppo. Another 11 buses carrying some 500 people, including opposition fighters, left Madaya and Zabadani, near Damascus, heading toward the northern rebel-held Idlib province.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group also reported the transfer, which it says includes 800 armed men from both sides. Some 160, mostly gunmen, had remained in Zabadani.

But the exchange has been delayed over the identities of the 750 prisoners who are supposed to be released as part of the deal, according to Yasser Abdelatif, a spokesman of one of the rebel factions involved in the exchange.

Rebels grew concerned the government was not planning to release political prisoners, after authorities provided them with a list of some of the names, said Fahd al-Musa, who heads the activist-run Syrian Commission for Releasing Detainees, which the rebels consulted to check the names.

"They should release people like Rania Abbasi," said al-Musa, referring to the Syrian dentist who activists say was taken with her husband and six children from their Damascus home in 2013. They have not been heard from since.

The U.N.'s chief humanitarian adviser for Syria meanwhile said aid agencies have not been able to reach as many besieged Syrians this year as they did over the same period last year.

Jan Egeland told reporters in Geneva that the front lines have shifted but civilian suffering has "remained the same" in 2017.

Of nearly 5 million Syrians living in besieged or hard-to-reach areas, agencies have only been able to reach 564,000 this year to date, he said.

He drew particular attention to the dire humanitarian situation in the opposition-held Eastern Ghouta suburbs of the capital, Damascus.

About 400,000 Syrians are trapped inside the area, which is besieged by government forces. Aid agencies have been unable to reach Douma, the largest town inside the besieged area, in half a year.

Shortages of food and other basic goods have pushed prices "through the roof," said Egeland. "We get reports that there is no bread or wheat on the market at all."

Siege has been a pillar of the government's military strategy against its domestic opponents throughout the six-year-old civil war.

By tightly restricting the delivery of food and medical relief, the government has secured the surrender of broad swathes of the opposition-held countryside around Damascus, as well as the former opposition enclaves in the cities of Aleppo and Homs.

The Syrian government and rebels are allowing up to 30,000 people to leave besieged areas over the coming two months as part of the mutually agreed population transfer. The last residents of the formerly rebel-held town of Zabadani, outside Damascus, were evacuated Wednesday.

Egeland said the sieges should be lifted, and that no Syrians should be forced from their homes through starvation. The U.N. is not taking part in the transfer.

The U.N.'s Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said at the same press conference that it was his aim to resume Geneva peace talks in May, but "we are watching very carefully the developments on the ground."

The international body has held five rounds of talks since 2012.

De Mistura acknowledged that a cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey at the end of last year "doesn't seem to be working." He said it would be addressed at upcoming meetings between the various parties in Kazakhstan.

The U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group meanwhile said it is looking into reports that an April 17 airstrike on the Syrian town of Boukamal, on the border with Iraq, killed several civilians. It said it could not yet confirm the allegations made by the Islamic State group, which holds the town, and by other monitoring groups.

Jan Egeland, Senior Advisor to the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria speaks about the International Syria Support Group's Humanitarian Access Task Force at the European headquarters of the United Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

Jan Egeland, Senior Advisor to the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria speaks about the International Syria Support Group's Humanitarian Access Task Force at the European headquarters of the United Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, speaks about the International Syria Support Group's Humanitarian Access Task Force at the European headquarters of the United Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Weeks before President Donald Trump's first official overseas trip, trade and security matters were top items of discussion in his meeting Thursday with the prime minister of Italy, one of the two European countries set to welcome Trump in May.

Standing alongside Italian premier Paolo Gentiloni, Trump praised Italy's contributions to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He commended its efforts toward seeking stability in Libya. He also hailed the country's contributions to art and music, touting the late opera legend Luciano Pavarotti as "a great friend."

But Trump remained steadfast on his demands that European allies meet their financial obligations in their partnerships with the U.S. He urged Italy to address the refugee crisis through a policy that "seeks the eventual return of refugees to their home countries so they can help to rebuild their own nations."

President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands as he meets with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, left, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Gentiloni, who has been Italy's premier since December, stressed the need for burden-sharing in the refugee crisis, given Italy's proximity to Libya, where large numbers of migrants take the risky voyage across the Mediterranean to reach Europe.

Trump was quick to dismiss the notion that the U.S. would get involved in Libya, saying, "I do not see a role in Libya."

"We have enough roles. We have a role everywhere," Trump said.

The Group of Seven major industrialized nations recently joined in urging Russia to pressure the Syrian government to end the civil war. They have blamed Syrian President Bashar Assad's military for a recent chemical attack that killed more than 80 people. The attack prompted Trump to launch missile strikes on a Syrian airfield.

Gentiloni noted the Italy and America's "common commitment against terrorism," which he said requires social and economic collaboration with Muslim communities in order to be effective.

With Italy set to host a G-7 summit next month, Gentiloni can shape the agenda on behalf of other European leaders wary of Trump's position on some long-standing agreements.

Gentiloni has strongly criticized protectionist trade policies, such as those proposed by Trump's administration, that advocate shielding a country's domestic industries from foreign competition by taxing imports.

Trump has pulled the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a pact he said was "a disaster." In addition, he said this week he would make "some very big changes" to the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico or "we are going to get rid of NAFTA for once and for all."

Trump favors bilateral trade deals and has used trade as a tool for pressuring countries to do more on national security matters. That was evident most recently with his public statements promising China a "better" trade arrangement if Beijing cracks down on North Korea.

Italy has suffered sluggish economic growth and was a staunch backer of a proposed U.S.-European free trade agreement negotiated by the Obama administration.

Trump plans to attend a NATO meeting in Belgium next month before the G-7 gathering in Italy. Much is uncertain in Europe, with Britain's decision to leave the European Union and the upcoming French presidential election - the first round of voting is Sunday.

Like Trump, anti-establishment French populist Marine Le Pen hopes for an electoral boost by seizing on voter disenchantment with politics as usual. The EU has been a constant target, and Le Pen has called for a referendum similar to last year's Brexit vote.

The G-7 comprises the U.S., Germany, France, Britain, Canada, Japan and Italy.

Italy is also a member of NATO, the military alliance to which Trump says the U.S. contributes more than it receives.

Trump has called for all countries in the alliance to adhere to a threshold of contributing 2 percent of their gross domestic product to NATO. Italy's contribution is less than 1 percent.

Gentiloni said that despite budgetary limitations, "the commitment has been made" to meet the target.

"We are used to respecting our commitments," he said.

President Donald Trump greets Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

President Donald Trump meets with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Donald Trump greets Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - An 82-year-old bride-to-be will finally have the chance for her big day when her fiance is released from prison next month 32 years after they met.

The Tallahassee Democrat (http://usat.ly/2ouMSU1 ) reports Wanda Pate hasn't seen fiance David Monroe Goodwin in six years, but talks to him on the phone four times a week. Goodwin has spent 40 years behind bars for his role in the murder of four people in Florida during a drug smuggling operation in 1977. Goodwin was initially sentenced to death even though he wasn't in the vicinity of the killings. He later received a life term and is due to be paroled May 2.

Pate tells the newspaper she never would have dreamed of falling in love with a prisoner, "but it happened."

___

Information from: Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat, http://www.tdo.com
PARIS (AP) - The 11 men and women hoping to be France's next president are appearing on national television seeking to sway voters in the nail-biting, unpredictable election campaign.

The candidates will each have 15 minutes Thursday night individually to answer questions about their stances, along with a brief conclusion at the end, in a prime-time program on France 2.

The four top candidates - centrist Emmanuel Macron, far-right Marine le Pen, conservative Francois Fillon and far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon- will be seeking to impress the 30 percent of French voters who are still undecided.

A man walks past French presidential campaign posters displayed in Marnes-la-Coquette, outside Paris, Thursday, April 20, 2017. The two-round presidential election is set for April 23 and May 7. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

The French presidential race's outcome is increasingly uncertain just three days before Sunday's first-round vote. The two top vote-getters on Sunday will advance to the May 7 presidential runoff.

A man walks past French presidential campaign posters displayed in Sevres, outside Paris, Thursday, April 20, 2017. The two-round presidential election is set for April 23 and May 7. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

French presidential campaign posters are displayed in Marnes-la-Coquette, outside Paris, Thursday, April 20, 2017. The two-round presidential election is set for April 23 and May 7. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Ivanka Trump will participate in a panel discussion on women's economic empowerment during an official visit to Germany next week.

The White House announced the schedule for the first daughter's trip to Berlin, scheduled for Tuesday. It will be the first official international trip for Trump, who has joined the administration as an unpaid adviser to her father, President Donald Trump.

Ivanka Trump is traveling to Berlin at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel (AHN'-geh-lah MEHR'-kuhl). She will participate in the W20 Summit, a women-focused effort within the Group of 20 countries.

FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 10, 2017, file photo, Ivanka Trump, right, walks with her husband, Jared Kushner, senior adviser to the president, to a news conference with President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at the White House in Washington. Ivanka Trump's company continues to grow. Ethics lawyers fear the more her business expands, the more it may encroach on her ability, and husband, Jared Kushner, to credibly advise the president on core issues. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

On that day in Berlin, Trump will also take in a technical school, visit the United States embassy and go to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Her day will conclude with a gala dinner.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Work requirements for Medicaid could lead to major changes in the social safety net under President Donald Trump.

It sounds like a simple question: Should adults who are able to work be required to do so to get taxpayer provided health insurance?

The federal-state Medicaid program for low-income and disabled people covers more than 70 million U.S. residents - about 1 in 5 - including an increasing number of working-age adults. In a break from past federal policy, the Health and Human Services department under Secretary Tom Price has already notified governors it stands ready to approve state waivers for "meritorious" programs that encourage work.

FILE - In this March 22, 2017 file photo, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Seema Verma listen at right as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. Work requirements for Medicaid could lead to major changes in the social safety net under President Donald Trump. The question: Should adults who are able to work be required to do so to get taxpayer provided health insurance? (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Separately, an amendment to the still-stuck House GOP health care bill would allow individual states to require work or training for adults, with such exceptions such as pregnant women, or parents of a disabled child.

Yet a surprising number of working-age adults with Medicaid are already employed. Nearly 60 percent work either full- or part-time, mainly for employers that don't offer health insurance, says the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. Most who are not working report reasons such as illness, caring for a family member, or going to school.

Geraldine Stewart, a Medicaid beneficiary from Charlotte, N.C., questioned the impact of a work requirement on older adults. Stewart was incapacitated by painful problems with her feet, now relieved by surgery covered under the program. In her early 60s, she was able to return to part-time work as a home health aide after treatment.

"To do work anywhere, I have to have my feet," said Stewart. "I really hope that they do not force anyone who has a medical condition to work to have to pay for those services. I don't think it's been researched properly."

The debate over work requirements for safety net programs isn't new. With Medicaid, it doesn't break neatly along liberal-conservative lines.

On the political right, some say the idea is flawed because a person who refuses to work will still be able to get free treatment by going to a hospital emergency room. Others say Medicaid was established by law as a health program, and work requirements would compromise that original mission.

"It's a policy that comes out of a misunderstanding of the situation facing low-income families," Jason Helgerson, head of New York's Medicaid program, said of work requirements. "People need health care to function in the work force. Threatening that, in my view, does not help in any meaningful way."

In a recent letter to governors, HHS Secretary Price and Seema Verma, the new head of Medicare and Medicaid, suggested that work itself can be good for health. "The best way to improve the long-term health of low-income Americans is to empower them with skills and employment," they wrote.

Liberals are relishing the contrast if Trump pursues tax cuts for the wealthy while putting the poor to work. "The Republican focus is backwards," said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

Work requirements are under discussion in a number of states, and the first test for the Trump administration could come on a pending waiver application by Kentucky. The proposal from Republican Gov. Matt Bevin would allow the state to suspend coverage for able-bodied adults who don't comply. Job training and caring for a disabled relative would count toward fulfilling the obligation. "Medically frail" people dealing with certain conditions, from substance abuse to cancer, would be exempt.

For Bevin, getting federal approval is key to continuing a Medicaid expansion launched by his Democratic predecessor to take advantage of then-President Barack Obama's health care law. Nationwide, the future of the expansion is uncertain with Republicans committed to rolling back Obama's law. Work requirements could entice GOP-led states to expand their programs and cover more low-income adults.

That may be more symbolism than real change, said Robert Rector, a social policy expert with the conservative Heritage Foundation.

"I consider it misleading to suggest you are going have a meaningful work requirement in a medical program, because that's the most difficult area to do it in," said Rector. "If an individual doesn't perform, and then they get sick, it's just not going to be enforced."

Advocacy groups representing the poor may go to court. "Medicaid is a medical assistance program," said Jane Perkins, legal director the National Health Law Program. "We do have a problem" with making work a condition of eligibility.

Others are worried that work requirements could become barriers for people down on their luck.

In small-town Paris, Tenn., Medicaid beneficiary Mayela Stephenson said, "I wasn't afraid of work."

Now in her mid 50s, she worked factory jobs most of her life before becoming disabled due to nerve and bone problems. Even with her disability, Stephenson said she had to get legal help to force the state to grant her Medicaid.

Although she agrees that able-bodied people should work, Stephenson said she has concerns that those with health problems will get hurt.

"How would one measure someone's disability as to what degree that person would be able to work?" she asked. "It would have to be based on each individual's circumstance. You would have to go case-by-case, and how on earth will they do that?"
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky's attorney general is urging people to pay attention to more than horses and parties during the springtime celebrations leading up to the Kentucky Derby.

Warning of the unsavory side of Derby season, authorities are asking for the public's help in cracking down on sex traffickers trying to cash in on the crowds expected for the world's most famous horse race.

"This is our Derby, which is supposed to be a celebration," Attorney General Andy Beshear said Thursday. "And we should not allow criminals to mar it, especially through a crime that so victimizes our children and other vulnerable individuals. So be our eyes and ears."

More than 160,000 fans are expected to pack into Churchill Downs for the May 6 race, capping two weeks of festivities across Louisville that kick off Saturday night with a huge fireworks show.

Last Derby season, Beshear's office worked with local law enforcement in trying to root out trafficking operations. He said that effort led to multiple arrests and the rescue of a 14-year-old girl.

Authorities can point to other successes in their efforts.

A Kalamazoo, Michigan, man ensnared in a prostitution sting operation during a prior Derby season was sentenced recently to nearly 20 years in prison. David Q. Givhan was convicted of one count of sex trafficking and three counts of interstate transportation for prostitution.

Givhan twice brought a woman to Louisville to perform commercial sex acts in the days leading up to the 2015 Derby because "they had made a lot of money," court documents said.

Last year, Louisville metro police reported making 233 arrests for prostitution-related offenses, with 65 of them - or more than a fourth - occurring from April through Derby weekend. Forty-four of the arrests occurred in the first week of May.

Federal, state and local law enforcement agents plan another round of intensified efforts this Derby season to combat sex trafficking, U.S. Attorney John E. Kuhn Jr. said

"Forcible sex trafficking is effectively a form of modern day slavery, and those responsible will face lengthy prison sentences if they operate here," he said in a statement.

Louisville Metro Police Lt. Chuck Mann said the strategy to combat trafficking includes undercover operations.

"Most of our proactive efforts are focused around events such as the Kentucky Derby, which bring many visitors from outside the Louisville metro area," he said in a statement.

Amy Nace-DeGonda, a Catholic Charities case manager in Louisville who works with human trafficking victims, said she worries that for every arrest, many other traffickers go undetected.

"What I always say is anytime you see any stats, you should probably just multiple it several times because it's happening more than we're even aware," she said after Beshear's event.

Asked for the reasons behind the surge in sex trafficking during Derby season, she said: "More people, less inhibition, more money coming in."

Beshear's office was hosting a three-day training session this week for law enforcement, prosecutors and others to combat human trafficking.

He offered some common clues that can give away trafficking victims: signs of malnourishment or injuries, a lack of identification, inability to identify what state or community a person is in, avoidance of eye contact and scripted responses in social interactions.
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's Supreme Court on Thursday banned Jehovah's Witnesses from operating anywhere in the country, accepting a request from the justice ministry that the religious organization be considered an extremist group.

The court ordered the closure of the group's Russian headquarters and its 395 local chapters, as well as the seizure of its property.

The Interfax news agency on Thursday quoted Justice Ministry attorney Svetlana Borisova in court as saying that Jehovah's Witnesses pose a threat to Russians.

Members of Jehovah's Witnesses react in a court room after judge's decision in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, April 20, 2017. Russia's Supreme Court has banned the Jehovah's Witnesses from operating in the country, accepting a request from the justice ministry that the religious organisation be considered an extremist group, ordering closure of the group's Russia headquarters and its 395 local chapters, as well as the seizure of its property. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

"They pose a threat to the rights of citizens, public order and public security," she told the court.

Borisova also said Jehovah's Witnesses' opposition to blood transfusions violates Russian health care laws.

Yaroslav Sivulsky, a spokesman for Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, said in a statement they are "greatly disappointed by this development and deeply concerned about how this will affect our religious activity."

Jehovah's Witnesses said they would appeal the ruling.

Jehovah's Witnesses claim more than 170,000 adherents in Russia. The group has come under increasing pressure over the past year, including a ban on distributing literature deemed to violate Russia's anti-extremism laws.

Human Rights Watch criticized Thursday's decision as an impediment to religious freedom in Russia.

"The Supreme Court's ruling to shut down the Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is a terrible blow to freedom of religion and association in Russia," said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

The rights group also expressed concern that if the ruling takes effect, Jehovah's Witnesses could face criminal prosecution and punishment ranging from fines to prison time.

Members of Jehovah's Witnesses wait in a court room in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, April 20, 2017. Russia's Supreme Court has banned the Jehovah's Witnesses from operating in the country, accepting a request from the justice ministry that the religious organisation be considered an extremist group, ordering closure of the group's Russia headquarters and its 395 local chapters, as well as the seizure of its property. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Mark Sanderson, member of the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses, attends a court session in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, April 20, 2017. Russia's Supreme Court has banned the Jehovah's Witnesses from operating in the country, accepting a request from the justice ministry that the religious organisation be considered an extremist group, ordering closure of the group's Russia headquarters and its 395 local chapters, as well as the seizure of its property. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Gunmen killed the leader of Mexico's leftist Democratic Revolution Party in the southern state of Guerrero, authorities said Thursday.

The killing prompted Guerrero's governor to cut short a trip to the United States aimed at convincing cruise ship lines that the state's flagship resort, Acapulco, is safe enough to bring their ships back for visits.

Some cruise ships have stopped visiting the Pacific coast state because of continued violence, like the assassination late Wednesday of leftist politician Demetrio Saldivar. The state prosecutors' office said Thursday that Saldivar was killed in the state capital, Chilpancingo. The office said a witness watched as two men blocked Saldivar with a car, then shot him to death before fleeing.

Saldivar was the state general secretary of the PRD party in Guerrero. Local media reported he had previously occupied a post in the state government.

Also, Thursday, officials in Chilpancingo reported the discovery of three dismembered bodies of two men and one woman in bags outside a restaurant in the state capital. There was no immediate word on their identities.

Guerrero was plagued by political violence in the 1990s, but has been hit even harder by drug gang violence in recent years.

The U.S. cruise line Holland America announced in March that it had halted port calls at Acapulco and would sail to other destinations in Mexico "due to recent security concerns."

A few other cruise lines continue to make port calls in Acapulco, but those visits began to fall off steeply around 2010.

Gov. Hector Astudillo traveled to Miami to try to convince cruise ship operators that safe perimeters had been established for passengers in Acapulco and the resort of Zihuatanejo.

But Astudillo tweeted that Saldivar's killing forced him to cut the trip short.

"These regrettable events have forced us to cancel the planned working trip and return to Guerrero as soon as possible," Astudillo wrote in his Twitter account.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Puerto Rico is ready to sign dozens of new deals to privatize the operation of public services as government funds dwindle amid a decade-long recession, the island's governor told some 800 investors attending a two-day financial summit Thursday.

Gov. Ricardo Rossello said public-private partnerships could create up to 100,000 new jobs and generate some $5 billion in the next three years for a U.S. territory mired in economic crisis and its government facing a $70 billion public debt load that it is struggling to restructure.

"We are not leaving things to chance," he said, noting that Puerto Rico has no access to capital markets. "We are building a government that recognizes we can't do everything."

Most public-private partnerships on the U.S. mainland involve transportation projects, but officials said the scope would be much wider in Puerto Rico and that the projects would not require legislative approval. The government hopes to privatize services including the operation and maintenance of several highways and the unreliable ferry service from Puerto Rico to the popular islands of Culebra and Vieques. Other projects would target waste management, student housing, parking and recreation facilities, information technology, renewable energy and natural gas projects.

"We've been so aggressive about this because we have no other option," said Omar Marrero, executive director of the Authority of Public-Private Partnerships. "Either we swim together, or we sink together."

Government officials have pledged that 25 percent of revenues from those deals will go to the island's crumbling public pension system that is underfunded by $40 billion and expected to run out of money this year.

Officials have identified at least 30 projects that would benefit from being run by a private company and said they would guarantee badly needed maintenance and upgrades the government cannot afford. Puerto Rico can no longer keep financing the bulk of the island's development, said Elias Sanchez, the government's representative to a federal control board overseeing the island's finances.

"It's just not viable," he said. "Our fiscal situation is so challenging that there's no way the government can be the lead in investments or projects ... That can only be led by the private sector."

It's been roughly four years since Puerto Rico last signed a deal to privatize the operation of public services without complete privatization. The previous governor signed a deal to privatize operations at Puerto Rico's main international airport and its busiest highway, a move that allowed a previous administration to eliminate 60 percent of the Ports Authority's debt and pay $1 billion worth of highway debt.

Government officials sought to ease any concerns about Puerto Rico's economic crisis by noting that the federal control board has to approve any projects, and that a financial package approved by U.S. Congress last year allows the government to award expedited permits to projects considered critical to the economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) - World finance leaders on Thursday defended globalization against an assault from President Donald Trump and European populists. They argued that blocking free trade would hobble economic growth instead of saving jobs from foreign competition.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim told journalists that freer trade and more openness were "critical for the future of the world."

Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said that the answer to the wave of populism gaining support in many countries was to work for "more growth and better growth" in the world economy.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde speaks during the 2017 World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington, Thursday, April 20, 2017. The leaders of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank begin their spring meetings with the mission of strengthening a gradually improving global economy while facing resistance to free trade and political unrest in some countries. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Lagarde and Kim spoke at the opening of three days of discussions among global finance leaders representing the 189 countries that are members of the IMF and its sister lending organization, the World Bank.

The spring meetings, which will also include discussions Friday among finance ministers and central bank leaders from the Group of 20 major economic powers, were likely to be dominated by talk over the Trump administration's efforts to reduce America's huge trade deficits, which Trump during the presidential campaign blamed for the loss of millions of good-paying factory jobs.

The United States will be represented at the meetings by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

Trump tapped into a rising backlash against free trade during the campaign, pledging that he would impose punitive tariffs of up to 45 percent on countries such as China and Mexico which he blamed for pursuing unfair trade practices that were hurting American workers. While he had said that he would brand China a currency manipulator immediately on taking office, the administration sent Congress a report last week that found China was not manipulating its currency.

The Treasury report did put China and five other nations including Japan and Germany on a "monitoring list" which will subject them to increased consultations aimed at lowering their large trade surpluses with the United States.

The anti-globalization backlash has also shown up in Europe, playing a factor in last summer's vote in Britain to exit the European Union, and also in the election campaigns in other countries including this Sunday's vote for president in France.

Mnuchin spoke Thursday at a conference sponsored by the Institute of International Finance, an organization representing the world's biggest banks. He said that the Trump administration's view was that "what is good for the U.S. economy is good for the global economy" because stronger growth in the United States will have a spillover effect for other nations.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, speaking to a different Washington audience on Thursday, conceded that free trade was currently under attack in ways that could end up being harmful such as Britain's move to leave the 28-nation European Union, a process that has been dubbed Brexit.

"For both sides this is not a good situation. It's something like a lose-lose situation, not a win-win situation," Schaeuble said. "It must be clear that the rest of Europe stands together."

To lift the U.S. economy to growth of 3 percent or higher, up from the 2 percent rates seen in recent years, Mnuchin said the administration was focused on getting tax reform through Congress and also getting rid of unnecessary regulations.

Mnuchin said the administration's tax plan would be released "very soon." While Mnuchin had set a goal of getting it passed by the August recess of Congress, that goal has slipped. But he said that the administration still hoped to get a measure through Congress well before the end of the year.

Mnuchin is also working on proposals to overhaul the regulations put in place by the Dodd-Frank Act passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. He said he would have a report with recommendations to present to the president by June that would address "the major issues" in the drive to revamp the Dodd-Frank law.

Trump has backed away from some of his campaign threats on trade. But on Thursday, he ordered the Commerce Department to speed up an investigation into whether steel imports jeopardize U.S. national security - a move that could lead to tariffs on imported steel from countries such as Canada, Brazil and South Korea.

Lagarde said that the IMF and its member nations needed to "protect free, fair and global trade." In an interview Thursday with CNBC, Lagarde said that the goal of all nations should be to promote a level playing field in trade.

In his World Bank news conference, Kim said a recent study showed that of all the job losses that have hit industrial countries in recent years, at most only 20 percent could be blamed on increased trade competition. He said the biggest factor in the job losses was increased automation.

"My message is you're not going to bring these old jobs back," Kim said. "Every country in the world has to think about how it's going to compete in the economy of the future."

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin shakes hands with European Commissioner for the Euro and Social Dialogue and Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis at the 2017 World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington, Thursday, April 20, 2017. The leaders of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank begin their spring meetings with the mission of strengthening a gradually improving global economy while facing resistance to free trade and political unrest in some countries. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
NIAMEY, Niger (AP) - Niger's Ministry of Health has declared an epidemic of hepatitis E in the Diffa region, where 25 people have died among the 86 cases recorded since the beginning of April.

Public Health Minister Idi Illassou Mainassara said Thursday that authorities have blocked roads leading into the infected area and are assisting the sick. He says the situation is now under control, but advised the population to be vigilant and to report to the health center for free treatment if they have symptoms.

Hepatitis E is most commonly transmitted through water contaminated with human excrement. Mainassara says the main symptoms are fever, headache, vomiting, ulcers, abdominal pain and loss of appetite.

The Diffa region in Niger has for years hosted thousands of people displaced by the Nigeria-based Boko Haram Islamic extremists.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A 15-year-old Tennessee girl was rescued near a cabin in a remote part of northern California on Thursday, more than a month after her 50-year-old teacher kidnapped her and set off a nationwide manhunt, authorities said.

Health sciences teacher Tad Cummins surrendered to sheriff's deputies without incident in Cecilville, California, hours after they had set up surveillance on his vehicle in the area, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said. The girl was apparently healthy and unharmed, and authorities said their main concern was her emotional and mental state.

"We couldn't be happier to tell you she will soon be on her way back home to Tennessee," Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director Mark Gwyn said.

FILE - In this undated file photo released by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations shows Tad Cummins in Tennessee. Authorities said a 15-year-old Tennessee girl who disappeared with Cummins, who was her teacher, last month has been found safe in California and the teacher has been arrested. (Tennessee Bureau of Investigations via AP, File)

Cummins faces state charges of aggravated kidnapping and sexual contact with a minor as well as a federal charge of taking a minor across state lines to have sex. If convicted of the federal charge, he faces at least 10 years in prison, acting U.S. Attorney Jack Smith said.

Authorities declined to answer a question on whether the girl went willingly, saying it didn't matter.

"At the end of the day she's 15 years old. She's 15 years old; she's a young girl that's with a grown man that's 50 years old. He needs to be held accountable for kidnapping this girl," Gwyn said.

Authorities received a tip late Wednesday night that the pair may have taken up residence in the woods in Siskiyou County, perhaps for more than a week, bureau spokesman Josh DeVine said. The remote, mountainous area has limited cellphone service and the terrain is difficult to traverse. Snow was still on the ground in some places.

Authorities had earlier said the arrest happened at a commune but later clarified that it occurred in a very remote area and that they were still collecting evidence.

The pair's disappearance March 13 came after Cummins was investigated by the school system when another student reported seeing the then-married teacher kiss the girl at the Culleoka Unit School. Culleoka is a community about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Nashville near the Alabama state line.

"We're so happy that California police worked quickly and were able to find them and get her safe," one of the girl's sisters told The Tennessean.

"I believe the FBI are going to make sure she's healthy before she comes home," she said. "We'll make sure she'll get what therapy she needs and that she's safe, that she knows she's safe."

The Associated Press is not naming the girl or her family members because she is an alleged victim of a sex crime.

Court papers filed recently in the girl's disappearance said she was afraid of the teacher and thought she would face repercussions at school if she resisted him.

A lawyer for the girl's family has said the teacher was allowed to continue working at the school for two weeks after he was reported kissing the girl. Attorney Jason Whatley has said the school system must have not believed the student's report.

The school's investigative files provided to The Associated Press by the attorney show that both Cummins and the girl denied kissing. The teacher, however, acknowledged that the girl was "a really good friend and she does leave her other classes to come see him when she needs someone to calm her down," according to a school report dated Jan. 30.

The report recommended that the girl be taken out of Cummins' class and that he be reprimanded to uphold his professional responsibility. The report also recommended that the administration monitor Cummins' classroom to make sure students weren't there when they weren't supposed to be.

The teacher would later be reprimanded on Feb. 3 by school principal Penny Love after the girl was seen in Cummins' classroom for a little more than half an hour that day. In her letter, Love said the girl being in his classroom was a violation of the principal's order to him.

The school system didn't suspend Cummins until Feb. 6. He was fired about a month later - a day after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued an Amber Alert about the teen.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said it worked tirelessly for the past five weeks, looking into more than 1,500 leads from all 50 states.

Two days after the girl disappeared, surveillance images from a Walmart in Oklahoma City showed Cummins and the girl purchasing food items in the store with cash. The images showed Cummins had altered his hair to appear darker and the girl's hair may have changed to red.

The teacher's wife of 31 years has filed for divorce. Court records show that Jill Cummins sued her then-missing husband on the grounds of irreconcilable differences and inappropriate marital conduct. The wife, who works for the Maury County school system, said she had not seen her husband since March 13. The couple has two children together.

____

Kristin Bender in San Francisco contributed to this report.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - For Prince fans, Friday's one-year anniversary of his shocking death from an accidental drug overdose will be a time for sadness and celebration.

At his Paisley Park home and recording studio-turned-museum outside Minneapolis, four days of events are on tap, ranging from concert performances by his former bandmates to panel discussions on his legacy.

Fans who can't afford those high-priced tickets can head to a street party outside First Avenue, the club he made world famous in "Purple Rain." It'll be like the one held the night of Prince's death last year, when thousands of mourners gathered to hug, cry, dance, laugh and sing along.

Also, the Minnesota Historical Center is staging a special exhibit of Prince memorabilia, including his iconic "Purple Rain" suit.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. Security Council has issued a strongly worded condemnation of the latest North Korean missile launch after the U.S. agreed to Russia's request to include a call for "dialogue" with Pyongyang in the text.

The statement agreed Thursday to demands for an immediate end to the North's nuclear and missile tests and threatens to impose new sanctions. It also expresses the council's "utmost concern" about North Korea's "highly destabilizing behavior and flagrant and provocative defiance" of council resolutions.

The U.S. had accused Russia on Wednesday of blocking the council statement by insisting on including a previous call for "dialogue."

But Russia's deputy ambassador Petr Iliichev told reporters Thursday that the U.S. acted in an "abrupt manner" and said Moscow didn't block the statement and was open to discussions.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Investigators trying to solve the year-old killings of eight family members in Ohio are concerned more reward money hasn't been offered.

The amount for information leading to a conviction remains at $10,000. That's much less than similar recent offers.

In Cleveland, the reward for information about a suspect accused of fatally shooting a man in a recording posted on Facebook quickly hit $50,000. In Indiana, the award in the unsolved February slayings of two teenage girls is more than $230,000.

Charles Reader is the sheriff in Pike County, Ohio. He has raised concerns that alleged large-scale drug activity by one victim is suppressing donations.

Reader pleaded for more donations last week as the one-year anniversary approaches this Saturday.
BALTIMORE (AP) - Baltimore is moving ahead with police reforms mandated by an agreement with the Justice Department under President Barack Obama.

Mayor Catherine Pugh announced Thursday's launch of a website that outlines the process. The next step is to choose residents of the city for a new police oversight committee.

A federal judge recently approved the agreement, despite objections from President Donald Trump's Justice Department.

Online applications are being taken through May 22, and by July, the panel should begin reviewing the city's current civilian oversight process.

The city also is looking for an independent monitor who would be approved by the court to assess whether the consent decree is being implemented and publish regular reports on the city's progress.

___

Website: http://consentdecree.baltimorecity.gov/
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LONDON (AP) - Two of Israel's most renowned authors and an Argentine first-time novelist are among six finalists for the Man Booker International Prize for fiction.

David Grossman's "A Horse Walks Into a Bar," Amos Oz's "Judas" and Samanta Schweblin's "Fever Dream" are on a six-book shortlist announced Thursday for the 50,000 pound ($64,000) prize.

Edinburgh International Book Festival director Nick Barley, who chaired the judging panel, said Grossman's portrait of a failing standup comic and Oz's story of history and betrayal were masterworks by mature writers with big international reputations.

Schweblin is comparatively unknown. Barley said her beautiful yet nightmarish debut novel "Fever Dream" is "a rush" of a novel that can be read quickly but leaves the reader shaken.

The other contenders are French writer Mathias Enard's insomniac odyssey "Compass," Norwegian author Roy Jacobsen's island family epic "The Unseen" and Danish novelist Dorthe Nors' tale of driving lessons and self-doubt "Mirror, Shoulder, Signal."

The winner will be announced in London on June 14.

The award is the international counterpart to Britain's prestigious Booker Prize and is open to books published in any language that have been translated into English. The prize money is shared evenly between the author and their translator.

The judges read 125 eligible books, and Barley said the six finalists were those with "the greatest generosity of spirit and the best empathy toward their characters - books which help (us) to understand that human beings are imperfect, fallible, fascinating creatures."

The prize was previously a career honor, but changed last year to recognize a single book in a bid to increase the profile of international fiction in English-speaking countries, where translated literature forms only a small part of publishers' output.

Last year's Man Booker International winner, "The Vegetarian" by South Korea's Han Kang, has sold 160,000 copies in its British edition alone.

"I think international fiction is on a roll," Barley said. "At a time of bombastic politics and the building of walls, we need to be able to get inside the minds of people who have other perspectives, who think in other languages.

"I'd like to send Donald Trump this shortlist for his birthday."
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A Virginia man has been charged in the shooting death of his 4-year-old son.

Norfolk police said Thursday in a statement that 26-year-old Rayvon Messer is charged with second-degree murder.

Police say paramedics responded Wednesday night to find the boy outside a home in the Ocean View area of the city. Rayvon A. Messer Jr. died from the gunshot wound shortly after being rushed to a hospital.

This booking photo made available by the Norfolk Police, Va., shows Rayvon A. Messer on Thursday, April 20, 2017. Authorities have charged Messer in the shooting death of his 3-year-old-son. Messer is being held without bail. (Norfolk Police via AP)

Police haven't released any more details about the circumstances surrounding the shooting, which is under investigation.

Messer is being held without bail. He's also charged with using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

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This story has been updated to correct that Norfolk police now say the child was 4 years old, not 3 years old.
TIRANA, Albania (AP) - Albania's opposition says it will block the country's roads as part of its two-month campaign to have a caretaker Cabinet put in place to govern until the parliamentary election in June.

Lulzim Basha, leader of the main opposition Democratic party, called on supporters to block the national roads countrywide at noon on Monday.

European Parliament negotiators are expected to arrive in the capital of Tirana that day to mediate between the governing left-wing coalition and the center-right opposition.

The opposition so far has declined to negotiate unless Prime Minister Edi Rama resigns.

The opposition alleges the sitting Cabinet will manipulate the vote and also wants to change the election date from June 18. Since mid-February, its supporters have blocked the main boulevard in Tirana and pitched a tent outside Rama's office.
PARIS (AP) - A gunman opened fire on police on Paris' iconic Champs-Elysees boulevard Thursday night, killing one officer and wounding three people before police shot and killed him. The Islamic State group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack, which hit just three days before a tense presidential election.

Security already has been a dominant theme in the campaign, and the violence on the sparkling avenue threatened to weigh on voters' decisions. Candidates canceled or rescheduled final campaign events ahead of Sunday's first round vote.

Investigators searched a home early Friday in an eastern suburb of Paris believed linked to the attack. A police document obtained by The Associated Press identifies the address searched in the town of Chelles as the family home of Karim Cheurfi, a 39-year-old with a criminal record.

Bystanders raise their arms as police seal off the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker, Thursday, April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard. Many police vehicles can be seen on the avenue that passes many of the city's most iconic landmarks. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Police tape surrounded the quiet, middle-class neighborhood in Chelles, and worried neighbors expressed surprise at the searches. Archive reports by French newspaper Le Parisien say that Cheurfi was convicted of attacking a police officer in 2001.

Authorities are trying to determine whether "one or more people" might have helped the attacker, Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told reporters at the scene of the shooting.

One officer was killed and two police officers were seriously wounded when the attacker emerged from a car and used an automatic weapon to shoot at officers outside a Marks & Spencer's department store at the center of the Champs-Elysees, anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins said.

A female foreign tourist also was wounded, Molins said.

The Islamic State group's claim of responsibility just a few hours after the attack came unusually swiftly for the extremist group, which has been losing territory in Iraq and Syria.

In a statement from its Amaq news agency, the group gave a pseudonym for the shooter, Abu Yusuf al-Beljiki, indicating he was Belgian or had lived in Belgium. Belgian authorities said they had no information about the suspect. IS described the shootings as an attack "in the heart of Paris."

The attacker had been flagged as an extremist, according to two police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.

Brandet said officers were "deliberately" targeted, as has happened repeatedly to French security forces in recent years, including preceding the 2012 election.

Police and soldiers sealed off the area, ordering tourists back into hotels and blocking people from approaching the scene.

Emergency vehicles blocked the wide Champs-Elysees, an avenue lined with boutiques and normally packed with cars and tourists that cuts across central Paris between the Arc de Triomphe and the Tuileries Gardens. Subway stations were closed off.

The gunfire sent scores of tourists fleeing into side streets.

"They were running, running," said 55-year-old Badi Ftaiti, who lives in the area. "Some were crying. There were tens, maybe even hundreds of them."

French President Francois Hollande said he was convinced the circumstances of the attack in a country pointed to a terrorist act. Hollande held an emergency meeting with the prime minister Thursday night and planned to convene the defense council Friday morning.

The incident recalled two recent attacks on soldiers providing security at prominent locations around Paris: one at the Louvre museum in February and one at Orly airport last month.

Speaking in Washington during a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, U.S. President Donald Trump said the shooting "looks like another terrorist attack" and sent condolences to France.

A French television station hosting an event with the 11 candidates running for president briefly interrupted its broadcast to report the shootings.

Conservative contender Francois Fillon, who has campaigned against "Islamic totalitarianism," said on France 2 television that he was canceling his planned campaign stops Friday.

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who campaigns against immigration and Islamic fundamentalism, took to Twitter to offer her sympathy for law enforcement officers "once again targeted." She canceled a minor campaign stop, but scheduled another.

Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron offered his thoughts to the family of the dead officer.

Socialist Benoit Hamon tweeted his "full support" to police against terrorism.

The two top finishers in Sunday's election will advance to a runoff on May 7.

___

Associated Press Writers Angela Charlton and Raphael Satter in Paris, Jeff Schaeffer and Nadine Achoui-Lesage in Chelles, France, and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.

Police seal off the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker, Thursday, April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard. Many police vehicles can be seen on the avenue that passes many of the city's most iconic landmarks. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu)

Police officers take positions near the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker, Thursday, April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard. Many police vehicles can be seen on the avenue that passes many of the city's most iconic landmarks. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Police take positions near the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker, Thursday, April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard. Many police vehicles can be seen on the avenue that passes many of the city's most iconic landmarks. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu)

A police officer stands guard after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker on the Champs Elysees in Paris, France, Thursday, April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard. Many police vehicles can be seen on the avenue that passes many of the city's most iconic landmarks. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Forensic experts investigate the crime scene after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France, Friday, April 21, 2017. An attacker with an automatic weapon opened fire on police on Paris' iconic Champs-Elysees Thursday night, killing one officer and seriously wounding two others before police shot and killed him. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu)

This photo provided by the AP on the condition that its source not be revealed, shows Karim Cheurfi. A gunman opened fire on police on Paris' iconic Champs-Elysees boulevard Thursday night, April 20, 2017. Police have searched a home in a suburb east of Paris believed linked to the attack on police on the Champs-Elysees. A police document obtained by The Associated Press identifies the address searched in the town of Chelles as the family home of Karim Cheurfi, a 39-year-old with a police record. (AP Photo)

Police officers take positions near the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker, Thursday, April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard. Many police vehicles can be seen on the avenue that passes many of the city's most iconic landmarks. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu)

Forensic experts and police officers examine evidence from a police van on the Champs Elysees in Paris, France, after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker, Friday, April 21, 2017. An attacker with an automatic weapon opened fire on police on Paris' iconic Champs-Elysees Thursday night, killing one officer and seriously wounding two others before police shot and killed him. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

The car belonging to an attacker is towed away from the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with the attacker, Friday, April 21, 2017. An attacker with an automatic weapon opened fire on police on Paris' iconic Champs-Elysees Thursday night, killing one officer and seriously wounding two others before police shot and killed him. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Police forces take positions on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker, Thursday, April 20, 2017. An attacker with an automatic weapon opened fire on police on Paris' iconic Champs-Elysees Thursday night, killing one officer and seriously wounding two others before police shot and killed him. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu)

Police seal off the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker, Thursday, April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard. Many police vehicles can be seen on the avenue that passes many of the city's most iconic landmarks. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A police officer stands guard after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker on the Champs Elysees in Paris, France, Thursday, April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard. Many police vehicles can be seen on the avenue that passes many of the city's most iconic landmarks. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Police seal off the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker, Thursday, April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard. Many police vehicles can be seen on the avenue that passes many of the city's most iconic landmarks. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

In this image made from video, police attend the scene after an incident on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, Thursday April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard. (AP Photo)

This image made from AP video shows police attending an incident on the Champs Elysees in Paris in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker in a shooting, Thursday April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard. Many police vehicles can be seen on the avenue that passes many of the city's most iconic landmarks. (AP Photo)

In this image made from video, police attend the scene after an incident on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, Thursday April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard and the area has been evacuated. (AP Photo)

In this image made from Associated Press video, French President, Francois Hollande, addresses the media in Paris Thursday, April 20, 2017. Hollande says he is convinced the circumstances surrounding the attack on Paris police officers points to a terrorist act. Hollande said after one officer was killed and two others seriously wounded on the grand Champs-Elysees boulevard Thursday night he is "convinced" the investigation indicates terrorism. (AP Photo)

Bystanders are frisked by police officers near the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker, Thursday, April 20, 2017. An attacker with an automatic weapon opened fire on police on Paris' iconic Champs-Elysees Thursday night, killing one officer and seriously wounding two others before police shot and killed him. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - An officer fatally shot a Delaware man wanted on an attempted murder charge after the suspect pointed a gun at the officer during a foot chase, police said Thursday.

New Castle County Police identified 21-year-old Keith Price of Wilmington as the man killed in the shooting outside a church a day earlier.

Price was wanted in an April 9 shooting, and authorities had obtained first-degree attempted murder warrants for his arrest, department spokesman Officer First Class JP Piser said in a statement.

This image provided by the Delaware Department of Justice shows Keith Price. An officer fatally shot a Delaware man wanted on an attempted murder charge after the suspect pointed a gun at the officer during a foot chase, police said Thursday, April 20, 2017. New Castle County Police identified Price as the man killed in the shooting outside a church a day earlier. (Delaware Department of Justice via AP)

Authorities located Price, who was driving through Wilmington alone Wednesday afternoon, and two officers tried to stop and arrest him.

The officers got out of their vehicles, but Price refused to comply with their orders and drove his car toward one of them, Piser said. One officer fired their gun.

Price then crashed into an empty police vehicle before driving away from the scene, the statement said. The officers pursued him for about two miles until he crashed into uninvolved motorists in the Bellefonte area of New Castle County.

Price then fled on foot to the side of a nearby church, where he hid in large bushes, Piser said. As one of the officers pursued him, Price "reappeared and pointed a handgun at the officer," who shot him, the statement said.

Authorities provided emergency medical attention, but Price was pronounced dead at the scene. Police say a handgun was recovered from him.

Price had prior convictions in 2015 for prohibited possession of a firearm and carrying a concealed deadly weapon, Delaware Department of Justice spokesman Carl Kanefsky said.

The two officers involved, identified only as 18- and 3-year members of the Division of Police, were taken to an area hospital for treatment of undisclosed injuries. Both were released from the hospital Wednesday night.

The motorists whose vehicle was struck by Price's reported no injuries, Piser said.

Additionally, a county officer who was headed to assist was involved in a crash. That officer was uninjured, and the occupants of the other vehicle were taken to a hospital and treated for injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.

Per department policy, both officers will be on paid administrative leave while investigations are conducted. Each officer fired a weapon during the incident, said Piser, who added it was too soon to say how many times the weapons were fired.

Piser said he could not release the race of anyone involved, nor the identities of the officers.

The department's patrol officers wear body cameras, and that footage is being reviewed, he said.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Eager for a victory, the White House expressed confidence Thursday that a breakthrough on the mired Republican health care bill could emerge in the House next week. The chamber's GOP leaders, burned by a March debacle on the measure, were dubious and signs were scant that an emerging plan was gaining enough votes to succeed.

A senior adviser to President Donald Trump said the White House was hopeful the House could hold a vote in the middle of next week, after Congress returns from spring recess. The White House optimism is driven largely by a deal brokered by leaders of the conservative Freedom Caucus and the moderate Tuesday Group aimed at giving states more flexibility to pull out of "Obamacare" provisions.

The White House official acknowledged that it was unclear exactly how many votes Republicans had. But the official said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has told the White House that a vote could come together quickly.

But GOP lawmakers and aides to party leaders, conservatives and moderates alike were skeptical that the House would vote next week on the health legislation. They cited the higher priority of passing a spending bill within days to avert a government shutdown, uncertainty over details of the developing agreement and a need to sell the idea to lawmakers.

Many also expressed doubts that the compromise discussed by the two groups of Republicans would win over enough lawmakers to put the bill over the top, especially moderates. The bill would repeal President Barack Obama's health care law and replace it with less generous subsidies and eased insurance requirements.

"Every time they move the scrimmage line, you risk losing other people who were 'yes' but this changes them to a 'no,'" Rep. Dan Donovan, R-N.Y., said Thursday of attempts to win over one end of the GOP spectrum without losing votes from the other side. The Staten Island centrist said he remained a no vote, partly because the legislation would increase Medicaid costs for New York City's five boroughs.

The White House official and most lawmakers and GOP congressional aides who spoke were not authorized to discuss the internal process publicly and insisted on anonymity.

An outline of a deal has been crafted by Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who heads the hard-line Freedom Caucus, and New Jersey Rep. Tom MacArthur, a Tuesday Group leader. Vice President Mike Pence also played a role in shaping that plan, Republicans say.

The plan would deliver a win to moderates by amending the GOP bill to restore Obama's requirement that insurers cover specified services like maternity care. But in a bid for conservative support, states would be allowed to obtain federal waivers to abandon that obligation.

In addition, states could obtain waivers to an Obama prohibition against insurers charging sick people higher premiums than customers who are healthy. To get those waivers, states would need to have high-risk pools - government-backed insurance for the most seriously ill people, a mechanism that critics say has often failed for lack of sufficient financing.

"It looks to me like we're headed in the right direction," Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., a Freedom Caucus member, said Thursday. He said that assuming the outline is translated into legislative text he backs and is added to the health care bill, he would now support the legislation and believes most of Freedom Caucus' three dozen members would also back it.

The Tuesday Group has roughly 50 members. But they don't necessarily vote as a bloc, and it is unclear how many colleagues MacArthur would bring with him to such an agreement.

The White House is anxious to pass legislation quickly, partly because Trump will likely hit his 100th day in office without a having signed a major piece of legislation. The White House is eager to cap the stretch with a significant achievement that could give the president a burst of momentum.

But House GOP leaders face the same problem that's plagued them for seven years of trying to concoct a plan for repealing Obama's 2010 law: The party's conservatives and moderates are at odds over how to do it. With Democrats solidly opposed, Republicans can lose no more than 21 House votes to prevail, and Ryan short-circuited a planned vote last month because more than that would have defected.

That was a major embarrassment to Ryan and Trump, and House leaders are loath to bring a revised health care bill to the House floor unless they are convinced it would pass.

Ryan sent a mixed message about the bill's prospects in remarks Wednesday to reporters in London.

"It's difficult to do. We're very close," he said, adding, "It's just going to take us a little time."

___

Associated Press writers Julie Bykowicz, Catherine Lucey and Erica Werner contributed to this report.
A man suspected of fatally shooting an Oklahoma deputy was charged Thursday with murder, and the district attorney later vowed she'll seek the death penalty against him because of the "particularly heinous, atrocious and cruel" nature of the crime.

Nathan LeForce, 45, was charged Thursday in Logan County with first-degree murder, larceny of a vehicle and armed robbery, court records show. Those records don't list an attorney for him, and he remains jailed.

Logan County Deputy David Wade, 40, died Tuesday after he was shot while serving an eviction notice at a home near Mulhall, about 50 miles north of Oklahoma City. Wade was shot several times, including in the face, and returned fire before radioing in for help.

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Noble County, Okla, Sheriff's Office, shows Nathan LeForce. Leforce, the suspect in the Tuesday, April 18, 2017 fatal shooting of Logan County Sheriff's Deputy David Wade, was charged Thursday, April 20, 2017, with first-degree murder, larceny of a vehicle and armed robbery. (Noble County Sheriff's Office via AP)

Video from Wade's body-worn camera captured LeForce approaching Wade with a raised handgun and firing at the deputy, according to charging documents filed in court Thursday. After the first shot, as "Wade goes down and is obviously suffering from a gunshot wound," several more gunshots could be heard in rapid succession, the documents said.

Authorities said LeForce then took Wade's patrol vehicle and drove at a high speed to a convenience store, where he stole another car at gunpoint, according to the affidavit. That car was found abandoned near Guthrie, where LeForce was later found hiding in an outbuilding and surrendered to police.

After LeForce appeared before a judge, Logan County District Attorney Laura Thomas said in a statement to The Associated Press that she'll prepare a death penalty case because of the brutality of the crime.

"Not all first degree murder cases qualify for the death penalty in Oklahoma. This is one that does," Thomas said in a statement. "I'm angry our deputy was murdered. I'm angered at that portion of society that is already looking for a way to justify the unjustifiable and finding excuses for the inexcusable."

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said earlier Thursday that the gun used in the shooting has not been found. Agency spokeswoman Jessica Brown said law enforcement agencies are still searching for the gun to find out if it had been used in other crimes and to prevent a child from finding it first.
ST. LOUIS (AP) - A gunman opened fire on two utility workers in a residential St. Louis neighborhood Thursday, killing both of them before fatally shooting himself.

The shooting happened around 11:15 a.m. on the western edge of the city. Police say the gunman walked up to the two male workers for Laclede Gas Co. and began shooting, then turned the gun on himself.

The reason for the shooting was a mystery. Both Laclede Gas and another utility, the electric company Ameren Missouri, said they pulled workers from the streets for the rest of the day as a precaution.

Police investigate a triple shooting in which two Laclede Gas workers were shot and killed in St. Louis on Thursday, April 20, 2017. Police say the shooter also shot and killed himself. (JB Forbes/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

"We have no motive at this point in the investigation," police Capt. Mary Warnecke said. "It does not appear words were exchanged."

Manyika McCoy, 37, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the workers were connecting gas service to a home she was moving into. One was using a jackhammer and another was in a backhoe. She was at her mother's house nearby when, she said, she saw a man walking purposefully down the street toward the workers.

"I heard pop, pop," McCoy said. The worker in the backhoe "was saying, 'Wait, wait," and the guy just kept shooting at him," McCoy said. The worker eventually collapsed in the street, she said.

The shooting came two days after a man wanted in the slaying of a security guard gunned down three men, including a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. employee, in unprovoked attacks on the streets of downtown Fresno, California. Kori Ali Muhammad, 39, who is black, was arrested shortly after the rampage, and posts on what appeared to be his Facebook page discussed wanting to kill white people.

Police described the St. Louis shooter as black, and both victims as white, but there was no indication the shooting was racially motivated.

Names of the victims and the shooter have not been released. Authorities say the workers were both men, one in his 20s and the other in his 50s.

Laclede Gas is a natural gas distribution utility that serves the St. Louis area and portions of southeast Missouri.

"We are shocked and grieving today after two of our Laclede Gas employees were shot and killed this morning at one of our job sites," Laclede Gas said in a statement. "We are connecting with their loved ones now. And, we are working with police to understand more about this crisis. We are heartbroken, as you can imagine, and ask that you hold these employees, their families, their friends, Laclede Gas workers and our communities in your thoughts and prayers."

Laclede Gas pulled all non-emergency workers from the streets for the rest of the day as a precaution, the company said. Ameren Missouri Senior Vice President Mark Birk also cited precaution in the decision to bring in all crews working in St. Louis to an operations center.

St. Louis has one of the nation's highest homicide rates. The city recorded 188 killings in both 2015 and 2016 and had 45 this year through April 18, according to police statistics.

New Mayor Lyda Krewson has said creating a safer city is among her top priorities. On Wednesday, her first full day in office, she announced that Police Chief Sam Dotson was retiring, though he will stay on as a consultant for one year.
TORONTO (AP) - A Canadian government minister said Thursday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's administration is looking forward to trade negotiations with Donald Trump despite the U.S. president's recent ramp up of criticism of Canadian policy.

Trump made his most critical comments yet about Canadian trade earlier in the day.

"We can't let Canada or anybody else take advantage and do what they did to our workers and to our farmers," Trump said in the Oval Office. "Included in there is lumber, timber and energy. We're going to have to get to the negotiating table with Canada very, very quickly."

President Donald Trump listens as Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The president took issue with Canadian changes on milk classification that he said have put farmers in Wisconsin and New York state out of business. Canada changed its policy on pricing domestic milk to cover more dairy ingredients, leading to lower prices for Canadian products including ultra-filtered milk that compete with U.S. milk.

"Canada, what they've done to our dairy farm workers, is a disgrace. It's a disgrace," Trump said.

Canadian Natural Resource Minister Jim Carr told The Associated Press that the government will make its arguments about trade based on facts.

"Decision makers make statements that indicate a position that they intend to take and we're in the business of responding to positions that are actually taken," Carr said when asked about Trump's comments. "Our government looks forward to sitting down with the United States. We will judge American policy when American policy is announced."

Carr said Canada's government knows it can make a very persuasive case for the integration of the two nations' economies when the sides meet for trade talks in a few months. He said they can always look to improve the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Trump said this week he would make "some very big changes" to the NAFTA treaty with Canada and Mexico or "we are going to get rid of NAFTA for once and for all."

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland noted in a statement in response to Trump that any increase of trade barriers between the two countries would significantly affect jobs in the U.S. and Canada.

Trudeau is worried about Trump's protectionist talk and has repeatedly sent his ministers to the U.S. to talk about the importance of the trade relationship. Carr will be in New York next week.

"It is part of the government of Canada's strategy to make arguments and make friends," he said.

When Trudeau visited the White House in February, Trump praised the "outstanding" trade relationship between the United States and Canada, saying he would only be "tweaking" it going forward.

Relations with the U.S. are crucial for Canada, since more than 75 percent of its exports go to the U.S. Eighteen percent of U.S. exports go to Canada.

"Canada would enter any negotiations with the objective to make it better for both countries," Carr said. "We have such a long and fruitful history of trade with the United States."
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley accused Iran and its ally Hezbollah on Thursday of conspiring to destabilize the Middle East - a charge "categorically" rejected by Iran's U.N. envoy as a misleading propaganda campaign perpetrated by Israel and others in the region.

Haley is the current Security Council president and she asked members to focus on the factors causing conflicts across the region during their monthly meeting on the situation in the Middle East instead of engaging in what she called routine "Israel bashing."

Her targets at the open meeting, where over 50 countries spoke, were Iran and Hezbollah who are supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad, training "deadly militias" in Iraq and arming Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Italian UN peacekeepers watch journalists during a media trip organized by Hezbollah to show journalists the defensive measures established by the Israeli forces to prevent against any Hezbollah infiltration into Israel, at the Lebanese-Israeli border near the village of Labbouneh, south Lebanon, Thursday, April 20, 2017. Hezbollah organized a media tour along the border with Israel meant to provide an insight into defensive measures established by the Israeli forces along the southern frontier in the past year in preparation for any future conflict.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

"For decades, they have committed terrorist acts across the region," Haley said.

"Iran is using Hezbollah to advance its regional aspirations," she said. "They are working together to expand extremist ideologies in the Middle East. This is a threat that should be dominating our discussion at this Security Council."

Iranian Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo minced no words when it was his turn to speak, accusing the U.S. and Israel of seeking "to remove the Palestinian issue that is central to all the conflicts in the Middle East from these open debates."

As for the U.S. accusations, he dismissed them as "unsubstantiated allegations ... designed and perpetrated hysterically by Israel and certain countries in the region including those who fully supported Saddam Hussein's aggression against Iran." Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations backed Saddam in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

Only one of the 14 other Security Council members mentioned Iran while they all talked about the current worsening state of the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as Syria.

Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, didn't mention Iran either - just Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Yemen.

He stressed that a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "remains a potent symbol and rallying cry that is easily misappropriated and exploited by extremist groups."

Haley thanked him "for going beyond the usual Israel bashing" and looking at the broader issues.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, the only council member to mention Iran, also accused that nation of playing "a destabilizing role in the region," especially in Syria. He cited a U.N. report saying Iran supplies all the weapons and missiles to the Assad government.

But Rycroft also focused on this year's 50th anniversary of the Six Day War between the Arabs and Israel.

"This year either we move towards peace, with the strongest support of the region and the international community, or we face an uncertain and dangerous future," he warned. "Unless the parties show leadership, including the willingness to make tough compromises, the risk of terrorism and instability will increase. Israelis and Palestinians cannot afford another 50 years of that."

Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador, Petr Iliichev, said Moscow wanted "to express our categorical disagreement with the attempts to tailor this meeting to the domestic context and exclusively to American foreign policy focus."

He questioned why the U.S. in a "concept note" for the meeting remained silent on the Palestinian question and didn't mention threats from extremist groups like the Islamic State and the former Nusra Front "who cause suffering to civilians in Syria, Iraq and Libya."

"Indeed we're invited to consider as terrorists those who are fighting these groups," he said.

As for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he called for coordinated efforts on a Middle East settlement and repeated Russia's offer to host a meeting in Moscow between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to start direct negotiations.

Haley, predictably, got strong backing from Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon.

"Where there is terror. Where there is death. Where there is complete disregard for human life, there is Iran," Danon told the council.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also sharply criticized Iran and Hezbollah.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador, thanked almost every speaker for keeping the Palestinian question at the center of the debate and speaking out strongly in support of a two-state solution.

A Hezbollah fighter holds an RPG as he takes his position between orange trees, at the coastal border town of Naqoura, south Lebanon, Thursday, April 20, 2017. Hezbollah organized a media tour along the border with Israel meant to provide an insight into defensive measures established by the Israeli forces along the southern frontier in the past year in preparation for any future conflict. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
George Osborne has said he will carry on fighting for an open, tolerant Britain as he announced he is to step down as an MP to focus on his new role as editor of the London Evening Standard.

The former chancellor made clear he intended to continue to play an active role in public life and hinted at a future political comeback saying he was leaving Parliament for now.

His comments will be seen as a warning to Theresa May  who unceremoniously sacked him when she became Prime Minister  that he is prepared to be a thorn in her side.

I won't be standing at this election. My letter to the President of the Tatton Conservative Association explains why https://t.co/wP2AhM6777  George Osborne (@George_Osborne) April 19, 2017

Our country has got some big decisions to make now about the kind of Britain we want to be. Those values of openness, tolerance, diversity, enterprise  they are values I hold dear, he told BBC News.

They are ones I fought for in government as chancellor, fought for in Parliament as the MP for Tatton, and now I am going to fight for them in the editors chair at the Evening Standard.

Mr Osborne has previously criticised Mrs Mays plans for Brexit for concentrating too much on controlling immigration at the expense of economic prosperity.

Announcing his decision not to stand in the forthcoming general election in a letter to constituents in his Cheshire seat, Mr Osborne said he was looking forward to the new challenges he was facing.

I am stepping down from the House of Commons  for now. But I will remain active in the debate about our countrys future and on the issues I care about, he said.

George Osborne on a campaign visit in 2015 (Joe Giddens/PA)

Its still too early to be writing my memoirs. At the age of 45, I dont want to spend the rest of my life just being an ex-chancellor.

Mr Osborne had faced intense criticism for taking on the demanding role of editing a London newspaper while remaining MP for a northern constituency.

Since he was removed from office by Mrs May last year, Mr Osborne has declared almost 1 million in speaking fees in the Register of Members Interests.

In addition he is set to earn 650,000-a-year working one-day-a-week as an adviser to the US investment giant Blackrock while receiving 120,000 as a fellow at the McCain Institute in Washington DC.

His salary at the Standard has not been disclosed. His departure from Parliament comes after Mrs May made clear there would be no early return to frontline politics for Mr Osborne following his prominent role in the unsuccessful Remain campaign in which he was accused of exaggerating the dangers to the economy of Brexit.
The SNP has been urged to get off the independence referendum merry-go-round and focus on the economy of Scotland as the party claimed it was the only real opposition to a Conservative Government.

SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson said the SNP was the only alternative to the destructive policies of the Tories as the parties began manoeuvring ahead of a snap general election.

However Labours only Scottish MP, Ian Murray, said it was time to concentrate on the economy rather than focusing on a future Scottish independence referendum.

It came as Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon travelled to London to make the case for the SNP ahead of the general election on June 8.

Scotland's First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon with the party's Westminster leader Angus Robertson (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Speaking during Scottish questions in the Commons, Mr Murray (Edinburgh South) said: Given in the last quarter the Scottish economy contracted by 0.2%, isnt it about time we got off the independence referendum merry-go-round and indeed a general election, and got the Prime Minister and the First Minister to concentrate on whats important, and thats the economy of Scotland?

Scottish secretary David Mundell pledged to make a positive and passionate case for the UK during the forthcoming general election and criticised Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for saying there was no problem with a future independence referendum.

Mr Robertson told MPs: At least all of us on this side of the House can agree that the greatest contribution from Scotland is to show that there is actually an alternative to the destructive policies of this UK Tory Government.

Asked PM Theresa May why she is running scared of a TV election debate with @NicolaSturgeon. She didn't answer the question. #PMQs #GE17  Angus Robertson (@AngusRobertson) April 19, 2017

Its worth remembering that in Scotland we have free prescriptions, free eye tests, free childcare, free university tuition, we have scrapped bridge tolls, we have reopened railways, we have invested in infrastructure, we are building more council houses than any UK nation.

That is what the SNP has delivered in Government in Scotland. Does he not agree this stands in marked contrast to the Tories mismanagement and destruction of public services south of the border?

Mr Mundell hit back, saying that Scotlands education system standards were slipping and waiting times for the health service were on the rise.

He added: I dont believe the SNP Government in Scotland is focusing on the day job. They are focusing on their obsession  independence.

Antoinette Sandbach (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Earlier, Conservative Antoinette Sandbach (Eddisbury) warned that divisive policies from the nationalists could threaten the security of the UK as a whole.

She asked Mr Mundell: Do you agree that Scotland plays a crucial role in defending my constituents in Eddisbury and the whole of the United Kingdom from growing threats at sea, in the air and on land, and the divisive policies of the nationalists threaten that crucial role?

He replied: I absolutely agree with you. Scotland is on the front line of defending the United Kingdom from these growing threats at sea, in the air and on land.

It is the home to essential defence capability and our commitment to the future of defence in Scotland in underlined by increasing investment in better infrastructure for our armed forces, helping them keep the whole of the United Kingdom safe.
Theresa May has defended herself against accusations of political opportunism and broken promises over her u-turn on plans for a snap general election.

The Prime Minister, speaking in the Commons before MPs vote on plans for a June 8 election, insisted it was the right thing for Britain to hold the poll, despite repeatedly promising not to call an early election.

Labour MP Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under Lyme) accused Mrs May of having a loose and complicated relationship with telling the truth, although he was told to withdraw his comments by the Speaker.

Commons Speaker John Bercow (PA)

Mr Farrelly said: The Prime Minister pledged time and time again not to call an early election.

In her Easter message she talked greatly of her Christian values.

Could the Prime Minister explain, then, why she has such a loose and complicated relationship with telling the truth?

Speaker John Bercow said the comments were out of order and ordered him to withdraw them.

Mrs May, in reply, said she had given very clear indication of her intentions and had delivered on the mandate given to her by the EU referendum.

Prime Minister Theresa May outside 10 Downing Street as she announces snap UK #GeneralElection https://t.co/zj71r7Xf3C : Philip Toscano pic.twitter.com/ZKlQTIY4GT  Alamy Editorial (@Alamy_Editorial) April 18, 2017

SNP MP Stewart McDonald (Glasgow South) accused the Prime Minister of having a brass neck to call for a snap poll when the Conservative Party was facing an investigation into expenses spending during the last election.

Some 14 police forces have sent files to the Crown Prosecution Service, which are understood to refer to more than 30 people, over allegations of breaching spending limits in the 2015 general election.

Intervening on Mrs May, Mr McDonald said: Doesnt it take some brass neck to call a general election when you are facing allegations of buying the last one?

Just asked PM, does it not take some brass neck to call an election whilst facing allegations of buying the last one. Said Q 'not worthy'.  Stewart McDonald MP (@StewartMcDonald) April 19, 2017

However Mrs May brushed the intervention aside, saying it was not worthy.

Veteran Labour MP David Winnick also pressed the Prime Minister on her u-turn, which he said would damage her reputation for political integrity.

The Walsall North MP asked: Are you at all concerned that after having tried your best to build up a reputation for political integrity, both as home secretary and Prime Minister, you are now seen, after all the denials that there would be a snap election, simply as a political opportunist?

Theresa May speaks during Prime Minister's Questions (PA)

In reply, Mrs May said: Ive not denied the fact that when I came into this role as Prime Minister, I was clear what the country needed was stability and they also needed a government that was going to show that it would deliver on the vote that people have taken on the referendum on leaving the EU.

We have provided that over the last nine months.

Now it is clear to me that if we are going to have the strongest possible hand in negotiations, we should have an election now.
Jose Mourinho has warned Anthony Martial great potential is not enough as the Manchester United manager needs the forward to start delivering what he wants.

Having started so impressively after his big-money move from Monaco in 2015, the 21-year-olds second season at Old Trafford has been a struggle.

Martial has scored seven goals this term and been left out of the United squad entirely on occasions, including Sundays impressive 2-0 win against Premier League leaders Chelsea.

Mourinho confirmed his omission was down to dissatisfaction rather than injury, calling on Martial to take a leaf out of 19-year-old team-mate Marcus Rashfords book.

You know, we have been together for almost 10 months or something like that, the United boss said ahead of Thursdays Europa League quarter-final second leg with Anderlecht.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho wants to see more from Anthony Martial (Nick Potts/PA)

The same way I know the players much better now, the players they should also know me much better now.

The same way I know what the players like, I think the players also know what I like.

The same way I have to go in the direction of the players, the players they have also to come in my direction and thats the point.

Thats why Marcus Rashford, even without scoring goals, even without being since September scoring a goal in the Premier League, even without that he was always a player that I trust.

"Sergio is very experienced, and he's playing really well."



The #MUFC manager praises Romero, and says he will start tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/WRrWdxPbpn  Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 19, 2017

He was always a player that I play, always a player that I support because he was always coming in my direction, in the direction of what I want from a player, what I want as a Manchester United player, so I think it is about that.

It is about getting to know each other better and better and better, and go in the direction of the things that we like.

So do I think Anthony is a player with great potential? Yes, I think.

Jose Mourinho tells reporters Mata, Jones and Smalling remain unavailable for #MUFC v Anderlecht but Rooney could be on the bench. pic.twitter.com/yZONlcDpRY  Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 19, 2017

Do I think he can play successfully for me? Yes, I think. But he needs to give me things that I like very much.

It is not the first time Mourinho has expressed frustration about Martial after earlier this month criticising the forward, along with Uniteds other attackers, for their toothlessness in the 0-0 draw with West Brom  the France internationals last start.

Rooney among the 22 players training ahead of #MUFC's Europa League quarter-final with Anderlecht. Mata, Smalling & Jones absent as expected pic.twitter.com/72SYg0vcBM  Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) April 19, 2017

The attacking quartet that day also included Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who last week in Belgium scored in a fourth successive European trip as United drew 1-1 with Anderlecht.

The away goal could be crucial in this quarter-final clash but the Armenian appears to be another attacking player frustrating Mourinho, having struggled to replicate his Europa League form on the domestic front.

Twice asked if Mkhitaryan was fulfilling his full potential, on both occasions Mourinho said: In the Europa League, yes.
Jeremy Corbyn has ruled out backing a second referendum on the final Brexit deal after suggestions Labour could include the policy in their general election manifesto.

A spokesman for the Labour leader said: A second referendum is not our policy and it wont be in our manifesto.

It comes after shadow chancellor John McDonnell on Wednesday said the Government should put the deal to Parliament and possibly to the country overall and Mr Corbyn dodged a question on the issue in his first keynote speech of the campaign.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell

Labour was reportedly considering calling for a second referendum to win over Remain voters who may be tempted to switch to the Liberal Democrats, who have promised a national poll on the final UK-EU deal.

Following his first major election speech on Thursday morning, Mr Corbyn was asked whether he was considering or would rule out a second referendum on any agreement reached after withdrawal negotiations with the EU.

But he appeared to dodge the question, replying: The European Union negotiations are going on and we set out our (red) lines on the negotiation.

Jeremy Corbyn, introduced as the next UK prime minister, gets about a minute long standing ovation before speaking pic.twitter.com/0LDO9L1QZE  Arj Singh (@singharj) April 20, 2017

Primarily, its about getting and retaining tariff-free access to the European market.

We havent threatened to turn Britain into an offshore tax haven on the shores of Europe, undermining the European economy.

Instead, Labour wants a good process by which we continue to trade with Europe.

He added: Walking away and trading under World Trade Organisation conditions will mean the manufacturing industry in this country would be severely damaged.

After the speech, a spokeswoman for the leader said Labours position, backing a meaningful vote in Parliament, had not changed but did not explicitly rule out a second referendum.

Conservative Party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin then seized on the comments, insisting Mr Corbyn was sowing chaos which would disrupt our Brexit negotiations.

Jeremy Corbyn

But Mr Corbyn has now ruled out a second vote.

Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas said Mr Corbyn was letting down Britain by refusing to back a second referendum.

Only Labour will build a new economy worthy of the 21st century. We will build a country for the many, not the few.

Agree? RT  #VoteLabour pic.twitter.com/RA9YiN3fV9  The Labour Party (@UKLabour) April 20, 2017

If they truly trusted the British people  and wanted to give them a real say over the future direction of this country  then they would have committed to a democratic vote on any final deal, she said.

Its a real shame that theyve sided with the Tories on this and will plough ahead with Brexit without giving people the final say.
Mystery surrounds the identity of the rightful owners of a treasure trove of gold coins worth up to 350,000 found hidden under a piano keyboard.

The 913 coins, found neatly stacked in dusty hand-stitched packages and pouches, were discovered carefully secreted beneath the instruments keyboard base while it was being re-tuned.

Ruling the hoard to be treasure at an inquest on Thursday, Shropshire coroner John Ellery said we simply do not know how they came to be concealed.

(Peter Reavill/The Trustees of the British Museum/PA)

Despite an international media appeal, the identity as to who put the cash in the instrument  and why they did so  remains a tantalising unknown.

Experts from the British Museum found the coins ranged in date from 1847 to 1915, consisting of 633 full sovereigns and 280 half-sovereigns.

The coins were found to be 91.7% pure gold, with the majority dating from the reign of Queen Victoria.

The hoard itself  which is yet to be formally valued  is now being held at a secure location, while the piano will be returned to its home in a local school.

However, the British Museums Peter Reavill, shedding some light on its potential worth, said: Theres a substantial amount of money there  enough to buy a house, so equivalent today to about 350,000.

(Peter Reavill/The Trustees of the British Museum/PA)

Thats not to say its worth that today, but thats its spending power.

For 33 years, the piano was previously owned by Graham and Meg Hemmings, formerly of Saffron Walden, Essex, who used the instrument to teach their children music  and were entirely ignorant of its secret cargo.

The couple, who moved to Shropshire in 2015, then donated the upright Broadwood and Sons-made piano to a nearby school, Bishops Castle Community College, last summer, which then decided to have it tuned.

It was tuning technician, 61-year-old Martin Backhouse, who then found the gob-smacking stash, initially believing the carefully-wrapped cloth packets delivering bum notes to be bags of moth repellent.

A Gold Sovereign from the reign of Queen Victoria

Describing the moment of discovery, he said: As soon as I started lifting out the keys, I thought, uh-uh, whats this underneath the keyboard?

I lifted one and thought, that cant be moth repellent, its too heavy.

Mr Backhouse slit the stitching with his penknife and when he looked inside, he recalled: Oooh, it looks like theres rather a lot of gold in this.

He and the headmaster then moved the 6kg (13.2lb) hoard into the schools safe and rang the coroner.

(Peter Reavill/The Trustees of the British Museum/PA)

Mr Backhouse and the school could now potentially be in line for a windfall from the hoards sale.

Asked if it ever crossed his mind to keep the money, he said: No  I could have quite happily swapped them a brand-new piano for that one.

But that would not have been right or proper.

As it was gold, I thought that the school needs it just as much as I do, knowing the problems with the pianos in their school.

Any money would go to his children, he said, adding he may retire early as he suffers with tinnitus.
The UK would be welcomed back by the EU if it abandoned Brexit following the general election, the European Parliaments president has said.

Antonio Tajani said all 27 other countries in the European Union would be in favour if a new government decided to reverse the Article 50 process following the June 8 election.

In a sign of the difficulties Theresa May will face if she remains in power after the election, Mr Tajani indicated that any agreement on the rights of EU citizens in the UK  and Britons on the continent  would be subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

.@theresa_may welcomes European Parliament president Antonio Tajani for #Brexit talks at 10 Downing Street pic.twitter.com/afiebB6ZkH  Andrew Woodcock (@AndyWoodcock) April 20, 2017

The Prime Minister has made ending the jurisdiction of the court in the UK one of her Brexit goals.

In an interview with the Guardian, Mr Tajani indicated that the Article 50 process could be halted if the Government wanted after the election.

If the UK, after the election, wants to withdraw (Article 50), then the procedure is very clear, he said.

If the UK wanted to stay, everybody would be in favour. I would be very happy.

Legal questions remain over whether Article 50 is irrevocable, but Mr Tajani said a political solution could be reached.

If tomorrow, the new UK government decides to change its position, it is possible to do, he said.

The final decision is for the 27 member states, but everybody will be in favour.

Meanwhile, the European Commissions draft negotiating document indicated that Brussels officials also believe that the ECJ should rule over the agreement on citizens rights.

Under the (Brexit) treaty everything under the treaty is under the court, Mr Tajani said.

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani talking to Prime Minister Theresa May at a meeting in 10 Downing Street (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)

The European Parliament will have an effective veto on any deal and Mr Tajani indicated that a continued role for the ECJ could be a red line.

Technically it is the only possible solution, he told The Times. If you want to continue to guarantee citizens rights you need to refer to the ECJ.

The European parliament is very clear on this. Citizens rights is a red line.

The leaked commission document also indicated Brussels is set to demand that Britain pays the cost of moving EU agencies out of the UK after Brexit.

And the European Commission will insist that the UK pays its divorce bill in euros, ensuring that Britain bears the risk of any currency fluctuations.
Jenson Button has donated 15,000 to Billy Monger as a fundraising appeal for the British teenager who lost both his legs following a horrifying motor racing crash on Sunday surpassed 500,000 inside 24 hours.

Monger, 17, had amputations to both of his lower legs after he ploughed into a stationary car at 120mph during a British Formula Four race at Donington Park.

The on-board footage of the accident was played out live on ITV4 and Monger was trapped in his car for 90 minutes before he was airlifted to Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham.

A fundraising page was established on Wednesday afternoon  and following support from Britains triple world champion Lewis Hamilton, Button and the defending F1 champion Nico Rosberg, it took just six hours to hit their target of 260,000. The 500,000 mark was reached 22 hours and 30 minutes after the first donation.

Button, the 2009 Formula One champion who will return to the grid at next months Monaco Grand Prix, was in touch with Mongers team manager Steven Hunter before making his charitable pledge.

Hamilton, who has more than four million followers on Twitter, issued a tweet in support of the 17-year-old.

More than 12,000 contributions have been made to the page  established by Mongers family, Hunter and fellow racing driver Tom Ingram  with an anonymous donation of 26,000 the single biggest so far.

Monger, from Charlwood in Surrey, was left fighting for his life following a collision with a car driven by Finn Patrik Pasma which had stopped on the circuit.

Bill came out of his coma and his first things were hand motions, his team manager Hunter told the BBC.

He turned round to his number one mechanic, fist pumped, and he had his hands up trying to work out how he is going to change gear with a hand clutch. It is typical of Bill, immediately looking at what he can do as regards to getting back in a race car.

From the condition he was in when he arrived in on Sunday, to where he is now, we have seen a massive improvement which is very uplifting to see. But as we all know he has got a long hard road ahead to improve and hopefully he can get to a stage where he can live life to the fullest.
Drinks giant Diageo is to cut more than 100 jobs across its Scottish operations because of concerns over Brexit, according to the GMB union.

Workers were told that 70 redundancies will be made at Diageos Leven plant in Fife and a further 35 its Shieldhall site, near Glasgow.

Selected white spirits production will be moved to the companys Santa Vittoria plant in Italy and to plants in the United States.

A general view of the London head office of drinks giant Diageo (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Drinks giant Diageo is to cut more than 100 jobs across its Scottish operations because of concerns over Brexit, says @GMB_union  Alan Jones (@AlanJonesPA) April 20, 2017

The GMB said it had warned the UK governments Scottish Secretary David Mundell earlier this year about the need for special measures to protect Scotlands drinks manufacturing sector against the backdrop of Brexit uncertainty.

A Diageo spokesman said: Following the disposal of our wine business and the subsequent end of the wine bottling contracts, we have reviewed our spirits bottling footprint to ensure we not only deliver leading performance for both our domestic and export supply chains around the world, but also to strengthen our business for the future.

Regrettably, these changes may impact some roles in our European bottling plants towards the end of the year and we will now enter a period of consultation with our employees and their representatives to discuss the proposals in more detail.

We are committed to our three spirits bottling sites in Europe  two in Scotland and one in Italy.

The outcomes of this review will ensure we have the flexibility to respond to increased competition and external volatility, alongside testing and building the capability we need across our global supply chain to grow our brands.

Unite accuses drinks giant Diageo of jobs betrayal https://t.co/E1KeGcUniX pic.twitter.com/a2gsUpt3Iw  Unite the union: join a union (@unitetheunion) April 20, 2017

SNP MSP Jenny Gilruth, who represents Leven, said: This announcement by Diageo is concerning and will cause great uncertainty for many people in our communities throughout Fife  and it is doubly concerning that these possible redundancies appear to be down to Brexit.

I would like to make clear to all constituents affected by this announcement that my office is happy to assist them in any way possible during the planned consultation period  and the Scottish Government will do all it can to support the workers facing redundancy.
Chancellor Philip Hammond will tell counterparts from around the world that the UK will remain active in the global economy after Brexit.

At the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mr Hammond will tell his fellow finance ministers how the UK plans to lock in the economic progress it has made.

The gathering in Washington follows talks in New York with Wall Street banks which are thought to have covered the economy, Brexit and Theresa Mays decision to call a snap election in June.

Chancellor Philip Hammond (Philip Toscano/PA)

In a message on Twitter the Chancellor said:

In Washington DC for #IMFMeetings. Will be telling fellow FMs how UK plans to lock in econ progress made - staying active in global economy  Philip Hammond (@PhilipHammondUK) April 20, 2017

Before heading to Washington, Mr Hammond is understood to have met executives from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as part of efforts to reassure Wall Street about the UKs future as a financial services centre.

Antonia Romeo, the senior civil servant at the Department for International Trade and the outgoing consul general in New York posted a picture of Mr Hammond at a meeting with business leaders in the city.

She said he was meeting business & strengthening UK-US economic ties.

Mr Hammond last met with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley near the end of March, when the Government officially triggered Article 50, sources told the Press Association.

Full morning in NYC w Chancellor @PHammondMP meeting business & strengthening - economic ties - before he heads to DC for #IMFMeetings pic.twitter.com/4qJGnfgCa9  Antonia Romeo (@AntoniaRomeoUK) April 20, 2017

The talks are part of efforts by the Treasury to reassure big US banks over Britains future trading relationship with the EU, including leaving the single market and losing passporting rights.

Mr Hammond has kept in regular contact with a number of foreign banks since the start of the year, having met with UBS and asset manager BlackRock at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January, and caught up with Goldman and BlackRock again in February.

It is understood that the Chancellor has taken a lead role in Treasury meetings with foreign banks, given the importance of financial services to the UK economy, particularly in light of Brexit.

City Minister Simon Kirby was stripped of responsibilities for overseeing Brexits impact on financial services near the end of January, months after being handed the portfolio.

Interesting discussions @Heritage Foundation on econ outlook of both our countries, new trading opportunities & our strong NATO commitment  Philip Hammond (@PhilipHammondUK) April 20, 2017

The move came amid reports that senior City executives were unhappy with Mr Kirbys credentials, after he was unable to provide detailed answers and assurances about how the Treasury was handling Brexit.

Mr Kirbys duties have since been transferred to former Tesco executive Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe, who was appointed Commercial Secretary to the Treasury in December.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe has yet to meet with US banks but has pending meetings with Wall Street reps in her diary, PA understands.

Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
England international Jos Buttler produced an innings of brute power to inspire Mumbai Indians to a stunning eight-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League.

The 26-year-old smashed seven fours and five sixes in a sensational 37-ball 77, reaching a maiden IPL half-century from just 24 deliveries, to set up Mumbais pursuit of 199.

He shared partnerships of 81 with Parthiv Patel and 85 with Nitish Rana, who made an unbeaten 62, before skying Mohit Sharma to Glenn Maxwell in the deep with 33 runs required from 42 balls.

Mumbai Indians batsman Jos Buttler bats (Rafiq Maqbool/AP)

Rana and Hardik Pandya led Mumbai to victory, meaning Hashim Amlas maiden Twenty20 century proved in vain.

The South African carried his bat, blasting 104 from 60 deliveries, and had support from Maxwells 18-ball 40 as the Kings XI Punjab amassed 198 for four after losing the toss.
Writers from across Europe, South America and the Middle East have been shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 2017.

Translated into English from five different languages, six novels will compete for the newly evolved prize which celebrates the finest work of translated fiction from across the world.

One debut novelist is among the six shortlisted writers, alongside two Israeli authors including previous finalist Amos Oz, for his coming-of-age tale Judas which is set in the still-divided Jerusalem of 1959-1960.

Books on a bookshelf (Ryan Phillips/PA)

Argentine writer Samanta Schweblins first novel, Fever Dream, tells the story of a dying woman recounting a series of events of her recent past to a young boy.

The second Israeli nominated is David Grossman for A Horse Walks Into A Bar, which follows a veteran stand-up comedians tribulations, while Norwegian writer Roy Jacobsen is shortlisted for The Unseen, set on a Norwegian island.

Danish author Dorthe Nors is nominated for Mirror, Shoulder, Signal, in which a woman in her forties struggles to learn to drive while battling an acute case of vertigo.

Congratulations David Grossman, Jessica Cohen & @JonathanCape on making #MB2017 shortlist with A Horse Walks Into a Bar pic.twitter.com/58ZRueFltm  The Booker Prizes (@TheBookerPrizes) April 20, 2017

French writer Mathias Enards Compass, which explores the relationships between Europe and the Middle East, completes the shortlist.

The winning author and their translator will split a 50,000 prize, while each shortlisted runner-up and translator will receive 1,000.

Congratulations Roy Jacobsen, Don Bartlett, Don Shaw & @maclehosepress on making #MB2017 shortlist with The Unseen pic.twitter.com/87mWIyiBvi  The Booker Prizes (@TheBookerPrizes) April 20, 2017

Chair of the judging panel, Nick Barley, said: Our shortlist spans the epic and the everyday. From fevered dreams to sleepless nights, from remote islands to overwhelming cities, these wonderful novels shine a light on compelling individuals struggling to make sense of their place in a complex world.

The winner will be revealed at a ceremony at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London on June 14.

The shortlist is as follows:

A Horse Walks Into A Bar  David Grossman (Israel) translated by Jessica Cohen.

Mirror, Shoulder, Signal  Dorthe Nors (Denmark) translated by Misha Hoekstra.

Fever Dream  Samanta Schweblin (Argentina) translated by Megan McDowell.
Diego Costa is again being linked with a move to China, with Tianjin Quanjian reportedly interested in the Chelsea striker.

Here, Press Association Sport takes a look at some of the former Premier League players to have taken their talents to China  including two of Costas former team-mates.

Ramires

Ramires (Nick Potts/PA)

Signed for Jiangsu Suning from Chelsea in January 2016 in a deal believed to be worth 25million  a Chinese Super League record that would be broken twice in the following 10 days. The Brazil midfielder was sent off on his debut but helped his new club finish runners-up to Guangzhou Evergrande in the league.

Oscar

Oscar (Paul Harding/EMPICS)

Joined Brazilian compatriot Ramires out of the door at Stamford Bridge after finding himself out of favour with manager Antonio Conte. Chelsea cashed in as they received a reported 52million from Shanghai SIPG, which gave the Blues a handsome profit of around 30million on the midfielder they bought from Brazilian club Internacional in 2012.

Carlos Tevez

Carlos Tevez (Mike Egerton/EMPICS)

The Argentina forward, who had spells in the Premier League with West Ham, Manchester United and Manchester City, hit the headlines late last year with a big-money move to China from Boca Juniors. As part of the deal to join Shanghai Shenhua, Tevez is said to be on wages of 615,000 a week.

Graziano Pelle

Graziano Pelle (Mike Egerton/EMPICS)

Italy forward Pelle joined Shandong Luneng for 13million in July 2016, having scored 30 goals in 81 appearances for Southampton after joining from Dutch club Feyenoord two seasons earlier.

Gervinho

Gervinho (Andrew Matthews/EMPICS)

Ivory Coast international Gervinho may have managed to find the net just 11 times for Arsenal, but that did not stop Hebei China Fortune offering up a 130,000 goal bonus on top of his basic 47,000-a-week contract to prise the pacy forward away from Italian club Roma in January 2016. Not bad work if you can get it.
By Jennifer Hattam

HASANKEYF, Turkey, April 18 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - T he 15th century tomb of fallen warrior Zeynel Bey is due to be moved from the banks of the Tigris river in southeast Turkey on Tuesday, marking the symbolic end of a decades-long battle to stop a new dam and inundation of a 12,000-year-old settlement.

The ancient stone monument's foundations have been embedded in a concrete platform ready for the move - and local residents fear their homes and livelihood are next.

"I don't know where we're going to go. We don't want to move, but there's nothing to be done about it," said Murat Tekin, 37, a shopkeeper in the ancient town of Hasankeyf.

The Ilisu Dam is Turkey's largest hydroelectric project and has generated international controversy since it was first proposed in the 1950s. Official government figures estimate 15,000 people will need to be resettled while activists believe up to 100,000 people are expected to be impacted by the project.

Work began in 2006 but in 2008, the German, Austrian and Swiss governments pulled out of export credit guarantees citing social, cultural and environmental risks with the project.

However Turkey has pushed ahead with the US$1.1 billion project, saying the dam will help meet the country's burgeoning energy needs, producing 3.8bn kilowatt hours of electricity a year and encourage investment in the predominantly Kurdish area.

BENEATH THE WATERS

Once finished the project is expected to submerge the majority of villages making up the ancient Hasankeyf settlement, which dates back to the Neolithic period, and surrounding villages.

Important stone monuments including two tombs, the Sultan Suleyman Mosque and former cave dwellings will disappear under water. Some are earmarked for relocation or reconstruction.

Only the rocky citadel and fortress ruins on higher ground overlooking the river will escape the waters.

Hasankeyf District Governor Faruk Bulent Bayguven said in March that the dam is 85 percent complete and construction has begun on a new township with 710 new homes and 150 'workplaces'.

"We're working on Yeni Hasankeyf so that the tradesmen can do their best business there," Bayguven said. "Following the re-location of its citizens and historical monuments, Hasankeyf will become the attraction centre of the region."

Construction has continued despite a legal challenge in the European Court of Human Rights citing a threat to the region's cultural heritage, including yet-to-be excavated archaeological sites.

ENVIRONMENTAL FEARS

Damming the Tigris also threatens to further restrict the river's already scant flow downstream in Iraq, according to Ismaeel Dawood, a co-founder of the Save the Tigris and the Iraqi Marshes Campaign.

"In many of the places around the river in Iraq, people already cannot grow rice because there is not enough water," he said. "Especially in the southern marshlands, there is a continuous displacement of people forced to move to the city and change their way of life."

Local activists in Turkey say the number of people facing displacement in the Hasankeyf area is much higher than official estimates.

"An additional 40,000 people will lose a lot of land [under the dam waters]; most of them will probably have to leave too," said Ercan Ayboga of the Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive.

"There are also some 2,000 to 3,000 nomads who use the Tigris valley to graze their livestock, but they are not registered in any way."

Ayboga estimates up to 100,000 people will be affected by the dam if population growth is factored in along with the possibility of land claims by returning families who fled the region during armed conflict in the 1980s and 1990s.

LEFT HIGH AND DRY

Residents said only a third of those in Hasankeyf who applied qualified to buy homes in the new town. Initial property valuations were assessed at far below the asking price for properties in the new settlement sparking widespread criticism.

A lawsuit challenging a rule that only families, not single people, were eligible to move to the new area has been filed.

Abdullah, 49, is among those who qualified to buy a home, but is not happy with the pay-out for his current residence.

"The cash was nowhere near what you would get for a similar home elsewhere," said the father of five, who buys and sells goods in the market, and did not want his full name published.

"But we will move to the new town; we have no other choice," he said, acknowledging the new homes may be more comfortable.

Restrictions on construction in Hasankeyf due to its historic status and a reluctance to invest in a place with such an uncertain future meant many homes had fallen into disrepair.

In the hills above the town, land could be used to graze livestock and gather greens and herbs for cooking in stark contrast to the dusty surrounds of new Hasankeyf.

"The land is not fertile [over there] - it's barren," said Abdullah, concerned about making a living in the new town.

"Lots of tourists used to come to Hasankeyf, but then the government made it forbidden to go up to the castle," shopkeeper Tekin told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"They wanted to weaken our economy, to create social and economic pressure to move to Yeni Hasankeyf."

Turkish officials say there is significant potential for tourism income from boat tours, as well as from visitors to a yet-to-be created archaeological park where the Zeynel Bey Tomb and other historic structures will be moved or reconstructed.

But with few concrete plans for the new project revealed, most residents express little more than a cautious optimism.

Ahmet, 50, a kebab shop owner who did not want his real name used, said he has agreed to buy commercial space in the new settlement because he doesn't want to move to a larger city.

"I think the new town has a 50-50 chance of success," he said. (Reporting by Jennifer Hattam, Editing by Paola Totaro and Belinda Goldsmith; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)
MANILA, April 19 (Reuters) - A Philippine senator called for a probe on Wednesday into allegations by senior officers in a Reuters report that police received cash rewards for executing drug suspects, while a police spokesman challenged the claims but said they would be investigated.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said in a statement that the Philippine National Police (PNP) should take "drastic measures" to verify the allegations made by two senior police officers, and punish those who have "broken their vow to protect the Filipino people."

In a Reuters report published on Tuesday, the two officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said PNP officers received cash for killing suspects in President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war, planted evidence at crime scenes and carried out most of the killings they have long blamed on vigilantes.

One of the men, a retired intelligence officer, authored an unpublished 26-page report that provides granular detail on the alleged methods deployed in the drug war, as well as the campaign's masterminds and perpetrators. The report, which said it is based on the accounts of 17 serving and former officers, does not contain any documentary evidence.

Gatchalian said the "integrity" of the police was "at stake," and called on PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa to "unmask the truth."

"The PNP leadership should look into these serious allegations made by two officers from within their ranks. While the charges lack documentary evidence, these cannot simply be swept under the rug with a blanket denial," he said.

PNP spokesman Dionardo Carlos said he encouraged the two police officers interviewed by Reuters to come forward and publicly air their allegations. "There's no problem if they will tell the truth, backed up by evidence," he said.

Carlos said claims that cash rewards were being paid for killing drug suspects were implausible, because police would not have that kind of money at their disposal and such acts would be unlawful.

"First of all, that's illegal, prohibited. Second, we are short on funds and nothing was allocated," he told reporters.

VIGILANTE KILLINGS

Close to 9,000 people, mostly drug users and small-time dealers, have been killed since Duterte took office almost 10 months ago and promised an unrelenting campaign to rid the Philippines of illicit narcotics.

Police say about a third of the victims were shot by officers in self-defence during anti-drug operations. Human rights groups believe many of the remaining two thirds were killed by paid assassins cooperating with the police or by police themselves, disguised as vigilantes. Police reject that.

The two officers said that most of the drug-war killings are orchestrated by the police, including those they say are carried out by vigilantes. Reuters was unable to independently verify if the police are behind vigilante killings. One of the officers, an active-duty police commander, also said that officers plant drugs and guns at the scene of deadly narcotics busts.

Gatchalian said the officers who spoke to Reuters should present concrete evidence to support their claims. "Accusations of this kind should have solid backing," he said.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, a former national police chief, said in a text message to GMA news, one of the leading media organizations in the Philippines, that unless Reuters identified the two police officers and they could provide "convincing proof of their allegations," he would dismiss the report as "gossip." (Reporting by Martin Petty and Manuel Mogato. Edited by Peter Hirschberg.)
BEIJING, April 20 (Reuters) - China's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday Interpol had issued a "red notice" for Guo Wengui, a controversial property tycoon who has made claims of high-level corruption within the ruling Communist Party.

Guo, who is known to have close ties with disgraced former state security vice-minister Ma Jian, has mainly lived in the United States since leaving China two years ago after what he says was a business dispute with relatives of a retired top Communist Party official.

The South China Morning Post first reported that an Interpol "red notice" was issued for Guo at China's request on Tuesday evening, citing unidentified sources.

The newspaper said Guo was suspected of bribing Ma with 60 million yuan ($8.71 million). Ma, who worked in counter-espionage, is being prosecuted for graft and was expelled from the Communist Party in December.

"What we understand is that Interpol has already issued a 'red notice' for criminal suspect Guo Wengui," foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday, without elaborating.

A "red notice" is an international alert for a wanted person.

Guo, writing on his Twitter account, said Interpol was an organisation and not a government and had no administrative powers, and that for many years he had had no Chinese identity documents.

"This will only make Wengui fight even more resolutely to the end with these bad people. This is all just the beginning!" he wrote, without elaborating.

In a live television interview with Voice of America's (VoA) Chinese-language service broadcast late Wednesday, Guo denied bribing Ma Jian and made fresh allegations about business empires controlled by the families of Chinese leaders. The claims could not be immediately substantiated.

The Chinese government had pressured VoA to cancel the interview ahead of time, with the Foreign Ministry summoning one of the broadcaster's Beijing-based correspondents on Monday, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The foreign ministry did not immediately respond to an email on Thursday seeking comment.

While the broadcast aired as planned, it ended well short of the scheduled three hours advertised beforehand. About 80 minutes in, a VoA host abruptly said they needed to end the broadcast due to "certain reasons".

A VoA spokeswoman said the original plan was always to keep the live stream to one hour and attributed the abrupt end to "miscommunication".

"In a miscommunication, the stream was allowed to continue beyond the first hour," a Voice of America spokeswoman, Bridget Serchak, said in an emailed statement. "When this was noticed, the feed was terminated. We will release content from these interviews and will continue to report on corruption issues."

Chinese President Xi Jinping sees extravagance and corruption as an existential threat to the Communist Party. In the latest effort to tackle graft, state media said late on Wednesday that the China has issued stricter regulations requiring officials to report personal information, including assets, to the party.

Responding by email to questions regarding Guo, Interpol said it did not comment on specific cases without the approval of the country sharing information on investigations and fugitives.

China's Ministry of Public Security did not respond to requests for comment. ($1 = 6.8867 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Philip Wen; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
JAKARTA, April 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Thursday his administration wants fairer trade with Indonesia, as Washington reviews a number of countries with which it has trade deficits.

After meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Pence said the U.S. was interested in a "win-win relationship" with Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

Indonesia is one of 16 countries under review for having a trade surplus with the United States.

Pence also called for cooperation on fighting terrorism and maintaining freedom of navigation in the region.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton)
By Jamie Freed

SYDNEY, April 20 (Reuters) - Austria and Australia are 16,000 km (9,940 miles) and two keystrokes apart, as European aircraft manufacturer Airbus discovered to its chagrin this week.

The Financial Times, citing fine print in the company's 2016 financial accounts, reported on Monday that Airbus was being investigated by authorities in Australia for offences such as bribery or fraud.

The Airbus accounts did indeed say Australia, but a company spokesman said that was, in fact, a typographical error.

"It should read Austria and not Australia," he said.

In February, Airbus said prosecutors in Vienna had initiated a formal criminal investigation against Airbus and the Eurofighter consortium over alleged fraud related to a $2 billion order for the combat jet more than a decade ago.

The typo in the Airbus accounts is the latest in a series of mix-ups between the two similarly named but culturally distinct and geographically distant countries.

Global news network CNN was mocked by Twitter users last year for reporting Australia was building a fence on its Slovenian border.

In 2014, then United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon mistakenly offered his gratitude to hosts Australia when he spoke at a conference in Vienna, according to an Associated Press report.

The Airbus spokesman was unable say whether his company planned to file a new set of accounts with regulators, without the geographical gaffe. (Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Paul Tait)
By Roberta Rampton

JAKARTA, April 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Thursday his administration wants fairer trade with Indonesia, as Washington reviews a number of countries with which it has trade deficits.

After meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Pence said Washington was interested in a "win-win relationship" with Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

Indonesia is one of 16 countries under review for having a trade surplus with the United States.

Official data from Indonesia's trade ministry puts total trade between the two countries at $23.44 billion in 2016, with Indonesia recording a surplus of $8.84 billion. Indonesia mainly exports textiles, footwear and seafood and mainly imports aircraft, machinery and soybeans from America.

Pence also called for cooperation on fighting terrorism and maintaining freedom of navigation in the region.

Pence arrived in Jakarta late on Wednesday from Japan where he reassured Tokyo of a U.S. commitment to rein in North Korea's nuclear and missile ambitions.

Washington had billed Pence's visit to Jakarta as a booster for a strategic partnership between the world's second- and third-largest democracies, but a raft of bilateral disputes with U.S. companies could sap the goodwill from his trip.

Over the past six months, Indonesia has wrestled with mining giant Freeport McMoRan, demanding the company divest 51 percent of its shares in its Papua-based gold and copper mine, and has demanded that Google Inc. settle unpaid taxes of more than $400 million. Jakarta also deleted JP Morgan from its list of primary bond dealers after what was deemed a negative research report.

Google declined to comment for this report and JPMorgan did not respond to a request for comment.

Freeport Indonesia spokesman Riza Pratama said: "This visit is happening entirely independent of our current negotiations with the government of Indonesia."

However, billionaire investor Carl Icahn, Freeport's third-biggest shareholder and special adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, has described Jakarta's tactics over the mining contract as "disingenuous and insulting", according to the New York Times.

As leader of the world's most populous Muslim nation, Widodo has voiced worries about Trump's immigration policy, which critics say is biased against Muslims.

Pence is visiting Indonesia a day after the Indonesian capital Jakarta elected a new Muslim governor who rode a wave of conservative Islamist to defeat an incumbent Christian on trial charged with blasphemy against the Koran.

Pence was later on Thursday due to visit Southeast Asia's largest mosque, the Istiqlal mosque, where hardline Islamic groups on Wednesday night celebrated the election win.

Widodo's approach to foreign policy has been led more by economic interests than geopolitical considerations: he has pursued increased trade and investment from China but keeps a diplomatic distance from Beijing and established a strategic partnership with Washington under former President Barack Obama.

Widodo said at the joint news conference with Pence that the two countries would "increase the strategic partnership... which will focus on cooperation and investments".

He said over the next month the two sides will form a team to discuss the "management of bilateral trades and investment based on the principle of a win-win solution". (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Bill Tarrant; Editing by Michael Perry)
TAIPEI, April 20 (Reuters) - Taiwan's export orders for March, released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Thursday. The data is an indication of the strength of Asian exports and of global demand for technology products. MARCH REUTERS FEBRUARY POLL Export orders (y/y pct) +12.3 +10.0 +22.0 Export orders from China +19.9 +40.5 Export orders from U.S. +15.4 +21.1 Export orders from Europe +3.8 +12.9 Export orders from Japan +16.4 +23.6 * revised figure The ministry's website is http://www.moea.gov.tw/ (Reporting by Jeanny Kao; Writing by Faith Hung; Editing by Kim Coghill)
By Karen Sanje

LILONGWE, April 20 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Malawi has tightened its border controls to stop profiteers smuggling much-needed maize out of the country in search of higher prices.

Months of drought had left more than a third of the population reliant on food aid, and the government last month invoked the Special Crops Act, which bans the export of some crops.

The government deployed soldiers to seal its porous borders with Tanzania and Zambia, and impounded trucks that are smuggling out the staple crop in pursuit of more profit.

Malawi police have also been searching vehicles on roads that lead to the borders.

The size of the trucks stopped by the police suggests that large-scale traders may be involved.

"Over a period of two days, we impounded 26 trucks loaded with white maize as they were heading to Chitipa (a district bordering Zambia and Tanzania)," said Enock Livasoni, a police spokesman in Karonga district, which borders Tanzania.

Police in Chitipa detained at least 17 similar trucks carrying white maize last month, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Severe floods in 2015, followed by major drought in 2016, left 6.7 million Malawians out of a population of 17 million in need of food aid, according to U.N. agencies.

This year's harvest has recently begun and has eased the situation, although the World Food Programme said updated hunger figures were not yet available. Its emergency food aid operations ended last month, as planned.

CHASING THE MONEY

International aid agencies in Malawi say maize smuggling has increased as traders seek the higher prices paid in Kenya and Democratic Republic of Congo.

Severe drought in Kenya has left some 2.6 million people in need of food aid, and a protracted crisis in war-torn Congo means some 6.7 million rely on food aid.

Local groups question whether corrupt police officers have been involved in the smuggling, particularly in Chitipa and Karonga districts.

"The way things are happening is as though the police are complicit in this act," said Grecian Mbewe, district coordinator for Chitipa and Karonga at the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, a non-governmental organisation.

Deputy spokesman for the northern region police headquarters, Maurice Chapola, denied the corruption claims.

"If those making the allegations have evidence, let them come forward with names of the corrupt officers and we shall forthwith investigate and prosecute these officers," Chapola said in a telephone interview.

DWINDLING SUPPLIES

Malawian farmers are required to sell their surplus to local vendors and traders. Traders resell it across the country, or to the National Food Reserve Agency, which stores maize and releases it mainly in response to humanitarian crises.

Traders can only export maize, the countrys main staple crop, if they have special clearance from the government. Such clearance has not been granted since 2008, when Malawi started experiencing a downturn in its harvests.

Maize smuggled to Zambia and Tanzania - from where it can be sold to other countries - fetches higher prices than at home.

A 50kg bag of white maize sells on average for 11,000 Malawian kwacha ($15) in towns and cities in Malawi.

Journalists in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, meanwhile, say that the same amount fetches the equivalent of 17,000 kwacha ($23).

"If such smuggling continues, local (maize) supplies will continue to dwindle," said Mbewe.

"As a result, the poor will not be able to afford the price of (maize) which will rise with any increase in demand," he added.

($1 = 717.7900 kwacha) (Reporting by Karen Sanje; Editing by James Baer, Alex Whiting and Lyndsay Griffiths.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women's rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate)
By Prak Chan Thul

PHNOM PENH, April 20 (Reuters) - Cambodia launched a crackdown on bogus orphanages on Thursday, many of which are set up to attract donations from tourists, with the aim of returning about 3,500 children who were not orphans to their families, a government minister said.

About 17 percent of Cambodians live below a national poverty line and some families who are too poor to look after their children send them to orphanages in the hope they will be taken care of and given an education.

Many orphanages have opened over recent years, some unlicensed, unsafe and with few real orphans, raising concerns about neglect and abuse.

The boom has matched a surge in foreign tourists to the Southeast Asian country, one of the world's poorest.

Some social workers have appealed to tourists to stay away from orphanages saying that so-called orphanage tourism enables child exploitation.

"There are many abuses inside orphanages," Minister of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation Vong Sauth said in a speech at the launch of the plan.

A recent government survey found 16,579 orphans living in 406 orphanages across Cambodia, far more than expected, officials said, adding that 38 percent of the orphanages had never been inspected.

Vong Sauth said 80 percent of the 16,579 children in orphanages were not actual orphans and under the government plan, 3,500 of them would be returned to their families by next year.

Sar Bunthoeun, director of Cambodian Children's House of Peace, an orphanage in Siem Reap in northwest Cambodia, said he supported the government plan, adding that problems were common in orphanages, but he denied any abuses at his.

The U.N. children's agency UNICEF, which is working with the government to reunite children with their families, said poverty should not be a justification for the removal of a child from parental care.

"Children living in un-regulated and uninspected institutions are more at risk of neglect, as well as physical and sexual abuse and trafficking," said Debora Comini, UNICEF representative to Cambodia.

She urged tourists to be wary of appeals for donations from orphanages. (Editing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre)
RIYADH, April 20 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's labour minister issued an order on Thursday to restrict employment in shopping malls to Saudi nationals, who currently make up only one in five staff in the retail sector.

The kingdom has been steadily closing off different areas of employment to foreigners, who comprise about a third of the population, as it aims to create jobs for young Saudis and cut the unemployment rate among nationals.

A statement from the minister for labour and social development, posted on Twitter, defined malls as "closed commercial centres", but did not elaborate on the number of jobs affected or a timeline for implementation.

According to the Vision 2030 economic reform plan released last year, the Saudi retail sector currently employs 1.5 million workers, of whom only 300,000 are Saudis. The plan calls for a million new jobs for Saudis in the sector by 2020. (Reporting by Katie Paul; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
By Syed Raza Hassan and Saad Sayeed

ISLAMABAD, April 20 (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday ruled there was insufficient evidence to order Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's removal from office over corruption allegations levelled by the opposition, but it ordered further investigations.

A verdict to dismiss Sharif would have left his party in power but would have brought turmoil at a time when Pakistan is experiencing modest growth and improved security, and the civilian government and powerful military have appeared to come to uneasy terms.

Two of five judges on the court bench recommended Sharif should step down, saying he was dishonest "to the nation as well as to the parliament", but they were out voted.

Presenting its 549-page judgment amid tight security in the capital Islamabad, the court ordered a joint investigation team be formed to look into allegations around three of Sharif's four children using offshore companies to buy properties in London.

The team has two months to complete its inquiry, after which a special bench will decide what action to take, the court said in a ruling that opens with the epigraph from Mario Puzo's novel "The Godfather": "Behind every great fortune there is a crime".

The prime minister and his children deny any wrongdoing.

Pakistan's stock market jumped after the court's decision with the benchmark index closing up 2.39 percent. Sharif is seen as pro-business.

Analysts and opposition politicians said the ruling was a blow to Sharif's credibility and the inquiry's findings could yet weaken the prime minister as he heads into a general election, due by May 2018.

But for now, Sharif and his ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, are celebrating.

Sharif's daughter and his presumptive political heir, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, posted a photo on Twitter of the family welcoming the court's decision.

"We are ready for all kinds of investigation," Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told reporters outside the court.

The Supreme Court agreed last year to investigate the Sharif family's offshore wealth after opposition leader Imran Khan threatened protests after the leaking of the "Panama Papers".

"The prime minister should immediately resign at least for the 60 days until JIT completes its work," Khan told reporters, referring to the joint investigation team. "What moral grounds does he have to continue in office?"

'CLOSE CALL'

Documents leaked from the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm appeared to show that Sharif's daughter and two sons owned offshore holding companies registered in the British Virgin Islands and used them to buy properties in London.

The opposition accuses Sharif of failing to explain the source of offshore money and of lying to parliament.

Sharif, one of Pakistan's richest men, told parliament last year that his family wealth was acquired legally in the decades before he entered politics.

The president of the Supreme Court Bar Association said the ruling showed that none of the judges had accepted the truthfulness of Sharif's speech to parliament. "That is very damaging to the prime minister," Rasheed Razvi said.

Farogh Naseem, a Supreme Court lawyer and sitting senator, said Sharif could breathe easy, for now.

"It was a close call for the prime minister," he told Reuters. "There is no clean chit for the prime minister, but for the time being he has been saved from being disqualified."

Naseem said with three of the institutions involved in the joint investigation under Sharif's control, a decision against him was unlikely.

Khan's party has indicated that it would not launch new street protests if it was disappointed by the judgement.

Pakistani politicians of all stripes have over the years been accused of corruption, which remains endemic.

Saadia Toor, associate professor at City University New York, said the scourge of corruption extended far beyond Sharif and offshore wealth.

"Definitely there should be accountability regardless of who is in power but it's important to have governments that sit out their terms because there is so much instability," Toor said. (Writing by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Robert Birsel and Janet Lawrence)
By Tom Sims and Andreas Kroner

FRANKFURT, April 20 (Reuters) - A senior European regulator on Thursday warned supervisors in financial centres on the continent against undercutting each other to attract business from London after Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

Steven Maijoor, chairman of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), said in a speech there were some indications of "flexible national competition" as financial centres in Europe seek London's financial business.

"That is not the right process," Maijoor said. "It undermines the stability" of the remainder of the European Union. "This has been recognised by ESMA."

The risk of such arbitrage has recently crept onto the radar screens of politicians and regulators. Ireland has complained to the European Commission it is being undercut by rival centres competing to host financial firms looking for an EU base outside London.

Maijoor was speaking at a conference on clearing and derivatives as debate rages about the future financial landscape of Europe after Brexit.

Particularly intense debate has centred around a single big prize - the possible relocation of euro-denominated clearing operations from London to Paris or Frankfurt.

Some politicians and regulators believe Deutsche Boerse's subsidiary Eurex Clearing, based in Frankfurt, and LSE subsidiary Clearnet SA, based in Paris, are especially well placed to take on additional clearing business.

Maijoor's comments applied to supervision across the board, but also referred to euro denominated clearing.

He told Reuters: "it is fine when financial centres attract business for being efficient, but it should not be on the basis of regulatory or supervisory standards", when asked about the risks of Paris and Frankfurt fighting for the clearing business.

He made those comments as Philippe Guillot, who heads the market directorate at French regulator L'Autorite des Marches Financiers, said he favoured moving clearing from London.

"Business is getting more and more interconnected and more and more electronic." he said. "London was the model of the very centralized hub. Tomorrow you will have a much more decentralized hub with people sprinkling their staff everywhere, connected by systems." (Editing by John O'Donnell and Mark Potter)
By Robert Hetz

MADRID, April 20 (Reuters) - A Spanish High Court graft inquiry that has led to the arrests of people linked to the ruling People's Party widened on Thursday as police searched the offices of construction group OHL and technology firm Indra.

Mariano Rajoy is not accused of any wrongdoing, but the investigation is an embarrassment for the Spanish Prime Minister who has sought to distance himself from a series of political scandals involving kickbacks.

Dozens of politicians and executives have taken the stand as a result and Rajoy, who holds the narrowest parliamentary majority in the history of Spanish democracy, has been called as a witness in a trial of members of his party suspected of operating a slush fund, a court spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

OHL and Indra confirmed the searches and an OHL spokesman said the company had not made any payments to politicians and was fully cooperating with police, while an Indra spokesman declined any further comment.

El Pais newspaper reported that the searches were linked to the financing of the PP's Madrid branch during regional election campaigns in 2011. A PP spokeswoman declined to comment.

News of the searches hit shares in both companies, with OHL falling as much as 14 percent, before recovering to trade around 8 percent lower. Indra's shares lost more than 4 percent.

A police spokesman did not name the companies, saying only that the inspections were part of the same operation which led on Wednesday to the arrest of former Madrid regional president Ignacio Gonzalez and 11 others.

The searches were carried out on order of the investigating magistrate in that case, Eloy Velasco, a police spokeswoman later said ,without giving any further information. A High Court spokesman declined to comment.

Gonzalez, a PP member who was president of the Madrid government between 2012 and 2015, and eleven others linked to his administration were arrested on as part of an open investigation into allegations including bribery and fraud.

The former local leader has not commented on his arrest and Reuters was unable to reach him or his lawyer.

The PP said in a statement on Wednesday it rejects "any type of corruption ... and will take the necessary measures to stop any activity that infringes the law".

Spain's anti-establishment opposition party Podemos, which polls within a whisker of its main rivals the Socialists, seized on the searches to highlight links between the country's politicians and businesses.

Podemos, which has been touring Madrid in a double-decker bus painted with pictures representing recent political scandals, said it was taking the bus to OHL's headquarters.

Spain has slipped to 41 in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions index in 2016, implying a higher level of corruption in the Mediterranean country than Portugal and France, but a lower one than Italy and Greece. (Additional reporting by Rodrigo de Miguel and Sonya Dowsett; Writing by Isla Binnie; Editing by Sonya Dowsett and Alexander Smith)
PARIS, April 20 (Reuters) - French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron spoke with former U.S. president Barack Obama on the phone on Thursday, in an apparent sign of support just three days before the first round of an uncertain presidential election.

Macron said Obama wanted to exchange views about the French presidential campaign and that the ex-president had stressed how important the relationship between the two countries was.

"Emmanuel Macron warmly thanked Barack Obama for his friendly call," Macron's party "En Marche!" said in a statement.

In a separate statement, Obama's spokesman added: "an endorsement was not the purpose of the call, as President Obama is not making any formal endorsement in advance of the run-off."

Macron is the only candidate so far to have said he has talked with Obama, a popular figure in France.

Macron, a pro-EU centrist, is leading most opinion polls for the election's first round and is expected to contest a second-round run-off with far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Polls show he would easily defeat her. (Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Ingrid Melander)
By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA, April 20 (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday it would maintain training for east and central African regional forces to prevent warlord Joseph Kony's rebels from regrouping, despite plans to pull troops from operations hunting the insurgents.

About 100 U.S. military personnel have been providing a regional force made up of soldiers from Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Central African Republic with intelligence, logistics and other support to track Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

The rebel leader has been indicted by the International Criminal Court.

Last month, Washington announced that it was pulling its contingent out of operations against the LRA, saying the insurgent force had been "dramatically weakened".

"We obviously have concerns about the possibility of the LRA coming back to fruition," Marine General Thomas Waldhauser, the top U.S. military commander overseeing troops in Africa, told journalists in a telephone briefing.

"We will continue to work with those countries with training and exercises ... because even though we are officially ending (the mission), we are certainly aware of the fact that we do not want to leave a void there."

For nearly two decades, the LRA battled the government of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni from bases in the north of the country and across the border in what is now South Sudan.

They were notorious for their brutality and for kidnapping children for use as fighters and sex slaves.

In 2005, they were ejected from those bases and retreated to a lawless patch of jungle straddling the borders of South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic (CAR).

Kampala announced on Wednesday that it has also begun withdrawing troops from CAR, saying its decision to pull out was spurred by "the realization that the mission to neutralise the LRA has now been successfully achieved."

(Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Editing by Elias Biryabarema)
By David Mardiste

TAPA, Estonia, April 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is shifting its stance on Russia and now sees Moscow as a competitor, Britain's defence minister said on Thursday during a trip to the Baltic states designed to underline NATO's new deterrent forces.

In his election campaign last year Trump voiced admiration for President Vladimir Putin, and contacts between his aides and Russia before and after the November vote prompted concerns in Europe that the U.S. leader would seek a deal with Moscow.

But Britain's Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said Washington was now more cautious about the chances of better relations with the Kremlin.

"The American defence secretary and the American secretary of state are under no illusions of how we have to deal with Russia now as a competitor," Fallon told reporters in Tapa, Estonia, just 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the Russian border.

In his first European interview before taking office, Trump proposed to end U.S. sanctions against Russia in return for a nuclear arms reduction deal with Putin.

That went against the previous U.S. administration's position. The West had argued that economic sanctions on Russia could only be dropped if Russia withdrew from Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and stopped supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine.

"We have to engage with Russia," Fallon said of Europe's biggest energy supplier. "We have to talk with Russia where necessary, but we also have to beware. We are at one in our approach to Russia and the potential threats that Russia embodies," Fallon added.

Fallon was attending a welcoming parade for a new NATO battle group in Estonia, part of a wider alliance strategy to deter Russia from repeating its 2014 annexation of Crimea in the Baltics and Poland.

Russia has condemned the deterrent as part of an aggressive strategy on its frontiers. (Writing by Robin Emmott; Editing by Gareth Jones)
By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., April 20 (Reuters) - A two-man U.S.-Russian crew floated into the International Space Station on Thursday, hours after blasting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a NASA TV broadcast showed.

A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying U.S. astronaut Jack Fischer, 43, and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, 58, lifted off at 1:13 p.m. local time/3:13 a.m. EDT (0713 GMT) with a rare empty third seat. Russia is scaling back space station staffing until its long-delayed science laboratory is flown to the orbiting outpost next year.

Fischer and Yurchikhin reached the $100 billion space station, which orbits about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth on schedule at 9:18 a.m. EDT (1318 GMT). About two hours later, hatches between the Soyuz capsule and station opened.

Fischer, on his first space voyage, and Yurchikhin floated into the waiting arms of station commander Peggy Whitson and her crew. Their first order of business was a congratulatory phone call from family and friends at the Russian mission control center outside of Moscow.

"Its so beautiful," Fischer told his wife, describing the experience as "a burrito of awesomeness smothered in awesome sauce."

Fischer also had some comforting words for his mother.

"Mom, it's like me being in Texas, depending on where we are going around the Earth, Ill be just as close," he said. "I can still call you. So no need to miss me."

Prior to launch, the rookie flier said he thought his biggest challenge would be learning how to use the station's zero-gravity toilet, a difficult task that relies on suction.

Fisher, with the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is sharing the station with two seasoned veterans, a Russian cosmonaut on his second flight and a first-time French flier.

Soyuz crewmate Yurchikhin has made four previous space flights. Commander Whitson, 57, in the midst of her third long-duration mission, is due on Monday to beat the 534-day record for cumulative time spent in space by a U.S. astronaut.

She is expected to receive a congratulatory phone call on Monday from U.S. President Donald Trump, NASA said on Wednesday.

Whitson, who flew to the station in November along with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, will remain aboard with Fischer and Yurchikhin until September. (Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Alistair Bell)
Kerrville, TX (78028)

Today

Cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low around 65F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low around 65F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
BERLIN, April 20 (Reuters) - Berlin's chief public prosecutor has extended an investigation into the release of a trove of documents by WikiLeaks to include the chancellery as well as the Bundestag lower house of parliament, broadcaster NDR said on Thursday.

Last December, WikiLeaks released the confidential documents, which German security agencies had submitted to a parliamentary committee investigating the extent to which German spies helped the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) to spy in Europe.

The extension of the investigation to include the chancellery did not necessarily mean the Berlin public prosecutor had firm suspicions that individuals at Chancellor Angela Merkel's office were involved in the leak, NDR said.

Government sources told Reuters that the chancellery had agreed several weeks ago to the investigation "against unknown" persons, to allow the inquiry to proceed. There were no firm suspicions against chancellery officials, the sources added.

Surveillance is a sensitive issue in Germany where East Germany's Stasi secret police and the Nazi era Gestapo kept a close watch on the population.

Merkel told the parliamentary committee in February that she did not know how closely Germany's spies cooperated with their U.S. counterparts until 2015, well after an uproar over reports of U.S. bugging of her cellphone.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Paul Carrel; editing by Ralph Boulton)
By Julien Pretot and Emmanuel Jarry

PARIS, April 20 (Reuters) - A French policeman was shot dead and two others were wounded in central Paris on Thursday night in an attack carried out days before presidential elections and quickly claimed by the Islamic State militant group.

President Francois Hollande said he was convinced the "cowardly killing" on the Champs Elysees boulevard, in which the assailant was himself shot dead by police, was an act of terrorism.

The wide avenue that leads away from the Arc de Triomphe had been crowded with Parisians and tourists enjoying a spring evening, but police quickly cleared the area, which remained empty well into the night of all but heavily armed security forces and police vehicles.

Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said the man had been identified, but investigators were still assessing if he had accomplices.

A police arrest warrant issued earlier on Thursday, which was seen by Reuters after the attack, warned of a dangerous individual who had come into France by train from Belgium on Thursday. It was unclear if that man was the attacker or linked to the shooting.

Officers searched the home of the dead attacker in a town east of Paris, a police source said.

"The sense of duty of our policemen tonight averted a massacre ... they prevented a bloodbath on the Champs Elysees," Interior Minister Matthias Fekl told reporters.

"A little after 9 PM a vehicle stopped alongside a police car which was parked. Immediately a man got out and fired on the police vehicle, mortally wounding a police officer," Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said.

France has lived under a state of emergency since 2015 and has suffered a spate of Islamist militant attacks mostly perpetrated by young men who grew up in France and Belgium and that have killed more than 230 people in the past two years.

Witness Chelloug, a kitchen assistant, told Reuters he was walking out of a shop and saw a man get out of a car and open fire with a rifle on a policeman. "The policeman fell down. I heard six shots, I was afraid. I have a two year-old girl and I thought I was going to die... He shot straight at the police officer."

The Islamic State group, which is being driven out of its areas of territorial control in Iraq and Syria by Western-backed coalitions and has hundreds of French-speaking fighters, claimed responsibility for Thursday's shooting via its Amaq news agency, naming the attacker as Abu Yousif al-Belgiki.

The claim came quickly and the naming of the assailant suggested a degree of direct contact with Islamic State. The group also claimed responsibility for a car attack in London last month killing four, but gave no name or details.

Police sources said the man was known to intelligence services. French television networks reported that he was a 39-year-old French national known for previous violent crimes.

POLICE CLEAR THE AREA

Police authorities called on the public to avoid the area.

The Arc de Triomphe monument and the top half of the Champs Elysees were packed with police vans, lights flashing and heavily armed police shutting the area down after what was described by one journalist as a major exchange of fire.

The incident came as French voters prepared go to the polls on Sunday in the most tightly-contested presidential election in decades.

"We shall be of the utmost vigilance, especially in relation to the election," said President Hollande, who is not himself running for re-election.

Earlier this week, two men were arrested in Marseille who police said had been planning an attack ahead of the election.

A machine gun, two hand guns and three kilos of TATP explosive were among the weapons found at a flat in the southern city along with Islamic State propaganda materials, according to Molins.

That incident brought issues of security and immigration back to the forefront of the campaign, with the anti-immigration National Front leader Marine Le Pen repeating her call for Europe's partly open borders to be closed.

On Thursday, speaking after a television appearance, she said she was "deeply angry" as well as sad for the police victims "because not everything is done ... to protect our compatriots. They need more than our compassion."

Candidates in the election said they had been warned about the Marseille attackers. Francois Fillon, who is the conservative candidate, said he would cancel the campaign events he had been planning for Friday.

He also called for campaigning generally to be suspended, although from midnight on Friday the law says it has to stop anyway. Far left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon said campaigning should continue. In November, 2015, Paris was rocked by near simultaneous gun-and-bomb attacks on entertainment sites, in which 130 people died and 368 were wounded. Islamic State claimed responsibility. Two of the 10 known perpetrators were Belgian citizens and three others were French. (Additional reporting by JRichard Balmforth, Sophie Louet, Leigh Thomas, John Irish, Michel Rose, Jean-Baptiste Vey, Ingrid Melander, Julie Carriat and Muhammad Yamany in Cairo; Writing by Andrew Callus and John Irish; Editing by Ralph Boulton and Toni Reinhold)
By Warren Strobel and Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) - The United States wants new commitments from Saudi Arabia to improve its targeting procedures to minimize civilian casualties in its part in the Yemen civil war as it weighs resuming sales of precision-guided munitions to Riyadh, U.S. officials told Reuters.

An announcement of the weapons sale had been anticipated last month, but objections by mostly Democratic lawmakers and human rights groups have complicated the matter, the U.S. officials and others close to the issue said.

"We want the Saudis to show that they are committed to use these things properly," said one U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

At issue is the sale of about $390 million worth of guidance systems made by Raytheon Co that convert "dumb" gravity bombs into precision-guided munitions that are supposed to more accurately hit targets.

Nearly 4,800 civilians have been killed in Yemen since the latest round of conflict began in March 2015, most of them by the Saudi-led coalition seeking to restore ousted President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the United Nations human rights office said in March.

The conflict pits Iran-allied Houthi rebels against the government backed by the Saudi-led Arab coalition.

A representative of the Saudi Embassy in Washington declined comment on discussions with Washington over the precision-guided weapons.

The Saudi government has called allegations of civilian casualties fabricated or exaggerated, and has said the coalition follows rigorous rules of engagement.

A group of U.S. senators introduced legislation on April 13 to set new conditions for U.S. military support for Riyadh.

"The Saudis are important partners in the Middle East, but they have continued to disregard our advice when it comes to target selection and civilian protection," Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said in a statement.

The U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of diplomacy with Saudi Arabia, declined to specify what additional safeguards they were seeking to avoid civilian deaths and injury.

The first official said the commitments could come in the form of a letter from Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.

"This is an unconditional sale. There are no conditions attached. The decision has been made to let the sale go through," a second U.S. official said.

The official said the United States was in "regular dialogue" with Saudi Arabia on the issue of civilian casualties "and specific steps on how to do this."

In the past, Washington has pressed Riyadh to take more care in targeting; abide by "no strike" lists of off-limits areas; and promptly investigate reports of civilian casualties.

U.S. President Donald Trump's predecessor Barack Obama suspended the arms sale in December after an estimated 140 people were killed when planes struck mourners at a funeral in the Yemen capital, Sanaa, in October 2016. The Saudi-led coalition received incorrect information from Yemeni military figures that armed Houthi leaders were in the area, a coalition probe found.

Asked about the new commitments being sought from Riyadh, the State Department did not respond directly.

"The Saudi-led coalition is supporting the legitimate Yemeni government and defending itself from Houthi incursion into Saudi territory," a State Department official said.

The official said that the Saudi government "is taking measures to improve its targeting processes" and adopting measures for recording reports of civilian casualties.

A White House spokesman declined comment. (Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy, Phil Stewart and Patricia Zengerle; editing by Grant McCool)
Appe Lanka will be hosting a concert themed Music for Unityas part of a long-term fundraising effort to support its projects in the north of Sri Lanka. A variety of musicians and school bands have pledged to perform at the event which is set to take place on the 29thof April at the CR & FC grounds from 5.00 pm onwards. The official Appe Lanka soundtrack will also be launched at the event.

The concert will feature a diverse line-up of artists such as Magic Box Mix-up, En Route, Circus Cult, Kingdom Life, The Bakery, Slips, Neptune, D&D, Encore, Kryptonite, Diarra, Guest Stars, Melissa and Rapti. The concert is being hosted tobring youth and family members of all ages and from all walks of life together, and to raise funds and awareness about Appe Lankas work in the north and east of Sri Lanka.

Appe Lanka was initiated to continuously uplift and look in to the specific needs of community members in Poonakary who were adverselyaffected by the civil war. The project primarily aims to promote the welfare of the individuals in northern villages that are struggling to regain a sense of normalcy after the war. Additionally, the project offers psycho-social support to the youth of the community by inspiring school children and encouraging them to embrace an attitude of resilience and hopefulness.

Commenting on the concert, Shaan Corea  Founder, Appe Lanka said: We always strive to support communities who live in outlying northern districts such as Poonakary. This concert is one of many fundraising events that will be held this year, to help us create awareness about our work in Poonakary and to raise funds for our projects. This months event is yet another important milestone that will enable us to continue our work. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to all of the musicians, organizations, corporates and individuals, who came forward to contribute towards this initiative.

Appe Lanka recently celebrated the successful completion of its pilot project last December and assisted school children who needed a safe and reliable mode of transport to travel to school. Appe Lanka proudly raised funds for a total of 75 bikes so the children in Poonakarycould safely travel to and from school. In January,the organization hosted a fun fair in collaboration with DS Poonakary and the Sri Lanka Army, which was attended by 400 people and featured traditional dancers and performances by the army calypso band.

For further inquiries or support kindly call 0777736476 / 0772872056 (Jenny) and for online payments kindly visit www.books.lkor e-mail info@awakeninglanka.com

To sponsor or support Appe Lanka and its efforts to empower the people of Poonakary, kindlycall +94 (11) 2582103 / +94 77 2872056
The Grodno State Medical University, in the Republic of Belarus (an eastern European country) intends to open a branch in Sri Lanka; the BelTA news agency reported quoting the university's Rector Viktor Snezhitsky.

A delegation of the Grodno State Medical University is now busy negotiating in Sri Lanka.

We intend to open a branch of the university's preparatory courses department. The idea will be implemented in 2018 if not in 2017. We are considering hiring local teaching staff. Specialists from Grodno will be sent to Sri Lanka for short-term business trips for the sake of control, performance review, and educational support, said the rector. If the plans are implemented, Sri Lanka will be the first country with a branch of the Grodno State Medical University of its own. It is a normal practice for many universities. If the project produces the effect the university counts on, the practice will be expanded, noted Viktor Snezhitsky.

The Grodno State Medical University has trained foreign students for more than 20 years. Education services with English as the language of instruction have been available for over 15 years. At present two thirds of foreign students at the Grodno State Medical University are instructed in English during the entire six-year period of education. Our teachers are ready for it. We constantly recruit more young professionals, who speak foreign languages, added the rector.

The quality of training of foreign students at the Grodno State Medical University is highly rated; competition among foreign students exceeds two people per place. A roundtable session of the Education, Science, Culture, and Social Development Commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus took place at premises of the Grodno State Medical University on 18 April. Ways to improve medical university education and science in Belarus were discussed during the session.
The Hambantota Port, to be developed in partnership with a Chinese company, entails a great deal of engagement in Sino-Lanka relations.

The 2003 lease agreement is now revisited for implementation with the addition of provisions to suit the current context.

If the Chinese control over a port in the southern tip of Sri Lanka is to be feared by some counties in the region, the same will apply for Indias control over a fuel storage facility in the eastern coast of Sri Lanka.

Before contrasting and competing views within the government on the Hambantota Port deal are reconciled, the stage is being set for yet another debate. This is involving the move to develop the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm with an Indian company under a joint venture.



The Hambantota Port, to be developed in partnership with a Chinese company, entails a great deal of engagement in Sino-Lanka relations. So does the Trinco project in Indo-Lanka relations. Both go beyond their commercial relevance, as the countries concerned look at geopolitical connotations lying beneath commercial interests. The then United National Party (UNP) led government signed a tripartite agreement in 2003 to develop the oil tank farm with India.



The government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), Lanka IOC Pvt. Ltd. (LIOC) and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) signed the tripartite agreement with regard to the China Bay Installation (Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm) in February 2003.



2003 lease agreement to be revisited



As per the lease agreement, the oil tank farm with 99 tanks was to be handed over to the LIOC for use for a period of 35 years. Accordingly, they started using 14 tanks in the lower farm area. The remaining 84 tanks in the upper tank area remain disused. In 2004, the UNP government was unseated at a snap general election. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) that succeeded the UNP was not keen on the implementation of the provisions of the agreement since then. As such, the agreement remained only in letter for most parts.



After 14 years, the UNP is back in power as the core of a ruling coalition commonly called the national unity government. It is apparent that the 2003 lease agreement is now revisited for implementation. In fact, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who undertook an official visit to Sri Lanka soon after the formation of the new government in 2015 mentioned the proposal for the development of Trincomalee as a petroleum hub.



Now, the government has initiated talks with the Indian authorities on the establishment of a joint venture between LIOC and the CPC. The Indian Prime Minister is slated to visit Sri Lanka in view of the UN Vesak Day celebrations next month. On the sidelines of the event, he is expected to have bilateral discussions with President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. This is going to be featured during talks. Besides, ahead of Mr. Modis visit, Mr. Wickremesinghe will head for New Delhi for some talks.



The government of Sri Lanka, had in 2002, invited LIOC for development of the oil tank farm.



Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC), is the parent company of LIOC - it is in fact, Indias largest commercial enterprise with a sales turnover of $ 61 billion (Sri Lankas GDP is around $ 80 billion). IOC is listed in the prestigious Fortune Global 500 list, first among Indian enterprises. According to sources, since taking over the facilities at Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm in 2003, LIOC has invested heavily in refurbishment of tankages, pipelines& jetty and creating new facilities including additional storage tank, lube blending facilities etc. On overall basis, since the past 14 years, LIOC has spent approx LKR 7000 million in the country on its various facilities, invested almost LKR 4400 million in the Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminal Limited (CPSTL) and is spending almost LKR 100 million each year on maintenance of its assets. One fourths of the shareholding of LIOC has been paying the rental of US$ 100,000 to Government of Sri Lanka per annum for the facility, since 2003.



LIOC earns Rs. 80 billion in 2016/17, pays Rs.30 billion as tax



For the last financial year (2015.2016), LIOCs turnover stood at Rs.71billion. It spent 24billion in terms of taxes. Even in 2016-17, out of the turnover of approximately Rs. 80 billion, Rs. 30 billion has been paid as taxes.



The company seems to be making fresh efforts in the expansion of its work here under the new government. During the previous rule, in 2012, it applied to the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka to make an investment of US$ 5.2 million towards creating a Bitumen Handling Facility in the Upper Tank Farm. LIOC also engaged a Project Consultant in this regard. However, the approval was not given. In line with the agreement, LIOC during initial 6-7 years, had given supplies to CPC from Trincomalee Tank Farm for its distribution requirements. In fact, when petroleum products were being taken by CPC from Trincomalee, the petroleum products were sourced by LIOC from International market by paying a war-risk-premium, on their own, which have still not been reimbursed by CPC to LIOC.



Ten tanks for exclusive use of Sri Lanka



Inspite of LIOC having exclusive rights for development of Upper Tank Farm at Trincomallee as per the Tank Farm Agreement, during the visit of Honble Prime Minister of India to Sri Lanka in March 2015, it was agreed that Lanka IOC (LIOC) and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) would jointly develop the Upper Tank Farm of the China Bay Installation in Trincomalee on mutually agreed terms.

India has renewed its call that it is willing to move forward so that the Upper tank Farm facility could be developed with Sri Lanka. It has expressed its readiness to set up a Joint Venture (JV) for this purpose.



According to sources, business development proposals will be prepared by the proposed venture and as part of the plans. It, if set up, will prioritize the development of 10 tanks in the Upper Tank farm for the exclusive use of Sri Lanka.



India stresses that the land lease agreement in favour of LIOC will need to be extended for the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm.



Trinco Storage facility, an option to Singapore and Fujairah



The project is undoubtedly bound to draw international attentions both from commercial and geopolitical perspectives. It is to develop an international oil storage facility in Trincomalee as an alternative to Singapore and Fujairah. For India, it is of immense use, as it is the third largest consumer of oil in the world, and the second largest refiner in Asia. India is also the fourth largest importer of LNG.



As for the Hambantota port project, objection has been raised by the countries such as India and Japan, insisting that port development should be within the full control of the government of Sri Lanka.



If the Chinese control over a port in the southern tip of Sri Lanka is to be feared by some countries in the region, the same will apply for Indias control over a fuel storage facility in the eastern coast of Sri Lanka. So, the pros and cons of the two projects are bound to be weighed from a geopolitical point of view given Sri Lankas strategic positioning as an Indian Ocean littoral state. Probably, the commercial aspects of the projects will get scant attention.
Insee Cement emerged victorious at the recently concluded SLIM-Nielson Peoples Awards 2017, where Sanstha Cement was lauded with the Brand of the Year Award for housing and construction for the sixth consecutive year.

Organized by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM), the SLIM-Nielson Peoples Awards is the only event in Sri Lanka that provides comprehensive insight to the publics perspective of brands, personalities and other favorite entities such as films, advertisements, music and more over the past year. All nominees as well as the award winners are voted for by the public, with a nationwide, quantitative face-to-face survey of males and females between the ages of 15-60. This makesthe SLIM-Nielson Peoples Awards one of the most anticipated events in the local corporate calendar.

As the leading cement manufacturer in Sri Lanka, we understand the value of brand recognition this win brings, Janaka Weerakoon, Commercial Director of Insee Cement commented. Its about adapting to consumer requirements, and adding value to consumers through our own brands. Sanstha definitely got the equation right, winning the Peoples Award for the sixth year running. We are grateful to the public for nominating and voting for us as their brand once again, and in turn promise to remain progressive, innovating products and solutions that are tailored to address their construction challenges in the future.

Insee Sanstha is manufactured by Siam City Cement (Lanka) Ltd, formerly known as Holcim (Lanka) Limited, a member of the Siam City Cement company. The company was founded in 1969 in Thailand, and is today a leading cement manufacturer in Southeast Asia.
The Malaysian High Court today dismissed an application to transfer a criminal trial involving a Sri Lankan envoy from the Sepang court to Kuala Lumpur on security grounds, the Free Malaysia Today reported.

Justice Nordin Hassan said the grounds raised in the application pertained to law and order.

The applicant and the witness could complain to the trial judge and law enforcement agency if they are unhappy about a crowd outside the Sepang court, he said.

Nordin said the same crowd could be in Kuala Lumpur if the trial venue were to be shifted.

This is not a good reason to transfer the case from Sepang, he said.

Last September, three men were charged with rioting and assaulting Ambassador Ibrahim Sahib Ansar at the KLIA airport.

The unprecedented application was filed in January by the public prosecutor, with Ibrahim filing an affidavit in support of moving the court.

The application was made under Section 417 (d) of the Criminal Procedure Code for the High Court to grant an order for the general convenience of a witness.

Ibrahim said he believed that his safety was not guaranteed if he were to attend the trial in the Sepang Sessions Court as witness because large groups of Tamils had gathered there during the last two case managements.

He said he was still traumatised by the brutal Sept 4 attack on him at KLIA, a public area which should have tight security measures.

I fear for my safety and security if the trial is to be continued in Sepang, he said in the affidavit, adding that he had lodged a police report to express his concern.

He said he felt safer to have the trial heard in Kuala Lumpur as security measures there were tighter and better.

Ibrahim said Tamil groups had attempted to harm the staff of the Sri Lankan High Commission and a former prime minister at a Buddhist temple during his visit to Malaysia.

Lawyer M Manoharan, who is appearing for the accused  A Kalaimughilan, V Balamurugan and V Ragunathan  said today the case would be mentioned before the trial judge on May 3.

We will officially inform the judge of todays ruling to fix the trial dates, he said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to have bilateral discussions with the Lankan leaders on the sidelines of UN Vesak Day celebrations here, on matters of mutual interests and concern, including the proposal for joint development of the oil tank farm in Trincomalee, it is learnt.

Mr. Modi will arrive in the country on May 12 on a two-day visit in view of the UN Vesak Day Celebrations in the country. This is his second visit to Sri Lanka during his tenure. He undertook a state visit to the country in March, 2015, two months after the formation of the new government here. According to informed sources, Sri Lanka is the only country in Indias neighbourhood to be visited by him on two occasions. His 2015 state visit was also the first in 28 years by an Indian Prime Minister.

Currently, the two governments have initiated discussions on the development of the Upper Tank Farm area of Trincomalee under a Joint Venture to be formed for the purpose with Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC) which is already using a part of the tank farm according to an agreement signed in 2003. Ahead of Mr. Modis visit, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will travel to New Delhi for discussions.

Asked about the current status of the project, LIOC Managing Director Shyam Bohra told Daily Mirror his company had refurbished the Lower Tank farm for Trincomalee Oil Terminal. He said he was awaiting the approval of the Sri Lanka government to develop the Upper Tank Farm area.

During the past years, LIOC has submitted, from time to time, various proposals to the government of Sri Lanka for development of the Upper Tank farm but the same were not approved. Now, it has been decided at government level that the project shall be undertaken through a Joint Venture. Discussions are being held between the government of India and the government of Sri Lanka, he said.

Responding to the query about the total cost of the proposed project, he said the rehabilitation of 84 tanks in the Upper Tank farm area, along with pipelines, Jetty and other ancillary facilities, would cost around US $ 300-350 million.

The project will have to compete with ports like Singapore and Fujairah, and this requires meticulous planning and execution. Tanks will be developed in line with the requirement of Sri Lanka, he said.

According to the agreement signed in 2003, the Tank Farm should be given on lease to LIOC for 35 years. (Kelum Bandara)
The Indian government decided on Wednesday to ban red beacons atop cars of all ministers, politicians and bureaucrats, ending a privilege that was seen as the ultimate status symbol.

The ban, effective from May 1, doesnt exempt even vehicles of the countrys top dignitaries such as the President, Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India.

But ambulances and vehicles of the fire service, police, and army will be allowed to use blue flashing beacons to cut through traffic.

About six categories of beacons  primarily red, blue and yellow  are in use in India. But the red, or the coveted lal batti, has been drawing maximum attention as an elitist VIP symbol since the British rulers introduced it.

Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari called the decision historic, and tweeted: Usage of red beacon tied us back to colonial legacy. With lal batti removal PM Narendra Modis vision of new India took a step forward.

The decision was taken at a meeting of road transport officials with the prime ministers office on April 15. The Prime Minister informed his cabinet about the move on Wednesday.

We have decided to remove the clause from the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, that gave the Centre and states the power to decide who should be allowed to display red beacons. The road ministry will shortly notify the amended rules, finance minister Arun Jaitley said.

The Centres move follows decisions by the Uttar Pradesh and Punjab chief ministers, Yogi Adityanath and Captain Amarinder Singh, to discard beacons from official cars in their states.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal took the lead in 2015 by asserting he would not have the red beacon on his car.

Union ministers such as M Venkaiah Naidu and junior home minister Kiren Rijiju have never used one since they joined the Modis council. Gadkari and Jitendra Singh, junior minister in the prime ministers office, removed theirs on Wednesday.

The opposition Congress welcomed the step, but took a swipe at the BJP, saying it was good to see the ruling party catch up with the progressive policies of the previous government.

The Supreme Court had given its verdict on December 10, 2013 about which cars be allowed and which ones not for use of red beacons. If after three-and-a-half years the BJP is trying to do politics over this and blow the trumpet of morality, then there can be nothing more laughable..., Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said.

The top court called beacons atop cars of ministers and bureaucrats ridiculous and synonymous with power, and said these should be removed immediately. It advised the Centre and states later to amend the motor vehicles act to trim the list of people who can use beacons.

The road ministry had proposed limiting the privilege to five constitutional authorities  the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India, and Speaker of the Lok Sabha. The proposal was not approved.

According to the government, vehicles with beacon lights have no place in a democratic country.

People often saw these flashing lights as shining examples of power and VIP status, more than security aids. Even lower-level politicians and officials misuse the beacons to show off their importance, especially in smaller towns. (Hindustan Times)
The issue of cow slaughter and the consumption of beef has been an issue that many orthodox Hindus have found an affront to their religion. Blasphemous speech, in regards to orthodox Muslims and their reverence for the Prophet and Allah, produces a similar sentiment of outrage.

This sense of outrage has led to the phenomenon of the religious vigilantism. Yet, it seems that this malaise, which was once a rare occurrence in the early history of both India and Pakistan, has transformed and metastasised into a cancer that is permeating the very fabric of each nations' respective society.

Justification through legislation

Pakistan

Pakistan in 1986, under the brutal dictatorship of Zia-ul-Haq, witnessed the institutionalisation of blasphemy laws that the nation inherited from the British penal code. The original law, Section 295, was originally instituted as a means of preventing communal violence during the time of the British Raj.

The Section stated that deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religious belief is deemed a criminal offense. Pakistan, before the institutionalisation of blasphemy, saw only rare occurrences of this law being applied in the court of law. Records indicate that before 1986, only 14 cases were ever filed over allegations of blasphemy. The number of cases filed, from 1986-2015, jumped to 1,472.

This uptick in cases filed has also been accompanied by a series of assassinations and murders, the persecution of religious minorities (Ahmedis, Shia, Christians), the intimidation and targeting of proponents who want to amend the law, and ironically, fellow innocent Muslims.

India

India, since the days of the British Raj, has heard demands from orthodox Hindu sects that propagate the imposition of bans on cow slaughter and beef consumption. The impetus behind this stance is due to the cows culturally sacred status in Hinduism.

The reverence for the cow is also enshrined within Indias secular Constitution, through Article 48, that exclusively allows Indian states the ability to ban or allow the slaughter of cows. The Article specifically states that:

The state shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle.

As of 2016, only five out of 29 Indian states allow cow slaughter and beef consumption. Yet, these laws were rarely enforced. Historically, the issue of cow slaughter in India has only been truly contentious within circles of ultra-orthodox Hindus, whose views of strict enforcement have usually been restricted to the fringes of Indian society.

The proponents of instituting and imposing bans on cow slaughter and beef consumption call themselves gau rakshaks (cow protectors) but can easily be viewed as religious vigilantes.

The actions of these vigilante groups have either resulted in the beatings or murder of those, either guilty or innocent, viewed as having killed a cow or consumed beef. The rise of the religiously inclined BJP, under recent leadership, has only strengthened the position of gau rakshaks.

In the name of God

The contentious issue of cow slaughter in India, and blasphemy in Pakistan share many parallels. Recent acts of vigilante justice in both nations are perceived as justified through legislation that reaffirms their legality.

In Pakistan, the ruling PML-N government and parts of the judiciary provide a sense of legitimacy for the string of recent violent actions that go against the predominant religion. Official statements condemning blasphemous content on social media, made by PM Nawaz Sharif and Islamabad High Court Justice Shaukat Siddiqui, further lend a cover of justification to those who viciously target individuals accused of blasphemy. But most importantly, they provide an alternative method of silencing dissent.

The most recent episode of violence perpetrated in the name of defending Islam targeted a university student, Mashal Khan, who supposedly posted blasphemous content on social media.

Mashal Khan.

A brutal recording of vigilante "justice" appeared last week that showed a crowd beating, stripping naked, killing, and then tossing the body of the student off a second floor dormitory in the name of religion.

This horrific event shares its place in the nations psyche along with the assassination of former Punjab governor Salman Taseer, the witch-hunt against Asia Bibi, and a multitude of other victims that have fallen to the curse of being labeled a blasphemer.

India, often viewed as a foil to Pakistan, has had a long history of secularism entrenched within society. Yet, recent decisions by the BJP-led central and state governments, and the tepid response by those in power towards acts of vigilante justice, further strengthens the position of those that lynch in the name of their religion.

The appointment of Yogi Adityanath as the chief minister of the largest state in India, Uttar Pradesh (UP), has further fueled the fracturing of Indias secular civil society. He, along with various other BJP party members, have made past comments that have targeted the family of Mohammad Akhlaq (who was lynched under the suspicion of possessing beef), Dalits who have been accused of cow slaughter as they dispose recently deceased cattle, and other minority groups.

CM Adityanath, shortly after gaining office, advocated for enforcing the ban on both cow smuggling and slaughterhouses and has a record of rarely making remarks that condemn actions of vigilante justice. Shortly after his appointment as UP CM, reports of arson were submitted against three shops that sold meat.

On April 5, 2017, a 200-member gau rakshak mob attacked a convoy of cattle transporters in Indias state of Rajasthan. The mob surrounded the vehicles and beat the drivers, who happened to be Muslim, leading to the death of Pehlu Khan who succumbed to his injuries.

Incredibly, the state has filed charges and arrested the 11 men on charges of cow smuggling, which is illegal in Rajasthan. Charges have also been filed against Khans family, who argue that the cows were not being transported for slaughter but for dairy production.

They also stated that the necessary paperwork was also available as transportation of cattle requires a permit. The police have also begun a murder investigation into the group of gau rakshaks, but so far no arrests have been made.

Following the tragic episode of Pehlu Khan, Rajasthans home minister, Gulab Chand Kataria, stated that, There are two sides to this... They know that one cannot smuggle cows out of Rajasthan. A law is in place... Stopping is not a crime... But taking the law into your hands, that is a crime. It seems that the minister finds the transportation of cows equivalent to the actions perpetrated by the mob.

In Pakistan, following the murder of Mashal Khan, statements by top political party officials from the PTI, PPP, and PML-N all condemned the murder of the student but there was no mention regarding the concept of blasphemy that was at the root of the controversy. The fear within Pakistani society regarding blasphemy continues to reach new heights. It is now understood that the very criticism of the nations absurd blasphemy laws now amounts to having committed the very act of blasphemy.

Indian politician, Shashi Tharoor, writes in an article, Where has the central government been as all of this has been happening? Initially, it did not condemn cow vigilantism. Indias social justice minister, whose principal responsibility is to promote the welfare of [Indians], expressed regret not for the vigilantes violent actions, but for the fact that they were spurred by ill-founded rumors.

This view was reflected in the governments response to an attack in Uttar Pradesh, where a mob lynched a Muslim and beat his son nearly to death, simply because they suspected that he had killed a cow. Rather than leaping to the victims defense, the authorities launched a forensic investigation into whether the meat in his refrigerator was beef (it was not). The implication was clear: violence is unjustifiable only if the victim has not actually killed or eaten a cow.

The same can be said of the authorities across the border in Pakistan. Following the brutal and inexcusable murder of Mashal Khan, early reports stated that police in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province today said there was no concrete evidence yet to register a blasphemy case against Mashal Khan who was lynched by a violent mob, as it arrested 22 people and opened a hate speech probe against two clerics in the case. We did not find any concrete evidence under which an investigation or legal action can be launched against Mashal, Abdullah or Zubair," Inspector General of Police Salahuddin Khan Mehsud told reporters at a press conference here.
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STANARDSVILLE  Two William Monroe High School graduates will lead a seminar this Saturday in Stanardsville that they hope will engage the community in a positive discussion of Muslims and Islam in general.

Kayla Barker and Najeeha Khan, who are now seniors at James Madison University, said their seminar, titled Engaging Conversations with the Muslim Community, will be more interactive and informative than Greene County Sheriff Steve Smiths Understanding the Jihad Threat seminar held in November.

The sheriffs event, originally called Understanding the Muslim Threat, took place at Piedmont Virginia Community Colleges Eugene Giuseppe Center in Stanardsville the weekend before the November election that saw Donald Trump elected president.

We felt compelled to act pretty soon after the sheriffs seminar, primarily because we noticed the issue was presented as one-sided along with opinions declared as fact, said Baker, who along with Khan, graduated in 2013 from Greene Countys William Monroe High School.

It was unfair to the Greene County residents to have been presented a fear-inducing, one-sided view of Islam  especially without any Muslims at the table, Khan said. I personally felt unsafe and fearful of a place I was supposed to call home after hearing comments from the attendees at the [November] event.

Speakers at that seminar told a gathering of about 50 residents that Islamic jihadists are posing as a civil-rights group, and that sponsors of terrorism are in the inner circles of the federal government at the highest levels.

In addition, one speaker said that Thomas Jefferson was not indifferent about Islam, even denying that the Charlottesville patriarch was accommodating to a Tunisian envoy during peace talks involving the Barbary War.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that tracks hate groups in America, describes the Understanding the Threat seminars founder John Guandolo as a disreputable character, who regularly attacks the U.S. government, claims that the director of the Central Intelligence Agency is a secret Muslim agent for the Saudi government and says that American Muslims do not have a First Amendment right to do anything.

Guandolo was not present at Novembers seminar, but area speaker Michael Del Rosso made many of those claims as well. Del Rosso is a senior research fellow at the Center for Security Policy and The Claremont Institute and the co-author of Shariah: The Threat to America. He also ran an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination in Virginias 5th District last year.

Although the inspiration for this event was sparked in November, it is not a response and doesnt have much to do with the [sheriffs] seminar, Khan said. The structure, the motivation and purpose have been driven by one thing  our passion for education, storytelling and the community just loving each other.

Barker said the November seminar did not have much space for community members to listen to one another.

We love our home and we want Greene to always be a welcoming place for all people, and this requires all of the diverse communities engaging in meaningful conversations, she said. We are inviting Greene County residents of all backgrounds to join us at the table this Saturday.

As a Muslim student who grew up in Greene County, Khan said she was well aware that her family was one of the few Muslim families in the area.

The people who got to know us became great friends, but the people who never even met us had awful misconceptions about us just because of the faith we practiced, she said. People can live their whole lives in Greene and never converse in a meaningful way with a Muslim, yet there are still so many strong opinions that they form through the media.

Engaging Conversations with the Muslim Community will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Eugene Giuseppe Center.

Our event will serve as a platform for Greene County residents to speak frankly about their fears and experiences, as well as hear from residents of Greene and the surrounding area who identify as Muslim, Khan said. Scholars [from JMU] will be present to answer questions and engage participants.

We want to offer an opportunity for Greene County residents to be brave. We understand that we may be inviting you to a space that feels uncomfortable  perhaps because its new and different, she said. But it will be a place to have your voice heard in a constructive environment.

Participants will also have the opportunity to enjoy free food and coffee with sharing stories with one another, Khan said.

Stanardsville is our hometown. This is where we grew up, where we went to school and where our families still live, Barker said. We went to college as a result of Greene County schools, and we want to come home to organize around an issue we find to be important.

We believe that, as students who have gotten the opportunity to further our education, it is our responsibility to provide community members a space for active engagement and accessible knowledge.

No RSVP is necessary. For more information, contact Barker at barke2ka@dukes.jmu.edu.
Charlottesville attorney R. Lee Livingston, a partner with MichieHamlett, was elected this month as president of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association for 2017 to 2018, according to a news release.

Livingston earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the College of William & Mary. He also has served on the Virginia State Bar Council for the 16th Circuit and taught at the University of Virginia School of Law as an adjunct professor. He also is an active member of the Virginia Model Jury Instructions Committee and Boyd Graves Conference.
Charlottesville will be well represented at Saturdays March for Science, a massive, multi-city demonstration calling for funding and support for scientific research.

About 200 people from Charlottesville will attend the main rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Closer to home, a demonstration is scheduled that will go from the Ix Art Park to the Downtown Mall.

Students and faculty from the University of Virginia will be taking part in both.

Participants cite myriad reasons for their involvement in the march, including threats from President Donald Trumps administration to cut grant funding.

The administrations budget proposal calls for an 18 percent reduction to the National Institutes of Health, which is an important source of funding for research projects. The proposal also calls for huge cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency  a 31 percent reduction in funding and layoffs of about 3,000 of the agencys 15,000-person staff, according to Nature, a weekly science journal.

Trump also has talked about rolling back certain greenhouse gas regulations unfurled during former President Barack Obamas tenure.

Dr. Dean Kedes, who organized the Charlottesville delegation to Washington, said the march is a response to increased anti-science sentiment in recent years  attacks on funding and climate change denial, among other things. But the latest proposals rolled out by Trump were the straw that broke the camels back, he said.

Its bewildering to me and members of the scientific community that any group of leaders would lie down passively and accept some of the proposals that have been bandied about, said Kedes, a professor of immunology, microbiology and cancer biology at the UVa School of Medicine.

Although many of the organizers are against Trumps proposals, Kedes said he still thinks the group can send a message thats nonpartisan. In the past, he said, funding and support for research have gotten support from both sides of the aisle, and hes hoping that the demonstration helps to ensure that the trend continues.

Wed like to appeal to congressmen from all political parties, he said. Science can stand on its own right. It doesnt need partisan support.

Kelly Barford  a Ph. D. student who helped organize the local march  said its bigger than any single issue or person. Political turmoil has given rise to the post-truth era, she said, in which people ignore facts that undermine their own beliefs.

We dont necessarily want this march to be a political statement but more of a defense of scientific thinking  looking at facts and drawing a conclusion from the facts, she said. I think that way of thinking has gone down in recent years.

Kedes and CVillians for Science, an ad hoc group organizing the Washington trip, initially paid for two buses with room for 50 people each. Tickets for those first two buses sold out, and spots on a third are going quickly, Kedes said.

Barford will be a part of the local demonstration, which will include booths on various scientific topics and short lectures from students and researchers.

The emphasis will be on practical applications of science in everyday life, said Casey Hoffman, a Ph.D. student in infectious diseases at UVa. Topics will include the science of winemaking and baking, climate change and environmental conservation.

Hoffman said its an opportunity for scientists to bridge the gap with laymen  a gap that has grown too wide in recent years.

I think theres a stigma associated with us  that we dont know how to talk to others, Hoffman said. Im hoping this day showcases how fun science can be.

The local march will begin at the Ix Art Park at 1:30 p.m.

More information on the Washington, D.C., rally is available at facebook.com/cvillemarchforscience.
RICHMOND  Three former Virginia attorneys general are asking Gov. Terry McAuliffe to spare the life of Ivan Teleguz, set to be executed Tuesday for the murder-for-hire of his girlfriend.

The letter dated Tuesday from Mark Earley, Mary Sue Terry and William Broaddus begins: We would like to add our voices to those calling for you to commute the sentence of Ivan Teleguz. As former attorneys general of the commonwealth of Virginia  under both Republican and Democratic administrations  we are familiar with the difficult decision before you when asked to spare the life of a death-sentenced prisoner.

The letter continues, We know that as you make this difficult decision, you undoubtedly will keep in mind the memory of Stephanie Sipe and that there can be no accounting for the senseless brutality of her murder. In our view, however, justice cannot be served by executing a prisoner in a case replete with unreliable investigative techniques, coercive tactics by both law enforcement and the prosecution, recantations of key trial witnesses and consideration of false testimony in support of a death sentence. In short, we believe this to be precisely the kind of case that calls out for executive clemency.

Earlier this month, lawyers for Teleguz filed a clemency request with McAuliffe. Marsha L. Garst, the commonwealths attorney for Rockingham County, has declined to comment on the case, noting that the issues have been tried and decided in local, state and federal courts.

The Virginia Attorney Generals Office referred questions to the governors office. A McAuliffe spokesman said Wednesday, Mr. Teleguzs petition is under review in the governors office and we will comment when that review is complete.

Teleguz, 38, was sentenced to death for the 2001 capital murder of Stephanie Yvonne Sipe, the mother of their 23-month-old son. Sipe was stabbed to death in her Harrisonburg apartment. Trial evidence showed that Teleguz was angry that he had been ordered to pay child support.

He hired two men to kill Sipe for $2,000 and drove them from Pennsylvania, where Teleguz had moved. Sipe was stabbed to death. Her body was discovered by a neighbor who also found her son, unharmed, in a bathtub full of water.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Virginia and Oklahoma are tied for the second most executions in the U.S.  at 112  since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976. Texas, at 542, leads the country.

Teleguzs lawyers argue that the new evidence pointing to his innocence has never been fully examined by the courts. They say two prosecution witnesses admitted that they testified falsely in exchange for leniency in their own cases, and have no reason to think Teleguz was involved in the murder-for-hire.

His lawyers say that one of the witnesses has been deported, and the other was told he would lose his release date set for next year if he went back on his testimony.

The jurors also relied on false testimony that Teleguz was involved in an additional murder in Pennsylvania. Investigation since the trial by law enforcement and by the defense has confirmed that the murder never happened. The lawyers contend the only evidence remaining against Teleguz is the testimony of Michael Hetrick, the actual killer who was spared the death penalty.

His lawyers said the clemency petition details why his testimony is not credible or reliable. A Change.org petition in support of clemency has been signed by more than 114,000 people, and Teleguz also has submitted written requests for clemency from thousands of supporters.

In a release Wednesday, The Constitution Project said the three former attorneys general collectively oversaw the execution of more than 50 prisoners while they were in office.

Since leaving office, both Earley and Broaddus have come to oppose the death penalty.

The last time a Virginia governor granted clemency on the grounds of possible innocence appears to have been in 1996, when then-Gov. George Allen commuted the death sentence of Joseph Payne to life in prison without parole, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Virginia governors have granted clemency eight times since the death penalty was allowed to resume by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976.

Gov. L. Douglas Wilder commuted three death sentences; Allen commuted two; and Govs. Jim Gilmore, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine each commuted one. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, possible innocence was cited in four of the commutations, mental illness in two, rehabilitation in one and missing evidence in one.

In the cases in which innocence was claimed, the governors initially commuted the death sentence to life in prison.

In the case of Earl Washington Jr., who once came within nine days of execution, subsequent DNA testing proved his innocence of a 1982 rape and murder in Culpeper. He was granted an unconditional pardon in 2000. The real killer, implicated by DNA, has since been convicted.
RICHMOND  Ivan Teleguzs death sentence for the murder-for-hire of his ex-girlfriend in 2001 was commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole by Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Thursday.

Teleguz, 38, was scheduled to be executed Tuesday for the capital murder of Stephanie Yvonne Sipe, the mother of their 23-month-old son. Sipe was stabbed to death in her Harrisonburg apartment. According to trial testimony, he hired two men to kill her for $2,000 and drove them from Pennsylvania, where Teleguz had moved.

On July 23, 2001, Sipes mother went to her daughters apartment because she had not heard from Sipe for two days. She found her daughters body and her grandson unharmed in a bathtub full of water.

Teleguzs lawyers filed pardon and clemency requests with McAuliffe, arguing among other things that courts have never fully examined new evidence pointing to his innocence. They say two prosecution witnesses admitted that they testified falsely in exchange for leniency in their own cases and have no reason to think Teleguz was involved in the murder-for-hire.

McAuliffe denied the pardon request Thursday. He said Teleguz has had exhaustive appeals and litigation of the case. Numerous state and federal judges have weighed the case and refused to grant relief to Mr. Teleguz. ... I believe that he is guilty, the governor said.

However, McAuliffe said that the sentencing phase of Mr. Teleguzs trial was terribly flawed and unfair. Evidence was introduced implicating Teleguz in another murder, he said.

During the sentencing phase of the trial, the prosecutor referenced it, arguing that Teleguz was so dangerous that he needed to be put to death.

She said to the jury that he solves problems with arranging murders. He would do so from prison, he said.

We now know that no such murder ever occurred, much less with any involvement from Mr. Teleguz, the governor said. The jury should never have been given that information. It was false, plain and simple, he said.

Marsha L. Garst, the commonwealths attorney for Rockingham County, has declined to comment on the case, noting that the issues have been tried and decided in local, state and federal courts.

McAuliffe also said there were references during the trial to Teleguz being a member of the Russian mob, while no evidence was introduced to support that. He said subsequent evidence showed the allegations had an impact on the jury when deliberating over punishment.

I dont know what the jury would have done had they not been given that information. I dont. None of us do. But just raising that question, I cannot see this man put to death. He will spend the rest of his life in a jail cell, McAuliffe said.

He added: My heart aches for this family, the entire family who knew Stephanie Sipe, especially for their son who has grown up without knowing ... his parents. I know this decision will be a difficult one for all of them.

The governor said he had spoken with Sipes father, mother and sister on Thursday, telling them of his decision. Asked by a reporter for their reaction, McAuliffe said: They thanked me for calling.

Sipes family could not be reached for comment. The Harrisonburg television station WHSV reported that Sipes sister, Jennifer Tilley, called WHSV last week and said: Theres no doubt in my mind that he hired these people to kill my sister ... and it blows my mind, it really does, that he is still trying to fight and plead for his life.

Elizabeth Peiffer, Teleguzs lawyer with the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center, said in a statement that Teleguz, his family, friends and supporters are thankful that the governor granted clemency.

We do not believe the death penalty is rightly imposed where, as here, it is based on recanted and false testimony. Governor McAuliffe correctly recognized that our system of justice cannot stand by and allow an execution to proceed when jurors were told to impose a death sentence based on false information, she said.

Peiffer said Teleguz has maintained he had no involvement in the crime and that he will continue to work on proving it.

Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, executive director of the ACLU, said, We agree that the sentencing phase of this case was severely flawed, and Mr. Teleguz never should have been sentenced to death.

In 2015, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals noted that a lower-court judge held an evidentiary hearing in 2013 concerning the recantations of two of the key prosecution witnesses. One recanter refused to testify, and the other did not appear. In other words, neither of the recanters testified in support of their recantations, said the appeals court.

The appeals court opinion noted: Prosecutor Marsha Garst, whom (the recanters) accused of threatening them into testifying against Teleguz, appeared and testified that those accusations were false.

Teleguzs lawyers said one of the witnesses was deported, and the other was told he would lose his release date if he went back on his testimony.

Some religious leaders urged McAuliffe to grant clemency, and a Change.org petition in support of clemency has been signed by more than 114,000 people. Teleguz also has submitted written requests for clemency from thousands of supporters.

A joint statement from Virginias two Roman Catholic bishops, Francis X. DiLorenzo of Richmond and Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, said, We welcome with gratitude Gov. Terry McAuliffes decision today to commute the death sentence of Ivan Teleguz. ... We continue to express deep sorrow and pray for all victims of violence and their loved ones.

Del. Marcus B. Simon, D-Fairfax, who had urged clemency for Teleguz, praised McAuliffes decision. Today the system worked as it was designed. The constitution of the commonwealth of Virginia grants the governor clemency powers for cases such as this, where obvious errors need to be corrected.

Earlier this week, three former Virginia attorneys general  two of whom became opposed to the death penalty since leaving office  wrote to McAuliffe urging the death sentence be commuted, citing what they said was unreliable investigative techniques, coercive tactics by both law enforcement and the prosecution, recantations of key trial witnesses, and consideration of false testimony in support of a death sentence.

Virginia has executed 112 people since the death penalty was allowed to resume in 1976. Virginia governors have now commuted nine death sentences during the same period.
Mumbai: A parliamentary panel has sought details from the Reserve Bank about the post-demonetisation scenario, including the quantum of banned notes deposited so far and also the black money that has come back to the system.

The 15-member committee on subordinate legislation, headed by Congress member T Subbarami Reddy, met with RBI Deputy Governors N S Vishwanathan and B P Kanungo, senior bankers and heads of state-owned insurers here on Wednesday.

The meeting was also attended by Irdai chairman T S Vijayan, senior officials from the department of financial services and the Industrial Finance Corporation of India. "The committee posed questions to the RBI deputy governors about the ground situation, post note ban.

They asked the quantum of banned notes returned to the system, including the details about fake notes," said a banker. The government on November 8 last year had demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes with the stated objective to fight corruption, black money and counterfeit notes.

Later on, the government changed the objective to fighting terrorism and increasing digital payments. "The panel also wanted to know from the RBI brass how much black money has come back to the system, post demonetisation," said another banker.

The deputy governors, however, said they were not in a position to give the exact details, saying the process of recounting the deposited notes is still on. That apart, the window for NRIs to deposit the banned notes is also on till June 30.

The panel members also wanted to know from bankers the steps they have taken to ensure customers do not have to face hardships due to shortage of currency. The committee sought details from the RBI and banks about the fraud management system that has been put in place to safeguard customers' interest. It also examined Irdai's regulation on issuance of e- insurance policies.
Washington: India's growth has been "impressive" in the recent years which makes room for tax broadening efforts by the government, according to a top IMF official.

"India has recorded quite an impressive growth performance in recent years. Our view is that the elimination of fuel subsidies and the targeting of social benefits has delivered in terms of allowing the union budget target to be achieved at 3.5 per cent of GDP," Vitor Gasper, Director of the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department told reporters at a news conference here yesterday.

"We have been collaborating with the Indian authorities in terms of looking at fiscal structural measures, including expenditure rationalisation while protecting infrastructure investment, tax broadening efforts," he said.

In this context, the rollout of Goods and Services tax (GST) is an extremely important step that will create a true unified national market in India, he said. "We see room for tax broadening efforts.

We see room for more progressive income taxes in line with trends in income inequality. Perhaps more generally, we do see a case for a medium-term framework and we know that the authorities are actively working on that," Gasper said.

He also said inequality has increased in both India and China. "As was the case for India, in China you see that inequality has increased. From that viewpoint, you could advocate, you should advocate social spending and taxation reform in order to address that issue in China.

"At the same time, it turns out that increase in social spending and change in taxation does support the transfer of expenditure from investment to consumption. That is part of the overall rebalancing of the Chinese economy," Gasper said.

Gasper said globalisation and technological change have been major drivers of economic growth and cross country convergence. "More than one billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty since the early 1980s, and most of them come from China and India," he said.

"At the same time, when you focus on country indicators, you see that inequality has increased in most advanced economies and large emerging economies. Again, I am referring to China and India," Gasper said.

"The clear perception around the world of widespread increases in income inequality illustrates the dominance of national politics shaping these perceptions. Fiscal policies, government expenditures and revenues are powerful means to ensure the sharing of the growth dividend," the IMF official added.
New Delhi: RBI Governor Urjit Patel has been asked by a parliamentary panel to appear before it again on May 25 over demonetisation issue after former prime minister Manmohan Singh prevailed over BJP MPs in the panel to call him.

Interestingly, Patel was spared a grilling when he had appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance in January this year after Singh, who himself was RBI governor once, intervened to say that the RBI as an institution needs to be respected and Patel should not be put "odd" questions.

Top sources and members of the committee said that Patel has been asked to appear again before it to brief the members about demonetisation as discussion on it is yet to be concluded.

"BJP members in the panel including Nishikant Dubey were not in favour of calling Patel to appear before the committee, but after members from opposition led by Manmohan Singh insisted, it was decided to call the RBI governor," a member said.

The Committee headed by former Union minister and senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily had in January also called finance ministry officials besides top RBI officials to discuss the demonetisation of currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 and the impact thereof.

As members could not complete their questions, the committee had decided to call RBI Governor and ministry officials again on a later date, after the Budget session.

The sources privy to development said that the members in the panel are likely to ask Patel about how much money has come back into the system.

The members will also inquire as to when banks' operations will be normal.
New Delhi: The RBI's 'prompt corrective action' (PCA) framework suggests a greater willingness to regulatory action to address problems of struggling banks, Fitch Ratings said today.

However, its implementation is only likely to be effective if it is matched by credible plans to address banks' significant asset quality issues and capital shortages, it said. The RBI has tightened the thresholds -- for capital ratios, NPLs, profitability and leverage - at which banks enter the PCA framework.

"This appears to be an acknowledgement of the significant asset quality stress in the system and that more banks are in need of regulatory intervention," the US-based agency said.

It said PCA was previously viewed as an extraordinary step, which the RBI urged banks to make great efforts to avoid. That now looks likely to change. "More than half of state-owned banks would breach at least one of the new thresholds, mainly owing to high NPLs, based on their latest financial reports," it said.

The gross NPAs of public sector banks have risen from Rs 5.02 lakh crore at the end of March 2016 to Rs 6.06 lakh crore in December 2016. The new PCA framework will be invoked on the basis of the banks' 2016-17 financials.

The RBI has also given itself greater discretion in terms of the measures it can use to intervene in banks once they fall under the PCA framework, which suggests it has recognized a need to take corrective action at an earlier stage when banks run into difficulties.

Fitch said the previous PCA, in contrast, explicitly reserved the most interventionist actions for banks that had breached more extreme thresholds. "It is possible that intervention could involve forcing banks to conserve capital, if other actions do not address problems.

The risk of non-performance on bank capital instruments may therefore have risen," it said, adding the actual impact of the new rules will depend on how the RBI uses them.

The RBI has recently tightened the PCA rules requiring regulatory action on lenders if they fall short of capital or exceed bad loan limits. According to PCA framework, banks are assessed on three grounds-- asset quality, profitability and capital ratios.

Not meeting the requirements in any of these parameters could lead to RBI action on banks. The actions could include stricter norms for lending, branch expansion, management change and asset reduction.

"These circulars might weigh on bank earnings in the next round of reports. Should the additional disclosures reveal weaknesses that are greater than expected, there could be further pressure on the banks' Viability Ratings," the agency said.

Under the amended PCA norms the scope for possible regulatory actions has been broadened, but it remains uncertain to what extent the RBI will use the tools it has just made available, it added "The RBI may use the PCA framework to identify weak banks

as candidates for mergers. State Bank of India took over five smaller lenders earlier this month, and further consolidation could be part of the overall strategy to clean up the banking system. However, mergers would also require the support of the government," Fitch said.
Hong Kong/Riyadh/ Dubai: China is creating a consortium, including state-owned oil giants and banks and its sovereign wealth fund, that will act as a cornerstone investor in the initial public offering of Saudi Aramco, people with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters. Saudi Aramco, a key exporter to China, is due to list next year, with a potential $100 billion equity sale that is expected to be the worlds largest to date.

The planned Chinese investment makes it more likely that the national energy giant would seek a listing in Asia, with Hong Kong currently the frontrunner among bourses in the region, the same people said. Reuters reported earlier that Saudi Aramcos board would meet in Shanghai in May, its first meeting in China in seven years, as Chinese and Asian investors eye the share offering from the world's biggest oil exporter.

Saudi officials have said Chinese companies were interested in investing in the Aramco IPO as the country  the second biggest consumer of oil globally  seeks to secure crude supplies, but have not commented on how that would be done. Half a dozen sources with knowledge of the discussions said China Investment Corporation, the countrys $800 billion sovereign wealth fund, oil majors Sinopec and PetroChina , and the countrys state-run banks were among the state-backed entities set to participate in the Chinese investment consortium.

They did not name the banks. Reuters reported in February that Industrial and Commercial Bank of China International Holdings, a unit of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and China International Capital Corporation were among the Chinese banks pitching for a role in the IPO. One person involved in discussions between Aramco and potential Chinese investors said the ultimate size of the consortiums stake had not yet been decided. That source said the entity that would lead the consortium had also not been decided, with many state-run groups keen to take on the high-profile role. That is likely to be decided by China's cabinet, the State Council, over the coming months.

The IPO will help decide whom, or which country, can secure the crude supplies from the company and Saudi Arabia going forward, the person said, adding the size of each company's stake in the Chinese consortium would depend on its current relationship with Aramco and the Saudi government. For instance, if you were already a strategic investor or plan to become one in the long-term, things would become easier.
Muslim immigrant rapists believe that all non-Muslim and uncovered women can be lawfully taken for sexual use; hence rape and sexual assaults are justified. Appearance, particularly for women, is an important aspect of Sharia Islamic law. Modesty is how women achieve honor and to appear in anything revealing brings shame not only for her but for the entire family. Almost all Muslim governments encourage and even legally obligate women to dress modestly: at a minimum to wear a headscarf, in some countries a veil and in others a full body covering.



Uncovered women are viewed as prostitutes and adulterers and the prevailing attitude is that if an uncovered woman is raped she asked for it. In September 2006 in a Ramadan sermon on adultery, Australias most senior Muslim cleric blamed immodestly dressed women who don't wear hijab for being preyed on by men. Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali alluded to the infamous Sydney gang rapes in 2000, committed by a group of fourteen Lebanese Australian men, and suggested the attackers were not entirely to blame. Sheik Hilali said: "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem." That is the psychology of Muslim refugees who have been welcomed into Sweden in extraordinary numbers.



Sweden prides itself on its humanitarianism that has accepted more refugees in proportion to size of population than any other nation in the developed world. Unfortunately, this humanitarianism has been at the expense of Swedish women and eventually Swedish culture. This is evident in the increasing mass sexual assaults and rapes committed by migrants at Swedish festivals. In July 2016 at Bravalla, Sweden's largest music festival, there were nearly 40 assaults, including five rapes. A week earlier at Putte i Parken (Party in the Park), a free festival in Karlstad, there were 32 similar sexual attacks where the youngest victim was just twelve years old. The number of attacks is much higher as many women do not report them and there were multiple victims in most reports.



Gang rapes of individual Swedish women have been particularly brutal. Infidel uncovered women are viewed as acceptable targets without exception, regardless of age or disability. On October 2, 2016 in the town of Visby on Sweden's Gotland island a wheelchair-bound woman was gang-raped by up to six men at a Swedish migrant center. The woman who was in her 30s was sharing a taxi home when she asked to use the toilet. Her fellow passenger invited her inside and with five of his buddies viciously raped her in the bathroom for several hours. The six men who were all asylum seekers in their 20s were arrested but released a few days later. The victims attorney said, She got paralyzed in this situation and was not able to bring herself to resist physically, other than saying no. He added: She is completely broken down. From a Western perspective, this seems inexplicable, however from the world view that embraces Sharia law this is perfectly acceptable punishment for an infidel woman. The fact that she was disabled just made her an easier target.
Bengaluru: Indian IT industry body Nasscom on Wednesday said that the new executive order signed by US President Donald Trump to promote Buy American, Hire American campaign is driven by persistent myths to damage the reputation of the Indian IT sector. We believe that the current campaign to discredit our sector is driven by persistent myths, such as the ideas that H-1B visa holders are cheap labor and displace American workers who train their replacements, none of which is accurate, said the statement released by Nasscom.

However, the likely amendments to the existing H-1B visa program affects the Indian IT services firms that have adopted off shoring business models. In addition, the move would also hurt thousands of US businesses and their efforts to be more competitive by hindering access to needed talent, according to Nasscom. Trumps executive order has directed the federal bureaucracy to look for new ways to restructure and restrict the H-1B system, and enforce the law more vigorously.

However, the IT industry body said that nothing is being proposed that would impact or change the FY18 H-1B lottery that is currently underway. Ashok Soota, the founder of Happiest Mind Technologies and IT industry veteran said that the firms are waiting to gain clarity on the likely changes to the H-1B visa policy. Along with the US, Singapore and Australia have also been looking for ways to curb their work visa programs, which would mean that the Indian IT companies are in the midst of uncertainty. According to a report released by Assocham, the Indian IT firms are bound to face disruptions by way of higher costs due to visa curbs. The rising rupee is also expected to aggravate the situation further for the firms.

As per the paper released by Assocham, the reverses resulting from the tightening of the H-1B visas would force IT giants to create fundamental changes in their strategies in terms of hiring, salaries, jobs, impacting employees in India too. However, Nasscom said that it will work towards lobbying for a level-playing field. Commenting on the Australian governments decision to scrap 457 visa category, Nasscom said, We will be working closely with the Government of India and Australian government to understand more details on the changes and ensure how these could be implemented seamlessly to ensure business continuity and value for Australian customers, the statement said.
The state government will have to furnish guarantee for the loan. Centre will provide counter guarantee for the loan. Currently, guidelines do not allow direct borrowings by the state government entities from external agencies.

New Delhi: Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved guidelines to allow financially sound states entities to borrow directly from bilateral ODA (Official Development Assistance) partners for implementation of vital infrastructure projects. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, a state government entity, was allowed to borrow directly from Japan International Cooperation Agency Official Development Assistance loan for implementation of Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project.

The estimated project cost for MTHL is Rs 17,854 crore, out of which JICA loan portion is expected to be Rs 15,109 crore. The norms will facilitate the state government entities to directly borrow from the external bilateral funding agencies subject to fulfilment of certain conditions and all repayments of loans and interests to the funding agencies will be directly remitted by the borrower.

The state government will have to furnish guarantee for the loan. Centre will provide counter guarantee for the loan. Currently, guidelines do not allow direct borrowings by the state government entities from external agencies. Presently, external development assistance from bilateral and multilateral sources is received by the Centre for projects/programmes in the Central sector, projects executed by Central PSU and on behalf of the state governments for local projects.
A top Nasscom official on Wednesday said that almost 50 per cent of the H-1B visas that are awarded to Indians arent used by the Indian IT firms

Hyderabad: A top Nasscom official on Wednesday said that almost 50 per cent of the H-1B visas that are awarded to Indians arent used by the Indian IT firms but rather its used by non-Indian firms for US projects. Speaking at the Nasscom Global In-house Centre event, Nasscom president R. Chandrashekhar said, If one looks at the US data, one can notice that around 70 per cent of H-1B visa are awarded to Indians. Out of it, only 20 per cent is used by Indian IT firms, rest is used by others. There is a lot of myth that the entire H-1B visas allocated to Indians are being used by the Indian IT firms. And currently, this confusion is being used to frame policies

Mr Chandrashekhar, though, sounded worried about the term visa-dependent firms that has been used by the US. He said, Indian-IT firms dont have the legacy like the traditional US-based firms. Itll be difficult for Indian IT firms with the 15 per cent limit. On stricter visa issue in other countries also, Mr Chandrashekhar said, There is a rise in protectionist measures and anti-globalisation sentiments but skilled talents will always be in demand. The only issue is the definition of skilled talent.

He added, Indian IT firms might be forced to relook at their ASEAN plans after Singapore stopped issuing a work visa. Just like foreign firms are relooking at their EU operation following Brexit, Indian IT firms will need to rework their strategy. On their quarterly assessment prediction, the Nasscom president said that the body is likely to release it in late May or early June.

Meanwhile, former Infosys chief financial officer V. Balakrishnan said that the tightening work visa rules in overseas markets will force India's IT industry to reconfigure the business model by increasing offshoring work and hiring locally. Mr Balakrishnan also said that the hiring in the I-T sector would dip further due to growth in automation. But I think in the long-term, they (Indian IT firms) have to change the business model to do more offshoring because if you take any project today, around 30 per cent work is done outside India, 70 per cent in India. That ratio can be easily brought to 90:10 where you do less work onsite, more offshore, Balakrishnan told PTI.

ComMin asks WTO to Frame service Norms:

With US and Australia raising trade barriers by making its difficult for Indian IT workers to get visa, country is now pushing for a WTO-backed global framework to facilitate services trade. Commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday that countries are now very clearly raising protectionist walls as regards service trade.

And it is time that we have a global framework within which trade in services can happen. We will be actively pursuing our proposal in the WTO, said the minister. India had put a concept paper for trade facilitation in services on 6 October at WTO. Trade facilitation in services will cover discrepancies in trade in services as well as procedural and administrative issues and principles that apply to all.

Services sector contributes over 60 per cent to the Indian GDP and 28 per cent to total employment. TFS will focus on issues like liberalised visa regime, long-term visas for business community and freer movement of professionals for the greater benefit of both India and the world, among others. On new rules on H1B visa signed by US president Donald Trump, Ms Sitharaman said that finance minister, who is in the US, would take up the matter with the US administration.

The minister said that her ministry is in touch with the Indian industry on visa issues, which Assocham has said will hit jobs in the country. "It is not just the US, but several countries now adopting such measures," she said. The minister said India would engage with these countries to sort out the visa related matters. She also said that at this stage, India will engage constructively with these countries. At the same time, India will ensure that it will not accept unfair treatment, the minister added.
New Delhi: Amid widespread concern expressed by several members of a Parliamentary panel, in the absence of any credible information from the government on the quantum of funds received by the exchequer post-note ban, RBI governor Urjit Patel is likely to appear before it some time next month. It is learnt that Manmohan Singh, who is a member of the standing committee of finance, prevailed over the resistance put up by many BJP members of the panel, to summon RBI chief.

The standing committees insistence on calling Mr Patel gains significance in the light of the fact that till date, the Centre is yet to come up with the official data on the funds received by it till December 30, which was the last date for exchanging and depositing old currency notes with banks. This newspaper had exclusively reported that the Centre may reveal the figures after March 31.

According to sources, the panel which is incidentally led by Veerappa Moily, on Thursday met representatives of the industry chambers to discuss various aspects of the economy. The meeting witnessed a lot of resentment from several members, who wanted to know that how much funds had come in the governments coffers after December 30, 2016. Many members, mainly from the opposition, are learnt to have said that in January this year, when the Mr Patel had appeared before the panel to discuss note ban, the discussion could not be completed.
Mumbai: Manisha Koirala says she has no qualms in playing Ranbir Kapoor's on-screen mother in the upcoming Sanjay Dutt biopic.

Manisha will essay the role of actress Nargis in the Rajkumar Hirani-directed biopic on Dutt.

"I am choosy about the films I want to do. I am happy they (makers) chose me for the film. I just looked at the role and the story. I was not really thinking about it being a mother's role. I like Ranbir as an actor and he is looking like him (Sanjay)," Manisha told PTI on sidelines of an event.

The 46-year-old actress says she has already started preparing for the film and will begin shooting next month.

"I am seeing some documentaries and Raju ji (Rajkumar Hirani) has done a lot of research," she says.

Manisha says the director is trying to keep it as real as possible.

"I haven't started shooting yet so I don't know how it will be. But in terms of preparation for a biopic, there is a lot to do as we have to be as real as possible."

Besides this film, there were reports that Manisha will be seen in a Kannada and a Hindi film, but the actress remained tight-lipped about it.

Manisha, a cancer survivor, was here for the launch of social campaign 'My Hair for Cancer', organised by Nargis Dutt Foundation and hair care brand Richfeel.

She says the fear of death was more terrifying for her than the hair loss from chemotherapy.

"Chemo is the way to kill cancer cells, so I told myself it is OK if I lose my hair. So, for me, the bigger fear at that time was of death."

Sanjay's sister, former MP Priya Dutt, was also present at the event, called Manisha a source of inspiration.

"Not many people would want to talk about cancer. For her (Manisha) to be talking about it is very painful but for others, it is inspiring." Priya says.

Manisha also revealed that she is planning to adopt a child.

"I am thinking to adopt a girl. I would want to wait for sometime... maybe this year or next year," she says.
Mumbai: We say whats in a name? Well, if your name is Salman Khan then everything is just in the name.

The name rakes in money, especially if his film is an exclusive Eid release.

Salman recently released the poster for his upcoming film Tubelight on social media, and ever since his fans have gone berserk over it.

Sony Music has snapped the music rights of the film Tubelight for 20 crores. This is Sony Musics first ever acquisition of Salman Khan Films, whereas, on the other hand, NH Studioz have bought the Indian theatrical release of the film for 132 crores.

A Chinese company has also acquired the theatrical rights of Tubelight in China for Rs 75 crores.

Well, the addition of these figures will make you realise that the film has already pocketed in a huge moolah of Rs 227 crores.

The film, which is originally made on a budget of Rs 100 crore, is already a profitable venture. And once the film hits the 70 mm screens, its theatrical collections and satellite rights will sum up to these profits.

Yes, we can definitely say that Tubelight is already a humongous blockbuster.

Tubelight is all set for its Eid release on June 23.
Mumbai: South Indian film industrys most adorable couple- Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya- is reportedly ready to take that big plunge in the month of October this year. Their presumably grand wedding has been talk of the town, with many media reports even suggesting that the duo will have a destination wedding outside of India.

But with both the actors signing new projects and working crazy hours on the existing ones, their wedding is most likely to happen in October.

While Chaitanya is awaiting his film Rarandoi Veduka Chudham release, Samantha is working on as many as six films simultaneously. Irumbu Thirai, Aneethi Kathaigal, Vijay 61, Raju Gari Gadhi 2, Ram Charan-Sukumar untitled project and biopic on legendary actress Savitri are the projects Samantha is working on.

Their busy work life has left them with very little room for a destination wedding and so the duo is rumoured to tie the knot in India itself. Also, there were reports of Samantha and Chaitanya marrying in both Hindu and Christian traditional ways but no confirmation has come from the couples end yet.
Prince (L) during one of his performances and the rest of The Revolution band.

Mumbai: For members of Prince's 1980s backing band The Revolution, reuniting and hitting the road for a spring U.S. tour is how they are coping with the Purple Rain pop superstar's unexpected death a year ago.

"We're taking it to the people who are grieving like we are, and letting them have a little bit of relief," guitarist Wendy Melvoin, sitting on a couch with other members of the band during a break at their Minneapolis rehearsal space, said Wednesday.

When Prince died of an accidental painkiller overdose, members of The Revolution were mourning at a Minneapolis hotel and made an impromptu video, promising to reunite for shows honouring their one-time flamboyant front man. After three sold-out shows at the fabled First Avenue nightclub (the setting of Prince's hit 1984 movie Purple Rain) in September, The Revolution is back, preparing to kick off a tour Friday at Paisley Park in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen on the anniversary of Prince's death.

The tour includes stops in Chicago, Washington, D.C., New York, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco before ending in Seattle on July 15.

Melvoin is joined by bassist Brown Mark, keyboardists Matt Fink and Lisa Coleman, and drummer Bobby Z. The reunited Revolution plans to play Prince's synthesizer-heavy 1980s music through his lauded 1987 double album Sign o' the Times.

"We have the ability now to give people a glimpse of what we experienced with him," Brown Mark said. "And I think that's a powerful thing. I know it helped me heal."

While Prince had a reputation as a perfectionist, members of The Revolution remember the good times goofing in the studio.

"We had fun. We had a lot of fun. Sometimes we would be rehearsing and we'd crack up, we'd just laugh for an hour, cracking jokes," Brown Mark recalls.

"We'd go play softball," keyboardist Fink said. "'OK, we're not going to rehearse today, let's go play softball.'"

After years of recording and touring with The Revolution, Prince did what any boss would do and just put it (the band) to bed," Bobby Z. said.

"That intense run we had, all those years, it was starting to come apart at the seams, with personalities and under that kind of pressure, just like human beings do, and he just kind of made a decision," the drummer said. "And he wanted to move on as basically a solo artist with a backing band, no disrespect. But this was a band he was a very critical member of."

Whether The Revolution will continue beyond this tour is an open question.

"We'd love to be able to see if there are some legs with this," Melvoin said.
While transparency in the healthcare system has a long way to go, the policymakers dont seem to have woken up to the problem as yet in the country, leaving patients at the mercy of hospitals looking to make money at their expense.

Nearly everyone has experienced the following at one time or the other: doctors prescribing expensive tests when they dont require them. But with little information to go on, patients do as theyre told and are presented with a huge bill at the end of it all, that goes into the hospitals kitty.

While healthcare has become more sophisticated with hospitals offering the latest gadgets to help the sick in the country, sadly some fleece patients in the name of treatment. "It is the same everywhere. We need to rely on what the doctors tell us as we dont have enough information to go on and pay for all the tests that we are asked to do even for a simple stomach ache. This not only leaves us poorer by quite a bit but also makes us anxious as we begin to wonder if we are seriously ill," complains Mr Nitin Gupta of C V Ramnagar in the city, speaking from personal experience.

He believes hospitals should post information about their bed, room and test rates to help patients pick what they can afford . But at the end of the day it is all business, he laments.

While transparency in the healthcare system has a long way to go, the policymakers dont seem to have woken up to the problem as yet in the country, leaving patients at the mercy of hospitals looking to make money at their expense. A recent study covering 32 countries and released on April 13 by Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler ( KPMG) a global network of firms providing audit, tax and advisory services, with its heaquarters in Netherlands, has in fact, placed India in the bottom five in the transparency index in the healthcare system.

A private hospital

While its overall transparency score was 36 per cent, India achieved its highest transparency score for healthcare governance (44 per cent), personal healthcare data (43 per cent), and finance (42 per cent). It is not surprising that India ranks low, but our intent here is not the ranking, but aiding the designing of a better healthcare system. Key players and policymakers can look at the parameters and try to work towards this," says Mr Nilaya Varma, partner and COO of Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare (IGH), which is part of the KPMG in India.

A government hospital

The study covered some 100 hospitals, both public and private, he reveals. "Once we had designed the survey, we went to each country and identified the set of hospitals, focusing on those had a huge bed capacity, and were certified by NABH. Then we went through all the available information regarding them," he explains.

Mr Varma say there are two areas that the KPMG feels strongly about. Firstly, the quality of care. Sadly, there is hardly any information available about it and most of it is anecdotal and word of mouth. Secondly, none of the hospitals have a robust pricing detail and the consumer or patient is mostly left confused about where their money is going and how much more would be needed. This kind of confusion can be easily solved with proper information posted online," he says

Indias health system is unique, according to him, as it continues to grapple with the dual burden of high disease prevalence and large out- of- pocket payment for healthcare. "With the dominance of the private sector in healthcare delivery, the institutionalisation of transparency measures continues to be a challenge," he notes. Strongly emphasising that the government needs to take the lead in making Indias healthcare system more transparent, he says it is important to link performance of health facilities with incentives and develop a central repository of information for the public.

Doctors need a more sympathetic approach

Responding to the KPMG study ranking India among the bottom five in healthcare transparency, some health experts here say it cannot be the only parameter to judge its healthcare system by. India has today become visible when it comes to healthcare delivery, they observed.

"We feel sad about our ranking as we have become a healthcare hub and patients come to our hospitals from all over because of the low cost involved. I wish the survey was more extensive and not just focused on the financial aspects, said Dr BS Ajaikumar, chairman of HCG and president of AHPI, Karnataka.

But he agreed that in the interest of transparency every patient should be told about the approximate cost of his or her treatment when entering a hospital. Also, it is the duty of the hospital to counsel the patient about the cost involved and obtain his or her consent. It should also talk about treatment outcomes, success and failure rates and how it stacks up in terms of global standards. All hospitals, both public and private, should do audits and make the reports available," he suggested.

Dr Kaushik KN, HoD, Medical Operations, Vikram Hospital regretted that hospitals in the country were today cash-driven and lacked the personal touch. Doctors need to spend more time with patients to establish a connect. The approach should be sympathetic, he stressed. The doctor pointed out that while in most countries, the general physicians was empowered to take decisions on which super speciality a patient needed to approach, in India the patients directly went to the super-specialty themselves based on their symptoms. I feel GPs should be empowered here as well and this will also increase the patient confidence in the hospital," he summed up.

Technology might be the answer to transparency, says doc

Dr Raghavendra MS, Consultant Physician and Diabetologist, Founder and Director of Supurva Hospitals believes in transparency and opines that Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and Electronic Health Record (EHR), which is relatively new to India might help solve the problem. "EMR is essential for hospitals. In my opinion, most patients who return to the hospital dont bring their previous which could compromise their safety if treatment is repeated or altered. EMR can also help reduce healthcare costs by minimising repetitive lab investigations. Doctors and hospitals, who are constantly threatened with unnecessary Medicolegal cases, will find EMR a useful tool as all services are documented, making the process transparent. From the patients perspective, he or she should have control of his health care records. It will make him understand his status better, track his progress, and can easily analyse his treatment plans. EMR can also be helpful in unfortunate incidents like accidents, where decision making becomes easier with accessibility to healthcare records. EMR can also help in capturing the disease demographic data

What is healthcare Transparency and why do we need it?

Transparency is a critical tool that can help transform the way a nations health system operates. Making information available publically can improve competition among health providers, which in turn can indirectly improve the quality of care.

How do we achieve a proper healthcare system with a more confident patient?

1) The government should develop a basic framework to report on select transparency parameters (such as surgical complications, stand patient satisfaction score, and the like) and adoption of these by individual hospitals can be encouraged.

2) The government could work to improve reporting by public hospitals against these set indicators, which are intermittently verified by third party agencies.

3) A centralised repository of health data for the general population needs to be developed.

4) Efforts to develop learnings through various initiatives on electronic health/medical records or digitalisation

Use ranking to improve quality of healthcare in India

Dr Upendra Bhojani,Assistant Director, Institute of Public Health(IPH)



These global surveys need to be sophisticated and tailored differently for different countries . So in my view this study needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. It is not enough to just go by a few parameters as a health system evolves historically depending on the political scenario as well. When doing a study one has to pay attention to the political values in which the health systems operate. Just a ranking or comparison with other countries cannot be scientific because in some contexts countries are incomparable. For instance, you cannot compare India to the Nordic regions where the health system is completely different. Such comparisons can be a futile exercise.

But having said that, India needs to focus on its quality of healthcare, patient experience, finance, and governance and communication of personal healthcare data. Our health system should be able to provide accessible, reliable, useful and up- to- date information to all interested stakeholders to help them understand it better and empower them enough to make judgements. This should be the goal of the government and both the public and private hospitals. They should be in a position to help the patient make the right decisions. Why doesnt a patient want to go to a public hospital? Why can't we trust it as much? Why are private hospitals not clear about their pricing? These questions need to be answered and effort should be made to build confidence in the healthcare system among patients.
Chennai: On World Liver Day (Wednesday), doctors have urged the public to understand the importance of liver. Excessive intake of fatty foods, high alcohol consumption, and the lack of exercise are only a few factors responsible in killing the second largest organ in the human body, the liver. Due to lack of awareness about the organs key role in the bodys digestive system, and about the inability to survive without it, many tend to develop various habits that tend to kill the organ.

The liver is like a factory which breaks down whatever food we eat and rebuilds what is necessary for our body. It also metabolizes a lot of drugs we take. It plays an important role in detoxification, serving as a barrier preventing infections or toxins from entering the blood. With these major roles to play, if the liver fails, a lot of bodily functions will get affected, said Dr Dinesh Jothimani, senior consultant Liver Transplant Physician, Global Hospital.

The organ, which is unique  in that has the ability to regenerate  would try to grow back even if it has an injury. However, if the damage has been occurring over many years - due to viral Hepatitis such as Hepatitis B or C, or consumption of alcohol - it can lead to chronic liver disease, added the doctor. With the lack of any symptoms - thereby the condition remaining untreated - scar tissues start to settle in the liver, leading to liver cirrhosis. Stating that patients can be completely asymptomatic even with cirrhosis, Dr R. Vignesh, a gastroenterologist, said, Patients may not have any symptoms except for mild tiredness, until the liver completely fails leading to end stage liver disease  which when it develops, the patients will have conditions like fluid in their belly, swollen legs, altered consciousness, episodes of confusion and they may vomit blood. When the patient presents these symptoms at the hospital, doctors find that he has end stage liver disease.

Since the organ is huge, it tends to be able to cope with many injuries over a period of time before causing any symptoms. Patients with end stage liver disease tend to develop jaundice, which is one of the few reasons why they visit the hospital. These patients often end up with liver transplant as that is the only cure left. As many fail to understand the importance of liver, they tend to take it for granted, until it burns out completely, said Dr Santosh Mathew, a hepatologist.

Fatty liver, a new cause of concern:

Fatty liver  an emerging disease of the organ - is being increasingly diagnosed because of sedentary lifestyle. As a result of this increased consumption of unhealthy food and the lack of any movement, the risk of fatty liver is high, which again doesnt cause any symptom until the liver itself burns out completely and the patient develops cirrhosis, leading to end stage liver disease, said Dr Dinesh Jothimani, senior consultant liver transplant physician, Global Hospital.

Stating that the metabolic syndrome is predominant in persons who are obese and without diabetes, Dr P. Basumani, medical gastroenterologist at Fortis Malar Hospital, said, In alcoholics, the main cause for fatty liver disease is over consumption of alcohol. Fat deposits lead to the enlargement of liver, inflammation and cirrhosis. If left untreated, the condition can lead to liver failure or necessitate transplantation. The only way to avoid any complication is to adopt a healthy lifestyle. One should increase the intake of proteins, green leaf and vegetables. Not to forget, exercise is most essential to improve the livers functioning.

With the lack of symptoms in liver disease, including in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (primary liver cancer), doctors stress on the need for those with fatty liver or advanced fatty liver or Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) or cirrhosis, to undergo liver cancer screening every six months.
March 11, 1943  April 14, 2017

Burkhard Burk Brandt, 74, passed away with his family around him on Friday, April 14.

Burk was born in Berlin, Germany during World War II. He lived in Berlin with his mother, Irmgard Brandt and older sister Christel Brandt.

Burks first flight was when the United States flew him and other children out during the Berlin Airlift.

Burk saved his money and boarded a freighter full of circus animals traveling from Germany to America. He instantly fell in love with America but returned to Germany and finished his schooling.

After school, he returned to the United States and lived in California. He followed his dream and became a professional engineer.

His engineering career was put on hold as he joined the United States Army. He served in the 3rd Infantry Division during the mid 1960s.

His engineering career continued successfully after serving in the Army. Burk was recruited and joined Hewlett & Packard (HP) when the Corvallis facility was built.

He traveled the world for business.

During a business trip to Bangkok, Thailand he met the love of his life, Lore Brandt. They were married for 37 years.

Burk was extremely proud to become an American citizen. He always had an American flag somewhere visible.

Burk left HP and started his own engineering consulting business. He continued this business until his sort-of retirement.

Burk loved spending time with his family. He loved visiting the coast and hiking around Oregons beautiful lighthouses. Burk will also be remembered for his tremendous love of trains. Many families have fond memories of Burk showing his beloved model trains.

His sister Christel preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife Lore; sons Stephan and Burk; two grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, April 25 at the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints on Walnut Boulevard in Corvallis.
The situation created by brutal violence and political instability in Syria shows no signs of improving as it has only deteriorated following ghastly chemical attacks on civilians and the bombing by US, while terrorist organisations like Islamic State continue their onslaught against people.

Heartbreaking images like that of Aylan Kurdi and Omran Daqneesh have shaken the internet in the past years, as journalists continue to bring out the suffering of innocent civilians. Now another image of a photographer putting humanity first to save children during a suicide bombing is spreading hope on the internet.

The image garnered praise on social media and was followed by another where the same photographer can be seen overwhelmed by emotions and breaking down in front of a childs charred body.

Devastating photo @AbdHabak - Syrian videographer next to the charred body of a child. 39 children out of 70 killed by suicide bomber #syria pic.twitter.com/u3KTNo6vRl  Ala'a Shehabi (@alaashehabi) April 15, 2017

His actions garnered a lot of appreciation on social media as people went on to call him a hero.

@AbdHabak I don't know you, we will probably never meet but what you have done today made me proud of being human. thank you.  Francois Randazzo (@F_Randazzo) April 16, 2017

The incident took place after a bomb attacks on buses killed 126 people and the photographer was identified as Abd Alkader Habak who told CNN that the sight of children crying out was so horrifying that him and fellow photographers decided to put cameras aside and help them.
The CID started the Eamcet-2 leak investigation in July last and has arrested 49 persons including brokers and sub-brokers and seized Rs 2.87 crore from them. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: Shiv Bahadur Singh, main accused in the Eamcet-2 question paper leak last year, was sent to judicial remand on Wednesday. Singh, a native of UP, was arrested from a hideout at Jaunpur district earlier this week.

Police said he was involved in question paper leak in seven other states, including the Jammu and Kashmir Teachers exam. Police also arrested another suspect, Anoop Kumar Singh.

He is allegedly involved in the paper leak of Railway Group-D exam in Lucknow, railway drivers exam at Allahabad, Teachers Eligibility Test paper leak in Punjab and Kolkata, PSC examination leak case of Punjab, Wardha Medical College paper leak and the DMRC exam paper leak case, said a senior official from CID.

He said Singh was active from 2005, when he started leaking question papers.

The CID started the Eamcet-2 leak investigation in July last and has arrested 49 persons including brokers and sub-brokers and seized Rs 2.87 crore from them.

The investigation officials had found that a number of students were taken to camps set up in five cities before the Eamcet-II last year and trained in answering the question paper. The exam was later cancelled.

Singh had embarrassed the police earlier by filing an anticipatory bail plea in the High Court even as CID teams were looking for him.
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Finance Minister D Jayakumar and other AIADMK leaders and politicos on Wednesday have confirmed that former general secretary VK Sasikala and her newphew TTV Dhinakaran will no longer interfere in party affairs.

"We have decided to ignore them in the party and in the administration. Hereafter, we will act independently, without the interference of that family," Tamil Nadu Law Minister C.V. Shanmugam told ANI.

"We decided now to form a committee to run the party and to run the government. The committee will get a leader after a discussion," he added.

The spokesperson of the O. Panneerselvam camp of the AIADMK, Azhagu Tamil Selvi, said that the party wants Panneerselvam to become chief minister.

"Everybody knows about the Sasikala family and their mafia gang. So definitely they will claim that they have support. I don't think that is going to happen. They are out for once and all, they cannot be in again and again anymore," Selvi asserted.

She further said there are many cases against the Sasikala faction and, therefore, they are going to be behind the bars.

Dhinakaran said he is not against anybody or any party.

"I have no regrets because I don't have any expectations," he added.

Earlier, Jayakumar announced that a new committee was formed to administer the affairs of the AIADMK.

Demanding the ouster of Sasikala and her nephew from the AIADMK, former Tamil Nadu chief minister O. Panneerselvam said the party should not be controlled by one family, adding it was nothing short of treason to allow the former to control the party's affairs.

He said that he had sent a petition to the Election Commission to declare Sasikala's appointment as AIADMK general secretary 'illegal'.
Farmers set fire to a bag of chilli at the Mahbub Mansion Market in Hyderabad, after they were offered rock bottom prices.

Hyderabad: Tension prevailed at the Mahbub Mansion Market in Malakpet as chilli and onion farmers protested the failure of the government to ensure minimum support price for them. Some farmers set chilli stocks on fire to vent their anger after traders offered them Rs 2 per kg.

The market has been flooded with chillies and onions over the past week. From 50 lorry loads of chillies and onion each daily, it has gone up to over 100 now. There are only a few buyers which had resulted in prices crashing.

Traders are exploiting the situation by forming cartels and offering floor-level prices to farmers. This has been leading to quarrels between the farmers and traders.

On Wednesday, the situation escalated and farmers and traders almost came to the blows. In the melee, some farmers poured chillies on the floor, and set a few bags on fire in the market yard.

Marketing department officials alerted the police, who rushed to the spot, dispersed the farmers and brought the situation under control.

We spent Rs 10,000 to transport the chillies from Nizamabad to Hyderabad. Traders are offering Rs 2 per kg for chilli and onions. We cant even recover our transportation costs at these prices, said Mr Ayindla Kanakaiah, a chilli farmer.

He pointed out that onions were retailing at Rs 20 and chilli from Rs 70 to Rs 100 in the city.

The government has failed to act against traders who are openly looting the farmers, he said.

The marketing department directed officials to keep tabs on traders and cancel their licences if they were found to be forming cartels and exploiting farmers.
New Delhi: The army has ordered a Court of Inquiry into the controversial "human shield" incident in Kashmir in which a man was tied to an army vehicle purportedly as a shield against stone pelters.

Army sources said the CoI has been given one month's time to complete the probe.

A video, showing the man tied to an army vehicle as a shield against the stone pelters during polling in the Srinagar Lok Sabha by-election on April 9, triggered a public outcry.

The CoI will look into the circumstance that prompted an army major to tie the Kashmiri youth to the jeep's bonnet as a "human shield".

The CoI has been given time till May 15 to probe the incident, the sources said.

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had visited Jammu and Kashmir following the incident and later apprised National Security Advisor Ajit Doval of the security situation in the Kashmir Valley.

Gen Rawat also had separate deliberations with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Governor N N Vohra over the law-and-order situation in Kashmir during his visit to the state.
New Delhi: Asserting that the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was a black day for Indian democracy, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday questioned the delay while stating that the trial in the case was more serious than Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.

Questioning the government's motive, the Hyderabad MP said the trial of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination was completed in two years and expressed his surprise over the fact that Babri Masjid demolition which is a national shame, is taking 25 years.

"It's a black day for our democracy wherein rule of law was destroyed completely," he added.

The AIMIM leader also expressed his apprehension over the Supreme Court giving temporary relief to Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh in this case.

"Why should Kalyan Singh be the Governor? If he has the guts, he should resign. If this government is committed to interest of justice, they should remove Kalyan Singh immediately and tell him to face the trial," said Owaisi.

"What kind of justice we are seeing here that the alleged accused has been conferred the Padma Bhushan, one is a Union Minister and that too to clean Ganga. What is the message that is being sent to the whole nation?" he added.

The AIMIM leader accused the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Congress and the BJP of trying to protect all accused in the last 25 years.

"If these political parties had intellectual honesty and were committed to justice, a simple notification could have been issued by them which would have ensured conclusion of criminal trial by now," he added.

Earlier in the day, the apex court allowed the CBI's appeal in the Babri Masjid demolition case and restored criminal conspiracy charges against BJP veterans L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh besides others.

However, Kalyan Singh, who was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1992, enjoys constitutional immunity as the Rajasthan Governor and can be tried only after he leaves office.

The apex court ordered that two separate cases in Lucknow and Raebareli against Advani, Joshi and Bharti and unknown 'kar sevaks' shall be brought together in one trial.

The Supreme Court also directed the trial court in Lucknow to commence the proceedings in four weeks and hear the matter on a day-to-day basis so as to complete the hearing in two years. The apex court also said there will be no 'de novo' (fresh) trial.

The CBI has been ordered to ensure that at least one prosecution witness appears in the trial court for recording of testimony.

To ensure speedy trial, the top court has given two important directions - first, no party shall be granted adjournments without the sessions judge being satisfied of the reasons for it; second, the trial judge hearing the case shall not be transferred till the judgement is delivered.

The Supreme Court also said that its order should be followed in letter and spirit. If the parties involved feel that the top court's order is not being followed in letter and spirit then they will be having the liberty to approach the apex court.
Bengaluru: Former French diplomat Pascal Mazurier, who was on Wednesday acquitted by a City Sessions Court in a five year old case, of sexually assaulting his then three year old daughter is a relieved man but immensely sad at losing out on being a part of his three children's growing up years.

Five years is a very long time for a father to be isolated from his children. I have lost the childhood of my children, who were made prisoners of a web of lies. Today all the false allegations against me have fallen through. It has been a long trial. The prosecution brought 26 witnesses but we were able to prove that I had not committed any abuse, said Mr. Pascal.

He said that he was not surprised at his acquittal. I was framed and I knew that though the trial will take time I will get justice at the end. I have faith in the Indian judiciary. I am willing to go through further trial if my acquittal is contested. I lost my family, my job, my people and was barred from visiting my country," he said.

" On court orders I get to meet my sons. I have seen my daughter but have not met her in the last five years. Now I want to move on with my life, with my children, he added.

His estranged wife, Suja Jones told DC that she will appeal against his acquittal in a higher court. It is a very sad day for me and my children. My daughter is traumatized at the news. I will do everything to protect my children, said Suja.

On June 12, 2012 Suja had filed a criminal complaint against Pascal at the High Grounds Police Station for raping their minor daughter. The police had registered an FIR against Pascal under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and he was arrested on June 15. Pascal was the deputy head of chancery at the French Consulate in Bengaluru. He was suspended and his passport was impounded.

Suja had submitted a medical report from the Collaborative Child Response Unit at the Baptist Hospital, which had confirmed that the child was sexually assaulted.

In October 2012, the High Court had granted bail to him saying no prima facie case had been made out against him.

Pascal and Suja were married in 2001 in France. The couple have three children. The alleged victim is now eight years old and has two brothers aged 11 and six.
Amit Shah phoned Advani after planning the BJPs strategy to handle the Supreme Court ruling. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Wednesday assured LK Advani that BJP is with you after the Supreme Court said he would be tried for criminal conspiracy in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

According to NDTV, Amit Shah phoned Advani after planning the BJPs strategy to handle the Supreme Court ruling.

Amit Shah also met Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti, who then cancelled her planned visit to Ayodhya.

Top BJP leaders on Wednesday discussed the political and legal fallout of the Supreme Court verdict on the Babri mosque demolition.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, Union ministers Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and M. Venkaiah Naidu were huddled for two hours at Modis residence. But a senior party leader played down the meetings significance, saying it had a number of issues, including the Kashmir crisis, on its agenda.

The meeting was held against the backdrop of the apex court verdict allowing the CBI to put Advani, 89, Murli Manohar Joshi, 83, and Uma Bharti, 57, on trial after restoring the criminal conspiracy charges against them. A senior leader insisted that it was a pre-scheduled meeting.

For the record, senior leader and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the party will study in detail the court verdict before offering comments.

Prasad asserted that BJP highly respects its leaders like Advani and Joshi. The party has held the position that the demolition of mosque was not planned but a spontaneous act of agitating kar sevaks and there was no conspiracy behind its razing on December 6, 1992.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir activist Sushil Pandit said the BJP MLA is reflecting the growing frustration and anger in the entire country. (Photo: PTI/Representational)

New Delhi: Condemning Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Chander Prakash Ganga's controversial statement that bullets are the only way to deal with stone pelters in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress on Thursday said such statements are extremely unfortunate and will add more fuel to the fire.

"This is the most unfortunate statement. Nobody could have said such an irresponsible thing because we have known that stone pelters exist since long time. The first thing that the BJP did was to release the leader of the stone pelters Mr Mashrat Alam and today he is earning a mark in Kashmir. Along with him is Asiya Andrabi, who was also released by BJP," Congress leader Brijesh Kalappa said.

"Now, both of them are going around and singing Pakistani National Anthem and following the Pakistani flag. They (BJP) have given passport to Gilani, job to Gilani's grandson and they have done everything possible to ensure that in some manner the people of Kashmir are totally disenchanted with the Indian system and because of this stone pelting is more, the voter turnout is less and in every which way the people of Kashmir have rejected this government. This statement will add more fuel to the fire," he added.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir activist Sushil Pandit said the BJP MLA is reflecting the growing frustration and anger in the entire country.

"The minister is reflecting the growing frustration and also anger in the entire country and also the confusion prevailing in the state government in terms of dealing with all these challenges to the Indian state. It must be taken in that spirit," Pandit said.

Ganga has triggered a massive row with his assertion that bullets are the only way to deal with stone pelters in the Valley.

"They (protesters) are traitors, whether they have come from Pakistan or they live here. All these forces, which are 'anti-national' could be made to mend their ways by the use of bullets," Ganga is heard as saying in the video that has gone viral despite ban on social websites.

"There is only one remedy and that is bullets. They want freedom from what?" he asked.

Ganga also lashed out at National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah for calling the stone pelters as 'patriots'.

"They should be ashamed. We want peace, brotherhood and harmony. We will not let these ill elements affect the atmosphere of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

He added that if not bullets, they should be handed over a severe punishment.

"Take my word that next time these youth won't throw stones. Till these people are handled in a right way, they won't give up their evil acts. Once they are taught a lesson only then they will they fall in line," Ganga said.

The statement from the BJP leader comes at a time when there is outrage in Kashmir over a video clip in which a youth is seen tied to front of an army jeep as a "human shield" against stone-pelting.

The controversial video has surfaced at a time when the BJP-PDP Government is facing criticism in the Valley over the deteriorating situation and the cases of human rights violations by the forces.
AIADMK (Amma) Deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran addressing media at his residence in Chennai on Wednesday. (Photo: PTI)

Chennai: Delhi Police officials on Wednesday night served summons to AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran in a case of alleged bribery of Election Commission (EC) officials for retrieving the party's 'Two Leaves' symbol.

Sasikala's nephew has been asked to appear before the Crime Branch of Delhi Police on Saturday.

Assistant Commissioner Sanjay and another official served the summons to Dhinakaran at his upscale Besant Nagar residence in Chennai.

The Delhi Police personnel, who were inside Dhinakaran's house for about 20 minutes, declined to speak to the waiting media while leaving the premises.

Anxiety and tension, meanwhile, prevailed for a while as a party worker tried to set himself ablaze to show his opposition to the police.

The self-immolation bid was thwarted by other cadres and some plainclothesmen.

On Wednesday, the Delhi Police had issued a lookout notice against Dhinakaran.

The lookout notice was issued in the wake of inputs that Dhinakaran was an NRI and could try to flee the country, police said.

The AIADMK (Amma) Deputy General Secretary is already facing the heat as the K Palanisamy Cabinet revolted against him last night and decided to keep him and his family out of the party and the government.

Dhinakaran today virtually questioned the need for the lookout notice, saying how could he flee the country when his passport was "in court" for 20 years.

Earlier, the Crime Branch had arrested an alleged middleman, Sukesh Chandrashekhar here in connection with the matter.

He claimed that he had told Dhinakaran that he will get a favourable verdict from the Election Commission of India in the party symbol case, he said.

The 27-year-old had told Dhinakaran that he has contacts in the Election Commission and his contacts will help the Sasikala faction get the AIADMK's poll symbol of two leaves in a byboll to the R K Nagar Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu.

Police got on Chadrashekhar's trail after they received a tip-off from an informer about certain Election Commission officials being approached.

It has been learnt that he had struck a deal for Rs 50 crore for helping the AIADMK faction keep the 'two leaves' symbol.

Till now, the middleman had allegedly got Rs 10 crore of the deal amount and the remaining amount was to be given to him in a time-bound manner.

He had allegedly received money through some Chandni Chowk-based hawala operators and police is probing the hawala link. Yesterday, Sukesh was taken to Chandni Chowk by the Crime Branch officers to identify the hawala operators.

Dhinakaran had, soon after the arrest of Sukesh Chandrasekhar asserted that he will face the matter legally. He had denied any knowledge of Chandrasekhar.
Nov. 17, 1944  March 28, 2017

John Jack Hartman, 72, died March 28 at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend.

Born Nov. 17, 1944, in Scranton, Pennsylvania to Edward David and Iona Belle Hartman, Jack lived for many years in and around Corvallis.

He joined the United States Air Force in 1964, served in Vietnam and was honorably discharged in 1967.

Jack went out of his life just as he lived it: on his own terms. Jack took each day for exactly what it was worth. He did what he wanted for as long as he wanted and he taught many of us how to let go of the little things and embrace the joy of living true to yourself.

A buyer and seller of junk, he had a keen eye for the unique and valuable and he loved a good yard sale or flea market.

Though he thrived on buying and selling, he was not attached to material possessions and would easily give away the things he had collected to friends. Jacks generosity was unmatched.

He had extraordinary artistic talent that was seen in his original paintings and sculptures as well as in his imaginatively designed and constantly changing living spaces. He was a great artist, or as he called it, a scratcher. Most who knew him have some favorite painting or unique object that Jack gave them.

Jack loved the sun and spent years living in the Florida Keys as the manager of Lazy Lakes Campground. It was there that he met the friends who would connect him to Oregon.

Once in Oregon, he found ways to head south, seeking the warm sunshine.

In his last years, Jack found happiness and home living in Sisters, with the majestic mountains as the backdrop while in the company of his adopted family.

Jack always said he was immune to rules because he wasnt playing anyone elses game. His charm, warmth, zest for life and unique sense of practicality provided him with the means for all manner of adventures.

From Pennsylvania to the Florida Keys, from Oregon to Mexico he meandered. He stayed as long as it was interesting to him but he always returned to Oregon and the band of friends who genuinely loved him

Everyone who knew him has a favorite Johnny Hartman story.

Jack goes on to join his two brothers Don and Robert; mother Iona Belle; and father Edward David Hartman.

He leaves behind his brother Red and a tribe of treasured friends. All who knew him will miss his laughter and the twinkle in his blue eyes.

Call him John, Jack, Johnny, Jacky or Hardy just as long as you keep his memory alive in your heart.

A celebration of life will be from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 7 at the Adair Clubhouse in Adair Village. Attendees are encouraged to bring one of Johns works of art to show and share. For more information, call 541-745-7455. Donations in Johns memory can be made to the Sisters Folk Festival, earmarked for the Americana Project Arts Outreach Scholarship. For more information, visit sistersfolk.org/apaos.
New Delhi: Every Indian is a VIP and the culture of beacon should have gone long ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday night, hours after deciding to bar their use by the VVIPs, including the President, the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers.

"..These symbols are out of touch with the spirit of new India," Modi said.

He was responding to a tweet by a follower who described as "historic" the decision to prohibit all vehicles, except emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire brigade, from using the beacon lights from May 1.

The vehicles with beacon lights, which are seen as a symbol of VIP culture, "have no place in a democratic country", the government said after the decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting.

"It should have gone long ago. Glad that today a strong beginning has been made," Prime Minister said in response to another tweet.

"Every Indian is special. Every Indian is a VIP," he added.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, while briefing the media about the Cabinet decisions, said the matter was under discussion for some time and "the Prime Minister took the decision and informed the Cabinet."

He said amendments will be made soon in the Central Motor Vehicles Rules to give effect to the decision.

"After May 1, no one will be able to put red light atop his/her vehicle. Blue light will be used only for emergency vehicles in the country...Neither the states nor the Centre will have power to give any special permission (for use of beacon lights)," Jaitley said.
Chennai: Responding to former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam-led AIADMK faction's demands for merger, the E Palaniswami-led faction on Thursday said that the former should first take its complaint regarding symbol issue back.

"Their camp went to EC first on the symbol issue, let them take back their complaint first," MP R. Vaithilingam from the Palaniswami faction told the media in Chennai.

Regarding the second demand of probing late chief minister J. Jayalalithaa's death, Vaithilingam said the demand for the same is under the court's consideration, adding the government will follow the order.

The Panneerselvam-led group earlier on Thursday categorically stated that the merger between the two factions of the AIADMK would not be possible until an affidavit stating the removal of VK Sasikala and his nephew TTV Dinakaran from the party is submitted to the Election Commission.

"We demand that an affidavit be submitted by the other camp stating that Sasikala and TTV Dinakaran no longer hold party position to the Election Commission. If this is done, we will consider it as first victory to our faction," former state minister and AIADMK member K. P. Munusamy told the media here.

Munusamy further stated that they have asked the Palanisamy-led government to initiate a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry to probe the mysterious death of Jayalalithaa.

"If they accept these demands only then there will be talks about the merger," he added.

Casting aside speculations that Panneerselvam has asked for the chief ministerial post as a precondition for the merger, Munusamy said "Neither had we asked for Chief Minister's post nor we asked for the general secretary's post. We only demanded a CBI investigation into Jayalalithaa's death."

The OPS camp further alleged that Palanisamy is devising new ways to prevent the merger from taking place.

"Current Chief Minister Palanisamy, who was appointed at the mercy of Sasikala, is not acting as the AIADMK Chief Minister rather he is acting as the Chief Minister of Sasikala and her family," he said.

Responding to a poser on Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar's assertion that Sasikala and family have been de-linked form the party, Munusamy said, "Jayakumar only said that Dinakaran has been ousted from the party, he never took the name of Sasikala."

The latest development in Tamil Nadu's politics comes as AIADMK MP and deputy speaker M. Thambidurai and Jayakumar met Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao separately.

However, the former described his visit as personal while the latter termed it official.

"There is no political significance in the meeting. We did not speak politics at all. He is my friend, I have known him for years," Thambidurai said.

"He is the Chancellor of the Fisheries University and by the virtue of being a fisheries minister I am the Pro-Chancellor. I discussed with him the appointment of a V-C for the university," he said.

The talks for a merger gained ground after an FIR was registered against Dinakaran for bribing the Election Commission officials for staking claim of the 'Two Leaves' party symbol.

Following this, Sukesh Chandrasekhar, Dhinakaran's alleged middleman, was arrested by police for striking a deal of Rs. 50 crore to help the AIADMK faction keep the 'two leaves' poll symbol.
New Delhi: India has officially sought from Pakistan details of the trial proceedings against Kulbhushan Jadhav as well as the appeal process in the case, the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday.

Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said India has asked for consular access to Jadhav for the 15th time.

Pakistan is yet to heed to India's request for consular access to Jadhav who has been given death penalty by a Pakistani military court on charges of spying.

India awaits formal response from Pakistan to its two demands - consular access and details of the trial proceedings against Jadhav, said Baglay.

"We don't know anything about Jadhav's location or condition in Pakistan," he said, adding it is a matter of concern for India.

Yesterday, India had summoned the Pakistan deputy high commissioner here in connection with Jadhav's death sentence and made a fresh demand for consular access to the retired Indian Navy officer.

Earlier this week, Pakistan Army had ruled out access to him.
Ban on use of beacon lights is a small initiative but it sends a message that every person should be treated equally, said Naidu. (Photo: Representational/PTI)

New Delhi: The government has no plans to cut back on security to VIPs, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today said, a day after the Centre banned the use of beacon lights atop all vehicles, except emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire brigades.

"With regard to security, it is necessary in the interest of the country because important people have to be protected. Otherwise, there is no preferential treatment," Naidu, who holds the portfolio of Information and Broadcasting, said.

About the Centre's decision to put an end to the VIP culture, he said, "Everybody is a VIP and that is the philosophy of our government." Though it is a small initiative but it sends a message that every person should be treated equally, he added.

He hoped that state governments will also shun the use of beacons or they will face the wrath of the people. On a query about the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, the Minister said the case has been going on for so many years and there is nothing new in that. He did not elaborate on what could be the impact of the Supreme Court order in the Babri Masjid demolition case on the BJP.

Top BJP leaders L K Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti will be tried for criminal conspiracy in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case as the apex court had yesterday allowed the CBI plea to restore the charge against them.

The SC, however, noted that Rajasthan Governor Singh enjoys constitutional immunity and can be tried only after he ceases to hold office. Singh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1992.

Meanwhile, amid a debate on some of the negative impacts of social media, Naidu said it cannot be censored. "It is a larger issue. We have to think about it and discuss because we cannot think of censoring social media. The society has to discuss and then come to a conclusion at the end of the day," he said.

The Minister was speaking to reporters after inaugurating a workshop on Instagram for government employees engaged in social media communications.
One Mudassir Ahmed Khan of Toli Chowki married Badar Ibrahim on February 7, 2016, and went to Saudi Arabia a few days later. (Photo: Representational Image)

Hyderabad: In less than a month, another case has surfaced where a city resident divorced his wife, sending her a triple talaq message over Whatsapp.

Sources said one Mudassir Ahmed Khan of Toli Chowki married Badar Ibrahim on February 7, 2016, and went to Saudi Arabia a few days later. Six months after marriage, Mudassir sent her a talaq message on Whatsapp.

Ms Ibrahim took up the issue with her in-laws but they told her they knew nothing about it. They told her that if she had been divorced, she could not stay in the house.

Despite repeated attempts to contact Mudassir there was no response, Ms Ibrahim said. I lodged a complaint with the police who booked a complaint against him.

When contacted, a Langar Houz police officer said: The incident took place few months ago and we have booked a case against him. He isnt in the city so we could not initiate action.

Religious scholar Maulana Haroon Ahmed said, Talaq is the last step of Islam. It should not be used by men whenever they want. Islam gives equal rights to men and women and there are separate chapters in the Quran related to talaq. The Surah Nisa and Surah Bakrah mention the importance of marriage. Under what conditions talaq should be given is defined.

Its the lack of responsibility among men and inability to understand Islam that is leading to these problems, he said.
A two-member team from IIM, Lucknow, is in Hyderabad to study the methods and publish a paper on the best practices.

The Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, would carry out a study on Telangana State excise departments successful crusade against illicit liquor. A two-member team from IIM, Lucknow, is in Hyderabad to study the methods and publish a paper on the best practices.

Earlier, the Maharashtra excise department had sent a team to study the method. In two years, over 80 persons controlling the illicit liquor rackets were booked under the PD Act, thus breaking the backbone of the organised gangs. Over 70,000 others were booked by the agency, bringing the manufacturing of ID liquor in the state to a complete halt. Black jaggery, the crucial raw material used in hooch, was also made unavailable in the state.

Excise commissioner Dr. R.V. Chandravadan said they are hoping to declare Telangana an ID-liquor free state by the 3rd state formation day on June 2 this year.

We have built a map covering each village in Telangana. The gram sabha, sarpanch, village secretaries have to certify that a village is ID-free, and then this village would turn into a green dot from being a red dot on the map. A mandal would be declared ID-free when the tahsildar and the police sub-inspector declare it so. Finally, when 95 per cent of the revenue villages in the district are so declared, the collector along with the SP would jointly declare that district is ID-free. So far, eight out of 10 districts have turned green, he said.

After the formation of the Telangana state, the government had decided to eradicate hooch. The excise department showed zero tolerance to people who manufacture, transport, and sell ID all over the state. The excise machinery was completely geared up for this purpose. The help of the local police and revenue officials was also taken, officials said.
6 more people have been detained by security forces, said reports. (Photo: Representational Image)

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday arrested three suspected terrorists of the Islamic State (IS) from Jalandhar, Mumbai and Bijnor.

According to reports, the arrested men are suspected to be part on an ISIS module that was hunting for recruits in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. The men were also being trained for terror attacks, the UP Anti Terror Squad (ATS) said.

They were arrested in a joint operation conducted by police from 5 states.

6 more people have been detained by security forces, said reports.
Bahadur should have been treated as a whistle blower rather than being sacked," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Condemning the dismissal of Border Security Force (BSF) soldier Tej Bahadur Yadav who uploaded a viral video of poor food condition of the Army, the Congress Party on Thursday said that the former should have been treated like a whistle blower, rather than being suspended.

"It is extremely unfortunate and regrettable. He was trying to expose the inadequacies in the entire nutrition system of the BSF. The superiors did not listen to him. He should have been treated as a whistle blower rather than being sacked," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said.

He added that by pointing out to the substantive food that was served to the soldiers, who were performing arduous duty, Yadav was actually doing a national service.

"It is extremely unfortunate that a government which claims to be committed to transparency actually behaves in such a high-handed manner with somebody who is trying to expose in order to transform the system," he added.

Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Tariq Anwar said Yadav's request should have been understood.

"This is a very unfortunate incident. He shared his problems which would have been given importance instead of suspending him," he added.

A day after the BSF dismissed the viral video of poor food conditions for the army, Yadav today said his fight is for all the soldiers, adding that he is confident of getting justice.

"I have given proof of the food but I did not get justice. I will go to the court. I am confident of getting justice. I will fight for the soldiers till my last breath. Complaints had come earlier as well but no one paid heed to that. It was my duty to reveal it to the government," Yadav told ANI.

Yadav said he raised his voice so that the coming generation does not face the same situation in the army.

"The officials had kept me locked and I was not allowed to talk to my family. I was given my phone when I went to the court," he added.

A visibly disappointed Yadav earlier in the day requested the government to support him and asserted that if he did not get the support, he would move the judiciary.

Yadav yesterday said that he will move the High Court over the matter and seek justice.

He received his dismissal orders yesterday and moved out of the cantonment with his belongings in a three-ton truck.

The Summary Security Force Court (SSFC) dismissed Yadav from service for posting a video regarding substandard food being served to the jawans.

Bahadur was found guilty of all the charges and awarded dismissal from service.

As per the BSF Act and Rules, he can now submit a petition or appeal against the punishment to the higher headquarters within three months.

During the proceedings, all opportunities were given to the individual for his defence.

Bhadur had earlier uploaded a video about quality of food in BSF which had gone viral on social media.

In the video that had sparked a nationwide outrage, Yadav, a BSF soldier of the 29 battalion Seema Suraksha Bal, was seen exposing the rot in the system by revealing the deeply ingrained corruption in the higher order, saying that the troops are not even getting basic three square meal.
According to Jet Airways, alternative arrangements were made for the affected passengers. (Photo: PTI/File)

New Delhi: A Jet Airways ATR aircraft, carrying 65 people, from Dehradun on Wednesday skidded upon landing at the airport in New Delhi.

The airline said all passengers have been safely deplaned.

Following the incident in the evening, the operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport were impacted for nearly two hours as one of the runways was temporarily shut, sources said.

The plane skidded upon landing on runway 29 and "lost control", they added.

"Our flight 9W 2882, an ATR 72-500, from Dehradun to Delhi... experienced a nose wheel malfunction after landing, resulting in a steering problem," Jet Airways said in a statement.

All "60 guests and 5 crew members have been safely deplaned" and that the aircraft is being towed away for maintenance, the airline said.

A Delhi airport official said the runway was shut for nearly two hours and after the aircraft was towed away, the operations resumed at around 1840 hours.

According to Jet Airways, alternative arrangements were made for the affected passengers.

An ATR aircraft has a seating capacity for 72 people. Besides Jet Airways, two other full service carriers -- Air India and Vistara -- operate from runway 29 at the international airport here.
New Delhi: Operations against militants or insurgents may be affected if FIRs are lodged against the Army, the Supreme Court was told on Thursday.

The Army also told the apex court that it cannot be subjected to FIRs for carrying out anti-militancy operations in insurgency-prone areas like Jammur and Kashmir and Manipur, while alleging local bias in the judicial inquiries conducted against it in these regions, which have tarnished its image.

"Judicial inquiries which are biased due to local considerations have tarnished the image of Army. Military operations cannot be dissected in a particular way. Army cannot be subjected to FIR otherwise military operations cannot be carried out," Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told a bench of Justices M B Lokur and U U Lalit.

Rohatgi, appearing for the Army and the Assam Rifles, said it cannot be subjected to investigation by the state police with regard to its operations against militants in strife-torn areas.

"Whether it's Jammu and Kashmir or Manipur, we are facing the same local bias. Why doesn't any judicial inquiry ever exonerate the Army? These inquiries (have) never said that Army did the correct thing. Army is facing problems due to bias in such inquiries," he said.

Pointing out that Army was working in very difficult situations in these areas, Rohatgi said it has its own system in place, has its own approach and is governed by different set of rules.

"In every military operation, Army cannot be disbelieved. Every judicial inquiry cannot be against the Army. The alleged extra-judicial killing cases in Manipur are not cases of massacre, rather these are cases of military operations," he said.

He said the petitions under Article 32 of Associations of Widows from Manipur, seeking FIR into alleged extra- judicial killings and SIT probe, should not be considered and the court should not embark into it.

During the hearing, the bench also questioned the Army over its Court of Inquiry, a fact finding proceeding.

"Court of Inquiry is for the benefit of the Army. It is not for the satisfaction of public which has the right to know the truth behind any incident," the bench said after Rohatgi alleged bias in the judicial probes conducted by district judges.

The bench also pulled up the Manipur government for not taking action on such alleged fake encounters by armed forces and asked was it "not supposed to do anything".

Senior advocate V Giri, appearing for Manipur, accepted the lapse on the state government's part but said even the High Court never asked it to register FIRs in such cases.

The court then asked the Manipur counsel whether now the state government can register FIRs into these alleged cases of extra-judicial killings.

"Yes, we can register FIR, if the court so directs under Article 142. There is no blockage in law with regard to lodging of FIR," the senior advocate said.

The bench asked the parties including the Centre and Manipur to suggest five names each of officials, ex-officials whom they fit are suitable for Special Investigating Team (SIT) to be constituted to investigate such cases.

The apex court after perusing the names reserved its verdict on the point of lodging of FIR and constituting a SIT for investigation into the killing in which judicial inquiries have been conducted.

The court is hearing a PIL seeking probe and compensation in alleged 1,528 extra-judicial killings in Manipur from 2000 to 2012 by security forces and police.

The court, which has conducted hearing for three consecutive days, had earlier rapped Manipur for remaining silent over rape and murder charges against Army personnel.

The bench said three such cases in which the Commissions of Inquiry had given its findings, including that of Thangjam Manorama, a Manipuri woman who was allegedly killed in the custody of the Assam Rifles on July 10, 2004, after being picked up on suspicion of working for the insurgent outfit, People Liberation Army.

The Army had yesterday told the court that the judicial probes conducted into alleged extra-judicial killing charges were "biased" and slanted against them due to local factors.

It alleged that the district judges, who were locals, had conducted the judicial inquiries into the alleged killings and local factors came in the way of the probe reports which went against the armed forces.

During the hearing, the court was earlier told that there were 265 cases of deaths which have to be examined and there were various reports of the commission of inquiry in which serious allegations have been levelled against armed forces personnel.

The apex court had earlier asked the Centre to segregate the cases related to the armed forces from the list of 265 incidents of extra-judicial killings in Manipur.

The Centre had said that out of the 282 cases, which were referred to it for verification, 70 matters were found to be related to the Army and Assam Rifles, while the rest concerned the state police.

In July last year, the apex court had directed a thorough probe into the alleged fake encounter killings in Manipur saying the use of "excessive or retaliatory force" by the armed forces or police was not permissible in 'disturbed areas' under the controversial Armed Force Special Powers Act.
Bolstered by a $25 million donation, Oregon State University officials on Wednesday announced plans for a performing arts and education complex on the south side of campus.

The project, announced at the Portland Art Museum, involves expanding and enhancing the LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th St. in Corvallis. The new facility will house OSU's music and theater programs and other initiatives as well, said Larry Rodgers, dean of OSU's College of Liberal Arts.

The $25 million gift comes from an anonymous donor in the Portland area. The total project is estimated to cost $60 million. OSU officials said they would launch a campaign to raise an additional $5 million and plan to approach a future Legislature for approval of $30 million in state bonds.

The current timeline calls for the project to be completed in 2022, Rodgers said in an interview.

"This is a watershed investment in our university," said OSU President Ed Ray in a press release. "The arts drive the culture of creativity, innovation and diversity that is essential to a thriving research environment. I believe with all my heart that a relationship with the arts is integral to the human experience."

In an interview, Rodgers said that the "big missing piece" at Oregon State "is really a building for the arts."

Although much work remains to be done in terms of designing the complex, it is expected to feature performance spaces including a new concert hall and a revitalized auditorium as well as a smaller black box theater that could be configured in different ways for performance and teaching.

The facility also is expected to include classrooms, practice rooms and spaces for choir, symphony and band rehearsals, shop space, faculty offices and seminar rooms.

Rodgers said he hopes the new facility offers opportunities to explore and research ways in which the arts can interact with science, the humanities and technology.

A primary idea driving the project, Rodgers said, is that the new center would be much more than a spot for community members to gather for cultural events. "This has to be for the students," he said. "If the community benefits from that, then it's a win-win for everyone."

"This is for all of us," Ray said, the campus community and the community at large. "That's what a university should be doing, elevating all of us."

And Ray, in a brief telephone interview after the Portland event, talked about another reason why the arts were important to him personally: Growing up in New York City, he had little exposure to the arts until he attended college, the first member of his family to do so.

In college, he said, he took classes on art and music appreciation, and "I was totally transported. ... It was like my whole universe just got bigger."

About 26 percent of OSU's students are the first members of their families to attend college; Ray wants those students to be able to have an arts experience similar to what he experienced.

"The arts are the closest thing we have for one soul to talk to another without interruption and without needing words," he said.

Rodgers said a committee headed by Steven Zielke, OSU's director of choral studies, will begin to tackle design and preparation details.

Rodgers said OSU officials continue to have conversations about placing a stand-alone art museum in the vicinity of the performing arts center.

The LaSells Stewart Center hosts more than 1,660 performances and conferences each year. Rodgers said the details of how to reschedule those events during construction have yet to be determined.
Chennai: Hardening its stance for merger talks, the Panneerselvam camp on Thursday demanded that the faction led by Chief Minister K Palaniswami formally expel AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala and TTV Dhinakaran besides about 30 other members of their family from the party.

Talks for merger between the two factions appeared to have hit a roadblock with the former chief minister Panneerselvam's camp laying down conditions including a CBI probe into the circumstances leading to Jayalalithaa's death.

A top leader of the former Chief Minister's camp, KP Munusamy said the first demand was getting Sasikala and Dhinakaran's resignation and later their formal expulsion along with 30 other members of their family.

Panneerselvam also wanted withdrawal of affidavits submitted to the Election Commission declaring Sasikala and Dhinakaran as party general secretary and deputy general secretary, respectively.

He also wanted the state government to recommend a CBI probe to go into the circumstances that led to Jayalalithaa's death in December last year.

Only if such conditions are met, can there be a scope for talks to pave the way for merger, Munusamy said.

On the aunt-nephew duo being ousted (by Palaniswami camp) on April 18 after a meeting of senior ministers, a key demand of Panneerselvam, Munusamy, however, suspected "foul play" behind it.

"Only your (Palaniswami camp) conscience knows how you did that," he said.

Further he said, "Only you (Palaniswami camp) know the reason, (for sidelining Dhinakaran.)

"We are getting information that since he (Dhinakaran) was entangled in several cases, in order to free him, Sasikala's family has used them (Palaniswami camp)," he claimed.

Stating that only under such circumstances Dhinakaran has been kept away, Munusamy said in keeping with AIADMK party practice, a party notification should be issued on Dhinakaran and Sasikala family's expulsion.

Cadres should be asked to have no truck with them, he said and added that only if this was done, they would regard it as a full victory.

In an indication that patch-up could be a Herculean task, he said only Panneerselvam had the support of people and cadres and the rival camp was "afraid" that the majority of MLAs only favoured Panneerselvam for the Chief Minister's post.

He also dubbed Chief Minister Palaniswami as a nominee of jailed leader Sasikala.

AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP R Vaithilingam of the Palaniswami camp rejected Munusamy's allegation on the events leading to Dhinakaran's ouster.

"There is no drama. We compelled him (Dhinakaran) to step aside and he did it happily," Vaithilingam said.

Hitting out at senior leader M Thambidurai who had said Palaniswami would continue as Chief Minister, Munusamy said they had not demanded the posts of either the Chief Minister or the party general secretary.

He alleged that the Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker was making such comments to stay relevant.

He also hit out Finance Minister D Jayakumar for making "immature," statements on the merger issue.

Responding to Munusamy, Vaithilingam said they had not put forth any conditions for talks,adding, they would "happily" sit for negotiations considering party's welfare.

"Respecting the sentiments of 1.5 crore party workers, to redeem the lost 'Two Leaves' party symbol and give good governance for the rest of four and a half years, we will take all (required) steps," he said.

He added that the Palaniswami camp had not set any pre-conditions for talks and that the camp was "happy to sit for discussions."

Law Minister C Ve Shanmugam said the party's welfare must be the priority and not "someone's personal whims and fancies."
'There is only one remedy and that is bullets, they want freedom from what?' Chander Prakash Ganga commented in reference to stone pelting in Jammu. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Condemning Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Chander Prakash Ganga's controversial statement that bullets are the only way to deal with stone pelters in Jammu and Kashmir, the National Panthers Party (NPP) on Thursday said remarks like these are unfortunate and unacceptable, adding one should go as per law and order before using such words.

"Such use of words by a minister belonging to Jammu and Kashmir government is very unfortunate and unacceptable in the philosophy of the democracy. If you have problem with something then take the help of law and order but such statements are condemnable," NPP leader Bhim Singh said.

Ganga has triggered a massive row by saying that bullets are the only way to deal with stone pelters in the Valley.

"They (Protesters) are traitors, whether they have come from Pakistan or they live here. All these forces who are "anti-national" could be made to mend their ways by use of bullets," Ganga is heard saying in a video that has gone viral despite ban on social websites.

"There is only one remedy and that is bullets. They want freedom from what?" he questioned.

Ganga accused National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah for calling the stone pelters, 'patriots'.

"They should be ashamed. We want peace, brotherhood and harmony. We will not let these ill elements affect the atmosphere of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

He added that if not bullets, they should be handed over to a severe punishment.

"Take my word that next time these youth won't throw stones. Till these people are handled in a right way they won't give up their evil acts. Once they are taught a lesson only then will they fall in line," Ganga said.

The statement from the BJP leader comes at a time when there is outrage in Kashmir over a video clip in which a youth is seen tied in front of an army jeep as a "human shield" against stone-pelting.

For the past one week, several videos have appeared on social networking sites in which Kashmiri youth are seen being beaten up by the forces.

The controversial video has surfaced at a time when the BJP-PDP Government is facing criticism in the Valley over the deteriorating situation and the cases of human rights violations by the forces that are coming to the fore.
The State Cabinet directed the security agencies to exercise maximum restraint while handling law and order situations to prevent loss of lives. (Photo: PTI)

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmirs ruling partners, PDP and BJP, differ on the issue on how to tackle the stone-pelting pastime of the Valleys youth, and this may leave a mark on their two-year old relationship.

Hours after the States Industries Minister and BJP lawmaker, Chander Prakash Ganga, called for shooting down the "stone-pelters and traitors", the PDP said it strongly condemns it as grossly insensitive remarks.

Ganga had while responding to a question about the stone-pelters of the Valley, told reporters in Jammu, "They are the traitors. Whether they live in the country or come from Pakistan, they can only be treated by bullets. If bullets are not there at least they should be punished, like beating them by canes. Mark my words and see whether they will pelt stones again. What 'azaadi' are they demanding?"

He also suggested that the stone-pelters be hit with shoes.

The PDPs Vice-President Mohammad Sartaj Madni while reacting to it, said that such "disgusting" utterances are not only unjustifiable but perilous as well.

He said in a statement issued here on Thursday, "It is unbecoming of a senior minister in the government to dish out such a sweeping, sickening and intimidating statement against the Kashmiri youth."

He said that Gangas statement is also in contravention to the stand of the State Cabinet on the issue, which in its meeting held in Jammu on April 18, expressed deep anguish over the loss of lives in the Valley.

The Cabinet also directed the security agencies to exercise maximum restraint while handling law and order situations to prevent loss of lives.

Madni said that instead of reaching out to the "distressed and alienated" Kashmiri youth and address their concerns, the "hawkish rhetoric" of "such fringe elements" has the danger of further adding to the alienation of the people and impeding the governments efforts of restoring peace and calm in the Valley.

"Late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had entered into an alliance with the BJP only with the objective of bridging the gulf between the people of different regions the State and taking Jammu and Kashmir to new heights of inclusive development and prosperity," he said.

"Unfortunately the unwarranted statements of such fringe elements are negating the basic philosophy of this alliance," he added.

The PDP leader who is maternal uncle of Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, said, "Instead of bringing the people together, such insidious statements are unfortunately only going to add to the void."

He added that a responsible government functionary cannot be seen pitching himself against own people.

"We hope that good sense will prevail and the BJP leadership will take serious note of such uncalled-for statement from a senior minister of the party. Instead of provoking the situation in Kashmir, all the right-thinking people should try to find a way out of the present impasse by engaging with all sections of the society in Jammu and Kashmir," Madni said.

Opposition National Conference has also taken exception to the ministers remarks saying it could mark the onset of a dangerous drift.

The partys chief spokesman Aga Syed Ruhullah said, "We are seeing the situation that is worse than nineties. It is very dangerous. It shows that the Cabinet is nothing. The Chief Minister has completely given up."

The partys youth wing workers took out a protest march from its headquarters and also burnt the effigy of the BJP minister.

Chanting slogans against Ganga and the coalition government, the protestors started marching towards Srinagar commercial hub Lal Chowk but the police intercepted them at the TRC intersection and persuaded them to return to the party headquarters.

The Congress has also condemned Ganga's statement and said such statements are extremely unfortunate and will add more fuel to the fire.

"This is the most unfortunate statement. Nobody could have said such an irresponsible thing because we have known that stone pelters exist since long time. The first thing that the BJP did was to release the leader of the stone pelters Mr Mashrat Alam and today he is earning a mark in Kashmir. Along with him is Asiya Andrabi, who was also released by BJP," Congress leader Brijesh Kalappa said.

The J&Ks regional National Panthers said remarks like these are unfortunate and unacceptable, adding one should go as per law and order before using such words.

"Such use of words by a minister belonging to Jammu and Kashmir government is very unfortunate and unacceptable in the philosophy of the democracy. If you have problem with something then take the help of law and order but such statements are condemnable," NPP leader Bhim Singh said.
The High Court was also of the view it seemed that the police was in a hurry to dispose of the cases.. (Photo: PTI/Representational)

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with its earlier order that the five cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in which all the accused were let off should be re-opened.

The High Court observed that the witnesses weren't allowed to depose and the Delhi Police did not carry the investigation in the best possible manner.

The High Court was also of the view it seemed that the police was in a hurry to dispose of the cases.

The production warrant has also been issued to Balwant Khokhar, an accused presently lodged in Tihar Jail.

The case will be next heard on May 1.

Earlier, the apex court directed the Centre to deposit more than 190 files in connection with this case.

Expressing serious concern over the closure of more than 190 cases, out of a total of the 293 cases referred to the SIT on the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases, the court asked the Union of India to produce on record on April 25 all the files related to closure of these cases by the SIT.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the apex court that the SIT in as many as 263 cases had no case files and added that there was no trace of any victim or witness.
Bengaluru: As the two factions of the AIADMK unite and keep Sasikala Natarajan, the once powerful aide and wannabe successor to former chief minister Jayalalitha, out of the party she wanted to run, Deccan Chronicle has learnt that Parapanna Agrahara's most famed convict now wants to brush up her language skills.

Prison sources said the doughty head of the Mannargudi clan, approached prison officials at the Bengaluru Central Prison to get her an English tutor in jail.

Unlike Jayalalitha, who was fluent in English and Tamil, Sasikala who ran a video parlour until she caught her mentor's eye, reads and understands only Tamil, and is restricted to a couple of Tamil newspapers provided to her in her cell for news on developments at home.

Parapanna Agrahara's newest convict Ilavarasi, sister-in-law and co-convict of Sasikala's in the disproportionate assets case has reportedly fallen ill and has approached the prison hospital to refer her to a private hospital in Bengaluru for diagnosis and treatment.

Official sources said, the prison officials asked her to first get her diagnosis done at the government-owned Victoria Hospital as per prison protocol. On Wednesday morning, Ilavarasi's blood samples were collected and sent to Victoria Hospital. Depending upon the pathology reports, further action will be taken. If needed, she may be referred to a private hospital," said the officer. Ilavarasi - convict number 3296 - had reportedly complained of weakness and loss of appetite to the prison doctors. She is lodged with Ms Sasikala (convict number 3295) in a prison cell in Bengaluru Central Prison at Parapanna Agrahara.
On December 6, at around 10 am, sants from across the country began giving inflammatory speeches while the police stood around like mute spectators as they could to do nothing in the face of the thousands assembled.

The year was 1992 and the RSS, capitalising on the mood created by senior BJP leader, L K Advani's rath yatra of 1990, organised a rally of Kar Sevaks at the site of the disputed Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Like other Kar Sevaks, who in response boarded trains from across the country for Ayodhya, Mr Ranga Baddi, a former corporator of the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation and former chairman of NGEF, Hubballi, too boarded a train for the holy city, believed to be the birthplace of Lord Ram. He recalls the journey and all that transpired next:

"It was exactly a week before that I and a 160 to 170 strong contingent, including former BJP MLA of Hubballi city, Ashok Katwe set off for Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh in response to a call given by our leaders for Kar Seva.

The entire country was talking about the Ayodhya issue and all roads led to the holy shrine. We left for Pune by train to catch another train to Itarsi. But the railway officers and the police in Pune refused to allow us to board the train. and gave in only after we threatened to hold a rail roko . After that we were not stopped till we reached Itarsi and then finally, Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram, on Dec 3."

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad had put up thousands of tents in the small town, allotting some for each state. Our tent was just about one -and- a -half-kilometers from the disputed site. We saw a steady flow of Kar Sevaks from across the country arriving, wearing big tilaks, carrying trishuls in their hands, and raising slogans of 'Jai Sri Ram.' Within two days over a lakh had gathered in the town, outnumbering even the UP police.

On December 6, at around 10 am, sants from across the country began giving inflammatory speeches while the police stood around like mute spectators as they could to do nothing in the face of the thousands assembled. Soon a large number of Kar Sevaks armed with pick axes, sickles and other instruments broke the metal barricades and surged forward. Seeing the emotionally charged youth, the cops fled and by noon hundreds of Kar Sevaks had scaled the disputed structure and begun demolishing it. We saw the demolition of the Babri Masjid from our tents, but could move no further as the Kar Sevaks from north India were too large in number. Some were clearing the bricks and mortar and some carrying them away as memorabilia. There was no sign of the cops anywhere near the structure despite deployment of a large posse of police and paramilitary forces in the town.

This continued till 12:30 am when the whole structure was pulled down. At 3 am a temporary tent was put up in place of the masjid, symbolising the beginning of temple construction. Women from Hubballi were called near the tent to offer puja and other rituals. As I had accompanied them, I too went near the spot and offered prayers. After this the Kar Sevaks started returning to their respective states. When we decided to return, all trains were full and we had to stand for hours on the way to Itarsi. There was nothing available to eat because of the curfew. Soon reports of communal clashes began to come in from many cities across the country and curfew was clamped. From Itarsi, we reached Pune and then Hubballii."
CHENNAI: Even while promising to keep away from AIADMK (Amma), its deputy general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran on Wednesday refused to resign from his post saying he would seek the advice of party general secretary V.K. Sasikala who had nominated him. A day after minister D. Jayakumar said senior ministers had decided to keep away Dhinakaran's family from party activities, TTV spoke to the media here at his residence. I heard that ministers had taken a decision to keep me away from party. If they had called me for the meeting, I would have gone. I dont know why they took such a decision.

He said, I dont want to fight with my own partymen, who are like my brothers. I dont want to show my strength and the party weak. He also pointed out that ministers K.A. Sengottaiyan and Dindigul C. Seenivasan who had met him did not say anything. To a query if he would resign from the deputy general secretary post, he said The post was given to me by the general secretary. I will discuss the issue with her. When asked if he is planning to escape abroad, he said My passport is with the court for the last 14 years. How can I go abroad? My Singapore citizenship had lapsed, he said.
A group of youth pelting stones on security forces during an anti-militant operation at village Durbugh in Chadoora area of central Kashmir's Budgam district. (Photo: PTI)

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmirs Industries Minister Chander Prakash Ganga on triggered a controversy by calling for shooting of "stone-pelters and traitors" with the apparent purpose of restoring peace in the Valley.

"They are the traitors. Whether they live in the country or come from Pakistan, they can only be treated by bullets. If bullets are not there at least they should be punished, like beating them by canes. Mark my words and see whether they will pelt stones again. What 'azaadi' are they demanding?" Ganga was quoted as saying according to DNA.

Ganga, who is a BJP MLA from Jammu, also suggested that the stone-pelters be hit with shoes.

Gangas outburst comes at a time when security agencies and the police have been directed by the Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet to exercise as much self-control as possible in order to prevent loss of human lives in the Valley.

In a meeting with Mufti, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, on Tuesday, the state Cabinet expressed its despair over the loss of lives in the restive Valley.

Following the instance of lynching at Ganderbal on April 9, where a student from Kulgam was severely injured and died from subsequent injuries on Wednesday, more than 250 individuals including 100 students have been injured in the Kashmir Valley, said the report.

At least 14 people were killed; one of these was a militant leader.

Main Opposition party National Conference (NC) slammed Gangas remarks and said that it could mark the onset of a dangerous drift.

The chief spokesman of National Conference, Aga Ruhullah was quoted as saying, We are seeing the situation that is worse than nineties. It is very dangerous. It shows that the Cabinet is nothing. The Chief Minister has completely given up.
Such a programme will give greater confidence to victims and witnesses to come forward and help take the cases to their logical end, participants at the consultation, Safe City is a Smart City, organised by the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission and Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany, on April 17 and 18, in the city.

Bengaluru: A two-day brainstorming between senior bureaucrats and experts on making cities safer felt that a witness-victim protection programme is urgently needed to ensure perpetrators of violence against women and children are punished.

Such a programme will give greater confidence to victims and witnesses to come forward and help take the cases to their logical end, participants at the consultation, Safe City is a Smart City, organised by the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission and Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany, on April 17 and 18, in the city. The seminar discussed strategies to improve service delivery by various institutions, dealing with women and children.

Dr P.M. Nair, chairperson, Centre for Policy Studies and Public Policy at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, said a protection programme for victims and witnesses is essential to ensure effective prosecution of guilty in cases of violence against women and children. Many countries have witness protection programmes, but US pioneered the concept way back in 1871 to protect those who testified against the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan.

Other countries that have the programme include Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, UK, Ukraine, Thailand and Taiwan. In India, the debate has begun on the need for such a programme, and an MP, Om Birla, introduced a bill in Parliament in 2015. In November 2016, the Supreme Court underlined the need for such a programme, at least in cases involving political and economic power. In the Bengaluru consultation, the concept of such was not discussed at length, but was included as one of the recommendations to the government.

Among other recommendations that came up included merging the various helplines, such as those for women, children and of police, into a single helpline, effectively available at all times to victims.Another recommendation sought to reduce quick reaction time of police to distress calls from victims of violence.

Senior bureaucrats and police officers who attended the consultation included chief secretary Subhash Khuntia, DG & IGP R.K. Dutta, DG&IGP M.N. Reddi, Additional Chief Secretary K. Ratnaprabha, Principal Secretary Uma Mahadevan, Urban Development Secretary Ponnuraj, Additional Commissioner of Police Malini Krishnamurthy, Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Shalini Rajneesh and Principal Secretary, Home, P.K. Garg.
New Delhi: Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday asked bureaucrats to stand up to the political class if wrong orders are given, telling them not to become yes men.

If a political executive gives wrong orders, do not be scared to show them the rules. Tell the political executive that you are legally wrong. Do not sign the file. Haan mein haan naa milaiye (Do not become a yes man). Do not betray your conscience, he said,

While asking them to focus on peoples welfare, while keeping the countrys larger interest in mind, Mr Singh also said that civil servants should be impartial and show no hesitation in taking decisions.

Mr Singh was speaking at the inaugural session of Civil Services Day here. The function was attended by officers belonging to the IAS and other all India services.

Appreciating the role of the bureaucracy, the home minister urged them to be responsible, accountable and impartial as the job of a civil servant bestows power on them.

Last of impartiality and accountability, he said, can hamper decision making capabilities. So, he said, if need be, discuss the issues in detail with seniors, but there should be no hesitation in taking decision as that can harm the countrys interest.

Emphasising the importance of people oriented schemes of the Modi government  like Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and mobile connectivity as well as Antyodaya, which provides subsidised food to poor families  the home minister said officials must ensure their effective implementation.

Earlier, Mr Singh pulled up senior officials for being late for the event, which got delayed by a few minutes, saying they must be punctual. In fact, the officials were seen entering the venue much after the event had started.

The minister said though there may be some valid reason for the delayed start, introspection was required as to why it happened.

I reached the venue five minutes before the scheduled time of 9.45 am, but the events started only at 9.57 am. It would have been better had we not deviated from the original schedule, the minister remarked.

Later at different venue Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla on Thursday called on Rajnath Singh and discussed with him various issues concerning the northeastern state.

During the 20-minute meeting, the Governor briefed the minister about the political and law and order situation in Manipur, where a BJP government assumed power in March, official sources said.
Hyderabad: While the Telangana state government welcomed the decision of Union home ministry on the division of Higher Education Council, the AP government opposed it and said it is against the judgement of the Supreme Court.

While key officials in the AP government have already discussed the issue, the government may a call on moving the Supreme Court against the order after their discussion with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

According to AP officials, the Telangana governments argument in the Supreme Court was that the assets of 10th Scheduled institutions have to be maintained as per the location of the respective states.

The officials recalled that the Supreme Court had refused to agree with the contentions advanced by the senior council appearing for the state of Telangana.

They said that the Supreme Court had further said that, Heavy reliance has also been placed on Section 75 of the AP Reorganization Act, on the ground that the assets belonging to the specified institutions of the 10th Schedule exclusively belong to the state institutions. Since the Act does not provide any apportionment to them, we are wholly unable to agree with this contention advanced on behalf of the state of Telangana. If this contention is accepted, it would render Section 47 of the Act, which provides for the apportionment of assets and liabilities among the successor states, useless.

However, the Union home ministry in its order said that the assets of State Higher Education Council should be shared by the two states on the location basis.

AP officials said when the Supreme Court had not agreed with location as the basis of division, how can the home ministry give order basing the same argument. They said that the home ministrys order goes against to the Supreme Courts judgment.

It may be recalled that the Union home ministry had issued orders on sharing of assets and employees, which said that assets of the Higher Education Council (HEC) should be shared on the basis of their location.

The order means that HEC assets located in AP belong to that state and those assets located in Telangana state belong to it. Regarding the issue of sharing of employees, the Union home ministry said that they should continue at their present place of work.

Regarding sharing of funds, it ruled that they should be shared on the basis of population of AP and TS, in the ratio of 58:42 respectively.

The order is more or less on the lines of what TS has been claiming. The order has left the AP government worrying about the assets of other institutions it lays claims upon. APs argument has been that both assets and liabilities, inc-luding employees, should be shared between the two states on the basis of their population.
The investigation indicated that Rai was a key player in the case with the help of Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB). (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to grant any relief to accused Bachha Rai in connection with the Bihar topper scam.

Earlier last month, the Patna High Court granted conditional bail to Rai. He got bail after not being convicted by the lower court within a month.

Rai was arrested in June last year after he surrendered before the police.

Rai is the Secretary-cum Principal of Vishun Rai College in Vaishali district of Bihar, where Arts and Science toppers Ruby Rai and Saurabh Shrestha belonged to, and was involved in the exam racket.

The investigation indicated that Rai was a key player in the case with the help of Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB).

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested Bihar state board Class XII Arts topper Ruby Rai previous year.

A chargesheet was filed against former BSEB chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh, his wife and former JD (U) legislator Usha Sinha, Rai and former board secretary Harharnath Jha.
The security was stepped up at Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai Airports earlier on April 16 following the hijack threat call. (Photo: Representational/File)

Hyderabad: A Hyderabad-based transport agent has found out -- much to the chagrin of three airport authorities -- that love is tricky.

Motaparthi Vamshi Krishna, who was arrested by the Hyderabad police today, sent an email to the Mumbai police chief last Saturday, warning of possible plane hijacks from Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai airports.

The reason? His Chennai-based cyber girlfriend wanted to vacation in Goa and had asked him to book her flight tickets from Chennai to Mumbai.

There was just one small problem. The transport agent, who claimed he was a hotshot businessman, was short on cash.

Trapped, Vamshi sent the hoax mail to the police and fobbed the girl off with news that the Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai airports were in panic mode after a hijack threat.

Since Vamshi had identified himself as a woman from Hyderabad in the mail, Mumbai commissioner asked the Hyderabad police to investigate.

Vamshi wrote she had overheard six people talking about simultaneous plane hijacks from these three airports. She also said the 23-member hijack gang would split into three.

The police traced the mails IP address to the E Net Zone Cyber Cafe in Madhuranagar. After analysing CC-TV footage, the police zeroed in on Vamshi.

Vamshi Krishna befriended the woman on Facebook three months ago, DCP, Commissioners Task Force, B Limba Reddy said. He had first asked her to drop the travel plans, but she insisted they go.

Reddy added: He then thought of creating a fake air ticket for his friend to travel from Chennai to Mumbai. He abandoned the idea because the friend would have found out the ticket was fake and dumped him. So he created a fake email id instead and sent a hoax mail to the Mumbai Police Commissioner, identifying himself as a woman from Hyderabad.

Vamshi, who is very active on social media, is a computer graduate from West Godavari. He is an old offender and was arrested in an extortion case and a cheating case in the city.

The police said Vamshi claimed to his social media friends that he was high-profile and rich.

Security was majorly stepped up at the Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai airports on April 16 following the hijack mail.
Mysuru: Chief Minister Sidddaramaiah taunted Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna who had asserted that the saffron party would win the Nanjangud and Gundlupet bypolls which they eventually lost.

He also referred to their claims that the bypoll results would be an indicator of trends in the 2018 Assembly polls and said this meant the BJP would not come to power after the 2018 assembly elections. The Chief Minister was addressing people after inaugurating Rs 1100 crore worth developmental projects at Malavalli on Thursday.

BJP protest

Meanwhile, BJP workers and farmers who submitted memorandums to waive farm loans, protested by showing black flags. Responding to this, Mr Siddaramaiah said, 800 nationalised banks have given Rs 42,000 crore loans to farmers. Co-operative banks have given only 22 percent of the loans. We can waive farm loans taken from co-operative banks but loans taken from nationalised banks have to be waived by the Central government. When I took a delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed the loan waiver, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders were tight-lipped. Instead of misguiding people, let B.S. Yeddyurappa (BJP state president) get the loans waived by the Centre. We have given instructions to authorities at banks to extend the loan recovery period and not issue notices to farmers. Action will be initiated if they issue notices, Mr Siddaramaiah said.

After dropping the Chief Minister in Mysuru, the helicopter which was heading to Bengaluru had to return to Mysuru due to a severe storm and rain.

Ministers D.K. Shivakumar, M.B. Patil and T.B. Jaychandra were in the helicopter. They later returned to Bengaluru by road.

The Chief Minister also visited his cabinet colleague and Public Works Minister Dr H.C. Mahedevappa who is admitted to Apollo hospital and wished him on his birthday. Mr Siddaramaiah said, Since he had travelled extensively during the Nanjangud bypolls, he has a blood clot in the foot. He is being treated and is doing well, he said.
Bhubaneswar: West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said her efforts to build a federal front to counter the growth the BJP was on and she would continue to pursue it.

Thats (formation of federal front) always there on my agenda and I will continue to pursue it. But today, we didnt discuss any politics. I came to meet Odisha Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik and wish him good health. His father Naveen Patnaik was very fond of me. Once he sent state place to bring me here. I share a good relationship with Mr Patnaiks family, Ms Banerjee told reporters here after meeting her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik at the latters residence.

The WB Chief Minister met Naveen at his resident at 4.30pm amid speculation that both the leaders would discussed countering the saffron surge in their states.
Hyderabad: Telangana Congress leaders on Thursday continued their discussion on the partys approach to irrigation minister Harish Rao, if he comes out of the ruling TRS.

Recently, the prime Opposition party in the state has waded into the speculated rivalry between irrigation minister and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Raos nephew T. Harish Rao and his IT minister and the CMs K.T. Rama Rao.

While both Mr Harish Rao and Mr Rama Rao claimed that Mr Chandrasekhar Rao would continued to be the Chief Minister for the next 10 years, Congress leaders believe that Mr Harish Rao is sulking over the CMs attempts to project his son Mr Rama Rao as his successor.

Speaking to reporters at Gandhi Bhavan on Thursday, former Union minister of state Sarve Satyanarayana said Mr Harish Rao is a loner in the TRS and he is suffocating in the Cabinet and the party as nobody is supporting him, while every one wants curry favour with Mr Rama Rao.

Empathising with Mr Harish Rao, Mr Sarve advised him to revolt against the TRS and quit the Cabinet and promised him the support of the Congress.

PCC spokesperson K. Umesh Rao, who is also a close relative of the Chief Minister, who quit the TRS and joined the Congress a few years ago, said since Mr Harish Rao is his sambhandhi, he would try to influence him to come out of TRS and join the Congress.

Former government whip and Sangareddy former MLA T. Jayaprakash Reddy aka Jagga Reddy, however, cautioned the party against giving key role to Mr Harish Rao even in the event of him joining the Congress. There are several popular leaders within the Congress, said Mr Jagga Reddy, who had differences with Mr Harish Rao for a long time.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state BJP leadership will face tough days ahead in view of the proposed visit of national president Amit Shah and other leaders to the state in July to discuss the preparations for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and other issues. State leaders, including president Kummanam Rajasekharan, his predecessors V. Muraleedharan and P. K. Krishnadas, state RSS leaders K. K. Balram and M. Ganesh were in Delhi on Thursday to hold talks on the rehabilitation programmes for the victims of political violence in Kannur.

Mr Amit Shah will visit the state during July 25-27 as part of his 95-day nationwide trip. The Kerala leaders were summoned to New Delhi after the two-day meetings of the core committee, executive committee and office-bearers which concluded in Palakkad on Wednesday. Mr Kummanam maintained that the by-election was not of serious concern to Mr Amit Shah because the constituency has only 27 percent Hindu votes.
Jammu and Kashmir is in election mode, and two important Lok Sabha byelections are in process. The turnout in Srinagar was abysmal, and the same would have happened in Anantnag too if it hadnt been postponed for six weeks. Of course, there is no guarantee of normal polling on May 25, when the bypoll is now scheduled. In Srinagar, the violence made more news than the turnout, with eight lives lost. Having been associated with most elections in J&K since 1989, I can recall heated discussions whenever they took place. But none revolved around the real issue  conduct of democratic processes of any significance in an internal security scenario that has proxy war at the core. The United Nations, for instance, invariably seeks to hold elections as the grand finale of any peace process in a conflict zone in which peacekeeping operations have been in place. The finest examples are Cambodia and Mozambique, both of which had proxy internal conflicts of Cold War vintage, and ended in situations of stability with elected governments; both have their run with problems, but none of the magnitude of pre-election periods.

Democracy is presumed to be a great leveller and empowers the very people who fight each other or the state; and gives them a chance to enter an era of stability and aspire to improve their lives. It is supposed to make the voice of the silent majority relevant, and a chance for their children to lead better lives. It is also meant to iron out differences and let the majority view prevail. However, a million-dollar question always remains: is democracy necessarily the end process of seeking peace in a conflict zone, or is it a facilitator that enables the advent of peace? Theres no better place to examine this than Kashmir, which has seen turbulence and conflict for the past 28 years  conflict driven by the proxy support of an adversary, a mix of ideology and politics and confused aspirations. Its a classic case where the democratic process has been in place alongside conflict for almost 21 years (since 1996). The current context of the conflict goes back to 1989, but the background is too well known. Let it suffice that the trigger was an allegedly rigged election (1987), but it was just a trigger. The actual conflict emerged for historical reasons, more so due to external support for secession and internal mismanagement.

A couple of points from 1989 to 1996 are relevant. During this time the sentiment for separatism was strong in Kashmir and some other Muslim areas south of the Pir Panjal. Why was it considered necessary that Assembly elections be held in 1996 without awaiting full stabilisation? Obviously polls were seen as a stability facilitator. India was under intense pressure internationally amid the Pakistani campaign to paint it black. New Delhi had, however, weathered a serious onslaught by US assistant secretary of state Robin Raphel, an ardent Pakistan backer. The foreign element of the militancy  the pipeline of the non-Pakistani Mujahideen  had dried up. The Ikhwanul Muslimeen, the counter-group set up by India, was reasonably effective at that time. The decision to hold Assembly elections at that juncture was extremely bold, and well thought out. The turnout percentage was not the essence; the event itself was, including the installation of an elected government. Its strategic messaging was massive. The turnout didnt prove too bad either. The years 1996-97 were crucial for India. Pakistan had successfully installed a Taliban-led government in Kabul, and could focus its attention much more on J&K. The decision to risk elections was also aimed at countering the Pakistani propaganda that J&K was in chaos. It also firmly communicated Indias resolve after another landmark event was used for strategic messaging; this was the joint resolution of the two Houses of Indias Parliament on February 22, 1994 that the entire kingdom of the erstwhile Maharaja of Kashmir belonged to India.

The 1996 elections brought a legitimately-elected government to power. It gave an impetus to political activity, but given the security situation it was risky for legislators to venture into their constituencies. In areas close to the Line of Control it was easier, and thats where political activity flourished. This led to the creation of the PDP at the instance of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, adding more variety to Kashmiri politics. Where politics and elections failed the people of Kashmir in particular, and not J&K, was the inability of the political class to involve the people in more governance-based issues at the ground level. There were few legislators willing to undertake personal risk to enable active engagement with people. The stream of elections since 1996 did create awkward moments, and some sense of confusion in the minds of mainland India. Among the reasons for confusion was, first, the improving voting turnout percentage. Yet after government formation, support to anti-national activity continued by some who had taken part in the elections. Most of this was in the form of overground support. The Indian public largely assumes that voting in elections affirms faith in the Indian Constitution. Some Kashmiris aligned against India, however, say they vote only for the purpose of their administrative needs, but dont have faith in the Constitution or accession to India. Second, on a similar note, many young boys turn out for recruitment to the Army or paramilitary forces every time a drive is held. It is claimed many are stone-throwers. My experience shows this is not true. There are many young people who may not have any love for India, but they dont necessarily indulge in any form of violence. They carry deep-rooted alienation, and at the first instance of a chance of employment they shed their inhibitions; quite apart from the stone-thrower variety. Classically, this is a case for psychologists and sociologists to study in greater detail.

Alienation and dislike amounting to hatred are very powerful emotions that cant be glossed over. Psychologists should suggest methods of communication to deal with this alienation.A lot of people believe that applying principles of rationality may fetch dividends. This means people should use elections to convey their true feelings. They shouldnt use violence but express democratic dissent against issues they strongly feel about. This advice is, however, fine for straightforward security situations, but not where vicious proxy wars are under way.The separatists invariably oppose elections, but with varying degrees of seriousness. When they sense there is a public desire for betterment through roti, kapda aur makan, the objections are low-key, but at politically sensitive moments the level of discouragement is again very high. The current impasse is the most challenging in the short history of J&Ks electoral processes since 1989. The separatists will be elated by the governments failure to control violence as well as at the low turnout. The Opposition parties dont seem to mind this either as it gives them a chance to browbeat the government. Elections may perhaps not be the best way to counter violence. They may actually provide circumstances for more violence. But elections cant be wished away either in a democratic nation  and that is where the dichotomy lies!
An all-out nuclear war between nations would be the worst catastrophe in history. The tragedy is so huge, that it is difficult to comprehend the severity of the consequences caused by it. However, worlds richest man, Bill Gates is of the opinion that a bio-terrorist attack is going to prove to more destructive than a nuclear war. Speaking ahead of speech at the Royal United Services Institute in London (RUSI), Microsoft CEO said that terrorists could re-create diseases like small-box to create havoc.

Bioterrorism is a much larger risk than a pandemic, he told The Telegraph.

All these advances in biology have made it far easier for a terrorist to recreate smallpox, which is a highly fatal pathogen, where there is essentially no immunity remaining at this point, he added.

Microsoft CEOs charitable foundation provides funds for research that quickly spots outbreaks. He feels that it is more important than ever before that countries monitor diseases in order to prevent a global tragedy.

When you are thinking about things that could cause in excess of 10 million deaths, even something tragic like a nuclear weapons incident wouldnt get to that level. So the greatest risk is from a natural epidemic or an intentionally caused infection bioterrorism events, he explained.

Earlier this year, he warned Munich that a pandemic holds the possibility of wiping out millions of people in the next 10 to 15 years. Gates said that a pandemic would be even more deadly than Spanish Flu outbreak in 1919, which killed around 100 million people. The virus managed to attack over one-third of the worlds population  three times as many as the World War I.

Bill Gates feels that the threat that a biological warfare holds is not being taken seriously enough. Whether the next epidemic is unleashed by a quirk of nature or the hand of a terrorist, scientists say a fast-moving airborne pathogen could kill more than 30 million people in less than a year. So the world does need to think about this, he told the audience at the conference.

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Mongolia has been adopting new technologies to help connect its most remote and inaccessible regions, and dozens of new television broadcasters have also been launched in the last decade. (Photo:reference image)

Mongolia launched its first satellite on Wednesday, as a part of its efforts to make use of new technology to diversify its resource-dependent economy.

The 1,227-megahertz satellite, called Mongol Sat-1, will help landlocked Mongolia expand its television, telecoms and broadband services, according to a video posted on the official website of Mongolia's parliament.

The satellite was launched in partnership with Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS), a telecoms and broadcast provider for the region. No details about the cost of the satellite and the launch were provided, and government agencies could not be immediately reached for comment.

"The project that began over 10 years ago has been finally accomplished," said Parliament Speaker Miyeegombo Enkhbold in a meeting with ABS Chief Executive Officer Thomas Choi at the satellite's launch. "This is a historic advance, and we are proud that Mongolia sends its first satellite off into space." Enkhbold said the satellite would also be used to help with space research, map making and with preparing for natural disasters.

Mongolia has been adopting new technologies to help connect its most remote and inaccessible regions, and dozens of new television broadcasters have also been launched in the last decade. Mobile phones have also become an essential part of life for Mongolia's traditional nomadic herders, providing remote settlements with access to banking and weather alerts.

The International Monetary Fund has urged Mongolia to diversify its economy as part of a $5.5 billion bailout.

Mongolia plunged into an economic and financial crisis last year after a collapse in commodity prices eroded growth and sent its currency, the tugrik, plummeting.

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Seven Oak Middle School is hosting its first April Arts Festival from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 20, at the school, 550 Cascade Drive, Lebanon.

Activities include a silent auction in the library, concessions, paint night, band soloists, poetry, an art gallery, singing and dancing, mini-plays, student projects and performances. The event's goal is to showcase student work, demonstrate the school's progress to reincorporate the arts and to build community support and understanding of the importance of arts.

Seven Oak Middle School and the Lebanon Community School District have worked to bring the arts back over the last few years. With support and new staff hires, the school has added an arts program, choir class and performance arts, including a theater class and club.

All proceeds will go into Seven Oak arts programming fund for the 2017-2018 school year to help maintain and grow instruments, theater scripts, sheet music, festivals and future performances.

For more information, call 541-451-8416.
Researchers found the fungus was able to form spores with thick walls that allowed it to survive for longer and spread further, including on the feet of water birds.

Europe's salamanders could be decimated by a flesh-eating alien species that has already wreaked havoc in some parts of the continent, scientists said in a study published Wednesday.

Researchers who examined the impact of the alien invader  a fungus native to Asia on fire salamanders in Belgium and the Netherlands found it to be lethal to the amphibians and almost impossible to eradicate.

The study published in the journal Nature Research provides a drastic warning to North America, where the fungus hasn't yet taken hold.

"Prevention of introduction is the most important control measure available against the disease," said study co-author An Martel, a veterinarian at the University of Ghent, Belgium, who specializes in wildlife diseases.

The B. salamandrivorans fungus, which likely was imported to Europe by the pet trade - causes skin ulcers, effectively eating the salamander's skin and making it susceptible to secondary bacterial infections.

Martel and her colleagues began studying the effect of the fungus in early 2014, four years after it was first recorded in Europe.

Within six months, the population of fire salamanders at the site in Robertville, Belgium, had shrunk to a tenth of its original size. Two years later less than one percent of the distinctive yellow-and-black patterned amphibians had survived, according to the study.

Sexually mature salamanders appeared to be particularly prone to becoming infected with the fungus due to their contact with other individuals, preventing them from producing new generations. Furthermore, researchers found the fungus was able to form spores with thick walls that allowed it to survive for longer and spread further, including on the feet of water birds.

Other amphibian species, including newts and toads, were also susceptible, either making them carriers of the fungus or ill themselves.

Finally, infected animals failed to develop an immune response that might allow some of the salamander population to survive and ultimately prevail against its new foe, which has already been detected in 12 populations in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Conservationists in the United States are already monitoring wetlands for signs of the fungus.

"For highly susceptible species like fire salamanders, there are no available mitigation measures," Martel told The Associated Press. "Classical measures to control animal diseases such as vaccination and repopulation will not be successful since there is no immunity build-up in these species and eradication of the fungus from the ecosystem is unlikely."

In a separate comment published by Nature, Matthew C. Fisher, an expert in fungal epidemiology at Imperial College London who wasn't involved in the study, backed the researchers' suggestion that the only way to save Europe's salamanders may be to keep a healthy population in captivity - at least until a cure is found.

"It is currently unclear how (the fungus) can be combated in the wild beyond establishing 'amphibian arks' to safeguard susceptible species as the infection marches relentlessly onwards," said Fisher.

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Fischer said he suspected the biggest challenge he faces in his first voyage into space will be learning how to use the station's zero-gravity toilet.

A scaled-down, two-man US-Russian crew arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday, six hours after blasting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a NASA TV broadcast showed.

A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying NASA astronaut Jack Fischer, 43, and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, 58, lifted off at 1:13 p.m. local time/3:13 a.m. EDT (0713 GMT) with a rare empty third seat. Russia is scaling back space station staffing until its long-delayed science laboratory is flown to the orbiting outpost next year.

Fischer and Yurchikhin reached the $100 billion space station, which orbits about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, arriving on schedule at 9:18 a.m. EDT (1318 GMT).

Fischer said he suspected the biggest challenge he faces in his first voyage into space will be learning how to use the station's zero-gravity toilet.

Its all about suction, its really difficult," Fischer said in a NASA interview before launch. You just cant train for that on the ground, so I approach my space-toilet activities with respect, preparation and a healthy dose of sheer terror.

The rookie astronaut will be sharing the station with two seasoned veterans, a Russian cosmonaut on his second flight and a first-time French flier.

Soyuz crewmate Yurchikhin has made four previous space flights. Station commander Peggy Whitson, 57, in the midst of her third long-duration mission, is due on Monday to beat the 534-day record for cumulative time spent in space by a US astronaut.

She is expected to receive a congratulatory phone call on Monday from US President Donald Trump, NASA said on Wednesday.

Whitson, who flew to the station in November along with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, will remain aboard with Fischer and Yurchikhin until September.

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Google is considering two options for implementing the feature in its popular Chrome web-browser.

Google is planning to introduce an ad-blocking filter in the mobile and desktop version of the Chrome browser, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The feature would filter out "unacceptable" ads defined by the Coalition for the Better Ads, an industry group that realised a list of ad standards in March. The term "unacceptable" in the ad standards referred to pop-up ads, autoplay videos, and "prestitial" ads.

Google is expected to announce the feature within weeks, but how, is still debatable. According to the reports, Google is considering two options for implementing the feature in its popular Chrome web-browser.

One is to block all advertising that appears on the sites with offending ads, instead of individual offending ads. In this case, site owners may need to ensure all of their ads meet the set standards. However, this move will affect Google online revenue in vast.

The other option is to simply block the offending ads in the question.

The ad-blocking step may seem counter-intuitive given Googles reliance on online advertising revenue, but the move is a defensive one, people familiar with the plans told the WSJ.

Acknowledging the uptake of ad-blocking tool from third-party firms in the past by many, Google is interested in launching its own ad-blocking feature for the defeating the purpose. Since the Chrome now accounts for a large web-browsing globally, installing ad-blocker within it would mean more control to Google over ad-blocking.

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Among the manufacturers of printers that were affected by the hack, HP was one of them and they were worried about this large unseen problem looming in the open.

Earlier this year, people around the world experienced their printers churning out a picture of a robot with a message stating that the machine has been hacked. Large printers in offices, domestic devices and tiny receipt printers in restaurants were putting their owners in a fix, looking for help. Fortunately, the hack was done by a British teenager whose intentions were to educate the people about safeguarding their printers that were connected to the internet.

Among the manufacturers of printers that were affected by the hack, HP was one of them and they were worried about this large unseen problem looming in the open. HP India wanted to take up this matter with its large base of consumers in a press meet today. The company elaborated on how a non-secure multi-function printer can fall prey to hackers and break into an organizations network to steal confidential information. There is a need to include printer security as part of the government policy guidelines and recognize them as a vital network endpoint that is critical to the IT managers worldwide, said Raj Kumar Rishi, Senior Director, Printing Systems, HP India. He further emphasized on the need to move from compliant IT security to comprehensive IT security, taking into consideration BYOD practice and securing mobile device access to the network.

The company elaborated in developing secure solutions like HP Sure Start, HP Future Smart Firmware, HP Jet Advantage Secure and Private Print to prevent exposure of sensitive documents and unauthorised access to the printer and the print jobs.

It is satisfying to know that PC peripheral manufacturers like HP take up the issue of cyber security very seriously. In the recent years, nearly 92 percent of companies have reported security breaches leading to financial as well as reputation loss, of which nearly 60 percent took place due to a faulty printer in the companys network.

When the issue of cyber security is concerned, IT departments in large firms and OEMs concentrate their focus only on the primary computer device. For instance, a PC maker will focus on data security for its laptop models, a phone manufacturer might only focus on the handsets software security. But nobody pays attention to the array of devices, especially the wireless ones that may have the capability to be hacked through some kind of loophole in the connection protocol. Because of loopholes like these, hackers can gay unprecedented attention to your primary device, gaining access to your private data.

So, what can you do to safeguard yourself from these looming dangers? The easiest and the safest solution is to keep updating the firmware of all your computer peripherals. They are either listed on your system update windows or on their makers website.

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Microsoft recently revealed new alternative method for accessing accounts. Now, users, instead of entering passwords, can take the easy two-step verification using Microsofts Authenticator account app, in order to access their accounts. According to the company, the new system is more secure than typing in a code. The two-step authentication involves users entering their username for a Microsoft account and thereafter, receiving a sign-in alert on their devices that they can either approve or deny.

With phone sign-in, were shifting the security burden from your memory to your device, Microsoft director Alex Simons wrote in a blog post. Just add your account to the Android or iOS Microsoft Authenticator app, then enter your username as usual when signing in somewhere new. Instead of entering your password, youll get a notification on your phone, he added.

Simons went on to explain how the new process introduced by Microsoft is easier than the standard two-step verification. Using your phone to sign in with PIN or fingerprint is a seamless way to incorporate two account proofs in a way that feels natural and familiar, he said.

Interested users can download and install Microsoft Authenticator app from the App Store or Google Play and then add their Microsoft account to the app. Post which, users will be asked about their Microsoft Account information every time they log into a website.

The new method currently only works for websites that need your Microsoft Account information such as Skype, Outlook and OneDrive.

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Maiduguri: Nigerian police say they have arrested 53 young men who celebrated a gay wedding and charged them with "belonging to a gang of unlawful society."

Prosecuting officer Mannir Nasir told a court on Thursday that the young men were arrested on Saturday in the northern city of Zaria while attending a party organized for two men who got married last week.

While Nigerian law bans gay marriage, some couples conduct informal ceremonies.

The 53 men pleaded not guilty to charges that also included conspiracy and unlawful assembly. They were granted bail, and their next hearing has been set for May 8.
Washington: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has termed the Iran nuclear deal a failure and said an unchecked Tehran could become another North Korea, but stopped short of threatening to derail the landmark agreement.

Tillerson said the US is conducting a comprehensive review of its Iran policy and added that the Obama-era nuclear deal only delays Tehrans goal of becoming a nuclear state.

This deal represents the same failed approach of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat we face from North Korea. The Trump administration has no intention of passing the buck to a future administration on Iran, he said at a hurriedly-convened press briefing.

Irans nuclear ambitions are a grave risk to international peace and security, Tillerson said.

His toughen stand on Iran yesterday came a day after the Trump administration notified the Congress that Tehran is complying with the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by former president Barack Obama to limit the Islamic Republics nuclear ability. The administration said it has extended the sanctions relief to Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.

Iran has defended its nuclear programme as purely civilian and its supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei warned in November that Tehran would retaliate if the US breached the nuclear agreement.

Tillerson, seeking to reinforce the idea that the US is forcefully countering Irans destabilising behaviour in the Middle East, also described Tehran as a leading state sponsor of terror.

The evidence is clear: Irans provocative actions threaten the United States, the region and the world, he said.

An unchecked Iran has the potential to travel the same path as North Korea and take the world along with it. The United States is keen to avoid a second piece of evidence that strategic patience is a failed approach.

Tillerson accused Iran of intensifying multiple conflicts including the one in Syria, undermining US interests in several countries, continuing to support attacks against Israel, and sponsoring cyber and terror attacks across the world.

Tillersons comments were synonymous with Donald Trumps rhetoric, who on many occasions  during his presidential campaign and afterwards  criticised the nuclear deal reached between Iran and the US, the UK, Russia, France, China and Germany.

But after he took office, the US president has not yet explicitly said he would pull out from the historic agreement.

Hours before he declared Iran nuclear deal a failure, Tillerson sent a terse letter to the US House of Representatives speaker Paul Ryan, saying the administration has ordered an inter-agency review of whether the earlier suspension of sanctions, which was a necessity under the 2015 nuclear deal, was in the US national security interests.

The six powers that negotiated the nuclear deal with the involvement from the European Union have set aside Irans alleged support to terrorism in order to get a deal guaranteeing that the country would not be able to build a nuclear weapon for a decade and would remain under the eye of UN weapons inspectors.

In February, Trump had described the nuclear deal with Iran as the worst agreement ever negotiated, calling the Islamic Republic the worlds number one terrorist state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had criticised the deal. He said in July 2015 that Iran is going to receive a sure path to nuclear weapons.

But Obama had said the deal would make the world safer and more secure. He had said in January 2016, after the deal was implemented, that Iran will not get its hands on a nuclear bomb.

The disagreement between Obama and Netanyahu over the deal had strained US-Israel ties and Obama-Netanyahu relationship.

But after Trump came to the White House in January, the Israel-US ties have witnessed a remarkable upswing, with Trump and Netanyahu jointly criticising Iran at a presser in February in the US. Trump has also promised Netanyahu he will not allow Iran develop a nuclear weapon ever.
Gattani's attorney Michael Paez had earlier told the news site that his client has nothing to say to the press. (Photo: LinkedIn)

New York: An Indian-origin Silicon Valley CEO accused of beating his Indian-American wife for several years may end up serving less than just a month in jail after he was offered a plea deal, according to a US media report.

Abhishek Gattani, 38, who pleaded "no contest" to beating his wife Neha Rastogi, 36, was offered the plea deal last week in Santa Clara Superior Court, California, that will probably allow him to serve less than a month in jail, The Daily Beast reported.

In the nearly six-minute-long video that former Apple executive Rastogi recorded on May 17 last year, one could hear repeated thwacks in the presence of their then two-year-old daughter.

He pleaded no contest when she approached the police. Gattani's charge was reduced from felony assault to felony accessory after the fact, with an accompanying misdemeanour of "offensive touching", the report said.

Prosecutor Assistant District Attorney Steve Fein described the plea deal a fair outcome, noting that accessory after the fact is also a felony, though not a violent one that would place Gattani at risk of being deported back to India.

He noted that the plea calls for a six-month jail term, though only 30 days of actual incarceration, with the balance served in the weekend-work programme, doing manual labour for eight-hour shifts but otherwise at liberty.

Fein said Rastogi offered no objection when he provided her with the details of the deal. She, however, said she was never even close to fine with it and became less so having learned that Gattani would likely serve not even half of the 30 days in jail and could have the felony expunged from his record if he successfully completed three years of probation and the other terms of the plea.

In 2013, Gattani was charged with felony assault, which was later reduced to a misdemeanour after Rastogi told the judge that a felony could jeopardise his career in California and force him back to India.

Rastogi, who is presently separated and in the process of a divorce from Gattani, in a four-page victim impact statement that she read aloud in court last Thursday, declared herself doubly victimised by her husband and by the criminal justice system, the report said.

"Offencive touching, I call it terrorism... That's how I felt, terrorised and controlled, held hostage by the fear of pain, humiliation and assault on my being and my daughter's," Rastogi was quoted as saying by the report.

The judge who presided over the case, Allison Marston Danner, was on vacation when the sentencing was scheduled. Pro-tem judge Rodney Stafford put off the sentencing until May 18, the report said.

Gattani's attorney Michael Paez had earlier told the news site that his client has nothing to say to the press. Gattani and Rastogi got married in 2009. He the co-founder and CEO of customer behaviour analytics company Cuberon which was founded in 2015 in California.
A teenage boy and a woman died after being shot on Thursday during massive protests in Venezuela against President Nicolas Maduro, bringing to seven the number killed this month in a mounting political crisis.

Riot police fired tear gas to force back stone-throwing demonstrators as tens of thousands of people joined protest marches in Caracas and several other cities. The Opposition has accused Maduro of letting state forces and gangs of armed thugs violently repress demonstrators as he resists Opposition pressure for him to quit. Despite Wednesdays deadly violence, his opponents upped the ante by calling for fresh protests on Thursday.

On Friday, at the same time we are summoning the whole Venezuelan people to mobilise, senior Opposition leader Henrique Capriles told a news conference.Today there were millions of us and tomorrow even more of us have to come out. The 17-year-old boy was shot by gunmen on motorbikes who also threw tear gas canisters into a crowd of protesters, Amadeo Leiva, head of the Clinicas Caracas Hospital which treated him, said.

A 23-year-old woman, Paola Ramirez, died after being shot in the head in the western city of San Cristobal, the state prosecution service said later in a statement. Authorities had previously reported five other people killed, including a boy of 13, in protests around the country earlier this month.

Pressure on the Leftist president has been mounting since 2014, as falling prices for Venezuela's crucial oil exports have aggravated an economic crisis. Venezuelans are suffering shortages of food and medicine.
The Russian military is questioning the conclusions by the international chemical weapons watchdog that victims of the April 4 suspected chemical attack in Syria were exposed to sarin or a similar toxin.

Defense ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov issued a statement on Thursday questioning how the samples were collected and how the analysis could have been done so quickly. He said he would like to receive answers to these questions as soon as possible.

Ahmet Uzumcu, director-general of the organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical on Thursday said that the results from four OPCW designated laboratories indicate exposure to sarin or a sarin-like substance.
A 27-year-old Corvallis man has been arrested on a charge of murder in connection with the death of a woman whose body was found Monday evening on private timberland near Alsea.

William Chase Hargrove was arrested Wednesday night on a charge of murder and booked into the Benton County Jail this morning. Hargrove is scheduled to be arraigned in Benton County Circuit Court Thursday afternoon.

Dispatchers received a call from the security representative of a lumber company at around 5 p.m. Monday that a woman's body had been found in a wooded area about five miles outside of the small Coast Range community. Deputies and detectives responding to the scene found a white woman, believed to be in her early to mid-20s, dead from an apparent gunshot wound.

Undersheriff Greg Ridler of the Benton County Sheriffs Office said Thursday morning that the victim had been tentatively identified, but a positive identification had not been made and next of kin had not yet been notified.

"These efforts may take several days, and until the proper notifications have been made, no further information will be released on the victim," Ridler said in a press release. "The investigation of the murder has been difficult. The investigation will continue and additional evidence is being examined."

Ridler declined to comment on whether additional arrests would be made in the case and would not comment on the specifics of the circumstances that led investigators to make the arrest. He also declined to comment on the weapon used in the killing. He previously said that the incident was being investigated as a gunshot wound and that no weapon was found near the site that would be consistent with the victims injuries.

The investigation is ongoing," Ridler said. "Additional charges are being considered. We have lots of things to follow up on and were going to continue doing that.

Ridler said it might be a week or two before the investigation is complete.

Authorities have not released any information on the relationship between the victim and Hargrove.

Benton County Sheriff's Office personnel set up a temporary command post Tuesday at a timber landing several miles up a rugged logging road west of Alsea, before leaving the site Tuesday afternoon. Ridler said Thursday that investigators had not returned to the scene since Tuesday.

Authorities have not released the exact location where the woman's body was found but have confirmed that the body was found on Weyerhaeuser property. Weyerhaeuser owns a large amount of timberland in the Alsea area, much of it interspersed in a checkerboard pattern with tracts owned by the Bureau of Land Management.

Located about 25 miles southwest of Corvallis on Highway 34, Alsea is an unincorporated community of about 165 people. The surrounding hills are a patchwork of public and private timber tracts connected by a maze of gravel logging roads.

The investigation involved a coordinated effort including the Benton County District Attorney's Office, the Corvallis Police Department, the Philomath Police Department, Oregon State Police, the Albany Police Department, FBI and the Oregon Department of Justice.
The Syrian Observatory said the chemical attack was carried out by warplanes believed to belong to the Syrian military. (Photo: AFP)

The Hague: The governing body of the global chemical arms watchdog will Thursday vote on a controversial Russian-Iranian move to set up a new team to probe a suspected chemical attack in Syria, sources said.

The draft decision, seen by AFP, calls for an investigation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) "to establish whether chemical weapons were used in Khan Sheikhun and how they were delivered to the site of the reported incident" -- even though an official probe is already underway.

It also calls for investigators to visit the Shayrat airbase -- bombed by the United States after the April 4 attack -- to "verify allegations concerning the storage of chemical weapons" there.

The move comes as OPCW head Ahmet Uzumcu said Wednesday that "incontrovertible" test results by the OPCW team already probing the incident had shown sarin gas or a similar substance were used in the attack.

Samples from three people killed in the attack and seven survivors analysed at four OPCW-designated laboratories "indicate exposure to sarin or a sarin-like substance," said Uzumcu.

Western nations have accused the Syrian regime of carrying out the suspected air strike on the rebel-held town in Idlib province which killed at least 87 people, including many children.

But Moscow, the closest ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is leading efforts to sideline the OPCW's existing fact-finding mission by calling for a new "full-scale and thorough investigation".

'No need' for new probe

The move has raised hackles at the OPCW executive council meeting this week in The Hague, where nations have lined up to voice support for the existing fact-finding team (FFM).

The team "deserves our full confidence," the Belgian representative to the OPCW told the meeting on Wednesday. "We don't see the need to put in place a new structure."

And the British delegation to the OPCW said in a tweet that Wednesday's talks showed "once again clear support for the ongoing FFM investigation into the attack."

The draft decision, due to be voted on by the council later Thursday, also calls for member states to "provide national experts for participation in the investigation."

That would enable Moscow to put forward its own experts alongside the OPCW's independent teams in a bid "to discredit the results" so far, one source close to the discussions said.

Such a move would also be against the convention against chemical weapons "as it is the role of the OPCW to lead independently any investigation," he added.

However it is almost "mathematically impossible" that the Russian-Iranian draft will be adopted Thursday by the executive council as it would need 28 votes in favour out of the 41 members.

In an unprecedented step, the OPCW's executive council in November condemned Syria's use of toxic weapons -- the council's first open condemnation of a member of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

It came after a joint UN-OPCW investigation concluded in October that the Syrian air force had dropped chlorine barrel-bombs from helicopters on three opposition-held villages in 2014 and 2015. Islamic State jihadists were also found to have used mustard gas in August 2015 in Syria.

Russia last week vetoed a UN draft resolution condemning the April 4 attack and demanding the Syrian government cooperate with an investigation, blocking Security Council action against its ally for an eighth time.

After Moscow initially said a Syrian air strike had struck a "terrorist warehouse" containing "toxic substances," Russian President Vladimir Putin last week accused Assad's opponents of planning to stage chemical attacks to lure Washington deeper into the conflict.

On Friday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticised the OPCW for not sending experts to the attack site, saying it was "unacceptable to analyse events from a distance". But Uzumcu vowed Wednesday an OPCW team was ready to head to the town "should the security situation so permit".
The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will now argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities. (Photo: File)

London: Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender, is likely to challenge his extradition to India from the UK on the grounds that the charges against him are politically motivated, legal experts in the UK said on Wednesday.

The 61-year-old liquor baron, who has been living in self-imposed exile in Britain since last year, was arrested by Scotland Yard on Tuesday on fraud allegations, triggering an official extradition process in the British courts.

Mallya was released on conditional bail a few hours later after providing a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds and assuring the court of abiding by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel documents.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will now argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities. "The Crown Prosecution Service, acting on behalf of the Indian authorities, will need to demonstrate a prima facie case ie., produce some evidence to show that the criminal charges against Mallya, for which his extradition is sought, are justified," said Javinder Nakhwal, partner at Peters and Peters Solicitors LLP and member of the UK's Extradition Lawyers Association.

"There are a number of grounds on which it is possible to contest extradition, some of which might not be relevant to Mallya's case. Mallya may seek to challenge extradition on the basis that the request for his extradition is politically motivated and that any extradition would constitute a breach of certain human rights, she explained.

The precise grounds, on which Mallya contests his extradition remains to be seen. His legal team will seek to support their arguments with factual and/or expert evidence and can claim he won't get a fair trial in India and can also raise the condition of Indian jails as a factor behind the extradition request being declined.

The Indian authorities will have an opportunity to respond to any such evidence, she said. "When the case returns to court on May 17, the district judge is likely to set down a timetable for the service of any evidence to be submitted by either side in the proceedings, and list a date for a final hearing.

"There might be a few more hearings in this case in the coming months to deal with case management or any issues that arise, before the final hearing takes place, at which the full arguments from both sides in this case will be heard by the district judge," Nakhwal clarified.

Sarosh Zaiwalla, founder and senior partner of Zaiwalla & Co. Solicitors, also believes it will be a "long and strenuous" process which may not succeed at the end.

"This is because, the judge will have to be satisfied that Mallya will get a fair trial in India. His (Mallya's) lawyers will argue he is being politically hounded and is a victim of a media trial. He might also point out other Indian businessmen owe much more money to Indian banks, but his client has been singled out for persecution," Zaiwalla said.

He also highlighted that Mallya has the final option of approaching the European Court of Human Rights, at least until the UK completes its exit from the European Union (EU). "It is going to be a complicated affair as Mallya can argue that he may not receive a fair trial in Indian courts which are notorious for being easily influenced," he said.

According to him, the Indian government has to continue using diplomatic channels to build a solid casework proving Mallya will receive a fair trial in India.

"They could also look at the option of legally challenging Mallya in British courts to subsequently bring him to trail in India. A worldwide freezing order on Mallya's assets would be an even more effective option than the extradition route," he said.

Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crores to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016.

In January, an Indian court ordered a consortium of lenders to start the process of recovering the loans. "Extradition is the formal procedure for requesting the surrender of persons from one territory to another... Part 2 of the Extradition Act, in conjunction with any applicable extradition instrument, regulates export extradition from the United Kingdom to category 2 territories [like India].

"The CPS acts as the representative of the requesting state in category 2 cases (as for category 1 territories), and all proceedings are heard at Westminster Magistrates' Court," a CPS statement said.

At the extradition hearing the judge must decide a number of issues: whether the documentation sent to the court by the Secretary of State complies with the Act; whether the person arrested is the person named on the warrant; whether the offence detailed in the request is an extradition offence et al.

If the District Judge rules in favour of extradition, the UK home secretary must order Mallya's extradition within two months of the appropriate day.

India and the UK have an Extradition Treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement.

As Mallya is fighting the extradition order, he will have the right to appeal and the case can go up to the UK Supreme Court.

The flamboyant businessman, who still owns Force India Formula One team, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. "Not a rupee was misused," he had tweeted earlier this year.

But Indian authorities want him to stand trial for alleged unpaid loans to Kingfisher Airlines, which collapsed in 2012 with the loss of thousands of jobs.

As he awaits the hearing, Mallya is expected to be based at his lavish country home in Tewin, Hertfordshire, an hours drive from London.

The Indian and UK governments are believed to have struck an agreement on extradition proceedings during British Prime Minister Theresa Mays visit to India last November.

India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the Extradition Treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale on February 8.
UNHCR and Pakistani officials have said some 1.34 million registered refugees remain in the country. (Photo: AP)

Kabul: A fresh surge of undocumented refugees have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan this month, a humanitarian group said Thursday, saying they felt "forced to leave" as Islamabad continues a crackdown.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said it had registered an average of 1,000 people crossing the border daily in the first two weeks of April, which was a "sharp increase" from the first three months of the year.

"We are concerned that without proper registration documents Afghan refugees are unprotected," Kate O'Rourke, head of the NRC in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

"Families are telling us that without registration documents they felt forced to leave."

Since 2016 hundreds of thousands of refugees have returned from Pakistan, where some had sheltered for decades, to Afghanistan amid accusations of coercion.

They face an uncertain future in war-torn Afghanistan which is already struggling to support thousands of internally displaced people fleeing fighting.

Those who were not registered in Pakistan do not have access to what little succour there is in Afghanistan, the NRC said.

Approximately 380,000 registered and 225,000 unregistered refugees returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan last year, the vast majority between July and December, the NRC added.

Human Rights Watch issued a scathing report in February that accused Pakistan of coercion, threats and abuse in the mass repatriation, and the United Nations of complicity.

The report said a combination of insecure legal status, the threat of deportation during winter, and police abuses -- including extortion, arbitrary detention and night raids -- had left the Afghan refugees with no choice but to leave.

It also accused the UN's refugee agency of effectively encouraging the exodus, and said the UNHCR should end the "fiction" that the returns are voluntary.

The UN has previously rejected the criticism. This month Pakistan resumed repatriating documented refugees.

Some Afghan refugees have been sheltering in Pakistan for decades, first fleeing over the border after the Soviet invasion of 1979.

UNHCR and Pakistani officials have said some 1.34 million registered refugees remain in the country.

A further half a million undocumented refugees are also estimated to be there, making Pakistan one of the world's largest refugee-hosting nations.
Islamabad: Pakistans National Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill endorsing compulsory Quran education for all Muslim students studying in government schools from class 1 to 12, a move apparently aimed at weaning away children from religious seminaries.

The Compulsory Teaching of the Holy Quran Bill 2017 was tabled before the house by state minister for federal education and professional training Balighur Rehman.

The bill provides that students from class 1 to 5 will learn to read the Arabic text of the holy book, while students from class 6 to 12 will also learn to read the Arabic text with simple Urdu translation.

The minister clarified that this piece of legislation is only meant for the Muslim students.

The bill will need President Mamnoon Hussains signature to become law.

It will lead towards spreading goodness and auspiciousness and towards ending chaos and uncertainty, according to the bill.

The law will be applicable to all federal educational institutions in the country but it will be mandatory for Muslim students. The provinces can separately legislate on teaching of the Quran.

Islam is Pakistans state religion and the government is bound to take steps to help people learn the teaching of Islam.

Experts say the legislation could be an effort to wean away students from religious seminaries where they are just taught the Quran.
A major terror attack in the country was claimed to have been averted as 10 suspected ISIS activists were held today in a major multi-state operation.



The joint operation was carried out by the police teams of Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, in which four suspected terrorists belonging to the ISIS Khorasan module were arrested and six others were detained, officials said.



The arrests were made during raids this morning in Mumbra (Maharashtra), Jalandhar (Punjab), Narkatiaganj (Bihar), and Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar (both in Uttar Pradesh), the officials added.



Inspector General of the UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) Aseem Arun, in a statement in Noida, said that four persons were arrested on charges of hatching terror conspiracies.

He said the accused were planning a major terror attack in the country.



Important documents relating to the ISIS were seized from them, Arun claimed.



He said two persons Mufti Faizan and Tanveer, allegedly connected with the ISIS, were arrested from Bijnor district.



Nazim Shamshad Ahmed (26), who hails from Bijnor, was nabbed from Mumbra township in Thane district adjoining Mumbai.



Another suspect identified as Muzammil was arrested from Jalandhar district of Punjab.

According to an UP ATS statement in Lucknow, six others were taken into custody and were being questioned in Noida, on the outskirts of Delhi.



The accused had got in touch with each other over the internet, Arun said, adding that central security agencies played an important role in the operation.



According to the IG, the UP ATS had seized some important documents after the March 7 encounter in Lucknow in which a suspected terrorist belonging to the Khorasan module was killed. Following this, the probe was expanded to five states.



The ATS had received information that the ISIS had been expanding its network in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Bihar and some youths from these states had joined the terror organisation.



"All those arrested are in the age group of 18 to 25 years and were living in different places like Mumbai, Jalandhar and UP. We have also found that they were definitely influenced by the material available on the internet," UP ADG (Law and Order) Daljit Chaudhary said in Lucknow.



Investigations show that one of them wanted to finance the group and they were continuously communicating with each other about carrying out some major strike in the near future. But police and other agencies of different states with the help of surveillance made the arrests before they could carry out any such attack, the ADG said.



A spokesperson of the UP ATS said those arrested were suspected to be looking for potential recruits in Bihar, UP and Maharashtra.


With merger of two AIADMK warring faction is almost on the cards, Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai called on Tamil Nadu governor C Vidyasagar Rao on Thursday morning.



Though Thambidurai, who accompanied by finance minister D Jayakumar, termed the meeting as a courtesy call and did not discuss about political issues, AIADMK sources here said that the Lok Sabha member explained the governor about the latest developments especially within the AIADMK factions.



AIADMK sources further said that Thambidurai also explained the governor about the decision of ministers, led by Edappadi Palaniswami, to completely sideline Dhinakaran and his family member from the party.



In addition, Thambidurai has reportedly briefed Rao about the possible merger of the two AIADMK groups with rebel leader and former chief minister O Panneerselvam camp is likely to join the government.



The meeting between Thambidurai and the governor also comes a day after AIADMK "Amma" deputy secretary TTV Dinakaran deciding to stay way from the party affairs.



Meanwhile, Panneerselvam held discussion with the senior leaders about the demands that has to be laid during the possible meeting with the Edapaddi Palaniswami's group with regard to the merger.
Tribal youth in a remote Madhya Pradesh region have offered their expertise in using slingshots to help the paramilitary forces in countering stone-pelters in Jammu and Kashmir.



The youths in tribal dominated district - Jhabua - in western Madhya Pradesh have offered their traditional expertise in Gofan - similar to a slingshot by using a looped cord with a knitted bag attached to the one end.



"A Gofan battalion of local tribal youth should be constituted and be posted in Kashmir Valley to deal with the stone-pelters. This battalion will be a suitable answer to stone-pelters," Prem Singh, a 26-year-old tribal youth of Lakhpur village of Jhabua district, told PTI.



The leaders from Congress and BJP also supported the formation of such a squad comprising local youth, who are masters of this art.



"Government should form a 'Gofan Stone Pelters Squad' to deal with the situation in Kashmir Valley. This would not only be effective in the present situation but also can deal with similar situations in the future," former Congress MLA from Jhabua, Xavier Medha said.



"Army can't fire gunshots at the protestors and this squad can give a befitting reply," he added.



BJP MLA Shantilal Bilwal also supported this suggestion. "The army personnel are protecting us but they can't fire shots at the protesters to protect themselves due to legal bindings. The government should use local youth to face this situation," Bilwal said.



However, there are some tribal voices, which opposed this kind of experiment. "We are moving forward. Kashmiri youths are misguided due to Pakistan's propaganda. We should now talk of non- violence instead of replying in the same manner. We want tribal youths to get engaged in study," said Dr Vikrant Bhuria, a Congress leader and son of former union minister Kantilal Bhuria.



A historian, however, said that Gofan is an accurate weapon to deal with any situation like stone pelting. "Gofan is a traditional slingshot art in this tribal dominated region and generally keep this looped cord (Gofan) with them tied either at the waist or in their turban. Gofan is used to protect the agricultural crop from birds and other animals," local historian K K Trivedi told PTI.



Explaining its functioning, he said the cord is swerved after placing the pebble/small stone in the bag. The pebble/small stone moves towards the target at a fast pace when released. "It is a very powerful, legal and accurate weapon. The pebble/small-stone moves towards the target at a speed 4-5 times more than that of a stone thrown using bare hands," he added.



As many as 411 stone-pelting incidents have been reported in the Kashmir Valley from October 2016 to March 2017. Hundreds of paramilitary forces have been injured in the stone-pelting incidents in the Valley.




Eight Kashmiri youth, studying at Mewar University in Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan were allegedly attacked on Wednesday night by a group of locals.





Among the eight students, four managed to escape with minor bruises whereas four others sustained more serious injuries after they were attacked in the market of Gangrar village, 2 km's from the varsity.

The students had gone to purchase fruits and groceries but were instead attacked by the locals, apparently in response to the heckling of police personnel during the recent parliamentarian elections in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir.



"On Wednesday night around eight students went to the nearby market to buy a few things. In the market, local boys abused us and mentioned the incident in which locals had thrashed CRPF in Budgam district. We tried to explain them, but they were in no mood to hear and suddenly started thrashing all of us," Tauseef Qureshi, a student of third year B. Pharma and one of the eight students told DH over the phone.



"This looked like a pre-meditated attack, as the local boys cornered us at three places and started beating us with bat and wickets. They also abused us", Tauseef added.



Following the incident, students from the varsity, a majority of whom were Kashmiris, staged a protest to demand action against the local youth. Police also arrived on the scene and helped escort the injured to the hospital.



"Police reached the incident and two of the injured were sent to the hospital.There are minor injuries and doctors have ruled out any major injury," Dinesh Kumar, Station House Officer of Gangrar Police station and also the investigating officer told DH.



Five out of eight students are pursuing LLB course while three others are enrolled in B. Pharma Second/Third year. Four who sustained injuries have been identified as Adil Ahmed Peerzada, Saqib, Javaid, Suhail, while Rehan, Touseef, Sakib and Rouf ul Islam managed to escape.



There have also been two similar such instances where Kashmiri students of the same varsity reportedly attacked.



One was in the May 2016 when four Kashmiri students were beaten up over rumours of them cooking beef. In another incident, nine students from Jammu and Kashmir and a warden of Mewar University were arrested in April 2016 following clashes over Indias defeat in T20.
A South Albany High School sophomore has been elected to a statewide position she'll hold for the next two years, working with student thespians throughout Oregon.

Meighan Van Veldhuizen, 16, was elected April 8 as state thespian officer vice chairman. Officially, she'll start the job as a junior this fall, but the position will carry over into her senior year as full state chairman.

State thespian officers, five in all including Meighan, are the student representatives of Oregon Thespians, an educational association that works with high school theater groups statewide.

The STOs attend monthly board meetings, act as the liaisons for the student groups and run the activities at Oregon Thespian events. Those events include an annual improv festival, a leadership summit, "Camp Thespis" summer camp, a regional competition and the state festival.

The adults on the Oregon Thespian board take care of the money and help with setup, Meighan said, but otherwise the STOs are in charge. "They're like, 'Here you go, you run it, you do the things.'"

The job involves a lot of work and a lot of traveling, Meighan said, but she's thrilled to be involved.

"I've been involved in theater since I was 9," she said. "It was kind of a no-brainer to do something in leadership for theater."

Meighan had to write a speech for her candidacy and come up with a platform, which she presented at the Oregon Thespians State Festival, held April 7-8 in Salem. Seven candidates competed in all.

"This is an amazing compliment to Meighan, our program, and SAHS itself," theater teacher Benjamin Sells said. "Meighan is an incredibly motivated and talented young lady, and I'm so excited to see all the amazing things she's going to accomplish in this state-level leadership position next year."

Meighan returned the compliment. "I want to thank Sell for supporting me in all of my crazy ideas and adventures in theater," she said. "I couldn't have done it without him advocating for me."

Meighan campaigned on improving coverage and communication at Oregon Thespian events, pledging to keep social media sites updated so people will be informed about what to expect. She also promised to work with the other four STOs to take pictures throughout each event, then said she'd personally create a video of the photos for posting online.

At the festival, all the candidates had to be a part of a question and answer panel led by the presidents of the various student troupes. One question she particularly remembered: What does being a thespian mean to hear?

"I said it means connecting to other people, doing the thing I'm most passionate about," she said.

Meighan first became involved in theater as a third-grader at Oak Elementary School. Her teacher offered her a brochure about an acting camp in Corvallis. Meighan auditioned, got in and earned a small role as a background character. She's been hooked ever since.

Dream roles for Meighan include Elphaba in "Wicked" or Eliza in "Hamilton"  "I like musicals the most just because they're so much fun," she said  but her current role is in a drama. She plays Agatha Christie's classic Miss Marple in "A Murder is Announced," which runs May 19, 20, 21 and 22 at South Albany High School.

Meighan said she plans to apply to several acting schools after graduation, including Julliard, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the American Musical and Dramatic Arts Academy.

After that, she said, it doesn't matter, "As long as I'm performing somewhere and getting paid for it."
A complaint has been lodged at Jnanabharati Police Station against the management of AIBM college in Bengaluru for issuing fake hall tickets to degree students.



AIBM is affiliated to Bangalore University. The college management allegedly photocopied the signature of Suresh Nadagowda Bangalore University registrar, evaluation, used it on the hall tickets and issued it to students.



According to K N Ninge Gowda, registrar, administration, said that the college had issued fake open schooling certificates and also admitted candidates who had not cleared their PU exam for various degree courses. At the time of online verification prior to the exams, it was found that the documents were not authentic.



Now, 51 students from BCA, BCom and BBM streams have been shifted to other colleges according to Gowda. Jnanabharati Police is investigating the case.




Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif might have narrowly escaped the fate April has stored for Pakistani politicians who have previously been overthrown, sentenced to life and hanged in the same month.



Sharif, 67, today narrowly survived being disqualified after a 3-2 split decision by a Supreme Court bench which ordered to set up a Joint Investigation Team within a week to probe the allegations of money laundering against his family. The JIT will present its report before the bench after every two weeks and complete the probe in 60 days.



Interestingly, the verdict of the apex court comes in the same month during which previously Sharif was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2000 and his government was sacked in 1993.



Prime Minister Sharif's governement was sacked by then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan for alleged corruption in April, 1993.



The next time April spelled doom for Sharif when he was sentenced for life by a court on April 6, 2000 in the infamous 'plane hijacking case' based on allegations that Sharif as Prime Minister had disallowed to land a plane carrying then army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf, who toppled Sharif's government in 1999 in a bloodless coup.



However, other Pakistani premiers have suffered a bad fate in April too. The worst April in history of the country was April 4, 1979 when former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged in Rawalpindi for criminal conspiracy to kill a leading politician.



The hanging followed a dubious court proceeding allegedly orchestrated at the behest of military dictator Ziaul Haq who had overthrown Bhutto's government in 1978.



Years later on April 26, 2012 Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was convicted for disobeying an order by court to write letter to Swiss government to reopen a corruption case against Asif Ali Zardari. Gilani stepped down on the same day.
The latest series of arrests of suspected Islamic State sympathisers from various parts of the country points to the increasing cooperation among police forces in states to tackle any possible spread of the outfit.

This is the second time in two months that police forces in several states came together to bust a suspected terror module inspired by the dreaded Islamic State (IS).



In a coordinated action, raids were carried out jointly by Anti-Terrorism Squads of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, Delhi Police's Special Cell and police of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar, resulting in the arrest of at least three persons on Thursday. The raids were carried out in Mumbra (Maharashtra), Jalandhar (Punjab), Narkatiaganj (Bihar), Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar (both in Uttar Pradesh).



Sources said the elite anti-terror forces and state police forces are in constant touch and sharing information about the movement of youth suspected to be inspired by the IS ideology. The central intelligence agencies are also monitoring the activities of scores of youth whose internet activities have been found suspicious.



The police forces in Uttar Pradesh in March managed to bust the IS-inspired module allegedly involved in the Bhopal-Ujjain train blast with the help of inputs provided by southern states, especially Telangana Police.

The interception of the online chatter between suspected IS terrorists about their operation led to the arrest of three of them and the killing of another, Saifullah, in Lucknow.



The arrests in the train blast case came as police forces in Kerala, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are coordinating regularly. They also share information on youth who left to join the IS from their states.



According to government statistics provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in Parliament on March 15, there are 75 people, including nine from Karnataka, who were arrested for their suspected links with the IS.



Among the 75 people arrested, Kerala tops the list with 21 followed by Telangana 16 and Karnataka have nine arrested. Eight persons were arrested in Maharashtra while six were apprehended in Madhya Pradesh and four each in Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand. Two persons were arrested in Rajasthan while one each were caught fromJammu and Kashmir and West Bengal.



In his written reply, Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir said a few educated youth got attracted to the IS ideology through social media. He also said a few incidents of the unfurling of flags of the IS by "some misguided" youth were noticed on different occasions in Jammu and Kashmir in the recent past.
India today expressed concern over moves of certain countries like the US and Australia to tighten their visa regime and pressed for a WTO-backed global framework to facilitate services trade.



Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India has submitted a proposal to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) seeking an agreement on trade facilitation in services.



Citing the examples of the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, which are tightening their visa regime for movement of skilled professionals, she said: "Countries are now very clearly raising protectionist walls as regards service trade, and it is time that we have a global framework within which trade in services can happen. We will be actively pursuing our proposal in the WTO," she told reporters here.



The trade facilitation agreement in services proposal is aimed at liberalising rules for movement of professionals and other steps to reduce transaction costs to boost growth of the services sector. India is pitching for this pact in the WTO as the services sector contributes over 60 per cent to the GDP and 28 per cent to total employment. The move is aimed at developing a broader framework governing global services trade, just like a similar pact implemented by the WTO on goods trade.



Sitharaman said, India wants all the member countries to study the proposal before the forthcoming ministerial meeting of WTO in December at Argentina.

Talking about the executive order signed by the US President Donald Trump on H1B visas, she said America has committed certain number of these visas to India and "we would definitely want" America to honour that commitment. However, the minister said, she is in touch with the Indian industry on these issues amid fears that the new American visa regime would make visas more expensive and restrictive.



She further said that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is in the US, would take up the matter with the US administration. "It is not just the US, but several countries now adopting such measures," she said adding the government and the industry need to work together on the issue.



Sitharaman said India would engage with these countries to sort out the visa related matters. The restrictive visa regime would also impact the US companies that are operating in India, she added.



"So it is not an unilateral (issue) where Indian companies would have to face this, there are several US companies in India which are doing business for years here," she said.



When asked whether India would drag the US and Australia to the WTO's dispute resolution mechanism, she said: "At this stage, we will engage constructively. At the same time, India will ensure that it will not accept unfair treatment".



Indian IT companies use temporary work visas to send employees to work on client sites. With visa programmes in these countries becoming more rigorous, domestic technology firms will face challenges in movement of skilled professionals and spike in their operational costs. These companies get over 60 per cent of their revenues from the North American market, about 20 per cent from Europe and the remaining from the other economies.



With the rising protectionism across markets like the US, the UK, Singapore and Australia, domestic companies are beginning to adjust their business models to reduce their dependence on visas by hiring more locals.



The US, under a new executive order, proposes to replace the current lottery system for issuing H-1B work visas with a merit-based approach. The country is reviewing its visa programme for foreign workers to also curb abuse and frauds related to visas. Similarly, Australia has abolished a work visa programme -- 457 visa -- used by over 95,000 temporary foreign workers, majority of them Indians, to tackle the growing unemployment in the country. New Zealand, too, is introducing tougher norms for immigrant workers. One of the changes will need immigrants to get a job in which they earn at least the median income to qualify as skilled.
It seems that the merger of two AIADMK warring factions in Tamil Nadu could be dragged after the rebel camp led by O Panneerselvam on Thursday toughen its stand by asserting that talks with regard to reunion will be held only if the rival group headed by chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami officially sacks jailed V K Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran from the party.



Similarly, Panneerselvam faction also made it clear that the present Edappadi Palaniswami's government should give its recommendation to the Centre for a thorough CBI probe into the "mysterious" death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa.



"First, they (Palaniswami group) should get the resignation letter from them (Sasikala and Dhinakaran). Then, they should officially dismiss them through a party communique", former minister K P Munusamy, who is in Panneerselvam's camp said.



Munusamy said Edappadi group should sack both of them from the party the same way done by late Jayalalithaa by also using the same terms that ''they were expelled for anti-party activities and the party functionaries should not have any contacts with them''.



He also accused finance minister D Jayakumar for not disclosing the name of Sasikala when he announced the ouster of Dhinakaran and his family members from the party on Tuesday night. "Why he did not spell Sasikala's name while announcing the removal of Dhinakaran from the party", he questioned.



Making much more tougher task for the rival group, Munusamy said said the rival group should also withdraw the affidavit from the Election Commission (EC), which had endorsed Sasikala as AIADMK general secretary and Dhinakaran as party's deputy general secretary.



"In addition, the Edappadi government should also send its recommendation to the Centre for a thorough CBI probe into the mysterious death of "Amma" (Jayalalithaa)", he said adding that "If they do not accept our demands, there is no possibility of talks".



Reacting to Panneerselvam camp's assertive demands, Edappadi group said that it has not put any conditions for the talks and only Panneerselvam's side have done that.



"We have formed a committee, which has not put any demands for the talks. What we want is..the talks should carry on without any hurdles", Rajya Sabha MP R Vaithilingam, who is in the Edappadi group said.



With regard to dismissing Sasikala from the party, he said already Dhinkaran and his family members was totally sidelined and there is not question of sacking each of his family members separately.



On withdrawal of the affidavit filed before the EC endorsing Sasikala and Dhinakaran as the general Secretary and deputy general secretary of the party respectively, Vaithilingam, who is accompanied by several ministers, said it is fair that both the groups should approach the Commission for doing the work after the talks.



Referring to the Pannerselvam's another demand for a CBI probe into Jayalalithaa's death, he said the matter was subjudice as a petion is pending before Madras High Court.
More than 70 years after the end of World War II, Lucille Eichengreen is still bearing witness to the horrors of the Holocaust.

The 92-year-old Eichengreen, author of From Ashes to Life, will share her story of survival next week as part of Oregon State Universitys annual observance of Holocaust Memorial Week.

She will give a free public lecture at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Austin Auditorium of the LaSells Stewart Center, 875 S.W. 26th St. Although there is no charge for the lecture, attendees are encouraged to obtain an advance ticket to ensure a seat. Online tickets are available at http://bit.ly/2nYJLoz.

"I've read dozens and dozens of survivor memoirs, and of course all are important, all are welcome, but hers is really exceptional," said OSU history professor Paul Kopperman, the chief organizer of the event.

"Not everyone who has a compelling story about the Holocaust chooses to share it or can do it in a way that really involves an audience."

Born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1925, Eichengreen was the daughter of a Jewish wine merchant. After Hitlers rise to power in 1933, the family was subjected to reprisals amid a growing climate of anti-Semitism.

Eichengreens father and younger sister were killed in Nazi concentration camps, and her mother starved to death during the familys internment in Polands Lodz ghetto. The family learned of her fathers death when two Gestapo officers unceremoniously deposited his ashes, contained in a cigar box held shut with a rubber band, on their kitchen table.

After surviving the hardships of ghetto life, Eichengreen endured still worse treatment in the Auschwitz, Neuengamme and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, but lived through that as well.

At the wars end, she worked with British forces to identify 40 SS members who worked in the concentration camps, helping to bring them to trial for war crimes. Her efforts brought her death threats, and in 1946 she moved to the United States, where she married and raised a family. Since the 1994 publication of her memoir, she has been a frequent lecturer on the Holocaust.

Other presentations on the OSU campus next week will expand on the themes of genocide and intolerance, using the Holocaust as a lens through which to view events playing out in the world today (see complete schedule with this story for details).

On Monday, the director of Middle East programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace will discuss the political implications of the wars in Iraq and Syria. A panel discussion on Wednesday will delve into rising levels of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in America and around the world, with a candlelight vigil to follow on the Memorial Union Quad. And a daylong student conference on Friday will explore the impacts of rising nationalism in the United States and Europe.

Now in its 31st year, Holocaust Memorial Week is sponsored by the OSU School of History, Philosophy and Religion.
The special NIA court here today issued a non-bailable warrant against the controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, wanted by the agency for his alleged role in a terror case.



The National Investigation Agency had registered a case against Naik under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act last year.



It told the court that Naik didn't appear before it even after three summonses were issued and it would need to take Interpol's help to bring him back to India. "Issue NBW against Naik," said Special Judge V V Patil.



Last week, another city court had issued an NBW against Naik in a case of money laundering registered by the Enforcement Directorate against him. The ED lawyer had said Naik was believed to be in the United Arab Emirates.



Naik, 51, left India last year, allegedly to evade arrest after some perpetrators of Dhaka terror attack claimed they were inspired by him.



Following the Dhaka attack, the NIA had registered a case against him and some officials of his organisation, Islamic Research Foundation, under section 153-A of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and the UAPA.
Dismissed BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav is planning to move court against his sacking as he contended today that he was not given a fair trial after he complained about poor quality of food being served to the soldiers.



Yadav, a native of Rewari in Haryana, had posted a video online about five months back, complaining about poor quality food being served to the troops on the icy heights along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.



He was dismissed yesterday by a Summary Security Force Court (SSFC) where he was tried on two counts -- of making "false allegations" on social media regarding the quality of food and carrying two mobile phones while on operational duty, the BSF spokesman said.



"I was not given a fair trial. Though I was given an opportunity to present witness but my mobile phone was seized. I wanted to call colleagues as witnesses, but wasn't allowed to do so," Yadav said today after returning to his village here from Jammu and Kashmir.



He said he was shocked to know about his dismissal after being earlier asked to prepare pension and retirement documents.



Yadav's wife Sharmila said the family was not expecting that he would be dismissed.

"We will go to the Delhi High Court. He (Yadav) has served for 20 years. He should get pension. That is his due," she said.



Yadav claimed that the food quality served to jawans improved by 70 per cent after his video went viral. "I got a lot of support from my fellow jawans," said Yadav, who was given a rousing welcome from the villagers as soon as he got down from a Haryana Roadways bus.



The BSF jawan was surrounded by youngsters and elderly people as he reached his village. Many youth could be seen clicking selfies and shaking hands with him.



Yadav's dismissal came five months after he posted the video on Facebook, triggering public outcry over the working conditions of troops guarding the country's frontiers.



The BSF spokesman yesterday said that making "false allegations" about the quality of food was an act "prejudicial to good order and discipline" of the force, and that Yadav did not adhere to formal grievance redressal mechanism available.



The spokesman had alleged that constable Yadav did not obey a general order of the force and carried two mobile phones while on operational duty which was against the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).



Yadav also posted photographs in uniform on social media in contravention of instructions, the spokesman had said.
Baahubali movie director SS Rajamoulis appeal to Kannada friends to allow the screening of his movie in Karnataka from April 28 seems to have made no desired effect.



Rajamouli, in his video clipping, on Thursday requested in Kannada that screening of Baahubali 2 should be allowed in Karnataka. He appealed that Sathyarajs comments (on the River Cauvery water sharing issue) should not be linked to the movie. The director said Sathyaraj had made the comments nine years ago. Later many of his movies including Baahubali 1 were exhibited in Karantaka, he pointed out. He addressed those who are opposing the screening of the movie as Kannada friends.



Reacting to his appeal, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce President Sa Ra Govindu said being a Kannadiga, Rajamouli should not have appealed or expressed regret.



It is Sathyaraj who should tender an apology. But it looks he is not willing. We do not expect him to come here to express his regrets. Even if he had done it on social media, we would have accepted it. We all love and respect Rajamouli. He is a creative director. We are proud of him, who is a Kannadiga, he said.



Asked why the protest nine years after Sathyaraj made the objectionable comments, Govindu said, Pro-Kannada activists have an answer for this. The video clipping of Sathyarajs speech surfaced only three months ago. Hence, there was no stoppage of his movies in the last nine years. Also, they ask if a murderer is traced after nine years of his act, is he not punished? I may be the chamber president. But I have to standby the activists.



Producer hold talks

Govindu said that one of the producers of Baahubali had come to Bengaluru to hold talks with him regarding the imbroglio. It was made clear to the producer the stand taken by the activists, he added.



Karnataka Film Exhibitors Chamber of Commerce President Narasimhalu said that a meeting of the exhibitors has been convened on April 24 to discuss the Baahubali screening issue. We will have to take a collective decision whether to allow the screening here. Sathyaraj has hurt the feelings of Kannadigas. We may not be able to take a decision contrary to the decision taken by the Karnataka film chamber, he said.



Pro-Kannada organisations have called for a bundh on April 28 to protest against Sathyaraj. The proposed bundh is limited to Bengaluru.
China today successfully launched its first unmanned cargo spacecraft, taking another great leap towards realising the Communist nation's ambition to have a permanently manned space station by 2022.



Powered by a Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket, Tianzhou-1 roared into the air from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in the southern Hainan Province.



Hours later, officials declared the launch a success, as the spacecraft entered the designated orbit, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.



The tube-like craft measures 10.6 metres in length and can carry over six tonnes of cargo as well as satellites.



In space, the cargo ship will dock with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space station, provide fuel and other supplies, and conduct space experiments before falling back to Earth.



China aims to build a permanent space station by 2022, that is expected to orbit for at least 10 years, and the debut of the cargo ship is important as it acts as a courier to help maintain the space station.



Without a cargo transportation system, the station would run out of power and basic necessities, causing it to return to Earth before the designated time.



The space centre on Tuesday had conducted the final rehearsal for the launch, which covered all systems involved in the launch, such as the rocket, spacecraft, launching site and testing, control and communication systems.



China's fast-expanding space programme targets a landing on the dark side of the moon by 2018. It aims to launch its first Mars probe around 2020, followed by a second mission that would include collection of surface samples from the red planet.



If the Tianzhou-1 mission completes its objective, China will become the third country besides Russia and the United States to master the technique of refuelling in space.



"The Tianzhou-1 mission includes the breakthrough of in- orbit refuelling and other key technologies needed to build a space station, laying a foundation for future space station operations," said Bai Mingsheng, chief designer of the cargo ship which can carry over six tonnes of supplies.



Tianzhou-1 is larger and heavier than Tiangong-2, which is 10.4 metres in length and has a maximum diameter of 3.35 metres, weighing 8.6 tonnes.



Bai said that supplies loaded on the cargo spacecraft are nearly as heavy as the ship's own weight, exceeding the loading capacity of Russian cargo ships in active service.

Tianzhou-1 will dock with Tiangong-2 three times, Bai said.



The second docking will be conducted from a different direction, which aims to test the ability of the cargo ship to dock with the space station from different directions.



In the last docking, Tianzhou-1 will use fast-docking technology.



Previously, it took China about two days to dock, while fast docking will take about six hours, according to Bai.



Refuelling is conducted during docking, a process that is much more complicated than refuelling vehicles on land.



The refuelling procedure will take 29 steps and last for several days each time.


Senior Uttar Pradesh Minister Satyadev Pachauri allegedly insulted a physically challenged employee during a surprise inspection, a video of which has gone viral on social media.



The incident came days after the Yogi Adityanath government renamed the 'Viklang Kalyan Vibhag' (Handicap Welfare Department) as 'Divyang Jan Shasaktikaran Vibhag' (Divyang Empowerment Department).



The Khadi and Village Industries Minister allegedly made a derogatory reference when he came across a 'divyang' contractual employee yesterday during an inspection of the department's office in Dalibagh area here.



"You have kept a differently-abled man on contract. What will he do? This is the reason behind lack of hygiene here," Pachauri can be heard saying in the video clip.



As he drew flak over the incident, the minister said his remarks have been misconstrued. "Maybe, my words were not correct ... I was trying to say that everyone cannot do all the work," Pachauri said.



Senior cabinet minister Srikant Sharma said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked his ministerial colleagues to ensure use of proper language.



The employee, who was allegedly insulted by the minister, said no one ever spoke to him like this and that he would bring the matter to the notice of the chief minister.



"I will wait for two to three days and then meet the Chief Minister and put my case before him... they are big people. I do not know if any action is being taken," he said.




Petroleum ministry is not supporting the decision of a motor fuel dealers body to keep petrol pumps shut on Sundays beginning May 14.



In a series of tweets, the petroleum ministry said such closure of petrol pumps by a small section of dealers will lead to inconvenience to general public.



Major dealers federations have clarified that they dont endorse any closure of petrol pumps on any day, it said.



The Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers (CIPD), which has presence mainly in Southern states, Maharashtra and Haryana, has given a call to work for eight hours a day and keep punps shut on Sundays beginning May 14. The move is being taken to create pressure on the oil marketing companies to hike dealers margin.



The largest body of motor fuel dealers, All India Petroleum Dealers Association, however, is not planning any suck closure but will meett on May 15 to decide on the further course of action. The association represents dealers from 21 states.



Hon PM in #MannKiBaat appealed to People of India not to use fuel once a week & not to dealers to close their pumps on Sundays... Major dealers federations have clarified that they don't endorse any closure of petrol pumps on any day... @PetroleumMin (petroleum ministry) neither endorses nor approves of move by small section of dealers," the ministry said in tweets.



AIPDA and CIPD both are demanding higher margin on sale of motor fuels to pay their employees and foot increasing bills for public utilities.



There are roughly 5 lakh employees on petrol pumps across country and a fifth of them are contractual workers.



The dealer commission on petrol is Rs 2.56 per litre but dealers wants it be Rs 3.34 a litre for petrol. For diesel, the commission is Rs 1.65 per litre, the deales want it should be revised to Rs 2.19 per litre.



AIPDA's Ajay Bansal told DH they did not support the decision but would meet on May 15 to chart out their action plan as lower margins hurt them too.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday met Congress President Sonia Gandhi here amid talks of forging a grand alliance to counter the BJP in 2019 and calls for a consensus opposition candidate for the upcoming presidential election.



Gandhi warmly welcomed Kumar greeting him in the courtyard of her residence and escorted him inside for the meeting that lasted for about 45 minutes. Kumar drove off without speaking to the waiting media persons.



The Bihar Chief Minister is learnt to have requested Gandhi to speak to non-BJP parties on fielding a joint opposition candidate for the presidential elections scheduled later this year.



Immediately after the results of the elections to five state assemblies, Kumar had given a call for opposition unity to take on the BJP that had already set the ball rolling for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.



Kumar was of the view that the opposition parties should send the first signal to the BJP by fielding a joint candidate for the Presidential elections and not allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi have his way.



He told Gandhi that he had already spoken to CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI Secretary D Raja and NCP chief Sharad Pawar on the issue.



The Congress had earlier favoured a consensus candidate for the post of the president, but wanted the Modi government to make the first move. Congress leaders said if the BJP pushed a RSS man for the top constitutional post, it would definitely be opposed tooth and nail.



Yechury had said on Wednesday that his party was in favour of a consensus candidate for the post of the President.



Secular supervision is very important for Rashtrapati Bhavan as opposed to communal supervision. We are for a consensus candidate acceptable to all, he said.



As the SP and BSP gave their worst ever performance in the recent Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, BSP supremo Mayawati too had spoke in favour of a coalition of opposition parties.



SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had welcomed Mayawati's remarks, while his father Mulayam Singh Yadav did not find the idea interesting.



On April 3, Kumar had asked the Congress to take the initiative to bring all the major non-BJP parties together on one platform to throw the BJP out in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.


The Army has ordered a court of inquiry into the incident in which a Kashmiri youth was tied in front of a jeep on April 9 to push back stone-pelters.



The court of inquiry (CoI) is to submit its report by May 15 on the events and circumstances that made an Army officer to tie a local tailor in front of the jeep in Budgam district. officials said.



The move follows after sharp reactions in Kashmir and elsewhere following the surfacing of the video showing the incident.



It came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the situation in Kashmir with senior ministers and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Army Chief Bipin Rawat.



An upset Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti apparently sought a detailed report from the state police following which the Army too began an internal investigation into the incident. Later, Home Minister Rajnath Singh also said the Centre will look into it.



General Rawat had then met Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra in Srinagar and returned to meet Doval.



The Jammu and Kashmir police also filed a First Information Report against the Army after the video showing the incident went viral.



Investigations showed the incident apparently took place in Beerwah area of Budgam district where mobs disrupted polling during the bypoll to Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency. A poll boycott call by separatists saw mobs attack polling booths and burning electronic voting machines or EVMs in many places.



An Army unit was called to prevent more than 500-strong stone-pelters from attacking a convoy which had gone to rescue election officials and ITBP officials.



The video showed the young man sitting tied with a rope to the front of the jeep as it drove into a village.



The man was identified as Farooq Dar who said he picke up when was out to cast his vote and later visit his sister's house, where a bereavement had taken place. He said a 53 Rashtriya Rifles contingent picked him up as it wanted to enter Beerwah village with the polling staff.



Initially, the government and Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had tried to defend the move. Rohatgi held that "Everyday people are dying. It's a surcharged atmosphere. The Army is dealing with terrorists not with protestors, so they will have to be dealt with...everyone should look at the Army with pride, they are doing a great job."



Kashmir has been tense since April 9 when the by-poll took place. On the polling day, eight youth were shot dead by the security forces in central Kashmirs Budgam and Ganderbal districts. Another youth was killed by BSF men at Batmaloo in uptown here last Saturday.






Democrats in the Legislature this week circulated a list of budget cuts they said could be necessary if no additional sources of revenue were found for the next two-year budget cycle.

The list grabbed plenty of attention, but it couldn't have been much of a surprise to anyone at the Capitol who's been paying attention: Legislators are trying to find ways to plug a budget shortfall estimated at about $1.6 billion.

The list this week follows on the heels of a similar effort three months ago by the Legislature's top budget writers, Sen. Richard Devlin and Rep. Nancy Nathanson. The two wanted to outline the kinds of cuts that would be necessary if no new revenue sources were found during the session. The list got a lot of attention from people who were shocked at the severity of the cuts.

Something similar happened this week with the release of the updated list. Among the proposed cuts:

 Drop 350,000 people from Medicaid, a move which would save $256 million but would cost the state $5 billion in federal matching funds.

 Cut payments to school districts and educational service districts, saving $213 million but forcing schools to lay off teachers and increase class sizes.

 Reduce funding to public universities, saving $9 million.

 Reduce funding for Measure 98, which voters approved in November. This is the initiative that directs the state to spend money on programs meant to boost high school graduation rates. It did not come with a funding source.

 Close the state's psychiatric hospital at Junction City, to save $40 million.

 Adopt stricter time limits for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, to save $90 million. (The full list of proposals is attached to the online version of this editorial.)

There are a couple of reasons why many of the proposed cuts target schools and the state's neediest residents: First, those tend to be areas where we spend a lot of money. If you need to save a bunch of money, you naturally will be attracted first to the biggest pots.

The second reason is political: This list, as well as its predecessor, is meant to generate political support for tax increases. That's why Republicans were quick this week to denounce the new list as little more than scare tactics.

The Republicans noted that the list didn't include any potential savings from the legislative work to reform the state's public pension system.

And, as Senate President Peter Courtney noted, the new list was released before the May revenue estimate, which traditionally tells legislators how much money they'll have for the 2017-19 budget cycle. The most recent revenue estimate knocked nearly $200 million off the budget gap, as Oregon's economy continues to boom; the May estimate also could pump more money into the budget.

But it won't erase that entire shortfall: It's likely that legislators will have to fill a gap of at least $1 billion.

Courtney had the right idea: He told The Oregonian this week that he thought the budget would have to be balanced through a combination of spending cuts and revenue increases. In fact, Republicans have said they'd be willing to consider some tax increases, but only if they go hand-in-hand with cost cutting.

And any tax increase likely will require at least some Republican support: Although Democrats enjoy substantial edges in both the House and the Senate, they do not hold the three-fifths majorities required to approve tax increases.

Republicans have said they have doubts that the Legislature will be able to work this out before the regular session adjourns: They expect a special session (perhaps more than one) will be required this fall. We hope that's not the case. The Legislature has a path before it to create a balanced budget, but it will require sacrifice on both sides of the aisle. (mm)
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the government is giving impetus to irrigation projects and that 1.25 lakh farm ponds have been built in the state.



After launching the Purigali lift irrigation project, upgradation of Hebbala Chennaiah Canal, Hebbani power station and other works executed at a cost of Rs 1,086 crore in the taluk on Thursday, Siddaramaiah said, 1.25 lakh agricultural ponds have been constructed at a cost of Rs 800 crore across the state. The government has fulfilled 95% of the165 promises made in the poll manifesto.



While the BJP government had spent Rs 21,000 crore for irrigation during its tenure, the Congress government has spent Rs 82,000 crore. Hence, the BJP has no moral right to speak about people belonging to backward communities and Dalits, he said.



The BJP leaders were claiming that the outcome of the Nanjangud and Gundlupet bypolls will be a pointer for the 2018 elections. Now, the results have hinted that the party will not win the 2018 elections at any cost. So, the Congress will come to power again, he said.



In the history of Malavalli Assembly constituency, this is the first time that the development works at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore has been implemented. MLA Narendraswamy is the reason behind this. He has proved that he can serve the people effectively as MLA, he added.



Hydel project

Energy Minister D K Shivakumar said, there are plans to begin a 200 MW hydel project at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore at Shivanasamudra (Bluff).



Minor Irrigation Minister T B Jayachandra said, steps are being taken for the construction of a dam at Mekedatu to save surplus Cauvery river water at a cost of Rs 6,000 crore. Water Resources Minister M B Patil said, the Congress government has spent Rs 282 crore for filling lakes as the state faced drought.



Ministers M Krishnappa, Eshwara Khandre and MLC Byrathi Suresh were present.



Protest greets CM

Earlier, a group of BJP workers led by the partys slum dwellers morcha state secretary, staged a protest and waved black flags to Siddaramaiahs cavalcade when the CM was on his way to Shanti College grounds in the town to lay foundation for various works in the taluk.



The agitating BJP workers shouted slogans against the CM and demanded waiver of agrarian loans.


A bridge, built across river Kumaradhara as a link to the temple town of Subrahmanya, is ready for vehicular movement.



The bridge was built at an estimated cost of Rs 7.78 crore. Though the tender for the work on bridge was invited in March 2013, the work started only in November 2013.



Subrahmanya was witnessing hours of vehicular block due to submersion of a low water bridge connecting the religious place. With the new bridge ready, the devotees as well as the general public can visit Subrahmanya without any problem during monsoon.



The bridge was a long-pending demand of the people in the region. The work on the bridge should have been completed last August. However, due to delay in the work, the bridge could not be put to use during the last monsoon.



With the bridge inundating during monsoon, people travelling on Uppinangady-Subrahmanya and Gundya-Subrahmanya routes were facing inconvenience. Even the students studying in schools and colleges in Subrahmanya were also facing inconvenience during monsoon. They had to wait on either side of the inundated bridge for the water-level to recede. The students who had to reach their homes a few kilometres away from Subrahmanya had to depend on overcrowded private vehicles to reach their homes by a circuitous route when the bridge goes under water during monsoon.



The district administration was deploying Home Guards to ensure that no vehicles pass through the bridge when the water was overflowing on the bridge.



With the bridge getting submerged during heavy rainfall, those who had to reach Gundya (the main exit point towards Hassan, Bengaluru on NH 75), which is 23-km away from Kukke Subrahmanya, had to take the circuitous Puttur-Uppinangady route which consumes a lot of time. The other shorter route was the Kadaba-Uppinangady route. But not many dared to take this as the Hosamata bridge on the stretch was also prone to submersion when Kukke bridge goes under water.


The High Level Clearance Committee headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah cleared two new industry projects worth Rs 5,484 crore, including an integrated township in Bengaluru.



GM Infinite Dwelling India Pvt Ltd has proposed to develop an integrated tech park, township, shopping mall, hospitals, in-house residential colony and clubs on a 73-acre expanse at Doddakannelli village in Bengaluru East taluk. The company will invest Rs 4,795.90 crore on the project.



The HLCC approved a proposal by Manjunatha Educational Foundation Trust to establish a medical college, a hospital and a research centre on a 40-acre land in Hassan. It is an initiative by Dr Manje Gowda, son-in-law of Congress leader the late Srikante Gowda. Manje Gowda is a retired state government employee.



Karnataka Udyog Mitra managing director B K Shivakumar said the trust has sought the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) land for the hospital project. But the government has not promised it anything.



The HLCC has approved these projects subject to clearance from various statutory agencies, including Medical Council of India. The companies have been given two years to implement their projects, he added.



Besides, the HLCC has approved a proposal by Centurion Software Solutions Pvt Ltd to expand the existing IT/ITES office space, residential and commercial space and other facilities at Doddenakundi Industrial Area in Bengaluru. The company will invest Rs 559.74 crore for this purpose.
More than 50 students have been conned into taking undergraduate exams by a city-based college which falsely claimed affiliation with Bangalore University (BU).



Aakash International Business Management College, Mallathahalli, not only admitted students to BCA, BCom and BBM distance education courses by falsely claiming affiliation with BU, but also issued them hall tickets to take the exams.



The students didnt suspect anything until they checked the results. While students of other colleges got their results and marks sheets, they did not. They tried to seek an explanation from the college, but there was no response. When they approached BU, the university disowned them.



Investigation then revealed that the college management had used the photocopied signature of Suresh Nadagowda, then registrar (evaluation) of BU, in the hall tickets it had issued to the students.



The irregularities didnt end there. The college had even enrolled students who did not clear II PUC exams. It issued them fake II PUC marks cards to legitimise their undergraduate admission, said BU Registrar K N Ninge Gowda. The university called the colleges bluff at the time of online verification of the marks cards, Gowda added.



The college had previously sought permission from the university to offer distance education courses. But BU did not entertain the request and asked the college not to enrol students for any course.



A month ago, the students approached the jurisdictional Jnanabharathi police and filed a complaint against the college management. Police took up the case and summoned the universitys registrar (evaluation).



About two weeks ago, the university also lodged a cheating complaint against the college. Following the complaint, police have arrested Jaffer Sadiq, an employee at the college, and are hunting for 12 more suspects.



Police said the suspects had switched off their mobile phones and were using Facebook to communicate with each other. Police are trying to track them down using their IP addresses.



Gowda said 51 students of BCA, BCom and BBM courses had been transferred to other colleges.


Citizens often complaining about their voices not being heard may not get the appropriate forum to air their woes.



But here is an opportunity for the residents of Byatarayanapura Assembly constituency to highlight woes in their area and get them redressed. Deccan Herald and Prajavani are holding Janaspandana  Citizens for Change programme at the amphitheatre in Sahakaranagar, behind Balamuri Ganapathi temple, at 10 am on Saturday, April 22.



Agriculture Minister and local MLA Krishna Byregowda, corporators, officers from various government agencies such as Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, Bangalore Development Authority, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Bescom and police will attend the event.



The event will cover Jakkur, Thanisandra, Byatarayanapura, Kodigehalli, Vidyaranyapura, Doddabommasandra and Kuvempunagar wards of the BBMP.



Janaspandana  Citizens for Change held at various places in the past brought relief to thousands of people as their grievances were addressed instantly. Issues that are often discussed at Janaspandana include roads, pavements, drains, streetlights, law and order, traffic, parks, playgrounds, open spaces, government schools, waste management, khata-related problems, tax collection, water, sewage, lakes and power outages.



Citizens willing to speak about the civic woes in their localities should reach the venue by 9 am and register their names.



They can contact Chandrashekhar on 99017 21060 or email at janaspandana@printersmysore.co.in
Dispute over a film title, between director A M R Ramesh and the producers of Shivaraj Kumar-starrer Mass Leader has reached the Benglauru City Police Commissioners office.



Ramesh, who shot to fame with the movie Cyanide (2006), on Thursday submitted a petition to the Police Commissioner Praveen Sood seeking police protection to him and his family from a group of unknown persons.



I have been facing threats from unknown persons since December 12, 2016 as they are opposed to the title Leader for my upcoming movie. They are sending messages and calling me on my mobile phone and threatening me, Ramesh stated in the petition.



He said that he had approached Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), but there was no help from the KFCC office-bearers.



Ramesh registered the title Leader for his movie in 2013, but another production house wanted Leader for its movie casting Shivaraj Kumar.



After verifying the documents, the KFCC allotted Mass Leader to the movie produced by Tarun Shivappa who will be casting Shivaraj Kumar in the lead role, Ramesh told DH.



A few men claiming to be Shivaraj Kumars fans threatened me for opposing the use of title Leader. I contacted Srikanth of Shivaraj Kumar Fans Association, and he assur-ed me some action, but the torture did not end, Ramesh said.



Police Commissioner said: I have received a petition and our men are ascertaining the identity of those who have threatened Ramesh. Action will be taken against them.



KFCC president Sa Ra Govindu said: At the meeting held between two groups at the Chamber on April 10, I directed the production house that the font size of the two words Mass and Leader should be same. The font size of Leader was too big and that of  Mass too small. The chamber has resolved the row between the two teams.






Encouraged by the success of their movie, Kirik Party, the producers have decided to auction a vintage car used in the film to fund education of children of sex workers.



The vintage car plays a significant role in the film. There is a scene in the movie where the car is auctioned to fund schooling of a sex workers daughter. Extending their reel success to real life, the movie producers have decided to auction the car online, Rakshith Shetty, the films producer told DH.



We were planning to auction the car if the movie became a hit, Shetty said. The base price of the car is Rs 3 lakh and the value may go up once the auction begins. The money will be given to a charitable organisation working for children of sex workers.



Kirik Party, released on December 29, 2016, is the second highest-grossing film in Kannada industry by touching Rs 60 crore and celebrating 100 days in over 25 theatres across Karnataka. The film, directed by Rishab Shetty, was made at a cost of Rs 4 crore.



The movie has also bagged the 'Popular Entertaining Film' award at the Karnataka State Film Awards 2016, announced recently.



Shetty and his team had a tough time getting the car for the movie. We wanted the past and present generations to connect with a car. We decided to use a Contessa car which was a symbol of reputation in India a few deacdes ago. None of the car owners was ready to sell their car, Shetty recalled.



The team finally got in touch with a person in Bengaluru and bought his Contessa car for Rs 1.5 lakh.



The producers spent Rs 3 lakh on the car to remove its top and make it look like a vintage one.
A Bengaluru startup has offered to help revive Bellandur lake by introducing oxygen injections into the polluted waterbody.



Sunandan Lala, technical consultant at PCI Gases, told DH that they can offer a free month-long demonstration on how inducing dissolved oxygen injections into the lake helps revive it.



This method is common in Europe, but has never been tried here. If the government gives us a 8x6 metre plot, in a month we assure positive results. The government will just have to provide us the electricity to operate our machines, he said.



Explaining the model, he said they have equipment filled with oxygen. Into this, a small quantity of lake water is mixed and then released back into the lake.



As the lake is highly polluted, oxygen cannot be introduced directly into it. Hence, it has to be dissolved with the same water and then released into the lake. This is effective as oxygen can be induced as and when required, he said.



We have a 30-35 cubic feet cylinder ready at our plant in Bommasandra to be used immediately. We are a three-month-old organisation in the city, generating oxygen for hospitals and industries, he said.



Lala said this method would not cost the government more than Rs 4 lakh to 5 lakh and can be adopted along with to other methods for quick results, especially on improving the water quality.


A day after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered the state government to close industries around Bellandur lake, several garment factories involved in dyeing and washing clothes were in a state of panic.



The NGT ordered closure of 97 garment units which are polluting the citys biggest waterbody. Most of them are small units on Haralur Road, Kudlu Gate and Bommanahalli and have moved here from Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu after the government there cracked down on them.



A prominent fabric company with its head office in Bengaluru has 30 units across the city. Soon after the NGT order, its officials visited all the units asking their staff not to let out any untreated effluents.

Requesting anonymity, an executive of the company said: We do not know whether we are among those named in the list of 97 units but we are taking extra precautions. Since morning, our superiors have been visiting all our units.



Karnataka State Industrial Development Corporation chairperson C M Dhananjaya said he will call on Bengaluru Development Minister K J George and request him to challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court.



Karnataka State Pollution Control Board chairman Lakshman said the board is yet to receive the order copy but notices have already been sent to all the polluters.



FKCCI hails NGT

President of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) M C Dinesh hailed the verdict saying FKCCI never encourages or protects those polluting the environment.



He said some industries, which moved here from Tiruppur are the culprits and have thrived here due to patronage from powerful people.



He, however, pointed out that industries doing their business honestly should not suffer.



There are lots of challenges these days. Employment generation has come down in the state and Bescom has increased the rates. Closure would impact the employment scenario, said Dinesh.



Joseph Crasta, past president of FKCCI, who echoed Dineshs sentiments on the units from Tiruppur, said the NGT verdict was good for the city.


QOTD: Trump's most dangerous general

"We've got cases moving in the very, very liberal Ninth Circuit, who, they've been hostile to the order," Sessions said. "We won a case in Virginia recently that was a nicely-written order that just demolished, I thought, all the arguments that some of the other people have been making. We are confident that the President will prevail on appeal and particularly in the Supreme Court, if not the Ninth Circuit. So this is a huge matter. I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the President of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and Constitutional power."

Sessions also added that judges shouldn't "psychoanalyze" Trump when he was asked about potential judges Trump would appoint.

The Attorney General of the United States, ladies and gentlemen, expressing amazement that the judiciary would deem to question the power of the president to do as he pleases.This is a man who spent his entire life defending states' rights. Now that he's the head of the top Federal law enforcement officer in the country he doesn't even acknowledge that states exist. (Yes, Hawaii is actually an American state although I suppose it doesn't have a lot of confederate flag waving neanderthals so in his mind federal judges who sit there aren't even Americans. )He is an authoritarian monster, the worst of all possible world, the scariest member of the scariest administration in American history.
Chances of getting justice are slim for former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav who was sentenced to death by a military court of Pakistan for espionage.



The Lahore High Court Bar Association has threatened to cancel the membership of any lawyer who extends his services to Jadhav to file an appeal in a higher court.



The former navy officer can move the Supreme Court of Pakistan challenging the death sentence awarded to him by the military court.



A source, however, said that the chances of Jadhav getting a fair deal even in the Supreme Court of Pakistan are slim as the army and agencies under its control were already trying to make the judicial process biased.



Another source said the Lahore High Court Bar Associations diktat to lawyers indicates that Jadhavs chances of getting justice even in the higher judiciary are really slim.



India is exploring options available within the legal framework of Pakistan. New Delhi is also considering the option of approaching the International Court of Justice to seek reprieve for Jadhav, as well as to force the Pakistan government to grant consular access.



On April 10, Islamabad announced that a military court had convicted Jadhav of working for Indias external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), for espionage and sabotage activities to destabilise Pakistan.



The High Commission of India in Islamabad asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Pakistan government to provide certified copies of the charge sheet against Jadhav. It also asked for the order of the Field General Court Martial that awarded him capital punishment.



Gopal Baglay, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said that India had on Wednesday renewed its request to Pakistan to grant its High Commission in Islamabad consular access to Jadhav.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah took Mandya Superintendent of Police C H Sudhir Kumar Reddy to task in full public view during a programme here on Thursday.



Siddaramaiah was upset that the police did not stop the BJP workers who crossed the path of his car and waved black flags at him here.



The chief minister is believed to have used harsh words against Reddy, a 2010 batch IPS officer, for his failure in intelligence gathering and preventing the protest by the BJP workers. Siddaramaiah is believed to have called the SP useless fellow and asked him to get out, after summoning him to the dais.



Confusion prevailed for a few minutes when the BJP workers displayed black flags, demanding waiver of farm loans when the chief minister was on his way to Shanthi College Grounds here to launch various development programmes. More than 50 BJP workers tried to stop the chief ministers car and shouted slogans.



However, the police intervened and brought the situation under control. They took six people into custody.



Speaking at the programme, Siddaramaiah said banks have been strictly told not to serve notices on farmers, demanding repayment of loans till the region receives a good spell of rains and yield.



There are plans to extend the loan term that ended in March, for the benefit of farmers. Labour should be paid to the workers and fodder provided to cattle on time. Neither the BJP nor the JD(S) has the moral right to criticise the Congress government, he said.



Siddaramaiah was caught napping on the dais during the programme. The chief minister slipped into a nap when Energy Minister D K Shivakumar was addressing the gathering.



Siddaramaiah inadvertently pushed his spectacles with his left index finger while he was asleep. He woke up once his spectacles fell on the stage. Malavalli MLA P M Narendraswamy picked the glasses and gave them to Siddaramaiah.



Soon, a drowsy Siddaramaiah was given a cup of coffee, which spilled on his white dhoti. Again, Narendraswamy rushed to Siddaramaiahs aid and wiped the chief ministers dhoti with his handkerchief.




Scores of activists from saffron outfits on Thursday held demonstrations in Agra in protest against forcing a group of foreign models to take off their bhagwa (saffron) dupatta before entering the Taj Mahal.



The saffron activists, who were also joined by the district BJP unit leaders, demanded action against the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials for showing disrespect to Hindu culture. The ASI looks after the maintenance of the Taj.



According to reports, a group of 34 models from foreign countries had arrived in the Taj city from Delhi, where they participated in a function, on Wednesday.



The models had covered their heads with saffron-coloured dupattas on which was written the name of Lord Rama. Such dupattas are usually sold near temples.



The security personnel at the Taj asked the models to take off their dupattas saying that anything that carried religious symbols could not be allowed inside the monument if the individual who had them did not belong to the same religion, sources said.



Since the dupattas had symbols of Hindu religion and were worn by foreigners, they were not allowed, said an official at Taj.



The models were allowed in only after they handed over their dupattas to the security personnel.



It amounts to showing disrespect to Hindu culture...the guilty officials should be acted against, said Ajju Chauhan, a leader of the Hindu Jagaran Manch, a saffron outfit.



They also held demonstrations near the monument to register their protest.


India on Thursday dismissed Chinas recent move to rename six places in Arunachal Pradesh and thus, to tacitly assert its claim on the state.



New Delhi reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh was an integral part of India and Chinas move to rename some places in the state would not alter the facts on the ground.



Assigning invented names to the towns of your neighbour does not make illegal territorial claims legal. Arunachal Pradesh is and will always be an integral part of India, official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Gopal Baglay told journalists in New Delhi.



The Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Chinese Government had standardised in Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabets, the names of six places in South Tibet, which India calls Arunachal Pradesh, in accordance with the regulations of the state council, the Global Times, a state-run newspaper of the communist country, reported earlier this week.



The official names of the six places using the Roman alphabet are Wogyainling, Mila Ri, Qoidengarbo Ri, Mainquka, Bumo La and Namkapub Ri, the report stated.



Arunachal is integral part

Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and China has no business on it, said Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu here on Thursday, DHNS reports from New Delhi.



If you look at history, Arunachal Pradesh is with India. India is a sovereign country and there is an elected government in Arunachal Pradesh. There is no dispute in it, Naidu said.
The National Green Tribunal on Thursday came down heavily on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living Foundation for his remarks against the tribunal and the Union government.



It was hearing a case on the damage caused to the Yamuna floodplains by a cultural extravaganza organised by the foundation in March last year.



Earlier this week, in a combative post, Sri Sri had blamed the government and the tribunal for allowing the event.



On Thursday, the tribunal took strong exception to his remarks. You have no sense of responsibility. Just because you have filed an application doesnt give you the liberty to say whatever you want. It is shocking, a bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said.



The bench reacted strongly when advocate Sanjay Parikh, appearing for petitioner Manoj Misra, brought to the tribunals notice Sri Sris statement, defending the three-day World Culture Festival held between March 11 and 13, 2016.



Parikh told the bench Sri Sri had been repeatedly levelling allegations against the tribunal, as seen in a statement posted on the Art of Living Foundations website and social media page. In the post, Sri Sri has said the government and the tribunal should be held responsible for any environmental damage caused by the event.

The counsel appearing for the foundation on Thursday contested the findings of an expert panel estimating the damage to the floodplains.



The bench then directed all parties to file responses and objections within two weeks, and posted the matter for hearing on May 9.



Earlier, an expert committee headed by former water resources secretary Shashi Shekhar told the tribunal a whopping Rs 42.02 crore was required to restore the Yamuna floodplains.



Biased, says AOL



Hours after the hearing on Thursday, the Art of Living Foundation issued a statement that it had requested the tribunal to hear its application on the bias of the expert committee that had estimated the damage to the floodplains.


The state government on Thursday got cracking on cleaning up the Bellandur lake, a day after the National Green Tribunal set it a months deadline.



Chief Secretary Subash Chandra Kuntia met top officials from various agencies and urged them to work on a war footing.



The meeting was prompted by tribunal chairman Justice Swantater Kumars order on Wednesday to close down all 585 industries in the vicinity of the lake. He also sought an action-taken report within two weeks. On Thursday, Kuntia called for detailed reports on what various government agencies had done to stop the lake from frothing.



The top bureaucrat has convened another meeting on Friday to chalk out an expeditious and concerted plan to restore the lake, notorious for frothing and even catching fire.



Mahendra Jain, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development, told DH it was difficult to show major improvement in two weeks.He estimates the construction of sewage treatment plants will take at least two years.



In the meantime, we will remove the froth and hyacinth and put up aerators, he said.



The Bengaluru Development Authority, custodian of the lake, promised results in two weeks. Prof T V Ramachandra from the Indian Institute of Science, environmentalist A N Yellappa Reddy and former BDA commissioner Siddaiah were among those who attended the meeting. Ramachandra expressed happiness that work had finally begun in earnest.



P N Nayak, BDA engineer-member, said fencing of the lake, started a month ago, was 70% done. Weeding will start in three or four days. That is the immediate action we are taking, he told the meeting.



BBMP engineers promised to clear the debris from the stormwater drains. Their BWSSB counterparts said they would speed up the work on sewage treatment plants. Some committee members suggested the water body be handed over to defence personnel, as proposed earlier. We are pressing for it, as it is the only way to revive the dying lake, Ramachandra said.



Green whip



The National Green Tribunal on Wednesday ordered the closure of all industries around Bellandur lake.



Action on Thursday:



Chief Secretary Kuntia takes stock with top officials, calls another meeting on Friday.



Government says it needs more time to file action-taken report. Tribunal has given it two weeks.



Lake custodian BDA promises to begin weeding, show improvement in two weeks.



A startup offers to oxygenate lake for a full month, and for free.

Lake Development Authority talks of Yamuna biodiversity park model to clean lake.



Industries scene



Garment industries around the lake were in panic on Thursday. Senior executives visited units and directed their staff not to let out even a single drop of untreated water.






A Very Out of the Blue New York and LA Trip

I've been debating if I'll post this here since, well, it's not decor related, but very much "happy" related, so here I am. Visiting NYC has always been a dream of mine. I've been to the US but mostly LA area because that's where my Mom and some relatives lives. The last time I was there was 7 years ago. That information is relevant to the LA part of the trip.





Anyway, it's just my usual, Oooh I'd like to visit NYC someday. Someday meaning I have no idea when that will be. On the evening of Feb 15, I got a message from a close cousin of mine. "Would you like to go to New York 17-21? I'm free." I know she was in NY for work so I called her to ask "Why? will you be back there on March 17-21?" Well apparently, she was talking about Feb! She got a hotel, and she'll buy the airfare if I can go. Without any hesitation, I said YES lets go! Who am I to say no to that?? The moment I got home, I frantically search online for good offers on airfare that would leave in 30 hours. I need Feb 16 to finish some work and pack, so I left morning of Feb 17. Everything was done in a haze that once I landed and were on an uber from JFK to the hotel, I was thinking to myself.. I can't believe I'm actually here. Its so surreal. And soooo cold. Hahaha...









I wouldn't bore you with all the selfies I took because that's what facebook friends are for, so here are some photos from the trip.



View from the rooftop of the hotel. brick buildings everywhere!!

Vintage poster store Pastel blue and pink house Someday I'll have an entrance just like this.

Time Square

Stayed there for 5 days and its not merely enough to explore the city. I just walked and walked, hopped on the subway, and go wherever I want with the help of my handy phone. Yes I may have paid a lot for internet roaming (my phone is blocked to a certain network so I can't get a new sim), but it's so worth it for my peace of mind. Google maps is definitely my friend. It was fun and I'll surely be back. But definitely not during winter. I'd like to explore without constantly shivering. HahaI wouldn't bore you with all the selfies I took because that's what facebook friends are for, so here are some photos from the trip.

Obligatory Grand Central visit.





I love walking around the city and just enjoying all the buildings. Haha.. I know I know. But all the historic structure is so nice to look at. If it was not freezing, I'd probably be out more. After five happy days, I'm off to LA.





You see, I haven't seen my mom in 7 long years. Since I'm already in the US, I flew to LA to surprise her. She has no idea I'm going. She doesn't even know I went to New York. I was so nervous and excited when I got to her house and knocked on the door. Needless to say, she was more than surprised. She cried for a good 10 minutes. Highlight of the trip. :)

















The next few days were spend just bonding with mom. It was a great way to end this very out of the blue vacation. To top it off, the neighbor's dog is the sweetest! I'm super thankful for this unexpected trip.. thank you cousin! thank you mom! thank you dog! Haha
Kazakhstan Orders Two More C295 Aircraft



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As LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson delivered his message about testimonies, Lehi resident Chadd Pither nodded his head.

"If you do not have a firm testimony ... do that which is necessary to obtain one. It is essential for you to have your own testimony in these difficult times, for the testimonies of others will carry you only so far," President Monson said during the Sunday Morning session of April 2017 general conference. "Once obtained, a testimony needs to be kept vital and alive through continued obedience to the commandments of God and through daily prayer and scripture study."

Pither, a native of Leicester, England, can relate.

Although baptized at a young age, the 32-year-old with a rich British accent found his true testimony many years later while living homeless in another country. Pither related his spiritual journey while giving his first-ever sacrament meeting talk earlier this year.

"A true testimony is precious. ... I look back and I'm so grateful to have had the powerful experiences I had to gain my testimony," said, Pither, a Primary teacher in his ward. "Life is hard and full of trials, and without my testimony I wouldn't be where I am today or have the understanding and meaning of life which I searched for over many years. ... I had to humble myself and put my life in God's hands to gain a testimony."

'Wild European'

Pither joined the LDS Church at age 10 in England, shortly after his mother married a Latter-day Saint. But any flames of faith burned out quickly when his mother and stepfather moved to Scotland. Pither elected to stay in England with his older brother, who wasn't interested in the church, he said.

Over the next decade, Pither experimented with drugs and alcohol, "living a sinful life" and becoming a "wild European," he said.

"You could say I was a baptized non-member," Pither said. "I went on to live what I knew to be a normal life."

In his mid 20s, around 2012, Pither sought a positive improvement in his life by moving to Perth, Australia. While there he saw an ad for a job on a mango farm in Darwin, a town in Australia's Norther Territory, a three-hour flight from Perth. He traveled there in hopes of getting the job.

Once in Darwin, he stayed at a backpacker's hostel and tried to secure the farm job, but was unsuccessful.

"It was like the job opening didnt exist," he said. "I felt lost and alone. Id spend my days trying to stay away from the backpackers."

Turning point

Out of work and running out of money, Pither was walking on the beach when he noticed two young men in white shirts and ties. He recognized them from when he was baptized. The Mormon missionaries lifted his spirits and invited him to church, he said.

On Sunday, the self-described "scruffy backpacker," unshaven with long hair and cutoff jeans, showed up at Darwin's LDS branch. He was greeted warmly by members and felt a sweet spirit in the meetings, he said.

The Scott Plant family befriended Pither and invited him home for lunch. They gave him a Book of Mormon. Later, by himself on the beach, Pither opened to the first page and began to read.

"I began to get emotional and felt a heavy weight being lifted off my shoulders," Pither said. "This is where my conversion really began, where I really gained a strong testimony of the gospel. This is where I felt Gods hand directing my life."

Rescued

While Pither began to embrace the gospel, he ran out of money and was forced to live on the streets. For a week, he slept on the beach or at a park and struggled to find food. He was too embarrassed to reveal his situation to his new Mormon friends. He offered a lot of prayers: "God, if you are there, I need help."

On Pither's seventh homeless day, he attended church meetings and returned to the beach. As he sat reading the Book of Mormon, he was approached by a church member named Roy Woodward.

Woodward saw Pither while driving by and felt prompted to say hello. The man from Texas didn't know Pither's situation, but if he needed a place to stay, Woodward had an extra room. He handed Pither a business card and left. It wasn't until months later that Pither told Woodward he'd been living on the streets.

"I was dumbfounded. Really?" Pither said. "My prayers were answered, big time. It was a huge blessing. ... I knew God had sent Roy that day to help me."

Pither accepted Woodward's offer and lived with him for the next several months, during which he found a job and got back on his feet.

The young man from England also gained a testimony and became an active Latter-day Saint. Pither even assisted the missionaries in bringing two people into the church. Ten months in Darwin changed Pither's life, he said.

"I was in a good spiritual place. I was able to go through a spiritual change there," Pither said. "I started to feel the happiness I had been searching for."

A new life

Hoping to meet someone special, Pither created a profile on an LDS dating website. Within a short time he connected with a woman in Utah and felt their relationship was unique.

"She played hard to get ... and was on the other side of the world, but I knew straight away that she was the one," Pither said. "People thought I was crazy when I decided to come here and ask her to marry me."

Little did Pither know that one of the womans sons from a previous marriage had written to Santa Claus asking for a new father for Christmas, Pither said.

And so it was that after a five-month, long-distance relationship, Pither came to Utah and proposed. In a matter of a few weeks, Pither was ordained an elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood; received a patriarchal blessing; received his temple endowment; was sealed to his mother, stepfather and sister in the Draper Temple; and finally, married to his sweetheart in the Salt Lake Temple.

"I knew I was doing what my Heavenly Father wanted me to do," Pither said.

Looking back, everything good in Pither's life stems from having a testimony, he said.

"Because I'm a convert, I know the difference of having and not having the gospel in your life," Pither said. "I am so grateful for my testimony. I dont know where Id be today without it. I never want to let it die. It's what keeps me going."

Email: ttoone@deseretnews.com Twitter: tbtoone


The United States has made clear that it will not accept North Koreas threatening the U.S. and its allies with ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.

Speaking from Kabul, Afghanistan, U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster noted that the U.S. is not alone in its view that North Koreas dangerous behavior, which includes a headlong rush of nuclear tests and missile launches, must stop.

There's an international consensus now, including the Chinese and the Chinese leadership, that this is a situation that just can't continue, he said.

China is North Koreas largest trading partner, accounting for 90 percent of Pyongyangs total trade. Coal is North Koreas most important export, with the vast majority of it going to China.

President Donald Trump has made clear that he expects China to use its influence with North Korea to restrain the regimes leader Kim Jong Un, and to work toward the goal of a denuclearized Korean peninsula. In February China announced it would halt imports of North Korean coal, in line with its UN obligations, thereby denying Kim a much needed source of foreign currency. China needs to follow through on this important announcement.

In a briefing to reporters, State Department Acting Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton said, China has indicated appreciation of the urgency of the threat, of the need to have an international coalition mounted, and a need for China to do more in stepping up pressure on the North Korean regime and trying to make it clear to them that there is no tolerance for these illegal programs-both the ballistic missile programs and the nuclear programs.

Acting Assistant Secretary Thornton said the United States has gotten a lot of positive signals from the Chinese, but, she cautioned, it takes time to see if economic pressure will be effective.

Were going to work with China and see if we can get them to do more, and if they decide theyre not going to work with us or not cooperate with us, then were going to have tochange tack and try something else, Acting Assistant Secretary Thornton said.

President Trump conveyed the same message earlier this month: "I have great confidence that China will properly deal with North Korea, Mr. Trump tweeted. If they are unable to do so, the U.S., with its allies, will.
U. S. National Security Advisor Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster, joined by a senior U.S. interagency delegation, met with Afghan President Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah, National Security Advisor Atmar, and other senior leaders in the National Unity Government on April 16th to discuss shared priorities and our strong bilateral cooperation in Afghanistan during a two-day visit. The leaders discussed regional dynamics and joint efforts to counter terrorist groups, including al-Qaida and ISIS, among other topics. They also discussed a range of bilateral issues, including joint efforts to advance a peace process, economic development, promotion of private investment, and regional trade.

General McMaster commended the National Unity Governments political, economic, and security reform efforts, and encouraged accelerating those efforts to strengthen governance in Afghanistan.

In an interview with Tolo News General McMaster noted that the Afghanistan of 2017 is much different and much improved from the Afghanistan of 2001. And so whats necessary at this point is to consolidate gains and to deal with what is a big security problem. And also, though, to help the Afghan government undertake reforms necessary to strengthen the Afghan state and bring lasting security and stability for the Afghan people.

Concerning the April 14th use by U.S. armed forces of their largest non-nuclear bomb, the GBU-43, against an ISIS-K, tunnel complex in the Achin district in Nangahar province, the National Security Advisor said the message is not just the bomb itself. Its what our soldiers are doing ever day alongside courageous Afghan soldiers, fighting Daesh, ensuring that these peoplewho victimize women, who shoot people in hospital bedswe cannot tolerate the existence of that kind of an organization, he emphasized. They are a threat to all civilized people, so we have come together in a long struggle against these groups who must be defeated.

As for the Taliban, they must be defeated as well, he noted, and they can be defeated in a number of ways. For those who are reconcilable, who are now willing to join their Afghan brothers, to strengthen the Afghan state and end the violence, to be part of the political process, I think your president and Chief Executive Abdullah would welcome them back in, said General McMaster. So its their choice now.
A lawsuit filed in Chicago alleges that Bose has been using its Bose Connect app to collect and sell user's musical preferences.

A Bose customer, Kyle Zak, has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging that the company uses its Bose Connect app to violate the US Wiretap Act. the lawsuit alleges that Bose is secretly collecting, transmitting, and disclosing its customers private music and audio selections to third parties, including a data mining company. According to Zak, musical preferences can tell a lot about a person, including their sexual orientation. He filed a complaint in a federal court in Chicago on Tuesday.

Indeed, ones personal audio selections -- including music, radio broadcast, Podcast, and lecture choices - provide an incredible amount of insight into his or her personality, behaviour, political views, and personal identity, says the lawsuit. Further, Zak, in his lawsuit also said that scientific studies have indicated that musical preferences can tell explicit characteristics, like personality, age, value and can even identify people with autism spectrum conditions.

Further, Bose has allegedly sends all available media information from Zaks smartphone to third parties like Segment.io, which is a website collecting customer data and sending it elsewhere. Zak has claimed millions in damages for buyers using the Bose Quietcomfort 35, QuietControl 30, SoundLink Around-Ear Wireless Headphones II, SoundSport Wireless, SoundLink Color II and the SoundSport Pulse Wireless.

Zak has also asked for data collection by Bose to be stopped and claims that its in violation of the federal Wiretap Act.
Besides special discounts, Easy EMI Options, Free Gifts etc., the company is also having a competition in which consumers are invited to share their stories with the companys products

LG has completed 20 years in India and to celebrate the occasion, the company is giving discounts and offers on its range of products. Besides special discounts, Easy EMI Options, Free Gifts etc., the company is also having a competition in which consumers are invited to share their stories with the companys products. Selected stories will win weekly prizes and the final winner will get a mega prize which is an assured chance to appear in the brands TV commercial

Read the complete press release below

LG Electronics India has been the most attractive brand in consumer durables. This year, LG is completing its 20-year long journey in the country. The brand has been the steadiest in terms of delivering quality products to its consumers and has truly been delivering on its core philosophy of Lifes Good. As a brand, LG has not just sold products but the dream of a better and more convenient lifestyle to the Indian consumers.

Celebrating Togetherness is conceived to celebrate the 20 Years of consistent and ever growing relations with Indian consumers. The unique campaign aims to celebrate 20 years of togetherness between the brand and its consumers. It is a way of commemorating the trust which has been placed by consumers in LG products for the last 20 years and the continuing journey in this direction. The campaign will open a never-before range of exciting offers on LGs world-class products, thereby making everyone a part of LGs success story on this occasion.

Apart from Special discounts, Easy EMI Options, Free Gifts etc., LG has announced a very unique contest to reach out to consumers who are using LG Products. Consumers can share their best moments with LG at their homes and with their families on http://www.lg.com/in/lifeisgood. You can also upload your story on brand's face book page www.facebook.com/lgindiapage/

The selected stories will win weekly Prizes and Mega Prize for the final winner is an assured chance to appear in brand's TV Commercial film.

Mr. Kim Ki Wan  MD, LG Electronics India joyously commenting on this occasion said, We are extremely excited and proud as we celebrate LGs 20th anniversary in India. The journey of the last 2 decades would not have been possible without the trust and support that the consumers have vested in brand LG. We believe that during this memorable period, LG could strike the right chords with millions of its Indian consumers. This one-of-its-kind shopping extravaganza is a gesture from LG that will enable the consumers to experience the entire range of world class products at never-before prices. With this campaign, we aim to bring comfort and luxury to the homes of our consumers once again. We will continue to make the lives of our consumers good by developing breakthrough products showcasing our commitment to our core values and innovation.

Mr. Amit Gujral - Head Corporate Marketing said, It is a celebration time for the brand and also for the extended family of millions of satisfied consumers who have made LG a part of their homes and a part of their daily lives. The celebrations start from this week with a bouquet of fabulous services and rewards being given away to the existing and new consumers of LG. We would leverage all media platforms to extend our thanks to consumers and there are exciting experiential marketing campaigns planned around this. The core theme is celebrating togetherness under which we are planning to roll out Print, TV, In-Store, Radio & digital campaigns. Our customers are our brand ambassadors and we will be rolling out a series of videos talking about their stories & journey with brand LG; a host of retail activations; and last but not the least a very exciting digital campaign which will touch the emotional chords. Truly the celebration is on for all those who have placed their trust on LG for the last twenty years and also for those who are being part of this extended family.

The campaign will roll out the following special offers:

20K Cashback Offers

20 Months EMI Programs

20% Discount on MRP on select Products

Free Gifts with Many Products

Details on all offers are available on http://www.lg.com/in/lifeisgood

These celebration offers are bound to give you compelling reasons to purchase new LG products. So, be a part of the celebration and make the most of these special offerings. Celebrating Together, Life's Good!!
Rio Tinto said first quarter copper production fell 37% month on month and year on year due to issues at its mines in Chile and Indonesia.

Rio cut its mined copper guidance to between 500,000 and 550,000 tonnes for the year from its previous guidance of between 525,000 and 665,000 tonnes.

Mined and refined copper production at Escondida in Chile was hit by a labour strike for 43 days between February and March. Rio said the current labour agreement has been extended for 18 months and expected operations would ramp-up to normal production levels by July 2017.

In Indonesia, production was impacted by new government regulations on exports of unrefined metals, including copper concentrates, and other matters related to the mining sector, Rio said.

The regulations impact PT Freeport Indonesia's (Rio's joint venture partner) operating rights, including its right to continue to export concentrate without restriction, and, as a result, may have a significant impact on Rio Tinto's share of production in 2017, the company said.

In the absence of an export permit, PTFI has had to reduce production to around 40% to match domestic smelting capacity.

This has resulted in near-term actions to reduce its workforce, significantly reduce costs and reduce and/or suspend capital expenditure on its underground development projects and new smelter."

Rio said it would consider legal action to enforce its contractual rights if it failed to reach agreement with the Indonesian government.
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By PAUL WISEMAN

AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON  When President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, he sent a characteristically blunt message.

The policy of our government, Trump declared, is to aggressively promote and use American-made goods.





. . .
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OLYMPIA (AP)  Thousands of public employees held rallies throughout the state urging Washington lawmakers to approve new labor contracts for state workers.

The negotiated contracts, which would cost an estimated $500 million during the state's 2017-19 budget cycle, would award most Washington state workers cost-of-living raises of about 6 percent over the next two years, along with targeted salary increases for some positions that are hard to fill, the News Tribune reported Wednesday.





. . .
Macron vs Le Pen

eedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo

Theof theis on 23 April 2017. Thebetween the top two candidates will be held on 7 May 2017 . The leading candidates areLatest polls: FT.com for next President of France, runoff election May 7, 2017FRANCE 24 Live  International Breaking News & Top stories - 24/7 streamEmmanuel Macron: France's Next President?Video above published Apr 19, 2017, by WSJ.com: A relative unknown in French politics until he announced his candidacy, Emmanuel Macron is a front-runner in Frances presidential election. But who is Mr. Macron, what does he stand for, and what are his chances?Soc Gen CEO on French Election, ECB, European BankingMar 08, 2017: Frederic Oudea, chief executive officer at Societe Generale SA, discusses the French presidential election, French support for the European Union, normalization of ECB policy, and explains why he is "optimistic" about European banks. He speaks with Bloomberg's Jonathan Ferro on "Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas." Franco-German short term yield spreads blow out to eurozone crisis high | ft.com , April 4, 2017: British PM May calls for early election to strengthen Brexit hand | Reuters.com , election June 8th--Theresa May is set to deliver a crushing blow toUK growth is faster than expected, consumer confidence is high, and unemployment low.: The euro zone's greatest existential threat? Italy, the eurozone's third largest economy, which could abandon the euro because: 1) Italians are poorer as a result of being part of the euro currency bloc; and 2) they are falling further behind their counterparts in main trading partner Germany.-- Reuters.com Is the Euro Doomed?Apr 12, 2017: With the UK heading out of the European Union, Greece back on the brink and discontent fuelling the rise of populist politicians, Bloomberg QuickTake asks can the worlds most ambitious financial experiment survive?
A sizable crowd of animal lovers gathered at Enterprise City Hall Tuesday to request that the citys pound waive adoption fees for nonprofit organizations.

Amy Foster, representing several area animal shelters and nonprofit groups, asked the Enterprise City Council to abolish the fees for nonprofit shelters like S.O.S. Animal Shelter and the Troy Animal Rescue Project. She said the adoption fee the citys pound, which is held at Colony Veterinary Hospital, is $165 for each dog.

Weve been able to rescue several dogs, but Ive had to raise $2,100 in the past three weeks, Foster said. That shouldnt be the case.

Foster noted she understands the need for an adoption fee for individuals but hoped the council would consider making an exception for nonprofit organizations.

Enterprise Mayor Kenneth Boswell requested Foster and city attorney Rainer Cotter discuss the matter, and councilman Turner Townsend thanked Foster for broaching the issue.

After the meeting Cotter said Colony has served as the citys pound for more than 30 years, and adoption fees are charged because state laws require any animal picked up to be spayed/neutered and vaccinated for rabies. He added the city would work with the nonprofit groups to streamline the process and find a suitable resolution.

In other action, the council:

* approved an agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation to resurface West College Street from the U.S. 84 Bypass to Kentucky Street.

* appointed Reid Clark to the Enterprise City Schools Board of Education for a five-year term to begin in June.

* awarded a negotiated bid to Digital Ally, Inc., for 14 in-car camera systems. According to Enterprise Police Chief T.D. Jones, Digital Ally was the only company to submit a bid, which allowed the city to negotiate with the company and reduce the quote from $65,950 to $56,350.

* granted permission to award bids for the installation of new security lights and poles in Donaldson Park. According to Enterprise Parks and Recreation director Billy Powell, three different companies will perform some type of work, and the cost of the project is about $28,000.

* established the annual back-to-school sales tax holiday from 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 21, to 12 midnight Sunday, July 23.

* set the date and time for its first meeting to July 5 at 12 noon with a work session at 11:30 a.m. Independence Day falls on Tuesday, the normal council meeting day, this year.

* approved the request for a restaurant retail liquor/on premises license for Cafe Roma, located at 101 South Main Street.
A North Carolina-based company tasked with installing the first utility-scale solar projects for Alabama Power on Fort Rucker has leased space in Ozark to assist with the project, according to officials.

The City of Ozark announced that Strata Solar has leased the North Wing of East Gate Business Park, the citys incubator, for the next nine months to house the companys business office and training center. The incubator is located just outside the Fort Rucker gate in Ozark on Andrews Avenue.

According to a company news release, Strata Solar will build Alabama Powers first utility-scale solar projects at Fort Rucker and at the Anniston Army Depot.

Alabama Power spokesperson Linda Brannon said a groundbreaking for the project on Fort Rucker is expected sometime next month.

Both utility-scale solar projects were approved by the Alabama Public Service Commission last year as part of Alabama Powers plan to develop or procure up to 500 megawatts of renewable energy and environmentally specialized generating resources over the next six years.

According to an article by the nonprofit group, the Southern Environmental Law Center, the Army base projects are expected to produce about 10.6 megawatts each, which would be about enough power to service 4,200 homes. The group also reported the solar installations will count toward energy policy requirements the Department of Defense has set forth in an effort to have 25 percent of its energy produced by renewable sources by 2025.

Both projects at the Anniston Army Depot and on Fort Rucker are expected to be completed this year.

The East Gate Business Park in Ozark opened in 2009 in what used to be a middle school in the city. At the time, the business park was renovated to accommodate at least 15 businesses.

The citys first incubator, Ozark Technology Center, was opened in 1996.

According to Strata Solar, the company is a national leader in utility scale solar energy systems and installations and has engineered, procured and constructed utility-scale projects in numerous southeastern states.
The leadership at Briarwood Presbyterian Church, a 4,000-member congregation in Birmingham, grew concerned about the safety of its membership several years ago after a shooting took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The church also operates a school and, like every other school leadership team in America, Briarwood officials fretted over procedures in case something similar happened on their campus.

There has been endless debate throughout the nation over proposals to arm teachers or hire security personnel for schools in response to that threat, and while such tragic attacks have happened far too often, many of these reactions have been characterized as overkill.

Briarwoods strategy is somewhat different. Instead of security guards, the church wants to create its own police force. And it appears that the Alabama Legislature has no objection to the proposal.

Perhaps it should, for many reasons. If a private organization such as a church is authorized to create its own police force armed with the same authority as other police officers working for governmental agencies, a precedent will be established, opening a door for other entities to seek the same authority.

Critics say such a force would lead to cover-up of crime. It seems a bit of a reach, but others characterize the move as an encroachment on the First Amendment, as it extends a power usually held by government to a religious organization.

On the other hand, the Vatican has two security forces, Gendarmerie Corps for law enforcement, and the Pontifical Swiss Guard, which handles security for Holy See. However, the Vatican is a sovereign state.

We understand Briarwoods concern about safety, not only for its school, but based on Dylann Roofs attack at a Charleston, South Carolina, church, and a shooting earlier this month that injured six at Cathedral of the Cross A.O.H. Church of God in Center Point, a few miles from Briarwood.

However, law enforcement authority should remain within the purview of government, and out of the hands of private entities. The Alabama House should deny this legislation, which has passed the Senate and a House committee. Otherwise, Gov. Kay Ivey should exercise her authority to kill the measure by veto.
AUBURN  The appearance of alt-right leader Richard Spencer on Auburn Universitys campus Tuesday night resulted in three arrests after one altercation, protests, peace rallies and not much else. Local law enforcement say they are pleased with the mostly peaceful event.

Our goal was to make sure that we provided a safe and peaceful environment for those that chose to come. I think we were certainly successful in doing that, Capt. Lorenza Dorsey with the Auburn Police Division said on Wednesday.

Three arrests were made Tuesday during the only incident surrounding Spencers talk, Dorsey said. Ryan M. King, 38, of Montgomery, Benjamin L. Hansen, 19, of Trussville, and Seth M. Waldon, 27, of Mobile, were arrested following a fight in front of Foy Hall.

There were no other reports of damage, vandalism or general unrest throughout the evening, Dorsey said.

As the law enforcement agency for Auburn University, the Auburn Police Division headed security efforts surrounding Spencers talk on campus at James E. Foy Hall. The event proceeded despite the universitys cancellation on Friday once a federal judge ordered the university to allow the event hours before it began.

An initial agreement between Cameron Padgett, who rented the facility for Spencers talk, and the university included a $700 rental fee for the Foy auditorium and additional costs for security. Spencer initially paid both costs. After the cancellation and the courts ruling to allow the event, Auburn police amped up security for the event and absorbed the additional cost, Dorsey said.

The Opelika Police Department, Lee County Sheriffs Department, Montgomery Police Department, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency members  including State Bureau of Investigation agents and state troopers  and other federal partners all assisted Auburn police in securing the event.

Though Dorsey would not give the number of officers on the scene, he said there was certainly a very visible presence of law enforcement to ensure enough officers were on the scene if they needed to respond and to act as a deterrent to criminal activity.

Police were on campus hours before Spencer was set to speak at the university barricading off areas for protesters, both supportive of Spencers message and against it, and areas for media and onlookers. Metal detectors and bag checkers were set up at the entrance to Foy for all attending Spencers speech, and Auburn Fire Division personnel were counting those coming in to ensure the room was not over occupancy.

Auburn University thanked the law enforcement agencies at the event for ensuring a largely peaceful evening in a statement released Wednesday by Mike Clardy, assistant vice president for communications and marketing at Auburn.

Discussing various ideas and perspectives is part of intellectual development, and we applaud those who did so in the spirit of respect and inclusion, even when faced with offensive views much different from their own, said the statement.
Teenagers looking for something to do this summer, especially those who may be interested in working in law enforcement when they get older, may want to check out the Dothan Police Department Community Service Divisions annual Junior Police Academy.

This is a great program, Lt. Benny Baxley said. This program was originally started with the intentions of showing our local youth that police officer are not just here to arrest the bad guys.

Throughout the years, parents and guardians have used the presence of law enforcement as a way to get their children to behave. During those years, some teenagers have forgotten that a police officer is someone they should trust.

This program serves many purposes for our youth, Baxley said. Not only does it allow us a chance to build trustworthy-relationships with the teenagers, but it also allows them to enjoy fun-filled activities. It also gives the students an opportunity to see if a career in law enforcement is something they may be interested in.

The academy is a two-week intensive training program intended to expose youth between the ages of 12-17 to the inner workings of a police department. The academy will have three sessions this year: June 5-15, June 19-29, and July 10-20. Hours for the academy are 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m., Monday-Thursday. Each session will address the same topics and consist of the same activities. Following each session, a graduation ceremony will be held for students who successfully complete the academy.

During the sessions, students will participate in many activities, Baxley said. Just to list a few, students will participate in a tour of the Dothan Police Department as well as see demonstrations by the departments special reaction team and the bomb team. Students will also participate in an obstacle course to test their physical abilities. We have tried to design our obstacle course to include techniques used at the police academy. Students attending the academy will also have a chance to visit with representatives with the Houston County Sheriffs Office, members of the Houston County Rescue Squad, as well as a Houston County game warden. We try to show the students the different opportunities available in law enforcement.

During the course of the academy, students will have the opportunity to earn awards.

Awards will be given to the male and female student for the best marksmanship and the best physical fitness results, Baxley said. One award will be given for the top cadet.

Baxley said students attending the academy will see one major change this year.

For our older students participating in the academy we are offering the advanced class, Baxley said. The advanced class is scheduled for July 24-25. This class is available to students ages 15-17. Students will also participate in a gun safety class, which will include using a computer simulator and a self-defense course. The self-defense course will be under the direction of the departments certified R.A.D. instructors.

Registration forms are available at the Dothan Police Department. Deadline for registration is May 31.

There is no fee for students to participate in this program, Baxley said. This is just another way our department reaches out to form relationships with the members of our community. We are very blessed that Dothan Mayor Mike Schmitz and members of the Dothan City Commission realize just how important this program is for our students. Without their support, this program would not be possible.

Lunch is provided to all students participating in the academy. Students will also receive a t-shirt at the beginning of program, and each student will receive a polo shirt as a graduation gift.
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12 up-and-coming Irish acts from within Vantastivals native Louth and its bordering county of Monaghan have been shortlisted from hundreds of applicants to take part in its 'Battle of the Bands' competition.

The return of the European Firestone Music Tour to the festival this year, gives local bands an opportunity to win a coveted prize worth up to 4,000.

Dundalk has a particularly strong showing with five acts among those shortlisted - Accidents in the Workplace, Just Mustard, Nix Moon, The Periods and The Future West. The initial online phase of the competition will run on the Firestone and Vantastival Facebook pages over the next two weeks, with the public vote reducing the initial 12 acts to five, who will then participate in a live final at Odd Mollies venue in Drogheda on May 11th.

The winning band, which will be chosen by an expert judging panel comprising journalist Tony Clayton-Lea and award-winning Today FM sound engineer Gavin Blake, as well as Vantastival and Firestone representatives, will receive a significant prize package including three days of recording at well-known Grouse Lodge Recording Studios in Co. Westmeath - with band accommodation included - and an 1,800 voucher for well known Dublin music store, Musicmaker.

They will also be featured as the headline act on the Firestone Music Station stage at Vantastival 2017 and as a Main Stage act at Vantastival in 2018. All 12 bands taking part in the competition will feature on the Firestone Stage at this years festival.

Firestone Irelands marketing manager Colm Conyngham said: We are delighted to offer an opportunity to encourage new and emerging musical talent to show off their skills, in conjunction with Vantastival. We hope we will be able to provide a platform that will assist new music artists to the next step on the ladder and we cant wait to start listening to the work of many musicians.

Vantastival is a key event within the Firestone Music Tour, an original sponsorship programme for music festivals across Europe in Spain, Germany, France, Poland, Italy and the UK. Meanwhile, the Battle of the Bands competition represents an extension of the brands authentic association with music, as part of a long-term effort to reach a vibrant, youthful audience and showcase emerging grass roots talent.

Vantastival director Louise Tangney said: We are delighted to welcome Firestone back to Vantastival following the popularity of their new music stage at last years festival. This competition is a fantastic opportunity for up-and-coming acts to win a really valuable prize and we are thrilled to be involved.

Voting is open now at https://a.pgtb.me/3Qb3tp, where a music video for each participating band can viewed.
Time is running out to secure a new home at Taylor Wimpey's Willmott Fields

Time is running out for home-hunters to secure one of the final properties available at Willmott Fields, Taylor Wimpeys near sell-out development in Wem, Shropshire.

Eager purchasers have been quick to take their pick of the plots on sale in this popular location and now just a handful of the superb new homes remain up for grabs, each available with a 1,000 contribution towards stamp duty!

With demand continuing to run high, property-seekers are advised to act now to snap up their ideal home  before someone else beats them to it.

Anne Wallace, Regional Sales and Marketing Director for Taylor Wimpey, says: Weve now sold most of the plots at Willmott Fields, so time is running out to secure one of the final high-quality homes we have available in this sought-after location.

Considering how quickly the properties have already sold here, we dont expect the remaining homes to be available for long, so potential purchasers should contact us without delay or they will face missing out altogether!

Taylor Wimpey offers a range of helpful homebuyer incentives at Willmott Fields, including Part Exchange, easymover and the Help to Buy scheme, which has been used to purchase two-thirds of homes at the development.

Under Help to Buy, eligible first-time buyers and those with a property to sell can secure a Government loan for up to 20% of the full price of their new home  meaning they only need a 75% loan-to-value mortgage and a deposit as low as 5%!

The final homes remaining for sale at Willmott Fields include:

The three-bedroom Flatford from 169,995

The two-bedroom Canford from 144,995

Help to Buy is available on new-build homes up to the value of 600,000 and theres no salary cap for purchasers taking advantage of the scheme.

Enjoying an enviable location on the northern fringes of the pretty market town of Wem, Willmott Fields lies on the edge of picturesque open countryside and rolling Shropshire hills.

Wem has been a market town since 1202 and numerous small speciality shops line the central streets, while a swimming and lifestyle centre has recently opened. Willmott Fields is a short distance from St Peters Primary School, rated outstanding in its most recent Ofsted report, while The Thomas Adams School for secondary-age students is rated good.

Wem railway station offers direct services to Shrewsbury and Crewe for connections to the north-west, Birmingham and London, while the M6 is only 25 miles away.

To stand a chance of securing one of the final plots at Willmott Fields, home-hunters can visit the Sales Centre, located off Whitchurch Road, Wem, Shropshire, SY4 5AQ, and open Thursday to Monday between 11am and 5pm. Alternatively, visit taylorwimpey.co.uk.
Screaming sirens serenaded Dallas residents in the early morning hours Saturday after a cyberattack set off the citys emergency warning system.

All of the citys 156 sirens were set off more than a dozen times, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Officials have not yet identified the perpetrator of the attack, the citys Office of Emergency Management Director Rocky Vaz told the newspaper, but he expressed confidence that it was someone outside the Dallas area.

The city has figured out how the system was compromised and has begun working to keep it from happening again, he added.

The sirens began sounding about 12:30 a.m. Saturday and werent silenced until 1:20 a.m., when the entire system was deactivated.

Despite the citys pleas not to make 911 calls about the sirens, emergency operators were swamped with 4,400 calls during the early morning hours Saturday.

Inadvertent Threat to Life

If the Dallas attack should turn out to be an isolated incident, its impact will be minimal, but if such attacks should multiply, they could undermine public faith in emergency warning systems.

Like crying wolf too often, these attacks erode the faith in these systems critical to safeguarding human life during an emergency, said Sergio Caltagirone, director of threat intelligence for Dragos.

While a single event is unlikely to cause significant damage, he told TechNewsWorld, continual attacks will most certainly have a long-term effect.

Both determined and hobbyist hackers are probing and testing the nations critical infrastructure, he added.

There are no indications of an imminent wide-scale attack, but these attacks will only become more common  and the biggest fear is that an adversary will do great harm and possibly threaten human life inadvertently, Caltagirone explained.

Dallas is a well-funded municipality with the proper resources to defend their infrastructure from attack, he added. This does not bode well for the majority of municipalities who lack the resources of Dallas.

911 System Disrupted

Although Dallas is still assessing the damage of the cyberattack, its disruption of the 911 system by inciting panic calls about the sirens probably placed some citizens lives at risk.

Because there were so many calls to the 911 system in a short period of time, the hack of the siren network created a sort of DDoS attack on 911.

Any real emergency happening at the same time will get lost in the noise, SS8 Chief Security Officer Cemal Dikmen told TechNewsWorld.

Call hold times were delayed from their usual 10 seconds to about six minutes, noted James Scott, a senior fellow at the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology.

Every citizen was endangered by the inability to request emergency assistance in a reasonable amount of time, he told TechNewsWorld.

Every caller who legitimately required an emergency response to an actual threat was imperiled by the significantly delayed 911 call center response time, Scott emphasized. It is difficult to measure or predict the number of residents who needed emergency assistance and hung up the phone out of frustration, or the number of citizens whose safety and physical well-being were jeopardized by this trivial cyberattack.

Antiquated Systems

Emergency warning systems in many cities are old, which makes them even more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Ironically, Dallas system is about to be overhauled  the city council last fall approved $567,368 for the project.

Many of them were first installed in the 40s and 50s, explained Mike Ahmadi, global director for critical systems security at Synopsys.

Theyve been upgraded over time and most recently connected to the Internet, he told TechNewsWorld.

Actually, the older systems without any connectivity are pretty safe from a hacker-proof perspective, Ahmadi added. Its modernizing them and giving them IoT connectivity thats made them vulnerable.

Open information laws also can make these systems vulnerable, maintained Ed Cabrera, chief cybersecurity officer for Trend Micro.

These require detailed government information to be publicly disclosed, he told TechNewsWorld. That makes things such as manuals and configuration settings openly available to potential adversaries meaning to do harm.

Endemic Problem

It has been recognized for some time that older, outdated emergency warning systems are susceptible to cyberattacks, noted Vijay Basani, CEO of EiQ Networks.

In spite of this known exploitable vulnerability, why have our state and local governments been so complicit in their failure to fix these vulnerabilities? he asked.

That is the important question, Basani told TechNewsWorld.

Besides just making emergency warning systems go off randomly, hackers could have shut them down completely, crippled them temporarily, or redirected emergency personnel to wrong locations, he said. Taxpayers should demand that their government fix these systems or upgrade them.

The failure of Dallas emergency warning system is endemic to the poor security across these systems, said Dragos Caltagirone.

Securing systems comes down to identifying critical systems, detecting attacks and implementing real protection, he explained.

Unfortunately, most organizations dont even successfully complete the first step, said Caltagirone. All security starts with knowledge of your own environment. Many systems owners lack sufficient asset inventory. Its impossible to protect what you dont understand.
Microsoft on Tuesday announced the general availability of its phone sign-in for customers with Microsoft accounts  a system that could be the beginning of the end for passwords.

The new system requires that customers add their accounts to the Microsoft Authenticator app, which comes in both iOS and Android versions, noted Alex Simons, director of program management of the Microsoft Identity Division.

After supplying a username, a member will get a mobile phone notification. Tapping approve on the app will authenticate the members information.

The new phone sign-in process is easier than two-factor authentication, according to Simons. 2FA requires users first to enter passwords, and then to enter a code delivered via text or email.

The new process is safer than password-only systems, which can be forgotten, stolen for use in a phishing scheme, or otherwise compromised, he said.

Microsoft Authenticator

Microsoft Authenticator, introduced last summer, started out as a replacement for earlier authentication apps, both for enterprise use in Azure AD and consumer use in regular Microsoft accounts. The initial version allowed fingerprint authentication in place of passcodes, and offered support for wearables including Apple Watch and Samsung Gear.

Setting up Microsofts new phone-in system is easy. If customers already have Microsoft Authenticator for their personal accounts, they can select the dropdown button on the account tile and select enable phone sign-in.

Android users will be prompted to set up the authenticator. iPhones will set up the authenticator automatically. Users who dont have a phone available can elect to access their accounts using a password.

Microsoft has not made the phone sign-in system available to Windows Phone users.

Windows Phone makes up less than 5 percent of the active Authenticator Apps user base, Simons noted, so the company has prioritized iOS and Android. When the system achieves success on those two platforms, Microsoft will consider making it ready for Windows Phone.

Password Problems

The idea of moving away from passwords has been around for years, in part due to their vulnerability to hacking.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Cloud Platform General Manager Julia White discussed the idea of moving away from passwords at the Government Cloud Forum in November 2015.

Microsoft then employed Windows 10 Password to give customers a smart card level of threat detection, using the card as the first level of protection, then Windows Hello for confirmation through biometrics, such as face recognition, iris scanning or fingerprints.

Better Than 2FA?

The new functionality from Microsoft is not groundbreaking, but it represents a true upgrade from traditional password authentication methods, suggested Rik Ferguson, vice president for security research at Trend Micro.

This technology is definitely an improvement over using authenticator apps to generate one-time passwords, which can still be hijacked through a man-in-the-browser attack, he told the E-Commerce Times.

The new app represents true two-factor authentication in the same way Apple uses its Trusted Device authentication or Google uses its prompts.

Using interactive prompts or using an out-of-band trusted device like a smartphone rather than one-time passwords from an authenticator app or SMS does away with having data pass through the same browser, Ferguson added.

However the new system doesnt necessarily make logins more secure, Trend Micro Cloud Security VP Mark Nunnikhoven told the E-Commerce Times.

Microsofts approach substitutes something you know, the password, with something you have, the phone, he said, but it is not as strong as genuine two-factor identification.
Dow Chemical, whose CEO Andrew Liveris is a close adviser to President Donald Trump, is pressuring the administration to throw out a government risk study on several popular pesticides, the Associated Press reported.

The 10,000-page study found that the three pesticides under reviewchlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathionpose a risk to roughly 1,800 animals and plants protected under the Endangered Species Act. The evaluations were compiled by federal scientists over the last four years and were expected to result in new limits on how and where the highly toxic pesticides can be used.

But lawyers representing Dow and two other makers of the organophosphates sent letters to the heads of three cabinet agencies last week, asking that the study be set aside and saying that the results are flawed.

Our governments own scientists have already documented the grave danger these chemicals pose to people and endangered species, said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity. Unable to win on the facts, Dow is now adopting the same disgraceful tactics honed by the tobacco industry and the climate deniers to try to discredit science and scrap reasonable conservation measures that will protect our most endangered animals and plants.

Last month, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt scrapped his own agencys proposal to ban chlorpyrifosan insecticide that at small doses can harm childrens brains and nervous systemsfrom use on food crops. The AP noted that chlorpyrifos originates from a nerve gas developed by Nazi Germany, and Dow sells about 5 million pounds of the chemical in the U.S. each year.

Public health experts, pediatricians and EPA scientists all agree that chlorpyrifos is unsafe for children at any level, Environmental Working Group Senior VP for government affairs Scott Faber said after Pruitt announcement. That overwhelming and uniform agreement among experts should have been all the information Administrator Pruitt needed to protect kids from this notorious neurotoxin. Yet, he decided instead to side with Croplife, Dow and the rest of chemical agriculture and allow chlorpyrifos to remain in use.

The government scientists found that chlorpyrifos is likely to adversely affect 1,778 of the 1,835 animals and plants in its study. Diazinon and malathion, which the World Health Organization announced as probable carcinogens in 2015, were similarly found to threaten vulnerable species.

But lawyers for the Dow subsidiary that sells chlorpyrifos called for the research to be withdrawn because its scientific basis was not reliable.

Malathion maker FMC Corp. said the withdrawal of the study will allow the necessary time for the best available scientific data to be compiled. Diazinon maker Makhteshim Agan of North America Inc. did not comment.

Dow donated $1 million to the presidential inauguration and the companys CEO, Liveris, leads Trumps advisory council on manufacturing. In February, Liveris received the signing pen after the president signed the Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda, an executive order aimed at eliminating regulations that Trump claims are damaging to the U.S. economy, but some worry that the measure will roll back critical environmental protections.

[facebook https://www.facebook.com/EcoWatch/videos/10158514147270301/ expand=1]

Dows director of public affairs Rachelle Schikorra told the AP that any suggestion that the company is trying to influence the new administrations regulatory decisions is completely off the mark.

Dow actively participates in policymaking and political processes, including political contributions to candidates, parties and causes, in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws, Schikorra said.
Science isnt everything. But it is crucial to governing, decision-making, protecting human health and the environment and resolving questions and challenges around our existence.

Those determined to advance industrial interests over all else often attack science. Weve seen it in Canada, with a decade of cuts to research funding and scientific programs, muzzling of government scientists and rejection of evidence regarding issues such as climate change.

Were seeing worse in the U.S. The new administration is proposing drastic cuts to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Institutes of Health, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA and others. Information about climate change and environmental protection is being scrubbed from government websites, and scientists are being muzzled. Meanwhile, the government is increasing spending on military and nuclear weapons programs.

Theres nothing wrong with challenging research, developing competing hypotheses and looking for flaws in studies. Thats how science works. But rejecting, eliminating, covering up or attacking evidence that might call into question government or industry prioritiesevidence that might show how those priorities could lead to widespread harmis unconscionable. Its galling to me because I traded a scientific career for full-time communication work because good scientific information helps people make the best decisions to take us into the future.

Many scientists prefer to work quietly, letting their research speak for itself. But recent attacks are galvanizing scientists and supporters throughout the U.S. and elsewhere. The March for Science on Earth Day, April 22, has been building steam for months. The main march will take place in Washington, DC, but more than 425 marches are planned around the world. That kicks off a week of action, culminating in the Peoples Climate March on April 29also focused on Washington but with satellite marches throughout the world.

The March for Science website says organizers are advocating for evidence-based policymaking, science education, research funding, and inclusive and accessible science.

The groups 850,000-member Facebook page is inspiring, with advocates, science educators, scientists, and concerned citizens sharing personal testimonials about their reasons for marching and why science is important to them, along with ideas for posters and slogans, questions about the march, articles about science and exposes of climate disinformation sent to schools and science teachers by the anti-science Heartland Institute.

March participants are a wide-ranging group, from a neuroscientist who is marching for the thousands of people suffering from spinal cord injury to sci-fi fans who are marching Because you cant have science fiction without science! to a scientist marching to honor the many, many women and young girls interested or involved in science to those marching because we know climate change is real.

Celebrating and advocating for science is a good way to mark Earth Day. Ill be in Ottawa, where a march is also taking place. David Suzuki Foundation senior editor Ian Hanington and I will launch our new book, Just Cool It!, at an Ottawa Writers Festival event that also features award-winning Nishnaabeg musician, scholar and writer Leanne Betasamosake Simpson.

Climate change is one area where anti-science rhetoric and actions at the highest levels of society are endangering human health and survival. Our book is a comprehensive look at the history and implications of climate science, the barriers to confronting the crisis and the many solutions required to resolve it.

Its discouraging to witness the current attacks on science, and the ever-increasing consequences of climate change, diminishing ocean health and other human-caused problems, but seeing so many people standing up for science and humanity is reason for optimism. Of all the many solutions to global warming and other environmental problems, none is as powerful as people getting together to demand change.

Every day should be Earth Day, but its good to have a special day to remind us of the importance of protecting the air, water, soil and biodiversity that we all depend on for health and survival. Politicians are supposed to work for the long-term well-being of people who elect them, not to advance the often short-sighted agendas of those who pay large sums of money to get their way regardless of the consequences. Standing together to make ourselves heard is one of the best ways to ensure they fulfill their responsibilities.
Ocean plastic has reached the northernmost ends of the earth. The remote and icy waters of the Arctic Ocean are also being inundated by this form of non-biodegradable pollution.

According to a paper published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, currents carrying trash, originating mostly from the North Atlantic, are flowing north into the Greenland and Barents Seas. An estimated 300 billion bits of plastic debris has accumulated in those waters, in sea ice or even the seafloor.

Researchers from the University of Cadiz in Spain and several other institutions found that in some parts of the Greenland and Barents Seas, concentrations of plastic were in the hundreds of thousands of pieces per square kilometer. The researchers dubbed the region a dead end for this plastic conveyor belt.

Its only been about 60 years since we started using plastic industrially, and the usage and the production has been increasing ever since. So most of the plastic that we have disposed of in the ocean is still now in transit to the Arctic, said Carlos Duarte, one of the studys co-authors and director of the Red Sea Research Center at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia.

The scientists warned that climate change could make the problem worse as rising temperatures melt sea ice.

The growing level of human activity in an increasingly warm and ice-free Arctic, with wider open areas available for the spread of microplastics, suggests that high loads of marine plastic pollution may become prevalent in the Arctic in the future, the paper stated.

The multinational team of scientists analyzed plastic debris from survey sites around the Arctic Ocean. Most of the plastic was in tiny fragments, mostly ranging from 0.5 millimeters to 12.6 millimeters. Fishing line, film or pellets were also uncovered.

Lead author Andres Cozar Cabanas, a professor of biology at the University of Cadiz, told the New York Times that he was both surprised and worried about the results.

We dont fully understand the consequences the plastic is having or will have in our oceans, he said. What we do know is that these consequences will be felt at greater scale in an ecosystem like this because it is unlike any other on Earth.
A tiny, scenic island lying off Scotlands west coast is truly a model for sustainable, off-grid living. With no mainland electricity connection, the Isle of Eigg gets its electricity from the water, the wind and the sun.

After decades of using diesel generators, in February 2008 the residents of Eigg officially switched to their own renewable electricity supply, becoming the worlds first community to launch an off-grid electric system.

The 12-square-mile island, with its small population of 105 residents, gets round-the-clock power via a combination of hydroelectric generators, wind turbines, a photovoltaic array and a bank of batteries. On days when renewable resources are low or during maintenance, two 80kW diesel generators provide backup.

The set-up that weve got now will carry the island all day and put charge into the batteries for the evening, John Booth, the former director of the community-owned Eigg Electric company, told the BBC.

On days when there is a surplus of powerlike when its particularly windy or rainyelectric heaters automatically switch on in Eiggs church and community hall, which is ideal for keeping shared spaces warm throughout the winter.



This means virtually no central heating in the system at all, Booth pointed out. We dont charge for it because the whole community benefits.

As the BBC detailed, before making the transition to renewables, the island relied on noisy and expensive diesel generators that could only run for a few hours a day. But with the new power system, energy is available 24 hours a day.

Eigg residents are encouraged to use their power responsibly. Each house has a maximum use limit at any one time of 5kW, which is enough for an electric kettle and washing machine to run at the same time, or fifty 100w light bulbs. Businesses get 10kW. Residents are fined if they use too much power but meters help keep electricity use on track.

The whole thing is run by and for the island, Booth said.

Researchers from all around the worldBrazil, Alaska and Malawihave visited the isle to learn how the unique system can be adapted elsewhere.
In the middle of my freshman year of high school, I started my fourth episode of homelessness. My parents, five brothers, and I migrated back and forth from relatives living rooms, motels, and family shelters for more than two years. By the time I graduated from high school, I had moved a total of 14 times.

Data from the research nonprofit Child Trends show significant growth in youth homelessness in the last decade. Since my own high school graduation in 2006, youth homelessness in the United States has increased from approximately 815,000 youths nationwide to more than 1.3 million youths in the 2013-14 school year, the most recent year for which data are available.

Experiencing homelessness as a child has a direct effect on academic achievement. In 2014, Americas Promise Alliance reported that youths affected by homelessness are 87 percent more likely to drop out of high school and, as a result, are more likely to become homeless as adults. Additionally, homeless youths have higher levels of physical trauma and social isolation when compared with their housed peers, including those living in poverty.

Youth homelessness is a devastating epidemic with negative outcomes for students across all racial groups. However, African-American students are disproportionately affected. African-American children represent 48 percent of all children living in homeless shelters, even though African-Americans make up only 14 percent of American families with children, according to Child Trends. Concurrently, a 2013 study of homeless youths in San Francisco from the California Homeless Youth Project found that homeless African-American youths are less likely to self-identify as homeless compared with their white peers, and thus fail to receive aid and services to which they are entitled.

Although my parents notified my school district of when we became homeless, I was unaware that anyone knew of our circumstances. I never spoke to any teachers, counselors, or administrators about my living conditions, and no one ever asked me about them. Keeping such a secret was extremely difficult, but fear of being reported to the Department of Social Services kept me silent. I spent more energy lying about where I lived than studying, and as a result my grades dropped dramatically.

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, federal legislation enacted in 1987, defines as homeless any child who doesnt have a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. That includes children from families who are doubling up in homes with relatives or other adults, as well as those living in shelters, motels, or cars. The McKinney-Vento Act established that homeless students have the right to transportation, free lunch, school supplies, tutoring, and school choice. In addition, students who are designated as homeless have the option of continuing to attend their current school or enrolling in the school closest to where they are currently residing.

Many teachers are often uninformed about homeless populations at their school."

In 2015, the McKinney-Vento Act was reauthorized under the Every Student Succeed Act and now requires school districts to increase outreach efforts for identifying homeless students and informing families of their legal rights. According to Education Department guidance on ESSA issued in June 2016, the amendment to the McKinney-Vento Act also requires school districts to disaggregate their student-achievement data and graduation rates to explicitly show the academic progress of their homeless youths. The improvements to McKinney-Vento are significant, but they are in vain if key stakeholders continue to be in the dark.

As a student experiencing homelessness, I wanted my teachers to attend to my social and emotional needs. But now, as a former high school and special education teacher myself, I understand why my teachers did not respond to my needs: They did not know. As a teacher, I never received training on the McKinney-Vento Act, nor was I informed that there were homeless youths at my school. The McKinney-Vento Act requires state coordinators to train district liaisons on identifying homeless students and implementing the policy. Each district liaison is then charged with disseminating the information to his or her respective school leaders and supporting the homeless youths identified. Teachers are not mandated to learn about the McKinney-Vento Act. Thus, many teachers are often uninformed about homeless populations at their school.

An overall lack of awareness of homelessness prevents homeless students from receiving support or even being identified. Principals and teachers should consider the following when creating a network of support for youths experiencing homelessness:

 Schoolwide training. The entire faculty should be trained and versed on the McKinney-Vento Act. Faculty members are in the best position to identify homeless youths and refer them to the district liaison for additional support.

 Student awareness. All students should know the McKinney-Vento Acts definition of homelessness and that the rights of homeless students are guaranteed.

 Meaningful relationships. Teachers should foster meaningful relationships with students to affirm that students well-being matters.

 Targeting the most vulnerable populations. African-American youths are overrepresented in the foster-care system, the special education system, and the penal system. African-Americans distrust for institutions is warranted, and it needs to be considered when identifying and supporting African-American youths experiencing homelessness. The school is responsible forestablishing trust with both the student and his or her guardians.

While housing insecurity is a societal issue well beyond the scope of public schools, educators have an obligation to ensure that all students receive a high-quality education. The first step to providing educational equity for homeless students is to identify who they are, what they need, and what resources can be made available to them.
States and school districts are girding for a little-known but tricky piece of the Every Student Succeeds Act: the requirement that states report per-pupil spending for all their schools, a level of detail unknown even to many district superintendents.

Without specific federal guidance so far, state finance officials must untangle the myriadand sometimes obscurecosts behind school operations to come up with a single figure for each of the nations 99,000 public schools.

Do transportation and school lunch count as a districts administrative costs, for example, or are they school costs? How do you split the expense of a bus that stops at several schools?

Its a big shift in how weve traditionally seen finance data, said Maureen Wentworth, the director of education data and information systems for the Council of Chief State School Officers. Its going to open a window of new conversation across states and districts.

Presenting school spending data in a comparable way to the public in annual school report cards starting in 2017-18, as ESSA requires, also could have dramatic political repercussions, according to district and state officials who have conducted such forensic audits in the past. The data could figure into everything from basic maintenance to the distribution of experienced teachers, the fate of magnet programs, and other sensitive policy decisions.

There are huge inequities in spending between some schools, said Marguerite Roza, a school finance professor at Georgetown University who has audited several districts budgets to figure out school-by-school spending. There are some schools that are successful with less money, and there are some that are not. With this information, states and districts can tell school principals, Youre expensive, but youre lagging compared to your peers. 

But some local budget directors warn that comparing school-by-school spending without the proper context can lead to faulty conclusions by parents and school board members.

Districts spend their money on thousands of things, they note. While teacher salaries make up the vast majority of the budget, districts also pay for transportation, textbooks, classroom supplies, building upkeep, and utilities. Those costs vary widely depending on a schools demographics, location, and the buildings age and condition, the officials point out.

Push for Transparency

When it comes time for the citizens of New Paltz, N.Y., to vote on their school districts budget, Richard Linden, the assistant superintendent for business, wont guide voters to the newly available school spending figures on the states report card.

Im not going to give my voters some sort of artificial thing because the feds want it, Linden said. Im not going to confuse my voters with that [school spending data], he said, because its garbage.

Average state and district per-pupil spending amounts typically are calculated in a pretty straightforward way: Take the amount of money spent and divide it by the number of students.

For many districts, though, the school-by-school spending breakdown has long been a sort of black box. District officials spend from a variety of accounts and make a series of subjective calls throughout the year to keep schools up and running.

During the drafting of ESSA, the 2015 revision of the No Child Left Behind Act, Republicans said a school-by-school accounting would provide more financial transparency, and Democrats said it would provide a sharp tool for advocates to close disparities between schools. Despite the requirements potential repercussions, it was barely mentioned during the debates leading up to ESSAs passage.

There are going to be growing pains just like we saw with data-reporting requirements under NCLB, said Noelle Ellerson Ng, associate executive director of policy and advocacy at AASA, the School Superintendents Association. If [district officials] dont help shape the narrative, these numbers are going to be subject to interpretation.

Some legislatures, such as those in Rhode Island and Washington state, have for years required the reporting of this level of school spending, though the data are hard to find on the states websites and are mostly used by practitioners and politicians. California placed school-by-school spending and teacher salaries in the lower half of its revised state report card earlier this year.

Some of this is predicated on states being thoughtful about how they present this information, said Brennan Parton, the associate director of state policy and advocacy at the Data Quality Campaign, an organization that works with state policymakers to improve data collection and use.

But other states are far less prepared to take on the task of school-by-school accounting.

Wyoming, for example, takes money from mineral-rich districts that collect more local tax revenue and sends some of that money to mineral-poor districts in the form of a block grant. Getting school-level spending numbers from the districts and then explaining to the public why one school may get more money than a school on the other side of town is a huge obstacle for us, said Jed Cicarelli, the school foundation supervisor at the Wyoming Department of Education.

The impetus is that they want communities and parents to be able to analyze resource inequities, Cicarelli said of federal lawmakers. Wyoming addresses that through our funding-model mechanism. The whole idea of our system is that we provide equitable resources based on district characteristics.

Officials in Rhode Island and Washington state, which already collect the school-level data, said it can be helpful in figuring out spending disparities and attaching actual figures in perennial battles over administrative expenses and charter vs. traditional public school costs.

This information brought to life a lot of the concepts being thrown around in political debates, said David Abbott, the Rhode Islands deputy education commissioner.

But Tim Ryan, the executive director of the Rhode Island local superintendents association, also warned that it would be naive to judge budgets solely by the flat amount of spending by schools.

The key is looking at proportion of spending, he said. The higher percentage of a schools budget thats going into classroom instruction is what matters. You want to make sure districts are putting their resources to do the most good.

Using the Data

Seattle and Memphis, Tenn., offer examples of how school-level data can inform the policy debate.

Seattle, as part of a statewide initiative, several years ago began reporting school-by-school spending on a wide range of items, including how much schools received for teachers, counselors, and custodians.

The spreadsheet, a link to which is buried on the state education departments website, has been heavily relied upon as the legislature works to come up with a new funding formula in response to a state supreme court ruling that called its school spending unconstitutional.

But the data have distorted some of the debate, said JoLynn Berge, Seattles assistant superintendent for business and finance.

Everyone wants every dollar to go to the classroom, said Berge. Do you want your kid to get to the school first? Whos going to feed them when they get there?

In Memphis, school officials last year surveyed their principals on the issue of spending, and almost half said they thought funds were being distributed unfairly. The district, amid a budget deficit and the risk of schools being taken over by the state for poor performance, responded with an audit to better understand school-by-school spending.

Disparities between schools became apparent, said Lin Johnson III, the districts chief financial officer. The district now is debating whether to shift a large portion of its budget to serve its most academically struggling students and give principals more autonomy on school spending.

What were able to do is link that spending to student outcomes, Johnson said. Are the resources were spending on a child being spent efficiently and effectively?
Vietnam shrimp exports slightly decline in first 2 months

Vietnamese shrimp export in the first two months fell slightly, by 0.1%, in value compared with the same period last year, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said.

It said exports in the two-month period reached nearly US$378 million. Export value in January reached $198.7 million, down 12.6% over the same period in 2016, while in February, it increased 18.7%.

Several factors attributed to the decrease in shrimp exports included the increase in technical barriers from importing markets, the decrease in the demand for shrimps in the world market, limited supply of raw shrimp, and increased price of raw shrimp that caused factories to scale down purchase of raw materials for production.

The top 10 markets during the first two months were Japan, the EU, the US, China, South Korea, Canada, Australia, ASEAN, Taiwan and Switzerland, in that order. They accounted for 95.4% of Vietnamese shrimp exports.

Japan accounted for 21.4% of total shrimp exports, the EU 19.5% and the US 18.6%.

In the first two months, Vietnamese shrimp exports to Japan were valued at $81 million, up 33.6% from last year. Exports to the EU grew 16.2% to $73.7 million; South Korea 18.8%; and Canada 16.6%.

Value of exports in the first two months to the US was down 25% at $70.4 million and to China by 8.6%.
Sartfell still closed off after unexploded ordnance discovery

An area in the west of the Island remains sealed off following the discovery of unexploded ordnance.

The items are believed to be World War II mortars, but have been judged to be low priority.

The British military is sending officials to the Island to ensure the controlled disposal of the ordnance within seven days.

The police have cordoned off the Sartfell area in the meantime, but insist the risk to the public is low.
Chief Minister insists Island ready for new UK Government



Chief Minister Howard Quayle MHK

The Chief Minister insists the Island is ready whatever the result of the UK's upcoming General Election.

British Prime Minister Theresa May announced that the UK will go to the polls on June 8th in a snap election.

Howard Quayle has emphasised the importance of building on the Isle of Man's relationship with the United Kingdom since taking up his role, particularly in the wake of Brexit.

Mr Quayle insists the Manx Government has been making connections across UK political parties so will be able to work with the next British Government, regardless of the outcome.
"Pirates of the Caribbean 5" footage has revealed that Keira Knightley will return as Elizabeth Swann.

According to The Independent, a previous trailer for "Pirates of the Caribbean 5" already indicated Orlando Bloom's return as Will Turner. Upon his return, he is now a barnacle covered-mess as he took over command of The Flying Dutchman after his death which occurred at the end of the "Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End."

Currently, the Japanese trailer for the "Pirates of the Caribbean 5" has debut surprising the avid supporters of the movie as Keira Knightley returns as Elizabeth Swann. It was also noted that Knightley's role is likely a little more than a brief role.

Moreover, Metro has learned that Knightley admittedly that she doesn't actually do much in the trailer. In fact, she just stares off into the middle distance as the wind blew her hair like a good adventurous protagonist.

It can be remembered that Elizabeth was last seen in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" way back in 2007. She raised Henry and she waited for Will to accomplish his responsibilities in the Netherworld.

The "Pirates of the Caribbean 5" will also feature Johnny Depp's unstoppable scalawag as he faces a new enemy in the form of former subordinate Captain Salazar, which was portrayed by Javier Bardem. As Captain Salazar escapes from the grasps of the Devil's Triangle he will be impelled with a mission to slay all living pirates, specifically targeting Sparrow.

It was also mentioned that the "Pirates of the Caribbean 5" has boast the usual formula for the movie's vehicle as the supernatural crew of Salazar's fight against Sparrow and a young, beautiful lass named Carina Smyth portrayed by Kaya Scodelario and a lad named Henry, who was a Brenton Thwaites' Royal Navy sailor and son of Elizabeth and Will.

"Pirates of the Caribbean 5" entitled "Dead Man Tales" in the US and "Salazar's Revenge" in the UK is set to hit big screens on May 26, 2017.
The Hajime malware family, which was first uncovered [PDF] by Rapidity Networks researchers last fall, is increasingly competing with the Mirai botnet to infect Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Unlike Mirai, which uses hardcoded addresses for its command and control (C&C) server, Hajime is built on a peer-to-peer network, Symantec senior threat researcher Waylon Grange notes in a blog post examining the threat. There isnt a single C&C server address, instead the controller pushes command modules to the peer network and the message propagates to all the peers over time. This is typically considered a more robust design as it makes takedowns more difficult.

Hajime also does far more to conceal itself than Mirai, and allows the author to open a shell script to any infected machine at any time. It is apparent from the code that a fair amount of development time went into designing this worm, Grange writes.

Symantec estimates that Hajimes peer-to-peer network numbers in the tens of thousands of devices, with the majority of infections in Brazil, Iran, Thailand and the Russian Federation.

Malware Without a Cause

Still, its not clear at this point what Hajimes purpose is  while it does install a backdoor, it doesnt leverage that access to launch DDoS attacks or deliver malicious code. It just diplays the following message every 10 minutes: Just a white hat, securing some systems. Important messages will be signed like this! Hajime Author. Contact CLOSED Stay sharp!

To the authors credit, once the worm is installed it does improve the security of the device, Grange writes. It blocks access to ports 23, 7547, 5555 and 5358, which are all ports hosting services known to be exploitable on many IoT devices. Mirai is known to target some of these ports.

But its impossible to know what the authors real intentions may be. The power of this number of bot soldiers can be used in many various ways, Imperva director of security research Itsik Mantin told eSecurity Planet by email. Are we expected to see from this botnet intensive DDoS attacks on victim Web servers like Mirai, distributed brute force attempts on login pages, or scanning websites for SQL injection vulnerabilities?

What most disturbs me here is the fact that this trend is likely to stay with us for at least a couple of years, Mantin added. Existing botnets remain active until the devices are patched or retired, which in IoT devices can take years. Moreover, new connected devices are continually being released to the field without adequate protection, providing easy prey for the next IoT worm.

Proactive Steps to Take

Symantecs Grange suggests taking the following steps to protect IoT devices on your network:

Research the capabilities and security features of an IoT device before purchase

Perform an audit of IoT devices used on your network

Change the default credentials on devices. Use strong and unique passwords for device accounts and Wi-Fi networks

Use a strong encryption method when setting up Wi-Fi network access (WPA)

Disable features and services that are not required

Disable Telnet login and use SSH where possible

Disable Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) on routers unless absolutely necessary

Modify the default privacy and security settings of IoT devices according to your requirements and security policy

Disable or protect remote access to IoT devices when not needed

Use wired connections instead of wireless where possible

Regularly check the manufacturers website for firmware updates

Ensure that a hardware outage does not result in an unsecure state of the device

According to the results of a recent Lieberman Software survey of almost 160 RSA Conference attendees, more than 80 percent of IT professionals worry about the potential for attacks originating through their IoT devices.

While 40 percent of respondents have more than 500 IoT devices on their network, more than 50 percent admitted they dont have a process for changing default passwords on IoT devices.

The responses to this survey are a good representation of the emerging threat of unsecured IoT devices, Lieberman Software president and CEO Philip Lieberman said in a statement. Every one of these connected devices has an administrative back door that poses a risk.
The Pound was able to recover from a slight drop against the US Dollar overnight as UK politicians hit the campaign trail earlier today, after the House of Commons overwhelmingly voted to hold a snap election on June the 8th.

Sterling has been buoyed by the call for an early election as markets predict it will grant Prime Minister Theresa May a greater majority in parliament and give her the mandate to pursue her plans to leave the single market, whilst presenting a more unified front in the upcoming Brexit negotiations.

The most recent polling data suggests that the Conservatives enjoy a 24 point lead over Labour, with the parties polling 48% and 24% respectively, leading investors to strike a more hawkish stance towards the Pound.

Strategists at Deutsche Bank, said in a note on Tuesday, [The election] is in our view a game-changer for both the U.K.s Brexit negotiations and Sterling. We have been structurally bearish on sterling for the last two years but are now changing view. We are closing out all our bearish FX trades. We intend to review our sterling forecasts in coming days.

However Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn has claimed that the result is not yet a foregone conclusion and vows to change the poll's course as he begins campaigning today, although he faces quite the uphill battle in order to convince the electorate that he is a viable alternative to Theresa May.

Meanwhile the US Dollar remains weakened by concerns over US foreign policy as Trumps administration continues to strike a more aggressive tone in both Asia and the Middle East.

The US has taken an increasingly hard-line stance against North Korea over the past couple of weeks as Trumps administration has been matching the isolated nations usual rhetoric and threats with its own warnings as it says the era for strategic patience is over, prompting fears that the US could take military action against Pyongyang.

Markets fear that conflict could also erupt in the Middle East as the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson accused Iran of alarming ongoing provocations.

Tillerson also warned, An unchecked Iran has the potential to travel the same path as North Korea and to take the world along with it.

USD investors are worried that the US governments increasing focus on its foreign policy, could potentially cause Trumps economic promises of increased stimulus spending and tax reforms to be left in limbo.

Looking ahead the GBP USD exchange rate may advance this afternoon as the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index is expected to plummet from 32.8 to 25.0 in April, suggesting that activity in the US manufacturing sector continues to slow after reaching a high of 43.3 in February.

Meanwhile Bank of England (BoE) Governor Mark Carney will speak in Washington later this afternoon to discuss the international economic situation, with the possibility for the Pound to weaken if he hints towards a dovish outlook for the UK economy in the face of Brexit.
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  Emirates, the Middle Easts largest airline, slashed its flights to the United States by 20 percent Wednesday, blaming a drop in demand on tougher U.S. security measures and Trump administration attempts to ban travelers from some Muslim-majority nations.

The Dubai government-owned carriers decision is the strongest sign yet that new measures imposed on U.S.-bound travelers from the Mideast could be taking a financial toll on fast-growing Gulf carriers that have expanded rapidly in the U.S.

Dubai was one of 10 cities in Muslim-majority countries affected by a ban on laptops and other personal electronics in carry-on luggage aboard U.S.-bound flights.

Emirates hub at Dubai International Airport, the worlds third-busiest, is also a major transit point for travelers who were affected by President Donald Trumps executive orders temporarily halting entry to citizens of six countries.

The latest travel ban suspended new visas for people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and froze the nations refugee program. Like an earlier ban that also included Iraqi citizens, it has been blocked from taking effect by the courts.

Emirates said the flight reductions will affect five of its 12 U.S. destinations, with the first cutbacks starting next month.

The recent actions taken by the U.S. government relating to the issuance of entry visas, heightened security vetting, and restrictions on electronic devices in aircraft cabins, have had a direct impact on consumer interest and demand for air travel into the U.S., the carrier said in a statement.

Emirates does not provide financial data for its U.S. operations or individual routes, but said it had seen healthy growth and performance there until the start of the year.

Since Trump has been in office, however, there has been what it called a significant deterioration in the booking profiles on all our U.S. routes, across all travel segments.

It said it is responding as any profit-oriented enterprise would and will use the capacity freed up by the culled routes elsewhere on its network.

The Americas region, which also includes routes to Canada and Latin America, accounted for 14 percent of the $22.75 billion in revenue Emirates pulled in during the fiscal year through the end of March 2016.

Emirates half-year profit fell 75 percent to $214 million in the last period the company has disclosed, through last September  before the U.S. election. Executives cited increased investments including aircraft purchases and the repayment of bonds, and said a bleak economic outlook in many parts of the world was reducing travel demand.

Robert Mann, an aviation consultant in Port Washington, New York, said business travel between the U.S. and the Middle East has clearly been hurt by the ban on gadgets, while the attempted visa bans have put a damper on leisure travel from the countries targeted.

Neither factor is a good thing for the Middle Eastern carriers who are primarily affected, he said.

The cuts will reduce the number of U.S.-bound flights from Dubai to 101, down from 126 currently.

Twice daily Emirates flights to Boston, Los Angeles and Seattle will fall to once a day. Daily flights to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando will be pared to five per week.

Andrew Lannon, a Canadian attorney based in Dubai, arrived in Fort Lauderdale for vacation on an Emirates flight Wednesday and said passengers had to check their electronics, which made the 18-hour flight difficult because he couldnt work.

Passengers were then told upon landing they would have to wait on the plane for an hour while their bags were checked, but were then let off after 20 minutes, Lannon said, adding that it took another hour for most passengers to clear customs.

Kevin Mitchell, head of the Business Travel Coalition in the U.S., said all the Gulf carriers are probably losing business because of the security measures and attempted travel bans, and that will hurt consumers.

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.

For consumers it means higher prices, fewer choices, less connectivity, Mitchell said.

Like its smaller Gulf rivals Qatar Airways and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, Emirates has ramped up its U.S. presence and recently launched a new service to Newark via Athens.

Several big U.S. carriers and their pilot unions have bristled at the Gulf airlines U.S. push, accusing them of flooding the market with capacity while receiving billions of dollars of unfair government subsidies.

Emirates and its Gulf rivals deny the allegations.

Despite a vigorous lobbying and public relations campaign, the U.S. carriers were unable to persuade the Obama administration to block further expansion by Gulf airlines. But U.S. airline executives made a personal pitch to restrict their access during a White House meeting with Trump earlier this year.

Jill Zuckman, a spokeswoman for the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies campaign opposing more U.S. routes for the Gulf carriers, was quick to seize on Emirates decision.

The fact is, market demand has never played a role when the Gulf carriers decide where to fly. It is well-known that the Gulf carriers, including Emirates, lose money on most of their flights to the United States and are propped up by billions of dollars in government cash, she said.

The U.S. travel industry, already fretting that the ban on travelers from a number of Muslim-majority nations is affecting foreign travel generally to the United States, expressed fresh concern after Emirates announcement, however.

The aftermath of 9/11 taught us that we cant take either global understanding or U.S. market share for granted, said Jonathan Grella, executive vice president the U.S. Travel Association. Every limiting security message needs to be offset by a sincere welcome to legitimate, lawful travelers.
Even as the growth of craft beers market share has slowed somewhat in the last year, statistics show that hop-forward beers like IPAs continue to expand in popularity.

As competition amongst IPAs has increased, brewers have taken advantage of the steady stream of new hop varieties being released to highlight particular hop flavors in their beers. Knowing which hops impart what flavors makes it easier to pick the right IPA from amongst the masses.

No dive into hop styles is complete without first mentioning Cascade. This veteran hop has been around for the entire history of the beer renaissance and has been the signature hop for many beers along the way, though often without billing.

Its hallmark is a fresh grapefruit flavor and aroma that started the movement toward hops with fruity character. Some classic beers showcasing Cascade are Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale and Anchor Liberty Ale.

German hop growers, who until recently grew almost exclusively traditional noble hops, have jumped on the fruity hop bandwagon. Mandarina Bavaria and Hallertau Mandarina are similar new German hops that give mandarin orange and pineapple flavors. They are featured prominently in a number of beers such as Skas Modus Mandarina and the soon-to-be-released New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juicy Mandarina IPA.

Even more fruity is a new Australian hop variety, Galaxy, which is the poster child for the juicy IPA trend. Juicy IPAs focus on maximizing fruity hop character while toning down bitterness levels.

Galaxy imparts a riot of tropical fruit flavors including mango and passion fruit. Production of Galaxy is still relatively small, so that will limit the number of all-Galaxy beer in the near future, but Clown Shoes Galactica is one locally available example.

Some fruity hops also carry other types of flavors as undertones. The appropriately named Citra hop gives an intense citrus flavor which favors lemon and orange over grapefruit.

Used in moderate amounts, its a very pleasant flavor. Quite unlike Cascade, however, when used in high doses, it adds a heavy herbaceous and resiny character that drinkers tend to either love or hate. New Belgium Citradelic and Prairie Funky Gold Citra are two that give the hop character a prominent place.

Mosaic, introduced in 2012, is no longer the latest hot hop, but it continues to be very popular in single-hop beers thanks to the nuances in its flavor. It brings rose and generally flowery notes, freshly cut grass, papaya and berries to beers liberally dosed with its cones. The Lone Pint Brewerys Yellow Rose IPA is a good example of an all-Mosaic beer.

I recently compared the batches of this beer with date codes from Jan. 10 and March 27 of this year. Usually the fresher the better is a watchword of IPAs, but in this beers case, the younger one was overpowered by a pungent grassy character, but the older one had mellowed to reveal the flavor complexity that gave this hop its name. If you try to age this beer to let the flavors mature, be sure to keep it refrigerated along the way.

Hoppy beers with a heavy herbal character are particularly popular on the west coast, where brewers have appropriated the term dank from the marijuana lexicon to describe them. Beers using Chinook, Columbus, Nugget or Apollo hops will tend toward this flavor profile, though brewers of these kinds of IPAs usually refer to their resiny, herbaceous character rather than call out a particular hop in the name or description. Cedar Creek Dankosaurus and Lagunitas The Waldos Special Ale are pungent examples.

Hops have grown into an entire spice cabinet for creative brewers, so when you see a list of IPAs, think about it as a menu of different flavors, not just a bunch of IBUs.

Markus Haas is the beer writer for the Express-News. He can be reached at mhaas@express-news.net or on Twitter via @saen_beerguy.
Passing rates for fifth- and eighth-graders who took Texas standardized reading test were down compared to last year at most traditional public school districts in Bexar County, according to data released Tuesday.

Results on the math exams for both grades were mixed, with passing rates increasing in some districts and dropping in others.

Statewide averages for the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or the STAAR, likely will not be available until next week, said DeEtta Culbertson, a Texas Education Agency spokeswoman.

Comparisons with earlier years were made difficult by changes in who took the test. Beginning this spring, the state stopped administering two versions of the STAAR: one accommodating some special-needs students and another designed for English-language learners. Instead, those students took the main test online with accommodations embedded that included text-to-speech and language supports.

What used to be three separate tests is now all available in one test that is available online, Culbertson said in an email.

The change also allowed school districts to administer the general STAAR test online to all students if they chose.

Combining the scores from the three groups of test-takers last year and comparing them to this years total at North East Independent School District showed an 11-percentage-point increase in the passing rate this year for eighth grade math  not the 4-point increase shown when only the main versions of the test are compared, said Pauline Dow, associate superintendent for instruction at North East.

In mathematics, were really happy with our results, she said. And all our middle school campuses showed improvement in math. So I think thats the big thing for us.

The results were from the first administration of the test. Students who didnt pass will get two more chances this spring. Fifth- and eighth-graders need to pass reading and math to be promoted to the next grade.

Dow said shes confident the second round of STAAR testing will help North East students bring up passage rates in reading, which declined for both fifth and eighth grades compared to last year.

Legislation passed two years ago shortened the math exams by 14 questions and the reading exams by eight questions. The passing standards were slightly more rigorous than last year, according to the TEA. Fifth-graders had to correctly answer 22 out of 38 reading questions and 17 out of 36 math questions to pass. Eighth-graders needed to get 25 out of 44 answers in reading and 20 out of 42 answers in math.

The agency also changed the language describing how well the test-takers did. Students who passed now are labeled approaches, and those who achieved a higher level are called meets. The meets level, which is comparable to what was called final in years past, indicates that the student has more than a 60 percent chance of passing college-level introductory math and English courses.

The most advanced level is now called masters. It reflects the standards used by the national SAT and ACT exams, meaning students have more than a 75 percent chance of passing the introductory college courses, according to the TEA.

Saul Hinojosa, superintendent of Somerset ISD, said he was mostly surprised by his districts results. In reading, students slid back 6 percentage points in fifth grade and a striking 17 points in eighth grade compared to last years scores.

Were going to begin looking at our teachers, were going to look at our curriculum  theres a lot of factors that you have to look at, Hinojosa said. So were going to take them apart and see why we had such a decline in performance.

He said he looks forward to seeing the STAAR results after students retake it in May, because the second round of testing usually helps boost their numbers.

In eighth grade math, only 21 percent of Somerset students passed. But Hinojosa said this was one score that didnt surprise him. Only 19 students took that test  compared to more than 300 who took the reading test  and of those, he said, 10 are in special education. The ones who didnt take the math test are taking algebra, typically a 9th grade course, which means they dont have to take the eighth-grade math STAAR, just an end-of-course exam.

When you look at most schools, they have their honors kids take the algebra exam. We challenge all our kids in the eighth grade to take the algebra exam, and weve had success, he said.

Hinojosa said that while special education students do get accommodations when taking the STAAR, like being read the exam aloud or taking it in a smaller classroom setting, it doesnt ease the rigor of the test.

Ultimately, we want all of our students to be successful. But its such a small sample, and its for kids that are struggling the most, so this is the test we feel was appropriate for them. Twenty-one percent is not acceptable, but I just want to point that out, he said.

East Central ISD was hit pretty hard in its eighth grade scores, with only 62 percent passing in reading and 45 percent in math.

The scores dropped 13 and 14 percentage points, respectively, from last year, though Ashley Chohlis, director of leadership development at the district, said East Central doesnt put great stock in those numbers.

While we use that piece of data, we use it like we use every piece of data. Its one indicator amongst many indicators, Chohlis said. And were proud of our kids and teachers and community and how hard they work.

Were all about improvement, were always chasing to do better for our kids, Chohlis said. We want every kid to pass STAAR and pass every performance assessment. We want every kid to be the absolute best they can be. Do we need to improve? I dont care if our STAAR scores were 97 percent  we always want to improve, thats three percent on the table there.

South San Antonio ISDs passing rate in fifth-grade reading dropped 11 percentage points compared to last year. Principals are meeting with teams of teachers to dive into the data and have have targeted interventions for the next 13 days, said Delinda Castro, the districts chief academic officer.

Still, the district tries to look beyond STAAR, she said.

In general, we are never comfortable with test scores, whether it's an increase or decrease, Castro said. When we made an 8-point increase in middle school reading last year, our reaction was, What could we have done to increase student outcomes even more? Although we want our students to perform well on STAAR, our greater goal for them is to be college and career ready.

Some districts saw double-digit gains in their math scores, including Judson ISD for its eighth-graders and Southside ISD in both the fifth and eighth grades. Southside, after earning some of the lowest math scores in Bexar County last year, invested in professional development and instituted mini-assessments every three weeks that required teachers to adjust instruction where needed, spokeswoman Sylvia Rincon said.

We continue to invest in a systematic approach and this takes time, Rincon said in an email. We are cautiously optimistic that with continued investment, we will be a shining star, but this does not happen overnight.

amalik@express-news.net

sfosterfrau@express-news.net
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Ian Oldaker, the Alamos former chief operations officer, resigned in March after agreeing to repay more than $1,600 in personal expenses that did not qualify for reimbursement, according to records obtained by the San Antonio Express-News through the Texas Public Information Act.

A spreadsheet document showed that Oldaker accrued $1,661.42 in personal expenses that were unauthorized, or for which there were no receipts, using a credit card issued through Alamo Complex Management, a subsidiary of the nonprofit Alamo Endowment, whose board is chaired by Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush.

Oldaker, hired 10 month earlier, agreed to assume financial responsibility for expenses that did not qualify for reimbursement, including a $200 painting, a whiskey cake and gifts for a Spurs player and a visiting princess.

Oldaker previously was vice president of operations and planning for nearly a decade at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York. He has not responded to calls from the Express-News concerning his resignation and credit card expenses.

Some of his expenses were authorized and reimbursed, records show. They include a Thanksgiving meal for working Alamo employees, and a legislators luncheon. But there were 13 expenses that had no receipt as supporting documentation, or that were deemed to be unauthorized, according to the spreadsheet released by the Land Offices public information officer.

The rejected reimbursement requests included a $20.08 tab at Hooters; a $200 Franco Mondini-Ruiz painting; eight unspecified Amazon purchases totaling nearly $600; and expenses associated with outside nonprofits  a lunch with the Alamo Defenders Descendants Association, and an unexplained payment to the San Antonio Area Tourism Council.

Unspecified food expenses included a $74.51 whiskey cake, and five tabs totaling $177.85 at Dough Pizza, Dunkin Donuts, Oro Restaurant and Jerrys Chicago Style Hot Dogs.

There were also gifts for Spurs player Pau Gasol and Princess Astrid of Belgium, who visited the Alamo in December.

Oldaker was hired by Alamo Complex Management to manage operations of the Texas shrine. But the Texas General Land Office, the state agency overseeing the state-owned historic complex, announced on March 6  the anniversary of the famous battle  that he had resigned. No reason was given for his resignation.

Douglass McDonald, a consultant providing management leadership at ACM, said that there are only about three credit cards issued by the nonprofit subsidiary for Alamo business expenses. McDonald said it was Oldakers decision to resign, and that he would not want to speculate as to what his reasons were.

Sometimes its merely the fact that you cant provide documentation, McDonald said, speaking generally about reimbursement requests that are rejected. That becomes the employees personal obligation. Any employee who cannot provide required documentation on a corporate card is required to personally pay for those expenses.

McDonald said the document was just evidence that the Alamo is well managed. The unauthorized credit card expenses come at a time when Bush and the Land Office have requested $75 million from the Legislature for Alamo operations and improvements under a conceptual master plan during the 2018-2019 biennium.

The General Land Office takes stewardship issues very seriously and its a pleasure to be working with them, McDonald said. We have clear standards of accountability, and all of our current and former employees understand what the standards are, and there are no issues here.

Brittany Eck, General Land Office spokesperson, said in an email that all Alamo operations staff are employed by ACM, the designated vendor. The income earned through Alamo operations, including revenues from the gift shop, tours, photography and private events, are deposited in the Alamo Complex account, a general revenue fund in the state treasury, and is used to pay Alamo employees salaries and expenses.

Eck said Alamo Complex Management submits multiple reports to the Land Office each month to ensure state oversight of the state-owned assets at the complex.

These include the balance sheet, operating expenses (credit card expenses, utilities, phone bill, etc.), income statement (Event Network/gift shop, photography, tours, etc.), credit card revenues and receivables, Eck said.

elutz@express-news.net

shuddleston@express-news.net
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The Battle of San Jacinto  the pivotal moment when Texas won its independence from Mexico  was brutal, furious and fast.

It was over in just 18 minutes. The underdogs, a badly outnumbered Texian army led by commander in chief Sam Houston, surprised and decimated sleeping Mexican army troops overseen by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna on April 21, 1836.

The death toll made clear the battle was a decisive rout  only nine Texans were killed, while more than 600 Mexican soldiers, roughly half of the Mexican army, perished on land where the San Jacinto Monument now stands, in the Gulf Coast city of La Porte. The other half of the Mexican army was allowed to surrender.

It, to this day, is really one of the most studied battles in human history because of the fact that a small number of men overwhelmed and literally destroyed a higher number of men within 18 minutes, said General Jerry Tubbs of the modern-day Texas Army.

But there were much greater ramifications of Texas stunning victory.

The Battle of San Jacinto was one of those circumstances where not only was independence won, but a nation was born. The battle ... won us our independence as a nation for 10 years, said Larry Spasic, president of the San Jacinto Museum of History. Thats something that is not often found in history - a single battle leading to the independence of a Mexican state and the establishment of a nation.

The upshot of that was Mexico lost half her territory; the United States of America gained almost a million square miles of territory .... This made the United States of America a bicoastal nation, with the Pacific Ocean protecting us in the West and the Atlantic Ocean protecting us in the East.

The victory became so celebrated that San Antonios famous The Battle of Flowers Parade began in 1891 as the citys way of paying homage to the Alamo dead and the heroes of San Jacinto, according to the 1990 book A Century of Fiesta in San Antonio written by Jack Maguire. That longstanding tradition continues  this years parade will be on April 28.

Santa Anna lost the battle partly because he did not post appropriate guards to keep watch and partly because he underestimated the Texian Army, Spasic said.

That army that stormed to triumph included farmers, lawyers, doctors and trappers who acted as though they were volunteer Army, he said. The group had been defeated every time they had previously met the Mexican army.

Many of the Texian soldiers knew someone who had been killed at Goliad or at the Alamo - or had family members that had been killed, Spasic said. It was a brutal battle at San Jacinto. There is no doubt about it. There were men who were not disciplined, militarily trained units who were fighting for their lives and were fighting for vengeance.

Santa Anna wasnt captured that day, but fled on a horse and became stuck in a marsh, where he was caught the next day, said San Antonio resident Martin Vasquez, who portrays the defeated Mexican general in the 2017 San Jacinto Day Festival and Battle Reenactment, happening Saturday in La Porte. Santa Anna eventually signed the Treaties of Velasco, including one that acknowledged Texas independence.

Saturdays festival and battle reenactment will take place on the grounds surrounding the San Jacinto Monument from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. The battle reenactment, which draws more spectators than anything else at the festival, will begin promptly at 3 p.m. So far, 220 history actors have signed up to play roles in that event.

pohare@express-news.net
April 19

Adrian J. Berry, 32, of Elko was arrested at the Elko County Jail for harassment and disturbing the peace. Bail: $995

Anthony J. Childers, 34, of Heyburn, Idaho, was arrested on U.S. Highway 93 at mile marker 131 for fugitive felon from justice. No bail listed.

Amanda M. Crawford, 38, of Midvale, Utah, was arrested at 1045 Wendover Blvd. for possession of a controlled substance, use or possession of drug paraphernalia, and forgery. Bail: $11,000

RJ Emmel, 29, of Midvale, Utah, was arrested at 1045 Wendover Blvd. for possession to sell a controlled substance, trafficking a controlled substance, intent to utter a fictitious bill, note or check, forgery, and resisting a public officer. Bail: $95,500

Gomezinda R. Nevarez, 50, of Wendover, Utah, was arrested at 101 Wendover Blvd. on a warrant charging probation violation. No bail listed.

Christian R. Olsen, 36, of Salt Lake City was arrested at 1045 Wendover Blvd. for possession of a controlled substance, intent to utter fictitious bill, note or check, use or possession of drug paraphernalia. Bail: $11,000

Grant R. Smith, 61, of Carlin was arrested at 903 Main St. in Carlin on a warrant for failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor. No bail listed.

Sandra K. Smith, 48, of Elko was arrested at 340 Commercial St. on a warrant charging three counts of failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor. Bail: $1,549

Roxanna Weeks, 39, of Spring Creek was arrested at the Elko County Jail for battery and disturbing the peace. No bail listed.

The charges listed above do not imply guilt. Under the law, everyone is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
On this 100th anniversary of Americas entry into World War I, well take a brief look at the contribution made by the Holt family and their Caterpillar tractors to the war efforts of several nations, as well as to what was probably the most significant technological development of the war, the military tank.

Senior military commanders everywhere have always been firmly rooted in tradition and usually prepare and equip their forces to fight the last war.

For example, in 1910 a wealthy Hungarian farmer ordered a Holt tractor and was so pleased with its performance that he became a Holt dealer with exclusive rights to sell the American tractors in Austro-Hungary and Germany.

The Austro-Hungarian army was duly impressed with the Holt tractors, but the German high command was not, much to their regret when their horse-drawn transport bogged down in the mud of France.

Demonstrating tractors

The U.S. Army was equally obtuse and brushed off Ben C. Holts pre-war letters offering to demonstrate the Caterpillar tractors. Finally, grudging permission was given for a 1915 demonstration of a Holt 75 at the Rock Island Arsenal-provided Holt paid all the expenses.

This test, along with other later ones, showed that Holt crawler tractors could pull heavy artillery pieces and supplies through mud and over terrain that defeated even the famous Army Mule and at about one-third the cost.

Meanwhile, though shipments from America to the Central Powers-Germany and her allies had been prohibited, Great Britain, France and Russia bought large numbers of Holt tractors beginning shortly after war broke out in 1914, with some 1,200 shipped to the Allies by September 1916.

In March 1916, forces led by Mexican revolutionary leader, Pancho Villa, attacked Columbus, New Mexico, and the Armys nearby Camp Furlong, looting the town and killing soldiers and civilians.

When General Pershing took the U.S. Army Punitive Expedition against Villa into Mexico a few weeks later, Holt Caterpillar tractors went along.

Pershing later wrote, The expedition into Mexico would have been impossible without the tractor and motor truck.

Breaking the deadlock

In 1915, as fighting on the Western Front settled into a stalemate between two strongly fortified lines of trenches, the French, English and Germans all searched for ways to break the deadlock.

A British Army engineering colonel named Ernest D. Swinton had been told by a friend in 1914 that he had just seen a Yankee machine they call a Holt Caterpillar Tractor, and that, This machine climbs like hell.

With this germ of an idea, Swinton recommended a crawler-type machine that could climb a 5-foot wall, cross an 8-foot trench, run 4 MPH, carry several 6-pound guns, and that would have 10mm steel armor.

The British Army brass, typically, wasnt interested, but someone got to the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, who quickly saw the benefits of such a fighting vehicle and got the prime minister, Lloyd George, interested.

So the first tanks were developed under the auspices of the Royal Navy and, after many dead ends, including trials of the American Bullock and Killen-Strait tractors, a British agricultural machinery maker, Fosters of Lincoln, began making tanks that bore no resemblance to Holt machines, although they did run on tracks.

Use of tanks

The first use of tanks in battle was in September 1916, at Flers, during the battle of the Somme. The machines were deployed in groups of two or three, and of the 49 in the attack, 36 managed to reach the front line, while only 27 reached the Germans and just six broke through.

Although the few tanks that didnt break down, get lost or stuck in shell holes, or that werent destroyed by enemy artillery, were able to flatten barbed wire barriers, destroy machine guns, and panic German troops, the debut of this new weapon of war wasnt at all impressive

Press reports, however, greatly exaggerated the tanks effectiveness, especially in America, and artists who had never laid eyes on a tank rendered drawings of fantastic machines crushing terrified enemy troops.

The prestigious Scientific American reported on the new wonder and gave its readers the impression the tank was an adaptation of a Holt tractor. Many Americans believed Ben Holt had actually invented the tank!

When the U.S. entered the war in April 1917, the Holt factories went on a war footing and by the time of the 1918 Armistice had made more than 5,000 Caterpillar tractors for the U.S. and the Allies. Training tractor drivers. Bens son, William, went to France as an Army lieutenant and was responsible for training artillery tractor drivers.

A nephew, Pliny Holt, worked for the Ordnance Department and developed self-propelled tracked-type mounts for artillery pieces. Colonel Swinton visited the United States in April 1918, and stopped in Stockton where he met Ben Holt and made a speech to the Holt workers praising the Caterpillar tractors and the workers contribution to the war effort.

The Holt Manufacturing Company not only made a significant contribution to the Allied cause during the war but made a lot of money as well. Total company assets had increased by more than 12 million dollars during 1917 and 18 and had earned over $23 million in government contracts alone.

They paid for it after the Armistice, however. Millions in government contracts were abruptly canceled and the postwar agricultural recession cut farm machinery sales. There were also many war surplus Holt and other tractors on the market, and many smaller firms that had originally been making war material decided to jump into the tractor market themselves.

The Holt Company survived, however, although Ben didnt, dying suddenly in November 1920. In 1925, Holt and its largest competitor, C.L. Best Tractor Co., both on shaky financial ground, merged and formed the Caterpillar Tractor Co. that is still in business today.
Lets give a great fish the recognition it deserves. It may not be the most glamorous, the most televised, advertised, marketed, pictured, mounted, and certainly not the fish that gathers the most national and international attention.

Indeed, largemouth bass and walleyes are the headliners, but the fish that ought to considered for a least a share of the popularity contest is the everyday crappie.

Were talking about one of the most common of real-game fish an angler can engage here in Ohio and darn near anywhere in the country.

I claim crappie as a true game fish, simply because in my book, they are.

And better than that, crappies bite cheap lures, crappie fishermen can ride in nearly any boat from oar-powered jon boats to dented aluminum clunkers, and theres no rocket science involved in crappie fishing beginning to end.

If crappies wore shirts, they would most certainly be cotton pullovers adorned with blue collars and pocket, probably a stained shirt, one with a bait shop printed name on it.

Thats just how common and far from fancy crappies are. But give them several positive, not so common attributes.

Gangs

Find one crappie and youll find more; they travel in gangs. When one bites, the whole gang is ready to eat.

Crappies, especially at this time of year, are reachable from a dock or near shore boat.

They live in about every lake and river and they grow big enough to put on a good fight.

And lastly, they are excellent eating. Best rigs are light, even ultra-light, and the business end of the line needs to be a tiny jig or plain hook with a minnow or twister tail on it.

Crappies arent bass cousins. They are of the pan fish family tree, and they come in just two colors, black and white.

While any 12-inch crappie caught in our region is commonly called a slab, they are quite often seen and caught up to 14 inches and occasionally even larger.

Records

Ohios state records include an 18-inch black crappie, weighing 4.5 pounds, and an 18 1/2 inch white crappie. Those might be considered super slabs.

Nationally renowned Tennessees Reelfoot Lake produces enough big crappies that a commercial crappie industry operated there in until 2003.

ClubCrappie fishing fans can find

Crappie fishing fans can find like-minded company by becoming a dues-paying member of the areas fastest growing fishing club, the Northeast Ohio Crappie Club, an organization that holds multiple tournaments around the area. Find it online.
On April 10, Art Cullen of the Storm Lake Times, in Iowa, was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing.

His work, explained the Pulitzer board, fueled by tenacious reporting, impressive expertise and engaging writingsuccessfully challenged the powerful corporate agricultural interests in Iowa.

Challenged, yes; beat em, no.

Cullen, who co-owns the tiny, twice-weekly Times (circulation: 3,000) with his brother John, won journalisms highest honor for a series of 10 tough-worded editorials last year that demanded and got answers on why Iowa, a mostly rural state, has the dirtiest surface water in America.

Dirty water

The question arose after the Des Moines Water Works sued the drainage districts of three northwestern Iowa counties for the high level of nitrates it said was contaminating the Raccoon River, the source of drinking water for its 500,000 central Iowa customers.

The ensuing court fight was bitter, costly, and secretive.

Cullen, through the Times editorial page, doggedly asked two questions. First, how were the three counties  Storm Lake is the county seat of Buena Vista County, one of the defendants  paying their legal bills, estimated to be upwards of $1 million.

And, second, why todays ag production system of farming into the ditch and over the fenceline should be defended at all.

It had played the key role, he noted citing Iowa State University research, in delivering the dirty water at the center of the lawsuit.

Defending that reality was really defending the dirty water status quo.

He had Iowas public behind him and Iowas biggest ag groups in front of him.

Public outcry

Almost every public poll supported the lawsuit and almost every farm group and local government group opposed it.

If the public wanted the dirty water cleaned up, reasoned the small town editor in print, why were public officials fighting any cleanup?

After months of shoe leather journalism, the Times  meaning Cullen, his reporter son Tom, and other family members  finally uncovered the source of the money underwriting the counties status quo defense.

In typical fashion, he announced the funders in a Sept. 16, 2016 editorial: Buena Vista County officially is a Farm Bureau county. The Farm Bureau and Iowa Corn Growers have pledged to cover the legal bills (of the three defendant counties so, now) at least we know who our boss is, he opined. The Farm Bureau and the commodity groups.

 Fair enough, Cullen went on. Everything is above board. Except, he added in a one-word paragraph. We did not elect Farm Bureau to define our interests. We elected five county supervisors and a county attorney.

Big ag

Were Cullens sharp words directed at Farm Bureau and its big ag allies, or were they meant as an admonishment to the weak-kneed Buena Vista County public officials?

Maybe all three. In the end, however, it didnt matter.

Three weeks before Cullen was awarded the Pulitzer, the federal judge overseeing the contentious Des Moines Water Works lawsuit dismissed it by noting Iowas county drainage districts, the targets of the suit, were immune to damage claims.

In short, said the judge, no money no lawsuit.

Clean it up

The farm groups and Iowas ag-dependent politicians declared victory and moved on.

Editor Cullen, who remains in Buena Vista County, conceded nothing: We still have a surface water problem in Iowa, he said in one post-Pulitzer interview. Weve been reporting on it for 25 years.

Will it take another 25 years for agriculture  for us  to acknowledge and act on the growing threats to our rural environment and the worlds food-growing future?

Clearly, we have the money and talent to delay any legal and legislative effort to change todays soil, air, and water regulations.

What we need more, however, is the courage and foresight to invest that money and talent in ensuring the future rather than litigating the past.

Its the right thing for our communities now and our grandchildren later.
DES MOINES, Iowa  Anyone planning to attend the 2017 World Pork Expo, June 7-9, should consider arriving early to take part in one of two pre-expo agricultural tours.

Organized by the National Pork Producers Council and set for June 4-6, the Midwest Agriculture Tour and Iowa Agribusiness Tour will provide insights into Midwestern agricultural businesses and pork production.

Midwest Agriculture Tour

Participants will spend two days traveling across Iowa to Illinois and just across the border into Indiana.

Underwritten by the Illinois Soybean Association, this tour will provide an overview of modern pork production, feed processing, and equipment manufacturing, as well as shipping channels and exports.

Because of the multi-state trip, attendees can select from a couple of options to join the tour. Participants can board the bus in Des Moines June 4 or join the group at the Marriott Suites OHare in Chicago June 5.

On June 5, the tour will travel to Indiana, arriving at Fair Oaks Farms, home of The Pig Adventure, for an up-close look at modern pork production.

Tickets will also be available for The Dairy Adventure. A barge trip down the Mississippi River will help participants to get a perspective on grain export activities.

Participants will dine on-site at the Farmhouse Restaurant and will stay overnight at Jumers Hotel and Casino in Rock Island, Illinois.

On June 6, the tour will move on to the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, Illinois, and include stops to Brenneman Pork, a JBS feed mill and modern wean-to-finish barn managed by JBS.

The tour bus will return to Des Moines for dinner on the evening of June 6.

Cost for the Midwest Agriculture Tour is $450 per person, which includes bus transportation, lodging June 5, meals on tour days and World Pork Expo admission. Individuals are responsible for booking their own hotel rooms before the tour begins and during Expo.

Iowa Agribusiness Tour

The tour June 5 will begin and end the day in Des Moines and provide a snapshot of agribusinesses in central Iowa, including feed, technology and pork production enterprises.

The day-long trip will stop at Kemin Industries for a look at innovations in animal nutrition and health and biofuels. From there, its on to east central Iowa and a visit to Brenneman Pork, a fully-integrated, family-owned swine and grain operation.

A visit to a modern wean-to-finish barn and feed mill managed by JBS will round out the tour.

The cost for this one-day tour is $150 per person, which includes bus transportation, breakfast, and lunch on the tour and admission to World Pork Expo.

Register. Its important to note both tours have limited space, so early registration is advised. Along with the details about the tours, the website offers general registration information.

The site also provides information about room availability at official World Pork Expo hotels, answers for international visitors, a variety of Expo facts and other helpful tips about traveling to World Pork Expo. The 2017 World Pork Expo will take place at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, June 7-9.
SULLIVAN, Ohio  The Black River FFA chapter finished the spring contest invitational season March 18, at the Ashland FFA Alumni Invitational. Team members participated in the Horse Judging and General Livestock competitions.

The Horse Judging team placed first out of 14 teams and 124 individuals. The team consisted of Madison Stuart, Kelly Wilson, Sora Edwards, Brianna Englehart, and Hannah McKenzie who was Black Rivers top finisher, finishing eighth overall.

In addition, two Black River middle school students participated in the event: Kailee Baker finishing eighth and Chloee Howard, finishing 17th.

The General Livestock team consisted of members, Anna Shearer, Brianna Clifford, Callee Aviles, Eric Cordonnier and Taylor Hendershot.

In addition, Hope Diaz, a Black River middle school student also participated in the event.

  

HANOVERTON, Ohio  The United FFA hosted its annual banquet April 6. About 150 parents and members were in attendance, including Mrs. Zeisler, West Branch High School agriculture teacher, guests from neighboring schools and United School board members.

Awards were handed out such as general livestock judging, dairy judging, soil judging and Greenhand awards. This years Star Greenhand award went to freshman Shelby Kornbau, the Star Chapter Farmer award went to senior Cody Cooper and the Star in Agribusiness award went to Shawn Grubb.

Becky Bernet and Shawn Grubb were awarded plaques for earning their state degrees.

Students chose the Honorary Member award, which went to Doug Cooper.

This years top salesperson for selling fruit went to Becky Bernet. A check was presented by Mr. and Mrs. Joe Bernet from Monsanto for $2,500 from their Americas Farmers Grow Communities fund, which was awarded to United FFA.

To conclude ceremonies, the 2017-2018 officer team was inducted. President Becky Bernet, Vice President Makenzie Clemens, Secretary Megan Drake, Reporter Courtney Cooper, Treasurer Haley Santee, Student Advisor Taylor Hippely and Sentinel Brendan Rose.
Website: www.pct.edu

Type of college: 4-year public

Campus address: One College Ave., Williamsport, PA 17701

Enrollment: 5,514

Full-time tuition (not including room and board): $15,000-$25,000 per year

Agriculture majors: Diesel and power generation, heavy equipment, and landscape/horticulture

Natural resources majors: Forestry

About: Pennsylvania College of Technology is a special mission affiliate of Penn State University committed to hands-on, applied technology education.

For more college listings click here.

How this information was compiled: Farm and Dairy emailed forms to universities and colleges within Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia that offer a major or program in agriculture or natural resources. If your college or university offers an agriculture or natural resource program and is not listed here, email editor@farmanddairy.com to be added to our online directory.
Website: www.unoh.edu

Type of college: 4-year private

Campus address: 1441 N. Cable Road Lima, OH 45805

Enrollment: 3,500

Full-time tuition (not including room and board): $5,000-$15,000 per year

Agriculture majors: Agribusiness marketing and management, agricultural equipment technology, diesel technology (medium/heavy duty), diesel technology (light duty), automotive technology and business administration with a concentration in agribusiness management.

About: Founded in 1920, the University of Northwestern Ohio is an entrepreneurial, not-for-profit, university located in Lima, Ohio, situated on 200 acres. There are five colleges within the university: College of Applied Technologies, College of Business, College of Health Professions, College of Occupational Professions, and the Graduate College. The University is known worldwide as a leader in the Automotive, Diesel, and High-Performance industries. UNOH also offers world-class degree programs in Business, Health, Marketing, Information Technology, Robotics, and many other fields of study. UNOH has taught students from all 50 states and 69 countries. At UNOH there is no out-of-state tuition. Programs in the College of Applied Technologies are 70% hands-on and taught 4 days per week. The University of Northwestern Ohio also offers a variety of collegiate athletics including Basketball, Tennis, Golf, Bowling, Soccer, Volleyball, Baseball, Softball, and six Co-Ed Motorsports teams. For more information, visit www.unoh.edu.

For more college listings click here.

How this information was compiled: Farm and Dairy emailed forms to universities and colleges within Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia that offer a major or program in agriculture or natural resources. If your college or university offers an agriculture or natural resource program and is not listed here, email editor@farmanddairy.com to be added to our online directory.
We may be only small in terms of milk volume and number of farmers, but the Dairy Australia leadership team recognises the need to understand the issues that are unique to WA and will always spend time with us to think through appropriate regional responses.
Dr Umina said growers should, at all costs, avoid the practice of insurance sprays and advised that using the broadest range of integrated pest management (IPM) strategies was the best way to avoid future spray failures and prevent or delay the development of insecticide resistance.
ELKO  A committee has narrowed the search to replace outgoing Great Basin College President Mark Curtis to three candidates.

The finalists are Dr. Barbara Buchanan, vice president of academic affairs at Truckee Meadows Community College; Joyce Helens, president and CEO of St. Cloud Technical & Community Colleges in Minnesota; and Dr. George McNulty, vice president of student affairs at Colby Community College in Colby, Kansas.

Dr. Curtis, who announced his retirement in October, will leave GBC June 30 after serving five years at the college.

Next week the three candidates will attend public forums, receive a personal guided tour of the campus and meet with Curtis, Vice President Lynn Mahlberg, members of the GBC faculty and staff, and Chancellor John White, according to GBC.

Public forums for candidates will begin at 6 p.m. Monday at the Gallagher Health Sciences Building on the GBC Campus.

The Nevada System of Higher Education provided the following biographical information on the candidates:

Barbara Buchanan

Dr. Barbara Buchanan began her academic career in Texas, earning bachelors and masters degrees in English before receiving her Ph.D. from the College of Education at Texas A&M University in 2000.

As an administrator, (Dr. Buchanan) has progressed in her leadership roles with increased responsibility from an Assistant Dean of Workforce at a single college to acting as Dean of Instruction within a large multi-college district in the Lone Star System.

Dr. Buchanan has been vice president of academic affairs at Truckee Meadows Community College since 2015, and cites among her accomplishments leading efforts to respond to NSHE mandate for gateway project  working with foundation and presidents office on fundraising  (and) expanding dual credit opportunities for transfer and CTE.

I lead within community colleges and my mission is to encourage economic development within the community while providing students with life changing opportunities, said Dr. Buchanan.

Joyce Helens

Joyce Helens was born in Philadelphia, but moved to the Northwest where she completed her B.A. degree in English at St. Martins University in Lacey, Washington and her M.A. degree at Portland State University, where she is currently completing her dissertation for her Ed.D. in higher education administration.

Helens taught at several colleges including Portland State University, Mt. Hood Community College, and the University of Alaska. She served in administration positions as executive and founding dean of Collin College in McKinney, Texas, and president of Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Washington.

In her biography, Helens explains her tenure as current president and CEO of St. Cloud Technical & Community Colleges in Minnesota and lists among her accomplishments leading the institution from a technical college to a comprehensive community college offering associates degrees, opening a health sciences facility that includes simulation labs for surgery technology and an emergency room, and expanding the automotive technology department.

Her driving passion is always to insure that the institutions she leads provide a well-lighted path to lifelong learning that continuously develops an engaged and informed citizenry to obtain meaningful employment, Helens said.

Dr. George McNulty

Dr. George McNulty is vice president of student affairs at Colby Community College in Colby, Kansas; however he attended the University of Nevada Reno for his masters degree in counseling and educational psychology and Ph.D. in educational leadership.

A United States Army veteran, McNulty describes in his resume that he taught at Truckee Meadows Community College for three years while serving as an academic adviser. He became the coordinator of retention at Western Nevada College and served as their interim director of financial assistance.

In 2013, McNulty began his tenure at Colby in 2013 where he has served as Title IX/504 coordinator and is responsible for fiscal accountability, creating, developing and implementing strategic planning initiatives, and support student programs for cultural awareness, leadership and civic learning.

His work with students has allowed him to clearly recognize the power of higher education to transform lives and contribute positively to society and he is committed to ethical leadership that supports this outcome.
The funds transferred so far to Muresk are referred to as transitional funding, not a problem in itself, but it is yet to be seen how long the government as owner of RfR will continue with its financial support.
In total, the sale saw three of eight bulls sold at auction for a $10,000 top and a $6833 average, a total clearance of five heifers to a $7000 top and $5300 average, two lots of four embryos sold to a top of $1400 and average of $1000 per embryo and one semen lot passed in.
These cows have been very good to us and despite one of the toughest seasons in 45 years at Karridale and Scott River, the cows present in excellent order and their condition is a tribute to the importance we place on doing ability and fertility at Monterey.
Farmscan Ag OEM manager Clark Croucher estimates there could be between 4000 and 7000 Jackal units in use throughout the country and he expects this to increase with the launch of the latest generation Jackal for this season.
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ELKO  Elko County residents who had homes damaged during Februarys flooding will have to keep waiting on help from the federal government.

Gov. Brian Sandoval is appealing President Donald Trumps denial of individual assistance for flood victims in Nevada, and Elko County commissioners hope a letter in support of the appeal will speed up the process.

Annette Kerr, support services manager for the Elko County Sheriffs Office, told the commissioners she received notice from the Department of Emergency Management on April 11 that the president and FEMA denied the individual assistance. Public assistance, which helps governments, had already been approved.

If the individual assistance had been approved, the federal grants could help people replace or fix homes damaged by the flooding, Kerr said.

Its all based on the number of houses that were identified in the flood and its statewide, she said.

Nevada is considered a medium-sized state and needed to have 582 homes damaged by the flooding. Kerr didnt have the statewide numbers.

The appeal for the FEMA funds also delays the Small Business Administration coming to the area to help flood victims, Kerr said. The SBA offers low-interest loans, 1 to 2 percent, to people affected by a disaster.

The SBA only needs 25 homes to come into an area and help people to repair or replace their homes, Kerr said. Elko County surpassed that number. It has 27 homes in Elko city, Wells and Montello that qualified as either major damage or destroyed.

You have to be in those top two categories in order to be validated and be eligible for the SBA, Kerr said.

A home must have at least 40 percent damage done to it to qualify for an SBA loan.

Washoe County did not reach the threshold of 25 homes.

SBA was scheduled to be in Elko County in March, but it was delayed by the Department of Emergency Management because it wanted to help Washoe residents. The department asked the governor for assistance through FEMA.

Once we got the denial, after the agenda was posted, the DEM again went to the governor and asked for an appeal, Kerr said.

Since Sandoval decided to go for the appeal, it means the SBA is delayed again in coming to Elko County.

We start over, Kerr said. We go back to the bottom of the queue, if you will, and now well have to wait and see.

Kerr said she was given 48 hours to gather all the individual assistance information that she could to help with the appeal. The information was sent to Sandovals office Wednesday.

What does that mean for Elko County residents? Any individual assistance at this time is now on hold again, she said. We will not be seeing SBA here or FEMA here for individuals at this time.

The appeal process could take three to four months, Kerr said.

Public Assistance

The County is expecting FEMA to be back in the area this week or next concerning public assistance for the response to the flooding. The commissioners applied for response funds but voted against applying for recovery funds.

FEMA personnel will be housed in the sheriffs office conference room until staff can get the necessary signatures to allow FEMA to be in the combined dispatch building, Kerr said.

The County has submitted a letter to ask for the response funds.

Departments are working on going through all of their documentation to give us how much labor was used for that response side, she said. We can only account for the overtime. We are not eligible to use the existing time that was scheduled.

Commissioner Rex Steninger asked if FEMA had a reaction to the County turning down the recovery funds.

We did have FEMA requesting that the County strongly consider going after the recovery portion, said County Manager Rob Stokes.  After talking and having some telephone conversations with them, staff still feels, I think unanimously, that if we were to go after the recovery portion of the reimbursements from the federal government that we would expend more in staff resources and staff time than we would have in returns back in reimbursements.
Long-time PETA supporter Gillian Anderson who has visited Canada many times before for the movies she has starred in has sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Gillian Anderson (Credit: Famous)

The actress, who has been to filming locations in Vancouver for The X Files and Toronto for Hannibal and American Gods has asked that Trudeau puts an end to East Coast commercial seal slaughter, reminding him that climate change is already taking its toll on baby seals.

Citing a National Geographic report, Anderson writes,

April 19, 2017

The Right Honorable Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P.

Prime Minister of Canada, Ottawa

Dear Prime Minister,

I have had the pleasure of filming in Canada for more than 20 years and appreciate the country's natural beauty, exciting cities, and rich culture. In these challenging political times, the world looks to Canada as a beacon of progressive policies and change. In this light, I urge you to end the annual East Coast commercial seal slaughter that puts such a stain on Canada's international reputation.

This month, Switzerland became the 35th country to ban seal-derived items because of the cruelty involved in beating and shooting baby seals. Another issue, as this National Geographic report shows, is that climate change is already decimating ice-dependent seals. It has resulted in less ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Without ice, baby seals drown. You've said, "Climate change will test our intelligence, our compassion and our will. But we are equal to that challenge." My friends at PETA and I ask that you consider the impact of climate change on both humans and marine life and call off the commercial seal slaughter for good.

I hope to hear that youas a leader who has been progressive on many issueswill lift the dark cloud tarnishing Canada's reputation and proud history, especially as your great nation gets ready to celebrate its 150th birthday. Thank you for your time and consideration.

With kind regards,

Gillian Anderson
Future Group's fashion discount retail chain Brand Factory plans to open about 250 outlets in the next five years. The Kishore Biyani led retail chain had initially planned on opening around 100 stores by 2020, but seeing the response it received for its recent 50% Anything & Everything sale, has now targeted opening 250 stores by 2022.This was informed by Suresh Sadhwani, CEO, Brand Factory to a leading daily, who also added that the immediate plan is to open 100 new outlets by 2020, by penetrating all the towns and cities in India.

Future Group's fashion discount retail chain Brand Factory plans to open about 250 outlets in the next five years. The Kishore Biyani led retail chain had initially planned on opening around 100 stores by 2020, but seeing the response it received for its recent '50% Anything & Everything' sale, has now targeted opening 250 stores by 2022.#

Brand Factory which manages 55 stores in 22 cities currently retails about 200 brands out of which, 30 per cent are Future Group private label brands.According to Sadhwani, the 50% Anything & Everything four day sale event, generated revenue of around Rs 90 crore, with half of the stores reporting more than Rs 50 lakhs in business in a single day. (AR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
A subsidiary of Delta Galil Industries, Delta Galil USA has signed a licensing agreement with Calvin Klein, Inc., to develop, produce and distribute boys and girls innerwear, sleepwear and socks for the brand. Delta Galil will have the exclusive wholesale right to market the Calvin Klein master brand boys and girls products, in the United States and Canada.

"Calvin Klein has represented one of the most iconic brands for nearly 50 years, and it is a true honour to partner with them particularly in their renowned innerwear and intimate apparel categories, said Isaac Dabah, CEO of Delta Galil. "This represents an important step for Delta Galil in our ongoing strategy of enhancing our branded portfolio and broadening our presence in the premium sector."

Delta Galil Industries is a global manufacturer and marketer of branded and private label apparel products for men, women and children. Delta Galil develops innovative seamless apparel including bras, shapewear and socks; intimate apparel for women; extensive lines of underwear for men; babywear, activewear, sleepwear, and leisurewear. (AR)

A subsidiary of Delta Galil Industries, Delta Galil USA has signed a licensing agreement with Calvin Klein, Inc., to develop, produce and distribute boys and girls innerwear, sleepwear and socks for the brand. Delta Galil will have the exclusive wholesale right to market the Calvin Klein master brand boys and girls products, in the United States and Canada #

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The International Apparel Federation (IAF) will host sessions on Industry 4.0 and denim development at the Texprocess Symposium. Messe Frankfurt has partnered with IAF to organise part of the four-day symposium that will kick off from May 9, 2017. A session on 'Implementing Industry 4.0 successfully in the fashion industry' will also be organised.

The symposium that will be held in Frankfurt, will conduct three sub sessions where IAF members and panels will explain to the audience about the importance of digitisation in the industry and how it is actually implemented by clothing manufacturers, brands and retailers and, how start-ups are using new technology to create new business models and entice consumers. Organisations such as Lectra, Gerber, Spesa, Oerlikon, Saxion University, WTiN and Denkendorf will also share their insights with the audience.

On the last day of the programme, IAF will host a session titled 'Developments in denim and lessons for the rest of the industry'. In a single round table discussion, the audience will get information on innovation in materials and how machinery is transforming the denim industry creating new value and sustainability and serving as a good example to other sectors of the fashion industry. (RR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The 8th Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) Hong Kong International Home Textiles and Furnishings fair has begun today, attracting close to 300 exhibitors from eight countries and regions to explore a multitude of opportunities in the home textiles and furnishings sectors. This years event features new exhibitors from Belgium and Vietnam.

Nantong in the Chinese mainland province of Jiangsu  a city dubbed 'the Hometown of Textiles'  as well as a number of Indian textile associations have also returned to set up group pavilions to showcase their quality textiles at the fair.

The Home Textiles and Furnishings event has adopted the 'Interior' theme to showcase a variety of home textiles, upholstery and furnishing products. The premium 'Hall of Glamour' features quality brands and designer collections, covering products such as bedding, curtains, carpets and towels. Featured products include Hong Kong exhibitor Nightingale's gold embroidery trim on black satin table linen, Indian hand block printed cushion covers and wool/denim Panja rugs.

The 8th Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) Hong Kong International Home Textiles and Furnishings fair has begun today, attracting close to 300 exhibitors from eight countries and regions to explore a multitude of opportunities in the home textiles and furnishings sectors. This year's event features new exhibitors from Belgium and Vietnam.#

The HKTDC is also staging a series of seminars and networking events to help industry players keep abreast of the latest trends and developments in the home textiles markets. Highlights include the seminar 'WGSN Trendtalk: Houseware & Home Textiles 2018 Forecast' led by expert trend forecaster WGSN.

A number of product demo and launch pad sessions have also been organised to facilitate buyer viewing of exhibitors' products.

The four-day event is concurrently being held with the 32nd HKTDC Hong Kong Houseware fair. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Mimaki, a leading manufacturer of wide-format inkjet printers and cutters, has launched TX500P-3200DS, a super wide direct-to-textile printer with an in-line colour fixation unit. The printer, which allows simultaneous printing and colour fixation to enable long, uninterrupted runs for higher productivity, is being displayed at the International Sign Expo.

The International Sign Expo is being organised in Las Vegas during April 20-22.

Direct to fabric dye sublimation printing requires fixation of inks through a dry heat process, a step that is traditionally performed separately. The Mimaki USAs 3.2-metre wide TX500P-3200DS printer utilises an inline colour fixation unit that optimises the printing and finishing process by enabling simultaneous printing and color fixation, reducing two steps to one in a single device. Additionally, the TX500P-3200DS printer delivers optimum finishing by linking the printer and the heater units. This enables synchronisation so that the printer is initiated when the heater reaches the optimum fixation temperature.

Mimaki, a leading manufacturer of wide-format inkjet printers and cutters, has launched TX500P-3200DS, a super wide direct-to-textile printer with an in-line colour fixation unit. The printer, which allows simultaneous printing and colour fixation to enable long, uninterrupted runs for higher productivity, is being displayed at the International Sign Expo.#

This unique feature helps to control cost by reducing production time, labour, and transfer-related waste.

The TX500P-3200DS printer includes new print heads that enable printing directly onto various types of textiles. The high gap setting gives users the ability to print on thin and thick textiles, plus woven patterns or raised fibre surfaces, while maintaining accurate ink droplet placement.

To achieve high print speeds, 12 print heads are arranged in a staggered array. With a wide range of printing modes from high-speed draft (1399 square feet per hour) to high quality (538 square feet per hour), this printer offers a mode and speed that best suits nearly any digital textile application.

An auto media feeder and a pulling roller ensure stable and consistent feeding of fabric by automatically applying the appropriate tension to the fabric during conveyance. The AMF substrate roller motors deliver power and feed accuracy for unprecedented accuracy even at high speeds.

Mimaki has come up with technologies for assured production of high quality transfer prints. To achieve precise placement of the ink droplets onto the media, Mimaki has designed an optimum waveform, enabling the printhead to jet each ink colour at the appropriate jetting angle while maintaining precise ink droplet circularity. This waveform control technology improves visible quality and dot gain even at lower resolutions and higher speeds.

Variable ink droplet sizes  small, medium and large  are precisely placed. Smaller droplets create smoother gradients and quartertones, while large droplets produce uniform solids and are useful for high-speed printing.

The companys Mimaki Advanced Pass System 4 (MAPS4) incorporates an advanced algorithm that reduces banding, uneven ink drying and bi-directional stripes, resulting in reduced artifacts and smoother POP-quality imaging at higher speeds. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Fijis preparations for its upcoming presidency at this years UN Climate Chance Conference (COP 23) in Bonn, Germany dominated talks between Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and Chinas Special Representative of Climate Change Affairs, Mr. Xie Zhenhua, at a meeting held in Suva.



At the meeting, Prime Minister Bainimarama stressed that a key priority of the Fijian Presidency would be to bring the challenges faced by Small Island Developing States to the forefront of the upcoming negotiations.



Fiji and the other Pacific Island nations are on the front line of the battle against climate change  bearing the brunt of its terrible impact. We do not need to be reminded of the urgent need for global action. Just over one year ago, the biggest cyclone ever to make landfall in the southern hemisphere slammed into Fiji. It killed 44 of our people, displaced many thousands of others and destroyed one third of our GDP, said the Prime Minister.



Prime Minister Bainimarama also emphasised the importance of advancing the full implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change during Fijis Presidency.



I am committed to fulfilling my primary responsibility as COP 23 President, which is to advance the Rulebook and the Facilitative Dialogue. We believe that advancement of the modalities, procedures and guidelines of the Paris Agreement is critical, he said.



The two men also discussed possible avenues of Chinese support for Fijis Presidency, and the Prime Minister thanked China for being the first country to provide Fiji with financial support toward its upcoming presidency last year.
Sanjay Khan- Zeenat Aman Affair & Their Rumoured Marriage

Sanjay Khan and Zeenat Aman met on the sets of Abdullah and love blossomed between them. He was a married man with three children, she was a reigning star. Rumour has it that they married in Jaisalmer with two witnesses present, on December 30, 1978. In fact, in one of the later interviews Zeenat confessed, "Yes, I was married to Abbas (Sanjay's real name). I believed in the sanctity of my marriage. And all the time I was married to him, I have served him as a dutiful wife."

He Accused Her Of Having An Affair

Zeenat pleaded that she had given dates long ago to B R Chopra and Tony-Tito for their film shoot. But Sanjay was adamant. Apparently, he accused her of having an affair with B R Chopra and Deepak Parashar (the 'Insaf Ka Tarazu' team). She was reduced to tears and kept pleading for innocence. It was a half hour call. She later went to Chopra and took his permission to leave Lonavla for Bombay. Since everybody had heard their turbulent conversation, she did not have to explain about the urgency.

How It All Began

Zeenat left Lonavla with her hairdresser Flory. On reaching Bombay, she went straight to Sanjay's house to work out the shooting dates. He was not home and she was informed that he was at the Hotel Taj. Zeenat then went to the Taj in the night and found that he was attending a private party. The actress requested the host that she did not want to break the party but just that she wanted to speak to Sanjay for a few minutes. However the host insisted that she join the party. He threw open the door and when Zeenat entered, the atmosphere suddenly turned cold and menacing and the guests looked stunned. All conversation stopped, and Sanjay, with a glass in his hand, demanded to know why Zeenat had come there.

What Followed Next Will Shock You To The Core

Zeenat requested Sanjay if she could speak to him privately as she wished to settle her shooting dates and report back to Lonavla. Sanjay followed by Zeenat walked into the adjoining room and it was there he let lose his animal wrath. He did not give Zeenat a second to speak. Instead he abused and accused her with several allegations of having multiple affairs and relationships. And what apparently followed was one of the most brutal bash-ups any hotel staff could have witnessed.

Sanjay hit her and she fell. He lifted her and hit her again and again. One could only hear her wails. Flory fight her way through the barrier of guests and entered the adjoining room. However Sanjay paid no heed to her and continued assaulting Zeenat.

Finally a steward helped Zeenat out of the door. Her face was swollen, her hair was a mess and her nose was streaming with blood. Strangely, not a single guest present at the party, intervened or tried to help her. She was escorted to her car through the lobby with blood and tears streaming down her face.

Zeenat Was In Extreme State Of Shock

Zeenat was in bed for eight days after this gory incident. She was in extreme state of shock and had to be injected with anti-depressants three days a day.

Her Doctor's Startling Relevation

Her family physician Dr. A Massa was quoted saying to Cineblitz, "Zeenat was in a terrible state. Her face was covered with blood, bruises and black eyes. There were blood clots in her eyes and her lips were severely cut. But more than the physical harm is the shock that she has suffered."

Then Why Didn't She Lodge A Police Complaint Against Sanjay

Shockingly, Zeenat did not lodge any police complaint because she was still in love with Sanjay and was willing to forgive him. She tried her best to protect him saying that he did not bash her up but then her face was proof enough. Apparently, her friends, colleagues, producer, directors had warned her from this relationship. Zeenat was professionally in top form those days. They would say that Sanjay wanted her only till 'Abdullah' was completed. However, Zeenat felt people were just condemning Sanjay because careerwise he was on a low.

In fact once she even lashed out in an interview saying, "I love this man. Don't you understand? I will back his every move and I will make him a king one day."
Karan's Reply On His 'Hostage' Video

When asked about the same, Karan Johar said, "I felt spineless after having to apologise in the hostage video."

Karan On Ajay Devgn

If you remember, during the release of ADHM, the fight of KJo & Ajay went public and the duo didn't leave any chance to show their hatred towards each other.

In his recent interaction with Barkha Dutt too, Karan Johar talked about Ajay and told, "Some relationships and friendships have an expiry date... I have no relationship with that man (Ajay Devgn). He was never a friend or even an acquaintance."

Karan's Sarcastic Take On His Fight With Kangana

Post his fight with Ajay & Kajol, Karan's name was again in the headlines, when Kangana referred him as the 'flagbearer of nepotism'. As expected, the bold comment of Kangana didn't go well with Karan and he ended up accusing her of playing the victim card.

Is He Gonna Apologise To Kangana?

When Barkha Dutt asked Karan, whether he will apologise to Kangana, he said, "I felt attacked, why should I apologise? She had an opinion and I respect that, but I had my opinion to give as well. I am a fan of Kangana. I didn't call her to my last party, but I'll call her to my next party."

What's Karan's take On 'Sanskaari' CBFC!

"The CBFC is a certification board, not a censor board. So, they should certify, not censor. We should follow what the UK does, giving different ratings to movies," said Karan Johar in the same interview.

Karan-Arnab's Fight

Recently, Arnab Goswani had hinted that a film-maker is the reason behind his exit from Times Now. He had said, "I feel truly sad when some film director calls up a media proprietor and says, Why is this channel asking questions about me, and about why Pakistani artists are acting in my film?' and the media proprietor gets scared. That's very unfortunate.'"

Karan Reacts To Arnab's Accusation

When Karan was asked about the same, Karan politely said, "I feel important. I didn't know I had the power to do that. Leave that, I didn't know I could ask anyone to leave this room."
Plot

Things go horribly wrong when one night, Vidya Chauhan (Raveena Tandon) and her daughter Tia (Alisha Khan) are returning home from the latter's school annual day function. To avoid the crazy traffic jam, Vidya goes off the route but ends up getting abducted by a bunch of lousy guys. Soon the mother-daughter duo find themselves waking up on the floor of a deserted farmhouse only to be gangraped by their abductors. Tia succumbs to the abuse but Vidya survives the atrocious act. She recognizes one of her wrongdoers as Apurva Malik (Madhur Mittal) who happens to be the son of a big-shot politician.

With a crumbling marriage and an insenstive husband who holds her responsible for the tragedy which resulted from a 'wrong turn', her sole support system is her close friend Ritu (Divya Jagdale). Finally on being failed by the law, Vidya decides to avenge her loss and goes on a revenge-killing spree. Will justice be finally be delivered to a grieving mother?

Direction

Ashter Sayad picks up a relevant subject in today's times when it comes to story-telling. A look at the statistics related to rape cases in India proves that the gruesome act still continues to haunt several homes.

Maatr is well-intentioned but lacks sincerity when it comes to execution. The plot consists of several loop-holes and even makes way for some melodrama at times. Few may find the blood and gory indigestible. The dialogues ain't gripping enough to leave an impact. Further, Raveena bumps off her offenders one by one in a way where logic seems to be tossed out of the window. The final act of justice seems contrived only to make you feel 'finally it's over'.

Performances

Raveena Tandon makes a smashing comeback as a rape victim and a grieving mother hell-bent on seeking revenge. Right from pain, angst, loath to sorrow, the actress displays her acting prowess by getting these emotions evoked in you. She is in a top form and even her silence speaks volume.

Madhur Mittal known for films like 'Slumdog Millionaire' and 'Million Dollar Arm' packs in the correct amount of evilness in this revenge saga. You end up hating his character Apoorva right from the first frame.

The rest of the cast comprising of Alisha Khan, Divya Jagdale, Rushaad Rana and Anurag Arora lend good support.

Technical Aspects

The film falters in the second half with lazy writing and illogical reasoning as the directors seems to be in a hurry to deliver justice to his protagonist and put an end to her sufferings.

The editing seems to be a bit choppy at places..However, the cinematography goes well with the narrative.

Music

The film lacks any scope for music. Zindagi Ae Zindagi by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is the only track in the film and makes up for a decent hear. Unfortunately the background score weighs down the narrative and breaks the flow in a couple of places.

Verdict

Maatr is watchable solely for Raveena Tandon's shining performance as a wronged woman who doesn't mind staining her hands with the blood of her perpetrators who inflicted her with a life-scarring incident. Maatr scores high on intention, but unfortunately falls short of being a hard-hitting film.
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/19/17 -- Total Energy Services Inc. ("Total") (TSX: TOT) will conduct a conference call and webcast following the release of its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2017. The financial results will be released prior to the conference call. Daniel Halyk, President and CEO, will host the call.

Open to: Shareholders and other interested persons Date: May 10, 2017 Time: 9:00 a.m. (Mountain Time) Call: (800) 806-5484 or (416) 406-0743 Passcode: 7609930#

A live webcast of the conference call will be accessible on Total's website at www.totalenergy.ca by selecting "Webcasts".

Shortly after the live webcast, an archived version will be available on Total's website. A recording of the conference call will also be available until May 17, 2017 by dialling (800) 408-3053, passcode 6513973#.

Total is a growth oriented energy services corporation involved in contract drilling services, rentals and transportation services and the fabrication, sale, rental and servicing of natural gas compression and process equipment. The common shares of Total are listed and trade on the TSX under the symbol "TOT".

For further information, please visit our website at www.totalenergy.ca.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein.

Contacts:

Total Energy Services Inc.

Yuliya Gorbach

Vice-President Finance and Chief Financial Officer

(403) 216-3920

investorrelations@totalenergy.ca

www.totalenergy.ca




TORONTO, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Richmont Mines Inc. (TSX: RIC) (NYSE: RIC) ("Richmont" or the "Corporation"), announces the release of its first quarter 2017 financial results, followed by a conference call and webcast, before the markets open onThursday, May 4, 2017. On the same morning at 10:30 a.m. E.T., the Corporation will hold its Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders.

2017 First Quarter Results Webcast and Conference Call

Senior management will discuss the first quarter financial results in a webcast and conference call to be held on Thursday, May 4, 2017 starting at 8:30 a.m. E.T.

Webcast access:

http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=1405031&s=1&k=2945B7DDFBDA291E4DB85CDEFA27826D

Telephone access:

Toll free ( Canada & U.S.): 1-888-390-0546

& U.S.): 1-888-390-0546 Toronto local & International: 1-416-764-8688

A replay will be available until May 18, 2017 by dialing 1-416-764-8677 (Toronto local and international) or 1-888-390-0541 (toll free in Canada and U.S.), using pass code 134044#. The webcast and presentation slides will be archived on the Corporation's website athttp://www.richmont-mines.com.

Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders

Richmont's Annual and Special Meeting will be held on Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 10:30 a.m. E.T. at the St. Andrew's Club & Conference Centre (27[th ]Floor, Caledonia Room) at 150 King Street West in Toronto.

About Richmont Mines Inc.

Richmont Mines currently produces gold from the Island Gold Mine in Ontario, and the Beaufor Mine in Quebec. The Corporation is also advancing development of the significant high-grade resource extension at depth of the Island Gold Mine in Ontario. With 35 years of experience in gold production, exploration and development, and prudent financial management, the Corporation is well-positioned to cost-effectively build its Canadian reserve base and to successfully enter its next phase of growth.

Renaud Adams, President and CEO, Phone: 416-368-0291 ext. 101; Anne Day, Senior Vice-President, Investor Relations, Phone: 416 368-0291 ext. 105
TEL AVIV, Israel and STUTTGART, Germany, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Argus' Industry-Leading Cyber Research Group Found Security Gaps In The Bosch Drivelog Connector Dongle and in its Authentication Process With The Drivelog Connect Application And Promptly Informed Bosch, Who Took Immediate Action to Address the Vulnerabilities

Argus Cyber Security, the world's largest independent automotive cyber security company, and Bosch, the global supplier of technology and services, announced today that security vulnerabilities were found by Argus researchers in the Bosch Drivelog Connector dongle and in its authentication process with the Drivelog Connect smartphone application which enabled the researchers to take control of a car via Bluetooth. Following a responsible disclosure made by Argus to Bosch, their Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) took decisive and immediate action to address the vulnerabilities.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160721/391784LOGO )



The Argus research group succeeded in remotely taking over safety-critical vehicle systems via a Bosch Drivelog Connector dongle installed in the vehicle. A vulnerability found in the authentication process between the dongle and the Drivelog Connect smartphone application enabled Argus researchers to uncover the security code within minutes and communicate with the dongle from a standard Bluetooth device, such as a smartphone or laptop. After gaining access to the communications channel, Argus researchers were able to duplicate the message command structure and inject malicious messages into the in-vehicle network. Effectively bypassing the secure message filter that was designed to allow only specific messages, these vulnerabilities enabled the Argus research group to take control of a moving car, demonstrated through remotely stopping the engine.

A full technical account of the attack is posted on Argus' blog.

"At our core, Argus is dedicated to ensuring that vehicles are cyber-safe and our ongoing collaboration with global Tier 1 suppliers and car manufacturers enables us to provide the most advanced cyber security solutions for the automotive industry," said Yaron Galula, Argus CTO and Co-Founder. "The Bosch discovery demonstrates that solutions based on cryptography, even when designed by leaders in the industry, are not foolproof and that multi-layered defenses are required to effectively protect vehicles from cyber threats."

As soon as Argus found cyber security vulnerabilities in the Bosch Drivelog Connector dongle, Bosch was duly informed. The level of attention the matter received from Bosch top management was significant and their Product Security Incident Response Team worked quickly to immediately address the issues across their security and development divisions.

Bosch expressed its gratitude to the Argus team for the responsible disclosure of these vulnerabilities and their help throughout the process. "Bosch takes security very seriously. When Argus informed us about the security gaps, we took immediate action to verify and fix the issues," said Thorsten Kuhles, head of the Bosch Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT). Only a short time after being notified Bosch has already implemented an initial fix. It is important to note that scalability of a potential malicious attack is limited by the fact that such an attack requires physical proximity to the dongle. This means that the attacking device needs to be within Bluetooth range of the vehicle. Furthermore, an initial attack requires brute forcing the PIN for a given dongle and sending a malicious CAN message that fits the constraints of the dongle and the vehicle. "To further increase security a patch that fixes the underlying weaknesses in the encryption protocol will be available shortly. This patch will prevent the kind of attack as described by Argus," Kuhles adds. Additional work is also being done to further limit the possibility to send unwanted CAN messages and will be rolled out alongside further improvements later in the year.

For more information please refer to theBosch Security Advisory.

About Argus:

Argus is the world's largest independent automotive cyber security company. Argus's comprehensive and proven solution suites protect connected cars and commercial vehicles against cyberattacks. With decades of experience in both cyber security and the automotive industry, Argus offers innovative security methods and proven computer networking know-how with a deep understanding of automotive best practices. Customers include car manufacturers, their Tier 1 suppliers, and aftermarket connectivity providers. Founded in 2013, Argus is headquartered in Tel-Aviv, Israel, with offices in Michigan, Silicon Valley, Stuttgart and Tokyo. Visit argus-sec.com to learn more.

About Bosch:

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 390,000 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2016). According to preliminary figures, the company generated sales of 73.1 billion euros in 2016. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility Solutions, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 450 subsidiaries and regional companies in some 60 countries. Including sales and service partners, Bosch's global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. Additional information is available online at http://www.bosch.com.

@ArgusSec | LinkedIn

Contact for Argus:

Brandon Weinstock

argus@headline-media.com

+1-914-336-4878

Contact for Bosch:

Annett Fischer

Annett.Fischer@bosch.com

+49-7062-911-7837


Leading Managed IT Services Provider is association's first premier member in Middle East

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --CompTIA, the world's leading technology association, today welcomed Burhani', a leading IT services and support company, as its first Premier Member in the Middle East.

Burhani' joins more than 2,000 other technology companies around the world as premier members of CompTIA.

"CompTIA is pleased to welcome Burhani' as our first premier member in the Middle East region," said Kris Nagamootoo, Senior Manager, Member Relations, EMEA and ANZ, CompTIA.

"By joining CompTIA as a premier member, Burhani' and its entire staff have access to the support of a powerful global trade organization whose mission is to advance the technology industry," Nagamootoo continued. "With its well-earned reputation as leading managed services provider in the region, the Burhani' team is a strong addition to our global membership."

Mohammed Yusuf, Director at Burhani' Managed IT Services said, "At Burhani', we have more than a decade's expertise in helping UAE businesses leverage the power of cutting edge technology for high performance and exponential growth.

Our partnership with CompTIA, the leading IT industry association worldwide, is critical in helping us stay updated with IT industry best practices and security certifications.

We appreciate CompTIA for having recognized our commitment to delivering 'world-class' business IT services and look forward to contributing to the global IT community."

About Burhani'

Burhani' Managed IT Services is one of Dubai, UAE's most trusted IT Services and Consultation Company with more than 13 years expertise in delivering optimal business outcomes.

Their areas of expertise include Managed Services, IT Support, Professional Services, Data Backup & Disaster Recovery and IT Security solutions amongst others.

Visit www.burhani.co to learn more.

CompTIA: Building the Foundation for Technology's Future

The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is the world's leading technology association, with approximately 2,000 member companies, 3,000 academic and training partners, over 100,000 registered users and more than two million IT certifications issued. CompTIA's unparalleled range of programs foster workforce skills development and generate critical knowledge and insight - building the foundation for technology's future. Visit CompTIA online, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to learn more.

Contacts:

Burhani' Managed IT Services

Mohammed Yusuf

Director

mohammed@burhani.co

For CompTIA

Jasmine O'Brien

House of Comms

jasmine@houseofcomms.com

+971544404635
For six years, most Republicans campaigning for federal office pledged to repeal ObamaCare. According to national polls, a majority of Americans have consistently opposed ObamaCare even when they otherwise approved of Barack Obama as president.

Thats because ObamaCare, or the Affordable Care Act (ACA), failed to live up to the promises made by Obama and its other proponents and has made health care more expensive and inconvenient while lowering its quality. Obama said Americans would be able to keep their doctors and insurance plans and that national spending on health care would decline. None of those promises was realized.

The ACA mostly changed the rules for buying, selling and administering health insurance. First, it imposed a requirement for insurance companies to issue coverage to anyone who applied, even if they already had known conditions that are costly to treat.

Real insurance is a financial contract to protect one against certain unforeseeable events, like floods or fire. It is fair to all participants only if the price to each covered person reflects the risks insured for that person. The ACAs mandated coverage for pre-existing conditions is not insurance but instead socialization of costs of pre-existing conditions to other insured customers and to taxpayers.

Socializing costs to taxpayers may be acceptable, but only if it is completely transparent, not hidden or confused. Socializing risks to other customers is never transparent and is inherently unfair  massively so under ObamaCare. In fact, the intent of ObamaCare was precisely to socialize risks and shift costs among classes of customers so that there was no transparency.

Second, ObamaCare required insurance rates to be set on a communal basis and prohibited insurers from using risk factors like age or health status to price individual coverage to reflect each persons risks. So, more cost shifting: Young peoples insurance premiums skyrocketed to greatly subsidize costs of care for older people.

In many cases, low-cost policies that young people previously enjoyed were cancelled altogether. Geoff and his wife had three policies cancelled in the two years following ObamaCares passage. When they finally acquired a stable policy, its monthly premium was three times higher than their original policy, the annual deductible had grown from $1,000 to $10,000, and the network of providers was smaller.

All this eroded young voters historical support for Democrats. Although 73 percent of 18-29 year-olds approved of President Obama by December 2016, only 59 percent of them approved of ObamaCare. All other age groups held even dimmer views on ObamaCare.

When Hillary Clinton took up the banner for defending ObamaCare, Democrats support among young people collapsed. According to the Brookings Institution, 45 percent of 18-29 year-olds identified as Democrats in 2008, but only 43 percent in 2012 and 37 percent in 2016.

Last years election shows, among other things, that the public agreed with Republican opposition to ObamaCare. But now that Republicans control the Presidency and Congress, theyve so far been unable to agree on how to repeal it.

Some Republicans helped implement ObamaCare at the state level by agreeing to expand Medicaid to nontraditional populations, including able-bodied, working-age adults with no dependents. This only further strained already limited provider networks for Medicaid patients, and damaged access to care for more vulnerable populations that were eligible under the old rules.

It also reduced incentives for able-bodied people to work and earn income, and it increased the size and cost of government. But Republicans who facilitated the expansion, including many from Nevada, now tout the mushrooming Medicaid numbers as an achievement and oppose market-based reforms. Others are afraid eliminating the cross-subsidy forced on young people to cover more costs of older people will alienate older voters that lean Republican.

Hence, the recent American Health Care Act proposed by Republicans in the House of Representatives retained many central features of ObamaCare. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill would have raised premiums 20 percent and left more people uninsured than outright repeal.

So, we recommend Republicans keep their promise and pursue outright repeal and then replacement. This would allow premiums to fall toward pre-ObamaCare rates, preserve Medicaid for the truly needy and restore the incentive work.

Plus, were old school and believe people should keep their promises.
LEUVEN, Belgium, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

ThromboGenics, a biotechnology company focusing on novel treatments for back of the eye disease and diabetic eye disease, announced it has achieved an important milestone in the advancing of the pre-clinical development of its THR-149, a novel plasma kallikrein inhibitor, which the company is developing for the treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema (DME). Following today's announcement, ThromboGenics will now start pivotal tox studies which are a last step before starting the clinical development which is expected for early 2018.

THR-149 is a bicyclic peptide (Bicycle) identified as a lead candidate in the alliance between ThromboGenics and Bicycle Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering a new class of therapeutics based on its proprietary bicyclic peptide (Bicycle) product platform.

Under the terms of the alliance agreement, ThromboGenics has an exclusive license to undertake pre-clinical and clinical development and subsequent commercialization of a specified drug candidate; in return Bicycle Therapeutics receives development milestone payments and royalties on sales of products resulting from the collaboration.

Bicycles are a novel class of small molecule medicines designed to overcome many of the limitations of existing drug modalities. They can be used as standalone therapeutic entities or coupled to deliver a variety of therapeutic payloads, and exhibit the affinity and exquisite target specificity usually associated with antibodies but in a small molecule format enabling rapid tissue penetration and flexible routes of administration.

"I am happy to report this important progress in our partnership with Bicycle Therapeutics," said Dr. Patrik De Haes, MD, Chief Executive Officer of ThromboGenics NV. "We believe that THR-149, a novel plasma kallikrein inhibitor, holds great promise for ophthalmology applications, expanding the range of treatment options available for people with diseases of the eye, particularly DME. We are rapidly moving towards the clinic, and expect to begin clinical development of THR-149 in early 2018."

"We're delighted to be realizing the first milestone from our Bicycle alliance with ThromboGenics and to see another Bicycle to be advancing towards the clinic for the treatment of a significant disease, in this case DME" said Dr. Kevin Lee, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Bicycle Therapeutics. "This achievement further validates Bicycle's technology and confirms the potential for Bicycles to be developed as a new therapeutic modality option to address a broad range of poorly treated diseases. We are continuing to expand our pipeline through strategic research collaborations which will extend our reach into new therapeutic areas and allow us to explore new applications for the Bicycle platform."

About ThromboGenics

ThromboGenics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative treatments for diabetic eye disease. The company's pipeline of disease modifying drug candidates is targeting the key segments of the diabetic eye disease market. ThromboGenics is conducting the CIRCLE study, a Phase II clinical trial evaluating multiple doses of THR-409 (ocriplasmin) to induce a total Posterior Vitreous Detachment in patients with Non-Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy (NPDR). Early 2017, ThromboGenics enrolled its first patient in a Phase II clinical study evaluating THR- 317, a PIGF inhibitor for the treatment of diabetic macular edema, as a stand-alone or as a combination therapy with anti-VEGF treatments. In addition, THR-149, a plasma kallikrein inhibitor, which has resulted from research collaboration with Bicycle Therapeutics, and THR-687, an integrin antagonist, which was inlicensed from Galapagos, are in late stage pre-clinical development. ThromboGenics pioneered a new drug category of pharmacological vitreolysis with JETREA (ocriplasmin) which is now approved for the treatment of vitreomacular traction in 54 countries worldwide. ThromboGenics is commercializing JETREA via its subsidiary ThromboGenics, Inc. in the US. Novartis commercializes JETREA outside the United States. ThromboGenics is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, and is listed on the NYSE Euronext Brussels exchange under the symbol THR. More information is available at www.thrombogenics.com.

About Bicycle Therapeutics

Bicycle Therapeutics is developing a new class of medicines to treat oncology and other important diseases based on its proprietary bicyclic peptide (Bicycle) product platform. Bicycles exhibit the affinity and exquisite target specificity usually associated with antibodies. Their small size enables rapid and deep tissue penetration, allowing tissues and tumours to be targeted from within. Their peptidic nature provides a "tuneable" pharmacokinetic half-life and a renal route of clearance, thus avoiding the liver and gastrointestinal tract toxicity often seen with other drug modalities. Bicycle Therapeutics is rapidly advancing towards the clinic with its lead programs using Bicycle Drug Conjugates to selectively deliver toxins to tumours. Bicycle Therapeutics is collaborating in oncology and other areas to realise the full potential of the technology. Bicycle Therapeutics' unique intellectual property is based on the work initiated at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, U.K., by the scientific founders of the company, Sir Gregory Winter and Professor Christian Heinis. Bicycle Therapeuticsis headquartered in Cambridge, U.K., with a U.S. subsidiary in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.bicycletherapeutics.com.

For contacting ThromboGenics nv



ThromboGenics

Wouter Piepers,

wouter.piepers@thrombogenics.com

+32-16-75-13-10 / +32-478-33-56-32



Citigate Dewe Rogerson

David Dible/Sylvie Berrebi

david.dible@citigatedr.co.uk

Sylvie.berrebi@citigatedr.co.uk

Tel: +44-20-7282-2867



For contacting Bicycle Therapeutics



Ten Bridge Communications (U.S.)

Sarah Sutton

Sarah@tenbridgecommunications.com

+1-857-242-1619



Consilium Strategic Communications (EU)

Mary-Jane Elliott/ Chris Gardner/ Ivar Milligan

Bicycle@consilium-comms.com

+44-20-3709-5700





Important information about forward-looking statements



Certain statements in this press release may be considered "forward-looking". Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, and, accordingly, entail and are influenced by various risks and uncertainties. The Company therefore cannot provide any assurance that such forward-looking statements will materialize and does not assume an obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or any other reason. Additional information concerning risks and uncertainties affecting the business and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement is contained in the Company's Annual Report.



This press release does not constitute an offer or invitation for the sale or purchase of securities or assets of ThromboGenics in any jurisdiction. No securities of ThromboGenics may be offered or sold within the United States without registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or in compliance with an exemption therefrom, and in accordance with any applicable U.S. state securities laws.
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Woodside Petroleum Ltd.(WOPEF.PK, WOPEY.PK, WPL.AX), an Australian LNG producer, reported Thursday that its first-quarter sales revenue declined to $895.4 million from $982.4 million last year, impacted by lower production and inventory build due to timing of LNG sales. Total operating revenues were $945.6 million, down from $1.03 billion a year ago. Realized price increased in the quarter, reflecting a continued strengthening in the oil market., while volume declined. Production was 21.4 Mmboe, lower than last year's 23.7 Mmboe, mainly due to adverse weather related events. Further, the company said its 2017 production guidance is unchanged. Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said the first quarter demonstrated progress against the company's 2017 priorities. Coleman said, 'Operational performance remains strong with the North West Shelf gas facilities and the Nganhurra FPSO achieving 98% reliability during the quarter. Pluto production was approximately 5% lower than expected; a positive outcome given the significant weather impacts experienced during the quarter. Woodside also successfully executed mid-term LNG sales and purchase agreements for up to 16 cargoes for delivery between 2017 and 2019.' In Australia, Woodside Petroleum shares are currently trading at A$32.19, down 1.59 percent. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Regulatory News:

Pernod Ricard (Paris:RI):

Press release Paris, 20 April 2017

STRONG YEAR-TO-DATE SALES: +4% ORGANIC GROWTH (REPORTED: +3%)

Q3: +3% ORGANIC GROWTH

UNDERLYING TRENDS IN LINE WITH THOSE OF H1

FY17 GUIDANCE1 CONFIRMED:

ORGANIC GROWTH IN PRO2 BETWEEN +2% AND +4%

Year-to-date Sales

Sales for the first 9 months of FY17 totalled 7,047 million, with organic growth of +4%. Growth was driven by:

Strong growth across Americas: +7% USA: +5% with Jameson, Martell and Altos in double-digit growth, Absolut in decline (but strong launch of Absolut Lime) and the positive impact of efficiency initiatives. Shipments ahead of depletions. Travel Retail Americas: return to growth Latin America: strong overall growth in the region but decline in Brazil

Modest growth in Asia-RoW: +1% India: +1%, with temporary growth deceleration due to certain regulatory changes . Q2 and Q3 impacted by demonetisation and highway ban to impact Sales mainly in Q4 FY17 and H1 FY18. Pernod Ricard confirming leadership in premium local and international whisky. China improving and now stable. Martell back to good volume and value growth. Korea: continued strong decline Travel Retail Asia: back to growth Africa Middle East: growth deceleration due to macroeconomic and geopolitical context

Strong Sales in Europe: +4%, with good growth in mature markets and dynamic recovery in Eastern Europe France: slight growth excluding technical impact 3 Spain: +4%, consolidating leadership in a faster-growing market UK: dynamic growth boosted by advance shipments linked to price increases Russia: strong growth with market share gains Travel Retail Europe: decline in difficult environment

with good growth in mature markets and dynamic recovery in Eastern Europe Diversification of sources of growth: Strategic international Brands: +4%, with 11 of 13 brands in growth Innovation representing of topline growth

Mix positive (vs. negative in FY 16) but pricing still subdued

1 Guidance communicated 1 September 2016

2 PRO Profit from Recurring Operations

3 Shipments brought forward from July to June 2015 ahead of back-office mutualisation between Ricard and Pernod on 1 July 2015

The Strategic International Brands (+4%) were a key driver of overall Sales growth improvement, with strong momentum on Jameson, good growth on Ballantine's and improvement on Absolut and Martell.

The Strategic Local Brands were flat due to the temporary slowdown on Indian whiskies.

Strategic Wines grew dynamically at +7%, driven by Campo Viejo.

Reported growth was +3% due to a slightly unfavourable FX impact over the period.

Q3 Sales

Sales for the third quarter of FY17 were slightly softer, as expected, mainly due to CNY phasing1, and totalled 1,987 million, including organic growth of +3% and reported growth of +7%. This comprised:

Good growth in Americas: +8% , with Latin America improving and USA in growth despite difficult basis of comparison

, with Latin America improving and USA in growth despite difficult basis of comparison Asia-RoW in decline at -2%, due to CNY phasing 1 and final impact of demonetisation in India, as planned

due to CNY phasing and final impact of demonetisation in India, as planned Continued good performance in Europe: +7%, with Western Europe solid and Eastern Europe dynamic.

As part of this communication, Alexandre Ricard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated,"We have strong year-to-date Sales growth at +4%. In an uncertain environment, our strategy is consistent and driving results, in particular in terms of diversifying the sources of growth.

We confirm our FY17 guidance2 of organic growth in Profit from Recurring Operations of between +2% and +4%3

Note: All growth data specified in this press release refers to organic growth (at constant FX and Group structure), unless otherwise stated. Data may be subject to rounding.

A detailed presentation of Sales for the third quarter of 2016/17 can be downloaded from our website: www.pernod-ricard.com

1 Chinese New Year (CNY): 28 January 2017 vs. 8 February 2016

2 Guidance communicated 1 September 2016

3 Over the full FY17, the FX impact on Profit from Recurring Operations is estimated at approximately + 80m, based on average FX rates for full FY17 projected on 31 March 2017, particularly a EUR/USD rate of 1.07

Definitions and additional information related to the use of non-IFRS measures

Pernod Ricard's management process is based on the following non-IFRS measures which are chosen for planning and reporting. The Group's management believes these measures provide valuable additional information for users of the financial statements in understanding the Group's performance. These non-IFRS measures should be considered as complementary to the comparable IFRS measures and reported movements therein.

Organic growth

Organic growth is calculated after excluding the impacts of exchange rate movements and acquisitions and disposals.

Exchange rates impact is calculated by translating the current year results at the prior year's exchange rates.

For acquisitions in the current year, the post-acquisition results are excluded from the organic movement calculations. For acquisitions in the prior year, post-acquisition results are included in the prior year but are included in the organic movement calculation from the anniversary of the acquisition date in the current year. Where a business, brand, brand distribution right or agency agreement was disposed of, or terminated, in the prior year, the Group, in the organic movement calculations, excludes the results for that business from the prior year. For disposals or terminations in the current year, the Group excludes the results for that business from the prior year from the date of the disposal or termination.

This measure enables to focus on the performance of the business which is common to both years and which represents those measures that local managers are most directly able to influence.

Profit from recurring operations

Profit from recurring operations corresponds to the operating profit excluding other non-current operating income and expenses.

About Pernod Ricard

Pernod Ricard is the world's n2 in wines and spirits with consolidated Sales of 8,682 million in FY16. Created in 1975 by the merger of Ricard and Pernod, the Group has undergone sustained development, based on both organic growth and acquisitions: Seagram (2001), Allied Domecq (2005) and Vin&Sprit (2008). Pernod Ricard holds one of the most prestigious brand portfolios in the sector: Absolut Vodka, Ricard pastis, Ballantine's, Chivas Regal, Royal Salute and The Glenlivet Scotch whiskies, Jameson Irish whiskey, Martell cognac, Havana Club rum, Beefeater gin and Malibu, Mumm and Perrier- Jouet champagnes, as well Jacob's Creek, Brancott Estate, Campo Viejo and Kenwood wines. Pernod Ricard employs a workforce of 18,500 people and operates through a decentralised organisation, with 6 "Brand Companies" and 85 "Market Companies" established in each key market. Pernod Ricard is strongly committed to a sustainable development policy and encourages responsible consumption. Pernod Ricard's strategy and ambition are based on 3 key values that guide its expansion: entrepreneurial spirit, mutual trust and a strong sense of ethics.

Pernod Ricard is listed on Euronext (Ticker: RI; ISIN code: FR0000120693) and is part of the CAC 40 index.

Appendices

House of Brands effective at 1 July 2016

Strategic International Brands

Strategic Local Brands

Strategic Wines

As of 1 July 2016:

(1) The above segmentation is used for Financial Communications. The same perimeter has been applied to FY16 for comparison purposes.

(2) Bulk Spirits are allocated by Region according to the Regions' weight in the Group

YTD Sales by Region

Net Sales ( millions) H1 2015/16 H1 2016/17 Change Organic Growth Group Structure Forex impact Americas 1,369 27.6% 1,431 28.3% 62 4% 95 7% (5) 0% (28) -2% Asia Rest of the World 2,019 40.7% 2,040 40.3% 22 1% 52 3% (0) 0% (30) -1% Europe 1,570 31.7% 1,589 31.4% 19 1% 50 3% 10 1% (41) -3% World 4,958 100.0% 5,061 100.0% 103 2% 197 4% 4 0% (99) -2% Net Sales ( millions) Q3 2015/16 Q3 2016/17 Change Organic Growth Group Structure Forex impact Americas 529 28.5% 602 30.3% 73 14% 43 8% (0) 0% 31 6% Asia Rest of the World 822 44.3% 837 42.1% 15 2% (15) -2% (0) 0% 30 4% Europe 504 27.2% 547 27.5% 43 9% 33 7% (1) 0% 11 2% World 1,855 100.0% 1,987 100.0% 131 7% 61 3% (1) 0% 72 4% Net Sales ( millions) YTD March 2015/16 YTD March 2016/17 Change Organic Growth Group Structure Forex impact Americas 1,899 27.9% 2,033 28.9% 135 7% 138 7% (6) 0% 3 0% Asia Rest of the World 2,841 41.7% 2,878 40.8% 37 1% 37 1% (1) 0% 1 0% Europe 2,074 30.4% 2,136 30.3% 62 3% 83 4% 9 0% (30) -1% World 6,813 100.0% 7,047 100.0% 234 3% 258 4% 3 0% (27) 0%

As of 1 July 2016, Bulk Spirits are allocated by Region according to the Regions' weight in the Group

Foreign exchange impact on YTD FY17 Sales

Forex impact 9M 2016/17 ( millions) Average rates evolution On Net Sales 2015/16 2016/17 US dollar USD 1.10 1.09 -1.5% 26 Argentinian peso ARS 12.41 16.68 34.4% (26) Chinese yuan CNY 7.07 7.38 4.4% (28) Pound sterling GBP 0.74 0.86 16.7% (56) Other currencies 58 Total (27)

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170419006549/en/

Contacts:

Contacts Pernod Ricard

Julia Massies VP, Financial Communication Investor Relations, +33 (0)1 41 00 41 07

Sylvie Machenaud Director External Communications, +33 (0)1 41 00 42 74

Adam Ramjean Investor Relations Manager, +33 (0)1 41 00 41 59

Emmanuel Vouin Press Relations Manager, +33 (0)1 41 00 44 04

Apolline Celeyron Press Relations Officer, +33 (0)1 41 00 40 97
SDL plc ("SDL" or the "Group"; LSE: SDL), the global innovator in language translation technology, services and content management, today announces an agreement to sell its Social Intelligence activities comprised of two subsidiaries Social Intelligence, Inc and SDL Technologies (Vietnam) Co Ltd (together, the "Social Intelligence Business") to Social Data Intelligence LLC ("SDIL"). Completion of the transaction is expected on 2 May 2017.

The Social Intelligence Business designs and develops software and provides analysts' services to collect, analyse and interpret Social Data.

Background to this transaction

In January 2016, SDL announced its strategic decision to divest certain non-core elements of the Group's technology business, being Campaigns, Fredhopper and Social Intelligence. As previously announced, the Campaigns business was sold on 2 November 2016 and the Fredhopper business was sold on 8 March 2017.

Details and financial impact of the transaction

SDL has signed a sale and purchase agreement with SDIL for the sale of its Social Intelligence Business. The immediate cash consideration for the Social Intelligence Business disposal is 1. As part of the transaction, SDL has agreed to subscribe for a $1 million unsecured 2027 loan note issued by SDIL.

The gross assets of the business being disposed amount to approx. 0.4 million and this transaction is expected to lead to a loss on disposal of approx. 0.5 million which will be accounted for within discontinued activities. The Social Intelligence Business made a loss before taxation in 2016 of 3.8 million which was reported as a discontinued activity in the Group's annual report.

Adolfo Hernandez, CEO of SDL, commented: "We are delighted to have found a home for stakeholders of the Social Intelligence Business, including employees and customers. The transaction concludes the sale of the Group's non-core businesses."

This announcement contains inside information.

About SDL

SDL (LSE: SDL) is the global innovator in language translation technology, services and content management. For more than 20 years, SDL has transformed business results by enabling nuanced digital experiences with customers across the globe so they can create personalized connections anywhere and on any device. Are you in the know? Find out more at SDL.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170419006727/en/

Contacts:

SDL plc

Adolfo Hernandez, 01628 410 127

Chief Executive Officer

or

Dominic Lavelle, 01628 410 127

Chief Financial Officer

or

FTI Consulting LLP

Edward Bridges Emma Appleton, 020 3727 1000
GOTHENBURG, Sweden, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --The SKF Group will publish its results for the first quarter on 27 April 2017 and welcomes investors, analysts and members of the media to take part in a conference call, which will be held in English, at 09:00 (CET), 08:00 (UK time).

To join the conference call, please dial-in using the following details at least 10 minutes before the start of the call:

SE: +46-(0)-8-5876-9445

UK: +44-(0)-20-3427-1914

US: +1-212-444-0481

Please inform the operator that you wish to take part in the SKF conference call.

The SKF Group's results for the first quarter 2017 will be published around 08:00 (CET).

All information regarding the results will be made available on the Group's website:http://investors.skf.com/quarterlyreporting

Media: To book interviews with Alrik Danielson and Christian Johansson after the conference call, please contact Theo Kjellberg on theo.kjellberg@skf.com / +46-725-77-65-76.

For further information, please contact:

PRESS:

Theo Kjellberg, Director, Press Relations

tel: +46-31-337-6576

mobile: +46-725-776576

e-mail: theo.kjellberg@skf.com

INVESTOR RELATIONS:

Patrik Stenberg, Head of Investor Relations

+46-31-337-2104

+46-705-472-104

patrik.stenberg@skf.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

http://news.cision.com/skf/r/skf-s-first-quarter-results-to-be-published-on-27-april-2017,c2241760

The following files are available for download:
New addition to SES's government services portfolio is world's first SATCOM-enabled solution to provide multi-orbit connectivity tailored to border security, ISR (Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance), aid and disaster recovery initiatives

SES (Euronext Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG)announced its new government product Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV), a SATCOM-enabled platform capable of providing high-speed connectivity and global communications services tailored to a broad range of commercial, civil, humanitarian and defence missions around the world.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170419006816/en/

SES Launches Rapid Response Vehicle for Defence, Security and Humanitarian Missions (Photo: Business Wire)

The Rapid Response Vehicle is the world's first mobile platform to offer collaborative communications technologies over multiple orbits and frequencies, including Ku-, Ka- and Military X- and Ka-bands, across SES's GEO fleet and fibre-like Ka-band delivered over its MEO constellation. The versatile RRV can easily adapt with connectivity customised for specific scenarios and applications such as high-definition video conferencing, streaming, voice, GSM backhaul, high-speed broadband, and large data file transfers in locations where infrastructure is non-existent or destroyed. The RRV was recently showcased at the Humanitarian ICT Forum held in March in Mountain View, California.

"The Rapid Response Vehicle can provide multi-band, multi-orbit connectivity to support virtually any situation imaginable, anywhere. This includes missions related to border security, defence, peacekeeping, support for humanitarian operations and response to natural disasters, as well as commercial applications," said Nicole Robinson, Corporate Vice President, Government Market Solutions at SES. "We are very proud to be at the forefront of technological advancements in rapid connectivity solutions, and are looking forward to continuing to deliver truly tailored offerings to our customers."

The RRV solution is 'plug-and-play' and boasts modular features that can integrate and deploy a wide range of communication technologies and devices aboard a mobile vehicle. One example is SES's Tactical Persistent Surveillance (TPS) ISR solution, based on Lighter-Than-Air (LTA) inflatable aerostat technology hosting advanced electro-optical (EO) sensor and communications payload options, which is designed to provide situational awareness for border and operations security, event monitoring and disaster response initiatives.

The RRV can also quickly launch a number of other platforms, including the SATMED telemedicine service. Other types of activities enabled by the RRV are 'respond and recover' missions to support disaster relief efforts, providing emergency wireless internet access for communities, reinforcing downed public infrastructure, providing IP backhaul for mobile networks and enabling long-term connectivity for agencies on the ground.

The RRV is equipped with wireless capabilities, including MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) SDR radio technology, which provides an expansive mesh type, frequency programmable, mobile communications platform to support private 3G 4G LTE networks and government push to talk ("PTT") frequencies.

SES's Rapid Response Vehicle is available through a variety of purchase and lease options supported with fully-managed service agreements, allowing procurement flexibility.

For additional information about the Rapid Response Vehicle and other solutions, please visit the Newsroom.

Follow us on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SES_Satellites

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ses

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SES.Satellites

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SESVideoChannel

Blog: https://www.ses.com/news/blogs

Media Gallery: https://www.ses.com/media-gallery

SES White papers are available under: https://www.ses.com/news/whitepapers

About SES

SES is the world-leading satellite operator and the first to deliver a differentiated and scalable GEO-MEO offering worldwide, with more than 50 satellites in Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) and 12 in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO). SES focuses on value-added, end-to-end solutions in two key business units; SES Video and SES Networks. The company provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators, governments and institutions. SES's portfolio includes the ASTRA satellite system, which has the largest Direct-to-Home (DTH) television reach in Europe, O3b Networks, a global managed data communications service provider, and MX1, a leading media service provider that offers a full suite of innovative digital video and media services.Further information available at: www.ses.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170419006816/en/

Contacts:

SES

Markus Payer

Corporate Communications

Tel. +352 710 725 500

Markus.Payer@ses.com
SAN JOSE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- SPYRUS, Inc. today announced that its Rosetta Hardware "Root of Trust" product suite will be fully compatible with Microsoft Azure IoT Hub. Among the first Spyrus offerings will be the Rosetta USB and microSDHC modules that provide strong authentication and secure storage for Shared Access Signatures (SAS) tokens in devices integrated through Azure IoT Hub.

"With the integration of the family of Rosetta security products, SPYRUS brings its extensive repertoire of PKI based authentication technologies to the Microsoft Azure IoT Hub by providing strong authentication in a wide open environment where billions of devices are interconnecting and communicating," said Tom Dickens, SPYRUS COO. "FIPS 140-2 Level 3 certified tamperproof hardware security and PKI security capabilities combined with transparent support across multiple product form factors make the Rosetta family ideal as Roots of Trust in mission critical IoT applications."

Rosetta USB is a member of the Rosetta hardware security module product line, a comprehensive suite of FIPS 140-2 Level 3 Security Controllers in multiple form factors all sharing commonality with the SPYRUS Cryptographic Operating System (SPYCOS). The Rosetta family of hardware, software, and supporting development kits includes the latest Rosetta microSDHC and Trusted Flash microSDHC, a high performance self-encrypting microSDHC memory storage device with built in PKI functionality, the Rosetta Micro, an ISO 7816 compliant security element in embedded surface mount package, and variants in ISO 7810 Smart Card and USB device form factors. The Rosetta SPYCOS security services and intrinsic command set are extended to other members of the SPYRUS hardware token family, including PocketVault P-3X, WorkSafe, WorkSafe Pro, their multi-domain Xtreme versions, and PocketVault Smart USB 3.0.

"The type of authentication and encryption technology that HSM manufacturers such as SPYRUS provides is essential to enterprises adopting IoT today," said Sam George, Director, Microsoft Azure IoT at Microsoft Corp. "SPYRUS provides a vital level of protection for information associated with SAS tokens for secure, granular, limited access to cloud-based Azure technology without revealing system keys. The Spyrus Rosetta Micro security controller is ideal for embedded use in OEM or new designs, and the 'plug and play' HSMs, which include a suite of microSD cards and USB drives, are especially relevant to existing IoT gateways and deployments that want to quickly add additional levels of security."

The SPYRUS composite storage and PKI HSM devices will be amongst the first to support the Azure IoT Device SDK. SPYRUS Security in a Box for IoT configurations will create a unique repository on GitHub to host the code and related documentation that enable SPYRUS connectivity. The SPYRUS "repo" will be linked to the Azure IoT Device SDK repo to permit discovery of the SPYRUS solution set. Future enhancements to permit rapid onboarding of SPYRUS devices to the Azure IoT Device SDK will include an Auth API layer to facilitate rapid development and a webpage dedicated to SPYRUS in the Azure IoT Hub device catalog to permit rapid selection of a suitable SPYRUS hardware token.

Related Links

SPYRUS IoT Products: https://developer.spyrus.com

Azure IoT Hub: https://developer.spyrus.com/azure-iot-hub

About SPYRUS, Inc.

SPYRUS delivers innovative encryption solutions that offer the strongest protection for data in motion, data at rest and data at work. For over 20 years, SPYRUS has delivered leading hardware-based encryption, authentication, and digital content security products to government, financial, and health care enterprises. To prevent the insertion of untrusted components, patented Secured by SPYRUS security technology is proudly designed, engineered, and manufactured in the USA to meet FIPS 140-2 Level 3 standards. SPYRUS has collaborated closely with Microsoft to deliver the first certified hardware encrypted portable platform for Windows 7, Windows 8, Window 8.1 and now Windows 10. SPYRUS is headquartered in San Jose, California. See www.spyrus.com for more information.

SPYRUS, the SPYRUS logos, TrustedFlash, PocketVault, WorkSafe, WorkSafe Pro, LYNKS, Secure Pocket Drive, Security to the Edge, Security in a Box, Suite B On Board, SPEX/, SPYCOS, Multisession, Hydra Privacy Card, Rosetta, and Rosetta MicroSDHC are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SPYRUS, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries. Individual SPYRUS products may embody technology protected by one or more patents: http://www.spyrus.com/patent-markings/

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Acquisition of integrated communications agency marks next step in the rapid expansion of Accenture's agency, Accenture Interactive

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) has acquired Kunstmaan, an independent integrated communications agency in Belgium. The acquisition will expand the presence of Accenture Interactive in the Belgian market and strengthen its ability to deliver brand, creative and marketing services to clients. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420005173/en/

Kunstmaan is now a part of Accenture Interactive, the world's biggest digital agency (Photo: Business Wire)

Kunstmaan is known for creating impactful customer experiences for leading Belgian companies and brands, both online and off. Its work has been recognized with Effie Awards for most effective brand communication. Kunstmaan's capabilities include brand strategy, creative and marketing services, content creation, and digital development. The agency was founded in 1998 and has offices in Leuven and Antwerp.

"With Kunstmaan, we are accelerating our market position in Belgium as an agency where clients come for a truly holistic customer experience offering," said Anatoly Roytman, head of Accenture Interactive for Europe, Africa, Middle East and Latin America. "Together, we're bringing our unique model to the market: part creative agency, part business consultancy and part technology powerhouse all laser focused on creating the best customer experiences on the planet."

Accenture Interactive is the world's biggest and fastest-growing digital agency, according to the latest agency ranking by Advertising AgeIt offers digital customer experience services ranging from creative to technology, spanning experience design, marketing, content and commerce.

"Becoming part of the Accenture Interactive family will allow us to lend our creativity and experience to a much broader scope of projects and clients," said Wim Vanhaeren, founder of Kunstmaan. "We are driven by a passion to create human experiences for the right customer touch points using the right communication channels and tools. We are excited about joining Accenture as we firmly believe it will provide tremendous opportunities for our team and skills to flourish and grow."

"We are bolstering our capabilities with Kunstmaan's proven integrated communication services and passion for impactful experiences," said Wim Decraene, head of Accenture Interactive for Belgium and Luxembourg. "Kunstmaan is bringing valuable talent with highly sought-after skills to Accenture Interactive that will immediately enable us to address a broader range of the digital challenges our clients are facing."

Kunstmaan is the eleventh acquisition Accenture has made in the last five years to expand the reach, scope, and depth of Accenture Interactive's end-to-end customer experience services. The deal follows on the heels of its recent majority stake purchase in German digital agency SinnerSchrader and the acquisition of UK creative agency Karmarama. Accenture also recently deepened its digital and user experience capabilities in Europe with the acquisitions of OCTO (France), MOBGEN (Netherlands, Spain), and Tecnilogica (Spain).

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions underpinned by the world's largest delivery network Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 401,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Accenture Interactive helps the world's leading brands transform their customer experiences across the entire customer journey. Through our connected offerings in design, marketing, content and commerce, we create new ways to win in today's experience-led economy. Accenture Interactive was ranked the world's largest and fastest-growing digital agency in the latest Ad Age Agency Report. To learn more follow us @accenturesocial and visit www.accenture.com/interactive.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "may," "will," "should," "likely," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "positioned," "outlook" and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include, without limitation, risks that: the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for the company; the company's results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company's clients' businesses and levels of business activity; the company's business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company's services and solutions, including through the adaptation and expansion of its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings, and a significant reduction in such demand or an inability to respond to the changing technological environment could materially affect the company's results of operations; if the company is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company's business, the utilization rate of the company's professionals and the company's results of operations may be materially adversely affected; the markets in which the company competes are highly competitive, and the company might not be able to compete effectively; the company could have liability or the company's reputation could be damaged if the company fails to protect client and/or company data from security breaches or cyberattacks; the company's profitability could materially suffer if the company is unable to obtain favorable pricing for its services and solutions, if the company is unable to remain competitive, if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful or if it experiences delivery inefficiencies; changes in the company's level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in tax laws or in their interpretation or enforcement, could have a material adverse effect on the company's effective tax rate, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition; the company's results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company's business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; the company's work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; the company might not be successful at identifying, acquiring, investing in or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses; the company's Global Delivery Network is increasingly concentrated in India and the Philippines, which may expose it to operational risks; as a result of the company's geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue geographic expansion, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; adverse changes to the company's relationships with key alliance partners or in the business of its key alliance partners could adversely affect the company's results of operations; the company's services or solutions could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company might lose its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others; if the company is unable to protect its intellectual property rights from unauthorized use or infringement by third parties, its business could be adversely affected; the company's ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; if the company is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; any changes to the estimates and assumptions that the company makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; many of the company's contracts include payments that link some of its fees to the attainment of performance or business targets and/or require the company to meet specific service levels, which could increase the variability of the company's revenues and impact its margins; the company's results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; the company may be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to its incorporation in Ireland; as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the "Risk Factors" heading in Accenture plc's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture's expectations.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420005173/en/

Contacts:

Accenture

Katia de Vos, 32 2 2216762

katia.de.vos@accenture.com

or

Accenture Interactive

Jens R. Derksen, 49 175 5761393

jens.derksen@accenture.com
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC

NOTICE OF 2017 Annual General Meeting

Royal Dutch Shell plc (the "Company") announces that its 2017 Annual General Meeting ("AGM") will be held at the Circustheater, Circusstraat 4, 2586 CW The Hague, The Netherlands at 10:00 (Dutch time) on Tuesday May 23, 2017. The Notice of Annual General Meeting (the "Notice") can be viewed and downloaded from www.shell.com/agm.

The AGM will be webcast on the day so shareholders unable to attend in person can still follow proceedings. More information about the webcast arrangements can be found in the Notice and via the website referred to above.

SHAREHOLDER PRESENTATION, LONDON

A presentation has been arranged for shareholders at 11:00 (UK time) on Thursday May 25, 2017 (two days after the AGM) at Central Hall Westminster, Storey's Gate, Westminster, London, SW1H 9NH, United Kingdom. The Chair, the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer and the Company Secretary will be present.

This presentation is not part of the AGM. Further details can be found in the Notice of Annual General Meeting.

NATIONAL STORAGE MECHANISM

In accordance with the Listing Rules, a copy of each of the documents below will be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and available for inspection at: http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/nsm.

Annual Report and Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2016

Notice of the 2017 Annual General Meeting

Notice of Availability of Shareholder Documents

Proxy Form relating to the 2017 Annual General Meeting

The Annual Report and Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2016 can also be viewed and downloaded from the Company's website: www.shell.com/annualreport.

Printed copies of the Notice and associated documents have been despatched to those shareholders who have elected to receive paper communications.

April 20, 2017

Mark Edwards

Deputy Company Secretary

ENQUIRIES

Shell Media Relations

International, UK, European Press: +44 20 7934 5550

Shell Investor Relations

Europe: + 31 70 377 4540

United States: +1 832 337 2034

LEI number of Royal Dutch Shell plc: 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70

Classification: Additional regulated information required to be disclosed under the laws of a Member State.
PowerObjects' CRM Boot Camp for Dynamics 365 is a week-long concentrated overview of the system and its processes

LONDON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --PowerObjects, an HCL Company are proud to announce that they will be offering their CRM Boot Camp for Dynamics 365 to the London and surrounding area in June. This will be the first time PowerObjects will be hosting a Boot Camp in the UK, and solidifies their commitment to adding value to Microsoft Dynamics 365 by offering unparalleled offerings of service, support, education and add-ons for the product.

"Our Boot Camps are comprehensive classes aimed at empowering organisations to create the best CRM for Dynamics 365 implementation possible," says Gretchen Opferkew, Director of Education. "The Boot Camp utilizes lectures, demonstrations, hands-on labs and discussions as learning tools to facilitate the learning process."

The week-long training will present a concentrated overview of the CRM for Dynamics 365 system and its processes including focus areas of analytics and administration.

"At PowerObjects, we are passionate about helping you get the most out of your CRM for Dynamics 365," says Opferkew. "We are very excited about bringing these offerings to the United Kingdom and expanding our entire breadth of educational offerings for Dynamics 365."

Intermediate technical aptitude is recommended, as well as an understanding of data and relational databases. The boot camp is focused on the application and not on processes and is not recommended for end-users, but rather is more appropriate for those who will be customising or supporting the application.

You can learn more about the event and register here.

About PowerObjects, an HCL Company

PowerObjects, an HCL Company, provides CRM service, support, education and add-ons for Microsoft Dynamics 365. Winner of the 2015 Microsoft Dynamics CRM Cloud Partner of the Year, PowerObjects has built an unmatched team of Dynamics 365 experts that help organisations increase productivity, streamline business processes and build better relationships.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/467009/Power_Objects_Logo.jpg
When the Diego Siloe high school in Albacete organized a short-film competition for its students, Alicia Rodenas, 17, entered a video in which she reads out a hundred or so sexist comments.

She starts with a few that reinforce gender stereotypes during childhood, such as: If they see you playing with boys theyll call you a tomboy. or Computers? Wouldnt you rather be dancing? Youre so pretty when you wear a dress! Then she moves on to comments such as: Youre always surrounded by boys, youre such a pricktease, and: Whats wrong with you, are you on your period?

Other comments include: Youre always surrounded by boys, youre a pricktease

The video ends with sentences that make direct references to abuse, such as: If he looks at you again Ill hit him, and: Dont leave me, or Ill do something crazy.

The recording has not just been limited to a scholarly circles: it has been watched more than 120,000 times since her high school published it on YouTube on March 29. Whats more, it has been seen nearly a million times on Facebook, where it was shared by the page Afectados BB Serveis.

The text that Rodenas is reading out already went viral in 2015. It is entitled, What a pretty girl! and was written by Ro de la Torre, from Madrid. She first published it on her Facebook page and then on the feminist website Locas del cono. Rodenas liked the text and asked for permission to use it, as she explains to Verne by phone. The owners of the Locas del cono site not only gave her permission to do so, but also shared the result on their Facebook page.

Right from the start I was clear how I wanted to do it, and I did it like that, she explains. They sent me several videos just in case they were helpful, but I didnt want to see any of them. In terms of her performance, Rodenas explains that she has been going to theater classes for two years, but its more of a hobby. I want to study Psychology.

As tends to happen with this kind of issue, once the video went viral, insulting comments began to appear on YouTube, to the point that the high school had to disable them.

Insulting comments appeared on YouTube and the school had to disable them

But in general, response to the video has been very positive. The comments that I like the most are from people who say that their attitude has changed after they saw the video, says Rodenas, adding that the video has also been debated in school after a screening by the psychology teacher.

Rodenas says that she sees the video and the text as a positive way to get people talking about sexism and to show how it is embedded in many phrases that women hear from a very young age, but that many see as inoffensive. We have to start young, she says. If not its very hard to learn that saying these things is bad.

De la Torre has previously explained to Verne that she wanted to show how sexist violence is not just a death, but rather something that you carry with you all your life. Along similar lines, the Rodenas video ends with this caption: Gender violence is not just physical. We live through it from our infancy and it follows us until the end. Its now or never.

English version by Simon Hunter.


VEVEY (dpa-AFX) - Nestle SA (NSRGY, NSTR.L) reported Thursday slight increase in first-quarter sales, while organic sales growth was strong with improved performance mainly in emerging markets. Further, the Swiss nutrition, health and wellness giant confirmed its fiscal 2017 forecast for organic sales growth.



Mark Schneider, Nestle CEO said, 'Organic growth of 2.3 percent this quarter is within our full-year guidance range. The leap year comparison and other seasonal effects made the start of this year particularly challenging. We were encouraged by the growth in Asia and the resilience of consumer spending in Europe. Consumer demand in the Americas remained soft. Our pricing improved moderately.'



Sales for the first-quarter increased 0.4 percent to 21.0 billion Swiss francs from 20.9 billion francs a year ago. Organic growth was at 2.3 percent, with 1.3 percent of real internal growth or RIG and pricing of 1.0 percent. Organic growth was 0.8 percent for developed markets and 4.3 percent for emerging markets.



In the quarter, sales in zone Americas increased 2.6 percent from last year to 6.4 billion francs. Organic growth was subdued at 0.4 percent owing to a decline in RIG of 1.4 percent. Pricing increased 1.8 percent. Sales in North America declined slightly on an organic basis amid soft consumer demand, while Latin America achieved low single-digit organic growth driven by pricing.



Quarterly sales in zone Europe, Middle-East and North Africa or EMENA declined 6.9 percent to 4 billion francs mainly due to negative foreign exchange impact. Organic growth was solid at 1.7 percent.



Reported sales in zone Asia, Oceania and sub-Saharan Africa or AOA increased 1 percent to 4 billion francs. Organic growth was strong at 4.5 percent. Sales in Nestle Waters increased 1.1 percent and sales in Nestle Nutrition edged up 0.2 percent.



Further, the company confirmed its full-year guidance for 2017 and expects organic growth between 2 percent and 4 percent.



The company said it plans to increase restructuring costs considerably in 2017 in order to drive future profitability. As a result, the trading operating profit margin in constant currency is expected to be stable. Underlying earnings per share in constant currency and capital efficiency are expected to increase.



Nestle shares are currently trading at 76 francs, up 1.06 percent.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Press-release

Krasnodar

April 20, 2017

PJSC "Magnit" Announces the Exclusion of its Bonds from the Level 2 of the List of Securities Admitted to Trading at Moscow Exchange due to their Advanced Redemption

Krasnodar, April 20, 2017: PJSC "Magnit", Russia's largest food retailer (the "Company"; MICEX and LSE: MGNT), announces the exclusion of its bonds from the Level 2 of the List of securities admitted to trading at Moscow Exchange.

Please be informed that on April 19, 2017 exchange-traded bonds of the BO-11 series were excluded from the Level 2 of the List of securities admitted to trading at Moscow Exchange, due to their advanced redemption.

Securities market maker: Public Joint Stock Company "Moscow Exchange MICEX-RTS" (Moscow Exchange) Type of securities: Non-convertible interest-bearing certified exchange-traded bonds to the bearer of the BO-11series with the obligatory centralized custody, Identification number of the securities issues 4B02-11-60525-P as of 30.07.2013, International Stock Identification Number (ISIN) RU000A0JVUZ6

For further information. please contact:

Timothy Post Head of Investor Relations

Email: post@magnit.ru

Office: +7-861-277-4554 x 17600 Investor Relations Office MagnitIR@magnit.ru

Direct Line: +7-861-277-4562

Website: ir.magnit.com/ Media Inquiries Media Relations Department

press@magnit.ru

Company description:

Public Joint Stock Company "Magnit" is one of Russia's leading retailers. Founded in 1994, the company is headquartered in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar. As of December 31, 2016, Magnit operated 35 distribution centers and 14,059 stores (10,521 convenience, 431 hypermarkets and 3,107 drogerie stores) in 2,494 cities and towns throughout 7 federal regions of the Russian Federation.

In accordance with the audited IFRS results for 2016, Magnit had revenues of RUB 1,075 billion and an EBITDA of RUB 108 billion. Magnit's local shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange (MOEX: MGNT) and its GDRs on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: MGNT) and it has a credit rating from Standard & Poor's of BB+. Measured by market capitalization, Magnit is one of the largest retailers in Europe.
BIELEFELD, Germany, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

- Revenues climb by 15.9% to MEUR206.1

- Managed Services revenues exceed MEUR 100

- Strong EBIT growth of 84.6%, from MEUR3.9 to MEUR7.2

- Forecast for 2017 confirmed: revenue growth to MEUR820-830 with EBIT margin of around 5%

itelligence AG has enjoyed a very good start to fiscal year 2017, recording extremely strong revenue and, in particular, earnings growth compared with the previous year. Revenue increased by 15.9% in the first three months of 2017, from MEUR177.8 to MEUR206.1. Earnings before interest and taxes saw above-average growth of 84.6%, from MEUR3.9 to MEUR7.2. The extremely strong revenue performance was attributable to both organic growth (+8.0%) and newly acquired companies (+7.9%). Orders on hand at itelligence AG rose by 29.0%, from MEUR696.2 in the previous year to MEUR898.3 as of March31, 2017.

Norbert Rotter, CEO of itelligence AG: "We are specifically focusing on improving our earnings strength this year. Our results for the first quarter show that we have made a good start. Our revenue growth is intact. We expect to see a continued high propensity to invest in digitalization, particularly in the new SAP technology SAP S/4HANA."

In the individual revenue segments, consulting business enjoyed revenue growth of 13.8%, from MEUR78.5 to MEUR89.3. Managed Services broke through the MEUR100 barrier for the first time thanks to substantial revenue growth of 21.1%, from MEUR83.5 to MEUR101.1. Cloud subscription revenues almost doubled, increasing from MEUR1.3 in the first quarter of the previous year to MEUR2.5 (+92.3%). At MEUR11.7, revenue in the Licenses segment was down slightly on the outstanding prior-year figure of MEUR13.5 (-13.3%).

In terms of geographical distribution, the largest segment, DACH, remained firmly on its growth path with revenue growth of 26.8%, from MEUR78.6 to MEUR 99.7. The Western Europe segment also posted growth of 7.6% to MEUR45.3 after MEUR42.1 in the previous year.

In Eastern Europe, revenues remained largely unchanged year-on-year at MEUR20.0 compared with MEUR20.5 in the first quarter of 2016. The USA segment recorded revenue growth of 10.0%, from MEUR32.9 to MEUR36.2. Finally, Asia saw revenue growth of 20.7%, from MEUR2.9 in the first quarter of the previous year to MEUR3.5. In the Other segment, revenues amounted to MEUR1.4 after MEUR0.8 in the previous year (+75.0%).

In terms of earnings performance, itelligence AG enjoyed an extremely strong first quarter with substantially above-average earnings growth. EBIT improved by 84.6%, from MEUR3.9 in the previous year to MEUR7.2 in the first three months of 2017. Accordingly, the EBIT margin rose from 2.2% in the previous year to 3.5%. EBITA improved from MEUR5.6 to MEUR 9.2 in the first quarter, with the EBITA margin increasing from 3.1% to 4.5% as a result.

Dr. Michael Dorin, CFO of itelligence AG since January 1, 2017: "One of our overriding aims for the year as a whole is to return our EBIT margin to around 5%. Our results for the first quarter represent an important first step in achieving this. We intend to maintain this dynamic earnings performance as 2017 continues."

The Management Board is confirming its forecast for fiscal year 2017, with revenues in the region of MEUR820-830 and an EBIT margin of around 5%.

About itelligence

itelligence is one of the leading international full-service providers of solutions in support of SAP solutions, employing more than 5,800 highly qualified employees in 24 countries. As a frequently awarded SAP partner, itelligence is an SAP Hybris Gold partner and global value-added reseller. itelligence is an SAP-certified provider of cloud services, SAP-certified provider of hosting services for SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud and an SAP platinum partner. itelligence realizes complex projects in the SAP solution-based environment worldwide. The company's services in support of SAP solutions range from consulting and licensing to application management services and hosting services to proprietary industry-specific solutions. In 2016, itelligence generated total sales of EUR 777.9 million.

Contact:

Katrin Schlegel

Phone: +49-(0)-521-91-448-106

Fax: +49-(0)-521-91-445-201

Katrin.Schlegel@itelligence.de

itelligence AG

Konigsbreede 1

33605 Bielefeld / Germany

http://www.itelligencegroup.com



Public Relations

Silvia Dicke

Phone: +49-(0)-521-91448-107

Fax: +49-(0)-521-91445-201

Silvia.Dicke@itelligence.de

itelligence AG

Konigsbreede 1

33605 Bielefeld / Germany

http://www.itelligencegroup.com


Silkeborg, 2017-05-08 09:03 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting of Jyske Bank A/S



This is to give notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting of Jyske Bank A/S, which will be held on Friday 2 June 2017, at 10.00 a.m. at Vestergade 8-16, 8600 Silkeborg, Denmark.



AGENDA





a. Motions proposed by the Supervisory Board: 1. The Supervisory Board proposes that an extraordinary dividend of DKK 5.60 per share be paid at a face value of DKK 10 corresponding to a total dividend amount of DKK 532m of which DKK 33m is attributed to the shares covered by the capital reduction adopted but not yet implemented. b. Any other business.





Reference to Jyske Bank's website for further information



Where in this notice of an extraordinary general meeting reference is made to Jyske Bank's website for further information, this link can be used: investor.jyskebank.com/investorrelations/generalmeetings.



Adoption of motions - requirements



The motion to pay extraordinary dividend shall only be adopted at the Extraordinary General Meeting by a simple majority of votes. A simple majority in favour of the motion requires that the number of votes in favour of the motion exceeds the number of votes against the motion.



Size of the share capital, voting rights of the shareholders and registration date



Jyske Bank's share capital is DKK 950,399,990, comprising shares at a face value of DKK 10. It was resolved to reduce the share capital to DKK 891,590,440 through cancellation of previously acquired own shares as adopted at Jyske Bank's extraordinary general meeting on 20 April 2017. The capital reduction is proceeding according to plan and follows the statutory procedure in the Danish Companies Act. The capital reduction has therefore not yet been registered as completed at the Danish Business Authority.



If the capital reduction has been finally completed before the extraordinary general meeting, the share capital will amount to DKK 891,590,440 distributed on shares at a face value of DKK 10. If the capital reduction has not been finally completed before the extraordinary general meeting, the share capital amounts to DKK 950,399,990 distributed on shares at a face value of DKK 10.



Each share amount of DKK 10 shall carry one vote, provided always that 4,000 votes are the highest number of votes any one shareholder may cast on his own behalf. Voting rights can only be exercised by shareholders or their proxies. For the voting right of a share to be exercised, the share shall be registered in the name of the holder in the Bank's register of shareholders not later than on the day of registration, which is 26 May 2017, or the title to such share shall be notified and documented to the Bank within that same time limit. Nobody shall be entitled to exercise the voting rights attached to Jyske Bank's own shares, including the shares comprised by the capital reduction.





Proxy and postal vote



Shareholders may as from 9 May to 29 May 2017 give voting instructions, appoint Jyske Bank's Supervisory Board or a third party as proxy either electronically or by means of the Power of Attorney form.



Shareholders may attend the General Meeting by proxy and cast their votes by proxy.



In addition, shareholders may as from 9 May to 1 June 2017, at 10.00 a.m. cast postal votes either electronically or by means of a form.



Proxies may be appointed or postal votes may be cast electronically at the Investor Portal via Jyske Bank's website. A form for the appointment of proxies or for casting postal votes is available at one of Jyske Bank's branches or can be downloaded from Jyske Bank's website. Where the form is used, please forward the completed and signed form either by post to VP Investor Services A/S, Weidekampsgade 14, DK-2300 Copenhagen S or by email to vp@vp.dk. The form must reach VP Investor Services A/S by the above-mentioned deadlines, and proxies must have been appointed or postal votes must have been cast electronically by the same deadlines.



Custodian bank



Jyske Bank's shareholders may choose Jyske Bank A/S as their custodian bank in order to exercise their financial rights through Jyske Bank A/S.



Questions from shareholders



Shareholders may ask questions in writing about the items of the agenda or the Bank's financial position. Please send questions to Jyske Bank A/S, Juridisk Afdeling, Vestergade 8-16, DK-8600 Silkeborg or by email to Juridisk@jyskebank.dk. Questions and answers will be presented at the general meeting. At the General Meeting, the management will also answer questions from the shareholders about matters of importance for the financial situation of the Bank and questions for consideration at the General Meeting.



Additional information



The following documents and information can be downloaded from Jyske Bank's website or can be ordered from Jyske Bank's branches from 9 May 2017:



1. The notice of Extraordinary General Meeting and the full wording of the motions.



2. The total number of shares and voting rights at the date of the notice.



3. The forms to be used when voting by proxy or by postal vote.



4. Quarterly financial statements as at 31.03.2017.



Admission card



Shareholders who wish to attend the General Meeting and cast their votes must acquire an admission card. Admission cards for the General Meeting can be ordered at the Investor Portal via Jyske Bank's website or from any of Jyske Bank's branches from 9 May 2017 and must be ordered by Friday 29 May 2017 at the latest.



Jyske Bank will as was previously the case send admission cards via email. Therefore, you must register your email address at InvestorPortalen when you order your admission card. After registration, you will receive an electronic admission card which you may simply show on your smart phone or tablet when you attend the general meeting. Unless you have appointed a proxy you will receive your voting card upon presentation of your admission card. If, when you order your admission card, you do not choose to receive this via email, you will instead receive it by post.





For the sake of good order, we point out that no refreshments can be expected to be served at the Extraordinary General Meeting.





Silkeborg, 8 May 2017



Group Supervisory Board



Attachment:

https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=630050

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar declined against most major counterparts in early European deals on Thursday. The greenback reversed from an early high of 1.2773 versus the pound, edging down to 1.2842. The greenback that closed yesterday's trading at 1.0711 versus the euro and 0.9982 against the Swiss franc slipped to more than 3-week lows of 1.0776 and 0.9945, respectively. Retreating from an early high of 0.7493 against the aussie, the greenback dropped to 0.7532. The greenback is likely to find support around 0.77 against the aussie, 1.30 against the pound, 0.98 against the franc and 1.09 against the euro. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
20 April 2017

London and St Lawrence Investment Company PLC (in members' voluntary liquidation) (the "Company")

Update on the Scheme and Results of General Meeting

Results of the Second General Meeting

The Board of London and St Lawrence Investment Company PLC announces that at the Second General Meeting, held earlier today, the special resolutions were duly approved by Shareholders.

Accordingly, the Company has been placed into members' voluntary liquidation and James Eldridge and Jeremy Willmont, both of Moore Stephens LLP, have been appointed as liquidators.

The Company's Reclassified Shares and Preference Shares were suspended at 7.30 a.m. this morning.

Applications have been made to the UK Listing Authority and the London Stock Exchange for the listing and admission to trading for the Reclassified Shares and Preference Shares to be cancelled. It is expected that such cancellation will take place at 8 a.m. on 21 April 2017.

Copies of the special resolutions have been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/nsm.

Terminal Asset Value

Further to the passing of the resolutions at the Company's General Meetings and under the terms of the Proposals, the TAV of the Company was calculated as at 12 noon on 18 April 2017 and is 390.23 pence. Ordinary Shareholders who elected, or were deemed to have elected, to rollover into Practical Income Units will be receive 1.668374519 Units for every Ordinary Share.

Cheques and contract notes for Practical Income Units issued under the Scheme are expected to be dispatched by the Company's registrars in the week commencing 24 April 2017.

Preference Shares

In accordance with the Articles, holders of the Company's Preference Shares will receive a distribution equal to the nominal value of 1.00 for each Preference Share and the accrued but unpaid preference dividends equal to 0.6849 pence for each Preference Share. It is expected that cheques for this payment will be dispatched in the week commencing 24 April 2017.

Purchase Price for Consistent

As part of the Proposals, and in conjunction with the liquidation of the Company, on 12 April 2017, Shareholders approved the sale of Consistent Unit Trust Management Company Limited to the Ashfield Consortium. The Ashfield Consortium will purchase Consistent Unit Trust Management Company Limited for a consideration of 3.29 million. The proceeds of this sale will be distributed to all Ordinary Shareholders on the Company's register on 20 April 2017 during the course of the liquidation in one or more interim distributions after the settlement of the Company's creditors.

Capitalised terms used in this announcement shall, unless the context otherwise requires, bear the meaning given to them in the circular dated 20 March 2017.

Enquiries:

London & St Lawrence Investment Company PLC

Jenny Sculley +44 (0)1296 711598

Moore Stephens LLP

James Eldridge +44 (0)20 7334 9191

Cenkos Securities plc

Sapna Shah +44 (0)20 7397 1922

Shamus Henderson +44 (0)20 7397 1917
LONDON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

ADYOULIKE, the leading in-feed native ad platform announces a new strategic partnership with Sizmek, the open ad management company for multiscreen ad experiences. The integration will enable advertisers and agencies to deliver personalised native advertising campaigns across the StrikeAd by Sizmek platform, the mobile-first programmatic media solution for global brands and trading desks.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160901/403517LOGO )

ADYOULIKE's native advertising supply side platform (SSP) will use the OpenRTB 2.3 standard protocol to deliver in-feed native content, programmatically integrated into StrikeAd. The inclusion of ADYOULIKE to StrikeAd's native inventory exchanges will open up a new network of publishers, not previously available. As a result, marketers accessing StrikeAd's platform will be able to advance their native advertising reach across mobile devices, while ensuring ads are personalised and highly-targeted. For both companies, the partnership will enable them to expand their global footprint and native reach.

Francis Turner, ADYOULIKE's U.S. MD, said: "Sizmek is a perfect partner for us. It enables brand marketers, agencies, publishers, and trading desks to build and target ads to reach audiences across the globe, connect with the right audiences across channels, both programmatic and direct. Now with this partnership they will have access to more publishers worldwide, using programmatic technology to create highly-targeted in-feed native advertising."

"Native advertising is transforming the digital ecosystem, and this partnership ensures we're at the forefront of this evolution," said Andrew Morsy, Managing Director UK, Sizmek. "By enabling advertisers and agencies to deliver personalised, in-feed native ads across an expansive network of publishers, the partnership will open up a new world of opportunities for targeted, effective, measurable and engaging campaigns."

About ADYOULIKE:

ADYOULIKE is a global leading in-feed native ad platform. Launched in 2011, it is recognised for being a pioneer in native technology and creating advertising experiences for users that mirror the websites they are visiting. Using its own native supply-side platform (SSP) and native technology platform, the company enables brands to scale native advertising campaigns across premium and niche publishers, while publishers benefit from access to ADYOULIKE's marketplace.

In November 2016, ADYOULIKE launched the world's first semantic targeting capability for native advertising by integrating IBM's ground-breaking Watson artificial intelligence software with the ADYOULIKE platform. It is now, for the very first time, being used to create better semantic targeting for native advertising.

The fast-growing firm is now operating in more than 18 countries, has 65 employees and received series B funding in October of this year to underwrite its continued international growth. Accolades for ADYOULIKE include: BPI France Excellence, Pass French Tech, The Everline Future 50 and The BIMA Hot 100. ADYOULIKE is a member of the IAB in the UK, US and Europe.

About Sizmek:

Sizmek Open Ad Management brings freedom of choice to end-to-end advertising. With a single point of access to the best technology, data, and strategic guidance-and the flexibility to choose solutions that fit their strategies-more than 42,000advertisers, agencies, publishers, and trading desks create inspiring, seamless advertising campaigns that connect them to their customers around the world easily and effectively. Open and independent, Sizmek's wide range of technology and data is bolstered byintegrations with more than 100 partners providing leading solutions forattribution, data management, audience measurement, search engine marketing, creative authoring, and more.Sizmek operates inmore than 70 countries, with local offices providing award-winning service throughout North America, EMEA, LATAM, and APAC.

More information on StrikeAd by Sizmek

StrikeAd - acquired by Sizmek in 2015 - is the first mobile-specific DSP and works with some of the largest media buyers and brands, offering global scale for mobile inventory across the industry. It enables advertisers to have access to several scalable offerings such as mobile contextual targeting and brand safety (Peer39), seamless trafficking and centralized cost tracking (DSP Connect), as well as Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) paired with direct integrations with multiple DMP's and 3rd party data providers (Data Hub).
Third annual data scientist survey finds data scientists would rather break leg than lose the training data used to teach AI systems to think.

SAN FRANCISCO, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Artificial Intelligence systems may one day drive a car, help cure diseases, or simply choose the movie we watch at night. However, the work to get there is tedious and time consuming according to the just completed third annual Data Scientist Survey conducted by CrowdFlower, the essential human-in-the-loop AI platform for data science and machine learning teams.

The survey of nearly 200 data scientists found that the jobs they hate the most - cleaning, labeling and categorizing data are where they have to spend the most time. For example, data scientists spend 500% more time cleaning, labeling and categorizing data than they spend mining the data. In fact, those surveyed said they spend double the amount of time on these laborious task than creating and building algorithms.

The reason? It is twofold. First, the lack of high quality training data is the single biggest reason AI systems fail according to the results of the survey. In fact - it is so critical, respondents said they'd rather break their leg than delete their training data. Secondly, data scientists have concerns about the integrity of the training data and worry that if they aren't careful, the wrong training data could bias an AI system because it could be influenced by human prejudices around things such as religion, race or gender.

"There is a tremendous amount of hard work that is needed to make an AI system deliver on its promise and at the core is getting the training data right," said Robin Bordoli, CEO of CrowdFlower, "Cleaning, labeling and categorizing data isn't sexy or fun, but it's critical. Data scientists know it and that's why they are spending the bulk of their time doing the work they hate. The reality is that algorithms are far from perfect, however, with higher quality training data - created by human intelligence - we can generate business value even with these imperfect algorithms."

As AI systems increasingly enter the mainstream, their usefulness is often defined by the quality of the training data used. While a machine can process complex mathematical equations or structured data in milliseconds, training data teaches a machine how to process more abstract data like flagging inappropriate content or distinguishing between objects in images. While higher quality initial training data will improve the accuracy of an algorithm's initial output, ongoing training data is required to constantly improve upon the algorithm's results.

Among the other insights gleaned from AI experts:

Ethical issues: AI and ethics is an issue that bears close watch in the coming years. While the potential of AI replacing human-staffed jobs is an issue according to 42% of respondents, the biggest issues in their eyes is the impact of human bias in training data. More than 63% of those surveyed said that they are concerned that human bias and prejudices such as race, religion or demographics will corrupt the data used to teach AI systems. Another 42% express skepticism that we can avoid the programming of biases and are concerned about the 'impossibility of programming a commonly agreed upon moral code.'

AI and ethics is an issue that bears close watch in the coming years. While the potential of AI replacing human-staffed jobs is an issue according to 42% of respondents, the biggest issues in their eyes is the impact of human bias in training data. More than 63% of those surveyed said that they are concerned that human bias and prejudices such as race, religion or demographics will corrupt the data used to teach AI systems. Another 42% express skepticism that we can avoid the programming of biases and are concerned about the 'impossibility of programming a commonly agreed upon moral code.' Job satisfaction: Data scientists love their jobs, even if they hate the grunt work. More than 90% of those surveyed said they were happy doing their jobs. In fact, nearly 50% said they were thrilled. Additionally, 63% of those surveyed agree with the oft-quoted moniker that data scientist is the sexiest job in the industry.

Data scientists love their jobs, even if they hate the grunt work. More than 90% of those surveyed said they were happy doing their jobs. In fact, nearly 50% said they were thrilled. Additionally, 63% of those surveyed agree with the oft-quoted moniker that data scientist is the sexiest job in the industry. Demand for data scientists: While the field of data science is still pretty new, there is no question that the job market for data scientists is red hot. Even though the majority of respondents have only been in the jobs less than 5 years, they are getting called all the time about new opportunities. Over half of the respondents are contacted at least once per week with a job offer and nearly 30% receive calls multiple times each week.

To view the full report, please visit: http://crwdflr.com/2oMPCzh

About CrowdFlower

CrowdFlower is the essential human-in-the-loop AI platform for data science teams. CrowdFlower helps customers generate high quality customized training data for their machine learning initiatives, or automate a business process with easy-to-deploy models and integrated human-in-the-loop workflows. The CrowdFlower software platform supports a wide range of use cases including self-driving cars, intelligent personal assistants, medical image labeling, content categorization, customer support ticket classification, social data insight, CRM data enrichment, product categorization, and search relevance.

Headquartered in San Francisco and backed by Canvas Venture Fund, Trinity Ventures, and Microsoft Ventures, CrowdFlower serves data science teams at Fortune 500 and fast-growing data-driven organizations across a wide variety of industries. For more information, visit www.crowdflower.com.

Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/492190/CrowdFlower_Artificial_Intelligence.jpg

Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/492191/CrowdFlower_2017_Data_Scientist_Report.jpg
TR-1: Standard form for notification of major holdings

NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR HOLDINGS (to be sent to the relevant issuer and to the FCA in Microsoft Word format if possible)i 1a. Identity of the issuer or the underlying issuer of existing shares to which voting rights are attachedii: Keller Group PLC

GB0004866223 1b. Please indicate if the issuer is a non-UK issuer (please mark with an "X" if appropriate) Non-UK issuer 2. Reason for the notification (please mark the appropriate box or boxes with an "X") An acquisition or disposal of voting rights X An acquisition or disposal of financial instruments An event changing the breakdown of voting rights Other (please specify)iii: 3. Details of person subject to the notification obligationiv Name Norges Bank City and country of registered office (if applicable) Oslo, Norway 4. Full name of shareholder(s) (if different from 3.)v Name City and country of registered office (if applicable) 5. Date on which the threshold was crossed or reachedvi: 05/07/2017 6. Date on which issuer notified (DD/MM/YYYY): 06/07/2017 7. Total positions of person(s) subject to the notification obligation % of voting rights attached to shares (total of 8. A) % of voting rights through financial instruments

(total of 8.B 1 + 8.B 2) Total of both in % (8.A + 8.B) Total number of voting rights of issuervii Resulting situation on the date on which threshold was crossed or reached 4.22 % 0.04 % 4.26 % 71,962,017 Position of previous notification (if

applicable) 3.99% N/A 3.99%

8. Notified details of the resulting situation on the date on which the threshold was crossed or reachedviii A: Voting rights attached to shares Class/type of

shares

ISIN code (if possible) Number of voting rightsix % of voting rights Direct

(Art 9 of Directive 2004/109/EC) (DTR5.1) Indirect

(Art 10 of Directive 2004/109/EC) (DTR5.2.1) Direct

(Art 9 of Directive 2004/109/EC) (DTR5.1) Indirect

(Art 10 of Directive 2004/109/EC) (DTR5.2.1) GB0004866223 3,036,805.00 4.22 % SUBTOTAL 8. A 3,036,805.00 4.22 % B 1: Financial Instruments according to Art. 13(1)(a) of Directive 2004/109/EC (DTR5.3.1.1 (a)) Type of financial instrument Expiration

datex Exercise/

Conversion Periodxi Number of voting rights that may be acquired if the instrument is

exercised/converted. % of voting rights Shares on loan At any time 29,975.00 0.04 % SUBTOTAL 8. B 1 29,975.00 0.04 % B 2: Financial Instruments with similar economic effect according to Art. 13(1)(b) of Directive 2004/109/EC (DTR5.3.1.1 (b)) Type of financial instrument Expiration

datex Exercise/

Conversion Period xi Physical or cash

settlementxii Number of voting rights % of voting rights SUBTOTAL 8.B.2



9. Information in relation to the person subject to the notification obligation (please mark the

applicable box with an "X") Person subject to the notification obligation is not controlled by any natural person or legal entity and does not control any other undertaking(s) holding directly or indirectly an interest in the (underlying) issuerxiii X Full chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting rights and/or the

financial instruments are effectively held starting with the ultimate controlling natural person or legal entityxiv (please add additional rows as necessary) Namexv % of voting rights if it equals or is higher than the notifiable threshold % of voting rights through financial instruments if it equals or is higher than the notifiable threshold Total of both if it equals or is higher than the notifiable threshold 10. In case of proxy voting, please identify: Name of the proxy holder The number and % of voting rights held The date until which the voting rights will be held 11. Additional informationxvi

Place of completion London Date of completion 07/07/2017

Notes

i Please note that national forms may vary due to specific national legislation (Article 3(1a) of Directive 2004/109/EC) as for instance the applicable thresholds or information regarding capital holdings.

ii Full name of the legal entity and further specification of the issuer or underlying issuer, provided it is reliable and accurate (e.g. address, LEI, domestic number identity). Indicate in the relevant section whether the issuer is a non UK issuer.

iii Other reason for the notification could be voluntary notifications, changes of attribution of the nature of the holding (e.g. expiring of financial instruments) or acting in concert.

iv This should be the full name of (a) the shareholder; (b) the natural person or legal entity acquiring, disposing of or exercising voting rights in the cases provided for in DTR5.2.1 (b) to (h)/ Article 10 (b) to (h) of Directive 2004/109/EC; (c) all parties to the agreement referred to in Article 10 (a) of Directive 2004/109/EC (DTR5.2.1 (a)) or (d) the holder of financial instruments referred to in Article 13(1) of Directive 2004/109/EC (DTR5.3.1).

As the disclosure of cases of acting in concert may vary due to the specific circumstances (e.g. same or different total positions of the parties, entering or exiting of acting in concert by a single party) the standard form does not provide for a specific method how to notify cases of acting in concert.

In relation to the transactions referred to in points (b) to (h) of Article 10 of Directive 2004/109/EC (DTR5.2.1 (b) to (h)), the following list is provided as indication of the persons who should be mentioned:

- in the circumstances foreseen in letter (b) of Article 10 of that Directive (DTR5.2.1 (b)), the natural person or legal entity that acquires the voting rights and is entitled to exercise them under the agreement and the natural person or legal entity who is transferring temporarily for consideration the voting rights;

- in the circumstances foreseen in letter (c) of Article 10 of that Directive (DTR5.2.1 (c)), the natural person or legal entity holding the collateral, provided the person or entity controls the voting rights and declares its intention of exercising them, and natural person or legal entity lodging the collateral under these conditions;

- in the circumstances foreseen in letter (d) of Article 10 of that Directive (DTR5.2.1 (d)), the natural person or legal entity who has a life interest in shares if that person or entity is entitled to exercise the voting rights attached to the shares and the natural person or legal entity who is disposing of the voting rights when the life interest is created;

- in the circumstances foreseen in letter (e) of Article 10 of that Directive (DTR5.2.1 (e)), the controlling natural person or legal entity and, provided it has a notification duty at an individual level under Article 9 (DTR 5.1), under letters (a) to (d) of Article 10 of that Directive (DTR5.2.1 (a) to (d)) or under a combination of any of those situations, the controlled undertaking;

- in the circumstances foreseen in letter (f) of Article 10 of that Directive (DTR5.2.1 (f)), the deposit taker of the shares, if he can exercise the voting rights attached to the shares deposited with him at his discretion, and the depositor of the shares allowing the deposit taker to exercise the voting rights at his discretion;

- in the circumstances foreseen in letter (g) of Article 10 of that Directive (DTR5.2.1 (g)), the natural person or legal entity that controls the voting rights;

- in the circumstances foreseen in letter (h) of Article 10 of that Directive (DTR5.2.1 (h)), the proxy holder, if he can exercise the voting rights at his discretion, and the shareholder who has given his proxy to the proxy holder allowing the latter to exercise the voting rights at his discretion (e.g. management companies).

v Applicable in the cases provided for in Article 10 (b) to (h) of Directive 2004/109/EC (DTR5.2.1 (b) to (h). This should be the full name of the shareholder who is the counterparty to the natural person or legal entity referred to in Article 10 of that Directive (DTR5.2) unless the percentage of voting rights held by the shareholder is lower than the lowest notifiable threshold for the disclosure of voting rights holdings in accordance with national practices (e.g. identification of funds managed by management companies).

vi The date on which threshold is crossed or reached should be the date on which the acquisition or disposal took place or the other reason triggered the notification obligation. For passive crossings, the date when the corporate event took effect.

vii The total number of voting rights shall be composed of all the shares, including depository receipts representing shares, to which voting rights are attached even if the exercise thereof is suspended.

viii If the holding has fallen below the lowest applicable threshold in accordance with national law, please note that it might not be necessary in accordance with national law to disclose the extent of the holding, only that the new holding is below that threshold.

ix In case of combined holdings of shares with voting rights attached "direct holding" and voting rights "indirect holding", please split the voting rights number and percentage into the direct and indirect columns - if there is no combined holdings, please leave the relevant box blank.

x Date of maturity/expiration of the financial instrument i.e. the date when right to acquire shares ends.

xi If the financial instrument has such a period - please specify this period - for example once every 3 months starting from [date].

xii In case of cash settled instruments the number and percentages of voting rights is to be presented on a delta-adjusted basis (Article 13(1a) of Directive 2004/109/EC) (DTR 5.3.3.A).

xiii If the person subject to the notification obligation is either controlled and/or does control another undertaking then the second option applies.

xiv The full chain of controlled undertakings starting with the ultimate controlling natural person or legal entity has to be presented also in the cases, in which only on subsidiary level a threshold is crossed or reached and the subsidiary undertaking discloses the notification as only thus the markets get always the full picture of the group holdings. In case of multiple chains through which the voting rights and/or financial instruments are effectively held the chains have to be presented chain by chain leaving a row free between different chains (e.g.: A, B, C, free row, A, B, D, free row, A, E, F etc.).

xv The names of controlled undertakings through which the voting rights and/or financial instruments are effectively held have to be presented irrespectively whether the controlled undertakings cross or reach the lowest applicable threshold themselves.

xvi Example: Correction of a previous notification.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Denison Mines Corp. ("Denison" or the "Company") (TSX: DML)(NYSE MKT: DNN) is pleased to report additional high-grade intersections from the Gryphon D series lenses of mineralization, which remain outside of the resources estimated for the Gryphon deposit in late 2015. The Gryphon deposit accompanies the Phoenix deposit on the Company's 60% owned Wheeler River project, which is the largest undeveloped high-grade uranium project in the infrastructure rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin. In addition, the Company is pleased to report radiometric equivalent grade results ("eU3O8") from the final drill holes completed during the winter 2017 drill program at Wheeler River.

Drill hole WR-633D3 intersected high-grade mineralization over a cumulative interval of 22.1 metres within the position of the D series lenses. The result was highlighted by two mineralized intervals, as follows:

-- 18.7 metres at 1.9% eU3O8 (including 13.2 metres at 2.5% eU3O8), and -- 3.4 metres at 3.1% eU3O8

The mineralized intervals occur approximately 26 metres down-dip of the 11.0 metre interval grading 5.3% U3O8 previously reported in drill hole WR-641 (see Denison's Press Release dated May 26, 2016). The mineralized intervals in WR-633D3 are also located approximately 43 metres down-dip of the 1.2 metre interval grading 7.50% eU3O8 and 1.7 metre interval grading 2.90% eU3O8 in drill hole WR-689 (see Denison's Press Release dated March 29, 2017).

Infill drilling within the Gryphon deposit's A, B and C series lenses has continued as part of the winter 2017 program, with a further 4 drill holes having been completed prior to the completion of winter drilling activities. The radiometric equivalent grade results continue to confirm continuity and high-grades of the Gryphon deposit lenses. Highlight intersections for the further 4 infill holes completed include:

-- 3.9% eU3O8 over 7.1 metres (including 6.1% eU3O8 over 4.4 metres), and -- 3.8% eU3O8 over 4.0 metres (including 4.4% eU3O8 over 3.4 metres) in drill hole WR-567D1 -- 5.9% eU3O8 over 6.2 metres (including 8.7% eU3O8 over 4.1 metres), and -- 2.1% eU3O8 over 3.6 metres (including 2.6% eU3O8 over 2.8 metres) in drill hole WR-567D2 -- 2.7% eU3O8 over 5.3 metres (including 9.4% eU3O8 over 1.3 metres) in drill hole WR-688D3 -- 2.0% eU3O8 over 4.6 metres (including 4.1% eU3O8 over 1.9 metres) in drill hole WR-606D2

Denison's President & CEO, David Cates, commented, "We are pleased to have completed another safe and successful drill season at Wheeler River this winter. Our Saskatoon based exploration team has delivered another productive season of drilling, with results in the vicinity of the Gryphon deposit demonstrating the potential for meaningful additional resources - particularly with some notable intersections in the D series lenses, which are situated outside of the existing resources estimated for the deposit. As we work towards increasing the confidence for the existing resources at the Gryphon deposit, from inferred to indicated, the infill drill program has produced a solid set of results confirming thicknesses and high-grades. The team is eagerly awaiting chemical assay results over the coming weeks, and is looking forward to commencing the summer drill program towards the end of May."

Exploration Drilling Outside of the Gryphon Resource

A further two exploration drill holes, WR-633D3 and WR-690, were completed to test the continuity of the D series lenses between previous exploration holes completed on an approximate 50 x 50 metre spacing. Drill hole WR-633D3 tested for D series mineralization approximately 26 metres down-dip to the southeast of drill hole WR-641, and returned high-grade mineralization over a cumulative interval of 22.1 metres within the position of the D series lenses.

Drill hole WR-690 tested for D series mineralization approximately 26 metres down plunge to the northeast of drill hole WR-641. The drill hole intersected moderate mineralization in positions of the B, C and D series lenses.

The D series lenses are not included in the current resource estimate for the Gryphon deposit and occur footwall, and within 200 metres to the north and northwest, of the A, B and C series lenses. Mineralization amongst the D series lenses remains open along strike to the northeast and southwest. Radiometric equivalent grade results for drill holes WR-633D3 and WR-690 are provided in Table 1 and locations illustrated in Figures 1 to 5.

To view Figures 1 to 5, click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Denison420.pdf

Table 1: Mineralized intersections from drill holes WR-633D3 and WR-690 completed during winter 2017

Length eU3O8 Lens Section Drill Hole From (m) To (m) (m)(5) (%)(1)(2)(4) Designation ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5200GP WR-633D3 674.6 675.6 1.0 0.12 B Series and 742.8 743.8 1.0 0.11 D Series and(3) 753.2 771.9 18.7 1.9 D Series including 753.3 756.4 3.1 0.75 D Series including 758.6 771.8 13.2 2.5 D Series and 774.3 777.7 3.4 3.1 D Series ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5225GP WR-690 585.9 587.0 1.1 0.18 B Series and 593.0 594.0 1.0 0.74 B Series and 654.5 655.5 1.0 0.70 C Series and 722.3 723.3 1.0 0.23 D Series and 726.1 727.1 1.0 0.18 D Series ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes:

1. eU3O8 is radiometric equivalent U3O8 from a calibrated total gamma downhole probe. eU3O8 results are preliminary in nature and all mineralized intervals will be sampled and submitted for chemical U3O8 assay. 2. Intersection interval is composited above a cut-off grade of 0.1% eU3O8 unless otherwise indicated. 3. Intersection interval is composited above a cut-off grade of 0.05% eU3O8. 4. Composites are compiled using 1.0 metre minimum ore thickness and 2.0 metres maximum waste. 5. As the drill holes are oriented steeply toward the northwest and the basement mineralization is interpreted to dip moderately to the southeast, the true thickness of the mineralization is expected to be approximately 75% of the intersection lengths.

Infill and Delineation Drilling of the Gryphon Resource

The infill and delineation drilling program is designed to upgrade the current inferred resources of the Gryphon deposit to an indicated level of confidence by increasing the previous 50 x 50 metre drill spacing to an approximate 25 x 25 metre spacing. The program commenced in 2016, with the completion of an initial five drill holes. A further 17 drill holes, totaling approximately 8,402 metres, have been completed as part of the winter 2017 program, with a further 18 drill holes planned to be completed during the summer 2017 program.

Radiometric equivalent grade results for the latest four infill drill holes completed as part of the winter 2017 program are provided in Table 2, and locations shown in Figures 1 to 4. The results are largely consistent with the inferred grade model and confirm continuity and high-grades of the Gryphon deposit A, B and C mineralized lenses.

Table 2: Mineralized intersections from infill drill holes WR-567D1, WR-567D2, WR-688D3 and WR-606D2 completed during winter 2017

Length eU3O8 Lens Section Drill Hole From (m) To (m) (m)(5) (%)(1)(2)(4) Designation ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4975GP WR-567D1 674.3 675.9 1.6 0.33 A Series and 689.8 690.8 1.0 0.66 A Series and 694.9 696.9 2.0 1.3 A Series including(3) 695.0 696.0 1.0 2.4 A Series and 700.0 707.1 7.1 3.9 A Series including(3) 701.1 705.5 4.4 6.1 A Series and 723.1 727.1 4.0 3.8 B Series including(3) 723.4 726.8 3.4 4.4 B Series WR-567D2 664.5 665.6 1.1 0.42 A Series and 670.1 671.1 1.0 0.89 A Series and 691.2 692.2 1.0 1.2 A Series and 694.3 695.7 1.4 0.71 A Series and 698.4 704.6 6.2 5.9 A Series including(3) 700.2 704.3 4.1 8.7 A Series and 713.5 714.9 1.4 0.22 B Series and 732.8 736.4 3.6 2.1 B Series including(3) 733.0 735.8 2.8 2.6 B Series and 739.0 740.0 1.0 0.40 B Series and 744.75 747.35 2.6 0.28 B Series ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5100GP WR-688D3 758.1 759.1 1.0 0.24 A Series and 762.4 767.7 5.3 2.7 A Series including(3) 764.4 765.7 1.3 9.4 A Series including(3) 766.5 767.5 1.0 1.3 A Series and 775.2 776.2 1.0 0.12 B Series and 779.1 780.1 1.0 0.11 B Series and 780.4 781.4 1.0 0.10 B Series and 782.2 785.1 2.9 0.71 B Series including(3) 783.5 784.5 1.0 1.57 B Series and 793.1 794.2 1.1 5.4 C Series including(3) 793.2 794.2 1.0 5.9 C Series WR-606D2 764.3 765.3 1.0 0.11 A Series and 785.4 786.4 1.0 0.15 A Series and 792.4 793.4 1.0 0.11 A Series and 794.2 798.8 4.6 2.0 A Series including(3) 795.9 797.8 1.9 4.1 A Series and 803.5 808.1 4.6 0.5 B Series including(3) 804.6 805.6 1.0 1.5 B Series ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes:

1. eU3O8 is radiometric equivalent U3O8 from a calibrated total gamma downhole probe. eU3O8 results are preliminary in nature and all mineralized intervals will be sampled and submitted for chemical U3O8 assay. 2. Intersection interval is composited above a cut-off grade of 0.1% eU3O8 unless otherwise indicated. 3. Intersection interval is composited above a cut-off grade of 1% eU3O8. 4. Composites are compiled using 1.0 metre minimum ore thickness and 2.0 metres maximum waste. 5. As the drill holes are oriented steeply toward the northwest and the basement mineralization is interpreted to dip moderately to the southeast, the true thickness of the mineralization is expected to be approximately 75% of the intersection lengths.

Illustrative Figures & Further Details

A plan map of the northeast plunging Gryphon mineralized lenses, projected up to the simplified basement geology at the sub-Athabasca unconformity, is provided in Figure 1. The plan map shows the location of the A, B, C and D series lenses interpreted to the end of 2016 with the winter 2017 mineralized pierce points shown as orange or yellow stars. The inset on Figure 1 shows a schematic cross section of the A, B, C and D series lenses and their respective inclined longitudinal section windows (as shaded rectangles). Figures 2 to 5 provide inclined longitudinal sections of the Gryphon A, B, C and D series lenses respectively. Shown on the inclined longitudinal sections are the various mineralized lenses projected to their respective planes and drill hole pierce points. Drill hole pierce points prior to the winter 2017 program are shown as black circles whereas winter 2017 pierce points are shown as either orange stars (mineralized - previously reported intersection), yellow stars (mineralized - new intersection) or grey circles (not significantly mineralized).

It should be noted for Figures 1 to 5 that mineralized lenses are designated either A, B, C or D series, and coloured accordingly, based on the interpreted stratigraphic planes in which they occur (i.e. their position relative to the different geological units and fault structures identified). In Press Releases from 2016, all new lenses defined outside of the Gryphon deposit's A, B and C series lenses, which constitutes the current inferred resource estimate, were designated D series lenses. Further geological data from 2017 drilling and an improved geological model has allowed Denison to re-classify some of the previously modelled D series mineralized lenses into new A, B or C series lenses based on their stratigraphic position ahead of future resource estimation. The modelled mineralized lenses shown in Figures 1 to 5 are defined using a 0.05% U3O8 or eU3O8 grade shell and minimum thickness of two metres. There is no certainty that the modelled mineralized lenses shown will constitute future mineral resources and they may be subject to modifications as further drilling data becomes available.

Further details regarding the Gryphon deposit and the current mineral resource estimates are provided in the NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Wheeler River project titled "Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Wheeler River Uranium Project, Saskatchewan, Canada" dated April 8, 2016 with an effective date of March 31, 2016. A copy of this report is available on Denison's website and under its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

Qualified Persons

Dale Verran, MSc, Pr.Sci.Nat., Denison's Vice President, Exploration, who is a Qualified Person in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101 has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this release. For a description of the assay procedures and the quality assurance program and quality control measures applied by Denison, please see Denison's Annual Information Form dated March 24, 2016 filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

About Wheeler River

Wheeler River is the largest undeveloped high-grade uranium project in the infrastructure rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin region, in northern Saskatchewan. The project is a joint venture between Denison (60% and operator), Cameco Corp. ("Cameco") (30%), and JCU (Canada) Exploration Company Limited ("JCU") (10%), and is host to the high-grade Gryphon and Phoenix uranium deposits discovered by Denison in 2014 and 2008, respectively. The Gryphon deposit is hosted in basement rock and is currently estimated to contain inferred resources of 43.0 million pounds U3O8 (above a cut-off grade of 0.2% U3O8) based on 834,000 tonnes of mineralization at an average grade of 2.3% U3O8. The Phoenix unconformity deposit is located approximately 3 kilometres to the southeast of Gryphon and is estimated to include indicated resources of 70.2 million pounds U3O8 (above a cut-off grade of 0.8% U3O8) based on 166,000 tonnes of mineralization at an average grade of 19.1% U3O8, and is the highest grade undeveloped known uranium deposit in the world.

On April 4th, 2016, Denison announced the results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for the Wheeler River Project, which considers the potential economic merit of co-developing the high-grade Gryphon and Phoenix deposits as a single underground mining operation. The PEA returned a base case pre-tax Internal Rate of Return ("IRR") of 20.4% based on the current long term contract price of uranium (US$44.00 per pound U3O8), and Denison's share of estimated initial capital expenditures ("CAPEX") of CAD$336M (CAD$560M on 100% ownership basis). Exploration results from the winter and summer 2016 drilling program have not been incorporated into the resource estimate or the PEA. The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. On July 19th, 2016 Denison announced the initiation of a Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") for the Wheeler River property and the complimentary commencement of an infill drilling program at the Gryphon deposit to bring the inferred resources to an indicated level of confidence.

As previously announced on January 10, 2017, Denison has entered into an agreement with its Wheeler River Joint Venture partners, Cameco and JCU, to fund 75% of Joint Venture expenses in 2017 and 2018 (ordinarily 60%) in exchange for an increase in Denison's interest in the project to up to approximately 66%. Under the terms of the agreement, Cameco will fund 50% of its ordinary 30% share in 2017 and 2018, and JCU is expected to continue to fund its 10% interest in the project.

About Denison

Denison is a uranium exploration and development company with interests focused in the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan. Including its 60% owned Wheeler River project, which hosts the high-grade Phoenix and Gryphon uranium deposits, Denison's exploration portfolio consists of numerous projects covering over 330,000 hectares in the infrastructure rich eastern Athabasca Basin. Denison's interests in Saskatchewan also include a 22.5% ownership interest in the McClean Lake joint venture, which includes several uranium deposits and the McClean Lake uranium mill, which is currently processing ore from the Cigar Lake mine under a toll milling agreement, plus a 25.17% interest in the Midwest deposit and a 63.01% interest in the J Zone deposit on the Waterbury Lake property. Both the Midwest and J Zone deposits are located within 20 kilometres of the McClean Lake mill.

Denison is also engaged in mine decommissioning and environmental services through its Denison Environmental Services division and is the manager of Uranium Participation Corp., a publicly traded company which invests in uranium oxide and uranium hexafluoride.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information", within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and similar Canadian legislation concerning the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Denison. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "believes", or the negatives and/or variations of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur", "be achieved" or "has the potential to". In particular, this press release contains forward-looking information pertaining to the following: exploration (including drilling) and evaluation activities, plans and objectives; potential mineralization of drill targets; the estimates of Denison's mineral resources and the results of its PEA.

Forward looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made, and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Denison to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Denison believes that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable but there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and may differ materially from those anticipated in this forward looking information. For a discussion in respect of risks and other factors that could influence forward-looking events, please refer to the "Risk Factors" in Denison's Annual Information Form dated March 24, 2016 available under its profile at www.sedar.com and in its Form 40-F available at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. These factors are not, and should not be construed as being, exhaustive.

Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Denison does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information after the date of this press release to conform such information to actual results or to changes in its expectations except as otherwise required by applicable legislation.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources: This press release may use the terms "measured", "indicated" and "inferred" mineral resources. United States investors are advised that while such terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize them. "Inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. United States investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of measured or indicated mineral resources will ever be converted into mineral reserves. United States investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists, or is economically or legally mineable.

Contacts:

David Cates

President and Chief Executive Officer

(416) 979-1991 ext. 362



Sophia Shane

Investor Relations

(604) 689-7842



Follow Denison on Twitter

@DenisonMinesCo




The arrest on Wednesday of a former premier of the region of Madrid , and a courts decision to make Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy take the witness stand at the Gurtel graft trial , have seriously hurt the Spanish PMs attempt to relaunch his partys image during his new term in office. A recovering economy, a weak opposition and an unstable international scenario should all have provided a good opportunity for the Popular Party (PP) leader to present himself as a solid political reference point. Instead, a resurgence of corruption cases is ruining that opportunity.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. LUIS SEVILLANO ARRIBAS

After a 10-month stalemate, two national elections and a reinstatement made possible only by the Socialist Partys controversial decision not to block Rajoys bid to once again become prime minister at a congressional vote last year, the PM has been using Spains economic progress as proof that his first-term reforms worked, and he is asking the opposition for support to get crucial legislation passed.

When corruption cases get complicated Rajoy lets his lieutenants deal with the mess

Rajoy was hoping to have left behind the wave of scandals that played such a big role in making way for the rise of newcomers like the anti-austerity Podemos party and the reform-minded Ciudadanos party to Spains political scene. But these hopes were dashed this week by a court summons for Rajoy to testify as a witness over Gurtel, a massive bribes-for-contracts scheme whose investigation alone took almost a decade, and by the arrest of former Madrid regional leader Ignacio Gonzalez in a case that could potentially open up a whole new can of worms for the Madrid PP. And earlier this month, the PP premier of the Murcia region stepped down after becoming the target of a separate corruption investigation.

The PMs reaction has been to return to his cave at La Moncloa, the seat of government, and emerge only for international trips (he will visit Uruguay, Brazil, Brussels and China in the next three weeks) and for highly institutionalized, risk-free events such as the 25th anniversary celebration of the AVE high-speed train from Madrid to Seville, scheduled for Friday.

Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera told the Efe news agency on Wednesday that this is undeniably not good for Spain. Chema Moya (EFE)

Rajoy does not offer press conferences, and barely takes mandatory questions, which he answers with perfunctory remarks.

To the outside world, Rajoy still presents an image of stability thanks to higher-than-expected economic growth, good job creation prospects, a fighting chance of finally meeting European Union deficit targets, and palpable progress on the 2017 budget proposal. Meanwhile, France, Britain and Germany are facing elections with uncertain outcomes.

But back home, corruption continues to put a damper on the PPs plans to clean up its image. And when the Murcia, Gurtel or Punica cases get complicated, Rajoy hangs back and sends his lieutenants to deal with the mess instead.

Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera summed up the oppositions feeling on Wednesday, when he told the Efe news agency that this is undeniably not good for Spain.

A resurgence of corruption cases is ruining Rajoys chance to clean up his image

But the PP spokesman in Congress, Rafael Hernando, denies that the latest corruption scandals are hurting the government.

The image of Spain and of the prime minister are safe, he said. The government is doing what it has to do: working to get families out of the crisis, and legislating, which are the important things; others spend their time making things complicated and discrediting the prime minister.

English version by Susana Urra.
GLASGOW, Scotland, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

AES Tiete Energia has acquired 386MW Alto Sertao II wind portfolio in Brazil for R$600m ($193m[1] USD), with technical due diligence from K2 Management and TNEI.

K2 Management's specialists delivered technical due diligence across the entire portfolio including reviewing the turbine and balance of plant technology; energy yield assessment review; civil, grid and electrical design review and an O&M contract technical review. The team provided an independent energy yield assessment based on portfolio production data.

Specialist energy consultant, TNEI, supported K2 Management with the delivery of a technical due diligence review focused on grid connection arrangement, electrical design and installation, local transmission infrastructure and generation restrictions.

For Atalo Freitas, President of AES Tiete Energia: "This project marks an important acquisition in the company's drive towards diversifying our energy portfolio and achieving growth goals by 2020. K2 Management's technical advice was important in identifying commercial opportunities and risks throughout the process."

K2 Management's Latin America Managing Director, Hebert A.M. Nascimento, commented: "Our technical and commercial expertise was fully utilized in this extensive project, adding value to AES Tiete Energia's acquisition. Reporting and advice was underpinned by a sound understanding of the region, its wind resource and the portfolio's potential and we're pleased that the client's successful transaction goal was achieved."

Managing Director at TNEI, Rachel Hodges commented: "We were extremely pleased to be involved in such an interesting project, which highlighted the importance of a thorough and robust due diligence process. Our specialist electrical knowledge and extensive experience complemented K2's expertise, helping the client achieve a successful transaction completion."

The 230-turbine portfolio is spread across 15 sites in Bahia, Brazil and this acquisition represents a positive move in Brazil's energy market, given uncertainty surrounding the cancellation of the energy auction last year.

[1] Exchange rate: 3.108 R$/ USD

Notes to editors

AES TieteEnergia is one of the most efficient power generation private companiesinBrazil, with a concession agreement valid since 1999 with a 30-year duration.

K2 Management supports its clients in their efforts to develop, improve and optimize wind projects to achieve the best possible return on their investment.

Jo Clarkson |jcl@k2management.com | k2management.com/pt

TNEI is an independent specialist energy consultancy providing technical, strategic, environmental and consenting advice to organisations operating within the conventional and renewable energy sectors.

Hazel Peat |hazel.peat@tneigroup.com | +44(0)141-428-3183
IRW-PRESS: Exeter Resource Corp.: Angebot von Goldcorp zur Ubernahme der in Umlauf befindlichen Exeter-Aktien

Angebot von Goldcorp zur Ubernahme der in Umlauf befindlichen Exeter-Aktien Erinnerung des bevorstehenden Ablaufs der Angebotsfrist

Vancouver, B.C., 23. Mai 2017: Exeter Resource Corporation (NYSE-MKT: XRA, TSX: XRC) (Exeter oder das Unternehmen) mochte seine Aktionare daran erinnern, dass am 26. Mai 2017 um 17 Uhr (Zeit Toronto) das den Exeter-Aktionaren von Goldcorp im Vorfeld unterbreitete Angebot (das Angebot) zum Eintausch aller ausgegebenen und ausstehenden Exeter-Stammaktien (die Exeter-Aktien) in Goldcorp-Stammaktien (die Goldcorp-Aktien) erlischt (Andienungsfrist). Werden samtliche Bedingungen des Angebots erfullt bzw. wird auf die entsprechenden Bedingungen verzichtet, dann werden die Inhaber von Exeter-Aktien, die das Angebot annehmen, im Tausch gegen eine von Goldcorp erworbene Exeter-Aktie 0,12 Anteile an einer Goldcorp-Aktie erhalten. Exeter ersucht die Aktionare dringend, ihre Abtretungserklarungen deutlich vor Ablauf der Frist zu ubersenden.

Hauptgrunde fur die Annahme des Angebots:

- 67 % Aufschlag auf den letzten Handelskurs der Exeter-Aktien am Tag vor Bekanntgabe des Angebots - Beteiligung an Exeters Projekt Caspiche bleibt aufrecht - Einheitliche Empfehlung durch das Board von Exeter - Groere Liquiditat und Besitzanteile an einem Branchenfuhrer - Profitieren von Goldcorps hochwertigem Projekt-Portfolio und Wachstumsprofil - Diszipliniertes und fokussiertes Fuhrungsteam mit nachweislichen Erfolgen bei der Steigerung von Unternehmenswerten - Finanzkraft zur Sicherung der Zukunft des Projekts Caspiche - Kein Einzelwertrisiko, kein landerbezogenes Betriebsrisiko, kein finanzielles Risiko

WENN SIE DAS ANGEBOT ANNEHMEN, DANN MUSSEN SIE IHRE AKTIEN NOCH VOR ABLAUF DER ANDIENUNGSFRIST AM 26. MAI 2017 UM 17 UHR (ZEIT TORONTO) ABTRETEN!

Wie die Andienung der Aktien erfolgt: Registrierte Aktionare, die das Angebot annehmen mochten, mussen das Ubertragungsschreiben entsprechend ausfullen und vor Ablauf der Andienungsfrist zusammen mit dem/n Zertifikat/en der Exeter-Aktien, fur welche das Angebot angenommen wird, hinterlegen.

Nicht registrierte Aktionare, deren Exeter-Aktien von einem Investment-Dealer, einer Bank, einem Treuhander oder anderen Zwischenhandlern gehalten werden, sollten den entsprechenden Zwischenhandler umgehend kontaktieren und ihm die Anweisung fur die Abtretung der Aktien erteilen. Nicht registrierte Aktionare werden darauf hingewiesen, dass die Frist fur ihren Zwischenhandler moglicherweise fruher endet als die offizielle Andienungsfrist. Nicht registrierten Aktionaren wird empfohlen, ihre Zwischenhandler umgehend zu kontaktieren und ihm ihre Abtretungserklarung in Bezug auf das Angebot ubergeben.

Alle Einzelheiten zum Angebot sind im Rundschreiben des Ubernahmeangebots und in den Begleitdokumenten (zusammen die Angebotsdokumente) beschrieben, die in Exeters Firmenprofil auf SEDAR (www.sedar.com) veroffentlicht wurden. Zeitgleich hat Goldcorp bei der Securities and Exchange Commission (die SEC) eine Registrierungserklarung per Formular F-10 (die Registrierungserklarung), in der ein Prospekt zum Angebot (der Prospekt) enthalten ist, sowie eine Angebotserklarung laut Schedule TO (der Schedule TO) eingereicht. Exeter hat bei der SEC einen Schedule 14D-9 in Bezug auf das Angebot sowie ein Rundschreiben der Exeter-Direktoren vom 20. April 2017 eingereicht. Die bei der SEC eingereichten Unterlagen sind in elektronischer Form gebuhrenfrei auf der SEC-Webseite (www.sec.gov) erhaltlich. Die Unterlagen konnen ebenfalls gebuhrenfrei uber den Anbieter bezogen werden. Kontaktieren Sie diesbezuglich den Informationsagenten Kingsdale Advisors unter der Telefonnummer 1-866-851-2743.

Diese Pressemitteilung ersetzt nicht die Angebotsunterlagen, den Prospekt, die Registrierungserklarung, den Schedule TO oder den Schedule 14D-9. DEN AKTIONAREN VON EXETER UND ANDEREN BETEILIGTEN PARTEIEN WIRD NACHDRUCKLICH EMPFOHLEN, DIESE UNTERLAGEN, ALLE DURCH VERWEISUNG AUFGENOMMENEN UNTERLAGEN, ALLE SONSTIGEN GELTENDEN DOKUMENTE SOWIE ANDERUNGEN UND ERGANZUNGEN ZU LESEN, DA JEDES DIESER DOKUMENTE WICHTIGE INFORMATIONEN ZU GOLDCORP, EXETER UND DEM ANGEBOT ENTHALT.

Diese Pressemitteilung stellt kein Angebot zum Verkauf und keine Aufforderung zum Kauf von Wertpapieren von Goldcorp oder Exeter dar. Die Wertpapiere, die gema der Registrierungserklarung registriert wurden, werden in keinem Rechtssystem angeboten, in denen ein solches Angebot nicht zulassig ist.

Uber Exeter Resource Corporation: Exeter ist ein kanadisches Mineralexplorationsunternehmen, das sich auf die Exploration und Erschlieung des Projekts Caspiche in Chile konzentriert. Caspiche liegt in der chilenischen Region Maricunga, die eine gute Infrastruktur aufweist und sich in unmittelbarer Nahe zu anderen groen Bergbaubetrieben und Projekten im Stadium der Erschlieung befindet. Uber Goldcorp: Goldcorp ist ein fuhrender Goldproduzent, dessen Hauptaugenmerk auf verantwortungsvolle Abbaumethoden mit einer sicheren, kostengunstigen Forderung aus qualitativ hochwertigen Bergbaubetrieben gerichtet ist. Weitere Informationen uber Goldcorp finden Sie auf der Webseite www.goldcorp.com.

Fragen und Unterstutzungsansuchen richten Sie bitte an Exeters Informationsagenten:

http://www.irw-press.at/prcom/images/messages/2017/39836/Exeter - Tender offer reminder press release- May 232017_DE_PRCOM.001.png

Nordamerika: 1-877-452-7184 (gebuhrenfrei) R-Gesprache auerhalb Nordamerikas: 416-304-0211 E-Mail: assistance@laurelhill.com

Vorsorglicher Hinweis bezuglich zukunftsgerichteter Aussagen Diese Pressemitteilung enthalt zukunftsgerichtete Aussagen im Sinne von Abschnitt 27A des United States Securities Act von 1933 in der geltenden Fassung, Abschnitt 21E des United States Exchange Act von 1934in der geltenden Fassung, im United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act von 1995 und in den Veroffentlichungen der United States Securities and Exchange Commission, die allesamt von Zeit zu Zeit novelliert werden konnen, sowie in den zukunftsgerichteten Informationen laut den geltenden kanadischen Wertpapiergesetzen in Bezug auf die Geschaftstatigkeit, Betriebstatigkeit, Geschaftsergebnisse und wirtschaftliche Lage von Goldcorp und Exeter. Zu den zukunftsgerichteten Aussagen zahlen unter anderem Aussagen uber die erwarteten Vorteile der Ubernahme von Exeter durch Goldcorp, die Anzahl der auszugebenden Goldcorp-Aktien, den Zeitplan und die erwartete Genehmigung des Angebots durch die Regulierungsbehorden, die Fahigkeit der Parteien, die Bedingungen des Angebots zu erfullen und dieses im angegebenen Zeitrahmen abzuschlieen, die Erschlieung des Projekts Caspiche, die zukunftigen Preise fur Gold, Silber, Kupfer, Blei und Zink, die Schatzung von Mineralreserven und -ressourcen, die Durchfuhrung von Mineralreservenschatzungen, die zeitliche Planung und Menge der geschatzten zukunftigen Produktion, die Produktionskosten, die geplanten Kostensenkungen, Investitionen, den freien Cashflow, die Kosten und zeitliche Planung der Erschlieung neuer Lagerstatten, den Erfolg der Explorationsaktivitaten, den zeitlichen Ablauf der Genehmigungsverfahren, Hedging-Praktiken, Wechselkursschwankungen, den Bedarf an zusatzlichen Finanzmitteln, die Einflussnahme der Regierung auf den Bergbaubetrieb, Umweltrisiken, unerwartete Sanierungsausgaben, der zeitliche Ablauf und mogliche Ausgang anhangiger Rechtsstreitigkeiten, Eigentums- bzw. Haftungsanspruche und Versicherungsschutz. Im Allgemeinen sind diese zukunftsgerichteten Aussagen anhand von in die Zukunft gerichteten Begriffen zu erkennen, wie plant, erwartet, wird erwartet, Budget, geplant, schatzt, prognostiziert, beabsichtigt, nimmt an, glaubt oder anhand von Abwandlungen solcher Worter und Phrasen oder Aussagen daruber, dass bestimmte Handlungen, Ereignisse oder Ergebnisse eintreten konnen, konnten, wurden, sollten bzw. vielleicht oder moglicherweise eintreten oder erreicht werden. Zukunftsgerichtete Aussagen basieren zwangslaufig auf einer Reihe von Faktoren und Annahmen, die - sollten sie sich als unrichtig erweisen - dazu fuhren konnten, dass sich die tatsachlichen Ergebnisse, Leistungen oder Erfolge erheblich von zukunftigen Ergebnissen, Leistungen oder Erfolgen, wie sie in solchen Aussagen direkt oder indirekt zum Ausdruck gebracht werden, unterscheiden. Solche Aussagen und Informationen basieren auf zahlreichen Annahmen in Bezug auf aktuelle und zukunftige Geschaftsstrategien und auf dem Umfeld, in dem Goldcorp und Exeter kunftig tatig sein wollen. Dazu zahlen unter anderem auch der Goldpreis, die voraussichtlichen Kosten und die Fahigkeit, Ziele umzusetzen. Was die zukunftsgerichteten Aussagen im Hinblick auf den voraussichtlichen Abschluss des geplanten Angebots und den voraussichtlichen Zeitpunkt fur den Abschluss des Angebots betrifft, so haben sich Goldcorp und Exeter bei deren Angabe auf bestimmte Annahmen, die sie zum aktuellen Zeitpunkt als angemessen erachten, verlassen. Dazu zahlen auch Annahmen hinsichtlich der zeitgerechten Beschaffung der erforderlichen Genehmigungen durch Regulierungsbehorden und andere Dritte und die zeitgerechte Erfullung aller weiteren Auflagen in Bezug auf den Abschluss des Angebots. Bestimmte wichtige Faktoren, die dazu fuhren konnten, dass sich die tatsachlichen Ergebnisse, Leistungen oder Erfolge erheblich von jenen in den zukunftsgerichteten Aussagen unterscheiden, zahlen unter anderem folgende: Goldpreisschwankungen, Unterschiede zwischen den tatsachlichen und geschatzten Fordermengen, Mineralreserven und Mineralressourcen sowie metallurgische Ausbeuten, Risiken in Zusammenhang mit dem Bergbau und der Erschlieung, Risiken in Verbindung mit Rechtsstreitigkeiten, regulatorische Einschrankungen (einschlielich regulatorische Einschrankungen aus umweltrechtlicher Sicht und in Bezug auf Haftungen), Anderungen in der nationalen und lokalen Gesetzgebung, Steuern, Regulierungen und/oder Anderungen in der Umsetzung von Gesetzen, Methoden und Praktiken, Grundstucksenteignungen oder Verstaatlichung von Grundbesitz sowie politische oder wirtschaftliche Entwicklungen in Kanada, den Vereinigten Staaten und anderen Rechtsstaaten, in denen Goldcorp und Exeter tatig sind oder tatig sein werden, Verzogerungen, Unterbrechungen und technische Herausforderungen in Zusammenhang mit Investitionsprojekten, hohere Preise fur Kraftstoff, Stahl, Energie, Arbeitskrafte und andere Verbrauchsguter, Wahrungsschwankungen, der spekulative Charakter der Goldexploration, die Weltwirtschaftslage, Verwasserungen, Aktienkursschwankungen, Wettbewerb, Verlust von Schlusselarbeitskraften, zusatzlicher Finanzierungsbedarf und Rechtsmangel in Bezug auf Mineralkonzessionen. Obwohl Goldcorp und Exeter davon ausgehen, dass ihre Erwartungen auf vernunftigen Annahmen basieren und sich bemuht haben, wichtige Faktoren aufzuzeigen, die dazu fuhren konnten, dass die tatsachlichen Handlungen, Ereignisse oder Ergebnisse wesentlich von jenen abweichen, die in den zukunftsgerichteten Aussagen enthalten sind, konnen auch andere Faktoren dazu fuhren, dass die Handlungen, Ereignisse oder Ergebnisse nicht wie erwartet, geschatzt oder beabsichtigt ausfallen.

Zukunftsgerichtete Aussagen unterliegen bekannten und unbekannten Risiken, Unsicherheiten sowie anderen wichtigen Faktoren, die dazu fuhren konnten, dass die tatsachlichen Ergebnisse, das Aktivitatsniveau, die Leistungen oder die Erfolge wesentlich von jenen abweichen, die in den zukunftsgerichteten Aussagen zum Ausdruck gebracht oder impliziert wurden. Dazu zahlen ohne Einschrankung auch: das Risiko, dass die Aktionare ihre Aktienanteile nicht fur eine Platzierung zur Verfugung stellen; das Risiko, dass die Transaktion zum geplanten Zeitpunkt bzw. zu den in der Unterstutzungsvereinbarung festgehaltenen Bestimmungen bzw. generell nicht abgeschlossen werden kann; dass die erforderliche Zustimmung von Dritten zur Umsetzung der Transaktion nicht erteilt wird; dass sich die erwarteten Vorteile aus der Platzierung nicht einstellen; Risiken in Zusammenhang mit der Eingliederung von Ubernahmeobjekten; Risiken in Zusammenhang mit internationalen Geschaften einschlielich der wirtschaftlichen und politischen Instabilitat in auslandischen Rechtsstaaten, in denen Goldcorp und Exeter tatig sind; Risiken in Zusammenhang mit der aktuellen internationalen Finanzlage; Risiken in Zusammenhang mit Joint Ventures; die tatsachlichen Ergebnisse aktueller Explorationsaktivitaten; die tatsachlichen Ergebnisse aktueller Sanierungsmanahmen; Umweltrisiken; das Ergebnis wirtschaftlicher Bewertungen, Anderungen bei den Projektkennzahlen im Zuge der Detailplanung, zukunftige Preise fur Gold, Silber, Kupfer, Blei und Zink; mogliche Schwankungen bei den Erzreserven, Erzgehalten oder Gewinnungsraten; unerwartet auftretende Mangel im Anlagenbetrieb, bei den Maschinen oder in den Verarbeitungsprozessen; Risiken der Minenerschlieung und betriebliche Risiken; Unfalle, arbeitsrechtliche Streitigkeiten sowie andere im Bergbau typischerweise auftretende Risiken; Risiken in Zusammenhang mit Initiativen der Neustrukturierung und Kosteneffizienzsteigerung; Verzogerungen bei der Genehmigung durch Regierungsbehorden oder bei der Finanzierung oder beim Abschluss der Erschlieungs- bzw. Bauarbeiten; Risiken in Verbindung mit der Eingliederung von Ubernahmeobjekten; Risiken in Zusammenhang mit Verbindlichkeiten und den damit verbundenen Diensten sowie jene Faktoren, die im Abschnitt Risk Factors des von Goldcorp und Exeter zuletzt erstellten Jahresberichtsformulars beschrieben sind, welches auf der SEDAR-Webseite (www.sedar.com) und der EDGAR-Webseite (at www.sec.gov) veroffentlicht wurde. Obwohl sich Goldcorp und Exeter bemuht haben, wichtige Faktoren aufzuzeigen, die dazu fuhren konnten, dass sich die tatsachlichen Ergebnisse erheblich von jenen in den zukunftsgerichteten Aussagen unterscheiden, kann es auch andere Faktoren geben, die zu nicht erwarteten, geschatzten oder beabsichtigten Ergebnissen fuhren. Es kann nicht garantiert werden, dass sich solche Aussagen als wahrheitsgema herausstellen. Tatsachliche Ergebnisse und zukunftige Ereignisse konnen unter Umstanden wesentlich von solchen Aussagen abweichen. Die Leser werden daher darauf hingewiesen, dass sie sich nicht vorbehaltslos auf zukunftsgerichtete Aussagen verlassen sollten. Die zukunftsgerichteten Aussagen gelten zum Zeitpunkt der Erstellung dieser Meldung und konnen sich daher nach diesem Zeitpunkt andern. Wenn von Goldcorp und Exeter nicht anders angegeben, beziehen sich diese Aussagen nicht auf die moglichen Auswirkungen von einmaligen oder anderweitigen Besonderheiten bzw. von Verauerungen, Monetisierungsmanahmen, Fusionen, Ubernahmen, anderen Geschaftszusammenlegungen oder anderen Transaktionen, die moglicherweise nach dem aktuellen Datum bekannt gegeben werden oder eintreten konnen. Zukunftsgerichtete Aussagen werden angefuhrt, um uber die aktuellen Erwartungen und Plane der Unternehmensfuhrung zu informieren und Anlegern sowie anderen Personen bessere Einblicke in die Betriebstatigkeit von Goldcorp und Exeter zu ermoglichen. Goldcorp und Exeter haben nicht die Absicht bzw. sind nicht verpflichtet, zukunftsgerichtete Aussagen in dieser Pressemeldung offentlich zu aktualisieren, weder aufgrund neuer Informationen bzw. zukunftiger Ereignisse noch aus sonstigen Grunden, sofern dies in den geltenden Wertpapiergesetzen nicht vorgeschrieben ist.

DIE TSX UND IHRE REGULIERUNGSORGANE (IN DEN STATUTEN DER TSX ALS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER BEZEICHNET) UBERNEHMEN KEINERLEI VERANTWORTUNG FUR DIE ANGEMESSENHEIT ODER GENAUIGKEIT DIESER PRESSEMELDUNG.

Die Ausgangssprache (in der Regel Englisch), in der der Originaltext veroffentlicht wird, ist die offizielle, autorisierte und rechtsgultige Version. Diese Ubersetzung wird zur besseren Verstandigung mitgeliefert. Die deutschsprachige Fassung kann gekurzt oder zusammengefasst sein. Es wird keine Verantwortung oder Haftung: fur den Inhalt, fur die Richtigkeit, der Angemessenheit oder der Genauigkeit dieser Ubersetzung ubernommen. Aus Sicht des Ubersetzers stellt die Meldung keine Kauf- oder Verkaufsempfehlung dar! Bitte beachten Sie die englische Originalmeldung auf www.sedar.com , www.sec.gov , www.asx.com.au/ oder auf der Firmenwebsite!

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AXC0180 2017-05-23/14:20


BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks were mostly higher on Thursday as oil prices regained some lost ground and investors cheered a slew of positive earnings updates from the likes of ABB, Schneider Electric, Publicis Groupe and Unilever.



Attention remained largely focused on the upcoming French vote this weekend, with various polls showing a four-way race that is too close to call.



Millions of French voters are still undecided, making it one of the most unpredictable elections in decades.



The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.1 percent at 377.67 in late opening deals after rising 0.2 percent in the previous session.



The German DAX was rising 0.2 percent and France's CAC 40 index was up 0.8 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.2 percent, on track for its fifth day of consecutive losses amid pound strength.



Swiss engineering firm ABB rallied 1.5 percent after saying it expects 2017 to be a transitional year.



French electrical component maker Schneider Electric jumped 2.5 percent on reporting first quarter revenues of 5.84 billion euros, up 3.1 percent organically.



Advertising and communications company Publicis Groupe gained 3 percent. The company reported a drop in underlying revenue in the first quarter, but said it expects Q2 to show an improvement.



Novartis rose about 1 percent after it signed a collaboration deal with virtual Canadian biotech Parvus Therapeutics.



Man Group climbed over 5 percent in London after the hedge fund manager reported a 10 percent jump in funds under management for the first quarter.



Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company Unilever gained 1 percent after its first-quarter sales topped expectations.



Nestle shares advanced 0.7 percent. The Swiss food giant confirmed its full-year guidance for underlying sales after reporting first-quarter revenue growth ahead of analysts' expectations.



On the flip side, shares of Debenhams fell as much as 5 percent. The department store group has unveiled plans to close up to 10 stores and exit some international markets, as part of efforts to cut costs and keep up with changing consumer behavior.



BP plc, Total SA and Tullow Oil fell between half a percent and 1 percent after oil prices tumbled almost four percent overnight to hit a two-week low on data showing a surprise increase in gasoline inventories.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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DENVER, CO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Ubiquitech Software Corp. (OTC PINK: UBQU), through its subsidiary HempLife Today an innovative and growing Company offering the finest CBD (Cannabidiol), products derived from Hemp, is celebrating 420 and rewarding its customers by offering its largest semi-annual discount on all of its CannazALL CBD products.

Company offers 30% off on all products this weekend

This special 420 sale starts today, 4.20.2017, and will continue until Monday the 24th at Midnight Eastern. Throughout this period all current HempLife Today customers, and everyone in the general public, can get 30% off of any size order of CannazALL CBD products, and all products are ready to ship within 24 hours via the Companies Rapid Ship processing system.

The Company wants everyone to know that they can get this 30% discount on all CannazALL products; Tinctues, Concentrates, GelCaps, and Vape products, by clicking the link or visiting www.HempLifeToday.com, using Coupon Code Save420.

CEO James Ballas said, "We are off to a great year in 2017, and want to offer the biggest savings that we can to honor our customers. We only do a 30% discount twice a year, 420 and the Holidays, so this is a very special opportunity to stock up on all the popular CannazALL products. We also look forward to the new customers who can take advantage and encourage everyone to share this sale with as many others as possible."

*The Company is also working on a shareholder update covering all aspects of the business, planned for release next week.

About HempLife Today

Hemp Life Today was created by a group of highly motivated, skilled and health minded people. Who have learned that Hemp, and Hemp related products, can be a great source of increased health, vitality, and overall well being in our lives. We also believe that high grade CBD (Cannabidiol), could very well be the miracle supplement the world has been waiting for as more and more people discover the health benefits of this remarkable extract. HempLife Today offers its quality CBD products @ www.HempLifeToday.com

About Ubiquitech

Ubiquitech Software Corp, through its subsidiaries is a dynamic multi-media, multi-faceted corporation utilizing state-of-the-art global internet marketing, Direct Response (DRTV) Television, Radio, and traditional marketing, to drive traffic to the new and emerging multi-billion dollar industries like its subsidiary HempLifeToday.

HempLifeToday focuses on the exciting and dynamic new thinking in the world today that recognizes the important health and life enriching enhancement that CBD Oil from the Hemp plant can bring. Through its network of quality USA growers HempLifeToday.com has developed multiple and proprietary CannazALL CBD oil products that include its popular CBD Tinctures, Oils, GelCaps, CBD Powder, Skin Salve, Wax Honey, and e-liquid, all offered @ www.HempLifeToday.com

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Words such as "expects", "intends', "believes', and similar expressions reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including the timely development and market acceptance of products and technologies, the ability to secure additional sources of finance, the ability to reduce operating expenses, and other factors described in the Company's filings with the OTC Markets Group. The actual results that the Company achieves may differ materially from any forward-looking statement due to such risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.

Contact

Investor relations

IR@HempLifeToday.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Energizer Resources Inc. (TSX: EGZ)(OTCQB: ENZR)(WKN: A1CXW3) ("Energizer" or the "Company") announces that it has revised Phase 1 of its mine development plan for its 100%-owned Molo Graphite Project in Madagascar to now include significant production and that the completion of an updated Feasibility Study (FS) to reflect this development is imminent.

The Company's decision to initiate an updated FS on its Molo Graphite Project was based on the positive results of the Company's Front-End Engineering and Design Study that was completed this past November and communicated to the market November 7, 2016. Based on these results and a further detailed analysis of the available technical information from the now completed Detailed Engineering Study (which will be reflected in the FS), the Company has decided to develop a fully sustainable graphite mine in Phase 1 of the mine plan of the Molo Graphite Project.

Phase 1 Now Elevated From Planned Demonstration Plant to a Producing Mine

15,000 Tonnes Annual Production Estimated

Phase 1 of the Molo mine plan will now consist of the construction of a fully operational and sustainable graphite mine with a permanent processing plant capable of producing approximately 15,000 tonnes per annum ("tpa") of high-quality flake concentrate per year with a mine life of over 20 years. This is a significant increase from the original Phase 1 mine plan that was detailed in the Company's November 7, 2016 news release that envisioned the construction of a demonstration processing plant to produce flake graphite concentrate on a test basis. The Company has now completed a Detailed Engineering Study with respect to the revised Phase 1 mine plan, which demonstrates the viability of a modular build out and supports the anticipated initial production of 15,000 tpa.

The Company expects that, subject to funding, Phase 1 could be completed in approximately 6 months. Once funding is secured, the Company will initiate the Phase 1 build-out, which will include equipment procurement, off-site modular fabrication and assembly, factory acceptance testing (FAT), module disassembly, shipping, plant infrastructure construction, onsite module re-assembly and commissioning.

Phase 2 - Expansion to 53,000 Tonnes of Annual Production

Phase 2 of the Molo mine plan will consist of the expansion to a fully operational mine capable of producing 53,000 tpa of finished flake graphite concentrate. This expansion will be predicated on market demand for Molo flake graphite during Phase 1 production and will consist of additional mine build-out infrastructure, including construction of a tailings dam facility.

The Company is now preparing for the release of the revised FS and commencement of procurement for the resulting mine infrastructure. Robin Borley, the Company's Senior Vice-President of Operations, and Mr. Johann de Bruin, the former Managing Director of DRA Africa who joined Energizer as a consultant in March, will oversee all aspects regarding the operational readiness of the Company's newly revised Phase 1 Molo mine plan.

The assumptions, parameters and methods in establishing the above estimates are currently being finalized and will be disclosed in the updated and soon to be released Molo Graphite Project Feasibility Study.

About Energizer Resources

Energizer Resources is a mineral exploration and mine development company based in Toronto, Canada, that is developing its 100%-owned, feasibility-stage Molo Graphite Project in southern Madagascar.

As announced on April 7, 2017, the Company has legally changed its corporate name from Energizer Resources Inc. to NextSource Materials Inc. as part of its rebranding initiative. The change to NextSource Materials signifies an important shift in the evolution of the Company from an exploration-stage company into a mine-development company.

The Company anticipates its shares will commence trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the new name and new ticker symbol "NEXT" upon the opening of the markets on Monday, April 24, 2017. The Company anticipates its common shares will commence trading on the OTCQB under a new ticker symbol upon the opening of the market on or around the same date that the common shares commence trading on the TSX and will notify U.S. stockholders in the coming days what the new trading symbol will be.

Qualified Persons

Mr. Craig Scherba, P.Geo., President and CEO, is the qualified person who reviewed and approved the technical information provided in this press release.

Safe Harbour: This press release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are related to the timing of the completion of the updated and revised Feasibility Study, the results of the revised Feasibility Study, funding of the development of the Molo Project, implementation and commencement of the build-out of the Molo Project, commencement of production at the Molo Project, commencement of procurement for mine infrastructure, the procurement of equipment to construct a mine, value engineering, continued product test results and product analysis, and the permit application. These are based on current expectations, estimates and assumptions that involve a number of risks, which could cause actual results to vary and in some instances to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company and described in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur or, if any of them do so, what benefits the Company will derive there from. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

Contacts:

Energizer Resources Inc.

Brent Nykoliation

Senior Vice President, Corporate Development

bnykoliation@energizerresources.com



Energizer Resources Inc.

Craig Scherba

President and CEO

cscherba@energizerresources.com

+1.416.364.4911




According to the latest market study released by Technavio, the global steel long products marketis projected to grow to 1,022.1 million metric tons by 2021, at a CAGR of close to 3% over the forecast period.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170418005491/en/

Technavio has announced the release of their 'Global Steel Long Products Market 2017-2021' report. (Graphic: Business Wire)

This research report titled 'Global Steel Long Products Market 2017-2021' provides an in-depth analysis of the market in terms of revenue and emerging market trends. This market research report also includes up to date analysis and forecasts for various market segments and all geographical regions.

Steel long products or long products include rebars, wire rods, tubes, sections, hot-rolled bars, and rails. They are commonly used in the construction, energy, mechanical engineering, and automotive industries. The increase in demand for steel long products from the rapidly industrializing countries in APAC is driving the growth of the global market.

Request a sample report: https://www.technavio.com/request-a-sample?report=56175

Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more.

Based on product type, the report categorizes the global steel long products market into the following segments:

Rebars

Wire rods

Tubes

Sections

Others

The top three revenue-generating product segments in the global steel long products market are discussed below:

Rebars

"Rebars constitute the most popular products of the global steel long products market, responsible for generating almost 34% of the overall revenue. Rebars are identical to round bars but have lateral joints and axial bumps on the surface at intervals, and are designed to support and form a bond with concrete," says Ajay Adikari, a lead analyst at Technavio for metals and minerals research.

Apart from providing additional structural strength, rebars are also used to absorb energy, adapt to extreme conditions, and hold stress during natural disasters. The global steel rebars market is expected to grow considerably, driven by the large number of construction projects that are currently underway.

Wire rods

Wire rods are the second most popular product in the steel long product market, estimated to grow to 227.4 metric tons by 2021. The rising demand for wire rods from the transmission and distribution industries is likely to drive the market segment over the forecast period.

Wire rods are mainly used in aluminum conductor steel reinforced wires and earth wires, ball bearings, bush bearings, automotive parts, and general purpose wires. Also, governmental drivers such as "Make in India" will further boost the growth of the market segment.

Tubes

"The oil and gas, general engineering, power plants, water and sewage, and automotive industries create an extremely high demand for steel tubes. This is expected to result in the swift growth of the market segment, at a CAGR of almost 4% through 2021," says Ajay.

Steel tubes are used in various applications, including automotive components, bicycles, heat exchangers, renewable energy structures, transport, gas and oil pipelines, and tubing solutions. Welded stainless tubes account for a major portion of the stainless tube market, holding a share of 85% in the global market, while seamless and oil country tubular goods pipes make up the rest.

The top vendors highlighted by Technavio's research analysts in this report are:

ArcelorMittal

EVRAZ

Gerdau

Shagang Group

NSSMC

Browse Related Reports:

Global Microspheres Market 2017-2021

Global Metal Cans Market for Food and Beverage Industry 2017-2021

Galvanized Steel Tubes Market in India 2017-2021

Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like glass and ceramicsolefins, and specialty chemicals. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavio's constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently.

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.

Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, resellers, and end-users.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170418005491/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 630 333 9501

UK: +44 208 123 1770

www.technavio.com
VENTURA, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- SGD Holdings, Ltd (OTC PINK: SGDH) has signed a Five Year Sub-Lease Agreement including multiple 3 year options for a three acre lot from CannaGrow Holdings, Inc. (OTC PINK: CGRW) on the same parcel as their Colorado Buffalo Ranch Grow Facility.

Harry Johansing, CEO, states, "After reviewing several opportunities that were presented as possible entries into the Cannabis Industry in the State of Colorado, our due diligence brought us to a very logical conclusion. There is a significant unmet need in Southern Colorado for a large capacity Extraction Lab and Processing Facility. After negotiations with the property owner, NuGro Industries, Inc., SGD Holdings has committed to equipping a building and infrastructure with state-of-the-art equipment, with the capability to extract cannabis oils and a commercial kitchen for processing these oils into a variety of edibles and other marketable consumer items."

Johansing added, "With the 20,000 sq. ft. Colorado Buffalo Ranch Grow Facility next door, we can be assured of the quality and volume of product needed to produce wholesale quantities of oils, edibles, and other infused products. Our new board member, Delmar Janovec, will be instrumental in managing the process of submitting plans, securing building permits, and overseeing the entire construction process. The current lease is contingent upon the Huerfano County Commissioners finalizing their licensing requirements for Extraction/Processing Facilities and their subsequent approval of a Conditional Use Permit. NuGro Industries has committed to being fully prepared to submit an Amended Land Use Application for Colorado Buffalo Ranch No. 5 Lot 61 by the anticipated date the Commissioners approve the extraction and processing of cannabis in Huerfano County."

Forward-Looking Statements: The statements in the press release that relate to the Company's expectations with regard to the future impact on the Company's results from acquisitions or actions in development, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements in this document may also contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "may," "intend," "expect" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in such statements. Such risks, uncertainties, and factors include, but are not limited to, future capital needs, changes and delays in plans and schedules, or market acceptance. SGD Holdings, Ltd. undertakes no duty to update these forward-looking statements.

SGD Holdings, Ltd

805-644-4462

Direct press inquiries

harry@ecopaper.com




HANOVER, Maryland, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Allegis Global Solutions (AGS), the largest global managed services provider, and Brightfield Strategies, the leading workforce modelling and analytics organization, have launched a partnership to create exclusive services procurement analytics capabilities that will enhance AGS' ACUMEN Workforce Intelligence platform.

Brightfield's leading-edge Talent Data Exchange (TDX) platform will give AGS powerful new analytics and market intelligence capabilities that will enable AGS to consult its clients with increased precision. This includes the ability to analyze and manage structured and unstructured data in services procurement contracts and leverage machine learning algorithms for next generation benchmarking and decision support.

"Brightfield is committed to advancing the state-of-the-art use of data and analytics to optimize workforce acquisition across all talent sources," said Brightfield President and Chairman Jason Ezratty. "Analyzing services procurement contracts is the next big frontier. Until now, services procurement analytics and optimization efforts have been hindered by the enormity of making sense of the thousands of contract documents filled with text, which is largely unstructured data. Brightfield's solution effectively eliminates this challenge by automating the reading, structuring and aggregating of relevant contract data to provide decision support for a wide range of business questions."

"Our clients want increased visibility and control over their services procurement contracts and spend data," said AGS Senior Vice President, Global Product Leader Steve Schumacher. "This platform will empower our program leaders and analysts with untapped data by leveraging Brightfield's innovative natural language processing and machine learning capabilities. We are extremely proud to be first in the services procurement space to bring next-gen data analytics to market. We share a bold vision for the future, and I am convinced that AGS and Brightfield will deliver transformational data intelligence to our customers across the globe."

About Allegis Global Solutions

Allegis Global Solutions is founded on a culture that is passionate about transforming the way the world acquires talent by delivering client-focused solutions that make a difference for businesses worldwide.

From refining how you manage your contingent workforce to strengthening your employer brand to recruit top talent, our integrated solutions drive the business results you're after.

As an industry leader, we draw upon decades of experience to design innovative tools, products and processes. We develop competitive practices that position organizations for growth and we deliver the insight needed to succeed in today's global marketplace.

About Brightfield Strategies

Founded in 2006, Brightfield Strategies is an independent consultancy and data services company specializing in workforce acquisition strategies and analytics. For contingent workforce optimization to talent acquisition benchmarking, Brightfield helps Global 2000 clients create data-driven, actionable strategies that make them more competitive. Brightfield is also the creator and data steward of Talent Data Exchange, a talent data and analytics platform that enables companies to develop, validate, and modify their workforce acquisition strategies and compare them with their competition. For more information about Brightfield Strategies and its consulting services and TDX platform, visit www.brightfieldstrategies.com.

Media Contact:

Gautier Lemyze-Young, Allegis Global Solutions, 410.579.6121 / glemyzey@allegisglobalsolutions.com


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The US President's 'Buy American And Hire American' Executive Order that mandates a full review of the H-1B visa program for high-skilled foreign workers has evoked serious concern among the American Asian community as well as some Congressmen, while experts say making any change in the visa program would require legislative action by the Congress.



The Executive Order that President Donald Trump signed Tuesday calls to fully enforce the laws governing the entry of foreign workers into the U.S. economy, and directs federal agencies to propose reforms to the H-1B program that prevents the displacement of American workers.



A leading South Asian advocacy group said it rejects the premise that U.S.-born and foreign workers should be pitted against each other to 'ensure the integrity' of the immigration system and serve the national interest.



South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) expressed concern that the Executive Order will encourage immigration raids at businesses and other places of employment, further underscoring this administration's commitment to criminalizing immigrants.



Rep. Erik Paulsen, R.-Minn., whose district is home to many medical technology companies, said the H-1B visa program is an important tool for attracting and retaining top talent in STEM careers, and 'We shouldn't kick people out of the country so they can become our competitors, especially if they were trained and educated in the U.S.'



Any changes in the current visa program would require either Congressional action, changing statutory requirements, or regulations that would trigger President Trump's prior executive order ordering agencies to rescind two regulations for every new regulation proposed,' according to immigration expert Rebecca Bernhard.



In her opinion, contrary to recent rhetoric, H-1B visas do not generally act as a mechanism to replace American workers. 'Instead, US businesses use the H-1B to gain access to the sought-after skills of foreign professionals, many of whom graduate from US universities, to complement the US workforce'.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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SAN DIEGO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Generation NEXT Franchise Brands (OTCQB: VEND) announced today that subsidiary Reis and Irvy's has secured several key locations among military bases across the country. The franchisor's Reis & Irvy's Frozen Yogurt Robot concept has been a popular draw for both military installations and their respective personnel across the United States, creating an opportunity for each location to serve customized on-demand frozen yogurt creations.

As part of several turn-key resources and initiatives, Reis & Irvy's recently introduced a dedicated Location Procurement department to assist owners and operators across the country in researching, analyzing and securing locations on their behalf, where the vending robots will have the greatest opportunity for traffic and success. An important focus of this effort was military bases, which not only offer high-traffic engagement, but provide the opportunity for the men and women of the US Armed Forces to experience the excitement that is Reis & Irvy's. Announced today were several key military locations that have been secured and will soon be receiving the revolutionary Froyo Robots:

- Fort Knox, Louisville KY

- Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio TX

- Buckley Air Force Base, Aurora CO

- Lacklund Air Force Base, San Antonio TX

- Fort Gordon, Fort Gordon GA

- Fort Carson, Fort Carson CO

- Fort Jackson, Columbia, SC

- Shaw Air Force Base, Sumter, SC

- Joint Base Charleston, Charleston, SC

- MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, FL

The addition of these key military locations adds to a growing portfolio of premiere locations that are being secured across the US.

"We're excited to be securing locations within our military armed forces bases," says Rod Everett, Vice President of Business Development for Reis & Irvy's. "Not only can the working men and women of our military enjoy a customized 'taste-of-americana' treat while on base, but owners and operators can count on a consistent and captive traffic population. Two premier areas of focus for our company objectives... and a winning combination for both sides."

Reis & Irvy's franchisees are excited about the opportunity that the premiere military locations will offer in terms of traffic and consistent customer interaction. Zak Peterson and Alcy Araujo, who recently as partners became Reis & Irvy's Froyo Robot Franchisees will have their units placed within three of the recently announced military locations and look forward to the opportunity.

"Alcy and I are extremely excited to be doing business with the Charleston, Fort Jackson and Shaw military bases," said Zak Peterson. "The opportunity for us to offer an amazing new revolutionary froyo experience to the men, women and families that protect and serve/served this country is the least we can do. We'd like to extend our thanks to the Reis & Irvy's team for paving the way to what will assuredly be a long-lasting partnership."

For more information on Generation NEXT Franchise Brands visit http://www.gennextbrands.com/ or call toll free 888-902-7558.

This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for information purposes only. No Reis & Irvy's franchises will be sold to any resident of any state until the offering has been exempted from the requirements of, or duly registered in and declared effective by, such state and the required FDD (if any) has been delivered to the prospective franchisee before the sale in compliance with applicable law. Currently, the following states in the United States regulate the offer and sale of franchises: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. If you reside in one of these states, or even if you reside elsewhere, you may have certain rights under applicable franchise laws or regulations.

Generation NEXT Franchise Brands

Generation NEXT Franchise Brands, based in San Diego, California, is a publicly traded company on the OTC Markets trading under the symbol: VEND. Generation NEXT Franchise Brands is parent company to Fresh Healthy Vending LLC, the market's leading healthy-choice vending machine franchise, Reis and Irvy's, Inc., the world's first robotic frozen yogurt vending kiosk and 19 Degrees, a corporate-focused frozen yogurt kiosk brand. The Company hosts over 390 active franchisees throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, and continually looks to partner with like-minded entrepreneurs who share its vision.

Cautionary note on forward-looking statements

Except for historical information contained in this release, statements in this release may constitute forward-looking statements regarding assumptions, projections, expectations, targets, intentions or beliefs about future events that are based on management's belief, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. While the Company believes that expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurances that goals, results and strategy will be realized. Numerous factors, including risks and uncertainties, terms and availability of financing, may affect actual results and may cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements made by the Company or on its behalf. In addition to statements, which explicitly describe risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements labeled with such terms as "believes," "belief," "expects," "intends," "feels," "anticipates," "proposes," "proposed," or "plans" to be uncertain and forward-looking. More detailed information on these and additional factors that could affect Generation NEXT's actual results are described in Generation NEXT's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Form 10-Q's for the quarterly periods ended December 31, 2016 and September 30, 2016, and its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016. All forward-looking statements in this news release speak only as of the date of this news release and are based on Generation NEXT's current beliefs and expectations. Generation NEXT undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Media Contact:

Generation NEXT Franchise Brands

info@gennextbrands.com




The judge overseeing the case of missing Spanish teen Diana Quer has ordered a stay of proceedings due to the absence of clear suspects following an inconclusive eight-month investigation . If new evidence turns up, that stay will be lifted. The court has also lifted the seal on a case that made headlines in Spain, as much because of the young womans mysterious disappearance as for the tale of family feuding that ensued.

Diana Lopez, the teen's mother, outside the courthouse. OSCAR CORRAL (ATLAS)

EL PAIS has learned that the Civil Guard has been trying to prevent the stay for weeks, redoubling efforts to find clues in the Galician location of Pobra do Caraminal where the 18-year-old went missing on the night of August 22.

The Superior Court of Justice of Galicia said that Judge Felix Isaac Alonso made the decision due to the lack of evidence against anyone in particular, but noted that it is necessary to continue the criminal investigation because several lines of investigation are still open.

As a father and as a citizen I call upon the interior and justice ministers sense of duty

Juan Carlos Quer, Dianas father

The court is essentially waiting for investigators to finish analyzing a vast amount of telephone data obtained through court authorization. Officers have accumulated around 200 witness testimonies and waded through millions of telephone signals, finally honing in on 80 cellphone users who followed the same path as Diana on the night of her disappearance. Thousands of vehicle license plates were checked, and police also interrogated friends of the victim in the Madrid suburb of Pozuelo de Alarcon, Dianas usual place of residence.

Dianas parents, Diana Lopez and Juan Carlos Quer, were summoned to court on Wednesday to hear the judges decision to put the case on hold. The couple is divorced and they went in separately. Following the session, the mother emerged in tears and declined to make any statements. The father did address the media to say that I respect the decision, but in no way share it. This is very sad news for me, for my family and for my daughter.

Diana Lopez showing a picture of her missing daughter. Oscar Corral

As a father and as a citizen I call upon the interior and justice ministers sense of duty so that the people responsible for this act will be taken to justice and made to pay their dues, he said. Spanish society does not deserve for this kind of act to go unpunished.

Family woes P.O.D. The case took a new turn in September when it emerged that a court was taking custody of the younger daughter away from the mother. The father, Juan Carlos Quer, made public statements to the effect that the courts decision comes very late and suggesting that his daughters phoned me for help on several occasions. The couple divorced over four years ago and both girls had been living with their mother in Pozuelo de Alarcon in the region of Madrid. Local residents of A Pobra in Galicia, where all three spent their summer holidays, reported hearing a loud family dispute shortly before Dianas disappearance.

Diana Quer went missing in the early hours of August 22, 2016 after walking back to her summer holiday home from the local fiestas. Despite a massive search operation, the only physical evidence that turned up was the young womans iPhone 6, found in shallow waters in a nearby location. Investigators suspect that it was left there by her assailants in a bid to confuse the police.

Investigators have probed every scenario, ranging from a kidnapping  which the family defended even though nobody ever got in touch with them to ask for a ransom  to the possibility that Diana left voluntarily because of her strained relationship with her mother and sister.

The government delegate in Galicia, Santiago Villanueva, has insisted repeatedly that the key to cracking the case lies in crossing the infinite set of data obtained by investigators.

English version by Susana Urra.
VANCOUVER, BC -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Future Farm Technologies Inc. (the "Company" or "Future Farm") (OTCQB: FFRMF) is pleased to announce that it is sold out of its exclusive line of Scorpion LED COB Grow Lights, which recently passed Intertek's ETL certification process. Intertek is one of the world's largest testing, inspection and certification companies and its ETL Mark is proof of product compliance to North American safety standards. With the ETL testing complete, Future Farm is now able to implement its planned sales and marketing strategy into the fast growing North American cannabis cultivation market.

With its ETL certification, Future Farm's Scorpion line of LED indoor grow lights is approved for retail sale across all of North America, which opens up its biggest market for rapid growth. Future Farm's ETL approved LED COB Grow Lights cover a broad spectrum of wattages (including 120W, 245W, 315W, 375W, 495W, 560W) for growing clones or flowering plants. The Company is well positioned to satisfy any cultivator's needs, from the small grower to the large industrial scale grower.

With twenty-six U.S. states and the District of Columbia broadly legalizing marijuana use, the increased demand on energy consumption in pro-cannabis territories is expected to skyrocket, continuing the trend towards LED "grow light" solutions that reduce energy costs while increasing yields. Analysts forecast the global LED lighting market for horticulture application to grow at a CAGR of 22.55% during the period 2016-2020.

"The cultivation of cannabis is an energy-intensive industry," said William Gildea, CEO of Future Farm. "A recent study revealed that legalized indoor marijuana-growing operations account for 1% of total electricity use in the United States, at a cost of $6 billion(1) annually. As the cannabis industry continues its rapid global expansion, cultivation facilities are increasingly turning to LEDs to reduce energy costs and boost profits, and we intend to be a part of this growing market."

"Our Scorpion Grow Lights have been in high-demand, and having ETL certification means Future Farm can carry the needed inventory to meet the demand," says Rob Huston of Future Farm's LED Canada Division. "A lot of time and research has gone into this product and I am very happy that we have passed Intertek's high certification standards. We have had amazing feedback from many experienced cultivators considering the switch to LED, and are impressed by the results of our Scorpion COB fixtures. Now that the certification is complete, we can move forward with our distribution plans."

About Chip On Board (COB):

LEDs compete with traditional lighting sources in a number of ways, including greater energy efficiency, longer lifetime, and smaller size. However, the one drawback that has vexed many lighting designers is cost, which is a key reason why LED manufacturers continue to innovate to improve economies of scale. One of the newest packaging solutions designed to help lower costs is Chip on Board ("COB") light source modules, in which the LED chips are in the form of a semiconductor chip that is neither encased nor connected but directly mounted onto a PCB or, more generally, a substrate. This packaging style also provides several related benefits, such as greater design flexibility, better light distribution, and simpler manufacturing processes.

(1)Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory

About Future Farm

The Company's business model includes developing and acquiring technologies that will position it as a leader in the evolution of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) for the global production of various types of plants. Future Farm provides scalable, indoor CEA systems that utilize minimal land, water and energy regardless of climate, location or time of year and are customized to grow an abundance of crops close to consumers, therefore minimizing food miles and its impact to the environment. The Company holds an exclusive, worldwide license to use a patented vertical farming technology that, when compared to traditional plant production methods, generate yields up to 10 times greater per square foot of land. The contained system provides many other benefits including seed to sale security, scalability, consistency due to year-round production, cost control, product safety and purity by eliminating environmental variability.

The Company is also in the business of designing and distributing LED lighting solutions utilizing the COB and MCOB technology. The Company is focused on delivering cost efficient lighting to North America via advanced e-commerce sites the Company owns and operates. LEDCanada.com which caters to B2B customers is a supplier of the newest and highest demand LED solutions. The Company also owns and operates COBGrowlights.com which caters to both large and small agriculture green houses and controlled cultivation centers.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws.

Contact:

Future Farm Technologies Inc.

William Gildea

CEO & Chairman

617.834.9467

bill@futurefarmtech.com




TORONTO, ON -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Easton Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTC PINK: EAPH) is pleased to announce the execution of final agreement completing the 100% acquisition of revenue generating vaporizer and e-liquids manufacturer, iBliss Inc. and its holding company.

Easton Pharmaceuticals and iBliss, Inc. executed the closing final agreement, officially concluding the 100% acquisition of iBliss from its holding company. Terms of the acquisition included installment cash payments to be paid over a 90 day period with the first payment submitted on closing and up to 200 Million restricted Rule 144 shares in Easton's common stock, to be released in tranches based on sales target milestones. iBliss at its peak two years ago maintained healthy sales of $15,000,000 with 40% profit margins, but are once again on the rise and projected to again reach $15,000,000 due to recently executed new international distribution agreements.

Easton and iBliss intend on launching consumer health products in liquid form to be used through vaporizers. In addition to its e-liquids and vaporizer business, Easton and iBliss are developing a strategy to submit an application to Health Canada to obtain a medical marijuana license (LP) for the country Canada and anticipate a rapid approval given iBliss' successful revenue positive business and the marijuana experience of iBliss principles who currently possess older medical marijuana licenses. The LP MMJ license is to co-incide with the recent announcement by the federal liberal government in Canada to legalize recreational medical marijuana throughout Canada to be launched in June of 2018.

The completion of the iBliss acquisition and its sales has resulted in Easton looking to retain auditors for its intent on filing a Form 10 or S1 registration statement towards becoming a fully reporting issuer with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Evan Karras, CEO of Easton, stated, "We are excited to have completed this strategic acquisition of iBliss and we look forward to working with the iBliss management team to increase our local distribution, expand our international sales and launch innovative consumer health products. Easton has some very exciting plans and this is expected to be the first of many to follow."

Easton has retained the services of new social media and SEO consultants who will assist with a new website design, branding, SEO and Investor Relations.

For More Detailed Information On iBliss Visit:

https://iblissvapor.com

About Easton Pharmaceuticals

Easton Pharmaceuticals is a diversified specialty pharmaceutical company involved in various pharmaceutical sectors and other growing industries. The Company previously developed and owned an FDA-approved wound-healing drug and currently owns topically delivered drugs to treat cancer and other therapeutic products to treat various conditions that are all in various stages of development and approval. Easton has partnered with BMV Medica SA de C.V. and together, own the exclusive distribution rights in Mexico and Latin America for patented women's diagnostic and preventative care products from CommonSense Of Israel, along with two generic cancer drugs, Paclitaxel and Docetaxel from BioLyse Pharma of St. Catherine's Ontario, Canada.

For More Information On Easton and Affiliated Company's Visit:

http://www.eastonpharmaceuticalsinc.com

http://www.bmvmedica.net

http://ecigmarkets.com

http://finance.yahoo.com/q's=eaph

https://twitter.com/eastonpharma

Safe Harbor

This news release may contain forward-looking statements or expressions within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (The "Act"). In particular, when certain words or phrases such as "hope", "positive", "anticipate," "pleased," "plan," "confident that," "believe," "expect," "possible" or "intent to" and similar conditional expressions are expressed, they are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act and are subject to the safe harbor created by the Act. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially from those expressed in any of the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, market conditions, general acceptance of the company's products and technologies, competitive factors, the ability to successfully complete additional or adequate financing, government approvals or changes to proposed laws and other risks and uncertainties further stated in the company's financial reports and filings.

Contact:



Evan Karras

CEO

Tel: +1(416) 619-0291

Tel: +1(347) 284-0192

Email: info@eastonpharmaceuticalsinc.com




MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Bowmore Exploration Ltd. (the "Company" or "Bowmore") (TSX VENTURE: BOW)(FRANKFURT: 0B5) is pleased to announce that it has signed an Option Agreement (the "Agreement") to acquire, from three private owners (The "Vendors"), 100% undivided interest in the Gilmour South, Louvicourt, Fab, and Flat Landing Brook properties (The "Projects"). These four Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide ("VMS") zinc-lead projects are located within the Bathurst Mining Camp in New Brunswick, Canada (See acquisition map: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Bowmore420.pdf).

The Projects are composed of a total of 55 claim units covering approximately 1,200 hectares and are located in Northumberland County, roughly 20 km south west of the City of Bathurst, accessible from Highway 430. The Projects are located within and/or contiguous to our recently acquired Brunswick Belt Project (see news release dated March 7, 2017).

THE TRANSACTION

Pursuant to the Option Agreement between the private Vendors and Bowmore Exploration Ltd., the Company may acquire 100% interest in the Projects and will have the exclusive rights to explore and develop the Projects over the next five (5) years in consideration of:

(i) Total cash payments of $216,000 to the Vendors as follows:

a. $21,000 payable upon receiving the TSX Venture Exchange approval; b. $30,000 payable on the first anniversary date of the Agreement; c. $30,000 payable on the Second anniversary date of the Agreement; d. $45,000 payable on the Third anniversary date of the Agreement; e. $45,000 payable on the Fourth anniversary date of the Agreement and; f. $45,000 payable on the Fifth anniversary date of the Agreement.

(ii) Total issuance of 500,000 common shares of the Company on or before the following dates:

a. 75,000 common shares upon receiving the TSX Venture Exchange approval of the Agreement; b. 75,000 common shares on the First anniversary date of the Agreement; c. 105,000 common shares on the Second anniversary date of the Agreement; d. 105,000 common shares on the Third anniversary date of the Agreement; e. 105,000 common shares on the Fourth anniversary date of the Agreement, and: f. 105,000 common shares on the Fifth anniversary date of the Agreement.

(iii) Issue up to an additional 450,000 common shares of the company if the following event occurs: 150,000 common shares within 5 days of the date on which the Company receives a positive preliminary economic assessment (The "PEA") in respect to these Projects, and 300,000 common shares within 5 days of the date on which the Company receives a positive feasibility study in respect to the properties.

(iv) Incur expenditures in the aggregate amount of at least $500,000 on or before the following dates:

a. $50,000 of exploration work within the first anniversary date of the Agreement; b. $100,000 of exploration work on or before the second anniversary date of the Agreement; c. $100,000 of exploration work on or before the third anniversary date of the Agreement; d. $100,000 of exploration work on or before the fourth anniversary date of the Agreement; and e. $150,000 of exploration work on or before the fifth anniversary date of the Agreement.

At the end of this period, Bowmore will have acquired 100% interest in the Projects. The vendors will no Net Smelter Royalty (NSR) from the proceeds of any commercial production and the Vendors will have no area of interest. The Transaction is subject to the TSX Venture exchange approval.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

The Projects host known mineral occurrences and are described below:

The Gilmour South VMS deposit, located to the south of the historical Brunswick No.6 Mine, is hosted within what is known as the "Brunswick Horizon". Bowmore previously acquired the Brunswick Belt that hosts the favorable Brunswick Horizon along strike. Massive to semi-massive mineralization occurs near the top of the Nepisiguit Falls Formation of felsic volcanic rocks as at the former Brunswick No. 12 and No. 6 mines. These two mines produced nearly 150 million tonnes grading 12% combined zinc and lead (Zn% + Pb%) over a fifty year period, with Brunswick No. 12 closing in 2013.

The best intersection in the Gilmour South deposit was in drill hole GS-99-22 that returned 7.98 metres of 9.61% zinc, 1.02% lead, 0.2% copper and 32 g/t silver. Historical drilling was performed on approximately 200 m centers.

The Flat Landing Brook VMS deposit is also hosted in the Nepisiguit Falls Formation, but is located to the west of the former Brunswick No. 6 mine and is interpreted to be a "Thrust Fault Repetition" of the Brunswick Horizon. Historical resources are estimated to be 1.27 million tonnes of 5.62% zinc, 1.29% lead, and 23 g/t silver.

The Louvicourt deposit, also known as the Nine Mile Brook deposit, contains two conformable massive sulfide lenses associated with a barite-rich iron formation. Historical resources are estimated to be 136,000 tonnes grading 90.86 g/t Ag, 0.96 g/t Au, 1.23% Pb, 1% Zn and 0.42% Cu.

The Fab Main deposit is located between the former Brunswick No. 12 and No. 6 mines and consists of disseminated to massive sulfides in quartz stringers. It is interpreted to be "VMS feeder zone" type mineralization. The Fab Main deposit comprises historical unclassified resources (non NI43-101 compliant) that are estimated to be 16.3 million tonnes grading 0.3% Cu, 0.6% Zn and 10.29 g/t Ag.

Mr. Paul Dumas, President of Bowmore, stated, "We are pleased with the acquisition of these new properties as they are a strategic compliment to the previously announced 'Brunswick Belt' acquisition. All four of the Projects contain known zinc-lead-copper VMS occurrences that are part of the historical Bathurst Mining Camp. We continue our efforts in acquiring additional ground in New Brunswick, which is one of Canada's best mining jurisdictions. This acquisition continues to diversify our portfolio by giving Bowmore significant exposure to base metal markets with a focus on zinc."

Jeff Hussey, P. Geo., is the Qualified Person who has reviewed this news release and is responsible for the technical information reported herein.

Cautionary Notes Concerning Historical Mineral Resources

This news release uses the terms historical resources. Readers are cautioned that the Company has not completed the work required to independently analyze and verify the results of previous operators nor has a qualified person completed sufficient work to classify the estimates as NI43-101 compliant mineral resources. The Company believes these historical results provide an indication of the potential of the property and are reported because they are deemed relevant to the description of the properties. Any resource is not an economic mineral reserve and that the economic viability of resources that are not mineral reserves has not been demonstrated. Readers are cautioned not to assume that further work on the stated resources will lead to mineral reserves that can be mined economically.

About BOWMORE - BOWMORE is a Canadian exploration mining company focused on precious and base metal exploration within Canada. The Company trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "BOW". For further information on BOWMORE, visit www.bowmorexploration.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-looking statements: Except for statements of historical facts, all statements in this news release regarding, without limitation, new project acquisitions, future plans and objectives are forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Contacts:

Paul Dumas

President & CEO

BOWMORE Exploration Ltd.

(514) 861-4441

info@bowmorexploration.com

www.bowmorexploration.com




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Namaste Technologies Inc. ("Namaste" or the "Company") (CSE: N)(CSE: N.CN)(FRANKFURT: M5BQ)(OTCQB: NXTTF) is pleased to announce that, building on a previously announced MOU, the Company has entered into a services agreement (the "Agreement") with Canopy Growth Corporation ("Canopy"). This Agreement represents the execution of Namaste's strategic objective to actively migrate medical cannabis consumers to a licensed producer. Namaste's database consists of approximately 300,000 customers that generate upwards of 600,000 site visits monthly. Approximately 28,000 of these monthly site visits are generated from customers residing in Canada.

The purpose of the Agreement is to outline the responsibilities of each of Namaste and Canopy with respect to the provision of education and awareness regarding safe and legal access to medical cannabis. Namaste's responsibilities include, but not are limited to: providing information on its websites and blogs outlining how to obtain medical cannabis from legal licensed producers including details on what is legally required under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations.

Management Commentary

Sean Dollinger, President and CEO of Namaste, comments: "Our Company has successfully built one of the largest and most global client relationship databases in the cannabis industry and we view broadening our strategic alliances to the benefit of our customers and shareholders. Consistent with our strategy to partner with leading companies that hold themselves to the highest standards, Canopy represents the ideal partner for us to roll-out this strategy alongside. Going forward, we see multiple opportunities to expand this strategy globally."

About Namaste Technologies Inc.

Namaste Technologies Inc. is an emerging leader in vaporizer and accessories space. Namaste has 26 e-commerce retail stores in 20 countries, offers the largest range of brand name vaporizers products on the market and is actively manufacturing and launching multiple unique proprietary products for retail and wholesale distribution. The Company is currently focused on expanding its product offering, acquisitions and strategic partnerships, and entering new markets globally.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Sean Dollinger, Chief Executive Officer

Further information on the company and its products can be accessed through the link below:

-- www.namastetechnologies.com -- www.namastevaporizers.com -- www.namastevaporizers.co.uk -- www.vaporseller.com -- www.everyonedoesit.com -- www.everyonedoesit.co.uk

FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION

This press release contains forward-looking information based on current expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions. Namaste assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances unless required by law.

Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to several factors and risks including various risk factors discussed in the Company's disclosure documents which can be found under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The CSE has neither reviewed nor approved the contents of this press release.

Contacts:

Namaste Technologies Inc.

Sean Dollinger

Chief Executive Officer

Direct: +1 (786) 389 9771

info@namastevapes.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- HIGHLIGHTS

-- Updated NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate of 6.26 million tonnes of Inferred Mineral Resources at a grade of 2.97% copper, 1.00% lead and 20.99 g/t silver. -- The Mineral Resource estimate includes 2.41 million tonnes of shallow surface accessible Inferred Mineral Resources at an average grade of 1.72% copper, 1.01% lead and 3.61 g/t silver. -- Upside potential still exists down dip from Asis West, where underground exploration has been limited to date. -- Appointments of Mr. Brett Richards as Chairman of the board and Mr. Robert Schafer as a director of the Company.

Trigon Metals Inc. (TSX VENTURE: TM) ("Trigon" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an updated mineral resource estimate at its Kombat Mine located in northern Namibia of Inferred Mineral Resources of 6.26 million tonnes grading 2.97% copper, 1.00% lead and 20.99 g/t silver, at a cut-off grade of 0.77% copper equivalent for the surface accessible (open pit) portion and 1.4% copper equivalent cut-off grade for the underground portion.

The updated mineral resource estimates, which include the Kombat West, Central and East, Asis Far West, Asis Gap and Asis West areas as presented in detail in Table 1 below (the "Updated Mineral Resource Estimate"), have been prepared and classified by Minxcon (Pty) Ltd ("Minxcon") in accordance with the reporting guidelines as set out in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") as required by the Canadian Securities Administrators.

The Kombat Mine is Trigon's flagship property, having produced in excess of 12 million tonnes at a grade of 2.62% copper, 1.55% lead and 18 g/t silver between 1962 and 2008. The Kombat Mine assets form a solid foundation for growth and creation of shareholder value, with near term production plans underway. The Company intends to make use of the extensive existing infrastructure to bring the Kombat Mine back into production, both in terms of the near-term surface mining and ultimately the underground operations.

The previous mineral resource estimate as at May 20, 2014 only covered the Asis Far West area, representing a very limited section of the Kombat Mine's potential. The Updated Mineral Resource Estimate covers all proposed current and historical mining areas at the Kombat Mine. This provides management with optionality in terms of its strategic planning, and the preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") currently being undertaken by the Company will provide an indication of the economic viability of various alternatives in this regard.

Stephan Theron, President and CEO of Trigon, commented: "The updated consolidated mineral resource numbers have met our expectations and provide management with a substantial base from which to grow Trigon into a mid-tier producer. We are pleased to have achieved this early stage milestone, and look forward to reporting progress on the implementation of the first phase of our strategic plan for near-term surface mining. We would also like the welcome Bob Schafer to the board and Brett Richards as Chairman of the board. Furthermore, we wish to thank Messrs. Nielson and Hoffman for their services to the Company."

The figure below illustrates the mineralised halos, which include the Kombat West, Central and East, Asis West, Asis Gap and Asis Far West areas. The colours have been utilized for modelling purposes only to distinguish between the various orebodies.

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Figure1_1092240.jpg

The table below is a summary of the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Kombat Mine as at April 19, 2017.

Table 1 - Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate

Open pit (0.77% CuEq cut off) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mine Section Tonnes (Mt) Density Cu (%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kombat East 1,208 2,82 1,36 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kombat Central 0,848 2,82 1,79 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kombat West 0,354 2,88 2,76 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Open pit Total 2,410 2,83 1,72 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Open pit (0.77% CuEq cut off) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cu Pb Ag Mine Pb (%) Ag (ppm) (Tonnes) (Tonnes) (kg) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kombat 1,01 1,72 16 465 12 187 2 074 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kombat 0,33 6,90 15 135 2 767 5 848 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kombat 2,63 2,20 9 785 9 303 780 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Open pit 1,01 3,61 41 385 24 257 8 702 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Underground (1.4% CuEq cut off) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mine Section Tonnes (Mt) Density Cu (%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kombat East 0,024 2,87 1,90 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kombat West 0,104 2,91 2,79 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kombat Total 0,128 2,90 2,63 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asis West 2,475 2,88 4,05 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asis Gap 0,166 2,83 2,35 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asis Far West 1,082 2,85 3,42 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asis Total 3,723 2,87 3,79 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Underground Total 3,851 2,87 3,75 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Open Pit and Underground Total 6,261 2,85 2,97 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Underground (1.4% CuEq cut off) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cu Pb Mine Pb (%) Ag (ppm) (Tonnes) (Tonnes) Ag (kg) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kombat 2,94 0,61 459 708 15 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kombat 4,15 3,27 2 899 4 307 339 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kombat 3,92 2,77 3 358 5 015 354 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asis 1,28 32,36 100 214 31 735 80 078 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asis 0,35 21,15 3 909 590 3 514 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asis 0,10 35,81 37 000 1 036 38 763 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asis 0,90 32,86 141 122 33 361 122 355 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Underground 1,00 31,86 144 480 38 376 122 709 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Open Pit and Underground 1,00 20,99 185 865 62 632 131 411 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes:

1. Historical mine voids have been deleted from the Mineral Resource. 2. The open pit Mineral Resource is declared to a depth of 150m with a CuEq cut off of 0.77%. 3. The underground Mineral Resource (below 150m) is declared at a CuEq cut off of 1.4%. 4. Densities for the hard rock material have been modelled. 5. A geological loss of 15 % has been applied to the Mineral Resource.

The figure below illustrates the split corresponding to the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate above with respect to the various project areas. The colours have been used to differentiate the various areas as defined, and the black portions of the orebodies represent those areas which have been mined out.

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Figure2_1092240.jpg

Geology and Mineralization

The Kombat Mine is located on the northern limb of the Otavi Valley Syncline, localized immediately below the contact between dolostones of the Hu"ttenberg Formation and phyllites of the overlying Kombat Formation of the Mulden Group.

A series of copper-lead deposits have been mined on the Kombat property, localized along the axial planes of one, or locally two, parasitic folds in the northern limb of the Otavi Valley Syncline, immediately below the dolostone/phyllite contact. These parasitic folds, and the lines of mineralized bodies, plunge shallowly to the west, flattening out in the vicinity of the Asis Far West shaft.

The section between the Asis West and Asis Far West, known as the Asis Gap area, has been modelled with the current database and a zone of mineralisation is included in the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate. In addition to this the model also indicates there is potential for a down dip extension of the Asis West mineralised zone. Lateral potential also exists at Asis West and this target could possibly be accessed from 15 level.

Source Data

The work to complete the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate has been based primarily on an analysis of the Company's extensive database of historical information, which has now been computer modelled.

The Updated Mineral Resource Estimate has been defined using the existing historic surface and underground drill holes. The historical database consists of 1,991 diamond, reverse circulation ("RC") and percussion drillholes of which 470 diamond and RC drillholes have been utilised in the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate. Minxcon also made use of the geological structural plans to assist with the structural interpretation in the construction of the overall geological model.

Additional drilling campaigns will be required to upgrade the Inferred Mineral Resource to an Indicated Mineral Resource. This infill drilling will help with interpreting the project geology and increasing confidence in the model. Further exploration drilling will be required for identification of possible lateral and down dip extensions of the mineralization.

Resource Criteria and Assumptions

The Updated Mineral Resource Estimate has been classified in accordance with the requirements as set out in NI 43-101.

Minxcon utilised Leapfrog software to construct the mineralisation halos and final wireframes for the Ordinary Kriging estimation process, which was conducted in Datamine Studio 3. Inverse Distance to the power of 2 was utilised for the tailings Resource.

The classification of the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate was completed based on the geological complexity, estimation performance, number of drill samples, quality of data, drill hole spacing and sample distribution.

Minxcon has classified the entire Updated Mineral Resource Estimate as Inferred Mineral Resource based on the above criteria. Additional drilling will be required to upgrade the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate from the Inferred category to an Indicated category.

Cut off grades

The Updated Mineral Resource Estimate is constrained by assumptions about economic cut-off grades.

The Updated Mineral Resource Estimate was divided into a surface accessible section and an underground section. The surface accessible section was declared to a depth of 150 m at a 0.77% copper equivalent cut-off. This depth was delineated by optimizing the resource in NPV Scheduler. The underground resource below 150m was declared at a calculated pay limit of 1.4% copper equivalent. The parameters used were commodity prices of US$3.00/lb for copper and US$1.00/lb for lead. The processing recoveries for copper and lead were deemed to be 94% and 80%, respectively. A total mining (inclusive of processing) cost of US$82/tonne was used for the underground pay limit calculation.

Upside Potential and Plans

Management believes there is potential to find additional mineralization at depth and along strike through further detailed surface and underground drilling, particularly down dip from the Asis West mineralization. The Company is considering further work in this regard in the medium term. In the near-term, the Company's plan remains to focus on surface resources in the Kombat Central and East areas and to commence with surface mining to facilitate early cash flow generation.

QA/QC

A technical report will be filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR within 45 days of this press release. For further information with respect to the key assumptions, parameters, risks, the mineral resource estimate, data verification, QA/QC and other technical information with respect to the Kombat Mine, please refer to the technical report, when available.

Qualified Person

Mr. Uwe Engelmann (BSc (Zoo. & Bot.), BSc Hons (Geol.), Pr.Sci.Nat. No. 400058/08, MGSSA) of Minxcon, is a "qualified person" as such term is defined in NI 43- 101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information and data included in this press release. As a director of Minxcon, Mr. Engelmann is considered independent.

CORPORATE UPDATE

The Company announces the resignations of Messrs. Mike Hoffmann and Bill Nielson from the board of directors of the Company, and the appointment of Mr. Robert Schafer as a director. Mr. Brett Richards, currently a director of Trigon, will replace Mr. Justin Reid as Chairman. All changes are effective immediately. The Company has granted 100,000 options to Mr. Richards and 150,000 options to Mr. Schafer pursuant to its stock option plan. The options may be exercised at a price of $0.29 per option for a period of five years from the date of grant. The grant of options remains subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Mr. Schafer is a Registered Professional Geologist with more than 30 years' international experience identifying, evaluating and structuring transactions for mineral deposits globally. Mr. Schafer has worked in more than 70 countries, including Russia, Australia, Afghanistan, China, central Asia, India, and most countries in Africa and South America. He is the immediate past-president of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada and a past president of the Canadian Institute for Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), as well as an active member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) in the USA, where he served on its board for more than a decade. Mr. Schafer is also a member of the board of directors for both the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame and National Mining Hall of Fame in the USA. Mr. Schafer is the recipient of the William Lawrence Saunders Gold Medal from AIME and the Daniel C. Jackling Award from SME for career achievements, two of the highest mining recognitions in the USA. Mr. Schafer earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Geology at Miami University (Ohio); completed course work and research toward a Ph.D. in Geology; and earned a second Master's degree in Mineral Economics at the University of Arizona. In addition, he completed the Executive MBA program at Stanford University. Mr. Schafer is a is a Certified Corporate Director (ICD.D), a Fellow of the CIM and the Society of Economic Geologists, and a Registered Professional Geologist in the States of Wyoming and Utah.

The board of directors would like to thanks Messrs. Hoffmann and Mr. Nielson for their contributions to the Company.

Trigon Metals Inc.

Trigon is a publicly traded Canadian exploration and development company with its core operations focused on copper resources in Namibia, one of the world's most prospective copper regions, where it has substantial assets in place with significant upside. The Company continues to hold an 80% interest in five mining licenses in the Otavi Mountain lands, an area of Namibia particularly known for its high-grade copper deposits. Within these licenses are three past producing mines including the Company's flagship property, the Kombat Mine.

Cautionary Notes

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements include statements regarding the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate, the Company's strategies and the Company's abilities to execute such strategies, the Company's ability to restart the Kombat Mine, the Company's expectations for the Kombat Mine, the economic viability of surface mining at the Kombat Mine, the timing of completion of the technical report and the PEA, the results of the technical report and PEA, merger and acquisition opportunities, the impact of changes to the Company's board of directors, the grant of stock options and the Company's future plans and objectives. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statements or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws.

Contacts:

Spyros Karellas

Investor Relations

+1 (416) 433-5696

spyros@pinnaclecapitalmarkets.ca

www.trigonmetals.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Editors Note: There are two photos associated with this press release.

RTDNA Canada is pleased to announce the introduction of a new Lifetime Achievement Awards category for Network Programming. This year we received a number of outstanding nominations from across Canada and it became evident that there are exceptional individuals who don't fit within the category of a regional award because their work transcends such boundaries. The board of directors is therefore pleased to announce the inaugural recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Network Programming, Terry Milewski and Charles Adler. RTDNA President Ian Koenigsfest said, "These two remarkable individuals have each dedicated more than 30 years to excellence in broadcast journalism and truly represent the spirit of what the Lifetime Achievement Award means." He added, "... the new network category finally acknowledges those journalists whose work is on a national platform and Terry and Charles are outstanding choices to launch this category."

Terry and Charles will be presented with their awards during the Awards Gala Dinner on May 27, 2017 at the close of the 2017 National Conference & Awards Gala.

Terry Milewski

CBC News

Describe Terry Milewski's scripts and you describe the man himself: rigorous, cultured, contemptuous of the canned answer and quick to rip the varnish off polished dissemblers. What those scripts don't tell us is that Terry is also generous with his colleagues, a gifted script doctor and patient sage for the parade of younger journalists courageous enough to beat a well-worn path to his office.

Terry's career has taken him across the country and around the world in pursuit of outstanding storytelling. His probing coverage of the Air India bombing represents one of his greatest contributions to the craft of journalism. The families of the victims of the bombing may not have had justice nor closure but Terry has relentlessly pursued the details of what happened to that flight and kept the stories of those victims and their families in the minds of Canadians for three decades.

Jennifer McGuire, General Manager and Editor in Chief at CBC News, said, "During a career of four-plus decades that saw Terry posted in Edmonton with CITV, and with CBC in Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Jerusalem, Washington, and Vancouver, he personified the unflinching CBC correspondent who fearlessly and relentlessly pursued facts. If that struck fear in the merchants of bafflegab, that suited Terry quite keenly."

After reporting from 52 countries, Terry has left an indelible mark on his craft, his colleagues, the CBC, and the people of Canada.

Charles Adler

Corus Entertainment

Charles grew up in Montreal, where he started his broadcast career at CKGM Montreal in 1973, and over the next 25 years hosted top-rated shows in Montreal, Hamilton, London, Winnipeg, Toronto and Calgary. A move to the USA saw him host a nationally syndicated radio show out of Tampa that hit more than 120 markets. In 1994 he launched a television show called "Adler on Line" in Boston which earned him an Emmy Award. In 2004, based out of CJOB, Corus Radio launched "Charles Adler" nationally across 14 radio stations for more than eight years. He has also hosted national television programs in Canada, including the current affairs show "Global Sunday". In 2016, much to the delight of his fans and newsmakers alike, Charles returned in a national role on Corus stations from CKNW in Vancouver.

Describing Adler's contribution to journalism in Canada Troy Reeb, Senior Vice President of News, Radio and Station Operations said, "There are few names in talk radio more iconic than Charles Adler. His depth of knowledge and relentless quest for answers have made him a hit with listeners for more than 30 years. Whether or not you agree with him, Charles stands out for being both courteous and fair. He has earned the respect of leaders from across the political spectrum, and the admiration of his peers across North America."

To view the photos associated with this press release, please visit the following links:

www.marketwire.com/library/20170418-terrymilewski800.jpg

www.marketwire.com/library/20170418-charlesadler800.jpg

Contacts:

RTNDA Canada

Ian Koenigsfest

President

president@rtdnacanada.com



RTDNA Canada

Joanna Rose

Awards Coordinator

info@rtdnacanada.com

www.rtdnacanada.com




QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- H2O Innovation Inc. ("H2O Innovation" or the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE: HEO)(ALTERNEXT: MNEMO:ALHEO)(OTCQX: HEOFF) is proud to announce that it was awarded six (6) new projects in the United States. These new contracts bring the Corporation's project sales backlog to $58.2 M.

The Corporation's first contract is a reverse osmosis ("RO") system treating Lake Texoma's water, located on the Texas and Oklahoma border. This new system will replace the existing conventional and electrodialysis reversal (EDR) one previously installed. H2O Innovation had also won the contract for the ultrafiltration system using the FiberFlex open-platform, for that same municipality, at the end of 2015. By awarding this project to H2O Innovation, the customer will be able to save more time and money on the integration of the new RO system within the existing UF one. With this extension, the system will treat 11.3 MGD (42,775 m3/day) of ultrafiltered water and 5 MGD (18,927 m3/day) of reverse osmosis effluent, creating the Corporation's largest combined UF and RO project.

The second project awarded to H2O Innovation consists of a skid mounted nanofiltration ("NF") system to serve as an expansion to the existing system that the Corporation provided back in 1999. This system will be shipped by boat and will produce 0.4 MGD (1,308 m3/day) of potable water for a municipality located on the North Slope of Alaska.

A pair of additional contracts brings H2O Innovation to work with two municipalities in the State of Montana. The first is a wastewater facility using the Corporation's new flexMBR open-platform membrane bioreactor (MBR). Flat sheet membranes will be used in the process for separation of solids to help meet regulatory requirements. The second municipal project is a FiberFlex UF system delivering municipal drinking water.

The Corporation has also won two smaller water treatment projects, a reverse osmosis facility in the State of Florida and another FiberFlex UF in Michigan.

"We are very proud of the wide diversity of technologies used in these new projects that span our core competencies: ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, nanofiltration and membrane bioreactors. These new flexMBR and FiberFlex contracts also confirm the Corporation's ability to build on an expanding market trend for flexibility and contractual freedom for membrane asset management", stated Denis Guibert, Vice President and General Manager of Engineering Division of H2O Innovation.

About H2O Innovation

H2O Innovation designs and provides state-of-the-art, custom-built and integrated water treatment solutions based on membrane filtration technology for municipal, industrial, energy and natural resources end-users. The Corporation's activities rely on three pillars which are i) water and wastewater projects; ii) specialty products and services, including a complete line of specialty chemicals, consumables, specialized products for the water treatment industry as well as control and monitoring systems; and iii) operation and maintenance services for water and wastewater treatment systems. For more information, visit www.h2oinnovation.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor the Alternext Exchange accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Source:

H2O Innovation Inc.

www.h2oinnovation.com



Contact:

Marc Blanchet

+1 418-688-0170

marc.blanchet@h2oinnovation.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Pasinex Resources Limited (CSE: PSE) (FRANKFURT: PNX) (the "Company" or "Pasinex") announces the commencement of at least a 1,000 m drill program on the Golcuk property, "Golcuk South", Sivas province, Turkey. Previous work (news releases on July 11 and September 25, 2013) had indicated a significant surface anomaly of Cu mineralization. Channel sampling in 2013 had shown average grades from between 0.01% Cu to 1.47% Cu, at surface, with many surface channel samples in the range of 0.2% Cu to 0.7% Cu. These results from the 2013 channel sampling are shown below in Figure 1. This entire area has been identified as a priority target for drilling based on PSE's past work and will be systematically drilled in this drill program.

To view the image associated with this release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1092204a.pdf

President and CEO of Pasinex Resources Limited Mr. Steve Williams commented: "I am very pleased to be back drilling at Golcuk. We regard Golcuk as a highly prospective copper project which duly warrants our best efforts. In the last couple of years, we have focused on the development of the zinc mine at our JV Pinargozu project. That is now well established and producing zinc from high-grade ore. So, it was high time to get back to Golcuk which we believe can be our next big step forward."

While drilling on Golcuk is imminent, zinc production continues at the Pinargozu Mine north of Adana that is run by Horzum AS, a 50/50 JV between Pasinex Resources and its Turkish partner Akmetal A.S. Pasinex will provide annual and quarterly results on this producing asset in due course.

Qualified Person

Click here for the news release containing the scientific and technical information contained herein and QP's verification when first published.

Golcuk Copper Project

Pasinex's Golcuk Copper Project, 100%-owned by Pasinex Resources Limited, occupies a 40 square kilometre exploration license in the Sivas Province of central north-east Turkey. The region is characterized by Mesozoic and Cenozoic magmatism and volcanic activity associated with a variety of mineralization styles, including Iron-Oxide-Copper-Gold ("IOCG"), porphyry-epithermal, and volcanic-hosted copper-silver deposits. Mineralization at Golcuk occurs as silver-enriched copper mineralization (chiefly chalcocite and bornite) hosted by mafic volcanic and sedimentary units, similar in style to the famous volcanic hosted copper deposits in the Keweenawan region of North America. Pasinex acquired the Golcuk property in October 2012 from Eurasian Minerals Inc. (TSX VENTURE: EMX) (NYSE MKT: EMXX) in an earn-in option agreement according to terms described in a Pasinex news release dated July 25, 2012 and amended in late 2016 as stated in the December 6th 2016 news release.

About Pasinex

Pasinex Resources Limited (CSE: PSE) (FRANKFURT: PNX) is a metals company which is a 50% owner of the high grade Pinargozu Zinc Mine which is in production and, under its DSO Program, is shipping directly to zinc smelters / refiners from its mine site in Turkey. The Pinargozu Mine is included in the 50-50 company, Horzum Arama Isletme AS (Horzum AS), which is a corporate joint venture between Pasinex and Turkish mining house, Akmetal Madencilik San ve Tic. AS (Akmetal AS). Akmetal AS is one of Turkey's largest family-owned conglomerates with the nearby past-producing Horzum Zinc Mine.

Its portfolio also includes 100% ownership in the Golcuk Property.

Pasinex has a strong technical management team with many years of experience in mineral exploration, metallurgy and mining project development.

Visit our web site at: www.pasinex.com

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

PASINEX RESOURCES LIMITED

"Steve Williams"

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from the historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although Pasinex Resources Limited believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, continued availability of capital and financing, exploration results, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Contacts:

Pasinex Resources Limited

Steve Williams

President/CEO

416.861.9659

info@pasinex.com



Cathy Hume

CHF Investor Relations

416.868.1079 ext. 231

cathy@chfir.com




CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- News Release - TransCanada Corporation (TSX: TRP) (NYSE: TRP) (TransCanada) today announced that it has completed the sale of its hydroelectric generation assets to Great River Hydro, LLC, an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners, LLC for US $1.065 billion.

The sale includes 13 hydroelectric facilities, stations and associated dams and reservoirs on the Connecticut and Deerfield Rivers. The assets are located in New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts with a total generating capacity of 584 megawatts.

Proceeds from the sale of these facilities will be used to repay debt financing raised to fund the 2016 Columbia Pipeline Group acquisition, which created one of North America's largest regulated natural gas transmission companies.

With more than 65 years' experience, TransCanada is a leader in the responsible development and reliable operation of North American energy infrastructure including natural gas and liquids pipelines, power generation and gas storage facilities. TransCanada operates a network of natural gas pipelines that extends more than 91,500 kilometres (56,900 miles), tapping into virtually all major gas supply basins in North America. TransCanada is the continent's leading provider of gas storage and related services with 653 billion cubic feet of storage capacity. A large independent power producer, TransCanada currently owns or has interests in over 10,100 megawatts of power generation in Canada and the United States. TransCanada is also the developer and operator of one of North America's leading liquids pipeline systems that extends over 4,300 kilometres (2,700 miles), connecting growing continental oil supplies to key markets and refineries. TransCanada's common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol TRP. Visit TransCanada.com and our blog to learn more, or connect with us on social media and 3BL Media.

FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION

This publication contains certain information that is forward-looking and is subject to important risks and uncertainties (such statements are usually accompanied by words such as "anticipate", "expect", "believe", "may", "will", "should", "estimate", "intend" or other similar words). Forward-looking statements in this document are intended to provide TransCanada security holders and potential investors with information regarding TransCanada and its subsidiaries, including management's assessment of TransCanada's and its subsidiaries' future plans and financial outlook. All forward-looking statements reflect TransCanada's beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the statements were made and as such are not guarantees of future performance. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date it is expressed in this news release, and not to use future-oriented information or financial outlooks for anything other than their intended purpose. TransCanada undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information except as required by law. For additional information on the assumptions made, and the risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from the anticipated results, refer to the Quarterly Report to Shareholders dated February 16, 2017 and 2016 Annual Report filed under TransCanada's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.

Contacts:

Media Enquiries:

Terry Cunha / Mark Cooper

403.920.7859 or 800.608.7859



TransCanada Investor & Analyst Enquiries:

David Moneta / Stuart Kampel

403.920.7911 or 800.361.6522




Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 20, 2017) - Laguna Blends Inc. (CSE: LAG) (OTC Pink: LAGBF) (FSE: LB6A) (the "Company" or "Laguna") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an Exclusive Sales Agreement (the "Agreement") with Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd. (TSXV: NSP) for its Cannaceutical Skin Care line consisting of seven unique products infused with CBDs.

Terms of this Agreement require the Global Hemp Distribution Company to make minimum annual purchases from Laguna totalling over $4,000,000 USD within three years. Territories covered by this exclusive Agreement include: Japan and South Korea as well as additional countries that will be announced in a timely manner. Based on previous sales volumes reported from Laguna's Global Hemp Distribution partner and the current market appetite for CBD skin products throughout Europe and Asia, Laguna anticipates sales of the Cannaceutical Skin Care line to far exceed these minimum purchase amounts. The Hemp Business Journal estimates the total U.S. CBD market will grow to a $2.1 billion market in consumer sales by 2020 with $450 million of those sales coming from hemp-based sources.

Marcos Agramont, COO of Laguna stated, "This exclusive agreement gives Laguna global distribution for its revolutionary Cannaceutical Skin Care line. The growing popularity and known medicinal benefits of CBD-infused products has created a rapidly expanding multi-billion dollar global marketplace. By utilizing existing business relationships and distribution agreements throughout Europe and Asia, Laguna can market its expanding portfolio of unique CBD products to high-demand existing buyers in these regions as well as throughout North America where CBD products can be sold."

The Company anticipates providing an update as it works through the final stages of the pending transaction with a global CBD leader with annualized revenues of $12m USD announced March 13, 2017 in the coming week.

About Laguna Blends Inc.

Laguna Blends is a market leader in the distribution of Hemp and CBD products. Laguna's growth strategy includes acquiring and incubating companies who formulate and or manufacture Hemp products. Laguna Blends markets Hemp products utilizing its B to B Network along with driving traffic to its Laguna Blends online marketplace.

It is Laguna's intent to provide the highest quality hemp product experience for the end user, utilizing a proprietary nanotechnology in many of its consumable and topical skin care products. Laguna is currently seeking joint ventures and acquisitions to expand its portfolio and will aggressively begin international expansion into Asia and Europe in 2017.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Soheil Samimi"

Director

CORPORATE MEDIA:

ir@lagunablends.com

www.lagunablends.com

https://cbdskincream.com/



Join Us On Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/LagunaBlends/

Twitter: @LagunaBlends

Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to statements regarding the Company's business, products and future the Company's business, its product offerings and plans for sales and marketing. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Such forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance and developments to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, the risks that the Company's products and plan will vary from those stated in this news release and the Company may not be able to carry out its business plans as expected. Except as required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation, and does not intend, to update any forward looking statements or forward-looking information in this news release. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and makes no reference to profitability based on sales reported. The statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release.

The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this press release.
Donald Trump raised a record $106.7 million for his presidential inauguration festivities in January, more than double the amount collected by Barack Obama in 2009. The donor list disputes Trumps promise to drain the swamp of Washington, in allusion to the financial machine that influences US politics.

Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20. Carolyn Kaster (AP)

More information El Gobierno de Caracas dono medio millon de dolares para la investidura de Trump

According to official data released on Wednesday, the most generous donor was casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, a highly influential figure in Republican circles, who gave $5 million to Trump. Adelsons plans to build Europes largest casino in Madrid were rejected by the Spanish government in 2013.

Perhaps the least-expected donor was Citgo, the US affiliate of Venezuelas state oil company PDVSA, which wrote out a check for $500,000 for Trumps inauguration.

Trump has criticized President Maduro for his handling of anti-government protests

The donation overshadowed the amounts provided by Pepsi ($250,000) or Walmart ($150,000), matching JP Morgan Chase and Exxons contributions. Whatever Venezuelas intentions in showing such generosity, it has done nothing to dampen Trumps criticism of President Nicolas Maduro, who faces continued protests at home and international criticism for his handling of the political and economic crisis in the South American country.

US presidents establish their own criteria for donations. Trump put no upper limit on checks. In 2009, Obama refused gifts from businesses and lobbyists, while limiting amounts to $50,000. But four years later, for his second inauguration, the Democrat accepted money from business (up to $1 million), as well as individual donations of up to $250,000.

Many of the companies that donated to Trump had previously given to Obama. Now, as then, there are interests at stake that depend on a decision by the most powerful man on the planet.

Among the most generous donors was telecoms operator AT&T, which gave $2.1 million

For example, aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Lockheed Martin each gave $1 million to Trumps inauguration, the same amount Boeing gave to Obama in 2013, according the Reuters news agency. Before his inauguration on January 20, Trump was scathing in his criticism of the cost of the planes both manufacturers sell to the US government.

The financial sector, which will be hoping the president will relax some of the restrictions imposed on it by Obama following the crisis of 2008, was also generous with Trump: banking and brokerage firm Charles Schwab and Bank of America Corp each contributed $1 million.

Among the most generous donors was telecoms operator AT&T, which gave $2.1 million. The company is awaiting the governments approval of its merger with Time Warner. It contributed $4.6 million to Obamas second inauguration.

English version by Nick Lyne.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Aton Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: AAN) ("Aton" or the "Company") is pleased to report the results of the first four drill holes from the recently completed 12 hole diamond drill program, totaling 1975 metres, at Hamama West (see news release dated February 21, 2017). In addition, the ongoing regional target identification program has resulted in the discovery of visible gold at Bohlog. Hamama West and Bohlog are both contained within the Company's 100% owned Abu Marawat Concession ("Abu Marawat" or the "Concession"), located in the Eastern Desert of Egypt.

Highlights:

-- All four drill holes intersected mineralization (see Table 1), with drill hole HAD-004 returning 22.2 metres of 2.77 grams per tonne gold equivalent (g/t AuEq). -- Drill hole HAD-004 is one of the highest-grade and deepest drill holes that Aton has returned from Hamama West to date (see Figure 1). -- Drill holes HAD-002, 003, and 004 demonstrate and confirm the potential for resource growth at Hamama West. -- Regional target identification program continues to generate highly prospective exploration targets: visible gold discovered at Bohlog.

Table 1: Hamama West drill results

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interval AuEq Hole ID From (m) To (m) (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) (g/t)(i) Zn (%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- HAD-001 151.0 158.0 7.0 0.41 36.56 0.93 - 194.0 202.6 8.6 0.14 32.63 0.61 - HAD-002 87.0 131.9 44.9 0.81 21.64 1.12 0.42 incl. 87.0 118.0 31.0 0.49 16.04 0.72 0.05 incl. 121.0 131.9 10.9 1.90 41.47 2.49 1.57 incl. 127.0 131.0 4.0 3.81 78.18 4.93 4.12 HAD-003 61.0 65.0 4.0 0.07 6.80 0.17 1.37 and 72.0 74.1 2.1 0.04 7.67 0.15 1.05 and 131.0 171.0 40.0 0.96 23.99 1.30 0.13 HAD-004 128.0 131.0 3.0 0.06 5.50 0.14 1.19 and 140.0 143.0 3.0 0.12 12.73 0.31 3.64 and 194.1 200.0 5.9 0.42 15.61 0.64 1.44 and 202.0 224.2 22.2 2.17 41.92 2.77 0.10 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (i)Using a 0.5 g/t AuEq cut off. Gold equivalent was calculated using a 70 gold-to-silver ratio and assumes 100% metallurgical recoveries. Cautionary note: this ratio changes over time.

Hole HAD-001 was designed to test the western extension of the Main Zone (MZ), which strikes under the Western Boundary Fault. Holes HAD-002, 003, and 004 were planned to test the potential for increasing sulphide resources on the eastern flank of the MZ at Hamama West. Today's assay results confirm that potential and the Company looks forward to receiving the balance of the assay results from the eastern flank.

"We're very pleased with the results from the first four drill holes," said Mark Campbell, President and CEO of Aton. "One of the primary goals of this drill program was to demonstrate the potential to grow resources at Hamama West and today's results confirm that potential. In addition, I'm very pleased to see the results that the regional target identification team is generating. In just a short period of time, they have identified a new, highly prospective target, Waayrah, and discovered visible gold in quartz veins at Bohlog in an area that has similar characteristics as Sukari. The presence of visible gold in strongly hydrothermally altered intrusive rocks makes Bohlog an exciting target that warrants further exploration work. The mineralization at Bohlog and Massaghat to the northeast, where Aton have previously returned channel samples assaying up to 470g/t Au (see news release dated August 15, 2012), appears to be of a similar nature and this is very exciting in terms of the potential overall size of the target area. It also demonstrates the large and varied geology within the Abu Marawat Concession and the potential it offers for new significant discoveries."

To view "Figure 1: Hamama West long projection" accompanying this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1092252_Fig1.pdf

To view "Figure 2: Drill hole collar plan" accompanying this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1092252_Fig2.pdf

Regional exploration

Bohlog, located approximately 17km northeast of Hamama (see Figure 3), was recently investigated as part of the Company's ongoing regional target identification program. Field crews uncovered extensive ancient mining apparently exploiting high-grade gold quartz veins, within strongly altered intermediate to felsic intrusive host rocks. Bohlog is comprised of a number of structures but the two main structures, Zone 1 and Zone 2, parallel each other and trend in a northeasterly direction. Zone 1, the northern structure, can be traced through old workings and outcrops for approximately 1.5km while Zone 2, the southern structure, can be traced for approximately 1.2km.

The main structures appear to be shallow dipping, 20-60 degrees to the southeast, and the quartz veins are hosted in an intense quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration zone. The iron-stained quartz veins have patches of iron-oxide boxwork that contain visible gold and supergene lead minerals. Copper staining is also present. The host rock at Zone 1 and the south west end of Zone 2 is phyllic altered quartz diorite or granodiorite. Kaolinite-argillic alteration is also widespread, particularly around Zone 2. The nature and the composition of the alteration suggests that the mineralization is related to an intrusion driven hydrothermal system. Furthermore, there appears to be strong structural controls on the mineralization.

Field crews have taken channel samples from Bohlog, primarily from Zones 1 and 2, and assay results are expected in May.

To view "Figure 3: Abu Marawat Concession area" accompanying this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1092252_Fig3.pdf

About the Hamama deposit

The Hamama deposit ("Hamama") is located at the western end of the 40-km long gold trend at the Abu Marawat Concession and is comprised of three zones, Hamama West, Hamama Central and Hamama East. Hamama West hosts an Inferred Mineral Resource of 341,000 ounces' gold equivalent ("AuEq") and an Indicated Mineral Resource of 137,000 ounces AuEq (see news release dated January 24, 2017). The mineralized horizon at Hamama has a strike length of approximately 3-km and mapping indicates that the prospective horizon (or the hanging wall contact) may be over 6-km long. Other potentially mineralized horizons, separate from the main mineralized horizon, have also been mapped in the general Hamama area.

About Aton Resources Inc.

Aton Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: AAN) is focused on its 100% owned Abu Marawat Concession ("Abu Marawat"), located in Egypt's Arabian-Nubian Shield, approximately 200-km north of Centamin's Sukari gold mine. Aton has identified a 40-km long gold trend at Abu Marawat, anchored by the Hamama deposit in the west and the Abu Marawat deposit in the east. In addition to the Hamama and Abu Marawat deposits, the trend contains numerous gold exploration targets, including three historic gold mines. Abu Marawat is over 738km2 in size and is located in an area of excellent infrastructure, a four-lane highway, a 220kV power line, and a water pipeline are in close proximity.

Qualified Person

The technical information contained in this News Release was prepared by Roderick Cavaney BSc, MSc (hons), MSc (Mining & Exploration Geology), FAusIMM, SEG, GSA, SME, Vice President, Exploration, of Aton Resources Inc. Mr. Cavaney is a qualified person (QP) under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

For further information regarding Aton Resources Inc., please visit us at www.atonresources.com.

Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements. Since forward- looking statements address future events and conditions; by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Aton Resources Inc.

Mark Campbell

President and Chief Executive Officer

+1-936-689-2589

mcampbell@atonresources.com



Aton Resources Inc.

Blaine Monaghan

Vice President, Investor Relations

+1 (604) 331-5092

ir@atonresources.com




TULSA, OK--(Marketwired - April 20, 2017) - RJD Green (OTC PINK: RJDG), Discusses their Q2 results and expected future activity.

RJD Green Inc. announced its result for the second quarter 2017. Management stated revenues were $779,765 with net operating profit of $72,772. Noteworthy items that occurred:

Silex Holdings -- revenue and profitability was affected by seasonal weather and manufacturing expenditures that will reflect revenue in March and April. The next six month period is historically the largest revenue period for Silex. March results reflected a 33.5% increase in revenue from the second quarter with a net operating profit of 35.6%.

IOSOFT Inc. -- made great strides by procuring multiple medical provider and medical payer accounts, which will implement the IOSOFT proprietary payment management and processing software platform. iosoft has been in the beta testing process with accounts, and is now moving to full operation implementations with these accounts over the next 30 & 60 day periods. Because of the elongated launching stage, substantive revenues will begin in May and June of 2017. The Company has reduced the 2017 revenue and profit projects to $3,879,596 and $2,837,886. 2018 and 2019 projections remain as they were fulfilling the significant revenues projected.

Equitas Group LLC -- on February 27, 2017 agreed to retire the convertible debenture note totaling $329,889 for 16,494,450 shares with a share value of $0.02. RJD Green stock structure as of February 28, 2017 is 209,175,119 with 84,832,488. This leaves RJD Green with no corporate loans.

Auditing will commence within two weeks, once completed RJD Green will file to become an OTC.QB reporting company. The expected time for completion is four months.

Ron Brewer, CEO of RJD Green Inc. states, "Although the process of reaching significant monthly revenues in IOSOFT has had set backs, the launching has allowed us to become even more excited about reaching our defined economic goals. Multiple health care providers and payers have come forward confirming the abilities of the proprietary software and the validity of the revenue growth IOSOFT will see in 2018 & 2019."

Brewer further states, "we delayed the launch of the Animal Waste project until late 2017 in order to decrease capital needs until the Company is situated as a fully reporting OTC.QB. We feel the funding opportunities will be more favorable than our current position. At this time the Company continues to fund our needs internally.

We also delayed consummating two acquisitions for the same reasons. We are now going back into discussions in regard to completing our first significant acquisition in the environmental sector, and enhancing the Silex Holdings total revenue steam significantly through an acquisition. Our goal is to stage these acquisitions around our reporting status change."

About RJD Green Inc.

The Company operates as a holding company with a focus of acquiring and managing assets and companies. RJD Green operates in three divisions: RJD Green Healthcare Services Division, which owns IoSoft Inc, a company that provides discrete payment technologies, services and software that can be integrated into targeted offerings for healthcare provider networks, hospitals, healthcare payers and individual providers: Earthlinc Environmental Services Division, which provides green environmental services and technologies; Silex Holdings Division, which is engaged in specialty construction and industrial manufacturing and fills a market niche between the Home Depots and local contractors. Silex offers installed granite/other counter tops, cabinets and related products to the residential builder, commercial contractor, remodel contractor and retail customer. Visit http://www.rjdgreen.com

Forward-looking Statement:

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain as they are based on current expectations and assumptions concerning future events of future performance of the company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are only predictions and speak only as of the date hereof. In evaluation such statements, prospective investors should review carefully various risks and uncertainties identified in this release and matters set in the company's SEC filings. These risks and uncertainties could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.

For additional information contact

Ron Brewer

CEO

ronb@rjdgreen.com

(918) 551-7883



Douglass Baker

OTC PR Group

corp@otcprgroup.com

(561) 807-6350
EDMONTON, ALBERTA and NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Stantec (TSX: STN) (NYSE: STN) will release its financial results for the first quarter of 2017 on Thursday, May 11, 2017. Bob Gomes, president and chief executive officer; and Dan Lefaivre, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will hold a conference call at 2:00 PM MDT (4:00 PM EDT) to discuss the first quarter results.

The conference call and slideshow presentation will be broadcast live and archived in their entirety in the Investors section of stantec.com. Participants wishing to listen to the call via telephone may dial in toll free at 1-866-222-0265 (Canada and United States) or 1-416-642-5209 (international). Please provide confirmation code 2887233 when prompted.

Stantec's Annual General Meeting of Shareholders will be held on Thursday, May 11, 2017, at 10:30 AM MDT (12:30 PM EDT) at Stantec Centre (New York boardroom), 10160 - 112 Street NW, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

About Stantec

We're active members of the communities we serve. That's why at Stantec, we always design with community in mind.

The Stantec community unites approximately 22,000 employees working in over 400 locations across 6 continents. Our work-engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, construction services, project management, and project economics, from initial project concept and planning through to design, construction, commissioning, maintenance, decommissioning, and remediation-begins at the intersection of community, creativity, and client relationships. With a long-term commitment to the people and places we serve, Stantec has the unique ability to connect to projects on a personal level and advance the quality of life in communities across the globe. Stantec trades on the TSX and the NYSE under the symbol STN. Visit us at stantec.com or find us on social media.

Design with community in mind

Contacts:

Investor Contact

Sonia Kirby

Stantec Investor Relations

(780) 616-2785

Sonia.Kirby@stantec.com




OAKVILLE, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Saint Jean Carbon Inc. ("Saint Jean" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: SJL) (OTCQB: TORVF), a carbon science company engaged in the design and build of green energy storage, green energy creation and green re-creation through the use of carbon materials. The Company is pleased to announce the results of the graphene battery project phase one of three, previously announced on January 19th, 2017. Although very preliminary at this point, the graphene battery has outperformed the graphite battery, as demonstrated by a greater discharge capacity of approximately 30%. Both batteries were made with the same material, battery "A" graphite anode and "B" graphene anode.

The performance results are as follows; the theoretical capacity of the graphite anode: 372 mAh/g the theoretical capacity of the graphene anode: 700 mAh/g. Over 100 cycles the discharge capacity for the graphite was 200 to 220 mAh/g and for the graphene 310 to 330 mAh/g. The testing procedures: charge to 3V at 500 mA/g and discharge to 0.05V at 100 mA/g. Neither the graphite nor graphene were optimized so the variations in the results need to be further tested.

Paul Ogilvie, CEO, commented: "The project started as material comparison, the same material but applied in to different states, graphene and graphite. It will be really interesting to see if we can scale up to a size of battery that would be meaningful, such as batteries found in electric cars. Possibly with continued research we may have a higher performing anode that performance will directly relate to greater power and greater storage."

The challenges are now to see if the performance will hold up when scaled up. Both the graphite and graphene must now be enhanced to create the best possible material for the anode. From there; scale up the size of the half cells and eventually to a full cell. If the graphene continues to outperform we believe we will have the necessary data to apply the graphene into real life testing on a number of different applications; electric cars, long term storage, small devices, etc. Phase two is the construction of a pouch cell with function lights for demonstration purposes; the Company is expecting the results sometime in the next 8 weeks.

The preperation of the cells and test were all managed by Graffana Inc of Waterloo Ontario. The raw material was sourced from a third party.

About Saint Jean Carbon

Saint Jean is a publicly traded carbon science company, with specific interests in energy storage and green energy creation and green re-creation, with holdings in graphite mining and lithium claims in the province of Quebec in Canada. For the latest information on Saint Jean's properties and news please refer to the website: http://www.saintjeancarbon.com/

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Saint Jean Carbon Inc.

Paul Ogilvie, CEO and Director

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, concerning Saint Jean's business and affairs. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "intends" "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved".

These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, and are naturally subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances that may cause actual results to differ materially. The forward-looking statements in this news release assume, inter alia, that the conditions for completion of the Transaction, including regulatory and shareholder approvals, if necessary, will be met.

Although Saint Jean believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that these expectations will prove to be correct.

Statements of past performance should not be construed as an indication of future performance. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors, including those discussed above, could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Any such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information is provided as of the date of this press release, and Saint Jean assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

Contacts:

Saint Jean Carbon Inc.

(905) 844-1200

info@saintjeancarbon.com

www.saintjeancarbon.com




Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 07/20/17 -- Caregiving ranks among the top ten employee health and wellness benefits priorities for most employers, says a new survey by Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH) in collaboration with AARP. Furthermore, among employers who say caregiving is not a top priority, most are aware of the issue but unable to address it. More than three-quarters of employers surveyed agree that caregiving will grow in importance to their companies over the next five years.

NEBGH surveyed benefits managers from 129 mostly large U.S. employers to measure current workplace attitudes toward caregiving and provide employers with a way of assessing their organizations when it comes to being "caregiving friendly." Respondents cite increased productivity, decreased absenteeism and reduced healthcare costs -- in that order -- as the top drivers that would make a compelling case for investment in caregiving benefits, programs and services.

"Caregiving as a benefits issue is on the radar of most employers, but there is wide variation in the support employers provide for employee-caregivers," said Laurel Pickering, President and CEO of NEBGH. "Many of the 40 mostly large NEBGH-member employers headquartered in or near NYC that responded to our survey provide programs tailored to caregivers in addition to leave time that can be used for caregiving, but other employers may not. Employers cite absence of employer benchmarks and best practices for caregiving, lack of financial resources and lack of data to identify caregivers, as the greatest barriers to becoming more caregiving friendly."

Most employers surveyed permit employees to use sick, vacation or personal days for caregiving but fewer than half have programs designed specifically for caregivers such as caregiver support groups or counseling services. The same is true for subsidized in-home back-up care for those being cared for. In addition, workplace access to free or low-cost workplace resources supporting caregivers is made available by a minority of employers. For those offering benefits, awareness among employees about the benefits available for caregivers is low -- and an overwhelming number of survey respondents say employees are only "somewhat" or "not very" aware.

"Family caregiving is an issue that affects the vast majority of us. We are either caregivers now, have been in the past, will be in the future or will need care ourselves," said AARP Chief Advocacy and Engagement Officer Nancy LeaMond. "Of today's 40 million family caregivers, 24 million are juggling caregiving responsibilities and employment. By recognizing and supporting their needs, employers can improve productivity and foster a stable and healthy workforce. It is great to see so many leading employers open to understanding this issue better, and we are pleased to be working together to help America's family caregivers."

When asked what's on top of their caregiving wish list, employers cite expanded leave policies and coaching, and wellness or support services designed specifically for caregivers. More than three out of four employers indicate they're interested in providing digital tools to employees, yet few currently offer these tools.

"Our aging population means that more employees -- and millennials specifically -- will be providing some type of help to sick or immobile loved ones, from preparing meals and providing transportation to doctors' appointments, to performing more onerous responsibilities," said Jeremy Nobel, MD, MPH, and Executive Director of NEBGH's Solutions Center. "The implications of this trend are significant not only for workplace productivity but for employee population health and healthcare costs -- caregivers tend to abandon their own physical and emotional needs and employers need to plan for how to respond."

About the Survey: NEBGH's survey includes 76 employers with more than 5,000 employees, 40 with 1,000 to 5,000, and 13 with less than 1,000. The survey participants are located in the Northeast and Midwest, in Florida and California, and in the Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston and Memphis areas. The survey is funded by AARP, which provides extensive information, resources and advocacy on caregiving (www.aarp.org/caregiving). NEBGH issued an initial report on caregiving in the workplace in March 2017, and will release additional tools for employers in the coming months in collaboration with AARP.

About NEBGH: NEBGH is an employer-led coalition of healthcare leaders and other stakeholders with the mission of empowering members to drive excellence in health and achieve the highest value in healthcare delivery and the consumer experience. The Solutions Center is NEBGH's research and discovery platform for identifying the most promising, innovative opportunities for improving health outcomes, focused on employers as the catalyst for change.

About AARP: AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Americans 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With nearly 38 million members and offices in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, AARP works to strengthen communities and advocate for what matters most to families with a focus on health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also works for individuals in the marketplace by sparking new solutions and allowing carefully chosen, high-quality products and services to carry the AARP name. As a trusted source for news and information, AARP produces the nation's largest circulation publications, AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org or follow @AARP and @AARPadvocates on social media.

Access the survey HERE.

Media Contacts:

Dr. Jeremy Nobel

Northeast Business Group on Health

jnobel@nebgh.org



Gregory Phillips

AARP

gphillips@aarp.org




LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 07/26/17 -- Bayen Group announced today that it intends to spin off its technology services business as an independent company called Sileo Technology Solutions (SileoTech). The strategic goal of this transaction is to create two focused companies dedicated to providing current and future value to their clients with respective areas of expertise.

"We spun off this technology company to increase focus on the capabilities of this outstanding, seasoned team and to better meet our clients' needs," said Greg Saliba, managing partner at Bayen Group and SileoTech.

Through this strategic move, Bayen Group will continue to focus on providing expert solutions to both federal agencies and government contractors, while SileoTech will primarily focus on providing technology solutions to the private sector.

The SileoTech team will leverage their expertise to build intuitive and engaging solutions focused primarily on technologies such as Cloud, Big Data and SharePoint technologies. As part of this announcement, the managing partners have named Eric Schrader as a partner of SileoTech and lead cloud solutions architect.

"This exciting move provides our team the opportunity to focus on strengthening our partnerships and expertise with both Amazon and Microsoft," said Schrader. "It also enables us to have a deeper skillset of solutions while also being technology agnostic, ultimately benefitting our clients."

About Bayen Group

Bayen Group is a minority-owned and HUBZone-certified business providing consulting, technology, marketing and staffing solutions. Our emphasis is on relationships -- whether with our clients or employees -- we firmly believe in partnering. Together the team is greater than the individual. The combination of our seasoned professionals and our unique, collaborative work environment enables us to equip our clients with a team of specialists who can tackle the most challenging business problems. Please visit www.bayengroup.com for more information and follow us on Twitter @BayenGroup.

About Sileo Technology Solutions

Sileo Technology Solutions is a full-service global technology consulting firm that helps clients embrace technology to further enable their business. Seasoned consultants lead clients through the ever-changing world of technology. SileoTech focuses on the technical details, allowing clients to focus on what they do best. The team partners with clients to provide both short-term and long-term solutions that will meet their business needs, and leverages their marketing and technology expertise to build intuitive and engaging solutions catered specifically to each client. Please visit www.sileotech.com for more information and follow us on Twitter @sileo_tech.

Contact:

Christina Thompson

cthompson@bayengroup.com

(424) 271-9317

@BayenGroup




Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Precasting Market Analysis 2017 Forecast to 2022" report to their offering.

The report contains up to date financial data derived from varied research sources to present unique and reliable analysis. Assessment of major trends with potential impact on the market during the next five years, including a deep dive analysis of market segmentation which comprises of sub markets, regional and country level analysis. The report provides a comprehensive outlook about the market share along with strategic recommendations based on the emerging segments.

This report analyzes the global markets for "Precasting". The market assessment is performed through standard and the tailored research methodology approach. The market overview offers in depth analysis at the regional and country level, for instance North America (U.S., Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, Italy, U.K. and Spain), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea and Rest of APAC) and Rest of the World (Middle East, Africa and Latin America).

This report provides:

Market sizing estimations and forecasts for 6 years across the given market segments

Identifying market dynamics (Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges and Opportunities,)

Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations

Regional and country level market analysis

Competitive landscaping of major market players

Company profiling covering the financials, recent activities and the future strategies

Companies Mentioned

Atlus Group Ltd

Consolis

Delmon Precast Co

Dubai Precast Llc

Elematic Oyj

Emarat Europe

Gate Precast

High Concrete Group Llc

Komatsu Ltd.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Introduction

2 Executive Summary

3 Market Analysis

4 Porters Five Force Analysis

5 Precasting Market by Construction Type

6 Precasting Market by Product

7 Precasting Market by End User

8 Geographical Segmentation

9 Vendor Landscaping

10 Company Profiles

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/nqd3qb/global_precasting.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170608005831/en/

Contacts:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T. Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Related Topics: Cement and Concrete
DOVER, DE -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Metatron (OTC PINK: MRNJ), a pioneer of releasing Marijuana & CBD related apps on iTunes and Google Play, is pleased to report the release of the new and improved Cannaboids app and its website. Cannaboids provides information and news for consumers about medical CBD, as well as locations, ratings, and inventories of local medical dispensaries. Securing both the website and application, allows users of all ages to have multiple vantage points of achieving success at locating the correct dispensaries, news, & cannabis medical professionals in their area.

One of the key updates to note, was the addition of a rate charge for dispensaries using Cannaboids' services. Rates will start at $200 per month, and climb as high as $1000, depending on how extensive their listing is. Metatron wanted to ensure a healthy and sustainable revenue generation was created for their subsidiary Cannaboids. This same market strategy is how WeedMaps was able to generate $400,000 monthly.

The company has received several inquiries about the purchase of their reverse spilt proof Series B shares. As a convenience, a link to the Series B CEO letter is provided below.

http://www.metatronstock.com

In recent news, the US neighboring country Canada has announced legislation to legalize Marijuana. Possession of small amounts of marijuana will be legal throughout the country on July 1, 2018, if the legislation passes. To note, 63 million Americans now live in states where it's legal to even grow cannabis. With Canada announcing its plan to legalize marijuana by 2018, the projected market value of cannabis will only continue to increase. The Cannabis market is on the uptrend of liquidity as more states and countries begun to acquire this resource. Metatron is eager to secure success for their company and its shareholders, and the Cannabis market is that avenue.

As of Mar 21, 2017, the company had 75,371,558 issued and 8,846,557 restricted shares.

The Company has experience in developing over 2000+ mobile applications for top tier clients in the past years with over $3.6 million in sales and millions in downloads.

People interested, can view and download our current live apps focused on health and wellness, cannabis, and message encryption by visiting the app stores below. We plan to update these apps in our upcoming relaunch, and will be adding a more to our list.

Apps:

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/i-mobilize-inc./id325075390

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Metatron+Inc

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/metatroninc

Twitter: http://twitter.com/metatroninc

News: http://metatroninc.com/blog

Forward-Looking Statements: Any statements made in this press release which are not historical facts contain certain forward-looking statements, as such term is defined in the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995, concerning potential developments affecting the business, prospects, financial condition and other aspects of the company to which this release pertains. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results of the specific items described in this release, and the company's operations generally, to differ materially from what is projected in such forward-looking statements. Although such statements are based upon the best judgments of management of the company as of the date of this release, significant deviations in magnitude, timing and other factors may result from business risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, the company's need for additional financing, which is not assured and which may result in dilution of shareholders, the company's status as a small company with a limited operating history, dependence on third parties and the continuing popularity of the iOS operating system, general market and economic conditions, technical factors, receipt of revenues, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the company. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. Moreover, neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of such statements, and we disclaim any obligation to update information contained in any forward looking statement. Metatron retained Global Discovery Group Inc. for $30,500 for consulting services, CSC Partners for $1,500, Bas1 for $2501 and the company retained Pacific Equity Alliance LLC by issuing Integrative Business Alliance LLC 100m rule 144 for 1 year consulting services. Metatron does not grow, sell or distribute any substances that violate United States Law or the Controlled Substances Act.

Contact:

Joe Riehl

302-861-0431

ir@metatroninc.com




IRVINE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 --CAPSTONE TECHNOLOGIES GROUP, INC. (OTC PINK: CBLY). Customer demand for more data and better coverage throughout the United States is stronger than ever. The next leap in technology is the 5th generation wireless connection. 5G has the ability to transmit more data while providing a more steady and reliable connection. 5G is currently being tested in several markets and is expected to begin widespread implementation in 2020. Many networks will have to be completely upgraded or replaced before they can begin 5G implementation.

"5G is a wireless connection built specifically to keep up with the proliferation of devices that need a mobile internet connection. It's not just your phone and your computer anymore, either. Home appliances, door locks, security cameras, cars, wearables, dog collars and so many other inert devices are beginning to connect to the web. Gartner predicts that 20.8 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2020. By comparison, there are currently an estimated 6.4 billion connected devices in the world. That's a lot more devices asking for a quick connection."(1)

Wesley Poff, CTO of Capstone, states, "The shortage of fiber and long term plans for installation of networks has created the condition where network providers are negotiating directly with fiber manufacturers in order to secure a long term supply of optical fiber."

Verizon Communications announced on April 18, 2017, that they signed an agreement with Corning for 20 million km of Optical Fiber per year from 2018 through 2020. They stated that they intend to use this fiber in the building of their networks. Having a long-term agreement for the fiber is meant to insure that as the network is being built, there is fiber and cable available.(2)

The critical component of optical fiber manufacturing is the optical fiber preform. The preform is the precursor to the optical fiber. As the industry has matured, the technology to draw preforms into fiber and to make the fibers into optical fiber cable has become readily available. However, the preform technology and equipment used to make preforms is still difficult to obtain.

Capstone Technologies Group, Inc. and its subsidiary America Fiber Optics Group, Inc. are in the process of bringing additional preform capacity to the market. This additional preform and subsequent fiber manufacturing capability will help serve the tremendous growth in the optical fiber market.

(1) https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2016/03/5g-vs-4g-how-the-next-generation-of-networks-will-improve-your-life/

(2) http://www.rcrwireless.com/20170418/carriers/verizon-signs-billion-dollar-deal-with-corning-for-37-2m-miles-of-fiber-for-lte-5g-tag2

ABOUT CAPSTONE TECHNOLOGIES GROUP

Capstone Technologies Group is perfectly affixed as the Top Structure of a growing list of visionary technology companies, destined to change the world in which we live by taking up the challenge of making the USA the manufacturing giant it once enjoyed. We believe in the strength and ingenuity of the American manufacturing market and the people that are dedicated to bring the best of new technologies to the marketplace, right here in the place where the manufacturing industry was born. We will take the existing foundation and history of American greatness and integrate that with advances in technology, to bring to worldwide consumers those leading edge products they demand.

Capstone is focused on forward looking entities that have distinguished themselves as leaders in their fields and are looking for investment and leadership to move their vision to fruition. We can bring forth the financial, logistical and outside the box thinking to develop a succinct and streamlined path to market.

Safe Harbor Statement:

This press release may contain forward looking statements and or observations which are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve risks as well as uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those anticipated or expected, including statements related to the amount and timing of expected revenues as well as any payment of dividends on our stock, statements related to our financial performance, expected income, distributions, and future growth for upcoming quarterly and annual periods. These risks and uncertainties include but not limited to information as contained within the Company's most current quarterly reports, annual reports, and or other such filings as may be accessed through the OTCBB website. Furthermore, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any such forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. We have incurred and will continue to incur significant expenses in our expansion of our existing as well as new product lines noting there is no assurance that we will generate enough revenues to offset those costs. Additional product offerings may expose us to additional legal and regulatory costs and unknown exposure(s) based upon the variables as associated with the general business channel we are operating in, the impact of which cannot be predicted at this time including risks as associated with our product and recent FDA pronouncements. Additionally, our 1-A registration statement will generate additional free trading shares to the marketplace at a pre-determined price which may impact our share pricing within the OTC marketplace in a manner that we cannot predict.

Investor Contact:

Capstone Technologies Group, Inc.

Info@capstonetechgrp.com

(888) 676-4138

www.capstonetechgrp.com




The governments of Spain and the United Kingdom have begun exploring new dates for the Spanish royal family visit to London, originally planned for June 6 to 8 this year. The invitation was issued by Queen Elizabeth, but diplomatic sources recommended postponing the visit after Prime Minister Theresa May announced early elections in Britain to be held on June 8.

Spanish king Felipe VI. CURTO DE LA TORRE (AFP)

Sources consulted by EL PAIS said that the United Kingdom will be in an electoral mood on those dates, making them unsuitable for the first state visit by the Spanish monarchs to the British Isles in more than 30 years.

This is the second time that a visit to Britain has had to be placed on hold

With parliament dissolved, it would also be impossible for Felipe VI of Spain to address members of parliament (MPs) at Westminster, in what is meant to be the most relevant item on his agenda. The idea was to revisit a historical address by Felipes father, Juan Carlos I, who in 1986 became the first foreign monarch to speak before a joint session of the UK parliament.

This is the second time that a royal visit to Britain has had to be put on hold. Earlier plans for a visit in March of last year were scrapped due to the political stalemate in Spain. The lengthy preparations involved in this sort of visit, coupled with the tight agendas of both royal families, makes it particularly challenging to find a new date that works for both sides.

Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia in London in 1997 for the Golden Wedding Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. AP

Both governments have expressed an interest in finding the earliest date possible, especially at a time when incipient Brexit negotiations extend a shadow of uncertainty over Britains future relations with the European Union.

Asked how the dissolution of British parliament would affect the state visit by the Spanish king, Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis, who was scheduled to go along on the trip, was initially cautious.

Lets wait and see if there are elections. First, there needs to be a vote, he said on Wednesday, alluding to he fact that the snap general election required approval by parliament. That vote took place just hours later, with MPs approving the election by 522 votes to 13.

English version by Susana Urra.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Cypress Development Corp. (TSX VENTURE: CYP) (OTCBB: CYDVF)(FRANKFURT: C1Z1) ("Cypress" or the "Company") announces that Robert Marvin, B.Sc., P.Geo., has agreed to serve as a Director of Cypress Development and as Vice President of Exploration for the Company. Mr. Marvin currently holds the position of Exploration Manager for Cypress Development's lithium and zinc projects in Nevada.

Mr. Marvin brings to Cypress a strong history in project exploration and development throughout the Americas. He has been involved in mineral exploration for and evaluation of gold, copper, zinc, lithium and uranium deposits both along the entire Cordillera and in several areas of the Archean shield as an employee and as an independent consultant since 1979. Mr. Marvin graduated from the University of New Mexico with a Bachelor's degree focused in geology, chemistry and mathematics in 1984.

A third generation resource geologist, Mr. Marvin has learned the business from the field starting at an early age. Always keen to explore high grade deposits, Mr. Marvin has been involved in several successful gold-silver projects in Canada, most recently with Bayfield Ventures in the Rainy River gold district in Ontario but also at Meliadine and in the Committee Bay Belt of the far north.

Don Huston, Cypress President, stated: "As Exploration Manager, Mr. Marvin has been instrumental in the Company's exploration success thus far on our Clayton Valley lithium projects in Nevada. We are pleased to promote Mr. Marvin to VP of Exploration for the Company and look forward to his expertise as we advance our projects in Nevada."

About Cypress Development Corp.:

Cypress Development Corp. is a publicly traded lithium and zinc exploration company that continues to acquire and develop potentially viable mineral projects in the State of Nevada, U.S.A.

Cypress is very active in Clayton Valley, Nevada with its team committed to systematically exploring its properties for both a lithium-brine resource and expanding exploration relating to a lithium resource that exists within the large area of non-hectorite "claystone" discovered at surface that has seen recent high lithium assays recovered from these same "claystone".

Cypress Clayton Valley, Nevada Lithium Projects location map:

http://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/i/maps/CYP-Clayton-topo-satalite-small.jpg

Cypress Development Corp. has approx. 35.0 million shares issued and outstanding.

To find out more about Cypress Development Corp. (TSX VENTURE: CYP), visit our website at www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com.

CYPRESS DEVELOPMENT CORP.

DONALD C. HUSTON, President

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.

Contacts:

Don Huston

President

Cypress Development Corp.

Telephone: 604-687-3376 or Toll Free: 800-567-8181

604-687-3119 (FAX)

Email: info@cypressdevelopmentcorp.com



Don Myers

Director

Cypress Development Corp.

Telephone: 604-687-3376 or Toll Free: 800-567-8181

604-687-3119 (FAX)

Email: info@cypressdevelopmentcorp.com






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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TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Editors Note: There is a photo associated with this press release.

Winning Brands Corporation (OTC PINK: WNBD) www.WinningBrands.com and Securter, Inc. www.securter.com have entered into an Exploratory Discussion Agreement ("EDA") regarding the launch of Securter's new patent-pending technology to reduce credit card fraud - a major and growing problem in digital commerce. The agreement arises from Winning Brands' Innovators Community initiative, through which innovators can partner with Winning Brands for mutual advantage. www.InnovatorsCommunity.com

The EDA provides for a six-week negotiation period during which both teams will seek an operating agreement to proceed. Winning Brands will be announcing Exploratory Discussion Agreements for its Innovators Community projects to avoid rumours, openly mobilize expert assistance and increase awareness of the prospective projects for the benefit of both announcing parties.

In such joint venture launches, Winning Brands will deploy a portion of its current and future Regulation A financing proceeds to support breakthrough opportunities as well as contributing the work of subject matter experts. Winning Brands has formed an "adaptive network" model that assigns subject-matter experts to Innovators Community launch projects according to those experts' specialties. This means that vetted projects are aligned with appropriate talent for each launch. Innovators, such as Securter, regard the joint-venture basis of cooperation with Winning Brands as appealing because Winning Brands focuses on revenue sharing rather than equity acquisition. Innovators otherwise find their technologies or company ownership heavily encroached by traditional venture capital relationships.

Winning Brands CEO, Eric Lehner, comments: "It is deliberate that this potential joint venture is not related to our historical product base. This is to demonstrate to present and future shareholders that we are increasing the scope of WNBD aspirations beyond existing limitations. Our adaptive network of subject matter experts is an original operating model by which we will ensure that deep industry knowledge is always present in project management. In the Securter project under discussion, much vetting of the patent pending technology has already occurred. The willingness of Winning Brands to share public company resources and expertise in return for revenue sharing opportunities is a terrific alternative method for innovators to get their projects off the ground or grow. We all know that the financial technology sector is vast in its reach and has an enormous appetite for new products and services that improve efficiency and reduce risks. With the Securter EDA, Winning Brands proves that WNBD's upward potential is now limited only by the talent of the world's innovators - which is vast. We already have a waiting list. When our OTC filing catch-up is completed in the next 30 days, and the Current Information designation is attained in Q2 2017, progress will accelerate."

Winning Brands maintains a CEO weblog for the benefit of shareholders at www.WinningBrandsCorporation.com/blog. It is a journal of the company's mission, providing answers to many shareholder questions. It is a regular source of public information pertaining to the company pursuant to SEC Fair Disclosure guidelines. Mr. Lehner also maintains a Twitter presence: www.Twitter.com/WinningCEO.

ABOUT SECURTER, INC.

Securter Inc. is a private Canadian corporation which has been developing a patent-pending new digital payment platform that dramatically reduces costs associated with credit card fraud, while increasing cardholder security. The company's team has R&D branch operations in Israel, where early adoption by an established and vetted digital online payments processer is expected to launch Securter's technology as well. By joint-venturing with a public company for the launch, without needing to be distracted by the issues associated with direct public company operation, Securter will improve its access to resources, retain focus on its operations and retain better security and control over its confidential and proprietary interests.

ABOUT WINNING BRANDS CORPORATION: Winning Brands is expanding its scope to include cooperative product launches with innovators whose projects can benefit from public company partnership. www.InnovatorsCommunity.com. Winning Brands has previously been, and continues to be, a manufacturer of record for advanced environmentally oriented cleaning solutions such as ReGUARD4 fire service cleaner, KIND, 1000+ Stain Remover, World's Most Versatile Cleaning Solution, and others through its subsidiary Niagara Mist Marketing Ltd by means of contract packaging. 1000+ is an alternative to conventional cleaning solvents for consumers because of its unique desirable properties; VIDEOS Link; WEBSITE Link. The versatility of 1000+ Stain Remover can be seen on FACEBOOK. 1000+ Stain Remover is available to U.S. NAVY personnel at 7 NEX depots in Japan, Spain, Italy and the Middle East; in the U.S. at HOME DEPOT (online), WALMART (online), DO IT BEST HARDWARE stores and many independent retailers. In Canada, the leading chain retailer is LOWES HOME IMPROVEMENT:. 1000+ Stain Remover is also available in select international markets including Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, UK, Serbia and the Caribbean. TrackMoist, ReGUARD4 www.ReGUARD4.com and BRILLIANT www.BRILLIANTWetCleaning.com are industrial products by which Winning Brands serves specialized professional markets.

Safe Harbor: Statements contained in this news release, other than those identifying historical facts, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Safe Harbor provisions as contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relating to the Company's future expectations, including but not limited to revenues and earnings, technology efficacy, strategies and plans, are subject to safe harbors protection. Actual Company results and performance may be materially different from any future results, performance, strategies, plans, or achievements that may be expressed or implied by any such forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. TrackMoist, 1000+, KIND, ReGUARD4 and BRILLIANT are trademarks of Niagara Mist Marketing Ltd in connection with indicated uses.

To view the photo associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://www.marketwire.com/library/20170420-Securter%20Credit%20Card.JPG

Contacts:

Winning Brands INFORMATION and INTERVIEWS:

Eric Lehner

CEO

(705) 737-4062

eric@winningbrands.ca




Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 20, 2017) - Power Americas Minerals Corp. (TSXV: PAM)("Power Americas" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Neil Pettigrew, M.Sc., P.Geo. to its board of directors and to provide an update on the Kittson Project's 2017 exploration program.

Mr. Pettigrew, M.Sc., P.Geo. received his H.BSc. degree in Environmental Geochemistry from the University of New Brunswick in 1999 and his M.Sc. degree in Earth Sciences from the University of Ottawa in 2004. He has published papers on Cu-Ni-PGE mineralization and the petrogenesis of mafic-ultramafic intrusions. He has worked for several junior and major companies in gold and Cu-Ni-PGE exploration, most notably Avalon Ventures Ltd., Temex Resources Corp., Rainy River Resources Ltd., PC Gold Inc., Placer Dome CLA Inc., and Goldcorp Inc. He has served as VP-Exploration and a director of East West Resources Corp., VP-Exploration of PC Gold Inc., and as CEO of Fairmont Resources Inc. where he remains a director.

Mr. Pettigrew, M.Sc., P.Geo is a founder, part owner and Vice President of Fladgate Exploration Consulting Corporation of Thunder Bay, ON, a full service mineral exploration consulting firm. Prior to founding Fladgate Exploration Consulting he was employed as a Senior Precambrian Geoscientist with the Ontario Geological Survey.

The Company also announces the resignation of Mr. William R. Byers as Chief Financial Officer and Director of the Company. Mr. Chris Hobbs, CA a current director, will assume the role of Chief Financial Officer. The Company would like to thank Mr. Byers for his contributions to the Company during his appointment to the Board of Directors and wishes him well in his future endeavors.

Finally, the Company has completed initial compilation and planning on its Kittson Colbalt Property's (see news release 01-23-17) upcoming exploration and drill program. The exploration program will consist of initial geological reconnaissance consisting of prospecting, geochemical sampling, and detailed mapping, followed up by a diamond drill program. The exploration program is set to begin as soon as spring weather conditions permit.

The Kittson property is comprised of 5 unpatented mining claims totaling 68 units having a combined area of approximately 1,090 hectares, located approximately 8 km northwest of the town of Latchford and 120 km by road north of North Bay. The Kittson Cobalt Property is located within the prolific Cobalt mining camp, which has produced over 420 million ounces of silver. The Property includes two former mines, the Shakt Davies and Cobalt Kittson. These two mines saw limited production and differed from the typical Cobalt camp in that they possessed low silver grades, but were enriched in cobalt and gold.

The Shakt Davies mine saw intermittent development from 1906 - 1964, with the bulk of the underground working completed between 1924 - 1926. No production records remain, however historic reports indicate values of 1.5% cobalt over 1.37 meters and select grab samples returning up to 4% cobalt and 93.3 g/t gold. More recent sampling (1987) of the mine waste pile by the Ontario Geological Survey personnel returned 0.25% cobalt, 0.75 % nickel, 0.05% copper and 3.4 g/t gold.

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by James Place, P. Geo., a director of the Company, and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Power Americas Mineral Corp

Power Americas Minerals Corp. is a Canadian-based junior mining exploration company focused on the procurement, exploration and development of cobalt, lithium, copper and other energy metals in North and South America. The Company's shares are listed and posted for trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "PAM" and on the Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol "VV0".

On behalf of the Board of Directors:



"Jeffrey Cocks"

Jeffrey Cocks

President & CEO

For more information please contact:

Howard Milne V.P. Business Development

Tel: (604) 377-8994Email:hdmcap@shaw.ca

Website: www.poweramericascorp.com





Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES
MILWAUKEE, WI--(Marketwired - April 20, 2017) - Attorney Michael Hupy was recently recognized as an AV Preeminent Attorney -- Judicial Edition -- a prestigious award based on review ratings of members of the judicial community. Attorney Hupy has been peer reviewed AV Preeminent Rated by Martindale-Hubbell for more than 20 years. Lawyers are surveyed on a lawyer's legal ability and ethical standards. Those survey results turn into a rating after a threshold has been achieved.

The AV Preeminent judicial rating is the gold standard of lawyer ratings -- the highest possible rating in legal ability and ethical standards -- and has been since 1887. This award is compiled from judicial opinion about an attorney and is the pinnacle of professional excellence.

Receiving this award is a sign that a lawyer has reached the highest possible standard of legal knowledge and ethical behavior in their field. It also is a reflection of opinions from both the judiciary and the bar.

Recognized with a Litigator Award in 2015, Attorney Hupy was also named a Wisconsin Super Lawyer. Over his decades of practice, he has been involved with several lawyer organizations and is a member of the National Trial Lawyers, the American Association of Justice and a member of the Million and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Additionally, Attorney Hupy is past president of the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a member of the Wisconsin Association of Justice Board of Directors.

Hupy and Abraham, S.C.

Founded in 1969 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, personal injury law firm Hupy and Abraham, S.C. has a proven record of success with large settlements in serious cases, collecting over a billion dollars for more than 70,000 satisfied clients. The firm has a long-established reputation of providing sound legal representation to accident victims, securing fair compensation for its clients and giving back to the community.

With 11 offices located in Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa, the law firm handles personal injury cases including car accidents, motorcycle accidents, wrongful death, pharmaceutical and medical device class actions and nursing home neglect and abuse cases.

The firm's 25 experienced attorneys are committed to going above and beyond the call of duty for their clients by tirelessly representing them to the best of their ability while being involved in the local community -- from raising funds for local charities to participating in safety and accident prevention initiatives. In the past three years, the firm has donated more than $500,000 to more than 250 worthwhile causes.

Hupy and Abraham, S.C. has received top ratings from a number of national professional organizations for many years and was voted Best Personal Injury Lawyers in 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011 and voted Best Personal Injury Law Firm in 2016, 2014, 2013 and 2012 in another popular poll, and named Best Law Firm in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Top Choice Award in 2015 and 2016. In 2015, the firm was named a Webby Award Honoree in the Best Law Website Category and was honored at the Legal Marketing Association's "Your Honor Awards" for Best Website: Reboot.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/4/20/11G136430/Images/MFH_Martindale-Hubbell_Awards_-_Coat_Off_2-466b9553a07ba530aa660433cfa0ec6c.jpg

Contact

Jill Wellskopf

Hupy and Abraham

(414) 982.2059 direct

jwellskopf@hupy.com
VALLEY COTTAGE, New York, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Booming food & beverage industry in the US and Canada demands higher production of plastic containers. Over time, a vast variety of carbonated and non-carbonated drinks have been developed across North America, some of which went on to span the globe. Manufacturers of these drinks and food products continue to seek customized bottles for packaging as their unique designs provided the needed brand identity for products. PET blow molders, thus, have become a key industrial equipment in North America.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161020/430874LOGO )



Future Market Insights recently published its report on the PET blow molder market in North America, excerpts from which project the market to reach US$ 57.3 Mn value by the end of 2026. Although, key findings from the report project that during the forecast period, 2016-2026, the North American PET blow molder market will expand at a moderate pace. The market is presently valued at an estimated US$ 37.5 Mn, and is anticipated to register a moderate CAGR of 4.3%. In terms of volume as well, the market recorded sales of close to 400 PET blow molders in 2016. In the due course of forecast period, around 574 PET blow molders will be sold in North America, exhibiting a sluggish growth at 3.8% CAGR.

Request a Sample Report with Table of Contents: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-na-3534

Factors Restraining the Demand for PET Blow Molders in North America

The report, titled "PET Blow Molder Market: North America Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026," has compiled multiple factors impacting the growth in demand for PET blow molders in North America. Higher preference to PET bottles by manufacturers of packaged drinking water is expected to drive the demand for PET blow molders in the region. But, the key restraints for North America's PET blow molder market include:

Is it Economical? Blowing machines are majorly utilized by big manufacturers who require large scale output, but this creates a barrier for the other rural industries. If these machines are forced to give an output of a smaller volume, then the manufacturers aren't able to fetch much profits. This is because PET blow molders consume the same amount of energy regardless of output volume.

Blowing machines are majorly utilized by big manufacturers who require large scale output, but this creates a barrier for the other rural industries. If these machines are forced to give an output of a smaller volume, then the manufacturers aren't able to fetch much profits. This is because PET blow molders consume the same amount of energy regardless of output volume. Poor Stretch Ratios - These customized bottles have acute stretch ratios, due to which they can bend or even break upon dropping. The bottles should also be able to achieve standard measures set bearing certain force at lower temperatures.

- These customized bottles have acute stretch ratios, due to which they can bend or even break upon dropping. The bottles should also be able to achieve standard measures set bearing certain force at lower temperatures. Saving Resins Hampers the Bottle Quality - Bottle manufacturers have started to use lesser raw material amount in the manufacturing process. Such bottles tend to collapse at their weakest points, as at those points, the material gets too thin to bear any force. And, these bottles will not be able to bear the load administrated to them during their quality checking process.

Preview Analysis on North America PET Blow Moulder Market Segmentation By Technology - Extrusion Blow Moulding Machine, Injection Blow Moulding Machine, Stretch Blow Moulding Machine; By End Use - Food & Beverages, Pharmaceuticals, Personal Care, Others; By Machine Type - Manual, Automatic, Semi-Automatic: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/north-america-pet-blow-moulder-market

Companies such as PET All Manufacturing Inc., R& B Plastics Machinery, LLC, Amsler Equipment, Inc., SIPA North America Inc., Nissei ASB Company, Milacron Holdings Corporation, Sidel, Jomar Corporation, Custom-Pak Inc., and Tech-Long Inc. are leading manufacturers of PET blow molders, based across the US and Canada. The PET blow molder market in North America is split into these two countries, where US is projected to remain the dominant country by procuring over 70% of gross revenues throughout the forecast period.

On the basis of molding technologies, in 2016, injection blow molding technology accounted for revenues worth nearly US$ 17 Mn. This technology will continue to dominate the market revenues in the years to come. Demand for automatic PET blow molders will also gain traction, exhibiting a market revenue share of whopping 93.6% by 2026-end. The report also reveals that pharmaceuticals and personal care application of PET blow molders will showcase revenue growth above 4.3% CAGR, while food & beverages continue to be largest application of PET blow molders in North America.

More from FMI's Cutting-edge Intelligence:

Protective Packaging Market Segmentation By Material Type - Foamed Packaging, Paper and Plastic; By Product Type - Foam Protective Packaging, Flexible Protective Packaging and Rigid Protective Packaging; By Function Type - Wrapping, Void Fill, Cushioning, Insulation, Blocking and Bracing: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/protective-packaging-market

Segmentation By Material Type - Foamed Packaging, Paper and Plastic; By Product Type - Foam Protective Packaging, Flexible Protective Packaging and Rigid Protective Packaging; By Function Type - Wrapping, Void Fill, Cushioning, Insulation, Blocking and Bracing: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/protective-packaging-market Europe Garbage Bag Market Segmented By Material - Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE), Liner Low-Density Polyethylene (LLDPE), High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polypropylene (PP) and Others; By End User - Retail & Consumer, Institutional and Industrial; By Size - 7-16 Gallons, 20-30 Gallons, 32-35 Gallons, 40-48 Gallons and +55 Gallons: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/europe-garbage-bag-market

Segmented By Material - Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE), Liner Low-Density Polyethylene (LLDPE), High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polypropylene (PP) and Others; By End User - Retail & Consumer, Institutional and Industrial; By Size - 7-16 Gallons, 20-30 Gallons, 32-35 Gallons, 40-48 Gallons and +55 Gallons: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/europe-garbage-bag-market North America Silo Bags Market Segmentation By Length Type - 60 Meters, 75 Meters, 90 Meters; By Material Type - Polyethylene (PE) (Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE), High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE)), Polypropylene (PP); By Application - Grains (Dry Grains, Wet/Humid Grains, Rolled Grains), Forages, Fertilisers, Dried Fruits and Others: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/north-america-silo-bags-market

About Us

Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights and an aerial view of the competitive framework and future market trends.

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Darkstore CEO Lee Hnetinka has successfully raised $1.4 million in seed funding from PivotNorth Capital, the company has announced. The funding will be used to hire additional employees and expand Darkstore's operations into three new markets: Chicago, Los Angeles, and Seattle. In addition to the money, PivotNorth general partner Tim Connors will be joining Darkstore's Board of Directors.

Hnetinka had the following to say about his company's new partnership:

"PivotNorth brings tremendous value to Darkstore. Tim (Connors)...has a deep understanding of the market and shares our vision for... democratizing logistics so any retailer can offer the same affordable ... delivery options as big box stores."

Darkstore specializes in allowing smaller online retailers to offer 1-hour and same day delivery services that are generally too expensive for them to offer on their own. They accomplish this by leasing excess space in buildings for use as fulfillment centers near large population centers. The company has locations in New York, San Francisco, and Phoenix in addition to the new ones above. Companies such as Deliv and UberRUSH are used to transport products from the fulfillment center to customers quickly and at an affordable price, making Darkstore the only third-party logistics provider (3PL) to partner with last-mile delivery services for a more efficient customer experience.

This message resonates with a lot of Hnetinka's retail partners, which include Tuft & Needle, Luma Home, Nootroo, Frank + Oak, and Wildfang. Their latest partner is audio manufacturer Master & Dynamic. Hnetinka had the following to say about his newest retail partner, "We couldn't be more excited to partner with Master & Dynamic. We're big fans of the brand and we share the same philosophy of offering a stellar product and customer experience."

Hnetinka had previously raised $270,000 from R/GA Ventures and TripAdvisor Chief Growth Officer Gary Fritz. Darkstore is now in excellent financial shape to pursue Hnetinka's strategy of expansion.

In addition, Hnetinka has positioned Darkstore as a future market leader in the 3PL industry by securing partnerships with valuable firms such as PivotNorth, Deliv and Master & Dynamic that go well beyond short term financial gains.

Related Links

www.darkstore.com

Darkstore

Email Contact




CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- News Release - TransCanada Corporation (TSX: TRP) (NYSE: TRP) (TransCanada) will hold its 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders on Friday, May 5, 2017 at 10 a.m. (MDT) / 12 p.m. (EDT) in Calgary, Alberta at the Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park (COP).

A live webcast of the Annual Meeting will be available at www.transcanada.com. It will also be archived and available for replay.

Members of the media interested in attending the meeting in person are asked to register by Friday, April 28 by calling the TransCanada Media Line at 1.800.608.7859.

First quarter 2017 financial results will also be released on May 5, 2017. Russ Girling, TransCanada president and chief executive officer, Don Marchand, executive vice-president and chief financial officer and other members of the executive leadership team will host a conference call and webcast to discuss the results and provide an update on recent company developments at 12:30 p.m. (MDT) / 2:30 p.m. (EDT).

Members of the investment community and other interested parties are invited to participate by calling 800.273.9672 or 416.340.2218 (Toronto area). Please dial in 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. No pass code is required. A live webcast of the teleconference will be available at www.transcanada.com.

A replay of the teleconference will be available two hours after the conclusion of the call until midnight (EDT) on May 12, 2017. Please call 800.408.3053 or 905.694.9451 (Toronto area) and enter pass code 8663009.

With more than 65 years' experience, TransCanada is a leader in the responsible development and reliable operation of North American energy infrastructure including natural gas and liquids pipelines, power generation and gas storage facilities. TransCanada operates a network of natural gas pipelines that extends more than 91,500 kilometres (56,900 miles), tapping into virtually all major gas supply basins in North America. TransCanada is the continent's leading provider of gas storage and related services with 653 billion cubic feet of storage capacity. A large independent power producer, TransCanada currently owns or has interests in over 10,100 megawatts of power generation in Canada and the United States. TransCanada is also the developer and operator of one of North America's leading liquids pipeline systems that extends over 4,300 kilometres (2,700 miles), connecting growing continental oil supplies to key markets and refineries. TransCanada's common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol TRP. Visit TransCanada.com and our blog to learn more, or connect with us on social media and 3BL Media.

Contacts:

Media Enquiries:

Mark Cooper / James Millar

403.920.7859 or 800.608.7859



TransCanada Investor & Analyst Enquiries:

David Moneta / Stuart Kampel

403.920.7911 or 800.361.6522




HOUSTON, TEXAS -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- TC PipeLines, LP (NYSE: TCP) (the Partnership) will release its first quarter 2017 financial results on Thursday, May 4, 2017. Management will discuss the Partnership's financial results and latest developments in a teleconference and webcast on Thursday, May 4 at 10:00 a.m. central daylight time (CDT)/11:00 a.m. eastern daylight time (EDT).

Members of the investment community and other interested parties are invited to participate by calling 800.478.9326. Please dial in 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. No pass code is required. A live webcast will also be available through the Partnership's website at www.tcpipelineslp.com. Slides for the conference call will be posted on the Partnership's website under "Events and Presentations" prior to the webcast.

A replay of the teleconference will also be available two hours after the conclusion of the call and until 11 p.m. (CDT) and midnight (EDT) on May 11, 2017, by calling 800.408.3053, then entering pass code 8298744.

TC PipeLines, LP is a Delaware master limited partnership with interests in seven federally regulated U.S. interstate natural gas pipelines which serve markets in the Western, Midwestern and Eastern United States. The Partnership is managed by its general partner, TC PipeLines GP, Inc., a subsidiary of TransCanada Corporation (NYSE: TRP). For more information about TC PipeLines, LP, visit the Partnership's website at www.tcpipelineslp.com.

Contacts:

Media Enquiries:

Mark Cooper / James Millar

403.920.7859

800.608.7859



Unitholder and Analyst Enquiries:

Rhonda Amundson

877.290.2772

investor_relations@tcpipelineslp.com




ANN ARBOR, MI --(Marketwired - April 20, 2017) - Groundspeed Analytics (Groundspeed), the commercial insurance data automation firm accelerating financial performance through machine learning, is pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew Robinson as an independent director to the firm's existing four-member Board of Directors.

"I couldn't be more pleased to be part of the innovative solutions Groundspeed is delivering," said Robinson. "Brokers and insurance companies alike are deriving tremendous business insight and process efficiency from Groundspeed's solutions. I look forward to working with Jeff Mason and the other Groundspeed board members as we continue to grow and develop the company."

Robinson currently serves as global chief operating officer for Crawford and Company (NYSE: CRD-A), the largest global claims services company, and as chairman of WeGoLook, an innovative mobile technology and crowdsourcing company recently acquired by Crawford and Company. Previously, Robinson was president of specialty lines and EVP of corporate development at The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE: THG), and a board member for Chaucer, one of the largest Lloyd's of London managing agents.

"Andrew is a global insurance leader with deep domain expertise across the entire commercial insurance vertical," said Jeff Mason, founder and CEO of Groundspeed. "His industry leadership experience adds valuable perspective to Groundspeed's Board at a time of exciting change, and we appreciate his judgment and counsel in driving the company forward."

Groundspeed uses machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to automate insurance data for commercial insurance brokers, insurance companies and third-party administrators (TPAs). By transforming loss runs, exposure documents, and policy forms into actionable insights, Groundspeed helps insurance clients drive better financial outcomes.

About Groundspeed Analytics, Inc. (Groundspeed)

Groundspeed Analytics, Inc. (Groundspeed) accelerates commercial insurance performance with the power of machine learning and artificial intelligence. The Groundspeed platform automatically turns loss runs, exposure documents and policy files into actionable information, empowering users to identify profitable pools of risk and drive better financial outcomes. Groundspeed is privately funded and based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. To learn more about Groundspeed, please visit www.groundspeed.com.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/4/20/11G136423/Images/AndrewRobinson-296835da4c31aa998f08a65060c64768.jpeg

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/4/20/11G136423/Images/mason_head_wht-b93eeb6be3f1bc11b6708eb66fda3440.jpg

Media Contact:

Jennifer Overhulse

St. Nick Media Services

jen@stnickmedia.com

859-803-6597
LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / September 14, 2017 / Pro-Trader Daily takes a closer look at DTE Energy Co. (NYSE: DTE) as the Company's stock will begin trading ex-dividend on September 15, 2017. In order to capture the dividend payout, investors must purchase the stock a day prior to the ex-dividend date that is by latest at the end of the trading session on September 14, 2017.Are you looking for research on dividend stocks, if so register with us now for your free membership at:

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Today, PRO-TD covers ex-dividend news on DTE. Get our free coverage by signing up at:

http://protraderdaily.com/optin/'symbol=DTE

Dividend Declared

On June 22, 2017, DTE Energy's Board of Directors declared a $0.825 per share dividend on its common stock payable October 15, 2017, to shareholders of record at the close of business September 18, 2017. The dividend signifies consistency and confidence in the Company's performance for the remaining half of 2017 and delivers on the 7.1% per share increase DTE Energy communicated in November 2016. In addition, DTE is targeting an annual dividend increase of approximately 7% through 2019 - higher than the 5.6% average dividend increase over the past five years.

DTE Energy's indicated dividend represents a yield of 2.91%, which is substantially ahead of the average dividend yield of 2.36% for the Utilities sector. DTE Energy has issued a cash dividend for more than 100 years and has raised its dividend for five consecutive years.

Dividend Insights

DTE Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 60.9%, which indicates that the Company distributes approximately $0.61 for every $1.00 earned. The dividend payout ratio reflects how much amount a company is returning to shareholders versus how much money it is keeping on hand to reinvest in growth, to pay off debt, and/or add to its cash reserves.

According to analysts' estimates, DTE Energy is forecasted to report earnings of $5.70 for the next year which is substantially above its annualized dividend of $3.30.

DTE Energy's cash flows from operating activities were $1.18 billion for H1 2017 compared to $1.28 billion for H1 2016. As on June 30, 2017, DTE Energy had $62 million in cash and cash equivalents. The Company's strong financial position indicates its ability to absorb any fluctuations in earnings and cash flow and to sustain its dividend distribution for a long period.

Recent Development for DTE

On September 01, 2017, DTE Energy announced that it is powering Little Caesars Arena, the new home of the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons and The District Detroit, growing neighborhoods and businesses around the venue.

DTE Energy built a new substation, along with a customized underground electrical system, to power the multi-use facility and its high-tech entertainment features, including 45 LED displays covering 13,500 square feet, a projector the size of two football fields, the largest seamless center-hung scoreboard in North America and more than 16.5 million LED lights

DTE Energy noted that the state-of-the-art electrical system will allow arena staff to monitor the venue's energy load and reroute power as needed. DTE Energy's investment in this new infrastructure enables future economic growth in the city, making it possible for the Company to meet the electrical needs of additional businesses in areas near the arena.

About DTE Energy Co.

DTE Energy is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its operating units include an electric utility serving 2.2 million customers in Southeastern Michigan and a natural gas utility serving 1.3 million customers in Michigan. The DTE Energy's portfolio includes non-utility energy businesses focused on power and industrial projects, natural gas pipelines, gathering and storage, and energy marketing and trading.

Stock Performance

At the closing bell, on Wednesday, September 13, 2017, DTE Energy's stock slightly fell 0.95%, ending the trading session at $110.23. A total volume of 961.98 thousand shares have exchanged hands, which was higher than the 3-month average volume of 786.04 thousand shares. The Company's stock price rallied 1.08% in the last one month, 7.48% in the past six months, and 20.67% in the previous twelve months. Moreover, the stock surged 11.90% since the start of the year. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 18.86 and has a dividend yield of 2.99%. The stock currently has a market cap of $19.73 billion.

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IRVINE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/07/17 -- Cannabis Science, Inc. (OTC PINK: CBIS), a U.S. company specializing in the development of cannabinoid-based medicines, is pleased to update its shareholders on the Company's second quarter growth and progress. Cannabis Science has made considerable gains in its endeavors to become a seed-to-sale company. In the last quarter, Cannabis Science entered negotiations for two medical marijuana dispensaries in the Los Angeles, California area. Once the deals are closed both dispensaries will be Cannabis Science-branded facilities, and will showcase the Company's products as well as other selected brands. The Company has also targeted additional Pre-ICO medical marijuana dispensaries throughout California for acquisition and integration into Cannabis Science's state-wide distribution network.

The Company is excited to improve patient access to new drug development initiatives that will allow the Company to work more closely with its self-medicating patient base. The Company expects to announce the signing of the closing documents and introduce the locations shortly.

One of CBIS' key accomplishments in 2017 was the successful launch of the CBIS Native American Sovereign Education Initiative package. This has proven to be quite successful with thousands of acres under contract for opportunities with multiple Universities, research & development facilities, laboratories, cultivation centers, economic stimulus packages, regulatory guidelines, local and international government relations, and product manufacturing utilizing cannabis and/or industrial hemp.

The Company is very pleased with the industrial hemp planting currently in progress and very excited to report specific progress moving forward. With well over 3,000 acres under contract the Company is expanding its land deals across the country and is moving certain grow pods to key locations for special cloning and research projects.

As part of CBIS' Native American Initiative, the Company is developing a number of products for market, including an oral spray, CBD capsules, and hemp CBD crystalline capsules. Initial reports regarding the oral spray is that it is an effective pain and anxiety reliever, comparable to full-extract cannabis oil. The CBD capsules are in the patient trial phase and are meeting with excellent results. 30-day, patient trials for the hemp CBD capsules have been completed, and the Company expects to begin distribution of this product in the third quarter.

The Company released its first batch of Transdermal Pain Patches in June. The CBIS medicated adhesive transdermal patch is placed on the skin to deliver a specific dose of cannabinoid medications into the bloodstream. Self-medicating patients have been reporting healing effects to specific injured areas of the body experiencing chronic pain. "An advantage of a transdermal drug delivery route over other types of medication delivery such as oral, topical, intravenous, intramuscular, etc., is that the patch can provide a controlled release of the medication into the patient, usually through a porous membrane covering a reservoir of medication or body heat that melts thin layers of high potency cannabinoid formulations embedded in the adhesive. The medication slowly enters the bloodstream at the chronic pain spot and then penetrates the central nervous system delivering the pain relief reported by self-medicating patients," explained Dr. Allen Herman, Chief Medical Officer of Cannabis Science.

Moreover, CBIS has successfully released several new products for self-medicating patient testing and observational studies, including the CBIS Metered Dose Inhaler (MDI) to target Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Asthma; the CBIS Transdermal Patch to target chronic pain; and the CBIS Suppository to target severe pain and other symptoms associated with cancers, anxiety, and insomnia. These are limited batches of cannabinoid-based suppositories for self-medicating, male and female patients. This Unisex Suppository Regimen Package, consisting of rectal suppositories, is the first of three regimen packages that will be released by CBIS to address the tremendous demand for cannabinoid-based medicines for self-medicating patients who require alternative delivery methods. In addition to these and other CBIS products, the Company continues to invest significantly in the research, development, and clinical trials for new cannabinoid formulations and innovative delivery systems for numerous critical indications.

Moving forward, the Company is seeking new opportunities in the way of both dispensaries and cannabis grow land acquisitions across the country. This will give the Company access to a much larger patient base, a more efficient supply chain process, and ultimately higher sales and profit margins on top of the branding benefits from having an expanded footprint from coast to coast. With a stronger customer base, the Company will be able to quickly find patients and assemble test groups for clinical trials and product testing moving forward.

Additionally, Cannabis Science entered negotiations to acquire a different licensed facility for extraction and product manufacturing in California. "This new location will provide Cannabis Science with a facility with state-of-the-art equipment for the manufacturing of our products, including pills, creams, and suppositories. This falls very much in line with the Company's plans to increase production of our existing products, as well as to increase our manufacturing capacity in anticipation of the launch of new Cannabis Science products," stated Mr. Raymond C. Dabney, Cannabis Science's President, CEO, and Co-founder.

In the second quarter, Cannabis Science senior executives once again traveled to Harvard Medical School to speak at the Global Health Catalyst Summit. This important annual event provided the Company with the opportunity to engage with stakeholders in government, private sector, and academia, as well as to further develop Cannabis Science's relationships with the Company's collaborators. These relationships should enable the Company to accelerate its drug development and clinical trial initiatives globally.

Cannabis Science received clearance from the U.S. Federal Government to be eligible for federal contracts and grants. As the world's largest customer, the U.S. Federal Government issues over $192 billion in contracts and over $450 billion in grants annually. Cannabis Science intends to explore funding opportunities, individually and with its collaborators, with institutions such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), institutes within NIH, such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and others.

About Cannabis Science, Inc.

Cannabis Science, Inc. takes advantage of its unique understanding of metabolic processes to provide novel treatment approaches to a number of illnesses for which current treatments and understanding remain unsatisfactory. Cannabinoids have an extensive history dating back thousands of years, and currently, there are a growing number of peer-reviewed scientific publications that document the underlying biochemical pathways that cannabinoids modulate. The Company works with leading experts in drug development, medicinal characterization, and clinical research to develop, produce, and commercialize novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment for illnesses caused by infections as well as for age-related illness. Our initial focus is on skin cancers, HIV/AIDS, and neurological conditions. The Company is proceeding with the research and development of its proprietary drugs as a part of this initial focus: CS-S/BCC-1, CS-TATI-1, and CS-NEURO-1, respectively.

Forward-Looking Statements

This Press Release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. A statement containing words such as "anticipate," "seek," intend," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "project," "plan," or similar phrases may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Some or all of the events or results anticipated by these forward-looking statements may not occur. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company's reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based drugs. Cannabis Science, Inc., does not undertake any duty nor does it intend to update the results of these forward-looking statements. Safe Harbor Statement. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a 'safe harbor' for forward looking statements. Certain of the statements contained herein, which are not historical facts are forward looking statements with respect to events, the occurrence of which involved risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements may be impacted, either positively or negatively, by various factors. Information concerning potential factors that could affect the company is detailed from time to time in the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact Information



Cannabis Science, Inc.

Dr. Allen Herman

Chief Medical Officer (CMO)

allen.herman@cannabisscience.com

Tel: 1-888-263-0832



Cannabis Science, Inc.

Mr. Raymond C. Dabney

President & CEO, Co-Founder

raymond.dabney@cannabisscience.com

Tel: 1-888-263-0832




The Etam Group's financial statements to 31 December 2016 were approved by the Managing Partners on 20 April 2017 and were subject to a limited review by the statutory auditors on 20 April 2017

Regulatory News:

Etam Developpement (Paris:TAM):

I. 2016 FULL-YEAR RESULTS

m 2016 2015 Change Net sales 1,292.1 1,296.6 -0.3% Like-for-like and at constant exchange rates -1.0% Gross margin 58.3% 58.7% -0.4 pt EBITDA 1 100.7 95.4 5.6% Operating income 49.0 52.4 -6.6% EBIT 40.7 45.9 -11.5% Net income (Group share) 22.8 25.8 -3,0 m Net debt 137.5 133.5 +4,0m Net debt/equity 36.1% 36.5%

1Operating income before depreciation, amortisation and income from asset sales

Net sales

The Etam Group generated net sales of 1,292.1 million, which includes a negative currency impact of 19.7 million relating mainly to the depreciation of the yuan against the euro. This represents an almost stable performance relative to 31 December 2015 and a decrease of 1% like-for-like and at constant exchange rates.

The Group's performance varied significantly by region: In Europe, net sales increased thanks to the solid performance of the lingerie activities, both online and offline and in all countries. In China, net sales were severely affected by the decline in footfall and the slowdown in consumer spending in department stores.

Gross margin

The Group's gross margin was 58.3% in 2016, down 0.4 points, mainly due to the increase in the cost of residual inventories in China.

EBITDA1 and operating income

The Group generated an EBITDA of 100.7 million compared with 95.4 million in 2015, and an operating income of 49.0 million compared with 52.4 million in 2015.

In Europe, operating income came to 68.3 million, up 14.3% compared with 2015, driven by the Group's lingerie brands. In China, where the measures taken did not allow for an upturn in sales, the Group sustained an operating loss of 19.4 million compared with a loss of 7.4 million in 2015.

Net income

Consolidated net income was 18.2 million compared with 23.9 million in 2015. After taking into account non-controlling interests of 4.6 million, net income (Group share) was 22.8 million compared with 25.8 million in 2015.

At the next General Meeting, it will be proposed to pay a dividend of 0.70 per share for 2016, in line with the dividend paid for 2015.

Cash flow

After change in working capital requirement, cash flow from operating operations represented a cash surplus of 86.9 million compared with a cash surplus of 80.3 million in 2015. After investments, interests and taxes, the Group generated a positive free cash flow of 6.4 million in 2016 compared with a negative amount of 15.3 million in 2015.

After payment of dividends for 8.8 million and taking account other negative changes in cash flow of 1.8 million, net cash flow was a negative figure of 3.9 million compared with a negative figure of 16.9 million in 2015. This cash consumption increased the Group's net debt, which stood at 137.5 million as at 31 December 2016 compared with 133.5 million as at 31 December 2015.

II. FIRST QUARTER 2017 NET SALES

m 2017 Q1 Change Change lfl1 Group net sales 324.6 -7.0% -8,1% Europe 231.6 2.1% -2,8% China 93.0 -23.9% -21,5% Europe by country France 2 206.1 1.5% -3.2% Other countries 25.5 7.2% 1.0% Europe by brand ETAM 3 192.3 3.1% -2.3% 1.2.3 39.3 -2.6% -4.9%

1 Like-for-like and at constant exchange rates including online activities

2Including export sales

3 Including Undiz

In the first quarter of 2017, the Etam Group generated net sales of 324.6 million, including a negative currency effect of 1.6 million relating primarily to the depreciation of the yuan against the euro. This constitutes a fall of 7% compared to 31 March 2016. Like-for-like and at constant exchange rates, net sales were down 8.1%.

In Europe, net sales came to 231.6 million, up 2.1% or down 2.8% like-for-like and at constant exchange rate. After disappointing winter end-of-season sales, net sales from new collections increased like-for-like and at constant exchange rates. In addition, the gross margin rate on sales improved in the quarter compared to the same period of 2016.

In China, net sales fell by 23.9% to 93.0 million, including a negative currency effect of 1.6 million. Like-for-like and at constant exchange rates, sales were down 21.5% as the result of the poor performance of the Group's main brands.

Due to the aggravated decline in sales and operating losses at Etam China, changes were made to the management team with the departure of the Chief Executive Officer, replaced by a tandem constituted of a Retail President arrived on 8 February 2017 and a Brands Director to join in May, a team whose mission is to refocus priorities on the product.

The situation in China affects significantly the Group's results at 31 March 2017.

III. CHANGES TO THE NETWORK

At March 31, 2017, the Etam Group had 3,854 sales outlets: 986 in Europe, 331 international franchises and 2,537 in China.

IV. OTHER INFORMATION

On 13 February 2017 the Commercial Court of Boulogne-sur-Mer approved a consortium in which the Etam Group holds a 20% stake to take over the employees and assets of Lucien Noyon, one of France's oldest lacemaking companies based in Calais, under the new name of Noyon Dentelle.

The Etam Group is an international retailer of women's lingerie, beauty products, ready-to-wear clothing

and accessories with 3,854 sales outlets as at 31.03.2017

The Etam Group will hold its general shareholders' meeting on 30 May 2017

It will publish its net sales for the second quarter of 2017 on 20 July (after market close in Paris).

www.etamdeveloppement.fr

Etam Developpement ISIN code: FR0000035743 Reuters: TAM.PA Bloomberg: TAM FP

Etam Developpement 10,961,739 R.C.S. PARIS 308 382 035

Registered office: 78, rue de Rivoli 75004 PARIS

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420005966/en/

Contacts:

Etam Developpement

Information for analysts and investors

Tel.: 01 55 90 72 79
CALI, COLOMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 --New Colombia Resources, Inc. ("the Company") (OTC PINK: NEWC), a Colombian natural resource company listed in the U.S., with premium metallurgical coal and medical marijuana assets, is pleased to announce their medical marijuana joint venture, Sannabis SAS, is the first company to pay Colombia's new Cannabis tax. This tax was presented as part of Articles 209-213 of the recent tax reforms in Colombia that went into effect earlier this year. Sannabis is the leading brand in Colombia for medical marijuana products with tremendous success in treating patients. "Sannabis is proud to be the first one to contribute taxes for the development of a new cannabis industry in Colombia for legal uses," stated Juan Pablo Guzman, President of Sannabis, S.A.S.

The new tax code imposes a 16% tax on finished goods derived from psychoactive or non-psychoactive cannabis products. The tax applies to all products made from cannabis such as creams, shampoos, pills, paper, textiles, animal feed, plastics, and medical preparations.

Sannabis is a pioneer in Colombia's new medical marijuana industry, legally producing medical marijuana products on an Indian Reservation in Colombia since 2014. This first mover advantage will benefit Sannabis as it maneuvers the recently approved licensing process to grow marijuana and manufacture products outside of the Indian reservation. For a brief video on the history of Sannabis visit, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzuFtp5-Iyo

On April 10, 2017, the Ministers of Health, Justice, and Agriculture signed Decree 613 regulating the medical marijuana industry. This decree enables the government to accept cultivation license applications. Sannabis is working with the Ministry of Health to apply for their licenses to grow outside the reservation that won't go into effect until 2018. Until then, Sannabis will continue to legally sell their products increasing their domestic and international markets while others wait for their licenses. Sannabis is aggressively pursuing the U.S. market for non-psychoactive CBD and Hemp products with their new U.S. distributor that is majority owned by New Colombia Resources.

Sannabis was instrumental in gathering the mayors of several municipalities in the Colombia's Cauca Department, the largest marijuana growing region, to form a co-operative of marijuana growers now known as Caucannabis. Last year Sannabis hosted these mayors at their cultivation and manufacturing facilities in Cauca to showcase their efforts in the field. A recent article in the New York Times talks about the efforts of this region to transform itself into a leader in medical marijuana. The article speaks of a Canadian company's efforts in the region, Sannabis and Edward Garcia, mayor of the town of Corinto began this enterprise. In a recent interview by a U.S. film crew doing a documentary on Colombia's new industry, Mr. Garcia clearly acknowledges Sannabis as the first one in the region that began the movement. Sannabis has several projects including a new laboratory in Corinto that will be announced soon. Click here to read the article, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/world/americas/colombia-marijuana-farc-drugs-santos.html

New Colombia Resources will be making additional announcements concerning their medical marijuana and coal mining operations and shipments as soon as their much-anticipated annual report is filed.

To view a nationally televised documentary about medical marijuana in Colombia featuring Sannabis growers, patients, and management visit the first video on http://www.sannabis.co/video. This documentary interviewed Sannabis patients and their loved ones around the country using Sannabis products.

Follow Sannabis on Facebook for photos and testimonials at https://www.facebook.com/sannabis.cannamedicinal

New Colombia Resources, Inc.

New Colombia Resources, Inc. owns vast reserves of premium metallurgical coal mining titles and a medical marijuana joint venture in the Republic of Colombia. They are setting up a rock mining operation to supply the major road and infrastructure projects within miles of their properties. They own 100% of La Tabaquera metallurgical coal mine in Colombia with an estimated 15-17 million tonnes of reserves. They have an additional 1196 ha. metallurgical coal mining title that they are negotiating to develop with a foreign entity to build a coal fired power plant. New Colombia Resources holds a significant position in Sannabis SAS which legally produces medical marijuana products in the Republic of Colombia, visit www.sannabis.co. For more information on the Company visit www.newcolombiaresources.com

Forward Looking Statements

Forward Looking Statements; This Press Release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. A statement containing works such as "anticipate," "seek," intend," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "project," "plan," or similar phrases may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Some or all of the events or results anticipated by these forward-looking statements might not occur. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include financing, the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company's reliance on existing regulations. New Colombia Resources, Inc. does not undertake any duty nor does it intend to update the results of these forward-looking statements.

Company/Media Contact:



New Colombia Resources, Inc.

John Campo

President/Chairman

(1)-410-236-8200 USA

(57) 318-657-0918 Colombia

jcampo@newcolombiaresources.com




Release of documents and information regarding the Shareholders' Meeting

Regulatory News:

Teleperformance (Paris:RCF)

The shareholders of the Company are invited to participate in the Combined Shareholders' Meeting of Teleperformance SE to be held on Friday June 23, 2017 at 3 pm (Paris time) at 21-25 rue Balzac, 75008 Paris, France.

The preliminary notice of meeting containing the agenda and the proposed resolutions has been published in the Bulletin des Annonces Legales Obligatoires (BALO) dated March 27, 2017 (no. 37) and March 31, 2017 (no. 39). The conditions for participating and voting at this Meeting are described in said notice.

The documents and information related to this Meeting will be made available in accordance with the legal and regulatory provisions in force. Documents and information provided for by Article R.225-73-1 of the French Commercial Code will be made available on Teleperformance's website (www.teleperformance.com section "Investor Relations/General Meetings") no later than the twenty-first day preceding the Meeting.

In accordance with applicable regulatory provisions:

Registered shareholders can, from the date of convening to the fifth day (inclusive) before the Meeting, request from the Company to receive the documents referred to in Articles R.225-81 and R.225-83 of the French Commercial Code, including at their request, by way of an electronic mail. For holders of bearer shares, the exercise of this right is subject to the presentation of a certificate of attendance in the bearer share accounts kept by the empowered intermediary;

All shareholders can consult the documents referred to in Articles L.225-115 and R.225-83 of the French Commercial Code at the Company's headquarters from the date of convening.

ABOUT TELEPERFORMANCE GROUP

Teleperformance (RCF ISIN: FR0000051807 Reuters: ROCH.PA Bloomberg: RCF FP), the worldwide leader in outsourced omnichannel customer experience management, serves companies and administrations around the world, with customer care, technical support, customer acquisition (Core Services), as well as with online interpreting solutions, visa application management services, data analysis and debt collection programs (Specialized Services). In 2016, Teleperformance reported consolidated revenue of 3,649 million (US$4,050 million, based on 1 $1.11).

The Group operates 163,000 computerized workstations, with 217,000 employees across 340 contact centers in 74 countries and serving 160 markets. It manages programs in 265 languages and dialects on behalf of major international companies operating in a wide variety of industries.

Teleperformance shares are traded on the Euronext Paris market, Compartment A, and are eligible for the deferred settlement service. They are included in the following indices: STOXX 600, SBF 120, Next 150, CAC Mid 60 and CAC Support Services. They also have been included in the Euronext Vigeo Eurozone 120 index since December 2015, with regard to the Group's performance in corporate responsibility.

For more information: www.teleperformance.com

Follow us: Twitter @teleperformance

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420006141/en/

Contacts:

Teleperformance
BELFAST, Northern Ireland, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Belfast will become the centre of the European aviation industry this weekend when the city hosts the three-day Routes Europe forum (23-25 April).

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150730/250177LOGO )



(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/492303/Routes_Europe.jpg )



Routes Europe brings together airlines, airports and tourism authorities to plan new flights and strengthen existing routes. It meets in a new location every year to highlight different markets to the aviation industry.

A thriving tourism industry has developed in Northern Ireland thanks to its natural beauty and rich heritage. The number of visits to its attractions reached 17.5 million in 2015, driven by the popularity of sites such as the Giant's Causeway and Titanic Belfast. The HBO TV series Game of Thrones which is partially filmed in Northern Ireland has also helped to fuel this growth.

In addition, Northern Ireland's status as a great business location has attracted investors from around the world such as Citi, Fujitsu, Seagate, Allstate, Allen & Overy and Baker & McKenzie.

Northern Ireland's success story is reflected in the growing demand for air travel. George Best Belfast CityAirport and Belfast International Airport welcomed 7.8 million passengers between them last year, the highest combined figure on record.

Around 1,200 route development professionals from 114 airlines, 270 airports and 36 tourism authorities will attend Routes Europe at the Belfast Waterfront (recently expanded at a cost of 29.5 million to boost the city's appeal as an international conference destination).

Most of Europe's major airlines have registered including the five largest by available seats: Ryanair, easyJet, Lufthansa, Air France and British Airways. Airlines from outside Europe include American Airlines, ANA, Hong Kong Airlines and Cathay Pacific. Ryanair's chief marketing officer, Kenny Jacobs, will be interviewed on stage about the airline's ambition to become the 'future Amazon of air travel'.

Steven Small, brand director of Routes, said: "Northern Ireland is a business and tourism destination on the rise. The demand for travel is increasing so there are significant route development opportunities for Europe's airlines."

Graham Keddie, managing director of Belfast International Airport, said: "Hosting Routes Europe in Belfast cements both the city's and Northern Ireland's position as a great place to visit and to do business in.

"Belfast International Airport welcome the opportunities that Routes Europe will give us to present our wares and the rich range of iconic attractions which the airport provides direct access to."

Brian Ambrose, chief executive of George Best Belfast City Airport, said: "With record investment in Belfast and the highest ever tourism numbers being reported, Routes Europe's arrival in the city presents us with a fantastic opportunity to showcase this growth and positively change the traditional perception of Northern Ireland.

"We want to build on the region's economic and tourism success story by strategically enhancing Belfast City Airport's UK and European route network. There is a real demand in the region for direct connections to key destinations across Europe and it is our aim to continue to meet that demand.

"Located just a few minutes' drive from the city centre, Belfast City Airport is enjoying an exciting period of development, with our forthcoming new route to Reykjavik with Icelandair opening up connections to North America.

"As co-hosts of Routes Europe 2017 we are delighted to welcome 1,200 international aviation colleagues to Belfast. We pride ourselves on the strength of support we provide to our airline partners and look forward to demonstrating the unique services we deliver for airlines to grow traffic on their routes."

Northern Ireland has a range of partners committed to the success of Routes Europe 2017 in Belfast. Stakeholders include the Department for the Economy and its agencies - Invest NI and Tourism NI - as well as Belfast City Council, Visit Belfast, Tourism Ireland, George Best Belfast City Airport, Belfast International Airport, City of Derry Airport and the Belfast Waterfront.

Notes to Editors

An event press conference will take place at 8am on Monday , 24 April. Please contact Karen Reeves for more information.

, 24 April. Please contact for more information. A library of Northern Ireland Imagery is available from: http://medialibrary.tourismni.com/asset-bank/action/viewHome

Routes events are unique forums dedicated to the development of new air services. They revolve around pre-scheduled meetings, an exhibition and a conference. Five 'regional' route development forums are held between February and June in the Americas, Asia , Europe and Africa , with the flagship World Routes event taking place in September.

, and , with the flagship World Routes event taking place in September. Routes events are organised by UBM plc.UBM is the largest B2B event organiser in the world.Our 3,750+ people, based in more than 20 countries, serve more than 50 different sectors.Our deep knowledge and passion for these sectors allow us to create valuable experiences which enable our customers to succeed.Please visitwww.ubm.comfor the latest news and information about UBM.

For further information contact:



Karen Reeves

Communications & Content Marketing Manager

Routes, UBM EMEA

T: +44(0)161-234-2721

M: +44(0)796-6405-105

E: Karen.Reeves@ubm.com



Helen Smyth

PRandMediaRelationsExecutive

InvestNorthernIreland

T:+44(0)28-9069-8840

M:+44(0)7817173513

Email:Helen.Smyth@investni.com






BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The majority of the European markets ended Thursday's session in the green. Investors were largely focused on corporate earnings and were encouraged by strong results from companies like Nestle, Unilever, ABB and Pernod Ricard.



The French stock market was the top gainer in Europe despite concerns over the upcoming elections in the country, which will take place on Sunday. Various polls are showing a four-way race that is currently too close to call. Millions of French voters remain undecided, making it one of the most unpredictable elections in decades.



The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced 0.23 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 0.56 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.23 percent.



The DAX of Germany climbed 0.09 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 1.48 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 0.06 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 0.30 percent.



In Frankfurt, Lufthansa rose 0.76 percent on reports that the airline is in talks with Iran Air to provide catering as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul services.



In Paris, Schneider Electric jumped 2.97 percent after reporting first quarter revenues of 5.84 billion euros, up 3.1 percent organically.



Advertising and communications company Publicis Groupe gained 2.77 percent. The company reported a drop in underlying revenue in the first quarter, but said it expects Q2 to show an improvement.



Pernod Ricard increased 1.06 percent. The drinks company reiterated its mid-term target to grow group sales by 4-5 percent after reporting a 3 percent rise in third quarter sales.



In London, Man Group climbed 7.19 percent after the hedge fund manager reported a 10 percent jump in funds under management for the first quarter.



Debenhams sank 5.06 percent. The department store group has unveiled plans to close up to 10 stores and exit some international markets, as part of efforts to cut costs and keep up with changing consumer behavior.



Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company Unilever gained 0.32 percent after its first-quarter sales topped expectations.



Nestle advanced 0.53 percent in Zurich. The food giant confirmed its full-year guidance for underlying sales after reporting first-quarter revenue growth ahead of analysts' expectations.



Novartis increased 0.21 percent after it signed a collaboration deal with virtual Canadian biotech Parvus Therapeutics.



Engineering firm ABB rose 2.02 percent after saying it expects 2017 to be a transitional year.



Eurozone consumer confidence improved for a second straight month in April, preliminary data from the European Commission showed Thursday. The flash consumer confidence index for April rose to -3.6 from -5 in March.



Eurozone construction output increased notably in February, after falling in the previous two months, figures from Eurostat showed Thursday. Construction output climbed a seasonally adjusted 6.9 percent month-on-month in February, reversing a 2.4 percent decrease in January, which was revised from a 2.3 percent drop reported earlier.



Germany's producer prices increased for the fifth consecutive month in March, though at a slower-than-expected pace, data from Destatis showed Thursday. The producer price index climbed at a steady rate of 3.1 percent year-over-year in March, just below the 3.2 percent rise expected by economists.



After reporting a slight drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that initial jobless claims rebounded in the week ended April 15th.



The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 244,000, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 234,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 242,000.



Results from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's manufacturing business outlook survey suggest that regional manufacturing activity continued to expand in April, but the pace of growth slowed by more than anticipated.



The Philly Fed said its index for current manufacturing activity in the region fell to 22.0 in April from 32.8 in March, although a positive reading indicates continued growth. Economists had expected the index to drop to 25.5.



Pointing to continued economic growth this year, the Conference Board released a report on Thursday showing a bigger than expected increase by its index of leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of March.



The Conference Board said its leading economic index rose by 0.4 percent in March after climbing by a revised 0.5 percent in February. Economists had expected the index to edge up by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.6 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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AURORA, Ontario, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Magna International Inc. (TSX: MG; NYSE: MGA)

We will hold our Annual Meeting of Shareholders on Thursday, May 11, 2017 at the Hilton Toronto/ Markham Suites Conference Centre, 8500 Warden Avenue, Markham, Ontario, Canada commencing at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. The meeting will be webcast live and can be accessed at http://www.magna.com.

We will also hold a conference call for interested analysts and shareholders to discuss our first quarter ended March 31, 2017 results on Thursday, May 11, 2017 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern. The conference call will be chaired by Don Walker, Chief Executive Officer. The number to use for this call from North America is 1-800-905-9496. International callers should use 1-416-641-6700. Please call in at least 10 minutes prior to the call start time. We will also webcast the conference call at http://www.magna.com. The slide presentation accompanying the conference call will be available on our website Thursday prior to the call.

For anyone unable to listen to the scheduled call, the rebroadcast numbers are:

North America 1-800-558-5253 | International 1-416-626-4100 | Reservation number 21850772 and will be available until Thursday, May 18, 2017.

INVESTOR CONTACT: Louis Tonelli, Vice-President, Investor Relations, louis.tonelli@magna.com, +1-905-726-7035; TELECONFERENCE CONTACT: Nancy Hansford, Executive Assistant, Investor Relations, nancy.hansford@magna.com , +1-905-726-7108
Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights

Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh

Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom

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

SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

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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".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan
DOYLESTOWN, PA and ATLANTA, GA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- SICOM Systems, Inc., a leading best-of-breed provider of end-to-end solutions for quick service and fast casual restaurants, today announced the acquisition of RTI, a leading technology provider for quick service and fast casual restaurants. RTI's restaurant software solutions complement SICOM's end-to-end technologies and will enable the company to expand its capacity, accelerate research and development and increase its presence in new brands and markets.

RTI's founders were multi-unit franchisees before starting the company in 1985 and built the business based on their real-life experience in the industry. They grew the company consistently through the years today serving more than 10,000 restaurants for major brands including McDonald's, Arby's, Checkers, Popeyes, Wendy's, Beef 'O' Brady's, Burger King, Brass Tap, Church's Chicken, among others. RTI offers RTIconnect, RTIoffice and RTI Payroll solutions helping multi-unit franchises improve operational efficiencies and increase profitability.

"This is a very strategic acquisition for SICOM as we focus on expanding and strengthening the solutions we provide to the quick service and fast casual restaurant industry," said Jim Flynn, CEO of SICOM. "Like SICOM, RTI has a high level of dedication and desire to help franchisees and brands increase their profitability and efficiency through the application of leading edge technology products. We welcome RTI to the SICOM family. With the industry-specific experience of its founders and employees, RTI has earned a sterling reputation among its customers. It is a growing company with a breadth of customers that will enable us to penetrate new brands with our end-to-end technologies and expand into new markets."

"For more than three decades, we have been delivering restaurant software solutions and are excited to transition into this next stage of the company by joining the team at SICOM and helping empower our customers to maximize the efficiency and profitability of their operations," said Jim Clutter, CEO of RTI. "SICOM has a similar culture to RTI's and its team is very likeminded in its dedication to innovation and commitment to a high-level of customer service. We look forward to the opportunities this combination has for our customers, employees and the industry."

The combined new company will serve more than 25,000 restaurants globally in over 38 countries.

About RTI

RTI is a leading developer of technology solutions for the restaurant industry and a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. Today more than 10,000 restaurants, including many of today's best known brands, rely on a broad suite of RTI hospitality solutions. Incorporated in 1985, the company is headquartered in Marietta, Ga. For more information, visit the RTI website at internetRTI.com.

About SICOM

SICOM Systems, Inc. is a leading best-of-breed provider of end-to-end technologies and services for the quick service and fast casual restaurants. The company offers front-of-house solutions (i.e. Digital Menu Boards, Point-of-Sale (POS) and Order Confirmation Units); back-of-house solutions (Drive-Thru Director and Chef Kitchen Management); as well as above restaurant solutions (360 degrees Data Analytics and SEMS4 Restaurant Management) that are helping major restaurant chains around the globe to streamline their operations. SICOM has over 40,000 digital menu boards in operation worldwide, while its POS systems are in more than 6,500 restaurants worldwide and it has more than 10,000 restaurants leveraging its enterprise management systems globally. Founded in 1987, SICOM is headquartered in Doylestown, Pa. and can be found online at www.SICOM.com.

Contacts:

Karen Higgins

A&E Communications, Inc.

610-831-5723

Email Contact




HAIFA, Israel, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

INSIGHTEC congratulates Nicklaus Children's Hospital, part of the Miami Children's Health System, for performing the first focused ultrasound procedure on a 21-year old patient suffering seizures associated with a benign hypothalamic hamartoma brain tumor.

Hypothalamic hamartoma is a rare, benign (non-cancerous) brain tumor that can cause different types of seizures, cognitive problems or other symptoms. While the exact number of people with hypothalamic hamartomas is not known, it is estimated to occur inone out of 200,000 children and teenagers worldwide.

The medical team at Nicklaus Children's Hospital is performing MR-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) using the Exablate Neuro system as part of an FDA-approved feasibility study. The goal of the pilot study is to gather the preliminary safety profile of this incisionless ablative treatment for benign centrally-located intracranial tumors in pediatric and young adults. The MRgFUS procedure involves applying high energy ultrasound waves guided by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to heat and ablate the target tumor, without impacting the scalp, skull or surrounding healthy brain tissue.

The medical and research team at Nicklaus Children's is led by Dr. John Ragheb, Director of Division of Neurosurgery;Dr. Travis Tierney, Principal Investigator; Dr. Ian Miller, Director of Epilepsy Program;Dr. Sanjiv Bhatia, neurosurgeon; Dr. Nolan Altman, Director of Radiology; Dr. Prasanna Jayakar, Chairman of the Brain Institute at Nicklaus Children's Hospital; and Dr. Jennifer McCafferty, Director of Research, Miami Children's Research Institute.

"This breakthrough first procedure sets the stage for us to provide incisionless surgery for young patients with benign centrally-located brain tumors. Our team is encouraged by the potential of focused ultrasound technology to positively impact lives," said Prasanna Jayakar, MD, PhD, Chairman of the Brain Institute at Nicklaus Children's Hospital.

"We applaud the team at Nicklaus Children's for their commitment to treating children with various brain conditions. Their pioneering research with our MRgFUS technology offers hope that significant groups of pediatric patients will be able to undergo treatment without any surgical incision, minimizing or eliminating the risk of infection or other surgical complications," said Maurice R. Ferre MD, CEO and Chairman of INSIGHTEC.

"The needs of pediatric patients emphasize some of the important advantages of focused ultrasound. It is incisionless, avoids ionizing radiation, offers less risk of infection and disruption of adjacent normal tissue than surgery, and patients often return to normal activities within days," says Focused Ultrasound Foundation's Chief Medical Officer, Tim Meakem, MD. "These benefits are especially important in neurosurgery, and researchers around the world are investigating other areas where this innovative care could improve outcomes for patients of all ages.The Foundation congratulates the entire team of Nicklaus Children's Hospital and INSIGHTEC for this breakthrough achievement."

Funds for the study have been provided by the Focused Ultrasound Foundation. Regulatory sponsorship has been provided by INSIGHTEC.

To read the Nicklaus Children's Hospital press release, please click here .

About INSIGHTEC

INSIGHTEC is the world leader and innovator of MR-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS). The company's non-invasive therapy platforms, Exablate and Exablate Neuro, are proven technology based on sound clinical evidence for treating essential tremor, painful bone metastases and uterine fibroids. The company is dedicated to improving patient lives by collaborating with physicians, medical institutions, academic researchers and regulatory bodies around the world. For more information, please visit: http://www.insightec.com.

About Nicklaus Children's Hospital

Founded in 1950 by Variety Clubs International, Nicklaus Children's Hospital - part of Miami Children's Health System - is South Florida's only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children, with more than 740 attending physicians and over 220 pediatric subspecialists. The 289-bed hospital is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine with several specialty programs routinely ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. The hospital is also home to the largest pediatric teaching program in the southeastern United States and has been designated an American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet facility, the nursing profession's most prestigious institutional honor. For more information, please visithttp://www.nicklauschildrens.org.

About the Focused Ultrasound Foundation

The Focused Ultrasound Foundation was created to improve the lives of millions of people worldwide by accelerating the development of focused ultrasound, an early-stage, noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to transform the treatment of many serious medical disorders. The Foundation works to clear the path to global adoption by coordinating and funding research, fostering collaboration, and building awareness among patients and professionals. It is dedicated to ensuring that focused ultrasound finds its place as a mainstream therapy for a range of conditions within years, not decades. Since its establishment in 2006, the Foundation has become the largest non-governmental source of funding for focused ultrasound research. More information can be found at http://www.fusfoundation.org.

Media Contact:

Carolyn Tiernan

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry for INSIGHTEC

+1(617)237-0922 x 411

Insightec@rlyl.com


TORTOLA, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Atlas Mara Limited ("Atlas Mara", or "the Company") (LSE: ATMA), the sub-Saharan Africa financial services group, will be holding a conference call for investors in connection with the publication of its 1st Quarter Interim Management Statement ("IMS") at 10am EST / 3pm BST on 27 April 2017. Details for the conference call will be in the IMS announcement.

Atlas Mara also confirms that its Annual General Meeting will be held in New York City at 375 Park Avenue (21st floor), New York, NY, 10152, at 1pm EST on 31 May 2016.

About Atlas Mara

Atlas Mara Limited (LON: ATMA) is a financial services institution listed on the London Stock Exchange. Its vision is to create sub-Saharan Africa's premier financial services institution through organic and inorganic growth by combining the best of global institutional knowledge with extensive local insights. With a presence in seven sub-Saharan countries, Atlas Mara aims to be a positive disruptive force in the markets in which we operate by leveraging technology to provide innovative and differentiated product offerings, excellent customer service and accelerate financial inclusion in the countries in which the Company operates. For more information, visit www.atlasmara.com.

Contacts

Investors

John-Paul Crutchley

+971 4275 6000

Kojo Dufu

+1 212 883 4330



Media

Teneo Blue Rubicon

+44 (20) 7260 2700

Anthony Silverman




Regulatory News:

Gecina (Paris:GFC) has signed a preliminary agreement to acquire an office building on 145 rue de Courcelles, in Paris' Central Business District, for 63 million euros excluding duties. This operation will be subject to the standard suspensive conditions.

This asset offers highly complementary features alongside the adjacent building "Le Banville", which is already owned by Gecina, opening up possibilities for extensive synergies.

Acquisition in line with the Group's strategy

This acquisition is aligned with Gecina's strategy, aimed at further strengthening its exposure to the Paris Region's most central sectors, where there are growing signs of a rental market upturn. The vacancy rate in Paris' CBD is close to an all-time low, while the current shortage of quality properties in Paris City supports Gecina's confidence in its strategic choices, particularly in terms of rotating its portfolio and positioning its project pipeline.

Meka Brunel, Chief Executive Officer: "The quality of this building's location and its effective fit with one of the assets already owned by the Group are perfectly aligned with our strategy, aiming to further strengthen Gecina's exposure to the Paris Region's most central business sectors, targeting value creation for our shareholders."

Gecina, a leading real estate group

Gecina owns, manages and develops property holdings worth 12.1 billion euros at end-2016, with nearly 97% located in the Paris Region. The Group is building its business around France's leading office portfolio and a diversification division with residential assets and student residences. Gecina has put sustainable innovation at the heart of its strategy to create value, anticipate its customers' expectations and invest while respecting the environment, thanks to the dedication and expertise of its staff.

Gecina is a French real estate investment trust (SIIC) listed on Euronext Paris, and is part of the SBF 120, Euronext 100, FTSE4Good, DJSI Europe and World, Stoxx Global ESG Leaders and Vigeo indices. In line with its commitments to the community, Gecina has created a company foundation, which is focused on protecting the environment and supporting all forms of disability.

www.gecina.fr

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420006221/en/

Contacts:

GECINA CONTACTS

Financial communications

Samuel Henry-Diesbach, +33 (0)1 40 40 52 22

samuelhenry-diesbach@gecina.fr

or

Virginie Sterling, +33 (0)1 40 40 62 48

virginiesterling@gecina.fr

or

Press relations

Brigitte Cachon, +33 (0)1 40 40 62 45

brigittecachon@gecina.fr

or

Armelle Miclo, +33 (0)1 40 40 51 98

armellemiclo@gecina.fr
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- VANC Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSX VENTURE: VANC)(OTCQB: NUVPD) ("VANC" or the "Company"), a pharmaceutical company focused on the Canadian generic drug and over-the-counter (the "OTC") markets is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Alan Arnstein to VANC's Board of Directors.

"We are delighted to have Mr. Arnstein join our company and believe it is a vote of confidence on our long term strategic plan," stated Mr. Bob Rai, CEO. "I have known and worked with Alan for many years as he developed the Medicine Shoppe brand for the Katz Group of Companies. Mr. Arnstein's business relationships in the pharmacy will be an important asset as we build out VANC's product offerings to the Canadian pharmacy industry," concluded Mr. Rai.

Mr. Arnstein previously worked for the Katz Group Canada where he oversaw the development of the Medicine Shoppe from 28 stores to 175 stores (corporate and franchised) before the successful sale to McKesson Canada. Mr. Arnstein also was very involved in expanding the Rexall pharmacy brand across Canada including responsibility for acquiring and consolidating independent pharmacies under the Rexall banner. Mr. Arnstein has played and continues to play an active role in real estate projects including the leasing of the Ice District next to Rogers Place in downtown Edmonton, an estimated $5.5B project.

"On behalf of the VANC board of directors, I want to say how pleased we are to have someone of Alan's experience joining our board," commented Mr. David Hall, Board Chair. "Beginning this past year we have embarked on a new strategic program to bring innovative and value-added products and services to pharmacies in Canada. Alan's two decade executive experience with one of Canada's most successful pharmacy chains and his historical relationships in our industry will be invaluable to our growth," concluded Mr. Hall.

"I am delighted to be joining VANC at this early stage such that I might bring my years of experience and personal relationships to bear on the new strategic pathway of the company," stated Mr. Arnstein. "Pharmacists are hungry for new value added products and services that VANC is bringing to the market place and I am pleased to be part of this growing team," concluded Mr. Arnstein.

On behalf of:

VANC Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Bob Rai

Chief Executive Officer

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves VANC's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. VANC generally uses words such as "outlook," "will," "could," "would," "might," "remains," "to be," "plans," "believes," "may," "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "estimate," "future," "plan," "positioned," "potential," "project," "remain," "scheduled," "set to," "subject to," "upcoming," and similar expressions to help identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to VANC as of the date of this release, and VANC assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of VANC and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

VANC Pharmaceuticals Inc.

T: +1 604 687 2038

F: +1 604 687 3141

E: info@vancpharm.com

W: www.vancpharm.com




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The House's Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which oversees aviation policy, has scheduled a hearing to probe on the incident on United Airlines' Flight 3411. United Airlines made news last week after it forcibly removed a passenger from one of its overbooked flights to make place for a crew member. 'Flight 3411 has prompted a lot of discussion, and we share many of the concerns being raised,' the company said in emailed comments. 'We look forward to meeting with the committee and sharing with them the comprehensive review and the customer-focused actions we will communicate.' The panel's chairman, Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., and top Democrat, Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, jointly announced their plan Wednesday. Dr. David Dao was dragged from an United Airlines flight after he refused to give up his seat to a crew member on an overbooked flight. According to Dao's lawyer, the 69-year-old suffered a broken nose, concussion and other injuries. A public outrage started last week after a video showing Dao screaming and bleeding from the mouth as officers physically dragged him off the flight. United said it is reviewing the circumstances that led to the forcible removal of Dr. David Dao by Chicago aviation police officers on April 9. United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz apologized on 'Good Morning America for incident. 'This can never - will never - happen again on a United Airlines flight,' he said. 'That's my premise and that's my promise.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
DENVER, CO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/23/17 -- FutureLand Corp (OTCQB: FUTL), a dynamic growth company in the cannabis sector, announced today that its CEO, Cameron Cox, is planning a site visit to Groovy Groves LLC in Grants Pass, Oregon, from May 20 - May 25th.

"We have reached a critical juncture in our planting process, and are working closely with the Oregon Licensing Commission to ensure that we are producing only the best quality strains of cannabis we can, given the unique climate in Grants Pass, Oregon. We will be starting the cloning process and meeting with the licensing board to determine their criteria for passing inspection of our product."

According to the Koppen climate classification system, Grants Pass has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate, with dry and hot summer days, dramatic cooling at night, and an average August high temperature of 88.8 degrees F. Winters are cool and rainy; the average January high temperature is 46.6 degrees F. Grants Pass' rainy season occurs between November and March, receiving roughly 31 inches rainfall per year. The mild winters and dry summers strongly support the cultivation of cannabis, which is why Futureland Corp's (FUTL) partner, Groovy Groves LLC, chose to locate there.

FutureLand Corp (FUTL) is a land acquisition and management company for cannabis and hemp growing operations. It specializes in uniquely zoned properties, financing, target acquisition, licensing, site plan preparation, and development of grow facilities in legal recreational cannabis states, i.e. Colorado and Oregon.

Futureland Corp (FUTL) also recognizes the importance of partnerships to leverage the knowledge of local regulations in a rapidly changing industry. Here are the Oregon partners Futureland Corp (FUTL) is working with:

HSPendelton, LLC is an Oregon-based high-end construction company, leveraging its land assets and 25 years of experience to work with Futureland Corp (FUTL) in the cannabis industry.

Groovy Groves, LLC is a state-wide Oregon grower focusing on developing exceptionally high quality cannabis strains for the medical, recreational and pharmaceutical industries.

HempTech Corp provides cultivation automation and analytics for better and consistent yield.

About FutureLand Corp.

FutureLand Corp., a Colorado company, is a cannabis and hemp specialty zoned land leasing company formed to capitalize upon the emerging global cannabis market. FutureLand, focuses on target acquisition, zoning, license fulfillment, site plan preparation and financing of cannabis or hemp grow facilities throughout the United States. We give growers the opportunity to grow. We monetize through leasing the land, leasing the structures on the land, financing interest revenue and management fees associated with cultivation centers. FutureLand retains ownership of all the land and the structures. FutureLand leases to both medical marijuana, retail marijuana as well as industrial hemp growers. FutureLand does not currently grow, distribute or sell marijuana. To request further information about FutureLand, please email us at info@futurelandcorp.com, log onto our website at http://www.futurelandcorp.com, or visit us on FB @futurelandcorp and Twitter @futurelandcorp.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This press release may contain forward-looking statements covered within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, plans and timing for the introduction or enhancement of our services and products, statements about future market conditions, supply and demand conditions, and other expectations, intentions and plans contained in this press release that are not historical fact and involve risks and uncertainties. Our expectations regarding future revenues depend upon our ability to develop and supply products and services that we may not produce today and that meet defined specifications. When used in this press release, the words "plan," "expect," "believe," and similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current expectations. They are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, changes in technology and changes in pervasive markets. This release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 27E of the Securities Act of 1934. Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Actual performance and results may differ materially from that projected or suggested herein due to certain risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, ability to obtain financing and regulatory and shareholder approval for anticipated actions.

Media Contact:

FutureLand Corp.

http://www.futurelandcorp.com

info@futurelandcorp.com

cox@futurelandcorp.com

(720) 370-3554

Twitter - @futurelandcorp

Facebook - futurelandcorp




WEST CHESTER, OH -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) said today that the company supports the Administration's decision to initiate a Section 232 investigation on the threats to our country's national security due to unfair and illegal trade practices by foreign producers importing steel products into the United States.

"We commend the President for the actions he is taking today by launching this investigation into the effects of unfair steel imports," said Roger K. Newport, AK Steel Chief Executive Officer. "We are hopeful that this action on behalf of our Administration will help us and other steel producers in America compete on an even playing field in all of our markets, and sustain our jobs here in the United States."

AK Steel is the only company producing carbon, stainless and electrical steels in North America today. Furthermore, the company is also the sole remaining producer of electrical steel in America. "AK Steel particularly feels the ongoing impact of unfair electrical steel imports flooding our market," said Mr. Newport. "We cannot allow our nation's electrical grid, which is a critical part of the nation's infrastructure and vital to America's national security interests, to be dependent on foreign electrical steel, particularly in the event of a natural disaster or other crisis," he said.

Mr. Newport and leaders of other steel companies in America joined President Trump at the White House today for the Administration's announcement. AK Steel looks forward to working with the Administration through this process.

AK Steel

AK Steel AK Steel is a leading producer of flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steel products, and carbon and stainless tubular products, primarily for automotive, infrastructure and manufacturing, electrical power generation and distribution markets. Headquartered in West Chester, Ohio (Greater Cincinnati), the company employs approximately 8,500 men and women at eight steel plants, two coke plants, and two tube manufacturing plants across six states (Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia) and one tube plant in Mexico. Additional information about AK Steel is available at www.aksteel.com.

Contacts:

Media

Lisa H. Jester

Corporate Manager, Communications and Public Relations

(513) 425-2510



Investors

Douglas O. Mitterholzer

General Manager, Investor Relations

(513) 425-5215




MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- Fresche Solutions, a leading provider of IBM i application management and modernization solutions, was recognized today as one of Montreal's Top Employers. This is the third year in a row that Fresche has been chosen as one of the most employee-friendly and forward-thinking companies in the region. Fresche does all of the following and more for employees:

-- Recognizes exceptional performance through a number of initiatives including on-the-spot awards, peer-to-peer recognition and long-service awards. -- Provides a flexible working model, giving employees the ability to work from home. -- Helps employees understand how they are contributing to company success, values their work and helps them really make a difference. -- Provides opportunities for employees to keep their skills sharp through a variety of in-house training programs, tuition subsidies for job- related courses and subsidies for professional accreditation.

Maria Anzini, Vice President of Talent Acquisition at Fresche, commented that "being chosen multiple consecutive years shows that Fresche takes employee satisfaction to heart. We qualified as a top employer by providing a wide variety of benefits, flexible working conditions and numerous opportunities for growth to our employees. We also go out of our way to recognize and reward achievement. When you appreciate your employees and give them room to grow, they like where they work, and they transmit their enthusiasm to customers. Fresche continues to be a place where people are happy to arrive in the morning.

We're especially proud of the opportunities for growth that we provide to our employees. They have numerous options to help them learn, stay current and develop new skills. We're always looking for ways to innovate; we know that growth is the key to employee satisfaction and we want to encourage it any way we can. Fresche grew significantly this year and is now the largest vendor in the IBM i space, second only to IBM itself, so opportunities for advancement are available in every department."

No matter where you are in your career, if you are enthusiastic and ready for growth, Fresche is a place where you can make a significant contribution - no matter your location. We have been chosen one of Montreal's Top Employers, but our benefits and philosophy extend worldwide to our many Fresche offices. Our diversified cultures around the world are a vital part of our success.

About Montreal's Top Employers Program

Now entering its eleventh year, Montreal's Top Employers is an annual competition organized by the editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers. This special designation recognizes the Montreal-area employers that lead their industries in offering exceptional places to work. Employers are evaluated by the editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers using the same eight criteria as the national competition: (1) Physical Workplace; (2) Work Atmosphere & Social; (3) Health, Financial & Family Benefits; (4) Vacation & Time Off; (5) Employee Communications; (6) Performance Management; (7) Training & Skills Development; and (8) Community Involvement. Employers are compared to other organizations in their field to determine which offers the most progressive and forward-thinking programs.

About Fresche Solutions

Fresche helps IBM i customers meet all their challenges. As a leading expert in IBM i, we provide products and services that span the complete IBM i application modernization and management spectrum. We enable IT with modernization strategies to support business and improve financial performance, increase market competitiveness, remove risk and add business value. With the widest solution portfolio in the IBM i marketplace and 100% referenceability, our team of experts helps organizations future-proof their business by modernizing business processes, technologies and applications. Companies running RPG, COBOL, CA 2E SYNON and Java applications rely on us for comprehensive, automated solutions that optimize IBM i systems and help take advantage of technologies such as Web, Mobile, Cloud and RPGOA on IBM i. Our complete portfolio includes solutions in the following areas:

-- GUI, Web & Mobile -- Analysis & Productivity -- Staff Augmentation -- Code & Database Modernization -- IT Strategy & Planning -- Reporting & Document Distribution

For more information about our company, visit us on the web at www.freschesolutions.com

Twitter

LinkedIn

Facebook

Contacts:

Fresche Solutions

Christine McDowell

Marketing Director

Tel: +1 514.747.7007

Cell:+1 514.220.1309

Christine.mcdowell@freschelegacy.com




At Lydian skills to persuade are more important than professional experience

During the meeting in Gndevaz held on the 6th of April, Lydian companys specialist from South Africa, metallurgical manager John Fourie announced that cyanide heap leach facility will be completely safe, so safe that it can be located even in the center of Yerevan. He mentioned that he worked in towns which had larger population than Gndevaz and were located closer to cyanide heap leach facility, while in some communities roads were laid through mine sites. He also mentioned that he himself lived next to such facilities and that there is no need for sanitary zone suggested by Gndevaz residents. We have already covered about the dangers of cyanide heap leach facilities both in our interviews with experts (interview with chemical/environmental engineer Harout Bronozian on risks of Amulsar gold mine project), as well as in our own researches (for example, the case of 2 tons of cyanide leak in Kumtor mine in Kyrgyzstan). Moreover, John Fouries home country  South Africa today has serious problems such as acid mine drainage caused by gold mining there. It pollutes water resources of the country threatening agriculture and health of the locals. We have already covered about acid mine drainage (using this source). Interestingly, the same way as John Fourie persuades Gndevazers on complete safety of cyanide heap leach facility, Lydian companys director Hayk Aloyan as well assures that Amulsar mine is not sulphidic, which is by the way the main reason of acid mine drainage. That said, verbally both Fourie and Aloyan and their team are doing their best to persuade everybody that they are right, while experts who based on research insist on the opposite (like Dr. in Geological Sciences, professor Armen Saghatelyan confirms existence of sulphides in Amulsar) are wrong. It is not surprising that metallurgical management is thus entrusted to John Fourie, as it seems that at Lydian skills to persuade are more important than experience. According to John Fouries specialization profile, in Johannesburg he studied Journalism and Anthropology. Later (or parallel to studies) he served at Royal Marines (British Armed Forces). After that he chose the path of chemical engineering. First he worked as environmental engineer, specializing in environmental impact assessments (EIA). Later, starting from 2011 he worked in the field of design and construction of chemical processing plants and unit operations. If we take into account that John Fourie started studying and working in the field of chemical sciences since 2010-2011 (as one can see in his specialization profile), turns out that Lydian companys management is ready to trust such a serious work to someone with around 7 years of experience, while it doesnt care what conclusions specialists with longer experience may have and as long as these conclusions do not represent Lydians interests, these conclusions are therefore utterly wrong. One wonders how John Fourie would respond to risks regarding acid mine drainage in Amulsar taking into account the presence of sulphids there. Would he insist on complete safety of the mine and no possibility of acid mine drainage similarly to mining experience in his home country? Note that in 2003 in lake Robinson, near one of the biggest cities of South Africa  Johannesburg, uranium levels were 40.000 times above uranium levels in natural water, after a local gold mine pumped decanting acid mine drainage into the lake. Moreover, the gold mine has polluted the water, soil and air of the nearby communities with heavy metals, including with uranium. Every day about 40-million litres of acid mine drainage coming from the mine is leaking into a nearby stream (Tweelopiespruit), which already has the name of acid stream. The polluted water level in the Central Basin has been rising with more than 0.9 meter per day and is expected to reach the surface within 12-18 months, risking contamination of the Johannesburg groundwater (source). In 2011 the government had to set aside an estimated 87 million US dollars to clean up acidic water. Since 2002, 15 million litres of acid mine drainage a day has been spilling out from an abandoned mine near the town of Krugersdorp, some of it going into a stream that flows toward the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. Already in 2010 acid mine drainage was detected at the Heritage site threatening its existence. According to scientists estimate, the volume of acid mine drainage from abandoned mines in these goldfields could reach 350 million liters per day, this way threatening the Vaal River and Limpopo River watersheds that supply freshwater to hundreds of thousands of people. They also mention that the problem will likely persist for decades, if not centuries. And this is despite the warnings from the scientific community back in 1950s. The South African government only recently established a committee to investigate acid mine drainage, after it reached the Cradle of Humankind. In 2010, the technical task force of the committee announced that acid mine drainage has contaminated groundwater used by humans and for agriculture, threatens major river systems of the region, and has increased seismic activity (as the subterranean hydrology adjusts to the influx of water). The government had to budget funding to implement some preliminary remediation efforts by 2012. However, the full cleanup will cost billions, while little real progress has been seen so far. Many say the action will be too little, too late. Nearly 400 square kilometers of tailing dumps are scattered in, around and under the city of Johannesburg. The dumps contain waste rock, pyrite and thousands of tons of uranium dust (source). Of course based on the above photo, where acid mine drainage is passing near the residential areas, one can believe John Fouries words according to which cyanide heap leach facility too can be located close to communities or in the heart of the capital city. However, the question is to what extent the communities near it will be affected, which as we guess might not be of much concern to specialists like John Fourie and Hayk Aloyan. Armenian Environmental Front (AEF) civil initiative
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/20/17 -- BioSyent Inc. ("BioSyent") (TSX VENTURE: RX) is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, BioSyent Pharma Inc. ("BioSyent Pharma"), has extended its License, Distribution and Supply Agreement with its European partner, Pharmazeutische Fabrik Montavit Ges.m.b.H., which gives BioSyent Pharma exclusive Canadian rights to the Cathejell Jelly 2% product until March 31, 2024.

"Cathejell is a product well-suited to our strategy and urology portfolio" commented Rene Goehrum, President and CEO of BioSyent. "Since we launched the product in Canada in 2012, we have consistently grown sales of this brand by double digits each year. We look forward to further brand growth while we serve our hospital and urology customers with this unique and differentiated product."

About Cathejell Jelly 2%

Cathejell Jelly 2% combines a sterile gel with lidocaine in a unique collapsible applicator syringe to ease patient discomfort for a range of medical procedures. Cathejell Jelly 2% is indicated for surface anesthesia and lubrication for various procedures including male and female cystoscopies, catheterizations and other endourethral operations, endoscopies, proctoscopies, rectoscopies and tracheal intubations. Cathejell Jelly 2% can also be used for the symptomatic treatment of pain in connection with cystitis and urethritis.

About BioSyent Inc.

Listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol "RX", BioSyent is a profitable growth-oriented specialty pharmaceutical company focused on in-licensing or acquiring innovative pharmaceutical and other healthcare products that have been successfully developed, are safe and effective, and have a proven track record of improving the lives of patients. BioSyent supports the healthcare professionals that treat these patients by marketing its products through its community, hospital and international business units.

As of the date of this press release, the Company has 14,472,453 shares issued and outstanding.

For a direct market quote (15 minutes delay) for the TSX Venture Exchange and other Company financial information please visit www.tmxmoney.com.

This press release may contain information or statements that are forward-looking. The contents herein represent our judgment, as at the release date, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results or outcomes to be materially different from the forward-looking information or statements. Potential risks may include, but are not limited to, those associated with clinical trials, product development, future revenue, operations, profitability and obtaining regulatory approvals.

The TSX Venture Exchange assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of this release and neither approves nor disapproves of the same.

Contacts:

Mr. Rene C. Goehrum

President and CEO

BioSyent Inc.

(905) 206-0013

investors@biosyent.com

www.biosyent.com




MUMBAI, April 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Aspect Software, a leading and award-winning provider of fully-integrated consumer engagement, workforce optimization, and back-office solutions, has announced the appointment of Manish Bajaj as the Country Manager - India and Middle East. In his new role, Manish will be responsible for the growth and expansion of the overall business operations at Aspect for India and the Middle East region. He will have a strategic focus on maintaining the growth momentum in the region, strengthening engagement with large System Integrator companies and creating newer growth avenues by introducing Aspect's cloud solutions in the region.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140922/706625-a )

Speaking on the appointment, Jagannath Narendran, Senior Vice President, Asia and Middle East, Aspect Software, said, "Manish is a visionary with great leadership skills and vast industry knowledge that can take Aspect into its next orbit of growth in the region." He further added, "Having worked with Manish for over a year has given us confidence to give him this critical role of leading Aspect's business in one of the fastest growing markets, with a huge untapped potential."

Manish brings in over two decades of leadership experience in sales, business development and partner management. During his tenure in his previous organizations, he has built and managed high performance consultative teams, strong channels and scaled operations, delivering revenue and profit growth in a competitive market. Manish has been at the helm of leadership positions in leading technology companies including Teradata and Genesys.

Manish Bajaj, Country Manager, India and Middle East, Aspect Software, commented on the promotion, "It is exciting to be part of a company that is constantly innovating and I am pleased to receive an opportunity to lead it. Thanks to the broad solutions portfolio and strong partner ecosystem, Aspect has been on a consistent growth mark globally, including India and Middle East. I am confident that my deep knowledge of the India region will help strengthen the Aspect's presence in the region, and contribute towards the growth. In this new role, I look forward to define a new standard for market-leading customer engagement solutions."

About Aspect

Aspect helps enterprises break down the walls between people, processes, systems and data sources, allowing organizations to unite around the customer journey. By developing fully nativeinteraction management,workforce optimizationandself-servicecapabilities within a single customer engagement center, we enable dynamic, conversational interactions and create a truly frictionless omni-channel customer experience. Leveraging the agility of ourworldwide cloud infrastructureand over 40 years of industry ingenuity, Aspect conveniently and easily connects questions to answers while helping enterprises keep service levels high and operational costs contained.

For more information, visithttp://www.aspect.com/in.

Follow Aspect on Twitter at@AspectSoftware.

Read our blogs athttp://blogs.aspect.com.



Media Contacts

Shailendra Tanwar

Head Marketing-India and Middle East

Aspect

+91-9930134118

shailendra.tanwar@aspect.com

Perfect Relations

Rddhima Pillai

+91-8976670737

rddhima@perfectrelations.com

Kevin George

+91-9769151042

kevin.george@perfectrelations.com


TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Altus Group Limited ("Altus Group" or "the Company") (TSX: AIF) a leading provider of independent advisory services, software and data solutions to the global commercial real estate industry, released today final voting results from its 2016 annual and special meeting of shareholders held on April 24, 2017 in Toronto, Ontario. A total of 27,347,826 common shares were represented at the meeting, representing 72.06% of the 37,948,863 issued and outstanding common shares.

Each of the nominees proposed for election as listed in the Company's Management Information Circular dated March 15, 2017, was elected as a director by a majority of votes to serve until the next annual meeting or until their successors are elected or appointed.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name of Nominee Votes For % Votes Withheld % ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert G. Courteau 26,995,736 99.94 17,253 0.06 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anthony Gaffney 26,162,648 96.85 850,341 3.15 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diane MacDiarmid 26,145,665 96.79 867,324 3.21 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Janet Woodruff 26,991,247 99.92 21,742 0.08 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eric W. Slavens 26,950,310 99.77 62,679 0.23 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Raymond C. Mikulich 26,163,458 96.86 849,531 3.14 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carl Farrell 26,994,832 99.93 18,157 0.07 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Angela Brown 26,991,997 99.92 20,992 0.08 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The resolutions with respect to the appointment of the Company's auditor, Ernst & Young LLP, and to approve the Company's new long-term incentive plan, as described in the Company's Management Information Circular, were also approved.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Votes Withheld Other Resolutions Votes For % or Against % ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Appointment of 27,262,619 99.70 81,095 0.30 Auditors (Ernst & Young LLP) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Approval of a new 25,134,611 93.05 1,878,378 6.95 long-term incentive plan ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

About Altus Group Limited

Altus Group Limited is a leading provider of independent advisory services, software and data solutions to the global commercial real estate industry. Our businesses, Altus Analytics and Altus Expert Services, reflect decades of experience, a range of expertise, and technology-enabled capabilities. Our solutions empower clients to analyze, gain insight and recognize value on their real estate investments. Headquartered in Canada, we have approximately 2,300 employees around the world, with operations in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Our clients include some of the world's largest real estate industry participants across a variety of sectors. Altus Group pays a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share and our shares are traded on the TSX under the symbol AIF.

For more information on Altus Group, please visit: www.altusgroup.com.

Contacts:

Altus Group Limited

Camilla Bartosiewicz

Vice President, Investor Relations

(416) 641-9773

camilla.bartosiewicz@altusgroup.com




SAN DIEGO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/23/17 -- Vet Online Supply, Inc. (OTC PINK: VTNL) (the Company) announces the website launch of their retail sales after an 18 month planning for product branding.

Matt Scott, Director, stated, "VTNL will spin out its business processing outsourcing segment under Concord as a part of owning its own brand of products. Concord provides outsourcing of products. We believe that Concord is burdened with under-earning contracts it can renegotiate or exit. The company is progressing into the cannabis product market for pets pursuant with positive feedback from the industry relative to the proper use of CBD products as a replacement for more toxic prescription synthetic medications currently prescribed in the industry."

The company has currently applied for the OTC-QB and Morning Star rating as it is compliant with the qualifications and guidelines.

Mr. Scott further stated, "VTNL is structured to create annual revenue of $10M over the next 24 months in providing the $38B industry with value priced, superior quality products. The company is creating its own brand of private label surgical products which will allow our company a footprint in owning our first brand label products in this industry."

ABOUT VET ONLINE SUPPLY:

Vet Online Supply, Inc. is a US based online retail reseller of premium veterinary supplies. The goal of "Vet Online Supply" is to provide the $38B industry with value priced, superior quality products. Vet Online Supply sources our products through Concord Veterinary Supply. Concord, established in 1999, is now one of Canada's largest, independent suppliers of veterinary surgical and dental instruments.

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements: This news release includes forward-looking statements. While these statements are made to convey to the public the company's progress, business opportunities and growth prospects, readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements represent management's opinion. Whereas management believes such representations to be true and accurate based on information and data available to the company at this time, actual results may differ materially from those described. The Company's operations and business prospects are always subject to risk and uncertainties. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ are and will be set forth in the company's periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact:



Art Brent

VTNL@StockVest.com

(407) 518-0010




Nauta Capital, a pan-european venture capital firm, closed its 2016 vintage fund, at $170M.

The fund, which brings Nautas total assets under management (AUM) to $350m, has received support by a group of international investors, based in the UK, Continental Europe, Latin America and China including leading Institutions (Fund of Funds, Financial Institutions, Insurance Companies, Endowments and Government agencies) and large Family Offices.

The vehicle, which backs highly capital efficient Series-A Software propositions, has already invested in 8 companies to date:

 3 in the UK and Ireland (CloudIQ, BeMyEye and ChannelSight),

 3 in Spain (Nextail, Geoblink and Lodgify) and

 2 in the Boston area (Content Raven and Connected2Fiber).

The firm plans to invest in approximately 25 companies out of this fund.

Led by Dominic Endicott, Carles Ferrer, Daniel Sanchez, and Jordi Vinas, Nauta Capital is one of the most active early stage venture investors in Europe with a pan-european approach. Areas of interest include B2B software, disruptive digital media and enabling technologies for mobile and the internet. With offices in London, Barcelona and Boston, Nauta has a team of 20 executives across its locations.

To date, the firm has led investments in 40+ companies out its previous funds including Brandwatch, Fizzback, GreatCall, Eyeview Digital, Scytl, Basekit, ForceManager, Marfeel, Getapp, Incrowd, Privalia and Social Point.

FinSMEs

20/04/2017
ZappRx, Inc., a Boston, MA-based digital health company focused on expediting the specialty drug prescribing process, closed a $25m Series B funding round.

The round was led by Qiming US Healthcare Fund, a venture capital firm based in Seattle that is part of Qiming Venture Partners, with participation from SR One and GV (formerly Google Ventures). As part of the financing, Mark McDade, Managing Partner at Qiming US, will join ZappRxs Board of Directors.

This investment will help accelerate commercialization of its product to academic medical centers and large multi-specialty practices in the US.

Led by Founder and CEO Zoe Barry, ZappRx provides a cloud-based collaborative platform that allows patients, physicians and pharmacists to work together to improve access to treatment, enabling providers who treat complex conditions in categories like oncology, pulmonology, rheumatology, neurology and gastroenterology to focus more on patient care delivering medicine faster and less on the paperwork required for getting patients on therapy.

FinSMEs

20/04/2017
The recent Supreme Court decision to ban sale of liquor within 500 metres of national and state highways, besides several states considering enforcing a complete ban on sale of liquor has put liquor guzzlers in a spot.

Not just that, standing in a serpentine queue of a liquor shop to get their hands on their favorite drink or waiting tirelessly outside a restaurant-cum-bar, too, has become a major irritant for several liquor consumers.

But, there's a good news for those who want to get sloshed as technology is beginning to make their life easier.

According to a report, the RBI-licensed mobile wallet app called HipBar app is helping consumers tide over curbs on availability of sale of liquor.

Currently operational in Bengaluru, users can download this app and pay for their favourite liquor brands, which in turn will store the bottles on the cloud. Later, the users can redeem it at any local retail stores, restaurants and bars which are part of the platform, a Times of India report said.

Founded by Prasanna Natarajan from Chennai, it has several global liquor brands on its platform. In Bengaluru, the startup has over 50 retail stores and around 30 bars as part of its network.

"Apart from covering a network of establishments that sell or serve alcohol, we also act as a discovery platform, where our 80,000 plus consumers can find an array of liquor brands. It is increasingly becoming difficult for someone to have a drink at their convenience. In some states, people stand in a queue for about 4 hours to get their hands on one bottle," TOI report said quoting Prasanna Natarajan.

The app is not only gaining acceptance in Bengaluru, but several people across the country are already downloading the app even though the company is yet to expand in other cities.

The HipBar app has witnessed daily bookings worth Rs 1.5-2 lakh on weekdays which rises sharply during weekends. The app, however, undergoes strict KYC (know your customer) details of users for age validation purpose.

Not just HipBar, there are several other startups like Mumbai-based HipCask that offers a beer passport to consumers, which allows them to select offers at a particular price within a specified period, the report says.
What will the future of Indian IT industry be with regard to US President Donald Trump's latest directive on the H-1B visa issue? On Tuesday, Trump tightened the rules of the H-1B visa programme to stop its "abuse" and ensure that the visas are given to the "most-skilled or highest paid" petitioners. Since Trump took office in January this year, the H-1B visa has been a focal point of discussion and has come in for a three-pronged attack from the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. What will be the future of Indian IT workers in the US? A number of questions have been thrown up following Trump's latest action. Shivendra Singh, global trade development head at the National Association of Software and services Companies (Nasscom) decodes Trump's directive on the H-1B visa issue and what it means for the Indian IT sector.

Excerpts from an interview:

What does the new H-1B visa rules mean for the Indian IT industry?

The executive order that US president Donald Trump is talking about has been there for some time. In Trumps slogan of Buy American, Hire American, our focus is on the latter. Trump has shared his views on the visa program and how the US needs to sort this issue.

There will be a change in the lottery system in order to protect American jobs. The lottery system is where every year about 65,000 applications are randomly selected from a pool of over 200,000 applications. The selected and approved applicants are granted H-1B visas. What is being proposed is giving jobs based on wage levels when awarding visas. All companies file for the current lottery system which opened for on 3 April and closed on 17 April. It was closed as the administration felt that since 199,000 applications had come in, that was enough for the lottery.

The assumption of the companies that filing more than one application will help them get more visas. The administration has said that the visa application system should be based on wage scale which will be defined and given to highest wage level first, etc.

In terms of skill sets, it is very difficult to define what a company needs. A Ph.D in computer science or a graduate who is also an Artifical Intelligence expert. How do you define who the company needs? It will be a huge challenge for a federal diplomat to define technical requirements of a company. You cannot define that in a fast paced world where technology is moving at a faster pace.

Do Indian nationals take away a large chunk of US jobs?

I would say this is a misconception. In terms of the Indian IT industry, Indian nationals get 71 percent H-1B visa of the 65,000 applications. It means that it is a clear testimony that Indian nationals have relevant skill sets needed by companies. The model followed by Indian, US and other global companies are the same. Indian nationals are hired by American companies because of the skills they possess.

Of the top 20 users of H-1B visas, 14 are given to US and French companies and only six to Indian companies. This perception that Indians take away all the jobs is wrong. Indian nationals are in demand in the US because of the skills they have. The Indian IT industry is a net creator of jobs in the US. We support nearly half a million jobs in the US, in addition to which we work with 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies. A lot of them being US companies, we help them grow and create jobs in the US.

Indians, US and other global companies follow global delivery models. All hire locally. The US Department of Labour estimates that there will be about 2.4 million unfilled STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) jobs by 2018. Of these 50 percent will be in IT and ITes-related fields. This skill gap is bridged by bringing in skilled people on H-1B visa by Indian, US companies and the rest alike. It is this team of talented professionals that make Corporate America successful.

What does Indian IT sector have to worry about since Trump has asked for the various government departments to suggest reforms?

We will have to see the fine print and how it is formulated. There are regional wage differences in the US. A professional with the same qualifications and years of experience will be paid differently in the Silicon Valley and any other state in the US. The regional variation in salaries will have to be looked to. A number of changes that are being proposed will also require legislations.

Will the insistence of hiring locals have detrimental impact on the Indian IT staff? How much will this decision impact the bottomlines considering the sector is already faced with multiple challenges?

The fact is Indian companies are looking at hiring locally. Some Indian firms have spoken about creating local training centres to ensure that they are able to optimise local hiring. It is not cheap to bring H-1B employees. It costs the company $10,000 per person on a H-1B visa and there is a lot of paperwork that goes into it. Staff are taken on H-1B visas to bridge skill gaps in the US and this has worked successfully for the clients, too. We are fine with any moves to adjudicate and investigate H-1B visas as long as the rule is applied universally to all countries.

What will happen to existing Indian IT staff who are posted in the US?

They will continue to be there.

How does Nasscom propose to safeguard the sector and also comply with Trump governments suggestions?

We were there in February-March and met Congress, administration and people across board like stakeholders and continued to highlight the changes and value proposition and the roles played by H-1B visas. We also spend a lot of money on Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives to promote skill learning. If the bilateral trade is US $100 billion and has to go up to US $500 billion, technology has to play an important role which is acknowledged by both India and the US. We must have a level playing field.
Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights

Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh

Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom

Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union

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Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector

STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH

SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

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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".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan
New Delhi: The oil ministry has denounced the decision of a section of petrol pump operators, mostly in South India, to keep outlets shut on Sundays, saying such a move will inconvenience the general public.

It took umbrage at the Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers using Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal of not using fuel for a day to help cut India's import dependence, saying it was aimed at conserving fuel and not for petrol pump owners to remain shut.

Already, the All India Petroleum Dealers Association, which claims to represent 80 percent of the 53,224 petrol pumps of public sector oil firms, has said it is not participating in the closure exercise.

Southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, parts of Karnataka -- mostly around Bengaluru -- and some areas of Maharashtra, especially Mumbai, may see petrol pump owners down their shutters on Sundays beginning May 14 to press for higher commission on petrol and diesel they sell.

"@PetroleumMin neither endorses nor approves of move by a small section of dealers to keep their petrol pumps closed on Sundays," the ministry said in a series of tweets.

Such closure, it said, "by a small section of dealers will lead to inconvenience for the general public".

The tweets, which were retweeted by Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, also stated that major dealer associations are not participating in the closure.

"Major dealers' federations have clarified that they don't endorse any closure of petrol pumps on any day," a tweet went.

On the issue of Modi's slogan, the ministry said, "The Prime Minister in #MannKiBaat appealed to People of India not to use fuel once a week and not to dealers to close their pumps on Sundays."

All India Petroleum Dealers Association President Ajay Bansal told PTI that the association, which has nearly 46,000 petrol pump owners as members, are not participating in the closure.

"Our members in 22 states are not going on any protests," he clarified, adding that the association has called a meeting of the general body in the next few weeks to discuss the agreement PSU oil companies had signed with it in November last year to consider their demand for raising fuel margins.
In the run-up to 2014 general elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, promised one crore jobs to Indians. With private investment cycle refusing to take off in a big way and global situation turning adverse, this promise has remained unfulfilled and has, instead, become a big burden for the BJP-led NDA-government.

This problem is not new. The previous UPA-government has faced flak for an era of jobless growth. All through his first three years in office, employment generation has been a big challenge for Modi too. In the backdrop of countries like the USA and Australia turning increasingly local with regard to hiring and aggressive in firing foreigners, the challenge will be even bigger for this government to work on its promise in the remaining period of its five-year term.

The Donald Trump administrations order on local hiring and Australian visa restrictions throws a serious challenge for Modi, who is already battling a domestic economic slowdown. It shows while developed countries bat for free flow of capital, they do show a double standard when it comes to free flow of labour as pointed out by Sanjay Ghosh, Labour Lawyer and columnist in this article in DNA. This, Ghosh says, is also a foreign policy failure of Modi and the inability of this government to put pressure on foreign governments to calibrate their policies taking into account Indias interest.

In the changed scenario, countries like India have no option but to generate more jobs locally. How have we done so far on this front? Take a look at these numbers. According to Minister of State for Planning, Rao Inderjit Singh in Parliament in February this year, the unemployment rate in the country is on the rise. The condition of people in the category of Other Backward Classes (OBC) is worse among the broader population. While the overall unemployment rate in the country is 5 percent, it is 5.2 percent for OBCs.

To get a perspective, one needs to look at the historic numbers as well. The unemployment rate in the country was 4.9 percent in 2013, 4.7 percent in 2012 and 3.8 percent in 2011. As for the scheduled castes, the unemployment rate was 3.1 percent in 2011, which has now risen to 5 percent. That means, while there has been a steady increase in the number of jobless people since 2011, there has been a worrying, almost double, jump in the figures pertaining to the unemployment figures among the scheduled castes. In fact, ever since Modi came to power, there have been several cases of job losses in the informal sectors, thanks to steps such as 8 November, 2016 demonetisation announcement that has hit cash-intense sectors.

Why is there no job growth domestically? The simple reason is that investments are not picking up at the desired pace. Unless new factories and projects come up, it is difficult to generate more jobs. If one looks at the factory output data, the 1.2 percent contraction in February IIP in comparison with a 3.3 percent spike in January is primarily contributed by a sharp decline in manufacturing (- 2 percent) and capital goods (-3.4 percent) components. No good news here. This even raises suspicion that the pick-up in the segment seen in January was misleading and any sustainable reversal trend is yet to happen. More worrying trend is the fall in capital goods, which is essentially an indicator of the investment activity on the ground. This segment has contracted 3.4 percent in February as against a growth of almost 11 percent in January.

Unemployment rate of persons aged 15 years and above according to Annual Employment and Unemployment Survey (in percent)

Social groups 2nd EUS (July,2011) 3rd EUS (October. 2012) 4th EUS (December,2013) 5th EUS (August, 2016) SCs 3.2 4.5 4.6 5.0 STs 2.6 3.6 4.5 4.4 Total 3.8 4.7 4.9 5.0

Source: Labour Bureau, M/o Labour and Employment (Usual Principal Status UPS approach)

A big concern is that companies, including MNCs, are now focusing more on improving efficiency of the existing workforce, rather than hiring new workers. With a dip in overall demand and capacity utilization, companies are looking to lay off people to cut costs. The tightening of H-1b visa regulations in the US and elsewhere adds to the worries. Industry body Assocham, has already warned that Indian IT firms may be forced to lay off staff due to the tightening of US H-1b visas. But, falling manufacturing sector has already resulted in a number of jobs being cut. In April-September period last year , engineering major Larsen & Toubro laid off 14,000 employees across businesses saying it was a 'strategic decision' necessary to stay 'agile and competitive', a PTI report said.

In July last year, reports came that India's largest e-commerce company, Flipkart was sacking at least 700 employees, or over three percent of its workforce, as it looks to cut costs, the PTI reported. There have been job cuts across other verticals too (read Firstpost story here) from companies such as Ola cabs, AskMe and others.

Looking at the broader picture, the challenges are many for the Modi-government. Logically, it needs to work on areas that create hurdles for new private investments, aggressively push public spending to create more demand and promote local entrepreneurship that can result in the creation of more jobs. The changes in the global employment market will push more professionals back to their home countries creating need for more local jobs, although it might help reducing the problem of country losing talent.

It is not just an economical challenge Modi will have to face, but political as well. The PM is facing criticism even from the labour arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which has blamed him for losing more jobs rather than creating new ones. "Under the new government, 1 lakh and 35 thousand job opportunities have been created so far but 20 lakh people have lost their jobs," Baij Nath Rai, president of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, told The Telegraph in December last year.

If the NDA-government fails to generate more private investments and create more jobs, unemployment could emerge as one of the biggest nightmares for the Modi-government in the run up to the 2019 general polls. Considering this was a campaign promise, the PM will find there is no easy escape from the problem.
In this weeks Gossip Guy episode, Renil Abraham gets chatty with the star-cast of one the most awaited sequel in recent times, Baahubali: The Conclusion. Rana Daggubati and Prabhas talk about their crazy experiences during their shoot and the fun they had in making this film.

"I feel like I lost some weight; after four-and-a-half years we shot a video of having my hair cut!" said Prabhas.

Rana Daggubati told us that his co-star is the epitome of 'reserved and calm', while Prabhas said Rana is hyperactive on the sets.

Renil described how fans of south Indian cinema tend to be quite worshipful of their stars. He asked Rana had any crazy fan experiences, to which Rana replied that while he hadn't experienced any fanaticism, there are people who are passionate about films in general.

Rana and Prabhas also shared their off screen stories of people hitting on them. Prabhas said he generally deflects these situations with a smile, which confuses the person.

Baabhuali: The Beginning introduced us to a new language, and Renil asks the duo to converse in that language. To which Rana replies that this language was actually written by Madhan Karky, the dialogue writer, and director SS Rajamouli. It even has its own grammar!

The most interesting part was when Rana and Prabhas conversed in that language!

And with that, we come to an end of one more episode of Gossip Guy.


In March 2017, when Shobu Yarlagadda, one of the producers of Baahubali, confessed to the media that the production house - Arka Mediaworks, which bankrolled the two parts of Baahubali - didnt make any money from the first film, he was clearly outlining the risks involved in playing a high stakes game.

Making a film which has a budget of more than Rs 100-150 crores is always going to be bit of a gamble, not just for the producers, but also for the distributors and exhibitors involved in the films release.

What if the film doesnt turn out to be a blockbuster? What if the film doesnt get the kind of opening in the first three days of its release, which would assure everyone that their investments are safe?

As tantalising as the prospect of making Indias most expensive film sounds, from a promotional campaigns point of view, its also akin to walking on a double-edged sword.

On one hand, more budget means access to better resources, bigger sets, more equipment, and with proper planning and execution, theres a good chance to make a big film.

However, bigger a film gets, the higher the stakes are.

In a recent interaction with the media in Hyderabad, when Baahubali star Prabhas was asked about whether he was tensed before the first part released, he said:

We were so tensed that we went numb after a point. If the film hadnt worked, then the producer would have lost everything. No matter how many films Rajamouli or I would do for him after that, hell never be able to recover from the losses. Thankfully, the film did extremely well and we were fine in the end.

With a budget of around Rs 450 crores, Baahubali is the highest budgeted Indian film so far; however, theres a strong buzz that Shankars upcoming sci-fi thriller 2.0 too is going to billed at around Rs 450 crores and more by the time the film releases.

Theres little doubt that the film will justify its budget, given Shankars penchant for larger-than-life sets, 3D technology used to make the film, and the remuneration for its stars  Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar and Shankar himself.

Recently, the satellite rights of the film were sold for Rs 110 crores. Lyca Productions, which produced the film, has won half its battle to recover the cost.

But then, once again, for the film to make a handsome profit, it has perform extremely well in every region it releases, including North India, which has long remained an enigma for South Indian filmmakers when it comes to big budget films. Baahubali : The Beginning has been the only exception, so far.

Then, theres Sundar Cs much-talked about period drama Sangamithra, starring Shruti Haasan, Jayam Ravi and Arya.

The film too is expected to be made with a budget close to that of Baahubali and the pre-production is already underway with Sabu Cyril coming on-board as a production designer and Shruti Haasan training for the film in London, where shes learning sword fighting and several other art forms to prepare for the titular role.

However, all these three films pale in comparison to the multi-lingual adaptation of MT Vasudevan Nairs classic novel Randamoozham, to be produced by Dr. B R Shetty, UAE based billionaire businessman and philanthropist, with a budget of Rs.1000 cr (close to $150 Million).

Noted ad-filmmaker VA Shrikumar Menon is going to direct it and Mohanlal will play the role of Bhima in the film, which is scheduled to go on floors by September 2018 and will be released in early 2020.

Does one need Rs 1000 crores to make Mahabharata? Probably, yes.

Besides, money might not even be an issue when a billionaire is more than willing to fund a film. In theory, such big budgeted films give plenty of reasons to feel proud that South Indian filmmakers are pushing the envelope in terms of making epic films, but the limitations of the regional market need to be taken into consideration.

No matter how big the star cast or how big the film is, unless it releases with an unprecedented hype, theres little reason why people would flock to theatres in droves.

Its only in the past couple of years that people in North India have warmed up to dubbed content from the South, but its still a hit-and-miss scenario at the moment.

This in turn begs us to question the whole idea behind making such big films without a proper strategy in place. At least, films like Baahubali and 2.0 can get away with it because of the pan-Indian appeal of its starcast and directors; however, for any other filmmaker or producer, its a million dollar question about what they have in mind to ensure a respectable return on investment (ROI).

Right now, epic period dramas are in vogue and apart from Baahubali & Gautamiputra Satakarni, therell be plenty of other films thatll be made in near future, but for the time-being, its time for everyone to tread with caution and hope that it all ends well.

The downside of films going wrong could be devastating. Take for instance, Rajinikanths Lingaa. The film was made within Rs 100 crores; however, when the film didnt do well at the box-office, the distributors appealed to the producer Rockline Venkatesh and actor Rajinikanth himself to repay their losses. In fact, Rajinikanth seemed so upset with the turn of events that he warned distributors in the industry to not fall for publicity gimmicks of the producers.

A producer will do a lot of promotional gimmicks to sell his product, you should not fall prey. While buying a film, do proper research, consult with experienced people in the trade. Dont buy films at exorbitant prices and blame others for your losses, Rajinikanth said.

In doing so, Rajinikanth also highlighted a problem thats part of film industrys DNA - A producer will try to shift the risk on to the distributors long before the films release.

Its how the business is done. In the producers defense, its normal business - to sell the film to the highest bidder. However, the procedure is detrimental to a lot of stakeholders when the film doesnt work.



The mad rush to make Indias most expensive film might grab a lot of eyeballs and clicks on the internet, but if not planned carefully, it could also turn into a nightmare.
Revenge seems to be the main motive in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

In the Japanese trailer of the fifth film in the franchise, protagonist Jack Sparrow's life hangs in the balance, as the dead have come back and are searching for him.

The trailer has shots of warring ships and instances of classic Jack Sparrow humour, such as the scene where the famed pirate is languishing in prison pant-less.

In this film, Johnny Depp's character must find his ship the Black Pearl, his crew and the Trident of Poseidon, which will enable him to control the seas. The film is titled Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazars Revenge in India. Salazar, played by Javier Bardem, escapes from the Devil's Triangle with his ghost crew, determined to kill every sea pirate.

This trailer has a shot of Keira Knightley too, who makes a return as Elizabeth Swann. She was missing from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth installment of the franchise. Orlando Bloom's Will Turner also makes a comeback in the film, and we are introduced to his character's son played by Brenton Thwaites.

Directed by Joachim Rnning and Espen Sandberg, the film will see Paul McCartney in a cameo role.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazars Revenge releases on 26 May, 2017. Watch the latest trailer here:


Bollywood Films

Noor

What's it about: Based on Pakistani author Saba Imtiaz's novel Karachi, You're Killing Me!, the story revolves around a female journalist who is perennially annoyed with her clumsiness, lack of love life and a demanding profession.

Who's in it: Sonakshi Sinha, Kanan Gill, Purab Kohli, Shibani Dandekar.

Why it may work: Sonakshi plays a girl-next-door for the first time. Renowned comedian Kanan Gill makes his debut with this film. The music, mainly the dance numbers, is rocking the chartbusters.

Noor is directed by Sunil Sippy.

Maatr

What's it about: A mother and daughter get raped in an isolated area near New Delhi. Since one of the main conspirators is the prime minister's son, the mother resorts to unlawful ways to avenge her daughter's murder.

Who's in it: Raveena Tandon and Madhur Mittal.

Why it may work: Raveena Tandon has been lauded for her issue-oriented films like Madhur Bhandarkar's 2003 political drama Satta and Kalpana Lajmi's 2001 social drama Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence. Women security is a burning issue in contemporary India.

Maatr is directed by Ashtar Syed.

Sonata

What's it about: Three senior women bond over lost love, wine, philosophy and each other's company to deal with their mid-life crisis.

Who's in it: Aparna Sen, Shabana Azmi and Lilette Dubey.

What may work for it: Three veteran actors and a theme that resonates with most people.

Sonata is directed by Aparna Sen.

Ek Thi Rani Aisi Bhi

What's it about: Based on Mridula Singh's biography of Vijaya Raje Scindia, the biopic explores the life of former Rajmata of Gwalior.

Who's in it: Hema Malini, Vinod Khanna, Sachin Khedekar.

What may work for it: Hema Malini returns to the silver screen. Also, Vinod Khanna's health issues might allow the film to gain traction.

Ek Thi Rani Aisi Bhi is directed by Gulbahar Singh.

Hollywood Films

The Zookeeper's Wife

What's it about: The Zookeeper's Wife tells the account of keepers of the Warsaw Zoo , Antonina and Jan Zabinski, who helped save hundreds of Jews from the Nazis during the World war II by converting their zoo to a shelter for the victimised people.

Who's in it: Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Daniel Bruhl

What may work for it: We will surely find the theatres packed for this warm, fuzzy tale of how humanity triumphs in the face of despair.

The Zookeeper's Wife is directed by Niki Caro.

Unforgettable

What's it about: Katherine Heigl stars as an ex-wife who stalks her husband's new love. A very A Girl On The Train meets Obsessed (the film starring Beyonce) thriller.

Who's in it: Katherine Heigl, Rosaria Dawson

What may work for it: Though it might seem like your run-of-the-mill stalking film, because the film is directed by a woman it might give a unique perspective to the age-old narrative of the vengeful woman.

Unforgettable is directed by Denise Di Novi.

Smurfs: The Lost Village

What's it about: A map leads Smurfette, Brainy, Clumsy, and Hefty to a lost village. Gargamel, the evil wizard is also on their tail.

Who's in it: The voices of Demi Lovato, Danny Pudi, Jack McBtayer and Rainn Wilson.

What may work for it: Smurfs is a classic for kids.

Smurfs: The Lost Village is directed by Kelly Asbury.
Funnyman Vir Das's collaboration with Netflix will debut on 25 April.

Titled Abroad Understanding, the show is the first ever collaboration the streaming service has in India, and with an Indian comedian at that, making it a tremendous feat for Vir Das.

Das will be joining the list of stand-up comics Kevin Hart, Amy Schumer, Russell Peters, Chris Tucker, who have their own Netflix specials.

In his show, Das will be tackling the subjects of racism, social injustice, homophobia, religion, etc. and from the looks of it, most of it is going to be targeted at the US.

Das filmed his special in the presence of 12,000-plus crowds in New York and New Delhi.

"It is an opportunity of a lifetime. Netflix is immediately giving us a big, scale-able platform and we are piggybacking on their credibility," Das told Mashable.

He continues, "Indian comedy has never had as big an audience. An authentically Indian comedy has never reached the world. We've always been looking at India in terms of funny accents and habits and so on. We have always been a punchline and not a perspective. Until now we've had Americans making fun of Indians in America. Now, we'll have an Indian making fun of Americans in America. And they'll laugh," he says.

In the trailer, he talks of the things about New York that fascinate him. He says, "I went to the supermarket, and there is a whole aisle for cereal! It is 60 feet by 10 feet. In Mumbai that's a school!"

Here's the trailer of Abroad Understanding which will start streaming on Netflix on 25 April:
By Syed Raza Hassan and Saad Sayeed

| ISLAMABAD

ISLAMABAD Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday ruled there was insufficient evidence to order Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's removal from office over corruption allegations levelled by the opposition, but it ordered further investigations.A verdict to dismiss Sharif would have left his party in power but would have brought turmoil at a time when Pakistan is experiencing modest growth and improved security, and the civilian government and powerful military have appeared to come to uneasy terms.Two of five judges on the court bench recommended Sharif should step down, saying he was dishonest "to the nation as well as to the parliament", but they were out voted. Presenting its 549-page judgment amid tight security in the capital Islamabad, the court ordered a joint investigation team be formed to look into allegations around three of Sharif's four children using offshore companies to buy properties in London.The team has two months to complete its inquiry, after which a special bench will decide what action to take, the court said in a ruling that opens with the epigraph from Mario Puzo's novel "The Godfather": "Behind every great fortune there is a crime". The prime minister and his children deny any wrongdoing. Pakistan's stock market jumped after the court's decision with the benchmark index closing up 2.39 percent. Sharif is seen as pro-business.Analysts and opposition politicians said the ruling was a blow to Sharif's credibility and the inquiry's findings could yet weaken the prime minister as he heads into a general election, due by May 2018.But for now, Sharif and his ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, are celebrating.

Sharif's daughter and his presumptive political heir, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, posted a photo on Twitter of the family welcoming the court's decision. "We are ready for all kinds of investigation," Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told reporters outside the court.The Supreme Court agreed last year to investigate the Sharif family's offshore wealth after opposition leader Imran Khan threatened protests after the leaking of the "Panama Papers"."The prime minister should immediately resign at least for the 60 days until JIT completes its work," Khan told reporters, referring to the joint investigation team. "What moral grounds does he have to continue in office?"

'CLOSE CALL'

Documents leaked from the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm appeared to show that Sharif's daughter and two sons owned offshore holding companies registered in the British Virgin Islands and used them to buy properties in London.The opposition accuses Sharif of failing to explain the source of offshore money and of lying to parliament.Sharif, one of Pakistan's richest men, told parliament last year that his family wealth was acquired legally in the decades before he entered politics.The president of the Supreme Court Bar Association said the ruling showed that none of the judges had accepted the truthfulness of Sharif's speech to parliament. "That is very damaging to the prime minister," Rasheed Razvi said.

Farogh Naseem, a Supreme Court lawyer and sitting senator, said Sharif could breathe easy, for now."It was a close call for the prime minister," he told Reuters. "There is no clean chit for the prime minister, but for the time being he has been saved from being disqualified." Naseem said with three of the institutions involved in the joint investigation under Sharif's control, a decision against him was unlikely.Khan's party has indicated that it would not launch new street protests if it was disappointed by the judgement.Pakistani politicians of all stripes have over the years been accused of corruption, which remains endemic.Saadia Toor, associate professor at City University New York, said the scourge of corruption extended far beyond Sharif and offshore wealth."Definitely there should be accountability regardless of who is in power but it's important to have governments that sit out their terms because there is so much instability," Toor said. (Writing by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Robert Birsel and Janet Lawrence)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason

| WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump launched an investigation on Thursday to determine whether Chinese and other foreign-made steel threatens U.S. national security, raising the possibility of new tariffs and triggering a rally in U.S. steel stocks.At an Oval Office ceremony where he was surrounded by U.S. steel executives, Trump signed a memorandum ordering the Commerce Department to conduct a speedy probe into the impact of steel imports on the U.S. defense industrial base at a time when he is ordering new ships, planes and tanks to be built."Steel is critical to both our economy and our military. This is not an area where we can afford to become dependent on foreign countries," Trump said.U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross cast the decision to initiate the probe as a response to Chinese exports of steel into the United States reaching the point where they now have 26 percent of the market.Chinese steel imports are up nearly 20 percent in the early months of this year alone, he said.The unusual step of launching an investigation comes as Trump is pressuring China to do more to rein in an increasingly belligerent North Korea. When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Trump in Florida earlier this month, Trump raised the possibility of using trade as a lever to coax China to do more.Ross said Chinese steel exports have continued to rise "despite repeated Chinese claims that they were going to reduce their steel capacity when in fact they have been increasing it consistently."

"It's a very serious impact on the domestic industry," Ross said at a White House briefing with reporters.He said if the U.S. steel industry is deemed to be suffering from too much steel imports, he will recommend retaliatory steps that could include tariffs to ensure that steel imports no longer threaten U.S. national security.Trump signed a directive asking for a speedy probe under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 at a White House event that included chief executives of several U.S. steel companies. The law allows the president to impose restrictions on imports for reasons of national security.

News of the move triggered a rally for steel stocks, including Steel Dynamics Inc, AK Steel, US Steel, Nucor, Cliffs Natural Resources, and Allegheny Technologies.Administration officials said there are national security implications from imports of steel alloys that are used in products such as the armor plating of ships and require a lot of expertise to create and produce.The move is another step in Trump's "America First" policies in which he has tried to boost U.S. manufacturers and preserve American jobs. Trump won many votes in industrial Midwestern states like Michigan and Pennsylvania with a pledge to boost manufacturing and crack down on Chinese trade practices. U.S. Steel said China and other countries that have exported steel to the United States have cost U.S. manufacturing tens of thousands of jobs.

For too long, China and other nations have been conducting economic warfare against the American steel industry by subsidizing their steel industries, distorting global markets, and dumping excess steel into the United States. The effects have been staggering," a U.S. Steel statement said.The Commerce Department will have 270 days to complete the probe. Ross said he expected it to be done much sooner. Trump's directive asked that the investigation be conducted with all deliberate speed. Ross, a former steel executive, said the investigation was "self-initiated."The American Iron and Steel Institute, which lobbies on behalf of the industry, said it supports the White House move."Massive global steel overcapacity has resulted in record levels of dumped and subsidized foreign steel coming into the U.S. and the loss of nearly 14,000 steel jobs," said institute President Thomas Gibson in a statement."The administration launching this investigation is an impactful way to help address the serious threat posed by these unfair foreign trade practices." (Additional reporting by Luciana Lopez and Caroline Valetkevitch in New York; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Nick Zieminski)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared a proposal of the Election Commission to procure paper trail machines for use during future elections. The cabinet sanctioned Rs 3,171 crores for procuring over 16 lakh VVPAT units, which will be ready for use before September 2018.

The decision comes in the wake of growing demands from opposition parties for holding all future elections using paper trail machines along with EVMs, to clear doubts about votes cast.

The clearance was given by the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a brief discussion.

VVPAT and its benefits

Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is one of the systems which the Congress and other opposition parties urged the EC to look at. VVPAT has been used in India too, but only on a pilot basis.

One of the benefits of VVPAT is that the authorities can keep a printed record of the votes polled. When a vote is cast, a receipt is generated which shows the serial number, name and symbol of the candidate.

When a vote is cast, a receipt is generated which shows the serial number, name and symbol of the candidate. This can help the authorities to count the votes manually if there is a dispute in the electronically polled votes. However, the printout is not accessible to the voter.

According to the EC, the VVPAT system was not manufactured due to doubts on the EVM, but was part of the upgradations of the system.

The demand for VVPATs linked to EVMs began in 2010, when an all-party meeting, urged the EC to explore the prospect.

After three years of consultations on the deployment of VVPATs, the EC, on the direction of a 2013 Supreme Court ruling, introduced domestically built paper trail machines for 10 of the 40 Assembly seats in Meghalaya elections.

Here is the full text of the Union cabinet's decision

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for procurement of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units for use in the General Election to the Lok Sabha, 2019 for

a) purchase of 16,15,000 VVPAT units at a tentative unit cost of Rs 19,650, and at a total estimated cost of Rs 3173.47 crore (excluding taxes and freight as applicable) during the years 2017-18 and 2018-19 from M/s Bharat Electronics Ltd., Bangalore and M/s Electronics Corporation of India Ltd, Hyderabad;

b) directing the Price Negotiation Committee to negotiate with M/s Bharat Electronics Ltd and M/s Electronics Corporation of India Ltd to rationalise the final unit price expeditiously;

c) allocation of additional funds to the tune of Rs 1,600 crore in the current financial year in the supplementaries/revised estimates for meeting the cash outgo envisaged for purchase of EVMs (control units and ballot units) and VVPAT units during the year 2017-18, payment of 40 percent of the said amount as advance to the manufacturers and for provision of balance amount as may be required in the BE 2018-19; and

d) placement of order by the Election Commission to the two manufacturers depending upon their production capacity so that all the VVPAT units can be procured by September 2018.

The decision of the government would enable the EC to deploy VVPAT units in all polling booths in the General Election to the Lok Sabha in 2019, which will act as an additional layer of transparency for the satisfaction of voters, allaying any apprehension in the minds of the voters as to the fidelity and integrity of the EVMs. This would also result in compliance with the directions of the Supreme Court vide its order dated 8 October 2013.

With inputs from PTI
Minister: There is no issue of depoliticizing institution of directors on agenda (video)

Before replying to the question by A1+ whether Minister of Science and Education Levon Mkrtchyan stands by 30 directors, who filed a lawsuit against Union of Informed Citizens NGO, Dashnak Minister says that first category must be clarified, I stand by lawfulness and defense of laws of the Republic of Armenia. Is the demand of the directors from the NGO headed by Daniel Ioannisyan lawful? The Court will decide. He said that investigation is underway in connection with high schools, The same is done also by Municipality and regional administration. We will sum up, will speak to Ombudsman, will speak to the Electoral Commission, we will take their materials and will announce publicly. Levon Mkrtchyan claims that as of now there is no issue of depoliticizing schools and the institution of directors on the agenda. Whats more presence of representatives of the education system is welcome, We have 40 000 teachers and they are the important part of our intelligentsia, if we want to have a political culture, that powerful section must be involved in parties and political culture. Watch details in the video!
In a Twitter exchange with senior journalist R Jagannathan, former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju ended up calling Mahatma Gandhi a 'rascal' and a 'British agent'. Katju, who is quite a controversy's child, on Wednesday, tweeted:

All Pakistanis & Bangladeshis r Indians. Partition of 1947 was a historical swindle & fraud by the British, which must be undone. Join IPBRA https://t.co/MRO3IwNRJJ  Markandey Katju (@mkatju) April 19, 2017

Calling Partition a historical swindle and fraud by the British, Katju, in his tweet urged people to join IPBRA  Indo-Pakistan-Bangladesh Reunification (under a secular government) Association  a body formed by the former judge himself. Katju's statement started a war of words (of sorts) between him and the senior journalist. Katju had announced creation of IPBRA in this article published in The Huffington Post.

"We are really one nation, and were one since Mughal times. The Partition of India in 1947 on the basis of the bogus two-nation theory was a historical swindle by the British, which must now be undone, and we should reunite if we wish to prosper."

In response to Katju's tweet, Jagannathan replied saying that India would have been "ungovernable if there had been no partition. Consider the kind of veto powers Jinnah was demanding."

@TheJaggi U r talking rubbish. Partition was a historical British swindle, & was the greatest tragedy of the sub continent in modern times  Markandey Katju (@mkatju) April 19, 2017

@mkatju Partition allowed India to become reasonable democracy. With an unstable Hindu-Muslim mix Akhand Bharat wud hav been a complete disaster  R Jagannathan (@TheJaggi) April 19, 2017

Katju refuted the point raised by the journalist and said that 'Akhand Bharat' is an Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) concept and what he was proposing (by launching IPBRA) was a secular nation which does not "tolerate religious extremism, Hindu or Muslim." Katju has been a vocal proponent of secularism and ever since the Narendra Modi-led BJP came to power at the Centre, the former judge has been quite critical of the rising Hindu extremism in the country and has been at the receiving end of lot of flak from right-wing activists. As Jagannathan went on to argue that it was not practical to have a "secular" 'Akhand Bharat' in 1947, he added that partition was inevitable. Miffed at Jagannathan's tweet, Katju hit back with

@TheJaggi Again talking rubbish. Dont u understand that Partition was planned by Britishers,& accepted by their agents, those rascals Gandhi&Jinnah ?  Markandey Katju (@mkatju) April 19, 2017

Katju, a vocal critique of the Father of the Nation, has on many occasions on social media criticised Mahatma Gandhi for taking decisions in the interest of the British.

Not a first for Katju

This is not the first time that Katju has expressed some rather controversial views on social media. The former judge has never shied away from speaking his mind, be it the mockery of Bihar residents or the government's demonetisation move. He has stuck his neck out on a range of issues to invite attention  and criticism.

On Centres crackdown on black money and demonetisation move

The 500-1000 rupee abolition harebrained schemed has introduced total chaos throughout the country. pic.twitter.com/L9CLaF2hJE  Markandey Katju (@mkatju) November 9, 2016

On JNU student leaders and on-campus agitation

Most speeches of JNUSU leaders like Kanhaiya, Shehla,etc remind me of a line from Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' : " It is a tale told by an idiot,  Markandey Katju (@mkatju) November 8, 2016

Why don't JNUSU office bearers speak out against the outdated, stupid and feudal sharia law ? pic.twitter.com/D65vlhigvp  Markandey Katju (@mkatju) November 7, 2016

On Triple Talaq

All those who support triple talaq r enemies of Islam, & shud be condemned by Muslims. Islam came as a great liberating force in the world  Markandey Katju (@mkatju) October 21, 2016

On Delhi's pollution and Ramdev

I don't know y Delhiites r complaining of air pollution.Surely BabaRamdev wud be having some Patanjali product which consumed makes air pure  Markandey Katju (@mkatju) November 5, 2016

On Arnab Goswami and his security

This joker Arnab Goswamy who has nothing in his head except his arrogance will get 20 guards night&day by Govt. for his security Hari Om  Markandey Katju (@mkatju) October 17, 2016

On Samajwadi Partys infighting

My advice to the SP members : Throw out all the old decayed fish and rotten eggs in your party, and solidly join ranks behind Akhilesh Yadav  Markandey Katju (@mkatju) October 26, 2016

What has happened to you Maharashtrians ? How can you tolerate such goondas ? Are you not ashamed ?  Markandey Katju (@mkatju) October 22, 2016

On Partition and Pakistan

Problem with Pakistanis is they dare not speak truth about Partition & that Pak is fake, coz if they do they'll be bumped off by extremists  Markandey Katju (@mkatju) October 31, 2016

1947 was a historical swindle by the British, that India & Pak are really one country, and will reunite 1 day under a secular govt.  Markandey Katju (@mkatju) October 30, 2016

On Kashmir crisis

Geelani, Omar, Mehbooba have all become irrelevant in Kashmir. Only relevant people are those who have the gun i.e. army & the militants  Markandey Katju (@mkatju) October 31, 2016

On NDTV India ban

There is a difference between coverage and live coverage of anti terrofist operations. What is banned by rule 6(1)(p) is only live coverage  Markandey Katju (@mkatju) November 5, 2016
The National Green Tribunal on Thursday slammed the Art of Living over its founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar blaming the Centre and the green panel for damage to the Yamuna floodplains, terming it as "shocking". "You have no sense of responsibility. Who gave you liberty to speak whatever you want to. It is shocking ," a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said.

A day after spiritual figure and founder of Art of Living foundation Sri Sri Ravi Shankar blamed the government and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for permitting his NGO to hold the World Culture Festival on the Yamuna river bed, NGT slammed him and said that the founder's statement was shocking. The tribunal has directed AOL and other parties to file their reply and objections to expert panel report on Yamuna floodplain damage due to the AOL cultural extravaganza  World Culture Festival.

Those who say the Art of Living is irresponsible simply don't know us or have gained a sense of humour! (1)  Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (@SriSri) April 20, 2017

The truth is we have caused no damage to the Yamuna. When lies are exposed, it is shocking. (2)  Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (@SriSri) April 20, 2017

I think you heard it wrong!Perhaps NGT has slammed its own committee for being irresponsible & inconsistent in both its reports. (3)  Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (@SriSri) April 20, 2017

From Rs.120 cr for wetlands to Rs.13 cr for flood plains! From permanent damage to 10yrs & appointing themselves to restore the place. (4)  Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (@SriSri) April 20, 2017

The observations came after advocate Sanjay Parikh, appearing for petitioner Manoj Misra, informed the bench about Ravi Shankar's recent statement blaming the government and the NGT for permitting his NGO to hold the World Culture Festival on the floodplains of river Yamuna. Parikh told the green bench that the spiritual guru has gone to the extend of levelling allegations against the NGT. The lawyer said that Sri Sri had posted the statement on the website of the Art of Living, his Facebook page and also addressed the media on the same in a written statement.

The counsel appearing for the AOL foundation, however, contested the findings of the expert panel and said that they have certain objections with regard to the findings of the committee and sought setting aside of the report.

Ravi Shankar had said that the NGT and the Centre should be held responsible if any environmental damage was caused. The AOL head said the foundation had obtained all necessary permissions, including from the green panel, and the event could have been stopped in the beginning itself if river Yamuna was so fragile and pure.

"If, at all, any fine has to be levied, it should be levied on the Central and state governments and the NGT itself, for giving the permission. If the Yamuna was so fragile and pure, they should have stopped the World Culture Festival," Ravi Shankar said in a Facebook post.

Ravi Shankar accused the NGT of defying all principles of natural justice and said "a historic programme deserving of applause and appreciation is unjustly projected as a crime".

"World over, cultural programmes are held on riverbanks. The whole idea was to bring awareness to save the river. The Art of Living that has rejuvenated 27 rivers, planted 71 million trees, revived several ponds is being projected as destroying a dead river. What a joke," he said.

"The AOL had obtained all the necessary permission including the NGTs. The NGT had the application file for two months and they could have stopped it in the beginning. It defies all principles of natural justice that you give permissions and slap a fine for not violating any rules," AOL founder read.

In a statement AOL spokesperson Soumya Ghosh said, "The NGT can never get over the blot it has bought on itself by delaying natural justice to AOL and allowing its own committee to malign the law abiding organisation in the press." An expert committee had told the NGT that a whopping Rs 42.02 crore would be required to restore Yamuna floodplains which was ravaged due to a cultural extravaganza organised by AOL last year.

The expert panel has suggested that there would be two components of rehabilitation plan  physical and biological, and they would cost Rs 28.73 crore and Rs 13.29 crore respectively, besides additional ancillary expenses.

On 12 April, an expert committee told the NGT that whopping Rs 42.02 crore would be required to restore Yamuna floodplains which was ravaged due to the cultural extravaganza. The expert panel had suggested that there would be two components of rehabilitation plan  physical and biological, and they would cost Rs 28.73 crore and Rs 13.29 crore respectively, besides additional ancillary expenses.

The AOL had then termed the findings of the panel as "biased" and alleged that expert committee's report has been leaked to the media without serving them a copy. "The Art of Living is a responsible and environment-sensitive NGO. We have never caused any damage to the environment but have in fact worked for preserving and reviving it through various environment-related projects over the years. Our legal team will study the report and decide on the appropriate future course of action," AOL said in a release.

The NGT-appointed panel elaborated the timeline and the mechanism to be undertaken to ensure revival of the riverbed. The tribunal had constituted the committee last year which was headed by Shashi Shekhar, Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources, and senior scientists and experts from National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, IIT-Delhi and other agencies to inspect the site of the World Culture Festival.

The seven-member panel had said that the physical component should be taken up immediately and completed in two years' time, while the biological aspect should be initiated simultaneously which would take 10 years. Besides the two components, the rehabilitation of the floodplain would also require funds to meet the expenses of a team of experts for next 10 years along with the cost of transportation of material outside the riverbed, the committee said.

These estimates are approximate and need to be strengthened through commissioning of Detailed Project Report, it said. Implementation of the action plan requires extensive monitoring for which the NGT may consider creating an appropriate body/team of experts, the panel said in its 31-page report. In it recommendations to the NGT, the expert committee said that major restoration work has to be carried out to compensate for the damage to Yamuna floodplains.

Advocate Kush Sharma, who represented the Delhi Development Authority, refused to comment on the findings in the report and said they were going through the contents. The green body had last year allowed AOL to hold three-day World Culture Festival on the Yamuna floodplains while expressing its helplessness in banning the event because of "fait accompli".

It, however, had imposed Rs 5 crore as interim environment compensation on the foundation for the event's impact on the environment after Yamuna activist Manoj Mishra alleged that AOL was violating NGT orders. Initially, a four member-committee had recommended that AOL Foundation should pay Rs 100-120 crore as restoration cost for "extensive and severe damage" to the floodplains of Yamuna river.

Later, a seven-member expert committee had told NGT that the extravaganza organised on Yamuna riverbed has "completely destroyed" the riverbed. The committee had observed that entire floodplain area used for the main event site between DND flyover and the Barapulla drain (on the right bank of river Yamuna) has been completely destroyed, not simply damaged. "The ground is now totally levelled, compacted and hardened and is totally devoid of water bodies or depressions and almost completely devoid of any vegetation.

"The area where the grand stage was erected (and the area immediately behind it) is heavily consolidated -- most likely with a different kind of external material used to level the ground and compress it. Huge amount of earth and debris have been dumped to construct the ramps for access from the DND flyover and from the two pontoon bridges across the Barapulla drain," the expert committee had said.

The earlier committee, in its 47-page report, has said that due to the three-day event, the floodplain has lost "almost all its natural vegetation" like trees, shrubs, tall grasses, aquatic vegetation including water hyacinth which provides habitat to large number of animals, insects and mud-dwelling organisms.

With inputs from agencies
Three terror suspects have been arrested in joint raids by Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in coordination with police of five states, officials told IANS on Thursday. The arrested are suspected to be part of an Islamic State module that was looking for potential recruits in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

"UP ATS conducted joint anti-terror raids in Maharashtra, Punjab, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in coordination with police of the five states," UP ATS Chief Asim Arun told IANS.

Delhi police Special cell arrests 3 ISIS suspects from Jalandhar, Mumbai and Bijnor, in a joint operation with UP ATS. Investigation on  ANI (@ANI_news) April 20, 2017

Received info of group being readied for terror activities.Spl Cell DP, CI cell Andhra,Maha ATS,Punjab & Bihar Police involved in op: UP ATS  ANI (@ANI_news) April 20, 2017

Arun said that three persons have been arrested in Mumbai, Jalandhar and Bijnor for conspiring to carry out terror activities.

"The police is interrogating six other persons. Legal action will be taken on the basis of evidence," he said.

The police had received information that some hyperactive members of a terror group were trying to recruit new members.

The operation was conducted with the help of the Special Cell of Delhi Police, Crime Investigation Cell of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra ATS, Punjab Police and Bihar Police.

Almost a month ago, police had busted an Islamic State-influenced terror module and a suspected member, Saifullah, was killed in a 12-hour siege and anti-terror operation in Lucknow. The module was allegedly involved in the Ujjain train blast.

According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe reports, the Islamic State-inspired module had made a failed attempt to carry out an explosion at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Lucknow on Dussehra last year.

With inputs from IANS
In an incident of alleged underage driving, at least two people were killed and three injured on Thursday after a car ran over people sleeping on footpath near Delhi, ANI reported. However, there are conflicting reports on the number of dead as PTI reported one death. The injured were admitted to Sushruta Trauma Centre near Civil Lines. The police identified the three injured in the accident as Asif, Karan and Sanjay, all of whom appear to be daily wage earners.

Two dead & 3 injured after a car ran over them near Delhi's Kashmere Gate. Class 12 student who was driving, apprehended by police. pic.twitter.com/kJ5VlgKdOz  ANI (@ANI_news) April 20, 2017

The incident took place at around 5.45 am near Delhi's Kashmere Gate. Meanwhile, the driver of the car, a student of Class 12, has been apprehended by the police, News18 reported.

The car also had two other occupants, all of whom are Class 12 students, who managed to escape, the police said.

According to Hindustan Times, the trio were returning from a party celebrating their last exam.

The report also noted that the student would be turning 18 in four months time.

The Times of India quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the teenage driver lost control of his car and had been 'driving zig-zag' before climbing onto the footpath.

According to the report, during interrogation, the student claimed that he belongs to a well-known school in Delhi.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, North district, Jatin Narwal said that locals caught the driver after the accident and handed him over to the police.

Narwal said the driver is a resident of Model Town in north Delhi. The DCP, however, has refused to reveal his name until the age was confirmed.

The police is now investigating whether the student was inebriated while driving.

"He was driving his friend's father's car. His friends fled the scene after the accident," Narwal told IANS.

The police said that it registered a case at the Kashmere Gate Police Station and added that is continuing to probe the matter.

With inputs from agencies
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi is building an image of being a unifier in a vast country of pluralities and regional variations such as ours, his government reviving the mission of establishing the primacy of the Hindi language all across India could not have been more untimely. President Pranab Mukherjee wants our national leaders to deliver official speeches in Hindi. India's Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has threatened to throw away English from our school- syllabuses.

Predictably, these developments have invited adverse reactions in states such as West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. One is sure that not only other states but thinking-Indians too will raise their voice against this "imposition" of Hindi in the days to come.

It is nobodys case that India should not have a link-language. Ideally, Sanskrit, with which almost all the major languages of the country, including Tamil, have some linkages  big or small could have been such a language. But centuries of deliberate neglect of Sanskrit have few takers of it now. On the other hand, whether one may admit or not, English, despite being the colonial language, has been playing the link role in the governance of the country. In that sense, English happens to be the collateral victim of the promoters of Hindi. To put it differently, the most important component of the strategy of promoting or propagating Hindi is the systematic attack on the continuance or the importance of English as a language in India.

Ironically, this is a strategy that the previous incarnation of Modis Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) since the days of its previous incarnation, the Jana Sangh, and his bitterest political enemies at present, the socialists of various hue in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (the Yadavs and Nitish Kumar) have always believed in. That is why one still finds the outdated arguments that English is a colonial legacy that is insulting to the Indian nationhood and that great countries such as Japan, China and Russia have excelled in all spheres through their respective languages and not English.

However, let us note some facts about which the Hindi-zealots are either ignorant or highly dismissive of. Realising the importance of English as a global language, particularly in this age of digital revolution, and its linkage with the economic development, Japan has developed an educational promotion plan under which by fiscal 2017 half, junior high students are expected to have English proficiency equivalent to Grade 3 of the popular Eiken English proficiency test when they graduate. Similarly, half of high school students in Japan are supposed to have English proficiency equivalent to Grade 2 or Grade Pre-2 by the time of their graduation.

It may be noted here that following the collapse of the bubble economy in 1989, Japan experienced a recession, domestically referred to as the lost decade. It was realised that one of the important reasons why Japan fell behind was its incapacity to exploit the Information Technology (IT) because of Japanese workers poor English skills. In 1999, the then Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi proposed declaring Japan a bilingual country and giving English official status. Accordingly, Japan developed a strategic plan to cultivate Japanese with English abilities, which, in turn, led to an Action Plan in 2003 to cultivate Japanese With English Abilities. In its objectives, it was stated, With the progress of globalisation in the economy and in society, it is essential that our children acquire communication skills in English, which has become a common international language.For children living in the 21st century, it is essential for them to acquire communication abilities in English as a common international language. In addition, English abilities are important in terms of linking our country with the rest of the world, obtaining the worlds understanding and trust, enhancing our international presence and further developing our nation.

English language has now become extremely important for the worlds highest rising economy, China, to keep the lines of communication open for trade and business matters. As one of the global powers, it is in Chinas best interest to make English the preferred language for developmental purposes, the Chinese policy makers openly say. In fact, China is learning English in a big way. "English fever" took hold in China soon after Deng Xiaoping launched the economic reforms that went on to roil and reshape the country in the early 1980s. Under official edicts published in 1984 by the Ministry of Education (MoE), English became one of the three required main subjects in most middle and high school entrance exams. In 2001, the MoE issued a document entitled Guidelines for Promoting English Language Instruction in Primary Schools, emphasising a new approach for using English for effective interpersonal communication. Then, in 2003, after two years of consultation and trials, a new student-centred English language curriculum was announced for all primary and secondary schools. In an improved version in 2011, the MoE introduced English Language Curriculum Standard to further spread the English in the country.

Similarly in Russia, interest in English is growing very fast. English has become an important element in the Russian economy. In a poll in November 2014, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) asked Russians which languages should be studied in school, whether or not children will find foreign languages useful in everyday life, and which benefits can be gained from knowing foreign languages. The vast majority of respondents (92 percent) answered that children should study foreign languages in school. That statistic rose to 98 percent in Russias biggest cities  Moscow and St. Petersburg. And significantly, English was considered the most useful foreign language (92 percent of the respondents).

As a matter of fact, since 2011, in Russia, foreign languages (mainly English) have been a mandatory subject starting in second grade (seven and eight year-olds). Schools also have the option of introducing a second foreign language starting in fifth grade. It is estimated that in 2020, foreign languages will comprise a third mandatory Unified State Exam, after Russian and Mathematics.

It is against this background that it was quite distressing to hear Prakash Javadekar suggest the other day that Indians should give up English. At a function to promote Urdu language in India, Javadekar was reported to have reinterpreted the existing three-language formula. He said, People ask me what is three language formula, I tell them, it is a formula for three Indian languages and not foreign language. It is not necessary to chose English as one of the languages, students can chose all three Indian languages also. This is the only way in which regional languages will grow.  But this was not all. Javadekar went on to further say that there was no scope for Indian languages to grow as long as English was there.

It may be noted that after the linguistic riots in Tamil Nadu assumed dangerous and secessionist proportions, 'Three Language Formula' was devised in the chief ministers conferences held in 1961. On its basis, the National Commission on Education, known as the Kothari commission, examined and recommended a graduated formula which became a part of the National Policy on Education, 1968, the policy that has been reconfirmed from time to time since then. Under it, the first language to be studied must be the mother tongue or the regional language. At the secondary stage, it should be the study of a modern Indian language, preferably one of the southern languages, apart from Hindi and English, in the Hindi-speaking states, and of Hindi and English along with the regional language in the non-Hindi speaking states. For the higher studies, suitable courses in Hindi and/or English are to be available in universities and colleges.

However, the three-language formula has never been implemented effectively all over the country. Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Tripura have openly shunned the teaching of Hindi whereas in non-Hindi speaking states, the study of any south Indian language has not been practiced. Obviously, strict implementation of the formula has been a sensitive issue, which is better left alone at this juncture. In any case, all this has not deterred the spread of Hindi all over the country, thanks to Hindi cinema  Bollywood.

Hindi is better propagated even in Tamil Nadu if you do not make it an active state-policy. All said, as TK Arun has rightly argued in the Economic Times (20 April), Hindi and its variants form the mother tongue for 41 percent Indians. That leaves 59 percent of Indias population speaking other languages, and not just 21 non-Hindi languages recognised as official. I will even go further to point out that if the geographic canvas of India is taken into account as whole then nearly in two/third of it, Hindi is not the mother tongue. Does it then make any sense to impose the uniformity of Hindi?

Yes, India does need a link language. We are fortunate to have English as one (which incidentally has been the official language of one Indian state  Nagaland  since 1967). In fact, it is our familiarity with and expertise of English that has given India an edge over China in the globalised world, particularly in the field of information technology, the locomotive of modern development. English is our precious resource; let us not throw it away to appease the Hindi-zealots. Let Hindi flourish, but not at the cost of English.
New Delhi: The government has directed Internet service providers (ISP) to block distribution and transmission of child sexual abuse content by 31 July. "ISP's having cable landing station gateways/ international long distance licences in India shall be required to adopt and implement IWF (Internet Watch Foundation) resources on or before July 31, 2017, to prevent distribution and transmission of online CSAM in to India," the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) said in an order dated 18 April, 2017.

The directive has been issued after the recommendation of an inter-ministerial committee that was constituted to recommend solutions to address the issue of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) following a Supreme Court order. The panel noted that most of the CSAM is being hosted outside India and the websites or web links to access such unlawful content are dynamic in nature and frequently changing which makes it difficult to block such content.

The panel noted that no centralised mechanism exists in India to monitor online CSAM. However, it noted that an entity, Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), maintains such a list of dynamically updated websites and web pages containing online CSAM. The IWF has been adopted by many countries and is already being implemented by leading online service providers in other jurisdictions but not in India.

The IWF resources are also available to ISPs on a subscription basis either individually or collectively. The ministry (Meity) has asked all the ISPs to continue to observe the existing due diligence requirements prescribed by the central government under the Information Technology Act 2000 and rules and regulations. The publication or transmission of material depicting children in

The publication or transmission of material depicting children in sexually explicit act or conduct in electronic form is heinous crime, specifically prohibited by section 67B of the IT Act 2000.

The Supreme Court in an order dated 12 July, 2013, had directed the government to tackle the CSAM issue.
By Kinjal Sampat and Nandini Dey

Kamla Devi (not her real name), of advanced but uncertain age, lives in Lohari, a remote adivasi village located inside a wildlife sanctuary in Udaipur, Rajasthan. On a summer day in 2016, we approached her as she was chasing after a small herd of goats, to ask questions as part of a study on the relation between ageing, paid work and pensions.

Our very first questionwhether she was a beneficiary of the governments non-contributory pension scheme for the agedirritated her. She explained that she was indeed a beneficiary but did not want to be one. Local officials had refused to give her work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA, the law that governs the key central government employment guarantee programme) since she received Rs 500 a month as pension under the scheme.

In a clear violation of MGNREGA, Kamla Devi was informed that the pension was the reason she had been denied work under MGNREGA. She was clear that she wanted to continue working to earn a living, not just because the pension is too little, but, as she explained, because she was still capable of labouring.

In the block headquarters of Kotda in Udaipur district, the study took us to Irfans house (he uses one name). He put his age at close to 60 years and said he had spent the better part of his life transporting loads on his head for a fee. Having remarried in his old age, Irfan lived with his young wife and 10-year-old son. He said he suffered from severe back pain and muscle soreness, and would like nothing more than to stop working. However, between his sons school fees and his own medical bills, he had no choice but to work. Recently, his wife had also begun to look for work to share his burden.

In Rajasthan, women aged 55 years and above and men aged 58 years and above receive a monthly pension of Rs 500 as part of the Centre-led non-contributory social pension scheme, the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme. The central government contributes Rs 200 for those aged 60 and above and Rs 500 for those aged 80 and above and falling below the poverty line. The Rajasthan state government has achieved near universal coverage under this scheme, entitling a minimum of Rs 500 per month to each beneficiary. However, the amount is so grossly inadequateat just over Rs 16 a day, it would not buy half a litre of milkthat it leaves the elderly who have no other financial resources with no real choice but to work for a living. Yet, whether they find work is subject to lingering prejudices, as in Devis case.

No income and social security



Governments across the world provide pensions for varying reasons. However, the shared logic behind old age pension is to enable those beyond a certain age to maintain a reasonable standard of living without having to engage in paid labour. In India, this is empirically true for people who receive assured monthly pensions following their retirement from work, but, in the non-formal sector, people do not retire from work at any stipulated age.

The participation of the elderly in the workforce is all pervasive, particularly in the unorganised sector that employs the majority of Indians, without formal conditions of employment.

According to the 68th round of the employment-unemployment survey 2011-12 conducted by the National Sample Survey Office, over a third of Indias elderly people38 percentcontinue to work. Extrapolating from the Census 2011 figure of 103 million elderly people in the country would put the number of elderly people who continue to remain in paid employment at 39 million.

The New Delhi-based Centre for Equity Studies (CES) conducted a studyunpublished as yetin seven locations across rural and urban Rajasthan from August to October 2016, in which trained field investigators interviewed 791 people above the age of 55 years to understand peoples experience of ageing without income security. Of the total sample of 791 respondents, 57 percent were women and 43 percent men; 59 percent reported to be engaged in at least one remunerative job. Field investigators approached every elderly person (above the age of 55 years) in every house in a given location. Those who met Rajasthans exclusion criteria for state old age pensionsby receiving a job-related pension and/or being an income tax payeeanswered fewer and truncated questions, but their numbers were quite limited (16 individuals).

A key finding of the study was that, in the absence of adequate income and social security, the elderly lack real choice in determining the extent, duration and nature of their engagement with paid work.

Little choice but to work



The survey asked one question to all respondents:

Assuming a situation wherein you receive an adequate pension to sustain yourself, would you:

1. Work as much as before (before receiving adequate pensions) 2. Continue work but less 3. Not work at all.

Source: Centre for Equity Studies; N=791

The elderly respondents varied vastly in how they viewed their engagement with work: Over a fourth said they would continue to work as before if given an adequate pension, but nearly half said they would work less (23 percent) or not work at all (25 percent).

Of those who said they would continue to work as before, 86 percent said they were currently engaged in work. In contrast, 32 percent of those who said they would not work said they were currently engaged in regular remunerative work.

Source: Centre for Equity Studies; P Value: 0.00, N=599

How much would an adequate pension be? Another survey question asked respondents to state a monetary amount that would cover their basic needs. The average amount cited was Rs 1,875more than three times the monthly pension at presentwhile the median value was Rs 1,500, three times the current monthly pension.

Adequacy is a concept that cannot be defined in monetary terms alone, yet even in purely monetary terms, people understood adequacy of pension differently. Those respondents who said they would continue working as in the past put the average value of an adequate pension at Rs 1,600over three times the existing old age pensionwhile those who said they wished to work less or not at all put the amount at Rs 2,000which is four times the pension given. Clearly, they saw adequacy in relation to their own capacity to work and supplement their pension, as opposed to their age in and of itself.

At the same time, even the highest of the amounts cited as adequate, Rs 2,000 per month, amounts to less than half the existing minimum wage and less than a fourth of the national per capita income.

Gender affects perceptions



There was a stark difference in the responses of male and female respondents to the question whether they would continue to work but in a reduced capacity if given an adequate pension. A greater proportion of the male respondents (36 percent) looked forward to negotiating the volume of work, as compared with female respondents (26 percent). However, an equal proportion of men and womena little over one-thirdsaid they would continue to work irrespective of the pension. This suggests that other considerations aside, women found it difficult to conceive of a scenario where they would be able to negotiate lesser work than their current work burden.

More women (36 percent) than men (28 percent) said they would not work at all.

Source: Centre for Equity Studies; P Value: 0.01, N=599

Elderly men are proportionally more likely to work less when given an adequate pension as compared with women, more of whom would rather not do any paid work at all.

India has generally low participation of women in paid workat present about 25 percent, according to the International Labour Organisation. It is even lower for women above the age of 60 years, according to a 2016 report, by A. Bheemeshwar Reddy in the International Journal of Social Economics, which argues this could be because womens relationship with paid work itself is far more complex compared with mens. Because of the pervasive gender-based division of labour, women perform tasks across the spectrumcontributing to remunerative chores at the workplace, often for a lower monetary value than mens work, and to non-remunerative chores at home.

Hence, in this study, it is difficult to understand what women mean when they say they will not work at all, CES found. For women, whose labour is unrecognised in multiple ways, often by themselves, retirement is a misleading concept.

Pension, the key enabler

Without adequate pension, it is impossible to imagine a scenario in which the elderly poor can choose whether to work or not. To ensure a dignified standard of living for the elderly, timely and sufficient pensions are imperative.

This choice of working or not has always existed for those who receive assured pensions after retiring from their jobs. This choice must be extended to all older people.

Indiaspend.org is a data-driven, public-interest journalism non-profit/FactChecker.in is fact-checking initiative, scrutinising for veracity and context statements made by individuals and organisations in public life.
Situation in Kashmir continues to remain tense, as the security establishment attempts to contain the fallout of the violence of 9 April Srinagar by-polls and the student protests which rocked various parts of the Valley on 17 April. Internet services restrictions have been put in place, telecom operators being instructed to allow only 2G services to prevent any mobilisation and uploading of any inflammatory videos on social media. On the ground, there is an extra deployment of the police forces in major towns to thwart any potential protests.

However, there is a new challenge which has come up for the security establishment. While the government has deployed extra policemen to prevent protests, the policemen themselves are caught between a rock and a hard place as the militant threats are hovering on their heads.

On the night of 15 April, masked gunmen entered houses of two policemen in Meldoora and Hajipora villages of Shopian district in south Kashmir and asked them to publicly announce from the masjids that all policemen should resign en-mass. Earlier, militants had warned the relatives of the policemen to quit their jobs and join them to fight the oppression. Last month, on 6 March, at least 10 gunmen vandalised the home of a senior police officer in Shopian and warned his family that he should quit his job or face the consequences.

Incidents such as these have prompted the police department to issue an advisory asking its field personnel to avoid returning to their homes for the next few months especially in south Kashmir.

During the unrest last year after the killing of the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commander Burhan Wani on 8 July, militants had issued several warnings to the local police to stay away from the protests and not harass the participating youth. The militants were particularly incensed by the use of excessive force by the security forces on the protesters.

The international human rights organisation, Amnesty International too had criticised the security forces for this.

The warnings from militants included threats of dire consequences if the policemen harassed the families of militants. For instance, in December 2016, Burhans successor, Zakir Rashid Bhat, had in a video warned the family members of policemen that they would be attacked if the police continued to harass relatives of the militants. You (police) have committed a big mistake by harassing our families, by involving our families. If you touch our families, we will not spare your families. You think your families are in Jammu so they are safe. Even if your families are in Kanyakumari, we have the capacity to kill them there, he had warned.

This spurred the police to retaliate. After an attack on the senior policemans home in March, the Director General of Police SP Vaid too warned the militants saying militants should realise that they too have families." He said, "We have always been nice to the families of militants and have always asked them to get their children to surrender and rehabilitate, but they have attacked our families. They should realise their families live in Kashmir only."

Yet, the militant gaze on police and the recent killings have set alarm bells ringing in the security establishment and have worried their families. And this concern is increasing with each passing day.

The policemen and their families, this reporter talked to, repeatedly requested us to not to write their names in the report. The son of one of the police personnel posted in Srinagar told Firstpost that, My father is one among the revered persons of the village. He is very religious. There is no threat, but yes the feeling of insecurity is among all of us. He believes that the police chiefs advisory is right. We too feel, they should avoid coming home, as it adds to our worries, he said.

A policeman from Anantnag in south Kashmir who spoke to Firstpost on the condition of anonymity said that his family calls him many times a day. He added that he has gone through the trauma last year. Last year the situation was different, though I am not in executive police. I used to stay inside my house whenever I visited home in between, he told Firstpost. He believes that now the situation is calm as compared to last year, but adds that the militant threat is worrisome.

Last years unrest was particularly unnerving for the policemen since the separatist leadership had publicly named some police officers, who were part of the crackdowns on the protestors.

In one such case Chairman of Hurriyat, SAS Geelani had named a sub-inspector Mir (full name withheld by the media reports), for allegedly firing pellets on protesters in south Kashmir.

Commenting on the trend, Sameer Patil, a security analyst at Gateway House, a Mumbai-based think tank told Firstpost, This trend of the militant threats to the policemen in the Valley is not new, as earlier too there have been several warnings from the militant tanzeems. What is different this time is publicly singling out of the particular police officers which in the current security environment, will surely impact affect their morale, particularly those involved in the sensitive counter-insurgency operations.

This naming of specific police personnel has also created a dilemma for many policemen who are bound by their profession and concerned about their livelihood but weary of social boycott in their locality.

While the J&K Police grapples with the threats to its own personnel, militants, perhaps as a sign of demonstrating their intentions, have targeted the mainstream political activists and a counter-insurgent.

A political worker, Bashir Ahmad Dar was killed in Pulwama district while his cousin, Altaf Ahmad was injured when gunmen opened fire on them on 15 April. Similarly an advocate, Imtiyaz Ahmad Khan, who was believed to be associated with the political party, was shot dead on 17 April in Shopian. On the same day, Kashmirs infamous counter-insurgent Rashid Billa was killed at his home in Hajin area of Bandipore district in north Kashmir. He was a former notorious renegade of Ikhwan era in the early days of the insurgency.

These killings and the militant threats to police, coupled with the several video clips of political workers being forced to give up their association with the political parties have created a fear psychosis amongst those who have been associated in one way or the other with the mainstream political process. On 18 April, Bashir Ahmed Wani, President of the Pulwama Traders Federation resigned from the post saying that he had no direct or indirect affiliation with any political party.

Whatever the outcome of this current phase of unrest, it is clear that the sustained targeting of the police personnel has created dilemma for many policemen, especially those at the lower levels who are vulnerable to random acts of violence and also sensitive to any ostracizing by the society at large in the current surcharged environment.
Both, in 2008 and 2010, the Kashmiris pelted stones, waved Pakistani flags and shouted pro-militant slogans. Both the times, significantly, armed insurgents were invisible in the background. It was clear enough that the architects of the uprising wanted it to assume a 'civilian' colour. Hardliner Masarat Alam Bhat emerged as a key driver of the unrest in 2010. It subsided with his arrest.

This time around, and for the first time in the past two-and-a-bit decades, a lethal combination of protest demonstrations, stone-pelting and armed attacks has thrown a snarled challenge for the political establishment, police and security forces. With phone-cameras in one hand and stones in another, the crowds surge and strike with or without reason. Unapologetically, quite often, their drive is to disrupt a cordon-and-search operation and help the militants escape. They call jihadists like Burhan Wani and Abu Dujana their 'heroes', flock to their funerals in thousands or tens of thousands and shout slogans for Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba. They treat it as their right and call it a 'protest'.

A video shows a Kashmiri militant seeking blessings for his martyrdom from his brother and counselling him not to quarrel with his parents as his mother lends approval with a smile. This was never the case in the past. Over a hundred 'protestors' have died in clashes with the armed forces  several times around the site of the encounter  since the Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wanis death in an encounter in July 2016.

Officials admit around 250 youths have joined terrorist ranks in the past nine months. They liaise with supporters, operate under real names, do not hide faces, maintain accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and remain connected through WhatsApp.

Even when hundreds of the 'protesters' gathered around Chadoora on 28 March, there was little to protest. Four of them died in clashes, triggering a fresh flare-up for the current year. Eight more were killed while disrupting polling for the Lok Sabha by-election in Srinagar-Budgam. On its recent threads, this unprecedented bravado has its genesis unmistakably in the spirit generated by Masarats rousing reception for hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani on 15 April, 2015.

Immediately after taking over as chief minister of the PDP-BJP coalition in March 2015, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed released Masarat and permitted him to hold a big show for Geelani. It was first time after 2010 that Masarats followers waved Pakistani flags in abundance in front of the Jammu and Kashmir Police headquarters and shouted slogans for Hafiz Saeed.

Even as Masarat was sent back to the jail under pressure from a discomfited BJP, his invigoration of the Intifada did not fade out in futility. Soon Wani grew into an icon for youths and lent a fresh lease of life to the gun. For years after 1999, this breed of the youngsters ratcheted up its hatred for India with brazen encouragement from mainstream politicians who, paradoxically, are now bedfellows with the RSS-driven BJP. With the PDP top brass losing both, credibility as well as grip on administration, none of the ministers and lawmakers contested the separatists politically.

Known as 'the ultimate Indian', Farooq Abdullah took less than two years to make his somersault. Suddenly for Abdullah, the militants who allegedly killed more than 3,000 Kashmiris  including former legislators and ministers for their allegiance to National Conference  became "youths laying unforgettable sacrifices for the (Kashmiri) nation". That for many may be realism, but marks the failure of Kashmirs mainstream politics.

National shame

Apparently none of the political and bureaucratic ostriches in New Delhi had visualised the consequences of the total political vacuum that, for the first time, unfolded on 9 April. The by-election for the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat recorded the second lowest voter turnout in Kashmir's history: Seven percent. While the turnout was a stupendous 69 percent in 1977 and 73 percent in 1984, it did not fall below the average of 27 percent in Lok Sabha elections after 1990. This is widely rated as New Delhis biggest ever humiliation in Kashmir in 70 years. Not that everybody was for the boycott. None of those, who wanted to vote, felt secure enough to come out.

One cant but agree with Omar Abdullah that Kashmir is a political issue and its resolution must be political. Nobody would, in fact, spurn the idea of a meaningful dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad. But everybody harping on a dialogue with Hurriyat sounds absurd for it would be unrealistic to expect the conglomerate to take its own decisions.

Failing to deliver on defining moments, Hurriyat has reduced itself to just a postal address for the Intifada and the armed struggle.

Disinclined to play a proactive role, Mehbooba Muftis government would not have been wrong to deliver on its promises of good governance, development and employment.

Had everything been imperfect without the soft separatist politics, the Valley would not have witnessed some of the most peaceful years after the 2010 turmoil during Omars own rule. Remarkably, not one death occurred over Afzal Gurus execution or in reaction to the Kishtwar communal riots in 2013. Hundreds of thousands of tourists visited each year and the states best Panchayat elections in 2011 were followed by the best-held Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in 2014.

Policy paralysis

Conversely, todays unrest can be partly attributed to nonchalance of the BJP that has failed to take appropriate decisions in the whole progression from Masarats release and investigation into the JNU demonstration  that set the tone for turbulence  to key appointments in police and civil administration. Someone has to be accountable if 2014s tranquil South Kashmir turns into a 'liberated zone' for militants and stone-pelters in just two years and the entire system comes to be grinding halt.

With the near-total breakdown of the state government and unprecedented demoralisation in the police, New Delhi can no more afford the absence of a policy that simultaneously addresses the combination of mass protests, stone-pelting and firearms. Threats from the defence minister and army chief are no substitute. And there are few takers for the home ministers one-year deadline as his promise of putting the genie back into the bottle in one week remained unrealised for four months last year.

The author is a senior journalist
With only four days left for the elections to the Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCD), a firing was reported on a Swaraj India candidate late on Wednesday evening. This is the second such incident in Delhi ahead of the civic body polls within 24 hours. The first incident was when an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA was fired upon.

According to the police and Swaraj India party sources, two unidentified men on a motorcycle allegedly fired at Minatullah Alam, Swaraj Indias candidate contesting from Ward No 30N in Bawana and a case has been registered at Narela police station. The incident occurred at around 10 pm, when Alam, 29, along with his ailing wife, was returning from hospital.

According to party sources and a friend of Alam's, two motorcycle-borne men  one wearing a helmet and the other covering his face with a handkerchief  fired a bullet at the car in which Alam and his wife were travelling. Although no one was injured, the bullet pierced the windshield of the car. The assailants managed to escape from the spot and no arrest has been made as yet.

Immediately after the incident, Swaraj Indias national president and former AAP leader Yogendra Yadav tweeted:

Just in: bullet fired at Swaraj India candidate Minatullah Alam. He has campaigned against liquor mafia  Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) April 19, 2017

In response to Yadavs tweet, many dismissed it as "stage managed, nautanki (drama)".

After lodging an FIR with the police, Swaraj Indias chief spokesperson Anupam told Firstpost, "Alam is a popular face in the Bawana-Narela area, as he has been actively involved in anti-drug and anti-liquor campaigns. He even campaigned against the liquor mafias of the area. Even in 2016, he was attacked. Alam had in the past gheraoed BJP MP Udit Raj and ex-MLA Ved Prakash as a mark of protest against the menace."

Several areas in the outskirts of Delhi like Bawana have been a hotbed of drug and illicit liquor trade. Prior to the formation of the new political party, Swaraj Abhiyan  a socio-political movement and a splinter group of AAP  had raised a red flag against liquor venders in residential areas.

According to the newly-formed Swaraj India, five of its candidates contesting the MCD polls have been attacked. "In recent times, five of our candidates  Iqbal Siddique (Kalkaji), Sarvesh Yadav (Chavla Ward), Preeti Kesri (Vikaspuri), Pankaj Chowdhary (Deoli) and para-athlete Suvarna Raj  were threatened and attacked by local goons enjoying political patronage of either the Congress, BJP or AAP. This is a natural phenomenon. Whenever a new political force emerges, the traditional establishment reacts and uses violence as a tool to threaten and demoralise new candidates," added Anupam.

Ahead of the MCD election, the first incident of firing occurred on 18 April, when three gunshots were reportedly fired outside AAPs local office at Okhla. The AAP MLA from the area, Amanatullah Khan had alleged that he was attacked by Congress workers in the Jamia Nagar area after a dispute. The MLA, who has been named in various controversies, had alleged that three motorcycle-borne men opened fire at him.

In the earlier days of AAP in 2013, one of its women candidates from Seemapuri Santosh Koli, an anti-corruption activist was hit by a car, while she was on a motorcycle. She succumbed to her injuries. Prior to the incident, Koli had been attacked twice with weapons. AAP had termed the incident a 'conspiracy and a planned attack' on her.
New Delhi: India on Thursday hit out at China for giving Chinese names to some parts of Arunachal Pradesh, saying assigning invented names to towns of the neighbour does not make illegal territorial claims legal.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay also asserted that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India. "Assigning invented names to towns of your neighbour does not make illegal territorial claims legal. Arunachal Pradesh is and will always be an integral part of India," Baglay told reporters.

When asked if India has taken up the matter with China, he said the Chinese government has not communicated anything officially so far and the ministry has seen only reports on the development.

China had announced that it has "standardised" official names for six places in the northeastern state and termed the provocative move as a "legitimate action". The Chinese move came days after Beijing lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lama's visit to the frontier state.

Asked if India was attending the 'One Belt, One Road (OBOR) Infrastructure Plan' Summit to be hosted by China next month, Baglay only said the invitation has been received and was under "consideration".

India's position on the OBOR issue is that though it is in favour of connectivity, the China-Pakistan economic corridor, which passes through Indian territory, forms a part of the plan which is not acceptable to it.
Economic development cannot take a nation forward on its own. We need a society and economy which complement each other. - Narendra Modi

These inspiring lines from Prime Minister Narendra Modi underline the need for various socio and economic factors to work cohesively in order to achieve the desired development goals of a nation. And, a country can only progress if it aptly utilizes its natural resources to address its rising socio-economic challenges.

It is no secret that effective management of Natural Resources drives a countrys economy. Its immense potential can only be utilized if the countries develop a well thought out strategy to tap into its enormous potential. It goes without saying that the extractive sector can stimulate sustainable economic growth, create jobs and help bring people out of poverty.

The recently concluded Global Natural Resources Conclave, the first of its kind, organized by Network 18 and The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), talked about the rapidly changing world scenarios that are making it mandatory for nations to explore their resource base to the hilt which will help them carve a niche for themselves at a global platform.

The conclave witnessed key industry speakers, several industry stalwarts and thinkers deliberate upon the present and the future challenges being faced by the ever-developing economy like ours, pertaining to the natural resources sector.

Highlighting how entrepreneurship and technology can drive Indias growth story, Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal talked about the vast contribution the natural resources sector can make to the existing economic development of the country.

Australia's richest citizen Gina Rinehart, Executive Chairman of Hancock Prospecting - a privately owned mineral and exploration company, discussed the elimination of red tape and what both countries can hope to learn from each other.

JSW Group Chairman Sajjan Jindal underlined the need to make an optimum use of natural resources at the appropriate time so as to extract maximum benefits for the countrys economy.

Focusing on how policy changes can go a long way in improving Indias mineral resources landscape, Piyush Goyal, MoS (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines confirmed his faith in building a mutual development strategy for the nations.

Talking about the Global Natural Resources Conclave as a great platform to share ideas and discuss possibilities in the natural resources sector, Melody Meyer, President, Melody Meyer Energy LLC emphasized the need to pursue right investment strategies for energy development in India in the future.

The amalgamation of thought-provoking ideas with experts deliberating upon possibilities needed for growth of a country with respect to its natural resources sector at the Global Natural Resources Conclave paved the way for exploring some basic ground realities in terms of issues and opportunities concerning Indias natural resources.
Mumbai: The special NIA court here on Thursday issued a non-bailable warrant against the controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, wanted by the agency for his alleged role in a terror case.

The National Investigation Agency had registered a case against Naik under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act last year. It told the court that Naik didn't appear before it even after three summonses were issued and it would need to take Interpol's help to bring him back to India.

"Issue NBW against Naik," said Special Judge V V Patil. Last week, another city court had issued an NBW against Naik in a case of money laundering registered by the Enforcement Directorate against him. The ED lawyer had said Naik was believed to be in the United Arab Emirates.

Naik, 51, left India last year, allegedly to evade arrest after some perpetrators of Dhaka terror attack claimed they were inspired by him. Following the Dhaka attack, the NIA had registered a case against him and some officials of his organisation, Islamic Research Foundation, under section 153-A of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and the UAPA.
New Delhi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday night visited the Aiims where he met the assistant professor of GB Pant Engineering College who has been on an indefinite hunger strike for the last two weeks.

Joshil Abraham, who has been admitted to Aiims since 14 April night, has been fighting for "lack of infrastructure".

Gandhi turned up at Aiims at around 8 pm.

Congress' official account tweeted two pictures at around 10.24 pm in which Rahul Gandhi is seen having a conversation with the professor.

"Rahul Gandhi met Prof Joshil Abraham of GB Pant Engineering College who is on hunger strike against corruption & lack of infra for students," the tweet read.

"Rahulji said he will take up the issue as it was a legitimate demand and assured of a consecutive meeting if the issue is not solved," Abraham told PTI.
"I trained people on neuroplasticity resilience, it is a total connect of a brain to the body through the spinal cord through the electrical energy through the endocrinal glands that is basically the chemical energy. When all this is brought together, we get connected to ourselves. To do that, you have to physically get naked before yourself and then look at your body, get friendly with your body, then you actually get emotionally naked. You should have that courage."

This is what Sunil Kulkarni, the founder of Shifu Sunkriti, a group which has been accused of hypnotising, sexually assaulting and administering drugs to young women and luring them into promiscuous activities. For the sake of context, here's what happened.

On 18 April, the Bombay High Court ordered the Mumbai Crime Branch to investigate a case where a "group" was allegedly hypnotising, sexually assaulting and administering drugs to young women and luring them into sexual activities. On 19 April, the Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police told the high court that it would register an FIR against Kulkarni based on a complaint by a Malad couple. The couple was quoted as saying by The Times of India that their two daughters were "ensnared" by the group. A division bench of justices asked the crime branch not to take the issue "lightly" and carry out proper investigations. "The allegations and complaints by the parents are indeed very serious," said the bench.

The high court gave the directions while hearing a plea by a city couple alleging that their two daughters, aged 23 and 21, were ensnared by the cult group Shifu Sunkriti, which operated on social media, and its founder Kulkarni. Kulkarni has been booked under various IPC sections including 370 (trafficking of person), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison), 420 (cheating) and 292 (sale of obscene books), the official said.

He has also been charged under IT Act sections 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) and 67(a) (publishing or transmitting in the electronic form any material which contains sexually explicit act or conduct), he said.

The parents of the two girls claimed that they approached the police repeatedly since December last year to seek action against the cult group but in vain. According to the parents, their daughters left home early this year allegedly under the influence of Kulkarni and his group. The petition alleged that Shifu Sunkriti was a "sex and drug racket" that contacts young girls on Facebook and other social networking sites.

The petition, the report added, claimed, "Kulkarni attracts girls in the age group of 18-25 years and captures their mind to such an extent that they cannot possibly think beyond him." The court was told that the founder, Kulkarni, had a string of cases against him in Delhi, "including a case under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act of sexually assaulting a minor girl."

Justice More said: These are serious allegations. The police is taking it lightly. How can the matter be neglected? We want immediate action. A senior official should conduct investigation.

Police arrested Kulkarni on 20 April in connection with alleged human trafficking and obscenity on social media. Kulkarni was arrested by Malad police on Thursday. He will be produced in a court later in the day, a senior official of the Mumbai Crime Branch told PTI.

In an interview with Mumbai Mirror, Kulkarni said that Shifu Sunkriti is not an organisation, "it is my mystic name. Shifu means master, Sunkriti means Sun (reason) + Prakriti." Kulkarni's LinkedIn profile says that he is a psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist. However, Kulkarni claimed that he has been giving lectures on management in all education institutes from Mithibai College to IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Kharagpur. "I dont prescribe any medicine to anybody. I just show them the path."

When asked about the petition in Bombay High Court, Kulkarni cried innocence and said that it was not him, but the parents who should be investigated. "They have an abusive relationship and they followed their children everywhere they went. A domestic violence case should have been filed against them. I am just trying to help the two adult girls, who are trying to live an independent life. How is that a crime?"

With inputs from agencies
Editor's note: This is the introductory article to a nine-part series of ground reports on the ongoing water crisis in south India. Firstpost will cover various aspects of the near-calamitous situation in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, over the next eight days.

South India is parched  Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are already reeling under severe drought, and Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are on the brink  now the blistering heat waves will probably put more pressure on the existing water resources.

While Kerala and Tamil Nadu are facing an unprecedented drought  the worst ever in over a century, according to experts; Karnatakas northern districts are without water for the third consecutive year.

In October 2016, Andhra Pradesh announced that 245 of its mandals were drought-hit due to a deficiency of 4 percent rainfall. Telangana, a perennially water-starved state, is engaged in water wars with its Telugu-speaking neighbour over allocations of Krishna and Godavari river water.

Tamil Nadu

The situation is grim in the southern-most part of the country. The North East monsoon, which is the main source of water for the state, was deficient by 62 percent last year. The year 2016 was uneventful despite the failed monsoon as the December 2015 floods filled up lakes and water bodies and recharged groundwater, bringing the water table up by 2-3 metres.

But summer has set in full force. Chennai has already experienced three days of heat wave, with temperatures crossing 40 degrees Celsius, a deviance of 3 degrees from the average at this time of the year. Experts warn that the state will reel under severe heat in the coming months, with temperatures expected to cross 50 degrees Celsius in an abnormally hot summer. Drought is adding to the states woes.

Authorities are at a loss as to what to do for water, considering that the neighbouring states are also reeling under drought. The states battle over Cauvery water has not come to much  there is hardly any water in the Cauvery for Karnataka to release. Andhra Pradesh yielded to the pleas of the then chief minister O Panneerselvam in February this year, but the 2 tmc-feet of water released was barely enough, even for Chennai. Water levels in the reservoirs of the state are at 5 percent of their total capacity, with the key reservoirs feeding Chennai  Chembarambakkam and Cholavaram  already at dead storage.

The state is now tapping water filled in mines and quarries, water released from Neyvelis thermal power plant and desalination plants to somehow meet the needs of the thirsty population. Groundwater is being drawn at an alarming rate by the civic bodies, citizens and illegal water tankers alike. As a result, groundwater levels have fallen drastically  between 5 and 10 feet  across the state. Water supply has been rationed.

It is a drought we have not seen in 110 years. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and it is due to global climate change. We may see a repeat of 2015 (floods) next year or the rains may fail again like they did in 2016. We cannot figure the weather out. But we need to ensure that we are prepared, said S Thirunavukkarasu, retired official of the Tamil Nadu Public Works Department which is in-charge of maintaining most of the reservoirs, lakes and rivers in the state.

Kerala

The rain gods have spurned Gods Own Country. The worst drought in the state in 115 years has made the residents very anxious. With the South West monsoon being deficient by 33.7 percent (July to September) and the North East monsoon short by 61 percent (October to December), the state is floundering.

Drought has meant that the power supply too has been hit as Kerala largely depends on hydroelectric power. The Idukki hydroelectric project, which is the largest producer of power in the state, has only enough water to generate 40 percent of its total capacity. While the state annually needs 24,000 Million Units (MU) of power, only 7,100 MU are generated at home while the rest is sourced from outside. The bad news is that as the rains cease and water storage decreases, internal generation will fall to 5,200 MU. This means that close to 2,000 MU of power will have to be again bought from outside. With all the power plants put together in the state, a stock taken on 22 December, 2016, shows that only 1,988 MU of power can be generated against the previous years. While in 2015, it was 2,754 MU; in 2014, it was 3,246 MU taken on the same date.

Karnataka

This year is bound to be tougher because even the Cauvery basin districts in Karnataka have gone so dry that the state might face a gigantic crisis if the South West monsoon fails for the fourth consecutive year, beginning June. The shortage of water and unemployment have already made hundreds, if not thousands, of villagers move to the cities and towns of not only Karnataka but neighbouring states as well. The reservoirs fed by the Cauvery river are at dead storage as cities like Bengaluru thirst for water.

This is because of the heat wave in north Karnataka and the third consecutive year of drought. A rainfall deficit of 35 percent in the Malnad region, the catchment area for many perennial rivers emerging from the Western Ghats, has meant that the river water too has failed the state.

What is concerning experts is the lack of vision and long-term policy and planning by state governments across south India to tackle drought. Nobody cares about migration, said Professor Narendra Pani of the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bengaluru. The government is looking for a quick fix. There is a need to set up markets for farmers and we need to have a system of aggregation. You need to bring people together and, perhaps, set up sheds for sericulture to control quality. Unfortunately, we don't even think on the lines that China has succeeded in implementing.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

Andhra Pradeshs groundwater table has dropped to 14.34 metres, following a rainfall deficit of 23 percent last year. Ideal groundwater level should be between 3 and 8 metres, as per government recommendations and the state has begun an ambitious groundwater recharging programme called 'Neeti Samrakshana Udyamam'.

Chronically drought-prone areas like the Rayalaseema districts of Anantapur and Kadapa have become more arid, with crops failing. Andhra has got a drought relief package of Rs 2,816 crores from the Centre.

While Telangana received slightly higher rainfall than the average in 2016, the state is engaged in water wars with Andhra for river water from the Krishna and the Godavari. For now, the water situation is under control in Telangana. But with heat waves predicted in both the Telugu-speaking states, the respective governments are gearing up for the summer months.

Experts are criticising the knee jerk reactions of state governments to drought, rather than planned conservation. Chennai-based economist, Venkatesh Athreya said, You need to promote sustainable water conservation and newer methods of irrigation. Yes, there has been a collective action in desilting tanks etc. Certainly inspiring but it doesn't absolve the state of its responsibility. It is the scale that matters which only the state can do it.

Drought In South India

Social biases are adding to the trauma of scarcity. Take for instance the illiterate and the socially-backward sections in Tamil Nadu's Cauvery Delta region. The Dalit woman is left empty-handed because the landed gentry understand the problems between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka caused by the dispute over sharing of Cauvery waters.

Not that life in the cities is any better. The job-hunter from the village expects to get the most basic requirement  water. But it has become a traumatic experience in his effort to survive the summer. Many in Chennai are forced to pay 10 times the normal amount for a pot of water.

Scarcity of water has reached such levels that even Nandan Nilekani, perhaps, did not realise that the Unique Identity (UID) card called Aadhaar would be used as a tool to ration water. Based on the Aadhaar card, people are given water cards to become eligible for a pot of water in one district of Andhra Pradesh. But, then there is a price to pay after acquiring that water card. The citizen has to pay Rs 5 per pot of water from private water suppliers.

But, the story about scarcity of water or drought in some places is not all about at what price water is sold. It is about the impact that this precious commodity has on society and on all aspects of development for the future. The effort to deal with the problems of climate change has been such that there has been no concrete measures taken by any of the state governments to prepare for the summer months which have been becoming traumatic with each passing year.

For instance, a state like Tamil Nadu has not realised that it has the longest coastline among the Indian states and the consequential adverse situations. Such situations in the future, experts believe, could be even worse than the flood havoc it faced in December 2015. It appears the state is clueless about how to safeguard itself in the future from the ubiquitous climate change. The state has not understood that the changes in the seas impact the inland.

But, it must be said that not all governments are callous about the future. Kerala has adopted a mission mode approach to reclaim dried up lakes, canals, ponds and other water bodies. It is a start but, at least, one state has begun to look at something in a mission mode.

Firstpost brings to you a series on the impact of the harshness of the summer from each of the south Indian states which, incidentally, is the most developed zone of India, along with western India, with a hope that the powers-that-be, not only the government but the powerful civil society as well, will begin to look at initiating measures to provide mission-mode programmes to reduce the agony of summer.

Part 2: Chennai slum dwellers forced to beg for water, authorities remain helpless

Part 3: Parched lands in Nagapattinam lead to distress migration

Part 4: Water crisis in Tamil Nadu is a manifestation of climate change, say experts

Part 5: As Karnataka reels under severe water crisis, residents brace unofficial rationing
Nearly all of us have seen the recent viral video of a CRPF jawan being heckled, abused and provoked by a mob of youth in Kashmir. The clip sparked massive outrage. Despite being under duress, the jawan kept his calm and showed admirable restraint.

A detailed News18 report gives us the CRPF personnel's back story. He had apparently travelled continuously for four months on election duty before facing the violence on 9 April. The night before his deployment at a booth for Srinagar bypoll, he had little sleep.

The report says that on polling day  that saw an abysmal percentage of voting  8 jawans including him were surrounded by a crowd of 500-600 at a booth in Dharambug, Chadoora of Budgam district. Quoting CRPF, the News18 report says, "The mob attacked the polling booth and broke the EVM. Within minutes, the presiding officer fled the spot." The jawans were forced to march to the nearest booth. It is then that they were chased, abused and beaten up by the mob, a part of which was captured by the video clip. The jawan told News18 that the "section officer had given them specific instructions to not to retaliate, and certainly not open fire, as it could lead to heavy casualty."

Later, talking to Times Now, he said: "We were leaving after election duty They (the mob) were torturing us. They shouted Pakistan zindabad and harassed us. We kept in mind our training  we have been taught to show restraint and we stayed calm. We tolerated their attack and we just left from the spot."

Travel wary, sleepless, under duress and faced with naked hostility, it would have been understandable if the CRPF jawan had lost his cool. The fact that he didn't, owes in no small measure to the code of conduct that security forces live by. The jawan was given a specific instruction, and he followed it. This is the very basis of military discipline that governs armed forces. If there is a breach in this fundamental code of conduct, it may result in the collapse of the entire institutional edifice.

For instance, if the jawan had taken it upon himself to deliver instant justice in breach of his order, the violence could not only have spiralled out of control, it would have damaged CRPF's internal command structure and set a dangerous precedent. These considerations must guide discussions on individual rights in armed forces as media debate rages on about BSF's move to dismiss constable Tej Bahadur Yadav from service on four grounds of indiscipline.

The BSF had conducted an internal inquiry after Yadav had a series of four videos in January this year, ostensibly highlighting the poor quality of food served in camp.

The point here isn't whether Yadav highlighted important issues. He may have had. The point is how he raised it. He bypassed BSF's internal grievance redressal mechanism and went public with his complaints on social media.

In an affidavit filed before the Delhi High Court in February, BSF deputy inspector general said: "Concerned jawan (Tej Bahadur Yadav) or any other jawan of the said battalion never approached the grievance redressal system regarding the poor quality of food".

This was held against him during the inquiry which found him guilty of making "false allegations" on social media regarding the quality of food. The "false allegations" was an act "prejudicial to good order and discipline" of the force, held a Summary Security Force Court (SSFC) where Yadav was tried. It also found him guilty of not adhering to formal grievance redressal mechanism, contravening BSF standard operating procedure in carrying two mobile phones while on operational duty, and posting photographs in uniform on social media in contravention of instructions.

There have been allegations that Yadav is a repeat offender. Saikat Dutta writes in Scroll that "within months of joining service in 1996, Yadav was absent without leave, an act that earned him 14 days of rigorous imprisonment. He was taken into custody again in 2003, 2007 and 2010. His longest stint in prison was 89 days starting in March 2010, for using 'insubordinate language' against a superior officer. He also had to forgo promotions as a result of the offence."

Anomalies in his service record are incidental. What is more relevant here is that the former BSF jawan broke the chain of command in a highly structured force and paved the way for a spate of viral videos to be posted in public domain. Not just BSF, the malaise affected the CRPF and Indian Army as well. The videos created such an outrage that it threatened to destroy, to borrow from Dutta, "the statutory relationship between the soldier and the state".

The media controversy fuelled massive discontent in armed forces and COAS Bipin Rawat had to issue a desperate appeal to the rank and file to submit complaints in a "grievance redressal box" instead of putting it in social media.

Yadav may escalate his appeal to a higher appellate authority within three months and if unsatisfied, may approach the civilian court. The former BSF jawan, who has likened himself to Bhagat Singh, has already indicated that he will do so. In fact, media reports say that he has already left for Delhi to file a case in Delhi HC and noted lawyers such as Prashant Bhushan and Congress's Manish Tewari have offered him their services.

This is worrying. Regardless of the issue highlighted by Yadav, he had clearly breached several service rules and has undermined the rigorous command and control hierarchy.

Lt Gen H S Panag, former GOC in C Northern Command and Central Command writes in his piece for Newslaundry: "On the issue of airing grievances or exposes on social media or through anonymous complaints, as per Armed Forces rules and regulations and the Army Act duly approved by the parliament, it is forbidden and is a punishable offence. It is mostly resorted to by disgruntled soldiers to get even with the organisation. All such cases must be investigated both for the complaint/grievance per se and to assess whether the existing redressal system was utilised or not.

Remedial and disciplinary action against those that failed the system to redress the grievance/complaint must be initiated if the complaint was genuine. However, if the soldier did not utilise the redressal system, he must be punished. This is no shooting of the messenger, but the very basis of military discipline."

In its zeal for introducing social justice in armed forces, the media has forgotten the context. Clamouring for egalitarianism over discipline in armed forces is a dangerous idea. It has potential to rip apart the entire structure in ways we cannot even imagine.

A 2012 report in Australian Navy, for instance, suggested that focus on rights in military impeded commanders in enforcing discipline. The report by retired Australian judge Roger Gyles found "a failure in the command structure on the navy supply ship might reflect a more general breakdown in respect for rank and command, accompanied by a reluctance among commanders to exercise their command."

Elsewhere, two members of the US Marine Corps were recently punished for posting derogatory comments on social media, Washington Post reported on 7 April. The marines  one a noncommissioned officer and the other a junior enlisted Marine  were found guilty of making "demeaning comments about one of their enlisted leaders". Their punishment included demotion and loss pay, making it the first such incident of censure in US marines for online misconduct. The newspaper quoted unit commander as saying "This kind of behaviour flies in the face of our services core values and this organisation refuses to condone it."

The Congress has taken an adversarial position on this issue. Spokesperson Manish Tewari told ANI,"It is extremely unfortunate that a government which claims to be committed to transparency actually behaves in such a high-handed manner with somebody who is trying to expose in order to transform the system."

Tewari is wrong on several counts. The punishment was meted out by a BSF court after the due procedure. It wasn't an action taken by the government. More importantly, it is dangerous to make armed forces pawns in political games of one-upmanship. Congress has enjoyed power long enough to know the consequences of not doing so.
The Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) recently came out with its second edition of National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), which ranks institutes across the country on parameters such as Teaching Learning and Resources, Research and Professional Practice, Graduation Outcome, Outreach and Inclusivity and Perception.

On the list, we have some of the usual suspects such as IISc Bangalore, IITs and BHU doing fairly well in the Research category. However, it is surprising to find some of our best universities such as Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jadavpur University, University of Delhi, Savitribai Phule Pune University and University of Hyderabad hardly able to cross the 55-mark, out of 100. These are all universities that consist mainly of colleges that teach undergraduate courses. It is, therefore, safe to say that our colleges are not engaging in research as much as we would like them to.

Even some of the standalone premiere institutions like IIM-Ahmedabad and TISS scored an abysmal 13.85 and 6.5 in the same category. With the release of the various global rankings every year, it is reiterated over and over that Indian institutes fare poorly in these rankings because of their appalling scores in research  among other important issues such as governance, investment in education and absence of internationalisation of campuses.

To go beyond what external ranking agencies say, according to data by Nature magazine and Unesco, we have only four Indians per 10,000 labour force engaged in research (China has 18, Russia has 58, and UK and US have 79); of a population of 1.3 billion, India has only about two lakh full-time researchers (of which 14 percent are women). In terms of filing patent applications per one million people, India scores 17 and is way behind China (541), Russia (237), South Korea (4,451) and Japan (3,716). India invests only about 0.9 percent of its GDP in research and development and lags behind countries such as Brazil (1.3) Russia (1.5) China (1.9) and Israel (4.2). Not to mention the quality of research, the type of journals and authenticity of the work published in our country.

Moreover, one would be left wondering as to how, with these abject scores, is India going to support 20 world-class universities initiatives proposed by our government? Experts, all over the world, agree unanimously that world-class universities can only be research universities.

This calls for a serious analysis on what can be done to increase the number of researchers in the country as well as improve the quality of research published. One way of doing it could be by promoting research at the undergraduate level in colleges. By analysing universities, at home and abroad, that engage in undergraduate research, it can be inferred that undergraduate research helps students associate with their traditional classroom education more closely, get better understanding of their chosen discipline, induce a culture of research and have clearer career goals in mind. It pushes students to think critically, ask questions and find innovative solutions to problems around them. This is true for science as well as social sciences students.

Research at the undergraduate level can be very basic, which can involve understanding the basics of research methodology, field visits, analysing occurrences in their environment, trying to find solutions to simple problems, etc. For instance, students can be sent to a lab and explore the interaction of various microorganisms with humans and environment, one can analyse the impurities in water, understand why a website is showing errors, find loopholes in a government policy document, understand why students in the rural areas drop out of government schools, intern with an industry or simply critically review an already published paper.

However, in the existing system of education, most colleges term it as projects and such activities are often restricted to just field visits. Instead, to make it more fruitful and sustain student interest in the topics, they should be asked to write research papers that follow the systematic ways of writing an abstract, introduction, methodology used (observation, interviews, surveys), conclusion, discussions, citations and acknowledgements.

However, to embed it in our present education system, it will be necessary to make undergraduate research a part of the curriculum by ways such as introducing a chapter on basics of writing a research paper, offering extra credits to a student who publishes a paper during the course of his study, getting faculty on board or external mentors, involving industry in research that is relevant to them, among others. Perhaps, it is also a good idea to consider foreign collaborations with colleges abroad to get access to their material and mentors  which can be done by using web technologies such as online courses or Skype.

The additional benefits of this would be that a student will be better placed in choosing an industry or sector they want to work with; their research ability is likely to make them more attractive to prospective employers. It will also help them decide for themselves if they want to ditch a corporate job and opt for higher studies in the future. Moreover, students with research background have higher possibilities of getting international scholarships of the likes of Rhodes. For the university, it will mean more research papers and chances of higher citations.

While implementing undergraduate research, it will be necessary to look for ways to incentivise all stakeholders (not necessarily monetary incentives) such as students, teachers, university and industry. This is important because the existing system is marred with several deficiencies such as a skewed teacher-student ratio, lack of research funds, insufficient infrastructure to support research as well as negligible industry support.

These issues should be addressed in a way that the idea of undergraduate research can be implemented within the given constraints. It is high time we come up with innovative ways to push the number of researchers and quality of research in the country to be able to compete in a globalised world.

This entire process will, at the least, help inculcate the culture of research in our students and produce more informed and disciplined researchers who will aim at producing quality research work.

The author is a Research Fellow on Education with Observer Research Foundation Mumbai.
New Delhi: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Thursday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here in connection with a money laundering case registered against him and others. Singh arrived at the agency's office in New Delhi in his official car, with a covered beacon, at around noon.

Sporting his trademark 'Himachali topi', the chief minister did not interact with media persons on the spot and was seen raising his fist in the air and heard reciting some lines of a patriotic poem: "Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hain, dekhna hai zor kitna baju e qaatil mein hai."

The agency has summoned Singh in order to record his statement in this case and also to confront him with some documents it has seized and recovered in this case of disproportionate assets. The CM, last week, had also sent a communication to the agency stating his reasons for not being able to appear before it all this while and had sought a new date from it, after which the new summons were issued for today.

The ED on Wednesday had refused to give any assurance in the Delhi High Court that it will not arrest Singh when he appears before it. The submission was made before Justice R K Gauba by the ED during the hearing of Singh's plea for quashing of the money laundering proceedings against him.

The ED summons have come close on the heels of filing of a charge sheet by the CBI against Singh, his wife and others for allegedly amassing assets worth around Rs 10 crore disproportionate to their known sources of income.

The agency had summoned Singh earlier also, but then he had excused himself stating he had official commitments.

The ED has already questioned his wife Pratibha and son Vikramaditya in connection with the case.

It had filed a case under the anti-money laundering law against the Himachal Pradesh chief minister, his family members and others after taking cognisance of a complaint filed by the CBI in this regard in September 2015.

The agency is probing allegations against Singh and his family members of amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income between 2009 and 2011 when he was the Union Minister of Steel. It has also attached assets worth about Rs 14 crore in the case.

The CBI charge sheet alleged that Singh had amassed assets worth around Rs 10 crore which were disproportionate by 192 per cent of his total income during his tenure as a Union minister.

The final report was filed against nine persons for alleged offences punishable under section 109 (abetment) and 465 (punishment for forgery) of the IPC and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, arrayed around 225 witnesses and 442 documents.

Besides the 82-year-old Congress leader and his wife Pratibha Singh, the report also arraigned Chunni Lal Chauhan, Joginder Singh Ghalta, Prem Raj, Vakamulla Chandrasekhar, Lawan Kumar Roach and Ram Prakash Bhatia as accused. It also named as accused LIC agent Anand Chauhan, who is currently in judicial custody. Chauhan was arrested by the ED on 9 July last year in this money laundering case.
On Thursday as a beleaguered AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran (also spelled as Dhinakaran) said none in the party were against him (asserting that all party MLAs stood behind him), AIADMK merger efforts are in full swing.

"There is no opposition to me in the party," he said, breaking his silence since influential section of Ministers revolted against him last night and decided to keep AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala and him out of the party. According to 'Jaya Plus' Tamil TV channel, Dinakaran said a "good decision" will be taken in the interest of the party.

Party sources indicated that he was expected to appear at the Economic Offences court in Chennai on Thursday on a case against him for alleged violation of FERA regulations. However, he skipped the court hearing citing the death of a relative. The court accepted his plea and scheduled the next hearing on 24th April.

He has also been asked to appear before the Crime Branch of Delhi Police on Saturday in a case of alleged bribery to EC officials for retrieving the party's 'two leaves' symbol. On Wednesday night, the Delhi Police had served summons to him in the case.

Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker and AIADMK leader M Thambidurai also called on Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao on Thursday, in an apparent effort to merge the two factions of AIADMK. Tamil Nadu Finance and Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar also met Rao.

While the efforts for the merger are in full-swing, O Panneerselvam camp toughened their stand demanding Sasikala's resignation and calling for a CBI probe into Jayalalithaa's death.

On Wednesday, isolated in his party, AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran threw in the towel and "stepped aside" to pave the way for a merger of rival factions led by Tamil Nadu chief minister EK Palaniswamy and his predecessor O Panneerselvam.

Dinakaran, the nephew of jailed AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala, is facing a revolt by an influential section of the party led by Palaniswamy and a host of ministers, who declared the ouster of the once powerful aunt-nephew duo, and extended a hand of friendship to the Panneerselvam camp.

Dinakaran, who had on Wednesday convened a meeting of the MLAs backing him, called it off at the last moment, apparently because his supporters were outnumbered by those arrayed against him.

Senior ministers including D Jayakumar and KA Sengottaiyan, who chairs the AIADMK presidium and had hitherto sided with Dinakaran, had questioned the beleaguered leader's locus standi to convene a meeting of legislators and the party's district secretaries.

Seeking to avoid any confrontation, Dinakaran said he had "stepped aside" last night itself "in the interest of the party".

"I myself would have announced it (of keeping away from the party) if they had told me about their decision," he said, referring to last night's revolt.

Dinakaran, who is facing trouble on multiple fronts, including from the Delhi police which has booked him for allegedly trying to bribe an Election Commission official to clinch the 'two-leaves' symbol of the party, frozen by the poll panel, for his faction, also said he had no issues with the rival camps merging together.

He, however, claimed the rebellion against him was out of "fear".

"They (ministers) might have done this (revolt) due to some fear. Maybe there was some dissatisfaction against me.

But I don't know," he told reporters.

He was apparently referring to the possible angst in the party following income tax raids at Health Minister C Vijayabaskar's premises ahead of the assembly bypoll to the RK Nagar seat which was countermanded following allegations of bribing and inducement of voters. Dinakaran was the party's nominee for the election.

"I wonder what the apprehension is about. When they make such sudden announcement there must be some fear," he said, adding, the revolt was a decision made in a "hurry".

Dinakaran, however, made it clear that since it was Sasikala who had appointed him to the post, he would decide on the next course of action only after meeting her. He wondered why there was the question of his resignation when he had already "stepped aside".

Meanwhile, Panneerselvam, a staunch loyalist of the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, described the revolt against the Sasikala family as the "first success" of his "dharma yuddh" (holy war).

Panneerselvam said he had launched the "dharma yuddh" with the help of his supporters, including MPs and MLAs, in an effort to ensure that the AIADMK did not go into hands of Sasikala's family.

Panneerselvam had filled-in for Jayalalithaa as Chief Minister thrice in the past, twice when she had to go to jail in corruption cases and once when she was on her death bed. He had claimed he was coerced to step down by Sasikala after Jayalalithaa's death.

Though the Palaniswamy and Panneerselvam camps have shown inclination for the merger of the two factions, there have not been any direct talks between them so far.

Dinakaran, against whom the Delhi police has issued a lookout notice for allegedly trying to bribe an Election Commission official, said he had no intention to fight with people who are like his "brothers." "I will never go against the AIADMK," he said.

He, however, insisted the appointment of Sasikala and himself to the top party posts was made with the "consent" of others and that none was "bypassed".

He indicated Sasikala has not yet been apprised of the developments. "How can someone inside the jail be informed," he asked.

When asked if he was being "targeted" by way of Income Tax raids on Health Minister C Vijayabaskar and countermanding of the 12 April RK Nagar bypoll, he responded with a terse "maybe."

Putting up a brave face, he said he will tackle the situation. "They can maximum put me behind bars. If that is my destiny, I will face it and come out," he added.

A powerful section of the ruling AIADMK (Amma) had last night risen in revolt against Sasikala-Dinakaran leadership, and said they had resolved to "delink" the party and the government from them.

The surprise development had come on a day when Panneerselvam made the merger talks between the two camps contingent upon the ruling AIADMK faction ejecting Sasikala and Dinakaran, who is standing-in for his jailed aunt.

With inputs from agencies
The Supreme Court on Wednesday, stirred a hornet's nest in reviving the conspiracy charge in the Babri Masjid demolition case against BJP and VHP leaders including LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, triggering calls for the resignation of Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharti.

And in doing so, the apex court has also set a mammoth task for the trial court, which it served a deadline of two years to finish the long-standing case. According to a report by The Times of India, just to meet the Supreme Court deadline, the trial court will have to complete the hearing in around 564 working days as trial courts work only for 282 days roughly in an year.

Moreover, the apex court had also combined two separate cases, one running in Lucknow court against RSS workers, and another in Rae Bareli court against senior BJP leaders. The report states that of the 908 witnesses in both the cases together, only 252 have been examined in the last 25 years. This makes for 656 witnesses from various parts of the country, who are yet to be examined and cross-questioned.

That apart, the decision also saw the resurgence of a political slug-fest between the Congress and the BJP both of whom have been sparring over the issue. While the grand old party demanded resignation of Singh and Bharti, party chief Amit Shah have conveyed to the leaders that the party is ready to throw its weight behind them.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley too had earlier indicated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the government would not act against any of the leaders. "This case is going on since 1993. Today, no new situation has arisen."

After the court verdict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting at his official residence with senior cabinet colleagues including Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Jaitley, Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday where they are understood to have discussed the issue.

A senior party leader said that the several issues figured in the meeting including the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Advani and Joshi were among the top contenders for the post of president after Pranab Mukherjee retires in July. Bharti is a Union minister and Singh is the Rajasthan Governor.

Hours after the verdict, Joshi and Advani held a brief meeting. Later, the BJP core group led by Shah also met to discuss the further strategy of the party. Shah is learnt to have assured Advani and other leaders the party stands with them.

Sources said that Shah also convinced Bharti to cancel her proposed Ayodhya visit, which she had announced earlier on Wednesday.

The senior BJP leaders along with Vinay Katiyar, Sadhvi Rithambara, Acharya Giriraj Kishore, Ashok Singhal and Vishnu Hari Dalmia were facing trial for making inflammatory speeches before the 16th-century mosque was razed in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya town on 6 December, 1992.

Giriraj Kishore and Singhal, who were key members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), have since died. Katiyar is a Rajya Sabha member of the BJP.

Restoring the conspiracy charge, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman transferred the trial from Rae Bareli to Lucknow.

Justice Nariman said since Singh had constitutional immunity from prosecution, the trial court would proceed against him when he ceases to be Governor.

The verdict followed a Central Bureau of Investigation plea challenging the May 2010 Allahabad High Court order quashing the conspiracy charge against Advani and others.

The Congress demanded a speedy trial while the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) sought action against Bharti and Singh.

"The law of the land has prevailed. We hope there will be a speedy trial and all the guilty will be punished and face the consequences," Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha told IANS.

"It is a known fact that the Babri demolition as a spontaneous reaction has been proven wrong and it was indeed a political conspiracy," Jha said.

The CPI said Bharti and Singh should step down on moral grounds. The IUML said Singh should not cling to technicalities by speaking of immunity, adding Bharti too should quit.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad said Advani's dream of becoming the President of India had now been dashed.

Blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the twist in the case, he said: "Advani is now out of race for the President's post." He added that Advani was a "scapegoat" (bali ka bakra) in the demolition case.

Bharti refused to resign, saying the charges of conspiracy had not yet been proved. She said there was no conspiracy behind the mosque razing.

Katiyar took a similar line. "Why would I resign? There is nothing in it that I should resign."

On 6 December, 1992, all these leaders were present in Ayodhya when hundreds of mostly VHP activists storied the three-domed Babri mosque and brought it down, triggering communal violence in the country.

The Supreme Court also said the trial court in Lucknow would frame additional charges against Advani and others and proceed against them.

It said there would be no de-novo trial and the trial court judge would not be transferred until the trial got over. The trial should end in two years, the top court said, without adjournments.
Congress appeared to have everything served to it on a platter in Goa  it had emerged the single largest party in the hung 40-member Goa legislative Assembly by winning 17 seats, and Goa Front (GF), Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and three Independents, who accounted for 10 seats between them, were all waiting to be approached.

They were like newlywed brides, all dressed up but nowhere to go. They waited for two days, and were glad when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came around to woo them.

BJP, rejected by Goa voters and a poor second behind Congress in the Assembly with just 13 seats, managed to stage a political coup  staked claim, formed the government, and successfully proved its majority, virtually bolting the door on Congress' aspirations and hopes of snatching away a BJP-ruled state.

Digvijaya Singh, Congress general secretary and the party's in-charge for Goa, emerged villain in the tale, accepting flak from both within and outside for remaining indecisive and gifting Goa to BJP, so much so that Manohar Parrikar, who quit as defence minister to become Goa chief minister, loses no opportunity of taking a jibe at the hapless Singh, terming him of being in Goa as a "tourist", when the time was for him to move, and move swiftly.

However, is Singh alone to be blamed for the disaster? Lack of foresight, no advance planning, and a centralised decision making process are actually to be blamed for the Goa debacle.

According to sources in the Goa Congress Pradesh Committee (GPCC), Singh did act and even called up Rahul Gandhi on 14 March when results were declared, informing the party vice-president of the ground situation and seeking his approval to nominate former chief minister Digambar Kamat as the legislative party leader.

Goa Forward, which had won three seats, had made it amply clear that it would extend its support to Congress only if Kamat was named chief minister. MGP had no issues since it has been part of governments in Goa for 17 years, irrespective of which party or individual was at the helm.

It is learnt that Gandhi promised to get back to Singh within two hours, but instead took two days, before informing him that a corruption-tainted Kamat was unacceptable to him. Instead, Gandhi suggested going in for a new face, as there was lack of unanimity over the candidatures of Pratapsingh Rane, Luizinho Faleiro and Ravi Naik  all former chief ministers.

It was too late by the time Congress elected Quepem MLA Chandrakant Kavlekar as its legislative party leader; by then, BJP had already staked its claim and even procured an invitation to form the government.

Congress' last ditch effort to move the Supreme Court and get the first chance to form government also failed, as they did not have letters of support from any of the 23 remaining MLAs outside its ranks. Contrast this with BJP, which was well prepared and had planned in advance about what to do if it failed to win a majority.

BJP was also clear that only Parrikar's return would enable it to cobble up a post-poll alliance, since he had the political acumen, contacts, reputation, and above all, experience of heading coalition governments in the past. Parrikar was already stationed in Goa while Union minister Nitin Gadkari, BJP's Goa in-charge, was also rushed to the state as soon as it became clear that a hung Assembly was about to be elected.

The rest is history  BJP formed its government, proved its majority, and even dented Congress further by getting its MLA Vishwajit Rane to walk out during an ensuing floor test. Rane subsequently quit the Congress party and joined BJP. He has been duly rewarded with a Cabinet berth.

The Goa experience does indicate the rot that has set into the Congress party. Gandhi, who is expected to be elected as party president in place of his ailing mother Sonia Gandhi before the year ends, is not known for being decisive. Moreover, he probably found his hands tied, since he had promised a strong anti-corruption message twice in his rallies in the run-up to the election in Goa. And Kamat is known not for being a clean leader but for his political acumen.

But the point is  was the Congress party in general, and Gandhi in particular, prepared for this eventuality? Why did it take Gandhi two days to reject Kamat? Why hadn't he thought about an alternative name in advance? The answer is clear and simple: The party and its leaders had lost Goa even before the first beep was heard on the electronic voting machine on 4 February, the day of polling.

At the same time, it also suggests how detached the Congress party has become from ground realities, as it probably had no feedback mechanism to prepare itself, considering the gap between voting and counting of votes was a good 35 days.

But it is to be expected from a leader who, despite being is a Member of Parliament for 13 years, is still learning the ropes; meanwhile, an already marginalised party is facing threats of becoming extinct. The Gandhis will remain insulated from any blame so long as there are leaders like Digvijaya Singh to shield them, while BJP's avowed aim of making India Congress-mukt becomes a closer reality with each state going their way.
Chennai: Delhi Police officials on Wednesday served summons to AIADMK deputy chief TTV Dinakaran in a case of alleged bribery to EC officials for retrieving the party's 'two leaves' symbol.

It is, however, not known when Dinakaran has been asked to appear before them.

Assistant Commissioner Sanjay and another official served the summons to Dinakaran at his upscale Besant Nagar residence in Chennai.

The Delhi Police personnel, who were inside Dinakaran's house for about 20 minutes, declined to speak to the waiting media while leaving the premises.

Anxiety and tension, meanwhile, prevailed for a while as a party worker tried to allegedly set himself ablaze to show his opposition to the police.

The self-immolation bid was thwarted by other cadres and some plainclothesmen.

On Tuesday, the Delhi Police had issued a lookout notice against the Dinakaran.

The lookout notice was issued in the wake of inputs that Dinakaran was an NRI and could try to flee the country, police said.

The AIADMK (Amma) Deputy General Secretary is already facing the heat as the Eddapadi Palaniswamy Cabinet revolted against him last night and decided to keep him and his family out of the party and the government.

Dinakaran on Wednesday virtually questioned the need for the lookout notice, saying how could he flee the country when his passport was "in court" for 20 years.

Earlier, the Crime Branch had arrested an alleged middleman, Sukesh Chandrashekhar here in connection with the matter.

He claimed that he had told Dinakaran that he will get a favourable verdict from the Election Commission of India in the party symbol case, he said.

The 27-year-old had told Dinakaran that he has contacts in the Election Commission and his contacts will help the Sasikala faction get the AIADMK's poll symbol of two leaves in a byboll to the RK Nagar Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu.

Police got on Chadrashekhar's trail after they received a tip-off from an informer about certain Election Commission officials being approached.

It has been learnt that he had struck a deal for Rs 50 crore for helping the AIADMK faction keep the 'two leaves' symbol.

Till now, the middleman had allegedly got Rs 10 crore of the deal amount and the remaining amount was to be given to him in a time-bound manner. He had allegedly received money through some Chandni

Chowk-based hawala operators and police is probing the hawala link. Yesterday, Sukesh was taken to Chandni Chowk by the Crime Branch officers to identify the hawala operators.

Dinakaran had, soon after the arrest of Sukesh Chandrasekhar asserted that he will face the matter legally.

He had denied any knowledge of Chandrasekhar.
New Delhi: The Congress, which has been critical of both the Centre and the PDP-BJP coalition government over their handling of the Jammu and Kashmir situation, set up a policy-planning group led by former prime minister Manmohan Singh for the state on Wednesday.

The group includes senior leaders Karan Singh, P Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ambika Soni, Ghulam Ahmed Mir, Rigzin Zora, Tariq Hameed Karra, and Shyam Lal Sharma.

"Congress President Sonia Gandhi has constituted a policy-planning group for Jammu and Kashmir under the chairmanship of Manmohan Singh," said a statement released by party General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi.

The move comes after a delegation of the Congress and National Conference leaders from Jammu and Kashmir met party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi also accepted the delegation members' invitation to visit Kashmir and talk to the people and other stakeholders in the Valley.

The delegation led by PCC president Ghulam Ahmed Mir later called on President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan and apprised him of the situation in the Kashmir Valley and submitted a memorandum to him.

Gandhi earlier said on his official Twitter account: "Met a delegation of Congress and NC leaders, who will call on the President later today (Wednesday) to express our concern over the situation in Kashmir."

"We briefed Rahul ji about the situation in Kashmir. He was concerned about the situation. He said the good work done by the earlier United Progressive Alliance government to restore peace in the state has been destroyed by the present PDP-BJP government in three years," said state Congress chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir.

"He said he is with the people of Kashmir and accepted our invitation to visit the Valley, as and when we want him to. He said he'll talk to the people and the other stakeholders in the Valley and also hold political meetings," Mir added.

Voting in the Srinagar-Budgam parliamentary constituency on April 9 saw large-scale violence and death of eight civilians in clashes, besides a record low turnout of seven per cent voters. Re-polling on 13 April at 38 polling stations in Budgam district recorded a mere two percent balloting.

Widespread protests by students and clashes with police in Srinagar, Bandipora, Baramulla, Anantnag, Pulwama, Kupwara, Kulgam and Shopian districts have also rocked the valley.
The Devils Advocate | What good are AAPs new-age schools if the air students breathe inside them is poisonous Smog has descended on the NCR like the re-run of a horrifying apocalyptic nightmare, but the AAP government has refused to learn that good governance is more than just far-sighted visionary ideas. Its also about handling crises
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday claimed that DPCC chief Ajay Maken was "in talks with BJP president Amit Shah", mocking the Congress leader.

His remarks came after former DPCC President Arvinder Singh Lovely joined the BJP on Tuesday.

"Congress is over in Delhi. Voting for the Congress means wasting your vote. I have learnt that even Ajay Maken is in talks with (BJP President) Amit Shah. He is only waiting for the polls to get over so that he can cut the AAP votes," Kejriwal said, while releasing the party manifesto for the MCD polls.

Hitting back at Kejriwal, Maken said that the Delhi chief minister should stop worrying about him.

"He should instead look at the irregularities found by the Shunglu panel against him and his government. He should be prepared to go to jail for this. We are meeting the Delhi Police Commissioner tomorrow in this regard. If the police fails to take any action then we will approach the court," Maken said in a statement.
New Delhi: The government has no plans to cut back on security to VIPs, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said, a day after the Centre banned the use of beacon lights atop all vehicles, except emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire brigade. "With regard to security, it is necessary for the interest of the country because important people have to be protected.

Otherwise, there is no preferential treatment," Naidu, who holds the portfolio of Information and Broadcasting, told reporters here. About the Centre's decision to put an end to the VIP culture, he said: "Everybody is a VIP and that is the philosophy of our government." Though it is a small initiative but it sends a message that every person should be treated equally, he added.

He hoped that state governments will also shun the used of beacons or they will face the wrath of the people. On a query about the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, the Minister said the case has been going on for so many years and there is nothing new in that. He did not elaborate on what could be the impact of the Supreme Court order in the Babri Masjid demolition case on the BJP.

Top BJP leaders L K Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti will be tried for criminal conspiracy in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case as the apex court had yesterday allowed the CBI plea to restore the charge against them. The SC, however, noted that Rajasthan Governor Singh enjoys constitutional immunity and can be tried only after he ceases to hold the office. Singh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1992.

Meanwhile, amid a debate on some of the negative impacts of social media, Naidu said it cannot be censored. "It is a larger issue. We have to think about it and discuss because we cannot think of censoring social media. The society has to discuss and then come to a conclusion at the end of the day," he said. The Minister was speaking to reporters after inaugurating a workshop on Instagram for government employees engaged in social media communications.
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday asked bureaucrats to stand up to the political class if "wrong orders" are given, telling them not to become a "yes master." Singh also said that civil servants should be impartial and show "no hesitation" in taking decisions.

"If a political executive gives wrong orders, do not be scared to show them rules. Tell the political executive that you are legally wrong. Do not sign the file. Haan mein haan naa milaiye (Do not become a yes master). Do not betray your conscience," he told the inaugural session at an event to mark the Civil Services Day here.

The function was attended by officers belonging to the IAS and other all India services. Lauding the role of bureaucrats in bringing changes in the society, the home minister said the job makes an officer responsible, accountable and impartial.

"Civil services has power. But with power comes big responsibility, accompanied by accountability. We should always remember this. Along with the responsibility and accountability, impartiality is the third most important aspect of our civil servants. Lack of impartiality may affect your decision-making capabilities," he said.

The home minister also took a dig at officers who "avoid" taking decisions, saying such hesitation may harm the country's interests. "If necessary, discuss and deliberate with your seniors but there should be no hesitation in taking decisions," Singh said Indian polity has never faced a vacuum and witnessed continuity in all these years as the civil servants contributed largely to maintain continuity.

"This administrative continuity in India has been one of the important reasons for the success of Indian democracy," he said. Singh said the Narendra Modi government through 'Jan Dhan, Aadhar and mobile connectivity' (JAM) convergence is transforming good governance into smart governance. The Home Minister said the central government is committed to successfully implementing 'Antyodaya', a scheme for providing subsidised food to millions of poorest families.

Singh said civil servants have to play a more active and effective role in its implementation. "Our government is known for its commitment and conviction. The Prime Minister has a dream of ensuring 'Roti, Kapda, Makan, Siksha and Swasthya' (food, house, education and health service) for everyone by 2022. Civil servants must

ensure that the dream becomes a reality," he said. Singh said the country's first home minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, had said that if civil services was called 'steel frame' of India it would not be an exaggeration.

"The guiding principles for civil servants as enunciated by Sardar Patel in 1948 are extremely important in the present day context as well. The 'steel frame' of our civil services has not weakened even after 70 years of Independence," he said.
It is not usual for Home Minister Rajnath Singh to lose his cool in public.

When it comes to following basic governance norms, top bureaucrats on Thursday, found it the hard way that they can't take liberties with Singh. The occasion was the inaugural ceremony of the two-day 11th Civil Services Day at Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital. Singh arrived five minutes ahead of the scheduled time  9.45 am, however, the top babus were not prepared to begin the programme on time.

On Singh's apparent display of mild irritation, the programme finally began at around 10 am, or 9.57 am, to be precise. The home minister, obviously, didn't take their excuses lightly as it was evident from his opening speech. He didn't mince his words when he said that there were certain red lines for him and his government, one of which was delay in holding programmes.

"I reached the venue at 9.40 am but the event started at 9.57am. Why?," he asked.

The implicit meaning was that if the bureaucrats could make the home minister  designated number two of the country  wait, then one could imagine what would be the fate of ordinary mortals who visit offices of senior officers across the country for a variety of grievance redressal issues or other works.

Ever since the Narendra Modi government took charge in May 2014, it has been stressing on the new work culture in government offices  punctuality, cleanliness and transparency. It has introduced a variety of measures to ensure speedy delivery of goods and services and timely implementation of policies.

It was incidental that the top babus displayed their usual lethargy and high-brow status only a day after the Modi government had done away with red beacons which had become the symbol of the prevalent VIP culture in the country. The VIP culture is also a state of mind which gets reflected in multiple ways, for instance making the home minister wait.

Singh conveyed his sentiments to the bureaucrats:

If you are asked to do any wrong thing just tell them politely that it is unlawful. Show them the required law and rules: HM at #CSD2017  Rajnathsingh_in (@RajnathSingh_in) April 20, 2017

To the new officers I want to say never get intimidated or afraid by political executive: HM at #CSD2017  Rajnathsingh_in (@RajnathSingh_in) April 20, 2017

Decisions should be taken on the basis of national interest and in the interest of the people: HM at Civil Services Day 2017  HMO India (@HMOIndia) April 20, 2017

As a civil servant you should interpret and implement rules and regulations with an open and progressive mindset: HM Shri @rajnathsingh  HMO India (@HMOIndia) April 20, 2017

Singh's counsel was that since the bureaucrats had the good fortune of joining the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), envisaged as the "steel frame" by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and have the associated aura, perks, privileges, it was incumbent on them that they worked to ensure speedy and effective delivery of services.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision is focused on development and good governance. With the help of technology, the civil servants can improve delivery," he said. He also said that the civil servants should endeavour to be part of the solution.

The Civil Servants should endeavour to become part of the solution. He/She should never be a part of the problem: HM Shri @rajnathsingh  HMO India (@HMOIndia) April 20, 2017

Singh was obviously speaking from his own experiences, gathered over the years while holding a number of positions in the government including minister in UP, chief minister of UP, Union minister during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and his present term as the home minister in Modi government. However, one is not sure how the bureaucrats would incorporate his guidelines to bring in the new work culture.
Canadian authorities caught 887 asylum seekers crossing unlawfully into Canada from the United States in March, nearly triple the number in January, according to numbers released by the government Wednesday. This brings the total number of asylum seekers caught walking across the border to 1,860 so far this year. The new statistics suggest those numbers could rise further as the weather warms.Canada is on track to see the highest number of asylum claims in six years, given the pace of claims filed so far, as increasing numbers of people cross into Canada to make refugee claims in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's election and his crackdown on refugees and illegal immigrants.Under the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement, Canada is required to turn asylum seekers away if they try to file refugee claims at land border crossings. But if people cross the border in between formal crossings, they are taken into custody and questioned by both police and border authorities, then allowed to file claims and stay in Canada while they await the outcome.

Refugee advocates have argued that were it not for the Safe Third Country Agreement, people would file claims at border crossings instead.The people caught crossing unlawfully comprise a fifth of everyone who has filed asylum claims in Canada so far this year but they loom large in Canadian politics, with the federal government taking fire for its wait-and-see approach. Nearly half of the people surveyed in a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released in March wanted to deport people illegally crossing into Canada from its southern neighbour.

"The majority of irregular migrants are holders of visas for the United States," according to a statement released Wednesday from the office of Canada's Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale."Canadian authorities are managing the increase in asylum seekers in a sound and measured way. ... To be clear - trying to slip across the border in an irregular manner is not a 'free' ticket to Canada."

Almost three-quarters of the asylum seekers caught crossing so far this year were taken into custody in Quebec, the government data showed. Roxham Road, which straddles Champlain, New York and Hemmingford, Quebec, has become such a common spot that photographers cluster there and would-be refugees refer to it by name.Most of the others were taken into custody in Manitoba and British Columbia - 331 and 201, respectively.Police said Wednesday they have charged 43-year-old Michelle Omoruyi with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling. Police allege they found Omoruyi driving nine west African asylum seekers across the U.S. border into the prairie province of Saskatchewan Friday night. The nine asylum seekers have filed refugee claims and are not in custody. (Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny; editing by Diane Craft)

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New Delhi: China's re-naming of six places in Arunachal Pradesh does not change the reality on the ground. This is the official Indian position after China's Ministry of Civil Affairs made public on Wednesday its standardisation of names of towns and features in South Tibet, as it refers to Arunachal Pradesh.

But China-watchers in India say there is a definite escalation in tensions in the wake of the Dalai Lama's visit to the state last week.

If you re-name or give new names for the towns of your neighbours it does not make an illegal claim legal, the official spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs, Gopal Baglay, explained this afternoon.

Baglay said the reason for the Chinese announcement was in the realm of speculation. Naming does not change the reality. Arunachal remains an integral part of India, he said.

Baglay said that the development is not expected to have an impact on talks between New Delhi and Beijing to resolve their boundary dispute.

China has renamed territories it disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and with four other countries in the South China Sea in the past.

But this is a definite escalation, says Professor Alka Acharya, former director of the Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS) and faculty member at Jawaharlal Nehru University's School of International Studies.

I think they were waiting to do something like this because of the Dalai Lama's visit against which they had protested vehemently quite a few times, she says.

Lt General S L Narasimhan, a member of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), former China hand for the Indian Army who has served as defence attache in Beijing, agrees.

It seems to be an effort to convey to India their dissatisfaction on His Holiness the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh. Secondly, it also indicates a hardening of stance on their claim to Arunachal Pradesh, he said.

However, while Indian experts uphold the principle of the Dalai Lama being permitted to travel anywhere in Indian territory, some question the timing.

In last week's visit, the Dalai Lama was also accompanied by a central minister, Kiren Rijiju, who is from Arunachal Pradesh.

I am not sure that there has been enough application of mind, says Phunchok Stobdan, former ambassador and senior fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA). There may be other moves afoot, he warned. Stobdan translated the Tibetan names for Firstpost on Wednesday.
India will hold a major military exercise with Russia later this year which is likely to be a tri-service war game with participation of navy, air force and army.

The Indian Army and the Indian Navy has been having the military exercise 'Indra' with Russia separately. The Indian Air Force had participated in an exercise 'AviaIndra' with Russian air force in 2014.

But this year, it is likely to be a tri-service exercise in Russia, sources said.

Details are being worked out. The first exercise in the new format could be held in October-Novembe r, a military official was quoted by Hindustan Times.

The eighth edition of India-Russia 'Indra' exercise between the armies of the two strategic partners had taken place in mountainous Vladivostok in Russia.

The main focus of the joint exercise was counter- terrorism.

Russia has been a long-standing defence partner of India.

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley is visiting Moscow next week with an aim to further deepen bilateral defence and security cooperation.
PARIS One policeman was killed and another wounded in a shooting incident in central Paris on Thursday night, a police source said.

The person who fired on police on the Champs-Elysees, one of the world's most prestigious boulevards, has been killed, the source said.

Police authorities called on the public to avoid the area.

A Reuters reporter saw a helicopter flying low over central Paris, apparently part of a follow-up police operation. (Reporting by Richard Balmforth; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Leigh Thomas and Janet Lawrence)

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Even though the Pakistan Supreme Court couldn't arrive at a unanimous decision in the high-profile case against Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif and his offspring that could potentially force him to step down, the country waited with bated breath for the decision.

According to Dawn.com, a five-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan issued an order for the formation of Joint Investigation Team to probe the Sharif family's involvement in what is called the Panama case today.

The case was launched on 3 November and the court held 35 hearings before concluding proceedings on 23 February.

The case was based on several identical petitions by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan and others about alleged illegal assets of Sharif's family in London. The assets surfaced when Panama papers  a collection of leaked documents  showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif's offspring.

Even though Sharif has faced a lot of flak over the case, banners supporting Sharif were put up all over Lahore by his party members, reported Pakistan Today.

"Suspense, expectations and uneasiness filled the air on Wednesday as the people and political parties nervously awaited todays Supreme Court judgement," another article in The Nation said.

It also said that the stocks in Pakistan fell 1.5 percent in early trade. Both the government and opposition, after expressing confidence that their stances will be vindicated, held meetings to decide the future course of action.

The article also said that banners and posters carrying pictures of key leaders from the ruling party in Pakistan were hung in all major cities.

Another report in The News International said that the Pakistan Supreme Court will announce its verdict at 2 pm. Pakistan People's Party has also decided to form a grand alliance after the judgment. "We will announce our political strategy after the Supreme Court judgment on the Panama case as the meeting will continue on Thursday," the report quoted PPP spokesperson Farhatullah Babar as saying.

Meanwhile, Dawn reported that the Red Zone in Islamabad has been put on red alert, with around 1,500 police, Rangers and Frontier Constabulary personnel deployed in and around the area. Police officials, including Special Branch officials, will also be deployed.

With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should be worried after the Pakistan Supreme Court's majority verdict on Thursday. The Prime Minister's family is accused of buying property through funds routed through Saudi Arabia and Qatar  a trail established in the Panama Papers that were leaked from the Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca that documented offshore deals of the rich and famous around the world.

But Sharif and family have 67 days to establish how they came to route their funds to buy properties overseas.

"The decision essentially changes nothing as far as the current state of the politics is concerned. It will remain as muddled, messy and chaotic as it has been over the last three years," says Mohammad Badar Alam, the Karachi-based editor of Pakistan's Herald magazine.

"The Supreme Court's verdict is an interim judgment  the judges have sought more investigations (within the next two months or so) to be conducted by a specially constituted committee into the trail of money used in buying flats owned by Nawaz Sharif's family. The court has rejected the earlier explanation offered by the lawyers representing Sharif and his family.

"After the investigation report comes in, the court will resume proceedings and will arrive at a decision in the light of that report. We must suspend our judgments about the future of Sharif's politics and that of his government and his party until that decision is made in due course of time," he says.

In Alam's interpretation of the court verdict, two members of the five-judge bench have differed with their colleagues because they believe Sharif is disqualified from holding a constitutional post since he lied to Parliament on the trail of money with which his family's flats have been purchased.

However, "While Nawaz Sharif will continue to face political and legal challenges and allegations of corruption and money laundering, his government does not face any imminent threat  at least not in the next 60 days. Imran Khan's position appears a little weakened because he has been canvassing for Sharif's immediate disqualification. It is a setback for him, at least for the next two months or so  though this may change quickly if the investigation committee set up by the court finds the Pakistan prime minister and his family guilty of money laundering," Alam explains.

But G Parthasarathy, former Indian High Commissioner to Islamabad, believes that today's court order "is certainly a matter of some concern for Sharif despite whatever he might show outwardly".

"Justice Khosha, who is possibly the next Chief Justice, took a very adversarial position. What is being looked at are the details of how Sharif got the funds in Saudi Arabia and the UK. He has not been able to give any clear answer. The court also wants to know about the payments from Qatar," Parthasarathy pointed out.

The official spokesperson for India's ministry of external affairs refused to comment on the developments in Pakistan because they were part of the neighbouring country's internal procedures.
Pakistan's Supreme Court is all set to determine Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's fate on Thursday, with a ruling on corruption allegations that could see him ousted from power after the Panama Papers linked his family to offshore businesses.

The decision, which is expected to be announced at 2 pm (local time), is highly anticipated by Pakistanis, and threatens to plunge Sharif's governing party into turmoil ahead of general elections which must be held by next year, even as security and the economy improve in the militancy-plagued country.

The controversy erupted with the publication of the so-called Panama Papers last year, wherein 11.5 million secret documents from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca documented the offshore dealings of many of the world's rich and powerful. Among the global elite implicated were three of Sharif's four children  his daughter and presumptive political heir Maryam, and his sons Hasan and Hussein.

At the heart of the matter is the legitimacy of the funds used by the Sharif family to purchase several high-end London properties via offshore companies. The government insists the wealth was acquired legally through family businesses in Pakistan and the Gulf.

Reacting to the constant questions of his future after the Panamagate verdict, Sharif was quoted by Pakistani media as saying, Whatever decision is taken by the court, Insha Allah would be better.

While judiciary takes its own course in determining the verdict of the case, there are ramifications on the politics of Pakistan.

There are two major scenarios post the verdict: A verdict in favour of Sharif or one which threatens to jeopardise his political career.

New prime minister or snap polls

According to Pakistani media, the verdict is expected to impact Sharif's position as prime minister. Just as former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was ousted by the Pakistan Supreme Court in April 2012, the verdict may force the PML-N leader to step down. In such a scenario, a Hindustan Times report said that Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif may take over as the interim prime minister. The other name in the race is Ishaq Dar, the finance minister.

According to Dawn, the ruling party is also looking at the prospect of a early elections, if there is an adverse verdict.

The reasoning behind such a move, according to the report, would be to stop the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) from exploiting the post-verdict situation.

Experts call on the post-verdict scenario

Most experts believe that Sharif 's ouster is unlikely and that the Supreme Court will most likely ask the federal authorities to form a committee to investigate the charges of corruption. The judgement is also expected to be a tricky one for the judges, as they might even invoke the "law of necessity", which Zahid Hussain, a senior commentator, felt may help Sharif survive as the prime minister. However, he believed that Sharif may not go completely unscathed from the case.

Law of Necessity is an idea unique to Pakistan, which has justified the take over of "extra-constitutional powers" to stabilise the country. Often, the military has used this idea to justify its takeover of the country.

According to journalist Amber Rahim Shamsi, Panamagate will throw up a situation in which the likely victim may be Maryam Sharif, while the prime minister may emerge as someone who stood for accountability and transparency. This, she believes will boost his chances of being re-elected. However, the PTI will continue to charge Sharif with corruption. she also ruled out any chance of snap polls.

Maryam Sharif slams Opposition

Maryam Sharif, the prime minister's daughter, who is seen as his political heir, tweeted on Wednesday saying that she or her family is not concerned about the verdict. Maryam is also expected to be in legal trouble if the apex court calls for further investigation into the case.

Not for once have I seen my father or any member of the family anxious or concerned. That's what happens when u entrust yr matters to Allah.  Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) April 19, 2017

Whatever the verdict, am amazed & humbled to see the overwhelming support for Nawaz Sharif. For a leader, that's the most prized possession.  Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) April 20, 2017

She also tweeted that she is humbled by the "overwhelming support" to her father before the Panamagate verdict.

Opposition buoyant about positive change

The Opposition which expects a verdict indicting Sharif has remained positive.

Forecasting a dramatic change post the verdict, Syed Khursheed Shah, Pakistan Peoples Party leader was quoted by Geo TV as saying, "The world appears to be a global village now. It has shrunk, and nothing can be hidden anymore. The situation today is very different. This decision can either strengthen the State or weaken it as well."

The PTI, the Imran Khan-led party too is confident of the verdict being based on "truth and not lies, and facts not assumptions."

However, striking a conciliatory tone, the party also added that it's ready to accept any decision of the apex court.

The PPP has said that it will form a grand Opposition to take on the ruling PML-N in the upcoming 2018 General Election.

With inputs from AFP
Caracas: Hundreds of anti-government opposition protesters in Venezuela clashed with security forces at various points around capital city Caracas on Wednesday.

The police fired tear gas to disperse them and blocked their marches, Efe news agency reported.

The huge demonstration, in which thousands of government opponents assembled and marched from 26 separate spots around the capital, was dispersed by security forces at several places in the Libertador district.

The Libertador district encompasses part of the capital metro area's central and western zones and is the area where key government buildings are located.

The demonstrators attempted to approach the office of the Ombudsman to ask for that official's support in the process launched by the opposition-controlled Parliament against the Supreme Court magistrates who took over some legislative duties.

The Bolivarian National Police (PNB) used tear gas and rubber bullets along the Francisco Fajardo Highway, the capital's main artery, to try and contain the demonstration there, as well as to disperse other concentrations of protesters in western Caracas.

Venezuelan media outlets and reporters confirmed that one young man died after being shot in the head at a protest in San Bernardino, although the details of his death are not yet known.

The Attorney General's Office said that two other people were wounded at the protests after suffering multiple injuries and rubber bullet impacts.

Opposition leaders urged demonstrators to remain out on the streets despite the heavy police tear gas assault against them.

"Here we are out on the street fighting peacefully and repressed by the National Guard (Venezuela's militarized police) but convinced that it's on the street that we'll achieve change. We have to stay out on the street," opposition lawmaker Juan Requesens said.

In the eastern district of Bello Monte, the PNB and National Guard managed to drive the demonstrators back, forcing hundreds of them to jump into the polluted Guaire River that flows through the city to escape the police assault.

The demonstrations come after almost three weeks of anti-government street protests that now have resulted in seven deaths  including one police officer  dozens of injured and more than 500 arrests, of which more than 200 are still in custody, according to the opposition and non-governmental organization Foro Penal Venezolano.
BEIRUT Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and hardline rival Ebrahim Raisi were both approved to run in May's presidential election by a government vetting body, while former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was disqualified, state media reported on Thursday.

The approval of Rouhani, a moderate, and Raisi, a political hardliner thought to have the backing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sets up a showdown between rival political camps.

Khamenei had advised Ahmadinejad not to run and his attempt to register as a candidate was widely seen as a public snub to the Supreme Leader, which is nearly unheard of in the Islamic Republic. (Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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ATHENS A small explosive device detonated outside a building housing Eurobank offices (EURBr.AT) in central Athens on Wednesday, damaging its entrance and shattering windows, police said.There were no injuries, police said.

Eurobank is Greece's third-largest lender by assets.

Small-scale attacks on businesses, police and politicians are frequent in Greece, which has a long history of political violence and is still struggling to emerge from a crippling debt crisis.

"The explosion damaged the entrance and smashed some windows," a police official said, adding that some nearby buildings were also slightly damaged. Police had cordoned off most streets in the surrounding area following a warning call to a local news website. The explosion, which occurred at 2238 local time (1938 GMT), was loud and was heard in central Athens. (Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Alkis Konstantinidis; Editing by Tom Brown)

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By Stephanie Nebehay

| GENEVA

GENEVA The U.N. mediator for Syria said on Thursday he would hold talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov in Geneva on Monday, and that the United States had declined to take part in any trilateral meeting for now.They will evaluate discussions in the Kazakh capital Astana, planned for May 3-4, that are aimed at reviving the tattered ceasefire, and prospects for convening talks in Geneva between Syria's warring sides later in May, de Mistura said."The trilateral meeting - as you know that was a possibility - is being postponed, it is not taking place on Monday. It will be a bilateral ... But the trilateral is not off the table, it is just being postponed," he told reporters.De Mistura, asked about the U.S. administration's intent to participate, replied: "There is a clearly an intention to maintain and resume these trilateral meetings, and the date and circumstances were not conducive for this to happen on Monday."

The United States carried out a missile strike on a Syrian air base this month after a chemical weapons attack that killed scores of people near Idlib on April 4. Both incidents have raised tensions between Washington and Moscow, the Syrian government's ally."The U.S. welcomes discussions with Russia regarding the UN-led political process on Syria in Geneva, and we have met in the past in the trilateral U.S.-Russia-UN format. But at this time there is no new trilateral meeting scheduled," a U.S. spokesman in Geneva said in an email.

De Mistura said that his team had just taken part in technical talks in Tehran, in preparation for the Astana talks organised by Russia, Iran and Turkey. There had been "some type of movement regarding the issue of detainees ...and on possible issues related to demining as well," he said, adding that he was seeking details.

De Mistura said the suicide bomb attack on Saturday on a convoy of evacuees from the rebel-besieged villages of Foua and Kefraya had killed more than 130 people, including 67 children, and wounded some 200. Evacuations resumed on Wednesday.His humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland criticised the evacuation, part of a four-town exchange negotiated by Iran and Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist alliance, with the involvement of Hezbollah. The United Nations had no role in the reciprocal exchange that also included fighters and civilians in two government-besieged towns, Madaya and Zabadani."This cannot be considered voluntary evacuations, these are people evacuated after years of besiegement," Egeland said. "Is it voluntary if people in the end have only (one) option - starve and be bombed or go on a bus to an uncertain future?" (Editing by Catherine Evans)

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Washington: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has termed the Iran nuclear deal a failure and said an "unchecked" Tehran could become another North Korea, but stopped short of threatening to derail the landmark agreement. Tillerson said the US is conducting a comprehensive review of its Iran policy and added that the Obama-era nuclear deal only "delays" Tehran's goal of becoming a nuclear state.

"This deal represents the same failed approach of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat we face from North Korea. The Trump administration has no intention of passing the buck to a future administration on Iran," he said at a hurriedly-convened press briefing. "Iran's nuclear ambitions are a grave risk to international peace and security," Tillerson said.

His tough stand on Iran on Wednesday came a day after the Trump administration notified the Congress that Tehran is complying with the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by former president Barack Obama to limit the Islamic Republic's nuclear ability. The administration said it has extended the sanctions relief to Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.

Iran has defended its nuclear programme as purely civilian and its supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei warned in November that Tehran would retaliate if the US breached the nuclear agreement. Tillerson, seeking to reinforce the idea that the US is forcefully countering Iran's destabilising behaviour in the Middle East, also described Tehran as a "leading state sponsor of terror".

"The evidence is clear: Iran's provocative actions threaten the United States, the region and the world," he said. "An unchecked Iran has the potential to travel the same path as North Korea and take the world along with it. The United States is keen to avoid a second piece of evidence that strategic patience is a failed approach."

Tillerson accused Iran of intensifying multiple conflicts including the one in Syria, undermining US interests in several countries, continuing to support attacks against Israel, and sponsoring cyber and terror attacks across the world.

Tillerson's comments were synonymous with Donald Trump's rhetoric, who on many occasions - during his presidential campaign and afterwards - criticised the nuclear deal reached between Iran and the US, the UK, Russia, France, China and Germany. But after he took office, the US president has not yet explicitly said he would pull out from the historic agreement. Hours before he declared Iran nuclear deal a failure, Tillerson sent a terse letter to the US House of Representatives speaker Paul Ryan, saying the administration has ordered an inter-agency review of whether the earlier suspension of sanctions, which was a necessity under the 2015 nuclear deal, was in the US' national security interests.

The six powers that negotiated the nuclear deal with the involvement from the European Union have set aside Iran's alleged support to terrorism in order to get a deal

guaranteeing that the country would not be able to build a nuclear weapon for a decade and would remain under the eye of UN weapons inspectors. In February, Trump had described the nuclear deal with Iran as "the worst" agreement ever negotiated, calling the Islamic Republic the world's "number one terrorist state".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had criticised the deal. He said in July 2015 that "Iran is going to receive a sure path to nuclear weapons." But Obama had said the deal would make the world safer and more secure. He had said in January 2016, after the deal was implemented, that "Iran will not get its hands on a nuclear bomb." The disagreement between Obama and Netanyahu over the deal had strained US-Israel ties and Obama-Netanyahu relationship.

But after Trump came to the White House in January, the Israel-US ties have witnessed a remarkable upswing, with Trump and Netanyahu jointly criticising Iran at a presser in February in the US. Trump has also promised Netanyahu he will not allow Iran develop a nuclear weapon ever.
WASHINGTON The U.S. Secret Service said it would end public access to a sidewalk along the south fence of the White House beginning on Wednesday night.The sidewalk has been closed nightly from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. since 2015 and will now be off-limits around the clock, the Secret Service said in a statement.The closure will "lessen the possibility of individuals illegally accessing the White House grounds," Secret Service Communications Director Cathy Milhoan said.

In March, a man scaled a fence east of the White House at night and was on the property's grounds for 16 minutes before being detained. He never entered the White House, the Secret Service said.

President Donald Trump was inside the residence at the time of the March 10 incident.The intrusion was the latest in a series of breaches at the White House in recent years. Security has been boosted, including the installation in 2015 of sharp spikes on top of the black iron fence that circles the 18-acre (7-hectare) property.

Blocking use of the south fence sidewalk will not obstruct the public's ability to view or photograph the White House and its grounds, the Secret Service said, adding no additional "physical" barriers would be installed.The same restrictions are in place on the north fence of the White House grounds, according to the Secret Service. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Peter Cooney)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Renaissance in hospitable and warm Gyumri (video)

Gyumri is a city having amazing attraction, which immediately captures ones heart and soul and always remains with you, says jazzman Valeri Grokhovski, who has paid his third visit to Renaissance international contest-festival. It is surprising how the small country like Armenia can have so many talents and organize such a big event. 3000 participants from 35 countries, 5 age groups, 19 nominations. For accordion player Mikhail Belikov the most important thing is not the victory, but participation. He is impressed with the discoveries he has had in this city. He has never seen such hospitability and warmness. He liked very much national instruments like qanun and zurna, which he has never seen. This year the festival is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Armenia establishing diplomatic relations with a number of countries as well as to 20th anniversary of establishment of Gyumri branch of Conservatory after Komitas. Within the frames of the festival, 11th international Cultural dialogue symposium was held with the participation of rectors from famous foreign musical institutions. According to the words of the rector of Abu Dhabi Conservatory, it was a platform for them for acquiring new projects with different musical institutions, discussions and agreements for joint projects. Renaissance international contest-festival will be held until May 30.
Samsung will include a dual camera setup to its next flagship Galaxy Note 8 similar to the iPhone 7+, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities. Kuo says the dual rear camera on the Note 8 could be the most significant design difference from the S8 and larger Galaxy S8 Plus.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will feature a dual-camera setup with a 12 MP wide-angle CIS supporting dual photodiodes, along with a 13 MP telephoto CIS, plus dual 6P lenses, dual OIS and six-element lenses. Kuo further claimed that the Note 8s dual-camera will be much better than that of iPhone 7 Plus, and likely match that of OLED iPhone. Kuo says Samsung will continue its big screen obsession with a massive new 6.4-inch OLED display matching the same 18.5:9 aspect ratio of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus and sharing their native QHD+ (1440 x 2960) resolution. It will also match these phones with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 or Exynos 8895 chipset, varying by region.

The latest report comes just days after Samsung Galaxy S8+ variant with dual rear cameras, on-screen fingerprint sensor surfaced. The Galaxy Note 8 will be Samsungs first Note phone since the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. All major flagships like iPhone 7Plus, LG G6, Xiaomi Mi 6 and Huawei P10 sport dual camera

Via
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  Kansas regulators on Wednesday rejected the proposed sale of the state's largest electric company to a Missouri firm, concluding that the $12.2 billion price was too high and would leave the combined utility financially weaker than the separate companies.

The Kansas Corporation Commission issued its order against a proposal from Kansas City, Missouri-based Great Plains Energy Inc. to buy Topeka-based Westar Energy Inc. after consumer advocates and the commission's own staff criticized the acquisition. Opponents argued that Great Plains was paying far too much and regulators could be forced to boost rates to keep the combined company stable.

"The Commission agrees that based on their geographies a merger makes sense. But not this merger," the commission said in its unanimous order. "The proposed transaction is not a merger of equals, but an acquisition with an excessive purchase price."

The commission's order doesn't necessarily doom the merger, but it will at least delay the transaction.

Great Plains is the parent of Kansas City Power & Light Co., and its proposed acquisition of Westar would give it 1.5 million customers from central Kansas to central Missouri. Great Plains and Westar argued the deal would create nearly $2 billion in operating efficiencies over the next decade to keep electric rates in check.

But the commission questioned the companies' estimates for potential savings, calling them "too speculative" to show that the new, combined company could pass savings onto its customers. The commission also concluded that the deal likely would lead to a downgrade in Great Plains' credit ratings, potentially increasing its future borrowing costs.

"What this means to Jane and Joe is that we're going to continue with Westar and KCP&L in the manner that they've done before," said David Nickel, consumer counsel for the Citizens' Utility Ratepayers Board, a state agency representing small businesses and residential customers. "That's been a good deal for the consumer."

Westar and Great Plains stockholders overwhelmingly approved the deal last year, but the companies also needed approval from regulators in Kansas, Missouri and the U.S. government. The Missouri Public Service Commission has had hearings but has yet to rule.

In Kansas, the companies could ask the state's appellate courts to overturn the commission's order. The companies said they were reviewing the order before deciding how to respond.

"We are disappointed with the order," said Chuck Caisley, a Great Plains vice president. "KCP&L and Westar have served customers in Kansas and Missouri for more than 100 years as neighboring utilities, and as a combined company we would create significant operational efficiencies and cost savings that would benefit our customers and our communities."

The companies have acknowledged the deal would lead them to trim their workforces, but they promised that Westar would retain its Topeka headquarters. They companies told the Kansas commission that they included more than 40 provisions in their deal to protect consumers from the financial risks associated with it.

"We have been working really hard toward this transaction," said Westar spokeswoman Gina Penzig. "We think that it was going to bring a lot of benefits to customers."

Under the deal, Great Plains would acquire Westar's $3.6 billion in debt, and critics argued that it would be paying as much as $4.9 billion more than the book value of Westar's assets. The commission noted that in offering $60 per share for Westar's stock, Great Plains was promising to pay $4 more a share than another bidder.

Critics also said achieving the promised savings in operating costs would require Great Plains to shutter generating plants and cut more than 600 full-time jobs by 2020.
Marijuana advocates are handing out more than 1,000 free joints to Congress members and staff Thursday on Capitol Hill. The joint session protest will run from high noon to 6:20 pm ET, and anyone with a congressional ID is welcome, according to the pro legal-weed group.

At first, I thought werent going to get anyone, but there has been a number of Congressional staff that told us they will come. I think we will get more [lawmakers and staff] later in the day, after 5 pm, Adam Eidinger, co-founder of DCMJ, the D.C.-based grassroots pro-marijuana legalization group throwing the protest, told FOX Business.

Eidinger says while they dont expect many senators or House representatives to show up because they are currently on a recess until April 24, they do plan to come back next week and smoke joints on the Capitol steps to make sure their voice is heard.

Its called Reschedule 4/20. Its about taking marijuana out of Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Congress really has no game plan to get any bills passed on this and were blaming the Speaker of House Paul Ryan for this, Eidinger adds.

While illegal on the federal level, recreational marijuana is legal in D.C., but smoking in public is not and can run fines of $25, if under the age of 21, to upwards of $500 and 60 days in jail for those 21 years or older.

We will probably get arrested. And, we already have a really diverse group of people willing to do it, too. From veterans, to Republicans, to Democrats, he said.

The group says they are pushing for a budget amendment that blocks the Justice Department from being able to interfere with states that have legalized medical marijuana.

California Reps Dana Rohrabacher (R) and Sam Farr (D) have already sponsored the spending measure in previous budgets. It has been passed by Congress before, but the amendment will expire on April 28 and must be renewed each year, according to DCMJ.

Additionally, DCMJ is also calling on Congress to lift the federal ban on recreational pot. Under law, marijuana is still illegal at the federal level even though it has been legalized in 28 states, including Washington D.C.

In January, during President Trumps Inauguration, the same group held a similar protest, where they passed out more than 5,000 free joints to spectators in D.C. to smoke exactly four minutes and 20 seconds into Trumps speech.

According to DCMJ, that protestcoined Trump 420 was not speaking out against a Trump presidency, but rather an attempt to voice their concerns over Trumps attorney general pick, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, who in the past has opposed the use of marijuana.
Venezuela, tax reform and Italy; heres whats On Our Radar today:

Chaos Overseas

Venezuela in crisis! The hard-hit socialist nation has been in economic chaos for years, with citizens unable to buy basic goods like toilet paper and food. Now, General Motors (NYSE:GM) says that Venezuelan authorities have illegally seized its plant there and the takeover would cause irreparable damage to the company and its 2,678 workers. The government has taken over factories in the past including the 2014 takeover of two Clorox plants.

We are watching the story develop, tune in to FOX Business for the very latest.

Tax Reform Timeline

Despite Trumps high hopes, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchnin said that getting tax reform legislation done by August is unlikely. New details on a tax reform timeline may be addressed later today when Mnuchin, along with Trumps National Economic Council head Gary Cohn and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, will be interviewed at an Institute of International Finance event.

Tune in starting at 1 p.m. EST on Cavuto: Coast to Coast for LIVE coverage.

Ciao!

Buongiorno! President Trump welcomes Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni today at the White House. Issues at home, including health care and tax reform, as well as escalating global tensions, are sure to come up during their joint press conference.

Watch during After the Bell at 4 p.m. EST.
You're probably aware that Medicare provides health coverage for seniors 65 and older. But did you know that Medicare has several distinct parts, each of which provides its own set of services?

Here's a quick breakdown:

Medicare Part A covers hospital visits and skilled nursing facilities.

Medicare Part B covers preventative services like doctor visits and diagnostic testing.

Medicare Part D covers prescription drugs.

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

There's also Part C, Medicare Advantage, that offers a host of additional services. Whether you're approaching retirement or are many years away, here are a few key Medicare statistics you should be aware of.

1. There are 57 million Medicare enrollees in the U.S.

A good 16% of the U.S. population is covered by Medicare, but it's not just seniors who get to enroll. Younger Americans with disabilities are also eligible for coverage.

2. About 11 million people on Medicare are also covered by Medicaid

Though Medicare offers a wide array of health benefits for seniors, it doesn't pay for everything. In fact, about 20% of Medicare enrollees rely on Medicaid to pay for services Medicare won't cover, such as nursing home care.

3. Net Medicare spending totaled $588 billion in 2016

That's about 15% of the federal budget. And that number is expected to rise to nearly 18% of the budget in about a decade's time.

4. The standard Medicare Part B premium amount in 2017 is $134

Many people assume that Medicare enrollees don't pay a premium to get coverage, but it isn't true at all. While Part A is generally free for most seniors, Part B comes at an estimated cost of $134 per month. That number may also be higher depending on your income, or lower if you were collecting Social Security as of earlier this year and had your Part B premiums deducted directly from your benefits.

5. Poor health can be 2.5 times as expensive for Medicare enrollees

A 2014 report by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) revealed that the typical Medicare enrollee who identified as being in poor health had out-of-pocket costs that totaled 2.5 times the amount healthier beneficiaries faced. This is just one reason it's crucial for Medicare enrollees to capitalize on the program's free preventative-care services. Catching medical issues early can often result in a world of savings.

6. A single hospital stay under Medicare can cost almost $4,500 out of pocket

Here's some more discouraging news out of KFF. Back in 2010, Medicare enrollees who had a single hospital stay incurred $4,475, on average, in out-of-pocket costs.

7. Medicare enrollees 85 and older spend three times more on healthcare than those aged 65 to 74

It's probably not shocking news that older seniors spend more money on medical care than those a decade or more their junior. But what may be surprising is just how much those 85 and over wind up spending. According to KFF, in 2010, Medicare enrollees 85 and older spent close to $6,000 to cover their healthcare needs.

8. In 2015, 243 medical professionals were charged with Medicare fraud

It's not uncommon for members of the medical establishment to engage in Medicare fraud, whether it's in the form of inflating bills, performing (and charging for) unnecessary procedures, or billing for services that were never rendered. The good news, however, is that officials are getting better at identifying and prosecuting Medicare fraud. In fact, in 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force was created to put a stop to fraudulent activity that eats away at the program's limited financial resources.

9. More than 17 million Americans are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan

Medicare Advantage is an alternative to traditional Medicare that offers a number of key benefits, such as coverage for additional services (including dental and vision care) and limits on out-of-pocket spending. Between 1999 and 2016, 10 million Americans signed up for a Medicare Advantage plan, and enrollment now represents roughly 30% of the Medicare market on a whole.

10. A good 38% of Medicare funding comes from payroll taxes

Nobody likes paying taxes, but without them, Medicare simply wouldn't have enough money to stay afloat. Currently, the Medicare tax rate is 2.9% for most workers (which, for salaried employees, is split down the middle between worker and employer), but higher earners making more than $200,000 a year pay an additional 0.9%.

Getting educated about Medicare can help you make the most of this crucial health program. It pays to learn more about how Medicare works so that you can take full advantage when it's your turn to start using those benefits.

The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook

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The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Tesla Inc said on Thursday it would recall 53,000 of its Model S and Model X cars globally to fix a parking brake issue.

Shares of the U.S. luxury electric car maker were down nearly 1 percent at $302.77 in afternoon trading, following its biggest ever recall. (http://bit.ly/2ovjTzb)

Tesla's total production for 2016 was 83,922 vehicles and included both Model S and Model X.

"The electric parking brakes installed on Model S and Model X vehicles built between February and October 2016 may contain a small gear that could have been manufactured improperly by our third-party supplier," Tesla said in a statement on its website.

The car maker said there had been no accidents or injuries due to the issue.

Tesla said less than 5 percent of the vehicles being recalled may be affected and it would take less than 45 minutes to replace the brakes.

The company also said it would send an official recall notice to its customers.

Tesla, led by entrepreneur Elon Musk, had said last year it would recall 2,700 Model X sport utility vehicles in the United States due to a faulty locking hinge in third-row seats.

The company said on Thursday it was working with Italian supplier Freni Brembo SpA to get the replacement parts.

Brembo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Narottam Medhora and Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru and Alexandria Sage in San Francisco; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
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U.S. officials are reviewing Venezuela's seizure of General Motors Co's assets in the country, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said on Thursday.

"We are reviewing the details of the case," Toner said in a statement, saying the United States hoped to resolve the case "rapidly and transparently."

GM said on Wednesday that Venezuelan authorities had illegally seized its plant in the industrial hub of Valencia.

(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Bill Trott)
Thursday was a positive day for the stock market, and major benchmarks rose almost 1% on enthusiasm about the state of the U.S. economy and the generally favorable tenor of earnings season. Claims for unemployment benefits remained at extremely low levels, and investors found new hope that stalled efforts in the federal government on reforms from healthcare to tax policy might gain positive momentum in the near future.

Yet even on a good day, some stocks couldn't keep up, and Ocwen Financial (NYSE: OCN), Westar Energy (NYSE: WR), and United Rentals (NYSE: URI) were among the worst performers. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so poorly.

Ocwen plunges on new CFPB allegations

Shares of Ocwen Financial lost more than half their value after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said that it had sued the mortgage servicing company. The CFPB alleged that Ocwen made "widespread errors, shortcuts, and runarounds" that cost borrowers money, and in some cases, their homes. Among the specific contentions were that Ocwen illegally foreclosed on struggling borrowers while ignoring customer complaints, failed to credit customer accounts for payments that borrowers made, and sold off servicing rights to mortgage loans without full disclosure of its actions. The attorney general of the state of Florida also took similar action, and Florida-based Ocwen now faces a new battle for its survival. Ocwen had made progress in working with regulators in the recent past, but today's action is a huge setback that has many shareholders feeling more skeptical about Ocwen's future than ever before.

Image source: Ocwen Financial.

Westar Energy gets rejected

Westar Energy stock declined 8% after regulators at the Kansas Corporation Commissions blocked the sale of Westar to Great Plains Energy (NYSE: GXP). The $12.2 billion merger would have joined utilities in Kansas and Missouri. Great Plains had argued that the combination would produce nearly $2 billion in efficiency gains in the next 10 years, but regulators instead sided with those who had argued that the deal was too rich and would have required rate increases sooner rather than later. Great Plains stock was hardly affected at all by the decision, leading many to conclude that Westar had a lot more to lose from the deal falling through then Great Plains had to gain from a successful merger.

United Rentals falls despite solid results

Finally, shares of United Rentals finished the day down 5%. The rental equipment specialist announced its first-quarter results late Wednesday, reporting a 3% rise in revenue on gains in rental activity and time utilization. The specialty trench, power, and pump segment saw particularly large sales gains of almost 17%, and more broadly, United Rentals was excited about its future, boosting its outlook for full-year sales, operating cash flow, and free cash flow. Yet shareholders focused on a drop in rental rates during the quarter, ignoring better-than-expected levels of profit and revenue. If United Rentals can see improving conditions in the industrial economy, then fundamental growth could help it support even better results going forward.

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President Donald Trump launched an investigation on Thursday to determine whether Chinese and other foreign-made steel threatens U.S. national security, raising the possibility of new tariffs and triggering a rally in U.S. steel stocks.

At an Oval Office ceremony where he was surrounded by U.S. steel executives, Trump signed a memorandum ordering the Commerce Department to conduct a speedy probe into the impact of steel imports on the U.S. defense industrial base at a time when he is ordering new ships, planes and tanks to be built.

"Steel is critical to both our economy and our military. This is not an area where we can afford to become dependent on foreign countries," Trump said.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross cast the decision to initiate the probe as a response to Chinese exports of steel into the United States reaching the point where they now have 26 percent of the market.

Chinese steel imports are up nearly 20 percent in the early months of this year alone, he said.

The unusual step of launching an investigation comes as Trump is pressuring China to do more to rein in an increasingly belligerent North Korea. When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Trump in Florida earlier this month, Trump raised the possibility of using trade as a lever to coax China to do more.

Ross said Chinese steel exports have continued to rise "despite repeated Chinese claims that they were going to reduce their steel capacity when in fact they have been increasing it consistently." "It's a very serious impact on the domestic industry," Ross said at a White House briefing with reporters.

Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com

He said if the U.S. steel industry is deemed to be suffering from too much steel imports, he will recommend retaliatory steps that could include tariffs to ensure that steel imports no longer threaten U.S. national security.

Trump signed a directive asking for a speedy probe under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 at a White House event that included chief executives of several U.S. steel companies. The law allows the president to impose restrictions on imports for reasons of national security.

News of the move triggered a rally for steel stocks, including Steel Dynamics Inc, AK Steel, US Steel, Nucor, Cliffs Natural Resources, and Allegheny Technologies.

Administration officials said there are national security implications from imports of steel alloys that are used in products such as the armor plating of ships and require a lot of expertise to create and produce.

The move is another step in Trump's "America First" policies in which he has tried to boost U.S. manufacturers and preserve American jobs. Trump won many votes in industrial Midwestern states like Michigan and Pennsylvania with a pledge to boost manufacturing and crack down on Chinese trade practices.

U.S. Steel said China and other countries that have exported steel to the United States have cost U.S. manufacturing tens of thousands of jobs.

For too long, China and other nations have been conducting economic warfare against the American steel industry by subsidizing their steel industries, distorting global markets, and dumping excess steel into the United States. The effects have been staggering," a U.S. Steel statement said.

The Commerce Department will have 270 days to complete the probe. Ross said he expected it to be done much sooner. Trump's directive asked that the investigation be conducted with all deliberate speed. Ross, a former steel executive, said the investigation was "self-initiated."

The American Iron and Steel Institute, which lobbies on behalf of the industry, said it supports the White House move.

"Massive global steel overcapacity has resulted in record levels of dumped and subsidized foreign steel coming into the U.S. and the loss of nearly 14,000 steel jobs," said institute President Thomas Gibson in a statement.

"The administration launching this investigation is an impactful way to help address the serious threat posed by these unfair foreign trade practices."

(By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by Luciana Lopez and Caroline Valetkevitch in New York; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Nick Zieminski)
Friends, fans and well-wishers have raised more than $400,000 for a teenage race car driver who lost his legs in a devastating crash in England on April 16.

Billy Monger, 17, was put into an induced coma and operated on after the accident during a F4 race.

Onboard footage from a camera on Monger's car showed him seeming to run into the back of Patrik Pasma's stationary car in the FIA-sanctioned series. After being trapped in his car for an hour and a half at the central England circuit, Monger was airlifted to a hospital in nearby Nottingham.

British F4 officials say Monger is in a "critical, but stable condition."

"Due to the injuries sustained and despite every effort, Billy has sadly had both lower legs amputated," they said in a statement. "He has been kept in an induced coma while undergoing surgery, from which he is expected to be woken in the next few days."

Monger's family is seeking donations to fund the "care, treatments and therapies" the teenager now requires "to return to a full and active life." By Wednesday evening, the total had reached 173,000 pounds ($221,000) of the 260,000-pound target.

"Having always been a fighter, Billy has already overcome big hurdles in his career," the family said on the fundraising website . "Struggling for budget, Billy has fought his way into top-flight motorsport; however, we now need your kindness and support to help give Billy and his family the best chance to fight these injuries that will affect Billy's life so massively."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Hooters is famous for scantily clad servers but soon waitresses in Asia wont be showing as much skin.

On the brink of a major expansion into the continent, the wing restaurant is hoping to become a more family friendly dining destinationand that means a makeover is coming to the chains most famous assets in new locations.

We are still Hooters but we recognize that if we want to be a part of the community, we have to adapt to be embraced, Neil Bailey, the president of Hooters Asia told Singapores Channel NewsAsia.

So, as opposed to the attitude of We are here and get used to it, we say Wed like to be here. Is this acceptable?

BARE-CHESTED BARISTAS MAY SOON BE OUTLAWED

Bailey is planning to open 30 outlets in Asia this year but in some of the more conservative, predominantly Muslim countries like Indonesia, the tight tank top and short orange shorts are being replaced with shirts that have higher necklines and longer skirts with shorts underneath and thicker stockings.

Bailey says his management team arranged meetings with local leaders before opening the first Jakarta location to discuss ways in which the chain could be culturually respectful.

We showed them our website and said: This is who we are. We know this is not acceptable so what would be acceptable? Bailey said. They gave us some suggestions and we asked for some time to work on them."

The new restaurant setup also includes a tinted glass window so people on the street cant easily see inside. In addition to new uniforms, the menus at forthcoming Asian locations will incorporate local flavors like sambal sauce and feature a halal menu with kid friendly fare.

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

For now, the waitresses at the Jakarta location are wearing tank tops with higher necklines but Bailey says the new uniforms will be rolled out soon.

Hooters of America was worried [that modifications would dilute the brand]but we didn't have to take long to convince them, Bailey told Channel NewsAsia. You cant just come in with the mindset of I'm here now so accept it. Its about adapting to your environment and knowing that you are the guest.

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Bailey said Hooters has already received interest from landlords in nearby Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur to open new restaurants.

And while Hooters waitresses in the U.S. won't be covering up anytime soon, those looking for a more "family friendly" wing experience here can head to the newly opened Hoots in Cicero, Ill. The fast casual spot has both male and female servers-- and everyone is fully clothed.

A representative from Hooters was not immediately available for comment.
It takes remarkable drive and ambition for a young boy from the small east Nepalese village of Olangchungola with no running water or electricity to become one of the leading eye surgeons in Asia. Especially considering this village is a long four-day walk away from the nearest school. But after losing his 17-year-old sister to the tuberculosis, Ruit decided to focus on medicine to so other peoples lives arent destroyed by easily preventable and curable diseases.

In the Himalayas, like many other parts of the world, cataracts blindness is considered a natural part aging even though its completely preventable.

Dr. Geoffry Tabin is an ophthalmologist and close friend to Ruit. He told FoxNews.com, cataracts is a clouding of the crystalline lens, which is a small lens that focuses light that sits just behind the pretty colored part of the eye called the iris. In the western world, surgery can easily cure cataracts but those in the third world have to live with it and fall into blindness.

Typically, cataracts surgery involves removing the cloudy lens and replacing it with an artificial one called an intraocular lens. Ruit wanted to bring this procedure to the Himalayas. But, in order to do so the process had to be simplified and made more cost effective. His idea was to remove the expensive technology, make the process manual and somehow lower the cost of the intraocular lenses. To achieve this goal he created the Tilganga Eye Centre - now the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology - in 1994, in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The cost of these intraocular lenses at that time was over 200 dollars and that was almost impossible to provide that to people at the community level, Ruit told FoxNews.com. Ruit teamed up with ophthalmologist Dr. Fred Hollows to start making the lenses locally in Nepal. The approach worked. Within three years the costs per lens dropped dramatically to just three dollars.

With costs down and the simplification of the procedure, Ruit was able to provide over 100,000 cataract surgeries for just 25 dollars per procedure.

Using his efforts as groundwork, Ruit teamed up with Tabin to create the Himalayan Cataract Project whose aim is to focus on training and developing the infrastructure and techniques to end preventable blindness.

Weve been able to bring the amount of blindness in Nepal from 1 per hundred down to .28 percent, Tabin said. Their efforts and spreading to other parts of Asia and even Africa.
Editor's note: This article was originally published by Gatestone Institute and is reprinted with permission.

We failed to prevent North Korea from developing nuclear weapons. As a result, our options to stop them from developing a delivery system capable of reaching our shores are severely limited.

The hard lesson from our failure to stop North Korea before they became a nuclear power is that we MUST stop Iran from ever developing or acquiring a nuclear arsenal. A nuclear Iran would be far more dangerous to American interest than a nuclear North Korea.

Iran already has rockets capable of reaching numerous American allies. They are in the process of upgrading them and making them capable of delivering a nuclear payload to our shores. Its fundamentalist religious leaders would be willing to sacrifice millions of Iranians to destroy the big Satin (United States) or the little Satin (Israel).

The late "moderate" leader Hashemi Rafsanjani once told an American journalist that if Iran attacked Israel with nuclear weapons, they would kill as many as five million Jews, and that if Israel retaliated, they would kill fifteen million Iranians, which would be a small sacrifice from among the billion Muslims in the world. He concluded that it is not irrational to contemplate such an eventuality. Recall that the Iranian Mullahs were willing to sacrifice thousands of child-soldiers in their futile war with Iraq. There is nothing more dangerous than a suicide regime armed with nuclear weapons.

The deal signed by Iran in 2015 postpones Irans quest for a nuclear arsenal, but it doesnt prevent it, despite Irans unequivocal statement in the preamble to the agreement that Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire nuclear weapons. (Emphasis added).

Recall that North Korea provided similar assurances to the Clinton Administration back in 1994, only to break them several years later  with no real consequences.

The Iranian Mullahs apparently regard their reaffirmation as merely hortatory and not legally binding. The body of the agreement itself  the portion Iran believes is legally binding -- does not preclude Iran from developing nuclear weapons after a certain time, variously estimated as between 10 to 15 years from the signing of the agreement. Nor does it prevent Iran from perfecting its delivery systems, including nuclear tipped inter-continental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States.

If we are not to make the same mistake with Iran that we made with North Korea, we must do something now  before Iran secures a weapon  to deter the Mullahs from becoming a nuclear power, over which we would have little or no leverage.

Congress should now enact legislation declaring that Irans reaffirmation that it will never develop or acquire nuclear weapons is an integral part of the agreement and represents the policy of the United States. It is too late to change the words of the deal, but it is not too late for Congress to insist that Iran comply fully with all of its provisions, even those in the preamble.

In order to ensure that the entirety of the agreement is carried out, including that reaffirmation, Congress should adopt the proposal made by Thomas L. Friedman on July 22, 2015 and by myself on 5 September 2013.

To quote Friedman: Congress should pass a resolution authorizing this and future presidents to use force to prevent Iran from ever becoming a nuclear weapons state  Iran must know now that the U.S. president is authorized to destroy without warning or negotiation  any attempt by Tehran to build a bomb. I put it similarly: Congress should authorize the President to take military action against Irans nuclear weapons program if it were to cross the red lines.

The benefits of enacting such legislation are clear: the law would underline the centrality to the deal of Irans reaffirmation never to acquire nuclear weapons, and would provide both a deterrent against Iran violating its reaffirmation and an enforcement authorization in the event it does.

A law based on these two elements adopting Irans reaffirmation as the official American policy and authorizing a preventive military strike if Iran tried to obtain nuclear weapons  may be an alternative we can live with. But without such an alternative, the deal is currently interpreted by Iran will not prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

In all probability, it would merely postpone that catastrophe for about a decade while legitimating its occurrence. This is not an outcome we can live with as evidenced by the crisis we are now confronting with North Korea.

So let us learn from our mistake and not repeat it with Iran.
Despite Donald Trumps insistence during the presidential campaign that the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran  the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)  was the worst deal ever and Irans failure to fully comply with this agreement, the Trump administration Tuesday certified to Congress that Iran is in compliance with the agreement and will continue to receive sanction relief. The administration added, however that the agreement is under review.

Make no mistake: this is a huge win for the Obama administration and the permanent foreign policy bureaucracy  the so-called swamp  who desperately want to protect this flawed and dangerous agreement at all costs.

The certification probably indicates the outcome of the Trump administrations review of the JCPOA is a forgone conclusion just like a similar review in 2001 by the Bush administration of a deeply-flawed nuclear agreement with North Korea.

The publicly known reasons that Iran is not in compliance with the JCPOA include:

- Iran is not allowing International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors access to military sites. If Iran is engaged in covert nuclear weapons work, this is where it is taking place. As long as Iran refuses to allow the IAEA unfettered access to all military sites, it is not in compliance with the JCPOA and the international community cannot be confident that Irans nuclear weapons program has been halted.

- According to a March 3, 2017 report by the Institute for Science and International Security, Iran has produced and stockpiled more heavy-water than it is allowed under the JCPOA and is storing some heavy-water outside of Iran. Heavy-water is a proliferation concern because it can be used in a nuclear reactor design that produces large amounts of plutonium, a nuclear weapons fuel.

- The Institute report also said that although a February 2017 IAEA report claimed Iran was in compliance with a commitment to limit its stockpile of reactor-grade uranium to 300 kg, it only met this cap because the JCPOAs Joint Commission granted Iran exemptions to exclude several quantities of enriched uranium from the cap. Concerning the IAEAs reporting on this issue, the Institute report said the IAEA was being forced to use convoluted and potentially deceptive language.

In his press conference Wednesday, Sean Spicer seemed to contradict an earlier statement by the State Department that it determined Iran is in compliance with the agreement. Both Spicer and State are ignoring violations like those listed above that should have caused the Trump administration to declare Iran in noncompliance with the JCPOA months ago.

Although the above violations are serious, it is worth stressing that Iran can continue making progress in its nuclear weapons program without violating the JCPOA since the deal allows it to enrich uranium with over 5,000 centrifuges, develop and test advanced centrifuges and construct a plutonium-producing heavy-water reactor.

As Israeli Ambassador to the United States put it in an April 14, 2017 Wall Street Journal oped, the JCPOA is so inherently flawed that Tehran doesnt even have to break it. Honoring it will be enough to endanger millions of lives.

As I explained in my book Obamabomb: A Dangerous and Growing National Security Fraud, the Obama administration was fully aware of these concerns but agreed to the JCPOA anyway because it desperately wanted a legacy Iran nuclear deal for President Obama and probably did not view Irans nuclear weapons program as a serious threat.

Foreign policy careerists  the swamp -- share the Obama administrations views on the Iran deal and are working hard to protect it. They are claiming the only alternative to this agreement is war with Iran and that withdrawing from the deal would isolate the United States. In a November 2016 article I explained why these arguments are false and why it is urgent that the Trump administration kill or substantially renegotiate the fraudulent Iran deal.

Unfortunately, it appears that some Trump officials have been convinced to stick with the deal.

A major reason for this is because almost all foreign policy posts responsible for the Iran deal are staffed by Obama administration holdovers due to the failure of the Trump administration to fill jobs at the State and Defense Departments.

When Secretary of State Tillerson certified Iran was in compliance with the JCPOA on Tuesday, he added that U.S. Iran policy is under review.

Wednesday, Tillerson tried to respond to conservative criticism of his compliance finding by stating that Iran remains a state sponsor of terror and the JCPOA is an incredibly flawed agreement.

I dont take any comfort from these statements because they remind me of the 2001 review by the Bush administration of the disastrous nuclear deal with North Korea  the Agreed Framework  which allowed North Korea to keep its nuclear weapons and was violated by Pyongyang while the ink was drying on the agreement.

The 1994 Agreed Framework was also strongly opposed by congressional Republicans and was supported by the foreign policy establishment which claimed there was no alternative to this deeply flawed pact.

The Bush administration repeatedly said North Korea was in compliance with this deal even though it wasnt and completed a policy review in June 2001 that kept the deal but promised tougher enforcement.

The Agreed Framework collapsed when the U.S. presented North Korea with evidence that it had a covert uranium enrichment program that violated this agreement.

North Korea used the time and huge concessions it gained from the Agreed Framework to accelerate its nuclear weapons and missile programs. It conducted its first of five nuclear tests in 2006.

I fear history is about to repeat itself.

Tuesdays certification that Iran is in compliance with the JCPOA and statements by some Trump officials may indicate the Swamp will once again convince a Republican administration to keep a deeply flawed nuclear agreement with a rogue state negotiated by a prior Democratic administration.

Meanwhile, I believe Irans nuclear weapons program continues, probably in close coordination with North Korea.

Fortunately, there is still time for President Trump to get this right and fulfill his campaign promises to tear up, or substantially renegotiate, the fraudulent nuclear deal with Iran.

The first thing he should do is to tell Secretary Tillerson to immediately start filling State Department jobs that deal with the Iran deal with appointees who support the presidents position on this issue. -- Tillerson also must be told to stop declaring that Iran in compliance with this agreement.

Most importantly, President Trump must publicly restate his strong opposition to the JCPOA to make it clear to his appointees and the Swamp that he will not tolerate a nuclear agreement with Iran unless it actually halts Tehrans pursuit of nuclear weapons and also addresses Irans missile program, support of terrorism and its efforts to destabilize the Middle East.
What if our belief in self-government is a belief in a myth? What if the election of one political party over the other to control Congress changes only appearances? What if taxes stay high and regulations stay pervasive and the government stays oppressive and presidents fight wars no matter what the politicians promise and no matter who wins elections? What if the true goal of those whom we elect to Congress is not to be our agents of self-government or even to preserve our personal liberties but to remain in power by getting re-elected?

What if they use government to aid their own re-elections by bribing us with our own money -- the rich with bailouts, the middle class with tax breaks and the poor with transfer payments?

What if Congress has written laws that are too complex for its own members to read and understand? What if the language of most federal laws is intentionally arcane so that ordinary voters cannot understand it? What if that language is actually written by faceless bureaucrats and not by accountable members of Congress? What if members of Congress in fact rarely read any legislation before voting on it? What if some legislation refers to secrets and secret procedures that only a few members of Congress are permitted to see and utilize?

What if when the select few members of Congress who are permitted to see those secrets do see them, those members are themselves sworn to secrecy? What if that means that our elected representatives -- our supposed agents of self-government in the government -- do not fully know what the government is doing and that even if they do, they cant legally tell us?

What if our representatives in Congress dont really represent us? What if they really represent a political party? What if each political party is controlled by a small leadership group that punishes members who defy it? What if Congress has written laws and rules that permit its leaders to punish members defiance? What if another way to characterize defiance of political party leadership is political courage?

What if the laws that Congress has written about the CIA have delegated congressional power to a small secret committee of members from both houses of Congress and both political parties? What if that committee can authorize secret wars in foreign lands conducted not by the military but by the CIA? What if the reason these folks authorize the CIA and not the military to conduct secret wars is the existence of federal laws that require reporting to and a vote of the entire Congress for the military to be used but require only the small secret committee to approve for the CIA to be used?

Because wars cost money and often cost lives, what if the effect of the decisions of the small secret committee is that the committee is basically a Congress within Congress? What if the Constitution says that only Congress can spend tax dollars and declare wars but Congress has let the Congress within Congress do this? What if the voters will never know what the Congress within Congress has authorized? What if the very existence of the Congress within Congress mocks, defies and betrays the concept of American self-government?

What if the data seen and discussed and the decisions made in secret by the Congress within Congress are generated by the CIA and other intelligence agencies? What if these intelligence agencies selectively reveal and selectively conceal data to manipulate the decisions of the Congress within Congress? What if those manipulations often result in bloodshed about which the American people often never learn? What if the bases for the decisions of the Congress within Congress are kept from the other members of Congress, from the media and from the voters?

What if the folks from both political parties who set up the Congress within Congress care more about wielding power than they do about preserving self-government? What if those who pull the levers of power in the intelligence community are so far removed from the voters that they dont know and dont care what the voters think? What if they know that the voters would react forcefully and decisively if the voters knew what the members of the Congress within Congress know but they still wont tell us?

What if all this diversion of power from the elected Congress to the Congress within Congress and all this reliance on secret data has resulted in the most pervasive surveillance by any government of any people at any time in world history? What if the federal governments domestic surveillance today captures and retains digital copies of every telephone call and every computer keystroke of every person in America and has done so since 2005? What if members of Congress who are not in the Congress within Congress do not know this?

What if the Congress within Congress has authorized American spies to spy without personal suspicion or judicial warrant on the military, the courts, the police and every person in America, including the remaining members of Congress, much of the remaining intelligence community itself and even the White House?

What if the selective use of the data acquired from mass surveillance can be used to manipulate anyone by those who have access to the data? What if those who have access to the data have used it to manipulate the president of the United States? What if all this constitutes a grave but largely unseen threat to our liberties, not the least of which is the right to self-government?

What if we dont really govern ourselves? What do we do about it?
There was a moment at Press Secretary Sean Spicers White House briefing Monday that was significant. Asked by a reporter about North Koreas missile launch last weekend, Spicer said the administration was aware of the launch and that it failed. End of story. Next question, please.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former Conservative foreign secretary in Britain, might provide an explanation for Spicers tight-lipped response. Rifkind told the BBC Sunday that there is a very strong belief that the U.S.  through cyber methods  has been successful on several occasions in interrupting these sorts of tests and making them fail.

At present, there are no direct links to a cyberattack on North Korea from the U.S., but that hasnt stopped media outlets from reporting the possibility of one.

Last month, the U.S. began sending the first elements of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system to South Korea, though China opposed the move. When it becomes operational will it, along with cyberattacks, be enough to deter North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un from conducting new missile tests capable of hitting the U.S. with a nuclear warhead, which he has repeatedly threatened to do? Kim has said he will conduct missile tests weekly in response to U.S. threats.

On a recent visit to South Korea, Vice President Mike Pence vowed that the era of strategic patience is over, a strategy adopted by the Obama administration to explain its long-term view on global conflict resolution. Pence added, North Korea would do well not to test (President Trumps) resolve  or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region.

How much of this is bluster on both sides no one can say for sure. After President Trumps meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping, there is some optimism that China might be able to exert sufficient pressure on its unpredictable ally to pull back from a direct confrontation with the U.S. Of greatest concern for the Trump administration, in addition to South Korean civilians who would likely suffer massive casualties should there be a North Korean invasion, are the more than 28,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. Kim has threatened to attack them and flood South Korea with his ground forces.

What is our goal with North Korea? Is it regime change? If so, who and what would follow if Kim is ousted? Kim, his father and grandfather have established such an atmosphere of complete control and cult-like obedience with North Koreans who have been cut off from all outside information that it is hard to predict how the people would react. Its a good bet political prisoners in North Koreas prison camps would be overjoyed if the regime fell and they were set free.

Humanrights.gov estimates between 80,000 and 120,000 political prisoners and family members are detained in these camps, where starvation, forced labor, executions, torture, rape, forced abortion and infanticide are commonplace.

Those who wish to hold off on further challenges to North Korea must ask themselves a question. Given the erratic behavior of Kim Jong-Un and his bellicose promises to strike the U.S. with a nuclear missile, is it better to take him seriously and stop him now, or wait until he has the capability to carry out his threat?

Last week, Hawaiis House public safety committee passed a resolution calling for the states defense agency to repair hundreds of fallout shelters that have not been updated since the 1980s and restock them with medical supplies, food and water.

We havent yet reached the tension level of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, which put the United States in direct confrontation with the Soviet Union and brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, but the current tension between the U.S. and North Korea could quickly spiral downward.

Will the peace through strength doctrine of the Reagan administration, which suggested that military power could help preserve peace, work today? During the Reagan years, Soviet leaders were not unstable, as Kim Jong-Un appears to be, and a nuclear confrontation was avoided. Perhaps a demonstration of what the U.S can do with cyberwarfare, a missile defense system and help from China will be enough.

One can only hope.
The murder of an innocent man in Cleveland shown on Facebook by the perpetrator is but the latest distressing outrage exposing the horrific flipside of social media. Apparently, the grisly implications of the monstrous deed -- including, G-d forbid copycat crimes, has led Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg to announce a review of his companys policies.

Some argue that this murderer would have acted on his evil impulses with or without the Internet. They may be right in this case, but we will never know since the perpetrator committed suicide.

Two other recent incidents however, confirm that Social Media giants live in a self-imposed bubble that recklessly empowers terrorists and bigots and needlessly endangers us all.

First came word that major international companies pulled millions of advertising dollars from Google/YouTube after they discovered that their brands logos were appearing alongside terrorist and bigoted videos broadcast by the video behemoth. This, just after the latest high profile terrorist attack at the entrance to The House of Commons in London.

Fearing a cascading financial hemorrhage Philipp Schindler, Google's chief business officer, blogged a mea culpa, vowing to step up its efforts to block ads on "hateful, offensive and derogatory" videos. "We know that this is unacceptable to the advertisers and agencies who put their trust in us,", he wrote.

But Google/YouTube failed to address one other constituency: We the People. And they left unanswered one critical question: Why does the Social Media giant allow such content to be posted in the first place? Some of the pro-terrorist videos already incorporated visuals from the London carnage in their social media recruitment drive. And Americans have learned what havoc can be wreaked by one or two lone wolves inspired by the hate and the violence.

The questions are not new. As founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Centers Digital Terrorism and Hate Project, I meet regularly with Social Media companies in Silicon Valley. In this connection, we release an annual report (2017) that provides governments, the media, community activists, and the Internet companies a snapshot of how extremistsfrom ISIS to David Duke leverage the most powerful marketing tool ever created to push their terrorist and hate agendas.

Last week, we also released our annual report card grading companies on their efforts-if any- to degrade the online hate and terror mongers.

Google/YouTube did not fare well. They earned a C- on Terrorism and a D on Hate. There are no reasons why real-time videos celebrating and promoting terrorism and demeaning and attacking minorities should be allowed on YouTube in the first place. In addition, despite our many protests and their own rules, YouTube still carries an expanding library of how-to-use readily available materials to build a bomb, a remote cellphone detonator, homemade flamethrower, or make napalm

Along with Twitters spotty record, YouTubes failure to tackle hateful postings in a consistent and serious way, have helped our domestic bigots to have an out-sized impact during the contentious and divisive Presidential campaign last year.

Social Media companies did not invent hate, but they have yet to take seriously their responsibilities to help degrade the online bigots from further infecting the mainstream of our culture.

There is one additional category on our Digital Terrorism and Hate 2017 Report CardMessaging Apps. These apps have emerged as critical tools for terrorists when they want to evade authorities. By using off the shelf encryption, terrorists in France and Belgium went dark in before they unleashed their carnage.

These companies have done almost nothing to stop the terrorists from coopting their product: grades range from a B- to F. Now comes word that Whats App has refused to cooperate with British authorities who discovered that the House of Commons terrorist, Khalid Massoud used their encrypted app for his last communications before launching the murderous outrage.

Bottom line: It is past due for the social media service providers to take their responsibilities seriously. Algorithms are no substitute for ethics. If they fail to take more effective action look for Washington to begin to consider the dreaded R wordregulation.
Ever tried dealing with a playground bully? What shuts him (or her, for our politically correct readers) up fastest? A bloody nose.

Bullies operate on the assumption that they are safe from retribution. When they find out thats not true, they curdle like spoiled milk. Until then, their conduct can only spiral further out of control.

Thats whats happening at colleges across America. Students who think they can dictate what is said on their campus are shutting down any point of view they oppose. Thats not youthful indiscretion. Its a crime. And the perpetrators should be prosecuted for it.

This week, the University of California at Berkeley  a communist commune that poses as a cathedral of learning  succeeded in getting conservative commentator Ann Coulters scheduled speech canceled. The university later suggested she give her speech on May 2 but she rejected that date.

The reason for the original cancellation: college administrators feared her presence might pose a security risk.

A risk to whom? Coulter? She can take care of herself. The students who, masked in balaclavas and paisley handkerchiefs, think the best way to express their opinion is to smash in windows and set fire to cars? They want their freedom of speech to be unabridged, including acts of violence. Coulter sets only verbal bonfires with her intentionally overheated rhetoric.

Its time for college administrators and campus police to grow a pair, and prosecute students who engage in these antics. Shutting down free speech is a crime, as Jay Sekulow, the chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, knows.

Whats going on with Ann Coulter is classic viewpoint discrimination, Sekulow told me. The Supreme Court has been consistent that viewpoint discrimination is a violation of free speech. And that is illegal.

So who needs to take action? Its the schools job to prevent the protests from becoming violent, Sekulow says. Letting students create a hostile environment that shuts down free speech opens the school to lawsuits.

So lets stop worrying about the students rights and prosecute the criminals among them. Heres how, according to Sekulow:

In a public place, and that includes the campus, youre allowed to videotape what the students are doing. From a criminal perspective, the campus police would have to bring the lawsuit against people who are rioting. Frankly, until now, what the campus police have been doing is nothing. And the result is that free speech is being shut down. This goes way beyond political correctness. This is criminal conduct.

College life is a time for young people to be exposed to new ideas, to weigh them and decide what works for them as they form their adult personalities. The message todays students are getting is: agree with me or keep your mouth shut. Thats not education. Its tyranny.
All sides of the anti-Trump movement  including the alt-left media and the college campus crazies - are now coalescing to try and damage the new administration.

The propaganda, destroy-Trump press has for months endlessly pushed bizarre conspiracy theories about Trump colluding with Russia, despite no evidence whatsoever that the president did, and now they are launching a new wave of attacks.

Now, take a look at the latest example from "Mr. Thrill Up His Leg," "Mr. Obama Lover" Chris Matthews.

Bitch, bitch, bitch, said MSNBCs Chris Matthews, who once disturbingly gushed that President Obama sent a thrill up my leg. I mean, he's supposed to be a positive, Make America Great guy, and it's all this whining about the job he took.

Hey look, he knew Obama was president, the last president, Matthews continued. He knew he was coming in after Obama, who was actually quite successful. Now he blames it all on the conditions of the job.

Matthews and all the other partisan hacks masquerading as journalists are ignoring the fact that President Trump did inherit a colossal mess from Obama both here at home and abroad. They refuse to report the truth about how President Trump is trying to fix all of this.

Their friends in office are even worse. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., recently led a chant to impeach -- that's right, impeach -- President Trump.

His motives and his actions are contemptible, and I will fight every day until he is impeached! the unhinged Congresswoman shouted. Impeach 45! Impeach 45!

He hasnt even been in office for 100 days.

Then the insanity of the left showed up in Berkeley, Calif., over the weekend, where a near riot broke out during a tax day protest after violent clashes between left-wing agitators and Trump supporters. Twenty people ended up being arrested.

Then, on Tuesday, we saw a massive effort from the left in a special election in Georgia's sixth congressional district. Hollywood, the media and nutty activists all came together to pump up Jon Ossoff, who doesn't even live in the district. Celebrity snowflakes like Samuel L. Jackson and Chelsea Handler threw their support behind Ossoff. And of course, the alt-radical left, destroy-Trump media heaped mounds of praise on the Democratic candidate.

Tonight, the eyes of the political world are on a congressional district in Georgia where an upstart Democrat is trying to win a special election in what has been a Republican-held district for years, said NBC News anchor Lester Holt.

Millions of dollars have flooded into the race from around the country to help a little-known Democrat, chimed in ABCs World News Tonight anchor David Muir.

CNNs Don Lemon paid Ossoff the ultimate liberal comment, saying the 30-year-old sounded like Barack Obama.

No, the destroy-Trump media, they're not biased at all.

Actually, they are. And theres proof. A new study from the Media Research Center shows a whopping 89 percent of coverage during ABC, NBC, CBS's evening newscast has been negative toward President Trump.

We're seeing the alt-radical left taking all of this unhinged hatred to a whole new level, and they're teaming up to attack the president on all fronts. It's only going to get worse, it's only going to get more intense. So Republicans need to do their job and also be ready to fight back.

As for President Trump, all he needs to do is check campaign promises off his list and continue to fulfill enact the agenda that he won on. And then his haters can keep on hating for the next seven years.

Adapted from Sean Hannity's monologue on "Hannity," April 19, 2017
Cheryl Judy is the art teacher at Sherman Junior & Senior high School in Boone County, West Virginia. She is also a self-described liberal.

The other day she committed an anti-Trump fashion faux pas in the classroom  surrounded by several students.

Click here for a free subscription to Todds newsletter: a must-read for conservatives!

Ms. Judy was photographed wearing a jacket with the words Tuck Frump pinned on the back  the letters comprising the f-word highlighted in white.

One of the kids in the classroom posted the photo online --and it went viral faster than an Angry Cat meme.

Without me thinking I said, Sure, and she didnt post it to be mean or anything, Ms. Judy told the Gazette Mail.

She has apologized for it and she didnt know that this is what would happen and she put it on Snapchat and then it just went everywhere. It exploded. It was unintentional on my part and her part.

She told the newspaper she had modeled the jacket for several students who shared her liberal ideology.

To continue reading Todd's column, click here.
For nearly two decades, U.N.-mandated peacekeepers  both military and non-military personnel  have been embroiled in sexual abuse scandals that have shocked the world, tarnished the U.N.s reputation, and shattered uncounted vulnerable lives.

The U.N. has announced one effort after another to fix this ugly problem, but so far, nothing much has changedwhich is why we need a radically new approach.

Quite simply, the U.N. needs to get out of the business of policing itself.

Under the current system, victims are instructed to bring criminal complaints against U.N. peacekeepers to the U.N. itself. From this point forward, the process is characterized by a depressing lack of impartiality and transparency.

The cases may be handled merely as as an administrative matter (for a non-military U.N. official) or tried in a courtroom thousands of miles from the crime scene (for a soldier.) Either way, the victim is rarely involved or even informed, and basic principles of justice are contravened.

At the root of the problem is the fact that U.N. has no legal authority to investigate or prosecute crimes; nor should it. Yet it acts as police, prosecutor, judge and juryto itself.

The frequent result: nothing much is done to punish or prevent these offenses, or to help the victims, and the U.N. gets a well-earned reputation for its culture of impunity surrounding sexual abuse.

Just last week, the Associated Press (with behind-the-scenes help from our Code Blue Campaign) cited an internal U.N. report revealing that 134 Sri Lankan peacekeepers exploited nine children in a sex ring from 2004 to 2007. In the wake of the U.N. report, 114 peacekeepers were quietly sent home. None was ever imprisoned.

In response to the AP report, Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., urged all countries that provide troops for peacekeeping missions to hold soldiers to account. That sound principle should go one important step further: accountability must also apply to non-military peacekeepers.

The U.N.s new Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, appears to understand the magnitude of the crisis. But his own game-changing strategy to deal with abuse is a variation on the old theme: crimes committed by the U.N. are reported to the U.N., and handled as internal matters.

Instead, we think the U.N. needs a new and independent judicial mechanism, created and overseen by U.N. member states and existing outside the apparatus overseen by the Secretary-General.

The special court would be empowered to receive and rapidly investigate allegations of sexual abuse, adhering to uniform and rigorous investigative standards.

If an accusation against a military peacekeeper is deemed credible, the case would be referred, as required by international agreement, to the peacekeepers home country, which would be responsible for carrying the investigation further.

But if non-military U.N. officials were credibly accused of crimes, the special court would try the caseand there could be plenty of them.

Few people are aware that roughly half of the sexual abuse allegations in U.N. peacekeeping missions involve non-military personnel. And they are held to an even less accountable standard than soldiers.

A non-military U.N. official suspected of sexual crimes is subject to little more than an administrative review. For most staff, the worst they need fear is losing their jobs.

The new court would change that. It would collect and preserve evidence; conduct pre-trial judicial examination; prosecute cases while respecting due-process guarantees; impose criminal sentences when there was a guilty verdict; and provide an appeals process to ensure that decisions are fair.

The court would remove the U.N.s biggest taint: its conflict of interest when investigating crimes committed by its own personnel.

Further, the proposal would allow the United Nations to get back to work that is so needed in our troubled times -- bringing peace and stability to the world, and protecting the most vulnerable.

Not a moment should be wasted in changing the U.N.s unworkable system. Far too many vulnerable lives are at stake.
Two Arkansas prison inmates slated to die today have reprieves - one to allow lawyers to try to prove his innocence, and the other to allow the state to find a court-approved method of carrying out his execution.

Lawyers for Stacy Johnson, 47, who was convicted of the 1993 murder of a 25-year-old mother of two, won a stay Wednesday from the Arkansas Supreme Court after arguing DNA testing could prove his innocence.

Some items have never been tested, Jeff Rosenzweig, Johnsons lawyer, said. We should be able to use these new techniques, but weve been denied that so far.

A similar bid by Ledell Lee, 51, who was also scheduled to be executed Thursday has not been approved. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Innocence Project, who have taken over Lee's case, argue that Lee has an intellectual disability that resulted from fetal alcohol syndrome. They also said he suffered from horrible legal counsel.

Lee was convicted ot the 1993 murder of 26-year-old Debra Reese, who he beat with a tire iron her husband had given her for protection.

The two are among a group of eight convicted killers the state plans to put to death by the end of the month, but the executions have been delayed by challenges involving a controversial lethal injection drug. On Wednesday, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Alice Gray ruled the state could not use the drug vecuronium bromide in any of its executions, putting Lee's execution on hold - at least temporarily.

"Irreparable harm will result. Harm that could not be addressed by (monetary) damages," Gray said in a ruling from the bench, siding with the medical supply company McKesson Corp., who accused the state of misrepresenting its use of the drug and sued to stop its use in executions.

In the case heard by Gray, a state prison official testified that he deliberately ordered vecuronium bromide last year in a way that wouldn't leave a paper trail, relying on phone calls and text messages. Arkansas Department of Correction Deputy Director Rory Griffin said he didn't keep records of the texts, but McKesson salesman Tim Jenkins did. In text messages from Jenkins' phone, which came up at Wednesday's court hearing, there is no mention that the drug would be used in executions.



In still another filing, all eight death row inmates asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to block their executions. Three of the inmates already had their capital punishments blocked by other court orders.

The state has hit back on every legal challenge and accused defense lawyers of using dilatory tactics and execution eve iteration to prevent the executions from taking place.

Petitioners are convicted capital murdered who have enjoyed multiple opportunities to challenge their convictions, sentences and  critically  the method by which they will be lawfully executed, the state wrote in its filing to the high court. Their guilt and the justness of their sentences are beyond any dispute.

The eight scheduled executions over an 11-day period would be the most any state has ever carried out since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson set the aggressive schedule in February and argued it was needed because one of the three drugs the state uses to carry out lethal injections is set to expire at the end of the month.

What followed was a wave of legal challenges and protests from the inmates and anti-death penalty advocates, as well as the drug manufacturer. The court fights have pushed Arkansas to the forefront of the death penalty debate in America.

After Johnson and Lee, the next two men scheduled to die on April 24 are Jack Jones and Marcell Williams, followed by Kenneth Williams on April 27.

The last time two executions were attempted was in Oklahoma in 2014. In that case, the state botched one execution and was forced to call off the other after the combination of drugs the state used failed to kill inmate Clayton Lockett who was left writhing violently on a gurney as officials spent 20 minutes trying to execute him.

Following the grisly outcome, the state called off the second lethal injection.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Exxon Mobil has applied to the Treasury Department for a waiver from U.S. sanctions on Russia in a bid to resume its joint venture with state oil giant PAO Rosneft, according to people familiar with the matter.

Exxon has been seeking U.S. permission to drill with Rosneft in several areas banned by sanctions and renewed a push for approval in March, shortly after its most recent chief executive, Rex Tillerson, became secretary of state on Feb. 1, according to one of these people. The company originally applied for a waiver to gain access to the Black Sea in July 2015 but its application wasnt approved, the person said.

The waiver request is likely to be closely scrutinized by members of Congress who are seeking to intensify sanctions on Russia in response to what the U.S. said was its use of cyberattacks to interfere with elections last year. Congress has also launched an investigation into whether there were ties between aides to Donald Trump and Russias government during the presidential campaign and the political transition.

Mr. Tillerson during his time at Exxon forged a close working relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and with Rosneft, a company that is critical to Russias oil-reliant economy.

The State Department is among the U.S. government agencies that have a say on Exxons waiver application, which was made to the Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control, according to current and former U.S. officials.

Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.


U.S. Capitol Police arrested seven activists and confiscated about 1,000 joints from marijuana activists on Thursday during a 4/20 "celebration."

DCMJ, the Washington D.C.-based marijuana advocacy group that spearheaded the legalization of cannabis in the district, led its first annual Congressional #JointSession -- the group planned to pass out two joints per person to members of Congress, congressional staffers and anyone who obtained a congressional ID (and is over the age of 21) from noon until 4:20 p.m.

U.S. Capitol Police confirmed the arrests.

Despite US Capitol Police twice confiscating their marijuana & 3 ppl arrested, @DCMJ2014 volunteers are back giving out joints. pic.twitter.com/WfKS8CWBaX  Mark Segraves (@SegravesNBC4) April 20, 2017

"Under federal law, it is unlawful to possess marijuana," U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement. "As of 2:30 p.m., one adult male and two adult female arrestees were charged with possession with intent to distribute. Four adult females were charged with possession. They were taken to USCP Headquarters for processing."

We didnt plan on getting arrested today -- we brought 1,227 joints to represent the cannabis reform bill H.R. 1227 -- and gave away a few hundred to congressional staffers before Capitol Police took it all away, DCMJ Founder Nikolas Schiller told Fox News. This was meant to be a free speech event and was meant to influence members of Congress.

For cannibas aficionados, Weed Day is April 20, shortened to 4/20 -- a code-term for marijuana coined, according to several

reports, in 1971 by a group of California high school students who would meet at 4:20 p.m. every day after class to smoke pot.

The #JointSession event, according to DCMJ, was an effort to lobby members of Congress to encourage House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to reauthorize the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment which prohibits the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration from using funds to "interfere" with D.C. and state medical cannabis laws. The amendment expires on April 28.

Schiller told Fox News that DCMJ set up its demonstration on non-federal land near the Capitol.

We were on D.C. grounds, but Capitol Police invoked federal law, Schiller said. We intend on fighting the charges.

DCMJ had scheduled a smoke-in on the Capitol steps on April 24, but Schiller told Fox News he was unsure whether that event would take place as planned.

Mondays event is up in the air, Schiller said. We will see.

Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
A 75-year-old Army veteran who faced criminal prosecution for displaying the American flag atop a Veterans Affairs fence in 2016 was acquitted earlier this week by a U.S. District Court in California.

Almost a year after federal charges were filed by the Obama Justice Department, Robert Rosebrock on Tuesday was found not guilty of violating a 1973 VA statute prohibiting the display of placards on department property without authorization from the facility head.

The veteran had been cited on Memorial Day 2016 by a VA police officer after he placed two four-by-six-inch American flags on the fence outside the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs (GLAVA) facility during a protest of the VAs treatment of homeless veterans.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Steve Kim ruled that the government failed to show evidence that Rosebrock was told he was not permitted to post the flag and that he physically put the flag on the fence.

But Rosebrock, who faced up to six months in prison, says he would not think twice about doing it again.

"It would be so anti-American not to," he told "Fox & Friends" on Thursday.

The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System issued a statement to Fox News saying it was "committed to providing our nation's Veterans the best possible healthcare, and leadership and staff are working hard to make continuous improvements to their care."

Their priority, the statement said, "remains in promoting an environment where Veterans can receive the quality services they deserve.

In an April 14 pretrial motion, separate charges related to photographs Rosebrock took of a VA police officer without his permission were dismissed on the grounds that they were not reasonable under even the most lenient First Amendment standard, according to a Judicial Watch press release.

Robert Patrick Sticht, lead defense attorney for Rosebrock, told Fox News it remained unclear why the VA decided to begin enforcing the VA statute, or why the Obama and Trump administrations went forward with the case.

Sticht said his co-counsel, Judicial Watch Director of Litigation Paul Orfanedes, reached out to Attorney General Jeff Sessions to request the Trump administration make a fresh assessment of the charges, but did not receive a response.

It remains amazing to me that the Justice Department went forward with those charges. It shows they dont want a spotlight on what they are going at the VA facility in LA, Sticht told Fox News.

Thom Mrozek, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys Office in the Central District of California, says the decision to go forward was made by the local office and was in response to Rosebrock's actions.

He told Fox News there never was any intention of jailing Rosebrock, but after multiple citations given to him by the VA, "we had to take some kind of action."

Mrozek said what happens next will be determined by Rosebrock's actions and how the VA chooses to respond to any future protests.
Once again, Congress is staring at the edge of the abyss.

Lawmakers return to session next week with just four days to fund the government and avert a shutdown. The deadline is April 28.

The dynamics are different this time, compared with the 2013 meltdown. Theres a Republican House and Senate. This is the first government funding go-round with President Trump occupying the White House. No one is quite sure how the Trump administration will handle the negotiations or what are their untouchable requests. But theres not a lot of time to figure this out. Some Republicans fret that House GOP leaders burned way too much time trying to rescue their stunted health care bill.

A lapse in government funding would represent the second major legislative failure by Trump and the Republican Congress. A shutdown, following the failure to repeal and replace ObamaCare, could prove politically catastrophic for the exclusive, governing party in Washington.

But here are the keys. First, funding the government could, yet again, hinge on ObamaCare. Secondly, while Republicans run Washington, Democrats hold many of the cards in this poker game.

The House GOPs stumble to repeal and replace ObamaCare before the recess didnt appear to have a direct connection to the pending government funding battle. But now it may. Just days ago, Trump declared he would yank subsidies known as cost-sharing reductions, or CSRs, from ObamaCare programs. The government directs the CSR payments to insurers who grant coverage to low-income people. A dried-up subsidy could force insurers to drop ObamaCare and spike premiums for the poor.

Trump views the ObamaCare subsidies as leverage to force Democrats to the table on health care. Democrats contend the president is holding the health care assistance hostage and imperiling those who arent well off. Trump has engaged with few Democrats since taking office on addressing ObamaCare or funding the government. Those who lose coverage (many of whom backed the president last fall) will know precisely who forced them to lose coverage should Trump successfully strip the subsidy. Still, theres no better place to withdraw the subsidies than in the upcoming spending bill. One would think the president would drop the CSRs in this spending bill if hes serious about the new policy.

But that is a poison pill. Republicans may love the idea. However, it torpedoes any notion that Democrats might support the spending package.

The spending bill cannot be done by one party alone, opined Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., before the recess. These bills cant pass without a reasonable number of Democratic supporters in the Senate.

Therefore, is the president willing to stick to his guns on the ObamaCare subsidies or test the possibility of a government shutdown?

Blame the Democrats for this? Well, its hard to do that when Democrats dont formally control any of the levers in Washington.

This is why its hard to make good on campaign promises. The rhetoric sure sounds lofty in the cornfields of Iowa and the snows of New Hampshire. But now?

Speaking of campaign promises, hows funding for that wall going? Its unclear if Trump will insist lawmakers attach money for the border wall to this upcoming spending package. But you can bet that Democrats will again bolt if that scenario comes to pass.

Wouldnt the president latch money to construct the wall to this spending bill if he were serious about the project? But then again, Trump probably could get the wall and fail to keep the government open, too.

Plussing-up military dollars? Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., is clear the Pentagon needs a jump-start in funding. Thats something else on which Trump campaigned. But Congress operates under the Budget Control Act of 2011. That plan capped whats called discretionary spending for years down that road and created sequestration, the budgetary phenomenon of arbitrarily limiting various spending pots regardless of need. Under the Budget Control Act, the discretionary spending ceiling (excluding entitlements like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security) for this cycle is $1.07 trillion. Pouring in additional money for the military (or, for that matter, the wall) busts those sequestration limits. Keep in mind that many fiscal conservatives in the House and Senate want to spend less overall. Thats one of the reasons Republicans need to lean on Democrats for votes to keep the lights on in Washington.

One of the best ways to determine the musculature of a policy is to calculate how much money Washington devotes to a given initiative.

How about stripping sanctuary cities of federal dollars? A good place to execute that policy would be a rider in this spending bill. Democrats would interpret such an approach as another poison pill and balk at voting for such a measure.

With the deep uncertainty over whether Congress can address all of this in such a short timeframe, theres already discussion of punting and adopting a stopgap measure of a week or two.

But are these policy promises idle threats or does the president insist on Congress including such provisions in the spending bill? Does Trump concede on a few subjects and let Democrats score some wins? Do they fail to work any of this out and spark a government shutdown?

Congress completed much of the work on the spending bills behind the scenes over the past few months. Back in December, Democrats only wanted to fund the government through late March. Republicans demanded late April and prevailed. Never mind that House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., promised to abandon the now common practice of bundling together spending bills rather than advancing them individually. That approach could come later this year. But Congress certainly didnt do any of that ahead of this spending deadline.

So something has to give. And yet again, Congress stares into the abyss.

Capitol Attitude is a weekly column written by members of the Fox News Capitol Hill team. Their articles take you inside the halls of Congress, and cover the spectrum of policy issues being introduced, debated and voted on there.
The family of two Iranian-Americans imprisoned in Iran is imploring the Trump administration to help secure their release, describing their situation as one of fear and uncertainty as their cases languish for months on end.

"I cannot begin to articulate the feeling of hopelessness, of despair, of sheer fear, of what my family is going through, said Babak Namazi, the son and brother of the imprisoned Americans. Every day I wake up and I wonder if today is the day that I am going to get any bad news."

The prisoners are Baquer and Siamak Namazi, a father and son.

Siamuk is a businessman and scholar who was arrested in October 2015 by Iranian authorities. His attorney says he was the only American excluded from a prisoner release following the Iran nuclear deal. In February 2016, Iran arrested his 80-year old father, Baquer Namazi, a former representative of the United Nations Childrens Fund, or UNICEF.

Iran sentenced them to 10 years each, claiming they spied and communicated with the United States.

Amid new tensions between the Trump administration and Iran over the status of the nuclear agreement, the Namazis attorney said they are convenient hostages that Iran is using as leverage with the United States -- and noted the previous administration pushed for their release.

The bottom line is President Obama failed to secure the release of Siamak Namazi and Baquer Namazi, said Jared Genser, the Namazis attorney. The question of course now is what's going to happen in the Trump administration.

Genser said the family is encouraged because in October, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump tweeted of the Namazis arrests, Well, Iran has done it again. Taken two of our people and asking for a fortune for their release. This doesn't happen if I'm president!

Now, the Namazis are holding Trump to that promise. Like the Obama administration, Trump officials have raised the Namazi case.

"We join recent calls by international organizations and U.N. human rights experts for the immediate release of all U.S. citizens unjustly detained or missing in Iran," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.

Genser called Spicers comments an important step forward but said  it needs to be followed up by immediate and aggressive action.

The Namazi family said the situation is becoming more urgent as Baquer is ill and prison conditions are dreadful.

"If we are not able to secure their release very soon, I will never see my father, I will never see Siamak, my brother, my children will not see them, said Babak Namazi. This is horrific."
Hawaii's Democratic senators criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions Thursday over remarks he made on a radio show about the federal judge who halted President Trump's revised travel ban last month.

The judge, Derrick Watson, issued an order blocking the administration's ban on new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries and temporarily halting the U.S. refugee program.. The Justice Department is appealing the order.

"I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the President of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and Constitutional power," Sessions said Tuesday in an interview with radio host Mark Levin.

Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz slammed Sessions' remarks in Twitter posts.

Hey Jeff Sessions, this #IslandinthePacific has been the 50th state for going on 58 years. And we wont succumb to your dog whistle politics  Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) April 20, 2017

Mr. Attorney General: You voted for that judge. And that island is called Oahu. It's my home. Have some respect. https://t.co/sW9z3vqBqG  Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) April 20, 2017

When asked about the comment on Fox News' "The First 100 Days," Sessions said Hawaii was "a beautiful island" before adding, "Weve got about 800 federal judges. One, protected perhaps by the 9th Circuit [Court of Appeals] has stopped an executive order by the President of the United States that I believe is constitutional and that I believe is explicitly approved by statutory law, so the process will go forward [and] appeals will be held."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The rollout of an IRS program meant to catch fraudulent tax returns has been plagued by delays and cost overruns, according to a government watchdog  and one Republican lawmaker is demanding answers.

Citizens Against Government Waste slammed the "wasteful" and "ineffective" program in a report timed with the tax-filing deadline earlier this week.

At issue is an IRS effort to replace the Electronic Fraud Detection System (EFDS)  which dates back to 1994 -- with an update called the Return Review Program (RRP). In 2010, the IRS described the EFDS too risky to maintain, upgrade or operate beyond 2015.

However, despite the program being in development since 2009, the replacement is not expected to be completed until 2022.

And that time is money.

According to a 2015 Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) report, a two-year pilot program found the new program missed tens of thousands of fraudulent returns, amounting to a cost of $313 million.

The CAGW noted a 2015 Government Accountability Office report also found the program exceeded its initial budget by $86.5 million.

This is unfortunately typical of information technology modernization projects throughout the federal government, Tom Schatz, president of the CAGW, told Fox News. The unfortunate result is that many of its projects are behind schedule, the technology is outdated, and they usually have large cost overruns.

In March, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, wrote to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, expressing concern about the program and demanding answers to a series of questions about the state of RRP.

In an era where new technologies rapidly become outdated, taking 14 years to fully implement a major IT system is simply unacceptable, Hatch wrote. Furthermore, the IRS has paid far more than the initial $57.5 million in estimated costs to date.

The inspector general report found that until the IRS can retire the old program, the additional operational and maintenance costs could be as high as $18.2 million a year.

The problem of combating tax fraud isnt going away, either. According to IRS numbers, the government lost an average of $458 billion a year this way between 2008 and 2010.

The CAGW report concludes that the best way to solve the current problem would be to transfer to an existing private platform instead, as the IRS criminal division is already doing.

As the IRS continues to process tax returns, it should provide a better return on its efforts to prevent the filing of fraudulent returns. The best way to accomplish that goal would be to immediately seek out and utilize existing, successful platforms in the private sector, and then say RIP to the RPP, the report says.

The IRS has not responded to a request for comment.
After a grueling, trash-talking 2016 election, the new leader of the Democratic National Committee hasnt exactly taken great pains to raise the level of political discourse in America.

Tom Perezs latest attack on Republicans is: they dont give a sh-t about voters.

The DNC chairman unloaded on the GOP at a rally on Monday in Maine, after leveling the same attack weeks earlier in New Jersey. Analysts say its part of a strategy to rev up the Democratic base. But, after then-candidate Donald Trump was slammed last year for casting off civility in politics  with profanity-laced speeches and an insult-driven debate style  Perezs rhetoric could be taking his party down the same path in spite of calls for a more unifying message after their 2016 drubbing.

Republican leaders and President Trump don't give a sh-t about the people they were trying to hurt, Perez, an Obama administration labor secretary, said Monday in Maine about the GOPs plan to replace ObamaCare, known formally as the Affordable Care Act.

Though Perez was blasted for similar comments in New Jersey, he and fellow Democrats have apparently turned the blistering talking point into a populist battle cry.

The Democratic Partys official store is selling a Democrats Give a Sh-t about People T-shirt, for $30 apiece.

I totally get what Perez is doing, Jennifer Victor, a politics professor at Virginias George Mason University, said Wednesday. His job is to energize the base with anger or whatever else it might take because Democrats are the down-and-out party. And hes not facing the strategic dilemma of, say, a senator who might compromise every once in a while. But its definitely not civil.

During the hard-fought DNC leadership race, Perez was cast as the more moderate choice, in a contest against Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.

Rob Carter, a member of the Maryland Republican Party, said electing the former local Maryland official to lead the beleaguered DNC still marked a seismic shift to the left that ignored Democrats pleas to appeal more to middle America.

Talk about not understanding your voters, the selection of Tom Perez was ironic at best, he said.

Perez is doing everything he can to move past Democrats historically poor recent election cycles and make voters forget how little they cared about the average American, Republican strategist Joe Desilets told Fox News. Thats evident in the burdensome ObamaCare legislation they passed and that has been progressing down the path to failure for years now.

For decades, Democrats and Republicans have called for more civility in politics, with little success as they point fingers and attempt to claim the higher ground.

In fact, a civility pledge sent in 2010 to every member of Congress and U.S. governor -- 585 total lawmakers -- was signed by just one senator and two House members.

The Civility Project, the bipartisan group that sent the pledge, disbanded a year later.

This political divide has become so sharp that everything is black and white, and too many conservatives can see no redeeming value in any liberal or Democrat, Republican co-founder Mark DeMoss later told The New York Times. That would probably be true about some liberals going the other direction, but I didnt hear from them.

DeMoss did not return a call requesting comment for this story. A DNC representative also did not immediately return a request for comment.

Trump showed little interest in maintaining political decorum during the 2016 presidential campaign, with comments about stupid U.S. leaders and threats about bombing the sh-t out of ISIS.

He promised in February 2016 to never again use foul language. Then a 2005 videotape made public just weeks before Election Day showed Trump making lewd comments about women and nearly tanked his campaign.

Two days before the election, Trump tried to retake the high ground, criticizing rap impresario Jay-Z for using vulgar and racially charged language at a Hillary Clinton rally.

Can you imagine if I just said that, Trump said at rally in Florida. He used every word in the book. I never said what he said in my life. But that shows you the phoniness of politics.
House Republicans are shopping around a new ObamaCare replacement plan, amid pressure to deliver a legislative win as President Trump nears the end of his first 100 days.

We have a good chance of getting it soon. Id like to say next week, but I believe we will get it eventually, Trump said Thursday at a White House press conference.

Were very close, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said a day earlier at an event in London.

Fox News is told they hope to have revised legislative text in the coming days, and lawmakers are set to discuss the proposal on a conference call this weekend. But its unclear when such a plan could hit the House floor or what level of support it might have  Congress is currently on recess, and lawmakers wont return until next week.

Fox News is told that leaders have not yet tried tallying support for the document on Capitol Hill.

"The question is whether it can get 216 votes in the House and the answer isn't clear at this time, a senior GOP aide said. There is no legislative text and therefore no agreement to do a whip count on."

A White House source said they could potentially have a vote by the end of next week, though they put the chances at 50-50.

The failure in March to pass an earlier replacement bill for the Affordable Care Act, amid widespread criticism of the plan, marked a major setback for Trumps early presidency. He has since turned his attention to foreign affairs  especially the Syrian crisis  but continues to press for a new health care plan, blaming a bloc of House conservatives for the March meltdown.

Complicating any renewed efforts, however, is next Fridays deadline for Congress to pass a new budget measure. Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration likely will have to court Democrats to avoid this scenario. Further, the timetable is tight, with the House not set to return until Tuesday night.

Interestingly, the government shutdown drama and health care could be directly linked.

Just days ago, Trump declared he would yank subsidies known as cost-sharing reductions from ObamaCare programs. The government directs the CSR payments to insurers who grant coverage to low-income people. A dried-up subsidy could force insurers to drop ObamaCare and spike premiums for the poor.

Trump views the ObamaCare subsidies as leverage to force Democrats to the table on health care. Democrats contend the president is holding the health care assistance hostage and imperiling those who arent well off.

Trump said Thursday he wants to pass both a health care package and budget bill.

The spending bill cannot be done by one party alone, opined Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., before the recess. These bills cant pass without a reasonable number of Democratic supporters in the Senate.

Fox News Chad Pergram and John Roberts contributed to this report.
To paraphrase a famous magazine cover: Break the Internet, President Trump.

In a gathering of perhaps the most famous conservative personalities and entertainers in the country, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and musicians Kid Rock and Ted Nugent dined at the White House with Trump on Wednesday night.

Palin, Nugent and Kid Rock supported Trump during his underdog presidential candidacy, with Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate, backing Trump early in the Republican primary process.

"A great night at the White House. Thank you to President Trump for the invite!" Palin wrote on Twitter.

"Well well well looky looky here boogie chillin', I got your Shot Heard Round The World right here in big ol greazya-- Washington DC where your 1 & only MotorCity Madman Whackmaster StrapAssasin1 dined with President Donald J Trump at the WhiteHouse to Make America Great Again! Got that?" Nugent wrote in a Facebook post, citing the 242nd anniversary of the Revolutionary War battles of Lexington and Concord.

Nugent, an avid hunter and advocate of the Second Amendment, expanded on the encounter in a blog post for Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine.

"We discussed specifically the counterproductive follies of the Endangered Species Act and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the US Fish & Wildlife Service, [Bureau of Land Management] and other out of control bureaucracies," Nugent wrote.

Kid Rock had yet to post a comment or pictures to his Twitter or Facebook accounts.

His fiancee Audrey Berry and Nugent's wife, Shemane, were also at the dinner. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway was present, too, The Hill reported.

Fox News' Lesa Jansen contributed to this report.
President Trumps comments about moving the USS Carl Vinson toward North Korea in a show of force have sparked confusion and could cause South Korea to "not trust" what Trump says for the remainder of his term, a South Korea presidential candidate said Wednesday.



Hong Joon-pyo, the candidate from Park Geun-hyes party, said Trumps comments about moving the USS Carl Vinson toward North Korea in a show of force spurred by that rogue nation's nuclear program was important to South Koreas security, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The U.S. Navy said Tuesday it did not immediately move the carrier toward North Korea despite President Trumps earlier comments to Fox Business that he was sending an armada to deter Pyongyang.

"We are sending an armada, very powerful. We have submarines, very powerful, far more powerful than the aircraft carrier, Trump told the Fox Business Networks Maria Bartiromo last week. We have the best military people on Earth. And I will say this: [Kim Jong Un] is doing the wrong thing.

Military officials said at the time the Vinson was canceling a previous itinerary and instead was going to head toward the Korean Peninsula. The ship is indeed expected to reach the peninsula -- but only after first steaming towards Australia.

The White House said it did not mislead allies about the ships movements.

The president said we have an armada going toward the peninsula, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said. Thats a fact. It happened. It is happening, rather.

Narushige Michishita, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, told the Journal that regardless of whether the U.S. intended to deceive or the narrative was a miscommunication, it looked bad for the White House.

At a time of emergency, disinformation could be used as a tactic, but if the U.S. president spreads disinformation in peacetime like now, it would hurt the credibility of the U.S., he said.
A Moscow-based think tank controlled by a Russian official appointed by President Vladimir Putin reportedly hatched a plan to increase Donald Trumps chances to win the presidency.

Reuters, citing three current and four former U.S. officials, reported Wednesday that the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies provided a framework for top Russian officials on how to sway the U.S. election. Five officials told Reuters the institute is the Kremlins in-house foreign policy think tank.

The report said the think tank produced two documents. The first was released to the upper reaches of the Russian government, the report said.

The document reportedly said the Kremlin should launch a propaganda campaign on social media and Russian-backed news that stressed the point that the smart choice for president would be a candidate with a softer approach to Moscow.

The classified document called for state-backed news outlets to get the message out, the report said.

The think tanks opinion on the approach apparently shifted by October, when Hillary Clinton appeared to be gaining distance on Trump. The second document said it would be best to increase its message on voter fraud and to attack Clintons reputation.

These documents were acquired by U.S. intelligence officials and were the basis of what led U.S. officials to blame Russia for meddling, the report said. The sources declined to comment on how the documents were obtained. Reuters reported that U.S. intelligence agencies also declined to comment on them. The report was not independently confirmed by Fox News.

The think tank said in a statement to The Tass Russian News Agency that the report is incorrect.

"Unfortunately, the number of slanderous remarks against Russia has been growing recently but those making such remarks wrongly perceive the world," the center said.

Putin has denied any interference in the U.S. election, and Trump said the Kremlins activities did not play a role in the election outcome. There is no evidence thus far that Trump or his associates knew about Russias effort during the campaign. The FBI and lawmakers are investigating.

Trump recently said that U.S.-Russia relations "may be at an all-time low," and that "right now we're not getting along with Russia at all."

The comment underscored long-standing difficulties that have plagued the two nations' attempts at greater understanding since the days of their World War II alliance. The Cold War may be over, but from Eastern Europe to the Middle East, Washington and Moscow don't see the world the same way.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
President Trump sent his condolences to the French people Thursday after a possible terror attack in Paris, calling it a terrible thing and warning that the world has to be strong and vigilant in the face of the terror threat.

It looks like another terrorist attack and what can you say? It just never ends, Trump said.

.@POTUS: "Our condolences from our country to the people of France. Again, it's happening, it seems." #Paris pic.twitter.com/hlkhxupC2f  Fox News (@FoxNews) April 20, 2017

Trump made the remarks during a joint news conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who also sent his condolences to France.

One police officer was killed and two were injured when a gunman opened fire on the famed Champs-Elysees shopping district in Paris, French officials said. Officials said the police officers were specifically targeted.

While noting that he had only just seen coverage of the still-developing event before entering the press conference, Trump said it was a very terrible thing thats going on in the world today.

We have to be strong and we have to be vigilant and Ive been saying this for a very long time, he added.
President Trump said Thursday that Iran is not living up to the spirit of the nuclear deal struck under the Obama administration, warning that his team is analyzing it very, very carefully.

The president made the comments during a White House press conference, a day after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced a comprehensive review of the nuclear deal. Even as the administration this week formally certified that Iran is complying with the deals terms, Trump said Thursday that Tehran is not doing enough.

They are doing a tremendous disservice to an agreement that was signed, Trump said. They are not living up to the spirit of the agreement.

The president did not go into specifics, and left open the door to whether the administration might scrap, uphold or try to revise the Obama-era agreement.

We will see what happens, Trump said.

The administration has made clear it is looking closely at the agreement, which Trump has long criticized, without signaling what the end-goal might be. Earlier Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif -- a key player in international negotiations for the deal that had Iran curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief  tweeted, Worn-out US accusations can't mask its admission of Iran's compliance w/ JCPOA, obligating US to change course & fulfill its own commitments.

Trump spoke Thursday at a joint press conference alongside visiting Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

The visit comes as the Trump administration is tackling multiple foreign challenges including the Syrian civil war, Irans nuclear ambitions and most immediately the tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Moments before their press conference, a police officer reportedly was killed and two were wounded in a shooting on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

It looks like another terrorist attack, Trump said, offering his condolences to the French people. What can you say, it just never ends.

On North Korea, Trump said he hopes to address the problem, with Chinas help. He said he has told Chinese President Xi Jinping they could get a much better trade deal if they get rid of this menace or otherwise help ease the situation in North Korea.

Tillerson said Wednesday the U.S. was exploring ways to pressure North Korea to the negotiating table over its nuclear program. North Korean state media later threatened to launch a "super-mighty pre-emptive strike" that would reduce South Korea and the United states "to ashes."

Italy could be more closely involved in dealing with Syria, in its capacity as a member of the G-7.

The G-7 nations have urged Russia to pressure the Syrian government to end the six-year civil war, and blame Bashar Assad's military for a recent chemical attack that killed more than 80 people.

Trump will travel to Europe next month for the first time since taking office for a NATO meeting in Brussels, followed by a G-7 meeting in Italy.

G-7 members include the U.S., Germany, France, Britain, Canada, Japan and Italy.

Italy is also a member of NATO, the military alliance to which Trump says the U.S. contributes more than it receives.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Trumps joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni Thursday included an awkward moment when Trump said there was no role for the U.S. in Libya  moments after Gentiloni outlined what that role would be, and called it critical.

Both leaders were asked by an Italian reporter about what the U.S. role should be in Libya. Libya has been plagued by intermittent civil war and instability since the fall of dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. A fragile U.N.-backed government is currently holding on to power in Tripoli, but faces a number of threats including an ISIS presence in the country.

Gentiloni noted past U.S. missions to help drive ISIS from Sirte last year, and said that now the commitment must be political in broadening the basis of consensus for the unity government recognized by the international community to include countries like Egypt and Tunisia.

A divided country and in conflict would make stability worse, the United States role in this is very critical, he said.

But no sooner had Gentiloni answered, Trump immediately responded: I do not see a role in Libya.

I think the U.S. right now has enough role, we are in a role everywhere so I do not see that, he said as Gentiloni stared ahead.

Trump said that he does however, see a role in fighting ISIS, something in which he said the U.S. is being very effective.

We are effectively ridding the world of ISIS, Trump said. I see that as a primary role and thats what were going to do whether its in Iraq or Libya or anywhere else, and that role will come to an end at a certain point and we will go back home and rebuild our country which is what I want to do.

.@POTUS: "I do not see a role in Libya. I think the United States has right now enough roles... I do see a role in getting rid of ISIS." pic.twitter.com/5hWEOP4hCM  Fox News (@FoxNews) April 20, 2017

During last years presidential campaign, Trump promised to scale back Americas commitments abroad in order to be able to focus on domestic policy. But he appeared to move away from that outlook when earlier this month he approved the bombing of an airfield in Syria in response to a chemical attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against rebels in northern Syria.
President Trump announced Thursday he will nominate former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown as ambassador to New Zealand.

Brown, a moderate Republican and a Fox News contributor, burst onto the national stage in 2010 when he won the special election to fill Ted Kennedys Massachusetts Senate seat after Kennedys death.

His blue-state victory was of particular national significance as his election gave the GOP a 41st vote in the Senate, and with it the ability to filibuster legislation during the debate over then-President Obamas signature health care law.

A version of the legislation passed anyway, and Brown later lost his seat in 2012 to current Sen. Elizabeth Warren. He supported Trump in the 2016 campaign.

Browns nomination will require confirmation from the Senate.

Locally, the New Zealand Herald chose to emphasize a different area of Browns past, noting that he won Cosmopolitans Americas Sexiest Man in 1982, and also supports enhanced interrogation.
Do you have a bunch of people fighting over the single Google Home in your abode? Google is about to restore the peace.

The Web giant today started rolling out a highly requested feature for its voice-powered speaker: support for multiple accounts. Now, up to six people can connect their accounts to one Google Home, and the speaker will recognize each person's voice and respond accordingly. The feature is launching today for Home users in the US, and should arrive in the UK in the "coming months," Google said.

So now, when you say "Okay Google, good morning," the speaker will tell you what's on your schedule for the day and how your commute looks instead of responding with information for your spouse, who set up the device.

To try out this feature, be sure you have the latest version of the Google Home app. Then, open the app and look for a card that says "multi-user is available." If you don't see this card, click on the icon in the top right to see all your connected devices. When you see your Google Home on the list, select "Link your account."

From there, the device will ask you to say the phrases "Ok Google" and "Hey Google" two times each. Those phrases will be analyzed by a neural network that can detect the characteristics of your voice.

Through this process "you'll teach your Assistant to understand it's you, not your partner, family member or roommateand vice versa, based on who's speaking," Product Manager Yury Pinsky wrote in a blog post.

That way, in the future, "any time you say 'Ok Google' or 'Hey Google' to your Google Home, the neural network will compare the sound of your voice to its previous analysis so we can understand if it's you speaking or not," Pinsky explained. "This comparison takes place only on your device, in a matter of milliseconds."

For certain features, such as personalized music and commute information, you'll also need to set up your preferences in the app.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.
After several highly publicized drowning or near-drowning incidents aboard mega ocean liners, Norwegian will become the worlds third cruise line to add lifeguards to its ships.

On Wednesday, the Miami-based company announced that it will bring lifeguarding staff to its four largest ships-- Norwegian Escape, Norwegian Getaway, Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Epic-- this summer. The cruise line anticipates that the entire Norwegian fleet of 15 ships will be staffed with lifeguards within the first three months of 2018.

"Norwegian has stationed pool monitors on our largest ships since 2015 and we are now taking further steps to ensure the safety of our youngest guests with the addition of certified lifeguards across our fleet," Andy Stuart, president and CEO of Norwegian said in a statement.

"While parents are always the first line of supervision when it comes to water safety, we felt it was important to provide this added measure across our fleet."

HOW SAFE ARE SWIMMING POOLS ON MEGA CRUISE SHIPS?

Norwegian follows in the steps of Disney Cruise Line, which was the first in the industry to add lifeguards to its ships in October 2013 after a highly publicized near drowning incident. In March, Royal Caribbean announced that it had started staffing ships with lifeguards and expects the rollout to be complete by June.

Previously, Norwegian had pool monitorscrewmembers not trained in traditional life saving measures-- overseeing its swimming pools and water features on ships. Going forward, all lifeguards aboard the cruise line ships will be trained and certified by the American Red Cross and monitor family pools during scheduled opening hours.

The move is being hailed as a step in the right direction by parenting groups but many are wondering why the industry has been so slow to mandate lifeguard staffing.

In my opinion, it is because the financial analytics didn't add up for the cruise line, maritime attorney Michael Winkleman told Fox News.

In 2015, Winklemans firm represented four families who lost or nearly lost children to drowning related incidents aboard cruise ships. He cited the Death on the High Seas Act as major reason behind the lack of action from cruise lines to implement change.

[The] cruise lines had no reason to spend money on lifeguards when there was no real threat to their bottom line.

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But now times are changing admits the lawyer who, as a father of two younger children, says it has become a personal mission to make cruise lines safer. With Disney, Royal Caribbean and now Norwegian on board, Winkleman has set his sights on the next biggest target: Carnival Cruise Lines.

Our firm and our clients will continue to do all we can to raise public awareness of the fact that Carnival is now the outlier in the cruise industry and still refuses to put lifeguards on its ships, said the attorney.

I think this will change soon as families who cruise will pick RCCL or NCL above Carnival because their children will be safer.

Eventually, the lawyer hopes to see the Death on the High Seas Act repealed, but acknowledges that "realistically that is an even more uphill battle than forcing the cruise lines to put lifeguards on their ships."
Authorities in Florida found themselves dealing with a different kind of obstruction on an expressway in Tampa on Wednesday.

Officials responded to reports of a large alligator around in the southbound lanes of the Veterans Expressway around 7 a.m. local time, FOX 13 Tampa reported.

Troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol had to close one lane on the highway after the 9-foot gator ended up parking himself along a concrete lane divider.

The gator was eventually trapped and removed by wildlife officials.

"Veterans Expy early morning visitor safely removed!" tweeted Sgt. Steve Gaskins with the FHP.

Veterans Expy early morning visitor safely removed! pic.twitter.com/FnPy8JArvc  Sgt. Steve Gaskins (@SteveG717) April 19, 2017

Florida wildlife officials have warned residents to be extra careful as gator mating season approaches.
A mother in Florida is livid after police arrested her 10-year-old autistic child on school property. The incident, in which the boy was handcuffed and led off of school grounds, was recorded on video.

According to the sheriffs office in Okeechobee, John Benjamin Haygood was arrested April 12 for felony battery against a school board authority. According to CBS, the boy subsequently spent time in juvenile detention.

Video of the arrest was posted online by the childs mother, Luanne Haygood. The mother said that the incident was related to a December 2016 issue in which Haygood kicked a paraprofessional at Okeechobee Alternative Academy.

That occurrence allegedly left the worker with scratches and other marks.

He didnt feel good with a paraprofessional, Haygood said. He told me that and I told him you got to go back to school. He said, I dont want to go back to school. I dont like him. I dont like him. He hurts me.

Haygood, who was already expelled from school in October, returned last week for the first time in months to complete state testing. Upon his arrival, a school resource officer recognized him and confirmed he still had an outstanding warrant for the assault incident.

I asked, Are you going to arrest him right now? She said, Yes maam, we have to, Luanne said.

John said what happened to him was horrible.

I didnt know what was going on, he said.

The mother said that she has asked the school district for help in dealing with children like her son.

If I let my emotions go, Im going to lose it. Im going to cry, cuss, rant and rave. Nobody will listen to me. Oh, thats the crazy lady or whatever, Haygood said. I want something done. I want other kids to not have to go through this.

The district released a statement that said it did not set out to arrest John, but made no apologies for what happened.

The district routinely assists students by providing services from our board certified behavioral analyst, licensed mental health counselors, school social workers, and psychologists, the statement said. As a team, these individuals develop interventions, conduct assessments, and offer support both at school and in the home in order to assist students and families.

The district said it could not provide more information about the incident because of school privacy laws.

It is our hope, the statement said, that we can continue to work with all families to help their students improve both behaviorally and academically.

The child has a court date scheduled for May.
A 5-year-old Arizona boy was named an "honorary firefighter" for his quick thinking after his mother suffered a seizure in the shower.

Rural Metro firefighters presented Salvatore Cicalese with a certificate, patch, shirt and helmet on Friday to honor his bravery, ABC 15 reported.

San Tan Valley boy honored by firefighters after saving his mom https://t.co/RdvV0vsP5K #abc15 pic.twitter.com/XMstV76R6F  ABC15 Arizona (@abc15) April 15, 2017

Cicalese sought immediate help the night he heard his mom fall in the shower at their San Tan Valley home.

"I turned on the shower, that's all I remember," Kaitlyn Cicalese told ABC 15, adding that the last memory she recalled was waking up in the hospital.

Cicalese's son, sensing something was wrong, wrapped his 2-month-old sister in a blanket and put her in the living room. He went into the garage, opened the door by climbing on a barstool and carried his sister to the neighbor's home.

"He's standing there and holding something and I thought it was a doll," the neighbor said, shocked to see the boy at her front door.

HERO FIREFIGHTER CATCHES BABY DROPPED FROM BURNING BUILDING

Salvatore Cicalese told the neighbor that his "mom died in the shower" and asked if she could take care of him and his sister, according to ABC 15. Cicalese later revealed he went to the home because he didn't want his sister seeing their mom possibly dead.

The neighbor then called 911. Police found his mom unconscious in the bathtub.

"Honestly, he saved my life. I was under the faucet. If he wouldn't have gotten help, I would have drowned," Kaitlyn Cicalese said.

SHOULD MCDONALD'S WORKERS GET $50G REWARD IN FACEBOOK MURDER CASE?

Cicalese said this was the second seizure she suffered and that the family is still recovering from the traumatic incident.

"Every day is a challenge for us. He asks me a billion times if I'm going to be OK. He'll tell me: 'Are you going to have another seizure?' No, I'm okay. 'Are you going to die today?' No, I'm not going to die today," she told ABC 15.

The firefighters decided to bestow the honor on Salvatore after hearing the story. They also hope parents will start discussing how to respond to emergency situations with their children.

Luckily, the boy seemed to act on instinct.
Federal authorities say a person accused of making online threats against U.S.-based flights in January 2015 has been arrested in the United Kingdom.

FBI Special Agent Stephen Emmett in Atlanta said in an email Thursday that a joint investigation by the FBI and authorities in the U.K. resulted in an arrest April 13.

Emmett said that as a result of the threats made via social media, military jets escorted the planes to Atlanta's airport. A police bomb squad and the FBI searched the planes but found nothing threatening.

Since the arrest happened overseas and charges were filed in the U.K., Emmett said the FBI would not release any other information.
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Authorities say a 15-year-old Tennessee girl who disappeared with her teacher last month has been found safe in California and the teacher has been arrested.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation tweeted Thursday that teacher Tad Cummins had been taken into custody. The agency said it would provide more details in a press conference later.

Elizabeth Thomas disappeared from her home near Columbia on March 13. Columbia is about 45 miles (70 kilometers) south of Nashville.

Court papers filed recently in the girl's disappearance say she was afraid of the teacher and thought she would face repercussions at school if she resisted him.
Border Patrol agents rescued two men from drowning in the Rio Grande on the Texas-Mexico frontier Tuesday.

According to a statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the men had been swimming with their families when they began struggling to stay afloat. The shouting from people on the Mexico side of the riverbank attracted the two agents.

The agents, identified as Luis Gonzalez and Abel Flores, pulled the men out of the water and into their patrol boat before dropping them back onto the Mexican side of the river. The CBP statement said the agents were "applauded and thanked" by the waiting crowd.

"We are very proud of our agents [and] their actions which ultimately prevented the loss of human life," said Manuel Padilla Jr., the chief Border Patrol agent in the Rio Grande sector.

Tuesday's incident occurred near Roma, Texas, approximately 50 miles west of McAllen and 175 miles southwest of Corpus Christi.
With less than a month before her scheduled freedom, Chelsea Manning on Thursday tweeted her thoughts about getting out of prison after former President Obama commuted her sentence.

"You know you've been in prison for a while, when the prospect of freedom is nerve wracking," she tweeted.

Known as Bradley Manning at the time of her 2010 arrest, Manning came out as transgender after being sentenced to 35 years in an all-male military prison and dishonorable discharged for leaking classified military documents and video to WikiLeaks.

AARON HERNANDEZ FOUND WITH BIBLE VERSE WRITTEN ON FOREHEAD, REPORTS SAY

She was convicted in military court of violating the Espionage Act and other offenses and has spent nearly seven years behind bars at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.

President Obama shortened her sentence before he left office earlier this year. Earlier this week, Manning tweeted, "30 more days," with the hashtag "#mondaymotivation."

Her case pitted LGBT rights activists, who warned about her mental health and treatment as a transgender woman living in a men's prison, against national security hawks who said she did devastating damage to U.S. interests. The former cheered Obama's move, while the latter called it an outrageous act that set a dangerous precedent.

Under Army rules, she was barred from growing her hair long while incarcerated, and only after litigation by her legal team was she approved for hormone therapy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A disabled Vietnam War veteran claimed a couple, who offered to help him with his groceries, attacked and robbed him in his Arkansas home last week.

Disabled Veteran Says He Was Robbed By Couple Helping Carry Groceries https://t.co/PwhQSqVGjS pic.twitter.com/pJpxaBJSRC  5NEWSONLINE (@5NEWS) April 20, 2017

The couple allegedly approached John Thomas, 70, of Fort Smith, while he was outside of his home on Greenwood Avenue on April 11, according to KFSM.

"I had just come home from grocery shopping. They walked over and asked if they could help carry my groceries. I said, 'Sure,'" Thomas told KFSM.

'SEINFELD' COSTANZA WANNABE BUSTED FOR BOGUS ARCHITECTURAL FIRM

Thomas said the couple -- who police identified as Dale Roberts, 29, and Nicole Standige, 30 -- went into the home and lingered around even after Thomas insisted he had to go to bed.

Roberts and Standige allegedly started attacking Thomas when he came out of the bathroom, hitting him on the head with a fireplace poker.

WIDOW OF WWII VETERAN FATALLY SHOT BY POLICE SUES SANTA CLARA COUNTY

He shielded himself with his arm, but was then tied up with an electrical cord, Thomas claimed.

"When I woke up I was tied up with electrical cord and they were dragging trash bags full of stuff out my door," Thomas said.

The thieves stole a slew of items, including cash, a debit card and cellphone, before driving off in Thomas' car, according to police.

The veteran said he waited for Roberts and Standige to leave before crawling out of his front door and curb to get help, KFSM reported. Someone eventually saw him and called police.

Thomas suffered a large cut and several fractures to his forearm, police said.

Police believe the couple is still driving around in Thomas' vehicle -- a 2010 white KIA Soul with Arkansas license plate number 646-OPP.
A failure to follow the rules may have cost an illegal Mexican immigrant his life in the U.S.

According to U.S. officials, Juan Manuel Montes-Bojoquez had twice been approved for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, which provided the 23 year old a permit to work or attend school here legally. Montes worked in California as a farmworker but hoped to attend community college to become a welder.

As a condition of that permit, however, Montes was required to stay in the U.S. or seek approval to leave. Officials say Montes violated those terms when he returned to his native Mexico then tried to sneak back into the U.S. on February 19 by scaling a fence in Calexico, a small town east of San Diego.

"Montes lost his DACA status when he left the U.S. without advance parole (approved travel outside the U.S.) and re-entered the country illegally by climbing over the border fence," said Department of Homeland Security spokesman Dave Lapan. "His DACA status prior to that series of actions is immaterial to his arrest and deportation."

That, however, is not the story as told by Montes, who claims he was confronted by a Border Patrol agent while having lunch with a friend on the U.S. side of the Calexico/Mexicali border. Unable to immediately produce his DACA ID, Montes claimed he was detained and deported hours later.

If true, Montes would be the first active DACA recipient deported without cause.

"Juan Manuel has been unequivocal in his assertion that he never voluntarily left the country while he had DACA," said his attorney Nora A. Preciado, with the National Immigration Law Center. "We believe him. We filed a FOIA lawsuit to get answers. Rather than continue to provide half-truths and varying assertions, DHS should respond to our request for documentation. We will see them in court."

Those familiar with the border say it should not be difficult determining whose telling the truth. There are cameras on both sides of the border, and if he was deported involuntarily there would be a paper trial, logs, radio calls and witnesses.

"I'll bet there's plenty of surveillance video that we're gonna see if he crossed or he didn't cross," said immigration attorney Francisco Hernandez.

Critics jumped on the Montes story to illustrate what they consider President Trump's inhumane immigration policy. Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin called it disturbing. Alarming, said Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. However if it turnout out not to be true, the Trump Administration will be vindicated.

As a candidate, Trump promised to deport undocumented youth who came to the U.S. as children. But as president, he seemed to change his mind.

"We're gonna show great heart, DACA is a very, very difficult subject for me," Trump said. "To me, it's one of the most difficult subjects I have because you have these incredible kids."

Montes is suing and his lawyers have filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the circumstances surrounding his deportation. The federal judge hearing the case is Gonzalo Curiel, the same judge who handled the Trump University litigation. As a candidate, Trump said Curiel couldn't be objective because of his Mexican heritage, even though he was born Indiana.
It happened in a flash. A father in Georgia, desperate to save his child from the smoke and flames quickly filling his apartment, tossed his baby from the second floor of a burning apartment building.

Fortunately, DeKalb County firefighter Robert Sutton, who was among the first firefighters to arrive at the Parks on Glenwood, caught the baby in one swift move.

CUBS FAN, 9, HAS PRICELESS REACTION WHEN PARENTS SURPRISE HIM WITH TICKETS

"He was a little guy, so when I heard his father yelling 'Help', and saw him hanging out the window with the baby in his arms, I just went into action. I just did what any of the other firefighters out here would have done," Sutton told Fox 5's Portia Bruner Wednesday.

"I just said 'Drop him.' He did and I am blessed to have been in a position to catch the baby," said Sutton, who grew up not far from the apartment complex. "It was my first time in a situation like that," said Sutton.

Plumber Larry Carter recorded the rescue on his cell phone. Carter and other contractors were doing renovations on the building next door when the fire erupted. He stopped to record the fire as the smoke started billowing from the windows.

Capt. Tom Burrell was visibly moved as he watch the video of the rescue with Bruner.

"I just hope that this helps people understood the hard work and training that goes into being a firefighter," Burrell said as he stood in front of the burned building Wednesday. "There's not really one thing that prepares you for what Firefighter Sutton and his colleagues encountered yesterday. It's good training. It's years of experience and having a good sense of situational awareness. I'm just really proud," he added.

Click for more from Fox 5.
Beginning April 20, and continuing throughout the weekend (or until the snacks run out), swarms of so-called stoners will be gathering on grassy knolls, city streets and even the U.S. Capitol steps to celebrate the international marijuana holiday known as 4/20. And while the yearly, pungent protests are often treated as sideshows, the issue of legalized cannabis - and the benefits it is providing to a variety of Americans - is growing too big to ignore.

While the origins of the festivities remain as hazy as the celebrations themselves, "420" is believed to be a reference to police code used in 1970s California to note a "marijuana arrest in progress." And while the term may have started off as something of an inside-joke among the 1970s counterculture, the holiday seems to be taking on a more mainstream feel as folks consider the practical benefits of legalization, and the growing signs of public acceptance.

Pro-cannabis activists were literally handing out "joints" on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Thursday afternoon (and yes, there have been arrests). Some 28 states and the District of Columbia now have laws permitting the use of marijuana in some form. Canada is considering a bill to "legalize it" nationwide. And while a growing number of polls and studies suggest many Americans are coming around to the idea of legalized cannabis, the issue is still the subject of intense debate at the highest levels.

According to data compiled by Governing Magazine, more than half the states in the nation now have laws that either legalized marijuana for recreational use, or legalized the substance for medical use "broadly." That doesn't include the small number of states, like Alabama and Mississippi, who have laws permitting the use of marijuana for certain medical conditions, like severe epilepsy.

A Yahoo/Marist poll released earlier this week revealed that two-thirds of respondents think prescription painkillers like Vicodin are riskier to use than marijuana. Some 83% of respondents in the same poll believe marijuana should be legalized for medical use nationwide.

Despite the widespread legalization of the drug for various purposes, marijuana remains just that - a drug - in the eyes of the federal government. Classified as a Schedule-1 illegal substance under DEA guidelines, marijuana is put in the same class as heroin and cocaine.

The Obama Justice Department told U.S. attorneys that states should be allowed to pursue legalization, despite the federal restrictions. However, there have already been cases where federal courts have ruled against people who have been punished by employers for using marijuana in states where it is legal.

When it comes to President Trumps administration, the issue gets more complicated still. Back in 2015, then-candidate Trump told a Nevada crowd "in terms of marijuana and legalization, I think that should really be a state issue, state by state." In February, 2017, Press Secretary Sean Spicer suggested that while President Trump supports medical marijuana, the issue of recreational laws should be left to the Justice Department to decide.

Trump's attorney general, former Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, has a history of opposition to marijuana, but suggested at his January confirmation hearing that perhaps Congress should be doing the deciding. "The United States Congress has made the possession of marijuana in every state and the distribution of it an illegal act, Sessions said, before clarifying if that's something that's not desired any longer, Congress should pass a law to change the rule."

While there may be a lack of consensus on the issue at a federal level, supporters point to the fiscal benefits of legalization as an undeniable benefit - no matter your political persuasion.

When Colorado first legalized cannabis for recreational use back in 2014, Robin Hackett immediately seized on the opportunity to go into business with her sister, Cheri. The two have since opened a retail dispensary, and Hackett believes this may be one of the few instances in which Democrats and Republicans will likely both benefit.

Im a conservative person, Hackett told Fox News, before adding that while she believes it was the Democrats [who] set marijuana free the Republicans will make an industry out of it.

A study by New Frontier Data, a group that monitors the cannabis industry, suggests that states with legalized marijuana could rake in $655 million from retail sales just this year - with revenues forecasted to eventually reach some $1.8 billion.

Over the course of last year alone, Colorado raked in $200 million in tax revenue. Some $42 million was distributed to various state education projects, and some $16 million for Affordable Housing Grants and Loans among other initiatives.

In Oregon, more than $65 million in revenue has been generated since last January. The state's Common School Fund will receive 40% of that boon, while the rest is divided up between mental health & addiction services, as well as the state's law enforcement at all levels.

California, where pot was legalized for recreational use in November, reportedly believes it could generate some $100 million in savings, and $1 billion in revenue, annually.

There are even suggestions that medicinal marijuana could save Medicaid some $1 billion if it were legal nationwide. A study published in the journal Health Affairs found that marijuana laws resulted in some $475.8 million in Medicaid savings in 2014.
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The Latest on the shooting of two police officers in Seattle (all times local):

2:40 p.m.

Seattle police say one suspect has significant injuries and another has been taken in to custody after two police officers were shot responding to a robbery downtown.

Authorities said Thursday that investigators were searching for a third person involved in the incident.

One female officer and one male were taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment, Chief Kathleen O'Toole tells reporters the injuries were minor.

The Seattle Times reported that the shootings followed a robbery at a convenience store.

___

2:02 p.m.

Seattle police say two police officers have been shot responding to a downtown robbery.

Chief Kathleen O'Toole tells reporters the injuries appear minor.

The department reported the shooting on its Twitter feed at about 1:40 p.m. Thursday, saying the robbery had been reported near the waterfront, several blocks south of Pike Place Market.
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The Latest on Thursday's press conference with President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni (all times EDT):

4:20 p.m.

President Donald Trump says Iran is not living up to the "spirit" of the nuclear agreement.

Trump says Iran is doing "a tremendous disservice" to the agreement brokered by the Obama administration.

The 2015 agreement by Iran and six other world powers ended some of the sanctions that had punished and isolated Iran for its nuclear program but maintained others dealing with ballistic missile research, terrorism, human rights violations and money laundering.

Trump spoke during a joint press conference Thursday with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni,

Trump says the agreement was "a terrible agreement. It shouldn't have been signed."

He says his administration will have "something to say about" the Iran nuclear deal "in the not too distant future." He didn't elaborate.

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4:15 p.m.

President Donald Trump says Thursday's fatal shooting in Paris "looks like another terrorist attack."

Paris police say a gunman has killed a police officer and wounded another before being killed himself in an attack on the Champs-Elysees shopping district.

It was unclear how Trump concluded that terrorism may have been a factor. Paris police have yet to announce a motive,

Trump is also offering condolences from the U.S. to the people of France.

He calls the attack a "terrible thing" and says "it never ends." He says people must be strong and vigilant.

The attack came three days before the first round of balloting in France's presidential election.
A man who wore a bunny costume and repeatedly blew an air horn inside a New Jersey police station has pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.

Kevin Hemmerich entered the plea Thursday and was fined $500. The judge also ordered a police officer charged with striking Hemmerich in Hopatcong last November to stand trial July 6.

Hopatcong police Officer Nicholas Maresca Jr. has pleaded not guilty to charges of simple assault and harassment. More than 50 officers went to court to support him.

Kevin Hemmerich and his brother entered the Hopatcong Police Department lobby to turn himself in for an outstanding warrant. He was dressed in a bunny costume and repeatedly blew the air horn.

Maresca is seen striking Hemmerich on video taken by his brother .
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Seattle police say two police officers have been shot responding to a downtown robbery.

Chief Kathleen O'Toole tells reporters the injuries appear minor.

The department reported the shooting on its Twitter feed at about 1:40 p.m. Thursday, saying the robbery had been reported near the waterfront, several blocks south of Pike Place Market.
Authorities say a 3-year-old boy has been fatally shot in Virginia.

Norfolk Police said in a statement that officers were called to the Ocean View area of the city Wednesday night for a report that a child had been shot. Police and paramedics found a 3-year-old boy with a gunshot wound.

The boy was taken to a hospital, where police say he died a short time after he arrived.

Police didn't release any details about the circumstances surrounding the shooting, which is under investigation.
Authorities arrested the man suspected in the seemingly random Las Vegas knife attacks that left one man dead and another bleeding in an alley Wednesday, police said.

Richi Briones, 32, was taken into custody at a bus stop at about 7 p.m., police said in a news release. Briones' car was found abandoned about 20 miles (32 kilometers) away.

A man escaped without injury in the first attack at about 9:30 a.m. east of downtown Las Vegas, police said.

After the first victim ran away, Briones tried without success to buy a shotgun at a nearby sporting goods store, police Lt. Dan McGrath said.

Officer Michael Rodriguez, a department spokesman, said he didn't immediately know why the sale wasn't completed.

At 10:15 a.m., a man wielding a large knife wounded a man in an alley behind a sushi restaurant. The victim was taken to the hospital in critical condition, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported (http://bit.ly/2pTuHYW).

The fatal attack came when Briones stabbed a gas station convenience store customer from behind several times, McGrath said. The customer was taken to the hospital, where he later died. Authorities have not yet released the victim's name pending family notification.

"It was very random," McGrath said.

At least one store clerk and several other customers were in the store at the time of the killing, Rodriguez said, and police recovered security camera footage. The video will not be made public until a court decides whether it should be released, Rodriguez said.

Police identified Briones as the suspect from the application he submitted for the shotgun.

According to court records, Briones underwent a mental evaluation before a state court judge ruled in January that he was competent to face a felony auto theft charge.

The case was dismissed in February by a judge after a preliminary hearing of evidence, records show.

A prosecutor and public defender involved in the case weren't immediately identified, and Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson declined to comment.

Briones was arrested on domestic violence charges in 2015, and was last arrested a few weeks ago on domestic violence charges in California, McGrath told the newspaper.
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Grand Canyon National Park officials are scaling back a search for two missing hikers swept down a stream below the North Rim.

Park spokeswoman Robin Martin says the search for 62-year-old LouAnn Merrell and her 14-year-old stepgrandson, Jackson Standefer, will continue Thursday with the use of a helicopter, drone and motorized inflatable raft.

Martin says ground teams no longer will be used because they've now checked areas that they can reach on foot.

A statement released by the hikers' families says they support the decision to scale back the search and thank all those involved in the effort.

The hikers have been missing since late Saturday when they lost their footing while crossing a stream during a multi-day hike in a remote area of the canyon.
A gunman fatally shot two utility workers on the western edge of St. Louis Thursday before turning the gun on himself, authorities say.

The shooting occurred at around 11:15 a.m. local time in the residential Hamilton Heights area. Police say the gunman walked up to one of the workers and shot him before murdering the other worker, who had just gotten out of a backhoe.

"We have no motive at this point in the investigation," police Capt. Mary Warnecke said. "It does not appear words were exchanged."

Names of the victims and the shooter have not been released. Authorities say the workers were both men, one in his 20s and the other in his 50s.



Neighborhood residents told the station they recognized the gunman, but did not know him. Police said the gunman was black and the two workers were white, but there was no indication the shooting was racially motivated.

Manyika McCoy, 37, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the workers were connecting gas service to a home she was moving into. One was using a jackhammer and another was in a backhoe. She was at her mother's house nearby when, she said, she saw a man walking purposefully down the street toward the workers.

"I heard pop, pop," McCoy said. The worker in the backhoe "was saying, 'Wait, wait," and the guy just kept shooting at him," McCoy said. The worker eventually collapsed in the street, she said.

The shooting came two days after a man wanted in the slaying of a security guard gunned down three men, including a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. employee, in unprovoked attacks on the streets of downtown Fresno, Calif. Kori Ali Muhammad, 39, was arrested shortly after the rampage, and posts on what appeared to be his Facebook page discussed wanting to kill white people.

Laclede Gas is a natural gas distribution utility that serves the St. Louis area and portions of southeast Missouri.

"We are shocked and grieving today after two of our Laclede Gas employees were shot and killed this morning at one of our job sites," Laclede Gas said in a statement. "We are connecting with their loved ones now. And, we are working with police to understand more about this crisis. We are heartbroken, as you can imagine, and ask that you hold these employees, their families, their friends, Laclede Gas workers and our communities in your thoughts and prayers."

Laclede Gas pulled all non-emergency workers from the streets for the rest of the day as a precaution, the company said.

St. Louis has one of the nation's highest homicide rates. The city recorded 188 killings in both 2015 and 2016 and had 45 this year through April 18, according to police statistics.

New Mayor Lyda Krewson has said creating a safer city is among her top priorities. On Wednesday, her first full day in office, she announced that Police Chief Sam Dotson was retiring, though he will stay on as a consultant for one year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A nationwide Amber Alert manhunt ended after investigators said they got a tip last night that led them to a remote county in Northern California, where 50-year-old teacher Tad Cummins and the 15-year-old girl he's accused of kidnapping, Elizabeth Thomas, had recently taken up residence in a cabin.

The caller told local officials the pair had traveled to a very rural, isolated town called Cecilville with limited cell phone service. But the caller had spotted their vehicle, which is what led local police in Siskiyou County to them.

"We couldnt be happier to tell you she will soon by on her way back home. This morning, authorities followed up on a tip from late last night and found Elizabeth. Tad is facing a set of charges that could keep him behind bars for many years," said Mark Gwyn, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the agency that issued the Amber Alert over a month ago. "To the public, I cant say how thankful we are for all your tips, concerns and support."

"Were extremely pleased. We are beyond delighted," said Jason Whatley, the attorney for Elizabeth Thomas's family. Words cant express the feelings that we have."

Whatley said the family is awaiting a phone call from the TBI that will them in touch with Elizabeth. The teenager is currently in custody of the FBI, and the family wants to speak to their daughter first before they make any statements.

FRESNO RAMPAGE SUSPECT'S TIMELINE OF ALLEGED CRIME SPREE INCLUDED 3 DAYS OF VOODOO

Officials said they planned to offer any assistance to the teenage girl that they could, mentioning groups that assist children who are victims of abuse.

"Agents are currently flying on TBI aircraft to get there as quickly as possible and finally bring Elizabeth home," said Gwyn. "Shell be flying home on TBI aircraft."

'It's a good afternoon in Tennessee '. TBI news conf announces safe recovery of Elizabeth Thomas in CA. pic.twitter.com/ROawo2Aqb6  Susan Niland (@TBISusanNiland) April 20, 2017

The girl's family's attorney said that he believes she will be flown back home from California tomorrow.

SHOULD MCDONALD'S WORKERS GET $50G REWARD IN FACEBOOK MURDER CASE?

Cummins and Thomas disappeared on March 13, sparking a cross-country manhunt made all the more difficult as Cummins apparently changed his appearance and may have switched out the license plate on the vehicle he was driving, according to reports. Court papers filed recently in the girl's disappearance showed she was afraid of the teacher and thought she would face repercussions at school if she resisted him.

Investigators were flooded with over 1,500 tips from the public as the case gained national attention.

Cummins was fired from his job amid an investigation into alleged inappropriate contact with Thomas.

The father of a 15-year-old Tennessee girl who disappeared with her teacher more than a month ago says he is overjoyed that his daughter has been found safe.

The father tells WSMV-TV that his daughter is probably going to be hungry and that he can't wait to tell her that he loves her. He said Thursday he didn't want to talk about the teacher who is accused of kidnapping the girl.

The father says he is going to have to figure out what sort of state of mind his daughter is in and that it may be a long road to recovery.

Jack Smith, acting U.S. attorney for the middle district of Tennessee, said his office filed federal charges against Cummins: transporting a minor across state lines with purpose of having criminal sexual intercourse. The teacher faces the possibility of 10 years in prison just for that charge.

Police previously said they have warrants charging the teacher with sexual contact with a minor and aggravated kidnapping.

Court papers filed recently in the girl's disappearance said she was afraid of the teacher and thought she would face repercussions at school if she resisted him.

A lawyer for the girl's family has said the teacher was allowed to continue working at the school for two weeks after he was reported kissing the girl. Attorney Jason Whatley has said the school system must have not believed the student's report.

The school's investigative files provided to The Associated Press by the attorney show that both Cummins and the girl denied kissing. The teacher, however, acknowledged that the girl was "a really good friend and she does leave her other classes to come see him when she needs someone to calm her down," according to a school report dated Jan. 30.

The report recommended that the girl be taken out of Cummins' class and that he be reprimanded to uphold his professional responsibility. The report also recommended that the administration monitor Cummins' classroom to make sure students weren't there when they weren't supposed to be.

The teacher would later be reprimanded on Feb. 3 by school principal Penny Love after the girl was seen in Cummins classroom for a little more than half an hour that day. In her letter, Love said the girl being in his classroom was a violation of the principal's order to him.

The school system didn't suspend Cummins until Feb. 6. He was fired about a month later  a day after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued an Amber Alert about the teen.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A game of Russian Roulette killed a 13-year-old boy in a park in Texas, according to police who said another teen was charged with manslaughter.

Juan Borja, a 7th grader at Freeport Intermediate School, died Wednesday from a gunshot wound to the chest, police said.

ST. LOUIS GUNMAN KILLS 2 GAS COMPANY WORKERS BEFORE SHOOTING HIMSELF

Investigators said the boy was with a group at Peppermint Park in Freeport around 5:45 p.m. when Borja unveiled the gun to others in attendance. He allegedly loaded a round into the weapon before handing it out.

A 14-year-old Freeport boy was later taken into custody and charged with manslaughter and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence. The suspect supposedly took the weapon and hid it in a field before police found it, according to investigators.

Police say that a man had called after he thought he heard possible fireworks at the park and then found the boy laying face-down in the grass.

Paramedics rushed the teen to a hospital where he later was pronounced dead.

The investigation is ongoing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Most U.S. millennials believe that education and economic security are key for becoming an adult. But fewer than half are achieving those goals, according to a study released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau, which determined that more than one third of American millennials still live with their parents.

The report, entitled The Changing Economics and Demographics of Young Adulthood: 1975-2016, focuses on the shift in attitude and belief of todays millennials versus their counterparts four decade ago. This report marks one of the first times the Census Bureau has paired economic and demographic data with social surveys. The report looks at a snapshot of the young adult population, defined by the Census Bureau as those between the ages of 18 and 34 years old.

According to the report, more young people today live in their parents home than in any other living arrangement. One in three young adults, or about 24 million, lived in their parents homes in 2015, with the highest percentage in the nation occurring in three northeastern states: About 47 percent in New Jersey; about 42 percent in Connecticut; and about 41 percent in New York.

Living arrangements are tied with economic characteristics, which is why we looked at the numbers by state and region, Jonathan Vespa, the author of the report, told Fox News. We know that there is not one national trend. The numbers vary by state.

Vespa said one of the biggest trends in his findings was the attitude that young adults have about adulthood.

There is a big difference in what todays young Americans believe, Vespa said.

Most millennials believe finishing college and being employed full-time are accomplishments that are extremely important to be considered an adult, while parenthood and marriage are somewhat put on the back burner, with millennials today ranking those milestones as not very important. The data correlated with the rise in student loan debt for young families. In 2013, 41 percent of young families had student debt, compared to 17 percent in 1989.

But several young adults are missing the bar and have not yet accomplished what they want to by the age they believe they should, Vespa said. The ideal age most Americans believe they should be financially independent from their parents is 21, but only 28.9 percent are actually reaching that goal.

The report looks at the ideal age for millennials to four goals: concluding formal schooling; becoming employed full-time, becoming financially independent and moving out of their parents homes. While those goals are set for the age of 25 or younger, less than half of millennials are actually reaching that goal for each category.

In 1975, there was one predominant adult milestone  family formation  that people largely experienced during their 20s. Today, while the milestone has remained the same, the pathways are more diverse, the report reads. That young people wait to settle down and start families tells us about their behavior, but not how they feel about their experiences.

The report concludes that most American millennials believe that education and financial independence should happen before marriage. The report calls marriage a capstone experience, meaning that it comes after young people feel financially secure. Vespa said that only 12 percent of millennials think that marriage is an extremely important part of being an adult.

While young people are delaying marriage, most still, eventually, tie the knot. In the 1970s, eight in 10 Americans were married by the time they turned 30; now eight in 10 millennials are married by the time they turn 45.

The report determined that there was a complexity for millennials.

Taken together, the changing demographic and economic experiences of young adults reveal a period of adult-hood that has crown more complex since 1975, the report says. A period of changing roles and new transitions as young people redefine what it means to become young adults.
Guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces Colombia (FARC) are concealing vital components of their arsenal, according to intelligence analysts, including sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles they agreed to surrender in a peace deal signed with the Colombian government last year.

In the agreement, FARC committed to turn over its stocks of weapons and explosives within the first six months of 2017 in exchange for immunity from prosecution, political representation in Congress and other concessions from the government.

So many in the country believe the deal was overgenerous with the FARC that a slim majority voted against its approval in a national referendum last November.

But four months into the agreements implementation, the rebel army  believed to number around 7,000 fighters by the latest official estimates  has handed in less than 1,700 rifles to U.N. peacekeepers, according to Colombian officials.

Furthermore, U.S. and Colombian intelligence analysts contend FARC leaders are refusing to disclose details about the quantity and type of the armament. Spokesmen for the rebel group have mentioned 7,000 rifles  more or less equivalent to one rifle per demobilized fighter.

COLOMBIA'S FARC TAKES FIRST STEP TOWARD FORMING POLITICAL PARTY

President Juan Manuel Santos has said that he expects the group will turn in 14,000 rifles. But ambassador to Washington and former Defense Minister Juan Pinzon says that he knows of no current official estimates as to the size of FARC's arsenal.

FARC chairman Ivan Marquez has said it is secret.

They dont talk about a single missile, although we know that they have Russian SAMs acquired through the international black market, said Jose Marulanda, a Colombian army intelligence officer and international security consultant, to Fox News.

According to Marulanda, there is so little control over the disarmament process that U.N. supervisors have not even registered the serial numbers of the few weapons turned in.

When the U.S. stepped up its military aid to Colombia in 2000, FARC mounted a major international effort to acquire shoulder-fired SAMs to counter U.S.-supplied Blackhawk helicopters that enabled the Colombian military to reach the rebels remote jungle hideouts.

The ensuing standoff between the government and the rebel group was a factor that brought them to the negotiating table.

But FARC continued its search for new weapons. Even while talks were in progress, intelligence documents obtained by Fox News show the group purchased $88,585,000 worth of weapons from Russia arms dealers.

COLOMBIA'S REJECTION OF PEACE DEAL WITH FARC REVEALS WOUNDS STILL RUN DEEP

The most recently weapons acquired by FARC allegedly include 200 portable surface-to-air missiles, according to documents extracted from the computer of a guerrilla commander killed in an army raid in July 2013.

An inventory of the alleged weapons purchase includes orders for 150 Igla SA-18 shoulder-fired missiles, whose sensitive infrared homing system and resistance to flares enable them to shoot down straight winged aircraft; 50 older model SA-7s and 500 Konkurs ATGM anti-tank missiles.

FARC also ordered about 2,000 PKM, DSHK and NSV heavy machine guns, 12,000 AK-47 and AKM-74 automatic rifles, 3000 AK 74-U submachine guns, 1,000 Dragunov and OSV-96 sniper rifles, 300 Tokarev pistols and over five million rounds of ammunition, according to the dead leaders files.

OPINION: FOR COLOMBIA, A FLAWED PEACE IS BETTER THAN WAR

Colombian and U.S. defense officials confirmed to Fox News the authenticity of the intelligence documents but said that they have not traced the trajectory or location of the weapons.

A Colombian military official who acted as an advisor to the government negotiating team at the four-year peace talks in Cuba, said that the weapons were shipped through Venezuela to FARC camps in the border zone of Catatumbo.

A U.S. defense department terrorism analyst, who requested to remain anonymous, said that most of the arms are probably stored in Venezuela, whose security services allegedly have ties with FARC.

FARC has maintained a constant flow of weapons over decades, financed with billions of dollars from drug traffic, kidnapping, extortion and other illegal ventures. Colombian and U.S. intelligence sources believe that the group may have accumulated one of the worlds biggest terrorist arsenals, with about 40,000 arms.

Sixty thousand AK-47 rifles were delivered to the group in just one smuggling operation in 1999 assisted by Perus corrupt ex security advisor Vladimiro Montesinos, who is currently in prison.

FARC has been such a steady customer of international arms dealers that undercover FBI agents posing as buyers for the group mounted a sting operation that resulted in the arrest of notorious Russian arms dealer Victor Bout, immortalized in the Hollywood movie Lord of War.

Some analysts fear that FARCs excess armory may get recycled into the international black market, feeding a growing network of terrorist groups and criminal gangs throughout Latin America.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that rogue FARC members have offered their services to drug trafficking gangs fighting for control of Brazils big city favelas.

According to the peace agreement, FARC is allowed to keep some weapons to arm a security service for its leaders, who are now planning to enter politics.

Martin Arostegui has covered Latin America for the Washington Times, the Wall Street Journal and other news organizations. He is the author of "Twilight Warriors" (St Martin's), a book on counterterrorism.
The international aid group Save the Children says life-threatening child malnutrition rates are rising to alarming levels in drought-hit Somalia.

The group's new survey found "very critical" levels of severe malnutrition in two of six districts assessed in some of the worst affected parts of Somalia.

Hassan Saadi Noor, Save the Children's Somalia country director, said he fears seeing children dying in significant numbers. He said Somalia is on the brink of a massive catastrophe with the death of three quarters of the country's livestock, a rapid increase of children suffering severe malnutrition and the depletion of water stores in dozens of communities.

The study said less than 10 percent of children in Somalia are currently registered in a nutrition program.
The Egyptian military says its air force has killed 19 Islamic extremists in the volatile Sinai Peninsula.

It says in a statement Thursday that the strikes in northern and central Sinai on "terrorist strongholds" of the local Islamic State group affiliate also destroyed four vehicles.

The announcement comes two days after police said they killed one of the militants involved in an attack on a checkpoint that killed a policeman near south Sinai's famed Saint Catherine's Monastery earlier this week.

The military claims to kill hundreds of militants in the area each year, although it rarely offers proof and journalists and non-residents are banned from the area. Hundreds of security forces have been killed.

The IS-led insurgency is centered in northern Sinai, but militants have occasionally struck farther south.
It feels a bit like deja vu.

As lawmakers and the U.S. intelligence community continue to investigate claims of Russian interference in last years election, France has been hit with a slew of hacking attempts and fake news reports ahead of Sundays presidential vote. And these hacking attempts and fake news stories appear eerily reminiscent to what happened across the Atlantic last fall.

For weeks, state-funded Russian news agencies like Sputnik and RT have published in French stories of questionable validity  one positing that scandal-plagued, but Kremlin-friendly conservative candidate Francois Fillon had made a remarkable recovery in opinion polls (the onetime favorite is actually tied for third place), while another suggested that liberal front-runner Emmanuel Macron was a U.S. agent lobbying banks interests and a closeted homosexual supported by a very rich gay lobby.

Along with the deluge of alternative facts from French-language Russian news agencies came thousands of cyberattacks against Macrons campaign website and hundreds of attempts to gain access to his email accounts through phishing scams  a tactic used by hackers last year to gain entry to the Democratic National Committees servers.

"I think it's safe by everybody's judgment that the Russians are actively involved in the French elections, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee who is leading the inquiry into Russian hacking, said last month during a press conference.

The government of Russian President Vladimir Putin has not claimed responsibility for the cyberattacks and the director of Sputniks bureau in Paris told the New York Times that the news agency was not a tool of Moscow but providing a different angle to French readers. But experts contend that the misinformation campaign and hacking attempts bear all the hallmarks of Russian subversion.

[Russias] leaders have embraced a wide range of tools  information warfare in all its forms, including subversion, deception, dis- and misinformation, Eugene Remer, director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for Peace, said in testimony before the Senate last month. This toolkit has deep historical roots in the Soviet era and performs the function of the equalizer that in the eyes of the Kremlin is intended to make up for Russias weakness vis a vis the West.

The FSB  the Russian successor to the notorious, Soviet-era spy agency, the KGB  has continued the widespread use of kompromat (the use of compromising or false information to black mail or hinder political actors), while also expanding its expertise into the shadowy world of cyber-espionage.

Under Putin, Russia has been actively working to reassert itself as a global superpower  a distinction it lost following the demise of the USSR  and one way it hopes to accomplish that goal is by destabilizing western government and institutions. The Kremlin sees candidates like Fillon and Marine Le Pen, the leader of Frances far-right National Front who last month met personally with Putin, as the best shots at unhinging a European Union already rattled by the Brexit and widespread divisions regarding the ongoing migrant crisis from the war-torn parts of the Middle East and Africa.

Macron is by far the most pro-EU candidate in the French presidential race, while both Le Pen and Fillon support a French exit from the union  a move that many observers say could lead to the demise of the entire EU and to Russia becoming a major player in Western European affairs.

Russia is alright with any candidate that is for upsetting the status quo, Hannah Thoburn, a research fellow the Hudson Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, told Fox News. Chaos is a good thing for Moscow and causing a weakness in the EU is something that Russia would love to see.

The cyberattacks and Russian kompromat are not mutually exclusive and when paired together make it very difficult to combat. In a blog post last week, Facebook said it had suspended 30,000 fake accounts in France amid pressure across the continent to remove extremist propaganda or other content that violates local laws.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault sent a warning to Moscow and called any interference into his countrys elections unacceptable, while the countrys top security officials is holding meetings to discuss how to combat cyberattacks.

The difficulty that both governments and private companies like Facebook face is that the so-called fake news stories quickly get picked up by social media and extreme-right websites, which strip away the Russian source and present the kompromat as fact.

In February, both Sputnik and RT ran a story  which was quickly spread over Twitter and other social media outlets -- that said Wikileaks founder Julian Assange had told the newspaper Izvestia that he had some interesting information on Macron that he was preparing to release. After the story went viral, however, a Wikileaks spokesperson said that Assange had never spoken to the newspaper and only responded to an emailed question from Izvestia.

While the French election may be the most recent example of alleged Russian interference into a democratic political process, reports from the U.S. and across Europe indicate that the Kremlin is implementing this style of espionage on a global scale. In Germany  the continents strongest economy and the unofficial leader of the EU  there are fears that Russia is attempting to undermine Angela Merkels re-election bid in favor a candidate for the far-right Alternative for Deutschland party.

The goal with both the hacks and the propaganda is to get information to sow dissent, heighten the chaos and have voters in western nations question the legitimacy of their democracies, Thoburn said.
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Paris police are warning people to avoid the area around the French capital's grand Champs-Elysees.

French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard.

Many police vehicles can be seen on the avenue that passes many of the city's most iconic landmarks.

A witness identified only as Ines told French television station BFM that she heard a shooting, saw a man's body on the ground and the area was quickly evacuated by police
European Union Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will travel to Britain with chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier at the invitation of Prime Minister Theresa May next week.

Both sides will meet on Wednesday to assess the upcoming two years of negotiations which were triggered by Britain March 29.

The EU is fine-tuning its negotiating mandate and has said that talks can start in earnest after the June 8 snap elections that May has called.
Kosovo prosecutors have accused a citizen of war crimes during the 1998-99 war against Serbia.

A statement of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, or EULEX, said Thursday that a police reservist, identified only as Z.V., was charged with war crimes against the civilian population while serving as a police reservist with the local authorities and at a detention center in northern Kosovo.

EULUX says the crimes "include brutal and unlawful killings, inhuman treatment causing immense suffering, application of measures of intimidation and terror, property confiscation, pillaging, and stealing of property."

Some 10,000 people died and 1,700 remain missing from the war.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, which Belgrade has not recognized.
The Latest on the presidential campaign in France (all times local):

8:40 p.m.

Far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon has advocated for an "independent France which will be the world champion of peace".

Melenchon and the 10 other presidential candidates appeared on a television program Thursday night where they are scheduled to speak one after another.

Melenchon said he wants to have a dialogue with Germany about renegotiating European Union treaties and creating new rules for the bloc for when Britain leaves.

The 65-year-old anti-establishment contender said about the EU: "We change it or we leave it. But I think our partners will want us to stay because without France, there is no Europe."

He also wants France to quit NATO.

Melenchon has enjoyed a late surge in polls that place him among the top contenders during Sunday's first-round vote. Only the two top-getters will advance to the runoff on May 7.

___

6:45 p.m.

French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron has had a phone call with former U.S. President Barack Obama.

The independent centrist said in a written statement that the conversation focused on Europe's future and the "values of progress they are both very attached to."

He said Obama expressed his deep attachment to France and the importance of the relationship between the two countries.

Macron warmly thanked Obama for his "friendly call," the statement stressed.

Macron, who speaks English fluently, is one of the front-runners in France's presidential race.

Polls suggest he has good chance to be among the two top contenders in Sunday's first round of the vote and advance to the May 7 runoff.

___

4:40 p.m.

The 11 men and women hoping to be France's next president are appearing on national television seeking to sway voters in the nail-biting, unpredictable election campaign.

The candidates will each have 15 minutes Thursday night individually to answer questions about their stances, along with a brief conclusion at the end, in a prime-time program on France 2.

The four top candidates  centrist Emmanuel Macron, far-right Marine le Pen, conservative Francois Fillon and far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon  will be seeking to impress the 30 percent of French voters who are still undecided.

The French presidential race's outcome is increasingly uncertain just three days before Sunday's first-round vote. The two top vote-getters on Sunday will advance to the May 7 presidential runoff.

___

1:25 p.m.

French police say thieves stole a computer and a police armband from a car used by aides to presidential candidate Francois Fillon.

Police commander Christophe Voreux said Thursday that the two parliamentary aides and a member of Fillon's security detail were dining in a fast-food restaurant when someone broke into their hire car parked outside.

The theft Tuesday night near Lille airport in northern France is being investigated.

The government previously announced that security around candidates and the election has been stepped up ahead of Sunday's first-round vote. Earlier this week in Marseille, police arrested two alleged Islamic extremists who were suspected of planning an attack.

___

12:45 p.m.

A French presidential campaign that's been filled with unprecedented twists and turns still has surprises in store heading into Sunday's first-round vote.

With voters in a rebellious mood and many still hesitant about their choices, the identities of the two candidates who will progress to a winner-takes-all May 7 runoff remain anyone's guess.

Anti-establishment French populists  far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Melenchon on the far left  hope to surf to power on voter disgust with politics as usual.

A jobs-for-the-family financial scandal has punctured the campaign of one-time front-runner Francois Fillon and fueled the raging distrust between voters and their elected representatives.

The implosion of the ruling outgoing President Francois Hollande's Socialist Party, has paved the way for his former economy minister, centrist Emmanuel Macron, to surge in the polls without major party backing.
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The Latest on U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's trip to Asia (all times local):

11:15 a.m.

Vice President Mike Pence has reaffirmed the importance what he says is the strategic partnership between the United States and the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia.

After meeting with Indonesia's President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, he says Indonesia and the U.S. are both democracies and share the same values.

He praised Indonesia for the moderate from of Islam it practices and said the two countries would continue to cooperate on combating terrorism.

But Pence foreshadowed some reworking of the commercial and economic relationship saying that U.S. exporters should face a level playing field.
Courtesy of the Russian defense ministry, you can now take a tour of Russias newest military base. A virtual tour, anyway.

The base, dubbed "The Arctic Trefoil" due to its three-point structure, was built on Franz Josef Land  an archipelago in a remote region of the Arctic.

The 14,000-square mile complex, which will house about 150 personnel for up to 18 months, will serve in a capacity of protecting Russian airspace and other interests in the region.

With the help of the web application, defense ministry website visitors will be able to interactively assess the convenient and ergonomic modular layout of the base, which allows the Russian military to perform service and combat tasks in the hardest natural and climatic conditions of the Arctic, A Russian defense ministry spokesperson said.

Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, who told Fox News Bret Baier back in January 2016 that there are all kinds of countries that are interested in the critical strategic importance of the Arctic, said he is concerned about the completion of this new base.

RUSSIAN BOMBERS AGAIN FLY NEAR ALASKA

While seemingly a modest investment, the construction of this base sends a clear message to the Arctic community about Russia's ongoing militarization of this strategically important region, Sullivan told Fox News. The Russians make claims of wanting a peaceful Arctic, but their actions  building bases, ports, conducting snap exercises with thousands of troops, installing surface-to-air missiles, and conducting bear bomber flights close to American airspace  seem to reveal their real intent.

Russia has been building up its Arctic military infrastructure for several years, starting with President Vladimir Putins 2014 announcement establishing an Arctic command structure. In April of that year, Putin addressed a Russian Security Council meeting, saying the country should strengthen the military infrastructure.

"Specifically," he said, "Im referring to the creation of a united system of naval bases for ships and next-generation submarines in our part of the Arctic.

The Arctic Trefoil is the second such base built under Putin. The first ever self-contained Arctic military base, dubbed Northern Clover, was completed on Kotelny Island in late 2015.

In October 2015, then-U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter told troops at Fort Wainwright, Alaska how important the Arctic region is.

It will be important to the United States. It will be important to other countries, Carter said. It will be important that we help keep the peace and a rules-based kind of order and way of thinking about things up there.

Sullivan echoed those sentiments.

RUSSIA CLAIMS IT CAN WIPE OUT US NAVY WITH SINGLE 'ELECTRONIC BOMB'

"We need to wake up to the fact that the United States is an Arctic nation, with significant strategic interests in the region, including new global commercial and transportation routes, massive natural resource opportunities, and the well-being of American citizens living in the Arctic, Sullivan said. Nevertheless, we are falling behind.

Sullivan told Fox News that he, along with other senators, is working with the Department of Defense on a new Arctic military strategy, but says more has to be done.

Building port infrastructure, he said, to help facilitate critical missions in the Arctic is a key way to increase our Arctic presence and show both our adversaries and our allies that we are steadfastly committed to this critical region."
North Korean state media threatened to launch a "super-mighty pre-emptive strike" that would reduce South Korea and the United states "to ashes."

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper for North Korea's ruling Worker's Party, wrote, "In the case of our super-mighty pre-emptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only U.S. imperialists' invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the U.S. mainland and reduce them to ashes," according to Reuters. The rogue nation also claimed the U.S. and its allies "should not mess with us."

TRUMP WARNS NORTH KOREA AS PYONGYANG VOWS MORE MISSILE TESTS

The threat came as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. was exploring ways to pressure North Korea to the negotiation table over its nuclear program.

"We're reviewing all the status of North Korea, both in terms of state sponsorship of terrorism as well as the other ways in which we can bring pressure on the regime in Pyongyang to re-engage with us," Tillerson said on Wednesday. "But re-engage with us on a different footing than past talks have been held."

The seretive regime also released a propaganda video over the weekend that showed a simulated nuclear missile attack destroying an unidentified American city. A cemetery and American flag appeared with flames superimposed over the footage.

SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE CONCERNED ABOUT TRUMP'S AIRCRAFT CARRIER STORY

Tensions continue to mount as Trump takes a harder stance against North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Last week, the president made comments to Fox Business that he was sending an armada to deter Pyongyang.

"We are sending an armada, very powerful. We have submarines, very powerful, far more powerful than the aircraft carrier, Trump told the Fox Business Networks Maria Bartiromo last week. We have the best military people on Earth. And I will say this: [North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un] is doing the wrong thing.

The U.S. Navy said on Tuesday the carrier, USS Carl Vinson, was heading toward the Korean Peninsula, but only after it passes through Australia.

Pyongyang has promised to continue building its "nuclear deterrant" to prepare for any perceived or real attacks, adding that Trump's administration was "more vicious and more aggressive" than the administration under former President Barack Obama.

On Sunday, the country attempted to launch an intermediate-range Musudan missile, but it blew up within seconds, one official said. The test occured at an air base near the city of Wonsan North Korea's east coast along the Sea of Japan.

Vice President Mike Pence touched down in South Korea Sunday for his 10-day tour of Asia, where he said the "era of strategic patience" with North Korea was over.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan echoed the same sentiment during his visit to London. Ryan said allowing Kim to "have that kind of power" was unacceptable.
A prominent Russian journalist  who was also a prominent critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin  died Wednesday from injuries sustained during a mysterious attack six weeks ago in St. Petersburg.

Nikolai Andrushchenkos death was reported by Russian media outlets that cited his lawyer and the editor-in-chief of the Novy Peterburg newspaper. State news agency RIA Novosti reported Andrushchenko, 73, had been in a medically induced coma since the March 9 attack.

RUSSIA'S SUPREME COURT BANS JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

Andrushchenko's attackers have not been identified. The editor of RIA Novosti has linked the assault to articles in the newspaper about corruption in St. Petersburg.

Andrushchenko was a member of the St. Petersburg city council from 1990 until 1993. He was among the founders of Novy Peterburg, where he made a name for himself writing about human rights issues and crime.

He was jailed in 2007 for defamation -- but his colleagues said the court was punishing him for its news coverage giving a voice to the opposition, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Russia's Supreme Court announced Thursday that it has banned the Jehovah's Witnesses from operating in the country, ordering the religious group to close 395 of its local chapters.

The announcement came after the court accepted a request from the justice ministry that the religious organization be considered an extremist group.

The court also ordered the seizure of the groups property.

Justice Ministry attorney Svetlana Borisova was quoted by the Interfax news agency in court Thursday as saying that the Jehovah's Witnesses "pose a threat to the rights of the citizens, public order and public security."

The Jehovah's Witnesses claim more than 170,000 adherents in Russia. The group has come under increasing pressure over the past year, including a ban on distributing literature deemed to violate Russia's anti-extremism laws. The religious group, which preaches door-to-door, rejects military service and blood transfusions.

Russian prosecutors have long cast the group as an organization that destroys families and spreads hatred, which it denies, according to Reuters.

The group said it would appeal the decision and if it is upheld, the case would be shifted to the European Court of Human Rights, the TASS news agency reported.

We are greatly disappointed by this development and deeply concerned about how this will affect our religious activity, Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a spokesman for Jehovahs Witnesses in Russia, said in a statement. We will appeal this decision, and we hope that our legal rights and protections as a peaceful religious group will be fully restored as soon as possible.

Once the Supreme Court ruling is appealed, it will only go into effect when the appellate court announces its decision.
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Russia's Supreme Court has banned the Jehovah's Witnesses from operating in the country, accepting a request from the justice ministry that the religious organization be considered an extremist group.

The court ordered the closure of the group's Russia headquarters and its 395 local chapters, as well as the seizure of its property.

The Interfax news agency on Thursday quoted Justice Ministry attorney Svetlana Borisova in court as saying that the Jehovah's Witnesses "pose a threat to the rights of the citizens, public order and public security."

The Jehovah's Witnesses claim more than 170,000 adherents in Russia. The group has come under increasing pressure over the past year, including a ban on distributing literature deemed to violate Russia's anti-extremism laws.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told Fox News hes gravely concerned about Irans role in helping Syria develop its chemical warfare program that ended up killing dozens of people weeks ago.

Rubio, a Republican, said he was troubled by reports that both Iran and Russia were complicit in Bashar Assads chemical weapons program. While the Trump administration accused Moscow of covering up the Syrian regime's chemical weapons attack, the U.S government has not mentioned Iran's possible role.

Congress and the White House should work together to hold the Assad regime accountable for its war crimes and impose harsh sanctions against its enablers, Rubio told Fox News.

Mounting evidence shows Irans regime enabled Assad to develop a lethal gas program that he used on civilians earlier this month and in 2013. Assads Air Force dropped the poisonous gas sarin on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in April, killing more than 80 people, many of them children.

IRAN ISSUES THREAT OVER US STRIKES IN SYRIA

In response to Assads chemical attack, the U.S. launched 59 Tomahawk missiles at the Shayrat Air Base, which served as the departure point for planes carrying the deadly nerve agent. Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Lebanese militia group Hezbollah have long used the Shayrat Air Base, experts say.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that Ahmet Uzumcu, the director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, said the attack in Khan Sheikhoun "indicate that sarin or a sarin-like substance was used.

Iran sided with Russia's denial that the Syrian regime did not use chemical weapons. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said the unilateral action is dangerous, destructive and violates the principles of international law.

Assad first used sarin nerve gas to attack the Damascus suburb of Ghouta in 2013, killing nearly 1,500 civilians, including 426 children.

Last July, Fox News reported exclusively that Iran sought chemical and biological weapons technology, according to multiple German intelligence documents.

The British publication Janes Defense Weekly reported in 2005 that the Islamic Republic of Iran worked with Assads regime to build an innovative chemical warfare program. According to the report, Iran provided crucial know-how to build equipment to produce hundreds of tons of precursors for VX, sarin nerve agents and mustard blister agent.

According to a WikiLeaks cable on the Iran-Syria chemical warfare activities, New Zealand assesses that the cooperation is mainly driven by Irans desire for increased strategic importance in the region. New Zealand also assesses that Irans biotechnology sector is far more advanced than Syrias, and Iran does not mind sharing its knowledge with Syria.

US LAUNCHES MISSILES INTO SYRIA IN RESPONSE TO CHEMICAL WEAPONS ATTACK

In 2007, a joint Iran-Syria project accidentally caused an explosion while attempting to load a chemical warhead onto a Scud-C missile, wrote Janes Defense. The deadly test killed dozens of Syrian military personnel and Iranian engineers.

Sarin gas, along with mustard gas and VX nerve gas, were cited as the lethal toxins during the 2007 explosion at an Aleppo factory.

Michael Rubin, resident scholar at the Washington D.C-based American Enterprise Institute, told Fox News that Iran has long viewed Syria as a partner.

The thing that makes Iran so dangerous is it not only exports its weapons to proxies in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, but it brags about exporting the ability to manufacture weapons, Rubin said.

Rubin, who has written about Irans chemical weapons program, said it makes strategic sense for Iran to help other countries obtain chemical agents.

Plausible deniability has always been central to post-revolutionary Iran's strategic calculation, he said, and so to proliferate unconventional weapons enables Iran to avoid accountability by raising the number of suspects every time they are used.

Fox News reported last week that defected Syrian Brig. Gen. Zaher al-Sakat, who oversaw the regimes chemical weapons, said Bashar Assad would not "completely give up" his chemical weapons arsenal.

The recent chemical attack debunked former Secretary of State John Kerrys assertion in 2014 that the U.S. got 100 percent of the chemical weapons [out of Syria].

A 2017 Congressional Service report released this month said Iran not only has the capability to produce chemical warfare but probably has the capability to produce some biological warfare agents for offensive purposes, if it made the decision to do so."

The report notes that "this raises questions about Irans compliance with its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which Iran signed on January 13, 1993, and ratified on June 8, 1997."

The emergence of Irans role in enabling Syrias use of chemical weapons comes on the heels of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson saying: "Iran remains a leading state sponsor of terror, through many platforms and methods." Tillerson said this week, however, that a recent review shows Iran has been compliant with its 2015 nuclear deal.

During the Iran-Iraq war 1980-1988, both Irans Islamist regime and Saddam Husseins secular Baath party employed poisonous gas on soldiers.

Irans UN diplomatic missions in New York and Geneva did not immediately respond to requests from Fox News for comment.
U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley is accusing Iran and its ally Hezbollah of conspiring to destabilize the Middle East  a charge "categorically" rejected by Iran's U.N. envoy as propaganda perpetrated by Israel and others in the region.

Haley is the current Security Council president and she asked members for this month's meeting on "The situation in the Middle East including the Palestinian Question" to focus on factors causing conflicts across the region instead of engaging in what she called routine "Israel bashing."

Her targets at Thursday's meeting, where over 50 countries spoke, were Iran and Hezbollah, which she also accused of committing "terrorist attacks across the region" for decades.

But only one of the 14 other council members mentioned Iran while they all talked about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Syria.
Senior U.S. defense officials say they have seen a greater amount of bomber activity in China hours after North Korea warned Beijing that a nuclear test would be conducted on April 20th.

While the deadline passed without incident, the Chinese military changed the alert status of its bombers as a prudent measure.

SYRIA'S CHEMICAL PROGRAM: RUBIO 'GRAVELY CONCERNED' ABOUT IRAN AND RUSSIA COMPLICITY

U.S. officials with knowledge of the latest intelligence reports say they have not seen an increase in cruise-missile capable bomber flights by the Chinese military, but they suspect the alert status has been increased to shorten the time it takes to scramble the bombers if called upon.

China has been pressuring North Korea not to conduct a nuclear test since President Xi visited President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida earlier this month.

YOUNG SYRIAN, FIGHTING FOR HOME, JOINED ISIS

Its hard to divine their intentions, one senior U.S. official told Fox News.

All eyes remain on North Koreas test site, where Pentagon officials say North Korea could conduct its sixth nuclear test at any time, following two last year.

In a sign North Korea might be in a standby and wait mode, North Korean workers at the test site have been seen playing volleyball to pass the time.

38 North, part of the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of International Studies first reported the incident when it released satellite images showing the players at a sand volleyball court at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site.

Over the weekend, North Korea attempted to launch a medium-range ballistic missile from a submarine base on North Koreas east coast. The KN-17 single-stage, liquid fueled missile is based around an old Scud design, according to U.S. officials who think the missile could one day be used to target ships if the bugs are worked out.

The North Korean KN-17 blew up just four seconds after launch. Some analysts suspect the United States could have played a role. The New York Times reported increased Cyber-attacks against the rogue communist regime in 2014, as Pyongyang ramped up its missile testing.

CNN was first to report the change in alert status of the Chinese bombers.

North Korea attempted more than 20 missile tests a year ago. 88 percent of its advanced intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missiles failed after launch but one of the eight tests was deemed successful, according to Pentagon officials. Once fully operational, the Musudan has a range of roughly 2,500 miles, capable of hitting U.S. military forces in Guam.

There are roughly 80,000 American military personnel in South Korea and Japan.
Venezuela is bracing for a second round of mass anti-government protests on Thursday, a day after huge rallies across the South American nation led to clashes in which three were killed, dozens injured and hundreds arrested.

On Wednesday, public prosecutors reported the death of a 17-year-old boy in the capital Caracas and of a 23-year-old woman in eastern Tachira state, while the head of the country's moral council, Tarek Saab, announced the death of a national guardsman.

VENEZUELA'S MADURO TO PROVIDE GUNS TO 400,000 LOYALISTS AMID PEAKING TENSION

"Same place, same time," was the rallying call from Miranda state governor and opposition figurehead Henrique Capriles late on Wednesday evening, calling for millions of Venezuelans to mobilize again a day after what has been widely dubbed as "the mother of all marches."

Anti-government protesters and politicians have accused President Nicolas Maduro of sliding towards dictatorship, while officials in the socialist government have claimed demonstrators were attempting a violent coup d'etat.

The political crisis in Venezuela was exacerbated after the Supreme Court assumed the executive powers of the opposition in earlier this month.

Venezuelan authorities seize General Motors factory amid deepening turmoil.

VENEZUELAN AUTHORITIES SEIZE GENERAL MOTORS FACTORY AMID DEEPENING TURMOIL

A government U-turn on the move failed to quell the violent opposition protests that swiftly followed.

The number of people killed in the political unrest has now risen to eight, including the national guardsman, and thousands of arrests have been made in the space of three weeks.

The director of the Venezuelan Criminal Forum, Alfredo Romero, told EFE on Wednesday that the lawyers who advise on the number of those arrested were constantly updating and verifying the figures in the capital, as well as in the 23 states of Venezuela, as "too many cases had been registered in only one day."

The lawyer explained that 16 of these arrests took place in Caracas, 69 in Anzoategui state, 57 in Bolivar, 40 in Cojedes, 37 in Falcon, 16 in Barinas, 32 in Tachira, 31 in Carabobo and 24 in Portuguesa, stressing that there were still more cases in other regions of the country.

THE LONG COUP: WHY THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF VENEZUELA'S DEMOCRACY

The mayor of the municipality of Chacao, in Caracas, said that the hospitals in his jurisdiction were taking care of 57 people "from the demonstration," who unsuccessfully tried to reach the Ombudsman's Office in the center of the Venezuelan capital.

Of these, 33 people had multiple injuries, 10 with asphyxiation symptoms "as a result of tear gas" used by the police forces to disperse the protest, and 14 with "fainting and stress-related problems," according to Muchaco, who belongs to the opposition.

"Everyone is out of danger," Muchaco said on his Twitter account.

The two people killed apparently were not participating in the demonstrations and were shot by unknown perpetrators, according to preliminary information.

Venezuela's executive vice president Tareck el Aissami rejected accusations by opposition groups who blame the Maduro's government for the deaths of the two people amid the demonstrations.
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Vice President Mike Pence praised Indonesia's democracy and moderate form of Islam after meeting Thursday with the president of the world's most populous Muslim nation.

The comments, though routine, had significance for Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who the day before suffered a serious political setback when a political ally was defeated by Islamic conservatives in the election for Jakarta governor. The divisive campaign undermined the image of Indonesia abroad as a generally tolerant Muslim nation.

Indonesia is the latest stop on an Asian tour by Pence that is reinforcing traditional U.S. alliances at a time when Donald Trump's presidency has raised questions about the strength of the U.S. commitment to the region.

Pence said at a joint press conference with Jokowi that the U.S. wants to strengthen its strategic partnership with Indonesia. In brief comments, Jokowi said they agreed to boost cooperation.

The vice president praised Indonesia for the moderate form of Islam it practices and said the two countries would continue to cooperate on combating terrorism. The U.S. and Indonesia share democratic values, he said.

But Pence foreshadowed some reworking of commercial and economic ties, saying that U.S. exporters should face a level playing field and the relationship should be "win-win."

Indonesia is on Trump's trade hit list, and U.S. company Freeport-McMoran Inc., which operates the world's largest copper mine in the Indonesian province of Papua, is in a protracted dispute with the Indonesian government.

Pence's first engagement was morning tea with Jokowi at the presidential palace. Later Thursday, Pence was to visit Istiqlal Mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia.

Trump's company, the Trump Organization, is active in Indonesia with plans to manage luxury resorts being built near the capital Jakarta and on the tourist island of Bali.

Trump's Indonesian business partner, billionaire Hary Tanoe, is an aspiring politician who has said he might run for president in 2019.
California Entrepreneur Keeps Coming Back for More Texas-Style Barbecue

Dickey's Barbecue Pit Franchisee Plans Further 20+ Store Expansion

DALLAS, TX - (Marketwired - April 19, 2017) - California boasts the most Dickey's Barbecue Pit locations aside from the brand's home state of Texas, thanks in part to dedicated Owner/Operators like Michael and Margarita Tucker. After being inspired by the success of their first location in La Quinta, the Tuckers have opened 4 additional locations in just the last year and a half and plan on opening 23 more across California. With upcoming openings on the San Diego State campus and in Rialto in the near future, they are constantly looking for prime new locations to further expand and spread the passion for the art of great barbecue.

"Dickey's occupies a really unique niche in the market and is a pioneer in the fast casual barbecue industry," said Michael. "My wife and I are excited to grow even more with this great brand and continue bringing delicious barbecue to families across California."

The Tuckers are long-term entrepreneurs and have been in the franchising industry for 17 years. Michael had always wanted to be in the food business with a franchise and was intrigued by Dickey's smoked-on-site concept. After the couple had lunch at Dickey's and tasted the pit-smoked, Texas-style barbecue for themselves, they were sold.

"We are proud to have passionate Owner/Operators like Michael and Margarita as part of the Dickey's family," said Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. "Dickey's now has nearly 600 locations in 44 states, and our rapid growth would not have been possible without the support of our Owner/Operators."

To find the Dickey's Barbecue Pit nearest you: [https://www.dickeys.com/locations]. Find Dickey's on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

About Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc.

Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc., the nation's largest barbecue chain was founded in 1941 by Travis Dickey. Today, all meats are still slow smoked on-site in each restaurant. The Dallas-based family-run barbecue franchise offers several slow-smoked meats and home style sides with 'No B.S. (Bad Stuff)' included. The fast-casual concept has expanded to nearly 600 locations in 44 states. In 2016, Dickey's won first place on Fast Casual's "Top 100 Movers and Shakers" list. Dickey's Barbecue Pit has also been recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine, Franchise Times, and Nation's Restaurant News. For more information on Dickey's awards, visit www.dickeys.com.

Media Contact:

Bryce Nayden

bnayden@levensongroup.com

SOURCE Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc.

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Aerospace and defense contractor Lockheed Martin is laying off 64 employees at its King George County locations, according to a letter obtained by The Free LanceStar.

The letter, which was sent from Lockheed Martin Corp. Rotary & Mission Systems to King George County officials, said Lockheed Martins local operation will remain, but the company lost contracts at its Commerce Drive and Surface Combat Systems Training Support locations.

A total of 86 employees will lose their jobs in King George, Dahlgren and San Diego, Calif. Lockheed Martin has 154 employees in King George.

King George Supervisor Jim Howard is well aware of what happens when companies lose contracts. He worked for 47 years at the Navy base at Dahlgren, until Nov. 7, when his companys contract wasnt renewed.

Howard spent some of his tenure as a contracting officer and said the loss of contracts happens every so often. Competition is keen, people lose contracts, and when they do, they have to lay off people.

He said workers often shift to the company thats won the contract and hoped that was the case with the 64 affected at Dahlgren. It could not be determined Thursday who will take over the work.

My experience over time is that people stay, but companies come and go, Howard said.

The layoffs are expected to take place June 8, and are planned to be permanent. The letter states that unforeseen factors may affect the timetable and said the county will be made aware of changes.

These notices were issued 60 days prior to the end of their employment in compliance with federal law, Lockheed Martin said in a statement. We are working closely with our personnel to assist them in identifying other opportunities within Lockheed Martin.
No matter which agency or business they represented, speakers at Wednesday nights community forum shared the same message: The American health-care system is broken.

Badly.

The nation spends up to twice as much on health care as other industrialized countries, yet its residents dont live as long or score as highly on measurements of good health.

Whenever you compare us against the rest of the world, were middle of the pack in outcomes, no matter how you slice it, said Dr. Michael McDermott, chief executive officer and president of Mary Washington Healthcare.

Even with all the money that goes into health careand an estimated $210 billion is spent annually just on processing insurance claimsthe United States still has 30 million people without insurance. The Affordable Care Act was designed to bring coverage to more people, but speakers at the forum didnt exactly line up to sing its praises, either.

For businesses, it didnt work out that great because hard-working Americans, making from the low $30,000 to $70,000, were some of the hardest hit by the law, said Susan Spears, CEO and president of the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber in Commerce.

The forum was hosted by Mary Washington Healthcare and the Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic. Held at the Fick Conference Center on the Mary Washington Hospital campus, the meeting included a panel of expertsthree doctors, a lawyer and Spearswho discussed the Affordable Care Act, the first version of the American Health Care Act, and the overall future of health care in Virginia.

More than 100 people attended the session, which included presentations that lasted about 90 minutes and questions from the audience for another 45 minutes.

The panel was supposed to include a government representative, but none of those invitedSen. Tim Kaine, Sen. Mark Warner and Congressman Rob Wittmanwas able to attend.

The crowd heard report after dire report about the need to expand Medicaid coverage in Virginia and the way the high deductibles that came with the ACA sometimes made patients access to care worse than when they had no insurance, said Dr. Timothy Powell, medical director of the Fredericksburg Christian Health Center.

Jill Hanken, an attorney with the Virginia Poverty Law Center, hailed the ACA more than any other speaker, but admitted, We still have a long way to go to make sure everybody has access to affordable and quality health care. Even though President Trump hasnt presented a plan to replace ACA, she said that what was proposed in recent discussions would have done great damage to both Medicaid and Medicare.

This is not over yet, she said. Congress is on recess, but theyll be back next week, and I think theyre going to be revisiting health care fairly soon.

Thats why she said its so important that communities gather as local residents did Wednesday night.

We are at this very critical crossroads, and its people like you who need to express your opinions to the policymakers who make these very important decisions.

The only proposed solution to the health-care mess came from Dr. Jay Brock, a retired family physician. He advocated a single-payer health systemalso known as Medicare for allin which a single public agency organizes health-care financing, but the delivery of care remains largely in private hands. Everyone pays into the system through taxation and gets free coverage, he said, and the system becomes more efficient because companies with high-paid CEOs that are looking to make the biggest profits are removed from the equation.

Members of the audience applauded his proposal. Stafford County resident Harry Sisson agreed that, We should get profits totally out of the medical system and put together an organization that will find out what is best and put it in place in this country.

Fredericksburg resident Martha Sasser said many people attended the forum because they want to know what they, as citizens, can do to bring about change.

Brock encouraged them to phone and write their congressman and go to a town-hall meeting, if they had any. He said change could come about, if each person got five people involved. And so on, and so on.
Anna Dustin, a junior at Caroline High School, won second place for her age group in the Virginia Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest sponsored by the state Fish and Wildlife Service.

Dustin, 17, painted a portrait of male and female American wigeons, a dabbling duckone that feeds at the surface rather than divingthat winters in this area.

I felt like nobody around here sees them very frequently, even though they come here during the winter sometimes, Dustin said. I thought maybe Id do something new instead of the basic mallard or goose.

Dustin said she looked at a list published by the Fish and Wildlife Service of birds she could paint and narrowed it down to birds she thought were pretty and could be found in Caroline County.

She was captivated by the shiny green mask of feathers surrounding the male American wigeons eyes and by the pale blue bill tipped with black on both the male and the female.

Dustin wasnt able to find a wigeon in the wild, so she looked at reference photos on the internet as the basis for her artwork.

It took about a month, maybe a little more to complete the painting, which is rendered in acrylic paint with ink and colored-pencil details, Dustin said. This was her first time working with paintshe usually works with colored pencils.

Dustin said she loves to draw birds more than anything.

Hands down, Im always painting and drawing wildlife and birds, she said. I do love birds. They have such a character about them.

The Junior Duck Stamp program is an extension of the Federal Duck Stamp program, which supports conservation. Ninety-eight percent of the revenue from purchase of the Federal Duck Stamp goes to help acquire wetland habitats and conservation easements for the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Waterfowl hunters are required to purchase the Duck Stamp, but anyone who wants to support conservation can buy one. The stamps also provide free entry into any national wildlife refuge that charges an entry fee.

I saw something on National Geographic about the program and how intense it was for older people, Dustin said. I figured, why not look for something similar for people my age?

The Junior Duck Stamp costs $5 and 100 percent of proceeds from its sale are used to fund environmental and conservation education programs. The stamps are sold through the U.S. postal service and at National Wildlife Refuges.

The Federal Junior Duck Stamp program is actually a curriculum-based education program aligned with national learning standards, said Aubrey Hall, a park ranger at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and the program coordinator for Virginia. The sales of the Junior Duck Stamp go back into the program to help promote conservation education. The goal is to inspire youth to learn about and care for the ducks, geese and swans found in our country and the amazing habitats that they call home.

Students in kindergarten through grade 12 can submit artwork to their state contests. Hall said she received 205 entries this year. The submissions were judged according to a national standard by a panel of five, including an elementary school principal, two wildlife refuge employees and a professional wildlife artist.

Winners are chosen for each of four age groups and all first-place winners then compete for state Best of Show. The winners from all 50 states then compete in the national contest. The winning artwork from the national contest will be determined Apr. 21 in Charleston, S.C. and will become the 2018 Junior Duck Stamp.

After she graduates high school next year, Dustin wants to go to college to study biology or wildlife conservation. Shed like to get a masters degree in a related field after that.

Dustins artwork will be on display for most of the year at the visitor center at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. Hall said that winning pieces would also be featured on the refuges social media pages.
CHARLOTTESVILLEAlexander Hamilton never visited the home of archrival Thomas Jefferson. But the nations first Treasury secretaryand namesake of the hit musicalrules the house during the new Hamilton Tour Takeover at Monticello.

The after-hour visits are part history class and part civics lessonwith chances to rap and sing.

Jefferson is definitely a villain of the musical, but this is not in any way a response, says Steve Light, Monticellos tour manager. We want people to engage in the history.

The leaders complicated and contradictory relationship becomes clear the moment you enter the mansion. Light points to busts of Hamilton and Jefferson, which the third president installed so they could remain opposed in death as in life.

The guide distributes stick puppets of the Founding Fathers, and the nature of their conflict emerges as visitors read excerpts from source documents and lyrics from the musical. Hamilton, an immigrant, orphan, bastard, believed in the leadership of aristocrats, while Jefferson, an aristocrat, trusted in the people, Light says.

Who does he mean by the people? asks Astrid Crookshank, visiting from Maryland with her college-age son. Women? Slaves? Or white landowners?

Light answers by quoting The Hamilton Mixtape about the nature of history: The reality is messier and richer, kids.

As the tour approaches the dining room, a visitor begins to sing The Room Where It Happens, a showstopper from the play.

Light explains the famed meeting actually occurred in New York, where Hamilton, Jefferson and James Madison agreed the nation would assume states debts in return for placing the capital in Washington, D.C. As the song says, Jefferson likely arranged the menu, the venue and the settingwith the help of his slave, Paris-trained chef James Hemings.

Tonights tour ends in the recently restored Dome Room, where Light brings up the 1800 presidential election. Surprisingly, Hamilton played a crucial role in helping Jefferson defeat his running mate, Aaron Burr. Jefferson has beliefs, Hamilton explains onstage. Burr has none.

As the evening sun streams through circular windows, Light asks his visitors their opinion: Are we living in Hamiltons nation today or Jeffersons? After some discussion, Crookshank speaks up.

I think the country won, she says, because we have both.

The roughly 90-minute tours cost $40 and are offered select Fridays and Saturdays through May, and in September.
WINCHESTERIf Mudcat Saunders were running things, he would never have approached bringing his beloved Democratic Party together by uninviting one faction of the divided party.

Well, that would not have been my tactics; if your party is divided, well, how do you bring it together if you dont invite all sides? he asks, confounded by the decision.

But that is exactly what they did to Saunders, a legendary Democratic operative with a deep Southern drawl, a commanding presence and a fierce loyalty to his party, despite its sharp turn left beginning along the fringes with Al Gore.

Saunders is the Democrats outspoken liaison between progressive candidates and rural voters in order to help them soften their message to longtime Democratic voters who still like God and guns and find themselves in a church pew every Sunday. He was unceremoniously uninvited to the very event that was supposed to bring rural and progressive Democrats together ahead of the governors races this year.

He said: Like I said, not exactly the way I would have approached it. I think every voice needs to be heard; we are losing rural Democrat support and I think we really need that for this governors race in order to win.

In short, Democrats believe that because of their populous numbers in the urban suburbs in Northern Virginia, they dont need rural voters. And they arent showing any willingness to petition, engage with them or win them over.

Their beef with him involves his unwillingness to vote for Hillary Clinton last year. It doesnt help that he was pretty outspoken about it.

They dont have to. And this is why we are the minority party, said Dane Strother, a Washington-based Democratic strategist with deep Southern roots. If we remain uninterested in the rural vote, we will remain the minority party.

Virginia Democrats are in the midst of a civil war that is only getting worse since the election of Donald J. Trump. Virginia did not go for Trump, but its rural voters, a decent amount of them Democrats, voted decisively for Trump over their partys nominee.

That civil war has escalated as the Democratic primary race for governor moves front and center. Candidates Ralph Northam, an Eastern Shore native, and Tom Perriello, who once represented the 5th Congressional District, both come from rural Virginia.

Mudcat supports Northam. He said: Perriello used to be pro-life, now hes not. Perriello used to be pro-gun, now he is not. He is running away from the moderate Democrats and right into the arms of the left of the party and its disappointing.

Earlier this month, Sen. Bernie Sanders, the de facto leader of the Democratic Partys progressive wing since he effectively harnessed energy among the partys far left during last years primary contest with Clinton, endorsed the former congressman in the governors race.

The former Blue Dog-like Democrat came into the House majority one cycle after the wave of moderate Democrats swept Republicans into the minority.

Northam is the current lieutenant governor of Virginia, a position elected separately from the governors office.

He is moderate and populist and liked by the states Democratic Party. He also voted for George W. Bush for presidenttwice.

One of these guys will soon be the Democratic nominee for governor in Virginia, said Strother: It is one of only two statesNew Jersey is the otherthat hold governors races this year. I think this contest in a purple state will show us the direction my party is going. Will they go full progressive? Will they include blue-collar and working-class rural Democrats in a message that they can rally around? I sure hope so, or we are in a world of hurt.

Strother said the decision in Roanoke to disinvite Mudcat was a stupid one: This is a defining race for us. We have to have a developed, authentic message that reaches these voters and stop alienating them or we will remain in the wilderness.

Here in the Shenandoah Valley, those exact types of voters are turned off by progressive politics and the state, despite going blue three presidential elections in a row. The numbers for Democrats have softened in those cycles, not hardened.

The story to watch first is: Where do Democrats go in their primary race this summer? Do they continue to push out moderate voices like Mudcats? Do they find a way to bring them in with a message that appeals to all? Or do they march leftward? And, if so, does that march keep them in the wilderness, or do they find victory in the fall?

It is certainly the race to watch. Why? Well, because the Democrats need the Mudcats of this world in their partynot just here but across the countryand they need to let them have a voice. If not, they risk remaining the minority party up and down the ballot.

Salena Zito is a CNN political analyst, and a staff reporter and columnist for the Washington Examiner.
Candidate tries to keep VRE costs down

Laquan Austion, a candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates 2nd District seat, cares about the issues that most deeply affect families in Prince William and Stafford counties.

The other week, Laquan demonstrated this by speaking out against the latest Virginia Railway Express fare hikes.

Laquan understands that another 3 percent increase in VRE ticket prices will be devastating to local families that rely on VRE for their daily commute and will add more congestion to our roads.

With the overwhelming amount of traffic in our area, improving the quality and options of transportation has never been more critical.

Laquan will work to bring innovation and efficiency to our local roads and railways, without balancing the budget on the backs of commuters.

Reynaldo Flores

Stafford
Stafford officer provided gentle care

My appreciation to Officer Edward Brooks of Stafford Animal Control.

A small green and yellow bird was at our feeder for the third day. He seemed homeless and ate a lot.

Officer Brooks, with gentleness and determination, was able to catch him with his hands. We hope the birds home can be found.

Terry Eslinger

Falmouth
Dr. Glenda Gray among Time magazines 100 most influential

Dr. Glenda Gray, a leader of the Fred Hutch-based HIV Vaccine Trials Network and director of its Africa programs, is included in Time magazines annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world for her pioneering work on HIV prevention. The magazine announced the list today.

The South African-born Gray moved from being an anti-apartheid activist in the 1980s to fighting HIV, which took hold in her country in the 1990s, right around the time apartheid was ending. In those early days, she found herself doing battle on two fronts  against a deadly virus and the stigma that led so many others to refuse to acknowledge it.

Then a young pediatrician in training, she was particularly stricken to see babies dying of AIDS.

Gray decided to fight the virus and the silence around it through research, Time health editor Siobhan OConnor wrote in a short essay on Gray that accompanied the announcement. Thanks in part to her work on mother-to-child transmission, the number of babies born with HIV has dropped from 600,000 a year to 150,000.
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Fujitsu Limited and Oracle Corporation Japan today announced that Oracle Cloud Platform services, including Oracle Database Cloud Service, are now available from Oracles public-cloud services environmentOracle Cloudnow hosted in a Fujitsu datacenter, a first for Japan.

A variety of Oracle Cloud Platform services were made available from March 27, 2017 followed by the April 20 release of Fujitsu Cloud Service K5 DB powered by Oracle Cloud (K5 DB (Oracle)), which adds Oracle Database Cloud Service to the lineup of database options from Fujitsu Cloud Service K5.

Oracle and Fujitsu have a long history of collaboration when it comes to processors, servers, and software. This synergy now extends to the datacenter, where Oracle's cloud services will be available locally to Japanese customers backed by Fujitsu.

Fujitsu has the largest number of Oracle-certified Oracle Cloud engineers in Japan, and offers a coordinated portfolio of services to assist in the deployment and operations of Oracle Public Cloud, to help organizations build new modern cloud-based solutions and transition their enterprise systems, including mission-critical operations, to the cloud.

Fujitsu and Oracle formed a strategic alliance announced on July 6, 2016, and based on a strategic collaboration to deliver enterprise-grade, world-class cloud services to customers in Japan and their subsidiaries around the world, have commenced sales of public cloud services from Japan. Together with making Oracle Public Cloud services available from Fujitsus robust and reliable datacenter in Japan, can now be used as part of Fujitsu Cloud Service K5, Fujitsus public-cloud service.

"The Oracle Cloud Platform running in Fujitsu's Japan datacenter alongside Fujitsu Cloud Service K5 DB powered by Oracle Cloud is a natural continuation of the three decade history Oracle and Fujitsu have working together to help customers achieve competitive advantage" said Edward Screven, Chief Corporate Architect, Oracle. "By combining Fujitsu's system integration expertise with Oracle's cloud services, Fujitsu and Oracle will accelerate the transition of our joint customers' enterprise systems to cloud."

The Oracle Cloud Platform offered by Fujitsu and Oracle

Oracle Cloud is the industrys broadest and most integrated public cloud, offering a complete range of public cloud services across SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS. Oracle Cloud Platform, which includes Oracles analytics, application development, data management, and integration services, has experienced steady growth, adding thousands of customers in fiscal 2017. Global enterprises, SMBs, and ISVs are turning to Oracle Cloud Platform to build and run modern Web mobile, and cloud-native applications.

By delivering Oracle Public Cloud services, including Oracle Database Cloud Service with high-available, high-scalable features, such as Oracle Real Application Clusters(1), from Fujitsu's robust, reliable datacenter, mission-critical systems can be used in a cloud environment with peace of mind and superlative performance. Because Fujitsu provides access to Oracle products and services such as Oracle Database, via a public cloud environment, which is used in the enterprise systems of many of its customers, Fujitsu is able to meet its customers' diverse needs for enterprise-grade cloud services, including support for private clouds.

About Fujitsu Cloud Service K5 DB powered by Oracle Cloud

Based on the Oracle Database Cloud Service, this service incorporates Fujitsu's systems-integration know-how and is delivered as the kind of distinctive database service that customers expect from Fujitsu. For example, this automates the settings used when creating a database, such as the security settings, encryption, and operational monitoring needed when deploying and building a database. Customers need not learn any new cloud-specific technologies, and can immediately start using Oracle Database Cloud Service. They can also use the service in peace of mind thanks to Fujitsu's high-quality one-stop support.

This service connects the Fujitsu K5 cloud service, which supports systems of record (SoR)(2) and systems of engagement (SoE)(3), to Oracle Cloud Services, extending K5's database offerings with K5 DB (Oracle). This enables companies to move their existing ICT assets into the cloud and enhance their support for SoR.

Engineers on hand to assist with customer cloud-transition needs

As part of this service offering, Fujitsu maintains a network of engineers and services to facilitate Oracle Cloud deployment and operation. Fujitsu has the largest number of people with "ORACLE MASTER Cloud Oracle Database Cloud Service" certification in Japan (winner of Oracle Certification Award 2016), with more than 100 engineers already on staff. Structuring the "Cloud Solution for Oracle" as a service to aid in Oracle Cloud deployment and operation has, with certified engineers(4), realized rapid, secure and steady transition to Oracle Cloud, responsively meeting customer cloud transition needs.

A Diamond member in the Oracle PartnerNetwork(5), Fujitsu and Oracle have a relationship that spans more than three decades. This joint project works to increase Fujitsu's systems integration capabilities and further strengthens Oracle technology expertise. By increasing the number of Oracle Cloud engineers in the Fujitsu Group and formalizing their place in the organization, Fujitsu and Oracle look forward to being able to work together more closely.

Details of this announcement are being presented at the Oracle Cloud Platform Summit Tokyo 2017 (April 25, 2017, at The Westin Tokyo) and at Fujitsu Forum 2017 (May 18-19, 2017, at Tokyo International Forum).

Services Provided as K5 DB (Oracle) (Sales in Japan Commence April 20, 2017) Service Name Description Fujitsu Cloud Service K5 DB

powered by Oracle Cloud Provides database services, including the two services of

Oracle Database Cloud Service and Oracle Database

Backup Service, as part of the K5 service,

together with Fujitsu's proprietary functions

Services provided as Oracle Cloud (PaaS / IaaS) (Already offered as of March 27, 2017) Service Name Description Oracle Database Cloud Service Provides Oracle Database in the cloud Oracle Database Backup Service Provides storage and tools for Oracle Database backups Oracle Java Cloud Service Provides the Oracle WebLogic Server in the cloud Oracle Application Container Cloud Service Provides an application container for Java SE and a Node runtime in the cloud Oracle SOA Suite Cloud Service Provides SOA functionality, including SOA Suite, B2B, and Service Bus 12c Oracle Storage Cloud Service Provides objects and storage Oracle Compute Cloud Service Provides a virtual compute environment

Pricing and Availability

Service Provided as K5 DB (Oracle) Service Name Sales Price (excl. tax) Availability Fujitsu Cloud Service K5 DB

powered by Oracle Cloud From JPY 57,000 monthly (minimum price

when selecting non-metered - pre-paid-type

fixed-price system) From April 20

For current information, please refer to Fujitsu's website at

http://www.fujitsu.com/global/solutions/cloud/k5/pricing/

Services Provided as Oracle Cloud (PaaS / IaaS) Service name Sale price (excl. tax) Availability Oracle Database Cloud Service *Please see Oracle Japan website

for latest information: https://cloud.oracle.com/home Already offered as of March 27 Oracle Database Backup Service Oracle Java Cloud Service Oracle Application Container Cloud Service Oracle SOA Suite Cloud Service Oracle Storage Cloud Service Oracle Compute Cloud Service

Related Website

Oracle Cloud Applications

Trademark Notice

Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates in the US and other countries.

This press release is solely for the purpose of providing information and does not constitute an implied contract. All company or product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Information provided in this press release is accurate at time of publication and is subject to change without advance notice.
Story Highlights Averages 41% job approval during his first quarter

Historical first-quarter average is 61%

Bill Clinton had previous low first-quarter average of 55%

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Donald Trump averaged 41% job approval during his first quarter as president, 14 percentage points lower than any other president in Gallup's polling history. Bill Clinton had the previous low mark of 55%. The average first-quarter rating among post-World War II presidents elected to their first term is 61%, with John Kennedy's 74% the highest.

The results are based on Gallup Daily tracking from Jan. 20 through April 19. During this time, Trump's approval rating ranged from a low of 35% -- in the days after Republicans' failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act -- to a high of 46% shortly after his inauguration.

Gallup's latest estimate of the president's job approval rating, based on April 17-19 interviewing, is 43%.

No president before Trump had an initial approval rating below 50%. His poor debut followed his subpar ratings on other measures during the presidential campaign and his presidential transition.

In mid-February, before the end of Trump's first month, his approval rating briefly fell below 40%, earlier in his presidency than anyone before him. In the second half of March, Trump had sub-40% job approval more consistently. Clinton is the only other president to register sub-40% approval ratings in his first year, having done so in June 1993 -- less than five months after he took office.

While Trump has yet to register majority approval, most presidents stayed above the 50% level for a full year or more after taking office. In addition to Clinton, Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan were exceptions to that pattern; both of them dipped below majority approval in November of their first year.

Trump as Popular in His Own Party as Past Presidents

One area in which Trump matches prior elected presidents is the support he receives from his fellow partisans. An average of 87% of Republicans have approved of the job Trump is doing to this point. The average first-quarter approval rating among those who identify with the president's party had been 83% before Trump. The last three presidents, including Trump, have all done better than that, as opinions of the president have become more closely tied to Americans' partisan leanings in recent decades.

First Quarter Presidential Job Approval Averages Among Americans Who Identify Politically With the President's Party Presidents elected to their first term Year President's party Approval % Eisenhower 1953 Republican 86 Kennedy 1961 Democrat 86 Nixon 1969 Republican 82 Carter 1977 Democrat 79 Reagan 1981 Republican 83 G.H.W. Bush 1989 Republican 78 Clinton 1993 Democrat 78 G.W. Bush 2001 Republican 89 Obama 2009 Democrat 90 Trump 2017 Republican 87 Average before Trump 83 Approval for Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, G.H.W. Bush, G.W. Bush, Trump is among Republicans; approval for Kennedy, Carter, Clinton, Obama is among Democrats Gallup

At the same time that strong partisanship has kept Trump's approval high among Republicans, it has kept it low among Democrats. Only 9% of Democrats on average have approved of the job Trump is doing to date. That is nearly 20 points lower than any other president has received from supporters of the opposition party and 35 points below the pre-Trump historical average opposition-party approval rating.

First Quarter Presidential Job Approval Averages Among Americans Who Identify Politically With the Opposition Party to the President Presidents elected to their first term Year President's party Approval, opposition party % Eisenhower 1953 Republican 61 Kennedy 1961 Democrat 58 Nixon 1969 Republican 50 Carter 1977 Democrat 54 Reagan 1981 Republican 43 G.H.W. Bush 1989 Republican 42 Clinton 1993 Democrat 28 G.W. Bush 2001 Republican 32 Obama 2009 Democrat 30 Trump 2017 Republican 9 Average prior to Trump 44 Approval for Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, G.H.W. Bush, G.W. Bush, Trump is among Democrats; approval for Kennedy, Carter, Clinton, Obama is among Republicans Gallup

The historical trends are clear. Presidents Dwight Eisenhower through Jimmy Carter enjoyed approval of 50% or higher among supporters of the opposition party during their first quarter as president. By the time Reagan and George H.W. Bush came into office, opposition approval had fallen below the majority level but still exceeded 40%. The three presidents immediately before Trump got worse ratings from those who identified with the other major political party, but still roughly 30% approved in those presidents' initial months in office.

Independents Also Give Trump Poor Reviews

Trump's anemic early approval is also attributable to historically low ratings from political independents. To date, 37% of independents have approved of the job Trump is doing, on average. All other newly elected presidents had 51% or higher approval among independents during their first quarters, with the historical average before Trump at 61%.

First Quarter Presidential Job Approval Averages Among Americans Who Identify Politically as Independents Presidents elected to their first term Year President's party Approval, independents % Eisenhower 1953 Republican 70 Kennedy 1961 Democrat 70 Nixon 1969 Republican 60 Carter 1977 Democrat 66 Reagan 1981 Republican 63 G.H.W. Bush 1989 Republican 51 Clinton 1993 Democrat 51 G.W. Bush 2001 Republican 55 Obama 2009 Democrat 60 Trump 2017 Republican 37 Average before Trump 61 Gallup

Independents' approval ratings show a similar pattern over time to that of Democrats. Eisenhower and Kennedy had approval ratings of 70% among independents. Richard Nixon, Carter and Reagan had approval in the 60% range, but ratings were between 51% and 60% for the most recent presidents before Trump.

Many independents have partisan leanings, and it is likely that those who lean toward the opposition party are disinclined to express approval of the president in the current political environment.

Implications

Trump won election using a campaign that flouted norms of political decorum and relied heavily on social media to spread his, at times, controversial messages. His unconventional style suggested his presidency would be like nothing seen before. And that has been true, but likely not in the way he or his supporters hoped -- with no honeymoon period to speak of and approval ratings far worse than any president has received this early in his tenure. On his best day, less than half of Americans, 46%, have approved of the job Trump is doing.

Near the 100-day mark in his presidency, his approval rating has settled near 40%. Whether foiled by his own party or outside forces, Trump has not been able to deliver on many of his campaign promises thus far, including repealing the ACA and tightening access to the U.S. from several majority-Muslim countries. He did fulfill his promise of adding a conservative justice to the Supreme Court after Senate Republicans employed the "nuclear option" to eliminate the minority party's ability to filibuster high-court nominations.

If Trump hopes to avoid setting a new low in average job approval for an entire presidency -- Harry Truman's 45.4% average is the lowest in Gallup's history -- he would need to improve his ratings among independents and Democrats, because the vast majority of Republicans already support him. But in an era of intense partisanship, Democrats' approval of Trump may not budge much from its current level near 10%, similar to the way in which Republicans' opinions of Obama held near 10% after his first year in office.

These data are available in Gallup Analytics.

Explore President Trump's approval ratings in depth and compare them with those of past presidents in the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center.
Story Highlights 27% of students in grades nine to 12 plan to start a business

Down from 33% to 35% in prior years

Ambition remains higher among students in grades five to eight (55%)

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- While entrepreneurial ambition remains steady among U.S. students overall, high school students' intentions to start their own business are at the lowest level in five years, according to the latest Gallup-HOPE Index report. More than one in four students in grades nine to 12 (27%) say they plan to start a business, down from the 33% to 35% range found among this group from 2011 to 2015. In contrast, a majority of students in grades five to eight (55%) say they plan to start their own business.

There has been a gap in entrepreneurial ambition between these two student groups since the index began in 2011. While half or more students in grades five to eight have consistently expressed intent to start a business, students in later grades have lagged behind. The Gallup-HOPE Index's latest figures reveal the largest gap in entrepreneurial ambitions between these two groups since 2011.

The ongoing gap between the two student groups suggests that dreams of starting a business decline in high school for many students. This could reflect that students' goals change as they age, or perhaps some students become less interested in entrepreneurship as they become more familiar with it.

Despite lower entrepreneurial intent, high school students (60%) are more than twice as likely as fifth- to eighth-grade students (27%) to say their school offers classes in how to start and run a business.

Younger U.S. Students Less Likely to Learn About Business in School My school offers classes in how to start and run a business. Grades 5-8 Grades 9-12 % % Agree 27 60 GALLUP-HOPE INDEX, Sept. 12-Nov. 7, 2016

Bottom Line

The majority of students in grades five to eight have intentions of starting their own business, but few have access to classes on how to achieve this goal later in their lives. Meanwhile, their older peers in high school lack entrepreneurial ambition, despite increased availability of classes on the subject. This could suggest that as children get older -- and perhaps have a better sense of what kind of work they want to do and the work involved in that role -- they find the idea of being a business owner less appealing.

Schools with fifth- to eighth-grade students could harness their students' budding entrepreneurial inclinations by providing more opportunities to teach them how to turn their ambitions into reality later in life. It is possible that expanding the availability of these learning opportunities at an earlier age will help young aspiring entrepreneurs maintain focus on their business dreams as they get to high school and beyond. High schools can also use entrepreneurial learning offerings as a key strategy to enhance learning skills for students.

To address the slowdown in U.S. GDP growth, business and education leaders will need to find a way to give the next generation of entrepreneurs the tools they need to keep their ambitions alive.
On The Water: You might need a bigger boat for Transpac 2023
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

TUESDAY, APRIL 18

METH: 5:01 p.m., 1700 block of Northwest Ninth Street. An officer responded after a caller reported seeing Christian Michael Colaci, 25, of Corvallis, who had a warrant for his arrest. The officer responded and reportedly saw Colaci flee the area while another officer chased him and told him to stop. Colaci eventually stopped and was arrested on several warrants and was cited with interfering with a peace officer and possession of methamphetamine.

Benton County Sheriff's Office

MONDAY, APRIL 17

BURGLARY: 8:04 a.m., 7800 block of Northwest Cardwell Hill Drive. A deputy responded to a report that someone broke a downstairs window at a home, stole a four-gallon DeWalt Air Compressor and attempted to kick in a door but failed. There was no suspect information.

SUNDAY, APRIL 16

SUSPICIOUS VEHICLE: 2:05 p.m., 9500 block of Northwest Cardwell Hill Drive. A resident reported a suspicious vehicle that drove onto the property, got stuck in mud and was eventually able to get out. A deputy contacted the driver, an 81-year-old Philomath man, who reported that he did not know what happened or why he was driving but that he was able to drive away and he was OK.

THURSDAY, APRIL 13

FAKE NEWS: 7:28 a.m., 37000 block of Soap Creek Road. A man called to report that a four-door hatchback with "Mid-Valley Newspaper" on the front door stopped at his mailbox, opened it and then closed it. The man reported that he does not get the newspaper and the one outgoing letter in the mailbox was not taken. Deputies patrolled the area the next day but did not locate the suspicious vehicle.
Improving vocational education. Protecting small schools from being closed. Revising curriculum so that it better includes the history of Native Americans. Eliminating modular classrooms. Ensuring equity in the educational system.

All of these were among priorities candidates for the Corvallis School Board discussed at a League of Women Voters forum Wednesday night. All but two of the 13 candidates for five seats on the school board were present at the two- hour long discussion, which was intended to inform voters about their choices before ballots for the May 16 election go out later this month.

Running for position one on the board are Sami Al-AbdRabbuh, Brandy Barrett, and Al Hutchinson. Running for position four are Vincent Adams and Michael De Salvo. Running for position five are Terese Jones and Jay Conroy. Running for position six are Ed Junkins, Carlos M. Lopez, and Andy Roberts. Running for position seven are Gerry Kosanovic, Kenneth RunningCrane-Real, and Sarah Finger McDonald. Barrett and De Salvo were not at the forum.

Al-AbdRabbuh, an Oregon State University graduate student who was appointed to the board earlier this year, spoke first at the forum, talking about how he was born in Arizona but grew up in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. He said engaging with the public would be his biggest focus, so that all the districts stakeholders are heard.

I want you to vote for me and support me because of the ideas and perspectives I bring, he said.

Hutchinson, who owns a car dealership, emphasized his lifelong connection to Corvallis as a graduate of the K-12 school system and OSU. He said the district does a good job of helping college bound students, but his focus is on making sure the district is providing more vocational education for the 30 or so percent of students he estimates are dropping out or not going to college.

(Vocational education) is why Im so passionate and why Im up here today.

Adams, a community educator with the Oregon State University Extension Service who was elected in 2013, said he is running for the board again because he believes public education has the power to transform lives. He said his priorities were the facilities work the district is doing over the next year and more, and the districts effort to help underrepresented student groups.

I really feel passionate about equity, he said.

Jones, a doctoral student at OSU and former adult literacy instructor and social worker, said she grew up in a single-parent, low-income household but defied the odds, and she wanted to bring her experience of how the public school system can help students like she was.

I represent the percentage of students that public schools has not historically worked well for, she said. Im a little bit sad to say Im a statistical anomaly.

Conroy, a former Corvallis High School principal who was principal when its current building was constructed, said his priority would be hiring good teachers and staff and fighting for vocational education.

I learned as a principal that the keys to great schools are first parents, but secondly a really, really good group of teachers."

Junkins, a pediatrician and dean of academic affairs at Western University of Health Sciences Lebanon campus, talked about growing up with an immigrant mom and needing programs like free school lunches and said his background overcoming that would help him in putting in place programs that could help kids like him.

I am excited to build a strong community, because behind every strong community is a strong system of schools, he said.

Lopez, a Corvallis public works employee and president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2975, said he wanted to advocate for vocational programs and that he wanted to protect small schools, like Franklin K-8 School, which his kids attend.

You dont want to give up your traditions and culture that made Corvallis such a great place, he said.

Roberts, an IT manager for the Division of Finance & Administration at OSU, said the district has a lot of big decisions regarding facilities coming, and he is both concerned about closing of schools and making sure buildings are seismically safe.

The students have to be at the center of whatever facilities we build, he said.

Kasonovic, a retired former principal at multiple Corvallis schools, said facilities were the primary reason he was running.

I think its time to get rid of these portable classrooms. They were designed to be temporary. That they stick around and leak and have problems is something we should be ashamed of.

RunningCrane-Real, a self-employed government contractor, said he had three priorities: managing the budget, limiting classroom size and revising curriculum so that the history of Native Americans is better included.

If you want to get inclusion and equity, you need to get inclusion in your curriculum, he said.

Finger McDonald, an academic adviser in the Department of Horticulture at OSU, said she was running for the board because she believes public education should be the great equalizer.

Its essential for offering opportunities and helping kids overcome obstacles that would keep them from meeting their potential, she said.
THURSDAY

Inclusive lab spaces lecture, noon, Room 107, Richardson Hall, 3180 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis. Seri Robinson, professor in the Department of Wood Science, will discuss her experiences creating a welcoming lab environment for all in "Creating a Welcoming Lab Space: Visibility and 'Walking the Walk.'" Hosted by the Diverse Perspectives in Forestry Group.

Triad, Oregon State University's faculty and staff club, noon, Room 211, Memorial Union, 2501 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis. David Bernell of the OSU Political Science Department, will present Travel Bans and Border Walls: The U.S. Response to Terrorism. An optional catered lunch is available for $13. Reservations: 541-737-7086.

Author reading and film screening, 6 p.m., Darkside Cinema, 215 SW Fourth St., Corvallis. Writer Aaron Burch will read from his book Stephen Kings 'The Body.' A screening of the film Stand by Me, based on "The Body," will follow. The event is part of the School of Writing, Literature and Films 2017 EdFest, part of the 2016-17 Visiting Writers Series.

FRIDAY

Tan Sack Lecture Series, noon, Room 201A, Waldo Hall, 2250 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis. Madonna Moss of the University of Oregon will present Zooarchaeology, Heritage and Resource Management in Southeast Alaska: Two Cases.

Author reading, 4 p.m., Special Collections Room, Valley Library, 201 SW Waldo Place, Corvallis. Amanda Bullock will facilitate a panel discussion, Opportunities in the Literary World Beyond Writing and Teaching, featuring four published authors. The event is part of the School of Writing, Literature and Films 2017 EdFest, part of the 2016-17 Visiting Writers Series.

Author reading, 7:30 p.m., rotunda, Valley Library, 201 SW Waldo Place, Corvallis. Wendy S. Walters, Caryl Pagel and Kevin Gonzalez will read. The event is part of the School of Writing, Literature and Films 2017 EdFest, part of the 2016-17 Visiting Writers Series.

SATURDAY

Science Worth Spreading, 10 a.m., Room 100, Learning Innovation Center, 165 SW Sackett Place, Corvallis. In todays challenging times, science can help us create a better future. A series of seven-minute talks by Oregon State University scientists, followed by discussion. Complimentary coffee/tea at 9 a.m., and free pizza lunch afterwards. RSVP: http://tiny.cc/joenky.

APRIL 27

Spring Distinguished Lecture, 5 p.m., Austin Auditorium, LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th St., Corvallis. The College of Science invites the public to its spring 2017 distinguished lecture and reception featuring theoretical physicist and National Medal of Science awardee Sylvester James Jim Gates Jr., who will present Why Diversity Makes For Excellent Science. RSVP: http://bit.ly/2o0lrSA.
Protest against right-wing populist party : Some Cologne stores to close on weekend

Cologne Groups representing a campaign for solidarity want to block the party convention of right-wing populists this weekend. The demonstration is meant to be peaceful but some stores have opted to remain closed.

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Under the motto Solidaritat statt Hetze (Solidarity instead of hounding), various groups have come together because they want to prevent the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party convention in Cologne this weekend. A sit-in blockade is one proposed method to block the right-wing populist party convention. On Saturday morning at 7 am, marches are planned from Ebertplatz, Rudolfplatz and Chlodwigplatz to Heumarkt.

Consequences for some Cologne inner city shops are that they will stay closed over the weekend. On many storefronts, signs have been posted indicating that the businesses will remain shut. Jorg Hamel of the Trade Association believes that more businesses will decide to close spontaneously.

Among other locations, the Rheinufer tunnel, the Deutzer Bridge and the area around the conference hotel will be closed for cars and pedestrians. A police spokesperson said businesses had been informed early on. They could decide at their own discretion whether to remain open or close their doors for the weekend. Police said they could not give a one hundred percent guarantee of security as some protestors had given indications of violence.

More than 30,000 demonstrators expected

The nationwide campaign for solidarity called on more than 60 organizations and groups to protest against the party convention, which will be held at the Maritim Hotel. Organizers are expecting around 30,000 demonstrators.

But protestors are expected to do more than demonstrate - their goal is to prevent the convention from happening. The campaign program mentions sit-ins and standing blockades to prevent access to the Maritim Hotel entrances.

Demonstrations are to remain peaceful

Dirk Hansen from Koln gegen Rechts (Cologne against the right-wing) emphasized, We are peaceful. There will be no violence from us. Sit-ins are an important part of the protest culture. Jan Sperling of the group Nationalismus ist keine Alternative (Nationalism is not an alternative) said its about taking away the public forum for AfD party propaganda.
felicilin at 20-04-2017 12:36 PM (5 years ago) (f)

Unidentified gunmen attacked and killed 35-year-old man, Bobby Usiobaifo during the burial ceremony of his father, Late Pa. Abel Usiobaifo in Osariemen Street, Benin, Edo State on Saturday night, April 17.

Unidentified gunmen attacked and killed 35-year-old man, Bobby Usiobaifo during the burial ceremony of his father, Late Pa. Abel Usiobaifo in Osariemen Street, Benin, Edo State on Saturday night, April 17. Late Usiobaifo is pictured above, with his wife dancing at the ceremony.

It was gathered that late Bobby was shot dead shortly after performing the social dance of the burial ceremony. He was eating outside with some of his friends when the gunmen arrived and killed him.

According to his elder brother, he heard several gun shots and when he looked through the window, he saw the gunmen and went into hiding but later raised alarm after seeing the lifeless body of Bobby.









Late Usiobaifo is pictured above, with his wife dancing at the ceremony.It was gathered that late Bobby was shot dead shortly after performing the social dance of the burial ceremony. He was eating outside with some of his friends when the gunmen arrived and killed him.According to his elder brother, he heard several gun shots and when he looked through the window, he saw the gunmen and went into hiding but later raised alarm after seeing the lifeless body of Bobby.

Post Reply Posted: at 20-04-2017 12:36 PM (5 years ago) | Hero
Splash Proof

The headphones are equipped with10nm drivers which the company claims that it deliver superior and excellent sound quality and experience. The headphones are IP54 certified meaning it is water splash proof.

However, it is not advisable to use these headphones underwater. The Moto Earbuds-2 also comes with noise cancellation feature.

In-line Mic

The Moto Earbuds-2 features in-line mic which allows answering calls and also controls music playback (pause and play). The cable length on Moto Earbuds-2 is 1.2 meter which on the other end is connected to the universal 3.5mm audio jack. The Moto Earbuds-2 package also includes two extra pairs of soft-tips ear cushion.

Six Colors

The Moto Earbuds will be available in six color variants - Black, Slate, White, Red, Blue and Purple.

Price and Availibility

On the other hand, Binatone will be working with Shyam Telecom Limited, who will be the exclusive importer of Motorola Lifestyle Product Portfolio in India. Besides, as per the new agreement, Shyam Telecom Limited will be the national importer of Motorola Mobile Companion Product (Mobile accessories) in India for a period of three years starting March 2017.

Business Head at Shyam Telecom has stated, "The India mobile accessory market is under-penetrated, and has few credible and universally adored brands like Moto which are focusing on providing the fast-growing smartphone user base an interesting portfolio of Mobile accessories which further accentuate the Smartphone experience."

Interestingly, the headphones are priced at just Rs 799. The Moto Earbuds-2 will be sold via offline retail outlets and e-commerce platforms.
Android 7.0 Nougat update starts rolling out to Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 Edge in India News oi -Rohit The Android 7.0 Nougat update weighs over 1.2 GB in size for Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge

Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge users in India can now install the latest Android 7.0 Nougat update on their smartphones. The South Korean giant started rolling out the update three months ago with the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, which is now making its way for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. As per reports, the update is over 1.2GB in size and comes with a build number G920IDVU3FQD1for the Galaxy S6 and G925IDVU3FQD1 for the bigger S6 Edge. We recommend users to keep at least 3GB of free space before initiating the update process on their Galaxy devices.

Samsung Galaxy S8 First Impressions: The Indian market just got its best-looking Android smartphones

The update is said to include the security patches for the month of March in addition to the new features that comes along with Android 7.0 Nougat. These include quicker multitasking with multi-window mode, Clear all recent apps button, new installer animation, bundled notifications, option to send quick replies from the notification, notification's customization, etc.

ALSO SEE: Samsung Galaxy S8 First Impressions Video

Besides, the Nougat update will bring enhancements to app installation and system upgrade on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge devices.

Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge users will get notified for the update or they can also check manually from the 'About' section in settings panel.

Source: Fonearna

Best Mobiles in India

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Overall, dont let the bhoot mislead you, nothing bhootiya about this story. Had the makers tried to push the envelope, the idea could have been outstanding for a bhootiya comedy.
CLEARWATER, Fla., April 19, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) of Florida, a non-profit mental health watchdog established by the Church of Scientology and Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, announced that since its launch of a campaign to prevent unjust involuntary psychiatric examinations of children under the Baker Act, they have educated 150,000 families on how to prevent unjust seizures. CCHRs seminars, brochures and media have educated these families on their rights while helping to secure the safe release of hundreds of men, women and children being held against their will.



CCHR Floridas President, Diane Stein said, According to the 2015 Annual Report of Baker Act Data prepared for the Agency for Health Care Administration, 32,882 involuntary psychiatric examinations were initiated on minors in Florida, which is a 50 percent, increase from fiscal year 2010 to 2015.

CCHR Florida has gathered over 5,000 petition signatures from parents asking that the mental health law be changed to restore parental rights and protect children.

We recently analyzed the calls we have received from parents whose children were sent for involuntary examination without their consent and found that over 70 percent of these children did not meet the criteria for a Baker Act, said Diane Stein.

The CCHR President also said that the form it provides parents that they can file with their childrens school helps protect their parental rights. CCHR has distributed almost 25,000 forms to concerned parents in Florida. Families interested in learning more about how to protect their children, or to obtain a copy of the form, are encouraged to visit the CCHR center at 109 N. Fort Harrison or visit the CCHR website, http://www.cchrflorida.org/florida-non-consent-forms/, to download the form online and sign a petition to stop the involuntary examination of children without parental knowledge or consent.

About CCHR:

CCHRs mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections. It was L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, said in March 1969, Thousands and thousands are seized without process of law, every week, over the free world tortured, castrated, killed. All in the name of mental health. For more information visit, www.cchrflorida.org
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Plans have been unveiled to close 11 Debenhams warehouses and 10 stores which could result in the loss of 220 jobs.

Former Amazon fashion Chief Sergio Bucher took over at Debenhams as chief executive in October last year. He has drawn up a plan to overhaul the company which will result in the closure of one of its three DHL run distribution centres

Ten of its 176 stores are at risk of closure over the next five years.

Sergio Bucher said: Our customers are changing the way they shop and we are changing too.

"Shopping with Debenhams should be effortless, reliable and fun, whichever channel our customers use. We will be a destination for 'social shopping' with mobile the unifying platform for interacting with our customers."

It is not yet clear whether the Gloucester store is affected.

He also said none of its stores are unprofitable, but those under review have been identified are at risk of possibly becoming loss-making in the future.

He also wants to de-clutter stores after customers described the experience of shopping there as a treasure hunt.

Mr Bucher also wants to improve the stores by adding more in-store beauty makeovers - these could include nail and blow dry bars.

"This will deliver a step-change in our customer experience," said Mr Bucher.

Half-year results released alongside the strategy overhaul revealed a tough first half for the UK business, where operating profits fell 11.3 per cent to 67.5 million and like-for-like store sales dropped 1.3 per cent

Shares dropped 5 per cent after the figures.

Debenhams saw a more robust performance online in the UK, where sales rose 1.7 per cent, while it added that trading was "mixed" across its international division.

But its overseas arm, which is led by its biggest international business, Magasin du Nord in Denmark, received a boost from the weak pound, with operating profits jumping 12.3% to 26.4 million.

Retail analyst Mark Photiades, at Cantor Fitzgerald, said Mr Bucher's plans looked "credible" at first glance.

He cautioned that "as ever with new management and new strategic ambitions, execution of the strategy will be key".
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The family of a part-time Cheltenham model who died last year will have to wait to find out exactly what happened to her.

An inquest into the death of 29-year-old Sammi Kearsey was due to take place today at Gloucestershire Coroners Court in Gloucester.

It followed her being found dead in Cheltenhams Benhall Park by a dog walker on November 12 last year.

The former Greatfield Park Primary School and Bournside School pupils parents, Jon and Jan, attended todays hearing.

But coroner Katie Skerrett said it would be a pre-inquest review.

She did not say when the inquest would be but said she hoped it would be as soon as possible and asked Mr and Mrs Kearsey to let her know if they would not be available for it between June and September.

During the review hearing Mr Kearsey said the main issue for the family was that they felt Sammi, who had suffered mental health problems for a number of years, should have been detained for her own good.

He said this should have happened in the two-and-half to three years before she died.

He said: It has been a long-term concern. There was no one particularly acute event but various ones we felt were not properly processed.

The hearing was told that Sammi had moved about, living in Worcestershire, Portsmouth and Cheltenham.

Mrs Skerrett said: Weve spoken to mental health services in Gloucestershire. They have no knowledge of Sam, only an historic call in 2015 when Worcestershire said she might coming your way.

She added that Sammi had been assessed by the Hampshire-based Solent NHS Trust and was due to undergo therapy with it.

But, the coroner said, she did not attend an appointment on June 6 last year and was discharged.

Mrs Kearsey said she was unhappy with the trust for having diagnosed Sammi as being at mild risk, despite her having discussed feeling suicidal.

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Mrs Skerrett said it was clear that Sammi had suffered from anxiety and an eating disorder but she wanted further information before the inquest.

That included information about her last GP consultations and a statement from her parents about her movements in November.

Mr Kearsey questioned why the coroner did not want to look back further than the last year.

She told him she understood Sammis problems went back further than that but said it was her job to find out what happened when she died and not to hold a full inquiry into her history.

Gloucestershire police have said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death. She was found hanged in the park at about 7.30am.
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Gloucestershires two main hospitals could still face financial black hole of almost 15million even after another year of cutting costs.

The trust managing Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and Cheltenham General Hospital is expected to have a deficit of 18million by the end of March.

It would be an 8million improvement on what the trust was forecasting when it first discovered the black hole in its budget in August last year.

Health chiefs are planning to reduce the deficit to 14.7million by March 2018  and to break even within two years.

They say they are making progress on closing the black hole having over the last year cut spending on agency staff and sold the trusts headquarters in College Lawn in Cheltenham.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said it is making encouraging progress in addressing the deficit.

A trust spokesman said: While this is not the position that we want to be in it does represent a stabilisation of our finances, having delivered against our recovery plan for the previous five months and compares strongly against a forecast position last autumn of a 26m deficit.

It is important to stress that we have done this while continuing to deliver the wide range of hospital services that our patients expect. That is due, in no small means, to our staff who continue to perform day in and day out despite challenging circumstances on occasions.

When the deficit was uncovered last August it was expected to grow to 26million by the end of the 2016/17 financial year.

In a report to the board in April, trust chief executive Deborah Lee, said: The Trust is still working to develop a plan which supports a 14.7million deficit position by March 2018 but this is becoming increasingly challenging to maintain.

A review commissioned by the trust last year described a cash decline from 30.7million in 2013 to 3.9million in March 31 2016.

The review, by Deloitte, found an underlying loss of financial control within the trust and a failure to deliver cost improvement plans  which had been masked by changing key accounting assumptions which the board was not aware of.

Deloitte also found the trust had spent significantly more money developing its equipment and buildings than it had available.

An investigation, jointly commissioned by the trust's regulator NHS Improvement, is underway to find out why the financial black hole appeared, how it took so long to be uncovered and who was involved.

The trust spokesman added: The Board is in no way complacent and recognises the size and scale of the challenge ahead. However, we are absolutely committed to returning the Trust to a breakeven position in 2018/19.
A unique group of The Womens Institute has been established in a prison with thanks to the Gloucestershires former High Sheriff.

HMP Eastwood Park is the home of the WIs newest group and was established by the Gloucestershire Federation of W.I.s with the help of funding from The High Sheriffs Grant Fund, and this years High Sheriff - The Countess Bathurst, of Cirencester Park.

Gloucestershire W.I. Federation advisors Lesley Watters and Barbara Lucus had been looking for funding or a benefactor for over 4 years and Jan Febery joined the search in January 2016, upon Barbara's retirement.

By constitution, an institute may only be formed by WI advisors, and in this case Gloucestershire Federations of Womens Institutes Lesley Watters and Jan Febery had been consistently frustrated in their quest to secure the financial backing.

The Countess Bathurst became the High Sheriff of Gloucestershire in April 2016 and immediately became deeply involved with the welfare of the prisoners at HMP Eastwood Park by initially setting up a book club, encouraging the reading and writing skills of the women.

When she heard of the initiative to set up the branch of the Womens Institute, as well as the difficulties the prison was having with securing financial support, Lady Bathurst, who is herself a member of the WI, provided immediate funding for an initial grant to forge the idea ahead, before establishing ongoing funding for the next three years, providing rolling membership for 35 prisoners.

The WI group had its first meeting in June 2016 at Eastwood Park, and the prisoners themselves chose the name of their new branch, Lady Bs Butterflies, a tribute and legacy to the Countesss period as the countys High Sheriff and her involvement.

The Gloucestershire Federation WI Executive and HMP Eastwood Park senior management agreed to commence discussions and work towards formation of a WI some years ago, said Mrs Watters. We are incredibly grateful to the High Sheriff for providing the money for us to be able to realise the new branch, and it is our collective hope the group continues to flourish.

Lady Bathursts already established book group within the prison encouraged several of its members to join the new branch of the WI and it has clearly been seeing positive results already, by encouraging not only the literacy levels of prisoners, but also their sense of belonging to something that brings a new level of self-respect and pride to the participants.

It is important to give the women options for when they re-join society at the end of their sentences, Lady Bathurst said. And whilst it may be hard to believe some of them struggle to read and write, it is an unfortunate fact the levels of illiteracy are high within the prison population and I very much hope they will take this opportunity of engaging with literature forward into their future lives. Not only that, the added structure of belonging to the WI will give them further confidence, as well as provide them with a sense of teamwork and togetherness.

Mrs Watters said: The governor, Suzy Dymond-White, thought this would be really good for the women and allowed us to pursue it. The WI is now fully up and running and contains members of all ages. They are hugely enthusiastic and have taken proud ownership of the group.

We can already see the W.I has brought the women together and given them a purpose. They feel part of a group which is really helping some who may have previously felt isolated. It provides a support network, as well as something they can take with them when they go home, giving excellent links to their local W.I. Already several of the members have joined their local branches on release. I consider the project to be a great success.
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A 49-year-old Gloucester man due to stand trial for drug charges pleaded guilty at the last minute to a charge of knowingly allowing his premises to be used to supply drugs.

Clifford Hull, from Wellington Street, originally faced two charges of possession with intent to supply but had always maintained the drugs were nothing to do with him. The crown accepted the plea for the alternative charge.

Hull had pleaded not guilty at a previous hearing to a firearm charge which he will stand trial for later in the year.

At Gloucester Crown Court he admitted his flat was being used by others for the use and supply of drugs but he was often "too intoxicated" and therefore turned a blind eye.

Prosecuting, Stephen Dent told the court at 12.30pm on November 22, police officers executed a search warrant at the defendant's address.

He said: "They found wraps of heroin and cocaine and 200 in cash in a jacket in the bedroom. There were scales, razor blades, plates with white powder and cling film cut into 2 inch long sheets."

Police also found a pot containing teabags, lighters, razor blades and a Kinder Egg case containing wraps of heroin and cocaine amounting to 2.4g of the class A drugs, with a street value of 140.

Hull was arrested and interviewed but did not reply to questions. Mr Dent told the court the defendant had 18 previous convictions for 16 separate offences and was currently serving a 12 month sentence at HMP Hewell.

Defending Sarah Jenkins said her client lived approximately 200 metres from Gloucester Park, which was frequented by hoards of street drinkers and drug users.

He said: "He is a heavy user of alcohol and does frequent the park. He says others would use his flat to take drugs but it wasn't something that benefited him."

"He isn't a user himself but was often intoxicated so turned a blind eye.

"He maintains they were not his drugs but his place was used to supply drugs."

"He accepts that a regular group of people visited his flat but that is different to someone basing himself at the flat and supplying to a stream of people."

Judge Michael Cullum told the defendant he was no stranger to the criminal justice system with 18 convictions spanning many years.

He said: "The prosecution accept you were not involved in the supply of heroin and cocaine but other people were from your property and with your knowledge."

Judge Cullum also said with the various drug paraphernalia found at the address, it was clear his premises was not just being used that one day and that there would have been more drug related activity prior to 22 November.

He sentenced Hull to 8 months imprisonment and ordered forfeiture and destruction of all drug paraphernalia found.

Hull will stand trial on 21 August for the possession of a shotgun between 1 and 31 January this year.
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Vancouver, April 20, 2017 - MGX Minerals Inc. ("MGX" or the "Company") (CSE: XMG / FKT: 1MG / OTC: MGXMF) is pleased to announce it has received independent laboratory-testing results from the Saskatchewan Research Council ("SRC") on the Company's patent-pending "Method for Extraction of Lithium from Salt Brine" (U.S. Provisional Patent #62/419,011).

As reported by SRC, the Company's proprietary design process was successful in recovering up to 83.7% lithium (Li) and concentrating 461 ppm Li from a 71 ppm representative sample of formation brine originating from the Sturgeon Lake oilfield.

"The results of laboratory testing by SRC provide third-party validation of our proprietary design process and its ability to rapidly separate lithium and other valuable minerals from wastewater brine," stated MGX President and CEO Jared Lazerson. "We have made many advancements since this original process design, but this validation is important and we will continue to rely on SRC for independent testing and improvements of both active and newly developed passive filtration technologies."

Excerpts from the SRC Summary Report- Metallurgical Tests and Executive Summary- are outlined verbatim below. Note that certain portions of the report have been redacted to protect proprietary information and data:

Table 1. Assay Results of the as Received Brine Sample

Element K Mg Na Cl Ca SO 2-4 Sr Br Li Assay (ppm) 4212 2903 60747 116632 24753 186 1080 334 71

SRC independently carried out multi-stage evaporation tests following the patent-pending design process as provided by MGX. As reported by SRC in the executive summary:

1.It was not feasible to remove 90% of the water in the primary evaporation of the Formation brine because the formation of the jel-like material made the filtration impossible. The maximum water evaporation was 66% of the feed brine mass before the jel formation. Approximately 97% of Na, 26% of K, 35% of Ca and 29% of Mg were precipitated. The recovery of Li and Sr was 75.6% and 68.8%, respectively. 2.The modified processes including magnesium precipitation by lime followed by the primary evaporation to precipitate NaCl and the secondary evaporation to precipitate CaCl2 and concentrate lithium. 3.The Mg removal was very effective and more than 99.99% of Mg was removed. The residue Mg in the brine was less than 0.1 ppm. The lithium recovery was 84.1% and the Sr recovery was 80.1%. 4.In the primary evaporation process, 67% of the feed brine mass was evaporated as water and more than 96% of Na was removed as NaCl. There were almost no Li or Sr loss in this process. Li was concentrated from 60 ppm to 321 ppm. 5.In the secondary evaporation process, 26% of the feed brine mass was evaporated as water and 12% of Ca was removed as CaCl2. The lithium recovery was 94.1% and the Sr recovery was 94.6%. The sample turned to a jel-like material after further evaporation to remove 40% of the brine mass as water. 6.In the whole process, the estimated water evaporated was 72% of the total feed brine mass. More than 99.99% of Mg, 99% of Na, 45% of K and 25% of Ca were precipitated from the brine. The overall recovery was 83.7% for Li and 77.2% for Sr. Lithium was concentrated to 461 ppm from 71 ppm. However, the impurity level, especially Ca, was still very high and further removal of Ca through evaporation is not feasible.

SRC has provided the Company with several recommendations to remove Ca impurity levels. The full report will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days.

Qualified Person

The technical portions of this press release were prepared and reviewed by Andris Kikauka (P. Geo.), Vice President of Exploration for MGX Minerals. Mr. Kikauka is a non-independent Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument (N.I.) 43-101 Standards.

MGX may decide to advance its petrolithium projects into production without first establishing mineral resources supported by an independent technical report or completing a feasibility study. A production decision without the benefit of a technical report independently establishing mineral resources or reserves and any feasibility study demonstrating economic and technical viability creates increased uncertainty and heightens economic and technical risks of failure. Historically, such projects have a much higher risk of economic or technical failure.

About MGX Minerals

MGX Minerals is a diversified Canadian mining company engaged in the development of large-scale industrial mineral portfolios in western Canada and the United States. The Company operates lithium, magnesium and silicon projects throughout British Columbia and Alberta as well as petrolithium exploration in Utah. Learn more at www.mgxminerals.com.

About SRC

The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) is one of Canada's leading providers of applied research, development and demonstration (RD&D) and technology commercialization. With more than 375 employees, $70 million in annual revenue and over 69 years of RD&D experience, SRC provides products and services to its 1,500 clients in 20 countries around the world.

Contact Information

Jared Lazerson

President and CEO

Telephone: 1.604.681.7735

Web: www.mgxminerals.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements including the completion of the rights offering (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "potentially" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various factors. The reader is referred to the Company's public filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects which may be accessed through the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Copyright (c) 2017 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.


VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - April 20, 2017) - Auryn Resources Inc. (TSX:AUG)(OTCQX:GGTCF) ("Auryn" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has initiated its spring mobilization at the Committee Bay gold project ("Committee Bay") located in Nunavut, Canada. The large-scale mobilization currently underway is transporting fuel and supplies to the region for the belt-wide summer exploration program, this will include 25,000 meters of drilling expected to start June 3, 2017. The focus of the program will be on making discoveries across the 12 newly identified high priority targets (Figure 1). Drilling will be focused within the Anuri, Four Hills, Three Bluffs, and Inuk corridors. In addition, regional till sampling will be completed on the 15% of the belt yet to be explored to delineate additional targets for 2018.

Shawn Wallace, President and CEO stated: "With the recent funding from Goldcorp completed and the technical team's extensive preparative exploration work to date, Auryn is well positioned to undertake an aggressive discovery focused drill program. The commencement of this 25,000 meter program is very exciting for Auryn shareholders as it marks the start of a portfolio wide 55,000 meter discovery program that will continue onto the company's Homestake and Peruvian projects through the end of the year."

In conjunction with the spring mobilization, Auryn is moving the Three Bluffs drill core to a storage facility in Edmonton so that the deposit can be re-logged in Q3 and Q4 of 2017. The purpose of the re-log is to establish the structural controls on high-grade ore-shoots within the deposit with the aim of drilling at Three Bluffs in Q2 of 2018.

At Auryn's newly acquired 120 km long Gibsons MacQuoid Gold Project, the company is planning an initial belt wide till survey as well as completing high resolution drone imagery. This exploration program is slated to begin July 15 with the goal of identifying the major centers of gold mineralization within the project area that will be drilled during the summer of 2018.

Michael Henrichsen, Chief Geologist and COO of Auryn stated, "Auryn's innovative approach, with the use of track mounted Rotary Air Blast (RAB) drill rigs and drone survey's has reduced exploration costs significantly and allowed us to actively explore on the project 12 months of the year. The quality and scale of the targets our technical team has developed over the last 8 months has demonstrated the potential of the belt to deliver multiple discoveries."

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF Auryn Resources Inc.

Shawn Wallace, President and CEO of Auryn Resources Inc.

About Auryn

Auryn Resources is a technically driven junior mining exploration company focused on delivering shareholder value through project acquisition and development. The Company's management team is highly experienced with an impressive track record of success and has assembled an extensive technical team as well as a premier gold exploration portfolio. Auryn is focused on scalable high-grade gold deposits in established mining jurisdictions, which include the Committee Bay and Gibsons MacQuoid gold project's located in Nunavut, the Homestake Ridge gold project in British Columbia and a portfolio of gold projects in southern Peru, through Corisur Peru SAC.

Forward-Looking Information

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking information is information that includes implied future performance and/or forecast information including information relating to, or associated with, exploration and or development of mineral properties. These statements or graphical information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different (either positively or negatively) from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Disclaimer

The Toronto Stock Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Figure 1: Illustrates the prioritized targets from across the Committee Bay greenstone belt. The 25,000 meter summer drill program will be primarily focused on the Anuri, Four Hills, Three Bluffs, and Inuk corridors. To view, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1092258-F1.pdf
Second Independent Proxy Advisor Glass Lewis Recommends Eco Oro Shareholders Vote on GREEN Management Proxy

Dissidents Once Again Fail to Make Case for Disruptive Board Change

Over 50% of all shareholders have voted the GREEN proxy in favour of management nominees

Still time to send a clear message to the dissident group

VANCOUVER, April 20, 2017 /CNW/ - Eco Oro Minerals Corp. ("Eco Oro" or the "Company") (TSX: EOM) is pleased to announce that in connection with the annual general and special meeting of Eco Oro shareholders scheduled for April 25, 2017, Glass Lewis & Co. ("Glass Lewis"), a second leading independent proxy voting advisory firm, has recommended that Eco Oro shareholders vote on management's GREEN proxy FOR all six highly qualified management nominees.

Glass Lewis' recommendation follows a recommendation from Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") that recommends that Eco Oro shareholders vote on management's GREEN proxy.

"We are very pleased that Glass Lewis has joined ISS in recommending shareholders vote on the GREEN management proxy. The Board is grateful to both its retail and institutional shareholders who have carefully considered the Company's plan to maximize shareholder value and judged it to be the best option for ALL shareholders. We have been open and transparent with shareholders at every step of this process and we are pleased that shareholders continue to reject the false and misleading claims of the dissident shareholder group," said Anna Stylianides, Executive Chairman.

"Even with over 50% of shareholders voting on the GREEN proxy in favour of management's nominees, shareholders who want to ensure that a clear message is sent to the dissident group attempting to seize control of Eco Oro, should take the opportunity to vote the GREEN proxy today," continued Ms. Stylianides.

The Board and management team continue to work tirelessly to protect, enhance and maximize value for all shareholders. Shareholders, protect your investment in Eco Oro and vote for all six highly-qualified individuals on the GREEN proxy or voting instruction form.

Fellow shareholders, ISS and Glass Lewis have spoken.

Contact Eco Oro's proxy solicitor, D.F. King Canada at 1-800-240-2133 (toll free in North America) or 1-201-806-7301 (outside North America) or email at inquiries@dfking.com to vote your GREEN proxy today. D.F. King can assist you if you did not receive your proxy materials or require replacement materials.

Company Profile

Eco Oro Minerals Corp. is a publicly-traded precious metals exploration and development company with a portfolio of projects in Colombia. Eco Oro has been focused on its wholly-owned, multi-million ounce Angostura gold-silver deposit, located in northeastern Colombia.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking" within the meaning of Canadian and United States securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "in the event", "if", "believes", "asserts", "position", "intends", "envisages", "assumes", "recommends", "estimates", "approximate", "projects", "potential", "indicate" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the upcoming annual general and special meeting of shareholders, statements concerning the continuing pursuit by the Company of its arbitration claim against the Republic of Colombia (the "Arbitration") and the Company's strategies and objectives, both generally and specifically, in respect of the Angostura mineral project.

All information, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including without limitation, information regarding the Arbitration, plan of business operations, projections regarding future success based on past success, ability to identify and execute investments, investment philosophy and business purposes and potential benefits of the business are forward-looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties.

Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed in its documents filed from time to time with the applicable regulatory authorities and include, but are not limited to, uncertainties and risks related to the Arbitration, including the quantum of damages to be obtained and the realization or collection of the value of any award or settlement, investment performance, minority investments, availability of further financing to fund planned or further required work in a timely manner and on acceptable terms, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, regulatory, environmental, political and other risks of the mining industry other risks discussed in disclosure documents filed by the Company with Canadian securities regulators as more fully described in the management discussion and analysis in the Company's annual and interim financial statements and its annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2016 and dated March 27, 2017 (the "2017 AIF"), all of which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Shareholders are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

SOURCE Eco Oro Minerals Corp.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - April 20, 2017) - Cypress Development Corp. (TSX VENTURE:CYP) (OTCBB:CYDVF)(FRANKFURT:C1Z1) ("Cypress" or the "Company") announces that Robert Marvin, B.Sc., P.Geo., has agreed to serve as a Director of Cypress Development and as Vice President of Exploration for the Company. Mr. Marvin currently holds the position of Exploration Manager for Cypress Development's lithium and zinc projects in Nevada.

Mr. Marvin brings to Cypress a strong history in project exploration and development throughout the Americas. He has been involved in mineral exploration for and evaluation of gold, copper, zinc, lithium and uranium deposits both along the entire Cordillera and in several areas of the Archean shield as an employee and as an independent consultant since 1979. Mr. Marvin graduated from the University of New Mexico with a Bachelor's degree focused in geology, chemistry and mathematics in 1984.

A third generation resource geologist, Mr. Marvin has learned the business from the field starting at an early age. Always keen to explore high grade deposits, Mr. Marvin has been involved in several successful gold-silver projects in Canada, most recently with Bayfield Ventures in the Rainy River gold district in Ontario but also at Meliadine and in the Committee Bay Belt of the far north.

Don Huston, Cypress President, stated: "As Exploration Manager, Mr. Marvin has been instrumental in the Company's exploration success thus far on our Clayton Valley lithium projects in Nevada. We are pleased to promote Mr. Marvin to VP of Exploration for the Company and look forward to his expertise as we advance our projects in Nevada."

About Cypress Development Corp.:

Cypress Development Corp. is a publicly traded lithium and zinc exploration company that continues to acquire and develop potentially viable mineral projects in the State of Nevada, U.S.A.

Cypress is very active in Clayton Valley, Nevada with its team committed to systematically exploring its properties for both a lithium-brine resource and expanding exploration relating to a lithium resource that exists within the large area of non-hectorite "claystone" discovered at surface that has seen recent high lithium assays recovered from these same "claystone".

Cypress Clayton Valley, Nevada Lithium Projects location map:

http://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/i/maps/CYP-Clayton-topo-satalite-small.jpg

Cypress Development Corp. has approx. 35.0 million shares issued and outstanding.

To find out more about Cypress Development Corp. (TSX VENTURE:CYP), visit our website at www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com.

Cypress Development Corp.

DONALD C. HUSTON, President

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.
CALGARY, April 20, 2017 /CNW/ - Connacher Oil and Gas Ltd. ("Connacher" or the "Company") announces its financial and operating results for the quarter- and year-ended December 31, 2016 (all amounts are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted).

Operations

As oil prices increased in the second half 2016 and 2017, the Company restored production on 16 of the 18 wells at Pod One which were previously suspended. Based on field estimates, Q1 2017 production was approximately 12,000 bbl/d.

The Company is expected to complete a turnaround at Algar by the end of Q2 2017.

Q4 2016 Highlights

Financial

Q4 2016 revenue, net of royalties, decreased 10% to $36.8 million (Q4 2015 - $41.1 million), primarily due to lower sales volumes, partially offset by higher crude oil benchmark pricing





Q4 2016 adjusted EBITDA deficit decreased to $3.4 million (Q4 2015  deficit of $20.5 million), primarily due to lower input costs, partially offset by lower revenue, net of royalties





Q4 2016 funds used decreased to $13.6 million (Q4 2015 - funds used of $27.8 million) due to an improved adjusted EBITDA, partially offset by higher interest costs associated with the Company's DIP financing





In Q4 2016, the Company generated a net gain of $400.7 million (Q4 2015 - net loss of $56.0 million). The net gain is primarily due to the reversal of impairment of $435.0 million related to the Company's property, plant and equipment ("PP&E") and an improved adjusted EBITDA





In Q4 2016, capital expenditures totaled $2.4 million (Q4 2015 - $9.1 million) and were focused on facility enhancements and well servicing in order to restore production





Connacher closed Q4 2016 with a cash balance of $17.1 million (including restricted cash of $7.1 million) (Q4 2015 - $47.2 million)

Operational

Q4 2016 production decreased 28% to 10,086 bbl/d (Q4 2015 - 13,919 bbl/d) due to the Company's strategic decision to reduce production in the low commodity price environment





Q4 2016 blending costs decreased 28% to $10.8 million (Q4 2015 - $14.9 million), primarily due to lower total diluent volumes associated with decreased bitumen production, partially offset by higher diluent pricing





Q4 2016 transportation and handling costs decreased 67% to $6.7 million (Q4 2015 - $20.1 million), primarily due to a reduction in sales to rail-based destinations and an increase in plant-gate sales





In Q4 2016, production and operating expense decreased 14% to $18.6 million (Q4 2015 - $21.5 million), primarily due to the realization of operating cost reduction initiatives

YE 2016 Highlights

Financial

YTD 2016 revenue, net of royalties decreased 54% to $103.1 million (2015 - $224.3 million), primarily due to the decline in crude oil benchmark pricing and lower sales volumes associated with the Company's strategic decision to reduce production in the low commodity price environment





YTD 2016 adjusted EBITDA deficit decreased to $48.9 million (2015 - deficit of $50.8 million), primarily due to lower input costs, partially offset by lower revenue, net of royalties





YTD 2016 funds used decreased to $84.4 million (2015 - funds used of $101.8 million) due to lower interest as the $350 million principal amount of 8% senior secured notes of Connacher due August 1, 2018 and the US$550 million principal amount of 8% senior secured notes of Connacher due August 1, 2019 were exchanged for common shares as part of the Company's recapitalization in 2015





In 2016, net loss totaled $46.3 million (2015 - net loss of $42.3 million). YTD 2016 included foreign exchange gains, lower finance charges, and a reversal of impairment associated with the Company's PP&E assets. YTD 2015 net loss included significant accounting gains associated with the Company's 2015 recapitalization





YTD 2016 capital expenditures totaled $4.3 million (2015 - $21.1 million) and were focused on non-discretionary maintenance capital, facility enhancements, and well servicing

Operational

YTD 2016 production decreased 41% to 8,597 bbl/d (2015 - 14,547 bbl/d) due to the Company's strategic decision to reduce production in the low commodity price environment





YTD 2016 blending costs decreased 52% to $34.7 million (2015- $72.4 million), primarily due to lower total diluent volumes associated with decreased bitumen production volumes and lower diluent pricing





YTD 2016 transportation and handling costs decreased 66% to $29.9 million (2015 - $88.2 million), primarily due to a reduction in sales to rail-based destinations and an increase in plant-gate sales, partially offset by penalties for non-delivery incurred in the first half of 2016





YTD 2016 production and operating expenses decreased 23% to $67.3 million (2015 - $87.3 million), primarily as a result of lower natural gas costs and the realization of operating cost reduction initiatives

2016 Financial Highlights











FINANCIAL (1) Q4 2016 Q4 2015 2016 2015 Revenue, net of royalties $36,767 $41,056 $103,059 $224,276 Adjusted EBITDA (2) (3,375) (20,478) (48,914) (50,778) Net earnings (loss) 400,742 (56,032) (46,346) (42,295)

Basic per share 14.15 (1.98) (1.64) (2.27)

Diluted per share 14.15 (1.98) (1.64) (2.27) Funds used (3) (13,642) (27,781) (84,350) (101,817) Capital expenditures 2,369 9,055 4,319 21,059 Cash on hand (4) 17,814 47,235



Working capital surplus (deficiency) (291,572) 59,185



Long-term debt - 255,228



Shareholders' equity 478,184 524,097





(1) ($ 000) except per share amounts (2) Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure and is defined in the "Advisory Section" of the 2016 MD&A and is reconciled to net earnings (loss) under "Reconciliations of Net Earnings (Loss) to EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, and Bitumen Netback" (3) Funds used is a non-GAAP measure and is defined in the "Advisory Section" of the 2016 MD&A and is reconciled to cash flow from operating activities under "Reconciliations of Cash Flow Used in Operating Activities to Funds Used" (4) Balance includes restricted cash of $7.1 million, pursuant to the terms of the Initial Order granted in the Company's CCAA proceeding before the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta, Judicial Centre of Calgary

2016 Operational Highlights











OPERATIONAL Q4 2016 Q4 2015 2016 2015 Average benchmark prices







WTI (US$/bbl) $49.29 $42.18 $43.32 $48.80 WTI ($/bbl) 66.16 56.60 57.32 62.98 Heavy oil differential (US$/bbl) (14.32) (14.49) (13.84) (13.57) WCS ($/bbl) 49.93 37.16 39.00 45.47 $/US$ exchange rate 1.34 1.34 1.32 1.29 Production and sales volumes (1)







Daily bitumen production (bbl/d) 10,086 13,919 8,597 14,547 Daily bitumen sales (bbl/d) 10,006 13,675 8,734 14,280 Bitumen netback ($/bbl) (2)(3)







Dilbit sales $34.29 $27.48 $27.55 $35.81 Blending of products sold (5.65) (6.58) (5.91) (6.41) Realized bitumen sales price 28.64 20.90 21.64 29.40 Transportation and handling costs (7.30) (15.98) (9.35) (16.92) Net realized bitumen sales price 21.34 4.92 12.29 12.48 Royalties (0.39) (0.09) (0.24) (0.25) Net bitumen revenue price 20.95 4.83 12.05 12.23 Production and operating expenses (20.20) (17.09) (21.07) (16.74) Bitumen netback $0.75 $(12.26) $(9.02) $(4.51)

(1) The Company's bitumen sales and production volumes differ due to changes in inventory and product losses (2) A non-GAAP measure which is defined in the "Advisory Section" of the 2016 MD&A. Bitumen netback is reconciled to net loss under "Reconciliations of Net Earnings (Loss) to EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, and Bitumen Netback". Bitumen netbacks per barrel amounts are calculated by dividing the total amounts presented in the "Bitumen Netback" table on page 10 by bitumen sold volumes as presented in the "Production and Sales Volumes" table on page 9, with the exception of dilbit sales (presented as dilbit sales divided by dilbit sales volume) and diluent costs (presented as the cost of diluent in excess of the dilbit selling price) (3) Before risk management contract gains or losses

Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act ("CCAA") Announcement and Status

On May 17, 2016, the Company sought and obtained creditor protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act ("CCAA") pursuant to an order (the "Initial Order") granted by the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta, Judicial Centre of Calgary (the "Court"). The Court granted CCAA protection for an initial period expiring on June 16, 2016. Since the Initial Order, five Court-ordered extensions of the stay period in the Initial Order have been obtained, with the most recent extending the stay of proceedings until and including June 30, 2017 (the "CCAA Stay Period").

Under the Initial Order, Ernst & Young Inc. was appointed by the Court as the monitor (the "Monitor").

The CCAA is a federal insolvency statute that allows an insolvent company which owes creditors in excess of $5 million to restructure its business and financial affairs and stays creditors and others from enforcing rights against the insolvent company.

The Initial Order also approved and authorized the Company and the Monitor to conduct a sale and investment solicitation process (the "SISP"), as set out in Schedule "A" to the Initial Order, to identify one or more purchasers and/or investors in the Company's business and/or property.

As authorized and approved by the Initial Order, the Company secured interim financing in the form of a senior secured debtor-in-possession credit facility (the "Interim Financing Credit Facility" or "DIP") from certain existing lenders certain of which are also significant shareholders of the Company (the "Interim Lenders") for up to US$20 million, with initial commitments of up to US$11.5 million (the "Initial Commitments").

On October 26, 2016, the Company entered into a Waiver, Approval, and Modification Agreement (the "Agreement") with the Interim Lenders related to the DIP. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Interim Lenders agreed to waive certain limited defaults under the DIP related to the CCAA SISP timelines and provided the Company with access to an additional amount of approximately US$5.0 million of the US$20 million DIP initially authorized by the Court to support the Company's continuing operations.

On December 16, 2016, the Company entered into a further Approval and Modification Agreement (the "Second Amendment Agreement") with the Interim Lenders related to the DIP. The Second Amendment Agreement extended the maturity date under the DIP from May 17, 2017 to December 31, 2017 and amends certain provisions of the DIP in order to provide the Company with greater flexibility to enter into hedging agreements and other long-term contracts.

As at December 31, 2016, in connection with the CCAA proceeding, the Company identified the following obligations subject to potential compromise:







(Canadian dollars in thousands)



Current and long-term portions of Amended Term Loan Facility

$209,682 Interest payable on Amended Term Loan Facility



21,506 Convertible Notes



44,000 Interest payable on Convertible Notes



10,770 Trade and accrued liabilities



17,966 Total liabilities subject to compromise



$303,924

The aforementioned obligations, subject to potential compromise, represent the amounts expected to be resolved through the CCAA proceeding and remain subject to future, potentially material, adjustments. On August 24, 2016, the Court granted a claims procedure order establishing a process for the filing of claims against the Company and its directors and officers by September 26, 2016 (the "Claims Bar Date"). The Company received 89 claims by the Claims Bar Date.

The liabilities that are not subject to the CCAA proceeding are excluded from the liabilities subject to potential compromise and include certain non-restructuring liabilities incurred subsequent to May 17, 2016.

The Company continues to investigate, evaluate, and consider possible sale and restructuring alternatives.

About Connacher

Connacher is a Calgary-based in situ oil sands developer, producer, and marketer of bitumen. The Company holds a 100 per cent interest in approximately 447 million barrels of proved and probable bitumen reserves and operates two steam-assisted gravity drainage facilities located on the Company's Great Divide oil sands leases near Fort McMurray, Alberta.

Forward Looking Information

This press release contains forward looking information including but not limited to the implementation and status of the CCAA proceeding and the SISP, the Company's ability to manage its liquidity position and deploy the capital required to maintain existing reserve and production bases, fund maintenance capital, fund working capital requirements and meet contractual and other commitments; expectations regarding future commodity prices, foreign exchange rates, diluent blend ratio, transportation costs, rail costs, rail usage, and production and operating costs in future periods; expectations regarding sales and production, bitumen netback, general and administrative expenses, and capital expenditures in future periods; the Company's reserves; and general operational and financial performance in future periods.

Forward looking information is based on management's expectations regarding the Company's future financial position; the Company's future growth, results of operations and production, future commodity prices and foreign exchange rates; future capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature, and sources of funding thereof), plans for and results of drilling activity; environmental matters; business prospects and opportunities; and future economic conditions. Forward looking information involves significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to: the risk that the SISP process may not result in a sale of the Company or its assets or a restructuring of the Company's debt obligations, the risk that the CCAA Stay Period will not be extended past June 30, 2017 and that as a result creditors will be entitled to exercise their various rights and remedies against the Company, the level of indebtedness of the Company, the implementation and impact of any reorganization or restructuring on the assets, business and financial affairs of the Company, future co-operation of the creditors of the Company, the Company's ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations or to obtain adequate financing to fund capital expenditures and working capital needs and to maintain the Company's ongoing obligations during the CCAA process and thereafter, the ability to maintain relationships with suppliers, customers, employees, shareholders and other third parties in light of the Company's current liquidity situation and the CCAA proceeding, as well as the risks associated with the oil and gas industry (e.g., operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of reserve and resource estimates; the uncertainty of geological interpretations; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to production, costs and expenses; and health, safety and environmental risks), risk of commodity price and foreign exchange rate fluctuations, risks associated with the impact of general economic conditions, risks and uncertainties associated with maintaining the necessary regulatory approvals and securing the financing to continue operations and increase production to levels previously achieved.

Reported average production levels may not be reflective of sustainable production rates and future production rates may differ materially from the production rates reflected in this press release due to, among other factors, difficulties or interruptions encountered during the production of bitumen.

Although Connacher believes that the expectations in such forward looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations shall prove to be correct. Any forward looking information included in this press release is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Any forward looking information included herein is made as of the date of this press release and Connacher assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward looking information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

SOURCE Connacher Oil and Gas Ltd.
Jan Auld, vice president of the Right to Life group of Lea County, N.M., regarding the city of Hobbs decision to ban abortions, despite the procedure being legal in the state. The town is advertising itself as a sanctuary city for the unborn. The all-male Hobbs City Commission voted on the issue unanimously. (Reuters  Nov. 8, 2022)
Saying he was there to show basic compassion, Gov. Jim Justice signed into law the bill that makes West Virginia the 29th state to legalize medical marijuana.Justice signed the bill in a Wednesday ceremony with a few legislators in attendance, including Delegate Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, who sponsored several medical marijuana bills through the years, and Sen. Richard Ojeda, D-Logan, who was the lead sponsor of the bill that passed."With great pleasure, I'm going to sign this into law," Justice said. "I think all of us feel like we are doing something good for families out there. At the end of the day, no matter what we do, there's a name attached to it -- a family attached to it. We know that."Senate Bill 386 does not allow smoking or packaged edible products, but a person will be permitted to obtain pills, oil or topical forms.People would have to get a certificate from the Bureau for Public Health and an ID card to go to a dispensary and have a product filled for a 30-day supply.As amended, the bill allows 30 dispensaries and 10 growers, creating fees for each category."We have done something that is goodness in my book," Justice said. "I don't want to do anything to hurt or worsen the situation but in this situation, I think the public has spoken and we have spoken. Now, let's try to help as many people as we possibly can."It was a procedural move that catapulted the bill to the House floor. Championed by Delegate Michael Folk, R-Berkeley, a move to bypass committee reference and move the bill straight to the floor kept was adopted."The Senate was always receptive," Folk had said in a previous interview. "(Senate President Mitch) Carmichael sponsored a medical marijuana bill a couple of years ago. I figured we needed to get it out of the Senate to have a shot. I've been waiting for this for three years. This is the year that we finally got it out. That's why I did what I did because I knew if it went to the committee, it (would) die."Justice said Folk was not able to make it to Wednesday's ceremony, but the governor commended him for his motion."It took great bravery for Mike Folk to do what he did," Justice said.After the ceremony, Pushkin said he was surprised to be standing in the governor's reception room watching the bill being signed into law."Going into session, no one thought that we would be here today. The reason we are here is because it's the right thing to do," he said.Dr. Rahul Gupta, Commissioner for the Bureau for Public Health, also was in attendance Wednesday. He said he was surprised at the bill's passage as well."Most people were surprised," he said. "It's an understatement. However, what we have in front of us today is a law as it stands in an attempt to compassionately address a number of disorders with chronic pain at the heart of it."There are several steps the bureau will take before the 2019 effective date. The first is reviewing current law, followed by appointing a Medical Cannabis Board."There is an enormous amount of work that needs to be done before that to ensure that it is done properly, vetted properly in a transparent, proper and evidence-based way," Gupta said.The board will develop guidelines to license growers, dispensaries and processors. The board also will provide physician education and develop an electronic database to house the information, including patient ID cards."It's important to remember that this is not a recreational use law," Gupta said. "This is medical cannabis. There is data out there, although it is limited data, that demonstrates when it comes to chronic pain, it has shown benefits in the reduction of symptoms. Oral cannabis also has shown to reduce symptoms of MS and symptoms of spasticity."Gupta said in his view, one of the biggest challenges is that there is not a ton of evidence, saying part of that is because of the federal ban of cannabis use."I believe this is going to help us because the funding in this bill allows for work to be done toward substance use problems," he said. "It allows us an opportunity to explore data, capture data and play a role in developing evidence whether or not cannabis works and what conditions it works."Gupta said he thinks medical marijuana will help many people but said he also thinks the state should proceed with caution as it embarks on the program, especially when it comes to unintended poisonings of children."We have to be careful as we develop this that pregnant women and children are protected," he said.
Las Vegas is preparing to be the first city in the nation with vending machines dispensing clean needles in an effort to help combat the spread of hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, while also possibly leading some drug users into treatment.Three machines will be available for users starting in May. The pilot program is a coordinated effort between Trac-B Exchange, the Southern Nevada Health District and the Nevada AIDS Research and Education Society to discourage the sharing of needles among users.Trac-B Exchange program director Rick Reich said that to participate in the vending machine program, users would have to fill out a form for the sponsoring groups and obtain an eight-digit identification number to ensure confidentiality and track their use. Each kit will contain sterile syringes and needles _ along with a compartment for used needles that can be disposed of safely at the machines.But unlike snack, soda or movie rental machines left in open spaces, these $15,000 machines will be located inside the three facilities and would be accessed only during the hours the buildings are open for business. Reich said the cost of each kit was under $10, but they would be free for users.Reich said putting one of the vending machines inside the Community Counseling Center of Southern Nevada was designed to allow some drug abusers to interact with trained counselors if they decided they wanted to get help.Patrick Bozarth, executive director of the counseling center, said his staff had been undergoing training in anticipation of reaching drug abusers who may use the vending machine and learn about treatment options."I think we're optimistic it will help," Bozarth said. "But it's such a new program and we want to make sure we're prepared."Needle exchange programs have been used successfully throughout the world, with several nations adopting vending machine technology into their mix to curb the spread of blood-borne pathogens.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported the effectiveness of needle exchange programs, and the North American Needle Exchange Network counts 228 syringe service programs in 35 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.The CDC reported on a study that looked at the effects of New York's exchange program on the prevalence of hepatitis C infection between 1990 and 2001, and found the needle exchange program reduced the disease's prevalence from 80 percent to 59 percent among intravenous drug users.Needle and syringe possession was illegal in Nevada up until 2013, when the state Legislature repealed the law. Pharmacies can sell needles and syringes but have discretion about who can purchase them.Reich said the machines helped remove some of the stigma faced by users who felt uncomfortable during transactions with pharmacists _ some of whom may question why the syringe and needle are needed."Vending machines are not born with a bias," Reich said. "It doesn't have a personality and doesn't care how you look when you approach it."Jenny Gratzke, disease investigator and intervention specialist with the Southern Nevada Health District, said there were an estimated 5,800 injection drug users in Clark County, a number she believed was low.Most of the users, she said, are either injecting heroin or methamphetamine, with a smaller number shooting up cocaine. A small percentage of needle users, she said, are transgender people using hormones or steroids.Gratzke said she hoped users took advantage of the vending machines, but she acknowledged the initial rollout faced some challenges."It does take time to gain the trust of the community," she said. "The people who are injecting the drugs have been stigmatized, and so I think they may be a little hesitant initially. But once it catches on, I think it will be beneficial for everyone involved."
Social scientists have a long history of helping government, providing research and data that help shape public policy. Typically, though, they're just advisers or consultants brought in for a specific research project.The Lab @ D.C., which is set to launch its website in May, is different. For at least the next two years, the District of Columbia will employ a team of social scientists to study and address public problems. The researchers' expertise have a wide range -- from economics and statistics to sociology and psychology.The scientists at the Lab are full-time government employees who respond to research requests from any agency in the District. It's a rare effort by a state or local government to integrate scientific research with the evaluation and creation of public policy.We are trying to expand to a different type of career in government, says David Yokum, the Labs director who previously oversaw the Office of Evaluation Sciences in the U.S. General Services Administration. What were doing in here is on-the-fly [and] in-the-trenches applied research, doing data analytics, doing field experiments. Were generating evidence in real-time.The Lab's current projects include an investigation of how body cameras influence citizen and police behavior, an experiment to discover the best ways to boost police recruits and a study of which local workforce training programs most often result in employment.The Lab @ D.C. is part of a larger project funded by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, which supports similar " policy labs " in Houston, Rhode Island and Michigan. In each case, the foundation awarded several million dollars in seed money for a three-year demonstration, hoping that the state or local governments will sustain the effort with their own funding after that. Unlike the Lab @ D.C., the other three policy labs are headquartered at a local university -- though they all work closely with government officials.The Houston Education Research Consortium ( HERC ) started in 2011, and academics at Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban Research have been meeting weekly with officials from the Houston Independent School District ever since.Ruth Turley, a sociologist who directs HERC, revels in the collaboration."We're used to developing our own research questions, choosing our own research sites and then publishing in academic journals that nobody reads," she says. With HERC, "we're developing the questions together with the potential users of that research from the beginning."So far, the lab has produced 20 reports and is juggling about a dozen research projects. In one ongoing study, HERC is evaluating the impacts that school closures have on students. While results from that project aren't available yet, others are. For example, HERC has found that having full-time college advisors in high schools increases the rate of college applications. In another experiment, researchers found that the reading programs for elementary schoolers didn't improve literacy rates."It was disappointing and surprising, but the [school] district took that information and stopped spending all that money on this program that didn't seem to help," says Turley. "It's just as helpful to find that something isn't working as it is to find something that is."Because of the lab's productivity and impact, the decision to keep funding it once the initial grant ran out was a no-brainer. The Kinder Foundation donated $10.7 million to keep HERC going.Meanwhile, the Rhode Island Innovative Policy Lab ( RIIPL ), which has operated out of Brown University since 2015, has helped the state government integrate and manage its administrative data so that researchers have better information at their fingertips for answering policy questions. RIIPL is currently studying ways to reduce prisoner recidivism and why people who are eligible for federal nutrition assistance don't always take advantage of the program.Faculty involved with RIIPL still apply for research grants and publish in peer-reviewed journals, but like their peers in Houston, they meet regularly with government partners and try to make sure the questions they investigate matter to public officials."We don't feel that research and scholarship need to be divorced from impact," says Justine Hastings, an economist at Brown who directs RIIPL. "We believe in engaged research."D.C. has received $3.5 million to create its Lab. When that funding runs its course after a few years, District officials will have to decide whether its activities merit the roughly $1 million a year it would likely cost taxpayers. Being scientists, it's far too early in their studies to make a conclusion.We are, ourselves, an experiment, says Yokum.
On Wednesday, in the morning, at Pullman Reef Hotel, Cairns, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC and Mrs Kaye de Jersey hosted an Investiture Ceremony for residents of North and Far North Queensland, recipients of awards under the Australian honours and awards system announced on Australia Day 2016, and in the Bravery Honours List on 17 August 2016.

Following, at Cairns State High School, the Governor and Mrs de Jersey attended a special assembly at which His Excellency addressed guests, and then toured classrooms, before returning, in the afternoon, to Brisbane.
Description

GIS - 20 April, 2017: Enterprise Mauritius is leading from 24 to 28 April 2017 a delegation of 11 companies from the Agro and Textile and Apparel sectors to the Czech Republic and Denmark for Buyers Sellers Meetings (BSM)/ Contact Promotion Programme (CPP). The various products that will be promoted are: pickles, pastes, spices, fresh fruits, rum, instant noodles, tea, frozen snacks, suits, T-Shirts, polo shirts, ladies wear, caps, hats, trousers, shirts and denim wear. Enterprise Mauritius is leading from 24 to 28 April 2017 a delegation of 11

The main objectives of the BSM/CPP are to promote Mauritius as a reliable and preferred sourcing destination for quality products as well as to diversify to new and emerging markets in the European Union. The Buyers Sellers Meetings represent an opportunity for buyers to assess first-hand the Made in Mauritius label and to forge business partnerships with Mauritian enterprises.

This is the second promotion event that Enterprise Mauritius is conducting in the Czech Republic following the success of its first edition. The BSM/CPP in the Czech Republic will be held at Hilton Hotel Prague where Business-to-Business meetings with Czech buyers have been arranged. Prague has been chosen since it is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is also the highest performing area of the country and accounts to around 25% of the countrys GDP and is the major business hub of the country whereby 10% of the population lives.

The CPP in Denmark will be taking place in two cities namely Horsens and Copenhagen. Situated in the heart of Denmark, Horsens experienced an important business growth, making it one of the biggest and most important distribution centres in Denmark. Copenhagen is the capital city of Denmark and the most populous city in Denmark as well as in the Nordic region.

Mauritius domestic exports to the Czech Republic stand at Rs 229 million, with a 90% increase in exports over its preceding year. For the Danish market, domestic exports stand at Rs 156 million, with a 19% fall over the previous year.
If cities want to serve immigrants, what they need is empathy  so says Norma Padron and the team at APPCityLife.The company, which already sells a mobile-friendly platform-as-a-service product to cities, is working on an immigration-focused solution for this years NYC BigApps competition. The direction theyre headed, with an April 30 deadline approaching, is to build an artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbot. And the banner they march under is empathy.An empathetic approach would be one where a city service can speak directly to an immigrant in their own language; one where it could understand what theyre saying and knows what theyre looking for. Thats the goal.And this year, NYC BigApps just happens to be better than ever for that concept. Thats because this year, the competitions winners could get access to the hundreds of LinkNYC kiosks scattered throughout the countrys biggest city. That is, in order to access APPCityLifes chatbot, they wouldnt need a computer, or a phone, or even the ability to speak the English language. As long as they can get to a kiosk, they could use the service to get information and possibly connect with people who can help them. Thats on top of building versions that would work for computers and mobile devices.The idea, according to APPCityLife Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Abeyta, is to create something that makes it easy for anybody to access the resources they need. Toward that end, theyre building the solution using existing AI engines and natural language processors with built-in translation capabilities. The data they show to users will come from an expanding catalog of open data API s; if the city opens up more data sets, or if third parties want to offer their own APIs, they could keep expanding the apps' capabilities.You could say, I need a doctor or I need a lawyer, and it could browse across the Internet or across data sets, Abeyta said.Existing translation services with open APIs  of which there are multiple choices  have achieved high enough accuracy rates that they should be good enough to serve the average person, he said.The teams approach is built from a foundation that acknowledges the challenges immigrants have when trying to use government services, according to Padron. Padron, the associate director of Main Line Healths Population Health Research Center and a professor at Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) in Philadelphia, knows a thing or two about that  she was born to Mexican parents in a high-poverty Texas border town and has spent parts of her life in three countries besides the U.S. Amid news stories of immigration agents using misleading tactics to find and deport immigrants, shes witnessed a rising distrust of government thats seeped into many corners of life.Patients [at TJUs hospital] were very afraid of seeing a doctor and giving them their real names  even in the face of having a heart attack, Padron said.Shes drawn on that experience while working with APPCityLife on the project.Im imagining that Im looking for legal services and Im in an emergency, she said.Still, immigration is just the use case APPCityLife is focusing on for its NYC BigApps submission. Lawrence Abeyta, as well as CEO Lisa Abeyta, see some very natural paths for expanding the idea after the fact.Whether its someone whos visually impaired or has problems with language and sound, it gives them the ability to get services when and where and how they need, Lisa Abeyta said.As they build, test and deploy the service, they would want to continue improving it. The chatbot could act as a natural data collection service  APPCityLifes usual approach is to collect opt-in data on an anonymized basis  that could show what kinds of things people use it for the most. It could also generate geotags so cities could see where requests are most likely to come from.And of course, theres no guarantee that they win NYC BigApps. But the idea already has government officials attention.Weve already started talking with one city who said, When this is ready, we want to be your first, Lisa Abeyta said.
Philadelphia Illustrates Positive Uses of Open Data in the City

Philadelphia has launched a blog to look at ways its residents are using open data in their everyday lives to make the city a better place.

This project is a collaboration between Philadelphias Office of Open Data and Digital Transformation and Temple Universitys department of journalism. At the blog's core is recent Temple graduate Kamal Elliott interviewing Philadelphia residents who have used open data in a meaningful way, with an overarching goal of showing others how tangible such pursuits can be.

In a post announcing the project , officials said topics will include how residents have used data to plan programs, grow businesses, advance advocacy and build apps. The blog will also look at how government has benefited from citizens having access to data.

Philadelphia, like nearly all major cities in the US, has had an open data portal for some time. Theirs is OpenDataPhilly , and this blog will illustrate ways that it can be used as part of a broader nationwide trend  a trend where civic technologists are no longer content with just spilling data sets online, so they are moving on to conveying data in ways that more people can digest and understand. Philadelphias blog is unique, in that it seeks to use narratives and journalism to inspire greater use. Other cities, including Chicago, Boston and New York, have recently overhauled their data platforms to make the interface simpler.

Director of San Franciscos Startup in Residence Program Leaves for New York City

Excited to join @MiguelGamino & the @nycforward team #Day1 #govtech #breakthroughtechnology pic.twitter.com/wgcO5o3sXw  Jeremy M. Goldberg (@JeremyMGoldberg) April 17, 2017

Chicago Launches Redesigned Data Portal

In addition, Philadelphia is also soliciting user input for a beta version of a new website it plans to launch soon.Jeremy Goldberg, formerly the director of innovation partnerships and the Startup in Residence program in San Francisco, has left his position to become the managing director of NYCx, an initiative based in the New York City Mayors Office of Technology and Innovation Goldberg began work in New York on Monday, April 17, announcing the change on Twitter.Goldbergs move follows that of Miguel Gamino Jr., who left his position in October 2016 as San Franciscos CIO to become New York Citys chief technology officer . In the wake of Goldbergs departure, those interested in the Startup in Residence Program are asked to contact Amardeep Prasad.With Goldbergs involvement, STiR grew from a citywide initiative in 2014 to an annual program in four regional cities, including San Francisco, Oakland, San Leandro and West Sacramento. The idea behind it is a simple one: Embed startups in compatible government departments where they can do the most good. Through STiR, technologists work first-hand with government employees, gaining the insight they need to identify and tackle problems they likely could not have seen from the outside.STiR participants have seen much success. One such story is Binti , which has been rapidly signing California clients after its time in STiR helped it develop digital tools to make the foster parent application process far more efficient for both social workers and potential caretakers. Felicia Curcuru, Bintis chief executive officer, has attributed involvement with the program to her company having now signed more than 20 government clients throughout California.Chicago has launched a redesigned open data portal that seeks to both increase information and make it simpler for users that arent data scientists, joining a number of major cities that are overhauling their platforms to be more accessible to residents.The Chicago Data Portals relaunch took place Monday, April 17, and the main page of the site featured data sets most likely to draw interest from residents, including the locations of restaurants with sidewalk cafe permits, information about taxis, restaurant inspections and police incident reports. The platform is a marked improvement in both aesthetic and utility over the one Chicago built in 2012 after an executive order from Mayor Rahm Emmanuel required an open data portal. There is also a marked increase in visual elements on the new site, including maps and graphs.Open data is not just for the tech-savvy, but for all Chicagoans and visitors to the data portal, Chicago officials wrote in a statement announcing the launch.The website is the culmination of feedback gathered about Chicagos open data portal over the five years in which it was been available. The feedback was solicited in focus groups that were conducted in partnership with groups such as Smart Chicago Collaborative and ChiHackNight. In September 2016, the new design was also shown at Woodson Regional Library in the citys Washington Heights area in order to collect feedback.To continue to alleviate concern about accessibility, Chicago has created a YouTube channel with tutorials about how use its open data portal. Residents can also follow Chicago open data developments through an ongoing blog
(TNS) - Six months after dangerous Hurricane Matthew buzzed up Floridas Atlantic coast, storm experts are still debating why some people didnt evacuate in the face of what became the 10th most destructive storm in U.S. history.A clutch of coastal condo dwellers and beachfront homeowners refused to budge despite mandatory orders and unusual public pleas from South Florida hurricane hero Bryan Norcross and National Hurricane Center Director Rick Knabb.They got lucky when Matthew delivered only a glancing blow, but how to better convey potential storm risk was a theme at Wednesdays National Hurricane Conference in New Orleans where forecasters lamented ineffective messaging.I think its fair to say we have not had a successful storm from a communications standpoint in memory, said Norcross, a Weather Channel expert who is credited with saving lives during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. And when I say successful, I mean in the regard that people understood what the threat was.As Matthew bore down on the Sunshine State with 140 mph winds, Norcross taped a special message to his friends in Florida asking them to heed evacuation demands, while Knabb, backed by standing hurricane center staff members, made his own plea in a more personalized effort to reach people.It bothered us that we had to do that, said Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the National Hurricane Center. It just seemed that people in Florida werent evacuating.In Palm Beach County, 49,000 people in mobile or manufactured homes, and 90,000 who live on barrier islands or along some areas of the Intracoastal were asked to evacuate for Matthew.Nearly 8,000 fled to the countys 13 general population shelters, 184 stayed in a special needs shelter and 245 people were in the pet-friendly shelter at West Boynton Recreation Center.Beyond counting heads in shelters, tallying the exact number of evacuees is a difficult task. Its unknown how many people found safe haven in hotels, with friends, or who were seasonal residents and hadnt arrived yet.Hurricane Matthews storm surge, torrential rains, and winds, did about $10 billion in damage from Florida through the Carolinas, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. The National Hurricane Center report on Matthew ranks it as the 10th most destructive hurricane to affect the U.S.The storm was also directly responsible for 34 deaths in the U.S.Speakers on a conference panel Wednesday were thankful there were relatively few deaths.But just because a bunch of people didnt get killed doesnt mean people responded properly to the risk they were in, Norcross said.Part of the problem is people dont understand the damage storm surge can do, and therefore dont see it as a risk. Its one reason the National Hurricane Center is now issuing storm surge watches and warnings.Culturally, in this country, we havent yet gotten afraid enough of water, Knabb said.Research has shown that people who dont evacuate have misperceptions of the storm threat, said Jay Baker, professor emeritus at Florida State University, who has surveyed people in evacaution zones.They say they believe the storm is going to hit them, but dont think it will adversely affect them if it does.And that was true even for people a block from the water, Baker told The Palm Beach Post in an interview after Matthew. People are still more concerned about wind than water.Florida officials attending the conference said there were many successes with Matthew evacuations.Andrew Sussman, Florida Emergency Managements hurricane program and catastrophic planning manager, compared Matthew to 1999s Hurricane Floyd. In Floyd, Sussman said people waited in day-long traffic jams trying to evacuate. With Matthew, he said people driving on Interstate 95 were able to maintain the speed limit.There were many days for people to prepare, Sussman said.But fewer people were asked to evacuate during Matthew because of improving forecasts and evacuation areas based on storm surge over wind. In Palm Beach County, only two of five zones were evacuated based on a potential worse-case scenario of up to 5 feet of Matthew-forced sea water coming ashore.The reason there was no loss of life wasnt because everyone listened to emergency managers and because everyone did such a great job, it was because the storm stayed off the coast, said Max Mayfield, former National Hurricane Center director and hurricane specialist for Channel 10 in Miami. So before we pat ourselves on the back too much, it makes a huge difference in the type of storm you get.If you havent yet, join Kim on Facebook , Instagram and Twitter .2017 The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.)Visit The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.) at www.palmbeachpost.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.




IIJA & ARP Broadband Funding

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Mr. Vu Hong Nam presents Vietnamese language textbook

to overseas Vietnamese in Senegal (Photo: quehuongonline.vn)

Located in West Africa, nearly 24 hours flying time from Vietnam, Senegal is home to about 3,000 Vietnamese origin people, including the first migrants from the 1950s-60s.

Among the nearly 200 Vietnamese families there, most are Vietnamese spouses with Senegalese husbands; some have just arrived there after contact through tourism and then stay there to do business.

Most Vietnamese people work as civil servants, traders, or are hired to work in many different occupations. Their living conditions are relatively stable.

Notably, some Vietnamese individuals have held high positions in the local government, such as Mr. Jean Gomis, who had even been a general of the Senegalese military, Ms. Claudia Dialo had been the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ambassador of Senegal in a foreign country.

In November 2016, the Association of Indochinese Vietnamese in Senegal, named Kim Hoi, was established, becoming a common home to connect more than 200 members of Vietnamese origin.

Mr. Vu Hong Nam conveyed kindly regards of senior leaders and people of Vietnam to all overseas Vietnamese in Senegal; appreciated their efforts to overcome many difficulties in life and work when living far from the homeland for more than half a century to develop stably and successfully in the local country, as well as keep their love of country, as well as the solidarity and cultural identity of Vietnam.

He added that Kim Hoi should promote its role as a reliable address for overseas Vietnamese in gathering, uniting and solving common problems of the community, and each member of Kim Hoi should become an image ambassador of Vietnam to introduce the culture, people and potential of Vietnam to the local people, contributing to being a bridge to promote friendly relations between the two countries.

The delegation answered questions about nationality issues, visa exemption and necessary documents for the second and third generations of the overseas Vietnamese community.

The Deputy Minister asked the Vietnamese Embassy in Algeria concurrently Senegal and the SCOV to study and quickly report on and propose solutions for overseas Vietnamese having aspirations of Vietnamese nationality.

He also said that Senegalese leaders appreciated and acknowledged the stable development and active contribution of the Vietnamese community to Senegal, pledged to continue to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live stably, develop and support the Association of Indochinese Vietnamese in Senegal to operate officially.

On behalf of the Vietnamese community in Senegal, Ms. Mary Nguyen Thiva Tran, Head of the Kim Hoi association, thanked the Vietnamese Embassy and other relevant agencies for their support, and affirmed the targets of the association of meeting the common interests of the community, sharing information and ideas for mutual cooperation, and developing Senegal and the relations between the two countries.

At the meeting, the Deputy Minister presented the association a set of Vietnamese textbooks and hoped the overseas Vietnamese in Senegal would soon open Vietnamese classes for their children and those who are far from the homeland for many years, to contribute to preserving the Vietnamese language and culture, tightening the relations between overseas Vietnamese and the homeland./.
(TNS) -- Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said Wednesday he wants the city to be "open for business" to companies developing autonomous vehicles.Wheeler, speaking before the Portland Business Alliance on Wednesday, said autonomous vehicles are on the way, and that Portland should prepare for them. He said he would announce a framework to create a "fair and level playing field" for autonomous vehicle companies."We can't simply dismiss the idea that autonomous vehicles s are going to be a big part of our transportation system," Wheeler said. "Instead of waiting for this new technology to come here and and has us confront it, the responsible thing to do is to prepare for this future."He said getting ahead of the issue would help Portland shape the technology to suit the needs of the city and its residents.Wheeler and Transportation Commissioner Dan Saltzman are expected to elaborate on the plans in a press conference scheduled for 9 a.m.It wasn't immediately clear whether the framework would open any, or all, of the city's public roads for testing, nor whether the city would work with any specific companies developing the vehicles.But Wheeler said in a March city council meeting that he would like to see the city conduct a pilot focused on autonomous vehicles."We're all warming up for a race, but we don't know what the race is yet," he said at the earlier meeting. "We don't know what the trajectory of autonomous or linked vehicles will be and we don't have a clear understanding on what that means in terms of infrastructure and policy. But we know it's coming."In his former role as deputy director for the transportation bureau, Wheeler chief of staff Maurice Henderson coordinated the city's bid to win the U.S. Department of Transportation's Smart City Challenge, a competition for $50 million to implement technologies that included autonomous and wirelessly connected vehicles. Columbus, Ohio, eventually won the competition.Others on the City Council are skeptical. In the same city council meeting, Commissioner Amanda Fritz questioned whether the city should embrace self-driving cars."I think we need to take a step back," she said. "I'm concerned about a future where people go from morning to night not talking to anybody. You call yourself an autonomous vehicle, you go by yourself to pick up the groceries that have been collected for you. ... Is this something that we want?"Autonomous vehicles are already on the streets in some states that have explicitly legalized testing.Legacy carmakers are making major pushes into self-driving technology, including testing on contained course and road tests.They're also competing with Silicon Valley. Companies like Google's Waymo and Uber have made headway -- and headlines -- by testing their self-driving vehicles in public. Tesla, too, is testing fully automated vehicles, and it's made its "Autopilot" adaptive cruise control available to customers.Portland-based Daimler Trucks North America is also testing self-driving semi trucks in Nevada.Carmakers say the hardware necessary for self-driving cars is available today; it's the software that needs to catch up, primarily by putting their cars through millions of miles of road tests.They've have pushed for a national framework of laws, hoping to avoid dealing with a patchwork of regulations that might force self-driving cars to turn the wheel over to a human at some state borders.The Obama administration was bullish on self-driving cars, and its National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released guidelines last year intended to help foster the industry while strictly regulating it for safety.The Trump administration's transportation secretary, Elaine Chao, said she was reviewing those guidelines , but said self-driving cars could dramatically improve traffic safety.Wheeler and Saltzman testified earlier this year against a bill that would have ordered the state transportation department to regulate autonomous vehicles. They said the bill would override city authority and prematurely authorize the widespread use of automated vehicles.But the city has previously sought grant money to pursue pilots related to self-driving cars. It's offered Portland International Raceway as a test track, and it's proposed self-driving circulating shuttles to supplement existing transit service in parts of the city.
(TNS)  TAMPA  Starting Monday, people who live and work around the University of South Florida will be able to summon a sleek Tesla to take them to and from a bus stop.If that doesn't seem futuristic enough, consider this: The electric vehicles are already equipped with self-driving hardware, and transit officials hope the fleet will soon be driverless.The project is part of HyperLink  the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority's solution to getting people to and from bus stops for $3 a trip so they don't have to walk 45 minutes in the Florida heat or pay for an Uber. HyperLink started in Carrollwood, Brandon and the University Area six months ago, but Monday's unveiling of four Teslas operating around USF is a development HART officials hope will place the transit agency ahead of its peers nationwide.Hillsborough County is the first place in the country to use Tesla vehicles as a transit solution, HART government relations specialist Cesar Hernandez said."It's a win for Tampa and, honestly, for Florida for us to be trying these very novel concepts in disruption in transportation," Hernandez said. "There's always that level of risk with innovation, but it's also an opportunity to show that Tampa is ready to adapt."Tesla officials did not respond to an interview request.Starting in the University Area, one of the county's most popular transit areas, made sense, Hernandez said. The number of people who use or are open to transit is growing, as is the number of businesses. And the area is experiencing major redevelopment, which makes it a good place for testing new projects.Nestor Ortiz of the University Area Community Development Corp. said the area needs "reliable and consistent transportation" so residents can access both jobs and educational opportunities."Now they have access to a vehicle that can get them there in a faster time frame," he said.The initiative is expected to cost about $860,000 for the two years. Transit advocate and former Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe helped secure $160,000 so far in private money as part of his job as executive director of the Tampa Innovation Alliance.Member businesses, Sharpe said, are supportive of adding more transit options within the University Area  and doing so in a way that is open to automated and driverless technology."To be able to be at the front in testing this technology is important to us," Sharpe said.The four Tesla Model X vehicles are painted in HART's blue and white colors, with stickers highlighting the private business that donated to the program.Yes, the back doors open in that iconic "falcon wing" style, where they go up and out. The sport utility vehicle model fits up to six passengers, plus the driver. And it is equipped with full self-driving hardware, including eight surround cameras, a dozen ultrasonic sensors and an autopilot function that can adjust speed, automatically change lanes, exit the freeway and self-park.The electric cars are battery-operated and run for about 250 miles per charge. HART is buying super chargers that can repower a battery in about 30 minutes. Hernandez isn't worried about recharging the vehicles multiple times a day; the HyperLink zone extends only 3 miles around the University Area Transit Center.The goal is to eventually add other drop points to the list, such as USF or Florida Hospital, Hernandez said. So for $3 each way, a person will be able to order a Tesla or another HyperLink vehicle to take them from their home to work or school. As of now, those trips must either start or end at the University Area Transit Center.Drivers from TransDev, an international transportation company that contracted with HART for HyperLink, will be the ones picking up passengers, not HART bus drivers. And whenever the state and local policy passes to allow driverless vehicles, those same Model Xs are equipped to run without a driver, Hernandez said."As of now, they are going to have an operator in them," Hernandez said. "But there's the possibility that this can go fully driverless."HART is leasing the four Model Xs from Tesla for about $81,000 a year. (The vehicles would cost about $94,000 each, if the agency were to buy them.) The leases, charging stations and other associated costs are financed through a public-private partnership with several University Area businesses, including Innovation Place, TECO, Nitro, Blind Tiger, Lightning Capital, Diamond View and NTG.HART expects to spend $350,000 a year to operate HyperLink, including the Tesla initiative. The money will come from HART's general revenue, and the Florida Department of Transportation will reimburse half of that through a grant."You have public dollars funding the operations and the program, and you have private dollars coming in and adding this additional element of innovation," Hernandez said.If the pilot program goes well, HART hopes to add more Teslas to its fleet and potentially run them in other HyperLink areas like Carrollwood or even downtown Tampa. But that's contingent on businesses in those areas being willing to contribute money toward the cost of the vehicles.It's unclear whether other Tampa Bay transit agencies like the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority would be interested in leasing cars with autonomous capabilities. PSTA's HyperLink equivalent is a partnership with Uber and Yellow Cab that allows bus riders to catch a ride to or from designated bus stops. PSTA pays half of that fare, up to $3 a trip.
(TNS) -- There is nothing wrong  and perhaps a lot to recommend  in Grand Islands exploration of a municipal broadband system. Many Americans agree that communities should be allowed to build new internet networks to compete with established providers, according to the Pew Research Center.Grand Island Town Supervisor Nathan McMurray echoed a collective frustration among some residents when he labeled the towns internet infrastructure as poor. Town officials used an app to measure speeds at Town Hall. The results were sluggish: as low as 5 to 10 megabits per second. Time Warner Cable said it was offering speeds of 50 mbps. The discrepancy between promise and apparent delivery prompted action.The Town Board has unanimously agreed to participate in a $12,000 study on whether to build a broadband network that would run along a nearly 1-mile stretch of Baseline Road through the center of the island. The school district, although satisfied with its internet service through the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, subsequently agreed to contribute $2,500 toward the study. The School Board, if it goes along, would add significant leverage for possible grant funding for a potential project.The plan would not be to provide direct internet service to homes in the town, according to the supervisor. Instead, the town could create a middle mile, an independent broadband backbone, as News reporter Nancy A. Fischer described in a recent article. Other commercial entities could use it to provide internet service to homes.It is a creative idea that could offer increased competition that, in turn, might result in higher quality at lower cost. The town contracted for internet with Time Warner Cable, later acquired by Charter Communications, which rebranded its cable provider as Spectrum. The company defends its practices and speeds.Both Charter and Spectrum recently became the focus of a lawsuit by State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman. The AG accused the companies of scheming to defraud New York customers by knowingly failing to produce promised internet speeds.The inquiry by officials on Grand Island reflects growing bipartisan attention among Americans. The Washington Post reported majorities of Democrats and Republicans support the ability of towns to build and sell their own internet plans to local residents. Proponents believe that a public option for internet access could reduce the price of broadband and increase speeds. Opponents cite high costs of building networks and the financial risk for many local governments.Even if the Grand Island study eventually leads nowhere, just the hint of a public option may help improve service. It is worth exploring.
Vietnams hat dance at the event (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam attended this year's fair as the president country.

As the president country of the fair, in addition to contributing two kiosks on handicrafts and food, Vietnam also put on unique art programs imbued with traditional culture.

The two kiosks of Vietnam become the centre of the fair, with a large number of visitors.

With nearly 5,000 visitors, the ALFS Charity Fair this year earned about JPY22-23 million, the highest proceeds in recent years

ALFS President Haruko Komura said that the proceeds from the fair would be shared equally among the participating countries, it is estimated at JPY1 million for charity in their countries, supporting women and children in difficult conditions.

Ms. Haruko Komura also appreciated Vietnams efforts, and the spouse of the Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Hoang Thi Minh Ha, for helping the fair be a success.

With the amount of proceeds shared after the event, the Vietnamese Embassy plans to use half to work with Japan International Friendship Association (JIFA) to build a safe water system for a high school in Ha Tinh province. With the rest, the Embassy will work with the Fund of Understanding the Heart to support Agent Orange victims in the Central region.

Ms. Hoang Thi Minh Ha, spouse of the Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan and the President of the fair, said that this was a great opportunity to promote the country and people of Vietnam.

She appreciated the ALFS charity fair, which was one of the traditional activities organized over the past 41 years, receiving special support from Japans Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the royal family and 26 embassies in Tokyo. Therefore, this is a great people-to-people diplomatic activity and it contributes to enhancing the role of women.

ALFS was established 49 years ago. It was the initiative of Ms. Mutsuko Miki, spouse of former Japanese Foreign Minister.

At present, ALFS has about 400 members, mostly spouses of politicians and large business leaders in Japan, female ambassadors, spouses of ambassadors and female staff from 25 embassies in the Asia-Pacific region in Tokyo./.
It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the
Nicolas Carpentiers casts his expert eye on the technical evolutions unleashed in Bahrain last weekend, courtesy of previously unseen images of Ferrari's engine and new front wing, Force India's serrated bargeboards, McLaren's rear wing, and of the front end of the Toro Rosso STR12

CHANGE AND CONTINUITY AT FERRARI

While the picture above was snapped in the desert, its not a mirage, but a view of the power unit that propelled Sebastian Vettels Ferrari SF70H to the Bahrain Grand Prix win last Sunday.

From the image, one can surmise that Maranellos 062 engine still has the compressor and turbine at the back of the unit, just like on the Renault engine. This means that, contrary to rumours circulated over the winter, the Scuderia have not adopted Mercedes signature split-turbo design (whereas Honda has).

While the shot does not allow a full installation view, it seems that the two-pronged cooling system seen on last years Ferrari charger has not been retained. The carbon duct that used to hug the left-hand side of the unit has disappeared, while the oil tank is no longer featuring on the right. However, one shall remain prudent and wait for more photo evidence to confirm the architecture.

On the 2017-spec engine, the water-to-water intercooler sits atop the rear part of the engine. The rectangular-shaped element is hugged by the pipework that channels air from the air intake above the drivers head to the compressor.

The architecture does bear some resemblance to the concept used in 2014 and 2015, except that the intercooler was lodged much lower, within the Vee of the engine, which did not allow for variable inlet trumpets. By comparison, the radiator looks more compact and has been placed higher on this years Ferrar power unit.

POWERFUL, ALBEIT FRAGILE?

With each engine having to complete around five grand prix weekends, reliability is increasingly vital  each driver has four power units for 20 races compared to five units for 21 events last year. Ferrari has not been flawless in that area this year so far, with Kimi Raikkonens energy store (or battery) and control electronics needing replacement in Melbourne.

Although there was no issue to report in China, the Finn once again suffered technical gremlins at Sakhir with a change of internal combustion engine (ICE), turbocharger and MGU-H. Out of caution, Vettels control electronics, turbocharger, and MGU-H were also replaced.

All components will be carefully studied and checked back at Maranello and the Italian team hope it can re-use most of these parts in future free practice sessions. With only three grand prix weekends in the books, it is still too early to say whether Ferrari will go over its four-engine allocation and incur grid penalties as a consequence.
On display is Danas new Spicer electric motor-driven gearbox, which is specifically engineered to deliver better acceleration and higher torque in high-speed battery electric vehicles (BEV). Additionally, Danas new Spicer Electrified e-axles for electric transit buses and city delivery vehicles feature a fully integrated motor and gear box and leverage the companys experience in chassis drivetrain applications. These e-axles are planned for launch in 2018.

At Auto Shanghai 2017, Dana Incorporated is showcasing select technologies from its Spicer Electrified portfolio of fully integrated motor, control, and e-drive technologies, as well as thermal-management products for electric and hybrid vehicles.

Dana is also collaborating with automotive manufacturers to develop all-wheel-drive (AWD) e-axles that deliver superior performance, packaging, and reliability, while meeting customer demand for AWD functionality paired with traditional front-wheel-drive hybrids.

The company also offers an extensive range of highly engineered Long thermal-management products for electric and hybrid vehicles, including aluminum integrated cooling plates that ensure the performance and reliability of insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) switches.

Chinese auto buyers purchased almost half of all the plug-in electric vehicles sold in the world last year, and Chinese officials have set ambitious goals for the further adoption of hybrid- and electric-powered vehicles in the decades ahead. With over 25 years of supplying innovations to the Chinese vehicle industry and a proven range of advanced technologies that improve fuel-efficiency and reduce emissions, Dana is ideally positioned to help OEMs as they design vehicle programs for the future. Bob Pyle, president of Dana Light Vehicle Driveline Technologies and the leader of Danas electrification and hybridization strategy

Electric and hybrid vehicle technology is a main tenet of the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technologys Made in China 2025 initiative. Government authorities currently support the commercialization of new energy vehicles through subsidies for vehicle manufacturers and plans for a nationwide charging-station network. Chinese officials expect automakers to produce two million electric and hybrid vehicles annually by 2020a 500% increase over 2015.

Dana has been recognized by the China Decision Makers Consultancy (CDMC) over the past three years for its electric and hybrid vehicle solutions.

Spicer SmartConnect disconnecting All-Wheel-Drive technology for SUVs, light vehicles. Dana also introduced the companys Spicer SmartConnect disconnecting all-wheel-drive (AWD) technology for the first time at Auto Shanghai 2017. The Spicer SmartConnect system configures the drivetrain to work in fuel-efficient front-wheel-drive mode for the vast majority of driving conditions. It automatically and seamlessly converts to AWD when it detects slipping at the wheel, such as during rapid acceleration or in icy conditions.

Spicer SmartConnect technology is currently in pre-production testing, with production expected to begin in late 2018. Improving the fuel efficiency of SUVs, crossovers, and passenger vehicles, Spicer SmartConnect technology helps global vehicle manufacturers address evolving emissions regulations while maintaining the safety and control that are key advantages for AWD vehicles.

Sales of SUVs grew by 45% in China last year, while the production of all-wheel-drive vehicles is expected to double in size to two million units a year by 2019. Spicer SmartConnect technology reinforces Danas position in China as a leader in innovations that deliver the performance and efficiency features in highest demand. Bob Pyle

Dana offers complete driveline solutions for Chinas fast-growing SUV market, including compact power transfer units, hang-on rear axle drive units, beam axles, propshafts, and independent rear-axle/front-axle drive units.

Dana serves numerous light-vehicle manufacturers in China, including Beijing Jeep Corporation, BMW, Daimler, Dongfeng Motor, Ford, Great Wall, Jinbei, SAIC, SGM, Southeast Motor Corporation, Toyota, VW Group.
The Netherlands-based Fastned, which plans to build a European network of fast-charging stations has acquired its first 14 locations in Germany. At these locations Fastned will build and operate stations with multiple fast chargers to charge the next generation of EVs at power levels of 150 kW to 350 kW. These will be the first of such stations in Germany that are accessible to all car brands, and where EVs can be charged with up to 500 kilometers of range in just 15 minutes.

Fastned says it will open the stations before the launch of major new electric cars from OEMs such as Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, Tesla and Jaguar.

Fastned is concessionaire for 201 fast charging stations along Dutch highways and already has 60 stations operational. At these locations Fastned sells electricity to electric drivers. For the last two years Fastned has shown consistent rapid growth of around 10% month-on-month.

Fastned has been working on the development of locations outside the Netherlands for some time. For the realization of its fast charging stations Fastned approaches (local) authorities and private parties which have high-quality locations close to the highway. In the coming months the charging company expects to sign more locations in Germany as well as in other countries. By doing so Fastned takes concrete steps towards the development of a pan-European fast charging network in which all electric cars can fast charge.

We are witnessing the start of the Autowende, from fossil to electric. This is accompanied by the start of a transition from petrol stations to fast-charging stations where electric cars can charge super fast and continue their journey. Fastned is building a pan-European network of fast charging stations that will provide freedom to drivers of electric cars to travel across Europe. As charging speeds increase, charging will become like refuelling your car, and fast charging stations will be the petrol stations of the future. Michiel Langezaal, CEO Fastned

For the German locations, Fastned is cooperating with the municipality of Limburg, hotel chain Van der Valk and property developer Lutzenberger Projektentwicklung (Lu.pe).
U.S. Rep. Ted Budd invited constituents to a meet-and-greet in Greensboro last week, not to a town hall forum. It wasnt a format that some would have preferred.

I was hoping for something different, Sarah Davis told the News & Records Kate Elizabeth Queram. A lot of people have been asking the same questions, but no one can hear them, and hes not accountable for his answers because no one will know what he said.

Communicating with constituents has been a challenge for many members of Congress this year, which isnt surprising given the highly charged political atmosphere in Washington. Republicans have encountered fierce opposition at some public events in response to their desire to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

After some town hall meetings went very badly for some congressmen, representatives and senators have tried to control the format. A Colorado representative required people to show identification proving they lived in her district before admitting them. A New Jersey congressman had security guards confiscate signs. A New York representative held a town hall meeting in a television studio that could hold only 70 people.

Budds event was better than those  and an improvement over a telephone town hall he led earlier this year. It put him face to face with the people he serves, a setting where its hard to dodge direct questions, even if only a few people at a time can hear what he says.

To be sure, the timing of his meet-and-greet was far from ideal  9 a.m. to noon on Good Friday (and during Passover). For some people, it was a normal workday, preventing attendance. For those who had a holiday, some may have gone out of town or others may have been participating in religious observances. Yet, an estimated 200 did show up, and they kept Budd occupied for 30 minutes more than the planned three hours.

So he deserves credit for making the time available and listening.

He should. Hes still in the first few months of his freshman term. As a resident of Davie County, hes not well known in Greensboro. Nor, as a Republican, did he do well here in the election. While Greensboro is the largest city he represents, he drew more votes elsewhere in the 13th District. So he needs to find opportunities to build relationships here.

Some members of Congress take their positions for granted. If they serve districts that are gerrymandered to favor their own political party, they may not think they have to listen to contrary views. Or they may count on most people being too apathetic to get involved in political issues. Or they enjoy the support of special-interest groups that give them enough money to overwhelm election opponents.

But there are times when people get stirred up and the political status quo is shaken. Thats when representatives really must pay attention to the people. This year is one of those times, and health care has been a major reason.

Budds meet-and-greet last week didnt please everyone who attended, but everyone who was there had the chance to tell him that in person. Or anything else on his or her mind. Too many congressmen never give their constituents that opportunity.
PM backs creation of fund with investment management to govern minority state-owned stakes in companies

Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman backs an idea of creating the fund with investment management to govern minority stakes belonged to the state in companies.

"This means to create a fund for a small share of state-owned property and allow best investment companies in the world to manage it," the prime minister said on Channel 24 TV on Wednesday.

Groysman said that this idea was proposed by the Group of Strategic Advisors for Support of Reforms in Ukraine headed by Ivan Miklos.

"This is an idea, but the idea is good," he said.
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The crowd at Greenwichs Hyatt Regency roared with laughter as a teary-eyed Naomi Gomez proclaimed her life is still a hot mess, but this time with a vision. The 23-year-old participant in the Family Economic Security Program at Housatonic Community College elicited chuckles and tears as she shared her story since joining FESP last year.

Gomez spoke to hundreds of people Thursday afternoon at an annual luncheon hosted by the Fund for Women and Girls, part of Fairfield Countys Community Foundation. She was one of several FESP participants who shared their positive experiences with the young program that was piloted at Norwalk Community College and more recently refined at HCC in Bridgeport.

Every day I still can feel very lonely, Gomez said, but the journey has showed me I can do iteven with coming from a dysfunctional family.

Before joining FESP, Gomez bounced in and out of schools as she worked numerous jobs to help support herself and her brothers. The responsibility to pay the bills, including a mortgage, have fallen to her and her siblings since she was a teenager, she said.

The Fund for Women and Girls found that these sorts of real-life issues frequently prevent women from completing college degrees and ultimately lead to systemic economic insecurity, so organizers structured FESP as a way to break the cycle, said its new director, Tricia Hyacinth.

More than $100,000 from Thursdays fundraiser will go toward helping women like Gomez gain newfound economic security. That number includes roughly $51,000 raised from event attendees during a text-to-give campaign combined with $50,000 from founding fund member Anne Leonhardt. Additional net proceeds from the luncheon will also go toward the program.

Paul Broadie II, president of HCC, said afterward hes seen how FESP removes the barriers for many students who drop out of school primarily because life gets in the way.

Its given us a model we want to spread over the rest of the institution, Broadie said, citing services such as financial literacy that FESP provides and that the college has since identified as valuable enough to offer all students. If not for FESP, we would have never known how valuable services like those are, he said, adding he hopes many more colleges will replicate FESPs programming.

Headlining Thursdays speaker lineup was Andrea Jung, president and CEO of Grameen America, who joined the microfinance loan agency after serving as the chairman and CEO of Avon Products and has repeatedly been ranked among the nations top businesswomen.

Im proof positive that its all about giving women a chance, Jung told the crowd. Im the child of a micro-loan.

Using that loan, Jungs mother started a salon, which laid the foundation for Jungs hope to lead a career that had meaning. She discovered that career at Avon, a company founded on selling economic independence to women, Jung said during her description of its early growth.

Today with her work for Grameen America, which she cited as the fastest growing microfinance company in the United States, she sees herself doing even more for women. Since the company  originally formed to offer economic opportunity to women in Bangladesh  came to America, it has reached over 90,000 women in need and provided over 284,977 microloans, according to its website.

Jung capped her presentation with a call to action, saying, If not me, if not us, then who will help?
GREENWICH  After two years in the district, Principal of Hamilton Avenue School Cindy Rigling will leave her post at the end of the school year. She announced her appointment as head of the Lower School at GEMS World Academy in Chicago, Ill. on Wednesday.

"It has been my honor and privilege to serve in the role of Principal at Hamilton Avenue for the past two years, said Rigling. I could not have imagined working with a more talented team of teachers and staff.

Rigling became principal of Hamilton Avenue School in 2015 and was charged with implementing a new STEM magnet theme at the school. The Board of Education hoped the new theme would attract more magnet applications to school, which has about 70 percent minority students and violates the states racial balance law.

I am extremely grateful for the tremendous amount of support received by both the Board of Education, my administrator colleagues and the Hamilton Avenue parent community as we began to develop the new STEM Magnet theme, said Rigling. I am confident that Hamilton Avenue School will achieve tremendous success in the years to come."

Rigling came to Greenwich from Hartford, where she was the founding principal of the International Magnet School for Global Citizenship, an elementary magnet school aimed at closing gaps in achievement between urban and suburban students.

After three years under her leadership, the school became a fully authorized International Baccalaureate World School in 2011. It also received the 2014 School of Excellence Award from Magnet Schools of America for demonstrating a high commitment to academic standards, curriculum innovation, desegregation/diversity efforts, specialized teaching staffs and parent and community involvement.

Cindy Rigling provides a high quality education based on the individual needs of her students. She is a dedicated practitioner, ever thoughtful and curious about new ways to enhance instruction and improve outcomes for students, said Sal Corda, interim superintendent of Greenwich Public Schools. She appreciates the importance of building relationships with parents, school staff, colleagues and members of the school community. We have been fortunate to work with Cindy these past two years, and we wish her all the best in this exciting new position.

The district will consult with new Superintendent Jill Gildea, appointed last month, on the process of choosing a new principal for Hamilton Avenue School.

emunson@greenwichtime.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson
Ukraine has started preparatory work to create the national defense products certification system meeting NATO standards.

The League of Defense Enterprises of Ukraine reported that measures to create optimal conditions for switching to NATO standards in Ukrainian defense industry and develop the national test and certificated laboratory base were discussed at a meeting held in the state research and test center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with participation of Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, top managers of the military and research department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and heads of state-owned and private defense enterprises.

Some financial and organization problems were highlighted during the discussion. The League of Defense Enterprises of Ukraine presented its proposals aimed at protecting the interests of national arms and military equipment manufacturers and minimizing risks during the switch of Ukrainian defense industry to NATO standards, the league said.

As reported, Ukraine and NATO stepped up the dialogue on cooperation in the defense industry in 2014. In early 2015, Kyiv announced its plans to accede to the system of arms procurement for the current member states of the alliance. Ukraine also plans to switch its defense industry in full to NATO standards by 2020.
Kevin Busque says he was confounded. He just couldn't understand it.

It was 2012, and of all the employees at his company, TaskRabbit, he estimated that only around 34 percent had signed up for a 401(k). So he held an informal discussion with them to dig into this issue. It turned out, this group of Silicon Valley workers found the whole system too confusing.

"It was very clear the younger generation was not investing even though they were the ones that were really interested in savings," says Busque, who co-founded TaskRabbit with his wife, Leah. "So there was an issue there, and it kind of smacked me in the face a few times. The system is completely broken."

Related: The 10 Best Cities for Retirement

So he made it his goal to replace ADP, the company's 401(k) provider, with something digital that offered investment advice. But after searching for something like that on the internet, Busque says he came up empty. So he did what any entrepreneur would do: He decided to build his own solution.

The result of those efforts is Guideline, an online-only 401(k) provider that launched last August after about two and a half years of work. The company spent the bulk of that time building a system to keep records, an essential part of any operation that deals in 401(k)s in terms of client privacy and legal compliance. Guideline charges an upfront $500 fee then $8 per participant a month, and it integrates employees' plans with a business's payroll provider and has an opt-out system, contrary to many traditional firms' confusing opt-in processes.

Image credit: Courtesy Guideline

According to Busque, the model is already a huge success. Guideline is bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars every month and is "almost forking over to profitability." It's also the exclusive 401(k) provider for Gusto, the unicorn payroll company.

Kevin is a remarkable entrepreneur -- visionary and humble at the same time," says Tomer London, chief product officer and co-founder of Gusto. "We love working with him as hes truly committed to enabling more people to save towards better retirement."

Related: 3 Steps to Secure a Rich Retirement

Busque is not alone in his goal: Captain401, ForUsAll and Money Intelligence also aim to use technology to simplify 401(k)s. Honest Dollar hopes to do the same with IRAs. Feex says it helps people root out fees in their retirement accounts. There are also startups that help people invest, such as Stash and Betterment.

To grasp the appeal of these startups, it's important to understand the main players in the 401(k) industry, such as Great-West Financial, ADP and Fidelity. Employers enroll for their services, and employees can sign up for an account based on their employer's HR policies. For plans that require employees to opt in, participation rates hover around 69 percent for businesses with 100 or more employees and 36 percent for smaller companies. Plans with automatic enrollment see much greater participation.

Anyone who's ever had to sign up for a 401(k) knows how confusing it can be.

"To be honest, nobody takes finance classes other than nerds like me," Tim Guilford, a registered principal at Raymond James Financial Services, told USA Today. "So when you're presented on your first day of work with a list of all our funds and asked how much you want to put in our plan, people are poorly equipped to make those decisions."

And because many 401(k) providers aren't allowed to offer financial advice, many people just choose options that sound good. Meanwhile, the firms also take in fees, which has led to several lawsuits. And they don't even have to work in your best interests, as President Donald Trump delayed an Obama administration rule that would have required financial institutions to do so. (Last Week Tonight With John Oliver did a digestible segment on the industry's problems.)

Guideline recommends plans not only based on your age, but your family status and where you live. The app will ask you about life changes every year. It's a solution built for today's internet consumers, or "the most employee-focused 401(k) for small business," as Busque puts it.

Related: This Startup Aims to Help Older Professionals Find Jobs

"I like to solve problems with technology," he says. "[Businesses] don't know that they have access to great 401(k)s and participants want great 401(k)s with low fees. They don't trust banks. They don't trust brokers. We're not either of those. We have to do what's in the best interest of the plan participant."

He sees Guideline, which employs about 35 people, as a software company that is "B2B2C." And while the ethos in Silicon Valley is to disrupt industries, Busque says that wasn't the right approach with Guideline.

"It's actually a really enormous problem, which makes it really fun and challenging," he says. But "it's super, super important just getting things right to start, and I know people in Silicon Valley like to go fast and break stuff. You can't do that with people's retirement savings."

Related:

TaskRabbit's Co-Founder Aims to Simplify 401(k)s With New Venture

These Are the Top Mixed Reality Companies in the World Today

3 Reasons Why IT Security Must Be a Top Concern for Tech Startups



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Kolomoisky, Boholiubov ask JKX to appoint own representative to board of directors

Eclairs Group Limited under control of former shareholders in PrivatBank Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Boholiubov, which holds 27.5% of shares in JKX Oil&Gas Plc with assets in Ukraine and Russia, has proposed its representative to the board of directors.

JKX said in a report on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), the company received a request from Eclairs Group for an ordinary resolution to be proposed at the next annual general meeting (AGM) to appoint Michael Bakunenko as a director of the company.

The JKX board will update shareholders with a response to this request shortly, and will incorporate the resolution into the AGM Notices at the appropriate time

Bakunenko was a member of the board of Ukrnafta before late 2015 being responsible for corporate development and strategy and then he headed Eclairs Group.

The current board of directors of JKX was selected at a general meeting of shareholders late January 2016 held under an initiatve of Russia's Proxima Capital Group (PCG) founded by former Deputy Board Chairman of Alfa-Bank Vladimir Tatarchuk. Managers of the company tried to restrict the right of largest shareholders - Eclairs Group and Glengary Overseas  to vote, but court permitted the companies to take part in voting.

Paul Ostling (former manager of Ernst & Young and a member of board of Uralkali), Tom Reed and Russell Hoare were appointed new directors. In addition, Tatarchuk and Vladimir Rusinov have been appointed to the board of JKX. They represent the interests of Proxima Capital Group.

Some 68-71% of shareholders (not taking into account votes of Eclairs Group Ltd and Glengary Overseas Ltd) supported the reshuffling or 69-82% of shareholders (taking into account votes of these shareholders).

In April 2016, the board was expanded to two independent members: Alan Bigman (a founder of Vista Tex Energy LLC and head of U.S. Sanchez Production Partners) and Bernie Sucher (a member of the board of Moscow Credit Bank and Board Chairman of Russia's UFG Asset Management).

The largest shareholders of JKX are Eclairs Group of Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Boholiubov with 27.54% of the shares, Glenary Overseas Limited of Oleksandr Zhukov with 11.45% of the shares, and Russia's Proxima Capital Group with 19.92%.

In Ukraine JKX Group owns Poltava Petroleum Company.
Askas Fredrik Berselius. Photo: Philip Lewis/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Its that time of year: GQs published Brett Martins 10 Best New Restaurants of 2017 today. Its unranked and in alphabetical order, and the list includes everything from high-end Nordic tasting menus (Aska) to really good Hainan chicken in a Los Angeles mall (Side Chick). For those keeping score at home, Los Angeles gets three nods to New Yorks one, and the list includes several spots that crisscross cultural boundaries, like Detroits Flowers of Vietnam, a Southeast Asian spot run by a first-generation Palestinian-American; and Minneapoliss Young Joni, where pizza and Korean small plates get equal billing. Check out the full list of winners below:

Aska (Brooklyn, NY)

Flowers of Vietnam (Detroit, MI)

Han Oak (Portland, OR)

Kato (Los Angeles, CA)

Kemuri Tatsu-ya (Austin, TX)

Rooster Soup Company (Philadelphia, PA)

Salazar (Los Angeles, CA)

Side Chick (Los Angeles, CA)

Tarsan i Jane (Seattle, WA)

Young Joni (Minneapolis, MN)
Organizers hope it brings more attention to Tom Cat Bakery workers plight.

Add a day of no bread to previous 24-hour stints without immigrants, women, and bodegas that protesters hope will somehow help frustrate President Trumps xenophobic policies. Its set for tomorrow, and the plan, according to labor advocacy group Brandworkers, is for New Yorks bakeries, restaurants, and cafes to stop selling baked goods for the day, to support dozens of immigrant workers who could lose their jobs at a Queens bakery. A rally is being held from 6 to 8 a.m., and the group is asking businesses and workers to sign an online petition, but since bread is ubiquitous in this city, the campaign is also asking people to refrain from buying any.

This all started when the Department of Homeland Security learned last month, via an audit, that 31 of Tom Cat Bakerys workers didnt have proper legal documentation. Tom Cat, as New Yorks oldest artisanal bakery, does lots of business around town and has made overtures about helping these employees however it can, including by potentially sponsoring some of them. (And in fairness, the company could face fines or even an ICE raid if it failed to comply with the DHS order.) Also, the agency did extend the deadline shortly after workers held a big protest, but the revised deadline is tomorrow, and reports say that immigration lawyers were only able to help 11 workers produce valid paperwork, so far. Tom Cat has agreed to give the remaining workers six months unpaid leave, during which they can continue trying to rectify their situation. Whoevers left at that point, though, will be fired, although it at least appears with a full severance package.

This would suggest the bakery is cooperating, but Brandworkers is painting a somewhat less-hospitable picture: In a Facebook post yesterday evening, the group announced that Oscar Ramirez, one of the more outspoken workers leading the protests, has already been shown the door. Hed worked at Tom Cat for the last 12 years. Brandworkers says its legal team has filed a lawsuit, but adds that the real response will occur tomorrow in the streets.


I cant wait! Stephens reportedly said. I need my nuggets now! Photo: Cleveland Police

American citizens really, really want the eagle-eyed McDonalds employee who helped catch Facebook killer Steve Stephens to be rewarded for her heroism. The worker was on drive-through duty at her Pennsylvania store at the time, and immediately recognized Stephens, whod been on the lam for three days, after posting a Facebook video of himself shooting an elderly man in the head. I think thats the Facebook killer in our drive-through, the stores owner recalls her saying. So they called the police, and even tried to stall his McNuggets order by pretending his fries were going to take an extra minute. Stephens bolted without the fries anyway, but police were on his tail as soon as he left the parking lot, and the chase ended with Stephens fatally shooting himself.

The franchisee was fast to praise his workers, as was McDonalds corporate office, which released a statement, saying: We applaud the crew members at this McDonalds restaurant who recognized the suspect and did the right thing by quickly alerting the authorities. But there was also a $50,000 reward being offered by the FBI and other federal law-enforcement agencies. Its unclear if the stores employees qualify for it, but even law-enforcement officials say their quick thinking was crucial. Which people on social media feel is more than enough reason to put money in their hands:



I hope The Girl at @McDonalds gets her 50K reward. She deserves it, and working at McDonald's, she needs it too. #SteveStephens   aia  (@Dittolaila) April 18, 2017

Why is it a debate if these McDonald's employees get the reward or not?! THEY HELPED GET A MURDERER OFF THE STREETS  Lamar  (@Lamar28) April 19, 2017

ALL I KNOW IS THAT I HOPE THAT CHICK FROM MCDONALD'S GETS A RAISE & GET PAID THAT 50,000 THEY WERE GRANTING THE PERSON WHO FOUND STEVE  UnoVellie (@UnoVellie) April 19, 2017

If @McDonalds was smart, they'd give $50,000 to the Erie store who spotted Stephens whether the FBI decides to award it or not. Great PR.  Jamie Peklicz (@Nailers_Off_Ice) April 20, 2017

Authorities arent commenting on the workers eligibility, and add they wont be disclosing information about the reward, regardless. But at least it looks like the crews getting hooked up with free flowers and concert tickets:



Flowers from a local at the @McDonalds where Stephens spotted: Thank u for your quick thinking +courage. You're an example for our community pic.twitter.com/hRXpLmOzAG  Sonia Moghe (@soniamoghe) April 19, 2017
The lower-end of the G5 duo that Motorola unveiled at MWC in February is finally almost ready to make its way to Canada. The Moto G5 will become available in the country on May 3.

The phone will be priced at CAD 250 with a no-term contract, and offered by the following carriers: Bell MTS, SaskTel, Videotron, and Virgin Mobile. Unfortunately it's unclear if the higher-specced Moto G5 Plus will ever be officially sold in Canada. So far Motorola hasn't announced anything about it.

The Moto G5, in the meantime, comes with a 5-inch 1080p touchscreen, a 13 MP f/2.0 main camera with LED flash, a 5 MP selfie snapper, the Snapdragon 430 chipset at the helm, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, and a 2,800 mAh battery. There's no NFC, keep in mind. It runs Android 7.0 Nougat.

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Interpol has published red notice for former head of the supervisory board of Oranta national joint-stock insurance company (Kyiv) Oleh Spilka and a member of the supervisory board Oleksandr Tyminsky under a request of Ukraine, Ilyashev & Partners law firm defending BTA Bank (Kazakhstan), the largest shareholder in the insurance company, has reported.

According to a press release of the firm, Spilka and Tyminsky are accused of embezzling property of the insurance company worth over $10 million. According to the criminal case materials, these persons organized a scheme to transfer rights to Oranta trademarks to a firm affiliated to them in 2008. The price of the deal was UAH 6 million. The same trademarks were leased to the insurance company two months later for the period of five years. The insurance company paid over UAH 65 million for this. The same scheme was used to remove funds when shares in Garant-Assistance LLC were bought by the company. A damage of UAH 16 million was caused to the company.

The law firm said that the investigation department of the chief department of the National Police in Kyiv noticed Spilka and Tyminsky that they are suspected under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Misappropriation, embezzlement or conversion of property by abuse of official post committed in respect of an especially gross amount, or by an organized group). Any actions provided by this article shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of seven to twelve years, with forfeiture of property.

As reported, Oranta returned its right to use own trademarks: Ukraine's higher business court on September 27, 2016 upheld the ruling of the business court and Kyiv's business court of appeals that declared invalid the contract dated 2008 on the transfer of exclusive ownership rights to the trademarks for goods and services belonged to Oranta to IMG International Holding Company. Certificates for the ORANTA trademark and the Oranta Protects Ukraine motto that were directly registered to IMG International Holding Company are declared invalid.
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The State Automobile Roads Agency of Ukraine, also known as Ukravtodor, sees a potential in creating a high-speed highway between Gdansk (Poland) and Odesa, acting head of the agency Slawomir Nowak has said.

"Go Highway, that will be a new corridor in the Trans-European Network system. It is a strategic corridor between the Baltic Sea and Black Sea, between Gdansk and Odesa It is a huge opportunity for development of the Ukrainian economy," he said at the Ukrainian Infrastructure Forum in Kyiv on Thursday.

Nowak said that Go Highway is intended not to build a new road, but to repair the existing road. The financing of the project is foreseen for the Ukravtodor's budget for next year.

He also said that he has plans to start negotiations with the European Union on the issue.




Haiti - News : Zapping...





Youri Latortue wants to give a response to the UN

Youri Latortue, the President of the Senate, considers that the decision of the United Nations to replace the Minustah by the Minujusth is unilateral https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20656-haiti-flash-bye-bye-the-minustah-hello-the-minujusth.html . He believes that Haiti must prepare to give a firm national response to this UN decision. Lucien Jura, spokesman for the presidency, said Monday that the unanimous adoption of the UN Security Council resolution had been the subject of major discussions between the Executive and the United Nations and that this was a step in the right direction.



Important meeting with the EU

This week, an important meeting was held between Vincent Degert, Ambassador of the European Union (EU) in Haiti and the Prime Minister, Jack Guy Lafontant, the Ministry of Finance, the French Ministry of Education, Charles Jean Jacques, National Authorizing Officer of the European Development Fund (EDF) in Haiti, on EU budget support for the consolidation of the Haitian State "Cooperation with the EU is very important for us to the Government at a time we must do a lot of things with very little [...] the government is committed to clean up the State, reduce public spending, capitalize on gains and reform public administration," indicated Prime Minister Lafontant.



Reconstruction of historic centers of the big cities

On Wednesday, the Head of State announced the setting up of initiative committees on the redevelopment and reconstruction of the historic centers of all the major cities of the Republic, primarily the historic center of Cap-Haitien and all the cities of the Grand South devastated in support of the newly created Public Authorities for Land Management will be set up.



Himler Rebu worried

Former Colonel Himler Rebu is worried about the possibility that Haiti will revive hours of great instability after the departure of the country of Minustah. To avoid this situation, he believed that a reduced contingent of UN troops should remain in the country, as a deterrent, pending the establishment of a national army.



PODDH considers Minujusth unnecessary

Anthonal Mortime, Executive Secretary of the Platform of the Haitian Human Rights Organizations (POHDH) welcomes the departure of the Minustah and speaks of a small victory. However, he considers that its replacement by the Minujusth https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20656-haiti-flash-bye-bye-the-minustah-hello-the-minujusth.html will result in no results.



Minister Menos at the launch of the JIMS

Jessy Menos, the Minister of Tourism and her Director General, Andy Durosier, took part in the cocktail of activities to mark the celebration of the International Day of Monuments and Sites (IDMS). https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-20708-icihaiti-heritage-international-day-for-monuments-and-sites.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2017/04/19 | Source

Actors Ji Sung and Lee Bo-young's good deed is touching.

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It turns out they donated 100 million won to the Seoul University Children's Hospital. They had prepared to help children with polio for a long time and asked the hospital to not announce what they did. However, their names appeared on the list of hospital supporters.

This isn't their first good deed.

At the end of 2014, Lee Bo-young was pregnant and she donated 100 million won to the Seoul University Hospital Children's Cancer Department. She had said, "I want to help sick children before I become a mother". She had done many other small and Big Good deed after that. This time, her husband played a part.

Apparently they made sure that the hospital didn't make a fuss out of it and wanted to keep it discreet.

Ji Sung and Lee Bo-young are currently the most wannabe couple. Whenever they star in dramas, the dramas are usually rated over 15~16%. Ji Sung starred in "Defendant" recently while Lee Bo-young is in "Whisper".

They are also very loyal to each other and give each other tremendous support. At the beginning of this month, Ji Sung took his daughter and parents-in-law to Hawaii in consideration of his busy wife.
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Published on 2017/04/19 | Source

Choi Kang-hee and Kwon Sang-woo put together their forces and caught the real criminals. At the same time, their painful past went by.

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On the latest episode of the KBS 2TV drama "Queen of Mystery", Yoo Seol-ok (Choi Kang-hee) tracked down the Lee Myeong-hee murder.

Yoo Seol-ok followed Ha Wan-seung (Kwon Sang-woo) around and started investigating. She looked through the list of phone calls with families and knew it had to be Cha Yong-chool (Seong Si-yoon).

However, Cha Yong-chool had an alibi which was the convenient store CCTV and Yoo Seol-ok analyzed the CCT with Ha Wan-seung. They found out Cha Yong-chool killed Lee Myeong-hee.

There was a twist. Cha Yong-chool's father played a crucial part in Lee Myeong-hee's death. Cha Yong-chool's father knew his daughter-in-law was alive and threw her into the river.

Yoo Seol-ok was devastated and recalled the time she was suspicious about her parents' death. She then went home when her husband (Yoon Hee-seok) came to pick her up and said, "This won't happen again".

Meanwhile, Jeong Ji-won (Shin Hyun-bin) started to make engagement plans although Ha Wan-seung didn't want to. Ha Wan-seung thought about a woman while thinking about Yoo Seol-ok.

He had lost the one he loved. He couldn't give up being a detective because he had to catch the culprit that killed her. At the end, Yoo Seol-ok's husband and Ha Wan-seung came face to face with each other.
OPIC to secure $38 mln loan for ERU to buy gas

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an U.S. Government agency, will provide guarantees for a $38 million loan to Energy Resources of Ukraine (ERU) to purchase gas, OPIC has said on its website.

The total cost of the project amounts to $70 million.

OPIC said that ERU Trading will import LNG from the U.S. and purchase gas from local producers, store the gas in the Ukrainian gas storage facilities owned and managed by Ukrtransgaz, a state-owned entity, and sell the gas to ERU Tradings industrial customers.

"The Project will strengthen Ukraines energy security through the purchase and storage of approximately 10% of Ukraines total annual gas needs," OPIC said, describing the project.

As reported, ERU Trading LLC belongs to Andriy Favorov (former commercial director of DTEK), Dale Perry and Yaroslav Mudriy.
Ukraine will use all legal mechanisms seeking invalidation of the international arbitration court's ruling ordering Ukraine to pay Tatneft $144 million in the Ukrtatnafta case, Ukrainian Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko told Interfax-Ukraine.

"We have challenged the ruling ordering that Ukraine pay the amount. The ruling has presently been challenged by way of cassation. Today, we met in our group composed of representatives of various authorities, in order to approve a procedural schedule and strategy of work on this case. Our stance is: We won't recognize the ruling until the case's consideration on its merits is completed. We believe that the ruling was issued in violation of international law," Petrenko said.

It was reported earlier that Tatneft had petitioned the Moscow Arbitration Court and the High Court of Justice in London in April to enforce the arbitration ruling of July 29, 2014 ordering Ukraine to pay the Russian oil company $144 million in the Ukrtatnafta case.
Biofarma to invest $5 mln in development of new drugs over five years

Biofarma LLC manufacturer of blood products (Kyiv) intends to invest $5 million in the development of new medicines within five years, company president Kostiantyn Yefymenko has said at a press conference at the enterprise in Bila Tserkva (Kyiv region).

"In the next five years we will spend $5 million on the development of new drugs and conducting preclinical trials," he said.

In addition, according to Yefymenko, Biofarma plans to invest about $10 million in the construction of blood plasma collection centers.

"We will invest about $10 million in the construction of plasma collection centers. We have already built a modern center in Sumy, in which we invested $3.5 million. European experts recognized that our center is better than its international counterparts," he said.

According to the company president, over the next five years Biofarma intends to invest $40 million in building a new fractionator for production of plasma preparations and clotting factors.

For the implementation of the projects the company intends to attract own funds, as well as borrowed resources. In particular, Biofarma signed a contract with Raiffeisen Bank Aval on opening a ten-year line of EUR10 million for 10 years, as well as a $5 million contract with BNP Paribas.
Public asked to provide feedback on draft consolidated state plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

Public feedback is sought for the draft Hawaii Consolidated State Plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The 30-day public comment period begins today, Tuesday, April 18, and will run through Thursday, May 18, 2017.

News Release from Hawaii DoE, 18-Apr-2017

HONOLULU - The Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) is welcoming public feedback on the draft Hawaii Consolidated State Plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The 30-day public comment period begins today, Tuesday, April 18, and will run through Thursday, May 18, 2017.

The ESSA draft includes important requirements such as long-term goals and accountability frameworks that the State must describe and fulfill. The draft proposes to align federal ESSA funding requirements with the Strategic Plan to advance equity and excellence for all students. State and Complex Areas may use federal funds to support and assist schools,

I really believe the ESSA draft empowers me as a principal,said Interim Deputy Superintendent Keith Hayashi. It provides me opportunities for working with my teachers and parents that gets everyone together to address issues in creative and innovative ways.

The public comment period is a required precursor to submitting the final consolidated state plan by the September 18 deadline. Receipt of federal funding for Hawaii public schools is dependent upon approval of Hawaii's consolidated state plan. A summary of public feedback for this draft plan will be shared at the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, June 6, 2017.

The ESSA draft is available for public viewing at "ESSA Draft Plan", along with a public comment survey and a narrated presentation providing an overview of the ESSA timeline, process and plan.
More than $10 million was written off from the correspondent account of PJSC Ukrainian Professional Bank (UPB, Kyiv) at Bank Frick&Co (Liechtenstein) in favor of a non-resident company on the obligations of a legal entity related to the owner of the Ukrainian bank in July 2015, according to the website of the Individuals' Deposit Guarantee Fund.

The fund said its authorized person, after obtaining information about the intention to write off the money, sent a message to Bank Frick&Co with the prohibition to carry out such an operation. Corresponding letters with the request to help prevent writing off the funds were also sent to the central bank of Liechtenstein, the National Bank of Ukraine, the State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, and the Interior Ministry of Ukraine. However, despite this, on July 3, 2015 the funds were written off.

In addition, according to the fund, on the eve of introduction of temporary administration in the bank, the bank's loan portfolio with a total nominal value of UAH 2.42 billion secured by highly liquid assets was alienated.
When Shia LaBeouf began his new performance art project in Finland, he most likely hoped that his problems with online trolls were over. Now it appears that his relocation to an isolated Lapland cabin hasnt stopped his tormentors from springing up again.

Users of anonymous imageboard websites such as 4chan and 8chan began targeting LaBeouf during his previous performance art project, He Will Not Divide Us. This has now continued during #ALONETOGETHER, the current project that sees LaBeouf and his two collaborators isolate themselves for one month in three separate Lapland cabins.

The trios only communication with the outside world is through a livestream broadcast. Visitors of Helsinkis Kiasma museum are able to speak to the three participants, but they can only respond via text message. The isolation of LaBeouf and his collaborators is now under threat, however, by users of the above forums. Members of the 4chan /pol/ community are trying to uncover the location of LaBeoufs cabin and sabotage the project. The name for their mission is Operation Cabin Fever.

Posters on Finlands equivalent of 4chan, Ylilauta, have also been quick to get involved. Using meme humor and pro-Donald Trump symbols, Ylilauta members have been provoking LaBeouf from inside the Kiasma exhibition. One user of Ylilauta told the BBC that their goal is to prevent the exhibition from lasting the planned 30 days. Kiasma has responded to the harassment and hate speech aimed at LeBeouf by increasing security.

Similar provocation caused LaBeoufs anti-Trump project, He Will Not Divide Us, to relocate three times and eventually shut down. The project involved a 24/7 livestream that was broadcast from outside the Museum of the Moving Image in New York. Intending to give a platform to people who wished to share messages of resistance in opposition of President Trump, the project had to move to New Mexico after it was hijacked by trolls. Subsequent relocations to Tennessee and Liverpool, England werent able to fix the problem, and the project has now all but shut down.

Dan Anderson  HT

Photo: Screenshot from BBC video.
The draft bills were presented to the public on Wednesday by the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Justice.

The Finnish Government has unveiled its long-anticipated draft bills for expanding the rights of security authorities to conduct intelligence operations both inside and outside the borders of Finland.

The Ministry of the Interior proposes in its preliminary report that the legislation on policing and network traffic intelligence be supplemented with a chapter on civilian intelligence.

The Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo), it believes, should be granted greater rights to conduct intelligence operations, such as the right to glean information from cross-border network traffic. Supo would be allowed gather intelligence technically based on an automated screening of cross-border network traffic and process such information.

The aim of the proposal is to enhance the countrys capability to respond to serious threats to national security, such as terrorism, foreign espionage and disruptions to critical infrastructure.

The Ministry of the Interior argues that the expansion of the rights of security intelligence authorities is necessary due to changes in the security environment of Finland.

The current crime prevention powers do not enable the authorities to detect threats to national security early enough and to take the necessary measures. Finland is one of the few western democracies without an intelligence legislation, it states.

Court approval required

The Ministry of the Interior stresses that the decision on whether or not the gathering of intelligence is warranted would typically be made by a court of law. The gathering would also be limited to a pre-determined area of the communications network and would only incorporate the search criteria approved in advance by the court.

The monitoring of cross-border network traffic would be allowed only in the event that it targets an activity deemed to pose a serious threat to national security.

The Ministry of the Interior acknowledges that intelligence authorities would inevitably also sift through information not relevant for national security.

In such cases, this information would be destroyed, it says.

Helsingin Sanomat points out that while the principle would be to have a court decide on whether or not to sanction the gathering of intelligence and to notify the targeted citizens of the operation following its completion, the principle would not necessarily be binding. The daily writes that in some cases the decision to gather intelligence could be made internally, while the obligation to notify the affected citizens would only apply to select intelligence gathering methods.

Supo to no longer conduct criminal investigations

The Ministry of the Interior acknowledges that Supos transformation from a law enforcement agency towards a fully-fledged intelligence agency would also necessitate that it is stripped of its right to conduct criminal investigations and use coercive measures in order to ensure a fair trial.

Supo would, on the other hand, be able to contribute to criminal investigations carried out by other authorities in an expert capacity.

Military intelligence to support decision-making

The Ministry of Defence argues in its preliminary report that military intelligence powers are a prerequisite for guaranteeing the defence capabilities of Finland. The Defence Forces, it believes, should be granted the right to conduct human, signals, information system and telecommunications intelligence operations.

The objective of military intelligence operations is to monitor developments in the security environment and to produce information on the prevalent circumstances to support high-level defence policy-making and military decision-making, the ministerial working group says.

Hanna Nordstrom, the chairperson of the working group, revealed in a press conference yesterday that the objective of the operations would be to obtain information on, for example, foreign military and intelligence activities, activities posing a threat to public order, the development and distribution of military materials, and international crises.

Intelligence ombudsman to monitor legality

Both the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior underline in their press releases that basic and human rights have been taken into consideration in drafting the reports.

They also recognise the importance of ensuring the intelligence operations are subjected to internal and external oversight.

The Ministry of Justice proposes in its preliminary report that an intelligence ombudsman be appointed to supervise the legality of civilian and military intelligence operations. The ombudsmans duty would be to monitor the legality of the use of intelligence methods and the realisation of basic and human rights in intelligence operations, it says.

The ombudsman would be granted the right to access information, request reports on intelligence activities and perform audits in the facilities of authorities and other parts of the public administration. If it determines that the authorities have acted unlawfully, it can order that the intelligence operation be suspended or terminated and that any unlawfully obtained information be disposed of.

All three draft bills will now be sent out for comments. The objective is to submit the bills for parliamentary consideration in the second half of the year.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Emmi Korhonen  Lehtikuva
A COUNSELLING service in Henley was told it would cost more than 20,000 a year for the use of two rooms at the new Townlands Memorial Hospital.

Riverside Counselling is looking for a permanent base but said it could not afford to move to the health campus in York Road.

Last year, the charity spent more than 13,000 on renting 12 rooms in Henley and Wallingford, including Citizens Advice and Henley Volunteer Bureau, both in Market Place.

The rooms it was offered at the hospital were not on the top floor, which has been empty since Sue Ryder pulled out of a deal to relocate its Nettlebed hospice in 2014.

Riverside director Hilary Arthur said it would have been helpful if the service could use the empty space until a tenant was found.

But she said: We werent offered rooms on the top floor but rooms elsewhere in the building. They were too expensive and, as we are a charity, not affordable.

NHS Property Services, which owns the Townlands site, had been in negotiations with the Bell and Hart surgeries about moving into the top floor but the GPs were not prepared to pay a reported rent of 250,000 per year.

Riverside, which was founded in 1989, works from 10 locations in the area, including six in Henley, and has about 30 counsellors who work on a voluntary basis. It has more than 100 clients, twice the number of a year ago, who contact the service themselves or are referred from the NHS.

The charity says that without a building of its own it has to rent rooms but has nowhere to store its files and equipment and any non-counselling work has to be done from volunteers homes.

The charity approached brain injury charity Headway Thames Valley about using Brunner Hall in Greys Road but was quoted 40 for three hours per room, which it felt was too expensive.

It is given 5,000 a year by Henley Town Council and also receives money from charitable and trust funds, including the Stuart Turner Foundation.

It recently received a 65,000 grant from South Oxfordshire District Council to expand into Didcot and Berinsfield.

Riverside also has a link with The Henley College, where it says one in five students suffers from mental health problems.

Henley MP John Howell has pledged to support the service after being given a presentation about its work.

He said: I would like to see more people feel able to refer themselves for mental health problems and training for a range of people, including myself and my staff.
Some 18 trucks of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have entered the uncontrolled territory through the Novotroyitske checkpoint.

"Vehicles transported for the residents of the Donetsk region food kits, medical supplies and construction materials for a total weight of 333 tonnes," the press service of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine said on Thursday morning.
The International Court of Justice has clearly decided that the parties should refrain from actions that lead to an escalation of the situation in Donbas, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said.

"The court clearly said that it is necessary to comply with the relevant resolution of the UN Security Council on the need for Russia to comply with the Minsk agreements. And for Ukraine, of course, but we do not send troops and weapons to some place in Siberia," the minister said in an exclusive comment to the Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.

Also, according to him, the court clearly said that the parties should refrain from any actions that provoke further complicating of the situation. "Thus, any actions committed by Russia, which support their policy, uniquely fall under this category of court decisions," Klimkin said.

He said that "of course, we did not achieve everything right away." "But let's honestly say that this is a very good solution for the entire international law, this is a very good beginning for Ukraine and there is no need to waste words, whether it's a victory or not. This is indeed a very good decision. Now the court has laid the foundation for all the judicial proceeding," the foreign minister said.
Maria Ceremuga leaving the Coroners Court after the inquest. Photo: Collins

A 32-year-old man died after he was crushed beneath 40 tonnes of cheese in a workplace accident.

Robert Ceremuga, from Littlepace View, Clonee, Dublin 15, suffered catastrophic injuries when a shelf rack collapsed on him at a cold storage warehouse where he worked in Finglas.

He died on November 28, 2013, after the rack he was standing next to became unstable and collapsed, an inquest into his death heard.

The accident happened in a cold storeroom at VP Foods, Jamestown Business Park.

Up to 80 tonnes of cheese were stored in pallets stacked in six bays on shelf racks measuring 15m long, the inquest was told.

A forklift driver was working in the storeroom and had removed between 30 and 40 pallets of cheese from the lower shelves that morning.

The driver had been working for the company only for a matter of weeks and had no formal forklift training, said health and safety inspector Frank Kerins.

He was sitting in the forklift when Mr Ceremuga entered the cold store with a clipboard and asked whether he had taken his break.

It was not clear if the forklift struck the shelf or if the racks buckled under the weight of the pallets stacked on the higher shelves, Mr Kerins said.

Mangled

"The whole thing started to sway and the pallets started coming down ... it was all top heavy," Mr Kerins said.

"Once it buckled, it was not able to take the weight. Forty pallets came down. The whole room was a mangled mess of pallets."

The forklift driver jumped out of the cab and ran from the room but Mr Ceremuga had no time to react, the court heard.

"It all came down very quickly," Mr Kerins said.

Garda Keith McGrath said Mr Ceremuga was found slumped against a wall in the storeroom.

"There was a huge volume of boxes scattered around the storeroom with shelving for pallets of cheese that had collapsed," he said.

Each pallet contained one tonne of cheese blocks weighing 25kg each, the inquest was told.

The cause of death was crush injuries to the head and chest, according to a post-mortem examination carried out by State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy.

Exceptional

The jury returned a verdict of industrial accident and recommended that forklift training be provided to all operators and that all racking systems should be emptied before any adjustments were made to them.

Mr Ceremuga's daughter was just four months old when he died, his wife Maria said in a statement through her solicitor, Kieran Johnston.

"She was his pride and joy. I lost my best friend and my entire world," she said.

"He was ambitious and hard working, he was an exceptional man.

"I think about him every day."
A Dublin man hit a woman and broke a lamp during a domestic incident at a house in the west of the city, a court heard.

James Brady (38) was arrested after gardai were called and told he had carried out the assault and damage.

Judge David McHugh fined him 200 at Blanchardstown District Court.

Brady, of Lindisfarne Park, Clondalkin, pleaded guilty to assaulting Donna Wright.

He also admitted causing criminal damage to a table lamp in the same incident at an address at Harelawn Park, Clondalkin, on October 28, last year.

Sergeant Maria Callaghan told the court the incident happened at around 2.30pm.

Gardai were called to the address after receiving a report that a domestic incident was taking place.

Sgt Callaghan said the victim told gardai that Brady had assaulted her and broken a lamp.

When the officers spoke to him at the house, he became aggressive and was unco-operative with them.

Aggressive

He was arrested and taken to Ronanstown Garda Station, where he remained aggressive while he was in custody, Sgt Callaghan said. He was charged with both offences.

The court heard Brady had a number of previous motoring convictions.

Judge McHugh asked for more information on what the accused had done.

Sgt Callaghan said Brady had hit the woman but she did not think there were any injuries.

"This was what you might call a family matter," defence solicitor Terence Hanahoe said. "He says it was merely a push."

The judge asked if the victim had been hospitalised or had required any medical attention.

Sgt Callaghan said this was not clear from the investigating garda's summary of the facts.

Mr Hanahoe made further statements about the incident which conflicted with evidence the sergeant had given.

Sgt Callaghan said she was referring to what the prosecuting garda had written.

"There was pushing and shoving in the house and property got broken," Mr Hanahoe added.

Judge McHugh told the court he was prepared to accept that the assault was "at the very lowest end of the scale".
Depraved Michael Casey (72) is led away in handcuffs after being jailed earlier this month

A young woman who was subjected to years of sexual abuse by a family friend has opened up about the attacks carried out by a man she describes as "evil" and a "monster".

The brave victim, who is now 20, has urged others to come forward and help bring their abusers to justice - something that she says helped save her life.

Earlier this month, depraved predator Michael Casey (72), of Cois Rioga, Caherconlish, Co Limerick, was given concurrent jail terms of six years and four years on a total of 16 charges of the defilement of a child.

Casey, who set up a children's charity in west Africa, maintained his innocence even after the jury found him guilty, and described the accusations as "lies".

Horrible

The abuse happened at a number of locations, including the victim's home and a disused factory, from June 2009 to December 2011, with one attack taking place on the morning of her Junior Cert exam.

The trial also heard distressing evidence from the victim that the sexual contact escalated to such an extent that she ended up "just giving in".

"He would do it before I could say anything really. He did it several times and very often it was every week or more," she said.

Jane (not her real name) was just 13 when the abuse began.

"Even though it's over, it still doesn't feel over. I'm still expecting to see him in the street, even though I know he's in prison. There's always that fear of feeling unsafe," she told the Herald. "I'm not exactly satisfied [with the sentence] because what he did was disgusting and there are people who could be robbing cars that would get more than he did.

"I don't understand the system to give him just six years when he's clearly a monster."

During the three-year period of abuse, she asked Casey why he did those things, only to be told it was "to teach me sexual things" and that he was preparing her for "later in life", it emerged during the court case.

Jane said it was like a "kick in the stomach" to hear her abuser describe what happened as lies, and to hear the defence cast aspersions during five hours of being cross-examined.

"It hurt a lot. It came out in the cross-examination from his side as well. I knew what he was saying - about the lies and that it was fantasy - and the second I heard him say that it felt like a kick in the stomach, because he was blaming it on the fact I loved reading when I was younger.

"It's a horrible feeling, that he can be that evil to say I made it up and for it to be just fantasy."

Casey, who was 63 when the abuse started, was good friends with Jane's father as they both worked in retail. He was also involved in voluntary work and helped set up a charity in Ghana, providing literacy skills to children and adults.

The abuse came to light when Jane confided in a friend in 2012. Comments were made blaming her parents for letting the abuse happen, which she described as "horrible" and "wrong".

"People blame my parents for making me trust him, but that isn't the case at all. He was in my life since I was six. So it wasn't like it was all of a sudden," she said.

Jane also asked other victims of abuse to come forward.

Secret

"Speak up because I know for a fact if I didn't speak up about what happened to me I would be dead by now; because of the fact that I was keeping it in, the depression of that and feeling as if the world is on your shoulders," she said.

"But if we keep quiet we let the abusers and molesters get away with what they've done.

"I know what it's like to keep that secret in. I know what it's like in the aftermath. I know everything is hard, but it will get better."

Jane also thanked those who supported her during a five- year legal battle.

"I just want to thank my close friends and family, as well as the investigating gardai, the State solicitor's office, my school and the CARI Foundation. I wouldn't have got through this without their help," she said.
The pastor's wife, who lives with her children in a women's shelter, claimed members of her husband's church know about his violence but do nothing. (Stock picture)

The wife of a church leader has told the Family Court her husband slapped her in front of their children and a member of the church.

The pastor's wife, who lives with her children in a women's shelter, claimed members of her husband's church know about his violence but do nothing.

She said he should not be allowed to see his children until he "owns up" to his violence.

"I don't think he should be allowed access [to his children] because he has clearly stated he's not violent but I know he is," the woman told Dublin District Family Court yesterday.

She said the members of her husband's church know about his temper but they "cover it up... because he's their leader".

"I feel like I have no ear, that no one will listen to me. I'm on my own. No one wants to hear about it. It's like I have no voice," she added.

The woman said the pastor has assaulted her twice. On one occasion he hit her in a car park in front of their children and a member of his church, she alleged.

"He's stating he's a man of God. If you are slapping your partner in a car park in front of your children and you're still not admitting it, then there's a problem," she said.

Action

The father has not seen his children for a number of months and was applying to the court for access to them.

His wife said their children would like to see him if he "sorts himself out".

"They still think highly of him and I'm sure if he sorts himself out they would like to see him, and I would like them to see him. But I would like to see some action and some owning up," she said.

The pastor told Judge John Lindsay that what his wife was saying was untrue.

"I believe God will be our judge. I'm not going to fight her. I just want to see my kids," he said.

Judge Lindsay granted the pastor an interim access order, giving him once weekly visits.
Kyiv urges intl society to react to each fact of violation of decision of Intl Court of Justice by Russia

Ukraine expects that the Russian Federation executes the decision of the United Nations' International Court of Justice (The Hague) under the lawsuit filed by Ukraine against Russia in the shortest terms. The country urges international society to monitor the execution of the decision and react to each fact of violation of the decision by Russia.

"We expect that the Russian Federation would at once and in full execute the court decision, cease violation of international law towards Ukraine. We call on entire international society to thoroughly monitor the execution of this Court decision by Russia and punish Russia for each fact of violation of the decision," Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine and Head of the Ukrainian delegation in the United Nations' International Court of Justice Olena Zerkal wrote on her Facebook page after the court hearing.

Commenting on the decision, Zerkal said that the court recognized Ukraine's logics in approaches of applying the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and "Ukraine understands what evidence the country will present for the final decision."

She said that today's court decision still means that Russia is entitled to observe the liabilities taken under the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

"We continue thoroughly preparing for the hearings where the final decision will be made to prove deliberate and impudent violation of international law by the Russian Federation," she said.
Over the past day, militants have fired on the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) 18 times, as a result of which one soldier has been injured, the press center of the ATO headquarters has reported.

"Over the past day, one Ukrainian soldier has been injured," a message says posted on the Facebook page of the ATO staff on Thursday.

Ukrainian troops came under attack of 82mm mortars near Krasnohorivka in the Mariupol sector, the staff said. Ukrainian marines were attacked by infantry combat vehicles, anti-tank grenade launchers and heavy machineguns near Vodiane, and automatic grenade launchers were fired near Pavlopil. An infantry combat vehicle was engaged in the attack on Ukrainian troops in Shyrokyne. Small arms were fired on strongholds near Lybidynske, Talakivka and Hnutove, the staff said.

In the Donetsk sector, Ukrainian troops were attacked by various types of grenade launchers and heavy machineguns near Kamyanka and Avdiyivka, while grenade launchers and small arms were fired in Luhanske and Verkhniotoretske, it said.

Heavy machineguns were fired in Krymske in the Luhansk sector, the staff said.
Ambassador of France to Ukraine Isabelle Dumont believes that Russia is obliged to comply with the orders of the International Court of Justice on interim measures if it wants to remain a heavy hitter in the international arena.

"Russia should abide by UN court orders, if it wants to be seen as a heavy hitter in the international arena. All countries should monitor what the International Court of justice decides. I would say that Russia has no choice," she told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday.

The ambassador noted that France is closely monitoring the situation with the Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian population in Crimea occupied by Russia.

"We continue to closely monitor what is happening in Crimea to the maximum possible degree, because it's not easy for us to know what is going on there [...] It's necessary to ensure freedom not only for Tatars, but for all who live in Crimea," the diplomat said.
Cox casts his ballot and more Election Day live updates

Need help looking up candidates? Here's a breakdown of the critical seats across the state.
Russia continues preparing for a full-scale war, expanding its military might and actively increases its army personnel, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov has said.

"The Kremlin continues preparing for a full-scale war, which poses a threat to the whole of Europe," Turchynov said at the opening ceremony of the Kyiv-Mohyla business school titled "Strategic Leadership: the Security and Defense Sector of Ukraine" on Thursday.

According to the NSDC secretary, the Russian Federation is also strengthening its positions in the territories beyond Ukraine's control in the east of Ukraine. Today there are up to 30,000 militants in Donbas, their number is planned to be increased to 50,000.
The new law on national security of Ukraine, elaborated with the participation of international partners, will determine the main strategic objectives of development of the Armed Forces of the country, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov has said.

"Ukraine requires robust Armed Forces, which are able to defend their homeland. The main directions of the development of the army are already defined in the National Security Strategy, the Military Doctrine, and the Strategic Defense Bulletin. These ideas will also be enshrined in the new National Security Law, which was elaborated in close cooperation with our foreign partners," Turchynov said at the opening ceremony of the Kyiv-Mohyla business school titled "Strategic Leadership: Security and Defense Sector of Ukraine "on Thursday.

He also noted that it is equally important to develop the capabilities of intelligence and law enforcement agencies. "The events of 2014 demonstrated that the weakness of these bodies is the guarantee of a loss. If several years ago these services and the army had been strong enough, the issue of restoring our territorial integrity would not have arisen," the NSDC secretary said.

According to Turchynov, "the reserve of partial improvements is almost exhausted, it is high time to resolutely act."
(JTA)Looking through the barbed wire of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, 14-year-old Nanette Konig could barely recognize her friend and classmate from Amsterdam, Anne Frank.

Both girls had been caught by the Nazis in the Dutch capital and were sent to starve to death in a place Konig describes today as hell on Earth. Both were emaciated when they saw each other again in different sections of the same German camp in 1944.

She looked like a walking skeleton, just like me, Konig, one of the few living friends of the teenage diarist, told JTA in a video interview from her home in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on April 6, which was her 88th birthday.

As more and more Holocaust survivors die each year, Konig was compelled a decade ago to break her long silence and join a diminishing group of witnesses who now tell their story in the media and at schools. Her lectures, which Konig says she has delivered to thousands of students on three continents, are something that survivors owe to the victims.

But its also her way of repaying Anne Franks father, Otto, who comforted Konig in the aftermath of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, even as he was grieving for his own two daughters and wife.

Otto Frank, who edited the diaries his daughter wrote while the family was in hiding into the best-selling The Diary of a Young Girl, met Konig in 1945 at a rehabilitation center in eastern Holland. Konig, who was 16 and weighed only 60 pounds, was brought there following the Allies liberation of Bergen-Belsena hell where people were not exterminated immediately, but died from hunger, dysentery, typhus, cold, exhaustion, beatings, torture and exposure, she says.

Yet Konig was one of the lucky ones to survive. Anne Frank and her older sister, Margot, were among the estimated 50,000 who perished at Bergen-Belsen in 1945 after arriving there from Auschwitz. Their mother, Edith, died at Auschwitz a month before her daughters, just three weeks before the Red Army liberated the death camp.

Otto Frank, the sole survivor from his family, already knew his daughters and wife were dead when he came to the rehabilitation center to visit Konig, who is also the only survivor from her family. Konig said Frank wanted to know as much as possible about his familys last weeks.

Listening to her stories and seeing her emaciated physique visibly caused Otto Frank a lot of pain, Konig recalled.

But despite his grief Frank, who died in 1980, gave me support, encouraged me at a point in my life when I had no one, she said. He was a very special man and I will always be grateful for the consolation he offered me.

Like many of Anne Franks schoolmates and friends, Konig recalled the diarist as a sunny, smiley child.

But unlike most of them, Konig also witnessed Anne change into an adult in a matter of weeks at Bergen-Belsen, she said.

We had a childhood and then we had no adolescence, she said. We simply became grown-ups overnight. It was the only way to survive.

During their meeting, Otto Frank told Konig that he intended to edit his daughters diariesthere were three of theminto a book. During their conversation, he said he was still thinking of omitting some of the personal details that Anne included in the diaries, including her tense relationship with her mother and her account of getting her first period.

Ultimately, though, he included these detailscountless readers of Anne Franks book regard them as crucial to achieving the personal connection many of them feel to her.

The Diary of a Young Girl is perhaps the worlds most-read manuscript about the Holocaust; it has been translated into 70 languages in dozens of countries.

After the war, Konig worked as a bilingual (English-Dutch) secretary in England. She married a British man and moved to Brazil in the 1950s. She and her husband have three children and five grandchildren, as well as several great-grandchildren.

But it wasnt until a decade ago that Konig felt the drive to bear testimonysimilar to what Otto Frank felt when he published Annes diary and set up the educational Anne Frank Foundation in Basel, Switzerland.

I saw he was the exception, Konig said of Otto Frank. Most Holocaust survivors decided not to talk about it, maybe it was too painful. Maybe it was too complicated. In the Netherlands there was a sense that Jews shouldnt make too much of a fuss about their own tragedy when everyone suffered.

Gradually, Konig began speaking at schools  first the ones her grandchildren attended. Then she was invited to speak about the Holocaust on Brazilian television and other media. She went on to speak at schools in the United States and Europe, and give interviews to leading media in her native Netherlands.

In 2015, Konig published a book in Brazil titled I Survived the Holocaust. It has since been published in Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish. She said she is looking to have it published in English as well.

It became clear to me that we, the survivors, have a duty to the victims, even when its an unpleasant one, Konig said.

The Jews, she said, are not so vulnerable anymore in a world that has a strong Israel and its robust voice.

But other minorities, she adds, are as vulnerable as we were.

In her talks at high schools, Konig tries to impress upon her listeners how the Holocaust was the result of a democratic transition of power.

Two weeks after he took office, she said of Adolf Hitler, he revoked the constitution, closed parliament and declared himself a dictator. When your time comes to vote, be sure to exercise it wisely.

When she speaks in the Netherlands, Konig said part of what she regards as her duty is to talk about the checkered history of the population of that country, where both Nazi collaboration and heroism were prevalent.

The Netherlands has an outsize number of Righteous among the Nationsnon-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. More than a fifth of all the 26,513 Righteous recognized by Israel are from the Netherlands, a nation of 17 million people. Its tally of 5,595 Righteous is the second-largest in the world after Polands 6,706.

But the Netherlands also has the highest death rate of Jews in Nazi-occupied Western Europe. The genocide, which resulted in the murder of 75 percent of the countrys pre-Holocaust Jewish population of 140,000, was facilitated by Dutch police, collaborators and headhunters, and was followed by callous treatment of those who survived. Thousands were required to pay taxes on properties while they were in camps or in hiding, and fined for missing payments because of this reason.

Konig herself had to pay the equivalent of thousands of dollars in medical bills for her own rehabilitation after returning from Bergen-Belsen, she said.

This appears to have left her bitter toward the Dutch state.

I never went back and I never considered going back to that country, where most of the Jews were killed, she said. In fact, I left as soon as I could.

Yet Konig draws a distinction between the country and its people.

I dont think the Dutch wanted to kill us. They were acting out of fear, she said. And people will do most everything when they are afraid
For Molly Horwitz, it's not the anti-Semitism itself that stings the most. The feeling that some Stanford University Jewish leaders abandoned her in her fight against discrimination is what still brings tears to her eyes.

As Horwitz and a fellow Stanford alum see it, those Jewish leaders were borderline hostile toward mainstream pro-Israel students while fostering warmer relations with the campus arm of J Street, the self-described "pro-Israel, pro-peace" lobby.

If true, the former students' allegations are not isolated, but indicative of the extent to which J Street's agenda permeates campus discourse on Israel-including within Hillel, the international organization fostering Jewish life at more than 550 colleges and universities.

The question that started it all

In the spring of 2015, Molly Horwitz, then a junior at Stanford and a candidate for student senate, was publicly questioned by the Students of Color Coalition (SOCC) about how her "strong Jewish identity" would affect her vote on an anti-Israel resolution. She was offended and outraged.

Horwitz, who graduated in 2016, claims Stanford Hillel Executive Director Rabbi Serena Eisenberg and then-Director of Jewish Life and Learning Rabbi Daniel Silverstein attempted to thwart efforts to expose campus anti-Semitism, fearing it would drive Jewish students away from the prestigious university. Eisenberg and Silverstein allegedly labeled Horwitz and Miriam Pollock, then president of the pro-Israel student group Cardinal for Israel, as "radicals" and unfit to lead. (Eisenberg said on Facebook March 31 that she will step down from her position at the end of June. She did not disclose why she is leaving Hillel, but noted she is "excited to take a break.")

After she first became acquainted with Stanford Hillel following the SOCC incident, Horwitz told the Haym Salomon Center that a friend recommended she speak to Eisenberg, who subsequently "advised that we should not talk about what happened because... it would discourage Jewish students from enrolling at Stanford."

Pollock, who joined Horwitz for that conversation with Eisenberg, echoed that the Hillel director "wanted the controversy to blow over, quietly."

The climate for Jews at Stanford

According to the campus anti-Semitism watchdog AMCHA Initiative, 22 anti-Semitic incidents have occurred at Stanford since January 2015. This year alone, six incidents involving swastikas appearing on campus have been reported.

Horwitz won the student senate seat. The following spring, she offered a resolution calling on the senate to support Jews against anti-Semitism. Horwitz said a Stanford Hillel staffer told her that "only if J Street got on board with the bill, would [Hillel] support the measure."

It was not until an uproar over controversial comments by student senator Gabriel Knight that Hillel changed its approach, Horwitz said. Knight opposed the resolution's language, arguing that the anti-Semitic canard of Jewish control over government, media and finance "theoretically" should not be regarded as anti-Semitism.

After Knight's remarks, Horwitz said Hillel sent out emails praising the bill. "I was very uncomfortable being manipulated and used by someone who didn't want to even be associated with the bill in the first place," she said.

Hillel International provided the Haym Salomon Center with a copy of a letter Hillel distributed in support of the bill. Horwitz stands by her remarks, saying, "Only after me pressuring them and stating that there is a precedent of Hillel's sponsoring similar bills, did they write the letter."

J Street's refusal of pro-Israel collaboration

J Street did sponsor the resolution against anti-Semitism. But Horwitz and Pollock claim the progressive group's perspective was forced upon Israel advocates on campus.

At the start of the 2015-16 school year, Silverstein "informed me I would not be a good leader because I didn't have 'liberal values'" and told all prospective members of Cardinal for Israel that they "would be working with J Street," Pollock said.

Although she considers J Street "anti-Israel," Pollock said she "attempted to work with J Street on those few issues where we saw eye to eye." Yet J Street "was unwilling to work with Cardinal for Israel when given certain reasonable conditions," she said.

Pollock is referring to a vigil organized by pro-Israel students to remember those killed and injured during the Palestinian "stabbing intifada" against Israelis from September 2015 through the first half of 2016.

Horwitz said Eisenberg declined her invitation to lead the memorial prayer, "telling me that it was not okay for us to leave out the Palestinians who died in those attacks, and it was too right-wing because we hadn't talked to J Street about co-sponsoring with us."

When Pollock approached J Street about participating, she said they refused to meet conditions such as "not bringing up or criticizing 'the occupation' during the vigil for Israeli victims of terror."

According to Horwitz, Hillel ultimately funded a vigil paying homage to Palestinians, promoted by students involved with the anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace. Eisenberg made herself available to attend the Cardinal for Israel vigil, but only after another rabbi agreed to lead the service, Horwitz said.

Hillel's response

The current and former Hillel staffers both dispute the alums' claims.

"Their allegations are false... the experiences of two individuals are not reflective of the experiences of the majority Jewish community on campus," said Eisenberg. "Thousands of students of diverse backgrounds and political perspectives have been touched and inspired by Stanford Hillel to strengthen their Jewish identities and connect to Jewish life, learning and Israel."

"If you interview a representative cross-section of Jewish students who were present at Stanford during my time there, they will confirm that the allegations against me are untrue, and that I served the interests of the entire Stanford Jewish student community with diligence and love," Silverstein said.

Yisroel Quint, an undergraduate senior at Stanford, said that while he "can't directly dispute" the alums' claims, Eisenberg "is an excellent, attentive leader. She has always offered and provided any support that I could possibly need at Stanford to be a strong supporter of Israel...I have worked closely with the rabbi against the BDS movement on campus."

Stanford graduate school student Fabian Schvartzman described Eisenberg as "super helpful," and expressed gratitude for bringing him and nearly 20 other students to the recent AIPAC policy conference.

J Street on campus: the bigger picture

The challenge J Street poses to mainstream pro-Israel students is not unique to Stanford. The progressive advocacy group and its campus arm tout their participation in the fight against BDS, yet partner on programming with pro-BDS groups.

Hillel, by contrast, states in its Israel guidelines that it will not partner with organizations that "delegitimize, demonize, or apply a double standard to Israel." But when Hillel partners with J Street, what sounds like a firm policy can become a slippery slope.

J Street has hosted Breaking the Silence-an NGO claiming the Israeli military engages in "crimes against humanity" and accusing Israel of "ethnic cleansing"-at the Hillel facilities of Columbia University, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania and Washington University in St. Louis.

"J Street, in our observation-and we're working on 70 campuses-damages healthy, normal pro-Israel work, especially when the group is closely involved with the Hillel, as it is in some places," said Andrea Levin, executive director of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America. "It often obstructs the wider effort to speak out for Israel on the facts and can demoralize pro-Zionist students."

Looking back and ahead

Horwitz does not consider her experience at Stanford an indictment of Hillel International, the student movement's parent group, and still holds the organization in high regard. She acknowledges that "each [Hillel] chapter is a reflection of the staff on [that] campus." Horwitz even applied for multiple post-graduation jobs with Hillel, including one at Stanford, with the hope of changing the climate.

Pollock, however, does not hold back in her criticism.

"I find it very unfortunate that Hillel rabbis and staff behaved in such an unprofessional, unsupportive, anti-Israel fashion," she said of her time on campus. "I find it extremely unfortunate that I have zero positive experiences at Stanford Hillel to speak of."
(JTA)From Anne Franks diary to Elie Wiesels Night, books about the Holocaust remain some of the most powerful and well-known pieces of literature published in the past century. Books have the power to educate about the Shoahs unimaginable horrors and bring to life the stories of its victims, as well as unearth hidden details about wartime crimes.

Ahead of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, JTA reached out to Jewish studies scholars across the country seeking their recommendations on recently published books dealing with the Holocaust. Their picks, all published in the past three years, include an investigation into the 1941 massacre of Jews in the Polish town of Jedwabne (two scholars recommended the same book on that topic), a critical examination of theories trying to explain the Holocaust and a look at how Adolf Hitler saw Islam as a religion that could be exploited for anti-Semitic purposes.

The Crime and the Silence: Confronting the Massacre of Jews in Wartime Jedwabne (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015)

By Anna Bikont

Joshua Zimmerman, professorial chair in Holocaust studies and East European Jewish history, and associate professor of history at Yeshiva University, writes:

This book, a winner of the 2015 National Jewish Book Award, was written by a Polish journalist who discovered she was Jewish in her 30s and became deeply engaged in the topic of Polish-Jewish relations. After Jan T. Gross controversial book Neighbors: the Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland (2000) proved that the local Polesnot the Germanscommitted the massive pogrom in that town in July 1941, Bikont went to Jedwabne and its surroundings, interviewing eyewitnesses to the crime in the years 2000 to 2003, shedding new light on the character of the perpetrators, bystanders and the intricate way the crime was concealed for 50 years after the Holocaust. It is written in the form of a journal of the authors travels and conversations with people.

Barbara Grossman, professor of drama at Tufts University and former U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council board member, also recommended Bikonts book. She writes:

I first read about the Jedwabne massacre in Gross book and still remember being riveted by the cover image of a barn engulfed in flames. Perhaps because my paternal grandfather was from oma, Polanda city relatively near JedwabneI felt a particular connection to this atrocity, as well as gratitude to him for leaving the country years before the Holocaust. I directed Tadeusz Sobodzianeks Our Class, a play loosely based on the events in Jedwabne, at Tufts in 2012, and remain fascinated by this story of greed, treachery and cruelty, a horrific crime in which as many as 1,600 Jewish men, women and children perished. Bikonts magnificent work of investigative journalism details her meticulous reconstruction of the massacre and its subsequent decades-long coverup. It is a sobering and compelling account of anti-Semitism, denial and isolated acts of heroism.

The Archive Thief: The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust (Oxford University Press, 2015)

By Lisa Moses Leff

Jonathan Sarna, professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, writes:

This award-winning book recounts the amazing story of Zosa Szajkowski, the scholar who rescued archives that might otherwise have been lost in the Holocaust. Szajkowski wrote numerous books and articles, but was also a known archive thief, caught red handed stealing valuable papers from the New York Public Library. Leffs meticulous account reads like a thriller, yet conveys invaluable information concerning the fate of Jewish archives during and after the Shoah, and why removal of archives from their original home matters. Brandeis University and my late father, Bible scholar Nahum Sarna, play bit parts in this story. I remember Szajkowski, too; in fact, I took a class with him as a Brandeis undergraduate. He told lots of stories in class about his archival experiences during and after World War II, but it was only after reading Leffs wonderful book that I understood the rest of the story.

Why? Explaining the Holocaust (W.W. Norton & Company, 2017)

By Peter Hayes

David Engel, professor of Holocaust studies and chair of Hebrew and Judaic studies at New York University, writes:

I recommend this book for a lucid, well-crafted introduction to the history of the Holocaust. Unlike most works on the Holocaust written for a general audience, which tend to emphasize how the Holocaust was carried out and experienced, Hayes book concentrates, as its title suggests, on helping readers to understand why the Holocaust occurred when it did, where it did, in the manner it did and with the results it produced. It offers readers a window onto how historians go about finding answers to these questions, why some answers turn out to be more compelling than others and how new evidence can change understanding.

Probing the Ethics of Holocaust Culture (Harvard University Press, 2016)

Edited by Claudio Fogu, Wulf Kansteiner and Todd Presner

Omer Bartov, professor of European history and German studies at Brown University, writes:

This book comes out a quarter of a century after the publication of Saul Friedlanders crucial edited volume, Probing the Limits of Representation: Nazism and the Final Solution (1992), which had challenged the conventional discourse on the mass murder of the Jews and critiqued its popular representation. The current volume attempts to grapple with the wider impact of Holocaust scholarship, fiction and representation in the intervening period. It includes fascinating essays on new modes of narrating the Shoah, the insights provided by the spatial turn on research and understanding of the event and the politics of exceptionality, especially the contextualization of the Holocaust within the larger framework of modern genocide. As such, it enables readers to understand both the ongoing presence of the Holocaust in our present culture and the different ways in which it has come to be understood in the early 21st century.

Islam and Nazi Germanys War (Belknap Press, 2014)

By David Motadel

Susannah Heschel, professor of Jewish studies at Dartmouth College, writes:

This is a major work of scholarship, examining the various ways the Nazis fostered a relationship with Muslims both before the war and especially during the war. Jeffrey Herf wrote a book a bit earlier, Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World, detailing Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda sent, in Arabic translation, to North African Muslims, and Motadel expands the range of influence: that Hitler understood Islam as a warrior religion that could be exploited for propaganda efforts and to serve in both the Wehrmacht and the SS. The indoctrination of Muslims with Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda may well have had effects lasting long past the end of the war, a topic that deserves additional attention.

My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Familys Nazi Past (The Experiment, 2015)

By Jennifer Teege and Nikola Sellmair

Michael Rothberg, professor of English and comparative literature and chair in Holocaust studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, writes:

Teeges memoir, published in German in 2013 and translated into English in 2015, is a fascinating contribution to the discussion of the ongoing impact of the Holocaust over multiple generations. When she was in her late 30s, Teege discovered that her grandfather was a Nazi war criminal. And not just any Nazi: he was Amon Goeth, the commandant of Plaszow depicted in the film Schindlers List. Because Teege is herself a black German womanthe daughter of a Nigerian father and a white German mother who was herself the daughter of Goeths mistressher story takes on additional resonance. Intercut with contextualizing passages by Sellmair, a journalist, Teeges memoir both confronts historical conundrums about race, reconciliation and responsibility for the past, and offers glimpses of very contemporary questions about the contours of German identity. Her earnest reckoning with family and national history can inspire us all to reflect on what it means to be implicated in histories of racial violence, even those we have not participated in directly.

They Were Like Family to Me: Stories (Scribner, 2016)

By Helen Maryles Shankman

Jeremy Dauber, director of the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies and professor of Yiddish at Columbia University, writes:

Writing literature about the Holocaust is many things, but it is never easy; and writing Holocaust literature in the vein of magic realism is more difficult yet. It risks taking the great horror of the 20th century and rendering it ungrounded, imaginative, evenGod forbidwhimsically slight. But when a skillful writer pulls it offDavid Grossman, for example, and now Shankmanthe fantastic casts illuminating and terrible light on the dark shadows of the history of the war against the Jews. The stories in her collection are by no means factual in all respects. But they contain unmistakable truth.
By Rebecca Spence

LOS ANGELES (JTA)-"We're triggering the next sexual revolution," said Mathew Gerson, seated comfortably on the floor of his adobe-style home in Southern California.

Gerson, 42, is the creator of Foria Pleasure, a women's "sensual enhancement" oil derived from the cannabis plant. Nicknamed "weed lube," the spray oil won't get you stoned-but what it can do, according to its proponents, is turn a run-of-the-mill orgasm into a full-body climax.

Since launching his company in 2014, Gerson's signature product has been widely covered in the media (think GQ and Cosmopolitan), and has even served as late night talk show fodder ("It gets your clitoris high," joked Conan O'Brien).

But the media frenzy surrounding Foria Pleasure is not what keeps Gerson, a former teaching assistant to the late Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, the father of the Jewish Renewal movement, in the cannabis business. Nor is it the potential to reap millions when the legal cannabis market opens up on a national scale, as currently predicted. According to Arcview Market Research, a leading publisher of pot industry data, legal cannabis sales in North America reached $6.7 billion in 2016, and are projected to top more than $22 billion by 2021.

"People get excited about the market piece, the money piece, which doesn't excite me that much," said Gerson, Foria's founder and co-CEO. "The bigger drivers are humanitarian and social justice and empathic, in terms of diminishing suffering with medicine."

Gerson is not the only member of the tribe to cite healing and social justice as reasons for working in the cannabis business. Industry pioneer Dina Browner, the celebrity medical cannabis consultant known as Dr. Dina, opened the first medical marijuana doctor's office in Southern California in 2003 after witnessing how hard it was for a friend with cancer to obtain a doctor's recommendation. Then there's Doc Green's, a medical marijuana collective founded in 2009 by three observant Jews in Berkeley whose Therapeutic Healing Cream was the first branded topical cannabis product sold in California.

And yet, according to Gerson, it's not just "tikkun olam," the Jewish tenet of repairing the world, that attracts Jews to the cannabis business-it's also the element of risk.

After centuries of adapting to life in the Diaspora, Gerson said, Jews are "well-designed" to thrive in a market as risky and unpredictable as cannabis.

"We have a gene pool of risk takers," he said. "And no other industry in history has operated under such high risk as cannabis, where federal and state laws are in conflict."

Gerson grew up in suburban Philadelphia, where he attended a Conservative synagogue. He credits his Russian-Jewish grandfather, Phillip Cohen, with teaching him the importance of "care-giving." Cohen made a fortune selling cutting tables to the garment industry, Gerson said, before turning his focus to religion and philanthropy.

As a kid, Gerson spent weekends with his grandfather's Chabad rabbi, who he said opened him up to a different side of Judaism-a more mystical, otherworldly aspect that would later inform his study of Tibetan Buddhism.

After college at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Gerson retreated to the woods, where he lived off the grid and considered becoming a Buddhist monk. Ironically, when he returned to the material world a decade later, he went on to start a condom company in 2009.

Sir Richard's Condoms was a one-for-one business in the vein of Toms Shoes-for every condom sold in the U.S., Gerson's social venture donated one to Haiti. Gerson eventually resigned from the company, but in the process of promoting his brand, he toured colleges and universities, speaking to millennials about sexuality.

As he listened to stories and delved into sexual health research, Gerson was struck by the glaring discrepancy between the number of products designed to improve the sex lives of men and women.

"At the time, there were 26 sexual enhancement products for male sexual dysfunction," said Gerson, "and zero for women."

Creating Foria-a riff on the word "euphoria"-was his way of addressing that inequality.

Gerson had heard about the medicinal benefits of cannabis oil, and the year after leaving Sir Richard's, he began to experiment with it.

"Given my background in the condom space, I heard 'cannabis oil' and immediately thought 'that would make a great lube,'" he said.

When early results proved promising, Gerson-the son of a pediatric oncologist-decided to look for a business partner to raise capital and start another company. (He found one in fellow tribe member Jon Brandon of Boulder.)

About a year after Foria launched to great fanfare, Jennifer Berman, a high-profile Beverly Hills urologist and sexual health expert, contacted Gerson to learn more about his product.

"I was not, and still am not, a cannabis expert or user," Berman told JTA. "But that led me to get voracious about understanding the mechanism for how and why the plant could impact sexual response and desire."

A host of the daytime talk show "The Doctors," Berman looked at the research on how cannabis affects the human body. She discovered that cannabinoids-including THC, the psychoactive compound first discovered in 1964 by Israeli scientist Raphael Mechoulam-relax smooth muscle tissue.

When applied topically, Berman said, cannabis relaxes the vagina's smooth muscle, causing dilation and increased blood flow. That in turn leads to clitoral and labial engorgement-precursors to a woman's sexual pleasure. At the same time, she said, THC stimulates the nerve fibers and receptors.

Berman began prescribing Foria Pleasure to her patients and saw positive results.

"I found it helpful across the board," she said.

Berman has used Foria Pleasure to treat an array of sexual health issues, including vulvodynia, a chronic pain condition, as well as vaginal dryness and irritation.

Because of her office's location on Los Angeles' Westside, Berman noted she sees many Orthodox Jewish patients. She was surprised by their willingness to use a cannabis-based product.

"They have embraced it with no problem, no taboo," the doctor said.

Given her success with Foria Pleasure, which packs 450 mg of THC per bottle, Berman wondered if cannabis oil might help reduce menstrual cramps. On a whim, she soaked a tampon in the THC-laden spray and within minutes she experienced relief.

Meanwhile Gerson, who had heard from Foria Pleasure users about its pain-relieving effects, had the same idea. Working closely with Berman, he developed a cannabis vaginal suppository to alleviate menstrual cramps; Foria Relief came out in January 2016.

Other medical cannabis enthusiasts, including Whoopi Goldberg, have since moved into the space. Last spring, the veteran comedian and co-host of "The View" teamed up with Maya Elisabeth, a Jewish aficionado of cannabis edibles, to launch Whoopi & Maya, a product line for period discomfort. In addition to a THC tincture and topical rub, the brand also sells cannabis-infused bath salts.

For now, most Foria products are only sold in California and Colorado. But later this year they will also become available in Oregon, Nevada and Washington-three of eight U.S. states, plus the District of Columbia, that have legalized recreational marijuana use.

Foria's newest product, Awaken, does not contain THC. Gerson said that after learning about the many benefits of cannabis in the bedroom-from enhanced pleasure to diminished pain-he sought to re-create a similar experience using other plants.

"There are eight aphrodisiacs in this product instead of one," he said. "So it's a pretty rich experience."
Ambassador of France to Ukraine Isabelle Dumont noted little progress in the settlement of the conflict in Donbas in the political arena, but is convinced that Paris will continue to participate in the work of the 'Normandy format' after the presidential election.

"France, as a state, is of course ready, to continue supporting Ukraine in overcoming this crisis. Now we see that the situation has little progress in a political sense, and Donbas continue to suffer losses [...] Therefore, we intend to continue working and find the way out," she told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday.

The diplomat also noted a high probability of continued participation of Paris in the 'Normandy format' negotiations following the presidential election in France.

"Naturally, I can not speak for the future government of France, but most likely they will continue [working in the 'Normandy format']," Dumont said.
NEW YORK (JTA)Is J Street anti-Semitic? A South Carolina state legislator insists it is. But few, if any, Jewish leaders seem to agree.

Alan Clemmons, a Republican lawmaker from Myrtle Beach, is a darling of the pro-Israel community. He led the charge to pass a 2015 state law outlawing contracts with companies that boycott Israel. He has sponsored legislation defining anti-Semitism, and was honored by pro-Israel groups during last years Republican National Convention for his support.

So Clemmons, a member of the states House of Representatives since 2002, was a natural to appear at a one-day summit combating Israel boycotts that was held at the United Nations on March 29. At the event, a student from J Street U, the campus arm of the dovish pro-Israel lobby, asked him how to best fight Israel boycotts while also opposing Israels occupation of the West Bank.

He responded: I personally believe that the organization that youre representing is an anti-Semitic organization that chooses to ignore the law and chooses to ignore reality in order to push back on Israel in the Jewish community, evoking loud cheers across the room before adding, I stand by my words before that there is no illegal occupation.

Clemmons, who is not Jewish, has since doubled down on the anti-Semitism accusation. He repeated it in tweets sent later that day and in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Monday. In the oped, Clemmons cited former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky, who said that anyone who demonizes, delegitimizes or creates a double standard for Israel is an anti-Semite.

Measured this way, Clemmons wrote, J Street is itself anti-Semitic.

J Street U called the accusation completely unacceptable. Liat Deener-Chodirker, the groups vice president for the Southeast, said Clemmons statement at the summit and the crowds reaction reflect the mainstreaming of fringe views in the pro-Israel movement.

We oppose BDS on all of our campuses, and we saw this as an opportunity to talk about how to best do that, she said, referring to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. It empowers the fringe of the community, and that becomes the face of what were doing. We saw fringe voices being made the norm.

Like Clemmons, Israel contends that its military governance of the West Bank is not an occupation, though much of the world disagrees. Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, who has advocated annexing the territory, said in 2015 that Israel should refute the myth of occupation.

The Western Wall is not occupied, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last December in his criticism of a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli West Bank settlements. The Jewish Quarter is not occupied. The other places are not occupied either.

But the United Nations, international courts and most countries do consider the West Bank occupied. Israels Supreme Court ruled that the West Bank was occupied territory in 2004, and Israeli politicians on the right and left have also used the term. Ariel Sharon, a former architect of the settlement movement, acknowledged the occupation as prime minister, two years before he led Israel to withdraw from Gaza.

We may not like the word, but whats happening is under occupation, Sharon said in 2003 as a stone-faced Netanyahu, then finance minister, looked on. To hold 3 1/2 million Palestinians under occupation, in my opinion, is a terrible thing. It cant continue without end.

J Street has been an outspoken critic of what it calls the occupation since its founding in 2008. While leading American Jewish groups tend to stay silent on Israeli West Bank policy, J Street has irked many Jews on the right for its vociferous opposition to Netanyahu. Unlike virtually all leading American Jewish organizations, J Street supported the Security Council resolution on settlements.

But regardless of what they think of J Street, or whether they use the word occupation, Jewish leaders across the board virtually agreed that the group and its affiliates are not anti-Semitic. Several called the statement by Clemmons inappropriate. Even Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of Americaa group that insists there is no Israeli occupation of Judea/Samaria, using names for the West Bank favored by Israels rightsaid that while he considers J Street extremely hostile to Israel, neither the group nor its students are anti-Semitic.

Ive never used the term anti-Semitic to describe them, Klein told JTA on Wednesday regarding J Street, adding that he did not consider J Street U students anti-Semitic or even anti-Israel. Many of these students love Israel and care about Israel. Theyre just not knowledgeable.

Other groups condemned Clemmons for the accusation, and called for respect across ideologies within the pro-Israel movement. Condemnations came from major centrist Jewish groups like Hillel International, the Israel Action Network and the Anti-Defamation League. The World Jewish Congress, which co-sponsored the U.N. event, sent JTA a statement calling for welcoming diverse opinions in the Jewish community.

ADL firmly holds that in order to fight the scourge of delegitimization, the Jewish community needs to invest in building a broad tent, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement Wednesday, echoing a report his group co-wrote this year on how to best combat BDS. Demonizing members of the community who hold alternative views does the opposite of this. It is the responsibility of leaders to insist on a civil discourse.

Clemmons did receive praise from South Carolinas two local Jewish federationsin Columbia and Charlestonfor his legislative work supporting Israel. But Judi Corsaro, CEO of the Charleston federation, added in an email to JTA that J Street is not an anti-Semitic organization.

I see that hes referring to Natan Sharanskys criteria for when people step over the line, said Barry Abels, executive director of the Columbia federation, who would not comment directly on the accusation. Alan is very supportive of the Jewish community. Hes very supportive of Israel. I think hes not comfortable with the terms when people talk about Israel as an occupier.

A spokesperson for the Jewish Agency for Israel, which Sharansky chairs, likewise would not comment directly on Clemmons charge, and as a response, pointed to a speech Sharansky gave earlier in the U.N. summit praising pro-Israel work on campus. Sharansky complimented a handful of centrist and right-wing campus Israel groups, but J Street U was not one of them.

The Israeli Mission to the U.N. also did not comment.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas waves during the swearing-in ceremony for the new Palestinian unity government in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 2, 2014. The unity pact between Hamas and Abbas's Fatah political party would eventually collapse.

(JNS.org) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he will take "unprecedented steps" to end the split between the PA-run territories in the West Bank and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

In a speech to Arab ambassadors in Bahrain, Abbas said he was shocked at Hamas's decision in March to form an administrative committee to run affairs in Gaza.

"After 10 years in which we sent financial support to our people in Gaza, we were surprised by this unprecedented step," Abbas said. "Thus, we will take unprecedented steps regarding the split."

While Abbas did not offer additional details, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum dismissed the PA leader's comments, saying the terror group would not accept "the language of threats and dictating orders."

Hamas seized control of Gaza from the PA in 2007. Numerous failed attempts have been made over the years to unify the Palestinian movement and end the split between Hamas and Abbas's Fatah political party, which dominates the PA.

Despite Hamas's control over the territory, Gaza in many ways remains economically dependent on the PA. Some 60,000 former PA employees in Gaza still receive salaries as a way to affirm their loyalty to Abbas. Earlier this week, the PA said it has spent $17 billion in Gaza since 2007.
Anti-Israel activists gathered Sunday inside the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago to hear a discussion featuring convicted Palestinian terrorist Rasmeah Odeh. Unbeknownst to Odeh and the attendees of the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) conference, while she was receiving a standing ovation, a memorial service for her victims was in progress just a few floors above.

Being remembered were Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner, two friends who had been studying at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, until their lives ended in February 1969 in a Jerusalem supermarket bombing masterminded by Odeh for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group.

Odeh's star has been on the rise in left-wing political circles. In January, she shared a stage with Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) during an immigration travel ban protest at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Last month, she was a co-organizer for the "Day Without a Woman" march.

When the pro-Israel education organization StandWithUs inquired with Hyatt about renting space to hold a multi-faith memorial service for Odeh's victims, the hotel responded, "Your request has been denied," claiming it needed permission from JVP.

Refusing to take no for an answer, StandWithUs Midwest Director Peggy Shapiro took matters into her own hands.

"Sometimes things are just too important to be easily dissuaded," Shapiro told the Haym Salomon Center. "When something really matters, you don't just give up. If you allow history and memory to be distorted or erased-and not just the story of these two boys, which is tragic enough-it dishonors the memory of all terror victims in the past and increases the threat to all terror victims in the future."

After Hyatt refused to rent space, StandWithUs began exploring other options. Shapiro and her staff booked a suite at the hotel and began inviting clergy of different faiths as well as local supporters to attend. An exact location and room number would not be made available to attendees until two hours before the start.

About 40 people attended the service-near capacity for the room. Attendees were greeted by private security professionals and StandWithUs staffers.

"Today we gather to remember Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner, their lives cut short and their futures denied," Shapiro said. "We will hear from their siblings, who today are grandparents. Who knows what Edward and Leon would have been, who knows what gifts they and their children could have given to the world. They were robbed of their lives and futures by a killer who is speaking at this very moment and at this very venue.

She continued, "Let me tell you a bit about Jewish Voice for Peace, whose conference is taking place next to us. This group, funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, is listed as one of the 10 most anti-Israel groups in the nation. They and the killer they are featuring are now trying to repress our memories of the victims. In fact, they tried to prevent this memorial. That is why we must remember them for their sake and for ours. Simply put, there is too much at stake. This is not only about the memory of two young men, but about the memory of a people. In remembering Leon and Edward, we are defending memory itself."

Letters from the families of Joffe and Kanner were read aloud. StandWithUs Midwest Campus Coordinator Sebastian Parra read a letter of gratitude and remembrance from Joffe's brother. StandWithUs Midwest High School Coordinator Vida Velasco read words written by Kanner's sister at a memorial held years earlier in Israel.

Clergy from various Christian denominations took part in the service.

Pentecostal Pastor Wesley Shaw recited Psalm 116 and declared, "Israel, we have your back. There are millions of Pentecostals worldwide, saying in unison, 'Never again!'"

Evangelical Pastor Levi Velasco offered the Prayer for the Soul of the Departed. He affirmed, "I am solemnly behind the Jewish people and Israel."

"I came out to show my support because these days, we see less and less support for Israel," Rev. Jerry Caesar of Addison, Ill., told Haym Salomon Center. "I came out to support these two young men, whose lives were taken way before their time."

Capturing the essence of the service in her final words, Shapiro said, "I thank you for being here today to help us remember, to remember and honor the stories of two beautiful young men and to hold dear memory itself-as memory is our ultimate vindication. Let's remember, so the executioner doesn't get the last word. The last word belongs to the victims."

JVP did not respond to requests for comment.

Last month, Odeh pled guilty to unlawful procurement of naturalization. She is being stripped of her U.S. citizenship and deported to Jordan.

Paul Miller is president and executive director of the Haym Salomon Center news and public policy group.
It is that time of year once again when Heritage Florida Jewish News is putting out feelers for one outstanding person in the Jewish community who has given his or her time or talent or monetary gifts to better the Orlando Jewish community. Nominations for the 2017 Heritage Human Service Award are now being accepted and the award will be presented at the annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando.

For more than 27 years, individuals who have made major, voluntary contributions of their talent, time, energy and effort to the Central Florida community have been honored with the selection and presentation of this award, said Jeff Gaeser, editor and publisher of the Heritage. Last years recipient was Susie Bierman. Former recipients have included Loren London (2014) Bob Yarmuth (2004), and Claire Mercer (2003).

According Gaeser, Each recipient chose their own path, but made considerable and long-lasting contributions to the Jewish community. Nominees for the 2017 award are individuals who do not look for recognition, but perform tikun olanrepairing the worldout of internal motivation.

Nominations should be emailed to news@orlandoheritage.com with the subject Human Service Award, or typed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper and sent by mail to Heritage Florida Jewish News, Human Service Award, 207 OBrien Road, Suite 101, Fern Park, FL 32730. Included should be the name and phone number of the nominee, a documented list of his or her accomplishments, and the name and phone number of the nominator(s).

The Heritage is accepting nominations until Friday, June 9.
TEL AVIV (JTA)-High-tech workers know there's no problem that can't be solved with a spreadsheet.

So a group of Israeli women seeking to combat the gender wage gap in the industry created one last month with data about their qualifications and salaries. They hope to empower one another in salary negotiations.

As of Friday, nearly 200 women had contributed to the survey, and the data showed a wide range of earnings -- even for women with similar qualifications working in similar positions.

"We know from surveys and from personal experience that women tend to name lower salaries than men when we go into negotiations, and obviously employers never tell you to ask for more," said Liora Yukla, 35, one of two women who spearheaded the effort. "This gives us something substantive we can look at to start feeling more confident about the kind of numbers we can name."

Yukla's group, XX+UX Israel, is a 2-year-old community for women who work in the field of user experience, which encompasses a range of high-tech jobs. Its some 1,500 members work together to promote women's status in the industry, including sharing advice and support in their active Facebook group. The group is a largely independent branch of the global XX+UX, which was started by women at Google headquarters in Northern California's Silicon Valley.

(In the United States, Tuesday is Equal Pay Day-the date when women's salaries, on average 20 percent lower than men's, "catch up" to men's from the previous year.)

"It's about helping women and solidarity," said co-founder Anat Katz-Arotchas, who also runs a consultancy that advises tech companies about how to build female-friendly products. "Rather than dictating to women, we listen and let them tell us, 'This is what we need and this is how to do it for us.'"

Katz-Arotchas said the survey, although unscientific, could serve as a much-needed reference for group members and empower them to be bolder in their salary demands. Professional industry surveys have not looked at women's salaries separately, she said.

Despite narrowing in recent years, Israel's gender wage gap is among the widest in the developed world, according to a report released last year-with women making less than three-quarters of what men earn. The gap is even wider in high-tech, where women have been found to earn a little more than half as much as men.

According to a recent Taub Center study, the biggest reason for the disparity is that on average, women work fewer hours than men. Another key factor is that women are more likely to be employed in lower-wage occupations and industries. Many have argued that those factors are influenced by discrimination as well.

The challenge of asking for higher pay came up recently in a discussion on the XX+UX Israel Facebook group. Shortly thereafter, two members of the group posted a Google spreadsheet for members to share information about their job, professional experience and monthly pay.

"We're basically just a group of women who work in high-tech, and this is the kind of thing we talk about," Yukla said. "It was a really long, vibrant discussion, so we realized a lot of us are probably interested in what the standard is."

The survey, which the group plans to systematically analyze, showed monthly salaries ranging from 6,000 shekels (about $1,700) for a starting designer to 46,500 shekels (about $13,000) for a veteran product manager. It also found that some women with similar jobs and qualifications reported significantly different incomes. One project manager at a large company said she made 20,600 shekels (about $5,700) per month, along with bonuses and a company car. Another with the same education and six more years of experience said her salary was 16,000 shekels (about $4,400).

"One thing that was sort of surprising was you saw different salary levels for the same job, the same skill set," Yukla said. "I think the question here is: Would it be different for our male colleagues?"

Group members responded enthusiastically to the survey.

In comments on Facebook, one woman wrote, "Well done, finally the real data and life."

Another said, "Fabulous activism! This is super important and I'm sure it's going to help many girls negotiate better in their next salary negotiations."

Another commenter noted that despite what many agreed was wage discrimination in their industry, the women were fortunate to be part of Start-up Nation. The average Israeli high-tech worker's salary was 24,000 shekels last year, according to an industry survey, compared to 10,000 shekels for all Israelis.

"Amazing! Fabulous!" she said. "Even though there are gaps, our situation compared to the market is really good!"
On April 25, Rabbi Benjamin Blech will discuss his book and research in to the secrets that Michelangelo wove in to his painting at the Sistine Chapel. The event is being hosted by Chabad Centers of Orlando, and will take place at Chabad of Greater Orlando, 708 Lake Howell Road in Maitland.

Rabbi Benjamin Blech is an internationally recognized educator, religious leader, author and lecturer. His latest book, "The Sistine Chapel: Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican," has been translated into 15 languages. This major historical work of investigative research aims to proves that Michelangelo incorporated many teachings of Jewish Midrash and Kabbalah into the Sistine Chapel-daring ideas unknown to its 4 million annual visitors.

Enrico Bruschini, official art historian of the U.S. Embassy in Rome, says "Just as the work of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel changed forever the world of art, so will this book change forever the way to view and, above all, to understand the work of Michelangelo!"

Rabbi Mendy Bronstein, director of Chabad of Altamonte, says "We are so lucky to have an illustrious speaker such as Rabbi Bleich join us for the evening. The lecture promises to be fascinating and thought provoking."

The program will begin at 7:30 p.m. The cost is $15 per person; and $180 for Sponsors, this includes two tickets with VIP seating and dinner with the author before the talk.

For more information, please visit http://www.JewishNorthOrlando.com or call 407-636-5994.
Congregation of Reform Judaism is holding an open house reception on May 7 at 1:30 p.m. at the synagogue, featuring a live performance of music by the HaZamir Orlando Chapter members-Alexa Schein, Hannah Schenkel, Harrison Burke, Vicki Geismar and Maya Milsom-who have just returned from singing at the Met with HaZamir: The International Jewish High School Choir.

The Orlando chapter is part of an international network of 35 HaZamir chapters across the United States and Israel, including chapters in Boca Raton and Miami. Each HaZamir chapter rehearses weekly in its local city to learn a common repertoire, study the texts of that repertoire and then gather together to polish and perform that repertoire at regional, national and international events, culminating in a spectacular Gala Concert with over 400 participants.

Cantor Jaqueline Rawiszer, director of the Orlando Chapter, explained that HaZamir is open to Jewish musical teens in grades 9  12 who can match pitch and hold their own in a 4-part arrangement. Those looking for additional challenges and opportunities can audition for the honors Chamber Choir or try out for solos in the gala concert. HaZamir also offers a college credit program for juniors and seniors as well as a Teen Leadership Initiative.

Rawiszer shared, "All eligible teens and their parents are warmly welcomed and will have an opportunity to learn more about the HaZamir program."

Congregation of Reform Judaism is located at 928 Malone Dr., Orlando.

HaZamir is a project of the Zamir Choral Foundation, Matthew Lazar, Founder & Director.
Jewish Voice for Peace members at the Jewish United Fund of Chicago protesting donor-advised funds from JUF going to groups that have been deemed Islamophobic, March 24, 2017.

NEW YORK (JTA)-Lisa Greer didn't think twice when she used her cellphone to donate to IfNotNow, a Jewish organization that protests Israel's West Bank occupation.

Greer and her husband, Joshua, had given millions to progressive Jewish and Israel causes, and she sits on the board of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles. So last October, she gave the $5,000 contribution to IfNotNow from her donor-advised fund at the foundation, a mechanism for philanthropists to give to specific causes via local Jewish philanthropic bodies.

But two days later, the Jewish Community Foundation, the planned giving arm of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, blocked the donation. While Greer can choose where her fund's money goes, the foundation has to approve every grant. And because IfNotNow protests federations and other Jewish establishment groups, the foundation said no.

It was the first Greer had ever heard of a grant being denied.

"We give to all different kinds of organizations. There's never been an issue," said Greer, who gave the IfNotNow donation in September. "I'd never heard of this happening before. I was beyond shocked. I really did start shaking."

Greer's gift isn't the only contribution from a Jewish donor-advised fund to come under scrutiny. Nationwide, donor-advised funds affiliated with Jewish federations give a collective $1 billion per year, according to the Jewish Federations of North America. Of those gifts, relatively few are rejected-but red lines surrounding donor-advised gifts remain unclear. Beyond confirming a recipient nonprofit's legal standing, federations often mandate only that a recipient's mission be consistent with the federation's goals-itself a vague requirement.

"Jewish Federations' charitable goals include aiding the most vulnerable, building vibrant Jewish communities and supporting Israel," read a statement from JFNA spokeswoman Rebecca Dinar. "Grants to organizations that fall outside of those parameters require each community to apply their own judgment."

What falls within and outside those boundaries?

While the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles blocked the IfNotNow grant, it has allowed grants to the New Israel Fund, which supports a range of nonprofits that oppose occupation. Federations have also faced pressure on donor-advised donations to right-wing groups.

Last Friday, Jewish Voice for Peace, which supports boycotts of Israel, issued a report tallying donor-advised gifts via Chicago's federation-affiliated foundation to groups that JVP describes as "Islamophobic." According to the report, gifts to two organizations-Middle East Forum and Investigative Project on Terrorism-totaled nearly $800,000 between 2011 and 2014. (Both groups say they do not oppose Islam but rather "Islamist violence" and "radical Islamic involvement in terrorism.") Last year, students in J Street U, the student arm of the dovish Israel lobby, wrote an op-ed in the Forward detailing donor-advised gifts totaling more than $60,000 via the Chicago and Milwaukee federations to groups that fund West Bank settlement construction.

"If their only basis for who they give money to is whether it's legal, they need to stop saying they stand together against all forms of hate," said Michael Deheeger, one of the JVP report's co-authors, about the Chicago federation. "They still retain total discretion over whether to let money go to these organizations. They can stop this today."

For wealthy donors, donor-advised funds are a way to make giving easier. They place their money into a tax-free charitable account, tell the federation where they want it to go and the federation takes care of the rest, including paperwork and tax filing. Federations benefit by receiving an initial donation from each donor as well as a small percentage of each donation. Traditional charities like The United Way and the Salvation Army run donor-advised funds, as do mutual fund groups like Fidelity and Charles Schwab.

The popularity of donor-advised funds has grown beyond the Jewish community. According to The Economist, almost $80 billion sit in over 270,000 donor-advised funds today, compared to $34 billion in 180,000 donor-advised funds in 2010. In 2014, Jewish federations and affiliated foundations held over $17.5 billion in donor-advised funds, according to EJewishPhilanthropy.com.

Federations embraced donor-advised funds in recent years to cultivate wealthy families who wanted more say in where their donations go-unlike donations to the federation's annual campaign, which are generally apportioned by the federation's lay board and staff. But there are limits. Donors' gifts from funds are subject to federation approval

Andres Spokoiny, CEO of the Jewish Funders Network, which offers resources for Jewish philanthropists, said controversies on the margins of the funds shouldn't tarnish their value as a way to facilitate giving. But the best way to assuage those concerns, he said, is for each federation to clearly set its red lines.

"That gets inscribed into the broader question of what are normative positions for the Jewish community," he said. "What are the limits of public discourse? It's a debate that's full of gray areas and the goalposts keep moving. The solution to that is to have an honest and open conversation in each community."

Some federations do have specific policies on donor-advised gifts. Portland's federation, for example, notes that it does not make its own allocations beyond Israel's pre-1967 borders, but that it will generally accept donor-advised gifts intended for charities beyond the so-called Green Line. Others, including the Chicago federation's foundation and the Los Angeles community fund, prefer not to single out any one cause or group in their guidelines for donors.

"It's the donor's money sitting at JUF, and very wide latitude is then given to the donor," said Jay Tcath, executive vice president of the Jewish United Fund, Chicago's federation. "Which is why there are groups on the right that are going to be funded that antagonize the left, and groups on the left we fund."

Asked to elaborate on its denial of Greer's request, the L.A. fund wrote in a statement to JTA that it will approve gifts to any nonprofit "whose programs and goals are not inconsistent with the fundamental mission of the Jewish Community Foundation," and which is not anti-Semitic nor anti-Israel.

Jewish Voice for Peace would like the Chicago federation to establish a policy disqualifying funding to "Islamophobic" groups. In the period covered by the JVP report, the Chicago federation's donor-advised funds made a total of $175 million in grants to 3000 organizations.

That included more than $750,000 of donor-advised gifts between 2011 and 2014 to the Middle East Forum, an organization led by researcher Daniel Pipes that the Southern Poverty Law Center included on a list of anti-Muslim extremist groups, and $26,000 to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, led by Steven Emerson, which also appears on the SPLC list.

"If they want to cast such a big tent that it puts them in the position of funneling money to hate groups, they need to stop positioning themselves as speaking on behalf of the entire Chicago Jewish community," Deheeger said.

Tcath rejects JVP's charge that his organization is Islamophobic, noting money it has raised for relief efforts in Syria and Bosnia as well as its work helping resettle refugees of all religions in Illinois. He said his federation opposes bigotry, and that SPLC's list of Islamophobic organizations, which came out in December, two years after the period studied by JVP, could prompt a re-examination of those groups. But he added that JUF would not disqualify a group based solely on one or two of its founders' offensive statements.

"Any bigotry is against our values and interests, but it is not for certain that everybody would really agree with that characterization of the Southern Poverty Law Center," he said. "Are they serving the noble goals on which their mission statement is based? If that is the case, then we're not going to stop the donors' requests to the group because of this or that statement."

The Chicago federation does set red lines: Tcath said any group that advocates violence toward, or forcible expulsion of, Arabs from Israel would not receive funding. On the left, he ruled out any group that promotes boycotts of Israel-including JVP-but not groups that support boycotts limited to the settlements. In the past, Tcath also recalls the federation denying a request to fund a church that engaged in proselytizing.

Tcath said he had "no idea" whether JUF would honor a request to fund IfNotNow, noting its focus on protesting Jewish federations like his own.

After being denied by the L.A. community fund, Greer gave her donation directly to IfNotNow. In the months since, she has kept her money in the donor-advised fund, noting her support of most of the organization's work in the Jewish community. But she's looking for a more progressive home for her philanthropy.

"If I can get a little bit of money back to the Jewish community through that 1.5 percent, it's a good thing," she said, referring to the percentage of each gift that goes to the Jewish Community Fund. "But I'm actively looking for an alternative, and if an alternative presents itself, or if I were given money to create an alternative, I would do it in a heartbeat."
While the international community hangs on to visions of a two-state solution, Israeli public opinion is unified in asserting that the establishment of a Palestinian state is unrealistic and undesirable.

Only 12 percent of Jewish Israelis believe a West Bank withdrawal would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a survey published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairsat the end of March.

Jewish support for withdrawal from the West Bank has decreased from 60 percent in 2005 to 36 percent in 2017. The survey also found that 79 percent of Jewish Israelis believe it is important to retain a unified Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty. Such a stance is at odds with the international communitys oft-mentioned two-state plan of dividing Jerusalem and making it the capital of both Israel and a proposed Palestinian state.

An ongoing wave of Palestinian terrorism since the fall of 2015most recently the killing of Israeli soldier Sgt. Elhai Teharlev in a car-ramming attackhas apparently cooled the Israeli publics appetite for a deal involving a Palestinian state.

The Palestinian insistence on having their capital in Jerusalem is the true obstacle to peace, Prof. Efraim Inbar of Bar-Ilan Universitys Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies told JNS.org.

Inbar also emphasized the significance of Jewish Israelis steady large support for Israeli control of the Temple Mount, the eastern Jerusalem holy site where Jewish prayer is currently banned, but where the Israeli government maintains security control.

Jews in the Diaspora, as well as many Christians, also sympathize with Israels positions on Jerusalem, Inbar said. Therefore, Israels insistence on Jerusalem will put the onus of failure on the Palestinians.

Inbar wrote in an April 5 article that for Israel, a quick and decisive 1967-style victoryreferencing the war in which the Jewish state unified Jerusalem and took control of Judea and Samaria as well as the Golan Heightsis unlikely, given the multifaceted threats Israel faces from Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestinians.

The only approach that can succeed in Israels current conflicts is a patient, attritional, repetitive use of force, he wrote. Israelis should take comfort that time is on Israels side.

Americas role

Inbar said the nascent Trump administration shows a greater understanding than the preceding Obama administration of Israels desire to build freely in the capital of Jerusalem.

President Donald Trump in February broke with the longstanding U.S. stance of wholeheartedly supporting the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying during a press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Im looking at two states and one state, and I like the one both parties like, demonstrating openness to alternatives to Palestinian statehood.

Ido Zelkovitz, an expert on Palestinian society and a research fellow at the Ezri Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies at the University of Haifa, told JNS.org that although the U.S. wants to see progress in the peace process, there is a lack of trust between the Israelis and Palestinians.

The first thing a leader needs for a deal is public support and without this, I dont see Netanyahu moving towards a deal, he said, referring to Israeli public opinion against Palestinian statehood.

The classic Israeli maneuver is to go along with American-sponsored talks, but expecting the Palestinians to say no again, added Zelkovitz, who also heads the Middle East studies department at Israels Yezreel Valley College.

At the same time, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas could be open to a deal if he receives most of what he demands from the Israeli side, Zelkovitz argued, explaining that the 82-year-old Abbas is likely nearing the end of his political career and would want to leave the legacy of creating a Palestinian state.

Yet there are other obstacles to an agreement, such as Abbass lack of control over Gaza, which is ruled by the Hamas terrorist group. Further, Israel is unlikely to grant all of the Palestinians demands.

Therefore, I am pessimistic of any agreement in the short term, Zelkovitz said.

Israels position

Yuval Arnon-Ohanaan Israeli expert on Palestinian affairs and the author of books on that subject including Line of Furrow and Fire150 Years of Conflict Over Eretz Israel as well as the Hebrew-language The Internal Struggle within the Palestinian Movementsaid that while Israeli-Palestinian negotiations have failed up to this point, he does not rule out the possibility of Trump creating a breakthrough resulting in an agreement.

Regarding the Palestinian statehood possibility, he said the circumstances and limits of that state would need to be clearly defined. Even if no peace agreement is reached, Arnon-Ohana is optimistic about Israels standing.

One-hundred years ago, there were only around 60,000 Jews in Israel; now there are over 6 million, he said. We will continue to have babies and build the country.
Dear Editor:

The international law which has permitted the United States (without UNSC approval) to carry out a missile attack in Syria against the crime of chemical attack on citizens by Pres. Assad and his government, can, as a logical conclusion, permit the U.S. (without UNSC approval) to arrest Pres. Assad and his government and produce them before an International Court for the war crime of using chemical weapons, and simultaneously to fill the vacuum by installing another government in Syria through elections.

The U.S. military strike in Syria should not be a merely punitive action, rather it should lead to a permanent Syria solution because Syrians have already suffered a lot during last seven years in the name of Arab-spring and now they should get succor by installing democracy in Syria by the U.S. and its Allies.

The U.S. has already accused Russia of complicity (Russian soldiers were allegedly at Shayrat air base when Chemical attack took place) with Syrian President Assad and his government in the chemical attack in which ~ 86 civilians (including children) have reportedly died and many more still injured / suffering. Therefore it will serve no purpose if this matter is taken to UN where at-least Russia (if not China) will use their veto to stop any U.S. initiative to find a permanent solution to the gory Syria problem.

Therefore the U.S. should proceed alone along with allies (from Christian and Muslim countries) whichever wants to join US-led Peace Keeping Force (PKF) and Election machinery (m/cry), which will ensure a free and fair election in Syria after bringing peace, and thereafter prepare voter list in Syria, in a time-bound program of say one year.

For this US-led PKF and Election m/cry, India, which (with much smaller population) provided about 2 million persons (mostly military) to Britishers during World War I & II each, now with population of about 1.3 billion people (with about 200 million Muslims) can easily provide approximately 10 million persons (including for Election m/cry). If this Indian contingent in US led PKF and Election m/cry is composed of mostly Indian Muslims (both Sunnis and Shias) then it will easily win the confidence and trust of Syrians and it will go a long way in bringing peace and stability to Syria. This model can be emulated later on in other troubled countries.

It is assumed that Indian Muslims do not want ISIS and other terrorist organizations to survive in Syria. Rather they want these terrorists to be eliminated from Syria etc. Therefore Indian Muslims (combined of Sunnis and Shias with other Indians) should immediately organize demonstrations at District and State headquarters and also at Jantar-Mantar Delhi and request the government of India (GOI) to ask the U.S. to constitute said PKF and Election m/cray in Syria. Moreover their delegation (combined of Sunnis and Shias with other Indians) should meet with the GOI to request that India should offer persons (even up-to 10 million or more) to US-led PKF and Election m/cry and for which this Muslim delegation should tell GOI that Indian Muslims are prepared to provide the entire requirement of these 10 million Indians.

Nothing will be better service of Islam by Indian Muslims (if they really care for Islam given by Prophet Mohammad through Quran) than helping 22 million profusely bleeding and weeping beleaguered Muslims of Syria including their women, children and old people.

Hem Raj Jain, author of Betrayal of Americanism

Bengaluru, India
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, in an interview with Sky News, said he is convinced that the United States would never recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea, the press service of the Ukrainian president said.

"I have never had a doubt that no American President, including Donald Trump, will ever recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea," Poroshenko said.

He recalled the Budapest Memorandum under which the U.S., UK, France and Russia guaranteed territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

The president said that over the long time, both American parties - democrats and republicans - have supported Ukraine. "I have no doubt that the status of global leader of the U.S. cannot be maintained without a clear position as regards Ukraine," the president said.

He reminded that he had several phone conversations with President Donald Trump, a meeting with Vice President Mike Pence, efficient talks with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

"We have a clear position: nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. This was my message at the Munich conference and we received support from our partners," Poroshenko said.
Eli Lake from Bloomberg set off a firestorm in the U.S. this week with his revelation that in the last six months of the Obama administration, Susan Rice, former president Barack Obamas national security adviser, requested that the U.S. intelligence community enable her to use foreign intelligence collection as a means of gathering information about Donald Trumps advisers.

According to Lakes story, during the course of the U.S. presidential campaign, and with steadily rising intensity after President Donald Trump won the November 2016 election, Rice used her access to intercepted communications of foreign intelligence targets to gather information on Trumps advisers. Some of those reports were then leaked, injuriously, to the media in violation of U.S. criminal statute.

Whereas in the normal course of events, the identities of American citizens whose conversations with foreigners are intercepted by the U.S. intelligence community are shielded, in the final months of the Obama administration, Rice repeatedly asked that the identities of Americans who conversed with foreigners be exposed.

The Americans in question were Trumps advisers.

Lakes scoop both confirmed and expanded House Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nuness charges from two weeks ago against the Obama White House. Nunes said that he had seen evidence that the Obama administration collected information on incoming Trump administration officials that was not for national security purposes.

This weeks discovery that Rice played a central role in the intelligence collection regarding Trumps advisers brings Nuness allegations that the outgoing Obama administration conducted surveillance of the Trump team to the highest reaches of the administration. Now that Rice has been exposed, it is impossible to claim that in the event such surveillance occurred, it did not reflect the Obama administrations concerted policy.

Lakes story and subsequent stories have obvious implications for the publics assessment of Trumps March 4 allegation on Twitter that Obama spied on him. But the Rice story is equally, if not more, important for what it teaches us about Obamas mode of governing.

The Rice story strengthens the assessment that for eight years, Obama and his associates weaponized the federal government to wage a political war against their domestic political opponents in a manner that is simply unprecedented.

In the latest iteration of the Obama White Houses abuse of intelligence data, administration officials collected and leaked information about members of the incoming Trump administration to undermine its ability to chart a new course in foreign affairs.

The Obama administrations campaign against the incoming Trump administration was wildly successful.

Due to their efforts, Trumps national security adviser Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Mike Flynn was forced to resign in a cloud of controversy just three weeks after Trump took office.

Revelations by Lake and others exposed that Flynn was targeted in the Obama White Houses abuse of intelligence. The administration used its intelligence intercepts and unmasking of Flynn to cultivate the sense that Flynn was a Russian plant.

On Jan. 12, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius published that Flynn had spoken numerous times to Russias U.S. Ambassador Sergei Kislyak after Obama levied sanctions on Russia on Dec. 26.

Ignatius reported that in their conversations the subject of those sanctions arose, but that Flynn made no policy determination regarding how the Trump administration would view the sanctions upon entering office.

In other words, Flynn did nothing wrong. He did his job.

But immediately after the story was published, Flynn was tarred and feathered as a Russian agent. He entered office with Trump on Jan. 20, but was declared controversial, embattled and compromised from his first day in office.

The innuendos followed Flynn like a cloud until he was forced to resign, less than three weeks after entering the White House.

Regardless of whether or not Flynn did anything wrongand no evidence has been proffered to suggest that he did anything wronghis loss was a severe blow to the Trump administration. In one fell swoop, the Obama administrations weaponization of foreign intelligence intercepts had brought down the national security adviser.

This brings us to 2015, and the fight in Washington and throughout the U.S. about Obamas nuclear deal with Tehran. In the 2015 operation, the White House allegedly used intercepted communications between U.S. citizens and Israeli diplomats and between Israeli diplomats in Washington and Jerusalem to defame opponents of the nuclear deal. Lawmakers and private citizens were repeatedly subjected to condemnations in the media where unnamed administration sources questioned their loyalty, alleged that they were serving the interests of a foreign power against the U.S., and that in the case of lawmakers, they were bought and paid for by rich Jewish donors.

Speaking to Smith, a pro-Israel activist who had participated in the battle against the nuclear deal explained how the White House operation worked.

At some point, the administration weaponized the NSAs [National Security Agencys] legitimate monitoring of communications of foreign officials to stay one step ahead of domestic political opponents. ...

We began to notice that the White House was responding immediately, sometimes within 24 hours, to specific conversations we were having. At first, we thought it was a coincidence being amplified by our paranoia. After a while, it simply became our working assumption that we were being spied on.

Weaponizing intelligence reports was only one way that the Obama administration abused its power to weaken, silence and criminalize its domestic opponents.

Weaponizing the IRS was another way.

And just as Obamas IRS was used to hound conservative groups that opposed Obamas domestic agenda, so it was used to discriminate against pro-Israel groups that opposed Obamas Middle East policies.

The most well-known case of such abuse was the IRSs failure to approve the request for nonprofit status submitted by Z Street, a pro-Israel educational organization.

After being told by the IRS that its application for nonprofit status was being subjected to special scrutiny due to its Israel-centric agenda, and the fact that it advocated views that contradict those of the administration, Z Street sued the IRS for viewpoint discrimination.

The IRS attempted to get the case dismissed, but a panel of three irate federal judges rejected its request.

After slow rolling its response to the lawsuit, ahead of Obamas departure from office, the IRS suddenly approved Z Streets request for nonprofit status, seven years after it was first requested.

At the same time, the IRS continued to refuse to provide Z Street with the documents that informed its decision to discriminate against it. And it refused to explain how its decision to discriminate against U.S. citizens in its tax policies on the basis of their political opposition to the administrations policies was legal.

There are several aspects of the story of Obamas abuse of power, and the fact that Israel and its U.S. allies were key targets of that abuse, that are important beyond the domestic discourse in the U.S.

First, the Obama administrations abuse of foreign intelligence to wage political warfare against pro-Israel activists and lawmakers who support Israel during the Iran battle tells us that the Obama administration viewed supporters of a strong U.S.-Israel alliance as its political enemies. This is remarkable.

Moreover, the fact that Z Street and other US nonprofit groups that espouse positions on Israel at odds to the Obama administrations views were specifically targeted for discrimination by the IRS indicates that the Obama administrations political war against US support for Israel was all-encompassing. It wasnt limited to the realm of foreign policy. It related as well to the ability to Americans to educate their fellow citizens on the need for a robust partnership with a strong Israel.

The second thing that we learn from our deepening understanding of the Obama administrations apparent weaponization of the federal bureaucracy as a means to defeat and undermine its political opponents is that apparently, Obamas top aides deliberately acted to undermine Trumps ability to govern. This is particularly apparent in everything related to foreign policy.

As Adam Kredo from The Washington Free Beacon has documented, in its last months, the Obama administration ensured that the National Security Councils budget would be depleted, in order to deny the Trump administration the ability to hire new staffers. It hired political appointees into the civil service and then burrowed them in the National Security Council and other key government departments, to undermine and discredit the Trump administration from within.

For instance, in its waning days, the State Department extended Yael Lemperts tenure at the National Security Council for two years. Lempert is a foreign service officer notorious for her rabid opposition to Israel.

In another example, last July, Obama moved Sahar Nowrouzzadeh from his National Security Council, where Nowrouzzadeh served as Iran director, to the State Department, where he is now in charge of policy planning on Iran and the Persian Gulf.

As professional foreign service officers, both Lempert and Nowrouzzadeh are essentially impossible to fire or move.

In an interview with PBS following Nuness revelations, Susan Rice falsely denied that the Obama White House had unmasked incoming Trump administration personnel whose conversations with foreigners were intercepted by the intelligence community.

After denying the charges, Rice was asked her view of Trumps foreign policy so far. Rice responded derisively.

She noted that despite Trumps criticism of the Obama administrations lackadaisical and stalled campaign against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, the policy the Trump administration is enacting against ISIS on the ground is essentially the same policy that the Obama administration implemented, as it should be, she added, with a smirk.

In reality, if indeed Trump is implementing Obamas ISIS policy, his failure to enact a new policy there, and indeed, the perceived chaos and disarray of his foreign policy across the board, is not a function of Trumps incompetence or of the inexperience of his advisers. To the extent that Trump has failed to date to enact a clear foreign policy, this weeks disclosures strengthen the sense that his failure owes primarily to the deliberate subversion of his administration by his predecessor.

Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.

Caroline Glick is the senior Middle East Fellow at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, DC, the deputy managing editor of The Jerusalem Post and a contributor to the Jewish World Review.
Ive written many times about the anti-Semitism that continues to plague the British Labour Partyonce a noble party of both opposition and government that has now, under its current far-left leader Jeremy Corbyn, become a laughably ineffective opposition with little hope of attaining government leadership.

One key reason for that involves the scandals around open expressions of anti-Semitism from party activists and leaders alike, discrediting the party among voters in general and forcing Jewish members to leave what was once their natural political home in droves.

The anti-Semitism row returned this week when the party announced it is merely renewing the suspension of Corbyns close friend and ally, former London Mayor Ken Livingstone, rather than expelling him outright for the vile falsehoods he promoted in an interview with the BBC, in which he claimed Hitler had supported Zionism before he went mad and launched the Holocaust.

Across social media platforms, Jewish and non-Jewish supporters of the Labour Party expressed outrage. You can keep Ken, said one tweet, Im done. Other statements implored the dissenters to stay and fight. Its the anti-Semites who should leave, not us, declared another tweet.

The partys refusal to properly address Livingstones offense comes not because of some bureaucratic error or a genuine inability to understand the problem. It happened because Corbyn and his clique of fanatics agree with Livingstone that, as he put it in a recent fawning interview, Basically, anybody who has criticized Israel, ends up being called anti-Semitic.

But what counts as criticism of Israel is very generously defined. Talking about the influence of Jewish wealth in the U.K., stoking blood libels against elected Israeli leaders, repeatedly spitting in the face of the Jewish community by comparing Zionism with Nazism, currying favor with Islamist terrorists like Sheikh Yusuf al Qaradawi and anti-Semitic dictators like the late Hugo Chavez in Venezuelaall of these monstrosities amount, in Livingstones mind, to mere criticism of Israel.

In a 1946 essay, George Orwell wrote that while British anti-Semitism rarely takes violent forms, it is ill-natured enough, and in favorable circumstances it could have political results. That speaks volumes about todays Labour Party. In the same essay, he remarked, People will go to remarkable lengths to demonstrate that they are not anti-Semitic. That, too, speaks volumes about Labour. One only needs to recall the insipid internal inquiry into anti-Semitism in 2016, which conceded only that there is an occasionally toxic atmosphere towards Jews in the party, and which employed the well-worn tactic of recruiting a Jewish academic and virulent critic of Israel, Prof. David Feldman, to provide appropriate political cover.

There is a broader point to be made here, and it is intimately connected to Labours steady drift to the left. The partys disturbing behavior is reflected not just in its deny-and-excuse response to anti-Semitism at home, but in its adoption of a similar stance towards grave human rights abuses abroad.

Nobody exemplifies this pattern more than Ken Livingstone. In 2013, when President Barack Obama drew a red line over chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian regime only to erase it a few days later, the American climbdown was ably supported by a vote against military intervention in the British parliament. In spearheading a move that bolstered Syrian dictator President Bashar al-Assad, former Labour leader Ed Miliband and his anti-war lieutenants like Livingstone and Corbyn ended up smeared with the blood of hundreds of thousands of Syrians.

Here is Livingstonethe great defender of Palestinespeaking about possible British involvement in Syria in November 2015: We cannot put British troops on the ground because they are too discredited after Iraq and Afghanistan. But we should look to countries like China. I think China would jump at the opportunity to be involved because it would bring them on to the global stage. Theyve got millions of troops.

Livingstone made these ludicrous comments after being charged by Corbyn with the taskI am really not making this upof reviewing Labours defense policy. So let there be no misunderstanding about his conclusions: After insulting the armed forces of his own country, he recommended that the troops of a genocidal communist dictatorship be sent to Syria as... what? Neutral peacekeepers? Guarantors of the survival of Assads regime? If its the latter, the dimwitted Livingstone should have realized the Chinese were not necessary, as his Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah friends were already doing the dirty work of keeping Assad in power.

And now, almost three years after Obamas secretary of state, John Kerry, told us the worst of Assads chemical weapons arsenal had been peacefully removed, we are again looking at sickening images of the victims of a gas assault in the town of Khan Sheikhoun. As I write, 85 people are reported dead and hundreds more are said to be suffering from sickness, vomiting, foaming at the mouth and other ill effects associated with these illegal weapons.

The attack, ultimately made possible by Russian and Iranian backing for Assad, led President Donald Trump to shift away from his position of accepting that Assad remain in power, warning, These heinous actions by the Assad regime cannot be tolerated. Of course, it remains to be seen what Trump will actually do, but he has at least recognized the profound moral challenge contained here without the irritating qualifiers of the previous U.S. administration. That is far more than can be said for a dictators stooge like Livingstonewho has denounced Trump, in an article for a rigidly Stalinist newspaper called the Morning Star, as a threat to the whole world.

Livingstone is too insignificant to be a threat to the world. But throughout his career, he has faithfully supported the dictators and terrorist murderers who have inflicted untold suffering, and has resolutely opposed any effort to bring them down. He has, in short, been an enabler of evil.

This shouldnt mean that others opposing action in Syria should be tarred with the same hideous motivations driving Livingstone. Equally, it shouldnt escape our notice that there is a transparent link between the promotion of anti-Semitism and the support for dictatorships disfiguring so much of the political left. Livingstone cannot recognize evil because, perhaps, he is evil himself. Nobody of any political persuasion should follow his example.

Ben Cohen, senior editor of TheTower.org & The Tower Magazine, writes a weekly column for JNS.org on Jewish affairs and Middle Eastern politics. His writings have been published in Commentary, the New York Post, Haaretz, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications.
When Mark Rosenblatt touched down at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv April 5 and powered on his cell phone, he got the surprise of his mobile technology life.

Rosenblatt received a text message from his cell phone carrier, Verizon, reading, Welcome to Palestine.

I did a double take, said Rosenblatt, a high-tech consultant from Edgemont, N.Y. He had traveled to Israel to see his daughter, who is studying in a masters degree program at Bar-Ilan University.

I was shocked that an American company was falling into some BDS rhetoric, Rosenblatt said.

According to the most recent study of the wireless market by the research firm Strategy Analytics, Verizon was Americas largest cell carrier at the end of 2016.

Verizon spokesman Scott Charlston told JNS.org in a statement that Ben Gurion Airport is close to the Israeli border [with the West Bank] and there are cell sites and wireless signals from different providers on both sides. In general, customers living in or visiting border areas occasionally receive a wireless signal from a cross-border provider. When powering up or leaving airplane mode, the phone connects to the strongest signal available at the time.

Charlston also pointed to a similar situation in 2015 involving T-Mobile, in which a customer from the Philadelphia area was greeted with a Welcome to Palestine message when he turned on his cell phone in Israel, the Jewish Exponent reported at the time.

To Rosenblatt, thats not an acceptable answer.

Most of Israel is close to a border, he said. Verizon should be able to handle this challenge, it has to happen all the time. Id like to hear Verizon admit that it can do better and then do better.

Andrea Levin, executive director of the CAMERA media watchdog group, said that private corporations should get their facts straight like anyone else. There is no state of Palestine. If the Palestinian Authority (PA) were to agree to two states for two peoples, that might be a possibility, but PA President Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly said no. Why is Verizon pretending otherwise?

Verizon did not specify to JNS.org why the company recognizes Palestine as a location.

In 2012, the United Nations granted the Palestinians non-member observer state recognition, entailing basic but limited participation in the activities of the U.N. General Assembly. Yet Shimon Mercer-Wood, a spokesman for the Consulate General of Israel in New York, explained that no Palestinian political entity meets the requirements specified in the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, a treaty establishing the criteria for statehood under international law.

The Montevideo Convention, signed in Uruguay in December 1933, entered into force one year later. For the Palestinians to claim they qualify for statehood under international law is a violation of the Oslo Accords, which stipulate Palestinian statehood is subject to final status negotiations, Mercer-Wood told JNS.org.

I can only hope the information in the monthly bills they (Verizon) send their subscribers is more accurate, he said.
The European Parliament has extended until 2019 cooperation with the Verkhovna Rada in the framework of the memorandum of understanding and cooperation, head of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs Elmar Brok has said.

"The European parliament supported the continuation of cooperation with the Ukrainian parliament for the entire term of the European Parliament until 2019. And I want to give you this memorandum," Brok said at a joint briefing with Verkhovna Rada Speaker Andriy Parubiy and coordinator of the program of the European Parliament on Internal Reform and Capacity-Building for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Pat Cox, in Kyiv on Thursday.

He noted that the discussion at the meeting in the 'Jean Monnet Dialogue' format showed how difficult it is to change the established, traditional relations in the parliament between the majority and the opposition, as well as to change the relations between the parliament and the government.

"It is important to remember that the opposition is the government of tomorrow. But those, who hold office today, will probably be in opposition tomorrow. So, both parts of parliament are interested in its reform," Brok said.

In turn, Parubiy reminded that in March he sent a letter to the President of the European Parliament with a request to extend the Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation between the Verkhovna Rada and the European Parliament.
A Chisinau court sentenced Moldovan businessman Veaceslav Platon to 18 years in jail on Thursday on the counts of laundering over $20 billion of funds from Russia in Moldovan banks.

The prosecution service demanded a 23-year sentence for the defendant, an Interfax correspondent reported from the courtroom. Neither prosecutors nor lawyers have commented on the judgment.

Platon was barred from his own trial because of 'bad behavior' and contempt of court, but he was brought to the courtroom on Thursday to hear the sentence.

He was denied an opportunity to make the last plea yet he shouted a few words right after the court handed down the sentence.

The proceedings had been held in camera, but the public and the press were allowed into the courtroom for hearing the sentence.

"Judges, look into my eye! Aren't you ashamed? This is not a sentence, this is a politically rigged inquisition orchestrated by your master, Vlad Plahotniuc [Moldovan tycoon and Democratic Party leader], who should be put in prison himself! This is not a trial, this is Plahotniuc's menagerie," Platon shouted to the judges.

It had been reported earlier that Platon had been detained in Kyiv on July 25, 2015, at the request of Interpol. He was taken to Chisinau aboard a private jet, which, according to his lawyers, was chartered by Platon's former business partner Vlad Plahotniuc. Platon was charged with stealing about 1 billion lei (over $20 million) from Banca de Economii, which went bankrupt in October 2015. He has also been implicated in the so-called Laundromat case of $20 billion in funds from Russia supposedly laundered through Moldovan banks and transferred to offshore accounts.

Former employee of Moldova's National Anticorruption Center Mikhail Gofman alleged that more than $23 billion in funds from Russia had been laundered via Moldovan banks. The Russian Interior Ministry said, in turn, that $10.9 billion were siphoned out of Russia via the Moldovan scheme in 2015 alone.
CLAREMONT  After 21 years as a Catawba County deputy, Butch Cloninger, 65, of Claremont, retired Feb. 28 from his role as one of the countys first school resource officers (SRO).

However, Cloninger said Friday he is not done with working at Catawba County Schools.

I did online substitute classes through the Catawba County Schools, so Im going to start subbing some, probably at Bunker Hill and Maiden, Cloninger said.

In addition to substitute teaching, Cloninger said he is trying to focus on his health more.

A little bit of light lifting and some cardio, Cloninger said. I have tried yoga, but Im not really flexible.

Cloninger said he was a SRO for 19 years and enjoyed the job.

After starting his career as a patrol deputy, Cloninger began as the SRO at Bandys High School for 14 years, then Maiden High School for a year. He finished his career at Bunker Hill High School after four years.

During his time with the sheriffs office, Cloninger also served on the county Special Tactics and Response team.

I enjoy the high school setting, getting to talk with the young adults, Cloninger said. The part I didnt really enjoy is arresting, but every now and then you have to do that.

Cloninger said the job is more than just law enforcement; it is counseling and education about the law.

You learn where these young people come from. Sometimes, you can relate to them better as an SRO, Cloninger said. It is rewarding to deal with the students.

Cloninger had to make home visits for social services and check on students who were not making it to school.

Securing a high school with one officer is no small task, Cloninger said, and the job requires an officers attention.

During Cloningers time as SRO, the job has refined. However, Cloninger said, it was not fully established when he started.

When I started, Bandys didnt have one. When I first went in the schools, we really didnt know what to do, Cloninger said. We had to develop it over the years. Everyone expected we would go in and haul people out.

Cloninger said his role as SRO was to be there for students.

I told the guy taking my place, the thing is to be visible and talk with the students, Cloninger said. You have to try to understand where these kids come from. You are not there to arrest people.

Everyone has their own opinions on what you should do as a SRO, but you need to make your own decisions and hope they are the right ones.

Cloninger lives in his childhood home with his wife, Diane Cloninger. His daughter and granddaughter live next door, and his son lives in Charleston, S.C.
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The last two decades in Jammu and Kashmir have been marked by atrocities on all sides. Yet now the army has managed to do something which has shocked many people. In an attempt to fend off stone pelters, the soldiers strapped 26-year-old Farooq Ahmad Dar to the front of a military jeep and went through several villages.

While the military is facing widespread criticism for using Dar as a human shield, some people have defended the indefensible, arguing that this is a justified response to Kashmiri protesters who hurl stones and heckle and beat members of the security forces. This is not surprising, since in Indias current hyper-nationalist environment, many right-wing groups consider any support for Kashmiri human rights to be anti-national.

But what is surprising is that Indias attorney-general has also chosen to absolve the military of wrongdoing. Even as the police ordered an inquiry into the abuses against Dar, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, the highest legal advisor to the government, spoke in approving tones about the whole thing.

In the late 1980s, a Pakistan-backed militancy led to an escalation of violence. Militants were responsible for numerous abuses including targeted political killings, threats against religious minorities, and indiscriminate bombings. Government troops often retaliated with force and there are serious allegations of torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

While Kashmiri militant violence has dropped considerably in recent years, those who brush off security force abuses also tend to ignore the festering anger many Kashmiris feel over the long history of atrocities. Stone-throwing protesters, some of them children, target police, soldiers and public property in repeated protests.

On April 9, protesters were once again on the streets to enforce a boycott of a by-election in Kashmir. Dar was, ironically, among the tiny 7 % who flouted the boycott by casting his ballot. He says he was on his way back from the polling station when soldiers stopped and questioned him about the protests, disbelieved his claims of innocence, then tied him to the jeep with a piece of paper attached to his chest declaring that he had been throwing stones.

The attorney general needs to be a voice of fairness, calm and reason. He should be promoting rule of law and ensuring the prosecution of security force personnel for human rights violations. He has a crucial role in ensuring justice because soldiers deployed in Jammu and Kashmir operate under immunity provided by the widely criticised Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

Containing violent protesters and restoring public order are difficult tasks for security forces all over the world, but that does not give them a pass to flout domestic law and international human rights standards. Dar, who defied a boycott to cast his ballot, is now rightly disillusioned. Justice may go some way towards restoring his faith and that of other Kashmiris.

Meenakshi Ganguly is South Asia director at Human Rights Watch

The views expressed are personal
Combined Russian-separatist military forces are shelling Shyrokyne near Ukraine's strategic port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine in an attempt to force Ukrainian government troops to retreat from the strategic town.

"Despite the ceasefire, Russian hybrid forces continue firing at Ukrainian government troops in the Anti-terrorism Operation (ATO) zone, the ATO press center said.

Shelling is almost non-stop from militant groups, according to a Ukrainian marine commander, who said fighting continues.

"There hasn't been any ceasefire. In addition to rifle fire, the militants are firing heavy weapons, including anti-tank missiles, everything at their disposal, even artillery rounds," the commander said.

ATO HQ said the situation in Shyrokyne remains tense: "The Russian hybrid forces are trying to force our units from Shyrokyne, however the marines are successfully holding their positions."
Mumbais Ganpati Visarjan (immersion), which has been a constant source of creative inspiration, finds its mention in theatre practitioner Yuki Elliass award-winning play, Elephant In The Room. It was staged as part of the ongoing Summertime childrens theatre festival at Prithvi Theatre in Juhu.

The play reimagines the story of Lord Ganesha in a quirky way. Ganpati visarjans happen every year in Mumbai. I love the idea of the procession that takes place. Theres a dance that usually happens with these processions. So, I wanted to make a movement-based piece on that. It would be more stylised and contrasting to the dance that we see. Someone suggested that I should add a narrative with it and I said, of course I could. But I didnt want it to be the Ganpati story, since everyone already knows about it. What interested me is what happened to Lord Ganeshas head. I just wanted to find another side to the story, says Ellias, who has directed and performed the piece.

TWEAKING THE MYTH

The play uses the outline of the familiar mythological tale on Lord Ganpati with variations. A young boy named Master Tusk has been given an elephants head. He is lost in a jungle but encounters several other characters there.

Talking about the storyline, Ellias says, There is a Disney-esque quality to the play, since there are many characters, who are lovable. Its like an animated film, although its a solo and I play all the parts. A young one loses his way and faces obstacles but discovers many friends. Theres a lot of emotion and story in the play. It is quite an action-oriented plot. Even though its a solo, it has a lot in the narrative. Theres a forest, theres a boy looking for his head, theres an army coming to look for the boy  so its epic in terms of storytelling.

Ellias plays eight characters in the one-hour performance. (HT Photo)

ORIGINAL CONCEPT

The play was originally commissioned by the Prakriti Foundation and has been written by Sneh Sapru. Ellias reveals the play was not originally written for children. When we were writing the play, we never thought of children. In our heads, the audience, who we were telling the story to, comprised adults, she says. But during a performance in Hyderabad, the directors of the Hyderabad Childrens Theatre Festival requested for it become a part of their festival.

When we finally performed in Hyderabad in front of 700 children, after every scene they were clapping. At every turning point in the plot, the entire audience would applaud. It was a good surprise. Thats when we realised that it worked better as a childrens play, adds Ellias about the transformation of the play.

Ellias had initially wanted to cast several actors in the play, but it was a difficult task to find actors. She later decided on playing all the parts herself. I play eight characters in the one-hour performance. I also play Lord Ganpati. The plays writer Sneh Sapru has put together both genders quite well. I think I like to plug into both genders, till the gender ceases to matter, and it becomes about the characters and their wants, she says.

When we were writing the play, we never once thought of children. In our heads, the audience, who we were telling the story to, comprised adults. - Yuki Ellias, Theatre director

and actor

NO CHILDS PLAY

When asked about the importance of childrens theatre, Ellias says that it is important for children to feel a human connection. To be in a performance, which is live and not on a screen, can move you in many ways. A play has no film quality to it and that makes it human. It is not coming via any other medium. The medium in a play is human beings. That experience is visceral, she says.

When I was a kid, I saw a kathakali version of King Lear and it was so extraordinary for me, that it stayed with me. I saw five women clowns and I was amazed that they could make me laugh, she adds.

She goes on talking about how theatre is a community-driven exercise and brings people together. I dont know about the learning bit but the sensory experience of theatre is inspiring. Also, children sitting together and watching a play is such a community-driven activity. It happens in religion, where everyone sits and listens to sermons. But theatre is a non-religious space, where in a social way, everyone can share some hopes and dreams. You feel together for that duration of the play and its important to instil that sense in children.

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Bhopal: Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinets decision to remove red beacons from all vehicles from May 1 as historic chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced to follow the PMs footsteps immediately here on Tuesday.

However, barely a month ago a minister in Chouhan cabinet dubbed Punjab chief minister Amrinder Singhs similar decision as a trivial issue and advised him to be focussed on welfare of people in the state.

Union water resources minister Uma Bharti during her visit to Bhopal last month too justified use of red beacon and went to the extent of saying that even flights could be delayed for 5-7 minutes for a minister to board a plane if he was to attend an official meeting.

Chouhan tweeted, I welcome PM @narendramodi & Union Cabinets decision to remove #RedBeacons from all vehicles. I & my team will implement it immediately.

In the next tweet he said, Prime Minister @narendramodi and Union Cabinets decision to remove #RedBeacons is historic and upholds the principal (sic) of true democracy.

The union cabinet decided on Wednesday to ban use of red beacons atop vehicles of dignitaries and government officials including the Prime Minister and the President. The decision comes into effect from May 1. However, the vehicles belonging to fire services, police, army and ambulances can use blue flasher as an exemption.

Though Chouhan has taken a decision to remove red beacons from all vehicles, he and his ministerial colleagues are not supposed to use red beacon even otherwise from May 1.

Besides Amrinder Singh, newly appointed chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Aditya Nath decided not to use red beacon on their official cars.

Leader Opposition in Madhya Pradesh Ajay Singh announced in the state assembly during the budget session in March that he had returned red beacon to the state government as it represented feudalism. He also advised the government to bring to an end to use of red beacon light on the government vehicles.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had also decided that none of his ministers would use red beacons on their official cars immediately after his occupying the chair in 2015.

In support of red beacon Uma Bharti had said using red beacons on vehicles, stopping traffic and even delaying a flight was acceptable if a minister was travelling for an official duty.

This is wrong ... If a car is without beacon light and other cars in the motorcade are running with such lights that may lead to accidents, Uma Bharti had said in reply to journalists questions in Bhopal.

Bharti had said the rationale behind her argument was that if a minister failed to attend a meeting, a decision regarding a project might be delayed and cost the state exchequer crores of rupees.
BHOPAL: Two persons lost their lives in two separate accidents in Bhopal on Wednesday, and the culprit was common  earphones.

A youth who was wearing earphones while crossing the railway track at crossing near village Bhauri in Bairagarh was hit by a train that killed him.

Police said the incident took place on Wednesday. The victim Kamlesh Singroli (17), a student of Bhuari government school, was going home while listening to music on his mobile phone and was oblivious of the fact that the intercity express going from Indore to Bhopal was coming at great speed. The crossing was closed, but Kamlesh slipped under the crossing bar and started moving towards the other end. Some people shouted to alert him, but he could not hear their shouts due to the earphones.

The other incident took place near Govindpura at around 6 pm on Wednesday. Here the accused who was driving an Activa scooter was wearing earphones when he hit a pedestrian that resulted in his death. The accused escaped after the incident.

Eye-witnesses told the police that the youth riding the scooter was wearing an earphone and he was all attentive to it when he hit the passer-by.

Govindpura police said that deceased was identified as Shankar (50), a resident of Anna Nagar, and they are looking for the accused.
Irrfan Khan is currently shooting for a comedy, on the sets of which HT Cafe caught up with him for a tete-a-tete. The actor has several releases this year including two big international projects. Does he think that he is going through the best phase of his career? I just know that this is the year when I chose the stories that I really wanted to associate myself with, says Irrfan.

Ask him if he signs projects based on what appeals to him or what sells, and he says, It is not that I like the role and the director, but the story is not what I would like to be part of, but still I used to do that because youre an actor, says Irrfan, adding, It is based on everything. You also look at it from an angle whether the audience will enjoy it, because there is a lot of money involved. Also, if it is just not something that is fluffy, timepass. It should be something that has layers. You think about all the aspects. Every actor has to think about it.

Many actors are dabbling in foreign film industries, especially Hollywood. Is it because of actors like him, who have been instrumental in paving the way for the others? It is not just me. Im one of the actors, sure. Hollywood has opened up for the Indian market. It is open to talent and variety. Also, after the emergence of new online streaming platforms, this is the greatest opportunity for Indian talent to make their mark in the West, especially directors. If they can come up with a good series, they will be known in the international circuit, and thats a great opportunity, says the actor.

When asked about Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone, who have carved a niche for themselves in the West, Irrfan says, They have got a good break and have done a great job. I wish them luck, and I wish that they play a long innings there.

Irrfan has always been quite vocal about his views on relevant matters. Ask him if actors usually refrain from stating their opinions, especially on religious or political issues, owing to the nature of repercussions, and he says, Yes, actors are soft targets. And they are not encouraged to give their opinions. Therefore, if you feel it might affect certain people, then you refrain from speaking up. But if it is helping a cause then maybe you would like to do it.

Showing solidarity with standing against animal fur trade  with #StripTheFur challenge  @IamKirtiKulhari pic.twitter.com/tz9N0J9UaV  Irrfan (@irrfank) April 14, 2017

However, how important is it that public figures voice their opinions and help raise awareness about social issues? It would help for sure. That is why they are being shunned, because it doesnt suit them (the opinion makers). An actors voice is a powerful one. It does help shape peoples opinions, but the opinion makers would not want another strong personality to counter them. So thats why they are not encouraged.

The actor will next be seen in Hindi Medium and two other international projects.

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After portraying the character inspired by naval officer KM Nanavati in Rustom, which won him the National Film Award, Akshay now wants to portray police officer K Vijay Kumar, who is credited with killing sandalwood smuggler Veerappan.

Vijay Kumar headed the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force that executed Veerappan in 2004, ending the outlaws decades of terror on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border.

On Wednesday, Akshay was present to show his support to security agencies by attending the launch of a book, Veerappan - Chasing the Brigand, in Mumbai.

Asked which role among the two he would like to play, he said: Both Veerappan and Vijay Kumars characters are really interesting but I would love to play the role of Vijay Kumar because the whole planning has been done by him and how brilliantly he executed the entire operation.

The book is a first hand account of Veerappans end, written by Vijay Kumar himself. The book release was attended by eminent politicians and bureaucrats among others.

Akshay was last seen in Naam Shabana in which he played a RAW agent. He has three releases lined up this year: Toilet - Ek Prem Katha, Padman and Rajanikants 2.O.

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In a Bollywood-crazy nation like ours, it is ironic that most of our tabloids are also full of gossip on how these very celebs - who are worshipped like gods - are also perhaps the worst when it comes to personal behaviour .

From actors getting violent with their girlfriends to stars misbehaving with journalists, fans or bodyguards - we have read them all. The latest is a blog on the online service for maids - Book My Bai. The blog that shares details of how Bollywood celebs allegedly misbehave with maids, abuse them physically and even refuse food, is going viral online.

CEO of the start-up, Anupam Sinhal, starts off the blog by stating that he is a Bollywood fan. I am a big fan of Bollywood movies. I also admire a lot of actors for their acting skills. However this admiration takes a huge U-turn when it comes to deal with some so-called Bollywood celebrities and providing them with a service, it says.

But I am only talking out of my personal experience of providing a domestic help to over 20 Bollywood celebrities in Mumbai. This is also to put in a word of caution to other buddy-startups who might fall into the trap and end up losing that precious revenue. As a matter of fact, now BookMyBai has a blanket ban on all Bollywood celebrities and we have instructed our team to not provide domestic helps to any of them, he adds before moving on to specific examples of the alleged misbehaviour.

Sinhal cites six different examples, without naming the celebrity in questing, and writes in detail how the prominent personalities misbehaved with maids. Physical abuse of the maid was almost a daily affair. As soon as we got to know, we asked the maid to leave as soon as possible. When she came to our office, we could see physical marks on her body of physical abuse. We supported her and wanted to file a complaint in the local police station. But she asked us to let it go. She didnt have the time to run to the police station every time the police calls her. Every time she would be summoned she would have to miss work and not get paid. We understand her concern. Without her support the police refused to take a complaint and we couldnt file a case against the employer, one accounts says.

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Manisha Koirala says after her cancer treatment, she used to look like an alien as she lost her hair. Now she is quite kicked to play late actor Nargis Dutt, the mother of actor Sanjay Dutt, in his biopic.

Manisha, known for her roles in films like 1942: A Love Story, Agni Sakshi, Saudagar and Bombay, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012.

Being an actor, did she get worried about her look after chemotherapy? I knew about my hair loss, but was not sure of my look. At times, after surviving from a disease like cancer... peoples look changes. All I knew was that I had to mentally prepare to fight it and I got a huge support from my family. After my chemotherapy, I lost my hair, eye brows and lashes. Looking at the mirror... I felt like an alien, said Manisha.

During her illness, many Bollywood celebrities including Salman Khan and Gulshan Grover reached out to her family to know about her health. The film industry welcomed her after her cancer battle, she said.

Sharing the story behind bagging the role of Nargis Dutt, Manisha said, Though I wanted to get back to work, I was nourishing my body and focusing on my health as chemotherapy damaged some of my body cells. I was in Nepal then, when I got a call from Raju ji (director Rajkumar Hirani). He told me about the film and my character.

So, how is she preparing for the role? I watched a documentary. I am watching her (Nargis Dutts) films again and again and talking to (daughter) Priya Dutt a lot to know how she was in real life, her body language, how she used to talk, smile. Im trying to get all the nuances right, said the Filmfare award-winning actor.

Born into a politically prominent Koirala family in Nepal, Manisha started her journey in Bollywood in 1991 with Saudagar, directed by Subhash Ghai. Since then she has worked with celebrated filmmakers like Mani Ratman, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ram Gopal Varma and Mansoor Khan.

Indian cinema has changed drastically in the last five years. Asked how she looks at the changes, Manisha said, One of the positive changes is that the audience is accepting films on experimental subjects so, these new-age films are getting financial success. It is no more those melodramatic films in Hindi cinema. So, filmmakers are ready to make films with different subjects.

She is currently going through a look test and leading a holistic life to prepare for the biopic. She will start shooting for her part from May.
Tamil film publicist Nikkil Murugan sent Twitter into a tizzy on Tuesday, when he posted that Tamil actor Varalaxmi Sarathkumar had been kidnapped. He tweeted a picture of the actor gagged and tied to a bed, and captioned it : #VaralaxmiGotKidnapped.

Hours later, when panic levels were peaking, Varalaxmi tweeted a clarification saying it was all for a film promotion. Im absolutely fine.. thank u for ur concern..its a part of our movie promotion.. announcement at 6pm..!! she wrote. The films team clarified through a tweet that it was a promotional stunt and Varalaxmi wasnt aware of the move, but the backlash was already out there. The crew was slammed for trivialising kidnapping and using a crime to promote a film.

This incident comes just two months after the very real ordeal of a Malayalam actor, who was abducted and molested in a moving car. That may have made the outrage over Varalaxmis fake kidnapping fiercer.

Talking to HT City, Varalaxmi says that she wasnt aware the team was pulling such a stunt. I had no clue that such a tweet was being posted. I was in Delhi for a campaign at that very moment. It was only when I got a call telling me that something of this sort had happened, that I found out, she tells us. The crew had discussed this move earlier, and I had told them not to go ahead with it. But its done now. Its okay, this is all a part of showbiz.

However, the incident has thrown up the question: how far is too far when it comes to movie promotional gimmicks? Commenting on the stunt by Varalaxmi Sarathkumars film crew, Bollywood personalities and publicists debate whether faking a crime is the right way to catch the potential audiences attention.

Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt feels that promotional gimmicks ultimately dont do much for promotion. (Yogen hShah)

Everyone wants to sell their wares in a cluttered marketing space, but no one should do illegal things. - Vikram Bhatt

Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt says, Everyone wants to sell their wares in a cluttered marketing space, but no one should do illegal things. Promotions are about creating awareness. While such gimmicks may create some intrigue, it doesnt do much for promotion.

Actor Richa Chadha says that peoples personal health and safety should not be compromised. (Waseem gashroo/HT Photo)

Theres a fine line that neednt be crossed. - Richa Chadha

Actor Richa Chadha believes that the all is fair in love, war and promotions policy should stay within a limit. Peoples personal health and safety should not be compromised. Theres a fine line that neednt be crossed, she says.

Actor Saqib Saleem says that misleading anyone is wrong. (IANS)

Misleading anyone or creating a false perception is wrong. - Saqib Saleem

Actor Saqib Saleem is against using a falsehood to publicise a film or a show. Misleading anyone or creating a false perception is wrong. People shouldnt spread something untrue to promote a film. There are other ways to do that, he says.

Film publicist Parag Desai says that ultimately its the films content that ensures a films success, rather than the publicity spike following such a gimmick. There may be some buzz after such a gimmick, and the film may get some attention, but finally, its the content that works for a film, he says.

Diksha Punjabi, another film publicist, is of a different view. She says that while such a move may backfire, it may work, too. People may not accept being fooled, but youngsters may also think that the filmmakers managed to pull of something really cool and crazy. In the end, it all depends on how much faith audiences have in a filmmaker, she says.

Film publicist Abhishek Thukral feels that such gimmicks never assure a films success, they only inspire some memes. There is a line that one needs to draw, he says. Such moves worked six or seven years ago; now people can tell bullshit and reality apart. And then memes follow really quickly.

However, publicist Vasundhara Prasad believes that these gimmicks do work in generating awareness. They may be misleading, but these gimmicks do work, she says. There may be some people who wouldnt know about a film at all, and then a gimmick of this nature would raise awareness about the movie among the public.

This is not a first There were reports in 2008 that actor couple Malaika Arora Khan and Arbaaz Khan (now estranged) had broken up. Later, this turned out to be a publicity stunt pulled for a skin cream brand promotion. In 1995, Mukesh and Mahesh Bhatt had floated rumours of actor Manisha Koirala being murdered. However, they forgot to inform the actor herself and needless to say, mayhem ensued. Rumours of an affair between actors Pulkit Samrat and Yami Gautam turned out to be fabricated for a film. However, the rumours didnt do much for the film.

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Describing the ongoing Goods and Services Tax (GST) reform as an act of courage, IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Thursday said she expects some positive outcome as a result of the decision.

The GST reform is really an act of courage, Lagarde told reporters during the annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

It really means reforming in-depth in each of the Indian States in order to substitute the State taxes with overall federal tax, the re-allocation of it and the digital platform that supports it, she said.

So, I am personally impressed by the work that is being done in that regard and expect some positive outcome, Lagarde said in response to a question, adding that she is impressed by the other reforms being carried out by the Indian government.

There has been other reforms as well that has been conducted by the Indian authorities courageously. One of them - as a former lawyer I am particularly attentive to because it particularly when you have to deal with the corporate sector banking sector that means help -- is the bankruptcy reform, the 61-year-old IMF chief said.

We are seeing significant development and clear determination to continue and sustain growth going forward, she said.

Lagarde said the situation in the country after demonetisation has improved significantly.

We have slightly revised down our Indian projection as a result of demonetisation that has been announced recently a little bit unexpectedly. Our understanding is that demonetisation has now remedied about 75 per cent. Those are the latest figures that we have, she said.

So clearly the situation is now being mended. And we believe that India is going to continue to grow at a really fast pace. I think, we have 7.2 per cent forecast for 2017, Lagarde said.

Touted as the biggest taxation reform since Indias Independence, the GST will subsume central excise, service tax, Value Added Tax (VAT) and other local levies to create an uniform market.

GST is expected to boost Indias GDP growth by about 2% and check tax evasion.
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss the role of world business to promote Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It was their first meeting since the decision to grant ICC Observer Status at the UN General Assembly in December 2016.

During the meeting, Mittal mentioned about ICCs commitment to use its newly granted status in the UN system to deploy fully the resources, expertise and knowledge of world business in the implementation of the UN SDGs.

The SDGs are the most ambitious development agenda ever agreed upon at the international level - and it is widely recognised that their successful implementation would hinge on widespread business action.

Guterres welcomed ICCs commitment to the SDGs and noted that partnerships with the private sector would be vital to address major global challenges from climate change to mass-migration.

Mittal also talked about the importance of rule-based policy making to enable trade, innovation and job creation in the context of the SDGs.

They also discussed the challenges posed by growing populism and anti-globalisation sentiment.

Following the meeting, Mittal said: Given the complexity of todays global challenges, its vital that business has a clear voice in UN decision making.

We look forward to using the unique platform that the Observer Status provides to positively shape important debates on issues such as trade, financing, technology and corporate responsibility, he added.

--IANS

ag/in/bg
Blitz-interview with European Commission Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Katarina MathernovaLet me start from a historical prospective that in the last three years since the Maidan, despite what some people saying Ukraine has undertaken a huge number of reforms and despite the impatience of every young person a lot has actually happened in Ukraine. Namely starting from the impressive macro-stabilization, through the energy reform, through the banking sector reform, etc., and then through the asset declarations and the impressive start of the judiciary reform. So, a lot has happened and certainly much more than within the 20 years before that. But the one area, which is almost puzzling because so little has been done, is the area of privatization. I know that the prime minister and the minister of finance and other state officials strongly support movement on the privatization front, but so far we have had very little progress. I think it is critical to restart or kick start the process for a variety of reasons but of them three stick out. One is because it eliminates corruption. SOEs have been one of the factors for it and that is something that was true in all the other countries, Ukraine is not an exception. Secondly, is because the government is not a good owner of over 3,000 enterprises. Thirdly, because this is the fastest and the best way how to bring capital, technology, managerial know-how into the country. What a few good and transparently conducted privatizations could do is actually send the signal to the foreign investment community that it is okay to invest in Ukraine. It is curious that privatization, that potential, that privatization brings, has been completely untapped. I understand the explanation of vested interests, I understand issues, that it is hard to let it go, but a lot of it is simply getting rid of all small ones by auctioning them off and than concentrating on the tier that you want to sell. What I want to say, is that with all the incredibly difficult and crucially unpopular reforms that this government and the previous one has been able to make, it is curious how this area has so far been completely absent from the reforms zeal.We are not in the position of setting deadlines or something like this. It is of Ukraine who needs to decide it. But there are some very obvious steps that can and need to be taken. Several years ago there was division of SOEs into several categories. So, the next conclusion of it should be to liquidate or fire sell them, or simply sell little ones that have no stand out business. Of course I understand how complex are some strategic sectors and you want to keep them in state hands. But there is a whole segment in between where you need just to pick out a number you can work with and hire reputable foreign advisors who will do due diligence, prepare these companies for the privatization, and will help to find investors. This is what all of our countries have done 20 years ago. I am from Slovakia and this is exactly what we have done and today we have very detail discussion with the EBRD that it is very much sort of the leader of the international support efforts to privatization. I hope very much that 2017 will be watershed moment for the privatization in Ukraine. I was very encouraged yesterday, when we had very clear message and very clear ideas expressed by Prime Minister Vladimir Groysman, who spoke at the Dragon Capital investment conference. We certainly hope that the government will address the identified obstacles and move this agenda forward. European Union is standing ready to support. We do and can even more with our partner international financial institutions (IFIs) that are here. You have EBRD and IFC that can come in and take ownership stake in a company, prepare it from inside for privatization and then help to introduce it to foreign investors. This is exactly what has happened in Poland, Slovakia, Czechia and later in Romania. So, we are in March now and we hope that if we sit together in the year from now we actually would have some successes. I want also to mention that I dont see a fiscal boom from privatization because one would need to invest a lot in enterprises. But it will make a signaling effect. A foreign direct investment is like a herd reflex: you have to have a few leaders there and the whole herd goes. This is your most natural way to attract large reputable investors into this country. It makes so much sense that I very much hope that the rest of 2017 will really be the year of privatization.I think for the big signaling you need a handful of visible companies, that do need to have proper privatization advisers, where IFC of EBRD can come in, take a stake. It is important to take recognized names in large enough companies that will also attract visibility of the investor community. I am not saying that you shouldnt privatize the smaller ones, but that is not going to be the same news around them as would be if you start from bigger ones. Besides, you mentioned OPSP where few attempts of privatization were aborted. So you dont have to start it from neutral or from zero, you have already a negative two strikes. But in parallel, what needs to happen is simply cleaning up the segment of hundreds and hundreds of very small SOEs. They really needs to be taken from governmental books, because that only sucking energy and money.Honestly, I cannot answer that question because I am not familiar with that issue. I dont follow that to that level of detail.At this stage, I really think that there are two processes that need to take place before one would contemplate something like that. What is necessary now is to have privatization and liquidation of the non-defunct SOEs and than those SOEs that are going to stay in the state hands for medium term, as railway for example, to have significant improvements in the corporate governance. The management and functioning of SOEs need to improve and that is a parallel, separate process from the need to be successful in the privatization, because obviously some companies will certainly not be slated for the privatization in the short term or in the medium term. So there it is really necessary to improve the corporate governance.We are currently in the macro-financial program and since we are a predictable bureaucracy we like to set things ex-ante. So the conditions of the current macro-financial assistance have been set before and they are not going to change. As you know there was an announcement yesterday that the long waited second tranche of the macro-financial assistance was agreed upon so within a few weeks a EUR600 mln second tranche will arrive and there is still time to fulfill the conditions of the second tranche before the end of this year. There is quite a lot of work to do. Those conditions do not contain conditionality on privatization, but that doesnt exclude the possibility that if we have a future program at the end of this one them to be put in there.
U.S. President Donald Trump will attend three summits in Asia in November, Vice President Mike Pence said in Jakarta during a visit to the headquarters of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Thursday.

Pence said in a statement after meeting the secretary general of ASEAN that Trump would attend the U.S.-ASEAN summit and the East Asia summit in the Philippines, as well as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam.

He said the Trump administration would work with ASEAN on security issues and trade and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. China claims most of the South China Sea, but has overlapping claims with a number of Southeast Asian countries.
After issuing a show-cause notice to Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor for chopping the branches of a banyan tree in his bungalow, the H west ward office of the civic body plans to ask the Khar police to register a complaint over the actors violations.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will ask the police to investigate and register an FIR against Kapoor for violating permissions under Maharashtra (Urban areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act and section 155 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Civic officials said they permitted Kapoor to trim the branches of a banyan tree in his Krishna Raj bungalow plot on April 13. Officials said the branches could have obstructed construction work that was being carried out. However, pictures shared by BMC officials revealed that the tree had been reduced to its trunk.

The chopped tree in Kapoors Krishna Raj bungalow. (HT Photo)

The BMC then asked the actor why action should not be taken against him for violating the permissions. Civic officials took said locals had complained to the corporation, following which an inspection was conducted.

The notice stated that excess branches were cut, damaging the tree. Kapoor was given 24 hours to reply, failing which action would be taken against him.

We filed the complaint on Wednesday, but sent it to the Bandra police instead of the Khar police. As the actors bungalow doesnt fall under the jurisdiction of the Bandra police station, we will now ask the Khar police to investigate. We will ask them to send us a copy of the FIR, said a senior civic official.

Kapoor refused to comment on the issue.
Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has suggested the Uttarakhand government to shift Sersi helipad that takes pilgrims to Kedarnath shrine.

The helipad is close to Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary and has reported low flying and increased noise level putting wild animals at risk.

To know impacts of chopper services on Himalayan species as directed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2015, the institute took up this study.

Doaba Paryavaran Samiti, an NGO, moved the NGT followed by a report of divisional forest officer (DFO) Kedarnath-submitted to the government in 2013, highlighting that the air services are posing threat to breeding of animals like musk deer, Himalayan thar and goral in the sanctuary.

Sersi helipad is only 12 km from the shrine. According to scientists, only one out of nine companies permitted then, was flying choppers from the helipad.

The copters were not only flying below 600 mt elevation, as set by the centre government but also causing high noise levels.

The DFO report alleges that noise level was more than 120 decibel in the valley which is harmful for both animals and humans.

The study has recommended shifting of Sersi helipad due to high noise levels, Digvijay Singh Khati, chief wildlife warden told Hindustan Times.

The central government empowers states to define elevation of flying copters but the Uttarakhand government hasnt fixed it yet, say sources.

The Nainital high court in 2012 sealed noise level limits around protected area-50 decibels during the day and 40 decibels during the night. This is being maintained by Corbett Tiger Reserve.

Kedarnath reported tragedy in June 2013 in which a cloudburst-triggered landslide flattened the area and killed over 5,000 pilgrims. Following which, the pilgrims vouched for a safer air route giving scope for aviation industries to spread its wings.

Chopper services are made available to pilgrims from Guptkashi and Phata cutting the difficult walking route of 16 km to 10 min of flying.

The basic objective behind the study was to understand the impacts of noise levels on wild animals. For the first time, scientists carefully examined stress levels by sending scat samples to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Hyderabad. To ascertain the study, they also collected similar samples in a parallel area Kalimath.

The results were surprising. Stress can have multiple reasons. We tabulated baseline data on stress levels of Himalayan species in the Kedarnath Valley and Kalimath area that run parallel which do not shows much of a difference, said S Sathyakumar, who was the principal investigator of the study.

He said while anthropogenic pressure like pilgrim movement has always been there, in last more than 5 years, animal have adapted to the noise levels in the region.

We have three video clippings which were taken when sorties were in progress. The footage shows that the animals were not disturbed because of choppers as they have gotten used to of it, he added.

Furthermore, scientists claim that a change in the behavioural pattern was reported. The activity of wild animals which is generally high during the day is now changed to night.

R Rajesh Kumar, additional secretary civil aviation, was clueless about the report. I am yet to see the report, he said.

The portals of Kedarnath and Badrinath will open for pilgrims on May 3 and 6. Those of Gangotri and Yamunotri will be opened on April 28. Last year an estimated 14 lakh pilgrims visited Char Dhams of which 3 lakh alone went to Kedarnath. More than 13 private copter operators were permitted to fly in the Valley.

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The DPS student who ran over four homeless men near Kashmere Gate, killing one at the spot, told the police that he was epileptic and was not allowed to drive by his parents.

On Thursday morning, Samarth Chugh, a Class 12 student of Delhi Public School (DPS), Mathura Road, ran over the four men while driving his friends i20 car. Chugh allegedly lost control of the car and ended up climbing on to a pavement in north Delhis Yamuna Bazar area .

Jatin Narwal, deputy commissioner of police (north), said that they learnt about Chughs condition when he himself told them about it during interrogation at the Kashmere Gate police station. A resident of Model Town-II in north Delhi, Chugh told police officers that his parents never allowed him to drive or even ride a two wheeler because he often suffered seizures, the DCP said.

However, at the time of the accident, Narwal said, Chugh did not suffer a seizure.

The car he was driving without a licence climbed on to the pavement at the Yamuna Bazar railway underpass, killing one homeless man and injuring three others, one of who is critical.

He was absolutely fine, though in a state of shock, when our patrolling van officials and passersby nabbed him at the accident spot. He did not complain of seizures or request for medical attention, he said.

A relative of Chugh claimed that the accident occurred not because of the cars high speed, but because there was a puncture in the cars front tyre because of which he lost control.

According to an officer, they initially did not believe Chughs claims and thought that he was trying to mislead them by citing a health problem.

However, when his family members were contacted, they corroborated his claims and produced his medical reports. His relatives said that the boy was never allowed to drive because of his condition.

His medical reports were produced before a court but the judge did not consider it as a strong enough reason for granting bail. Chughs lawyers then requested the court to allow him to take his medicines with him in the jail. The court accepted the request, said the officer.

A Class 12 student of commerce, Chugh is due to appear in an exam on April 29. His family members have told police that he often used to stay back at his friends home at night for group studies. On Wednesday night, he stayed back at the home of one of his classmates.
Protesting against her party leadership, Barkha Singh, president of the womens wing of Delhi Congress quit her post on Thursday, saying she was not leaving the party, but only the post for now.

Singh, who was the chief of Delhi Commission for Women when Sheila Dikshit was the Delhi chief minister, criticised her party leadership for not listening to workers grievances.

In a press conference at her residence, she said Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken had allegedly misbehaved with her, for which she lodged a compliant with the high command but no action was taken.

I was seeking an appointment from vice president Rahul Gandhi for the last one year but could not succeed. When I failed to get my grievance heard, I decided to step down from the post, the former RK Puram MLA said.

Singh alleged that Congress does not practice what it preaches and five district presidents and 75 block presidents have resigned from the party due to unfriendly attitude of party seniors.
A homeless man was killed and 2 others were critically injured in Delhi on Thursday after a speeding car that was being allegedly driven by a Class 12 student climbed onto a pavement where the 3 along with other homeless people were sleeping.

Jatin Narwal, deputy commissioner of police (North), said that the accident took place around 5.45am near the Nigam Bodh Ghat crematorium on the stretch leading towards ITO from Kashmere Gate.

The teenager has told us that they were going to their school when he lost control of the car and it climbed onto the pavement, killing one homeless and leaving two others injured, said Narwal.

Police said the driver, a student of Delhi Public School (DPS), Mathura Road, did not have a driving licence. He was with his two classmates when the accident occurred.

While the other 2 occupants of the car fled the accident scene, the driver was stuck in the car. He was caught by some locals. One of them called the police and was handed over to them.

The injured were taken to the Sushruta Trauma Centre where they are undergoing treatment.

We are still in the process of ascertaining the identity of the three homeless. An FIR is being registered in connection with the accident at the Kashmere Gate police station, said a senior police officer.

The identity of the driver has been withheld by the police as they are still in the process of finding out his age. They consider him a minor and at present treating him as an underage driver.

The teenager is in the custody of the Kashmere Gate police and is being interviewed. A medical examination will be conducted to find out whether he was driving under the influence of alcohol.

According to the police, the car belongs to a Model Town resident. They have learnt that the teenager was driving his friends fathers car.

We are finding out if the car belongs to the father of any of the two students, who fled the accident, abandoning the driver in the car. They will be traced and questioned, an officer said.
Come May and the Capitals important business and residential hubs will be connected with non-stop bus services, the latest attempt by the government to make people give up their cars for public transport.

Delhi has in recent years seen rapidly deteriorating air quality, with vehicles among key contributors to pollution. More than 530 new cars were registered every day last year, suggesting that those who could afford them were more likely to use private vehicles than buses or the Metro.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered the Delhi government on Thursday to introduce destination buses  stopping only at origin and destination points.

Initial routes will connect residential areas such as Dwarka Sector 3 (Madhu Vihar), Punjabi Bagh, Vasant Vihar, Kalkaji, Janakpuri D Block, Rohini Sector 22 and Badarpur Border to commercial districts such as the CGO complex, Nehru Place and Bikaji Cama Place during peak office hours.

The services will be run by the Delhi Transport Corporation and the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS).

The morning trip time for DIMTS buses would be 8 am and in the evening it would start at 6 pm... DTC buses will have different trip time depending on the routes. Some would start at 7:55 am, 8:20 am and 8:45 am, while the evening ones would begin at 5:45 pm, a DTC official said.

Experts said the services can potentially help take off a considerable number of cars from the roads, and free up parking lots.

Introducing destination buses would surely help, but it should be a part of the larger plan of a stratified bus service. Making bus service more convenient and attractive for different user groups is the only way now to push ridership. Bengaluru has already implemented this and it has been well received by people, said Anumita Rouchowdhury, executive director at Centre for Science and Environment.

The DTC has proposed 20 trips of air-conditioned buses, while the DIMTS said it would run 26 non-AC bus trips.

The NGT will take a call on the final routes from what the two operators have proposed.

Officials said a few other business hubs like Netaji Subhash Place, ITO, Connaught Place, Barakhamba Road and Laxmi Nagar Scope building are likely to be connected in a subsequent phase.

Once the service begins, a survey will be done to find out whether those using the destination buses have actually given up their cars or are the same ones who already using buses. The NGT has asked to run buses on routes where ridership or revenue is the least, a transport department official said.

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Delhis iconic Taj Mansingh hotel will go under the hammer as the Supreme Court on Thursday morning allowed the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) to auction the property located at the prime location of 1, Man Singh Road in Lutyens Delhi.

The apex court has allowed the civic agency to e-auction the five-star hotel, currently being run by Tata Group firm Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL).

A bench comprising Justices PC Ghose and RF Nariman allowed the plea of NDMC that the Tata Group firm cannot have the right to refusal in the auctioning of the hotel.

Taj Mansingh to be auctioned by NDMC as SC allows it to do so. E-auction to take place @htTweets  bhadra sinha (@BhadraSinha) April 20, 2017

The civic body had on March 3 told the apex court that it wants to e-auction the hotel. The court had earlier asked the IHCL, which challenged a Delhi High Court order allowing auction of the hotel, to file objections, if any, within a week.

The IHCL had told the apex court that it was not clear why NDMC wanted to auction the prime property which gave the best revenue to it.

The property, owned by NDMC, was given to IHCL on a lease of 33 years, which ended in 2011. Nine temporary extensions were given to the company on various grounds with three of them granted last year itself.

The company had on November 8 approached the apex court against the high court order clearing the auction. A single-judge bench of the HC had on September 5 dismissed IHCLs plea saying the company has no right for renewal of the licence period and the NDMC was within its power to secure maximum consideration for grant of licence for the property.

IHCL had then moved the division bench of high court, but lost again.
Shiv Sena, which is infamous for targeting migrants from the Hindi heartland in Maharashtra, is singing a different tune in Delhi ahead of the municipal election on April 23.

The party promises to promote Bhojpuri films and construct Chhath Puja ghats in each ward if they win considerable seats in the corporation elections.

The partys Delhi chief Neeraj Sethi told HT, We believe in development of sons of the soil but at the same time ensure that every section is looked after. For our Purvanchali brothers we want to construct Chhath Puja ghats in every ward.

We have been helping them organise Chhath festival for the past few years. Last year, the party had organised Chhath Puja on a large scale in Nihal Vihar and Sangam Vihar, Sethi said.

Purvanchalis now constitute almost one-third of the total population of Delhi and command considerable sway in elections and all major parties claim to be fielding Purvanachali candidates in the municipal polls.

Shiv Sena too has fielded nine candidates from Purvanchal region on the 57 seats that it is contesting in corporation polls, including Paschim Vihar, Madipur, Punjabi Bagh, Kakraula, Mubarakpur Dabas, Prem Nagar, Bhalswa, Mukherjee Nagar and Harkesh Nagar.

To woo Purvanchali voters, Chhath Puja has emerged in every partys manifesto with both BJP and Congress promising more ghats in every ward and AAP government providing Rs 20 crore in its budget for the construction of ghats. Shiv Sena too is eyeing the Purvanchali pie in this election.

Shiv Senas Bihar unit president Kaushlendra Sharma, who is presently campaigning in Delhi for corporation polls said, We want to bring the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) model in Delhis municipal corporations.

In BMC, a tax rebate is given to cinema halls that screen Bhojpuri movies with a view to promoting regional movies, he added. In Delhi, we want to do the same, he said.

If we get enough seats we will put pressure for tax rebate on Bhojpuri movies, he said. The corporations of Delhi charge Rs 10 per show in Delhi.

There is a misconception that Shiv Sena is against the people from Hindi heartland. In Mumbais corporation schools, besides Marathi, Hindi is also promoted by Shiv Sena. Very few people know in north India but there is also a Hindi version of the Marathi newspaper Samna, named Dopahar Ka Saamana, which is edited by Shiv Sena leaders, he added.

Shiv Sena candidate from west Delhis Paschim Vihar Sanjeev Sahay, who is from Bihars Bhagalpur district said, Nowadays Purvanchalis have become a vote bank. People talk about them in terms of percentage. This kind of politics by other parties will not benefit them.

Shiv Sena believes in helping all communities to come forward, he said.

Another, Shiv Sena candidate, who did not wish to be named said, that a section of Purvanchalis in his constituency are apprehensive of Shiv Sena. However, I tell them that it is not Shiv Sena but another party in Maharashtra that targets people from UP and Bihar, he said.

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Aya Nagar, an unauthorised colony located on the Delhi-Gurgaon border, witnessed a star-studded campaign with all parties bringing in their heavyweights to woo the voters.

Former Union minister Sachin Pilot, MP Raj Babbar, actress-turned-politician Nagma, and Mahabharata-fame actor Firoz Khan (Arjun) canvassed votes for the Congress candidate while the BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri took to the stage his party nominee. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and actor Ravi Kishan, who recently joined the party, did not turn up.

The election takes place after five years and it is important that you should participate in electoral process. The Congress has given ticket to Ved Pal after a lot of thinking. He comes from among you and I am sure that he will work to resolve your issues. There are many independent candidates contesting in elections but they are there to split votes, said Sachin Pilot, who left the venue within 20 minutes.

Firoz Khan, who played Arjun in the TV serial, Mahabharata, entertained the public with dialogues from the serial, sang songs and asked the people to make the right choice.

Actor Firoz Khan, best known for his portrayal of Arjun in TV serial Mahabharata, addresses a rally for the Congress candidate, Ved Pal, from Aya Nagar. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

The central government has failed to deliver on its promises to transfer Rs 15 lakh in the account of all the poor. Agar aap Vedpal Ko vote denge to Mahabharat ke Arjun par ehsaan Karenge (If you will vote for Vedpal then you be doing a favour to the Arjun of Mahabharat), he said.

Though hundreds of people were present in Khel Parisar to hear the celebrities, they said it may not help change anything. Public meetings take place before every election. Political parties often use celebrities to woo young voters, who dont take elections seriously, said Nutan Jha, a local resident.

According to Neela, another local, Aya Nagar is worse than villages when it comes to civic amenities. There is no sewage system, drains and roads are damaged too. Lack of drinking water is another major problem here, she said, while attending the Congress rally.

The public meeting organised by BJP, barely 500 metres from the venue of Congress meeting, started two hours late. The audience was angry as neither Manoj Tiwari nor Ravi Kishan turned up. But according to Jagdish Lohia, BJP candidate from Aya Nagar, people care for development only.

During the tenure of former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, provisional regularisation certificate were issued to the residents of area but even after 15 years our colony has not been regularised in government records. The water bodies are still used for dumping sewerage and during rains, whole area is inundated. And now the Aam Aadmi government is delaying the development here, he said.

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On Tuesday, April 25, at 11.00, the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency's press center will host a press conference by experts of USAID program Leadership in Economic Governance (USAID LEG), who will present new data of Annual Business Climate Assessment 2016 (ABCA). The participants will include coordinator of the USAID LEG program, executive director of the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting Oksana Kuziakiv; expert of the USAID LEG program, junior researcher at the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting Viktoria Bespalko; USAID LEG expert, senior researcher at the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting Iryna Fedets, and senior economic adviser of the USAID LEG program, Chairman of the Board of the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting Ihor Burakovsky (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration requires press accreditation. More information by email: riznyk@ier.kiev.ua.
Air India has asked Delhi Police to explain the delay in action against controversial Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad who is accused of thrashing an elderly airline employee.

The national carrier informed the police that no action against the parliamentarian was impacting the morale of its staff, nearly a month after the alleged incident.

Any delay in taking action will give a wrong impression. The morale of the staff will also be affected, Air India said in a letter.

AI also asked the Delhi Police commissioner to take the two complaints made by the airline to a logical conclusion.

Gaikwad was taken off a no-fly list by Air India and five other airlines earlier this month following an intervention from the civil aviation ministry, which had said legal proceedings against the Osmanabad MP would continue. The FIR was filed on March 23. There was no comment from police or the airline.

Gaikwad sparked nationwide outrage last month after a video apparently showing him hitting a 60-year-old AI staffer went viral on social media. The MP has expressed regret to Parliament but has refused to apologise to the staff.
Cracking the whip on private schools flouting norms, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has withdrawn the affiliation of three private schools in Uttar Pradesh and downgraded affiliation of two others after complaints of irregularities.

Five other schools that have been served notices include DPS Bhopal, Tagore Senior Secondary School in Tamil Nadu, Matoshree Kashiben Vrajlal International Vidyalaya in Mumbai and Margadarshan Central School in Karnataka.

The board has debarred Kings N Queens World School in Kanpur from giving admission in Class 11 and 12 for two academic sessions after an inspection committee found it guilty of admitting students without sanction. According to officials, the school also concealed facts from the enrolled candidate during the admission process.

Among the schools whose provisional affiliation has been withdrawn are The Pillars Public School in Gorakhpur, Rajni Public School in Bulandshahr and Sir Syed Public School in Varanasi.

The affiliation of Bal Niketan Junior High School in Varanasi and Noorul Huda English Medium School in Lucknow has been downgraded by CBSE from senior secondary level to secondary level, an official order said.

The board has also issued show cause notices to five private schools, asking why their affiliation should not be withdrawn for various violations, including lack of sanitary facilities, non-constitution of sexual harassment committee and irregularities in appointments among others.

In the coming days, more schools that have been found violating various affiliation rules of the board will be issued show cause notices, a senior official said.

The board recently issued show cause notices to over 2,000 schools affiliated to it for not making certain information public.

Till now, I have not received any official information regarding affiliation. I am leaving for Delhi tomorrow (Friday) to meet the CBSE chairman, RP Shahi, director of The Pillars School, said. Haji ishtiyaq Ahmad, manager of Sir Syed Public School, said the decision taken by the board was wrong and they didnt serve a notice before the action.
There is fresh trouble for Pathankot-based Chintpurni Medical College. The Medical Council of India (MCI) has written to the Centre that the college be debarred from admitting students in the MBBS course for next two sessions (2017-18, and 18-19) for it has again , during inspections last month, failed to maintain standards.

The MCI executive committee made the recommendation, saying the college management was found grossly deficient even after it had committed that it would upgrade its infrastructure to standards required to run the MBBS course. The medical body has also decided not to consider the institutes request to introduce postgraduate courses from this session. Also, the management has been issued a show-cause notice as to why recognition of courses run by the institute should not be withdrawn.

What was found lacking 87% faculty deficiency 82% residents doctors short Number of patient admissions, radiological and laboratory investigations grossly inflated. Average OPD attendance is 401 against requirement of 1,200 per day. Hospital bed occupancy was zero on day of assessment. There was only one major surgery on the day of inspection. CT Scan workload was zero. There was no woman attendant in the labour room. Data fudged. Orthopaedics ward, operating theatres were found locked during inspection.

College chairman Swaran Salaria said it was wrong to say that the college had been debarred from admitting students for the next two sessions. As per the MCI notice, the college was given an opportunity to rectify the deficiencies as raised in the MCI report. I have already submitted the compliance report and am very much confident that the college will be allowed to admit students in the MCIs review meeting, he said.

However, the development is enough for the students of existing batches to reiterate their demand to be moved to other colleges. The first batch of the college enrolled in 2011-12 has already been accommodated in other institutes colleges after the intervention of Punjab and Haryana high court in 2015. Another petition on moving the second-batch students is pending and will be heard on Monday next week.

The parents of the students have already submitted a memorandum to new Congress-led Punjab government to cancel its permissions to the college becase of the managements repeated failure to provide facilities at the college and the 300-bed hospital attached to it.

Sushil Garg of Bathinda, father of a student, said the college has been faltering time and again, putting the career of their wards in jeopardy. The latest report again vindicates our stand and reaffirm our demand to shift our children to other colleges, he said

It is for the fourth time that MCI gave a negative report about colleges functioning. The state medical department, too, had found gross deficiencies in its own report last year.

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New Yorks famed Empire State Building lit up with sky-high iconic fashion photographs after nightfall on Wednesday to celebrate the 150th anniversary of style magazine Harpers Bazaar.

Beginning at 8:30pm (0030 GMT Thursday) and slated to run until midnight, the north side of the building flashed iconic shoots and cultural moments from the pages of Harpers into the New York skyline.

Among reproductions of the glossy pages set to shine over Manhattan, and streamed live on the magazines Facebook page, was Barbadian superstar Rihanna sitting in the mouth of Jaws.

Since 1976 the Empire State Building has traditionally changed the colour of its tower lights to celebrate or commemorate different occasions and organizations throughout the year.

In 2012, they installed a new computer driven LED light system capable of displaying 16 million colors, which can change instantaneously.

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Summer is here and its time to put your best forward in trendiest outfits that are easy on skin keeping the warm weather in mind. From opting light layering to avoid sun burn to mixing and matching can add some fashion quotient in your daily wear dressing style, experts say.

Rajesh Jain, Business Head of brand Rangriti and designer Sumona Parekh doles out tips on how one can glamourise their summer outfits keeping scorching sun.

1.

A post shared by Aashna Shroff | TheSnobJournal (@aashnashroff) on Apr 13, 2017 at 9:49am PDT

Go loud this summer, by incorporating colour in your wardrobe. Add some cheer to your dull days with bright coloured clothes.

2.

A post shared by Riya Jain (@caughtinacuff) on Mar 11, 2017 at 7:55am PST

Start a process of mix and match of top with the bottoms, you may pair a print top for solid pants or a solid top for a print skirt.

3.

Happy Holi Fam!!   #holi  @divinetouchdevelopers490 A post shared by Kritika Khurana (@thatbohogirl) on Mar 12, 2017 at 11:25pm PDT

Surprise people with this dash of awesomeness. Mixing and matching of scarves, dupattas and sober dress adds a dash of confidence to ones personality. A great way to wear a scarf or dupatta if you have two contrasting colours that can go well with the pastel colour dress.

4.

A post shared by Aayushi Bangur Sahu (@styledrive) on Mar 27, 2017 at 4:35am PDT

Light layers with natural fabrics can be a wonderful way to beat the heat during summer. Go for asymmetrical jacket over a tunic and palazzos for instant chic. Asymmetrical cuts remain popular this year.

5.

A post shared by Kritika Khurana (@thatbohogirl) on Feb 10, 2017 at 7:53am PST

For the cool casual look this summer you may pair Indie top or kurti with slim fit pants or a short kurti with floral Plazzo.

6.

A post shared by Shivani Patil (@the.f.drug) on Apr 19, 2017 at 4:12am PDT

Sharp shoulder blades are still in fashion trends this summer too. Invest in a strapless blouse or get yourself a peasant top to get into sultry summer mode and let a bronzed look keep you head and shoulders above the rest.

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Four pubs and bars in Sector 30 and Sohna Road stand to lose their liquor licences after a measurement found that these establishments came within 500 metres of the highway, officials said on Thursday.

The Supreme Court has banned the serving/sale of liquor within 500 metres of national and state highways after the high fatality rate in road accidents and the menace of drink driving were brought to the courts notice.

A team comprising officials from district administration, excise department, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Public Works Department (PWD) and the police started measuring the distance of establishments on Thursday morning after owners of Nainkasi, Coopers Grill, Bar Bottles & barrels in Sector 30 and Galaxy hotel in Sector 15-Part 2 submitted affidavits requesting the exercise.

The distance of Nainkasi, Coopers Grill, Bar Bottles & barrels in Sector 30 from the highway was 187 metres to 287 metres, an official said, seeking anonymity.

The Galaxy hotels distance from the highway was 594 metres from the edge of the highway. The distance of Brauhaus bar in Omax Mall Sohna Road was 500 metres, excise officials said.

Read I Liquor ban: CyberHub safe, but no relief in sight for 17 pubs on Sohna Road

We measured the distance from the edge of the service lane of the highway till the entrance to our pub, but the department has measured only till the gate so the distance has come 287 metres, said Baljeet Singh, owner of Nainkasi Brewery, Sector 30.

Establishment owners were hopeful that they will get relief after Thursdays exercise. The excise department had earlier prepared a list of 146 establishments  later revised to 115 establishments  that were believed to fall within 500 metres of highways.

We measured on our own and our distance was more than 500 metres, but we wanted to be sure so we submitted the building plan along with an affidavit and requested the officials to measure the distance, said Pardeep Bhardwaj, general manager, Galaxy hotels.

The committee members submitted their reports to the deputy commissioner on Thursday.

We have been regularly sending reports to the deputy commissioner. The measurement exercise is videographed and no one can tamper with the results, said HC Dahiya, deputy excise and taxation commissioner (West), Gurgaon.

Hospitality establishments cater to lodging, conferencing, banqueting and eating out. Serving of liquor is an integral part of the overall experience. Office-goers and residents have been deprived of this experience which they didnt bargain for when moving into this city, said Rahul Singh, head of the Haryana chapter of the National Restaurant Association of India.

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Political leaders from Gurgaon have been asked to pitch in for Municipal corporation Delhi elections and reach out to the youth and women to ensure victory of party candidates.

The leaders of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have been assigned areas adjoining Gurgaon and have been asked to make frequent visits to these areas to assist the local leadership.

The ruling BJP has deputed local leaders from its youth and womens wings as district conveners, assembly constituency in-charges, and ward conveners. The leaders have been assigned two areas  outer Delhi and Mehrauli. Gurgaon BJP general secretary Manoj Sharma is coordinator of both the areas.

Manish Yadav, president, Haryana BJP Yuva Morcha, has been made convenor of the Mehrauli area, while Bhupender Chauhan, district BJP president, is the convenor for Mehrauli assembly constituency.

Gurgaon BJP Mahila Morcha (womens wing) has been assigned the task of reaching out to women voters.

We are highlighting achievements of the BJP government in the Centre and states. We are confident that the party will post a record win in Delhi civic elections, Chauhan said.

Read I MCD polls: Delhi Cong focusing on winnable candidates

GL Sharma, chairman of Haryana cooperative dairy federation, has been made the convener for outer Delhi. We visit Delhi every morning and return in the evening. The experience is enriching and will help us in the local civic body elections that are scheduled to be held soon, he said.

Leaders from neighbouring Faridabad have also been directed to reach out to voters and help in canvasing for the party.

Congress has deputed a group of 12 local leaders who visit the neighbouring areas in Delhi on rotation basis. The leaders are visiting assigned areas on rotational basis for ground level contact with voters said Sukhbir Kataria, Congress leader and former Gurgaon MLA.

RS Rathee, AAP spokesperson, said a group of about 50 party leaders and workers from Gurgaon have been tasked with highlighting the Delhi governments achievements before the elections.

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A day after the state government gave its nod to the takeover of three licenced private colonies, the residents of these localities were sceptical on whether the decision would ever translate into reality. The residents voiced grave doubts on whether the developer would even comply with the terms set for the transfer of colonies. DLF Phase I-III, Sushant Lok I and Palam Vihar are the three private colonies which were granted licences in early 1980s.

The residents said that the inadequate infrastructure and the expenses involved for the necessary upgrade have been the core concerns for them.

I doubt if the developer would meet the terms set for the transfer. We fear the developers would not pay for the infrastructure upgrade (of these colonies) and the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) will refuse to take over unless the conditions are met. There same situation would prevail, AK Nagpal, president, Sushant Lok residents welfare association (RWA), said.

Nagpal said, The MCG, in March,directed Ansal (the developer) to upgrade roads, sewer lines etc. Later, the town planning department even threatened Ansal with being held liable for forfeiture of the bank guarantee. However, nothing worked. Every effort to make the Ansals pay for maintenance went in vain.

Read I CM nod to transfer of Gurgaons DLF areas, Sushant Lok, Palam Vihar to MCG

The residents of Palam Vihar feel the transfer order that was issued at the behest of chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar is an eyewash.

We know what our colonies are lacking in. However, for reasons not known to us, the government did not consider including the residents in the assessment committee. The developer has not spent a single penny (on maintenance and infrastructure upgrade) in the last 7-8 years. We doubt if the transfer will ever happen, Sunil Yadav, president, RWA, Palam Vihar, said.

A group of residents,under the banner of Gurgaon Citizens Council (GCC), on Thursday met principal secretary to Haryana Rajesh Khullar to discuss the transfer issue.

Khullar assured us that three colonies will have to comply with the terms of the (transfer) order, failing which the government will be forced to take strict action that may include forfeiting their bank guarantees, RS Rathee, president, GCC, said adding that the same rule will be applied in future transfer of other licenced colonies.

Following a meeting featuring the chief minister and officials of urban local bodies in this regard, the three developers will have to apply for completion certificates and pay maintenance cost for the next five years.

The cost of five years will be assessed by a team.

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A cab driver was allegedly robbed of his vehicle and valuables by two armed men late Wednesday on Dwarka Expressway.

The victim, 25-year-old Mahender Singh, of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh owned the car and was associated with mobile app-based cab aggregator, Uber, the police said.

Around 7.10 pm, two men approached Singh, who was in his car at a taxi stand in Sector 13 of Dwarka, and asked him if he could ferry them to Sector 9, to which he agreed and started the trip, the police said.

However, a booking through the Uber app was not done for this ride, the driver mentioned in his complaint to the police. According to the complaint, the accused held Singh at gunpoint near Garhi Harsaru village and robbed him of his Samsung mobile phone, two debit cards, a credit card, a pen drive, driving licence and the Maruti WagonR vehicle.

Read I Passengers forced out of Ola, Uber-owned cabs by protesting drivers in Gurgaon

A case was registered at Sector 10 police station under sections 379B (theft) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 25/54/59 (for possessing unlicensed rifle) of the Arms Act.

We are investigating the matter. No arrest has been made so far, sub-inspector Ghanshyam, Sector 10 police station, said.

Incidents of car robbery at gunpoint have increased over the last few months in the city, the police said. On Sunday, a Hyundai Creta and a Toyota Fortuner were snatched at gunpoint in two incidents in the city.

Four armed men allegedly robbed a man of his Hyundai Creta in Udyog Vihar while the victim was travelling to Delhi. Similarly, three armed men are alleged to have robbed a Ghaziabad-based businessman of his Toyota Fortuner outside Ambience Mall on Sunday.

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On Friday, Sonakshi Sinhas Noor will attempt to offer new insight into what it means to be an Indian journalist - and what it means to be an Indian journalist in the age of social media.

There have been several movies over the years that portray journalists, and journalism, as it is perceived - noisy newsrooms, overeager reporters stumbling onto major scoops, hassled editors (who, somehow, always appear to be overworked). Whether Noor captures the truth behind the news, it remains to be seen.

But till then, we can always rewatch (or maybe discover for the first time) these films, which are among the best to capture the essence of this noble profession, which has made cynics out of the most romantic people.

Heres an unusual list of movies which have, and will continue to, inspire generations of journalists.

All the Presidents Men (1976)

This is, of course, the first film that jumps to everyones mind when they think of films about journalism, and for good reason. It really gets into the murky minutiae of the profession, the hours spent hunched over newspaper clippings, the nights spent pouring over data. In an age when information is just a hashtag away, its almost quaint.

Spotlight (2015)

Spotlight, in a major upset at the 2016 Oscars, beat the frontrunner, Leonardo DiCaprios The Revenant, to bag the top prize. The story it tells is perhaps more gripping than the way it tells it. Honest, efficient, and often brutal, its the rare movie to explore what goes into an investigation.

State of Play (2009)

Part murder mystery, part political conspiracy, its no wonder that State of Play attracted an amazing cast. It is strange however, why so few people actually saw it.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

For an entire generation of moviegoers, Meryl Streeps performance as the icy editor of a fictional fashion magazine Miranda Priestly (it is said that she was modelled after Vogues Anna Wintour), is how they know the legendary actor. And in Anne Hathaways dismissive aspiring journalist, it mirrors the worlds larger perception of soft news.

The End of the Tour (2015)

A dramatisation of journalist David Lipskys five-day road trip with one of the most mysterious writers of the time, David Foster Wallace, The End of the Tour is an intimate portrait of two individuals, bonding over conversation. It also features some of stars Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segels best work.

Zodiac (2007)

David Fincher can do little wrong. His twisted thriller about the unsolved Zodiac murders explores the obsession that often goes behind some stories. And it led into his adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, another film which combined journalists with serial killers.

Network (1976)

Network is perhaps one of the most prescient movies about the business ever made. Sure, back in the 70s, Howard Beale went mad as hell and self-destructed on live TV because he couldnt take it anymore, and the world witnessed his descent into madness. But dont we tune into the circus that is the 9 o clock news every evening?

Nightcrawler (2014)

Nightcrawler had cult classic written all over it when it opened to little fanfare back in 2014. Jake Gyllenhaal, who is always tremendous in whatever he does, was robbed of an Oscar nod.

Almost Famous (2000)

Based on writer/director Cameron Crowes experiences as a teen reporter for Rolling Stone, Almost Famous is one of the best films about many things - music, teenage, rock and roll, and of course, journalism.

Control Room (2004)

If youve ever wondered what it is like to be in a newsroom during a major global event, look no further than this acclaimed documentary, which goes behind the scenes of the Al Jazeera newsroom during the invasion of Iraq.

Frost/Nixon (2008)

David Frost was known mostly as a charming TV host, but when he interviewed disgraced US president Richard Nixon for a series of televised interviews, the world tuned in.

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011)

For no other character has created more journalists.

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North Koreas UN Ambassador Warns The US

North Korea's UN ambassador Kim In Ryong criticized the build up of US naval in the waters off the Korean Peninsula, including the US missile attacks on Syria. The diplomat also warned of a likely thermonuclear war.

North Korea Insists That US Naval Presence Creates A Dangerous Situation. While North Korea has repeatedly issued threats of war to the United States in recent years, the Trump administration's announcement suggesting an end of a "strategic patience" policy with Pyongyang has increased the possibility, given the rhetorics. On Monday, North Korea's UN ambassador Kim In Ryong made some threats and rhetoric for the US.

North Korea, meantime, was warned by US Vice President Mike Pence when he visited the demilitarized zone between South and Korea. According to reports, VP Pence warned North Korea not to try testing the resolve of the country, especially the strength of the military forces. On the other hand, Amb. Kim criticized the US missile attacks on Syria and the presence of the US Naval buildup in the Korean Peninsula, saying that it has made a dangerous situation in the peninsula that may lead to a thermonuclear breakout and also causes a serious threat to security and world peace, CNN reported.

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North Korea Claims US Attack On Syria Is "Gangster-Like". North Korea's UN ambassador called the US military's airstrike on Syria as "gangster-like." Incidentally, reports claim that the country now prepares for any mode of war once Trump issues an attack in North Korea.

The revelation from North Korea's UN ambassador Kim In Ryong was issued following warnings from US Vice President Mike Pence directed to Pyongyang, stating not to test the US resolve. According to reports, Amb. Kim stated that if the US chooses a military action, the North Korea will be prepared for any mode of war that the Americans would want, further noting that the country will take the toughest counteraction against any provocation, 9News reported. Learn more about the US-North Korea War At Any Moment

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The government and activists are on a warpath over allegations that more than half of all workers under the rural jobs scheme will be denied employment because the deadline for Aadhaar enrolment has passed.

Activists say any denial of jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) violates orders of the Supreme Court, which has repeatedly said people cannot be denied entitlement

But the Centre has rubbished the claims, saying the March 31 deadline for Aadhaar enrolment has already been extended for another six months and just 16% of active workers dont have Aadhaar but will continue to get work as per demand.

The discrepancy in figures arise as activists looked at all workers enrolled under MNREGA but the government considers the number of active workers more significant, which comprise of individuals who have worked on any one day in either the current or last three financial years.

Latest official data show that just 119.2 million of the total 260.2 million MNREGA workers (46%) have submitted their Aadhaar number to authorities. As for active workers, 85.5 million of the 102.1 million workers (84%) have done so.

On the ground, officials have been denying work for not having Aadhaar for two years, said Annie Raja, general secretary of National Federation of Indian Women.

But Aparajita Sarangi, joint secretary in the ministry of rural development, told HT that the date for enrolment was extended to 30th September and under no circumstances can workers be denied work for not having Aadhaar.

She also countered the claims of denial of work. If there are any such cases where MNREGA workers are denied work, bring it to our knowledge. We are not aware of any such instances.

There are other sources of exclusion, activists said. Hindustan Times reported earlier this month that nearly 10 million job cards were struck off the rolls in a bid to plug loopholes. This is likely to have deleted several willing people, thus denying citizens their entitlement of the right to work, the press note issued by the activists said.

While the law says job cards can be cancelled only if the household has migrated permanently to the urban areas or it is proved to be duplicate or fake job card, ground reports from Jharkhand apparently show other and unwilling were the primary reasons stated for the scrapping of the document, which is a violation of ministrys own guidelines, activists alleged.

Government officials say that job card cancellation plugged a major source of fund leakage but activists claim otherwise. Ankita Agarwal, an independent researcher based in Jharkhand, says a job card in itself didnt guarantee money. Unlike ration cards, individuals cant avail benefits under MNREGA unless they participate in actual work, she said. Ration card need not be linked to a bank account to avail benefits, but job cards have to necessarily be linked to an account as money will come only into the accounts that makes it even more difficult to siphon of funds off these so-called fake cards.

Further, the government has neither disclosed the consolidated list of deleted job cards nor have the details of methodology for verification drive and reasons for terming the cards fake been made public, leaving no scope for independent verification, activists complain.

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The government has no plans to cut back on security to VIPs, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu said on Thursday, a day after the Centre banned the use of beacon lights atop all vehicles except emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire brigades.

With regard to security, it is necessary in the interest of the country because important people have to be protected. Otherwise, there is no preferential treatment, Naidu, who holds the portfolio of Information and Broadcasting, told reporters in Delhi.

About the Centres decision to put an end to the VIP culture, he said: Everybody is a VIP and that is the philosophy of our government.

Though it is a small initiative but it sends a message that every person should be treated equally, he added.

He hoped that state governments will also shun the used of beacons or they will face the wrath of the people.

On a query about the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, the minister said the case has been going on for so many years and there is nothing new in that.

He did not elaborate on what could be the impact of the Supreme Court order in the Babri Masjid demolition case on the BJP.

Top BJP leaders LK Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti will be tried for criminal conspiracy in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case as the apex court had on Wednesday allowed the CBI plea to restore the charge against them.

The SC, however, noted that Rajasthan governor Kalyan Singh enjoys constitutional immunity and can be tried only after he ceases to hold the office. Singh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1992.

Meanwhile, amid a debate on some of the negative impacts of social media, Naidu said it cannot be censored.

It is a larger issue. We have to think about it and discuss because we cannot think of censoring social media. The society has to discuss and then come to a conclusion at the end of the day, he said.

Naidu was speaking to reporters after inaugurating an Instagram workshop for government employees engaged in social media communications.
The AIADMKs Panneerselvam faction on Thursday demanded written proof of the ouster of jailed leader VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakaran from the party, hardening its stand on starting merger talks with the group led by chief minister E Palaniswami.

The faction led by O Panneerselvam, the ousted chief minister, also sought proof of the rival camp withdrawing its affidavit staking claim to the partys two-leaves symbol, a bribery allegation over which sparked a fresh crisis in Tamil Nadus ruling party.

The EPS camp led by Palaniswami announced on Tuesday that Sasikala and Dinakaran have been kept out of the party following allegations that he tried to bribe Election Commission officials for a favourable verdict in both factions claim over the symbol.

The EPS camp also said all members of Sasikalas family, also known as the Mannagurdi mafia, will not be allowed into the party, one of the main grudges of the OPS faction.

The EPS camps move was seen as an effort to woo the OPS faction which appeared to have gained the upper hand following Delhi police notice to Dinakaran asking him appear to for questioning in the alleged bribery case.

KP Munuswamy, a senior OPS camp leader, told reporters on Thursday that EPS became the chief minister only with the blessings of Sasikala, who was sent to jail for 20 years by the Supreme Court in a corruption case.

He said they have group sought written proof that Sasikla and Dinakaran have been removed from the primary membership of the AIADMK and proof of withdrawal of their affidavit before the Election Commission.

Only after we get written proof... that we would start merger talks, Munuswamy said.

Unless this is done, we will not even consider talking with the EPS group.

Panneerselvam had earlier demanded a CBI probe into the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa. A cloak of secrecy surrounding Jayalalithaas health during her long hospitalisation and her death on December 5 had sparked allegations that she wasnt given proper treatment and led to conspiracy theories in the state.

Munuswamy said Panneerselvam will be chosen by the people as CM in a popular poll.

OPS was firm on removal of the Mannargudi mafia and a probe into Jayalalithaas death. Only after this, the other issues would be discussed, he added.

However, Lok Sabha deputy speaker M Thambi Durai, who had backed Palaniswami throughout the leadership tussle after Jayalalithaas death, ruled out the possibility of replacing the CM.

Thambi Durais meeting with governor C Vidyasagar Rao at Raj Bhavan also set tongue wagging but the he described it as a courtesy call.

Sources said both factions were firming up committees that will formally begin merger talks and work out the modalities.

The OPS camp is also said to be seeking the post of general secretary for its senior leader E Madhusudhanan, who is also expected to be the leader the negotiating committee from the former chief ministers side.

Former education minister M Foi Pandiarajan too is expected to play a crucial role in the merger talks, given the fact that he was the person being talked to by the Lok Sabha deputy speaker.

Finance and fisheries minister D Jayakumar also called on the governor and briefed him about the latest political developments and the possibility of merger between the two groups. The minister is believed to have informed the governor of the possibility of change in the ministerial team, if and when merger talks are concluded.

Thambi Durai later met the chief minister and discussed the developments with him.

Palaniswami, 62, became the chief minister in February after he was propped up as the leader by then AIADMK general secretary Sasikala, just before she was sent to jail.

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Almost three weeks after a dairy farmer was lynched in Rajasthans Alwar by alleged cow vigilantes, a campaign has been launched to project the murder accused, who are all on the run, as social activists with police as their alibi.

Thousands of unsigned pamphlets titled Gautaskari ghatna ki sacchai (The truth of the cow-smuggling incident) are being distributed in Alwar district, giving an entirely different version of the events on April 1.

Pehlu Khan (55), a dairy farmer from Haryana, and four other Muslims were attacked near Behror in Alwar district by alleged cow protectors (gau rakshaks) when they were transporting in two trucks cows and calves bought from a Jaipur cattle market.

Khan, who died of his injuries two days later in a hospital, had told police they were assaulted by a group of men though they had permit to transport the animals.

Cow slaughter and smuggling is banned in most parts of India.

Police are already under fire for going soft on the nine accused, who find a mention in the pamphlet that says three trucks transporting cattle were intercepted by social workers on April 1.

Thousands of pamphlets being distributed in Alwar claim Pehlu Khan was a cow smuggler and the accused are innocent social workers. (HT photo)

The social workers brought the cow smugglers to the Behror police station, where station in-charge Ramesh Sinsinwar helped them take the rescued cattle to a gaushala (cow shelter) in nearby Dahmi, says the flyer being distributed by the cow vigilante group Gau Raksha Dal.

The pamphlet goes on to say Om Yadav, Hukum Yadav, Naveen Sharma, Sudhir Yadav, Jagmal Singh Yadav, Sonu Tiwari, Sanjay Tiwari, Rahul Saini, Sandip Kumar and others went to the cow shed and stayed there from 6.10pm and 8pm.

The men named are accused of murdering Khan and the two hours they spent in the shed was the time when the dairy farmer was attacked.

The pamphlet says assistant sub-inspectors Raghuveer Meena and Vikram Jat and a head constable, who has not been named, accompanied the men to the gaushala on Sinsinwars instructions.

It is a matter of investigation and I dont want to comment on this, said Sinsinwar on Wednesday when asked about the pamphlet.

Meena refused comment, saying When such a matter arises in the investigation, only then will I talk about it.

Despite repeated attempts, Vikram Jat couldnt be reached for comments.

Behror deputy superintendent of police Parmal Singh, who is the investigating officer of the case, said he didnt know about the pamphlet.

I havent received any such pamphlet. If such a thing comes to my notice, I will investigate it, he said.

The pamphlet says an unruly crowd beat up the men, injuring cow smuggler Pehlu Khan, who later died.

The social workers named in the FIR have nothing to do with the incident as they were at the Dahmi gaushala with the police, says the pamphlet, which ends with an appeal to people to draw their own conclusion based on the information provided to them.

The people named in the FIR would often help police and the fact that they have been falsely accused is very unfortunate, said Suresh Yadav, one of the men instrumental in distributing the pamphlet.

Yadav said he was a social worker who wants to bring out the truth about the April 1 incident.

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Cow vigilantes accused of lynching a Muslim dairy farmer in Rajasthans Alwar this month are equal to freedom fighters such as Bhagat Singh or Chandrasekhar Azad, controversial Hindu leader Sadhvi Kamal has said.

In a video on social media, the 39-year-old who prefers to call herself didi is purportedly seen as meeting Vipin Yadav, one of the people arrested on charges of assaulting Pehlu Khan on April 1.

When Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad went to jail, then they were also perceived as criminals and bad people but are now known as heroes. Similarly, people such as Yadav will also be known as heroes in the future for protecting gau mata, she told HT.

Vipin is one of five people arrested on the basis of footage of the assault circulating on social media but isnt named in the FIR filed on the basis of Khans statement hours before his death. The police are battling charges of inaction and laxity in a case that has sparked nationwide outrage and even rocked Parliament. None of the six named in the complaint have been arrested.

The purported video was allegedly shot when Vipin was taken by police to a college in Behror where the 19-year-old wrote his exams. Lord Krishna also went to jail for the uddhar of people. Dont sit idle at the jail and teach all the inmates to chant jai gau mata, Kamal is heard as apparently saying in the video. People in the backdrop can also be heard chanting Jai Gau Mata.

Kamal grabbed headlines last month after she forced the administration in Rajasthans capital Jaipur, to seal a hotel for allegedly serving beef. The hotel is owned by a Muslim businessman.

She heads the Rashtriya Mahila Gau Raksha Dal, a self-styled cow protection group that operates in three states  Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Cow slaughter is banned in the three states.

Kamals outfit is among many fringe groups that are gained prominence after the BJP-led government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over. These groups claim to work for protecting cows from being taken to slaughter houses. Critics, however, accuse the vigilante groups of attacking people, mostly from the minority Muslim community, merely on suspicion.

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A day after foreign supermodels were asked to remove saffron stoles before entering the Taj Mahal, the Bharatiya Janata Party has asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) if it would also ask chief minister Yogi Adityanath to give up his saffron attire before entering the monument of love.

Protesting against the ASI action and demanding action against those guilty, Vijay Shivhare, city unit president of BJP, has written a letter to minister of state for tourism (independent charge) Mahesh Sharma.

The supermodels from different nations, who are in India to take part in an event in Delhi on April 22, visited the Taj Mahal on Wednesday. A few of them had saffron stoles with Shri Radhey written on them which they used to protect themselves from the heat. While going through the checking at entry point, some of them were asked to leave the bands bearing the name of the sponsor company and national flags of their countries outside, as promotional material is not allowed inside the monument.

They were also told not to take the saffron stoles with them inside the Taj, claimed Sushant Gaur, who accompanied the supermodels. He claimed the guide with the group, and not security men, asked them to leave saffron stoles at the check point.

A BJP office-bearer, meanwhile, has asked party supporters to wear saffron and gather at Taj Mahal on Saturday.

It is totally unacceptable that male security personnel force women models to discard stoles mainly because they are saffron, said Avinash Rana, state general secretary of Hindu Jagran Manch.

If saffron stoles are not permissible inside Taj Mahal, then Muslims should also not be allowed to enter wearing skull caps, he said.

Chief superintending archaeologist, Agra circle, Bhuvan Vikram Singh said that he was unaware of the incident. I have asked the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials to find out about the incident. They will submit a report within three days, he said.

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Police arrested the prime accused in the sensational killing of a local businessman, having political connections, from Simraha police station area of Bihars Araria district , 322 km northeast of Patna, in the wee hours of Thursday.

Krishna Mohan Sah ,65, a businessman who dealt in automobile accessories, was stabbed on Monday evening. Sahs family had shared with the police a video of the CCTV at the shop that showed a youth, holding a knife, and dragging him by his neck, as Sah bled profusely from the head.

READ: Bizman killing caught on camera; Araria, Supaul in Bihar observe bandh to protest two murders

The police have identified the murder suspect as Mukesh Kumar Rajak of Gopalpur village of Majhwa panchayat in Forbesganj police station area of the district.

Araria superintendent of police Sudhir Kumar Porika said Rajak used to work at Sahs shop some 2-3 years back and was familiar with the people living in the locality.

Police have seized the knife allegedly used in the crime, besides more than Rs 2 lakh in Indian and Nepalese currency from him, Porika said.

Rajak claimed to have taken the extreme step to kill the businessman after he unsuccessfully tried to recover his dues for the last two years, police said.

If sources were to be believed, Shah was stabbed 20 times. He was rushed to the Forbesganj referral hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.

The police had banked on the CCTV footage of the shop to nab the assailant.

The police had earlier picked up two persons. While one of the arrested persons, working at the traders shop, was forwarded to jail, the other was let off.

The business community and BJP leaders had threatened to launch an agitation if the killer was not arrested soon. The BJP had submitted a memorandum to Saharsa district magistrate Vinod Singh Gunjiyal, expressing concern over the rising crime graph in Saharsa and Supaul.

Amit Ranjan, an engineer at a private firm, was gunned down by some unidentified criminals last Sunday. A day later, a political leader and businessman Subhash Singh was shot dead at his shop in Supaul.

Eleven persons have been killed in Saharsa in the last one-and-a-half months.
Schools across the country have been warned against forcing students to buy expensive textbooks produced by private publishers, rather than those belonging to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

In an advisory, the CBSE also said action would be taken against schools that indulge in commercial activities such as selling books, uniforms, shoes and stationery items to students.

The Delhi Police recently registered an FIR against a private publisher for indecently depicting women and misrepresenting the syllabus prescribed by the CBSE in a Class 12 physical education textbook. The book, which portrayed a 36-24-36 figure as the ideal body shape for women, drew widespread criticism in academic as well as social media circles.

All CBSE-affiliated schools were required to follow the directions provided in a circular issued on 12.04.2016 regarding the use of NCERT /CBSE textbooks, but the board often receives reports regarding the pressure exercised by schools on children to buy textbooks other than NCERT/CBSE, the circular read.

The CBSE, which provides affiliation to over 18,000 schools across the country, has started issuing showcause notices to institutions found violating its norms. The board even withdrew its affiliation from a few schools in Uttar Pradesh after noticing discrepancies in their functioning.

The letter then went on to note that the board has repeatedly warned schools against indulging in commercial activities. However, it has been brought to the notice of the board through various complaints that schools are still selling books and uniforms within the school premises, or through select vendors, the circular read.

The document further stated that as per rule 19.1 (ii) of the CBSE Affiliation By-Laws, institutions such as societies, trusts and companies registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act-1956 should ensure that schools are run as a community service, and not as a business venture. This means that the educational institutions concerned shouldnt indulge in any kind of commercial activity, it added.

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Union information and broadcasting minister M Venkaiah Naidu said on Thursday no foreign country has the right to rename Indian cities, responding to the Chinese action of unilaterally changing the names of six places in Arunachal Pradesh.

China renamed the places in Arunachal Pradesh in an apparent retaliation against the Dalai Lamas visit last week to Indias easternmost state, which Beijing disputes as part of its territory.

Every inch of Arunachal Pradesh belongs to India ... let them rename. How does it matter? Its like you renaming your neighbour. It does not change his name, Naidu said in a tit-for-tat response to Beijings symbolic snub.

Besides, his comments suggest Indias hardened stand against the provocative Chinese action, which might affect bilateral relations between the two Asian giants. India shares more than $66 billion in annual trade with China but has a long-running border dispute and fought a brief war in 1962.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay reaffirmed that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.

Renaming or inventing names of states of your neighbour do not make illegal occupation as legal, he said.

When asked if India has taken up the matter with China, he said the Chinese government has not communicated anything officially so far and the ministry has seen only reports on the development.

China announced on Tuesday that it has standardised official names for six places in the northeastern state and termed the move as legitimate action.

Beijing had lodged protests with India over the Dalai Lamas visit to the frontier state.

Experts said Chinas move is aimed at reaffirming Beijings territorial sovereignty to the region.

Beijing says Arunachal Pradesh is part of South Tibet with close Buddhist links. Official Chinese maps show the state as part of South Tibet.

(With agency inputs)
The visually challenged persons -- those suffering from various degrees of blindness -- are finding the new currency notes unfriendly, because they are difficult to recognise by touch.

For someone with impaired eyesight, the lack of adequate embossing or engraving on the new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes makes it difficult to differentiate between the notes, said an official of National Association for the Blind (NAB).

After the decision (of scrapping the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes) was announced in November, I approached the union government to ensure that new notes have some embossing, engraving or inscription which can be sensed by fingers.

I was told this demand will be addressed, but to date, no steps have been taken to address our problem, said Joaquim Rapose, national secretary of NAB.

I was also told (later) that new batch of notes will have necessary changes, but we have not noticed any change so far, Rapose told PTI.

As per the state development and finance corporation for the disabled, there are 5.74 lakh persons with visual disability in Maharashtra alone.

The government data says there are 80 lakh people in the country who are visually challenged. Unfortunately, their issues and woes are not taken into consideration when printing new notes, he said.

The old notes had proper embossing. The visually disabled persons could differentiate them. With new notes, the size has changed and there are no visually challenged-friendly markings, Rapose said.

Dr Sam Taraporewala, head of the department at Xaviers Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged said, Unlike European countries or the US, we still do not have currency recognisers (note-reading machines). It is true that the new currency notes have been creating a problem for the visually disabled persons.

Shrikant Jadhav, who suffers from 100% blindness, said, I have been using notes daily for the last 15 years. Suddenly the size is changed and the new notes are not at all friendly for us. I cannot ask some stranger to recognise the note for me. I am vulnerable when I am travelling alone by auto rickshaw or taxi. The digital payment system for public transport is not much useful to people like me.

Teachers at schools for the visually challenged agree. We are trying to train our students....people approach us to find out how to differentiate new notes. Some could learn it, but most of the disabled persons are struggling because there is no embossing or engraving, said a teacher from a Mumbai-based school, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
A five-judge constitution bench would decide the question whether right to free speech and expression guaranteed under the Constitution will include the right to insult other persons right to dignity.

A bench headed by justice Dipak Misra asked senior advocates Fali Nariman and Harish Salve to formulate appropriate questions for the reference. The lawyers are assisting the bench in a case filed against Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan for making controversial statements in the Bulandshahr gang rape incident.

The survivors father had filed the petition before the SC seeking transfer of the case from UP to Delhi after Khan, then a minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government, said the case was a political conspiracy. He later tendered an apology in court for his comments. But the bench expanded the scope of the petition to examine if political leaders should be allowed to issue statements on criminal cases that are under investigation.

In the last hearing, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had told the bench that a politician cannot be prosecuted for airing his personal views as there cannot be a moral code of conduct that can be enforced in such cases.

Salve countered the AGs views and said such comments by a minister while in office affects the right to life and dignity of the victim.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) is bringing back more than a hundred antique pieces including three major ones that were stolen and smuggled to the United States from India.

All the 126 pieces are slated to return India on May 17, DRI officials said, attributing the breakthrough to its close coordination with the US agencies.

Before this, the agency had managed to bring back six antique pieces from the US. That set included a fifth century idol of Durga and three sculptures stolen from a temple in Rajasthans Atru and smuggled to the US.

Recent Detetections October, 2016  During search of two residential premises in Chennai, stone statues of Buddha, stone pillars, wood carvings were recovered before the items could be smuggled out of India November 2016  A foreigner was intercepted at the New Delhi international airport when he was about to take a flight to Zurich, Switzerland. Examination of his baggage resulted in recovery of eight items from 17th to 19th century. In a follow-up search, the agency recovered a rare Persian manuscript February 2017  DRI recovered 41 pieces of antiques from searches conducted at residential premises and a warehouse in Mumbai. The recoveries included terracotta figurines from the first century and bronze figurines of Mahishasur Mardini and Ganesha from 17th and 18th century April 2017  The DRI and the UP police in a joint operation recovered a freshly excavated 12th century antique sculpture of Lord Vishnu sitting on a Garuda that was made of black basalt stone. It was about to smuggled out of India

The DRI has been patiently and painstakingly pursuing legal and administrative procedures with agencies such as Immigration & Customs Enforcement and the Department of Justice in the US and providing evidences or expert opinions as and when required to get the antiques shipped back to India from US, said DP Dash, DRI director general.

As per the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act of 1972, antiques are defined as coins, sculptures, paintings, articles or objects detached from a building or a cave or other articles that illustrate science, art or crafts and are in existence for more than 100 years.

DRI officials say Indian antiques have a huge demand and market in western Europe, the US and Gulf countries. Wealthy collectors and auction houses purchase them at very high prices.

Around half a dozen cases detected in the last six months show smuggling syndicates use local criminals to steal antiques, especially from temples in south and east India. Then these are smuggled out concealed in furniture or handicraft or readymade garments export consignments, said a DRI investigator.

But now since these items are being brought back to India, it may act as another deterrent to stop their smuggling, said the DRI investigator.

The investigator added that the agency is also preserving Indian cultural heritage as and when it goes after the antique smuggling gangs.

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Cultivators of the famed shahi litchi of Muzaffarpur had high hopes of a bumper crop this season, but westerly winds lashing North Bihar may presage a deficient supply of this luscious fruit for its connoisseurs across the country.

The litchi crop, including its shahi variety, is getting burnt because of the dry westerly wind sweeping across the region. There are reports of fruits dropping from trees, said SK Dubey, a litchi grower from Sakra (Western Muzaffarpur) and a recipient of Kisan Bhushan award.

Bihars annual litchi production has been in the region of four lakh tonnes, but this time the production is expected to be about two and a half lakh tonnes. Already, reports suggest 15 to 20 % produce in litchi orchards has been destroyed, said another farmer.

There may be quality issues, as well. The fruits are small in size and colourless, said Muralidhar Sharma, a litchi planter and trader from Kanti in Muzaffarpur.

Scientists from the National Litchi Research Centre at Mushahri (Muzaffarpur), with help from kisan mitras, are busy educating farmers on how to water the trees to protect the fruit.

Director of the center, Vishal Nath, said the dry spell had undoubtedly restricted the fruit from blossoming well and increased burn cases. Litchi growers are advised to water the orchards in case of no rainfall happening in their areas, he said.

Litchi has fixed buyers in New Delhi, Kanpur, Allahabad, Chennai and Mumbai and they purchase orchards at the time of flowering. But they are having some anxious moments following reports of the produce being smaller in size and some fruits dropping, said Sanjiv Kumar, a trader from Bakhari area under Bochaha block.

Dildar Singh, a buyer from New Delhi, said he had asked his local helpers to water the trees extensively to protect the fruits. All buyers from big cities now plan to get the fruits plucked from May 21 or 22, to meet the market demand.

Litchi buyers have 70 to 100 trucks at their disposal to take consignments from Muzaffarpur and its nearby areas to New Delhi, Allahabad, Lucknow, Chennai and Mumbai.

We prefer to ferry it by truck rather than railways, except in the case of Mumbai, so that it reaches the market on time, Singh said.

Litchi growers of the district are upsets with media reports suggesting some experts had blamed litchi for the spread of the deadly disease, acute encephalitis syndrome (AES), now termed Encephalopathy.

Litchi grower Muralidhar Sharma said evidence at hand did not show any co-relation between litchi and AES cases. We harvested a bumper crop last year. But, AES related deaths was very few in comparison to earlier years, he pointed out.

Sharma said there appeared to be an attempt to give a bad name to the famed litchi of Muzaffarpur, with an eye on promoting the fruits cultivation in other regions of the country.

AES, a mysterious disease, has claimed more than 2,500 lives, mainly of children in north Bihar, in the last one and a half decades.

A Vellore-based paediatrician and epidemiologist Dr T Jacob John has taken the view that a toxin in litchi causes AES. The finding was published in Current Science, a journal of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Dr John wrote: Our research confirmed both ripe and semi-ripe litchis contain a toxin called methylene cyclopropyl-glycine (MCPG) that causes hypoglycemia in children, which leads to death.

Rejecting Dr Johns finding, local researcher and senior doctor at Sri Krishna Medical College, Muzaffarpur, Dr Gopal Shankar Sahni, linked the spread of AES to humidity. When the temperature is between 38 to 40 degrees, with 65% to 80% humidity recorded, it is the best time for the spread of this deadly disease, he claimed.
Uttarakhands urban development minister Madan Kaushik met union water resources minister Uma Bharti on Thursday and discussed speedy execution of the Namami Gange programme in the state to clean up the river Ganga.

Kaushik assured Bharti that Uttarakhand will emerge as a model state and Haridwar a model city in implementing the flagship programme of the Centre, water resources ministry spokesperson Samir Sinha said.

Uttarakhand is one of the five states through which the 2,525 km-long Ganga flows.

Bharti sought the states cooperation for successful execution of the programme. Kaushik assured all assistance in this connection, Sinha added.

During the meeting, the Uttarakhand minister raised the issue of river front development at Chandighat in Haridwar. Bharti directed the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) to look into the issue, the official said.

The Centre has set itself a target of cleaning the Ganga by 2018.
The foreign ministry said on Thursday it was keeping a close watch on the US move to tighten H-1B visa rules that will impact the Indian IT industry and its professionals, asserting that the issue will be taken up with the Donald Trump administration.

Union commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the whole debate has to be expanded to include several American firms that are earning their profits in India, signalling that New Delhi could retaliate in the face of protectionism by the US and several other countries.

US President Trump has signed an executive order for tightening the rules of the H-1B visa programme to stop its abuse and ensure that the visas are given to the most- skilled or highest paid petitioners.

The US, under the new executive order, proposes to replace the current lottery system for issuing H-1B work visas with a merit-based approach.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay called the visa debate a trade and services issue, and not a matter relating to immigration.

He said India will make an overall assessment of the impact of the changes after the US internal process relating to the visa programme was over.

There is a mutuality of interests involved, he said, also referring to large number of US professionals working in American IT companies in India.

For her part, Sitharaman said: Let us also understand that not just Indian companies in the US, several big US companies are in India too. They are also here, they are earning their margins, they are earning their profits which goes to the US economy.

So, it is a situation where its not just unilateral just Indian companies having too face the US executive order, there are several US companies in India who are doing business for some years now and therefore I want this whole debate to be ... if it has to be expanded, it has to be expanded to include all these aspects and we shall ensure that all these factors are kept in mind.

She, however, preferred constructive engagement at this moment, but said India will not accept any unfair treatment.

Baglay said the executive order has to be acted upon.

It is an internal process in the US which will unfold in the coming days and weeks and we will keep a close watch on that. We will keep this issue on our radar, he told reporters.

The MEA spokesperson also said India had already conveyed to the US about the contribution of Indian IT professionals to the the countrys competitiveness and innovation.

He also played down concerns over Australia replacing its popular 457 work visa regime with another programme, saying senior Australian officials have told India that it will have negligible impact on Indian professionals who are in high-skill category.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had on Tuesday announced his governments decision to abolish a popular work visa used by over 95,000 foreign workers, majority of them Indians, to tackle the growing unemployment and replace it with a new programme requiring higher English-language proficiency and job skills.
A 32-year-old man was arrested near Hyderabad on Thursday for a hoax email about a possible hijack of flights four days ago, apparently cooking up the story to dodge his girlfriends demand for a holiday in Mumbai and Goa.

Police said Motaparthi Vamsi Krishna, a commerce graduate who works as a travel agent, was picked up from his home at Miyapur on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The man is originally from Denduluru village in West Godavari district.

Investigations revealed that Vamsi had sent the email to Mumbai police from a fake account in the name of a woman, raising a false alarm with an intention to delay flights in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai airports, Hyderabad deputy commissioner of police (Task Force) B Limba Reddy said.

Vamsi is married and has two children. But he was having an extramarital affair with a girl in Chennai, police said.

He was to trying to avoid his girlfriend who was pestering him to take her to Mumbai and Goa for a holiday, officer Reddy said.

Vamsi was facing financial problems and, hence, hatched a plot.

He created a fake flight booking on her name on April 16 from Chennai to Mumbai, and sent the air ticket a day before.

Since he would be exposed if she tried to board the flight with the fake ticket, Vamsi went to an internet centre at Madhuranagar on April 15 and sent a mail to Mumbai police through a fake email, ununn0801@gmail.com.

The accused Vamsi Krishna who sent an email to Mumbai police from a fake account. (HT Photo)

He wrote that he overheard six unidentified youths discussing at a restaurant in Hyderabad over lunch about their plan to hijack three flights in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai.

He said the youth were planning to depute 23 hijackers in separate groups from Hyderabad and board three flights in the three cities.

Police forwarded the email to Mumbai Airport Security Group to go on high alert.

Airport authorities, immigration and Mumbai police held a meeting after getting the mail. Security was beefed up at Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai airports.

The CISF, which guards 59 airports in the country, set up additional security measures and alerted its officials to be extra vigilant in and around terminals at Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad airports.

In the meantime, Mumbai police traced the source of the email to Hyderabad and alerted city police commissioner M Mahender Reddy.

A Hyderabad police task force team headed by Limba Reddy cracked the case and arrested Vamsi.

(Note: This story has been updated to rectify an earlier version which said the man hatched the plot to meet his girlfriend.)

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Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel has been asked by a parliamentary panel to appear before it again on May 25 over the demonetisation issue after former prime minister Manmohan Singh prevailed over BJP MPs in the panel to call him.

Sources told Hindustan Times the decision to summon Patel was made at the insistence of Singh, a former RBI governor himself, who had earlier come to Patels rescue in the last meeting in January. When Patel was confronted with tough questions from parliamentarians  including queries on the exact amount of demonetised currencies deposited during the 50-day window and the time by when normalcy would return to the banking system  Singh had intervened, saying that the governors institution should be respected. The former PM said that Patel didnt have to answer all questions.

Singh is one of the members of the panel, headed by Congress leader Veerappa Moily.

At the last meeting in January, Patel failed to provide any figure for how many banned notes had been deposited into the banking system and he did not provide clarity on when the cash situation would become normal.

The lawmakers panel, which was so far quizzing policymakers on demonetisation, also decided to debate the digital transaction model being promoted by the Centre to push a cash-dependent country to a less-cash economy.

We have clubbed the agendas of demonetisation and digitization. We have already asked finance ministry officials and RBI governor twice. So we decided to take up corporate governance and CSR today, Moily said.

On Thursday, the House panel questioned industry chambers on how companies are using funds meant for corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects. Many parliamentarians such as BJP MP Nishikant Dubey pointed out that India Inc was largely restricting their CSR spending in a few areas such as Mumbai, and not doing enough for backward regions such as Jharkhand, sources said. The panel also questioned the lack of transparency in the functioning of CSR trusts.

The panel further sought details of the independent directors and to determine whether any other interests were being served the interests instead of the investors.
India moved to upgrade its defence infrastructure along the border with China, announcing the construction of two Advanced Landing Grounds (ALG) at Tawang and Dirang in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday, a day after Beijing unilaterally renamed six places in northeastern state.

Defence secretary G Mohan Kumar held a high-level review meeting with Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu and discussed the ALGs to be constructed in Dirang and Tawang.

The meeting was also attended by Town Planning and Urban Development minister, Nabam Rebia, including senior Army officials and senior state officials.

Khandu has promised to speed up clearance of pending issues to expedite construction of the airfields.

The chief minister also discussed issues related to land acquisition for defence purposes, the strategic 378 km Missamari-Tenga-Tawang railway line, the status of ALGs and other security related issues.

The Missamari-Tenga-Tawang railway line is expected to be completed by October 2020. Survey work for the project, estimated at Rs 50,000- Rs 70,000 crore, is expected to begin next year.

However, defence ministry officials urged the Arunachal government to speed up on location survey works so that the project could be completed earlier.

During the meeting, the Defence Secretary informed the Chief Minister that the Defence Ministry has given its seal of approval for civilian use of the six ALGs in Arunachal Pradesh to promote tourism in this frontier state.

Kumar said the Defence Ministry had approved civilian use of these airfields on March 30.

The dual use of the ALGs would help Arunachal Pradesh in promoting tourism and other commercial activities and bring succour to the sick and needy who require urgent transportation, Kumar said.

The six ALGs - Tuting, Mechuka, Along, Passighat, Vijaynagar and Ziro - along the India-China border have been reconstructed, expanded and operationalised by the Defence Ministry and are under the direct control of the Indian Air Force.

On the issue of defence-related land compensation, the state government said that on the matter of dual compensation raised by the defence forces, a Group of Ministers has been set up whose report is awaited.

The Arunachal government officials informed that process is on for grant of permanent rights instead of leasehold rights to defence authorities, on condition that the defence authorities pay annual lease rent of Rs 10 per sq mt, which is as per the amended rules of the states land settlement laws.

The move to construct two ALGs in Tawang and Dirang comes after China renamed six places in the state, which it considers as part of southern Tibet. China had strongly protested the visit of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to Arunachal Pradesh, especially Tawang earlier this month.
Ahead of the next hearing in the fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya extradition case on May 17, India said today that it was in touch with the government in the UK, where an internal legal process is on in the matter.

The Indian high commission in the UK is following the case with the British government, external affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

An internal process is on in the UK in response to Indias extradition request, he added.

The 61-year-old liquor baron, wanted in India for defaulting on bank loans, was arrested after he appeared at a central London police station on Monday morning.

Mallya was released on conditional bail a few hours later after providing a bail bond of 650,000 pounds and giving an assurance to the court that he will abide by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel document.

The UKs Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will now argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities.

Last month, setting in motion the process of extradition of Mallya, the British government had certified Indias request and sent it to a district judge for further action.

The extradition process from the UK involves a number of steps including a decision by the judge whether to issue a warrant of arrest.

In case of a warrant, the person is arrested and brought before the court for preliminary hearing followed by an extradition hearing before a final decision is taken by the secretary of state.

The wanted person has a right to appeal in the higher courts against any decision all the way up to Britains Supreme Court.

Under the 2003 Act, the British secretary of state may only consider four issues when deciding whether to order a persons extradition.

They are whether the person is at risk of the death penalty; whether special arrangements are in place; whether the person concerned has previously been extradited from another country to the UK and the consent of that country to his onward extradition is required; and whether the person has previously been transferred to the UK by the International Criminal Court.
Barely a month after being grounded for assaulting an Air India staffer, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad on Thursday took to the skies again and travelled with the same airline which was the first to impose a travel ban on him.

His airline of choice was Air India, as he took a flight from Hyderabad to Delhi shortly after 4 PM, an aide of Gaikwad told PTI.

Ravi Sir (as Gaikwad, a former teacher, is known in his Osmanabad constituency) travelled business class from Hyderabad to Delhi on Thursday, days after the flying ban was lifted, the aide said.

On April 8, private airlines had lifted the nearly two week-long flying ban on Gaikwad.

The decision of the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) had come a day after the national carrier, following direction from the civil aviation ministry, had revoked the ban on Gaikwad which was in placed since March 23.

The flying restriction on the Lok Sabha member had been lifted after he gave an undertaking that such an incident would not reoccur.

Delay in action

Meanwhile, the national carrier has requested the Delhi Police to hasten its inquiry over the airlines complaint against the Shiv Sena MP.

According to sources in Air India, the slow progress of the case -- which occurred nearly a month ago -- has affected the morale of the airlines employees, leading to a loss of faith in the rule of law.

Our CMD (Chairman and Managing Director) had written a letter to the Commissioner of Police of Delhi two days back (April 18), the Air India source said.

... the letter mentioned that AIs complaint about the recent assault by the Shiv Sena MP has been converted into a FIR and that all of AIs employees have been called in for questioning and that the police have also taken the CCTV footage.
When the case against online free speech began, the additional solicitor general handed some lurid pictures to the bench: of gods and prophets in obscene positions. The images, designed to offend, were meant to show the court what decent folk must suffer online, and why a too-broad law criminalising the annoying and inconvenient must remain.

We  counsel for civil liberties organisations and media technology companies  argued for free speech on the internet. The law, which made criminals of those who shared the startling pictures before us then, is still slowly crushing a professor of Jadavpur University in a criminal case for sharing a political cartoon based on a childrens story by Satyajit Ray.

The court struck down the law, and in doing so carried forward the deep values of free speech jurisprudence.

What then of the trolls  and others who distribute online offensive pictures of gods, make threats, and systematically target women and minorities? Troll as a word conjures up a lonely raging soul, but of course hatred isnt spread by solitary malevolents alone. Terrorist group IS has proven nimble in moving between social media platforms, and using encrypted tools like Telegram and TOR.

At home, the BJPs 5,000-strong IT cell that helped win the UP elections included, among its legitimate campaign work, trending the hashtag #KasabAgainstHindu. A member of the UP IT Cell told Newslaundry: A dangerous online army of lakhs are following us, which is not even in our control.

How then can a media technology company, the legal system and a speaker online limit hate speech without hacking away at free expression?

Media tech companies are obliged contractually to stick by their terms of service, but they struggle with the volume of data users produce. And the largest companies have a bit of a nationality problem.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft have signed up to the European Commissions code of conduct that includes a commitment to review most valid notifications for removal of illegal hate speech in less than 24 hours. This has prompted focussed technological innovation and better staffing for European markets.

In the US, new tools on Twitter to deal with harassment were developed quite fast after Robin Williamss daughter was brutally harassed following his suicide. Death-and-rape threats in India havent had quite the same results from the headquarters.

Last month, Twitter developed an algorithm to weed out abuse. Google is testing an artificial intelligence tool called Perspective to help editors of media companies maintain civil and thoughtful user engagement.

Algorithms are essential to manage the volume of speech produced each day, but they make mistakes. To make sure false positives arent censored  speech thats not unlawfully abusive or against terms of service  theres no way around robust staffing of safety teams.

Sunlights the best disinfectant here as much as anywhere else. Facebook and Twitter already publish transparency reports on state censorship. Tech media should consider transparency reports of speech they censor themselves.

Lets Talk About Trolls | Cyber bullies are the same as goons who threaten in real life

Twitters population is larger than the United States, Facebook has more people than the US and Europe put together. Holding elections on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms for democratic user representation, say on appeal committees, would be welcome.

Freedom of expression doesnt include the right to someone elses attention or mindspace  though trolls often invoke free speech when blocked. In the Indian social context, trolling is much worse against say, women, Muslims and homosexual folk or indeed gay, Muslim women. Mental space is precious, and trolls by definition dont take ideas forward. An abusive or even just a boring and repetitive handle is easier to block or mute than swatting a fly.

For threats and certain kinds of abuse there is the criminal law.

Most laws criminalising speech are oppressive, though. And wouldnt get past the standards of the progressive constitutional bench judgments of the Supreme Court or indeed the Shreya Singhal judgment, the online free speech case described above.

A lot of the laws criminalising speech silence legitimate speech, against the doctrines of overbreadth and chilling effect that should not allow such laws to stand.

Ultimately, its empirical data on the impact of hate speech that would demonstrate whether and how they incite violence or discrimination, and if therefore, they are tailored to the ends they seek.

A recent example of egregious criminal process initiated against online speech is the FIRs registered against Prashant Bhushan, after he made a comment about god Krishna. There is no criminal offence made out in his tweet, yet the FIR was registered.

Even for a senior lawyer, the process of seeking an FIR quashed is the punishment itself. The Supreme Court limits on anti-speech laws such as S. 153A and 295A need to be included in polices versions of the Penal Code to limit their overbreradth.

If the law at the very least prevented the filing of FIRs where there are apologies and swift takedown of content, the jurisprudence of online hate speech would be a little more reasonable in its restrictions.

By contrast, where there are threats to rape or kill, law enforcement flounders. Bizarrely, Section 506 on personal threats is bailable in New Delhi, Section 354D on physical and cyber stalking is also a bailable offence. Online media companies dont disclose user data fast enough, and as soon as the IP trail leads to a server outside the country the trail peters out.

Criminal laws against hate speech Section 509 IPC: Words or gestures intended to insult the modesty of a woman, or intrude on her privacy Section 354A: Unwelcome sexually coloured remarks Section 503/ 506: Threats of injury to a person, his or her reputation or property, or to the person or reputation of any one in whom that person is interested Section 354D: Cyber and physical stalking Section 66E IT Act: Capturing, transmitting pictures of private parts without consent Section 3, SC/ST Act: Intentional insults or intimidation with intent to humiliate a member of a scheduled caste or scheduled tribe Section 295A: Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage feelings of a class by insult to religion, with a calculated tendency to disrupt public order Section 153A: Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc. There must be two groups between whom enmity is being spread

While laws and police are national, most cybercrimes are transnational, even if just via VPNs. Our cyber cells need to work more closely with Interpol, who support police forces worldwide in a variety of ways, including digital forensics and training officers.

Developing jurisprudence on civil damages for the invasion of privacy, sexual harassment, and defamation  subject to proof of damage on the face of the plaint  would in many instances provide redress more reasonable than criminal restrictions on speech.

In the past several years, the norms of Indian conversations both online and offline have shifted dramatically against religious minorities, seculars and progressives, while there have been positive shifts in some pockets towards the equality of genders and sexualities.

Those who believe in a universal right to life have been startled out of their complacency by the normalisation of Pahlu Khans murder, and by Mohammad Ikhlaqs murderer being draped in the national flag.

I engage publicly  online, on television and through public lectures  because moving societal norms towards equality, freedom and rule of law is part of the work of creating justice.

As a lawyer I am trolled far less than others, but after one discussion of the Ishrat Jahan case, I got hundreds of violent messages, including wishes that my family would die in a terrorist attack. This was during the court holiday, and I had some time. I blocked the incorrigibles and warned the violent, made jokes against the sillier misogyny and logically countered those who had reasonable questions.

Many people came forward in support, some in admiration, because even though I am a lawyer, every time a woman deals effectively with trolls there are others watching and strengthened to speak their own truths.

In an age when secularism is bigotry, ignorance is power and equality is dominance, clear voices rising above the discordant cacophony can move norms towards freedom. And freedom is why the caged bird sings.

Karuna Nundy is a lawyer who represents individuals facing criminal cases for speech online, civil liberties organisations and technology media companies.

This piece is part of HTs new campaign, Lets Talk About Trolls, which focuses sharp attention on online abuse and bullying. Share your views with us at letstalkabouttrolls@hindustantimes.com or @htTweets with #LetsTalkAboutTrolls
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, accused in a money laundering case, appeared before the enforcement directorate (ED) on Thursday.

Singh appeared before the investigating officer at the ED headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday afternoon, ED spokesperson Anil Rawal said.

ED had summoned Virbhadra in the money laundering case on April 18 and had said that he must appear before it on April 20. Earlier, the ED had summoned him on April 13, but he failed to turn up.

The senior Congress leader had earlier allegedly avoided summons to get his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

He is said to have excused himself by referring to his official commitments. In the first week of April, the ED attached Singhs Delhi farmhouse worth Rs 27.29 crore.

The agencys move came after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a chargesheet against Virbhadra and others in March for allegedly amassing assets worth Rs 6.03 crore.

The ED had filed a criminal case under the PMLA against Virbhadra Singh, his wife Pratibha, Life Insurance Corporation agent Anand Chauhan, his associate Chunni Lal, and others in 2015 following the CBIs FIR dated September 23, that year.

The case was registered after a preliminary inquiry found that Singh as Union minister from 2009 to 2012 allegedly accumulated assets worth Rs 6.03 crore, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income.

After his Delhi farmhouse was attached, the Himachal CM accused the Centre of harassing him and destabilising his government.

He alleged that central agencies like the ED and CBI were being misused against political opponents by the Centre.
The NDA government has approved 17.73 lakh affordable houses for 2,008 cities and towns in the last two years as against 13.82 lakh sanctioned for 1,061 cities during 10 years of UPA rule, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu said today.

Naidu said the Centre has done whatever it could and now it was for the state governments to take forward its Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) scheme to provide housing to all the poor people in urban areas by 2022.

Noting that Prime Minister Narendra Modis is a government with a difference, the Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister said the Centre has announced various concessions and tax benefits for the affordable housing scheme.

Besides, the Centre has relaxed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for affordable housing and also accorded infrastructure status to it, he said, and recalled that the Real Estate bill was also passed by Parliament last year.

What else (can be done by the Centre)... you require the political will and the administration skills... Government of India has done whatever it could do. Now the ball is in the court of the the state governments, he told reporters.

As the government inches closer to completing three years and two years of PMAY (Urban) scheme, Naidu said 17.73 lakh affordable houses have been approved for 2,008 cities and towns in the last less than two years as against 13.82 lakh sanctioned for 1,061 cities in the earlier 10 years.

He said an investment of Rs 96,266 crore has been approved so far for construction of houses for urban poor as against Rs 32,713 crore during 2004-14.

Central assistance of Rs 27,883 crore has already been approved for release to states and UTs under PMAY (Urban) as against Rs 20,920 crore during the ten years of the previous government, Naidu said.

Elaborating on the strategy to meet the Housing for All target by 2022, Naidu said 15 states and UTs are being targeted to meet their respective goals by 2019.

These are Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Andaman & Nicobar Islands,Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Puducherry.

He said other large states have been asked to submit housing proposals by end 2018 so that construction of houses could be completed by 2022.

The Minister said within 22 months of launch of PMAY (Urban), 97,489 houses have been constructed for urban poor.

Tamil Nadu tops the list of states for which the Centre has approved construction of affordable houses with nod for 2.27 lakh houses, Madhya Pradesh (2.09 lakh), Andhra Pradesh (1.95 lakh) and Karnataka (1.46 lakh).

Gujarat got approval for 1.44 lakh affordable houses, followed by West Bengal (1.44 lakh), Maharashtra (1.26 lakh) Bihar (88,293) and Telangana (82,985).

Jharkhand, Odisha and Tripura each got approval for less than 65,000 affordable houses.

However, Gujarat was on the top of the list of states which have completed the construction of the affordable houses with 28,070, followed by Karnataka (14,328), Tamil Nadu (8,382), and Maharashtra (6,963).

Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Telangana, Jharkhand, Odisha and Tripura constructed less than 6,000 houses.

The Minister said the Delhi government has not yet joined the PMAY (Urban) scheme, adding, as though it has no poor people.

Instead of spending on ads (advertisements), the Delhi government should add money to the Centres housing scheme to provide affordable houses to the poor, he said, responding to a query related to Kejriwal governments reported claim that the Centre was not providing enough money for the scheme.

To another query, Naidu said it would be wrong to compare the performance of the states on the basis of which party is ruling it.

He said whichever state does not come forward with the implementation of the scheme will face the wrath of the people.

To a query on China standardising the official names for six places in Arunachal Pradesh, the Cabinet minister said, Arunachal Pradesh is totally part and parcel of India. China has no business to name any of the district. I dont know why they have taken this step.

On the political storm in Tamil Nadu, the Union Minister said the AIADMK factions should work together for the welfare of the people of the state.

They should stay united and work for welfare of the state. That is the wish of all of us. We dont interfere and dont give directions. We dont side with this group or that group as far as Tamil Nadu Politics is concerned, he said.

Naidu said there was also no question of tie-up with either group as no election was slated for the state as of now.
Pursuing plans to put up a common opposition candidate for the presidential elections scheduled in July, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday.

After the BJPs thumping win in Uttar Pradesh, regional party leaders have initiated efforts to stitch together an alliance with the Congress to put up a joint fight against the BJP in the 2019 general elections.

Sensing possibilities of putting up a forceful challenge to the BJP in the coming presidential elections, regional leaders have started efforts to bring together a grand alliance of Opposition parties at the national level.

Despite the huge wins in UP and Uttarakhand, the BJP is 20,100 votes short of the halfway mark in the Electoral College that elects the President.

Against the total strength of 1.09 million votes of the Electoral College, the BJP-led NDA has 54, 9442 votes. In order to get its nominee elected as President, the NDA will have to depend on the support of regional parties such as the AIADMK.

At the meeting with Gandhi, Kumar is understood to have emphasised that a defeat of the NDA nominee would come as a huge morale booster for Opposition parties.

Kumar in recent weeks has been pitching for opposition unity, having held separate meetings with leaders such as Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar and CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury.

Last month, Kumar travelled to Bhubaneswar for a meeting with Odisha chief minister Navin Patnaik.

At the meeting with Gandhi, Kumar is said to have stressed the need to replicate the Bihar alliance model at the national level.

With Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Yadav having been under fire for alleged land deals, Kumar is also understood to have discussed the political situation in the state. In the state, Kumars Janata Dal (United), RJD and the Congress are alliance partners.

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A final representation made by Tiger Hanif, wanted for the 1993 Gujarat blasts, to the British home secretary in 2013 to avoid extradition, is still under consideration, official sources told Hindustan Times on Thursday.

Hanifs case reflects the difficult situation faced by New Delhi over the years on the issue of extradition. He lost all legal challenges to avoid extradition, and made the final appeal to the home secretary, who is yet to take a decision.

Under Britains rules, an extradition request from India needs decisions by both the secretary of state and the courts. Hanifs representation was made when Prime Minister Theresa May was the home secretary, but the incumbent, Amber Rudd, has also not acted on it so far.

Hanifs case is an indication of the extradition process and opportunities for appeal available to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, who was arrested and given bail at the Westminster Magistrates Court on Tuesday as part of the process. The next hearing in his case is on May 17.

An aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, Hanif, whose full name is Mohammed Umerji Patel, was traced to a grocery store in Bolton, Greater Manchester, in March 2010. His claim that he would be tortured if sent to India was overruled by the courts.

A British home office spokesperson said: His representation is still under consideration.

If the home secretarys decision comes before the United Kingdom leaves the EU (likely by March 2019) and also goes against him, Hanif may approach the European Court of Human Rights, which has been the last recourse of several foreign nationals who face extradition proceedings.

Hanif is wanted in India for his alleged role in a grenade attack on a packed marketplace which killed a schoolgirl in Surat in January 1993. He is also accused of plotting a second grenade attack at a crowded railway station which seriously wounded 12 commuters in April 1993.

Under the 1993 India-UK extradition treaty, India has so far extradited three individuals, while one person has been extradited to India. The respective lists of individuals sought by the two countries were discussed at a meeting in New Delhi in February.

The three extraditions from India to UK were: Maninder Pal Singh Kohli (Indian citizen), on July 29, 2007, for the murder of Hannah Foster; Somaia Ketan Surendra (Kenyan citizen), on July 8, 2009, in a cheating case; and Kulwinder Singh Uppal (Indian citizen), on November 14, 2013, in a kidnapping and false imprisonment case.

The single extradition from UK to India was of Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel (Indian citizen), on October 18, 2016, in a case related to the 2002 Gujarat riots.

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A group of tribals in Madhya Pradesh have written to the Prime Minister, offering to take on stone pelting protesters in Kashmir with their traditional weapon, gofan (slingshot).

Bhil youth in the states tribal-dominated Jhabua district say they are infuriated by videos and photos showing security forces helpless against masses of stone-pelting men and women in Kashmir that has seen widespread clashes in recent months.

We will give a befitting reply to them  stone for stone - and send them packing said Bhanu Bhuria, one of the youths using the Gofan, confidently. They also want the army to raise a gofan battalion.

The Gofan comprises a piece of rope where the loose ends are held in one hand and at the centre a square or rectangular piece of cloth, rubber or skin is attached on which a stone is put.

The user rotates the rope and when it has gained sufficient velocity, one end of the rope is released and the missile hurtles through the air at great velocity. The weapon is usually used for hunting and defence.

The offer comes amid mounting anger in Kashmir over a string of alleged human rights violations by security personnel. (HT Photo)

The stone missile travels at two to three times the velocity compared to a person throwing a stone and it also travels a greater distance. Some skilful tribals can hit a target at 50 metres with accuracy, said police inspector RC Bhaskare, who has worked in the tribal belt for over two decades.

This comes amid mounting anger in Kashmir over a string of alleged human rights violations by security personnel. Thousands of people have come out on the streets and clashed with the army, which is battling charges of tying a Kashmiri man to a jeep as a human shield.

We are patriotic. Our blood boils when we see our enemies hurting our soldiers, said Naval Singh from Dotad village.

Other videos show Kashmiris roughing up paramilitary personnel, visuals that have upset the tribal youth.

We have watched on social media and also on television how our security forces are often helpless against the stone-pelters since they cannot fire at them. We discussed it amongst ourselves and believe that we can come in handy in such situations, Bhanu said.

More than 100 Bhil youth are now honing their skills with the gofan at Hatipao hills, situated on the outskirts of Jhabua town and want the government to start a gofan battalion and send them to Kashmir.

Tribal youths hold gofan -- a traditional slingshot. (HT Photo)

On Wednesday, a group met the Jhabua district collector RC Saxena and handed over a memorandum in the name of the prime minister. We should be given an opportunity to serve the country and we will show how good we are says Bahadur Hatila of Bhoyra village.

Tribal-dominated Jhabua is one of the poorest districts of Madhya Pradesh and according to the 2011 census, its literacy rate is the second-lowest in the country. Most Bhils eke out a meager living as marginal farmers and labourers.

We have fought valiantly against the British under the legendary tribal leader Tantiya Bhil, and we can serve the country once again, added Naval. Jhabua superintendent of police Mahesh Jain said a large number of tribals used the gofan was both deadly and accurate.
The Centre was firmly behind the victims of triple talaq, Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in New Delhi on Thursday.

He added that while India respected freedom of religion and faith, discriminatory practices could not be held an integral part of it and protected.

Prasad cited the practice of untouchability to assert that religious practices needed to be in accordance with the Constitutional values and emphasised that gender justice, gender equality and gender dignity were at the core of the governments priority.

Can, in a secular country like India, a big chunk of women be forced to live in a state of vulnerability, he asked.

Prasad said the government was firmly behind the victims of triple talaq. Now, talaq is being given on WhatsApp...is this vulnerability permissible in our Constitution, he asked.

The BJP leader pointed out that many countries, including Iran, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, had abolished the practice.

These are Islamic countries and they have regulated triple talaq, which has not been found to be violative of Sharia law (personal law), he said.

The Law Minister was responding to a series of questions on triple talaq and the Centres stand on the issue in the Supreme Court.
The income tax department conducted a raid at the residence of additional commissioner sales tax Keshav Lal on late Wednesday night and seized unaccounted cash (over Rs 18 crore) in new currency notes and two kilogrammes of gold. The IT officers also recovered documents pertaining to immovable properties in big cities, including NOIDA.

The cash was kept inside quilts, beds and almirahs. The IT officers expect more cash recovery from other places as well as bank lockers of the official. The raid was on till late Thursday evening till the filing of this report.

On Wednesday, IT officers had called up Keshav Lal, who had gone to Lucknow to attend the convention of Sales Tax Seva Sangh. Lal reached Kanpur later in the evening and was taken for questioning by the IT officials.

According to sources, Lal had managed to get postings on lucrative posts during his long stay in the city and he was under the scanner of the IT department since long.

Meanwhile, in separate raids on Tuesday, IT officers had recovered about Rs 87 lakh cash at the house of RTO Sunita Verma and her husband, joint commissioner, sales tax, DK Verma. The couple came under the scanner following IT raids at Shatabdi Travels outlet in Leela Palace where tax evasion of over Rs 20 crore was detected and officials also found documents linking Sunita and her husband to the luxury travel business. The IT department sources said over a dozen senior government officers were under their scanner for amassing wealth through illegal means.
Freelance press photographer Abid Bhat used to hotspot the 4G internet on his mobile, connect it to his laptop and send pictures to international publications.

His work stopped since 3G and 4G mobile internet services were suspended in the Kashmir Valley from Monday afternoon.

I do not have a fixed-line broadband connection at home. I am requesting friends to allow me to use theirs, Bhat said.

The internet becomes the first casualty whenever the situation in the militancy-ravaged Valley turns from restive to volatile. The latest clampdown is to restrict Kashmiris from uploading on social media photos and videos of human rights violation by security forces.

A number of clips, including the one showing a man tied to a military jeep as a human shield against stone-throwers, went viral and picked up by both national and international media last week.

On Monday, hours before the internet was shut, Kashmir was rocked by student protests that wounded 60 people. Many students ran Facebook Live videos of their protest, a feature that works best only when the data strength is high.

According to data since 2012 provided by internet shutdowns.in, a project by the Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC), Jammu and Kashmir has recorded 29 instances of internet shutdowns. The figures are highest for any state, with 10 instances in 2016 alone.

The longest period of mobile internet blackout happened after the killing of popular militant commander Burhan Wani on July 8 last year. Post-paid mobile internet services were restored in mid-November, while pre-paid services returned on January 30 this year.

Earlier this month, both mobile and broadband services were suspended for over two days during the bypoll to the Srinagar parliamentary constituency on April 9.

Internet shutdowns have happened over the past seven years. It does come out as a state censorship to curb dissenting voices. But its frequency to push Kashmir into the Stone Age is a collective punishment, said Muhammad Faysal, a Kashmiri blogger and an editor with blog site, WithKashmir.

The state is afraid of the fingertips and a five megapixel camera now.

Government and police sources in Kashmir maintain that mobile internet restrictions help check the mobilisation of protesters and prevent the spread of rumours that worsen the situation.

Violence happens on the streets even when internet is suspended. But the top cops maintain that the scale of violence would have been higher had the internet been working.

To top it up, government intelligence often warn that Pakistan uses social media to foment trouble in the Valley.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh said in the Lok Sabha last month that social media groups operating from Pakistan provoke Kashmiri youngsters to throw stones at security forces.

Human rights campaigners in Kashmir have a different take.

The internet ban is less about the worry of mobilisation but it is more about curbing the humiliation that the state face through the evidencing which happens through social media, said Khurram Parvez, programme coordinator of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society.

People have started documenting situations around them and putting these up on social media. They have become citizen journalists and there has been a democratisation of media through social media. And this is a huge challenge for the state because they feel they cannot control this space easily, Parvez said.

Traders complain that the frequent internet blockades hamper their work immensely.

Mushtaq Ahmad Wani, president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: The worst-hit is perhaps the tourism sector. Apart from the technical difficulties, the perception of Kashmir in the minds of tourists suffers a massive jolt. Who will want to visit a place where even the internet is banned?

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Shiv Sena workers in Nagpur blackened the face of a lecturer who allegedly molested one of his students on April 13.

The accused, Amit Ganvir, allegedly molested the girl at Dharampeth Polytechnic College  her examination centre. Police said Ganvir had caught the girl copying during the exam. He snatched her identity card, hall ticket and mobile phone before misbehaving with her, said inspector Atul Sabis, Ambhazari police station.

After the girls friends complained to us, we approached the principal of the college on Thursday afternoon and demanded action against the accused. However, since the principal failed to act, we blackened Ganvirs face and took him to the Ambazari police station, said Shiv Sena activist Panju Totwan.

The girl said that Ganvir had used vulgar language while speaking to her. When she told him she was recording their conversation, he returned her belongings, said police. However, Ganvir then allegedly demanded sexual favours from the girl, following which she approached the police, who lodged a formal complaint against him.

Sabnis said that the accused was booked under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code.
Arend F. van Peer (Top) practices with his master Lin Zaipei the Dog Kung Fu in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province, April 18, 2017. Arend, 39, was from the Netherlands. He and his wife Khingeeva Tatyana came to China in October 2013. Besides doing research and teaching as a professor at a laboratory in School of Life Sciences in Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Arend was a fan of Chinese martial arts. As students of Kung Fu master Lin Zaipei, Arend and his wife learned the Dishuquan, which is also known as the Dog Kung Fu, one of the most popular martial arts styles in Fujian Province and a national intangible cultural heritage. They went to the martial art club every week to practice with Dog Kung Fu lovers from all over the world. Arend said that learning Chinese Kung Fu has been his dream since childhood. He invited Chinese Kung Fu masters, including his master Lin, to the Netherlands for culture exchange. "Arend has mastered a series of skills of Dog Kung Fu and he is capable of teaching these skills" said Lin. On May 3, 2017, Arend and his wife will finish their work in China and leave for the Netherlands. They plan to introduce the Dog Kung Fu to the people in their country. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan)
The sister of a triple talaq victim has warned Muslim clerics that she will adopt Hinduism if they dont set their house in order.

Covered in a hijab, the Muslim woman, creating a scene at Kichha police, said, What is the use of spending whole life with a man who can at any point of time desert his wife by saying Talaq, Talaq, Talaq? If this injustice happens in old age then where would the victim go?

Today I am young and why would I spend my whole life with the fear of triple talaq? It is better to embrace Hinduism and marry a Hindu man who would at least not destroy my life by uttering just three words, she added.

Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said,What Modi is doing for the country is very good. What he is doing for women, especially for Muslim women, is very good.

Modi had said on Sunday that candid discussions must take place on triple talaq, while clerics have said Muslim community should have the right to decide.

Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government is strongly battling to abolish the triple talaq practice among Muslims. The Muslim clergy has been opposing governments step terming it as interference in the religious matters of Muslims.

The Modi government has, through an affidavit in the Supreme Court, supported a ban on triple talaq, much to the displeasure of the All Indian Muslim Personal Law Board. The government position on triple talaq has been that it denies Muslim women the basic fundamental rights and leads to their exploitation.

Hindu Mahasabha general secretary, Dr Pooja Shakun Pandey, last week urged all triple talaq victims to join Hinduism if they wanted to lead respectful lives.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Monday asked bureaucrats to stand up to the political class if wrong orders are given, telling them not to become a yes master.

Singh also said that civil servants should be impartial and show no hesitation in taking decisions.

If a political executive gives wrong orders, do not be scared to show them rules. Tell the political executive that you are legally wrong. Do not sign the file. Haan mein haan naa milaiye (Do not become a yes master). Do not betray your conscience, he told the inaugural session at an event to mark the Civil Services Day.

The function was attended by officers belonging to the IAS and other all India services.

The home minister also took a dig at officers who avoid taking decisions, saying such hesitation may harm the countrys interests. If necessary, discuss and deliberate with your seniors but there should be no hesitation in taking decisions.

Be punctual

He also pulled up bureaucrats and asked them to be punctual after the event got delayed by a few minutes.

Singh said he was worried that a function of bureaucrats got delayed by 12 minutes and the attendees kept entering the venue even after it formally began.

Addressed the inaugural session of Civil Services Day in New Delhi today. Sharing the link of my speech at #CSD2017 https://t.co/fXoWJ0ZSTg pic.twitter.com/Ty8pTczXDJ  Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) April 20, 2017

I was a little bit worried today. The programme was supposed to start at 9.45. We reached five minutes before the scheduled time. But it started at 9.57, he said at the event attended mostly by officers belonging to IAS and other all India services.

Singh said there maybe many reasons for the delayed start and some reasons maybe right but there should be an introspection as to why the situation is such as it is.

It would have been good that we would not have deviated (from the scheduled time). Has there been any laxity in our commitment? he asked.

Antyodaya scheme

Singh said the Narendra Modi government, through Jan Dhan, Aadhar and mobile connectivity (JAM) convergence, is transforming good governance into smart governance.

The home minister said the central government is committed to successfully implementing Antyodaya, a scheme for providing subsidised food to millions of poorest families.

Singh said civil servants have to play a more active and effective role in its implementation.

He also quoted the countrys first home minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who had said that if civil services was called steel frame of India it would not be an exaggeration.

The guiding principles for civil servants as enunciated by Sardar Patel in 1948 are extremely important in the present day context as well. The steel frame of our civil services has not weakened even after 70 years of Independence, he said.

The function was attended by minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh, cabinet secretary PK Sinha, additional principal secretary to Prime Minister PK Mishra, secretaries of many central ministries and departments among others.
Swine Flu or H1N1 related deaths are on a steady rise in Maharashtra compared to last year, according to data by the Maharashtra epidemiology department. So far, the virus has claimed 127 lives, out of which 25 were reported in the last two weeks. A total of 25 deaths and 82 cases were recorded throughout 2016.

Experts said fluctuations in temperatures and the wearing off of vaccines could be the reasons for the spurt. State officials said 644 cases have been reported since January this year  38 in Pune, 24 in Nashik, 11 in Aurangabad and 38 in Ahmednagar.

As a precaution, we have intensified screening and surveillance for all viral infections and are vaccinating high-risk groups, such as diabetics, people with high blood pressure, pregnant women and the elderly, Dr Pradeep Awate , head, state epidemiology department.

Immunity among people is waning off, which is the main reason for the rise in the number of cases and deaths, he added.

Another reason more cases are being recorded now is because of poor herd immunity among the people, said a state official. The term refers to how immune a significant section of the population is. After the H1N1 epidemic in 2015, when 906 deaths were reported, many people were vaccinated. This not only protected them from the virus, but also checked its spread. However, the effect of the vaccine lasts only for 8 months, post which not many people got vaccinated again, the official said.

Dr Deepak Sawant, Maharashtra health minister, said that the states health machinery is on high alert, in the wake of the rise in the number of swine flu cases.

I appeal to everyone to not neglect cases of fever, cold and cough that last more than 48 hours and go visit a doctor, he said.
Ten suspected Islamic State (IS) activists were held on Thursday in a major multi-state operation.

The joint operation was carried out by the police teams of Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, in which four suspected terrorists belonging to the ISIS Khorasan module were arrested and six others were detained, officials said.

The arrests were made during raids on Thursday morning in Mumbra (Maharashtra), Jalandhar (Punjab), Narkatiaganj (Bihar), and Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar (both in Uttar Pradesh), the officials added.

Inspector general of the UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) Aseem Arun, in a statement in Noida, said that four persons were arrested on charges of hatching terror conspiracies.

He said the accused were planning a major terror attack in the country.

Important documents relating to the IS were seized from them, Arun claimed.

He said two persons Mufti Faizan and Tanveer, allegedly connected with the ISIS, were arrested from Bijnor district.

Nazim Shamshad Ahmed (26), who hails from Bijnor, was nabbed from Mumbra township in Thane district adjoining Mumbai.

Another suspect identified as Muzammil was arrested from Jalandhar district of Punjab.

According to an UP ATS statement in Lucknow, six others were taken into custody and were being questioned in Noida, on the outskirts of Delhi.

The accused had got in touch with each other over the internet, Arun said, adding that central security agencies played an important role in the operation.

According to the IG, the UP ATS had seized some important documents after the March 7 encounter in Lucknow in which a suspected terrorist belonging to the Khorasan module was killed. Following this, the probe was expanded to five states.

The ATS had received information that the IS had been expanding its network in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Bihar and some youths from these states had joined the terror organisation.

All those arrested are in the age group of 18 to 25 years and were living in different places like Mumbai, Jalandhar and UP. We have also found that they were definitely influenced by the material available on the internet, UP ADG (Law and Order) Daljit Chaudhary said in Lucknow.

Investigations show that one of them wanted to finance the group and they were continuously communicating with each other about carrying out some major strike in the near future. But police and other agencies of different states with the help of surveillance made the arrests before they could carry out any such attack, the ADG said.

A spokesperson of the UP ATS said those arrested were suspected to be looking for potential recruits in Bihar, UP and Maharashtra.
Marriages, they say, are made in heaven. But ever since Thinley Thaye Dorje abandoned his monkhood to marry his childhood friend last month, the much-publicised wedding plunged the normally idyllic state of Sikkim bordering China into rare disquiet.

Dorje is one of the three claimants to the position of Karmapa  the religious head of the Tibetan Buddhist sect of Karma Kagyu. An official anointment of a Karmapa has been long held up over differences between India and China, already at loggerheads over festering border disputes and diplomatic tensions.

But Dorjes marriage has emboldened supporters of one of his rival claimants to raise the pitch and demand that New Delhi recognise Ugyen Trinley Dorje as the 17th Karmapa.

For the past nine months, monks of the famous Rumtek monastery, 24km from Sikkims capital Gangtok, have been holding a relay hunger strike in support of Trinley Dorje. Thaye Dorjes marriage has now prompted them to hold protest marches as well.

To maintain order, both the Dorjes are barred from visiting the monastery, which is being guarded by armed personnel of the Indo-Tibetan border force.

The recently married Dorje who lives in New Delhi has not given up on his claim. ...My decision to marry will have a positive impact not only for me, but also for the (Karmapa) lineage, he was quoted as saying in a statement after his marriage.

But the clamour for recognising the other Dorje has only grown.

Buddhist monks and residents during a rally in Gangtok. (Picture courtesy: Wang Chen)

We now want the Centre to treat Ugyen Trinley as the 17th Karmapa and be allowed to visit the sects two other monasteries in Ralang in south Sikkim and Phoodong in north Sikkim, insisted Sonam Lama, the only legislator in the Sikkim assembly representing the community of revered monks.

Previous state governments did not pursue with the government of India the peoples demand of allowing Ugyen Trinley to Rumtek. Now we have renewed our demand with both the state and the Centre, said Lama, who is leading the hunger strike.

Both India and China want a pliant Karmapa as whoever occupies the position considered next only to that of the Dalai Lama will wield tremendous influence over Tibetans on either side of the border.

Ugyen Trinley, who fled China in 1999 at the age of 14, enjoys greater support, but New Delhi eyes him with suspicion. Indian authorities are particularly worried as to the real reasons behind his escape from Lhasa, pointed out a retired top Sikkim police officer.

Central intelligence agencies have been watchful of Ugyen Trinley, who they believe is Beijing anointed. They also are wary of allowing him to visit Rumtek since it would give legitimacy to one claimant, the official explained.

Unable to visit Rumtek, the temporal seat of the Karma Kagyu sect, Ugyen Trinley has made the Gyuto monastery near Dharamsala his home.

Bringing the 17th Karmapa to Sikkim has become an emotive issue, pointed out Karma Tempo Gyaltsen, spokesperson of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front and a legal advisor to chief minister Pawan Chamling.

The 16th Karmapa died in 1981 and a consensus on appointing his successor has eluded since then.

Patience has begun to run out and monks across Sikkim are hitting the streets. There is a consensus among a large section of Buddhist followers here over the selection of Ugyen Trinley and the chief minister himself met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to request him to allow the Karmapa to visit Rumtek, Gyaltsen said.

With Thaye Dorje abandoning monkhood, it is only a matter of time before he (Ugyen Trinley) is allowed to visit and claim his rightful place on the Karmapa throne at Rumtek, he added.

But that is easier said than done since there is also a third claimant  Dawa Sangpo Dorje who lives in a monastery in Damthang in south Sikkim.

No political party can decide who the Karmapa is, Sangpo Dorje said. The claim to the title can be resolved only by conducting a test of the claimants spiritual knowledge.

An empty throne despite a surfeit of claimants has meant the black hat  the most important symbol of the Karmapa  is under lock and key at the Rumtek monastery.

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A woman MBA graduate has accused her husband of divorcing her by sending a message through messaging app WhatsApp in Hyderabad.

The woman, a resident of Tolichowki area, said she married Mudasir Ahmed Khan, who works in Saudi Arabia, in February last year.

She told reporters that her husband was with her for 20 days and left for (Saudi) in March 2016.

He (Khan) was initially good with me and everything was fine and we were regularly in touch, the woman said yesterday.

When I went to my in-laws house in September, my father-in-law locked my room and asked me to go away saying my husband has divorced me. My in-laws did not specify any reasons and just asked me to leave the house and they evicted me from the house, she alleged.

She demanded that the government should bring out a law that such people are not given bail.

The message purportedly sent in the name of Khan in September, which the woman showed to media, said, I Mudasir Ahmed Khan gave you triple talaq and removed you from the wedlock. You will soon receive the official divorce declaration paper from my end and please do not bother to come to Saudi.

The woman said she had approached the police also.

When contacted, the police said they are verifying the matter.

Last month, a 38-year-old man was arrested here for cheating his wife by giving her talaq through a post card within eight days of marriage.

Another man, hailing from here and based in the US, allegedly gave talaq to his wife through WhatsApp. The case came to light in February when she approached the police alleging that her in-laws tried to murder her.

In another incident, a case of cheating and harassment was registered early this month against a non-resident Indian who allegedly divorced his wife through a newspaper advertisement.
Giant hoardings asking stone-pelting Kashmiris to leave Uttar Pradesh have sprung up across Meerut in the communally sensitive belt, raising concerns over security of hundreds of students from the militancy-hit state.

Police said on Thursday they have asked the controversial Uttar Pradesh Nav Nirman Sena, which admitted to have put up the warning signs, to pull down the hoardings or face action.

A case has been registered against Amit Jani, the leader of the organisation, for allegedly spreading communal hatred and will be arrested soon, police added.

The hoardings appeared a day after a group of Kashmiri students of Mewar University in Rajasthan were allegedly called terrorists and assaulted by local residents, who were said to be upset over soldiers being targeted by stone-throwers in the strife-torn border state.

Bhartiya sena par pathar maarne wale Kashmiryon ka bahishkar. Kashmiriyo Uttar Pradesh chodo warna (Boycott those Kashmiris who pelt stones at Indian Army. Kashmiris leave UP or.... warns a hoarding on a road in the city. The hoarding also carried the name of the organisations chief Amit Jani, a controversial and divisive figure in state politics.

The hoardings assume significance as they surfaced at a time when Kashmir valley is witnessing volatile situation after a number of video clips, including one showing a man tied to a military jeep as a human shield against stone-throwers, sparked anger in the state and divided opinion across the country.

I have asked Amit Jani ( the president of the organisation) to remove the hoardings immediately or face a case, said superintendent of police (city), Meerut Alok Priyadarshi.

Though the SP quoted Jani as saying that activists put up hoardings without his knowledge, the self-styled leader confessed to have installed dozens of such hoardings across the city. He also sent a handout with the pictures of the installed hoardings.

We have put up these hoardings along the stretch of Delhi-Dehradun road passing through Meerut on NH-58 to send out a message against those who disrespect Army and sympathise with Kashmir based separatists like Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Yasin Malik, he said.

There are hundreds of students from Kashmir in universities and colleges across UP who sympathise with separatists. We dont want out educational institutions to develop feelings against army.

Thirty-one year-old Jani, a resident of Janikhurd village in Meerut is infamous for creating controversies to allegedly seek publicity. Also known as Amit Agarwal and Amit Gupta, Jani shot to the limelight for the first time in 2012 when he was accused of vandalising a statue of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh at one of the memorials in the state capital Lucknow.

He served a six-month jail term after being arrested from a mall in Gurgaon and was let off on bail. Four years later, he organised a birthday celebration for Mayawati on her birthday on January 15 by cutting a 60-kg cake for her at Muzaffarnagar.

Considered a Samajwadi Party (SP) supporter, Jani started canvassing against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha polls. In April 2016, Janis brother Saurabh Agarwal and aide Sulabh Bhardwaj were arrested by Delhi police for allegedly writing a threat letter to kill JNU students Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid for the duos purported remarks against the Indian army.

A college dropout, Jani is son of a wood merchant from Ghaziabad.

Before launching the Sena, he was a member of the Indian National Lok Dal in 2005. He also contested 2007 assembly polls on the partys ticket from Meeruts Khekra assembly seat in which he won just 1984 votes.
Under threat from vigilantes and police squads, cow smugglers in Rajasthan have begun transporting the animals to illegal slaughterhouses in Haryana through unused roads.

Sikri police arrested a Hindu villager and three of his sons for trying to smuggle as many as 63 heads of cattle through Bharatpur in Rajasthan on Tuesday night. A police team led by Sikri station house officer Kesar Singh set up barricades along the dirt road on a tip-off, nabbing Bolkheda resident Gutti Gurjar and his sons Kanhiya Gurjar, Memal Gurjar and Nandram Gurjar.

Superintendent of police Kailash Chandra Bishnoi said the four were trying to transport cows from Kishangarh in Ajmer to a slaughterhouse in Haryana. The accused have confessed to the crime, he said, adding that the animals have been sent to the Jay Shri cattle shelter.

Police said cattle smugglers have been transporting the animals through Bharatpur ever since a mob of vigilantes killed a Muslim man in Alwar on April 1. Eighteen vehicles have been seized and 227 heads of cattle rescued in the last three months, they added.

Former Kaman MLA Mohammad Jahur Khan said the Meo community was infamous for smuggling cattle. We urge Hindus to avoid selling their cows to Muslim cattle traders. A panchayat meeting aimed at stopping cow slaughter will be held at Gulpada village on April 22, he added.

Khan said 30-40% of the cow smugglers in the region belong to the Hindu community.

Police data shows that 29 cow smugglers have been arrested in Bharatpur from January to April this year. While 123 cow smugglers were held under Rajasthans anti-cow slaughter law in 2015, the number rose marginally to 127 the following year.

Police have established six police outposts to curb cattle-smuggling through the Mewat region in western Rajasthan. Bishnoi said Rajasthan Armed Constabulary (RAC) personnel have been deployed to assist police in this regard.

Despite the ban, many in Mewat are still involved in cattle trade. This is why additional precautions are taken in Alwar and Bharatpur, besides places in neighbouring Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Chief minister Vasundhara Raje had approved 39 police outposts on October 13, 2014, to curb cattle smuggling across the state. Enhanced emphasis on cow trafficking has also been placed in the Sikri, Gopalgarh, Pahari, Kaman and Jurahara areas.

RAC and police personnel, besides quick response teams, have been deployed at outposts bordering Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in Bharatpurs Mewat region. An additional superintendent of police was also appointed in Deeg to curb related activities, Bishnoi said.

According to sources, cattle smuggling to Haryana has increased ever since Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath began cracking down on illegal slaughterhouses in his state. Rescued animals are sheltered in cow shelters at Jarkhod, Bhojan Thali and Badipur.
A group of Bengali Muslim intellectuals has launched a last minute drive to collect one lakh signatures from Muslim women and men demanding abolition of triple talaq and polygamy with the objective of submitting them before the President and Prime Minister before the countrys apex court starts hearing on the legality of triple talaq, halala marriage and polygamy on May 11.

We have already collected about 55,000 signatures, most of them from Muslim women. Well submit the signatures by May 9 and on May 10 well sit on a day-long dharna at Jantar Mantar. We want the centre to strongly advocate abolition of these practices during the hearing in the court, said Osman Mallick, headmaster of a government-run high school in West Bengal. He had also filed a petition in Supreme Court last November.

Read: Muslim law board shows the door to woman member who opposed triple talaq

Incidentally, late last year a signature collection war broke out between All India Muslim Personal Law Board that launched a nationwide drive to collect signatures of people to save and protect Shariat Laws --- related to marriage, divorce and inheritance, while womens rights groups unleashed a counter-campaign.

During a recent visit to West Bengal, union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said West Bengal accounted for the second highest number of triple talaq victims. Last year, with tacit support from ruling Trinamool Congress leaders, Kolkata also hosted the first major rally in the country by Muslim religious leaders in support of continuing with the practices.

The signatures are being collected from various districts on behalf of a Joint Movement Committee formed by several secular Muslim organisations that have been campaigning for the rights of the Muslim women and opposing religious fundamentalism. The organisations include Progressive Muslim Society, Reformist Muslim Society and Secular Mission.

Read: Eye on Muslim women vote, Narendra Modi gets combative on triple talaq

Our signature campaign is aimed at making the union government aware of what the Muslim women want. In a meeting recently held by the orthodox religio-social leadership from the community announced that Muslim women campaigners like us are enemy of the Community. I would better be branded like that than being a dumb witness to the injustices against Muslim women, said Syed Tanveer Nasreen, a professor of womens studies at Burdwan University and a prominent campaigner against patriarchy in Muslim society.

The organisers of the last minute drive have planned to organise a dharna at Jantar Mantar just a day before the apex court begins final hearing on the issue. (HT Photo)

A five-judge Constitution bench is scheduled to finish the hearing on the legality of orally pronounced triple talaq, halala marriage and polygamy among Muslims between May 11 and 19. The case originated from petitions filed by some Muslim women who sought abolition of these practices and argued they contradicted the fundamental rights ensured by the Constitution.

Read: Triple talaq practice will be ended in less than two years, says Muslim law board VP

While All India Muslim Personal Law Board has opposed the idea, arguing that the practices have the sanction of the Quran, the Centre of have so far backed abolition of the practices.

According to Kazi Masum Akhtar, headmaster of a government-run school in Kolkata who had to be transferred from a government-run madrasa in the face of life threats from some Muslim religious groups, the signature campaign has drawn more support that initially expected.

Read: Sister of triple talaq victim warns Muslim clerics she will adopt Hinduism

Previously, Muslim women dared not speaking against these social evils but now, largely due to escalated campaign from the secular Muslims who want reforms in the community, more and more women are speaking out, Akhtar said.

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Uttar Pradesh police were thrown into a tizzy on Thursday following a wireless message about one of the vehicles in the chief ministers cavalcade being stolen during a visit in Jhansi.

Vehicles in chief minister Yogi Adityanaths fleet were parked at a nearby compound during his meeting with district officials are Vikas Bhawan.

A massive hunt was launched soon after a message was received on the wireless about theft of one of the vehicles, SP (City) Dinesh Singh said. Traffic Police informed that since the vehicle was parked at the wrong place it was shifted to the allotted parking area, the SP said, adding the wireless message was given on the information of the vehicle driver.

During his visit, Adityanath also undertook a surprise inspection of the district hospital where he enquired about treatment and other facilities from the patients.

Later, he inspected the Krishi Mandi at the Kanpur Road and a primary school in Takori village in Badagaon development block and interacted with students.

Enquiring about the midday meal given to the children in the school, he also inspected the school kitchen.

This was Adityanaths first visit to Jhansi in parched Bundelkhand region of the state after assuming office almost a month ago.
President's speech last year pointed to need for technological breakthroughs

China has made significant progress in the use, governance and security of the internet in the year since President Xi Jinping made a landmark speech at a symposium on cybersecurity and informatization on April 19, 2016, according to experts interviewed by China Daily.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, pointed to the need for breakthroughs in core technologies as soon as possible to ensure cybersecurity and safeguard national security.

In his speech, Xi said that "in terms of core technology research and development, alliance between giants is better than fighting on their own". He also called for more cooperation between different cybersecurity enterprises.

The speech put in motion changes at many levels. Internet security expert Xiao Xinguang said the speech changed the way his company does business.

Xiao, founder and chief technology officer at Antiy Labs, a leading internet security firm in China, said that his company started to share analytical reports of security threats with another leading internet security company starting in January.

"After General Secretary Xi raised the question of sharing data in his speech, we took (such cooperation) into consideration," he told China Central Television. He added that sharing such reports with other cybersecurity companies can save costs and improve efficiency.

The high-profile symposium was held as the country's 731 million internet users were getting more say in social governance. Xiao was among 10 people  internet experts, entrepreneurs and officials  who gave suggestions at the meeting.

In his speech, Xi said that the development of the internet in China should meet the people's expectations and demands. He called for more investment in internet infrastructure, especially in rural areas, and said online tools and services should be used to support poverty alleviation campaigns.

"More people in poverty should have access to the internet. They can use it to sell their agricultural products, and their children can receive a high-quality education," Xi said.

The president also called for "more tolerance and patience" toward netizens and welcomed online criticism, "whether mild or fierce", as long as it arises from goodwill.

The emphasis is all part of the growth of informatization, which involves the use of new communications technology to boost society's development, experts said.

Qin An, director at the Institute of the China Cyberspace Strategy, called Xi's emphasis on the role of the people in internet governance significant.

"General Secretary Xi has required officials of all levels to get close to the public through logging on to the internet, because lots of people express their wishes and give their suggestions online," he said.

Xi's central role on internet issues is not new. He headed up the Central Internet Security and Informatization Leading Group, established in February 2014.

"The firm leadership helps guarantee cybersecurity and informatization, key for the nation's long-term development." said Zuo Xiaodong, vice-president of the China Information Security Research Institute.

In the past year, Chinese authorities have made lots of progress not only in cybersecurity governance, but also in the development of internet and international cooperation on cybersecurity, experts said.

In November, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, reviewed and adopted the Cybersecurity Law. In December, the National Cyberspace Security Strategy was released by the Cyberspace Administration of China.

Cybersecurity was also among the issues on the discussion list during the meeting between Xi and his US counterpart Donald Trump in Florida this month. The two leaders later agreed to establish four high-level dialogue mechanisms on diplomacy and security, economy, law enforcement and cybersecurity, and society and culture.

At the Third World Internet Conference in November, Xi's live-broadcast speech to the opening ceremony included a call for the collaborative creation of a cyberspace community of shared destiny.

The online world should be built upon the notions of equality and respect, innovation and development, openness and sharing, and security and order, Xi said.

Fang Xingdong, founder of Chinalabs, an internet strategy think tank, said the concept of the cyberspace community, an idea put forward by Xi, is a core idea for cyberspace development.

"Only when we are open and inclusive and accept each other can we better administer cyberspace," Fang said.

Tang Xujun, director of the Institute of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "China is transforming its role from a follower and a peer into a leader in the development of internet information."

Xu Wei contributed to this story.
The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has decided to slash the budget of the Gomti riverfront project - the dream project of former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow - and cancel the order for two imported water buses that were to ply on Lucknows lifeline.

The decision has come after the government ordered an inquiry into the river channelisation project.

Adityanath, who inspected work on the riverfront last month, was upset over the manner in which funds earmarked for the project were spent more on its cosmetic makeover rather on cleaning the river.

According to sources, the Rs 2450 crore budget has now been pruned to Rs 2,100 crore by the state government. And as of now, the irrigation department has procured only one 30-seater air-conditioned bus, trials for which have already been conducted and the service that was supposed to start in January this year is yet to take off.

Also, the work on the project has come to a stop. Irrigation department sources said it would resume only after the revised estimate is approved and funds required to complete it are released by the government.

This is unlikely to happen before the three-member judicial inquiry commission set up by the government submits its probe report. The panel has been given 45 days to furnish its findings.

The Gomti riverfront, however, is not the only ambitious project of the previous Akhilesh Yadav government that has come under the scanner.

Here are other pet projects initiated by the Samajwadi Party government that have already been scrapped or maybe discontinued:

Samajwadi Pension Scheme: At least 55 lakh beneficiaries were being given a monthly pension of Rs 500, which the SP regime later increased to Rs 1,000. The pension now stands scrapped.

Cycle tracks: Soon after his return from Amsterdam in September 2014, Akhilesh decided to develop what was billed as the largest network of cycle tracks in major cities of UP. Consequently, the PWD with the help of development authorities undertook the project in Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Noida, Ghaziabad, Allahabad, Aligarh and several other cities.

An estimated 270 kilometres of cycle track on both sides of roads was developed in these cities with the longest stretch over 55km in Lucknow. Some of these cycle tracks in cities may now be dismantled as the Yogi government feels it has narrowed the existing right of way of several roads and is leading to traffic congestion, according to sources in PWD.

Jai Prakash Narain International Convention Centre: The Rs 846 crore project too has come under the government scanner. Ministers appointed by Adityanath have carried out several inspections and claimed that while 90% of the funds have been utilised only 50% work on the project has been completed. Funds for the project would be slashed and the proposal for a seven-star hotel would also be scrapped.

Samajwadi Smartphone Scheme: After its free laptops to students scheme became a big hit, the Akhilesh Yadav government launched a free smartphone scheme in October 2016, ostensibly with an aim to bridge the digital divide. It received over 1.40 crore registration. The scheme has been scrapped.

Janeshwar Mishra Gram Yojana: Started in 2012-13, the SP regime had chosen over 5,000 villages and allocated Rs 40 lakh to each for building CC roads, drains, strengthening and improvement of other infrastructure and civic amenities through Mandi Parishad. The Adityanath government has cancelled the scheme.

Lohia Aasra and Awaas Yojana: The scheme to provide free houses to the shelter-less in rural areas was mooted on February 20, 2013, by the previous regime. The government had set a target of building at least 10,000 houses and empowered each MLA and MLC to allot at least 10 each in their respective constituencies. However, only few thousand houses were built and the housing scheme has been cancelled and may be launched under a new name after re-selection of the beneficiaries.

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Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath will on Thursday undertake his first visit to the backward Bundelkhand region that has remained caught in the quagmire of politics over the years.

He is likely to take feedback and make some announcements in Jhansi, the divisional headquarters, on issues facing the region, including the drinking water problem.

He is likely to review implementation of development projects and make a field visit to ponds that had been dug up during the previous Samajwadi Party regime in Babina, Badagaon and other areas in the region.

After assuming office, the chief minister released Rs 47 crore for drinking water schemes in the region. He has indicated that the state government would provide more funds as and when needed to find a solution to all the problems.

Apart from holding meetings with senior officials of the Bundelkhand division, Adityanath will also meet senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders there.

A special cleanliness drive has been launched and all the government offices and major roads are being cleaned up ahead of the visit. Hoardings have also come up in the city to welcome the chief minister.

A number of schemes have been announced for Bundelkhand by successive governments at the Centre and in the state. The UPA government had announced a special package of Rs 7,000 crore (50% for Bundelkhand districts) for the development of the region. However, Bundelkhand has failed to develop over the years.

The chief minister is also likely to visit other regions after Bundelkhand.

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Winning the Mrs India International Queen of Substance title has been a dream come true for Lucknows Shaifail Dixit Mishra.

It was very tough. There were 43 other contestants and all were pitching hard for the crown. The moment my name was announced, I was shocked for a second, says Shaifali. The finale was held recently in New Delhi .

I always wanted to win a pageant where brain and talent are also considered along with physical beauty, she says.

Shaifali, a banker, did her schooling from Lucknow and went to New Delhi in 2011 to pursue MBA. She later went to France for overseas internship (scholarship). Presently, she stays in USA.

The Mrs India pageant, a contest for married women, had eight rounds where top 20 contestants vied for the crown. The fight narrowed down to five contestants in the final round. The contest was open to all women having an Indian passport.

I owe my entry to the contest to my husband who knew I have an interest in a pageant like this. My in-laws not only supported me but were more excited than me, she says.

Being shortlisted among the top five finalists was unbelievable. Though I had been preparing for it for months still it meant a lot to me, Shaifali adds.

The rounds comprised of introduction, current affairs, talent, ramp walk, one-on-one and Q&A. My heart pounded as the contestants got eliminated after every round. What will be my position, I asked myself, she recalls.

Shaifali is now preparing for Mrs USA pageant that will be held later this year. I want to bring Mrs USA crown to Lucknow as I have my roots here, she says, adding, The pageants will be very tough as contestants from different countries participate in it.

She got married on March 10, 2016 after which the couple got settled in Denver, United States. Her husband is from Nasik, Maharashtra.

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The elections to the Panvel, Bhiwandi-Nizampur and Malegaon municipal corporations will be held on May 24, said the state election commission (SEC) on Wednesday.

The Bhiwandi-Nizampur civic body is ruled by a Congress and Shiv Sena alliance, while the Malegaon corporation is under the control of a Congress-Teesara Mahaj alliance. It will be the Panvel Municipal Corporations first polls after it came into existence in October last year.

Of the 18 municipal corporations which completed its five-year term this year, the elections to 10 bodies were held in February, while three went to polls on Wednesday. A total of 12.96 lakh eligible voters may cast their votes across three municipal corporations, which have a total of 252 seats. The results of the elections will be declared on May 26.

State election commissioner JS Saharia said the usage of VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail), will not be possible in the elections to the three corporations.

He said the commission has written to the state government for a budgetary allocation of Rs1.86 crore to buy 700 VVPAT machines. They would be introduced in the civic polls at Mira-Bhayandar in August or Nanded by the end of this year.

READ

Panvel becomes first municipal corporation in Raigad district
Whats the secret to surviving in Mumbai? The truth is there is no one secret, is there?

Some make it here by doing what they do best. Others reinvent themselves every fortnight. Still others may find success elsewhere and return home to bask.

So it is with one of the most abiding icons of our city.

There are Irani cafes here that refuse to change a thing, and thrive. Even the paint on the walls is peeling at Britannia, and theres usually a pet cat at the cashier counter, but the tourists stream in with their guides all day and sit down to plates of berry pulao  that now cost more than Rs700 (yes, one thing changed).

There are Irani cafes that have added cocktails, beer, palak paneer and aamras to their menus, and thrive.

We have Chinese chop suey too. We changed our menu about 15 years ago, because we want to serve what the young ones like most, says Ardeshir Mazkoori, owner of the 98-year-old Cafe Excelsior at Fort.

No sitting for long; No asking directions; No arguing; No gambling; No discussing politics  the list of donts in an Irani cafe is as endearingly grumpy as it is specific. (Shrikrishna Patkar)

And then there are the foreign-returned  the Mumbai SodaBottleOpenerWala is actually the fifth.

AD Singh launched the chain in Gurgaon in 2013. We were really worried about how it would do in the land where these cafes were born, he says, laughing. But they had done so well in Delhi, Noida and Bangalore too that we decided to open in Mumbai. Today, our Mumbai branch is doing the best and another branch is opening in Powai next week.

No combing hair

So what makes a cafe Irani? You dont have to be an Irani to open one, and you can have pretty much anything on the menu.

But you cannot be an Irani cafe if you do not have at least three of these: bun-maska, chai, marble-topped tables, bentwood chairs, glass jars full of stuff no one ever buys, and some really odd rules.

No sitting for long; No asking directions; No arguing; No gambling; No discussing politics  the list of donts was as endearingly grumpy as it was specific.

The owners didnt want to say these things directly to their customers; they didnt want to seem rude, says historian Rafique Baghdadi, chuckling. Hence the boards.

As the world changed around them, the cafes and their quaint boards became icons of another time. No Irani cafe worth its bun-maska would open without some version of the rules  not even the new ones in London (Dishoom, now a chain of five, was launched here in 2010) and Paris (which has an Irani cafe called MG Road).

Dishooms walls, in fact, are rather startlingly rude  Simon Go Back shouts one word cloud. A list of rules at the Kings Cross outlet declares: No Rowlatt Act, No Salt Tax, No Lathi Charging and also the more familiar No making mischief in Cabin and No cutting nails.

All are welcome, whatever caste It was a famine in Persia in the 1890s that gave Mumbai its Irani cafes. * Desperate and starving, Iranis fled their homeland on foot, crossing mountains and travelling thousands of miles in search of refuge. * Many arrived in Mumbai with little more than the clothes on their backs and the stove-like sigdis that they had used to keep warm on their journey. * They used to coal-fired sigdis to make chai, and in the bustling port city, they found that they could sell the chai and earn a living. Those chai stops turned into the citys first cafes. * They set the precedent for dining out in Mumbai, says food consultant Rushina Munshaw-Ghildiyal.

A warm welcome

Back in Mumbai, the revamped menus are finding the new takers they were designed to woo.

Jeremy Cardoz, 29, is a banker based in Toronto who visits his granddad in Mumbai once a year. On these visits, he now spends every Sunday at Sassanian Cafe in Marine Lines  because thats been his grandfathers routine for 42 years.

Its only after they began serving something other than Iranian and Parsi cuisine that I started eating here, Jeremy says. I love their chicken lollipop gravy with fried rice.

His grandfather Sam, 75, a retired banker, first visited the cafe with a Parsi friend, on a Sunday, for their dhansak. The chicken dhansak with brown rice remains his favourite thing on the menu.

Its the marriage of old and new that Sassanian was going for when they revamped their 80-year-old menu in 2000, cutting down on the tea cakes and plum cakes and adding sizzlers, burgers, rolls and Chindian fare.

Around the same time, Cafe Excelsior (1919) in Fort started offering paneer bhurji and palak paneer. We needed to cater to every demographic, says owner Ardeshir Mazkoori.

In 2003, Cafe Universal in Ballard Estate introduced a full bar, Indian-Chinese dishes, burgers, sizzlers, wraps and rolls. We realised that demand for Parsi food was limited, says head waiter Vasudev. Today, our sizzlers are one of our most-ordered items.

Across the board, menus were changing at the turn of the century to cater to a rapidly changing city  there were far more youngsters and far fewer blue-collar workers in Mumbai now, more vegetarians in the island city, and a growing demographic of young professionals and college students looking for places with varied menus where they could hang out in groups.

Add to that the growing competition from first lunch homes and Udupi restaurants, then the growing standalone eateries and finally the post-liberalisation multinational fast-food chains (McDonalds came to Mumbai in 1996), and the cafes were fighting for their lives.

One big hurdle was the disinterested third generation, says Rashid Irani, film critic and co-owner of Brabourne, an Irani cafe in Dhobi Talao that shut in 2008. These were educated and well-travelled young people who didnt want to survive on a pittance just to keep the family cafe going.

Farokh Shokriye, the third-generation owner of Mumbais oldest Irani cafe, Kyani & Co (Marine Lines, 1904), was in his 30s at this pivotal time.

I had to choose between migrating abroad and continuing this legacy, he remembers. I chose the latter because I thought it would be selfish to kill our forefathers legacy.

Instead, he reinvented it. We added grilled sandwiches, sausages and baked beans, samosas, fruit bowls and aamras, he says. And today, it feels like a weekend every day.

Sepia toned

There were many stalwarts that didnt make it. In fact, most of Mumbais 400-odd Irani cafes succumbed to the cocktail of challenges.

In 1998, Cafe Empire shut. Brabourne downed its shutter for the last time a decade later. In the same year, Fairdeal Cafe in Bandra and Cadell Cafe in Mahim closed. About 30 remain today, says historian Baghdadi.

As a tribute to those that were gone, filmmaker Mansoor Showghi Yezdi made a documentary called Cafe Irani Chai in 2013, and two years later opened an Irani cafe of the same name in Mahim. It was the first new Irani cafe in the city in 50 years.

Gleaming wooden furniture, mirrored walls, checked tablecloths, delicious berry pulao and bun-maska  it ticked all the boxes. In a nod to his ancestors  the famine-fleeing Yezds from Iran who set up the first cafes in Bombay  he placed Irani samovars and uris in the corners.

We dont make more than 20-25% profit, but we arent aiming for more. This cafe is a way of thanking India for letting us take refuge here, he says. You can get a meal here for about Rs 200.

Its the perfect Irani cafe for a Mahim that is changing fast but holding on tight to its heritage of Wednesday fairs, novenas and low-rise housing.

In much the same way, SodaBottleOpenerWala is the perfect Irani cafe for the glass-and-chrome business district of Bandra-Kurla Complex. You dont come here to reminisce; you come here to chat over retro music and take selfies against the decor.

Were a Parsi home menu-meets-Mumbai favourites place, says Singh. We knew the under-30s werent going to the old cafes, so we set one up that offered the same experience  with a very different vibe.

Theres a full bar and a jukebox. The jars full of boiled sweets are shiny clean, a colourful bicycle holds bulls-eye and lemon-orange sweets that you can pose against or grab a handful of on your way out.

Dhansak and bhajiya are on the menu, but so are vada pav, Eggs Kejriwal and seekh-paratha. We wanted to include very Bombay dishes because these cafes are very Bombay too, Singh says.

Theres even a board of stern rules  No flirting, No asking recipe, No talking to cashier.

All along one wall is a life-size photograph of an original Irani cafe, taken some time in the 80s, a bicycle and two scooters parked outside. Old meets new, and takes a bow.

What does Mumbai mean to you? Over the next few weeks, we are celebrating our favourite things about the city? We will trace the roots of Mumbais most popular street foods, drop in at its maidans, explore the workings of its stock markets and that grand dream machine that is Bollywood. We would like to hear from you too

Tweet, Instagram your favourite pictures of the city with #MumbaiMeriHai, or write to us at @htmetro@hindustantimes.com

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A cults leader was arrested in Mumbai on Thursday after the high court heard petitions filed by families who alleged that the group had ensnared their daughters and pushed them into drugs.

Sunil Kulkarni, who heads Shifu Sunkriti and allegedly poses as a psychiatrist, was charged at the Malad police station under laws relating to trafficking, cheating, obscenity and violation of the Information Technology Act.

The high court on Wednesday heard petitions by three couples who alleged Kulkarni had lured their daughters  four women in their twenties  into taking drugs and made them leave their homes. The couples claimed that their daughters were refusing to come back home because Shifu Sunkriti, which operates on social media, had entrapped them.

The couples lawyer told the court on Wednesday they had complained to the police against the cult twice last year but no action was taken. A bench of Justices Ranjit More and Anuja Prabhudessai then pulled up the police for not acting against Kulkarni.

How can the police take such serious cases so casually? The police cannot express helplessness in such serious cases. It is apparently a sex and drugs racket and the police are taking it very lightly knowing fully well that several girls and boys are trapped, the bench said.

The first thing the police need to do is lodge an FIR, after which they should trace the accused. This looks like a big racket and should be stopped. If the police are unable to take appropriate action, we will ask the CID or CBI to step in and take over the probe. The police and the state are giving us the impression that it is not serious in its probe, More said.

We have registered an FIR and the unit 9 of the crime branch has taken custody of the accused. The matter will be investigated by crime branch officials, said an officer at the Malad police station after arresting Kulkarni.

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Armed with posters and shouting slogans, parents who have their wards in 15 to 20 schools across Maharashtra came together at Azad Maidan on Thursday to protest against the exorbitant fee hikes in the coming academic year.

They want the state to put a cap on the hike, much like Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. The states have recently proposed an annual fee structure of Rs 15,000 for primary, and Rs 25,000 for secondary schools.

Over the past few weeks, more than seven schools in Mumbai have increased their fees without the parents consent. This is in violation of the Maharashtra School Fee Regulation Act, which states that schools need parents teachers associations (PTA) to approve the hikes.

Activists said that the disputes continue even after the act was enforced in 2011. In addition to tuition fees, additional money is charged under different categories, such as security deposits, admission and activity fees, which is illegal.

Parents from Malad, Ghatkopar, Dadar, Dombivli, Navi Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra participated in the protest, along with members of the Forum for Fairness in Education, a non-governmental organisation that fights for parents rights.

Our school is charging us for activities like swimming, even though they have been discontinued for the past five years, said a parent, whose ward studies in a Malad school, and is looking at an increase in fees by 10-12%. Adding that the school demands Rs40,000 annually for the co-curricular activities, school uniforms and books, he said, It is mandatory for students to buy branded shoes from vendors selected by the school. Although fees are raised everywhere, we dont see any change in the infrastructure.

Many parents took a day off from work to attend the stir. Although my school hasnt hiked the fees this year, I know it is happening everywhere else, so I participated to support the parents, said V Shubashree, a parent from Borivli.

A group of parents from Garodia School, Ghatkopar, met education minister Vinod Tawde on Wednesday, who allegedly assured them that the state would take action against errant schools. But, nothing has been given to us in writing. We want the department to start cracking the whip on schools, said the parent.

State government authorities and the school management have formed a nexus. That is why no action is taken against schools which flout the Act, said Jayant Jain, president, Forum for Fairness in Education.

He added that schools had hiked fees by 20-50% across India. Schools are given land on a concessional basis; even electricity and water are provided at a lower rate. Why such unjustified fee hikes then? asked Jain.

On the other hand, school authorities said that they needed to raise the fee to pay off the teachers salaries and offer free education to 25% children from economically and socially weaker sections under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009.

We are expected to admit students in kindergarten under the RTE quota, but the government reimburses us only from Class 1, said Satish Lotlikar, managing trustee of Indian Education Society Schools, which has been locked in fee rows with parents for the past year.

Parents protest against hikes in school fees at Azad Maidan on Thursday. (Pratik Chorge/HT)

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The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday issued a show cause notice to Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor for allegedly violating its permission to trim branches of a banyan tree inside his Krishna Raj bungalow at Bandras Pali Hill.

The actor received the approval from the BMC to trim six branches of the tree on April 13 as it may have obstructed the planned construction at the plot, said a ward official. But, pictures shared by BMC officials revealed that the tree has been reduced to its trunk.

The H-West ward of the BMC will file a complaint with the Khar police, asking them to register a case under the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, and Section 155 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, said a civic official.

The banyan tree inside Rishi Kapoors bungalow has been reduced to its trunk. (HT Photo)

The actor had been given 24 hours to explain why action should not be initiated against him and if no reply was received appropriate action would be taken against him, said the official. The notice was issued after local residents complained to the BMC.

Civic officials inspected the site and found that the BMC permission was violated.

Sharad Ugade, assistant municipal commissioner of H west ward, said, On visiting the site, we spotted that the branches were not trimmed but chopped off. Suitable action will be taken against violators.

A recent survey by NGO Praja Foundation revealed that there is less than half a tree per person in Mumbai.

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Bollywood scriptwriter Salim Khan, actor Waheeda Rehman and other local residents of Bandra in suburban Mumbai want the BMC to shift a public toilet installed near their homes along the Bandstand promenade.

In 2016, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) roped in actor Salman Khan, Salim Khans son, to promote its drive against open defecation.

Khan senior is not happy with the location of the public toilet. Its not that we are opposing installation of toilet blocks at Bandstand. We support the move. But if the toilet is built in the middle of promenade, there will be a mess and it will create nuisance, Salim Khan told reporters.

Waheeda Rehman, too, has reservations about the facility, which she said is opposite her bungalow and Galaxy Apartments, where Salman Khan and his family live.

Yes, I have...signed a petition launched by local people (against the toilet), Rehman told PTI.

Bandra Bandstand Walkers and Users Forum has lodged a complaint with the civic body regarding the toilet block.

Asif Zakaria, local corporator, said he had written to the ward officer on this issue. I support the cause of building toilets, but with proper planning. Civic officials are installing toilets by violating the norms brazenly and constructing them on footpaths. The BMC is even building a toilet on a pavement outside Khar telephone exchange, which doesnt have a sewerage connection, he said.

However, a civic official said these were portable urinals and not toilets. It will have an attendant around-the-clock. The aim is to provide a urinal facility for walkers and visitors [at Bandstand], he said.

Read more: Salman Khan is Mumbai citys Open Defecation Free drive brand ambassador

Coming soon in Mumbai: Toilets with changing rooms, water dispenser
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena are likely face off over the Jaitapur nuclear plant once again. While chief minister Devendra Fadnavis met the French government on Tuesday, asking it to submit a time-bound programme detailing how the 9,900-megawatt power plant will be constructed, the Shiv Sena said it will step up protests against the plant.

Shiv Sena leaders said they will not permit allow any vehicle or machinery to reach the site. In 2008, the party had spearheaded an agitation to oppose the project, while the process of land acquisition was ongoing. In contrast, the BJP had maintained a neutral stance on the issue.

Though opposition to the project slowly died down when it did not move forward, the recent meeting between Fadnavis and a delegation of the France government has led to widespread resistance once more.

What is the Jaitapur nuclear plant? The Jaitapur nuclear power plant will be set up in Ratnagiri, around 400km from Mumbai. The plant will have six reactors of 1,650 MW each, with a consolidated capacity of 9,900 MW. This will make it the largest nuclear power plant in the world. The project, which has been in the works since 2009 and was supposed to be completed by 2018, has been delayed due to the protest and financial crisis within the French company, which was to implement the project. The project was resuscitated in January 2016 during French President Francois Hollandes visit to India.

We had never let the voice of dissent die down. We held a protest at Jaitapur to mark the sixth death anniversary of the protester who was killed by police firing, said Rajan Salvi, Shiv Senas Rajapur MLA.

Party chief Uddhav Thackeray has also clarified the Senas stand. We will not allow a single vehicle to reach the spot, he added.

Fadnavis had asked the French delegation led by Christian Masset, general secretary, ministry of foreign affairs and international development, to clarify how safe the project would be. He expressed concerns over the amount of the power the plant could generate.

The government has never addressed our issues over the safety of the plant. The government of France claims that it has implemented such projects suing European pressurised reactors, which are safe. If that is the case, it should clarify why its projects in three countries, including Finland and China, have been stalled, said Satyajit Chavan of the Janhakka Samiti, which has been fighting for the rights of the locals.

When the Centre asked the French government about these three projects it did not respond. The company implementing the project claims that its fee is competitive, which is untrue. Nuclear power costs about Rs15 a unit, compared to solar power, which costs Rs5. The installation cost of the project is also high, he added.

Organisations leading the agitation are also wary. In 2008-09, landholders and the fisherfolk had backed the movement as they expected the plant to affect them. However, the situation has changed now. Most of these landlords opted to receive financial compensation for the land as they lost the will to oppose the project. We are also worried about whether the Shiv Sena will back us whole-heartedly, said an activist, who did not wish to be identified.

Most of the landowners who were compensated are residents of Mumbai and Pune. We have the support of fishermen and other locals, said Salvi.

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(Xinhua) 08:40, April 20, 2017

WASHINGTON, April 19 -- For the first time, researchers have captured a clear image of a baby star eating what looks like a dusty "space hamburger."

This new image, captured with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile and described Wednesday in the U.S. journal Science Advances, confirmed the formation of an accretion disk of gas and dust around a very young star.

"The disk is nearly edge-on and has a radius of about 60 AUs (astronomical unit)," Chin-Fei Lee, a researcher at Taipei-based Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and colleagues said in a statement.

One astronomical unit is the distance from the Earth to the Sun, or about 150 million kilometers.

"It shows a prominent equatorial dark lane sandwiched between two brighter features, due to relatively low temperature and high optical depth near the disk midplane," they said. "For the first time, this dark lane is seen at submillimeter wavelength, producing a hamburger-shaped appearance."

The new system, named HH212, is in Orion at a distance of about 1,300 light years.

Its central star is only 40,000 years old and has a mass of one fifth of our sun. However, it drives a powerful bipolar jet and thus accretes material efficiently, they researchers said.

Previous search at a resolution of 200 AU only found a flattened envelope spiraling toward the center and a hint of a small dusty disk near the star.

Now with ALMA at a resolution of eight AU, which is 25 times higher, the researchers not only detected but also spatially resolved the dusty disk at submillimeter wavelength.

"It is so amazing to see such a detailed structure of a very young accretion disk," said Lee.

"For many years, astronomers have been searching for accretion disks in the earliest phase of star formation, in order to determine their structure, how they are formed, and how the accretion process takes place.

Now using the ALMA with its full power of resolution, we not only detect an accretion disk but also resolve it, especially its vertical structure, in great detail."

Astronomers have previously thought in the earliest phase of star formation, magnetic fields might slow down the rotation of collapsing material, preventing such a disk from forming around a very young star.

"This new finding implies that the retarding effect of magnetic fields in disk formation may not be as efficient as we thought before," said study co-author Zhi-Yun Li at the University of Virginia.
Twenty-five years can be a long time  or not  in the life of a city. The year 1992 was an unremarkable one with the usual civic problems and political shenanigans till almost the end. In December, it turned out to be the citys watershed year, one that scarred Bombay deeply and viscerally. The city has never been the same since.

Ayodhya, the epicentre of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, lies nearly 1,570 kilometres away but the demolition of the disputed Babri Masjid there on December 6, 1992, reverberated in Bombay. A cycle of fierce protests and riots, competitive communalism, violence and retributive violence, collapse of the state machinery of law and order, large-scale vigilante carnage by the Shiv Sena, and the dastardly serial bomb blasts on March 12, 1993.

That December day, the skeins of commerce and common interests that held Bombays many communities and religions together ripped apart. Bombay began to burn. In a number of Muslim-dominated areas, incensed mobs took to the streets to protest the demolition and vent their anger at BEST buses and policemen  two visible symbols of the State. The BJP and Shiv Senas victory rallies during which provocative slogans were repeated made matters worse, as did the shenanigans of a shady group of Muslim fundamentalists and businessmen.

The immediate causes of the communal riots on 6th December 1992 were (a) the demolition of Babri Masjid, (b) the aggravation of Muslim sentiments by the Hindus with their celebration rallies and (c) the insensitive and harsh approach of the police while handling the protesting mobs which initially were not violentThis situation was misdiagnosed, mishandled and turned messier, observed Justice (retd) BN Srikrishna in his report on the Bombay riots.

The situation worsened quickly. A Ganesha idol in a Bandra East temple was vandalised, temples in Dadar were attacked, stones were thrown at a BJP leaders house in Deonar. Police teams resorted to large-scale firing which resulted in counter-attacks on them.

From 7th December, 1992, onwards there was a qualitative transformation in the situation. This time the Muslim mobs appear to have come out with the intention of mounting violent attacks as noticed from their preparedness with weapons of offence misguided and irresponsible Hindu youths aggravated the situation by engaging the rioting Muslims, leading to a situation where the police found it difficult to restrain both sectionsthe protest had degenerated into a full-scale communal riot between Hindus and Muslims, the Srikrishna report stated.

The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, restored the charge of criminal conspiracy against BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharati and other leaders on an appeal by the CBI in the demolition case. Advani shares an old and fond relationship with Bombay. This was where his family migrated to during the Partition, he once spoke of the similarities between his original home Karachi and Bombay, he got his degree in law here, and he frequently winged by to meet the late Bal Thackeray and drive by the sea front.

That Bombay had burned is in no small measure due to his and his colleagues actions compounded by the inaction of the then Congress governments at the Centre and state. In 2011, at a Face-The-Press meet, all Advani said was: After the demolition in Ayodhya, there were disturbances in Bombay and I felt so unhappy that day. Disturbances? The ground shook that day.

Bombay, now Mumbai, has since been a communally ghettoised city whose police are still seen as anti-Muslim and whose glitzy commerce and swanky metros barely mask the social divisions of the 1990s. And those whose lives were torn asunder in those dark December days still await justice.

READ MORE

They sweat, toil, even die for Swachh Mumbai

Can BDD chawl redevelopment script new history?

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Students at the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) in Matunga have used their knowledge of chemistry to hack the institutes biometric attendance system.

Around 200 students at the institute used small layers of a widely-used resin adhesive and pressed their thumbs against them, embossing them with their fingerprints. These films were then used by their friends to mark attendance for their absent friends.

Suspecting foul play in attendance records, the authorities asked the students to come clean, threatening them with severe action if they were found to be engaging in the practise. There are students who have registered attendance despite not being in class. We urge you to come forward... and let us know the number of times you have unfairly marked your attendance. We have close circuit television (CCTV) camera recordings of all such activities, read a notice from the ICT authorities.

After the notice was issued, a number of students admitted to the forgery. The institute has decided to punish them by reducing their credit grades by two points.

Even though the attendance records showed otherwise, we suspected that the students were not attending classes because they performed poorly in their exams. Then we came to know that they used polymer films to mark their attendance, said GD Yadav, vice-chancellor, ICT.

He added that the students were forced to come clean as the lectures at ICT are video-recorded, allowing authorities to keep a track of students. Authorities and teachers noticed thedisparity between actual attendance and the biometric records owing to small size of classrooms , said a source.

This incident is likely to alarm professional colleges across Maharashtra who have recently been asked to use biometric system to record attendance by the state government.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has also asked schools to install such devices.

The biometric system at ICT is connected to a software through which students parents can also access academic records. The vice-chancellor said that ICT would use iris scanners instead of fingerprint scanners for a fool-proof attendance system.

But not all academicians think that installing an expensive high-tech attendance systems is the right way to push students to attend lectures.

Do we want to the students to attend the classes for the knowledge they will get or for the fear of attendance records? I dont keep a record of attendance in my class. Instead, I use other techniques such as conducting surprise quizes to ensure that students are present, said Soumyo Mukherjee, dean, academic affairs at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B), which also uses a biometric attendance system.

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After holding protests against private schools across Delhi-NCR over a steep hike in fees, the agitating parents in Noida have demanded that the district administration take strict steps against these schools on the lines of the Ghaziabad administration.

Recently, the sub divisional magistrate of Loni, Ghaziabad, passed an order to Salwan Public School in Tronica City asking them to roll back hiked fee and reply within a week. The administration said that should it fail to reply within the stipulated time, the school will face action under Section 133 (conditional order for removal of nuisance) of CrPC and Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant).

Noida-based parents welcomed the move of the Ghaziabad administration saying that such concrete steps need to be taken by the Gautam Budh Nagar administration as well.

We have been protesting against the school fee hike for the past one month and thousands of worried parents have joined us. We have approached chief minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP president Amit Shah, Noida MLA Pankaj Singh and HRD minister Prakash Javadekar. However, it is the attitude of the local administration that has disappointed us the most, said Kirti (name changed), a parent.

After a fortnight of protest by parents, the district magistrate, NP Singh, had set up a commission to probe allegations of wrongdoings against two private schools in the district. The commission is headed by the city magistrate, district inspector of schools and district basic education officer. The panel will forward a probe report to district magistrate and the joint director of education (Meerut division) for further action.

However, the parents are not satisfied with the response of the district administration with regard to school fee hike. They allege that the administration is wasting time forming a committee and should rather take strong steps against private schools.

We have been approaching the DM and city magistrate on many occasions and at every meeting, we have received only hollow assurances. Forming a committee and forwarding probe reports to each other is just waste of time and a ploy to let the issue die down. This will further discourage the parents. The futures of our children are at stake, said Purva, another parent.

DM NP Singh refused to comment on the action taken by Loni SDM against private schools. He said, We are following due procedure. We have already set up a committee to probe the issue and further course of action will be taken according to protocol.

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A day after a fire in a Noida factory killed six persons, four of the deceased were identified.

However, two of the victims are yet to be identified. On Thursday, four families came forward saying their men who work at the factory are missing. The police have decided to conduct an operation to search for the missing victims in the basement of the factory on Friday morning.

Director of Excel Greentech Sanjoy Das, 45, is still missing. He was in the factory at the time of the fire. His family unable to identify Das as the two bodies were charred beyond recognition, police said.

DNA analysis report that will come in a months time will help in the identification of Sanjoy Das. We have sent the DNA samples of Das and his father to a lab in Lucknow, said Dinesh Yadav, superintendent of police, Noida City.

Two more claimants who surfaced said that two office boys are missing, as they have not reached home since Thursday.

We have sought 200 labourers and equipment to dig out ash in the basement to search for more bodies. We will begin combing the building again tomorrow, Yadav said.

Dass family is upset and worried as they are unable to trace him.

The police have sought the help of the Noida authority in search operations to be conducted on Friday morning.

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Six people killed in a factory fire in Noida on Wednesday may have been saved had the door to the terrace on the fourth floor not been locked, said fire department officials.

The six were working on the third floor of the four-storey Excel Greentech in Noidas Sector 11.

A fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon on the first floor of the building, said Akshay Ranjan Sharma, the chief fire officer (Ghaziabad). Eyewitnesses said many ran down while some others fled upstairs.

The gate that leads to the terrace, on the fourth floor, was locked. Those who fled downstairs are safe but the six who tried to escape by running upstairs were burnt. If the gate had not been locked, six lives could have been saved, said Akshay Ranjan Sharma.

Fire officials said the building was stashed with inflammable material like electronic goods, wires and paper. The basement, meant to be a car park, was also used for storage. The third floor was the office area while the basement and first floor was used by labourers, who had left for lunch.

Deputy director the Uttar Pradesh fire department, Aman Sharma, said the building did not have a fire safety system and norms were not followed.

The terrace gate of a building should remain open, so that in case of an emergency the people inside can go there. If it was not locked then the six people could have escaped. It is yet to be verified why the gate was locked, said Aman Sharma.

Ghaziabads chief fire officer added there were no sprinklers on any of the office floors and only in the basement.

Police suspect that one of the directors of the firm, Sanjay Das, was killed in the blaze. However we are yet to identify his body, said Dinesh Yadav, SP City (Noida).

We have asked for a list of all the employees of the company. Then we will ascertain the number of casualties, said Yadav.

The two other owners of the company are Rajesh Ponty, who stays in Noidas sector 107, and Mahboob Akhtar, who is a resident of Delhi. Police said they were not in the building when the fire broke out.
The Noida Entrepreneurs Association (NEA) on Thursday asked the officials concerned to fix the Dial-100 emergency numb after it was reported that the Noida police could not be reached through the number for reporting the fire in a Sector 11 building, in which six were burned to death.

The company, Excel Greentech, dealt with LED lights and electrical products.

Punjab University graduate, Jasmeet Kaur, 20, who died in the fire incident had reportedly called her mother in Mohali to get in touch with Noida officials, as she could not connect to the police through the emergency helpline.

She told us that she was unable to talk to the police or fire department through the emergency number. Then we tried to call the police and rushed to the spot from Mohali, IP Singh, Kaurs uncle, had said on Wednesday.

An eyewitness, who first called the Dial-100 helpline, said that his call was connected to Delhi police. The company office is located in Sector 11, which is close to the Delhi border. There have been many reports of calls from border areas of Noida being connected to Delhi or Ghaziabad.

A lot of time was wasted as the call was not directly put through to the Noida police control room. As a result, fire tenders and help reached late, said Sheeshpal, who survived the fire by using a rope to reach a safer area that was not ablaze.

However, Noida police denied that there is a problem in connecting the emergency number directly with the Noida control room.

We have made arrangements with officials in neighbouring Delhi so that the Noida police is immediately informed of any call that is connected there. The call to the emergency number was connected to Ghaziabad and the police there informed us without delay. We dispatched help immediately, without any lapse. Fire tenders and the police reached the spot in the fastest possible time and doused the fire, Dinesh Yadav, superintendent of police (city), Noida, said.

NEA members said they will ask the police to streamline the functioning of the emergency number.

We will ask the police to ensure that such miscommunication is not repeated. I believe that if the information would have reached the Noida police without delay, more lives could have been saved, said Vipin Malhan, president of NEA.

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Industry minister Satish Mahana on Thursday inspected the Sector 11 building, in which six persons were charred to death in a fire, said that lax fire department officials will be punished.

However, the ministers stance towards the Noida authority, which is responsible for allowing operations in the building, in violation of several building bylaws, was much softer.

When I questioned why there was no firefighting system in place, the fire department officials were speechless. I sought details of buildings that have fire systems in place but they do not maintain proper records. I inspected another private company in Sector 1 and found that fire safety systems were non-functional. We will take action against officials responsible within 24 hours, said Mahana.

On being asked about the role of the Noida authority, which has the mandate to support, encourage and monitor the functioning of such industrial units, Mahana said, I have asked the Noida authoritys additional chief executive officer, PK Aggarwal, to conduct a probe and identify those whose negligence led to the incident.

The building was issued a provisional no-objection certificate while it was being constructed.

The building owner submitted drawings of the building and we informed about specifications to be followed for safety. Once the building was ready, they should have applied for an NOC, after which we would have conducted an inspection. The Noida authority was supposed to issue an occupancy certificate only after a thorough check and an NOC from the fire department, but there was a lapse in that process, said Arvind Kumar, joint director, fire department, Uttar Pradesh.

Kumar will submit a report on fire department officials responsible for the incident. Mahana said that the UP government will take action against the fire department officials after the report is filed.

However, the Noida authoritys planning and industry departments passed the buck to each other on monitoring the building, which was not registered under the Factory Act 1948, nor under the shop and commercial establishment category.

The industry department issued a functional certificate when the building did not have an occupancy certificate. On the basis of that certificate the building owner obtained power connection, Praveen Kumar, chief architect and town planner of the Noida authority, said.

An officer on special duty for industry, Naveen Kumar Singh, said, The planning department should have checked why did the building was constructed in violation of norms.

Mahana said that he may appoint a senior official to probe the negligence of the Noida authority.

I will keep visiting Noida to ensure that rules are adhered to. If ACEO PK Agarwal will not do justice to the probe, I will appoint a senior official for the probe, to punish those guilty of lapses, said Mahana. He also appealed to all industrialists to ensure that fire safety systems are in place.

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Income Tax officers on Thursday recovered hoards of cash, gold, luxury cars and LED TVs from some bureaucrats in the Uttar Pradesh government. The raid was part of the ongoing drive against black money holders continued across the country.

A team from the Income Tax department recovered 10 core in cash and about 10 kilograms of gold from the Noida residence of Keshav Lal, additional commissioner of state Sales Tax department who is posted in Kanpur, tax officials said.

The tax sleuths also raided at least four premises of YP Tyagi, former officer on special duty (OSD) of Noida Authority at his Sector 50 house in Noida, and found documents showing undisclosed investments in two hotels and stakes in a private university in Noida. A 10-member IT team raided Tyagis house at 10.30 am and continued the exercise till late into the afternoon.

The former official held 100% stake in a hotel and another 50% in another hotel. He owns three more flats besides the house he lives in. The office of the private university in Sector 67 was also raided and some incriminating documents were found there. The house in Sector 15A, where his family resides, was also raided, said an IT official associated with the raid.

Sources said one of the hotels is in Goa and another in Hardwar.

The Noida officer was found to have made unaccounted cash payments for purchase of immovable properties worth more than 2 crore in the name of his spouse, said an official, adding that he will soon be issued summons to join the investigation.

The department, the official said, will undertake similar action against few more bureaucrats who have been on its radar for quite some time now.

Since the end of the second black money disclosure scheme on March 31, the Income Tax department has carried out searches on 250 on dubious companies that were suspected to be used to launder unaccounted cash.

After swooping down on shell companies last week, the Income Tax department cracked down on finance companies dealing with Ponzi schemes.

Over 540 crore worth of black money has been detected by the department in the last 15 days as part of its nation-wide operations to check tax evasion.

In the first fortnight of the new financial year that began on April 1, taxmen have conducted multiple search and survey operations on entry operators (agents using banking channels to launder funds), shell firms, government officials, real estate players and other sectors.

As per an official data compiled till April 15, the department has carried out over 250 searches and survey operations where the taxmen raided at least 300 shell firms and detected more than 540 crore of black money.

Under Operation Clean Money, more than 60,000 persons, including 1,300 high risk persons, have been identified for investigation into claims of excessive cash sales during the demonetisation period, the finance ministry said on Friday.

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The declining trend in the sex ratio at birth in recent years is evident from the governments Sample Registration Survey data (from 909 to 900 over 2011-15). The biological benchmark of sex ratio at birth is 952 girls per 1,000 boys, thus at least 5% of the girls are not allowed to be born today. Note that the latest Civil Registration data of 23 million births in 2014 also confirms this declining trend. Perhaps we as a country have not got rid of the son preference syndrome like China. China and India eliminate more than 15 lakh girls annually.

What are the causes of this decline? It seems to be a combination of the lack of political will and the criminal tendencies evident in the medical profession, as in other professions; the lure of quick money by unlawful means, which has militated against the girl child. Chandrababu Naidu when he demitted office as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in 2002, claimed that one of his main achievements was to increase the number of medical colleges from seven (all government colleges) to 30, such is the march of the private sector in the field of medical education. These colleges are churning out doctors for quick profits. Unsurprisingly, undivided Andhra had the sharpest decline in child sex ratios among the South Indian states in 2011 census. While advertisements in the print media have stopped, thanks to the Supreme Court orders over 2001-2003, they continue unabated on Google search. The Supreme Court is currently hearing a case asking for blocking advertisement of sex selection.

The role of the medical profession is also evident from the fact that the sex ratio is more adverse in urban areas compared to the rural areas. Unless medical professionals are held responsible for this gross misuse of ultra sound technology, the adverse sex ratio is unlikely to change. Heroic efforts by NGOs and civil society have yielded results. Varsha Deshpande secured over 70 convictions in Maharashtra of medical professionals over the past decade. This has shown results in improved sex ratios till 2014 which went up to 914. However, over 2015 and 2016 the sex ratio has declined to 899 because of the lack of focus on the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 by the present State government. The sex ratio at birth has been increasing in Haryana and Rajasthan also thanks to the aggressive prosecution of doctors, under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Programme of the BJP government.

While discrimination against the girl child existed and infanticide was known, the march of technology has made it easier and clinical to eliminate the girl child before birth. Until the last decade, the most important cause of missing girls in India was deliberate neglect after birth, but today, it is sex selection before birth.

UP and Bihar the states with the largest number of births will largely decide whether in the next decade there will be an upturn in favour of girls. Given the lack of deterrence against sex selection in these states, the impact will be felt in a further decline of sex ratios in the country.

This is not to make a case for banning all abortions but rather a case to end discrimination against women at large. It is tragic that this country has no law prohibiting discrimination based on sex; similar to the one for HIV/AIDS recently passed by the Parliament. The Public Accounts Committee of the Legislative assembly of Maharashtra has just announced that in all cases foetal sex be determined and pregnancies monitored till delivery. Apart from being a complete violation of the right to informed consent, which is part of the right to health, it is a gross violation of the right to privacy in decisions of the most intimate kind . Policing pregnant women is not the solution to the problem. On the contrary, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 allows abortion under certain conditions. The new proposal can also have dangerous communal overtones.

Political parties can facilitate a favourable environment for girls, if they avoid polarisation of our society. We need to get our national priorities right for the reversal of sex ratios to normalcy.

Indira Jaising is a senior advocate, Supreme Court

The views expressed are personal
The Centres decision to ban the use of red beacons is as symbolic as was their use on top of vehicles that carried dignitaries and high officials. The removal of flashing lights wont cure those blinded by power. Or the way they flaunt it.

But the step against this magisterial aura marks a sound beginning. Its in line also with the Apex Courts advice to discard this practice which is unbecoming of a modern democracy. Such display of authority makes the sovereign  that is the people  assume a lesser position than their servants.

Yes, servants! Did the incumbent Prime Minister not call himself a servant of the people the way the first Premier did in his 1947 address from the Red Fort? Be it Narendra Modis Pradhan Sewak or Nehrus First Servant, the sentiment remains the same. Primacy vests in the people!

But a lot needs to be done to make governmental authority people-oriented. Or to impart to it a benign makeover beyond the bayonets of armed guards used as status symbol, a la beacons, by politicos across India.

The ground reality is that only those with serious threats are actually guarded. The rest are rewarded at considerable cost to the public exchequer; the patronage extended at times to people with the worst criminal records and private armies of their own.

In the hinterland as also in small towns and cities, laal batti, gaadi, banglaa, bandook have for decades been associated with political and bureaucratic power. The vice-regal trappings were and are a veritable way of life in the interiors removed from the seats of power in States and at the Centre.

The red light became a red rag to the bull when the delivery system failed the people amid rising graft and injustice. In metropolitan India, beacon-fitted vehicles came to be despised, together with their occupants, for either causing traffic jams or cutting through them as lesser mortals watched in frustration.

Cover as it does the President and the PM, the ban should go down well with the common people. Its populist appeal is highlighted by the fact that it will come into force on May 1, the International Workers Day.

It means beacons -- the blue flasher -- will be allowed only on vehicles belonging to the fire service, police, army and ambulances, to ensure passage through traffic. Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari termed the move historic as it covered all vehicles barring emergency services.

Historic perhaps not, path-breaking yes! In recent years the Supreme Court on several occasions sought the removal of car beacons, dubbing them as status symbols synonymous with power. It also asked for pruning the list of VIPs allowed to use them.
(Xinhua) 08:41, April 20, 2017

Yao Tandong, an academician with the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), poses for a portrait at his lab in Beijing, China, Dec. 26, 2016. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

STOCKHOLM, April 19 -- Chinese scientist Yao Tandong received 2017 Vega Medal in Stockholm on Wednesday, recognizing his contributions to research on glaciers and the environment on the Tibetan Plateau.

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf awarded 2017 Vega Medal to Prof. Yao at the Royal Palace of Stockholm on Wednesday afternoon, and congratulated him personally for his outstanding achievements.

Sten Hagberg, chairman of Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography (SSAG) told Xinhua that Yao's "basic researches on 'the Third Pole', monsoon and glaciers" are crucial to the understanding of the process of climate change.

"His researches also concerns more than two billion population, it is a global topic", Hagberg added.

Earlier, SSAG announced Professor Yao as 2017 Vega Medal laureate, for his outstanding contributions to glacier research and to the society at large. His research focuses on glaciers and environment on the Tibetan Plateau, especially within the cryospheric research field.

Yao is internationally acknowledged as one of the most accomplished scientists in the field of cryospheric study.

He has led several research programs -- often together with American, French, German and Japanese scientists -- in the last 20 years. One of his later works shows that global warming, as causing the decline of glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau, interact with Indian monsoon winds and westerly winds. The research program Third Pole Environment (TPE) which is led by Professor Yao, has become internationally significant.
As the sun sets beyond the thick bamboo grove at her village in Assam and the muezzins call for prayers wafts in through the haze of burning paddy husk, my grandmother would leave all work and make her way towards the prayer hall.

All of 80 years and a devout Hindu, she has a peculiar timekeeper for her daily connect with god. Aah, the azaan has already started. Its time for my evening prayers, she would mutter to no one in particular.

She also knows the name of the evening call: Maghrib azaan.

But she was not the only one for whom the azaan served as a clock. Many people of her time woke up to the call to prayer, in many places over the loudspeaker; in small hamlets just a loud voice did the job.

For many Hindus, it did not matter if it was a purely Islamic tradition. Many woke up to the azaan and never complained. It made sense as the time was just perfect to get ready a for day on their farmland.

However, what my grandmother was not aware of, like many others in Assam, is the story of how the very concept of azaan is relatively new to the state, introduced by a Sufi preacher who arrived in around 1630 from Baghdad in present-day Iraq and settled at a place called Xoraguri in Sivasagar district.

He married a woman of the Ahom community, then the ruling class of Assam, learnt the local language and soon became an Assamese himself, even as he keenly studied the concept of the Vaishnavite movement started by saint-reformer Sankardev.

The preacher became a student himself. He was also to become a bridge between Islam and Hinduism.

Azaan Fakir arrived in Assam nearly a century after the death of Sankardev, considered the most influential Assamese who shaped the states society and culture.

It was a time when the state was passing through a cultural and social renaissance sparked by Sankardevs Bhakti movement  and his contributions in the form of religious plays and devotional hymns and songs now form a separate genre of music.

Azaan Fakir, born Shah Miran, did not bring orthodox Islam but the gentle, Sufi version which many credit with giving the indigenous Assamese Muslims a larger worldview where Ram and Rahim often merged.

The Sufi preacher composed devotional songs in Assamese  by then he had mastered the language  which are now known as jikir and jaari. Jikir, incidentally, derives its name from zikr, the Sufi tradition of rhythmic repetition of the name of god. He wrote countless of these songs, most of them hailing Allah but many of them also in praise of the Hindu god.

In one such jikir, Azaan Fakir wrote:

There is no feeling of difference In my mind o God

Indeed, there is no difference

Hindu and Musalman are the creation

Of the same God

Takes the name of the same God at the end of life

Hindus would be cremated,Muslims buried and

Dust would merge with dust...

Azaan Fakir died around 1690 but not before his eyes were gouged out by a fellow-Muslim, a noble in the court of the Ahom king Gadadhar Singha, who accused the seer of spying for the Mughals. Historical records show that the king later realised his mistake and sought the preachers forgiveness.

Later, the king also gave a plot of land to Azaan Fakir on the banks of the Dikhow river in Sivasagar. It was here where Azaan Fakir was buried and his dargah today is a pilgrimage for people of all faith. Azaan Fakirs call to harmony still echoes in Assam.

The views expressed are personal. The writer tweets as @asomputra

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Adopting an Australian First approach, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the scrapping of the 457 Visa, which allows employment of temporary foreign workers for a period of four years. The move - dubbed as a measure to check Australias growing unemployment woes - impacts over 95,000 temporary foreign workers, mostly Indians. A new two-tier visa system replaces the 457 Visa. It includes a short-term two-year visa and a second visa class focused on strategic, long-term skills with a four-year limit.

The move is a direct hit on Indias long-standing demand for labour mobility - easing of temporary foreign workers entry into Australian projects and relaxing of Australian rules for skilled foreign workers.

This might impact the Australian ambition of stepping up education and professional services trade with India - two of the top items during the recent Turnbull-Modi summit.

At present Indian students contribute more than $2.3 billion to the Australian economy. What Canberra is eying is a space in PM Modis drive to skill up India and rise in the value chain of services and skills India offers to the world.

Australia views itself optimally placed in Indias education aspirations of upskilling 400 million people by 2022.

It is exploring means to penetrate to segment in India which lacks resources to study abroad. However foreign educators can set up campuses in India only in partnership with an Indian entity. To be able to make inroads into this segment, Canberra must ensure that the current decision doesnt hurt New Delhis interests significantly.

Australia also hopes to supply a range of professional services to India to support its drive to build new infrastructure - roads, rail facilities, ports, hospitals, schools and universities.

However, India has maintained stiff trade barriers in the form of import tariffs. New Delhi might use this as a bargaining point.

Responding to the ruling Indias ministry of external affairs stated, The government is examining consequences of the new policy in consultation with all stakeholders. This is also a matter we will be looking at in the context of Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) negotiations.

This could be a veiled warning that the already stalled Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two nations might further get delayed. Interestingly, many feel the reason why Indo-Australian trade hasnt moved forward is because New Delhi prefers pursuing the multilateral China-led RCEP over a unilateral FTA with Canberra.

Some Australian experts have also hinted on the need to diversify their trade relations to avoid over-reliance on any one nation, like China - its biggest partner with a trading volume of $150 billion today.

Beijings recent aggressive postures in the South China Sea, tacit support to North Korea - has drawn skepticism from many Australians. India, by contrast with a trade of less than $20 billion, and a stable democracy with no external territorial ambitions - comes with a huge growth potential.

Back home, Australias technology business sector hasnt reacted favourably to this decision.

Tech entrepreneurs have said there is an acute shortage of homegrown skilled workers.

The infant tech industry of Australia doesnt have enough number of senior tech skills and India is a key destination for such expertise.

They say this skills shortage may lead start-ups to open up shop outside the country in the US or Europe.

Thats something Canberra, with an economy struggling to get over three per cent growth, certainly, cannot afford. So it needs to calibrate all its moves with a good consideration of the impact those have on potential growth partners like India

Jhinuk Chowdhury is an independent journalist who writes on South Asian affairs

@jhinuk28
In a surprise move, BJP leader Swaran Salaria has taken over the management of Gian Sagar Educational and Charitable Trust that runs the beleaguered Gian Sagar Medical College and Hospital, Banur. A decision in this regards was taken at a board of directors meeting held on Monday, sources said.

I have taken over the management on the condition to clear dues totalling nearly 100 crore, including salary of the faculty. Resuming academic activities at the earliest on the campus is the priority, said Salaria, who is also the chairman of Chintpurni Medical College, Pathankot, that had made the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent years.

Manish Jakhar, CEO of the trust, confirmed Salarias taking over as a main trustee. The discussions with Salaria were on for several days and he formally took over the management on Monday, he said. As per information, six of eight directors in the board have resigned, giving Salaria the freedom to appoint new ones as per his choice.

The move comes in the wake of Punjab governments decision to cancel essentiality certificates of the medical college, following the managements inability to clear pending dues totalling Rs 108 crore. The government also plans to shift 1,500 MBBS, dental and nursing students to other medical colleges.

However, the department of medical education and research are unaware of the development. The college was being run by Barinder Bhangoo  the daughter of Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, who is the main accused the Rs 45,000-crore chit-fund scam  and her husband Harsatinder Singh.

The new members in the board of management of the trust will be appointed soon, Salaria said.

Besides non-payment of salary to the staff, the power connection of the college has also been snapped due to non-payment of Rs 2-crore electricity bills. The management has not renewed its annual maintenance contract due to pending liabilities amounting to Rs 18 crore.

Meanwhile, medical education minister Brahm Mohindra feigned ignorance about the new management taking over the college. The government is only concerned about future of the students. The college management will be asked to explain how it is going to clear dues through a show-cause notice soon, said Mohindra.

Track record not promising

Salaria may be taking over as the new administrator, but his track record of managing affairs of medical college is not promising. As the chairman of Chintpurni Medical College in Pathankot, he failed to streamline its working.

As per the Medical Council of India (MCI) report, the Chintpurni college has faculty deficiency of 87%, besides having 82% shortage of resident doctors. Even, other medical facilities are in doldrums. The first batch of students who joined the college in 2011 was shifted to other medical colleges on the orders of Punjab and Haryana high court in 2014. The college was debarred from new admissions in 2012, 2013 and 2015 academic sessions.

Clearing salary and resuming power connection are main issues. We will pay salary to faculty and other staff in instalments. The faculty has been asked to resume academic activities from Monday onwards, Salaria said.

Senior faculty members resign after maiden meeting

Senior faculty members, including dean Dr AS Sekhon resigned soon after Salaria held his maiden meeting with faculty and other staff on Tuesday evening. Director (academics) Dr Jasmeet Kaur, registrar (training, students) Davinder Sood, and chief medical officer DS Joshi also resigned from the service. Many of the faculty members left the meeting after Salaria and his team asked them to resume classes or leave.

The college is in a complete mess and it is hard to believe that the college will run professionally with Salarias entry. I dont want to tarnish my image further, said Sekhon.

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After paying obeisance at the Golden temple on Thursday morning, Canadian defence minister Harjit Singh Sajjan reached Pingalwara at Manawala, Amritsar, where he spent time with inmates, encouraging them to be goal-oriented.

Sajjan, who is the first Punjab-born Sikh to hold the top defence job in a foreign land, spent time meeting and greeting the children who approached him. During his interaction with kids, some of whom called him great and said they wanted to be like him, he exhorted them to be great like themselves.

Do not try and be great like me. Remember, you are already great  aim to be great like yourself, Sajjan said.

All-India Pingalwara Charitable Society president Bibi Inderjit Kaur and team had make extensive arrangements for Sajjan and his team and accorded them a red-carpet welcome.

Harjit Singh Sajjan being honoured by Bibi Inderjit Kaur, All-India Pingalwara Charitable Society president, at Pingalwara during the CAnadian defence ministers Amritsar visit on Thursday. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

Down memory lane

While in the premises, Sajjan visited Bhagat Purani Singh Senior Secondary School where recalled his childhood.

During my childhood, I used to study in a government school with my sister. I still remember the day when my teacher slapped me for not sitting in my own class  that slap was a big lesson for me and I realised the importance of being disciplined. that discipline helped me get a hold of the basics of Punjabi language.

During the course of the visit, Sajjan was seen holding Bibi Inderjit Kaurs hand, constantly inquiring about the Pingalwara journey. He also praised the team for creating an empire for the homeless, destitute, orphans, physically and mentally-challenged persons.

I will ensure that Pingalwara always stays in chardi kalan (high spirits), he said. There is a Pingalwara in Canada as well.

Here for the kids

Harjit Sajjan interacting with conjoined twins  Sona and Mona  during his visit to Pingalwara in Amritsar on Thursday. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

When mediapersons tried asking Sajjan some questions, he simple said  Mai nayaana nu milan aya haan. ( I have come to meet the children). Sajjans visit ended with him wishing luck to the authorities and inmates.

(With inputs from Surjit Singh)

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The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday asked the Chandigarh administration whether it had formed a panel to devise a revival plan for Sukhna Lake.

The direction was issued by the high court bench of justices AK Mittal and Ramendra Jain during the resumed hearing of a suo motu petition initiated in 2009 on the lake revival.

During the hearing, it was pointed out that in August 2011, the high court had directed the administration to constitute a panel with a senior official on board to look into the issues related to upkeep, revival and maintenance of the lake. But it is not known whether such a panel existed, it was averred. The panel was to look into short- and long-term plan for the lake revival.

The HC bench also observed that the only option now left was of waiting for the rains the dams and lakes are drying up as due to harsh summer.

The observations were made as one of the counsels pointed out that the water level in the lake had been falling drastically these days due to a rise in temperature. The lake was supplied 1.5 million gallons daily (MGD) water from tubewells between January and March but it did not help in increasing the water level.

The court was apprised by senior UT standing counsel Suvir Shegal that the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, had agreed to survey the lake and examine the issue of bringing more water to it. He said the other proposals received from the tricity residents on the lake revival were also being examined.

The problem of poor upkeep of toilets was also brought before the court by one of the counsels, upon which the court asked the UT administration to look into the issue. The matter would now be taken up on May 1.
The Panjab University Campus Students Council president, Nishant Kaushal, and joint secretary Amit Kaushik started indefinite hunger strike for roll back of the tuition fee hike on Wednesday.

Kaushal said, as there is no other way left to roll back the hike, he took this step. He has been supported by his party, Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) and National Students Union of India (NSUI) students front.

Nishant and Amit have been sitting outside the vice-chancellors (V-C) office and are demanding for an emergency senate meeting. They have collected signatures of senate members for the meeting regarding which the university is yet to take any decision.

Also Read | SFS calls for Panjab University bandh on April 21

We want to convey a message to the government that PU has increased the fee as is not being given adequate grants. Our strike will bring awareness among students, said Kaushal.

On Wednesday, Kaushal and other office bearers of the student council met Punjab governor VP Singh Badnore demanding adequate grants for the varsity.

There have been two other chain hunger strikes going on in the campus, one is of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) that has entered Day 18, and that of NSUI that has entered Day 16 on Wednesday. ABVP and NSUI claimed that they are against violence and have not been part of the Joint Action Committee.

Stone pelting had taken place in the varsity campus on April 11 after which, 53 students were arrested. All of them are out on bail now.

Students Organisation of India (SOI) leaders have submitted a memorandum to Chandigarh member parliament (MP) Kirron Kher, requesting her to work towards taking back the cases against students, rolling back fee hike and also to ensure that adequate grants are provided to PU.
Amid frosty ties between India and Pakistan, the Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers plan to open a new front of bonhomie on the Punjab border.

The security forces of the neighbouring countries plan to develop the Sadiqi joint check post (JCP), 13 km from Fazilka, and adjoining Sulemanki in Pakistan as a tourist spot on the lines of the Attari-Wagah JCP soon.

Sadiqi and Sulemanki have tourism potential so both nations have made up their mind to develop the JCP. It may later lead to the opening of trade and traffic from Pakistan here, a BSF official said on condition of anonymity.

TRADE AND TRADITION Attari-Wagah, Hussainiwala and Sadiqi are three Indo-Pak joint check posts that hold a 40-minute retreat ceremony every evening when BSF personnel in khaki, red and white match steps with black salwar-kurta clad Pakistani Rangers. Till the 1971 Indo-Pak war, Hussainiwala was the only road route for trade and traffic between the two nations but later the business activity centre was shifted to Attari-Wagah JCP near Amritsar. Residents of Ferozepur and Fazilka want Hussainiwala and Sadiqi posts to be opened for trade with Pakistan to boost the economy in Punjabs remote and backward area.

The decision to upgrade infrastructure was taken at a joint meeting at Sulemanki post on Wednesday. It was decided to conduct the retreat ceremony, including flag lowering and handshakes, daily on the lines of the ceremony at Wagah near Amritsar and Hussainiwala in Ferozepur, 100 km from here.

At Sadiqi, the BSF personnel and Pakistani Rangers march and lower the national flags in their respective territories, while at Wagah and Hussainiwala, their counterparts cross the Radcliffe Line, shake hands and lower the flags, the official said.

Sadiqi will be the third JCP to hold the retreat ceremony jointly.

Sources said the approval from the Centre is expected soon and work to shift the retreat ceremony to the Zero Line. will start in a month.

The distance between the spot where the retreat ceremony is held at Sadiqi will be reduced by 20 metres on each side. This will draw more tourists, the BSF official said.

It was decided not to allow any construction, including bunkers, within 150 metres on either side of the border.
Students for Society (SFS) on Wednesday gave a call for Panjab University bandh on April 21 for complete rollback of fee hike.

The party had called for a joint students action committee (JSAC) where a number of students gathered to discuss the future course of action.

When the students started gathering at Students Centre, police immediately reached the spot. Defying the presence and fear of the police, students gathered to discuss the issue, said SFS in a press statement.

Representatives of member organisations of JSAC put forward their views among the students. Students who got bailed on Saturday shared their experience of police and judicial custody. Afterwards, the discussion revolved around the cause behind fee hike, ie policies of privatisation and commercialisation of education being pursued by the government.

At the concluding note, students unanimously resolved to take the movement forward with full force and decided to gather at V-C office on April 21.

On April 11 also, students had called for a bandh and SFS was the main force behind that protest. It ended in stone pelting and arrest of 53 students, who were released on bail later. The bonhomie between various students outfits have ended.
Canadian defence minister Harjit Singh Sajjan paid obeisance at the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs, amid tight security at 7.30am on Thursday.

Unlike Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singhs cold shoulder, apex Sikh religious body the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) rolled out the red carpet for the visiting dignitary but kept radical Sikhs at bay. The radical Sikhs raised slogans of Khalistan Zindabad and clashed with the SGPC task force when they were prevented from meeting Sajjan in the plaza near the temple entrance.

A calm Sajjan, attired in a grey turban, white shirt and a pair of grey trousers, arrived at 7am, walked the parikrama (path around the sanctum sanctorum) before sitting and listening to the kirtan (prayers) in the Darbar Sahib for half an hour. He offered parsad at the shrine before he was honoured with the siropa (robe of honour).

The SGPC put up a small tent in the plaza for his reception. Its task force cordoned off the area and did not allow members of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) from entering the venue to meet the Canadian minister. A scuffle ensued between SAD(A) activists and the task force. Upset, the radicals raised slogans of Khalistan Zindabad. Unperturbed, Sajjan received another siropa from SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar there. He was also presented a sword and a memento.

Badungar and senior SGPC members remained with the minister throughout the visit. Though Sajjan did not interact with the media, Badungar said, Its an honour to host a person who has made such a great name for himself. He has done the Sikh community proud.

Sajjan landed at Amritsar on Wednesday evening but was not given a state reception after Amarinder declared he will not meet him as the Canadian minister was a Khalistani sympathiser.

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Having faced a lot of flank for inaction, police on Thursday arrested two people for their alleged involvement in the murder of sarpanch Satnam Singh alias Bittu (38). Those arrested have been identified as Arshdeep and Tirath, of Khurdan village of Hoshiarpur.

Satnam had named them as accused before he died in the hospital. Three people had fired eight bullets at Satnam, of Khurdan village of Hoshiarpur, outside the Sector 38 gurdwara in Chandigarh on April 9.

The case had been widely publicized after videos of the gun-totting accused were widely shared in the media.

The accused, later, fled in an Hyundai i-20.

We have arrested Arshdeep and Tirath, said SSP Eish Singhal.

Police had attributed rivalry as motive. Seven people were named for the murder, including three criminals.

Satnam was witness

in a murder case

Police said that Satnam Singh was an witness in the murder case of his brother Nishan Singh alias Shana of Khurdan village who was shot dead in July 2013 by rivals in Garhdiwala town.

Police sources also said that Satnam was to give testimony before court on April 30. Police thus suspect that the firing took place in order to ensure Satnam did not make it to court.

Enmity dates back to 1993

Charanjeet Singh Charni, a transporter had hired the accused to kill Satnam, alleged Prince, brother of deceased Satnam Singh.

Enmity between the families goes back to 1993 when they got our father Sampooran Singh killed. His murder case was rendered untraced by the police, said Price.

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BOX PLEASE

Accused had produced

strong alibis previously

Arshdeep and Tirath had joined the investigation previously. Tirath had provided video clips showing his presence in the village market. While Arshdeep, too, had claimed to be in Hoshiarpur, at time of the murder as per his mobile tower location.

Three contract

killers were hired

The two accused, along with Bobby, the grandson of Gurcharan Singh of the same village, were accused of hiring three wanted criminals---- Dilpreet, Harwinder Singh alias Rinda and Harwinder alias Akash, to kill Satnam.

We arrested them for their involvement in the conspiracy of murder of Satnam Singh. We have procured their four day police remand, said the SSP.
(Xinhua) 08:48, April 20, 2017

(file photo)

BEIJING, April 19 -- China approved a draft law on public libraries at a State Council executive meeting on Wednesday, which will be forwarded to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation.

The draft law illustrates the government's role in strengthening the library functions, and encourages more social support in the responsibilities of libraries.

The new functions of libraries, such as digital resources and online services, are also included in the draft.

"It's an important step to further institutionalize public cultural services in China," said Li Guoxin, member of the national panel for the public cultural service system.

"It will better combine guidance of the government and the support of the public," he added.

According to the Ministry of Culture, a network of libraries covering both urban and rural areas had 838 million books around the country at the end of 2015.

Also, a total of 404 million yuan (59 million U.S. dollars) were earmarked by the central government to support free public libraries in 2015.

China has been improving public cultural services, with a law on public cultural services taking effect on March 1.
Delhi police and Uttar Pradesh anti-terror squad, accompanied by the city police, arrested a 22-year-old suspected terrorist in Sant Nagar near Basti Sheikh of Jalandhar on Thursday early morning.

The suspect has been identified as Muzzamil Khan alias Ghazi Baba of Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh. He had come to Jalandhar around two years ago and was working as a tailor in a boutique.

Sant Nagar has a sizeable Muslim population.

The house from where Delhi police and UP ATS arrested a suspected IS terrorist in Sant Nagar near Basti Sheikh of Jalandhar. (HT Photo)

Police commissioner PK Sinha said other suspects from the same terrorist group were arrested from cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bihar.

An official told PTI that raids were carried out on Thursday morning in Mumbra (Maharashtra), Jalandhar (Punjab), Narkatiaganj (Bihar), Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar (both in Uttar Pradesh) in a joint operation of the Delhi special cell, the ATS of UP and Maharashtra, and the police of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar and three suspects were arrested.

From what we have come to know till now, they were conspiring to carry out a major attack so as to get their group an identity and create terror in the region, UP ADG (Law and Order) Daljit Chaudhary told PTI in Lucknow.

(With agency inputs)
Remember six-year-old child prodigy Kautilya Pandit from Haryana, who could recollect the general details and statistics of 213 countries off the top of his head? Experts had named him Google Boy.

About 1,350 kilometers from Haryana has surfaced yet another Google Boy, Abhishikt Kumar Gupta, in Ranchi -much younger and equally talented.

Born in a peasants familyhis father Kuldip Prasad Gupta is a farmer holding a below poverty line (BPL) cardthis 4 years and 10 months old child prodigy belongs to Sarmandi village in Jharkhands Tamad block, around 60km east of capital Ranchi.

He can spell out general details of 210 countries and identify their flags, explain the periodic table taught in high school, name all the controversial leaders around the world and learn anything new shown to him within minutes.

For almost two years, the childs inherent talent remained confined to his village. His father, through his limited resources, would buy him new books to satiate his craving for more knowledge. However, much to his surprise, the child would memorise the books within minutes and ask for more new books.

A local scribe took the father-son duo to the state education department in Ranchi last month where authorities were spellbound on learning about the childs abilities in memorising things with ease and general knowledge aptitude.

They offered to help the child get admission in the capitals Delhi Public School (DPS). On Tuesday, the family temporarily shifted to Ranchi and completed the admission formalities. On Wednesday, the child stepped into the school and impressed the teachers on his very first day.

State management information system coordinator of the education department Sachin Kumar said, He is an unusual child, seeing his age. We did not want to waste his talent.

In my 26 years of teaching, I have never come across a child like him, said Jaya Prasad, in-charge of DPS primary section. It would be a big challenge for us to teach him. He is a silent child with a very sharp knowledge, she added. The principal has assured the parents that they would hire specialists to teach him if needed.

The child was admitted in DPS under the Right to Education Act section 12 (1) (C). The education department will bear the school fees, while the Union Bank of India has promised to pay for his uniforms and study materials.
If sources in the industry are anything to go by, the first look poster of NTRs Jai Lava Kusa, in which he plays triple role, will be release on May 20 to coincide with the actors birthday. While an official confirmation is awaited, sources believe the makers plan to reveal one of the characters of NTR on the occasion.

Its for the first time in his career that he will be seen in three different roles and apparently each character is very unique. We have exclusively learnt that in one of the characters NTR is said to have a stutter. Whats even more interesting is that its the antagonist role, played by NTR himself, will have a stutter.

The look of the antagonists role has already gone viral. NTR will wear prosthetic make up for this character and he will speak with a stutter. Its going to be a very interesting character with a menacing side and audiences are in for a surprise, a source informed HT.

Don't Worry Guys This is Not Final Look of #NTR27 . This is One of the Trail Pic of @tarak9999 . Final Look is Another One... pic.twitter.com/auChkqsyrs  Vance Hartwell (@VanceHartwell) March 28, 2017

NTR is super excited about the role as its something he hasnt attempted before. He has always said that he likes to be challenged by his characters and this is exactly the kind of role that gives him a high. Also starring Raashi Khanna and Nivetha Thomas, the film is being produced by NTRs brother Kalyanram.

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Baahubali 2 will be allowed to screen in Karnataka only if actor Sathyaraj, who plays the role of Kattappa in the film, apologises for a statement he made nine years ago on the Cauvery water dispute, pro-Kannada organisations have threatened.

The actor, who had supported Tamil farmers demanding Cauvery water at a demonstration in 2008, has been given eight days to apologise for his statements to ensure that the April 28 release goes smoothly in the State. The activists have also threatened to shut down the State capital on April 28 as a mark of protest.

Led by veteran Kannada activist and former MLA Vatal Nagaraj, dozens of like-minded organisations staged a protest in the city on Thursday and issued a statement saying allowing the film to run without an apology from Sathyaraj would be a big blow to the self respect of Kannadigas. Some activists staged a demonstration outside the Karnataka Film Chambers of Commerce demanding a ban on all Tamil films.

The organisations also announced that they will keep intensifying the agitation till the actor apologises. Tomorrow we will burn his effigy and day-after, we will block the highway connecting the two states at Attibele, Nagaraj told HT.

Meanwhile, the films director SS Rajamouli made an emotional appeal to reason in a Twitter video requesting the Kannada protestors to consider the plight of all the others who have worked day and night to make the movie. Speaking in slightly accented albeit flawless Kannada, the Telugu director said, Some comments made by Sathyaraj have purportedly hurt the sentiments of Kannadigas. But on behalf of the producers and the crew of the film, I wish to clarify that we have nothing to do with those statements. It is only the personal view of Sathyaraj and is not shared by us.

An appeal to all the Kannada friends... pic.twitter.com/5rJWMixnZF  rajamouli ss (@ssrajamouli) April 20, 2017

He also said that Sathyaraj has acted in several films in the last nine years since he made the controversial comments and all of them have been screened in Karnataka without a hitch. Preventing the film will not cause Sathyaraj any loss. Targetting the film because of one actor is wrong.

Asked to respond to Rajamoulis statement, Nagaraj said, We have nothing against the film or its crew. I am told that it is a very good film. All we want is for him to apologise. The man compared Kannadigas to dogs. How can we keep quiet?

In his 2008 speech, Sathyaraj was quoted in the media as saying, Tamils should not be like a tree which stands silently as any dog comes and urinates on it.

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The black gunman suspected of killing three white men in a racially motivated attack in Fresno was proud of what he had done and laughed many times as he explained his actions in interviews with police, authorities said Wednesday.

After Kori Ali Muhammad learned that he was wanted in the death of a security guard last week, he decided to take out as many other white men as possible before he was caught, Fresno police chief Jerry Dyer said.

Thats what he set out to do that day. He said he did not like white men and said white people were responsible for keeping black people down, Dyer said.

Muhammad is not a terrorist but he is a racist, Dyer said.

The suspect was candid in explaining his actions from Thursday night to Tuesday morning, when he fired 16 rounds in less than two minutes and killed three white men on the same block, the police chief said.

Meanwhile, family and friends mourned the four men.

Francine Williams described her 25-year-old son, Carl Williams, as a kind and giving person who had recently gotten engaged. Williams was a manager at a Toys R Us who was at his second job when Muhammad shot and killed him at a Motel 6.

She said Wednesday she was in shock, but also at peace because she had the chance to tell him how much she loved him and how proud she was of him a few days before his death. He told her loved her too.

Vickie Farr places a candle for shooting victims at a memorial of candles and flowers outside Catholic Charities. (AP Photo)

So, Im very, very, very grateful that I was able to say goodbye, maybe not at that moment, but prior to that, she said.

Zackary Randalls was the first to die on Tuesday when Muhammad walked up to a Pacific Gas & Electric truck and fired into the passenger seat. The driver sped to the police department for help, but Randalls could not be saved.

Friend Eddie Valencia said Randalls was excited to start work as a customer-service representative and was doing a ride-along Tuesday. He described the 34-year-old as an open-minded person with a sharp wit and a big heart.

He said his friend, who left behind two preschoolers and a wife in Clovis, would not want people to feel anger toward the shooter.

He wouldnt want people to be divided by this, Valencia said. There were no boundaries with race, religions, beliefs, with anything. If you were a good person and basically could have a good conversation, he would call you a friend. He was a stand-up guy.

Muhammad also shot Mark Gassett, 37, of Fresno, after he had picked up groceries at a Catholic Charities building. Police said the suspect pumped two more rounds into him as Gassett lay on the ground.

He then shot in the direction of a bus stop where he had spotted three white males, police said. They scattered, and Muhammad picked the one who was older and appeared heavier, David Jackson, 58, of Fresno.

That was going to be his target, and he caught up with him and he fired two rounds into this individual, Dyer said.

Two Latina women and a child also crossed paths with Muhammad, who pointed the gun at them as they sat in their car trying to flee, but he did not shoot.

Muhammad, 39, was arrested shortly after the rampage. He is expected to be charged with four counts of murder and arraigned Friday. He could face the death penalty.

Fresno police department personnel continue to investigate the scene into the evening near the Catholic Charities' Fresno Family Resource Center after three men were killed by a gunman. (AP Photo)

The suspect showed no remorse while detailing his whereabouts and laughed many times, Dyer said.

Muhammad hid out in a ravine after the motel shooting and practiced voodoo rituals after the motel slaying. He also told investigators he is Muslim, but he prays to seven different gods and has not been to a mosque in 25 years.

On Tuesday, he headed over to a store called The Brass Unicorn, hoping to buy some crystals. But it was closed, so he popped into a Starbucks where he learned he was wanted in the killing of the guard.

The suspect told his family there was a war going on between blacks and whites in America. He posted on social media about black separatism, reparations, the Black Lives Matter movement and white devils.

On what appeared to be Muhammads Facebook page, he repeatedly posted #LetBlackPeopleGo and encouraged black warriors to mount up. A flurry of posts emerged in the past day.

Muhammad has a criminal history that includes arrests on weapons, drugs and false-imprisonment charges. He has also been accused of making terrorist threats and been associated with gangs, but he was not a confirmed member, police said.
As the visit to India by Canadas defence minister, Harjit Sajjan, has been marred by Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh accusing him of having Khalistani sympathies, the minister now says that he was disappointed by those comments but they did not bother him.

Responding to a question from Hindustan Times during a conference call with Canada-based media on Wednesday, Sajjan said, I was disappointed with the chief minister of Punjabs comments.

Sajjan went on to add in that context: It does not bother me in the least. Im focused on building my relationship with India, being able to discuss important issues including the issue of 1984 as well.

He was referring to anti-Sikh violence following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, a sensitive issue in India-Canada relations after the Ontario Assembly recently passed a motion that described the event as genocide.

As the carrying of the motion in the Ontario Assembly preceded his visit, the issue figured in Sajjans meetings with Indian officials and ministers. But he did not use the word genocide, as he said, Our government looks at working with Prime Minister (Narendra) Modis government in dealing with and getting justice for the victims of the organised massacres in 1984.

He added, I appreciated their efforts on this and look forward to them actually moving forward even further.

Canada's defence minister Harjit Sajjan visiting the Golden Temple in Amritsar on April 20, 2017. (AFP)

Sajjan also said he explained to Indian officials that the vote in the Ontario Assembly was caused by a private members motion and there was a difference between the ruling Liberal Party of the province and that of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the federal level.

But Sajjan also said that Canadians had a right to express their viewpoint in a peaceful way.

The Punjab chief ministers allegations have made headlines in the Canadian media. Sajjan said, as was routine, a meeting with Amarinder Singh was sought as a courtesy.

But I will not be meeting with him now because he had originally refused, Sajjan said, as he arrived in Amritsar from New Delhi. Similar requests were also made to the chief ministers of Maharashtra and Haryana.

Referring to Amarinder Singhs remarks, Sajjan said, I dont know what the motivations were around that.

On the issue of Khalistani separatism, he asserted, There is no movement within Canada. Sajjan pointed out that if there was any evidence, any type of intelligence, our security forces would be looking at this immediately.

As he travels in India, Sajjan said, in some ways its very emotional for him. He was last in India in 2002, when his family gathered in their native village in Hoshiapur for a reunion of sorts.

For me to come back, its a very proud moment for me personally. Even though people look at me coming back as a minister, I look at it coming back as somebody whos from here. So Im kind of playing a dual role here. While representing Canada and our government, at the same time, trying to take in as much as I can.

As controversies swirled around his visit, Sajjan addressed government-to-government interaction: Were looking forward to furthering this conversation and the relationship that were still developing.

Canada and India are looking at a potential defence MoU, though not committing to a timeframe in that regard. That will possibly lead to further discussions, towards possibly a defence cooperation agreement but were not there yet, Sajjan said.

Despite the setbacks dogging the trip, Sajjan said his focus was on how to discuss the way forward.

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US President Donald Trump will make a special Earth-to-space call from the Oval Office to personally congratulate Nasa astronaut Peggy Whitson for her record-breaking stay aboard the International Space Station on April 24, Nasa has said.

Trump will be joined by daughter Ivanka Trump and Nasa astronaut Kate Rubins for the 20-minute call that will air live on Nasa Television and stream on the agencys website and Facebook page at 10am EDT.

Commander of the stations Expedition 51 crew, Whitson will officially set the US record Monday for most cumulative days in space, surpassing Nasa astronaut Jeff Williams record of 534 days.

Additionally, she is the first woman to command the space station twice, and holds the record for most spacewalks conducted by a female astronaut.

Whitson will be joined for President Trumps call by Nasa astronaut Jack Fischer, who is scheduled to arrive at the orbiting laboratory on Thursday.

The call will be made available to schools, museums, and other organisations across the nation and globally, Nasa said in a statement on Wednesday.
China on Thursday launched its first unmanned cargo spacecraft on a mission to dock with the countrys space station, marking further progress in the ambitious Chinese space program.

The Tianzhou 1 blasted off at 7:41 pm (1141 GMT) atop a latest-generation Long March 7 rocket from Chinas newest spacecraft launch site, Wenchang, on the island province of Hainan.

Minutes later, as the spacecraft cleared the atmosphere, the mission was declared a success by administrators at ground control on the outskirts of Beijing.

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a Long March 7 rocket carrying the Tianzhou 1 cargo spacecraft blasts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Wenchang in southern China's Hainan Province, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (AP Photo)

It is programmed to conduct scientific experiments after reaching the now-crewless Tiangong 2, Chinas second space station. A pair of Chinese astronauts spent 30 days on board the station last year.

In this Monday, April 17, 2017 photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a Long March 7 rocket carrying the Tianzhou 1 is transferred to the launching site in Wenchang, south China's Hainan Province. (AP Photo)

China launched the Tiangong 2 precursor facility in September and the stations 20-ton core module will be launched next year. The completed 60-ton station is set to come into full service in 2022 and operate for at least a decade.

In this Monday, April 17, 2017 photo, A Long March 7 rocket carrying the Tianzhou 1 cargo spacecraft is transferred to the launch pad at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Wenchang in southern China's Hainan Province. (AP Photo)

Communications with the earlier, disused Tiangong 1 experimental station were cut last year and it is expected to burn up on entering the atmosphere.

China was excluded from the 420-ton International Space Station mainly due to U.S. legislation barring such cooperation and concerns over the Chinese space programs strong military connections.

Chinese officials are now looking to internationalize their own program by offering to help finance other countries missions to Tiangong 2.

People hold mobile phones as they watch Long March-7 rocket carrying Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft lifting off from the launching pad in Wenchang, Hainan province. (REUTERS)

Since China conducted its first crewed space mission in 2003, it has staged a spacewalk and landed its Jade Rabbit rover on the moon. A mission to land another rover on Mars and bring back samples is set to launch in 2020, while China also plans to become the first country to soft-land a probe on the far side of the moon.

The two-stage, medium lift Long March 7 is expected to form the backbone of Chinas rocket fleet, and burns a fuel combination that is safer and more environmentally friendly.

It is tasked with the launch of the Shenzhou capsules that have carried out six crewed missions and, along with the heavy lift Long March 5, is key to the assembly of the Tiangong 2.
An interview of Guo Wengui, a Chinese real estate tycoon mostly based abroad with an Interpol red notice against him, by Voice of America was cut short by the broadcaster, triggering rumours on social media.

Guo, who was among the top 80 rich persons in China a few years ago, was known for developing the landmark Pangu Plaza, a torch-shaped building near the Birds Nest stadium in Beijing.

He is also is a member of President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where the US leader met President Xi Jinping earlier this month.

By 2015, however, investigations by Chinese finance magazine Caixin revealed that Guos rise to the top was built on corrupt deals and shady political connections.He left China soon after.

Guo Wengui, who also goes by the name Miles Kwok, reportedly started his career as a public servant in eastern China's Shandong province. His highest-profile investment is Pangu Plaza, an office and seven-star hotel complex in Beijing that overlooks the Olympic Stadium. He also controls a business that owns a stake in China's Founder Securities, Forbes magazine described him in an article.

Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported earlier this week that the flamboyant tycoon is accused of bribing disgraced former state security vice minister Ma Jian with $8.71 million. Ma has been expelled from the Communist Party of China and is being investigated for graft.

Reuters reported that the Chinese government pressured Voice of America to cancel the interview ahead of time (on Wednesday), with the foreign ministry summoning one of the broadcaster's Beijing-based correspondents on Monday.

What we understand is that Interpol has already issued a red notice for criminal suspect Guo Wengui, foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang told a regular news briefing in Beijing. He did not give details.

However the red notice is not an arrest warrant and the US does not have an extradition treaty with China, a state media report said.

On Thursday, Lu refused to respond to questions about the aborted interview, saying he would only answer if Voice of America asked the question.

Chinas sensitivity about Guos case can be understood - he has been levelling allegations against the government, saying his family and he were being harassed under the guise of President Xis anti-corruption campaign.

Guo, the head of real estate company Beijing Zenith Holdings, reportedly created a Pangu Club or a network of the elite and the powerful in China comprising top officials and businesspeople. According to Caixin, the downfall of China's top insurance regulator, Xiang Junbo, is allegedly related to Guo.
Three masked robbers snatched a suitcase stuffed with millions of dollars in cash from a businessman who had just withdrawn the money from a bank in western Japan on Thursday, police said.

In the audacious daylight mugging, assailants set upon the 29-year-old victim as he dragged the case containing $380 million yen ($3.5 million) across a parking lot in downtown Fukuoka, a police spokesman and local media said.

He was sprayed in the face with what is thought to have been tear gas by the attackers, who made off in a car with the suitcase.

Few other details were initially available.

While Japan is still a cash-based society, it is unusual for someone to carry such a large sum, which would have weighed at least 38 kilogrammes (84 pounds).

The country has an enviable safety record and muggings and other forms of street crime, such as pickpocketing, are rare. But Japan does have a shadowy underworld run by yakuza organised crime syndicates.

The case came after local media reports in December said thieves posing as police officers had walked off with more than $5 million of gold last year in Fukuoka after telling a group of men carrying it in briefcases to hand it over.

Police in Fukuoka have refused to confirm those reports, which claimed the theft took place in July, most likely involving organised crime gangs.
Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), meets with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk, Belarus, April 18, 2017. Zhang paid an official goodwill visit to Belarus on April 16-18. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

MINSK, April 19 -- China's top legislator Zhang Dejiang pledged to cement the all-round strategic partnership with Belarus during his three-day official goodwill visit to the country on April 16-18.

During his meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Zhang said the decision of Chinese President Xi Jinpingand President Lukashenko in 2016 to forge a comprehensive strategic partnership featuring mutual trust and win-win cooperation was an all-round blueprint and had upgraded bilateral ties.

"My current trip aimed to implement the consensus of the two state leaders, and facilitate rapid growth of ties at a high level," said Zhang, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC).

China hopes to make the 25th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties this year a new starting point to strengthen political trust and strategic coordination, develop an all-weather friendship, expand all-round cooperation and build a community of shared interests and future, he said.

The two countries firmly support each other on issues regarding respective core interests and major concerns, which serves as a solid foundation for their bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, Zhang said.

"China will continue to support Belarus' independent domestic and foreign policy as well as its choice of a development path that suits its national conditions," he added.

Lukashenko, for his part, said Belarus will always be China's close friend and partner, vowing to boost friendly exchanges and political trust with China and enhance cooperation in such areas as investment, finance and tourism.

When meeting with Belarusian Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov, Zhang said China considers Belarus as an important partner in the Belt and Road Initiative, urging the two sides to step up cooperation under the initiative, identify priority sectors for combining their development strategies, make full use of bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and draw plans for key areas and priorities of cooperation.

Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative is a massive economic and trade project for common development and prosperity in countries along its routes in Asia, Europe and Africa.

Zhang praised the progress of the China-Belarus Industrial Park, calling on both sides to facilitate pragmatic cooperation in various areas.

Kobyakov said it is a common aspiration of both sides to deepen win-win cooperation, adding Belarus attaches great importance to the building of the industrial park, and hopes to expand investment and trade of high-tech and high value-added products, and offer a sound environment for the implementation of bilateral cooperation projects.

Zhang also held talks with Chairman Mikhail Myasnikovich of the Belarusian Council of the Republic (the upper house of the National Assembly of Belarus), and Chairman Vladimir Andreichenko of the House of Representatives (the lower house of the National Assembly of Belarus).

Calling the two countries' legislative bodies firm supporters and builders of the China-Belarus friendship, Zhang hoped both sides would maintain a sound momentum for cooperation, share governance experience, improve the legal environment for win-win cooperation, and boost cooperation in such areas as education and culture.

Echoing Zhang's proposals, Myasnikovich and Andreichenko said Belarus hopes to learn from China's experience, and facilitate substantial cooperation and exchanges between legislative bodies.

Zhang and the two chairmen signed a joint statement concerning cooperation between the NPC and the National Assembly of Belarus.

They visited the China-Belarus Indrustrial Park, which was named Great Stone. Zhang said it was important to improve the investment environment and management, as well as speed up investment attraction, encouraging companies from both sides to make the park a highlight of bilateral cooperation.

Zhang also visited the Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War, and laid a wreath at the Victory Monument in Minsk.

Zhang arrived in Belarus after visiting Latvia and Lithuania. He will fly to Moscow to continue his four-nation trip.
North Korean state media warned the United States of a super-mighty preemptive strike after US secretary of state Rex Tillerson said the United States was looking at ways to bring pressure to bear on North Korea over its nuclear programme.

US President Donald Trump has taken a hard line with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has rebuffed admonitions from sole major ally China and proceeded with nuclear and missile programmes in defiance of UN Security Council sanctions.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Norths ruling Workers Party, did not mince its words.

In the case of our super-mighty preemptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only US imperialists invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the US mainland and reduce them to ashes, it said.

Reclusive North Korea regularly threatens to destroy Japan, South Korea and the United States and has shown no let-up in its belligerence after a failed missile test on Sunday and a huge display of missiles at a parade in Pyongyang.

Tillerson told reporters this week that the United States was reviewing all the status of North Korea, both in terms of state sponsorship of terrorism as well as the other ways in which we can bring pressure on the regime in Pyongyang.

US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said during a visit to London the military option must be part of the pressure brought to bear.

Allowing this dictator to have that kind of power is not something that civilised nations can allow to happen, he said in reference to Kim.

Ryan said he was encouraged by the results of efforts to work with China to reduce tension, but that it was unacceptable North Korea might be able to strike allies with nuclear weapons.

North and South Korea are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned North Koreas latest failed missile test and demanded Pyongyang not conduct any more nuclear tests, in a statement that had been delayed as the United States and Russia sparred over language.

A North Korean missile blew up almost immediately on its test launch on Sunday, the US military said. The 15-member Security Council traditionally condemns all such launches by Pyongyang.

In this April 15 photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is seen in silhouette as he waves during a military parade in Pyongyang. (AP)

MAX THUNDER

South Koreas acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, at a meeting with top officials on Thursday, repeatedly called for the military and security ministries to maintain vigilance.

The defence ministry said U.S. and South Korean air forces were conducting an annual training exercise, codenamed Max Thunder, until April 28. North Korea routinely labels such exercises preparations for invasion.

We are conducting a practical and more intensive exercise than ever, South Korean pilot Colonel Lee Bum-chul told reporters. Through this exercise, I am sure we can deter war and remove our enemys intention to provoke us.

The North has said it has developed a missile that can strike the mainland United States, but officials and experts believe it is some time away from mastering the necessary technology, including miniaturising a nuclear warhead.

William Perry, who served as US defence secretary from 1994 to 1997 and negotiated with North Korea, said he did not believe Pyongyang was planning a surprise attack, despite the fiery rhetoric.

But he warned: They are doing a lot of bluster and a lot of threats, and they might misplay that hand and blunder into a war.

South Korean presidential candidates clashed on Wednesday night in a debate over the planned deployment in South Korea of a US-supplied Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system, which has angered China.

On Monday, Hwang and Pence reaffirmed their plans to go ahead with the THAAD, but the decision will be up to the next South Korean president. China says the systems powerful radar is a threat to its security.

There had been confusion over the whereabouts of a US aircraft carrier group after Trump said last week he had sent an armada as a warning to North Korea, even as the ships were still far from Korean waters.

The US militarys Pacific Command explained that the USS Carl Vinson strike group first had to complete a shorter-than-planned period of training with Australia. It was now heading for the Western Pacific as ordered, it said.
Pakistan has handed over operations of the Gwadar port to a Chinese company for 40 years, minister for ports and shipping Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo said on Thursday.

The minister said China Overseas Port Holding Company would carry out all the development work connected to the port, Radio Pakistan reported.

Gwadar port is located in Balochistan province. It features in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plan, and is considered to be a link between the Chinese One Belt, One Road initiative and the Maritime Silk Road project.

The port became officially operational from November 14, 2016.
Pakistan opposition leader Imran Khan on Thursday demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after a Supreme Court bench declared there was insufficient evidence to remove him from office on graft charges.

I demand that Sharif should resign immediately as he has lost moral authority to rule the country, Khan, who heads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, said at a press conference in Islamabad.

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled there was insufficient evidence to order Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs removal from office over corruption allegations levelled by the opposition and ordered further investigations.

Two of five judges on the court bench recommended that Sharif should step down but they were out voted.

The court ordered a joint investigation team (JIT) be formed to look into allegations around Sharifs children using offshore companies to buy properties in London.

The Supreme Court agreed last year to investigate the Sharif familys offshore wealth after Khan threatened street protests following the leaking of the Panama Papers.

Documents leaked from the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm appeared to show that Sharifs daughter and two sons owned offshore holding companies registered in the British Virgin Islands and used them to buy properties in London.

Sharif told parliament last year that his family wealth was acquired legally in the decades before he entered politics and that no money was siphoned off-shore.

Khan termed the verdict as indictment of Sharif as the bench did not absolve him of the allegations.

He said if Sharif is not ready to step down permanently, he should step aside for 60 days when JIT will investigate the money laundering allegations, as ordered by the court.

Khan said the court has rejected Sharifs defence that their properties in London were bought with clean money.

The court has unanimously rejected a letter by Qatari prince (who said in the letter that he provided the money used to buy flats in London), said Khan.

Khan also accepted the verdict and said his party has been vindicated that Sharif was involved in corruption.

A verdict to remove Sharif would have left his party in power but would, nevertheless, have sparked turmoil at a time when Pakistan is experiencing modest growth and improved security after years of violence, and the civilian government and powerful military have appeared to come to uneasy terms.

Police in riot gear surrounded the court in the capital, Islamabad, as it delivered its verdict and some protesters urged Sharif to step down with shouts of Go Nawaz, Go Nawaz.
Tariq Fatemi, Pakistan Prime Ministers special assistant on foreign affairs, could be removed from his position after an inquiry found him guilty of leaking to a prominent newspaper vital information from a high-level National Security meet, a media report said today.

In October last year, a columnist for Dawn newspaper, Cyril Almeida, wrote a front-page story about a rift between Pakistans civilian and military leaderships over militant groups that operate from Pakistan but engage in proxy war against India and Afghanistan.

The government had set up the inquiry committee last year to probe the controversy surrounding a controversial report by Dawn newspaper about a key meeting on national security.

According to the inquiry committee report, it is Fatemi who was primarily responsible for leaking report of the key meeting to the newspaper without due permission.

The report will be presented to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the next three to four days, adding that it will now be difficult for Fatemi to maintain his position, sources were quoted a saying by the Express Tribune.

The government had ordered an investigation on the matter in November, last year.

The committee, headed by Justice (retd) Aamir Raza Khan, included representatives of the Intelligence Bureau, the Military Intelligence and the Inter-Services Investigation.

Earlier, Pervaiz Rasheed was removed from the Information Ministry due to similar reasons. Sharifs Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs will no longer hold the office, the report said.

Fatemi is considered as trusted aide of the prime minister and his removal would be a setback for the government of Sharif who is already under pressure due to Panama case verdict.

Cyril Almeida who wrote the article had also reported that the ISI was told during the NSA meeting that its support for terror groups was leaving the country globally isolated.

The foreign office had vehemently rejected the report and termed it speculative.
Pakistan on Thursday termed as inflammatory Indias reaction to the conviction of Indian prisoner on death row Kulbhushan Jadhav, saying he was found guilty of espionage and terrorism after a fair trial.

His sentence is based on credible, specific evidence proving his involvement in espionage and terrorist activities in Pakistan, resulting in the loss of scores of precious lives of Pakistanis, Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Nafees Zakaria said.

He said Jadhav was found guilty after a fair trial according to the law of the land.

Inflammatory statements emanating from India are against international norms and will only result in escalation of tension, serving no constructive purpose. Indias reaction should be seen in the backdrop of exposure of its state involvement in perpetrating subversive and terrorist activities in Pakistan, he said.

Zakaria said the reaction from India especially withholding the release of Pakistani prisoners who had completed their sentences was disappointing.

Zakaria also attacked India for alleged violation of human rights in Kashmir and urged the international community to take notice of the situation.

He said India was displaying complete disregard for the UN Charter and International Covenant and Conventions and challenging the international community.

Pakistan claims its security forces had arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. It also claimed that he was a serving officer in the Indian Navy.

The Pakistan Army had also released a confessional video of Jadhav after his arrest.

However, India denied Pakistans contention and maintained that Jadhav was kidnapped by the Pakistan authorities.

India had acknowledged that Jadhav had served with the navy but denied that he has any connection with the government.

About possible meeting of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Astana in June, he said there is nothing on the table yet as the summit is almost two months away.

Nevertheless, we have consistently maintained that meaningful, result-oriented dialogue, sustainable and constructive engagement to address all outstanding issues, particularly Kashmir issue, is the only way forward. Hostility and escalation benefits none, he said.

On the disappearance of a former Pakistani army officer from Lumbini in Nepal, he said, In view of the revelations about the fake emails and website he was contacted from, we cannot rule out foul play by hostile agencies in his disappearance.

The government of Pakistan has taken up the matter of his disappearance with the Nepal Government with the request to trace him. An FIR each has also been lodged both in Islamabad and in Nepal, he said.
Three women dressed in burqas killed a man who had been accused of blasphemy in 2004 in a northeastern Pakistani town, police said on Thursday, the second brutal killing over alleged insults to Islam in a week.

Blasphemy is a highly charged topic in Pakistan where there have been at least 66 murders over unproven allegations since 1990 according to figures from a Centre for Research and Security Studies report and independent records kept by Reuters.

The countrys strict blasphemy laws carry sentences ranging from small fines to the death penalty.

The women entered the home of Fazal Abbas, a faith healer and a leader of the minority Shia community in the small city of Sialkot, and asked him to perform a spiritual ritual during which one of them shot him in the chest, police told Reuters.

Abbas was accused of blasphemy in 2004 by members of a hard-line conservative group after which he fled to Denmark, his cousin Azhar Hussain and police inspector Nadeem Afzal said.

He returned recently with the conviction that he would prove his innocence in court and had been granted bail by a local judge, Hussain said.

Police say that one of the women acted as an instigator, persuading the other two to carry out the act and identifying Abbas as a blasphemer.

It is their personal act, and I could not find their link to any religious group, inspector Afzal said.

However, Abbas family believe that a hard-line religious group incited the women to track down their victim and pull the trigger.

On April 13 a mob beat student Mashal Khan to death when blasphemy accusations spread across a university campus in the northern city of Mardan. Police are now investigating a number of university students and faculty for their involvement in a brutal attack that shocked the entire nation.

In 2011, a bodyguard assassinated Punjab provincial governor Salman Taseer after he called for reforming blasphemy laws.

Taseers killer, executed last year, has been hailed by religious hardliners as a martyr to Islam and a shrine has been erected at his grave.

Recently, fighting blasphemy has also become a rallying cry for the government.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif issued an order last month for the removal of blasphemous content online and strict punishment for those found guilty of posting such content.
The ear-splitting explosion from Americas mother of all bombs has been followed by calculated silence about the damage it inflicted.

US defence secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday he does not intend to discuss damage estimates from last weeks use of the militarys most powerful non-nuclear bomb on an Islamic State stronghold in Afghanistan.

The April 13 attack on an IS tunnel and cave complex near the Pakistani border marked the first-ever combat use of the bomb, known officially as a GBU-43B, or Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb. US military officials have said the 11-ton bomb effectively neutralized an IS defensive position.

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, however, called the use of the weapon an immense atrocity against the Afghan people.

The Afghan government has estimated a death toll of more than 90 militants. It said no civilians were killed.

Reporters traveling with Mattis in Israel asked for his assessment of the bombs damage, but he refused.

For many years we have not been calculating the results of warfare by simply quantifying the number of enemy killed, Mattis said.

But the Pentagon sometimes announces death counts after attacks on extremists.

On Jan. 20, for example, it said a B-52 bomber strike killed more than 100 militants at an al-Qaida training camp in Syria. That same day, the Pentagon said more than 150 al-Qaida operatives had been killed by U.S. strikes since Jan. 1.

On Jan 25 the Pentagon said US strikes in Yemen killed five al-Qaida fighters.

Mattis, who assumed office hours after President Donald Trumps inauguration on Jan. 20, hasnt publicly discussed such numbers. He said Thursday his view was coloured by lessons learned from the Vietnam war, when exaggerated body counts undermined U.S. credibility.

You all know the corrosive effect of that sort of metric back in the Vietnam war and its something thats stayed with us all these years, said Mattis, who was in Tel Aviv to meet Israeli government leaders on Friday.

He met Thursday with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

The publicity created by the bombing in Afghanistan caught many Pentagon leaders by surprise, leading to questions about whether U.S. commanders fully considered the strategic effects of some seemingly isolated decisions.

The Pentagon also has been criticized for its declaration that an aircraft carrier battle group was being diverted from Southeast Asia to waters off the Korean Peninsula, amid concern that North Korea might conduct a missile or nuclear test. The announcement led to misinformed speculation that the ships were in position to threaten strikes on North Korea.

Mattis said he is confident his commanders are properly weighing their actions.

If they didnt, Id remove them, he said.
Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that only the Russian people will choose who succeeds him as president, through the electoral process.

Russia will hold a presidential election in March next year. Putin has not said whether he will run or not, but is widely expected to go for what would be his fourth term.

The presidents successor will be decided by the Russian people only during a democratic election and by nobody else, Putin told a Kremlin meeting.

He was responding to a question from a veteran of the Soviet Unions campaign in Afghanistan who complained that a well known Russian senator was telling everyone that Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, would soon be president.

Volodin, 53, is a former head of the presidential administration and enjoys a high public profile in his current job as speaker.

Most Russian analysts believe Putin, who has dominated the Russian political landscape for the last 17 years, will serve one last term before handing over to a successor in 2024.
Hours ahead of Pakistans Supreme Court pronouncing its long-awaited verdict in the Panama Papers case on Thursday, several political parties have advised Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down if he is found guilty of corruption.

However, Sharifs supporters in the ruling PML-N party believe he should call for fresh elections instead of giving up the fight. This opinion is echoed by some experts too.

Ideally, Sharif would need six months to be in a better position because many of his governments promised projects are yet to be inaugurated. However, he is in a strong position even now, said political analyst Mubashir Zaidi.

Joining the chorus for Sharifs resignation was the co-chairman of the main opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Asif Ali Zardari, who told a news channel that the premier has never been in the habit of accepting things that go against him.

Zardari warned that any reluctance on Sharifs part could have an adverse impact on democracy. If there are agitations, it wont be good for democracy, he said.

Meanwhile, the entire country continues to hold its breath in anticipation of the apex courts verdict. Allegations of corruption were levelled against Sharif when documents leaked from the Panama-based law firm of Mossack Fonseca showed that his children owned offshore holding companies that were used to buy properties in London.

The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which is the main petitioner in the case in the Supreme Court, has already predicted a guilty verdict for Sharif.

The army leadership has said in a statement that it will accept whatever verdict is given in the case.

The stock market has suffered on fears of Sharif, who is seen as pro-business, resigning from his post. Analysts said while most projects linked with Chinese and Turkish companies will continue irrespective of the government in power, small investors will suffer.

Investors are afraid of the political uncertainty that accompanies such developments, said an observer.
Two teenagers from the Maryland state were charged with hate crime for burning a US President Donald Trump sign.

The two girls are accused of lighting a Make America Great Again sign on fire in Princess Anne, The Hill magazine reported on Wednesday.

Princess Anne deputy chief fire marshal Caryn L McMahon told the Baltimore Sun daily the reason for charging with a hate crime was that they committed arson with discrimination or malice toward a particular group, or someones belief.

The intentional burning of these political signs, along with the beliefs, religious views and race of this political affiliation, directly coincides with the victim, a Princess Anne police officer wrote in documents for the hate crime charge.

The girls were released on a $20,000 bond.

The sign was located on a store owned by a man who describes himself as a Trump supporter.

He said the sign has been good for business at his shop, which sells guns and other hunting supplies, the magazine added.
Irina Bokova, Director-General of the United NationsEducational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), is interviewed with Xinhua in Paris, capital of France, on April 18, 2017. China has once again shown strong commitment to promoting cultural dialogues and diversity through its Belt and Road Initiative, said Irina Bokova, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) here on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)

PARIS, April 19 -- China has once again showed strong commitment to promoting cultural dialogues and diversity through its Belt and Road Initiative, said Irina Bokova, Director-General of the United NationsEducational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) here on Wednesday.

In an interview with Chinese media, Bokova described the Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinpingin 2013, as a "fascinating project", stressing that the UN agency commends and supports this initiative.

The initiative, having already won the support of over 100 countries and international organizations, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes, which were inscribed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in 2015.

This goal coincides with that of the UNESCO's own Silk Road Project launched in 1988, which is to promote intercultural dialogues and establish links between different cities and civilizations along the historic trade routes, so as to achieve prosperity and harmony, Bokova told reporters.

The UNESCO chief will attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, scheduled for mid-May, which will bring together at least 28 heads of state and government and is expected to yield major outcomes including the signing of cooperative documents between China and around 40 countries and international organizations.

"I'm more than convinced that economic prosperity only cannot bring happiness, sustainability and harmony in societies. We need also the soft power; we need to develop education; we need to develop intercultural dialogues; we need to develop understandings thus bring more social inclusion and equity in societies, and this is where UNESCO brings our contribution," said Bokova.

Recalling her own visits to many historic sites along the Silk Road, Bokova said she has always been amazed by how intercultural dialogues were developed over 2,000 years ago.

"This is something that we should encourage nowadays if we want to see more prosperity, more connectivity, and more mutual understanding among the peoples, which in my view will accompany trade, investment and economic prosperity," she said.

Bokova said she was particularly impressed by the speech by President Xi on his visit to UNESCO Paris headquarters in March 2014, in which the President underlined the importance of the Silk Road and intercultural dialogues, a message that remains highly relevant today.

"It is very relevant because unfortunately we see extremism, we see destruction; we see a different vision of the world. This is why our cooperation with China is so important, and this is why the Belt and Road Initiative is so important," she explained.

She cited examples of the atrocious destructions of the Bamiyan Buddha in Afghanistanin 2001 and the ancient city of Palmyra in Syriaearlier this year.

"The extremists destroyed these heritages because they rejected the same view about diversity in the world," she said. "We should educate young people about diversity. We have to prevent violent extremism through supporting heritage, through supporting diversity."

On cooperation between China and UNESCO, Bokova said that the relationship has developed substantially. China already boasts 50 inscribed World Heritages, and has co-organized successful events on creativity and education with the UN agency.

"China's also supporting some of our projects in the least-developed parts of the world, including in Pakistan, in Afghanistan and in western Africa. I think all these bring a lot of substance, and a lot of very concrete examples of how jointly we can change the world for the better," she added.

The UNESCO chief also thanked China for backing the resolution adopted on March 24 by the UN Security Council on protecting cultural heritages amid conflicts, calling it a "landmark decision" that puts the importance of cultural heritages on the global political agenda.

Towards the end of the interview, Bokova cited a Chinese proverb to depict her expectation for the Belt and Road Initiative.

"One tree does not make a forest, and one string does not make music. The moral is that we need a broad international cooperation to bring prosperity to the world," she said.
Two militants were killed in Thailands violence-plagued deep south after a bomb they were transporting prematurely exploded, the military said on Thursday.

Their deaths came during a night of violence across a region plagued by unrest for over a decade as ethnic Malay rebels battle Thai troops for more autonomy from the Buddhist-majority state.

Colonel Yutanam Petchmoang, deputy spokesperson of the southern army, said the two militants died while transporting an improvised explosive device in Sabayoi district, Songkhla province.

They were on a motorbike, he said. We have in their records that they were local militant sympathisers.

The military said insurgents launched a string of gun and grenade attacks across Thailands so-called Deep South on Wednesday night with 13 separate incidents recorded.

No-one was killed in the attacks but five people were lightly injured.

Bombs and drive-by shootings are a weekly occurrence in Thailands south where the fighting has claimed more than 6,800 lives -- mostly civilians -- since 2004.

Both sides have been accused of rights abuses and atrocities.

The countrys ethnic Malay southernmost border provinces, former Muslim sultanates, were annexed by Bangkok more than a century ago.

The junta, which seized power in 2014, has held several rounds of negotiations with one group that claims to represent the insurgents, the Mara Patani.

But the talks have failed to make headway and many doubt the rebel negotiators have clout over fighters on the ground.

The shadowy insurgent movement rarely claims attacks and is believed to have several factions.

The biggest faction that controls the most fighters -- the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) -- issued a rare statement earlier this month restating its opposition to the current Thai army-led peace talks.

The military refuse to talk to the BRN even though most analysts say Mara Patani has little sway over the militants doing the actual fighting.

The BRN has said it will only come to the table if a third-party mediates the talks and international observers are allowed -- demands Thailands military have repeatedly refused to accept.
Prominent Indian-American hotelier Vikram Chatwal has been ordered to do five days of community service and barred from owning a pet for five years for trying to set two dogs on fire.

Chatwal, 44, took a plea deal for trying to torch the pair of Jack Russell terriers named Molly and Finnegan outside his condominium last year.

Manhattan judge Gerianne Abriano asked Chatwal whether he attempted to cause serious physical injury to two dogs using an aerosol can and lighter to set fire to them?

Chatwal, founder of Dream Hotels, answered in the affirmative.

However, assistant district attorney Tanisha Palvia said that given the defendants mental health history and lack of criminal history and minimal injury to the dogs, we are offering a no-jail deal.

Chatwal must serve five days of community service, continue mental-health treatment, submit to random drug testing and still live with his parents under the deal, the New York Post reported.

He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour and an animal cruelty violation charge. If he complies, in one year, the misdemeanour charge of aggravated animal cruelty will be dropped.

Chatwals name also will be added to the animal abuse registry, and he is barred from owning or caring for a pet for five years, the report said. Chatwal, who has acted in Indian and Hollywood films, was arrested in October for attacking the dogs.
IT IS JUNE 4, 1942. Spearheaded by four aircraft carriers, the Japanese mobile task force steams toward Midway Atoll in the Central Pacific, hoping to lure into battle the remnants of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The Japanese do not know that, thanks to American code analysts, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz knows they are coming and has positioned his three operational aircraft carriersEnterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown to ambush the would-be ambushers.

The day opens with the Japanese carrier force trading blows with American pilots based on Midway. Japanese bombers badly damage enemy facilities on the atoll; Imperial Navy gunners and pilots shoot most American attackers out of the sky. At 7 a.m. carriers Enterprise and Hornet launch planes against the Japanese carrier force; an hour later so does Yorktown. The attack is a fiasco. Squadrons of torpedo planes from all three American carriers locate the Japanese fleet but are shot down without scoring a hit. Flying separately, American dive-bombers take the wrong course and never do find the foe.

Soon Japanese scout planes spot the three American carriers and the Japanese fling all their strength against the ships. Japanese pilots sink Yorktown, then Enterprise and Hornet. By dusk America has suffered a naval defeat to rival the disaster that rocked Pearl Harbor and the nation six months ago.

This scenario is historically accurate in four respects. Midway did suffer major damage from a Japanese attack on the morning of June 4. The atolls pilots lost heavily in a fruitless attempt to bomb the Japanese carrier force. The American torpedo squadrons were nearly wiped out without scoring a hit, and in the battle the Yorktown was sunk. The scenario is partially accurate in a fifth way: American dive-bomber pilots did search unsuccessfully for the Japanese carriers. They might have had to turn back had a squadron commander not seen an enemy destroyers wake, which, he deduced, indicated a path to the Japanese carrier force.

The chief departures from history are, of course, the destruction of Enterprise and Hornet, and the survival of Japanese carriers Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu , and So -ryu . Historically, Akagi, Kaga, and So -ryu  did incur mortal damage when U.S. dive bombers finally located them around 10:20 a.m. on June 4; Hiryu , badly hit late in the afternoon, sank early the next day.

What if the Japanese had won at Midway? In Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway (2005), authors Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully offer a response.

Win or lose, these historians argue, the Japanese could never have seized the Hawaiian Islands. By June 1942, Oahu, the chains key element, was garrisoned by 100,000150,000 soldiers. Japanese planners reasoned that to capture Hawaii, the Empire would need to deploy at least 45,000 men a grave underestimate but even so, Parshall and Tully point out, that figure represented an invasion force 10 times larger than they had ever landed amphibiously at one time.

A Japanese victory at Midway definitely would have precluded the Americans August 1942 counteroffensive at Guadalcanal. Japanese incursions would have posed a more serious threat to Australia and New Guinea because the U.S. could not have stopped them. The Japanese certainly would have moved into the South Pacific largely unimpeded, occupying the New Hebrides, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga, Parshall and Tully maintain. This would have placed Imperial forces squarely athwart the main line of supply between the United States and Australia. The Japanese might conceivably have invaded northern Australia.

But in the end, the authors contend, none of this would have mattered. By 1942 Japans industrial capacity had peaked, whereas the American war machine was still growing. By mid-1943, the U.S. was launching an Essex-class carrier at the rate of one ship every two months. By August 1945, 17 Essex-class flattops would enter service, to say nothing of 9 Independence-class light carriers and dozens of small but useful escort carriers. Since the day the battle was fought, the American victory there has been labeled as decisive, Parshall and Tully observe. Butwin or lose at Midway, it was extremely unlikely that the Japanese were going to win. How, then, can such a battle be considered decisive?

This analysis, however, overlooks how a putative Midway disaster would have affected American planning and execution. Losing grievously at Midway would have placed great pressure on the Roosevelt administration to forego the Allied Germany First strategy in favor of retrieving the situation in the Pacific.

For sound geopolitical reasons the U.S. would have had to maintain the supply line to Australia, and if the Japanese followed a triumph at Midway by seizing islands straddling that route, the Americans would have had to capture those bastions, demanding reallocation of troop transport and landing vessels from the European Theater to the Pacific.

This nearly happened anyway. In July 1942 Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, frustrated by British resistance to undertaking an early cross-Channel attack, recommended a shift to the defensive in Europe and adoption of a Pacific First strategy. FDR vetoed this approachenabled, in part, by the American victory at Midway, which established that existing Allied forces in the Pacific could take on Japan. Defeat at Midway would have argued the opposite.

Abandonment of Germany First could have no other effect but to prolong the war in Europe by many months, perhaps allowing the Soviet Union to gain control of Western Europe. Certainly hostilities would have ground on long enough for the Manhattan Project to complete the first atomic bombs, which the U.S. then would have dropped not on Japan but on targets in Germany. Victory at Midway would not have won Japan the war, but could well have given the Second World War a very different turn.

Originally published in the August 2013 issue of World War II. To subscribe, click here.
The Apache Wars: The Hunt for Geronimo, the Apache Kid, and the Captive Boy Who Started the Longest War in American History

By Paul Andrew Hutton. 544 pages.

Crown, 2016. $30.

Reviewed by Ron Soodalter

To say that a single volume dedicated to the Apache Wars of the late 19th century is ambitious would be to seriously understate the case. Yet that is precisely what Paul Andrew Hutton, a distinguished professor of history at the University of New Mexico, has undertaken to accomplish. And, to a large extent, he has succeeded.

The author presents an intriguingly revisionist picture of some of the major figures in the conflict. Geronimo, who today is seen as selfless and noble, comes across as ego-driven, petulant, and devious. Hutton, in a recent interview, described him as always only about Geronimo, never about the people. Other Apache leaders, such as Mangas Coloradas and Victorio, are shown as more deserving of our admiration. Brigadier General Nelson Miles, whom it has become fashionable to portray as a deceitful narcissist (as in the factually challenged 1993 film Geronimo: An American Legend), is here presented as a competent, responsible officer. Brigadier General George Crooktraditionally shown as empathetic to the plight of the Apacheis depicted as stunningly arrogant, callously oblivious to either the needs or the customs of his foe.

Chronologically, the book is seamless, tracing the conflict from its eminently avoidable beginnings to its ultimately tragic conclusion. It is no surprise that the Apaches lost, their warriors killed or shipped off to Florida with their familiesfor many, an exile tantamount to a death sentence. Since Dee Browns Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee painted a depressing but detailed picture of the treatment of the Indians from the time of the first Anglo settlements. In Apache Wars, Hutton takes it a step further, detailing the tragic saga of a peoples desperate, doomed struggle to retain their homeland and some semblance of their way of life.

Although their cause was worthy, the Indians werent above resorting to tactics that still engender chills and disgust. Indeed, the U.S. militarys brutal subjugation of a people and their no-holds-barred resolve to resist conquest do not make for genteel reading. To his credit, Hutton manages to keep his descriptions of frontier depredations well-balancedthorough but not excessively graphic.

The book is not without its issues. While the layman might be perfectly willing to accept Huttons quotations and facts without sufficient annotation, the historian is not so sanguine. The author chooses not to cite these individually, instead listing general page references at the end of the book. The result is that many purported statements of fact go unsubstantiated. For example, in detailing the fight in which Captain Emmet Crawford is killed, Hutton describes a bemused Geronimo, along with various other leaders, watchingand laughingfrom a nearby promontory. Without crediting any sources, it is impossible to know how Hutton comes to place Geronimo on that hillside or has him uncharacteristically laughing at his enemies plight. While it makes for a good story, it begs the question, How do we know?

Some of the sources Hutton does cite raise serious questions. Tom Horn, who served as chief of scouts and witnessed Geronimos final surrender, wrote his autobiography while awaiting execution for murder. While Horn may have been a legendary figure of the West, he was also a prodigious liar, more concerned with his legacy than the truth. As most Western historians are aware, much of his personal account is questionable at best. Yet Hutton repeatedly uses it without qualification, and at such crucial points as the capture of Geronimo.

Finally, Hutton has chosen as the central figure of his opus a half-Mexican, halfIrish orphan captive of the Apache. Although Felix Ward, called Mickey Free, certainly played a part in the long and bitter struggle, some historians might question whether he warrants a place of such eminence in the book.

Flaws aside, this is a book well worth reading. Hutton is a superb storyteller, and his account of the Apache Wars is skillfully crafted. It is the long-overdue chronicle of a shameful period in our expansionist history, and one that, for a century and a quarter, has been in desperate need of telling. MHQ

Ron Soodalter, a frequent MHQ contributor, has written for the New York Times, Military History, Wild West, and Smithsonian. His most recent book is The Slave Next Door.

[hr]

This article originally appeared in the Autumn 2016 issue (Vol. 29, No. 1) of MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History with the headline: Reviews: Attitudes and Outcomes.

Want to have the lavishly illustrated, premium-quality print edition of MHQ delivered directly to you four times a year? Subscribe now at special savings!
(Xinhua) 09:32, April 20, 2017

PARIS, April 19 -- The new premises of the Chinese Embassy here was officially put into use on Wednesday, after a seven-year design and construction process.

The embassy held a flag-raising ceremony at its new location at 20 Rue Monsieur in the seventh arrondissement of Paris to mark the transition.

Addressing the ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to France Zhai Jun said that the transformation of the premises of the embassy in different periods embodies the history of Chinese diplomacy, and reflects the significant development in the country.

The new premises are a perfect combination of artistry and culture of China and France, said the ambassador, adding it symbolizes the close ties between the two countries, and serves as a new window of the "major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics."

The new property, near several French government institutions and museums, was purchased by the embassy in December 2012, and was inaugurated on Sept. 26, 2016 in the presence of high-level officials from both countries.

The old premises, located on George V Avenue, will remain part of the embassy and will undertake certain new functions after renovation.
President Xi Jinping, also head of the central Internet security and informatization leading group, presides over a symposium on cyberspace security and informatization in Beijing, April 19, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi Jinping once said that poverty alleviation is an important part of his work and he spent most energy on it. He pledged that the government will lift the country's 70 million poor people above the poverty line by 2020.

Presiding over a symposium on cyberspace security and informatization on April 19, 2016, Xi said online services should play a bigger role in reducing poverty by promoting agricultural goods produced by impoverished people and by making high-quality education accessible to more children in remote mountainous region via internet.

He connected internet with the work of poverty relief for the first time, providing a new direction for the cause.

Internet Plus ushers a new stage for poverty relief

When Xi visited Southwest China's Guizhou province in June 2015, he said that poverty relief should be precisely targeted as it determines whether poverty alleviation will be successful or not.

As Internet Plus becomes a national strategy, "internet plus targeted poverty alleviation" is viewed as an important impetus for the development of the impoverished areas.

Though the direction is clear, just as Xi pointed out on April 19 last year, the internet infrastructure remains a weak link among these villages.

To overcome this weakness, a national plan on internet-based poverty alleviation was issued in Oct which outlines five projects - broadband coverage, rural e-commerce, access to online education resources, information services and internet philanthropy.

The plan aims to provide broadband network coverage to more than 90 percent of poverty-stricken villages, provide access to e-commerce services in all townships and improve the health, literacy and employment competitiveness of impoverished people through online medical, educational and cultural services, according to Xu Yu, director of informatization development bureau of Cyberspace Administration of China.

Precise targeting of anti-poverty programs

During his visit to Chongqing municipality in January 2016, Xi said the success of development-oriented poverty relief lies in precise and targeted poverty alleviation efforts.

Precisely targeting those in need is a key step before allocating policy and fund to the impoverished households.

"After scanning the QR code, the updated data of every impoverished household show up. It reveals the latest situation of those in poverty," said a government staff member engaged in poverty relief in Linshui county, Guang'an of southwest China's Sichuan province.

The county established a dynamic database which includes gathering data of all impoverished households in the county every March. It has also put up a QR code on the door of every household for people to scan and know the progress of poverty relief work.

Last year, a total of 81,800 impoverished people located in 152 villages were registered. Internet Plus provided the new idea and technology to accelerate the work of poverty relief.

Role of Internet Plus in tackling poverty

Xi emphasized several times that providing children in impoverished areas access to good education is an important task in poverty alleviation and development, and is also an important method of stopping intergenerational transmission of poverty. He also suggested that "Internet plus education" should be a solution to the problem.

Recently, young teachers at Jingzhoujie Primary School, a key school in Xiangyang, Central China's Hubei province, gave English lessons to a dozen of students in Youfangjie Primary School in Baokang county via video streaming.

The lessons were part of Xiangyang city's "Banbantong", literally meaning class to class, project. Currently, 'Banbantong"project covers more than 98 percent of schools, 90 percent of teachers and 50 percent of students.

Hubei province has vigorously promoted the use of internet in schools in rural areas in recent years, in the hope of sharing high quality educational resources in rural areas and narrowing the gap between urban and rural students.

Medical resources, just like educational resources, are unevenly distributed and high-quality resources are scarce in rural areas. Some rural people fall back in poverty due to medical bills. "Internet plus medical" can be a big solution in tackling the issue.

On March 15, an internet hospital subordinated to the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology began operation in Luoyang. At the same time, People's hospital of Luanchuan County, 15 township health centers and 35 village health centers in the poverty-stricken county also opened their remote network medical platforms, providing a channel to connect medical experts in the city hospital with rural patients.
T wo years of price falls have taken their toll on the shiny rows of new apartment blocks lining the Thames. Yet whenever people are asked where theyd most like to live, they invariably answer: By water.

The Battersea Reach development by St George is one of the largest of the new riverside schemes. More than 1,000 of 1,350 planned new homes have been completed so far, in modern pavilions on the site of a former gin distillery beside Wandsworth Bridge. However, with average prices of about 1,000-1,400 per square foot, few first-time buyers without wealthy and generous parents have been able to dream of living there  until now.

Housing association Wandle has just launched 50 one- and two-bedroom flats under shared ownership, priced from 119,375 at Meridian House, where little luxuries include a 24-hour concierge and an on-site gym.

From 119,375: a quarter share of a one-bedroom apartment at Meridian House, Battersea Reach

A MODERN LONDON VILLAGE

Designed by international architecture practice Broadway Malyan, the look at Battersea Reach is a slightly anonymous series of heavily glazed pavilions, but the 13-acre site is very much a modern London village, with  either open or on the way  coffee shops, restaurants, bars, shops, and even a nursery. There are 10 acres of open space in lieu of a village green, plus a 1,000ft riverside walkway.

Since the developments closest train station is Wandsworth Town, a more accurate name might be Wandsworth Reach  Battersea Park station is about a mile away. However, Clapham Junction is an easy walk, so there is plenty of choice of places to eat, drink, shop, and hang out, and commuting is easy.

Services from Wandsworth Town to Waterloo take 14 minutes, and from Clapham Junction commuters can be at Waterloo in 10 minutes or Victoria in just eight minutes.

Battersea Reach and its fellow new developments along the Thames have been hit hard by price drops. According to a recent report by Knight Frank, resale prices of river flats between Wandsworth and Southwark have fallen by almost 10 per cent in the past year, suggesting that at the height of the prime London boom prices became seriously overinflated.

Matthew Smith, Knight Franks head of riverside sales, blames the falls on two successive increases in stamp duty which made buying properties worth 1.5 million or more significantly more expensive.

A SOUND INVESTMENT

He believes that the worst is now over. The year-on-year number of buyers viewing riverside properties was up by a resounding 96 per cent in the last three months of last year, as the gap narrowed between what buyers are willing to pay and what sellers are willing to accept.

Of course shared ownership exists in something of a microclimate of its own. Higher stamp duty does not impact these properties, and the sheer scarcity of homes should see prices rise in the short and medium term: only 158 of the 1,083 homes built so far at Battersea Reach are shared ownership.

Wandles one-bedroom flats start at 119,375 for a 25 per cent share. As well as mortgage repayments, buyers will need to pay 142.55 a month in service charges and 820.70 in rent on the portion of the property they do not own.

Two-bedroom flats start at 161,250 for a 25 per cent share. The service charges on these larger homes rises to 217.75 a month, and the monthly rent is 1,108.59.

WHAT ELSE CAN I BUY NEARBY?

Riverside prices have wobbled in the last year, but the trajectory of prices in SW18 overall is upward. The average price in the postcode in January 2015 was just under 640,000, according to Rightmove. Within two years this had increased to just over 707,000.

So SW18 isnt the postcode to look for bargain basement prices, although homes away from the riverside are about 50 per cent cheaper than those with water views.

KFH has a two-bedroom flat in Treport Street, Earlsfield, for 495,000 and Cluttons has a two-bedroom apartment in Marcus Street for 500,000. One-bedroom period flats are priced at about 400,000.

Beyond Battersea Reach the areas biggest development is The Ram Quarter, the historic Youngs Brewery site in Wandsworth. Life Residential has a new one-bedroom flat in the development for 485,000. An ex-local authority one-bedroom flat in a low-rise development would cost about 300,000 to 320,000.
No matter what our political positions are or how we want to view these past few days, most people would agree that these have not been easy days for the tourism industry. From customer service problems to continual low-grade acts of terrorism in Europe, the tourism industry has felt the impact.

Tourism is a composite industry and from the customer's perspective what occurs in what part of the industry may well impact other parts of the industry. People who work within tourism, however, often tend to see their section of the tourism industry as independent of other components within the industry. Thus, airline personnel often forget that they are in more than mere transportation providers, but destination creators, and hoteliers often overlook the fact that most visitors choose to visit a location rather than to a specific hotel. These past few days have proven once again that tourism is interconnected and each component eventually may well impact other components.

In reality, there are two main themes that stand out from the events of the last few days. The first is the ongoing struggle to create safe tourism environments. Too many people simply look at raw numbers and believe that visitors will come no matter what the security situation may be. Often this bean counting mentality leads to ignoring a situation until it is too late. Although tourism has tended to recover after terrorist attacks, or natural catastrophes such as earthquakes or floods, each attack places one more nail into the heart of the industry. If visitors do not feel safe, then eventually, they will not come.

The second theme, and perhaps just as difficult to recover from, is the lack of customer service enveloped in high levels of bureaucracy, as symbolized by the recent United Airlines debacle. It is not the purpose of this article to assign guilt or innocence either to United Airlines or the Chicago Aviation police. The assignment of guilt will be the job of the courts. Nevertheless, United Airlines has been already found guilty in the court of public opinion. Not only has the public found United Airlines guilty but the airline has become symbolic of what is wrong both with the that industry and other forms of tourism. This article is not about issues of legality, but rather it has everything to do with issues of customer service and hospitality,

Tourism commentators and annalists will spend a great amount of time second-guessing what United Airlines might have done differently or better. What is essential, from the tourism perspective, is that the more uncomfortable travel becomes, the more dangerous it is perceived, then the more likely that slowly the joy of travel will erode and revert to its original French root, travail meaning "work" rather than pleasure. Both the tourism and travel industries will fact major problems when to travel no longer means the joy of adventure, and instead it transforms itself into the less than pleasant uncertainties of the tired road warrier. The travel and tourism industry need to put the joy back into travel. To do tourism and travel officials need to do some major soul searching and consider what changes they need to make. Here are some changes they might consider:

1) Create a change in attitude. All too often customers are made to feel that they are the enemy rather than the paying guest. This change in attitude does not mean that the customer is always right nor does it mean that the customer has the right to abuse verbally the travel professional or front line personnel, It does mean, however that the customer deserves a smile, a fair hearing, and the fact that the customer may indeed be right. Often it is not what is said but how it is said.

2) Greater flexibility. There is often the feeling among those who travel, that large travel corporations have become so bureaucratic and rules oriented that the idea of hospitality has been sacrificed on the altar of corporate policies. It is essential that customer service be taught and re-taught on a regular basis, It is equally essential that travel and tourism employees have the ability when necessary to override these regulations and remember that without customers tourism and travel dies

3) Create better cooperation between components of the travel and tourism industry. Hotels often do not permit check-ins before 3 or 4 pm and demand checkout times of 11:00 am or 12:00 noon. There is absolutely no coordination between air travel and hotel check-in or check out time. The results the joy of especially long distance travel becomes the hassle of travel.

4) Be creative in solving problems. Travel and tourism officials need to go beyond marketing and create pleasant product development. This means that lines must be staggered at attractions, human being must be around to answer questions, and the realization that computers simply do not build relationships nor do they offer customer service with a smile

5) Problem solving means knowing when to be flexible. Things do go wrong and that is when travel professionals need to find creative solutions to unexpected problems. Creative problem solving can turn a tourism-marketing crisis into a marketing success. Often spending a few dollars can save many more dollars and create the good will needed to get travelers to turn frowns into smiles

6) Create more than the feeling of safety and security, create safe and secure environments. Each low cost and low-tech terrorism attack goes toward creating a sense of tourism unease. Police and private security need to be integrated into your overall tourism plan. The old notion that security officials require a great deal of brawn but few brains is no longer valid. In a world threatened by anything from cyber crimes to bio-chemical attacks, from pandemics to insects boarding airplanes along with passengers, the travel and tourism industry can ill afford to close its eyes to current realities.

7) Work with other parts of the tourism industry. If a flight is cancelled then do everything possible to find another way to get the passenger to his or her destination.. If a baby needs a special formula have the hotel kitchen work with the parent, and if a visitor is not well make sure that you have a connection to a local hospital.

United Airlines is not the only part of the travel and tourism industry to have suffered a customer relation's crisis, and many of the errors made by its employees might have occurred at numerous other tourism and travel businesses. If we can remember that most people want to be treated with respect and a sense of caring, then the travel and tourism industry can go from one based not on mere travail and become the center of hospitality that it is meant to be.

Peter Tarlow

President Tourism and More

+1 979 764 8402

Tourism and More
As an independent hotelier, you don't want to buy 10 different hotel technology solutions. You need to spend your money wisely, and invest only in those technologies that will add value to your business and, importantly, grow your profits. But how can you know which hotel technology will accomplish this?

It's a valid question. So last week we sought out the answer at HITEC Amsterdam, an event where financial and technology professionals in the hospitality industry gather to discuss how hotels can use technology for greater profitability and efficiency. It was the first European HITEC (Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference), organised by the global nonprofit hospitality association HFTP.

Here are three tips we collected during the event; keep them in mind when investing in new hotel technology.

Tip #1: Invest in a data strategy

Setting up a data strategy requires time and effortbut it's worth it. According to Samir Sharma of the London-based company Datazuum, the first question you should ask is: How can you monetise your data? What will you get out if it? Whether it's upselling food and beverages to your VIP guests or optimising your rates, have a clear goal. It will tell you what hotel technology you should be using.

Daily Point CEO Michael Toedt pointed out seven important data sources from which you can gain insights into what your guests want. These are:

1) Property management system

2) Email

3) Restaurant reservations

4) Website

5) Wi-Fi

6) Newsletter

7) Questionnaires

And don't forget that, as leading global hotel metasearch, trivago has a wealth of significant data on guest preferences and traveller behavior that you can tap into.

Toedt's advice for hoteliers: "If you're not linking at least four of these sources to your customer database, you don't know who your customer is."

But bewarethere's always a risk of gathering too much data, warned both Sharma and Toedt. So invest time in setting up your data strategy correctly. Find out who owns the data in your company, how to connect the data from other staff members, andlast but not leastmake sure your staff is digitalising the data.

Think it's too early to start implementing a data strategy into your hotel business? Think again. Because even if you're not, your competitor is.

Want to learn more about how you can leverage big data for your hotel? Check out the webinar we recently hosted with Tnooz.

Tip #2: Hire millennials from hospitality schools

As the next generation of travellers, millennials are in the best position to help you bring your hotel into the future with the right hotel technology.

During a panel discussion, Senior Lecturer Ian Miller from the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne queried four students of hospitality schools about what they like to have in their hotel rooms and how they book.

Claudia Dradi, a Hospitality and Business Management student at Hotelschool The Hague, said: "We don't need a TV. I rarely watch the shows. What I need is an outlet so I can charge my devices."

When asked about millennial booking behavior, Dradi replied: "We compare prices, we want everything for less." So are they loyal to hotel brands? Not particularlybut they are loyal to the booking sites and metasearches that compare these prices for them.

And having found their ideal hotel for the best price, millennials will look for a personalised guest experience. They don't want to have to ask about dining recommendations, they want the hotel to offer them suggestions. And with millennials' personal preferences available for the taking on their social media profiles, there's no reason why hotels can't accommodate this expectation.

Does this all come across as pretty demanding? Perhaps it is, but millennials are used to a world in which everything is one click away. The good news is that today's hospitality students are ready to take on the challenge of digitalising the industry. Get them involved and let them test hotel technology for you. Because if millennials are not already your guests, they will be in the near futureso who better to give you feedback on whether something adds value to your hotel business or not?

Tip #3: Interconnect hotel technology

How can you connect all your existing software to one cloud-based system, so they communicate with one another? If this is your main IT struggle, then an Enterprise Service Bus solution might be worth looking into. It connects your applications, devices, and services, and makes it possible to collect data from your guests' social media profiles anddepending on your current softwarepush personalised offers to them through the hotel's Wi-Fi-connection. So if they're in the bar, for example, they receive vouchers for their favorite drink. Another perk is that when all devices are connected to the cloud, it notifies staff immediately when there's a technical error in a certain room or with a payment system.

Jan Jaap van Roon, CEO of IreckonU, described how their hotel tech helps deliver an enhanced guest experience. "We can even integrate into your hotel property technology that improves the experience of your guests. By using sensors in the carpets, we know when guests are approaching their hotel room and can open the door for them, before they've even reached for the key in their pocket."

Base7Booking also connects several hotel technologies for you by offering a property management system, channel manager, and optimised booking engine all in one cloud-based solution.

Where you at HITEC Amsterdam or do you have any other tips for hoteliers that would help them invest in hotel technology to grow their business? Share your thoughts below.

This article was originally posted on HFTP connect

Andrea Ricciarelli

Global B2B Content Marketing & Global PR Lead

trivago

View source
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Bangkok-based hospitality management company Absolute Hotel Services is delighted to announce the appointment of Mr. Carlo P. van Hest as the new General Manager of U Sukhumvit Bangkok, effective from 24th April 2017. Originally from the Netherlands, Carlo has enjoyed a strong hospitality educational background and professional experience across the Asia Pacific region since 2005. He completed his bachelors degree in International Hospitality Management before traveling to Asia to begin his challenging hospitality career with the Accor Group in numerous roles in China, Thailand and Vietnam. Prior to join U Hotels & Resorts, Carlo was Resident Manager at Pullman Pattaya Hotel G.
United Airline CEO Oscar Munoz [File photo: thepaper.cn]

Facing a backlash over an incident this month involving an Asian-American passenger, United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz is planning a visit to China.

Munoz has already stopped at the Chinese consulate in Chicago to try to smooth over the situation, with the company concerned the incident would affect bookings from Chinese customers.

United controls around 20 percent of the total US-China air traffic, and is also in a partnership with Chinese flag carrier, Air China, Reuters quotes analysts as saying.

Last week, Dr David Dao was forcibly dragged from his seat on a United flight as the crew attempted to clear space on the overbooked flight for crew members.

Dao refused to give up his seat, citing an appointment with a patient the following day. He was then physically removed from the fight by two security staff.

The violent incident saw the 69-year-old loose two front teeth, as well as suffer a broken nose and a concussion, said his attorney.

Dao emigrated to the US from Vietnam.

His treatment has angered many in the Asian community.

It has already triggered calls for a boycott of the airline by Asian groups in the US, as well as in Vietnam and China.
A few days ago, Troy Ave aka Nupac paid his respect to Ronald McPhatters mother over Instagram and apologized for dragging his slain bodyguard over the media. As reported by DNAinfo, his mea culpa  as sincere as it might have been  was met with derision by the McPhatters.

How was my mother supposed to see that when she doesnt have Instagram? Ronalds sister Jamie Albert asked rhetorically.

She and her mother Rosetta McPhatter want Dope Boy Troy to apologize in person. In a now notorious The Breakfast Club interview, the rapper accused them of coming out of the woodwork requesting money.

He also claimed the grieving family prevented him from organizing a grandiose funeral for his friend. He wanted to organize a procession through the streets of Brooklyn in a horse-drawn carriage and bury him near a Popeyes restaurant where they used to eat. However, Albert said Troy only seeks to exploit her brothers death. Her mother agrees and believes Troy is responsible for putting her son in lethal danger.

I believe he had no other choice but to respond that way, especially after he bashed my family, McPhatters mother said Monday. If he was sincere I think he would have tried to reach out directly. I would like to speak to him, because he could resolve a lot of mysteries I have about my sons death.

Troy said in his online apology that he would like to pay for a headstone. McPhatter was buried in North Carolina, far away from all publicity.

If my mother agrees to take money from you for the headstone, I dont want you to ever mention it in public again, Albert said. You should do this because its right, not for publicity. If you have an apology for my mom, make it personal, not something for the media.

Check out Troy Aves apology on his IG feed.

Troy Ave
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'The Keepers', which is a seven-part documentary series that will investigate the unsolved murder of a Baltimore nun, will premiere exclusively on Netflix on 19 May

The series opens with the story of Sister Cathy Cesnik, a beloved nun and Catholic high school teacher in Baltimore who went missing on Nov. 7, 1969. Nearly two months later, her body was found  and, to this day, her murder remains unsolved.



The case returned to the spotlight in the 1990s when one of Sister Cathys former students  a woman only known as Jane Doe  came forward to share her experience of horrendous sexual abuse by the high schools chaplain. Incredibly, Jane Doe revealed she was also taken to Sister Cathys undiscovered body and told, See what happens when you say bad things about people. Despite this and testimony from other victims and witnesses of abuse, no one was held accountable, and the story was largely unreported outside of Baltimore.

Through conversations with dozens of friends, relatives, journalists, government officials and Baltimore citizens determined to uncover the truth, White pieces together a story that goes beyond the death of a beloved Catholic schoolteacher to encompass clergy abuse, repressed memories and government and religious institutions that he says at best, dropped the ball over the last 45 years  and, at worst, covered it up.

It is directed by Ryan White, who made 'The Case Against 8' and 'Good Ol Freda'. I dont think its just a story that never caught the attention of people, White says. I think it was a story that was buried, and so it had to be un-buried, in a way.

Whites footage includes candid conversations with the woman formerly known as Jane Doe about what really happened behind closed doors at Archbishop Keough High School.

From the moment I met her, I was devoted to bringing this story to light, because I believed it, White says. I believe she can have a true impact in the world, and I believe shes been deprived of that because of how her storys been buried by many people in many institutions.

White also speaks with Gemma Hoskins and Abbie Schaub, two of Sister Cathys former students. Now retired and in their 60s, Hoskins and Schaub have spent years investigating what happened after their favorite English teacher disappeared 47 years ago.

Gemmas probably the biggest embodiment of that (person) who will stop at nothing, White says. She can strike up a conversation with anyone and can charm the hell out of anyone, but she can also use that to her advantage to expose the truth.

Hoskins and Schaub also played a large part in creating an online community for the victims and helping others come forward and share their experiences.

They intended to solve a murder, and what they did is they created a safe community for all of these women and men of a certain age to find people who believed them, White says. Thats been really powerful to witness as a filmmaker.

White also speaks with local journalists, retired and current law enforcement members and those who were close to Sister Cathy. In addition to being a tragic crime story, The Keepers shines a light on the power of community.

You get the sense of all of these people in Baltimore coming together in a grassroots way to say, This isnt OK. And its not too late to say this isnt OK, and its not too late to create our own community to challenge the institutions we have here, or to challenge the church that has so much power here, White says. And thats where I think the people of Baltimore have real agency and a real vigor.

After The Keepers debuts in millions of homes worldwide, White says he hopes those involved will finally feel heard  and viewers will feel encouraged to discuss an issue that stretches far beyond Baltimore.

My hope in making this series is that we open up the conversation around what happened to these children, White says. The ones that survived are now adults, but its not too late to (talk) about what happened to them, why it happened, why it was never exposed and to make sure that it stops happening in the future.

Adds Hargrave: I hope that people watching it can grow in their understanding and can learn that its something not to look away from. Its something we should listen to, its something we should talk about  and we should be looking for ways to be sure it doesnt happen.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

Though production on The Keepers began nearly three years ago, its origins stretch back even further to the family of director Ryan White .

My family has close ties to not only Catholic Baltimore but the epicenter of this world, notes the filmmaker, whose previous work includes acclaimed docs The Case Against 8 , Good Ol Freda and Serena .

Though White grew up in Atlanta, his mother was raised in Baltimore; in fact, his aunt was a former student of Sister Cathys at Archbishop Keough High School.

Over the years, Whites relatives had told him about the murder case and the story of Jane Doe. In 2014 when Jane Doe was revealed to be one of his aunts former classmates and a family friend, White thought she might be interested in participating in a documentary. He and Hargrave met with her in Baltimore and, as he says, everything just snowballed from there.

This was before The Jinx and Making a Murderer , so there wasnt really a predecessor for making a series. We were thinking maybe wed make a feature-length documentary, he says. After shooting roughly 750 hours of footage, he realized that wouldnt be possible.

The Keepers reteams White with executive producer Jessica Hargrave , his longtime friend and creative partner.

Jess and I are best friends since we are 9 years old, so we go way back, White says, adding, I dont think there would be The Keepers without her or with any other producer.

From the outset, White and Hargrave worked side by side in the field and throughout the nearly yearlong editing process. Along with performing exhaustive research on topics like clergy abuse, Baltimores history and the statute of limitations in childhood sexual abuse cases, she nurtured relationships with many of the people featured in The Keepers .

I think it was very important to have a woman that was part of the team, White says. I think ( The Keepers ) is a womans story, when it comes down to it.

Perhaps the biggest challenge White and Hargrave faced was gaining the trust of their subjects, many of them abuse victims.

We spent a lot of time with people without a camera, just getting to know them, showing them that Were in it, we mean it, we want to be here, we want to support you, we want to do right by you, Hargrave says.

Adds White: It was a very small crew. It was such a sensitive subject matter that I think we needed familiar faces everywhere.

Whites crew consisted of just two other people: Hargrave and Baltimore-based cinematographer John Benam .

John was a fantastic addition, not only because of his skill, but because of his heart, Hargrave says. Hes an amazing man, and it really takes a special person to be able to connect with all of these survivors and make them feel comfortable.

And while White succeeded in getting dozens of people to speak on camera, he says not everyone was agreeable.

Im not talking about abuse victims ... Im talking about the people that might have information, the people that were in positions of power or might have witnessed something, he says. I found it very difficult and frustrating at times to try to get people who could validate the victims or corroborate the victims to go on the record.

The Keepers is certainly Whites most serious and personal film to date. It was also a learning experience, and he credits his subjects with helping him navigate such sensitive material.

Sometimes Jess and I would say the wrong thing  its so easy to trigger a child sex abuse victim when you dont even know that youre using the wrong language, or that a picture could trigger someone, he says. Learning how to be very careful in how you treat these situations and to always follow the lead of the survivors themselves has been very illuminating for me.

In addition to incorporating new footage, photos and archival materials, White shot several black-and-white cinematic sequences that bring some of his subjects memories to life. The moments are haunting and illuminating.

(It was) a way to always root the audience that, OK were going back into someones mind or someones memory, White says. So much of the series is about whats real and whats not real that we wanted to recreate that world of 1969 and 1970 Baltimore.

Baltimore is another essential character in The Keepers . Throughout the seven episodes, viewers learn about the citys past and meet generations of its citizens.

Everybody in my series are hard-working, regular people from Baltimore, for the most part (from) Catholic families, White says. It was a world I feel never had their story told. ... Yeah, there are criminals  Baltimore has a high crime rate  but as I hope people get a sense from the series, the people of Baltimore are good people who want the truth exposed.

The Keepers took nearly a year to edit, with three full-time editors and three assistant editors working on the project. As for its distribution, White and Hargrave say theyre eager for Netflix to release all seven episodes simultaneously on a global scale.

A big part of our decision process, honestly, was how survivors would cope with the distribution, White says. We thought it would be too emotionally taxing for our subjects to have to watch something once a week over the course of two months and not know what was going on.

He says Netflixs international, all-at-once model alleviates that concern.

This story has been buried for so long and the people have suffered under that burial, he says. (This way), there will be one day worldwide where the truth is unburied.

Netflix provides the platform and a number of eyeballs that we wouldnt be able to find anywhere else, adds Hargrave. Despite this being a story in a town in the United States, it represents something much bigger than that, and a lot of people will be able to see it, relate to it and apply it to their own lives, experiences and communities.

Visibility, more so than ever to me on my other films, is a huge part of this, White says. I feel like the reach Netflix has is also going to hopefully create that dialogue that, in a dream world, would stop this from happening again.
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Lured by the promise of tax breaks and cheap shale gas, Exxon Mobil has officially settled on a spot just outside two small South Texas towns to build a giant petrochemical plant.

The U.S. oil company and its Saudi partner announced Wednesday that the 1,400-acre plot in San Patricio County, about a mile away from local schools, will become home to the world's largest ethane cracker, a facility that converts ethane, a component of natural gas, into ethylene, the basic building block of most plastics.

For residents of Portland and Gregory, just north of Corpus Christi, steamy industrial facilities near the coastline are a familiar sight. But some never thought they'd see the oil industry expand so close to homes and schools, north of a highway that divides the region between its economic engines at the ports and everyday life.

"There are homes just across the street," said Adair Apple, who started a group called Portland Citizens United last year to oppose the development.

Exxon Mobil and its joint venture partner, SABIC, the Saudi Basic Industries Corp., examined dozens of sites across the Gulf Coast before it chose San Patricio County, where it would have easy access to port facilities, railways, housing and pipelines that carry abundant shale gas from fields in places like Karnes County about 90 miles north.

It's also a spot from which Exxon Mobil wants to ship the plastics needed for grocery store packaging to emerging markets in Asia and Latin America, where the Irving-based company expects plastics demand to grow as populations and middle-class incomes rise over the coming decade.

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"People are moving to cities and buying food in grocery stores," said Rob Tully, Exxon Mobil's project executive. In China, India and Latin America, "you're going to see tremendous growth."

Another factor in Exxon Mobil's decision: The local Gregory-Portland School Board voted to approve $460 million in property tax breaks over 15 years.

It's a trade-off officials believe will bring economic growth to the region. Exxon Mobil estimates that building the facilities will require 6,000 temporary jobs for construction and create 600 permanent jobs at the plant.

"It's a huge deal, on steroids," said Foster Edwards, executive director of the San Patricio Economic Development Corp. "We've already been contacted by other companies looking at our area. The economic impact is going to be enormous."

For Exxon Mobil, the next step is applying for air and wastewater permits from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Tully said Exxon Mobil planned to submit these permits on Wednesday, though he said it could take as long as two years before the permits are approved. The companies expect to make their final investment decision on the $10 billion project around this time next year, Tully added.

Once up and running, the ethane cracker would produce 1.9 million tons of ethylene. The companies believe that would make it the largest facility of its kind in the world. The plant is part of an Exxon Mobil initiative to unleash $20 billion for new projects across the Gulf Coast over the next decade.

Still, local activists plan to continue to oppose the plant's construction. Portland Citizens United expects to form coalitions with other environmental groups across the country and request a public meeting with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which could lead to a more official public hearing and ultimately to a contested case hearing before the environmental commission that could delay construction up to a year.

"It's too close to the schools," Jason Mutschler, who joined the Portland group in October. "We're going to continue this fight until there's benzene coming out of the flares."
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The oil and gas industry, after suffering through the worst downturn in at least three decades, is embarking on "a new cycle of expansion" as companies send dozens of new rigs into Texas oil fields, drill hundreds of more wells and hire thousands of workers.

The rig count is up 80 percent in Texas over the first quarter last year. Drilling permits have doubled, to 1,300. And state oil and gas employment has risen by 9,000 from the trough in September, according to Texas Petro Index, a monthly report on the state's oil and gas activity released this week.

"We still have a long way to go," said energy economist Karr Ingham, who created the index. "But 2017 is going to be a year of recovery and expansion in the Texas statewide oil and gas exploration and production economy."

As oil and gas companies begin reporting first quarter earnings this week, analysts, economists and executives say that a tentative recovery has gained traction and hit its stride. Oil prices have stabilized at around $50 a barrel in recent months, a level at which many companies can make money.

Energy companies have added jobs in Texas for five consecutive months, according to the Texas Workforce Commission, while manufacturing, which is tied closely to the state's oil and gas industry, added a record number of jobs in February. Meanwhile, a recent survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas found oil and gas executives upbeat, reporting increases in oil and gas production, drilling equipment needs, capital expenditures and salaries and benefits, and expecting an even better 2018.

"It's a pretty positive place to be for the energy industry right now," said Mine Yucel, an energy economist and head of the research department at the Dallas Fed.

Sector reinvigorated

Adam Anderson, chief executive at Innovex Down Hole Solutions, an oil well tool designer, manufacturer and service provider based in The Woodlands, said revenues at the privately held company have nearly doubled from a year ago as orders from West Texas' booming Permian Basin, North Dakota's Bakken and South Texas' Eagle Ford have skyrocketed.

"The recovery is on and we're feeling it," he said. "The challenge we have now is being able to keep up with the growing demand our customers are putting on us."

The industry was devastated by the crash in crude prices, from more than $100 a barrel in 2014 to less than $27 last year. Companies posted quarterly losses last year that sometimes exceeded $1 billion. More than 200 oil production and service firms declared bankruptcy. More than 100,000 Texans lost jobs. And while balance sheets improved late last year, earnings showed a tide stemmed, not stopped.

But analysts and economists expect first quarter earnings this year to reveal a sector reinvigorated.

The Houston pipeline company Kinder Morgan, the first in the energy sector to report earnings, said Wednesday that its profits climbed 45 percent to more than $400 million and revenues rose 7 percent to $3.4 billion. Executives said that they are hoping next year to begin restoring the company's dividend, slashed by 75 percent as the bust dragged on.

"We're going to have the fire power, we believe, to significantly raise the dividend," Executive Chairman and co-founder Richard Kinder said on an earnings call Wednesday.

Encouraging signs

The industry had other good news this week: Oil and gasoline stockpiles fell for the second consecutive week, a sign the industry finally may be working through its stubborn supply glut.

And on Thursday, OPEC and other major producers reached an initial agreement to extend output cuts through the end of the year, in advance of the cartel's formal meetings in May.

Still, economists warn, the world remains awash in oil and the industry remains far from regaining the peak activity reached in June 2014, when oil traded at $107 a barrel.

Global oil inventories remain above five-year averages, despite the nearly four-months of output cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Increased production by U.S. shale drillers and other non-OPEC nations have offset much of OPEC's cuts.

Texas energy economist Ray Perryman cautioned that the rebound is only a few months old, and no one knows whether increased U.S. production or other factors will undermine it. But, he added, "Given the fairly rapid growth in activity and employment, it's hard not to call it an expansion."
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A Houston real estate investment trust is making a mammoth acquisition of two Texas properties, including BLVD Place, the Whole Foods-anchored shopping and office complex on Post Oak Boulevard.

Whitestone REIT, owner of community shopping centers primarily in Texas and Arizona, said Wednesday that it will spend $204.6 million for the posh Uptown property, along with Eldorado Plaza in the Dallas suburb of McKinney.

The sale of BLVD Place is the latest blockbuster deal involving one of Houston's high-profile mixed-use developments.

Earlier this year the owner of the iconic Greenway Plaza and neighboring Phoenix Tower announced plans to sell nearly half of its interest in those properties to a group of institutional investors for $512.1 million.

Last summer, JPMorgan Asset Management acquired River Oaks District, an upscale development home to some of Houston's top luxury retail brands, for more than $550 million.

The acquisition of the 216,944-square-foot BLVD Place will come with 1.43 acres of land where Whitestone plans to build a six-story building with 46,000 square feet of retail space on the first two floors and 91,000 square feet of office space on the top four. The company estimates the development cost will be $45 million. Whitestone officials could not be reached Wednesday.

Jason Gaines, a senior vice president with NAI Partners, said real estate investment trusts have been eyeing urban, high-end assets  sometimes referred to as "core plus"  to add to their portfolios.

"These inner-city mixed use deals are pretty coveted," Gaines said. "It's a strong play for them."

RELATED: Upscale rumble is ahead in Uptown

Just down from the Galleria at the corner of San Felipe and Post Oak, BLVD Place is owned by a fund managed by Bailard of Foster City, Calif. The project's developer, Ed Wulfe of Houston-based Wulfe & Co., said the company is under a confidentiality agreement and that no deal had been finalized. Bailard could not be reached.

The first phase of BLVD Place was completed in 2009. In 2012, Apache Corp. acquired about six acres of the land to build a new office tower, but has yet to build anything on it.

Gaines said Bailard is likely selling BLVD Place because it was always its intention to do so or it was part of an investment fund that has run its course.

"It's not any sort of distress," he said.

Whitestone noted in announcing the deal that average household income within a five-mile radius of both BLVD Place and the McKinney property is $124,000.

In its announcement Wednesday afternoon, Whitestone said it is negotiating financing terms with potential lenders to fund a portion of the BLVD Place purchase price with $80 million in mortgage financing.

In McKinney, El Dorado Plaza is home to national companies and regional branch offices, including Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo, Pizza Hut, Hilton Hotels, NexBank, iHeart Communications and Mary Kay Cosmetics.

The property contains 221,577 square feet of space, and Whitestone will have the option to purchase an additional 1.86 acres of land that would allow it to build approximately 24,000 square feet of additional space. Eldorado Plaza is 97 percent leased, and Whitestone expects to fund a portion of the purchase price with borrowings under its unsecured revolving credit facility.

Both properties are expected to close next month.

Whitesone, which was founded in 1998 and had its initial public offering in 2010, owned 55 properties as of the end of 2016. The company, formerly was known as Hartman Commercial Properties REIT, made $8.1 million last year on revenue of $104.4 million.

The BLVD Place acquisition is Whitestone's 28th property in the Houston region.

Whitestone stock closed at $14.25 Wednesday, down 15 cents, before the deal was announced. The company also said it is offering 8.1 million shares.

Proceeds will be used to repay a portion of the company's debt under a revolving line of credit that will then allow Whitestone to borrow to fund a portion of its pending acquisitions.
Suspect alleged to be connected to many fallen top officials

China's foreign ministry said Wednesday that Interpol had issued a "red notice" for Guo Wengui, a suspect wanted by China who is alleged to have been connected to a number of graft scandals.

Guo, who is known to have close ties with disgraced former State security vice minister Ma Jian, has mainly lived in the US since leaving China two years ago.

The South China Morning Post first reported that an Interpol "red notice" was issued for Guo at China's request on Tuesday evening, citing unidentified sources. The newspaper said Guo is suspected of bribing Ma with 60 million yuan ($8.71 million). Ma, who worked in counter-espionage, is being prosecuted for graft and was expelled from the Communist Party of China in December.

"What we understand is that Interpol has already issued a 'red notice' for criminal suspect Guo Wengui," foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said at a regular press briefing in Beijing, without elaborating.

A "red notice" is an international alert to seek the location and arrest of wanted persons with a view to extradition or similar lawful action, according to Interpol.

However the "red notice" is not an arrest warrant and the US does not have an extradition treaty with China.

Guo, writing on his Twitter account, said Interpol was an organization and not a government and had no administrative powers, and that for many years he has had no Chinese identity documents.

In an e-mailed response to questions, Interpol said it does not comment on specific cases without the approval of the country sharing information on investigations and fugitives, Reuters reported.

Countries requesting "red notices" can also have them published on the Interpol website. There was no such notice for Guo or any of his known aliases as of press time.

"If no red notice is published, this is either because one has not been requested or issued for that person, or the requesting country has asked that it not be publicized," Interpol said in its e-mail.

'Pangu Club'

Guo, boss of real estate company Beijing Zenith Holdings that owns the landmark Pangu Plaza near the Beijing Olympic Park in northern Beijing, reportedly created a "Pangu Club" that gathered together senior government officials and rich businesspeople.

According to Chinese finance magazine Caixin, the downfall of China's top insurance regulator, Xiang Junbo, is allegedly related to Guo.

Caixin quoted anonymous sources as saying that Xiang, while serving as board director of the State-owned Agricultural Bank of China, approved a loan worth 3.2 billion yuan to Guo's financially strained company in 2010.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced its investigation into Xiang, the most senior financial regulator to be probed, on April 9.

Guo also allegedly toppled the former vice mayor of Beijing, Liu Zhihua, and secured a key land development project near the National Stadium in Beijing. Caixin quoted sources close to the matter as saying that Guo caused Liu's downfall by sending the authorities a sex tape starring Liu and his mistress.

Caixin also alleged that Guo is connected to Wang Youjie, former Party chief of Zhengzhou, Henan Province, who was handed a suspended death sentence in 2007 for corruption.

Zhang Yue, former head of the Hebei Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission and a member of the province's Party committee, was another official who provided help to Guo's business and was removed from his post in 2016.

Media reports said Zhang's downfall is linked to his part in jailing Guo's rival Qu Long, former head of Beijing Zhongyin Investment.

Qu, a former business partner of Guo, broke with Guo over business disputes and tried to report Guo for the illegal practice of "seizing State assets." After Zhang intervened, Qu was sentenced to 15 years and jailed on charges of "misappropriation," China Business News quoted multiple sources as saying.
Sarah Rhea was out of town on a weekend business trip when her husband called, worried that their 4-year-old son's fever, sore throat and cough were worse than the day before.

It sounded like it could be strep throat, which usually warrants a trip to the nearest urgent care center. But the Rheas tried a handy new option, launched in November in The Woodlands: an Uber-like smartphone app that allows parents to summon a nurse practitioner to their home.

"She determined it was likely just a virus and definitely not strep," said Rhea, executive director of a Montgomery County nonprofit. "But the great value was that it provided us peace of mind. That's no small thing when your child is sick."

The pilot program, a partnership between Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital and a new Dallas-based startup called PediaQ, marries today's technology-driven clamor for in-demand services with the old-fashioned house call. Thanks to the tool, parents are able to quickly connect with nurse practitioners who can diagnose and treat common childhood injuries and illnesses during off hours when pediatrician offices are typically closed.

There are a number of app-based services providing house calls in certain big cities  Pager, Heal, Medicast and Dispatch Health are the best known  but PediaQ says it's the first to cater specifically only to kids, not adults. It is the first of any kind of such services in Houston.

It's also part of a broader ongoing effort, from telemedicine to walk-in clinics in retail stores, to make health care more convenient to the patient.

Memorial Hermann officials say their partnership with PediaQ marks "an evolution" in personal pediatric health and represents their latest strategy to "transform the way health-care is delivered."

Primary care experts offer mixed views on whether the transformation is a good thing.

"PediaQ's approach plays on notions of fear and the market rather than providing real added value," said Dr. Stephen Martin, a professor of family medicine and community health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. "If it was being offered to kids on Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, it would be more compelling. But this is just getting people with money to pay for additional health care, monetizing what should be happening in primary care anyway."

But Dr. Igor Shumskiy, a pediatric resident physician practicing at several Boston area hospitals and self-described house call advocate, said the Memorial Hermann-PediaQ program seems like "a great service that complements primary care." He said the model - patients get quality care at home, the family's pediatrician gets a report of the visit - is preferable to the family going to the ER, where the child may contract someone else's infection and the doctor rarely gets a report.

House calls were commonplace in the U.S. in the 1930s and 1940s but died out as medicine became more technologically sophisticated. By 1980, they had become just 1 percent of doctor appointments, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.

PediaQ leaders in 2014 first saw the potential for the practice to make a comeback. Sensitive to parents' cries for more care options during after-hours and millennials' push to obtain on-demand services, PediaQ determined nurse practioners could be a great source of home care. Increasingly, they are being given authority to provide care as one solution to the nation's shortage of doctors, projected to reach 90,000 by 2025.

The company launched in 2015 in north Texas without a hospital partner; in 2016 in Waco with Baylor, Scott & White Medical Center as its partner; and in 2016 in Houston, initially without a hospital partner but now with Children's Memorial Hermann. In that time, about a year, PediaQ nurse practitioners have provided more than 3,500 house calls in Texas.

The company plans to go national soon.

In Houston, the partnership is available only in The Woodlands and surrounding communities on weekends and Monday nights, with additional weeknights soon to follow. The plan is to expand services throughout the area.

"For the last several years, parents have told us how nice it would be to have pediatric home visits," said Dr. Victoria Regan, senior vice president for Memorial Hermann's women's and children's service line. "Families today frequently have two working parents, parents who can't always get to doctors the next morning like they'd like. This helps them plan their week and know what to expect, so they won't miss a lot of work."

The service works as simply as Uber. Parents open the app, plug in their information and request a home visit. Within minutes, a nurse practitioner will call for details and make sure the situation doesn't warrant a trip to the emergency room. If the family still desires a house call, the nurse practitioner will arrive within an hour, armed with any necessary tests. The next day a visit report is sent to the family's pediatrician.

If the visit is covered by insurance  PediaQ accepts BlueCross BlueShield, Aetna, Cigna and UnitedHealthCare  families pay a standard co-pay plus a $25 convenience fee (currently being waived). Without insurance, it's $150 plus the fee. Any lab tests are extra. There's no fee if a nurse practitioner doesn't make a house call after the phone consult.

The program seems bound to be a hit with parents, but is it a good use of health care dollars? The business moved away from house calls because it was more efficient to bring patients to doctors; enlisting nurse practitioners during off hours changes the equation a bit, but it will still tie up well-salaried employees in a lot of drive time. It's also unclear if house calls will actually cut ER use: experts say studies have found that other "patient-friendly" ventures touted for having the same potential don't result in a decrease.

Martin extols the value of house calls for patients who are vulnerable, newly discharged from the hospital or with transportation challenges. But he says most after-hours house calls sought by concerned parents would be unnecessary, involving either mild illnesses, such as earaches and sore throats, that can't be resolved overnight and can wait until the next morning; or more serious issues, such as neonatal fever and asthma flares, that need care at an ER or urgent care center anyway.

Martin says house calls for relatively healthy people is a perfect example of "the inverse care law" that characterizes so much of America's health practices: "the less treatment you really need, the more you get; the more you need, the less you get."

Shumskiy, who's conducting research on the subject, thinks a cost-effective house call business model can be achieved for under-served inner city populations. Eighty-five percent of such families his team interviewed, he notes, said they would love telemedicine and house calls and would prefer them to going to the ER.

Shumskiy adds that a home visit, with its window into how the family lives, provides the practitioner more patient information and creates a bond hard to duplicate in the clinic. He also notes the primary benefit of many appointments at a doctor's office is no different than that which families often get out of a house call  peace of mind.

"It made perfect sense to move away from house calls the past five decades, but this may be the perfect time to transition back to home care," said Shumskiy. "We can run strep throat screens and blood tests at home. Low-acuity cases don't need to come to the hospital or doctor's office." 
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The barbarians are at the gates.

That, in essence, was the message conveyed in a letter - a sort of memo to voters - written and distributed recently by a Pearland real estate agent. The document is bouncing around social media this week as residents of the fast-growing suburb prepare to elect a mayor, City Council members and school trustees on May 6.

"It has just come to my attention," the letter states, "that the liberal gay rights Democrats have put their candidates in the Pearland election to try and take over City Council and the school board." The writer urged support for seven candidates, mostly incumbents in contested races.

Within days, several progressive organizations issued statements denouncing the letter. And at least three of the candidates it endorsed, including longtime Mayor Tom Reid, took to Facebook to disavow it.

"The tone of the letter is something I detest in local politics," wrote Pearland ISD trustee Charles Gooden Jr. "I in no way support or condone the contents of this document," wrote City Councilman Gary Moore. Declared Reid: "This letter was released without my consent or knowledge."

Why, you might ask, would these officials bother to react to a brief message from a private citizen who doesn't represent anyone but herself? (The letter included the author's name and phone number; I couldn't reach her, and I'm withholding her name to spare her any further embarrassment.)

More for you Six vie for new Pearland council position

But a closer look at the wording of the document, and at the context in which it emerged, might help to explain why it created so much buzz.

Elections for Pearland's local officials, like others around the state, are officially nonpartisan. But the Republican Party has long been dominant at all levels of politics in Pearland and throughout Brazoria County, which encompasses most of the city. The prospect of Democrats gaining a foothold - even if they're not running under the party banner - might create some anxiety among entrenched office-holders and their supporters.

Adding to this concern, perhaps, is the involvement of the Texas Democratic Party organization in Pearland elections this year. As part of a two-year-old initiative to support candidates in local races, the state party is backing Quentin Wiltz for mayor, J. Darnell Jones for a council seat and Mike Floyd for a school board position.

Moreover, the letter's reference to "gay rights Democrats" has particular resonance in Pearland, where memories of last year's inflammatory, widely publicized comments by Pearland ISD Superintendent John Kelly are still fresh.

Kelly, responding to federal guidance that students should have access to school restrooms matching their gender identity, went off on a rant, comparing such policies to support for pedophilia and polygamy. He said the Supreme Court had paved the way for this kind of social engineering when it "redefined marriage" by endorsing same-sex unions.

The reaction continued for months. An online petition called on the superintendent to resign or apologize (he did neither), but a petition supporting Kelly attracted about the same number of signatures.

These mixed responses reflect the messy nature of change in a small town that very quickly becomes a small city. Pearland's population, now about 120,000, has tripled since 2000.

A group of deeply conservative residents remains uncomfortable with the kind of social change reflected in policies recognizing same-sex marriage or understanding the needs of transgender children.

But this group's influence is gradually giving way to the ideas of younger professionals flocking to the master-planned communities along Texas 288.

Many of these new arrivals, regardless of their party affiliation, might have gay friends or know parents of transgender children. They don't react well when they see terms like "gay rights Democrats" used as a pejorative.

It is simplistic, of course, to divide any community into two camps based on length of residence and geography: old Pearland on the east, new Pearland on the west. Yet this dynamic does seem to apply, however imperfectly. Its durability could face a test in next month's election.
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Shayne Wells learned to please picky palates long before he appeared on national TV and cooked for some of the world's greatest chefs.

After serving as his family's primary chef for three years, the now-14-year-old has developed a knack for whipping up meals that satisfied everyone except his older brother Tyler. Now 15, Tyler refused to eat any green or remotely heart-healthy foods until Shayne employed new tactics. He'd grind greens up or combine them seamlessly with meats, not unlike a pet owner tricking a dog into taking a pill by shoving it into a bite-sized morsel of meat.

"I love to make risotto; my brother will eat that, but a good risotto always has a little onion and a little garlic," Well said. "I told him there's nothing in it, and he can't spot it because (it) blends in really nicely. That tricks him into eating some things."

Shayne, an eighth-grader at Shindewolf Intermediate School in Klein ISD, was among 40 youngsters to compete on Fox's "MasterChef Junior" reality cooking competition out of thousands of teens and preteens who competed nationwide for the coveted spots. Since the premiere of the fifth season in February, Shayne has prepared steaks, vegan burgers and bone-in pork chops, along with a myriad of side dishes. Last week, he made the final eight after impressing notoriously tough Chef Gordon Ramsay with a beef Wellington complimented by sides of mashed potatoes, sauteed asparagus and a mushroom gravy. The next episode airs at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Aaron Sanchez, an El Paso-born chef who has judged adult cooking competitions such as "Chopped" and "Iron Chef," said Shayne's Texas roots showed in the perfect preparation of his beef.

Shayne flashed the judges a grin, his blue eyes beaming as he walked back to his cooking station.

Shayne, who was 13 at the time of filming, was the oldest contestant this season; the youngest was 8.

His mother, Shelley, said Shayne flocked to the kitchen with his grandparents on Sundays, eager to get in on the action.

"He always has to be in the center of things; that's how (the cooking) started," Shelley said.

But after a few years with Shayne as sous chef, his family realized he had a knack for creating recipes and crafting edible creations. They drove to downtown Houston from Spring last year for "MasterChef Junior's" open auditions.

Kids were given two tasks: cook an egg and chop celery.

Shayne decided to poach his egg rather than reach for a whisk, a decision that separated him from the dozens of other hopefuls. He got a call back from the show's producers within hours of his public debut. He said he landed a spot on the show "probably because of my hairdo - and my loving personality."

Shelley accompanied Shayne out to Los Angeles for taping, where they lived in a hotel with other young chefs and their families. The middle-schooler was astounded by the lack of rain and humidity out west, noting that his mom "really liked that it didn't mess up her hair."

"This was the first time he got to be with kids who like to cook and have those types of conversations," Shelley said. "It was really neat (to) see the kids talk about their favorite things to cook and traditions in their homes."

Shayne says he still exchanges messages with other contestants nearly every day. One of his best friends from the show, an enthusiastic California teen named Mashu Nishi, has traveled out to Texas for visits.

Since this season's premiere, Shelley said, people will sometimes recognize Shayne at a grocery store or park. Once, a concessionaire at an Astros game did a double-take, told Shayne her daughter loved watching him and pleaded for a selfie.

How does a family keep a 14-year-old humble after he's appeared on national TV?

"We let his older brother do that," Shelley said, laughing. "He likes to remind him 'You're just Shayne' - no one is that special. But Shayne has been very grounded through all of this. He's still surprised when people come up to him and recognize him from the show."

Still, it's easy to see why fans and judges took to Shayne's positive attitude and wisecracks, as well as his scrumptious dishes. He hopes the experience will launch him to a dream career of owning a restaurant or food truck.

"Maybe I could be the next Gordon Ramsay," he said.
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When she came home, Tu Huynh walked right into what she would later describe as a "heartbreaking nightmare."

In the bedroom of the Newpark Drive home she shared with her husband and young daughter, she found the 34-year-old civil engineer shot to death Feb. 2.

"Nothing in life can prepare you for finding your husband dead," she told reporters Wednesday.

Frantic, Huynh called 911, but after an interrogation - during which she says she was denied a lawyer - the 29-year-old found herself behind bars, facing a murder charge after police claimed she faked her husband's suicide.

'An easy target'

Three days later, friends and family bonded her out, but Huynh still lost her job and found herself plagued by negative publicity.

"My face was splattered over the TV and newspaper accompanied by rumors, assumption and speculations," she said. "I was accused of killing my husband to get insurance money."

It wasn't until two months after the shooting that the medical examiner ruled Steven Hafer's death a suicide, and prosecutors dropped the charges against Huynh.

"I want the record to be absolutely clear I do not know specifically what drove Steven to do what he did," she said this week. "But I pray that he's now in peace. I did not kill him. I did not shoot my husband."

At one point, prosecutors said Huynh admitted to having an affair with an ex-boyfriend before her husband's death. Huynh said Wednesday that wasn't true, though she admitted the couple had their troubles and called the relationship "a work in progress."

"I wish law enforcement had prioritized the finding of facts instead of an easy target to demonize. I wish the media took seriously the task of educating the public instead of reporting scandalous rumors and half-truths for shock value," she said.

Her lawyer, David Armbruster, did not rule out the possibility of pursuing a civil action, though he did not shed light on what specific details of the medical examiner's findings prompted prosecutors to drop the case.

"It was an absolute lack of evidence," he said. "In my opinion, I think law enforcement jumped to conclusions."

Getting her life back

Investigators initially became suspicious when they said Huynh kept changing her story about the shooting, prosecutors said. The shotgun had apparently been wiped clean, and the trajectory did not match a self-inflicted wound, they said.

Armbruster said Wednesday he thought investigators should have paid more attention to the trajectory and impact of the shot fired.

Originally from Vietnam, Huynh immigrated to the United States in 2004 and was later granted citizenship. She eventually became a registered nurse and had once worked at the MD Anderson Cancer Center.

She met Hafer, a Michigan native, through mutual friends in the Houston area. In 2014 the couple married and had a daughter.

Josh Becker, one of Hafer's longtime friends, later said the couple's relationship had "a lot of intensity" but described Huynh as "almost angel-like."

"Nothing would give a clue that something like this would happen," he said after the arrest.

Now, two months later, the young mother is struggling to put her life back together.

"Steven, the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with, the father of my child - suddenly he's gone," she said. "He will never come back. What will I tell my daughter?"
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AUSTIN -- In a clear signal of a war over the state budget, House leaders are asking Attorney General Ken Paxton to block an accounting maneuver by Senate leaders that would give them an additional $2.5 billion to balance their draft version of the budget.

At issue: a four-word phrase in the Texas Constitution that directs the Texas comptroller to deposit the $2.5 billion for highway funding "in that state fiscal year" when the revenue was collected as taxes.

At a time when final budget negotiations between the two chambers are poised to start, House Speaker Joe Straus and Rep. John Zerwas, the House's budget czar, blasted the Senate plan to delay the transfer of money into the state highway fund as "clearly and unambiguously" violating the state Constitution on such transfers.

The seven-page letter to Paxton, who as the state's top attorney is expected to rule soon on the legality of the Senate plan, quickly touched off an angry response from Senate leaders, who appeared to harden their resolve on the issue.

Both sides promised not to back off their positions, meaning that a final state budget could be hostage until the issue is resolved.

Since Paxton's ruling do not carry the force of law, legislative leaders already are predicting the issue could end up in court -- with just over a month left before the legislative session ends.

Last week, the Senate's chief budget writer, Jane Nelson, asked Paxton to rule that the Senate plan was legal, arguing that delaying the transfer by a month of the $2.5 billion to the highway fund from sales tax collections would not run afoul of wording in the constitution requiring it be transferred in the same fiscal year.

Because the Senate plan would delay it for a month -- from August 2019 until September 2019, into the next fiscal year -- House leaders have said the maneuver is illegal -- a plan that Straus last month said was "cooking the books."

Senate leaders have accused House budget-writers of using improper accounting tricks to balance their version of the budget, as well, for delaying a $1.9 billion payment for public schools into the next two-year cycle. The House plan would also tap the state's Rainy Day Fund, a savings account, for $2,5 billion in a move the Senate has said it will reject.

In the letter filed late Tuesday with Paxton, attorney Frank Battle wrote that Straus and Zerwas "believe the constitution clearly and unambiguously requires" that state money must be paid into the state highway fund "in the same fiscal year that the underlying revenue was received."

In her letter to Paxton last week, Nelson said Comptroller Glenn Hegar has determined it is not logistically feasible to calculate the tax revenue in question until after the end of the fiscal year, suggesting that it is impossible to comply with the Constitution.

Battle said the Senate plan could violate the rules of the Texas House, raising the possibility that a lawmaker could kill the budget through a procedural motion known as a point of order. If passed, the budget could also open the door to lawsuits from any Texas taxpayer arguing that lawmakers had unconstitutionally spent public funds, he noted in his letter.

Several times in recent years, both the Senate and House have relied on accounting maneuvers to balance the budget. But in recent weeks, House and Senate leaders have increasingly been at odds publicly over budget issues -- and leaders in both chambers have said the proposed maneuvers promise to be the single most contentious issue in final budget talks expected to begin sometime next week.
Yessir, General! Sir! What were we thinking? Ours is not to reason why; ours is but to do or.

"Shut up!"

We're quoting Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general, one of Donald Trump's coterie of military tough guys who revert occasionally to their Pattonesque persona. Trump, perhaps recalling his military-school youth, is no doubt thrilled. The rest of us, citizens of a fractious democracy where debate and disagreement are patriotic duties, need to remind these guys that they're no longer in uniform. Their wish is not our command.

Kelly was aiming his tough-guy directive at lawmakers and other critics of Trump's noxious new deportation policies, which include unleashing aggressive immigration and border security forces intent on apprehending law-abiding residents in their homes, where they work and in public spaces.

"If lawmakers do not like the laws that we enforce, that we are charged to enforce, that we are sworn to enforce - then they should have the courage and skill to change those laws," Kelly said in a speech on Tuesday to an audience of diplomatic and national security officials at George Washington University. "Otherwise, they should shut up and support the men and women on the front lines."

Kelly has previously said that immigration officers are not targeting those without criminal records. Either he doesn't know what he's talking about, or he's not telling the truth to the American people. A recent Washington Post analysis found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests of non-criminals have doubled under Trump. Anecdotal evidence from around the country, including here in Houston, underscores that analysis.

"This administration is purposefully targeting formerly 'low priority' undocumented immigrants who are deeply rooted in American families and American communities," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice Education Fund, in an interview with the Chronicle's Kevin Diaz. Sharry's organization is an advocacy group for immigrants.

Sharry also took issue with Kelly's tone: "We live in a democracy, Secretary Kelly. We pay our taxes, our taxes pay your salary, and you are accountable to the people who make up our nation. Telling us to 'shut up and support the men and women on the front lines' is not how it works, even in the Trump era."

Kelly was right about one thing: Lawmakers should have "the courage and skill" to fix the nation's broken immigration system. They don't. For years, they've cowered in their Capitol fox holes, rising up occasionally to bray about border threats and then ducking down again when it comes time to craft safe, reasonable and humane laws determining who comes to this country and who stays. What's frustrating is that the system is fixable, as the U.S. Senate's comprehensive immigration reform legislation proved in 2013. That effort was stymied by the so-called House Freedom Caucus, the rump group of lawmakers opposed to any path to legalization for law-abiding undocumented immigrants.

Nothing's going to change, Christina Sisk, an immigration scholar at the University of Houston, told the Chronicle, "because the country is in the middle of a culture war."

Secretary Kelly presumably knows about war, but we would suggest, with all due respect, there's something else he needs to know in his new civilian role: Critics are not going to shut up about this nation's broken and unjust immigration system. Sir.
I've been privileged to observe scientific work as a researcher and as a writer. From that close-up view, I know the potential negative impacts of proposed cuts to federal research funding, the ongoing effort to censor scientific discoveries, as well as the push to deregulate environmental protection standards. I also know that scientists too often speak a unique lingo that only they understand, or, worse, don't talk at all about their work to people outside scientific circles.

So my decision to participate in Saturday's March for Science is prompted by my hope that this demonstration will usher in an era of open communication, where we are all invested in the benefits that a robust science community offers.

From promoting science education to advocating for increased federal research funding to promoting evidence-based policies that serve the public, science should serve the common good. Science has the potential to make all of our lives better, no matter what our background or beliefs may be.

Over the course of my time spent in research, I've worked alongside a wide range of dedicated and talented researchers. As a research assistant, I worked on projects that sought to better understand how the human body develops. Exploring these questions provides insight into congenital disorders, as well as possible therapies for a whole range of diseases. The research I worked on was made possible by funding from government organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, as well as private organizations such as the March of Dimes.

As I shifted into working as a science writer, I've had the privilege of interviewing researchers about subjects ranging from their efforts to find better ways to monitor air pollution, to understand the effect groundwater removal has on Houston's flood zones, as well as to answer basic questions about chemistry and biology.

This research has had one common point: Most of it is supported by either federal funding or private organizations. Our tax dollars fund research that is often too risky for private companies to invest in. In turn, these discoveries form the foundation for new drug development, innovations in technology, and shape best-practice recommendations for keeping our air and water clean, as well as ensuring that our food and drugs are safe for everyone.

The payoff from federal funding of research is that it makes all of our lives better. We all benefit from clean air and water, new disease treatments, and the jobs that will result from the innovation that research fosters. A strong science curriculum also offers the benefits of teaching students how to think critically, how to pose questions, and how to find and articulate the answers to these questions.

Beyond providing funding, our government has another important role in promoting the value of science. Research is, by its very nature, risky and unpredictable. Sometimes that new drug that patients and stakeholders are placing enormous amounts of hope in will turn out to have risky side-effects. Sometimes that new technology that looks so promising may have environmental effects that will harm people. We need a government to implement safety regulations and oversight in order to ensure that our air is clean, our water safe to drink, and our medicines will heal rather than harm.

As a science writer, my job is to communicate science discoveries to the public. What I've noticed is a culture where scientists remain cloistered in their labs, speaking mainly to other scientists. Some of this is by necessity, as the constant cuts to research funding in the past 20 years have left scientists scrambling to find the necessary funds to keep their labs running; public outreach has fallen to the wayside. Some of this is because of the fact that as science branches out into more and more subspecialties, scientists have learned to speak a highly specialized language. Watching this divide has been frustrating, and often heart-breaking, as I have met so many scientists who went into their fields out of a desire to help others. But their stories aren't being told to broad audiences.

As I've witnessed the enormous outpouring of public support for science and the work of scientists, I've become hopeful. Science has affected all of our lives. It fuels our medical treatments, our environmental stewardship, and drives technological innovation. My biggest hope for this March for Science, which will take place from Sam Houston Park to City Hall at 11 a.m. Saturday, is that it will be the start of a growing wave of public support and awareness for science, one that informs and benefits our education system and public policy, as well as our community at large. It's time to rally for the value that science brings to all our lives.

Fairbank is a science writer and graduate student in creative writing at the University of Houston.
(Photo/Thepaper.cn)

The PLA Navy celebrates Navy Day every year on April 23. This year marks the 68th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese navy. It is also the second year of the nation's military reform, which positions the PLA Navy to take on more responsibilities.

Below are some must-know facts about the PLA Navy, which guards the country's 18,000-kilometer-long coastal line and 3 million square kilometers of waters.

According to the PLA Daily, the Chinese navy has several hundred troops stationed on mountainous islands in the sea. Combat ships are out in the water for nearly two-thirds of the year. Every day, thousands of naval soldiers and officers go to work on hundreds of ships, and every single one of them is expertly trained to fight, should the need arise. China has also made breakthroughs in the development of aircraft carriers, and is one of the few countries in the world that can independently train pilots for carrier-based fight jets.

(Photo/Thepaper.cn)

Blue-water training has become a regular practice for the Chinese navy. To enhance the nation's convoy and combat capability, China has stepped up training away from home. Naval ships and aircraft have made several hundred training trips. Between the end of 2016 and early 2017, China's aircraft carrier fleet also for the first time joined blue-water training in the West Pacific.

Every year, several hundred navy patrol trips are made to enhance the security of waters under Chinese jurisdiction. Meanwhile, the weapons advancement and logistics for naval forces have made remarkable progress, with the arrival of more advanced depot ships, emergency response ships and helicopters. New technologies have even ensured that fresh fruit and vegetables can be preserved for up to 50 days, up from the previous 15. The Chinese navy has demonstrated high efficiency in escort missions, joint rescue and evacuation.

(Photo/Thepaper.cn)
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"We will set [our industry] back because the rest of the world will move to low-carbon energyand the countries that provide the cutting-edge technology will derive economic benefit from it ... China is already in the race to be the low-cost provider of just about every renewable energy, electric vehicles, smart railand the Chinese government has announced that by 2025 it wants China to be an advanced technology leader in the low-carbon economy.

Trump is basically telling them, 'Go aheadthe U.S. is going to become the champion of the 20th-century economy.'"
Even though many of us enjoy dropping a fizzy, colourful and fragrant bath bomb into a warm tub after a long day, experts are now suggesting that they may actually be doing a lot more harm than good  especially to your vagina.

Dr. Vanessa Mackay, spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in the U.K., explained to Metro back in February that when it comes to washing your lady parts, it's best not to get too fancy with the soaps.

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"Its a good idea to avoid perfumed soaps, gels and antiseptics as these can affect the healthy balance of bacteria and pH levels in the vagina and cause irritation," she shared. "Use plain, unperfumed soaps to wash the area around the vagina (the vulva), not inside it, gently every day."

But for some women, it can go well beyond just irritation.

"[These changes in pH balance] create an opportunity for bad bacteria to overtake the vaginal atmosphere and cause an infection," Jessica Shepherd, M.D., director of minimally invasive gynecology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, recently told Self.

Yikes!

Aside from that, just sitting in a tub for too long can lead to a potential UTI. And we'll take a wild guess and assume that you probably don't want a vagina full of glitter after a bath.

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So what should you do if you want your vagina smelling and feeling fresh? Shepherd noted it best just to leave it alone.

A little water and the vagina's own self-cleaning mechanisms should do the trick, she recommends.

Besides, your vajayjay isn't supposed to smell of rainbows, butterflies and Instagram likes, anyways.

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The CEO of United Airlines will have further conversations with customers and related government officials in an upcoming trip to China, a move interpreted by some analysts as an emergency measure to restore the companys tarnished image.

During the carriers first quarter earnings call, held on April 18, Oscar Munoz, CEO of United, told media that he will visit China, adding that the trip had been planned prior to the controversial incident, in which a 69-year-old passenger, David Dao, was violently dragged off the flight to make room for United employees.

This is not the first time that Munoz has made friendly overtures to Chinese customers and officials. According to a Reuters report, Munoz has already met with the Chinese consulate in Chicago over possible fallout from the incident, though the company said it was too early to tell if business in China had been hit by the event.

Dao was mistakenly described in early media reports as being Chinese-American. His suffering ignited Chinese netizens' wrath, resulting in calls to boycott the carrier. Though the company did not acknowledge any connection between Munozs China trip and the countrys threatened boycott, some analysts and media outlets have guessed that Munoz may be hoping to do damage control during his time in China.

United receives about 20 percent of all U.S.-China traffic, and also enjoys a partnership with Air China, the country's third largest airline, according to Reuters.
Jaxson Slade was only 13 months old when he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia on Sept. 12, 2013.

His family, who live in Paradise, N.L., soon learned the life-threatening cancer, which starts in the bone marrow but can spread quickly into the blood, would require three rounds of chemotherapy, and then a bone marrow transplant.

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But first they needed a donor.

Barely five months later, they found a "10/10" match in Michael Menafee, a Chicago native who was registered to the DKMS national bone marrow registry in the U.S.

After Menafee underwent the hour-long procedure and hip extraction required for donation at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Jaxson successfully received the stem cells and spent eight weeks at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. According to his mother, he was "not allowed to leave his room at all" for half of that time.

"I can't tell you how many days and nights that I wished I could trade places with him so he wouldn't have to feel pain," says Melissa Slade, Jaxson's mother, in a statement to The Huffington Post Canada.

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She adds that what made the transplant even more difficult for her and their family was juggling Jaxson's care with that of his older brother Morgan, who was three at the time. Her husband Curtis Slade took off eight months of work to spend more time with his son as he recovered, too.

Jaxson's since had a smooth recovery, as has Menafee, who is now 32, and based in Guatemala with the Peace Corps.

"I was thankful and excited to hear how great Jaxson was doing," writes Menafee in an email to The Huffington Post Canada. "It took me [about a week and a half] to get back to normal. The pain was minimal, it was as if I just fell down on a patch of ice."

"We were a perfect match, which was incredible to me."

This unlikely match also caught DKMS CEO Carina Ortel by surprise, as Jaxson is Caucasian and Menafee is African-American.

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"Finding the perfect match from somebody from a different ethnicity is very rare and truly a miracle."

"Finding the perfect match from somebody from a different ethnicity is very rare and truly a miracle, but it does happen," says Ortel over the phone. "But because chances are much higher on finding a match within an ethnicity, we do make more of an effort to register diverse donors in the registry, as only six per cent are African-American, and one of them is Michael [Menafee]."

Jaxson and Menafee may be a genetic odd couple, but they've subsequently formed quite a bond.

The four-year-old and his American bone marrow donor met for the first time this month  almost three years after their procedure connected them to each other  to spend the Easter holiday together.

Menafee calls the heartfelt reunion in Paradise, N.L. "an intangible moment," and brought Slade a Mario book bag, which he reportedly "loved" and now "he brings it everywhere he goes."

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"I was and am happy he is a healthy, nearly five-year-old full of energy and life," says Menafee. "Jaxson knows that I helped him when he was ill. Since he is so young, he does not understand how gravely ill he was, [but] someday he will understand more."

The Slades first reached out to the donor last April, first through email and then via Facebook. Menafee says they now speak about once a week.

He flew out to Newfoundland about a year later, and the family hosted an open house to celebrate his arrival. The Slades also travelled with Menafee to visit local historic sites in the area like Signal Hill and the Battery.

"It was an emotional and thankful experience for all who attended," says Menafee. "I like it here a lot! The people are friendly and [Newfoundland] has a lot of rich history."

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Though Menafee's week in Paradise, N.L. has come to a close, he hopes he and the Slades will continue to keep in touch.

"I absolutely will return to visit Jaxson and the rest of the family," says Menafee. "They all are a part of my family now and mean a lot to me."

For more information on bone marrow transplants, check out blood.ca or DKMS.

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Searching for a little bit of decency in the world? This tweet might help.

For someone who identifies as transgender, intersex or is a gender nonconforming individual, despite advances in acceptance, life is still very difficult, especially when it comes to going to the restroom.

Thankfully, more and more places are introducing gender inclusive bathrooms to allow people of all genders to have access to a bathroom and feel safe.

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So when 19-year-old student Julissa Emile discovered that location of her school's collegiate poetry slam competition in Chicago featured a gender neutral bathroom, she decided to celebrate  by taking a picture of herself in there, of course.

But that's when something even better happened, as more and more people joined in on the photo to create a beautiful symbol of inclusivity.

Speaking with Buzzfeed News, Emile explains that she was just taking selfies in this amazing bathroom and then my friend Madaline joined me, and then Ellie and Lucas and Jeffry came in.

Posting this selfie here because it went viral and I want everyone to know that I'm THAT bitch A post shared by  JULISSA  (@motherindigo) on Apr 14, 2017 at 6:02am PDT

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Emile shared these photos on Twitter with the caption: A gender neutral bathroom but every time I take a picture more queer people get in the photo.

A gender neutral bathroom but every time I take a picture more queer people get in the photo pic.twitter.com/H3z9hi5ZGN   JUJU  (@QueenIdle) April 13, 2017

Immediately, there was an overwhelming amount of positive responses from people all across the internet.

Some started calling it the purest thing theyve seen in a long time and others were simply happy to see so many queer people coexisting together in a gender neutral bathroom.

Far too many times, we hear of transgender and other gender nonconforming individuals being targeted by offensive ads and afraid of entering bathrooms.

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In 2016, the National Center for Transgender Equality did a survey which revealed that 59 per cent of trans people in the United States are afraid to go into a restroom.

This series of selfies shows that allowing people to coexist together can be a much better alternative than making them feel excluded.

The concept of the photo series is being compared to the famous meme and Youtube style called Replacement Remixes, where every time a word gets repeated the video either accelerates or gets replaced by a sound or word.

You can even put this tweet in line with another huge meme that took over the internet earlier this year, after a far-right Twitter user posted a photo of two people on public transit and captioned it the future that liberals want.

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According to BuzzFeed, Emile hopes that her tweet will help remind people it is possible to coexist in a situation thats so simple as just going to the bathroom.

She continues by saying that she thinks gender-neutral bathrooms are a necessity and that everyone deserves the right to exist in a public space.
We'll admit it  when an American news outlet puts out a list of important people in the world, we immediately start looking for the Canadians who are on it.

Call it a self-esteem issue, call it Canadian pride, but whatever it is, it never fails to send a shiver of happiness down our spines as we see some of the best and brightest from our country recognized on a world stage.

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This year, Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people celebrated three Canadians who made their impact in various ways: Samantha Bee, Margaret Atwood and Ryan Reynolds.

According to an editor's note from last year, the list is chosen to represent people "who have lessons to teach .. and the power to make us think."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is perhaps notable in his absence, though he did make the list last year, and was a close runner-up in the readers' choice poll, which was eventually won by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

But we'll just focus on the real winners here.

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Host/Executive Producer Samantha Bee of 'Full Frontal With Samantha Bee' poses in the green room during the TCA Turner Winter Press Tour 2017.

Samantha Bee, whose late-night show "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" has been the focus of immense amounts of acclaim, particularly since Donald Trump was named president-elect in November, was born in Toronto, and has been doing her part to make sure Americans know their place.

Theres no room in Canada for discontented Americans, she said in an interview with the Washington Post in July 2016. Stay where you are. Live in your mess.

As fellow comedian Jane Curtin says in her write-up about Bee in Time, "She has the courage and the ability to plant those little feet, lean just slightly into the camera and fire off a staggering spray of machine-gun bullet points laced with delicious asides for colour. She is as smart as a whip and, as far as I'm concerned, always on the side of right and funny."

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Just when you think Margaret Atwood can't be celebrated any further, a whole new generation discovers "A Handmaid's Tale," its points become increasingly relevant and she's back up at the top.

In a video accompanying the Time magazine piece, Elisabeth Moss (who is starring in the new Hulu series based on the book) notes, "You told me that everything that happens in 'The Handmaid's Tale has happened ... somewhere.'" Atwood's look of bemusement, her seen-it-all-and-will-see-it-again expression perfectly encapsulates this literary legend's take on the world, and why her wise voice is as important now as it ever was.

Ryan Reynolds has been the class clown, the superhero, and the family man who can't get enough of his kids. So it's understandable why Helen Mirren, writing about him in Time, would describe him as "the Everyman, but somehow with more of everything: wit, elegance, looks and general hunkiness."

Continuing to be proud of his Vancouver upbringing, Reynolds almost too perfectly encapsulates the idea of the Canadian star  ruggedly good-looking, an oh-shucks demeanour and an incredible, kickass talent.

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But probably our favourite thing about him is how Mirren describes his love for women, because what could be more telling about a father to two daughters? "He likes them in the most simple, direct, unadorned way: for their humanity."
The data was collected, the numbers crunched and the results are in: science needs a rebrand.

A recent Pew Research Centre poll found that while the vast majority of people -- 79 per cent -- believe in the value of science, a huge minority has serious doubts about the scientific consensus on everything from vaccines to nuclear power.

The gap between scientific consensus and public understanding is tricky. For one thing, it's among the reasons we can't muster a sustained global effort to combat climate change.

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And it turns out, the gap can't be closed with more facts.

A huge minority has serious doubts about the scientific consensus on everything from vaccines to nuclear power.

Culture and past experience shape our worldviews more than objective evidence. The phenomenon is called "cultural cognition," and it's why a full third of people doubt humans have evolved over time despite the 98 per cent of scientists who agree on evolution.

Simply put: peer pressure wins out over academics. But a shift in science communication can change that, making it as relatable as our peers.

Since the person delivering information is as important as the facts, the argument for diversity in STEM is even stronger. It's incredibly important to break the stereotype of the old white-haired man speaking in jargon. In the halls of academia, on our television screens and in town hall events, we need scientists to look, act and communicate more like the regular public.

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For science to inform society it needs to be embedded in culture. When famous hip hop artist GZA visits public schools around New York challenging students to rap about science, he's doing more to draw people in than anyone fiddling with a Bunsen burner.

And the science backs this up.

A new study from the researchers at Yale University's Cultural Cognition Project found that scientific curiosity is a powerful antidote to partisanship. While scientific literacy allows people to select evidence that supports pre-existing beliefs, people who are scientifically curious--rather than scientifically trained--are willing to engage with ideas opposing their own.

That's the first step to bridging the gap between scientists and society.

"Science is being used to be right, instead of curious," says Mary Anne Moser, co-founder and CEO of science communications firm Beakerhead. "Science needs to be less judgemental, more inclusive and open to being wrong, all the things we're working on as a society as well."

This Earth Day, thousands of scientists will descend on Washington DC to protest budget cuts to their departments. The science seems to suggest that when people in lab coats align with one political side, they only drive people further away.

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Instead, scientists need to stoke our wonder.

None of this is a surprise to Andrew Swinand, North America CEO for advertising giant Leo Burnett, who says scientists can learn from the successes of social movements and advertisers.

"The magic happens when the IQ intersects with the EQ," he says, referring to emotional intelligence. "When facts and data reach people on a human level."

With a bit of curiosity, art and emotion, we can rebrand science and bring it into more people's lives.

Craig and Marc Kielburger are the co-founders of the WE movement, which includes WE Charity, ME to WE Social Enterprise and WE Day.

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Over the 20 years of my service as an elected official, never have I seen the policy of supply management become such a hot-button issue. Both foreign and domestic politicians seem to be chiming in on what they think is best for Canadians, without truly studying the effects of their proposals. Having spoken to numerous dairy farmers in Ontario and Quebec throughout the years, while also being an MP from Alberta, I understand both sides of the argument on supply management.

While some politicians argue that supply management must be scrapped immediately, in order to "stand on principle for freedom," others say that if we even touch supply management, Canadian farmers will become impoverished within a matter of days. Both positions are drastically oversimplified, overstated and simply far removed from reality. Instead of throwing mindless rhetoric around, we should propose actual policy solutions to the problems facing us today.

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Ottawa must protect the interests of Canadians first, and this includes Canadian dairy farmers.

My policy proposal is simple -- we must have a sensible solution to supply management that protects our Canadian farmers, while also keeping the consumer in mind. The viewpoint that by simply scrapping supply management will drastically reduce the price of dairy products is highly overstated. Such a policy would only marginally reduce prices, while systematically placing Canadian farmers into a position of economic hardship.

These farmers, the backbone of Canada's agriculture industry, who have spent generations in the business of producing high-quality dairy, would be banished to economic ruins with the stroke of the pen from Ottawa. That is not the federal government's duty. In fact, it is the very opposite. Ottawa must protect the interests of Canadians first, and this includes Canadian dairy farmers.

While some Canadian politicians talk about this scrapping of supply management, it is interesting to see that foreign leaders are taking interest at our domestic policy. U.S. President Donald Trump, for example, took aim at our policy, calling it "very unfair" and demanding that NAFTA be renegotiated. What is unfair is the fact the U.S. subsidizes its own dairy industry -- providing their farmers with certain protections -- while demanding that our government cease to protect Canadian farmers.

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In the context of international trade, it is clear that nations and their governments' top priority is to look out for the interests of their citizens. And why shouldn't they? It is, after all, the government's job to do so. But while the U.S. protects its interests and its farmers, so too should Canada. We must not give in and fold our cards, but rather work collaboratively with our American partners to find consensus on this issue, along with many others.

Having a long-term strategy to increase dairy trade with the U.S., while still protecting Canadian farmers, is a win-win situation.

The Canadian government should be receptive to renegotiating NAFTA to include gradual changes to supply management, but this must be done in consultation with Canadian farmers. Having a long-term strategy to increase dairy trade with the U.S., while still protecting Canadian farmers and their livelihoods, is a win-win situation.

By doing this, we will strike a fair and balanced trade policy with the U.S., while simultaneously protecting Canadian farmers, all while gradually reducing consumer prices of dairy goods. A sensible supply management policy for a 21st-century Canada.

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F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote: "Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss."

It's the missed opportunities over the 2012 health ministry firings that will forever haunt the B.C. government.

Instead of seizing opportunities to set the record straight, Ombudsperson Jay Chalke's report -- Misfire: the 2012 Ministry of Health Employment Terminations -- pointed to a pattern of falsehood piled upon falsehood.

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The term used in text messages to describe the government's approach throughout the debacle would be "CYA."

Chalke found that the case against Roderick MacIsaac "was unsupported by the evidence and untrue." Something the government knew full well by November 2012, but no one could even pick up the phone while Roderick was still alive to tell him.

A tragic missed opportunity.

By the fall of 2013, the government knew that virtually everything their case had been predicated on had fallen out from under them, but no one said a word.

Another missed opportunity.

B.C. Premier Christy Clark stretched the truth beyond recognition with her characterization of Victoria lawyer Marcia McNeil's pending 2014 review into the firings, telling the legislature: "It is important that we get to the bottom of it, and that is what we hope to do. (McNeil) has full authority to speak with anyone she wants to in government."

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No third-party review of the premier's comments was required for the upper echelons inside government to immediately know Clark had mispoke, but no one corrected the record.

Another missed opportunity.

No one saw fit to own up to it.

By spring 2015, the government knew the RCMP had declined to investigate finding no criminal activity in the material they had been provided, but no one said a peep.

Another missed opportunity.

There was the three-year comptroller general's investigation that went from finding "substantial merit" to most of the whistleblower's claims to a report that "contained statements that were untrue" in a matter of weeks.

Yet, when the Vancouver Sun published details from that report nearly a year later, no one saw fit to own up to it.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

In an interview, Health Minister Terry Lake doubled down telling the Sun: "This was an investigation done by professional civil servants, not under the direction or direct control of politicians but carried out by professional public servants. They did their work."

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Another missed opportunity.

You walk away from Chalke's report with a better sense of how this happened than you do why it happened?

Why couldn't government veterans satisfy a whistleblower on points where she was mistaken and fix what she may have been right about?

No one seems to have applied the brakes for a sober second thought.

These weren't rookies.

Five of nine key players named in Chalke's report were in government in 2001, three more by 2005 and one by 2007.

All were earning six-figure salaries in 2011/12, two of them more than $200,000.

"Government employees, be afraid." -- Times Colonist editorial

Five of the nine have since been promoted, with three jumping into the $200,000 plus salary bracket and one - John Dyble - breaking $300,000 before retiring last year.

The head of the Public Sector Agency, Lynda Tarras, retired in 2014, after breaking the $200,000 bar.

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The media relations manager whose name appears at the end of the still very public 2012 RCMP news release was promoted, seeing his salary jump from $75,574 to $110,158.

At least two others -- not named in Chalke's report -- were also promoted.

Last month, B.C.'s auditor general, Carol Bellringer, released her office's audit of B.C. public service ethics management.

In it she noted: "In the last two years, only half of employees who observed unethical behaviour in their workplace came forward to report what they saw. Of those who didn't report, just over half said they were afraid to."

In an editorial - -"A reason to be afraid" -- the Times Colonist wrote: "Having trampled over due process and basic fairness, they then apparently lost all sense of proportion when it came time to terminate (Ron) Mattson's employment.

"Please note: The person who led the biased, incompetent investigation into Mattson and the others, who threw innocent people to the wolves, still works for the province. Government employees, be afraid."

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It would seem -- based on Bellringer's findings -- many already are.

There is one opportunity that needn't be missed: take the September 2012 news release down.

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By John Dillon

Canada, and not just Mexico, may be in for a rough ride when it renegotiates NAFTA with the United States. A draft letter from the U.S. Trade Representative to Congress outlining renegotiation objectives, which was leaked on March 30, reveals that the U.S. agenda goes far beyond the modest tweaking implied earlier by President Trump.

When it comes to fighting climate change, however, the ride will be rougher. Trade provisions will likely continue to be a stumbling block in any efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Observers note that the U.S. has no intention of doing away with the notorious investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions that allow corporations to sue governments when they deem public policies -- such as those aimed at fighting climate change -- to be a threat to their profits. Corporations, chiefly chemical and resource extraction companies, sued Canada 39 times under this mechanism, collecting more than $215 million in compensation. Ottawa will likely not push for the elimination of ISDS from NAFTA since it has agreed to a slightly modified ISDS system in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union.

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Additionally, a crucial chapter incorporated into the original Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and now part of NAFTA, has escaped notice in current debate. Chapter Six on energy gives the U.S. unfettered access to Canadian energy resources.

During the 1993 election campaign Jean Chretien promised that a Liberal government would renegotiate both the FTA and NAFTA and abrogate both agreements unless Canada were to obtain "the same energy protection as Mexico."

A careful reading of the energy chapter in NAFTA shows that the only significant difference in the treatment of Mexico and Canada is the former's exemption from the application of the proportional sharing clause (Article 605). This provision obliges Canada, under certain circumstances, to continue exporting oil and gas to the U.S. in the same proportion as in the previous three years, even if such exports cause domestic shortages.

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After Chretien won a majority government some perfunctory talks were held with the U.S. before this campaign promise was quietly shelved allowing the proportional sharing clause to remain unchanged.

While this clause has yet to be invoked, it very well could be in the near future if Canada fulfills its commitments under the Paris climate agreement. If Canada is serious about keeping the increase in global temperatures below 2.00 C, and as close as possible to 1.50 C, it will have to curb the unfettered growth of fossil fuel exports and carefully allocate remaining reserves of conventional oil for domestic use as part of a planned transition to a low-carbon economy.

Measures to conserve exhaustible natural resources for domestic use are permitted under Article XX of the GATT, which is now part of the World Trade Organization's provisions. But they would run afoul of the proportional sharing clause.

Will the current Liberal government include the withdrawal of the proportional sharing clause in its agenda for the renegotiation of NAFTA? Not likely. During his visit to the White House, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did his utmost to assure President Trump that it is in U.S. interests to continue the current trading relationship with Canada.

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In Trump's mind Canadian oil is not "foreign oil." Consider the president's words, spoken in the oval office in the presence of Russ Girling, TransCanada's president, as he issued the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline:

"It's a great day for American jobs and a historic moment for North American ... energy independence. This announcement is part of a new era of American energy policy that will lower costs for American families -- and very significantly -- reduce our dependence on foreign oil."

The additional emissions that would occur within Canada as a result of four recently approved fossil fuel export projects -- Enbridge's Line 3, TransCanada's Keystone XL and Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipelines as well as the Pacific Northwest LNG terminal -- would nullify all the emission reductions that could be achieved through the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change announced last December by federal, provincial and territorial first ministers. The emissions that would occur abroad from combustion of the oil and gas exported by these four projects would not be counted as "Canadian" emissions. Nevertheless, they would add two times as many GHGs to the atmosphere as the amount emitted within Canada.

The time frame during which Canada can continue to emit GHGs at current rates and still keep temperature increases near 1.50 C is quickly narrowing. If Canada continues to extract fossil fuels at 2014 levels it will exhaust its share of a global carbon budget in just 11 years if the goal is to keep temperature increases below 1.50 C. According to Marc Lee, a senior economist for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, in this scenario, there is only a 50 per cent chance of keeping increases below 1.50 C. For a 50 percent chance of staying below a 2.00 C increase, Canada could extract fossil fuels at the 2014 rate for 32 years. Any new hydrocarbon export projects would shorten these time frames.

While no one was thinking much about climate change back in the eighties when the FTA was negotiated, today the threat it poses to life on Earth must be a lens through which any new deal is evaluated.

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John Dillon is Ecological Economy Program Coordinator at KAIROS Canada.

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of CCIC or its members.

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China Eastern Airlines (CEA) signed a cooperation agreement on April 18 with Shanghai Volunteer Physician League to establish a team of 120 medical experts, in a bid to cope with in-flight medical emergencies. It is the first domestic airline to offer this service.

As the overall number of air passengers grows, China has seen more and more in-flight medical emergencies. According to preliminary figures, a total of 179 cases occurred on CEA flights over the last year, averaging one every two days.

In the future, CEA crew members will be able to directly contact medical experts to obtain instructions on the treatment of in-crisis passengers. Most of the experts on the team are experienced senior doctors working in Shanghai hospitals. CEA said it will classify them in accordance with their areas of specialty, and establish an system for quick response.

Both parties also plan to expand the service from Shanghai to around the globe, building an international team of medical experts.
Hemera Technologies via Getty Images Defining employee , employer and employment

Human resources can be dirty word among those in business or launching companies, particularly for those who want to do things differently with the start-ups they hope will disrupt or replace existing business models. It's a department regarded as mired in process, red tape, even political correctness, and it often gets lost in the shuffle. And if HR is the dirty word, "employment law" is truly obscene.

But that antipathy to HR and employment law can cost dearly. The HR woes playing out in the media spotlight at places like Github and Uber should serve as an alarm bell to any company thinking they can pay short shrift to employment law and HR expertise. Studies have borne this out -- the eight-year-long Stanford Project on Emerging Companies, for example, was conducted during the first dot-com boom and found that companies that treated HR seriously went public faster and were the least likely to fail. Other studies have found that ignoring HR is one of the biggest mistakes that tech startups make.

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As an employment lawyer, I often hear employment law referred to as "commodity work" -- in other words, the type of work anyone with basic competence can perform, and so companies often pick the lawyer or law firm that offers to do it the cheapest and then they use that firm as little as possible. That's ironic, because companies choosing this approach often end up paying much more in the end. Doing HR and employment law well, and early, can have huge value. This isn't about employment lawyers making more money. In fact, if more companies took employment law and HR seriously from the outset, employment lawyers would be making a lot less.

The failure to treat employment law and HR seriously is puzzling. Employees, after all, are many companies' biggest budget line item, their biggest potential liability and their biggest asset. So to entrust the proper and strategic legal management of them to the cheapest bidder -- to regard employment law as mere "commodity work" -- is foolhardy.

I often get calls from people from small businesses, or even established businesses, who did not turn their mind to employment law or HR legalities in the early stages. They only call me after something has blown up, by which point it's too late. I can only be reactive where if I had been called much earlier, I could have been proactive and avoided a costly mess.

More than once I have spoken to an employer (most often their in house counsel, in fact) who is stunned by the range a court might consider reasonable termination notice given the circumstances. Why? Because they'd failed to draw up contracts governing the employment relationships, or they had contracts which were ineffective or unlawful, so ending those relationships was exponentially more complicated and more expensive than it might otherwise have been.

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Those employers with no contracts or poorly drafted contracts often (but not always!) learn from their mistake so ask us to draft new contracts for their remaining employees -- a good move except that's not so easy. A contract signed after someone has started working is often not enforceable. It can be done, but not overnight, not easily, and not without more expense than if it had been done correctly in the first place.

And it's not just the employer-employee relationship that needs a legal definition. People start businesses or partnerships together only thinking about success, and not properly considering what happens if someone leaves or if it fails. Partnership agreements, shareholder's agreements and the like are hardly frills and should contemplate a variety of possible "ends" to the relationships they govern. Are you your own employee? Are you being paid by your company or working in exchange for an equity stake? Get advice at the earliest possible stage. If things go wrong, you'll be grateful that you did.

I often act as plaintiff's counsel for executive employees: I am the person who capitalizes on the mistakes made by the other side when they didn't obtain, or wouldn't listen to, good strategic employment advice. I cannot count the number of people who have been through my office who might never have landed there, might never have had anywhere near the same entitlement, might have stayed in their job, or might have left it without bad blood had the other side been proactive instead of reactive, strategic instead of bullying, and acted at every turn with a thorough understanding of employment law.

A good employment lawyer hired by an employee who is unhappy or has been dismissed will make the most of a company's HR and employment law mistakes, and it will be expensive.

The cost to a company doesn't end there: bad blood on a small "street" or within an industry can have significant unforeseen costs as well. If a dismissed employee is angry after leaving the company because of the aforementioned bad blood or bullying, then lands at another position where they can opt to help or hurt that company -- what do you suppose the average person would do?

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Employment law isn't straightforward; it's complicated and it is changing all the time. Currently, decisions coming out of lower courts on enforceability of employment contracts and the interpretation of compensation plans are all over the map. It's getting more difficult for counsel to navigate, and even judges are getting it wrong -- or, at least, arriving at vastly different answers to the same questions. And given shifts in employment laws over the last decade, I've seen countless employers fail to make the necessary adjustments, costing them huge sums in avoidable settlements, payments and trials, not to mention goodwill and employee morale.

Good employment counsel will partner with organizations to really understand their culture, their people and their business, helping set them up for success. It's among the smartest money any company can spend -- and a lot less than they may inevitably be forced to dole out when someone like me comes knocking on their door on behalf of an employee.
Many lives are devastated when a worker is killed on the job. Sometimes even entire communities.

Take the case of four men, including three FFAW-Unifor members, killed when the fishing boat they were working last September foundered off the coast of Newfoundland.

When word went out in the small community of Shea Heights near St. Johns that the Pop's Pride fishing boat had been lost on Sept. 6, the community with historic ties to the sea immediately felt the loss, even as residents clung to hope.

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"Those community members, they're our family, they're our friends, they're our loved ones, and like anybody in any community across the country, you're going to hold out hope," Melissa Earles-Druken, chair of the Shea Heights Community Board, told reporters at the time.

Any such hope diminished as the boat was found flooded, and two bodies were pulled from the water. The rescue efforts at that point officially switched to recovery of the remaining bodies, which have never been found. Families and the community were left to search for answers about what happened.

Across Canada every year, we search far too often for answers to explain why and how our loved ones die on the job -- whether the sudden loss of an industrial accident, or the slow death from chemicals or other toxins in the workplace.

In 2015, the most recent year for which numbers available, 852 workers died at work.

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No worker should ever leave for work in the morning never to come back. No family should receive the devastating call that their loved one isn't coming home. And no workplace should have to continue living with the loss of a co-worker from a death that the employer could have prevented.

It is for that reason that every year on April 28 Unifor, along with Canada's labour movement, marks the National Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job. It is the most somber day of the year for workers and the labour movement. Across Canada, unions and labour councils hold ceremonies to mark the day.

This year's Day of Mourning recognizes 25 years since the devastating events at the Westray Mine in Nova Scotia's Pictou County, in which 26 coal miners lost their lives in a series of explosions in the mine, less than a year after it was opened with great fanfare.

The methane gas and coal dust explosions on the morning of May 9, 1992, are believed to have killed all 26 miners almost instantly, and came after safety concerns had been raised at the mine since its opening the previous September.

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As in Shea Heights, the families and community of Pictou had to deal with not only the tragic loss of life, but the realization that some bodies would never be found. But there the similarity ends. On a fishing vessel, the skipper is onboard, sharing the risks. At Westray, the managers were safely on the surface, making life and death decisions about the safety of the workers.

Westray attracted massive international media attention. When questions were raised about the safety of the mine, charges were laid against mine managers, but later dropped. The Canadian labour movement took up the cause and successfully pushed for laws in Canada that now hold managers and corporate directors responsible for failing to protect the lives and safety of workers and the employer can be held criminally responsible for the injury or death of a worker.

To mark the anniversary, the theme for this year's Day of Mourning is "Remember Westray. Enforce the law" and it comes with the demand that government hold corporations, directors and managers accountable when they fail to protect the safety of workers.

The other 11 were entombed in the mine when it was sealed off months later, never to be recovered.

Last year's Day of Mourning called for a ban on the import and export of asbestos, as well as other measures to ensure its safe removal from workplaces. Last December, after ongoing lobby efforts and thanks to the leadership of the Canadian Labour Congress, the federal government announced that a complete ban would be in place by 2018, marking a significant victory and demonstrating why it is so important to mark such occasions as the National Day of Mourning but to work together to maintain unity in the labour movement.

Of the 26 Westray miners killed, only 15 bodies were found. The other 11 were entombed in the mine when it was sealed off months later, never to be recovered -- much like two of the fisherman lost at sea just last year off Newfoundland.

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Shea Harbour fisherman Glen Winslow helped pull the bodies of two friends out of the Atlantic last September. Days later, Winslow said he hoped everyone on the Pop's Pride was wearing a lifejacket -- by then not because he believed they'd survived, but because it would help rescuers find their bodies.

It's the kind of wish no worker should ever have to make on behalf of a friend. Be sure to mark the Day of Mourning in your community.

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"Then they came for me." ~ Pastor Martin Niemoller

Recently, a young man was brutally lynched by fellow university students in the Pakistani city of Mardan. Some say he was accused of supporting Ahmadis. He had also tweeted for LGBT people. Either way, he was accused of blasphemy. Bystanders and police watched the spectacle and did nothing.

Mashal Khan's murder is only the latest manifestation of the hateful narrative that has engulfed Pakistan. Pakistani columnist Saad Rasool illustrates a whole array of abuse and extra judicial murders on blasphemy allegations. It began with the targeting of religious minorities. Pastor Niemoller's words could not be more relevant.

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It would be easy to blame Islam for this madness. After all, Pakistani clerics overwhelmingly support blasphemy laws and threaten those who oppose them. Yet, Arafat Mazhar's seminal work on Islamic jurisprudence shows a very different viewpoint.

Notwithstanding draconian punishments in medieval legal manuals, classical jurists severely mitigated their application. Islamic scholar Ghamidi claims that blasphemy laws are not part of Islam. The problem in contemporary times is less about the texts and more about Muslim institution stakeholders usurping them for political ends.

They weave a hateful narrative that dehumanizes religious minorities. Hateful bloggers and pundits do the same to Muslim minorities in the West. Thus, blaming Islam simply replicates the frenzied madness of Pakistan in the West.

Instead of simplistic analyses, we can heed the voices of five Pakistanis contributing towards change as follows.

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1)Mohammad Jibran Nasir

Jibran Nasir, a Pakistani civil liberty activist, does not solely blame members of the clergy and their indoctrination of poor madrassa students for the hateful narrative in Pakistan. He is concerned about the hateful messages delivered by a broad array of politicians, judges, army officers and clerics along with those who became complicit by remaining silent.

In a Facebook message he has lamented:

army generals "weaponized religion for violent means," mainstream political parties "patronize terror outfits and form electoral alliances with them," rogue clerics "release sermons online reaching millions promoting extra judicial murder as punishment for blasphemy," media anchors spread "blasphemy allegations to either settle personal scores or malign opponents," and judges "declared blasphemers as terrorists but refuse to declare Mumtaz Qadri a terrorist for killing an innocent on false blasphemy charges."

He states that we must truthfully acknowledge that Pakistanis as a whole are responsible for the dismal state of affairs. He argues for self-accountability and clearly states that we have made killers out of our own youth.

2)Malala Yousafzai

Like Jibran Nasir, the Nobel Laureate, who is critiqued in online spaces as an "enemy of Islam," clearly talked about self-accountability in a passionate video.

"This was not just the funeral of Mashal Khan, it was the funeral of the message of our religion Islam. ... We have forgotten our values and are not representing our religion, ... No one is maligning the name of your country or religion ... we ourselves are bringing a bad name to our country and religion.

3)Raza Rumi

Raza Rumi, a Pakistani analyst, who survived an assassination attempt in 2014, also does not limit the blame of the current state of affairs to the clergy. He situates the murder in the wake of recent social media messages against blasphemy by state authorities, judges and legislators. He claims that Pakistanis imbibed such social media challenges to prove their faith to fellow Muslims.

Rumi also mentions how a political party geared towards youth "cultivated some level of sympathy for Islamist militants" by alluding to them as " 'our misled brethren' pitted against the evil West." He references surveys conducted in Pakistan that show how amongst privileged University students, 62 per cent supported declaring Ahmadis as non-Muslims and 33 per cent supported gender segregation. Amongst youth in general 33 per cent supported the imposition of Sharia law.

Rumi argues that the factors responsible for radicalization are not necessarily poverty, deprivation, lack of education and economic opportunities. He asserts:

"In the absence of a clear sense of direction, youth in universities have increasingly embraced an identity rooted in religion, and view global politics as a manifestation of an inter-civilizational conflict. This worldview is averse to accepting ... the 'other' or finding a way to acknowledge differences for a peaceful co-existence."

Rumi's observation on radicalization is shared by veteran journalists like Nadeem Farooq Paracha, who had written that studies show that "the vast majority of terrorists are not mentally ill" and that "these individuals were far from being brainwashed, socially isolated, hopeless fighters; 90 per cent of them actually came from caring, intact families; and 63 per cent of these had gone to college."

4)Marvi Sirmed

Like Rumi, Marvi Sirmed, a Pakistani columnist, also situates Mashal Khan's murder in the context of media statements by analysts, television talking heads, judges and political leaders that condemned Pakistani bloggers, who had criticized the establishment. They were painted as blasphemers and various state stakeholders expressed "their resolve in not leaving any stone unturned in the hunt for blasphemers."

5)Yasser Latif Hamdani

Hamdani, a Pakistani lawyer and columnist mentioned how the founder of Pakistan, Jinnah sought protection from Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code in 1927 for "those who are engaged in bona fide and honest criticism of a religion." He mentioned that Mashal Khan "would have fit in perfectly at any campus in the US" for his critical thinking. He passionately wrote:

"Ours is a cannibalistic society that eats its own. Soon those of us who survive will learn not to speak, not to think, not to question. We will then live, and then we will die."

Like others, the Committee of Progressive Pakistani Canadians (CPPC) offer similar conclusions in their statement on Mashal Khan's murder.

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In short, it would be more appropriate to support Pakistani analysts and activists working towards change instead of hateful bloggers who have no stake in the issue beyond generalizing all Muslims and fostering more hatred.

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SilviaJansen via Getty Images senior woman, 91 years old walking in the street supported by a crutch and a young caregiver

In Manitoba, 'Caregiver Recognition Day' is already enshrined in legislation. Groups in Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Quebec have advocated similar recognition days or weeks to promote public awareness.

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Of course, we all need to be aware of the significant contributions family caregivers make to society -- after all, they are sizeable. In 2012, eight million Canadians provided care, and 2.2 million Canadians received that care in their own homes -- most often from family.

In 2009, the estimated dollar value of family care was more than $25 billion.

For many, caregiving is all day, every day, 365 days a year -- and their work is often invisible to others. So it is important carers feel their contributions are valued, in particular, in their interactions with health care professionals, their employers and other family members.

But in my years of research with family caregivers, including leading a provincial consultation with 400 caregivers, something has become clear to me. Although family members do not want their care work to be taken for granted, some are uncomfortable, even disconcerted, by being recognized with a special caregiver's day.

Many caregivers view what they do as a natural part of family relationships. They don't do it for personal benefit or with the expectation of appreciation. I noticed a similar phenomenon when I spoke with a nursing home volunteer who, for this same reason, refused to attend a volunteer recognition event.

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My research also suggests there may be some carers for whom praise such as, "You're doing a great job," or "You're a wonderful daughter" can actually invoke guilt or ambivalence.

Why guilt?

Because caring is a complex emotional experience, often connected to our identity and self-worth. When we confuse 'caring for' with 'caring about,' guilt can result. What happens, for example, when caregivers can no longer manage and they face difficult decisions about institutionalization for their loved one?

Lastly, caregivers can view recognition as a trivial concern relative to the care recipient's need for services. In this respect, a recognition day is unhelpful.

So what do caregivers want?

What caregivers need are accessible services for the person they are caring for, when they need them. Caregivers have told me they want access to services for themselves and the care recipient, not a pat on the back. This is the true meaning of recognition.

Truly being aware of caregiver contributions and needs means being aware of the crucial importance of formal health care supports and policies. Our governments could do much more in this regard.

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Caregiver concerns are supported by existing evidence. Some research emphasizes the benefits of services and policies targeting carers directly, such as work accommodation and income assistance. The recently tabled federal budget announced a new caregiver benefit, offering up to 15 weeks of assistance to help eligible Canadians caring for critically ill or injured family members. This is a welcome measure -- and a good start.

However, being able to access sufficient, quality health care services, such as home care for the loved one being cared for, is also important. The federal budget promises increased funding to the provinces for home care. Let's hope that funding finds its way to actual services for patients -- and soon.

Carers Canada emphasizes moving "beyond recognition" to improve access not only to caregiver support services but also patient care resources. This is what our governments must do if they truly want to support caregiving in Canada.

This does not mean that when formal services are provided, family carers 'do less' -- instead, they can focus on different aspects of care and are then better able to preserve their own sense of well-being. Caregivers could then also be less frustrated by having to 'fight' against an impermeable system to access help for their family member.

To my knowledge, no research exists that indicates any long-term effect of a caregiver recognition day on carer burden or well-being.

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I am also somewhat personally suspicious of the rhetoric of carer acknowledgement, since it can be used politically to imply that governments themselves should not be responsible for the provision of care -- justifying further erosion of publicly funded services.

Truly recognizing carers means providing helpful, supportive, long-term health and social care services for those who need them -- as well as for their carers.
Old wisdom was that foreign aid was a great strategy to help move Africa forward. This seems to have changed. Trade is the new foreign aid to the continent, one blessed with young population, ample resources and a better investment environment.

Ethiopia, once a place for the world's pity, is now transforming itself to an investment hub. That is a good thing. There are many foreign investors venturing in to the country looking for investment opportunities, complementing the diaspora and the locals that are taking advantage of a better investment environment in the country.

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The foreign investors. The Indians and textiles. The Japanese and road construction. The Europeans and fresh-cut flowers. The Chinese and mega-building construction -- including airports and air technology. The Turks and the railroads linking the country from coast to coast.

Africa is surely moving in the right direction.

The contribution of the Turkish industry, in particular Yapi Merkezi, was recently noted and celebrated by the Turkish Exporters Assembly in Addis Ababa earlier this month. They are doing important work in Ethiopia.

It has been involved in the construction of Awash, in particular the Kombolcha and Hara Gebaya Railway, and employs more than 4,500 people in Ethiopia alone. The inception of the railway system was celebrated two years ago in the presence of Ethiopia's prime minister, Haile Mariam Desalegn.

These are good developments in a continent that is seeing brighter days.

This was the first time Yapi Merkezi had undertaken such a mega project in Africa, though it had taken similar projects in Dubai, Istanbul, Ankara and Casablanca. The Ethiopian ambassador in Turkey, Ayalew Gobezi, publicly acknowledged how Turkey is an agent of change and progress in the continent.

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In bestowing the honour, the assembly noted the 52-year-old company's "significant contributions in knowledge and technology transfer to Ethiopia." The project is valued at $1.7 billion and it is 400km long. It is to complement Ethiopia's desire to fulfill its strategic vision of Growth and Transformation Plan.

This is to be a joint project of the Ethiopian Railway Corporation, funded by Turkish EX-IM Bank and Credit Suisse and the government of Ethiopia. The long-term vision of the project is to help transform Ethiopia's agriculture sector, connecting the nation's agricultural producers in the northern and central regions and to port facilities.

The company was also recently awarded with a major contract to help transform the Dar es Salaam - Morogoro Railway this week. This is to build the fastest train in the region, costing just over US$1 billion. It is said to be about 1,300km long and will connect Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania, and provide access to the Indian Ocean from East Africa. This is expected to help promote exchanges of goods move faster and make it easier to do business among the countries.

These are good developments in a continent that is seeing brighter days, despite noted challenges and difficulties.
kynny via Getty Images artificial intelligence machine at industrial manufacture factory

From the printing press to the digital age, new technology has long had a tendency to be viewed as disruptive, and is often met with resistance in the workplace. This is also the case when new advancements shift or evolve how we work.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), what many have deemed the cause of the "fourth industrial revolution," is no different.

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While humans aren't always inventing new things, one thing we're really good at is figuring out how to do things better, faster, and more efficiently. Thirty years ago, robots might have seemed limited to science fiction novels, but even today there are many industries that have seen the shift towards automation take hold. AI is already impacting our workforce -- and the changes are likely just getting started.

Will Canadian workers be affected?

A new report by the Brookfield Institute shows that new developments in artificial intelligence and robotics put 42 per cent of Canadian workers at a high risk of seeing their jobs disappear or significantly changed in the next two decades.

We might be tempted to assume that it's only blue-collar jobs that will be affected by AI. But data, including some from the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs report, suggests that white-collar workers should also be concerned. Experts predict that certain jobs, in which a lot of repetition takes place, will be mastered by AI. This includes aspects of accounting, law, financial services and even routine surgery. Ultimately, what this means is that those in the "knowledge economy" are not necessarily immune -- and Canadian workers should take note.

Although you might not expect AI to have an impact on your job today, that doesn't mean it won't in a few years' time. But, all is not lost -- where an algorithm can be learned by a robot, things like judgement, creativity and communication likely won't be. Here are some steps you might want to take to prepare for the evolution of the workforce:

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Self-analysis

Similar to how you might approach a new business prospect or investment, consider conducting a thorough analysis of yourself when it comes to your job.

Look at your career trajectory and current position to determine how valuable you are in the market today, and how this could change in the future. Some questions to ask yourself could be: what do I enjoy doing most? What is my "unique offering"? What aspect of my job could I improve on? Think about your personal brand-- and if you were a brand, what would your standout qualities be?

A self-analysis can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. For example, are you in a field where the majority of work is repetitive and at risk of being automated? Or, is your career one in which you're continually building new skills or taking on more challenging work? This exercise should help point you towards taking the appropriate next steps for your career.

Expand your skill set

Once you've performed a deep-dive into your current job and prospects, consider whether there is opportunity to learn a new skill. This could include technical or soft skills that could help in working alongside AI, or potentially both.

There are many free or low-cost options to learn technical skills, such as coding. As for soft skills, human functions such as judgement, management and critical thinking skills are less at risk in relation to automation, and there could be opportunities in your current position that could help you improve in this area. Other options are management courses, or workshops designed to help improve creativity.

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As AI becomes more common in the workplace, the qualities that distinguish us as humans and not just workers will still matter, and potentially have greater value than before.

Never be complacent

If you're looking to advance in your career, it's more important than ever before to always stay ahead of the curve, regardless of your chosen field. Keep on top of industry news and developments so you can stay up-to-date on the latest trends. This will help you find the right avenues to build your skill set, and ways to fit yourself in.

For example, in 2014 the Government of Canada reported that over the next decade, about two-thirds of job openings in Canada will be in occupations typically requiring post-secondary education or in management roles. Invest time into researching your industry by subscribing to trade publications, attending events or following relevant blogs.

Evolution in the workplace is natural and survival is all about adapting to change. It's important to take steps now to set yourself up as a professional with diverse skills, so you can acclimatize well to a more automated workplace later.

Recognize the opportunities

While this may seem daunting, consider the positives: advancements in technology will also bring new opportunities, and the value of creativity, problem solving and social intelligence -- skills that remain difficult for technology to replicate -- is also expected to grow.

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Most importantly, remember that you are in charge of shaping your career path, and the best way to beat a challenge is to be well-prepared.
By UNICEF Syria Staffer. The staff member and author of this blog participated in a United Nations, International Red Cross and Syrian Arab Red Crescent joint humanitarian convoy to Madaya on March 14, 2017.

It has been more than 100 days since people in the four besieged Syrian towns of Madaya, Zabadani in Rural Damascus and Kefraya and Al-Foah in northern rural Idleb, received any humanitarian assistance. Provision of aid to the 60,000 people who have been trapped under a years-long siege in these towns is restricted by the "Four-town agreement," an arrangement that further complicates humanitarian operations. On March 14, 2017, UNICEF was part of an inter-agency convoy to the area and delivered much needed nutrition and medical supplies for 30,000 people in the four towns.

It was not my first mission to a besieged area in Syria. But the many years of war here are not enough for me to get me used to it -- nor can I get used to the suffering we witness every time I am part of a humanitarian convoy to areas under siege.

Before heading to Madaya that day -- my first time participating in a humanitarian convoy to the area -- I thought of the town as a place split between two realities; one of complete despair, and another offering glimmers of hope. I was reminded of the painful images and stories of Ali, the severely malnourished child who died right in front my colleagues' eyes; Lama*, the seven-year-old girl who was shot in the foot by a sniper while collecting water for her family; and Reema*, the young widowed mother of two who attempted to kill herself after her family tried to force her to remarry.

But there was always that silver lining of hope. It was eight-year-old Muhammad who almost died of malnutrition but survived after the local health team treated him with UNICEF therapeutic supplements. It was the 50 children I met last summer who took their national exams with UNICEF's support and who dreamt of building a better future for the country. The cheeky laughter of the boys teasing each another about a girl one of them liked. It was the town's heroic health team equipped with the bare minimum serving people in need.

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It was already dark when we entered Madaya. The town has been cut off from electricity for over two years. Ghostly figures appeared behind the dimly lit windows, watching the convoy as it moved slowly through the town.

How does it feel to not know whether the next meal you give your children will be their last one?

As we drove through the town, watching children come out to meet the convoy in the freezing cold, wearing winter clothes provided by UNICEF in a previous mission, I thought to myself:

How does it feel after two years of besiegement for your life to depend on what humanitarian convoys bring you? What is it like to wait for almost four months for your only lifeline? How does it feel to not know whether the next meal you give your children will be their last one?

During the past four months, the situation in Madaya has worsened drastically. Snipers and shelling have increased and the violence impacts every aspect of people's daily lives. "I haven't seen my mother in over a month because last time I tried visiting her, a sniper shot at me. It is not safe anywhere in Madaya," said the town's only nurse minutes after she walked out from the primitive operating room where she was helping a veterinarian-turned-surgeon operate on an injured patient.

Everyone we met was quick to recount their personal experiences. A nine-year-old boy said: "My friend was killed. He was sitting on the balcony and a shrapnel slashed his neck. I saw it, and I fainted."

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"Children are traumatized," the nurse said. "What they are witnessing is severely damaging their psychological well-being. The other day a three-year-old child watched his mother get shot by a sniper. He kept screaming hysterically," she continued. A young volunteer teacher added: "War and siege are the only thing that children know in Madaya. If I ask young children about a word that starts with the letter 'G' they will say 'gun'; they will say 'mortar' for a word that starts with 'M.'"

The spike in violence in Madaya has prevented thousands of children from getting an education. "Parents are too terrified to send their kids to school." explained the teacher. "School windows and doors were damaged by the fighting, making the classrooms extremely cold and poor environment for learning. We have already chopped up all the wooden desks and used them for heating. We used to lay blankets on floor for the children to sit on during class."

Teachers are doing everything they can to help Grade 9 and 12 students who will sit for their national exams next summer. The future of these children depend on them passing these exams and getting certified to continue their higher education. Siege and restricted movement of civilians inside Madaya is preventing children from attending lessons and studying for their exams.

All I wanted to do was to stop, sit on the floor and burst into tears, but that was not an option.

"This is the first time I leave my house in three months," the teacher continued. "Sometimes I use WhatsApp as a tool to explain the lessons we study, but it is not enough. We need the violence to stop for one month. All I need is one month of peace to help my students prepare for their exams."

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Standing in the hospital, a young man approached me. "Miss, miss, do you remember me?" It was Rami*, one of the children I met last summer when they were taking exams. I was happy to see him and wanted to check on him and his fellow students. "Do you remember my friend Ammar?" he asked me. "He was killed last month. He wasn't feeling well, and his father brought him to the hospital. A sniper shot him on the way." For a split second, all I wanted to do was to stop, sit on the floor and burst into tears, but that was not an option.

Ammar had wanted to become an Information Technology Engineer. "These times are all about technological development, I feel that it will help us build our society. Instead of destroying our country, we can help to build it," he told me back then. Now, Ammar and his hopes for the future are gone.

As we left Madaya, it pained me to leave behind all those who are suffering in such dire conditions.

For me, Madaya is the shaking mother pleading with us to take her sick child away from there, the reality of children whose games revolve around war and siege; of children as young as 15 working in the crematory burning plastics to generate fuel for heating and cooking. But Madaya is also Rami's* resolve to retake the exam he failed last year, the young teacher who is still determined to finish that last year of law school, the courageous nurse who works from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the hospital, and conducts home visits to treat those who cannot reach the clinic.

Until all sieges across Syria are lifted, Madaya and the many other besieged areas just like it remain a two-sided reality aspiring for peace and normality. "We only need peace," a young man told me. "We need to feel safe and lead normal lives again."

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The Prime Minister's decision to call a General Election is a cynical distraction from the major political issues facing the country and the world today.

The world is in such a volatile state at the moment: tens of thousands of refugees; the continuing tragedy in Syria after six years of war; the Yemen; North Korea; and, an unpredictable US President.

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In the UK, there are looming problems on health, education, social care and welfare. There is also the serious prospect of the breakup of the UK, as the First Minister of Scotland attempts to call a Second Referendum on independence.

Furthermore, having followed the difficult Peace Process in Northern Ireland throughout my time as an MP, I am genuinely concerned that the Government is causing harm in the region as it fails to end the political deadlock in Stormont.

Against this background, it's clear that the Prime Minister is trying to protect her own back with a cut and run General Election. We need people sitting and discussing not knocking on doors.

It's obvious that her negotiations with the EU are going to be bumpy and difficult. It will not be the case of a few handshakes, but tough arguments with our EU partners on the terms of the exit ahead.

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As it becomes clearer to the public and politicians alike, the EU will talk tough and act tough. The diversion of money and the UK Civil Service is going to cost us all dear.

As a former MEP who took the first petition from the UK to the EU Parliament in 1975 on equal rights for men and women, I know that the powers of the EU Parliament should not be underestimated.

In the final stages of the negotiations, the EU Parliament will be able to use its vote. If they do not agree, they have the ultimate power of using their veto.

The Prime Minister has taken a big risk by calling a General Election to save her own skin. It is an indulgence at this time which we can ill afford.
'I'll have a dopamine chaser, please. With ice and a slice. Oh, actually, make that a double'. If you're aware of the brain's bio-chemical brilliance, you'll know that dopamine is the 'reward' hormone. A kind of chemical 'well done you fabulous human' boost; triggered by our ever ready 'let's do it, because we're worth it', limbic system, located deep within our brain's centre.

This limbic lovely, lights up even more, when it's anticipating pleasure. So whether that's a slot machine win, a luscious chocolate cake slice or a new pair of shoes; an internal glitter ball explodes within. It then shimmers and shines in our heads while we have our fun. And when the light show's over, we want the fireworks all over again. It's a chemical reward loop that can have us constantly craving for more.

The same thing happens with online activity. These questions from psychologist, Susan Weinschenk will probably prompt a 'yes', except from the most disciplined amongst us: 'Do you find it impossible to ignore your email if you see that there are messages in your inbox? Do you think that if you could ignore your incoming email or messages you might actually be able to get something done at work? You are right!'

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Who hasn't attempted to switch off the digital din just to get 'stuff' done? As you know, that light show can become relentless and almost impossible to ignore. Thankfully, most adults have a 'responsible grown up in our heads', namely, the prefrontal cortex control panel. Let's say it's a cellular sat nav system, which is a whizz at planning and scheduling. It also regulates the limbic's compulsive texting, gaming, eating, gambling and shopping impulses, amongst others. It's this prefrontal cortex control panel that helps us to say 'no' and switch off that light show. Even when the pleasure centre says 'purrrlEASE, more glitter, more shimmer....yes, Yes, YES!'

As you may know, from friends', family and perhaps your own experience, full on addiction is complex and multi faceted. It's not 'just' the brain chemicals that prompt addictive behaviour. But what concerns me, and a growing number of other regulators and campaigners, is the impact of the online world on younger, more maleable brain chemistries.

One 12 year old girl sums up the net's impact upon her in disturbing terms: 'the internet nearly always controls my actions, I have been told that I am addicted to the internet, and prefer its company rather than being with other people. I feel lost without the internet.'

This reported anecdote, published in the Independent, was based on a 'Family Kids & Youth' study. Its findings revealed that as many as four in ten young people (11 to 17's) said, 'They did not feel able to function, if they couldn't get hold of their friends, and look things up on the internet'. Just last week, a new report revealed that increasing numbers of children are being treated for mobile phone addiction (#nomophobia as it's known).

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The UK's House of Lords has now begun investigating campaigners' concerns including long overdue focus on this 'reward loop' and its impact on young minds. We also want tougher laws, that will protect children from increasingly sophisticated and manipulative web influences. (Disclaimer: I provided evidence to the Lords about the legal framework so am not completely independent.)

As the Lords' report acknowledges, the net's positive impact is a given. It unlocks the world for both young and old and is a brilliant resource for curious minds. But there are those with a more malignant streak who lurk in its shadows. We can red flag our kids of course and I am sure most of us do. But sometimes, we need to get tough to protect them from what may change their minds, chemically and biologically.

The usual suspects; the porn pedlars and the on line groomers, are already on the blacklist. However, 'captology', where computers and psychology intersect, is now 'embedded into the invisible operating system of our everyday lives'; and some app creators, it's claimed, are deliberately targeting young, chemically immature and uncritical minds.

Captology's founding father is Stanford's B.J. Fogg; a legitimate and respected behavioural scientist. As he observes; 'The emails that induce you to buy straight away, the apps and games that rivet your attention....are all designed to hack the human brain and capitalise on its instincts, quirks and flaws'. In 2006, it was two of his students who realised that 'phones can send emotions', before one of them went on to found Instagram.

Many of the childhood experts who gave evidence for the Lords' digital world investigation are worried. They have real concerns about how net use that instantly gratifies young brains may make them vulnerable to say, pathological gambling in later life. In science speak; the 'late maturation of the frontal lobes'; or, in other words, the grown sat nav doesn't kick in when it should; chemically altered by dopamine overload.

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The need for special treatment for the young is established in other areas. Gambling legislation protects children and the vulnerable from being harmed or exploited by say, slot machine owners/manufacturers. Then there's what they call a CAP (Committee of Advertising Practice) code which writes the marketing rules, some of which protect our kids, outlining how slots and gambling can be 'sold' and to whom. This is enforced by the ASA (Adverstising Standards Authority). Overstep the mark, and you're fined or forced out of business.

A number of us are already lobbying for legal limits on what social media can syphon from our kids, who will never read the 17 plus pages of terms and conditions when they sign up on a site. Our children (as we do too, frankly) simply swipe their right to privacy away. But now, it seems, they're part of a grand scientific experiment; a form of back door brain surgery. And no-one knows whether or not they'll end up like the caged rats in a neuroscientist's lab: not eating, not sleeping and not living. These sad, ignorant and unprotected animals' insatiable desire for dopamine meant that, in the end, they died of exhaustion and starvation.
Guangdong citizens no longer need to worry about proving their identities, even if they don't happen to have their ID cards on them.

On April 19, Guangzhou police unveiled an identity authentication app that enables citizens to prove their identities via their mobile phones. To date, the city has authorized 20 offices to help citizens register for the service. Once they register, they can use facial recognition technology, available via the app, to prove their identities whenever and wherever necessary.

Developed by police in the Nansha district of Guangzhou, the app provides highly accurate results while at the same time protecting against personal information leaks.
Stefan Wermuth / Reuters

After the Prime Minister shocked the nation by calling for a snap general election, YouGov's Joe Twyman sets out how well equipped each of the parties are for the forthcoming vote

It is safe to say that Theresa May's announcement on Tuesday that she wants a general election has taken the public, politicians, and pundits by surprise. But despite the utterly different circumstances facing each of them, the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats all voted in favour of a 8 June poll earlier on Wednesday.

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Looking at the current polling data, however, it seems that while some parties will back the ballot based on strengthening their positions, others seem to be engaging in what could turn out to be an act of political hara-kiri.

The Conservatives

Both the recent reporting and the latest polling data suggests that Theresa May has called an election because she wants to win a large majority - possibly three figures. All the polling currently points to a big win for the Conservatives. They are more than 20 points ahead of Labour and well into the 40% range it is assumed is needed for victory. This has been the case for some time.

But more than that the underlying data also strongly points in the Conservative's favour. As things stand at the moment, 50% of the electorate thinks May would make the best Prime Minister compared to only 14% who prefer Jeremy Corbyn. Tories also have strong leads on nearly all the major issues including the economy.

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By winning Theresa May gets an electoral mandate of her own and also can work from a manifesto of her own making, instead of David Cameron's from 2015. But if she secures a large majority she also hopes to strengthen her position within the still-divided Conservative party during the upcoming negotiations to leave the EU. Both Hard Brexiteers and even those Tory MPs at the other end of the scale wishing to remain (or at least a very 'soft' Brexit could potentially wield a lot of power under the Government's current small majority. The Prime Minister hopes that an influx of new Tory MPs can dilute their influence in the Commons and prevent her being held to ransom.

It obviously remains very early days, however, and Theresa May's very public U-turn on the decision to hold an election could be just one example of the pitfalls that both her and the party will need to negotiate if they are to maintain their current position of strength.

Labour

Theresa May will also hope that by going to the country now she can make the most of Labour's current divisions. As you would expect, Jeremy Corbyn says he is up for the fight - after all, no politician would ever state that their party is not ready for an election and instead needs more time. The current evidence shows the shape and scale of the mountain the Labour party has to climb in order to gain power.

The NHS and housing are the only issue where they lead - and even then it's not by much. More significantly, his party trails the Conservatives across both the economic management and leadership questions and no party has ever won a general election while being behind on both of these measures. While it is true that some of Jeremy Corbyn's individual policies play well with the public and see widespread support among voters, reactions to specific measures have historically been relatively poor drivers of voting intention.

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In order to win Labour needs to hold on to what it already has but also to both regain and preferably even add to what it lost two years ago. There are many areas where it needs to pick up voters - winning back those it lost to the Conservatives from the South East, Lib Dems from the South West, and Ukip voters in the industrial North, not to mention enticing non-voters and new voters to turn out for them on 8 June. To date, the evidence, from polls but also by-elections and local council elections, suggests they haven't yet managed this to a sufficient magnitude.

Naturally, things could change. Polling is only ever a snapshot of public opinion at that moment. To alter its current position, Labour will have turn the grass roots enthusiasm - as shown in Jeremy Corbyn's two striking leadership victories - into votes. While turning things around would take a change far in excess of any historical precedent, the world of politics has changed a lot in the last few years and there are a few examples of the highly unlikely becoming reality.

SNP, Lib Dems and Ukip: Hard "Leave" and hard "Remain" parties

As it currently holds 56 of Scotland's 59 MPs, it would be easy to conclude that the SNP doesn't have much to gain from June's poll. However, with the Prime Minister placing the election firmly within the context of Brexit and Nicola Sturgeon seeking a second independence vote in light of leaving the EU, there is every chance that the SNP will cast the general election on a referendum on Westminster's relationship with Scotland.

Yet as the last Holyrood elections show, under the surface of Scottish politics a lot is happening - specifically Labour's continued decline and the resurgence of the Conservatives under Ruth Davidson. There is a chance that the Tories could even gain seats in Scotland - but would they be at the expense of the SNP or Labour and the Liberal Democrats?

The Lib Dems will hope that the country has a re-alignment along Brexit lines Scotland did after its referendum. Based on current data this does not look very likely, but passions still run high on this issue for some - as the Richmond Park by-election shows - and as the only party committed to Remain, it is well placed to take advantage of any ardent pro-EU sentiment. While its position hasn't really cut through yet, the oxygen of election publicity may change this.

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Meanwhile Ukip has lost its figurehead, a lot of its funding, its expertise and - with the UK leaving the EU - what many regard as its primary purpose. Will this election see it lose ground in the wake of Brexit or will it continue as an anti-establishment force? Recent events in many countries (including Britain) how that the electorate has a desire for such a movement, but with the organisation seemingly coming apart at the seams, is Ukip in a position to deliver?

The most important thing to remember is that things can still change - in all sorts of directions. The next 50 days will answer many of these questions. There are events we know about ahead that could make a difference, from the local elections in May to even the French Presidential election. On top of this there will inevitably be the (as yet) unknown events we cannot predict. In each case we will have to wait and see which ones are the election's talking points and which are its turning points.

Joe Twyman is the Head of Political and Social Research at YouGov
WPA Pool via Getty Images

The 2017 election is already being described as a fait accompli. An enhanced Conservative majority is widely seen as inevitable. It's not. It's true that a Labour majority is almost impossible; it's been incredibly unlikely ever since the SNP's dominance over Scotland became cemented, and Labour's weak polling position only confirms that improbability. But that doesn't mean a Tory majority is inevitable: a hung parliament, out of which a non-Conservative government might arise, is a definite possibility. It would require all or most of the following factors to occur:

1) Liberal Democrats winning back 30-40 of their old seats.

The 2015 Tory majority only occurred because the Liberal Democrats were wiped out in their former South-West stronghold. There are reasons to think that it might be different this time; we are further from the coalition government, which previously cost them seats, and Brexit has provided them with a galvanising issue on which they have a clear position. A Liberal Democrat resurgence seems highly likely, and if the party concentrates its resources in the right seats, this could well take the Conservative tally down to 290-300. While in theory the Lib Dems could go into coalition with the Tories again this is in practice massively unlikely, given that they are on opposite sides of the Brexit debate. They would have little choice but to help form a parliamentary alliance that sought to prevent hard Brexit.

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2) The SNP keeping its grip on Scotland

The Conservatives are hoping to win more seats in Scotland, having only one at present. But the SNP is still hugely popular, polling at around 47%. If Nicola Sturgeon's party can hold onto most of their seats that will deny the Conservatives a key opportunity for growth.

3) Ukip remaining in play

While Ukip is often depicted as a threat to Labour, in fact it tends to helps Labour hold onto seats, taking votes that would otherwise go to the Conservatives. In 2015 Ukip received 12.6% of the vote. If it takes more than 10% this time, in line with current polling, that will allow Labour to do better than it otherwise would in crucial Labour-Conservative marginals.

4) Tory turnout at a low level

People tend not to like being asked to vote too often, and the last major election, the EU referendum, was less than a year ago. This is clearly an unnecessary election, called purely for political advantage, and while supporters of opposition parties will be motivated, some Conservative voters may well choose to stay at home.

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5) Labour holding onto most of its 2015 seats

Labour is unlikely to do as badly as many pundits are predicting. It received 30.4% in 2015 and one poll at the weekend put them on 29%. This is likely to rise, given that an election campaign tends to limit the possibility of infighting and imposes a higher degree of discipline on a party. On top of this, Labour has by far the highest membership of any party, and has a much clearer policy platform than in 2015, now being explicitly anti-cuts and pro-redistribution, a policy agenda that has be shown to be highly popular. While Labour is likely to lose some seats it may well be able to gain a few elsewhere if the membership is sufficiently active and targeted. So they have a good chance of ending up with roughly the same number of seats as before.

6) Some degree of tactical voting

There are around 40 seats where the combined votes of centre left parties were higher than the Tory majority in 2015. Tactical voting can ensure they stay out of Conservative hands. A full blown electoral pact is not going to happen. All that is needed is some tactical nous by local parties and voters - Lib Dem supporters choosing to vote Labour in certain areas and vice versa.
Theresa May may have triggered article 50, yet negotiations cannot effectively start until the EU political landscape has settled. Indeed, with major elections being held across the continent, most notably in France and Germany, 2016 is proving to be an eventful (if slightly chaotic) year that could well spell success or failure for a UK deal.

An arena where anything goes

Over the past few weeks the four lesser horsemen of Panic, Bias, Ignorance and Shouting took control over the political debate in France, tainting it with scandals in the press and online troll operations to the point that it has become difficult to decipher the candidates' positions on a number of crucial topics, including their stance on the EU. The UK government is holding its breath however, as it is not too far-fetched to say that the stance of France's future leader, whomever they might be, will play a large part in dictating Brexit negotiating terms.

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Out of the four main candidates whom, according to the most recent polls, have a shot at qualifying for the second tour (Francois Fillon, Emmanuel Macron, Marine le Pen and Jean-Luc Melenchon), there is no ideal situation for the Brexiteers. There are, however, options that would hurt the EU's bargaining power in the sense that a weakened alliance isn't as formidable an opponent as a cohesive bloc of solidarity. Depending on the outcome, the potential exodus of companies from the UK towards the continent could also be reversed.

Status quo vs. paradigm shift

At first glance there is a clear schism between Emmanuel Macron and Francois Fillon on the one hand, and Marine le Pen and Jean-Luc Melenchon on the other. Essentially, although each candidate prones a deal that should benefit France, it boils down to continuity and a statu quo regarding the state of the EU in terms of membership versus a new paradigm which could lead to an eventual disembodiment and crumbling down of the union.

"Populist and nationalist ideas are cutting the continent in half, they are the pinch of the hourglass."

Marine Le Pen puts forward economic protectionist measures, instauring trade barriers, tightly controlled immigration, and calls for nations to regain their sovereignty as well as a Frexit referendum (and we don't need to remind to anyone here what sort of results such a referendum is likely to produce). Le Pen's program relies heavily on leaving or at least renegotiating the terms of the EU partnership. As has been the case in history, both recent and century-old, populist and nationalist ideas are cutting the continent in half, they are the pinch of the hourglass. Jean-Luc Melenchon has a similar approach, presenting the EU as being anti-democratic and tyrannical: his complete rebuttal of European treaties (stability pact, TAFTA, CETA, TISA) and calls for disobedience of the agreements in place and general strategy of being a wild card could end up in an exit referendum (again, likely to happen if put to the vote). He aims to negotiate, and negotiate hard. His meteoric rise in the polls over the past few weeks has made markets wary.

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On the other end of the spectrum we have the liberal Emmanuel Macron, the only truly pro-european candidate, seeking a greater partnership with Germany (following up on Hollande's plea for a two-speed Europe at the Versailles summit last March?). His vision is one of a powerful and reinforced EU, he has stated that France would welcome UK talent, and he will defend a harsh negotiation line with the UK "Britain should not get preferential treatment after it leaves the block". As for Francois Fillon, there would be no talk of France leaving the EU either. Aside from a few sovereignty adjustments and a focus on immigration and security, few changes are to be expected. In terms of Brexit however, he is against the delivery of a financial passport and in favour of swift negotiations, and although he does believe in firmness he will seek to maintain a strong bilateral relationship.

"Britain's short term interest could seemingly lie with the victory of Marine Le Pen or Jean-Luc Melenchon, a result that would weaken the EU and potentially open the door to separate trade agreements with France"

Britain's short term interest could seemingly lie with the victory of Marine Le Pen or Jean-Luc Melenchon, a result that would weaken the EU and potentially open the door to separate trade agreements with France, but only on the condition that there would in fact be a Frexit, and that protectionist measures do not affect trade too much. However this would open the Brexit Pandora's box even further and pave the way for even more isolationism from each country in the EU, fostering doubt on the markets, weakening Europe as a whole and leaving it vulnerable to economic, political and diplomatic pressures from powerful outsider states. This, in the long run, makes for a dangerous playground, as Britain and the EU will still need each other commercially: further uncertainty is sure to be detrimental to all parties. Realistically, and given the EU's negotiation history over large-scale issues, Britain should hope for the victory of either one of the more "stable" candidates (Macron or Fillon), even though an easy way out will never be on the table, a stable outcome would be preferable to an all-out reshuffle of the powers in play.

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What consequences can result for UK based companies aiming for the continent and French businesses considering leaving France?
REUTERS

A remarkable feature of the NHS is the resilience of public confidence in it. Despite constant headlines that it is "in crisis", satisfaction levels actually rose last year from 60 to 63 per cent according to the British Social Attitudes Survey. They are currently at their third highest level in the 33 years since the survey began in 1983.

This is worth noting because it runs counter to so much of what we read about the NHS. Reports over the last year have focused on lengthening waiting lists, overstretched A&E departments and over-pressed GPs. Yet only one in ten patients waits longer than 18 weeks for routine hospital treatment, one in 20 spends longer than four hours in A&E and less than one in eight reports difficulty making a GP appointment.

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For most people most of the time, the health service still performs well - thanks largely to the extraordinary efforts of those who work in it.

But though satisfaction levels are currently high, there are growing fears about the NHS's future. A record 55 per cent of the public say they expect the NHS to deteriorate over the coming years. Social, demographic and economic pressures are mounting. Yet there is no long term plan to confront them.

A Lords committee this month attacked the "culture of short termism" that prevails in the NHS and the unwillingness of the Department of Health to look beyond the next few years and warned it was threatening its survival. The failure to plan for social care needs, driven by the ageing population, has led to elderly patients being marooned in hospital, consuming NHS resources that don't meet their needs, undermining its stability.

Their principal suggested remedy is the establishment of an independent Office for Health and Care Sustainability which would assess health and care needs over the next 15 to 20 years and report to parliament on demographic changes, workforce and funding issues. Possible models would be the Office for Budget Responsibility, the National Infrastructure Commission and the Low Pay Commission.

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We need better planning. But how do we bring about change? What would a reformed NHS look like? We need reform that is self-sustaining, that creates an organisation with the resilience to respond to the challenges it faces - social, demographic, technical.

Our delivery mechanisms for care are based on the last century - the divisions between primary, secondary and social care are out-dated. Devolution is important because local change happens at local level. I am excited by the work in Manchester where health and social care budgets have been merged across the city. I tried to do the same in London as chair of the London Health Commission in 2015 but there are difficulties. There are too many hospitals in parts of London but we have not acted in changing them and creating modern primary and community services.

As health minister in Gordon Brown's government, I introduced a new kind of clinic, staffed by a range of clinicians, where patients would receive treatment previously only available in hospital, freeing up beds and bringing care to the community. That is where you get better quality, more cost effective care with a better patient experience. Some of these "polyclinics" were built and thrive today. But we lacked support from the centre and a business model to drive uptake.

We need a system that builds confidence. We centralised stroke services in fewer hospitals, with better expertise and care, and now we are saving 1,000 lives a year in London. We did the same for major trauma and heart attacks. Quality should be the organising principle of the NHS, as I argued a decade ago. I do not believe that regulation is the way to improve quality. Regulation should be there to ensure a minimum core standard is maintained, so we can all sleep at night.

Above all, the NHS needs to exploit the information revolution. New technologies are changing the way care is delivered and how it is provided but the NHS has been slow to adopt them, as the Lords committee says. Young doctors are absolutely engaged with the digital era and its potential to improve care. One of the big safety gaps in hospital is when one team hands over care to another. Digital innovations will sort this out. Then we can start to tackle the productivity challenges and better utility of the workforce that we face.

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We need a narrative that empowers individuals, re-ignites enthusiasm and commitment and is focused on the pursuit of excellence. We need to be given a financial envelope, permission to make some of the big changes and cover in case they fail. That is the only narrative I know that unites everyone and can help to sustain the NHS - the politician, the manager, the doctor and nurse at the front line, and the community worker.
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It seems we can't speak about anything these days without the implications of Brexit being raised, and politicians arguing with equal gusto that the outcomes will be either hugely beneficial or utterly disastrous.

The future for wildlife is no different. Much of our law protecting to the environment and the natural world comes from Europe. The extent to which the UK will retain or change this legislation following Brexit hangs in the balance.

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While our Government has sought to reassure us that nature is safe in their hands and that they intend to make good on their manifesto commitment to be 'the first generation to leave the natural environment in a better state than that in which we found it', its commitment to wildlife and the environment has recently been brought into question. DEFRA seems to be backtracking on its 25 Year Plan for the Environment. Newspaper reports have suggested that action on climate change and illegal wildlife trade might be 'scaled down' as we seek new trade deals in a post-Brexit world.

DEFRA and its agencies have also seen swathing cuts to departmental budgets and staff in recent years, and there are serious concerns over whether they are capable of delivering the kind of outcome from Brexit that is critical to the future of our environment and wildlife.

Wildlife trafficking is a major issue of concern. Worth an estimated US$20 billion annually, it is widely thought to be the fourth largest form of illegal trade. At least 20,000 elephants are being gunned down by poachers every year for their tusks. Rhinos, tigers, lions, pangolins and a host of other species are in the sights of poachers and traffickers. Organised criminal networks see wildlife as a low risk-high return commodity, and their activities devastate populations of threatened species of animals and plants and may disrupt economic, political and social stability among some of the world's most vulnerable communities.

In 2014, the UK Government hosted a high-level international conference bringing together global leaders to help eradicate wildlife trafficking and better protect the world's most iconic species from the threat of extinction. At the summit, Prince William promised delegates that "we will stay the course with you until you succeed", and the Government published a document emphasising its commitment to ending the illegal wildlife trade.

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This conference has been followed by two further meetings in Botswana and Vietnam. London will host the fourth in the series next year.

But in order to be a credible host in 2018, The UK must remain at the forefront of international efforts to tackle the problem. That means ensuring our own rules on wildlife trade are strengthened, not weakened, when we leave the EU. It also means pursuing the policies and committing the resources needed to deal with illegal wildlife trade in our own back yard.

Leaked documents suggesting that work on wildlife trafficking might be ''scaled down' in favour of trade and growth don't inspire much confidence.

In order to retain credibility as a world leader on this issue, the UK must commit, as a minimum, to transposing all aspects of the EU's Wildlife Trade Regulations (which go well beyond our international commitments to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in many respects) into UK law when we leave the EU, fully adopt and implement the EU Action Plan Against Wildlife Trafficking, and take decisive action to stem ivory trade to reflect the actions of other key countries.

As we go forward into a new independent era, the UK should seek the highest levels of international protection for wildlife against illegal trade at CITES and other forums, and be prepared to set an example by implementing the strictest of domestic measures.

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Perhaps most importantly, the UK must make measurable action on wildlife trafficking a precondition for any trade deals negotiated with other countries post-Brexit, and tie such action to overseas aid.
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On Tuesday April 18th, Britain's Prime Minister Teresa May called for early elections to take place on the 8th of June in order to have a more unified stance on the tough decisions Britain must take on Brexit. Some suspect it may be because her opposition is weak, but this will also give the government more legitimacy moving forward. "Britain is leaving the European Union and there can be no turning back..." she reiterated for any who still have doubts. "Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make success of Brexit, and it will cause damaging uncertainty and instability to the country," she said.

In February, former President Tony Blair challenged the idea of a "Brexit at any cost" and said although the people had voted for Brexit they did not know what it would entail and they have the right to change their opinion as the realities of the decision become known. The aftermath of a hard Brexit can mean the end of Britain as we know it, as Scotland calls for a referendum for independence. But it will give the U.K. the power to once again take control of its immigration which was one of the main reasons many support Brexit.

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There's still time for a "pro European Brexit" argues Professor Simon Hix of London School of Economics and Political Science. What would that mean now? He argues it would have to consist of four elements. One would have to be a bilateral agreement on the rights of EU and U.K. citizens to live, work, and access benefits after paying taxes for a number of years in Britain. There could be something which models the US green card, a "joint EU-UK 'Blue Card' permanent residence scheme." Although this would not mean free movement for the over three million EU citizens in the U.K. or 1.5 million U.K. Citizens in the EU it would lighten "the economic impact" of reducing the labor supply of the two markets.

The second would be a trade agreement between the EU and the UK where it will be necessary to decide what commitments to social and environmental standards Britain is willing to make. Leaving the single market would cost Britain "cost the UK economy between 2 and 5% of GDP over the next 10 to 15 years," Hix explains. A more comprehensive Free Trade Agreement he argues would help alleviate those strains. Third would be some agreement on "payments into the EU budget" as estimates are that the U.K. owes the EU somewhere between 25bn and 60bn in what many refer to as a "divorce bill" which must be accounted for. Hix suggests an independent panel to decide how much of that Britain can agree to pay and the EU accept, implying there may be room for negotiations on the amount owed.

Lastly longer term institutional changes will be necessary in order to ensure continuity on policing and counterterrorism cooperation, "to dispute resolution panels, high-level ministerial councils, to perhaps even an annual EU-UK summit," suggests Hix. "Regardless of the precise terms of any free trade agreement and related arrangements, the UK and the EU will continue to have shared economic, security and defence interests that will need to be addressed."
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Royal Ramblings recently sat down with former Impact Wrestling World Champion EC3 to talk Impact debuting on Spike UK TV, the locker-room vibe and more. However, before any of that happened we were put on hold by a typically jubilant EC3 who told us he needed to run through his house to his office. When finally he returned he proudly announced and later Tweeted "I really put you on hold as I just had to eat a large amount of bacon! And you can quote me on that!" and indeed we have. Good to know EC3 has his priorities straight! Food and entertaining the masses - now that's something we can all get on board with. No doubt we'll all have our popcorn and chips at the ready when Impact returns to UK screens on Spike TV this Friday.

Impact wrestling - new name, new deal and new energy. What can UK fans expect?

For me, it is the best deal we could possibly have in the UK. The UK is a hotspot of wrestling. It starts Friday April 21st at 9pm on Spike TV. We were a very popular brand in the UK at one point, the UK has some of the best fans in the world and we want to be back there again. For me personally I am just pleased that the fans in the UK can once more see me on their TV again!

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In December of last year Impact launched an APP, which was a paid service on which you could watch the show - so where does this leave that product?

IMPACT will run on the app after seven days, and the app also retains all the classic content and incredible matches and talent from the history of the company. More importantly, the way people are watching TV is changing and an app is totally needed. In wrestling, you see this with the network and it is going to change far more than we can foresee it - content on demand is the future. But most importantly you can go back and see all my great matches - so yeah you should sign up to it!

Impact appears to be on a firm footing. What is the atmosphere like in the locker room between those who stayed during the previous management and those who are just returning?

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So many times there has been this change and that change. It does not really matter about the good times and the bad times... all that really matters is that you as a talent are consistent. There are a lot of new faces because we have lost a lot of faces. For the new people, all that means is there is an opportunity for them, and you can quote me on this, s**t or get off the pot! As far as guys like myself who have been there a little bit, it's a new locker room to control and I'm looking for new opportunities to grow myself and for them to bring it. Otherwise I will be on top until I choose otherwise.

What does the future hold for you? We spoke to Cody Rhodes the other day who had his exit plan from the industry all sorted - do you?

For me it's to be the absolute best and there is only one thing that signifies that and that is for me to be the Heavy weight World Champion again. Good luck to Cody - he is doing some acting at the moment and in fact I have just done a movie and that is something I would like to attempt and try more of in the future.

We have seen you wrestling in the UK a few times recently - what you think of the UK scene and will Impact being touring again?

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The UK is a hotbed of professional wrestling - everyone is talking about how cool the UK scene is and its fun! Most importantly it is because of the atmosphere the fans create - especially when Impact has toured. And we need to be doing that again soon and it's defiantly in the pipe line!
Elections create winners and losers. Politicians like to claim that their policies will benefit everyone, '[e]very person, every family, every business, every community the length and breadth of the United Kingdom - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland', to quote Theresa May. Sadly, this isn't the case.

The 2017 election is not a choice between angels and demons, nor is it a choice between corruption and probity - none of our main parties are perfect, but none are wholly cynical and self-serving. Rather, the election gives us a chance to influence who wins and who loses over the next five years.

The good news is that recent history gives a clear indication of the likely winners and losers of five more years of Conservative rule. Under Cameron and May some groups won big. Over the past 7 years the economy has grown around 15 per cent. In fact, the economy is almost 10 percent larger today than it was at its pre-crash peak in 2008. The winners have been the super-rich. According to Credit Suisse's Global Wealth Report, since 2008 personal wealth has grown at the fastest rate ever recorded. In Britain, the record rises in personal wealth have been accentuated by the 375 billion of quantitative easing authorised by the government in the wake of the Financial Crisis, and the 60 billion announced to shore up the markets after the Brexit vote. The initial wave of quantitative easing resulted in a huge increase in asset values for the top 5 per cent of households. So, since the crash the very wealthy have benefited enormously, and government money has helped them to do so. At the same time, wages have declined. Since 2008, most working people have seen their earnings shrink by around 10 per cent in real terms.

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The public sector has been another loser. The NHS, which was in the black in 2010, faced a 1.85 billion deficit in 2016, the largest deficit in its history. As a result, waiting times are up, and the NHS is facing, what the British Red Cross have described as a 'humanitarian crisis.' Conditions in the NHS have led to an exodus of Doctors. A third of Accident and Emergency Doctors left the UK to work abroad between 2010 and 2015. There is a similar pattern in education, where 10,000 teachers left the profession in Cameron's first term. In both sectors, real terms cuts in spending has increased workloads to a point where many professionals are no longer willing to continue.

Running down public services has hit some groups much harder than others. Austerity has hit women's incomes twice as hard as men's. Cuts to lone parent benefits since 2010, for example, have fallen disproportionality on women, for the simple reason that women make up 90 per cent of lone parents. At the same time, as women tend to be low earners they have benefited far less from tax cuts than men.

The paradox of the last seven years is that while the economy had grown, services have been cut and government debt has increased. This situation has arisen because neither Cameron nor May have been able to turn economic growth into increased tax revenues.

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The tax take is down for three reasons. First, the tax-free allowance has been raised, and the top rate cut. The cut in the top rate alone, is estimated to cost the Treasury 2.4 billion a year. Secondly, Cameron's 'jobs miracle' has created mostly part-time jobs, self-employment, and casual work on zero-hours contracts. These jobs simply do not pay enough to produce the tax revenues necessary to fix Britain's finances. Finally, Corporation Tax was cut from 28 per cent in 2010 to 20 per cent in 2015, reducing revenue from business. Therefore, in spite of significant economic growth, government finances are in much worse shape than they were under Labour. Indeed, in 2010, when the British government had, apparently, 'run out of money', government debt was running at 78 per cent of GDP. Last year, government debt was nudging 90 per cent of GDP.

While the public sector has been subject to significant cuts, the private sector has benefited hugely from government policy. Since 2015 the Treasury has encouraged all government departments to sell off as much property as they can. Land belonging to the Ministry of Defence, the NHS, and the Ministry of Justice has been sold off, usually to property developers. Holloway prison, for example, will soon be bulldozed to make way for luxury flats. On top of that, George Osborne sold off Channel 4, Network Rail, the Met Office, the Land Registry, as well as government shares in the Lloyds Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland. The sell-offs did not, however, maximise the value of government assets. RBS shares, for example, were sold at a 1.7 billion loss. In this sense, the winners from Osborne's privatisations have been private investors, the losers tax payers.

Young people have also lost out over the last 7 years. Tuition fees have trebled, and the housing crisis means that Thatcher's vision of a 'home-owning democracy' is unlikely to become a reality for the vast majority of millennials. In simple terms, student debt coupled with increasing house prices and stagnate wages has created a situation where most young people will never be able to afford a home of their own. Indeed, in 2016 Home ownership in England fell to its lowest level in 30 years, and government ministers have begun to acknowledge that the future of housing in Britain lies in private rental, rather than private ownership or social housing.

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Let's just get this out of the way: there is no way Labour is going to win the next election. Damn, that left a bad taste in my mouth.

Look, I don't like this anymore than you do. The best the party can hope for is to stem the bleeding and maybe wind up on life support with a cute doctor nursing us back to health. I don't say this lightly - I endorsed Jeremy Corbyn for leader in 2015 and I desperately wanted him to succeed - but the writing is on the wall. 8 June will be a day of ruin for Labour. Be prepared for your hangover on 9 June.

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This is the hard truth that Labour activists and strategists, and indeed leadership, need to grapple with. We're not going to win this. Six weeks is not enough time to turn around a 20 + point deficit. I know this. You know this. I reckon Jeremy Corbyn knows this too.

So imagine my surprise when he issued a statement refusing to even consider an alliance with the Scottish National Party. "The SNP may talk left at Westminster, but in government in Scotland it acts rights," he said in a statement. "Only Labour or the Tories can win this election and voting Labour is the only way to remove Theresa May from office."

No Jeremy, only the Tories can win this election. The best you, and the country, can hope for is a cobbled-together coalition.

I know this sounds bonkers. After all, no less than Lynton Crosby, George Osborne, and even Ed Balls have suggested that Ed Miliband's refusal to rule out a coalition with the SNP cost him the 2015 election. And you know what? They're probably right.

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But two years is a lifetime in politics. 2017 finds a very different country than the one that voted in 2015. This is down to two things: Corbyn and Brexit

Corbyn isn't popular enough to win a karaoke contest down the local, let alone a general election. Corbyn has had a net negative popularity rating since the middle of August 2016. It's trending in the right direction, but not fast enough - and certainly not once the Tories start slinging the mud they've undoubtedly been saving for an election. Theresa May's popularity rating is also a net negative, but in a YouGov poll published Sunday, 44% of voters surveyed still intend to cast their ballot for the Conservatives - indicating that while they don't like her, they really viscerally loathe him.

There are many reasons for Jeremy Corbyn's unpopularity, and not all of them are his fault. He has been pilloried in the press, caricatured as an aloof, terrorist-sympathising buffoon. I'm not here to litigate the hows and whys of Corbyn's approval ratings, though. The time for that has passed and we are now where we are. The people don't want Corbynism, but they do want progressivism.

You needn't look any further than a recent ComRes poll: 71% agree with Labour on raising the minimum wage, 62% agree on raising the top rate of income tax to 50p for those making over 150,000, and 53% support paying for free school meals for all state school pupils by means of a VAT on private school tuition. The public is hungry for progressive policies, yet only 25% plan on voting for Labour.

Labour is not going to win Scotland back. A Panelbase/Sunday Times poll from last month shows the SNP up by 19 points, 47% to 28% - for the Tories. Labour pulled in a measly 14% of expected voters. Kelvin MacKenzie has a better chance of surviving in Scotland than the Labour Party currently has.

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Meanwhile, south of the border the Liberal Democrats look poised to make something of a comeback. Constituencies like Richmond Park, which flipped back to Lib Dem in a December by-election (you know, the one where Zach Goldsmith was trounced once and for all), and neighbouring Twickenham - where Vince Cable was defeated in 2015 and is set to stand again - are in play. So is the West Country, where they were totally wiped out two years ago. The Lib Dems are being buoyed by their staunch opposition to Brexit and insistence on a second referendum once the deal is done.

Jeremy Corbyn and much of the Labour leadership were lukewarm on remaining in the UK, at best, and the 48% of Brits who voted to remain know it. They see in the Lib Dems the last, best chance to stop or mitigate Brexit, and they're paying attention. Those 48% are energized after being so demonized for the past ten months, and they're a demographic waiting to be mined for votes.

Of course, this may all be an exercise in futility. As Nicola Sturgeon said today, "I'm not sure there are many people who think Labour are going to be in a position on their own or with anybody else, to form a government." She's probably right. If the forecasts are correct, there's no way Jeremy Corbyn could form a government even if every MP who isn't a Tory backed him - and there's every chance many of them, especially the Lib Dems, wouldn't.
On April 18, a sanitation worker in Changchun, Jilin province bought a pair of socks for a homeless person on the street. A woman who witnessed the good deed, surnamed Zhao, said the empathy of the sanitation worker moved her deeply.

It normally takes just a few seconds to put on socks. However, it took longer when the worker patiently helped to put them on the feet of the homeless person because the latter didn't know how to cooperate. Zhao praised the worker for not only cleaning the city, but also warming people's hearts. However, when passersby applauded his act, the worker responded that it was nothing because people are supposed to help each other.
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When I was growing up, my next door neighbour left school at sixteen since he was not interested in the subjects being taught at his school. Fortunately, he was offered an apprenticeship as a printer. This allowed him to receive on-the-job training while earning a wage. Sadly, in the early 1990s the focus on getting more young people into university meant the popularity of apprenticeships in the UK and vocational training declined. This was in stark contrast to countries such as Germany where apprenticeships were seen as a key factor in the success of their Mittlelstand (small and medium sized) companies.

Fortunately, over the last decade apprenticeships have become more popular in the UK. The recent 10th National Apprenticeship Week (#NAW2017) in March brought together employers and apprentices from across the UK to celebrate the success of such partnerships over the last ten years, and to encourage even more people to choose this path as a fast-track to a great career. Apprenticeships are seen to bring huge benefits to our young people, to older people looking to retrain, to our city and its vibrant economy, and to the country as a whole.

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They give people of all ages and all backgrounds the ladder of opportunity to get paid experience in work and achieve a top-class qualification at the same time. We all know that bright and talented people are critical to the long-term success and sustainability of our economy.

Apprentices taken on since 2012 in London have topped 46,000 - just over half of them women - with most companies reporting how placings had improved productivity. Some 24,200 employers took on apprentices in London last year alone.

Long gone are the days when apprenticeships were seen by some employers as a means to recruit a runner or tea-bringer - indeed today's apprentices already bring with them a skillset of their own - particularly in the realms of multi-media. Many employers and employees have as much to learn from the apprentice as the apprentice has to learn from them.

Many of our young apprentices are inspiring, ambitious, full of energy and passion - and keen to bound up the ladder of opportunity to achieve their goals and be the best they can possibly be in their chosen fields. Older apprentices can bring all these things as well as their experience of working in another industry.

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An array of events up and down the country held as part of National Apprentices Week - some run by apprentices, some run by employers themselves - showcased the best of apprenticeships and the numerous job roles and sectors they are available in.

The apprentices themselves addressed audiences at events and demonstrated the benefits apprenticeships have brought to their professional and personal lives. Recently a new campaign by the Department for Education urged smaller companies to take on apprentices.

One example in east London was Blue Engineering in Shoreditch. Apprenticeships were first tried at the company in 2012, in a programme that has expanded since then with its growing business. Past and present apprentices now account for almost half the Blue Engineering workforce.

But the government is concerned that almost three-quarters of other small and medium enterprises are "yet to be convinced of the merits of apprenticeships". So the campaign aims to challenge perceptions and has funding available to help pay salaries for paid learning.

The combination of experienced staff members who have finely honed their skills over many years and apprentices, who bring raw talent, who are eager to learn and who bring with them a skillset, particularly in multimedia, that might not be prevalent in a more traditional workforce, changes a staff dynamic.

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London businesses are finding that the increasing the number of apprentices in their organisations has had a tremendous impact on the way they work. An injection of youth or experience, talent, passion, and a willingness to learn has transformed their workplaces.

Today's consumers, clients and customers are very careful who they do business with. They want to see companies doing their bit for their local communities - and hiring an apprentice can be one way to demonstrate this commitment.

Supporting apprentices is increasingly being seen as an important part of strengthening the labour market as a whole with apprenticeships expected to contribute a staggering 3.4 billion to the UK economy by 2022.
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After several months of claiming that she wasn't interested in calling a General Election, yesterday the Prime Minister announced she would be... calling a snap general election.

Think that took everyone by surprise a little.

Plenty of people over the last twenty-four hours, have explored why, she decided to throw this particular grenade into the middle of the British body politic, - which will among other things, screw over the Gorton by-election, seeing as Parliament may have been dissolved before May 4th, requiring the people of Manchester Gorton, to vote twice in one month - though like many, I suspect the Labour party being twenty points adrift in the Easter polls probably had something to do with it.

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Instead I'm going to look at how this may well effect each of the Britain's three main parties (by which I mean, the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats).

The Conservatives

Unless it's revealed on election day, that Liam Fox's post Brexit trade policies involve drug dealing, then I think it's safe to say the only way for the Tories is up. While I'm not convinced by Elections Calculus' suggestion of a plus 100 seat majority, I do think that Mrs May doesn't need to think about finding somewhere else to live.

The big question is what are the Tories going to look like after the election, and how will this affect Brexit? If the majority of the Conservative bench are old Peter Bone style Eurosceptics, then I imagine we'll be in for the hardest of hard Brexit's. If on the other hand if most of them are at best apathetic towards Europe, then we may be seeing a change to Soft Brexit.

Of course, this might be what the Prime Minister had in mind in the first place.

Labour

Labour conversely are most likely going to find this election somewhat.... painful. Unable to vote against it, without coming across as anti-democratic, they head into this election with the most left wing leader since Michael Foot, the worse polling numbers since 1983, and divisions that have never been more obvious to the general electorate.

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The two questions that Labour will have to answer this election, are A: How are they going to cope without Scotland? (I don't see them getting that many seats back from the SNP) and to paraphrase the old Limbo slogan, how low can they go? That is to say, what precisely is Labour's vote floor?

I personally think they'll hit about 180 seats and stop, but after the last two years, almost nothing is certain any more. They will probably remain the official opposition, unless Corbyn announces a Labour government's first act of foreign policy will be returning Gibraltar to Spain. Of course, we also need to consider whether Corbyn himself will resign or if he'll have to be pushed.

My advice to Labour members is prepare for a rough night.

Liberal Democrats

I think we should be realistic about the Liberal Democrats chances and I speak as one of their supporters. The likelihood of the Lib Dems getting back to where they were in 2010 is slim. I think the best they can hope for is a net gain of about ten seats.

However, where this election is concerned I don't think seat count is what is really important - though obviously, I would love to see more Lib Dems in parliament - what is important is coming back after 2015, and proving that far from being a dead parrot, we are alive, kicking and deserve to be listened too. Though of course I won't complain, if somehow, we end up as the Official Opposition.

I suspect that at this election, the Lib Dems will focus on heavily Remain constituencies and run heavily on being Pro-EU and anti-Brexit. But this will provide a solid base to build on in the future. Liberals are used to having to work hard. It's not something they are particularly afraid of.

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This piece was first published on April 20, 2010.

Warren Haynes, the Allman Brothers Band guitarist, routinely plays with the surviving members of the Grateful Dead, now touring as The Dead. He's just finished a Dead show in Washington, D.C., and gets a pop quiz from the Huffington Post.

Where does 420 come from?

He pauses and thinks, hands on his side. "I don't know the real origin. I know myths and rumors," he says. "I'm really confused about the first time I heard it. It was like a police code for smoking in progress or something. What's the real story?"

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Depending on who you ask, or their state of inebriation, there are as many varieties of answers as strains of medical bud in California. It's the number of active chemicals in marijuana. It's teatime in Holland. It has something to do with Hitler's birthday. It's those numbers in that Bob Dylan song multiplied.

The origin of the term 420, celebrated around the world by pot smokers every April 20, has long been obscured by the clouded memories of the folks who made it a phenomenon.

The Huffington Post chased the term back to its roots and was able to find it in a lost patch of cannabis in a Point Reyes, California forest. Just as interesting as its origin, it turns out, is how it spread.

It starts with the Dead.

It was Christmas week in Oakland, 1990. Steven Bloom was wandering through The Lot - that timeless gathering of hippies that springs up in the parking lot before every Grateful Dead concert - when a Deadhead handed him a yellow flyer.

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"We are going to meet at 4:20 on 4/20 for 420-ing in Marin County at the Bolinas Ridge sunset spot on Mt. Tamalpais," reads the message, which Bloom dug up and forwarded to the Huffington Post. Bloom, then a reporter for High Times magazine and now the publisher of CelebStoner.com and co-author of Pot Culture, had never heard of "420-ing" before.

The flyer came complete with a 420 back story: "420 started somewhere in San Rafael, California in the late '70s. It started as the police code for Marijuana Smoking in Progress. After local heads heard of the police call, they started using the expression 420 when referring to herb - Let's Go 420, dude!"

Bloom reported his find in the May 1991 issue of High Times, which the magazine found in its archives and provided to the Huffington Post. The story, though, was only partially right.

It had nothing to do with a police code -- though the San Rafael part was dead on. Indeed, a group of five San Rafael High School friends known as the Waldos - by virtue of their chosen hang-out spot, a wall outside the school - coined the term in 1971. The Huffington Post spoke with Waldo Steve, Waldo Dave and Dave's older brother, Patrick, and confirmed their full names and identities, which they asked to keep secret for professional reasons. (Pot is still, after all, illegal.)

The Waldos never envisioned that pot smokers the world over would celebrate each April 20th as a result of their foray into the Point Reyes forest. The day has managed to become something of a national holiday in the face of official condemnation. This year's celebration will be no different. Officials at the University of Colorado at Boulder and University of California, Santa Cruz, which boast two of the biggest smoke outs, are pushing back. "As another April 20 approaches, we are faced with concerns from students, parents, alumni, Regents, and community members about a repeat of last year's 4/20 'event,'" wrote Boulder's chancellor in a letter to students. "On April 20, 2009, we hope that you will choose not to participate in unlawful activity that debases the reputation of your University and degree, and will encourage your fellow Buffs to act with pride and remember who they really are."

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But the Cheshire cat is out of the bag. Students and locals will show up at round four, light up at 4:20 and be gone shortly thereafter. No bands, no speakers, no chants. Just a bunch of people getting together and getting stoned.

The code often creeps into popular culture and mainstream settings. Nearly all of the clocks in the pawn shop scene in "Pulp Fiction," for instance, are set to 4:20. In 2003, when the California legislature codified the medical marijuana law voters had approved, the bill was named SB420.

"We think it was a staffer working for [lead Assembly sponsor Mark] Leno, but no one has ever fessed up," says Steph Sherer, head of Americans for Safe Access, which lobbied on behalf of the bill. California legislative staffers spoken to for this story say that the 420 designation remains a mystery, but that both Leno and the lead Senate sponsor, John Vasconcellos, are hip enough that they must have known what it meant. (If you were involved with SB420 and know the story, email me.)

The code pops up in Craig's List postings when fellow smokers search for "420 friendly" roommates. "It's just a vaguer way of saying it and it kind of makes it kind of cool," says Bloom. "Like, you know you're in the know, but that does show you how it's in the mainstream."

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The Waldos do have proof, however, that they used the term in the early '70s in the form of an old 420 flag and numerous letters with 420 references and early '70s post marks. They also have a story.

It goes like this: One day in the Fall of 1971 - harvest time - the Waldos got word of a Coast Guard service member who could no longer tend his plot of marijuana plants near the Point Reyes Peninsula Coast Guard station. A treasure map in hand, the Waldos decided to pluck some of this free bud.

The Waldos were all athletes and agreed to meet at the statue of Louis Pasteur outside the school at 4:20, after practice, to begin the hunt.

"We would remind each other in the hallways we were supposed to meet up at 4:20. It originally started out 4:20-Louis and we eventually dropped the Louis," Waldo Steve tells the Huffington Post.

The first forays out were unsuccessful, but the group kept looking for the hidden crop. "We'd meet at 4:20 and get in my old '66 Chevy Impala and, of course, we'd smoke instantly and smoke all the way out to Pt. Reyes and smoke the entire time we were out there. We did it week after week," says Steve. "We never actually found the patch."

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But they did find a useful codeword. "I could say to one of my friends, I'd go, 420, and it was telepathic. He would know if I was saying, 'Hey, do you wanna go smoke some?' Or, 'Do you have any?' Or, 'Are you stoned right now?' It was kind of telepathic just from the way you said it," Steve says. "Our teachers didn't know what we were talking about. Our parents didn't know what we were talking about."

It's one thing to identify the origin of the term. Indeed, Wikipedia and Urban Dictionary already include references to the Waldos. The bigger question: How did 420 spread from a circle of California stoners across the globe?

As fortune would have it, the collapse of San Francisco's hippie utopia in the late '60s set the stage. As speed freaks, thugs and con artists took over The Haight, the Grateful Dead picked up and moved to the Marin County hills - just blocks from San Rafael High School.

"Marin Country was kind of ground zero for the counter culture," says Steve.

The Waldos had more than just a geographic connection to the Dead. Mark Waldo's father took care of real estate for the Dead. And Waldo Dave's older brother, Patrick, managed a Dead sideband and was good friends with bassist Phil Lesh. Patrick tells the Huffington Post that he smoked with Lesh on numerous occasions. He couldn't recall if he used the term 420 around him, but guessed that he must have.

The Dead, recalls Waldo Dave Reddix, "had this rehearsal hall on Front Street, San Rafael, California, and they used to practice there. So we used to go hang out and listen to them play music and get high while they're practicing for gigs. But I think it's possible my brother Patrick might have spread it through Phil Lesh. And me, too, because I was hanging out with Lesh and his band [as a roadie] when they were doing a summer tour my brother was managing."

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The bands that Patrick managed for Lesh were called Too Loose To Truck and the Sea Stones; they featured not only Lesh but rock legend David Crosby and acclaimed guitarist Terry Haggerty.

The Waldos also had open access to Dead parties and rehearsals. "We'd go with [Mark's] dad, who was a hip dad from the '60s," says Steve. "There was a place called Winterland and we'd always be backstage running around or onstage and, of course, we're using those phrases. When somebody passes a joint or something, 'Hey, 420.' So it started spreading through that community."

Lesh, walking off the stage after a recent Dead concert, confirmed that Patrick is a friend and said he "wouldn't be surprised" if the Waldos had coined 420. He wasn't sure, he said, when the first time he heard it was. "I do not remember. I'm very sorry. I wish I could help," he said.

Wavy-Gravy is a hippie icon with his own ice cream flavor and has been hanging out with the Dead for decades. HuffPost spotted him outside the concert. Asked about the origin of 420, he suggested it began "somewhere in the foggy mists of time. What time is it now? I say to you: eternity now."

As the Grateful Dead toured the globe through the '70s and '80s, playing hundreds of shows a year - the term spread though the Dead underground. Once High Times got hip to it, the magazine helped take it global.

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"I started incorporating it into everything we were doing," High Times editor Steve Hager told the Huffington Post. "I started doing all these big events - the World Hemp Expo Extravaganza and the Cannabis Cup - and we built everything around 420. The publicity that High Times gave it is what made it an international thing. Until then, it was relatively confined to the Grateful Dead subculture. But we blew it out into an international phenomenon."

Sometime in the early '90s, High Times wisely purchased the web domain 420.com.

Bloom, the reporter who first stumbled on it, gives High Times less credit. "We posted that flyer and then we started to see little references to it. It wasn't really much of High Times doing," he says. "We weren't really pushing it that hard, just kind of referencing the phrase."

The Waldos say that within a few years the term had spread throughout San Rafael and was cropping up elsewhere in the state. By the early '90s, it had penetrated deep enough that Dave and Steve started hearing people use it in unexpected places - Ohio, Florida, Canada - and spotted it painted on signs and etched into park benches.

In 1997, the Waldos decided to set the record straight and got in touch with High Times.

"They said, 'The fact is, there is no 420 [police] code in California. You guys ever look it up?'" Blooms recalls. He had to admit that no, he had never looked it up. Hager flew out to San Rafael, met the Waldos, examined their evidence, spoke with others in town, and concluded they were telling the truth.

Hager still believes them. "No one's ever been able to come up with any use of 420 that predates the 1971 usage, which they had established. So unless somebody can come up with something that predates them, then I don't think anybody's going to get credit for it other than them," he says.

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"We never made a dime on the thing," says Dave, half boasting, half lamenting.

He does take pride in his role, though. "I still have a lot of friends who tell their friends that they know one of the guys that started the 420 thing. So it's kind of like a cult celebrity thing. Two years ago I went to the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam. High Times magazine flew me out," says Dave.

Dave is now a credit analyst and works for Steve, who owns a specialty lending institution and lost money to the con artist Bernie Madoff. He spends more time today, he says, composing angry letters to the SEC than he does getting high.

The other three Waldos have also been successful, Steve says. One is head of marketing for a Napa Valley winery. Another is in printing and graphics. A third works for a roofing and gutter company. "He's like, head of their gutter division," says Steve, who keeps in close touch with them all.

"I've got to run a business. I've got to stay sharp," says Steve, explaining why he rarely smokes pot anymore. "Seems like everybody I know who smokes daily, or many times in a week, it seems like there's always something going wrong with their life, professionally, or in their relationships, or financially or something. It's a lot of fun, but it seems like if someone does it too much, there's some karmic cost to it."

"I never endorsed the use of marijuana. But hey, it worked for me," says Waldo Dave. "I'm sure on my headstone it'll say: 'One of the 420 guys.'"

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(Xinhua) 19:30, April 20, 2017

HARARE, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe on Thursday handed over 60,000 U.S. dollars worth of basic food to assist hundreds of local families affected by floods that hit the southern parts of the country in February.

Of the donation, the Chinese Red Cross Society contributed 50,000 dollars while the Chinese Embassy and the Chinese community in Zimbabwe chipped in with 10,000 dollars.

The donation of maize meal, cooking oil, sugar, biscuits and salt, among other basic food stuffs, came a month after the Chinese government donated 1 million dollars in cash transfer to Zimbabwe to help the flood victims.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe declared a state of flood disaster on March 2, leading to the launch of a domestic and international appeal for 200 million dollars to help victims and repair infrastructure such as homes, roads, bridges, dams, schools, water and sanitation.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Huang Ping said China's help to the flood victims was testimony to the all-weather friendship between the two countries.

China, he said, had over the past 10 years supported Zimbabwe to cope with emergency need of food due to drought, and had also provided support in the form of machinery and fertilizer to boost Zimbabwe's agricultural production.

"Going forward, China will continue to be Zimbabwe's most reliable partner in speeding up industrialization and agricultural modernization and boosting its capacity for home- grown development," the ambassador said.

In accepting the donation, Zimbabwean Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Saviour Kasukuwere thanked the Chinese for the donation and invited Chinese businesses in Zimbabwe to partner local companies and help the country repair infrastructure damaged by the floods.

The heavy rain that was worsened by Cyclone Dineo has left 271 people dead, another 128 injured and nearly 2,000 homeless in Zimbabwe.

The worst-affected district was Tsholotsho, Matabeleland North Province, where a total of 859 people were left homeless and are currently in a transit camp.

According to the Zimbabwe National Water Authority, over 100,000 people are without safe drinking water following the damage to water supply infrastructure.
Voter turnout "steady" in Reno County Tuesday, election officials said

Cool, damp weather may have delayed some voters from voting early, but traffic at the polls picked up during the day.
Thomas Grady, Robert Czerwinski, and Lucy Britton discussed ongoing planning efforts of the Central Berkshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee on Wednesday.

Safety Officials Keeping Eye On Potential Pipeline Protests



The approval of a natural gas pipeline in Otis State Forest has prompted protests, like this one Wednesday during an announcement by Energy and Environmental Affair Secretary Matthew Beaton in Shelburne Falls. LANESBOROUGH, Mass.  Public safety officials are preparing for the worst-case scenario when it comes to protests surrounding the Tennessee Gas Pipeline expansion

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently granted Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. approval to move ahead with a natural gas pipeline expansion through Otis State Forest. The ruling was issued last week approving the Connecticut expansion, which includes tree cutting and installation of the pipeline through four miles of pipeline through the Otis State Forest.

The project has been one of heated political debate and protests and nationally similar projects have faced massive outrage  most notably the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in North Dakota. There have been incidents of mass arrests and possible sabotage attempts in some of those protests.

Locally, authorities are not quite sure what to expect here when construction starts.

"Otis has been identified by some of the protest groups as one of the four key places in the country. We don't know what that means on the outset but I just want us to be aware of that should something ramp up," Lt. Col. Thomas Grady, who sits on the Western Mass Homeland Security Council told local officials Wednesday morning.

"I don't think anybody should be scared. I just want you to be aware."

Grady says there are indications that protest groups could bring large numbers of protesters from outside of the area to the site. For that reason, security officials have been meeting to plan out any needed responses to the site.

"There is a lot of planning throughout all four counties in Western Mass. for joint support should we need it. The hope is they will be peaceful protesters," Grady said.

Grady raised briefed the Central Berkshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee on the situation Wednesday and some of those on the committee could be called on for mutual aid. The committee consists of fire, ambulance, and police officials from the central area but should the Southern Berkshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee need assistance, many of central Berkshire officials could be called on to provide it.

That heads up was delivered at nearly the identical time when U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey released a statement calling for FERC to revoke the pipeline's authorization.

"Nearly a year has lapsed since FERC granted the rehearing request, and no action has been taken to hear the concerns of the citizens of Sandisfield, effectively silencing them before the commission and before the courts," the joint statement reads. "For FERC to allow last week's issuance of a notice to proceed with construction when it lacks a quorum and, therefore, cannot act on the rehearing request, is profoundly troubling.

If Tennessee Gas is allowed to proceed with tree clearing and construction there will be irreparable harm done to Otis State Forest, a natural treasure of Massachusetts."

The pipeline was proposed in 2014 and hit a peak of the debate last year when it ended up in court. There was the legal battle over whether or not the state's Article 97 protection of the land still stood against the U.S. Natural Gas Act. The courts ruled that federal law took precedent.

The $93 million project includes just short of 14 miles of pipeline throughout New York, Massachusetts, to and Connecticut. Kinder Morgan, the parent company proposing the project, says the intent meeting increased demand in the Northeast.

In other business at the CBREPC meeting Wednesday, Lucy Britton from Berkshire Medical Center reported that the emergency simulation local agencies held last week went well but did expose some issues that need work.

Last Friday, the group put on a drill that simulated a gas explosion at Berkshire Gas while there was a field trip of Berkshire Community College students there. The drill tested the response of local agencies in managing the large influx of patients, managing the fire, moving patients around the hospital and off campus  including to North Adams.

"We had successes and definitely had opportunities for improvement," Britton said.

Particularly, there was a communication breakdown right from the start. Chief Robert Czerwinski said the Pittsfield dispatch center was unaware of the drill, which led immediately to confusion. Then communications failed between ambulance companies, BMC, and those on the scene leading to confusion.

"That was a major problem," Czerwinski said.

Dave Lesure from Berkshire Community College said the exercise showed BCC where it lacked in oversight on field trips and similar incidents. He said college officials are taking another look at how they communicate when students are off-campus should something happen.

"It got the college to starting thinking about it," he said.

Whether it was the college tracking students, the hospital tracking patients, or the ambulances and firefighters being on the same page, the drill is intended to find exactly where those weaknesses are so the groups can address them.

"That's why we do it. We do it to test it," Britton said, noting that a lot of drilling had been done by the hospital with the acquisition of the North Adams campus in recent years and that this exercise showed more needs to be done with central as well.

The group also agreed to sign onto a grant application through the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency with the South County group to hold a joint exercise. Chairman Robert Czerwinski said he'd be asking Northern Berkshire if it would like to turn it into a countywide exercise.
Arthur "Skip" Harrington asks the board for permission to hold a grand opening for the rail trail extension.

Ashuwillticook Rail Trail Extension Opening Celebration In May

ADAMS, Mass.  The town will hold a ceremony on May 12 to mark the official opening of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail Extension.

Although many have been using the 1.2 mile extension from Hoosac to Lime Street, former Selectman Arthur "Skip" Harrington came before the Board of Selectmen on Wednesday and asked permission to hold an opening ceremony Friday, May 12, at 2 p.m. at the Adams Station on Hoosac Street.

"This couldn't happen until the rail trial was actually finished and closed out by the contractor and that will be happening shortly," Harrington said. "These things don't happen overnight. This rail trail has been going on a long time. It cost a lot of money and we had help from both the state and the federal government and we had the help of a lot of agencies and politicians to help push it through."

Harrington said the event will coincide with the Massachusetts Bay State Bike Group bike week and is a collaborative effort between the state Department of Transportation, the Berkshire Bike Path Council and Bike North Berkshire.

There will be vendors and giveaways as well as presentations on bike safety, the history of the project and the economic benefits of the trail.

"The idea is to disseminate a lot of information about bike safety and how to properly use the recreational facilities involved with the path," he said. "But also, this trail is an economic development vehicle and we have a number of speakers to emphasize that."

Harrington added that with the help of the Adams Arts Council, they will unveil a display of Adams in the station. The display is based on an old etching of the town.

"It's quite old and you can hardly recognize the streets and the rivers are different. A lot the buildings that are here are not there now," he said. "The station is pretty dismal in there right now it hasn't been painted yet. The outside is new but the inside is the same. This will greatly enhance that."

Construction on the extension has been delayed several years because of difficulties securing easements and plan changes to accommodate the Berkshire Scenic Railway that now runs alongside most of the bike trail.

Construction began last year on the more than $2 million state-funded extension and it was largely complete by snowfall.

Chairman Jeffrey Snoonian said he was excited for the event and that the trail is a true asset to the community.

"I live right next to it and it is used every single day," he said. "Every time I look out the window there is someone on. Every single minute of every single day."

Currently, the trail runs through Adams, Cheshire and Lanesborough but plans ultimately call for it to run through North Adams and into Williamstown as the Mohawk Bike Path.

Before voting to approve the event, the board asked Harington if he thought there was a community interest in helping maintain the trail. Although a state-funded the project, cleanup duty falls on the town's Department of Public Works.

Harrington thought it was a good idea.

In other business, the Selectmen opened the town warrant for the annual town meeting that will be held June 19. The warrant closes May 3.

 The Selectmen did not approve a National Grid easement to bring power to the transfer station's compactor and the shed.

Town Counsel Edmund St. John III said although not a big deal, town meeting should approve the easement instead of the Selectmen.

The transfer station was anticipated to open this summer but if the town has to wait for town meeting, it could put it off until next year. St. John said he would see if there are any alternatives to speed the process along.

 The board approved a reserve fund transfer of $5,000 to clean the air ducts at the police station that have not been cleaned since its renovation in 1997. Officers were complaining of bad air quality.

 Before closing, Snoonian who will not seek re-election, thanked the people of Adams for their support.

"It has been an incredible three years and sitting here has really been one of the great honors of my life," he said. "Sitting here as an outsider so to speak and to have support me the way they did was absolutely incredible ... thank you everybody in the town of Adams."
(Xinhua) 19:51, April 20, 2017

BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- China and Iranwill sign the first commercial contract to redesign Iran's Arak heavy water reactor in Vienna on Sunday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

China and Iran have reached initial agreement on the commercial contract, Spokesman Lu Kang said at a daily news briefing.

Redesigning the Arak heavy water reactor is a core aspect of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program. The JCPOA was reached in Vienna in July 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 group, namely Britain, China, France, Russia, the United Statesand Germany.

The P5+1 countries have created a working group led by China and the United States to work with Iran to redesign the reactor, said Lu.

The signing will create a favorable condition for the progress of the redesign. "China will do the follow-up work with all parties involved in accordance with the comprehensive nuclear deal and the consensus reached by all parties," Lu said.

The 7th Joint Commission between Iran and the P5+1 will convene in Vienna next Tuesday. Lu said the contract between China and Iran will inject positive impetus to the meeting.

"China hopes all parties will maintain their political will and properly handle differences to implement the agreement and contribute to the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and the peace and stability of the Middle East," Lu added.
More than 500 Chinese cities have started or are expected to start their "smart-city" transformations during 2017, according to the Economic Information Daily.

Currently, a total of 290 cities have initiated smart-city pilot projects, and more than 300 cities have signed smart-city construction agreements with IT companies, including the three major Chinese telecommunications companies, Ant Financial and Tencent.

By the end of March, more than 500 cities, including 95 percent of provincial capitals and 83 percent of prefecture-level cities, had proposed transitioning into smart cities. As construction of smart cities accelerates, the scale of related markets is expected to hit 100 billion RMB. This figure shoots up to 1 trillion when upstream and downstream industries are included.

The Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo Highway has become China's first "internet highway," based on its cooperation with mobile payment service provider Alipay and China Guangfa Bank. With more than 40,000 vehicles streaming across the highway every day, it takes a long time for drivers to pay tolls. Through smart-city applications like mobile payments, the time consumed paying toll fees has been greatly reduced.

Another benefit of smart cities can be found in hospitals. According to Cai Xiujun, president of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital of the School of Medicine at Zhejiang University, patients will soon be able to take care of preliminary processes using their mobile phones, reducing the average time patients spend waiting in the hospital.

With the construction of smart cities, smart-city applications will be increasingly embraced, said Wu Hequan, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Wu believes that more and more enterprises will get involved, which will substantially promote the IT industrial chain.
Former senior Taiwan affairs official sentenced to 15 years for graft

(Xinhua) 20:16, April 20, 2017

ZHENGZHOU, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Gong Qinggai, a former senior official with the Chinese mainland's Taiwan affairs body, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for accepting bribes totaling nearly 53.53 million yuan (around 7.78 million U.S. dollars) on Thursday.

Personal assets worth five million yuan held by Gong, former deputy head of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, were confiscated, according to a statement from Anyang Intermediate People's Court in Henan Province.

His ill-gotten gains must be turned over to the state, the court ruled.

Gong was found guilty of taking advantage of his positions in southeast China's Fujian Province to help entities and individuals in land acquisition, construction projects and plan adjustment between 1996 and 2015, it said.

The court issued a lesser punishment as Gong admitted his crimes, surrendered all his illicit gains and provided clues to crimes committed by others.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 20

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva  Trend:

French politicians speculating on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue want to seduce the voters of the Armenian origin, Nathalie Goulet, French senator and vice-chair of the Senates Foreign Affairs Committee, told Trend Apr. 20.

Never trust the politicians when they are campaigning in France, she said, commenting on the interviews of the presidential candidates Francois Fillon and Marine Le Pen, where they spoke against Azerbaijans territorial integrity.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not known in France, where the population has such big issues as employment, economy and security, she said.

Some statements of the French presidential candidates shouldnt be taken seriously, Goulet added.

Wait for the next president and have trust in your friends in France to support territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, she noted. In one word, keep calm and wait for the election results.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Starting a business has never been for the faint of heart, but the cyber age has brought new dimensions to the already complex ongoing process. Simply put, you cannot do business of any kind without cybersecurity.

But, like just about everything else in business, technology and security decisions really boil down to money. Only you can decide how best to allocate your resources. Spend wisely and youll have the best possible chances of succeeding  security doesnt have to break the bank.

Here are my top 10 basic and not-so-basic tips for setting up small-business security:

1. Having an IT security policy is crucial.

Sure, commonsense rules apply  dont steal comes to mind  but creating a basic IT policy should be a top priority. You and all of your employees will gain an understanding of rules and expectations regarding everything from passwords to customer privacy, from physically securing technology to data classification.

Crafting a policy can be demanding of your resources, but you can find tons of good sources of information online, such as the Infosec Institute and the SANS Institute. You can tailor any basic policy to suit the needs of your business. Just make sure employees read and sign an acknowledgment form once you have your policy in place.

2. Secure your data.

That means not only keeping criminals out, but also backing up data securely and regularly. If you are not in a financial or technological place to ensure your data is secure, let a large business do it for you.

3. Gain perspective.

As a small business, you might feel like an unattractive target for cybercriminals  like youre too small to be interesting. Instead, think of SMBs as a class of targets  interesting targets.

The main reason small businesses are great targets is that they represent a gateway to your customers and partners. Of course, criminals also bank on a certain proportion of SMBs not prioritizing security!

4. Check your local authority that provides support to small businesses.

In case of USA  Small Business Administration (SBA). SBA.gov has a wealth of information for SMBs, including training on cybersecurity and tons more in its cybersecurity section. Local chambers of commerce are also great resources.

5. Install comprehensive security software everywhere.

You need security on everything  servers, PCs, other connected devices. Set it up to stay up to date and renew it on time. This is not the place to scrimp.

However, Kaspersky Small Office Security is an economical choice that protects laptops, desktops, and servers, as well as Android devices, against malware. It also secures small businesses against phishing and other common Internet threats, and for those businesses that need it, adds a layer of security for banking and payment transactions.

6. Password protect all computers and other devices.

Your IT security policy should cover strong password use; also set up a password-expiration policy to force users to change their passwords every 90 days.

7. Destroy information you cannot secure.

If you take credit card information, and you dont have the means to store the information securely, then dont store it. Once youve processed it, shred it.

8. Take special care with personal information.

If you have to store personal info for employees, make sure its secure, and limit the people who have access to it. Back it up securely. If you keep physical records, lock them up. And physically secure electronic equipment as well  eliminate the chance that someone, whether an employee, a customer, or a random stranger, can take a laptop away to hack at leisure.

9. Leverage larger companies.

If your small business lacks the resources (capital or human) to handle a task expertly and securely, hire or partner with a business that can. For example a vast majority of SMBs use ADP for payroll.

Why? Economies of scale make a huge and popular payroll company a more effective and economical solution.

But payroll is just one aspect of running a business (and it isnt even an issue for every small business): Think about which services might be better outsourced to another company.

How about physical security? I recommend an alarm system with remote monitoring for that. How about a remote facility for data backup? In all cases, look for services that specialize in working with small businesses.

10. Enable and reinforce employee awareness.

That includes you, by the way. If you understand the elements of security for your business, and take them seriously, you will be able to impart the information clearly to other employees.

Revisit security policy and practices a few times a year. As with other areas of security, you may want to look back to No. 9 and employ the services of a company that specializes in employee training.

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by setting strict policies  and following them to a T. Your security is only as strong as your people, and the leader has to lead by example.

By: Jennifer Saber, Senior Vice President and Head of Information Technology, Kaspersky Lab North America
Google Philippines announced the appointment of Gabriel Roxas as Country Marketing Manager for the Philippines.

Gabby joins Google from Johnson & Johnson where he was Senior Marketing Manager for Global Franchise Operations, based in Singapore. Prior to that, he was Regional Marketing Manager for Mead Johnson and also had stints in The Coca Cola Company and Procter and Gamble.

I see so much potential in the Philippines in terms of digital innovations, which has a big impact on economic growth, access to opportunities and jobs, and more developed online services. I look forward to helping Google harness the Philippines digital capabilities, said Gabby.

Gabby is a graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University with a degree in Business Management. He also holds a masters degree in Business Administration from Nanyang Technological University.
Director Ridley Scott brings another yet unforgettable cinematic event in Alien: Covenant starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Guy Pearce, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Carmen Ejogo and James Franco.

Alien: Covenant takes place ten years after the events of Prometheus and follows the crew of the colony ship Covenant, which has discovered a promising new planet. Also on board the colony ship Covenant is humanoid Walter (Fassbender) who is in charge of managing the ships safe journey until its time for the mission crew to wake from years of cryo-slumber. Once awake, the team finds a planet just like earth and soon comes in contact with David (Fassbender), the synthetic survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition. The uncharted world that looks like paradise at first soon turns dark and dangerous when a hostile alien life-form forces the crew into a deadly fight for survival.

A visual spectacle, Alien: Covenant will bring the audience to an immersive world where humans have nowhere to run and hide from the monstrous creatures who wreak of nothing but carnage.

Fassbender plays dual role as humanoids David and Walter, both made to be the ideal hassle-free companion in all of mans most ambitious expedition in space. Fassbender as Walter is the latest humanoid creation, an extremely efficient modification with unrivalled data processing and is free of emotions. When the ship Covenant Walter mans makes an unscheduled stop at the nearest planet, they didnt realize that they have descended into hells path finding themselves trapped and helpless in a world full of hostile alien life forms.

I think Walters a real different kettle of fish. David was definitely a work-in-progress, somewhat of a prototype I suppose. The elements of him that were the human elements I think people found a little disturbing, so Walters more of a straightforward robot. Pretty logical and more of a servant without the ego. So Walter is really just a very straightforward, logical synthetic really. Hes just more like a Dr. Spock type character, whereas Davidits 10 years since we last saw him without any maintenance. So those human qualities have gathered some momentum I suppose or theyre as much a part of him now as synthetic qualities. Walters just really there to serve the ship and its crew, says Fassbender of his dual role.

Alien: Covenant opens May 10 in cinemas nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 20

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva  Trend:

The deep relationship of friendship and cooperation binds Israel and Azerbaijan, wrote Giorgia Pilar Giorgi and Domenico Letizia in the article published by the Foreign policy news.

Giorgia Pilar Giorgi is an analyst and researcher in energy security issues and unresolved conflicts in South Caucasus. Domenico Letizia is the President of Associazione Amici dellAzerbaigian Centro Sud Italia.

Azerbaijan is known to be an example of peaceful coexistence between people of different nationalities and religions. The Azerbaijani government has always promoted coexistence between people from different religious groups and the freedom, also recognized at constitutional level, to profess their beliefs, says the article.

As Muslim-majority country (approximately 96.9 percent), Azerbaijan has historically hosted one of the oldest Christian community and today it survives peacefully alongside a prolific Jewish community, noted the authors.

Azerbaijan has over time become synonymous with acceptance and tolerance, mutual respect between people who embrace different faiths, according to the article.

This peaceful attitude is revealed by the profitable relationship that binds the country to Israel, says the article.

Azerbaijan is one of the few Muslim countries that maintain both economic and religious relations with Israel. In Azerbaijan Jews are recognized to be an active part of the society, says the article. In December 2016, a meeting between the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev sealed the historic relationship between the Muslim-majority country and the Jewish state. In this circumstance Netanyahu showed his gratitude to the Azerbaijani government for the tolerance towards the Jewish community living in Azerbaijan.

In recent years, relations between Azerbaijan and Israel have given many advantages for both countries, noted the authors, adding that this also concern the energy, medical, agricultural and technological sector.

Today Israel represents the second importer after Italy of Azerbaijani oil, says the article, moreover, Israel participates in the economic diversification efforts promoted by the Azerbaijani government to reduce the vulnerability of oil market.

The two countries signed many agreements on trade and economic cooperation, according to the article.

The relationship between Azerbaijan and Israel is a successful mix of economy, diplomacy and gratitude, a handshake that holds interests too big to be neglected. The recent developments in the economic and diplomatic relationship between the two countries represent the natural evolution of a dialogue which, already at the end of the 1990s appeared as promising, said the authors.
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It had been announced a few days prior that Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker) would be attending this years Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, Florida, the largest (and most hardcore) gathering of the franchises fans in the world. But, wait; arent people supposed to hate the prequels? Wouldnt he be immediately, viciously booed offstage and chased out of the building?

Turns out, a fairly great testament to just how warm, welcoming, and open a place Celebration is lies in how readily embraced into the fold he was, like an old member of the family; no hint of judgement, or nerdy rage in sight. Somebody got him to sign a jar of sand; he laughed, everybody hugged, and the party continued.

Theres always an air of cynicism to be found in this kind of grand-scale, corporate-sponsored event, or even in the fervent dedication of Star Wars fans in general. The constant hero-worshiping of George Lucas, a man who made a movie about spaceships going pew-pew at each other could have been tiresome, and so could the fact BB-8 seemed to receive a more enthusiastic reaction from the crowd than its human co-stars when it rolled onto stage at The Last Jedi panel, all while about five more BB-8s loitered in the lobby.

Fandom always has its weird excesses, its illogicalness, and Ill admit I had a few moments of total bewilderment watching people freak out over somebody dressed as Chef Gormaanda from the Star Wars Holiday Special. But never, for a moment, did I ever feel like I didnt belong there or wasnt entirely welcome. Star Wars really does offer the kind of world that brings people together, simply because it believes in a world in which anyone can be the hero, and in which good always triumphs (eventually).

Its that attitude you could see quietly filter its way down to the show floor. Everywhere, you could see strangers connecting, even in the briefest of smiles and most casual of nods, and kids running gleefully around in their Leia and Finn outfits together, beaming from ear-to-ear because theyd come to the place where they were free to act out the heroics of the films.

Certainly, those on stage blessed their audiences with as much praise as humanly possible. Sure, they were facing the crowds that probably paid for their house, but it was easy to feel the sincerity there, too. Rian Johnson, who directed The Last Jedi, turned up the night before his films panel to weave through the queue of people camping overnight. The next day, he sat there grinning like a child on Christmas Day, while snapping pictures of the audience on his trusty film camera.

 Star Wars: The Last Jedi Celebration 2017 - The Last Jedi Panel

Furthermore, Mark Hamills tribute to Carrie Fisher felt surprisingly candid and emotional for an actor so used to dealing in showmanship and humour, as he confessed to the audience that being there  working through his emotions with the people Fisher dedicated so much of her life to  had transformed into a kind of therapy for his own grief process.

Maybe I didnt lose my mind when BB-8 rolled onto the stage, and maybe I dont quite feel at peace with those prequels, but Star Wars Celebration offered me a strange revelation about why Ive always counted myself as a fan, especially as this new generation of films start to roll in.

Not everyone will feel as equally represented by Star Wars, certainly; the franchise, like Hollywood at large, still has a long way to go, though The Last Jedis introduction of Asian-American actress Kelly Marie Tran, playing a major role, was particularly applauded. That said, its a franchise that has always, and increasingly, boasted some of the most heroic, interesting, and complex women  both onscreen, and across the various mediums of the expanded universe.

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A trend that all started with Carrie Fishers Leia, making it particularly hard to approach this years Celebration without a heavy heart, and a quiet sense of mourning in the knowledge that, only last year, she attended the event in London, teasing her co-stars and pampering her beloved dog Gary. She had a whale of a time then, as she did at every convention. Though not always comfortable with those strange excesses of fame, Hamill and her daughter Billie Lourd made it clear she loved being Leia with every fibre of her being.

Mark Hamill, Kelly Marie Tran, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, and Rian Johnson at The Last Jedi panel (Lucasfilm)

Star Wars has become a place for women to celebrate their own self-worth, from Fisher, to Daisy Ridley, to the voice of Star Wars Rebels Sabine, Tiya Sircar, to each fan in the audience. It was striking not only how much pride the studio displayed in its female characters  in multiple tributes, extending even to their very own segment in a Disney World fireworks display  but how that pride was so equally shared by the fans. The Heroines of Star Wars panel, which introduced the new female-led initiative Forces of Destiny, saw the audience erupt into cheers at the mention of each character: from Jyn, to Padme, to Ahsoka.

Attendees of all ages came dressed as their favourite female characters; what was particularly heartening to see, though, was just how varied these appearances were. Some came dressed in the bulky Mandalorian armour of Sabine, others in the ultra-feminine gowns of Queen Amidala. There were Leias in her Hoth snowsuit, Leias in her classic white dress, and (of course) a few slave Leias, too. Star Wars is a place where femininity has no strict definition, and its that ever-expanding meaning that makes it hard for me not to fall head-over-heels with each passing year.

Those dark parts of the internet will inevitably bitch and whine about the fact Rey has so clearly taken centre stage as The Last Jedis hero, standing strong at the centre of its poster with lightsaber held aloft, or about the fact the lead of the latest Star Wars videogame, Battlefront II, is the female commander of elite Imperial unit the Inferno Squadron. But, I didnt feel a whiff of that at Star Wars Celebration. For a weekend, at least, it was nice to live in that kinder, better world.
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Having premiered at London Film Festival last year to rapturous applause from critics, A Moving Image is finally reaching cinemas across the country.

Shola Amoo directorial debut blends both real and fictional scenes to create a moving docu-drama about the gentrification of Brixton, one of London most bustling districts.

The Independent is exclusively debuting the above clip, featuring one of Brixtons residents who explains how the ongoing changes are affecting her life.

The official synopses for the film reads: Tanya Fear (Kick-Ass 2) stars as Nina, a young artist, who returns to her community after a long absence, and soon questions whether she is part of the problem of gentrification that she witnesses around her.

As she struggles with her own complicity, she embarks on a mission to create a piece of art that can bring her community together. The film follows her journey, and fact and fiction merge as the lives of real Brixton residents affected by gentrification are brought into focus.

Films to get excited about in 2017 Show all 13 1 /13 Films to get excited about in 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Star Wars: The Last Jedi Director: Rian Johnson Rian Johnson Cast: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Lupita Nyong'o Plot: No details yet, but it will continue directly on from Rey coming face-to-face with Luke at the end of The Force Awakens. Release Date: 15 December 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Thor: Ragnarok Director: Taika Waititi Taika Waititi Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, Jeff Goldblum, Karl Urban, and Mark Ruffalo Plot: Story details are minimal as of now, but Thor's third return to screen has already been teased to feature a loose adaptation of the famous 'Planet Hulk' storyline. Release Date: 27 October 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 You Were Never Really Here Director: Lynne Ramsay Lynne Ramsay Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Alessandro Nivola Plot: A war veteran's attempt to save a young girl from a sex trafficking ring goes horribly wrong. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Annihilation Director: Alex Garland Alex Garland Cast: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac Plot: A biologist's husband disappears. She thus puts her name forward for an expedition into an environmental disaster zone, but does not quite find what she's expecting. The expedition team is made up of the biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a surveyor. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Wonderstruck (image from Far From Heaven) Director: Todd Haynes Cast: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, and Amy Hargreaves Plot: The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Mother (image of Darren Aronofsky) Director: Darren Aronofsky Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, and Ed Harris Plot: A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Killing of a Sacred Deer (image from The Lobster) Director: Yorgos Lanthimos Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, and Alicia Silverstone Plot: A surgeon forms a familial bond with a sinister teenage boy, with disastrous results. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Blade Runner 2049 Director: Denis Villeneuve Denis Villeneuve Cast: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, and Jared Leto Plot: Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years. Release Date: 6 October 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Lady Bird (image of director Greta Gerwig) Director: Greta Gerwig Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, and Lucas Hedges Plot: The adventures of a young woman living in Northern California for a year. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara (image of director Steven Spielberg and star Mark Rylance) Director: Steven Spielberg Cast: Mark Rylance, Oscar Isaac Plot: The Kidnapping Of Edgardo Mortara recounts the story of a young Jewish boy in Bologna, Italy in 1858 who, having been secretly baptized, is forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents' struggle to free their son becomes part of a larger political battle that pits the Papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 How to Talk to Girls at Parties Director: John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell Cast: Elle Fanning, Ruth Wilson, and Nicole Kidman Plot: An alien touring the galaxy breaks away from her group and meets two young inhabitants of the most dangerous place in the universe: the London suburb of Croydon. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Dark Tower Director: Nikolaj Arcel Nikolaj Arcel Cast: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Taylor Plot: Gunslinger Roland Deschain roams an Old West-like landscape in search of the dark tower, in the hopes that reaching it will preserve his dying world. Release Date: 28 July 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Suburbicon Director: George Clooney George Clooney Cast: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Josh Brolin, and Oscar Isaac Plot: A crime mystery set in the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, where the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and betrayal. Release Date: 24 November

A Moving Image opens on April 28 at exclusively at The Ritzy in Brixton, before playing wider on May 5.
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Richard Gere has argued his vocal stance on Tibet has cost him Hollywood blockbuster roles because the academy is fearful of alienating its burgeoning Chinese audience.

The actor starred in a number of massively successful Hollywood hits in the 1980s and 90s, such as Pretty Woman, An Officer and a Gentleman, Runaway Bride, and Internal Affairs, but has taken something of a hiatus from the them since then, instead appearing in smaller, independent roles.

Gere has now said his lack of roles is partly to do with his criticism of Chinas occupation of Tibet. In his opinion, Hollywood is fearful of offending China which is now the second-biggest box-office market in the world.

There are definitely movies that I can't be in because the Chinese will say, 'Not with him,' he told the Hollywood Reporter.

I recently had an episode where someone said they could not finance a film with me because it would upset the Chinese.

Gere, a Buddhist and long-time friend of Tibets exiled spiritual leader Dalai Lama, is a prominent advocate for human rights in Tibet and is a co-founder of the Tibet House and a chair of the International Campaign for Tibet. His support for the Tibetan Independence Movement means he is banned from entering China.

Back in 1993, the actor found himself banned as an Academy Award presenter after he chose to denounce Chinas occupation of Tibet and its horrendous, horrendous human rights situation. In a similar vein, Gere also called for the boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

China opens terrifying glass-bottomed bridge Show all 5 1 /5 China opens terrifying glass-bottomed bridge China opens terrifying glass-bottomed bridge A woman plays around as she walks across a glass-bottomed suspension bridge in a scenic zone in Pingjiang county AP China opens terrifying glass-bottomed bridge An aerial view shows a glass suspension bridge at the Shiniuzhai National Geo-park in Pinging county, Hunan province Reuters China opens terrifying glass-bottomed bridge Tourists look down as they walk on a glass suspension bridge at the Shiniuzhai National Geo-park in Pinging county, Hunan province Reuters China opens terrifying glass-bottomed bridge Tourists walk on a glass suspension bridge at the Shiniuzhai National Geo-park in Pinging county, Hunan province Reuters China opens terrifying glass-bottomed bridge The bridge is named Haohan Qiao, which translates to Brave Mens Bridge Rex

Geres activities have not just made Hollywood apparently reluctant to cast him in big films, he says they once resulted in him being banished from an independently financed, non-studio film which was not even intended for a Chinese release.

There was something I was going to do with a Chinese director, and two weeks before we were going to shoot, he called saying, 'Sorry, I can't do it,' Gere recalled. We had a secret phone call on a protected line. If I had worked with this director, he, his family would never have been allowed to leave the country ever again, and he would never work.

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Fortunately, the actor made it clear he was not upset about not being given the roles for studio blockbusters. I'm not interested in playing the wizened Jedi in your tentpole, he said. I was successful enough in the last three decades that I can afford to do these [smaller films] now.

During his divorce from second wife and actress Carey Lowell, the New York Post estimated Geres worth to be $250 million.
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Following a surprise appearance at Star Wars Celebration over the weekend, Harrison Ford gave a brief interview about the upcoming Han Solo movie.

Speaking alongside Star Wars creator George Lucas, the actor was asked whether he was looking forward to Han Solo film as a fan, to which he responded: Not really.

After looking a little bemused at the over-excited interviewer, Ford admitted: Of course Ill be watching it as a fan, but it will be a little weird.

He continued: But you know, Ive met the fella whos gonna play the younger Han Solo. Wonderful guy, very sweet, and a very good actor. So Im delighted in the choice.

Following the convention, Ewan McGregor was asked about the possibility of an Obi-Wan Kenobi film, the actor saying: Theres no official offer, and I havent met them about it or anything. But Ive always said that Id be happy to do it if they wanted to do it.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Show all 23 1 /23 Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer: All the best shots

Meanwhile, Kathleen Kennedy also hinted that Episode IX wont be the last Star Wars film focussed on the Skywalker-saga.
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Star Wars' John Boyega opened up about an experience that many will likely share - the uncomfortable, and often discriminatory, practices of airline security.

"I used to fly back and forth when I was hustling and auditioning for things in LA," he told The Evening Standard in a recent interview. "Id get cheap flights and stay there for two weeks or whatever. And every time I was getting these random checks. Every. Single. Time. I wish I remembered the airline because I called them out on it, too. Like, This stuff aint right. They said it was a problem Stateside, they gave me a letter and it stopped."

"But before that it was consistent." he added. "I understand that [these things] are for our safety but when you fly a lot and it happens three or four times theres an element of, 'Okay, Im still not a terrorist'."

Fellow Star Wars actor Riz Ahmed, who played Bodhi Rook in Rogue One, also shared his experience with discrimination at airport security, where he's been repeatedly pulled aside by security services for interrogation.

Boyega, who's set to reprise his role as Finn in The Last Jedi, also spoke about his recent response to Samuel L. Jackson's comments about black British actors being cast in films concerning American race relations, following Get Out and Boyega's own role in the upcoming Detroit, which deals with 1967's period of civil unrest in the city.

"I just think theres no end result in black Brits and African-Americans going back and forth at each other," Boyega commented. "I rate Sam and hes always showed me love  hes like a big unc  but across the planet, the black experience is a layered one and his comments didnt represent that."

 Star Wars: The Last Jedi Celebration 2017 - The Last Jedi Panel

The actor will return to the London stage after an eight-year gap, starring in a production of Georg Buchner's Woyzeck at the Old Vic.
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Bruce Springsteen has released a new protest song where he brands US President Donald Trump a "con man", called 'That's What Makes Us Great'.

The track was written by Springsteen's longtime collaborator Joe Grushecky, and premiered this week on SiriusXM and Grushecky's website.

This is the first track Springsteen and Grushecky have worked on since Grushecky's 2009 record East Carson Street.

The pair have been friends since the 1980s and first collaborated in the studio in '95 when The Boss produced Grushecky's album American Babylon.

Their latest work tackles the Trump administration over "alternative facts" and its stance on immigration.

At one point Springsteen sings: "Don't tell me a lie/And sell it as a fact/I've been down that road before/And I ain't going back," and: 'Don't you brag to me/That you never read a book/I never put my faith/In a con man and his crooks."

The track is available to purchase on Grushecky's website.

Speaking to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Grushecky said that he had already written the song before asking Springsteen if he wanted to team up.

"I sent it to him [Springsteen] and he liked it," he said. "I said, 'What do you think about singing it?' He gave it the Bruce treatment."

The Post-Gazette reports that these are the lyrics in full:

Thats What Makes Us Great

Grushecky:

They come from everywhere

A longing to be free

They come to join us here

From sea to shining sea

Together:

And they all have a dream

As people always will

To be safe and warm

In that shining city on the hill

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Grushecky:

Some wanna slam the door

Instead of opening the gate

Aw, lets turn this thing around

Before it gets too late

Together:

Its up to me and you

Love can conquer hate

I know this to be true

Thats what makes us great

Springsteen:

Dont tell me a lie

And sell it as a fact

Ive been down that road before

And I aint goin back

And dont you brag to me

That you never read a book

I never put my faith

In a con man and his crooks

Together:

I wont follow down that path

And tempt the hands of fate

Aw, lets turn this thing around

Before it gets too late

Its up to me and you

Love can conquer hate

I know this to be true

Thats what makes us great

Springsteen:

In the quiet of the night

I lie here wide awake

And I ask myself

Is there a difference I can make?

Its up to me and you

Love can conquer hate

I know this to be true

Thats what makes us great

Springsteen was one of the most prolific artists to speak out against Trump during the 2016 presidential election, famously calling him a "moron" in an interview with Rolling Stone.

 Bruce Springsteen invites young fan to perform 'Growin' Up' with him onstage, brings the house down

"The whole thing is tragic," he said in September. "Without overstating it, it's a tragedy for our democracy. When you start talking about elections being rigged, you're pushing people beyond democratic governance. And it's a very, very dangerous thing to do. Once you let those genies out of the bottle, they don't go back in so easy, if they go back in at all.

"The ideas he [Trump]'s moving to the mainstream are all very dangerous ideas - white nationalism and the alt-right movement. The outrageous things that he's done - not immediately disavowing David Duke? These are things that are obviously beyond the pale for any previous political candidate. It would sink your candidacy immediately."
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Fox News has confirmed that it is letting go of Bill OReilly, its highly profitable but controversial anchor, amid accusations of sexual harassment.

In an email to staff, the companys parent company, 21st Century Fox, said the 67-year-old was leaving following a review of accusations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour levelled against him.

After a thorough review of the allegations against him, the company and Bill OReilly have agreed that Mr OReilly will not return to the Fox News Channel, it said.

The decision by the company came as Mr OReilly was on holiday in Italy where he shook hands with the Pope. It was also taken a day before the board of 21st Century Fox was to meet to discuss the anchors future. Tucker Carlson will reportedly take over O'Reilly's slot, with his show "Tucker Carlson Tonight" moving from 9pm to 8pm.

Earlier on Wednesday, Gabriel Sherman, author of a biography of former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, had reported that a decision has been made to let go of Mr OReilly.

Rupert Murdoch reportedly wanted to stand by his star, but his sons, Lachlan and James, decided it was time for him to go, he said.

 Bill O'Reilly: A history of on-air sexism

The Murdochs have decided Bill OReillys 21-year run at Fox News will come to an end, Mr Sherman wrote on the website of New York magazine.

According to sources briefed on the discussions, network executives are preparing to announce OReillys departure before he returns from an Italian vacation on April 24.

The decision to get rid of Mr OReilly followed a report earlier this month in the New York Times that said the channel had been obliged to pay out $17m to settle claims against the anchor from five women. Mr OReilly has continued to deny the accusations.

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The move also comes despite vocal support from President Donald Trump who said there was no need for Mr OReilly to stand down.

I think he shouldn't have settled; personally I think he shouldnt have settled, Mr Trump said after the accusations emerged.

Because you should have taken it all the way. I dont think Bill did anything wrong. I think he's a person I know well - he is a good person.

On Tuesday, Mr OReillys lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, said his client was being attacked by left-wing organisations.

Bill OReilly has been subjected to a brutal campaign of character assassination that is unprecedented in post-McCarthyist America. This law firm has uncovered evidence that the smear campaign is being orchestrated by far-left organisations bent on destroying OReilly for political and financial reasons, he said in a statement. That evidence will be put forth shortly, and it is irrefutable.
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Louis Theroux has found himself at the centre of an online petition campaigning for him to be elected as the next British Prime Minister.

The beloved documentary maker is described by website Konbini as one of the most understanding, smart and trusted men in the UK and posits that he'd be the perfect candidate to become the next PM following the MP vote in favour of Theresa May's snap General Election on 8 June.

It continues that Theroux ...has more skills to work out what is best for post-Brexit Britain than May, Farage and Corbyn combined.

The tongue-in-cheek change.org statement reads: Since the EU referendum in Britain, politicians, experts and those with the country in their hands have failed to show they are capable of leading the nation during this complex time.

We call on the government to accept that the only right thing to do is appoint presenter, documentary maker and national treasure Louis Theroux as the next prime minister.

 Louis Theroux: My Scientology Movie Trailer

The website states that, should the quintessentially British cult figure fail to be appointed Britain's next PM, at least he'd make a bloody good film about it.

You can sign the petition - which at the time of writing currently has 3,422 signatures - here.

Last year saw Theroux release his big-screen debut, My Scientology Movie, which is available to view on Amazon Prime now. He has three brand new BBC documentaries on the horizon, also.
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A Chinese bike-sharing company that was launched by graduates of Peking University in 2014 and is now valued at over $2bn (1.56bn) has started trialling its service in Cambridge - a first attempt at breaking into the competitive European market.

The roll-out in Cambridge on Thursday means that Ofo, named because the word itself resembles a bicycle, now operates in 81 cities around the world. According to its own data, its responsible for more than 10 million daily rides across its home market of China, as well as the US and Singapore.

The start-up said in March that it had raised $450m in its last round of funding and has been valued in excess of $2bn (1.5bn). That easily grants it so-called unicorn status, a term used to describe startups that reach a valuation of over $1bn. Since the 2014 take-off, Ofo bikes have been cycled more than 400 million times, the company says.

It says it has 30 million active users who have access to around two and a half million bright yellow bikes.

To use an Ofo-registered bike, cyclists download the smartphone app through which they receive a code to unlock any Ofo bike that happens to be nearby, curbing the need to find dock stations.

We strongly believe that by sharing more and owning less, we can collectively reduce our impact on the planet, says Claire Chen, head Ofos new UK branch.

The service is similar to the highly successful Santander Cycles scheme offered in London, where users can pay 2 for 24 hour of access to a bike after the first 30 free minutes.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled  leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

That scheme operates more than 750 docking stations, and accounts for 11,000 bikes ridden round the capital, according to Transport for London.

Ofo cyclists will be able to rent the bikes for a minimum of 50p for 30 minutes.

The trial in Cambridge, a city known for its cyclists, will involve 20 bikes for three-weeks, after which the company says it plans to launch in other UK cities.

Our non-docking system makes ofo the most flexible and convenient way to get around urban areas, and our international user-base highlights how effective our model can be, says Ms Chen.
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Many of us would admit that our greatest sources of happiness are food: a bowl of creamy carbonara, sticky toffee pudding smothered in sauce, melty camembert with bread for dipping Food is one of lifes biggest pleasures.

And according to new research, you really may be able to eat your way to happiness. Sort of.

Scientists have now found a link between being skinny and depression - and its the first significant evidence of its kind.

Although depression amongst obese people is more common in women than men, both genders are equally prone to feeling depressed when it comes to thin people.

The study was conducted by Seoul National University of Medicine, but experts have not concluded whether being skinny is a cause or symptom of depression.

They pointed out that depressed people may be more likely to lose weight, or it could be that being thin makes people depressed.

The researchers analysed data from 183 different studies and drew the conclusion that obesity also increases the risk of depression.

However there are gender differences.

It seems that the current ideal of thinness affects women more than their male counterparts and causes more psychological distress in women, which can, in turn, lead to depression, the researchers said.

In contrast, men who are overweight showed a significantly decreased risk of depression.

Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Show all 18 1 /18 Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health Sow Ay illustrations on mental health

And they pointed out that previous research has suggested that men are more likely to be of a jolly fat disposition than women, perhaps because there is still more pressure on women than men to be thin.

In clinical practice, medical care providers should pay attention to the mental health of people who are underweight, the experts said.

Recommended Body positive Instagrammer writes inspirational response to shamers

Likewise, women who are overweight and obese populations should also be monitored for possible depression.

Dr Agnes Ayton, vice-chairman of the eating disorders faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: This large study confirms that optimal nutrition is fundamentally important for physical and mental health. Both being underweight and obese is associated with an increased risk of depression.

It is an important finding, as people with eating disorders often assume that losing weight will improve their happiness.

This study shows that the opposite is true and malnutrition has a detrimental effect on people's mood. Maintaining a healthy weight is essential for good mental health.

Pass the cake. But not too much.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 20

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva  Trend:

Novruz Mammadov, deputy head of Azerbaijani presidential administration, chief of the administrations foreign relations department, has demanded an apology from the American politician Scott Dworkin, who spread false information about him.

I have been waiting and contemplating for a while. Thinking that your conscience would finally tell you that you are spreading lies and slander. That you could at least apologize. But the way I see it spreading lies is your day job, Mammadov tweeted Apr. 20.

Here is my proposition on info you shared about me. Should you be able to prove that I am the owner of 2 condos in the US, I hereby announce that you will have one of them as a gift from me. Otherwise, you must apologize, that is if you have honor and dignity, he added.
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Amazon has been accused of setting workers against each other to ensure they turn up for work even when they are sick and should be at home.

The company gives its workers in Germany a monthly bonus of 6 per cent to 10 per cent of their salary - but only if their co-workers have good enough attendance records. Union representatives say the company is relying on peer pressure to make sure its workers dont pull sickies.

Thomas Voss, a spokesperson for Verdi, the union that represents Amazon staff in Germany, told The Independent: Our union sees this as an unsuitable remedy because it does not fight the causes of disease. It only ensures that the employees go to work even when they are ill."

The policy sets workers against each other and people are only attracted by the bonus because wages are too low, Mr Voss said, adding that the primary cause of sick leave at the company is poor working conditions, but Amazon does not want to admit this.

Under German law, workers are entitled to full pay when off sick and, according to Quartz, it is not uncommon for companies to pay out bonuses for not taking time off, but to base this on group attendance is unique.

A spokesperson for Amazon said: "We want our employees to both arrive at and return from work in good health. All agreements regarding the health bonus were agreed in accordance with local works councils, and comply with the legal requirements of the Continued Remunerations Law, as a matter of course. The agreements may differ from location to location."

It is not the first time that Amazon has been at the centre of controversy about its treatment of employees.

Earlier this month Amazon was among companies heavily criticised by MPs for getting UK staff to sign unintelligible contracts that seem designed to stop them asserting their employment rights.

In December, some Amazon workers reportedly resorted to camping near the company's Dunfermline warehouse in sub-zero temperatures to save money commuting to work

Willie Rennie, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said: Amazon should be ashamed that they pay their workers so little that they have to camp out in the dead of winter to make ends meet.

Biggest business scandals in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Biggest business scandals in pictures Biggest business scandals in pictures Volkswagen emissions scandal VW admitted to rigging its US emission tests so that diesel-powered cars would looks like they were emitting less nitrous oxide, which can damage the ozone layer and contribute to respiratory diseases. Around 11 million cars worldwide were affected. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Martin Shkreli and Turing Pharmaceuticals Martin Shkreli became known as the most hated man in the world after his drug company, Turing, increased the price of a 62-year-old drug that treated HIV patients by 5,000% to $750 a pill. He was charged with illegally taking stock from Retrophin, a biotechnology firm he started in 2011, and using it pay off debts from unrelated business dealings. Shkreli, who maintains he is innocent, and says there is little evidence of fraud because his investors didn't lose money. Biggest business scandals in pictures Panama Papers: Millions of leaked documents expose how worlds rich and powerful hid money - April 2016 Millions of confidential documents have been leaked from one of the worlds most secretive law firms, exposing how the rich and powerful have hidden their money. Dictators and other heads of state have been accused of laundering money, avoiding sanctions and evading tax, according to the unprecedented cache of papers that show the inner workings of the law firm Mossack Fonseca, which is based in Panama. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Google's tax avoidance Google reached a deal with the HM Revenue and Customs to pay back 130 million in so-called back-taxes that have been due since 2005. George Osborne championed the deal as a major success. But European MEPs have since called for the Chancellor to appear in front of the committee on tax rulings to explain the tax deal. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Rogue trader A French court cut the damages owed by rogue trader Jerome Kerviel from 4.9bn (4.2bn) to just 1m (860,000). The court ruled on that Kerviel was partly responsible for massive losses suffered in 2008 by his former employer Societe Generale through his reckless trades. Kerviel has consistently maintained that bosses at the French bank knew what he was doing all along. AP Biggest business scandals in pictures Barclays CEO under investigation for trying to identify whistleblower - Monday Paril 10 Authorities have launched an investigation into Barclays chief executive officer Jes Staley for trying to identify a whistleblower, the bank said on Monday. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are both investigating Mr Staley after the bank notified them that Mr Staley had tried to identify the author of two anonymous letters, which were sent to the board and a senior executive in June 2016. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures UK to crack down on bank money laundering after reports of 65bn Russian scam, City minister says - March 2017 The Economic Secretary to the Treasury has vowed that the Government will crack down on money laundering practices, after several of the UK's biggest banks were accused of processing money from a Russian scam, believed to involve up to $80bn (65bn). Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Former HBOS bankers convicted of bribery and fraud over 245m loan scam - February 2017 Two former HBOS bankers were among six people found guilty of bribery and fraud that cost customers and shareholders hundreds of millions of pounds, the BBC reports. Lynden Scourfield, 54, a manager at HBOS, forced struggling clients to use the services of his friends David Mills, 60, and Michael Bancroft, 73. In return, the two businessmen arranged sex parties, cash and lavish gifts. On Monday, the three were convicted at Southwark Crown Court on accounts including bribery, fraud and money laundering. Mark Dobson, another manager at HBOS, Alison Mills, and John Cartwright were also convicted. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Lloyds chief apologises for damage caused by affair allegations - August 2016 Antonio Horta-Osorio, the chief executive of Lloyds Bank, has broken his silence over allegations about his private life admitting he regrets any "damage done to the group's reputation". In a message sent to the bank's 75,000 employees, the banker said that anyone can make mistakes while insisting that staff had to maintain the highest professional standards. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Christine Lagarde faces court over 340m Bernard Tapie payment - July 2016 The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, must stand trial in France over a payment of 403 million (now 340m, then 290m) to tycoon Bernard Tapie, a France's highest appeals court has ruled. The court rejected Ms Lagarde's appeal against a judge's order in December for her to stand trial over allegations of negligence in her handling of the affair. Ms Lagarde could risk a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros if convicted. Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures HSBC senior manager arrested in FX rigging investigation at JFK airport in New York - July 2016 A senior executive at HSBC has been arrested at New York's JFK airport for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to rig currency benchmarks, according to reports. Mark Johnson, global head of foreign exchange cash trading in London, was reportedly arrested on Tuesday. He will appear before a federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, Bloomberg said. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Former PwC employees found guilty in 'Luxleaks' tax scandal - June 2016 Two ex- PricewaterhouseCoopers staffers were found guilty in Luxembourg of stealing confidential tax files that helped unleash a global scandal over generous fiscal deals for hundreds of international companies. Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet face suspended sentences of 12 months and 9 months and were ordered to pay fines of 1,500 (1,230) and 1,000 (822) for their role in the so-called LuxLeaks scandal. Despite the minimal sentences, the ruling was described by Deltours lawyer as shocking and a terrible anomaly. The ruling puts on guard future whistle-blowers, Deltour told reporters.The LuxLeaks revelations sped beyond Luxembourg, causing European Union regulators to expand a tax-subsidy probe and propose new laws to fight corporate tax dodging, while EU lawmakers created a special committee to probe fiscal deals across the 28-nation bloc. Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Goldman Sachs dealmakers lavished Libyan officials with prostitutes to win contract - June 2016 A former Goldman Sachs dealmaker trying to persuade Gadaffi-era Libya to invest $1 billion with the investment bank procured prostitutes and invited Libyan officials to lavish parties in the hope of winning the business, the High Court heard on Monday June 13.The Libyan Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund is suing Goldman Sachs for inappropriately coercing its naive staff into giving its sovereign wealth fund cash to the bank to invest in products they did not understand. The products were designed to generate big profits for Goldman, the LIA claims.Goldman denies wrongdoing and says the LIA was treated as an arms-length customer Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Former boss of BHS said his life was threatened - June 2016 Darren Topp, the former boss of BHS, has said former owner Dominic Chappell threatened to kill him when he challenged him over a 1.5 million transfer out of the business. MPs on the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee asked Mr Topp about a 1.5 million transfer Mr Chappell made from BHS to a company called BHS Sweden. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley admits paying workers below the minimum wage - June 2016 Mike Ashley admitted paying Sports Direct employees below the minimum wage at a hearing in front of MPs. The company founder said that workers were paid less than the statutory minimum because of bottlenecks at security in an admission that could result in sanctions from HMRC. Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Mitsubishi admits improper fuel tests - April 2016 Mitsubishi has admitted to using false fuel methods dating back to 1991. The scale of the scandal is only just coming to light after it was revealed in April that data was falsified in the testing of four types of cars, including two Nissan cars. AP Biggest business scandals in pictures Quindell, the scandal-ridden insurance firm Quindell was once a darling of AIM but its share price fell in April 2014 when its accounting practices were attacked in a stinging research note by US short seller Gotham City. In August the group was forced to disclose that the 107 million pre-tax profit it had reported for 2013 was incorrect, and it had in fact suffered a 64million loss. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Toshiba Accounting Scandal The boss of Toshiba, the Japanese technology giant, resigned in disgrace in the wake of one of the countrys biggest ever accounting scandals. His exit came two months after the company revealed that it was investigating accounting irregularities. An independent investigatory panel said that Toshibas management had inflated its reported profits by up to 152 billion yen (780m) between 2008 and 2014. Biggest business scandals in pictures FIFA Corruption Scandal Fifa, football's world governing body, has been engulfed by claims of widespread corruption since the summer of 2015, when the US Department of Justice indicted several top executives. It has now claimed the careers of two of the most powerful men in football, Fifa President Sepp Blatter and Uefa President Michel Platini, after they were banned for eight years from all football-related activities by Fifa's ethics committee. A Swiss criminal investigation into the pair is ongoing. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Libor fraudster City trader Tom Hayes, 35, has become the first person to be convicted of rigging Libor rates following a trial at London's Southwark Crown Court. Hayes worked as a trader in yen derivatives at UBS before joining the American bank Citigroup in Tokyo. He was fired from Citigroup following an investigation into his trading methods. He returned to the UK in December 2012 and was arrested following a two-and-a-half year criminal investigation by the SFO. Getty

Amazon need to take a long, hard look at themselves and change their ways.

They pay a small amount of tax and received millions of pounds from the SNP Government so the least they should do is pay the proper living wage.

A Sunday Times investigation found temporary warehouse workers had been sanctioned for taking sick days. It also claimed that staff could walk up to 10 miles a day at work but water dispensers were often empty.
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GMB union has accused the UK government of gross betrayal after drinks company Diageo announced plans to cut more than 100 jobs across its Scottish operations because of concerns over Brexit.

Workers and trade unions were informed on Thursday afternoon that 70 redundancies will be made at Diageos Leven plant in Fife and a further 35 redundancies at its Shieldhall site, near Glasgow.

Diageo, which owns drinks brands including Baileys, Smirnoff and Guiness, confirmed the cuts are part of a review process which will see selected white spirits production moved to the companys Santa Vittoria plant in Italy and to plants in the US.

GMB Scotland earlier this year warned the UK governments Scottish Secretary David Mundell about the need for special measures to protect Scotlands drinks manufacturing sector against the backdrop of Brexit uncertainty.

We warned David Mundell and the UK government about the possible impact of Brexit on the future of jobs across our drinks manufacturing sector and about the need for protective measures to safeguard an industry worth billions to the Scottish and UK economies, Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland Organiser, said.

Instead of listening to the real concerns of working people and acting on them, the Tories are off on the election trail asking voters to back them over Brexit but the harsh realities of the decision to withdraw from the EU are already taking hold, she added.

This is a gross betrayal of Scottish workers who have contributed significantly to the remarkable success of Diageo and to the massive economic dividend our economy receives from whisky and white spirits manufacturing.

A Diageo spokesperson confirmed about 100 jobs will be affected and that it will do everything to mitigate the impact on its staff: Following the disposal of our wine business and the subsequent end of the wine bottling contracts, we have reviewed our spirits bottling footprint to ensure we not only deliver leading performance for both our domestic and export supply chains around the world, but also to strengthen our business for the future.

Regrettably, these changes may impact some roles in our European bottling plants towards the end of the year and we will now enter a period of consultation with our employees and their representatives to discuss the proposals in more detail.

We are committed to our three spirits bottling sites in Europe  two in Scotland and one in Italy. The outcomes of this review will ensure we have the flexibility to respond to increased competition and external volatility, alongside testing and building the capability we need across our global supply chain to grow our brands.

How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Show all 8 1 /8 How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Weetabix Chief executive of Weetabix Giles Turrell has warned that the price of one of the nations favourite breakfast are likely to go up this year by low-single digits in percentage terms. Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Nescafe The cost of a 100g jar of Nescafe Original at Sainsburys has gone up 40p from 2.75 to 3.15  a 14 per cent risesince the Brexit vote. PA How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Freddo When contacted by The Independent this month, a Mondelez spokesperson declined to discuss specific brands but confirmed that there would be "selective" price increases across its range despite the American multi-national confectionery giant reporting profits of $548m (450m) in its last three-month financial period. Mondelez, which bought Cadbury in 2010, said rising commodity costs combined with the slump in the value of the pound had made its products more expensive to make. Cadbury How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Mr Kipling cakes Premier Foods, the maker of Mr Kipling and Bisto gravy, said that it was considering price rises on a case-by-case basis Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Walkers Crisps Walkers, owned by US giant PepsiCo, said "the weakened value of the pound" is affecting the import cost of some of its materials. A Walkers spokesman told the Press Association that a 32g standard bag was set to increase from 50p to 55p, and the larger grab bag from 75p to 80p. Getty How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Marmite Tesco removed Marmite and other Unilever household brand from its website last October, after the manufacturer tried to raise its prices by about 10 per cent owing to sterlings slump. Tesco and Unilever resolved their argument, but the price of Marmite has increased in UK supermarkets with the grocer reporting a 250g jar of Marmite will now cost Morrisons customers 2.64 - an increase of 12.5 per cent. Rex How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Toblerone Toblerone came under fire in November after it increased the space between the distinctive triangles of its bars. Mondelez International, the company which makes the product, said the change was made due to price rises in recent months. Pixabay How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Maltesers Maltesers, billed as the lighter way to enjoy chocolate, have also shrunk in size. Mars, which owns the brand, has reduced its pouch weight by 15 per cent. Mars said rising costs mean it had to make the unenviable decision between increasing its prices or reducing the weight of its Malteser packs. iStockphoto

Union representatives are scheduled to meet senior executives early next week when redundancy time frames are expected to be confirmed.

"This is the cold sober reality of a hard Conservative Brexit. Diageo is a huge employer in parts of Fife and Glasgow that needs these jobs," Willie Rennie, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and MSP for North East Fife, said.

"The Conservatives need to explain to the workers at these plants why they soon won't be getting a wage at the end of the month. Liberal Democrats are giving the voters in the general election a choice to change the direction of the country. We can turn back from the economic consequences of Brexit if we choose," he added.
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Exxon Mobil has reportedly applied to the US Treasury Department for a waiver from US sanctions on Russia, which  if granted  would mean that it can resume its joint venture with Russian-state owned oil giant PAO Rosneft.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported that Exxon had been seeking US permission to drill with Rosneft in areas banned by sanctions.

According to one of the people, the company doubled down on efforts for approval in March, shortly after Rex Tillerson, its most recent chief executive, became US Secretary of State.

Exxon originally applied for a waiver to gain access to the Black Sea in 2015 but the application failed, the person said.

Reuters reported that Exxon had declined to comment on the story. The company was not immediately available for comment when contacted by The Independent.

Any waiver request would be the subject of very close scrutiny by members of Congress as they are seeking to intensify sanctions on Russia after the US said the country used cyber attacks to interfere with the presidential election last year.

Congress has also launched an investigation into whether or not there were ties between aides to Donald Trump and Russias government during the presidential campaign.

Mr Tillerson joined Exxon in 1975 as a production engineer and was appointed a member of the board of directors in 2004 before serving as CEO from 2006 until late 2016.

He reportedly fostered a close working relationship with Vladimir Putin and with executives at Rosneft during this time. Exxon is one of the world's biggest oil companies.

In 2013, Mr Putin decorated Mr Tillerson with the Order of Friendship, one of Russias highest honours for foreign nationals, for his contribution to developing cooperation in the energy sector.

The US and the EU imposed economic sanctions on Russia as a result of the countrys annexation of Crimea in 2014.

The worlds most valuable brands Show all 10 1 /10 The worlds most valuable brands The worlds most valuable brands 1st - Google Google replaced Apple as the worlds most valuable brand, with a brand value of $109.5bn, according to Brand Finance The worlds most valuable brands 2nd - Apple Apples brand value declined from $145.9bn to $107.1bn in 2016 The worlds most valuable brands 3rd - Amazon Amazon's brand value rose from $69.6bn to $106.4bn in 2016 Amazon The worlds most valuable brands 4th - At&t Of the 40 telecoms brands in the ranking, AT&T in 2016 overtook Verizon as the most valuable brand rising to $87bn from $59.9bn the year before The worlds most valuable brands 5th - Microsoft Microsoft's brand value rose marginally from $67.3bn to $76.3bn in 2016 The worlds most valuable brands 6th - Samsung Amazon's brand value rose from $58.6bn to $66.2bn The worlds most valuable brands 7th - Verizon Verizon's brand value inched up from $63.1bn to $65.9bn The worlds most valuable brands 8th - Walmart Walmart's brand value rose from $53.6bn to $62.5bn The worlds most valuable brands 9th - Facebook Facebook's brand value increased sharply from $34bn to just shy of $62bn The worlds most valuable brands 10th - ICBC ICBC saw its brand value rise to $47.8bn from $36.3bn. It was the most valuabe financial brand in the world in 2016 replacing Wells Fargo

Citing annual shareholder disclosures, Reuters reported that during at least three occasions in 2015 and 2016 Exxon was granted licences allowing limited administrative actions in Russia.

Quoting a State Department spokesman, the WSJ reported that Mr Tillerson has recused himself from any matters involving Exxon for two years, and wont be involved with any decision made by any government agency involving his former employer during this period.
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A Reddit user who claims to be an employee at a Subway store in the US has posted an expose of the sandwich chain, revealing how to get free food and what products should be avoided.

The user, who calls himself Nope_Nope_Nope, says that he works the night shift as a Sandwich Artist at a store on the East Coast of America. He says that hes been employed for a year and that, based on his experience, customers should be wary of three sandwich ingredients: meatballs, roastbeef and cheese.

Early mornings, ask if the meatballs are fresh. You'll be told yes no matter what, but if they have to go check it's actually a guaranteed no theyre checking to see if they can pass as fresh. Trust me, meatballs are annoying to prep, we know damn well if they're fresh or not without needing to check, he wrote.

Otherwise just be careful about the roastbeef, because that tends to go bad the quickest [...]. If the American cheese cambro (container) is almost empty, there's a good chance the cheese is soggy. Not a big issue, but... still there, he added.

The redditor also revealed that if you complain, youre most likely to get a free sandwich.

Look really distressed and disgusted with how they're making your sandwich, Order something, and take it to your seat, open it, walk back and tell them its not made right, the alleged employee advised.

Alternatively customers can get a freebie or discounts by being extremely nice.

The individual also revealed the unsanitary conditions of the cutting boards, which are only cleaned twice a month at the branch where he works.

I also know how dirty our cutting boards are... Let me sum it up for you, the deli-paper your sandwich is made on (just from coming into contact with the cutting board) should be considered a health biological hazard, he said.

Despite some of the negative comments, the alleged employee still said he actually really enjoys working for the company.

He said that, based on his experience, tuna sandwiches were the chains most popular product, while his own favourite was the foot-long Spicy Italian on the Italian herb and cheese bread, with double meats, onions and bell-peppers then toasted.

Extra oil, two lines of vinegar, and if I'm feeling saucy, chipotle southwest and an avocado," he added.

Although the worker did not verify his identity, he shared a picture of his Subway name tag and uniform to boost his credentials.

Food and drink news Show all 35 1 /35 Food and drink news Food and drink news Healthy living makes us more inclined to binge, research suggests Gluten-free breads, dairy-free milks and other plant-based products have been some of the most favoured foods in British supermarkets this year. However, while were busy filling our shopping trolleys with gluten-free goodness, were also jamming it with junk food and alcohol, new research suggests Getty/iStock Food and drink news Growing list of Vegan celebs Making the switch to veganism is a major lifestyle choice, one that many claim can improve energy levels, lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and clear up any skin issues. Beyonce, Natalie Portman and Jessica Chastain are among the growing list of Hollywood stars who have eschewed animal products from their diets in recent years. Theres also been an increasing number of professional athletes who have gone vegan, such as boxing champions Mike Tyson and David Haye, thus debunking the myth that following a plant-based diet will leave you feeling weak and malnourished. AFP/Getty/NARAS/iHeartMedia Food and drink news McDonald's has announced the launch of a new vegan burger on its menu in Germany This will mark the first time the German franchise of the fast food chain has offered a vegan burger to its customers. The Big Vegan TS burger consists of a patty made from soy and wheat. It is served in a classic sesame seed bun, and contains salad, tomato, pickles and red onion. McDonald's Germany Food and drink news Drinking too many protein shakes could lead to an increased risk of obesity and a reduced lifespan, a new study has claimed Researchers from the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre carried out an investigation to determine the impact excessive consumption of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) has on the body. BCAA supplements are often consumed in the form of powder, which is then added to water to make a shake. Published in journal Nature Metabolism, the study found that while BCAAs help to build muscle, they can also negatively impact an individual's temperament, cause weight gain and lead to a shortened lifespan Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Britain consumes more chocolate than any other country Most people love chocolate but it turns out no one does more than the Brits  with the average Brit found to have consumed 8.4 kg of chocolate in 2017, according to new data. Chocolate consumption around the world is on the rise, according to Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), which found that in the past year alone, Easter chocolate production has risen by 23 per cent Food and drink news 'Easter eggs should be banned for children under four' Dr Becky Spelman, chief psychologist at Harley Streets Private Therapy Clinic, is calling for Easter eggs to be banned for consumption for children under the age of four, claiming that giving them the opportunity to binge on chocolate so young will give them an unhealthy relationship with food later on. "This is a nightmare situation for parents of this generation as they have no idea how to teach their children to delay their response to cravings, she said, explaining that too many young kids binge on these chocolates because their parents dont know how to stop them. "Once a child starts overeating behaviour at a young age its very hard to turn things around for them in terms of food and their eating habits moving forward, leading to obesity from at very young age," she added PA Food and drink news Pineapple overtakes avocado as the UK's fastest-selling fruit According to Tesco, pineapple has overtaken avocado as the UKs fastest-selling fruit, with sales increasing by 15 per cent in 2017. In comparison, avocado sales rose by just under 10 per cent last year. The popular supermarket says the surge in popularity comes as shoppers buying the versatile fruit are beginning to use it as a main ingredient in everything from curries and barbecues, to juices and cocktails Getty Food and drink news Marks & Spencers launches stoneless avocados Rather than the result of genetic modification, the avocados are formed by an unpollinated avocado blossom. The fruit develops without a seed which in turns stops the growth, creating a small, seedless fruit. Whats more, the skin is actually edible, unlike a regular avocado. The flesh is much like that of a normal avocado - smooth and creamy, pale in colour and rich in flavour M&S Food and drink news Office teabags contain 17 times more germs than a toilet seat, reveals study The average bacterial reading of an office teabag was 3,785, in comparison to only 220 for a toilet seat. Other pieces of kitchen equipment also stacked up highly in their findings, with the bacterial readings averaging at 2,483 on kettle handles, 1,746 on the rim of a used mug and 1,592 on a fridge door handle Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New study shows drinking more coffee leads to a longer life There is good news and a final hope for coffee addicts and lovers. You will now be able to drink coffee for longer as new study shows its can lead to a prolonged life. Scientists showed that those who drank between two and four cups of coffee a day had 18% lower risk of death compared to non-coffee drinkers. PA Food and drink news Coke Zero is replaced with Coke Zero Sugar Coca-Cola is pulling the plug on its Coke Zero. The much loved drink will be replaced with a new improved taste. The move, backed with a 10 million campaign, is said to come from Coca-Cola supporting people to reduce their sugar intake. Coca-Cola want people make this move while not sacrificing sugary taste of Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola Food and drink news Starbucks introduce new avocado spread The avocado craze has grown from hipster brunch restaurants to Starbucks. Starbucks have introduced their new avocado spread earlier this year and it has the internet in debate. Some argue that it not a spread but guacamole while others question if there is any avocado in there at all. When buying the new spread you can also buy an optional toasted bagel. It is a must try for all avocado connoisseurs. Starbucks Food and drink news New Mars chocolate bar The iconic British chocolate bar is about to get its partner in crime. The new bar, named Goodness Knows, will replace the gooey caramel goodness of the mars bar with oats. It is said to be more like a Florentine biscuit with a thin dark chocolate bottom. While being moderately healthy Mars says that is has good intentions. One pack has 154 calories and will sell for about 90p. Mars Food and drink news Wine prices could increase because of Brexit Wine lovers across the UK might soon have to shell out close to a quarter more for their favourite tipple after Brexit, as a weaker pound and sluggish economy takes its toll, a new study shows Rex Food and drink news Chocolate may be good for the heart A new study, published in the British Medical Journal: Heart, found that moderate chocolate intake can be positively associated with lessening the risk of the heart arrhythmia condition Atrial Fibrillation Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Brits throw away 1.4 million bananas each year British families are throwing away 1.4 million bananas that are perfectly good to eat every day at cost of 80m a year, new figures have shown PA/Armin Weigel Food and drink news Rosemary sales spike over exam time There has been a surge a surge in sales of the herb rosemary after a recent study found it helps improve memory. According to high street health food chain Holland & Barrett, sales of the herb have increased by 187 per cent compared to the same time last year Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Gluten-free diets 'not recommended' for people without coeliac disease Avoiding wheat, barley and rye in the belief that a gluten-free diet brings health benefits may do more harm than good, according to a team of US nutrition and medicine experts Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Starbucks launches two new coffee-based drinks Starbucks is launching two new coffee-based drinks in the UK, as it strives to tap into consumers growing appetite for healthy beverages. The Cold Brew Vanilla sweet cream and the Cappuccino Freddo, will both be available in stores throughout the UK from the start of May Twitter/@SbuxCountyHall Food and drink news Cadburys Dairy Milk Tiffin is making a permanent comeback after 80 years The Cadbury Dairy Milk Tiffin, first produced in 1937, is making a permanent comeback to the UK. The raisin and biscuit-filled chocolate bar is being launched after a successful trial last summer saw 3 million chocolate treats  at the cost of 1.49 for each 95g bar- purchased by nostalgic customers Cadburys Food and drink news Pizza restaurant makes worlds cheesiest 'Scottie's Pizza Parlor' in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Facebook/Scottie's Pizza Parlor Food and drink news A pizza joint in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Why not eating before a workout could be better for your health A study published in the American Journal of Physiology by researchers at the University of Bath found you might be likely to burn more fat if you have not eaten first Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New York restaurant named best in the world A New York restaurant where an average meal for two will cost $700 has been named the best in the world. Eleven Madison Park won the accolade for the first time after debuting on the list at number 50 in 2010. The restaurant was praised for a fun sense of fine-dining, blurring the line between the kitchen and the dining room Getty Images Food and drink news Why you crave bad food when youre tired Researchers at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University in Chicago recently presented their results of a study looking into the effects of sleep deprivation upon high-calorific food consumption. Researchers found that those who were sleep-deprived had specifically enhanced brain activity to the food smells compared to when they had a good nights sleep Shutterstock Food and drink news Drinking wine engages more of your brain than solving maths problems Drinking wine is the ideal workout for your brain, engaging more parts of our grey matter than any other human behaviour, according to a leading neuroscientist. Dr Gordon Shepherd, from the Yale School of Medicine, said sniffing and analysing a wine before drinking it requires exquisite control of one of the biggest muscles in the body Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news British dessert eating surges after people ditch healthy eating in February : In heartening news for anyone feeling guilty about quitting their New Year diet, it seems lots of us have given in to our sweet tooths once again. New data from nationwide food-delivery service Deliveroo reveals there was a surge in Brits ordering desserts in February compared to the first month of 2017 Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news US congress debates definition of milk alternatives A new bill has been created that seeks to ban dairy alternatives from using the term milk. Titled the DAIRY PRIDE Act, the name is a tenuous acronym for defending against imitations and replacements of yogurt, milk, and cheese to promote regular intake of dairy every day. It argues that the dairy industry is struggling as a result of all the dairy-free alternatives on the market and the public are being duped too Getty Images Food and drink news Cadburys launches two new chocolate bars UK confectionary giant Cadbury has launched two new chocolate bars, hoping to lure those with a sweet tooth and perhaps help combat some of the challenges it faces from rising commodity prices and a post-Brexit slump in the value of the pound.The companys new products will be peanut butter and mint flavoured. They will be available in most major super markets as 120g bars, priced at 1.49, according to the company Cadburys Food and drink news You can now get a job as a professional chocolate eater The company responsible for some of your favourite chocolate brands  think Cadbury, Milks, Prince and Oreo  have officially announced an opening to join their team as a professional chocolate taster. The successful candidate will help them to test, perfect and launch new products all over the world. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news MSG additive used in Chinese food is actually good for you, scientist claims For years, weve been told MSG (the sodium salt of glutamic acid) - often associated with cheap Chinese takeaways - is awful for our health and to be avoided at all costs. But one scientist argues it should be used as a supersalt and encourages adding it to food. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Lettuce prices are rising Not only are lettuces becoming an increasingly rare commodity in supermarkets, but prices for the leafy vegetables seem to be rising too. According to the weekly report from the Governments Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a pair of Little Gem lettuces had an average market price of 0.86 in the week that ended on Friday, up from an average of 0.56 in the previous week  thats an almost 54 per cent increase. Getty Images Food and drink news Do-It-Yourself restaurant To encourage more people to cook and eat together, IKEA has launched The Dining Club in Shoreditch  a fully immersive Do-It-Yourself restaurant . Members of the public can book to host a brunch, lunch or dinner party for up to 20 friends and family. Supported by their very own sous chef and maitre de, the host and their guests will orchestrate an intimate dining experience where cooking together is celebrated and eating together is inspirational Mikael Buck / IKEA Food and drink news Ping Pong menu with a twist Gatwick Airport has teamed up with London dim sum restaurant Ping Pong to create a limited edition menu with a distinctly British twist; including a Full English Bao and Beef Wellington Puff, to celebrate the launch of the airports new route to Hong Kong Food and drink news Zizzi unveil the Maamgharita Unique pizza art has been created by Zizzi in celebration of the Queens 90th birthday. The pizza features the queen in an iconic pose illustrated with fresh and tasty Italian ingredients on a backdrop of the Union Jack Food and drink news Blue potatoes make a comeback Blue potatoes, once a staple part of British potato crops, are back on the menu thanks to a Cambridge scientist turned-organic farmer and Farmdrop, an online marketplace that lets people buy direct from local farms. Cambridge PhD graduate-turned farmer, Adrian Izzard has used traditional growing techniques at Wild Country Organics to produce the colourful spuds, packed with healthy cell-protecting anthocyanin, which had previously disappeared from UK plates when post-war farmers were pushed towards higher-yielding varieties

A spokesperson for Subway in the US told The Independent: "Subway is committed to serving delicious, wholesome food that meets the highest quality and safety standards. All Subway stores are required to uphold strict cleanliness and food safety guidelines, including product labelling, usage and shelf life. In addition to regular inspections by local authorities, every Subway store is evaluated on a regular basis to ensure that they meet our high standards.

"If we find any violations of our high safety and quality standards we take action, as appropriate in accordance with our franchise agreement, up to and including termination."

The fast food chain was recently slammed in the UK for seeking to pay young apprentices just 3.50 per hour. Successful candidates were offered just 119 per week for five 8pm to 5pm shifts, including weekends.

In the US, an investigation by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) released in March revealed that Subways oven roasted chicken is actually only 53.6 per cent chicken, and the chicken strips are only 42.8 per cent chicken. The company at the time denied the claims.
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Driving towards the Herefordshire home of writer and director Bruce Robinson was already proving something of an ordeal. Here I was, about to interview the creator of what must be the UKs and possibly the worlds most iconically cool film, Withnail and I, and I was driving a non-descript VW Polo and feeling distinctly sober. Of course, I should have been in a clapped out 1960s Jag, dragging on a Gauloise and recklessly swigging from a bottle of Haut Brion while listening to Hendrix.

Arriving at the weathered front door of Robinsons picturesque 16th-century farmhouse, I half expected it to be flung open by Uncle Monty with a cry of ''my dear boy!'' and to be warmly  too warmly  embraced, but instead found myself in front of an elegantly svelte Robinson whose eyes twinkled at me from behind blue tinted specs.

Introduced first to a large and very elderly dog (''he should be dead by now'') and then his artist wife Sophie (''coffee or tea?''), we progressed to an enormous hall-like room where we sat on low sofas. I was immediately struck by a large portrait of Keith Richards with fag dangling from a pendulous lower lip. "Oh, thats by Johnny Depp," Robinson informs me. "It's painted on cigarette papers. Actually, along with his other talents hes a bloody good artist." I agree.

Recommended Bruce Robinson on new Jack the Ripper book

He regales me with an anecdote concerning the famously louche Stones guitarist, who was Depps friend. "We meet for a drink and he's leaning on the bar, smoking. He says, 'well you smoke, do you wanna fag?' I politely tell him that its not legal to which he replies 'who's gonna stop us?' And, of course, no ones going to stop Keith, but they will stop me!'' We both laugh and I say "that sounds like Withnail" to which Robinson replies '"actually he is!"

Its 30 years since Withnail and I was first screened and it remains Robinsons (somewhat frustratingly to him) magnum opus. Describing it as 'like a colostomy bag' that trails around with him, his attitude towards the film is almost that of an early and never-to-be-recaptured love affair: poignant memories of newly kindled passions and freshly felt sensations, the pang of lost youth. And lost friends. His muse and flat-mate Vivian MacKerrell, who provided so much of the inspiration for Withnail, died more than 20 years ago aged 50. It was he who famously inspired the moment when Withnail relieves his desperate need for a drink by swigging lighter fluid.

The Penrith tea-rooms, looking for cake and fine wine: Paul McGann, Richard E Grant, and Llewellyn Rees in Withnail and I (Handmade Films/REX)

And that's one of the all-pervading leitmotifs in much of his work, drink. It permeates not only Withnail but also his other major film, Hunter S Thompsons novel The Rum Diary, which Depp asked Robinson first to read, then turn into a screenplay and then direct. Both describe essentially bibulous worlds populated by figures that are out of control and running out of time.

I ask him whether this is true?

"Oh absolutely, the two elements that are central to all of my work are drink and shit. The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman [Robinsons autobiographical novel] is about the latter. I had a curious childhood in that I never knew who my real father was and never saw a photograph of him until I was 68. Turned out he was an American lawyer my mother had known during the war. She never revealed his identity to me: a bizarre form of cruelty.

The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Show all 29 1 /29 The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Beach Rats Frankie, an aimless teenager on the outer edges of Brooklyn, is having a miserable summer. With his father dying and his mother wanting him to find a girlfriend, Frankie escapes the bleakness of his home life by causing trouble with his delinquent friends and flirting with older men online. When his chatting and webcamming intensify, he finally starts hooking up with guys at a nearby cruising beach while simultaneously entering into a cautious relationship with a young woman. As Frankie struggles to reconcile his competing desires, his decisions leave him hurtling toward irreparable consequences. Writer/director Eliza Hittmans short film Forevers Gonna Start Tonight played the Festival in 2011. Her first feature, It Felt Like Love, premiered at the 2013 Festival and put her on the map as someone to watch. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Beatriz at Dinner Beatriz (Salma Hayek) is a miracle workerhighly sensitive with her touch, and passionately dedicated to curing pain through holistic therapy. After treating the mother of a young woman Beatriz helped recover from chemotherapy, her car breaks down, so she is invited to stay for a dinner celebrating a lucrative business deal. Beatriz at Dinner is riveting, yet with an apprehensive tone. Half chamber drama, half dark dramedy of errors, director Miguel Arteta (The Good Girl, 2002 Sundance Film Festival) discerns his characters by showing their most telling reactions, such as the subliminal determination of Hayeks face, while spinning an indelible wickedness onto this tale of a fateful encounter. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Burning Sands In his freshman year of college, it seems Zurich has everything going for him; he has the respect of his teachers and university administration, the love and devotion of a wonderful girlfriend, and hes been selected for admission to a prestigious black fraternity on campus. But as Zurich embarks on the Hell Week of pledging his fraternity, the harsh trials of entry into brotherhood begin to test the limits of his self-worth. As the intensifying abuse begins to become untenable, Zurich struggles to honor the fraternitys code of silence, and the scaffolding of his life outside the frat begins to dismantle. Gerrard McMurrays Burning Sands constructs a deeply complex cross section of the fabled fraternity hazing culture and the vicious power of the desire for acceptance. McMurrays grounded filmmaking builds a textured world populated with an exceptional young cast, resulting in a deeply profound exploration of being a young black man in America. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Call Me By Your Name Its the summer of 1983 in northern Italy, and Elio Perlman (Timothee Chalamet), a 17-year-old American-Italian boy, spends his days in his family's seventeenth century villa lazily transcribing music and flirting with his friend Marzia. One day Oliver (Armie Hammer), a charming, 24-year-old American scholar working on his doctorate, arrives as the annual summer intern tasked with helping Elio's father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an eminent professor specializing in Greco-Roman culture. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of this sensual setting, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will change their lives forever. The latest film by Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love, 2010 Sundance Film Festival) is adapted from the novel by Andre Aciman, with a screenplay by Guadagnino and James Ivory. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Casting JonBenet After 20 years of media speculation and public hysteria, the unsolved death of six-year-old American beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey remains one of the worlds most sensational child murder cases. Casting JonBenet presents audiences with a hybrid of nonfiction and fiction filmmaking that examines the complicated legacy of this tiny starlet. Relying on a local casting call to entirely voice her film, director Kitty Green expands on a fascinating technique she last explored in her short film which won a 2014 Jury Award for nonfiction (The Face Of Ukraine: Casting Oksana Baiul). The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 City of Ghosts A real-life international thriller, City of Ghosts exposes a new type of warfare: a battle over ideas, a fight for hearts and minds, a conflict over clicks and views. Captivating in its immediacy, it follows the journey of Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silentlya handful of anonymous activists who banded together after their homeland was taken over by ISIS in 2014. Directed, produced, and filmed by Academy Awardnominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land, 2015 Sundance Film Festival Directing Award), City of Ghosts is a singularly powerful cinematic experience that is sure to shake audiences to their core as it elevates the canon of one of the most talented and exciting documentary filmmakers working today. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Colossal Gloria (Anne Hathaway) is a hard partying New York scene girl who is thrust into crisis when her boyfriend, Tim (Dan Stevens), grows sick of her antics and kicks her out of their apartment. With no other options, she moves back to her hometown and quickly regresses, drinking every night until last call and accepting a job at a bar owned by her childhood friend Oscar (Jason Sudeikis). One day she wakes up and blurrily finds out that Seoul was terrorized by a giant creature the night before. Eventually, Gloria begins to suspect her own drunken actions are bizarrely connected to the monster rampaging in South Korea. Writer/Director Vigalondo, aided by an outstanding cast, weaves a twisty, funny tale with real depth and emotional resonance. Colossal is proof that the ambitions of indie filmmakers can be epic in scope without losing their humanity. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Crown Heights On April 10, 1980, a shot rang out on the streets of Crown Heights, igniting a decades-long quest for justice in this harrowing true story. Colin Warner, played with heartbreaking sincerity by Lakeith Stanfield, is arrested and tried for a crime he did not commit, a victim of a deeply broken system that refuses to listen. Quick to throw him away, the court wrongfully convicts him. But as Colin loses hope to reclaim an innocence that has been cast aside, his best friend, Carl King, devotes his life to restoring Colin's freedom, doggedly pursuing every lead for years. Writer/director Matt Ruskin, who worked closely to earn the trust of the real Colin Warner, imbues this film with a gifted touch and emotional authenticity to shed light on a painful personal storyand on a horrifying systemic issue. Anchored by Stanfield, an indie film secret weapon, Crown Heights unfolds as a powerful ode to those we leave behind. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Dayveon In the wake of his big brothers violent death, 13-year-old Dayveon (Devin Blackmon) struggles to find his way in an economically depressed Arkansas town. With no parents and few role models around, Dayveon is soon torn between the lure of a local gang and the friendship of his sisters boyfriend, who reluctantly acts as a father figure. Amman Abbasis remarkable debut feature is a lyrical slice of Southern life, with an uncanny feeling for the rhythms of rural existence. Abbasi, the son of Pakistani immigrants who settled in Arkansas, developed the script (co-written by Steven Reneau) with input from local gang members. First-time actor Blackmon anchors the film with a poignant performance, complementing Abbasis introspective approach. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 A Ghost Story Lauded filmmaker David Lowery, last at the Festival with the lyrical Aint Them Bodies Saints (2013), reunites with his collaborators for a haunted tale like no otherone conceived in secret and fueled by the spirit of pure, creative expression. Lowery's meticulously sparse narrative contemplates a spectral figure who was once a man (Casey Affleck). Prematurely taken from this Earth, he makes his way toward his former home, where he is fated to remain forevermore. Shrouded in a white sheet, he observes the lament of his grief-stricken lover (Rooney Mara). Bearing unseen witness to her pain, the wisp stands sentry for years to come, interacting only with time as it hurtles further and further forward, the remnants of his humanity quietly evaporating. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Golden Exits Nick has settled into a safe existence in a small pocket of Brooklyn, where he currently toils on an archival project for his father-in-law. Soon, 20-something Naomi arrives from Australia to assist Nick for the semester. She has no acquaintances in the city beyond a loose family connection to Buddy, a music producer who lives in the same neighborhood. For the few months she spends around Nick, Buddy, and their families, Naomi's presence upsets the unpleasant balance holding these two households together. Writer/director Alex Ross Perry (2014s Listen Up Philip) returns to the Festival with another acerbic ensemble, this time exploring the personal torment belying domesticated oblivion. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 ICARUS The ruthless worlds of international sports and politics rarely collide as spectacularly on screen as they do in Bryan Fogels thriller that is sure to set off convulsions of controversy. While investigating the furtive world of illegal doping in sports, Fogel connects with renegade Russian scientist Dr. Grigory Rodchenkova pillar of his countrys anti-doping program. Over dozens of Skype calls, urine samples, and badly administered hormone injections, Fogel and Rodchenkov grow closer despite shocking allegations that place Rodchenkov at the center of Russias state-sponsored Olympic doping program. When the truth is more complex than imagined, and accusations of illegalities run to Russia's highest chains of command, the two realize they hold the power to reveal the biggest international sports scandal in living memory. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Ingrid Goes West Ingrid is an unstable young woman with a checkered past of obsessive behavior. She secretly moves to Los Angeles to get close to Taylor Sloanean Instagram lifestyle guru with a fabulous artist boyfriend, a camera-ready terrier, and an array of new products and brands to promote to her followers. After Ingrid adopts a Taylor-made identity for herself, her machinations to prove shes BFF material for her Insta idol are underwaythat is, until she meets Taylors obnoxious brother Nicky, who threatens to tear down her facade. Writer/director Matt Spicer and co-writer David Branson Smith brilliantly satirize the ideal lives we create online, yet at the same time acknowledging the effects of a technologically dominated society where the human needs for truth and connection are still essential to our being. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Kuso Broadcasted through a makeshift network of discarded televisions, this story is tangled up in the aftermath of Los Angeles's worst earthquake nightmare. Travel between screens and aftershocks into the twisted lives of the survived. Welcome to the weird and wild mind of filmmaker Steven Ellison. Already acclaimed for his expansive psychedelic albums as musician Flying Lotus, Ellison steps behind the camera to direct this mind-altering freakshow of a first feature, co-written with David Firth and Zach Fox. Their unbridled imaginations plunge the audience into a magical mix of filth-covered fables and hypnotic animations to reveal a film rotting from the inside out. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Landline The Manhattan of 1995: a land without cell phones, but abundant in CD listening stations, bar smoke, and family dysfunction. Enter the Jacobs. Eldest daughter Danas looming marriage to straight-laced Ben prompts a willful dive into her wild side, while her younger sister, Ali, is still in high school but leads a covert life of sex, drugs, and clubbing. After discovering love letters penned by their father, the sisters try to expose his apparent affair while keeping it from their all-too-composed mother. Gillian Robespierres follow-up to Obvious Child reprises her talent for subversive comedy and explores how family bonds grow sturdier through lying, cheating, and strife. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Lemon Isaac Lachmann has seen better days. His acting career is tanking, while his colleagues succeed; his blind girlfriend of 10 years plans to leave him; and his own family singles him out as a constant disappointment at their latest reunion. Even as he takes a chance on new romance, Isaac struggles to define his place in a world that has seemingly turned against him. Director Janicza Bravo (Gregory Go Boom, 2014 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Jury Award winner) returns to the Festival with her description-defying debut feature that promises to delight and unsettle audiences in equal measure with its unique brand of discomforting humor. Bravo unflinchingly strips down her stellar lead and co-writer, Brett Gelman, to appalling levels of vulnerability, emphasized by idiosyncratic supporting turns from Michael Cera, Judy Greer, Nia Long, Martin Starr, and Gillian Jacobs. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Manifesto Tour-de-force: a term so overused that we need an undeniable acting performance to renew its meaning for cinema. Cate Blanchett has just given us one, going all-out in Manifesto. Already respected as one of the best actresses in film, Blanchett raises the bar even higher by playing 13 different roles in Manifesto, embodying some of the most influential and emotional artist manifestos in history. The architect of this unique film idea is director Julian Rosefeldt, a veteran of intricate films and installations. In Manifesto, he uses the words from various twentieth century manifestos of artists, architects, and filmmakers for dialogue. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Newness In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social mediadriven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries. Drake Doremus, director of the 2011 Grand Jury Prize winner Like Crazy, returns to Park City with his fourth feature to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. He and screenwriter Ben York Jones (who co-wrote Like Crazy with Doremus) display a masterful ability to capture the emotional texture and physical intimacy of a relationship as it twists and turns through the sometimes turbulent currents of life in the modern age. A strikingly contemporary love story, Newness features breathtaking performances from Nicholas Hoult and Laia Costa as lovers brought together by technology, but connected by something deeper. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Nobody Speak: Hulk Hogan, Gawker and Trials of a Free Press When online tabloid Gawker posted a sex tape starring former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, a high-stakes legal battle pitting privacy rights against the First Amendment ensued. Hogan won the case and the staggering settlement he received not only bankrupted Gawker and its founder Nick Denton, but also exposed a controversial, behind-the-scenes benefactor: Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel. Whether you love or hate Gawker, Brian Knappenbergers gripping polemic reveals the forces that really brought down the news portal. Taking examples like Sheldon Adelsons purchase of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, this compelling documentary illustrates a growing, sinister trend at odds with our countrys free press. Corporate executives, titans, and billionaires are tipping the balance on the publics access to news, posing new threats to societys relationship to the truth. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Pop Aye Thana, a once-illustrious architect, drifts ever further into existential crisis, propelled by the impending demolition of his proudest work and his wifes waning romantic interest. Unexpectedly running into his long-lost childhood pet elephant Popeye, performing in the streets of Bangkok, spurs Thana on a quest across Thailand to return his displaced friend to rural Loei, the small village where they grew up. Pop Aye is a humane ode to the power of simple acts of kindness in a world of lost innocence and missed opportunities, punctuated by well-timed bursts of deadpan absurdity. Director Kirsten Tan, in her impressive feature debut, deftly weaves the poignance and humor of Popeye and Thanas journey with a series of indelibly beautiful cinematic images of the films gigantic star in this lyrical road-trip dramedy. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Raw An electrifying film that took Cannes by storm upon its premiere in the Critics Week section this past May, Julia Ducournaus wild, primal, flesh-eating marvel, Raw, boldly introduces a major new French talent to the world stage. Brilliant, shy 16-year-old Justine heads to the same veterinary college her parents attended, and where her older sister, Alexia, is also a student. Along with the other newbies, Justine is subjected to a series of bizarre initiations, including a hazing ritual that forces her to eat a raw rabbit liver. Although shes a committed vegetarian, Justine is desperate to fit in and ultimately caves to the peer pressure. Afterward, she grows a voracious appetite for meat, which starts branching out to other forms of flesh. At the same time, the young virgins new carnivorous tendency coincides with a burgeoning sexual desire. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Roxanne Roxanne In 1984, Lolita Shante Gooden was just another 14-year-old living in New Yorks Queensbridge projects. When she famously laid down the lyrics to Roxannes Revengean underground answer rap to U.T.F.O.s popular single Roxanne, Roxanneshe sparked one of the earliest and most significant beefs in hip-hop history, establishing herself as a feared battle emcee in a genre on the verge of worldwide recognition. In director Michael Larnells follow-up to his debut feature, Cronies (2015 Sundance Film Festival), newcomer Chante Adams delivers a mic-dropping performance as the embodiment of the legendary Roxanne Shante, backed by a stellar supporting cast featuring Nia Long and Mahershala Ali. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 The Big Sick Based on the true story of the films writers (and real-life couple), Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, this modern culture clash shows how Pakistan-born Kumail and his American girlfriend, Emily, have to overcome the expectations of his family and their 1,400-year-old traditions. As his parents relentlessly set him up with potential brides for an arranged marriage, Kumail navigates treacherous waters in the worlds of both dating and stand-up comedy. Produced by Judd Apatow, The Big Sick features a sterling collection of comedy talent in front of and behind the camera. Having acted in numerous previous Sundance Film Festival selections, Michael Showalter returns this time as a director with a hilariously insightful film that shrewdly puts the spotlight on its writer/star Kumail Nanjiani (HBOs Silicon Valley). The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 The Discovery What would you do if there was proof of an afterlife? The answer to this question is rivetingly explored in The Discovery, where world-renowned physicist Doctor Thomas Harber (Robert Redford) is able to scientifically prove the existence of an afterlifebut with dire consequences. His estranged son, Will (Jason Segel), tries to confront the situation by returning to the New Englandesque island where he grew up. He crosses paths with Isla (Rooney Mara), who's returning to the island for mysterious reasons of her own. The tale unfolds over the ensuing days as the regret of past choices forces these lost characters to reflect on how they've gotten to where they are. Director/co-writer Charlie McDowell (2014s The One I Love) returns to the Festival with another metaphysical thriller that uses a fascinating premise as a launching point to explore complex issues in a deftly absorbing fashion. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Thoroughbred Emotionally challenged Amanda and contemptuous Lily reboot their childhood friendship after years of instability and judgment, thrown back together by standardized-test tutoring. When Lilys icy stepdad, Mark, conspires to ship her off to reform school instead of her dream college, Amandas nonchalant quips about killing him suddenly seem enticing. Even as Amandas sinister tendencies surface and the girls hatch a plan, the mutual manipulation that has always defined their relationship threatens to derail their ambitions. First-time director Cory Finleys impressively stylish and assured filmmaking evokes a high-class world that is simultaneously familiar and strange, dripping with acidic dark wit and a disquietingly eerie score. 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The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Wind River U.S. Fish & Wildlife agent Cory Lambert discovers a body in the rugged wilderness of the Wind River Indian Reservation. The FBI sends in rookie agent Jane Banner, but shes unprepared for the difficulties created by the oppressive weather and isolation of the Wyoming winter. When she employs Cory as a tracker, the two venture deep into a world ravaged by violence and the elements. Wind River is a stark look at life on the edge of an imposing wilderness, where the rule of law is eclipsed by the laws of nature. Acclaimed screenwriter Taylor Sheridan makes his directorial debut with the final film in his trilogy of screenplays on the American frontier. He showed the power of his writing in Sicario and Hell or High Water, both of which reverberated with unforgettable characters and dialogue, while creating a level of texture and detail that felt more like a novel. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 XX Gather round if you dare for four murderous tales of supernatural frights, predatory thrills, profound anxiety, and Gothic decay in the first all-female-driven horror anthology film. Audacious new works from some of the genre's most promising voicesAnnie Clark (better known to fans as St. Vincent), Karyn Kusama (The Invitation, Girlfight), Roxanne Benjamin (Southbound), and Jovanka Vuckovic (former editor of Rue Morgue magazine)bring forth a study in the proper unspooling of dread for your viewing pleasure. Framed around innovative animator Sofia Carrillo's haunting tableaus, these modern myths range from Vuckovic's reverent control of grotesque elegance to Clark's deliciously macabre sense of comic timing, Benjamin's skillful powers of tonal transformation, and Kusama's authorial grasp of simmering psychological fear. The films to watch out for from Sundance 2017 Sidney Hall Sidney Hall harbors a precocious talent for writing. His classroom essays exhibit a danger that some find off-putting, though one teacher recognizes his talent and urges Sidney to pursue a writing career. Early success with his first novel makes Sidney a celebrity, though his dystopian observations about suburbia provoke tragic outcomes among some young readers, cloaking his name in scandal. Heightened scrutiny and expectations haunt him, as do dark secrets from his past that complicate his creativity, and interfere with his chances of finding love with a childhood sweetheart. When the disillusioned writer has all but disappeared from public life, a mysterious detective seeks the answer to his mystery. Shawn Christensen's impressive second feature offers a far-reaching examination of the societal pressures and failings that can send a life of promise into free fall.

"What is strange is how I may have subconsciously perceived the truth. When I was around 12 or 13 I used to buy Dell comics and then began to imitate an American accent  my mother must have wet herself! Its come through the genes! Sperm filled with an accent!"

Robinson ascribes his deep-seated hatred and distrust of the establishment to his mothers betrayal and the fact that he had no father figure to admire or aspire to. "Thats why I never believe any of these politicians and so called leaders because I never believed the primary authorities in my life  my parents." His recent book, a monumental exegesis of Jack the Ripper  They All Love Jack  amounts to a sustained critique of establishment hypocrisy, nepotism and malfeasance, all of which he feels is as real now as it ever was.

Robinson: 'The day red wine gets in the way of my writing I will stop drinking' (Rex) (Michael Bowles/REX)

So what about drink? Withnail and I is, at one level, a gloriously anarchic, alcohol fuelled romp that begins in a shabby genteel London flat and moves to a remote shabby genteel farmhouse, with all the antics and chaotic capers of a latter day Sterne. It is the films quality of sustained hysteria and illogicality that makes it so extraordinarily funny, compelling and also so tragic. An eschatological wind blows through it from beginning to end.

I mention an anecdote concerning Stephen Fry, who once told me that he never drank while writing and was amazed at how people such as Scott Fitzgerald could drink so much and write so well.

"The day red wine ever got in the way of my writing I would stop drinking, but it is the oil of what I do. I can go to my office and rage and rant, but booze doesnt define me  its just a bottle of red wine. Ive never lost a days work through drinking red wine."

Bruce Robinson and family at the European premiere of The Rum Diary (Alan Davidson/Silverhub/REX)

Nonetheless, I had read that he was drinking up to four of five bottles of red a day and would have got through one by 10 in the morning. Was this true?

"Oh easily, yeah, but I have an enormous tolerance of it I suppose  though only red wine. I have no interest in Guinness and gin, whisky or vodka. And anyway, why is it considered such a fucking evil? What I consider to be evil are these pissing smart phones  Id rather my 13 year-old child were drinking a Chambertin or an Haut Brion than constantly looking at a filthy fucking phone. Anyway, I dont drink a lot, just enough to make the words work."

And indeed, it does seem to be a peculiarly effective creative fuel in Robinsons case. It was after a long period of abstinence and while starting work on the script for The Rum Diary that he came off the wagon.

"What are you going to do if youre sitting in a room for 10 or 12 hours a day, on your own? You cant converse with anybody, have the radio on or listen to music, youre there with this fucking piece of white in front of you and if you cant hear the words you better have some red wine. Thats how I get into the creative process. You know how it is, you go to a party and theyre all standing there  stiff-arsed with their backs against the wall  and an hour later theyve had a few gins and theyre trying to fuck each other and roaring with laughter. Its crazy, but in a sense this is what red wine can do for a writer, it puts you in a place where you can start hearing the voices again. Its a daft way of describing it but thats how it is for me."

Robinson in 1989 on the set of How to get ahead in Advertising, which also starred Richard E Grant (Handmade/Warner Bros/REX)

Was this also true when he was writing Withnail?

"Oh absolutely, 1000 per cent. Vivian and I would go around the bins in Camden and Kentish Town, collecting used Guinness bottles worth four pence each. When we had two suitcases full wed go to the nearest off-licence where wed swap them for an eleven-and-six bottle of Greek plonk, or some other filthy shit. Then back to the flat where wed drink and discuss and fall asleep, then wake up and go round the bins again. It was madness."

Once again the memory of MacKerrell drifts into the room, like a ghost. I suggest that some peoples lives, though empty and even tragic, are lived poetically and provide inspiration. Was this true of his friend?

"He absolutely inspired me. I have never had such intense conversations in my life as I had with Viv. He was a public school boy from an upper middle-class background, while I was a secondary modern kid who didnt even know what poetry was. He used to start the day with a cup of black coffee, honey and hashish: what he called the Baudelaire Principle ..."

With this in mind we briefly discuss another of Withnails immortal characters, Danny the Dealer, who drawlingly challenges the protagonist to try some of his wonderfully named pheno-dihydrochloride-benzorex before being told to "shove it up your arse for nothing and fuck off while youre doing it". Robinsons rendition is so brilliant that we both start laughing and I compliment him on its accuracy. "Well I bloody well taught him the accent. I was going out with Lesley-Anne Down who had a hairdresser who spoke exactly like that [he repeats the accent], and it just entered the creative mix."

For a moment Robinson is distracted by something and gets up to look through a window towards a distant hillside. Returning he laughingly tells me that he thought he could see what looked like "a sheep eating a pheasant".

"Do you know," he continues, "in those days  and its never been the same before or since  I used to go out every night with pals and have something to eat and drink and have a laugh, but Id be aching to get back to this little Olivetti portable that I had  I wanted to write that story. I just couldnt stop it."

Theres a pause and he looks reflective. "Anyway, Im yakked out for the moment and need a piss."

Its the perfect cue for a break
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A couple who staged the death of their premature baby on a London bus are facing a lengthy prison sentence after being found guilty at a trial at the Old Bailey.

Rosalin Baker, 25, and Jeffrey Wiltshire, 52, were convicted of causing or allowing the death of their three-month-old daughter Imani after the court heard the girls mother tried to make it appear she had suddenly been taken ill, appealing to fellow passengers to help try and resuscitate her.

In fact, the child had died at home 24 hours earlier, following months of physical abuse.

The week before her death, Imani was attacked three times and suffered 40 rib fractures, a broken wrist and terrible head injuries, jurors were told.

Jeffrey Wiltshire, 52, and Rosalin Baker, 25, who are facing jail over the death of their premature baby (PA)

The couple, both drug addicts, face up to 14 years in jail. They were both found not guilty of murder.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC described Baker as cold and calm throughout the incident, which took place last September.

Imani, was born prematurely at 28 weeks last June, spending her first 65 days in an incubator. Police said Baker only visited her daughter on 22 occasions and Wiltshire never visited.

On 28 September, Baker entered a convenience store with Imani strapped in a sling. Baker later admitted that Imani was already dead at that point.

The youngsters face was covered with a cloth to hide the fact she was no longer alive.

Wiltshire was caught on CCTV kissing Baker, and then giving her a thumbs up as she boarded a bus to Stratford, east London.

CCTV still issued by the Metropolitan Police of Rosalin Baker being given the thumbs up by Jeffrey Wiltshire as she boards a bus (PA)

Twenty minutes into the journey, Baker raised the alarm that her daughter was not breathing and passengers desperately tried to save Imani by giving her CPR and calling an ambulance.

Police said many of the passengers mistook one of the women who had provided medical assistance for Imanis mother given how much anguish she was in, while Baker sat in her seat emotionless.

Imani was taken to an east London hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Doctors said Imani was already cold to the touch and that onset of Rigor Mortis had begun.

A post-mortem determined the cause of death was a head injury and tests identified she had at least 40 separate injuries across her body, including several fractures to her ribs, head and wrist which were all consistent with non-accidental injury.

Baker and Wiltshire were arrested in connection with Imanis death and the next day, Baker gave a prepared statement in which she stated that she loved her baby and never hurt her and that she thought Imani had been fine despite a fall a few days earlier.

Giving evidence, Baker blamed her boyfriend, who she described as a violent man who would get high on heroin and cocaine "every day".

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Baker said: "The first thing I thought was he's done something to her. When I looked at her she looked really bad. I thought she was dead."

But Wiltshire, a former rapper who claimed to have fathered 25 children, denied hurting his "tiny and beautiful" daughter either intentionally or unintentionally, or witnessing anyone else injure her.

He also denied being abusive towards Baker.

Detective Chief Inspector Gary Holmes, of Scotland Yard, said: "The loss of any child is tragic but to know that baby Imani was tortured and was probably in considerable pain in her last few hours is heart-rending.

"Imani was a premature baby and from the very moment she was born the odds were stacked against her.

"Baker and Wiltshire orchestrated the most devious of plans in an attempt to cover up the abuse that had been inflicted upon their daughter.

"Their ruse quickly unravelled when medical professionals were able to determine that Imani had probably died up to 24 hours previously and with this overwhelming and compelling evidence charges against the two were swiftly brought.

CCTV still issued by the Metropolitan Police of Rosalin Baker in a shop shortly before she boarded the bus (PA)

"The events of that day will have a lasting and devastating impact on the many passengers on board the bus.

"Many of those who stepped in to provide medical assistance were left completely distressed when they realised their efforts to save Imani were futile, not knowing that the entire incident had been staged.

"Baker misled these good Samaritans and gave no thought to anyone but herself as she callously remained on her mobile phone throughout.

"The level of violence and cruelty inflicted on such a young child is something that I have never come across during the course of my career and I hope never to witness anything like this again."
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Residents in a block of multi-million pound flats overlooked by a Tate Modern viewing platform are suing the gallery, arguing that their human rights are being breached by near constant surveillance.

Five applicants claim their high-rise homes have been turned into goldfish bowls while they have become public exhibits after an extension to the gallerys turbine hall saw an observation deck installed overlooking luxury apartments in the Neo Bankside development.

The High Court writ reportedly claims that the Tate could easily stop this invasion of the claimants privacy and home life using a cordon to restrict access to the south side of the lookout area.

[The] viewing platform is unreasonably interfering with the claimants enjoyment of their flats, so as to be a nuisance, it states.

The writ also says the viewing platform does not provide a safe or satisfactory home environment for young children.

The viewing gallery in the Tate's Switch House is just 20 metres away from the glass-walled luxury flats, which opened in June 2016.

Residents, who have complained that photos of their apartments are being shared on social media, want the gallery to erect a screen blocking the view to their flats. They are also understood to want the Tate to pay their legal costs.

However, other residents living near to Neo Bankside said being overlooked was a fact of life for those occupying flats in a densely populated area of central London.

Andy Weir, who said he was shown plans of the Tate extension when he looked at buying an apartment in Neo Bankside, said: These people are unreal. I live next door to Neo and we became overlooked by them. They think they are the only ones who can have a view?

Julie Mollins, who lived on nearby Southwark Street while Neo Bankside was being built, said she moved in 2013 after witnessing several other high-rise buildings going up.

In fact before @NEOBankside was built, residents fought it because it destroyed their view. I could see St Paul's when I moved in, she wrote on Twitter.

Developer Native Land has previously said that prospective buyers of flats in Neo Bankside  where apartments have been put on the market for almost 20 million - had access to marketing material which showed the location of the planned viewing gallery, and a model showing the planned Tate extension in relation to Neo Bankside was also available.

We, the Tate and Southwark council are liaising with the affected residents and neighbours to consider the concerns raised, a spokesperson for the developer said.

A spokesperson for the Tate said: The design of the building has always included a high level terrace for the benefit of the public, but we cannot comment further given the conditions of the legal process.
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Labour will not support a second referendum on the terms of Theresa May's Brexit deal, a spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn has said, ending speculation the party might back a vote at the end of the two-year negotiation.

Reports on Wednesday evening suggested Mr Corbyn was considering including a promise to hold a second referendum in the Labour manifesto for the upcoming general election.

A spokesman for the Labour leader said: "A second referendum is not our policy and it won't be in our manifesto."

On Wednesday, shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the Government should "put the deal to Parliament and possibly to the country overall".

Mr Corbyn also dodged a question on the issue in his first keynote speech of the campaign.

Questioned about it during a rally in central London, he simply referred back to the partys established policy on retaining tariff-free access to the European market.

Mr Corbyn was reported to be considering offering the public a second chance to vote on the UKs exit from the EU; a plan The Times said had not been signed off by either the leader or the partys Brexit spokesman, Keir Starmer.

A voter leaving a polling station last June (AFP/Getty Images)

The idea of a second Brexit referendum gained wider currency after Ms May signalled she was intent on pursuing a hard Brexit which would remove the UK from the Single Market.

The Liberal Democrats called for a second referendum, saying the Tories seem happy to start with democracy and end in a stitch up.

Former Conservative deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine also backed a second vote.
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The President of the European Parliament has said that Brexit negotiations will not begin until the end of 2017.

Antonio Tajani is in Britain to hold talks with Theresa May to discuss the European Parliaments negotiating position.

He described the talks, which took place at 10 Downing Street, as being positive and outlined when the Brexit negotiations can officially begin.

Our position is very clear. We want, before the end of 2017, a framework on the exit and immediately after, it is possible to start with the negotiations, Mr Tajani said at a press conference at Europe House in London.

Mr Tajani also added Ms May agreed with him for the need of a deal on the issue of UK and EU ex-pats rights.

"The message is a positive message. We want to strengthen the citizens' rights - European citizens living in the UK and UK citizens living in the European Union.

"This is the most important message  we want to work together.

"Mrs May underlined this position. It is our position. Here we were both in favour of our citizens.

"It is a good start, a good beginning; now we need to go for implementation," Mr Tajani 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

Any deal which is secured by Ms May must be approved by MEPs at the European Parliament, thus giving the organisation the power to veto.

The parliament has already chosen to adopt a hard-line negotiating position, which includes demands for the UK to meet financial obligations.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 20

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva  Trend:

The European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center (ESISC) published the second part of the report revealing the clandestine network of MPs, Armenian officials and NGOs financed by the Soros Foundation within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

As was announced in a previous report devoted to the Armenian network which operates stealthily within the PACE, the report authors reveal the identity of Mister X, the pivotal figure of the clandestine network.

Mister X is the Latvian Nils Muiznieks, who has been the Council of Europes Commissioner for Human Rights for more than five years and who was an employee for Georges Soros, the report said.

Elected in 2012 by the Council of Europes Parliamentary Assembly, Nils Muiznieks has since been a key figure of a network that ties European PMs, Armenian officials and NGOs directly tied to or financed by the Soros Foundation, a network devoted to the Republic of Armenias interests.

The Soros Foundation acquired a major role within NGOs, among which are the well-known Human Rights Watch, European Stability Initiative (ESI), Amnesty International, Human Rights House, or even Open Dialog.

This intense activity has the objective of imposing on the Council of Europe as well as the European Parliament the Armenian lobbys political positions. The Armenian network aims to promulgate its positions to all the members of the Council of Europes Parliamentary Council and endeavors for the greatest numbers of them to join their cause, reads the report.

The network is particularly active in its hunt for PMs that represent Nordic or Baltic countries, the Netherlands and the German socialists, according to the report.

The report contains a spreadsheet showing how over the past 5 years, since Nils Muiznieks has been the Council of Europes Commissioner for Human Rights, the Soros-linked NGOs gained visibility by organizing several events simultaneously and in parallel to plenary sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Muiznieks, Sawicki and other MPs violate the ethical principles and codes of good conduct of the Council of Europes Parliamentary Assembly by ensuring the defense of the specific interests of the Soros network and the Republic of Armenia.

Whats even more is that they act in violation of international law. Regarding this, let us recall the 4 UN Security Council resolutions related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (822, 853, 874 and 884) that condemn the occupation of the Azerbaijani territory and that denounce the forced displacement of Azerbaijani populations, reads the report.

Pieter Omtzigt, Christoph Strasser, Frank Schwabbe and Tiny Kox have specialized in organizing, in parallel to the plenary sessions of PACE, events aimed to ensure the promotion of interests of the Soros network and to hand out good and bad ratings to Council of Europe member states. The first victims of their recurring attacks were Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkey. Needless to say, the Republic of Armenia has been preserved from criticism and presented as a model nation, the report said.

Nils Muiznieks and Pieter Omtzigt are two men who never cease to criticize the Republic of Azerbaijan but who have never denounced the permanent violence of the Republic of Armenia against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Let us note that Nils Muiznieks will be reaching the end of his mandate as Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, a prestigious position that his good friend and partner Christoph Strasser dreams of. The two men surely imagine being able to pursue their operations on behalf of the Soros network and the Armenian network with Strasser replacing his good friend Muiznieks as Commissioner for Human Rights, said the report authors.

In March, ESISC published a comprehensive report uncovering an Armenian connection network inside PACE that "has led a merciless propaganda campaign against Azerbaijan to benefit Armenia."

The report, entitled "The Armenian Connection - How a Secret Caucus of MPs and NGOs, since 2012, Created a Network within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to Hide Violations of International Law", states that "these unilateral and untruthful attacks are the tool of a hidden political agenda: to defend Armenia's illegal occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh" and to hide "private interests behind the purview of the 'defence of human rights.'
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The president of the European Parliament has said the Brexit deal between Britain and the EU will be vetoed if citizens rights are not protected.

Antonio Tajani was in London to meet with Theresa May to discuss the parliaments position on the Brexit negotiations and said the issue of rights was a red line.

He said it was essential that European and British citizens had the same rights tomorrow as they have today" and without such an agreement, parliament would veto the deal.

We will vote against only if an agreement on citizens rights is not inside the deal. For us it is impossible to vote in favour without an agreement on citizens rights. This is a prerogative, he told The Independent.

The European parliament in our document has underlined the need to have tomorrow the same rights of today for the European citizens living here and the British citizens living in the European Union.

Mr Tajani also added it was important to clarify the future of citizens across the continent that currently face uncertainty in light of the negotiations.

The British citizens and the European citizens want to know the future. For this I think we need work immediately and a lot for citizens, Mr Tajani said.

The agreement is not just an agreement for institutions, first of all it is for citizens. For this, we need to be very clear about the future for all citizens.

 Sir Michael Caine reveals why he voted for Brexit

The European parliament has the right to veto any deal between the UK and the EU when talks come to a close in 2019 but the President did say he felt positive after his meeting with Ms May.

I want to be optimistic because the meeting with Theresa May today was a good meeting. On the principle, we have the same opinion on citizens rights, he said.

Mr Tajani was also keen to express the desire to strike a deal for both countries that ensures a functioning working relationship following Brexit.

Recommended Brexit negotiations will not start until end of 2017

Negotiations will be difficult, there will be problems. But I think we need to be pragmatic to achieve the goal, he said.

We have common interests to have a good separation and then to pave the way for some cooperation between the European and United Kingdom the day after Brexit.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Brussels is set to demand the UK pays for moving EU agencies out of the UK after Brexit.

The European Commission is expected to insist the UK makes the payment in euros to nullify the risk of currency fluctuations for the union while ensuring Britain bears the risk, a leaked draft negotiating document obtained by Politico claimed.

The paper states the UK must "honour its share of the financing of all the obligations undertaken while it was a member of the Union", including "liabilities, contingent liabilities, legal and budgetary commitments".

It also says: "In addition, the United Kingdom should fully cover the specific costs related to the withdrawal process such as the relocation of the agencies or other Union bodies."

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The guidelines in the document set out protections for EU budgets, citizens and European businesses that trade in the UK.

There is also an insistence that the European Court of Justice maintains legal jurisdiction over disputes which result from the withdrawal agreement.

The terms of the divorce bill are likely to dictate the talks Ms May is set to have with European Commission Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and president Jean-Claude Juncker on 26 April.

Mr Juncker has previously suggested the UK's divorce bill may come to around 50bn.
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Former Ukip MP Douglas Carswell has said he will not stand in the coming general election and has thrown his support behind the Conservatives.

Mr Carswell, who currently sits as an independent, left Ukip earlier this year after long-running tensions with other factions in the party and Nigel Farage.

He said: I have decided that I will not now be seeking re-election.

I intend to vote Conservative on 8 June and will be offering my full support to whoever the Clacton constituency Conservatives select as their candidate.

Mr Carswell said earlier this month that Ukip should disband following the EU referendum result. He also went on to describe Theresa May as a real revolutionary.

In his resignation statement he said he had accomplished his main political goal of taking Britain out of the European Union.

It is sometimes said that all political careers end in failure. It doesnt feel like that to me today. I have stood for Parliament five times, won four times, and helped win the referendum last June. Job done. Im delighted, he said.

Having been an MP for about half my adult life, I believe that it is time for me to move on to other things. I look forward to being able to read newspapers without appearing in them.

Former Ukip donor and insurance millionaire Aaron Banks said earlier this year that he would stand as a Ukip candidate against Mr Carswell in Clacton in order to unseat him.

The rise and rise of Ukip  the new party of the protest voter Show all 3 1 /3 The rise and rise of Ukip  the new party of the protest voter The rise and rise of Ukip  the new party of the protest voter 30-ukipprotest-gt.jpg Getty Images The rise and rise of Ukip  the new party of the protest voter 30-ukipprotest2-gt.jpg Getty Images The rise and rise of Ukip  the new party of the protest voter 30-ukipprotest3-gt.jpg Getty Images

Mr Carswell defected from the Conservatives to Ukip in 2014 and forced a by-election. He stood as a Ukip candidate again at the 2015 general election and was the only MP to win a seat for the party.

Having left the party to stand as an independent earlier this year he did not call another by-election, arguing that one was not necessary because he was not taking a new party whip.
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The Conservatives are on course to receive twice as many votes as Labour in the forthcoming general election, a new opinion poll has suggested.

Theresa May's party is on on 48 points, compared to Labour's 24, with the Liberal Democrats on 12 and Ukip falling to seven, according to the YouGov/Times survey.

It reflects the highest level of support the Conservatives have enjoyed in nine years  up four per cent from a poll carried out last week before the surprise announcement of the election.

Recommended Polls show Theresa May is on course for victory in snap election

The last time the Tories enjoyed this level of support was in May 2008 at the start of a global recession, when Gordon Brown was Prime Minister and Labour also trailed in the polls by 24 points.

When asked who would make the best Prime Minister, 54 per cent of the 1,727 people polled said Theresa May, while only 15 per cent backed Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Just nine per cent of those who voted to leave in the EU referendum backed Mr Corbyn, and only 32 per cent of those who voted Labour in 2015 thought he would make a better PM than Ms May.

Just 12 per cent of Labour voters polled think the party will win a majority on 8 June, according to the poll.

Support for Ukip has dropped by three points in the last week, from 10 to 7 per cent, while the Lib Dems are unchanged on 12.

The poll also revealed 49 per cent of people were in favour of the snap election, in spite of fears over voter apathy. A total of 33 per cent said they were against it, while 27 per cent said they did not know.
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The woman behind the Supreme Court case that forced Theresa May to get parliamentary approval for triggering Article 50 is planning to build the biggest tactical voting effort in UK history to support election candidates opposed to hard Brexit.

Gina Miller said the group called Best for Britain will aim to back parliamentary candidates from all parties who campaign for a real final vote on Brexit, including rejecting any deal that leaves Britain worse off.

A Crowdfunding page set up after Theresa May called the 8 June election has already raised more than 70,000 of the 80,000 required for the campaign..

We want to build the biggest tactical voting effort in UK history to ensure that candidates across the country that promise to do whats best for Britain in the Brexit process get the extra support they need to win, Ms Miller told The Guardian.

The investment manager added: If the deal the next government negotiates doesnt match up to our current terms, MPs should do whats best for Britain and reject it. We will be asking MPs to pledge to keep an open mind and not be bullied into giving the next government a blank cheque for the final deal.

Best for Britain, which will formally launch next week, has already appointed the executive director of global policy for anti-poverty organisation the ONE Campaign, Eloise Todd, as its campaign director.

How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Show all 8 1 /8 How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Weetabix Chief executive of Weetabix Giles Turrell has warned that the price of one of the nations favourite breakfast are likely to go up this year by low-single digits in percentage terms. Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Nescafe The cost of a 100g jar of Nescafe Original at Sainsburys has gone up 40p from 2.75 to 3.15  a 14 per cent risesince the Brexit vote. PA How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Freddo When contacted by The Independent this month, a Mondelez spokesperson declined to discuss specific brands but confirmed that there would be "selective" price increases across its range despite the American multi-national confectionery giant reporting profits of $548m (450m) in its last three-month financial period. Mondelez, which bought Cadbury in 2010, said rising commodity costs combined with the slump in the value of the pound had made its products more expensive to make. Cadbury How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Mr Kipling cakes Premier Foods, the maker of Mr Kipling and Bisto gravy, said that it was considering price rises on a case-by-case basis Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Walkers Crisps Walkers, owned by US giant PepsiCo, said "the weakened value of the pound" is affecting the import cost of some of its materials. A Walkers spokesman told the Press Association that a 32g standard bag was set to increase from 50p to 55p, and the larger grab bag from 75p to 80p. Getty How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Marmite Tesco removed Marmite and other Unilever household brand from its website last October, after the manufacturer tried to raise its prices by about 10 per cent owing to sterlings slump. Tesco and Unilever resolved their argument, but the price of Marmite has increased in UK supermarkets with the grocer reporting a 250g jar of Marmite will now cost Morrisons customers 2.64 - an increase of 12.5 per cent. Rex How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Toblerone Toblerone came under fire in November after it increased the space between the distinctive triangles of its bars. Mondelez International, the company which makes the product, said the change was made due to price rises in recent months. Pixabay How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Maltesers Maltesers, billed as the lighter way to enjoy chocolate, have also shrunk in size. Mars, which owns the brand, has reduced its pouch weight by 15 per cent. Mars said rising costs mean it had to make the unenviable decision between increasing its prices or reducing the weight of its Malteser packs. iStockphoto

On its Crowdfunding site, it says it will support parliamentary candidates who commit to keeping the options open for the British people and fight to make the Brexit deal process transparent, honest and democratic.

It also promises to tour marginal seats to make sure the next Government has no mandate to destroy our rights and our relationship with Europe.

Ms Miller said the hadnt been time to organise a formal progressive alliance, so we have to do what we can in the time available. We need to re-energise people about the importance of voting tactically.

After defeating the government at the Supreme Court Ms Miller was subjected to barrage of abuse, along with her fellow claimants.

She said she was shocked at the level of personal abuse she had received and called for those in positions of power to do more.
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Jeremy Corbyn has hit out at the political establishment, claiming that anyone who tries to create a fairer, more decent society is inevitably vilified by those who want to defend the status quo.

In a passionate stump speech in central London to launch his general election campaign, the Labour leader faced his critics and warned the media not to write off his chances of victory, as he said they had done during the 2015 Labour leadership contest.

He also defended Londoners against accusations that they formed an Islington elite and said he would be a prime minister for the whole country.

Recommended Jeremy Corbyn throws down the gauntlet to Theresa May on TV debates

This idea that Labour is somehow or other, as you so kindly described it, a tainted brand, he said in a Q&A session with journalists.

There are people in the audience who are wearing badges of Keir Hardie. He was vilified, vilified beyond belief when he was elected as the first Labour MP.

They said how can a working man go to Parliament and represent people? Anyone who stands up to create a better, fairer, more decent society, gets vilified.

Our party gets vilified. But Ill tell you what: were bigger than weve ever been, were stronger than weve ever been and were more determined than weve ever been.

When it was pointed out that his party was at least 20 points behind in the opinion polls and likely to lose dozens of seats, he replied: All I can say is that in 2015 I was given 200:1 as an outside chance.

The Islington North MP defended himself and his constituents against perceptions that they were a wealthy elite  pointing out his boroughs high levels of poverty.

I am very proud to represent Islington North in Parliament, and its absolutely true: there are people in Islington who buy and drink cappuccino every day. I know many of them, he joked.

But its also true that 40 per cent of our children are living in poverty. Its also true that there are people sleeping on the streets of our borough, as there are all over this country.

So dont run away with this idea that everyone who lives in London is living this life of Riley and its very wealthy. Its not the case. House prices are driving many people out. I want a government that deals with the housing crisis for the whole country. I want a government that deals with employment issues for the whole country.

Mr Corbyn sparked some speculation after he appeared to dodge a question about whether Labour would back a second referendum. However, a spokesperson for the Labour leader later clarified that a second vote is not our policy and it won't be in our manifesto.

While the Labour leader was on his speech he was dealt a further blow by Labour MP Fiona Mactaggart, who announced she would be standing down before June and not re-contesting her Slough seat. Her announcement follows half a dozen other Labour MPs making similar pledges, and the revelation that former Labour MP Bob Marshall-Andrews had defected to the Liberal Democrats.

In a speech pre-briefed to journalists last night, Mr Corbyn promised to overturn the wealth extractors rigged system of politics and prove his critics wrong by breaking the rules of the "cosy cartel" that runs British politics.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty

He pledged not to play by the rules during the general election campaign and said his party would put the interests of the majority first.

Theresa May on Tuesday announced she wanted to hold a snap general election on 8 June, despite months of saying one would create dangerous instability.

On Wednesday Labour and the Lib Dems backed a vote in the House of Commons to give the Prime Minister the power to call an election, as required under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act.
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Veteran Conservative MP Ken Clarke will stand again as an MP at the 8 June election, it has been confirmed.

The former chancellor had said he would stand down at the next election in 2020 after 50 years as a Member of Parliament.

I will not stand again. This is my last Parliament, he had said in June 2016, speaking to the China Daily publication.

Mr Clarkes office however said the 76-year old pro-European Tory would stand again, following the announcement of a snap election.

A spokesperson said: He's putting himself forward to be the Conservative candidate for Rushcliffe in June.

Mr Clarke, who is father of the house, the title conferred on the longest serving MP, has been a thorn in Theresa Mays side on the Brexit issue.

Earlier this year he tore into Theresa Mays Alice in Wonderland strategy for leaving the EU, describing his own party as anti-immigrant.

The PM, too, has criticised Mr Clarke. At Prime Ministers Questions in February she characterised their concurrent tenures as Justice Secretary and Home Secretary as I locked em up and he let em out.

The former Cabinet minister was also the only MP to vote against the Government's Brexit bill.
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Theresa May has reportedly been forced to soften her long held stance on foreign students being included in immigration totals, as part for the price for calling the snap general election.

The Prime Minister previously rejected calls from senior members of her own party to exclude them from the calculations as the government attempts to bring down the number of migrants entering Britain.

A recent poll which found that more than half of British people support increased immigration of highly skilled workers.

The combined research by Ipsos Mori and Kings College London found that 52 per cent of highly skilled jobs should be admitted, compared with 12 per cent who disagreed.

In a bid to save the Higher Education and Research Bill, the government is likely to offer a regulatory compromise in how the number of overseas students in Britain is calculated, according to The Times.

Drawn up by Universities Minister Jo Johnson, it allows elite universities to raise annual tuition fees beyond the present 9,250 maximum on condition of improvements to teaching.

A tabled amendment to reforms from members of the House of Lords which insisted that foreign students should not count towards the migrant total.

An estimated 134,000 international students arrived in 2015-16, the lowest recorded since 2002 and down by over 40,000 from the previous year.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty

Excluding them would make the governments pledge to reduce net migration to under 100,000, but Ms May has repeatedly refused to do this.

With around seven days to push through bills that would otherwise fall when parliament Ms May is said to have offered to change the way that student numbers are calculated and promised further concessions to stave off the risk of it being defeated with votes from members of her own party.

Nicky Morgan, the former education secretary, was among Conservative MPs prepared to back the amendment when it came to the Commons.

Downing Street last night refused to comment on whether Mrs May was preparing to back down.
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After riots and violent protests in and around their campus during the past three months, officials at the University of California at Berkeley said on Wednesday that the school is cancelling a planned speech by conservative firebrand Ann Coulter because of safety concerns.

In a letter to a campus Republican group that invited Coulter to speak, university officials said that they made the decision to cancel Coulter's appearance after assessing the violence that flared on campus in February, when the same college Republican group invited right-wing provocateur and Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos to speak.

The violence and protests caused by Yiannopoulos's invitation garnered national attention and forced officials to put the campus on lock down. And after the university cancelled Yiannopoulos's talk, President Donald Trump criticised the school and threatened in a tweet to pull federal funds from UC-Berkeley.

The decisions by UC-Berkeley to cancel both events involving high-profile Republicans are especially notable given the campus's role during the 1960s and 1970s as the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement and its long tradition of social protest.

Coulter said in an email to The Washington Post on Wednesday that the university had been trying to force her to cancel her speech by imposing ridiculous demands on her but that she still agreed to all of their silly requirements. She said that she believes her speech has been unconstitutionally banned by the public, taxpayer-supported UC-Berkeley.

Controversial right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos (Getty Images)

Coulter said the university insisted that her speech take place in the middle of the day, that only students could attend, and that the exact venue wouldn't be announced until the last minute. She said that she agreed with the conditions, but that apparently wasn't good enough.

They just up and announced that I was prohibited from speaking anyway, Coulter said, noting that her speech topic was to be immigration, the subject of one of her books. I feel like the Constitution is important and that taxpayer-supported universities should not be using public funds to violate American citizens' constitutional rights.

A conservative national group that was helping to organise the event, Young America's Foundation, said Coulter also made demands of her own, including that any students engaging in violence be expelled. In her email, Coulter said she is still planning to give her speech, and YAF spokesman Spencer Brown said she has told them she plans to appear at Berkeley on 27 April .

If Berkeley wants to have free speech, they are going to get it, Brown said.

A university spokesman said the school has not been in direct contact with Coulter but conveyed its concerns with the student group that invited her. He said the university was especially concerned that holding the event in the late afternoon would risk protests and potential violence stretching into the evening when the area would get crowded with commuters and students.

Recommended Ann Coulter accuses refugees and illegal immigrants of pederasty

Everything we're doing is so the speaker and students can actually exercise their rights without disruption, Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said. It's unfortunate that there are people who think the university's efforts to keep students and the speaker herself safe are 'silly.'

On Wednesday, university officials said they hope to reschedule Coulter's event for sometime in September, and they emphasised that they are not cancelling her event because of her controversial nature or sharply conservative views.

It has nothing to do with anyone's political views. We believe in unqualified support to the First Amendment. But we also have an unqualified focus on safety of our students, Mogulof said. We are going to be making a concerted effort to explain the reasons behind this.

On Saturday, protests again turned violent - though in the city of Berkeley, not the university campus - as pro-Trump and anti-Trump protesters clashed in the streets. The violence on Saturday was further heightened later in the day as far-left activists and far-right activists joined the fray.

Student news in pictures Show all 34 1 /34 Student news in pictures Student news in pictures South Korean policemen detain a student demonstrator during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-Hye EPA Student news in pictures South Korean policemen detain student protestors during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-Hye outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea. The protesters demanded that the parliament takes steps to impeach President Park Geun-Hye EPA Student news in pictures Filipino demonstrators face off with anti-riot police during a protest near the US Embassy in Manila, Philippine EPA Student news in pictures Hundreds of protesters including Indigenous People, students and militant groups marched towards the US Embassy to protest against the presence of US military troops and condemning the violent dispersal which left at least forty people hurt including twenty police officers and three people who were run over by a police van EPA Student news in pictures A federal judge in Mexico has ordered that a once-fugitive police chief be held on charges of kidnapping in the disappearance of 43 students Student news in pictures A man holds up a photograph of a missing student with a caption reading 'We are missing 43,' during a meeting marking the 25-month anniversary of the disappearances of 43 students in the southern state of Guerrero, in Mexico City. A federal judge in Mexico has ordered that a once-fugitive police chief be held on charges of kidnapping in the disappearance of 43 students AP Student news in pictures Miguel Perez, an intern student from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, puts away his cell phone before walking into the operating room at the Dr. Isaac Gonzalez MartInez Oncological Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Once they complete their general surgery training, many residents are moving to the United States in search of better wages, one of the main factors linked to the current shortage of specialists in the Island Student news in pictures Fewer EU students have applied to start university courses in the UK next autumn. There was a 9% fall in the numbers who had applied for courses, according to admissions service UCAS. PA wire Student news in pictures University students protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela. Masses of protesters jammed the streets of Venezuela's capital on the heels of a move by congress to open a political trial against Maduro, whose allies have blocked moves for a recall election AP Student news in pictures University students protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela AP Student news in pictures Thousands, most of them high school students, march during a demonstration in Madrid, Spain, on a one day strike to protest about the country's education law that increases the number of annual exams AP Student news in pictures Students gather on the west mall to confront the Young Conservatives of Texas student organization over a controversial bake sale on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas. The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas-Austin sparked the protest with an affirmative action bake sale. The club encouraged students to buy a cookie and talk about the disastrous policy that is affirmative action Student news in pictures Donald Parish Jr, right, confronts Electrical and Computer Engineering senior Dewayne Perry over a controversial bake sale on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas. The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas-Austin sparked the protest with an affirmative action bake sale. The club encouraged students to buy a cookie and talk about the disastrous policy that is affirmative action AP Student news in pictures Brigham Young University announced that students who report sexual assault will no longer be investigated for possible violations of the Mormon-owned school's strict honor code that bans such things as alcohol use AP Student news in pictures Students of secondary education march to protest against the final examinations and LOMCE (The Improvement Quality Education Law) law, after a call by trade unions, in Murcia, Spain EPA Student news in pictures South African police have used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of protesters who had marched to the parliament building to call for free university education, where the finance minister was giving a budget speech AP Student news in pictures Police break up student protests outside the parliament in Cape Town, South Africa Reuters Student news in pictures South African Policemen fire rubber bullets at student protestors in Cape Town, South Africa AP Student news in pictures A student protestor is hit by a rubber bullet in Cape Town, South Africa AP Student news in pictures An injured student is helped by colleagues during protest outside the parliament during South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's medium term budget speech in Cape Town, South Africa Reuters Student news in pictures Plaintiffs and bereaved families of elementary school students killed in the tsunami that followed a major earthquake in northeastern Japan in 2011, show banners that say 'victory in a suit filed with the Sendai District Court' in Sendai. A Japanese court ordered municipalities to pay $13.7 million dollars to families of school children who were swept away to their deaths by the 2011 tsunami Getty Student news in pictures A group of student at Ewha Womans University calls for a thorough investigation into those involved in years of engagement with state affairs backstage by Choi Soon-sil, a personal confidante of South Korean President Park Geun-hye, at the school's front gate in Seoul, South Korea EPA Student news in pictures Students raise placards during a strike action called by the student union, in Madrid against university entry exams Getty Student news in pictures Libyans throw a newly graduated student into a fountain as they celebrate during the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi Getty Student news in pictures Libyans celebrate as they attend the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi Getty Student news in pictures Libyans celebrate as they attend the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi Getty Student news in pictures Thousands of Thai Catholic students take part in mourning tributes and in singing the Thai Royal Anthem to honour late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at Saint Dominic School in Bangkok, Thailand EPA Student news in pictures Students of Silpakorn University paint portraits of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the university campus in Bangkok Getty Student news in pictures A student of Silpakorn University paints a portrait of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the university campus in Bangkok Getty Student news in pictures St Andrews University students take part in a foam fight known as Raisin Monday in the Lower College Lawn behind St Salvator's Quadrangle following the Raisin Weekend PA wire Student news in pictures St Andrews University students take part in a foam fight known as Raisin Monday in the Lower College Lawn behind St Salvator's Quadrangle following the Raisin Weekend, an annual tradition where student 'parents' inflict tasks on the unfortunate first-years they have adopted as 'children' as part of a mentoring scheme PA wire Student news in pictures Students at the Cuba's National Ballet School (ENB) in Havana, Cuba Reuters Student news in pictures Students at the Cuba's National Ballet School (ENB) take part in a practice in Havana, Cuba Reuters Student news in pictures Students at the Cuba's National Ballet School (ENB) wait in line to enter a classroom in Havana, Cuba Reuters

And on Tuesday at Auburn University in Alabama, three people were arrested amid protests and a fist fight that occurred over a speech by self-proclaimed white nationalist leader Richard Spencer.

At Berkeley, university officials said the recent violence has caused them to rethink where and when to hold such events. In their letter, university officials also partly blamed the college Republican group for inviting Coulter and setting a date for the event - 27 April - without consulting the university.

Officials learned of Coulter's event, the letter said, from reading about it in newspapers. And after consulting with university police, officials said, they could not find a venue available on that date that would allow them to protect Coulter, the audience and bystanders.

The Washington Post
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Rupert Murdochs attempted takeover of Sky was one of the reasons why Fox News star Bill OReilly was fired over allegations of sexual harassment, a leading media analyst has told The Independent.

Claire Enders, the founder of Enders Analysis, said she was sure the decision to dump the right-wing presenter was influenced by UK regulator Ofcom being poised to rule on whether Mr Murdoch and his sons James and Lachlan would be fit and proper owners of the satellite broadcaster.

Mr OReilly, fired shortly before shaking hands with the Pope, amid a slew of disputed claims that included allegations he told one producer to buy a vibrator and sounded as if he was masturbating while on the phone to her, had been Fox News most-watched presenter.

The OReilly Factor had been Americas biggest prime-time cable news show, with an average of 3.98m viewers a night seemingly enjoying such moments as Mr OReilly stressing that the slaves who built the White House were well fed with decent lodgings or asking Donald Trump: How are you going to get jobs for them [black people]? Many of them are ill-educated and have tattoos on their foreheads.

According to one estimate, the show generated $446m (348m) in advertising revenue between 2014 and 2016.

 Bill O'Reilly fired by Fox: His most controversial on-air moments

But even those sums may have paled into insignificance compared to the amount of money at stake in the Murdoch empires 11.7bn bid for the remaining 61 per cent of Sky that it does not already own.

Im sure it [the impending Ofcom ruling] was a factor, Ms Enders said. They cant possibly need another scandal of corporate governance on how they deal with Bill OReilly.

They dont need any questions over the good old boys network and how Rupert Murdoch puts his pals first.

As reports suggested that Rupert Murdoch, 86, had wanted to stand by OReilly but had been talked out of it by his sons, Ms Enders added: Its a generational change: James Murdoch [CEO of 21st Century Fox and chairman of Sky] wants to run the business in a conventional and transparent way  and hes absolutely right, because thats what Ofcom is looking for: someone whom they can trust to run a business in a conventional way, following normal rules and regulations.

The bid for Sky, submitted by 21st Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News and the current owner of 39 per cent of Sky shares, has already come under fire in the UK.

It has generated fears that by wholly owning Sky, Britains dominant pay-TV operator, as well as controlling the Times, Sunday Times and Sun newspapers, the Murdoch empire would be able to wield excessive influence over the British media.

Despite the British media regulator Ofcom insisting on strict impartiality rules, there had also been fears of a foxification of Sky, with some suggesting the UK broadcaster might emulate the US news channels unswervingly right-wing stance on just about everything.

In March the Culture Secretary Karen Bradley referred the takeover bid to Ofcom, which is now due to report by May 16.

So when the OReilly story broke at the start of April, critics renewed their calls for Ofcom to block the Sky bid.

Hours after being sacked - while on holiday in Italy - Mr O'Reilly was shaking hands with the Pope (LOsservatore Romano)

Among the most prominent critics was Lisa Bloom, a US lawyer representing one of Mr OReillys accusers, who wrote to Ofcom on April 11.

In a reference to the Murdochs previous attempt to take over Sky, which was scrapped in 2011 after their corporations newspaper the News of the World became engulfed in the phone hacking scandal,Ms Bloom wrote: The similarities between the current harassment scandal and the phone-hacking scandal reveal the companys approach to business and management  a lack of oversight, intervention, and decency.

Mr OReilly, who had been on a reported $18m (14m) salary, has strongly protested his innocence and called all the claims against him completely unfounded. But the difficulties in retaining the star presenter were compounded by the fact that last summer Fox News founding chairman Roger Ailes had been forced out by sexual harassment allegations  which he too has denied.

Keeping Bill OReilly, said Ms Enders, would have meant a festering scandal and questions about why the management of Fox wasnt taking action against him.

It will reflect well on James Murdoch and the management of 21st Century Fox that they have taken action as soon as possible.

 Bill O'Reilly says slaves who built White House were 'well fed and cared for'

Ms Enders stressed that the imminent Ofcom ruling was not the only factor in the decision to dump Mr OReilly. After the allegations about him first surfaced, up to 50 major companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, Mitsubishi Motors, BMW and Ainsworth Pet Nutrition, pulled their advertising from his show. Some have suggested this may have tempted the Murdochs to show the same kind of apparent ruthlessness as when they closed the News of the World in what looked like an attempt to limit the damage caused by the phone hacking scandal.

There were virtually no ads on his shows for two weeks, said Ms Enders. Advertising boycotts are very expensive and will tend to get rid of even the biggest star.

In comments that may surprise some critics of the Murdoch family, Ms Enders also suggested that James Murdoch, 44, may genuinely have wanted to send a message to the Fox workforce that sexual harassment was unacceptable.

I think he genuinely cares about that, said Ms Enders. Rupert Murdoch may not care at all, but James genuinely cares about feminism. He is someone who has got the attitude of a 44-year-old, not an 86-year-old.

Sky, she added, Has the highest number of senior women in any business I deal with, bar none. And who created Sky? James Murdoch.

Ms Enders agreed with other commentators who suggested that Fox News would weather the storm of Mr OReillys departure, because in the past viewers had shown more loyalty to the right-wing channel than to its individual stars.

Ms Enders said: As Sir Alex Ferguson once said: No player is bigger than the team. When Roger Ailes left last year, people said Fox News would collapse. But their ratings went up and so did their income.

Bill OReilly goes  who cares? Theyre the right-wing network, theyre not going to lose their right-wing moniker. Theyre just going to put another crazy right-winger on, one who definitely doesnt predate women.
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Four United States warships are now heading towards North Korea, after a weekend stopover in Australia, US defence officials have said.

Donald Trump caused confusion by erroneously claiming the armada was on its way to North Korea last week, when in fact the ships had been spotted steaming in the opposite direction to take part in military exercises with the Australian Navy over 3,500 miles away.

But US Defence Secretary James Mattis said the USS Carl Vinson strike group was now proceeding towards the Western Pacific, to go on stand-by in the Sea of Japan.

Seeking to clear up confusion on Wednesday, the Pentagon chief said he wanted to be open about what we're doing.

Speaking in Saudi Arabia, Mr Mattis said: We're doing exactly what we said we're going to do. She will be on her way.

And I'll determine when she gets there and where she actually operates - but the Vinson is going to be part of our ensuring that we stand by our allies in the north-west Pacific.

The confusion began on 9 April when the US Navy said the Carl Vinson strike group was travelling from Singapore to the Western Pacific.

Two days later, the President told Fox Business he was sending an armada towards the peninsula in a "show of force".

We are sending an armada. Very powerful. We have submarines. Very powerful, far more powerful than the aircraft carrier, that I can tell you, Mr Trump told the television station.

 Donald Trump's 'armada' steams on as North Korea warns of nuclear strike on US

White House press Secretary Sean Spicer explained that having the flotilla in the Sea of Japan within striking distance of Pyongyang gave President Trump options in the region.

At the time, the comments from the US government heightened tensions with Pyongyang, with North Koreas state news agency describing the supposed deployment as nothing but a reckless action of aggression to aggravate the tensions in the region.

State media warned of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of aggression, while Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a peaceful resolution of rising tensions in a telephone conversation with Mr Trump

But it later emerged that at the time the statement was made, the ships were not actually heading towards North Korea, but to a scheduled exercise in the Indian Ocean.

On Tuesday, White House officials said the statements had been based on information from the Defence Department, The New York Times reports.

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 officials in the Defence Department then described a confused sequence of events leading up to the announcement of the direction of the armada.

With the President using the ships to bolster a muscular show of force, officials said that challenging the narrative became difficult.

The location of the flotilla was revealed by the US Navy itself, which posted a photo online of the aircraft carrier passing through the Sundra Strait between Sumatra and Java in Indonesia.

The photograph was taken four days after Mr Spicer had said the ships were on the move towards the Sea of Japan.

Todd Weiler, the former Assistant Secretary of Defence for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, told The Independent on Wednesday that the catalogue of errors could be due to a lack of political leadership within the Pentagon.

Or it could be a problem with the way the White House interprets facts.

The Navy would never have said or suggested the USS Vinson was to arrive in the Sea of Japan without knowing, Mr Weiler said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 20

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

The bill "On the rules of ethical conduct of the members of the parliament" was discussed at a joint meeting of the Azerbaijani parliamentary committees on legal policy, state building and human rights April 20.

The preparation of the bill is related to the changes made to the countrys constitution, Bahar Muradova, vice-speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament, said at the meeting.

She added that according to the constitution, the rules of ethical conduct of a member of the parliament must be determined by the law.

Many countries have laws regulating the activity of heads of relevant state organizations, members of municipalities, civil servants and members of the parliament, she said.

Muradova said that the bill is aimed at increasing the transparency and effectiveness of the MPs work.

"This bill has been prepared taking into account the international experience and parliamentary traditions in Azerbaijan," the vice-speaker said.
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President Donald Trump has called protectionist trade measures by the Canadian government "a disgrace."

"Canada, what they've done to our dairy farm workers, it's a disgrace," Mr Trump said on Thursday in the Oval Office.

The statement was part of larger comments on American trade deals that Mr Trump made while signing an executive order on steel imports.

"We're not going to let Canada take advantage [of the U.S.]," Trump told the group of reporters, claiming Canadian policies had hurt US timber and lumber jobs as well.

The claims echo sentiments Mr Trump expressed this week in Wisconsin, addressing employees of Snap-on Tools at a signing for the Buy American and Hire American Executive order.

In Canada, some very unfair things have happened to our dairy farmers and others, and we're going to strategy working on that, Mr Trump said in prepared remarks. He called the current arrangement a one-sided deal, and vowed to work on it immediately.

Canadian dairy producers recently decided to collectively lower their prices in order to compete with cheaper, American imports. About 70 dairy producers in both Wisconsin and New York are reportedly affected by the new policy.

Mr Trump has long voiced concerns about US-Canadian trade. This week, he reiterated his desire to negotiate or eliminate NAFTA, the agreement forming a bilateral trade bloc between the US, Mexico, and Canada.

[NAFTA] has been very, very bad for our companies and for our workers, and were going to make some very big changes or we are going to get rid of NAFTA for once and for all, Mr Trump said on Tuesday.
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Donald Trump has been accused of shocking ignorance after stating that Korea used to be part of China after he met Chinese President Xi Jingping earlier this month.

Speaking in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mr Trump said that Mr Xi Went into the history of China and Korea  and you know, youre talking about thousands of years  and many wars. And Korea actually used to be a part of China.

Commentators believe Mr Trump might have heard Mr Xis potted history of the countries from a Chinese perspective as there is a growing school of nationalist thought in China that ancient Korean kingdoms were part of the Chinese empire.

Mr Trump revealed the Chinese leader had explained the situation on the Korean Peninsular  divided into communist North Korea and capitalist South Korea following the Second World War - which led him to conclude, After ten minutes, I realised its not so easy.

US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach Show all 10 1 /10 US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach US Marine soldiers patrol during the US-South Korea joint Exercise Operation Pacific Reach in Pohang, South Korea. North Korea is vowing tough counteraction to any military moves that might follow the US move to send the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its battle group to waters off the Korean Peninsula AP US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach South Korean soldiers take part in the Operation Pacific Reach joint logistic exercise in Pohang, South Korea Reuters US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach North Korea is vowing tough counteraction to any military moves that might follow the US move to send the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its battle group to waters off the Korean Peninsula AP US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach South Korean marine soldiers stand guard during the US-South Korea joint Exercise Operation Pacific Reach in Pohang, South Korea AP US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach A US Marine takes part in Operation Pacific Reach joint logistic exercise in Pohang, South Korea Reuters US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach A US Marine takes a position during a Combined Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (CJLOTS) exercise as part of a joint defence exercise at a beach in Pohang Getty Images US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach South Korea and the United States kicked off a combined distribution exercise focused on integrating the two sides alliance logistics capabilities, in Pohang, 260 kms southeast of Seoul Getty Images US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach South Korea and the United States kicked off a combined distribution exercise focused on integrating the two sides alliance logistics capabilities Getty Images US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach A US Marine walks past a military vehicle during a Combined Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (CJLOTS) exercise as part of a joint defence exercise in Pohang Getty Images US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach US Marines gather at a beach during a Combined Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (CJLOTS) exercise as part of a joint defence exercise in Pohang, 260 kms southeast of Seoul, South Korea Getty Images

South Korean daily newspaper Korea Joonang Daily said in an editorial: We are dumbfounded that the leader of 21st-century China made such a ridiculous claim. If Trump really conveyed Xis words correctly, it is nothing but a grave challenge to the identity of the Korean people. 

It added: As Chinas power has grown remarkably over the last three decades, Chinas historical perception is increasingly taking a worrisome turn.

Rah Jong-yil, a former South Korean ambassador to both London and Tokyo, told The Telegraph: I suspect that Mr Xi said, in effect, that Korea was part of China because it was overwhelmingly under Chinese influence historically and Mr Trump bought that.

It shows his shocking ignorance of the situation in north-east Asia. That is very disturbing to us.

"Somebody needs to enlighten Mr Trump about the facts of the region and he should not fall for this sort of silly nationalism from the Chinese," Mr Rah added.

It is true that the Korean peninsula was under the influence of China, but that was under the Ming dynasty - which was a long time ago and nothing to do with the People's Republic of China.

In the distant past, Korea may have looked up to China as a model of political or economic development, but today we consider the communist-led nation to be economically, politically and socially backward.

Recommended Mike Pence hints at US military action in North Korea

Critics have repeatedly claimed there are gaping holes in Mr Trumps knowledge of world affairs and history.

Earlier this month, it was suggested he may not know the name of the leader of North Korea after he repeatedly referred to Kim Jong-un as this gentleman in a Fox News interview.

He also appeared to think he was dealing with the now deceased father of Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il, who was in power in North Korea during the Clinton presidency and for most of Barack Obama's first term.

He said: You know, theyve been talking with this gentleman for a long time. You read Clintons book, he said, Oh, we made such a great peace deal, and it was a joke.

You look at different things over the years with President Obama. Everybody has been outplayed, theyve all been outplayed by this gentleman. And well see what happens. But I just dont telegraph my moves.

Washington has been attempting to work out how to deal with the hard line communist state and its suspected nuclear arsenal for decades. Mr Trumps position appears to be hardening with his recent warning that, if China is not going to solve North Korea, we will.
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The FBI and US secret services have reportedly been called in to investigate a series of sophisticated skimmer devices planted inside petrol pumps in Pennsylvania.

Two of the devices were found at a petrol station in Schuylkill County allowing the perpetrators to steal PIN numbers from cards without any visible sign the pump had been tampered with.

Police said the devices were unlike anything they had seen before.

"I wouldn't have even been aware that this device was placed on the pump," St. Clair Police Chief William Dempsey told WNEP.

"Typically a skimmer would be placed on the outside of a gas pump or the outside of an ATM machine.

"Customer knowledge or customer awareness would not play a role in this.

Marina Terwilliger is one of 40 victims that have come forward, including four of her coworkers.

"I feel panic. I feel violated because you know someone has your information and you don't know how far they'll get away with it," she 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

Police believe the perpetrators may have used a master key to open the pump, before replacing the cable with one which had an information storage device attached.

CACL Federal Credit Union, where some of the victims bank, warned customers to be vigilant.

"Vigilance, vigilance on your own bank account. We suggest for people to look at their accounts every single day," said CACL COO Francesco Mercuri.
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A Republican state senator from Miami is facing pressure to resign after he used the n-word to criticise several of his colleagues during an alcohol-fueled rant in front of two black lawmakers.

Over drinks at a private club in downtown Tallahassee, State Senator Frank Artiles referred to six white senators as n- and spewed other obscenities while complaining about the chamber's GOP leadership, local media reported on Tuesday.

In response, the Florida Democratic Party called for him to resign on Tuesday night, saying he lacked the judgment to remain in office.

Artiles apologised for the remarks in a statement Tuesday provided to the Miami Herald.

In an exchange with a colleague of mine in the Senate, I unfortunately let my temper get the best of me, he said. There is no excuse for the exchange that occurred and I have apologised to my Senate colleagues and regret the incident profusely.

Republican leaders said Artiles is expected to offer a formal apology this week on the state senate floor.

Artiles reportedly fired off the slurs in a heated conversation Monday night with Democratic senators Audrey Gibson and Perry Thurston, both of whom are black.

The three were talking at the members-only Governor's Club near the state capitol when Artiles called Senate President Joe Negron, a Republican, a vulgar word for female genitalia and said he had won his position because six n- had elected him, according to the Herald.

When Gibson and Thurston recoiled at the comment, Artiles tried to defend himself by saying he meant to use a different version of the n-word, ending with as rather than ers, according to Politico. The word was acceptable, he reportedly told them, because he hailed from Hialeah, a largely Hispanic city in Miami-Dade County. At one point, Politico reported, he also called Gibson an insulting word.

With that, Gibson stormed off, saying, I'm done, Politico reported.

Thurston told the Herald he stayed and urged Artiles to apologise.

Eventually, he did, but it took the intervention of the Senate minority leader and another lawmaker, the Herald reported.

I'm very respectful to this process. I'm very respectful to everyone, Gibson told the Herald. And the way he was characterising the vote - it wasn't nice.

Negron, the Senate president, reprimanded Artiles in a statement on Tuesday.

I was appalled to hear that one Senator would speak to another in such an offensive and reprehensible manner, he said. Racial slurs and profane, sexist insults have no place in conversation between Senators.

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

This isn't the first brush with controversy for Artiles, a Cuban American and former Marine. In 2015, he was accused of punching a college student in the face outside a Tallahassee bar, a claim he denied, as the Miami New Times has reported. And in 2014, as the Herald reported Tuesday, he was secretly recorded using an anti-Muslim slur at a polling place.

The Washington Post
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US authorities have reportedly arrested a man who is accused of stalking and harassing Malia Obama.

The Secret Service are said to have detained Jair Nilton Cardoso, a 30-year-old Brooklyn man, after he allegedly stalked the 18-year-old daughter of former president Barack Obama at multiple locations, including attempting to enter the White House in the past.

According to the New York Daily News, on one occasion Mr Cardoso turned up to the fourth floor of the Tribeca office where Ms Obama was working as an intern and asked the eldest Obama child to marry him.

Sources told the paper that the Secret Service also stopped Mr Cardoso when he tried to follow the former first daughter out of a building in the West Village where she was doing another internship. The agents reportedly recognised the man and ordered him to leave the eldest Obama child alone.

Agents are then said to have gone to Mr Cardoso's Brooklyn apartment and interviewed him, concluding that he had psychiatric issues and taking him to a Brooklyn hospital to be evaluated.

Michelle Obama as the First Lady Show all 11 1 /11 Michelle Obama as the First Lady Michelle Obama as the First Lady Getty Michelle Obama as the First Lady Getty Michelle Obama as the First Lady Getty Michelle Obama as the First Lady Getty Michelle Obama as the First Lady Getty Michelle Obama as the First Lady Getty Michelle Obama as the First Lady Getty Michelle Obama as the First Lady Getty Michelle Obama as the First Lady Getty Michelle Obama as the First Lady Getty Michelle Obama as the First Lady Getty

Sources told the paper the Secret Service agents reported Mr Cardoso to the police on Tuesday.

Ms Obama recently gained global attention for joining a protest against the Dakota Access pipeline held at the Sundance Film Festival. She was reported to have left her familys Caribbean holiday to attend the largest independent film festival in the US back in January.

While Ms Obama has not spoken out about President Donald Trump, her father said her and younger sister, Sasha, were disappointed about his victory. Nevertheless, the former President was insistent that they would remain positive and not mope.
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A group of student journalists who investigated their high school principal and uncovered discrepancies in her CV which forced her to resign have been invited to a prestigious event at the White House.

Six teenagers and a teacher from Pittsburg High School in Kansas are expected to attend the White House Correspondents Dinner later this month, as guests of the Huffington Post.

A group of reporters and editors from the Booster Redux school paper began to research new-hire Amy Robertson when she started as their headteacher in March.

She resigned less than a month later, four days after the school paper published evidence gathered by teenage reporters in an investigation spanning several weeks, which showed some of Ms Robertson's qualifications did not appear to be accredited.

Local newspapers and the school board had all overlooked the alleged fraud.

Among discrepancies in the principal's credentials, the team of six students found the private university where she said she got her masters and doctorate degrees did not appear to be accredited; in fact it had been portrayed in a number of articles as a diploma mill, a place where people can buy a degree, diploma or certificates.

There were some things that just didnt quite add up, Connor Balthazor, 17, told The Washington Post, shortly after Ms Robertson quit.

The resignation thrust the student newspaper staff into local, state and national news, with professional journalists nationwide applauding the students for asking tough questions and prompting change in their administration.

Everybody kept telling them, stop poking your nose where it doesnt belong,' newspaper adviser Emily Smith told The Post. But with the encouragement of the superintendent, the students persisted.

They were at a loss that something that was so easy for them to see was waiting to be noticed by adults, Ms Smith 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

CNN announced in February that it would also be inviting journalism students to the dinner as a way to show commitment to the health of a free press.

Donald Trump has said that he will not attend the prestigious event.

He wrote on Twitter: I will not be attending the White House Correspondents Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!

The announcement came shortly after the President branded journalists "the enemy of the American people".

It will be the first time since 1981 that the sitting president has not attended.
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Rex Tillerson has accused Iran of alarming and ongoing provocations that export terror and destabilise the world after a friendly meeting with Saudi leaders.

Iran is the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism and is responsible for intensifying multiple conflicts and undermining US interests in countries such as Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Lebanon, and continuing to support attacks against Israel, he said.

An unchecked Iran has the potential to travel the same path as North Korea, and take the world along with it.

The US Secretary of State said a government-wide review of American policy on Iran was underway, following Donald Trumps repeated criticism of a landmark deal struck by the Obama administration to limit its nuclear capability.

Mr Tillerson said the review would assess the many threats posed by Iran and establish whether the suspension of sanctions related to the agreement was vital to the national security interests of the United States  even through Tehran is in compliance.

Irans provocative actions threaten the United States, the region, and the world, he added.

 Russia and Iran have threatened the US over Syria

Mr Tillerson cited Irans support for Bashar al-Assad in Syria and Houthi rebels in Yemen, as well as its hostility to Israel as threats, alongside attempted assassinations abroad, weapons tests and cyber attacks.

He accused Iran of having one of the worlds worst human rights records, listing executions and political persecution, but made no mention of similar abuses perpetrated in Saudi Arabia at a business summit earlier in the day.

In a speech watched by Prince Saud al-Faisal, ministers and the ambassador, Mr Tillerson hailed a successful new chapter for relations between Saudi Arabia and the US, and their shared economic and strategic goals.

We have a long relationship with Saudi Arabia that extends over 80 years, and our support for a strong and steady partner on economic cooperation remains as firm as ever, he added, weeks after Saudi leaders met Donald Trump in Washington.

Saudi Arabia is a member of the US-led coalition bombing Isis in Syria and Iraq but has drawn accusations of war crimes for its intervention in Yemen, where thousands of civilians have been killed in indiscriminate bombardment.

The US, Britain and the Kingdoms other allies have been urged to stop arms sales and military support over the deaths, as well as extensive human rights abuses on its own soil.

Alongside Iran and China, Saudi Arabia is one of the worlds most prolific executioners, publicly beheading convicts - including those arrested as children - according to the governments interpretation of Sharia law.

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

Its fundamentalist Wahhabi doctrine is used as the basis for severe restrictions on fundamental rights, including the discriminatory male guardianship system that bans women from driving, while dozens of activists have been arrested and sometimes flogged for calling for government reforms.

Saudi Arabia, where 15 of the 9/11 attackers hailed from, has also been accused of fuelling global terror by funding extremist mosques around the world.

Mr Trump heavily criticised the Saudi government on Twitter before his election victory but has since remained silent, while fostering a close relationship and excluding the country from his attempted immigration bans.

The President and his Defence Secretary, James Mattis, have instead turned on Saudi Arabias enemy Iran, repeatedly calling it the worlds biggest state sponsor of terrorism and accusing it of forming militias compared to Hezbollah.

Iran and Saudi Arabia, who hail themselves as the global leaders of Shia and Sunni Islam respectively, are engaged in a global proxy war drawing in conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon.

Mr Tillerson sent a letter House Speaker Paul Ryan announcing the policy review on Tuesday, saying the nuclear deal had merely delayed Irans goal of becoming a nuclear state.

Irans Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, warned in November that Tehran would retaliate if the US breached the nuclear agreement and has called mass protests against Mr Trump.

Mr Tillerson's notice to Congress was part of a 90-day process in which the President has to certify that Iran is complying with the nuclear accord.

The next test of Mr Trump's attitude will be in May, when he must decide whether to extend sanctions waivers for Iran first signed by Barack Obama.


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Russian bombers have neared the coast of Alaska for a second consecutive night as relations continue to worsen between the Kremlin and Donald Trumps administration.

Two Tu-95 Bear aircraft were monitored as they entered the US Air Defence Identification Zone on Tuesday.

Unlike the previous night, fighter jets were not scrambled to intercept them but an E-3 Sentry early warning plane was sent to watch their movements.

Recommended US scrambles stealth fighter jets to intercept Russian bomber planes

The operation was mounted by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad), which monitors approaches to the US area of interest, just outside its sovereign airspace.

US Air Force First Lt Lauren Hill, a spokesperson for Norad, told The Independent the latest flight was not out of the ordinary.

That no intercept took place and the flight was not dissimilar from out of area flights that Norad has previously seen, she added, saying that no further details could be given for operational security reasons.

In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Show all 19 1 /19 In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrian boys cry following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Konashenkov strongly warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrians wait to receive treatment at a hospital following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Alepp Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks at a briefing in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia. Antonov said the Russian air strikes in Syria have killed about 35,000 militants, including about 2,700 residents of Russia AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Jameel Mustafa Habboush, receives oxygen from civil defence volunteers, known as the white helmets, as they rescue him from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civil defence members rest amidst rubble in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A girl carrying a baby inspects damage in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members look for survivors at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members carry an injured woman on a stretcher at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Volunteers from Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, help civilians after Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria The aftermath of Russian airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Smoke billows from buildings in Talbiseh, in Homs province, western Syria, after airstrikes by Russian warplanes AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Air Forces carry out an air strike in the ISIS controlled Al-Raqqah Governorate. Russia's KAB-500s bombs completely destroy the Liwa al-Haqq command unit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia claimed it hit eight Isis targets, including a "terrorist HQ and co-ordination centre" that was completely destroyed In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A video grab taken from the footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website, purporting to show an airstrike in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A release from the Russian defence ministry purportedly showing targets in Syria being hit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in three Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Isis militants in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria, a thousand kilometres away. The targets include ammunition factories, ammunition and fuel depots, command centres, and training camps A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis

It came after two F-22 Raptor stealth jets and an E-3 plane were launched to intercept two Russian bombers around 100 miles off Alaska on Monday.

The American planes flew alongside the long-range Tu-95s for several minutes before they turned back towards their base in eastern Russia.

It was the first such confrontation since Mr Trump took office, following almost two years of relative quiet in the airspace surrounding the US.

Adam Kinzinger, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, told CNN Vladimir Putins forces were trying to show their teeth by flying so close to the American coast.

This was a show of force by the Russians to show us that they are still herean attempt to come up as close as they could to our international borders to see what our reaction would be, he added.

Russian military aircraft have been intercepted around 60 times since 2007, an official said, with the most recent previous incident coming in 2015.

 British troops arrive in Estonia for Nato mission to deter Russian aggression

That saw a pair of Russian bombers fly just 40 miles off the coast of California and around Alaska on 4 July, when a pilot relayed the message: Good morning, American pilots. We are here to greet you on your Fourth of July Independence Day.

A Russian intelligence ship, the Viktor Leonov, has recently been spotted off the US coast and two months ago, Russian aircraft had several encounters with the USS Porter as it sailed in the Black Sea.

US-Russian relations have soured in the wake of Mr Trumps vow to improve ties with Moscow, following mounting tensions over Syria, Ukraine and North Korea.

Mr Trump said relations may be at an all-time low last week, amid continued investigations into alleged Russian support for his campaign, adding: Right now were not getting along with Russia at all.

Rising tensions between Russia and Europe over Ukraine and Syria have coincided with an increase in incidents involving Russian aircraft nearing European airspace, including in the UK.

RAF jets have been scrambled on numerous occasions, including in February as Russian Blackjack bombers spent more than five hours circling the British Isles.

Mr Putin has been accused of Cold War-style brinkmanship over a series of similar incidents, but the Kremlin has attacked Nato for warmongering with new deployments and military drills in eastern Europe.
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Tess Holliday has pledged to boycott Uber after one of the companys drivers allegedly body-shamed her.

The UK size 26 model and body positivity campaigner shared a video of a male driver asking about her cholesterol levels.

According to Holliday, who is based in Los Angeles, the Uber driver informed her there was no way she could possibly be healthy because she was fat.

My cholesterol is fine, Im perfect, she can be heard telling him in the Instagram clip. Im healthy.

Holliday said that after she informed the driver she was healthy he switched the radio off and changed the subject. The model said the ordeal had been so distressing she would not be using the global car service in the future.

My driver who is fat is questioning if Im healthy  Hey Uber I don't pay more to use your black car service to be told that there's no way I could possibly be healthy because I'm fat and then questioning it, she said in the caption of the post.

No one should have to tolerate this at any level of the services you offer. I'm fat. I also have a fat wallet and will no longer be using your services. Ever.

"To everyone that keeps saying 'well we don't know the full conversation' I say REALLY?! He wasn't 'curious' he was shaming me. End of story," she added on Twitter.

A spokesperson for Uber told The Independent the company expected both its passengers and drivers to treat each other respectfully.

We expect all riders and drivers to treat each other with respect as laid out in our Community Guidelines, a spokesperson said.

Holliday added an extra message to the caption later in the day explaining why she had described the driver as fat.

Plus size models changing the fashion industry Show all 9 1 /9 Plus size models changing the fashion industry Plus size models changing the fashion industry Ashley Graham Getty Images Plus size models changing the fashion industry Tess Holliday Plus size models changing the fashion industry Iskra Lawrence Plus size models changing the fashion industry Candice Huffine Plus size models changing the fashion industry Dalbesio at New York Fashion Week Plus size models changing the fashion industry Sabina Karlsson Plus size models changing the fashion industry Denise Bidot Plus size models changing the fashion industry Plus size models changing the fashion industry Barbie Ferreira

Saying my driver is fat was obviously being used as a descriptor and not to insult him, she explained. Also I did not show his face or use his name when filming, it was to be able to show what I deal with daily and why this behaviour is unacceptable from anyone.

Holiday became globally recognised after she was signed by London-based Milk Model Management in 2015, making history by becoming the first woman of her size and height to be represented by a major agency. Last year in May, Facebook reversed its decision to ban an advert featuring Holliday and apologised for not initially approving the image.

A Facebook advert with a picture of Holliday in a bikini was initially banned by the social media giant because it depicts a body or body parts in an undesirable manner.
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Donald Trumps congratulatory call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the countrys referendum points to a larger problem with Mr Trumps business ties around the world.

Mr Erdogans victory was seen as a power grab by many that would cement his autocratic rule over the country, as the New York Times reported.

And with the government only securing a tiny margin of victory, Mr Erdogan most likely would not have won if the referendum had met recognised standards of fairness.

Recommended Turkey referendum further polarises an already traumatized country

The only other leaders to congratulate Mr Erdogan were those of Qatar, Djibouti, Guinea and the Palestinian militant movement Hamas.

The call may not just about Mr Trumps preference for brash leaders like himself, but could point to a deeper problem of conflicts of interest with international Trump real estate business.

Are the presidents comments toward Erdogan related to his support for a Trump property? We cant know, but its a question we unfortunately are forced to ask, Jordan Libowitz, a spokesman for Washington, DC-based Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, told the Huffington Post.

Ivanka Trump, the presidents daughter, tweeted a thank you note in 2012 to Mr Erdogan for coming to the opening of Trump Towers in Istanbul.

Mr Erdogans new authoritarian capabilities are of particular concern to the US because Turkey is an ally in Nato.

Mr Trump admitted that he said [Nato] was obsolete. Its no longer obsolete after speaking with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in April 2017.

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 strongman ties do not end with Mr Erdogan either. Mr Trump has close ties to Jose Antonio, a real estate developer in the Philippines, who was appointed as a special envoy to the US by controversial leader Rodrigo Duterte.

Beyond Turkey and the Philippines, there are concerns with Mr Trumps upcoming meeting with Argentinas President Mauricio Macri who, along with his father, had real estate dealings with Mr Trump in the 1980s in New York.

Mr Trumps business rapidly expanded in the city during that decade, in part securing his pop culture icon status.

Mr Macri is visiting the White House to discuss strengthening the trade relationship between the two countries. The Trump organisation has ongoing construction projects in Buenos Aires.

Another questionable tie is with former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, who fled his country on insider trading charges and is now said to be living in Miami despite Panamas extradition request.

Not only does the Trump organisation have real estate holdings in Panama City, but Mr Martinelli was invited to Mr Trumps inauguration earlier this year.

Other issues are created when the Trump organisation rents out spaces in its buildings.

The state-owned Qatar Airlines and Saudi Prince Mutaib bin Abdulaziz Al Saud rent or own working and living quarters in Trump-owned properties, muddling the US's official relationship with these countries.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 20

Trend:

Events within the Projects Teacher is a Source of Power are in progress with support of the Career Center of UNEC, Ata Holding said in a message Apr. 20.

UNEC students visited Excelsior Hotel & Spa Baku on April 19.

Director of the Career Center Fuad Aliyev provided the students of the Faculty of Economics with the information about project Teacher is a Source of Power. He said students would get acquainted with the business life within the project.

In addition, Fuad Aliyev spoke about UNEC students visits to the prestigious companies and meetings with their leaders realized within another project Business Tea Break.

HR Manager of the Hotel Kamran Rzayev delivered to the students the extensive information about Excelsior Hotel & Spa Baku noting that the hotel contributes to the development of human resources in the tourism sector of Azerbaijans economy. The aim of all the training and internship programs is to foster to students the experience of the tourism sector.

HR Manager of Excelsior Hotel & Spa Baku Kamran Rzayev shared the secrets of achieving success and building the career with the students. At the same time, Kamran Rzayev informed about the opportunity of getting practice regularly for the students majoring in tourism throughout the year.

Various interesting internship programs have been developed here for the students to gain experience in this area and succeed in the tourism sector. Besides, students were provided with the opportunity of passing internship in the Excelsior Hotel & Spa Baku.

Students questions were answered in the end of the meeting.
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Donald Trump will host Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 16-17 at the White House, in the first meeting between the two leaders.

Mr Trump was recently the only Western leader to congratulate Mr Erdogan on his victory in the country's referendum that broadened his powers.

Recommended The reason Trump congratulated Erdogan is disturbing

The only other leaders who made official calls to Mr Erdogan were those of Qatar, Djibouti, Guinea and the Palestinian militant movement Hamas.

The New York Times reported that Mr Erdogan's slim margin of victory would cement his autocratic rule over the country.

An independent monitor of the referendum vote, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said in a report that fundamental freedoms essential to a genuinely democratic process were curtailed.

Some felt Mr Trump's call had more to do with the Trump Organisation's business ties to Turkey rather than a preference for brash leaders. Mr Trump's family company built the Trump Towers in Istanbul in 2012.

At the time Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter, took to Twitter to thank Mr Erdogan for his attendance at the buildings' opening.

The two leaders meeting will take place just ahead of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), a 28-member military alliance, summit later in May. They are both expected to be at the Brussels meeting as well.

Mr Trump admitted that he said [Nato] was obsolete. Its no longer obsolete after speaking with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in April 2017.
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Donald Trump has been accused of violating the US Constitution by letting his hotels and restaurants accept payments from foreign governments, by an ethics watchdog which has expanded its lawsuit against the US President.

The complaint by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CARE) adds top US chefs and a hotel events booker from Washington, DC as plaintiffs. It claims they lost bookings through foreign governments trying to curry favor with Mr Trump by using his businesses.

CARE wants to obtain copies of the President's tax returns as part of the lawsuit, according to Hollywood Reporter.

Mr Trump said the original lawsuit,filed in January, had no merit. He expected to respond to the current complaint later this week.

The amended complaint claims Mr Trump violates the Constitution's emoluments clause, which bars him from accepting various gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval, by maintaining ownership over his business empire.

This is despite the US leader ceding day-to-day control to his sons, Eric and Donald Jr.

It said members of Restaurant Opportunities Centres United Inc, which represents more than 200 restaurants and nearly 25,000 workers, have improperly lost business, wages and tips to Mr Trump's competing businesses.

Jill Phaneuf, the other new plaintiff, works for a hospitality company that books events in hotels near Washington's Embassy Row, which house foreign diplomats, and claimed Mr Trump is costing her commissions.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The lawsuit said such losses have even occurred since Mr Trump took office, when China granted him trademark rights after he pledged to honour the One China policy of his White House predecessors.

When asked why defendant changed his position on the One China policy, and whether he had gotten something in exchange from China, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer answered: 'The President always gets something,' the complaint said.

US District Judge Ronnie Abrams, an appointee of former Democratic President Barack Obama, will oversee the litigation.

The lawsuit seeks to uphold one of the most basic aspects of the rule of law: no one, including the president, is above the law, Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California at Irvine's law school and one of the plaintiffs' lawyers, said in a statement.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Donald Trump might not have realised that when he invited Sarah Palin to a White House dinner, she would bring along a man who had publicly called for the death of his predecessor.

The former governor of Alaska and 2008 running mate of presidential candidate Senator John McCain decided to bring as her guest the rock musician Ted Nugent.

Best known for the song "Cat Scratch Fever," Nugent said in 2012 that Barack Obama should "suck on my machine gun". He added: "Hey Hillary [Clinton], you might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless b****."

Mr Nugent also called Mr Obama a sub-human mongrel.

Ms Palin also invited Kid Rock, another musician who supported Mr Trump during the 2016 campaign and said that the country should let the business guy run the country like a business.

The former governor herself called Mr Trump the "golden wrecking ball" as a compliment during a 2016 Republican campaign rally, and lambasted the media for not reporting more on Ms Clinton's health.

Of course, Twitter took immediate notice a picture from the dinner posted to social media by Mr Nugent's wife. The White House has yet to issue any kind of statement on the dinner party.

CNN political commentator Keith Boykin quoted Mr Trump's campaign promise.

Jon Favreau, Mr Obama's former speech writer, mocked CNN's Fareed Zakaria's comment about how Mr Trump "became President" after the US missile strike in Syria on 6 April.

Ms Palin posted a series of pictures taken in the Oval Office on Facebook as well.
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US authorities have prepared charges to arrest the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, according to CNN.

Wikileaks is known for publicly posting stolen, hacked, or otherwise leaked information on US government activities.

The site first attracted Justice Department attention in 2010, when they posted stolen documents regarding the US war in Iraq. Later, the site published classified NSA documents that revealed the scope of US government intelligence gathering directed at its own citizens.

More recently, the site published documents hacked from the Democratic National Committee headquarters during the 2016 presidential election.

The Justice Department has been unable to build a case against Mr Assange, or any of the more high-profile figures who have leaked to the organisation, until now. Lawyers have found a way around first amendment concerns in the prosecution of Mr Assange, sources tell CNN.

CIA Director Mike Pompeo increased scrutiny on the organisation last week, calling it a non-state hostile intelligence service in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Mr Trump has taken a more mixed view on the site, once proclaiming "I love Wikileaks" at a campaign event.

Assange has currently taken refuge at the Ecuadorian embassy while facing rape allegations filed in Sweden.

It is unlikely that the Ecuadorian government will expel Mr Assange, even if charges are filed in the US. Mr Assange has denied the allegations against him.
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The Trump administration is considering making changes to the US visa-waiver system that could make it much harder for Europeans travelling to America.

Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said the existing rules, which do not require Britons to obtain a visa, should be reviewed amid heightened concerns about terrorism.

"We have to start looking very hard at that [visa waiver] programme, he said.

Mr Kelly added that he was not considering scrapping the system entirely, but said the current set-up needed to be looked at again.

"Not eliminating it and not doing anything excessive, CNN Money reported him saying during a speech in Washington, but look very hard at that programme.

The comments come after airlines warned of a Trump slump that saw international travel to the US drop 6.5 per cent in the eight days following the Presidents proposed travel ban in January.

Online searches for flights to America also dropped by 17 per cent in the same week.

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

It resulted in an estimated loss of $185 million (145 million) in business travel bookings from 28 January to 4 February, as calculated by the Global Business Travel Association.

Mr Kelly said he feared Isis fighters were using the visa-waiver system to sneak into the US, warning America was the Super Bowl in terms of terroriststhat's where they wanna come [sic].

The visa-waiver programme enables most citizens of participating countries to travel to the US for up to 90 days without first obtaining a visa.

Travellers must first have authorisation under the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (Esta) system, a faster and cheaper process that takes 72 hours and can be completed online.

In 2015, the rules were tightened so that nationals of visa-waiver countries who had been to Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen on or after March 1, 2011, were no longer eligible.

Around 14 million European citizens visited the US without a visa in 2015.

In March, the European Parliament voted to end visa-free travel for Americans within the EU.

 European Parliament votes to end visa-free travel for Americans

It came after the US failed to agree visa-free travel for citizens of five EU countries  Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania  as part of a reciprocity agreement.

US citizens can normally travel to all countries in the bloc without a visa.

The vote urged the revocation of the scheme by May. If no action is taken, MEPs can consider action in the European Court of Justice.
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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States was looking at ways to pressure North Korea over its nuclear programme as North Korean state media warned the Americans of a super-mighty preemptive strike and said don't mess with us.

US President Donald Trump has taken a hard line with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has rebuffed admonitions from sole major ally China and proceeded with nuclear and missile programmes in defiance of UN Security Council sanctions.

Reclusive North Korea regularly threatens to destroy Japan, South Korea and the United States and has shown no let-up in its belligerence after a failed missile test on Sunday, a day after putting on a huge display of missiles at a parade in Pyongyang.

We're reviewing all the status of North Korea, both in terms of state sponsorship of terrorism as well as the other ways in which we can bring pressure on the regime in Pyongyang to re-engage with us, but re-engage with us on a different footing than past talks have been held, Tillerson told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.

US Vice President Mike Pence, on a tour of Asian allies, has said repeatedly the era of strategic patience with North Korea is over.

US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, on a visit to London, said the military option must be part of the pressure brought to bear.

Allowing this dictator to have that kind of power is not something that civilised nations can allow to happen, he said in reference to Kim.

Ryan said he was encouraged by the results of efforts to work with China to reduce tensions, but that it was unacceptable North Korea might be able to strike allies with nuclear weapons.

North and South Korea are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

South Korea's acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, at a meeting with top officials on Thursday, repeatedly called for the military and security ministries to maintain vigilance.

The defence ministry said US and South Korean air forces were conducting an annual training exercise, codenamed Max Thunder, until April 28. North Korea routinely labels such exercises preparations for invasion.

South Korean presidential candidates clashed on Wednesday night in a TV debate over the planned US-supplied Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system, which has angered China. Frontrunner Moon Jae-in was criticised for leaving his options open before the May 9 election.

On Monday, Hwang and Pence reaffirmed their plans to go ahead with the THAAD, but the decision will be up to the next Korean president. For its part, China says the system's powerful radar is a threat to its security.

The North has warned of a nuclear strike against the United States if provoked. It has said it has developed a missile that can strike the mainland United States, but officials and experts believe it is some time away from mastering the necessary technology, including miniaturising a nuclear warhead.

The United States and Russia clashed at the United Nations on Wednesday over a US-drafted Security Council statement to condemn North Korea's latest failed ballistic missile test. Diplomats said China had agreed to the statement.

Such statements by the 15-member council have to be agreed by consensus.

Previous statements denouncing earlier missile launches welcomed efforts by council members, as well as other states, to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive solution through dialogue. The latest draft statement dropped through dialogue and Russia requested it be included again.

When we requested to restore the agreed language that was of political importance and expressed commitment to continue to work on the draft... the US delegation without providing any explanations cancelled the work on the draft, the Russian UN mission said in a statement.

There has been some confusion over the whereabouts of a US aircraft carrier group after Trump said last week he had sent an armada as a warning to North Korea, even as the ships were still far from Korean waters.

The US military's Pacific Command explained that the USS Carl Vinson strike group first had to complete a shorter-than-planned period of training with Australia. It was now heading for the Western Pacific as ordered, it said.

China's influential Global Times newspaper, which is published by the People's Daily, the Communist Party's official paper, wondered whether the confusion was deliberate.

The truth seems to be that the US military and president jointly created fake news and it is without doubt a rare scandal in US history, which will be bound to cripple Trump's and US dignity, it said.

North Korea did not refer to the mix-up but said the United States and its allies should not mess with us.

In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun Show all 16 1 /16 In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun North Korean women soldiers take part in a military parade in Pyongyang on 15 April AFP/Getty Images In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun A huge military parade in Pyongyang marks the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country's late founder and grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un AP In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun North Korean leader Kim Jong-un waves during a military parade on 15 April 2017 AP In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun North Korean soldiers carry flags and a photo of Kim Il-sung during a military parade in Pyongyang on 15 April AP In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun Soldiers march across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade on 15 April AP In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun What military experts say appears to be a North Korean KN-08 inter-continental ballistic missile is paraded across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade on 15 April AP In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun Women wearing traditional Korean dress wave flowers and shout slogans as they pass Kim Jong-Un during a parade in Pyongyang on 15 April AFP/Getty Images In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun North Korean female soldiers march during a parade for the 'Day of the Sun' festival on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on 15 April EPA In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun Military vehicles carry missiles with characters reading 'Pukkuksong' during a military parade marking the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il-sung in Pyongyang on 15 April 2017 EPA In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun Attendees carry sheets in the colours of North Korea's national flag during a military parade in Pyongyang on 15 April Reuters In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun A soldier salutes from atop an armoured vehicle during a military parade in Pyongyang on 15 April Reuters In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun A North Korean woman cries as she looks towards Kim Jong-un during a parade on 15 April AP In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun University students carry the national flag and two bronze statues of the late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il during a military parade on 15 April AP In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun Missiles are driven past Kim Jong-un and other high ranking officials during a military parade marking the Day of the Sun in Pyongyang on 15 April Reuters In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun North Korean leader Kim Jong-un waves from a balcony during a parade for the 'Day of the Sun' festival in Pyongyang on 15 April 2017 EPA In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun Missiles are driven past Kim Jong-un and other high ranking officials during a military parade marking the Day of the Sun in Pyongyang on 15 April Reuters

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, did not mince its words.

In the case of our super-mighty preemptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only US imperialists' invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the US mainland and reduce them to ashes, it said.

Associated Press
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Days before France goes to the polls in the first round of the presidential election, the country has never experienced such a level of uncertainty.

Four candidates are neck and neck  Francois Fillon for Les Republicains, Emmanuel Macron and his party En Marche!, Marine le Pen, leader of the Front National, and Jean-Luc Melenchon of La France Insoumise (France Unbowed). Every combination seems possible, even one seen by many as a catastrophic scenario: a second round with the far-right Le Pen up against the far-left Melenchon.

If one of these two candidates is elected, it will propel our country into economic chaos unmatched in our recent economic history, says Laurent Vronski, vice president of the entrepreneurs association CroissancePlus.

If we put in place a policy as imbecilic as the exit from the euro and the changeover to the franc, devaluation will be immediate and the rate of french debt will flare astronomically because investors will claim astronomical rates to guard themselves against risk, he predicts.

He judges the two candidates as equally dangerous and says they will put in place an economic policy that will transform France into Greece in 50 years.

Le Pen has proposed a referendum on Frexit, while Melenchon declared after Brexit: Europe, for the French, it must be changed or left. He plans to stay in the European Union but only on one condition, that it be refounded.

Melenchon wants to put an end to the independence of the European Central Bank, a point on which Germany is very unlikely to agree. He intends subsequently to submit the result of these negotiations to the French people, or to leave Europe if they fail.

 Marine Le Pen says France not responsible for WWII Jew round-up

Both Melenchon and his far-right counterpart are for protectionism and strong interventionism, but Le Pen differentiates herself on themes dear to the Front National  identity, immigration and security. She was recently accused of trying to use terrorist attacks to her credit. With me, there would have been no attacks at the Bataclan and Stade De France, she said this week, because the terrorists of the 2015 attacks would not have had French nationality under her leadership.

She already fuelled controversy earlier this month by claiming that the French were not responsible for the Vel dHiv raid, a 1942 police roundup of 13,000 Jewish people in Paris who were sent to their deaths. Instead, she blamed it on the Vichy government allied with the Nazi occupation.

For several weeks, the candidate of the Front National has led the race to the election, but she has suffered a dip in recent weeks. If she qualifies for the second round, Le Pen does not seem able to win the election in any of the situations that could arise against Fillon, Melenchon or Macron. Bruno Cautres, a researcher at the Political Research Centre of Sciences Po, says: The danger for Marine Le Pen is to become Jean-Marie, her father, because she is afraid of not qualifying, she returns to a harder policy.

However, is victory for Melenchon conceivable? Mr Cautres describes the situation as not the most probable in view of the recent opinion polls, but it is not impossible. The candidate of France Unbowed records the most spectacular progress. In just one month, he progressed by 7.5 points and is practically on par with Fillon at 19 per cent.

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

According to economist Marc Guillaume, Melenchon is much more dangerous for the financial markets and for the economy than any other candidate. The election of Melenchon would be a disaster, he says, because he has no economic coherence, other than anti-capitalism. Melenchon plans to increase the minimum wage by 16 per cent and to put a cap on salaries of 360,000 (300,000)  beyond that, income would be taxed at 100 per cent. But one measure that may worry even more investors is his proposal to establish a co-development policy with Latin America and the Caribbean by joining the Alba [the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America]. An alliance, chastened by Hugo Chavez at the time of its creation, which counts among its members Cuba and Venezuela, and among its observers Iran and Syria.

The result of the first round is more uncertain now than it has ever been, but Bruno Cautres predicts with certainty that investors will be very attentive to the data of abstention that will be known on Sunday night. Abstention tends to favour the extremes, both right and left.
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Isis has claimed responsibility for the shooting attack in Paris that has left one police officer dead and two seriously injured.

In a statement from its Amaq news agency, the extremist group gave a pseudonym for the shooter indicating he was Belgian.

The claim of responsibility came unusually swiftly for the group, which has been losing territory in Iraq and Syria.

The French interior ministry said it was too early to tell what the motive was for the attack in the Champs-Elysees but President Francois Hollande said he was convinced it was a terrorist attack.

An emergency meeting of security, defence and intelligence officials would be held on Friday, he said in a televised statement.

Mr Hollande said: We shall be of the utmost vigilance, especially in relation to the election.

A counter-terrorism investigation has been opened and police officials said the suspect, who was killed by officers, had previously been flagged as an extremist.

The Paris prosecutor's office said it had identified the attacker and was looking into whether he acted alone. Raids are ongoing in the city, it was reported.

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

Shortly after the attack a witness told French media: Suddenly everyone got up and started running, we didn't even have the time to understand what was happening.

We heard one or two gunshots. We ran. I really didn't understand what was happening, we moved down the street, police told us to move down further.

I didn't see if they were two, three or just one assailant. We just ran.

We heard two gunshots. All the people sat on the terrace got up and ran, chairs were falling over.
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Vladimir Putins spokesman has backed the Chechen governments denials that men suspected of being gay are being detained, tortured and killed.

MPs have called on Theresa May to summon the Russian ambassador over the reported campaign, which has seen global concerns reach the United Nations.

But Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin had no reason to doubt Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrovs claim there is no persecution based on sexual orientation in his Russian republic.

Mr Peskov told journalists investigators had found no evidence supporting reports by the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, whose journalists have received death threats over their work.

They reported that more than 100 men suspected of being gay had been detained and at least three killed, with others being tortured in secret jails.

They started beating me with their fists and feet. They wanted to get names of my gay friends from me, one man told CNN.

Then they tied wires to my hands and put metal clippers on my ears to electrocute me. They've got special equipment, which is very powerful. When they shock you, you jump high above the ground.

 Hundreds protest at Russian embassy over 'gay concentration camps' in Chechnya

Freed victims said they feared being outed by authorities and attacked or killed by relatives, after being abducted at police checkpoints.

The Chechen interior ministry dismissed the allegations as an April fools joke, while the press minister demanded journalists name interviewed victims and apologise for their filthy provocation.

A spokesman for Mr Kadyrov, a former militia leader and ally of Mr Putin, claimed the report was impossible as there were no gay people in the Russian republic.

If there were such people in Chechnya, law-enforcement agencies wouldnt need to have anything to do with them because their relatives would send them somewhere from which there is no returning, Alvi Karimov said.

Mr Kadyrov later said he had met with the region's human rights council on Sunday and proclaimed that rights have undergone a grandiose improvement.

He accused international organisations of conducting a massive information attack...using the most unworthy methods, reality is distorted, attempts are being made to blacken our society, lifestyle, traditions and customs.

People hold a protest outside Russian Embassy in London, following reports of the torture and murder of gay men in Chechnya on 12 April (Josh Withey)

Mr Putin met late on Wednesday with the Chechen leader, who in the televised portion of the meeting suggested Putin should not believe the provocative claims.

Mr Kadyrov said he told the Russian President the reports were slanderous and had angered many Chechens, but that journalists should not feel threatened there, Mr Peskov said.

Kadyrov's confirmation that everything will be done within a legal framework was of course approved by the president, he added.

The reports have been taken seriously by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and prominent international organisations, which have urged the Russian government to investigate as well as protecting journalists.

British MPs discussed the brutal campaign in the House of Commons on Thursday, with the Government urged to send the strongest possible siren message to Russia, which itself adopted an anti-LGBT propaganda law 2013.

Sir Alan Duncan, who was the first openly gay Conservative MP, said the reported torture and killing was beyond contempt and not acceptable and pledged to raise the issue with allies in Europe and the Commonwealth.

LGBT+ rights around the globe Show all 9 1 /9 LGBT+ rights around the globe LGBT+ rights around the globe Russia Russias antipathy towards homosexuality has been well established following the efforts of human rights campaigners. However, while it is legal to be homosexual, LGBT couples are offered no protections from discrimination. They are also actively discriminated against by a 2013 law criminalising LGBT propaganda allowing the arrest of numerous Russian LGBT activists. AFP/Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Brunei Brunei recently introduced a law to make sodomy punishable by stoning to death. It was already illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in prison AFP/Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Mauritania Men who are found having sex with other men face stoning, while lesbians can be imprisoned, under Sharia law. However, the state has reportedly not executed anyone for this crime since 1987 Alamy LGBT+ rights around the globe Sudan Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is illegal under Sudanese law. Men can be executed on their third offence, women on their fourth Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Saudi Arabia Homosexuality and gender realignment is illegal and punishable by death, imprisonment, whipping and chemical castration Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Yemen The official position within the country is that there are no gays. LGBT inviduals, if discovered by the government, are likely to face intense pressure. Punishments range from flogging to the death penalty Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Nigeria Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is illegal and in some northern states punishable with death by stoning. This is not a policy enacted across the entire country, although there is a prevalent anti-LGBT agenda pushed by the government. In 2007 a Pew survey established that 97% of the population felt that homosexuality should not be accepted. It is punishable by 14 years in prison Reuters LGBT+ rights around the globe Somalia Homosexuality was established as a crime in 1888 and under new Somali Penal Code established in 1973 homosexual sex can be punishable by three years in prison. A person can be put to death for being a homosexual Reuters LGBT+ rights around the globe Iraq Although same-sex relationships have been decriminalised, much of the population still suffer from intense discrimination. Additionally, in some of the country over-run by the extremist organisation Isis, LGBT individuals can face death by stoning Getty

Stephen Doughty, a Labour MP, urged the Prime Minister to offer a clear condemnation of the attacks.

"We are talking here about detention, we are talking about beatings, we are talking about abuse, electric shock treatments, he added.

"I do not say this lightly, but some have described gay concentration camps and we hear now of at least four killings."

Mr Doughty accused Mr Putin of turning a blind eye to the issue and called for the Government to put greater pressure on both the Russian and Chechen governments to put an end to the persecution.

The shadow Foreign Secretary, Emily Thornberry, led calls for Ms May to summon the Russian ambassador over the allegations.

"I hope we will get an undertaking from the Government that it will be raised at a much higher political level, she added.

"It seems to me that this is a matter that the Prime Minister really should take an initiative on and she should call in the Russian ambassador and demand some answers."

Additional reporting by AP
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Russia has banned Jehovah's Witnesses after the Supreme Court ruled the Christian sect to be an extremist group.

The Supreme Court has ruled to sustain the claim of Russia's ministry of justice and deem the 'Administrative Centre of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia' organisation extremist, eliminate it and ban its activity in Russia, said judge Yuri Ivanenko.

The property of the Jehovah's Witnesses organisation is to be confiscated to the state revenue.

A lawyer for the justice ministry, Svetlana Borisova, told the court adherents pose a threat to the rights of the citizens, public order and public security.

Judges ordered the closure of the group's Russian headquarters and 395 local chapters, as well as the seizure of its property.

Lawyers for the Jehovah's Witnesses said they would appeal the court's decision, which has not yet come into effect, and could take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

We will do everything possible, Sergei Cherepanov, a Jehovah's Witnesses representative, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

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

In 2010, judges in Strasbourg found a previous ruling by a Russian court to ban the organisation unlawful.

The ministry of justice had previously applied for an order to shut down its national headquarters near St Petersburg, state media reported.

Its administrative centre, which has 175,000 members, had previously been suspended in March over alleged extremist activity.

Jehovah's Witnesses, who are known for door-to-door preaching and handing out literature, reject some of mainstream Christianity's core beliefs and have more than 8.3 million members around the world.

The US-based group has generated controversy for stances including its rejection of blood transfusions and opposition to military service, facing court proceedings in several countries.

Representatives said hundreds of people gathered at the Russian Supreme Court to hear the six-day case, which they said was the culmination of a decade of aggressive actions.

David A Semonian, a spokesman at the sect's world headquarters in New York, said the ministry of justice had no basis for its claims.

He said the ban would put members under threat of criminal prosecution even for praying together in a violation of our basic human rights.

Jehovahs Witnesses gather in a house in the village of Vorokhobino, north of Moscow, where they meet for services (Pictures by James Hill/New York Times) (James Hill/New York Times)

Jehovahs Witnesses first registered as a religious group in Russia in 1991 and registered again in 1999, but have been targeted repeatedly by authorities in a wide-ranging crackdown on religious freedom.

Russia changed its legal definition of extremism in 2006, removing requirements for violence or hatred but stating the incitement of.religious discord as criteria, leaving the Jehovah's Witnesses with the same legal status as Isis or Nazis.

The group's international website was blocked in Russia two years ago over alleged extremism, with the group's Bibles banned the following year, while a local chairman was jailed for two years on charges of possessing "extremist literature" in 2010.

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) was among the international bodies condemning a state sponsored campaign of harassment and mistreatment of Jehovahs Witnesses it said dated back to the 1990s in Russia.

It listed police searches, assaults, arson attacks, vandalism, seizures and raids on worship, as well as the arrest of several members and criminal investigations.
A presentation entitled Summer Internship 2017 was held by SOCAR Polymer company at Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS). The Higher Schools Rector Elmar Gasimov, General Manager of SOCAR Polymer LLC Farid Jafarov and other company representatives participated in the event.

Opening the meeting, Rector Elmar Gasimov welcomed the guests and said that President of the Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev assigns high priority to the SOCAR Polymer project and considers it very important for the future of the country. Implementation of this initiative is a vivid evidence of the development of non-oil sector and economics of Azerbaijan, emphasized Elmar Gasimov. In his words, demand for high-qualified engineers will significantly grow after the SOCAR Polymer plant is put in operations, and this opens new job opportunities for the Higher School graduates. The rector expressed his confidence that BHOS cooperation with SOCAR Polymer LLC will be conducive to intensive teaching of Chemical Engineering disciplines at the Higher School and will give further impetus to studies at BHOS within framework of lifelong learning.

In his presentation, General Manager of SOCAR Polymer Farid Jafarov noted that he is very pleased with developing cooperation with the Baku Higher Oil School, which trains high-qualified English-speaking national engineers. BHOS graduates are a guarantee of the successful industrial development of Azerbaijan, he said. Farid Jafarov also provided detailed information about the SOCAR Polymer project.

As was reported, during the summer internship students participate in the SOCAR Polymer daily operations alongside the company specialists, learn about the most advanced technologies and modern equipment used for the project, and, thus, gain valuable practical experience.

At the end of the meeting, representatives of SOCAR Polymers various departments answered numerous questions from students.
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Russian attack jets carry electronic weapons that can cripple the US Navy's missile defence system, Russian state media has claimed.

Russia-1's Vesti programme said an electronic warfare device called "Khibiny" was used by a Russian pilot to completely deactivate the defence systems of the USS Donald Cook in a 2014 encounter in the Black Sea.

The US' Aegis system, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, is designed to protect a fleet against attacks by aircraft, and cruise and ballistic missiles.

But the state-controlled Vesti broadcast claimed the pilot of a Sukhoi Su-24 jet was able to deactivate "the whole ship's systems" with "powerful radio-electronic waves" during the fly-by incident three years ago, around the time of Russia's annexation of Crimea.

"You don't need to have expensive weapons to win [a war], powerful radio-electronic jamming is enough," it added.

At the time the US military confirmed the Donald Cook, a guided missile destroyer, had encountered a pair of Su-24s that repeatedly flew near it in the Black Sea.

But a spokesman, Army Col Steve Warren, said then: "The Donald Cook is more than capable of defending itself against two Su-24s."

The three-year gap between the weapon's use and the broadcast was not explained by Vesti, whose report came at a time of diplomatic tension between the US and Russia.

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

Both President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, have admitted relations between the countries are at a low point.

During a tense visit with his counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, earlier this month, Mr Tillerson said the worlds "two foremost nuclear powers cannot have this kind of relationship".

And ahead of an off-camera meeting with Mr Tillerson, Vladimir Putin noted in an interview that "one could say that the level of trust on a working level, especially on the military level, has not improved, but rather has deteriorated".

The US Department of Defence has been contacted for comment.
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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has reportedly been barred from standing in Iran's presidential elections.

The former leader's candidacy was blocked by a clerical body that vets election candidates, state media reported.

The hardline ex-president unexpectedly announced his candidacy earlier this month.

Mays election is widely expected to be won by current moderate President Hassan Rouhani, best known outside the country for his negotiation of a nuclear deal with world powers.

Mr Rouhani was endorsed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in September 2016, who also recommended that Mr Ahmadinejad should not run. Without naming the former president, he said one candidate should not seek office as it would bring about a polarised situation that would be harmful for the county.

Mr Ahmadinejad, who remains a deeply polarising figure even among Iranian hard-liners, had shocked the country by registering last week.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had previously urged him not to run.

Mr Ahmadinejad was president from 2005 to 2013, and was best known abroad for his incendiary rhetoric toward Israel, his questioning of the scale of the Holocaust and his efforts to ramp up Iran's nuclear programme.

The Guardian Council, a clerical body that vets candidates, said it had compiled a final list of candidates earlier on Thursday and that the Interior Ministry would announce their names by Sunday.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Leaders in the West Bank have criticised Israeli authorities for refusing to meet for talks with Palestinian prisoners who are hunger striking in protest at their conditions.

Issa Qaraqe, head of detainees' affairs for the Palestinian Authority (PA), warned on Wednesday the dispute could spark a new intifada if any of the striking inmates die.

Israels prison service estimates that 1,187 Palestinian prisoners, held in eight jails around the country, began their protest on 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners Day. Three days later the number had swelled to around 1,500, Mr Qaraqe said. The prison service did not confirm Mr Qarage's figure.

 Netanyahu blames Palestinians for lack of peace in Israel

The Freedom and Dignity strike is over a range of issues, from access to telephones and lawyers, to better medical care, to ending solitary detention.

If their demands are not met, more prisoners will join the strike, he said in a statement which called on the UN and international community to intervene. Months of negotiations had failed, he added.

Palestinian leaders, including Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and Palestinian Liberation Organisation Executive Committee Member Hanan Ashrawi, have also voiced their support.

Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan told public radio on Tuesday that the striking inmates were terrorists and incarcerated murderers who are getting what they deserve, while Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he wanted to take the approach of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Mrs Thatcher famously refused to negotiate with IRA hunger strikers in 1981 protests in which 10 people died.

Israel: From independence to intifada Show all 7 1 /7 Israel: From independence to intifada Israel: From independence to intifada 26973.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26974.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26975.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26976.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26977.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26985.bin Robert Capa/Magnum Israel: From independence to intifada 26986.bin Robert Capa/Magnum

Around 6,500 Palestinians are currently detained in Israeli prisons, most for terrorism convictions, although Palestinian leaders and prisoners groups maintain that many have been unfairly tried or are political prisoners.

A further 500 are detained under what is known as Administrative Detention, which allows suspects to be held without charge for six month intervals.

There have been several hunger strikes mounted in the past, but never on so large a scale.

The current protest is being led by Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian leader jailed by Israel for life for five murders. Mr Erdan said Barghouti was guilty of instigating mutiny and leading the hunger strike and that is a severe violation of the rules of the prison.

Barghouti, who is popular in both Gaza and the West Bank and is sometimes touted as a future successor to incumbent Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas despite his multiple sentences, has been placed in solitary confinement for his role in the strike.

Many others have been separated into different cell blocks away from the rest of the prisons populations.

Israels prison service will set up a field hospital to treat hunger strikes if necessary, spokesperson Assaf Librati said.

A 2015 law made it legal for civilian hospitals to force-feed protesters, but they have to date refused to do so.
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Incontrovertible test results show that sarin gas or a chemically similar substance to the nerve agent was used in an incident which killed 86 people in a Syrian village earlier this month, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has said.

Sarin is a nerve agent banned under international law which attacks the bodys central nervous system and causes nausea, difficulty breathing, blurred vision and loss of control of bodily functions.

Ahmet Uzumcu, the head of the OPCW, said in a statement on Wednesday that analysis of the bodies of three victims and seven survivors at four different laboratories indicated exposure to either sarin or a sarin-like substance.

 Syria: Man loses 25 family members in suspected chemical attack

While further details of the laboratory analyses will follow, the analytical results already obtained are incontrovertible, Mr Uzumcu said.

Earlier testing on victims bodies by British scientists and the Turkish Health Ministry found evidence of exposure to both sarin and chlorine gas, which most of the international community believes occurred during a deliberate attack on the rebel-held village by the Syrian regime.

Damascus, along with its Russian and Iranian allies, has said that the 4 April casualties were caused when a conventional air strike on an al-Qaeda weapons depot nearby caused an explosion, releasing the deadly gases.

Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian President, has repeatedly denied his government has any chemical weapons stocks after surrendering its chemical arsenal to an international watchdog in 2013 after the deaths of hundreds from sarin exposure in a rebel-held suburb of Damascus in 2013.

The opposition, however, has long accused the regime of holding back some of its supply.

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

OPCW has said it believes Mr Assads government is responsible for at least two chemical weapons attacks that have occurred in Syria since then  claims the President also denies.

On Wednesday Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French foreign minister, said that his countrys intelligence services have proof that the Syrian government was behind the alleged chemical weapons attack on a rebel village earlier this month.

There is an investigation underway. Its a question of days and we will provide proof that the regime carried out these strikes, Ayrault told LCP, the French parliamentary channel.

The US responded to the alleged attack by launching warning shot air strikes on a regime-controlled air base near Homs a few days later, which killed six Syrian servicemen. The offensive is to date the only direct action the US has taken against Mr Assads regime in more than six years of war.

The Syrian president has said that he will allow an impartial investigation into the 4 April incident as long as it is carried out by unbiased countries without a political agenda.

Mr Uzumcu said an OPCW fact-finding mission was ready to deploy to Syria if the security situation meant it was possible.

His team was continuing to conduct interviews and collect samples related to the attack, he added
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A young girl who survived an attack on a bus convoy evacuating civilians from a besieged Syrian town has been filmed smiling at the camera in powerful footage being shared online.

The child, swathed in bandages, was injured at the weekend when a suicide bomber detonated explosives onboard a crowded vehicle.

He killed at least 126 people, including 88 children.

The bus passengers were refugees, escaping the towns of Kefraya and al Foua, which are held by forces loyal to the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, but have been under siege from rebel forces for more than two years.

The attack was reportedly carried out by a man who enticed children waiting near the buses at a checkpoint to come closer to his vehicle by handing out crisps and sweets, several rebel and regime media sources said.

Scores were injured by shrapnel, including the girl in the video, who was filmed in the back of an ambulance being treated for a head injury.

In the footage, first broadcast by the official Syrian Arab News Agency, a large plaster covers a cut on her cheek and her beige top is covered in blood.

Initially she looks upset and frightened but then she breaks into a smile as someone tries to amuse her by inflating two surgical gloves.

Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Show all 12 1 /12 Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War A man crosses a street in Aleppo, December 12, 2009 Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War A vendor sits inside an antique shop in al-Jdeideh neighbourhood, in the Old City of Aleppo, December 12, 2009 Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War A view shows part of Aleppo's historic citadel, overlooking Aleppo city, Syria Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War A view shows part of Aleppo's historic citadel, Syria Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Visitors walk inside Aleppo's Umayyad mosque, Syria Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War People walk inside the Khan al-Shounah market, in the Old City of Aleppo, Syria Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War A man walks past shops in al-Jdeideh neighbourhood, in the Old City of Aleppo, Syria Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War People walk along an alley in al-Jdeideh neighbourhood, in the Old City of Aleppo, Syria Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Visitors tour Aleppo's historic citadel, Syria December 11, 2009 Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War A general view shows the Old City of Aleppo as seen from Aleppo's historic citadel, Syria December 11, 2009 Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War People walk near Aleppo's Bab al-Faraj Clock Tower, Syria October 6, 2010 Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War A man stands inside Aleppo's historic citadel, overlooking Aleppo city, Syria December 11, 2009 Reuters

The explosion occurred as the buses passed through Rashidin in rebel territory, near to the town of Aleppo.

Qatar and Iran brokered the evacuation deal, which also allows residents of opposition towns Madaya and Zabadani to cross safely to rebel-controlled Idlib province.

The bombing has not been claimed. While both sides have blamed the other for the attack, it is likely to have been carried out by extremist factions of Jaish al-Fatah, a rebel umbrella group with al Qaeda links, which was reportedly unhappy that the regime was allegedly bussing out more fighters than agreed.

By midweek the full evacuation programme appeared to have restarted after stopping briefly, both rebel and state media said, with 3,000 more residents of the pro-government towns al Foua and Kefraya leaving on 45 buses.

Another 11 buses carrying some 500 people, including opposition fighters, left Madaya and Zabadani, near Damascus, heading toward northern rebel-held Idlib province.

The multiple-stage transfer deal, which could see 30,000 in total moved across front lines, has been widely criticised as not meeting base-level safety standards.

But after more than two years of enduring mortar fire, snipers and limited food and medical supplies many residents are desperate enough to take the risk.
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Flights to some long haul destinations are 18 per cent cheaper than this time last year according to research from travel comparison site Skyscanner.

The greatest price drop is in Vancouver, Canada, where an average return flight now costs 576.38  almost a fifth (18 per cent) cheaper year on year. Passengers flying in October can pick up a return for as little as 376 with Air Transat if they book now.

Flights to the US have dropped considerably too, with a return to Boston, Massachusetts, costing 13 per cent less at 477.34 on average. Orlando, Florida, is also 10 per cent cheaper. There has been much talk of a Trump slump, as American tourism has suffered since Donald Trumps inauguration as President, which could have had some impact on flight prices.

Recommended Norwegian Airlines launches flights to Singapore

Hong Kong flights are 12 per cent cheaper year on year, matched by Kathmandu in Nepal, which is slowly recovering its tourist trade two years on from an earthquake that devastated the country.

On average, flights are 10 per cent cheaper across the board  although booking at the right time is key to getting the best deal. For example, those buying flights to Vancouver got the cheapest rate by booking 29 weeks ahead of departure.

Skyscanner travel editor, Cat McGloin, said: We have seen an average 10 per cent drop in flight prices over the last year, but what we are now able to see is where the biggest drops are for those long-haul destinations and show travellers that those far flung locations might be more affordable than they think.

Finding cheap prices can be easily if travellers are flexible, choosing to depart from a different airport or changing the date of travel are just two quick hacks to consider.

She added: "Whilst it is hard to predict the exact future trends of flight prices and if they will continue to drop, what we do know is the price of oil, flight demand and route availability all impact on the cost of flights.

Heres what to do in the best value long-haul destinations.

Vancouver, BC

Cheapest month to fly: October

Vancouver flights are 18 per cent cheaper (Kenny Louie/Flickr)

Aside from enjoying the autumn leaves and slew of Halloween-inspired events throughout the month, visitors to Vancouver in October can also take in Vancouver International Film Festival (September 29 to October 13), celebrate the harvest at the Fort Langley Cranberry Festival (October 7) and even indulge in some light quaffing at Harvest Haus, Vancouvers answer to Oktoberfest.

Boston, Massachusetts

Cheapest month to fly: November

Boston in autumn is all about Thanksgiving (Michael Krigsman/Flickr)

November is all about Thanksgiving in the US. Party like a pilgrim in nearby Plymouth, which has a full-on festival including a parade, patriotic songs and historical reenactments (November 17 to 19). For something a little more modern, head to Boston Taste, a festival featuring the citys best chefs and mixologists at the Boston Childrens Museum (November 14).

Hong Kong, China

Cheapest month to fly: November

There's a month-long gourmet festival in Hong Kong in November (Getty)

Hong Kongs harbourfront is dominated by Clockenflap in mid-November, an annual music and arts festival incorporating international, regional and local live music, film and art installations (November 17 to 19). Alternatively, foodies will be in seventh heaven as the city hosts a series of gourmet happenings throughout the month as part of the Great November Feast.

Kathmandu, Nepal

Cheapest month to fly: January

Nepal's historic Durbar Square (Heather Carswell)

The good news is its not the rainy season. The bad news is its the coldest month of the year in Nepals capital, with average temperature lows of three degrees in January. Still, wrap up and theres plenty to see. An earthquake in 2015 damaged many of the countrys ancient buildings, but most of these beautiful structures are still standing among the rubble. Head to the medieval city-state of Bhaktapur and explore winding streets, medieval squares and a generous helping of temples.

Havana, Cuba

Cheapest month to fly: September

Havana in Cuba is cheapest in September (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Cuba has opened its doors to tourism over the last few years, and theres plenty to enjoy in the islands capital. Temperatures are still hot in September, averaging 27 degrees. Visitors can take a stroll along Malecon, a quintessentially Cuban seafront promenade; discover more of Cubas eclectic history in the Museo de la Revolucion; or experience authentic Cuban cuisine at La Fontana, one of Havanas best restaurants.
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Just three out of five flights arriving and departing from Gatwick kept within 15 minutes of their scheduled time, according to a wide-reaching survey by the travel intelligence specialist OAG.

OAG surveyed hundreds of airports over the course of the year for its On-Time Performance Star Ratings, and awarded many of them between one and five stars for punctuality.

Recommended Long haul flights are 10 per cent cheaper than last year

To qualify for one star, as the Isle of Man, Exeter and Belfast International did, the airport needed to score 75 per cent or better on the standard industry measure of arriving or departing no more than 15 minutes late.

Both the UKs busiest airports, Heathrow and Gatwick, failed to make even one star. Heathrow scored 73.6 per cent, while Gatwick was well down the field at 60 per cent.

A spokesperson for the Sussex airport said: Gatwick recognises the inconvenience that delays cause to our passengers and we will continue to do everything possible to prevent them from occurring.

Despite implementing a wide range of measures to improve on-time performance in recent years, improvements to punctuality have been overwhelmed by the scale of wider airspace issues outside our control, including repeated strike action on the continent and heavily congested airspace above parts of Europe and London.

Gatwick also has more flights to Europe than any UK airport and is impacted disproportionately by events on the Continent.

We will continue to make improvements and invest in new infrastructure to help support punctuality but we also call on UK and European authorities to take urgent steps to limit the impact of industrial disputes on UK passengers, and to accelerate plans to increase the efficiency of UK and European airspace.

 Chris Woodrofe discusses the changes at Gatwick airport

Three UK airports scored the maximum five stars. Best performing was Newcastle, at 91.4 per cent  just ahead of Birmingham at 90.7 and Cardiff at 90.4 per cent. The UK was the only country with three airports in the top grade. France, Germany, Indonesia, the US and Belarus each have one, while Japan has two.

The most punctual airport worldwide was a former Luftwaffe base in northern France, from which German bombers launched attacks in the Battle of Britain. Tille airport, which is walking distance from the small city of Beauvais, had a 96 per cent punctuality score over the past year.

Ryanair is the leading airline at the airport, which officially calls itself Paris-Beauvais  even though it is more than 50 miles north of the French capital.

The OAG survey also looked at the most punctual British airlines. In third place was Jet2 at 84.8 per cent; second was Flybe at 86.2; and Monarch was top, with a punctuality rate of 86.6 per cent. It took first place despite a busy operation at Gatwick, where it accounts for one in 25 flights.
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Singapore from London for 180 one-way: that is the offer from the low-cost airline Norwegian as it continues its long-haul expansion.

The latest route will connect Gatwick with Changi airport in Singapore from 28 September.

The outbound flight takes 12 hours 45 minutes, with a mid-morning departure from Gatwick and a dawn arrival in Singapore. The inbound leg, which takes an hour longer, is a daytime service.

A fare comparison by The Independent for the first day of the new service, returning a week later, found fares of 474 on British Airways and 499 on Singapore Airlines, compared with 380 on Norwegian.

The basic price for the Norwegian flight does not include meals or luggage.

Premium fares costing 700 outbound, 630 inbound, include lounge access, more legroom, meals and baggage.

A new Norwegian UK subsidiary, based at Gatwick, will operate the service. The offshoot was set up to allow the Oslo-based airline to access bilateral traffic rights.

The airlines chief executive, Bjorn Kjos, said: Adding Singapore to our growing UK network will give passengers even more choice for affordable, quality travel to a range of global destinations.

Stewart Wingate, the chief executive of Gatwick, said: As our 50-strong world route network expands, so too does Gatwicks reputation on the global stage as a strong, dependable option for international travel.

The airline will run only four flights a week, compared with two daily on British Airways and four daily on Singapore Airlines to and from Heathrow.
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Talk to Bashar al-Assads enemies, and theyll tell you hes to blame for every man, woman and child who has been killed in Syria. Thats 400,000. Or 450,000. Or 500,000. The figures, so carelessly put together by the media, the UN and the various opposition groups who naturally want the statistics to be as high as possible, now embrace 100,000 souls who may  or may not  be still alive. But death tolls have nothing to do with compassion. They are about blame, about culpability.

And the claim that Assad is responsible for every one of the dead rests on the notion that he started the war. In his case, this means that the arrest and torture  and in one case, reported killing  of a group of schoolchildren who had written anti-regime graffiti on a wall in the southern city of Deraa, was the ignition switch for the mass opposition rallies and subsequent armed uprising which has devastated Syria. In the case of Deraa, Assad realised the seriousness of the event  he fired the city governor and sent his deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad to see the families. Too late.

In the age of Arab revolutions, routine torture was no longer excusable. And when large crowds of largely peaceful demonstrators were attacked by armed troops and militias, the Syrian war became unstoppable. But unlike the Tunisian and Egyptian regimes whose autocrats respectively fled to Saudi Arabia and an Egyptian hospital, Assad fought on. He declared war on terrorism, claiming that his armed enemies were paid and weaponised by the West  which was largely true  and that a plot was underway to overthrow him, which was very definitely true. And then Isis arrived.

 More than 100 killed in Syria bus blast

The notion has since grown up that Isis was also a product of Assads war and that he was thus also to blame for their mass murders and throat-cuttings in Syria. This, of course, is nonsense. Isis was a creature born of the Bush-Blair invasion of Iraq. Isis was the direct result of our brutal occupation of Iraq. The blood-curdling activities of Isis are the responsibility of those two deeply Christian gentlemen who decided to illegally invade another sovereign state under false pretences and whose criminal adventure led to the deaths of up to half a million Iraqis  weirdly enough, the same death toll now being credited to Assad by his most ferocious enemies.

But the word responsibility introduces another perspective. Who was responsible for the Syrian war? The Assad family, whose dictatorship stretched back to 1971, can be accused of creating a state whose intrinsic (and undemocratic) flaws would one day engulf the country in mass violence. Individual acts of repression  the Hama slaughter of 1982, for example  could be defined as war crimes, although the regimes enemies were murdering Syrian officials and their families at the time and the Americans (the saintly Reagan) were then more than happy to allow Hafez el-Assad to polish off his Muslim Brotherhood enemies.

History time. The First World War was triggered, quite literally, by the killing of the Archduke Ferdinand at Sarajevo  but no one claims that Gavrilo Princip was either responsible or to blame for the killing of over 17 million people. We can blame the Germans, of course, who invaded Belgium and France, although oddly we never paid as much attention to Kaiser Wilhelm as we did to Prussian militarism. Perhaps because the Kaiser had a withered hand and was a rather pathetic figure, he never acquired the pariah status of later German monsters.

And then we come to the Second World War  which means a dangerous journey into SpicerWorld. Between 60 and 70 million men, women and children were killed in this worst of all the titanic conflicts in history. And yes, we do blame Hitler and say that, yes, he and his Nazi raptors were actually responsible for the 1939-45 Second World War. And this would be correct. This would probably have to exclude the Chinese who were invaded and occupied by the Japanese Empire, for whom the war began in 1937. And of course, the Soviet Union was only invaded by the Nazis in June 1941 after enjoying almost two years of an outrageous alliance with Hitler. And the US only joined the war when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour in December 1941, after America had enjoyed more than two years of profitable neutrality. But Hitler then declared war on America  not the other way round  thus associating himself with Japans war crimes.

And Hitler does, I believe, prove to be the undeniable exception. He wanted war and he wanted to kill the Jews  long before he was able to satisfy these truly evil aspirations. His Nazi regime was utterly irredeemable. It had not a single moral feature in its existence. He was to blame. He was culpable. He was responsible. And yes, he was a really wicked man. And he did use chemical weapons on the innocent Jews of Europe. Ive just finished re-reading DC Watts extraordinary account of those last twelve months of peace  How War Came: Immediate Origins of the Second World War, 1938-39  and I come away exhausted at the sheer villainy of Hitler and his henchmen, not to mention the shame of those democrats who tried to believe in him.

But then we come to individual events. German invasions, the Blitz on Warsaw, Rotterdam, London, Belgrade, Warsaw again All war crimes. And then we come to the RAF and the USAF which destroyed Dresden, whose mass civilian casualties  along with even greater numbers in the fire-storming of Hamburg  must be laid at the individual hands of Marshal Sir Arthur Bomber Harris. He knew that if you burn a medieval city, you kill civilians in their tens of thousands. And he went ahead and burned them. During the 1940 Blitz, he said of the Germans  slightly misquoting the Book of Hosea  that they sowed the wind, and now, they are going to reap the whirlwind. And Harris whirlwind tore through the Germans cities in a tempest of fire. So does a war crime expunge another war crime? Do Hiroshima and Nagasaki shrug off the criminal cloud because of the vicious imperial regime and its murderers which Japan imposed so cruelly upon its own occupied lands?

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

So now lets come back, carefully, frighteningly, to the Middle East. When Saddam Hussein, used gas on his own people at Halabja, he was, as we all know (but like to forget), killing Kurds who had aligned themselves with the Iranian enemy  with whom Saddams Iraq was in mortal combat. This cannot justify such wickedness. Trial recordings in Baghdad after Saddams hanging proved that he knew the physical effects of gas. Saddam wanted the people of Halabja to suffer before death.

The fact that he did not personally drop the gas on the Kurdish town does not absolve him  any more than we were prepared to absolve the war crimes in Kosovo for which Slobodan Milosevic was indicted at The Hague. Because we believe not just in blame but in responsibility. Yet Harris, long dead, would say that while he took responsibility for Dresden, he was not to blame  it was Hitler, who sowed the wind, who was culpable. And thus we burrow down into the dark world of war crimes trials.

We are told now that Bashar al-Assad should be made amenable for war crimes. And national leaders should indeed be liable before international law. That includes not just regional Arab dictators  I can think of some Saudi princes who might stand in the dock for war crimes in Yemen, though I promise you they are safe from any such outcome  but leaders of much larger, much richer Western countries. And so we come back, naturally enough, to Messrs Bush and Blair. They never used gas. In fact, Blairs constant refrain  that we werent as bad as Saddam  would become his mantra whenever he was accused of committing the crime of aggression. Saddam was to blame. He was responsible.

And now anyone can use that line. Bashar is not as bad as Isis, you may say  although his enemies are getting close to claiming that he is. But no Baathist suicide killers are trying to massacre civilians in Paris, Brussels, London, St Petersburg or in the US. And here we must recall when Amnesty produce details of hanging in Assads prisons, that only a few years ago Bush and Blair themselves were dispatching civilians to be tortured in these very same prisons (along with their satellite jails in Egypt, Morocco and Libya) during their notorious policy of rendition  for Britain, it will be recalled, sent one of Gaddafis principal opponents off to Tripoli for a dose of prolonged torture and imprisonment. And didnt we all love Saddam when he invaded Iran in 1980, even though we knew he hanged his enemies on mass gallows at the time at the Abu Ghraib prison, an institution to which we later turned our own torturing hands?

Yes, its a pretty fraught question, this business of blame and culpability and guilt and responsibility. And war crimes. Putins not in the clear either. Ukraine. Sevastapol. The bombing of Aleppo. But what we need is evidence. Not anonymous officials and unnamed intelligence sources and all the other comedians on the journalistic stage. Nor the dead whose numbers wobble by a difference of 100,000 bodies. Lets remember that the 30,000 dead of the Nazi bombing of Rotterdam turned out at Nuremberg to be nearer to 900 (still terrible, but not quite the same figure).

So why not keep our fingers off the missile triggers for a while, restrain the Hollywood adventures of the special forces and those who love the mother of all bombs? Why dont we find the lawyers and the judges and the legal clerks and the international police investigators and the judicial institutions which we were gathering long before the Second World War ended? Why not go after evidence?

Who are the killers? Who gave them the orders? And this means not just who gave the orders to the killers of Syria. It also means  do not mention here the kings and prince of the Gulf  that we must discover who is really behind Isis? And that, I suspect, is the question of this decade.
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With only a few days left to the first round of the French presidential election, Marine Le Pen is in a buoyant mood, with her far right Front National Party one of two front runners in one of the tightest and unpredictable elections to date. The idea that a far right candidate could win in France is very real, recent events have taught us to expect the unexpected, made all the more frightening by the fact that up to a third of the electorate is still undecided, with polls changing daily.

The transformation of the Front National from a fringe group into a major force in French politics has been helped significantly by Le Pen portraying her party as being the only defender of secularism, or as the French would say Laicite. Secularism is a particularly sensitive topic in France, woven into fabric of the country, enjoying support from all factions of the French political sphere, which is why it proved so easy for Le Pen to use it as a vehicle through which to increase her own popularity. In doing so she has managed to extend her appeal to voters who would otherwise have never considered voting for her.

 French Presidential Debate: Le Pen and Macron clash over immigration and burkini policy

Yet it is a very broad term, allowing the far right to exploit it as a means of discriminating against minority communities, especially those from Muslim backgrounds. Le Pen has made it clear that she intends to ban the wearing of headscarves, turbans and skull caps in public. Though she kept silent when Catholic groups organised public protests against abortion and gay marriage.

In part, Le Pen's success has been bought about by the failure of secularists to speak out against the hijacking of an ideology whose purpose is to achieve the neutrality of the state on religious matters, but which is instead being used as an instrument to target immigrants and religious minorities. To secularists like myself it means campaigning for and ensuring a separation between the state and religious matters, as a means through which to ensure the equality of citizens, irrespective of their religious beliefs or background. For Le Pen it has meant the negation of religious sentiment in public. Affirming diversity in public is not something that is a threat to the ideals of secularism, but rather as something to be celebrated and as a source of strength.

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

Nor is secularism about passing value judgements that target and discriminate against particular populations through the pretence of neutrality. Where secularism is supposed to bring citizens together on the notion of shared citizenship, in Le Pens case it has polarised. Where the state was supposed to be neutral, it has clearly become associated with partiality.

Le Pens secularism imposes ideologies of their own making upon citizens; ideologies that seek to exclude groups from the nations identity. For me secularism is about inclusiveness and equality for all, not about polarisation. It's about time some of my fellow secularists spoke out.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 19

By Azad Hasanli  Trend:

The World Bank (WB) concluded two contracts totaling $4.6 million as part of the IDP Living Standards and Livelihoods Project in Azerbaijan, WB told Trend Apr. 19.

The first contract worth $2.1 million was concluded with the Ganja Regional Economic Consulting Center and the TAMAS Regional Development Public Union.

The contract envisages consulting work on the implementation of the youth support program. The contract is valid for three years.

The second contract worth $2.5 million was signed with the Azerbaijan Gender Information Center NGO, ASR Consulting and Research Group LCC and the Azerbaijan Community Development Research, Training and Resource Center.

The contract envisages rendering consulting services for the implementation of the program to increase the income of internally displaced people.

This is the third IDP Living standards and Livelihoods Project implemented by the WB in Azerbaijan. The project was approved by the WB Board of Directors in October 2011. The main projects cost was $78.53 million, including $28.53 million allocated by the Azerbaijani government. In total, the WB allocated $153.2 million since 2001 and helped to improve living conditions and to increase income of more than 500,000 IDPs in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan joined the WB in 1992.
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It is a long time since George Osborne has held the distinguished role in the unwritten British constitution of the Next Prime Minister. He gave up the post with his ill-judged 2012 Budget in which he trashed his own slogan, All in it together, by cutting the top rate of income tax. Since then he has been trying to win back the Next Prime Minister title, but today he finally accepted that his political career is over, announcing that he will not be contesting his Tatton constituency on 8 June.

Of course, he suggests that he may be back, saying: I am stepping down from the House of Commons  for now. And it could happen. Westminster is alive with speculation at the moment about the possible return of David Miliband and Ed Balls. But it is mostly bravado with a dash of mischief. There is no recent precedent of a prime minister who had left the House of Commons and came back to take the top job. The closest analogy is Osbornes rival Boris Johnson, but he left the Commons to take another political office as Mayor of London and then didnt quite make it to No 10 after he returned (although his political career is not over yet).

It may be that Johnsons example is why there was speculation that Osborne might see the editorship of the London Evening Standard as a stepping stone to succeed Sadiq Khan at City Hall. That rather circuitous route to No 10 does not seem likely. Osborne is a talented politician, but it takes an exceptional populist to become Mayor of London, especially if you are a Conservative in a Labour city. Johnson may not be suited to be prime minister, but he could be mayor, whereas with Osborne it is the other way round.

As Chancellor, Osborne used the Treasury as a power base in the Gordon Brown model. He had a vast entourage of special advisers and, as the junior partner in the Cameron leadership, he had a network of patronage among Conservative ministers. If he were to become prime minister it would not be by being popular with the crowd, as Boris was, but by building a following in Parliament with a reputation as an experienced minister.

 George Osborne defends appointment as editor of the Evening Standard

I remember talking to David Cameron before the EU referendum and, while he praised his Chancellor to the skies, he seemed to accept that Osborne was unlikely to succeed him as prime minister. He thought his successor would be an opponent of EU membership, because the party members hearts beat in that direction. As it turned out, he was succeeded by a Remainer, but that was only because the Brexit vote had already happened and Theresa May was trusted to deliver it.

One of the first things she did was to sack Osborne. It was a rather unnecessary public humiliation, as her people briefed journalists that he had not been allowed the dignity of saying he had resigned. Even so, he did not accept that his glittering career in politics was over. He stayed in the Commons when his friend Cameron quit in order to avoid being a distraction for the Government.

He had not lost the capacity for surprise by securing the editorship of the Evening Standard. That was always an awkward fit with being an MP for a northern English seat. He even said today that he will continue to promote the Northern Powerhouse, but it is an unusual preoccupation for the editor of the London newspaper. Many people assumed he would give up his seat in 2020, not least because it would cease to exist in the next boundary review, due next year. Paradoxically, the early election makes that less important, because Tatton will survive for another five years now. But it required him to make a decision. So he bowed to the inevitable, and decided to throw himself wholeheartedly into his new career in journalism.

Welcome to this side of the fence, George.
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For the second time in 18 months, the country has to pay the price for a prime minister who has put the Tory partys interests before the nations interests. Last year, I predicted that Theresa May would call a snap election this spring. And now she has.

So what next?

I have a suspicion that the surprise no one sees coming in this election will not be what happens inside the small, cramped circle where politicians and political parties live, but what happens when the voiceless millions of the moderate, progressive centre outside that circle demand to be heard. If you want to see what can happen when they do, look at what is happening now with Macrons En Marche! movement in France.

It is worth examining for a moment what May actually said this week when she announced a general election.

 Theresa May denies early general election is about seeking a 'blank cheque' from voters

An election was needed for the country, she claimed.

Why? We have a perfectly good Parliament with two years to run, doing its job scrutinising legislation which will affect our lives for years to come. We all know that May didnt want Parliament to get involved at all, until the Supreme Court told her she had to. Now she wants an election which will give her a Parliament whose Tory majority is so big she can simply ignore it. Theresa May was prevented by the courts from bypassing Parliament. Now she wants to make it her poodle.

An election was needed to unite the nation, she said.

Some cheek! Coming from a Prime Minister who inherited a divided country and, with every act and word since, has widened the divisions further.

It was she who, in her first speeches as PM, laid into the supposed liberal elite who voted Remain; she who said that those who thought themselves citizens of the world were citizens of nowhere; she who chose the most extreme and brutal form of Brexit which puts our country on the edge of the cliff and as far away from Europe as possible; she who, instead of trying to reach out to the 48 per cent who lost, then encouraged a campaign of insult to anyone who dared to raise their heads above the parapet and argue for a more moderate approach; she who has presided over a frightening rise in hate crime in Britain: she who, by moving her party lock, stock and barrel on to policy positions indistinguishable from Ukip (like grammar schools), has widened the divisions in British politics and left those of the moderate centre more voiceless and scattered than ever before in my political lifetime.

We do badly need a more united Britain. But those who believe that giving Theresa Mays Tories a bigger majority is the way to do it are indulging in the triumph of hope over our recent bitter experience of what she and they stand for.

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

Lastly, Theresa May claimed that an election would strengthen her hand in the coming EU negotiations. But the real reason is somewhat different. She knows perfectly well that there are very painful Brexit times ahead. She wants to get an election in before this happens so she can simply ignore the pain when it does happen  and reject any claim that she should consult anyone beyond her narrow circle about the final deal she reaches.

This election may seem like an exercise in democracy today  but its actually about giving Theresa May the means to ignore democracy tomorrow.

Nevertheless, now we have an election, like it or not. In which case, we Lib Dems say: bring it on!

We are ready for the fight and confident that, with civilised liberal values like tolerance, respect for others, moderation and the habit of compromise more at risk than ever before in my lifetime, this is a battle worth fighting and one we will relish.

We are inspired too by the thousands who have now come to join us. Our membership has doubled since the referendum, and it leapt by more than 1,000 in the hours after Theresa Mays announcement. And we are winning in the ballot box too, in by-elections both parliamentary and local.

Having had to eat my hat last time (for the record, I have eaten five), I am not in the business of making predictions. So instead I will make an appeal to my party. This is not the time for tribalism. I believe we can achieve great successes in the next weeks. But while Lib Dem victories are necessary for a fairer Britain, they are not sufficient.

The historic task before us is to be the catalyst for a political force capable of being a real opposition to the Tories. Labour cannot do that. And we cannot do it alone.

Its time to reach out beyond our tribal barriers and build a wider progressive movement which can oppose and in time replace the Tories by giving a voice to the new voiceless in Britain  the thousands in politics and the millions beyond it who believe in the values of tolerance, internationalism, diversity and partnership, and do not believe these can be delivered by a divisive Tory Prime Minister with a bigger majority.

If we Lib Dems see that as our vision, we can turn what will be a good election into great one  perhaps, indeed, a historic one.

Paddy Ashdown is former leader of the Liberal Democrats
An artists impression of the data centre planned for Athenry in Co Galway

One of the main opponents to Apple's planned 850m data centre development in Co Galway has objected to a proposal by Amazon to build a massive 1bn data centre in Dublin - raising the prospect it could also be hit with a lengthy delay.

Amazon had hoped to begin construction of its campus this year.

But Allan Daly, an engineer from Athenry, Co Galway, has argued that permission for the project should not be granted until the internet giant specifies precisely how much energy the campus will use.

He also suggested that Fingal County Council should not grant permission for the huge development until an assessment of Ireland's renewable energy framework, currently being undertaken by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, is completed.

There's no visibility on when that assessment will be finalised, however.

Amazon's web services division already has a number of data centres in Dublin, but its latest plan - dubbed 'Project G' - is its most ambitious to date in Ireland.

It plans to initially build a 223,000 sq ft data centre in Mulhuddart, close to a huge biologics facility owned by pharma giant Bristol-Myers Squibb.

That unit is likely to cost up to 200m.

But Amazon has told Fingal County Council it might build seven more data centres on the 26-hectare IDA-owned site.

That could involve a further 700m capital outlay.

The company hopes to begin construction of the first data centre on the site this year, and to complete it within 18 months.

Apple unveiled its plans for an 850m data centre campus at Athenry in February 2015, on land owned by Coillte.

It, and another new data centre in Denmark, are intended to power the company's iTunes Store, its iMessage platform, maps and Siri function for customers across Europe.

The centre in Denmark - whose planned development was announced at the same time - is already under construction.

But Apple's Athenry project has been bogged down by both planning appeals and court proceedings leading the tech giant to express its concerns over the delays to State agencies.

Last November, more than 2,000 people staged a march in Athenry supporting Apple's plans for the town.

Last year An Bord Pleanala upheld a decision by Galway County Council to approve the development.

However, Mr Daly was one of three people who then asked the High Court for a judicial review of the case based on environmental grounds.

The Commercial Court heard that case last month and reserved judgment. It has been anticipated that the outcome would be known this month.

Amazon has said that, like Apple, its data centre operation will be powered entirely by renewable energy.

But Mr Daly has cast doubt on claims that Amazon would "buy" its renewable power from a specific energy provider when all renewable power generated is instantly despatched to the national grid.

"Any agreement to somehow 'purchase' existing renewables from energy suppliers creates a false nexus between Ireland's existing wind farms and the development proposal," he told Fingal County Council.
After nine months of speculation, parliamentary debates, appeals and court judgments, British Prime Minister Theresa May has triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, formally beginning the UK's withdrawal from the EU - and will go to the polls on June 8 in a snap bid to secure a mandate for the Brexit negotiations.

Over the next two years or, as is more likely, much longer, Ireland, alongside our departing neighbour, will undergo unprecedented change.

Despite the desire for a soft border, we face the prospect of a manned one, while our tightly interwoven trade relationships, worth 1.2bn a week, may be at risk from new speculative tariffs and taxes.

In the last quarter-century, Ireland's population has increased by over one million. Before the recession, we were one of the world's most affluent countries, and now despite it, we are one of the EU's fastest-growing. Brexit, however, has the potential to damage our internationally envied recovery by threatening our most important industries. Like our high-tech IT and pharma sectors, tourism is essential to Ireland. 2016, the centenary of the Rising, was our best ever year for it. Over nine and a half million people visited.

But with more than 40pc of all tourists in Ireland originating from the UK, will the sector be jeopardised by a hasty or poorly negotiated Brexit that results in a hard Border or, more immediately, a weak pound? We are already feeling this effect. According to new figures from the CSO, visitor numbers from the UK dropped by over 49,000 from December 2016-February 2017 compared to the same period in the previous year.

Diversification and preparedness is essential for any industry, especially in such an uncertain political and economic climate. Ireland must look elsewhere to grow its tourism, particularly to more stable mainland Europe and North America, and to emerging markets in Asia, like China and India.

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Furthermore, investment in tourism and hospitality must be spread around the country. Dublin alone cannot do all the heavy lifting, and that means developing new initiatives to boost visitor numbers to the countryside. Rural Ireland suffered disproportionately during the downturn - infrastructurally, economically and socially - and many would fairly argue that it has still yet to feel the full effects of recovery.

The tourism and hospitality sector, on which much of rural Ireland depends, was devastated by the crash. Thousands of venues were closed, resulting in huge job losses and fewer places for local communities to gather and socialise. Specifically, 1,442, or 16.7pc, of all pubs, closed between 2005 and 2016. Within a short space of time, the main streets of towns and villages off the main tourist trails became shuttered up and derelict. Brexit could easily duplicate this 'recession effect' if we are unprepared.

Earlier this year, Minister Simon Coveney announced the National Planning Framework (NPF), a new long-term initiative designed to accommodate a growing population and economy, nationally and regionally, over the next 25 years. We at the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) believe a strong and reinvigorated rural Ireland is key to realising the country's full potential and to fulfilling the Government's objectives.

'Support Your Local' is a DIGI campaign which seeks to highlight the positive contribution the industry makes to the economic, cultural and social fabric of Ireland, nationally and locally, while also calling for Government supports to ensure the continued growth and development of the industry.

Pubs, hotels, restaurants and off-licences support 204,000 jobs, or 10pc of the entire economy. The drinks industry alone, including brewers and distillers, supports 92,000 jobs nationwide. Ireland's pub culture and hospitality sector is one of the top attractions for tourists. We are witnessing constant innovation, investment and a revolution in the sector, for example in Irish whiskey, with 16 distilleries in operation up from four only a few years ago. Similarly, the brewing sector is thriving, with renewed interest in products and growth in exports.

In our NPF submission, we have outlined key policy proposals, including initiatives to regenerate vacant high streets and bring local communities back together. This will boost quality of life and tourism potential. Our submission also includes taxation policy proposals designed to support and encourage the hospitality sector to invest in its offering, grow and create jobs across the country.

During such an historic period of economic and political upheaval, we must seize the moment and strive for more.

New revenue streams and ongoing job creation in tourism and hospitality will allow us to see off external threats like Brexit and more evenly bring economic recovery and prosperity to all parts of the country.

Padraig Cribben is a member of the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) - the umbrella organisation for the wider drinks industry in Ireland - and CEO of the Vintners Federation of Ireland.
Ireland faces stumping up more cash for the EU budget if the UK leaves the bloc without paying what it allegedly owes.

An EU expert with the London School of Economics (LSE) warned that net contributors to Europe's budget - of which Ireland is one - will have to bridge the gap if Britain walks away without settling its bill to cover the cost of outstanding liabilities such as pensions.

And this could be "particularly toxic", Professor Iain Begg of the LSE's Europe Institute told the Brexit Select Committee.

Asked if he believed the 60bn bill mooted by the European Commission was reasonable, Prof Begg said: "Reasonable is a difficult expression. It's a credible number, because you can work out how they got there using the different components."

He said the UK could potentially be liable for contributions to the EU budget beyond the likely date for Brexit in 2019, and that there were outstanding pension contributions due as well as a legal obligation to pay for commitments agreed before that date, but which don't fall due until a later date.

"If you top them up, you can easily get to the 60bn," Prof Begg added.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said the bill would be in the region of 50bn, or roughly 60bn, and that the final amount would be "calculated scientifically".

He insisted it was not a "punishment" for withdrawal, but merely the settling of commitments made by the UK.

The issue of the bill is likely to dominate the early stage of the talks process, due after the UK's snap election on June 8.

Although some Eurosceptics have questioned whether the UK should pay a bill at all, Prime Minister Theresa May has said that the country would meet its obligations. There is so far no agreement, however, on the final amount.

"If Britain withdraws its money from the EU budget, somebody else is going to have to pay in more, rather than expenditure being cut," warned Prof Begg.

"And that somebody else is inevitably going to be the net contributors, which is going to be particularly toxic. So that's one political consequence."

In 2013, Ireland became a net contributor to the EU Budget for the first time since it joined the bloc in 1973.
The sharpness of Health Minister Leo Varadkar's tone caught everyone by surprise.

At a tense meeting last January in Leinster House, the now caretaker minister told representatives from the National Maternity Hospital and the St Vincent's Healthcare Group (SVHG) - as well as officials from the HSE and Department of Health - that plans to colocate Ireland's busiest maternity hospital on the healthcare group's South County Dublin campus must proceed.

Varadkar, who last week hailed a decision by An Bord Pleanala to give the green light to the construction of a 710m new National Children's Hospital as "fantastic news", told the parties that other general hospitals, including St James's in Dublin, had stolen a march on St Vincent's in recent years.

"I'd hate to see you lose out on this," said Varadkar, referring to the huge capital injection - 150m and counting - that has been set aside by the HSE to build a new maternity hospital on St Vincent's Elm Park campus.

With the projected 60m proceeds of the sale of the NMH's dated Holles Street building to be gifted as part of the move, as well as "significant benefits in the form of enhanced facilities" for St Vincent's - according to the HSE - the country stood to benefit from a once-in-a-lifetime boost to maternity and neonatal services.

The colocation of the National Children's Hospital Group will see the amalgamation of Dublin's three children's hospitals at St James's, with the Children's Hospital Group retaining its own corporate and clinical governance structures.

But plans to colocate the National Maternity Hospital at St Vincent's in South County Dublin have derailed amid a bitter takeover row.

It is a row laced with overtures, perhaps more perceived than real, over the Catholic ethos of St Vincent's shareholders, the Religious Sisters of Charity, who tend not to carry out certain procedures such as tubal ligation (sterilisation) unless medically necessary.

First mooted in 1998, the colocation (as distinct from integration) of Holles Street on to St Vincent's grounds was announced after 10 years of planning and with great fanfare in May 2013 by then Health Minister James Reilly.

However, the plan began to unravel in November 2014. This was when St Vincent's indicated that Holles Street could only locate the new maternity hospital on its grounds if the National Maternity Hospital became a branch of its healthcare group, falling under its corporate and clinical control.

For its part, St Vincent's says that, unlike the colocation arrangement between St James's and the new National Children's Hospital, it cannot operate a large healthcare campus with what it describes as "competing systems" of clinical and corporate governance.

It says that the NMH, whose dissolution would require an act of the Oireachtas, will be able to maintain its "brand" and other functions such as clinical autonomy if it is subsumed into the St Vincent's group, a private limited company.

The new stipulation took the National Maternity Hospital by surprise, as the hospital (which, like Dublin's three maternity hospitals, operates under the mastership system) had always intended to transfer to St Vincent's as a stand-alone entity with responsibility for its clinical and commercial outcomes.

"There was never any discussion of a complete takeover until then," said one person familiar with the negotiations. "Had there been, it would have been a red line from the very start."

The divergence in approach to governance between Holles Street and St Vincent's coincided with significant changes to the board of the SVHG which saw the appointment of six new board members (in January 2015) announced by its then recently appointed chairman James Menton, a former partner at KPMG.

It also coincided with a turbulent deterioration in relations between St Vincent's and the Government over matters not directly related to the new maternity hospital, whose current master is Dr Rhona Mahony.

For more than a year, the St Vincent's group was at the centre of a heated controversy over a number of issues including alleged top-up payments for senior executives, governance arrangements and provisions that allow consultants with public hospital contracts to work in its private institutions.

The HSE provides public funds to the hospital group, comprised of St Vincent's University Hospital, St Vincent's Private Hospital and St Michael's Hospital in Dun Laoghaire. It paid the group almost 240m last year, but the complex relationship has been under strain after the HSE accused St Vincent's in late 2013 of breaking public pay rules.

Such is the complex accident of history that gave birth to much of our education and healthcare services, St Vincent's is a limited company, which provides public as well as private healthcare, yet is privately owned by a religious order.

The group's primary funding comes from the taxpayer, but it emerged in late 2013 that the group had used the State-funded hospital as collateral to develop its private facility.

As a result, St Vincent's bankers have first dibs over the tax-payer-funded public health facilities of the health group in the event of a default or future sale. The State has an option to buy the assets at market rate in either scenario - but that option is a sideline deal to the main banking arrangements of St Vincent's, whose financial reports for 2014 will not be filed until the end of the year.

The deterioration in relations between St Vincent's and the State reached a vituperative climax in April 2015 - when Tony O'Brien, the then director-general of the HSE, questioned the very viability of St Vincent's Private Hospital before the Dail's Public Accounts Committee.

He told the PAC that he felt the private wing had a "parasitic dependence" on the adjacent State-funded public hospital.

The remarks had nothing to with the National Maternity Hospital. But they may have had a direct bearing on the progression of the new maternity hospital plans - when, that day, the acting CEO of St Vincent's wrote to senior officials in the HSE, the corporate lead and primary funder of the colocation project.

The missive stated that St Vincent's would not be able to attend an imminent Project Board meeting or any other meetings regarding the relocation of the NMH until further notice, because of O'Brien's remarks to the PAC.

The timing of the exchange was disastrous for all parties which, despite Varadkar's intervention, saw St Vincent's describe the current situation as "pointless and futile" following a meeting of its board last Thursday.

For Prof Chris Fitzpatrick, former Master of the Coombe Hospital and advisor to the National Clinical Programme for Obstetrics and Gynaecology, it is patient safety, not corporate mechanics nor Catholic ethos, that requires the retention of independent governance for the NMH.

"St Vincent's do not have a track record in maternal and neonatal care," said Fitzpatrick, adding that maternity services are at risk in an integrated model, given they are competing poorly with other specialities including A&E, trauma and oncology.

"Corporate mechanics should not be a stumbling block to colocation which can generate huge efficiencies and synergies for both entities."

It is not just Holles Street. The Coombe and the Rotunda are also due to relocate - with their independent governance intact - to James Connolly and St James's under the Government's recently published National Maternity Strategy.

With the HSE still pursuing St Vincent's over aspects of its funding and corporate governance structures, including its consultants' pay casemix, the impasse does not augur well for the future of national maternity and neonatal services in Ireland.
The news sent GM's shares up more than 1pc in pre-market trading

European shares had edged higher by early afternoon yesterday, but gold fell as questions hung over the 'reflation' trades that had lifted markets since Donald Trump became US president.Sterling held near a six-month high after Theresa May called a snap election on Tuesday.

Wall Street opened higher as corporate earnings took centre stage and Morgan Stanley reported a surge in quarterly profits.

Yields on safe-haven government bonds rose, the safe-haven yen fell and copper surged as some in markets suggested investors' worries over the coming weekend's French presidential election first round and still simmering tensions over North Korea appeared to ease somewhat.

There are now just three days before the first round of voting in France, and only a few points separate the top four candidates, including two who oppose the euro - the far right's Marine Le Pen and the far left's Jean-Luc Melenchon.

"There were probably some nerves around the prospect of Melenchon making it into the final round, potentially even along with Le Pen, but that does seem to have faded," said Richard Benson, co-head of portfolio investment with currency fund Millennium Global in London.

In Ireland, the ISEQ Overall Index was 0.6pc higher at 6,714.33 by mid-afternoon, helping it to erase the slight decline it posted on Tuesday.

Shares in CRH had risen just over 1pc to 31.60, while ferry operator Irish Continental was also just more than 1pc higher, at 5.36. The ferry company is tapping the European Investment Bank for a 75m loan to help fund the construction of a new vessel it ordered last year.

Shares in biotech investment firm Malin were down 2.9pc at 9.95. The company is headed by former Elan boss Kelly Martin. Mining equipment manufacturer and supplier Mincon was 2pc lower at 1.00.

The UK's FTSE-100 had slipped 0.2pc by mid-afternoon, while Germany's DAX was 0.2pc higher. France's CAC-40 was up 0.3pc.

British luxury group Burberry was the top European faller, down 7.pc before the close after it reported a slight slowdown in fourth-quarter comparable sales growth rate, saying tough conditions in the US outweighed 'exceptional' performance in its home market where tourists took advantage of the weaker pound.

Shares in Primark owner Associated British Foods nudged 0.5pc higher after it reported solid first-half results.
At a recent a discussion group meeting the issue arose of compact calving and the impact it might be having on dairy farmers.

The general consensus of the group was that compact calving will have a negative impact on farmers unless they look closely at three areas in particular; hiring of labour, calving/calf facilities and preparation.

In 2010 the average herd size in Ireland was 53 cows. In 2016 that figure had increased to 85 cows, and in 2017 the average herd size will probably be around 90 cows.

This means that on average every farmer in Ireland is calving down 37 more cows now than they were seven years ago.

All of this combined has led to a significant increase in spring workload.

Coupled with this, the fertility of the national herd has also been increasing steadily.

In 2010, the average cow in Ireland had a calf every 402days. In 2016 that figure was down to 389days, all of which has led to a significant increase in the number of cows calving down in the first six-weeks of the calving season. On average 58pc of our herds nationally calve in six weeks.

If we combine this with the national herd size of 90 cows then this would suggest that 52 cows (and heifers) are calving in the first 42 days of the calving season, which should be manageable for most.

However, the top 10pc of farmers are calving 82pc of their herd in the same period which amounts to 74 cows calving in the same period, which could put pressure on the system if facilities and labour aren't addressed correctly.

Where the system can really come under pressure is in herds larger than the national average and who are achieving a high six-week calving rate.

Labour

If you were milking 60 cows eight years ago and now you are milking 120 cows and you are still trying to manage everything yourself, then you are going to feel the pressure.

Extra labour needs to be brought in. We are constantly hearing in the national media that rural Ireland has not felt the benefits of the economic recovery yet, so there must be people out there who would be anxious for some extra income for evening/weekend/night time work.

But you will never know unless you ask them. One farmer at the discussion group said that every farmer needs to find the money to pay for labour in the spring.

Facilities

Cow numbers have increased by 40 or 50 cows on many herds in the past few years and yet the number of calving pens have not increased in line.

The general recommendation is that one calving pen is required for every 15 cows in the herd. This means a 90-cow herd would require six calving pens. Very few farmyards currently meet this requirement.

Extra cows also mean extra calves. Putting small numbers of calves into old houses can seriously eat up time. Take a look at your current facilities and put a plan in place for next spring.

Preparation

This was the key area the discussion group focused on. One farmer detailed how he had to move a load of turf from the calving pen, the day the first cow calved.

Another farmer only got the feeders in the parlour working when he had 40 cows calved. He had being drawing in meal with buckets until then.

These jobs all need to be carried well in advance of the calving season.

Sheds should be power-washed out the summer before.

All items that need to be purchased should be bought in January.

One farmer detailed how he buys all his medical requirements, detergents, cubicle lime and even a spare set of ropes for the calving jack in January.

This way he stays off the road as much as possible in the month of February.

Will compact calving cause stress for farmers? Absolutely, unless we address the points outlined above.

Joe Kelleher is s Teagasc advisor based in Newcastlewest, Co Limerick
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 20

By Azad Hasanli  Trend:

Azerbaijans capital, Baku, will host the fifth Azerbaijan-Turkey business forum, the Azerbaijan Export and Investments Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) said Apr. 20.

According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, the countrys trade turnover with Turkey reached almost $553 million in 1Q2017, some $308.7 million of which accounted for export to Turkey.

Trade turnover between the two countries increased by more than twofold during the year. Meanwhile, during the period, export to Turkey rose by 5.2 times.
There were 187 farm accident fatalities on Irish farms during the period from 2005 to 2014, while over 2,000 in-patient admissions to hospitals nationwide were recorded during the same period.

A variety of serious but not life-threatening injuries were recorded in the survey, which was compiled by surgeon Dr Matthew Lee.

The cause of the 187 fatalities ranged from injuries received when dealing with tractors and farm vehicles at 30pc, machinery 19pc, livestock 13pc, drowning/ gas 11pc, falls from heights 9pc, falling objects and timer related deaths 7pc each, electrocution 2pc, and other causes 2pc.

The non-fatal injuries include a considerable number of bone fractures. These included forearm, wrists and hands (29.8pc); lower leg, ankle and feet (28.6pc); rib, sternum and thoracic spine (11.8pc); femur (11.2pc); skull, facial bones, cervical spine (9.1pc); lumber, spine and legs (6.7pc); shoulders and underarms (2.8pc).

The survey identified a decreasing trend in the overall number of farmyard-related fractures during the period which came out as a 21pc decline in the average injury rate.

However, farming remains the most dangerous occupation in terms of work-related fatalities in the Irish economy.

Heavy Machinery

Heavy machinery and tractors are the most common source of fatal farm injuries in Ireland, accounting for 49pc of the total, which is mirrored in other European countries, concluded Dr Lee in his Irish Medical Journal article.

However, he also cautioned that while this dominance has declined, the increasing mechanisation of farming practices may have served to aid a reduction in total injury, but may pose a new and evolving source of significant high-energy trauma.

The increasing age of farmers combined with rapid technology advancement and mechanisation is a relationship fraught with dangers and potentially fatal injuries, stated the study.

The industry is primarily comprised of private, self-employed farming families, making safety training and standard setting more challenging to ensure. Compliance with health and safety legislation enacted in 1989 has been difficult to enforce across areas of the farming community.

Family members are often co-workers on the farm and surveys have found farm family members suffer over 90pc of all farmyard injuries. This may contribute to a lower rate of insurance claims and suspected under-reporting of injuries on farmyards.

Dr Lee recommends that farm safety should specifically target farmers over 55 years old, particularly those with extensive machinery and those with livestock.

Campaigns need to engage with the spouse and family, given the alarming fatality rates involving the family and those under 17 years of age. This is not a new phenomenon with similar conclusions made in Great Britain over 20 years ago.

Voluntary safety courses reported attendance rates as low as 22pc in 2011, showing the penetration and engagement of education campaigns remaining a challenge. For medical teams, the data analyses should increase the awareness of the complexity, fatality rates and injury severity patterns of farmyard injuries Multimedia, exhibitions and education at annual farming calendar events may promote such awareness.
I spoke to one sheep mart manager yesterday morning who was struck down by a very nasty bug on Sunday.

Having been ill overnight, his plan of action for yesterday was to lie on the couch, rest and watch the Irish Grand National.

Prior to this he told me he hadnt been laid up since he was a school boy, a long time ago.

My point of telling you all of this, apart from wishing that man well, is that the sheep trade is now also under the weather.

Plans made to have a good spring in the sheep business are now ailing as official factory quotes either stick at last weeks levels or slide back by 10c/kg.

The two ICM plants, Kepak Athleague and Dawn Ballyhaunis all pulled their quotes for hogget by 10c/kg over the weekend, while Moyvalley dropped 20c/kg.

The only plant that remained unchanged as of yesterday morning was Kildare Chilling who continue to quote 5/kg plus bonuses for hoggets.

Of those going backwards, Moyvalley is at 5/kg, with the ICMs on 4.80/kg plus 10c/kg. Kepak Athleague and Dawn Ballyhaunis are locked at 4.80+5c/kg.

The story with spring lamb isnt any better, again Kildare Chilling are the only ones who hold their quote from last week, 6/kg plus 10c/kg bonus.

The table below shows the two ICMs have pulled their quote by 10c/kg to 5.90/kg+10c/kg, while Moyvalley collapses by 20c/kg to an all-in 6/kg.

The good news is Kepak have come on board with a base of 6/kg+5c/kg as their offering this week, while Dawn were again unable to quote.

On the cull ewe front, prices are generally no worse than last week at 2.80/kg plus bonus payments at Kepak and the two ICMs, while Kildare continued to quote 2.70/+10c/kg.

Dawn on the other hand were yesterday only willing to quote 2.70/kg for ewes which is 5c/kg less than last weeks 2.75/kg.

So where are we? Whats gone wrong?

From the factories point of view all is well. Markets continue to need product, while on the procurement end prices are falling.

The ruthlessness of the business can be gauged by the fact that despite spring lamb numbers being very tight on the ground, none of the factory buyers I spoke to were overly worried.

What have the farm organisations done?

The ICSA has attempted to make an issue out of cheap sheep meat imports from Northern Ireland and Britain undermining price confidence.

However, the IFA, for now, seem to be adopting a far softer approach.
Former 'Dragons' Den' star and ex-millionaire Sarah Newman has quietly emerged from bankruptcy in the UK - a year after hitting the headlines as she sought to tackle her massive debts.

Records in the UK confirm that the businesswoman exited bankruptcy there within the past few weeks.

Ms Newman was due to appear before Dublin's Commercial Court in March last year as part of a case taken by AIB. It had been trying to recover a 9m judgment secured in 2011 against Ms Newman and her former partner, hurling legend DJ Carey.

But the bank said it was not proceeding with a cross-examination of Ms Newman in light of the fact that she had just been declared bankrupt in the UK.

Bankruptcy documents in the UK list Ms Newman's address as being in Bury St Edmonds, Suffolk, but note that she was previously at an address in Monkstown, Co Dublin.

Ms Newman sold her Monkstown mansion in 2012 and also sold the stunning Swiss property Chalet Grace at the foot of the Matterhorn which could accommodate 14 people.

The chalet was completed in 2010 and put on the market for 12.1m.

After she entered bankruptcy last year, a statement issued on behalf of Ms Newman said that she had disposed of all her assets to reimburse the banks, but that a "significant shortfall" remained.

Following the sale of properties and some repayments, AIB claimed almost 6.4m was still outstanding. The bank had wanted to question Ms Newman about any other debts.

Judgment for 9.5m was entered against Mr Carey partly arising from a 7.8m mortgage granted in April 2007.

This had been part of a wider commercial transaction involving Mr Carey and associated businesses to refinance existing debt due to Irish Nationwide Building Society.
Central Bank spending on legal fees increased 12pc to just over 7.3m in 2016.

Figures published by the regulating body show that legal fees increased to 7.33m in 2016 from 6.5m in 2015.

However, the Central Bank refused to provide information regarding the legal firms and barristers who were in receipt of the fees, and what they commanded in individual fees.

Disclosing such information could prejudice the effectiveness of cases as it could show the amount of work being carried out in a particular case, said a spokesperson.

The Central Bank governor, Professor Philip Lane, this month received a pay rise of around 7,000, bringing his total annual remuneration to 261,476.
Irish Continental CEO Eamonn Rothwell; Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft CEO Rodiger Fuchs; Irish Ferries MD Andrew Sheen and Irish Continental CFO David Ledwidge at the German shipyard where construction of a new cruise ferry started this month

Ferry group Irish Continental (ICG) is seeking a 75m loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to help bankroll the 154m construction of a new vessel.

ICG, whose units include Irish Ferries, ordered a new ship last year that is currently being built at a German shipyard. Construction only began this month.

The new cruise ferry will accommodate 1,885 passengers and crew, have 435 cabins and space for 165 freight vehicles as well as 300 cars.

It's due for delivery next year. ICG expects to use the vessel on the Dublin-Holyhead route during the week and for sailings between Dublin and Cherbourg at weekends.

ICG is paying 20pc of the construction price during the construction period, with the balance payable upon delivery. ICG noted last year that it intended to use existing cash resources and loan facilities to finance the purchase.

The new ship will offer passenger facilities spread over four decks, while some cabins will have balconies.

There will also be a number of bars and restaurants, as well as a dedicated lounge for premium passengers.

It will have two cinemas as well as on board facilities for pets.

ICG, headed by CEO Eamonn Rothwell, has said the new ship will also deliver significant cost savings for the group, as well as improved route and fleet management efficiencies.

The company applied to the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the 75m loan this month and the application is currently under appraisal.

"The vessel will be constructed and operated to full EU and International Maritime Organisation (IMO) specifications and regulations," Irish Continental told the EIB in its application.

"The vessel will also be constructed to EU environmental standards and equipped for operations within emission control areas. The vessel will be EU flagged and registered and is expected to be operating on the promoter's routes between Dublin and Holyhead as well as Dublin and Cherbourg."

ICG has told the EIB that the new ship will enable it to reduce pollution and emissions through the modernisation of its fleet.

The European Union's Sulphur Directive came into force in 2015 in many parts of northern Europe, including the North Sea and the English Channel. The directive substantially reduced the level of permissible sulphur in shipping fuel, requiring ships in ICG's fleet to consume much more expensive fuel with a lower sulphur content. Ship owners can also install emissions abatement technology to adhere to the new rules.

ICG said the new ship it's introducing will have so-called emissions scrubber technology and ballast water systems that "will meet current and known future environmental regulations" and deliver optimal fuel consumption while minimising related costs.

Earlier this month, Mr Rothwell and other ICG executives visited the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesselschaft & Co shipyard in Germany where the new vessel is being built. The cutting of the first steel plate that will be used in the construction of the 50,000 tonne ship took place.

In March, Irish Continental said that weaker sterling had been a "significant headwind" for the group during 2016, but it still managed to deliver record earnings of 83.5m.

The group - by far the dominant passenger and freight operator across the Irish Sea - said that its revenue rose 1.5pc to 325.4m last year.
Vodafone has confirmed that the company has overcharged a number of customers in Ireland.

We are aware of an issue with duplicate credit and debit card payments for some customers caused by a processing error. Customers will be fully refunded over the next few days," Vodafone said in a statement.

"All impacted customers will also receive an SMS with confirmation of their refund. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Vodafone has had issues with overcharging in the past. In 2015, the company was fined 10,000 at Dublin District Court for charging customers too much.

In October of last year, UK regulator Ofcom fined Vodafone a record 4.6m(5.5m) fine for for serious and sustained breaches of consumer protection rules.

Independent.ie has issued a number of additional questions to the company about the specific nature of the overcharging.

Vodafone said that under 4pc of its Irish bill pay customers have been overcharged.

It said that the overcharging was identified over one monthly billing period and that the money would be repaid in the coming days.
Ten years after Steve Jobs held up the original iPhone to a gushing San Francisco crowd, Apple is planning its most extensive iPhone line-up to date.

Apple is preparing three iPhones for launch as soon as this autumn, including upgraded versions of the current two iPhone models and a new top-of-the-line handset with an overhauled look, according to a source.

Apple is testing a new type of screen, curved glass and stainless steel materials, and more advanced cameras, the sources said. Those anxiously awaiting the redesigned iPhone, however, may have to wait because supply constraints could mean the device isn't readily available until one or two months after the typical autumn introduction.

The iPhone is Apple's most important product, representing about two-thirds of sales. It also leads customers to buy other Apple devices like the iPad and Apple Watch, and serves as a home for lucrative services like the App Store.

This year's new iPhone line-up comes at a critical time. Last year, Apple broke its typical upgrade cycle by retaining the same iPhone shape for a third year in a row and endured a rare sales slide. Samsung's new S8 line-up has also been thus far well received after last year's Note 7 battery debacle.

For the premium model, Apple is testing a screen that covers almost the entire front of the device.

That results in a display slightly larger than that of the iPhone 7 Plus but an overall size closer to the iPhone 7, the people said. Apple is also aiming to reduce the overall size of the handset by integrating the home button into the screen itself via software in a similar manner to Samsung's S8, the people said.

The overhauled iPhone will use an organic light-emitting diode display that more accurately shows colours, while the other two phones will continue to use liquid crystal display technology and come in the same 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screen sizes as last year's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, sources said.

iPhone feature and design plans are still in flux and can change, they added. Apple has tested multiple prototypes with manufacturing partners in Asia, including some versions that use curved glass and stainless steel, according to one source.

One of the latest prototype designs includes symmetrical, slightly curved glass on the front and the back. The curves are similar in shape to those on the front of the iPhone 7. The new OLED screen itself is flat, while the cover glass curves into a steel frame. The design is similar conceptually to the iPhone 4 from 2010. An earlier prototype design had a thinner steel band, leaving more noticeable curved glass on the sides.

Apple also tested a more ambitious prototype with the same slightly curved front and steel frame, but a glass back with more dramatic curves on the top and bottom like the original iPhone design from 2007.

Apple suppliers have so far struggled to reliably produce heavily curved glass in mass quantities, so the company is more likely to ship the version with more subdued curves, a source said. The company is also rumoured to be testing a simpler design that has an aluminium back, rather than a glass one, and slightly larger dimensions.

Because of its early lead in the mobile OLED display space, Samsung will enjoy a rare upper hand in this year's high-end smartphone contest. At launch, Apple will exclusively use Samsung Display OLED panels for the redesigned iPhone, as other suppliers won't be ready to supply mass quantities until later. Apple has ordered around 100m panels from Samsung, the people said. "This autumn, it would be three years since we had a remarkable shift in iPhone hardware. This raises expectations for this year's phone having a material change in functionality and look," said Gene Munster, co-founder of Loup Ventures and a veteran Apple analyst. "The Samsung Galaxy S8 raises the bar for Apple to hit a home run." Apple and Samsung declined to comment.

Apple has also experimented with integrating the iPhone's fingerprint scanner into the screen of the OLED version, which would be technically challenging, the people said. Samsung also tried this approach for the S8, but ended up installing a more standard fingerprint reader on the back of its phone due to the challenges.

Camera changes are also in testing. For the back of the phone, Apple is testing versions with the dual-camera system positioned vertically, instead of horizontally like on the iPhone 7 Plus, which could result in better photos. Some prototypes continue to include the slight camera bump found on current iPhones, rather than having them flush with the back surface.

For the front-camera, Apple is testing dual-lenses, one source said. The current iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have single front cameras. As it has done in the past, Apple is using camera components from Sony, the person added. Apple has explored adding augmented reality-based features and depth-of-field enhancements to its camera system

All the new iPhones will run iOS 11, a mobile operating system that will include a refreshed user-interface and is set to be announced in June at the company's annual conference for developers.

Apple has been testing using faster processors based on a smaller 10-nanometer production process for all three new models. That's down from 16 nanometers for existing iPhones. The smaller processors are more efficient, allowing Apple to retain its battery life standards while adding more advanced features. (Bloomberg)
The Irish brothers behind payments firm Stripe have launched a magazine - with the woman behind an Uber sexual harassment claim at its helm.

Limerick's Patrick and John Collison's new publication Increment will contain features such as interviews with industry experts and guides on how software engineering teams can become more effective.

John (26) and Patrick (28) have gone from being highly gifted students to paper billionaires in just a few short years, with a company fundraising last November confirming that billionaire status.

The brothers each own around 12pc of the business Stripe, giving them a net worth of over $1bn each.

According to Fortune magazine, Patrick met Susan Fowler to discuss the blog she had written about alleged sexual harassment in her previous role in Uber.

Fowler, a former Uber engineer, wrote in a blog post that she was subjected to sexual advances but, when she reported the offense to human resources officials and management, they declined to punish the offender because he "was a high performer."

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It is understood that Fowler was hired to found and serve as editor-in-chief at Increment after her meeting with Patrick. According to Susan's LinkedIn profile, she has been working at Stripe since January 2016.

Forbes has described Stripe - which currently employs over 600 people - as a mobile payments phenomenon.
Marissa Mayer pushed Yahoo into more mobile services and tried to attract better talent

In its final months as a standalone company, Yahoo is showing signs it can move toward growth.

Yahoo made progress in its last quarterly earnings report before the sale of its main internet operations to Verizon Communications, posting adjusted revenue and profit that topped analysts' estimates. The web portal, which had said the Verizon deal would close in the current quarter, on Tuesday narrowed the time frame to June.

The sale, which comes after CEO Marissa Mayer's tumultuous tenure leading Yahoo, was threatened by two massive hacks that exposed user account data.

The companies agreed to reduce the value of the deal by about $350m (326m) in February to about $4.5bn (4bn) after the telecommunications giant had earlier suggested concessions closer to $1bn (932m).

"As we enter our final quarter as an independent company, we are committed to finishing strong and planning for the best possible integration with Verizon," Mayer said in a statement on the results.

Revenue, excluding sales passed on to partners, was $833.8m (776m), compared with analysts' average estimate of $814m (776m), according to data compiled Bloomberg. Profit, before certain items, was 18 cents a share. Analysts projected 14 cents.

Before Tuesday's announcement, the company had failed to meet estimates for revenue and adjusted earnings in four of the last nine quarterly reports.

Shares of Yahoo were little changed in extended trading after closing at $47.56 in New York.

Mayer, who arrived in July 2012 from Google to fanfare, pushed Yahoo into more mobile services and tried to attract better talent to improve products. But that never translated into much sales growth - and early last year the company began entertaining offers that led to the Verizon deal.

In September, investors got a surprise when Yahoo said the personal information from at least 500 million user accounts had been stolen in 2014. An attack that breached the security of more than 1 billion user accounts in 2013 was revealed in December.

By last month, the company said its general counsel was resigning, and Mayer's compensation was trimmed. Later in March, the US government accused Russia of directing some of the world's most notorious cybercriminals to break into the web portal's systems.

The acquisition offers some interesting assets for Verizon.

It gets a large, mature, consumer internet service with hundreds of millions of users in areas such as video, email, news and search. The operations will become part of a unit called Oath that includes Verizon's earlier acquisition of AOL, another web portal that rose to prominence in the 1990s.

Mayer's focus on mobile revenue from smartphones and tablets showed positive results in the first quarter, increasing 58pc to $412m (384m), the company said.

What remains are the most valuable parts of Yahoo's current company: the stakes in Alibaba Group Holding Inc. and Yahoo Japan that are worth more than $40bn (37bn).

Those holdings will become part of a new company called Altaba, and will be led by CEO Thomas McInerney, a current Yahoo board member. (Bloomberg)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 20

By Azad Hasanli  Trend:

Azerbaijan exported goods worth $176.17 million to Georgia in January-March 2017 that is by 39.3 percent more than in the 1Q2016, according to a report of Georgias National Statistics Office.

According to the report, Azerbaijan ranks second with the specific weight of 10.3 percent (8.5 percent in 1Q2016) among main exporters to Georgia.

Turkey is the leader here with $275.96 million (16.2 percent), while Russia ranks third with $165.29 million (9.7 percent).

According to the report, Georgias trade turnover with Azerbaijan totaled $207.4 million in January-March 2017. The specific weight of Azerbaijans trade turnover with Georgia is 9.1 percent of total volume of Georgias foreign trade operations.
A debate on racism was one of the major talking points from Wednesday night's Cutting Edge.

Last night's episode featured entrepreneur Jackie Lavin, writer and broadcaster Emma Dabiri and comedian Alison Spittle, as guest panelists.

The subject of racism was brought up when Emma recalled one of the big news stories of the week; the viral series of videos recording an Irish woman's racist rant on a Limerick train.

As an Irish-Nigerian girl growing up in Dublin, Emma said that she encountered racist abuse firsthand and she was "shocked that people were shocked" by the video.

'I'm shocked that people are shocked' @TheDiasporaDiva gives her thoughts on a racist video from Limerick. #CuttingEdge live now on @rteone pic.twitter.com/iXFYRsh2Eg  Cutting Edge (@CuttingEdgeRTE) April 19, 2017

"I'm shocked that people are shocked because this things like that happened extremely regularly [when I was growing up]," she explained.

The social historian told her fellow panelists that she became the target of racist abuse when she was just five-years-old and it continued through to adulthood.

"I remember walking through town with my boyfriend when I was 15 and someone used the 'n-word'. I was unphased because I got that a lot. This is standard. This happens a lot," she said.

"Because I've had it my whole life, I don't know what it would be like to not have experienced it."

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Emma explained that the regular torrent of abuse and hate projected at her has made her feel "dead inside".

Jackie Lavin suggested that Emma's experience was an "exceptional case".

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"Can I just put a bit of balance on that?" she asked the panel. "I've been in the hospitality business for a long time... and when we ask [visitors] what they like most about Ireland they say 'the people, the people were so nice and so kind and so friendly'.

"I really do think think that it was an exceptional case," she said referring to Emma's experience, before agreeing that what she went through was "horrendous and horrific and awful".

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Her comments fell flat with Alison Spittle and host Brendan O'Connor.

"Ah no, I think you can't tell a woman of colour that it's an exceptional experience," the Westmeath comedian argued.

"I think if people are tourists and they're visiting here... I think we're making different points here," said Brendan, before directing the discussion back to Emma's point.

"Nealy every single [mixed race] person I know has had a similar or sometimes worse experience so it's not an anomaly," Emma said as she closed the debate.
Civil servants now want the 4,655 rent allowance that is paid to gardai. Gardai get the rent allowance regardless of whether they pay rent. They recently got a 500 increase in the payment and it was incorporated into their basic pay after they threatened to go on strike.

A motion tabled by the social protection branch of the Public Service Executive Union at its annual conference, opening today, asks the executive committee to seek the payment for civil servants.

Meanwhile, other groups among the mid-ranking civil servants have put forward motions that reveal they are feeling the pressure of housing costs.

The Revenue Group also wants the Government to review its decentralisation programme "in the light of the lack of affordable housing" and traffic congestion in Dublin.

It will ask delegates at the conference to call an independent group to "examine the merits or otherwise of a planned, rational and cost-effective decentralisation programme".

The civil servants also want a working day of 6.57 hours restored. They currently work 7.24 hours.
The jury returned a verdict of industrial accident and recommended forklift training be provided to all operators. (Stock photo)

A young father was killed after he was crushed beneath 40 tonnes of cheese in a workplace accident.

Robert Ceremuga (32), from Littlepace View, Clonee, Dublin 15, suffered catastrophic crush injuries when a shelf rack collapsed at a cold storage warehouse where he worked at VP Foods, Jamestown Business Park, Finglas, Dublin 11.

He died on November 28, 2013, after the shelf rack he was standing next to became unstable and collapsed, an inquest into his death at Dublin Coroner's Court heard.

A forklift driver was working in the storeroom and had removed between 30 and 40 pallets of cheese from the lower shelves on the morning of November 28, 2013. The driver had only been working for the company for a number of weeks and had no formal forklift training, Health and Safety inspector Frank Kerins said.

He was sitting in the forklift when Mr Ceremuga entered the cold store with a clipboard.

"The whole thing started to sway and the pallets started coming down...it was all top heavy, once it buckled, it was not able to take the weight," Mr Kerins said.

The court was told Mr Ceremuga had no time to react.

The jury returned a verdict of industrial accident and recommended forklift training be provided to all operators.

The man's daughter was just four months old when he died. In a statement through her solicitor, Kieran Johnston, his wife Maria said: "She was his pride and joy. I lost my best friend and my entire world. I think about him every day."
Teachers are subjected to violent assaults in schools, with black eyes "at the lower end of the scale of injuries".

They claim this is a result of the Government's failure to provide therapeutic supports for children and training for teachers on how to handle such situations.

One principal in a special school, who told how her teachers are forced to wear shin guards to protect themselves against attacks from children, revealed that no proper training was provided by the Department of Education for teachers.

The principal said the State was failing to protect the health and safety of its teachers.

Teachers in mainstream schools in "every corner of Ireland" were also experiencing aggressive behaviour, the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) Congress heard.

These incidents can include "verbal threats, shouting, screaming, kicking chairs, throwing furniture, self-injurious behaviours and violence towards others, the list goes on," said Brid Stack, from Cork city.

Teacher Jane Bastible, from Galway, described how teachers do all they can to prevent physical outbursts but sometimes distractions don't work on the child.

"I've been hurt, I've visited the doctor," she said, adding: "It is an unfortunate and daunting part of my school day."

Angela Leonard, principal of a special school in Dublin with 54 pupils with moderate to severe autism and who also all have a learning disability, told how her staff try to read and observe their pupils to see if they are sleep deprived or have low blood sugar, or are disturbed by other factors. However, some of the challenging behaviour was beyond control, she said.

Staff protect themselves as best they can, with protective clothing, shin guards and some wear a hat to protect themselves from hair pulling.

"There were 93 bites from one child in 12 weeks," she told the congress.
The Government faces the threat of industrial action by Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) members over four separate education rows.

Education Minister Richard Bruton assured more than 300 TUI delegates at its Cork conference that "significant progress" had already been made on restoring pay and allowances, with more in prospect.

However, the TUI yesterday backed a ballot for industrial action in October if "discriminatory rates are still in place" in September for teachers hired since 2011. It is a significant hardening of the union's position.

TUI president Joanne Irwin warned that while the union accepted progress had been made through negotiations, it was now fully prepared for industrial action if pay inequality was not addressed.

"TUI would wish for industrial peace - on honourable and principled grounds - to allow us to make the progress that we believe is possible," she said. "Our members who entered their profession since 2011 have been disgracefully discriminated against by Government. It is not a gap in pay parity - it is a gulf."

Potential industrial action is now looming over rows about pay inequality, institutes of technology, flexi-hours and the Droichead scheme.

Mr Bruton urged teachers to tackle their demands through new national pay talks.

"We are entering into a new phase where there are the opportunities to pursue those (demands) in a very real way," he said. But Mr Bruton warned that, despite a record education budget increase of 458m, all demands cannot be immediately met.

"As a minister I have to make sure that I am fair and equal to all those who have a legitimate demand on my spending resources," he said.

Public Reform Minister Paschal Donohoe has estimated that tackling pay inequality would cost 1.5bn.

"Any (strike) disruption to a parent or a pupil is something that I do not seek and I do not want," he said.

"There is a balance to be struck. I think we can work with the unions to manage that."
A fresh row over the gap between public and private sector pay erupted after a union leader described recent research as a "pile of garbage".

Davy Stockbrokers reported the huge discrepancy, but general secretary of the Public Service Executive Union (PSEU) Tom Geraghty said the figures "were a pile of garbage".

He said: "First of all, they included in their figures people who are not paid by the Exchequer, who are in the semi-State sector and are self-financing."

He also said: "They took a crude average of the number of people in the public service and divided this into their total salaries and did the same for the private sector. This is an apple versus oranges analysis."

But the PSEU has done no research of its own to counter the Davy report. Mr Geraghty, however, cited Central Statistics Office figures - claiming they made a "total mockery" of it.

The CSO found public servants earned just 5pc more when organisation size was taken into account, and private sector workers actually earned more when the pension levy was accounted for.

Mr Geraghty also criticised Davy for including commercial semi-State staff.

Mr MacCoille said the pay gap was still 37pc when the semi-State companies were excluded. He said the evidence of a large pay gap had been borne out in European Central Bank and ESRI studies.

"I would have thought they were reasonably like for like, yet you see this enormous gap. Does Mr Geraghty really believe there is something that special about Irish public sector workers that explains that gap?

"I'm happy to be associated with the range of objective studies from the ESRI, ECB and EC amongst others that have found Ireland does have a large public-private pay gap," he said.

"Our view is that the evidence is overwhelming - and I'm very happy to stick by that."
A chief negotiator at upcoming talks on a new public sector pay deal has revealed that unions will seek rises worth in the region of 1.6bn.

The scale of the figure put forward by general secretary of the Public Service Executive Union Tom Geraghty will alarm the Government as it battles to keep a lid on soaring pay demands.

The amount being sought is double what is being given in pay rises under the current Lansdowne Road Agreement.

It is also higher than the entire budget for this year.

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe has already warned ministers they face hard spending choices because of the cost of special pay deals granted to public servants this year.

Mr Geraghty, who represents 10,000 mid-ranking civil servants, is also secretary of the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. Members of the committee will be the main negotiators at talks on a deal to succeed the Lansdowne Road Agreement due to begin next month.

The deal does not run out until September next year - but Mr Donohoe agreed to hold the talks early.

In an interview with the Irish Independent, Mr Geraghty said the average public servant's pay was 10pc lower than in 2009 due to pay cuts, although those earning below 28,750 were already back to where they were because of increases already given.

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A total of 1.4bn in pension levy and pay cuts has not been restored, and unions will also push for additional pay rises before the current deal runs out.

"Clearly we're not going to do a pay deal that would leave them (the lower paid) behind, so you're probably looking at a cost in the region of 1.6bn to do some sort of a deal."

Asked if he felt this opening position was likely to be achieved despite the huge costs involved, he said it was "very realistic" and "has to be done".

"The emergency is over and that was the legal justification for doing what they did," he said, referring to the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Fempi) legislation that was imposed to reduce pay.

He accepted the amount demanded would be double what was achieved under the Lansdowne Road Agreement, but described that deal as a "minimal attempt" to begin the restoration of what was lost since 2009. "It was only about 2,000 each over a two-and-a-half-year deal and we got a lot of criticism," he said. "Nobody got rich on it."

He said it was possible to strike a deal that would fully unwind the emergency legislation that cut pay within a few years. He said retaining part of a pension levy imposed during the financial crisis was "up for discussion".

But he said unions were "absolutely unanimous" there would be no deal that would reduce their retirement benefits.

They will seek a guarantee that the Government will not use its legal authority to stop the arrangement whereby public sector pensioners get an increase when someone in their old job gets a pay rise.

These will be major topics for discussion at his union's annual conference this week.

A motion tabled for the conference said the legislation should be unwound within a year, but there's an amendment down to remove that deadline.

"I wish it was realistic," he said. "The Government tells us that all its money for 2017 is spent, so presumably, if that is true, we're looking at a deal that will begin in 2018."

He said the Government was likely to claim there was only a certain amount of fiscal space available and it had to balance the deal with other demands.

"Michael Noonan has been very, very helpful of course with his comments in recent days about how healthy the economy is," he said. "That gives us more hope I suppose."

He said it was important for unions to be conscious of Brexit and they should not create a deal that was "only creating a problem for ourselves".

But he said it should not stop a deal to unwind Fempi given the amount of fiscal space the Government has available to it over the next few years.
People gather to protest against plans to allow Sisters of Charity to own new National Maternity Hospital

People gather to protest against plans to allow Sisters of Charity to own new National Maternity Hospital

Simon Harris with a model of the new maternity hospital (left), and the Sisters of Charity

THE Government, and specifically health minister Simon Harris, has been heavily criticised since it emerged that ownership of the new National Maternity Hospital - which will be funded to the tune of 300m by the taxpayer - will be handed over to the Sisters of Charity.

A demonstration will take place outside the Department of Health in Dublin at 1pm today and over 50,000 people have signed a petition in a bid to prevent the religious order from becoming owners of the new hospital.

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Here is what you need to know about the controversy:

Who are the Sisters of Charity?

The Sisters of Charity are a congregation of religious women founded in Dublin. They are involved in healthcare, education and also carry out work with asylum seekers and homeless people.

However, they were also one of the organisations included in the Ryan Report, which unveiled a vast amount of systematic institutional abuse going back decades.

They ran some of the notorious Magdalene Laundries workhouses and along with 17 other congregations, were ordered to pay the State 128m towards redress for abuse victims.

However, the Sisters of Charity have yet to fulfil its obligations in this regard.

The order still owes the State another 3m from a commitment it made almost a decade ago in 2009 to pay another 5m towards redress.

Why are they being given ownership of a hospital then?

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The new hospital is set to be built on a site at Elm Park in south Dublin - which is owned by the Sisters of Charity.

It will be located on the St Vincent's University Hospital campus and will cater for up to 10,000 births per year.

The Sisters of Charity are the shareholders of the St Vincent's Healthcare Group, which the Department of Health announced would be the "sole owner of the new hospital".

So, are they going to benefit financially from this, despite owing 3m to abuse victims?

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According to Health Minister Simon Harris, they won't.

While he said it was "not acceptable" that some orders had yet to pay all they owed to the redress scheme, he said it was wrong to associate the redress issue with a "desperately" needed maternity hospital.

Will they be running the hospital? If so, will that affect certain treatments being carried out?

The nuns will have "no active role" in the running of the hospital, according to Kieran Mulvey, the former chairman of the Workplace Relations Commission, who acted as a mediator to end an impasse over the hospital's future between Holles Street and St Vincent's.

Meanwhile, Master of the National Maternity Hospital, Dr Rhona Mahony, said the hospital would be "independently" run.

There is a triple lock in place which will guarantee the autonomy of the National Maternity Hospital, she told RTEs Today with Sean ORourke show.

Let me be very clear, the nuns will not be running this hospital, it will not be under Catholic ethos. It will be completely independent.

The ethos will be excellence in clinical care, it will not be a Catholic ethos."

However, questions have been raised about what affect their ownership will have on certain treatments being carried out at the hospital.

Speaking on RTE's Morning Ireland, former master of the National Maternity Hospital Peter Boylan said it casts doubt about any future IVF, abortion and gender realignment operations due to it being contrary to the nuns' beliefs.

Earlier, Sister Agnes Reynolds, who sits on the board of the St Vincent's Healthcare Group, told the Irish Times that the new hospital will "always respect the rights of the mother and the baby."

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Did we only find out about this now?

Not really, as the feuding over funding and the agreement has been ongoing for a while now.

Independent.ie previously highlighted the problematic links to the Sisters of Charity in April last year and the agreement between St Vincent's and the National Maternity Hospital was made last November.

It was first mooted in 1998.

How is Minister Harris responding to the backlash?

Not very well.

He has basically said that either this goes ahead, or the new hospital doesn't happen.

Most of his reaction has been given through Twitter. In one tweet, he wrote: "When it comes to our maternity services, I take the views of those responsible for the delivery of infants and the clinical care of women."

The normally talkative young politician has been conspicuous by his absence in the media in recent days.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Department of Health on Thursday, calling on the minister to prevent ownership going to nuns.

A nationwide protest is also due to take place outside a number of hospitals on Saturday, including St Vincent's Hospital where the new maternity hospital is due to be built.

Criticism

Many people have spoken out against the decision and criticised the health minister.

Labour Party spokesperson on health, Alan Kelly said: "The fact that the Sisters of Charity have been given sole-ownership of this land when they are party to the 128m redress scheme with the State is ludicrous."

Social Democrats TD Roisin Shortall described it as "highly inappropriate".

"Why is the State building a 300m hospital with taxpayers money and handing it over to a religious order? It is very hard to see how there could be any rationale for this transaction."

While survivors of the Magdalene Laundries are appalled by the decision.

Mary Murphy (78) spent four years in what she described as "hell on Earth" as a virtual slave in the Stanhope Street laundry run by the Sisters of Charity.

"Religion has no place in Irish hospitals. Just as it had no place in interfering in my life," she said.
New figures released by the Central Statistic's Office (CSO) have shown the stark reality of Ireland's housing crisis.

The figures reveal that more than 180,000 homes are currently vacant, while rent in Dublin has soared by 30 per cent.

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Here is everything you need to know:

Vacant homes

The new housing figures show that 183,312 homes are currently vacant as well as 62,148 holiday homes.

In regards to the 183,312 vacant dwellings, 79,966 were detached houses, 60,154 were semi-detached or terraced dwellings while the remaining 43,192 were apartments.

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According to the figures, Cavan (46.4pc) has the most vacant homes followed by Leitrim (45.6pc) and Kerry (43.1pc).

Among larger towns (population of 10,000 or more) Letterkenny (14.9pc), Longford (14.6pc) and Ballina (14.3pc) ranked highest in terms of vacancy.

Number of new builds

Surprisingly, housing growth - which relates to the number of builds - grew by only 0.4pc between 2011 and 2016, with 8,800 new homes.

This is in sharp contrast to the 225, 232 homes built between 2006 and 2011.

These figures come as recent property statics show that housing prices have risen by 11pc per year.

House ownership

The number of people who own houses fell slightly from 69.7pc in 2011 to 67.6pc in 2016.

It's the lowest overall rate since 1971

When examined by age the results show that renting was more common than owning before the age of 35.

Beyond this, more householders owned rather than rented their home. The equivalent age in previous censuses was 32 years in 2011, 28 years in 2006, 27 years in 2002 and 26 years in 1991.

Renting costs have soared

The average cost of renting in April 2016 was 199.92, up from 171.19 (16.8pc) in 2011. The highest growth in rent was in Dublin City which increased by almost 30pc while rises in excess of 20pc were also recorded in Dun LaoghaireRathdown (26.2pc), Fingal (22.8pc), South Dublin (22.7pc) and Kildare (20.3pc).

Government reaction

Housing Minister Simon Coveney said 33,000 new builds since 2011 but the overall increase in stock is 8,800.

"A lot of the new builds are once-off houses in the countryside. We're seeing some stock that were previously ghost estates coming back into stock," Mr Coveney told RTE Radio One.

"We have fundamental structural problems in our housing structure and that is why the state has committed 5.5bn to social housing building."

Mr Coveney said that people "can't expect it to be solved overnight".

"We are seeing a dramatic increase in house building in Ireland mainly around the cities. It will take time."

Charity reaction

Roughan Mac Namara of Focus Ireland said that action needs to be taken "urgently" on the number of vacant homes.

"We need action to get the vacant homes that are suitable back into the active housing stock as urgently as possible.

"The Government really need to look at introducing stronger measures to encourage property owners to get empty homes back into the active housing stock. This could include a tax on empty homes. There also needs to be stronger action to take account of developers hoarding land as we need to fast-track housing delivery through building as well as not all empty properties will be suitable for use as a home for a number of reasons including standard and location of the property."

The most recent government figures for February show a record total of 7,421 people who are homeless in Ireland- a shocking total of 2,546 of these are children.

Focus Ireland said the crisis continues to deepen as huge members of families are still losing their homes and more action is required to prevent this and to also fast-track delivery of housing through a range of measures including getting suitable empty homes back into the active housing stock and providing homes for people.

The Peter McVerry Trust housing and homeless charity said politicians and policymakers need to recognise that empty homes can immediately alleviate the country's housing crisis.

Spokesman Francis Doherty said: "The quickest and most efficient way of making more homes available is to get empty homes back into use.

"Peter McVerry Trust has been identifying and turning around empty properties for the last three years and we know it can be done.

"If the resources are made available it can be delivered on a much larger scale."

What can be done to solve the housing crisis?

Niamh Randall, National Spokesperson for the Simon Communities called on the Government to introduce a number of proposals.

"The Government must consider the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) and the introduction of Compulsory Leasing Orders (CLOs); given the devastating scale of the housing and homeless crisis. CLOs would enable Local Authorities to seek permission to force a lease on the owner of an empty home. Local Authorities would then undertake refurbishment costs to make the property ready for letting.

"The property would act as social housing and the rent paid used to offset the cost of refurbishment. It is important that any such measures are reasonable and targeted.

"Governments must ensure the building and delivery of sustainable social and affordable housing output. People must have homes so that they can live their lives."
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 20

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

South Korean Kookmin Bank has completed a deal on the sale of its share in Kazakh Bank CenterCredit, a message of the bank published on the website of Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) said.

Kookmin Bank sold its 41.93 percent share to the main shareholder of Bank CenterCredit Bakhytbek Baiseitov and Kazakh Tsesnabank and Tsesna financial holding.

The National Bank granted permission for this deal.

Tsesnabank, Tsesna financial holding and Bank CenterCredit announced their plans to merge in February. In a joint message the banks noted that the merger will create a bigger financial institution that will maintain its position as one of the leaders in the banking sector of the country in the corporate lending segment, financing of small and medium-sized businesses, as well as in the field of retail lending and banking services, said the message.

Tsesnabank, Kazakhstans 3rd largest bank, was established in 1992. The banks core business lines are corporate, SME and retail banking. Headquartered in Astana, the banks branch network consists of 22 full-service branches and 146 outlets throughout Kazakhstan.

Bank CenterCredit is one of the top commercial banks in Kazakhstan in terms of assets and total deposits. The banks primary business consists of corporate and retail banking. It has over 100 branches and offices throughout Kazakhstan.

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
Kieran Rose has been at the forefront of gay rights campaigns for three decades and is one of the heroes of the campaign that saw homosexuality decriminalised in 1993.

A city planner by profession, Mr Rose (64) co-founded the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (Glen) in 1988.

He spoke at the 1993 Gay Pride Day in Dublin thanking senator David Norris for his work in bringing about the change in the law.

A newspaper report quoted him as saying this wasn't inevitable but that it happened "because of the Irish tradition of struggling for civil, political and religious freedom".

Further battles for gay rights would lie ahead, most notably the Marriage Equality referendum in 2015, in which Mr Rose was a key member of the 'Yes Equality' campaign.

Mr Rose has also been outspoken in his career as a senior planner at Dublin City Council.

In 2007, he drafted new standards to increase the minimum size of apartments in the city. Eight years later he publicly criticised former environment minister Alan Kelly's policy of decreasing apartment size regulations, again to increase the supply of affordable housing in the city. He claimed this would "result in a serious reduction in the quality of housing".

Dublin City Council subsequently apologised for Mr Rose's comments saying they were made in "a personal capacity".

Mr Rose later defended his remarks with an opinion piece in the 'Irish Times', saying that in a "functioning democracy" public servants must be able to highlight concerns "in exceptional cases".

Mr Rose was among 30 candidates that ran in last year's Seanad election in the National University of Ireland panel.

His election literature said he had a "proven track-record" delivering change in areas including gay law reform and quality apartment standards.

He pledged that as a senator he would work on improving the supply of affordable housing and repealing the Eighth Amendment among other measures.

He got more than 1,200 votes before being eliminated in the 19th count, losing out to Michael McDowell, Ronan Mullen and Alice-Mary Higgins.
Megan Fenton, from Donegal, and Colette Akhtar-Byrne, from Stillorgan, during a lunchtime protest outside St Patricks Mental Health Services, Dublin, yesterday. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Psychiatric nurses staged a lunchtime protest outside St Patrick's Mental Health Services yesterday.

The protest was in response to the decision by management of St Patrick's Hospital to close the staff's defined-benefit (DB) pension scheme with effect from June 2.

The DB scheme currently has 274 active members and 224 deferred members.

The workers are calling on management to engage with their union representatives on the decision to cease pension contributions.

The decision to close the DB scheme, which is fully funded, reneges on an agreement reached with the hospital, the pensions board and trustees to protect the core elements of the DB scheme.

An Inter Union Group unanimously agreed to ballot respective members for industrial action, up to and including strike action.

That ballot starts today and the result will be known in a week.

Another protest is due to take place today outside the hospital at Steevens' Lane, James Street, Dublin.
More than 180,000 homes are currently vacant in Ireland according to new figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) today.

The new housing figures show that 183,312 homes are currently vacant as well as 62,148 holiday homes.

In regards to the 183,312 vacant dwellings, 79,966 were detached houses, 60,154 were semi-detached or terraced dwellings while the remaining 43,192 were apartments.

According to the figures, Cavan (46.4pc) has the most vacant homes followed by Leitrim (45.6pc) and Kerry (43.1pc).

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Among larger towns (population of 10,000 or more) Letterkenny (14.9pc), Longford (14.6pc) and Ballina (14.3pc) ranked highest in terms of vacancy.

Surprisingly, housing growth - which relates to the number of builds- grew by only 0.4pc between 2011 and 2016, with 8,800 new homes.

This is in sharp contrast to the 225, 232 homes built between 2006 and 2011.

These figures come as recent property statics show that housing prices have risen by 11pc per year.

Today's CSO statistics also reveal that almost 10pc of the population are living in accommodation with less that one room per person.

There were 95,013 permanent households with more persons than rooms, according to Census 2016, accommodating close to 10pc of the population, at an average of 4.7 persons per household. This is a 28pc rise on the equivalent number in 2011 (73,997).

The number of people who own houses fell slightly from 69.7pc in 2011 to 67.6pc in 2016.

When examined by age the results show that renting was more common than owning before the age of 35.

Beyond this, more householders owned rather than rented their home. The equivalent age in previous censuses was 32 years in 2011, 28 years in 2006, 27 years in 2002 and 26 years in 1991.

Meanwhile, the average cost of renting in April 2016 was 199.92, up from 171.19 (16.8pc) in 2011. The highest growth in rent was in Dublin City which increased by almost 30pc while rises in excess of 20pc were also recorded in Dun LaoghaireRathdown (26.2pc), Fingal (22.8pc), South Dublin (22.7pc) and Kildare (20.3pc).

Roughan Mac Namara of Focus Ireland said that action needs to be taken "urgently" on the number of vacant homes.

"We need action to get the vacant homes that are suitable back into the active housing stock as urgently as possible.

"The Government really need to look at introducing stronger measures to encourage property owners to get empty homes back into the active housing stock. This could include a tax on empty homes. There also needs to be stronger action to take account of developers hoarding land as we need to fast-track housing delivery through building as well as not all empty properties will be suitable for use as a home for a number of reasons including standard and location of the property."

The most recent government figures for February show a record total of 7,421 people who are homeless in Ireland- a shocking total of 2,546 of these are children.

Focus Ireland said the crisis continues to deepen as huge members of families are still losing their homes and more action is required to prevent this and to also fast-track delivery of housing through a range of measures including getting suitable empty homes back into the active housing stock and providing homes for people.

The Peter McVerry Trust housing and homeless charity said politicians and policymakers need to recognise that empty homes can immediately alleviate the country's housing crisis.

Spokesman Francis Doherty said: "The quickest and most efficient way of making more homes available is to get empty homes back into use.

"Peter McVerry Trust has been identifying and turning around empty properties for the last three years and we know it can be done.

"If the resources are made available it can be delivered on a much larger scale."
The Seanad candidate who used the printing facilities of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (Glen) for his election literature did not declare the support provided by the charity in a statement to the State's political standards watchdog.

Kieran Rose, a co-founder of Glen, failed in his bid to be elected to the Seanad last year.

He reimbursed the cost of the printing work to the charity but made no reference to the support provided by Glen in a statement on political donations to the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo).

Separately, the Irish Independent can reveal that Atlantic Philanthropies - which has backed Glen to the tune of almost 4m - only became aware of the controversy surrounding the charity through media reports.

It emerged at the weekend that allegations of financial mismanagement at Glen are being investigated by the Charities Regulator.

Glen's executive director Aine Duggan made a voluntary disclosure to the regulator which is now investigating the charity's finances and corporate governance.

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Among the issues being probed is the use of the charity's printers during Mr Rose's Seanad campaign last year.

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He was among 30 candidates for the three seats on the Seanad's National University of Ireland panel.

He lost out after making it to the 19th count.

Candidates that don't get elected are required to make an "Unsuccessful Candidate Donation Statement" to Sipo within 56 days of the election.

Mr Rose ticked a box on the form to state that he received no single donation exceeding 600 in value.

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He has so far declined to specify how much the printing cost but he reimbursed the sum involved. Donations that exceed 600 must be declared on the Sipo form. The form gives examples of donations to be disclosed in this category as "cash/cheque, use of property, services, etc". Mr Rose's submission leaves this section blank.

Sipo publishes all Unsuccessful Candidate Donation Statements on its website.

The watchdog does not comment on individual candidates.

Sipo confirmed the Electoral Act requires that candidates "disclose donations, including monetary donations, as well as loans and other support".

Seanad candidates are required to submit two other items to Sipo - a certificate of monetary donations, and a signed statutory declaration.

Sipo is precluded from publishing these two documents under the Electoral Act.

Seanad candidates are not required to provide election expenses statements to Sipo.

On Tuesday, Mr Rose declined to say how much the printing of his election literature cost and when he paid the money back.

He said he couldn't comment now but he hoped to do so "fairly soon".

Last night, Mr Rose did not respond to attempts to contact him for comment on his donation statement to Sipo.

Mr Rose co-founded Glen almost 30 years ago and is listed as a director on the charity's website.

He has served as the charity's co-chairman and played a leading role in the Marriage Equality referendum campaign.

Earlier this week the charity's board confirmed that an external financial company is reviewing Glen records.
People gather to protest against plans to allow Sisters of Charity to own new National Maternity Hospital

People gather to protest against plans to allow Sisters of Charity to own new National Maternity Hospital

Simon Harris with a model of the new maternity hospital (left), and the Sisters of Charity

Minister Simon Harris has broken his silence on the controversy surrounding ownership of the new National Maternity Hospital by releasing a statement to the media.

Minister Harris has drawn significant criticism this week after responding to concerns about the ownership issue on social media only.

The new hospital is set to be built on a site at Elm Park in south Dublin - which is owned by the Sisters of Charity.

It will be located on the St Vincent's University Hospital campus and will cater for up to 10,000 births per year.

The Sisters of Charity are the shareholders of the St Vincent's Healthcare Group, which the Department of Health announced would be the "sole owner of the new hospital".

Critics have hit out at the fact that the religious order, who previously rang Magdalene Laundries and were ordered to pay redress to victims which they have not yet done, should have any role in maternity care.

However, Rhona Mahony, Master of Holles Street maternity hospital, has stridently defended the move and insisted the hospital will be fully independent and that independence will be protected by a "triple lock system".

Let me be very clear, the nuns will not be running this hospital, it will not be under Catholic ethos. It will be completely independent.

The ethos will be excellence in clinical care, it will not be a Catholic ethos."

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Now the Minister who has remained silent, save for some reaction on social media, has released a statement which says:

"Let me very clear: there will be no financial gain to any religious order from the development of this hospital. Legal arrangements will be put in place which will 100pc protect the States investment and interest in the new hospital.

"I have heard people say that nuns will be running the hospital. Not true. I have heard that nuns have been gifted the hospital. Not true. I have heard people talk about nuns and redress.

"Redress is extremely important and I have previously said that the religious orders must step up to the mark and pay what is long overdue. However I think it is wrong to conflate redress with the decision to build the desperately needed new maternity hospital.

"We need to provide a new National Maternity Hospital. The current buildings are no longer fit for purpose. We need to provide modern healthcare facilities for the women and infants of Ireland. We will protect the Mastership model.

"We need to ensure patients attending the National Maternity Hospital have immediate access to theatres, high dependency and intensive care provision in an acute adult hospital if the need arises. That is what I intend to do, while absolutely protecting, public health policy, taxpayers money and the State," he said.

Minister Harris said the order has provided the "valuable land" has been donated to the state by the nuns to allow the hospital to be developed there.

"In doing so, they have foregone the opportunity to put this land to alternative use," he said.

The Fine Gael TD said he met with the Director General of the HSE today and requested that three criteria are "satisfied in full" before contracts are put in place.

To satisfy these criteria the new hospital is developed in line with international best practise

It must have "clinical, operational and financial independence, with no question of religious interference".

The contracts must mean that no private entity or religious order can profit and that the building can only be used for the defined purpose of providing public maternity, gynaecological and neonatal services.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 20

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Ukraine and Iran have agreed to launch a test train for transportation of agricultural products, the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministrys press service quoted Minister Volodymyr Omelyan as saying.

Omelyan made the remarks after his meeting with an Iranian delegation in Kyiv.

The Ukrainian minister said that the test train may be launched in the summer and it will run through Georgia and Azerbaijan.

This is the very prospective direction of cooperation for both countries. Ukraine should develop new international transport corridors in order to become a reliable transit bridge between the countries of Europe, Asia and the East, noted Omelyan.

The minister called on the Iranian side to consider the possibility of transporting Iranian oil to Ukraine, as well as the prospects of building an oil refinery in the country.

Earlier, Omelyan said that one of the worlds largest port operators DP World should enter the port of Yuzhny by the end of 2017.

The Iranian delegation included the countrys Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Ukraine Mohammad Beheshti Monfared, Managing Director of the Anzali Free Trade-Industrial Zone and the Iranian port in the Caspian Sea Reza Masrour, representatives of Iranian businesses and others.
Appeal for help: Jack McNiffe and his mother Aisling who is calling for a catch-up programme for the meningitis B vaccine. Photo: Gerry Mooney

Aisling McNiffe's son Jack is 11. He doesn't speak, has a severe to profound intellectual disability, is non-verbal, takes 18 different medications a day for a variety of serious health problems, is tube-fed, in a wheelchair and needs round-the-clock care.

Jack has Down Syndrome and a string of health conditions including a rare auto-inflammatory disease, arthritis, scoliosis and hip dysplasia (misalignment of the hip joint.)

Because he has Down Syndrome, Jack has been deemed medically at risk from meningitis - the National Immunisation Advisory Committee has recommended that children with Down Syndrome receive the meningitis B vaccine to protect them against this potentially fatal disease.

However, Jack, along with any other child born after October 1 last, is not entitled to get the meningitis B vaccine under the planned expansion of the Government's Childhood Vaccine Programme which allows for the introduction of the meningitis B vaccine for new-borns.

The introduction of the vaccine to the childhood immunisation programmes means that all children with Down Syndrome born on or after October 1, 2016 will automatically receive the vaccine - but there are no plans at this stage to introduce a catch-up programme for older children like Jack.

Ireland has the highest incidence of meningitis B disease in Europe. Up to 10pc of people affected will die from the disease, and studies show that one in five are left with devastating lifelong complications, including brain damage and hearing loss.

Down Syndrome Ireland believes the availability of the vaccine to children who have been deemed medically at risk should be backdated as a matter of urgency. Although prices vary, the vaccine is reportedly difficult to source and it is expensive.

Prices range from 136 to 260 per administration, going as high as 450 for just two doses.

"All of our children are immune-compromised and we believe that in these circumstances, the backdating of the vaccine for children with Down Syndrome would be essential," declares Pat Clarke, chief executive of Down Syndrome Ireland, who adds that if the Government cannot be persuaded to backdate the availability of the vaccine, the organisation will have to consider actively lobbying for it. "The Government must find some means of enabling this to happen. Essentially, by not doing it, the Government is putting the lives of children with Down Syndrome at risk.

"We are hoping to persuade the Government of the importance of this, and if it does not happen we would have to consider a lobbying campaign to ensure the Government will change its mind."

Jack, however, is even more at risk than other children with Down Syndrome, says Aisling McNiffe - he also has CINCA (Chronic Infantile Neurological Cutaneous Articular Syndrome), a rare auto-inflammatory and degenerative disease.

In fact, says his mother Aisling, he is the only case known worldwide with both Down Syndrome and CINCA (also known as Nomid) syndrome.

At the time of his birth, Aisling recalls, Jack was believed to be the first case in Ireland with CINCA.

He is immune-deficient and, furthermore, on medication which suppresses the immune system, warns his worried mother.

"According to the National Immunisation Advisory Committee Guidelines, Jack should get the vaccine," she says, adding that she has contacted the HSE and written to the Minister for Health.

"I feel if something is advised, it should be freely given. I cannot afford to buy the vaccine privately but I feel I will have to do it," says the 43-year-old former flight attendant, who is now a separated mother-of-two and a full-time carer for Jack at the family home in Ardclough, Co Kildare.

CINCA brings with it a variety of health problems - Jack, who spent the first three years of life in Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin, gets strong headaches, is extremely light-sensitive and nose-sensitive, suffers from arthritis, frequent temperatures, skin rashes and abdominal cramps.

"If you have Down Syndrome you are immune-compromised but on top of that, Jack has CINCA so he is also having high doses of medication," says Aisling, who also has a 12-year-old daughter, Molly.

As part of Jack's Down Syndrome he has congenital heart disease. He had closed heart surgery at six weeks and open heart surgery at 10 weeks, and will require further surgery.

His mother adds that he has chronic lung disease and was on oxygen for more than three years. Jack, who now attends a special school, also has low muscle tone and gets frequent chest infections.

"He is on 18 different medications, which means he is immune-suppressed.

"I really want him to get this vaccine. He is in a wheelchair and is tube-fed 24 hours of the day so he is vulnerable. The vaccine is not available to him and it definitely should be," says Aisling.

"It would be a great weight off my mind for him to be given this vaccine.

"I feel I am speaking out for the whole special needs community when I say that if something is recommended, it should be given," she adds.

It makes sense to backdate the vaccine, argues Dr Ronan Leahy, consultant in Paediatric Immunology at Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin and the Children's University Hospital in Temple Street - and not just for children with Down Syndrome, but also for other children with immune deficiencies that leave them prone to meningitis B.

"We know there are older children who are quite vulnerable to meningococcal disease and they should be getting the vaccine.

"It is only sensible to include them in the vaccination programme. It would be good value for money as they would be less likely to present with the disease as a result of having it."

World Meningitis Day is on April 24. The theme for this year's event is '24 Hours - Trust Your Instincts'. For more information, visit meningitis.org.
A powerful TG4 documentary brought to light the struggles of cancer patients in Donegal, who face a four-hour journey to University Hospital Galway twice a week on a bus that isn't supported by the government.

Turas na hAilse, which aired on Wednesday, focused on Donegal's 'Cancer Bus', a service entirely supported by volunteers and funds raised by the local community.

The service carries patients from all over Donegal on the four hour journey to Galway, as UHG is the closest centre to provide lifesaving cancer treatment.

However, the service's founder Eamonn McDevitt expressed his fear that the service may be unable to continue to transport patients without government support, as it currently relies on the generosity of the local community.

"It's here today but if you asked me would it be around in six months time, I don't know. If Donegal people keep fundraising and giving us money we'll be running and if it stops we won't be," said McDevitt, speaking on the documentary.

"People are volunteers. We have three drivers here, and myself. The government give us nothing, the Irish Cancer Society give us nothing, the HSE give us nothing.

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"Every penny comes from ordinary people giving us money. Without those people, with the greatest will in the world, we couldn't do it without those people. If we hadn't the money to put the diesel in there we couldn't turn the wheels. That's where we're at."

The documentary featured Donegal natives who use the service to travel to Galway for radiation treatment each week, who say they've been "forgotten" by the government.

Tereasa Ni Ghallachoir, who regularly used the service during her cancer treatment, said Donegal people should be able to receive treatment in Letterkenny Hospital. Although they praised the staff of Inis Aoibhinn, the Galway care home in which they stay during their treatment, the patients urged the government to support new treatment facilities closer to home.

"I think it's terrible because the Government should be investing money in the bus service."

"It's terrible we have to come down here. There's nothing at home for us. There's no alternative but to get the bus.

"If everything was as it should be we'd be travelling to Letterkenny. The government aren't looking after the people of Donegal. They've forgotten about the people of Donegal really," she said.

Anita Murray, who shared her breast cancer story on the documentary, said: "It's hard on people from Donegal to come such a distance. It's a tough road when you're told you have cancer, you think 'I'm going to die, this is the way it's going to be'."
Actor Ashton Kutcher and actress Demi Moore attend the premiere of Columbia Pictures' film "Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle" at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre June 18, 2003 in Hollywood, California. The film will be released nationwide June 27, 2003. (Photo by Robert Mora/Getty Images)

Actress Demi Moore arrives at the opening night of the play "Elephant Man" April 14, 2002 in New York City. (Photo by Lawrence Lucier/Getty Images)

Actress Demi Moore attends The Fashion Group International's 20th Annual Night of Stars Awards Gala at Cipriani's 42nd Street October 30, 2003 in New York City. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)

Demi Moore arrives at the World Premiere of "The Guardian" September 7, 2006 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Nancy Ostertag/Getty Images)

Actress Demi Moore attends the photocall for 'Happy Tears' as part of the 59th Berlin Film Festival at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on February 11, 2009 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Actress Demi Moore attends a dinner and auction hosted by CHANEL to benefit the Henry Street Settlement at Soho Beach House on December 5, 2012 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for CHANEL)

Actress Demi Moore attends as Ferragamo Celebrates 100 Years in Hollywood at the newly unveiled Ferragamo boutique on September 9, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Ferragamo)

Actress Demi Moore, wearing Gucci, attends the 2016 LACMA Art + Film Gala honoring Robert Irwin and Kathryn Bigelow presented by Gucci at LACMA on October 29, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Demi Moore arrives for the Gala to celebrate the Vogue 100 Festival at Kensington Gardens on May 23, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Actress Demi Moore arrives for the Harper's Bazaar and Tiffany & Co., celebration of 150 years of women, fashion and New York at The Rainbow Room, April 19, 2017 in New York. / AFP PHOTO / Bryan R. SmithBRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images

Actress Demi Moore arrives for the Harper's Bazaar and Tiffany & Co., celebration of 150 years of women, fashion and New York at The Rainbow Room, April 19, 2017 in New York. / AFP PHOTO / Bryan R. SmithBRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images

Actress Demi Moore arrives for the Harper's Bazaar and Tiffany & Co., celebration of 150 years of women, fashion and New York at The Rainbow Room, April 19, 2017 in New York. / AFP PHOTO / Bryan R. SmithBRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images

Demi Moore has been a red carpet regular for over 30 years, but what does she look like now?

She rose to fame following her lead role as Molly Jensen in Ghost in 1990 and, despite taking several breaks from the limelight during her career, Demi Moore has remained one of the most well-known actors of the 21st century.

While red carpet appearances have become less frequent for the GI Jane star over recent years, Moore joined a host of Hollywood's A-listers at Harper's Bazaar's 150th anniversary party in New York on Wednesday.

The 54-year-old hardly stood still as she posed for photographers, appearing excited to be attending the glamorous event.

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The mother-of-three, who is known for her eclectic style, took a nod to this season's leather and grunge trends with a fabric and leather high waisted skirt and eyelet embellished white t-shirt, paired with classic patent Christian Louboutin heels.

Wearing minimal makeup, Moore looked freshed-face and youthful, and kept her trademark brunette locks loose and relaxed.

Speaking previously to Allure, the actress credited her ageless complexion to using simple products.

"My skin is very sensitive, so I use only fragrance-free, simple, pure products. And I moisturize, moisturize, moisturize - that's the most important lesson my mother passed on to me, and I say it to my daughters all the time.

Expand Close Actress Demi Moore arrives for the Harper's Bazaar and Tiffany & Co., celebration of 150 years of women, fashion and New York at The Rainbow Room, April 19, 2017 in New York. / AFP PHOTO / Bryan R. SmithBRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

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"No matter how late of a night it is, when I get home, I take the time to clean and moisturize my face. I'm a big believer in that if you focus on good skin care, your skin will be balanced, and then you really won't need a lot of makeup."
Actress Meghan Markle attends the Annual Charity Day Hosted By Cantor Fitzgerald And BGC at the Cantor Fitzgerald Office on September 11, 2013 in New York, United States. (Photo by Janette Pellegrini/Getty Images for Cantor Fitzgerald)

Meghan Markle poses backstage at the Herve Leger By Max Azria fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Spring 2014 at The Theatre at Lincoln Center on September 7, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Spring 2014)

Model Meghan Markle attends the Novak Djokovic Foundation New York dinner at Capitale on September 10, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Novak Djokovic Foundation)

Model Meghan Markle attends the Elton John AIDS Foundation's 13th Annual An Enduring Vision Benefit at Cipriani Wall Street on October 28, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

Actress Meghan Markle attends ELLE's 6th Annual Women In Television Dinner at Sunset Tower Hotel on January 20, 2016 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for ELLE)

Meghan Markle attends the London Global Gift Gala at ME Hotel on November 19, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Meghan Markle wearing Miu Miu at Miu Miu Women's Tales 7th Edition - "Spark & Light" Screening - Arrivals at Diamond Horseshoe on February 11, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Miu Miu)

While many girlfriends have a difficult time winning over their potential in-laws, it seems Prince Harry's partner is having no such issues.

Meghan, 35, has only been dating Prince Harry since last year yet is "waved right through" by security at Kensington Palace and has been given a direct line to the Prince's most trusted aides, according to a source in the latest issue of US Weekly.

Harry has made it clear shes to be treated like everyone else who lives there, added the source, who also explains how Meghan simply strolls through the private gates at Kensington Palace. All other visitors are expected to provide two forms of IDs and a written invitation.

The Californian actress has been credited with grounding the Prince, who was once known more for his party antics than his Royal duties.

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Harry recently spoke about his struggles coping with his mother's death, whom he lost when he was just 12 years old. The Prince underwent counselling, and has urged others to speak out about their own mental health through his campaign Heads Together, which he fronts with his brother William and sister-in-law Kate.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Harry explained that he "shut down all his emotions" for almost two decades after his mother's death, adding that he was "on the verge of punching someone" as he battled with anxiety at royal engagements.

It was at the age of 28, after suffering "almost two years of total chaos" that the Prince finally addressed his grief and sought professional help.

Harry met girlfriend Meghan in 2016, and their relationship was confirmed by officials in November. Earlier this month Meghan shut down her lifestyle blog, sparking rumours that things were getting very serious and that there may be an engagement announcement on the way.

An insider has said that brother William and his wife Kate are "happy to see Harry happy" and are offering his girlfriend guidance in handling the royal spotlight.

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Islamic State has said it carried out the earlier attack on a police checkpoint near the famed Saint Catherine's Monastery (Hiro Komae/AP)

At least 19 Islamic extremists have been killed in an attack by the Egyptian air force in the volatile Sinai Peninsula.

The Egyptian military said in a statement that air strikes in northern and central Sinai on "terrorist strongholds" of the local Islamic State group affiliate also destroyed four vehicles.

The announcement came two days after police said they killed one of the militants involved in an attack on a checkpoint that killed a policeman near south Sinai's famed Saint Catherine's Monastery earlier this week.

The military claims to kill hundreds of militants in the area each year, although it rarely offers proof and journalists and non-residents are banned from the area. Hundreds of security forces have been killed.

The IS-led insurgency is centred in northern Sinai, but militants have occasionally struck farther south.
The sitting Clacton MP will back the Conservatives come June.

Douglas Carswell, the ex-Conservative, Ukip and now independent MP, has announced he wont be standing for re-election in June.

The Clacton MP famously defected from the Tories to Ukip in 2014 and became the partys first elected MP in a later by-election.

But he later fell out with former party leader Nigel Farage very publicly and subsequently quit the party to become an independent MP.

Carswell, who also announced he would be backing the Conservative candidate on June 8, wrote on his website: I have stood for Parliament five times, won four times, and helped win the referendum last June. Job done.

The only time he didnt win was when he stood against Tony Blair in Sedgefield in 2001.

Arron Banks, former Ukip funder and another vocal critic of Carswell, confirmed his intention via Twitter to run against him on the day the snap election was announced.

With the news that he will no longer face opposition from Carswell in the polls, people werent sure what that would mean for Banks parliamentary bid.

But he quickly settled any doubt with a scathing tweet suggesting plans are now in motion.

Some people couldnt help but share their disappointment that they wouldnt get to witness the battle between the two.

While others were disappointed by the lack of emoji with Carswells announcement  something he has been associated with since tweeting a smiley face wearing sunglasses immediately after Farage announced his resignation as Ukip leader.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 20

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Italy intends to take serious steps for development of cooperation with Azerbaijan in non-oil sector, said Italys Minister of Economic Development Carlo Calenda.

Calenda made the remarks during his meeting with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. The Azerbaijani minister is on an official visit in Italy.

Azerbaijan is an important economic partner of Italy, Italian companies operate successfully in Azerbaijan, particularly, in the energy sector, and it is necessary to take serious steps in order to continue this cooperation, said Calenda.

During the meeting, the two ministers expressed satisfaction with the level of bilateral relations both in political and economic spheres, and noted the importance of continuing the efforts to further strengthen the ties.

Relations between the two countries have strategic nature, said Mammadyarov.

He noted that Italy is the biggest trade partner of Azerbaijan and the two countries are cooperating successfully in such spheres as energy, petrochemical industry, transportation, tourism, humanitarian sphere and others.

Calenda and Mammadyarov also noted the importance of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) for Italy in terms of providing additional gas volumes.

The two ministers also exchanged views on transnational transport corridors.

According to the results of 2016, trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Italy amounted to $1.89 billion decreasing by 33.5 percent as compared to 2015. Italy, which has been ranking first among major trade partners of Azerbaijan during eight years, was the third in late 2016.

During the previous year, Azerbaijan exported goods worth $1.56 billion to Italy that accounted for 17.06 percent of Azerbaijans total export volume. Import from Italy totaled $332.19 million decreasing by 43.5 percent as compared to 2015.

However, in early 2017, Italy again became the leader among Azerbaijans trade partners. According to Azerbaijans State Customs Committee, the two countries trade turnover amounted to $461.5 million in January-March 2017, increasing by 41.4 percent as compared to the 1Q2016.

Italy also remained as the main importer of Azerbaijani products. The volume of export to Italy amounted to $422.67 million. Azerbaijan, for its part, imported Italian goods worth $38.84 million.
The Australians house had been labelled as a pop-up pizzeria.

An Australian man was visited by a string of strangers turning up to his home hoping for pizza.

Michael McElwee, 69, was first approached by a man wanting to deliver magazines to a pizza place, but shrugged off the visit thinking they had the wrong address, according to ABC Radio Darwin.

But then another person knocked on his door asking about a job, leading McElwee to realise it was no strange coincidence.

The Darwin resident learned Google Maps had made an error in its navigation service and had labelled his home as pop-up pizzeria Cucina Sotto Le Stelle, which opens in a nearby park throughout certain times of the year.

McElwee told ABC Radio Darwin: It is like getting your identity stolen. Your house has been stolen and put in as a pizza shop.

Errors on the map arent an uncommon occurrence and can be sorted by reporting them to Google.

A Google spokeswoman told ABC Radio Darwin they were aware of the issue and have since fixed the error.
Left to right: Four original members of Prince's 1980's band The Revolution - bassist BrownMark, guitarist Wendy Melvoin, keyboarders Lisa Coleman and Matt Fink, are preparing for a spring tour (AP)

Members of Prince's 1980s backing band The Revolution have said reuniting and hitting the road for a spring US tour is how they are coping with the Purple Rain pop superstar's unexpected death a year ago.

"We're taking it to the people who are grieving like we are, and letting them have a little bit of relief," guitarist Wendy Melvoin, sitting on a couch with other members of the band during a break at their Minneapolis rehearsal space, said.

When Prince died of an accidental painkiller overdose, members of The Revolution were mourning at a Minneapolis hotel and made an impromptu video, promising to reunite for shows honouring their one-time flamboyant frontman.

After three sold-out shows at the fabled First Avenue nightclub, the setting of Prince's hit 1984 movie Purple Rain, in September, The Revolution is back, preparing to kick off a tour on Friday at Paisley Park in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen on the anniversary of Prince's death.

The tour includes stops in Chicago, Washington DC, New York, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco before ending in Seattle on July 15.

Melvoin is joined by bassist BrownMark, keyboardists Matt Fink and Lisa Coleman and drummer Bobby Z. The reunited Revolution plans to play Prince's synthesiser-heavy 1980s music through his lauded 1987 double album Sign O' The Times.

"We have the ability now to give people a glimpse of what we experienced with him," BrownMark said. "And I think that's a powerful thing. I know it helped me heal."

While Prince had a reputation as a perfectionist, members of The Revolution remember the good times messing about in the studio.

"We had fun. We had a lot of fun. Sometimes we would be rehearsing and we'd crack up, we'd just laugh for an hour, cracking jokes," BrownMark recalled.

"We'd go play softball," keyboardist Fink said. "'OK, we're not going to rehearse today, let's go play softball'."

After years of recording and touring with The Revolution, Prince "did what any boss would do and just put it (the band) to bed", Bobby Z said.

"That intense run we had, all those years, it was starting to come apart at the seams, with personalities and under that kind of pressure, just like human beings do, and he just kind of made a decision.

"And he wanted to move on as basically a solo artist with a backing band, no disrespect. But this was a band he was a very critical member of."

Whether The Revolution will continue beyond this tour is an open question.

"We'd love to be able to see if there are some legs with this," Melvoin said.

AP
A Somali mother gives water to her malnourished son at a camp in the Sahal area on the outskirts of Mogadishu (Farah Abdi Warsameh/AP)

Life-threatening child malnutrition rates are rising to alarming levels in drought-hit Somalia, international aid group Save the Children has warned.

It said a new survey found "very critical" levels of severe malnutrition in two of six districts assessed in some of the worst affected parts of Somalia.

"We are on the brink of a massive catastrophe in Somalia with the death of three quarters of the country's livestock, a rapid increase of children suffering severe malnutrition and the depletion of water stores in dozens of communities," Hassan Saadi Noor, Save the Children's Somalia director, said.

He added that he fears seeing "children dying in significant numbers".

Less than 10% of children in Somalia are currently registered in a nutrition programme, according to the study, which warns children could start dying "in the near future" unless immediate action is taken such as a major and rapid scaling up of feeding schemes.

Mr Noor added: "Donors have stepped up in recent months, however such is the scale of this crisis that even more funding is needed to address malnutrition directly, including improving access to food and water.

"Children must be treated for malnutrition now... Famine is a distinct possibility for Somalia. It is an absolute travesty that this is even conceivable when just six years ago this same region was hit by a famine that killed over 250,000 people."

The drought has left 6.2 million people - more than half of the population of Somalia - in need of immediate lifesaving assistance and a further 8.3 million in Kenya and Ethiopia are also need of urgent help, he said.

AP
French Left party leader and candidate for the 2017 French presidential election Jean-Luc Melenchon. (Martin Bureau/AP)

Far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon has advocated for an "independent France which will be the world champion of peace".

Mr Melenchon and the 10 other presidential candidates appeared on a television programme on Thursday night where they are scheduled to speak one after another.

Mr Melenchon said he wants to have a dialogue with Germany about renegotiating European Union treaties and creating new rules for the bloc for when Britain leaves.

The 65-year-old anti-establishment contender said about the EU: "We change it or we leave it.

"But I think our partners will want us to stay because without France, there is no Europe."

He also wants France to quit Nato.

Mr Melenchon has enjoyed a late surge in polls that place him among the top contenders during Sunday's first-round vote.

Only the top two will advance to the run-off on May 7.

AP
Britain will go to the polls on June 8 after MPs cleared the way for an early general election in a House of Commons vote praised by Theresa May as "the right decision" in the national interest.

The British prime minister easily cleared the hurdle needed under the Fixed Term Parliament Act to bring the poll forward from the scheduled date of 2020. With Mrs May needing the support of 434 MPs - two thirds of all seats in the House of Commons - some 522 voted for the early election, with just 13 against.

Praising MPs for backing her during a stump speech in the north-west of England, Mrs May said: "It's about providing the strong and stable leadership this country needs to take Britain through Brexit and beyond, it's about strengthening our hand in the negotiations that lie ahead, and it's about sticking to our plan for a stronger Britain that will enable us to secure that more stable and secure future for this country and take the right long-term decisions for the future."

There was never any real doubt about Mrs May securing the backing needed to go to the country, with both Labour's Jeremy Corbyn and Liberal Democrat Tim Farron saying they welcomed the election - though Scottish National Party MPs abstained in the vote.

But there was deep division over the issues which should decide the election's outcome, with Mrs May casting the poll as an opportunity to secure "strong and stable leadership" for Britain as it forges a new position outside the EU, while Mr Corbyn said voters should take the chance to make their judgment on the Conservative record on austerity and public service cuts.

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In Bolton, Mrs May said the country now has a "unity of purpose" and a desire for the government to "get on" with implementing Brexit and "making a success of it". While promising to run a "positive and optimistic campaign", she said the choice at the election was between her "strong and stable leadership" or a "coalition of chaos" led by Mr Corbyn.

But as she spoke Mr Corbyn explicitly ruled out any post-election coalition with the SNP, insisting that he would not do a deal with Nicola Sturgeon's party to forge a so-called "progressive alliance", as hers was not a progressive party.

Earlier, Mr Corbyn dismissed Mrs May's argument that she needs a fresh mandate to deliver Brexit, and said it was "extremely interesting" that she had chosen to call an election as the Crown Prosecution Service prepares to decide whether to press charges against a string of Tory MPs over allegations relating to 2015 general election expenses. He said Mrs May's U-turn on her previous insistence that she would not call a snap election showed she could not be trusted.

As the debate began, former chancellor George Osborne - who has recently been appointed editor of the 'London Evening Standard' - announced he would not be standing for election on June 8. But he held out the prospect of a return to the political front line, saying he was leaving Westminster politics "for now".

Meanwhile, Mr Corbyn's brother launched a blistering attack on the BBC, saying it will take every opportunity it can to prevent Mr Corbyn becoming prime minister.

Piers Corbyn accused the corporation of a series of cover ups to protect the establishment - that included making attacks on his brother - but insisted Labour could still win a "reasonable" majority.

Mr Corbyn (70), who is two years older than his brother, also claimed the pollsters were getting it wrong by failing to detect "shy Corbynistas".

Also yesterday, it emerged Mrs May is likely to take part in a question and answer session in front of a television audience before the general election after she was heavily criticised by her opponents for refusing to debate with them.

The prime minister formally ruled out taking part in televised head to head debates before the June 8 election in a BBC interview yesterday.

She said: "We won't be doing television debates. I believe in campaigns where politicians actually get out and about and meet with voters.

"That's what I have always believed in, it's what I still believe and I still do it-- as Prime Minister, as a constituency MP, I still go out and knock on doors in my constituency. That's what I believe in doing, that's what I'm going to be doing around this campaign."

However, Mrs May's aides made clear that she is not against taking part in a "long-form television programme" when she answers questions in front of a live studio audience.

Her predecessor David Cameron agreed to be questioned in front of a BBC Question Time-style audience for live television programmes during the 2015 general election.

The change of tack followed Mrs May coming under fire from the other party leaders at Prime Minister's Questions.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told her: "She says it's about leadership, yet is refusing to defend her record in television debates and it's not hard to see why."
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 20

By Huseyn Valiyev  Trend:

Azerbaijans mobile health system technology is entering the international market, the project manager Shahlar Pashayev told Trend.

The system is already being used in Turkey and Ukraine, and it is also expected to enter other countries markets in the future, according to him.

The mobile health system platform, which aims to help people adopt healthy lifestyle, allows having health checkups. The checkup results are then sent via Email and by SMS to mobile phones, Pashayev said.

In case of need, users will be provided with recommendations concerning the time they should be examined by a doctor, on which days they should exercise caution, etc, he said, adding the service is now available in ASAN service centers.
People stands in a street near the site of a shooting at the Champs Elysees in Paris on April 20, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / FRANCK FIFEFRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images

Police secure the Champs Elysees Avenue after one policeman was killed and another wounded in a shooting incident in Paris, France, April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

Police officers block the access to the Champs Elysees in Paris after a shooting AFP PHOTO / THOMAS SAMSONTHOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images

A policeman was killed and two were others were seriously wounded in a shooting incident in central Paris tonight, police and the interior ministry said.

The Islamic State group claimed the shooting, days before French presidential elections, via its Amaq news agency, naming the attacker as Abu Yousif the Belgian. President Francois Hollande said he was convinced it was a terrorist attack.

Expand Close In this image made from video, police attend the scene after an incident on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, Thursday April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard. (AP Photo) / Facebook

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Whatsapp In this image made from video, police attend the scene after an incident on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, Thursday April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard. (AP Photo)

French officials told the Press Association that the suspect was previously flagged as an extremist.

A second suspect who might have been involved in the incident on the Champs Elysees shopping boulevard may still be on the loose, authorities said. The famous wide street that leads away from the Arc de Triomphe that had earlier been crowded with Parisians and tourists enjoying a spring evening remained closed off hours after the incident.

France has lived under a state of emergency since 2015 and has suffered a spate of Islamist militant attacks, mostly perpetrated by young men who grew up in France and Belgium, and that have killed more than 230 people in the past two years.

Interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said it was too early to say what the motive of the attack was, but that it was clear the police officers had been deliberately targeted.

"A little after 9 PM a vehicle stopped alongside a police car which was parked. Immediately a man got out and fired on the police vehicle, mortally wounding a police officer," Brandet said.

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Officers at the scene said they were searching for a potential second assailant, and Brandet said it could not be ruled out that there was another or others involved.

Officers also conducted a search at the home in eastern Paris of the dead attacker.

"I came out of the Sephora shop and I was walking along the pavement.... A man got out of a car and opened fire with a kalashnikov on a policeman," witness Chelloug, a kitchen assistant, told Reuters.

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"The policeman fell down. I heard six shots, I was afraid. I have a two year-old girl and I thought I was going to die... He shot straight at the police officer."

POLICE CLEAR THE AREA

Police authorities called on the public to avoid the area.

TV footage showed the Arc de Triomphe monument and the top half of the Champs Elysees packed with police vans, lights flashing and heavily armed police shutting the area down after what was described by one journalist as a major exchange of fire near a Marks and Spencers store.

The incident came as French voters prepared go to the polls on Sunday in the most tightly-contested presidential election in living memory.

"We shall be of the utmost vigilance, especially in relation to the election," said President Francois Hollande, who is not himself running for re-election.

Donald Trump has offered his condolences to the people of France saying it looks like another terrorist attack.

Earlier this week, two men were arrested in Marseille who police said had been planning an attack ahead of the election.

That incident brought issues of security and immigration back to the forefront of the campaign, with the anti-immigration National Front leader Marine Le Pen repeating her call for Europe's partly open borders to be closed.

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A machine gun, two hand guns and three kilos of TATP explosive were among the weapons found at a flat in the southern city along with jihadist propaganda materials according to the Paris prosecutor.

Candidates in the election said they had been warned about the Marseille attackers. Francois Fillon, who is the conservative candidate, said he would cancel the campaign events he had been planning for Friday. In November, 2015, Paris was rocked by near simultaneous gun-and-bomb attacks on entertainment sites, in which 130 people died and 368 were wounded. Islamic State claimed responsibility. Two of the 10 known perpetrators were Belgian citizens and three others were French.
US vice-president Mike Pence has praised Indonesia's democracy and moderate form of Islam as he spoke alongside the leader of the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Mr Pence's comments had significance for Indonesian president Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who a day earlier suffered a serious political setback when a political ally was defeated by Islamic conservatives in the election for Jakarta governor.

The divisive campaign undermined the image of Indonesia abroad as a generally tolerant Muslim nation.

Indonesia is the latest stop on an Asian tour by Mr Pence that aims to reaffirm traditional US alliances at a time when Donald Trump's presidency has raised questions about the strength of America's commitment to the region.

Mr Pence said at a joint news conference with Mr Jokowi that the US wants to strengthen its strategic partnership with Indonesia.

He praised Indonesia for its moderate form of Islam and said the two countries would continue to co-operate on combating terrorism.

"As the second and third-largest democracies in the world, our two countries share many common values including freedom, the rule of law, human rights and religious diversity," Mr Pence said.

"The United States is proud to partner with Indonesia. It promotes and protects these values.

"Indonesia's tradition of moderate Islam frankly is an inspiration to the world and we commend you and your people. In your nation as in mine, religion unifies, it doesn't divide."

Mr Pence's first engagement in Indonesia was morning tea with Mr Jokowi at the presidential palace. He and his family later visited the Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in south-east Asia.

The Pences removed their shoes at the entrance and his wife Karen and two daughters covered their heads with scarves. They walked inside the large prayer hall, observing the soaring dome, and also stopped at an open terrace in the mosque.

Mr Pence later sat with several faith leaders in a conference room where a speaker gave him an overview of the mosque's history. The mosque, which can accommodate up to 200,000 people, was designed by a protestant and sits near a catholic cathedral in central Jakarta.

The message and images sought to address questions in the Muslim world about Mr Trump after his push for travel bans that would temporarily suspend visas from six predominantly-Muslim countries and halt the US refugee programme. Two judges have blocked the ban, prompting the Trump administration to appeal.

Mr Trump's executive order does not include Indonesia, but the country is home to nearly 14,000 refugees seeking resettlement in third countries and activists have said the ban would affect their ability of entering the U.S.

AP
Facebook Live killer Steve Stephens was undone on the third day of an intensive manhunt when suspicious McDonald's staff delayed giving him his order and telephoned police, it has emerged.

Stephens, who shot himself at the denouement of a police chase on Tuesday, is believed to have killed a complete stranger and posted footage of the murder on social media.

While ordering McNuggets and fries at a drive-thru McDonald's restaurant near Erie, Pennsylvania - more than 160km from the shooting in Cleveland, Ohio - Stephens was recognised by staff, who called police.

Restaurant owner Thomas DuCharme Jr and a supervisor then tried stalling Stephens by telling him his fries were delayed.

Stephens refused to wait and drove out of the car park, nearly hitting Gail Wheeler (54), a local woman on her way home from the shops.

"Two seconds later, I hear these sirens, and they come whipping past me," she told the Associated Press.

Ms Wheeler followed behind for a few miles. She said the chase slowed suddenly from 80kmh to about 40kmh when the road narrowed from four lanes to two. One of the pursuing troopers picked his spot - in front of an abandoned school - and hit Stephens' bumper to get him to stop.

The Ford Fusion did a half-turn and came to rest at the curb. Ms Wheeler said police were starting to get out of their vehicles when: "I heard a shot. It was loud and distinctive."

"The next thing I know, they're approaching the car. The one officer just shook his head. They had their guns out but when he shook his head, they lowered their guns," she said.

State police Major William Teper Jr said one of his troopers "saw Stephens pull the gun out and shoot himself".

The McDonald's workers may now be in line for a $50,000 (46,700) reward offered for help to catch Stephens.
President Donald Trump has hosted former Alaska governor Sarah Palin at a White House dinner with musicians Ted Nugent and Kid Rock.

Ms Palin posted photos on social media and her website.

They showed the group with President Trump, and also posing in front of a painting of Hillary Clinton in the White House.

In a post on her website, the former vice presidential candidate said she brought the musicians because President Trump told her to bring some friends.

The Wednesday dinner was not on the president's public schedule.

The White House said it was a private dinner and provided no further details.

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Ms Palin said the "dinner was beyond superb". She thanked "the outstanding White House staff, chefs, Secret Service, and of course the President for making it such a special evening".
US President Donald Trump returns a salute as he steps from Marine One to board Air Force One as he departs Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque.

The deployment of an aircraft carrier group that was sent by Donald Trump to confront North Korea has been extended for a month, it was announced yesterday, as Pyongyang unveiled a propaganda video of missiles blowing up a city in the US.

The commander of the USS Carl Vinson strike group said the flotilla will spend another 30 days at sea, following confusion over whether the group had been heading towards North Korean waters.

Expand Close The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson transits the Sunda Strait on April 15. Photo: Reuters / Facebook

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Whatsapp The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson transits the Sunda Strait on April 15. Photo: Reuters

The White House appeared to blame defence officials for erroneously suggesting that the aircraft carrier group was immediately diverted to the Korean peninsula after it left Singapore on April 8.

The US defence ministry acknowledged that the ships actually travelled in the opposite direction into the Indian Ocean to carry out manoeuvres with Australian forces, and only began its journey north recently.

"We said it was heading there. It was heading there and it is heading there. All other questions should be asked of the ministry of defence," Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said.

The extended deployment was announced by Admiral James Kilby, the strike group's commander, on its Facebook page. "Our mission is to reassure allies and our partners," the naval officer said.

Growing concern in Asia over North Korea's nuclear ambitions has led to frustration in some quarters over the communication mix-up regarding the strike group.

"We are sending an armada. Very powerful," Mr Trump assured the region last week.

But Hong Joon-pyo, the South Korean presidential candidate, told the 'Wall Street Journal' that "South Korea will not trust whatever Trump says" if it is proved that he lied over the vessel's movements.

China's 'Global Times' newspaper accused the US president and military of creating "fake news".

"Trump likes to brag," said the newspaper, which has close links to Beijing's Communist leaders. "Regardless of fact, he tends to make a show of his power to intimidate others first."

Washington and Pyongyang have been engaged in a war of words in recent weeks, with tensions rising over concerns that North Korea could carry out a nuclear test, its sixth since 2006.

The rogue regime continued its sabre-rattling yesterday with the release of a mock-up video showing North Korean missiles apparently destroying a US city as Kim Jong-un, the leader, clapped and smiled. The clip, which ends with a burning Stars and Stripes flag superimposed over rows of white crosses in a cemetery, was a backdrop for a music show on Sunday during celebrations for the 105th birthday of the North's founding father, Kim Il-sung.

Meanwhile, Mike Pence, the US vice-president, warned that the US military's "shield stands guard and sword stands ready" as he visited a naval base in Japan. "North Korea is the most dangerous and urgent threat to the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific", he told more than 2,500 US and Japanese military personnel on the flight deck of the USS Ronald Reagan as it was moored in the base at Yokosuka.

Also yesterday it emerged that Ivanka Trump secured three trademarks for her goods in China on the same day she met Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.

The issue raises serious concerns about conflicts of interest for the daughter of Mr Trump, who acts as his adviser. Ms Trump's company won provisional approval from Chinese authorities for three new trademarks, giving monopoly rights to sell Ivanka brand jewellery, bags and spa services in the world's second-largest economy, the Associated Press said.

Fascination

The trademarks were granted on April 6, the same day that she met Mr Xi at a summit at her father's Mar-a-Lago resort.

Ms Trump is viewed with fascination among young, aspiring people in China, a country where there are many second-generation rich.

Ms Trump boosted her popularity in the country with a video of her children singing in Mandarin for President Xi at the Florida summit. The clip attracted more than two million views on the Chinese internet, along with gushing praise from domestic media.

Her business has been booming globally since she became one of the world's most recognised faces following her father's election victory in November.

"In addition to winning the approvals from China, Ivanka Trump Marks LLC applied for at least nine new trademarks in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Canada and the US after the election," the report from the AP said.

The first daughter crafts a political career from her West Wing office.

Her husband Jared Kushner is also a prominent Trump adviser and both are said to be heavily involved in dealings with China. ( Daily Telegraph London)
The United States must keep military options on the table when dealing with North Korea, but it does not want to use them unless it has to, US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said during a visit to Britain on Wednesday.

US President Donald Trump has taken a hard line with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has rebuffed admonitions from China and proceeded with nuclear and missile programmes seen by Washington and others as a direct threat.

"Allowing this dictator to have that kind of power is not something that civilised nations can allow to happen ... of course we don't want to have military options employed, but we must keep all options on the table," he said when asked if the U.S. administration would be willing to drop bombs on North Korea.

Ryan said he was encouraged by the results of efforts to work with China to reduce tensions, but that it was unacceptable North Korea might be able to strike allies with nuclear weapons.

In a wide ranging question and answer session at an event organised by the policy Exchange think tank, Ryan also said he wanted to "ratchet up" sanctions on Iran but believed a nuclear deal struck in 2015, and previously criticised by Trump, would remain in place.

"There are lots of things that Iran is doing outside of this deal: proliferation of terrorism, weapons, violating missile tests - those things we should apply sanctions to," he said.

The Trump administration said on Tuesday it was launching an inter-agency review of whether the lifting of sanctions against Iran was in the United States' national security interests, while acknowledging that Tehran was complying with a deal to rein in its nuclear programme.

Ryan was visiting Britain with a cross-party delegation of lawmakers as part of a trip to reassure European allies of US commitment to the NATO military alliance.

He used his remarks to call on countries to meet the alliance's minimum defence spending requirement, and also singled out the international threat posed by Russia.

"Russia is determined to exploit weakness and opportunity wherever it may surface," he said, citing Moscow's involvement in supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"As they expand, and seek to expand their sphere of influence, they are continuing to challenge the sovereignty of all our allies in eastern and central Europe."

He repeated U.S. concerns, denied by Moscow, that Russia had interfered in its 2016 election and said Russia was currently interfering in elections in Europe. He gave no further details.

"We've learned a thing or two about their tactics in America and we commit to sharing those lessons learned with our allies so that you can be better prepared," he said.
The United States is ready to strike a free trade deal with Britain as soon as possible, the Speaker of the House of Representatives said.

Paul Ryan, a senior member of Donald Trump's Republican party, told a central London audience that US lawmakers are committed to working with the president towards a bilateral agreement with the UK. His clear signal provides a significant boost for Theresa May as EU leaders take the first steps towards agreeing a negotiating position for forthcoming Brexit talks.

In a speech for the Policy Exchange think-tank, Mr Ryan said: "Now that Article 50 has been invoked, the UK and the EU will determine the best path forward over the course of these negotiations.

"We want the parties to come together and strike a lasting agreement, a strong UK-EU relationship is in all of our best interests.

"In that same vein, the United States will work closely with our EU friends and chart a path forward on TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) negotiations.

"At the same time we are committed to working with President Trump and your government to achieve a bilateral trade agreement between the United States and Britain."
A Fresno police detective stands over the body of one of the three shooting victims. Photo: John Walker/Fresno Bee via AP

A black gunman suspected of randomly shooting three men to death in Fresno, California told police he wanted to kill as many white people as possible before he was captured, authorities said.

The victims happened to be on the same block at the same time on Tuesday but had no known connection to each other or to Kori Ali Muhammad, police chief Jerry Dyer said. "These were unprovoked attacks," Mr Dyer said.

One victim, a 34-year-old father-of-two pre-school children, was shot in the passenger seat of a Pacific Gas & Electric utility truck. The driver was not hit and sped towards the police department, but his partner could not be saved.

Another victim, a 37-year-old man, had just gone shopping at a Catholic Charities building when he was gunned down. His body was draped in a blanket on the footpath leading to Stephen Hughes's home.

"It looks like a guy carrying his groceries home from the store," said Mr Hughes (66), who rushed home after receiving a frantic call about the shootings from a neighbour.

The third victim, a 59-year-old man, was gunned down in the parking lot of the charity's building. Two Latina women and a child also crossed paths with Muhammad, who pointed the gun at them as they sat in their car trying to flee, but he did not shoot.

Muhammad (39) was arrested shortly after the rampage. He was expected to be charged with four counts of murder - one each for Tuesday's three victims plus the slaying of a white Motel 6 security guard who was killed last week.

Police had been looking for Muhammad in the death of the guard, 25-year-old Carl Williams. Muhammad said seeing his name and picture in a news release on Tuesday morning helped spur the attacks in which he fired 16 rounds in less than two minutes at four places within a block.

"I did it. I shot them," Muhammad told officers as they arrested him, according to the chief. During the arrest, Muhammad shouted "Allahu Akbar", or "God is great", but the shootings had "nothing to do with terrorism in spite of the statement he made", Mr Dyer said. "This is solely based on race," he said.

Muhammad told his family there was a war going on between blacks and whites in America. Muhammad's father, Vincent Taylor, told the 'Los Angeles Times' that his son believed that he was part of an ongoing war between whites and blacks and that "a battle was about to take place".

Police were searching for the revolver Muhammad said he tossed into a pile of clothing.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 20

By Huseyn Valiyev  Trend:

AzEduNet educational network will be integrated with AzScienceNet scientific computer network, the Institute of Information Technologies of the Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences told Trend Apr. 20.

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Education and the Institute of Information Technologies reached a principal agreement on technical work in that direction.

After integration of the educational network, the country's higher education institutions and specialists, candidates for doctor's degree and degrees of other educational institutions will have access to the services provided by the institute on the basis of a scientific computer network (Wi-Fi, Eduroam educational roaming service, cloud services and hosting services).

Earlier, the Institute of Information Technologies said that the Azerbaijani universities will have a free access to the GEANT multi-gigabit network.

Moreover, it is planned to organize joint seminars and conferences, train personnel, exchange experience as part of cooperation.

AzEduNet has the largest corporate network in Azerbaijan and about half of secondary schools in Azerbaijan get access to the Internet through AzEduNet educational network.
The election campaign hasn't officially begun yet. But today in the Commons, Theresa May generously treated us to a preview of it.

Labour's Jeff Smith asked her about government cuts to school budgets. Mrs May replied that Mr Smith didn't even think Jeremy Corbyn was good enough to be Labour leader - and so could hardly tell the public to make him prime minister.

Another Labour MP, Graham Jones, also asked her about government cuts to school budgets. Mrs May replied that Mr Jones didn't even think Mr Corbyn was good enough to be Labour leader - and so could hardly tell the public to make him prime minister.

Meanwhile, Jenny Chapman asked her about cuts to A&E wards. Mrs May replied that Ms Chapman didn't even think Mr Corbyn was good enough to be Labour leader - and so

Oh, you guessed? Sorry. In which case, I probably won't need to tell you how Mrs May replied when MP Christian Matheson asked her about the national fair funding formula.

Infuriating though Labour MPs might have found this tactic, they could hardly complain. Most of them don't even pretend to support their leader. When Mr Corbyn sat down this afternoon, after a speech proclaiming that Labour offered "a better future", not one of his MPs cheered. In fact, the chamber was so quiet that the Speaker had to ask Mr Corbyn to confirm that he'd finished. Tories guffawed.

At moments like that, it's hard not to feel sorry for Mr Corbyn. If only the public watched live TV coverage of the Commons, he'd at least pick up a few sympathy votes.

The day's main business was the debate on whether to accept Mrs May's demand for an election. The exchanges weren't especially heated, because MPs on all sides already seemed resigned to the result. A bit, I suppose, like the election itself.

Labour's David Winnick said the Tories shouldn't be complacent about winning a landslide, and that "hopefully" they wouldn't "receive such a large majority". Yes, that's the spirit. Keep the score down.

Read More

Even so, most Labour MPs agreed that the election might as well go ahead. After all, said MP Jim Dowd, it would seem "rather bizarre" if Labour voted not to have an election, because that would be like saying, "We want to keep this Tory government in power." But, interrupted Angus MacNeil of the SNP, how confident was he that there wouldn't still be a Tory government after the election? A Tory government, moreover, that would then remain in power until 2022, rather than 2020?

Mr Dowd reflected on his strategy. "It might not work," he conceded. Valiantly, however, he said he'd vote for it all the same.

After 90 fairly tepid minutes the vote took place. The Speaker confirmed the result: 522 MPs had voted to have the election; only 13 had voted against. There was a curious silence, followed, from the Tory benches, by a sluggish "Yeeeearrrgh".

Maybe they aren't much more excited by this election than the rest of us.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 20

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

The Kazakh National Oil and Gas Company KazMunaiGas (KMG) successfully placed 5, 10 and 30-year Eurobond issuances with a total volume of $2.75 billion, the company said in a message April 20.

The placement was completed under the $10.5 billion Global Medium Term Notes Program, established by KMG and its finance subsidiary, KazMunaiGaz Finance Sub BV.

The Eurobonds were issued in three series  comprising $500 million 3.875 percent notes due 2022; $1 billion 4.75 percent notes due 2027; and $1.25 billion 5.75 percent notes due 2047.

The company noted that the transaction was accompanied by significant demand from international investors, with orders exceeding $6.5 billion, which allowed KMG to reach the target volume of the issuance at attractive price levels.

The issuance parameters set new yield benchmarks for KMG and other corporate issuers in Kazakhstan, namely, achieving annual yields of 3.95 percent for Eurobonds in a principal amount of $500 million with a 5-year maturity, 4.875 percent for Eurobonds in a principal amount of $1 billion with a 10-year maturity and 5.875 percent for Eurobonds in a principal amount of $1.25 billion with a 30-year maturity, KMG said.

This transaction is the largest corporate issuance of Eurobonds from the CIS region since 2014.

KMG is a 100 percent government-owned national oil company with stakes in essentially all of Kazakhstans oil-related assets and priority access to new assets.
New York, Apr 20(Just Earth News): It is more important than ever to forge unity within Libya, the United Nations envoy for the country told the Security Council today, while he called on Libyan stakeholders to regain the optimism generated by the 2015 Political Agreement, which has faded and is being replaced by afrustration and disappointment.a

In his briefing to the Council, Martin Kobler, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya, said that the majority of Libyans and the international community continued to strongly support the political agreement and its institutions and recognized the Presidency Council as the sole national executive authority.

Both Libyans and the international community support the Agreement. Yes, it can be amended. But no, there is no alternative, there is no plan B. And there is no need for one, he said, underscoring: If the parties do not uphold their responsibility in the Libyan Political Agreement, there is no reason to think that they will have any greater commitment to an alternative agreement.

Turning to the many other signs of positive developments in the country, including recent developments in the fight against terrorism and the improvement of the security situation in Tripoli, Kobler said that on the economic front, Libyan wages are on the rise and oil production has increased.

Despite progress, uncertainty contributing to dangerous political power vacuum

But the optimism generated by the signing of the Agreement has diminished, reported Kobler, emphasizing that instead of the sharp horizon established by the Agreement he now sees instead frustration, disappointment, sometimes anger, and often it is justified. He cited rising criminality, which remains widespread throughout the country, the division of institutions and the lack of guarantee of public services for the population.

The country's gross domestic product (GDP), he added, has been steadily declining since 2012, not to mention the persistence of the parallel economy and illegal activities.

Kobler regretted that the current political vacuum is hampering efforts to create a united security force, to the point where some actors are considering a return to a military solution. Competition for the control of national resources risks generating new violence, he said, adding: The results of these divisions are setting Libya on a worrying path. Public services, including access to electricity, health, education, water, are failing many.

Against this backdrop, he said the time has come to return to the negotiating table and regain the spirit of Skhirat, referring to the seaside Moroccan town where the deal was reached. For this, he said, the country needs a strong international support, not only from an institutional point of view. He thus defended the creation of partnerships with Libyan society.

Seven steps to peace

With all this in mind, Kobler called on all political actors to agree on a fair and inclusive process to amend the political agreement. Secondly, he called for an immediate end to violence, including in the south of the country, as well as establishing unified security and confidence-building measures. In this regard, he said, the Committee responsible for supervising the ceasefire in Tripoli is an excellent starting point.

He went on to call for improving cooperation between the Presidency Council and all the economic players. The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), which he heads up, should help them to do so, he said.

Finally, the Special Representative called on the international community, including the UN, regional organizations and neighbouring States, not only to react after the fact but to anticipate the Libyan problems.

UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

Source: www.justearthnews.com
New Delhi/ Islamabad, Apr 20 (IBNS) : The Supreme Court in Pakistan will deliver its verdict on Thursday in the Panama Papers leaks case involving the countryas Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif and his family, media reports said.

The court will decide if Sharif has to quit over corruption allegations.

Any such eventuality may lead Pakistan into a turmoil as the country heads for elections and is in the midst of a sore relationship with India.

The controversy surfaced following publication of the so-called Panama Papers last year; 11.5 million secret documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca which documented the offshore dealings of many of the world's rich and powerful, implicating among others, Sharif's daughter Maryam and his two sons.

The case was started on November 3, 2016 and the court held 35 hearings before concluding the proceedings on February 23, 2017.

Meanwhile, in a series of twits, Maryam sought to dispel the impression that her fathers is worried about the judgement.



"Whatever the verdict, am amazed & humbled to see the overwhelming support for Nawaz Sharif. For a leader, that's the most prized possession." she said.

"Not for once have I seen my father or any member of the family anxious or concerned. That's what happens when u entrust yr matters to Allah," she tweeted.

Radio Pakistan has quoted Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif as saying that the ruling PML-N party will accept court verdict in Panama Papers case.

Talking to newsmen in Kasur, he said civilized nations accept judgements of the courts.

He expressed the confidence that the Supreme Court decision will be according to law and the Constitution.
As the fans are getting ready to celebrate Thala Ajith's birthday with the teaser of his upcoming film 'Vivegam' on May 1, a day does not pass out without one or more interesting update about the much expected film directed by Siva.

Now we bring you the details of how many number of days the film willl be taking for the shooting.

The shooting of 'Vivegam' began on August 2, 2016. At present the final schedule is happening in Bulgaria and a few other European countries- Serbia. Crotia and Austria- where the film has been shot extensively. As of now the plan is to wrap up the entire shoot by the 10th of May The number of days between August 2, 2016 to May 10, 2017 is 282. Out of these number of days, the shooting has happened for a total of 150 days. This does not include the remaining number of days until the wraop up.

70% of the film has been shot in Bulgaria and the other European countries while the remaining parts have been shot in India.

It is said that Ajith plays an agent with anl anti-terrorist squad and he will take on an international terror network. Vivek Oberoi plays the lead villain in the film. Kajal Aggarwal is the female lead and Anirudh Ravichander is the music director.

Produced by Sathya Jyothi Films on a grand scale. 'Vivegam' is scheduled to hit the screens on August 10th or August 24th.
PDS board approves interim dividend of Rs2.50 per share PDS Limited has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company on Monday has approved an Interim Dividend of Rd2.50 per share. The Company adopted a dividend distribution policy... November 07, 2022 | 07-11-2022 3:10 pm

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Markets under selling pressure with Nifty around 18,100-levels Domestic benchmark indices trading mixed after a gap-up opening on Monday. Both the Sensex and Nifty benchmarks are marginally lower in the afternoon market session. On the sectoral front... November 07, 2022 | 07-11-2022 2:00 pm

Rupee rises 23 paise to 82.12/ $ Early on Monday, the rupee strengthened versus the US dollar by 23 paise to 82.12 amid rising local stocks and falling oil prices. The native currency rose 23 paise from its previous close to t... November 07, 2022 | 07-11-2022 1:20 pm

Cineline India opens 5-Screen multiplex, MovieMAX in Mumbai; Stock jumps 3% Cineline India Limited stocks in the fast lane after announcement of opening of 5-Screen multiplex at Sarvodaya Mall Kalyan, Mumbai. In a regulatory filing, the company informed the ... November 07, 2022 | 07-11-2022 12:47 pm
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Apr. 20

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

Turkmenistan plans to export electricity to the countries of the Caucasus through the territory of Iran, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper said in an article.

In order to increase electricity export, it is planned to construct Mary (Turkmenistan) -Sarakhs-Mashhad (Iran) and Balkanabat (Turkmenistan) - Gonbad-e Qabus (Iran) high-voltage transmission lines, according to the article.

The commissioning of these lines will enable to increase the export of electricity to Iran, as well as transit it through the Iranian energy system to Turkey and the countries of the Caucasus, the article said.

There are also plans to build a transmission line in the area of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) main gas pipeline. In the future, it is planned to supply electrical energy to Tajikistan and Pakistan, as well as expand its export to Afghanistan.

The generation of electricity in Turkmenistan by 2020 will be more than 26 billion kilowatt-hours, its export will be almost 6.1 billion kilowatt-hours, and investments in the development of the electric power industry will exceed $5 billion, said the article.
An apology from Georgetown and the Society of Jesus Maryland Province for their roles in the 1838 sale of 272 enslaved individuals for the universitys benefit took place Tuesday in the company of more than 100 descendants.

Today the Society of Jesus, who helped to establish Georgetown University and whose leaders enslaved and mercilessly sold your ancestors, stands before you to say that we have greatly sinned, said Rev. Timothy Kesicki, S.J., president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, during a morning Liturgy of Remembrance, Contrition, and Hope. We pray with you today because we have greatly sinned and because we are profoundly sorry.

The university created the liturgy in partnership with members of the descendant community, the Archdiocese of Washington and the Society of Jesus in the United States.

The week also provided opportunities for members of the descendant community to connect with one another and with Jesuits through a private vigil on Monday night, a descendant-only dinner on Tuesday evening and tours of the Maryland plantation where their ancestors were enslaved.

Catholic faith

Sandra Green Thomas, a descendant of the Harris and Ware families and president of the GU272 Descendants Association, spoke at length at the liturgy about the 272 enslaved people, her ancestors and her Catholic faith.

The ability to transcend the realities of this life in this country has been a necessary tool in the survival kit of my people, she said. For the 272, I believe that their Catholic faith enabled them to transcend.

No matter how incongruous their existence was with the gospel of Gods love and protection, they clung to their faith.

Building dedications

The university permanently named a building Isaac Hawkins Hall  formerly known as Mulledy Hall and renamed as Freedom Hall in 2015  in a courtyard ceremony next to the universitys Dahlgren Chapel.

Hawkins was the first enslaved person listed in the 1838 sale document.

Anne Marie Becraft Hall, formerly known as McSherry Hall and renamed Remembrance Hall two years ago, is named for a free woman of color who established a school in the town of Georgetown for Black girls.

Becraft later joined the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the oldest active Roman Catholic sisterhood in the Americas established by women of African descent.

Rev. Thomas Mulledy, S.J., and Rev. William McSherry, S.J., were two Jesuits at Georgetown who played significant roles in the 1838 sale.

Original evil

Slavery remains the original evil of our Republic  an evil that our university was complicit in  a sin that tore apart families, Georgetown President John J. DeGioia said during the liturgy, that through great violence, denied and rejected the dignity and humanity of our fellow sisters and brothers. We lay this truth bare  in sorrowful apology and communal reckoning.

Rev. Robert Hussey, S.J., Provincial of the Maryland Province, and DeGioia met with descendants in the afternoon.

The liturgy and building dedications were recommendations of Georgetowns Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation in September 2016.

Our work as a group was to help teardown the walls, the walls of mystery and silence and (the) unknown surrounding Georgetowns historical ties to the institution of slavery, said working group member Connor Maytnier (C17) at the dedication.

A journey together

Karran Harper Royal, a descendant of the Queen and Mahoney families, thanked Georgetown for its steps toward acknowledging its ties with slavery, particularly the students who took their concerns about the universitys history to the administration in 2015.

The actions of Georgetown students have placed all of us on a journey together toward honoring our enslaved ancestors by working toward healing and reconciliation, she said. Our history has shown us that the vestiges of slavery are a continuum that began with the kidnapping of our people from our motherland to keeping them in bondage with the brutality of American chattle slavery, Jim Crow, segregation  the school-to-prison pipeline and the over-incarceration of people of color.

Understanding and rebirth

Jessica Tilson, an Isaac Hawkins descendant, presented DeGioia last summer with a jar of soil from the West Oak Plantation in Louisiana where her ancestors toiled.

During an afternoon Tree Ceremony and Libation Ritual for Ancestors the soil was spread over the roots of a white oak tree, chosen because the tree is indigenous to both Maryland and Louisiana.

To me, for them to say theyre sorry and then for them to publically announce what they did to my ancestors, Im happy, Tilson said.

Members of the descendant and Georgetown communities read the names of the 272 men, women and children sold in 1838.

White lilies, which appear on shield of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, were planted at the base of the tree to symbolize rebirth.

After the ceremony, Georgetowns Black Movements Dance Theatre performed.

This is a moment for all of us to more deeply understand our history, and to envision a new future informed and shaped by our past and the values we uphold, DeGioia said at the building dedication.
The transition from childhood to adolescence can be challenging for many young people. This experience is a bit more difficult for young women of color. According to a report by the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the National Womens Law Center titled Unlocking Opportunity for African American Girls, young Black women are disproportionately impacted by racial stereotypes, lack of educational equity, poverty and numerous other societal ills. One data point from the Civil Rights Data Collection noted that during the 2011-12 school year, 12 percent of all African-American female pre-K12 students received an out-of-school suspension, which is six times the rate of white girls and more than any other group of girls and several groups of boys.

The Circle City Chapter of Links Inc. will host an event titled Real World Real Girls this Saturday from 9 a.m.3 p.m. at the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana facility. The event will tackle these issues and more, as well as give attendees valuable information on how to navigate the odds stacked against them. Debra Shoffner, the event chair, said there is a need to address these issues in Indianapolis.

We learned that Black and Hispanic girls are significantly disadvantaged in terms of health, the academic achievement gap, socioeconomics and exposure to violence. When it comes to violence, they are more prone to becoming victims and are more likely to be exposed to (violent acts) than the majority culture, she said.

The program will feature interactive and informative activities geared toward girls of color in grades 7-9. Links members will be in attendance to have one-on-one interaction with attendees. The hope is that the bonds formed Saturday afternoon will not only impact the young women in that moment, but also carry on in their lives for years to come.

This year, our focus is on closing the achievement gap and on developing healthy habits with fitness, well-being, self-esteem and, of course, financial literacy, said Shoffner.

Indianapolis City-County Council President Maggie Lewis will present on the topic of leadership; Yvonne Harrington, vice president of Key Bank, will speak about financial literacy and accumulating wealth; Michael Twyman, executive director of OpportunINDY, will talk about conflict resolution and the importance of recognizing healthy relationships and Ghemaiya Bradley, a Desmond Tutu Center Fellow, will speak on self-esteem. Lewis, who is also a Links member, said she is honored to be a part of the event.

To whom much is given, much is required. I have been blessed more than I deserve, so I feel it is important that I give back to young ladies, she said. This is my calling and my duty.

Tracie Humphries, whose 21-year-old daughter participated in Real World Real Girls years ago, was excited for the opportunity to bring her 11-year-old, Teah, to this weekends event. Humphries said The Links has had a great impact on her children. It seems like our race is No. 1 for so many things that arent positive. I support anything that can teach her to do well. I want her to learn as much as possible before heading to high school, she said. I want her to be the best she can possibly be.

Caregivers and parents are invited to attend a session on stress management, locating scholarships for their children and self-care.

Limited space is still available. For more information, visit circlecitylinks.org.
Want a rewarding career in healthcare? Indiana University Healths first-ever systemwide job fair will showcase hundreds of job openings across its statewide system.

The fair will be this Saturday April 22 at IU Healths easy-to-find main offices in downtown Indianapolis. IU Health is the largest healthcare system in Indiana and is looking to fill a wide range of skilled positions at its 14 hospitals and other facilities across the state.

This is a great time to work in healthcare at IU Health, said Megan Haymaker, director of HR operations at IU Health. New technologies, continually updated facilities and a cutting-edge approach to patient care combine to give our team members the best available tools to help patients.

IU Health has openings for nurses, pharmacists, emergency medical personnel, social workers, rehabilitation therapists, technologists with varied clinical skills, and business positions in revenue cycle and customer service, among other positions. Jobs are posted online at http://careers.iuhealth.org/career-information/.

We have something for everyone with healthcare skillsets, from entry level to experienced. And our openings appeal to candidates looking to work at our academic health center, suburban hospitals, or our many other facilities across the state, said Tanya Hahn, executive director of talent acquisition at IU Health.

At the free fair, job candidates will have the opportunity to learn about IU Health, talk to hiring managers and recruiters, discuss follow-up visits and participate in a raffle with free giveaways.
This evening, Mayor Joe Hogsett will deliver the 2017 State of the City address on IUPUIs campus at the Hine Hall Auditorium. In addition to highlighting progress made by the Criminal Justice Reform Task Force over the last year and other key administration initiatives, Mayor Hogsett is expected to unveil new programs relating to neighborhood investment, education, and public safety.

View a live stream of the address here.
Community members who live, work, learn, worship or play on the Near Eastside are invited to the Near Eastside Neighborhood Summit to share their thoughts on improving the community. Topics to be discussed include public safety, family strengthening, leadership and neighborhood connections, livability, affordable housing and redevelopment, and business and economic development. The event will be held April 27 from 6:308 p.m. at Westminster Neighborhood Services, 2325 E. New York St. Summits are family friendly, and there is no cost to attend. Contact CoraLyn Turentine at cturentine@jbncenters.org to learn more about sharing ideas at the event. Visit neareastsummit.jbncenters.org for more information.
Churches across the country are taking steps to keep their houses of worship safe and their properties secure.

Some of them probably noticed CNNs report last week about Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama, a congregation of more than 4,000 members in multiple locations that is seeking state approval to create its own police force, complete with weapons and arrest powers.

Most churches in Indiana may not go that far. They are, however, working more often with law enforcement to stop burglaries, theft and vandalism.

Churches are becoming more vigilant about reporting crimes and illegal activity, Sgt. Kendale Adams, a spokesman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD), told the Recorder.

Going by recent news reports, it appears that churches and other houses of worship have reason to be more watchful. A steady stream of congregations in central Indiana has reported damage to property and other acts of vandalism since last fall, with no end in sight during the fourth month of 2017.

This month, for example, two churches in Muncie were vandalized with offensive graffiti. Members of one congregation, Emmanuel Temple Church, arrived for a recent Sunday service to find large black letters spray-painted on the side of their building with the words, Whats a God? Near the graffiti was a satanic symbol.

Less than a mile away, Calvary Baptist Church reported finding graffiti on its building, this time with profane language about God and President Donald Trump, as well as an anarchy sign. It marked the second time in a week that church had been struck.

Although both churches are predominantly African-American, police say there is no evidence that race was a factor in the incidents. Currently there are no suspects, but Muncie police have been investigating the vandalism along with the FBI.

It was not just an attack on Emmanuel Temple, but an attack on the Body of Christ, Emmanuels pastor, Donna Smith, told reporters. We feel the person was not in his right mind. If he had a sound mind, he wouldnt be doing the things he does.

Smith added that she has been encouraged by the support of other churches that have helped remove the graffiti.

In Indianapolis last month, someone kicked in the front door and burglarized Faith Builders Missionary Baptist Church on 30th Street near Andrew J. Brown Avenue. Debris was left scattered on the floor in a likely search for money. It was the second time the church had been hit, following another break-in where a thief stole Halloween candy set aside for children of the church.

Although frustrated with the burglaries, Faith Builders Rev. Willie Moses said the crimes will not drive his congregation from the neighborhood. He is among many pastors who say crime just strengthens their resolve to serve the community and reach troubled people who are in spiritual turmoil.

If we take the churches out of this area, what are we going to have left? Moses asked. It does not deter me. In fact, it encourages me even more to stay in this area.

National headlines were made in February after the head of a Jesus statue in front of Cottage Avenue Pentecostal Fellowship was removed twice. The head of the statue has since been returned to the south-side church.

Some people may remember earlier times when some churches, particularly Catholic parishes, left their doors open well into the evening hours, allowing individuals to visit candlelit altars for moments of prayer and discreetly conduct confessions with clergy.

Pastor N.P. Urshan is among those who believe those days may be long gone. His south-side church was recently vandalized when multiple sets of tire tracks were left on a lot used for youth sports.

It seems people dont have much conscience about the work of a church, Urshan said in a recent local television interview, adding that his congregation is trying to help people on a limited budget. People used to have a greater reverence for the spirituality of a church and a respect for that.

What can be done?

Echoing that same view, Briarwood Presbyterian Church, the mega church in Alabama that has several locations and a school, says it is difficult to hire enough off-duty police officers, which churches often do to take care of security concerns.

In a statement, Briarwood said it needs to have its own group of police to prevent tragedies such as the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, and the 2015 murder of nine people by a white supremacist at an African Methodist Episcopal church in South Carolina.

Although a measure approving Briarwoods police force has been passed by Alabamas Senate, some organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, say a faith-based police department approved by the state could violate the Constitutions mandate of separation between church and state.

In any event, many congregations do not have the manpower and financial resources that a church Briarwoods size may have, and having a police group may not be a realistic option for them. Neither is having members watch their building 24 hours a day.

IMPDs Adams has advice on how those congregations can increase their security.

It can be done by doing simple things, in much the same way we tell homeowners, he said. The goal is to make it more challenging for vandalism to occur by fortifying the property.

Adams suggestions include installing a surveillance system with security cameras and alarms that could scare off burglars. Another step is fencing around buildings and air conditioning units to prevent theft, as well as installing brighter lighting so nearby residents can better spot suspicious activity at night.

When asked if IMPD has noticed more crimes against churches, Adams said he believes there has been no increase.

Churches are choosing to report those incidents more than they did in the past, he stated. Especially in the tense political times we are living in today.
It won't be wrong to call food our 'one true bae'. We would go anywhere to experience different cuisines and that means even to another country! Most of our travel itinerary is always planned around food. We spend hours researching about the good food options in the country we are travelling to because, for us foodies, the day starts with pancakes and ends with desserts.

For the people who dont step out without planning their meals, we have jotted down the best of delicacies from one of your dream holiday destinations, Hong Kong. Make a mental note and dive right into these delicacies when you head there.

1. Egg Tarts

Pinterest

A popular delicacy in Hong Kong, the egg tarts are a must-try for every tourist visiting the city. They are essentially a pastry crust filled with egg custard that is baked. This popular snack originates from English custard cakes. If you do head out to Hong Kong, make sure you try the egg tarts at Tai Cheong Bakery.

2. Pineapple Buns

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Though the name suggests a bun filled with pineapple, the traditional pineapple buns had none. This Chinese bun earned its name because of its resemblance to the skin of a pineapple. The top half of the bun is made from cookie-like dough and the bottom with Chinese bread dough. If you ever try this delicacy make sure to eat it the right way, that is, by slicing the top part of the bun and inserting a thick slice of cold butter known as the bo lo yau. Sounds yummy, doesnt it?

3. Egg Waffles

Pinterest

They look interesting, dont they? These delicious waffles are served with extremely yummy accompaniments like honey jelly, caramel sauce, oat crumbs and ginger ice cream. Other flavours include vanilla rice pudding, brownie choco chip and Mexican chicken. The best place to try these in Hong Kong is at Oddie Foodies. Don't forget to try their special creation called Dr. Oddie.

4. Fish Balls

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These Chinese delicacies are found in every corner of the city. They are bouncy and fluffy and are served on a stick with a spicy curry or with rice or noodles in a restaurant. It is one type of street food that you should try at least once. Places like Hong Kee and Yum Kee are famous for their mouth-watering fish balls.

5. Dim Sum

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Dim Sum is now extremely popular in India too and if you are ever in Hong Kong, you should try the authentic dim sum that comes in a variety of options and flavours. There are as many as 150 different types of dim sums to choose from and they are supposed to be eaten with friends and washed down with tea. Going out for dim sum is known as 'yum cha', which literally means drinking tea. To get a taste of authentic dim sum, you must visit the Lin Heung Tea House in Hong Kong that serves them in the traditional way.

6. Hong Kong style Milk Tea

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A major symbol of the Hong Kong culture, the milk tea is a daily ritual among the locals. A tad like our Indian chai, this milk tea is served any time of the day and is made up of a secret recipe mixing different types of tea including Ceylon black tea, evaporated milk and sugar. Restaurants like Cha Chaan Teng and Dai Pai Dong offer the best milk tea.

7. Snake soup

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Much to the shock of many, snake soup is a major delicacy in Hong Kong. It is believed to ward off cold and other illnesses. The snake meat is shredded into thin slices and then served in a broth of veggies and seafood. If you are up for experimenting, this delicacy should be on your must-try list.

Delicacies available in Hong Kong are abundant and exciting! Make sure that your next trip is to Hong Kong so that you can gorge on your favourite authentic Chinese dishes and try out new and local delicacies available there! What's more, April marks the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and thanks to the huge celebrations, there are a number of smart deals on tourist attractions. Don't wait, head to the Hong Kong Tourism Board site to start planning your itinerary.
For almost two years, movie buffs had to deal with the question as to Why Kattappa killed Bahubali  a mystery that will be answered on April 28, when the second chapter of Bahubali will hit the screens. But did you know that Rangaraj Subbaiah, known by his stage name Sathyaraj, who essayed the role of Kattappa in the movie has a connection with SRK? You have probably watched him alongside SRK in one of the movies that you dont even remember!

Not many know that Sathyaraj was a part of Chennai Express!

Remember, Rohit Shettys directorial Chennai Express starring SRK and Deepika Padukone, who created a buzz for her unique Tamil accent in the movie? Kattappa aka Sathyaraj played the role of Durgeshwara Azhagusundaram, Deepika Padukones father in the movie, who was a mafia too. And so, Sathyaraj has already made his Bollywood debut.

india.com

Furthermore, in case you have forgotten SRK has often been linked to Bahubali too.

Earlier this year, fans, in huge numbers, requested to makers of the movie to rope in SRK in the second part. So much so, that rumours started to float across that he is playing a small role of a peacemaker between Prabhas and Rana Daggubattis characters, and then the makers of the movie had to clarify that the rumours were all untrue.

urdupoint.com

Also, SRK has been smitten by the grandeur of Bahubali.

Some time back, he confessed that he wants to make a film on Mahabharata, even bigger than Bahubali. This one has to go out into the international markets. So you have to collaborate with someone who's international. You don't take up a subject like the Mahabharat and make it any less. It should be on the scale of a Baahubali or an even larger one, he had said.
A student of 12 class allegedly killed one and injured two others in Delhi when his speeding car ran onto the pavement where 3 along with other homeless people were sleeping. Jatin Narwal, deputy commissioner of police (North), told HT that the accident took place around 5.45 am near the Nigam Bodh Ghat crematorium on the stretch leading towards ITO from Kashmere Gate.

The teenager has told us that they were going to their school when he lost control of the car and it climbed onto the pavement, killing one homeless and leaving two others injured, Narwal told HT.

NDTV

Police said that accused is a student of DPS Mathura Road. He didnt have the driving license. He was with two of his classmates when the accident took place. When the car met with an accident, the two classmates fled the scene, the driver got stuck in the car and was caught by some locals. Later, police were called and he was taken into custody.

The injured have been taken to hospital where they are under treatment.

We are still in the process of ascertaining the identity of the three homeless. A FIR is being registered in connection with the accident at the Kashmere Gate police station, said a senior police officer.

The identity of the driver hasnt been revealed yet because police are unsure about his age. As of now they are considering him a minor and treating him as an underage driver. The teenager is in the custody of the Kashmere Gate police and is being interviewed. A medical examination will be conducted to find out whether he was driving under the influence of alcohol.

According to the police, the car belongs to a Model Town resident. They have learnt that the teenager was driving his friends fathers car.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Apr. 20

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

The Turkmen parliament hosted a meeting with a delegation of MPs from the member countries of European Union (EU), headed by Vice-President of the European Parliament Ryszard Czarnecki, the Turkmen government said in a message Apr. 20.

An exchange of views was held on the prospects of interparliamentary cooperation, and the importance of regular consultations and meetings of parliamentarians was noted during the meeting. Special attention was paid to the cooperation in the spheres of gender policy, protection of people with disabilities, says the message.

EU Special Representative for Central Asia, Ambassador Peter Burian and EU Charge d'Affaires in Turkmenistan Lubomir Frebort also attended the meeting.
Prime Minister Modi has done what many of his predecessors could not do. He finally announced the end of the VIP culture in the country. But wait, thats only an announcement. Before jumping ahead of our expectations, lets remember what politicians promises often culminate into. The VIP culture in India is so deeply ingrained in the apparently high and mighty across the country, and wont die so easily. After all, India does have the highest number of VIPs in the country at more than 450. It is a multi-layered and multifaceted phenomenon that comes with an 'only in India' tag. According to rough estimates, India spends crores of rupees every year on providing security to many VIPs in various categories across India. Since various government and security departments are involved in the process there is no consolidated data of the amount of taxpayers' money spent on their security, however, a mere look at the cavalcades of the politicians tells the entire story about the wastage of money.

AFP

Beacons have gone, but 'intezaam' is very much in place

In India, were so accustomed to seeing 'sarkari' cars zooming past the rest of us who are stuck in traffic and boxed in with cars. The lal batti in action, stuck atop a VIPs car like a prized possession, is an indication to give way and most of the time it causes inconvenience. But who care? Will this ban bring any respite to us? It looks very unlikely because government personnel will still have their partys flag hanging off the bonnet of their car, and they will still be accompanied by security officers clad in safari-suits. As common people of the country, weve learnt to shut up and let the culture carry on as it does.

AP

The lal batti will be out of sight starting May 1, so our eyes will be clear enough to see if the other elements of the VIP culture will fade away. The beacon may go, but will the security guards of politicians, who step out and clear kilometres worth of traffic for them?

BCCL

Janta Bleeds, VIPs pass smoothly

Earlier in April, an ambulance with a bleeding young boy was held up for an hour at the Ring Road near Rajghat because the Malaysian Prime Minister was scheduled to pass through. In the video posted on social media, one police officer actually says, albeit sarcastically, VIPs are more important than the life of a child who is bleeding.

In another incident, which happened in December 2015, an ambulance carrying a heart patient in Kolkata was allegedly stopped to let West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's convoy pass on Kona Expressway in Howrah district.

Also read: People Outraged After Ruthless VIP Movement Blocks Ambulance With A Bleeding Child For One Hour

Politicians are given clear way, even when ambulances carrying patients in a critical state are not. Is the government going to appoint a system where the hard-shoulder is cleared for emergency vehicles such as fire brigades?

Politicians are serving the people

In the Republic, Greek Philosopher, Plato said that politicians should be motivated by securing a common good for people and dedicate themselves to public service. However, today the thread of trust between people and power is so fragile because governments are seen pursuing self-interest. The lal batti atop a car may be a small gesture but it expresses volumes, apart from creating an invisible demarcation between them and the people they are technically serving.

BCCL 2

Indian VIPs continue to live on

India has more than 450 VIPS, more important people than any other country in the world. Politicians live on taxpayers money and its the taxpayers money that is used to cover their expenses from security guards to meals at fancy hotels and restaurants. The Indian government spends an estimated amount of Rs 250 crores of taxpayers money on the protection of politicians. In 2008, the Delhi high court said, Politicians are not a national asset that need to be protected.

Also read: VIP Culture Thrills In India So Much That We Have More VIPs Than Any Other Country!

BCCL

When a car with a flashing red beacon on top of it passes by, while others drive a few centimetres an hour, its hard not to feel a pang of annoyance. After all, a democracy is the peoples isnt it? So if we didnt give them the privilege to avoid traffic, and disconnect from the realities of the common man, then who did? Currently, killing the lal batti seems nothing more than a token act.

For poor cops, everyone is a VIP

No matter how much effort is apparently put on ending this VIP culture, the traffic police believe that there will hardly be any change in the system. According to sources in Delhi police, the decision of banning red beacons may look good, but there are still many ways where people take advantage of the system and get away with the things easily.

"See, this is an election season. So, everyone is a VIP. People cite their relations to the politicians and put pressure on us to let them go after they are caught flouting the traffic rules," said a traffic cop on condition of anonymity.

He also said that there are enough people on road that have connections, which hampers the process. "When we stop people, they often call our own seniors. This does not help the cause. And we are talking about ending VIP culture," he added.
History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time. And so, if we go back in time, we will find so many anecdotes to guarantee the vastness of love.

Love, an emotion that rules our heart and mind has coaxed many people into doing many things - to fight the system, push their boundaries and go beyond the call of their limits.

But have you ever thought of putting the country on high alert for your love? No? Well, this man did.

Remember last week when major Indian cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai were put on high alert due to a suspicious ISIS attack? Well, we owe the pleasure of this fraudulent news to this man.

Vamsi Chowdhary, a transport agent was going through a cash crunch and wanted to cancel his trip to Mumbai and Goa with his girlfriend.

news18

However, when the 32-year-old was unable to convince his girlfriend, he decided to sent a hoax mail warning of simultaneous hijack attempts at Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad airports.

A task force with the help of cyber experts traced his IP address and cracked his location, which turned out to be a local cafe in SR Nagar area leading to Chowdharys arrest.

His girlfriend stays in Chennai. She proposed a trip to Mumbai and Goa. He requested his girlfriend to cancel the trip but she declined. As he was facing financial problems, he hatched this plan to make her believe that flights have been cancelled because of high alert at the airports," said B Limba Reddy, DCP Task Force, reported News18.

timesofindia

This is not the first time that Chowdhary has landed himself a case in cyber crime, he has been accused in two cyber cases earlier as well.

In his email, he wrote, "A lady overheard six boys discussing a simultaneous hijack plan in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai.'

His email then gave birth to a lot of ruckus amongst the authorities and the airport staff. When OP Singh, the Director General of the CISF saw the email, he claimed that the team considered the possibility of it being a hoax, but they did not want to take any chances.
As the battle continues between the so-called Islamic State and the Iraqi security forces in the Mosul city of Iraq, one only gets to hear about the hundreds of deaths that are taking place in the war-torn country. Not only the terrorists but the US forces that are claiming to protect Iraqi people have killed many innocent locals. Barely a week ago, a US air strike in West Mosul killed around 200 people. The bloody scenes with hundreds of dead bodies continue to be a part of the daily reportage coming from the country. Here are some photos that show the kind of destruction that is there.

1. Iraqi Federal Police fight in the frontline at Bab al-Jadid district as the battle against Islamic State's fighters continues in the old city of Mosul.

reuters

2. A sniper of the Iraqi Federal Police takes his position at a destroyed building near Islamic State fighters' positions at Bab al-Jadid district in the old city of Mosul.

reuters

3. Iraqi Federal Police take cover at the frontline at Bab al Jadid district as the battle against Islamic State's fighters continues.

reuters

4. Iraqi Federal Police fires a weapon at Islamic State fighters' positions at Bab al Jadid.

reuters

5. Smoke rises from the old city during a battle against Islamic State militants.

reuters

6. Federal police members fire their weapons during a battle against Islamic State militants.

reuters

7. An Iraqi Air Force helicopter fires missiles against Islamic State militants during a battle.

reuters

8. Displaced Iraqis who had fled their homes stop for a check by Iraqi forces, as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State militants, in western Mosul.

reuters

9. Displaced Iraqi people from the Bab al-Tob area in Mosul flee their homes to reach safer areas after clashes broke out as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State militants in the city of Mosul.

reuters

10. Iraqi Federal Police carry civilians, injured while opening a booby-trapped shop in Tayaran district, as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State's fighters in western Mosul.

reuters

11. Iraqi boys sit outside their house that was damaged.

reuters

12. Members of Iraqi rapid response forces use large camouflage cover during clashes with Islamic State militants.

reuters

13. An armoured vehicle of federal police drives past destroyed buildings from clashes during a battle against Islamic State militants at the Bab al-Tob area in Mosul.

reuters

14. A bus destroyed by clashes is seen on a street during a battle between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants.

reuters

15. Iraqi rapid response members fire a missile against Islamic State militants.

reuters

16. Federal police member fires his rifle near the body of an Islamic State fighter during a battle at Jada district.

reuters

17. Federal police members take their position during a battle at Jada district in western Mosul.

reuters

18. A member of federal Iraqi police carries his weapon during a battle with Islamic State.

reuters

19. Federal police members fire a rocket at Islamic State fighters' positions during a battle at Jada district in western Mosul.

reuters

20. Iraqi Federal Police fires his rifle at Islamic State fighters' positions at Bab al Jadid district.

reuters

21. A sniper of the Iraqi Federal Police takes his position at a destroyed building near Islamic State fighters' positions at Bab al Jadid district.

reuters

22. A displaced Iraqi family escape from clashes during a battle between Iraqi forces and Islamic State in Mosul.

reuters

23. Federal police members carry their weapons as they head to the frontline to fight against Islamic State militants, in Mosul.

reuters

24. Federal police members check their ammunition as they prepare to break into the Old City.

reuters
Amid heightened tensions between the US, Russia and Syria, people have been dreading the penultimate consequence, that of a nuclear war. To make things worse, a mystic who had accurately predicted President Trumps victory has now foretold the exact start date of WW3.

Something that none of us wants to believe, but according to Clairvoyant Horacio Villegas, we are alarmingly close to a disastrous war. According to a report published in the Daily Star, Mystic Horacio Villegas the self-styled messenger of God, prophesied Trump's victory way back in the year 2015.

He said that Trump would be the main reason behind the start of World War 3. He says that WW3 would begin 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatimas visitation which falls on May 13th and that Donald Trump will be crowned the Illuminati King.

He also prophesied the world leaders would attack Syria  which in reality took place in the form of chemical attack  and that this would bring Russia, North Korea and China into the conflict states the report.

Now that some hair-raising detail!

According to his statement, The main message that people need to know in order be prepared is that between May 13th and October 13, 2017, this war will occur and be over with much devastation, shock, and death.

Villegas backs his predictions with those made by by Nostradamus.

Nostradamus had said, Mabus will soon die, and then will come, a horrible undoing of people and animals, at once one will see vengeance, one hundred powers, thirst, famine, when the comet will pass.

In Villegas view the Mabus of our times is he president of Syria, Assad, who will get bombed and killed and will further worsen the war.

He says that a very devastating false flag or attacks based on false information will occur between 13th April and 13th May which will involve North Korea and Syria.

All of these predictions definitely sounds scary. But do you think it holds water?
Just when the dust on the whole Snapchat controversy seemed to have settled down, Mark Zuckerbergs latest comments may well add insult to Evan Spiegels injury.

Naughty Zucky! (REUTERS)

In what seems to be a subtle reaction to Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel's alleged disinterest in expanding business to "poor countries" like India, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg didnt want to mince any words, saying that Facebook is for everyone and not just for "the high end".

Mark Zuckerberg was speaking to TechCrunch during the annual Facebook F8 developer conference in San Jose, when he remarked, "I think one thing that people probably don't think about as much as we do is innovation to serve everyone in the community, not just the high end, right?

Zuckerberg made the comment to emphasize his companys work on initiatives like the Facebook Lite app, which is used by some 200 million people worldwide, especially in regions where Internet connectivity is bad.

In case youve been sleeping under a rock...

Why is Zuckerbergs subtle dig at Snapchat noteworthy, you ask? Because last week, US-based Variety quoted Snapchat's ex-employee Anthony Pompliano as saying that Spiegel allegedly tolk him in September 2015 that "the app is only for rich people. I don't want to expand into poor countries like India and Spain".

REUTERS

Obviously, Indians did not take to the comment lightly, resulting in a massive social media backlash. The controversy also resulted in the rating of the popular app dropping to a "single star" from an apparent "five star" on the App Store. A group of Indian hackers also allegedly leaked a database of 1.7 million Snapchat users on the Dark Web as payback for the comments.

Snapchat's parent company Snap Inc later denied the allegation, saying no such remark was made by CEO Evan Spiegel.
All you online joke forwarders, trolls, and purveyors of dank memes - it's now officially a criminal offense to spread rumours on social media. No kidding!

REUTERS

Authorities have, in the past, faced issues on many occasions when fake news and rumours spread over platforms like WhatsApp, causing communal and regional tensions to flare up. Now, the administrator of any group in which possibly damaging rumours are being spread, whether on Whatsapp, Facebook, or other social media, is liable for prosecution. At least in Varanasi anyway (for now).

The District Magistrate Yogeshwar Ram Mishra and Senior Superintendent of Police Nitin Tiwari have issued a joint order stating that any factually incorrect, rumour or misleading information on a social media group could result in an FIR against the administrator.

"There are several groups on social media which are named on newsgroups and also groups with other names which are propagating news and information which is not authentic," the order states. "These are being forwarded without cross checking."

REUTERS

Supposedly, "Directives are being issued to social media groups, Whatsapp and Facebook group administrators and members." Yes, that's right. Mull it over.

There are over 200 million Whatsapp users in India, and the order calls for all group administrators to be responsible and self-police their chats. "The administrator must include only those members who are personally known to him or her," the order says, adding that it's the admin's duty to remove offensive chats before they can spread, and report it to the nearest police station.

"In the event of inaction from the group admin, he or she will be considered guilty and action will be taken against the group admin," it continues.

That's the plan for Varanasi anyway. We'll have to wait and see how the district's police plans to tackle people that violate this order and, more importantly, if other courts use this as precedent in future cases.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Apr. 20

By Demir Azizov  Trend:

Uzbekistan signed the Paris agreement regulating measures of reducing carbon dioxide emission to atmosphere, said the Uzbek Foreign Ministrys press service Apr. 20.

The document was signed by Ambassador of Uzbekistan to the US Bakhtiyor Gulyamov.

The signing ceremony, held in the UN headquarters, was also attended by Santiago Villalpando, chief of the Treaty Section in the UN Office of Legal Affairs.

During the ceremony, the UN official noted that climate change always remains the focus of the organization and international community, and realization of the Paris agreement is essential for achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

The sides also expressed hope that the Paris agreement will be a roadmap for the UN members, helping reduce emissions and strengthen resilience to climate change.
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The Double-Triple-Quadruple-Crossing Trump

By Ghassan Kadi

April 19, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Trumps recent and sudden 180 degree turn on a number of international issues is mind-boggling, to say the least. But, if we connect the dots it becomes easier to get into the mind of the pragmatic billionaire-turned-President.

First and foremost, we must thank Obama for the if state of mind he gave us about Trump. Many analysts, including myself, felt hopeful when Clinton was defeated and Trump won. Given the Obama disappointment, we all learnt to reserve our enthusiasm and make optimistic statements on the condition of if Trump kept his promises; which we now know he obviously did not. Whether he did not, could not or did not want to in the first place, makes no difference at all because, at the end of the day, he did not keep his promises of reducing world tension and conflict.

When analysts sit and try to explain why was it that the Trump administration suddenly decided to bomb Syria, with the chemical attack as aside, they have been forgetting that, out of the blue, and for no reason at all, and just a few days before this incident, the Trump administration made very strong pro-Assad statements.

That was a prelude for the upcoming Xi Jinping visit. Trump wanted to present to the rest of the world that he was working against ISIS primarily, with Russia and even with Assad.

That was all meant to change the moment the Chinese Tiger laid foot on American soil.

The scenario that I am speculating on involves a direct American role in the Chemical attack, otherwise the timing would have been an almost impossible feat.

Lets wind back the clock a bit. Soon after his inauguration, Trump told the Russians to tell the Syrians that he was prepared to stop total support for ISIS and have it eradicated on condition that Syria and Russia guarantee that they will reciprocate by kicking Iran and Hezbollah off Syrian soil. I have written a whole article about this called The Race for Raqqa.

The Russians and the Syrians were not either prepared to back-stab their allies or prepared to give America a central and pivotal role in the Levant. In other words, Trumps outcries fell on deaf ears to his sheer dismay, the accomplished business man, who is not used to taking no for an answer. That no that Trump received from Russia marked a pivotal point in as far as his future relationship with Russia is concerned. For a simple minded person who judges complex international events and diplomats as being bad, good and tough amongst other school playground expressions, he had to make a stand to prove that he was tough.

Trumps message to Xi Jinping was clear, stop supporting Russia and the USA will give you a better deal. The Chinese leaders response was even clearer; dont blame Americas problems on China and dont interfere with our international diplomacy.

In the middle of the negotiations between the two leaders, Trump wanted to give his Chinese counterpart a clear preparedness on his part to dump Russia and any future collaboration with Russia as a prelude for closer and better relationships with China. What better way did he have than do a 180 degree turn and attack Syria, with Russian troops on the ground, and only a few days after endorsing Assads Presidency and fate?

The Tomahawks that hit Syria were not launched to inflict major damage because Trump clearly cannot afford to escalate the situation there between America and Russia to the point of no return. Trumps attack on Syria was simply a message for China, telling China for me to gain your support I am prepared to do crazy things, including dumping Russia.

When Tillerson went to Moscow a few days after the attack on a pre-scheduled visit, he had nothing to say in defense of that attack and left Moscow agreeing that this should not happen again in a manner as if he was saying it shouldnt have happened in the first place.

The big fish that Trump wants to fry is not Syria. Even though in his stumbling, awkward arrogance, he may attack Syria again if he feels he needs to.

It is as if Trump is courting two potential partners; Russia and China. He tried to strike a military deal with Russia on Syria but he failed. But he also tried to strike a much more complex deal with China but this is also failing.

Ideally, Trump wants China to let go of its Island development program in the South China Sea and abandon its BRICS based economic and other strategic alliances with Russia. China is not biting.

Comes the MOAB.

There was no strategic or logical explanation or gain behind Trumps orders to drop a MOAB on Afghanistan. It was a simple show of force and determined mentality of aggression at any cost.

Trump now wants to bring the war closer to Chinas borders. He wants to turn Korea into Obamas Ukraine. The stalemate in Ukraine will eventually give way. If NATO was going to do something against Russia it would have done it already. The new hotspot is Korea.

What Trump hopes for is a that a war against North Korea will give him enough justification to blockade Chinas sea trade routes all the way down to the South China Sea under the guise of military necessity.

Trump seems confident that he can blow a devastating strike on North Korea and then follow this up with a blockade that covers the entire China Sea, north, middle and south. In his short-sightedness and arrogance, he thinks that nuclear North Korea is not going to be able to retaliate and that China will sit idle.

What is to happen in the next few days, weeks or months is going to be pivotal in deciding the short term future of humanity on this planet.

At best, the bottom line behind Trumps new moves, if he is truly continuing to uphold the slogan of make America great again, is that he realized now that the American economy has been destroyed beyond repair and that he needs drastic measures, including limited nuclear wars, to restore Americas dominion. By the same token, by now, Trump would have realized that it is really the Deep State that is in charge and for him to secure his survival as President, he has to tow the line.

Irrespective of what is driving Trump; the Deep State, financial pragmatism, the shrinking global influence of the United States or any other factor or combination of the above, Trump is playing a very dangerous game which may prove to be a decisive game of Russian Roulette of global reach.

Trump is up against Russia and China, not to forget the smaller powers of North Korea and Iran. In the Levant you can add the Syrian Army and Hezbollah to the equation. Is the ailing USA up to the task? Rational thinking implies the contrary. Irrespective, the consequences of the interaction of all of those powers at play is something that we as citizens of the world have no other option but to sit back and watch.

This article was first published at The Saker
Our Misguided 'Wars of Choice'

By Jeffrey D. Sachs

April 19, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - There is one foreign policy goal that matters above all the others, and that is to keep the United States out of a new war, whether in Syria, North Korea, or elsewhere. In recent days, President Trump has struck Syria with Tomahawk missiles, bombed Afghanistan with the most powerful nonnuclear bomb in the US arsenal, and has sent an armada toward nuclear-armed North Korea. We could easily find ourselves in a rapidly escalating war, one that could pit the United States directly against nuclear-armed countries of China, North Korea, and Russia.

Such a war, if it turned nuclear and global, could end the world. Even a nonnuclear war could end democracy in the United States, or the United States as a unified nation. Who thought the Soviet Unions war in Afghanistan would end the Soviet Union itself? Which of the belligerents at the start of World War I foresaw the catastrophic end of four giant empires  Hohenzollern (Prussia), Romanov (Russia), Ottoman, and Hapsburg  as a result of the war?

These are terrifying prospects, and they may seem unreal, even preposterous. Yet Trump is impetuous, unstable, and inexperienced. His foreign policies swing wildly from day to day. He makes threats, such as attacking North Korea, that could have horrific, indeed catastrophic, consequences.

Think back to JFKs Executive Committee as it grappled with the Cuban missile crisis. Many of Kennedys military advisers would have led us to thermonuclear war. The Kennedy brothers, John and Robert, with their cool heads and profound sense of responsibility, saved us despite their advisers, not because of them. We should all shudder when contemplating an ExComm meeting in our time.

Sad to say, Americas history of war is not encouraging. Americas shining nobility in World War II and its positive, though flawed, role in the Korean War, should not obscure Americas many disastrous wars of choice, when America went to war for deeply flawed reasons and ended up causing havoc at home and abroad.

Americas costly wars of choice have been driven by many factors. President William McKinley took America to war against Spain in 1898 in search of overseas empire. President Woodrow Wilson took America as a late entrant into World War I, in 1917, in pursuit of his deeply flawed vision of a war to end all wars, instead helping to usher in a peace to end all peace. President Lyndon Johnson took America to war in Vietnam, in 1964, mainly to protect himself against right-wing charges that he was weak on communism. President George W. Bush took America to war in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003 to topple the Taliban and Saddam Hussein, according to the remarkably naive neoconservative game plan to rid the greater Middle East of regimes hostile to US interests. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton extended these wars into Libya and Syria in 2011 to topple Moammar Khadafy and Bashar al-Assad.

Now, with just a few weeks on the job, Trump seems to be continuing or expanding the wars of his predecessors, while threatening to initiate a war with nuclear-armed North Korea.

There are three key points about these wars of choice. First, in the Spanish-American War, the Vietnam War, and the Mideast wars, the United States attacked the other countries first, not in self-defense, as in World War II. Lyndon Johnson expanded the war in Vietnam on the pretext that North Vietnam had attacked the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin, but Johnson knew that the claim was false. Nor had Saddam, Khadafy, or Assad attacked the United States. In the case of Iraq, the pretext was Saddams nonexistent weapons of mass destruction. As for Libya and Syria, the US interventions were allegedly for humanitarian purposes, to protect civilian populations against Khadafy and Assad. In both cases, the civilian populations ended up suffering horrific harms from the US interventions.

Second, since the birth of the United Nations in 1945, such wars of choice are against international law. The UN Charter allows for wars of self-defense and military actions agreed upon by the UN Security Council. The UN Security Council may approve military interventions to protect the civilian populations from the crimes of their own government under the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect. No country can go it alone other than in self-defense.

Many Americans dismiss the UN Security Council on the grounds that Russia will veto every needed action. Yet this is absolutely not the case. Russia and China indeed agreed to a military intervention in Libya in 2011 in order to protect Libyas civilian population. But then NATO used that UN resolution as a pretext to actually topple Khadafy, not merely to protect the civilian population. Russia and China also recently teamed up with the United States to achieve the nuclear agreement with Iran, to adopt the Paris Climate Agreement, and to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals. Diplomacy is feasible. Getting ones way all the time is not.

Third, these wars of choice have been disasters, one after the next. In the Spanish-American war, the United States gained an empire and fertile farmland in Cuba, but also decades of political instability in that country and the Philippines that eventually resulted in Philippine independence and an anti-American revolution in Cuba. In World War I, the US intervention turned the tide toward the victory of France and the United Kingdom over Germany and the Ottoman Empire, only to be followed by a disastrous peace settlement, instability in Europe and the Middle East, and the rise of Hitler in the ensuing chaos 15 years later. In Vietnam, the war led to 55,000 Americans dead, 1 million or more Vietnamese killed, genocide in next-door Cambodia, destabilization of the US economy, and, eventually, complete US withdrawal.

In Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, the regimes were quickly defeated by US-led forces, but peace and stability proved to be elusive. All of these countries have been wracked by continuing war and terrorism and US military engagement. And in Syria, the United States was not even successful in toppling Assad, since Assad had powerful allies, Russia and Iran. Americas intervention to topple Assad has escalated into a full-fledged proxy war involving many countries and jihadist groups, and of course the entry of ISIS into Syria.

Its not so hard to rev the American public to fight a war, even a horribly misguided one, if the government claims falsely that the United States is under attack or is acting in the service of some grand humanitarian cause. Yet these have been the pretexts, not the reasons, for the wars of choice. The sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor in 1898, most likely caused by an onboard explosion in the ships coal bunkers, became a cause for war when the sinking was attributed to Spain. The Gulf of Tonkin attack on the USS Maddox was fabricated. The weapons of mass destruction of Saddam Hussein turned out not to exist. The claim that Khadafy was about to commit genocide against his people was propaganda.

The ongoing war in Syria is yet another case in point. Our intervention there in support of a rebellion against Bashar al-Assad is ostensibly on humanitarian grounds. Yet we know from WikiLeaks and other sources that US strategists were looking for a way to topple Assad for years before 2011, hoping that economic instability and IMF-backed austerity would do the job. The United States and Saudi Arabia wanted him out because of Irans backing of the regime. When the Arab Spring erupted in early 2011, the Obama administration judged this to be the opportune moment to nudge both Assad and Khadafy out the door. Khadafys removal required a NATO-led war over several months, while Assad could not be removed because of his backing by Iran and Russia.

When Assad showed his staying power, Obama ordered the CIA to coordinate efforts with Saudi Arabia and Turkey to defeat the regime through a support for anti-regime fighters on the ground. Thus, the quick exit of Assad once dreamed of by US strategists turned into a full-blown regional war, with the United States, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Russia, and Iran all competing for power through proxy fighters including jihadist groups.

I believe that four reforms to foreign policy are vital for our survival in this growing mayhem.

First, the CIA should be drastically restructured, to be solely an intelligence agency rather than an unaccountable secret army of the president. When the CIA was created in 1947, it was given the two very different roles of intelligence and covert operations. Truman was alarmed about this dual role, and time has proved him right. The CIA has been a vital success when it provides key intelligence but an unmitigated disaster when it serves as the presidents secret army. We need to end the military functions of the CIA, yet Trump has recently expanded the CIAs war-making powers by giving the agency the authority to target drone strikes without Pentagon approval.

Second, it is vital for Congress to reestablish decision-making over war and peace. That is its constitutional role, indeed perhaps its most important constitutional role as a bulwark of democratic government. Yet Congress has almost completely abandoned this responsibility. When Trump brandishes the sword toward North Korea, or drops bombs on Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, Congress is mute, neither investigating nor granting nor revoking any legislative authority for such actions. This is Congresss greatest dereliction of duty. Congress needs to wake up before Trump launches an impetuous and potentially calamitous war against nuclear-armed North Korea.

Third, it is essential to break the secrecy over US foreign policy making. Most urgently, we need an inquest into Americas involvement in Syria in order for the public to understand how we arrived at the current morass. Since Congress is unlikely to undertake this, and since the executive branch would of course never do so, the responsibility lies with civil society, especially academia and other policy experts, to coalesce around an information gathering and reporting function.

Fourth, we need urgently to return to global diplomacy within the UN Security Council. Yes, Russia will veto many US proposals, and vice versa. But it is precisely the success in forging diplomatic agreements, such as with the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Climate Agreement, that will enable our survival.

We are at the 100th anniversary of World War I, and countless historians have noted the similarities of that time and our own. On the eve of World War I, the world economy was booming; technology and science were ascendant; and world war seemed unthinkable. Yet the very dynamism of technology and the world economy was provoking fear and loathing among the major powers. The competing empires each came to view their positions as precarious relative to the others, and to believe that a war could be a resolution to those fears.

The main difference is of course the incomparably greater destructive potential today. As JFK said in his inaugural address a half-century ago, The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.

America has developed a level of wealth, productivity, and technological know-how utterly unimaginable in the past. Yet we put everything at risk through our wanton addiction to war. If we instead used our vast knowledge, economic might, and technological excellence to help cure diseases, end poverty, protect the environment, and ensure global food security, America would profoundly inspire other nations and do much to secure a new era of global peace.

Jeffrey David Sachs is an American economist and director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, where he holds the title of University Professor, the highest rank Columbia bestows on its faculty.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House.

See also
Lawrence Wilkerson On North Korea Crisis: U.S. Should Stop the Threats & Own Up to its Role

By Real News

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, says the U.S. should resolve the North Korea nuclear crisis through negotiations and should reckon with the impact of its previous actions.

Posted April 19, 2017

Transcript

AARON MATE: It's The Real News. I'm Aaron Mate.



Amid rising tensions, the U.S. and North Korea are both making threats. In a visit to South Korea, Vice President Mike Pence said while the U.S. prefers peaceful means, all options are on the table.



MIKE PENCE: And I'm here to express the resolve of the people of the United States, and the President of the United States, to achieve that objective through peaceable means, through negotiations, but all options are on the table.



AARON MATE: A top North Korean official says the country's army is on maximum alert, and is prepared to, quote, "launch merciless military strikes against the U.S. aggressors," unquote. It's the latest salvo in a growing nuclear standoff. A recent North Korean missile test led the Trump administration to move a U.S. navy force into the Korean Peninsula.



Last week, North Korea warned of potential nuclear war, and this weekend, North Korea staged an annual military parade that showed off new weaponry. It followed that with another missile test that quickly failed.



So, where is this headed? Well, joining us is Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, retired U.S. army soldier, and former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State, Colin Powell. He's an adjunct professor at the College of William and Mary, where he instructs on U.S. national security.



Colonel Wilkerson, welcome.



LARRY WILKERSON: Thanks for having me.



AARON MATE: Vice President Pence saying today that the era of strategic patience is over. That, along with a series of bellicose messages from President Trump's Twitter account, where do you see this going?



LARRY WILKERSON: I really am alarmed when people make statements like that without the diplomatic finesse to deliver them properly. Strategic patience, as it were, has produced no war on the peninsula since 1953. That's a pretty darn good record. Although I don't know what he means by, "the period of strategic patience is over".



I'm prepared, I think most Americans, and I know most Republic of Korea citizens - that is, South Korea - are prepared to be patient forever, if there's no war in that forever.



AARON MATE: I believe it was the National Security Advisor, McMaster, who said this weekend that the status quo is not tenable. You have the situation where North Korea is armed with nuclear weapons and threatening its neighborhoods, so a new course is needed, also pointing to previous agreements with the regime not working out. How do you respond to that?



LARRY WILKERSON: Well, I respond to that by saying the previous agreements with the regime, the agreed framework for example, that Bill Clinton's administration engineered, didn't work out as much, because the United States didn't live up to its obligations under those agreements. As for any other reason, so we can throw rocks at both sides with regard to agreements.



What I'm concerned with is, if people run around this town, Washington, and they talk about people not being deterred by the fact that we have more nuclear weapons than everyone else in the world combined, except for Russia. If Kim Jong-un or any Kim dynasty leader, in fact any leader in Pyongyang with his hand on their button, were to fire a missile at Tokyo, Japan, or South Korea, or Guam, or Okinawa, or any place they might be able to currently hit. Or ultimately if they were to fire one in California, they would cease to exist.



No U.S. president would restrain himself, or herself, from responding. Pyongyang would cease to exist, and I dare say, the entire Kim dynasty. Whose objective, sole objective, is preserving themselves in power, would disappear in the flash of a mushroom cloud. So, I mean, this is ridiculous to think that they're not deterred.



AARON MATE: You know, you mentioned the history of U.S.-North Korean agreements, the recent history, and you talked about throwing rocks on both sides. Well, you have an inside take on this because you worked for the Bush administration, which abandoned the Clinton agreements, the key one being North Korea agreeing to freeze plutonium production.



There also was some sort of indirect deal about buying up North Korean missiles. But President Bush abandoned this policy. Can you tell us what happened there and how that helped lead to today?



LARRY WILKERSON: Well, our intelligence community, really I don't think can say whether the chicken came first, or the egg in this case. What we do know is that the money that we had promised, that the Europeans had promised, for the light water reactors, which were supposed to replace the dangerous plutonium-producing reactor at Yongbyon, actually didn't come across.



Europeans pretty much put up their billions, but our Congress was very reluctant, and in the end didn't put up hardly anything. And in terms of the heavy fuel oil shipments we promised, the Congress was either dilatory in shipping it, or didn't ship it to the amounts that were agreed to, or both.



So, the North Koreans, as Jim Kelly, our Assistant Secretary for East Asia and Pacific found out October 2002 -- when he visited Pyongyang and talked with Yi Jung and Kang Sak-ju -- found out that they probably did hedge their bets, and had a secret program for enhancing uranium, to back up the plutonium program we had frozen.



Whether they did that because we weren't living up to our end of the deal, or they did that to hedge their bets, is still a question I think. But if either way, let's just look at that.



We had frozen the most dangerous aspect of their program at Yongbyon, reprocessing plutonium, making a plutonium-based bomb. So, we had at least eliminated half of it, and at that point we didnt have any nuclear weapons.



Now we've got ten or twelve nuclear weapons, and we don't have any agreement at all. We're not talking. We're not doing anything. So, the negotiations in the past, even if they only half worked, they worked a whole lot better than the non-negotiations of, say, my administration after October 2002.



AARON MATE: SO, let me ask you, I mean, this is speculation, but do you think if President Bush had lived up to Clinton's commitments, and also perhaps not put North Korea on the infamous, 'Axis of Evil', whether you think North Korea would have nuclear weapons today?



LARRY WILKERSON: I'm not sure. That's a hard question to answer. It's a hypothetical; I'm not sure what the situation would be. If I... let me put it this way as a military professional, if I were Kim Jong-il, or Kim Il-sung, or Kim Jong-un, I would want to hedge my bets against a power that arrayed itself in front of me as threateningly as the U.S. does.



If I look out from Pyongyang - now, I'm trying to be empathetic. I'm not condoning the Kim dynasty or anyone in North Korea. I'm simply saying I'm being empathetic -- I'm looking out from Pyongyang into the Pacific. I'm looking out across the inland seas; I'm looking down at the ROK, the Republic of Korea. I see 600,000 highly trained ROK troops. I see B2s on Guam; I see Vincent aircraft carriers steaming towards the Peninsula. I see all this threat to me; I'd want a nuclear weapon, too.



So, if you want the bottom line, there isn't anybody in the world today, after seeing us invade Iraq, after seeing us bomb Syria, after seeing us do - we're at war with seven or eight countries right now in terms of drones. We're flying across their borders and killing people inside their territory.



So, if I were anyone in the world who thought my regime was in trouble, I'd think the trouble came from the United States, and I'd want a nuclear weapon too. That's not at all to say I condone the proliferation of nuclear weapons. I'm simply stating the obvious. I'm stating the rational obvious.



AARON MATE: On the subject of U.S. policy influencing North Korea's thinking, there was a piece in the New York Times yesterday analyzing the current crisis. And they made an interesting point near the end, where they pointed to the fact that Libya, under Colonel Gaddafi, they made an agreement with the U.S. about giving up on their nascent nuclear program, in return for some financial relief.



Now, the financial relief never came, and then of course when you had this uprising against Gaddafi years later, the U.S. joined the side of the uprising and actually helped overthrow Gaddafi.



And the Times says that this experience has heavily influenced the leaders in North Korea. That actually, Libya is often talked about in North Korean strategic writing and discussion.



LARRY WILKERSON: Absolutely. Look at Iraq and the invasion in 2003. Many have maintained, and I think with some reason, that it was an illegal war. Look at Libya. Look at the strike on Syria recently. If I were someone out there looking around and considering my threats, and I thought a nuclear weapon would help me, at least in some ways, to keep that threat from coming my way and overthrowing my regime, I'd surely want to build one.



I was there when we did what you just described briefly with Gaddafi. Tony Blair was wined and dined, and Condi Rice, and everyone was all hunky-dory loving Muammar Gaddafi at that particular point. And then suddenly we'd move a few years down the road, and bang, everybody's getting rid of him. And we haven't seen a good analysis of that conflict, yet.



I've had students write papers on it, good papers. And this is not a moment of U.S. brilliance, to be sure. Look at what we've got now. We've got, for example one of the biggest arms bazaars in Northern Africa -- if not the world -- to include shoulder-fired missiles. Gaddafi's armed caches going out to the rest of the world, including ISIS, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Al-Qaeda, and other groups like that.



So, Libya is not a success story. Not at all a success story. But it is something that teaches other leaders in the world to beware of the United States.



AARON MATE: Since we're talking history, I want to go back even further to the wider historical context for U.S.-North Korea tensions. We often don't hear about the impact of decades of U.S.-North Korean tensions. And specifically the Korean War going back to the 1950s, and I want to read you a quote from Air Force General Curtis LeMay, who headed the Strategic Air Command during the Korean War.



He said, "Over a period of three years or so, we killed off what 20% of the population." And Dean Rusk, who was later Secretary of State, he said the U.S. bombed, quote, "...everything that moved in North Korea, every brick standing on top of another."



Talk to us about this context that we often don't talk about.



LARRY WILKERSON: Well, this was a really bloody war, there's no question about it. The North invaded the South, the South responded by retreating all the way to Pusan. The United States was ill prepared for the war, and so joined them in that retreat, and then held out at Pusan until Douglas MacArthur, of course, conducted the brilliant amphibious invasion at Incheon.



And we cut off the North Koreans, and then we pursued them all the way to Bealu(?), with Douglas MacArthur, saying, no Chinese will enter the war, telling Harry Truman that on Wake Island, when they met. And then the Chinese intervened with some 300,000, quote, "volunteers", unquote, and then the casualties really mounted, as we fought three years of bloody stalemate. Finally coming to an end at approximately the same point we started. But we had preserved South Korea.



And that was a great deal. It turns out that South Korea is one of the few, if not the only, major country in the world that has gone from being a debtor nation, to a creditor nation, in one generation. And is a flourishing democracy now.



So, in the long run, that turned out all right for South Korea. But for the other millions of Koreans north of the DMZ, it put them in the so-called, Hermit Kingdom. And it gave them, as you said, these memories of the times when the Chinese intervened, the United States was on their territory. Even had Douglas MacArthur recommending that nuclear waste be sowed all across North Korea, in order to make it unpalatable, and to keep the Chinese out, and so forth.



Yeah, the history is a long, bloody history. But the history since that 1953 truce agreement, peace agreement that was not, but truce, ceasefire, and we still have the war condition going on. Look at the DMZ. It spans the country right now at the point where we stopped. We have a lot of bitter feelings on both sides, I think.



Most people probably couldn't tell you what those feelings were really about today, on either side. In the North, the people were kept so poor, and so ill fed and in such conditions of poverty that the regime holds on by essentially keeping them worshipful of Kim, and not eating very much.



In the South, you have this robust, dynamic, successful economy. I think if you were to leave the situation alone, that is to say a great power like the United States, or for that matter, Japan or China, were not making it different every day by their very shadow of their power, you would probably already have North and South having worked out reconciliation.



You'd have unification, and the capital would be Seoul, not Pyongyang. And you'd have a whole bunch of Koreans in the North joining a whole bunch of Koreans in the South, and becoming a very dynamic economy over time, a generation, let's say. And maybe even giving China some competition, which is one reason why I think China likes that buffer zone between it, and that very prosperous, economically vivacious South Korea.



AARON MATE: Yeah. On the issue of buffer zone, we often forget that there are 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea. So, that would seem to be an incentive for China to keep North Korea as its ally, even though it causes it a lot of problems.



LARRY WILKERSON: You put your finger on something there. I would suspect even, let's just hypothetically think for a moment about a collapse scenario, which I've done as a strategist in the army, and we even war-planned one of the war plans off of this.



Let's just say that all of a sudden the Kim dynasty is no more, that this Kim is the last one, for example -- which incidentally a lot of more conservative South Koreans believe -- and say it collapses and the generals take over. Well, the first thing I would think China would do, would probably be to move some of those forces it keeps up there on the border, the Yalu, into North Korea, say 15, 20 kilometers, and establish a buffer zone. And then make that another DMZ, or like a DMZ between what would then become an ultimately reunified Korea, and the Chinese border.



The only thing that might preclude that, and the Chinese might withdraw their troops, and not declare a buffer zone, is if once unification occurred, the United States left the peninsula entirely. You may have seen Doug Bandow's article recently where he suggested that we ought to leave the peninsula. I'm not sure Doug is not onto something.



U.S. presence there is no longer required, really, for checking China, as we say, or for doing the kinds of things we say we have to do with proximity. We can fly B2s from Missouri, we can do most of the things we need to do from internal to the United States. So, this $70 billion a year we're spending on over 800 bases overseas every year has got to stop sometime.



And we might have a situation that is strategically more palatable, more peaceful and more stable, if the United States were not on the peninsula, than what we have now with the United States being on the peninsula. That's something that ought to be looked at, and ought to be analyzed.



AARON MATE: I want to play the comments of former Defense Secretary William Perry about North Korea. This is what he said.



WILLIAM PERRY: I think this is a time for us to some creative diplomacy. Paradoxically, the dangerous situation were in right now has created the environment in which now this diplomacy actually might be successful.



AARON MATE: Colonel Wilkerson, what do you make of what he said, and what do you make of the prospects for talks? I mean, people often look to the North Korean regime and say; this is the worst government in the world. So, how could we talk to them?



LARRY WILKERSON: Well, Bill Perry's pretty smart. Bill Perry and I were the two characters - huh, if you will - on the U.S. side in the last Pyonghwaa simulation we ran in Seoul. Bill played the U.S. Minister of Defense, and we had ROK Minister of Defense on the other side, and we did sort of a war game together. He knows the peninsula well. He was there when we came very, very close to war in 1994.



And I think he's right. This is not an insane regime. It's a very rational regime. It wants to preserve its own power. So, the very idea that deterrents wouldn't work against them is simply nonsense.



But it's also a high stakes poker regime. They do their brinksmanship, they play their high stakes poker games, they drop artillery rounds on South Korea, they sink a South Korean boat, or some other brinksmanship-like move. And they do it because they want us to come back to the talks.



Well, I say we need to be the kind of power that recognizes it could eliminate them from the face of the earth at any moment that it wanted to, but be magnanimous and deal with this, deal with the situation as you have it. Go back to talks. I don't care if we talk until we're blue in the face, as long as strategic patience continues to work, and prevent a war.



These people who walk around and pontificate about, oh there'll be a war, oh, there'll be a war, oh, they'll shoot Japan, oh, they'll shoot South Korea, oh, they'll shoot Guam, oh, they'll shoot California. That's just what those people's place in life is about: starting wars. I like strategic patience. I like no war. I like stable situations where no one's dying, and no one's dropping bombs on someone else, least of all my own country.



So, I don't see any problem with talking again, and I hope - I hope - I don't have a lot of hope with this administration of amateurs, but I do hope that what Trump is seeking is high ground in the eventual talks that he will conduct. I hope that he revivifies the five-party talks. I hope that we talk to the North Koreans. My goodness, we couldn't even talk directly to the North Koreans during the five-party talks with George W. Bush, because Dick Cheney wouldn't allow it.



So, if we had meaningful talks, and we offered something meaningful to the North Koreans in those talks, we would not get a non-nuclear North Korea. We're beyond that. They're never going to give up their nuclear weapons. But we might get a situation where the North and the South were talking to each other more regularly, dealing with each other more regularly.



We back out of this situation, sort of, and you wind up with an agreement within a generation or two - talk about strategic patience - that brought the peninsula together, and brought it together, as I said, with a capital Seoul and not Pyongyang. Which I think is inevitable.



AARON MATE: In this scary situation, we'll leave it there with that hope. Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, thanks as always for joining us.



LARRY WILKERSON: Thanks for having me.



AARON MATE: And thank you for joining us on The Real News.
Julian Assange Strikes Back at CIA Director and Talks Trump, Russia, and Hillary Clinton

By Jeremy Scahill

April 20, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " The Intercept " - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is hitting back at Trumps CIA director Mike Pompeo following a speech last week in which Pompeo accused WikiLeaks of being a hostile nonstate intelligence agency operating outside of the protections of the First Amendment.  We can no longer allow Assange and his colleagues the latitude to use free speech values against us. To give them the space to crush us with misappropriated secrets is a perversion of what our great Constitution stands for, Pompeo declared , adding an ominous assertion: It ends now.

Speaking from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has been living since June 2012, Assange said Pompeo appeared to be issuing a threat.  So how does he propose to conduct this ending? He didnt say. But the CIA is only in the business of collecting information, kidnapping people, and assassinating people. So, its quite a menacing statement that he does need to clarify , said Assange.

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Assange made the remarks during an exclusive interview for the Intercepted podcast. T he reason why Director Pompeo is launching this attack, is because he knows were in this series exposing all sorts of illegal actions by the CIA, Assange said, referring to WikiLeaks ongoing publication of secret CIA hacking documents as part of its  Vault 7  project. Pompeo, he said, is trying to get ahead of the publicity curve and create a preemptive defense.

When he watched Pompeos speech, Assange said he was struck by what he perceived as a lack of gravitas. We thought it was quite a weak speech in that it put Director Pompeo, it put the CIA, in a position where they looked like they were frightened and worried that we were the better intelligence service, Assange said.

Regarding Pompeos declaration that WikiLeaks was not entitled to First Amendment rights, Assange said: For the head of the CIA to pronounce what the boundaries are, of reporting or not reporting  is a very disturbing precedent. The head of the CIA determining who is a publisher, whos not a publisher, whos a journalist, whos not a journalist, is totally out of line.

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In the wide-ranging interview, Assange discussed the allegations that WikiLeaks was abetted by Russian intelligence in its publication of DNC emails, his alleged relationship with Roger Stone and his newfound admirers on the right, from FOX News to Sarah Palin and Donald Trump.

Assange said that if WikiLeaks had obtained a cache of RNC emails, it would have published those as well. Just imagine if WikiLeaks had obtained information that it knew was true about the Democratic party and corruption of the primary process, and it decided that it was not going to publish that information, but suppress it  it would be completely unconscionable, he said. We specialize in really big scoops. You cant go, Oh, we have this massive scoop about corruption in the DNC. Now we need to balance this with a massive scoop about corruption in the RNC. These things come along once every few years.

Questioned about WikiLeakss aggressive targeting of Hillary Clinton, Assange rejected the notion that he went after her for personal reasons. Ive never met Hillary Clinton, he said. I think Id probably like her in person. Most good politicians are quite charismatic in person. In some ways shes a bit like me, Shes a bit wonkish and a bit awkward. So maybe wed get along.

The entire conversation with Assange can be heard on the latest episode of Intercepted.
Trump's Missile Attack on Syria Justified With Fake Intelligence, Experts Say



Echoes of George W. Bush's disastrous invasion of Iraq.



By Steven Rosenfeld

April 20, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " Alternet " - On April 7, President Trump committed his first act of war, attacking Syria with missiles in response to what he said was a poison gas attack by the Syrian government that killed dozens. But the White Houses subsequent intelligence report offering its proof of Syrias role was false and fraudulent, suggesting a coverup by a president acting without any intelligence and intentionally lying to the public.

These are the characterizations of two longtime experts in war studies and missile systems, whichalong with coordinated comments by Vice President Mike Pence in South Korea and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Russia that Americas strategic patience is endingsuggest Trump may be seeking a war of choice, even if it involves fabricated intelligence.

President George W. Bushs White House fabricated intelligence concerning Iraqs alleged weapons of mass destruction before his April 2003 invasion of Iraq. What seems to be unfolding at the top ranks of the Trump administration is similar to Bushs pronouncements and evidence following the 9/11 terrorist attack.

This latest outburst of militarism began April 4, when it appears that poison gas, possibly the nerve agent sarin, killed dozens of Syrian civilians in the town of Khan Shaykhun. These deaths, among them women and children, are uncontested and documented on videos. Which poison gas was used, how it was delivered and who was behind the incident remain unanswered questions, said Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, though United Nations scientists and Turkish doctors who did autopsies have pointed to sarin.

The Syrian government may well be responsible for the attack, or others may have been involved, she said. But without an independent, international investigation, we simply dont know. That means the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons ( OPCW ) [an international body with 192 member countries] must be given a full and complete and open mandate to follow all leads and report fully.

Similarly, we have reports from Turkey that autopsies on some of the bodies indicated the gas was sarin; reportedly OPCW and/or U.N. scientists were present, Bennis continued. But the reports come only from the official Turkish medical/forensic authorities. Again, without a full and thorough independent investigation, all of the unknowns remain just that.

Whats not unknown, however, is three days after the attack, on April 7, Trump ordered a cruise missile attack on a Syrian military airfield.

This was an act of war, Bennis said. Even if we already knew, even if there was a credible source finding the Syrian government was responsible, that would not give the White House and the Pentagon the right to unilaterally attack Syria without U.N. authorization, when the U.S. was not attacked, without consultations with or authorization from Congress, in violation of the War Powers Act.

On April 11, under mounting criticism, the White House issued a four-page report squarely blaming the Syrian regime for the gas attack, saying it was delivered by a plane from the airport that was hit by U.S. missiles and accusing Russia of lying by claiming that the poison gas was in the hands of guerrilla armies fighting the regime.

The United States is confident that the Syrian regime conducted a chemical weapons attack, using the nerve agent sarin, against its own people in the town of Khan Shaykhun in southern Idlib Province on April 4, 2017, the report began. Our information indicates that the chemical agent was delivered by regime Su-22 fixed-wing aircraft Our information indicates personnel historically associated with Syrias chemical weapons program were at Shayrat Airfield in late March making preparations for an upcoming attack in Northern Syria, and they were present at the airfield on the day of the attack.

The report continued, We have confidence in our assessment because we have signals intelligence and geospatial intelligence, laboratory analysis of physiological samples collected from multiple victims, as well as a significant body of credible open source reporting, that tells a clear and consistent story.

But these assertions are not clear, consistent or convincing, said Theodore Postol, a professor of Science, Technology, and International Security at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Postol, who has received numerous awards for his work on missile systems and has worked for the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, looked at the same information sources cited by the White House and concluded in a 14-page analysis that, first of all, whatever happened in Khan Shaykhun was not the result of an air attack.

Its important to be clear about what Im saying, he told AlterNet. Im saying that a so-called White House intelligence report issued on April 11 is totally inconsistent with the claims its making. Im not so much saying that I know what happened, because actually I dont. What I do know is that this report was, to be blunt, fabricated without the intelligence methodologies that it claims to have used. Because I have data that I have been poring over for example, theres video data of this crater that they allege was the source of an air attack, an air munitions. It was not an air munition. You could see that very easily.

So the issue is that the White House issued a false intelligence report and the reasons [why] I dont know, Postol said. But one possibility is they are trying to cover up their tracks because they didnt know what was going on and they attacked a foreign power. And that is not good.

Bennis agreed that the White House intelligence report doesnt prove what it claims.

The four-page white paper released by the White House, purporting to prove that the Syrian government was responsible for the chemical weapons attack, does not provide any of the actual evidence they claim to rely on, she said, commenting by email. It makes a set of assertions, describes the kind of information they have, and essentially then says trust us. It appears to be a White House (that is, political) document, not the official position of intelligence agencies themselves. It does not provide anything close to proof, or even evidence, of the who, the what or the how of the chemical attack.

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Postols analysis is not the first time he has examined White House claims about poison gas use in Syria or weapons of war in Iraq. What he suspects may be happening in the Trump White House is alarming on its own terms and is different than what happened when President Obama was considering attacking the Syrian regime for a purported poison gas attack in 2013. In the case of Obama, Postol said the president was initially given bad intelligence blaming the Syrian regime and called off the attack because there was insufficient proof.

The Obama administration had another incident like this in August of 2013, he said. Its somewhat different. The president was incorrectly told that Syria was the perpetrator of the attack in Ghouta on August 21, 2013, and he was preparing to attack Syria when he was finally told, as he proceeded, that the intelligence did not solidly support that conclusion. Thats when he backed down. He didnt back down because he didnt have the courage to take the action.

In contrast, it appears that President Trump is ordering military action without any intelligence confirmation beforehand, Postol said.

The indication I now have, on April 11 the National Security Council put out a fraudulentto be very cleara fraudulent intelligence report, a report that could not possibly be what it claims to be, he said. That tells my bureaucrats nose that somebody in the White House wants to cover up something. And I think probablyagain I dont knowprobably what I think theyre trying to cover up is that they took all these risks to the nations security without any intelligence to support it.

That prospect is as alarming as it is well informed, and has serious ramifications.

Theres something going on with our intelligence apparatus and the politics of operating it. And its not acceptable as far as Im concerned, Postol said. He added, what needs to happen is not going to happen. What needs to happen is there has to be a full investigation of how this fraudulent report was produced. Who was involved? And who ordered it Its pretty clear to me at this point that an important decision was made, a decision that had potentially grave consequences for our national security without any intelligence at all. It was done, probably, for political purposes.

The biggest risk in impulsively ordering a missile attack in Syria, he said, is there was a risk that he [Trump] would inadvertently come into a military confrontation with Russia. He certainly caused a deep problematic reaction with Russia. And he has probably undermined our ability to defeat the Islamic State because we need Russia to defeat this entity. So it was a pretty important decision.

Postols observations and reflections on a White House that is ordering military attacks without intelligence input, or issuing orders without a systematic check on its battle plans and targets (and subsequently fabricating intelligence reports for propagandistic media and public consumption), is eerily reminiscent of George W. Bushs presidency. Some members of Bushs intelligence team fabricated a case to invade Iraq based on Saddam Husseins purported weapons of mass destruction. Bush later said publicly that he had been misinformed about evidence that Iraq had a substantial weapons store. Journalists like James Fallows of the Atlantic have documented how Bushs decision to launch a war of choice in Iraq came rapidly on the heels of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

What Trump and his top aides are doing now echoes Bushs pre-war rhetoric and moves. Since the Syrian missile attack, Secretary of State Tillerson has repeatedly said, our policy of strategic patience has ended. Vice President Pence, speaking in South Korea on Monday, not only repeated those words, he suggested that the U.S. missile attack in Syrian was a sign of an America willing to use its military arms.

Strategic patience has been the approach of the last American administration and beyond, Pence said at a joint press conference with South Korean Acting President Hwang Kyo-Ahn, referring to North Koreas nuclear weapons program. Just in the past two weeks, the world witnessed the strength and resolve of our new president in actions taken in Syria and Afghanistan. North Korea would do well not to test his resolve or the strength of the Armed Forces of the United States in this region.

Less than 100 days into Trumps presidency, the White House has failed to pass a single major piece of legislation. Instead, beyond placing a right-wing justice on the Supreme Court with the GOP-majority U.S. Senates help, Trump has already committed an act of war: an unauthorized attack on a foreign power. And his administration has fabricated the evidence for that attack, an intelligence report that doesnt prove what it purports.

As Postol said, something is going on with the nations intelligence apparatus and the politics surrounding it, and its not making the world a safer place.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, April 20

By Demir Azizov Trend:

S&P Global Ratings said that it had raised its short-term counterparty credit rating on Uzbekistan-based Turkiston Bank to 'B' from 'C' and removed the "under criteria observation" (UCO) designation from this rating, which was applied on April 7, 2017, at the start of the criteria review.

At the same time, S&P affirmed the 'B-' long-term counterparty credit rating on Turkiston Bank. The outlook is stable.

S&P raised the short-term rating solely based on the application of revised methodology for linking long-term and short-term ratings.

The affirmation of the long-term rating reflects S&Ps view that Turkiston Bank's business is gradually recovering since the regulator authorized a foreign currency license in May 2016.

While this growth is expected from a very low base, S&P still considers it potentially risky.

As a positive factor, S&P expects Turkiston Bank's profitability to become less volatile thanks to stronger commission income. Commission income more than doubled in 2016 compared with 2015.

Thus, S&P expects that Turkiston Bank's capitalization will be supported through improving earnings capacity and also a planned capital injection from a foreign investor, despite the relatively rapid loan growth S&P expects in 2017-2018.

Turkiston Bank's adequate liquidity buffer and a planned Uzbekistani sum 5 billion equity injection in 2017 supports the bank's credit stance.

S&P sees Turkiston Bank's current risk profile and asset quality as stable.

Reported nonperforming loans (NPLs; loans overdue by 90 days or more) comprise about zero percent of total loans as of Feb. 28, 2017.

S&P believes that the historically low NPLs are mostly driven by the close personal or business relations between the bank and its borrowers.

Therefore S&P thinks NPLs will not exceed the market average expectation of 1.5% over the next 12-18 months. However, this assumption is subject to the bank's ability to manage its expected about 65% increase in lending in 2017 and 30% in 2018.

The stable outlook reflects S&Ps view that the bank will be able to cope with the challenging operating environment and retain adequate capital and liquidity comparable with that of peers over the next 12-18 months.

S&P could consider a negative rating action if:

S&P observed weaker liquidity and asset and liability management; or

the bank's capitalization deteriorates

S&P believes that a positive rating action is remote at this stage.

Turkiston Bank was established in 1997 in Tashkent. It is one of the small banks of Uzbekistan. The main activity of the bank is to lend to small business.

Currently, 26 commercial banks operate in the banking system of Uzbekistan, including three state-owned banks, five banks with foreign capital, seven private banks and 11 joint-stock banks.

(3678,89 sums = 1 USD on Apr. 20)
Home The Democratic Partys Anti-Bernie Elites Have a Huge Stake in Blaming Russia



By Norman Solomon April 20, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - After Hillary Clintons devastating loss nearly six months ago, her most powerful Democratic allies feared losing control of the party. Efforts to lip-synch economic populism while remaining closely tied to Wall Street had led to a catastrophic defeat. In the aftermath, the partys progressive base -- personified by Bernie Sanders -- was in position to start flipping over the corporate game board. Aligned with Clinton, the elites of the Democratic Party needed to change the subject. Clear assessments of the national tickets failures were hazardous to the status quo within the party. So were the groundswells of opposition to unfair economic privilege. So were the grassroots pressures for the party to become a genuine force for challenging big banks, Wall Street and overall corporate power. In short, the Democratic Partys anti-Bernie establishment needed to reframe the discourse in a hurry. And -- in tandem with mass media -- it did. The reframing could be summed up in two words: Blame Russia. By early winter, the public discourse was going sideways -- much to the benefit of party elites. The meme of blaming Russia and Vladimir Putin for the election of Donald Trump effectively functioned to let the Wall Street-friendly leadership of the national Democratic Party off the hook. Meanwhile, serious attempts to focus on the ways that wounds to democracy in the United States have been self-inflicted -- whether via the campaign finance system or the purging of minorities from voter rolls or any number of other systemic injustices -- were largely set aside. Fading from scrutiny was the establishment that continued to dominate the Democratic Partys superstructure. At the same time, its devotion to economic elites was undiminished. As Bernie told a reporter on the last day of February: Certainly there are some people in the Democratic Party who want to maintain the status quo. They would rather go down with the Titanic so long as they have first-class seats. Amid great luxury and looming catastrophe, the partys current hierarchy has invested enormous political capital in depicting Vladimir Putin as an unmitigated arch villain. Relevant history was irrelevant, to be ignored or denied. With dutiful conformity from most Democrats in Congress, the party elites doubled, tripled and quadrupled down on the emphatic claim that Moscow is the capital of, by any other name, an evil empire. Rather than just calling for whats needed -- a truly independent investigation into allegations that the Russian government interfered with the U.S. election -- the party line became hyperbolic and unmoored from the available evidence. Given their vehement political investment in demonizing Russias President Putin, Democratic leaders are oriented to seeing the potential of detente with Russia as counterproductive in terms of their electoral strategy for 2018 and 2020. Its a calculus that boosts the risks of nuclear annihilation, given the very real dangers of escalating tensions between Washington and Moscow. Along the way, top party officials seem bent on returning to a kind of pre-Bernie-campaign doldrums. The new chair of the Democratic National Committee, Tom Perez, can't bring himself to say that the power of Wall Street is antithetical to the interests of working people. That reality came to painful light this week during a live appearance on national television. During a 10-minute joint interview along with Bernie Sanders on Tuesday night, Perez was a font of exactly the kind of trite empty slogans and worn-out platitudes that oiled the engines of the dismal Clinton campaign. While Sanders was forthright, Perez was evasive. While Sanders talked about systemic injustice, Perez fixated on Trump. While Sanders pointed to a way forward for realistic and far-reaching progressive change, Perez hung onto a rhetorical formula that expressed support for victims of the economic order without acknowledging the existence of victimizers. In an incisive article published by The Nation magazine, Robert Borosage wrote last week: For all the urgent pleas for unity in the face of Trump, the party establishment has always made it clear that they mean unity under their banner. Thats why they mobilized to keep the leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Representative Keith Ellison, from becoming head of the DNC. Its why the knives are still out for Sanders and those who supported him. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter While Bernie is hardly a reliable opponent of U.S. war policies, he is significantly more critical of U.S. military intervention than the Democratic Party leaders who often champion it. Borosage noted that the party establishment is locked into militaristic orthodoxies that favor continuing to inflict the kind of disasters that the United States has brought to Iraq, Libya and other countries: Democrats are in the midst of a major struggle to decide what they stand for and who they represent. Part of that is the debate over a bipartisan interventionist foreign policy that has so abjectly failed. For the Democratic Partys most hawkish wing -- dominant from the top down and allied with Clintons de facto neocon approach to foreign policy -- the U.S. governments April 6 cruise missile attack on a Syrian airfield was an indication of real leverage for more war. That attack on a close ally of Russia showed that incessant Russia-baiting of Trump can get gratifying military results for the Democratic elites who are undaunted in their advocacy of regime change in Syria and elsewhere. The politically motivated missile attack on Syria showed just how dangerous it is to keep Russia-baiting Trump, giving him political incentive to prove how tough he is on Russia after all. Whats at stake includes the imperative of preventing a military clash between the worlds two nuclear superpowers. But the corporate hawks at the top of the national Democratic Party have other priorities. Norman Solomon is the coordinator of the online activist group RootsAction.org and the executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is the author of a dozen books including War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death. http://www.normansolomon.com The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments Please read our Comment Policy before posting - It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section. Click here to comment on our Facebook page
U.S. Not Outraged With Terrorist Who Lured Children With Food, Then Blew Them Up

By Eva Bartlett

April 20, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " In Gaza " - With thanks to Jimmy Dore for his continued honest, brave commentary. He is well-informed and not afraid to speak the truth about whats happening in Syria, the media lies, the culprit states, the loaded lexicon. His information is spot on, save the initial mention that the evacuation was not in Raqqa but from Idlibs Foua and Kafraya villages to Aleppo, via terrorist-occupied areas, and the terrorists comprise not just al-Nusra but also members of the terror coalitions of Jaysh al-Fattah (the so-called Army of Conquest), and Ahrar al-Sham (Liberation of the Levant Movement) along with other moderates of the umbrella organization Jabhat al-Islamiyah (the Islamic Front)

That caveat aside, Dore critically calls out the media liars, the presstitutes, for their blatant lies, their obfuscations, their intentionally misleading lexicon: rebels regime hiccup (Hiccup?? Despite this hiccup? So, when we thought it was Assad gassing kidswhich was not even 126 of themso, when somebody working with us kills 80 kids, on purpose, blows civilians trying to leave a war zone, that was agreed to, its a hiccup) and the war propaganda. It couldnt be more obvious to me that the way the media is reporting, especially the United States, referring to terrorists as freedom fighters or rebels or moderatestheyre moderate crazy people

Listen for yourself, and please share his video .

*A note: latest updates put the number of murdered civilians from al-Foua and Kafraya at well over 100 (on the ground source actually says 200 civilians killed, of whom 116 children. Waiting for confirmation).

Related info on the murder of Foua and Kafraya civilians, by the wests mercenaries: No Red Lines After Western Backed Terrorists Massacre of Idlibs Foua Civilians

Related info on the unsubstantiated accusations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons in Khan Sheikhoun: MIT Professor Emeritus Dispels Lies of White House Intelligence Report on Khan Shaykhun, Syria

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House.
The Police have arrested no fewer than 13 suspected militants who are in connection with the killing of four policemen, a Nigerian Army Captain, and two residents, in the Ishawo, Ikorodu area of Lagos State.

According to reports, it was said that the suspects, whose identities had yet to be disclosed, were arrested in a joint operation by men of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad and the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command.

It was futher disclosed that a police team from the Owutu Police Division and some military officers, led by one Captain Mohammed, had responded to a distress call to rescue residents kidnapped by suspected militants on April 9, 2017.

The security agents were returning from the operation when the assailants lay in ambush and opened fire on them.

Four policemen, identified as Inspector Iroagbalachi Godwin (aka Apostle), Inspector Pemi Francis, Sergeant Dembo Mamodu, and Sergeant Udoh Okoro; the military Captain, and two residents, were killed in the process.

After series of investigation around the creek, the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team tracked the alleged mastermind of the killings, Endurance Ominisan (aka Mighty), to his girlfriends apartment on Joel Adebolu Street, Ibeshe, Ikorodu.

While attempting to escape through the roof, he allegedly shot at the operatives, who responded accordingly.

He later died at the Ikorodu General Hospital from injuries sustained during the shootout.

On Wednesday, policemen and members of a local vigilance group, led by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, and the RRS Commander, ACP Olatunji Disu, commenced destruction of shanties on the waterfront, which were being used as hideouts by the militants.

It was gathered that the team, including the state marine police and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, arrested 13 suspects during raids in the creek.

A police source said, The raids started immediately after the attack; but we didnt make a headway on time because of the difficulty in accessing the camps. The terrain is volatile. The 13 suspects were arrested this week.

Owoseni, who confirmed the arrests, said the suspects were being interrogated to determine their level of involvement in the crime.

He added they had given some lead on how to track other fleeing members of the gang.

He said, Following the attack that occurred at Ishawo where we lost four of our policemen and an army Captain, we have deployed operatives in the water. Quality arrests have been made and we are talking to the suspects. We have got some evidence from them and they are talking to us.

Earlier this morning (Wednesday), we were able to get to the proper camps of these criminal elements where some of them were cooking food. They fled immediately they saw the combined team. The destruction of the camps is ongoing. The officers that are handling the destruction will share the story at the end of the operation.

We want to assure members of the public that these people have murdered sleep and they will not sleep. We will ensure they are all rooted out.

Commending the vigilantes for leading operatives into the creek, the CP said all the suspects would be made to face the full wrath of the law.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
The outbreak of Meningitis in the country has killed 489 persons in the country, according to the a family health expert in Port Harcourt,Dr Fred Weli said Nigeria will need about 2 million doses of vaccine to fight current meningitis epidemic.

Weli told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt on Wednesday that current 500,000 doses available in the country were grossly inadequate to fight the epidemic.

NAN recalls that the country recently received 500,000 doses of meningitis C vaccine from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to combat the epidemic that has caused the death of 489 deaths across four states.

Weli expressed optimism that the 2 million vaccines would checkmate the epidemic in the worst-hit states of Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara, and halt its spread to other states.

According to him, 336 new cases have been recorded in 16 states and 19 local government areas which are quite worrisome.

The country currently has about 500,000 doses of vaccines which is a far cry to the about 2 million needed to fight the scourge in some parts of the country.

So far, procurement of the vaccine has not been fast enough and the fact remains that the vaccines are needed quickly as possible for the disease to be contained, he said.

Weli said that meningitis could be transmitted and spread from individual to another through throat secretion, sneezing, coughing and contact with infected materials.

He said that meningitis which was similar to Ebola could be avoided through good personal hygiene like washing and sanitising ones hand after using the toilet, among others.

We can also checkmate the spread of meningitis by coughing and sneezing into our elbows or tissue papers rather than into someone elses face or handkerchief.

We need the right education, sensitisation and awareness to checkmate the disease, and as such, everyone must get involved, he said.

Weli said that there was no case of the disease in Rivers, but that it was not enough for residents to relax especially as the disease had been reported in Lagos and Cross River states.

The healthcare worker urged residents to report cases of high fever, headache, stiff neck, memory loss, convulsion and loss of appetite to the nearest health facility for proper diagnosis of the patient.

Source: ( PM News )
The Administrator of Ijumu Local Government, Alhaji Taofiq Isah have been arrested by the Kogi State Police Command for allegedly been involved in the assassination attempt on Sen. Dino Melaye, the arrest was confirmed by the Commissioner of Police in Kogi, Mr Wilson Inalegwu on Wednesday.

Senator Dino Melaye was reportedly attacked in the early hours of Saturday, April 15 in his home town in Kogi State.

Briefing newsmen in Lokoja, Inalegwu said that aside from the council boss, some unspecified number of persons had also been interrogated in connection with the matter.

He said that the case was being prosecuted with due diligence, and assured members of the public that every suspect in the matter would be invited for interrogation.

When you are suspected, you will be interrogated. We are treating this matter as a very serious one.

We shall be thorough and professional. We shall fear no one, he said.

Isah was arrested at the gate of the state Ministry of Education by security agents, who intercepted the council boss vehicle.

The security officials had quietly flashed their Identity cards and asked Isah to alight and board their waiting vehicle, a directive Isah complied with, after hesitating for some minutes.
There was a mild drama at the Lagos State House, Alausa, yesterday, as hundreds of displaced residents of Otodo Gbame community forcibly stormed the seat of power in protest against the destruction of their homes.

The protesters, who paralysed activities at the state house for about two hours, were prevented and also tear-gased by policemen in a bid to stop them from entering the state house.

Some of the inscriptions displayed on their placards read: 90 Maroko houses demolished, 300,000 evicted, land sold to the rich, Ambode is a soldier in agbada, Ambode is a land grabber, among others.

Spokesman of the group, Paul Kunnu, disclosed that in a recent meeting with government officials, they were asked to document their requests. He, however, stated that it came as a shock to them as their requests were not given any consideration.

Yesterday (Tuesday), at a meeting with government officials, they told us to bring the list of the people living in the community, which is impossible for us, as we are more than 30,000. They promised to give us special assistance in the area of foodstuff, but that is not our demand. We only want our lands back.

Anytime we tried to refer them to it, they would stylishly deviate from it. In fact, at our last meeting with them, they told us not to mention anything about the land again or else they would send us away. Anytime the policemen come around, they would come with hoodlums and set our houses on fire.

We want to go back to our land. Till today, our people are sleeping inside the boat. We usually squeeze ourselves in boats and not all of us own boats. This is where our forefathers lived even before the present government was born. They cant send us away, he said.

Last week, Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of a Lagos State High Court sitting at Igbosere, dismissed an application by the displaced residents seeking for the committal to prison of Lagos State governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Lagos State Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni and two others for court contempt.

Justice Onigbanjo, in his ruling, stated that the governor in Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution as amended has constitutional immunity from prosecution and from being sent to prison, adding that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the application against him. .

The judge said the other respondents could also not be held liable for contempt since it was the claimants argument that the other respondents acted under the order and direct supervision of the governor.

Another displaced resident, Agemo Emmanuel, said: We want the government to restore our land but Governor Ambode is claiming that he is not aware of the things going on. Thugs would come and kill our children and relatives.

Source: Guardian
Following the suspension of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal; and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency NIA, Ayo Oke.The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has described the suspension over their alleged involvement in controversial matters as an afterthought and a deliberate cover-up.

Mr. Oke was suspended after his agency claimed ownership of over N13 billion cash recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in a residential apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos. The SGF, on his part, was suspended following allegations of his involvement in the shady award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on North East, PINE. Both men are also to be investigated by a presidential panel.

Mr. Fayose had earlier alleged that the money belonged to the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, whom he claimed owned the apartment in which the money was found.

The Ekiti governor claimed the setting up of a three-man committee to investigate the discovery of the money was diversionary and a prelude to the official cover-up of the original

owners of the money.

Would the President have set up a probe panel if these scams were linked to anyone in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or those members of his party that are not in his good books? the governor said in a statement by his spokesperson, Lere Olayinka.

Most importantly, what business does Presidential Committee have with investigation of crime? Are they telling Nigerians that they have lost confidence in all the intelligence and investigative agencies of the government, including the EFCC and DSS?

Mr. Fayose alleged there were various power blocks in the presidency.

The Buhari-led Federal Government is operating like many governments within one government. There appears to be many Presidencies within the Presidency and this is the reason for the confusion everywhere., he said.

Did the President not write a letter dated January 17, 2017, to the Senate, exonerating the SGF? So, what has changed in the case of the SGF? Was his announced suspension just for balancing? he asked.

Why waiting for this messy OsborneGate to act on the Presidential Initiative for the North East (PINE) grass-cutting scam? Could it have been a case of one Presidency (Buhari) writing the Senate on January 17, 2017 to clear the SGF and another Presidency suspending him today?

Whichever way one looks at it, it gives no other impression than that

of confusion in the government.

Mr. Fayose also wondered why there was no presidential committee on abandoned N49 million cash in an airport that has CCTV cameras and that of the N448 million the EFCC said it found in a shop at LEGICO Shopping Plaza, Ahmadu

Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos.

In all these, what I see is a government trying frantically to cover-up corrupt acts of its functionaries but like I said before now, even though we know that the APC-led federal government has the capacity to sweep it under the carpet like many others before it, Nigerians will have it on record that they are being ruled by a government of the more you look, the less you see, he said.

The suspensions came days after a volley of confusion on who owned the huge cash found in the apartment and the subsequent claims by the NIA.

The presidential committee headed by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, is to enquire into the circumstances in which the NIA came into possession of the funds, how and by whose authority the funds were made available to the NIA, and to establish whether or not there has been a breach of the law or security procedure in obtaining custody and use of the funds.

The three-person committee also comprises the Attorney-General of the Federation and the National Security Adviser.

Source: ( Premium Times )
The Police Command in Katsina State says it has arrested 22 victims of Human Trafficking in Katsina Metropolis.

The command said it had also arrested their trafficker, Mannir Suleiman.

Superintendent of Police, Andrew Alpolsus, the Officer in charge of the Federal Anti-Robbery Squad in the state, presented the victims and the Trafficker to newsmen on Thursday in Katsina.

The Police have arrested 12 young women of between the ages of 17 and 22 years and 10 men at a house at Kwando area of the Katsina metropolis.

Alpolsus said the victims were on their way to the Niger Republic when policemen intercepted and rescue them.

The police were tipped on Sunday, April 16, 2017, at about 11:00 a.m. that one Mannir Suleiman has rented an Apartment and was hiding the victims there.

We stormed the House and rescued the victims and their mentor; we also seized about 12 fake passports from them.

Their Trafficker has confessed that he was commissioned to take them to Niger Republic on their way to Libya and later Europe.

Speaking to newsmen, the victims claimed to have hailed from the Niger Delta region and were going to Europe in search of greener pasture.

Source: NAN
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps have arrested four residents of Badagry, Lagos State, have been arrested by operatives of the for allegedly dealing in illegal oil bunkering.

It was learnt that the suspects  Unkpe Avoseh, 38; Okunnu Foton, 45; Atori Nichoy, 49; and a 32-year-old Beninoise, Semevo Hogastean  were arrested around the Seme Border on Sunday.

It was gathered that 174 jerrycans of petrol, with 30-litre each, were recovered from the suspects.

The product was said to have been stolen from the pipelines of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Our correspondent was told that the suspects had wanted to exploit the festive period to smuggle the fuel out of the country, thinking security would be relaxed at that time.

However, the suspects, in a chat with PUNCH Metro at the NSCDC Lagos Command headquarters in Ikeja on Tuesday, denied their involvement in illegal oil bunkering.

Avoseh, who hails from Oyo State, said he was a load carrier and had disembarked from a bus when he was arrested.

He said, I dont know anything about it. I carry goods like garri, beans and vegetables at Seme Market. I was standing at a bus stop around the area when the NSCDC officials came and ordered me to enter into their vehicle.

Foton, an indigene of Lagos State, said he and his friend, Nichoy, had gone for the Easter celebration at Kweme, Badagry, on a motorcycle, adding that they were arrested as they wanted to refuel the motorcycle at a filling station around 12am.

Faton said, As we entered the MRS Filling Station, we saw an officer, who told us an operation was ongoing and asked us to go back. As we wanted to leave, another officer blocked us. He asked us to turn off the engine of the motorcycle and he collected the key. He asked us to sit with four others. Later, two persons were released. We dont know anything about illegal oil bunkering. I am a network marketer.

Nichoy stated that he was forced to pose beside the seized fuel despite his insistence that he was innocent of the crime.

The fourth suspect, Hogastean, said, I was going to Seme on a motorcycle with the plan of borrowing money from a relative for the funeral of my father-in-law on Thursday. My fuel got finished and I went to the filling station with a five-litre jerrycan to buy N500 fuel.

The NSCDC men collected the jerrycan and the money from me. They said I was among those who engaged in illegal oil bunkering, which I have never done in my life.

But the Lagos State NSCDC Commandant, Tajudeen Balogun, said the command had enough evidence to prosecute the suspects, adding that the fuel would be handed over to the NNPC.

He said, The suspects were apprehended with 174 jerrycans of 30 litres fuel each. A Mazda car, with number plate, LSD 916 EF, was also seized. The corps will not rest on its oars until it eradicates oil theft and other forms of economic sabotage in the country.

Source: (Punch NewsPaper )
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 20





By Elmira Tariverdiyeva  Trend:



Unfortunately, sometimes in pursuit of demonstrating radical changes in politics, new leaders make irreparable mistakes that entail the most unpredictable consequences.



Donald Trump, who came to power in the US, rushes to get rid of the legacy of his predecessor Barack Obama and rapidly changes the main vectors of US policy. Sometimes, it seems that Trump makes changes so quickly that he does not even have time to weigh all the pros and cons.



It has recently become clear that in the near future the US will reconsider the results of another achievement of the Obama administration - a nuclear deal with Iran.



It became clear after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke about the failure of the agreement on the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program.



In his view, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) adopted in Vienna in 2015 just postpones the country's transformation into a nuclear power, while Tehran's nuclear ambitions continue to pose a great threat to universal peace and security.



In the end, Tillerson compared Iran with North Korea and promised to introduce a new US strategy towards Iran in three months.



In fact, it would be wrong to call a nuclear deal with Iran as success of the Obama administration. It was rather the success of moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who did everything for the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to approve a nuclear deal that gave Iran huge advantages.



Indeed, during Rouhanis presidency, Iran turned from an outcast into a country of great interest to many Western and world powers and with which it is possible to do business. As a result, European governments rushed to conclude deals on the practically untouched Iranian market.



Undoubtedly, this brought great benefits to Iran itself, beginning from the creation of new jobs to the renovation of its air fleet.



And now, not even paying attention to its European allies-partners in a nuclear deal with Iran, the new US administration single-handedly decides that the deal has failed.



The new US administration makes this decision at the most inappropriate moment - a month before the presidential election in Iran, in which incumbent president Rouhani will run for the presidency.



Rouhani's main rivals are former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with whom the EU could barely negotiate, and influential cleric Ebrahim Raisi, who is the main hope of Iranian conservatives.



By casting doubt on the main achievement of the Rouhani administration, the US can unwittingly help a presidential candidate, with whom it will never be able to agree on anything, to come to power in Iran.



Moreover, while stating about the failure of the nuclear deal, the Trump administration is pushing Iran to ban any IAEA inspections, which today are the only instrument for monitoring the nuclear program.



The sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program for many years have not given any result. Iran agreed to reconcile with the West only after the reached agreement, according to which, all sides should be committed.



Thus, thinking that after the cancellation of the nuclear deal, new sanctions would make Tehran compliant and obedient, is, at least naive.



However, the new US administration seems to have a rather unique approach to the countrys foreign policy interests and their realization, and, unfortunately, this approach can sometimes lead to irreversible and unfavorable consequences.
Adeyemi Okanlawon, is an actor of note with several his work being nominated and awarded by prominent Pan-African film bodies.

Stargist.com presents you 10 interesting facts about the talented actor.

1 Adeyemi Okanlawon, aka Deyemi, was born in Southwest Nigeria to an Aircraft Engineer father Adeyemi Okanlawon, and Adeyinka Okanlawon a baker and entrepreneur.

2 He had his primary school education at Taikenny Nursery and Primary School in Lagos, and his secondary education at International School, Lagos. He then went on to study Chemical Engineering at the University of Lagos and graduated in 2007 and further got a Certificate in Acting For Film from the New York Film Academy.

3 Okanlawon made his feature film debut in the 2010 movie ZR-7, before which he featured in a short film titled A Grain of Wheat. He went on to feature in and co-produce many more short-films and by 2012 he had gained notoriety for his numerous appearances in made-for-internet short films and web series including Blink, 6:30pm and Knock Knock.

4 Before becoming a full time actor in 2013, Okanlawon had a career in Sales and Marketing.

5 The Beyond Blood actor got married to his wife, Dami in 2013.

6 In 2013, he won the award for Best Actor in a Short Film at the In-Short Film Festival for Tolu Ajayis psychological thriller, Blink.

7 The talented actor has made cameo appearances in a number of Nigerian music videos including No be You by Waje and Soldier by Falz The Bahd Guy.

8 Deyemi has also appeared in OLX and GLO Television commercials.

9 His skills include; Shotokan Karate, Swimming, Motor Bike, Saxophone and Guitar.

10 On July 10, 2016, Okanlawon and his wife Damilola welcomed their first child.
Don't bring the data to your computation if you can help it. Bring your computation to your data.

Microsoft has heeded this cardinal rule of information science with the latest Community Technology Preview release of SQL Server 2017. Python can now be used within SQL Server to perform analytics, run machine learning models, or handle most any kind of data-powered work.

This integration isn't limited to enterprise editions of SQL Server 2017, eitherit'll also be available in the free-to-use Express edition.

The most conventional application of Python with SQL Server is to execute Python scripts as normal, with SQL Server as a data source. Microsoft has also made it possible to embed Python code directly in SQL Server databases by including the code as a T-SQL stored procedure. This allows Python code to be deployed in production along with the data it'll be processing.

These behaviors, and the RevoScalePy package, are essentially Python versions of features Microsoft built for SQL Server back when it integrated the R language into the database. Both Python and R T-SQL code can be used side by side in the same database if needed.

An existing Python installation isn't required. During the setup process, SQL Server 2017 can pull down and install its own edition of CPython 3.5, the stock Python interpreter available from the Python.org website. Users can install their own Python packages as well or use Cython to generate C code from Python modules for additional speed.

Installation also includes packages from the Anaconda distribution of Python, widely used in data science, and Microsoft's RevoScalePy package, a set of data analysis functions that can take advantage of SQL Server's in-memory and column-store index features. Third-party modules like TensorFlow can augment SQL Server's processing with GPU-accelerated functions. Database admins can also set constraints on the behavior of the Python runtime and prevent scripts from violating security or network policies.

It's not clear if Microsoft will eventually allow other Python distributions to be used in place of CPython, since some have been built specifically to enhance productivity for data scientists. For example, the Intel Distribution for Python, a reworking of the Anaconda distribution that uses the Intel Math Kernel Library to speed up common math operations like linear algebra or fast Fourier transforms on Intel processors, could provide a major pick-me-up. Barring that, existing math libraries for CPython like NumPy or Pandas ought to provide the same kinds of boosts for Python in SQL Server as they do for Python generally.

Linux users will have to wait to take advantage of this. Microsoft has previously announced SQL Server would be available for Linux, but right now, only the Windows version of SQL Server 2017 supports Python.
Wheat, W. D. Gann natural support and resistance levels ONE44 Analytics - 43 minutes ago The Charts below are natural support and resistance levels that are based on W. D. Gann's "Law of Vibration".

Mid-Term Elections, Gold & The Markets Cannon Trading - 1 hour ago Gold broke out to the upside on election day -is this the beginning of a change in direction or simply short covering?

Cotton Closes Mostly Red Barchart - 1 hour ago The rally faded momentum on Tuesday with a tighter range on a mixed mostly lower close. Dec futures ended the day with another 19 point gain and stayed in just over a 3c range. The other front months closed... CTZ22 : 87.68s (+0.22%) CTH23 : 85.74s (-0.10%) CTK23 : 84.84s (-0.27%)

Cattle Close Firm, Mostly Red Barchart - 1 hour ago Live cattle futures stayed in a relatively tighter range on Tuesday and closed UNCH in the Dec contract. The other nearbys went home 15 to 30 cents weaker. Feeder cattle were mixed on the board on Tuesday.... LEZ22 : 153.050s (unch) LEG23 : 154.775s (-0.16%) LEJ23 : 158.250s (-0.19%) GFX22 : 178.275s (+0.03%) GFF23 : 179.900s (-0.01%)

Hog Prices Fade for Turnaround Tuesday Barchart - 1 hour ago Following the sharp +$4 runnup in Dec hogs to start the week, Tuesdays action pulled the board back down by $1.47. The other front months were mixed with 15 to 55 cent losses nearby and 2 to 15 cent... HEZ22 : 85.575s (-1.69%) HEJ23 : 94.200s (-0.16%) KMZ22 : 95.975s (-0.23%)

Tuesday Loss for Corn Market Barchart - 1 hour ago Corn futures faded more on Tuesday to complete the day 4 1/4 to 8 1/4 cents in the red. Open interest had been rising, hinting at net new selling ahead of the report. Preliminary OI data will be released... ZCZ22 : 667-4s (-1.22%) ZCPAUS.CM : 6.6542 (-1.14%) ZCH23 : 673-6s (-1.14%) ZCK23 : 673-6s (-1.21%)

Soy Futures Mostly Weaken Barchart - 1 hour ago Soymeal prices were the complexs canary on Tuesday, though even gains there were limited to 0.5% in the front months. Soybean prices gave back 3 3/4 to 6 3/4 cents on the day past the in-delivery Novs... ZSX22 : 1444-0s (+0.28%) ZSPAUS.CM : 14.1389 (-0.10%) ZSF23 : 1446-4s (-0.26%) ZSH23 : 1453-2s (-0.33%)

Double Digit Losses for Tuesday Wheat Barchart - 1 hour ago Tuesdays wheat trade ended with futures down by +1%. CBT SRW closed 1.8% to 2.1% in the red on losses of as much as 18 cents before the USDA reports. KC HRW closed down by 1.2% to 1.5% with a 14c loss... ZWZ22 : 827-6s (-2.13%) ZWH23 : 847-4s (-1.91%) ZWPAES.CM : 7.6015 (-2.29%) KEZ22 : 945-6s (-1.20%) KEPAWS.CM : 9.0379 (-1.26%) MWZ22 : 950-4s (-1.02%)

General strike to disrupt services across Greece Wednesday AP - 1 hour ago A 24-hour general strike called by Greeces private and public sector unions is set to shut down most services around the country Wednesday $SPX : 3,828.11 (+0.56%) $DOWI : 33,160.83 (+1.02%) $IUXX : 11,059.50 (+0.75%)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 20



By Emil Ilgar  Trend:



Iranian Foreign Minister has reacted to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillersons statement on nuclear deal with Tehran.



The agreement between the P5+1 Group (US, UK, France, China, Russia plus Germany) and Iran, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was implemented in January 2016.



Tillerson on April 19 accused Iran of 'alarming ongoing provocations' to destabilize countries in the Middle East as the Trump administration launched a review of its policy toward Tehran.







Tillerson told reporters that the review, which he announced on Tuesday, would not only look at Tehran's compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal but also its behaviour in the region which he said undermined U.S. interests in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon, Reuters reported.



Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted Apr.20 that Worn-out US accusations can't mask its admission of Iran's compliance w/ JCPOA, obligating US to change course & fulfill its own commitments.



President Donald Trump ordered the review to evaluate whether suspension of sanctions related to the nuclear deal was "vital to the national security interests of the United States," Tillerson said.



Though there was no sign the Trump administration intended to walk away from the deal, Tillerson twice cautioned that if left unchecked Tehran could become a threat like North Korea, which is also under pressure over its nuclear ambitions.
Protesters paid a visit to TIAAs New York headquarters Thursday, urging the firm to stop investing in farmland and companies with ties to palm oil.

ActionAid, Friends of the Earth, Sum of Us, Grassroots International and the National Family Farm Coalition were among activist groups that staged the protest to deliver their petitions to the fund manager. They object to two major TIAA investments: the $170 million they say has been invested in palm oil companies, and the $8 billion it has put to work in farmland in the U.S., Brazil and Australia. A TIAA spokesperson said its palm oil investment is less than $170 million and the majority stems from investments in index funds.

Several TIAA employees were on the sidewalk, watching as nearly forty protesters waved signs bearing phrases like Stop Grabbing Land and Respect Farmers. The protesters engaged in a few cheers, shouting slogans like: TIAA lead the way! Deforestation stops today!

ActionAids senior policy analyst Doug Hertzler, says TIAA is one of the worlds largest buyers of farmland, driving speculation that takes land from locals. TIAA came under fire about a year ago after a nonprofit called Grain alleged its investments in Brazilian farmland were not socially responsible. The fund manager stood behind its investments and has since used its yearly Responsible Farmland Investment Report to share information on its investment criteria.

There are plenty of other ways to make money, said Hertzler, whose pension is tied to investments made by TIAA. They can generate good returns even without investing in land.

Hertzler said in an interview at the protest that he did not do the math on how TIAA could make up for the losses that might result from divesting its farmland assets. The fund manager, meanwhile, continues to defend its holdings.

Our investment teams incorporate responsible investing principles across our portfolios, and as a signatory to the U.N. Principles of Responsible Investment in Farmland, we are committed to promoting sustainability, preventing deforestation and protecting the rights of landowners and local workers, the TIAA spokesperson said by phone Thursday.

Jeff Conant, a representative of Friends of The Earth, said TIAA posits itself as a socially responsible investment firm and should stop investing in palm oil, which the environmental group says fuels rainforest destruction and exploit workers.

The TIAA spokesperson said the company has no direct investments in the crop in its privately held farmland and timber portfolios. In our public funds, the significant majority of the investments related to palm oil are held in funds that automatically track specific indexes, the spokesperson said.

Conant said at the protest that TIAA should pressure the people who create indexes to stop including companies that have ties to palm oil products. We believe that as a company that presents itself as socially responsible, there is more they can do, Conant said.

Hertzler agreed. He added that he expects TIAA will work with the groups, and eventually will disclose what land it acquires, where that land was purchased and whether that land acquisition caused any sort of displacement for locals.
Aviation cyber risks are characterised by what is often called the expanding aviation network perimeter, i.e. the high and ever-increasing level of airlines reliance on the IT networks of third parties, Jamie Monck-Mason, executive director for cyber and technology, media and telecommunications, told Insurance Business.

With airline carriers increasingly relying on IT for systems such as passenger bookings, catering, fuelling, baggage handling, airport security, maintenance, runway and facilities, their vulnerabilities to cyber incidents are multiplying exponentially, he explained.

But the cyber risks faced by airlines are not just centred on attacks  operational failures and human error are a huge threat too.



Want the latest insurance industry news first? Sign up for our completely free newsletter service now

According to Williss recent Industry Risk Index, failure of critical IT systems is the most significant risk facing the global aviation industry.

One only has to look at the well-publicised network outages affecting Southwest last July, and Delta last August, to appreciate the enormous financial and reputational impact of critical IT system failures, Monck-Mason said.

The Delta outage caused 2,300 flight cancellations (and an estimated USD 150m uninsured loss), and the Southwest outage 1,850 cancellations (leading to a USD 100m insurance claim). Significantly, neither event was caused by a cyber-attack, but rather by IT system failures, he explained.

The ClyFly offering is a genuine game-changer in this area, he said.

Previously, airlines were offered the same off-the-shelf cyber products as other industries, Monck-Mason explained, and the feedback Willis received from airline executives was that traditional cyber insurance was often irrelevant and, in some cases, unfit for purpose.

Many airlines were only covered for network business interruption resulting from a cyber-attack against their own IT networks, and so were exposed to non-malicious system failures, as well as attacks and failures of a third-party network  which airlines can be completely dependent on.





Related stories:

Willis Towers Watson lifts off cyber product for global airlines

Willis Towers Watson names global industry leader for natural resources
Even some of the biggest hotels in the USA need some form of cyber security insurance, as the latest major breach proves.World-renowned hotel chain InterContinental Hotels Group has announced that a third of its franchised properties in the US were attacked late last year by malware that can indiscriminately steal the credit card information of guests.Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza, Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites were the brands most affected by the malware, the company revealed.InterContinental spokesperson Neil Hirsch said on Wednesday that about 1,200 US-based properties and one hotel in Puerto Rico were hit with the malware between September 29 and December 29. Hirsch confirmed that the company had 3,633 franchised properties in the Americas by the end of 2016, and that only a small percentage of franchisees have not yet taken up the companys offer to assess their systems for any signs of malware.The company added that there is no evidence of unauthorized access to payment card data after December 29, 2016. InterContinental also admitted that the cyber security team under its employ was unable to detect the malware until this February and March.The Globe and Mail reported that the malware searched for track data read from the magnetic strip of a payment card whenever one is used through an affected hotel server. Information that can be mined from the scanned strip includes the cardholders name, card number, expiration date, and internal verification code.
Building on their existing collaboration, Beazley and Munich Res Corporate Insurance Partner announced the creation of Vector, a partnership that aims to bring innovation and capacity to the large cyber market.

Vector cements a relationship the two insurers forged a year ago, through which the worlds largest companies can obtain up to US$100 million (or 100 million) of cover for a wide range of first party and third party cyber exposures. The partnership garnered an award for innovation at the European Risk Management Awards in December 2016.

Since last years launch, many Fortune 1000 businesses have built stronger cyber towers, typically at the primary level, said the companies in a statement, noting that half the companies considering Vector are new to the cyber market and span the globe.

Were seeing particularly strong demand for first party cover from industrial enterprises such as manufacturers and other organizations that have not historically bought cyber insurance or have only bought low limits, said Chris Storer, head of cyber solutions for Munich Res Corporate Insurance Partner. Production line shutdowns triggered by cyber attacks can be complex to resolve, generating large business interruption costs.

This trend is reflected in broader cyber market indices. According to insurance data specialists, Advisen, manufacturers purchases of cyber insurance almost doubled between 2015 and 2016.

Another trend that is spurring demand for cover is intensifying regulatory scrutiny, Munich Re said, noting that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently joined a long list of U.S. regulators expressing concern about the adequacy of some companies cyber security precautions.

And under the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), due to come into force in May 2018, fines of up to 4 percent of global annual turnover can be imposed on companies that are negligent in the handling of personal data, Munich Re noted.

Regulators have the bit between their teeth, said Paul Bantick, international focus group leader for Beazleys technology, media and business services team.

For years, regulators in the United States have taken a far tougher approach to cyber security issues than their counterparts elsewhere, he added. But that is changing and regulatory pressure is undoubtedly a driver of demand for cyber insurance.

In addition to regulatory pressures, he said, the operational and reputational risks of cyber attacks also weigh increasingly heavy on large companies.

Source: Munich Re and Beazley

Related:

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions USA Legislation Cyber
Officials say a West Des Moines teenager has been charged with first-degree arson in a fire that destroyed an iconic covered bridge featured in the best-selling novel The Bridges of Madison County.

Des Moines television station KCCI reports that the 17-year-old boy faces up to 25 years in prison if hes convicted.

The Associated Press generally doesnt name juveniles charges with crimes.

The Madison County Sheriffs Office believes the teen set the covered bridge on fire early Saturday morning.

The bridge was also featured in the 1995 movie adaptation of The Bridges of Madison County, starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. The novel was written by Robert James Waller, who died in March.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
National wholesale insurance brokerage and managing general agent, Worldwide Facilities, has hired Kirsten Noecker as an internal broker in its lawyers professional unit. She is based in Chicago. In this position, Noecker will focus on both placement of coverage and relationship management.

Noecker brings over 10 years of insurance experience to the position, with specialized expertise in professional, employment practices, management and cyber liability coverage for law firms.

Before joining Worldwide Facilities, Noecker served as assistant vice president at ProQuest, where she specialized in servicing and placing coverage for law firms. Prior to that, she built up extensive experience in brokerage account management and assisted in acquisition due diligence at Brown & Brown Inc.

Source: Worldwide Facilities LLC
Grinnell Re, a division of Grinnell, Iowa-based Grinnell Mutual, has launched a new team, National Reinsurance. Rick Tjarks, assistant vice president, and Randy Dammeyer, senior account executive, have been chosen to lead the new National Reinsurance team.

The newly formed team will focus on developing business growth opportunities in new territories, the broker market, and the broader property/casualty insurer space. The reinsurance provider will also continue to take advantage of growth opportunities in their traditional farm mutual marketplace.

The customer profile we target in the National Reinsurance space may be somewhat larger, but can look very similar to smaller mutual clients in many ways, Reinsurance Vice-President Kevin Farrell said in the companys release.

Farrell also pointed out that some National Reinsurance clients will require coverages Grinnell Re hasnt traditionally offered, and that potential clients exist in states outside of Grinnell Mutuals current footprint.

Source: Grinnell Mutual

Topics Reinsurance Iowa
The mother of a black teenager killed by Chicago police in July 2013 has been awarded $350,000.

The Chicago Tribune reports that a jury awarded the damages after finding that the shooting of 17-year-old Christian Green was unjustified.

Attorney Victor Henderson, representing Greens mother, told jurors that the teen had tried to throw a weapon into a trash can and was shot in the back as he ran away from Officer Robert Gonzalez. Jurors found that Gonzalez didnt reasonably believe his life was in danger when he fired 11 shots at Green.

A bullet struck Green in the left side of his back, piercing his lung and heart. Court records show Greens gun was found in a vacant lot about 75 feet from his body.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Law Enforcement
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 20

By Dalga Khatinoglu  Trend:

Former Deputy Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Olli Heinonen believes that the future administrations [in P5+1 Group members] will have to discuss the issue of Irans nuclear program.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, aka nuclear deal) is a complex agreement, which puts a temporary lid on some of the nuclear activities of Iran, Heinonen told Trend.

Iran doesnt forgo uranium enrichment and has spent on fuel reprocessing, sensitive technologies which have both peaceful and military applications, he added.

With regard to the uranium enrichment, Iran is actually developing further its capabilities. Thus, the JCPOA only postpones the resolution of the basic problem; Iran's drive to enrich uranium under circumstances when there is both an oversupply of such services and at the same time no economically or technically justified reason to proceed on that route, Heinonen noted.

In other words, P5+1 pushed in 2015 with the JCPOA the case for future administrations to solve, the expert concluded.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has recently described the nuclear accord that was agreed between Iran and the world powers in 2015 as a failure, adding the deal amounts to passing the buck on to future administrations.

An unchecked Iran has the potential to travel the same path as North Korea and to take the world along with it, said Tillerson, claiming the nuclear accord represents the failed approach of the past.
Volunteer firefighters, who make up 90 percent of the firefighters in Kansas, are seeking additional funding.

Kansas spends about $300,000 at the state level on firefighting, less than almost any other state, the Wichita Eagle reported. This resulted in local firefighters having no extra help to fight the states biggest wildfire in March, which burned more than 450,000 acres in Kansas.

A grassfire moves fast, volunteer Brian Hind said. The biggest fire weve (Greenwood County) ever had was 30,000 acres, and it was a six-hour deal. So when do you pull the trigger on when the state is going to help you? You dont have two or three days; normally, youre talking hours.

Much of volunteer firefighters equipment often breaks down when most needed because of old age. Departments end up spending most of their training time repairing trucks because its too expensive to replace them.

$10,000 is just for the truck, volunteer Dwight Call said. We still have to buy tanks, pumps, hoses, lights and nozzles and donate countless hours of labor to have a functioning grass rig.

Because of the shrinking population in rural counties, there are fewer people who can volunteer.

You have to look at the population of the state, especially in the rural communities, the volunteer base isnt there, Kansas State Firefighters Association President Kevin Flory said. So manpower is a problem. The funding isnt there, there is less tax base. So its getting harder  for these small communities to adequately fund these departments.

Flory said firefighters get their money from local property taxes, so they would need to better advocate for the departments if they want more funding.

If we had to depend on (Gov. Sam) Brownback for funding of our rural firefighting efforts, wed still be fighting prairie fires with wet burlap bags, like my grandfather and his peers used to, Hind said.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Kansas
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported it has resolved a lawsuit against Orion Energy Systems, a Manitowoc, Wis., lighting company. The EEOC had challenged the companys wellness program under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and alleged that the employer retaliated against an employee who objected to the program by terminating her.

In its suit, the EEOC contended that Orion instituted a wellness program that unlawfully required medical examinations and made disability-related inquiries. When an employee, Wendy Schobert, declined to participate in the program, Orion shifted responsibility for payment of the entire premium for her employee health benefits from Orion to Schobert. Shortly thereafter, Orion fired Schobert, the EEOC said.

The EEOC maintained that Orions wellness program violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as it was applied to Schobert, and that Orion unlawfully retaliated against Schobert because of her good-faith objections to the wellness program. The EEOC filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (EEOC v. Orion Energy Systems, Inc., No. 14-CV-1019 E.D. WI) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

Upon cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court rejected the employers argument that the insurance safe-harbor provision in the ADA immunizes wellness plans from ADA scrutiny. The court concluded that the EEOCs recently issued regulations on the ADAs safe-harbor provision were within the EEOCs authority, and further held that the safe-harbor provision did not apply even without regard to the new regulations. However, the court found that the wellness plan was lawful because it concluded that the employees decision whether to participate was voluntary under that law existing prior to the regulations, which were not applicable in the case.

The court also held that there were issues of fact regarding whether Schobert was fired because of her opposition to the wellness plan, and indicated that the case would be set for trial. The consent decree approved today resolved these issues.

Under the consent decree settling the suit, Orion agreed to pay $100,000 to Schobert. The company further agreed that it wont maintain any wellness program in the future that poses disability-related inquiries or seeks a medical examination that is not voluntary within the meaning of the ADA and its regulations. Orion also agreed not to engage in any form of retaliation, including interference or threats, against any employee because he or she has raised objections or concerns as to whether the wellness program complies with the ADA. The company also agreed that it will tell its employees that any concerns about its wellness program should be sent to its human resources department.

Orion also will train its management and employees on the law against retaliation and interference under the ADA. The company will conduct an additional training meeting with its chief executive officer, its chief operating officer, its chief financial officer, its human resource director and all employees responsible for negotiating or obtaining health benefit coverage or selecting a wellness program. This training shall include an explanation of the provisions of this decree and the requirements of the ADA and its regulations as they pertain to wellness programs.

According to company information, Orion Energy manufactures and markets energy-efficient lighting systems and retrofit lighting solutions.

Source: EEOC

Topics Legislation Wisconsin
CoverHound is getting into the rideshare insurance business.

The online insurance comparison shopping platform has partnered with several large carriers to offer auto insurance quotes in 24 states for people who drive for rideshare services like Uber and Lyft.

The San Francisco, Calif.-based insurtech company said it intends to expand the service nationwide at the end of the year.

Keith Moore, CEO of CoverHound, which is in its seventh year of operation, said the need for offering rideshare insurance became apparent to him and other executives at the company who travel often and use a ridesharing app to get around.

He said he got the impression after numerous rides that drivers are in need of education on rideshare insurance, the requirements to carry it, and the benefits of having it.

We just noticed theres still a lot of confusion, Moore said.

Harry Campbell, a rideshare expert who goes by the handle the Rideshare Guy, has been calling for more rideshare insurance coverage for the past few years.

He thinks CoverHounds new platform will help more drivers obtain the proper insurance.

I think its a step in the right direction, Campbell said. Uber and Lyft have been around for years, but there still isnt a great way to see all the different Insurance options since its a state-by-state issue. Some of the biggest companies like Geico and State Farm are only in 20 or 30 States and this causes a lot of problems for drivers looking for insurance.

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, which worked with states across the country to help develop insurance regulations for transportation network companies, also believes CoverHounds new online tool will be beneficial.

PCI has always supported innovation, so is not a surprise that once states began clarifying the rules and putting the TNC model law in place, companies started to offer coverage for rideshare drivers, Robert Passmore, PCIs assistant vice president of personal lines policy, said in a statement. TNC drivers should consider the issue of insurance coverage carefully and talk to their agent or insurer if they are going to participate in ridesharing or any sharing economy platform.

A big selling point for the portal appears to be CoverHounds promise that rideshare drivers can get a quote in five minutes.

To get a quote, visitors must go to CoverHounds rideshare portal and first enter a ZIP code, number of vehicles and number of drivers. There are three checkbox options as well: Currently Insured, Homeowner, Married.

Next up is a page to input the year, make and model of the vehicle, which when filled in prompts a pulldown with required selections like Ownership, Primary Use, Miles driven per year, and whether the vehicle is used for a rideshare program.

The drivers name, date of birth, gender and whether that person is the primary driver are also required. Users can add drivers and vehicles.

Other queries include: Career status; occupation; highest level of education; marital status; age when the driver first obtained a license; status of the drivers license; whether there has been any suspensions within five years; recent incidents; owning a primary residence; if a driver is currently insured; current carrier; length of time being continuously insured; current coverage limit; how much the driver pays every six months; home address; email; VIN; drivers license number; annual mileage; whether the vehicle is paid for.

An autofill function starts when the user begins typing in the appropriate box.

To get an example of how the site works, a 2000 Nissan Pathfinder driven by a married male living in Orange County, Calif., was used.

A quote from Mercury at $497.96 for six months for Superior Coverage was quickly delivered after following the prompts. Minimum Coverage cost $484, Basic Coverage was $429 and Deluxe Coverage was $571. Any of those choices was available.

According to Moore, a shopper score on the backend helps determine the type of coverage offered. The Pathfinder generated a Superior Coverage offering because a high value shopper score was returned, which indicates more coverage was of greater importance than price to the shopper.

That page also gave the option to call Foremost for a quote, and theres a Need some help? Lets chat! icon available.

The coverage returned on the Pathfinder quote included primary liability limits of $100K/$300K, property damage for up to $50,000, and medical payments of up to $1,000. It also included uninsured liability for BI limits of $100k/$300k and property damage up to $3,500.

Users are given an option to edit coverages, payment options and they can apply discounts for things like education and umbrella.

Insurance can be bound online with a final click, Moore said.

We handle it 100 percent online, he added.

Users can also call to obtain a policy. The top of the hompage offers a number for consumers to speak to an insurance agent. CoverHound said it has licensed insurance agents standing by to take calls.

Christopher J. Boggs, executive director of the Big I Virtual University for the Independent Agents and Brokers of America Inc., believes that bypassing an agent is rarely a good idea considering most insureds have some unique exposures that cannot often be discovered and properly addressed in an online conversation or in a 15-minute phone call.

There is evidence that firms such as CoverHound and others who sell via technology are negatively affecting independent  and maybe all  agents in the personal lines markets, largely because current buying trends are towards using the Internet rather than an agent with whom you have and can develop a personal relationship, Boggs said. But this is not limited to insurtech firms, direct writers and even some independent agent companies are selling direct. All the players are trying to cut from the same pie.

However, while insuretech is the current trend, Boggs is of the opinion that eventually the luster will wear off.

These firms are PR machines, Ill give them credit for that, he added.

While quick and easy insurance quotes may appeal now to a younger generation, the relationships between an agent and an insured will grow increasingly important as a young persons life changes, Boggs said.

And so, too, will their desire to know their agent, he added.

The three carriers listed on the sites homepage are Mercury Insurance Group, Safeco Insurance and Foremost Insurance Group. Other carriers involved are Progressive, State Auto, CSE Insurance, Kemper and National General Insurance, according to Moore.

As carriers add more products, were actively putting them on the platform, he said.

All the partner carriers are offering their existing rideshare products, but that may soon change.

We may work with carriers in the future to have more specific products developed for the rideshare community, Moore said.

CoverHound doesnt charge drivers for the service, instead earning a commission based on policy sales and renewals.

According to Moore, the size of the commissions depend on the carrier.

We get the standard independent agent commissions on the backend, Moore said.

While this is another development in the rapidly developing insuretech craze, Moore doesnt see the portal as a big revenue generator initially.

I dont think itll be a huge percentage of or written premium in the next two years, he said.

He said creating the service was a way of generating more customer satisfaction.

Our goal is to make sure when customers come to us, we have an option for almost 100 percent of people who come through, Moore said.

States the service is currently being offered in are: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.

Related:

Topics Carriers Auto Agencies InsurTech Tech Training Development
Concerns over price optimization are leading regulators to think carefully about the implications of longstanding practices in insurance rating, including premium caps on policy renewals for individuals, households and small businesses, according to one regulator.

Charles Angell, deputy commissioner and chief actuary for the Alabama Department of Insurance, delivered the news during his remarks at the 2017 Ratemaking and Product Management Workshop of the Casualty Actuarial Society, in late March in San Diego.

Price optimization refers to the use of demand side rating indicators that are not directly related to the potential risk of loss or cost of risk. Sophisticated, data-based price optimization is generally prohibited in personal lines, but proponents of price optimization say it is not essentially different from premium caps and other price breaks long permitted by regulators.

To Angell, there is a key distinction between capping premium and capping a rate. The latter is mostly not permitted, and the former allowed primarily to shield consumers from big price hikes. If you cap a rate, your premium will clearly be inadequate, he said. However, capping a premium is not the same as capping the rate.

That said, he added that capping premium based on an individuals characteristicse.g., propensity to shop for coverageand not on the size of the increase is like price optimization and not in conformance with rating principles and laws in most states.

Furthermore, he said, even permitted premium caps can be problematic if they are implemented year after year on premiums that have already been capped. That can increase the chances of premium inadequacy.

Variable Selection Scrutinized

Angell and David Dahl, a casualty actuary for the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, also gave examples of rating factors being flaggedand disallowedby regulators.

Its a maxim of statistical practice that correlation does not necessarily imply causation, and insurers often want to invoke the former without having to prove the latter to support their rating plans. There are times, however, when a risk correlation seems too far removed from reasonable causation for state insurance regulators to accept it as the basis for a rating factor. Those occasions may increase as carriers develop ever more sophisticated approaches to rating, they suggested.

For Angell, it was too much to accept when one residential rate filing included a rating factor based on the number of Social Security numbers residing at a given address over a certain number of years. The filing suggested that the more Social Security numbers residing at a location, the greater the risk.

As Angell related, it just so happened that he had allowed several relatives to live in his home over a short period and that his household might have been negatively impacted by use of such a factor in rating his homeowners insurance.

Without regard to Angells situation, the Alabama department found the use of such a factor to be against public policy and disallowed it.

In a similar situation in commercial lines, Oregon denied approval for a commercial trucking rating factor based on the number of relatives employees had within a certain radius. The division was concerned that the factor might interfere with a trucking firms hiring practices, said Dahl, in remarks following Angell.
The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill did $17.2 billion in damage to the natural resources in the Gulf of Mexico, a team of scientists recently found after a six-year study of the impact of the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

The Virginia Tech scientists said this is the first comprehensive appraisal of the financial value of the natural resources damaged by the 134-million-gallon spill.

This is proof that our natural resources have an immense monetary value to citizens of the United States who visit the Gulf and to those who simply care that this valuable resource is not damaged, said Kevin Boyle, a professor of agricultural and applied economics in the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Science and one of the authors on the paper.

Findings from the study were published in the most recent issue of Science.

The scientists developed a survey to put a dollar value on the natural resources damaged by the BP Deepwater spill by determining household willingness to pay for measures that would prevent similar damages should a spill of the same magnitude happen in the future. Survey information included descriptions of damaged beaches, marshes, animals, fish, and coral.

On top of estimating the impact of the spill, the $17.2 billion represents the benefits to the public to protect against damages that could result from a future oil spill in the Gulf of a similar magnitude.

In May 2010, one month after the spill, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration commissioned a group of 18 researchers to put a dollar value on the natural resources damaged by the BP Deepwater spill.

To estimate Gulf Coast resource values, researchers created a scenario in which people were told that they could have a role in mitigating future damages by effectively paying for a prevention program.

Final analysis showed that the average household was willing to pay $153 for a prevention program. This rate was then multiplied by the number of households sampled to get the final valuation of $17.2 billion.

The results were eye-opening in that we could tell how much people really value marine resources and ecosystems, said Boyle. And even more meaningful because we did additional analysis that proved the legitimacy of oft-criticized values for environmental resources.

The project team administered surveys to a large random sample of American adults nation-wide after three years of survey development. The first round of surveys was administered face-to-face with trained interviewers while the remaining surveys were completed via mail.

Survey participants were informed of pre- and post-spill conditions in the Gulf of Mexico and what caused the oil spill. They were then told about a prevention program, which can be viewed as 100 percent effective insurance against future spill damages, and that another spill would occur in the next 15 years. With this information, participants were asked to vote for or against the program, which would impose a one-time tax on their household.

Our estimate can guide policy makers and the oil industry in determining not only how much should be spent on restoration efforts for the Deepwater spill, but also how much should be invested to protect against damages that could result from future oil spills, said Boyle. People value our natural resources, so its worth taking major actions to prevent future catastrophes and correct past mistakes.

Source: Virginia Tech

Related:

Topics USA InsurTech Tech Energy Oil Gas Agribusiness Virginia
Texas so-called hailstorm bill has passed out of the Texas Senate Business & Commerce Committee, its author reports.

Senate Bill 10 by committee Chairman Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, is lawsuit reform legislation aimed at stemming the problem of storm-chasing, out-of-town attorneys blanketing local neighborhoods after a severe weather event like a hailstorm to solicit frivolous lawsuits.

SB 10 addresses the issue by giving an insurance company 60 days to resolve a disputed claim before being taken to court, a provision that should motivate insurers to fairly and quickly settle all claims. It also places limits on the percentage of a settlement that can be charged as attorneys fees.

The real root of the storm chasing problem is lawsuit abuse, said Sen. Hancock said in an announcement released by his office. Thats why we filed SB 10 and why both Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have stated their strong support for passing hailstorm lawsuit abuse reform this session.

The measure is supported by the property insurance industry, which has seen an increase in post-severe weather event litigation  particularly following hailstorms  in the past several years.

Hancock said at least a dozen companies have raised rates for homeowners insurance and at least seven insurers have limited or stopped writing policies in Texas altogether as a direct result of high court costs associated with attorney involvement in post-natural disaster claims.

The bills opponents say the legislation is simply an attempt to give even more power to insurance companies by limiting policyholders ability to hold insurers accountable via the judicial system.

Related:

Topics Lawsuits Catastrophe Natural Disasters Texas Politics
Thousands of bacteria-infected mosquitoes were released in the wild Tuesday near Key West, testing a new way to kill mosquitoes that carry Zika and other viruses.

The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District released 20,000 male mosquitoes infected by the Kentucky-based company MosquitoMate with naturally occurring Wolbachia bacteria.

The offspring produced when the lab-bred mosquitoes mate with wild female mosquitoes wont survive to adulthood. Male mosquitoes dont bite, and Wolbachia is not harmful to humans.

The eggs never even hatch, said Stephen Dobson, MosquitoMates founder.

The infected mosquitoes were flown in cardboard tubes  similar to ones used in paper towel rolls  from Lexington, Kentucky, to Key West on Tuesday morning. At the Stock Island test site, about 25 acres with residential and commercial properties just north of Key West, district staff released them by shaking or blowing into the tubes, said Andrea Leal, the districts executive director.

They liked the humidity, Leal said. They were very happy mosquitoes.

The trial is expected to last about three months, with twice-weekly releases. Seven Wolbachia-infected males should be released for every one wild male in the field to drive down the mosquito population, Dobson said.

The district has been exploring new ways to suppress Aedes aegypti mosquito populations, which thrive in urban environments and spread Zika, dengue fever and chikungunya.

The Keys trial is MosquitoMates second U.S. test with Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, after a similar trial in Clovis, California, last year. Stock Island is about 130 miles southwest of Miami, where Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were blamed for spreading the Zika virus last year.

Keys officials are still considering a separate test of mosquitoes genetically modified by the British biotech firm Oxitec to produce Aedes aegypti offspring that die outside a lab. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration initially approved a trial in a residential neighborhood near Key West, saying the test would not significantly affect the environment, but outrage from anti-GMO activists and residents forced the district to find a new location.

Were looking at these sterile insect techniques because our conventional mosquito control methods are costly and labor-intensive, Leal said.

MosquitoMate is awaiting permits from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to sell a related mosquito species, known as the Asian tiger mosquito, infected with Wolbachia as a pest control service. Though these mosquitoes also can carry viruses, experts consider them less of a threat for triggering outbreaks than Aedes aegypti.

The FDA is seeking public comment on a proposal clarifying which mosquito-related products it regulates and which ones would be regulated by the EPA.

Currently, genetically engineering mosquitoes, as Oxitec does, is regulated by the FDA, while modifying mosquitoes through other techniques, such as MosquitoMates bacteria, fall under the EPA as pesticides.

According to the FDA proposal, the EPA would regulate any mosquito-related products controlling mosquito populations, while the FDA would regulate products making other claims, such as preventing disease.

Oxitec has publicly supported regulatory changes that would expedite review of its mosquitoes in light of the ongoing Zika-related public health emergency. It has asked both agencies to clarify how marketing claims would differentiate between suppressing mosquito populations and stopping diseases, particularly where the vector control product is pesticidal in its action to suppress mosquitoes that transmit human disease.

Dobson said he hopes the regulatory issues will be resolved quickly, so that mosquito controllers will have more tools to keep the viruses carried by invasive mosquito species from spreading, and more flexibility to address the publics concerns about human health.

It might be in some places that people will say, `We dont want Wolbachia, or theyll say, `We dont want GMO, or theyll say, `We dont want planes spraying overhead, Dobson said.

Topics USA Florida Pollution
On a predictably gorgeous South Florida afternoon, Coral Gables Mayor Jim Cason sat in his office overlooking the white-linen restaurants of this affluent seaside community and wondered when climate change would bring it all to an end. He figured it would involve a boat.

When Cason first started worrying about sea-level rise, he asked his staff to count not just how much coastline the city had (47 miles) or value of the property along that coast ($3.5 billion). He also told them to find out how many boats dock inland from the bridges that span the citys canals (302). What matters, he guessed, will be the first time a mast fails to clear the bottom of one of those bridges because the water level had risen too far.

These boats are going to be the canary in the mine, said Cason, who became mayor in 2011 after retiring from the U.S. foreign service. When the boats cant go out, the property values go down.

If property values start to fall, Cason said, banks could stop writing 30-year mortgages for coastal homes, shrinking the pool of able buyers and sending prices lower still. Those properties make up a quarter of the citys tax base; if that revenue fell, the city would struggle to provide the services that make it such a desirable place to live, causing more sales and another drop in revenue.

And all of that could happen before the rising sea consumes a single home.

Housing Markets

As President Donald Trump proposes dismantling federal programs aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions, officials and residents in South Florida are grappling with the risk that climate change could drag down housing markets. Relative sea levels in South Florida are roughly four inches higher now than in 1992. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts sea levels will rise as much as three feet in Miami by 2060. By the end of the century, according to projections by Zillow, some 934,000 existing Florida properties, worth more than $400 billion, are at risk of being submerged.

The impact is already being felt in South Florida. Tidal flooding now predictably drenches inland streets, even when the sun is out, thanks to the regions porous limestone bedrock. Saltwater is creeping into the drinking water supply. The areas drainage canals rely on gravity; as oceans rise, the water utility has had to install giant pumps to push water out to the ocean.

The effects of climate-driven price drops could ripple across the economy, and eventually force the federal government to decide what is owed to people whose home values are ruined by climate change.

Sean Becketti, the chief economist at Freddie Mac, warned in a report last year of a housing crisis for coastal areas more severe than the Great Recession, one that could spread through banks, insurers and other industries. And, unlike the recession, theres no hope of a bounce back in property values.

Citing Florida as a chief example, he wondered if values would decline gradually or precipitously. Will the catalyst be a bank refusing to issue a mortgage? Will it be an insurer refusing to issue a policy? Or, he asked, Will the trigger be one or two homeowners who decide to sell defensively?

Nobody thinks its coming as fast as it is, said Dan Kipnis, the chairman of Miami Beachs Marine and Waterfront Protection Authority, who has been trying to find a buyer for his home in Miami Beach for almost a year, and has already lowered his asking price twice.

Prisoners Dilemma

Some South Florida homeowners, stuck in a twist on the prisoners dilemma, are deciding to sell nownot necessarily because they want to move, but because theyre worried their neighbors will sell first.

When Nancy Lee sold her house last summer in Aventura, halfway between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, it wasnt because she was worried about sea-level rise, rising insurance costs, nuisance impacts or any of the other risks associated with climate change. Rather, she worried those risks would soon push other people to sell their homes, crashing the regions property values. So she decided to pull the trigger

I didnt want to be there when prices fell, said Lee, an environmental writer.

Ross Hancock has the same worry, and sold his four-bedroom house in Coral Gables three years ago. He described South Floridas real estate market as pessimists selling to optimists, and said he wanted to cash out while the latter still outnumbered the former.

I was just worried about my lifes savings, Hancock said. You cant fight Mother Nature.

Lee and Hancock are outliers. When it comes to buying homes on the coast, most Floridians are still optimists.

Since the end of 2010, median home prices in and around Miami rose 120 percent, almost twice the statewide average and three times the national rate. In January, a building in Palm Beach County called The Bristol topped $300 million in units sold, achieving the distinction of the most-expensive condominium in that countys history. A flyer for the building boasted its hurricane-resistant glass doors; it didnt note that if seas rise three feet, the road to the front entrance could be underwater.

Marla Martin, a spokeswoman for Floridas association of realtors, said that while of course climate change is on the radar for our members, she hadnt heard of clients selling homes because of sea-level rise.

I think the scientists are still trying to get a handle on it, she wrote in an email.

A short drive through mangrove trees off Highway 1 in Key Largo, Stephanie Russos house backs onto a canal that opens into Blackwater Sound, and from there to the ocean; her neighbors lounge in shorts and flip-flops beside their boats.A few months after Russo, a partner at a law firm in Miami, moved to Key Largo in 2015, the big fall tides brought 18 inches of water onto the road in front of their house. Unlike previous tidal floods, this one lasted 34 days.

When we bought, there hadnt been a flood like that for years, said Russo, who was sitting at a table between the homes outdoor bar and its pool.

Ever, interjected her husband Frank, who was working on the grill.

The saltwater ruined cars around the neighborhood, destroyed landscaping and sparked a mosquito infestation. But the worst part might have been the trash.

When people would drive, it creates a wake, said Russo. That knocks over all the garbage cans, and then everybodys garbage is floating in the streets, and in the mangroves. Its just disgusting.

Officials in Monroe County agree theres a problem, and plan to raise some roads in an attempt to reduce future flooding.

Realtor Disclosure

Russo says if she knew in 2015 what she knows now, she wouldnt have purchased the house. People buying in her neighborhood today are probably just as clueless as she once was, she guesses. I would bet money that the realtors are not telling them.

Realtors in Florida face no legal requirement to warn potential buyers about those flood risks. Albert Slap, president of Coastal Risk Consulting, which helps homeowners and governments measure their exposure to flooding, said he thinks that will soon change: Just as the public demanded mandatory disclosure of asbestos and lead paint, people will insist on the same disclosure if a house suffers regular floods.

And when that happens, Slap said, many Florida home prices will tumble.

Anybody in these floody areas, if they disclose to a buyer, the buyer probably wont buy that property, said Slap, whose company is doing work for the city of Miami Beach. Thats going to drive the value down to zero, well before water is up to their front door.Slap said the answer isnt a mass retreat from the coast, at least not yet, but rather a version of battlefield triage: figuring out which homes are worth saving, through elevation or other means, and which cant be helped.

The next black swan is the failure of housing finance to take climate change into account, he said. There will be a large number of homes that will lose substantial value, and will default on mortgages, if nothing is done to help them.

Federal Buyout

In an ornate lecture hall at the University of Miamis School of Architecture last month, Philip Stoddard, the mayor of South Miami, sat through a presentation about the history of federal programs to purchase homes threatened by climate change, and whether those programs were likely to expand.

Afterward, he invited the room to consider the sheer number of homes at risk in South Florida alone. Stoddards message: The government simply wont be able rescue homeowners who wait too long to sell. There isnt enough money, he said.

There is as yet no federal policy on buying out properties that will be lost to sea-level rise. Last January, President Barack Obamas administration awarded $48 million to relocate a small Louisiana town sinking into the Gulf of Mexico, the first such project funded by the federal government. But the administration made clear the project wasnt intended to be a precedent, and it rejected a request from an Alaska village in the same situation.

South Florida has likewise failed to get federal help for more modest relocations. In 2013, officials in Miami-Dade County requested $2.3 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a project that included buying out a handful of homes in a low-income neighborhood called Arch Creek, far from the glamorand tax baseof Miami Beach.

Most of those homes had 8 to 10 inches in the house, said Terry Parker, the county official in charge of the request. The plan was to tear them down and let the land revert to creek bed. But the county never got the money and hasnt asked for a federal buyout since.

Cason, the Coral Gables mayor, said Congress ought to create what he called a resilience fund for homes threatened by the waterbut he doesnt think it will.

The National Flood Insurance Program is up for reauthorization this year; fiscal conservatives have said they want to use that opportunity to reduce the programs subsidies, so that people are paying something closer to the full cost of their risk.A cut in federal subsidies would particularly hurt Florida, which despite its exposure pays the lowest average flood-insurance premiums in the country, according to FEMA data.

Laura Reynolds is the former executive director of the Tropical Audubon Society, Miamis oldest environmental group; shes lived in her house in Cutler Bay, an hours drive south of Miami, for 13 years. She said she had once hoped to pass it on to her niece or nephew, but now plans to sell.

The future of our coastline is completely doomed, Reynolds said. The question is, how long will we have?

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Florida Flood Climate Change Property Homeowners
The University of Californias governing board has agreed to a $1.7 million settlement that will be paid out over the next decade to an employee who accused the former dean of UC Berkeleys law school of sexual harassment.

Under terms of the settlement, the UC regents will pay the employee, Tyann Sorrell, two lump sums up front, including $250,000 directly to her and $600,000 for legal fees, UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said Tuesday. The regents will also pay out $850,000 that Sorrell will receive in monthly installments for the next 10 years, he said.

Sorrell had worked as an executive assistant to Choudhry in 2015 and accused him of repeatedly kissing, hugging and touching her. She filed a lawsuit against her former boss and the UC regents last year over the alleged harassment and what she called inadequate steps to address it. Choudhry was initially allowed to remain in the position and received only a temporary 10-percent pay cut as punishment.

Choudhry was ultimately forced to step down as dean amid an outcry over the universitys light-handed discipline.

Choudhry is among several UC Berkeley employees since 2015 to face sexual harassment allegations substantiated by UC Berkeleys Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination.

In a separate settlement between Sorrell and Chodhry and the University of California, Berkeley announced last week, the former dean will give $50,000 to a charity of Sorrells choice and pay another $50,000 to her lawyers. Choudry in turn will be officially considered to be on a two-year sabbatical dating from his resignation in March 2016. That means hell be able to keep benefits like travel expenses and research funding.

Sorrell expressed outrage to the deal announced last week, saying in a statement it insults all who suffer harassment at the hands of those with power and privilege.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits California Education Universities
City councilors in Denver, Colo. have approved a nearly $1 million settlement with the family of a teenager who was shot and killed by police while driving a stolen car toward an officer in 2015.

The proposed settlement in the January 2015 of Jessica Hernandez was announced by city officials last week. City councilors voted unanimously to approve it Monday without comment.

The shooting came shortly after the officer-involved deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York.

The Denver Post reported that the $999,999 settlement is among the highest recently paid by Denver but dwarfed by earlier payouts for police or jail incidents. In 2014, the city paid $6 million to the family of Marvin Booker, a homeless street preacher who died after a struggle with jail deputies

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Law Enforcement Colorado
The Iranian Interior Ministry has released the final list of candidates qualified to run in the forthcoming presidential election, Press TV reported.

Irans Guardian Council gave the following whittled-down list of candidates, in alphabetical order, to the Interior Ministry late on Thursday night.

Mostafa Aqa-Mirsalim

Mostafa Hashemi-Taba

Es'haq Jahangiri

Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf

Hassan Rouhani

Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi

The vetting body was examining the qualifications of more than 1,600 candidates who registered to run for president for days.

"We held the final session on examining the qualifications of the presidential election nominees today and fortunately reached a conclusion after five days of numerous sessions, the council's spokesman, Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, said before releasing the final list.

The qualified candidates can now start election campaigning until 8 a.m. May 18, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Iran will simultaneously hold the 12th presidential election and the 5th City and Village Councils Elections on May 19.

Observers predict a high turnout in the election in which voters will pick the next president for a four-year term.

The five-day registration process for the presidential election ended on Saturday and the Guardian Council started vetting presidential election hopefuls the following day.

Earlier this week, the commander of the Special Units of the Iranian Police Force said that 20,000 police officers would be deployed across the country to ensure security for the votes.
The family of a woman who jumped off the Astoria Bridge in northwestern Oregon seeks nearly $1 million in a lawsuit filed against a county mental health contractor.

The lawsuit filed Saturday alleges Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare was negligent in not providing an adequate treatment and recovery plan for Carrie Barnhart as her mental health deteriorated.

The suit also names Clatsop County, Columbia Memorial Hospital and an emergency room doctor who treated Barnhart before her April 2015 suicide.

Amy Baker, the executive director of Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare, told The Daily Astorian she cant comment on pending litigation but her heart grieves for anyone who loses a relative to suicide. The county and Columbia Memorial Hospital also declined comment.

The newspaper reports Astoria police responded to the womans threats of suicide four times in early 2015.

Police pulled her off the bridge one night in April 2015 and brought her to Columbia Memorial, where she was evaluated and then released after a few hours. Barnhart died the following week. She was 54.

CBH failed the community, my clients family and Carrie Barnhart, said Jeremiah Ross, an attorney representing the family. They were paid by the county to do a job and, simply put, they didnt do it.

The lawsuit alleges a case manager failed to have meaningful contact with Barnhart as her condition worsened. The suit faults the mental health agency and the county for hiring a case manager without proper experience to treat the mentally ill and for failing to adequately train the case manager.

The lawsuit alleges the hospital and emergency room doctor were negligent for releasing Barnhart back home, in walking distance of the bridge, without sufficient safeguards in place.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Contractors Oregon
General Motors Company (GM) is the quintessential American company. Incorporated in 1908, the Detroit-based automotive company has weathered its fair share of boom and bust economic cycles. The company designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes new cars, trucks, and vehicle parts globally. GM additionally offers consumers automotive financial services.

In this article, we take a brief look at General Motor's stock history before reviewing the company's three largest individual shareholders.

Key Takeaways Founded in 1908 by William C. Durant, General Motors has weathered numerous ups and downs over the decades.

The decades after World War II saw the American car manufacturer flourish as demand for the company's cars spurred increased revenue and market share.

By the 1980s, the company began to decline as it faced strong competition from foreign automakers, including Toyota and Honda.

During the financial crisis of 2009, GM filed for bankruptcy and became largely owned by the U.S. government; the company recovered and relaunched in 2010 with an initial public offering of new GM stocks.

As of April 2021, GM's top individual shareholders were Mary Barra, Mark Reuss, and John Stapleton.

GM's Stock History

General Motors has an interesting stock history. The company was reincorporated in 1916 during a stock buyback campaign that led founder William C. Durant to rejoin the company after having been forced to leave in 1910 as a result of massive debt he incurred through the acquisition of other car companies. Durant added Chevrolet to the GM fold in 1916 and continued to acquire other automobile manufacturers over the years.

The decades after World War II saw GM dominate as a car manufacturer, growing its market share and revenue while simultaneously becoming one of the world's largest employers. The company's fortunes declined, however, beginning in the 1980s and through the 1990s. GM lost significant market share to foreign car companies, most notably Honda and Toyota.

General Motors filed for bankruptcy in 2009 amid the financial crisis and became largely owned by the U.S. government. When this happened, it was delisted from the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and old GM shares were retired. In 2010, General Motors relaunched with an initial public offering (IPO) of new GM stocks. As of Dec. 17, 2021, the stock price was around $55.16.

$80.1 Billion GM's market capitalization as of Dec. 17, 2021.

1. Mary Barra

Mary Barra was appointed as General Motors' chief executive officer (CEO) in January 2014 when former CEO Daniel Akerson departed from the company. Barra, who is General Motors' first female CEO, was also elected chair of the companys board in January 2016. At the time, Barra was seen as a perfect fit to take the company forward and advise the companys board due to her extensive experience in engineering and global product development, one of General Motors' most critical business areas.

Barra holds a bachelor of science in electrical engineering and a master of business administration (MBA). She has won a number of industry recognition awards and was named to Forbes' list of the world's 100 most powerful women for 2021. According to GM's 2021 proxy statement and annual meeting of shareholders notice, she is the company's largest individual shareholder with 2,753,251 shares of General Motors.

2. Mark Reuss

Mark L. Reuss is a president of General Motors, leading regional operations in North America, South America, China, and General Motors International. Reuss has had a long career with GM, joining the company as an intern in 1983 when he was studying at Vanderbilt University to be a mechanical engineer. He later got his MBA from Duke University. Prior to becoming GM president in 2019, Reuss served as GM's executive vice president for Global Product Development, Purchasing, and Supply Chain from 2013 to 2018.

Reuss is the second-largest individual shareholder of General Motors. As of April 2021, he owned 670,814 shares of the company.

3. John P. Stapleton

John Stapleton has been GM's North America chief financial officer (CFO) since January 2014. He joined the company in 1990 and worked his way up the ranks, serving in a variety of finance roles with responsibilities in operations, manufacturing, labor, and performance improvement. GM named Stapleton acting global chief financial officer in August 2020 following the resignation of Dhivya Suryadevara, executive vice president and CFO. Stapleton held the interim position until GM hired former Delta Air Lines CFO Paul Jacobson to fill the CFO position in December 2020.

Stapleton is the third-largest individual shareholder of General Motors. As of April 2021, he owned 183,211 shares of the company.


Although the Presidential election drew most of the attention in November of 2020, there were several other important decisions made at the polls as well: notably, several states held votes to determine the future of the legal cannabis industry in one form or another. Taking a leaf out of Colorado or Washingtons book, four statesNew Jersey, South Dakota, Montana, and Arizonapassed measures to make marijuana consumption for recreational purposes legal. Mississippi also voted to allow medical marijuana.

State legislation remains heavily divided on the topic. Since the 2020 election, South Dakota Circuit Judge Christina Klinger ruled that the measure was unconstitutional. In November 2021, the South Dakota Supreme Court agreed and ruled against pot legalization. On the other hand, Arizona has collected more than $284 million of tax revenue since the legalization of marijuana in the state.

All told, more and more states are moving to legalize marijuana (whether for medicinal or recreational use, or both). The legal changes have spawned a burgeoning industry of legal cannabis companies, including those which aim to research and develop cannabis-based medical products, those which are working to distribute and grow marijuana, and many others.

As of May 2022, 37 states allow the use of medical cannabis products, while 18 states allow the use of non-medical cannabis products for personal consumption. States are continuing to propose new legislation to encourage legal activity. Delaware is circulating HB 305, a bill that would make marijuana legal for adults. Meanwhile, 62% of Marylanders now support non-recreational legalization.

The economic benefits of legalizing weed have already been apparent as the first states have moved to change their legal positions. Overall, legal marijuana could mean a big push for state economies and big bucks for both the state and the federal governments. Though state law and federal law remain divided on the issue. let's explore some of the key economic benefits of legal marijuana.

Key Takeaways There has been a growing popular movement in the United States to legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational uses, with several states adopting such measures already.

One motivation for legalization is the economic benefits that can come from the regulated commercial availability of marijuana.

Increased tax revenues, job growth, and investment opportunities all are powerful incentives to push for legalization.

As of May 2022, 18 states allow for personal consumption of marijuana, while 37 states allow medical usage.

Although the collection of tax revenue has yet to start in many of these states, a total of $3.7 billion of proceeds were collected in 2021, more than double tax revenue generated in 2019.

Impact on Tax Revenue

Better than expected sales of marijuana in Colorado and Washington over the past several years have resulted in buoyant tax revenues. In 2021, Washington collected $559.5 million of legal marijuana revenue, over $85 million more revenue than 2020. Meanwhile, Colorado collected $423 million of marijuana tax revenue in 2021, up almost 10% from the year prior.

In 2019, total tax revenue collected by all states topped $1.7 billion. two years later, the total dollar revenue had more than doubled. Aggregate revenue for all states hit $3.7 billion for legal, adult-use cannabis sales, and this does not include revenue generated for statewide budgets, cities, and towns. In addition, six states that have approved marijuana use had not started collecting marijuana tax revenue in 2021.

Should marijuana become legal on a federal level, the benefits to the economy could be exceptional: A report from cannabis analytics company New Frontier suggests that federally legal pot could generate an additional $105.6 billion in aggregate federal tax revenue by 2025.

Colorado began collecting marijuana tax revenue in 2014. In 2021, it's total life-to-date collections surpassed $2 billion.

Income and Jobs

Setting up marijuana nurseries and dispensaries would be the first step for the states that voted in favor of medical marijuana. These would not only create jobs but also set the ball rolling for economic activity in the pot industry in these areas. In the case of states like California and Nevada where such infrastructure already exists, the economic impact has become more quantifiable as the sector has matured.

An RCG Economics and Marijuana Policy Group study on Nevada says that legalizing recreational marijuana in the state could support over 41,000 jobs till 2024 and generate over $1.7 billion in labor income. The ICF study estimates at least 81,000 additional direct, indirect, and induced jobs in California as a result of legalized marijuana sales. It also projects an increase in total labor income by at least $3.5 billion.

New Frontier's report predicting the impact of federally legal marijuana suggests that nationwide legalization could generate 1 million jobs by 2025. These jobs would likely come from the quickly growing industry which would spring up across the nation. Workers would be needed to farm, process, distribute, and sell marijuana-based products. Further, there would be ample opportunities for secondary industries that are related to legal cannabis although not directly involved in its production and distribution. These might include software developers, financing services, construction companies, and many others.

Investment Opportunities

Legal marijuana presents the possibility of tremendous benefits to economies on a local and a national scale. It also could help to secure the investment portfolios of investors across the country and further afield as well. While marijuana remains illegal on the federal level, it is difficult for investors to capitalize on the growth of the industry. The number of marijuana-related companies trading on public stock exchanges is minuscule, and while investors do have the option of working with over-the-counter exchanges, many of the most successful businesses in the early legal cannabis space have been based in Canada or other countries.

Should marijuana become legal on the national level, marijuana companies would be free to list their stocks on all U.S. exchanges, thereby enhancing liquidity and opening up access to many more investors. Should the growth rates for the cannabis space continue as they have in recent years, it's likely that investors would express a keen interest in the industry.

As of March 2022, the largest marijuana ETF was AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF with over $1 billion of assets under management.

Saved Money

When considering the economic benefits of legal marijuana, it's important to think of the money that might be saved as well as revenue that could be generated through such a process. Currently, federal marijuana enforcement costs several billion dollars per year. A 2013 report by the American Civil Liberties Union found that the costs at that time were approximately $3.6 billion per year.

The more states that legalize cannabis, the lower the cost of enforcement would likely be; if marijuana were to be legalized on a national level, these costs would likely drop considerably. If marijuana were removed from the list of controlled substances, far fewer court cases involving the substance would go to trial, resulting in fewer incarcerations, and, in turn, more money saved.

Legalized marijuana also stands to benefit medical consumers of cannabis-based products. As marijuana becomes legal in more and more parts of the country, it's likely that the price will drop overall as a result of commoditization. This may not immediately seem like good news for overall tax revenue or for marijuana companies looking to maximize profits. However, individuals utilizing marijuana-based products for medical treatment would stand to benefit considerably from lower prices for these items.

How Many States Have Legalized Marijuana? As of May 2022, 18 states have legalized the personal use of marijuana. In addition, 37 states have legalized the medical use of marijuana.

How Much Money Are States Collecting in Marijuana Tax Revenue? In 2021, the states that legalized marijuana for personal consumption generated $3.7 billion. This revenue does not include city revenue or proceeds distributed to smaller municipalities.

What Is the Economic Impact of Legalizing Marijuana? States that legalize marijuana have recognized various economic benefits. There are direct tax proceeds generated for the state. States employ thousands of employees of oversee the production, distribution, and management of the sector. There are also potential savings to the legal enforcement of the industry if certain criteria are no longer considered illegal.

The Bottom Line

There is ample pushback against the idea of legalizing marijuana across the country. Critics cite the potential for confusion among law enforcement officers aiming to keep up with shifting regulations, a concern about increased homelessness or youth use of the substance, the potential for decreased property values, and much more. Some are opposed to changing the regulatory status of marijuana simply because it means a change to the status quo.

All of these reasons combine to decrease the likelihood that marijuana will become legal at a national level any time soon. However, as more and more states move to individually decriminalize pot use in various ways, and as the economic benefits of a legal marijuana industry take effect, there are also many compelling reasons to consider nationwide legalization.
What Is a Mutual Fund?

A mutual fund is a financial vehicle that pools assets from shareholders to invest in securities like stocks, bonds, money market instruments, and other assets. Mutual funds are operated by professional money managers, who allocate the fund's assets and attempt to produce capital gains or income for the fund's investors. A mutual fund's portfolio is structured and maintained to match the investment objectives stated in its prospectus.

Mutual funds give small or individual investors access to professionally managed portfolios of equities, bonds, and other securities. Each shareholder, therefore, participates proportionally in the gains or losses of the fund. Mutual funds invest in a vast number of securities, and performance is usually tracked as the change in the total market cap of the fundderived by the aggregating performance of the underlying investments.

Most mutual funds are part of larger investment companies such as Fidelity Investments, Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, and Oppenheimer. A mutual fund has a fund manager, sometimes called its investment adviser, who is legally obligated to work in the best interest of mutual fund shareholders.

Key Takeaways A mutual fund is a type of investment vehicle consisting of a portfolio of stocks, bonds, or other securities.

Mutual funds give small or individual investors access to diversified, professionally managed portfolios.

Mutual funds are divided into several kinds of categories, representing the kinds of securities they invest in, their investment objectives, and the type of returns they seek.

Mutual funds charge annual fees, expense ratios, or commissions, which may affect their overall returns.

Employer-sponsored retirement plans commonly invest in mutual funds.

How Are Mutual Funds Priced?

The value of the mutual fund depends on the performance of the securities in which it invests. When buying a unit or share of a mutual fund, an investor is buying the performance of its portfolio or, more precisely, a part of the portfolio's value. Investing in a share of a mutual fund is different from investing in shares of stock. Unlike stock, mutual fund shares do not give their holders any voting rights. A share of a mutual fund represents investments in many different stocks or other securities.

The price of a mutual fund share is referred to as the net asset value (NAV) per share, sometimes expressed as NAVPS. A fund's NAV is derived by dividing the total value of the securities in the portfolio by the total amount of shares outstanding. Outstanding shares are those held by all shareholders, institutional investors, and company officers or insiders.

Mutual fund shares can typically be purchased or redeemed at the fund's current NAV, which doesn't fluctuate during market hours, but is settled at the end of each trading day. The price of a mutual fund is also updated when the NAVPS is settled.

The average mutual fund holds different securities, which means mutual fund shareholders gain diversification. Consider an investor who buys only Google stock and relies on the success of the company's earnings. Because all of their dollars are tied to one company, gains and losses are dependent on the company's success. However, a mutual fund may hold Google in its portfolio where the gains and losses of just one stock are offset by gains and losses of other companies within the fund.

How Are Returns Calculated for Mutual Funds?

When an investor buys Apple stock, they are buying partial ownership or a share of the company. Similarly, a mutual fund investor is buying partial ownership of the mutual fund and its assets.

Investors typically earn a return from a mutual fund in three ways, usually on a quarterly or annual basis:

Income is earned from dividends on stocks and interest on bonds held in the fund's portfolio and pays out nearly all of the income it receives over the year to fund owners in the form of a distribution. Funds often give investors a choice either to receive a check for distributions or to reinvest the earnings to purchase additional shares of the mutual fund. If the fund sells securities that have increased in price, the fund realizes a capital gain, which most funds also pass on to investors in a distribution. When the fund's shares increase in price, you can then sell your mutual fund shares for a profit in the market.

When researching the returns of a mutual fund, an investor will see "total return," or the change in value, either up or down, of an investment over a specific period. This includes any interest, dividends, or capital gains the fund generated as well as the change in its market value over some time. In most cases, total returns are calculated for one, five, and 10-year periods as well as since the day the fund opened, or the inception date.



Types of Mutual Funds

There are several types of mutual funds available for investment, though most mutual funds fall into one of four main categories which include stock funds, money market funds, bond funds, and target-date funds.



Stock Funds

As the name implies, this fund invests principally in equity or stocks. Within this group are various subcategories. Some equity funds are named for the size of the companies they invest in: small-, mid-, or large-cap. Others are named by their investment approach: aggressive growth, income-oriented, value, and others. Equity funds are also categorized by whether they invest in domestic (U.S.) stocks or foreign equities. To understand the universe of equity funds is to use a style box, an example of which is below.

Funds can be classified based on both the size of the companies, their market caps, and the growth prospects of the invested stocks. The term value fund refers to a style of investing that looks for high-quality, low-growth companies that are out of favor with the market. These companies are characterized by low price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios, low price-to-book (P/B) ratios, and high dividend yields.

Conversely, growth funds, look to companies that have had strong growth in earnings, sales, and cash flows. These companies typically have high P/E ratios and do not pay dividends. A compromise between strict value and growth investment is a "blend," which simply refers to companies that are neither value nor growth stocks and are classified as being somewhere in the middle.

Image by Julie Bang  Investopedia 2019

Large-cap companies have high market capitalizations, with values over $10 billion. Market cap is derived by multiplying the share price by the number of shares outstanding. Large-cap stocks are typically blue-chip firms that are often recognizable by name. Small-cap stocks refer to those stocks with a market cap ranging from $250 million to $2 billion. These smaller companies tend to be newer, riskier investments. Mid-cap stocks fill in the gap between small- and large-cap.

A mutual fund may blend its strategy between investment style and company size. For example, a large-cap value fund would look to large-cap companies that are in strong financial shape but have recently seen their share prices fall and would be placed in the upper left quadrant of the style box (large and value). The opposite of this would be a fund that invests in startup technology companies with excellent growth prospects: small-cap growth. Such a mutual fund would reside in the bottom right quadrant (small and growth).

Bond Funds

A mutual fund that generates a minimum return is part of the fixed income category. A fixed-income mutual fund focuses on investments that pay a set rate of return, such as government bonds, corporate bonds, or other debt instruments. The fund portfolio generates interest income, which is passed on to the shareholders.

Sometimes referred to as bond funds, these funds are often actively managed and seek to buy relatively undervalued bonds in order to sell them at a profit. These mutual funds are likely to pay higher returns and bond funds aren't without risk. For example, a fund specializing in high-yield junk bonds is much riskier than a fund that invests in government securities.

Because there are many different types of bonds, bond funds can vary dramatically depending on where they invest and all bond funds are subject to interest rate risk.

Index Funds

Index Funds invest in stocks that correspond with a major market index such as the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). This strategy requires less research from analysts and advisors, so there are fewer expenses passed on to shareholders and these funds are often designed with cost-sensitive investors in mind.

Balanced Funds

Balanced funds invest in a hybrid of asset classes, whether stocks, bonds, money market instruments, or alternative investments. The objective of this fund, known as an asset allocation fund, is to reduce the risk of exposure across asset classes.

Some funds are defined with a specific allocation strategy that is fixed, so the investor can have a predictable exposure to various asset classes. Other funds follow a strategy for dynamic allocation percentages to meet various investor objectives. This may include responding to market conditions, business cycle changes, or the changing phases of the investor's own life.

The portfolio manager is commonly given the freedom to switch the ratio of asset classes as needed to maintain the integrity of the fund's stated strategy.

Money Market Funds

The money market consists of safe, risk-free, short-term debt instruments, mostly government Treasury bills. An investor will not earn substantial returns, but the principal is guaranteed. A typical return is a little more than the amount earned in a regular checking or savings account and a little less than the average certificate of deposit (CD).

Income Funds

Income funds are named for their purpose: to provide current income on a steady basis. These funds invest primarily in government and high-quality corporate debt, holding these bonds until maturity to provide interest streams. While fund holdings may appreciate, the primary objective of these funds is to provide steady cash flow to investors. As such, the audience for these funds consists of conservative investors and retirees.

International/Global Funds

An international fund, or foreign fund, invests only in assets located outside an investor's home country. Global funds, however, can invest anywhere around the world. Their volatility often depends on the unique country's economy and political risks. However, these funds can be part of a well-balanced portfolio by increasing diversification, since the returns in foreign countries may be uncorrelated with returns at home.

Specialty Funds

Sector funds are targeted strategy funds aimed at specific sectors of the economy, such as financial, technology, or healthcare. Sector funds can be extremely volatile since the stocks in a given sector tend to be highly correlated with each other.

Regional funds make it easier to focus on a specific geographic area of the world. This can mean focusing on a broader region or an individual country.

Socially responsible funds, or ethical funds, invest only in companies that meet the criteria of certain guidelines or beliefs. For example, some socially responsible funds do not invest in "sin" industries such as tobacco, alcoholic beverages, weapons, or nuclear power. Other funds invest primarily in green technology, such as solar and wind power or recycling.

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)

A twist on the mutual fund is the exchange-traded fund (ETF). They are not considered mutual funds but employ strategies consistent with mutual funds. They are structured as investment trusts that are traded on stock exchanges and have the added benefits of the features of stocks.

ETFs can be bought and sold throughout the trading day. ETFs can also be sold short or purchased on margin. ETFs also typically carry lower fees than the equivalent mutual fund. Many ETFs also benefit from active options markets, where investors can hedge or leverage their positions.

ETFs also enjoy tax advantages from mutual funds. Compared to mutual funds, ETFs tend to be more cost-effective and more liquid.

Mutual Fund Fees

A mutual fund has annual operating fees or shareholder fees. Annual fund operating fees are an annual percentage of the funds under management, usually ranging from 13%, known as the expense ratio. A fund's expense ratio is the summation of the advisory or management fee and its administrative costs.

Shareholder fees are sales charges, commissions, and redemption fees, that are paid directly by investors when purchasing or selling the funds. Sales charges or commissions are known as "the load" of a mutual fund. When a mutual fund has a front-end load, fees are assessed when shares are purchased. For a back-end load, mutual fund fees are assessed when an investor sells their shares.

Sometimes, however, an investment company offers a no-load mutual fund, which doesn't carry any commission or sales charge. These funds are distributed directly by an investment company, rather than through a secondary party. Some funds also charge fees and penalties for early withdrawals or selling the holding before a specific time has elapsed.

Classes of Mutual Fund Shares

Currently, most individual investors purchase mutual funds with A-shares through a broker. This purchase includes a front-end load of up to 5% or more, plus management fees and ongoing fees for distributions, also known as 12b-1 fees. Financial advisors selling these products may encourage clients to buy higher-load offerings to generate commissions. With front-end funds, the investor pays these expenses as they buy into the fund.

To remedy these problems and meet fiduciary-rule standards, investment companies have started designating new share classes, including "level load" C shares, which generally don't have a front-end load but carry a 12b-1 annual distribution fee of up to 1%.

Funds that charge management and other fees when an investor sells their holdings are classified as Class B shares.

Pros of Mutual Fund Investing

There are a variety of reasons that mutual funds have been the retail investor's vehicle of choice with an overwhelming majority of money in employer-sponsored retirement plans invested in mutual funds.

Diversification

Diversification, or the mixing of investments and assets within a portfolio to reduce risk, is one of the advantages of investing in mutual funds. A diversified portfolio has securities with different capitalizations and industries and bonds with varying maturities and issuers. Buying a mutual fund can achieve diversification cheaper and faster than buying individual securities.

Easy Access

Trading on the major stock exchanges, mutual funds can be bought and sold with relative ease, making them highly liquid investments. Also, when it comes to certain types of assets, like foreign equities or exotic commodities, mutual funds are often the most feasible wayin fact, sometimes the only wayfor individual investors to participate.

Economies of Scale

Mutual funds also provide economies of scale by forgoing numerous commission charges needed to create a diversified portfolio. Buying only one security at a time leads to large transaction fees. The smaller denominations of mutual funds allow investors to take advantage of dollar-cost averaging.

Because a mutual fund buys and sells large amounts of securities at a time, its transaction costs are lower than what an individual would pay for securities transactions. A mutual fund can invest in certain assets or take larger positions than a smaller investor could.

Professional Management

A professional investment manager uses careful research and skillful trading. A mutual fund is a relatively inexpensive way for a small investor to get a full-time manager to make and monitor investments. Mutual funds require much lower investment minimums so these funds provide a low-cost way for individual investors to experience and benefit from professional money management.

Variety and Freedom of Choice

Investors have the freedom to research and select from managers with a variety of styles and management goals. A fund manager may focus on value investing, growth investing, developed markets, emerging markets, income, or macroeconomic investing, among many other styles. This variety allows investors to gain exposure to not only stocks and bonds but also commodities, foreign assets, and real estate through specialized mutual funds. Mutual funds provide opportunities for foreign and domestic investment that may not otherwise be directly accessible to ordinary investors.

Transparency

Mutual funds are subject to industry regulation that ensures accountability and fairness to investors.

Pros Liquidity

Diversification

Minimal investment requirements

Professional management

Variety of offerings Cons High fees, commissions, and other expenses

Large cash presence in portfolios

No FDIC coverage

Difficulty in comparing funds

Lack of transparency in holdings

1:32 Mutual Funds: How Many is Too Many?

Cons of Mutual Fund Investing

Liquidity, diversification, and professional management all make mutual funds attractive options, however, mutual funds have drawbacks too.

No Guarantees

Like many other investments without a guaranteed return, there is always the possibility that the value of your mutual fund will depreciate. Equity mutual funds experience price fluctuations, along with the stocks in the fund's portfolio. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) does not guarantee mutual fund investments.

Cash Drag

Mutual funds require a significant amount of their portfolios to be held in cash to satisfy share redemptions each day. To maintain liquidity and the capacity to accommodate withdrawals, funds typically have to keep a larger portion of their portfolio as cash than a typical investor might. Because cash earns no return, it is often referred to as a "cash drag."

High Costs

Mutual funds provide investors with professional management, but fees reduce the fund's overall payout, and they're assessed to mutual fund investors regardless of the performance of the fund. Since fees vary widely from fund to fund, failing to pay attention to the fees can have negative long-term consequences as actively managed funds incur transaction costs that accumulate over each year.

"Diworsification" and Dilution

"Diworsification"a play on wordsis an investment or portfolio strategy that implies too much complexity can lead to worse results. Many mutual fund investors tend to overcomplicate matters. That is, they acquire too many funds that are highly related and, as a result, lose the benefits of diversification.

Dilution is also the result of a successful fund growing too big. When new money pours into funds that have had strong track records, the manager often has trouble finding suitable investments for all the new capital to be put to good use.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that funds have at least 80% of assets in the particular type of investment implied in their names. How the remaining assets are invested is up to the fund manager. However, the different categories that qualify for the required 80% of the assets may be vague and wide-ranging. A fund can, therefore, manipulate prospective investors via its title. A fund that focuses narrowly on Congolese stocks, for example, could be sold with a far-ranging title like "International High-Tech Fund."

End of Day Trading Only

A mutual fund allows you to request that your shares be converted into cash at any time, however, unlike stock that trades throughout the day, many mutual fund redemptions take place only at the end of each trading day.

Taxes

When a fund manager sells a security, a capital-gains tax is triggered. Taxes can be mitigated by investing in tax-sensitive funds or by holding non-tax-sensitive mutual funds in a tax-deferred account, such as a 401(k) or IRA.

Evaluating Funds

Researching and comparing funds can be difficult. Unlike stocks, mutual funds do not offer investors the opportunity to juxtapose the price to earnings (P/E) ratio, sales growth, earnings per share (EPS), or other important data. A mutual fund's net asset value can offer some basis for comparison, but given the diversity of portfolios, comparing the proverbial apples to apples can be difficult, even among funds with similar names or stated objectives. Only index funds tracking the same markets tend to be genuinely comparable.

Example of a Mutual Fund

One of the most notable mutual funds is Fidelity Investments' Magellan Fund (FMAGX). Established in 1963, the fund had an investment objective of capital appreciation via investment in common stocks. The fund's height of success was between 1977 and 1990 when Peter Lynch served as its portfolio manager. Under Lynch's tenure, Magellan's assets under management increased from $18 million to $14 billion.

Fidelity's performance continued strong, and assets under management (AUM) grew to nearly $110 billion in 2000. By 1997, the fund had become so large that Fidelity closed it to new investors and would not reopen it until 2008.

As of March 2022, Fidelity Magellan has nearly $28 billion in assets and has been managed by Sammy Simnegar since Feb. 2019. The fund's performance has tracked or slightly surpassed that of the S&P 500.

Are Mutual Funds a Safe Investment? All investments involve some degree of risk when purchasing securities such as stocks, bonds, or mutual funds. Unlike deposits at FDIC-insured banks and NCUA-insured credit unions, the money invested in securities typically is not federally insured.

Can Mutual Fund Shares Be Sold at Any Time? Mutual funds are considered liquid assets and shares can be sold at any time, however, review the fund's policies regarding exchange fees or redemption fees. There may also be tax implications for capital gains earned with a mutual fund redemption.
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IoT Evolution, the leading media brand for the Internet of Things (IoT), has published a book outlining more than 150 of the leading trends in the IoT industry, entitled IoT Time: Evolving Trends in the Internet of Things. The book, written by IoT Evolution Editorial Director, Ken Briodagh, seeks to explore the factors that have shaped the recent past of the developing industry and use those to predict the trends that will drive the next period of growth. Each of the trends is explicated and illustrated with a case study or product review that supports each position.

In this weekly series, well be previewing chapters for you to read in the hopes that youll like enough to read the whole thing. To do just that, for free, click here. Alternatively, theres a paperback version available on Amazon for $14.99.

Chapter 11: Municipal Partnerships

Trend: Connected Cops

Smart Police Cars Set to Protect and Serve in New Jersey

Ewing, New Jersey sits in between New York and Philadelphia, is investing in ensuring its economy thrives and its citizens are safe. The Township has rolled out a platform for equipping its law enforcement professionals with in-vehicle communications that enable officers in the field to access real time applications including information needed to protect the community.

Working with Cradlepoint, the Police Department created a secure end-to-end private network in the cloud over wired and wireless broadband Internet. This single unified network supports fleet management, with information available to dispatchers about where patrol cars are in real time. Over-the-air updates make management of the applications easier, and redundancy between cellular networks, fixed broadband and Wi-Fi brings constant connectivity.

More and more police departments, like Ewing, are realizing the benefits that cloud-based, software-defined LTE technology provides when it comes to secure and reliable in-vehicle networking, said Ian Pennell, CMO, Cradlepoint.

With local governments' budgets under pressure, moving to a more digital networking approach to keeping the force connected (compared to traditional radio systems) requires making a business case for saving money and time. So, beyond the natural upside of ensuring safer communities overall, being able to reduce costs while setting the stage for adding future applications may be what it takes for more communities to follow in Ewing Township's footsteps.

Trend: Scandinavian leadership

Finland Gets National LoRa Network, Thanks to Actility and Digita

Actility, a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) company, and Digita, the Finnish broadcast network operator, are teaming up to enable towards a fully-connected Finland by rolling out a nationwide LoRa network. Following the completion of a successful trial period of several months, the companies have seen that the market is ready for a full-scale commercial deployment. The service is available for local implementation everywhere in Finland.

This is the first commercial LoRa network for IoT to be deployed in Finland. The deployment also emphasizes the opportunity that LoRa brings for companies like Digita, which is not a traditional cellular operator, to leverage the tall radio and television masts of their broadcast network to become key players in the internet of Things.

Maintaining healthy living conditions is easy when the factors that affect residents' comfort can be recognized in real time, said Kimmo Rintala, head of property development unit, VVO Group, a Digita partner. Continuous measuring also enables us to detect obvious apartment-specific faults even before the residents themselves have time to react. Digita's solution eliminates the need for property-specific installations, as it is based on sensors within apartments that are able to communicate directly with Digita's system.

The LoRa core network service is delivered through Actility's ThingPark Wireless solution, and makes use of Digita's broadcast masts so that the technology can be deployed at very high points overlooking the city and be exploited to its full range.

We believe that IoT technology will revolutionize our daily lives. It can be used, for example, to monitor building conditions, save energy, prevent water damage, prevent theft, locate objects, locate pets, optimize farming and monitor health. In theory, there is no limit to the kinds of applications that are possible, said Markus Ala-Hautala, COO, Digita.

Trend: Big government investment

White House Makes $80 Million in New Smart Cities Investment

For Smart Cities Week in the U.S., the White House announced $80 million new federal dollars to go toward its year-old Smart Cities Initiative.

If we can re-conceive of our government so that the interactions and the interplay between private sector, nonprofits, and government are opened up, and we use technology, data, social media in order to join forces around problems, then theres no problem that we face in this country that is not soluble. said President Barack Obama in a White House fact sheet.

The Smart Cities Initiative was designed to make it easier for cities, Federal agencies, universities, and the private sector to work together to research, develop, deploy, and test new technologies that can help make our cities more inhabitable, cleaner, and more equitable, including the IoT. The administration expanded the initiative, with the additional investments and a doubling of the number of participating cities and communities. There are now more than 70 municipalities taking part.

These new investments and collaborations are helping cities in the following key technological arenas:

Climate: There will be almost $15 million in new funding and two new coalitions to help cities and communities tackle energy and climate challenges. One Department of Energy campaign has already signed up 1,800 buildings representing 49 million square feet with data analytics tools that could reduce their energy footprint by 8 percent, on average.

Transportation: The Administration is announcing more than $15 million in new grants and planned funding to evolve urban Smart Transportation, including National Science Foundation funding for researchers in Chattanooga to test, for the first time, how an entire urban network of connected and autonomous vehicles can automatically cooperate to improve travel efficiency and operate safely during severe weather events.

Public Safety: The Administration is announcing more than $10 million in new grants and planned funding for public safety, resilience, and disaster response. The Department of Homeland Security is funding the development of low-cost flood sensor-based tools in flood-prone areas of Texas, where predictive analytics will give first responders and local officials new capability to issue alerts and warnings, and the ability to respond more rapidly to save lives when a flood strikes.

The Smart Cities Initiative is informed by and builds on the work of the Presidents Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), including its Technology and the Future of Cities report. In the report, PCAST identified several actions that the Federal Government can take to help cities leverage technology, and which the initiative is already beginning to implement. Smart City Challenge is one of the key projects supported by the Initiative. The Department of Transportation selected Columbus, Ohio to receive $40 million to prototype the future of Smart Urban Transportation, out of 78 cities that accepted its Smart City Challenge.

The citys plan, which will also leverage over $100 million in private resources, involves piloting new technologies, from connected vehicle technology that improves traffic flow and safety to data-driven efforts to improve public transportation access and health care outcomes to electric self-driving shuttles that will create new transportation options for underserved neighborhoods.

The new money also includes new grants and investments for Smart City infrastructure and innovation projects. One such will be a flood-warning pilot project in several Maryland cities that will integrate sensor data and social media posts to provide advance notice of flash floods. Others include: $33 million in new awards under the Smart & Connected Communities program to expand research and build on a number of high-risk, high-reward Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research toward enhancing understanding and design of future cities and communities; $10 million to develop and scale next-generation Internet applications and technologies through the US Ignite program, supporting access to gigabit-enabled networks; $7 million in new Partnerships for Innovation: Building Innovation Capacity projects that involve academic-industry collaborations to translate breakthrough discoveries into emerging technologies related to smart communities, ranging from smart buildings to sensor networks that improve transportation efficiency; $4 million in new Cyber-Physical Systems for smart cities and the IoT, enabling connection of physical devices at scale to the digital; $2 million in new Spokes that extend the Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs and $1.4 million in new Big Data research; $1.5 million in Smart and Connected Health research; $1 million for researchers to participate in the 2016 NIST Global City Teams Challenge; and $1 million in research and capacity-building awards supporting lifelong learning.

Across the Atlantic, in Finland, the countrys second-biggest city region, Tampere, is launching a new period of heavy IoT development and investment, to the tune of 6 to 10 billion Euros by 2030, with the goal of establishing a fully-integrated and internationally attractive Smart City. The process is also designed to increase quality of life for citizens and give the companies taking part in the new development ecosystem an advantage when building better products for international markets.

Tampere has several projects in motion to target innovation, new business models and enhancing communities. They include better digital solutions for companies, city organizations and daily lives of the citizens. Meanwhile the city is supporting open data for anyone to use, including traffic data, location data, tourism information, city budget and procurement information. The city plans to act as a testing ground and partnership broker for companies while using procurement to enable new solutions through city planning. At the same time, the release said it will develop more community driven, experimental and sustainable strategies using Smart City tech.

All this will make Tampere even more attractive to international companies than it is now, said Teppo Rantanen, Executive Director of economic policy, competitiveness and innovation, City of Tampere. Tampere has a strong history in cooperation between different organizations and companies and now we have a dynamic process that enhances active cooperation even more.

Some examples of Tamperes city development include:

Central Deck and Arena, an urban scale development on top of existing railway tracks in the heart of the city that will hold a multi-purpose arena with capacity of 11,000 people, office blocks topped by residential towers, a hotel and a casino. Construction starts in spring 2017.

Hiedanranta is an old pulp factory area that is being built into what the Finnish media called Dubai of Finland. The area will offer housing for up to 25,000 residents and jobs for between 12,000 and 14,000 people. Zoning will begin 2017.

As a new form of public transportation in Tampere, a light rail will offer a testing ground for smart mobility solutions, smart building and smart infrastructure solutions. The planners are one final decision away from starting the constructions by the end of 2016.

Our plan is to open the big challenges of the city and develop innovative solutions to them together with companies, said Anna-Kaisa Ikonen, Mayor of the City of Tampere.

Trend: Private equity expenditures

Smart City: 22 Capital Partners Selects FedBid as Technology Partner

22 Capital Partners, a venture builder and private equity company, recently has selected FedBid, an online reverse auction marketplace, as a technology partner for its 22 CityLink platform, which helps 22 Capital Partners develop an ecosystem to build smart cities through technology, education and innovation. One of 22 CityLinks first real estate projects is in the Washington D.C. Gramercy District. It will be the first ground-up smart city in the D.C. area. It is located in Loudoun County on 16.8 acres of prime real estate at the terminus of the Silver Line Ashburn Station metro. The goal outlined for this smart city project is to create an innovation campus with the foundation technology and education partners. A key component of the 22 CityLink smart city approach, the company said, is reducing total lifecycle costs and creating long-term value for citizens.

By taking proven, industry-leading supply chain and procurement practices that drive efficiency in purchasing, while also reducing costs and applying them to modern development projects like Gramercy District, it is possible to dramatically increase the return on investment of any real estate development, said Minh Le, managing partner, 22 Capital Partners. We are creating a replicable process for effective and efficient procurement, not only in the construction phase, but throughout the development lifetime. 22 CityLink and FedBid are poised to provide this full lifecycle cost-optimization model, maximizing return on investment.

FedBids platform is integrated with 22 CityLinks overall procurement and supply chain management services, and will allow all qualified buyers and sellers in construction to participate in the development. FedBid joins Microsoft, Avaya, George Washington University, the Center for Innovative Technology and others as a 22 CityLink partner in its developing smart city technology platform. Once completed, this platform will be known as The Future of Living.

Trend: International cooperative efforts

From London to Australia, How Hypercat is Helping Global Cities Get Smarter

Hypercat, one of the powers behind Londons Smart City initiatives, is going Walkabout with an alliance of IoT industry players, international corporations and the Australian government, with the launch of Hypercat Australia as a technology standard to support the development of smart cities in that country.

At its heart, Hypercat is a UK-developed alliance and standard that enables free communication from any connected IoT sensor or device being used to monitor an environment. This broad collaboration was launched by the Hon. Angus Taylor MP, Australian Assistant Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation, and Nick McInnes, British Consul General and Director General for Trade and Investment, at a special roundtable breakfast hosted by KPMG in Sydney.

The Commonwealth is exploring relationships with different jurisdictions to build smart cities that improve our lives. Hypercat Australia is one such partnership which will allow a platform to facilitate cutting edge technology solutions to be applied to urban problems, said Taylor. This will be the focus of our recently announced Smart Cities and Suburbs Program. I congratulate Hypercat on recognizing the benefits for industry in sharing data  which can be measured not only in collaborative formal partnerships, but in strong economic rewards.

Hypercat Australia is being established as an independent, not-for-profit organization and will be administered by the Knowledge Economy Institute led by Dr Mike Briers AO, Australias first Industry Professor of IoT at the University of Technology Sydney.

The goal of Hypercat is to accelerate the global explosion of the Internet of Things  by enabling connected devices and data to work together to improve how cities work, and how people live, said Justin Anderson, founder and director, Hypercat Alliance. In just a few years, Hypercat has already been applied to multi-million dollar smart city projects including London and Bristol, attracted more than 1,000 industry members such as KPMG, Cisco, BT, Symantec, Flexeye and WSP, and gained support in 47 countries. Were excited that Australia is coming on board as our first international alliance  and hope to use this as a launch pad for global expansion.

Trend: Global R&D centers

Altair Semiconductor Opens IoT Innovation R&D Center in Finland

Altair Semiconductor, a provider of LTE chipsets, has opened a research and development (R&D) center in Oulu, Finland that will focus on the development of core LTE IoT technology, tapping into the resources of the northern city, which has a reputation for expertise and market leadership in wireless communication technologies. This new center is part of Altairs strategy for technological innovation and builds on the precious establishment of a similar center in Taiwan, and is Altairs first major European installation.

Finland is the ideal location to begin Altairs expansion into Europe, given the countrys significant IoT, connectivity and general innovation talent, said Oded Melamed, CEO, Altair. We see this move as strategic to growing our research and development capabilities.

This is representative of a truly encouraging trend toward international innovation cooperatives designed to move the industry forward. Similar R&D centers have been established all over the globe by companies like GE, Intel, AT&T and many others. Such thinking is going to lead the IoT industry in a positive way that will make better, safer, more complete systems of solutions that will make the entire marketplace better. More trust, more innovation and more growth are better for all of us in the IoT, and we encourage every company developing solutions to join with allied companies in such an R&D center or start their own and invite partners to help out.

Trend: Broad association advocacy

Smart Cities Council Launches IoT Tech Challenge Grants for American Communities

The Smart Cities Council, the worlds largest smart cities network, has created a Smart Cities Council Readiness Challenge Grant, open to American cities. Five winning cities will receive a grant in 2017 designed to inspire innovation, inclusion and investment in their environments. The grant programs goal is to help cities apply smart technologies as part of the current White House commitment to accelerate the development of smart cities in the U.S.

Our members and advisors are the world's leading smart city practitioners, said Jesse Berst, Chairman, Smart Cities Council. We are bringing those experts together to help these cities craft action plans that are innovative, inclusive and investment-grade. And then we are donating products and services worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to jump-start their efforts.

The Readiness Challenge Grant program provides a significant contribution of professional services; access to best practices from some of the worlds top smart city practitioners; access to the expertise of leading smart cities technology providers in a vendor-neutral setting; the opportunity to learn from peer cities; and international visibility on the Councils website and newsletter. Winning cities will receive a one-day Readiness Workshop at which city leaders will learn from Smart Cities Council experts, members and advisors while building or enhancing smart city roadmaps for each community.

In addition, the grantees will receive products and services from Council member companies, including: Smart Lighting consultations from Ameresco; IoT Starter Kits from AT&T; follow-up workshops on Smart City ecosystems from CH2M and Qualcomm; free training, software, and access to Computing Technology Industry Association educational materials; building design optimization advice from Dow Building and Construction; a progress assessment from IDC, based on its Smart City Maturity Benchmark; free city wide hosted communications network from Sensus; free access to Telit IoT Platform; TM Forum will help cities assess progress through its Smart City Maturity and Benchmark Model; and up to three days of technical assistance to investigate new and more efficient urban mobility options thanks to Transdev.

In this weekly series, well be previewing chapters for you to read in the hopes that youll like enough to read the whole thing. To do just that, for free, click here. Alternatively, theres a paperback version available on Amazon for $14.99.

Edited by Ken Briodagh
The United States' first tax overhaul in decades may not pass Congress until well into 2017, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Wednesday, in a sign the timetable for the legislation has been pushed back, Reuters reported.

Revamping the U.S. tax code has become a new legislative test for President Donald Trump after a Republican push to repeal former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law failed last month in a humiliating defeat for the party.

Some Republicans in Congress had hoped to pass the tax overhaul before August, but party divisions over the legislation and difficulties in replacing Obamacare have slowed the process.

"This will be done in 2017, that is our time line, we would like to get it done as soon as possible," Ryan told reporters during a visit to London that was part of a multi-nation trip aimed at strengthening U.S. economic and security ties with NATO allies.

Ryan added: "As soon as possible for us is by the end of summer but we're going to take our time to get it right. We can clearly get this done by the end of summer but if it needs to go a little longer, we'll do that."

Trump made tax reform a core campaign promise, saying he would simplify the tax code and cut tax rates in ways that could significantly increase government debt.

To tackle the biggest overhaul of the U.S. tax code since the Reagan era, House Republicans need to avoid the political fault lines that sank their healthcare bill, partly by having conservatives on board.

Ryan has been pushing a plan that includes a border adjustment tax, or BAT, that would levy a 20 percent tax on imported goods. The provision has been attacked by some conservatives and Democrats who argue it would hurt consumers and some U.S. companies reliant on foreign goods.

The Senate has been awaiting action by the House before considering tax legislation.

Given the Republican divisions, the White House has said it would submit its own tax proposal to Congress but it was unclear when that might arrive.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said this week that tax reform may not get done before an August deadline.

The Trump administration might also include a $1 trillion infrastructure investment plan in whatever tax bill it submits to Congress.
All New Jackie Chan Adventures (Photo : William Masters/YouTube)

It would not just be children in China who would be able to watch the upcoming 3D cartoon series of Chinese actor Jackie Chan. Titled J-Team: All New Jackie Chan Adventures, the 104-episode series would air across 200 TV channels in China.



In the later part of 2017, the show would have an international launch, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The 3D cartoon series, which would feature a child version of the martial arts expert, would team Jackie Chan with children as they defend from monster invaders a magical dreamland.



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Bigger Plans



The cartoon, produced at the cost of $6 million, by VJ Animation Studio, Khorgas JJ Culture Media and Zhejiang Talent Television & Film  owned by Jackie Chan  would have a feature film planned for 2019. Also in the pipeline are merchandising promotions and a theme park.



The actor clarified those ambitious plans are from the investors. For him, his energies are spent on making the cartoon for children around the world. He estimated that by the time the planned theme park would be finished, he would already be 80 years old, said the 63-year-old actor.



It is Jackie Chans second cartoon series. The first, Jackie Chan Adventures, was shown from 2000 through 2005 in over 60 countries and aired on Kids WB.



Cartoons Target



The target of the 3D cartoon series is not to make money since he has a lot of it already, said Chan who in 2016 earned $61 million, according to Forbes. He explained, It's meant to help all young children to do things they don't always like to do  don't look at your phone for too long, remember to brush your teeth, respect your elders, pick up the trash. Jackie Chan pointed out that if adults tell kid those things, sometimes they would not listen. However, by using comedy and acton, they will begin to follow, CNBC reported.


Two storms which flooded large areas of New Zealands North Island in recent weeks may have encouraged dairy product buyers, whose bids moved the GlobalDairyTrade average index up 3.1% at Tuesdays auctions.

The Insurance Council of New Zealand said storm damage may run to tens of millions of dollars.

On farms, flood damage to pastures and maize could leave many short of forage for the coming New Zealand winter.

Some of the worst hit farmers have had to cull cows, or find grazing elsewhere.

More than 2,000 cows had to be relocated in Waikato, an important dairy region. More than 5,000 had to be shifted from flood-hit paddocks in the Bay of Plenty region.

It was the last thing New Zealand farmers wanted, after two seasons of low milk prices.

The bad weather in the worlds main dairy product exporter has affected markets, which had seemed up to now to be preparing for recovering milk flows in the EU, and the consistently high US production.

In New Zealand, February milk production was better than expected, only marginally behind 2016 levels, but the storms may slow recovery.

Tuesdays GlobalDairyTrade (GDT) price for butter and SMP would return a gross 37.3 cent per litre before processing costs of 5c, equivalent to a milk price of 32.3c plus VAT, or 34c including VAT, in Irish terms, said IFA National Dairy Committee Chairman Sean OLeary.

The GDT recovery lifted skim milk powder (SMP) 7.1%, bringing hopes of recovery in this commodity market which is so important for the EU,

EU SMP prices have been dropping since January, and member states have now resumed selling SMP into the EUs already overflowing 350,000 tonne intervention stores.

Falling prices for the protein- related products such as milk powder are mainly due to sluggish demand in the European and the world market.

However, butter prices are still high, and milk volumes, although recovering, were 2% lower in EU in January than in 2016.

Meanwhile, the Trump effect is also being felt in dairy markets. It has led Mexico to reduce its import reliance on the US, with an increase in EU exports to Mexico of 10% seen in the last three months of 2016.

And Jaime Castaneda, a senior vice-president in the National Milk Producers Federation in the US, warned last week that if the Trump administration conducts immigration raids on dairy farms, the price of a gallon of milk could soar to $8.

Mr Castaneda said that 80% of milk in the US comes from farms that have foreign labourers.
Increasing maize yield as much as 11% by planting in double rows is the latest breakthrough in seed drilling by Pottinger.

In 2015, the University for Soil Sciences in Vienna tested the Pottinger Aerosem PCS Duplex seeder, and confirmed its efficiency:The increase in yield recorded with silage maize was 11%.

In 2016, large scale tests were performed in Hungary, Austria, Germany, and France. The results proved a significant increase in yield at all locations.

Almost two hectares per hour of seeding with four double rows (working width 3m) was achieved.

The row spacing between each set of double rows is 75cm, so they are easy to harvest using a standard maize header.

With 12.5cm between the maize seeds in each row, there is 30% more space between seeds, and therefore 70% more space available for each plant, so the roots can spread out in the soil better.

The drill has a three-part hopper, and can also place a side strip of fertiliser.

Everything can be controlled from the tractor cab, such as whatever tramline spacing the farm uses.

For Irish farmers, technology of this kind could open up the possibility of an alternative to sowing maize under plastic.

Sowing under plastic allows Irish farmers plant maize as much as three weeks earlier, thus stretching the growing season, and bringing the harvest forward.

Especially for our southernmost maize growers, many of whom sow uncovered maize, the extra yield achieved in Pottinger trials is interesting, and there is also the possibility of companion cropping.

The Pottinger Aerosem can sow a companion crop with maize  as well as converting to drilling cereals, making the machine something of an all-rounder, and the only one-pass machine capable of this, according to Pottinger.

In its first year of maize companion crop trials, Pottinger UK sowed fescue grass with maize for silage, and found this increased the maize yield 7%, which is attributed to suppression of weeds, and the grass helping to support the harvest machinery.

Grazed by sheep after maize, the grass can also qualify as Ecological Focus Area in the UK, and can absorb digestate from farms with anaerobic digesters.

According to Shaun Groom of Pottinger UK, a second year of UK trials will further investigate companion cropping.

Only 16 years in the seed drill business, but already in the top three in the EU, Austrian machinery manufacturer Pottinger has been very innovative, and no doubt has ambitions to become a world leader in this area, which it is already in the silage wagons and other grass machinery for which Pottinger is best known.

In 2001, Pottinger bought the plant at Bernburg in eastern Germany where it manufactures most of its tillage equipment.

Since then, it has been first on the market with a 9m seed and fertiliser trailed drill (the flagship in the Terrasem range), and has achieved a 10% UK market share with the Vitasem.

But the Aerosem launch in 2014 was a big breakthrough, winning the Agritechnica Machine of the Year title, and the Aerosem now accounts for a significant share of Pottinger seed drill sales.

Pottinger increased its seed drill sales 20% in the past financial year, and tillage and seed drill machines are now 28% of sales for the company, which has reached 301m in annual turnover.

Pottinger Ireland general manager Diarmuid Claridge, a recent appointment, says the Aerosem is a big seller here, with a lot of orders on the companys books, with buyers attracted by features such as maintenance-free operation; and the versatility of combining the seeder with a disc or power harrow, or Pottingers Fox seedbed implement, depending on soil conditions.

At a recent press event at Bernburg, Mr Claridge said the companys drill and cultivator combinations comply fully with EU safety directives  an important point, now that Health and Safety Authority officers here have been clamping down on unsafe combinations.

For example, on Pottingers Tegosem cover crop seed drill, the seed hopper, loading platform, and steps match each other, for operator safety.

Seen for the first time in Ireland at the FTMTA show in February, the Tegosem can drill a wide range of cover crops, grass, rapeseed, peas and beans, etc, with electrically driven metering and pneumatic seed distribution.

At the event at Bernburg, Pottinger also unveiled the wave disc reduced cultivation tool for the Terrasem drills, for in-line, low-disturbance seedbed preparation.

Only a 50mm stripe around the seed slot is disturbed.

This enables successful seeding in borderline conditions, particularly in heavy, damp soils. It also reduce s germination of weeds, even blackgrass.
The great grandson of Henry Ford has hailed as "hugely meaningful" a visit by some of his family back to the ancestral home of the industrialist in Ballinascarty in West Cork.

William Clay Ford Jr, executive chairman of the Ford Motor Company, visited the village near Clonakilty this morning alongside his wife, Lisa and their sons William and Nicholas, receiving a warm welcome from hundreds of locals and visitors on their first return to the area since 2011.

The group were greeted not just by members of the local Henry Ford Committee, which has sought to preserve the history of the original Ford family which departed for America in 1847 and its links to Ballinscarty, but also by visitors and vintage motor enthusiasts, meaning a fleet of classic cars pitched up at the crossroads village in anticipation of the familys arrival.

Henry Ford's great grandson William Clay Ford Jnr describes "hugely meaningful" visit to Ballinascarty #fordcentenary #iestaff pic.twitter.com/sk0qslQIQO  Noel Baker (@noelbaker1) April 20, 2017

William Clay Ford Jnr unveiled a new plaque next to the instantly recognisable silver Model T car which has become a feature of the village in recent years, commemorating the visit and marking the centenary of establishing of the Ford company in Ireland.

The group also unveiled a new wooden bench bearing a quote from Henry Ford: "Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it."

William Clay Ford Jnr and family in ancestral home of Ballinascarty. "I'll drive..." #iestaff pic.twitter.com/xcynLIYSHh  Noel Baker (@noelbaker1) April 20, 2017

The Fords, who hail from Dearborn near Detroit, also met their closest relative in West Cork, Hazel Ford Buttimer, who later hosted them for a lunch at the family homestead nearby.

The family also had time for a quick pint at the Henry Ford Tavern, but not before William Ford Jnr had addressed those who turned out to greet them at a special reception in the local community hall.

Thirsty work. William Clay Ford Jnr and sons grab a jar at the Henry Ford Tavern in Ballinascarty #fordcentenary #iestaff pic.twitter.com/spUnJWnBFD  Noel Baker (@noelbaker1) April 20, 2017

"For me, this is very much a trip down history lane," he said.

"This is our heritage, this is where the Ford Motor Company began in a metaphorical sense."

He remarked on how he had recently bought the oldest Ford vehicle in existence, one built before Henry Ford had become a great industrialist in the United States and one of the most prominent people in America.

While Henry Ford famously made reference to black motor vehicles, this earliest iteration was bright red, and William said that when that car was delivered his great grandfather was almost broke. The car, he said, had been a gamble, but one which had paid off.

William Clay Ford Jr

"Its very rare, especially in America, to have a family company still being run by the family," he said, adding that what was most important was the retention of family values down through the years and existing to service society.

He referred to what Ford, and Ireland, can achieve over the next 100 years and also paid tribute to local people who have kept the family and historical ties alive in West Cork, in particular Hazel Ford Buttimer.

"It really does feel like we are coming home again," he said.

Here are some images form the day courtesy of our reporter Noel Baker

John ONeill, who arrived today in a 1920 Model TT truck, although he freely admitted that he actually brought it most of the way from his native Ballinadee near Innishannon by trailer. "I cheated today because I was caught for time," he laughed, while sporting a Model T tie.

John O'Neill's Model TT from 1920, here for visit of William Clay Ford Jnr to Ford's ancestral home in Ballinascarty #fordcentenary #iestaff pic.twitter.com/GE9Q8CdF6e  Noel Baker (@noelbaker1) April 20, 2017

Another Ford classic present is the former vehicle of Jack Lynch, presented to him by Ford when he was Taoiseach in 1967.

Locals and visitors prepare to welcome William Clay Ford Jnr to Henry Ford's ancestral home, Ballinascarty, Co Cork #fordcentenary #iestaff pic.twitter.com/0byJE3Cda2  Noel Baker (@noelbaker1) April 20, 2017

The white 1600 Super is now owned by the West Cork Vintage Society, whose chairman, Albert Harte, explained its history.
US President Donald Trump has hosted former Alaska governor Sarah Palin at a White House dinner with musicians Ted Nugent and Kid Rock.

Ms Palin posted photos on social media and her website.

They showed the group with President Trump, and also posing in front of a painting of Hillary Clinton in the White House.

"Im going to surround myself only with the best and most serious people." (Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent, Kid Rock meet Trump in the Oval Office) pic.twitter.com/wE8ww5tZ7D  Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) April 20, 2017

Sarah Palin visited the White House on Wednesday night for dinner, joined by musicians Ted Nugent and Kid Rock: https://t.co/zHNPfZIIwz pic.twitter.com/VgkPAjeTWc  CBS News (@CBSNews) April 20, 2017

In a post on her website, the former vice presidential candidate said she brought the musicians because President Trump told her to bring some friends.

The Wednesday dinner was not on the president's public schedule.

The White House said it was a private dinner and provided no further details.

Ms Palin said the "dinner was beyond superb". She thanked "the outstanding White House staff, chefs, Secret Service, and of course the President for making it such a special evening".
A man who was convicted in his absence of involvement in a 2003 bomb attack against the HSBC bank in Istanbul and of membership of al Qaida has been arrested, according to Turkish media reports.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said the fugitive, identified by his initials ZC, was arrested on Wednesday in a village in the central Turkish province of Cankiri, where he was working as an acting village imam.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he is set to meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington next month.

NTV television quoted Mr Erdogan on Thursday discussing the visit.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday the two leaders would meet before a Nato summit in Brussels next month and were trying to finalise a date, likely to be May 16 or 17.

President Trump called Mr Erdogan on Monday to congratulate him on his victory in a contested referendum to expand the powers of Turkey's presidency, although Turkish opposition parties and international monitoring groups have raised concerns about the vote.

They also discussed developments in Syria and the US response to a chemical attack there.

There was no confirmation from the White House about a meeting with President Erdogan.
Fishing Folk Custom Tourism Festival Held In Wenzhou (Photo : Getty Images)

The anus has been used as a place where criminals often hide illegal drugs or stolen goods like jewelry especially if the people smuggling these items go through airports. However, in China, a man inserted something into his anus not because he was bringing with him contraband items.



Ill-Thought Solution



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Rather, 49-year-old Liu from Guangzhou was constipated and to solve his inability to poop, he inserted a live eel up his anus. He likely thought the fish would eat his hardened stool, however, the 50-centimeter-long eel broke through his intestines and created a mess inside the mans abdominal cavity, Shanghaiist reported.



Because of what the eel did to Liu, a factory worker, he went last week to a hospital in Baiyun District with a swollen stomach. When the man underwent surgery, doctors found the eel inside his stomach. The man said using eel to treat constipation is an effective folk remedy.



Folk Remedy Fails



Guangdong Television reported that Liu went to the same hospital earlier complaining of constipation. After a checkup, and doctors found that Liu has bowel obstruction, doctors recommended he stay in the hospital for further treatment. But Liu decided to try a folk remedy which yielded disastrous results.



When he returned to the hospital after Liu could no longer bear the pain, he initially told doctors that the fish entered his anus by mistake. However, after the operation, he admitted he inserted the fish himself into his anus, Dr. Zhao Zhirong, a surgeon, said. It is unknown if the fish was alive when Liu inserted it.



In 2010, a man died after his friend inserted an eel into his anus, not because the man was constipated but as a joke. The fish ate the mans bowels and caused his death.


The Schools Regatta is run over a four-lane, 1,500m buoyed course with races for Junior 14s (U14) up to U23s. The annual Victor Ludorum Trophy will be presented to the most successful school at the Regatta, an honour St Josephs College Galway will be looking to defend.

This years entry sees an increase of close to 100 crews from 2016, a further vindication of Rowing Irelands Get Going, Get Rowing programme which continues to expand to schools across the country.

The programme encompasses the development, co- ordination and delivery of indoor rowing in schools and, ultimately, linkage to local rowing clubs.

In October 2016, programme coordinator Michelle Carpenter was able to confirm that 140 athletes had transitioned from school to club, and this was only across five different clubs at the time.

Many more have joined clubs in the interim, with Carpenter reporting a huge volume of interest from parents in regards to getting their kids involved in their local rowing club and PE teachers enquiring as to how to get the programme up and running in their school.

Over the past week, Get Going, Get Rowing camps were run in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway and will be followed up by summer camps.

The next step for a young athlete would be to then move into a rowing club, and as Carpenter points out, the clubs will then benefit from gaining a ready-made rower; i.e. they have all the basic skills learnt and are ready to develop as athletes.

Quishs SuperValu, Cork, have committed to a two-year sponsorship of the Irish Rowing Championships in what is is a further boost for Rowing Ireland.

The Quish family business, based in Tramore and Ballincollig, provides a local and community based sponsorship, but with real national and even international impact which is anticipated to provide much support to the Irish Rowing Championships.

Quish SuperValus partnership involves sponsoring the Irish Rowing Championships, taking place on July 14-16.
Visafirst.com said Australia was not abandoning its foreign workers programme but rather changing it, saying the 457 will be replaced by a new scheme, the Temporary Skill Shortage, which will leave the door open to thousands of Irish in Australia.

The company said it had been inundated with frantic calls from worried Irish people since the announcement of the 457 visa change was made.

Managing director Edwina Shanahan said: We are urging people not to panic. What we are telling people is that yes, the change will definitely impact on Irish workers. However, while the numbers might fall slightly, we dont expect to see a huge drop in the numbers of Irish going Down Under over the next few years. This is simply a reform of the sponsorship programme.

She said anyone currently travelling on a 457 visa or who has recently been granted one for future travel will not be affected. Thousands of Irish workers will still be able to travel to Australia to work as long as their occupation or profession is on the skills shortage list of which there are over 400, she said.

In the US, President Donald Trumps executive order promising to clamp down on abuse of the H-1B visa for highly-skilled temporary workers will not impact on Irish employees working for Irish-owned companies in the US, said company insiders.

A spokesperson for Glanbia, which has a significant presence in the US, said: Glanbia, with a significant footprint in the USA, is committed to hiring the best talent to drive our ambition as a global nutrition company. We expend considerable resources to ensure compliance with immigration law and will work on any changes to current immigration law as they arise. Changes to the H-1B program would not have a significant impact on our business.

Glanbia echoed the Kerry Group, which said it had a good relationship with the Trump administration.
Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) convention delegates were told it was being overtaken by the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) in a number of schools as a result of restrictions placed on ASTI members getting more secure contracts and pay improvements.

ASTI president Ed Byrne rejected suggestions it has been hemorrhaging members in recent months, particularly in the community and comprehensive school where staff can be represented by either union.

TUI members are receiving the benefits of an agreement last summer with the Department of Education that includes partial restoration of pay cut from teachers who began in the job from 2011 onwards and earlier access to secure employment through contracts of indefinite duration.

ASTI is the only public-service union whose members did not get the early award this month of 1,000 in a first step towards increased public sector pay.

This is because of its solitary position of not having accepted the Lansdowne Road agreement, for which the Government is withholding those benefits under financial emergency legislation that the union describes as draconian.

Although ASTI has suspended industrial actions on its campaigns for equal pay for recently qualified teachers and on reform of the junior cycle, there was a strong appetite among delegates to decide the strategy on these and other disputes.

This led to a decision to hold a private two-hour debate on its strategy on pay equality and the junior cycle to inform the formulation by ASTIs standing committee of further motions for discussion today.

Former ASTI president Brendan Broderick said the goalposts have moved since convention motions were submitted last November, with industrial action and the rejection of a subsequent deal to resolve the issues.

We cant go on with our heads in the sand, theres nothing on the menu to discuss where we are going. Its not fair to say its the minister denying lesser-paid teachers  we could ensure their contracts of indefinite duration by suspending our industrial action here at this convention, he said.

The move to debate the strategy was described by some members as an attempt to ignore the vote of the 52.5% majority who rejected the deal in February.

Strategy was due to be discussed by ASTIs 180-member central executive council on May 6, but the convention agreed it was important to inform teachers of the position when schools reopen next week.

Michael Browne, a non-permanent teacher in the Bray branch, said he admires the unions principled stand for lower-paid members but some were in danger of leaving ASTI.

Standing committee member Matthew OConnor said the majority of staff in his Limerick dual-union school were in ASTI but there is now a TUI majority.

Brian ODonoghue of the east Cork branch said he lost out on the chance of a contract of indefinite duration with increased hours due to his ASTI membership.

Im seeing crying teachers screaming at me this year, [asking] have I no plan and no direction [from the union]. Weve lost up to 15 members in the last three or four months, were haemorrhaging members, Im tired of disarray and a lack of leadership, he said.

Mr Byrne said ASTI had its highest membership on December 31 and the rise last year was at least double the number who left recently.

Yes, its a concern that members would leave the union, yet I cant turn 52.5% into a smaller number than 47.5%, I am a democrat.
Detectives are probing two incidents, one of which was a threat from a gang member to shoot the deputy after he intervened to try and solve the problem of wandering horses in the tough estate of Moyross on Limericks northside.

The other incident saw a vile threat made to staff working for the first time TD in his constituency office in Limerick City Centre.

Mr Quinlivan confirmed two serious threats were made, which the gardai are now investigating.

However, he insisted: Nobody will frighten me off the street. It comes as part of the job.

The death threats were disclosed by his party colleague Cllr John Costelloe at a meeting of Limerick City and County Council.

Cllr Costelloe  who took Mr Quinlivans local authority seat after his election to the Dail  said: He raised an issue about horses, and a gang member in Moyross threatened him that he was going to be shot. He obviously had to report it to the gardai.

He criticised the criminal element who own horses, saying: These people are riding roughshod over the whole community. They cannot dictate the policy of council either. The council has a responsibility to do its best for the local area.

Mr Quinlivan says he has received abuse on a number of occasions while walking around his local area, but described the death threats he and his staff received as outrageous and unacceptable.

Young lads would threaten you all the time. I get abuse on the street in Thomondgate, and Id confront them [young lads] about it. I tell them I will walk around the area whenever I want to, and they generally move off when I say this.

But getting a death threat like this is something else, he said.

Horses are allowed graze in estates across Limerick illegally, with the council refusing to give out licences to allow them.

It has led to calls for a horse project to allow a legal space for these creatures to be cared for responsibly.

But the Sinn Fein TD says this will only solve part of the problem.

There are guys who deal with horses and they are decent people. But there is an element without a doubt who feel they can do what they want, he said.

There has to be some solution found. But you sometimes have do-gooders coming from more well-off areas, and they think a horse project will solve the problem. But in my opinion, theyre living in cloud cuckoo land. I support a horse project, there should be one, but it will only be a tiny part of solving the issue.

Mr Quinlivan said he believes he is not the only public representative to have been threatened.

Dealing with the horse problem in Limerick is a very difficult issue. People have been threatened. I dont believe I would be the only public representative to have been threatened in this way, he said.
The former chairman of the Workplace Relations Commission, Kieran Mulvey, who acted as mediator, said the issue of redress was separate to the one with which he had been dealing.

Mr Mulvey said he sympathises with the victims, but that his terms of reference were solely to deal with the relocation of the maternity hospital and to make appropriate arrangements for all concerned.

He said it is imperative that the transfer of the maternity hospital from Holles St to St Vincents campus proceeds as early as possible so that a new national maternity hospital could be built there.

Mr Mulvey said the Sisters of Charity owns the land on the campus but has no real active role in hospital governance.

He said matters of redress should be addressed in the established redress forum, adding that the issue around the maternity hospital is a separate clinical need for the women of Ireland, and should be allowed to go ahead untarnished.

Mr Mulvey said management and staff at Holles St were concerned the maternity hospital would retain its ethos. That was recognised very early in the negotiations and agreed. So, in a sense, the day-to-day involvement by the Sisters of Charity in the running of the hospital is zero almost, he said.

Mr Mulvey, speaking on RTE radio, said it would be representatives of St Vincents Healthcare Group, not the Sisters of Charity, who would be on the board of the new hospital.

Fianna Fail TD Billy Kelleher said there is concern that the Sisters of Charity had not complied with the indemnity agreement reached in 2002, but that the national maternity hospital project must not be delayed any further.

He said assurances are needed of the reserve powers and the golden share mentioned by Health Minister Simon Harris. Mr Kelleher said he wants it to be made abundantly clear that there would be interference with the new maternity hospital.

Mr Harris said the new maternity hospital would have full clinical, operational, financial, and budgetary independence.

Meanwhile, over 35,000 people have signed a petition, launched on Tuesday, calling for the Sisters of Charity to be prevented from becoming owners of the new national maternity hospital.

Uplift, the group behind the petition, said it is an issue that people are clearly outraged about.

Spokeswoman Emily Duffy said people are deeply troubled by the States utter disregard for the many victims of abuse which took place in institutions run by orders such as the Sisters of Charity.

Ms Duffy said it is rare that a petition goes viral so rapidly.
That description came yesterday from US-based Kerryman Kevin OSullivan, who has emerged as purchaser of the Port of Cork site, which signed yesterday for an unconfirmed figure of about 5m.

It may well now see a landmark development, including a signature or iconic tower up to twice the height of the 17-storey Elysian or Liberty Hall, and an overall investment well north of 100m.

Site buyer Mr OSullivan, a native of Ballinskelligs in Kerry, moved to New York in 1986 with his brother Donal OSullivan.

John Mullins, Chairman Port of Cork, Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government Simon Coveney and Kevin OSullivan, Tower Development Properties.

In their 30 years there, theyve delivered some of that citys tallest and most challenging buildings, as contractors and developers.

The OSullivan brothers track record output includes sections of the Ground Zero towers, 9/11 memorial and pools at Manhattan, and the Apple Flagship store also in New York.

They are working on a 77-storey tower in Manhattan.

Now theyve set their sights on this signature Irish site, aiming to build at its river point a slim, very tall building for hotel and office use, and also integrate cultural/visitor uses such as a working distillery to reprise the sites long Bonded Warehouse history, as well as boardwalk, boat access and heritage/museum elements.

After several months of exclusive negotiations with Port of Cork, their new Irish company Tower Development Properties yesterday concluded a deal on Corks historic Port of Cork site, where the two channels of the River Lee recombine, and which went to the open international market last year, guiding at 7m via Cushman & Wakefield.

The proceeds of the sale, understood to be around 5m, will be used by Port of Cork to facilitate its move downstream from the 200-year-old Custom House, to Ringaskiddy.

Although officially coy on heights and investment values until engaging fully with City Hall planners, its likely the brothers hope to build a tower of 30-40 storeys, primarily for international hotel and FDI offices, and may also consider apartments in the mix for people working in the resurgent docklands area.

Tourist, cultural and heritage uses are promised for the existing buildings, which are protected structures, as well as a boardwalk running the full river frontage of the compact, challenging quayside site, with considerable public access, including to a tower-topping restaurant with river and harbour views from an elevation of up to 400ft, reached by an external glass-skinned elevator.

Its the brothers first significant Irish development, and a development of the scale they propose will put Cork on an international map, and bring jobs to the city.

[Over 30 years] Ive seen the ups and downs of the US economy; this has to happen now for Cork, the city doesnt want to miss out on another cycle, Mr OSullivan told the Irish Examiner last night.

Lead architect for their just-established Irish firm, Tower Development Properties, is New York firm Ismael Leyva Architects, while a local Cork-based team includes PLM Architects, businessmen Paul Montgomery and Michael Cunningham, Pat Kierans of Dyjaho Marketing, and Ger OMahoney of PWC.

Last night, Housing Minister Simon Coveney welcomed news of the deal on the Leeside site which he said would unite other planned developments on the citys north and south docks. He said the scale of ambition and design will blow people away, they will create a real wow factor and it will prove a real draw to the city and a catalyst and a centrepiece for dockland development.

Citing Mr OSullivans proven US track record and development expertise, as well as commitment to come home to build in Ireland, Mr Coveney described the plan as really credible and a real proposal.

It would, he noted, need an Environmental Impact Statement and planning approval, getting the balance right between historic buildings and future growth.
Around six students suffer the stress of a parent or sibling dying just before or during the State exams in June each year, James Howley told the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) annual convention.

The east Mayo branch delegate said provisions state such students must sit exams at a special exam centre or a different time on the same day as other students, but they ignore the fact they might have two papers on the same day as a funeral.

I know of one girl in my locality who had to sit her Leaving Certificate English paper at 8am and afterwards attend her own mothers funeral, he said.

His motion was passed almost unanimously by more than 400 union members. It sought to let such students sit repeat exams later in the summer or autumn, at a regionally designated exam centre.

The policy would also apply to those affected by serious illness or mental crisis in the period of exams.

Bernadette Fennessy of the Fermoy branch opposed the motion as she was concerned people would be able to use illness as an excuse to delay their exams. This, she suggested, would remove the level playing field the system provides for all students.

Mr Howley said the idea is that serious illness would have to be verified to the State Examinations Commission by the school principal and a doctor.

It is not absolutely necessary that all students sit the exact same examination paper in order to ensure consistency and integrity in the exams. The contingency exam papers for each subject are already in place, he said.

He suggested that if students sit a different exam paper four to six weeks later than classmates in July, the CSO could easily cope with a few late Leaving Certificate results to possibly assign college places in the third round of offers.

Earlier, ASTI education committee chairwoman Margaret Kent of the Fermoy branch highlighted the effects of cutbacks in schools on their ability to assist disadvantaged students.

Less than 5% of students who took Leaving Certificate last year took the Leaving Certificate Applied. Schools are no longer able to offer it because they dont have the teacher resources, she said.

It means students do not get the training for work, or develop a relationship with local employers, said Ms Kent.

This is leading to a lack of progress and opportunity for our young students, to proceed to apprenticeships or to job training opportunities. It has made life very difficult for this cohort as they leave school.
The attacks, often the result of challenging behaviour, have been reported in both mainstream and specialised classrooms.

Incidents include biting, hair pulling, kicking, pushing and throwing items of furniture.

Details were made public at the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) annual congress to highlight the need for mandatory and standardised safety training for school staff in order to deal with challenging behaviour.

Angela Leonard, a school principal who spoke at the congress in Belfast, described how her teachers dress in protective gear to safeguard themselves while at work.

We protect ourselves as best we can, she said.

I have one particular class at the moment. The staff come in early in the morning, they wear shields from here to here [showing the length of an arm], they wear a bolero that covers their shoulders, their backs, down to here [points to wrist].

They wear shinguards on top of that, they wear a hat to protect them from being hair-pulled and then they wear a fleece over that.

She pointed out that other civil servants who work in challenging environments with people who have complex needs, receive supports.

Yes, weve had various types of training  none of them included standardised guidelines for us. It was all ad hoc, she said.

We tried to upskill all the time. We learned to read, to observe our pupils, to know whether they were sleep deprived, sugar deprived, whether it was the colour of my shirt and whether it was the smell of perfume. We learned to work with the pupils.

Nothing has changed for a long time around challenging behaviour, only an increase in it. We need to protect ourselves. Guards, nurses, doctors, prison officers have access to various things be it medication, be it restraint. Teachers do not.

Jane Bastable described how she has had to visit the doctor as a result of incidents.

My priority as the class teacher is the safety of my pupils and classroom. During this prioritisation I often receive kicks, hits, with open and closed hands, physical pushes, furniture items thrown at me. Bruises and cuts, et cetera. I have visited doctors. My job is physically and mentally draining on days such as stated above.

Ms Bastable called for mandatory safety training as soon as possible for teachers to prevent injuries and the erosion of childrens dignity.

Brid Stack formally proposed the motion calling for standardised safety training for teachers.

This motion is essentially about protecting both the children that we work with and the staff in all schools. Aggressive behaviour is an ongoing issue in all schools, not just special schools or special classes within mainstream schools, Ms Stack said.

She added that teaching colleges do not offer training in how to deal with this issue.

Ms Stack also said that some schools have had to resort to sending their staff on private training courses in order to deal with challenging behaviours in the classroom.
THE beautiful West Cork town of Clonakilty has long inspired artists and writers, and when Sophie Hannah visited a few years ago, she was hooked by its grand country houses and natural beauty.

The top UK novelist decided to set her current Hercule Poirot novel, Closed Casket, in the town, immortalising Clon in the greatly loved series. She even returned for the books launch.

Its particularly great to go to Ireland at the moment because my latest book, my Poirot novel, is set in Clonakilty. Its a kind of enclosed community murder mystery so everybodys staying in this big country mansion. Somebody gets murdered and the suspects are the other people in the house, basically.

What I quite often do now is choose to set books based on where Ive been, that Ive liked. I just thought it would be great to have a load of Anglo-Irish aristocrats in this house in rural Ireland.

I went back to Ireland while I was writing it, and I went back again when it came out, and did an event at Clonakilty Bookshop, which was wonderful. It felt as though everyone in Clonakilty had come out to see me and the book! It felt like everyone was very excited that the book was set in Clonakilty.

In recent years, Hannah has made a name for herself as one of the great crime fiction writers, her original premises drawing in readers from the get-go, and her tight, twisty plotting unleashing great and unexpected reveals.

It has made the Mancunian one of the leading writers in a crowded field, her novels published in 32 languages in 51 territories.

Her first novel, Little Face, heralded the beginning of the popular Culver Valley series and introduced us to detectives Simon Waterhouse and Charlie Zailer.

Shes also a well-known poet and short-story writer, but it was her connection to one of her idols, Agatha Christie, that became a publishing sensation.

Hannah has succeeded in bringing back Christies most famous detective, Hercule Poirot, while maintaining her own voice as an author, with The Monogram Murders and Closed Casket.

She will talk about the process as part of the Cuirt International Festival of Literature in Galway later this month. Other prolific writers taking part in the week-long festival include John Boyne and Claire Hennessy. The opportunity to bring Poirot back to life happened by chance, says Hannah.

It came about completely by a coincidence of timing. My literary agent was having a meeting with an editor at Harper Collins, not about me or Agatha Christie. He was sitting next to a shelf of Agatha Christie novels, which reminded him that Harper Collins were Agatha Christies publishers, and he remembered at that moment that I was a big Agatha Christie fan. Off the top of his head he said that he should get my author Sophie Hannah to write a Christie novel.

The editor said: Im sure the family wouldnt allow that, though wed love to have more Agatha Christie novels. By sheer coincidence the very next day that editor had a meeting with the Christie family. Unprompted by him, they said: You know, this is going to surprise you, but were thinking that the time might now be right to have some sort of continuation novel.

A meeting was arranged and we all got on very well and it went from there. That was just such a stroke of luck.

She worked closely with Christies estate, keeping the authors family informed of plot points and characters throughout the process.

We all agreed that they needed to be involved every step of the way, so I showed them a detailed story plan before I started writing, she explains. They approved that and thought it sounded wonderful. I wrote the book knowing they already knew and liked the basic idea for the story. Once I wrote the book they read the full version and they loved it. The whole process of working with them has been wonderful.

Still, from the outset she realised she needed to bring her own input as a writer to the series, and set about making that possible.

I knew that I didnt want to try and mimic Agatha Christies writing style or voice, because I dont think one writer can or should imitate another in that sense, she observes.

The way I decided to get around it was to create a new sidekick for Poirot and therefore a new narrator. So in my books the narrator is Edward Catchpoole, whos the Scotland Yard policeman. He isnt in Agathas books, I invented him. Hes writing about the Poirot that everyone knows and loves, but hes writing in his voice. That seemed to me to be a fairly sensible way of getting around the issue of it being me and not Agatha whos writing the books. I thought it would be a good way of creating the same but different feel.

My Poirot novels are set quite far back in his timeline. There were four years between 1928 and 1932 when she didnt write any Poirot novels. Thats the sort of classic golden age detective novel period, so my two are set at that time.

She and other authors have spoken in the past about class being an issue when it comes to setting stories in locations. Indeed, her other series of crime novels is set in the fictional Culver Valley area.

I wouldnt say its a huge problem, but in England and in America, if you set a book in a place, people have assumptions about that place.

Lets say you set a book in Hull, for instance. Everyone would assume this was not going to be a book about posh people who sat around drinking Earl Grey tea.

And if you set a book in the home counties, in a pretty Hampshire village, then everyone would assume that this was not going to be a book about people shooting up smack and killing each other over drug turf. Its those kinds of regional assumptions that people bring to bear on real places. And in my series of crime novels I just wanted to avoid that.

Her next novel, out in August, is called Did You See Melody? Thats a standalone contemporary thriller. Its set in Arizona and it starts with an English wife and mother whos run away from home and we dont know why. She takes half of the family savings and she goes to a five-star resort in Arizona. When she gets there late at night, checks into her room, her room is already occupied by a sleeping man and teenage girl.

The next day, various things happen that lead her to believe the teenage girl she saw in the hotel room is Americas most famous murder victim. This girl is supposed to be dead, and her parents are in jail for her murder.
'Mr. Long' Photo Call - 67th Berlinale International Film Festival (Photo : Getty Images)

The 2014 movie Brotherhood of Blades will have a sequel that would be shown in China in summer. But among the major cast of the martial arts movie genre, which is struggling, only Taiwanese actor Chang Chen would be part of the upcoming film.



Reprises Role



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Chang Chan will play again the character of Shen Lian, a low-ranking warrior in Imperials Assassins. The group is the royal secret police organization in the 17th-century Ming court in the upcoming film Brotherhood of Blades II, China Daily reported. The other major actors are new, including Yang Mi, a rising actress who plays a mysterious painter in the film.



Because it is a period film, the costumes and weapons used by the actors were based on real objects in the Ming Dynasty that ran from 1368 through 1644. The blade props that the actors used were inspired by swords used by the soldiers of Qi Jiguang, the court general of the Ming Dynasty, said Lu Yang, director of the franchise.



Chang said the script of the film, which opens on Aug. 11, is a deeper exploration of humanity and would relive the turbulence of conspiracies among the Chinese monarchs.



Changs Movie Career



Changs portfolio includes playing the role of Dark Cloud who captivated the heart of Zhang Ziyi in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Variety noted. His first role was in the 1991 movie A Brighter Summer Day when he was only 14. In the same movie was his father, Chang Kuo-chu, and brother, Chang Han, who are also actors.



When Chang got married in 2013, Taiwanese director Wong Kai Wai promised the actor he would not cut again Changs role in a film which happened when the actor played the role of Razor in The Grandmaster.


These decisions are likely to have an impact on the lives of young Irish people, particularly students who use temporary working visas to gain experience abroad as they make the transition from college to working life.

Australia said it would abolish a temporary work visa popular with Irish people and replace it with a new programme requiring better job skills. The Irish quota for the Canadian working holiday programme has nearly been reached so the choices for Irish students seeking to work for a few months abroad appear to be limited.
Mattis is expected to meet with Egypt's Defense Minister Sedki Sobhy and President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, who visited the White House earlier this month as the first Egyptian leader to do so since former U.S. President Barack Obama hosted Hosni Mubarak in 2009.

The secretary's visit is part of a tour of African and Middle Eastern countries aimed at reaffirming key US military alliances, engaging with strategic partners in the region, and discussing cooperative efforts to counter destabilising activities and defeat extremist terror organisations, according to a statement from the Pentagon.

Mattis will visit Israel after Cairo to meet Israeli President Reuben Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

On 22 April, Mattis will visit Qatar to meet with "key international leadership and continue efforts to strengthen regional security architectures," the statement added.

He will end his tour on 23 April with a trip to Djibouti to meet with President Ismail Omar Guelleh to discuss promoting regional stability.

A US Congressional delegation visited Cairo last week where they met with Sobhi, expressing the US administration's full support for Egypt's war against terrorism and extremism.

Trump said that the US "strongly condemn[ed] the terrorist attack" in Egypt on 9 April, in which a church in Alexandria and one in Tanta were hit by suicide bombers.

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Egypt's security forces have been battling a decade-long militant Islamist insurgency on the Sinai Peninsula, which intensified following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

The insurgency has been mainly concentrated in North Sinai 's Rafah, El-Arish, and Sheikh Zuweid.

Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail ordered on Wednesday the extension of a years-long state of emergency in designated areas of North Sinai at least until the end of the three-month state of emergency imposed nationwide last week.

The extension of the ongoing state of emergency in North Sinai, which has been renewed every three months since 2014, will impose new overnight curfews in some areas of the governorate.

The curfew will be in effect from 1am to 5am in El-Arish, and 7pm to 6am in the areas of El-Ouga, Halal Mountain, the coastal region and Rafah.

On Tuesday, the Islamic State (IS) militant group claimed responsibility for an attack earlier that day on a security checkpoint near St Catherine's Monastery in South Sinai that killed at least one policeman and injured four others.

Army forces have been deployed to aid police in protecting vital institutions as part of the nationwide state of emergency.

On 11 April, the Egyptian parliament approved a nationwide three-month state of emergency, declared by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi two days after two suicide bombers attacked St. George's Cathedral in Tanta and St Mark's Cathedral in Alexandria.

The bombings killed 47 people and injured dozens more in the deadliest attack on civilians in the country's recent history.

The IS group claimed responsibility for the church attacks.

In October 2014, El-Sisi issued a decree establishing a state of emergency and tight curfew hours in some parts of North Sinai in an effort to combat the intensifying insurgency.

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Diversity and inclusion efforts in corporate America will go nowhere until companies stop addressing the issue as a numbers game, and begin doing something about the unconscious bias that permeates organizational culture.

That was my takeaway from a recent interview with Linda Sharkey, an organizational and leadership development strategist and co-author of The Future-Proof Workplace: Six Strategies to Accelerate Talent Development, Reshape Your Culture, and Succeed with Purpose. Sharkey, who has held executive-level human resources positions at General Electric and Hewlett-Packard, shared an enlightening  and certainly non-traditional  perspective on the topic of corporate diversity and inclusion. I asked Sharkey about the biggest workplace diversity myth. She gave me three:

One is that quotas make a difference. Two is that just by focusing on diversity, its going to move the needle. Three is that women have really moved to the top of organizations, when they havent. Policies, practices and procedures that companies put in place to become a more diverse organization have not done the trick. Weve spent 40 years trying to put in policies that would encourage diversity, and encourage managers to hire diverse people, and it really hasnt moved the needle.

I asked Sharkey at what point in her career she began to recognize that the way we were going about this was all wrong. She said it was a good 20-some years ago:

Part of the work that I did at General Electric and other companies was to begin to look at the cultural aspects of an organization  who was the in crowd, who was the out crowd, because every organization has an in crowd and an out crowd. I was doing some data analysis on whos hiring whom, and you find out a couple of really interesting things. If you have a culture thats not by nature inclusive, youre not going to create an environment thats going to include others than those that look like and act like you. The second thing is, in studying the hiring practices of managers, you begin to realize that no matter how hard they try, theyre people at the end of the day, and they hire people that theyre comfortable with. When you narrow that down, that means they hire people that look and think like they do. Does that mean that theyre bad people? No. Thats the makeup, or the DNA, or the context of most people.

I did a major study of two big organizations, HP and GE, and found that while you could have processes that demand that you have diverse talent on slates, unless the belief of that manager or leader really accepted different people, it didnt make a difference at all. Everyone came up with their own excuse of why they couldnt hire this woman, or this minority, or this particular individual, why they werent as qualified. And they hired people who were just like them. So yes, if the metric was to get people on the slate, they did that. But they wouldnt hire them.

Sharkey said that what lies at the heart of the difficulty in achieving inclusion in the workplace is that we all have unconscious biases that need to be unlearned. I asked her how we go about accomplishing that:

The first step is you have to understand your organizational culture. Do you have a culture that values differences? If you dont, then thats an area you need to focus on. You need to understand why you dont value differences  you need to be clear about the values of your organization. Many companies say they believe its in their best interest to have an inclusive organizational culture, and they will say things like, No matter who you are, where you are, you can have a career here, you can get ahead here. But then you have to look at the facts  what do the facts tell you? If the facts tell you that thats really not true, youve got to get to the underlying root cause.

Sharkey went on to explain that the company needs to provide the means and the opportunity to uncover unconscious bias:

There are exercises that you can do, but youve got to put it explicitly on the table. There were a couple of studies done that found that job descriptions have a natural, unconscious bias around what are considered female traits. An example would be a nurses position  you read those job descriptions, and youll see there are a lot of inherent female perspectives listed in those job descriptions. You look at executive presence, more women, in my experience, got dinged for executive presence, because we have a white, male perspective of what executive presence looks like, instead of getting people from diverse backgrounds in the room and talking about what it looks like. I think thats the key  getting people together and talking about why they made the decision they made. By the way, I never found most men to be overtly mysoginistic. It wasnt that they were anti-women  its that their brains were wired in certain ways that we all learned thousands and thousands of years ago. Unlearning that can be done, but its got to be put on the table  what it is that youre looking for in an individual.

Its also useful, Sharkey said, to conduct blind resume exercises:

This is where you cant tell [what gender] the candidate really is, and doing screening based upon skillsets, as opposed to unconsciously looking for clues in the resume as to whether the person is diverse or different. Ill tell you this: There have been so many experiences that Ive had with very senior talent reviews. A womans name will come up, and the leader will say, Yeah, but they have three children, and theyll never move. Youll say, Did you ask them? And theyll say, No, but I know theyll never move. Thats where youve got to call the leader on that and say, Lets ask them, lets talk to them. Why do you believe that? And by the way, they would never say that about a man. Never.

I asked Sharkey if she thinks she would have arrived at these same conclusions if she had been male. At first she said she wasnt sure, but after giving it some thought, she said this:

Women would not have gotten as far as they have in corporate America if there werent males who supported that. Obviously, there are a lot of males who have supported that. I was at a Goldman Sachs conference where [JPMorgan Chase CEO] Jamie Dimon was sponsoring a Women in Finance discussion, and he was obviously supportive of that. Other people I know  my husband is a person who is out there promoting women and minorities, and helping to pull them up through the food chain. So now that Im stopping to think about it, I think there are actually men who have come to the same conclusion, and who are doing things differently. But theyre not the majority. Theyre the minority.

Sharkey wrapped up the conversation by stressing that companies need to start having a structured dialogue around unconscious bias, and they need to make it OK for people to talk about it:

We all have it  everybody has it. Thats why I started out by talking about the culture, whos the in crowd and whos the out crowd, why do we love this group, and not so much that group. In GE, for, example, the in crowd is the finance people  they can do no wrong. So it doesnt necessarily have to be people who are different  its the belief systems people bring to work that may be getting in the way, and we really need to talk about what are some of those unconscious biases. We need to retrain our brains when we see those cropping up in our decision-making process.

A contributing writer on IT management and career topics with IT Business Edge since 2009, Don Tennant began his technology journalism career in 1990 in Hong Kong, where he served as editor of the Hong Kong edition of Computerworld. After returning to the U.S. in 2000, he became Editor in Chief of the U.S. edition of Computerworld, and later assumed the editorial directorship of Computerworld and InfoWorld. Don was presented with the 2007 Timothy White Award for Editorial Integrity by American Business Media, and he is a recipient of the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for editorial excellence in news coverage. Follow him on Twitter @dontennant.
At this year's Infiltrate Security Conference in Miami, John Grigg walked the audience through a common target network where a known and commonly used SIEM had been integrated in order to show participants how to exploit onto the SIEM, find intel, and cover their tracks.

Though SIEM technologies are supposed to help secure the networks, Grigg said that they are often misconfigured, which creates more vulnerabilities.

Even though some of the legacy tools are pretty cool, Grigg said the problem is that no one really knows the platform that well. "The vendor who built it knows it from a design standpoint. Then there's the re-selllers, the guys who install it, the internal IT guys who inherit the systems, but they tend to never really focus on it."

By the time they have called in an expert to help fix a problem, they are at least a few degrees of separation away from the people who know the product.

Even though the designers and programmers know their piece really well, they aren't always seeing the big picture, said Grigg.

"A lot of the vulnerability is bad configurations which stem from poor consultancy. These things weren't meant for a huge company," Grigg said. He's hardly pointing the finger at anyone to lay blame, as Grigg said that in his earlier years he had likely provided some bad consultancy.

"I started to notice buddies of mine who were really good consultants, and watching them do their work, I thought, 'I probably shouldn't be allowed to touch this stuff'. Unfortunately, It's the norm to have bad consultants," Grigg said.

Many companies hire a third party to come in as the 'fix it' people. Those that specialized in SIEM platforms, as Grigg eventually did, found themselves "Fixing what was super messed up," he said.

Because so much of the SIEM industry is legacy software that was the same tool just redesigned and rebranded, Grigg said, "Those back doors still exist on there today."

Another issue is that, "A lot of SIEMs don't get patched because people don't want to make a mistake. They are a giant way into the network, and there are always new features being added in that present new vulnerabilities," Grigg said.

Forrester Research senior analyst Joseph Blankenship wrote in a recent report, "Vendor Landscape: Security Analytics (SA),"In its first incarnation, [SiM] failed to live up to its expectations because it lacked the ability to ingest, correlate, and analyze large amounts of data from a variety of sources."

However, the accuracy of the rules-based technology is not its only downfall. Mark Orlando, CTO at Raytheon Foreground Security, said, "One of the biggest ones is that in many cases the SIEM infrastructure isnt managed like the rest of the network."

When the security best practices of keeping patches up to date and managed are not applied to their security infrastructure, it leaves the platform exposed. "In some cases the folks that manage the whole network aren't managing the infrastructure at all, so it's not up to date and it's not being managed," Orlando said.

Because SIEMs have been positioned as the hub of critical and sensitive data, that makes them vulnerable. "When they are aggregating that much sensitive data into a central location, they are positioning this hub as a pretty big target for an attacker," Orlando said.

In many cases, organizations have given their SIEMs a lot of access, and Orlando said it's not only access to the SIEM but also access to proactively collect data from other portions of the network.

A SIEM is a complex architecture of everything from databases, web servers, and applications servers and more, and within all those components are huge list of applications, said Orlando.

"Each of those components needs to be maintained separately. They need to think about which components talk to others and think about ports and protocols. They need to make sure they are patching and updating," Orlando said.

Best practices in security include managing people, processes, and technology, but often Orlando said, "There are ports and protocols that would never be exposed but because its part of their SIEM, people dont pay attention to it."

As a result, researchers and attackers are looking at and targeting the SIEM.

In order to mitigate the risks to enterprise security, "The same security best practices everywhere else in the network apply to the infrastructure. Minimizing access, reducing attack surface, reducing ports and protocols to only allow what is necessary to get the data."

Matt Rodgers, head of security strategy at E8 Security, said despite the fact that he hasn't heard a lot of people talking about the issue of vulnerabilities that exist within a SIEM, he said, "With any security practice, it comes down to people, process, and technology."

"Vulnerabilities in any tool obviously need to be addressed, but I think one reason I haven't heard much on this topic is that a lot of the security operations teams function in an environment that they believe is relatively stable and safe," Rodgers said.

Whether that is a fair or faulty assumption, Rodgers said, the specific vulnerabilities that exist in a SIEM or any other tool should be shaken out by the processes they follow.

Despite its widespread use, SIEM isn't really so much a security tool as it is a management tool. As is the case with most legacy tools, the next 10 technologies are using machine learning and AI to provide better and more efficient capabilities.

"If you look at the marketplace, vendors have started building security analytics (SA), and some SIEM vendors are trying to encroach on the SA vendors by claiming some of their adjacent use cases," said Rodgers.

Today even in the biggest SOCs in the world, they have a set of use cases that are addressed with SIEM, said Rodgers, but "Others have evolved that require a different approach. We will see these and other tools become much more integrated and able to share data and intelligence to provide better service."

Some of the new players are in a really good position in that they have an almost unfair advantage, having grown up in an environment that includes lots of open source tools and technology, said Rodgers.

Regardless of whether they rely on the legacy SIEM tools or the next-gen SA tools, Grigg said, "Know the product. Do some sort of internal penetration test of the SIEMs, or the flip side would be to bring in red team vulnerability assessments, and have really good coding practices."

The SIEM can touch everything, so make sure that they are enforcing good practices, "Don't reuse passwords and don't use default passwords. That solves about 95 percent of the problem," said Grigg.

More on SIEM:
You could buy a fully unlocked Galaxy S8 and S8+ from Best Buy stores, BestBuy.com , and Samsung.com, as well as through carrier stores . There were a few differences between the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+, but they were minor. The display is 5.8 inches instead of 6.2, and the battery is 3,000 mAh instead of 3,500. These differences, and a price tag about $130 lower, separated the Galaxy S8 from the S8+. That meant the problems with the S8+ were also apparent here: an unbelievably bad fingerprint sensor location and the lackluster debut of Samsungs Bixby AI assistant. Both were annoying but generally avoidable, thus only slightly tarnishing the Galaxy S8s shine. Speed Stamina The Galaxy S8 and S8+ were the first phones to hit the market with Qualcomms new 10nm Snapdragon 835 processor. The results were impressive. It delivered faster benchmarks than the Snapdragon 821, especially in multitasking graphics performance. You wont necessarily feel the difference in many apps, as weve reached the point where software optimization means more to how a high-end phone feels than processor performance. But its the energy efficiency that was impressive.

Particularly in 3D graphics tests, the new Snapdragon 835 outpaced the 821. The Galaxy S8 had a smaller display than the S8+, with lower power requirements to help to offset the roughly 17 percent smaller battery. I had no trouble getting through a full day of moderate-to-heavy usage, leaving Wi-Fi, cellular, and Bluetooth turned on. With adaptive brightness and all the other sub-optimal settings that regular people use. The larger phone would probably last a little longer in real-world use, if only because the greater capacity will give it more standby screen-off time. The battery test, run with displays always-on, was fixed at 200 nits and showed both phones to have similar excellent battery life.

Battery life is better than youd expect from a 3,000 mAh battery. The phone easily lasted all day. Kitchen Sink Included But great hardware is more than fast processor speeds and long battery life. The future-proofing features like support for gigabit wireless. And wireless fast charging, with support for both Qi A standards. Its USB-C, really fast wired charging. It went from zero to 73% in one hour with the included charger. Its 64GB of storage standard, with support for microSD cards to expand it. Its Bluetooth 5, which promises a more extended range, higher bandwidth, and faster connection times. The Galaxy S8 was the first phone on the market to include it. Samsung fitted a ton of hardware into a tiny package, with almost no bezels, waterproofing, and didnt remove the headphone jack. Take that, Apple. The I8 waterproofing can be a lifesaver. Samsung didnt have to kill the headphone jack to provide it. The GS8 speaker quality was only so-so, but the 32-bit DAC produces clean, detailed audio from the headphone jack. In fact, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ shipped with a pair of AKG earbuds in the box, by far the best pack-in earbuds. Samsung says theyre worth $100, from the excellent build quality dig that braided cord to the clear punchy sound, thinking that price is about right. Theyre better than some $100 headphones used, but not the best in that price range. Getting this quality included in the box was outrageously awesome and put all other premium smartphone vendors on notice. The AKG earbuds that came in the box were far superior to any other pack-ins. Technology Of course, the phone included support for Samsung Pay, including the MST technology that let it work with the older ubiquitous swipe-style card readers. Samsung makes a lot of technology products that directly compete with other manufacturers. Still, most of them are not any better. Making Samsung Pay the exception.

If there was one major flaw with all the features packed into this gorgeous phone, it was the fingerprint sensor placement. It can only be assumed there was some technical reason for it being shoved up to the side of the camera. Because this placement wouldnt have passed even the most rudimentary usability testing. Samsung did a great job of making the camera fingerprint reader flush with the phone. Still, as a result, you could barely ever tell them apart except by feeling alone. It was hard to reach the sensor area, and just when you thought you got it, you found you were pawing at the camera glass, leaving smudges all over it. The camera is flush with the body, as is the fingerprint sensor, so theyre nearly impossible to tell them apart, except by feel. This kind of usability nightmare would have instantly killed the ability to recommend the phone. If it didnt, also include an iris scanner that is impressively fast, reliable, and secure. Its improved a bit since its debut on the ill-fated Galaxy Note7. While you need to use your fingerprint for some apps. Unlocking your phone and signing in to Samsung apps with your eyes is fast, secure, and reliable enough to significantly mitigate the disastrous fingerprint scanner placement.

A New High Water Mark for Displays Samsungs flagship phones have had the best displays of any smartphone for years. This was no different: peak brightness, contrast, color accuracy, color gamut, and sharpness. It leads the pack in just about every metric. But it is different. After years of phones with displays that adhere to the 16:9 aspect ratio common to HDTVs, Samsung had gone taller. LG beat Samsung to the punch with the G6s 18:9 display, so the ever-so-slightly-taller 18.5:9 ratio of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ was not as novel as it otherwise would have been. But Samsung does a better job building a phone around it, with gently sloping sides, perfectly symmetrical, very thin forehead chin above and below. And a virtual home button at the bottom of the screen that is more intuitive than the button on the back of LGs latest phone at that time. A new aspect ratio nearly nonexistent bezels puts a bigger display into a smaller package. RELATED :Carl Pei Continues Building Nothing Phone 1 Hype with a New Pre-Order Pass Screen Ratio After using a phone with an aspect ratio of around 2:1 and a screen-to-body ratio of over 80%. Some felt this would be the design trend for future phones. As tablets were experimented with 16:9 displays and decided that 4:3 was the correct ratio for that form factor, an aspect ratio taller but narrower than 16:9 is better suited to phones. It lets you get more overall screen area without making the phone wider, thus making it easier to grip and use with one hand and pocket. Using this phone for only one week, and already looked at standard 16:9 phones as if they seem old-fashioned. Woe to the company that planned to ship a high-end flagship phone later in 2017 with a 16:9 display. Better Software, But Some Quirks Remained The software design that once carried the awful name Touchwiz was now called the Samsung Experience. It was still what you expected it to be. A wholly Samsung interface built on top of the latest major version of Android. In this case, that was Android 7.0, although it was hoped for a speedy update to 7.1. Being a poster child for the Please use stock Android crowd. Samsungs interface was now less offensive than it had ever been. After some tweaking with some functions and thinking, it was pretty good. And with a thought that Samsung would have been better off sticking with the latest Android versions font, color, icon, and layout standards. While integrating its unique features, as Motorola or Nvidia did. Samsungs software still had some quirks, like the the full app drawer, but there are lots of customization options to get rid of most of them. Samsung Experience The Samsung Experience certainly provided a lot of useful features, if nothing else. Smart Stay keeps the screen on while youre looking at it. You can quickly launch the camera with a double tap of the power button; the screenshot function can capture long-scrolling screens, to name a few. Theres even a clever SOS feature that lets you quickly press the power button three times to send your location to emergency contacts. Along with optional front-rear camera images with a 5-second audio clip. You could spend all day detailing how Samsungs interface differed from stock Android; not all the changes were appreciated. Thats what made this new Samsung Experience much better than Touchwiz. Many features are optional. If you spot an annoyance, odds are you can get rid of it. Dont you like how Samsung puts a frame around app icons to make them look like bulging squares? You can turn that off so it doesnt look like your gorgeous new phone has an icon design from 2010. Bloatware Show the app drawer button or dont. Or remove the app drawer entirely, and put everything on the home screen. Tweak, schedule the blue light filter, turn off the notification display, change the look of the always-on display or turn it off, whatever you want to do. Most phone makers, indeed past Samsung phones, made these decisions for you. On the Galaxy S8, you were given choices. Somehow, Samsung still found plenty of ways to annoy us, though. Carrier bloatware is as rampant as ever. And who do you have to bribe to get the persistent, un-killable T-Mobile Wi-Fi calling notifications to go away? There was a Samsung app to mirror just about every app; in most cases, it wasnt nearly as good. Samsung has its own app store, web browser, SMS, health app, calendar, clock, email, contacts, and phone apps. Thats in addition to useful Samsung apps like Secure Folder, the file browser, and Samsung+, the support service. After downloading a few apps and making a few trips to the settings, you could safely ignore most of the crap to give yourself a better overall experience. But it was clear that Samsungs mission is now as it always has been. To build the best Samsung phone, and not the best Android phone.
Procter & Gamble today announced Javier Polit as its new CIO, replacing Linda Clement-Holmes, who is retiring after 35 years with the consumer packaged goods company. Polit, who assumed the position on April 17, joined P&G after working at The Coca Cola Company since 2003 and as global CIO of the beverage makers Bottling Investments Group (BIG) since 2007.

Procter & Gamble Procter & Gambles new CIO Javier Polit as its new CIO.

Javiers appointment as CIO is an intentional commitment to accelerate the business application of IT capability, while strengthening our IT function, P&G CEO David Taylor, said in a statement. He has a strong track record of leading IT innovation, as well as developing top IT talent  skills hell apply directly and swiftly at P&G.

BIG initiatives beget big bucks

At BIG, Polits recent innovation projects included implementing a salesforce automation system to establish a broader view of customers, who consume two billion of the companys soft drinks daily worldwide. He also worked on mobile commerce, including cashless payment systems, which are particularly important to keep touch with soda-swilling customers in countries such as Africa, Vietnam and India, where payment via mobile phones is the rule rather than the exception.

Procter & Gamble Linda Clement-Holmes retires after 35 at Procter & Gamble.

Through our stakeholders, we can help to develop a mobile commerce ecosystem to remove the friction of having to carry cash and using a phone in one hand to put a Coke in the other, Polit said in an article Coca Cola published in January 2016. In order for Coke to remain relevant with the next generation of consumers we must crack the code through the unique combination of local innovation, proven technology and a great deal of calculated risk.

It is unclear what Polits near-term focus will be at P&G, where he reports to Julio Nemeth, president of P&Gs global business services. Im eager to apply my external perspective and experience quickly, to complement and catalyze P&Gs in-house expertise and talent, Polit said in a statement.

CPGs like IoT

The opportunity for digitization remains considerable for CPGs, whose challenges include playing middleman between its retailer partners and consumers. To bridge the gap, P&G, as well as rival Kimberly Clark and Clorox, are looking to leverage mobile software, customer analytics and the internet of things (IoT).

P&G has established itself as an early adopter Amazon.coms Dash button program, which uses sensors and wireless technologies to enable consumers to replenish household items, including Tide Pods and Powder laundry detergent and Bounty paper towels. Thanks to those brands, P&G accounted for 31 percent of Dash sales, according to a March 2016 1010data report.

Speed to innovation is a passion point for Polit. In his 2016 post for Coca Cola, he adopted the tone of a paranoid operator in saying he thinks and acts with the urgency of a company that is behind. The rate of change is so rapid that the very principles of Moores law fall short, Polit said. Digital, virtual and augmented reality, not too long ago, were future capabilities. Now, theyre part of our daily lives. I would add to that list robotics, artificial intelligence, intelligence augmentation and autonomous vehicles (self-navigation).

It is unclear what is next for Clement-Holmes, whom Taylor credited with driving change for a company where IT was emerging as a key business enabler and information security was surfacing as more enterprise-critical.

Clement-Holmes, who began her P&G career as a systems analyst in 1983, most recently oversaw global IT infrastructure, enterprise architecture, corporate applications, IT innovation, as well as supplying workplace and productivity technologies for the companys distributed employees.

Clement-Holmes also served as P&Gs chief diversity officer from 2010 to 2012  well before such positions became fashionable in the wake of Silicon Valleys struggles to boost diversity quotas.
The assistants in our living rooms are supposed to be as personal as they are on our phones, but its never really felt that way. Anyone who walks into our homes can say, OK, , or Hey, exa get access to whatever they want, from upcoming appointments to the kind of music we like, even addressing them by your name. But a new feature rolling out to Home looks to add a personal touch to the impersonal home speaker.

Instead of being tied to a single account, will now let you set up multiple accounts on your Home device (up to six in all), so youll be able to get specific results from Assistant. And whats more, it will recognize your voice so you wont have to ask it to switch from a different account.

It works pretty much like it does on our phones. First, open the Home app look for a card that says, Multi-user is available. (If you dont see the message, tap on the icon in the top right to see all of your connected devices, select your Home in the list, tap nk your account.) From there, youll be able to teach your Assistant to underst your voice, so when you say, OK, , it will provide your specific information.

explained how it works in a Thursday blog post: en you connect your account on a Home, we ask you to say the phrases OK,  Hey,  two times each. Those phrases are then analyzed by a neural network, which can detect certain characteristics of a persons voice. From that point on, any time you say, OK,  or Hey,  to your Home, the neural network will compare the sound of your voice to its previous analysis so we can underst if its you speaking or not.

Then youll be able to say, OK, , play my cooking playlist, the speaker will begin to play your music, not your kids or spouses, though certain features will still need to be set up in the app. And its not shutting out your friends either. Home will still listen to unregistered voices when asked for things like facts games.

The update is rolling out to all U.S. Home users will exp to the U.K., where Home only recently launched, in the coming months.

Now were talking: Home is still learning its place in our households, but both of these features were at the very top of our wish list. Aside from the privacy concerns, its annoying to have to funnel everything through a single account, multiple users is an excellent addition. But we really dig the voice recognition feature. no longer have to worry about strangers barging into our homes saying OK,  to order 5,000 rolls of toilet paper.
Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi received US Defense Secretary James Mattis in Cairo on Thursday to discuss boosting military cooperation between Washington and Cairo.

Mattis arrived in Cairo for a one day visit coming from Saudi Arabia, on a tour of the region that also includes Israel, Qatar and Djibiouti.

Presidential Spokesperson Alaa Youssef said the officials discussed the special and strategic ties binding the two countries, with El-Sisi affirming Egypt's keenness to strengthen cooperation under the new administration of President Donald Trump.

The meeting was attended by Minister of Defense Sedki Sobhi, US Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy Dina Powell and US Ambassador to Egypt Stephen Beecroft.

The Egyptian president focused on the pressing need to dry up funding for terrorism and convey a strict message to countries that support terror groups or supply them with fighters and/or arms.

Mattis expressed Washington's desire to push cooperation between the two countries to new levels in order to overcome unprecedented challenges facing the region.

On his first visit to Cairo as defense secretary, Mattis emphasised Egypt's pivotal role in the Middle East and in settling disputes in the region, as well as the country's counter-terrorism efforts.

After the meeting with Sisi, Mattis held talks with Minister of Defence Sedki Sobhi at the Ministry of Defence, where he was received by a marching band playing the US national anthem.

"We've always had an open relationship," the US official told Sobhi.

Mattis also participated in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Cairo.



The U.S. Defense Secertary's visit to Cairo is part of a tour aimed at reaffirming key US military alliances, engaging with strategic partners in the region, and discussing cooperative efforts to counter destabilising activities and defeat extremist terror organisations, according to a statement from the Pentagon.

Mattis will visit Israel after Cairo to meet Israeli President Reuben Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

On 22 April, Mattis will visit Qatar to meet with "key international leadership and continue efforts to strengthen regional security architectures," the statement added.

He will end his tour on 23 April with a trip to Djibouti to meet with President Ismail Omar Guelleh to discuss promoting regional stability.

A US Congressional delegation visited Cairo last week where they met with minister Sobhi. The delegation expressed the current US administration's full support for Egypt's war against terrorism and extremism.

Trump has said that the US "strongly condemns the terrorist attack" in Egypt on 9 April, in which a church in Alexandria and one in Tanta were hit by suicide bombers.

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A few clouds. Low near 60F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.

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A few clouds. Low near 60F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.

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Egypt's army said on Thursday it has killed a top leader in Sinai-based militant group Ansar Beit El-Maqdis during airstrikes in Central and North Sinai.

In an official statement, army spokesman Tamer El-Refaie said the army's air forces conducted strikes in those governorates, killing 19 militants including one of the group's top leaders.

According to the statement, the leader was the head of the group's Sharia Committee and responsible for interrogations.

The army has not publicly identified the leader, but said that 11 of those killed were members of the group's branches in Nile Delta governorates.

This is not the first time the army has announced the killing of a prominent leader in the group this month.

Earlier in April, El-Refai said that group leader Salem Salma El-Hamdeen, known as Abu Anas El-Ansari, had died from injuries sustained in an airstrike on 18 March that killed 188 militants and injured several others.

According to the army, El-Ansari was one of the group's founders and among its most important leaders in North Sinai, involved in arming and training militants in the area.

The militant group's propaganda magazine El-Nabaa mourned the death of the 40-year-old leader through an obituary.

Egypts army and police forces have been waging a war against Islamist insurgents in North Sinai for years, with hundreds of security personnel killed, as well as hundreds of militants killed in security campaigns.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail declared the extension of a state of emergency in some areas of North Sinai, imposing a curfew from 1am to 5am in El-Arish, and 7pm to 6am in the areas of El-Ouga, Halal Mountain, the coastal region and Rafah.

Most of the attacks against security personnel and installations in North Sinai in recent years have been claimed by Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group in late 2014.



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Australian activist Mina Guli arrived in Egypt on Wednesday as part of her mission to go on 40 runs in 40 days along rivers in six countries to advocate for the providing of safe water for all.

The 46-year-old Guli is a former corporate lawyer who quit her job in 2012 and established her water charity Thirst to raise awareness about water issues worldwide.

Guli is running along Egypt's River Nile in support of the UN Global Goal Six, which calls for the providing of universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for everyone in the world by 2030.

Guli has been on the her runs since World Water Day on 22 March, and has run the Colorado, Amazon, Australia's Murray Darling and Chinas Yangtze rivers.

Since her arrival to Egypt, Guli has shared videos and pictures of her journey in the country under the hashtag #Run4Water.

"We've received nothing but big warm smiles and bear sized hugs from everyone we've met here. Egypt and its people are beautiful," Guli wrote on her account.

She is currently heading to Aswan for a run, and will then fly to London for a final run along the River Thames.

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The Egypt-Sudan Political Consultation Committee released a statement on Thursday calling for a shift in media discourse after media outlets in the two countries attacked each other which nation has the right to control Egypts southern Halayeb and Shalateen region.

The committee has also called for the signing of a code of ethics between the press and media outlets in Egypt and Sudan to guarantee working towards mutual interests and maintaining brotherly relations.

The committee  which held a meeting in Khartoum headed by Sudan's Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour and was attended by Egyptian FM Sameh Shoukry  vowed to maintain cooperation and mutual support between both countries in issues of common interest, as well as the holding of periodic meetings between the FMs of both countries to facilitate cooperation between Cairo and Khartoum.

Ghandour stressed the necessity of exchanging information between security agencies in both countries to reflect a commitment that Egypt and Sudan would not harbour groups that work against either country's interest.

Egyptian FM Shoukry met with Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir during his visit tot Khartoum, conveying a message from Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi that Cairo is committed to maintaining strategic ties between the brotherly countries of the Nile Valley.

Earlier this month, Sudan's foreign ministry said a new a decision by Khartoum requiring Egyptian men between 18 and 50 to obtain entry visas to travel to Sudan is aimed at preventing "terrorists" from infiltrating the country.

While Egyptians could previously enter Sudan without a visa under a deal signed between the two countries in 2004, Sudanese nationals had to obtain visas before entering Egypt.

Last week, Sudan's FM Ghandour asked Cairo to explain Egypts position on the UN's Darfur Sanctions Committee, after rumours circulated that Egypt had backed in a 7 April meeting a call to maintain sanctions against Khartoum.

Cairo has denied these reports.

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Cairo is set to host a tripartite meeting between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia on the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) next week to discuss initial reports by consultancy firms tasked with assessing the possible impact of the dam on downstream countries, the spokesman of the Egyptian foreign ministry told Ahram Online on Thursday.

The Egyptian irrigation ministry spokesman was not available for comment on the details of what will be discussed in the committee's meetings.

The meeting would come few days after a visit by Ethiopian Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu to Egypt, where he met with Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and foreign minister Sameh Shoukry to discuss bilateral relations.

Gebeyehu affirmed that his visit comes as an assurance to Egyptians that Addis Ababa would never harm the Egyptian people and their interests, in reference to Ethiopia's construction of the GERD on the River Nile.

Officials from the two countries have agreed to hold talks every two months to work on improving relations, with El-Sisi expressing hopes to the Ethiopian minister for Cairo to host a joint high committee meeting soon, with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in attendance.

In late 2016, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia signed the final contracts for the long-awaited impact studies with French consultancy firms BRL and Artelia, as well as British law firm Corbett, which will carry out studies on the potential impact of the on the flow of the Nile.

The studies by the French firms, expected to take 11 months from their start date in late 2016, will include the managing of water and hydroelectric resources as well as an assessment of the cross-border environmental, social and economic impact of the mega project.

Cairo has expressed concerns that the construction of the Renaissance Dam, which is more than halfway complete, could negatively affect Egypt's share of Nile water.

Addis Ababa, however, has maintained that the dam project, which Ethiopia says is vital for generating electricity, will not harm downstream countries.

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On matters of illegal immigration, North Carolina is a very welcoming state to federal immigration authorities.

Local governments and law enforcement agencies in North Carolina allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents broad access to jails when ICE agents want to take someone into custody, according to recent reports by ICE.

And there is little chance that the much-debated Welcoming City resolution that was recently proposed and then withdrawn by Dan Besse, a Democratic member of the Winston-Salem City Council, would put Winston-Salem or Forsyth County in ICEs report of uncooperative cities.

In its key yardstick for measuring a local governments level of cooperation, ICE focuses on how local jails are run  whether a local sheriff keeps individuals in custody long enough for ICE to take them or whether the local sheriff releases such individuals without honoring ICEs detainer request.

The resolution would not have any effect, Forsyth County Sheriff Bill Schatzman, a Republican up for re-election in 2018, said recently.

Schatzman honors ICE requests, he said, and the resolution would not have changed the way he cooperates with ICE.

President Donald Trump said he would crack down on sanctuary cities, threatening to block certain federal money from local governments that do not cooperate fully with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

One of the ways Trump has followed through on the promise was to order that ICE publicly list cities and counties that do not cooperate with ICE. Under Executive Order 13768, titled Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States, and a subsequent memo by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, ICE Director Thomas Homan must make the report public.

The first report was released for the week of Jan. 28 to Feb. 3; the latest covers the week of Feb. 11 to Feb. 17.

On it are law enforcement agencies, counties, cities, boroughs and parishes in the United States that apparently did not honor a request from ICE that the law enforcement agency detain unauthorized immigrants so that ICE agents could pick them up.

In the latest weekly report, the Los Angeles County Jail in California was listed as having declined the most detainer requests  78.

No city, county or local law enforcement agency in North Carolina has been named in any of the reports issued by ICE  except for one: the Richmond County Jail, run by Sheriff James Clemmons.

In the first version of ICEs weekly reports, the Richmond County jail was listed as declining a detainer request from ICE for a convicted identity thief.

The detainer was issued Feb. 2, 2016, and declined on Feb. 3, 2017.

Contacted by a reporter, Clemmons, a Democrat who has won elections by wide margins, said he has no problem handing over unauthorized immigrants to ICE.

As it turns out, ICE made an error in listing Richmond County. In a subsequent correction, ICE said that detainers appeared as being declined by Chester County, PA and Richmond County, NC when those detainers were incorrectly issued to those locations. The subjects of those detainers were in different locations.

Theres a reason no North Carolina jurisdictions are in the ICE reports.

In 2015, state House Bill 318 was enacted, making North Carolina an anti-sanctuary state, said David Ray, a spokesman at the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which supports capping overall immigration at 300,000, down from its current level of more than a million.

Clearly, deterrence on the state level can make a real difference, and we hope other states follow their lead, Ray said.

The American Civil Liberties Union has expressed concerns that, if left unchecked, the use of detainers by ICE could lead to civil rights violations.

ICEs use of detainers to imprison people without due process and, in many cases, without any charges pending or probable cause of any violation has raised serious constitutional concerns, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Hundreds of frightened Syrians being evacuated from besieged towns were stuck Thursday at a rebel-held transit point where dozens of their fellow townspeople were killed in a weekend bombing.

The 3,000 evacuees left their homes in the government-controlled towns of Fuaa and Kafraya at dawn on Wednesday as part of a deal that is also seeing residents and fighters transported out of several rebel areas surrounded by government forces.

The evacuations began last week but were delayed after Saturday's suicide car bombing, which saw 126 people killed, 68 of them children, at the transit point in Rashidin, west of Aleppo.

They resumed on Wednesday but evacuees were forced to spend the night in buses at the marshalling area following another delay.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the latest delay was the result of an 11th-hour rebel demand for the release of prisoners held by President Bashar al-Assad's government.

"The convoys will not move until after the release of 750 prisoners -- men and women -- from regime prisons and their arrival in rebel-held areas," the British-based monitoring group said.

On Thursday, an AFP correspondent saw the evacuees gathered together at the transit point, surrounded by armed rebels, as children played near the waiting buses.

Umm Sanad, a 50-year-old woman from Fuaa, said they had overcome their fear to join the evacuation.

"We left because of the siege and the rockets. We left even though we were afraid after the attack," said Sanad, who evacuated along her sons aged 15 and 17.

The rebel fighters were keeping all other cars away from the area, except for a Red Crescent vehicle that was allowed to distribute aid.

Saturday's attack was one of the deadliest since the start of Syria's six-year civil war and was widely condemned for targeting civilians.

The United Nations said Thursday that whoever was behind the bombing had been pretending to provide aid and may have targeted children.

"Someone pretending even to distribute aid and attracting the children produced that horrific explosion," UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura told reporters in Geneva.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing. The government blamed "terrorists" -- a catch-all term for its opponents.

The current evacuations mark the end of the first stage of a deal brokered by regime ally Iran and Qatar, a longtime supporter of Syrian rebel groups.

Shiite-dominated Iran has repeatedly raised concerns for the mainly Shiite residents of Fuaa and Kafraya, who are besieged by Sunni rebels and Islamists who control the surrounding Idlib province.

Under the agreement, residents and rebel fighters are being evacuated from the towns of Madaya, Zabadani, and other nearby oppositions-held areas close to Damascus.

On Wednesday, 11 buses carrying around 300 people left Zabadani and two other rebel-held areas around Damascus.

They were being held up on Thursday at a staging point at Ramussa in government-held territory, the Observatory said.

When the current phase of evacuations is complete, a total of 8,000 people should have left Fuaa and Kafraya in exchange for 2,500 civilians and rebels from opposition areas.

A second phase of the evacuations -- which in all will see up to 30,000 people transferred from their homes -- is to begin in June.

Assad's regime has presented evacuation deals as the best way to end Syria's war, which has killed more than 320,000 people and forced more than half the population from their homes.

The opposition says the evacuations amount to forced relocation after years of bombardment and siege.

Syria's opposition and Western leaders have accused Assad's regime of a wide range of abuses during the conflict, including a suspected chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun earlier this month that killed at least 87 people.

The head of a global arms watchdog said Wednesday that "incontrovertible" test results showed that victims in Khan Sheikhun had been exposed to sarin gas or a similar substance.

Samples from 10 victims of the April 4 attack analysed at four laboratories "indicate exposure to sarin or a sarin-like substance," said Ahmet Uzumcu, head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

A few days after the incident, US forces carried out a missile strike on a Syrian airbase from where Washington claimed the chemical attack was launched, in the first direct American action against Assad's regime.

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In June 2016, Wake Forest University announced the creation of the Eudaimonia Institute (EI), whose mission is to study the nature of human flourishing. Two months later, the Charles Koch Foundation (CKF) committed $3.69 million to support the effort. A petition signed by 189 concerned faculty members called on the Faculty Senate to review the formation of the EI, its funding, governance and mission.

The Faculty Senate created an Ad Hoc committee, which included the two of us and Professors Simone Caron, Claudia Kairoff and Kathy Smith. Our combined time at Wake Forest exceed 140 years. After three months of intensive study, we issued our 38-page report and recommendations to the Senate on March 15.

The Senate overwhelmingly (17-9) passed our motion: Due to the Charles Koch Foundations unprecedented effort and documented strategy to co-opt higher education for its ideological, political and financial ends, the Committee moves that Wake Forest University prohibit all Koch network funding for any of its centers or institutes. To those who disagree with our findings and recommendation, we are left-wing, neo-Marxist faculty intent on barring conservative perspectives on campus. But our motion does no such thing. It does not recommend revoking EI. And surely the administration could find alternative funding.

So what was it about the Koch Foundation that we found so objectionable? Was it its well-known libertarian, free market and anti-government regulation agenda? Actually, despite many claims to the contrary, no. Once we discovered what CKF was trying to accomplish with its support of numerous institutes like EI and its combined partnership funding estimated at $80 million in 2015, it wouldnt have mattered what political views it embraced. We would have pro-posed the same motion. So, again, what did we find so problematic? To answer this question, let us allow leaders of CKF to speak for themselves.

Speaking at one of the biannual Koch Summits in June, 2014, two leading administrators of CKF, Kevin Gentry and Ryan Stowers, lay out in succinct fashion the foundations integrated political strategy utilizing universities, think tanks and their grassroots political apparatus. This particular seminar, titled Leverage Science and the Universities, was recorded and later made public. First, Stowers boasts to his audience of wealthy donors that CKF has built a robust freedom-advancing network of professors that is producing research at university centers across the country.

This research serves as the raw material for its think tanks to turn into legislative policy recommendations. From the students taught in these centers, Gentry notes, weve been able to produce two million or so grassroots. The network professors help these students see the message to fight for freedom. So not only does higher education act as a talent pool stream, but these students go on to populate our program, these think tanks, and grassroots.

Gentry concludes: So its not just work at the universities with the students, but its also building state-based capabilities and election capabilities, and integrating this talent pipeline.  No one else has this infrastructure.

So there you have it. The Koch Foundation funds such institutes to leverage higher education for ultimately political ends. Students are portrayed as cogs in a wheel of grass roots political production. And we might at least note that the legislative goals  lower taxes and less government regulation  financially benefit the Kochs and their partners enormously. John Hood would like to dismiss this characterization as a worn out conspiracy theory. That is difficult to square with the fact that these are the words of Koch Foundation leaders speaking to a sympathetic audience. And their descriptions fully align with everything we know about the programs they are describing.

Once we as a committee discovered this broader agenda of the Koch Foundation  well-documented by award-winning journalist Jane Mayer (Dark Money) and many others  it seemed obvious to us that it does not align with the mission of our university and does nothing to but tarnish its reputation.

We believe that there is an opportunity for Wake Forest University to make a powerful statement against such private/corporate efforts to use institutions of higher education and, most importantly, our students for such overtly political ends. Are there other foundations with political agendas? Of course. But weve encountered nothing comparable to this attempt to co-opt higher education  and all under the veil of secrecy. The donor agreement remains undisclosed. It was the conclusion of our committee that any association with this effort tarnishes the reputation and integrity of Wake Forest University.
DENNIS FLETCHER, Winston-Salem

A bold leader

Columnist Charles Krauthammer is right to note that under President Trump, America has stopped sleepwalking (The great reversal  for now, April 17).

Im not saying that President Obama was a bad person. He was elected by an America that was tired of war and wanted to end our military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, which had gone on too long.

But Obama took his peaceful views too far, doing nothing to stop Russia from invading the Ukraine and being too easy on Iran. Likewise, he talked big about Syria, but he was unwilling to get involved there.

We can never know for sure what might have been, but if Obama had gotten involved then, it might have stopped the refugee crisis we see now.

We cant avoid the rest of the world forever, though. Trumps willingness to retaliate against Syrian atrocities is an important message to ISIS that were done waiting. Those terrorists can quit their foolishness or they can line up and get ready to die.

Likewise, North Korea needs to stop messing around and give up its aggressive path. Trump, strongly advised by wise military leaders like National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, will not hesitate to strike if necessary.

I realize a lot of people dont like Trump, and hes far from polished or perfect. But hes the bold president we need for a time like this.

******

JAMES T. FULLER, Winston-Salem

Christian leaders

The Journal has been kind enough to print letters from me in the past in which I discuss religion, which I find to be an insufficient guide for life, and my own rejection of it, which has made me a happier and more completely moral person.

But Ive got to admit that I was impressed with the ministers involved in the interfaith coalition who are promoting a welcoming city resolution for Winston-Salem (A call for inclusion, April 14).

Many of todays self-proclaimed Christian leaders seem to use their beliefs as a means of forcing their will on people who dont even belong to their churches. They seem to need religion to justify the evil things they want to do, like leave Syrian children to die or separate Mexican children from their parents. They give religion a bad name.

But the ministers in the interfaith coalition actually seem to want to accomplish something life-affirming, positive, beneficial and generous  something many would call Christ-like.

I will never be a religious person, but I would be glad to count religious people like these as friends. They give religion a good name.

******

APRIL REAVES, Winston-Salem

The social safety net

Anything government gives you, government can take away, conservatives like to say. Then Republican legislators try to prove it by taking away what Democratic legislators have worked hard to give us. Like health insurance.

Why do conservatives hate the social safety net?

I mean, it works. Social Security has kept several generations from starving to death in their old age. Medicaid has kept millions of Americans from dying.

I worry now that even though Im working and plan to work the rest of my life, something unforeseen could happen to cripple me and I could wind up homeless and/or without food.

Seriously  whats the problem with a safety net (that, incidentally, we pay into  its not a giveaway)? Is it just philosophical? Do Republicans just want that money at play in the stock market where they can get their hands on it? Or does it upset them that big government can actually accomplish something good?

If they truly think, as House Speaker Paul Ryan claims, that Social Security is weak or flawed, why not try to fix it? They always say theyre going to save it, but that means diminishing it. Privatizing it would mean making it less efficient  wed have to pay for someone elses profits.

Im truly baffled that so many people vote for Republicans when they know  or certainly should know  that it means they and many people they know may wind up, in their elderly years, eating cat food.

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The UN's Syria envoy said Thursday that he will hold talks with Russian officials next week but without the US present after previous plans for a trilateral meeting were "postponed".

UN peace mediator Staffan de Mistura said his meeting with Russia's deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov is set for Monday in Geneva.

"The trilateral meeting is not off the table, it is simply being postponed", de Mistura told reporters.

Asked why US President Donald Trump's representatives decided to skip the meeting, de Mistura said: "you should ask them, frankly."

Syrian regime supporter Moscow and opposition-backer Washington had been the key foreign powers shaping the UN's Syria peace process.

De Mistura has previously asked for more clarity from Trump's administration on its vision for the Syria talks.

US officials have in recent weeks voiced commitment to support a negotiated solution to the conflict.

Monday's sitdown with Gatilov "will be a very intense bilateral meeting", de Mistura said.

He also restated his desire to convene a sixth round of UN-backed talks involving Syrian rivals next month.

The previous rounds have failed to produce concrete results.

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Iraqi forces retook two more neighbourhoods in west Mosul on Thursday, tightening the noose around Islamist militants holed up in the Old City, commanders said.

"The forces completed the liberation of Al-Thawra neighbourhood," Sabah al-Noman, spokesman for the elite Counter-Terrorism Service, told AFP.

An officer with federal police forces also deployed in west Mosul confirmed that the neighbourhood, which lies just west of the Old City, had been retaken from the Islamic State group.

The Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against the Islamist militants nationwide said the Nasr neighbourhood was also retaken on Thursday.

The head of Iraq's federal police, Raed Shakir Jawdat, also said in a statement that Iraqi forces had killed a senior IS operative, who had been in charge of chemical weapons for the group in Mosul, in a guided missile strike in the Zanjili neighbourhood.

A US official said on Wednesday that Iraqi forces working alongside US and Australian military advisers had been targeted in an IS attack that used a low-level chemical agent in west Mosul.

Major General Joseph Martin said nobody died as a result of the attack.

Iraqi forces in mid-October last year launched a huge operation, their largest in years, to retake second city Mosul.

They retook the side of the city that lies east of the Tigris river in January and launched a push on remaining IS fighters in western Mosul, which is more densely populated and has seen fierce fighting.

On the west bank, Iraqi forces control southern neighbourhoods and are slowly surrounding the Old City, whose narrow streets are expected to make federal operations very difficult.

An estimated 400,000 civilians are believed to still be there, unwilling or unable to leave because any escape would be too dangerous or because the Islamist militants are using them as human shields.

The loss of Mosul would be a death blow to the "caliphate" IS proclaimed after capturing the city in a massive offensive in June 2014.

According to an Iraqi military spokesman, the Islamist militants only control seven percent of Iraq, down from the 40 percent of the national territory over which they ruled three years ago.

The only two other significant towns IS still holds are Hawija and Tal Afar. The Islamist militants also control territory in remote areas of western Iraq, near the Syrian border.

Iraqi forces on Thursday launched a fresh push against IS-held villages there, as part of a months-old operation to retake areas along the Euphrates in western Anbar province.

A senior officer said the forces involved in the operation included the army, local tribal fighters and military advisers from the US-led coalition assisting Iraq in the anti-IS war.

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[JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] called for [press release] police restraint on Wednesday to protect protesters rights in Venezuela. Protests continue in the country against President Nicolas Maduro [official profile, in Spanish], and hundreds of thousands of people held rival protests on Wednesday amid rising political tensions in the country. It was reported that Venezuelan police fired tear gas at the anti-government demonstrators who accused the President of moving towards a dictatorship and called for his resignation. On Tuesday evening, the government activated the Plan Zamora, a security mechanism calling for the deployment of civilians to fight alongside police and military forces to preserve public order. Directer at AI, Erika Guevara-Rosas [background], stated that the Plan Zamora may lead to human rights abuses at the hands of armed civilian groups. AI urged Venezuelan authorities to allow citizens to peacefully voice their opinion and to investigate all reports of human rights abuses committed during the protests.

Instability in Venezuela peaked on March 30 when the Supreme Court of Venezuela [official website, in Spanish] dissolved [JURIST report] the opposition-controlled National Assembly and assumed all legislative powers. In January 2016, Venezuelas National Assembly [official website, in Spanish] swore in [press release, in Spanish] three opposition deputies despite a Supreme Court ruling that barred [JURIST report] the induction of the elected lawmakers. The ruling also suspended four elected lawmakers for alleged election fraud in the December sixth elections.
The International Court of Justice [official cite] on Wednesday rejected [document, PDF] Ukraines request for measures to prevent rebels in the country from receiving supplies over its Russian boarder. The court granted measures designed to protect ethnic discrimination in the disputed Crimean peninsula, currently under Russian rule, but did not grant Ukraines request to prevent the funding of terrorism by implementing a number of regulations. The request sought to force the Russian state to identify potential terrorist funders by requiring banks to report suspicious activity, by monitoring cross-boarder transportation of funds, and verifying information by establishing channels of communication between analogous state agencies in Ukraine and Russia. However, the order does require Russia to ensure the teaching of the Ukrainian language in Crimea. The denial of provisional measures means there will not be a decision on the issue until the large case is resolved.

The situation involving Russia and Ukraine has been a source of conflict since Russias annexation of Crimea [Reuters backgrounder] in March 2014. In late March, the European Court of Justice upheld [JURIST report] economic sanctions against Russia for the annexation. Before that, in January the General Court [official website] of the EU upheld [JURIST report] the 2014 sanctions [press release] against Russian arms manufacturer Almaz-Antey [corporate website]. Earlier in January Ukraine filed suit against Russia in the International Court of Justice for alleged acts of terrorism and discrimination. The case has been filed for violations of various international conventions [JURIST report]. In December the Amsterdam District Court ruled [JURIST report] that Crimean gold artifacts are to be returned to Ukraine and not Crimea. The artifacts, including gems, helmets and scabbards, were on loan to Amsterdams Allard Pierson Museum when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014.
On Wednesday law firm Hagens Berman [corporate website] filed a class action lawsuit [text, PDF] in Californias Northern District Court [official website] against car company Tesla [official website] over the self driving function in their vehicles. The lawsuit alleges that the autopilot function is essentially unusable and demonstrably dangerous and places the car users at risk. The new hardware system, AutoPilot2, is alleged to not live up to standard safety features and was rolled out with defects. Tesla responded in a statement [Business Insider report] that the lawsuit misrepresents many different facts. The company stated, we have never claimed our vehicles already have functional full self-driving capability. Tesla also says that the autopilot software is being rolled out in a safe fashion and is subject to government regulation.

Driverless vehicles are emerging on the market ever more presently, which opens the new technology to regulation and legal challenges. JURIST Guest Columnist John Terwilleger, of Gunster, discusses the development and regulation [JURIST op-ed] of driverless vehicles and how federal and state governments are addressing this emerging technology. The introduction of these technologies continue to be under immense scrutiny, especially when there is an accident involving one of these vehicles. Tesla has already had a challenge after one of its vehicles was in an accident that led to a death. An investigation [NYT report] into the matter found that there was no defect in the auto-pilot system in the vehicle and that they did not to be recalled.
The US Supreme Court [official website] held [opinion, PDF] in Nelson v. Colorado [SCOTUSBlog materials] on Wednesday that Colorados Exoneration Act [text, PDF] is not in accord with the Fourteenth Amendments [LII, text] guarantee of due process. The Act permits Colorado to retain the fees paid in conviction-related assessments unless the exonerated defendant can prove their innocence by clear and convincing evidence in a civil suit. Colorado argued that the Act provided sufficient means for a defendant to seek compensation for the loss of liberty. This is different from most jurisdictions which automatically refund those who have been acquitted. The Court contended Colorados argument stating, Just as restoration of liberty on reversal of a conviction is not compensation, neither is the return of money taken by the State on account of the conviction. The Acts scheme, the Court went on, creates an unacceptable risk of the erroneous deprivation of defendants property.

The court heard arguments [JURIST report] for Nelson v. Colorado in January. Certiorari was granted to petitioners Shannon Nelson and Louis Alonzo Madden. Nelson was convicted on two felonies and three misdemeanors in relation to the alleged sexual and physical abuse of her children. In addition to being sentenced 20 years to life, she was ordered to pay $8,192.50 in costs, fees, and restitution. Her conviction was reversed on error and upon retrial she was acquitted of all charges. Madden was imposed an indeterminate prison sentence and ordered to pay $4,413.00 in costs, fees, and restitution. Once their convictions were overturned, both moved for return of the funds. The Colorado Court of Appeals [official website] ruled that both were entitled to seek refunds. The Colorado Supreme Court [official website] reversed on the grounds that because neither petitioner filed their claim under the Exoneration Act, they were not entitled to refunds.
The UK parliament [official website] voted [transcript] Wednesday to move the date of the next parliamentary general election up from May 7, 2020 to June 8, 2017. The motion was approved [press release] by a vote of 522 to 13, which exceeded the necessary two-thirds vote to hold an early election. The conservative party currently [CNN report] has a small majority in the Parliaments lower house. Prime Minister Theresa May has stated that the general election will secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see [the UK] through Brexit an beyond. The election will delay the Brexit negotiations, which must be concluded by March 29, 2019. May has accused some members of the current House of Commons of trying to thwart the Brexit process.

The European Union President outlined [JURIST report] the future negotiation plan with the UK in regards to their exit from the European Union at the end of March. The UK officially triggered [JURIST report] the process of leaving the EU on March 29. The UK parliament released [JURIST report] the Great Repeal Bill outlining the process on March 30. In response to the move to leave the EU, Scottish lawmakers had voted [JURIST report] on March 28 to hold a independence referendum. A majority of UK citizens voted [JURIST report] to leave the EU in a referendum in June.
[JURIST] Eugene Owusu [official profile], the top United Nations humanitarian official in South Sudan on Wednesday warned [UN News Centre report] that without peace in South Sudan humanitarian conditions will continue to deteriorate. Speaking to reporters, Owusu urged that women in Sudan face a daily risk of sexual assault and rape. Owusu also warned of famine, homelessness and violence. He stated, while humanitarians will continue to do all that is possible to alleviate suffering, the fact remains that unless the guns fall silent, the humanitarian situation will continue to deteriorate.

Owusus recent plea comes only days after he made a similar plea to the government and opposition [JURIST report] of South Sudan to ensure the protection of civilians and aid workers in the country. South Sudan [JURIST feature], which was officially recognized [JURIST report] as an independent nation in July 201, has spent much of its brief history as a nation in civil war. Earlier in April, the United Nations Refugee Agency expressed alarm at the deteriorating condition of South Sudans security, as both governmental and opposition forces have been attacking civilians. In March, the Chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said [JURIST report] that there is a need to establish courts and bring prosecutions against those who have committed rights abuses throughout the nations conflicts.
The Uruguayan House of Senators approved [press release] a bill [materials] on Tuesday that would make femicide an explicit criminal offense of its own. The legislation is being passed to the House of Representatives for further approval. The bill would codify femicide as a very special aggravating circumstance to homicide, which could increase the sentence imposed upon a conviction. The purpose of the bill is to be accomplished by amending articles 311 and 312 of the penal code [materials].

Violence against women continues to be an area of focus for human rights groups. Last month the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, urged [JURIST report] the government of Australia to include all women in the fight to stop violence against women. According to the expert, violence against women in Australia is at a pandemic level. Last September UN experts urged [JURIST report] member states to protect women and girls in the movement of refugees and migrants by adhering to international human rights conventions and standards. Also in 2016 the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia appealed [JURIST report] to the country to strengthen the protection of its women, and the rights of its indigenous peoples.
One police officer was killed and two others wounded Thursday in a shooting on Paris's famed Champs Elysees, just days ahead of France's presidential election, police said.

France's interior ministry said the gunman was killed after opening fire on the officers at around 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) on the boulevard. Anti-terror prosecutors have opened an investigation.

"The attacker arrived by car and got out. He opened fire on a police car with an automatic weapon, killing one of the police officers and trying to attack others while running," a police source told AFP, asking not be named.

The bustling shopping street in the heart of the city was blocked by armed officers and nearby metro stations closed.

The election has long been seen as a potential target of Islamist militants. Witnesses recounted scenes of panic as people ran for cover and sought shelter.

"We had to hide our customers in the basement," Choukri Chouanine, manager of a restaurant near the site of the shooting, told AFP, saying there was "lots of gunfire."

Dozens of vehicles from the emergency services were sent to the area, where a helicopter was also deployed.

As the first details filtered through, US President Donald Trump sent his condolences and said that "it looks like another terrorist attack. What can you say? It just never ends."

The shooting comes two days after the arrest of two men in southern Marseille with weapons and explosives who were suspected of preparing an attack to disrupt the first-round of the presidential election on Sunday.

France is in a state of emergency and at its highest possible level of alert since a string of Islamist militant attacks that began in 2015, which have killed over 230 people.

Up until now, polls showed voters more concerned about unemployment and their spending power than terrorism or security, though analysts warned this would change in the event of further bloodshed.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen welcomed security moving to the heart of the campaign on Thursday as she took part in a prime-time interview show alongside the 10 other presidential candidates.

"We are suffering the consequences of a laxity that has continued for years," she said shortly before the shooting, promising to take a hard line against extremists and anyone suspected of being an Islamist.

For weeks, centrist former banker Emmanuel Macron and the National Front's (FN) Le Pen have been out in front but opinion polls now show there is a chance that any of four leading candidates could reach the second-round runoff on May 7.

Though Le Pen and Macron are the frontrunners, scandal-plagued conservative Francois Fillon and far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon have closed the gap substantially in the last two weeks.

"The first responsibility of the president is to protect," Macron said on the interview show. "This threat will be part of our daily lives in the next years."

Major attacks in France targeted the Charlie Hebdo magazine in January 2015, sites around Paris including the Bataclan concert hall in November the same year and families at a fireworks display in Nice in July last year.

In between, there have been a series of smaller attacks, often targeting security forces.

Thousands of troops and armed police have been deployed to guard tourist hotspots such as the Champs Elysees or other potential targets including government buildings and religious sites.

In February, a man armed with a machete in each hand attacked soldiers on patrol at Paris's Louvre Museum. The attacker, a 29-year-old Egyptian, was seriously injured.

And in March, a 39-year-old man was killed at Paris's Orly airport after attacking a soldier.

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Nearly three decades after the global capitalist system was declared victorious, the same system is facing crises on multiple fronts: in economics, democracy, ethics and the rise of racist populism.

Twenty-seven years have passed since Francis Fukuyama hastily described the triumph of capitalism as "the end of history", but now capitalist globalisation is in deep crisis. This crisis manifests as four sub-crises, which are as follows.

First, there is an economic crisis in multinational capital. The most significant feature of this is the profound global paradox between, on the one hand, allowing absolute freedom in capital and investment transfer, free trade imposed by force, free exports and commodities transfer, and on the other hand, preventing the free movement of the labour force.

The issue of refugees and immigration and the attempts of several countries to prevent the entrance of refugees coming from developing countries are but a flagrant expression of the insistence of big capitalist state on preventing the free movement of the labour force.

Of course, the objective is to protect the profits from the exploitation of a cheap labour force in the southern countries or the developing world  or the nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America to be precise  by the multi-national monopolies.

It is noticeable that the campaigns against the immigrants in the USA and Europe are wrapped in the shroud of national chauvinistic bigotry, concealing the real objective, which is preserving an economic system that permits exorbitant profits at the expense of poor peoples. The claim that the purpose of tightening immigration policy s to create job opportunities for workers  in America for instance  is just a cover for the real objective, which is preserving the freedom to make profits from cheap labour forces in other countries.

In this context, isolationist policies devised in a country such as the USA represent a strange irony and a stranger paradox between monopolies driving the wheel of globalisation and attempting to restrict its consequences at the same time. This is a paradox that cant persist without a solution or a transformation.

Second is the crisis in democracy. The conception of democracy has been reduced in many peoples minds to conducting elections that in several countries have become a mere fig leaf covering the nudity of authoritarian, dictatorial and totalitarian regimes.

In some countries, one can see the hegemony of security or military bodies in holding the reins of control and power, while every now and then allowing the election of fragile parliaments that have no capability, nor influence or control over the governing military or security bodies.

In many countries, buying votes has become something quite normal. In countries like the USA, it is unimaginable to secure the candidature for any real post without possessing millions of dollars for election campaigns  or more than a billion dollars, where the post of president is concerned.

Perhaps one of the important manifestations of the crisis, or its consequences, is the merger between the consituents of political and security control and those of economic control.

Thus, politicians and governmental officials become businessmen or partners in economic projects, or partners in agencies for foreign products. Naturally, corruption has spread like a cancer, provoking anger in the majority of the population, who through their hard work and sweat, their taxes and purchases, finance the profits and privileges of the dominant groups.

Third, there is the worsening crisis in ethical values, the manifestations of which are innumerable. We will consider just a few here.

The latest reports of international human rights organisations show that just eight people possesthe same amount of wealth as half of humanity, i.e. 3,500 million human beings in this world. How can a situation like this be imagined or tolerated?

The second manifestation is the escalating expenditure on weapons and the wars that go along with them, which act as fields for their testing and propagation.

Global expenditure on arms in 2016 amounted to more than $1,500 billion, with Arab countries share making up 28 percent of this. At the same time, the world with its capitalist system is unable to allocate the $12 billion needed to supplying fresh water for all people in the world. This would mean the elimination of many diseases and epidemics.

One aspect of this crisis is the launching of unjustified and destructive wars based on false pretexts, such as the American war against Iraq and its occupation.

This has led to the emergence of terrorist organisations such as the Islamic State group and others, and the fomenting of civil wars such as those escalating in Syria, Yemen and Libya. This mean the destruction of the foundations of these countries while threatening the future of whole regions.

However, the most prominent manifestation of this ethical crisis is ignoring the right of the Palestines to be liberated from occupation and from the racist, apartheid regime in Israel.

Many are continuing to apply double standards in this respect, remaining silent on Israels violations of international law and even flattering it while attempting to facilitate the passage of its projects.

Another manifestation is that the UN Secretary General succumbs to Israel's blackmail and intellectual terrorism, rather than backing colleagues and assistants headed by Dr. Rima Khalaf who issued an objective scientific report revealing the reality of the Israeli apartheid regime.

Fourth is the political crisis manifested in the rise of racist populism and the inability to deal effectively and ethically with the social media, which are developing at an astonishingly accelerated rate. Populism is nothing new, as seen in the case of Nazi Germany, where fascist ideologies took power.

Whats new is the complaints about populism from forces that view themselves as democratic. Here, the failure is natural, because it is closely connected to the failure of politicians in addressing the three other crises listed above.

So, is there any alternative to this situation?

Most of the social democrats in Western countries continue to present reformative solutions. At a conference that I attended a few days ago, one of them suggested that the solution comes with ridding capitalism of its greed. This is a fantastic irony, in which moral preaching is the suggested means of dealing with a profound economic crisis.

Whats noticeable in this context is that, in some countries, such as Brazil and India, every social effort for dealing with poverty leads directly to strengthening the system of capitalist exploitation. We have seen this phenomenon before, resulting from granting hundreds of thousands of poor students opportunities for free education in what were once the Socialist countries. Most of these people were transformed into either small or big capitalists, and most of them also forgot the social classes to which they belonged.

In Brazil, former President Lola succeeded in extricating 40 million human beings from poverty, so they became consumers and strengthened the capitalist regime in Brazil, thus producing a political class that overthrew Lolas party.

The Congress Party in India extricated 150 million human beings from poverty and transferred them to the world of consumption. The result wa that in the next elections the Congress Party suffered the worst results in its history, while the rightist parties  shrouded sometimes in chauvinism  won.

The question is whether extricating people from poverty makes them tools in the existing system of exploitation or makes them a driving force for social justice, changing the entire economic system in their country and the world.

Today, all countries have become part of the process of capitalist globalisation, including China and Russia  first socilist countries.

What happened in India and Brazil shows that the social programmes dont achieve social justice in the end, unless the entire economic system is dealt with. The world is living in one capitalist system, only under different political regimes.

Whats the alternative?

Is the solution to continue to coexist with thosedangerous crises that we have mentioned above?

Is one form of adapting to reality to indulge the democratic socialist parties by simply searching for government posts through gaining the support of voters?

Or is something deeper, bigger and more radical required as an alternative to the unjust system in which the world lives, accompanied by all its fatal dangers?

Finally, nothing can convince me that a party that adopts social justice and is honest in its attitude is unable or refrain from supporting the right of the Palestinian people to be liberated from occupation and apartheid.

Values cannot be divided, and beautifying reality doesnt eliminate its horribleness.

Populism will be vanquished when simple, ordinary and exploited people feel that there are forces that listen to their preoccupations and really defend their interests, rather than just seeking their votes for the sake of political posts and gains.

The writer is Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative.



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Dallas, TX, USA, 04/20/2017 /SubmitPressRelease123/

This week, a video of a United Airlines passenger being bloodied and forcibly removed from his seat went viral. The public was appalled by how he was treated, and the outcry was immediate, said John Helms, Dallas criminal defense lawyer. United Airlines CEO, Oscar Munoz, reacted by issuing a statement that did not sincerely express regret for how the passenger was treated and that referred to what the airline did as re-accommodating the passenger. He then sent a letter to United employees in which he defended the airlines actions and blamed the passenger. Uniteds stock quickly lost hundreds of millions of dollars as the market reacted to the shocking video and the CEOs defense of his company, which made the situation worse by indicating that United thought the passengers treatment was just fine.

This incident, the CEOs response, and the massive drop in Uniteds stock price provide valuable lessons for defense attorneys and other trial lawyers: Understand how people will react to the facts, and do not try to defend the indefensible.

Uniteds CEO clearly failed to understand how people would react to the video of a paying customer being roughed up, bloodied, and dragged off a plane screaming. He also tried to defend Uniteds actions based on the idea that United had the legal right to bump a passenger. The result was a public relations and financial disaster.

As criminal defense lawyers, our duty is to defend our clients. Our clients, though, are often in trouble because they exercised poor judgment. It is very common for those clients to fail to appreciate what they have done and to try to defend their actions. They are often adamant that they did nothing wrong, and they may really believe it. As lawyers, we try to understand our clients perspectives and to achieve their objectives. Because we want our clients to trust us and to be happy with our work, there is a temptation to blind ourselves to how our clients actions and defense may play with a neutral observer like a judge or jury, says defense attorney Helms.

Lawyers therefore have to understand that, in order to defend our clients successfully, we must give them objective advice about the consequences of trying to justify what they did. This means, first, being able to step back and look at the facts objectively using good judgment. Second, we must gain our clients trust by listening to them carefully, understanding their perspective, and convincing them that they will be better off if the advice they get is based on objective reality instead of just what they want to hear. This takes skill and patience, because clients will often react very negatively to their lawyer saying anything they perceive as criticism. They will say things like, You are my lawyer. You are supposed to fight for me. They will also argue with their lawyers analysis and refuse to try to understand anyone elses perspective but their own.

Sometimes, it takes a long time and a lot of effort to get a client to understand that they did something wrong and to accept that they can achieve the best outcome by admitting it. I had a civil case recently in which a client took money from his partnership business without telling the other partner. He set up a secret bank account in the partnerships name and deposited a payment to the partnership into that account. When he came to me to defend the partnerships lawsuit against him, he had all kinds of excuses about how the other partner had treated him badly and how he had not been paid everything he claimed he was due. He was adamant that he was the real victim. He wanted to fight and show his partner that he could not be pushed around.

It took months, but I was finally able to convince him that what he did was wrong and that he was going to lose at trial. The question was how badly. He was going to have to pay back the money he took, but how much would the jury add on as punitive damages? He believed that the best approach was to try to show that his partner was a bad person so that the jury would not like him and to try to justify what he did. I told him that fighting would be a recipe for disaster because it would just convince the jury that he did not even believe what he did was wrong and that he was just attacking the victim. Like the public reacting to the United CEOs statements, juries absolutely hate that.

I finally convinced my client that the best strategy was not to attack his partner, to admit up front that what he did was wrong, not to make excuses, and to explain how he has come to understand that his reasons for doing it did not justify his actions. He also sincerely apologized to his partner from the witness stand. The result was that he avoided what could easily have been a huge verdict against him.

There is no doubt that many cases can and should be fought and won. Good lawyers know when to fight. They also know how to fight hard and intelligently in order to get the best possible outcome. Good lawyers also know how to get the best possible outcome when fighting is a bad idea. These are lessons that Uniteds CEO has just had to learn the hard way.

If you or a loved one have been charged with a crime in the Dallas area, you should strongly consider hiring someone who really knows the ins and outs of the law. Contact Dallas criminal defense lawyer John Helms at (214) 666-8010 or fill out the online contact form. You can discuss your case, how the law may apply and your best legal options to protect your rights and freedom.

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Two 18-year-old female victims were rescued after undercover agents helped them escape from forced prostitution. After a joint operation by the Bossier Parish Sheriff's Department and the Bossier Police Narcotics Task Force, six people were arrested for human trafficking.

The two females were transported in a stolen U-Haul truck from Little Rock into Louisiana.

On April 10, an undercover agent and a 19-year-old female had an arrangement at a one-bedroom apartment in Bossier City. The agent overheard noises from the bedroom, finding six others.

Agents interviewed each person, four other females and two males. The two females that were rescued said they had not eaten in 24 hours and were forced into the situation. The other two females refused help.

After more interviews, it was learned that some of the men had transported the women from Arkansas on April 7. A fifth man was allowing his apartment to be used for prostitution.

The following lists those who were arrested and their charges:

Gary Jackson, 23, of Little Rock: human trafficking, pandering, promoting prostitution, money laundering, and racketeering. $170,000 bond.

Keith A. Pruiett, 21, of Little Rock: human trafficking and promoting prostitution. $150,000 bond.

Zaccheaeus Butler, 27, of Little Rock: human trafficking, promoting prostitution, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. $151,000 bond.

Fletcher L. Berkley, 24, of Little Rock: human trafficking, promoting prostitution, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. $151,000 bond.

Antwan D. Lay, 18, of Bossier City, charged with letting premises for prostitution. $15,000 bond.

Bailey C. Gibbs, 19, of Little Rock: prostitution. $1,000 bond.
KEARNEY  Holding a knife to a teens neck during an alleged drug deal has cost a Kearney man prison time.

Erik Arganda, 19, was sentenced Tuesday in Buffalo County District Court to one year in prison for felony attempted second-degree assault in November after putting a knife to a Kearney teens throat and causing minor injuries. Judge John Marsh gave him seven days for time already served.

Marsh also placed Arganda on 18 months probation following his release from prison.

At about 5 p.m. Nov. 6, a state juvenile probation officer told the Kearney Police Department about receiving a phone call from a juvenile client saying he had been cut with a knife. Police went to the victims home, and he gave officers a folding knife. The victim said he had been in a vehicle with Arganda in the 700 block of East 13th Street near Centennial Park to allegedly retrieve drugs.

While in the car, the victim said, Arganda held a knife to the victims throat. The victim struggled with Arganda, and the victim was able to pull the knife away from him.

The victim then fled from the car. Police saw minor lacerations to the victims neck and hand.

@HubChic
HOLDREGE  Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, working with Nebraska Public Power District, has significantly reduced water releases from Lake McConaughy to help recover a vehicle that entered NPPDs Keystone Canal earlier this week.

Centrals supply canal and associated supply canal reservoirs, including Johnson Lake, may experience elevation and inflow fluctuations.

Also as a result of the unexpected lower flows, CNPPID employees will do maintenance work on the supply canal and on equipment and structures at the hydropower plants.

Its unknown how long the lower Lake McConaughy releases and related reservoir fluctuations will last. Call Centrals Holdrege office at 308-995-8601 for more information.
KEARNEY  Kearney Jubilee Center Thrift Store and Food Pantry recently received $5,000 from the Union Pacific Foundation.

The funds support the effort to prevent food insecurity in Buffalo County.

Kearney Jubilee Center Thrift Store and Food Pantry is a nonprofit ecumenical community-based organization aimed at providing the most basic of human needs.

The Food Pantry is open from 1-5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 8 a.m.-noon Tuesday. The Thrift Store is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

The center also provides free community dinners at 5:30 p.m. Thursdays. Go to www.kearneyjubilee.org for the current dinner location. A free community dinner at 5:30 p.m. the second and fourth Mondays of each month is served at the Kearney Housing Agency Elaine B. Wiseman Pavilion at 2715 Ave. I.

For more information, go to www.kearneyjubilee.org or call 234-3880.
Is President Donald Trump overly ambitious on foreign policy? Americans elected the billionaire businessman to Make America Great Again by focusing on problems at home rather than overseas. In his campaign, Trump pledged to jump-start our national economy, create millions of new jobs, drain the swamp of Washington, D.C. bureaucrats, fix U.S. immigration policy, and repeal and replace Obamacare.

Theres lots of evidence that Trumps pro-business agenda is making a difference as American companies decide to keep more jobs at home. Trumps proposed budget also has $54 billion in spending cuts, a move thats captured the attention of bureaucrats and the agencies and departments that oversee the federal programs whose budgets could be trimmed considerably.

The president also is working on immigration. Hes pushing for the wall on the border with Mexico, and Tuesday he issued an executive order that opens the door for merit-based immigration selection. Trump wants immigrants with skills that boost the U.S. economy and his new policy will reflect that.

Regarding health care reform, the president and his party suffered a setback trying to repeal and replace Obamacare. Failure to make good on their campaign promise is a reality check, but its also a challenge for Trump and the GOP to do better on health care reform. Older Americans are not ready to pay more for their coverage while rich Americans enjoy tax breaks from the GOPs American Health Care Act.

Trump supporters should be pleased with the presidents overall efforts so far at home. However, do developments overseas threaten to stall the domestic agenda? Recent events are forcing Trump to manage increasingly complex and difficult situations around the globe, and at the moment, it is important that Trumps responses do not cause increased instability. Heres a global run-down of recent actions:

- Trump signaled his opposition to poisonous gas when he ordered a Syrian airfield to be bombed, but what is his long-term policy for the region, and how can he force Syrias powerful ally, Russia, to stand down?

- Does dropping the Mother of All Bombs signal the White House wishes to step up the U.S. role in Afghanistan?

- And, following this weeks brinkmanship, how far is Trump willing to go to rein in North Koreas nuclear ambitions, and how can he convince China to lend a hand?

Piled on top of his domestic agenda, the president suddenly has quite a few pots to stir. Hopefully he can prevent things from boiling over.
The lesson likely to be widely drawn from the eviction of Bill OReilly from Fox News, announced Wednesday, is that even the biggest of big shots cant evade their comeuppance forever. This will no doubt gratify the legions who detest OReilly for his politics, his abusive manners, his baleful influence on American public discourse and his reported history of sexual harassment, the proximate cause of his departure from Fox.

But its the wrong lesson. The right lesson is less uplifting. Its that if you bring in lots of money for your employer and have the right friends in the right places, you can get away with the most egregious conduct almost forever.

OReilly, after all, has been at the top of the broadcasting world for at least a couple of decades. He made it all the way to the post-retirement age of 67 before getting fired despite having been publicly accused of sexual harassment, in great detail, by a Fox producer in a quickly-settled lawsuit nearly 17 years ago. The terms of his separation from Fox havent been disclosed, but its a safe bet that it will be measured in the millions of dollars.

What may be most telling about the OReilly case is that its far from unique. Indeed, many of its features were replicated at an institution that, on the surface, is as different from Fox as one could imagine: the University of California at Berkeley.

Neither Fox nor Berkeley would probably relish being discussed in the same sentence, but its their handling of accused serial harassers that makes them cousins.

The Berkeley case involves renowned astronomer Geoff Marcy, who was forced to resign his tenured professorship in 2015 after reports surfaced of multiple accusations from students of unwanted sexual overtures. Marcy had joined the Berkeley faculty in 1999 from San Francisco State University and was touted as one of its stars. Often cited as a candidate for the Nobel Prize, he commanded millions of dollars in research funds.

As BuzzFeed observed upon breaking the story of Berkeleys sub-rosa investigation of the astronomer, Marcys behavior had been an open secret among his colleagues in astronomy; some had witnessed what they considered improper conduct at a major scientific conference.

Confronted by what seemed to be a wall of tolerant silence within the department, many female astronomy students felt their only recourse was to keep out of Marcys way, even though that could hamper their career development. Other promising graduate candidates avoided Berkeley altogether.

The universitys initial response after investigating the allegations was effectively to let Marcy off with a warning that repetition would have more dire consequences. Marcy later claimed that he had changed his behavior years earlier, after being told by colleagues that it made women uncomfortable.

BuzzFeeds disclosure of Berkeleys quiet slap on the wrist to Marcy ignited a firestorm of condemnation.

It may be tempting to view the outcomes of the OReilly and Marcy cases as victories in the fight against sexual inequality in the workplace. But that only ignores the difficulty of bringing them to a conclusion, the pain inflicted on victims and targets along the way, and the persistence of an indulgent environment in corporate America, academia, and yes, government.

The determining factor in the existence of serial sexual harassment isnt necessarily a tolerant employer  even though Fox News was headed by an accused harasser, Roger Ailes  but power exercised without restraint or oversight. That can happen even in an institution that defines itself as a progressive, inclusive workplace.

Michael Hiltzik is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
Imam Wahid Wardak, an inspector with the Halal Monitoring Authority, checks for HMA labels on boxes of chicken meat at a Halal meat wholesalers and distributors in Toronto on Thursday, April 6, 2017. A growing Muslim community in Canada has led to swelling sales of halal food, which has some grocers and manufacturers seeking ways to profit from the boom.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
A pilot taxis a Westjet Boeing 737-700 plane to a gate after arriving at Vancouver International Airport on February 3, 2014. WestJet Airlines Ltd. will launch a new discount carrier later this year in a bid to offer travellers a no-frills, low-cost option, the company said on Thursday.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
When leaving your job, the conventional wisdom has long been to take your 401(k) money with you by rolling it into an IRA. And 95% of the time thats the way to go, says Evan Beach, a certified financial planner for Campbell Wealth Management (opens in new tab), in Alexandria, Va. But in some cases, taking the conventional route can be a costly mistake. Some retirees may be better off leaving their money in the 401(k) or finding another, better home for their assets.

The decision between leaving money in a 401(k) or rolling it over to an IRA can be as simple as comparing investment choices and costs. Sherry Johnson, 73, who lives in a suburb of Dallas, Tex., had rolled prior employer plans into an IRA when switching jobs. But when she left her final job five years ago, she found a good reason not to leave the 401(k). The plan offered a stable-value fund earning 3% in interest at the time. It was a vehicle I couldnt find on the open market, says Johnson.

Johnson could have replicated just about every other investment choice with a rollover IRA, but not the stable-value fund. She considered the rate too good to give up. I couldnt find anything better, she says. Even though the rate has dropped to 2.02%, it still beat the rate of a three-year certificate of deposit when Johnson recently reviewed her portfolio.

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While reviewing investment choices, also look at costs. Company plans typically invest in a mutual funds institutional shares, which are generally less expensive than retail shares. Besides fund costs, ask your employers benefits department about the administrative costs, says Terry Dunne, managing director of the rollover solutions group at Millennium Trust Co (opens in new tab).

Company size can make a big difference in costs: Large company plans can spread the costs among more participants and can often negotiate better deals with custodians. Small 401(k)s tend to be expensive, says Beach. If you have a big plan, say the [federal] Thrift Savings Plan or Boeings, costs are usually pretty low.

Compare the costs of your 401(k) to an IRA to see which gives you the better deal. Beach points out that the fee war that fund firms have been waging has cut investing costs significantly for IRA investors.

Beyond choices and costs, there are other reasons to keep money in a 401(k). Covered by federal law, 401(k)s have strong creditor protection, says Tom Zgainer, chief executive officer of Americas Best 401(k) (opens in new tab). IRAs are covered by state law, and the strength of creditor protection varies from state to state. Anyone who worries about being sued may prefer to have their money more strongly guarded.

Your age at retirement might also provide an incentive for keeping the 401(k). If you leave your job in, or after, the year you turn age 55, you can tap that employers plan without getting hit by the 10% early-withdrawal penalty. That penalty stretches to age 59 for money in an IRA or any previous 401(k)s.

Late retirees can benefit from keeping money in their current employer plan, too. If you are still working past age 70 and own less than 5% of the company, you dont have to take required minimum distributions until you actually leave the job. You will still have to take RMDs from older 401(k)s you own and any traditional IRAs you own starting at age 70. But see if your current company plan allows you to roll in money from other retirement accounts. That would allow you to avoid RMDs altogether until you retire.

If You Stick With Your 401(k)

Retirees who want to keep their money in a 401(k) should ask if costs will remain the same. Some plans require ex-employees to cover some administrative expenses.

But how easy it is to manage your money is also key. Besides being limited to preselected investment choices, companies may set other limitations. Quiz your benefits department on how distributions will work and how easily you can tap your money as you need it. For instance, if you need money monthly, but your plan will only allow annual distributions, you may need to rethink keeping money in your 401(k).

If, like Johnson, you own an IRA and a 401(k), you will have to take an annual RMD from each account. There is no mixing and matching RMDs between 401(k)s or between IRAs and 401(k)s. An owner of multiple IRAs can take the total IRA RMD out of any one or combination of the IRAs. An owner of multiple 401(k)s must take the RMD for each 401(k) separately.

And, says certified financial planner Jean Keener, of Keener Financial Planning (opens in new tab), in Keller, Tex., most 401(k)s usually will sell pro rata. Instead of taking your distribution from one fund in your 401(k), the plan will sell investments based on the allocation of your account. If you have your assets distributed equally over five funds, 20% of your withdrawal amount would come from the sale of shares of each of the five funds, says Keener, who is also Johnsons adviser.

One other hiccup with distributions from 401(k)s: inflexible tax withholding. Your former employer will automatically withhold a minimum of 20% from each plan distribution. With an IRA, you can choose to withhold no tax or a smaller percentage.

Besides being up to speed on your company plans rules for your distributions, check with your plan for its rules on what happens to the 401(k) money after you die. Find out how quickly named beneficiaries must empty the account. And be sure to ask whether heirs will be able to roll the account into an inherited IRA, so that they can stretch distributions over their own life expectancies.

Alternative Routes for 401(k) Rollovers

Keeping your money in your 401(k) might not be the right move for you. But if you do roll money out of your 401(k), don't assume you should roll all of it to a traditional IRA. Another type of account might make a better home for your rollover money.

Those who hold company stock in their 401(k) should consider rolling those shares into a taxable account to make use of a tax-saving break known as net unrealized appreciation, or NUA.

Heres how it works: Say you have $100,000 of employer stock in your 401(k), with an original cost basis of $20,000 and $80,000 of unrealized appreciation. You move the company stock to a taxable account and owe ordinary income taxof up to 39.6%on the $20,000. As you sell shares from the taxable account, you will owe tax on the appreciation at the long-term capital-gains rate of no more than 20%, and perhaps 0% depending on your income.

In other cases, you should roll 401(k) money into a Roth IRA. A few years ago, the IRS said it was okay for taxpayers to isolate any after-tax contributions made to the traditional 401(k) and roll them directly to a Roth IRA. No pro rata calculation needs to be figured in this type of conversion, so the after-tax contributions move to a Roth with no tax bill triggered.

And if you arent retiring, but moving to a new job in your second act, you might want to roll money from your former employers 401(k) directly into your new employers 401(k). That will stave off RMDs if you are working past age 70, and it can open up opportunities such as the backdoor Roth. That move lets high earners who cant make direct Roth contributions put money into a Roth IRA.

By using the 401(k) strategically, high earners can do those Roth conversions tax-free. But it takes a few steps: You would have to roll all your deductible IRA contributions into the 401(k). That would leave only nondeductible contributions in your traditional IRA, which can later be converted tax-free to a Roth IRA.
The effect of climbing gold prices is diminished by rising rupee in India, which is creating opportunities for gold buyers who are looking for a good deal, this according to World Gold Council's managing director for India, Somasundaram PR.

Gold prices in India advanced 12% since January, while the rupee has gained almost 6% during the same period. This development has cushioned the sharp rise in gold for customers, said Somasundaram.

This is a fantastic opportunity. Its like Indian gold is available at a discount of 6%, Business Standard quoted Somasundaram as saying. People are definitely keen and the first quarter has been good.

Plus, if the rupee continues to appreciate, as forecasts suggest, future gold discount will be even greater, he added.

Somasundaram noted that the gold market is now witnessing a recovery in India, with demand rising in anticipation of the upcoming Akshaya Tritiya festival on April 28, which is known for gold buying.

One problem, however, remains  the quantity of gold being bought. Many businesses and customers are staying away from buying large quantities of gold, according to the media report.

Uncertainty over the goods and services tax rates for gold and restrictions on cash transactions are expected to affect the gold demand during this year, with forecasts projecting 650-750 tonnes  a subdued total for the second consecutive year, Somasundaram said.
B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO; NYSE MKT: BTG; NSX: B2G) reports that first-quarter gold production was 132,736 ounces, which was 7,955 ounces above plans and 4,892 ounces higher than the same period in 2016. The company says it is on track to meet its 2017 annual guidance of between 545,000 and 595,000 ounces. Gold revenue of $146.3 million in the January-March period came from sales of 119,937 ounces at an average price of $1,219 per ounce. B2Gold also says Fekola mine construction is on budget and remains three months ahead of schedule for an anticipated Oct. 1 production start. In 2018, with the planned first full-year of production from Fekola, the company currently projects its consolidated gold production will increase to between 900,000 and 950,000 ounces.

By Allen Sykora of Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com

First Majestic: 1Q Output Declines But In Line With Guidance

First Majestic Silver Corp. (TSX: FR; NYSE: AG; FRANKFURT: FMV; BVM: AG) reports first-quarter silver-equivalent production of 4.3 million ounces, in line with guidance although down from 5.1 million in the same period a year ago. Total production in the January-March period consisted of 2.7 million ounces of silver, 15,095 ounces of gold, 7.5 million pounds of lead and 0.9 million pounds of zinc, the company says. "During the first quarter, total production from our six producing mines met our quarterly guidance expectations," says Keith Neumeyer, president and chief executive officer. "With the renewed investment in underground development and brownfields exploration, we continue to execute on our long-term growth plan to have additional production levels prepared in order to increase throughput rates and head grades at Del Toro, La Parrilla and La Encantada. Our 2017 silver production guidance of 11.1 (to) 12.4 million ounces, or 16.6 (to) 18.5 million silver equivalent ounces, remains unchanged."

By Allen Sykora of Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com

Goldcorp Begins Friendly Takeover Bid For Exeter

Goldcorp. Inc. (TSX: G, NYSE: GG) says the company has formally began an offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Exeter Resource Corp. (TSX: XRC, NYSE-MKT: XRA, Frankfurt: EXB). The two companies announced an agreement for the takeover in late March, with the move supported by the board of directors of Exeter. Goldcorp says Exeter shareholders will be entitled to receive 0.12 of a common share of Goldcorp for each Exeter share, which represents a premium of 67% based on Goldcorp's and Exeter's closing prices on the Toronto Stock Exchange on March 27, the day prior to the acquisition announcement. The deal puts the value of all Exeter shares at $247 million. Goldcorp says its offer will be open until 5 p.m. EDT on May 26, unless otherwise extended or withdrawn.

By Allen Sykora of Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com

Centerra Gold: Kumtor Mine Receives Discharge Permit

Centerra Gold Inc. (TSX: CG) reports that the Kumtor operation, located in the Kyrgyz Republic, has received its 2017 maximum allowable discharge permit, which allows for the discharge of treated effluent from its tailings management facility starting in the spring. Kumtor now has all the necessary permits and approvals in place for continuous operations throughout 2017, Centerra says.
By Jan Strupczewski

WASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) - Experts representing international lenders will return to Greece to finalise the details of a reforms-for-loans deal next week, paving the way for an agreement on new loan disbursements in May, European Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said.

Greece and its lenders agreed on April 7 in Malta on key elements of reforms to unlock new funds and decided that experts would travel to Athens as soon as possible to put finishing touches to the deal. The delay of two weeks was mainly for technical reasons, Moscovici said, adding some finishing touches to the Malta agreement would be put at talks in Washington, on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund.

"It is a matter of technical arrangements, we are preparing the conditions, it was always foreseen that it would happen after the IMF meetings, the day after the IMF meetings they will be able to go back to Athens, because they have the political mandate which is very clear," Moscovici told Reuters.

"I am confident that the last technical details will be solved during those meetings here so that the mission can go back to Athens just after these meetings," he said.

Greece is on its third bailout from euro zone governments since 2010. To get more cheap loans, it has to pass regular reviews of reforms by experts sent by the lenders.

The latest review has dragged on since the middle of last year because of differences over pension and income tax reforms that some lenders believe Greece must undertake to put its finances on a sustainable footing.

Greece and the euro zone agreed in Malta that Greece would take steps to produce savings in its pensions system of one percent of GDP annually starting in 2019, an election year.

Another one percent annually is to come from reform of the income tax system in 2020.

The additional reforms are mainly to satisfy the International Monetary Fund and Germany, which have been sceptical that Greece would be able to reach previously agreed fiscal targets without them.

To make the deal more palatable for Athens, the lenders agreed that if Greece exceeds its targets with the additional measures, it can spend the excess cash on boosting the economy.

The Greek target is a budget surplus before debt servicing of 3.5 percent of GDP in 2018. It is then to be maintained at that level over the "medium term". There is no agreement yet on what exactly "medium term" means.

The longer Greece keeps such a high surplus, the less it is likely to need debt relief. The IMF strongly insists that easing Greece's debt burden is necessary, while Germany - Greece's biggest creditor - strongly opposes it.

Germany wants the IMF to join the bailout, now shouldered by euro zone governments alone, mainly for credibility reasons.

The Fund says that if it were to participate, it would have to be the last rescue package for Greece and that means substantial debt relief offered now.

(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
DUBAI, April 20 (Reuters) - Petrochemical shares were the main drag on Saudi Arabia's stock market in early trade on Thursday after oil prices fell sharply overnight, while Qatar's index was hit by weak earnings from oil rig provider Gulf International Services.

The Saudi index was down 0.5 percent after half an hour of trade as almost three-quarters of listed petrochemical shares fell, with heavyweight Saudi Basic Industries dropping 0.5 percent.

Most petrochemical producers have not yet reported first-quarter earnings. Companies in Saudi Arabia are now obliged to report earnings based on IFRS standards, and the securities regulator said last year that firms could report interim earnings as long as 30 days after the end of each period, rather than 15 days as previously.

Most Saudi banking shares also fell with Saudi Investment Bank , the worst performer, down 1.2 percent. All Saudi banks, except for Samba Financial Group , have reported earnings; while results were mixed, most beat expectations.

Cement shares slipped with Qassim Cement , the latest in the sector to report a slump in first-quarter earnings, down 0.6 percent. It reported a net profit of 80.3 million riyals ($21 million), down 40 percent from a year ago.

In Doha, Gulf International Services dropped 5.3 percent after it reported an 81 percent slide in first-quarter earnings to 15 million riyals ($4.1 million), far below QNB Financial's forecast of 452 million riyals and Alphamena's estimate of 378 million riyals.

The Qatari stock index was down 0.9 percent.

In Abu Dhabi, First Abu Dhabi Bank , formed on April 1 by the merger of National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank, rose 0.5 percent after it announced a 12.4 percent rise in combined "pro-forma" first quarter net profit to 2.93 billion dirhams ($798 million).

That was aided by a 145.5 percent jump in "other non-interest" income while loan impairment charges slipped 3.9 percent. The merger is expected to produce cost savings of 500 million dirhams, the bank said. Abu Dhabi National Energy Co jumped 5.4 percent after its chief operating officer told Reuters on Wednesday it might sell some oil and gas interests in North America to raise capital for its core business. Earlier this month TAQA said the state-owned utility had raised its stake in the company to 74 percent from 52.38 percent after granting TAQA land valued at 18.7 billion dirhams that could potentially offset accumulated losses.

Profit taking on other shares, however, weighed on the Abu Dhabi index , which fell 0.3 percent. Aldar Properties retreated 2.3 percent.

In Dubai, the index was down 0.8 percent as builder Arabtec , which had jumped almost 11 percent on Wednesday after shareholders approved its 1.5 billion dirham new share issue and a plan to use existing capital to wipe out accumulated losses, fell 2.3 percent.

(Reporting by Celine Aswad; Editing by Andrew Torchia and Susan Fenton)
Editor's Note: DON'T MISS OUT: kitco news covers Mines & Money New York In Just 2 days. More details can be found here.

(Kitco News) - Interest in the mining sector is growing and according to organizers of the Europes largest mining and resource conference, now is the time to jump into the market.

This is why the show is hitting the road, heading to New York for the first time in its 13-year history.

Andrew Thake, event director for Mines and Money, said that they saw interest at a New York event when they were in Toronto last year for the conferences first excursion into North American markets. He added that interest at the New York show has so far exceeded expectations.

We had to move the venue because the first hotel we booked was too small, he said. Our expected attendance has exceeded our expectations.

Thake said that one of the biggest surprises for him has been the growing interest among generalist investors, who are looking to jumping back into the mining sector after a nearly three-year hiatus.

While New York isnt seen as a major mining hub like London or Toronto, Thake said the location is still a good fit as it is a major finance and global investment center.

We understand why generalist funds have been out of the market the last few years but now is the time to jump back in. If investors wait another year or two, it could be too late, he said. Mining is back and we want generalist investors to know.

Thake added that another benefit of the Mines and Money conference is that it features all types of commodities and will host a range of companies from juniors to major producers. There will be something for everyone, he said. If you are looking to make a deal, you will find your opportunity by the end of the two days in New York.

Not only will investors be able to connect with about 50 mining companies, but attendees can also listen to litany of speakers.

Kitco News has also partnered with Mines and Money to host three panels. Kicking off the day, May 3, Kitcos Daniela Cambone has a conversation with Rosa Abrantes-Metz, managing director of Global Economics Group. The panel --The Great Manipulation Debate Revisited  will explore whether the gold market manipulation problem over exploiting prices has been resolved.

Later in the day, Cambone will moderate a panel among gold fund managers to discuss in depth how the U.S. dollar will affect the gold market moving forward. Panelists include Doug Groh, portfolio manager forTocqueville Asset Management; Robert Cohen, VP & portfolio manager forDynamic Funds; and Marcelo Kim, partner at Paulson & Co.

Finally, Adrian Day, CEO ofAdrian Day Asset Management, will host a panel with Peter Hug, global trading director at Kitco Metals; Todd Bubba Horwitz, chief market strategist for BubbaTrading.com; Rick Rule, chairman and founder of Sprott U.S. Holdings Inc.; and, Vince Lanci, founder of Echobay Partners. These veteran gold experts will be discussing gold as an investment under President Donald Trump.



For the first time ever, Kitco News will be live streaming the panel discussions for those unable to attend the conference. More details can be found here.
HANOI, April 20 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official and unofficial markets, indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi and interbank offered rates at 0441 GMT.

April 20 USD/VND mid-point 22,330 USD/VND interbank 22,690/22,770 USD/VND unofficial 22,720/22,750 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.51/36.75

Interbank offered rates Overnight 4.6-4.9

1 week 4.7-5.0

1 month 4.8-5.1

3 months 4.9-5.25

NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016, the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank offered rates are the latest indicative bid/ask prices, quoted from market sources.

One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co.

For more interbank rate fixings released at 0400 GMT, click on .

For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
ISTANBUL, April 20 (Reuters) - Here are news, reports and events that may affect Turkish financial markets on Thursday.

The lira stood at 3.6705 against the U.S. dollar at 0504 GMT, firming slightly from 3.6730 at Wednesday's close.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond was at 10.89 percent in spot trade on Wednesday and was at the same level in Thursday-dated trade.

The main BIST 100 share index fell 0.62 percent to 90,804.13 points on Wednesday.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks erased early losses and edged higher on Thursday as signs of resilience emerged in some markets, while steadying commodity prices - especially for oil - prompted some bargain hunting among investors. But with the outcome of the French presidential elections due at the weekend, markets are set to trade in well worn trading ranges, barring any major data surprises in Asia. REFERENDUM APPEALS

Turkey's electoral authority on Wednesday rejected appeals to annul a referendum granting President Tayyip Erdogan wide new powers, but the main opposition CHP party said it would maintain its legal challenge to the result. ERDOGAN

President Tayyip Erdogan will meet the head of the Yargitay appeals court Ismail Rustu Cirit and the court's chief prosecutor Mehmet Akarca (0900 GMT). He will then attend a children's event of the state broadcaster TRT (1000 GMT).

He will also meet the head of the armed forces General Hulusi Akar (1200 GMT) and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim (1430 GMT).

RUSSIAN TRADE

Russia does not intend to open up its market for tomatoes to Turkish growers, despite losing up to $1.5 billion from a trade dispute with Ankara, Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev said on Wednesday. CONSUMER CONFIDENCE The Turkish Statistics Institute will release consumer confidence data for April (0700 GMT).

DEBT STOCK The Treasury will announce central government debt stock data for March (1430 GMT).

For other related news, double click on:

Turkish politics Turkish equities Turkish money Turkish debt Turkish hot stocks Forex news All emerging market news All Turkish news For real-time quotes, double click on:

Istanbul National-100 stock index , interbank lira trading , lira bond trading (Writing by Daren Butler)
A guest post by Jonathan Darby:

The upcoming final part of Bill Englishs cabinet reshuffle brought about by the retirements of Education minister Hekia Parata and Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully needs to be a carefully managed piece of political choreography with an eye to the General Election in September.

It is a near certainty that Nikki Kaye is lined up to replace Parata as Education Minister. Kaye has returned to work following her leave for breast cancer treatment and is keen to get on with the job.

The replacement for McCully in Foreign Affairs is less clear. A number of names have been suggested, Mark Mitchell, Chris Finlayson, Jonathan Coleman and Gerry Brownlee. In her opinion article, Audrey Young dismisses the chances of Mitchell given that his elevation to the Ministry is only recent and therefore he is too junior in terms of ministerial experience for a role with such a high profile. It is possible though that he could be offered an Associate Foreign Affairs role. Young also questions whether Finlayson is a viable option given that he is highly regarded for his work in Treaty Negotiations, a role that he would likely have to give up if he were to take Foreign Affairs.

This leaves Coleman and Brownlee as possibilities. As we know, the General Election is less than six months away and Bill English will want to minimise the swapping of portfolios as much as possible, especially those highly visible roles that play a major part in election campaign discourse.

This is where Colemans chances take a dive. If he were to take over, he would have to surrender the Health portfolio, potentially to Michael Woodhouse, leading to a redistribution of some of Woodhouses portfolios. Would English be happy to make this change in a portfolio like health, especially staring down the barrel of September 23? Im doubtful.

This leaves Gerry Brownlee, in my opinion the most likely option. Changes could be kept to a minimum and lessen disruption. Brownlees Greater Christchurch Regeneration portfolio could be cleanly transferred to his associate Nicky Wagner. She already has a profile in the portfolio and is well placed to pick up the full role. The full role would likely bring with it a promotion to Cabinet to fill the slot vacated by the departures of Parata and McCully. The Cabinet was extended to 21 Ministers following John Keys resignation; this brings it back to the normal 20.

Assuming Brownlee keeps Defence, there would only be the small matter of transferring his Leader of the House responsibilities, most likely to Simon Bridges and his Earthquake commission and Civil Defence portfolios to other Ministers. Civil Defence and one of Nicky Wagners portfolios, possibly Customs could be handled by a new Minister outside Cabinet which will also form part of the announcement.

All in all this would be a tidy reshuffle, which does what needs to be done, but no more. A significant reshuffle at this point in the cycle could be electorally risky and that is a chance that Bill English just does not need to take as he looks to lead National into battle to secure a fourth term.
Koreans have the lowest pride in their country compared to Japanese and Chinese, a survey suggests. More Koreans than Chinese or Japanese said their country's relations with neighboring nations are not good.

The Northeast Asian History Foundation on Thursday announced a survey pollster World Research conducted in October. It was conducted of 500 adults in each country to discover their views of history. The margin of error was 4.38 percentage points and the confidence level 95 percent. Some 93.6 percent of Chinese respondents said they were proud of their country, compared to 89.4 percent in Japan and 86.2 percent in Korea.

Asked about relations between Korea and China, 59.8 percent of Korean respondents said they were bad, up from 34.5 percent in 2007, as against only 16.4 percent of Chinese respondents, up from 6.6 percent in 2007.

Seoul-Tokyo relations were seen as bad by 76.8 percent of Korean respondents, up from 67.7 percent in 2007 but only 45.6 percent of Japanese respondents, up from 34.4 percent in 2007.

Asked about history-related issues that should be resolved most urgently, 85 percent of Korean respondents cited the Dokdo islets. Some 50 percent of Chinese respondents and 55.4 percent of Japanese respondents cited the distortion of facts in history textbooks.

Among Koreans, 96 percent were keenly aware of the Dokdo issue, up from 92.7 percent in 2007. But in Japan interest in the matter is dropping, from 75.2 percent in 2007 to 67.8 percent this year.

Some 63.6 percent of Japanese respondents approved of their prime minister's visit to the militarist Yasukuni Shrine, up from 48 percent the previous year. But more had been persuaded that the body of water between Korea and Japan should be referred to as both the East Sea and the Sea of Japan, up from 17 percent to 25.6 percent.

Baik Young-seo, a professor at Yonsei University who analyzed the survey, said, "The younger the people in the three countries are, the more negative they tend to become in their views of each other. This is a factor that could worsen relations between the three countries."
S-Oil President Ryu Yul, left, poses with Heart to Heart Foundation Chairman Kim Young-joo, right, after donating 100 million won ($88,000) to the charity's orchestra at the oil refiner's office in Seoul, Thursday. S-Oil has been sponsoring the Heart to Heart Orchestra made up of disabled youths since 2009. / Courtesy of S-Oil
US sends nuclear sniffer plane to Korea: source

The U.S. Air Force dispatched a nuclear sniffer aircraft Thursday to the east of the Korean Peninsula amid the possibility of North Korea's imminent nuclear test, a government source said.

"The WC-135 Constant Phoenix, a special-purpose U.S. plane, made an emergency sortie today over the East Sea," the source said, requesting anonymity.

Its mission is to collect samples from the atmosphere in order to detect and identity a nuclear explosion.

It arrived at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, early this month amid indications that the North is preparing for another nuclear test.

Thursday's flight appears meant to check whether the secretive communist nation has detonated a nuclear bomb.

It also tests operational readiness in the event of an actual provocation by the North, added the source.

There was an unconfirmed rumor that North Korea has notified China of its nuclear experiment plan.

South Korea's military said earlier the North seems all set to conduct what would be its sixth nuclear test at its Punggye-ri site in its northeastern region anytime on the leadership's decision. (Yonhap)
South Korea's defense ministry said Thursday that North Korea is clearly the country's enemy, although it has formally jettisoned the politically sensitive expression "main enemy."

A longstanding controversy over labeling the communist neighbor has been rekindled by the television debate Wednesday night of five politicians running for the May 9 presidential elections.

Asked if the North is the South's main enemy, Moon Jae-in of the liberal Democratic Party avoided a direct answer.

He said it's not an issue to be discussed in public by a "person seeking to become a (South Korean) president."

"It's work to be done by the Ministry of National Defense," Moon added.

Yoo Seung-min of the splinter conservative Bareun Party grilled Moon, claiming the "main enemy" wording is even included in the nation's defense white paper published by the Ministry of National Defense.

Moon, a former commando, has faced fierce criticism largely from conservatives who emphasize the reality of the two Koreas which remain technically at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce.

They also highlight the North's repeated deadly attacks on the South including the 2010 sinking of the Cheonan warship in the West Sea and its continued development of nuclear and missile programs.

"If North Korea is not our main enemy, why I did I serve in the military?" read an Internet message. "Moon's comments prove he's not qualified to be president, namely the commander-in-chief of our military."












Vehicles carry Pukkuksong submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) during a military parade in Pyongyang, April 15, marking the 105th anniversary of the birth of North Korea's founding father Kim Il-sung, in a photo released by the North's Korean Central News Agency, Sunday. / Yonhap



By Kim Hyo-jin



North Korea used Chinese-made trucks to display missiles at its military parade Saturday, indicating the difficulty in enforcing U.N. sanctions against the isolated country while it maintains business ties with China.



Reuters reported Tuesday that the vehicles carrying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) were made by the Chinese company Sinotruk.



They were seen in photographs taken at the parade marking the 105th anniversary of the birth of the North's founding father Kim Il-sung.



Painted sky blue, the trucks with the logo of the Chinese truck company were towing six Pukkuksong SLBMs that were displayed for the first time in public.



Along with the SLBMs, North Korea also paraded two launchers possibly carrying intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). One of the two was carried by a flatbed truck that was also made in China, Reuters said.



According to a U.N. report, North Korea's forestry ministry reported that the trucks were bought to transport timber in a statement sent to Beijing in 2010.



"North Korea is using large size transportation equipment in the forestry and mining industries. However, the country appears to have converted them for military use after importing them," said Kim Kwang-jin, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy.



"The trouble is it is difficult to know if China is selling them, knowing they will be converted, or if North Korea is doing it after deceiving the seller. Control of equipment and vehicles converted into military use easily slips under the U.N. radar."



North Korea has been under a U.N. arms embargo since 2006. Sanctions were expanded in 2009 to include the sales of arms-related material.



When asked about the trucks shown in the parade, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang said China maintains "normal business" with North Korea while it strictly abides by U.N. Security Council resolutions.



"China has been performing its international obligations strictly, including those stipulated in the Security Council resolutions. But meanwhile, we carry on normal economic exchanges and trade with all parties including North Korea," he said during a press briefing, Tuesday.



One of the two ICBMs was carried on a vehicle that had the logo of the North Korean brand Taepaeksan. But its tires were Chinese-made, products of China-based Triangle Group, Reuters said. The group's export department told the news agency that they were unaware of the North using them for military vehicles.
New Zealand's immigration minister said he was taking a "Kiwis-first approach to immigration," echoing Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and U.S. President Donald Trump in announcing policies to ensure jobs for Australians and Americans.

New Zealand said on Wednesday it will tighten access to its skilled work visas, just a day after the United States and neighboring Australia announced similar restrictions on immigration.

Migration has become a hot topic in the lead up to New Zealand's Sept. 23 general election.

"These changes are designed to strike the right balance... and encourage employers to take on more Kiwis and invest in the training to upskill them," immigration minister Michael Woodhouse said in a statement, using the colloquial term for New Zealand citizens.

The changes to be introduced later this year include introducing a minimum income requirement, making it more difficult for family members to join visa holders and limiting the amount of time seasonal workers are allowed to stay in New Zealand.

A boom in new arrivals has helped the New Zealand economy race along with some of the strongest gross domestic product growth in the developed world.

But opposition parties and the central bank have called for a review of current policies, citing low wages growth and soaring house prices spurred by the influx.

Many sectors, such as technology and construction suffer from a severe shortage of workers and companies in these areas were recruiting many of their workers from offshore.

Under the changes, employers would need to provide a minimum income of NZ$49,000 ($34,530.30) for anyone entering on a prioritized "skilled". Anyone earning more than NZ$73,000 would be classed as highly skilled.
This is the third in a series of interviews with international experts on North Korea to see how its nuclear issues will unfold down the road and seek ways to secure stability on the Korean Peninsula.  ED.



By Kim Jae-kyoung





Balbina Hwang

China's ambivalent attitude toward North Korea is undermining the Beijing-Pyonyang alliance that has lasted since the Korean War, according to a former special advisor to the U.S. State Department.

"North Korea already knows, and has accepted that the U.S. and Japan are hostile, and that China is under pressure to at least become less friendly with or accommodating to North Korea," Balbina Hwang, a visiting professor at Georgetown University's Center for Security Studies, said in an interview.

"Moreover, I believe Kim Jong-un does not trust China, and so purposefully wants to distance North Korea from China because it views itself as too dependent solely on China for its economy," she added.

Against this backdrop, she said that for the Kim Jong-un regime, the only opportunity for gaining some leverage with any other actor is with the South, if the next South Korean leader has a more "open attitude" toward the North.

Hwang, who served as a special adviser on East Asian affairs in the George W. Bush administration, expects Pyongyang to postpone its nuclear or missile tests until after South Korea's presidential election slated for May 9.

"I do not believe Pyongyang will take any chances by taking a provocative action _ such as a nuclear test, or significant missile launch _ before May 9, as that action may sway the election away from candidate Moon Jae-in or any other possible progressive leader," she said.

In her view, the very last thing Kim wants is for South Koreans to elect a leader who will follow the very strong stance of the current administration.

"North Korea needs to have a compliant and less hostile South Korea," she said.

She expects that Pyongyang will conduct another nuclear test or launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) but these won't be determined by Trump's military threats.

"Kim Jong-un won't give up on his mission to develop and expand his nuclear arsenal, and the capabilities to deliver missiles."

"However, I am doubtful that its future tests are dependent on U.S. warnings," she added. "Rather, in the immediate short-term, I believe Pyongyang will restrain from either another nuclear test or long-range ballistic missile launch due to the timing of the upcoming election in South Korea."

In her view, for the Kim regime, pressure and increased "threats" or "warnings" from the U.S., China and Japan exist as a constant condition.

At this moment, she believes the single greatest calculation in the timing of the next provocation by the North is the determination of the future leader of South Korea.

"Who will lead South Korea for the next five years is the only, and single greatest possibility for the North to shape any different future for itself, in terms of isolation from the international community."

As for an ICBM test, she thought that Pyongyang may not even be able to "choose" to launch one soon because it does not want to risk another failure.












South Korea's foreign ministry said Thursday that it is working to confirm reports that Chinese leader Xi Jinping told U.S. President Donald Trump that Korea "used to be a part of China."



"We are working to confirm the reports through diverse diplomatic channels including the United States and China," Cho June-hyuck, foreign ministry spokesman, said at a regular press briefing. "As soon as detailed facts are confirmed, (the government) will make the necessary response."



The controversy was sparked after it was revealed that Trump quoted Xi as saying during their first summit earlier this month that Korea "used to be a part of China."



Trump made the remark while sharing what was discussed during the summit in a March 12 interview with the Wall Street Journal. The quote was not included in the article but the WSJ later posted the full transcript online.



In the transcript, Trump quoted Xi as saying, "He then went into the history of China and Korea. Not North Korea, Korea. And you know, you're talking about thousands of years... and many wars. And Korea actually used to be a part of China."



It is not clear if and in what context Xi said so, nor is it certain whether it is an accurate quote or an error that possibly occurred in the process of interpretation.



The reported remark is still causing quite a stir in South Korea, with major political parties calling for efforts to confirm what actually happened.



On Wednesday, the foreign ministry dismissed the remark as historically untrue and not worthy of a response.



"Whether that is true or not, Korea hasn't been a part of China for thousands of years and it is an historical fact that the international community acknowledges and no one can deny it," a foreign ministry official said on the condition of anonymity. "It is worthless to respond to this kind of story." (Yonhap)




By Jung Min-ho



Not only Koreans but many Chinese living in Korea are also taking the brunt of China's economic retaliation over the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system here.



According to the Jeju Immigration Office, Thursday, 1,386 Chinese who were staying on the island illegally left for their home country between March 1 and 10. The number is nearly 10 times higher compared with the same period last year.



Immigration officials believe most of the Chinese are former employees of travel companies, restaurants and construction firms on the island, which was a popular destination for Chinese tourists before Beijing practically banned group tours to Korea to protest the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.



With the number of Chinese tourists falling quickly, many business owners have no reason to keep on workers who can speak Chinese.



According to the immigration office, there are 8,000 Chinese working illegally on Jeju Island. But the number is expected to fall due to the sudden shortage of jobs.



Over the past few years, many Chinese businessmen and workers have come to the island to take advantage of the growing number of tourists.



Another reason for the sharp increase of voluntary departures is the government policy that allows them to re-enter Korea if their illegal stay is less than three years and they leave the country voluntarily between March and May.



Similar situations have occurred in other parts of the country. Only a few months ago, it was easy to find restaurants and cafes hiring or trying to hire Chinese students from nearby colleges in Seoul because of an increasing number of Chinese customers. But this is no longer the case.



According to the Ministry of Justice, the number of Chinese students in Korea fell from 70,000 in September 2016 to 65,386 in January. It is expected that these remaining students will find it difficult to find work while studying and after graduation.



Last month, the ministry suspended the issuance and extension of E-2 language teaching visas for Chinese lecturers staffing Confucius Institutes at colleges.



It is unclear why the ministry decided to do so, but the news has caused the teachers at the 23 Confucius Institutes across the country much anxiety.



The Confucius Institute is an educational organization founded by the Chinese government to promote Chinese language and culture. The first was set up in Korea in 2004.



Given the tension between the two countries, the fate of the institutes is now uncertain.



The Korea Tourism Organization projects that the number of Chinese visitors this year may be less than 4 million, less than half of last year's 8.07 million.




South Korea's foreign ministry said Thursday that it is working to confirm reports that Chinese leader Xi Jinping told U.S. President Donald Trump that Korea "used to be a part of China."

"We are working to confirm the reports through diverse diplomatic channels including the United States and China," Cho June-hyuck, foreign ministry spokesman, said at a regular press briefing. "As soon as detailed facts are confirmed, (the government) will make the necessary response."

The controversy was sparked after it was revealed that Trump quoted Xi as saying during their first summit earlier this month that Korea "used to be a part of China."

Trump made the remark while sharing what was discussed during the summit in a March 12 interview with the Wall Street Journal. The quote was not included in the article but the WSJ later posted the full transcript online.

In the transcript, Trump quoted Xi as saying, "He then went into the history of China and Korea. Not North Korea, Korea. And you know, you're talking about thousands of years... and many wars. And Korea actually used to be a part of China."












A Danish court on Wednesday upheld prosecutors' decision to extradite Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye's friend at the center of a bribery scandal.



But it remains uncertain whether or when Chung will be extradited to Seoul, as she appealed again to a higher court.



Last month, the local prosecutors' office decided to send Chung, the only daughter of Choi Soon-sil, back to South Korea to face an investigation. But she filed an appeal.



Choi, who's in jail, is a long-time aide to Park, although she had no official position in the Park administration. Park and Choi are accused of having colluded to abuse power and take bribes from Samsung Group and other South Korean conglomerates.



Choi's daughter is also accused of receiving inappropriate academic and financial favors based on her mother's ties with Park.



Refusing to return to South Korea, Chung, arrested by local authorities in January, has been preparing for the trial in custody at a detention center in Aalborg, northern Denmark.



Several former and current professors at Seoul-based Ewha Womans University have been arrested and indicted in relation to the undue favors.



Choi is standing trial specifically on charges of meddling in state affairs and amassing profits using her connection to the former president.



Park was also indicted Monday in a series of corruption allegations involving her friend Choi and former aides. The ex-leader has been in custody since March 31. (Yonhap)




By Park Si-soo



A masked armed robber stole a sack of cash at Nonghyup bank's branch in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, on Thursday, according to police. Police launched a manhunt in the region and are using security video footage to identify the robber. The amount of money stolen remains unknown.

According to police, the incident was reported at 11:55 a.m. There were three people, all employees -- one man and two women -- in the bank.

The robber, believed to be man, threatened them with a rifle and ordered them to load cash into a bag. He fled on a bicycle, according to witnesses.

"He is said to speak in a strange pronunciation," an investigator said, indicating the robber could be a foreigner.
More than 160 belongings recovered; workers enter where boys stayed



By Lee Kyung-min



Expectations are growing that recovery workers will soon encounter the remains of the nine missing victims who died aboard the ill-fated ferry Sewol, Thursday, after they entered the compartment where most of the Danwon High School boys stayed.



According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the workers cut a 1.2-meter-by-1.5-meter entrance in the rear part of the passenger compartment on the ferry's fourth level, the second such entrance made into the compartment following one made in the front of the compartment.



"We added two teams of eight to enter the ferry using both entrances to facilitate the recovery process. We expect the recovery process will pick up speed," said Lee Cheol-jo, the ministry official in charge of overseeing the salvage and recovery operation.



The group consists of eight officials _ one each from the Coast Guard, Fire Department and National Forensic Service, and five from Korea Salvage, a local contractor hired by the ministry to conduct search operations. They entered the ferry to sift through mud to find the remains and belongings of the victims. Instead of digging with large shovels, which could break human bones, the team used small trowels as the workers searched by hand. Workers also set up surveillance cameras, lighting and ventilation systems.



The team decided to cut nine entrances in the passenger compartment after concluding that it would not interfere with finding the cause of the sinking.



The workers are using a sieve that can separate objects as small as 3 millimeters in diameter, considering the smallest remains of the victims would be the size of a tooth belonging to the youngest victim, a boy, Kwon Hyuk-kyu, who was seven at the time of the sinking.



The workers began separating what could be the remains of the victims from the recovered mud that had been put in 2,600 large bags weighing between 150 and 200 kilograms each. The process was overseen by two archeology experts: Chungbuk National University archaeology professor Park Sun-ju and Yeungnam University professor Song Jang-gun.



The workers emptied one bag at a time on a flat and level board before slowly washing the contents using water at 30 degrees Celsius to minimize possible damage to the remains.



Upon finding what are believed to be the remains of the victims, the team will halt search operations and notify the bereaved family members.



Meanwhile, the special committee investigating the Sewol said the investigation into the ferry will begin as early as late May, after it secures a budget and hires workers.



The committee will convene a second official meeting today to discuss the particulars about who should investigate which papers submitted to the committee as evidence.



The hundreds of thousands of papers were sent from a joint investigation team of police, the prosecution, courts, the Board of Audit and Inspection, a now-defunct special committee that first investigated the ferry and the Korea Maritime Safety Tribunal. The committee said it plans to convene meetings every Friday.



As of Thursday, more than 160 objects were recovered including four cellphones, clothing, shoes, bags, purses, a student ID and cosmetics.



The phones were handed over to the special committee as they are deemed to have probative value in determining the cause of the ferry sinking. The committee plans to send them to an independent private body to restore their data.




















By Kim Se-jeong



Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, appealed the Danish court's extradition order, Wednesday local time. Korean prosecutors seek to arrest her for her part in the corruption scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye. Choi is Park's confidant.



The appeal came immediately after the District Court of Aalborg ordered her extradition. Chung has been detained since Jan. 2, fighting to stay in Denmark.



The hearing in the appeals court is likely to take up to two months according to Chung's lawyer, Michael Juul Eriksen.



Speaking with local journalists in Aalborg, the lawyer also said: "Of course, this is not what we hoped for. The judge did agree that they didn't present any evidence at all, but he just thought that they didn't need to do that. I still think there are special circumstances in this case and the prosecutors have to provide some kind of evidence for the accusation."



The lawyer also added that Chung would like to go back home if she would be allowed to stay with her son.



"That is actually one of her main reasons that she wants to stay in Denmark. If they could just provide some kind of security, some guarantee that she will be able to see her son when she is sent to Korea, she will be willing to go to Korea right away. But she's simply afraid they will take her child away from her and use it against her in this case."



She has been staying in a detention center in Aalborg, Denmark, after being arrested on Jan. 2. Overstaying her visa was the initial charge and she hired a lawyer to stay in Denmark. She has an infant son, and although he is not staying with her in the detention center, she is said to have regular contact with him.



Chung's return will complete the Korean prosecution's investigations into the influence-peddling scandal involving the former president. Besides Park, the scandal also put Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, former Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun and a couple of former presidential secretaries on trial.



A former dressage competitor, Chung is facing allegations that she knowingly received special favors from Ewha Womans University when she was admitted and during her stay at the school. Some of her colleagues complained Chung had earned good scores even though she skipped classes.



Yet, it will take time to bring Chung back. She is denying all the allegations against her. In previous hearings, she has argued that she had fallen victim to local politics and her basic human rights would be violated if she returns. Yesterday, her lawyer said she is no longer seeking political asylum.








A total of 7,542 people sought refuge here last year, a 17.8-fold jump from 2010, when 423 applied. The numbers are growing -- 1,334 applied in January and February alone this year.



According to the U.N. Refugee Agency, people who leave their country due to war, political or religious beliefs totaled 65 million globally. In Northeast Asia, Korea and Japan are the only countries accepting refugees, which is seen as the reason for the increasing numbers.



The Ministry of Justice is reviewing establishing a specialized agency to systematize the screening process for refugee applicants.



Currently, a foreigner seeking refugee status here submits an application to the ministry and attends an interview. Those who are rejected can file an objection, and a 15-member refugee committee will conduct a review.



However, the ministry is struggling to deal with the growing number of applicants.



A total of 24,126 people have filed for refugee status here since 1994, when Korea began to accept applications. Among them, reviews are still taking place for 6,915.



Considering that 70 to 80 percent of applicants who are rejected file objections, there is a growing consensus that the ministry needs a more professional system to deal with the applications.



It is considering setting up an agency, based on feasibility studies and reviews of systems in countries such as the U.S., Canada and Australia.




South Korea's foreign minister will attend a United Nations Security Council meeting scheduled for next week to discuss North Korea's nuclear threats and efforts to make the North go nuclear-free, a ministry source said Thursday.

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will join the UNSC meeting to be held in New York on April 28 that will focus on North Korea's nuclear stalemate and its denuclearization, the source told Yonhap News Agency.

The meeting will be presided over by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has invited the foreign ministers from council member states and others involved in the North Korea issue. Yun was invited as the minister of a stake-holding country.

He will be given a chance to speak to the gathering for a few minutes. His speech is expected to focus on issues related to the North's denuclearization.

Preparations are also under way to arrange meetings on the sidelines between Yun and his counterparts from other countries including Tillerson, the source added.

The UNSC meeting comes amid speculation that the North might conduct an additional nuclear test. Tensions remain high, sparked by the North's continued saber-rattling and the U.S.' threat to use all options including military action.

The North conducted two nuclear denotation tests and more than 20 ballistic missile launches last year alone in violation of multiple UNSC resolutions. (Yonhap)
Ukraine asked the United Nations-established court to take provisional measures to stop Russia from fueling the conflict, as it can take months for the court to decide if it will take a case.

Kyiv filed a lawsuit against Russia at the ICJ for intervening militarily in Ukraine, financing separatists that Kyiv labels "terrorists," the shooting down of civilian passenger plane MH17 in July 2014, and discriminating against Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians in the annexed peninsula.

The ICJ said Kyiv had failed to provide evidence that Russian funding was connected directly to civilian deaths in Ukraine, where 10,000 people have perished since fighting broke out in February 2014.

"At this stage of the proceedings, Ukraine has not put before the court evidence which affords a sufficient basis to find it plausible that these elements are present," said Presiding Judge Ronny Abraham. "Therefore, the court concludes that the conditions required for the indication of provisional measures in respect of the rights alleged by Ukraine on the basis of ICSFT [International Council Supporting Fair Trial] are not met."

The International Court of Justice at The Hague has rejected Kyiv's call to impose provisional measures against Russia for its support of rebels in eastern Ukraine, while acknowledging Kyiv has a case against Moscow for discrimination in Russia-annexed Crimea.

 'Supporting Terrorism' Rejected

The court's ruling Wednesday means the ICJ will make no immediate demand against Russia for violating the International Convention for the Suppression of Financing Terrorism, as Kyiv was seeking.

"From the very start, there was an incorrect approach in determining the status of both the [self-proclaimed] LNR [Lugansk Peoples' Republic] and DNR [Donetsk Peoples' Republic] as terrorist groupings, but they are no Islamic State," said Kyiv's Institute of Global Strategies' Vadim Karasev. "They are rather classical separatist groupings."

While evidence has accumulated in reports of Russia's military support for the conflict, analysts and observers say calling it terrorism hampered Kyiv's case.

While the ICJ rejected provisional measures against Russia, it demanded Moscow ensure the rights of minority Tatars and Ukrainians in Russia-annexed Crimea and said Kyiv had a case showing otherwise.

"With regards to the situation in Crimea, the Russian Federation must comply in accordance with its obligation under International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination," said ICJ's Abraham.

Crimean Tatars were some of the most vocal opponents of Russia's annexing of the peninsula in March 2014. Thousands have since fled as Russia took control of Tatar media and banned the highest body representing the minority group, the Mejlis.

The ICJ urged Moscow to end its limitations on the Crimean Tatar community's representative institutions, like the Mejlis. The judges said Russia must also ensure there are no limits on access to Ukrainian language education on the peninsula.

 Welcomed Decision

Despite the court's rejection, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, speaking during a visit to London, welcomed the ruling.

"The international court in The Hague recognized its jurisdiction over both court cases. We are confident that today we are pursuing the right course, and hope for a successful hearing of these cases," he said.

"For us, this decision of the court is a positive one," said Ukraine's deputy foreign minister, Olena Zerkal. "We proved our position and we see that we have a very good perspective for the hearings on merits, and we're going to actually put forward all our intentions and efforts in order to prove our position on merits."

Russian officials also welcomed the interim ruling.

The State Duma international affairs committee's first deputy chairman, Dmitry Novikov, said it was "quite natural" the court made such a decision.

"If any court demonstrates minimal objectivity in pronouncing judgments, it should make these decisions on the basis of certain evidence. The fact that there is no evidence of Russia's support to terrorism, it is quite a natural thing, and the fact that the court has to agree on it, is quite a natural thing," Novikov told Russia's Interfax news agency.

"Submission of a lawsuit by Ukraine, it is clear that it is a part of an information and political war, which the Ukrainian authorities are waging against Russia, involving different international institutions, such as the U.N. International Court in The Hague," he added.

Analysts described the ruling Wednesday as balanced and expected.

"Meaning that, well, it's a pretty well-balanced decision when neither Ukrainian nor Russian side can feel like they've been somehow, well, humiliated by the decision," said Nickolay Petrov, head of the Center for Political Geographic Research. "And, at the same time, it's only the beginning of a long-term process."

Russia has already rejected the authority of the court, which does not have the ability to enforce any of its rulings.

"Yes, but symbols do play a very important role in international politics," noted Petrov. "That's why Russian authorities do pay a lot of attention on different international court rulings. And, it's understandable that they're trying to avoid any cases where Russia can be really punished for violating international laws."

While the ICJ rejected making immediate demands against Russia for supporting Ukraine's rebels, it urged both sides not to take any actions that would aggravate the conflict.
2 rescued miners detail how they survived against all odds
By John J. Metzler





The People's Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Iran top the global charts for executions according to a newly released report by Amnesty International. Iran accounted for 55 percent of all recorded death sentences according to Amnesty. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Pakistan are tragically part of this gruesome tally as compiled by the humanitarian watchdog group.



Though Iran's 567 executions represented the world's second highest tally, the number fell from 977 judicially sanctioned executions in 2015. While about half of the executions are connected to drug-related and other criminal offenses, others are likely carried out for political and religious crimes.



In a separate Report on Iran Amnesty advised, "The authorities heavily suppressed the rights to freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly and religious belief, arresting and imprisoning peaceful critics and others after grossly unfair trials before Revolutionary Courts. Torture and other ill-treatment of detainees remained common and widespread."



According to Amnesty International, 18,848 people worldwide are under death sentences and 3,117 were executed in 2016.



"Transparency is an essential safeguard of due Process," advised Amnesty representative Renzo Pomi. In Iran it's not possible to confirm exact numbers of executions. For example two people were killed for "insulting the Prophet" in violation of their right to religious freedom.



The People's Republic of China presents another case shrouded in fog. While Amnesty International cites China as the world's leading global executioner with numbers in the thousands, "figures on the use of the death penalty in China remain classified as state secrets." While AI admits the use of the death penally has decreased in China in recent years, there are still 46 crimes punishable by death.



"The Chinese authorities also continued to resort to the death penalty as a tool to send political messages," the report stated, adding though that the government is using the death sentence less for "economic crimes."



Vietnam ranks on "a scale higher than previously thought," according to the survey. Again such information is shrouded as state secrets. During 2016, Vietnam imposed 63 new death sentences though the number is likely larger.



Nonetheless, Amnesty has discovered an alarming trend where a recently published report of Vietnam' s Ministry of Public Security states that 429 prisoners were executed between August 2013 and June 2016 at a rate of 147 executions a year. Such figures would put Vietnam in league with Pakistan when it comes to state sanctioned executions.



Speaking at a press conference, Argentine Ambassador Martin Garcia Moritan stated his country was "firmly committed against the death penalty," and moreover called for a "worldwide moratorium" against such actions by governments.



According to Amnesty's Renzo Pomi, "Today 141 countries worldwide have abolished the death penalty." This includes the entire Latin American region (including rather improbably Cuba), all of the European Union, much of Africa and Australia, and even Russia.



While the death penalty is still legal in parts of the United States, here AI concedes that its use has continued to decrease. Twenty executions were carried out in 2016 in the USA, the fewest since 1991.



Nonetheless such reports concede that countries such as North Korea are not specifically listed because of a total lack of data. Many human rights groups concede that death sentences and executions remain commonplace in the communist country but given the near antiseptically sealed information flow, specifics are difficult to find.



Other countries such as the Philippines, while not having a formal death penalty on the books, have seen a hideously high number of extra judicial executions by para-militaries and police. Newly elected President Rodrigo Duterte has publicly boasted about using such tactics to counter criminal and drug gangs. The Manila government may reinstate the death penalty this year.



While the death penalty may have been officially abolished in many places, countries throughout Central America and Africa have witnessed a surge of extra-judicial killings. And what of the grinding violence in Syria and Yemen?



While the judicially sanctioned use of executions may have slowed, the vicious violence plaguing our world shows no sign of abating anytime soon.





John J. Metzler is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of "Divided Dynamism Te Diplomacy of Separated Nations: Germany, Korea China." Contact jjmcolumn@earthlink.net
The five main presidential candidates took part in their second TV debate Wednesday, hosted by KBS. The debate drew much attention because it was the first time during a Korean presidential election that candidates debated without a script and spoke while standing up.



Because there was no script, this latest debate provided a good opportunity for voters to test the candidates' readiness on key issues. The debate was divided into two sessions, the first covering security and diplomacy, the second covering economic, cultural and social issues. This was aimed at having an in-depth discussion among the candidates.



The much-anticipated debate, however, did not fully satisfy viewers who were looking for a productive discussion and thorough explanations of the candidates' policies. First, the bulk of the questions went to the two leading candidates, Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party. So the voters did not get to hear enough from the two conservative candidates Hong Joon-pyo of the Liberty Korea Party, Yoo Seong-min of the Bareun Party, or from Sim Sang-jung of the progressive Justice Party.



Second, the debate often turned into an ugly war of words and the candidates wasted the limited time they had on things that have little to do with the voters' interests. For example, Hong picked a fight with Moon on how much the liberal governments of former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun had spent on aiding North Korea. This led Sim to scold Hong, telling him to stop making an issue out of something that happened so long ago. It has been almost ten years since the end of liberal rule, so some voters will not comprehend why conservative politicians like Hong are still blaming liberal politics for what's wrong with inter-Korean affairs and other urgent issues facing Korea today.



The candidates should spend their precious air time talking about the future, not their pasts. Voters want to know what their own plans are for making a better and stronger Korea, not what they did wrong in the past. The candidates need to remember this when they appear at their next standing debate on May 2.



Candidates also need to be prepared to give specific explanations about their pledges. When asked about how Moon plans to fund his wide range of welfare programs, he was unable to provide clear answers. That made him look incompetent.








By Park Jae-hyuk





While writing a series of 10 articles highlighting operations of foreign luxury brands in Korea, this reporter received a lot of feedback over the past few weeks, not only from the global companies but also from many readers of The Korea Times. Most of the feedback defended the operations of the foreign firms and were not that favorable to the articles.

But are these foreign luxury brands really innocent enough to deserve this defense? For our readers' information, this reporter felt an obligation to check whether they really are, throughout writing the articles, and that is still the case.

After criticizing Bulgari's stinginess in Korea, one of our readers wrote that Korea does not require money from the Italian company, as the country lacks "needy" children. He said, "All Korean kids have access to good medical care, schools, good food and housing," which is actually wrong, considering children with poor parents, without parents and victims of abuse.

Moreover, Bulgari's donations even benefit children in wealthier nations, such as Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Also, given that Bulgari has yet to list Korea among its charity beneficiaries on its official website, a Bulgari spokeswoman was highly suspicious about prevarication when asked whether the money contributed to Save the Children Fund is spent on Korean children.

After pointing out the poor customer relations of Hermes requiring a long lead time for buying its bags, Michael Tonello, an author of "Bringing Home the Birkin," wrote that there never was waiting list, because Hermes opened a lot of stores in recent years and greatly increased production by hiring more craftsmen for the new assembly line.

The author's words which conflict with explanations of salesclerks and the experience of many Korean consumers, however, foster doubts that there is a pecking order in getting Hermes bags in Korea. Some suspect that high-profile figures get them early, while ordinary people will have to wait quite a long time. And still, Hermes remains reluctant to comment on the issue

Some readers argued that the overall series was biased, but this reporter tried to reflect explanations from each brand, even after the articles were published. The accusations of bias may have been a result from insufficient explanations from the companies.

Comparing Korean firms to foreign companies, some said that the former are also stingy in countries where they are doing businesses. If they really are, this reporter truly hopes journalists there, who are well-informed about laws and economic situations in each country, highlight the matter.

Although the series is over, this reporter and The Korea Times will keep watching the management of foreign luxury brands, including those dealt with in this series and those that have yet to be highlighted.

The amendment of a law, which was expected to enforce limited companies to unveil their financial statements, failed due to the removal from office of former President Park Geun-hye and the resulting presidential election. Thus, foreign luxury brands in Korea are highly likely to continue their practice of stingy donations, inconsistent pricing policies and the mistreatment of retailers and employees.

One consolation is that this apparent attitude may face a backlash from Koreans. Although some people still argue that Koreans will continue to be obsessed with luxury, signs of changes are appearing slowly but steadily.

As this reporter wrote in previous articles, Louis Vuitton has begun to lose its luster in Korea, and duty free operators did not participate in a bid for the luxury fashion brand and accessories slots in the second terminal at Incheon International Airport. Also, more Koreans are turning their eyes to rental shops, rather than buying luxury items.
By Donald Kirk





All the talk over what to do with North Korea overlooks one problem to which people are not paying that much attention. That's the yawning gap in trade between the U.S. and all its leading trade partners. It's a lot easier to grasp the significance of a North Korean nuclear warhead attached to a long-range missile than to care whether China's exports to the U.S. last year exceeded its imports from the U.S. by a cool $347 billion.



The imbalance with China is by far the most distended of any trade gap in the history of commerce between nations, and it's a bargaining ploy in the Great Game over getting North Korea to give up its nuclear program.



President Donald Trump, when he met President Xi Jinping in Mar-a-Lago, wasn't nearly so insistent about cracking down on China for unfair, inequitable trading practices as he was during his campaign. In those days, Trump spoke darkly of imposing protective tariffs on China  a punitive measure that could upset the global trading system if China slapped tariffs on goods from the U.S.



The argument against protective tariffs would seem overwhelming: Good-by to free trade. Welcome to trade wars  and real wars  and forget about China pressuring North Korea to give up its nuclear and missile program. Therein lies the inherent bargain. "Do something" about your pain-in-the-neck ally and protectorate, make a few gestures about reducing your trade surplus  and we won't do anything to hurt you.



The same equation applies to the U.S. relationship with South Korea.



Vice President Mike Pence let loose a salvo of tough talk against North Korea when he visited the Demilitarized Zone and then issued a lengthy statement standing beside Acting President Hwang Kyo-anh. Stuff about "all options are on the table" and "North Korea would do well not to test our resolve"  rhetorical flourishes that came close to threatening a pre-emptive strike against the North's nuclear and missile sites.



But then, the next day, talking to the American Chamber of Commerce, Pence came out with a broadside against South Korea  specifically, the Korea U.S. Free Trade Agreement that's been around for more than five years. In fact, in March, on the fifth anniversary of KORUS, I attended a talkfest in which Koreans and Americans were singing its praises.



Not Pence. While it's opened the doors to a few thousand more American car imports, among other items, it's been even better for Korean manufacturers  their exports to the U.S. are at least twice what they were when the damn thing was signed. "The hard truth," he told the assemblage of suits before flying to Japan, is barriers are still in place and "We have to be honest about where our trade relationship is falling short."



To be honest, total two-way trade between the U.S. and Korea last year came to $69.9 billion dollars, of which $42.3 billion consisted of Korean exports to the U.S. Doing the math, the U.S. trade deficit was $27.6 billion. That's a lot less than the $69 billion trade deficit with Japan, which ranks a distant second to China in that department, but in terms of percentage of two-way trade it's worse than Japan. U.S.-Japan trade last year totaled $196 billion.



How much pressure, though, can the U.S. exercise on Korea to redress the trade imbalance when the two countries have to coordinate on defense against North Korea? And will the U.S. have any leverage at all after the presidential election on May 9?



The winner in all likelihood will be a liberal or progressive with whom U.S. generals and diplomats have to be extremely careful so as not to upset the U.S.-Korean alliance. Will the U.S. get really tough on trade while also urging South Korea to stick to its guns against North Korea?



The same questions might be asked about U.S. relations with Japan, where rightist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is all for building up militarily and keeping U.S. bases on Okinawa against popular resistance. Is Abe interested in cutting down that trade surplus with the U.S? No way.



Nor are the South Koreans and the Chinese if they can help it. North Korean leaders must be delighted  allies scrapping over billions while they go on testing missiles for shooting warheads into the lairs of their enemies.





Donald Kirk, www.donaldkirk.com, has been covering war and peace in Asia for decades. He's at kirkdon4343@gmail.com.
Seen above is a color comparison between a conventional TV and a new one equipped with Samsung Electronics' latest imaging technology. The electronics giant signed a partnership Thursday with Amazon over the new technology. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics



By Lee Min-hyung

Amazon video content will be available with the latest high dynamic range (HDR) imaging technology on Samsung Electronics' premium TVs, the Seoul-based electronics firm said Thursday.

Samsung said it has forged a content and technology partnership with the video streaming giant, with both firms pledging to co-develop next-generation HDR and other imaging techniques.

HDR10 Plus, developed by the Seoul-based tech titan, is the standard for the next-generation HDR display industry, with Samsung seeking to expand its ecosystem by opening the source code for the technology in March, the company said.

Under the partnership, Amazon's video content will be available in HDR10 Plus quality through Samsung's quantum light-emitting-diode (QLED) and ultra-high-definition (UHD) premium TVs launched this year. The U.S.-based firm, for its part, said it will create more quality videos, allowing its fans to enjoy more vivid and lively viewing experiences.

HDR, which has been a catchphrase in the global high-end TV industry in recent years, refers to an imaging technology that expresses deeper blacks and brighter whites.

HDR10 Plus is an upgraded version of HDR10 for which Samsung also partnered with Amazon in 2015.

"The latest technology has reinforced the predecessor's downside of creating darker-than-expected color reproduction in certain movie scenes," a Samsung Electronics spokesman said.

"But HDR10 Plus is designed to offer a more balanced contrast range, creating more vivid color tones and expressing producers' intentions more precisely."

A group of industry-leading content creators, Hollywood movie producers and game companies are adopting HDR10. With the arrival of the improved HDR technology, however, Samsung said it would go all-out to expand its ecosystem by the end of this year, offering video streaming services targeting 200 countries where Amazon's service is available.

Im Kyung-won, vice president at Samsung Electronics' visual display unit, said: "The open source HDR10 Plus will offer an astonishing viewing experience for its users." Samsung will continue to seek ways to forge more technological partnerships with other partners here and abroad, in its bid to lead HDR development and build a stronger foundation for the HDR10 Plus ecosystem, the Samsung executive said.

Amazon Vice President Greg Hart remained upbeat over the partnership, pledging to create more high-quality content by tightening additional partnerships with Samsung.

Amazon is not the first content giant to have partnered with Samsung. Late last year, the Seoul-based firm signed an HDR partnership with YouTube.

Samsung's 2017 QLED TVs come with up to 2,000 nits of brightness, which the firm touts can generate "real black" color without any distortion regardless of viewing angle.
BMW Korea CEO Kim Hyo-joon, sixth from left, poses with employees during a groundbreaking ceremony for the company's regional distribution center in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, March 2016. The firm plans to complete construction by next month. / Courtesy of BMW Korea



By Jhoo Dong-chan

BMW Korea's vigorous corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in various areas have served as a role model in the nation's business community.

The German carmaker's Korea affiliate has not only made monetary donations but also proactively invested in establishing infrastructure for the nation's motorsports culture. BMW Korea's investments in infrastructure have created jobs, suggesting new standards for responsible corporate citizens.

Including this year's donations worth 4.2 billion won ($3.6 million), BMW Korea has contributed 22.5 billion won since it established the Future Fund in 2011, the company's non-profit foundation designed to recruit talented workers here.

Separate from its direct donation through the foundation, BMW Korea has also carried out various investments.

Last March, it invested 130 billion won to build its new regional distribution center (RDC) in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province. The distribution center for BMW auto parts is expected to be completed by the end of May, and a BMW Korea official says the company will hire 600 employees there.

Separately, BMW Korea channeled another 45 billion won to build a cultural complex in Songdo, to be completed this year.

As next steps, BMW Korea said it will spend 20 billion won to build BMW Group's fifth satellite R&D center here by 2020 while funneling another 20 billion won to expand its Pyeongtaek vehicle distribution center in Gyeonggi Province.

The investments are not the first of its kind since BMW Korea shelled out 77 billion won to construct a BMW Driving Center on Yeongjong Island in Incheon. It was the nation's first cultural complex exclusively for cars.

Nearly 430,000 people have visited the center so far.

BMW Korea has also carried out the so-called "apprentice program," an education course for future mechanics in cooperation with local colleges and high schools.

Currently, 19 colleges and eight high schools are participating in the program.

Plus, the carmaker agreed with Mercedes-Benz Korea and the Korean German Chamber of Commerce and Industry to introduce a German mechanic education program called "Ausbildung" to help nurture future mechanics in Korea.

Ninety students are expected to participate in the program.
Hyundai Construction Equipment's 120-ton excavator

By Lee Hyo-sik

Hyundai Construction Equipment (HCE) has secured a $20 million contract to export 36 large excavators to coal and iron ore mine developers in Russia.

The company, spun off from Hyundai Heavy Industries in March, said Thursday that the deal will enable it to expand its presence in Russia and neighboring countries rich with natural resources. HCE is the No. 1 heavy machinery company in Russia, accounting for 30 percent of its excavator market in the first quarter of this year.

"Since 2012, we have been selling about 30 excavators annually. They are small in size and used mostly in construction projects," a company official said. "But the ones being shipped to Russia this time weigh 80 tons or 120 tons and will be used to develop mineral mines across the country. We will focus more on marketing large-size, premium excavators to Russia and other resource-rich nations."

He said Hyundai won the Russian contract by beating rivals Caterpillar, Komatsu and other companies, stressing that HCE is the only Korean manufacturer capable of producing 120-ton excavators.

"Large-size, premium excavators require a high level of technological knowhow and expertise. The global market has largely been dominated by Caterpillar and other foreign makers. But things will change from now on," the official said. "We will develop and introduce excavators and other heavy machinery tailored to each market and bolster our marketing activities in Iran, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, South Africa and other countries with abundant natural resources."

HCE has established sales subsidiaries in the United States, Europe, China and India, as well as operating 540 dealerships in 140 countries. Besides excavators, it produces forklifts and other construction and industrial vehicles.
U.S. President Donald Trump in an interview with the Wall Street Journal last week falsely claimed that Korea "used to be part of China."

During a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump told the daily on April 12, Xi "then went into the history of China and Korea... And you know, you're talking about thousands of years ...and many wars. And Korea actually used to be a part of China."

The paper did not publish the claim, but it was picked up later by online news agency Quartz.

Trump claimed that he then realized how tough it would be for China to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. "After listening for 10 minutes I realized that... it's not so easy," he added.

Speaking through interpreters, the two leaders had discussed the North Korean nuclear crisis for more than two hours. It is unclear what Xi said, though there have been persistent attempts by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to portray ancient Korean kingdoms as part of the Chinese empire.

One diplomatic source in Seoul said, "Since Xi became president, Beijing has displayed behavior that seems to idealize the old system of Asian countries paying tribute to China."

Quartz wryly commented, "This is a glaring historical inaccuracy that has, somehow, not yet enraged South Korea, which is usually extremely defensive about suggestions that it is lesser than China or has ever been dependent on it."

"We can probably assume that Trump did not have ideas of his own about this matter of Asian history, and in fact got this notion from Xi."

On other occasions the U.S. Senate and Trump administration have been critical of China's hegemonic nationalism. U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said last month China's territorial spat with other Asian countries in the South China Sea was "China shredding trust as they adopt a tribute-nation kind of approach where all other nations have to pay tribute or acquiescence to the more powerful nation, the larger nation."

A Foreign Ministry official here said, "We don't even need to comment about the claim," but added, "It is a fact recognized by the international community that Korea was not a part of China during the thousands of years of historical relations between the two."


Park Bo Young is not dating Park Hyung Sik. At least not yet. But fans are hoping that the "Strong Woman Do Bong Soon" couple will start to realize their true feelings for each other now that the drama is over.

According to a report by Korea Portal, Park Bo Young denied dating rumors with Park Hyung Sik during an interview for the finale of their successful romantic drama aired over JTBC. The "Strong Woman Do Bong Soon" actress clarified that many people misconstrued their closeness and chemistry as a sign of romantic relationship but she explained that they were just having fun on set.

Park Bo Young also had a lot of nice things to say about her on-screen partner and said that he was very funny in real life. She said that Park Hyung Sik often sang his lines during rehearsals leading to laughter and a lot of fun moments on set.

Despite the denial, shippers of Min Min and Bong Bong, the pets names they playfully called each other in "Strong Woman Do Bong Soon," believe that Park Hyung Sik and Park Bo Young dating rumors will eventually develop into reality. Shippers have observed the strong chemistry of the two actors in behind the scenes videos and even did background research on what their ideal types were.

For Park Bo Young, she said that her ideal type was one she could communicate well with while Park Hyung Sik said that he wanted a woman who will help him see himself and make up for his weaknesses. They also took note that the "Strong Woman Do Bong Soon" stars have not been linked to dating rumors for a while now, Kpopstarz reported.

With the "Strong Woman Do Bong Soon" reward vacation in Bali coming up, fans are hoping that the relaxed atmosphere will help Park Bo Young and Park Hyung Sik realize their true feelings for each other. They are good friends after all and friendship is a good foundation for a strong romantic relationship, fans believe.
A Danish court on Wednesday upheld a decision by prosecutors to extradite Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of ex-President Park Geun-hye's crony Choi Soon-sil.

Chung's attorney vowed to appeal the ruling. A district court in Aalborg, northern Denmark, made the decision after Chung appealed a decision by local prosecutors to send her back to Korea. But Chung reportedly does not plan to seek political asylum in Denmark.

She was arrested there in January. Prosecutors here accuse her of being a main beneficiary of Park and her mother's extortion racket and gaining a place at the prestigious Ewha Womans University thanks to her connections.

Chung has described her mother's relationship with Park in a media interview. "My mother and father worked for her since I was a child. They just did work for her and did not use her," she claimed.

Chung declined to comment on Park's impeachment and denied any knowledge of the improprieties in her admission to the university. "I don't know anything about my admission to the school. I did not even go to the university entrance ceremony because of my child," she said.

Chung is a single mother and dressage rider, who was admitted to the university on a last-minute rule change for equestrians. She added, "I did not attend any lectures at Ewha and did not take any tests. I did not have any contact with any professors there."

The university has since canceled her admission and the university president has resigned.


A U.S. Navy strike group headed by a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that was reportedly headed for waters near the Korean Peninsula apparently never arrived.

The strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson was to make the U.S.' military might felt to deter North Korea from any rash provocations during birthday celebrations of regime founder Kim Il-sung.

The Trump administration put out reports that it changed course toward Korea after departing from Singapore on April 8. But in fact it sailed south and then joined an exercise with Australia in the Indian Ocean.

"It's true that the Vinson had been heading for the Korean Peninsula until April 12," a military spokesman here claimed. "Afterwards, it changed course for unknown reasons, and that created confusion because the U.S. didn't say anything about it."

The strike group had reached Singapore on April 4 after taking part in joint drills with the South Korean Navy in the East Sea on March 19-25. It was supposed to refuel and continue south to Australia.

But on April 9, U.S. Pacific Command said that Adm. Harry Harris, the PACOM commander, had ordered the strike group to sail north and operate in the Western Pacific. It said the change of course was aimed at responding directly to a "primary threat" from North Korea.

On April 11, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was sending a formidable "armada" to the North. But by then the Vinson was already in the Indian Ocean some 5,500 km away from the Korean Peninsula.
More and more men take leave to take care of their kids, a report released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on Wednesday shows.

"As of March this year, 2,129 people out of 20,935 people, or 10.2 percent, who took childcare leave were men," said a ministry official. "This is a 3.7 percent increase from 6.5 percent in March last year, and the first time that the figure hit two digits."

By size of company, businesses with more than 300 employees had the highest number of men taking childcare leave with 1,264, followed by 281 who work for companies with 100 to 300 employees, 204 at companies with less than 100 employees and 381 at companies under 30 employees.
Samsung has encountered the first hurdle to the victory lap of its new flagship phone, the Galaxy S8, in the form of an annoying red tint to the screen.

The company claims that the tint is due to settings rather than defective components, but complaints are piling up.

IT experts have backed Samsung's claim, saying the red tint is probably not due to problems with the OLED screens. A Samsung spokesman said the screen colors can be modified by changing the settings but added, "We're looking closely into the cause of this phenomenon."

Choi Kyung-cheol at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said, "Defective OLED screens show lumped-up colors or patches, which isn't what's happening here. It looks more like Samsung didn't check the default settings properly when the phones rolled off the assembly line."
Kansas regulators rejected the proposed sale of the state's largest electric company to a Missouri-based utility for $12.2 billion. The Kansas Corporation Commission issued an order on Wednesday against the proposal from Great Plains Energy of Kansas City, Mo., to buy Westar Energy. of Topeka.

Critics of the deal argued that Great Plains would pay as much as $4.9 billion too much. They said the combined company would be so economically fragile that utility regulators would be forced to boost rates for its 1.5 million customers from central Kansas to central Missouri.

Both companies said the acquisition would create nearly $2 billion in efficiencies over the next decade and keep electric rates in check.

Great Plains is the parent of Kansas City Power & Light Co. Some of KCP&L's customers are on the southern part of the Missouri plains and the northern part of the Ozarks, including around Nevada, Lamar, Stockton, Osceola, Warsaw, Appleton City, and Clinton.
U.S. President Donald Trump last week claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping told him that Korea "actually used to be a part of China." Well, actually it did not, but many Chinese people tend to believe something along those lines, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences used to have a project going to prove that the ancient Korean kingdom of Koryo was part of China.

At the root of this nonsense lies a powerful hegemonic nationalism that has become wrapped up with the Chinese brand of communism, and a sense of entitlement that stretches back to the days when Asian kingdoms paid tribute to the empire.

China is a bully. It has refused to hear South Korea's rationale for deploying a U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery here and has launched an unofficial economic boycott. The ostensible reason is that it worries about the powerful radar that comes with the battery, which it thinks will be used to spy on its military activities.

Yet Beijing has never taken issue with a much more powerful radar being used in Japan, for which it has some grudging respect. Beijing's retaliatory measures, like shutting down Lotte supermarkets in China for minor health-and-safety infractions, are simply petty, and motivated by nothing more than a bully's belief that Korea somehow owes it obeisance.

Trump's own ignorance is already well documented, but it is worrying that he will take history lessons about Korea from such an obviously biased teacher as Xi. Korea needs to remain alert in these baffling times.


Cheating taxi drivers face less gullible customers

From:Shanghai Daily | 2017-04-20 02:29

CHEATING taxi drivers are going to find it harder to con hotel guests.

The citys traffic authority plans to team up with hotels to prepare official information guidance cards on taxi fares.

The information will be posted in lobbies and guest rooms to inform passengers of what they can expect to pay  for example on trips to scenic spots or transportation hubs  as well as deterring taxi drivers from taking unnecessary detours and overcharging.

The trial program will begin with 15 leading hotels in Xuhui District, the citys traffic law enforcement team said yesterday.

We are working a trial with Xuhui Districts tourist bureau to prepare the cards not only in hotel lobbies or entrances, but also in rooms to better inform the passengers, said Chen Zhaohui, an official with the authority.

The cards will also have a QR code linking to a map application to help guests look up taxi fares to different locations. The fares information will also be displayed in electronic screens in hotel lobbies.

We will give the fares information in Chinese to the hotels, while the hotels will provide bilingual cards or even cards in multiple languages, Chen said.

The taxi industry is a major target for the authority, which caught 3,190 cases of taxi-related violations in the first quarter this year.

The increase in numbers of violations spotted is partly because the intensive crackdowns recently as we tightened our supervision, said Chen. It also reflects there are still weaknesses in the management of the industry.

The authority said a series of campaigns were launched to crack down on illegal taxi services  both to protect the rights of licensed taxi drivers, as well as curbing complaints about taxi drivers cherry picking and overcharging.

A total of 2,498 vehicles were caught providing illegal taxi services in the first quarter, up by 40 percent on last year, the authority said. The number also included 164 fake taxis. More than 900 drivers had their licenses detained.

Chen said the authority would coordinate with local authorities to monitor transportation hubs, particularly airports and railway stations.
Mayor meets prime minister of Sao Tome and Principe

 

From:Shanghai Daily | 2017-04-20 02:29

SHANGHAI Mayor Ying Yong met a delegation from Sao Tome and Principe led by Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada on Monday.

Ying thanked the Portuguese-speaking island nation in central Africa for supporting the One China policy and protecting Chinas core interests. The two countries normalized their diplomatic relationship in December 2016.

He said China has put economic development high on its agenda for decades and made reform and opening its basic national policy. The country is sticking to the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The mayor went on that Shanghai is the economic center of China. The city epitomizes the nations development. Shanghai wants to strengthen friendship and cooperation with Sao Tome and Principe.

Trovoada said he is impressed by Chinas opening policy and sincerity for cooperation. His government will adhere to the One China policy and start a new chapter of cooperation.
Historic ties of north Meck span throughout region Though the north Mecklenburg area didnt see significant population growth until a few decades ago, its rich history dates back to the Revolutionary War. That was the basis of...

An easier-than-expected first mammogram experience HUNTERSVILLE  Scheduling a cancer screening probably ranks somewhere on your to-do list between "clean out the garage" and "donate those clothes that don't fit." Sure, you'll get to it at...
Restored classics to be screened at Shanghai International Film Festival

From:Shanghai Daily | 2017-04-20 02:29

THE 20th Shanghai International Film Festival, to be held from June 17 to 26, released the name list of a new batch of classic movies to be screened during the fest.

In the popular festival unit of Tribute to Masters, the festival will tip its hat to Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who was one of the "Four Masters of New German Cinema." His six classic works including "Love is Colder than Death," "Fear Eats the Soul," "Fontane Effi Briest," "Chinese Roulette," "World on a Wire" and "Veronika Voss" will be shown to commemorate the 35th anniversary of his death and exhibit his distinctive artistic style.

Born in Bavaria, southern Germany in 1945, Fassbinder lived in a lonely and uncared-for childhood during the worst decline and turmoil of Germany. Loneliness and sensitiveness made him susceptible even to the subtlest relationship between people.

In 1982, Fassbinder was found dead in the bed at his apartment, only a few days after his 37th birthday. During his short film career of 14 years, Fassbinder made 41 remarkable feature films at an amazing producing speed. Female roles were especially vivid in his films, demonstrating various characters on the screen.

In the 4k Restoration film unit, classic movies will be remastered digitally in 4K and displayed for the movie buffs. With the new technology, colors and contrast from the old film footage will be enhanced for a new generation of film enthusiasts.

Among the classics are the war epic "The Battle of Algiers," drama film "The Tree of Wooden Clogs," crime film "The Professional," fantasy film "The Fifth Element," comedy romance "Manhattan," drama film "The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums" and suspense film "Tales of Ugetsu."
Lady Legend harriers take fourth at ECIC meet The young Lancaster girls cross-country team built on its strong regular season with a fourth-place finish at the ECIC Championships...
PRESS RELEASE

Wall Street Struggles To Keep Glass-Steagall Bottled Up

April 19, 2017 (EIRNS)Since the U.S. Senate "21st-Century Glass-Steagall Act," S. 881, was introduced ten days ago, an explosion of major media "analyses" and statements have been published, claiming that Glass-Steagall cant be restored, and/or would do great harm if it were. The outburst by dozens in financial press of America and Europe demonstrates fear that Glass-Steagall re-enactment may be coming closer.

Today the assault features an editorial in the Washington Post, which dominates media in the U.S. capital. It claims that Trump team support for the Glass-Steagall principle is "vague"; that splitting up Wall Street banks would take "tremendous effort;" and that the elimination of Glass-Steagall during the 1990s was unrelated to the speculative bubbles which caused the 2008 crash. Since after Glass-Steagall the Wall Street banks became U.S.-dominating megabanks for the first time, derivatives markets grew by 10 times in 10 years, and a sixty-year period without bank panics was replaced in just a decade by a global bank meltdown, this is similar to preaching that snow is black.

But since Trumps economic advisor Gary Cohn told the Senate Banking Committee the President favors some form of Glass-Steagall restoration, all the financial press are preaching just that.

Clearly the Trump Administrations being held to his campaign promise on Glass-Steagall, is crucial. David Hawkings, senior editor of the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call, said on Washington, D.C., radio this morning that Glass-Steagall can become one of the top legislative items in Congress overnight, if Trump officials make their support for it clear and public. On the morning "Federal Drive" show of Federal News Radio, Hawking said the claim of Administration support by Senators Warren and McCain is probably true, but the support must become public.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in an interview with CNBC-TV today, again said that he and President Trump supported "a 21st-Century version of Glass-Steagall" rather than a renewal of the 1933 law; he signalled that one such "version" was a bank separation or "ring-fencing of securities units away from commercial bank units," as proposed in this session by Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. vice-chairman Thomas Hoenig.

But a full Glass-Steagall separation is necessary to prevent massive new bailouts of securities firms and commercial banks in a new debt crisis which is threatening to blow out the U.S. economy again. And it is vital to recreate a lending-bank sector to participate in national credit for a recovery of productive employment and productivity.
San Carlo Osteria Piemonte Review  A Casual Family Osteria with Contemporary Elegance

Thompson Street at the regions western edges is a bit far from the bustling, tourist-packed area of Soho in New York. It is home to San Carlo Osteria Piemonte, one of the finer small Italian restaurants of Manhattan, one that is, in the words of Michelin, worth a detour. The name Osteria literally means a neighborhood restaurant where the owner is host to his guests. It also connotes fine food, and a limited menu.

Modeled after the small restaurants of Turin and surrounding areas of the Piedmont, San Carlo captures the ambience of a casual family osteria with sleek contemporary elegance. A brass bull, the Piedmontese symbol for good luck, engraved on the sidewalk, greets visitors as they approach the front door. A representation of the Piazza San Carlo in Turin, the original capital of modern Italy, dominates the interior. The Piazza gives the restaurant its name.

The restaurant was founded by a group of friends, each with ties to the Piedmont, and designed to create a greater acceptance of the food and wine from that region. Focusing on the cuisine of wine country of northern Italy, chef Riccardo Zebro has put a modern face on traditional dishes. Zebro says he is inspired by the recipes of the grandmothers in the scattered and isolated villages of the Piedmont. Our waiter described those villages as reminders of an historical past when every grandmother spoke a different dialect and created their own versions of age-old sauces.

Chef Zebro, who has cooked in Liguria and Milan, puts a modern touch on familiar specialties like vitello tonnato, risotto with Castelmagno cheese and hazelnuts, and a fritto misto alla Piemontese that emphasizes meat. The menu incorporates tender beef, (sourced from grass-fed certified Piedmontese cattle) cream-based sauces and truffle-blessed dishes, as well as the nebbiolo-based wines that made the area famous, Barolo and Barbaresco. Its an appetite-inducing menu that includes zucchini blossoms stuffed with fresh mozzarella; beef tartare with quail egg and Meyer lemon foam; pan-seared scallops with sun choke puree, toasted hazelnuts and guanciale; house-made agnolotti filled with braised meat; and veal Milanese with arugula, cherry tomatoes, and roasted potatoes.

We started by sharing the vitello tonnato, cold, thinly sliced veal drizzled with a tuna sauce and capers, and moved on to pan-seared scallops, seared to the perfect degree where their saline origin showed best, dressed with broccoli rabe and a smattering of crisp leek.

Next came a revelation, a richly flavored polenta of buckwheat and corn flour topped by slow cooked egg and embellished with small slices of black truffle, a dish I hope to enjoy again at a future date. That same wish for a second helping came after a memorable serving of chestnut stuffed gnocchi and porcini mushrooms plated with a Parmesan fondue. The finale in our parade of refined favorites was Chef Zebros take on ravioli -- minuscule meat-filled blini floating in a bolitto misto broth. The broth alone was just fine, and the light as a pillow ravioli were a new taste sensation. The memory of that combination stays with me.

The evening climaxed with a clean fresh tasting tiramisu and a traditional Piedmontese pudding, bunet, a savory combination of chocolate, egg, and caramel, heightened by a dash of amoretto. Both are familiar dishes in Northern Italy, but both show the creative handiwork of chef Zebro.

San Carlo Osteria Piemonte

90 Thompson Street, NYC

Hours: 11:30 to 11:30 Sunday to Saturday

Telephone 212 265 1212

San Carlo Osteria Piemonte website

Photos: Courtesy of San Carlo Osteria Piemonte
Bill OReilly has long been an imposing presence in cable news and the so-called culture wars.

The 6-foot, 4-inch former high school history teacher from Long Island demonstrated that a strong opinion could translate into a powerful platform and big profits long before social media  or even President Trump  was a thing. OReilly helped boost Rupert Murdochs Fox News Channel into a $1-billion-plus-a-year business.

But in the wake of his dismissal Wednesday over allegations of sexual harassment, it remains to be seen whether the scandal would mortally wound his reputation or dent his business prospects.

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He had a massive megaphone to talk to the people  and that has been taken away, said Fred Cook, director of the USC Center of Public Relations at the Annenberg School. I think hes a little like Donald Trump in that he has a loyal following. Those hardcore supporters will continue to support him and may even be more supportive of him after this.

OReilly, who has been on vacation for the last week, including a visit with Pope Francis at the Vatican, has asserted that the allegations that he sexually harassed women who appeared on his show are unfounded. Parent company 21st Century Fox said in a statement: After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill OReilly have agreed that Bill OReilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel.

It is a harsh fall from grace for one of televisions most bankable stars. The OReilly Factor long has been one of the most popular programs on cable TV, this year averaging 4 million viewers an episode, according to ratings company Nielsen.

OReilly masterfully turned his Fox News bully pulpit into a springboard for his publishing pursuits. He is one of the countrys most popular nonfiction authors with his Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy and Killing Jesus books, several of which have been made into TV movies on the National Geographic Channel (also owned by Fox).

OReillys Killing series books have consistently sold 1 million or more copies in hardcover, a rare achievement in publishing. He had other best-sellers, including Bill OReilly: Culture Warrior, the memoir A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity and his most recent work, Old School, which includes passages urging the respectful treatment of women.

His show was a massive platform for him and supported everything hes doing, Cook said. It will be harder for him to reach the same number of people.

In recent years, the 67-year-old TV host and author mentioned during various talk show appearances that he would eventually slow down. But he remained busy outside his Fox News studio. He has headlined live shows around the country with comedian Dennis Miller called The Spin Stops Here Tour, which is still scheduled to make stops in Baltimore, Las Vegas and Anaheim later this year.

This [scandal] has definitely hurt his brand in the broad sense, but he will undoubtedly bounce back, said Marlene Morris Towns, an adjunct marketing professor at Georgetown University in Washington. He will find a home because his super-loyal fan base will still support him.

He will find a home because his super-loyal fan base will still support him.  Marlene Morris Towns, Georgetown University marketing professor

Industry insiders suggested that OReilly might concentrate his efforts on his books and turning them into TV movies. OReilly and coauthor Martin Dugard are due to release another book in the Killing series in September, and a spokeswoman for publisher Henry Holt and Co. said that plans had not changed.

Some suggested he could earn big fees by hitting the speaking circuit. And others said he might even re-create some of his cable news success with a show on radio or an upstart Internet streaming service.

OReilly also could resurface as a commentator on traditional television, such as for the conservative Sinclair Broadcasting Group, a Maryland TV station chain that has shown an appetite for owning TV content and this month hired Trumps former spokesman, Boris Epshteyn, to be its chief political analyst. (A Sinclair executive could not be reached for comment).

He has a broad loyal viewership that has an almost universally favorable view of him, said Kyle Dropp, co-founder and chief research officer of Morning Consult, a Washington polling and market research firm. When other hosts switch platforms, they usually have a large base that moves with them.

Former Fox News personality Glenn Beck, for example, started a digital network called The Blaze, which initially attracted a sizable audience.

However, some TV executives noted that OReillys audience  largely older white men  might not follow OReilly if he opted to make a comeback through an Internet venture. According to Nielsen data, the median age of his television audience is 67  the same age as OReilly.

His audience will be less likely to find him on an alternative platform, predicted Towns of Georgetown.

OReilly worked hard to build himself into a bigger brand than many TV news celebrities. In addition to his books and live tour, his website offers a collection of No Spin merchandise, including hats, ties, mugs, t-shirts, lapel pins, key chains shaped like the United States and Patriots Welcome doormats.

Over the years, OReilly also inspired copycats, serving as the model for the pompous TV pundit that Stephen Colbert played, tongue-in-cheek, for years on Comedy Central before Colbert decamped for CBS.

OReilly relished his role as a foil, and he might even benefit from a perception that he was unfairly targeted by liberal activists. Trump said earlier this month that he didnt think his friend, OReilly, did anything wrong. And on Wednesday, Beck suggested that his former colleague was the victim of a smear campaign by liberal activists.

The group Media Matters for America, which is a vociferous critic of Fox News, said Wednesday that its efforts to organize an advertiser boycott of OReillys show were legitimate.

Its not a smear campaign, Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters for America, said in an interview. This has been a deeper problem at Fox News  its the larger culture at Fox News and that Fox was handling this in a blithe way.

OReilly recently signed a new employment contract with Fox, so he likely will be leaving the company with a generous payout. Few expect him to stay away from the spotlight long-term.

But he wont have as large of an audience, said Towns. I think OReilly will become less of a factor going forward.

Staff Writer Stephen Battaglio contributed to this report.

meg.james@latimes.com

@MegJamesLAT

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Former Fox News star Bill OReilly will leave the network with $25 million  the equivalent of one years salary, according to two people familiar with the terms of his departure.

Parent company 21st Century Fox on Wednesday fired OReilly, 67, after investigators retained by the company began reviewing allegations of sexual harassment and payouts to women who brought grievances against Fox News biggest draw.

OReillys ouster came just 18 days after disclosures of sexual harassment complaints and settlements paid to multiple women, and a call last week to Foxs corporate hotline by Wendy Walsh. The radio personality has alleged that OReilly in 2013 promised her a coveted spot appearing on his show but reneged after she refused to have sex with him.

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Terry ONeill, president of the National Organization for Women, on Thursday called the payout for OReilly obscene.

Fox News needs to show Bill OReilly the door without a multi-million dollar payday, ONeill said in a statement. The Murdoch family must install leadership that actually will end the organizations culture of sexual and racial harassment. Until that happens, no advertiser should waste their money on this troubled network.

Last summer, the Murdochs fired Roger Ailes, the architect and former chairman of Fox News, after women complained that they were subjected to a hostile workplace. Several women alleged that Ailes suggested they provide sexual favors in exchange for career advancement. Ailes received $40 million when he left Fox.

Foxs board was briefed on the matter on Thursday. The company declined to comment. But in a memo to employees Wednesday, top executives Rupert, Lachlan and James Murdoch, said: We want to underscore our consistent commitment to fostering a work environment built on the values of trust and respect.

OReillys firing was an inglorious end to a spectacular career with Fox News. OReillys opinion-based show The OReilly Factor was a tentpole of Fox News prime-time lineup, supporting the suite of programs that surrounded it. He helped build Fox News into a $1-billion-a-year operation and the most successful cable news channel.

Viewers, particularly older men, reveled in OReillys pugnacious, take-no-prisoners approach and his trademark No-Spin Zone version of current events. The OReilly Factor drew an average of 4 million viewers an episode, according to Nielsen.

In late February, OReilly negotiated a new four-year employment agreement that stipulated that he would receive the equivalent of one years salary should he be forced out, according to people not authorized to comment.

OReilly learned from his attorney that he was being dismissed on Wednesday, as he was in a car in Rome with his family heading to the airport to fly back to the U.S. from vacation. There were no further negotiations about his exit package this week because his recently signed contract already had outlined the terms of his departure, one of the people said.

OReillys tenure at Fox News became increasingly tenuous after the New York Times on April 1 detailed settlements to five women. Almost immediately, protesters began agitating for his ouster. Rupert Murdoch, the companys co-chairman and controlling shareholder, initially wanted to keep OReilly on the network but advertisers began bailing out of the program. Then, two additional women came forward, including Walsh, making the situation untenable for the Murdoch family.

Fox Chief Executive James Murdoch is said to have led the charge to dismiss OReilly. Fox is in the midst of trying to secure the British governments approval of its proposed $14-billion takeover of Sky, the profitable European pay-TV service. As part of its review, the British government will determine whether Fox is a fit and proper holder of a broadcast license. Dealing with charges of sexual harassment at Fox News would have complicated the companys efforts to secure approval for its Sky deal. Fox currently owns 39% of Sky but wants to fully control the satellite TV operation.

On Sunday, after Walshs call to Foxs corporate hotline, senior managers brought in Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to investigate the claims. The law firm also investigated complaints against Ailes.

If OReilly would have stayed in his position, there might have been other women who would have come forward, said Marlene Morris Towns, an adjunct marketing professor at Georgetown University. They probably realized that it was just the tip of the iceberg.

OReilly maintains that the charges against him are untrue.

It is tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims, OReilly said in a statement released Wednesday.

But that is the unfortunate reality many of us in the public eye must live with today. I will always look back on my time at Fox with great pride in the unprecedented success we achieved and with my deepest gratitude to all my dedicated viewers.

meg.james@latimes.com

@MegJamesLAT

ALSO

Ousted by Fox, Bill OReilly leaves a legacy of infuriating and influencing America and the news media

Bill OReillys departure from Fox News draws divergent reactions from conservative media

He helped build Fox News into a juggernaut. Whats next for Bill OReilly?

UPDATES:

12:55 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details, including a reaction from the National Organization for Women.

This article was originally published at 11:45 a.m.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Ocwen Financial Corp., one of the nations largest mortgage servicers, on Thursday, alleging the company engaged in significant and systemic misconduct that caused borrowers to lose their homes.

In addition to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Florida, more than 20 state regulators took action against the company, limiting its operations in their states.

The dual actions caused the companys stock to plunge nearly 54% on Thursday. Shares edged up 0.8% to $2.52 on Friday morning.

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The federal consumer agency alleged that Ocwen conducted an error-plagued operation that failed to credit borrower payments, sent inaccurate statements and didnt make insurance payments on time, leading to a lapse of coverage.

The West Palm Beach, Fla., company also was accused of illegally starting foreclosure on at least 1,000 consumers and relying on a system to service loans that even an Ocwen executive called ridiculous and a train wreck, the bureau said in a news release.

Ocwen has repeatedly made mistakes and taken shortcuts at every stage of the mortgage servicing process, costing some consumers money and others their homes, bureau Director Richard Cordray said in a statement.

Ocwen, in a statement, called the consumer agencys allegations inaccurate and unfounded and promised to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.

The CFPB suit is primarily based on the CFPBs flawed review of data and its self-serving conclusion about isolated instances where Ocwen self-identified ways we can do better, the company said.

The North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks said the majority of the state actions stop the firm from acquiring additional mortgage-servicing rights or originating loans until Ocwen can properly manage its existing escrow accounts.

In a cease-and-desist order, the North Carolina commissioner said that according to a business plan Ocwen submitted to the state regulators, the company might not be able to remain afloat if it fixed its problems, given the considerable costs to upgrade its systems and anticipated regulatory penalties.

Ocwen said it received the orders from state regulators and is in the process of reviewing them in detail.

The consumer bureau alleged problems at the company are wide ranging and include ignoring consumer complaints, deceptively signing people up for add-on products and bungling the foreclosure process.

For example, Ocwen foreclosed on borrowers before reviewing their loss-mitigation applications and even foreclosed on people who were accepted and fulfilling obligations under the program, the bureau alleged. In some cases, Ocwen asked borrowers for more information and gave them 30 days to submit it but foreclosed before that deadline.

In its lawsuit, the CFPB said Ocwens use of an internal system, known as REALServicing, exacerbated problems. The system frequently failed and generated errors, requiring workers to employ manual workarounds that simply produced further inaccuracies, the agency said.

As of Dec. 31, Ocwen serviced nearly 1.4 million loans with an unpaid principal balance of $209 billion, according to the consumer bureau.

In February, Ocwen reached a separate agreement with California regulators and agreed to pay $225 million in refunds and loan forgiveness to Californians to settle allegations that sloppy practices led to violations of state and federal mortgage rules over the last several years.

The deal allowed the company to add new California mortgages to its books, which it had been barred from doing since January 2015.

The actions by the federal and state governments are the latest black eye for Ocwen, which grew to become one of the nations largest nonbank mortgage-servicing firms after the housing crash but has been swamped by regulatory problems and consumer complaints.

In 2013, it reached a $2.1-billion national settlement with 49 states and the federal consumer bureau for the kinds of issues outlined in Thursdays lawsuit.

Times staff writer James Rufus Koren contributed to this report.

andrew.khouri@latimes.com

Follow me @khouriandrew on Twitter

UPDATES:

April 21, 9:15 a.m.: This article was updated with Ocwens stock price and additional details from the CFPB lawsuit.

This article was originally published April 20 at 1:25 p.m.
Exxon Mobil is seeking permission from the U.S. government to resume drilling around the Black Sea with a Russian partner, state-owned Rosneft, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The oil giants request is being reviewed by the Trump administration and is certain to draw extra scrutiny because it involves a company formerly run by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who cultivated close ties with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.

The drilling venture was blocked when the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014. Exxon applied to the Treasury Department for a waiver from the sanctions in 2015, during the Obama administration, according to the person, who spoke anonymously because the application process is confidential. Exxon has publicly disclosed licenses for other work in Russia that required waivers.

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An Exxon spokesman said the company declined to comment on ongoing issues.

The Treasury Department, which would handle Exxons application to drill around the Black Sea, did not respond to a request for comment. A State Department spokesman said Tillerson has recused himself from any matters involving Exxon for two years and is not involved with any decision involving the company before any government agency. Tillerson retired as Exxons chief executive at the end of last year. He has known Putin for about two decades  the Russian president awarded Tillerson a special honor in 2013.

Irving, Texas-based Exxon disclosed in regulatory filings in 2015 and 2016 that it received three licenses from the Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control to conduct limited administrative actions with Rosneft. The company said it was complying with all sanctions regarding investments in Russia.

The sanctions were imposed after Russia annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014. Among other things, U.S. companies were prohibited from transferring advanced technology used to drill offshore and in shale formations. Exxon was ordered to stop drilling in the Kara Sea off Russias northern coast. The head of Rosneft was personally blacklisted.

As Exxon CEO, Tillerson opposed the sanctions, telling shareholders in 2014 that sanctions were usually ineffective and caused very broad collateral damage.

Tillerson and Exxon agreed to the venture with Rosneft in 2011. The Russia sanctions have cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars. Exxon reported in 2015 that its potential losses related to the Rosneft venture could run to $1 billion.

If the sanctions are lifted, Exxon could push ahead with lucrative exploration and production opportunities in the Black Sea, Siberia and the Russian Arctic.

Exxons ambitions could be complicated, however, by concern over what U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded were Russian cyberattacks to interfere with the U.S. presidential election last year. Congress is also investigating possible ties between aides to then-candidate Donald Trump and Russian officials.

Exxons critics said that if the Trump administration approved Exxons request, which was reported first by the Wall Street Journal, then Congress should block it on environmental and national-interest grounds.

A Greenpeace official, Naomi Ages, said approving Exxons request to drill in the Black Sea would give momentum to drilling in the Arctic and would also send a message to Russia that it can intervene in any country, including the United States, with no consequences.
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday accelerated its deregulation push under Republican control, voting to ease limits on broadcast TV ownership and prices that large telecom companies can charge businesses and governments for bulk broadband services.

Revisions to how the agency calculates the audience reached by broadcasters would clear the way for Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. to purchase Tribune Media Co., which owns KTLA-TV Channel 5 in Los Angeles and 41 other stations.

Thursdays changes, advocated by the agencys new chairman, Ajit Pai, and approved on party-line votes, reverse initiatives the FCC pursued under Democratic leadership during the Obama administration. Consumer groups and some lawmakers warned that the deregulation steps would trigger more media consolidation and higher prices for consumers.

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The moves came as Pai is expected to soon try to roll back the controversial net neutrality rules for online traffic that were pushed through by former chairman Tom Wheeler.

A small group of protesters disrupted the meeting briefly, singing a song indicating they would fight any attempt to water down those rules, which are designed to ensure the free flow of Internet content.

The FCCs sole Democrat, Mignon Clyburn, said it was abhorrent that the policy goal is deregulation at all costs. She opposed both regulatory changes Thursday.

Pai said he was not acting from ideological zeal but just trying to promote more competition.

The overall approach is pretty simple -- its not to deregulate or over-regulate, Pai told reporters after the meeting.

Sinclair and Tribune Media are two of the largest owners of broadcast stations. Their reported desire to combine would create a company whose total audience would have exceeded a statutory cap under the FCCs former rules that limit reach to 39% of the nations television households.

Tribune Media was formerly Tribune Co., which owned The Times before spinning off its newspapers into a separate company in 2014.

The FCC on Thursday reinstated the so-called UHF discount, which allows stations broadcasting on those higher-frequency airwaves  channels 14 to 83  to count only half of their audience against the cap.

The FCC voted 3-2 in the summer to eliminate the discount, arguing the 2009 federally mandated switch to digital TV ended the technical inferiority of the weaker UHF signals. The FCC grandfathered in existing station groups that exceeded the cap but said the exception could not be transfered in a sale.

Pai and the FCCs other Republican, Michael ORielly, opposed the 2016 change, arguing it was unlawful to alter the way the cap limits were calculated. With Republicans now holding a 2-1 majority, they were able to reverse the change on Thursday.

Pai said the UHF discount and the cap were inextricably linked and it made no sense to change one without considering a change to the other. He promised the FCC would launch such a review later this year.

But Clyburn said the UHF discount had outlived its purpose and reinstating it would allow a broadcast station group to reach up to 78% of the nations TV households.

The FCCs action will reduce competition, ownership diversity and local content and is a huge gift for large broadcasters with ambitious dreams of more consolidation, she said.

Two top congressional Democrats, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, wrote to Pai this week opposing the change.

The UHF Loophole is unfair to the public because it treats UHF stations differently only for one purpose  to let big station conglomerates own more stations across the country, they wrote.

A Sinclair/Tribune deal would be bad news for consumers because it would reduce independent voices in some markets and could lead to higher pay-TV bills because Sinclair charges more than Tribune for cable companies to carry their stations, Pelosi and Pallone wrote.

The FCCs decision to reduce price controls on bulk broadband access  known as business data services  came after Wheeler had proposed to tighten them last year. He gave up on the attempt to stiffen regulations on the $45-billion market after the November election when Republican lawmakers urged him not to push controversial measures in the weeks before party control of the FCC switched.

Large telecom companies such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. provide special connections to heavy data users such as banks, retailers, schools and hospitals for services such as ATMs, credit-card authorizations and general Internet access.

Pai said FCC price controls were preventing existing providers from expanding their networks and discouraging new entrants, such as cable companies.

Price regulation is seductive, he said. In reality, price regulation threatens competition and investment.

The FCC voted to eliminate price regulations in competitive markets and reduce the rules in noncompetitive ones to try to lure new entrants. The changes will be phased in over three years.

Clyburn complained that the new rules define a market as competitive even if it has only one bulk broadband provider, as long as a competitor has access lines within half a mile.

Consumer groups said the elimination of price controls would lead to higher costs for businesses.

Ultimately, these price hikes will be passed on to consumers, and American families and businesses will pay dearly for the green light the FCC has given to the unfettered exercise of market power by dominant telecommunications providers, said Phillip Berenbroick, senior policy counsel at Public Knowledge, a digital rights group.

The federal Small Business Administrations Office of Advocacy urged the FCC to delay a vote, as did the European Union, which said it was worried the changes could affect the global business-to-business data services market.

Twitter: @JimPuzzanghera

jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com

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A fast-fashion retailer is in hot water over a hate symbol.

Zara, a Spanish clothing chain, pulled a skirt from its website after people pointed out that an applique cartoon character on it bore a striking resemblance to Pepe the Frog, a fictional frog that has been adopted by alt-right groups.

Meagan Fredette, a freelance writer from Chicago, was the first person to point it out. She said she was browsing Zaras site Monday evening when she noticed the skirt. She tweeted about it and then went to sleep, assuming nothing would come of it.

This is bad pic.twitter.com/8a2cbx0T70  meagan, duchess of sus exes (@meaganrosae) April 18, 2017

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By Wednesday, the skirt was no longer available on Zaras website. The retailer confirmed to several news outlets that the item had been pulled from real and virtual shelves. (Zara did not respond to emailed requests for comment from The Times.)

Pepe rose to prominence last year, his visage appearing in memes about Adolf Hitler and the Ku Klux Klan. People who identified as members of white nationalist and other far-right groups added the green frog emoji to their Twitter handle or display name.

Last summer, Donald Trump Jr. posted a photo on Instagram labeled The Deplorables  referencing the movie The Expendables and a comment that Hillary Clinton made about supporters of his father, Donald Trump  which showed Pepe alongside Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Rudy Giuliani and other people involved with Trumps presidential campaign.

In September, the Anti-Defamation League said it was formally declaring Pepe the Frog a hate symbol.

Matt Furie, an artist based in L.A.'s Koreatown neighborhood, created Pepe the Frog back in 2005. He said in an interview last October that having his creation associated with anti-Semitism and white nationalism was his worst nightmare.

On Wednesday, Furie said via email that Zara had not sought his permission to use Pepe the Frogs likeness.

The skirt in question was designed by a Spanish artist, Mario de Santiago, as part of Zaras Oil-On-Denim collection, which launched this month in stores and online. In a statement, the company said de Santiago created the design based on a painting he made with friends several years ago and that it had no link to the suggested theme.

De Santiago replied to Fredettes tweets, saying his design was never intended to promulgate hate and that he was sorry. I feel shame for this, he wrote. (He later deleted those tweets, but Fredette provided the Times with screenshots of them.)

This is not the first time that Zara has had to pull a questionable product. In 2014, the brand publicly apologized for selling a shirt that looked like something concentration camp prisoners wore. In 2007, it stopped selling a purse that had swastika symbols embroidered on it.

Fredette, who has written about fashion for outlets like Paper Magazine and Refinery29, said she wasnt surprised that this happened to Zara again. In order for fast-fashion retailers like Zara to keep prices low, she said, they have to cut corners on quality control. She said the blame lies with Zara, not the designer, for not recognizing the implications of the frog.

Someone should have seen this before it was produced and put up for sale, she said.

Follow me on Twitter @jessica_roy.

jessica.roy@latimes.com
The musical Allegiance, inspired by the early life of actor George Takei in World War II internment camps, will come to L.A. in 2018, co-producers East West Players and the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center announced Thursday.

The show, with music and lyrics by Jay Kuo and a book by Kuo, Marc Acito and Lorenzo Thione, chronicles the experiences of the Kimura family as they are sent from their home in California to an internment camp in Wyoming after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Happy birthday: George Takei is 80 today 

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Takei starred in the musical during its 2012 world premiere at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, and again when it played at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway for a short run that started in 2015. The cast for the Los Angeles premiere has yet to be announced.

East West Players artistic director Snehal Desai said he was particularly proud to bring Allegiance to L.A.s Little Tokyo, where the show had its first reading in 2008. East West Players is the largest producing organization of Asian American theater work in the country.

Allegiance sheds light on a dark chapter in American history thats not often spoken about honestly and openly. As we announce this landmark musical, I keep thinking about the Japanese term gaman, a word that means enduring the unbearable with dignity and strength, Desai said in an email. As we mark the 75th anniversary of 9066  the executive order that led to the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans  the story of Allegiance serves as a reminder of the high price we asked our fellow Americans to pay in order to preserve our freedom and liberty.

Allegiance is scheduled to run from Feb. 21 to April 1, 2018, at the Aratani Theatre in Little Tokyo

It seems only fitting that this is the venue for audiences to be fully immersed in the history and stories of Japanese Americans, just blocks away from one of the pickup points where they were hauled off to American concentration camps during World War II, Leslie Ito, president of JACCC, said by email in reference to the 880-seat theater. Allegiance is a story for all people to experience, especially at a time when we need to build stronger bonds of understanding with each other for a more peaceful and just world.

jessica.gelt@latimes.com

Twitter: @jessicagelt

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Caitlyn Jenner memoirs version of life with Kris Jenner creates a new rift in the family

(Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images)

As Caitlyn Jenners just-published memoir The Secrets of My Life pulls back the curtain on her gender transition and her life among the Kardashians, not everybody is taking it well.

Especially not Kris Jenner.

Details about the Olympian-turned-reality-stars decision to transition in 2015 from Bruce Jenner to Caitlyn Jenner and confirmation that she had her final gender reassignment surgery are all in the book, but some dishy material about the Kardashian matriarch is reverberating with fans and upsetting the reigning first family of reality TV.

The memoir, co-written by Buzz Bissinger, who penned the Vanity Fair article that introduced Caitlyn Jenner to the masses, has some kind words for the momager, including admiration for Kris connections, her business acumen and her ability to perfectly apply lip liner without a mirror.

However, Caitlyn also said in the book that she told Kris about her gender issues before they got married and said Kris knew that for 4 years before they met, Caitlyn had been on hormones. Additionally, Caitlyn wrote that she told Kris about her gender problems before they would make love.

I told her there had been a woman inside me all my life, she wrote.

The couple announced their split in 2013 and finalized their divorce in 2014. During their decades-long union, Caitlyn cross-dressed in front of her ex but was asked by Kris to do it only while traveling, so that their children wouldnt get wind of it. It was something Caitlyn grew to resent, she said, and she would steal her wifes gowns and purses to wear while traveling. (Their differing takes on their marital woes have been a topic of discussion for years.)

In a recent episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kris fumed with anger about passages in The Secrets of My Life that claimed she knew Caitlyn was transgender before they wed.

None of it makes sense,Kris said to daughters Khloe and Kim Kardashian. I read it and basically the only nice thing she had to say was that I was great socially at a party one time. ... Everything she says is all made up. Why does everything have to be that Kris is such a bitch?

She added: Ive never been so angry and disappointed in somebody in my whole life.

In response, the Olympic gold medalist said on Good Morning America that the book is extraordinarily honest.

It is my perspective, and obviously when you do a book like that, there are different opinions. I have a lot of friends that know the truth and know what Ive been through and know the whole situation, Caitlyn said.

She told Andy Cohen that in the wake of publishing, Kris said she didnt want to talk to Caitlyn ever again. (Caitlyn also elaborated on her claims that she was a punching bag on the show and a revelation that Kris had been in charge of her finances.)

Honestly, I never had a low point [while doing the show], actually, until the other day when Kris said some of that stuff. It was the first time I was really upset, she said. I had some of the best conversations with my children on that show. ... It forces you to deal with issues. ... It forces you to sit down with your kids and deal with a lot of things.

Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenners second-born child with the late Robert Kardashian, shared her thoughts on the feud on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in an episode that aired Thursday.

My heart breaks for my mom, you know, because I feel like shes been through so much and [Caitlyn is] promoting this book and shes saying all these things, Kardashian said. I just dont think its necessary and I just feel like its unfair. Things arent truthful.

Kardashian said Caitlyn was dishonest with certain things about Kris in the book.

I feel like its taken [Caitlyn] a really long time to be honest with herself, so I dont expect her to be honest about my mom now. But its just so hurtful, she said. I wish her all the success in the world, but not at our expense.

Kardashian said she and husband Kanye West have been avid supporters of Caitlyn Jenners transition and wanted to remain respectful of her, but thought there was no need to bash the family. She said she was hurt by her stepfather, whos dad to her half-sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner, and hasnt spoken to Caitlyn in a few weeks.

Kendall and Kylie, thats their dad and I think my moms been so respectful for so long and always wanting Caitlyn around and always wanting to have a great relationship with Caitlyn, Kardashian said. But that doesnt appear to be the case for the rest of the Kardashian brood.

Ill always love her. That was my stepdad for so many years. She taught me about character and so much growing up and I just feel like I dont respect the character that shes showing now.

Kim Kardashians younger sister, Khloe Kardashian, is also taking it a little tough, Caitlyn said at a book signing, according to RadarOnline. Everyone on the Jenner side is fine. All this stuff tends to work itself out!

Someone call Ryan Murphy, because this needs to be turned into a Feud series, stat.

------------

FOR THE RECORD

April 27, 3:31 p.m.: An earlier version of this article said Bruce Jenner and Kris Jenner finalized their divorce in 2013. They divorced in 2014.

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One enduring concept has famously remained at the core of the Vin Diesel-led Fast and Furious blockbusters since 2001, through quarter-mile races, torrid bromances, international adventures and high-stakes heists: family.

So why has one family-centric plot twist in The Fate of the Furious, the eighth installment of Universals juggernaut franchise, left some fans clutching their Coronas in anguish? (Mild Fate of the Furious spoilers follow.)

With Diesels Dom going dark in Fate, blackmailed into turning on his own family by cyber hacker Cipher (Charlize Theron), the good guys need help. Which means the return of some familiar faces, including Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw.

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Stathams British ex-operative spent all of Furious 7 trying to decimate Dominic Torettos crew as that films primary villain, but is still recruited into the fold after a spirited prison brawl with Dwayne Johnsons Hobbs, a face turn that sets Statham up to return a hero in the next sequel and lend his star power to the Fast and Furious ensemble.

 L.A. Times film critic Justin Chang and film writer Jen Yamato talk fast and furiously about what works and what doesnt inFate of the Furious and the idea of family in the record-breaking franchise. (Warning: spoiler revealed halfway into video.)

The problem for hardcore fans invested in the Toretto family ties? Stathams cameo in Fast & Furious 6 revealed that Shaw was the one responsible for the death of Doms perennially snacking ride-or-die crewmate and longtime franchise fave, Han (Sung Kang), at the end of the third film, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

How, fans and critics wondered in the final moments of The Fate of the Furious as Shaw showed up on Doms doorstep, could the crews loyal leader welcome his friends killer to the Corona-less family dinner table and into the franchises good graces?

In forgiving Shaw for Hans death, does Fate of the Furious cross the moral line of brotherhood and loyalty drawn 16 years ago in asphalt by Dom and Brian (the late Paul Walker)? And at what point, in a $4-billion global action franchise like this, does the idea of family belong more to its fans than its creators?

Diesel fielded the Han query with an empathetic smile, acknowledging the troubling moral conundrum Fate of the Furious has imposed on fans.

You can only imagine how many creative hours went into even continuing Hans character up until 2013, said the star, who has been a producer on the series since 2009s Fast & Furious. We all love Han.

It was Kangs character who helped bridge 2001s The Fast and the Furious with 2006s threequel Tokyo Drift. Diesels end-movie cameo saw Dom show up in Japan behind the wheel of Hans old 1970 Plymouth Road Runner to challenge Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) to a drift-off, inaugurating a franchise trend of retrofitting character relationships across installments.

Technically speaking, it was also Diesel who first brought Han back after his Tokyo Drift demise in Los Bandoleros, the Fast and Furious short film Diesel co-wrote and directed in 2009. Setting up the events of the fourth film, Fast & Furious, the prologue tells the story of how Dom assembled a crew of friends from across the globe  including a very much alive Han, and a pre-presumed dead Letty  to pull a heist in the Dominican Republic.

According to Diesel, his cast had gathered to screen Los Bandoleros when Kang told him he wished hed been in the series more. I said, Dont worry, Ill find a way, Diesel said. And he was in Fast Five.

I have a lot of power I dont have all the power.  Fate of the Furious producer-star Vin Diesel, on his ability to bring characters back from the dead

Wild fan theories abound about why the Toretto clan would welcome Shaw into the fold just one sequel after he killed one of their own, from the idea that Han didnt really die in the exploding wreckage of his Mazda RX-7 to the theory that Cipher has him locked up in a cushy hacker cell somewhere, waiting to use him as another pawn in her grand evil scheme.

After all, Diesel fought to write Michelle Rodriguezs character back into canon with a bad case of amnesia following her characters onscreen death. Couldnt he also resurrect Han  again  from that fiery demise on the streets of Shibuya? I have a lot of power, Diesel smiled. I dont have all the power.

Statham said hed originally been approached to play a more significant role in Fast & Furious 6, but it really didnt suit what I wanted to do. He described Shaw as a character of strong morals who, like Dominic Toretto, values family above all and only went after the Toretto crew to avenge his own hospitalized brother.

Ive never been attracted to playing some villainous baddie that wants to blow up the world and steal all the money and the typical cliche villain type things, said Statham, who steals Fate of the Furious with his kinetic action scenes, including a memorable Hard Boiled-esque shootout involving a baby and a gunfight. It was really important for me to get involved on a level where I could get behind the character.

And you know, he added carefully, hinting that the next two sequels will retroactively revisit the circumstances of Hans death, that whole episode has not fully detailed exactly what happened. Im not going to say anything more than that! But [writer-producer Chris Morgan] likes to annoy the fans and please the fans and get all these angry protests. So, more to come.

Rodriguez has played the street tough Letty Ortiz, a founding member of Torettos original familia, through adventures and betrayals and melodramatic script turns since The Fast and the Furious. If anyone knows the franchises true definition of family and loyalty  and its willingness to bend the rules  its her.

I know, she exclaimed, feeling the pain of the Han faithful. When [Deckard] was introduced, they didnt even think for us to give him any flack when he walked in. And we were like, Yo, dude, this guy killed one of our boys! You know it doesnt fly like that!

At the end of the day, youre talking about a Hollywood demographic blockbuster character overriding story, she said, candidly. Thats the battle that you have when you make movies this big. They were like, We know that the grand majority of the audience wants to see this guy be on your side, so that overrides the fact that he killed one of your guys.

I was like, I dont know if thats going to fly when we hit the Asian markets, but all right, she laughed. I dont write this stuff. What can I tell you?

Series screenwriter and producer Morgan does write this stuff. By the time I reached him via telephone as Fate of the Furious was charging toward a record-breaking $532.5 million global opening, he seemed prepared to face the Fast fandom. With two more sequels in the works, will we see #JusticeForHan?

Justice for Han  justice for Han, he repeated, turning the words over, carefully considering their meaning. I think youll learn a lot more about it, and I dont know if that hashtag will be the appropriate one to put on it down the road. But I can tell you this: We will definitely be talking more about Han.

Look, I am literally the biggest Han/Sung Kang fan in the world, added Morgan, who also cast Kang in his 2013 Fox crime drama series Gang Related. But I would say this. From the initial conceit of Deckard, Ive never really thought of him as a bad guy. He was definitely against our team but hes a guy with a code who loves his family.

Dom, after all, almost beat a guy to death in a vengeance-fueled rage after his own father was killed in a fashion similar to Han. But does saving a life in the musclebound, morally fluid world of Fast and Furious make up for taking one in such spectacular fashion?

Theres an interesting parallel to play with there, which is what were starting to do, Morgan said.

When you watch Fast and Furious 8 tomorrow, try to remember that Deckard Shaw killed Han. #justiceforhan  Phil Dy (@philbertdy) April 13, 2017

Everyone upset about #JusticeForHan in #F8 - Mark my words, Han isn't dead. He'll be back in the next one - I'll be shocked if he's not.  Chris Bumbray (@cbumbray) April 17, 2017

So is Han, a character so beloved that fans know him as Han Seoul-Oh, the name playfully given him by Tokyo Drift helmer Justin Lin, definitively, totally dead? He did die, said Morgan, quite apologetically. Kang could not be reached for comment.

Fans may have to see it with their own eyes to believe it  and theyll have to wait until 2019 and 2021, respectively, to see how the filmmakers address the Han pickle in the series final two films. For now, conspiracy theories run the gamut, perhaps a little more fast and furious than what Morgan and Co. have planned.

This is a pretty ingenious plan to bring Sung Kang back into the Fast fold, speculated Phil Blankenship, a Fast and Furious fanatic and local film programmer in Los Angeles.

Its beautiful long-form, multi-film storytelling, he argued after Fate of the Furiouss behemoth opening weekend, sharing his favorite theory of how the Fast and Furious franchise will make good on the aftermath of Hans death.

The filmmakers had to recruit Statham into the team so that way Hans identical twin can hunt him down in Part 9 to avenge his brothers death. But  that in itself is a ploy! By Fast 10, the ultimate film in the series, theyre all friends who form the perfect supergroup.

Evil twins and more soap operatic tricks may or may not be in store for the remaining films in the franchise. Morgan acknowledged that as the screenwriter mapping out Fast 9 and Fast 10, he does possess the ability to bring characters back from the dead. But with great power, the saying goes, comes great responsibility.

You really have to think about choices like that, because if you do it too much then there are no stakes in your world. The cathartic process youve had in grieving Hans death  does it undo that, or are you just so happy that hes back that youre willing to overlook that? You have to be very judicious about resurrecting characters.

jen.yamato@latimes.com

@jenyamato

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Set in late-70s Boston, the ferocious, funny and relentless Free Fire places a group of shady characters in a deserted warehouse for the sale of a few cases of machine guns. A personal dispute between two of the least important people in the deal, guys just there to move boxes, quickly escalates from yelling to fists to handguns to everyone there in a full-fledged shootout.

Once the shooting starts, the movie becomes a nostop battle. Amid the chaos, eventually one low-level hoodlum yells out that he cant remember which side hes on.

Free Fire is directed by Ben Wheatley, who co-wrote and edited the film with his wife, Amy Jump. The partnership between the two British filmmakers, who most recently gave us High-Rise, may be among the most exhilarating and genuinely collaborative in contemporary movies.

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Their work has torn fearlessly through genres, combining a fans enthusiasm with a connoisseurs eye. Following the disorienting gut-punches of Kill List, the road trip serial killer rom-com of Sightseers, the psychedelic historical simplicity of A Field in England and the sprawling dystopian satire of High-Rise, Free Fire is a savagely funny and viciously precise distillation of one of the pairs favorite themes:

Men are idiots.

This is not a novel notion, but Free Fire sets out the ways men can trip over themselves, from outright ego, lazy obliviousness, posturing projection, deluding rationalizations and on down the line. In smartly examining the foibles and fragility of the male psyche, Wheatley and Jump also make the case for self-awareness and understanding.

The cast members attack their roles with palpable glee, a sense of enthusiastic exaggeration to match the outrageous goings-on. Michael Smiley and Cillian Murphy play IRA operatives who are the closest the film comes to having heroes; they just want to get the deal done and move on. Sharlto Copley relishes the eccentricities of his blowhard half-cracked crime lord while Sam Riley, Noah Taylor, Jack Reynor, Babou Ceesay and Enzo Cilenti make the most of it as they are caught in the crossire.

Brie Larson and Armie Hammer play fixers with no real stake in things. She becomes the glue holding it all together, and her performance unveils something thorny and dangerous beneath a placidly positive exterior. Asked if shes with the FBI, her character Justine responds with the films signature line, Im IIFM  In it for Myself.

Given the chaotic nature of the action, its a minor marvel that Wheatley, working with regular cinematographer Laurie Rose keeps the geography of the room and the location of each shooter consistently clear even as the action resets itself again and again, shifting dynamics, geography and allegiances depending on who can take aim at whom. It helps that once everyone has suffered minor wounds they cant move too fast; chase scenes played out at a crawls pace become a, er, running gag.

Free Fire is executive produced by Martin Scorsese and his recent producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff, and the late-70s Boston setting makes the new movie something of a parenthetical aside to Scorseses own The Departed. Wheatleys film certainly could be seen as a shaggy dog shoot-em-up fable that one cheap crook might tell to another while killing time.

Free Fire is not Wheatleys best film, but it is a rollicking good time and, more important, an inadvertent skeleton key to thinking about and understanding the rest of his films. Like cartoons in the corner of Mad magazine, this is marginalia that illuminates the larger text.

Free Fire

Running time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexual references and drug use.

In general release

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mark.olsen@latimes.com

@indiefocus
A twisty, protracted fight for justice is deftly traced in Finding Oscar, an absorbing, if grim, documentary from producer-director Ryan Suffern (who co-wrote with Mark Monroe) and executive producer Steven Spielberg.

Pivoting around the 1982 massacre of more than 200 residents of the village of Dos Erres, Guatemala, by commando soldiers, the film spends most of its first half detailing the complex forces that led to this horrific event. These include Guatemalas 36-year civil war, which began in 1960; the right-wing coup that made Gen. Efrain Rios Montt the countrys de facto president (he served from 1982 to 1983), and then-U.S. President Reagans support for Rios Montt.

But its the discovery, almost two decades after the Dos Erres genocide, that two young boys  Oscar Ramirez and Ramiro Cristales  had been abducted and raised by the very soldiers who had killed their families that moves the narrative into more personal and emotional territory.

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A search ensues for Cristales (now living in Winnipeg, Canada) and, more dramatically, Ramirez, who had moved to Massachusetts in 2005 with wife Nidia. The hope: that Ramirez would serve as living evidence of the massacre and bolster the elusive case against its perpetrators. (Although several former soldiers were eventually sentenced to life in prison, Rios Montts 2013 conviction was overturned; he awaits a re-trial.)

Lucid interviews with human-rights activists, attorneys, anthropologists, authors and others help frame this multi-faceted portrait. Ramirezs reunion with the biological father he hadnt seen since 1982 provides special poignancy.

-------------

Finding Oscar

No rating

In Spanish and English with English subtitles

Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes

Playing: Laemmle Monica Film Center, Santa Monica; Laemmle Playhouse 7, Pasadena; Edwards Westpark 8, Irvine

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calendar@latimes.com
Patagonian landscapes in 16 mm and Hollywood real estate shot in 35 mm provide a visually sleek backdrop for mighty uninteresting relationships in the pretentious indie Somewhere Beautiful. Commercials director Albert Kodagolians debut feature intercuts two stories of sought-after male artists in romantic turmoil with pretty young things: an arrogant American photographer (Anthony Bonaventura) on an Argentina location shoot whose translator squeeze (Maria Alche) is rapidly losing interest; and in L.A., a hotshot filmmaker (Kodagolian) moping over his beautiful wife leaving him and their 2-year-old daughter.

Its as exquisitely insufferable as it sounds, from the retrograde view of women who care for/cater to/wring their hands over powerful men  do the women all have to look like models?  to the superficially cerebral, stilted rehashing of art-versus-life debates that were getting stale when Woody Allen began appropriating them from foreign films in the 70s. The credits fess up to the whole thing being an homage to Atom Egoyans self-reflexive oddity Calendar, without ever justifying its existence beyond that hat-tip.

At one point, Kodagolian addresses his own heritage as an Armenian-born Iranian with refugee camp memories, and a kernel of intrigue develops, until he cuts to who hes talking to  the fresh-faced, accommodating cosmetology student (Matilda Lutz) babysitting his child  and Somewhere Beautiful reverts to being the movie version of that navel-gazing bore at the party from whom you cant wait to escape.

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-------------

Somewhere Beautiful

Running time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Not rated

Playing: Vintage Los Feliz 3

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calendar@latimes.com
History is rife with horrific events that somehow manage to reveal true humanity and heroism. Many of these events are underreported, underrepresented and misunderstood, such as the Armenian genocide  the extermination of 1.5 million Armenians and other ethnic and religious minorities by the Ottoman Empire, starting in 1915.

Knowledge of this genocide isnt universal, and Turkey, the successor nation of the Ottoman Empire, still refuses to acknowledge it. The epic melodrama The Promise, based on these events, seeks to remedy popular understanding of the horror. Its a noble undertaking that only partially succeeds.

Written by Robin Swicord and director Terry George, The Promise has all the trappings of a romantic epic  movie stars, love triangles, exotic destinations. It boasts Oscar Isaac, Christian Bale and gorgeous European locations, plus experienced talent behind the camera, so its confounding then that The Promise falls so flat.

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The film is a color-by-numbers wartime drama. Isaac plays Mikael, a young medical student from a small Armenian village, pursuing his fortune in Constantinople. There he befriends a young Turk (Marwan Kenzari) and an American reporter (Bale) and falls in love with a worldly and well-traveled Armenian woman, Ana (Charlotte Le Bon), though hes promised to a young woman back home. When the Ottomans enter World War I, the group is torn apart by hatred, racism and violence.

At least, thats what we can glean from the events depicted onscreen. Throughout its two-hour plus running time, there is nary an explanation of the political machinations behind the persecution of the Armenians. Theres a bit of chit-chat and singing with some German soldiers, a mean Turkish father, and then suddenly everyones being executed and shipped off to labor camps while villages burn.

The lack of exposition could be intended to align us with Mikaels naive perspective. But youll definitely leave The Promise with far more questions than you started. Perhaps we can never really answer why one group commits genocide against another, but it feels slightly irresponsible to make a film ostensibly shedding light on this atrocity and then not attempt to explain it in the least.

Instead, The Promise is mostly concerned with the love triangle between Ana, Mikael and Chris, the reporter. And even the love triangle itself is a disappointment, as these men never seem too concerned that the other is romancing his girl.

The usually charismatic Isaac is saddled with a dud of a character. Mikael spends most of the film buffeted by forces beyond his control and deferring to the desires of others, such as the army and his mother (Shohreh Aghdashloo). Its not until the third act that he starts to make his own decisions. The swaggering heroics are left to Bale as the Hemingway-esque American foreign correspondent.

With seemingly all the right pieces, its a disappointment that The Promise lacks the energy and originality needed to sustain itself. It might be fresh material, but the approach is decidedly stale.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

-------------

The Promise

Running time: 2 hours 12 minutes

Rating: PG-13, for thematic material including war atrocities, violence and disturbing images, and for some sexuality

Playing: In general release

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calendar@latimes.com
If vampires are defined as lethal beings who stalk the Earth feasting on human blood, Milo (Eric Ruffin), the isolated 14-year-old African American protagonist of Michael OSheas quietly powerful directorial debut, technically fits the bill.

Orphaned and withdrawn, Milo lives with his older brother, a PTSD-suffering veteran, in a Brooklyn housing project rife with gangbangers who bully Milo and terrorize the block. Smart and too perceptive for his own good, he spends his lonely days and nights in the comfort of his VHS collection of vampire movies, poring over modern bloodsucking classics like Thirst, Fright Night and Near Dark.

Unlike most teenage boys navigating the usual existential angst of young adulthood, Milo doesnt watch vampire flicks for kicks: Hes also studying them for hunting tricks, rules to avoid detection and capture and, perhaps, clues to the deep, desperate need that occasionally drives him to slip out of his apartment into the shadowy streets of Manhattan in search of his own victims.

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Bold and brutal in shocking spurts, the indie horror drama from writer-director OShea is a startling debut that leaves a fresh mark on the genre while celebrating its forbears. The Transfigurations embrace of its own vampiric influences run so deep that low-budget schlock king Lloyd Kaufman and NYC DIY cinema stalwart Larry Fessenden (Habit) turn up in cameos as unlucky victims of Milos nighttime stalking, their blood literally feeding the hunger of a younger generation.

Milos routine  go to class, evade the questions of a concerned school counselor, watch more movies, find more victims is interrupted with the arrival of Sophie (Chloe Levine), a slightly older girl with self-destructive tendencies of her own who moves into the building with her abusive grandfather. He fights the urge to kill her and drink her blood, the surest sign of true love, or the closest thing to it he can muster.

They wander the city, trading starkly different perspectives on what makes a good vampire movie, and find unexpected solace in one another, two unmoored kids in a big, unforgiving world.

The sparkly vampires of Twilight do it for Sophie, but the emotionally paralyzed Milo has only one standard for vampire movies: Realism. He recommends Let the Right One In, the 2008 Swedish coming-of-age vampire flick about a bullied kid who falls for a vampire, and George A. Romeros 1978 vampire tragedy Martin  the movies from which OSheas script most heavily, and openly, borrows.

By setting The Transfiguration in the inner city of contemporary America  and making his protagonist young, black, male and adrift in a system primed to neglect him  OShea creates a film far more brutal and bleak than either of those spiritual and textual predecessors.

Whether or not Milo really must feed on human blood is left tantalizingly open-ended. The real questions surrounding what drew him to vampire lore in the first place cut directly into the mournful human yearnings that roil inside him, unable to find expression or release.

Shot perceptively by Sung Rae Cho across a concrete but vibrant New York City landscape and largely filmed live in uncontrolled locations with just a skeleton crew and the films young actors, the slow-simmering tale brims with an abundance of space  physical space that engulfs Ruffins diminutive Milo in increasingly isolating tableaux, and emotional space that pays off with surprisingly tragic poignancy in the films final act.

Brutally unflinching and melancholic, the film brings Milos affliction full circle as it reveals the source of his bloody fixation. It achieves a transcendent note as it lays out the grand plan hes been orchestrating all along to find peace not only for himself but for the people he loves  requiem for the tortured vampires of stories past and for all those who find solace in their struggle.

----------

The Transfiguration

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes

Playing: Landmark Nuart, West L.A.

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jen.yamato@latimes.com

@jenyamato
While a planned release of a posthumous EP made up of archived tracks from Prince was blocked by a judge, the independent label behind the project is still selling one of the songs.

The Federal Court located in Minnesota has temporarily enjoined the release of the remaining unreleased tracks on the Deliverance EP. The court order has not enjoined the released single Deliverance. Therefore the Deliverance single will continue to be sold, attorney Matthew Wilson said in a statement on behalf of Rogue Music Alliance, the independent label based in Vancouver, Wash., that is behind the release.

Earlier this week RMA touted the arrival of the EP featuring six songs of previously unheard material.

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The collection was recorded between 2006 and 2008 with producer and songwriter Ian Boxill. Its title track, a bluesy gospel-inflected groove, was already available on streaming services including Apple Music, and the EP had been made available for pre-order on iTunes. Press materials for the project promised that the majority of all sales would benefit the late musicians estate.

After the musicians tragic death last year, Boxill continued to work on the music and arranged for it be released on RMA. The label announced the EP would be released Friday to mark the one-year anniversary of Princes death (he died of a fentanyl overdose at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota).

Princes estate immediately sued Boxill, claiming he was unauthorized to release the music. A federal judge in Minnesota sided with the estate, arguing the release of the EP violated a contract Boxill entered into that gave the late musician sole ownership of any music recorded with the producer.

The ruling that the producer shall not publish or otherwise disseminate any unreleased recordings that comprise the work of Prince Rogers Nelson that are alleged to be within the scope of the Confidentiality Agreement between Boxill and Paisley Park Enterprises meant he needed to deliver all recordings, both digital and analog, to the estate.

Since the title track was commercially released before the ruling, it is still available for purchase  just dont expect to find it on any streaming platforms.

The track can be heard through Soundcloud, but paid downloads of the track are only available through a newly launched site the label rolled out to tout its release (and promote the controversy).

Prince once told me that he would go to bed every night thinking of ways to bypass major labels and get his music directly to the public, Boxill said in the statement. When considering how to release this important work, we decided to go independent because thats what Prince would have wanted.

Boxill wasnt available to comment because of the ongoing legalities of the music, according to a representative for RMA, and the estate didnt return a request for comment but did issue this statement:

The Estate has not authorized any such release and is not affiliated with either Mr. Boxill or Rogue Music Alliance. During his unparalleled career, Prince worked with many sound engineers, including Mr. Boxill.

Like the other engineers that had the opportunity to work with Prince, Mr. Boxill signed an agreement, under which he agreed (1) all recordings that he worked on with Prince would remain Princes sole and exclusive property; (2) he would not use any recordings or property in any way whatsoever; and (3) he would return any such recordings or property to Prince immediately upon request. Mr. Boxill did not comply with his agreement.

Instead, Mr. Boxill maintained copies of certain tracks, waited until after Princes tragic death, and is now attempting to release tracks without the authorization of the Estate and in violation of the agreement and applicable law.

The Estate is taking immediate legal actions to prevent Mr. Boxills continuing violations of his agreement and the rights of the Estate and its partners in Princes recordings. Any dissemination of the recordings and underlying music compositions, or fixation of the same in any audiovisual work or otherwise, is unauthorized and in violation of the Estates rights to the master recordings and musical compositions.

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

gerrick.kennedy@latimes.com

For more music news follow me on Twitter:@GerrickKennedy
One day, circa 2000, Rebecca Skloot was riding in a car with Deborah Lacks, whose late mother, Henrietta, had posthumously and unwittingly contributed to some of the most important medical research of the 20th century.

At the time, Skloot was a scrappy but barely published young journalist, and it would take a decade for her to complete the nonfiction book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. But Lacks had a prescient vision:

 This book is going to come out and its going to be a bestseller. Theres going to be a movie. Oprah is going to star in it,  Skloot recalls Lacks saying during that drive. And I was there going, Deborah, Deborah, whoa, whoa, thats crazy. Lets be realistic here. 

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Nearly two decades later, Lacks prediction  which Skloot had forgotten until she recently unearthed it on an old audiotape  has been realized. Not only did Skloots 2010 book become a runaway bestseller, but it also has been adapted into a movie starring, yes, Oprah Winfrey.

Co-written and directed by George C. Wolfe and premiering Saturday on HBO, the film follows Skloot (Rose Byrne) and Deborah Lacks (Winfrey) on a journey to understand more about Henrietta, who died of cervical cancer at age 31 in 1951, leaving behind five small children and a legacy that would change modern medicine.

Unbeknown to Henrietta (played in flashbacks by Renee Elise Goldsberry), a doctor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore had removed cancer cells from her cervix. These cells were able to reproduce outside the body at astonishing rates, making them ideal for medical research. The mass-produced HeLa cells, as they became known, have contributed to major breakthroughs, including the polio vaccine and in-vitro fertilization  all thanks to a black woman who died in obscurity and whose family has never been compensated for her contributions to medicine.

In a call from her home in Santa Barbara, Winfrey recalls her initial impressions of Skloots book.

Being a student of African American history, I was thrown by the idea that Id never heard of Henrietta Lacks, and especially having lived in Baltimore...  Oprah Winfrey

Being a student of African American history, I was thrown by the idea that Id never heard of Henrietta Lacks, and especially having lived in Baltimore, and traveled the streets she lived on and been a reporter in that town for eight years and never having heard her name  thats what was fascinating to me, says Winfrey.

Shortly after the books publication, Winfrey teamed with HBO and Six Feet Under producer Alan Ball to adapt the hotly contested property. One of the defining characteristics of my personality is whenever I discover anything, whether its a great juicer, or as a kid a great candy bar, or as now a great story, I love to share it, she says.

Skloot, who spent a decade reporting and writing the book and forging close relationships with the Lacks family, was understandably protective of the material. But shed been impressed by HBO films such as Temple Grandin, about the autistic animal behavior expert, and You Dont Know Jack, about euthanasia activist Dr. Jack Kevorkian  movies that handled complex science ethics stories, where theres a real gray area.

The film has followed a lengthy gestation process, thanks in part of the challenge of adapting Skloots 400-page book  which deftly interweaves a painful family saga with complex science, racial history and medical ethics  into a concise screenplay.

Wolfe, a Tony-winning playwright and director whose theater credits include The Normal Heart, Lucky Guy and last years acclaimed musical Shuffle Along, made the decision to focus on Deborahs quest to know more about the mother she lost as a baby.

Wolfe was particularly moved by the fact that Deborah had virtually no memories of her mother, though her cells were now immortal and had improved the lives of countless millions.

Her desire to process this information, to gather pieces no matter how desperate, no matter how clueless, no matter how, sometimes, foolish it was, just to know  I found that heroic and thrilling, Wolfe says during a break from editing in the frenzied final weeks before the films release. By design, the audience knows only as much about Henrietta as Deborah does.

As much as he revered Skloots writing, Wolfe was more interested in embodying the world than treating the book with kid gloves. You honor the work by digging, you dont honor the work by being passive to the process. Youve got to get in there and wrestle. And if its a strong muscle, it can withstand your wrestling.

Wolfes involvement also helped convince Winfrey, who hadnt planned to star in the film but reconsidered, thanks to a recommendation from Audra McDonald. The Shuffle Along star urged Winfrey to work with Wolfe if she ever had the chance.

For the talk show doyenne and media tycoon, acting has been a successful if occasional side gig, with roles in films including The Color Purple and Beloved as well as a more recent recurring part in the OWN family drama Greenleaf. But performing feeds her in a way thats different from, say, interviewing former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Its really stimulating to probe the depths of yourself, searching for emotions that otherwise would go untouched or unexplored, particularly for me, says Winfrey. Still, playing Deborah, a devoutly religious but troubled woman with a host of eccentricities  in one scene, she douses a restaurant table in Lysol before sitting down  was a challenge.

I have to go really, really, really deep to pull up rage and anger. Really. Really. Really deep.  Oprah Winfrey

I have to go really, really, really deep to pull up rage and anger. Really. Really. Really deep, she says, enunciating in a way that can only be described as Winfrey-esque. I dont live in that space.

Winfrey relied on Skloots extensive audiotapes to help build the character, and discussed Deborah with members of the Lacks family, several of whom were enlisted as paid consultants on the film.

I said, Look, my job is to to make an offering of this story so that the world will know your mother and your grandmother in a way they did not before,  Winfrey recalls telling them.  Im not going to be your mother, and Im not going to be able to re-create everything she was for you. 

Nevertheless, at least one member of the family, Henriettas eldest son, Lawrence Lacks, is unhappy with the film, accusing HBO of exploiting his mothers memory. Winfrey brushes off the criticism. Overall, the family is pleased, she says.

As for working with the Oprah Winfrey, Byrne confesses she was as intrigued as anybody but also impressed by her commitment. She really conserved her energy. She was not the bubbly personality you see on TV, which I completely respect. It was a big job for her to bring that character to life.

Byrne has a less showy role as Skloot, who was reluctant to write herself into the book. The fictionalized Skloot is an outsider acutely aware of how she, as a white journalist with much to gain by telling Henriettas story, might be viewed with suspicion by the family. Byrne focused on capturing Skloots spirit.

Only someone with her tenacity and her wit and persistence could have accomplished this book, she says.

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Where: HBO

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Rating: TV-MA (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17)

meredith.blake@latimes.com

Follow me @MeredithBlake

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UPDATES:

2:50 p.m.: This article was updated to reflect George C. Wolfes credit as co-writer of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
Federal officials acknowledged Wednesday that Juan Manuel Montes protected immigration status was not due to expire until 2018, correcting themselves on one point in a case that thrust the 23-year-old Mexican national into the center of a heated debate on illegal immigration.

They had said Tuesday that Montes protected status ended two years ago.

At the same time, Department of Homeland Security officials denied Montes claim in a federal lawsuit that he had been deported, saying Wednesday he had voluntarily left the U.S. for Mexico.

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That could make him ineligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which shields young people from deportation who were brought to the country as children and stayed illegally.

While Montes remained in Mexicali, separated from his family in California, his situation generated fury among immigration advocates and drew comment from top officials in the Trump administration.

He would be the first so-called Dreamer  as DACA enrollees are known  to be deported by the Trump administration. But administration officials said the case did not signal a policy change.

Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, appearing on Fox News Happening Now, said DACA enrollees are not being targeted, and that he didnt know why Montes was picked up.

The administrations focus is on removing people caught at the border, recent entrants and people who ran afoul of the law, Sessions said. However, he stopped short of saying that Dreamers were guaranteed protection.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said circumstances surrounding Montes were being looked at and that the facts are not completely out yet.

Montes situation came to light Tuesday when he sued the Trump administration in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego. The civil suit alleges that he had been wrongly deported to Mexico by officials who refused to tell him why.

The suit claims the government is in violation of the Freedom of Information Act because no records have been released on Montes case, despite numerous requests, which is a violation of the statute. It asks the court to order the government to release those records.

His attorneys say Montes was detained by Border Patrol officials on Feb. 17 in Calexico and deported.

After the Department of Homeland Security issued its statement correcting Montes DACA status and denying he had been deported, his attorneys reiterated their claim that he had been forcibly removed.

Juan Manuel has been unequivocal in his assertion that he never voluntarily left the country while he had DACA. We believe him. We filed a [Freedom of Information Act] lawsuit to get answers. Rather than continue to provide half-truths and varying assertions, [Homeland Security] should respond to our request for documentation, said Nora A. Preciado, a staff attorney with the National Immigration Law Center and co-counsel on the case.

The incident touched a nerve in the immigrant rights community and among Dreamers. An estimated 742,000 Dreamers live in the U.S., one-third of them in California.

The hashtag #justiceforjuan gained steam soon after news about Montes spread, touching off a rally in front of federal immigration offices in the nations capital and an online petition to Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly.

One point immigration officials and Montes attorneys agree on is that Border Patrol officials detained Montes on Feb. 19 as he tried to scale a fence back into the U.S. He was returned to Mexico.

Montes, who said he has lived in the U.S. since he was 9, has learning disabilities after suffering a traumatic brain injury when he was young. He did farm labor and studied welding at a community college before he was deported.

Officials said Wednesday that Montes had four criminal convictions  one for shoplifting and three for driving without a license. But those offenses are not serious enough to disqualify someone from DACA.

Montes was approved for the program in 2014 and received a renewal in 2016.

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) praised immigration enforcement agents Tuesday on Twitter for removing Montes.

First non-valedictorian DREAMer deported. Border Patrol, this ones for you, he tweeted with a photo of a beer mug and a link to a story by USA Today, which was first to report on Montes case.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

cindy.carcamo@latimes.com

Twitter: @thecindycarcamo

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UPDATES:

April 19, 10:30 p.m.: This article was updated with additional information about Montes lawsuit against the government.

This article was originally published at 7:05 p.m.
USC names retired aerospace executive Wanda Austin as acting president, announces Nikias departure By Harriet Ryan USC appointed a retired aerospace executive as interim president and laid out a detailed plan for selecting a permanent leader Tuesday, ending speculation about whether outgoing President C.L. Max Nikias might remain in the post. Nikias, embattled over his administrations handling of a campus gynecologist accused of sexually abusing patients, relinquished his duties after a meeting of USCs board. The trustees tapped one of their own, Wanda Austin, an alumna and former president of the Aerospace Corp., to temporarily run the university. The trustees also approved the formation of a search committee and the hiring of firm Isaacson, Miller to coordinate the selection of a successor. A second search company, Heidrick & Struggles, will also advise trustees. Read More Facebook

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Ex-student sues elite Brentwood School after teacher is charged with sexually abusing him By Richard Winton A former student sued the elite Brentwood School on Monday in the wake of a female teacher being charged with repeatedly having sex with the minor, alleging that other faculty members encouraged the unlawful behavior and failed to report it to authorities. The lawsuit accuses the private school, whose students include the children of many of Hollywoods elite and L.A.s powerful, of acting negligently and allowing Aimee Palmitessa to abuse and batter the teenager sexually. The suit alleges that the student was abused in summer 2017 after one of the schools counselors offered words of encouragement to the then-17-year-old, identified in the suit as only John Doe, to engage in an illegal relationship with the teacher. Read More Facebook

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Civil jury vindicates fired Montebello school executives in whistleblower case By Howard Blume The Montebello school district is in dire straits  at risk of insolvency and under apparent criminal investigation. An outside audit in July found some teachers earning more than $200,000 a year, as well as improper raises, excess paid vacation time and inappropriate overtime, sick leave and car allowances. Fixing the district and pinpointing blame could take time. Read More Facebook

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L.A. schools fall short on safety measures, new report warns By Howard Blume After the mass shooting at Floridas Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February, Los Angeles school officials reassured parents that much had been done to keep local schools safe. California had tougher gun laws, after all, and the school district paid close attention to students mental health. But a new report issued Monday by a panel convened to take a close look offers some cause for concern, flagging inconsistent campus safety measures, thinly spread mental health staff and inadequate coordination between the school district and other public agencies. With the stakes this high, we must strive to do better, said L.A. City Atty. Mike Feuer, who assembled the panel. Read More Facebook

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L.A. school district says more are graduating, but rate may not show it By Howard Blume The L.A. Unified School District has hopes of continuing its winning streak this year with another record graduation rate, but the official numbers may not show it. A senior district administrator warned the board Tuesday that graduation rates were likely to decline 2% to 3% across the state, even though L.A. Unified is likely doing better than ever in producing graduates, he said. The issue is that the state will now count high school students who transfer to adult school as dropouts, said Oscar Lafarga, who heads the districts office of data and accountability. Previously, schools treated these students as though they had simply enrolled in another high school, he said. Read More Facebook

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Betsy DeVos to California: Not so fast on that federal education plan By Joy Resmovits In April, Californias top education officials breathed a sigh of relief. After months of debate and back-and-forth with Betsy DeVos staff, they had finalized a plan to satisfy a major education law that aims to make sure all students get a decent education. The state focused on aligning its plan to fulfill the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act with Californias Local Control Funding Formula, which gives extra money to districts to help students who come from low-income families, are in the foster system or are English learners. But this week, DeVos team said not so fast. Jason Botel, the U.S. Department of Educations principal deputy assistant secretary, sent California education officials a letter asking for more information in such areas as measuring student progress, graduation rates and English learners. In an unsigned statement, the California Department of Education declared itself surprised and disappointed because officials thought  after a meeting with federal officials in Washington  that they were on the right track to get approval. Now the Every Student Succeeds Act plan will be up for discussion once again at the July meeting of the State Board of Education. The U.S. Department of Education has already approved most state plans. Every Student Succeeds is the Obama administrations 2015 replacement for the No Child Left Behind Act. Facebook

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L.A. school board sets a new goal: prepare every grad to be eligible to apply for Cal State or UC By Sonali Kohli Last month, Los Angeles school board president proposed a spate of highly ambitious mandates aimed at ensuring that every district graduate be eligible to apply to one of the states public four-year universities by 2023. By the time the L.A. Unified school board unanimously approved the resolution Tuesday, the original language had been watered down. The goal is no longer that in five years 100% of students meet the long list of benchmarks, which include not just college eligibility for graduates but first-grade reading proficiency and English fluency by sixth grade for all students who enter the district in kindergarten or first grade speaking another language. The original college-readiness goal, for example, called for 100% of all high school students to be eligible to apply to one of the states four-year universities. Now the goal seems to offer more wiggle room: Prepare all high school graduates to be eligible to apply to a California four-year university. Read More Facebook

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We have been hurt. More women say they were mistreated by USC gynecologist By Richard Winton USC student Anika Narayanan says she vividly recalls her first appointment with Dr. George Tyndall at the campus health center, alleging that he made several explicit comments during an examination she felt was inappropriate and invasive. When she came back for a second visit in 2016 after a nonconsensual sexual encounter, he allegedly chastised her, she said in a civil lawsuit and at a press conference Tuesday. He asked me if I had forgotten to use a condom again,  said Narayanan, 21. At one point, she said, Tyndall asked if I did a lot of doggy style,  she said. Read More Facebook

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L.A. Unified gives inspector general brief contract extension By Howard Blume The Los Angeles school board on Tuesday extended the contract of Ken Bramlett, its inspector general, by three months, though his job is far from secure and questions remain about the future direction of his watchdog office. Board members also unanimously promoted Vivian Ekchian, who had been the runner-up for the superintendents job, to deputy superintendent  the districts No. 2 position. Both moves had elements of peacemaking between different factions on the board. Read More Facebook

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USCs handling of complaints about campus gynecologist is being investigated by federal government By Harriet Ryan The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday that it has launched an investigation into how the University of Southern California handled misconduct complaints against a campus gynecologist, the latest fallout in a scandal that has prompted the resignation of USCs president, two law enforcement investigations and dozens of lawsuits. In revealing the inquiry by the departments Office of Civil Rights, officials rebuked USC for what they alleged was improper withholding of information about Dr. George Tyndall during a previous federal investigation. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who has been criticized for taking a less vigorous approach to examining sexual misconduct than predecessors, called for a systemic examination of USC and urged administrators to fully cooperate. Read More Facebook

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Judge to sentence woman and her boyfriend for the murder of an 8-year-old that led to L.A. child welfare reforms By Marisa Gerber A woman and her boyfriend are expected to be sentenced Thursday for the torture and murder of an 8-year-old boy whose killing in 2013 provoked public outrage, prompted sweeping reform of Los Angeles Countys child welfare system, and led to unprecedented criminal charges against social workers who handled the childs case. Pearl Sinthia Fernandez, 34, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole for her role in the death of her son, Gabriel. A jury decided last year that her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, 37, should be executed. When paramedics arrived at the boys Palmdale home in May 2013, Gabriel had slipped out of consciousness. He had a fractured skull, broken ribs, burned skin, missing teeth and BB pellets embedded in his groin. A paramedic would later testify that every inch of the boys small body had been abused. Read More Facebook

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L.A. Unifieds spending out of step with similar school systems, task force says By Howard Blume The Los Angeles school district is out of step with similar school systems, spending more on teachers pay and health benefits and less on activities that could enhance student learning, according to a new report by an outside task force. The L.A. Unified School District Advisory Task Force did not make specific recommendations, but instead posed a series of questions it said the district needs to answer to make sure its funding is aimed at providing a full opportunity for all students to succeed. What were trying to say is: Lets put the data on the table. Lets look at the truth. Lets be transparent and here are the numbers, said task force member Renata Simril. This is not to say that  we should cut teachers salaries. Read More Facebook

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Top USC medical school official feared dean was doing drugs and alerted administration, he testifies By Paul Pringle A former vice dean of USCs Keck School of Medicine testified Tuesday that he feared the schools then-dean, Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito, could be doing drugs and expressed concerns about his general well-being to the universitys No. 2 administrator before Puliafito abruptly left his job in 2016. Dr. Henri Fords testimony at a hearing of the state Medical Board marks the first suggestion that any USC administrator had suspicions about Puliafitos possible drug use before he stepped down. A Times investigation in 2017 found Puliafito led a secret second life of using illegal drugs with a circle of young criminals and addicts. Puliafito testified about his behavior at the hearing Tuesday, saying he took drugs with one young woman on a weekly basis. Ford said that he decided to alert USC Provost Michael Quick after receiving reports in early 2016 that Puliafito was partying in hotels with people of questionable reputation, and that he came to worry about his mental stability. Read More Facebook

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Why L.A. Unified may face financial crisis even with a giant surplus this year By Jessica Calefati With more than half a billion dollars socked away for next school year, the Los Angeles Unified School District hardly seems just two years from financial ruin. Its a scenario that is especially tough to swallow if youre a low-wage worker seeking a raise or a teacher who wants smaller classes. But budget documents show that todays $548-million surplus cannot be sustained  and that even basic services face steep, seemingly unavoidable cuts because of massive problems barreling the districts way. Theres a disconnect between the rosy short-term picture and what we know is coming, said board member Kelly Gonez. Read More Facebook

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We have failed: Top USC officials try to reassure students amid gynecologist scandal By Joy Resmovits Top administrators at USC are reaching out to students in the wake of misconduct allegations against the universitys longtime gynecologist, acknowledging failings and vowing reforms as they try to address growing outrage over the revelations. Several USC deans have sent out messages trying to reassure students and faculty that the university is committed to changing. We have failed, wrote Jack H. Knott, dean of USCs Sol Price School of Public Policy, in a May 24 letter. What happened is antithetical to everything we know is right. Read More Facebook

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Rick Caruso is named chair of USCs trustees, vows swift investigation of gynecologist scandal By Thomas Curwen The University of Southern Californias board of trustees has elected mall magnate Rick Caruso to be the new chair of the board, giving fresh leadership as the university navigates a widening scandal involving a longtime campus gynecologist. The move marks the latest effort by USC to address the case, which has sparked a criminal investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department and dozens of civil lawsuits. More than 400 people have contacted a hotline that the university established for patients to make reports about their experience with Dr. George Tyndall. In his first act as chairman, Caruso announced that the white-shoe L.A. law firm OMelveny & Myers would conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the gynecologists conduct and reporting failures at the clinic. He set an ambitious timeline for the review, pledging it would conclude before students return for the fall semester. Read More Facebook

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UC Berkeley students persistence helps win more liberal rules for in-state tuition By Teresa Watanabe Ifechukwu Okeke thought shed be a shoo-in for in-state tuition when she was admitted to UC Berkeley for fall 2016. She had moved to the United States from Nigeria in 2012 to go to Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga. By the time she got her acceptance to transfer to UC to study molecular and cell biology, she had lived in California four years. She had a California drivers license, bank account and rental records as proof. UC Berkeley, however, ruled she was a nonresident  which meant she would have to pay nearly $27,000 more. Read More Facebook

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State medical board calls former County-USC doctor a sexual predator, suspends his license By Matt Hamilton A UCLA cardiologist has been temporarily stripped of his medical license after state regulators described him as a sexual predator who assaulted three female colleagues when he was working and training at L.A. County-USC Medical Center. Read More Facebook

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Global California 2030 aims to get more students learning more languages By Joy Resmovits Tom Torlakson (Andrew Seng / Associated Press) Outgoing state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson on Wednesday announced a new statewide effort to encourage students to learn more languages. Called Global California 2030, its goal is to help more students become fluent in multiple tongues. Torlakson said that by 2030, he wants half of the states 6.2 million K-12 students to participate in classes or programs that lead to proficiency in two or more languages. By 2040, he wants three out of four students to be proficient enough to earn the State Seal of Biliteracy. Torlakson announced the initiative at Cahuenga Elementary School, which offers a dual-language immersion program in English and Korean. Californias public school students speak more than 60 languages at home, and 40% come to school with knowledge of a language other than English. Torlakson called his plan a call to action that invites parents, legislators, educators and community members to pool resources to expand language offerings in schools and get more bilingual teachers trained. He said the state already is working with Mexico and Spain to expand a teacher-exchange program. Fluency, the plan argues, can help students succeed economically  and language acquisition can help their overall critical thinking. The initiative builds on Proposition 58, a ballot initiative passed in 2016 that undid an earlier requirement that English learners be taught in English-immersion classes unless their parents signed waivers. Torlakson recently visited Mexico and met with that countrys education secretary. They later signed a pact to increase collaboration, particularly in language education. This [Global California 2030] is great follow-through on Toms part and very important, Patricia Gandara, a UCLA education professor who hosted the Mexico meeting, said in an email. It hands over a plan to move forward in an area in which California has a unique advantage, but must seize the opportunity. Facebook

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Jury convicts man of murder in 2015 slaying of UCLA student found inside her burning apartment By Marisa Gerber A jury on Tuesday convicted a man in the 2015 slaying of a UCLA student found dead inside her burning apartment  a gruesome stabbing case that led to a fierce rebuke of the police response amid concerns that the killing could have been prevented. The panel deliberated for about six hours before finding Alberto Medina, 24, guilty of murder, arson, burglary and animal cruelty. On Sept. 21, 2015, firefighters found the charred body of Andrea DelVesco inside her apartment after responding to the complex a block from campus. The 21-year-old student  an Austin, Texas, native known to her sorority sisters as a fearless giver who befriended others with ease  was stabbed at least 19 times, authorities said. Read More Facebook

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LAPD begins sweeping criminal probe of former USC gynecologist while urging patients to come forward By Adam Elmahrek The Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday it is investigating 52 complaints of misconduct filed by former patients of USCs longtime campus gynecologist as detectives launch a sweeping criminal probe into the scandal that has rocked the university. LAPD detectives also made an appeal for other patients who feel mistreated to come forward, noting that thousands of students were examined by Dr. George Tyndall during his nearly 30-year career at USC. More than 410 people have contacted a university hotline about the physician since The Times revealed the allegations this month. Tyndalls behavior and practices appear to go beyond the norms of the medical profession and gynecological examinations, said Asst. Chief Beatrice Girmala. We sincerely realize that victims may have difficulty recounting such details to investigators. We are empathetic and ready to listen. Read More Facebook

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At L.A.'s only school for the deaf, parents want leaders who speak the same language By Anna M. Phillips Ever since her son was 6 months old, Juliet Hidalgo has been bringing him to the Marlton School, a low-slung building in Baldwin Hills that for generations has been a second home for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Los Angeles. Marlton staff taught Hidalgos brother and sister, both of whom are deaf. The school was where her deaf son learned to make the signs for milk and food. Hidalgo had planned to enroll her daughter, taking advantage of a popular program that allows hearing children to learn American Sign Language alongside their deaf siblings. But after more than a decade of involvement, she and other family members are considering withdrawing their children. They are not alone. Read More Facebook

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Fueled by unlimited donations, independent groups play their biggest role yet in a California primary for governor By Ryan Menezes An unprecedented amount of money from wealthy donors, unions and corporations is flowing into the California governors race, giving independent groups  unrestricted by contribution limits  a greater say in picking the states chief executive than ever before. The groups have already spent more than $26 million through Thursday, the most ever spent by noncandidate committees in a gubernatorial primary, according to a Times analysis of campaign finance reports. California elections have always been expensive, and the future is even more expensive, said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College and a former state Republican leader. The stakes are very real. Read More Facebook

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2 hurt in Indiana middle school shooting; suspect in custody, authorities say By Associated Press Authorities say two victims in a shooting at a suburban Indianapolis school are being taken to a hospital and the lone suspect is in custody. Bryant Orem, a spokesman for the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office, said in a news release that the victims in Friday mornings attack at Noblesville West Middle School are being taken to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis and their families have been notified. He says no other information is available about the victims. Orem said the suspect is believed to have acted alone and was taken into custody. No additional information about the suspect was made public. Read More Facebook

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For new L.A. schools chief Austin Beutner, some key unions are giving no honeymoon period By Howard Blume In the less than two weeks since Austin Beutner took charge of Los Angeles schools, unions representing teachers and administrators have staged a job action and a protest. Theyve made it clear that they will not give the new superintendent the traditional honeymoon period, and they are bashing him for his wealth and lack of experience running either a school or a school district. Beutner is a billionaire investment banker with zero qualifications, local teachers union President Alex Caputo-Pearl told members in a phone alert urging them to participate in a Thursday afternoon rally in Grand Park. The board is saying that billionaires who made their money blowing institutions up and making money off it know best  not the education professionals who have dedicated our careers to working with students. Read More Facebook

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Pressure grows on Board of Trustees amid USC gynecologist scandal By Paul Pringle USCs large and powerful Board of Trustees is coming under growing pressure to provide a stronger hand as the university faces a crisis over misconduct allegations against the campus longtime gynecologist that has prompted calls for President C.L. Max Nikias to step down. Allegations that Dr. George Tyndall mistreated students during his nearly 30 years at USC have roiled the campus, with about 300 people coming forward to make reports to the university and the Los Angeles Police Department launching a criminal investigation. USC is already beginning to face what is expected to be costly litigation by women who say they were victimized by the physician. So far, the trustees to whom Nikias reports have expressed sympathy for the women who have come forward and launched an independent investigation while also publicly backing the president. Read More Facebook

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UC regents approve leaner budget for Janet Napolitano By Teresa Watanabe University of California regents on Thursday unanimously approved a leaner, more transparent budget for President Janet Napolitano, moving to address political criticism over the systems central office operations. The $876.4-million budget for 2018-19 reflects spending cuts of 2%, including reductions in staffing, travel and such systemwide programs as public service law fellowships, carbon neutrality and food security. Napolitano shifted $30 million to campuses for housing needs and $10 million to UC Riverside to support its five-year-old medical school. She also permanently redirected $8.5 million annually to help enroll more California students, as required by the state. Read More Facebook

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USCs Academic Senate calls on university president to resign after a series of scandals By Matt Hamilton The body that represents USCs faculty called on President C.L. Max Nikias to resign Wednesday in the wake of relevations that the universitys longtime gynecologist faced years of accusations of misconduct by students and colleagues at the campus health clinic. The Academic Senate took the vote late Wednesday afternoon after a fiery town hall meeting attended by more than 100 faculty members, many of whom voiced outrage over Nikias and the Board of Trustees leadership. The vote came a day after the trustees executive committee stood firmly behind Nikias, saying it has full confidence in his leadership, ethics and values. At the town hall meeting, Senate President Paul Rosenbloom said he did not think Nikias or Provost Michael Quick committed wrongdoing but that the university president deserved criticism for a lack of transparency. Read More Facebook

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Californias public universities on the way to getting a big longed-for boost in funding By Teresa Watanabe The University of California and California State University systems are poised to get major funding boosts that will help them enroll thousands of additional state students and eliminate the need for tuition increases in the coming school year. A key Assembly budget panel on Wednesday approved $117.5 million in new funds for the UC. A Senate panel approved a similar sum last week. The same committees recently approved even more funding for the Cal State system. Read More Facebook

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UC regents to scrutinize Janet Napolitanos office budget in a step toward stronger oversight By Teresa Watanabe University of California regents this week plan to scrutinize the budget of President Janet Napolitano, whose office came under political fire last year for questionable spending and murky accounting. Regents will vote on the proposed $876.4-million budget for 2018-19 during their two-day meeting, which starts Wednesday, at UC San Francisco. They also will discuss state funding, financial aid, online education and transfer student policies. Board Chairman George Kieffer said regents are stepping up to exert stronger oversight of the presidents office after a blistering state audit last year found financial problems including an unreported $175 million budget reserve. Read More Facebook

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State legislative panels approve major funding boost for Cal State By Teresa Watanabe After months of intensive lobbying, Cal State University has convinced two key legislative panels to approve funding to enroll nearly 11,000 more students, hire more faculty and expand housing aid to those without shelter this fall. An Assembly budget panel on Tuesday approved $215.7 million more for Cal State, adding to Gov. Jerry Browns proposed $92.1 million general fund increase. A Senate budget panel approved a similar increase last week. The extra funding  which went beyond Cal States own request to the Legislature of $171 million  is still subject to final budget negotiations with Brown. But the actions by the Senate and Assembly panels amount to a demand from Democrats that the governor hike higher education spending. Cal State University is the workhorse undergraduate university serving hundreds of thousands of Californians, said Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), who heads the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance. We need more graduates for the California workforce and higher education is the ticket to the middle class. Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White hailed the actions, but said it was too soon to celebrate. The CSU has a singular focus on helping students earn high-quality degrees sooner, and the entire university community has rallied to reinforce that message to our states lawmakers, he said in a statement. The actions taken thus far by the Assembly and Senate are promising and show that our message is being received, but there is still work to be done. Funding for the University of California was not taken up Tuesday as originally scheduled. McCarty would not comment on sticking points but said he was confident that a resolution would be reached this week. Were looking to provide resources above whats in the governors budget, but negotiations are ongoing, he said in an interview. State per-student funding is not what it once was, leaving both Cal State and the UC in a tough financial squeeze. Both systems raised tuition last year after a six-year freeze on higher costs. For this year, Cal State had asked for funding to enroll an additional 3,621 students, but both the Senate and Assembly panels approved three times that amount. Cal State, the largest public university system in the nation, turned away 32,000 eligible students last year because its campuses werent able to accommodate them. The panels asked that at least $50 million of the extra funding be used to hire more tenure-track faculty to help boost graduation rates. The Assembly panel also approved one-time funding of $5 million to ease hunger on campuses and $14 million for rapid rehousing pilot projects at three campuses, offering needy students rental support and short-term case management. Other items approved include $5 million to support the CSU Long Beach Shark Labs research on sharks and beach safety and $2 million for equal employment opportunity practices. This post has been updated to include comments from Assemblyman Kevin McCarty and Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White. Facebook

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Faculty members call for USC president to step down: He has lost the moral authority to lead By Matt Hamilton Two hundred USC professors on Tuesday demanded the resignation of university President C. L. Max Nikias, saying he had lost the moral authority to lead in the wake of revelations that a campus gynecologist was kept on staff for decades despite repeated complaints of misconduct. Read More Facebook

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Gun battle, negotiations lasted 15 minutes before Texas school shooter was apprehended, sheriff says By Molly Hennessy-Fiske Minutes after a school shooter opened fire in an art class last week, killing 10 people and wounding 13, including a local police officer, fellow officers returned fire in a protracted gun battle before isolating the suspect, the local sheriff said Monday. Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset praised first responders as well as Santa Fe Police Officer John Barnes, who was working as a resource officer at the school the day of the shooting. Their actions, he said, prevented the attack from spreading to other classrooms and potentially claiming additional victims. As officials continue to probe last Fridays shooting at Santa Fe High School, students are worried about returning to the scene of the attack when classes resume next week. Read More Facebook

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6 women sue USC, alleging they were victimized by campus gynecologist By Richard Winton Six women filed civil lawsuits Monday alleging that a longtime gynecologist at the University of Southern California sexually victimized them under the pretext of medical care and that USC failed to address complaints from clinic staff about the doctors behavior. One woman alleged Dr. George Tyndall forced his entire ungloved hand into her vagina during an appointment in 2003 while making vulgar remarks about her genitalia, according to one of the lawsuits. Another woman alleged that Tyndall groped her breasts in a 2008 visit and that later he falsely told her she likely had AIDS. A third woman accused the doctor of grazing his ungloved fingers over her nude body and leering at her during a purported skin exam, the lawsuit states. The wave of litigation comes as USC continues to grapple with the scandal, which legal experts said could prove costly to the university as scores of former patients come forward about their experiences with the gynecologist. Read More Facebook

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Fatalities reported in Texas high school shooting; suspect arrested, officials say By Associated Press Houston-area media citing unnamed law enforcement officials are reporting that there are fatalities following a shooting at a local high school Friday morning. Television station KHOU and the Houston Chronicle are citing unnamed federal, county and police officials following the shooting at Santa Fe High School, which went on lockdown around 8 a.m. The Associated Press has not been able to confirm the reports. The school district has confirmed an unspecified number of injuries but said it wouldnt immediately release further details. Assistant Principal Cris Richardson said a suspect has been arrested and secured. Read More Facebook

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This student followed the new L.A. schools chief on his first-day tour Melissa Barales-Lopez, a senior at Garfield High School followed Supt. Austin Beutner on his first day on the job, as he toured a variety of programs around the Los Angeles Unified School District. Heres what she took from the experience. LAUSD students and staff alike are looking for a personal champion, someone who will address and improve the difficulties afflicting their education.  What LAUSD students need is someone whos willing to listen and learn, someone who can understand the current issues affecting their schools and act to efficiently amend them, someone who can unlock the full potential of LAUSD students and enable them to reach their goals. During the entirety of his first day, superintendent Austin Beutner did indeed demonstrate a willingness to learn. Posing questions to teachers and students, Beutner engaged with the student communities he encountered to gain a better comprehension of the minutiae and nuances that distinguish each school inside an overwhelmingly large district. From inquiries about Grand View Boulevard Elementary Schools dual language program to questions regarding the services of LAUSDs after-school program, Beyond the Bell, Beutner revealed he has a lot to learn about the system. But, Beutner also showcased a willingness to tackle challenges head-on on his first day. Read More Facebook

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USC let a gynecologist continue treating students despite years of misconduct allegations By Matt Hamilton For nearly 30 years, the University of Southern Californias student health clinic had one full-time gynecologist: Dr. George Tyndall. Tall and garrulous with distinctive jet black hair, he treated tens of thousands of female students, many of them teenagers seeing a gynecologist for the first time. Few who lay down on Tyndalls exam table at the Engemann Student Health Center knew that he had been accused repeatedly of misconduct toward young patients. The complaints began in the 1990s, when co-workers alleged he was improperly photographing students genitals. In the years that followed, patients and nursing staff accused him again and again of creepy behavior, including touching women inappropriately during pelvic exams and making sexually suggestive remarks about their bodies. Read More Facebook

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Cal State trustees to discuss Browns latest budget proposal, which they say still falls $171 million short By Joy Resmovits Just how much money does California State University need to serve its students? In recent years, this question has been front and center for the nations largest public university system. Cal States leaders say that to keep their campuses quality from slipping, they need much more money than the state is giving them. This year, theyre also at odds with Gov. Jerry Brown on the question of whether any extra money should come in one-time bursts or be ongoing. Read More Facebook

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On his first day as L.A. schools chief, Beutner plans a day of visits across the district By Howard Blume L.A. Unifieds new superintendent, Austin Beutner, will kick off his first day of work on Tuesday with a choreographed tour of the nations second-largest school district, from the San Fernando Valley to Carson. His day is scheduled to begin at 5:15 a.m. at a school bus depot and end more than 12 hours later at a parent meeting at Garfield High School. Along the way, Beutner is expected to be joined by school district administrators, L.A. Unified board members and the vice president of the union that represents school bus drivers. Though he will be covering a lot of ground, Beutners tour has him skipping Tuesdays school board meeting, when board members are expected to discuss labor negotiations in closed session. Read More Facebook

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Cal State trustees to discuss Browns latest budget proposal, which they say still falls $171 million short By Joy Resmovits Just how much money does California State University need to serve its students? In recent years, this question has been front and center for the nations largest public university system. Cal States leaders say that to keep their campuses quality from slipping, they need much more money than the state is giving them. This year, theyre also at odds with Gov. Jerry Brown on the question of whether any extra money should come in one-time bursts or be ongoing. Read More Facebook

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Why a handful of rich charter school supporters are spending millions to elect Antonio Villaraigosa as governor By Ryan Menezes California voters have seen a barrage of sunny television ads in recent weeks touting former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosas record on finances, crime and education, aired by Families & Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor 2018. But the group is, in fact, largely funded by a handful of wealthy charter-school supporters. Together they have spent more than $13 million in less than a month to boost Villaraigosas chances in the June 5 primary  at a time when his fundraising and poll numbers are lagging. Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, jump-started the group with a $7-million check, by far the largest donation to support any candidate in the election. Their efforts are part of a broader proxy war among Democrats between teachers unions  longtime stalwarts of the party  and those who argue that the groups have failed low-income and minority schoolchildren. Read More Facebook

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Talking schools with L.A. Unifieds new superintendent By Anna M. Phillips Austin Beutner, who officially starts Tuesday as the new superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, is taking on a famously difficult job at a particularly difficult time. The school board is divided and did not back him unanimously. The nations second-largest school district has deep-seated problems, including declining enrollment, lagging academic achievement and rising pension and healthcare costs that eat away at its budget. The 58-year-old former investment banker and former L.A. Times publisher has years of experience in the financial world but none as an educator. Earlier this week, he sat down with the Times education team to discuss the challenges facing the district, which has about 60,000 employees and 500,000 students in traditional public schools. He did not talk about his plans  saying repeatedly, stay tuned  but he spoke in broad terms about his mindset in approaching the tough decisions ahead. Read More Facebook

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Suspect detained, authorities search campus after reports of armed man at Palmdale high school By James Queally One person has been detained after a report of an armed man at a Palmdale high school sparked a massive law enforcement response Friday morning. The suspect was spotted at 7:05 a.m. on the campus of Highland High School in Palmdale, according to Sheriffs Department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida. The person was detained in a nearby parking lot, according to Nishida, who did not know whether that person was an adult or juvenile. Deputies at the scene are clearing the school methodically, and students will be transported home via school buses once the campus is deemed safe, Nishida said. Read More Facebook

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The education of Bertha Perez: How a UC Merced custodians disenchantment led to a political awakening By Robin Abcarian Its the third day of a three-day strike, and UC Merced custodian Bertha Perez is taking a break from a picket line at the universitys unremarkable entrance, an intersection with stop lights. Photos from other UC campuses this week have shown big crowds of striking service workers  members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees  marching and chanting pro-labor slogans as they try to force the University of California back to the negotiating table. But here, at UC Merced, whose handful of big buildings rise from a flat expanse of farmland, the picket line is tiny, maybe two dozen workers and a few students. Its not a big-city-style show of force. Then again, a union sympathizer is banging relentlessly on a snare drum, so its noisier than youd expect. Read More Facebook

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Ref Rodriguez resigns from teacher credentialing commission By Howard Blume Ref Rodriguez appears during a court appearance. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) Los Angeles school board member Ref Rodriguez has resigned from the states Commission on Teacher Credentialing, which oversees the integrity and quality of Californias teachers. Rodriguez faces felony and misdemeanor charges for political money laundering. Separately, his former employer, a charter school organization, has accused him of improperly authorizing checks to a nonprofit under his control. Rodriguez has denied wrongdoing. Rodriguezs resignation from the state body was effective May 4, days after he cast a crucial vote as part of a narrow majority that voted to authorize contract negotiations with Austin Beutner to become superintendent of the L.A. Unified School District. Beutners first official day on the job is Tuesday. Rodriguez remains in his $125,000-a-year position on the Los Angeles Board of Education. The mission of the state body is to ensure integrity, relevance, and high quality in the preparation, certification, and discipline of Californias teachers. Critics had questioned Rodriguezs continued service on the commission, given that teachers can be suspended from work if they face criminal charges. They also can lose their jobs for lapses in personal behavior, such as excessive drinking, with the potential to affect their performance. Police in Pasadena arrested Rodriguez on a Friday afternoon in March for public drunkenness. He was not charged in the incident and has apologized. The state commission reviews teacher discipline cases and can take action to remove a teachers credential to work in a California classroom. The commission has 15 members. Rodriguezs departure was disclosed in a one-sentence announcement on the agencys website. Facebook

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School board members request for restraining order against blogger is rejected By Priscella Vega An Orange County Superior Court judge on Wednesday denied a school board members petition for a permanent restraining order against a Huntington Beach blogger. Attorney Jeffrey W. Shields filed the petition on behalf of Ocean View School District trustee Gina Clayton-Tarvin, 46, who alleged in court documents that Charles Keeler Johnson, 56, has threatened her on social media and at school board meetings, causing her to fear for my own safety and for that of my immediate family members. Johnson, who goes by Chuck and publishes HBSledgehammer.com, said the trustee tried to stifle his freedom of speech. He also contended that Clayton-Tarvin took his blog posts and Facebook comments too seriously and out of context, saying anyone who is afraid of metaphors has serious issues. Read More Facebook

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Deal with workers averts one-day strike that could have shut down L.A. schools By Howard Blume Los Angeles school district and union officials announced a contract agreement Tuesday night that averted a one-day strike planned for next week. The pact, which runs through June 2020, removes one labor problem from the desk of incoming Supt. Austin Beutner  whose first day on the job would have coincided with the strike. Plenty of other challenges remain. Read More Facebook

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UC labor strike expands with show of support from more unions By Teresa Watanabe Fong Chuu is a registered nurse who has assisted with countless liver transplants, kidney surgeries and gastric bypasses during 34 years at UCLA. Working with her are scrub technicians who sterilize equipment, hand medical instruments to the surgeon and dress patient wounds. They are a team, Chuu says, which is why she walked off her job Tuesday in support of those technicians and other members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299. The 25,000 member AFSCME local, the University of Californias largest employee union, launched a three-day strike Monday. Read More Facebook

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We are humans too: Voices of UCLAs striking custodians, hospital aides and imaging technicians By Joy Resmovits Demonstrators parade in front of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) This week, thousands of UC employees are staging a three-day strike for better pay and working conditions. On Monday, more than 20,000 custodians, cooks, lab technicians, nurse aides and other members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 walked off their jobs. By Tuesday, two more unions joined in sympathy strikes. The union and UC reached a bargaining impasse last year. The university has said it wont meet the workers demands. The strikers said they wanted better pay, more equity in the allocation of work, stable healthcare premiums and an end to the universitys use of contract workers. These are their stories. Read More Facebook

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Massive UC workers strike disrupts dining, classes and medical services By Joy Resmovits A massive labor strike across the University of California on Monday forced medical centers to reschedule more than 12,000 surgeries, cancer treatments and appointments, and campuses to cancel some classes and limit dining services. More than 20,000 members of UCs largest employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, walked off their jobs on the first day of a three-day strike. They include custodians, gardeners, cooks, truck drivers, lab technicians and nurse aides. Two altercations involving protesters and people driving near the rallies were reported at UCLA and UC Santa Cruz. At UCLA, police took a man into custody Monday after he drove his vehicle into a crowd, hitting three staff members. They were treated for minor injuries at the scene and released, said Lt. Kevin Kilgore of the UCLA Police Department. Read More Facebook

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Sen. Kamala Harris to skip UC Berkeley commencement in support of striking workers By Teresa Watanabe California Sen. Kamala Harris has canceled plans to deliver UC Berkeleys commencement address this weekend in support of UC workers who are on strike over wages and health benefits. Due to the ongoing labor dispute, Sen. Harris regretfully cannot attend and speak at this years commencement ceremony at UC Berkeley, said a statement from Harris office issued Monday. She wishes the graduates and their families a joyous commencement weekend and success for the future. They are bright young leaders and our country is counting on them. UCs largest employee union, the 25,000-member American Federation of County, State and Municipal Employees Local 3299, launched a three-day strike Monday and had earlier called for a speakers boycott. The union and university reached a bargaining impasse last year and subsequent mediation efforts have failed to produce an agreement. The union is asking for a multiyear contract with a 6% annual pay increase while the university is offering 3% annual increases over four years. UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ will deliver the keynote address instead, the university announced. About 5,800 students are expected to participate in the ceremony Saturday. Facebook

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School mural depicting Trumps bloody, severed head sparks controversy By Gary Warth A Chula Vista school mural that depicts the bloody, severed head of President Trump on a spear sparked a controversy that prompted officials to cover it and issue a response distancing themselves from the work. The statement also said the artist will alter the painting. We understand that there was a mural painted at the event this past weekend that does not align with our schools philosophy of non-violence, read the statement from MAAC Community Charter School director Tommy Ramirez. We have been in communication with the artist  who has agreed to modify the artwork  to better align with the schools philosophy. Read More Facebook

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New blackface incident at Cal Poly prompts calls for state investigation By Kim Christensen Cal Poly San Luis Obispo officials have asked the state attorney generals office to investigate after a new photo of a white student in blackface surfaced on a fraternity groups private Snapchat. I am outraged, Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong said in a video address Friday to the campus. These vile and absolutely unacceptable acts cannot continue. We must not allow these acts to define us as an institution. Armstrong said the latest photo was intended to imitate an incident last month in which a white member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity was photographed at a party wearing blackface. Read More Facebook

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More than 50,000 UC workers set to strike this week but campuses will remain open By Teresa Watanabe More than 50,000 workers across the University of California are set to strike this week, causing potential disruptions to surgery schedules, food preparation and campus maintenance. The systems 10 campuses and five medical centers are to remain open, with classes scheduled as planned. UCs largest employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, plans to begin a three-day strike Monday involving 25,000 workers, including custodians, gardeners, cooks, truck drivers, lab technicians and nurse aides. Read More Facebook

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New L.A. schools chief Beutner pledges to listen, learn and take action By Howard Blume New Los Angeles schools Supt. Austin Beutner proved Wednesday that hes a quick learner even without an education background. Like countless public officials before him, he appeared at an important event  his first speech and news conference  with a photogenic background of students. His message  that he would put those students first  seemed heartfelt if hardly original. Nor was it a huge surprise that he pledged to push cooperatively but unflinchingly to improve the districts academic performance and stabilize its finances. As an introduction, Beutner, a former investment banker who made a fortune on Wall Street, offered little flash, but that was partly the point. Read More Facebook

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In a school lockdown, one student takes stock of the stressful scene At the beginning of lunch one day late last month, Duarte High School, Northview Middle School, and California School of the Arts-San Gabriel Valley were advised by the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department to go into lockdown mode due to police activity in the immediate area. Phalaen Chang, a junior at the California School of the Arts, wrote a series of notes on her iPhone while she sat in a room with her classmates. By the time the lockdown ended an hour later, she wrote, she knew which of her friends would hold open the door for others, be the ones calming others down, be the ones barricading the doors. She knew that all of them have the potential to be such strong people. Read More Facebook

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Tale as old as time: L.A. Unified superintendent pick follows a historical pattern of outside-the-box choices By Joy Resmovits L.A. Unified has long gone back and forth between picking insiders and outsiders to run the nations second largest school district. The choice of Austin Beutner, announced Tuesday, places the district squarely back in the outsider camp  months after a consummate insider, Supt. Michelle King, announced that she had cancer and would not return to the job. Check out this timeline of former L.A. superintendents to see how the school board members have changed their minds, sometimes favoring leaders who come from the world of education and sometimes executives from elsewhere, recruited to shock the system into change. At one point, the district hired someone from the military  retired Navy Vice Adm. David L. Brewer III, who served as superintendent from 2006-2008. In hiring Brewer, board members had opted for a non-educator  largely because they sought a fresh thinker, unwedded to the bureaucracy, unafraid to make bold, even unorthodox moves, reads a 2008 Times story. Facebook

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Austin Beutner named superintendent of Los Angeles schools By Howard Blume Austin Beutner, a philanthropist and former investment banker, on Tuesday was named superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nations second-largest school system. His selection was the biggest move yet by a Los Angeles school board majority elected with major support from charter school advocates. The decision came after lengthy public testimony, most of it in support of the other remaining finalist, interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian, who is well known within the school system. Beutner, 58, has no background leading a school or school district. Less than 2 years ago, a school board with a very different balance of power named Michelle King, a former teacher who rose through the district throughout her career, to L.A. Unifieds top job. Read More Facebook

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Hearing delay gives both sides more time in Ref Rodriguezs potential trial By Howard Blume Ref Rodriguez and his attorneys will have more time to prepare their defense against charges of political money laundering, a judge ruled Monday. The preliminary hearing in the case had been scheduled to begin May 9, but that date will now be pushed back to July 23 per the ruling from L.A. Superior Court Judge Deborah S. Brazil. Rodriguez, 46, faces three felony charges of conspiracy, perjury and procuring and offering a false or forged instrument, as well as 25 misdemeanor counts related to the alleged campaign money laundering. Read More Facebook

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L.A. school board poised to name Beutner as superintendent By Howard Blume The Los Angeles Board of Education is poised to select philanthropist and former investment banker Austin Beutner to be the next superintendent of the nations second-largest school system. Barring a last-minute development, the only mystery is whether Beutner emerges with four or five votes from the boards seven members. Terms of his contract already have been under discussion, according to sources close to the process who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak. The selection of Beutner, 58, who has no experience managing a school or a school district, would be a signal that the board majority that took control nearly a year ago wants to rely on business management skills instead of insider educational expertise. Read More Facebook

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Teacher walkouts in Arizona and Colorado continue national debate on money for schools By Michael Livingston Following the lead of teachers who walked off the job in other states in recent weeks, thousands of teachers and their supporters took to the streets in Arizona and Colorado for the second day in a row to demand better pay and more funding for education. Read More Facebook

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Three decades before the #MeToo movement, UC San Diego led the way against sexual assault By Teresa Watanabe When Nancy Wahlig first started her fight against sexual assault, one company was marketing a capsule for women to stash in their bras and then smash to release a vile odor. Because of the very nature of society, the only person who can prevent rape is the woman herself, read a 1981 advertisement for the Repulse rape deterrent. Ideas about how to prevent sexual violence have come a long way since then, and Wahlig has helped lead that evolution on college campuses. In 1988, she started UC San Diegos Sexual Assault Resource Center (SARC), the first stand-alone program at the University of California. Today, she remains the systems most senior specialist. Read More Facebook

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Andres Alonso withdraws from consideration for L.A. schools job By Howard Blume Andres Alonso, believed to be one of three remaining finalists to lead the Los Angeles school system, has withdrawn from consideration. The remaining known candidates in the confidential search are former investment banker Austin Beutner and interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian. Alonso, 60, announced his decision on Twitter on Thursday night, saying he had notified the L.A. Unified School District on Monday. The exit of Alonso, the former Baltimore schools chief, seems to solidify the front-runner status of Beutner, who also was a former L.A. Times publisher and a Los Angeles deputy mayor. He held each of those positions for about a year. Read More Facebook

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Heres why the apparent increase in autism spectrum disorders may be good for U.S. children By Karen Kaplan The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder among American children continues to rise, new government data suggest. And that may be a good thing. Among 11 sites across the U.S. where records of 8-year-olds are scrutinized in detail, 1 in 59 kids was deemed to have ASD in 2014. Thats up from 1 in 68 in 2012. Normally, health officials would prefer to see less of a disease, not more of it. But in this case, the higher number is probably a sign that more children of color who are on the autism spectrum are being recognized as such and getting services to help them, according to a report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read More Facebook

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UC shelves tuition increase for now, in hopes of getting more state funding By Teresa Watanabe University of California regents will not vote on a tuition increase next month, shelving the plan for now in hopes that state lawmakers will come through with more funding. Raising tuition is always a last resort and one we take very seriously, UC President Janet Napolitano said Thursday in a statement. We will continue to advocate with our students who are doing a tremendous job of educating legislators about the necessity of adequately funding the university to ensure UC remains a world-class institution and engine of economic growth for our state. Last week, Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White said the 23-campus system no longer would consider a plan to raise tuition for the 2018-19 academic year. But unlike Cal State, UC officials have not taken a tuition increase off the table entirely. Read More Facebook

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A chemical spill, unchecked eyewash stations, poor training: Audit details Cal States lax lab safety By Joy Resmovits In May 2016, two bottles tumbled off a poorly supported shelf and broke, leading to a chemical spill in a Sacramento State University lab. The liquid got onto one students legs and soaked anothers feet. Five employees cleaned up the mess, even though no one knew for sure what it was and whether it was dangerous. They called fellow employee Kim Harrington, their union representative, to let her know what happened. Read More Facebook

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After blackface incident, minority students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo say they dont feel welcome By Hailey Branson-Potts Aaliyah Ramos was walking through the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus last year when a prospective student approached her. Ramos was the only black person, the young woman said, that she and her mother had seen that day. They asked about the quality of education and the diversity of the student body. Ramos, a mechanical engineering student, didnt want to sugarcoat the truth: Cal Poly long has been predominantly white. But she told the young woman  who also was black  that she didnt want to discourage her from applying, because that wouldnt help with diversity at a school where only 0.7% of students are African American  the lowest percentage of any university in the California State system. Read More Facebook

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El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills wins the 2018 U.S. Academic Decathlon By Carlos Lozano El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills has won the 2018 U.S. Academic Decathlon, officials said. The winner was announced early Saturday at a ceremony in Frisco, Texas. More than 600 students from the U.S., Canada, China and the United Kingdom gathered there over the last three days to compete in the 37th annual U.S. Academic Decathlon. Congratulations to El Camino Real Charter High School for another impressive victory, said Vivian Ekchian, interim superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Your academic stamina and competitive spirit to win is remarkable. The entire L.A. Unified family is so proud of you. Read More Facebook

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Anticipation mounts as L.A. school board meets over superintendent selection By Howard Blume The Los Angeles Board of Education is reconvening in closed session Friday at noon as anticipation mounts about the choice of the next leader of the nations second-largest school system. The presumed front-runner is former investment banker and philanthropist Austin Beutner, but interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian and former Baltimore Supt. Andres Alonso also are in the running. Most district insiders appear to be rooting for Ekchian, who has spent her entire career in education within the school system. After her 10 years as a teacher, her roles have included head of human resources, chief labor negotiator and regional administrator for campuses in the west San Fernando Valley. Shes managed the district since September, when then-Supt. Michelle King went on medical leave and chose Ekchian to fill in for her. King, who is battling cancer, never returned and announced her retirement in January. Numerous influential civic leaders have urged  and pressured  the board to select Beutner. Also lending their weight have been advocates for charter schools, which are independently operated, growing in number and competing for students with district-operated campuses. Four of the seven board members  enough to control the outcome  were elected with major financial support from charter supporters. Beutner has two ongoing connections with the L.A. Unified School District. The first is his leadership of an outside task force that is making recommendations on how to improve the school system. The second is his charity, Vision to Learn, which supplies glasses to low-income students. The charity and the school system are in a dispute at the moment over who is responsible for delays in providing services to students as part of a $6 million contract, half of which is paid for by L.A. Unified. Unlike Ekchian and Buetner, Alonso, who currently teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has no deep-seated local constituency, but the prospect of his selection has generated some excitement. While in Baltimore, Alonso was recognized for pushing for progress at low-performing schools, and for being willing to take strong action. While in Baltimore, he also weathered a test-score cheating scandal and occasionally rocky relations with the teachers union. But by the time he resigned, after six years, he and union leaders seemed to be working together without rancor. Leaders of some community groups have split from the pro-Beutner camp. They worry that Beutners approach to confronting the districts financial problems could shut out their voices or involve severe economic cutbacks that would undermine programs that are helping students. Some prefer Ekchian; some Alonso. Theyve been reluctant to speak out publicly because theyll have to work with whoever is selected, but they have tried to get the ear of board members. On Friday morning, one leader of a community group decided to come out in favor of Alonso. L.A. Unified has the opportunity to bring in an instructional leader of color with a history of success, said Alberto Retana, president and chief executive of Community Coalition, which works on behalf of low-income students and families in South Los Angeles. If we have a shot at that, we should go for it  because its in the best interests of our kids and of our community. Retana said his statement was not meant to criticize Beutner or Ekchian but to alert board members that there also is community support for Alonso. Facebook

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Cal State leader shelves proposed tuition hike: Its the right thing to do, but its not without risk By Joy Resmovits Cal State, the nations largest public university system, will no longer consider a plan to raise tuition for the 2018-19 academic year, Chancellor Timothy P. White announced Friday. The decision is a bet that Sacramento will come through in the end. If Cal State loses that bet, it could mean cuts to campus programs. White said in an interview that Californias economy is strong enough that families should not be shouldering the burden of higher college costs. Read More Facebook

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L.A. students to participate in national walkout activities on Friday By Joy Resmovits Students are taking to the streets again Friday to protest gun violence on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting. Starting at 10 a.m., students at many schools will spend 13 seconds honoring the 13 people  12 students and one teacher  killed on that day in Littleton, Colo. After that, theyll participate in a host of different activities. Within L.A. Unified, one school is having an open-mic event for students to talk about school violence, and lawmakers are visiting campuses to hear students thoughts. According to a central hub for organizing the protests  written by the students of Ridgefield High School in Connecticut  the walkouts are intended to drive the political change necessary to curb school violence. The day is also a time for students to interact on an elevated platform they have never had before, the site states. It is a day of discourse and thoughtful sharing. Bringing together communities and students to get a national discussion rolling. Organizers have suggested using the event to convey the importance of curbing gun violence to legislators. They are encouraging students to push legislation that would ban assault weapons and tighten up rules around who can buy guns and how. Over 2,500 schools nationwide are expected to participate. In L.A., some students  at campuses including Eagle Rock High School, the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts and Bravo Medical Magnet  plan to walk out. Students from various schools expect to join area marches, including those in Santa Monica and Huntington Park. Other schools are hosting career days and voter registration drives. At 1 p.m., students plan to start a rally in front of L.A. Unified headquarters. For the record: An earlier version of this article stated that 12 teachers and one student were killed in the Columbine shooting. The opposite is true: twelve students and one teacher died. Facebook

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Stabbing of popular student devastates South El Monte High School; teen friend suspected in slaying By Sonali Kohli When administrators at South El Monte High School called Jeremy Sanchezs parents to say he never showed up for class Wednesday, his father began to worry. It was unusual for the 17-year-old junior to miss school, so his father filed a missing persons report and assembled two of Jeremys close friends to look for the popular student-athlete. Their search took them to a scenic stretch of the San Gabriel River Trail, where one of the friends  a 16-year-old boy  made a tragic discovery. Among the bushes in the riverbed near Thienes Avenue and Parkway Drive was Jeremys body, punctured with stab wounds, according to Lt. John Corina of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. Read More Facebook

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Racist fliers spark outrage at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo By Alene Tchekmedyian Soon after Neal MacDougall arrived on the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus Tuesday, the professor noticed university police standing outside a restroom near his office. A racial slur against African Americans had been scrawled in red marker on a stall wall. Later, he discovered a series of racist fliers pinned up next to his door. Someone had also slashed posters hed hung outside his office supporting students in the country illegally. The discovery was the latest controversy on the prestigious campus  which the president said is less than 55% white  that MacDougall said demonstrates a culture of racism at the university. Last week, photographs emerged of white fraternity members, including one in blackface, flashing gang signs. Read More Facebook

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The superintendent waiting game, paying for L.A.'s College Promise, Princetons slave history: Whats new in education By Joy Resmovits Acting LAUSD superintendent Vivian Ekchian is a finalist for the permanent job. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) In and around Los Angeles: The L.A. Unified school board spent 10 hours interviewing and discussing candidates for superintendent. When they adjourned after 10 p.m., they said they would reconvene on Friday. Who is paying for Mayor Eric Garcettis much-touted College Promise, a program that promises two years of community college for LAUSD grads? In California: The Legislature is considering a proposal that would boost K-12 education funding for black students. When the cost of living is taken into account, California has the highest rate of child poverty. Nationwide: The families of two children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School are suing Alex Jones and Infowars for saying the school massacre never occurred. Princeton will name two spaces  an arch and a garden  after slaves who lived or worked on the campus. Facebook

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L.A. school board meets privately with finalists and debates choice for school district leader By Howard Blume The Los Angeles Board of Education adjourned late Tuesday after spending more than 10 hours interviewing candidates and trying to reach a decision on who would be the next leader of the nations second-largest school system. When the meeting finally recessed at 10:11 p.m., a spokesman announced only that the school board would reconvene Friday at noon. Going into the days meetings, there were apparently four finalists, according to sources who could not be named because they were unauthorized to speak. Read More Facebook

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Two Sandy Hook families sue Alex Jones and Infowars for saying the school massacre never happened By David Altimari Families of two children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School have filed lawsuits in Texas against controversial radio host Alex Jones for continually claiming the massacre never happened. Neil Heslin, the father of Jesse Lewis, and Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, whose son Noah Pozner died in the massacre, filed separate lawsuits late Monday in Travis County, Texas. The lawsuits allege that Jones defamed the parents by constantly calling them crisis actors and insisting the shooting was a false flag operation; they also claim Jones accusations have led to death threats against the Sandy Hook families by Jones followers. Read More Facebook

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Beutner emerges as a top pick for L.A. schools superintendent amid last-minute jockeying By Howard Blume Austin Beutner has emerged as a leading contender to run the Los Angeles school district, with backers saying he is smart enough and tough enough to confront its financial and academic struggles. Though he does not have a background in education, the former investment banker has in the last year examined some of the districts intractable problems, serving as co-chair of an outside task force with the support of then-Supt. Michelle King. Sources inside and outside the school district said Beutner appears to have more support on the seven-member board than other finalists, and his name could come up for a vote as early as Tuesday. Read More Facebook

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Challenge at Chicago school construction site: Watch for 38,000 unmarked graves By Nereida Moreno A 15-year effort to build a school in Chicagos Dunning neighborhood is underway with an unusual complication: Construction workers are taking careful steps to avoid disturbing human remains that may lie beneath the soil. The $70-million school is to be built on the grounds of a former Cook County Poor House, where an estimated 38,000 people were buried in unmarked graves. Among the dead are residents who were too poor to afford funeral costs, unclaimed bodies and patients from the countys insane asylum. There can be and there have been bodies found all over the place, said Barry Fleig, a genealogist and cemetery researcher who began investigating the site in 1989. Its a spooky, scary place. Read More Facebook

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Oklahoma teacher walkout winds down despite lawmakers failure to meet demands By Washington Post Oklahomas largest teachers union has announced an end to a walkout that has drawn thousands of educators out of classrooms and to the state Capitol demanding greater investment in the states schools, which have endured the nations steepest funding cuts. The announcement Thursday from the Oklahoma Education Assn. does not necessarily end the protests at the Capitol, as teachers not affiliated with the union vowed to stay longer. Instead of a walkout, the union and school districts across the state have said they plan to send delegations of teachers to Oklahoma City to keep the pressure on lawmakers. Teachers and their supporters have also promised to push education issues to the forefront of November elections, when the state chooses a new governor. As school districts begin to reopen, the protests may lose steam. The Legislature is not in session Friday, and observers are waiting to see what happens Monday, when lawmakers return. Read More Facebook

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Most Californians are worried about school shooting threats and oppose arming teachers, survey finds By Joy Resmovits Hamilton High School student Aiyana Dabriel holds a sign during a March 14 walkout in support of the Parkland shooting victims. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Most Californians are worried that a school shooting like the one that occurred in Parkland, Fla., in February could shed blood closer to home, a new survey found. Some 73% percent of adults and 82% of public school parents said they were very concerned or somewhat concerned about school shootings. The Public Policy Institute of California surveyed 1,704 adults in the state by phone just after the March for Our Lives protest against gun violence. Latino and black respondents were significantly more likely to be concerned about school violence than white or Asian respondents, the institute found. Two-thirds of adults and public school parents said they opposed letting more educators carry weapons in school. The response differed across party lines, with 86% of Democrats and 69% of independents voicing their opposition, while 60% percent of Republicans said they would support a measure to arm educators. The poll, which had a margin of error of 3.2% in either direction, also asked Californians about school funding, educational issues in the governors race and the impact of immigration enforcement on students. You can find the full results here. Facebook

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Californias largest virtual charter school network agrees to contract with its teachers By Anna M. Phillips Nearly four years after teachers at Californias largest online charter school voted to unionize, they have reached a deal to increase pay and create job protections, according to a spokesman for the California Teachers Assn. The contract, which is still tentative and subject to ratification, is a victory for the teachers union. Although charter schools are publicly funded, most are privately managed and their employees arent protected by labor contracts. Under the terms of the contract  the result of years of negotiation and legal wrangling  approximately 500 teachers working for California Virtual Academies will no longer be at-will employees who can be dismissed for almost any reason. Their average salary will rise to just over $45,000, according to union estimates, a figure that remains far below the norm for traditional public school teachers. Still, it is an improvement over the previous average of $38,000. The accord also places a limit on the number of students each teacher is responsible for monitoring in online homeroom classes. Were very satisfied with the gains we made, said teacher Brianna Carroll, president of California Virtual Educators United. I think were going to see some extraordinary changes in our schools. According to Carroll, teachers at California Virtual Academies  better known as CAVA  had grown frustrated with the organizations foot-dragging and were making preparations to go on strike when CAVAs leadership agreed to the deal. CAVA and K12, the Virginia-based for-profit company linked to its schools, did not immediately respond to an email Tuesday asking for comment. The network currently operates nine virtual charter schools across California. In 2016, the charter network agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle claims of false advertising, misleading parents and inadequate instruction. The state attorney generals office had also accused K12 of controlling the charters for its own financial benefit. Neither CAVA nor K12 admitted to wrongdoing in the settlement. A year later, the state imposed a $2-million fine on CAVA after an audit found that it had misspent public funds. The network disputed the findings. Facebook

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School board approves a new formula for funding high-need schools By Sonali Kohli L.A. schools will soon get more money if they are located in neighborhoods with such problems as high levels of gun violence and asthma. The Los Angeles Unified school board voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a new formula to determine how to dole out some funding to schools, based not only on the characteristics of the student populations but on the traumas that affect the communities around campuses. The new formula will be applied to $25 million in funding next fiscal year and about $263 million annually in future years  a small part of the districts $7.5 billion annual budget. Read More Facebook

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Protesters demand Ref Rodriguez resignation outside school board meeting By Sonali Kohli Students, parents, teachers and UTLA marching outside the board meeting chanting "Ref resign" pic.twitter.com/W0LRWZSIXY  Sonali Kohli  (@Sonali_Kohli) April 10, 2018 A few dozen parents, students and teachers marched outside the Los Angeles Unified School Board meeting Tuesday, some calling for board member Ref Rodriguez to resign the week after news broke that he was taken into custody on suspicion of being drunk in public at a Pasadena bar and restaurant. Rodriguez was not cited or charged in that incident, but was held for more than five and a half hours before being released. The school board member faces felony and misdemeanor charges for political money laundering. He is accused of getting more than two dozen people people to donate to his campaign for his school board seat with the understanding that he would reimburse them. He stepped down from his post as school board president after he was charged last fall, but he did not give up his seat on the board. He has pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of conspiracy, perjury, and procuring and offering a false or forged instrument, as well as 25 misdemeanor counts related to the alleged campaign money laundering. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May. He cant give his full focus to our students, said Rebecca LaFond, a Highland Park parent whose three children marched with her as she chanted, Ref resign. One daughter marched in front of her, using a drum stick to hit the bottom of a gallon-size empty water jug. Our kids deserve someone who has the utmost ethical standards representing them, LaFond said. The protests continued into the board meeting, where some addressed Rodriguez directly, calling on him to step down during public comment portions of the meeting. Rodriguez, through his chief of staff, declined to comment. Some parents outside the board meeting did not know about the charges against Rodriguez but came out to protest the possibility of sharing their school campuses with charter schools. Protesters also oppose colocation  not all of the parents are here to ask Ref Rodriguez to step down pic.twitter.com/1Co8zQ9zSi  Sonali Kohli  (@Sonali_Kohli) April 10, 2018 Cynthia Martinez said her son, who goes to Christopher Dena Elementary School in Boyle Heights, has been bullied in the past by students from a charter school sharing the campus. She said she didnt know who Rodriguez was. Some parents and teachers are worried about losing computer labs, robotics rooms and fitness centers if they are required to share their campus with charter schools, said Ilse Escobar, a parent community organizer for United Teachers Los Angeles. The issues of Rodriguez and colocation are related, Escobar said. Rodriguez is part of a majority on the school board elected with financial backing from charter school supporters, and many parents, she said, feel that the school board is compromised if he is a part of it. Staff reporter Howard Blume contributed to this post. Facebook

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Delaine Eastin tries to gain momentum in the California governors race, one voter at a time By Seema Mehta Delaine Eastin was a sophomore in high school when a drama teacher urged her to try out for a part in The Man Who Came to Dinner. She hesitated until he told her: This is a metaphor for your whole life. If you never try out, you will never get the part. Eastin auditioned and won the role. Decades later, the advice sticks with the former state schools chief, this time in her unlikely run for governor. Despite calls for more women in leadership roles in state politics following sexual misconduct allegations in Sacramento, Eastin has been largely overlooked in the race, lagging far behind her Democratic rivals in fundraising and the polls. Read More Facebook

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Arizona high court rejects in-state tuition for DACA recipients By Associated Press Young immigrants granted deferred deportation status under a program started by President Obama are not eligible for lower in-state college tuition, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday. The unanimous ruling will affect at least 2,000 students attending the states largest community college district and hundreds more at other colleges and the states three public universities. The Maricopa County Community Colleges District and state universities said they would begin raising tuition immediately for the coming school year. Read More Facebook

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New York high school students injured when bus strikes overpass By Associated Press A charter bus carrying teenagers returning from a spring break trip Sunday night struck a bridge overpass on Long Island, seriously injuring six passengers and mangling the entire length of the top of the bus. The crash happened shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday on the Southern State Parkway in Lakeview, according to New York State Police. One of the six injured passengers had very serious injuries, said State Police Maj. David Candelaria. Thirty-seven other passengers suffered minor injuries. Read More Facebook

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Some good news for California in national student test scores By Joy Resmovits Every two years, the nations fourth- and eighth-graders are tested in math and reading  and newly released results from last years tests give California at least a little reason to be pleased. The 2017 results  out Monday night  were mostly flat nationwide compared with 2015, though the average score in eighth-grade reading went up. But while that improvement largely came from the increased scores of the highest-performing students, California eighth-graders showed some reading progress from the lowest levels to the highest. Read More Facebook

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Under state control, Inglewood school districts financial picture worsened By Anna M. Phillips When Eugenio Villa agreed to return to the Inglewood schools for a second tour last summer, he knew the district remained one of Californias most troubled. Inglewood Unified had been nearly insolvent when it was taken over by the state Department of Education in 2012. Six years later, its enrollment was still declining. Its school buildings were tired  some edging into decrepitude. Its test scores and graduation rates were still below the state average. And the public was out of patience. Still, Villa, who had signed back on as the districts chief business official, was shocked at what he found when he arrived in June 2017. Two years earlier, he had left the school system on what he thought was firm ground. Read More Facebook

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Charter school group drops two lawsuits against L.A. Unified By Howard Blume A charter schools advocacy group last week announced that it would end two long-running lawsuits in which it was seeking more classroom space and construction money from the Los Angeles school district. The decision, the California Charter Schools Assn. said, reflects better relations between charter schools and the L.A. Unified School District. But the move also suggests that the litigation, which already contributed to significant gains for area charters, was unlikely to produce much more. It takes time, money and effort to litigate, said Ricardo Soto, general counsel for the charter group. Maybe its better to see if we can find the time and opportunity for collaboration. Read More Facebook

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L.A. school board member Ref Rodriguez is arrested on suspicion of public intoxication By Richard Winton Los Angeles school board member Ref Rodriguez was arrested recently on suspicion of being drunk in public at a Pasadena restaurant, the latest trouble for an elected official who faces political money-laundering charges. Pasadena police took Rodriguez into custody on March 16, according to city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian. Officers arrested Rodriguez at about 4:30 p.m. at the Yard House restaurant and bar at the Paseo Mall and held him in jail for more than five-and-a-half hours. Rodriguez was ultimately released without being cited or charged, Derderian told The Times. Other details about the arrest were not available, she said. Read More Facebook

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Kentucky teachers rally at Capitol over state budget By Associated Press Thousands of Kentucky teachers filled the streets near the state Capitol in Frankfort on a cold, overcast Monday to rally for education funding. Teachers and other school employees gathered outside the Kentucky Education Assn. a couple of blocks from the Capitol chanting, Stop the war on public education and holding or posting signs that say, Weve Had Enough. Were madder than hornets, and the hornets are swarming today, said Claudette Green, a retired teacher and principal. Read More Facebook

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When Whittier College officials announced this week they would close their affiliated law school in Costa Mesa, students and faculty reacted with shock, outrage and some tears.

But legal experts said Thursday that Whittier has long been on a downslide as it struggles with challenges hitting many law schools across the country.

Applications to law schools nationwide are down nearly 50% since 2005, prompting less-prestigious campuses to accept students with lower GPAs and law school admission test scores. State bar passage rates have fallen  hitting a 32-year low in California last summer. Fewer full-time, long-term legal jobs are available. Meanwhile, tuition costs and student debt loads have soared.

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Law students, from left, Victoria Lucero, Ruth Arellano, Amrit Nahal and Kathy Iravani stand in the parking lot at Whittier Law School voicing their anger over the proposed closure. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

All of these factors came to a head at Whittier, which will be the nations first fully accredited law school to shut down in three decades. It will stop accepting new applicants and close after its current students graduate.

A number of law schools are struggling with exactly the same problems, said Brian Tamanaha, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis and author of the 2012 book Failing Law Schools. Given the substantive and enduring decline in applications to law schools, the surprise is that it took so long for one to close.

That perspective was small comfort to many of Whittier Law Schools students and faculty members.

We were completely caught off guard; it was almost like an ambush, said Kristopher Escobedo, a second-year law student and incoming student body president.

Final exams are in two weeks. The bar exam is in July. With this looming over their mind, how can they expect anyone to do well? Escobedo said.

Faculty members unsuccessfully sought a temporary restraining order to delay the decision to close the school. In legal papers filed Tuesday, they said college officials told them in 2015 that the school faced a deficit but pledged to continue operating a smaller campus and offered buyouts to reduce costs. Officials also led faculty to believe that $13 million in proceeds from the sale of the campus earlier this year would be reinvested into the law school, the legal papers said.

Independent committees set up in 2015 at both the law school and college found the law program remained viable, Escobedo said.

But trustees voted by phone last week to shut down the law school, Escobedo and others said. On Wednesday, Whittier College President Sharon Herzberger and Jim Brown of the board of trustees delivered a prepared statement about the decision to faculty, students and staff and declined to elaborate.

We believe we have looked at every realistic option to continue a successful law program, board chairman Alan Lund said in a letter to the law school community. Unfortunately, these efforts did not lead to a desired outcome.

Ana Lilia Barraza, a college spokeswoman, said administrators will develop a plan over the next two months to make sure students finish their degrees in a timely manner. She said the school had been considering a merger with another institution, but negotiations recently fell through.

Radha Pathak, the law schools associate dean of student and alumni engagement, criticized trustees for failing to keep their pledges even after one-third of the tenured and tenure-track faculty took the buyout to help keep the law school afloat.

There are other law schools that receive support in challenging economic times from their institutions, Pathak said. We havent received that kind of monetary support.

Hanna Chandoo, a Whittier alumna and attorney with Stris & Maher LLP in Los Angeles, said she and others are exploring options, including litigation. Students plan a peaceful protest Friday at Whittier College.

The school started out as Beverly College of Law but was bought by Whittier College in 1974. Alumni include several judges, attorneys rated by Super Lawyers and KFI-AM 640 radio talk show host Bill Handel.

For a portion of Wednesday, a statement was posted on the law schools website that called the decision to close the school unwise, unwarranted and unfounded.

The school has sought to provide a high-quality education to students of diverse backgrounds and abilities  students who might not otherwise have been able to receive a legal education and who are now serving justice and enterprise around the world, the statement said, before it was taken down.

Whittier is ranked the nations second-most diverse law school by U.S. News & World Report. A majority of its 392 students are women and a majority are nonwhite, according to August 2016 data. They include single mothers with full-time jobs, immigrants and low-income students.

Were looking to improve access to the legal profession for people who might not otherwise have it, Pathak said.

Many of those students face particular challenges. Those who are not native English speakers tend to excel on the bar exams multiple choice questions but perform less well on the written portions, said Mary Basick, assistant dean of bar preparation and academic support.

Some legal experts criticize the school, however, for admitting less-prepared students and saddling them with high debt when their bar passage rates and job outcomes are poor.

Whittiers first-year enrollment plunged to 132 students last year from 303 in 2010, according to Law School Transparency, a North Carolina-based nonprofit. Average student GPAs and LSAT scores also have declined, while the schools state bar passage rate for first-time test takers has been the lowest in California among accredited law schools, dropping to 22% last July from 52.7% in 2010. The first-year attrition rate is about 20%, one of the highest in the country, said Kyle McEntee, the nonprofits executive director.

Meanwhile, the schools 2016 graduates bear the nations second-highest average debt burden of $179,056, according to U.S. News & World Report. In 2015, only 2% of graduates landed jobs at large law firms, where higher salaries could help them pay back their loans.

The school has set many of its students up for failure, McEntee said. Its wholly irresponsible. The school has done more harm than good.

Pathak acknowledged the poor outcomes but said the law school posts data about them on its website to be transparent. Some students said they were aware of the performance issues but chose to enroll anyway because of the diversity, location, financial aid and recent reforms.

The school has added support services and revamped its bar exam prep program under a new dean. Several faculty members and students said they expected higher bar passage rates to follow  but the decision to close the school will prevent the improvements from kicking in.

Several first-year law students, however, said they would have enrolled elsewhere had the school indicated the possibility that it could close.

This degree that Im going to get is depreciated, said Kathy Iravani, 23, a first-year student who lives in Irvine.

Antonia Reyes, a second-year student, said she picked Whittier over other schools in Florida, Arizona and San Diego because of its diverse student body, practical training and focus on race and class issues. Like many of her classmates, she hopes to use her law degree to represent underserved communities.

But now she feels abandoned and anxious  especially because she is $160,000 in debt for her law school education.

We are all worried about our degrees, she said, as tears began to fall. Yes, we will finish our coursework, yes well take the bar, but whats the value of our degrees if we dont have a law school to refer to?

To read the article in Spanish, click here

sonali.kohli@latimes.com

Twitter: @Sonali_Kohli

rosanna.xia@latimes.com

Twitter: @RosannaXia

teresa.watanabe@latimes.com

Twitter: @TeresaWatanabe

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UPDATES:

8:55 p.m.: This article was updated throughout to include further details about the law schools history and comments from school officials and students.

3:20 p.m.: This article was updated to clarify that the board of trustees of Whittier College voted to close the law school.

This article was originally published at 10:05 a.m.
Orange County health officials are looking for people who may have come into contact with a bat at a park in Irvine that tested positive for rabies over the weekend.

The bat was found Saturday on a picnic bench near a restroom at William Mason Regional Park, according to Orange County Health Care Agency officials. They say the animal has tested positive for rabies and anyone who may have come into contact with it is at risk of being infected with the virus.

The virus is found in an animals saliva and is transmitted to people by a bite from a rabid animal, health officials said in a statement.

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Although very rare, contamination of the eyes, mouth or an open wound by the saliva of a rabid animal can also transmit rabies, the statement read in part.

Officials said once a person begins to show signs and symptoms of rabies, the disease is nearly always fatal.

For that reason preventive treatment to stop the rabies virus from causing illness is given to anyone who may have been exposed to rabies, the statement read.

Anyone who may have had contact with the bat found in the park is urged to call the health agencys epidemiology department at (714) 834-8180 during business hours, or at (714) 834-7792 after hours.

ruben.vives@latimes.com

For more Southern California news, follow @latvives on Twitter.

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A Boston-based water development company is paying former Sen. Barbara Boxer to push for approval of a proposed seawater desalination plant that has been mired for years in environmental controversy.

Boxer, a Democrat, will lobby the California Coastal Commission on behalf of Poseidon Waters private project, which would sell drinking water supplies to Orange County agencies.

Im very happy to be on this team, said Boxer, who earned a reputation as a strong environmentalist during her more than two decades representing California in the U.S. Senate. Desalination is something I have worked for for a very long time.

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Poseidon is fighting with the Coastal Commission staff over the type of seawater intake the $1-billion plant would use. The company wants to screen an existing power plant intake pipe to pull 106 million gallons a day from the Pacific Ocean and purify it through energy-intensive reverse-osmosis filtration.

Im very worried that if we sit back and we dont use ... desal, what its going to mean is big dams that destroy our rivers and our fisheries.  Former Sen. Barbara Boxer

The Coastal Commission staff, arguing that that method would kill too many fish eggs and larvae, has recommended that Poseidon instead build an offshore intake to draw water from beneath the ocean floor.

The company says that would drive up costs so much that it would kill the project.

Im very worried that if we sit back and we dont use this tool  desal  what its going to mean is big dams that destroy our rivers and our fisheries, and pulling more water from the [Sacramento-San Joaquin] Delta, Boxer said in an interview.

Its disappointing that Barbara Boxer has decided to become a paid lobbyist on this project.  Susan Jordan, executive director of the California Coastal Protection Network

Poseidon has over the years spent more than $1.6 million on lobbying and campaign contributions in its drive to build the countrys two largest ocean desalters on the California coast.

One plant started operation in San Diego County in 2015. The Huntington Beach project still needs approval from several state agencies, including the Coastal Commission.

Its disappointing that Barbara Boxer has decided to become a paid lobbyist on this project, said Susan Jordan, executive director of the California Coastal Protection Network, an environmental group. But that doesnt change the facts. Its still a bad project.

bettina.boxall@latimes.com

Twitter: @boxall
Donald Trumps plans to reform education have been routinely described as radical, but one key feature  taxpayer-funded vouchers  may find some unlikely supporters: California voters.

About 60% of adults and 66% of public-school parents in a new poll said they favored vouchers that parents could use for their childrens education at any public, private, or parochial school. Republicans (67%) were more likely than independents (56%) and far more likely than Democrats (46%) to hold that view. Across racial and ethnic groups, 73% of African Americans, 69% of Latinos, 56% of Asians and 51% of whites supported vouchers.

The poll results were released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California.

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Voters also expressed positions more traditionally associated with notions of a politically liberal and anti-Trump California.

Current levels of school funding are inadequate according to most adults (64%), likely voters (66%) and public school parents (69%).

A supermajority wants the immigration status of students and their families to remain confidential (73%). And nearly two-thirds would like schools to serve as sanctuary safe zones, protecting students who are in the country illegally and their families from federal immigration enforcement efforts.

Paradoxically, in light of the support for vouchers, a majority of adults (54%) give their local schools a grade of A or B. And the number was higher (62%) for public-school parents.

Theres frequently a political gulf between polling numbers on general attitudes and viewpoints shaped in the context of a looming election. For that reason, its difficult to predict whether the voucher support would hold in the face of a campaign opposing it.

A 2000 measure to legalize vouchers in California was rejected by 71% of voters. Each side spent more than $30 million in the campaign. California voters also rejected a voucher proposal in 1993.

The poll results are based on a survey of 1,705 California adult residents interviewed on land lines and cellphones. Interviews took place from April 2 through 11, in English and Spanish. The estimated margin of error is 3.2%.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

howard.blume@latimes.com

@howardblume
Last summer, U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel of San Diego was thrust into the center of the presidential campaign.

Curiel presided over the lawsuit against Trump University and was heavily criticized by then-candidate Donald Trump in a way that some critics considered racist. Trump claimed Curiels Mexican heritage made him biased against Trump, who had railed against illegal immigration and Mexico during the campaign.

Now Curiel is back in the national spotlight, in a case involving President Trump and his immigration policies.

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What is the new case?

Curiel has been assigned the case of Juan Manuel Montes Bojorquez, 23, who claims he was wrongly deported to Mexico by border agents in Calexico in February. His lawsuit specifically seeks to force the government to release information about his case.

Montes, who came to the U.S. when he was 9 years old, since 2014 has been allowed to live and work in the country under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, whose participants are often called dreamers.

The Department of Homeland Security claimed Wednesday Montes no longer qualified for DACA protection.

Under Trump, there has been a rise in deportations of people who had DACA status but lost it.

Montes situation came to light Tuesday when he sued the Trump administration in U.S. District Court in San Diego. The civil suit alleges that he had been wrongly deported to Mexico by officials who refused to tell him why.

The suit claims the government is in violation of the Freedom of Information Act because no records have been released on Montes case, despite numerous requests, which is a violation of the statute. It asks the court to order the government to release those records.

His attorneys say Montes was detained by Border Patrol officials on Feb. 17 in Calexico and deported.

Who is Curiel?

Before becoming a judge, Curiel served as a narcotics prosecutor with the U.S. attorneys office in San Diego, eventually rising to chief of the unit. From 1989 to 2002, he built a reputation as a tough, effective lawyer in charge of a special task force charged with dismantling the Arellano-Felix drug cartel  an assignment that earned him round-the-clock protection from the U.S. marshals for a year while under a death threat from the cartel.

Curiel played a major role in a crucial step in the campaign against the cartel when he worked to get top cartel lieutenant Arturo Kitty Paez Martinez extradited from Mexico in 2001. It was the first time that a Mexican citizen had been extradited to face charges here  a precedent that cleared the way for the continuing extradition of drug figures in the 15 years since.

He also got high marks as a federal judge.

Donald Trump (Gerald Herbert / Associated Press)

Why did Trump criticize Curiel?

Curiel is presiding over two class-action lawsuits filed against Trump over his now-defunct Trump University real estate seminars, for which some people paid up to $35,000.

Trump said Curiel was a hater and referred to the Indiana-born judge as a Mexican.

They ought to look into Judge Curiel, he said.

Trump said Curiels ethnic heritage  his parents were Mexican immigrants  made him biased.

Trump also criticized Curiels membership in La Raza Lawyers Assn., apparently confusing the professional organization with an activist group that goes by a similar name.

Curiel never publicly responded to Trumps attacks, and the cases were settled a few months ago.

Michael Smolens writes for the San Diego Union Tribune. Carcamo writes for The Times.

@mlsmolens

@theCindyCarcamo

Click here for a Spanish version of this story

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More than three years ago, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood made headlines when he defied the California Trust Act, a law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown that restricts cooperation between local law enforcement officials and federal immigration agents. His stance riled the governor and Californias immigrant-rights groups.

Now, Youngblood is making headlines once again over immigration.

In two weeks, Youngblood will ask the county Board of Supervisors to adopt a resolution that would declare Kern a law and order county and not a sanctuary county.

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Specifically, he wants to ensure that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers can continue to identify felony detainees in Kern County jails who are in the country illegally so that they can be deported upon release.

Many California jurisdictions do not honor ICE requests to hold such inmates beyond their release dates, due to a federal court ruling and the threat of civil litigation. Youngblood, however, has avoided the issue by giving ICE agents office space within his jails so that they can identify felony inmates here illegally and take custody of them upon their release.

Youngblood said he feared that legislation now under consideration by California lawmakers would bar him from cooperating with ICE agents and so decided to offer up his resolution to county officials. He acknowledged that the move was somewhat symbolic.

Sheriffs deputies dont enforce immigration laws and we dont go on federal immigration sweeps, but we do have to allow our federal partners to do their job, Youngblood said.

California has emerged as the national leader in the effort to oppose President Trumps immigration policies. He has vowed a crackdown on those here illegally and has spoken of mass deportations. Numerous communities, including San Francisco and Santa Ana, have declared themselves sanctuary cities in an effort to protect and show solidarity with those here illegally.

But elsewhere, some jurisdictions around the country are pushing back against sanctuary policies, including a few corners of California.

Earlier this year, Shasta County officials considered but ultimately rejected a resolution that would declare the area anti-sanctuary. Communities in parts of the South as well as Midwest have expressed support for immigration laws.

The Trump administration has issued an executive order that threatens to strip such cities of federal grant money. San Francisco and Santa Clara counties have sued to stop the executive order.

Youngblood, a Republican and Vietnam vet, is a rare voice in a state whose Democrat-controlled Legislature has enacted laws allowing immigrants here illegally to drive, practice law and pay in-state college tuition.

In addition to opposing the California Trust Act, he has refused to sign paperwork for U visas, a federal immigration program that allows some victims of crime to stay in the country even if they are here illegally. He has also asked ICE officials to share data with police so patrol officers can determine whether the person they stop may be in the country illegally.

Not surprisingly, he has been heavily criticized by immigration advocates and activists who accuse him of setting his own immigration policy. They have compared him to Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff who was known for aggressive immigration enforcement policies that included workplace raids.

But at the same time, he has also earned the support of those Kern County residents who share his views and who have kept him in office since 2006.

Youngblood will propose the non-sanctuary status for Kern County on May 2.

Times staff writer Kate Linthicum contributed to this report.

ruben.vives@latimes.com

For more Southern California news, follow @latvives on Twitter.

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UC Berkeley officials on Thursday reversed their decision to cancel conservative commentator Ann Coulters appearance at the university, but have rescheduled it from next week to May 2, according to a statement from the university.

Coulters speech on immigration will be held at an appropriate, protectable venue, the university said.

The university did not disclose the location of the speech. But the university said it had advised Coulters representatives and the Berkeley College Republicans, which organized the April 27 Coulter event, that the speaking engagement would take place next month.

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We have an unwavering commitment to providing for the safety and well-being of speakers who come to campus, our students and other members of our campus and surrounding communities, Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said in the statement. While there may, at times, be tension between these paired commitments, we cannot compromise either.

But Thursday evening, Coulter tweeted: Im speaking on April 27th, as I was invited to do and have a contract to do.

She then tweeted that money has already been spent on airfare and hotels for herself and her crew for the original date, adding that there are no classes at Berkeley the week of May 2.

According to the 2017 UC Berkeley academic calendar, May 1-5 is designated as a study and review week before final examinations.

The reversal comes a day after the university confirmed that it had canceled Coulters speech due to safety concerns following several violent clashes between right- and left-wing protesters in the famously liberal city.

Coulters original appearance was organized by the conservative outreach group Young Americas Foundation, a campus political group BridgeUSA and the Berkeley College Republicans.

On Wednesday, UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said campus police feared that some of the same extremist forces who caused problems during recent clashes would be out in force when Coulter was on campus.

Coulter attacked Berkeleys decision in a series of tweets, saying no school accepting public funds can ban free speech.

Late Thursday, Harmeet K. Dhillon, a lawyer and the Republican National committeewoman from California, released a letter sent to UC Berkeley that indicates a lawsuit will be filed if the university does not allow Coulters speech to go forward on April 27.

The letter says that the sponsoring groups meticulously followed university protocol in setting up Coulters appearance, and that administrators actions violate fundamental principles of free speech, equal protection and due process guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

Dhillon writes that the universitys counteroffer of May 2 was not good enough, in part because it would be in the middle of the day during a week when classes are not in session.

University of California officials have often been caught between left-wing activists who have tried to shut down appearances by conservative speakers and right-wing figures who have criticized them for allowing disruptive protests. University administrators have argued that their campuses should be able to tolerate the views of even far-right figures. And some in Berkeley charge that the most extreme protesters on both sides are outsiders provoking violence for their ends.

A February scheduled appearance at UC Berkeley by conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was canceled amid a violent protest on the campus. That sparked a national debate  in which President Trump took part  about the balance between the right to demonstrate and protecting free speech that some find objectionable.

There have been two other clashes in the city of Berkeley since then, including one Saturday in which 21 people were arrested.

In 2014, the campus faced a nearly identical situation when comedian and TV host Bill Maher was invited to be the keynote speaker at the winter commencement ceremony.

The Californians, a student group that helped organize campus events, invited Maher in August of that year but rescinded the invitation days after a Change.org petition calling Maher a bigot for on-air remarks about Muslims collected more than 1,500 signatures. Campus officials, however, stood by the invitation and allowed Maher to deliver the keynote address.

The UC Berkeley campus is known as the home of the Free Speech Movement. Thats one reason conservative activists have used it as a setting for several recent rallies.

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA

jeff.landa@latimes.com

Twitter: @JeffLanda

Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.

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This article was originally published at 2:50 p.m.
A Los Angeles City Council candidate seeking to represent a heavily Latino district apologized for comments he made about Mexicans in a YouTube video posted online nearly a decade ago but said the video was intended for the popular Ask a Mexican column in the OC Weekly.

Joe Bray-Ali, who is challenging City Councilman Gil Cedillo for the Council District 1 seat, appeared in a video titled Ask a Mexican  Mexican Doorbell that is posted to his YouTube page.

In the video, Bray-Ali holds his young daughter and speaks directly to the camera.

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Dear Mexican, Id like to know why all my neighbors think that the doorbell is a car horn. They wake up my baby, Bray-Ali says.

Below the 13-second video is text reading, Why do some of my neighbors think that their cars horn is a doorbell? The asians, whites, and other groups I live near dont honk to tell their friends they have arrived. What is up with the mexicans?

Michael Atkins, campaign spokesman for Bray-Ali, said Thursday that the video was intended to be a question for Gustavo Arellanos Ask a Mexican column in the OC Weekly.

Atkins comments came after he sent out a statement in which Bray-Ali apologized for the video. That initial statement didnt explain that Bray-Ali was pitching the question to Arellano. The campaign spokesman said he hadnt gotten a full explanation from Bray-Ali about the video.

The Ask a Mexican column is a humorous take on Mexican Americans behavior, with Arellano responding to readers questions.

Asked why Bray-Ali issued an apology for the video if it was supposed to be directed toward Arellano, Atkins said the apology is intended for anyone offended by Bray-Alis comments.

Atkins added that Cedillo was conducting a smear campaign by sending the video to reporters.

Bray-Alis ancestry is Indian, Hungarian and Irish. Hes married to a Mexican Chinese woman.

Joe apologizes, Atkins said of the video. He says the comment was stupid and its amazing how social media can remind of the mistakes of youth. This was nine years ago.

Comedian George Lopez has made a similar joke about car horns and doorbells, Atkins said.

A link to the video was sent to reporters Wednesday by Cedillos team after Bray-Ali called on the council member to denounce a racist comment made during a heated campaign debate Monday night in Westlake.

An audience member shouted out, Go back to India, to Bray-Ali, sparking outrage among his supporters.

Cedillo said in a statement Wednesday that he didnt hear what was said but that he denounces the India comment.

I know from personal experience how hateful remarks can hurt. That is why I would like Mr. Bray-Ali to explain remarks he made on a YouTube video on March 9, 2008, Cedillo said.

Bray-Ali, a bike activist, and Cedillo were the top two vote-getters in the March 7 primary election to represent Council District 1, which takes in several northeast neighborhoods and includes Westlake and Chinatown.

The runoff is May 16.

dakota.smith@latimes.com

Twitter: @dakotacdsmith

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This article was originally published on April 19 at 9:15 p.m..
Thursday will be a big day at Los Angeles City Hall, with Mayor Eric Garcetti delivering his yearly State of the City address and unveiling his annual budget.

Garcetti has been on a winning streak, securing reelection with 81% of the vote and helping to persuade voters to back a trio of tax hikes.

UPDATE: Garcetti's State of the City speech focuses on homelessness, new revenue 

But L.A. still has plenty of problems  crime, homelessness and a shaky city budget, to name a few. Here are some things to watch for as Garcetti spells out his vision and his financial priorities.

Confronting a big budget gap

Last month, city budget officials concluded that L.A. faces a shortfall of up to $224 million for the coming fiscal year. Things have gotten so dire, in fact, that the city is considering borrowing money just to pay for its ongoing legal bills. So whats a mayor to do?

Holding the line on spending could disappoint the citys employee unions, which have been clamoring for thousands of new hires. But efforts to secure additional funding  new developer fees or revenue from digital billboards, for example  could prove controversial among community groups.

By law, Garcetti must deliver a balanced budget.

Confronting Trump on immigration

California Democrats have been talking tough about the immigration policies of President Trump, who has promised a crackdown on cities that shield residents who are in the country illegally. Garcetti, by contrast, has largely avoided fiery rhetoric in favor of a more nuanced approach.

He has also promised that L.A. will commit public funds to defend those targeted by immigration officers. But he has also questioned whether sanctuary city is even a legally binding term.

Will he reinforce that quieter message during his speech or offer a more in-your-face response to the Trump administration?

Taking on traffic deaths

One of the bright spots in this years budget will be the tens of millions of dollars coming from Measure M, the transportation tax approved by voters in November. Since he took office, Garcetti has pushed for the city to repair more of its pockmarked streets.

But hes been facing calls to put significantly more money into Vision Zero, the citys high-profile campaign to reduce the number of traffic deaths. In 2016, 260 people were killed in collisions, an increase of almost 43% over the prior year.

Garcettis budget should reveal his priorities on both of those fronts.

Halting homelessness

Last year, Garcetti dramatically increased the amount of money dedicated to fighting homelessness, identifying a dozen city-owned properties to be used as locations for low-cost housing.

This time around, the city will have additional financial resources at its disposal, thanks to passage of Proposition HHH, the $1.2-billion bond measure.

Will the city offer even up more publicly owned land to build homeless housing? Or will it pull back on last years financial commitment now that it has a fresh source of taxpayer funds?

Hints about Garcettis political future

Garcetti has repeatedly declined to rule out a run for governor, leaving the public guessing as to his intentions.

The optics are a bit delicate. It would look unseemly to launch a campaign before July, when Garcetti is sworn in for his second and final term as mayor. So dont expect the mayor to divulge his plans during this years speech.

Still, Garcetti could use his address to touch on themes with statewide significance  water policy, the housing crunch, the tech economy  thereby offering subtle clues as to his aspirations.

And if he stays silent on those topics too? Well, well always have another Garcetti speech in July, at his inauguration.

david.zahniser@latimes.com

Twitter: @DavidZahniser

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Federal officials say procedures were violated at Los Angeles International Airport when an off-duty police officer boarded a flight to Taiwan with a handgun in her carry-on bag.

The Daily News reports that Santa Monica police Officer Noell Grant was barred from leaving Taiwan on April 13, after she entered the country with the gun that was previously missed by security at LAX.

The Transportation Security Administration said in a statement that standard procedures were not followed, allowing Grant to pass through the checkpoint with a firearm.

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Grant, who traveled to Taiwan for vacation, was carrying a personal, not a department, weapon.

Santa Monica police Lt. Saul Rodriguez said Wednesday that Grant cant leave Taiwan until the matter is resolved. He didnt know if she has been charged with a crime there.

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Police are searching for suspects in the fatal shooting of a 32-year-old man Wednesday in the Leimert Park area.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the shooting was reported about 2:20 p.m. near 8th Avenue and Stocker Plaza.

Police found the man unconscious with a gunshot wound to the chest. He died at the scene.

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The coroners office has identified him as Demarco Rankin. Police had originally reported his age as 25.

LAPD Capt. Darnell Davenport told KTLA-TV Channel 5 that Rankin was found on the front lawn of a residence.

A black Volkswagen Jetta with a man in his 20s and a female passenger is being sought by police. The vehicle was last seeing going east on 42nd Street, police said.

There have been three homicides within the last 12 months within one mile of Tuesdays incident, according to the Homicide Report, The Times online database.

jeff.landa@latimes.com

Twitter: @JeffLanda

UPDATES:

April 19, 2017, 10:40 PM: This article was updated with additional details on the victim.

This article was originally published at 6:20 p.m.
Today, April 20, is the most exalted day of the year for marijuana enthusiasts, but now that pot is legal in California aficionados predict that this 4/20 will likely be bigger and smokier than ever.

Although users still need a medical marijuana card to purchase cannabis (the sale of recreational pot isnt officially legal until next year), they can still possess and grow the plant.

Pot smokers across the state are expected to pry themselves off their couches and join their fellow stoners in numerous celebrations.

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Origins of 4/20

Different varieties of marijuana are displayed at a marijuana dispensary in Portland, Ore. (Gosia Wozniacka / Associated Press)

The origins of 4/20 are pretty hazy, but many marijuana enthusiasts say it started in California. Among various theories is the belief is that a group of California teenagers in San Rafael created the term in 1971. The friends, who called themselves the Waldos, would met at 4:20 p.m. to search for an abandoned marijuana crop and get high, apparently.

Others say the term came from police codes for smoking pot in public. But that penal code in California actually refers to obstructing entry into public land.

California legalizes weed

FILE - This April 15, 2017 file photo shows marijuana plants for sale at the ShowGrow dispensary a medical marijuana provider in downtown Los Angeles. This year is poised to be a big one for legalized marijuana, with California and other states that recently approved recreational pot coming online. Yet uncertainty over the Trump administrations intents toward pot enforcement has created at least partial paralysis in those states on public consumption, licensing and other issues. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel,File) (Richard Vogel / AP)

California in 1996 became the first state to legalize marijuana for medicinal use. Then in November, Californians overwhelmingly supported Proposition 64, a measure that allowed residents who are 21 and older to possess, transport, buy and use up to an ounce of cannabis for recreational purposes and allow individuals to grow as many as six plants.

The measure allows non-medical marijuana to be sold only by state licensed businesses, and gives the state until Jan. 1, 2018, to begin issuing sales licenses for recreational retailers.

Although several states, including California, Colorado and Oregon, have legalized marijuana for recreational use, cannabis is still considered a Schedule 1 drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration and is not currently accepted medical use.

San Franciscos 4/20 festival

A crowd cheers April 20, 2009, at 4:20 p.m. in Golden Gate Park. (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)

Much to the annoyance of police and city officials, thousands are expected to flock to the 4/20 at Hippie Hill event at Golden Gate Park. This year, city officials have set up a gate around the park, and will allow only adults to enter the area. The city is planning to increase police presence as well as install bathrooms and trash bins throughout the park. At previous events, the city has collected more than 11 tons of trash at the site.

We want people to be safe, San Francisco Supervisor London Breed tweeted. 4/20 is not an excuse to damage our parks and neighborhoods. No kids, no alcohol, no sale of drugs.

Half Baked in L.A.

The Wiltern on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles will be featuring the stoner favorite Half Baked. Filmgoers can memorialize the weed day by making use of a photo booth at the event.

The movie follows actors Dave Chapelle, Neal Brennan and Jim Breuer, who come up with a scheme to steal marijuana from a laboratory to help get their friend out of jail.

In L.A.s Mid-City, Mecca Natural Medicine, a pot dispensary, is celebrating the day by giving away a gift bag of cannabis samples with a $60 donation.

Need more?

Damian Jr. Gong Marley, son of reggae legend Bob Marley, will be hosting an Ask Me Anything on Reddit at 4:20 p.m. in honor of the unofficial holiday. The Jamaican reggae musician recently announced he was converting the former Claremont Custody Center in Coalinga into a pot farm.

Happy 4:20 everybody! Let's all smoke for peace and understanding. Weed need you.  Tommy Chong (@tommychong) April 20, 2017

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA

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Prosecutors charged 26 doctors and other medical professionals Thursday in an alleged kickback scheme that may have defrauded up to 13,000 patients in California and netted the defendants roughly $40 million as they overcharged for medication or prescribed balms that had no known medical value.

In a joint statement, Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas and State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said the plot was spearheaded by Tanya and Christopher King of Beverly Hills, the owners of two medical billing and management companies. The husband and wife are accused of paying doctors to prescribe unnecessary medications and tests. Authorities said the doctors and the companies associated with them then masked those kickbacks as marketing expenses.

Nearly $40 million was billed to the insurance companies of the affected patients, who were on workers compensation, authorities said.

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The Kings and their co-conspirators played with patients lives, buying and selling them for profit without regard to patient safety, Jones said in the statement. Patients have the right to expect treatment decisions by healthcare professionals are based on medical need and not unadulterated greed. The magnitude of this alleged crime is an affront to ethical medical professionals.

The Kings could not immediately be reached for comment.

The owners of Stevens Pharmacy in Costa Mesa, Charles Bonner and Mervyn Miller, are accused of working with the Kings to prescribe more than $1 million worth of creams that had not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and were not known to have medical benefits, authorities said.

The Kings would purchase the creams for between $15 and $40 from the pharmacy, but then billed insurers up to $700 for each prescription, according to investigators. Tanya King was accused of paying physicians $50 per prescription to take part in the scam, officials said.

Some of the doctors charged in the case also ordered unnecessary urine tests, under the guise that they wanted to confirm their patients were taking prescribed medications, investigators said. After the doctors ordered the tests, the Kings would pay $60 to a toxicology group for each screening performed, then bill insurers hundreds of dollars more per test, according to the news release.

In order for the system to survive, we must have ethical doctors who abide by their Hippocratic oath to do no harm, Rackauckas said in the statement. The intent of many of the laws surrounding the insurance industry is to keep the three Ps  physician, patients and profit -- separate.

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.

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A former Tennessee teacher accused of kidnapping his 15-year-old student was arrested in Northern California on Thursday after authorities found them in an isolated cabin in Siskiyou County, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

The girl was safe, and their discovery put an end to a five-week nationwide search that included Amber alerts in Tennessee and Alabama, a sighting in Oklahoma City and more than 1,500 tips.

Tad Cummins, 50, was wanted on allegations of sexual conduct with a minor and has been accused of kidnapping 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas. Cummins was listed on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations 10 Most Wanted list.

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Elizabeth had been missing since March 13.

We couldnt be happier to tell you she will soon be on her way to Tennessee, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director Mark Gwyn said in a news conference Thursday. Gwyn said authorities mobilized a nation during the search, and when you do that, something good most likely is going to happen because you cant hide from that many millions of people looking for you.

Cummins and Elizabeth had been staying for several days in a cabin near Cecilville, in a very remote, isolated area with no or limited cellphone service and snow on the ground, said Josh DeVine, a TBI spokesman. A citizen who spotted them contacted Siskiyou County authorities and called a TBI tip line Wednesday night.

Sheriffs deputies in rural Siskiyou County, which borders Oregon, found Cummins silver 2015 Nissan Rogue on Wednesday night near Cecilville, authorities said. The vehicles license plate had been removed, and it was determined to be Cummins car by its vehicle identification number, a dispatcher for the Siskiyou County Sheriffs Office told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday.

The car was parked near the cabin on Eddy Gulch Road, in a mountainous area, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriffs Office.

Authorities kept the vehicle under surveillance throughout the night; they arrested Cummins and recovered the girl without incident on Thursday morning, according to the Sheriffs Office. Deputies found two loaded handguns in the cabin.

Cummins was taken to the Siskiyou County Jail in Yreka and booked on a Maury County, Tenn., fugitive arrest warrant for aggravated kidnapping, according to the Sheriffs Office. Federal and Tennessee authorities were en route to the area Thursday, and Cummins remained in custody in California, awaiting extradition to Tennessee, authorities said.

Gwyn said Elizabeth would be flown back to Tennessee on a TBI aircraft and that Cummins would face a set of state and federal charges that could keep him behind bars for many years.

At the end of the day, shes 15 years old, Gwyn said. Shes a young girl with a grown man thats 50 years old.  He needs to be held accountable.

Cummins will be charged with aggravated kidnapping in addition to charges stemming from an inappropriate touching incident at the school, said Brent Cooper, the district attorney for Maury County, Tenn.

Jack Smith, the acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, said his office on Thursday filed federal charges of transportation of a minor across state lines for the purpose of criminal sexual intercourse. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, Smith said.

Cummins formerly taught at the Culleoka Unit School in Culleoka, Tenn., where Elizabeth was a student, the Tennessean reported. He was fired from the school after authorities began investigating him for an alleged sexual interaction with the girl at the school, where she was a freshman, according to the TBI.

The TBI said in a statement last month that investigative efforts have revealed a troubling pattern of behavior by Tad Cummins, suggesting the 50-year-old may have been abusing his role as a teacher to groom this vulnerable young girl for some time in an effort to lure and potentially sexually exploit her.

Elizabeth was last seen the morning of March 13 at a Shoneys restaurant in Columbia, Tenn., after being dropped off by a friend. Her parents reported her missing later that day. Investigators placed her as being 80 miles south, in Decatur, Ala., later that day.

Surveillance footage showed Cummins and the girl at a Wal-Mart in Oklahoma City on March 15, the Tennessean reported. Cummins used cash to purchase food items, and they both appeared to have dyed hair.

Authorities said Cummins appeared to have planned the abduction in advance.

Three days before Elizabeth disappeared, Cummins looked for information online about his Nissan in an effort to determine if certain features could be tracked by law enforcement, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. A few days before that, he did an online search about teenage marriage, authorities said.

In a news conference last month, Cummins wife, Jill, said: Tad, this is not you. This is not who you are.  Your family wants their poppy back. Please do the right thing and turn yourself in to the police and bring Beth home. Jill Cummins has since filed for divorce, after 31 years of marriage, according to the Tennessean.

hailey.branson@latimes.com

Twitter: @haileybranson

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UPDATES:

3:35 p.m.: This article was updated with additional information about the arrest from the Siskiyou County Sheriffs Office.

2:30 p.m.: This article was updated with information from a news conference.

11:55 p.m.: This article was updated with additional information about the kidnapping.

This article was originally published at 10:40 a.m.
The number of Dreamers deported after being brought illegally to the United States as children and losing their protected status because of criminal behavior appears to have soared in the first few months of the Trump administration.

According to data released this week by the Department of Homeland Security, 43 immigrants whose protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was terminated were deported during the first two months of the Trump presidency, from Jan. 20 to March 25.

Thats a much higher proportion than under President Obama, when former Dreamers were being deported at a rate of about seven a month since the program got underway in September 2012.

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President Trump has stated his administration will not target DACA, an Obama-era program that allows immigrants brought into the country illegally as children, who attend school or have graduated, to apply to the federal government for a two-year work permit and protection from deportation. An estimated 742,000 Dreamers have been given protection under the program.

At issue are those former DACA beneficiaries whose protected status was canceled either because of a criminal conviction or gang activity.

Immigrant advocates say the rise in deportations of former Dreamers is likely a result of Trumps executive orders tightening border security and immigration enforcement.

The Obama administration prioritized deportation of immigrants who were deemed a danger to public safety, convicted of a serious crime, a threat to national security or who had recently crossed the border.

Given the Trump administrations rhetoric and policies, Im not surprised that more people are being targeted  including individuals who are longtime residents who pose no danger, contribute to our society and economy, and have U.S. citizen families, said Lucas Guttentag, a former senior advisor at the Department of Homeland Security under Obama who now teaches law at Stanford University.

The Department of Homeland Security says its policies on DACA have not changed.

The grounds for DACA termination have not changed since the inception of the program, Gillian Christensen, acting Homeland Security press secretary, said in a statement. She said many of the former DACA beneficiaries deported this year probably had their protected status terminated before Trump became president.

Individuals who pose a public safety threat due to their criminal history or gang affiliation are subject to DACA revocation, she said.

Yet it appears clear that those whose DACA protection is terminated are more likely to be a target for deportation now that Trump has set new priorities for enforcement. Under the Obama administration, Guttentag said, someone could have his or her DACA status terminated yet remain a non-priority for removal if not seen to pose a danger or convicted of a serious criminal offense.

The fact that they abandoned priorities didnt change DACA, Guttentag said. But if a DACA recipient does something to lose eligibility, that could not make him or her vulnerable.

Under Trumps Jan. 25 executive order, immigrants in the country illegally can be deported if they are merely charged with a crime, as opposed to having a criminal conviction. All 43 former Dreamers deported since Trumps inauguration had been convicted of crimes or found to have gang affiliations, Christensen said in an email. She declined to provide any breakdown of the crimes that prompted their DACA status to be revoked.

More than 670 former Dreamers currently face removal proceedings, with 90 detained in custody, according to Homeland Security data.

The deportation figures released by the Homeland Security Department show that while 43 former DACA immigrants were deported from Jan. 20 to March 25, 20 were allowed to remain in the country.

While a total of 365 were deported during the four-plus years the DACA program was carried out under Obama, more than 500 were released from immigration custody.

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based research institute that advocates stricter immigration policy, cautioned that it is too early to know how deportations will proceed under Trump.

We have years of data on Obama policy and only weeks of data on Trump policies, she said. But it does appear if you have DACA and it was revoked, you are more likely to be deported under the Trump administration than the Obama administration.

In addition to deporting former Dreamers with criminal convictions, Vaughan said she would not be surprised if the new administration also starts going after those who have not renewed their DACA status or are found to have obtained it fraudulently.

The Obama administration put a lot of restraints on ICE, Vaughan said, referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The Trump administration is starting from the standpoint that anyone here illegally is potentially subject to deportation. ICE officers are not going to be turning the other way.

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The mystery of how a prominent African American judge came to be found floating dead in the Hudson River has deepened as her family and widowed husband disputed suggestions by the New York Police Department that she had committed suicide.

What is known is that Sheila Abdus-Salaam, 65, a judge on the states highest court, went for a walk alone on the evening of April 11, locking the door to her Harlem brownstone, leaving her phone and wallet at home.

She had called in sick that day and hadnt gone to work. Surveillance videos spaced over several hours showed the judge walking briskly alone toward the river wearing sweat pants and white sneakers as though she were perhaps exercising.

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The last video of her walking was captured after midnight. The next afternoon, her body, dressed in the same clothing, was found at the edge of the river in an area popular with joggers and bicycle riders.

In the initial days, police said that the death appeared to be a suicide because there were no obvious signs of trauma to her body. Reports circulated that her family had a history of suicide  that her 92-year-old mother had taken her life during the Easter holiday in 2012 and her brother two years later. But her family now disputes those stories, saying in a statement that Abdus-Salaams mother died naturally of old age and her brother of terminal lung cancer.

Gregory Jacobs, an Episcopal priest who become Abdus-Salaams third husband when they married last year, also challenged the portrayal of his wife as suicidal.

Reports have frequently included unsubstantiated comments concerning my wifes possible mental and emotional state of mind at the time of her death. Those of us who loved Sheila and knew her well do not believe that these unfounded conclusions have any basis in reality, read a statement Jacobs released Wednesday.

What looked like an open-and-shut case has been assigned a special team of investigators by the Police Department, which is now treating Abdus-Salaams death as suspicious. The police on Tuesday put out a poster asking for information, accompanied by a picture of the judge, photographed, as always, impeccably dressed, this time in a cream-colored jacket and pearls with wire-rimmed eyeglasses.

The #NYPD is seeking info on the death of Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam. Anyone with info is asked to call our detectives at the numbers listed. pic.twitter.com/pSXDtuaVTo  NYPD 26th Precinct (@NYPD26Pct) April 18, 2017

Abdus-Salaam grew up in a family of seven children in suburban Washington, D.C., and graduated from Barnard College and Columbia University Law School. After a long career as a public defender and lower-court judge, she became in 2013 the first African American woman on the Court of Appeals, as New Yorks highest court is known. Last summer, she wrote what was considered a landmark decision in the state, awarding visitation rights to a nonbiological parent in a gay couple.

Since the 1980s, Abdus-Salaam had lived in Harlem. She married a man from the neighborhood who had converted to Islam, continuing to use his name professionally after their divorce.

The brownstone she bought in the 1980s, when New Yorks economy was in the doldrums and the streets were racked with crime, is now worth about $3 million. It is on one of Harlems prettiest streets, lined with historic homes and flowering trees, in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood with restaurants serving sushi and soul food. On Thursday, a tour guide was showing European tourists the street, stopping to point out the flowers left out front in tribute to the popular judge.

It is very weird, said John Audate, 60, a neighbor whose wife helped Abdus-Salaam buy the brownstone in the 1980s. She had a good job and a nice house. Its devastating to us and very hard to believe she killed herself.

Abdus-Salaam had remarried the year before. Although her husband continued to live at the diocese in Newark, N.J., he often spent weekends at the brownstone, and neighbors would see them strolling. The weekend before her death, Abdus-Salaam had spent the weekend with him in Newark.

Although Abdus-Salaam didnt often open up about her private life, one thing people knew about her was that she loved to swim.

She was like a fish in water, Audate said. She told my wife how much she loved the beach and pools when she was a girl.

This whole story seems so unlikely. I dont think it is so easy to kill yourself by drowning, said Todd Millner, 47, a film editor who lives a few doors away.

Flowers left in memory of Sheila Abdus-Salaam at her brownstone in Harlem. (Barbara Demick / Los Angeles Times)

The suspicions about Abdus-Salaams death have been fueled in part by the death of another African American judge the day before in Illinois. Cook County criminal court Judge Raymond Myles was shot April 10 outside his home in Chicago in what police are calling a robbery.

Abdus-Salaams death has attracted much speculation on social media and in the New York tabloids.

She was a black woman in an age of anti-blackness and white supremacy. She was a woman in an age where violence against women is too often dismissed, wrote political commentator Shaun King in a column Tuesday in the New York Daily News. Sheila Abdus-Salaam may have very well chosen to check out of this world. That was her decision to make, but the troubling reality is that we live in a time where many ugly forces of evil couldve also seen her as a threat and killed her.

barbara.demick@latimes.com

Twitter: @BarbaraDemick

ALSO

An Idaho sheriffs daunting battle to investigate when children of a faith-healing sect die

Supreme Court orders refunds for people whose criminal convictions are overturned

Deportations of Dreamers whove lost protected status have surged under Trump

UPDATES:

1:15 p.m. April 21: This article was updated to report additional details about Sheila Abdus-Salaams movements before she disappeared.

This article was originally published on April 20 at 3:55 p.m.
Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. Its Thursday, April 20, and heres whats happening across California:

TOP STORIES

The trees are dropping like flies

The trees of Southern California are dying at a frighteningly fast rate. Were witnessing a transition to a post-oasis landscape in Southern California, says Greg McPherson, a supervisory research forester with the U.S. Forest Service. Heres just one startling example: In recent years, botanists have documented how insect and disease infestations destroyed over 100,000 willows in San Diego Countys Tijuana River Valley Regional Park. Los Angeles Times

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Free speech debate

UC Berkeley officials on Wednesday canceled conservative commentator Ann Coulters appearance at the university next week, citing safety concerns after several violent clashes. The decision further heightens a free speech debate roiling campuses in California and across the country after disturbances have interrupted, and in some cases forced the cancellation of, conservative speakers. Los Angeles Times

Libraries transform for the digital age

Libraries at Californias universities are being transformed to reflect a world where fewer books and more space to collaborate are needed. At UC Berkeley, 135,000 books at Moffitt Library have been shipped out and moved to other locations. Los Angeles Times

A budget fight for the aging

Californias program to provide in-home care for its low-income elderly and disabled residents finds itself once again at the heart of a state budget standoff. In 20 years, residents age 65 or older will make up nearly a quarter of the population, according to state projections, up from 14% last year. Los Angeles Times

L.A. STORIES

City Hall Confidential: Thursday is a big day at L.A. City Hall. The city budget is being released amid tight financial times, and Mayor Eric Garcetti will deliver his State of the City address. Here are five key things to watch for. Los Angeles Times

A new L.A. park: After 16 years, Los Angeles State Historic Park is about to open. The park sits on a 32-acre site sandwiched between Chinatown and the Los Angeles River and surrounded by neighborhoods that have been ports of entry for L.A.s immigrant populations for nearly two centuries. Los Angeles Times

A community withers away: West Hollywoods Russian community used to be growing and vibrant, but in the last 20 years, its actually shrunk. The population of Russian-speaking immigrants fell nearly 30% to 3,872 people from 2000 to 2010, according to a city study. LA Weekly

We bought a ranch: Driving along I-5, youll inevitably pass the sprawling Tejon Ranch. Several years ago, two law professors decided to imitate the activist investors they studied and pour their retirement funds into this venture against the advice of their wives. The Atlantic

IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER

Some dreams die: The number of Dreamers deported after being brought illegally to the United States as children and losing their protected status because of criminal behavior appears to have soared in the first few months of the Trump administration. Los Angeles Times

Theres a twist! Officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection are now disputing that they deported a 23-year-old man with permission to live and work in the United States. The move comes a day after agency officials wrongly claimed the man didnt have protective status in the first place. Los Angeles Times

Walking back Trump: During a Wednesday morning Fox News appearance, Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions wouldnt promise that participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program wont be deported. Politico

Not so big or beautiful: Heres what we know about the price and pitfalls of President Trumps proposed border wall. Reveal

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Abortion on campus: A proposed bill in the state Senate would allow Californias public college campuses to be the first in the nation to offer abortion by medication at their student health centers. The Mercury News

Perez in California: Democratic National Committee leader Tom Perez will address California Democrats at their annual convention in May, the state party announced Wednesday. Los Angeles Times

He tweeted what? A history professor at Fresno State University has been placed on paid leave after writing on Twitter that President Trump must hang to save American democracy. Los Angeles Times

CRIME AND COURTS

Keep em out: In an opinion piece, Californias chief justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye argues that ICE agents need to stay out of courthouses, because it reduces the trust, confidence and cooperation of all of the participants of the criminal justice process. Washington Post

So much for oversight: The nations top bank regulator knew about problems with Wells Fargo & Co.s sales practices as far back as 2010, but did little to put an end to the banks abuses, an internal agency review has concluded. Los Angeles Times

True story: A woman has been accused of drinking Drakes sodas after getting in his Hidden Hills home. Authorities say the 24-year-old broke into the rappers house but only raided his fridge. Los Angeles Times

Shooting justified: A Fontana police officer acted lawfully when he shot and killed a legally blind man with schizophrenia during an encounter at a gas station in 2015, prosecutors said this week. NBC 4

THE ENVIRONMENT

Holy smokes: California is home to eight of the 10 cities in America where air pollution is worst, according to the American Lung Assn. The Los Angeles area is No. 5. Quartz

The Berlin Airlift 2.0: As the U.S Marine Corps looks to expand the Twentynine Palms training grounds, its airlifting 1,100 desert tortoises to a new location. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Hacking for hire: For years when pitching investors, a Silicon Valley cyber security company would hack into the internal systems of a Santa Clara County community hospital without permission. Wall Street Journal

Plus: Read about how two investors in Juicero were surprised to learn the startups juice packs could be squeezed by hand without using its high-tech machine that they invested millions in. Bloomberg

Let me fix that: Meet the plastic surgeon for Los Angeles stars. His name is Peter Kopelson. Hes covered in tattoos. And he belongs to a small group of medical professionals responsible for keeping the most recognizable faces on the planet looking always young, or at least, well rested, and also pimple free. New York Times

So good: North Hollywoods Song Fung Khong is beyond spicy. Its also in the back of a swap meet. Eater LA

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles area: sunny Thursday and Friday. San Diego: sunny Thursday and Friday. San Francisco area: sunny Thursday, partly cloudy Friday. Sacramento: partly cloudy Thursday and Friday. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Todays California Memory comes from Katie Kohler:

One of my first jobs out of school was a PR assistant at a local publicity firm. At the time I was living at my grandmothers house in old Bel-Air, a typical mid-century rancher with decor that can only be described as straight off the set of Mad Men. The property was positioned at the top of a hill with magazine-worthy views of the canyons below and the Pacific Ocean glimmering in the distance. One afternoon I was seated on a lounger by the pool, shaded under a pergola, emailing publicists trying to get their celebrity clients to attend an event. I remember thinking to myself, This is it. This is the California dream. 

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.
Whats going on with the Iran nuclear deal? Im Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I dont want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES

Why Trump Has Stuck With the Worst Deal Ever

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As a candidate, Donald Trump vowed to rip up the nuclear deal with Iran as soon as he took office. The worst deal ever negotiated, he called it. Since taking office, administration officials have realized that dropping out abruptly could backfire. (Who knew?) After confirming that Iran is complying with the landmark arms control accord, the White House says it is conducting an internal review of it. Heres why big changes arent likely any time soon.

More Politics

-- A source says Exxon Mobil is seeking permission from the U.S. government to resume drilling around the Black Sea with Russias state-owned Rosneft.

-- The number of Dreamers deported after being brought illegally to the U.S. as children and losing their protected status because of criminal behavior appears to have soared in the first few months of the Trump administration.

-- Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz says he wont run for reelection or any other office in 2018. Meanwhile, his GOP colleagues have a problem as they look to next years elections, and its name is Trump.

Bill OReilly Gets Factored Out at Fox

If Bill OReilly said a little prayer when he shook hands with Pope Francis at the Vatican, it didnt help him keep his job. Hours later, Fox News fired him. Even amid a cloud of sexual harassment complaints by multiple women against him, though, its likely there will be a second act for the man who was Foxs biggest ratings draw. Times columnist Michael Hiltzik says that OReillys story is all too common: the star who gets away with bad behavior for as long as possible. And Hiltzik makes what might be the first comparison ever between Fox News and UC Berkeley.

Ann Coulters Berkeley Bash

Speaking of Berkeley  University officials have canceled conservative columnist Ann Coulters appearance next week, citing safety concerns. Recent violent clashes between right- and left-wing protesters have cast a pall over the famously liberal city, and UC Berkeley officials say they feel caught between a rock and hard place in trying to let speakers on the right be heard. That didnt stop Coulter from bashing the university on Twitter: No school accepting public funds can ban free speech. The Berkeley College Republicans still plan to host her off-campus.

Where Even the Minders Have Minders

Missile launch? What missile launch? In North Korea, state media dont report on failures. So on Saturday, there was no talk of such things, as middle-class families spent the afternoon at the Pyongyang Zoo. L.A. Times foreign correspondent Jonathan Kaiman spent several days last week in the Hermit Kingdom, where even the minders have minders. Heres what he saw in the post-truth capital of the world  and why he wondered when hed be allowed to leave.

Droughts Over, but SoCals Trees Arent Out of the Woods

O death, thy name is polyphagous shot hole borer beetle. At least it could be for as many as 38% of the trees in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, according to an official with the U.S. Forest Service. The beetle is just one threat in what he and others are calling an unprecedented die-off of trees in Southern California. It could have dire consequences for the quality of life here.

CALIFORNIA

-- Federal officials say they didnt deport a Dreamer from Calexico, but they acknowledged that his protected immigration status was not due to expire until 2018.

-- Los Angeles lawmakers voted to strengthen city rules surrounding the demolition of rent-controlled apartments.

-- It took 16 years, but the Los Angeles State Historic Park will celebrate its grand opening on Saturday.

-- Watch your step! Rattlesnake season has begun with a vengeance in Southern California.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- The nonfiction book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is coming to life on HBO, with some help from Oprah Winfrey.

-- You know the names Klee and Kandinsky. A new exhibition explains why you also should know Galka Scheyer.

-- New Prince music is on the way, unless his family can stop it.

-- Watch: Alec Baldwin teaches you how to impersonate President Trump.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

Cantinflas became Latin Americas most celebrated and beloved comic actor in the 1940s. So much so that his stage name led to the Spanish noun cantinflada and verb cantinflear, which translate roughly as babble. He died on this date in 1993.

NATION-WORLD

-- Arkansas has suffered two more legal setbacks in its bid to carry out a succession of executions this month.

-- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that people who are freed from prison when their convictions are reversed deserve a refund of what they paid in fees, court costs and restitution.

-- Tens of thousands of Venezuelans used a national holiday to demonstrate yet again against the government of President Nicolas Maduro, and at least two people died.

-- Emirates, the Middle Easts biggest airline, says it is cutting flights to the U.S. because of lower demand caused by heightened U.S. security measures and travel ban attempts.

-- Can scientists rejuvenate an aging brain with a protein found in umbilical cord blood? A study of mice suggests yes.

BUSINESS

-- An internal review has found the nations top bank regulator knew about problems with Wells Fargo & Co.s sales practices in 2010 but did not do enough to stop them.

-- Analysts say lots of entry-level cyber security jobs are sitting empty. They make pretty good money too.

SPORTS

-- Things only figure to get more intense between the Clippers and the Jazz in their NBA playoff series.

-- The Anaheim Ducks became the first team to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

OPINION

-- Is Alex Jones an extreme conspiracy theorist or a giant troll? The answer matters.

-- Freedom of religion collides with freedom from religion on a Missouri playground.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- The fallout from Trumps tweet claiming he was wiretapped could have bigger consequences for national security. (The New Yorker)

-- Are we seeing the early warning signs that Western civilization could collapse? Some academics think so. (BBC)

-- Is the Unicorn Frappuccino made for social media but not for drinking? (NPR)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

Rep. Duncan Hunter says he mixed up his credit cards and thats how $60,000 of his campaign funds were used to pay for personal expenses such as tuition at his kids schools and $600 to bring his familys pet rabbit on a cross-country flight. While an investigation takes place, a San Diego activist has started the Bunny PAC, complete with its own mascot  a giant rabbit. Its an androgynous rabbit. Hell be making an appearance at some point in the future, the PAC founder says. The bunny wont speak. Ill probably be the bunnys translator.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.

If you like this newsletter, please share it with friends.
When Ohio announced in 2009 that it planned to abandon the three-drug lethal injection protocol that virtually all jurisdictions had employed for the past three decades, many assumed that most other states would soon follow suit. After all, Ohios new protocol, which involved an overdose of a single barbiturate, was touted as being easier to administer and less risky.

Eight years later, however, the three-drug protocol is still very much in use, and its current application likely violates the 8th Amendments prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Despite demonstrated concerns, Arkansas planned to use it to execute eight prisoners by the end of April. But for court rulings staying some of the executions, the unprecedented state killings would already have begun.

The three-drug protocol has an ignoble history. In the late 1970s, a medical examiner in Oklahoma, Jay Chapman, developed a procedure that involved, first, an anesthetic to render the prisoner unconscious; second, a paralyzing agent to render him immobile; and third, potassium chloride to stop his heart. No one in the scientific or medical community vetted Chapmans creation, nor was it subjected to testing of any kind. Chapman himself had no expertise in this area; as a medical examiner, he admitted that he was an expert in dead bodies but not an expert in getting that way.

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Nevertheless, virtually every death penalty state adopted Chapmans procedure.

The maladministration of lethal injection procedures has been well-documented in many states over the past 10 years.

A criticism of the three-drug protocol, and one key reason that its current use may constitute cruel and unusual punishment, is that the paralyzing agent serves no medical purpose, nor is it needed to cause death. Instead, paralysis renders it virtually impossible to discern whether the prisoner is suffering.

This is no fanciful concern. Paralyzing drugs are derived from a poison called curare, which was used in the barbaric 19th century practice of vivisection  the dissection of living animals for medical experimentation. In 1868, Swedish physiologist A.F. Holmgren described the use of curare as changing one instantly into a living corpse, which hears and sees and knows everything, but is unable to move a single muscle, and under its influence no creature can give the faintest indication of its hopeless condition.

Forty-two of 50 states bar the use of such drugs in animal euthanasia because if something goes wrong and the animal is not properly rendered unconscious, its impossible to know. As one animal welfare organization wrote to New York legislators in 1987 in support of a ban on paralytics in euthanasia, drugs containing paralytic agents ... can cause acute suffering before an animal dies. The Humane Society of the United States has stated that it is the moral and ethical duty of its members to end the practice of injecting animals with curare-based or paralytic substances.

Its true that if the first drug in the three-drug protocol is an anesthetic and if its administered properly and in the right dosage, then the prisoner wont feel the effects of the paralytic or the potassium chloride. But the maladministration of lethal injection procedures has been well-documented in many states over the past 10 years (including, notably, California). Even a one-drug protocol can go horribly awry if the drug is of unknown provenance or if the execution personnel are unqualified or untrained. Proper administration cannot be taken for granted.

Arkansas version of the three-drug protocol is particularly troubling because the state does not even plan to use an anesthetic as the first drug. Instead, its protocol calls for midazolam, a sedative that cannot, at any dosage, render a person unconscious and insensate to pain and suffering. In other words, even if the protocol is administered properly, it cannot work as intended because the first drug is not an anesthetic. Midazolam has led to botched executions in Arizona, Oklahoma, and Ohio  and Arizona has agreed to ban its use in future executions.

Despite grave concerns about midazolam as an execution drug, we may never know whether it works  or fails  in the spate of executions Arkansas has planned. The prisoners will be paralyzed, unable to move a muscle, unable to indicate in any way if they are experiencing the suffocating effects of the paralytic and the searing pain of the potassium chloride. Thats more than an execution. Thats torture.

Ty Alper is a clinical professor of law and associate dean at UC Berkeley School of Law.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook
To the editor: There used to be such a thing as the loyal opposition. As the violent clash in Berkeley Saturday between supporters and opponents of President Trump shows, that has sadly, and dangerously, evolved into partisan intolerance of differences of opinion. (For many at violent Berkeley rally, it wasnt really about Trump or free speech: They came to make trouble, April 18)

There is great wisdom in united we stand, divided we fall.

When are we going to stop fighting our political opponents purely for the sport of venting our disgust of them? When will we try instead to do what it takes to negotiate our differences and salvage our republic, intact, without throwing civil liberties on the scrap heap?

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Laura Kline, Valley Village

..

To the editor: Last Saturday at peaceful tax marches in Los Angeles and dozens of other cities nationwide, people demanded that Trump release his tax returns. This important story was buried deep inside your Sunday paper, whereas you have published two articles about the clash in Berkeley between violent thugs from the far right and the far left.

You trivialized the imperative that Trumps financial interests be revealed by choosing to emphasize mindless conflict over peaceful protest.

John D. Kelley, Santa Barbara

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
University of California administration is paying excessive salaries and mishandling funds, state audit says

UCLA campus (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The administration of the University of California system pays top workers salaries and benefits significantly higher than that of similar state employees, and failed to disclose to the Board of Regents and the public that it had $175 million in budget reserve funds while it was seeking to raise tuition, a state audit found Tuesday.

The audit triggered a dispute with UC President Janet Napolitano, who said charges of hidden funds were false, while two members of the UC Board of Regents charged recommendations to give the Legislature budget authority over the Office of the President encroached on UCs constitutional powers.

Among the sticking points, the auditors believe the regents should contract with an independent third party that can assist the regents in monitoring a three-year corrective action plan.

The audit of the Office of the President also found that it failed to satisfactorily justify its spending on system-wide initiatives and inappropriately screened surveys submitted by auditors to campus officials.

Our report concludes that the Office of the President has amassed substantial reserve funds, used misleading budgeting practices, provided its employees with generous salaries and atypical benefits, and failed to satisfactorily justify its spending on systemwide initiatives, State Auditor Elaine Howle wrote to Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature.

Furthermore, when we sought independent perspective from campuses about the quality and cost of the services and programs the Office of the President provides to them, the Office of the President intentionally interfered with our audit process, Howle wrote.

The auditor said that because of recent tuition hikes, she recommends the Office of the President should refund available funds in the reserves by returning them to the campuses for the benefit of students.

Ralph Washington Jr. president of the U.C. Students Assn. said if any reserve money is found it should go to help students, possibly by killing the tuition increase or helping students who are starving or homeless, but he is concerned legislators may use the audit to say the U.C. doesnt need so much general fund money.

Students definitely dont want their tuition to go up, he said.

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount), who serves on the board of regents, said the audit requires more inquiry.

The audit of the UC Office of the President appears to have uncovered the same kind of budgetary misrepresentations and executive excess that weve seen before with the State Parks Department and the Public Utilities Commission, Rendon said in a statement. There are many questions that need to be answeredand answered honestly.

The audit was requested by legislators concerned about high tuition and complaints of a bloated administration overseeing the UC systems 10 campuses.

The reserve included $32 million in unspent funds it received from an annual charge levied on the campusesfunds that campuses could have spent on students, the audit said.

Auditors said salaries paid to those in the presidents office are much higher than the pay of comparable positions in other state government jobs.

President Napolitano agreed with the vast majority of recommendations for improving budget processes and spending, but denied that $175 million was hidden from the UC Board of Regents.

In a letter to Howle, the president said changes were already underway.

The recommendations to [the UC presidents office] are helpful, Napolitano wrote. We welcome this constructive input, which aligns with our proactive efforts to continually improve UCOPs operations, and UCOP intends to implement the recommendations.

However, Board of Regents Chair Monica Lozano and Regent Charlene Zettel asked Howle to remove recommendations that they feel encroach on the constitutional autonomy of the university system, including proposals to have the Legislature approve the Office of the Presidents budget.

As written, we believe these recommendations threaten the Universitys standing as a constitutionally autonomous entity, and the Board of Regents itself, the regents wrote.

Administrative salaries amounted to $2.5 million more than the maximum annual salary ranges for comparable state employees, auditors found.

For instance, an accounting managers maximum annual salary is $169,000 at UC compared to $156,000 for other state employees.

An information system manager can make $258,000 with UC, but $150,000 with other state agencies.

The audit said: 10 executives in the Office of the President whose compensation we analyzed were paid a total of $3.7 million in fiscal year 2014-15  over $700,000 more than the combined salaries of their highest paid state employee counterparts.

On benefits, the Office of the President provided a regular retirement plan but also offered its executives a retirement savings account into which the office contributes up to 5% of the executives salariesabout $2.5 million over the past five years, the audit found.

The Office of the President also spent more than $2 million for its staffs business meetings and entertainment expenses over the past five yearsa benefit that the State does not offer to its employees except in limited circumstances, the audit said..

The audit also said the Office of the President reimbursed questionable travel expenses, including a ticket for a theater performance and limousine services. One person spent $350 per night on hotel rooms, which is above the allowable standard for other state agencies.

The audit said the Office of the President has not managed its own budget  which amounted to $747 million in fiscal year 201516  in a fiscally prudent or transparent way.

Napolitano said the audit was in error in claiming her office failed to publicly disclose tens of millions in surplus funds.

In fact, UCOPs budget and financial approaches reflect strategic, deliberate and transparent spending and investment in UC and state priorities, said a statement by the Office of the President.

Howle disagreed.

Significant reforms are necessary to strengthen the publics trust in the Office of the President, the audit concluded.

Read the audit here.
Back in November, Rep. Darrell Issa won reelection over a novice Democrat by fewer than 2,000 votes, and it seems to have shaken him.

The nine-term Vista Republican has made multiple moves that indicate the conservative watchdog during the Obama era is moving to moderate his image as Democrats target his seat for 2018. Hes already drawn two Democratic opponents.

Does Issa think hes moved toward the center?

Nothing could be further from the truth, he said by phone, calling the idea bullshit.

Issa said that nothing has changed except that more attention is focused on him.

I am who I am. I vote based on what I think is the right thing, he said.

Here are some ways Issa seems to have moved to the center since November.

Rep. Darrell Issa, left, greets Donald Trump during a campaign rally in May. (John Gastaldo / TNS) (John Gastaldo / TNS)

Hes been breaking with his party on Trump

In February, Issa became the first Republican to say that Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, who was involved in President Trumps campaign, should recuse himself from investigating Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election.

He made a splash when he followed it up with a call for an independent investigation into Russia and the election. The position put Issa, who supported Trump during the campaign, at odds with House and Senate Republican leaders who said congressional investigations were enough.

Hes been hesitant on Affordable Care Act repeal efforts

Issa was among a few Republicans who never committed to supporting or opposing House Republicans failed plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act, though he seemed to be leaning toward voting no. He said he was waiting to see whether the final bill would be acceptable, and he proposed his own healthcare legislation, which would allow all Americans to purchase the insurance plans offered to federal workers.

Hes been highlighting time he spends with local Democrats

San Diego Rep. Juan Vargas , a Democrat, has recently become a frequent companion of Issa.

Issa spent part of the April recess visiting several countries in the Middle East with a bipartisan group of lawmakers that included Vargas.

Then the two congressmen headed to the Mexican border this week to view damage from a sewage spill. Issa repeatedly mentioned working with Vargas and fellow San Diego Democratic Rep. Scott Peters while speaking with constituents in a telephone town hall and at a protest outside his office Tuesday.

Perhaps Issa is following his own advice: At the California Republican Partys convention in Sacramento this winter, he urged the GOP to do a better job of listening to all Americans, even the critics.

Hes been meeting with the protesters outside his office, and trying to persuade them hes not ultraconservative

Like many of his Republican House colleagues, Issa has been the focus of weekly protests outside his Vista office. More than 350 people showed up at Tuesdays protest to sing songs and wave signs.

He surprised the group by coming outside and spending 15 minutes answering questions about whether he supports the Paris climate agreement (he does) and whether hell push to impeach Trump (he wont).

Several of the California Republicans expected to be targeted in 2018 face protests outside their offices week after week, but Issa appeared to be the first to venture outside to chat with the protesters. Its the second time he has done so at his district office.

On Tuesday, Issa dismissed a question from the crowd about why he votes with members of the conservative tea party wing, saying it isnt fair to argue he consistently votes with a particular segment of the Republican Party.

Youre all entitled to opinions, [but] Im telling you, you can go online and look at conservative groups and what youll find is Im not the most conservative Republican, Im not the least conservative Republican, but I am a Republican, he said.

Issa pointed to his ranking from Heritage Action, a conservative group that ranks members of Congress based on what legislation they file and how they vote on conservative issues. The groups most recent ranking lists him as voting according to the groups wishes 61% of the time, slightly below the national average, but the 5th highest ranking among Californias 55-member delegation.

sarah.wire@latimes.com

Follow @sarahdwire on Twitter

Read more about the 55 members of California's delegation at latimes.com/politics

ALSO

Here's what the candidates running for an L.A. congressional seat think about the top issues

Korean Americans have his back, but Robert Lee Ahn will need more to become L.A.'s next congressman

MAP: How did your neighborhood vote in L.A.s open House race?

Updates on California politics
Records show ex-Trump campaign chief Paul Manaforts firm received payout from Ukraine ledger under investgation

Last August, a handwritten ledger surfaced in Ukraine with dollar amounts and dates next to the name of Paul Manafort, who was then chairman of Donald Trumps presidential campaign.

Ukrainian investigators called it evidence of off-the-books payments from a pro-Russian political party  and part of a larger pattern of corruption under the countrys former president. Manafort, who worked for the party as an international political consultant, has publicly questioned the ledgers authenticity.

Now, financial records newly obtained by the Associated Press confirm that at least $1.2 million in payments listed in the ledger next to Manaforts name were actually received by his consulting firm in the United States. They include payments in 2007 and 2009, providing the first evidence that Manaforts firm received at least some money listed in the so-called Black Ledger.

The two payments came years before Manafort became involved in Trumps campaign, but for the first time bolster the credibility of the ledger. They also put the ledger in a new light, as federal prosecutors in the U.S. have been investigating Manaforts work in Eastern Europe as part of a larger anti-corruption probe.

Separately, Manafort is also under scrutiny as part of congressional and FBI investigations into possible contacts between Trump associates and Russias government under President Vladimir Putin during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. The payments detailed in the ledger and confirmed by the documents obtained by the AP are unrelated to the 2016 presidential campaign and came years before Manafort worked as Trumps unpaid campaign chairman.

In a statement to the AP, Manafort did not deny that his firm received the money but said any wire transactions received by my company are legitimate payments for political consulting work that was provided. I invoiced my clients and they paid via wire transfer, which I received through a U.S. bank.

Manafort noted that he agreed to be paid according to his clients preferred financial institutions and instructions.

Previously, Manafort and his spokesman, Jason Maloni, have maintained that the ledger was fabricated and said no public evidence existed that Manafort or others received payments recorded in it.

The AP, however, identified in the records two payments received by Manafort that aligned with the ledger: one for $750,000 that a Ukrainian lawmaker said last month was part of a money-laundering effort that should be investigated by U.S. authorities. The other was $455,249 and also matched a ledger entry.

The newly obtained records also expand the global scope of Manaforts financial activities related to his Ukrainian political consulting, because both payments came from companies once registered in the Central American country of Belize. Last month, the AP reported that the U.S. government has examined Manaforts financial transactions in the Mediterranean country of Cyprus as part of its probe.

Federal prosecutors have been looking into Manaforts work for years as part of an effort to recover Ukrainian assets stolen after the 2014 ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, who fled to Russia. No charges have been filed as part of the investigation.

Manafort, a longtime Republican political operative, led the presidential campaign from March until August last year when Trump asked him to resign. The resignation came after a tumultuous week in which the New York Times revealed that Manaforts name appeared in the Ukraine ledger  although the newspaper said at the time that officials were unsure whether Manafort actually received the money  and after the AP separately reported that he had orchestrated a covert Washington lobbying operation until 2014 on behalf of Ukraines pro-Russian Party of Regions.

Officials with the Ukrainian National Anti-Corruption Bureau, which is investigating corruption under Yanukovich, have said they believe the ledger is genuine. But they have previously noted that they have no way of knowing whether Manafort received the money listed next to his name. The bureau said it is not investigating Manafort because he is not a Ukrainian citizen.

Still, Manaforts work continues to draw attention in Ukrainian politics.

Last month, Ukrainian lawmaker Serhiy Leshchenko revealed an invoice bearing the letterhead of Manaforts namesake company, Davis Manafort, that Leshchenko said was crafted to conceal a payment to Manafort as a purchase of 501 computers.

The AP provided to Manafort the amounts of the payments, dates and number of the bank account where they were received. Manafort told the AP that he was unable to review his own banking records showing receipt of the payments because his bank destroyed the records after a standard seven-year retention period. He said Tuesday the computer sales contract is a fraud.

The signature is not mine, and I didnt sell computers, he said in a statement. What is clear, however, is individuals with political motivations are taking disparate pieces of information and distorting their significance through a campaign of smear and innuendo.

Leshchenko said last month the 2009 invoice was one of about 50 pages of documents, including private paperwork and copies of employee-issued debit cards, that were found in Manaforts former Kiev office by a new tenant.

The amount of the invoice  $750,000 and the payment date of Oct. 14, 2009, matches one entry on the ledger indicating payments to Manafort from the Party of Regions. The invoice was addressed to Neocom Systems Ltd., a company formerly registered in Belize, and included the account and routing numbers and postal address for Manaforts account at a branch of Wachovia National Bank in Alexandria, Va.

The AP had previously been unable to independently verify the $750,000 payment went to a Manafort company, but the newly obtained financial records reflect Manaforts receipt of that payment. The records show that Davis Manafort received the amount from Neocom Systems the day after the date of the invoice.

Leshchenko contended to AP that Yanukovich, as Ukraines leader, paid Manafort money that came from his governments budget and was stolen from Ukrainian citizens. He said: Money received by Manafort has to be returned to the Ukrainian people.

Leshchenko said U.S. authorities should investigate what he described as corrupt deals between Manafort and Yanukovich. Its about a U.S. citizen and money was transferred to a U.S. bank account, he said.

A $455,249 payment in November 2007 also matches the amount in the ledger. It came from Graten Alliance Ltd., a company that had also been registered in Belize. It is now inactive.

The AP reported last month that federal prosecutors are looking into Manaforts financial transactions in Cyprus, an island nation once known as a favored locale for money laundering.

Among those transactions was a $1-million payment in October 2009 routed through the Bank of Cyprus. The money was deposited into an account controlled by a Manafort-linked company, then left the account on the same day, broken into two disbursements of $500,000, according to documents obtained by the AP.

The records of Manaforts Cypriot transactions were requested by the U.S. Treasury Department Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which works internationally with agencies to track money laundering and the movement of illicit funds around the globe.

Dozens of Ukrainian political figures mentioned in the Black Ledger are under investigation in Ukraine. The anti-corruption bureau, which has been looking into the Black Ledger, publicly confirmed the authenticity of the signature of one top official mentioned there. In December, the bureau accused Mykhaylo Okhendovsky of receiving more than $160,000 from Party of Regions officials in 2012, when he was Ukraines main election official.

The bureau said it would identify more suspects in the coming months.
For the first time, astronomers have caught a type Ia supernova being magnified by more than 50 times and split into four images in the night sky thanks to gravitational lensing.

The discovery, described in the journal Science, could help scientists get a better handle on the rate of expansion of the universe and shed light on the mysterious, invisible mass in the universe known as dark matter.

Once this grows into a larger sample, then certainly you can use this to constrain gravitational lensing and dark matter and Einsteins general theory of relativity  all of these, said study co-author Mansi Kasliwal, an astronomer at Caltech.

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As it travels through the universe, light is squeezed, stretched, bent, scattered and filtered before it reaches our telescopes. These alterations allow us to suss out the nature of the contents of the universe.

But oftentimes, this complex mix of changes makes it devilishly difficult to sort out whats really happening to a given star, supernova or other astrophysical object.

For example, a star that seems dim could be bright and faraway, or dim and nearby. This is where Type Ia supernovae come in. These stellar deaths  which happen when a white dwarf in a binary system picks up too much mass from its companion star  always peak at the same luminosity. So if astronomers see a dim type Ia, they know its far; if they see a bright one, they know its nearby.

But far enough away, these standard candles become increasingly difficult to see and study. So scientists have been looking for a type Ia whose light has been gravitationally lensed  magnified by a massive object, such as a galaxy, sitting between the supernova and Earths telescopes. The artificial brightening caused by gravitational lensing would allow researchers to study far more distant type Ia explosions in order to learn more about the faraway universe.

After all, type Ia supernovae have actually helped scientists to understand and measure the accelerating expansion of the cosmos  which earned the Nobel Prize in physics in 2011. Thats because the astronomers were able to compare the actual distance as measured by the supernovaes brightness to their redshift, the stretching of starlight that signals how fast a distant object is moving, largely because of the expanding universe.

Ever since the phenomenon of gravitational lensing was predicted by Albert Einstein, plenty of lensed objects have been discovered. In that time, there also have been a decent number of type Ia supernovae spotted in the heavens. Finding a gravitationally lensed type Ia, however, has proved elusive.

But on Sept. 5, the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego spotted a strangely bright object appear in the night sky; the Global Relay of Observatories Watching Transients Happen, which calls on an international network of telescopes, followed up soon after. The object also was studied using NASAs Hubble Space Telescope and the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

It just made no sense because the spectroscopic redshift was so high that that would make this event intrinsically over-bright  just too bright to be a type Ia supernova even though the spectrum looked just like a type Ia supernova, Kasliwal said. When I saw that spectrum I was completely baffled. I just didnt know how to make sense of it. And then [lead author] Ariel Goobar, my colleague, said, Well, what if this was lensed? 

The supernova, iPTF16geu, turned out to be magnified and split into four distinct images by a galaxy with the mass of 10 billion suns and a radius of close to 3,000 light-years. The stellar explosion lies about 4.4 billion light-years from us; the galaxy, in the same line of sight, is about 2 billion light-years away.

The light coming from this lensed supernova, and others like it, should give astronomers fresh insight into dark matter and Einsteins general theory of relativity. The differences in arrival times of the four different images could help researchers perform high-precision measurements of the universes expansion rate.

It took a thousand tries to find one, but we are hopeful, Kasliwal said. Its the first but should definitely not be the last.

The search is soon to get a major upgrade. Scientists are in the process of putting a new, larger camera at the Palomar Observatory, which should make the search process go about 10 times faster.

amina.khan@latimes.com

Follow @aminawrite on Twitter for more science news and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook.
An Irvine man is suing Safeway Inc., claiming the Northern California-based supermarket chain underfills certain cans of tuna sold in its stores.

The national companys stores include Vons and Pavilions in Southern California. Safeway merged with Albertsons in January 2015.

In court documents filed this month, lawyers for Heney Shihad say he has regularly purchased 5-ounce cans of Safeways house-brand tuna since 2013.

At some point, the lawsuit says, Shihad discovered those cans were substantially underweight.

The lawsuit claims that independent lab testing confirmed that Safeway routinely sold cans that contained less than the labeled 5 ounces.

The tests reveal that Safeway regularly underfills 5-ounce cans of Safeway-brand solid white albacore tuna in water and regularly underfills 5-ounce cans of Open Nature-brand chunk light tuna in water, yet continues to falsely label and market them as legally compliant 5-ounce cans, according to the complaint filed Jan. 8 in U.S. District Court in Northern California.

Shihads lawyers contend the alleged mislabeling also violates California law and amounts to fraud and negligence.

A representative of Safeway, based in Pleasanton, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Reuben Nathan, a Newport Beach attorney representing Shihad, also did not immediately respond to a call.

Shihads lawsuit seeks class-action status, claiming more than 1 million people across the state and country bought the fraudulent-labeled tuna.

It estimates theyre owed more than $5 million in damages.
A lawsuit filed last year by two former Newport-Mesa Unified School District officials against the district and the superintendent, alleging that he created a workplace culture of fear and intimidation that compelled them to leave their jobs, has been dropped through a settlement, according to Orange County Superior Court records.

Former district spokeswoman Laura Boss, former Asst. Supt. Ann Huntington and Supt. Fred Navarro entered an agreement to end the lawsuit in March.

The settlement was reached to avoid the uncertainty, time and expense of litigation, the document states.

Boss and Huntington did not receive money in the settlement, according to the district. The agreement states all the parties are responsible for their own attorney costs.

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Boss and Huntington filed a petition with the court April 3 to formally dismiss the lawsuit. The suit, filed in January 2016, was expected to move to trial in June, according to court filings.

Boss and Huntington had sought unspecified economic and punitive damages against Navarro, plus general damages and attorney fees.

It isnt clear why Boss and Huntington chose to end the lawsuit. Their attorney, William Crosby, declined to comment Wednesday, citing attorney-client privilege.

Navarro said in a statement that we typically do not comment on legal issues; however, we are pleased to have resolution to this case.

We have and will continue to hold ourself to a high level of ethical standards, he added.

The settlement agreement includes a non-disparagement clause in which Boss and Huntington agree to refrain from making any public or private statements which disparage [Navarro], [his] affiliates or [his] respective business or personal affairs.

According to Boss and Huntingtons statements in court documents, they almost immediately began to have issues with Navarro after he was hired in 2012. Boss said she needed to seek therapy, and Huntington claimed she had to take stress leave.

The lawsuit alleges Navarro excluded Boss and Huntington from cabinet discussions, failed to follow normal protocols when assigning projects in their divisions and undermined their authority by assigning tasks to their subordinates without consulting them.

[They] were also denied important information, their advice and input was ignored and they were put on the spot and embarrassed by Navarro in front of colleagues during meetings, the lawsuit states.

Boss, who was hired by Newport-Mesa in 1999, resigned in June 2015. Huntington retired the following month. Both claimed they felt compelled to leave because of Navarros management style.

In October 2014, Boss, Huntington and John Caldecott , who was then the districts director of human resources, joined in a formal complaint to the school board against Navarro, alleging a toxic work environment.

Boss and Huntington claimed in their lawsuit that the board did not investigate their allegations.

After the complaint to the school board, the issues with Navarro became more severe, Boss and Huntington alleged.

In January 2015, they claimed, Navarro waved his hands and shouted at Boss during a meeting in front of her peers.

Boss and Huntington alleged in the lawsuit that Navarro intentionally inflicted emotional distress and that the board was negligent in not investigating.

Court filings claim that in one of their first conversations, Navarro asked Boss whether she had any dirt on a colleague and if she would help him fire her.

Relationships that had been strong were ripped apart because the seeds of fear and intimidation were planted internally, Boss wrote in a letter to board members in July 2015. And Fred ignited it, watched it play out, actually spoke about enjoying it and supported it.

Huntington, who began working in Newport-Mesa in 2008, alleged in the suit that she was discriminated against because of her age and was forced to retire with two years left on her contract. She estimated her loss of future earnings at more than $500,000, court documents state.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
Newport Beachs next public pier is coming to the turning basin area this summer, funded entirely by private and grant dollars.

The Central Avenue pier will be open to smaller craft in a part of the harbor tucked between the Newport Boulevard bridge and the Elks Lodge.

In addition to serving locals, the pier should be a convenient amenity for visitors to the nearby summer anchorage, said Chris Miller, Newport Beachs harbor resources manager.

Our system of public docks is growing, but for decades it has been focused just along the peninsula and Balboa Island, he said.

The cost of the Central Avenue pier is covered by a roughly $75,000 grant from the California Division of Boating and Waterways and a $350,000 donation from the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, which is fulfilling a condition of its coastal development permit for its clubhouse replacement project. City staff estimates the pier will carry a price tag of about $286,000.

The remaining funds are expected to largely cover improvements to the end of Central Avenue, which the city plans to spruce up once the pier is completed. Right now, the street end is a strip of concrete with a couple of benches and a railing.

This will be the citys 13th public pier. The City Council approved a construction contract earlier this month, and the pier should be open by late summer, Miller said.

A 50-foot-long gangway will connect to the 84-by-10-foot floating dock, which will have 14 cleats spaced four feet apart on the backside for small dinghies, according to a city staff report. A 20-foot vessel may dock at either end of the float, and at least three or four 20-foot boats can dock on the floats bayward side. The gangway will be positioned diagonally between the float and seawall, minimizing the docks extension into the navigational channel.

The Newport Harbor Yacht Club reached out to the city after the California Coastal Commission required it to contribute to a public-serving harbor project. Miller suggested the Central Avenue pier.

More public dock space is expected to open next year. The Irvine Co. is partnering with the city to add 12 public slips as it extends its private Balboa Marina just east of the Coast Highway bridge. Construction on that project is expected to begin in early 2018.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD
A California regulatory agency is trying to stop a fledgling Newport Beach companys efforts to take on ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft.

Last week, Michael Pappas, co-founder of RydenGo, was told by a transportation enforcement officer with the California Public Utilities Commission to cease all company operations.

But for Pappas, the letter, which threatened criminal prosecution, didnt make sense. RydenGo hasnt started operating. It doesnt have cars on the streets or even drivers. Its app isnt available.

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Its like suffocating a baby before it has had a chance to walk, Pappas said in an interview.

The PUC letter, dated April 13, said RydenGo doesnt have a state permit for passenger charter operations. The letter ordered the company to cease operations and any unlawful advertising and unfair business practices.

Terrie Prosper, a PUC spokeswoman, said, It is a violation of our rules for a company to advertise, on its website or in other ways, as providing service that they are not authorized to provide.

Pappas said RydenGo doesnt consider its website, RydenGo.com, to be advertising in the traditional sense. He called it promoting a cause to investors and the transportation industry.

Pappas said a PUC officer verbally told him to take his website down, but he refused, arguing that would violate his First Amendment rights.

Thats government overreach, Pappas said.

RydenGos business model relies on drivers setting their own prices for services and letting consumers pick. Unlike its competitors, it would not take commissions, relying instead on a subscription fee paid by drivers to use RydenGos system.

RydenGo isnt sure what its next step will be.

Pappas said interest in his company is high throughout the world. Within 30 hours of the Daily Pilot publishing an article about RydenGo last month, the company received about 900 inquiries, he said.

It was quite amazing, he said. I knew then this was reverberating.

bradley.zint@latimes.com

Twitter: @BradleyZint
After more than 50 years of instruction  20 of them in Costa Mesa  Whittier Law School will stop accepting new students this fall as it plans to cease operations once all current students have graduated, officials announced this week.

Whittier Law is part of Whittier College, and members of the colleges board of trustees approved the steps last week, according to a letter from board Chairman Alan Lund that was posted on the schools website.

We believe we have looked at every realistic option to continue a successful law program, Lund wrote. Unfortunately, these efforts did not lead to a desired outcome.

At the appropriate time, he added, the program of legal education will be discontinued.

Whittier College President Sharon Herzberger said in an interview that the board was concerned about the student outcomes at the law school  namely how many students were graduating, passing the bar exam and finding employment in the legal profession.

Students, staff and faculty learned of the decision Wednesday, according to Marc Stevens, the schools director of communications and marketing.

Were not closing the doors today, he said in an interview. What it means is we are not admitting a new class for the fall of 2017, but we will honor our commitment to the students who are still here.

In a statement on the schools website, Whittier Law officials said they are obviously devastated by the boards decision and believe it was unwise, unwarranted and unfounded.

For more than 50 years, we have provided a high-quality education to students of diverse backgrounds and abilities  students who might not otherwise have been able to receive a legal education and who are now serving justice and enterprise around the world, according to the post, which was attributed to the law school as a whole.

Whittier Law was founded in 1966 and moved to its current campus at 3333 Harbor Blvd. in 1997.

Stevens said about 400 students currently attend the school. Its program typically takes about three years to complete.

Herzberger said the focus in coming weeks will be on developing a plan for making sure our current students have the opportunity to complete their legal education.

When we develop that plan and we know that we can ensure that our students can complete their degrees, then the program can be discontinued, she said.

Some students werent happy with the decision.

Dropping this bomb on all of us three weeks before final exams and commencement ceremony demonstrates a lack of loyalty to everyone, especially the students, Antonia Reyes, a second-year student at the law school, wrote in an email.

School administration did not give students or faculty the opportunity to ask questions about the decision in emergency meetings this week or explain the logistics of the closing, Reyes said.

In July 2015, 38% of Whittier Law graduates who were taking the California bar exam for the first time passed it. Thats about 20 percentage points lower than the 59.7% statewide pass rate for first-timers.

According to preliminary American Bar Assn. data, about 30% of 2016 Whittier Law School graduates were hired in full-time, long-term attorney positions.

In 2015, the Whittier College board formed a subcommittee to examine the future of the law school, an effort that included working with the administration and faculty to redirect resources and efforts to improve student outcomes, according to Lund.

In his letter, Lund wrote that the board had conversations with entities capable of investing in, merging with or acquiring the law school.

For the last two years, Herzberger said, weve really been focused on those options and in particular this possibility of being acquired by another entity. But in the end, none of these options seemed to lead to a plan that the board could accept, and the decision was to discontinue the program.

Whittier Laws statement acknowledged that the last few years have been extremely difficult for law schools across the country but said the school had taken significant steps to address the challenges.

Sadly, our sponsoring institution opted to abandon the law school rather than provide the time and resources needed to finish paving the path to ongoing viability and success, the statement said.

Los Angeles Times staff writers Sonali Kohli and Rosanna Xia contributed to this report.

luke.money@latimes.com

Twitter @LukeMMoney
La Canada residents and exasperated victims of what seems to be yet another uptick in residential burglaries beseeched members of the City Council Tuesday for more enforcement, better response times and any solutions that might turn around a troubling tide.

Speaking in a public comment session before the councils regular meeting, three residents whose homes were recently broken into by burglars using similar methods and means of entry shared experiences they say are becoming all too common in La Canada and surrounding communities.

Dan Khatchaturian, a resident for the past two decades, said he was burglarized last week only to learn the incident was one of eight that had occurred at around the same time.

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Theyre very sophisticated, he said of the criminals. They case the neighborhood, they look for the houses with their lights out. Theyre targeting the master bedroom because theyre hoping there are no motion sensors that will trigger the alarm. We need to do more to get these guys.

J.R. deSouza, a Journeys End Drive homeowner, said hes lived in La Canada for 13 years and, in that time, has been the victim of three crimes  one incident of mail fraud and identity theft and two home break-ins.

After the most recent burglary, which occurred while he and his family were on a spring break vacation, he began talking more with fellow La Canadans.

Its as if the floodgates had opened, he told council members. One hundred percent of the people with whom I spoke knew someone directly affected or had been affected themselves.

Its as if the floodgates had opened.  J.R. deSouza

La Canada Boulevard homeowner Dena Snedden said since moving to La Canada five years ago to raise her children in a safe community, her family has been the victim of three crimes, including an identity theft that caused longstanding financial wreckage and a March 29 burglary during which nearly $25,000 of jewelry was stolen.

Our home was locked. We had iron gates that were shut. We have an alarm system, and we had a security camera that was on, she said.

She broached the subject of the city forming its own police department, expressing frustration with Crescenta Valley Sheriffs Station followup after the last break-in. Snedden said the department took 30 minutes to respond and told her the crew suspected of regularly committing crimes in the area is unlikely to be caught.

They have told me, personally, that they cannot keep up with the rising crime, that they are outnumbered and understaffed, Snedden added. We need our own local La Canada police department. If we had that, I believe we would be safer.

Capt. Chris Blasnek of the Crescenta Valley Sheriffs Station, who came to Tuesdays meeting to report Marchs crime statistics, pointed to recent California legislation that eases penalties for nonviolent offenders and makes it easier for repeat offenders to return to the streets.

Were getting hit, and its because of some of the propositions that have passed, he said. We went through a downward trend for many years, and now were seeing an upward trend.

Still, the captain vowed to work with residents and city officials to make what he feels is still a relatively safe community safer still.

For the month of March, Blasnek reported four residential burglaries and nine burglaries at businesses or nonresidential structures. There were 13 incidents of larceny thefts and one auto theft.

He compared the first three months of 2017 to those of years past, reporting 17 home break-ins this year to eight last year and 31 in 2015. The number of year-to-date identity thefts is 17, compared to 26 in 2016 and 27 the year before.

I am going to work with the City Council, and we are going to do the best we can, Blasnek told residents.

City Manager Mark Alexander said hes asked Blasnek to examine the citys deployment of sheriffs resources and see if funding commitments are adequate to address needs. In its 2016-17 budget the city allocated about $3.6 million to public safety and law enforcement, including a $2.3 million base contract with the sheriffs department, equaling roughly one-quarter of its total expenditures.

[The City Council] has authorized a significant allocation of monies in the budget for directed patrols, so that when we have situations that trend, the captain has at his disposal the resources to put on additional cars, patrol units and undercover units, Alexander said. We have those resources available to us  we wouldnt have that if we had our own city police department.

sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine
The burden of authors to express themselves in ways both captivating to audiences and marketable to publishers, and to do so without compromising integrity, vision or authenticity, often complicates the creative process.

But for LGBTQ authors who, for better or worse, write under the specter of mainstream media and popular cultures assumptions about queer characters and lifestyles, the challenges of bringing a book to the marketplace can be especially daunting.

At Diversity of Desire: Writing Queer Perspectives, an April 13 panel discussion at Flintridge Bookstore & Coffeehouse, four Los Angeles-area LGBTQ authors shared their experiences as individuals and artists who sometimes conflict with heteronormative expectations.

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Stand-up comedian and entertainer Erin Judge, whose debut Vow of Celibacy was recently released by independent L.A. publisher Rare Bird Books, guided the talk as moderator.

Joining Judge on the panel were Catie Disabato, a Chicago native and author of 2015 detective novel The Ghost Network; Dan Lopez, a former Orlando resident who debuted his psychological thriller The Show House in December and Martin Pousson, a Louisiana Bayou poet and author who will discuss his second novel, Black Sheep Boy, at the L.A. Times Festival of Books this Saturday.

A small audience listened as panelists recalled the influences of their hometowns and their first encounters with pop culture images of same-sex desire. Stories followed of Mick Jagger and David Bowie, an episode of Star Trek and Oscar Wildes Portrait of Dorian Gray.

Pousson remembered visiting a B. Dalton bookstore when he was young and discovering adult magazines and gay-themed novels on the shelves.

I took them, left a wad of money on the shelf and walked out, he said. I think I was 8 years old  I read them all cover to cover.

The authors talked about outing queer characters in their books, and how stories about young people coming out as gay or transgendered tend to be categorized by the publishing industry as separate and distinct from traditional (read: heterosexual) coming of age tales.

Ive got very complicated feelings about the coming out narrative, Disabato said. If youre a queer person, you go every day looking through that lens. Thats just the way that you see the world, and those things become part of your observations so you just include them in.

Lopez said he and fellow LGBTQ authors sometimes feel pressured to act as standard bearers, guiding readers into another world with the beacon of some special knowledge.

Actually, you are just as blind to these larger things that are going on as everybody else, Lopez said. With the coming out (narrative) we also have to bring this extra vision and wisdom. And part of that is a narrative that is largely whittled by a straight sensibility.

The authors discussed how the integration of LGBTQ characters and narratives into mainstream culture often leads to oversimplification and stereotyping that force authors into leaner and leaner categories.

Judge acknowledged that being a woman adds yet another layer of complexity to writing about relationships, queer or otherwise. Male authors are often the subjects of their sexuality, whereas women are still largely portrayed as objects to be perceived as desirable by another.

Theres socialization around femininity thats not about desire. Its not about the subject of yourself, she said. Once you have that subjecthood you have the ability to think, This is what I like, and this is what I want, not just in relationships, but also in life.

After the talk, Pasadena writer Gabrielle Ri Lee said the viewpoints and experiences shared by the panelists provided a lot of food for thought.

As a writer, Ive been getting more interested in identity and representation, said Lee, who attempted her first book at age 11. I definitely have been talking and thinking about these kinds of stories for a while now, but have never been brave enough before to write them.

sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine
Sushisamba has to be Las Vegas ultimate fusion restaurant, blending Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian cuisine. Now its drawing shout-outs for the Japanese whiskey, not sake, it serves straight up or in cocktails.

The restaurant, in the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Palazzo, has made some of Japans finest malts the centerpiece of a seven-course fixed-price menu.

The Japanese Whiskey Experience starts with a Wagyu cocktail, in which premium whiskey is allowed to absorb the flavors of the beef before being blended with maple and salted caramel.

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The meal then begins with an appetizer described as crispy Minter Sweet oyster with butter lettuce. Caviar, scallions and a spicy sauce complete the dish. Its paired with a passion fruit whiskey sour.

Next comes smoked ocean trout roe served with rice tuile (cookies) and plantain chips. During this course, guests sip on Nikka Taketsuru Pure Malt whiskey.

Other dishes include whiskey-soy marinated robata pork ribs, a Waygu and portabello mushroom roll, and braised beef cheeks.

The meal, priced at $250 per person, requires a four-person minimum. It must be ordered 48 hours in advance. Info and reservations: (702) 607-0700.

Japanese whiskeys date to the early 1900s. Sushisamba serves 29 varieties, including those from three early distillers.

Shinjiro Torii, the founder of Suntory, began creating Western liquors around the turn of the century that would appeal to Japanese palates. He was followed by Masataka Taketsuru, the founder of Nikka. As a young chemist, Taketsuru in 1918 traveled to Glasgow, Scotland, to study the making of Scotch.

Kiichiro Iwais family had been in the liquor business for 100 years before he bottled their first whiskey in 1949 at the Mars distillery in Shinshu, Japan. Two of Mars whiskeys  aged three and 25 years  are served at the Vegas restaurant.

travel@latimes.com

@latimestravel

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With Irans presidential election weeks away and its beleaguered economy showing signs of improvement, the nations ruling clerics seem uninterested in a new round of hostilities with the United States.

The Trump administrations escalating threats against the Islamic Republic have elicited muted responses from the theocracy and President Hassan Rouhanis government, signaling that the Tehran establishment may ride out the current wave of criticism from Washington.



For the record: An earlier version of this story incorrectly included Hamas in a list of Shiite Muslim groups. Hamas is led by Sunni Muslims.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson this week accused Iran of destabilizing the world, compared it to the largely isolated but aggressive North Korea, which has a nuclear arsenal, and said the Trump administration was reviewing the U.S. decision to lift economic sanctions as required under Irans 2015 agreement to curb its nuclear program.

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On Thursday, President Trump said Iran was doing a disservice to an agreement he called terrible.

They are not living up to the spirit of the agreement, I can tell you that, he said during a White House news conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. They have to do that. So we will see what happens.

The administration has certified that Iran is complying with the nuclear pact, allowing the extension of what Trump once called the worst deal ever.

The agreement has helped Iran resume oil sales and solicit foreign investment to jump-start its economy, which had been all but disconnected from the world under one of the toughest sanctions programs ever imposed.

Analysts say Iranian hard-liners believe that the U.S. is unlikely to withdraw from the deal and risk a diplomatic crisis with the five other signatories  Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.

Abdullah Gangi, editor of the Javan daily newspaper, a mouthpiece of Irans hard-line Revolutionary Guard, dismissed Tillersons remarks as contradictory.

On one hand he and others in the U.S. administration confirm that Iran has abided by the terms of the nuclear agreement, and on the other hand they threaten Iran and draw parallels to North Korea, Gangi said.

This is an absolute fallacy, he said. The new U.S. administration tries to mask its own domestic problems and illegitimacy by accusing Iran of sponsoring terrorism or nuclear noncompliance from time to time. These are sheer lies and irrelevant.

Iran has long denied allegations that it supports an array of militant groups across the Middle East, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Palestinian territories and Houthi rebels in Yemen  all of which the U.S. opposes.

Tehran is also one of the staunchest allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose forces the Trump administration targeted this month with missile strikes on an airfield in response to a chemical gas attack, apparently by the Syrian government, that killed dozens of people in a rebel-held town in Syrias Idlib province.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Irans lead negotiator on the nuclear deal, tweeted that the United States worn-out accusations cannot mask its admission of Irans compliance with the nuclear agreement.

Analysts said Irans ruling establishment, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, doesnt want to raise tensions with the U.S. just as the economy is picking up.

This week, at the annual military parade to mark National Army Day, amid the usual menacing fanfare of hardware and missiles  including one that carried the sign, Death to Israel  the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Khamenei as telling a group of commanders: Today, strengthening the economic foundation is the top priority of the country.

Tehran also showed restraint in its response to Trumps executive order in January banning citizens of Iran and several other Muslim-majority countries from visiting the United States. After a federal judge blocked the order, Iran granted visas to wrestlers from the U.S. to participate in a major international tournament in a move widely seen as a bid to lower tensions.

While they want to keep their anti-American slogan as an undertone, they want more American tourists here in Iran and more Iranian students studying in America, said Nader Karimi Juni, a political analyst close to Irans reformists.

Juni said Iran is not following suit with North Korea, which test-fired a missile this week in a move that the Trump administration called a provocation.

But Irans response could change depending on the outcome of the May 19 presidential election. Rouhani, a relative moderate, remains popular despite concerns that ordinary Iranians are not reaping economic gains from the nuclear deal that he championed.

Although there are no reliable opinion polls in Iran, analysts say there is little sign that voters are tilting toward more conservative candidates in response to U.S. threats.

This is rhetoric for American domestic consumption, said Ali Nori, a 50-year-old bread vendor distributing lavash in western Tehran.

But the National Iranian American Council, a Washington-based advocacy group that supports the nuclear deal, said Tillersons comments lend credence to hard-liners in Iran who warned of any negotiation with the United States and politically isolates Irans voices of moderation.

Irans interior ministry said Thursday that the Guardian Council, which oversees elections, had finalized the slate of presidential candidates. They include Rouhani, hard-line former judge Ebrahim Raesi and four other candidates.

Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who surprised many by filing papers to run last week, was disqualified. Though the council does not give reasons for disqualifying candidates, Khamenei had advised Ahmadinejad not to run again.

If a hard-liner wins, he might respond more forcefully to U.S. threats. That could also embolden members of Congress who support imposing tougher unilateral sanctions against Iran, which would torpedo Irans nascent economic recovery and could provoke Tehran into resuming its nuclear program.

While most U.S. sanctions were lifted last year, the Treasury Department maintains financial restrictions against Iran for supporting terrorism and maintaining its ballistic missile program.

Iranian hard-liners say that new sanctions would amount to the U.S. breaking the nuclear deal. But they refuse to express concern.

If the U.S. wants to turn the tables and drop the agreement, it is not a big deal, Gangi said. Let America do it. Iran will not lose.

Special correspondent Mostaghim reported from Tehran and Times staff writer Bengali from Mumbai, India. Times staff writer Michael A. Memoli in Washington contributed to this report.

shashank.bengali@latimes.com

Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia

UPDATES:

3:55 p.m.: This article was updated with a comment by President Trump.

This article was originally published at 12:45 p.m.
It was market day in this central Anatolian town, and farmers were engaged in a brisk debate at the Tea House of the Municipality over the referendum to give President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vast new powers.

The country is deeply polarized, but the tone at the teahouse was affable. Nearly all the national news media are under a tight pro-government grip, but the half-dozen men who joined the conversation here were surprisingly well informed. And no matter what the outcome, everyone seemed determined to keep the conversation going.

But there is no question who won the argument.

Nothing will happen to the parliament after the constitutional amendments take effect, asserted Kemal Kok, 46, a grain farmer from a nearby village who supported the switch from parliamentary democracy to a presidential system. Parliament and the government will be much more effective, he said.

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There will be no parliament, countered Turan Sariboga, 40, a no supporter who tends livestock near Sivrihisar.

Kok interrupted to say that Sariboga is illiterate.

The yes campaign thinks we are uninformed  Turan Sariboga

The yes campaign thinks we are uninformed, Sariboga responded coolly. He then proceeded to catalog the dramatic changes.

All powers will be in the hands of the president. He has the right to dismiss parliament. He can declare war or call elections. If parliament doesnt want to go to war, he can decide it anyway.

Kok, the yes supporter, didnt have answers.

Would Turkey soon adopt an American-style political system? a visiting reporter asked. Close to that, Kok replied. Our ministers will be independent.

What if its nothing like that? he was asked.

I told you what I know, he said. I said what I wish would happen. Challenged further, all he could say was: I dont know what will happen.

Sivrihisar, a town of 20,000 60 miles southwest of Ankara, is in the electoral heartland of Erdogans Justice and Development party.

Its known as the hometown to Nasreddin Hodja, the 13th century Sufi philosopher whose pranks and foibles have long enchanted children in Turkey and the Islamic world. At the end of the four-lane divided road into town, where men in orange uniforms were sweeping the street during a visit last week, theres a statue of the cleric in a turban astride his donkey, of which he had eight.

Tales of the Hodja are droll. Take the time he was spotted riding a donkey backwards. Asked to explain, the Hodja [teacher] replies: No, its the donkey thats standing the wrong way around. 

Then theres the tale of two neighbors who ask the Hodja to settle a quarrel when he was serving as temporary Qadi, or judge. After the first neighbor makes his complaint, the Hodja renders his judgment. Yes, you are quite right, he says. After the second neighbor gives his side of the story, the Hodja says he is quite right.

At this point, the Hodjas wife interjects: Husband, both men cannot be right. To which the Hodja replies, Yes, dear wife, you are quite right.

The rearward-facing donkey could be a metaphor for todays Turkey, which voted to replace a century-old parliamentary democracy with a system of one man rule -- a big step backward in the eyes of much of the rest of the world.

The referendum gave President Erdogan vast new powers. (Gokhan Sahin / Getty Images)

But the second tale, in which all sides in the neighbors quarrel are deemed right, sums up the mood of Sivrihisar, which like the rest of the country was divided Sunday. Sivrihisar voted 53.1% to 46% in favor of the amendments, just two points off the 51.4%-48.6% nationwide margin.

International monitors said the election fell short of human rights standards, the EU called for an investigation and Turkeys opposition Republican Peoples Party called for an annulment  only to meet a quick rejection.

Europes criticism, which predated the actual vote, is of little interest to the farmers at the teahouse. Thats because they support the PKK, said Kok. He was referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party, which revived its insurgency against the Turkish state in summer 2015.

The fighting in the southeast is a major national issue, not only because of the casualties among security forces, but also because it is widely seen as an existential threat to the Turkish state. Everyone at the table seemed ready to pounce on Turkeys NATO allies for not recognizing this.

Does the U.S. also back the PKK? the men were asked. Those who back the PKKs affiliate in Syria back the PKK, said Kok. He was referring to the U.S. decision to arm and fight with the PKKs affiliated militia in Syria against Islamic State extremists. The U.S. claims the militia is not linked to the PKK.

Erdogan has vehemently protested the U.S. policy, and if this random sampling is any indication, the general public backs him across political lines. Reproaching the U.S., Sariboga said the PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, and added that its Syrian affiliate should be treated as a terrorist organization.

Despite Erdogans continuing crackdown on independent media, those around the table have no big problem obtaining independent news coverage. Sariboga and others just turn to the Turkish affiliate of Fox television, possibly the last independent channel. For the last three years, Fox has been Turkeys most-watched news programs, according to Fox staff.

Like the rest of Turkey, Sivrihisar was calm immediately after the referendum results Sunday night. Its just like before the referendum, said Hulya Aydn Cesur, the Republican Peoples Party leader in the town. And while small demonstrations have begun in major cities, Cesur did not expect any in Sivrihisar.

The men at the teahouse  who are acquaintances, not close friends  plan to carry on their weekly conversation. According to Kok, 10% of their lives is devoted to discussing politics.

We will sit at the same table, no matter who wins, said Sariboga. We will be here again, said Kok.

Thats the view of Halil Gobekli, the head man of a village in the Yayla district whos an Erdogan supporter and a yes backer. The spring will come. The flowers will bloom. The sun will rise. And Erdogan will have superior power, he said.

Gutman is a special correspondent. Special correspondent Duygu Guvence contributed to this report.
All material is subject to strictly enforced copyright terms & conditions and cannot be repurposed or reproduced.  19882022 Latin American Financial Publications Inc.
The union minister has hailed the former prime minister for giving India a new direction.
Apr 20, 2017, 3:46pm ET

Geely's Lynk and Co promises to launch in San Francisco

Lynk & Co wants to follow in Tesla\'s footsteps with company-owned showrooms

China's Geely has confirmed plans to launch its Lynk & Co brand in San Francisco and Berlin.

Lynk's lineup will be built from the ground up with ride-sharing in mind, integrating a dedicated share button that allows owners to send a digital key to other drivers via a smartphone app.

"Because Lynk & Co will be the first brand to offer its owners the possibility to share their cars when they are not used, we are starting from cities with a high penetration of shared- economy services," Lynk senior marketing and sales VP Alain Visser told Automotive News.

The company's vehicles will be underpinned by the Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) platform co-developed with Volvo. Models revealed so far include the '01' crossover and '03' sedan, while an '02' hatchback is also said to be under development.

Notably, despite the relationship with Volvo, Lynk wants to follow in Tesla's footsteps and open its own network of showrooms. Its primary focus, however, will be direct sales to customers via an online system.

The company will first launch in China before heading to Berlin in late 2019 and eventually San Francisco "some months later," Visser said.
Apr 20, 2017, 1:23pm ET

Honda details new $124M wind-tunnel facility in Ohio

The tunnel will feature an interchangeable belt system, enabling engineers to test both production vehicles and racecars.

Honda has announced plans to build a $124 million wind-tunnel facility at its Transportation Research Center (TRC) in East Liberty, Ohio.

The aerodynamic and aeroacoustic analysis facility will feature an interchangeable belt system, enabling engineers to test both production vehicles and racecars. One setup will have a five-belt rolling road, while the other uses a single wide belt.

Honda suggests the tunnel will be capable of producing winds of up to 192 mph, just fast enough to perform a top-speed test for the flagship Acura NSX supercar.

"The advanced acoustic design will drive the next generation of wind noise reduction by utilizing a strategic system of microphones and cameras set up to measure and identify potential noise issues on both the exterior and interior of a vehicle during the development stage," the company says.

Notably, the facility will have space for four secure and confidential customer bays that can be used by third parties.

Honda is not the only company spending nine figures on new wind tunnels. Ford recently announced plans to build a new $200 million wind tunnel complex in Allen Park, Michigan.
Apr 20, 2017, 12:14pm ET

Tesla settles lawsuit against former Autopilot head

The company accepted a payment of just $100,000 to drop the case.

Tesla has agreed to settle its lawsuit against a startup founded by its former Autopilot director, Sterling Anderson, and the former CTO of Google's autonomous car project, Chris Urmson.

The automaker accepted a seemingly paltry payment of $100,000 from the startup, Aurora, a spokesperson confirmed to Recode.

Anderson had been accused of taking hundreds of gigabytes of proprietary and confidential data, labeled Tesla's "most competitively sensitive information," and then violating a non-solicitation agreement by recruiting other Tesla employees to join the startup.

"Small teams of programmers with little more than demoware have been bought for as much as a billion dollars," Tesla wrote in its lawsuit filings. "Anderson and his business partners, including Christopher Urmson, the recently departed head of Google's self-driving car initiative, decided to take a run at a similar fortune."

Aside from the cash payout, Aurora has agreed to stop recruiting Tesla employees and contractors until next February. The company has also agreed to a 'forensic audit' to determine if it has retained or used any of Tesla's confidential information.
The Allentown Police Department is getting a new high-tech simulator to help prepare officers for life-or-death decisions on the street before they ever draw a gun.

The department is purchasing a use-of-force simulator called the MILO Range Theater 180.

An officer "armed" with the same firearms police use now, but with laser sensors instead of bullets, interacts with a three-screen view and surround sound.

"You, as the police officer, are walking into the situation...you're in the middle of it," said interim police Chief Glen Dorney. "We can change the scenarios as we go, based on the officer's use of escalation...based on the officer's actions, you can change what happens next."

There are thousands of situations police can face in the simulator, from a traffic stop, to a domestic assault involving a fighting couple, to an active shooter at a school.

An instructor controls what happens on the screen. If an officer is not de-escalating a situation, or if frustration seems to be mounting, Dorney says the scenario can be changed.

"We're going to be able to put officers in a bad situation they're able to get out of," he said. "The ultimate goal is safety for everybody."

The scenarios can range from five minutes to longer than a half-hour, and it can be officers on their own, with a partner or with a four-man team. This is in addition to Simunition training, where officers use firearms loaded with paintballs in use-of-force situations.

"You get your senses used to it -- smell the gunpowder, hear the bang," Dorney said, "but it's costly and there's more of a risk of injury with that."

The MILO Range system will be set up in a room at the city's police academy. The chief said the goal is "to get officers off the street and do scenarios in the middle of their shift," instead of taking a day and traveling to train somewhere else.

"That machine is going to be running all day long," Dorney said.

Previously, the department used a system shared by the eight counties in the Northeast Pennsylvania Regional Counter-Terrorism Task Force. The department would get the system for a month at a time, but Dorney said the scenarios were either shoot or don't shoot.

"You couldn't change scenarios," Dorney said. The new system "gives you the gamut of being able to use not just deadly force, but less lethal options."

With more than 200 officers to train, Dorney said it was also tough to train all the officers in the 30-day window, especially if emergency events meant an officer missed their scheduled time.

The department is paying for the state-of-the-art system using a combination of $62,459 in federal grant money and $50,781 in private donations from businesses and area colleges and universities.

The department hopes to add a driving simulator in the future, and that can interact with the use-of-force simulator. Dorney said other regional departments would be able to use the Allentown simulator for their training, too.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A standoff early Thursday morning in Bethlehem began with a man calling police Wednesday night about a "true emergency," authorities said.

When city police arrived at the 300 block of East Mechanic Street, Aristotle Tarboro got out of his truck with a 14-inch machete in his hand, police said.

Officers said they later saw Tarboro had the machete taped to his right hand, and he repeatedly threatened the officers with the weapon.

"I'll chop off your heads," Tarboro reportedly said at one point.

The 48-year-old Tarboro was arraigned Thursday morning on aggravated assault and other charges related to the standoff.

During his preliminary arraignment hearing Thursday morning, Tarboro vacillated between irately demanding his medication and to see his doctor, and resting his head in his arms on a table in front of him.

"I'm not well," he told District Judge Nancy Matos-Gonzalez.

The district judge set bail at $250,000; records show Tarboro has a bench warrant on a probation violation in Northampton County as well.

"This is bull----," Tarboro said after bail was set.

Tarboro said he told police he didn't feel well, and that he had not received prescribed medication for more than two months.

Court records list a Bethlehem address for Tarboro, but he told Matos-Gonzalez he was kicked out his home, and has been homeless for the past three months. Tarboro also said he was "run out" of two area shelters.

"I need a doctor. I need my medication," he said.

Fountain Hill police Chief Ed Bachart said Tarboro was wanted in connection with a $3,000 theft from a relative during a burglary on Cherokee Street, and an incident involving a dog. Both incidents are still under investigation, the chief said.

After threatening police with the machete, Tarboro got into his truck and led police on a short chase around the South Side, authorities said.

Officers eventually boxed in Tarboro's truck at East Fourth and Filmore streets, according to police. The surrounding streets and sidewalks were shut down, and residents were told to shelter in place as police tried to negotiate with Tarboro.

Around 2:30 a.m., after speaking with the Crisis Negotiation Team, Tarboro surrendered. Police said they found a hammer and a metal pipe in his truck.

Tarboro was taken to St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill before being arraigned.

Police Chief Mark DiLuzio thanked all the officers involved "for their patience and professionalism in defusing a potentially dangerous situation and bringing this incident to a successful peaceful conclusion."

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
UPDATE: Machete-wielding Bethlehem standoff suspect: 'I'm not well'

A 48-year-old man well known to Bethlehem area authorities sparked a standoff early Thursday morning on the city's South Side.

Aristotle Tarboro, of the 1000 block of Cherokee Street in Fountain Hill, was wanted Wednesday night after stealing about $3,000 from a relative during a burglary on Cherokee Street, borough police Chief Ed Bachart said.

Aristotle Tarboro (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

When police went to Tarboro's home, his "vicious" pit bull got out and into a neighbor's home where it attacked and injured another dog, Bachart said.

Tarboro took off in a vehicle with heavily tinted windows and Fountain Hill police put out an alert for other departments to check on the fleeing man, Bachart said. Tarboro has had psychiatric issues in the past, authorities have said.

At some point early Thursday, Tarboro encountered Bethlehem police at Fourth and Fillmore streets, Bachart said. The borough chief didn't have many details about what happened next and Bethlehem police didn't return several messages seeking more information.

But Tarboro got out of the car with a machete, Bachart said, and Bethlehem called in their special response team.

Tarboro was eventually taken into custody.

In addition to the burglary charge, Tarboro could face charges related to the dog attack, Bachart said. It wasn't immediately clear if Tarboro faced any charges out of Bethlehem, but there was a Northampton County bench warrant out for his arrest on a probation violation in November, court papers say.

Tarboro was being held without bail Thursday morning in Northampton County Prison on the probation violation, a Department of Corrections employee confirmed.

Last April, Tarboro was charged with holding a woman captive for three days in Bethlehem and threatening her with a hatchet, police said at the time. He pleaded guilty in September to simple assault and reckless endangering and was sentenced to 24 months of probation, court records show.

In April 2015, he was charged with terrorist threats when he pulled a truck into the garage near the city police station and told authorities he had a bomb. It appears to be the same truck he was in early Thursday morning during the standoff.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Colonial Regional police put a bite in an alleged plan by a New York pair to steal $2,000 worth of teeth-whitening strips and flee a Target store.

Charged are Aleksandre Khosroshvili, 29, and Koba Adeishvili, 50, both of Brooklyn. Court records do not indicate the relationship of the two men.

A Colonial Regional police officer at 4:42 p.m. Tuesday was called to the Target store, 3835 Dryland Way, Lower Nazareth Township for a report of a theft in progress.

An asset protection officer reported seeing Adeishvili take two shirts off a sales rack and put them on, placing his own shirt over them. The shirts were valued at nearly $14, according to court records.

The officer told police Adeishvili was also in the store on April 11 with another male, later identified as Khosroshvili. The pair was seen taking a duffle bag from the sporting good department and filling it with about $2,000 worth of teeth-whitening strips and eventually fleeing Target without paying, police said.

The store is seeking full restitution for all the stolen merchandise, court records stated.

Both Khosroshvili and Adeishvili are charged each with theft, criminal conspiracy to commit theft and receiving stolen property. Both were arraigned Wednesday before District Judge Antonia Grifo, who set bail at $25,000 for Khosroshvili and $10,000 for Adeishvili.

In lieu of bail, both Khosroshvili and Adeishvili were sent to Northampton County Prison, where the pair remained Thursday.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
The superintendent of a Lehigh County school district addressed Wednesday night a threatening post on social media.

Officials in the East Penn School District learned earlier in the evening "of a posting on social media regarding a student allegedly threatening violence to Emmaus High School," Superintendent Mike Schilder said in a message on the district website and carried by district social media accounts.

Emmaus police immediately investigated, including interviewing students, according to Schilder.

"They have concluded that there is no threat to EHS," Schilder wrote.

East Penn schools serve Emmaus, Macungie and Alburtis and Lower Macungie and Upper Milford townships.

Message from the Superintendent  East Penn School District https://t.co/gv4QdWyAOE  EPSD (@EastPennSD) April 20, 2017

Though the exact nature of the threat was unclear Wednesday night, the incident follows similar reports in other school districts across the Lehigh Valley and northwestern New Jersey this school year.

In Nazareth, authorities earlier this month investigated a threat to "shoot the school up" that they determined was unfounded. A "vague reference to a school shooting" was probed in January in Warren County. A social media threat was investigated in December against Hunterdon Central Regional High School. Last fall's reports of killer clowns led to the arrest of a 14-year-old boy in Bethlehem following a Facebook post deemed threatening.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
The "Straw Hat Bandit" responsible for a series of eastern Pennsylvania bank robberies turned out to be a guy from Bucks County who ran an unsuccessful photography business, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Thursday.

Richard Boyle, 57, of Doylestown, faces 11 counts of bank robbery and related offenses in connection with a string of holdups between 2012 and 2016 in Bucks and Montgomery counties, according to a federal indictment filed this week.

The suspect's moniker came from his tendency to wear a large straw hat in some of the robberies. He also allegedly used a pillowcase or bandana as a mask and carried a gun in each case. He faces weapons violations in addition to the robbery charges.

During the manhunt, the FBI released more than a dozen bank surveillance photos of the suspect and compiled a composite sketch of him, but he had proved elusive despite these and other efforts.

The indictment says Boyle laundered the proceeds from the robberies -- $495,686 -- into his aerial photography business.

The business, Sky Eye View, was based out of his Doylestown home, but it received very little revenue and earned no profits. A business listing shows the address as 3753 Sweetland Drive.

"In order to conceal the source of the bank robbery proceeds, (Boyle) pretended that these proceeds came from his photography business," the indictment says.

The circumstances of Boyle's arrest were not disclosed in a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office on Thursday. Efforts to reach a U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman for those details were unsuccessful. It was also unclear Thursday whether Boyle has an attorney.

His alleged string of robberies started on June 8, 2012, with the holdup at Colonial Regional Bank in Horsham, Montgomery County. The last robbery occurred July 2, 2016, and targeted the PNC Bank in North Wales, also in Montgomery County.

Nick Falsone may be reached at nfalsone@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickfalsone. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Police raided a Northampton Borough pizza shop, seized drugs and cash and arrested its owner-manager.

Luis Carlos Sagastume-Contreras (Courtesy photo)

Charged is Luis Carlos Sagastume-Contreras, 36, of the 1000 block of North Lehigh Street in Allentown.

Borough police at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday were called to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Palermo's Italian Grill, 11 E. 24th St. ICE agents told officers they had information from a reliable source that Sagastume-Contreras had cocaine in his office, according to police.

Officers assisted by the Northampton County Drug Force maintained surveillance outside the restaurant prior to the bust. People were seen arriving and leaving the business during and after business hours, police said.

Seized were six ounces of cocaine, $3,100 in cash and a ledger that appeared to be recording drug deals, as well as empty glassine bags and a scale, court records indicate.

A female employee told investigators the office where the drugs and cash were found was used "exclusively" by Sagastume-Contreras.

Sagastume-Contreras is charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. He was arraigned Wednesday before District Judge Antonia Grifo, who set bail at $75,000.

In lieu of bail, Sagastume-Contreras was taken to Northampton County Prison, where he remained Thursday.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Mallards swam around an idol of the Hindu deity Durga, the warrior goddess, setting in the Delaware River at Easton's Scott Park.

Jesse Jorgensen, fishing Wednesday night for American shad from the shore, wasn't sure where it came from, but he patted it for good luck.

It seemed to be working. He'd caught one that might have been a contender in the Bi-State Shad Fishing Contest that gets underway at 8 a.m. Thursday.

"When I first saw it, I saw the flash, right over there," said Jorgensen, of Hampton. "It was pretty damn big."

Jesse Jorgensen, of Hampton, casts for American shad near an idol of the Hindu deity Durga, the evening of April 19, 2017, in the Delaware River at the confluence with the Lehigh River in Easton's Scott Park. He said it wasn't his but he patted it for good luck. (Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Conditions on the Delaware River in the Easton/Phillipsburg area are "perfect" for shad, tournament founder and organizer Eric Fistler said Wednesday night.

"It's like the best shad fishing that I've ever seen in my life," Fistler said. "We've been hearing about big ones up and down the river."

He's seen a 7-pounder reeled in aboard his own boat, which would have bested John Peterson's top catch in the 2016 tournament of a 5.836-pound shad. Others have been catching shad in the neighborhood of 6.5 pounds, Fistler said.

"Conditions are perfect. I would call them perfect," the 54-year-old lifelong angler from Williams Township said. "Everybody's catching fish. The shore anglers, boat anglers, everybody's catching them, and they're getting them in large numbers. There's a lot of shad moving up the river."

Registrants for the tournament, started in 2011, nearly doubled to close to 700 this year, Fistler said. The top overall prize is $10,000, and all contestants will be entered into a drawing to win a $12,000 boat package sponsored by Mayberry Marine in Port Murray, Mansfield Township, and Yamaha Outboards, G3 Boats and LoadRite Trailers.

The entry fee is $35, and registration is still open Thursday morning at the Phillipsburg boat launch prior to the 8 a.m. start to the tournament. It runs through 9 p.m. Sunday.

Fistler said he plans to get to the weigh station at the P'burg launch about 6 or 6:30 Thursday morning, and he'll have some help signing up last-minute participants starting about 7 a.m.

Fishing on Wednesday night from shore at Scott Park, at the confluence with the Lehigh River, Darryl Goffreda agreed conditions are right.

"The water's good, the current's good, the fish are in, they're biting," said Goffreda, who lives in Essex County, New Jersey. "I just got some, broke a couple off, my friend got five, boats are catching the living daylights out of them. I think it's good. I think it's going to be a good tournament."

He's been using pink and chartreuse shad darts and flutterspoons -- bright colors that the shad seem to be hitting on.

"I think it's just about perfect conditions right now" for shad, said Steven Lichak, of Wassergass in Lower Saucon Township, as he fishes the evening of April 19, 2017, in the Delaware River at the confluence with the Lehigh River in Easton. (Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Across the confluence, near the fish ladder that gets fish around the dam up into the Lehigh River, Steve Lichak also described conditions as "perfect" for shad. He's been going after the anadromous fish -- they hatch in freshwater, live to adulthood in saltwater and return to freshwater to spawn -- his whole life, from Equinunk near the New York border south to Trenton.

"I like the river up high because it causes the fish to just stay in the channel," said Lichak, of Wassergass in Lower Saucon Township. "I think it's just about perfect conditions right now."

Dan Emrick, of Palmer Township, was fly-fishing near Lichak, using a nymph on the end of his leader and a hare's ear a bit higher up, looking to catch whatever he could.

He was glad to hear of shad success from the shore at Scott Park, including one landed Wednesday evening by Boris Buyder, of Phillipsburg. The native of the former Soviet Union said he'd give it to his neighbor to eat.

"If they're getting them from the shore then they're probably hitting pretty good," Emrick said. "The boat is definitely the way to go if you want to bring in numbers. But if they're catching them on the shores then that means that there's pretty good numbers out there, so they're there."

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
This time of year is the busiest for National Hunt racing in Ireland with the Fairyhouse Grand National meeting and Punchestown Festival on the horizon.

It is also the return of the midlands most popular summer social event- the Kilbeggan races. Between now and September eight race meetings will take place on the very popular track commencing next Friday 21, April at 5pm.

Paddy Dunican, Manager stated Last year was an outstanding year for us. We have pursued a very vigorous marketing campaign to grow our business and we have experienced a significant number of new people coming to Kilbeggan for the first time. Our biggest growth in attendance is coming from group bookings from local social clubs, and business bringing their customers for a day out. Paddy continued to comment on the success of last years race meetings We are looking forward to a great new season of racing with eight race meetings planned from now until l next September. Further development works on the track have been carried out on the track which creates a much better racing surface for the horses and jockeys.

This week marks a special occasion for Kilbeggan Races as exactly 100 years ago the first world war raged in Europe and it looked like Kilbeggan races would not take place. However a telegram was received on 7th May 1917 to Tommy Kelly, Secretary, from Paddy Cullinane MP in the House of Commons, giving permission to proceed with the races. At that meeting the famous Shaun Spadah, winner of the Aintree Grand National in 1921 (and 3rd in 1923), won the Loughnagore Chase, with All Sorts in 4th place. The latter is now famous as the winner of the Irish Grand National on Easter Monday 1916, because he had to walk home all of 60 miles to Streamstown, due to the the Easter Rising. Another interesting person who attended the races was Lady Margaret Nelson, Gartlandstown, who became the first woman to own the winner of the Aintree Grand National, when Ally Sloper won in 1915. It was an interesting day at Loughnagore!

At our race meeting on the 4th May 2012 a horse called Cause of Causes won the maiden hurdle at Kilbeggan. After winning his first race at Kilbeggan, this horse has now won over 650,000 including three successive years at Cheltenham National Hunt Chase 2015, Kim Muir Chase 2016, and the Cross Country Chase in 2017, each times ridden by Jamie Codd and trained by Gordon Elliott (the horse was also second in 2014). This outstanding horse Just last week was second in the Aintree Grand National to the Scottish horse One for Arthur. His stablemate Tiger Roll owned by Gigginstown Stud, won a novice chase at Kilbeggan in June 2016 and also won twice at Cheltenham in the Triumph Hurdle in 2014 and this year in the National Hunt Challenge Cup ridden by Lisa ONeill.

The highlight of the first meeting of the year is the Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund Mares Chase sponsored by the European Breeders Fund. The European Breeders Fund has contributed 40 million since 1983 and 2 million in 2017. The Irish European Breeders Fund has contributed significant sponsorship to Irish Racing and is working closely with the racecourses to spread the message of their activities for the greater good of Irish National Hunt Racing.

The first meeting of the year has a unique history in that it brings out people from the winter wilderness to a specialist jumping racecourse creating the opportunity to meet up with friends, family, neighbours, racing buddies, visitors, and perhaps a few strangers, who might become friends. Admission is adults 15, students & OAPs 12, plus discount for groups and children under 16 free. There is also a special discount Summer Party Pack for 22- you get admission, a free race card, 5 drink voucher, and 5 food voucher. Make sure to be early for the opening maiden hurdle in case there is another Cause of Causes in the field, who will go on to win at Cheltenham or Aintree. Dont forget - the first race of 2017 begins at 5pm.
A man whose lorry was found veering onto the side of the N7 road at Kill was convicted of careless driving and of a second offence under the tachograph driving rules.

The Court was told that lack of rest many have been responsible.

At Naas District Court yesterday (April 19), Norbert Siklodi, of 23 Hamlet Avenue, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, pleaded guilty and was convicted of careless driving and breaching the regulations on May 27 2016.

Gardai observed the lorry driven by Mr Siklodi going at 104 kph when he should have been doing 80 kph.

They saw it veering across the rumble strips at the side of of the road at the N7 Greenhills, Kill.

Garda Superintendent Martin Walker said they found Mr Siklodi had not taken his rest period and was recorded as driving for 14-15 hours.

The defendant was charged with dangerous driving and a breach of the tachograph regulations.

The State reduced the charge to careless driving.

Judge David Watters said that the veering action of the lorry could have been down to a lack of sleep and Supt Walker responded that could be an explanation.

It emerged that Mr Siklodi has a previous conviction for breaching the tachograph regulations.

He had been fined for an offence in 2012, but that was with a different company.

Judge Watters said his gut feeling was to disqualify Mr Siklodi.

Warren Parkes, solicitor representing Mr Siklodi, said the 44 year Hungarian, who came to Ireland in 2006, had been driving for twelve years.

On this occasion a boat was due in at 5.30am, but did not dock until 7am.

Mr Parkes also said his client, who was present in the Court with a representative of the company he worked for, should have called for a relief driver.

But, Mr Parkes, in mitigation, said the driver would have stopped at places for deliveries but these were not recorded as part of the required rest period.

He said he changed the car, but that did not mean the data was not available on the tachograph, indicating that he had not taken a proper break.

Mr Siklodi was earning 600 net a week. After paying for his costs including his childrens third level education and sending some money back to his mother in Hungary, he had 250 a week left.

Judge Watters said the offence was serious but opted not to disqualify him.

He fined him 1,000 for the breach of the regulations and 200 for careless driving.
Figures released to the Leitrim Observer by the National Ambulance Service show there is just one ambulance stationed in Carrick-on-Shannon and one in Manorhamilton for day and night shifts.



Both of these ambulances service a large region and could be called away as far as Mayo or Monaghan.

Ambulance staff have recently balloted for industrial action, but a four hour strike was avoided with talks at the end of March. Leitrim Sinn Fein Deputy Martin Kenny has time and time again voiced his concern for ambulance times to South Leitrim, where just one ambulance is located. He said if the Carrick-on-Shannon ambulance is out on a call outside of the county, it puts lives at jeopardy.



The National Ambulance Service (NAS) confirmed to the paper that the ambulance service does not operate on a local or area basis but on a National Basis using AMPS, which prioritises calls using internationally agreed procedures and protocols thus ensuring that life threatening and potentially life threatening calls receive an appropriate response and this ensures that the patient receives the closest emergency response.



According to their figures one emergency ambulance is stationed at Manorhamilton and Carrick-on-Shannon for day shifts. At night Carrick has one ambulance, while in Manorhamilton there is an emergency ambulance for three nights and on call ambulance from 8pm-8am for four nights.

There are between seven and two ambulances on call from Sligo during the day. This includes four intermediate care vehicles used for non emergency calls or transfers from hospital. For the night shift there is one ambulance and two on call ambulances on duty at night.



With Manorhamilton close to Sligo, it is areas like Ballinamore, Carrigallen and Cloone that are of concern to many. Deputy Martin Kenny has argued that the closest ambulance is at least 30 mins away and if another ambulance is deployed it will take over an hour for an emergency response. The service is supposed to arrive at the scene of an emergency known as an ECHO call, within 18 minutes and 59 seconds of being alerted. If the Carrick unit is busy people in South Leitrim have to rely on Cavan/ Longford/ Mullingar or Boyle units.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) today published the first thematic report from Census 2016, Profile 1 Housing

in Ireland which shows that Leitrims housing stock fell to 18,051 from 18,128 in April 2011, a slight decrease of 0.4%.

Housing increase slowdown

Leitrim had 12,404 permanent occupied dwellings in April 2016, compared with 12,228 in April 2011. The rate of increase was 1.4%, which was considerably slower than the 2006-2011 rate of 16%. At a State level, there were 1,697,665 permanent housing units occupied at the time of the census, an increase of 2.9% (48,257) since April 2011.

Fewer vacant dwellings

The number of vacant dwellings in Leitrim has fallen to 5,226 - down from 5,526 in 2011. Of this, the number of holiday homes counted was 1,637. The vacancy rate has dropped from 30.5% to 29%. Nationally, there was a 15% drop in the number of all vacant dwellings (including holiday homes) from 289,451 in 2011 to 245,460 in April 2016.

More people renting

In Leitrim, 3,051 households were in rental accommodation in 2016, compared with 3,036 in 2011. The average rent paid to private landlords was 98.88, an increase on the 2011 figure which was 97.03. For the country overall, 22,323 more households were renting their accommodation compared to 2011, bringing the total renting to 497,111. Since 2011 the national average weekly rent paid to private landlords grew to 199.92.

Fewer younger home owners

Home ownership overtakes renting in Leitrim at the age of 33. Nationally, by the age of 35, more people own their own home than rent, compared with age 32 in 2011. Given that this age was 26 in 1991, this long term trend. The home ownership rate for Leitrim was 73%, compared with 73.7% in 2011.
Great news for Ballinamore this week as the first step in the new Greenway projects got underway.

The tender process for the Greenway has begun with Leitrim County Council looking for contractors to construct a three-metre wide track between the town and Corgar nearby.



The Greenway is being developed along an 830-metre stretch of disused Cavan-Leitrim railway.

The demonstration trail of the old Railway track has been a long time in the planning stages, with the route having to be agreed with landowners and the planning department.

In February council officials said they had broad agreement from landowners on the route, which has been confirmed by the announcement of the next step in the project.



The trail will go out past Park Fe housing estate, Ballinamore Community College and on to Corgar Lake.

There is an application with Failte Ireland to extend the trail to Belturbet, Co Cavan.

The council must wait to see what the Department of Transport's upcoming report on greenways around the country says before they find out how much funding will be available to them.



Locally a fundraising drive has commenced to help the project. Ballinamore Greenway Fundraising Committee are hosting a night at the dogs at Longford Greyhound Stadium on April 28 to raise funds for the new proposed Greenway.

The family event will include music, fun and racing incorporating the William "Willie" Winters Memorial Sweepstake Final.

The committee have sent out letters seeking local sponsorship for the event which wants to raise much needed funds for what will be a wonderful amenity to Ballinamore and surrounding areas.



This is also part of a greater project to eventually establish a Greenway all the way from Mohill to Belturbet. More detail on candlgreenway.ie
LES CANDIDATURES 2023 DU "LABEL "VILLE A VELO" SONT OUVERTES
When you live in one of the safest Tory seats in the country and you get a phone call out of the blue from a life long Tory voter saying that he is prepared to campaign for the Lib Dems in the General Election you start to think that youre dreaming!

Thats what happened to me within a couple of hours of the announcement yesterday. He not only rang me but had to go to the trouble to find my telephone number in the phone book  thats a serious amount of trouble to go to.

Were in the middle of campaigning for our County Council elections and the mood on the doorstep is also matching up to my caller. People are seriously worried about how Brexit is going to affect them. Theresa Mays statement that the country is coming together but Westminster isnt looks to be a serious misjudgement on her part.

We need to build on the distrust and worry that has built up but not revert to Project Fear. Its real people telling real stories of what they think will happen  emotion will win this election not facts.

I dont know how long my surprise caller will stay with us. We need to understand the reasons that the new members are coming to us and ensure that we keep them interested long term. Only then can we grow a sustainable future for our Party.

* Philip Knowles is Chair of Richmondshire Lib Dems
The Tories demand the British people vote them a blank cheque at this election. Theyre not telling you anything about their plans for Brexit negotiations, much less the compromises that will have to be made if any sort of deal is to be reached. And if youre one of the millions who never voted for any sort of Brexit, hard or otherwise, the timing of this election guarantees your voice will be safely ignored.

The Tories know there is no chance of Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister, so theyre having an election now before they have to work out even the most basic details of what the Brexit deal will be. The UK negotiators have hard decisions to make around how much to compromise on movement of people in order to maintain some movement of goods and capital. How much to contribute to EU budgets in order to maintain access to EU research and security programmes. What EU laws to keep in order to trade with EU economies.

However, once they win this election they will be able to sign off on any agreement they want, or worse still walk away without any sort of deal, and there is nothing the British people will be able to do.

It would make much more sense for the country to have the election in 18 months time once the negotiations have concluded, so we all know what deal were voting for. Without those details, what are we being asked to vote on? Youre being told to simply trust the Tories.

So ask yourself during this snap election we were promised we wouldnt have  Have the Tories earned your trust?

Every vote for the Liberal Democrats will act as a constraint to the Tories, and add weight to the voices of reason that can still prevent painful economic sacrifices on the altar of Brexit.

If we dont act now, were all simply signing the Tory blank cheque.

* Tobie Abel is a software designer and PPC for Richmond Yorks. He joined the party in 2013
Whoops of delight and the whoosh of triumphant fists punching the air were apparently to be heard at Lib Dem HQ on Tuesday when Theresa May announced the 8 June election. For a party hammered so badly two years ago, the chance to regain some lost ground is indeed enticing, but if were to make the most of the opportunity some nettles need to be grasped.

Tempting though it is to believe in our invincibility based on recent by-election successes, we are still only around 11% in the polls. That will go up in certain seats, but our final total of MPs will depend on whether were willing to be smart, and to set aside the tribalism of past elections.

If youre sick of terms like progressive alliance or cross-party cooperation, fair enough. But then think of it like this: in an election that is going to defy traditional party allegiances because of the role of Brexit, we cannot adopt the old my party right or wrong, and all other parties are the enemy attitude. We have to think of the broader concept of liberalism, as well as openness, tolerance and internationalism.

That means recognising that there are plenty of people in other parties  largely Labour and the Greens  who are philosophically close to us. We may have issues with the Labour leadership, but that doesnt stop us recognising that there are many good people in Labour. And while we believe were big on the environment, it helps to have a specifically environmental party to keep us all honest.

With such recognition, it makes no sense for like-minded people to be pummelling each other to a political pulp just because theyre in different parties, when the main enemy is the Conservative partys contemptuous attitude towards the fabric of British society.

This does NOT necessarily mean Lib Dem candidates standing down. It might in certain seats; we owe Sarah Olneys victory in Richmond Park to the Greens standing aside, and Brighton & Hove Lib Dems are exploring the mechanics of not putting up a candidate against Caroline Lucas. But sometimes its better to offer people the chance to vote for a Lib Dem, if only to tell voters that were in the business of cooperation, not a stitch-up.

Yet even where we do stand a candidate, we need to be aware of the places where smart targeting could pay dividends, in other words we simply register the candidate but do nothing else as all wed gain is enough votes to stop a like-minded Labour or Green candidate beating the Conservatives. Faced with an election where the sitting prime minister wants to force a hard Brexit, bring back grammar schools, and make it harder for anyone but her party to win future elections by gerrymandering the electoral map, we have to be smart.

And we have to show a generosity of spirit that involves accepting that some seats that are potentially winnable by us are another progressive partys target. Sometimes it may depend on the candidate  it would be easier, say, to accept a social democrat Labour candidate as the principal progressive challenger to the Tories than a Corbynista. And any principal progressive challenger would have to represent much of the broad progressive agenda, in particular a commitment to a proportional voting system. But we have to be open to the possibilities.

Its important for our local parties to have the freedom to negotiate with other local parties who the principal progressive challengers should be, perhaps in clusters of two and three seats. But we must remember that the mark of generosity is when it costs you something you really value. The Greens have done a lot of work in the Richmond and Kingston boroughs, so it was a wrench for them to stand aside for us. We have hailed it as a great Lib Dem by-election win, but it was  at least partly  a cooperative effort. With more cooperation that evokes the referendum campaign, we can deprive the Tories of more seats.

Even an 11% poll rating feels good when youve flatlined at 8% for a long time. But 11% wont win us many MPs, and we wont be able to put anything like the effort we can devote to a by-election into any seat at a general election. Smart targeting with other parties is therefore essential. In this election, we really have to grasp the nettle.

* Chris Bowers is a two-term district councillor and four-time parliamentary candidate. He writes on cross-party cooperation and in 2021 was the lead author of the New Liberal Manifesto.
One lesson of the Richmond Park by-election that we should all take account of in the coming general election is that those who call an election may lose control of the campaign. Zac Goldsmith chose to fight a by-election on the expansion of Heathrow airport. But he lost the election because voters found other issues  above all, Europe  mattered as much to them.

Theresa May has defined this seven-week election campaign as all about Brexit. But it wont be, and it cant be, however hard she and her party, and the partisan right-wing media, try to hold attention to that. (Did you see the Daily Mail font-page headline on Wednesday, Crush the Saboteurs?) The condition of our schools, the tightening squeeze on their budgets while Mrs. May wants to spend money on grammar schools, the continuing cuts in grants to poorer local authorities, the deepening crisis in the health service, will all attract public attention  because they are closer to most peoples immediate interests than the long-term future of Britain and our place in the world.

The Conservatives have set out their pitch for an election that focuses on Brexit and the coming negotiations. Jeremy Corbyns response so far has been to focus on domestic issues, and to avoid a clear line on our future relationship with the EU. We will do best if we talk about both, and link the two as closely together as we can. Nick Cleggs announcement that he will stand again as a candidate, on Wednesday afternoon, struck the right balance: he spoke of the domestic concerns of his constituents in Sheffield first, and then of how a hard Brexit would damage their interests further.

So its not a choice of either/or in how we fight this campaign; it has to be both Britains relationship with the European continent and the sort of society we want to Britain to be. We have the great advantage that most of the public know, at least in outline terms, what our position is on Europe. Many already understand how that position links to an open and tolerant society, and a fairly-regulated economy. The continuing surge of new members demonstrates how passionately some feel about the issue; the by-election result in Richmond showed the sympathy of a wider section of voters for our position. We have to find ways as the campaign moves forward to contrast the European choice of liberal democratic values, shared public services and social inclusion with the right-wing preference to make Britain resemble a Republican-governed USA: leaving the poor behind, cutting taxes for the rich, and letting public services wither. The sort of relationship the government sets out to negotiate with the EU will directly affect the sort of country Britain (or England) becomes.

Mrs. May has tried to define the campaign instead as a contrast between national unity under the Conservatives against the divisions and confusions of the other parties. She is trying already to revert to the 2015 nightmare narrative of Labour in government at the mercy of the SNP. In reality the Conservative Party is itself internally divided  and bitterly divided, between pragmatic centre-right politicians, who overwhelmingly supported Remain, and hard-right ideologues, who are passionate to cut us off from the continent so that we can rekindle our Anglo-Saxon ties, shrink the state, and let free markets rip. Theresa Mays rhetoric offers gestures towards one-nation Toryism, but her gut instincts are culturally conservative and nationalist, from a small-town southern English perspective. We need to find a way as the campaign develops to highlight those divisions, and to emphasise the pressures from the Conservative Right to cut public spending yet more, to leave the poor further behind, and to follow the Trump Administration wherever it may wish to lead us.

The Prime Minister has told us what she wants the campaign to be about. But its a long time until June 8th, and unexpected events will intrude. And we must do our utmost to reframe the issues in liberal and social democratic terms.

* William Wallace has fought five parliamentary elections in Manchester and West Yorkshire. He is a former president of the Yorkshire regional Liberal Democrats.
A LIMERICK lady inspired Ed Sheerans hit song Galway Girl but he may have to change the title to Galway Grill!

The music artist wrote the hit song while Caherconlishs Niamh Dunne and her band Beoga were recording in his home. Like the lyric, Niamh does play the fiddle in an Irish band but the rest of the tune is from Ed Sheerans imagination.

He was in the city of tribes to shoot the video with Saoirse Ronan last week.

"When we were filming it, I meant to get a tattoo of her handwriting saying 'Galway Girl'," Ed Sheeran told fans at a concert in Glasgow.

"It actually says Galway Grill. Like, full on, she really took the p*** out of me with this one. I'm actually kind of proud of her. It's the kind of thing that I would do, said Ed.

Expect a restaurant of the same name to open imminently.

Meanwhile, the Dunne family are taking over TV sets  at home and abroad  this weekend.

Niamh and her trad band Beoga will perform with Ed Sheeran on Jools Hollands ubiquitous music show this Friday night, April 21 at 11.05pm on BBC2. They will play Galway Girl.

Then on Sunday, April 23 you can see the Dunne family performing together on Port, on TG4, at 9.30pm.

It is a landmark award winning music series - part music documentary, part travelogue.

This Sundays episode was filmed in Limerick and features the renowned Caherconlish creative and musical family, with tunes and songs from uileann piper Mickey Dunne and daughters Brid and Niamh, who both play fiddle, while the latter also adds vocals.

The Dunnes are an incredibly accomplished family. Dad, Mickey, apart from being one of Ireland's best-known pipers, is now hugely in demand as a pipe maker, with orders for his instruments coming from all over the world.

Mum, Aideen O'Rahilly, is also very creative and is passionate about the Irish language. She penned the moving Darling Michael  a song commemorating her grandfather Michael ORahilly - a key figure in the 1916 rising - and the woman he left behind.

Brid has an MSc in Occupational Therapy and is currently completing a PhD on the history of the Occupational Therapy profession in Ireland. While Niamh and Beoga have become something of an overnight sensation after putting in many years of rehearsing, recording and performing thanks to their link up with Ed Sheeran.
A GRIPPING real-life show that examines the relationship between the director and his mother following the death of his father, will come under the spotlight at the Belltable this week.

Have I No Mouth, directed by Feidlim Cannon of Brokentalkers, will break all theatrical conventions, as he is joined onstage by his mother Ann and their psychotherapist Erich Kelleher, who guides them through a dark past.

The show takes place at the OConnell Street venue this Friday, April 21, at 8pm, with ticket prices ranging from 14 to 16.

The show paints an honest portrait of grief, as well as illustrating the celebration of an ever-changing relationship between a mother and son.

This is the second national tour of the show, after it has made an appearance on numerous stages all over the world, including the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, and the UK. The acclaimed show received the Total Theatre award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for its innovation and experimentation.

Speaking to the Leader ahead of the one-night show on OConnell Street, Feidlim said that one of the main differences of this show is that it is delivered by non-actors onstage.

With our piece, it is much more raw, real, authentic experience for the audience. And what we have found, delivering the piece internationally, is that the audience find that quite compelling.

Explaining the genesis of the award-winning show, Mr Cannon said: The reason why I made this piece was that my father passed away in 2001, and his death could have been prevented. My way of dealing with Dads loss were through artistic attempts. So, I wrote poetry, I made video pieces. And as a theatre practitioner, I knew that one day that was going to be the form that takes next.

For me, because it is my story, because it is my family history, it only made sense to me to make a piece of work that had my family on stage. I had no interest in working with actors with this. Its such a personal story. We go to very difficult places, and it just wouldnt feel right working with actors. And that is why I approached my mother to help me make the piece.

He said that, in order to revisit the dark past, he needed both his mother on stage with him, and his brother Padraigs blessing.

He said that the personal account of loss is a very universal subject matter, which is why he said people would enjoy the show.

Like a play, the piece is scripted but its a new structure, in that depending on the mood that we are in, the piece can be very different every night, because we can go off-book, we can improvise and talk about different things, but eventually we have to come back to a point in the script for the piece to move forward. So there is a loose structure there which is fun to perform in.

Mr Cannon added that he is very excited about delivering this weeks Limerick debut, and hopes that it will be the first of many.
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Researchers collected measurements from directly within volcanic clouds using drones, and gathered visual and thermal images of volcano peaks.

Drones can do more than capture high-flying footage, and researchers recently put the unmanned vehicles to work studying a volcano as it erupted.

During a research trip to Guatemala, a team of volcanologists and engineers used customized drones (also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs) to investigate Volcan de Fuego.

Fuego is known for its near constant low-level activity, with smoke escaping from its top daily. However, the summit vent is difficult to access  the volcano has an elevation of 12,346 feet (3,763 meters)  and scientists have not been able to collect accurate gas measurements. [5 Surprising Ways Drones Could Be Used in the Future]

Using drones outfitted with a range of sensors, researchers were able to collect data directly from the volcano's ash clouds.

"These sensors not only help to understand emissions from volcanoes, they could also be used in the future to help alert local communities of impending eruptions  particularly if the flights can be automated," Emma Liu, a volcanologist from the University of Cambridge, said in a statement.

The researchers flew the drones beyond their visual line-of-sight, up to an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,048 m) and nearly 5 miles (8 kilometers) away, into the volcano's ash clouds. A so-called multiGAS sensor gathered data on carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, and another sensor collected samples of the ash. The drones also had thermal and visual cameras attached to observe the volcanic activity.

While these initial flights served as a proof-of-concept, the drones have already provided the researchers with new information about the volcano. For instance, the drones captured Fuego's changing summit topography. This showed the scientists that the volcano is erupting from two vents and not one, as was previously thought.

"Initial analysis of the sensor and flight data tell us that we will be able to automatically identify when we are in volcanic emissions," said Ben Schellenberg, a first-year doctoral student in aerospace engineering at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.

"I cant wait to return to test out this hypothesis," he said.

Original article on Live Science.
Could shining bright lights on comatose patients to encourage their natural circadian rhythms help them awaken? A small study from Austria says yes.

The body's ability to awaken from a coma after severe brain injury is tied to its maintenance of its natural circadian rhythms, according to the study, which included 18 patients in various unconscious states.

The scientists found that the chances of regaining consciousness may improve once the body falls back into its natural, healthy cycle of rising and falling body temperatures throughout the day. [The 7 Biggest Mysteries of the Human Body]

The scientists also found that, in a subset of eight patients, two showed increased levels of consciousness after a treatment with carefully timed bright lights that were intended to trigger circadian rhythm activity and natural daily body-temperature fluctuations.

"[T]he closer the body-temperature patterns of a severely brain-injured person are to those of a healthy person's circadian rhythm, the better they scored on tests of recovery from coma," said study leader Christine Blume, a postdoctoral researcher at the Laboratory for Sleep & Consciousness Research at the University of Salzburg in Austria.

The new findings are very preliminary, but they suggest that monitoring circadian rhythms may one day serve as a diagnostic tool to monitor a comatose patient's chance for recovery, the researchers said. In addition, therapies aimed at tweaking those rhythms may ease patients into a more aware state, the research team wrote, in their study, published today (April 19) in the journal Neurology.

Circadian rhythms are daily cycles that tell the body when to eat, sleep or wake. They are set by environmental cues, such as daylight and nightfall. In healthy people, these rhythms include small changes in body temperature. Generally, body temperature increases during the day, with a peak at about 4 p.m., and decreases during the night, with the low point occurring at about 4 a.m., Blume said.

For the new study, the researchers monitored 18 people with severe brain injuries. Some were diagnosed with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome, also called a vegetative state. People in this state have awakened from a coma (which is a state of complete unconsciousness), and may open their eyes and have periods of sleep but otherwise remain unresponsive. Other patients in the study were in a minimally conscious state, meaning that they showed some signs of awareness.

For one week, the researchers continually monitored the body temperatures of these study participants with external skin sensors. They also evaluated the level of consciousness for each person with the Coma Recovery Scale, measuring things such as their responses to sound and their ability to open their eyes with or without stimulation. They found that the patients who scored better on that scale also had body temperature patterns that more closely aligned with a healthy 24-hour rhythm.

Then, the researchers tried to nudge eight of the patients back into a more natural temperature cycle. The researchers exposed these patients to cyclical periods of bright light stimulation over the course of a week. Two participants responded positively to this therapy, expressing increased signs of consciousness.

Blume cautioned, however, that her team's study sample, comprising only eight patients, was too small to show whether the light stimulation is a beneficial therapeutic tool to help patients with brain injuries regain alertness and awareness. [10 Things You Didn't Know About the Brain]

"This is promising, but preliminary, and should be investigated in a larger cohort," Blume told Live Science.

"We indeed hope we can encourage the cycle to return," Blume added. "We therefore encourage doctors to create an environment in the hospital that mimics the natural cycle of light during the day and darkness during the night  especially, daylight lamps may be helpful."

Follow Christopher Wanjek @wanjek for daily tweets on health and science with a humorous edge. Wanjek is the author of "Food at Work" and "Bad Medicine." His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on Live Science.
April 20, or 4/20, may be the unofficial holiday for pot smokers, but its origins are particularly hazy.

Today is April 20  or 4/20 for all the marijuana enthusiasts out there. It is the unofficial holiday for people who want to get high all over the world.

The day has become so inextricably linked with the herbal leaf that a Google search lists 420 as simply one of the date's holidays and observances (along with UN Chinese Language Day). But how exactly did the association between 420 and marijuana begin?

The story told on countless couches around the country is that "420" is police code for a marijuana arrest. But take a clear-eyed look at that explanation, and it goes up in smoke. [25 Odd Facts About Marijuana]

Arrest in progress

It turns out, the terminology that linked 4/20 with smoking pot took root in Northern California in the early 1970s, said Steve Bloom, the publisher of CelebStoner and the founder of Freedom Leaf magazine.

Bloom, however first came upon the connection when he was given a flier at a Grateful Dead concert at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in 1990. The flier recounted the now-famous apocryphal tale that 420 was police code for a marijuana arrest in progress.

"The makers of the flier thought it was a good idea to turn that around and smoke on 4/20," Bloom told Live Science.

The flier urged its readers to celebrate 4/20 as "the grandmaster of all holidays," when they should meet up with friends to smoke pot together at 4:20 p.m. on 4/20, Bloom said. [5 Pot Facts for 4/20]

Bloom wrote about the flier in High Times magazine, and the idea soon took off, he said.

Where's Waldo?

But the police-origin story was off the mark, as that is not the code used for a marijuana bust.

"A few years later a few other people got in touch with High Times claiming they were the rightful owners of 420," Bloom said.

It turned out that a group of men who called themselves the Waldos went to high school in San Rafael in California during the 1970s, when the Grateful Dead lived there and the hippie culture reigned supreme. One day they heard a story from a friend about a patch of weed being grown by a U.S. Coast Guard member near the coastal town of Point Reyes. The Coast Guard member was too scared to go harvest it, so the Waldos decided to go on a treasure hunt for the marijuana patch. They decided to meet at a Louis Pasteur statue near campus at 4:20 p.m. to accommodate their school schedules, before heading off in search of the green gold, according to 420Waldos.com, a website set up by the high-school group of friends.

The pot search routine went on for weeks and the group agreed to meet every day at "420 Louis" to continue the search. Though it wound up being a wild goose chase, it eventually gave rise to the shortened term "420" to denote smoking marijuana.

"We didn't know we were creating history at the time, it was just a private joke we were telling between ourselves," said Dave Reddix, one of the original waldos, who is now an independent filmmaker in San Francisco.

The Grateful Dead lived in San Rafael at the same time as the Waldos, and the group sometimes hung out in "deadhead" circles, even lingering backstage after shows. Gradually, their terminology spread through the Grateful Dead community into the wider stoner culture, Bloom said.

The Waldos not only spoke with an editor at High Times (not Bloom) and signed statements attesting the truth of their story, but they also provided documents, such as old letters referring to marijuana by its numerical nickname, old high-school newspapers using the term, and even a "420," batik-dyed marijuana flag, according to 420Waldos.com. Though they were initially anonymous, but in the late 1990s, a few of the original group have come forward with their real names. Recently, they even found the U.S. Coast Guard member, who is now homeless, and finally found the location of the original pot, Reddix said.

Wider cultural trend

But how exactly did the term make its way from a local term to a global holiday? The flier that Bloom and others received at the Oakland Grateful Dead concert may have been the catalyst that launched "420" from local Northern California underground slang to the central day for major marijuana celebrations and protests throughout the world. But the false association between police busts and 420 predates the Grateful Dead concert by at least 15 years, said Steve Capper, one of the Waldos, who is now in the financial services industry in San Francisco.

"The first time I heard it, I was going to school in Southern California," somewhere between 1974 to 1975, Capper told Live Science. "I'd fly back and would pass by a high-school kid hitchhiking."

After picking them up, he would ask them if they knew what 420 was.

"They'd say 'it's a police code for marijuana,'" Capper said.

The real turning point, however, was the Oakland concert, Bloom said.

"I was not the only person who got the flier, but was the one who was able to spread it out through the magazine," Bloom said. "Over the years, it just kind of picked up steam. That was really what started to build up the 4/20 phenomenon."

Exactly who created the flier, and launched 4/20 into a global day of celebration of all things cannabis, however, is still unknown.

"The mysterious deadheads behind the flier are the ones who created the holiday," Bloom aid. "It's become the stoner high holiday, and these guys are the people who created it."

Originally published on Live Science.
On April 25, National Geographic Channel will launch its first scripted television show, "Genius," about the life of Albert Einstein. But before that happens, the channel is also planning for the famed scientist to make an appearance  of sorts  just in time for the March for Science this weekend in Washington, D.C.

A chatbot on Facebook Messenger allows users to engage in a text exchange with "Albert Einstein," exploring details of his life and accomplishments, and discovering his perspective on the March for Science, which is taking place in the nation's capital (and elsewhere across the globe) on April 22. [2017 March for Science: What You Need to Know]

A sample conversation shows the chatbot replying to questions, making jokes about Einstein's hair, and sharing a GIF of Einstein (played by actor Geoffrey Rush in the television show) turning to the camera and sticking out his tongue.

The real-life Einstein would likely have supported the march, which invites scientists and nonscientists alike to rally in a show of support for the sciences. In Einstein's famous essay "The Common Language of Science"  recorded in 1941 as a radio address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and published in 1954 in an anthology of his writings called "Ideas and Opinions"  he described science as a shared language that plays an important role in shaping critical goals for the benefit of people and nations around the world.

National Geographic is installing a free Wi-Fi network for March for Science participants, which they can access after viewing short scenes from the "Genius," as well as a "Genius"-themed tent that offers charging stations and provides a sneak peek of footage from upcoming episodes.

Connect with the Einstein chatbot on Facebook Messenger.

Original article on Live Science.
Neil deGrasse Tyson says that when people who deny science rise to power that is a recipe for a complete dismantling of our democracy.

Renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson urges Americans to become more scientifically literate in a short video he posted yesterday (April 19) on his Facebook page.

In the video he titled "Science in America," Tyson comments on 21st-century attitudes toward science, explaining the importance of the scientific method and making the case that science denial could erode democracy.

"Dear Facebook Universe," he wrote. "I offer this four-minute video on 'Science in America' containing what may be the most important words I have ever spoken. As always, but especially these days, keep looking up." [2017 March for Science: What You Need to Know]

Tyson, who is the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, the author of several books and a star of TV and radio, has been speaking for years against the troubling decline of basic science knowledge in America.

The video begins with a reminder that the United States rose up from a "backwoods country," as Tyson calls it, to "one of the greatest nations the world has ever known," thanks to science. It was the United States that put humans on the moon and whose big thinkers created the personal computer and the internet.

"We pioneered industries," Tyson said. "Science is a fundamental part of the country that we are."

But in the 21st century, a disturbing trend took hold: "People have lost the ability to judge what is true and what is not," he said.

In a voice full of passion, Tyson said, "This is science," as images flash across the screen showing the world's great scientists from Albert Einstein to Jane Goodall, and scientific accomplishments, from ultrasound images of a fetus and robotic surgery to animations of solar flares and pictures of a swirling hurricane.

"It's not something to say 'I choose not to believe E = mc^2.' You don't have that option."

Tyson points to scientific issues that have become highly controversial: vaccinations, human-caused climate change, genetically modified foods, even evolution. One clip shows Vice President Mike Pence, then a congressman, saying, "Let us demand that educators around America teach evolution not as fact, but as theory." (Evolution is a scientific fact; so much so that the evidence supporting its occurrence is undeniable, according to the National Academy of Sciences.)

Tyson suggests that those who understand science the least are the people who are rising to power and denying it the loudest.

"That is a recipe for the complete dismantling of our informed democracy," he said.

In about 30 seconds, Tyson explains how hypothesis and experimentation, fundamental ingredients of the scientific method, lead to emergent truths. "The scientific method does it better than anything else we have ever done as human beings," he said.

Emergent scientific truths are true whether or not a person believes them, he said. "And the sooner you understand that, the faster we can get on with the political conversations about how to solve the problems that face us."

Every minute a person is in denial only delays the political solution, he said. Tyson wants voters and citizens to learn what science is and how it works to make more informed decisions.

"It's in our hands," he said.

Original article on Live Science.
Bill Nye promotes his new show, "Bill Nye Saves the World," at the Paley Center for Media in New York City.

NEW YORK  Bill Nye, the acclaimed "Science Guy," wants to know: "Are you planning to march?"

The March for Science is Saturday (April 22) and Nye invites everybody  scientists and science advocates alike  to march in support of scientific research, which may see deep cuts if the Trump administration's 2018 proposed budget is passed.

Science leads to innovation, and "the economy depends on innovation," Nye told a packed audience on April 18 in New York City, who had come to see a preview of his new Netflix show, "Bill Nye Saves the World," which debuts Friday (April 21). [Best Supporting Role: 8 Celebs Who Promote Science]

"You cannot compete on the global stage unless you are innovating," Nye said. "Innovation comes from basic research. So by cutting basic research, you are actually shooting yourself in the proverbial foot, which is undesirable, by the way."

Bill Nye, popularly known as "the Science Guy." (Image credit: Courtesy of The Paley Center for Media)

Nye, who is an honorary co-chairman for the March for Science, may have a point about the economy. The amount of published research in the physical and chemical sciences predicted economic growth in middle-income countries such as Ukraine, Latvia and Belarus, according to a 2013 study in the journal PLOS ONE. The link is one of correlation rather than causation, but scientific productivity is still a better predictor of prosperity than other growth markers, including competitiveness and globalization, the researchers found.

However, it's hard to gauge how much science helps the economy, editor Colin Macilwain wrote in the journal Nature (opens in new tab) in 2010. Research is important, but it's difficult to create a reliable model that delivers research's "corresponding economic outputs" in a way that can be quantified, Macilwain wrote.

Even so, Nye added that science generally improves the lives of people worldwide.

"Think of the amazing quality of life we have as a result of the technologies that are derived from science," Nye said. "Like being able to drink clean water from an object made of solid rock that's transparent. That's all from science."

Nye said he hopes the March for Science will send a strong message to Congress and the White House, which have stalled on addressing climate change and even floated ideas of bogus science, including that vaccines might cause autism (they don't) and that carbon dioxide isn't a main contributor to global warming (it is).

"We want to remind our lawmakers that science is part of politics," Nye told Live Science. "Science has historically [been part of politics] and should inform policy."

Even the U.S. Constitution, in Article 1, Section 8, refers to the progress of science, stating that Congress should "promote the progress of science and useful arts," he said.

Nye, an engineer by training, said he hopes the new Netflix series will inspire people  especially voters  to learn more about science and exercise their critical-thinking abilities, he said.

"We want it to be a lifelong habit: evaluating evidence and critical thinking," Nye said. "We want that to be something you continually do every day in every aspect of your life."

Original article on Live Science.
By the thousands they came, from all over the Bay Area and across California, in billowing clouds of sweet-smelling smoke and scarfing enough munchies to fulfill even the hungriest stoners dreams.

Thursday was the annual friendly invasion of Golden Gate Park by marijuana fans to mark their celebration of April 20, and despite some official jitters over having so many weed-fogged people in one place at the same time, when the last bong hits flickered out, the day had lived up to its laid-back goals of fun and sun.

The date is known simply as 4/20 in the pot world, and Thursdays gathering was San Franciscos first fully permitted cannabis celebration in the park. Which meant that instead of the usual unsupervised free-for-all of years past, this time there were fences and rules and officials looking on. But none of that wound up harshing much of the mellow.

Though some impatient pot fans were irritated that the gates opened 40 minutes after the scheduled 9 a.m. start time  a slightly surprising reaction from a crowd not known for hitting the bricks hard in the morning  once things got going, the day settled into a happy haze.

For Christine and Aaron Maxson, who drove from Tahoe for the day, their time in the park was part of a wholesome family outing with their new puppy, Ziggy. Like any good pot fans, they kept things loose and ambled by the beach first so the pooch could see the water and get in the right mood.

He was so excited seeing the ocean for the first time, Christine said as they lounged in the sun near the top of Hippie Hill, the epicenter of the gathering around Sharon Meadow. Security guards took some beers they had brought when they entered, but they were unperturbed.

More for you Joint-blazing San Rafael originators of term 420 tell their story

Its a little weird to see the security, Aaron said, but its not a huge deal. If I was 15, Id sneak in here no problem.

For decades, hordes of visitors have descended on a single meadow on the east end of the park to honor their favorite intoxicant and celebrate pot culture. But this years April 20 was the first such stoner holiday since California legalized cannabis for adults 21 and older, and the first time city leaders allowed a group of sponsors to obtain a permit to hold a sanctioned 4/20 event in the park.

There were reasons for this. Pots inherently laid-back image notwithstanding, the event in the past has had troubles.

Last year, police made eight arrests, and a man wearing brass knuckles robbed two teens. In 2015, an assailant smashed a bottle on a park rangers head, and two groups of men violently robbed attendees. Police arrested five that year. In 2014, police arrested 11. There were also usually some fights, huge traffic snarls and tons of trash left behind  11 tons just last year.

This time, the Police Department was on hand to close streets as needed while event organizers shelled out tens of thousands of dollars for fencing, security, concessions and park maintenance. The event was cordoned off like a traditional festival, and no one younger than 18 was allowed in through the four gates. A host of items were prohibited, including glass bottles, folding chairs, tents and large coolers. Also banned were unpermitted commercial sales and booths of any kind.

The constrictions couldnt snuff the fanaticism for the spiky-leaved weed, which borders on something slightly resembling religion. Only a lot more easygoing. Smoky. And hunger-inducing.

Food trucks hawking everything from lobster to hemp-infused drinks were packed, with the longest lines queued up for hot links and garlic fries. Also busy were the many blanket spreads selling pot things they werent supposed to, from glass bongs to edibles  but in the spirit of the day, not even the cops seemed to be stressing much. They also werent leaning heavily on the law that still makes it illegal to smoke marijuana out in the open.

I always come here. Its nice to be around people I can relate to, said Wayne Dixon, who was also in the park to celebrate his birthday  and relish the fact that he was born on 4/20. Where else would I want to be?

At the entrance to the park off Stanyan Street, the swarms headed in were greeted by a woman in a sweatshirt reading vibes and a man next to her peddling One dollar joints. Men in tie-dyed shirts sold weed in Ziploc bags filled to the brim, and lathered into popcorn balls and Jell-O shots.

Inside on the fenced lawns, a cloud of smoke hovered over those lounging under clear skies on blankets and folding chairs. Park rangers and fire officials stood by, presumably trying not to breathe in too much secondhand smoke. A DJ on a central stage boomed a steady stream of everything from Michael Jackson to Kendrick Lamars latest album.

At 4:20 p.m., the sacred time of observance, the DJ did a countdown and everyone took one long toke. Bob Marleys Jammin filled the already misty air  and then after a long pause came a chorus of coughs from one end of the meadow to the other.

Even without major trouble, some neighbors still heaved unhappy sighs as they watched the crowds gather.

Katie Aaronson, who lives on Fulton Street near Third Avenue facing the park, said she hates the traffic and crowds and called the event stupid.

I dont think its fair that we have to pay thousands of dollars to clean up after their event, she said.

With that very type of complaint in mind, a cadre of sponsors led by Alex Aquino, owner of Haight Street business Black Scale, footed the bill for this years permit and the event organization. Official enthusiasm was less than effusive.

Supervisor London Breed said in a statement: Love it or hate it, the culturally historic 4/20 festival is not going away, and it has a significant impact on our city, on our district, and on our parks. ... This is still not a city-sponsored or city-approved event. But with this new partnership, and a well-oiled plan among city agencies, we hope this year will be cleaner and safer for all.

About 15,000 people attended  slightly more than last year  according to park officials, and no major damage had been reported. Police Sgt. Robert Rueca said things went well, with good crowd cooperation and no arrests by closing time.

Attendees, with some prodding from police motorcyclists, streamed out of the park onto surrounding streets, overwhelming special Muni lines that would take them back downtown, and triggering widespread delays across several bus lines.

The events new, more structured format drew mixed reviews from the attendees, with some feeling safer with all the organization and some feeling too micromanaged by the barricades and bag checks.

This year, its kinda different, said Chris Fame, 24. Its cool, I guess. Somebodys gonna make some money. Its a done deal now.

Not so accepting were the likes of Dan Scott, whos driven in from Sacramento for 4/20 for five years.

Right now, I think it sucks, because theyre doing a control thing, said Scott, 55. Last year, it was totally cool, you could do whatever you wanted. This changes the whole attitude of the situation.

The cultural signifier 4/20 first emerged out of a group of Marin County high school students in the 70s, who used the then-secret code number to coordinate after-school smoke sessions. The Grateful Dead adopted and spread the 4/20 code through its touring circuit and devoted fans, and by the 90s, 4/20 had seeped into the mainstream, where it embedded itself deeper.

Pot remains illegal under federal law, though enforcement is generally limited to large-scale sales. Recent polls show 60 percent of the population supports legalization.

Nowadays, online room renters and prospective roommates use the phrase 4/20-friendly to advertise their tolerance of the drug by guests, renters or roommates. National food brands capitalize on the phrase to sell munchies.

California legalized cannabis for adults 21 and older on Nov. 8. Adults 21 and older may lawfully possess up to an ounce of cannabis flowers or 8 grams of pot extracts as well as give up to an ounce of bud to others 21 and older. They are also allowed to cultivate up to six plants. Sales of recreational pot in stores will begin after Jan. 1.

Chronicle staff writers

David Downs and Jenna Lyons contributed to this report.

Filipa Ioannou, Michael Bodley and Kevin Fagan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com, mbodley@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @obioannoukenobi, @michael_bodley, @KevinChron To sign up for The Chronicles enhanced cannabis coverage, email subscribe to ddowns@sfchronicle.com
A death row inmate at San Quentin State Prison who has killed two people slashed the face of a correctional officer with a makeshift weapon Thursday, officials said.

Anthony Delgado, 49, who has been on death row since 2000 after he was convicted for the murders of two inmates while he was incarcerated in Corcoran (Kings County), attacked the officer just after 9 a.m. in a medical unit of the prison, said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Fans of the danker depths of genre movies will feast on Free Fire, a feral exercise in high-energy moviemaking that boils down to an extended shootout in a decrepit warehouse. And I do mean extended: After a modest setup, wild gunplay fills maybe two-thirds of the films 90 minutes.

A comedy and a labor of love, the movie is a takeoff on 1970s action films that has been stripped of filler to concentrate on pure visceral thrills. The director is Britains Ben Wheatley, a cult figure who often works with writer Amy Jump (his wife). Their highly idiosyncratic output includes the 2012 bloody black comedy Sightseers and last years High-Rise, based on a dystopian novel by J.G. Ballard.

Certainly the filmmakers have soaked up the work of Sam Peckinpah, Quentin Tarantino, John Woo and Martin Scorsese (executive producer of Free Fire), past masters at depicting over-the-top battles with firearms. Wheatley aims to outdo them all, employing a minimum of plot and a cast of walking, talking action-movie cliches who trade quips and insults between volleys of bullets.

Its the late 1970s in Boston and an IRA operative, Chris (Cillian Murphy), with a briefcase full of cash wants to purchase several dozen high-powered assault weapons. Accompanying Chris are a handful of characters (and its a terrific cast) played by Brie Larson, Michael Smiley and Sam Riley. Aficionados of wacky 70s hair and clothing styles will have much to savor.

The sellers are led by Sharlto Copleys hilariously loutish Vern, wearing what must be the ugliest suit ever made on Saville Row. His team includes Armie Hammer (with beard and turtleneck), a ferocious Jack Reynor and a former Black Panther played by Babou Ceesay.

Theres bad blood between the Reynor and Riley characters. The weaponry Vern brings is not what was requested. And everyone on both sides is armed to the teeth. Guess what follows.

Its a shootout for the ages, something that might have been choreographed by Bugs Bunny director Chuck Jones at his most anarchic, if he had really been into guns. Everyone wants to grab the cash; almost everyone has been wounded (mostly in the limbs), so we see a lot of bleeding people crawling on their bellies and firing at anything that moves.

A couple of assassins later join the fray (and who is employing them?) and the film toys with the constant possibility of combatants switching sides. Yes, its gunplay, but its funny and ghastly at the same time.

To forestall audience burnout, the filmmakers have inserted a few lulls in the action. That helps, as do the comic verbal sallies that accompany the gunfire. Still, after a while we may feel that, OK, weve gotten what Wheatley and company are up to, but they are pushing on regardless.

Quibbling aside, Free Fire mainly works, as an indulgence in overkill for moviegoers who realize that sometimes too much is just enough.   

Running time: 90 minutes

MPAA rating: R (violence, profanity)
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A family of four from Monterrey, Mexico landed behind bars recently for allegedly removing price tags from merchandise at a local Walmart, authorities said.

Laredo police identified the family members as Francisco Arancivia Gomez, 47, Maria Luisa Rodriguez de Arancivia, 48, Ilse Alejandra Arancivia Rodriguez, 23, and a 12-year-old girl.

Each was charged with theft and fraud destroy removal concealment writing (removing price tags).

The three adults were taken to Webb County Jail while the girl was turned over to juvenile authorities.

Police responded to a theft report at about 6 p.m. Sunday at the Walmart at 5610 San Bernardo Ave.

Loss prevention told police they had some shoplifters in custody. An associate stated he saw a man, two women and the girl selecting items and changing the price tags, according to police.

Police said the family paid about $37 for the merchandise instead of $106. They allegedly tried buying a sleep set, a doll, shorts, deodorants and Cokes, among other items.
Whether it's Armand Bayou, Bay Area Park, a ditch in Friendswood or a pond behind a neighborhood in Pearland, residents in southeast Houston are accustomed to sharing space with Texas' resident alligators.

The space between us and our reptile neighbors could potentially get smaller in the upcoming months as the weather warms up and the gators enter breeding season  a time when Jonathan Warner, the alligator program leader for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, urges people to be on the lookout for alligators while exercising common sense.

"Alligators, despite their sometimes fearsome reputations, are nowhere near as aggressive as other crocodilians," Warner said, "but they still need to be respected. They're big, powerful animals."

Alligators are ectothermic, which means they cannot create their own heat, Warner explained, so as the weather warms up, they are more frequently seen basking in the sun near the bodies of water where they live. But there's another reason residents might see more gators out and about.

"We're right on the onset of their mating season," Warner said, "so by the end of next month, mating season will be in full swing and alligator activity will be higher than normal."

During mating season, male alligators, called bulls, sometimes fight for territory with other males. Not only does this make the alligators a little more alert, but it also forces males who lose territory into other areas. As female alligators began to gather nearby vegetation for a nest to lay their eggs, there's a shift in territorial aggression, Warner said.

"Female alligators have a very strong maternal instinct, and they will protect their nests," said Mark Kramer, chief naturalist for Armand Bayou Nature Center.

Be safe

The best way people can protect both themselves and alligators is to be aware that alligators are part of the natural environment here, Warner said. Alligators are primarily freshwater animals, but can survive in the brackish waters that are common in our area.

"I tell people to expect that there's an alligator in any ditch, pond or bayou in the Houston area," said Kramer. "That's the safest way to approach it."

Warner said that it's important for people to use common sense.

"If you see that there's an alligator in a body of water, don't go in there," he said. "Staying at least 30 feet away from an alligator, whether it's on land or in the water, is a good rule of thumb. They're obviously very strong swimmers, but you'd be surprised at how fast they are on land, especially if they feel cornered."

Kramer, who has spent more than 30 years exploring the waters of Armand Bayou, said that people need to stay vigilant for gators when canoeing and kayaking.

"Armand Bayou is a rare opportunity for people," he said. "it's one of the premier spots for canoeing and kayaking in the Houston area  there aren't many places where you get to experience an urban wilderness. With that being said, if someone sees an alligator while they're paddling, it's important to try and stay 30 to 40 feet away from it."

Also, both experts stress the importance of keeping pets on leashes around water.

"Your dog is probably about the same size as the small mammals gators normally eat," said Kramer. "They can and will go after pets."

What to Look for

As with all animals, alligators often display warnings before attacking, so knowing the difference between a warning and normal behavior is important.

"Oftentimes the bulls bellow, it sounds kind of like a roar," said Warner. "That's not aggression  that's a common thing they do that we believe relates to communication and mating. They'll often sit out on the banks with their mouths open. This isn't a display of aggression either; it's normal behavior. Hissing, on the other hand, means they're telling you to get back. They do that when they feel defensive and if you're near an alligator that's hissing at you, you're too close."

At the end of the day, Kramer said, alligator attacks are extremely rare. In fact, there's only been one recorded fatal alligator attack in Texas.

"There are millions of gators in the southern part of the country and very few attacks," said Kramer. "Most of those attacks are defensive attacks."

Nuisance gators

Under some circumstances, alligators can be categorized as "nuisance gators." In these instances, alligators have either lost their fear of humans (usually because humans have been feeding them, which is a crime punishable by fine), or are located in a very public place, such as a playground. Warner, whose office oversees the TWPD nuisance gator program, said that if people feel they have a nuisance gator on their hands, they can call (281) 842-8100.

"If you have a body of water behind your house and see a gator, chances are that alligator won't be there in a day or so," Warner said. "An alligator behaving like an alligator isn't considered a nuisance. An alligator sitting in someone's front yard is."

An important part of our ecosystem

As recently as the 1960s, alligators were almost eradicated from our landscape.

"They were one of the first species put on the then newly-formed endangered species list, and through conservation efforts, they were one of the first species de-listed from the endangered species list," Kramer said. "I remember coming to Armand Bayou in the 70s when it served as a popular swimming hole. There were no gators to worry about  obviously we can't do that anymore."

As apex predators, alligators are incredibly important to the health of our ecosystem, Kramer said.

"When the alligators came back, we started noticing other species come back as well," he said.

Herons and egrets, which currently have rookeries and a strong presence in Armand Bayou, were two of those species.

"We noticed that the herons were building their nests over the island where the alligators were building theirs," said Kramer. "Because those female alligators will work very hard to protect their nests, it winds up being a beneficial situation for the birds as well. The alligators keep rat snakes, raccoons, possums  basically all those predatory animals away, so it keeps the heron's nests safe. As apex predators, the alligators really help maintain the balance of our ecosystem here."

Warner said that apex predators, like alligators, can serve another beneficial function.

"They're a great barometer for telling you what the health of the ecosystem is like," Warner said. "If you have healthy apex predators, you have a healthy, sustainable ecosystem. You can use them as a cheat sheet to show you where some of your problems lie. It's incredibly important that we practice good stewardship and conservation to protect species like this, especially in our urban area."

For more information, visit Armand Bayou Nature Center's website at http://www.abnc.org/, or the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department at http://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/alligator/safety/index.phtml.
The drama in Day 3 of the abuse of official capacity trial against Pct. 1 Liberty County Commissioner Mike McCarty was only interrupted by the occasional train breaks - a brief moment everything seemed to come to a complete halt while the nearby trains blowing their horns passed by. They were annoying, particularly to the jury and courtroom observers, who were glued to their seats listening to testimony.

For two days, prosecutors forged a strategy around the misuse of a motor grader or maintainer on a private road that provided access to a facility operated by Triangle Petroleum Services, a McCarty venture, including the subpoena of a witness now living in Tennessee.

The piece of machinery in question was in desperate need of repair and was sent to a repair shop near Hull and repaired by a Mr. Frautschi.

A grader, also commonly referred to as a road grader, motor grader or maintainer is a construction machine with a long blade used to create a flat surface during the grading process. They are commonly used in the construction and maintenance of dirt roads and gravel roads.

David Tanner, a former Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office deputy and patrol sergeant in Calhoun, became employed with Precinct 1 in November of 2012.

Tanner said he was instructed to take a maintainer to a mechanic in Hull to fix a terrible oil leak.

"I was told to get it hot and test it out on a road to make sure there were no more oil leaks," he told Prosecutor William Hon.

Frautschi did the repairs changing out the seals, replacing oil and the fluids - all external work costing the county close to $3,000. The transmission was also bad but would cost $10k  $15k to repair.

"I can't test it myself since I don't know how to drive one," Frautschi told the prosecutor, so he instructed Tanner to get it hot and test it on one of the roads nearby before returning to Raywood.

"I was told to take it take it once in, once out and the last push to crown," he said. He performed the light grade (only three passes) on a road he was instructed to use by McCarty.

Tanner testified that there were no county road signs and only no trespassing signs. Once he finished the rock road that runs east and west, he didn't notice any oil leaks and drove the maintainer back to the barn in Raywood, several miles away.

Frautschi also told them the maintainer was old and they should get it to Ritchie Brothers, an auction house, to sell and get rid of it.

McCarty was being accused of fixing up the private road that led to his business, which would have been illegal; however, the first witness called by the defense after the prosecution had rested started with a quick geography lesson.

Armed with Google maps, Appraisal District maps, and even a map dating back to the 1800s, County Clerk Paulette Williams schooled the jurors and court on the maps that were about to deliver a bombshell to the prosecution's allegations.

"These maps are the official county maps adopted in 2007 by commissioners court," she told the courtroom.

Then Williams, with the help of Defense Attorney Neal Davis, held up a map detailing county roads in the area of question.

"The county roads are in green and private roads are marked in brown," she told the defense attorney.

Then Williams pointed to the road thought to be a private road and said, in fact, that the little road that was supposed to be a private one, was marked as County Road 2015 in green.

Earlier in his testimony, Texas Ranger Ryan Clendennen out of the Livingston office, admitted he pursued the investigation on the misuse of the county equipment based on the interview he had with Commissioner McCarty who said the road was private.

"There are signs there that say it is a private road," he said and he confirmed that there were no county signs anywhere and he assumed that it was, indeed, private.

"Did you bother to ask anyone who might have put up those signs if it was truly private?" defense attorney Neal Davis quizzed him.

"I didn't feel like there was a need," McClennen said.

"Did you go to the county clerk's office to see if the road was a county road?" Davis asked.

"Sir, I had a county commissioner telling me that it was not a county road. Mike McCarty advised me it was not a county road," McClennen responded.

"It's possible that Commissioner McCarty could have been wrong, right?" Davis continued.

"Sir, it's possible," McClennen answered.

Earlier in the day, prosecutors questioned Tony Scott who has a barbecue restaurant in nearby Raywood.

Scott testified that he had a lot of potholes in his driveway and he drove his tractor over to the Precinct 1 barn, while no one was there, and preceded to get four to five buckets of road base to fill in the holes.

"You didn't pay for the rock, did you?" Prosecutor Hon asked.

"No, sir."

Scott had asked McCarty for the rock in a trade, he said.

Again, Williams demonstrated on one of her maps, a plat of Raywood from March 5, 1895, that the road was actually 70-foot wide at the barbecue stand where it intersects with US 90 and CR 119 in Raywood. Most of the area where the potholes were filled could be found in the county right-of-way.

The case is expected to wrap-up and go before the jury on Thursday following the important testimony of Commissioner Mike McCarty. The trial is being held in the 75th State District Court in the Liberty County Courthouse.
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From vouchers and funding, to accountability and preparing students for a next-generation workforce, the state of education today is brimming with hot button issues at the local, state and national levels.

Three community leaders representing Lone Star College, Humble ISD and the Observer Newspapers spoke about the state of education within the Lake Houston area during the Education Outlook Luncheon presented by The Rhodes School at the Clubs of Kingwood Tuesday, April 18.

Lone Star College Systems

Amos McDonald, vice chancellor of Lone Star College Systems External Affairs, was in Washington, D.C., about three weeks ago discussing the correlation between livable wages and education with the staff of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. The financial viability of a student's degree is a driving factor in LSC's operations.

LSC recently added new degree plans in two high-demand fields: cybersecurity and mobile app development.

According to McDonald, LSC is currently the largest producer of nurses in the Houston area and the third-largest producer of nurses in the state of Texas. McDonald planned to head to Austin where LSC would support bills that would allow them to offer bachelor degrees at LSC.

One of the fields in which LSC sees a demand for this option is in nursing, and offering a degree program that would allow nurses to advance from an RN to a BSN. McDonald said LSC could offer that degree for less than $10,000.

LSC is also working with the county to provide a park ranger program.

"We were meeting with Commissioner (Jack) Cagle the other day," McDonald said. "We were having a conversation about a park ranger program. We just signed with (Stephen F. Austin University). We brought them on campus. We're working with them because they're struggling to find park rangers, people who will make a career of being a park ranger for the county."

Through the park ranger program, a student would experience working as a park ranger while simultaneously pursuing a degree, roughly doubling their employment experience as a park ranger by the time they graduate with their bachelor's degree.

"So, you're talking about a 23-year-old graduating with their degree, with 10 years' worth of service, going off working in an area where we know there's a demand and a need," McDonald said.

Humble ISD

Humble ISD is a fast-growth school district with approximately 41,000 students and growing.

"This year, I really spent time listening, learning, building relationships," Humble ISD Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen said. "We've also started down the path of some pretty significant work."

The district assembled a "Dream Team" comprised of 83 people representing different aspects of the community, including students, parents, staff and business.

With the help of the community's input, the team produced the Portrait of a Graduate. The program's concept is that through reading and language arts, math, science, social studies and electives, students can develop skills including critical thinking, communications, personal responsibility, creative innovations, leadership and collaboration and being a global citizen.

"There's a tremendous amount of pressure on quality educators to get good test scores, and of course we want our students to do well on a variety of different assessments, but what we heard from parents and community members is that they want more," Fagen said.

Fagen discussed the recent developments in regards to the A-F accountability system. The grades released in the initial rollout, she said, were not representatives of schools' quality.

"There is new thinking about A-F and this is good news," Fagen said.

She pointed to improvements including moving from five domains to three: student achievement, growth and school climate. A couple of things she finds concerning are the inclusion of teacher quality indicators, as well as full-day pre-K participation rates, for which Humble ISD is not funded.

"That's a challenge that we constantly battle in K-12 with legislative pieces like this because we love these ideas, but we just want to have the funding available to do them well," Fagen said.

Fagan also said that community input played an integral factor in determining the district's budget allocations.

First, she said that as the district moves forward in the budget process, they will bring forward a school safety package that includes measures to reinforce safety for students and staff.

"Another piece that came through loud and clear from our teachers, leaders and students is technology," Fagan said. "They want a really strong and reliable technology infrastructure and appropriate deployment of devices for students and staff."

According to Fagan, the district has one-time money available to use for technology and also has the opportunity for partial reimbursement through a federal E-rate program.

The Observer Newspapers

The Observer Newspapers editor Julie Silva discussed three legislative issues relating to education: school choice, school finance and accountability ratings.

She noted State Rep. Dan Huberty's forecast that school choice legislation would likely not happen during this legislative session. Meanwhile local Sen. Brandon Creighton has been lauded as an advocate of school choice.

"So already, moving forward into the legislative session, we had this conflict. On the Senate side, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick named the issue of school choice one of his top priorities. And the measure swiftly moved through the Senate and was approved."

A week later, the House voted in favor of a spending bill amendment that forbade state money from being used to pay for or support a program that allows the use of state money for non-public education.

"But school choice actually is only one part of the discussion surrounding public education this session," Silva said. "Huberty introduced a bill at the beginning of March that would add $1.6 billion to public school funding. The bill increases the basic allotment  simplifies transportation funding to allow charter and schools under recapture to receive funds, and provides funding to help districts educate students with dyslexia."

The bill also would decrease the amount districts under recapture, or the Robin Hood system, pay, while providing funding for some districts that have been receiving money through the ASATR program, which is set to expire this year.

Without ASATR funding, some districts run the risk of shutting down.

"Now, House Bill 21 does not extend ASATR, but it does provide hardship grants for districts that will lose money when ASATR expires," Silva said. "The first year, $125 million will be available, and the following year $75 million will be available for schools that lose funding under the bill. The overall goal is to allow those districts time to plan for the loss of that state revenue."

The bill was altered over the course of several hearings, with changes involving how hardship grants are appropriated. It also increased the weight for CTE, extending that to eighth-graders, and it increases weight for bilingual from .1 to .11, Silva said.

The bill was approved by the House on April 19, but the Senate has its own bill that would simplify funding formulas.

Silva also touched on one of the biggest topics among school districts, the controversial A-F school accountability system.

"To put it mildly, the districts were not happy with their report cards," Silva said, pointing out that Humble ISD's North Belt Elementary School, which the International Center for Leadership in Education named as a model school, received 'D' and 'F' ratings under the new rating system.

"But this might be the one issue the House and the Senate seem to agree on, as leaders of both the House and Senate education committees filed legislation last month to lessen the blow of the new accountability system."
The power of social media led to the arrest of a man accused in a series of burglaries in the Walden neighborhood Monday.

It's a crime-fighting model the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office has started using more and more since January.

Matthew Durrette, 39, of Spring, is facing felony charges of theft of a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon as well as misdemeanor burglary of a motor vehicle. He was arrested after a surveillance photo taken at one of the burglaries was shared on the NextDoor social media platform, which is a platform built specifically for neighborhoods.

A resident of Walden, which is by Lake Conroe, recognized Durrette from the photo and called MCSO with his information, officials said. He was behind bars a short time later.

"What we've realized is that social media is here to stay," Lt. Scott Spencer said. "Social media is a huge component of community policing Sheriff (Rand) Henderson has been pushing for a while, not just with social media but engaging our media partners with it."

The Sheriff's Office has been using social media to help thwart crimes by posting pertinent info on incidents to its social media accounts, Spencer said. The move is a part of Henderson's new community policing initiative by which the Sheriff's Office becomes more engaged with residents.

Their social media also has been home to more lighthearted posts, such as Throwback Thursday or caption contests on out-of-the-ordinary photos of Sheriff's Office personnel. Spencer said this helps show the human element of policing within the Sheriff's Office.

"It brings light to something (that's) so serious all the time," Spencer said. "We don't want people to read only about the bad that goes on in Montgomery County being posted all over social media. We want them to see the good side and the good things we do every day that go unnoticed."

So far, the community has responded positively.

"We've gotten a lot of emails and messages," Spencer said. "When we attend meetings, we get a lot of thanks and congratulations. We've been doing a little training for other agencies discussing the things we've seen working for us. We love public feedback. We love people participating in the jokes and participating in sharing the crime bulletins and getting the message out. The Walden burglary is a prime example of how it's come true and helped the community policing model."

Durrette is sitting in the Montgomery County Jail with $81,000 worth of bonds.
Special prosecutor Chris Downey confirmed to The Courier Wednesday that he filed an appeal to the ruling of a visiting trial court judge that a statute in the Texas Open Meetings Act is unconstitutional.

On April 5, 329th state District Court Judge Randy Clapp, of Wharton County, ruled at least part of the act is unconstitutional because it is vague, overbroad and violates free speech, With his ruling, Clapp, who was acting as visiting judge in the 221st state District Court in Montgomery County, dismissed charges of conspiring to circumvent the act against County Judge Craig Doyal, Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley and political consultant Marc Davenport. The indictments stemmed from communications in August 2015 regarding a road bond to be placed on the November 2015 ballot.

Despite Clapp's decision, the appeal could put the issue regarding Doyal, Riley and Davenport in limbo for months.

Five years ago, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld a lower court ruling in support of the Texas Open Meetings Act arguing that the act promotes good government. That ruling ended an eight-year debate sparked by a lawsuit filed by council members representing several Texas cities against former Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott in 2009.

Houston attorney Rusty Hardin, who is representing Doyal, previously said he hoped Downey would not appeal the decision because the ruling doesn't bind other jurisdictions in Texas.

If the appeals court rules against Clapp, Downey previously said, the indictments of the three would be reinstated and the case would go back into trial status. However, if the appeals court upholds Clapp's decision, the issue involving the statute then would go to the Criminal Court of Appeals in Austin, followed by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans and ultimately could wind up in front of the U.S Supreme Court.

Former 9th state District Court Judge Kelly Case, in September 2015, appointed Downey as special prosecutor after District Attorney Brett Ligon recused his office due to several conflicts.

Precinct 4 Commissioner Jim Clark also was indicted along with Doyal, Riley and Davenport on the same charge. However, in March, Clark agreed to pretrial diversion to have his case dismissed if he testified for the state against the other men.

E. Tay Bond, who is representing Clark, said Clark's trial was reset to the first part of December. Bond said Clark's agreement would be effective if Clapp's decision is overturned and the indictments for Doyal, Riley and Davenport reinstated. If Clapp's decision is upheld, Bond said it is likely Downey would dismiss Clark's case as well.

Doyal's motion to dismiss claimed Section 551.143 of the act is facially vague and overbroad based on the definition within the act. However, Downey said, those same definitions were addressed in the Asgeirsson case.

In February 2005, a Brewster County grand jury indicted Alpine City Council members Avinash Rangra and Katie Elms-Lawrence for allegedly violating Section 551.144 of the Texas Open Meetings Act. According to the Big Bend Sentinel, the two were accused of exchanging emails with two other council members discussing city business creating a quorum.

However, before the district court ruled on the case, former Brewster County District Attorney Frank Brown dismissed the indictments after one of the council members testified she never read or responded to the emails.

Ranga and fellow council member Anna Monclova subsequently sued Brown and Abbott in 2006. According to the lawsuit, the two argued the criminal provisions of the act violated their First Amendment rights. However, the suit was thrown out on a technicality.

In 2009, several council members from across the state, including from Alpine (one of which as Diana Asgeirsson), filed a separate lawsuit challenging the law. In March 2011, U.S. District Judge Robert Junell ruled in support of TOMA. That ruling was appealed, but ultimately the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Junell's ruling.
AUSTIN -- The Texas House tentatively approved a bill Thursday that would raise the age of criminal responsibility from 17 to 18, potentially repealing a nearly 100-year-old law that allowed 17-year-olds to be tried as adults.

The bill authored by Rep. Harold Dutton Jr., D-Houston, will need a final vote by the House before it is sent to the Senate. It passed Thursday by a vote of 83 to 53.

Although 17-year-old Texans legally cannot buy cigarettes, vote or get married, they still may be tried as adults.

"So when it comes to criminal responsibility, it seems to me that the state has it both ways when it comes to 17-year-olds," Dutton said on the House floor. "We recognize their mental capabilities are not the same as adults, yet we charge them as adults."

He received bipartisan support for the measure, but some Republican lawmakers voiced their concern for the cost of placing more young adults in juvenile justice centers. Rep. Geanie Morrison, R-Victoria, said she was concerned that the Victoria Regional Juvenile Justice System in her district would not be able to afford to keep additional bodies in the center.

Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, said cost should not be a concern.

"This singular piece of legislation is probably the most important change to our criminal justice system that we have probably done in five decades," Wu said.

Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, also asked lawmakers to stop considering cost.

"People are talking about cost, but what we need to be thinking about is how we affect people's lives," he said.
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Local News, Crime

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 20 2017

The pictured two subjects, along with several others, attacked a lone victim at Cafe Moments Lounge, cops say.

NCPD are seeking the publics help in identifying the above pictured subjects in connection with a Gang Assault.

Elmont, NY - April 6, 2017 - Crime Stoppers and the Nassau County Police Department are seeking the publics help in identifying the above pictured subjects. The subjects are wanted in connection with a Gang Assault 1st Degree which occurred in Crime Stoppers and the Nassau County Police Department are seeking the publics help in identifying the above pictured subjects. The subjects are wanted in connection with a Gang Assault 1st Degree which occurred in Elmont , New York.

On Sunday, December 25, 2016, at approximately 4:25 A.M., the subject was present at the Cafe Moments Lounge, located at 784 Elmont Road, Elmont. While at this location a disturbance occurred when the victim exited the bar, and attempted to re-enter this location through a rear entrance after closing.

The pictured 2 subjects, while acting in concert with 7 or 8 unknown male subjects approached the victim and began punching him numerous times about his body, and the victim was also struck in the head with a glass bottle. In addition, the pictured subjects while acting in concert robbed the victim of assorted personal property.

As a result of this incident, the victim sustained a deep laceration from his ear to his neck, and was transported to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries. The subjects fled the scene in an unknown direction.

Suspect # 1 - Black Male , in his 30's, mustache and beard, short caesar black hair, average build, wearing a light colored shirt with a design on front, and a baseball cap.

Suspect #2  Black Male, in his 30's, short mustache and beard, wearing blue jean, jean jacket with dark colored sleeves, Nike' shirt, black and white sneakers and a baseball hat.
Local News, Crime

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 20 2017

Unidentified man walks out of store with $480 in faucets, cops say.

New York, NY - April 20, 2017 - Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Fourth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the publics help to identify and locate the man who stole merchandise from a Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Fourth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the publics help to identify and locate the man who stole merchandise from a Commack store.

A man stole two faucets from Lowes, located at 100 Long Island Expressway , on April 9 at approximately 2:50 p.m. The stolen merchandise has a value of approximately $480.

The suspect fled in a white Ford Escape.
Local News, Crime

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 20 2017

Cesar Gonzales-Mugaburu, 60, is accused of molesting six boys he had adopted, officials say.

Closing arguments are to begin on Friday, April 21 in the trial of Cesar Gonzales-Mugaburu, 60, who is charged with sexually abusing boys in his care.

Elmont, NY - April 6, 2017 - Summations are expected to begin at 10:30 tomorrow morning (Friday April 21) in Riverhead in the trial of a Ridge Foster father charged with sexually abusing boys in his care, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.

A 17-count indictment charges Cesar Gonzales-Mugaburu, 60, of Ridge with predatory sexual assault against a child, criminal sexual act in the second and third degree, course of sexual conduct against a child and other crimes. District Attorney Spota said the top count, predatory sexual assault against a child, is a class A felony punishable by a maximum of 25 years to life in prison upon conviction.

The crimes in the indictment are alleged to have occurred from 1996 to 2015. Mugaburu adopted six boys who are victims of the sex crimes alleged in the indictment. The endangering the welfare of a child charges involve two male foster children in the defendants care.

Mugaburu operated a therapeutic foster home for developmentally disabled boys or boys diagnosed with behavioral problems. The defendant housed six to eight male children at a time in his Ridge home from 1996 until his arrest in January of 2016.

District Attorney Spota said New Yorks statute of limitations laws prevented the filing of more charges involving the alleged abuse of other children.

Several victims have testified during the trial, which started on March 29 before Judge Barbara Kahn (second floor of the courthouse).
Terrence McNeil, a 24 year-old man from Akron, Ohio, pleaded guilty to terror-related charges yesterday after authorities alleged that he posted an Islamic State hit list online. Prosecutors did not charge McNeil with plotting to commit an attack himself. Instead, he pleaded guilty to soliciting the murder of American military personnel.

The key allegation against McNeil stemmed from his decision in Sept. 2015 to re-post a file that was created by the Islamic State Hacking Division earlier that same year. The file, which McNeil re-published on a Tumblr page, purportedly offered the addresses of 100 American servicemen and encouraged followers of the so-called caliphate to target them. It was titled, Target: United States Military. The next line read: Leak: Addresses of 100 US Military Personnel.

The Islamic State Hacking Division (ISHD) has hacked several military servers, databases and emails and with all this access we have successfully obtained personal information related to military personnel in the United States Air Force, NAVY & Army, the main body of the message read. With the huge amount of data we have from various different servers and databases, we have decided to leak 100 addresses so that our brothers residing in America can deal with you.

The authors went on to encourage individuals to hunt down the individuals identified in the data.

O Brothers in America, know that the jihad against the crusaders is not limited to the lands of the Khilafah, it is a world-wide [sic] jihad and their war is not just a war against the Islamic State, it is a war against Islam, the message continued.

The ISHD argued that attacks inside the US were justifiable because of the violence overseas. The file read: These Kuffar [unbelievers] that drop bombs over Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Khurasan and Somalia are from the same lands that you reside in, so when will you take action? Know that it is wajib [necessary] for you to kill these kuffar! and now we have made it easy for you by giving you addresses, all you need to do is take the final step, so what are you waiting for? kill them in their own lands, behead them in their own homes, stab them to death as they walk their streets thinking that they are safe

FBI Special Agent Shawn S. Hare described the accompanying ISHD list in the criminal complaint filed in McNeils case. The file loops several dozen photographs that purport to be of United States military personnel, along with their respective name, address, and military branch. The final photograph loop contains a picture of a handgun and a knife with text that reads and kill them wherever you find them,' according to Hare.

The hit list was first compiled by Junaid Hussain, who was the ISHDs ringleader until his death in an American drone strike in Raqqa, Syria on Aug. 24, 2015. Both British and American officials identified Hussain as one of the self-declared caliphates remote-control plotters, as he contacted numerous willing accomplices online and directly encouraged them to carry out attacks.

In some cases, Hussain even offered his Western recruits specific guidance regarding how they should proceed. For instance, Hussain was in contact with the two jihadists who opened fire at an event dedicated to drawing pictures of the Prophet Mohammed in Garland, Texas on May 3, 2015. He also encouraged a West Chester, Ohio man, Munir Abdulkader, to kill an employee of the US military. Abdulkader pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in Mar. 2016. The FBI has detected Hussains hand in various other plots inside the US as well.

The list republished by McNeil was first posted online by Hussain on Mar. 20, 2015. Hussain then conspired with another convicted Islamic State supporter, a citizen of Kosovo named Ardit Ferizi, to disseminate the personally identifiable information (PII) of approximately 1,300 US military and other government personnel that Ferizi had taken from a company and provided to Hussain. Hussain tweeted out that file on Aug. 11, 2015, less than two weeks before an American drone caught up with him in Raqqa. Ferizi was sentenced to 20 years in prison last September.

Hussains wife, Sally Jones, helped him prepare the address databases, according to the US State Department. Jones and Hussain targeted American military personnel through publication of a hit list online to encourage lone offender attacks, Foggy Bottom said when it announced its terror designation of Jones on Sept. 29, 2015. Jones has also used social media to recruit women to join the Islamic State and, in Aug. 2015, encouraged individuals aspiring to conduct attacks in Britain by offering guidance on how to construct homemade bombs.

McNeil repeatedly professed his support for the Islamic State on social media

It does not appear that McNeil directly corresponded with Hussain. The heart of the case against him was apparently his reposting of Hussains Mar. 2015 hit list and subsequent databases as well. US officials argued that McNeil was not simply exercising his First Amendment rights when he posted this potentially sensitive information.

While we aggressively defend First Amendment rights, the individual arrested went far beyond free speech by reposting names and addresses of 100 US service members, all with the intent to have them killed, the FBIs special agent in charge, Stephen D. Anthony, said in a statement released by the Department of Justice. We will remain vigilant in our efforts to stop those who wish to support these despicable acts. That same statement says that McNeil posted multiple other kill lists in late 2015, all of which repeated the same refrain, calling on others to seek out and murder US servicemen and women.

McNeil didnt make it hard for authorities to identify him as an Islamic State supporter. He was not a highly-trained terrorist who was well-versed in operational security. He repeatedly announced his desire for violence inside the US for more than a year prior to his Nov. 12, 2015 arrest.

Indeed, according to the complaint filed in his case, McNeil left behind a colorful digital trail  on Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter  filled with expressions of his support for the Islamic State and jihadism.

McNeil allegedly posted to a Facebook account under the name Terrence Joseph Broadway. On May 11, 2014, he wrote: I cant wait for another 9/11, Boston bombing, or Sandy Hook!!! Two of the three events he listed are, of course, terrorist attacks. But the third was a mass shooting carried out by a deranged young man who had nothing to do with jihadism.

In another Facebook post the following day, McNeil allegedly wrote: Im American by birth not choice. Easily Im african american and native american so this country has made my people suffer years. Casualty of war. I would gladly take part in an attack on this murderous regime and the poeple [sic]. In a follow up, he wrote: Ill be proud when I sled [sic] american blood. Then, on May 14, 2014, another post read: Somebody should park a car bomb in front of a church, school, or mall.

McNeil also expressed anti-Israeli sentiment, writing on June 12, 2014: Death to Israel. Death to America. Free Syria. Free Palestine. Days later, he reiterated: Death to Israel!!!

Based on the citations available in the complaint, McNeil was increasingly drawn to the Islamic State and its ideology over time.

On June 12, 2015, an anonymous user on Tumblr asked McNeil: If U [sic] support ISIS just admit it coward. McNeil answered: lmao I dont support Egyptian idols if you mean the Islamic State I have stated many times that I do support them.

McNeil advertised his affinity for the Islamic State on his first Twitter account (11LoneWolfe). I support Dawlah and I live in the US, he wrote in one tweet on July 25, 2015. Dawlah is a reference to Baghdadis state. He wrote in another tweet on July 27, 2015: Just thinking about getting martyred puts a smile on my face. One day soon inshallah.

Days later, on Aug. 3, 2015, law enforcement officials requested the accounts profile information from Twitter. The social media service repeatedly suspended McNeils accounts, but as is the case with many jihadist-linked feeds, McNeil simply altered the handle name slightly and quickly began tweeting once again.

In the the eighth iteration of his Twitter account (LoneWolfe_18), McNeil used a picture of Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili (a.k.a. Abu Omar al-Shishani) as his avatar. Batirashvili, a top Islamic State commander, was subsequently killed in July 2016.

McNeil also celebrated online some of the Islamic States most gruesome acts, including the beheading of American James Foley and the immolation of a Jordanian pilot, Muath Al-Kasasbeh. He repeatedly expressed his desire to achieve martyrdom, talked of migrating to the lands of the so-called caliphate and complained about the supposed disbelievers living inside the US, according to the complaint.

On July 16, 2015, Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez shot and killed four Marines and a Navy sailor in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Via Tumblr, McNeil exclaimed: I just heard the news Allahu Akbar!!!! May Allah (SWT) accept our brother Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez.

The Islamic State is still making gains against Assad while the whole world is at war with them, McNeil allegedly wrote on Tumblr on Aug. 15, 2015. May Allah protect the mujahideen of Dawlah and grant them many more victories. A little over two weeks later he wrote: Before I embraced Islam, I supported the Mujahideen for my hatred of the US. Now I support the Mujahideen for my love of the Muslim ummah [nation or community].

The DOJ says that under the terms of his plea agreement, McNeil faces a sentence of between 15 and 20 years in prison. That is a far different fate from the one Hussain would have wanted for him.

Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
On April 17, the Pakistani military said that Ehsanullah Ehsan, the spokesman of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a dangerous faction of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, voluntarily surrendered. Today, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar insisted that Ehsan was arrested in eastern Afghanistan and later turned over to the military.

Major General Asif Ghafoor, the spokesman for the Pakistani militarys Inter-Services Public Relations branch, claimed that Ehsan turned himself into our security agencies, Dawn reported.

Pakistani authorities were eager to trumpet Ehsans alleged surrender as a victory. There can be no bigger achievement for Pakistan than the fact that our biggest enemies are now realizing the error of their ways and are turning themselves in, Ghafoor said.

However, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar disputes Ghafoors account. Earlier today, the group issued a statement attributed to Asad Mansour, its new spokesman, claiming that Ehsan was captured on March 7 by Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI-D) along with three other colleagues and subsequently turned over to the Pakistani military. According to Mansour, Ehsan was captured in Afghanistans Paktika province, which borders Pakistan and is a known haven for multiple jihadist groups.

Mansour accused the Pakistani military of using the Mujahideen prisoners to lure other jihadists into negotiations and their eventual surrender.

Ehsan has been an influential spokesman and the face of Pakistani jihadist groups for the past decade. He served as the spokesman for the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan up until 2014, when Jamaat-ul-Ahrar split off from the group and formed its own branch. Ehsan joined Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and became its spokesman. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar reunited with the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan earlier this year, but has maintained a degree of autonomy.

As spokesman for both groups, Ehsan has taken credit for some of the more gruesome attacks and atrocities in Pakistan over the years. In 2011, Ehsan gleefully noted that his fighters kidnapped 25 young boys, as well as a group of parents and tribal elders in Bajaur.

Ehsan joined other jihadists in condemning the Pakistani Talibans assault on the Army Public School in Peshawar in Dec. 2014. More than 140 people, mainly children, were killed. However, Ehsans denunciation may have been merely a self-interested denial that was intended to distance himself and others from the unpopular slayings.

In March 2015, Ehsan tweeted that his comrades were responsible for the assassination of Samiullah Afridi, the lawyer for Dr. Shakil Afridi, who helped the CIA track down Osama bin Laden.

After the 2016 Easter Day massacre in a park in Lahore, Ehsan proudly claimed the slayings, saying the target was Christians. At least 72 people, mostly women and children, were killed and more than 300 were wounded in the blast.

A dangerous jihadist group with global ambitions

Ehsans now former group, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, threatens the Pakistani state while supporting allied regional and global jihadist groups.

The leadership of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is known to have ties to multiple jihadist organizations operating in the region. Omar Khalid al Khurasani, one of its top leaders, is closely linked to al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri. Khurasani has called for the imposition of sharia law and the establishment of a global caliphate. He has also said that a primary goal of the Pakistani Taliban is to obtain nuclear weapons. [See FDDs Long War Journal reports, Taliban commander wants Pakistans nukes, global Islamic caliphate and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar celebrates 9/11 attack.]

After the US killed Mullah Mansour, the emir of the Afghan Taliban, in a May 2016 drone strike in Pakistan, Ehsan mourned his death and urged Muslims to intensify their efforts to wage jihad.

With regret the Muslim world has lost a great mentor, Ehsan said after Mansours death.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar also celebrated the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the US, saying it will continue to wage jihad until a global caliphate is established. This is a goal shared by al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
The great Gold Rush Music Festival returns to the township of Waihi, with the first nuggets of gold dropping for the highly anticipated return of the 2023 festival.
Its not every day that you uncover the deep dark secrets behind the conventional beauty industry, let alone do something about it. Well, meet Pernilla Ronnberg, whos done just that. After witnessing first-hand the appalling noxious chemicals which pollute our mainstream beauty products, she was determined to make a change  a major one.

Harnessing her flair for entrepreneurship and driven by her zeal for a healthy eco-friendly lifestyle, Pernilla sought to create her own skincare brand that possessed innovation and integrity. Using the most premium ingredients and the finest raw materials, she developed the next generation of organic skincare products with the help of a team of experts adept at this field. Thus, Estelle & Thild was born, the glorious product of Pernillas dream of creating her own sustainable all-natural brand!

Her passion for sustainable beauty has even revolutionised her lifestyle, influenced the companys culture and even infected her daughters, Estelle & Mathilde (do they ring a bell?), as well. With Pernilla, every day is Earth Day.

Of course, theres more to her than just that. But, well let Pernilla tell you more herself.

Marie France Asia: What inspired you to establish Estelle & Thild as an all-organic skincare brand?

Pernilla: The idea behind the brand came to me when my children were born. I felt inspired to do something meaningful with my life. I wanted to make a difference, to do my bit in helping the world become a better place. I wanted to develop a sustainable business, producing organic, innovative skin care without compromising on the experience or results. After months of research, prototyping and testing, I launched Estelle & Thild in 2007 with the ambition to help consumers make better choices for their skin, bodies and the environment. This vision and thought behind my brand is still what drives me to this day, and I am very grateful and passionate about what me and my team has created. My daughters Estelle and Mathilde are my main inspiration, and this is also why the brand is named after them.

MFA: What is the most challenging part about producing your own organic skincare range?

P: To create formulations that are certified organic yet also effective and give long term results. We work constantly to ensure that consumers do not need to compromise on anything when going organic. We have chosen to certify our products as organic via EcoCert  the largest independent certification board in Europe and the United States. Their rigid guidelines have made them not only the leading certification board, but also one of the most respected worldwide. They rigidly inspect and examine the product contents, raw materials, production, packaging and text material. It means that our company, our production facilities and our ingredients need to be certified. Few companies manage to meet the strict demands that this certification poses.

MFA: Do your daughters feel as strongly as you do about maintaining a sustainable lifestyle? If so, what eco-friendly habits do they practice in their daily routine?

P: We are definitely an eco-friendly family, and the girls like to use Estelle & Thild products. They are very conscious and aware of whats going on in the world. We eat organic at home, spend a lot of time together outside in nature  we just bought a horse! They are also very determined in their beliefs  like not wanting to eat meat and being against animal testing.

MFA: What advice would you give to people who are actively practicing a sustainable lifestyle, yet, receiving a lack of support from the people around them?

P: Keep doing what you are doing; the others will come around eventually. I think its important to stay true to your beliefs, and not care so much about what others think. It can be hard at times, but it really is for a good cause. Be proud of the work you do!

MFA: In light of a sustainable lifestyle that Estelle & Thild advocates, what are your thoughts on extreme eco-friendly habits such as a zero-waste lifestyle?

P: I think it is great that there are passionate people who really go out of their way and change their entire lives for the sake of the environment. I think they really make a difference and inspire others to do their part, even if they dont embrace the whole lifestyle. Every little thing that supports the environment counts!

MFA: What are some of your other favorite organic skincare brands?

P: I like RMS Beauty and John Masters Organics  they produce great shampoos and conditioners.

MFA: Do you see the organic skincare industry expanding in time to come?

P: Yes, for sure. Since I launched Estelle & Thild in 2007 the category has grown immensely and the organic beauty market just keeps growing. Consumers are more informed than ever, and demand sustainability and transparency from brands and companies across markets.

Interested in supporting Estelle & Thild? Thats a no-brainer. Head over to their website  www.estellethild.com  to view the full range of their amazing products!

Lim Han

Photos: Estelle & Thild

Read More:

Beauty Review: Estelle and Thilds Recovery Night Cream

Natural Glow: Estelle & Thild brings organic tinted moisturisers to the table

Renewed Youth: Estelle & Thild introduces a new line to fight aging
MARTINSVILLE  Talking with Robby Burton, its apparent he doesnt know that what his company does is unusual.

Burch-Hodges-Stone Insurance in Martinsville  of which Burton is the president  does not ban its employees kids from the office. Instead, they are welcome to spend some time there if and when needed, whether between transportation arrangements for child care, unexpected time off school due to a snow day, mild sickness or whatever other need may arise.

There isnt any formal policy regarding kids in the office, said Burton, who has three young children of his own. Its always been understood and part of the culture here that kids will be here now and then.

Its honestly a blessing to have bosses that are cool with having Addison here, Stacy Martin said. She is a commercial account manager and has worked at the company for seven years. Her 9-year-old daughter has school, a regular day care arrangement and a grandmother and great-grandmother to take care of her, but sometimes Martin doesnt have any help with her during workdays so brings her into the office.

Addison has serious asthma, and sometimes she has so many doctors appointments that it helps to be able to have her at work on days with lots of running around. That may mean keeping her daughter at work until her Addisons grandmother is able to pick her up.

Ive worked at several different places, and theyve never let us drop her off or pick her up at work, Martin said.

In the office, children have basically a free rein, Burton said. One of their favorite activities when they come here is to go around and say hi. In my dads office, there are lots of toys.

They also can watch TV or movies or play in the break room.

Children are rarely there all day long, Burton said. Rather, its those times that fill gaps between other child care arrangements, or the unexpected times neither school nor day care is open, or a child is too sick to go to school but is OK to rest on the office couch.

The companys Martinsville office has 19 employees, most of whom have young children or grandchildren, Burton said. Having kids around is no distraction, he said, adding that he has not noticed any negative effect on productivity.

We manage it fairly well, he said. Almost everybody here is a parent, and you learn how to manage your time as a parent.

The kids, also, behave respectfully and quietly while there, even if they do need to be reminded every now and then to use their inside voices, he said.

Theres no problem with employee attendance. No one misses time because of child care issues or snow days from school, he said.

Burton said he doesnt nitpick over exactly how employees spend their time, but rather, Were measured by the quality of work. If it (having flexibility with their children) helps them maintain their quality of work, it wouldnt be surprising.

In his fathers footsteps

Burton remembers visiting his father at work when he was a child, too.

Bob Burton started working for the company in 1978, the year before Robby was born, and when Robbys sister, Jessica Burton Sturm, was a baby.

Robby Burton said he has fond memories of going into his fathers office when he was a boy.

At the time, Sam Torian worked there. Seeing Mr. Torian was a special treat because, among other things, he always gave out fire hats, Burton recalled.

In 1987, Burch-Hodges-Stone moved to its present location in the Fidelity Bank building. In January 2016, Robby Burton took over as its president.

Burton and his wife, Holly Burton, have three children: Gray, 3; Ava, 6; and Mallory, 11. In Burtons office, one drawer of the desk is dedicated to toys, and the whiteboard is as likely to be covered in childrens drawings as it is insurance notes and calculations.

Anyones kids are welcome to wander in. They all know to quietly go somewhere else if he closes the door.

Im really excited to be here

I like it, because all of the people here are very nice, and because they let me stay with my mom, said Addison, Stacy Martins 9-year-old daughter. When shes at the office, usually I just play on Mommys phone. I either sit in the break room or on the chair beside Mommy.

This year, Addisons been to the doctor 10 times, and missed 10 days of school since January, Martin said. If it werent for Burch, I dont know what Id do. Robby bends over backwards to find new ways to allow his employees to work around both family and work obligations.

Burch-Hodges-Stone is starting a telecommuting program this week, and Martin is the first employee to try it. Last week, the companys IT specialist set up all the equipment Martin needs to work from home at her house.

Im really excited to be here, Martin said. Its definitely the best career move Ive ever made.

Ive never really considered it a benefit or anything like that, Burton said. Its just the way its done.

However, from the employees point of view, it sounds like they do view the acceptance of children as a benefit.

It makes you more dedicated to the company, said Sarah Adkins, who is going on six years with the company.

Martin pointed out that she and Adkins are practically newcomers, because employees dont want to leave. Weve got people who have been here almost 40 years, and the most recent one is almost four years, Martin said.

Martin said she has no daydreams of going anywhere else. If I got a job offer making $10,000 more, I would have to think long and hard about whether its even worth it to leave Burch-Hodges-Stone.

I know that people who work here say its a lot better place to work than other places, Burton said. If allowing kids is part of the reason, great, but thats just part of a bigger culture of respecting employees.

One of the leading causes of our success over the years is that we have a close-knit family (atmosphere) at the office, and kids are a part of that. You cant exclude that as part of the picture, Burton said.
MARTINSVILLE-To those wishing to celebrate Earth Day on Saturday, the Virginia Museum of Natural History has you covered.

On Saturday, the museum will host its 9th Annual Earth Day Festival at J. Frank Wilson Memorial Park in Martinsville. The event will last from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and admission is free.

Martinsville Parks and Recreation is co-hosting the annual festival, according to VMNH Education Manager Christy Deatherage. The event sponsor is U.S. Cellular, which will provide an Earth Day-themed virtual reality experience.

According to Deatherage, the event will include plenty of community partners who will provide activities for kids, games, crafts, guided trail hikes, live animals, wildlife identification, environmentally-friendly balloon animals, face painting and more. Food will also be available for purchase.

Were also going to have our musicians, Kim and Jimbo Cary, Deatherage said. Theyre from Nelson County, and theyre amazing musicians. Theyre a husband and wife duo who use all-natural instruments.  They have a range of instruments that are kid-friendly and kid-sturdy. They have washboards and drums and things like that, and also puppets that the kids can play with while theyre making music with the Carys.

VMNH staff is keeping a close eye on the weather, Deatherage said, and in the event of rain, the Earth Day activities will take place inside the museum instead of at Wilson Park.

Rain or shine, our Earth Day festival will happen Saturday, as well as our march, she said.

March for Science

This year, an additional event will take place on Earth Day: At 2 p.m., the museum will host a March for Science from Wilson Park back to the museum.

The March for Science is a diverse, non-partisan international event designed to champion the importance of science. Marches will be taking place in more than 500 cities around the world on Saturday, according to VMNH STEM Educator Katie Hastings. The main march will occur in Washington, D.C., and VMNH will offer one of eight satellite marches just in the state of Virginia. The march is open to anyone who wishes to join in.

Ive been working with the official March for Science group, and we are now officially partners with them, Hastings said, adding that she and her husband  Dr. Alex Hastings, VMNHs Assistant Curator of Paleontology  will be attending the Washington, D.C. March for Science along with several other museum employees.

Hastings said the local march will begin at Wilson Park at 2 p.m. and end in front of the museum. Once at the museum, there will be a planting of several native species of plants in front of the museum, followed by an open mic session where area residents can choose to speak about the importance of science and how it affects them.

Following the open mic, Hastings will set up a livestream via Facebook Live, and the Washington D.C. march will be broadcast in the museums lecture hall. Hastings will be available to answer questions regarding the march via the livestream, she said.

According to VMNH Executive Director Dr. Joe Keiper, the March for Science is simply a celebration of the crucial role that science plays in our day-to-day lives.

There are a lot of people out there  including those in the scientific community  that are critical of the idea of the March for Science and Earth Day being on the same day, because in some parts of our culture, there is the perception that theres a political connection with Earth Day, Keiper said. However, the March for Science is not a political statement. Thats not what any of the participants are going for here. It is to bring out from behind the lab doors the message of science, that its something that is an asset for our culture.

Established in 1970, the roots of Earth Day are embedded in science, Keiper said.

Earth Day is a great day to celebrate the natural environment and our ability, should we choose, to protect it for upcoming generations, he said.
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The comrades of the International Marxist Tendency are following with enormous interest and sympathy the Socialist Movement in the Basque Country, which promotes the emergence of a mass communist movement, and defends the international character of socialism. We publish here a brief article on the characteristics of this extraordinary occurrence, and its current development.
The Internet is obsessed with Starbucks' new Unicorn Frappuccinos. Braden Burson is not.

Burson is a Starbucks barista. He posted a video on Twitter Wednesday where he begged people to stop ordering the drink.

"Well, today [the Unicorn Frappuccino] came out and I have to tell you: PLEASE DON'T GET IT!" he said in the video.

The drink is a creme frappuccino with mango syrup with a dusting of pink powder blended into it and a layer of sour blue drizzle. The drink is topped with vanilla whipped cream and a sprinkle of sweet pink and sour blue powder.

Starbucks also claims the drink changes color. Although, 'I Ate It' Nick O'Malley tried it and failed.

The Washington Post wrote a negative review saying it "exists only to be Instagrammed." There are already over 70,000 posts on Instagram using #UnicornFrappuccino.

And, according to Burson, this is "like the number one Frappuccino ever."

"I have never made so many Frappuccinos in my entire life," Burson said during his rant. "My hands are completely sticky. I have unicorn crap all in my hair and on my nose. I have never been so stressed out in my entire life."

So, if you're one of the few who hasn't tried the new drink, Burson would appreciate if you would stay that way.
Sen. Eric Lesser headshot.jpg

LONGMEADOW  State Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, will take part in a panel about how President Donald Trump's agenda may affect Massachusetts.

On April 24 at 7 p.m., Lesser will participate in an event hosted by Rise Up Western Mass at in Bailey Hall at the First Church of Christ, 763 Longmeadow St.

"The conversation will focus on 'How the Trump Agenda Will Impact Massachusetts and What We Can Do About It,'" a statement from Rise Up Western Mass says. "Jobs, transportation, education, immigration -- how the federal government regulates and funds these issues will impact all our cities and towns."

Those seeking more information about the event may call Susan Kennedy at 413-656-5398.
fire generic.jpg

At least one person was found dead in a two-alarm fire that broke at a Marlborough home sometime Thursday morning.

The fire began at the home on Neil Street sometime before 4:30 a.m. Fire crews battled the flames, and put down the fire within a few hours. An investigation into the fire is underway as Massachusetts State Police and the State Fire Marshall continue to inspect the scene Thursday morning. The town's fire chief confirmed to several media outlets that one person was found dead in the house.

It is unclear if others were injured in the fire, or what may have sparked the flames. Fire officials have not identified the person who was killed in the fire.

This is a developing story.
Boston Police

(MassLive file photo)

One week after 21-year-old Joey DeBarros was found shot to death outside of a McDonald's in Dorchester, Boston Police believe they found the man who killed him.

DeBarros was found shot at 511 Gallivan Boulevard, in the parking lot of a McDonald's in the Ashmont neighborhood of Dorchester last Thursday. Police believe the death is a result of road rage: suspect Deonarine Ganga allegedly fired at DeBarros as he stood outside of his car after the two got into a heated traffic dispute in the middle of the afternoon.

21 y/o Joey DeBarros the victim in yesterday's shooting at a dorchester McDonald's. hear from his family #wbz@5:30 pic.twitter.com/j6oEvElHxB  Beth Germano (@BethWBZ) April 14, 2017

Boston Police charged Ganga, a 29-year-old Dorchester-native, with murder Thursday morning. Homicide detectives from the Boston Police Department received a search warrant for Ganga, who was already in Suffolk County Jail after threatening someone with a gun in Dorchester on April 7.

"We are pleased that we were able to arrest and charge the suspect for this brazen daytime shooting and for his involvement in the earlier assault," Commissioner William Evans said in a statement. "We hope that these charges bring some peace to the DeBarros family during what is surely a most difficult time."

Boston Police received help from investigators and the local community to identify Ganga as the murder suspect. The shooting remains under investigation by Boston Police.
"When a person lives in poverty, a growing body of research suggests the limbic system is constantly sending fear and stress messages to the prefrontal cortex, which overloads its ability to solve problems, set goals, and complete tasks in the most efficient ways."

Tara Garcia Mathewson

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/04/can-brain-science-pull-families-out-of-poverty/523479/
ver 50 women gathered Wednesday to learn about the resources offered to women who are interested in starting a business.

"Montana is the number one place to start a business." Said Small Business Advocate for the Governors Office of Economic Development, Andy Shirtliff.

Women business owners from across the state gathered at Bobcat Stadium to share experiences and successes. Anna Kazmierowski moved to the Treasure State 16 years ago, and started A 2 Z Staffing Solutions in Helena. Next month, she will be opening another.

"I tapped into the navigator http://business.mt.gov/navigator that the governors office created a couple of years ago, thats a fabulous tool and I also attended a lot of SBA sponsored workshops."

By Judy Slate

Full Story: http://www.kbzk.com/story/35193431/women-in-business-event

[Early Bird] Tickets are running low for Innovate Montana Symposium July 12 & 13 in Billings. http://www.matr.net/article-76548.html

The Governors Office of Economic Development encourages Montana businesses to apply for the Inc. 5000 list by May 1, 2017. http://www.matr.net/article-76193.html
This fall, RMSP https://rmsp.com/ is rolling out a new professional program that the organization is hoping will serve as a trade school-style alternative for those who want a career in photography, but dont want to invest in a four-yearor even two-yearcollege.

Last year, two major photography schools abruptly closed their doors: the Hallmark Institute of Photography in Turner Falls, Mass., folded under scandal a few years after the owner pleaded guilty to charges of bank fraud and tax evasion. The Brooks Institute in Ventura, Calif., which was purchased by a large corporation, closed after several years of consolidations and downsizing.

The loss of two nationally prominent photography schools provides an opportunity for other institutions to take the lead, and the locally owned Rocky Mountain School of Photography https://rmsp.com/ is looking to fill that role. Andy Kemmis, RMSPs marketing coordinator, says the Missoula-based school has seen an increase in enrollment since its 1989 inception, but mostly the rise has been associated with the schools six-week summer intensive program, where photography enthusiasts from all over the world come to learn the basics of shooting in places like Glacier National Park.

RMSP also offered longer, more career-oriented intensives, but those were harder to fill.

By Erika Fredrickson

Full Story: http://missoulanews.bigskypress.com/missoula/rmsp-launches-new-program/Content?oid=3889050
Climate change. For some reason, certain people just dont believe its real. Even Scott Pruitt, the man President Trump named to head the Environmental Protection Agency, isnt steadfast about global warming and what causes it. But years of scientific study have shown the planet is getting warmer. What gives? According to Bill Nye, the answer is simple: cognitive dissonance.

"People have a certain worldview; [then] theyre confronted with evidence that conflicts with the worldview, so they have dissonance, conflict in their minds," Nye says. "[So] instead of changing your worldview, which you may have held your entire life, you dismiss the evidenceand along with that you dismiss the authorities that may have provided the evidence."

Angela Watercutter

Full Story: https://www.wired.com/2017/04/bill-nye-says-climate-change-deniers-bad-case-cognitive-dissonance/
Mayor Ted Wheeler said he would announce a framework to create a "fair and level playing field" for autonomous vehicle companies.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said Wednesday he wants the city to be "open for business" to companies developing autonomous vehicles.

by Elliot Njus, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.

Full Story: http://www.govtech.com/fs/Portland-Mayor-Seeks-to-Shape-Self-Driving-Tech-to-Suit-Needs-City-Residents-Needs.html
he new FCR call center is gearing up for a summer start-up in its renovated downtown location.

The Oregon-based company is still seeking a site director from Great Falls and other supervisors and managers. It expects to have its first training class for its initial 10 to 20 customer service positions in June and to start operations in early July, President Katheryn Carnahan told the Tribune in a telephone interview.

Peter Johnson , [email protected]

Full Story: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2017/04/19/new-great-falls-call-center-ready-july-opening/100667928/

***

Montana Career Opportunities  Site Director, Customer Service Representative, Program Manager and more  First Call Resolution in Great Falls http://www.matr.net/article-76574.html
#KBO Former MLB All-Star Choo Shin-soo celebrates 1st championship in S. Korea His eyes all red, from all the tears of joy he'd shed and from the beer shower to celebrate his first professional baseball title, SSG Landers outfielder Choo Shin-soo was a gratef...
This week, Facebook held its annual-ish F8 conference in San Jose, California. While F8 typically involves announcing new features to the companys namesake social media platform, Mark Zuckerberg and company shared some interesting details about a neurotechnology project being developed at their secretive research and development division called Building 8.

Taking the stage, the head of Building 8, Regina Dugan, revealed that Facebook is developing a brain-computer interface. Posing the question, What if you could type directly from your brain?, Dugan shared a video demo of a patient with ALS typing with just her mind through a pea-sized brain neural prosthetic at about eight words per minute.

While such technology would of course be a major benefit to patients with communicative disorders or neurological diseases like ALS, Dugan explained that Facebooks larger vision for BCIs is a mode of communication called silent speech, in which the thoughts you wish to share are transmitted silently through a BCI and decoded as text at 100 words per minute, giving you the speed and flexibility of your voice, but with the privacy of typed text. Such a system could also play a role in augmented reality and language translation. This would be accomplished through advanced, non-invasive optical imaging sensors that have yet to be developed.

Dugan also shared about a project that allows users to hear through their skin via haptic sensations delivered through an armband consisting of actuators tuned to 16 frequency bands. Each word is translated into a unique haptic pattern for the user to decode, much in the same way that Braille letters can be decoded with a readers fingers.

By combining the BCI with the haptic speech system, Dugan illustrated that one person could mentally communicate a word in Mandarin while the other person felt the word in Spanish. Its a fascinating application of neurotechnology that could change social behaviors, but could also vastly improve the quality of life for those suffering from hearing disorders, speech impediments, vision impairments, and neurological diseases.

More from Regina Dugan

Link: F8 2017 Keynote Day 2 Video (skip to 1:08:10 for Dugans talk)
The World Health Organization reports that over 60 countries and territories suffer from continuing transmission of Zika, while the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says that more than 40,000 people in the U.S. and its territories have been infected, including at least 4,750 pregnant women. With the growing danger of this infectious disease, and the impeding threat of neurological problems and brain damage it poses to developing babies, fast and accessible methods to screen for Zika and control its spread are urgently needed. One technology that promises to do so was the winner of the Nokia Sensing XCHALLENGE in 2013. Developed by Nanobiosym Inc., a Cambridge, MA firm, the GeneRADAR platform probes samples of bodily fluids placed on a nanochip and inserted into a portable device that rapidly reports the presence or absence of a pathogen. Following last weeks FDA Emergency Use Authorization of the GeneRADAR platform for Zika Testing, Medgadget had the chance to sit down with Nanobiosyms founder and CEO, Dr. Anita Goel, a Harvard-MIT-trained physicist and physician.

Mohammad Saleh, Medgadget: Tell us about your Gene-Radar technology & Nanobiosyms goals for healthcare.

Dr. Anita Goel, Nanobiosym: The bigger vision is to really bring the next generation of decentralized, personalized, and mobilized healthcare. Our Gene-Radar technology (which won the first X-prize in healthcare) is really the first model that moves in that direction. An example of this is our recent FDA Emergency Use Authorization for the first application of this platform for a more real-time Zika test. Its one step closer to the achievement of our bigger vision.

Medgadget: How does the Gene-Radar system work?

Goel: Our technology is essentially based on amplifying the detection of DNA or RNA. The underlying science comes from my own research pursuits to understand the physics of how nanomachines read and write DNA, that we have been working on at the Nanobiosym Research Institute. I have published some of the underlying science in journals like Nature Nanotechnology, Scientific American (India edition), and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It represents a broader, 20-year research portfolio including multiple projects that I have served as PI on at Nanobiosym funded by DARPA, DOD, DOE, USAID, GCC, NSF, AFOSR, and NASA and CASIS. My training as a physicist and medical doctor from Harvard and MIT has enabled me to work at this nexus where physics, medicine, and nanotechnology converge. Thats really been the inspiration for some of the technological capabilities underlying Gene-Radar. In our commercial company, Nanobiosym Diagnostics, were trying to bring these technological capabilities to help address some of the biggest healthcare challenges on our planet right now, from a healthcare perspective.

Medgadget: How do you envision Gene-Radar enabling you to decentralize, personalize, and mobilize healthcare?

Goel: Well, the current paradigm of diagnosis is basically a centralized model of delivery. You go to your doctors office, they draw your blood or other body fluids, and they ship it to a centralized lab, for example on a FedEx truck. The centralized lab then performs gold-standard molecular testing using big machines that weigh several hundred pounds and can cost between a few hundred thousand dollars to a million dollars. They run your DNA/RNA molecular analysis (PCR, sequencing, etc), then the data comes back to your doctors office. Then you have to go back for a follow-up visit, and you get your prescription. This process, depending on where you are and what disease youre being tested for, can take anywhere from days to months in the USA. There are 4 billion people on our planet today that dont even have access to this centralized, highly bulky, diagnostics infrastructure available to us here.

Even here in the USA, were sort of on the verge of a multi-trillion dollar healthcare crisis. All the policies coming out of Washington DC might be nice, but they alone cannot solve these problems  we need transformative technologies, we need to upgrade our nations infrastructure and our global healthcare infrastructure. In the context of pandemics or epidemics like Ebola, Zika, influenza, you run into a situation where, even though we have some of the best centralized infrastructure, it starts to break down. In the case of the Zika crisis last summer in Florida, some places were doing up to 1,000 Zika tests per month! There was such a back-log of samples being sent to the centralized CDC lab that the wait time for a result could get as high as 5 weeks  imagine that for a pregnant woman waiting to find out if her baby is in danger.

Another example is a few years ago in the Ebola crisis, tax-payers in New York spent north of 20 million dollars for one Ebola case because our healthcare infrastructure was simply not equipped to handle these kinds of global health emergencies. FedEx trucks did not want to transport samples and the centralized labs did not want to touch it. So youre left with a crisis where patients are entering a hospital and the hospital doesnt know what to do because they dont have the facility to test the patient on the spot but they need to quarantine them nonetheless. This, along with the public fear, creates quite a bit of chaos. In the case of a respiratory pathogen, you would really need a way to instantly test and quarantine infected patients. Having a rapid response technology, having a more mobilized, personalized, and decentralized testing capability for on-the-spot, real-time screening at an affordable cost is paramount to stopping the spread of a deadly pandemic.

Medgadget: Where do you envision this system being deployed, on the field in emergency outbreaks or at airports or labs?

Goel: Our vision is to eventually do both. The FDA Authorization we currently have is very limited to certain kinds of labs and only for Zika testing in the serum, as per FDA and CDC guidelines and protocols for how and when the test is appropriate. However, Gene-Radar as a platform could in the future accommodate other types of body fluids and we are currently considering doing the additional clinical trials for other clinical samples, such as urine or whole blood, to expand the applicability of the detection system.

Medgadget: You previously mentioned your vision for deploying Gene-Radar as a rapid-response diagnostic tool. Is the technology currently capable of detecting novel, yet-to-be sequenced pathogens?

Goel: The current generation of Gene-Radar looks for biomarkers that we already know the sequence for, so you would need to know the target before you go after it. However, our dreams for the future are bold. For now, the Gene-Radar 1.0 that weve rolled out does not involve any sequencing.

Medgadget: How does your Gene-Radar system differ from other diagnostic tools for Zika?

Goel: There are two flavors of tests for Zika. One looks at the antigen-antibody interaction  a serology test that looks for Zika-specific antibodies. These tests can have some non-specificity associated with natural antigen-antibody interactions, leading to potential false-positives. The other flavor of tests is nucleic acid based tests, looking for DNA/RNA sequences. Zika is an RNA virus, so we have sequence-specific recognition. In the case of Zika, serological testing can often show cross-reactivity with Zika-like viruses such as Dengue or Chikungunya and hence leads to high false-positive rates. The molecular tests look precisely at the RNA sequence and can distinguish between these diseases. We have done extensive studies with our Gene-RADAR Zika test and observed very clear profiles that minimize any cross-reactivity. This is based not only on our primer designs and how we do our amplification, but on our optimization of all aspects of the amplification process.

If you look at the competitive landscape for emergency use authorized PCR Zika tests, they tend to involve large, bulky, expensive platforms that can weigh a fifty pounds or higher. Our machine fits in your hands, is about the size of an iPad, and weighs 3.5 pounds. The FDA has not yet given us clearance to use it at the point-of-care. However, the footprint of our machine is like going from a big mainframe computer down to an iPad  its a step in the direction of our bigger vision to change the paradigm. We envision that our research into single-molecule diagnostics and nano-biophysics will enable smaller and smaller products.

The other distinction is that the other platforms can take several hours to produce results. Were giving results back in about an hour, not including sample setup and preparation time, which is dependent on the operator.

Medgadget: What is the tests limit of detection and false-negative rates? How does it fare for asymptomatic Zika-infected individuals?

Goel: The best way to compare those is to look at our Gene-Radars Zika Test Instructions for Use FDA document. The FDA supplied us with some reference samples and unknown standards for which we reported limits of detection. Because its a standard that can be used to compare across all available test platforms, you can see that we fare very well compared to other systems that use PCR-based detection. Zika is usually detectable in the serum for around two weeks, so this test system could still detect its presence in asymptomatic patients if they are tested in the correct window. If we expand the applicability of this system to other bodily fluids, we could theoretically expand this window of detection using our Gene-Radar technology.

Medgadget: Could you touch on the clinical trials performed before Gene-Radar was authorized by the FDA?

Goel: It involved the estimation and confirmation of limit of detection, reactivity and cross-reactivity testing, extensive in silico testing, and then a clinical trial that used real positive samples from infected patients, contrived samples where human serum samples are spiked with known concentrations of Zika virus, and negative human serum samples. They were all double-blinded and run in a head-to-head comparison with one of the traditional PCR-based assays.

Medgadget: How much does the Gene-Radar system cost?

Goel: We are still in the process of optimizing that. Our vision and dream is to make it affordable so that even the very poorest areas can have access to it. However, we still have to scale-up our production and we are working with an ecosystem of collaborators to figure that out. What were doing now is inviting people who want to partner with us on the roll-out and distribution of this to set the right pricing and generate an adequate supply.

Medgadget: What are some other next steps that will enable you to bring this technology to a wide user-base?

Goel: Were very collaboration-based. Were always working with potential customers, global health agencies, and hospitals. Were working out exactly which new applications will be of greatest interest. Through our research incubator [Nanobiosym Research Institute], we have the ability to custom-build an app for those who might be interested. An example is to develop new personalized therapies for cancer through specific biomarker-based diagnostics. Thats on our R&D side. On the commercial side, were planning to focus on some of the most pressing infectious diseases and pandemics. Were trying to get this tool ready, so that we could be helpful in the context of global and public health emergencies.

Medgadget: Ive seen reports of interest in Gene-Radar from DARPA and NASA. Could you touch on those collaborations?

Goel: Our research institute has been funded multiple times by the US military, DARPA, the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and NASA. Our most recent contract with NASA and CASIS aims to put some of our scientific research on the International Space Station (ISS). There are ideas on how we could, for example, one day put a Gene-Radar system on the ISS for analysis of astronaut health in real-time or, for example, use it to aid in the search for life on other planets. But thats part of a bigger dream and vision. In the meantime, were hoping these collaborations can enable us to push the frontier of where physics, medicine, and nanotechnology converge.

Medgadget: Where do you see the nano-biotechnology field heading over the next few years?

Goel: Nanotechnology has been around for a long time, and its projected to become a 4.8 trillion dollar industry globally. But right now, its still for the most part sitting in universities and R&D labs. My vision for the Nanobiosym incubator was to help bring this new area of technology to the world so we can solve some of our biggest challenges in healthcare, energy, environment, clean water, food, etc. Our incubator focuses on bringing together a holistic approach using physics, medicine, nanotechnology, and information technology to create new science or technology, then incubate it all into different products and spin-off companies that can transform how we solve some of the worlds greatest challenges.

Here is Nanobiosyms XPRIZE winning-video talking about the Gene-Radar technology:

Related press release: FDA Grants Nanobiosym Diagnostics Emergency Use Authorization for Gene-RADAR Zika Virus Test

Link: Nanobiosym homepage
Horny goat weed is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb. Some people claim it can help treat erectile dysfunction and osteoporosis. People used the herb as an alternative medication for: hay fever

atherosclerosis

nerve pain

fatigue

osteoporosis

erectile dysfunction Human research data to support the use of horny goat weed is limited at best. However, some anecdotal evidence and animal and cell studies claim health benefits. This article explores the uses, dosages, and side effects of horny goat weed.

Horny goat weed and erectile dysfunction Share on Pinterest Marcel/Stocksy Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common problem affecting people of all ages, particularly those over 40 . Estimates claim that 30-50 million people in the United States experience ED. At times, people may experience psychological conditions, such as depression or anxiety, that may cause or contribute to ED. Many people claim that horny goat weed can be a natural remedy for ED. However, these claims are often anecdotal, and research is lacking. An older study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine assessed the effects of horny goat weed on nerve damage in animals and cellular trials. The researchers reported that icariin, the active component of horny goat weed, might show positive and promising effects in treating ED resulting from nerve injury. Although there is some evidence that horny goat weed may help treat the cellular mechanisms of ED, additional research is necessary.

Horny goat weed and pregnancy At this time, there is not enough research to confirm the safety of horny goat weed during or after pregnancy. A 2020 paper published in Medicine did, however, evaluate its potential application as a treatment for infertility. The findings suggest that horny goat weed may improve endometrial thickness in people with a thin endometrium. The endometrium is the lining of the uterus. An endometrium less than 7 millimeters (mm) during ovulation may make embryo implantation more difficult. The researchers cite the need for more comprehensive studies. Learn more about endometrial thickness here. Horny goat weed and breastfeeding There are also unknowns about nursing while supplementing with horny goat weed. The Department of Health and Human Services advises against herbal supplements while breastfeeding or chestfeeding. Studies have yet to identify the potential risks of horny goat weed consumption in pregnancy on fetuses, newborns, and children so a person should not use it.

Other uses for horny goat weed Horny goat weed may have other potential benefits. However, research into other uses primarily involves animal and cellular studies and there is a lack of definitive human evidence to confirm many of its uses. For example, a 2017 review found that horny goat weed may have antiosteoporosis properties in rats menopausal rats. Other cell research has revealed the following possible effects : anticancer effects

radiosensitizing effects

reversal of multidrug resistance in some tumor cells Atherosclerosis is a condition where the arteries in the neck harden. For people with atherosclerosis, a mixture containing horny goat weed may be beneficial and result in improved symptoms and clinical tests. People with hay fever may experience symptom relief from an herbal preparation featuring horny goat weed, according to older findings cited in ISRN Allergy . However, those in the study took a supplement containing several other herbs, making it difficult to assess the value of horny goat weed for allergies on its own.

Horny goat weed dosage As with any medications, herbs, and supplements, it is important for people to speak with their doctor before using horny goat weed. A doctor can work out its safety and dosage based on an individuals needs and medical history. Alternative medication should not take the place of traditional medication. People should also follow recommendations from their primary care practitioner.

Side effects of horny goat weed As with any medication or herbal supplement, some people may experience side effects or adverse reactions when using horny goat weed. Possible side effects may include: breathing problems

racing heart

increased energy

sweating

feelings of being hot It is important for people to speak with a doctor about these or any other side effects that occur with the use of horny goat weed.

Horny goat weed interactions Horny goat weed may have negative interactions with certain medications, including: warfarin

amitriptyline

cyclosporin

phenytoin

glyceryl trinitrate and other nitrates

estrogen

clarithromycin and erythromycin

drugs causing hypotension People should not take horny goat weed if they: have hormone-sensitive cancer, as the herb has been shown to promote estrogen production

have heart disease, as it can potentially lead to rapid, irregular heartbeat, shortness of breath, and excitability

have a known sensitivity to Epimedium

are taking aromatase inhibitors such as anastrozole, exemestane, and letrozole

a doctor advises against it Anyone considering using horny goat weed should discuss it with their doctor first. Health experts can determine if horny goat weed is right for someone and what the appropriate dosing would be. There have not been enough studies to recommend the use of this herb and to ensure its safety. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other government agencies do not monitor the quality, purity, or safety of herbs and extra caution is recommended. More studies are needed to guarantee safety and identify potential side effects. If anyone does purchase herbs, they should be sure to buy from a known and reputable source.
The commonly used antibiotic azithromycin is not linked to an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmia, an often life-threatening rapid, irregular heartbeat, according to a large study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Azithromycin is an antibiotic commonly used to treat bacterial infections - mostly respiratory and urinary tract infections - in people of all ages. It belongs to a class of drugs known as macrolides, of which at least one other drug, erythromycin, is known to disrupt the heart's normal rhythm, leading to a condition known as ventricular arrhythmia.

Several recent studies have reported conflicting results over whether azithromycin is linked to an increased risk of death from ventricular arrhythmia in people taking the antibiotic. To provide clarity among these conflicting findings, a team of European researchers looked at data on nearly 29 million people in health care databases from Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark to determine if there is a link between azithromycin and ventricular arrhythmia.

Of the more than 14 million new antibiotic users, 0.1% (12 874) people developed ventricular arrhythmia, of whom 30 were new users of azithromycin. When compared to amoxicillin, another commonly used antibiotic, from the penicillin class of drugs, there was no increased risk of this heart condition in people using azithromycin. However, there was an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmia in people taking azithromycin compared to people not using antibiotics at all.

"This finding suggests that the risk of ventricular arrhythmia is more likely to be due to a person's poor health and caused by their infection, rather than to azithromycin itself," says Dr. Gianluca Trifiro, Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morpho-functional Imaging, University of Messina, Italy. "This finding was confirmed in several sensitivity analyses and replicated in single databases participating in the study."

The authors note these findings may not be applied in hospital settings as the health of patients and use of antibiotics is quite different in community settings, from which the data were drawn.

"Current azithromycin use was associated with an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmia when compared with nonuse of antibiotics, but not when compared with current amoxicillin use. The decreased risk with an active comparator suggests significant confounding by indication," the authors conclude.

The study was conducted by researchers from Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands; University of Messina, Messina, Italy; Italian College of General Practitioners, Florence, Italy; PHARMO Institute for Drug Outcomes Research, Utrecht, Netherlands; Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS Gmbh, Bremen, Germany; University of Bologna, Italy; Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; and King's College, London, United Kingdom.

Article: Use of azithromycin and risk of ventricular arrhythmia, Gianluca Trifiro, MD PhD, Maria de Ridder, PhD, Janet Sultana, PhD, Alessandro Oteri, PhD, Peter Rijnbeek, PhD, Serena Pecchioli, MD PhD, Giampiero Mazzaglia, MD PhD, Irene Bezemer, PhD, Edeltraut Garbe, MD PhD, Tania Schink, PhD, Elisabetta Poluzzi, MD PhD, Trine Frslev, PhD, Mariam Molokhia, PhD, Igor Diemberger, PhD, Miriam C.J.M. Sturkenboom, PhD, CMAJ, doi: 10.1503/cmaj.160355, published 18 April 2017.
Transcription factors, the tiny proteins that switch genes on or off in the nucleus of cells, are considered unreachable molecular targets for drugs attempting to treat medical conditions. Overcoming this challenge, researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center discovered a small molecular compound that successfully blocks a transcription factor and its pro-inflammatory and hyper-mucous activity in asthma.

In a study published online by Science Signaling, scientists test a new compound they call RCM-1. The substance inhibits the transcription factor FOXM1 and a long downstream chain of pro-inflammatory processes it fuels in asthmatic airways. They show that RMC-1 treatment prevents overproduction of mucous-generating goblet cells in the lungs of mice with asthma and in human airway cell cultures.

Calling their compound a new therapeutic candidate for people with severe asthma and other chronic airway diseases, researchers say with additional research and development their discovery could lead to future clinical trials for asthma, Cystic Fibrosis and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). All are severe pulmonary diseases associated with increased inflammation and mucous hyper-secretion.

"Traditional targets for drugs are receptors on cell surfaces, which are easy to reach. Transcription factors are inside cell nuclei and difficult to reach," said Vladimir Kalinichenko, MD, PhD, the study's lead investigator and a member of the Division of Pulmonary Biology. "RCM-1 keeps FOXM1 from entering the cell nucleus by activating cell machinery called proteasomes that degrade the transcription factor. This was very efficient at reducing lung inflammation and production of mucous-generating goblet cells in our tests."

Better treatments needed

Kalinichenko said the research is driven by the need to develop more effective treatments for people with severe asthma and other debilitating lung ailments like COPD. Current clinical management for asthma focuses on reducing lung and airway inflammation triggered by allergens, such as house dust mites, mold, etc. Therapeutic agents able to directly affect gene regulatory networks that trigger inflammation and mucous-producing goblet cells would potentially be more efficient at slowing or stopping disease progression.

Leveraging the ongoing research of his laboratory into FOXM1 - which also plays a key role in lung cancer - Kalinichenko's team identified the RCM-1 compound during a computer-supported biological imaging screen of 50,000 small compounds stored at the University of Cincinnati Genome Research Center. The scientists searched specifically for compounds that would target FOXM1 and inhibit its activation of downstream pro-inflammatory molecules that drive overproduction of mucous-generating goblet cells.

Successful lab testing

The research team then tested RMC-1 in cultured human airway epithelial cells and mouse models of asthma (via injection into the animals' peritoneal cavities). The mice were either sensitized with house dust mite allergens or treated with a pro-inflammatory molecule called interleukin 13 (IL-13), which induces mucous production in airway diseases.

Microscopic images show that RMC-1 prevented FOXM1 from entering the nucleus in cultured human airway epithelial cells and in mouse allergen-sensitized respiratory airways. It also decreased airway hyper-responsiveness to allergen, reduced lung inflammation and improved lung function in mice sensitized to house dust mite allergens. FOXM1 also prevented IL-13 from causing goblet cell expansion in mice that were given the pro-inflammatory molecule intra-nasally.

Translating the science

Before the research team's identification of RMC-1 could eventually lead to clinical trials, Kalinichenko said the researchers will first need to test RCM-1 in more sophisticated animal models of respiratory diseases. This will help address issues related to dosage, toxicity, optimal methods of therapeutic delivery, etc.

In their future work, the researchers also want to refine the chemical structure of RCM-1 to make it more efficient and to improve the method of therapeutic delivery. This includes seeing if the compound can be packaged into nanoparticles for intravenous injection. The researchers have applied for a patent on RCM-1, working through the Cincinnati Children's Center for Technology Commercialization.

Funding support for this research came in part from: the National Institutes of Health (HL84151, HL123490, HL132849, CA142724); a Research Scholar Grant (RSG-13-325) from the American Cancer Society; the National Health Research Institutes of Taiwan (NHRI-EX105-10309BC); and from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (MOST102-2628-B-007-003-MY3).
In patients with a sore throat that didn't require immediate antibiotics, a single capsule of the corticosteroid dexamethasone didn't increase the likelihood of complete symptom resolution after 24 hours, and although more patients taking the steroid reported feeling completely better after 48 hours, a role for steroids to treat sore throats in primary care is uncertain, according to a study published by JAMA.

Acute sore throat is one of the most common symptoms among patients presenting to primary care. Adults in the United States made an estimated 92 million visits to doctors for sore throats between 1997 and 2010, an average of 6.6 million visits annually. Antibiotics are prescribed at 60 percent of UK primary care sore throat consultations, despite national guidelines advising against prescriptions. There is a need to find alternative strategies that reduce symptoms and antibiotic consumption.

Gail Hayward, D.Phil., M.R.C.G.P., of the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, and colleagues randomly assigned adults with sore throat not requiring immediate antibiotics to a single oral dose of 10 mg of dexamethasone or placebo. The trial was conducted in 42 family practices in South and West England.

Of 565 eligible randomized participants (median age, 34 years), 288 received dexamethasone and 277 placebo. The researchers found that at 24 hours, participants receiving dexamethasone were not more likely than those receiving placebo to have complete symptom resolution. Results were similar among those who were not offered an antibiotic prescription and those who were offered a delayed antibiotic prescription. At 48 hours, more participants receiving dexamethasone than placebo (35 percent versus 27 percent) had complete symptom resolution, which was also observed in patients not offered delayed antibiotics. There were no significant differences in other outcomes such as days missed from work or school and adverse events.

The authors note that uncertainty remains about the role of oral corticosteroids for patients presenting in primary care with sore throat. "Corticosteroids may have clinical benefit in addition to antibiotics for severe sore throat, for example, to reduce hospital admissions of those patients who are unable to swallow fluids or medications. There have been no trials of corticosteroid use involving these patient groups."
Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Awareness

STDs are infectious diseases that can be transmitted from one person to another via intimate sexual contact. The Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Awareness Month is observed annually in April in the U.S. The 2017 theme for the month is ''Syphilis Strikes Back''. The World Health Organization estimates suggest that approximately a million cases of treatable STDs occur every day across the globe.
JOURNALIST: We will be talking with Deputy Foreign Minister Ioannis Amanatidis about the Meeting of ten countries that will be taking place here in Greece, if I'm not mistaken.

Good morning, Mr. Amanatidis.

I. AMANATIDIS: Good morning, Mrs. Dimitrouli. Christ is Risen! Many happy returns of the day!

JOURNALIST: Risen indeed! We have a Ministerial Conference of the Ancient Civilizations Forum in a few days.

I. AMANATIDIS: Exactly, Mrs. Dimitrouli. On 24 April. It will be the first Ministerial Conference of the Ancient Civilizations Forum. There are ten countries that make up this particular initiative. It is taking place on the initiative of Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, of course, and the invitations were extended together with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.

The conference is taking place on 24 April, this Monday. It is a positive agenda for cooperation that we are promoting in the context of international relations. Through this initiative, we are pointing up the multidimensional role Greece can and is playing in the international environment, and this is being realised right now.

JOURNALIST: A new dimension of diplomacy, we might say, Mr. Amanatidis. What we call cultural diplomacy.

I. AMANATIDIS: Exactly. I don't know whether you have mentioned the countries that are participating

JOURNALIST: No. You can tell us.

I. AMANATIDIS: There are Greece and China, of course, and Bolivia, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Mexico and Peru.

JOURNALIST: So, countries that represent great ancient civilizations.

I. AMANATIDIS: Ancient civilizations from different geographical regions.

This forum is yet another link added to all of the initiatives we have taken of late. In 2015 we had the Conference on religious pluralism in the Middle East. We held the Rhodes Conference on security, which will be held again next month, in May.

There is also the quadrilateral platform in Thessaloniki, with the cooperation of four Balkan states, and of course the trilateral schemes we have formed with Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine.

JOURNALIST: And really, Mr. Amanatidis -- Why shouldn't we say it? -- through all of these conferences you have mentioned you have paved the way for a discussion, an internationalized debate on another level. On the intercultural level, on the interfaith level, which, given the developments in international relations, is obviously extremely important.

These two things are interwoven.

I. AMANATIDIS: We will see this in November, when the next meeting is to take place. But right now, we want to promote and talk about how culture can be harnessed as a soft power and a key tool of a multidimensional foreign policy.

In this way, international cultural cooperation can also function as a factor for economic development. In tandem  you should know this, because it might not have come out  an Academic Symposium is being held and will be attended by academics from these countries and last two days.

On Sunday and Monday, 23 and 24 April, academics will talk about the role of culture in the contemporary world. As you know, this is something Foreign Minister Kotzias himself had been working on for some time. We talked about it and he talked about it and moved this Forum ahead.

On Sunday they will talk about the timeless importance and resonance of the ancient civilizations and their influence on and relationship with the modern era. And on the second day  what the academics will be doing is very important  they will focus on culture's role as a source of soft power.

And on 24 April the Foreign Ministers  the 10 Foreign Ministers  will essentially establish the Forum. I think the discussions there will be key to these things' being able to move ahead; that is, the Foreign Ministers will be able to exchange views and issue a declaration of some kind. Finally, on Monday afternoon, there will be a press conference that all of the Foreign Ministers will participate in. And of course the high-ranking guests will visit the Acropolis Museum and a dinner will be hosted for them there.

JOURNALIST: So we will have the Foreign Ministers of these ten countries, including the Chinese Foreign Minister, of course.

I. AMANATIDIS: Yes. The invitations were extended together will the Chinese Foreign Minister. The initiative is ours, but the invitation was issued jointly.

JOURNALIST: Yes. And these countries represent the great civilizations from the four corners of the planet: America, Europe, Asia and Africa. And I think this is of very great interest. And the declaration issued after the Forum will be of even greater interest.

I. AMANATIDIS: Exactly. The Declaration is being formulated. The Foreign Ministers will give it its final form on Monday.

JOURNALIST: Because these are regions that are essentially interwoven right now with international political developments, Mr. Amanatidis, throughout the world.

I. AMANATIDIS: Exactly. In a world that, as you can see, has all of these conflicts, it is very important for us to use culture as a vehicle for promoting friendship, cooperation, peace, stability, prosperity.

And I think this is the best way to bring us much closer together through actions aimed at the goals I have already mentioned.

JOURNALIST: Well, I think that culture, history and language are the three common points that can always unify, rather than divide, the world, even if they appear to be the things that are dividing the world.

I. AMANATIDIS: There are many, many things we have in common. And don't forget that the ten countries represent approximately 40% of the global population and are located on the American, European Asian and African continents. So this is a very important meeting and essentially a further extension of the proactive multidimensional foreign policy that our country needs to implement.

JOURNALIST: Thank you very much. I wish you every success. We will be in touch after the Forum, if you like, to look at the results of the meeting.

I. AMANATIDIS: Thank you very much for inviting me to be here.

JOURNALIST: Thank you. Have a good day.

I. AMANATIDIS: Good day.
UPPER THUMB  Unionville-Sebewaing Area High School FFA members were among over 2,500 FFA students to attend the Michigan FFA State Convention.

USA FFA members competed in speaking contests, earned awards, played in the state band, and met other FFA members from around the state.

USA seniors who earned state degrees were Maddison Adam, Ryan Kain, Riley Kramer, Cheslea Faber, Grant Kundinger, Jacob Powers, Nathan Engelhardt, Macklin Gettel, Jonas Yoder and Wyatt Kauffold.

Outstanding Junior Degrees were earned by Brayden Anker, Nicole King, Laken Polega, Lexy Neal, Sydney Gainforth, Toby Kuhl and Baillie Fritz.

From this award, three top students are chosen from around the state, and the USA FFA's very own Laken Polega was chosen as a top three contestant. Polega was named state runner-up for her outstanding junior award  and that was out of 414 FFA applicants from around the state.

Members who received Academic Excellence awards were Baillie Fritz, Brayden Anker, Nicole King and Laken Polega.

Two young ladies also competed in leadership contests while at the Michigan FFA State Convention. Chelsea Faber competed in Prepared Public Speaking, where she was named the ninth best public speaker in the state of Michigan with her speech titled: "The Future of Farming."

Rylee Neal competed in Junior High Public Speaking, and she was named the fourth best speaker in the state of Michigan, earning a gold award with her speech, "BRD: The Silent Killer."

Toby Kuhl participated in the state band, where he played his trombone for over 2,500 other FFA members to hear.

Lexy Neal, Sydney Gainforth and Cheslea Faber served as delegates to vote on pressing issues within the Michigan FFA association.

The USA FFA is proud of its member's accomplishments, which would not be possible without the support the chapter receives from its local communities.
TUSCOLA COUNTY  In preparation to enjoy Michigans waterways, the Richville Conservation Club will host a boater safety class from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

According to Tuscola County Undersheriff Robert Baxter, the class is Department of Natural Resources approved, and it is administered by the Tuscola County Marine Division.

Although pre-registration is required, walk-ins will be accepted.

The free class is open to those ages 12 and up.

According to Baxter, those 14 years old and older are required by state law to have a Boater Safety Certificate to legally operate a personal water craft.

For more information or to register for the class, call 989-673-8161 ext. 2238.

The Richville Conservation Club is located at 3270 W. Sanilac Road (between Sheridan and Washburn roads).

The class is free and a free lunch will be provided.

A boating safety certificate is required to operate a personal watercraft for anyone born after Dec. 31, 1978. Personal watercraft operators must be at least age 16.

Children ages 14-15 may operate one if they are accompanied by a parent, guardian or designated adult age 21 or older, or if they are operating one within 100 feet of a parent, legal guardian or designated adult age 21 or older.

In Michigan, there are nearly 900,000 registered watercraft.
SEBEWAING  Christ the King Lutheran School has announced its honor roll for the third quarter.

Students must maintain a grade point of 3.67 or higher in all core subjects to qualify for the principals honor roll. An * indicates all As.
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BAD AXE  About 100 residents, public officials and DTE Energy employees gathered at the Huron Renewable Energy Center for the unveiling of DTE's Discovery Center Wednesday morning.

The center is a 3,000-square-foot space that includes state-of-the-art multi-media capabilities and renewable energy education videos, and is available for use by local community groups.

After brief presentations from DTE officials and comments by U.S. Rep. Paul Mitchell, some local school children were treated to a renewable energy play, while adults took a tour of the Renewable Energy Center.

Mitchell, a Republican from Dryden representing the 10th district, commended DTE for its local investment in renewable energy and said it's good for Huron County's tax base.

"Hopefully, the community recognizes that the investment makes for a good tax base ... It's about 50 percent of the tax base in some areas," he said. "It's a huge investment for the communities that makes a big difference (in the Bad Axe area)."

"This beautiful space we are in is the culmination of two years of planning," said Ron Chriss, regional manager for DTE corporate and governmental affairs. I want to congratulate all the employees of DTE who have had a hand in creating this vision and development of this beautiful Discovery Center, situated here inside our ... Renewable Energy Center."

Dave Harwood, director of renewable energy for DTE, said the company has 13 wind parks in Michigan and 28 solar arrays, which power just under a half million homes.

This spring, DTE will add three solar installations  two in Lapeer and one in Detroit.

The play had been commissioned by DTE, and will be presented to schoolchildren across the state.

Using two actors called "the clean and green team," the play explains how the sun and wind fuel electricity, and allows students in the audience to participate.

DTE purchased the former Norman's building in 2016.

"We wanted to create a place where students and local residents could learn about renewable energy, especially wind power, because Huron County leads the state of Michigan in wind energy development," said Irene Dimitry, vice president of business planning and development for DTE, in a press release.
Cases disposed for the week of April 11-18:

 Jan Marie Behrens, 52, of Pigeon, operating while visibly impaired-first, one day in jail, six months probation, and $1,320 in fines and costs.

 Jeremia Jayson Bilicki, 37, of Elkton, operating while intoxicated-first, 12 days in jail, 12 months probation, and $1,610 in fines and costs.

 Cheryl D. Gracie, 67, of Ann Arbor, speed 6-10, $135 in fines and costs.

 Jason James Gremel, 32, of Sebewaing, domestic violence, 210 days in jail, 18 months probation, and $1,415 in fines and costs.

 Angelique M. Guyaux, 47, of Sebewaing, retail fraud-third degree-attempted, two days in jail, six months probation, and $605 in fines and costs.

 Kyle James Landenberg, 22, of Bad Axe, no insurance, $240 in fines and costs.

 Ryan Scott McCoy, 30, of Bad Axe, domestic violence, 365 days in jail, and $300 in fines and costs.

 Stardust Lynn Padilla-Medina, 34, of Bad Axe, assault and battery-attempted, 30 days in jail, and $700 in fines and costs.

 Edward E. Peters, 46, of Bad Axe, operating while visibly impaired by a controlled substance, three days in jail, six months probation, and $1,190 in fines and costs.

 Tree Smiths, of Kinde, expired plates commercial motor vehicle, $250 in fines and costs; motor carrier safety act general violation, $230 in fines and costs.

 John Ervin Trost, 36, of Bad Axe, operating while visibly impaired-first, three days in jail, six months probation, and $1,070 in fines and costs.
BAD AXE  Huron County officials are trying to protect $100,000 from going back to the state as the Michigan Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program comes to a close.

There are 11 housing projects in Bad Axe, Harbor Beach and Sebewaing that will need the remaining funds, but timing has become an issue, said Jeff Smith, CDBG administrator and county building and zoning director.

Smith told the Huron County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday that the state will reclaim any money not spent by May 30.

The end of the two-year grant period would have to be extended to Sept. 30 in order for the county to keep the money, Smith said.

Smith was seeking a signature allowing that, and the state must also sign off on the extension.

The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) formerly administered the program, which is now overseen by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

The state has decided to focus on infrastructure improvement as a result of the Flint water crisis, Smith said.

The Human Development Commission (HDC) of Caro is the third-party contractor that carries out the work that is grant funded.

HDC would have to layoff or reorganize staff as a result of the program ending, Smith said.

If the property that was improved is sold, the owner has to pay the grant back through a lien on the property.

The county currently holds liens on property totaling $2.1 million under the program.

The county sees anywhere from $0 to $50,000 a year toward that, Smith added.

"I'm afraid we're going to end up with uncollectable debt," said Commissioner John A. Nugent.

Smith also questioned how future incoming funds would be managed.

In other business:

 The board discussed fire protection in rural areas. Commissioner Todd Talaski recently attended a local meeting of fire chiefs, where he learned that neighboring fire departments maybe called in when fires are reported to 911.

Talaski said the issue of fire protection in rural communities is not as dire as the situation with emergency medical personnel.

"Volunteer firemen seem to be getting scarce as well," Talaski said.

 Nugent encouraged board Chair Sami Khoury to place a resolution on the next meeting agenda protesting a proposed nuclear waste dump to be located in Kincardine, Ontario, which is 55 miles east of Huron County.

 Commissioner Steve Vaughan said he would like to introduce a resolution calling for the state psychiatric hospital to remain in Caro.

 Talaski provided an update on a sign for the Michigan State University Extension office, located at 1142 South Van Dyke Road #200.

 Khoury reported on a recovery roundtable meeting that he attended last week, and commended the group on its diversity.
Incidents law enforcement officers responded to between April 4-10 in Tuscola County by township:

Akron:

 Traffic violation on Dickerson Road  operating without license.

 Disabled vehicle located and towed on Bay City-Forestville Road.

Almer Charter:

 Injured deer on roadway on Akron Road.

 Single-vehicle accident on Deckerville Road.

 Burglary  entering without permission at 1000 block East Caro Road  taking money without permission.

Arbela:

 Miscellaneous traffic call to Vassar Road for a cow in road  unable to locate upon arrival.

 Family trouble at 8000 block of Arbela Road  family dispute  civil standby.

 Traffic violation on Barnes Road  improper plate.

 Traffic noncriminal on Genesee Road for single-vehicle accident hitting a downed tree.

 Traffic noncriminal on Birch Run Road - single vehicle accident car/deer.

 Traffic violation on Birch Run Road  driving while license suspended.

Dayton:

 Obstructing justice on M-24 warrant arrest.

 Traffic investigation on East Sanilac Road for two calves in road way, responded and unable to locate.

 Traffic non-criminal accident on 1000 block of South Quanicassee Road  single vehicle accident.

Elkland:

 Operating under the influence of liquor on Cass City Road.

 Miscellaneous traffic on Koepgen Road for vehicle off road  unable to located when arrived.

 Fraud 6000 block of Richie Road for identity theft.

Ellington:

 Deckerville Road for car/deer accident.

 Operating under influence of liquor on Bay City-Forestville Road.

Fairgrove Township

 Traffic stop on Gilford Road  driving while license suspended.

Fremont:

 Operating under the influence of liquor on Leix Road.

 False alarm on 2000 block of Chambers Road.

 Traffic  single-vehicle accident Mertz Road.

Indianfields:

 Failure to report accident on M-81

 False alarm on 1000 block of Mertz Road.

 General assist to 2000 block of Tin Bill Road  welfare check.

 Traffic accident on VanGeisen Road for car/deer accident.

 Investigation on Gun Club Road  suspicious person on roadway, responded and unable to locate.

 Traffic accident West Caro Road  car/deer.

 General assistance on W. Sanilac Road  stranded motorist.

 Miscellaneous assist to Michigan State Police on East Sanilac Road for vehicle all over road way, an arrest made for operating under influence of drugs.

Juniata:

 Operating while under the influence Sheridan Road.

 Suspicious situation Ringle Road  loud music and party.

Kingston:

 Assist Michigan State Police on Sanilac Road with personal injury accident.

Koylton:

 Investigation on 5000 block Marlette Road  civil dispute

 Suspicious situation on Phillips Road  subject staggering down road.

Millington:

 Traffic complaint Barns Road  tailgating.

 Investigation on 9000 block State Road  possible domestic  responded all clear

 False Alarm on 4000 block Arbela Road.

 Swaffer Road to assist Michigan State Police with interviews.

 Traffic on Murphy Lake Road  reckless driving  104 miles per hour (and no insurance).

 Traffic accident on State Road  car/deer.

 Investigation on Birch Run Road  cow on roadway.

 Investigation on 3000 block Barnes Road  welfare check.

 Be on the look out on Birch Run Road  loud shots and explosions  responded unable to locate.

 Traffic on Barnes Road  be on lookout spending, unable to locate.

Vassar:

 Assault and battery Sanilac Road.

 Assist Millington Fire Department 5000 block Ormes Road to make sure everyone out of house and block traffic.

Watertown:

 Traffic on Fostoria Road  car/deer accident.

 Welfare check on 9000 block of Foster Street.

 Investigation on 8000 block Fostoria Road  verbal domestic.

Wells:

 Traffic on Bevens Road  car/deer.

 Traffic on Sanilac Road  operating under the influence.

 Traffic on Sanilac Road  single-vehicle accident with injury.

 Harassment on 2000 block Riley Road  harassing phone calls.

 Traffic on Hurds Corner Road  car/deer.

Akron Village:

 False alarm on 3000 block South School Street.

Fairgrove Village:

 Investigation on Park Drive  suspicious vehicle  waiting for friend.

Kingston Village:

 False alarm on 5000 block State Street.

Unionville Village:

 Investigation on 6000 block Center Street  welfare check.

Caro City:

 Assist Caro Police Department on 1000 block Gilford Road with a fallen subject.

 Assist outside agency on State Street with warrant arrest.

 Assist Caro Police Department on 300 block East Bush Street with fight at a residence.

 Marijuana possession on State Street.

 Traffic on State Street  operating under influence of controlled substance.

Vassar City:

 Obstructing court order on 400 block Goodrich Street  tampering with tether.

 Assist Vassar Police Department on Huron Street  vehicle in water-filled ditch, driver trapped  person saved and arrested for operating under the influence.

 Assist Vassar Police Department on 100 block North Andy Street  domestic assault.

*Listing includes information from the Michigan State Police and other law enforcement agencies.
Camp Lejeune Town Halls Aim to Help Those Exposed to Toxic Water. Heres How You Can Go.

Retired Marine Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger made it his mission to tell the world that if they lived or served on Camp Lejeune...
Distributing nude and "intimate" photos without the subject's permission is now a criminal offense in the Navy and Marine Corps after a key change to Navy regulations published Wednesday.

The change was announced in an all-service message signed by acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley as an interim update to the official book of Navy regulations. When a new edition of the document is printed, the prohibition against photo distribution will be included.

According to the message, prohibited behavior now includes physical electronic sharing of intimate photos without legal justification or cause and without knowledge of consent. These photos cannot be distributed with intent to realize personal gain; with the intent to humiliate, harm, harass, threaten, or coerce the subject; or with "reckless disregard" as to whether sharing the photos would have such an effect, the language of the new regulation states.

The regulation puts Marines and sailors who participate in what is commonly known as "revenge porn" in the crosshairs of Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which makes it a prosecutable offense to violate a military order.

"The recent message from the Secretary of the Navy applies to all Marines," Capt. Ryan Alvis, a Marine Corps spokeswoman, told Military.com. "This means that the wrongful distribution or broadcasting of an intimate image by members of the Marine Corps may be punishable as a violation of a lawful general order."

The new regulation comes in the wake of a scandal involving a Facebook page, Marines United, whose members reportedly circulated a hard drive filled with compromising photos of female service members.

While the private Facebook group had roughly 30,000 members, Naval Criminal Investigative Service Director Andrew Traver told reporters earlier this month that the number of those found to have possibly engaged in prosecutable activity was much lower: about 27 individuals, half of them active-duty Marines. Another 29 Marines were referred to the Marine Corps for online comments that might warrant administrative punishment, but didn't rise to the level of prosecution.

Following the scandal, the Corps has taken action to update its social media policy, making clear that cyber-bullying and discriminatory posts are against policy and those who engage in these activities are subject to prosecution under Article 92 and Article 134, a general order.

But amid the investigation, some raised concerns whether there was sufficient language in the UCMJ and existing regulations to punish the photo-sharing activity that has transpired, particularly if it's difficult to prove the image was shared without consent, or if an intimate photo was taken willingly by the subject, but not intended to be shared widely.

More than 30 states have passed "revenge porn" laws aimed at criminalizing this behavior.

The UCMJ already prohibits "indecent broadcasting," which pertains to filming or photographing an individual's private areas, and then distributing the image or film. But this requires that the filming or photographing be non-consensual when it takes place.

A Navy official told Military.com the new regulation will provide additional options for prosecuting an alleged perpetrator.

According to the UCMJ, violations of a lawful general order are prosecutable under Article 92 by up to two years' confinement.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.
A pilot who was new to flying the U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane attempted a stall maneuver before the two-seater training aircraft crashed in northern California, killing instructor Lt. Col. Ira S. "Shooter" Eadie.

An Accident Investigation Board report released Wednesday said the pilot -- interviewing for his "acceptance flight" to the U-2 program -- was practicing his "approach to stall" maneuver with Eadie when he put the aircraft into an unintentional second stall.

"During the recovery from the stall, the interviewing pilot's flight control inputs placed the aircraft into an unintentional secondary stall, which led to a sharp left wing drop and excessive nose-low attitude," stated the report, which was prepared by Air Combat Command.

The wing dipped between 70 and 80 degrees of its bank, and the nose 35 to 40 degrees below the horizon, the investigation found. As the aircraft approached the minimum uncontrolled ejection altitude, Eadie called for an immediate ejection.

"Eject, dude," Eadie said before he ejected his seat and struck the aircraft's right wing, resulting in fatal injuries.

The trainee pilot, who remains unidentified, sustained minor injuries during the crash and is now an active-duty U-2 pilot after completing additional training flights, according to Maj. A.J. Schrag, a spokesman for the command.

The accident occurred Sept. 20, 2016, during what's called an "acceptance flight" as part of the process to get a trainee acclimated to the aircraft, Schrag said.

During the practice run, the trainee was on his third approach to stall maneuver, Schrag said. In that move, the instructor pilot demonstrates the first stall, then the trainee mimics the maneuver. But on the student's third approach attempt, he unintentionally put the aircraft into another stall.

It was the pilot's first of three total flights designed to determine a trendline for how the pilot performs. Because the pilot was in the air for only about 10 minutes after takeoff before the crash, a proper trendline could not be established, Schrag said. Therefore, the pilot received three more interview flights and is now an active-duty U-2 pilot, he said.

The trainee, who completed Undergraduate Pilot Training, first earned pilot instrument qualification and mission qualification in the C-17A with the 58th Airlift Squadron at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma. He then became an aircraft commander in the C-17A in the 10th Airlift Squadron at McChord Air Force Base, Washington, in 2011 and attended Pilot Instructor Training and completed initial instructor training in the T-38C at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, in 2014.

The two-seater U-2 trainer aircraft was assigned to the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, part of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, at Beale Air Force Base, California.

Both pilots ejected from the two-seater trainer around 9:05 a.m., shortly after taking off from the installation, which is located in a rural area in the north-central part of the state.

Beale first responders arrived at the crash site, about 20 miles west of the base near Sutter Buttes mountain range, at 9:59 local time, the report said. There were no injuries to personnel or civilians on the ground.

The aircraft was completely destroyed, with a government loss of approximately $32 million.

The base paused operations for 72 hours after the crash.

Eadie served in both the Navy and Air Force, with a combined service of 20 years.

"The purpose of this report was to identify the causes and contributing factors which may have contributed to the incident," said Brig. Gen. David S. Nahom, the investigation board president. "This was a terrible tragedy, and our heartfelt condolences go out to Lt. Col. Eadie's family."

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
The Islamic State may be on the brink of defeat in Mosul, but the radical Muslim terror group isn't giving in without a bloody -- and blistering -- pushback.

More than two dozen Iraqis stationed with U.S. and Australian military advisers in the Mosul vicinity required treatment after being hit Sunday by a chlorine gas attack. A day earlier, seven Iraqi soldiers were documented to have been injured in a similar attack in the Abar neighborhood of western Mosul.

However, one Iraqi soldier positioned around the Mosul attack site dismissed the latest incidents as "not a big deal" and insisted that there has been no significant fallout. Iraqi Major Gen. Abdul Ghany Alasady, too, denied accounts of a chemical assault.

"There was no use of chemicals in recent days," he told reporters, adding that the Daesh, as ISIS is commonly referred to in the Middle East, is just publicizing the use of toxic materials to rally its own troops after an onslaught of deaths and defeats.

Furthermore, a U.S. military spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve, the official name of the ISIS abolition mission in Iraq, told Fox News the "coalition is aware of reports of low-grade chemical attacks on our partnered forces." He said the "attacks were largely ineffective and further displays the desperation of ISIS as they seek to hold an untenable position in Mosul."

Accounts of chemical attacks early last month were also extinguished by the top brass. Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Mohamed Ali Alhakim, said there was "no evidence" of chemical warfare. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi flatly denied the chemical allegations as "wrong," stating that "what happened actually (was) just a mixture of smoke and gas," which has "a limited impact."

Others, however, remain skeptical. One Kurdish official, not authorized to speak to the media, expressed concern that facts and figures are being obscured. The official said "multiple gas attacks did take place over the past week and that the military casualties were not known," but that coverage on the issue was being squashed.

And Tony Schiena, founder and CEO of Multi Operational Security Agency Intelligence Company (MOSAIC), which has long operated in the region, affirmed that chemicals were deployed this past week and that the jihadist faction "continues to use chemical weapons, and since the recent use of sarin in Syria, it has spurred ISIS to increase their use of it."

"Chlorine is easily obtainable, created and stored. They have mustard gas stockpiled as well as radioactive material that can cause cell phones to go haywire when brought close to it," Schiena told Fox News. "It would glow on the ground as well as on the bodies of the affected soldiers."

So is there anything to the discrepancies?

A source connected to Iraqi intelligence told Fox News that what is of paramount importance right now is simply "maintaining the psychological state of the soldiers," thus implying that by illuminating such attacks in the press, it could be perceived as making ISIS appear more powerful than it is and playing into the group's propaganda.

Nonetheless, there is no denying that chemical weapons have become something of a staple in ISIS' devastating arsenal. According to IHS Conflict Monitor, a London-based intelligence and analysis service, ISIS used chemical weapons -- sulfur and chlorine -- at least 52 times in Syria and Iraq since the ISIS battle began. A number of U.S.-led airstrikes have also targeted supposed chemical weapons depots and manufacturing facilities.

One female ISIS operative -- captured and imprisoned by Kurdish authorities for treating wounded ISIS fighters at a hospital in her home city of Qayarra -- told Fox News that a brick factory and smaller dwellings scattered near that hospital had become known hubs for chemical weapons manufacturing.

Luqman Ibrahim, battalion leader of the Yazidi forces in the Sinjar Mountain region, also explained that several types of chloride bombs had been used. He said those bombs wounded more than 50 of his men over the course of the long battle. The bombs were of various types: ISIS had used sophisticated Russian-made bombs, ones developed by former Iraqi Ba'ath Party Army officials and then two types of homemade chloride bombs. One type is a rocket that disseminates the synthetic agent; another is a chloride-filled rocket with a propane gas can attached.

For Karwan Saeed, a 37-year-old Kurdish Peshmerga soldier who was one of the very first victims of an ISIS chemical attack, those agents will forever haunt. Stationed just outside Mosul in July 2015, Saeed detailed the moments that had dismantled his life.

"I went to inspect a Katyusha rocket that had fallen a little way in front of us," he told Fox News. "But I did not know of the chemical element attached."

Now, Saeed's eyes perpetually swell and his skin constantly erupts in rashes that no bar of oatmeal soap -- the only treatment he has been able to obtain -- can appease.

"I can't sleep. I am allergic to everything," he added, contorting with agitation as if he was a prisoner inside his own gnawing flesh. "And there is nothing to make this go away."
Navy senior instructor pilots are back in the cockpit this week after a 12-day "operational pause" for T-45 Goshawk trainers tied to concerns about hypoxia-like cockpit episodes.

The commander of Naval Air Forces, Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, opted to ground the aircraft after some 100 instructor pilots reportedly refused to fly over the episodes, which have quadrupled over the airframe over the last five years. Officials still have few answers about what's causing the frightening problem.

But Capt. Todd St. Laurent, program manager for Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems, said in an interview that mitigating actions -- limiting the altitude at which the aircraft can fly, and committing more resources to solving the problem -- had given pilots the confidence to get back in the cockpit.

"The reports that we're getting is, pilots are very enthusiastic to fly," he told Military.com on Tuesday, a day after the T-45 operational pause was lifted.

In addition to the new procedures, the Navy has brought in more agencies and experts to consult on the problem and offer solutions. The team of more than 100 people working the problem now includes engineers from NASA, St. Laurent said.

"I would tell you that NASA has folks who are experts in the area of breathing systems; they have the same type of aeromedical scientists," he said. "And they have people who are very good at problem-solving generally. We've asked them to look at our technical approach."

The NASA experts, he said, will also examine best practices for testing and troubleshooting the high-profile problem. Others consulting on the issue include engineers from Boeing and other major contractors, and physiologists and flight doctors who can offer insights on human variables that may affect how and when episodes are experienced.

In meetings between Shoemaker, Navy engineers and the instructor pilots, St. Laurent said leaders discovered the instructor pilots wanted to take a more active role in solving the cockpit episodes.

"One of the things that we learned from the aircrew is they want to be part of the process in helping to determine root cause," he said. "[Previously], we didn't want to burden our aircrew. We're now creating a teaming environment ... to understand what they're seeing and experiencing."

The Navy is creating a SharePoint style website containing up-to-date information about how to solve the cockpit issues, with a central email point of contact that pilots can use to share their own ideas and findings from working on the aircraft, and to stay current on what's being done to fix the problem.

For now, the T-45s are not allowed to fly above 10,000 feet and pilots will wear masks disconnected from the onboard oxygen generating systems as Navy engineers continue to assess what is causing the problems.

"[Tuesday] was the first day the senior instructor pilots flew with the new configuration," Naval Air Forces spokeswoman Cmdr. Jeannie Groeneveld told Military.com. "They are to come back and brief the rest of the command on the experience, new emergency procedures, and new configuration."

The flight restriction limits risk, but it also limits the kinds of training that instructor pilots and trainees can do, making it at best a temporary solution to the cockpit problem. Carrier landings are out for now, and combat training may be significantly limited.

St. Laurent said the restrictions would allow the training squadrons to complete 75 percent of the operational flight envelope.

A former Navy instructor pilot, Phil "PK" Kase, told Military.com that aerial combat training likely fell outside of that envelope.

"Most of your flying high above the ground, above 10,000 feet, that's where that training occurs," said Kase, who flew the T-34 trainer for the Navy, but knew many pilots in the T-45 community. "You can do some of that down lower, but there's increased risk. When you yank and bank the airplane, things can happen pretty quickly."

St. Laurent said he couldn't speculate on how long the restrictions will remain in place or how the Navy will cope with the prospective challenge of graduating trainees who haven't been able to fly the full operational envelope of the aircraft. At this point, it isn't clear it will come to that.

"That is right now a future event," he said. "What we know is what was done in the past and the progress we've made. We have a significant number of programmatic actions in place. We're confident we will be able to move forward and move in a different direction."

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.
A Navy lieutenant who tried to negotiate with his Iranian captors by allowing himself to be taped apologizing to them will be allowed to remain in uniform, an administrative board of inquiry determined this week.

Lt. David Nartker appeared before the three-member board Tuesday, accused of substandard performance and poor military deportment, attorney Phillip Lowry told Military.com. Ultimately, the board ruled that the charges were not enough to justify ending his military career. The news was first reported by Foreign Policy.

Nartker was in charge of one of two riverine command boats that inadvertently strayed into Iranian waters in January 2016 during a planned transit from Kuwait to Bahrain. When one of the boats broke down and went dead in the water, members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps approached in their own vessels and took all 10 sailors in the two boats captive.

Ultimately, all sailors were returned unharmed after less than a day of capture, but the incident was widely viewed as a propaganda victory for Iran, which used state media to circulate images of the sailors with their hands over their heads, surrendering to Iranian troops.

Also circulated was the video of Nartker apologizing on behalf of the boat crews for entering Iranian waters.

"We apologize for our mistake," he said in the video. "That's our fault."

A command investigation released in June found Nartker had erred in surrendering the two boats in the first place, failing to take decisive action when challenged by members of the IRGC. The investigation found Nartker had resisted reciting scripted remarks in the hostage video, but had nonetheless violated the U.S. code of conduct for troops who are captured by apologizing at all.

Nartker believed he was negotiating for the freedom of his fellow sailors, the investigation revealed, but at that point the State Department had already secured the release of all 10 hostages.

He received a letter of reprimand at a captain's mast administrative proceeding in August 2016, the last of four officers to face repercussions for the events that led to the sailors' capture. Nartker appealed the punishment the same month, but ultimately his appeal was denied.

Lowry said Nartker had been accused of failure to obey a standing order, failure to prepare a paper chart, and failure to conduct a patrol brief in the administrative proceedings.

But within the command investigation was a plea for leniency for Nartker. The investigating officer found his relative inexperience, coupled with failures of oversight from senior officers, had exacerbated the difficulty of the position in which he found himself.

"His deployment to the Fifth Fleet area of operations lacked any form of oversight and he lacked basic mentorship and development from his entire chain of command," the officer wrote. "Left to his own devices, he emulated the poor leadership traits he witnessed first-hand within his own chain of command."

Lowry said this recommendation featured in the board of inquiry and may have contributed to the board's decision to keep Nartker in the Navy.

"In those recommendations, it's 'whack, whack, whack. Oh, OK, not so fast,' " Lowry said. "Obviously, the investigating officer was concerned about the degree of accountability that would be had at the lowest level."

Ultimately, he said, the system worked for his client.

"When this thing started out, there was a lot of supercharged activity in the air, presidential candidates that were talking about it," he said. "... In the end, I knew that when all of this was said and done, it was going to come down to the decision of a few of his peers. When it went in front of the rank-and-file officership of the Navy, there was a different perspective."

Nartker is "all in" and plans to continue to pursue a Navy career, Lowry said.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.

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What's the future of automobiles?

That's a big question for the mobility industry, as the nation looks to increase the use and accessibility of plug-in electric cars, connected autos and autonomous vehicles.

While all of those may seem distant to the average American, University of Michigan researchers seeking viewpoints just leapfrogged to the next stages of transportation beyond automation: Flying cars.

Turns out, once we think about it, many of us see some appeal to that "Jetsons" style of getting around.

Following an online survey, 41 percent of adult respondents said they are "very interested" in riding in a fully autonomous (self-driving and self-flying) flying car.

But fewer people are ready to fly it themselves. Only 26 percent are "very interested" in operating the so-called aerocar themselves after obtaining an appropriate pilot license, researchers found.

"Until recently, flying cars have existed primarily in the realm of science fiction, although patents for such vehicles extend to the early years of aviation," said Michael Sivak, a research professor at UMTRI, in a news release.

"However, recently there has been a rapid increase in interest in flying cars from companies ranging from large, international manufacturers to a variety of startups."

That includes Ford Motor Company, which in January unveiled a virtual reality display at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

That display invited participants to don a VR headset and view a simulation of what transportation may be like in a "city of tomorrow," which featured - you guessed it - flying cars.

For a crowd that may just be getting its head around the concept of autonomous vehicles and all of the new decisions still to be made on that front - from legal issues to how non-drivers will be positioned in a car they don't need to steer - the display brought home just how far the technology can go.

In their study, Sivak and UMTRI colleague Brandon Schoettle found that more than 60 percent of respondents are "very concerned" with the overall safety of flying cars and with their performance in congested airspace and poor weather.

Despite these concerns, most Americans would still ultimately like to use flying cars, according to the news release.

The reasons: About three-fourths of the respondents cited shorter travel time. Other reasons included fewer crashes, better fuel economy or lower emissions.

Other findings included in the release:

Nearly 80 percent of respondents said it is "extremely or very important" for flying cars to have parachutes.

About 60 percent said electricity is the preferred source of energy for flying cars.

More than 80 percent prefer a vertical, helicopter-like takeoff and landing as opposed to a runway strip.

Nearly a quarter said they would pay between $100,000 and $200,000 for a flying car.

All of this may be very exciting to the many automakers and related entities in Michigan that are racing to bring autonomous vehicles to market.
One major take away from the 2017 Energy Summit in Grand Rapids is increased optimism about Michigan's energy future. A summit feature is recognizing the winners of the Michigan Battle of the Buildings 'Biggest Loser' competition--building owners and operators who achieved significant energy reduction in 2016. The competition is organized and hosted by the U.S. Green Building Council-West Michigan Chapter.

'Biggest Loser' winners range from large complexes like Ford Field Stadium and the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center to smaller facilities such as the Grand Rapids Brewing Company and the headquarters of Meadowlark Design Build in Ann Arbor. What all competition contestants have in common is a strong commitment to wise energy management and use.

Greening of the Great Lakes was on hand to talk with some of the "biggest losers."

Cheri Holman is the executive director of the U.S. Green Building Council-West Michigan Chapter. She sets the scene.

Then we talk with Fred Reddig, Ford Field facility director; Doug Selby, co-founder and president of Meadowlark Design Build; keynote speaker Brett Moss, training director at California-based Net Zero Plus Electrical Training Institute; Carrie Veldman, sustainability coordinator for Barfly Ventures; and David Shaw, regional energy manager for the University of Michigan Medical School.

Click here to hear these conversations.

Greening of the Great Lakes airs every Sunday evening at 7:00 on News/Talk 760 WJR and around the state each weekend via the Michigan Talk Network.
A familiar face has been tapped to take over Kentwood's vacant commissioner-at-large seat.

Former Mayor Richard Clanton was named to the seat this week, replacing Steven Redmond, who resigned in February after being charged with making a threatening phone call to a resident. The resident had been vocal in his opposition to proposed Wing Avenue improvements.

Redmond has pleaded "not guilty" to one count of malicious use of telecommunications, a criminal misdemeanor.

Clanton served as the city's mayor from 2012 to 2013, filling Mayor Richard Root's remaining term after Root died in 2012.

Clanton previously served as a commissioner from 2001 to 2012 before taking over as mayor. He didn't run for election in 2013.

Along with his role on the commission, Clanton is the chief executive officer of United Methodist Community House and has been active on city boards and committees as well as chairman and trustee for the Michigan Municipal League Region III. He also has volunteered with Boy Scouts of America, Junior Achievement, Wyoming-Kentwood Chamber of Commerce and Grand Rapids Rotary.

"Richard brings to the commission a wealth of knowledge and experience, having served as mayor and city commissioner," Mayor Stephen Kepley said. "We are thankful for his continued willingness to serve the residents of Kentwood and look forward to his continued leadership."

The City Commission selected Clanton out of 16 applicants for the seat. Clanton will serve the remainder of Redmond's term, which expires in November 2019.
YPSILANTI TOWNSHIP, MI - A wild turkey is making a name for herself in Ypsilanti Township, and it appears she's not going anywhere soon.

A bird has made a home near Whittaker and Textile roads, regularly hanging out in residents' lawns and walking in the roadway, even during rush hour.

"Bus drivers go by slow so kids can gawk," said Kim Gray of Ypsilanti Township. "If you don't want to be late for work, take a different route."

The turkey has avoided capture on more than one occasion and caused a lot of chatter among area residents.

They've given the bird the name "Whittaker" and her own Facebook page, "Rogue Ypsi Turkey." There are even commemorative T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts available.

Gray started the Facebook group in March after noticing friends posting about the turkey. It now has more than 3,600 members who post regular updates and photos. About 25 new people join each day, she said.

"It sounds like we have a lot of turkeys in the area, but this is the only one that likes to hang out in the road," Gray said. "That's what made it unique. This one will chase cars and chase people."

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has attempted to relocate the hen twice because it's a busy area, but it's a tough task,

"Turkeys are very smart and they don't capture very easily," said Holly Vaughn, DNR spokeswoman. "So we haven't been able to get a hold of it and move it."

The Humane Society of Huron Valley set a live trap to move the turkey from harm's way, but someone stole the trap, said spokeswoman Wendy Welch.

Even if the DNR could capture the turkey, Vaughn said, the birds often return to the area they've chosen, and that's along Whittaker Road from Huron River Drive to the roundabout at Hitchingham and Textile roads.

At this point, Vaughn said, the DNR is going to let her do her thing.

Gray said although some people say the turkey is a nuisance, most people on her Facebook page find the turkey fun.

"It's our community mascot, and we like that," she said.

There's been debates on the Facebook page about whether the turkey should be moved or fed and whether it's a jake or a hen.

For anyone wondering, the DNR says it's a hen.

"I look at her like there's a gift to Ypsilanti," said Laura Van Zomeren of Ypsilanti Township. "People are loving talking about it."

People come from all over to see the turkey and take photos, Van Zomeren said.

"She the best thing that's happened around here in a while," she said. "She makes people smile."

This isn't the first wild turkey hanging out in a busy area of Washtenaw County.

There was an aggressive tom on the loose on the University of Michigan's North Campus in 2015, but it was captured and taken to a sanctuary.
Junfu Han| jhan2@mlive.com

It's prom season 2017

High school students in Washtenaw County are gearing up for prom, whether that means planning an elaborate promposal, searching for the perfect dress or finding a unique ride to arrive in style for the most highly-anticipated dance of the year.

The Ann Arbor News and MLive will again be there to document the fun. Continue to visit www.mlive.com/prom/ann-arbor in the coming weeks for photo galleries from Washtenaw County proms.

In the meantime, scroll down to see some of our favorite moments from proms past.

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Courtney Sacco | CourtneySacco@MLive.com

Arbor Preparatory High School

Arbor Preparatory High School ends year in style at prom

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Matt Durr | mattdurr@mlive.com

Brighton High School

Brighton High School students brave rain, cold to celebrate 2016 prom in style

See photos from Brighton's 2015 prom.

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Junfu Han

Chelsea High School

Chelsea High School celebrates a Great Gatsby themed prom

See photos from Chelsea's 2015 prom.

See photos from Chelsea's 2014 prom.

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Junfu Han

Community High School

Check out photos from Ann Arbor Community High Schools prom

See photos from Community High School's 2015 prom.

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Junfu Han| jhan2@mlive.com

Dexter High School

Dexter High School celebrates Candyland themed prom at the Big House

See photos from Dexter's 2015 prom.

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Allison Farrand

Howell High School

Check out photos from Howell High Schools prom

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Melanie Maxwell | melaniemaxwell@mlive.com

Huron High School

Huron High School celebrates prom 2016 at the Big House

See photos from Huron High School's 2015 prom.

See photos from Huron High School's 2014 prom.

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Junfu Han| jhan2@mlive.com

Lincoln High School

Lincoln High School students dance all night 'Under the Stars'

See photos from Lincoln's 2015 prom.

See photos from Lincoln's 2014 prom.

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Lindsay Knake | lknake@mlive.com

Manchester High School

Manchester High School students celebrate prom in the Irish Hills

See photos from Manchester's 2015 prom.

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Lauren Slagter | The Ann Arbor News

Milan High School

Milan High School students celebrate prom

See photos of Milan's 2015 prom.

See photos of Milan's 2014 prom.

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Junfu Han| jhan2@mlive.com

Pinckney High School

Pinckney High School goes to prom 2016 with the theme of Hollywood

See photos from Pinckney's 2015 prom.

Pinckney teens' Duck Tape prom outfits land them in final round of national competition

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Melanie Maxwell

Pioneer High School

Check out Pioneer High Schools prom at the Big House

See photos from Pioneer's 2015 prom.

See photos from Pioneer's 2014 prom.

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Melanie Maxwell | melaniemaxwell@mlive.com

Saline High School

Saline High School students arrive at the Big House for prom 2016

See photos from Saline's 2015 prom.

See photos from Saline's 2013 prom.

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Melanie Maxwell

Skyline High School

Skyline High School students dance the night away at prom 2016

See photos from Skyline's 2015 prom.

See photos from Skyline's 2014 prom.

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Jenn McKee

Whitmore Lake High School

Whitmore Lake High School students celebrate prom at Barton Hills Country Club

See photos from Whitmore Lake's 2014 prom.

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Junfu Han| jhan2@mlive.com

Ypsilanti Community High School

Ypsilanti high school celebrates Diamonds are Forever themed prom

See photos from YCHS' 2015 prom.

See photos from YCHS' 2014 prom.

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Junfu Han| jhan2@mlive.com

Have a unique prom story to share?

If you have an over-the-top promposal story, know a couple with an inspirational backstory, are impressed by a student's creative prom outfit or have another interesting prom story, let The Ann Arbor News reporter Lauren Slagter know about it. Email Slagter at lslagter@mlive.com.
YPSILANTI, MI - The Early College Alliance housed on Eastern Michigan University's campus announced a $200,000 contribution toward renovations of Strong Hall on Wednesday, April 19.

The $200,000 contribution will go toward EMU's $10 million share of a $39.5-million renovation planned for 60-year-old Strong Hall, which houses 25 percent of the university's Science, Technology, Engineering and Math labs, said EMU President James Smith. The rest of the money for the renovations is slated to come from state capital outlay funds, pending legislative approval this spring.

"It is critically important that we bring this up to a level that represents 2017 and not an era that's a little closer to the time that I might have been an undergraduate," Smith said Wednesday. "We also certainly want to recognize the state. Without the capital outlay dollars, we would not be able to do this project."

Smith; Walter Kraft, vice president of communications at EMU; David Dugger, executive director of the Washtenaw Educational Options Consoritum that oversees the ECA; and Washtenaw Intermediate School District Superintendent Scott Menzel spoke at Scott Hall on Wednesday for the announcement of the $200,000 contribution. Representatives from seven of the county's nine traditional public school districts, EMU staff and ECA teachers gathered for the event.

The Early College Alliance is one of three programs overseen by the Washtenaw Educational Options Consortium, which serves high school students from Washtenaw County's nine traditional public school district. Approximately 440 students enroll in the ECA, and they have the opportunity to earn up to 60 free college credits while completing their high school diplomas.

Dugger wanted the Early College Alliance to contribute to EMU's efforts to renovate Strong Hall as a sign of gratitude for the university's partnership over the past decade.

"It's quite fitting that going into our 10th year we are going to be able to give back to our partner - and when I say partner, I can't emphasize that enough," Dugger said. "The Early College Alliance exists because of all the nine school districts, the leadership in the districts, the intermediate school district and Eastern Michigan University."

He estimated EMU has granted ECA students about $5 million worth of tuition discounts over the program's 10 years. During that time, ECA students enrolled in more than 50,000 credit hours at EMU in 20,000 courses, Dugger said. The high school students have about a 90 percent pass rate in the college courses, which is defined as maintaining a C or better.

Menzel said the type of collaboration among local school districts that allows the WEOC programs to continue is rare given the current political climate around school choice and the competition to enroll students as a means to increasing revenue from the state.

"Our superintendents wanted to put in place something that would benefit all students," said Menzel, whose daughter went through the ECA. "While in many places people give lip service to what it means to serve all students, I would argue that the Washtenaw Educational Options Consortium - and the Early College Alliance in particular - are reflective of that commitment to put together programs and opportunities for students that truly make a difference."

The renovations to Strong Hall have been in the works for awhile. Kraft said the university has asked seven times for the state to appropriate funds to remodel the building, and he said they're now in the final stages of getting state approval for the project.

Strong Hall was built in 1957 and hasn't had any significant renovations since then, said Scott Storrar, director of facilities, planning and construction at EMU.

With the state's approval, construction can begin this summer, Storrar said, and the work should be finished in time for the winter 2019 semester. The Strong Hall renovation marks the third phase of a plan to update the campus' science complex, which consists of two Mark Jefferson buildings as well as Strong Hall.

The project will include renovations to the entire 80,700-square-foot structure, including updating classrooms, labs, lecture halls, student commons areas and faculty offices as well as improving architectural, structural, mechanical and electrical systems.

"We're changing from the 1956-style of teaching labs to the modern methods," said Bob Densic, manager of planning and design at EMU. "So it's much more flexible seating arrangements that allow the teaching styles to change throughout the years. The new approach will give us much more flexibility not only in how we teach now but how we're going to teach 10, 15, 20 years down the road as well."
Hunter Dyke l The Ann Arbor News

Ken Burns visits Ann Arbor's Michigan Theater

Filmmaker Ken Burns, who grew up in Ann Arbor, reminisced and joked about the time he spent at the Michigan Theater while dissecting his latest documentary "The Vietnam War" during a discussion and screening of nearly an hour of clips on Wednesday, April 19.

Here is a look at a few takeaways from Burns' breakdown of "The Vietnam War," and his thoughts on his time in Ann Arbor.

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Hunter Dyke l The Ann Arbor News

On the impact the Vietnam War had on the United States

"This is the culmination of a 10-year effort that Lynn Novick and our producer Sarah Botstein have spent with our amazing crew trying to come to terms with the most important event in the second half of the 20th century, at least for Americans," Burns said. "A good deal of the divisions we feel today began to metastasize during Vietnam. It seems important that if we are going to only retreat to our particular corners and sort of make it all binary, us against them, nothing will happen. But if we are interested in finding some way to bridge the gaps, then we're going to need to unpack how this disunion came about  how all of this stuff began to fall apart."

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Hunter Dyke l The Ann Arbor News

On limiting an 18-hour documentary to one hour of clips

"Filmmakers hate to show clips," Burns said. "We worked for 10 years on this, and so well put nine clips together for an hour and show it. So I asked the staff at the Michigan Theater, who I have known for a long, long time, to lock the doors. You should be out at about 2 oclock tomorrow afternoon if we dont taken any bathroom breaks or go to eat."

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Hunter Dyke l The Ann Arbor News

On learning from history and more specifically the lessons from the Vietnam War

"We are an interesting people," Burns said. "When think about history we like to say that history repeats itself. It does not. We are also very fond of a statement attributed to lots of people, more often than not, that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Its a wonderful phrase thats very poetic and very meaningful, but its not really true.

"The Bible, Ecclesiastes, thats the Old Testament, gets it better. It says What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun."

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Hunter Dyke l The Ann Arbor News

On the purpose of undertaking big subjects in documentaries

We live in very complicated and divisive times right now," Burns said. "We struggle to wonder whether this experiment of ours so fragile will survive. There are very few things that permit us to do things together  to have a kind of collective experience, which is why Ive spent my entire professional life in public broadcasting, because we have that moment. Were not all just independent free agents doing whatever we want, but were a part of a bigger whole in which we feel that we are subservient to something bigger than us. In this case this evening, its community and its memory."

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Hunter Dyke l The Ann Arbor News

On what he hopes people can take from the documentary

"I dont want to give away the ending of the film, but I made a film about war that ended slavery, at least legally in the United States and made a film about a war that ended fascism and militarism, at least on the surface, and theres nothing redeeming about the Vietnam War," Burns said. "So the redemption has to come from individual stories.

"Because we live in an era that is still suffering from the deep, deep wounds of Vietnam, or at least manifesting and manufacturing the same violence, then we have got to figure out a way to talk about it."
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Residents from neighborhoods surrounding the Inglis House in Ann Arbor got answers to some of their more pressing questions about the future of the property on Thursday, April 13, during a meeting hosted by University of Michigan executives. Martin Slagter l The Ann Arbor News

ANN ARBOR, MI - Public outcry from the community and family members over the sale of the University of Michigan's Inglis House continued Thursday, April 20, during the university's Board of Regents meeting, with a number of neighbors voicing their displeasure during public comment.

Esther Kyte, a member of the Inglis family, read a letter on behalf of the family, which donated the home and property to the university in 1951, informing the regents family members across the country voiced opposition to the sale of the home and property that is expected to be listed for sale in early May.

She was one of several people speaking out on Thursday against UM's decision to sell the property during its March Board of Regents meeting.

"The intent of this letter is to formally set the record straight and let it be known publicly and in writing that we as a family unequivocally do not approve of the sale of the Inglis House, especially without a deed restriction or historical designation preventing demolition," Kyte read.

"When this house was donated to the University of Michigan, our understanding from family legend was that everyone in the Inglis family revered the university and thought it would be a worthy caretaker of this property in perpetuity," she added. "This is not what our ancestors intended nor want for this magnificent home."

Constructed in 1927, the Inglis House sits near campus and lies adjacent to Nichols Arboretum. The mansion served for years as the official university guesthouse and scores of alumni, speakers and dignitaries, including the Dalai Lama, President Gerald Ford and Jonas Salk have spent the night in the slate-roofed mansion overlooking the Huron River valley. The house and property were willed to the university in 1951 by Detroit industrialist James Inglis, and donated by Elizabeth Inglis.

Despite the outcry from neighbors of the Inglis House, UM President Mark Schlissel said the university is moving forward with plans to sell the home and its surrounding 9 acres.

Schlissel assured neighbors and residents concerned about the potential sale of the property that no purchaser for the property has been identified yet while noting the $550,000 annual estimate for continued operation of the facility was based on actual costs over five years before the house was shuttered.

"While we appreciate the thoughts and concerns expressed by neighbors and other Ann Arbor residents, the Inglis House has been shuttered and unused since 2012," Schlissel said during his opening remarks. "It would require extensive and costly initial renovations and incur significant ongoing operating costs to bring it back online."

Schlissel provided the remarks in response to concerns residents from neighborhoods surrounding the Inglis House recently expressed regarding the planned sale of the home and its surrounding property who met at the home with university executives about the future of the property on April 13.

Neighbors of the Inglis House responded later in the meeting during public comment asking UM and the Board of Regents to reconsider selling the house and property, with a number of supporters of the house holding up purple "RE-VOTE on the sale of the Inglis House" signs.

Ann Arbor resident and UM employee Stephanie Crane, who grew up near the Inglis House, begged the Board of Regents to reconsider selling a property with historical significance to its surrounding neighborhoods.

"You have threatened and dropped a bomb on one of the things closest to my heart and the soul," Crane said.

"We know what you spend on the structure of buildings and there is no doubt that research facilities and other things are of great importance, but they are not any more important than this building and this property," she added. "This is history, this is tradition. It changes lives and educates people, and it is of great value."

Katrin Robertson, a UM professor and neighbor of the property, recommended the university consider other options for reusing the house and its property.

"I respectfully ask the regents to give a gift to your community by reversing a decision to sell a precious resource before we know if it is the best decision we can make," she said.

"Can we look back at this moment in time, 50 years from now, and be assured that we were not the ones who allowed an irreversible mistake to be rushed through, simply because it was the easier choice at the time?" she added.

Neighbors voiced their displeasure with the university's decision to authorize the sale of the house and surrounding 9.1 acres of property during the March Board of Regents meeting. The decision to authorize the sale came two months after the regents voted on renovating the home, but that vote ended in a 4-4 tie, resulting in it being voted down.

During the April 13 meeting, UM Associate Vice President for Facilities and Operations Hank Baier said the university was spending around $550,000 a year in operating expenses to maintain the home, which has not been used since 2012. Overall, the house would require around $4.7 million to renovate, the university estimated.

Since the regents authorized the university to sell the home and property as-is, it has engaged Sotheby's International Realty to list the property. The realty company envisions the property is going to be listed in early May and could take 4-6 months to sell, Baier said. A listing price has not been determined.

Current deed restrictions for the property include that the property not be used for any other purpose than purely residential, excluding apartment houses, fraternity and sorority homes, rooming and boarding houses for commercial purposes and public garages. There were no restrictions from the Inglis family on the terms of the original gift of the home and property, according to the university.

The city of Ann Arbor is in the process of evaluating a resolution to forward to the city council to consider whether or not the property be designated as a historic district.

The property previously held that designation until 1996, which meant there were some protections on the use of the land which required a certificate of determination by the local historic district commission before any exterior changes such as alterations, additions and demolition were authorized. However, that designation was legally challenged and struck down by a court decision

Should the city go through with the process of creating another historic district on the property, the city council would designate a historic district study committee. That committee would perform an analysis, develop a report and hold a hearing on that report before presenting it to the city council with a draft ordinance to establish the historic district.

If the city undertakes considering the property for a historic designation during the sale process, City of Ann Arbor Planning Manager Brett Lenart said, it could complicate any changes a new owner would try to make to the property.

Lenart said the surrounding land is in the large scale residential category that governs the vast majority of residential neighborhoods around the city, while the Inglis House property is zoned as public land. Once any sale goes through to a private buyer, Lenart said, it no longer meets the requirements of a public land district, requiring some type of property rezoning to occur.

The new property owner is required to create a formal application to the city after the petitioner contacts all property owners within 1,000 feet of the property being considered for rezoning, Lenart said. The application then goes through a technical review, which is forwarded to the city's planning commission. The commission would make recommendations on a rezoning or a site plan. Ultimately that package would be forward to the city council for the final determination.
Lei Jun shows Mi 6 in Beijing, April 19, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A seven-year-old Chinese smartphone vendor Xiaomi unveiled its six-generation flagship device, Mi 6 in Beijing on Wednesday and announced that it would open 1,000 offline retail stores in first and second tier cities, in a bid to make all products more accessible.

Lei Jun, founder of Xiaomi, said the Mi 6 was the first Chinese-made handset to be equipped with a Snapdragon 835 processor, along with the help of Qualcomm.

He added the Mi 6 features include a 6G RAM, dual camera, curved glasses on all four edges and a stainless bezel.

He said the Mi 6 was also water-proof and can protect eyes with its special screen. The Mi 6 also has the 4-pixel optical anti-vibration function, which exists on Mi 5 but does not show up on Mi 5s due to cost considerations.

The updated release was in response to the consumers' wants and needs, Lei said.

"The Mi 6 is a product with extreme attention to detail, showcasing Xiaomi's endless exploration," he said.

Lei went on to give special credit to the engineers involved and said without innovation, Xiaomi, a company that started with a staff of about a dozen, would not have survived.

"In the past seven years, hundreds of smartphone manufacturers have lost and disappeared," he said.

In addition to technological breakthroughs, the company have found the business model transformation a complete success.

Lei said the company, which gained strong presence in the country's smartphone sector via its web-only sales model, succeeded in cost control, enabling the same product at a bricks-and-mortar store, Mi Home,to be sold at the same price as their online peers.

He expected the company to gain 70 billion yuan ($10.2 billion) from its Mi Homes over the next five years.

Mi 6 devices with 64G ROM and 128G ROM will be sold starting April 28 in all Xiaomi sales channels at 2,499 yuan and 2,899 yuan respectively. A ceramic version will be sold at 2,999 yuan.

Jin Di, a research manager with IDC China, said the Mi 6, however, was not on par with industry-wide expectations, especially on the backdrop of the Mi Mix  a trend-setter on all-screen devices.

She added this was not only a difficult time for Xiaomi but for other Chinese vendors as break-throughs were increasingly hard to make.
Apple: The iPhone maker sent shocks through the tech sector when it came under fire for deliberately slowing some of its models to preserve their battery life. CEO Tim Cook issued an apology, saying the company was not being transparent about its operations. (Image: Reuters)

American tech giant Apple is expected to start a trial assembly of iPhones in India next month notwithstanding the muted response to its repeated requests for certain relaxations from the central government.

State officials in Karnataka have told the Economic Times that Taiwanese design manufacturer Wistron, a company with which Apple has a contract, will begin assembling iPhones from Bengaluru.

We are working to see that (Apple) brings its entire component making ecosystem to Bengaluru and begins to export from here, one of the officials said.

We are not concerned about the company making iPhones for the domestic market, which will happen anyway, the source added.

Last year Apple CEO Tim Cook visited India to explore the various options more than with investment in mind.

Since then the tech company has lobbied aggressively with the union government to receive some additional concessions in order to set up shop in the country which includes the waiver of countervailing duty (CVD) on import of components that go into the making of iPhones.

RV Deshpande, Karnatakas industries minister said he discussed Apples case with Union minsters Arun Jaitley and Nirmala Sitharaman more than once in recent months. They assured me they will do whatever is possible, he said.

As the Indian marketplace is not developed enough to yet to provide high-precision components, the government must first let Apple and other global technology companies start somewhere, Priyanka Kharge, Karnatakas IT minister told ET.
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Over 200 sub-dealers and some dealers of Bajaj Auto in Punjab have stopped selling bikes from April 18 seeking compensation for the unsold BS-III units following the Supreme Court ban on sale of such models.

Bajaj has around 40 dealers and over 200 sub-dealers in Punjab, who are sitting over 1,000 BS-III units since the ban came into effect, according to industry sources.

However, Bajaj Auto president claimed that none of its dealers are on strike.

"All our dealers are working and open. But there could be some sub-dealers who may have some problems with the dealers," Eric Vas, president, motorcycle business at Bajaj Auto said in a text message. But he refused to share the number of unsold inventory or any other details.

Significantly, the Pune-based automaker had in February claimed that it was making only BS-IV models from late January. Its managing director Rajiv Bajaj had also blasted auto industry early February for seeking more time to implement the new emission norms.

Sub-dealers say they are saddled with almost 1,000 unsold units of BS-III units and the company is not ready to commit any compensation. They also claimed many are afraid to go public on the issue fearing backlash from the company.

These sub-dealers and some of the dealers have shuttered their business for the past three days from April 18 in protest against the company's approach to their problem.

On April 5, Bajaj informed dealers that it would take back all the unsold units from them but was silent on those with the sub-dealers.

Following the March 29 ban of sale and registration of BS-III models from April 1, Bajaj too joined its peers in offering heavy discounts to the tune of Rs 3,500-13,000 to dealers to help them dispose of the banned vehicles.

As per an an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on March 20, Bajaj had said it had BS-IV certification for its flagship Pulsar 150 since December 9, 2016, but admitted that it had made over 5,100 units of the same model in BS-III variant even in February to help its suppliers from booking heavy losses.

As per the affidavit, it had also informed the apex court that as of March 20, it had over 79,200 BS-III units.
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Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), the countrys second largest two-wheeler seller, will invest Rs 1,600 crore this year in setting up a new production line as well as launch four new products to take the battle to market leader Hero Motocorp.

As it targets at least 6 million units in sales this year including 5.7 million in India, the Delhi-based company is ramping up its rural retail presence, a consumer pocket where Hero is the established leader.

Honda is adding 600,000 units to annual capacity at its third plant in Karnataka taking the plants total capacity to 2.4 million and the nation-wide total capacity to 6.4 million. The Karnataka plant will thus have 4 production lines which will take the total number of production lines to 12. The new line will be operational in July.

Of the four models two models will be scooters and two will be motorcycles, declared senior executives of HMSI who are in Mumbai for a media interaction. A 1000cc premium off-road motorcycle Africa Twin will be one of the four models.

India is already the largest market for Honda globally contributing 30 percent of its worldwide sales. The company is aiming to further enhance its presence in India for which it is adding 500 touch-points this year taking the total to 5800.

But as many as 75 percent of the new addition will be made in the rural areas, taking the market leader Hero head-on as rural markets contribute half of Hero's sales.

HMSI commands a 25 percent share of the Indian market. Last year it clocked sales of 5,008,103 units, clocking a growth of 12 percent over the previous year. It sells 20 models in India, including four CKD/CBU premium bikes, five scooters and eleven bikes. It has four plants operational as of now.
The logo of Hyundai Motor is seen on a steering wheel at its dealership in Seoul, South Korea, December 15, 2016. Picture taken December 15, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji - RTX2WG9E

South Korean auto major Hyundai Motor Co is looking to almost double its sales from Indian operations to one million units by 2021 for which it will invest Rs 5,000 crore to bring in new models.

The company, which operates in India through a wholly- owned subsidiary, plans to introduce eight models by 2020, including three models catering to new segments, and hybrids.

"In the next four years till 2020, we plan to invest Rs 5,000 crore to develop eight new products and out of them three models will be new segment products," Hyundai Motor India Ltd MD & CEO YK Koo told reporters here.

The company plans to introduce two new models each year till 2020, including hybrid products, as part of the planned launches, he added. When asked about the company's sales expectations from its enhanced product portfolio by 2020, HMIL Director, Sales & Marketing, Rakesh Srivastava said: "We expect to sell one million units by 2021."

The company last year sold 5 lakh units in the domestic market, thereby registering a market share of 17 per cent in the passenger vehicle segment. It sold a total of 6.62 lakh units last year, which included exports.

HMIL currently sells 10 models in the country.

When asked about sales expectations for the current year, Koo said the company has set a target of selling 6.72 lakh units across domestic and international markets.

The company aims to maintain its present 17 per cent marketshare in India, he added.

On a query related to production capacity, Koo said "currently there were no plans to expand the company's factory."

The company today launched all new version of its compact sedan Xcent priced between Rs 5.38 lakh and Rs 8.41 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The six petrol variants are priced between Rs 5.38 lakh and Rs 7.51 lakh while the five diesel trims are tagged between Rs 6.28 lakh and Rs 8.41 lakh.

"The fast changing trends and rising customer aspirations have always been the key driving force at Hyundai," Koo said.

Considering the evolving market dynamics and customer voice, the company keeps enhancing its products, he added.

"With over 2.5 lakh units sold in domestic and international markets since 2014, we are confident that the all new Xcent will create a new benchmark in its segment," Koo said.

The company would keep selling the older versions of Xcent and old Grand i10 under the Prime brand to fleet segment, including ride sharing industry, Koo said. "We have set a target of 5,000 units per month for the new Xcent. We will also keep selling the old versions of the Xcent and i10 to cab aggregators as there is demand for such compact models in that vertical," he added.

The company plans to sell around 2,500-3,000 units per month to the cab aggregators, Koo said.

The all new Xcent comes with various new features like LED daytime running lights, wheel air curtains for better aerodynamic stability, shark fin antenna, among others.
February 02, 2018 | -839.91 | Reason: Stricter tax rules for stock investments and the easing of fiscal deficit

The Income Tax Department has slapped a fresh notice on British firm Cairn Energy, seeking up to Rs 30,700 crore in penalties for its alleged failure to pay Rs 10,247 crore capital gains tax on time.

Within weeks of tax tribunal ITAT upholding levy of retrospective tax, the Income Tax Department first sent a fresh demand note of Rs 10,247 crore and another show cause notice asking as to why penalty should not be levied for its failure in paying tax on time and filing of returns.

Senior tax department officials said Cairn Energy has sought 10 more days to reply to the show cause seeking levy of penalty.

"Capital gains was due on Cairn Energy on March 31, 2007, and due date for filing return was December 2007. But the company filed return by March 31, 2014" after the tax department on January 24, 2014 sent a draft assessment order, an official told PTI.

The assessment, the official said, got completed in January 2016 and a final order was issued raising a tax demand of Rs 10,247 crore and another Rs 18,800 crore in interest for 10 years.

The ITAT, however, in its March 9 order held that while Cairn Energy was liable to pay tax on the 2006 transfer of India assets to newly created Cairn India, prior to its listing, interest cannot be charged as the demand was raised using retrospective tax legislation.

The official said the ITAT had not barred levy of penalties and so the fresh notice is being sent.

The Income Tax Act provides for penalties of 100 per cent to 300 per cent of the tax due, the official said, adding that the notice sent does not mention of the quantum of penalties the tax department is seeking.

"It is a show cause kind of a notice and further action will follow based on the response the company files," the official said, adding that the tax department has six months from the passage of ITAT order to impose penalty.

The penalties are being sought under Section 271 (1)(c) of the Income Tax Act for failing to pay tax on capital gains made.

A Cairn Energy spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comments.

The company had earlier this month in a notice to shareholders acknowledged that it had received an amended tax demand on March 31, 2017 that also talked about late payment of interest to be charged from February 2016 -- 30 days following the date of the final assessment order.

The final assessment order did not include any penalties which may also be applied to the final assessment (potentially up to 300 per cent of any tax finally agreed), it had said.

Following the January 2014 draft assessment order, the tax department had restrained the company from selling the residual 9.8 per cent stake it holds in Cairn India.

Cairn Energy had in 2011 sold Cairn India to Vedanta.

The company had in the shareholder notice stated that it strongly contests the final assessment order and that the enforcement of any tax liability deemed due by the tax department will be limited to India assets, which had a value of about USD 750 million as of December 31, 2016.

These assets comprised principally Cairn's residual shareholding in Cairn India.

Cairn also said that it had on March 11, 2015 filed a Notice of Dispute under The UK-India Investment Treaty in order to protect its legal position and shareholder interests.
A sign of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) is placed on a road divider in Mumbai, India May 25, 2016. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade - RTSFU4F

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Larsen & Toubro Ltd may sign a pact with Koreas Hanwha Techwin to supply self-propelled guns to the army under the governments Make in India programme, an official familiar with the development told Moneycontrol.

Speaking at a February 13 press conference, L&T Group Executive Chairman AM Naik had said the company would soon be getting a Rs. 4,600-crore order for guns.

The pact between the two companies will be for the self-propelled gun programme of the Indian army for supplying K-9 Vajra-T 155-mm/52-calibre howitzers. According to reports last month, L&T has been selected for supplying 100 such guns.

L&T had jointly bid with Samsung Techwin for the gun order. But the MoU is expected to incorporate the Make in India objective. The Hanwha group had acquired Samsungs stake in Samsung Techwin in November 2014. The guns, offered for supply by L&T and other bidders, went through field trials by the army with L&T coming out as the winner.

L&T has called for a press meet on Friday where an announcement of the memorandum of understanding between the two companies is likely to be announced. A company spokesperson refused to comment on the purpose of the press meet.

Hanwha makes robots, renewable fuel cells, aircraft engines, sophisticated security products for airports, ports and military establishments and weapon systems for aviation and terrestrial purposes.

This would be L&Ts second major defence pact for the Make in India programme in a little over two months. The company had on February 13 announced a 51:49 joint venture with Europes MBDA Missile Systems with an eye on Rs. 10,000 revenues from the defence sector by 2021. The joint venture company  L&T MBDA Missile Systems Ltd  will design, develop, manufacture and supply missile and missile systems to the defence forces.

L&T has had technology relationships with both MBDA and Hanwha for many years.

The engineering giants defence business is part of its heavy engineering segment that clocked gross revenues of Rs. 3,323 crore in 2015-16.
Cab aggregator Ola's board has approved raising up to USD 100 million from existing shareholders, primarily to fund its expansion plans.

The company, which is locked in an intense battle with American rival Uber, had recently raised funds to the tune of Rs 1,675 crore from its Japanese investor, SoftBank.

The approval was for issuance of convertible securities at a price of Rs 13,521 apiece through a rights issue.

ANI Technologies -- which operates Ola -- today said its board has approved raising "up to USD 100 million (about Rs 670 crore) by issue of 495,526 Series 'l1' preference shares of face value INR 10 each at a price per subscription share equivalent to INR 13,521".

As per the filing made to the Corporate Affairs Ministry under the Companies Act, the rights issue was scheduled for March 23, 2017.

However, it could not be immediately ascertained how much the company raised through the issue.

A query sent to Ola did not elicit any response.

The filing said the objective of the issue was "to meet the growth and expansion of business and to strengthen financial position of the company".

After selling its China business to rival Didi, Uber has made India one of its top priorities. It has made significant investments in its India operations, strengthening its platform and expanding its driver partner ecosystem.

Ola, which has a presence in 110 Indian cities compared to Uber's operations in 29 cities, has also been aggressively expanding its portfolio of services.

It is also placing big bets on new technologies like electric vehicles to stay ahead of competition.
A private security gurad stands at a gate of Snapdeal headquarters in Gurugram on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, April 3, 2017. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Snapdeal co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal have just returned from a short trip to Tokyo which headquarters its top investor SoftBank, sparking off talk that the potential sale of the company is around the corner.

According to people privy to the development, the co-founders have agreed upon the final contours to sell Snapdeal to its arch rival Flipkart.

Bahl and Bansal in 2010 started the company as a 'deals site' which later pivoted to an online marketplace.

The deal is likely to consolidate Indias two major e-commerce platforms to battle foreign entrant Amazon which has already invested USD 2 billion in the country.

Meanwhile, Snapdeal which had its main offices in two Gurgaon-based buildings -- ASF Tower and ASF Centre has vacated one of them. The buildings had a pending lease period of 18 months. As part of a settlement, it is making an upfront payment of around Rs 40 crore for the space vacated.

Apart from SoftBank, which owns 30 percent of Snapdeal's stake, other investors in the e-tailer include names like Kalaari Capital and Nexus venture, which own 8 and 11 percent, respectively.

The company has so far raised close to USD 1.76 billion from investors such as Ontario Teachers Pension Fund, Softbank, Alibaba Group, Temasek and others. But according to sources, the company is left with less than USD 100 million in its bank account.

Snapdeals board has been in talks with Flipkart for a potential stake sale and the deal is being led by SoftBank and Tiger Global Management. Post a successful merger, SoftBank is likely to invest a large sum into the merged entity.
People are covered in zanba, a Tibetan food made from roasted barley flour, in Yushu, Northwestern China's Qinghai province on April 18, 2017 to mark "zanba festival", which falls on the 22nd day of the second month on the Tibetan calendar. People throw zanba in each other's faces for good luck and to wish for a bountiful harvest. The flour isn't wasted - it is collected and fed to livestock. [Photo/China News Service]
As competitors such as Flipkart and Snapdeal are gearing up to beat Amazon in the highly competitive Indian e-commerce market, the US-based firm seems to be unperturbed. In an interaction, India head Amit Agarwal tells Moneycontrol, why customer obsession is the only way to navigate and what will be its strategy in the long-run.

Q: Amazon claims to be a customer obsessed company but beyond customers what is your focus area?

A: At the end of the day, we know that customers will only shop on Amazon until the very point, they find a better experience elsewhere. Our focus is best spent on ensuring that we have the best customer experience. So what you need to do is to earn customer trust. What customers most care about is access to selection. These are the things that have worked for us for 20 plus years and India is no different. About 30 percent of the overall units are ordered by Amazon Prime customers which mean customers trust us.

Q: What will be the change in Amazon Indias strategy to tackle the consolidated competition? Your rivals Flipkart and Snapdeal are ganging up against Amazon.

A: You and I are looking at an object and I see something very different from what you see. I am looking at something which is not changing...no matter what happens even after 20 years, customers would want great selection, great product and faster delivery. So, I am going to keep my focus on that...so that I am not distracted when everything else is changing. We have significant competition in every country and our strategy 20 years later in India would be the same.

Q: With the likes of Alibaba entering the market, will e-commerce companies go back to deep discounting?

A: Our strategy on pricing has always been a focused on innovation that allows sellers to offer low prices. I have no idea, what the others' strategies are. It is always easy to lower prices but very hard to afford low prices.

The only way you can sustainably offer low prices is by focussing on innovation. You want to make sure that you launch products that allow sellers to see reductions in their cost, increase in conversion.

That is the only sustainable way to offer low prices and that is what we do.

Q: Flipkart just raised USD 1.4 billion and there are reports of Paytm in talks with Softbank to raise a big round. Would you say that the capital dumping is happening the other way round?

A: We are so focused on the customers that any of that conversation is just a distraction for me.

Q: Last year, Jeff Bezos announced USD 3 billion investment in India. Do you plan to up your investment by the end of financial year?

A: You don't drive your investment for one-upmanship. You do it to serve your customers and we don't really hold ourselves back to invest on behalf of customers. We will continue to remain focused on selection, great value, and faster delivery. For that you need to maintain infrastructure and all of that requires investment this will continue to be the case for several years...because India is a very nascent e-commerce market. And we will continue to invest as and when needed.

Q: Most of the domestic e-commerce companies were started by first-time entrepreneurs where the charge now has mostly moved into the hands of their investors. Do you see this as a right way to build a large e-commerce business?

A: I really don't have any comment to make on this. I am not well informed or experienced to answer that question.

Q: What is the growth Amazon is reporting, across categories?

A: Fashion is the fastest-growing category for Amazon (in terms of the number of orders). Amazon itself is growing triple digit year on year in terms of GMS (gross merchandise sale). We talk about how Q1 for us was 85 percent year on year. Pretty much all our categories are growing at least that much and some categories growing faster.

Q: But hasn't the growth slowed down as compared to the previous year?

A: It would obviously be because you were on a smaller base. Last year we were doing 300 percent growth in sales year over year.

Q: What is the strategy for grocery? What are the challenges you are witnessing in this segment?

A: Amazon Now is in four cities and Amazon Pantry is in 53 cities.

It is true that these items are of the low average selling price. You can't really economically ship Rs 70 item. You have to drive basket building and hence need innovation.

To ensure that the customers buy more items from a single place and to ensure that the items are located together so that they can be shipped together. At the end of the day, it is the order value that matters.

Q: Will an inventory heavy model strike a chord with Amazon?

A: I don't know. I think with fulfilled by Amazon we are able to manage. We have provided technology to sellers to manage their inventory.

Q: Is there going to be a rationalisation on the cost of advertisements?

A: We look at what is the right mechanism to tell customers about a great service and that determines the expenditure. As our penetration goes up we will become more surgical. Try to compare it when you are growing triple digit growth year on year and your customers are growing you also need to understand where you tell your customersthe way we did that two years ago is very different from now.

priyanka.sahay@nw18.com
The RBI's latest diktat to banks asking them to increase their asset provisioning over the prescribed limit could end up hurting the lenders.

The cancellation of 2G auctions and reallocation of 3G airwaves, all funded through bank loans, and the disruptive entry of Reliance Jio with free services has created major stress on the balance sheets of telecom companies.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is worried that banks may not have fully recognised stressed assets and hence on Tuesday advised banks to consider setting aside higher capital as provision even for good loans in stressed sectors.

However, the central bank has not specified the extent of higher provisioning for good loans given to telecom or other stressed sectors.

Under the current rules, most standard assets attract a provision of 0.4 percent. The few exceptions include credit to commercial real estate, which has a 1 percent provision, and residential real estate (0.75 percent).

Banks have a total loan exposure of Rs 82,200 crore to the telecom sector.

An official with a public sector bank said, "The RBI requirement will definitely add some stress for us but we will have to decide how much to take as the discretion is on us."

Karthik Srinivasan, Senior Vice President at ICRA rating agency, said, "Some concern is there for banks on the telecom front but it remains to be seen what hit banks will be taking on account of provisioning as it is not specified by the RBI. Further, the non-funded, sanctioned and un-drawn exposure could be higher. This will definitely increase credit costs for banks in the next 12 months. However, the extent may be limited because the exposure to the telecom sector is only 1-2 percent of the total credit in the system," he said.

According to ICRA, the debt to EBIDTA ratio (which is the servicing of debt through existing earnings) for the fiscal year 2017 is estimated to be 6 times, which is an alarming level.

The total outstanding debt of listed telecom companies as on September 2016 was said to be Rs 2.14 lakh crore.

An India Ratings and Research report in February had predicted that the industry has lost about 20 percent of its revenue post Reliance Jio's launch of free services. The industry's debt levels have risen sharply from Rs 2.7 lakh crore in 2014 to Rs 4.85 lakh crore at the end of December 31, 2016.

The RBI has asked bank boards to review their exposure by June 30 and consider making provisions at higher rates so that necessary resilience is built into their balance sheets.

According to analysts, banks may see an overall 2.5 percent increase in new additions to slippages (into bad loans) in the next 12 months.

At present, banks are already sitting on a pile of bad loans or non-performing assets (NPAs) worth about Rs 7 lakh crore, 9 percent of total bank credit.
The RBI and finance Ministry are discussing various formulations with respect to NPA resolution and think we should be able to shape some policy on that in the near future, is the word coming in from RBI's deputy governor SS Mundra.

The whole of Indian Inc, Indian investors, foreign investors and bankers are eagerly waiting for the NPA resolution from the Reserve Bank of India and the government.

In an exclusive conversation with CNBC-TV18s Latha Venkatesh, Mundra shared some of the discussions that took place and his personal perceptions on various issues, which could give an indication of what is likely to come.

Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview.

Q: This is the first interview I was trying to postpone because always I expect that today evening, the RBI and the government are going to announce some big scheme or small tweaks. Is something coming soon to speed up resolution?

A: Let me tell you, there are various possibilities and various formulation which have been under active discussion within RBI as well as with the government of India. You people are aware of those things. Even some of the information I get from the flashes which you run about those activities.

Before I say something on this, let me first make it very clear that as I mentioned, there are several possibilities and formulations which are being discussed, but as of today, I cannot say that either it is a settled view between the RBI and the government of India or even an institutional view within RBI. So, what I am trying to tell you or going to tell you are some of the discussions which have taken place which give the possible indication of things to come and maybe some of my individual or personal perceptions on various issues. So, let us convey it very clearly and let us carry our conversation with that being very clear.

Having said that, yes, there are several issues right from the various schemes which have been introduced, whether there is a need to modify any of those schemes or even introduce another scheme whether the mechanism of corporate debt restructuring (CDR) has to be viewed in any modified way, the Institution of Oversight Committee or any legal empowerment is required in that respect, functioning of Joint Lenders' Forum (JLF).

So, this is a whole range of issues which have been discussed where the various viewpoints have emerged. Some of the viewpoints, there had been finally a commonality of view, some of the viewpoints are still at a distance from each other, but continue to be discussed. So, that is where we are.

Q: I will tell you what hinders resolution, the expectation that a better CDR mechanism is coming. That is preventing bankers from taking any decision because let us wait and see. So, is something coming soon?

A: It is quite a lengthy discourse, but if better CDR mechanism means a more relaxed or benign CDR mechanism, if that is what translates into the meaning then that is not the case.

Q: I am not sure that is the only point at the back of the bankers' mind. When you say relaxed, you mean more time for provisioning perhaps. But what they would like to know is under CDR only 10 percent of debt can be converted into equity. Will you allow more? Will some specific rules be relaxed?

A: Let me go into a little length on this because it is a very relevant question. At one extreme, the CDR mechanism. As you said, only 10 percent of debt can be converted. On the other side, there is Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A) or strategic debt restructuring (SDR) which have a provision for the conversion to much higher.

Now, from what I understand and what I have been hearing from the banking industry and the representations have been coming that 50 percent is something which may not be really possible in all the cases and sustainable portion can be even less than 50 percent. Okay, good, acceptable point.

The point is to be understood, number one, the CDR mechanism apart from those restrictions, but the main attraction if you go by hindsight, at that point of time that it was providing a kind of forbearance as far as the classification is concerned. That is no more there and it is unlikely to come back. If we are talking about the reinvention of CDR with all those possibilities, those are clearly not on the table. So, that is one thing.

Coming to the sustainable part, there can be two possibilities. Again, the wish list which keeps on coming, one possibility is that sustainability is to be assessed on the basis of a much distant future rather than an immediate future. And if you say that it is a much distant future, the viability would emerge, let us say two years from now. It means cash flow would also get strengthened over a period of time. It means repayment should also calibrated to the cash flow and then this is the whole new structure which is to be put in place. You have tracked the banking system for long enough to understand what I am trying to tell. Again, that would not be a realistic thing to do, so that is one possibility.

Other possibility is that yes, you restrict the cash flow expectation to a reasonable period which originally was more constrained and on the demand of industry, we already provided a slightly longer horizon and decided the sustainable portion. The key point is if this sustainable portion is below 50 percent, then what to do?

Okay, I would believe it is alright if the cash flow projections are not unrealistic, they pass the test and sustainable portion is coming less than that then it is for the lenders to go ahead with that prescription. Only added expectation in that, that would that mean that remaining portion has to be provided for.

Now, if expectation is that remaining providing for is again spread over a very long period of time, then again, that is not a right expectation. So, I would say it is a justified case which can be put up, but you have to clean it up with all those additives and all those expectations which are really not meeting the requirement of a prudential regulation and then yes, everything can be discussed and worked out on the table.

Q: So, can we expect that you will tweak the S4A to allow more than 50 percent unsustainable debt?

A: As I said, this was something which was put up and I have already explained. And as I maintain, there is no institutional view right now at this point of time. But I have clearly spelt out that what is my perception around it and to my mind, yes, it is something which can certainly be looked into, in a realistic manner.

Q: But the longer it takes for a word to come from the regulator, the longer will the resolution of some cases get postponed.

A: I cannot disagree with you. It is a very valid point, but understand one thing. If this is to be done, finally in a cleaned up version as I am mentioning, one thing which it will entail and you will be clear about it that one thing which primarily would entail is the availability of capital. So it means the engagement has to go beyond the lender and regulator, but also the owner and that is where all the engagements were going on and as I mentioned, there had been quite meaningful and I would say also fruitful engagements. You must have heard the statement which have been coming from the Finance Minister as well as the other concerned authorities in government also. So, putting all that together, I would tend to think that yes, something we should be able to give a shape in the near-future.

Q: Any timeline at all?

A: It is difficult to put a timeline. Let me be very frank about it. But it could be anything. It could be very near, but my sense since there is so much of seriousness and engagement and so much discussions have already taken place, it should not be something that which would be indefinite or very prolonged.

Q: What about CDR tweaks? Do you see any chance of changing CDR rules?

A: The CDR mechanism, as it was in the beginning that you restructure, everything is flexible, there is a forbearance, once you take out all those things, what is left today is practically, not a very elaborate mechanism. So in the changed context, after that much has happened, so many other instruments have been issued, right from 5:25, JLF, SDR, S4A.

To my mind, today we should look at CDR more as a monitoring platform. You need not really try to go and try to tweak the CDR mechanism because if you take out 80 percent of the original CDR mechanism and say I am retaining 20 percent, only the shell, and putting new 80 percent components when you already have the other products already available.

So, the right thing would be to look at those things and maybe like we have discussed S4A is something, if it needs some sort of realignment that can be done. But important point and which I personally feel very strongly that under the JLF mechanism, if let us say hundreds of JLFs are functioning and each JLF has to be administered by the respective lead bank, there would also be a rightful expectation that each JLF participation should be at a very higher level of management. These are all very right expectations. But how far they are practical is a question, at least which I, having remained on the other side, can also probably feel more strongly.

So, my sense would be rather than so many JLFs sloshing around and all that, why it would be the right mechanism that JLF is the first institution, they bring an account fit together, work out a broad plan what is to be done. Once that has been signed and sealed within the given JLF mechanism, it should be handed over to the CDR Secretary Head for monitoring.

I think it will have many benefits. Number one, there would be economy of scale, there would be pooling of expertise and more importantly it will be completely arm's length monitoring so that the people who are creating the framework, they are not only monitoring. So, that may necessarily mean that you strengthen the CDR Secretary Head, maybe you bring some more enablers, those are the enablements which are required.

Q: Is that imminent is what I am asking?

A: Till it becomes an institutional view I cant say that it is imminent. However I have not found any serious discomfort or dispute about this kind of platform.

Q: Now let me come to something on which everyone has a demand, Oversight Committee. Are you looking at giving it more legitimacy or legality and expanding its mandate?

A: The first relevant point is even the number of oversight committees. As you know, as of today, one oversight committee is functioning and what we are discussing, if everything is put together, it would need more than one oversight committee if this is to be handled. That is something which has been discussed.

Q: Is that coming?

A: Again, all of these you can take it as something which has been discussed which is work in progress, but institutional view or a common, combined view is yet to emerge.

The second point you talked about is legal empowerment. Of course, even within the existing banking regulation and RBI act, there are enough empowerment available for RBI to give this kind of structure. But a greater clarity can always be beneficial and why I am telling this because from the time these acts were enacted and subsequent to that and more particularly in the recent past, a number of acronyms which has been given in the financial sector where something which we are actually not known or not even understood.

So, you write an act in the context of the prevailing situation at the point of time. So, when so much has happened, it would be meaningful if even those provisions which are already existing are made a little bit more explicit, it is serves two purposes. One is of course, the clarity in the act, but also, it brings a lot of assurances on the side of everyone who will be involved in this entire process. So, that was something which we have been suggesting and government has also listened to us on that.

Q: So, we should expect that any increase of the oversight committee's number and empowerment will await legislative amendments of the acts?

A: That is something which probably, because these are some of the technical and legal niceties and I am not qualified to really make an authoritative comment whether what kind of process it needs to go. Only thing I know that if both the parties are convinced, then it will be for the government to find an appropriate way to give it a shape.

Q: But pending any legislative changes, RBI is not looking at doing anything about oversight committees?

A: If you look from practical way, it does not make sense. You take a view, we are starting this journey and we expect to reach the final solution and midway you say I will take a right turn and then come from that route again. So, you start going to Churchgate and say no, I will come via CST. It makes sense, if something is there, to stick to that.

Q: Again I have to ask you that for this legislative change, is there some timeline?

A: That timeline, obviously you will have to travel to Delhi.

Q: I agree, but you are into these discussions, so should we at least expect it? Legislative things, usually take time and that is precious time lost in resolution of assets. There is a time value for that money.

A: I know, but there have been several instances in the past when there is a complete agreement and acceptance at the government's side, this processes can also run pretty fast.

Q: Will the government or the RBI suggest something like a formula because that formula does the rounds in conversation.

A: I think you are experienced enough to know. Rather if I can ask you a counter question that let us exchange the chair and I ask you the same question: do you think any such formula is possible?

Q: I want you to bash up the idea. That is why I am asking you.

A: What I am trying to say is you can define a process and all the efforts had been to define a process. Number one, you are talking about a variety of sectors, you are talking about a variety of companies, variety of equity and debt structure, the variety of products, so let me be very clear, no such omnibus formula is really possible. But yes, processes can be well defined and you must have seen that all the efforts are directed in defining the process.

So, if there is a mechanism of JLF, if there is a requirement of majority, if there is a requirement of techno-economic feasibility to be done, then this is to be further weighted at the level of oversight committee. If need be, oversight committee can be assisted by the credit rating agency. If you are not comfortable with one credit rating agency, you can make it two credit rating agencies. So, all those processes can be defined and any proposal, once it goes through a regulatory broad structure, within that, a very well-defined process and finally, what emerges, I would tend to believe that it should be something quite realistic and sustainable.

Q: So, should we expect credit rating agencies also to be included in the process?

A: That is what the thought is and it should only strengthen the process. So, yes.

Q: At least that, when should we expect? I mean resolutions are being held back in anticipation that something may come.

A: It is like putting a vehicle on the road and then commence the journey. Now you are asking me when the steering wheel will start travelling and other parts will start moving, these are all interlinked components. Even on a serious note, it is really now, we are passed that stage where we should again try to look at the issue in bits and pieces and components. It is better to have a whole mechanism with proper interlinkage in place and then put it in place.

Q: The oversight committee repeatedly apparently tells the bankers that S4A at least, the process is very clear, so we can compare. If you swerve outside it, we cannot whet the process. So, how would you answer that? Therefore, is an omnibus process coming?

A: I meant to say what will happen, as we have discussed S4A, it is now even suppose finally it is agreed that there can be a slightly revised version or a modified version of S4A and all those other schemes which I was mentioning, to my mind, everything could be a input for oversight committee to look into. But that will again, enhance their universe substantially even with the present universe, which would again mean that there needs to be more hands and brains working on that.

Q: But in all this, retained profits will fall because you have to provide more. So, capital again becomes an issue. What are the discussions with the government on capital? Are they going to provide more or there a serious thought about recapitalisation bonds?

A: whichever way you look at it, ultimately, all it boils down to is the requirement of capital which is not negotiable and I think the government is quite clear. There have been a lot of discussions, a lot of data sharing on this and you must have seen the finance minister had also, not once but several times, he has mentioned that if there is a need, government would provide the capital.

But what we have to understand that only government providing the capital is not the only thing. Capital has to come, that is very clear, but capital can come from several sites. And to my mind, rather than always just focusing that government has to put a lot of money would not be the right thing to do. So, capital, on a very fundamental level, there are two ways. Either capital can be augmented or capital can be conserved. Now individual institutions first have to take that view that how much they can expect the augmentation capital and how much they can look into their business to conserve the capital.

Once that is done, yes, the augmentation, yes, the majority owner has to provide. Other owners can provide. You can dispose of your non-core assets, you can try to exit from some of the business lines. So, each bank will have to look at all the possibilities and then accordingly decide.

Q: But recapitalisation bonds are not discussed?

A: At least I am not aware of such discussion if they have taken place.

Q: Now the other way in which the government has, or even the RBI in the prompt and corrective action (PCA) says for the weakest of banks, you will recommend even amalgamation. But is there an amalgamator, someone who can accept an Indian Overseas Bank (IOB)?

A: If you look at the PCA framework, there are two parts of it. One is the mandatory action and others are the discussionary actions. Some of these are discussionary actions. If it is put there, it means not necessarily that this is the only thing which is to be done, but yes, it is something which is very much on the cards.

So these things will depend on very individual cases and how the circumstances do take place. There had been instances of amalgamation in Indian banking system in the past. It is not that it is for the first time. And even otherwise, on a more general and philosophical level, we are talking about the consolidation in the industry. So, within that broad framework, all the possibilities should be taken as being available and not discarded.

Q: But should we expect consolidation anytime soon, say in this year or something like that?

A: I think you demand a timeline for everything. Right now, one consolidation is going on and you have also witnessed that this consolidation coming into shape. It takes its own course of time and that too, where it was a case which was very different. It was a kind of half consolidated entries to be fully consolidated. So, we have to be realistic in that perspective. But what is important is to decide a broad framework, form up the mind. Once you do that, then other things are a matter of detail which can take care of themselves.
India and Nepal will further deepen cooperation in key areas like security, trade, investments and energy, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

Talks on a range of issues were held between the two neighbouring countries during the ongoing visit of Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari.

Bhandari, who is on a visit to India from April 17-21, held talks with her Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Minister for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley.

A statement by the MEA said, the Indian leadership reiterated its support to ongoing efforts of the Nepal government in moving constitution implementation process forward through dialogue and taking all sections of its society on board.

Both the sides, the MEA said, noted that Indo-Nepal relations derive their strength and salience from shared history, common cultural ethos, and long years of close and intense people-to-people contacts facilitated by open borders.

"The Indian leadership reiterated the importance of its neighbourhood first policy, and the high priority India attaches to strengthening relations with Nepal in every sphere," the MEA said.

Bhandari also conveyed Nepal's commitment to take forward the relationship between the two countries on the basis of goodwill, understanding and mutual benefit.

"She thanked India for its continued support for Nepal's socio-economic development, in particular, India's support for post-earthquake reconstruction process," the statement added.

The two sides expressed satisfaction at the "intensive bilateral exchanges" in recent months at all levels between the two countries to deepen and strengthen ongoing cooperation in areas like trade, economic, investments, water resources, energy cooperation, security, post-earthquake reconstruction efforts, culture, education and people-to-people ties.

They also assessed the implementation of ongoing connectivity and development projects, and expressed satisfaction at the recent initiatives taken towards expediting implementation of various projects.

These projects include the cross-border connectivity works such as the development of Terai roads, cross-border rail links, integrated check posts, and cross-border petroleum products pipeline.

Nepalese Minister for Foreign Affairs Prakash Sharan Mahat, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sita Devi Yadav, Minister for Peace and Reconstruction, Members of Nepalese Parliament, and other senior government officials also accompanied Bhandari during his visit.

In Kathmandu today, Mahat said Bhandari's visit has been "fruitful" in enhancing the bilateral relations and goodwill between the two neighbours.

The two countries reviewed bilateral energy cooperation, including development of hydropower projects in Nepal, power trade and development of high-capacity cross-border transmission lines.

"The State visit of the President of Nepal provided the opportunity to the two sides to review all aspects of bilateral relations and to reiterate their commitments to take India-Nepal partnership to a new level across diverse sectors for mutual benefit," the MEA added.

During her stay in India, she will travel to Gujarat and Odisha.
India's growth has been "impressive" in the recent years which makes room for tax broadening efforts by the government, according to a top IMF official.

"India has recorded quite an impressive growth performance in recent years. Our view is that the elimination of fuel subsidies and the targeting of social benefits has delivered in terms of allowing the union budget target to be achieved at 3.5 per cent of GDP," Vitor Gasper, Director of the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department told reporters at a news conference here yesterday.

"We have been collaborating with the Indian authorities in terms of looking at fiscal structural measures, including expenditure rationalisation while protecting infrastructure investment, tax broadening efforts," he said.

In this context, the rollout of Goods and Services tax (GST) is an extremely important step that will create a true unified national market in India, he said.

"We see room for tax broadening efforts. We see room for more progressive income taxes in line with trends in income inequality. Perhaps more generally, we do see a case for a medium-term framework and we know that the authorities are actively working on that," Gasper said.

He also said inequality has increased in both India and China.

"As was the case for India, in China you see that inequality has increased. From that viewpoint, you could advocate, you should advocate social spending and taxation reform in order to address that issue in China.

"At the same time, it turns out that increase in social spending and change in taxation does support the transfer of expenditure from investment to consumption. That is part of the overall rebalancing of the Chinese economy," Gasper said.

Gasper said globalisation and technological change have been major drivers of economic growth and cross country convergence.

"More than one billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty since the early 1980s, and most of them come from China and India," he said.

"At the same time, when you focus on country indicators, you see that inequality has increased in most advanced economies and large emerging economies. Again, I am referring to China and India," Gasper said.

"The clear perception around the world of widespread increases in income inequality illustrates the dominance of national politics shaping these perceptions. Fiscal policies, government expenditures and revenues are powerful means to ensure the sharing of the growth dividend," the IMF official added.
The proposal to abolish the Foreign Investment Board (FIPB) is likely to be accompanied with number of policy reforms. The decision to dismantle the board  that looks at overseas fund flows proposal to India  was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget presentation.

Contours of the proposed changes to the foreign direct investment policy are almost ready... Non-strategic sectors should be on automatic, a government official, privy to details, told the Economic Times.

According to a media report, the clause for prior government approval for investment in most sectors will be done away with. This is likely to include single-brand retail sector, which in turn will remove the 30 percent domestic sourcing clause.

The idea behind dissolution of FIPB is avoiding delays in clearances for foreign funds. More sectors on automatic route will help ease cash flow into the country.

While most sectors already have automatic approval up to 49 percent, certain sectors like food product retailing, telecom, multi-brand retail, private security agencies and mining minerals need government approval.

On back of reforms in the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy, more than 90 percent of the flows are through the automatic route already. Post the policy review, many of these sectors will be freed up.

The finance ministry has already moved a draft cabinet note for dissolution of FIPB.

The government is counting on foreign fund flows to speed up infrastructure development as the domestic private investment continues to be sluggish.

According to a top US trade official , India continues to be an important destination for foreign funds. In the FDI Confidence Index, India jumped up a place to 8 this year and is seen as becoming a favorite soon with its focus on becoming an open market country.
To make the banking sector resilient to non-performing asset (NPA) shocks, the Reserve Bank of India has come out with stricter norms for banks.

RBI asked banks to provide more for standard loans which are stressed. It said boards must put in a policy to consider aspects like debt-equity ratio, interest coverage. The policy should also consider aspects like profit margins.

Prakash Agarwal Director-Financial Institutions at India Ratings & Research said the resolution of NPAs could be a long-drawn process and there cannot be a quick solution.

Also Read: More regulations from RBI to recognise stressed assets, but where is the resolution?

Meanwhile, with most of the stress in the system already being recognised, incremental stress recognition could be very moderate going forward. Although there could be one or two cases where jumps could be sharp.

RBI also said since the telecom sector is stressed, banks must provide more.

Agarwal said since the cash flow for the telecom sector is continue to remain a problem, the profitability is also likely to remain under stress. So, the focus should be on the players where the banks have exposure, see if they are strong players in the sector.
Some services could get cheaper, while some others costlier with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council likely to examine the option of placing services under two tax slabs12 and 18 percent.

The move will likely even out the overall price impact on consumers who now pay tax of 15 percent on all services, except for 17 categories on the 'negative' list that are exempted.

A two-tiered service tax structure will be taken up in the next meeting of the GST Council on May 18 in Srinagar.

The original plan was to have a single tax rate18 percentfor services under GST. This would have made most services costlier under the new system, which is likely to be rolled out from July 1.

"Initially, it was under the impression that all services will fall under the 18 percent bracket. But now there is talk that they (GST Council) might put some services in the 12 percent bracket also," a government official told Moneycontrol.

A bureaucrats panel (of states and the Centre) within the GST Council met on Wednesday and Thursday to work on the classification exercise--a comprehensive list specifying the tax rate that each good and service will attract, according to the slab structure.

The Council headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had agreed on a four-slab structure -- 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent -- along with a cess on luxury and 'sin' goods such as tobacco.

"If we go by the logic, then all services should be under one bracket because then there will be no classification," the official said.

However, there is a pressure that for some services, the rate should be 12 percent, especially for those services that would be regular for the common man, the official explained.

The fitment panel is expected to have a few more meetings before it puts its final recommendations up for discussion in the next GST Councils two-day meeting starting May 18 in Srinagar.

Apart from finalising the rates for goods and services, the target right now is that all the states must pass the State GST (SGST) law by May 30, the official said.

States have already started passing the SGST laws, with Telangana being the first one to clear it.

"Come June 1, we want to ensure that 29-30 states have passed the SGST laws. Jammu and Kashmir might have a little bit of delay. By the first and second week of May, a good chunk of states should pass the law," the official said.

Last week President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the four GST-related legistations, after being passed by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
An employee works with cylindrical 6-metre aluminium ingots at the Rusal Sayanogorsk aluminium smelter outside the Siberian town of Sayanogorsk, Russia, March 15, 2017. Picture taken March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin - RTX3197L

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Hindalco Industries Limited, the metals flagship firm of the Aditya Birla Group and the world largest aluminium rolling company has been flush with funds after it successfully raised capital from qualified institutional placement (QIP).

The company plans to used that fund to retire part of its debt in the current fiscal to the tune of Rs 6,800 crore, reports The Economic Times.

The loan prepayment will be the largest ever by any corporate to domestic banks in India.

The report said that the company is going to prepay Rs 4,500 crore in April, which includes corporate loan worth Rs 1,000 crore syndicated to a group of seven banks and part prepayment of Rs 3,500 crore Mahan loan to two domestic banks. It also plans to prepay Utkal loan worth Rs 2,300 crore in July this year.

The company's long term debt stood at Rs 58,081 crore as on December 31, 2016 while short-term debt stood at Rs 8,400 crore as of December 31, 2016, as per the unaudited financial statement issued by the company.

The company shifted to more value-added products, improving demand and increase in the aluminium prices have helped it US subsidiary Novelis to turnaround. The prices of aluminium had fallen below the benchmark cost of production of USD 1,500 a tonne due to oversupply about two years back but have recovered currently to USD 1,925 a tonne.

Novelis is also likely to benefit from the demand from automakers, who in order to meet the stringent emission norms and fuel efficiency are switching to lightweight aluminium from steel. Novelis is the world's largest producer of aluminium beverage can sheet and largest recycler of used beverage cans.

Hindalcos copper business has also started to show improved performance with the increase in copper prices and focussing on high-end products.

Many analysts have turned bullish on the metal sector and domestic equity funds have bought shares of Hindalco to the tune of Rs 1,940 crore last month.
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Surat-headquartered drug maker Zota Healthcare, which will be selling shares on NSE's Emerge platform as part of its initial public offering (IPO) on April 27, said it will be using proceeds from the offer sale to acquire over-the-counter (OTC) vitamin brands.

NSEs Emerge is a trading platform for small and medium enterprises.

Zota said it is planning to spend around Rs 10-12 crore on the acquisition of OTC brands, without disclosing the names of the companies with whom it is in talks.

Zota on Thursday announced pricing of its initial public offering of 46,80,000 equity shares with a face value of Rs 10 per share at a price band of Rs 121-125. It plans to raise around Rs 56-58 crore.

The company said it would use a part of proceeds for working capital requirements.

The offer consists of fresh issue of 31,80,000 equity shares and offer for sale of 15,00,000 equity shares.

Pantomath Capital Advisors and Indian Overseas Bank are the lead managers for the proposed issue.

Our company is going public mainly to raise funds for the companys expansion plans in the Indian and foreign Markets, said Himanshu Zota, director of Zota. Currently in the growth stage, this listing will also add to our branding and increase our acceptability among dealers. While our products are approved by the regulator, the IPO will strengthen customer confidence."

He said that in addition to operational benefits, the IPO will also bring in advantages like tax benefits, talent retention and increased corporate governance.

Zota, which started operations in 2000, is into formulations including nutraceuticals and ayurvedic offerings.

The company had revenues of Rs 65 crore in FY16, of which exports contributed around 10 per cent.

Zota has a manufacturing facility at Surat SEZ unit, which manufactures only export-oriented products for the Asian and African markets.

THe company derives revenue by selling its products directly to distributors who in turn take forward the supply chain. For domestic markets, the company relies on certain third parties for manufacturing products.

It has 32 product registrations in seven countries and has applied for registration of 171 products in 14 countries. Zota also does some contract manufacturing.

The company has a portfolio across 21 divisions offering products under various therapeutic categories.

Zota has currently applied for patents of 19 unique formulations, from which it has been granted approvals for six formulations.
Investing could be a tricky thing when you find yourself in the middle of a strong bull market. The S&P BSE Sensex, which rose nearly 10 percent so far in 2017 and nearly 15 percent in the last year, could find itself stuck at higher levels.

For the market to move higher from current levels would require some positive triggers such as earnings recovery, stable global environment as well commodity prices. But, analysts are hopeful that the bull market argument still remains intact for Indian markets.

While the market may have run ahead of time, ahead of earnings growth, ahead of economic recovery, the broader market still trades at about 17-18 times which is reasonable, if not steep, Dhiraj Sachdev, senior VP at HSBC Global AMC told CNBC-TV18.

He is optimistic that this could be Bull Market 2.0, which is probably going to be maybe better than we saw in 2003 to 2007 and in 12-18 months from now, we may be better than we are today, says Sachdev.

On a global level, India's performance is disproportionately driven by P/E changes and currency and less by a rise in forward earnings per share (EPS). The sectors which are likely to remain in focus include names like metals, IT, PSU banks, NBFCs, energy, pharma as well as metal stocks.

The broader Indian market is now in its fourth consecutive month of outperformance compared to global equities in USD terms. On a YTD basis, it has outperformed by 15%, reversing the Nov/Dec-16 decline, Credit Suisse said in a report.

Our preferred sectors, i.e. Metals, IT, Industrials, Utilities, and Energy have lagged in P/E increase but have all seen increases in forward EPS, which we believe should drive sustained outperformance going forward, it said.

Going by the buzz on D-Street, we have collated a list of top five sectors which will hog the limelight in 2017:

'Monster Rally' in PSU banks

PSU banks which recorded a great run so far in the year 2017 and have rallied up to 85 percent in the last one year may witness a monster rally as the risk reward equation is still favourable, suggest experts.

The sector is going through massive consolidation and the introduction of revised Prompt Corrective Action guidelines from RBI also fuelled confidence.

We are looking at a monster rally in some of the PSU banks in the weeks and months to come. The kind of setups that we have in some of the smaller names, I would like to believe that many of these names can actually move up two or three times from current levels and a lot of the midsized names can give 40-50 percent upside over the next six-nine months, Gautam Shah, Associate Director & Technical Analyst at JM Financial told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

In a normal scenario we would like to believe that PSU banks will be the star performer. We are extremely bullish there and investors should look out for sizeable returns there. PSU banks give slightly better risk-reward because after the kind of correction that the Nifty has seen in the last one week, he said.

Buy metal stocks on corrections

Most of the metal stocks listed in the S&P BSE Metal index outperformed the S&P BSE Sensex in the last one year apart from Welspun Corp, Coal India, and Orissa Mineral Development Company.

In the last six months, metal has been one of the best performer in the marketplace but came under pressure in the last seven-ten trading sessions. But, are still good stocks to buy on dips.

We are of the view that metal rally is likely to continue the whole of 2017. The setup is still as good as one can get and the small corrections of 3-4 percent, which keep happening from time to time, they just make the setup very healthy, said Shah of JM Financial.

From a risk-to-reward perspective this looks like a good opportunity to get into metals, keeping in mind that the last ten days have been corrective for them, he said.

Power sector could be the dark horse

Power sector could be the dark horse and is currently placed at the start of a major rally, suggest experts. Most of the power stocks gave handsome returns to investors in the last one year such as CESC (76%), Power Grid (44%), Crompton Greaves (44%), and GMR Infra (33%).

Metal stocks started to do well after underperforming for two-and-a-half years, oil and gas as an index made a strong comeback after underperforming for five years, power has made a comeback.

Power sector could potentially be a dark horse for 2017. This index is coming back after seven years of underperformance and in the last one month itself a lot of these power stocks are up anywhere between 15 percent and 20 percent and this is just a start of a major rally, said Shah of JM Financial.

We expect a lot of these power stocks to move up 40-50 percent in value in 2017. It is good to see that a lot of these underperforming stocks come back and it actually makes the bull market a little stronger because you do not want the same set of stocks leading the market higher, he said.

Opportunity size is significant in Pharma sector

Pharma stocks have been under pressure in the last 12-18 months on rising concerns of regulatory hurdles from USFDA as well as rising rupee.

Manish Gunwani, Deputy CIO, Equity at ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund in an interview with CNBC-TV18 said that his fund is overweight on pharma sector on the back of wearing off of US drug regulators issues over the next couple of years. The opportunity size is significant.

In the next couple of years, a lot of these Food and Drug Administration (FDA) related issues should wear off. From a top-down perspective, in terms of India's competitive advantages, it is a sector that suits that profile very well, he said.

We have very high-quality managements, high-quality companies and the opportunity size is quite significant, not only in the US generic space but with the global pharmaceutical space overall, added Gunwani.

NBFCs has a lot of room to grow

Investors should watch out for NBFCs which should now come back to normalcy in operations after demonetisation.

I think NBFCs will stand out because you might see post demonetisation period at least the AUM of the NBFCs or financial services companies will be better or come back to normalcy, Dhiraj Sachdev of HSBC Global AMC said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

We believe the NBFC space or the private banks will probably stand out compared to the others. They will have some kind of NIM expansion because of wholesale borrowing cost or lower bond yields and as well as asset quality will be stable for several housing finance companies, he said.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
With the market having rallied post UP general elections result and Feds rate action, the Street is now in a wait and watch mode during the earnings season.

Harsha Upadhyaya of Kotak Mutual Fund believes that the market is in a consolidation mode and does not expect fireworks from the results as well.

We are now looking for opportunities during the earnings season, Harsha Upadhyaya, CIO-Equity, Kotak Mutual Fund told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

He said investors must be cautious on midcaps due to higher valuations. There could be short term volatility in the space, but it may not be a bad idea from a 3-5 year perspective, he said.

Upadhyaya sees pain for banks, especially the corporate sector lenders and chooses to wait and watch for the developments in the space. As a result, Kotak MFs portfolio is positive on private sector retail financial companies.

Based on the turmoil in information technology (IT), the fund house maintains its underweight stance on the sector. Valuations may look optically cheaper, but there is no real reason to jump into IT right now. There is no improvement in growth visibility and margins are under pressure, Upadhyaya told the channel.

Based on the governments affordable housing push, his focus continues to be on housing finance and private sector retail banks. But he is cautious on real estate it is yet to see some real affordable housing projects. Unless there is some change in the model, this would be just sentimental than fundamental change, Upadhyaya said.

Simultaneously, the cement sector is also a positive due to gains from affordable housing policy, he said. We have looked at firms with excess capacities in manufacturing sideour positions are in these places, Upadhyaya added.

In the auto space, the fund house believes that economic activity and transportation will improve. "Having said that, over the next couple of quarters, demand for two-wheelers and tractors will increase," he said.

Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview.

Anuj: Are you buying right now? Is there enough stock in the market in terms of midcaps, largecaps where you can still buy?

A: Market is in a consolidation range, we are unlikely to see any great fireworks in the earnings season. So to that extent, market seems to be in a consolidation range and we are looking for opportunities during this earning season. We are not creating too much cash but with whatever cash we have in our funds, we will look for opportunities in terms of volatile periods during earning season and accordingly we will build up positions. We remain positive on the overall outlook for the market.

Latha: Remain alert to buying during volatile times, will Yes Bank qualify?

A: Without getting stock specific, clearly there is some more pain in the banking sector especially for the corporate lender. Recently, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mentioned that there seems to be a divergence between the real asset quality and the provisioning numbers that some of the banks have shown. We do not know, how this is going to show up in terms of earnings in the March quarter or in the June quarters. So we need to wait and watch that space and also they have mentioned that there are other sectors which are showing signs of stress and hence needs more provisioning. For example, they have mentioned telecom as one of those sectors. So clearly, there is still more pain for corporate lenders in our opinion. So our portfolio continues to be towards private sector retail financials both NBFCs as well as private sector banks.

Sonia: As long-term retail investors, what do you do when some of these names like Yes Bank and IndusInd Bank give you a bit of trouble as far as asset quality is concerned, do you just wait for a couple of quarters and do not change your strategy there or do you book out and move into some other names for a long-term investor?

A: We would advise that any investor who is unable to spend 24/7 research time on stocks, it is better to go through mutual funds. So we would advise them to come to our mutual fund.

Anuj: I wanted your thoughts on how would you approach a sector like IT? Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) we have seen numbers from both, both are down 20-25 percent from peak, trading below medium valuation, do you take that call or do you say that look the business is not looking good and it is time to stay out, how would you approach them now?

A: We continue to remain underweight on the sector. We continue to believe that while the valuations may optically look cheaper compared to where they were 12-18 months earlier, there is no real reason to jump into the IT sector as of now. The headwinds are very strong. We are not seeing any improvement in the growth visibility. The margins have already been under pressure and our expectation is going forward next quarter onwards, there will be more pressure on margins and the environment in terms of US outsourcing continues to be questionable. So given all this, it is better to wait and watch in this space, we do not see that sector outperforming some other domestic businesses in the near-term.

Latha: One of the themes that everybody has been playing is the affordable housing theme. Would you now get into real estate or would you remain with housing finance companies?

A: In our portfolios, we are focusing more on housing finance companies and private sector retail banks, which also focus on housing finance as a large focus area. While real estate stocks have done well and sector as a whole has gone up maybe 30-40 percent in the recent times, we havent seen any real affordable housing business model in the real estate sector overall. Until unless we come across change in business model in some of these real estate companies. I would still think that this is more of a sentimental move rather than a fundamentally driven move. So to that extent we would remain cautious on the real estate sector per se but we would love to play that through either housing finance companies or through cement, which will also see uptick once the affordable housing goes up.

Sonia: Do you stick to some of the larger cement names or do you see more value in some of the non-index largecaps?

A: We have both large as well as midcap names in the cement sector across our portfolios rather than going by the size of the company, what we have done is we have looked at companies, which have excess capacities in the manufacturing side and that is where the operating leverage will kick in once the volume growth starts to come in. So if we were to look at the entire cement industry, wherever we have higher excess capacity is where most of our positions are rather than going regional, we have looked at excess capacity issue.

Latha: Will 2017 be the year of midcaps or year of largecaps? For mutual fund investors, who take your advise and say we cannot do our homework, we will come to you. Should they put it in blue-chip kind of funds, largecap kind of funds, should they put it in midcap kind of funds?

A: The valuations continue to remain at a premium in case of midcaps over largecaps. So that remains a worry. Having said that, we havent seen any meaningful correction simply because there is one way flow that is coming into the market. Foreign institutional institutions (FIIs) have been largely absent in the midcap segment whereas Indian mutual funds have been getting consistent flows into both largecap as well as midcap funds.

So to that extent, the flows are driving some of these names. So I would be little cautious only in the very near-term in terms of midcap performance but if somebody has money to invest for three-five years in midcaps, I do not think that is a bad idea even at these levels. However, if somebody is looking at only next six-twelve months, probably the volatility could be higher in case of midcaps.

Anuj: Any other theme that you would want to back in the midcap market because we have seen so much variety in the market? Last year NBFCs rallied, we have seen tyre stocks, paint stocks, auto ancillaries, any particular theme that you are backing?

A: We are looking at couple of paints  one is the improvement that we are expecting in the rural economy. Both because of what is happening in the agriculture as well as what is happening in terms of government policy push so anything related to rural economy is what will be our focus area and other than that with remonetisation and goods and services tax (GST) implementation which is going to happen sometime during the year, we are going to see increased move towards organized listed space in every business. I think the unorganised sectors in each and every segment of the economy will probably lose out and that will be a gain for organised players. So these are the two themes where the focus is going to be.

Sonia: In the larger auto names, you have had exposure to some of the two-wheeler names like Hero Motocorp, the four-wheeler names like Maruti, what about commercial vehicles because we are expecting a lot of pre-buying to come in over the next three-six months, are you bullish on that space or do you think that there is more value in the other spaces?

A: We do have exposure to commercial vehicles (CV) manufacturers in our portfolio although it is not a big exposure. We continue to believe that the economic activity and the transportation segment will start to improve and that is where the commercial vehicles will also see better demand numbers going forward.

Having said that, over the next couple of quarters, we could see a strong demand coming in for some rural dependent auto segments such as two-wheelers and tractors and that is where we have higher weightage in our portfolio.

Latha: What has been the nature of lows, are systematic investment plant (SIP) percentage increasing and flows as well, non-SIP?

A: SIP flows have been very consistent, have been growing every month and now the number for the industry is more than Rs 4,000 crore a month. So that has been the healthy sign and along with that we are also seeing regular inflows into the funds. So March was definitely a very strong month and the way April has started that also seems to be very good in terms of overall flows.
In a 3-2 split verdict that had two dissenting notes, Pakistans Supreme Court on Thursday ordered further probe into the Panama Papers case against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Sharif and family have been ordered to appear before the probe team when it is formed.

The court has ordered the setting up of a joint investigation team which has to submit its report in 60 days.

The case had essentially sought the disqualification of 67-year-old Sharif over his alleged misstatement in his address to the nation on April 5 and his speech before the National Assembly on May 16, 2016.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was the main petitioner in the Panama case involving alleged illegal money laundering by Sharif in 1990s when he twice served as Prime Minister to purchase assets in London.

The assets surfaced when Panama papers showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif's family.
Rajiv Bansal, the former CFO of Infosys, has approached the Arbitration Tribunal to claim the balance amount of his severance pay after he left the company, according to a report in The Times of India.

The first hearing is scheduled to be held in May and former Supreme Court Judge RV Raveendran has been appointed as the sole arbitrator in the case.

At the time of separation, Infosys agreed to pay Bansal a severance payment of Rs 17.38 crore equivalent to 24-month pay. The company at the time said that the payment includes non-compete obligation, including other rights and obligations.

However, Infosys had paid Rs 5 crore to Bansal and suspended the remaining payment, when former co-founder NR Narayan Murthy along with others termed the huge severance pay to Bansal as excessive and said payment could be seen as hush money. Murthy also accused the Infosys board of not making full disclosure pertaining to it.

Infosys issued a statement stating that it had halted the payment to Bansal pending certain clarifications with regard to such rights and obligations.

The report states that Bansal had chosen arbitration over court proceedings as it provides speedier resolution of the issue and the matter remains private and confidential. The Arbitration Act provides for time bound arbitration.
Kumar Kartikeya Prakash & Nikita Appaswami

Start-up companies seek various forms of funding to help kick-start their operations and, eventually, to scale their growth. Typically, the seed capital ploughed in by the promoters themselves and/or their close friends and kin helps the start-up companies create a workable product prototype and set up the business, before the companies are ready to go into the market to seek further capital infusion from investors (specifically, institution investors, venture capital funds (the VCs), private equity funds, high net worth individuals) for sustainability, growth and expansion.

There are a variety of factors that drive an investors decision to invest, such as, the sector, intended customer base and financial eco-system in which the company is operating, ability of the product/service to generate meaningful economic returns and a strong management framework to drive the business forward.

While there have been compelling accounts of how VCs, guided by metrics and other determinants, have gone about making bold investments through various rounds of alphabetically progressive capital infusions, what happens when a start-up (hereafter, the New Co) decides to approach other investors (hereafter, the New Investor(s)) after an investor / a VC (hereafter, the Existing Investor) has made its Series A investment in the New Co?

New Cos ability to attract New Investor(s) is largely dependent on several factors such as how well the entity could utilize the funds brought in by the existing investor, the amount of investments sought by the New Co, the speed at which the New Co is burning its capital, market trends, investment sentiments in the country at the time of the proposed capital raise.

Based on these factors, often, the New Co may decide to proceed with (or rather, is compelled to select) an investor that is of a relatively smaller ticket size and one that is less sophisticated in comparison to the existing investor. There have been instances in the Indian market, where target companies, after a round of investment from a sophisticated VC, have opted for subsequent round of capital investments from smaller investors.

Usually these small investments are strategically timed to precede another big round of investment from a sizeable VC, to meet immediate capital needs. This article will look up-close the rights of the Existing Investor (being a large sophisticated VC) vis-a-vis the New Investor(s) (having smaller ticket size than that of the Existing Investor) and the give-and-take between them in a predominantly promoter driven New Company.

Rights of the Existing Investor

For the purposes of this article, let us assume that the Existing Investor holds over 50 percent in the New Company and has considerable rights inter alia including (i) lock-in on the promoter shares in the New Company, (ii) right of first offer or refusal and tag along on any transfer of promoter shares; (iii) drag along rights on the promoter shares, (iv) board representation along with affirmative voting rights; (v) anti-dilution protection; (vi) pre-emptive rights to partake in further issuances; and (vii) liquidation preference.

The rights and obligations of the Existing Investor also plays a crucial role in setting up the platform / market for the New Investor(s). In practice, during a further capital raise, the New Co is obliged to provide protection against any reduction in pre-money valuation of the New Company to the Existing Investor. In cases where the New Co is subject to a reduced pre-money valuation for the new round, the Existing Investor is entitled to, depending on the nature of securities held by it, either adjust the conversion[2] ratio of its convertible securities or subscribe to additional securities, to ensure that the Existing Investor does not suffer from the reduction of pre-money valuation of the New Co.

Typically, in case of convertible securities, this adjustment mechanism is built into the terms of the securities. Further, where such securities are held by a non-resident Existing Investor, approval of the Reserve Bank of India or Foreign Investment Promotion Board is not required for reset of the terms of the convertible securities, if the adjusted conversion price per equity shares upon conversion of the convertible security is not less than fair market value of the equity shares of the New Co at the time of subscription of the convertible securities by the Existing Investor (who is a non-resident).

What rights can the New Investor have with a small investment?

In most cases, the New Investor(s) can be another VC or individual investor but of a different investment profile  in terms of size and risk appetite. The New Investor may not have delved into detail into the New Companys day to day operations, legal compliances, precision and accuracy of financial viability or expansion plans but is encouraged by the confidence of the Existing Investors presence in the New Co and would like to piggy-back on the value created by the Existing Investor.

To a great extent, it may also rely on the due-diligence conducted by the Existing Investor and the pre-money valuation determined by or for the Existing Investor. By not conducting another due-diligence, the New Investor makes the process of fund raising, both time and cost-efficient. By participating in a new round of investment of the New Company and subscribing to a portion of the next series of securities (for instance, Series B convertible preference shares) the New Investor(s) will not necessarily be entitled to rights similar to those of an Existing Investor.

However, the New Investor(s) can seek liquidation preference on account of being a holder of the subsequent series of the securities i.e. Series B shares. While the rights of the New Investor(s) is dependent on how the negotiations pan out, factors such as: (i) ticket size of the New Investors investment vis-a-vis investment ticket size of the Existing Investor; and (ii) amount of capital infused by the New Investor and the resultant shareholding (if less than 5 percent), play a compelling role in determining the rights and obligations of the New Investor.

Fear of dilution is high even for a small investor, as the worth of its shareholding can be wiped off by the combination of a down-round (for example) and the issue of shares to a protected shareholder (being the Existing Investor, in this case). Therefore, it is very likely that the New Investor will insist on anti-dilution protection.

The New Investor(s) may not be interested in staying invested in the New Co should the Existing Investor decide to exit as the exit may negatively impact the growth in the New Cos value or profitability, or business model. While the New Investor may have the right to participate in the New Cos qualified IPO, it may not always have the ability to cash in on the New Cos qualified IPO. In that event, a tag right with the Existing Investor, instead, assures exit at a reasonable price.

Further, in case the New Investor has for a proposed shareholding ranging from 0.5 percent to 5 percent, it is unlikely that it will be granted a say in the day-to-day running of the business. Hence, while the right to a board seat may be given up, the New Investor may negotiate for information rights, to be aware of the New Cos financial health. On a similar note, the affirmative voting rights of the New Investor is, typically, limited to matters which relate to any modification in the economic interests of the New Investors.

In case there are many new small investors participating in a further round of capital raise, for operational convenience, such investors are requested to provide a power of attorney in favour of one of the investors or one of the promoters. Operationally, this reduces the interference of several investors in the further fund raises or operations of the Company.

How to raise this capital effectively?

Fund raises are usually completed by way of a preferential allotment or a right issue. Typically, the New Company invites all its existing shareholders for a rights issue where most of the existing shareholders waive their right to subscribe to the rights shares and these shares are then offered to the New Investor. In many cases, the Existing Investors participate in these rights issuances to boost the confidence of the New Investor and to avoid any dilution of their shareholding.

Multiple rounds of capital raise also enable the New Company and the Existing Investor to gradually increase the pre-money valuation of the New Company and move forward on the path of becoming a start-up unicorn.

Further, where there is more than one non-resident subscriber to the rights issue process and where the subscription price is in USD, minor adjustment to the rights issue price due to forex fluctuation is an acceptable practice (for example, if one non-resident subscriber remits USD 100 on Day 1 and another investor remits USD 100 on Day 2, then there will be slight difference in conversion of the said USD subscription amounts due to forex fluctuations and hence, the rights issue price per share will vary slightly).

However, the New Company should ensure that the rights issue offer letter explicitly makes a mention of the said adjustment in the per share price, resulting from forex fluctuations which especially in the case of non-resident investments.

Conclusion

In light of the above, we see that the first big round of capital brought in by an early-stage investor often sets the tone for a companys future rounds of investments. The terms of a convertible instrument offered in subsequent rounds (such as in Series B, Series C etc., offered to existing investors and/or new investors), such as conversion and liquidation preference, will borrow their flavour from the terms of the securities held by the existing investors.

The new investors participating in future rounds of funding (even with a smaller investment), are comforted by the priority in liquidation preference at the time of liquidation events.

A mixed bag of investments (of big and small ticket sizes) is often in anticipation of the next big round of investment from a highly coveted investor, which may serve as an excellent platform for the existing investors to cash out or redefine their the rights and obligations going forward.

(Authors are Kumar Kartikeya Prakash (Senior Associate) and Nikita Appaswami (Associate) at Khaitan & Co.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article belong solely to those of the authors and do not in any way represent or reflect the views of Khaitan & Co.
Bull's Eye, CNBC-TV18's popular game show, where market experts come together to dish out trading strategies for you to make your week more exciting and compete with each other to see whose portfolio is the strongest.

Remember these are midcap ideas not just for the day, but stocks that look attractive in the medium-term as well.

This week, Rakesh Bansal, Sumeet Jain and Ashish Kyal battle it out for top honours.

Below their top stock picks and analysis:

Rakesh Bansal of R K Global

Buy Gayatri Projects with a stoploss at Rs 145 and target of Rs 184

Buy Ashoka Buildcon with a stoploss at Rs 199 and target of Rs 227

Buy EID Parry with a stoploss at Rs 284 and target of Rs 319

Buy Interglobe Aviation with a stoploss at Rs 1058 and target of Rs 1150

Sumeet Jain of Destimoney Securities

Buy Gujarat State Petronet (GSPL) with a stoploss at Rs 175 and target of Rs 199

Buy Simplex Infrastructures with a stoploss at Rs 383 and target of Rs 422

Buy Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) with a stoploss at Rs 117 and target of Rs 134

Buy Exide Industries with a stoploss at Rs 227 and target of Rs 254

Ashish Kyal of Waves Strategy Advisors

Buy Bharat Electronics (BEL) with a stoploss at Rs 171 and target of Rs 190

Buy Gujarat State Petronet (GSPL) with a stoploss at Rs 173 and target of Rs 192

Buy Gujarat Fluorochemicals with a stoploss at Rs 685 and target of Rs 765

Buy UPL with a stoploss at Rs 751 and target of Rs 810
Rajat Bose of rajatkbose.com told CNBC-TV18, "I am trading three stocks, three on the long side. In Capital First, I would put a stop loss at Rs 765 and my target would be Rs 789 and Rs 797. I am also bullish in it on the long-term, I see lots of gains happening there over a period of time."

"Second stock is India Cements. I would buy with a stop loss below Rs 177.80 and two targets are Rs 189 and Rs 193. India Cements in the short-term has a potential to even go up to Rs 210-220," he said.

"Finally, Engineers India which I would buy with a stop loss below Rs 162.70, Rs 174 and Rs 178 are the two targets that I have."

"I am bullish on all these three and these three midcaps and generally bullish on the market."
Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com told CNBC-TV18, "Havells India is a buy with a stop loss of Rs 480, target of Rs 520. For Infosys, Rs 900 is a very key level, it has come there every two-three months whenever news has been extremely bad, again this one has turned. So, it is possible that you have a 30-40 point rally from here. Finally, it may go through Rs 900 but some amount of short covering is visible even on technology stocks. So this is a buy with a stop loss of Rs 910 with a target of Rs 960. Apollo Tyres is a buy with a stop loss of Rs 228, target of Rs 244."

"For India Cements, if this sort of decline of 4-5 percent has come off, if that gets taken out, maybe tomorrow or day after. We have seen in the past such newflows happen but very little action happens. So the trend is still strong and chances are that we should see new highs again on India Cements not because of any merger or any other news just that cement prices are rising after quite a while," he said.

"So I would think that this would be a temporary impact and above todays high if the stock is able to consolidate and move up, I would think it will go past Rs 200."
Mitessh Thakkar of miteshthacker.com told CNBC-TV18, "Engineers India is something I am watching. Apart from that, HDFC Bank is something definitely that interest me. I think good intraday pattern, a breakout into fresh highs is always welcome. So, I think HDFC Bank could even be a trading opportunity. Buy with a percent kind of a stop loss, Rs 1,447-1,446 is what I would recommend and look for a target close to about Rs 1,500 over there."

"Apart from HDFC Bank, I think midcap stock HCC is something which I like a lot. I think it is making a fresh 52-week high. So, I would be a buyer there as well. Keep a stop loss below Rs 42.70 and look for target of around Rs 52 over there. A disclaimer that I personally hold this company in my portfolio," he added.
Mehraboon Irani of Nirmal Bang Securities told CNBC-TV18, "I would go with zinc and copper in that order - Hindustan Zinc, Hindustan Copper would be my next bet."

"If somebody wants to buy frontline stock, I would go with Vedanta at the present level, expecting a maximum 5 percent fall from here. I think Vedanta looks the most attractive among the frontline stocks," he said.
Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com told CNBC-TV18, "Today, I think people who are long for the results are going to get chopped. If you get a 100 point decline for starters which I doubt will happen, everybody  long-term, short-term, everybody should get in. However, the futures trader should wait and see if this decline starts to get bought. YES Bank probably gains back 50 percent of what it losses. So, if it opens 100 points lower, if it is able to gain back 50 points, that is when the futures trader should come in. I think long-term investors easily this is the time to get into these stocks. What is wrong this quarter can easily get fixed next quarter. Obviously knowing YES Bank, chances are they will do something about it. So, long-term bull market is likely to sustain in IndusInd Bank and YES Bank."

"Sun TVs life changed the moment Jayalalithaa passed away. So, now chances are we will see it in four figures at some point. It is the strongest media stock, so, on all declines it remains a buy. Fairly strong stock and this fresh move is likely to gain another 80-100 points," he said.

"PSU banks were open for something and if that doesnt happen soon enough this correction can get a bit worse. So, chances are PSU banks are likely to pull the Bank Nifty down and private banks will have to do the heavy lifting. I think still they are in the buying zone, probably this correction should get bought, but you need positive news flow for these stocks to continue their upside."

"These are the kind of days when people get answers to the question which way the money is going or whether dips are getting bought. I think the best buys right now are probably Bank Nifty, as well as YESBank. Whatever decline you are getting, just go and buy it."

"Bharat Financial where a lot of short positions were there but post the IndusInd Bank conference, shorts are getting covered even there."

"Sun TV is not a great futures buy. You hold it in your portfolio and it keeps going, but I dont think you should buy something in the futures once it is up already 5 percent."

"Today could be a day because Bank Nifty is coming from a dip where PSU banks could also get back a lot of what they lost out yesterday. So, maybe State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda (BoB), etc. on this early morning dip can be bought."
business India Cements' merger with subsidiaries may trigger re-rating for the stock: PhillipCap The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved India Cements' merger with its subsidiaries Trinetra Cement and Trishul Concrete Products. "This will help the company to re-align its focus on core business segment and ultimately re-rate the stock valuations in the medium-term", Vaibhav Agarwal of PhillipCapital told CNBC-Tv18.
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Petrochemical major Reliance Industries share price gained more than 1 percent intraday Thursday after the company successfully completed its Ethane Project in record time.

"...announces successful and flawless completion of its Ethane Project, including commissioning of its ethane receipt & handling facilities and ethane cracking, at its Dahej Manufacturing facility in Gujarat in a world record time of less than three years," the company said in its filing.

Reliance is the first company to globally conceptualize large-scale imports of ethane from North America as feedstock for its cracker portfolio in India.

The project involved seamless integration of several elements across a complex infrastructure value chain. This included securing ethane refrigeration capacity in the US Gulf coast; delivery of dedicated Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs) to carry ethane from the US Gulf Coast to the west coast of India; construction of ethane receipt and handling facilities; laying pipelines and upgrading crackers (to receive ethane) at Dahej, Hazira and Nagothane manufacturing facilities, Reliance said.

The Shale Gas industry in North America has grown exponentially in the past 5 years. Consequently ethane has become one of the most competitively priced feedstock for US crackers.

The supply of Ethane to its crackers at Dahej, Hazira and Nagothane will provide feedstock security and flexibility, enabling it to select the most optimal feed mix based on market conditions. This will improve the cost competitiveness of its existing crackers and enable it to optimise the portfolio in a volatile market environment, the company said.

At 09:51 hours IST, the stock was quoting at Rs 1,375.00, up Rs 5.15, or 0.38 percent on the BSE.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries owns Network 18 that publishes Moneycontrol.com.
Taking offence to China renaming six places in Arunachal Pradesh, India today said inventing names of states of a neighbour does not make illegal occupation legal.

Reacting to the issue, Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Gopal Baglay said Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.

He said "renaming or inventing names of states of your neighbour do not make illegal occupation as legal".

China yesterday had announced that it has "standardised" official names for six places in the Northeastern state and termed the provocative move as a "legitimate action".

The Chinese move came days after Beijing lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lama's visit to the frontier state.
Embattled Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today got a temporary breather from the Supreme Court which said there was "insufficient evidence" to remove him from office but ordered setting up of a joint team to investigate the graft allegations against his family.

The high-profile graft case is about alleged money laundering by Sharif in 1990s when he twice served as the Prime Minister to purchase assets in London. The assets surfaced when Panama papers last year showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif's children.

A five-judge Supreme Court bench issued a landmark 540- page split judgement ordering setting up of a Joint Investigation Team comprising officials from different agencies including those from powerful spy agencies the Inter- Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence.

The other agencies in the JIT include the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.

The bench comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan also ordered 67-year-old Sharif and his two sons - Hasan and Hussain - to appear before the JIT.

There is "insufficient evidence to remove Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif," said the verdict.

"A thorough investigation is required," Justice Khosa said, reading out from the highly anticipated ruling.

The JIT would be set up within a week. It will present its report before the bench after every two weeks and will complete its investigation in 60 days.

Justice Ejaz, Justice Azmat and Justice Ahsan wrote the majority judgment, whereas Justice Gulzar and Justice Khosa in their dissenting note branded Sharif "dishonest" and wanted to remove the Prime Minister as sought by the petitioners.

Upon receipt of the JIT report, "issues relating to the disqualification of the PM may be taken up," says the verdict.

The case filed by various petitioners  Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed  sought disqualification of Prime Minister Sharif over his alleged misstatement in his address to the nation on April 5, 2016 and his speech before the National Assembly on May 16, 2016.

The petitioners had claimed that the prime minister lied about the investments made by his children in offshore companies, which led to the acquisition of four apartments in Londons upscale Park Lane neighbourhood.

The case was launched on November 3 and the court held 35 hearings before concluding the proceedings on February 23.

Prime Minister Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz, sons - Hasan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz, retired Capt Muhammad Safdar (the PM's son-in-law) and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar were among the respondents in the case.

The court also ordered that it was important to probe how money was transferred to Qatar.

The bench was not satisfied with regards to the money trail for the Sharif family's Gulf steel mill and ordered to investigate their business dealings in Qatar.

Sharif had argued that the London property was bought from the money earned after selling share Gulf steel mill in Qatar and produced a letter by a Qatari prince in his support.

The London properties owned by Sharif's children are at the center of controversy.

In the verdict, the bench said that the NAB Chairman has failed to cooperate with the investigation, and the Director General FIA has failed to curb white collar crimes, necessitating the formulation of the JIT.

Sharif and his PML-N party breathed a collective sigh of relief as the fear of an 'extreme verdict'  the prime minister's ouster  dissolved and gave way to celebrations.

His supporters hailed the court's decision as a victory of justice.

"We have been vindicated as Prime Minister had last year asked to set up a probe commission to investigate Panama leaks scandal," said Khawaja Asif, defence minister and close ally of Sharif.

TV footage showed Sharif embracing his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif who is chief minister of Punjab province.

Maryam tweeted a photo of Sharif, his family and PML-N leaders celebrating the verdict with smiles and embraces.

Sharif is the only Pakistani politician who has the distinction of being the prime minister of the coup-prone country for a record three times.

He had served as the Prime Minister from 1990 to 1993 and from 1997 to 1999. Both of Sharif's first two stints had ended in the third year of his tenure.

Opposition leader and lawyers termed the court's verdict as an indictment of Sharif and demanded his resignation.

"I demand that Sharif should resign immediately as he has lost moral authority to rule the country," Pakistan Tehreek- e-Insaf chief Khan said at a press conference here.

Khan termed the verdict as indictment of Sharif as the bench did not absolve him of the allegations.

He said if Sharif is not ready to step down permanently, he should step aside for 60 days when JIT would probe the money laundering allegations, as ordered by the court.

Khan said the court has rejected the defence of Sharif and his family that their properties in London were bought with clean money.

Former president and Pakistan People's Party leader Asif Ali Zardari condemned the court's decision to not disqualify Sharif as premier and asked him to immediately step down.

"I condemn the judgement and ask Sharif to resign," he said at a press conference. He took a swipe at the court and said that "we never expected any justice from the court."

Zardari, however, hailed the two senior judges who asked Sharif to resign.

He expressed doubts that junior officers working under Sharif cannot deliver justice as part of Joint Investigation Team (JIT) when the highest court failed to deliver justice.

"With the decision of today, not only democracy but also justice itself have been damaged. I also says that people have been made fools through the judgement," said Zardari.

Zardari's close aide Aitzaz Ahsan said the JIT ordered by the court actually was meant to give escape to Sharif.

Earlier, the area around the Supreme Court, located in Islamabad's Red Zone, was put on 'red alert', with around 1,500 police, Rangers and Frontier Constabulary personnel deployed for security arrangements.
Jayalalithaa, OPS, Sasikala

Since Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha passed away late last year, the fate of the party she headed has been in a shambles. AIADMK is split down the middle with rival factions of the party, each headed by an Amma loyalist, staking claim to the chief ministership.

The strife in the party resulted in the formation of two factions, one headed by O Panneerselvam retaining the old name AIADMK with the addition of Puratchi Thalaivi Amma as a suffix.

The other party was initially headed by Jayalalithaa's aide VK Sasikala. But with the Supreme Court's decision to put Sasikala behind bars in disproportionate assets case, the obvious choice became her nephew TTV Dhinakaran, who became the partys deputy general secretary.

However, in a development this week, a merger is on the cards after Chief Minister EK Palaniswamis camp held an impromptu meeting to discuss the political situation.

Another important decision that was taken during this meet was to oust Dhinakaran from all the posts he was holding in the AIADMK and strip Sasikala of the general secretary post.

This happened after 20 ministers in the Tamil Nadu government decided to remove VK Sasikala and her family from the AIADMK 'unanimously'. A lookout notice against Dhinakaran has also been issued as there was a tip-off that he may try to leave India in connection with allegations that he tried to bribe Election Commission officials to get the AIADMK's two leaves symbol.

Amid the fight, will other parties have a chance to rise?

DMK is leaving no stone unturned to cash in on this opportunity. The party is looking for a grand alliance and the partys working president MK Stalin has reached out to Peoples Welfare Front (PWF) to bring on board the party and its constituents including VCK, CPI and CPM.

The healthy relationship between Stalin and Thol Thirumavalavan of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) may benefit the party in gaining voter confidence.

Sasikalas elevation had bothered many along with Jaya's niece Deepa Jayakumar, who floated a new party called MGR Amma Deepa Peravai.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, after a stellar win in four states out of five in the assembly elections, is trying to make a strong case in Tamil Nadu. The state unit of the party is led by doctor-turned politician Tamilisai Sounderajan.
As the country cheers the Union Cabinet's decision to pull the plug on red beacon on vehicles, including the Prime Minister's, it would do well to remember that the move had its beginnings in 2013.

The Supreme Court had then decided to put an end to the lal batti culture and urged officials  government and otherwise  to do away with the red beacon atop their vehicles.

Observing that the red beacon is a perceived as a status symbol which in turn creates a divide in the society, the court had in 2014 issued a list of dignitaries who could use beacons on vehicles. According to the list, only the Governor, Chief Minister, Chief Justice of the High Court, Assembly Speaker, Ministers and Judges of the High Court were allowed to use the red light.

"After May 1, no one will be able to put red light atop his/her vehicle. Blue light will be used only for emergency vehicles in the country...Neither the states nor the Centre will have power to give any special permission (for use of beacon lights)," Jaitley had said.

Things are set to change with Prime Minister Narendra Modi endorsing the decision on Twitter, but let's take a look at how the red beacon came to be used and misused, loved and hated.

Lal Batti: Both a power tool and criminal getaway

The Internet is sprinkled with videos and instances of citizens criticising those using the beacon. Many now hope that it will put an end to the VIP culture. One such instance, and one that could have far worse implications was the attack on Parliament in 2001. The authorisation of the beacon to anyone and everyone made it easy for the terrorists involved in the attack to get away with security checks. They zoomed into the Parliament complex and shot security officials on duty.

Another alarming issue has been the blatant use of the red light to zoom past traffic signals and toll booths.

Those who welcomed the move to get rid of the beacon

Even in the absence of a stringent law to deter misuse of "Lal Batti", many ministers gave up privilege in order to bridge the gap with the common man.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal willingly gave up the use of the beacon and also trimmed the list of officials who were entitled to have it atop their cars.

Who says I am not authorised?

IAS and IPS officers have important roles. However, they were never entitled to use red light. Also, in Punjab under the rule of the previous government, Shiromani Akali Dal leaders at all levels, leaders of local bodies, even candidates who lost the Assembly elections, appropriated the red beacon.
Chairman of Kingfisher Airlines Vijay Mallya speaks during a news conference about the new Kingfisher Airlines service between London and Bangalore in southern India, in London September 4, 2008. Photo: REUTERS

Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender, is likely to challenge his extradition to India from the UK on the grounds that the charges against him are politically motivated, a legal expert said today.

The 61-year-old liquor baron, who has been living in self-imposed exile in Britain since last year, was arrested by Scotland Yard yesterday on fraud allegations, triggering an official extradition process in the British courts.

Mallya was released on conditional bail a few hours later after providing a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds and assuring the court of abiding by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel documents.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will now argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities.

"The Crown Prosecution Service, acting on behalf of the Indian authorities, will need to demonstrate a prima facie case ie. produce some evidence to show that the criminal charges against Mallya, for which his extradition is sought, are justified," said Javinder Nakhwal, partner at Peters and Peters Solicitors LLP and member of the UK's Extradition Lawyers Association.

"There are a number of grounds on which it is possible to contest extradition, some of which might not be relevant to Mallya's case. Mallya may seek to challenge extradition on the basis that the request for his extradition is politically motivated, and that any extradition would constitute a breach of certain human rights, she explained.

The precise grounds on which Mallya contests his extradition remains to be seen.

His legal team will seek to support their arguments with factual and/or expert evidence and can claim he won't get a fair trial in India and can also raise the condition of Indian prisons as a factor behind the extradition request being declined.

The Indian authorities will have an opportunity to respond to any such evidence, she said.

"When the case returns to court on May 17, the district judge is likely to set down a timetable for the service of any evidence to be submitted by either side in the proceedings, and list a date for a final hearing.

"There might be a few more hearings in this case in the coming months to deal with case management or any issues that arise, before the final hearing takes place, at which the full arguments from both sides in this case will be heard by the district judge," Nakhwal clarified.

Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016.

In January, an Indian court ordered a consortium of lenders to start the process of recovering the loans.

"Extradition is the formal procedure for requesting the surrender of persons from one territory to another... Part 2 of the Extradition Act, in conjunction with any applicable extradition instrument, regulates export extradition from the United Kingdom to category 2 territories [like India].

"The CPS acts as the representative of the requesting state in category 2 cases (as for category 1 territories), and all proceedings are heard at Westminster Magistrates' Court," a CPS statement said.

At the extradition hearing the judge must decide a number of issues: whether the documentation sent to the court by the Secretary of State complies with the Act; whether the individual arrested is the person named on the warrant; whether the offence detailed in the request is an extradition offence et al.

If the District Judge rules in favour of extradition, the UK home secretary must order Mallya's extradition within two months of the appropriate day.

India and the UK have an Extradition Treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement  Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India last October to face trial in connection with his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

However, unlike Mallya, he had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge.

As Mallya is fighting the extradition order, he will have the right to appeal and the case can go up to the UK Supreme Court.

The flamboyant businessman, who still owns Force India Formula One team, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

"Not a rupee was misused," he had tweeted earlier this year.

But Indian authorities want him to stand trial for alleged unpaid loans to Kingfisher Airlines, which collapsed in 2012 with the loss of thousands of jobs.

As he awaits the hearing, Mallya is expected to be based at his lavish country home in Tewin, Hertfordshire, an hours drive from London.

The Indian and UK governments are believed to have struck an agreement on extradition proceedings during British Prime Minister Theresa Mays visit to India last November.

India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the Extradition Treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale on February 8.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was the most senior Cabinet minister to raise the issue during his visit to the UK earlier this year.

The UK Home Office declined to comment on "individual cases" but said that Mallya's case will be handled under Part 2 of the UK's Extradition Act 2003.
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,
The only one that couldn't make it had a pretty good reason not to be there...

20 hours ago
GREENSBORO  Theres a new twist in the legal struggles of the former First Family of local auto sales:

Robert Bobby Dunn Jr. has countersued his father, Robert Bob Dunn Sr.

In a suit filed earlier this month in N.C. Business Court, Bobby Dunn says his father owes him millions after taking more than his share from various family businesses.

It also says Bob Dunn knew about  and even encouraged  the familys practice of moving money between companies to cover up financial irregularities, mismanagement and Bob Dunns personal loans.

The suit doesnt outline how much Bobby Dunn wants.

Demanding the money he is due is something Bobby Dunn never wanted to happen and avoided for nearly 30 years, according to his attorney, Amiel Rossabi of Rossabi Reardon Klein Spivey.

Bobby always held back from doing what he had to do, Rossabi said. He loves his dad. He appreciates his dad. He respects his dad.

The countersuit is a response to a $4.3 million suit Bob Dunn filed in January, also in N.C. Business Court. It accuses Bobby Dunn of mismanagement and fraud, including taking more than $1 million from Bob Dunn Hyundai from 2013 to 2015.

Bobby Dunn denies those claims in his countersuit.

Bob Dunn and, later, Bobby Dunn gained wide-spread notoriety in the Triad for their colorful TV commerials for Fords, Subarus, Hondas and Hyundais.

They always ended with the catchphrase Were dealin!

The Dunn Automotive Group at one time owned dealerships in Raleigh, Boone and Greensboro, including Bob Dunn Hyundai. In 2000, Bob Dunn started to transition away from running the company and into retirement in Florida, where he continues to live.

Bobby Dunn was vice president from 1998 to 2002, when he took over for his father as president and chief operating officer.

He owned 25 percent of the business, and his father owned the rest.

They sold the company in 2015 to Raleigh-based Capital Automotive Group for $5 million.

According to the filing, Bobby Dunn says he found a buyer willing to pay $2 million more than Capital. The offer came from a well established Triad-area auto dealer who had both the actual intent and the ability to make the purchase, it says.

His father rejected the offer out of hand, the filing says.

Rossabi declined Tuesday to name the dealership.

Bobby Dunn also says his father borrowed $1.9 million, interest-free, from the company in 1993 to pay for his divorce from his second wife.

For 17 years, according to the court filing, the company concealed the loan on its books at Mr. (Bob) Dunns insistence and direction. He didnt repay any of the loan until 2010, it says.

The divorce loan was typical of the way Mr. (Bob) Dunn viewed and treated the Dunn companies monies, the filing says.

That is, if he desired money for any reason, he would take it or demand that Bobby and Jeff (Dunn, Bobbys brother) have it transferred to him.

Bobby Dunn also says he loaned the company $3.5 million from 2004 to 2008. The filing says the cash infusions were either loans that should be repaid, or investments that boosted Bobby Dunns ownership share beyond 25 percent.

The filing says Bobby Dunn didnt pressure his father for repayment, or for him to repay the $1.9 million divorce loan, out of loyalty to his family and the company.

Bobby Dunn also disputes his fathers claim that he had little knowledge of the companys finances, and how the Dunns moved money between their various companies.

His filing includes a 17-page handwritten letter, purportedly written by Bob Dunn to him and Jeff in July 2013. It details the financial problems  and alleged faulty accounting  among those companies.

If I was writing a textbook, I would have to say that many problems were caused by improper accounting, lack of accounting, accounting which was not in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and poor business decisions, the letter says.

If I was writing a novel, I would have to say that many problems were caused by greed, egos, and/or too much use of the words I, Me, Mine.

Darren McDonough of the firm Ivey McClellan Gatton and Siegmund is representing Bob Dunn and the dealership. On Wednesday, McDonough said his client denies many of Bobby Dunns assertions in the countersuit.

He also said theyre very confident that their own assertions will be supported by the evidence, while those made by Bobby Dunn will not.

McDonough said that confidence is bolstered by two statements in Bobby Dunns countersuit, including his admission that he used $30,000 of company funds to pay Rossabi for personal legal matters.

McDonough also cited Bobby Dunns acknowledgment that his father started the businesses, and were it not for those efforts and the things he gave to both of his sons none of it would have ever been possible.
Sarah Knighton started investing almost 20 years ago, following a job move. She wanted to take advantage of her new roles workplace pension scheme, because she did not want to miss out on employer contributions. But when Knighton switched to a new company she reinvested this pot of money into a SIPP.

SIPPs were relatively new at the time. It gave me a lot more flexibility on where to invest my money, she said: I found that with my company pension the contributions all went into one generic scheme, and I found it difficult to tell where this money was invested, or how it was performing.

Knighton, who is now in her 40s, works as a general manager in the insurance industry. She has moved jobs several times in the last few years, and each time has moved she consolidated these company pensions into her SIPP.

She adds: Im not an expert, but am reasonably well-informed about financial issues. Investing in SIPPs has meant I have done research and looked at different investment options.

Keeping Investment Costs to a Minimum

Knighton, who lives in Oxfordshire, is predominantly saving for retirement, but also invests in ISAs, as well as share save schemes. These might not be such long-term investments, but hopefully they will give me a bit of flexibility about my finances, and provide some sort of financial safety net, should I ever need it, she says.

Knighton is keen to keep investment costs to a minimum, and for this reason she has tended to focus on ETFs in recent years. She mainly invested in ETFs provided by iShares, saying: To me these seemed to be the ideal way to access different markets, whether its the FTSE 250 or the S&P 500.

Globally Diversifying a Retirement Portfolio

Knighton started with a couple of UK and US equity ETFs, and then decided to diversify: I realised I still had quite a few years to go before retirement so I wanted to be a little bit more adventurous with my investments.

To this end, Knighton invested in an ETF tracking the Japan market, one tracking the gold price and another tracking stock markets in the BRIC economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

She says: While I was comfortable taking a bit more risk with my money, these werent necessarily the right investment decisions at the time. They all turned out to be very rocky and started falling significantly in value after I invested.

Knighton invested in the iShares Physical Gold ETC (IGLN) after several years of rising gold prices. But during 2012 the gold price peaked, and after a volatile 12 months prices fell fairly consistently between 2013 and 2016.

Knighton says: Eventually I decided to sell this holding, which did mean I made a loss on the investment. Fortunately, I had only invested a relatively small amount of money.

She added: Im comfortable buying ETFs that invest in the FTSE-All Share or S&P 500. But I realised I simply dont have the knowledge  or the time to do the proper research  when it comes to investing in riskier areas of the market.

I concluded that while I was probably right to look for investments that were a bit more exciting, I was almost certainly the wrong person to choose what these should be  and how much I should invest in them.

Investing Help from the Professionals

As a result, Knighton decided to get help building a more diverse investment portfolio. She says: I looked at getting help from a financial adviser or wealth manager, but the size of their fees mean its not cost-effective with a portfolio of my size.

If youve got a portfolio worth several million then it would be great to get personalised advice and a tailor-made portfolio. Unfortunately, advice fees of 1%, plus platform fees and underlying investment charges means this doesnt seem a viable option for someone like me.

Instead, she switched part of her SIPP into the Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity Fund.

This fund has a five-star rating from Morningstar, reflecting its strong performance in recent years against peers. This is a global fund which builds a growth orientated portfolio, that is 80% in equities, 20% in fixed income.

The Vangaurd managers decide the allocation across different equity markets, and invest in them through a mix of low-cost ETFs and Vanguards own passive funds. This has helps keep costs to a minimum: ongoing charges on this fund are now just 0.22%, following Vanguards decision to trim fees again in January this year.

Knighton says: Vanguard has a good reputation. I liked the fact that this is a mutual company, so seems more geared to delivering good returns for its customers rather than enriching shareholders.

This investment is managed through her AJ Bell SIPP. She has also invested some of her existing savings into a pension and an ISA run by Nutmeg. Knighton says: Here I select the risk profile I wanted, but I am not making the decisions on asset allocation within this risk profile.

This has enabled her to have different profiles for her pension and her ISA, which she says is investing over a slightly shorter time-frame. She adds that she has be pleased to date with the returns from both these investment options.

Company Share Save Scheme

Elsewhere Knighton has built up a reasonable portfolio of shares in the company she works for. These are usually three-year savings plans, allowing employees to buy company shares at a discount.

Knighton adds: Ive participated in several of these schemes. In most of them Ive seen the money Ive invested almost double in value, although it does depend on stock market movements over this period.

Knighton says she is wary of putting all her eggs in one basket. But says she is confident if she holds the company shares for the long-term she will see a decent return on her money.
The association announced its pillars, which focus on housing affordability across the province.For us we dont look at housing and housing affordability from a singular (viewpoint) like Vancouver, Robert Laing, BCREA CEO, told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. I think thats one of the weaknesses that you see in the government focusing on Vancouver or Toronto; we are concerned about the entire province. What were trying to encourage the government to do is look for efficiencies, try to be consistent across the province, and apply the rules using economic sense.The British Columbia Real Estate Association announced what it refers to as its five pillars, and it will be sharing its recommendations with the provincial government.BCREA's five pillars include timely recommendations to: assist consumers with housing costs, encourage the creation of more rental housing, densify urban areas, adjust the Property Transfer Tax, and promote best practices among local governmentsThe province is currently in election season, and housing affordability is, unsurprisingly, on the minds of both politicians and citizens.

One of the major recommendations is for the government to overhaul its property land tax structure, which is currently the highest in Canada.

If youre, obviously, in the large urban area, you pay more because your house is worth more. But were saying lets tie that tax to the cost of living. To keep it from becoming this enormous payment to payment to people and that would apply: A house outside the lower mainland, the average house is around $688,000. The current property transfer tax amounts to almost $12,000 on there. If youre in Vancouver, the average house is close to $1 million, its $17,000, Laing said. Just by tying the tax to the cost of living and the consumer price index, you wouldnt see such a huge increase in that tax just because your house price has gone up.
A Canadian medical marijuana company is poised to take off, amid the prospects of legalization and the resulting positive impact on cannabis stocks.Invictus MD has begun paying dividends to shareholders, the first medical cannabis company to do soand the industrys demand for space to grow their wares might lead to a renewed phase of frantic property purchases.Theyve been nurturing their shareholders along with their crops. Invictus MDs focus on two verticalscannabis cultivation and cannabis fertilizer and nutrientsgives it a competitive, low-cost advantage on this playing field, according to a recent Baystreet analysis.Now theyve got prime real estate to add to their portfolio, and this is one cash crop thats going to keep growing.Marijuana also enjoys a unique advantage that puts it ahead of other Canadian industries.Theres no province-by-province uncertainty in Canadamedical marijuana is federally legal, and in mid-April, the government is planning to put through its bill to legalize recreational use by next summer, so the urgency for investors is mounting, the analysis explained. Some of the biggest marijuana stocks in the U.S. have seen 1,000 percent gains over the past couple of years, and now it is Canadas turn  where no ones even looking.At present, around 130,000 Canadians are prescribed with medical marijuana. Far outweighing the combined sales of all liquor types in Canada, the cannabis industry has been estimated by Deloitte to be worth upwards of $22.6 billion annually.Earlier this year, Canadas leading multi-tenant industrial REIT indicated that it will be adding the medical marijuana industry to its list to ftenants.At the beginning, we shied away from it but more and more its becoming mainstream, Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust CEO Kevan Gorrie said.We would treat them as any other tenant that would require a lot of due diligence.

Related stories:

Industrial REIT eyeing marijuana as a powerhouse sector
Ocwen Sued, Shut Down in Multiple States

There are bad days, and worse days, and there are days like Ocwen Financial Corporation (OFC) had on Thursday. The company was not only sued on multiple grounds by both the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the State of Florida, but saw its operations effectively shut down by the North Carolina Commissioner of Banks.

According to CFPB, Ocwen, headquartered in West Palm Beach, Fla., is one of the nation's largest nonbank mortgage servicers. As of Dec. 31, 2016, it serviced almost 1.4 million loans with an aggregate unpaid principal balance of $209 billion. It services loans for borrowers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

First, the North Carolina commissioner, Ray Grace, issued a cease and desist order against the company after a determination that it "has engaged in, or is engaging in, or is about to engage in, acts of practices constituting violations of state and federal law and applicable regulations."

Grace acted under the authority of the Multi-State Mortgage Committee (MMC), composed of state mortgage regulators who agreed to collectively address their concerns over OFC's operations. On February 28, 2015, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, and Washington conducted a multi-state examination of the company covering operations from January 1, 2013 to the examination date. That examination identified several violations of state and federal law including consumer escrow accounts that could not be reconciled and willful and ongoing unlicensed activity in certain states. The examination also found that the company's financial condition was deteriorating.

The order alleges the company subsequently failed to respond to requests for information on its apparent unlicensed activity and company executives were warned the violations were unacceptable and would not be tolerated. OFC partially addressed these violations after a lapse of two years, but the Commissioner's order states that unlicensed activity is believed to continue in some jurisdictions.

In addition to being unable to reconcile consumer escrow accounts (used to hold consumer funds for payment of insurance and taxes), the examination also found OFC had failed to make disbursements from the accounts on numerous loans. The company also appeared to routinely send customers inaccurate confusing and misleading escrow statements.

In December 2016 OFC and state regulators entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which required OFC to retain an independent auditing firm to perform a comprehensive audit and reconciliation of all escrow accounts with a report submitted to and approved by the MMC by January 13, 2017. On that date, the company informed the MMC that the $1.5 billion cost of that audit was beyond its financial capability and asked to sample 457 accounts out of the 2.5 million it had serviced over the initial audit period. The company has also failed to provide a suitable going-forward business plan to address its financial condition.

The Cease and Desist Order requires OFC to immediately cease acquiring new mortgage servicing rights and acquiring or originating new residential mortgages until it provides a sufficient analysis of its financial condition and provides state regulators with a reconcilement of its escrow accounts showing that consumer funds are appropriately collected, accounted for, and distributed. OFC has 20 days in which to request a hearing.

The CFPB suit was filed against OFC and its subsidiaries "for failing borrowers at every stage of the mortgage servicing process." The Bureau alleges that the company's years of "widespread errors, shortcuts, and runarounds cost some borrowers money and others their homes."

In addition to the problems with unreconciled escrow accounts and unpaid tax and insurance bills outlined in the state regulators' order, CFPB accuses OFC of a litany of other abuses against its consumers.

It allegedly loaded inaccurate and incomplete information into its servicing system. The system generated errors with even accurate data through system failures and deficient programing. It then used this faulty information to service borrowers' loans.

The Bureau alleges that OFC has wrongfully initiated foreclosure proceedings on at least 1,000 people, and has wrongfully held foreclosure sales. It has initiated the foreclosure process before completing a review of borrowers' loss mitigation applications, asked borrowers to submit additional information, but foreclosed on the borrowers before the deadline for doing so, and foreclosed on borrowers who were fulfilling their obligations under a loss mitigation agreement.

The company allegedly failed to appropriately credit payments made by numerous borrowers, failed to send accurate periodic statements and failed to correct billing and payment errors.



It allegedly enrolled some consumers in add-on products through deceptive solicitations and without their consent, then billed and collected payments from these consumers.



It is alleged that, since 2014, OFC has routinely failed to properly acknowledge and investigate complaints, or make necessary corrections. In April 2015, OFC attempted to rectify its call center problems, adopting a policy wherein borrowers have to complain at least five times in nine days before their complaint is escalated to be resolved. Since April 2015, OFC has received more than 580,000 notices of error and complaints from more than 300,000 different borrowers.



The company has allegedly failed to include complete and accurate borrower information when it sold its rights to service thousands of loans to new mortgage servicers. This has hampered the new servicers' efforts to comply with laws and investor guidelines.

The Bureau also alleges that OFC has failed to remediate borrowers for the harm it has caused, including the problems it has created for struggling borrowers who were in default on their loans or who had filed for bankruptcy, a group of borrowers for whom these servicing errors have been particularly costly.

The suit filed by the State of Florida makes similar allegations as the CFPB filing.
Mount Pleasant, SC (29464)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 52F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 52F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.
The former mayor of Passaic, N.J., will spend more than two years in prison for accepting bribes from developers. Much of the money was siphoned from Housing and Urban Development funds.



Alex D. Blanco, 45, pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting and accepting corrupt payments. According to prosecutors, between 2010 and 2012, as mayor of Passaic, Blanco pocketed $110,000 from two developers who wanted to build eight low-income residential units on property they owned in the city. After the city council and zoning board had approved the project, Blanco had an intermediary approach the developers. The developers were told that they would be expected to give Blanco a sizable payment to ensure the project could proceed, according to the US Attorneys Office for the District of New Jersey.



Shortly thereafter, the Passaic City Council authorized the release of $216,400 in HUD funds to the developers  money that had been earmarked for the project, according to the US Attorneys Office. In September of 2011, Blanco met with the developers and accepted checks totaling $65,000. About eight days later, he accepted an additional $40,000 from the developers, and in March 2012 he took a further $5,000.

Much of the money came from the HUD funds released to the developers, according to the US Attorneys Office.



Mayor Blanco admitted to aggressively soliciting and accepting illegal payments from developers, taking for himself federal money that was intended to help provide housing for some of the citys poorest residents, Acting US Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick said.



Blanco was sentenced to 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $110,000.





Related stories:

Former mortgage bank head imprisoned for multi-million dollar fraud

Former publisher charged in $10 million mortgage fraud scheme
Market Track Sold to Private Equity Firm Vista

In the US, advertising, brand and pricing intelligence specialist Market Track has been sold to private equity firm Vista Equity Partners by its former owner Aurora Capital Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.



Headquartered in Chicago, Market Track offers subscription-based advertising, brand and pricing intelligence solutions in North America. Clients use its services to determine how competing retailers, products and brands are being advertised, priced and promoted both in-store and online.



According to a statement, the acquisition will begin the next phase of growth for Market Track by pairing the company's offer with Vista's investment and operating model for high-growth SaaS companies. Vista has previously been involved in the acquisition of a wide range of companies including agricultural data and analytics specialist AGDATA; event management and survey technology provider Cvent; and marketing software and solutions firms Marketo. Market Track itself has acquired two firms this year, native ad competitive intelligence specialist Brandtale and Ottawa-based pricing intell firm 360pi.



Dennis Moore (pictured), CEO of Market Track, comments: 'We are thrilled to be working with Vista Equity Partners to fuel the future growth of Market Track and are looking forward to a great partnership that will benefit our customers, our employees, and our industry. We are also thankful for the strong leadership and support from Aurora over the past five years and appreciate all they've done to prepare us for the next phase of our company's growth'.



Web site: www.markettrack.com .




A Brief History of the Arnold Classic Brazil

Written by Ron Harris

19 April 2017

A Brief History of the Arnold Classic Brazil

2013

In 2011, the Arnold Classic launched its campaign of global expansion with the addition of the Arnold Classic Europe in Spain. The next step in international conquest came in 2013, with the inaugural Arnold Classic Brazil, held in Rio de Janeiro.

There were two big stories here. This was the first Pro win for Brandon Curry since he had turned pro back at the 2008 USA. In the ten IFBB events he had competed in up to this point, he'd only managed to make the top five once. This was a career-changing win for him, a premonition of the back-to-back wins he would score in New Zealand and Australia four years later.

But many felt that the rightful winner that weekend was a man who never even made it to the stage. Cedric McMillan was disqualified by head judge Lee Thompson for not showing up at the athlete meeting until it was over. Though we will never know for sure, chances are Cedric would indeed have walked away with that show.

Results:

1st Brandon Curry

2nd Toney Freeman

3rd Johnnie Jackson

4th Ed Nunn

5th Fred Smalls

2014

The event moved just west of Rio proper to the beach town of Barra, where it would remain for three years.

This would be only the fourth pro show for Steve Kuclo, and his second pro win. Unfortunately, his victory was marred by controversy. Steves condition was outstanding, however; he was flat and had no pop to his muscles. Strong cases were made by fans that Juan Morel, Jonathan Delarosa, and even Lionel Beyeke were all more deserving of the win. Harsh accusations were leveled against head judge Lee Thompson, known to have a friendly relationship with Kuclo, for somehow fixing the show for Steve. On the flight home, Steve, a firefighter/paramedic, administered CPR to a fellow passenger on the plane who had suffered cardiac arrest. Sadly, the man did not survive. As for Thompson, he resigned from the IFBB the following year to start his own organization.

Results:

1st Steve Kuclo

2nd Juan Morel

3rd Jonathan Delarosa

4th Lionel Beyeke

5th Toney Freeman

2015

Mamdough Big Ramy Elssbiay became the heaviest man to ever win a pro bodybuilding contest, weighing in at an even 300 pounds. In terms of condition, this was nowhere near his best. Yet his overwhelming mass was enough to thwart a ripped-up Cedric McMillan. Fans of shape and aesthetics, as well as those who valued superior condition, were none too pleased about the decision. But for those who celebrate the freaks, Ramys win was a day to celebrate.

Results:

1st Big Ramy

2nd Cedric McMillan

3rd Juan Morel

4th Victor Martinez

5th Brandon Curry

2016

Nobody argued about the winner this year. Kai Greene was coming off strong victories at both the Arnold Classic in Ohio and the Arnold event in Australia. Having sat out the 2015 Mr. Olympia and also missing the 2016 edition, Kai seemed to be making a statement that perhaps he preferred the Arnold Classic events. They were, after all, the only contests he has competed in since taking second place for the third year in a row at the 2014 Mr. Olympia.

Results:

1st Kai Greene

2nd Juan Morel

3rd Lionel Beyeke

4th Vitaly Fateev

5th Ronny Rockel

2017

For 2017, the event has been renamed the Arnold Classic South America, both to more accurately encompass the territory it covers; and to be more inviting to the many Latin American athletes who come to support the show as spectators, competitors, and vendors. Its also moved to the city of Sao Paolo, which has a stronger economic market than Rio, as well as what has been promised to be a bigger and better venue. IFBB Pro Mens judging kicks off this Saturday night at 6 PM Eastern, be sure to visit here for our play by play of the show!

Competitors:

Juan Morel

Michael Lockett

Johnnie Jackson

Guy Cisternino

Earl Abraham

Lukas Osladil

Derek Upshaw

Tomas Kaspar

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Two astronauts blasted off on a journey to the International Space Station early Wednesday  and one is an American astronaut on his first space flight.

Jack Fischer told News 13 he wants to look into space

Flight to ISS will take six hours

Next Space Coast launch: Space Coast launch schedule

NASA's Jack Fischer and Russia's Fyodor Yurchikhin lifted off successfully on the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft from a launch facility in Kazakhstan at 3:13 a.m.EST.

The Soyuz MS-04 rocket lifts off carrying @Astro2Fish and Fyodor Yurchikhin to station for 4-1/2 month mission. https://t.co/qpyi2LM11l pic.twitter.com/NCNhbqE2w8  Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) April 20, 2017

NASA posted video of the third-stage separation with the crew members experiencing microgravity.

And just like that, the duo leaves the confines of gravity and enters space! Follow their journey to @Space_Station: https://t.co/mzKW5uDsTi pic.twitter.com/R8XdSAoT1x  NASA (@NASA) April 20, 2017

Their six-hour flight took them to the ISS.

For Fischer, this is his first time in space. Fischer told News 13 what he was looking forward to the most.

"Obviously floating is going to be really cool, but I'm really looking forward to looking out the window. I just can't wait to see the Earth in its entirety from space. I think that'll be amazing," Fischer said.

He also said he's looking forward to his first spacewalk, scheduled for May 12.

That would also be pretty amazing for the opportunity to go outside. The only thing between you and space is a little suit, Fischer said.

When Fischer and Yurchikhin arrive, they will join three other crew members at the space station, under the command of NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. At 57, she is the oldest woman to go into space.

They will have almost 300 experiments to conduct while they are there, including everything from technology to medical research.

Some more experiments are set to arrive Saturday with the Cygnus cargo capsule that launched Tuesday on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The body of an Oakland man who went missing Wednesday after his boat capsized a mile off the coast of Muir Beach in Marin County was found floating in the water, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday.

Juki Dang, 64, was found just before 7 p.m. Wednesday after his capsized 10-foot skiff was spotted and reported by another boater around 11:30 a.m., officials said.
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As people clad in beanies, marijuana leaf-printed leggings and shirts with slogans like Dabs Dabs Dabs lined up for the annual 4/20 party at Golden Gate Park, not everyone was thrilled with the events new organizational structure  and the 6-foot chain-link fence they stood behind.

That feeling grew when the entry gates, which were scheduled to open at 9:00 a.m., didnt swing free until about 9:40. Angry shouts of Its everybodys park and Its 9:30 already echoed from the line.

Right now, I think it sucks, because theyre doing a control thing, said Dan Scott, 55, who has come from Sacramento for the San Francisco festivities for the past five years. Last year, it was totally cool, you could do whatever you wanted. This changes the whole attitude of the situation.

In the past, revelers had free reign of Golden Gate Parks Hippie Hill on the unofficial pot holiday of April 20. This year the city issued an official permit for the 4/20 gathering, which allowed a handful of organizers to set up food trucks and stages as well as fencing, bag checks and security.

Some said the oversight was welcome, given safety issues and crime in past years.

Its probably for the best, said Mike Loskutoff, 63, a Bay Area native who estimated that hes been celebrating 4/20 in Golden Gate Park for a decade.

We were there when the Haight Street gang flipped the tables, running around everywhere, and there were tents lying on people, he added, as he broke up a clump of weed with a small pair of scissors. That was not good.

And I was there for the gun scare (in 2014), said his friend Dennis Smith, 63.

For the most part, the new rules wont change the way Loskutoff and Smith spend 4/20.

Well be puffing all day! Loskutoff said merrily.

Despite the more orderly scene and the listed prohibitions on such activities as vending and bringing in glass bottles (and bongs), there appeared to be little enforcement of the regulations. Dozens sold various food and marijauna prodcuts and glassware was ever present.

Still, the tougher stance didnt sit well with many.

Its weird when things start getting so structured, said Kristy Brown, 29, who was lounging on a blanket in the sun in Sharon Meadow with her boyfriend Daniel Terry, 32, and their 2-month-old puppy, Farley.

Terry said the couple paid $35 to park in a nearby lot that normally costs $5.

Stop trying to make it something its not, he said. If its a bad vibe, people will just go to Dolores Park. We might go to Dolores Park anyway at some point, just to check it out over there.

I heard a rumor we might all have to pay to get in here next year, Brown said.

Meanwhile, at the entrance, one man didnt want any part of the barricades that channeled people into the celebration, nor the fences that cordoned them off.

Its all about love. We smoke weed and we love, man. Open this up, man, he said. The gates shouldnt be here.

To which a fire official replied, Well, they are.

Filipa Ioannou and Jenna Lyons are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @obioannoukenobi  @JennaJourno
Another one makes a jump.

Cody Carper, a partner at the Kirkland & Ellis law firm in Houston, became the latest to make a move to a competitor, in this case the New York-based Willkie Farr & Gallagher, which opened its Houston office in 2014.

A surge of national and international firms opening offices in Houston has created something of a game of musical chairs for local established lawyers. The newcomer firms, eager to get established quickly, are poaching entrenched partners from their rivals, betting the lawyers they bring on have a loyal - and deep - list of clients willing to make the jump too.

RELATED: New law firms spur job hopping among lawyers

Carper specialized in the oil and gas industry at Kirkland & Ellis, another firm that opened an outpost in Houston in 2014 by luring partners away from competitors and developing a reputation for paying top dollar for the stars. Kirkland & Ellis got its start in Chicago.

RELATED: Headquarters? Law firms take the fifth

Carper advises oil and gas clients on complex transactions, including the formation of joint ventures and drilling partnerships, along with buying and selling assets.

RELATED: Law firms scramble to match big paydays for associates



Willkie Farr & Gallagher has 650 lawyers, including 23 in Houston.
To really appreciate The Lost City of Z, it would help not to consider its hero a complete idiot.

True, my own impression of the British explorer Percy Fawcett was derived from the movie itself, from information writer-director James Gray placed there. But that impression couldnt have been Grays intention. No one would make a 2-hour movie about an idiot, not even Jerry Lewis at his most grandiose.

Based on David Granns book, The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession, the film tells the story of Fawcett, a British military officer sent to South America to chart the jungles along the Amazon. At the start of the film, Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) is a young man with something to prove, so he leaves his pregnant wife (Sienna Miller) for years and risks disease and cannibals to go off and make his name.

Grays presentation of the jungle is striking. To watch Fawcett and his small crew navigating the waters or hacking their way through the foliage is to feel like you are there, and for many that will constitute a recommendation.

In the end, it depends on just how much a viewer wants to feel stuck on a boat, in boiling heat, with your shirt stuck to your back and with mosquitoes swarming and natives firing arrows. A case could be made in favor of such an experience, but it wont be made here.

While on that first expedition, Fawcett finds some pottery and carvings and leaps to the conclusion that he is on the verge of discovering ruins from an ancient and previously unknown civilization. This becomes the mission of his life. He goes back to London and tells everybody. Hes forceful. Hes certain. He is determined to go back and find something besides a broken pot.

With a movie about an obsessed and driven protagonist, it helps if the protagonists goal seems worth it. The movie makes a feint in the direction of egalitarianism, that Fawcett is out to prove that pre-Christian non-Europeans were capable of creating a sophisticated civilization. Fine.

But what would be the tangible good of finding such a civilization? For sure, it would be of considerable archaeological interest. At the same time, it would probably destroy every tribe and village near it and bring in a flood of European businesses to rape the environment. No wonder the first impulse of the indigenous residents is to fire arrows at his boat.

There is also the personal cost, which the movie is very good about showing. Imagine being married to this guy. Percy and his wife, Nina, start their life together with a lot of talk about equality between the sexes, and Miller, as the wife, plays that. She plays a woman radiant in her inner value and confident that she has a man who loves and respects her.

But he loves and respects her so much that he disappears for years. He comes back just long enough to get her pregnant, then leaves for a few years, only to have to reintroduce himself to the latest children upon his return.

Again, if Fawcett were pursuing some noble end, then it might be worth our while to watch his struggle. Or, conversely, were he some interesting form of lunatic, that might be something, too.

Instead, hes somewhere in between, a hero who is really not a hero. The last chapter of Fawcetts career, which I wont reveal, is selfish and irresponsible to an indefensible degree.

To his credit, Hunnam carries himself like a great man, so that we buy Fawcetts act for a while. Robert Pattinson, unrecognizable under a beard, plays Fawcetts faithful assistant. Its Miller, however, who gives the most affecting performance, in that we see the light fade from her eyes.

What an awful thing this husband did to her to praise her for courage and then use all her courage against her.  

Running time: 141 minutes

MPAA rating: PG-13 (profanity)
During Fiesta season, your favorite restaurants and bars might have you craving more than just a delicious meal and thirst-quenching beverage.

More than three dozen establishments submitted their medal designs to the San Antonio Express-News this year, and they didn't disappoint. McDonald's medal cleverly uses its most popular grub to fill out the facial features of a hat-wearing calaca, while Beer N' All plays off of the look of its drive-thru shop.
DEAR ABBY: My wife of 43 years died nine months ago, after losing her four-year battle with cancer. I met a woman who had also experienced tragedy in her life, and we started seeing each other casually. When my wife's three sisters found out, I became the outcast. Why do people think there is a set time to grieve? Life is too short to sit and pine. Memories will always be there.

This woman has brought me out of my depression and sorrow. I can't understand how people I thought cared for me could be so mean.

I was told by the pastor and hospice counselor that grieving takes time, but what is enough time? I was also told to look at the marriages of these women. When I did, I realized that they were unhappy in their unions and probably don't want anyone else to be happy. So what do I do now?

 Outcast in Pennsylvania

DEAR OUTCAST: You have had more than four years to grieve your late wife's illness and death. Now, go on with your life and don't look back.

There's a story in the book of Genesis about a man named Lot, whose wife looked back during the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and was turned into a pillar of salt. What I take from the story is that sometimes it isn't healthy for people to spend a lot of time looking backward, because if you do, you too can become "frozen" and unable to move forward with your life.

DEAR ABBY: One of my co-workers, "Bob," has the same bad habit as I do  smoking. (I know smoking isn't good for me and I have tried to quit several times. One day I will, but not just yet.) Bob has been bumming cigarettes from me two to three times a day, five days a week, since I started here over a year ago. He's always asking me or another co-worker. He never buys his own. Strike that! He has bought two cartons about eight months apart to "thank me" for giving him cigarettes, but in the end, I smoked only one pack total out of both cartons. It's like he gave them to me so I could ration them to him.

My problem is, Bob is the vice president of the company, and I'm the receptionist. There's a huge salary gap between our positions.

How can I respectfully tell him I can no longer afford his habit and mine, and that he should support his own habit?

I have tried to think of different ways to say it, but our cultures are different as well, and I don't want to come across as disrespectful and end up not getting promoted  or worse, lose my job.

 Taken Advantage of in Sugarland, Texas

DEAR TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF: Sometimes what we regard as a problem is actually an opportunity. Because you feel that refusing to be your boss' supplier could jeopardize your job, the safest way to handle this would be for you to quit smoking NOW.

Talk to your doctor (who will be thrilled, I'm sure) about a nicotine withdrawal system to help ease you through the withdrawal.

Then, when Mr. VP asks to bum his next cigarette, give him a smile along with the good news that you're kicking your addiction and suggest he join you.

Write Dear Abby at http://www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
Hoosick Falls

The biggest contractor in Hoosick Falls is suing Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics and Honeywell International, saying a manufacturing chemical contaminated groundwater with such devastating impact on its business that employees had to be terminated as it struggles to make money.

R.M. Bacon, an excavator and construction company for more than 30 years, is being represented by Weitz and Luxenburg, the same law firm that in February 2016 filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of Hoosick Falls village residents against Saint Gobain and Honeywell over the release of PFOA or perfluorooctanoic acid.

Months later, it filed the first personal injury lawsuit on the grounds that PFOA exposure directly caused the plaintiff's ulcerative colitis and other illnesses.

This latest suit alleges that the discovery of PFOA water contamination sent property values in Hoosick Falls into a tailspin and scared away potential developers.

Specifically, the civil action contends that work dried up when residents couldn't get loans and balked at making home improvements as property values plunged.

In 2016, R.M. Bacon did not schedule any work after July and lost money.

To lower overhead and costs, the company was forced to sell most of its equipment and terminate all employees.

"This lawsuit demonstrates how widespread and devastating the effects of polluted water can be on a community," said Robin Greenwald, head of the law firm's Environmental and Consumer Protection Unit. "The residents of Hoosick Falls have experienced physical and financial harm from this reckless contamination and now their businesses are suffering.

The lawsuit faults Saint-Gobain, which runs the McCaffrey Street plant near the village's well field, and Honeywell International, which acquired a firm that ran the plant, for the contamination. The suit says the firms "knew or should have known that use of PFOA and/or the discharge of PFOA was potentially hazardous to human health and the environment" and failed to take adequate precautions.

R.M. Bacon is seeking damages to cover the costs of its decreased revenue, the resulting loss of equipment and its diminished property values.

Village leaders are considering a $1.04 million settlement with the two companies.

The reworked agreement would cover the village's costs incurred since 2014, when PFOA, was found in the public water supply.
WESTPORT Connecticut State Troopers have arrested a New York City man after he allegedly flashed a badge to try to get out of a slew of motor vehicle violations.

Popeye Whittingham, 47, of West 127th Street, was charged with impersonating a police officer and reckless driving, and other infractions.

The ruckus began shortly before 7 p.m. on Wednesday night when a man was reported zooming down Interstate 95 in an SUV with his emergency lights flashing.

The Bridgeport state police barracks received numerous 911 calls which started on I-95 near Exit 3 in Greenwich, according to a statement. Troopers at the scene of a minor crash intercepted the man near Exit 18.

According to the statement, troopers saw a Nissan SUV traveling on and off the center median passing traffic, tailgating vehicles, splitting the lanes and cutting from side to side on the highway.

When Whittingham was pulled over he led Troopers to believe he was a NYC Police Officer and displayed a Detective Badge.

In his mug shot, Whittingham can be seen wearing a blue T-shirt with NYPD printed on it in yellow letters.

But Whittingham was not a cop, according to the police. He was actually a volunteer clergyman, also known as a Bishop, for the NYPDs 32nd precinct, according to the statement. He also had a long rap sheet.

It was later discovered that Whittingham has an arrest history for criminal attempt to commit murder and a weapons violation (in New York State), according to the police. A further check revealed that (he) has numerous aliases.

Whittinghams bond was set at $2,500, and he is scheduled to appear in a Norwalk court on May 5.
NORWALK  Just hours before he was scheduled for a jury trial Thursday morning to face drug sales charges, a Norwalk man found himself in hot water again with police.

Following a reported motor vehicle accident on April 14 near Nathan Hale Middle School on Strawberry Hill Avenue, Zachary Fisher, 25, of Muffin Lane, was charged by police with evading responsibility and failure to drive right at 11:30 p.m.

Police say that Fisher was observed crashing his car into a sign, a light pole, and a fire hydrant a short distance from his home and took off. His car sustained heavy front end damage.

A neighbor reported the incident to police.

Fishers original charges stem from an incident on Feb. 3, 2016 when police said that Norwalk police officers and U.S. marshals went to the Muffin Lane home as part of an ongoing fugitive investigation for another individual.

According to police, Fisher ran out the back door. Police gave chase and captured him in a yard on County Street. Fisher was allegedly found in possession of a duffel bag that contained one pound of marijuana and $14,203.

A search warrant for the home was obtained, and police said more than a pound of marijuana, 5.57 grams of cocaine, a prescription Lidocaine patch, marijuana grow lamps, components to a surveillance system and an additional $1,310 were seized.

Fisher was charged with possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics with intent to sell, possession of narcotics within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of narcotics with intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of marijuana within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of marijuana with intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of drug paraphernalia within 1,500 feet of a school.

llake@hearstmediact.com
Washington

The Supreme Court seemed ready to chip away at the wall separating church and state on Wednesday, with several justices suggesting that states must sometimes provide aid to religious groups.

The case concerned a Missouri program to make playgrounds safer that excluded ones affiliated with churches, but it had implications for all kinds of government aid to religious institutions.

"This is a clear burden on a constitutional right," Justice Elena Kagan said of the exclusion in the playground program.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, the court's newest member, said the program amounted to "discrimination on the basis of status of religion."

"We know that's happened in this case, right?" he asked, leaving no doubt that he thought the answer was yes.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor was the most consistent voice on the other side, though she seemed to be in the minority.

"They're just saying," she said of the state, "we don't want to be involved with a church."

The question in the case, Trinity Lutheran Church vs. Comer, No. 15-577, is whether officials in Missouri were entitled to reject an application from a Lutheran church for a grant to use recycled tires to resurface a playground.

Answering that question required the justices to consider doctrinal crosscurrents, including what earlier cases have called "the play in the joints" between two clauses of the First Amendment, which bar government establishment of religion and guarantee its free exercise.

"It's a hard issue," Kagan said. "It's an issue in which states have their own very long-standing law. It's an issue on which I guess I'm going to say nobody is completely sure that they have it right."

The Missouri Constitution bars spending public money "directly or indirectly, in aid of any church," and the state Supreme Court has called for "a very high wall between church and state."

Thirty-nine states have constitutional provisions limiting state aid to religious groups, Sotomayor noted.

"We don't want, as a country  well, the vast majority of states  to fund houses of worship," she said.

David A. Cortman, a lawyer for the church, said it sought only to protect children of all faiths from injury and could not use the rubber in its religious work. He argued that the state Constitution violated equal protection principles and the First Amendment's guarantee of free exercise of religion.

"All we're talking about is a safer surface on the playground for when kids play," he said.

Sotomayor said that Missouri was not interfering with the church.

"You have a playground," she said. "No one is taking the playground away from you."

James R. Layton, a lawyer for the state, said it should have leeway to decide for itself whether and how much to help religious groups, and he noted that the program was a competitive one.

"We don't want to be in a position where we are choosing among churches," he said.

As the argument progressed, several justices explored ways to rule in favor of the church on relatively narrow grounds.

Justice Stephen Breyer suggested that two distinctions mattered: whether the state program concerned health and safety and whether it was universal or selective.

Universal programs providing for public safety, like police protection, he said, could not be denied to religious groups. He seemed to indicate that the playground program fit those criteria.
Charlie Janeux knelt on the floor and picked up a hamster that was roaming the kitchen inside a clear plastic ball. The 6-year-old held it up to his face and stared at it before excitedly turning and showing it off to visitors.

It's one of the many moments that his mom, Chelsee, didn't know if she would ever see. "He's a miracle," she said. "I don't believe anyone can set limits on him." Charlie was less than a month old when his father squeezed him so tightly that he crushed his skull, causing severe brain trauma and bleeding. Charlie had rib, femur, tibia and jaw fractures. His father went to prison.
United Nations

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations had a message for North Korea on Wednesday: "We're not trying to pick a fight so don't try and give us one."

"The ball is in their court," Ambassador Nikki Haley told reporters. "They shouldn't try and play at this point."

Haley's comments followed President Donald Trump's recent statement that the U.S. wants peace  and that how much North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un also wants peace will be a deciding factor in easing tensions.

Trump has been pressuring China, North Korea's main benefactor, to help defuse the situation over North Korea's development of atomic weapons and long-range missiles but he has also warned that the U.S. will settle the issue alone if other countries won't help.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters the United Nations fully backs efforts of all states trying to ensure "that North Korea doesn't acquire the capacities that would become a threat, not only for the region but in a wider area of the world."

Tensions have escalated over North Korean moves to accelerate its arms programs, including developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the United States.

The North conducted two nuclear bomb tests and 24 ballistic missile tests last year.
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A truck driver died Thursday afternoon after he was struck by a crane at a Port of Houston container facility near La Porte.

The driver, a man whose name has not been released, was struck by a rubber-tired gantry crane about 2 p.m. at the Barbours Cut container terminal, said Lisa Ashley, a spokeswoman for the Port of Houston Authority. The crane was on land and did not move containers to or from ships.
There are multiple ways of dealing with a child not following instructions. Police in west Texas say a teacher's aide chose one that isn't recommended.

Kirsten Joelle Barnett is accused of biting a child at an Abilene pre-school
A Bexar County sheriffs deputy received a 15-day suspension in March for leaving his personal firearm unattended at home, which led to his grandson discharging the weapon and injuring himself.

Deputy Jerome Richmond, who works at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center, told investigators for the department that he removed his Glock from a holster and placed it in the center of a ping-pong table before climbing out a window to retrieve a pair of gloves.
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While he didnt formally announce a Senate run Wednesday night, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro covered topics ranging from universal health care to the crisis in Syria in a format that sounded similar to a campaign stump speech.

The Democrat came to his hometown one day after the Senate races two candidates, Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke, made their own treks to the Alamo City. His twin brother Julian, former San Antonio mayor and former housing secretary under the Obama administration, introduced him on stage at The Cove restaurant to a crowd of about 300.

Castro, 42, teased his yet-to-be-announced decision, but said at least twice that he planned to discuss it with his family and supporters before deciding within the next few weeks. He added that 2018 is just one step, and that 2020, the next presidential election, is even more important.

Its clear there is a hunger for change, Castro said. He said that people woke up with a political hangover after last years general election, and that from his travels across the state to small towns and big cities, hes heard the same thing  that Ted Cruz works for Ted Cruz.

While Cruz didnt mention Castro in his remarks Tuesday, his campaign manager, Jeff Roe, has been taking swipes at him on Twitter, saying in one post that someone should tell Castro hes no longer a rising star so stop acting like one.

Castro also acknowledged a new Texas Lyceum poll that showed him four points ahead of Cruz at this moment in the Senate race, should he run. The statewide poll showed Cruz and ORourke tied at 30 percent each. However, 37 percent of registered Texas voters say they havent thought about the race yet, according to the group.

Castro called for automatic voter registration in Texas, an end to gerrymandering of congressional districts and an abolishment of dark money in American politics. He criticized President Donald Trumps preparedness for international crises, adding that the rookie president should rely on congressional authorization before taking military action.

We have to always prefer diplomacy to military force, he said, admitting that a majority of Americans thought Trump was justified in his bombing of a Syrian airbase after reports of gas attacks in the country.

When asked about ORourke, who announced his run a few weeks ago, Castro said both were aware of the others interest.

Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, said at the moment Castro is the better candidate on paper, that being Latino helps in a major way in a state like Texas, but ORourke has a genuine personal touch that can resonate with voters and is hard to discount in a race that will involve a small number of them.

Castro said he knows ORourke is working hard, but he still plans to stick to his timeline and not make any announcements before the end of April.

frahman@express-news.net
A 27-year-old man was arrested Wednesday night in North Texas for allegedly shooting to death a pregnant woman in Arlington last week, according to court documents.

Keith Cornell Haynes faces a charge of capital murder in the shooting death of 25-year-old Kenishia Walker and her unborn child.

Walker was found unresponsive in her bed by her young son on Friday at their home in the 2200 block of Ridge Run in Arlington.

RELATED: Heavily armed police on scene of SWAT situation at downtown apartment

The boy told police he was home alone with his mother when he went to sleep around 9 p.m. that night. He felt ill and woke up around 2 a.m. and went to his mothers bedroom, where he saw her lying in the bed with a man. She identified the man as Moosie, which police later determined was a nickname for Haynes.

The boy spoke with his mother for the last time before going back to bed. When he woke up in the morning, he found his mother dead, the affidavit states.

Emergency personnel responded after the boy notified a neighbor about his mothers condition. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

During the investigation, police learned the victims phone was missing. One of Walkers friends notified police that Moosie was Haynes, who was quickly tracked down in Plano.

RELATED: SAPD: Woman rams car multiple times, pepper sprays 4-year-old in violent S.A. road rage spat

Police interviewed Haynes and other people who were friends of Walkers, and they learned the two had been in a relationship years ago in high school and had recently reconnected. Walker allegedly told Haynes she believed he was the father of her unborn child. Haynes told police he was in a relationship with another woman who did not know about Walkers pregnancy.

Haynes denied killing Walker several times to police, and said he willingly came to the police station to clear his name. He also told police he had text messages and conversations with Walker, but those messages had since been deleted, the affidavit states.

One of Walkers close friends told police Haynes wanted to rekindle their past relationship, but Walker only wished to co-parent, the affidavit said.

The friend also shared screenshots of text messages between Walker and Haynes. Walker allegedly told her friend she believed Haynes was trying to kill her and If I ever come up dead, please show the police this and the other screenshots, according to the affidavit.

RELATED: Affidavit: 20-yr-old man sat on pregnant woman's stomach, head-butted, bit, struck her

If convicted, Haynes faces life in prison or the death penalty.

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Twitter: @tylerlwhite
A 32-year-old woman was held in Hale County jail Wednesday on a charge of theft of property under $2,500 with two or more previous convictions after she was arrested about 9:50 a.m. Tuesday in the 600 block of West 24th for shoplifting. Bond was not reported.

--A building in the 200 block of Southeast Seventh was burglarized between noon-3 p.m. Wednesday. A list of stolen items was not provided.

--A 22-year-old woman was held in Hale County jail Thursday on $2,500 bond after being arrested about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 100 block of West Ninth on an outstanding warrant for assault causing bodily injury.

--Counterfeit currency was used fraudulently in the 500 block of North Date between 1:30-2 p.m. Wednesday.

--Police are investigating a report of criminal trespass which occurred about 6 p.m. Tuesday in the 1300 block of Kokomo.

--Property valued between $100 and $750 was stolen by an unknown person between 3-4 p.m. Wednesday in the 1900 block of West 24th Street.

--Assault causing bodily injury to a family member reportedly occurred about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 500 block of Portland.

--A theft involving property valued between $50 and $500 and criminal mischief involving property damage reportedly occurred between 2:33-2:57 p.m. at Plainview High School, 1501 Quincy.

--A 37-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Wednesday on charges of disorderly conduct ($200 bond) and possession of a controlled substance Penalty Group 1 between 1 gram and 4 grams (no bond). He was arrested about 1 a.m. Tuesday in the 1200 block of West 21st Street.

--The unauthorized use of a vehicle reportedly occurred between midnight and 12:22 a.m. Tuesday in the 1000 block of Denver. A description of the stolen vehicle was not available.

--A 30-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Thursday on bonds totaling $400 for outstanding warrants for Class C misdemeanor theft and failure to appear. He was arrested about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 2600 block of Olton Road. A 28-year-old woman was arrested at the same time for outstanding warrants as well. She was held in Hale County jail Thursday for disregarding a stop sign ($200 bond), failure to appear ($200), disregarded red light (bond not set) and not secured by seat belt-child (bond not set).

--A 19-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Thursday on $1,500 bond on an outstanding warrant for possession of marijuana under 2 oz. He was arrested about 12:10 a.m. Wednesday in the 1400 block of Yonkers.

--A 24-year-old woman was held in Hale County jail Wednesday on $1,500 bond for driving while license invalid with no insurance. She was arrested about 9 p.m. Tuesday in the 200 block of West Fifth Street.

(Anyone with information on crime in Plainview and Hale County may contact the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 293-8477 or 293-TIPS.)
Learn how low-cost carriers enable you to snap up enticing fares.

A few decades ago, low-cost airlines were a novelty. But nowadays, thanks to deregulation across the industry, travelers have dozens of cost-effective flight options. For example, Spirit Airlines has a $9 Fare Club (requiring a $59.95 enrollment fee), Tigerair can get you from Singapore to Thailand for $40 and earlier this year WOW Air offered direct flights from San Francisco to Iceland for $99. Of course, fees often apply -- and add up -- but if you travel lightly, you can trim costs. Here are a few clever ways budget airlines can help you save on airfare, plus expert-approved tips for snagging the lowest fares.

They consider the details.

There is no one-size-fits-all model for low-cost carriers. However, they all have one thing in common: painstaking attention to details. They hire analysts who review every expense with a fine-tooth comb, and then go over it again, to cut costs. For example, many low-cost carriers only offer one class of seating, streamlining the boarding process, requiring fewer crew and saving time so the airline can squeeze more flights into the day.

They're making strides to be fuel efficient.

"We operate brand-new airplanes which are more fuel efficient than older aircrafts," says Skuli Mogensen, founder and CEO WOW Air, whose Iceland-based airline operates the youngest fleet in the world. It also boasts the lowest emission levels. Low-cost carrier AirAsia was the first airline in the world to install an innovative wing tip design that helps lower wind drag and offers more efficient fuel consumption.

They utilize social media platforms.

Another way budget carriers save: Opting out of spending a hefty amount on traditional advertising. WOW Air almost exclusively markets through digital social media channels, including Snapchat. Southwest Airlines also heavily relies on a large social media presence. The company has 2 million followers on Twitter. Meanwhile, legacy carrier Delta has 1.3 million Twitter followers, and United has 913,000 followers.

Story continues

They take more chances.

Low-cost carriers are the airline industry's poster children for taking risks. One way they do this is by fuel-hedging (locking in rates for fuel under the premise that they'll go up in the future). The one caveat with this approach: If the prices go down, the low-cost carrier is stuck paying higher prices. One thing they don't cut corners on is passenger safety. All commercial aircraft, regardless of cost, must meet the same safety regulations provided by the Federal Aviation Administration.

They hire committed crews.

Over time, a high employee turnover can be costly. WOW Air makes an initial large investment in its 900 employees who are all hired for their "wow factor." "After experiencing our service, passengers are most surprised to discover how pleasant, helpful and accommodating our flight crew is," Mogensen says. Budget airlines often pay lower wages to staff members, but unlike their larger counterparts, they also frequently offer profit-sharing programs, which makes employees feel more invested in the company.

They enable consumers to double up on discounts.

Budget airlines dominate the flash sale space. In March, Frontier Airlines had a one-day flash sale featuring $29 flights across the U.S. Around the same time, Spirit Airlines was even more generous and offered 99 percent off select domestic fares. What's more, most low-cost carriers like WOW Air further lower prices by regularly sending promotional codes to subscribers.

They've redefined what's necessary.

What's the number one thing consumers should know about budget airlines? "You basically get what you pay for," Mogensen says. "We keep the basic price of airfare to its minimum and allow our passengers to add on extras they might find necessary," he explains. Bringing your own snacks, packing light and paying for your bags online, as well as being content without getting a seat assignment in advance, are all ways to save. Just make sure to factor in what level of comfort and convenience you want before you book.

They add value in other ways.

Let's be honest, budget airlines are known for eliminating perks not adding benefits. Still, WOW Air offers trans-Atlantic passengers added value with its free multiday stopover in Iceland. And while the number of airlines offering these extended layovers is growing, for the most part, it is limited to European carriers selling tickets at full price, such as TAP Portugal, Brussel Airlines and Finnair. While most budget airlines do away with loyalty and rewards programs, some low-cost carriers, including Southwest Airlines, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, still offer them. They come with perks like points that can be redeemed for future flights and, in some cases, hotel stays and car rentals.

They think outside the competition.

If you've ever flown with Ryanair, you probably know the carrier frequently uses less popular airports with lower runway fees. For example, if you're flying the Ireland-based budget airline to Paris, you won't land at Charles De Gaulle Airport. Instead, you'll land outside the city at Beauvais--Tille Airport. Budget airlines are also pioneers in unchartered territory. "We've made no secret of our plans to expand our operation to other parts of the world, including the South American market, which is characterized by little competition and high prices," Mogensen says. South America currently only has around eight low-cost carriers, while Europe has 28 and Asia has 54 low-cost airlines.

They fly fewer types of planes.

Sure, it's enticing to be able to pick from a diverse fleet of aircrafts and routes with commercial carriers. But when it comes to maintaining aircrafts, the required mechanics are expensive. So, many low-cost carriers save money by offering only one or two kinds of planes, which can be serviced by the same crew and with the same components. For example, AirAsia, one of the largest low-cost carriers in the world, features just two types of planes in its 80-plus aircraft fleet.





More From US News & World Report


Did you catch this gem on CNN.com from April 6? "The Kentucky Coal Mining Museum in Benham, owned by Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College, is switching to solar power to save money. ... Communications director Brandon Robinson told CNN affiliate WYMT that the project 'will help save at least eight to ten thousand dollars, off the energy costs on this building alone.' "

Go figure. The coal mining museum is going solar, for solid economic reasons, and President Donald Trump is reviving coal, with no economic logic at all. This bizarre contrast speaks to a deeper question of leadership and how we judge presidents.

Trump took two major national security decisions in the past few weeks. One was to strike Syria for using poison gas. Trump summoned his national security team, asked for options on Syria, chose the cruise-missile strike  which was right  and won praise for acting "presidential."

The other decision you didn't see. It was Trump dismantling budgets and regulations undergirding U.S. climate and environmental protection policies  in his nutty effort to revive U.S. coal-fired energy  while quietly announcing plans to withhold a promised $32.5 million U.S. contribution for the U.N. Population Fund, which supports family planning and maternal health.

Unlike the Syria decision, Trump made the second move without seeking a comprehensive briefing from experts  he controls the world's greatest collection of climate scientists at NASA, NOAA, the EPA, the Pentagon and the CIA  and without ever asking for an intelligence briefing on how the combination of climate change, environmental degradation, drought and population explosions helped trigger the civil war in Syria, spawn terrorist groups like Boko Haram around Africa's central Lake Chad (which has lost 90 percent of its water mass since 1963) and become the main force pushing tens of thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa into Europe each year, and from Central America up to the U.S.

I promise you that Trump will spend the rest of his presidency dealing with the disruptions caused by this cocktail of population explosion and climate/environmental degradation  and his generals know it. But in today's politics, bombing is considered presidential and ignoring science and defunding family planning, when populations are exploding and droughts expanding, are ho-hum back-page news.

Since Trump seems to be pivoting from some of his campaign nonsense, one can only hope he will do the same on these issues. If Trump is looking for a blueprint, he could not do better than to read a smart new book, "Climate of Hope," by a most unlikely duo: former Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope and billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

When Carl met Mike ... It was 2011, Pope went to Bloomberg with a plan for generating bottom-up community activism to help shut down as many coal-fired power plants in America as possible, so another generation of American kids wouldn't be afflicted with childhood asthma and another generation of coal workers wouldn't have to make a living breathing coal dust.

Bloomberg put $50 million into the effort, and the rest is  helping to make coal  history, thanks to the Sierra Club mobilizing communities and technology making natural gas (when the methane leakage is controlled) a much cleaner, cheaper base-load power source for utilities, and wind and solar energy so much more cost-effective.

When the Sierra Club and Bloomberg started in 2011, there were 514 coal-fired power plants in America; since then, 254 have announced they will shut down. They expect that fully two-thirds will be phased out by 2022  no matter what Trump says or does.

"Climate of Hope" is about how to build on this, by reframing the interrelated challenges of climate change, clean air, clean water and population "from questions of who is going to sacrifice to who is going to grab the profits," Bloomberg explained in an interview. Each of these challenges, he said, can be met in ways that enable cities and countries to make themselves more prosperous, innovative, healthy and secure  if we just get the incentives right.

Imagine, added Pope, that every U.S. company joined Anheuser-Busch in committing to getting all of its electricity from renewable sources.

Imagine that, instead of subsidizing surplus cotton, destroying the livelihoods of small farmers in Africa, the U.S. government subsidized our farmers to grow crops that restore carbon and store water in their soils, thus drought-proofing Texas and California.

Imagine ... we could actually make America great again, not just prolong a dying coal industry! Now, that would be presidential.

Thomas L. Friedman writes for The New York Times.
The lobby of the CIA Headquarters Building in Langley, Virginia, U.S. on August 14, 2008. REUTERS/Larry Downing/File Photo

The Central Intelligence Agency has launched a manhunt for a traitor within its ranks after what has been called one of the worst security breaches in the organization's history, CBS News reported on Wednesday.

A joint CIA-FBI investigation is underway to determine how WikiLeaks got hold of thousands of top-secret files and published them in March  allegedly by way of a CIA employee or contractor who operated a tool normally used by the spy agency to infiltrate various electronic devices, from smartphones to smart televisions and computers.

The breach has been referred to as "Vault 7" by WikiLeaks.

The CIA did not say publicly how or when the information was stolen. But it said that the insider had physical access to the files and that most of the files were stored in a "highly secure section" of the agency, CBS reported.

Experts say the files appear to be genuine, but the CIA did not comment on their authenticity. CIA spokeswoman Heather Fritz Horniak delivered a stern rebuke against WikiLeaks.

"The American public should be deeply troubled by any WikiLeaks disclosure designed to damage the intelligence communitys ability to protect America against terrorists and other adversaries," Horniak said. "Such disclosures not only jeopardize US personnel and operations, but also equip our adversaries with tools and information to do us harm.

"This is the kind of disclosure that undermines our country, our security, and our well-being," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said earlier in March. He declined to comment on the authenticity of the leaked documents.

Mike Pompeo

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on April 13 in his first public speech as head of the CIA , director Mike Pompeo slammed WikiLeaks for playing a role in the dissemination of the files.

"It is time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is: a nonstate hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia," he said, referring to the organization's possible ties to the Kremlin.

Story continues

Pompeo continued to rail against WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, asserting that the Russian military "had used WikiLeaks" to release emails and documents damaging to the US Democratic Party  believed to be part of a larger bid by Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Pompeo added that Russia Today, a state-sponsored media network that has offices in the US, was "Russia's primary propaganda outlet," and that it "has actively collaborated with WikiLeaks," according to The Wall Street Journal.

The organization has been reluctant to reveal its source. "The archive appears to have been circulated among former US government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive," read a statement.

The tool used in the leaks has caused widespread panic in the tech industry because of its broader implications. The Journal reported that the CIA's "attack code"  which could be used to infiltrate products from companies like Apple, Google, Samsung, and Microsoft  can "gain unauthorized access to computers and smartphones," especially if software updates meant to patch its vulnerabilities weren't available.

Horniak added that the CIA "does not" engage in electronic surveillance of US citizens inside the United States.

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EIGHTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD Sekuru Samba has revealed his HIV positive status and described it as a blessing in disguise.

The Maruta Kraal Headman heir apparent, real name Robert Ticharwa Maruta, said he got a bit promiscuous after his wife died in 2000 and was diagnosed HIV positive in 2008.

However, he has used his status to warn the youths about HIV and AIDS as a voluntary advocate.

My wife passed on in 2000 and left me 100 percent healthy at 66 years old. However, I failed to be a decent grandfather and started picking township girls, thats how I got HIV. I even remember from who exactly, said Sekuru Samba.

Let us be decent when our partners die. God will guide us through.

Now, as a grandfather at 84 years old, I am voluntarily footing across Hwedza villages, educating all ages on HIV and AIDS.

Everyone, kana varungu, ma India chero mutema, chirikutambudza chirwere ichi, kana vakagadzira ndege chaivo vapererwa pachirwere ichi, hapana kana prophet achiwanira kana dombo rinochirapa  so I am going round urging people to stay away from unprotected sex, worse before marring each other.

I am just footing around like an evangelist, those who are taking my advice are surviving.

Then there are others who refuse to get tested and are gradually decomposing in silence until their HIV turns into full blown AIDS and eventually death. Chiyi chinorwadza mufi nevafirwa, kunyara kuno testwa HIV or kufa zvako neHIV usati wamboyedzawo mishonga kuti urarame sevamwe? he said.

Sekuru Samba said it is his advocacy mission that has given him a new purpose in life.

I am HIV positive but I have welcomed it as a blessing in disguise because I am now a tried and tested HIV awareness voluntary advocate. And it feels like Im serving a purpose.

Imagine, my mother, Mbuya VaEnia Nyakatanga Dapi and my father Ticharwa Maruta gave birth to me as a healthy Robert in 1934. Then later I got married to my healthy wife, Kirianah Rwizi Kwari from Mhondoro, Rwizi. We were blessed with two boys Vincent and Tawanda and four girls Yeukai, Anna and the late girls Norma and Tarisai Maruta. We were all healthy and that is what life should be. If people avoid sex before marriage or use protection when they have sex, we will have a healthy population. That is my message to my community.

I am educating many, school children, mature youths, parents, elders and even those with visual impairments, physically challenged and mostly orphans or child headed families.

I am travelling by foot, often visiting them and educating them that, if you have early sex before turning 18 years, before getting HIV and STIs tests, and worse unprotected sex with anyone whose status you do not know, you will get an incurable disease for life called HIV & AIDS.

Sekuru Samba said there is need to assist those on ART as they lack supplementary food.

I come across sick HIV victims desperately needing basic food because these HIV drugs can be difficult to take at first, especially if you do not have something to eat first before taking them.

He can also do with some transport as walking is now strenuous at 84.

If there is anyone who can assist me with a bicycle because I am gradually getting tired of walking but tremendously getting more passionate in alerting more as I grow up, he said.

He helps several groups of HIV positive people who are in units of 10 and calls upon stakeholders to help these groups.

 HMetro

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Take a tour of Mendez Fuel and see firsthand its commitment to healthy food, drinks and craft beer in an Ideas 2 Go video segment.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.  Miami, Florida-based Mendez Fuel is not your typical convenience store. The retailers unique focus on healthy offerings makes cold-pressed juices available to southern Florida customers, along with other healthy and locally produced offers including smoothies, specialty sandwiches and even acai and pitaya bowls. The retailer also offers G Butter high-protein, low-calorie nut spreads and low-calorie baked goods.

In addition to its healthy selections, Mendez sells a variety of craft beers on tap as part of its growler program, including canned growlers. To experience all thats offered inside Mendez Fuel, you dont have to travel to Miami. NACS is reviewing the 2016 Ideas 2 Go video series with a bi-weekly focus on each store we visited. This week, were featuring Mendez Fuel, and you can also read about the retailer in the April issue of NACS Magazine.

Ideas 2 Go features emerging concepts that redefine convenience, as well as quick takeaways that retailers could easily implement at their own stores. Since 1994, Ideas 2 Go has provided a video tour of some of the most interesting, creative and potentially profitable ideas in the convenience and fuel retailing industry. More than 150 other videos are featured on the Ideas 2 Go microsite, and each month NACS Magazines Ideas 2 Go column features other innovative retail ideas and concepts.

What makes Ideas 2 Go so special is that retailers welcome us to their stores to share some of their best ideas and offer the strategies and planning behind their success. It gives retailers a unique perspective of the industry without having to hit the road, said NACS Vice President of Strategic Industry Initiatives Jeff Lenard.

Every two weeks, a new video from the 2016 program will be featured in NACS Daily. In addition to the nine Ideas 2 Go segments, four short Ideas 2 Grow segments examine unique innovations in retail.

Filming is underway for the 2017 Ideas 2 Go program, which will debut on October 19 at the NACS Show. If you would like to recommend a store for the team to consider on its journeys, contact Lenard at jlenard@convenience.org.
By Lambert Strether of Corrente

Trade

President Donald Trump will sign an executive order today directing the Commerce Department to investigate whether steel imports into the U.S. should be blocked on national security grounds, an administration official told POLITICO [Politico]. A Section 232 investigation requires the Commerce secretary to report to the president within 270 days whether a certain product is being imported in sufficient quantities or under such circumstances that it threatens to impair national security. The president then has another 90 days to decide whether to adjust imports or take some other non-trade related action.  The measure gives the president broad discretion to define national security, and he would not have to show that domestic producers have been materially injured by the imports as is the case in countervailing duty and anti-dumping investigations, [Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics] said.

TiSA and state-owned enterprises (PDF) [The Transnational Institute]. Uruguays withdrawal demonstrates that it is possible to break free from the TiSA process. There were no reprisals or negative impacts. On the contrary, the country has gained the sovereignty it needs to continue trying to build an autonomous national development model without betraying its values and political history.

Paul Ryan: In that same vein, the United States will work closely with our EU friends and chart a path forward on TTIP [Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership] negotiations [Guardian].

Politics

Trump Transition

The White House, under internal pressure to show legislative achievements ahead of the 100-day mark, is gearing up for a government shutdown fight to secure money for a border wall, more immigration enforcement officers and a bigger military, according to White House and congressional sources familiar with the plan [Politico]. It is a risky gambit. With almost uniform Democratic opposition to nearly all of the Trump administrations spending proposals, the fight could lead to a government shutdown next Friday  the day government spending expires, and right before the 100th day of Donald Trumps presidency. Officials could also strike a one-week compromise, giving them more time for a broader agreement. Trump needs a dose of manly virtues' [David Ignatius, WaPo]. Let the trolling begin!

2016 Post Mortem

2017

Sanders-Backing Socialist Wins Big In Georgia City Council Race [HuffPo]. For the Georgias conservative, so what do you expect? crowd, a candidate who actually won. MT: Democratic officials make no apology for their decision to stay away from the Kansas race, where their nominee lost by less than seven percentage points in a Wichita-based district that Mr. Trump carried by 27 points in November. They say their money has been better spent helping Mr. Ossoff [New York Times]. Oh, come off it. Ossoff had $8 million dollars, and the Dems couldnt find Thompson $20K for a mailer. And: Democratic officials, contributors and activists in Montana, which Mr. Sanders carried in the presidential primary, are clearly agitated over their Washington-based party. They say the top-down leadership never misses an opportunity to play it safe [New York Times]. Its the other way round: Screwing Sanders is gambling; hes the most popular active politician in America. Supporting Sanders candidates would be playing it safe. GA-06: Sanders: I dont know if Ossoff is a progressive [The Hill]. Thats OK. His supporters dont either. @Hesiod2k11 no. as i said, I don't know if Ossoff is a progressive, either. And I ran 3 phonebanks for him. But he's a Dem in GA06, which is enough.  David Atkins (@DavidOAtkins) April 20, 2017 And I like Atkins. If the Dems were backing Ossoff (Clinton) and Thompson (Sanders) and Quist (Sanders) full force, Id have no problem. But they arent, are they? GA-06: Nevertheless, its not just Democratic spin to say that a remarkable political transformation is happening in Georgias 6th District: an affluent, highly educated suburb of Atlanta. Nearly overnight, progressive organizing has become the center of social life for thousands of previously disengaged people in the area [Slate]. Well, I like to see people involved. That said, what does progressive mean, exactly? Are the affluent professional liberal women of Cobb County for #MedicareForAll? #FightFor15? Free college (for real)? How about a Post Office Bank? GA-06: Several of the takeaways I wrote about last Wednesday after the unexpectedly close special election in Wichita, Kan., are now doubly true: This will make GOP recruiting harder. Some House Republicans might become scared about being vulnerable and change their behavior. Congressional Democrats are going to become less likely to bail out House GOP leadership on tough votes. Democratic campaign committees will face more pressure than ever from the left flank to spend money in red districts, even if theres no realistic path to victory [WaPo].

Realignment and Legitimacy

Perez looks like hes sucking a lemon: Chris Hayes pushes Tom Perez to join Bernie in saying "the ruling class & billionaire class" are to blame for our problems. Perez refused. pic.twitter.com/7qiziHLMiX  #AllofUs (@TimeForAllofUs) April 19, 2017 And Perez then proceeds to emit a high-pitched stream of bafflegab. The DNC may think theyre using Sanders, but it looks to me like Sanders is getting the better of the deal. Mr. Sanders told a Maine crowd Monday night that our job is to radically transform the Democratic Party. He put the onus on Mr. Perez and other party leaders to adopt his aggressive power-to-the-people worldview [Wall Street Journal]. It cant be just symbolic, it has got to be real, Mr. Sanders said. It has got to be that those ideas are allowed to become the dominant theme of the Democratic Party, and thats the choice that Democrats are going to have to make.' The Party is moving to the left, but it has not adopted the Sanders campaigns agenda [The New Yorker]. Um. Onward: [A] savvy Democrat [like Ossoff] could position himself both as the face of the national resistance and a defender of the center of American life. They must have noticed how a liberal Democrat, running in a historically conservative district, could become a campaigns main character. In Louisville, Perez & Bernie Call On Southern Democrats to Embrace Organized Labor [Payday Report]. More like this, please.

Stats Watch

Leading Indicators, March 2017: Marchs softness in the labor market wasnt enough after all to hold back the index of leading economic indicators which came in at a March gain of 0.4 percent to beat Econodays high forecast [Econoday], The LEI has been very solid and continues to point ahead to rising economic strength,

Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey, April 2017: Activity has been so strong in the Philly Fed region, as it was in Mondays Empire State report, that delivery times are spiking [Econoday]. Dislocations indicated by delivery times can obscure the meaning of some readings, especially inventories which are up sharply to 17.8 and a 44-year high. The giant build is likely a mix of intended stocking of raw materials in anticipation of strong production ahead but also a piling up of finished goods that are waiting to be delivered. Philly was the first of the advance reports to catch fire and though government data out of Washington have yet to show anywhere near the strength of this or other regional reports , the slowing in delivery times is tangible enough evidence of unusual factory acceleration underway, at least in the Northeast. And but: There is continuing significant strength in this survey from new orders even with the decline. Note that last month, Federal Reserve data shows manufacturing declined and the regional fed surveys all said manufacturing improved [Econintersect].

Jobless Claims, week of April 15, 2017: [V]ery low consistent with uninterrupted strength in the labor market [Econoday]. And: This was at the consensus forecast [Calculated Risk].

Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, week of April 16, 2016: [R]emains very strong [Econoday]. Strength in confidence readings ultimately points to strength in the jobs outlook.

Beige Book: According to survey, the economy overall expanded in the period until the end of March with Districts equally split between modest and moderate growth in the period [Economic Calendar]. Manufacturing also continued to expand at a modest pace, although growth in freight shipments had slowed slightly.

Beige Book: [The Beige Book] took a downbeat view of industrial business: worker shortages and increased labor costs were restraining growth in sectors including transport, manufacturing and construction [Wall Street Journal]. That fits with a report from J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. this week that its labor costs rose in the first quarter even as freight demand remained tepid. The Fed sees competition for labor growing across the country, particularly for low-skilled jobs, and that wages are rising. Thats a troubling trend for shipping providers that may now find themselves vying for workers even as business remains relatively flat. The Fed cited one unnamed nationwide freight hauler that says demand is ho-hum and that recent improvements in manufacturing indicators werent pushing freight toward trucks.

Real Estate: Foreign money has been a key ingredient in propping up home values in many cities across the United States. There is no doubt about this. If you look at places like Irvine, many new home communities are being sold largely to investors from China. This also applies to house mania happy San Francisco. Yet even if you question your own sanity regarding California crap shack prices, things may look affordable to certain people abroad. The amount of investment flowing in from China into the United States is amazing. A large part flows into real estate. This is how you get lower homeownership rates and also a drop in mortgage application volume yet somehow, you see home prices surging on low inventory. In a global market money can flow in and out of systems easily (charts) [Dr. Housing Bubble].

Rail: The coal business that dragged down U.S. railroads is lifting up CSX Corp. Revenue rose 9.5% from a year before to $2.87 billion, fueled in part by a 3% rise in coal shipments, much of which was primed for export [Wall Street Journal]. Revenue for the coal business soared 31%, a sign of more urgent demand that helped CSX generate a 28% gain in revenue per unit. That strong yield is the result of pricing discipline and restrained capacity that CSX and other railroads imposed during a steep downturn in coal demand. CSX is also getting more competitive with trucks under new chief Hunter Harrison. The carriers intermodal volume edged up just 1%, but revenue for that truck-rail business rose 7%, another signal that the railroad is gaining pricing leverage.

Marketing: In a landmark bout of activity, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that it is, in fact, watching celebrities, athletes, and other influencers on Instagram. According to a statement from the government agency, after reviewing Instagram posts by celebrities and influencers, its staff has sent out more than 90 letters reminding influencers and marketers that they must clearly and conspicuously disclose their relationships when promoting or endorsing products through social media [The Fashion Law].

The Bezzle: Cybersecurity Startup Tanium Exposed California Hospitals Network in Demos Without Permission [Wall Street Journal]. Andreessen Horowitz, which poured around $150 million into the company in 2014 and 2015, declined to comment. Tanium is the latest highflying tech startup to be discovered pushing the envelope to speed growth, in a Silicon Valley environment where aggressive tactics often are seen as essential to success.

The Bezzle: Silicon Valleys $400 Juicer May Be Feeling the Squeeze [Bloomberg]. One of the most lavishly funded gadget startups in Silicon Valley last year was Juicero Inc. It makes a juice machine. The product was an unlikely pick for top technology investors, but they were drawn to the idea of an internet-connected device that transforms single-serving packets of chopped fruits and vegetables into a refreshing and healthy beverage. But after the product hit the market, some investors were surprised to discover a much cheaper alternative: You can squeeze the Juicero bags with your bare hands.

Co-ops: Legislation unveiled to streamline creation of worker cooperatives [RI Future (DB)]. Senator Donna Nesselbush (Democrat, District 15, Pawtucket, North Providence) and Representative Robert Craven (Democrat, District 32, North Kingstown) have introduced bills that will allow worker owned cooperatives to be started in Rhode Island. House Bill 6001, and Senate Bill 676 will allow organizations of working people to start cooperatively owned business. Current law makes it very difficult to form worker cooperatives, as it involves a lot of legal work, but the new law seeks to streamline that process.

Todays Fear & Greed Index: 34 Fear (previous close: 30, Fear) [CNN]. One week ago: 25 (Extreme Fear). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed. Last updated Apr 20 at 11:50am.

The 420

Sixty-one percent of Americans think marijuana use should be legal, a five-point increase from last year and the highest percentage ever recorded in this poll. Eighty-eight percent favor medical marijuana use [CBS].

The unofficial marijuana holiday on April 20 (4/20) has been the single best day for legal marijuana sales since, well, recreational marijuana sales first became legal in Colorado. And this year is expected to show the biggest increase ever, with sales rising by 20%? [247 Wall Street].

With roughly 600,000 Americans facing pot charges every year, this years landscape is very much a mixed big for backers of marijuana legalization [McClatchy]. They had unprecedented success at the polls in 2016, with voters in eight of nine states supporting initiatives to expand access to the drug. But the domestic industry remains under a cloud amid worries that President Donald Trumps administration may soon move to shut down the state operations by enforcing the federal ban against the drug. The legal limbo is expected to last at least until July 27, the deadline set by Attorney General Jeff Sessions for a Justice Department task force to review U.S. marijuana policies.

According to High Times magazine, the idea to honor marijuana on April 20 started in 1990, when a group of Deadheads in Oakland, Calif., sent out flyers inviting people to meet and smoke 420 at 4:20 p.m. on 4/20  the earliest known record of celebrating pot on that day [Yahoo News].

Health Care

Health care under neoliberalism:

C what you're up against: Webinar training docs to bill out-of-network. https://t.co/4QSX2d3u3V New patient movement https://t.co/AD4az4RNBP pic.twitter.com/5Qf8XCR5A6  Elisabeth Rosenthal (@RosenthalHealth) April 13, 2017

The deal, brokered between House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Tuesday Group co-chairman Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.), would allow states to get waivers eliminating the so-called community rating provision  the rule that prohibits insurers from charging higher premiums to people with pre-existing conditions. In order to obtain the waiver, states would have to participate in a federal high-risk pool or establish their own, and satisfy some other conditions [HuffPo]. In exchange for that conservative concession, the amendment would reinstate the Essential Health Benefits that were already taken out of the bill  though, again, states could waive those provisions as well if they were able to show that doing so would lower premiums, increase the number of people insured, or advance another benefit to the public interest in the state.'

Trump Shifts Back to Health Care [Wall Street Journal]. Mr. Trumps revived push to fulfill a core campaign promise appears to be driven by three developments: First, a renewed confidence that he can still win enough votes to pass a bill; second, a belief that he needs the health-care savings to help pay for the tax bill and hit his economic growth promises; and third, a recognition that the tax-code overhaul isnt near ready.

Heres How to Break the GOP Logjam on Health Care [The American Conservative]. Not on the table anywhere! Explained in laypersons terms:

In a simpler and more idealistic time of my life2011I heard tell of a rather odd program in Arizona. Legislators there had seemingly figured out a way to overcome political resistance to school vouchers. Instead of the government providing the money, the private sector would donate it. Except these werent really  donations, per se. In exchange for funding the vouchers, the contributors got tax credits in the exact amounts of the sums theyd providedin effect, a full reimbursement by the government. The entire donation mechanism was a sham, a shell game designed to disguise what was really happening. Its sole purpose was to launder public subsidies into something that looked like private charity, so as to skirt political opposition to the subsidies.

I think the conservative love affair with tax credits has gone far enough. Perhaps even too far. Why cant my right hand give my left hand money?  My right hand can put it into my left hand. My right hand can write a deed of gift and my left hand a receipt.  But the further practical consequences would not be those of a gift. When the left hand has taken the money from the right, etc., we shall ask: Well, and what of it?' Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations #268.

Stricter chargemaster regulations needed to rein in healthcare costs [Modern Healthcare]. The problem of surprise bills from the chargemaster is even more pernicious, said Barak Richman, a law professor at Duke University School of Law. Its almost akin to stealing, stealing for the purpose of obtaining leverage for subsequent negotiations. A hospital cannot operate in a break-even environment, they have to make money, [Joe Fifer, president and CEO of the Healthcare Financial Management Association] said. That comes from the cost shift into the commercial payer environment, where some contracts are tied to a percentage of the chargemaster.' Do we have any chargemaster geeks in the commentariat?

Big Brother Is Watching You Watch

The Department of Homeland Security is currently examining procedures to investigate travelers to the United States. In a congressional hearing, Secretary Kelly said theyre even considering forcing some travelers to provide their passwords to social media accounts as a condition to enter [ACLU petition]. This is a terrible idea. Other countries will ask the same of us!

Bose headphones spy on listeners: lawsuit [Reuters (DK)].

Guillotine Watch

How a California Anesthesiologist Became One of Americas Largest Antiquities Looters [Mens Journal]. Primitive accumulation.

Class Warfare

Workers at Teslas Fremont, California electric car factory have filed a unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), accusing the company of illegal surveillance, coercion, intimidation and prevention of worker communications. The employees, who have been attempting to organize the approximately 7,000 workers at the plant through the United Auto Workers, claim that Tesla violated multiple sections of the National Labor Relations Act, which protects the right to unionize [Capital and Main].

Case and Deaton have a theory for why mortality has risen for less-educated whites. For all the debate over whether college is worthwhile, high school graduates who go straight into the workforce have higher unemployment, weaker wage growth, and less chance of marrying than their predecessors and educated peers. Community supports have broken down, and as disadvantage snowballs, premature deaths rise [Bloomberg]. Medicalization and criminalization dont help with despair

News of the Wired

Its location a mystery for centuries, huge Indian city may have been found in Kansas [McClatchy]. Etzanoa has remained a mystery for 400 years. Archaeologists could not find it. Historians thought reports of a permanent settlement with 20,000 Native Americans in it were exaggerated. But here in Arkansas City, at the confluence of the Walnut and Arkansas Rivers, Blakeslee, an anthropologist and archaeologist at Wichita State University, has found evidence of a massive town stretching across thousands of acres of bluffs and rich bottomland along two rivers. What clinched it was the discovery, by a high school kid, of a half-inch iron cannon ball. He even found a still-functional water shrine, depicting communication with the spirit world, carved into a limestone boulder in Tami and Greg Norwoods backyard.

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Readers, feel free to contact me with (a) links, and even better (b) sources I should curate regularly, and (c) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi are deemed to be honorary plants! See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here.

And heres todays plant (MH):

These are the blooms that produce the small fuzzy seeds strung into magambo beads! Aloha!

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Readers, Water Cooler is a standalone entity, not supported by the very successful Naked Capitalism fundraiser just past. Now, I understand you may feel tapped out, but when and if you are able, please use the dropdown to choose your contribution, and then click the hat! Your tip will be welcome today, and indeed any day. Water Cooler will not exist without your continued help.
By Roy Poses, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Brown University, and the President of FIRM  the Foundation for Integrity and Responsibility in Medicine. Originally published at Health Care Renewal

Perceptions that the US health care system is dysfunctional and needs major reform go way back. A timeline from the Tampa Bay Times noted President Theodore Roosevelts proposal for a national health service in 1912. Nonetheless, as we have discussed endlessly, most attempts at reform failed, and health care dysfunction seems to be getting worse.

One big problem may be that we dont understand how much discussion of health care reform is driven by those who benefit from the status quo.

A Personal Anecdote

When I began my academic career in 1983, I was often in the audience for talks about how to fix health care by people billed as experts. Often these talks seemed oddly disconnected from the realities on the ground for a junior assistant professor with a lot of clinical and teaching responsbilities. Worse, many of the solutions they offered seemed to entail greater burdens for health care professionals, with no obvious compensation other than the warm feeling that we would be benefiting society. Who else these solutions might benefit was not discussed.

One talk given a bit later stands out in my memory. On November 29, 2001, one Dr John W Rowe gave the prestigious Levinger Lecture at Brown University entitled Good Health: Can we Afford It? (referenced here, see items for 11/14 and 11/16) As I recall, Dr Rowe spent considerable time scolding us hard working physicians for overuse of medical interventions leading to endless increases in health care costs, and promising more burdensome bureaucratic interventions to rein in our follies. While promising more burdens on physicians, Dr Rowe did not dwell on how the resulting cost savings might benefit him in his role as CEO and Chairman of Aetna Inc. Aetna had purchased the notoriously physician-unfriendly US Healthcare, and thus had become a big for-profit health care insurer already known for imposing bureaucratic burdens on physicians in hopes of decreasing their utilization, while increasing the companys revenues (look here). Were Dr Rowes pontifications really about improving health care for all Americans, or about justifying his previous management behavior, and perhaps supporting the price of his shares in Aetna? Why was Aetnas public relations given the patina of an academic lecture?

These days, health care professionals continue to be exhorted about health care reform. Many such pontifications may be not so much about true health care reform as about preserving the fundamental status quo which has benefited and enriched so many insiders. The interests of the pontificators are often less obvious than those of Dr Rowe. Maybe that is so why there has been so little real reform, and what little reform there has been seems to be under continuous attack.

Two Examples of How Hard It Is to Discover the Interests of Health Care Policy Pontificators

In the last few weeks I posted about two recent ostensibly authoritative pontifications. One was about ways to address the worsening problem of physician burn-out (see this post). It was written by the CEOs of large, non-profit hospital systems, joined by the CEO of the American Medical Association. The other was about a health care reform proposal from the prestigious National Academy of Medicine (see this post). A rather uncritical article in the Washington Post hailed it as a radical idea because it was written by doctors. In both cases, I was skeptical, mainly because many of the proponents had conflicts of interest, mostly undisclosed, that suggested they were already benefiting mightily from the current system.

However, it gets worse. While I thought my posts were based on reasonable efforts to find undisclosed conflicts of interest affecting the authors of these exhortations, within a few weeks I realized I had missed one important item affecting each. The lesson is that the web of conflicts of interest that ensnares the insiders who run most of US health care is even more complex and adherent than any of us realizes.

Dr John Noseworthy, Author of the Health Affairs Post on Reducing Physician Burnout: CEO of the Mayo Clinic, But Also Now Nominated to be a Director of Merck

Dr Noseworthy, CEO of the Mayo Clinic, was the lead author of a post in HealthAffairs about reducing physician burnout. (Oddly enough, none of the proposed action items seemed to involve increasing physician autonomy by reducing the power of managers over health care professionals.)

Two weeks after Noseworthy and colleagues post appeared, an article on the Minnesota Public Radio website reported that Dr Noseworthy has just been nominated to a seat on the Merck board of directors. Presumably the possibility of this nomination had been known at the time the post was published.

I had previously written that two of the authors of the Health Affairs post were on corporate boards. One, Dr Paul Rothman, was already on the board of Merck. As corporate directors, they have fiduciary responsibilties to promote the revenues of their corporations. Now it turns out there were at least three such board members among the health system CEOs who had pontificated to physicians about how to reduce their burn-out.

Yet the power of such health care systems, whose management is often mission-hostile, and who often put revenue ahead of physicians professional values (per the shareholder value theory), is arguably a major cause of physician burnout. Furthermore, Merck, in particular, has had its share of management misbehavior as demonstrated by a recent $830 million settlement for deceiving shareholders, a mere $5.9 million 2015 settlement for deceptive marketing, and multiple setttlements, cumulatively totaling more than $1 billion, plus one guilty plea for the historic deceptive marketing of Vioxx (see this post).

So to what extent are the authors of this pontification about reducing physician burnout (without really giving physicians much new autonomy) insiders benefiting from the status quo in health care? It may be more than what we think, even now.

Mr Leonard Schaeffer, Author of National Academy of Medicine Article on Health Care Reform: Member of the Boards of Wahlgreen Boots, Quintiles, scPharmaceuticals, but Also Long-Term Director of Amgen

Mr Schaeffer was an author of the National Academy of Medicine article, now published online in JAMA, about health care reform. (Oddly enough, none of the vital directions issue areas mentioned in the article involved real challenges to the power of large health care organizations, particularly for-profit corporations, or increased autonomy for health care professionals.)

The version of the article published online by the NAM did not include any explicit disclosures of conflicts of interest. It did note that two authors were full-time employees of health care corporations, one was a consultant to health care corporations, one was a lobbyist for health care corporations, and one was on the boards of health care corporations. The online JAMA version added more disclosures, but these were incomplete. In my post, I noted that fully 13 of the 19 authors had major ties to large health care corporations, as employees, lobbyists, consultants or board members.

In particular, Mr Leonard D Schaeffer was listed in the NAM version as simply affiliated with the University of Southern California, but I found was actually on the boards of Wahlgreens Boots Alliance, Quintiles Transnational, and scPharmaceuticals Inc. That was still an incomplete picture of his conflicts of interest.

A ProPublica article from February, 2017 recounted how big pharmaceutical companies engaged Precision Health Economics to wage public relations campaigns to try to justify high pharmaceutical prices. The article noted the following about Mr Schaeffer.

Amgen has ties to all three founders of Precision Health Economics. Working for other firms, Philipson has twice testified as an expert witness for Amgen, defending the companys rights to drug patents, according to his curriculum vitae. The other two founders, Goldman and Lakdawalla, are principals at the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC, which received $500,000 in late 2016 from Amgen for an innovation initiative, according to public disclosures. Goldman said the funds were unrestricted and could be used at the centers discretion. Robert Bradway, the CEO and chair of Amgen, is on the advisory board of the university center, and Leonard Schaeffer, a professor at USC and the namesake of the center, sat on Amgens board of directors for nearly a decade. With funding from Amgen, the Schaeffer Center hosted a forum in Washington, D.C., in October 2015 on the affordability of specialty drugs. Before a panel focused on the new cholesterol treatment, Goldman cautioned against lowering drug prices.

So Mr Schaeffer, in addition to his current board positions, turns out to have had a long relationship with Amgen. Given that according to the 2013 Amgen proxy statement, Mr Schaeffer retired from the board with at least 28,277 shares of Amgen stock and options for 15,000 more, he may have current financial ties to the company.

So once again, to what extent were the authors of the 2017 NAM report on health care reform (which did not challenge the influence of large health care corporations over the health of US citizens) insiders benefiting from the status quo in health care? It may be more than what we think, even now.

Summary

Health care professionals, policy makers, and the public are constantly harangued by apparently unbaised experts about health care reform. Yet many of these authorities are insiders who benefit from the status quo. Many of their financial connections to the corporations that make the most money from the US commercialized health care system are not disclosed. It may take considerable investigation to determine their involvement in a web of conflicts of interest that drapes over the US health care system.

Meanwhile, audiences should demand that those who lecture us about health care reform disclose all their financial conflicts of interest. Any whiff of deception about their personal interests should suggest intense skepticism.

True health care reform requires honest discussion of the issues. Honesty in this case entails complete and detailed disclosure of the discussants conflicts of interest. Until such honest is the rule, be very, very careful about taking sanctimonious spiels at face value.
Yves here. This article might seem more logical as a weekend item, but a change from our regular programming seemed in order.

Im no fan of the American obsession with happiness, on pragmatic grounds (see this 2008 article, The Dark Side of Optimism). But there are deeper reasons for embracing difficult emotions, rather than try to repress them, flee through diversions, or medicate them away.

A major objective of religion is to reconcile people to the inevitability of suffering, loss, and death. The author asks, Melancholy also has a faint quality of mourning, even a kind of grief, but for what? I think it is for the transience of existence, the Japanese mono no aware, although I believe that sentiment is less intense than Western melancholia. Readers?

By Mark Kernan, a writer, independent researcher and lecturer in human rights (adult education). Originally published at Open Democracy

Without knowing the extremes of sadness and joy we can never fully know or feel all that life is.

Melancholy by Edgar Degas. Credit: Edgar Degas [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

There is something so enchanting in the smile of melancholy. It is a ray of light in the darkness, a shade between sadness and despair, showing the possibility of consolation. Leo Tolstoy

What if melancholy can be passed down through generations, not just culturally but at the level of our DNA? Melancholia has long been seen as a key element in artistic inspiration, along with a way of turning pain and sorrow into healing, and ultimately, an acceptance of lifes inescapable emotional sufferings and wounds.

The science of behavioural epigenetics is now exploring how this might actually work by studying the ways in which signals from the environment trigger molecular biological changes that modify what goes on in brain cells. Its a controversial idea because up until recently, it was thought that epigenetic information was erased over time, leaving a blank slate for every new generation.

But what if genes that have been influenced by negative environmental factors like famine, conflict, slavery or alcohol abuse could retain some stressful memories that leave molecular scars on our children and grandchildren? The implications would be profound, especially because genetic engineering would be almost irresistibleand that industry has a far from illustrious history.

A recent study by Rachel Yehuda and others at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York on the transmission of stress effects from holocaust survivors to their offspring claims exactly thisthat severe psycho-physiological trauma experienced by parents has a measurable impact on the next generation. Stress wasnt just culturally transmitted through holocaust stories; it was transferred at the level of the molecular biology of the brain.

So could there be positive connections across generations in this way, and if so, could these links be consciously strengthened or created?

Philosophers have long entertained the idea that melancholy and creativity are inter-connected. Friedrich Nietzshe said that the suffering brought on by melancholythis evening twilight devil as he called itwas vital to the mind and soul, even sacred. Suffering and difficulty, he thought, must be embraced, cultivated, and carefully crafted. Not for him the cowardly and numbing reassurance of what he called the slave morality of human timidity when faced with pain.

Without some kind of torment present in the soul, nothing of real or lasting value or beauty can be created. Without that dichotomy of emotional experiences; without knowing the extremes of sadness and joy, we can never fully know or feel all that life is. Similarly, Soren Kierkegaard wrote that melancholy was his intimate confidant, his most faithful mistress, and a place where he found bliss. Like Nietzsche, he thought that the suffering brought on by angstmelancholias more animated cousin you might saywas a necessary prerequisite for creativity.

Indigenous and shamanic cultures such as that of Aboriginal Australia have no problem in believing that melancholy and other experiences among our ancestors can shape our current reality for good and ill, and that in some way we can be psychically healed in the here and now by understanding this relationship. Aboriginal culture believes that the spirits of our ancestors reside in the crevices and caves of holy mountains, and that the hum of the wind, if understood and interpreted correctly, will reveal messages and signs from the dead.

Shamans, Sufi mystics and other psycho-spiritual travellers have always played a highly-revered cultural and spiritual role as avatars who expand their ordinary consciousness through rhythmic dancing, hypnotic drumming or ingesting psychoactive substances, and who break through into suspended time or dreamtime. In doing so, they can act as a bridge between what is perceived as ordinary reality and other non-ordinary transpersonal realms.

As a result, the wounded healerthe great global archetype associated with visionary shamanism as a person with acute mental perceptionsis able to bring back knowledge and wisdom from outside of our ordinary, three-dimensional, linear space and time. The goal of bringing back this wisdom from dreamtime is to heal and regenerate all of the community on both a spiritual and a societal level. Entering dreamtime is understood as a deeply creative act.

In the Buddhist tradition, Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha to be who is worshipped in both male and female forms has vowed to postpone enlightenment until s/he has released all sentient beings from Dukkha, the Sanskrit word for suffering. Suffering in Buddhism is understood as one of the four great Noble Truths. In the Fire Sermons, preached over two and half thousand years ago, the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, said that we live with delusion or avidya caused by suffering, and as a result we are burning:

The mind is burning, ideas are burning, mind-consciousness is burning  Burning with what? I say it is burning with birth, aging and death, with sorrows, with lamentations, with pains, with griefs, with despairs.

Hence, suffering and the sadness it brings is a universal part of human experiencea visceral part of who we are at our very core. We can run from this truth if we want to, but it will catch up with us in the end. There is no hiding place, and no amount of 21st century consumption or other distractions will douse our burnings.

Melancholy is a particular kind of sadness, an emotion born of suffering but reflective rather than creating a debilitating depression. It lies somewhere in the shade between sadness and despair as Leo Tolstoy put it, where the possibility of consolation might lie. Melancholy also has a faint quality of mourning, even a kind of grief, but for what? Our lost innocence? All that is lost in the past, and all that will be lost in the future? The human condition is full of bewilderment, misunderstanding, loss and grief because we will lose the people we love, and because things will not work out in the ways we want, so mourning and regret are inevitable.

As Susan Sontag memorably noted, depression is melancholy minus the charms. Depression paralyses, inflicts inertia and often steals our ability to function; whereas melancholy can act as a creative spur, building a hard won modicum of self-knowledge to draw on. Depression closes out the world and reduces our experiences to the claustrophobic confines of our own heads; whereas paradoxically, melancholy can open up these claustrophobic walls to acceptance and self-knowledge.

If we are to stay sane in the world we must actively seek out this kind of melancholy, for if we dont we wont be able to understand ourselves fully. We risk one-dimensionality and superficialitytwo of the many curses brought on by 21st century capitalism. This cannot be self-indulgent, nor just another excuse to inflict even more pain on our guilty, undeserving and unexamined selves.

Thankfully, great art can console us, particularly great music. Music is surely our greatest medium of expression, and if melancholy sometimes feels like a vast enveloping grief, then perhaps music and the consolation it brings can help us to grieve. The melancholic note in popular musicthe blue note understood by the great African American Jazz artists of the twentieth centuryheals, soothes and, if we allow it, can transform our suffering into this kind of knowing and accepting melancholia. Musicians from Bessie Smith and Robert Johnson to Miles Davis, Van Morrison and Lennon and McCartney have all understood this sense of pathos, and have felt and communicated it intuitively.

Take Lennon and McCartney for example. Both were the creative driving force of the Beatles. Perhaps the lonely and aching impulse of two young boys who had lost their mothers produced a symbiotic psychic energy that spurred them to create something remarkable from abrupt and searing pain. But could they have been mining something even deeper? Could emotional trauma have been passed down from earlier generations? And could the same be said of slavery and racism as part of the genesis of 19th and 20th century African American blues? It seems plausible. After all, Smith, Davis, Lennon and McCartney, David Bowie and the rest are surely our cultures great avatars and shamans. It is they who soothe, guide and enlighten, and make it all worthwhile.

Appreciating great music is not just an intellectual exercise. It is much more than that. We dont just hear music, we feel it, and in a melancholy state we do so even more intensely. If you havent felt music or any other art form with that intensity then Nietzsche was surely right: without that intensity of feeling, life would be a mistake.
New microscopy method breaks color barrier of optical imaging (Nanowerk News) Researchers at Columbia University have made a significant step toward breaking the so-called "color barrier" of light microscopy for biological systems, allowing for much more comprehensive, system-wide labeling and imaging of a greater number of biomolecules in living cells and tissues than is currently attainable. The advancement has the potential for many future applications, including helping to guide the development of therapies to treat and cure disease.

In a study published online April 19 in Nature ("Super-multiplex vibrational imaging"), the team, led by Associate Professor of Chemistry Wei Min, reports the development of a new optical microscopy platform with drastically enhanced detection sensitivity. Additionally, the study details the creation of new molecules that, when paired with the new instrumentation, allow for the simultaneous labeling and imaging of up to 24 specific biomolecules, nearly five times the number of biomolecules that can be imaged at the same time with existing technologies.

Researchers at Columbia University developed a new optical microscopy platform called electronic pre-resonance stimulated Raman scattering (epr-SRS) microscopy that combines a high level of sensitivity and selectivity. The innovative technique allows for the imaging of up to 24 biomolecular structures at a time instead of being limited by only five fluorescent proteins. (Image: Nicoletta Barolini, Columbia University)

"In the era of systems biology, how to simultaneously image a large number of molecular species inside cells with high sensitivity and specificity remains a grand challenge of optical microscopy," Min said. "What makes our work new and unique is that there are two synergistic pieces - instrumentation and molecules - working together to combat this long-standing obstacle. Our platform has the capacity to transform understanding of complex biological systems: the vast human cell map, metabolic pathways, the functions of various structures within the brain, the internal environment of tumors, and macromolecule assembly, to name just a few."

All existing methods of observing a variety of structures in living cells and tissues have their own strengths, but all are also hindered by fundamental limitations, not the least of which is the existence of a "color barrier."

Fluorescence microscopy, for example, is extremely sensitive and, as such, is the most prevalent technique used in biology labs. The microscope allows scientists to monitor cellular processes in living systems by using proteins that are broadly referred to as "fluorescent proteins" with usually up to five colors. Each of the fluorescent proteins has a target structure that it applies a "tag," or color to. The five fluorescent proteins, or colors, typically used to tag these structures are BFP (Blue Fluorescent Protein), ECFP (Cyan Fluorescent Protein), GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein), mVenus (Yellow Fluorescent Protein), and DsRed (Red Fluorescent Protein).

Despite its strengths, fluorescence microscopy is impeded by the "color barrier," which limits researchers to seeing a maximum of only five structures at a time because the fluorescent proteins used emit a range of indistinguishable shades that, as a result, fall into five broad color categories.

If a researcher is trying to observe all of the hundreds of structures and different cell types in a live brain tumor tissue sample, for example, she would be restricted to seeing only up to five structures at a time on a single tissue sample. If she wanted to see more than those five, she would have to clean the tissue of the fluorescent labels she used to identify and tag the last five structures in order to use those same fluorescent labels to identify another set of up to five structures. She would have to repeat this process for every set of up to five structures she wants to see. Not only is observing a maximum of five structures at a time labor intensive, but in cleaning the tissue, vital components of that tissue could be lost or damaged.

"We want to see them all at the same time to see how they're operating on their own and also how they're interacting with each other," said Lu Wei, lead author on the study and a postdoctoral researcher in the Min lab. "There are lots of components in a biological environment and we need to be able to see everything simultaneously to truly understand the processes."

In addition to fluorescence microscopy, there are currently a variety of Raman microscopy techniques in use for observing living cell and tissue structures that work by making visible the vibrations stemming from characteristic chemical bonds in structures. Traditional Raman microscopy produces the highly-defined colors lacking in fluorescence microscopy, but is missing the sensitivity. As such, it requires a strong, concentrated vibrational signal that can only be achieved through the presence of millions of structures with the same chemical bond. If the signal from the chemical bonds is not strong enough, visualizing the associated structure is near impossible.

To address this challenge, Min and his team, including Profs. Virginia Cornish in chemistry and Rafael Yuste in neuroscience, pursued a novel hybrid of existing microscopy techniques.

They developed a new platform called electronic pre-resonance stimulated Raman scattering (epr-SRS) microscopy that combines the best of both worlds, bringing together a high level of sensitivity and selectivity. The innovative technique identifies, with extreme specificity, structures with significantly lower concentration - instead of millions of the same structure needed to identify the presence of that structure in traditional Raman microscopy, the new instrument requires only 30 for identification. The technique also utilizes a novel set of tagging molecules designed by the team to work synergistically with the ultramodern technology. The amplified "color palette" of molecules broadens tagging capabilities, allowing for the imaging of up to 24 structures at a time instead of being limited by only five fluorescent colors. The researchers believe there's potential for even further expansion in the future.

The team has successfully tested the epr-SRS platform in brain tissue. "We were able to see the different cells working together," Wei said. "That's the power of a larger color palette. We can now light up all these different structures in brain tissue simultaneously. In the future we hope to watch them function in real time." Brain tissue is not the only thing the researchers envision this technique being used for, she added. "Different cell types have different functions, and scientists usually study only one cell type at a time. With more colors, we can now start to study multiple cells simultaneously to observe how they interact and function both on their own and together in healthy conditions versus in disease states."
Models, observations not so far apart on planet's response to greenhouse gas emissions

(Nanowerk News) How hot our planet will become for a given amount of greenhouse gases is a key number in climate change. As the calculation of how much warming is locked in by a given amount of emissions, it is crucial for global policies to curb global warming.

It is also one of the most hotly debated numbers in climate science. Observations in the past decade seem to suggest a value that is lower than predicted by models. But a University of Washington study shows that two leading methods for calculating how hot the planet will get are not as far apart as they have appeared.

In climate science, the climate sensitivity is how much the surface air temperature will increase if you double carbon dioxide from pre-Industrial levels and then wait a very long time for the Earths temperature to fully adjust. Recent observations predicted that the climate sensitivity might be less than that suggested by models.

The new study, published in Nature Climate Change ("Energy budget constraints on climate sensitivity in light of inconstant climate feedbacks"), focuses on the lag time in Earths response. According to most models of climate change, during the early stages of global warming the sensitivity to greenhouse gas emissions is relatively small. As the ocean catches up and feedbacks kick in, however, the sensitivity increases and the warming rate speeds up. The new study shows that when this difference is factored in, the observations and climate models are in agreement, with recent observations supporting a previously accepted long-term climate sensitivity of about 2.9 degrees Celsius.

The key is that you have to compare the models to the observations in a consistent way, said author Kyle Armour, a UW assistant professor of oceanography and atmospheric sciences. This apples-to-apples approach  where you factor in how long the planet has been adjusting to a change in its atmosphere  shows that climate sensitivity in the models is actually in line with what has been seen in the recent observations.

The planets temperature takes thousands of years to fully adjust to a shift in the makeup of its atmosphere  the warming Earth has experienced to date is just a taste of what is in store. Early climate studies suggested that if the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere doubled from pre-Industrial levels (were now about 1.4 times) the planet would eventually warm by about 3 degrees C, with possible values as high as 5 or 6 degrees C.

But recent observations of warming so far and emissions to date have suggested that climate sensitivity may be just under 2 degrees Celsius, with a maximum possible value of 4 degrees C (Nature Geoscience,"Energy budget constraints on climate response").

If true, this really would be a shift in our understanding of the long-term climate sensitivity, Armour said.

For the new study, Armour looked at 21 leading global climate models run with increasing carbon dioxide. He focused on the warming rate compared to carbon dioxide levels, or climate sensitivity, in the early stages compared with in the late stages. The late-stage sensitivity across all the models was an average of 26 percent higher than the early-stage values. When factoring in that todays observations are for the early stages of warming, the recent observations support a climate sensitivity of 2.9 degrees Celsius.

There have been a lot of other papers that looked at the reasons for the changes in climate sensitivity over time, Armour said. This paper was the first attempt to quantify the effect across all the comprehensive models we use for climate prediction.

The situation can be likened to pressing the gas pedal on a car, but the mass of the vehicle takes a while to get rolling. If the driver floors the gas pedal, it can be tricky to calculate the cars final speed based on its initial reaction.

In the Earth system, the ocean temperatures around Antarctica and in the eastern Pacific Ocean have not risen in recent decades. Armours previous research showed that deep, slow currents mean seawater touched by climate change will take centuries to reach the surface of the Southern Ocean. Similar but less extreme, currents reaching the eastern tropical Pacific from below the surface have also not seen daylight for decades.

Eventually, water touched by a warmer atmosphere will reach the eastern tropical Pacific and later the Southern Ocean. Warming in these regions will then activate feedbacks that will kick the planets warming into a higher gear.

Currently we dont have any evidence that the models are too sensitive compared to the observations, Armour said. The models appear to be in line with the observed range of warming.
Scientists engage holography in express estimating impurities in water and lube

(Nanowerk News) Optical engineers from ITMO University in Saint Petersburg developed an express method for estimating the distribution of particles in optically transparent media, based on correlation analysis of holograms. As a big part of the study, they had created an algorithm capable of image processing in a few seconds.

The new method can be applied to engineering devices for monitoring metal shavings in the engine oil, studying a plankton in water, or tracking viruses in living cells. The work was published in Scientific Reports ("Correlation Characterization of Particles in Volume Based on Peak-to-Basement Ratio").

Cell with sand particles distributed in water during the experiment. (Image: ITMO University)

Typically, holography is associated with three-dimensional images of museum relics, souvenirs, marking products and protective signs. But it is also used in industry for studying the roughness of surfaces and deformations in products.

In the new study, scientists from ITMO University Tatiana Vovk and Nikolay Petrov developed a method for express analysis of the distribution of microscopic particles in transparent media. The approach is based on Gabor holography, the simplest and historically the first type of holography.

The experimental results processed by computer simulation software showed that the developed method allows one to quickly appraise the concentration, average diameter and transparency rate of particles in a sample media.

Tatiana Vovk, researcher at Department of Photonics and Optical Information Technologies of ITMO University comments: There are many ways to visualize particles in suspension or aerosol, as well as methods to process these images. But they take quite a long time, and some cannot cope with analyzing media with high concentrations of particles. Therefore, our goal was to make an express method that could examine samples with any quantity of particles in real time and could be ready for industrial implementation.

As of now, the scientists showed the basic operability of the method, but they believe that it will be useful in many branches of science and engineering. Basing on the study, engineers can build analyzing devices for real-time monitoring of the particle flows and, for instance, utilize them to determine the number of particles in the machine oil. The friction in mechanical parts causes the release of metal shavings in the grease. They circulate with the oil and wear out the mechanism. The device could help to evaluate this wear level by investigating the pollution of the grease, adds Tatiana Vovk.

Biological applications of this technology are interesting as well. According to scientists, their method will allow one to study the purity of lakes and rivers through determination of the plankton transparency in water samples. This parameter, in turn, indicates the reservoir ecological state, since the optical properties of microorganisms highly depend on the habitat.

The researchers are considering the possibility of adaptation of this technology for tracking the viral particles in living cells.

When exploring mechanisms of virus transport, scientists apply fluorescent microscopy. Such an analysis requires processing of large amounts of data. Our method can potentially help to quickly process these hundreds and thousands of images taken from a microscope. But we need the assistance of some biomedicine experts to solve arising issues and to carefully understand how to combine the fluorescence microscopy with digital holography in the most effective way, says Nikolay Petrov, head of Digital and Display Holography Laboratory at ITMO University.

To obtain the particles parameters, the researchers expose the sample with the collimated laser beam and get the digital Gabor hologram. Then they extract two flat images from the hologram. The focusing on these images is carried out by computational methods, a mathematical simulation. The fast image processing takes place by virtue of the correlation function. The researchers compare the images and thereby receive the needed information about the entire distribution of particles.
More than 5000 people will have seen Alan Gilsenan's 'Meetings with Ivor' in its first two months. This is a phenomenal record for a new Irish documentary that was completed in January. It had a premiere screening at Dublins IFI Cinema on January 14 during the First Fortnight Festival attended by President Michael D Higgins.

Demand was such that two extra screenings had to be added the following day. Since then its been garnering 4 and 5 star reviews and lots of positive reactions from a wide-based audience around the country.

Now the documentary is coming to a Tipperary screening  at The Source Arts Centre, Thurles, om Wednesday May 3, at 8pm.

See the trailer for the documentary here

Sunniva O'Flynn, Head of Irish Film Programming at the Irish Film Institute, says This is unprecedented for a film that's just come out. Since the IFI opened I have never seen such demand for a new Irish documentary. We've experienced queues out the door and have had to extend the planned run.

Chiara Kelly at the Eye Cinema in Galway said Last night demand exceeded supply and we had to upgrade to our biggest cinema. We are extending the film's run at the Eye also. It's been creating quite a stir here.

When asked to explain the reasons for the film's unexpected success producer Tomas Hardiman of Parzival Productions said Ivor Browne has spent a lifetime trying to improve the lot of Irish people in distress. His influence and his appeal run very deep. What he has to say has a huge resonance for people in these uncertain times. Added to that, people are moved by the artistry and profound appeal of Alan Gilsenan's filmic portrayal. For the audience I think it's a simple case of deep attraction to a man of immense love and compassion. He is not afraid to say what he believes and this is often contrary to orthodox beliefs. In this film we see a man willing to expose his own flaws as he exposes and seeks to address the flaws of society. We dont see that happening too often in public life.
Seinn Cashel and Emly is a project promoting and encouraging liturgical music in secondary schools.

Six hundred students from ten schools will raise their voices and their hands in the Cathedral of the Assumption, Thurles, on Thursday, April 27th, at 7.30p.m.

This will be the first time ever that such an event is being staged in our diocese, and it builds upon the success of similar ventures, including Emmanuel in Dublin and Seinn in Killaloe and Limerick diocese.

The schools involved cover the breadth of the diocese  Cashel Community School; Presentation Secondary School, Thurles; C.B.S. Secondary School, Thurles; Ursuline Secondary School, Thurles; Our Ladys Secondary School, Templemore; St. Ailbes Secondary School, Tipperary; St. Annes Secondary School, Tipperary; St. Marys Secondary School, Newport; St. John the Baptist Community School, Hospital and Presentation Secondary School, Ballingarry.

One of the advantages of this programme is that it offers students and teachers a liturgical music repertoire.

However, more importantly, it involves students getting involved in a shared music experience, and bringing faith to life.

Over the past number of months, the students have been practicing in their own schools. On the day of the performance, the students will come together to attend a lively workshop on the theme of Where do I belong?, facilitated by Eric Hughes of Scripture Union Ireland, and also to rehearse the music for the concert.

Ian Callanan is the music director for Seinn Cashel and Emly, and has been instrumental in bringing the project to its fruition.

A renowned composer and arranger of music, Ian will be conducting the orchestra and chorus on the night, having facilitated a music workshop in each of the schools over the past number of months. Soloists and musicians will be drawn from the schools, and no doubt, the students of Cashel and Emly will put us firmly on the map with their music and song.

If you are a lover of music, the Cathedral of the Assumption is the place to be on April 27th. All are welcome. There is no admission charge on the night.
(Natural News) Is Colorados Boulder County paving the way for our country to be free of GMOs and toxic insecticides? It sure looks like it; the county has made headlines with their recent banning of certain GMO crops from being grown on county-owned land. And theyve even banned the use of harmful neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics) on the land, too.

Boulder County announced recently that they would be phasing out the cultivation of GMO corn and sugar beets on county-owned land. The transition plans for GM corn will have them banned completely by the end of 2019, and the cultivation of GM sugar beets will see its final days by the conclusion of 2021. The use of neonics on county properties will also be phased out over the next five years.

Neonics have been especially controversial due to their apparent role in the decimation of bee populations across the country. Neonics have become known for their disastrous effects on bees; even the EPA recently admitted that the popular insecticides are harming the much-needed pollinator species. A report from the federal agency finally acknowledged what beekeepers had been saying for decades: Neonics weaken, disorient, and eventually kill honeybees.

EcoWatch reports that commissioners voted 2 to 1 to approve these most recent transition plans. Genetically modified corn and sugar beets are currently the only GM crops being grown on county-owned land in Boulder. And in 2015, they accounted for 1200 acres  or about 8 percent  of the countys leased open spaces.

And as Daily Camera reports, The plan now also includes a requirement that, beginning next January, the county Parks and Open Space Department produce an annual report on progress toward implementing the GMO transition policies, with annual public hearings by the commissioners on that report and the progress of the transition.

County staff will also be required to work with each of Boulder Countys tenant farmers to determine what financial risks are imposed by the transition to each farmer, and to help the farmers find ways to circumvent or reduce the severity of any potential negative consequences.

While it all sounds well and good, Boulder Countys current plan still leaves room for other GMO crops to be grown in the future, provided that they dont require pesticides for cultivation. Commissioner Elise Jones explained that while she is not concerned about the safety of GMO crops, she is concerned about the pesticides used to rear them.

Some continue to question the validity of concerns about GMO crops, like commissioner Cindy Domenico. The science on GE crops is not settled, Domenico said, noting that she personally had not seen scientific support for the threats posed by GMO crops.

While studies on the long-term effects GM crops will have on humans and the environment are rather lacking, there are several valid concerns about these genetically altered crops. For example, GM crops are not immune to cross-pollination  which means that once a GM crop is planted, it could potentially contaminate non-GM crops and contaminate the gene pool of our food supply. Furthermore, most GM crops are engineered to withstand the harsh herbicides and pesticides used on them  and these compounds are known to harm the surrounding environment, and the creatures that live in it. A recent report from the UN revealed hundreds of thousands of people have died as a result of pesticide poisoning.

One of the biggest myths about GM crops is that they somehow produce more food  but studies have shown that this is simply not true: GM farming does not increase harvest yields at all, actually.

There are countless concerns and questions about the long-term and short-term safety and viability of GMO crops. And while the ban being placed in Boulder County may not be perfect, it is at least a step in the right direction. (RELATED: Keep up with the latest news on GMO crops at GMO.news)

Sources:

EcoWatch.com

March-Against-Monsanto.com

DailyCamera.com

ResponsibleTechnology.org
Wednesday, April 19, 2017 by: JD Heyes Tags: George Soros , Marxist , revolutionary , Sedition This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) Marxist billionaire George Soros may be the most hated figure among the American Right and constitutionalists and populists who love their country. His continued efforts to organize and fund Left-wing groups whose only goal is to undermine U.S. democracy and especially the Trump administration has drawn the ire of tens of millions of Americans, many of whom believe he ought to be arrested and tried for treason or sedition (since he is an American citizen).

Writing at Soros.news, Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, highlighted some 200 groups that are fully or partially funded by the Soros financial empire, through his Open Society Foundation. A partial list of them, as researched and identified by Freedom Outpost, include:

 Air America: This self-described far-Left radio network was supposed to challenge the likes of talk radio giants Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Michael Savage and others for airwave supremacy. But instead, it was launched (with great fanfare and free coverage in the Marxist mainstream media), floundered, then failed and is now nothing but a bad memory for liberals. (RELATED: George Soros Should Be Arrested And Charged With Inciting Riots For Financing Protests)

 Americas Voice: This organization supports open borders and limitless immigration, which aims to dilute and supplant American culture and traditions with those of scores of other nationalities, thereby effectively destroying American culture and our constitutional heritage.

 America Coming Together: This bizarrely named organization actually seeks to keep Americans divided by pushing a singular political ideology  the Marxism of the Democratic Party  under the cover of a Democrat voter-mobilization effort.

 The American Civil Liberties Union: This group of activist lawyers has never met a far-Left political agenda it didnt fight to support, even those that undermined basic constitutional protections and liberties like freedom of speech, assembly and religion.

 Campaign for Americas Future: The only future this Soros-funded organization envisions is one consisting of far-Left Marxist authoritarianism. It supports tax increases (on the wealthy, of course), and Obamacare on steroids (single-payer socialized medicine)  all run by the government.

 Center for American Progress: Far-Left Marxist Democrats love to call themselves progressives, as if to imply their ideology moves America forward, so always be leery of any group with some derivative of the word progress in it. This is actually a regressive organization, as it seeks to return Americans to the form of top-down, authoritarian, single-figure government that our founders escaped and that practically every other civilization in history to that point had suffered under.

 Center for Reproductive Rights: This is a pro-abortion, abortion-on-demand-no-matter-the-stage-of-development organization. Period.

 Families USA: All this group seeks is furthering government control over health care, as if increasing government control over health care delivery and the insurance industry (via Obamacare) has been a success. (RELATED: Note to Democratic leaders: George Soros has hijacked your party, and you let him)

And the list goes on.

But the point is, Soros is nothing but a Karl Marx/Vladimir Lenin/Josef Stalin/Fidel Castro wannabe, at the top of the food chain along with a narrow group of other wealthy far-Left elitists who sit in judgment and rule over the planetary masses. He and others like Barack Obama use hundreds of wonderful-sounding groups and organizations to advance an anti-liberty agenda that, if ultimately successful, would amount to iron-fisted governmental rule by decree: No more voting; no more representation; no more debate, and no more tolerance for other viewpoints

Soros is focusing primarily on the United States because it stands as the planets sole beacon of unbridled opportunity and freedom. He wants nothing less than bringing down our form of government and replacing it with an authoritarian dictator he and a select few others can control. He knows if the U.S. goes, then so goes any future hope of living as anything other than a slave or serf to the power elite.

He cannot be allowed to succeed.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

Soros.news

FreedomOutpost.com

Collapse.news
(Natural News) In early April, the sight of thousands of dead perch washing up on the shores of Lake Michigan sent local fisherman into shock. CBS Chicago reports that the anglers found the fish at an old dock thats become a popular spot for locals to go fishing. Photos of the devastating scene made their way to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for investigation.

That old dock is a 2,000 foot ship slip at what was once U.S. Steel South Works.

In the interim, however, the washed-up fish became a delightful feast for gulls and fish-eating ducks nearby, and the mess was cleaned up relatively quickly. But what killed these fish is a far greater concern than how they were removed.

What it was exactly that led to the mass die-off of fish is still something of a mystery. Authorities claim that a theory called upwelling is most likely the culprit behind this disturbing event. As Fox News writer Kris Millgate explains, Upwelling occurs when deep, cold water rises to the surface, displacing the warmer, nutrient-depleted water above. As the cold water ascends, fish are often drawn upward as well, which may explain why the perch surfaced.

Upwellings are not generally considered to be bad things, as the rush of cold water comes with a surge of nutrients that fertilize the surface water. According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, however, spring upwellings can be problematic for fish. The additional stress on the fish can easily kill them if theyve had a rough winter.

This is far from the first time that a massive fish die-off has taken place in Lake Michigan. You could almost say that the lake is known for it, actually. The 1970s were a particularly bad time for fish in Lake Michigan: Alewives were piling up in droves on the lakes shores back then. In 1967, the plight of the alewives was so severe that bulldozers had to be called in to remove all the bodies of the little fish. And in 2016, they didnt fare much better. Hundreds upon hundreds of alewives piled up on beaches around Lake Michigan last summer  and it seems like the wave of fish death has continued on this spring with the perch that inhabit the lake.

But are changes in water temperature really the only cause of death for fish inhabiting the Great Lakes? Lake Michigan has a history rife with pollution  including sewage, prescription drugs and heavy metals like mercury.

In 2015, research revealed that pharmaceutical drugs pollute the lakes environment, even miles away from the sewage discharge pipes in Lake Michigan. The most prevalent drug found in the lakes water? Metformin, a popular drug used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Not only that, but the team of scientists found that exposure to metformin caused changes to the hormonal systems of the fish living in the lake.

Metformin is not completely broken down by the human body, or wastewater treatment systems. And while only a very, very small amount makes it into the lake, it seems even that infinitesimal amount is enough to be harmful to otherwise rather hardy fish. The scientists found that male fish exposed to metformin showed disruptions to their endocrine systems, and that they began producing a chemical messenger normally associated with females egg production.

And thats just the beginning. As Environment Illinois explains, Lake Michigan has been something of a dumping ground for years. Since 2000, over 34 billion gallons of raw sewage have been dumped into the body of water. And in 2012, over 50 beaches along the lake tested positive for mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and E. coli. In the same year, Cook County had 334 beach closings due to unsafe levels of pollution and bacteria. (Read more stories about water pollution at CleanWater.news)

Is it really just the temperatures killing fish in Lake Michigan, after all is said and done?

Sources:

FoxNews.com

Chicago.CBSLocal.com

WTMJ.com

Freep.com

EnvironmentIllinois.org
(Natural News) Aspirin may not be as effective in preventing heart disease as previously thought, a recent analysis revealed. In a review of 11 previous studies, researchers at the University of Florida Health noted that the drug did not show efficacy in reducing cardiovascular deaths, nor heart attack and stroke risk in patients with peripheral arterial disease.

For the study, the scientists examined data on peripheral arterial disease (PAD) patients and found that 7.7 percent of those who took the drug died after six years, compared with 8.5 percent of those who did not take the drug. According to researchers, the difference did not show a statistical significance. The analysis also showed that heart attack and stroke incidence were similar for both groups.

The analysis also revealed that the drug may also induce bleeding in the stomach and in the brain in rare cases, which in turn may increase the odds of suffering stroke. Aspirin was also found to be significantly less effective compared with other less-risky anticoagulants like warfarin. However, researchers noted that further studies are needed to confirm the findings. The experts also stressed that patients should not immediately stop taking the medication.

Peripheral arterial disease is a devastating condition and a major cause of lower limb amputation and infection in the U.K. This research challenges current guidelines, by suggesting aspirin doesnt improve the outlook for people suffering from PAD, although further trials are needed to confirm this, said Dr Mike Knapton, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, in an article in DailyMail.co.uk.

The findings were published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Other studies disprove aspirins efficacy in cutting heart risk

A vast number of studies have previously established that aspirin may not be as effective in lowering heart risk as previously believed.

A 2016 study found that aspirin did not reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients with diabetes or peripheral arterial disease. To assess this, researchers examined 1, 276 patients with either diabetes or PAD and conducted a follow up after eight years. According to the experts, the incidence of heart attack and stroke were similar for patients who were on daily aspirin treatment and those in the placebo group. However, the researchers noted that the treatment may work as a secondary therapy in patients who already had a history of heart attack. The findings were published in the British Medical Journal.

Another study showed that the drug was not effective in curbing cardiovascular risks in older patients. As part of research, health experts at the University of Shin-Oyama City Hospital in Tochigi, Japan assessed more than 14,000 elderly patients with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes. The study revealed that the number of cardiac deaths, heart attack and stroke did not differ between those who took the drug and those who did not. In addition, patients who were on aspirin treatment were at an increased risk of experiencing potentially dangerous bleeding. The findings were presented at the American Heart Association annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois. The results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A study conducted by the Irish Heart Foundations National Cardiovascular & Stroke Research Network further emphasized the drugs inefficacy in cutting the risk of heart attack. According to the research, the drug failed to show efficacy in reducing cardiovascular risk for about 20 percent of patients. The profile of the patients who are not adequately protected are typically men with high blood pressure, overweight and with a high alcohol intake. This group, who are at high risk of recurrent heart attack, are not getting the benefit of a cheap and generally effective therapy, said lead researcher Professor Dermot Kenny in IrishHealth.com.

Sources:

DailyMail.co.uk

Health.USNews.com

CBSNews.com

IrishHealth.com
(Natural News) Taking antidepressants before and during pregnancy may raise the odds of autism spectrum disorder in children, a recent review showed. The study found that children born to mothers who took antidepressants during pregnancy had an 81% increased odds of developing autism. The researchers also found that children born to women who took antidepressants before pregnancy had a 77% likelihood of developing autism. As part of the analysis, French researchers examined six studies with a total cohort population of 117,737 participants and compared them with people without autism.

According to the analysis, up to 15% of women experience depression during pregnancy. The researchers also noted that antidepressant-use among pregnant women around the world showed an upswing in the last few years. Women with untreated depression were at an increased risk of developing complications including diabetes and hypertension, the researchers added.

However, outside expert Carol Povey cautioned that pregnant women should not immediately stop antidepressant treatment. Povey is the current director of the National Autistic Societys Centre for Autism. We urge people not to jump to conclusions about this study, which brings together findings from previous research. Its therefore vital that no-one bases any decisions about their care on these findings alone. Any mothers-to-be who are concerned about the best treatment for depression should discuss this with their doctor, Povey said in an article in DailyMail.co.uk.

The findings were published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

More studies link antidepressants to autism onset

The recent findings coincide with a number of previous studies that demonstrate a link between antidepressant treatment and autism onset. A 2015 study revealed that taking serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during pregnancy increased the risk of autism in children. To assess this, researchers pooled data from the Quebec Pregnancy Cohort and found that SSRI intake during the second and/or third trimester of pregnancy was associated with the onset of autism in unborn children. Some classes of antidepressants work by inhibiting serotonin (SSRIs and some other antidepressant classes), which will have a negative impact on the ability of the brain to fully develop and adapt in utero, said lead researcher Prof. Anick Berard in MedicalNewsToday.com. The findings were published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Another study revealed that prenatal exposure to antidepressants may raise the odds of autism. To assess this, researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital analyzed data of more than 5,400 children. The study revealed that autism spectrum disorder was more common among children born to mothers who took antidepressants during pregnancy compared with the control group. The results were published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

A 2013 study also found that in utero exposure to both SSRIs and non-selective monoamine reuptake inhibitors was tied to autism onset in children. However, researchers said the study did not show a causal relationship between antidepressant treatment and autism. Further studies are needed to verify the findings, the researchers wrote in BMJ.

Furthermore, a 2011 study also showed that prenatal exposure to SSRIs may lead to the development of autism in children. To carry out the study, researchers pooled data from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in North Carolina. According to the study, maternal depression was linked to higher risk of autism in childrren. However, paternal depression did not appear to increase the risk.

The study also revealed that children born to mothers who took serotonin reuptake inhibitors at one year before delivery were twice as likely to develop autism. The risk of autism onset was more pronounced when the mothers took SSRIs during the first trimester of pregnancy, the researchers said. The findings were published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. (Related: Know more about other potential health risks associated with antidepressants at DangerousMedicine.com)

Sources:

DailyMail.co.uk

Reuters.com

MedicalNewsToday.com

JAMANetwork.com

BMJ.com

ScienceDaily.com

LiveScience.com
(Natural News) What could you possibly do to make a can of Cherry Coke less appealing? Put Warren Buffets face on it, thats what. The 86 year-old billionaire has bragged about his massively unhealthy Coca-Cola habit, and now his face will be emblazoned on Cherry Coke cans in China. Buffet has owned stock in Coca-Cola for decades  and his investment firm reportedly owns 9.3 percent of the beverage giant, and that holding is estimated to be worth $17 billion. Its really no surprise that Buffet got his face on a soda can; the investment behemoth is known for his love of the junk food industry.

The billionaire claims he drinks a shocking five cans of Coca-Cola every day, and can often be seen sipping on a can of the fizzy stuff at public events  after all, there is no better advertising than free advertising, right?

Buffet is also notorious for defending Coca-Cola as concerns about the health consequences of consuming sugary drinks continue to raise questions about sodas safety. Last year, at a company meeting, Buffet even went so far as to say that the happiness he gets from drinking soda outweighs any health benefits he could get from eating more vegetables. Of course, the sight of his stocks rising in value probably makes him pretty happy too  and encouraging people to continue to drink soda is one way to ensure that happens.

Buffet took things one step further, however, and went full-on delusional. I have not seen evidence that convinces me that itll be more likely I reach 100 if I suddenly switched to water and broccoli, he said. Clearly, Mr. Buffet lives in a bubble  which is pretty easy to do when youre worth an estimated $76 billion.

The fact of the matter is that there is quite a lot of evidence that sugar, and consequently soda, is not good for your body. As this video from the University of California at Daviss Kimber Stanhope explains, consuming sugary beverages sets off a chain reaction across the body  and it begins with your liver. As Stanhope explains, glucose and fructose affect the body differently. The liver is capable of shutting off its absorption of glucose, and if it doesnt need glucose, it will simply go the rest of the body.

However, this does not happen with fructose, because there is an enzyme in the liver that is always turned on, and the liver will consequently continue to absorb the fructose, even if its energy stores are full. Very little fructose gets delivered to other parts of the body, most of it will be stored in the liver as fat. And when there is more fat in the liver, there is more fat going out into the bloodstream. This, in turn, raises triglyceride and cholesterol levels. Stanhope explains that liver fat is also thought to decrease insulins ability to work properly, which increases the risk of diabetes. And when insulin is not effective, even more fructose will be turned into liver fat  creating a twisted, self-repeating cycle. Any fructose-containing beverage  including Buffets beloved cola  is capable of these effects.

Sugar isnt the only unhealthy thing about these bubbly beverages, either: Some artificial colorants are known to produce carcinogenic byproducts, as well.

While Warren Buffet uses his face to push his agenda, those of us with common sense will be skipping on the soda.

Sources:

Bloomberg.com

YouTube.com
(Natural News) Nearly two billion people now depend on imported food for survival, a recent study found. As part of the study, researchers at the Aalto University in Finland pooled data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations to examine the effects of resource scarcity and population pressure on food production and subsequent importation.

Although this has been a topic of global discussion for a long time, previous research has not been able to demonstrate a clear connection between resource scarcity and food imports. We performed a global analysis focusing on regions where water availability restricts production, and examined them from 1961 until 2009, evaluating the extent to which the growing population pressure was met by increasing food imports, said lead researcher Miina Porkka in an article in ScienceDaily.com.

The study showed that population growth coincided with increased pressure on water and soil resources. Importation occurs when local agriculture cannot meet the regions demands, researchers said. According to the study, food imports showed a significant increase in 75 percent of resource scarce regions as food production began to dwindle. The study also revealed that even less-developed nations now depend on imports. However, these countries were not always successful.

The research team also found that 1.4 billion people now rely on imports to ensure food security. The study also revealed that an additional 460 million people reside in areas where increased imports remained inadequate to compensate the lack of local production.

The results were published in the journal Earths Future.

Experts recommend ways to address food scarcity

According to the studys co-author Dr. Joseph Guillaume, the bigger dilemma is that people may not even be aware that they opted to rely more on imports than investing in local production or minimizing the demand. Dr. Guillaume asserted that importation is a viable solution when the local productions output is inadequate. However, the researcher also stressed that the local food production should not be taken for granted, and that sustainable solutions should be put in place to help address food scarcity.

Researchers said the international food system remains sensitive, and that changes in prices may compromise food security. This in turn may negatively impact poorer countries that rely on imports. According to the research team, additional investments designed to increase the local productions capacity may help mitigate this risk. Certain sectors such as the agriculture industry, the scientific community and policy makers may also work together to help minimize food waste, reduce the demand and increase production efficiency.

Keeping food demand in check is the key issue. Controlling population growth plays an essential role in this work, but it would also be important to enhance production chains by reducing food waste and meat consumption. Since one quarter of all the food produced in the world is wasted, reducing this would be really significant on a global level, Porkka added in another article in UPI.com.

A classic example of resource, food production dilemma

The recent findings coincide with a previous study indicating a link between food production and its effects on the planets most valuable resource  water. According to researchers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 26 internationally-traded crop classes were highly dependent on irrigation systems to cultivate. In turn, irrigation for these crops have now accounted for 11 percent of non-renewable groundwater withdrawals. (Related: Follow more news about the risk of global starvation at Starvation.news.)

Researchers said such withdrawals from underground aquifers cannot be replenished on human time frame, which in turn may potentially deplete the planets water supply. The study also revealed that the U.S. is the leading importer of aquifer-dependent crops. The study also revealed that 18 percent of international traded crops is comprised of aquifer-dependent plants.

The findings were published in the journal Nature.

Sources:

UPI.com

ScienceDaily.com

OnlineLibrary.Wiley.com
(Natural News) The art of analyzing intelligence really isnt an art at all. Its a calculated process not based on gut feelings or hairs standing on the back of your neck. Professional analysts consume a lot of information from many sources before they can make educated estimates about domestic and global events.

Each bit of information forms another piece of a puzzle that you must piece together in order to produce an accurate analysis of future events or potential events. This isnt fortune-telling; its calculated analysis of available information that allows you form of a picture of what can happen if the available data is extrapolated out to logical conclusions.

To get started:

1) Consume a lot of information on a daily basis;

2) Read more than just what youre comfortable with (for instance, the Washington Post may hate Donald Trump so its political coverage is biased, but its national security reporting is actually pretty good and generally accurate);

3) Gather data and information from lots of sources, including foreign sources.

The age of the Internet has made all this easier  and more difficult  to help you analyze current events. I know that sounds contradictory, so let me explain. (RELATED: As The Financial Collapse Approaches, Should You Go All-In On Gold And Silver?)

With the Internet, people now have access to massive streams of information previously unavailable to them simply because they could not physically possess it. For instance, before the advent of the modern commercial Internet, it was virtually impossible to read a newspaper report from media in Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Russia, Europe or South America unless you were a subscriber. Now, with the Internet, you can access information from any news source that publishes online (and nearly all of them do).

But that is part of the problem: Too much information is available. There are literally millions of new news reports being published online daily, and that number only increases every month as new sites go online. That presents a problem in and of itself  information overload.

Because of the overload, it then becomes necessary to hone in on specific topics of interest  proliferation of nuclear weapons; the global economy (banking, currency, trade); current events; political unrest, etc.  while winnowing down the number of news sources you check daily to those that have proven, over time, to frequently provide the most reliable information. (Become an expert on a topic, and challenge your fellow preppers who are also concerned about the future to do the same thing, each picking a different subject of course.)

In this way, you can begin to control the flow of data you are consuming, trust that its accurate, and thus give you quality information to dissect and analyze it for clues, trends, and key data.

Consider this: Recently, a piece for The National Sentinel, which I edit, concluded by analyzing open-source material that the United States was not only preparing a preemptive strike against North Korea at some point in the future, but that the strike would likely include one of four Ohio-class cruise missile-carrying submarines. Thats a key combat capability; these vessels are super-stealthy and can shower pre-selected targets with 154 satellite-guided Tomahawk cruise missiles of the type used to flatten an airbase in Syria recently.

The report noted a couple of things to reach that conclusion:

A news report in Pravda.ru, specifically mentioned that an Ohio-class missile sub had been dispatched to waters off the Korean peninsula, along with the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group. The report even mentioned the subs complement of 154 Tomahawks.

That in and of itself isnt proof of anything, because obviously, its a Russian media source and the 154 missile figure is not classified; even the U.S. Navy publishes the figure.

But theres more. The National Interest magazine notes that these subs are among Americas most lethal  because theyre heavily armed, and because they are virtually undetectable. Also  and this is key  during a recent interview with Fox Business Maria Bartiromo, President Donald J. Trump was asked specifically about what he planned to do about North Korea. Characteristically, Trump refused to specify anything, but he did say this:

We are sending an armadavery powerful. We have submarinesvery powerfulfar more powerful than the aircraft carrier, that I can tell you.

Of all the ships in an aircraft carrier battle group, why did the president single out submarines, even stating they are far more powerful than the carrier, which has about 100 attack planes?

Interesting indeed.

By combining these bits of information, an analyst may reasonably conclude that an Ohio-class submarine carrying Tomahawk cruise missiles is part of the armada Trump ordered to Korean waters. Why is that noteworthy? Because aircraft carrier battle groups are most commonly accompanied by a Los Angeles Class attack submarine, which is designed to defend the fleet against other subs.

In addition, other warships in the battle group  destroyers and cruisers, specifically  carry Tomahawks. Arent they very powerful too? It was just an odd reference, which made it stand out.

The same technique can be used to piece together a coming financial collapse, to understand how the government would respond to widespread social unrest and rioting, and a variety of other social and political conditions. Being able to properly analyze the information before you will no doubt help you to conclude, before others, that something big is about to take place.

And knowledge is power. Getting a jump on things gives you more time to get to a bugout location, stock up on key prepping gear, and warn other friends and relatives that something is coming down the pike. (RELATED: 12 lessons for surviving war after a financial collapse)

In the meantime, pick an area of interest and start surfing the Net to find news sources that you can rely upon to give you good information before others publish it. Practice taking what you learn over the course of, say, a week or two, and see if you can project with accuracy a few potential scenarios before they occur. The more experience you have in analyzing intelligence, the better youll be at correctly predicting the future.

Learning analytical skills will eventually come in very handy.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

TheNationalSentinel.com

YouTube.com
(Natural News) In Detroit, Doctor Jumana Nagarwala has been charged with female genitalia mutilation after destroying the reproductive organs of two 7-year-old girls. According to specifics released last week in U.S. district court, Nagarwala has been hit with a five-year felony for the genitalia mutilation and potentially a life sentence for transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

According to the complaint, despite her oath to care for her patients, Dr. Nagarwala is alleged to have performed horrifying acts of brutality on the most vulnerable victims, explained Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco. The Department of Justice is committed to stopping female genital mutilation in this country, and will use the full power of the law to ensure that no girls suffer such physical and emotional abuse.

Indeed, the procedures performed by Dr. Nagarwala really were brutal and horrifying. Female genitalia mutilation is not only incredibly painful for women, but it is also extremely invasive and eliminates all possibilities of future pregnancy. It is both sad and horrifying that Dr. Nagarwala felt that she had the right to make that decision for other women, let alone girls as young as 7 years old.

Still, Dr. Nagarwalas lawyer is defending these criminal acts by arguing that the mutilation of female genitalia is part of her religious practice. Attorney Sharron Smith said that the process of removing the membrane from the vagina and then giving it to the girls parents is tied to the customs of the Dawoodi Bohra, a small sect of Indian Muslims.

The case officially began in February after the FBI received a tip stating that Nagarwala had performed genital mutilation on two young girls at a Livonia medical clinic. The FBI was able to receive a court order to examine the contents of Nagarwalas phone, which revealed several calls made to a Minnesota phone number. Agents were then able to look at data from a Minnesota cell tower and found out that the phone was in the vicinity of motels in the Farmington Hills area on February 3.

A quick examination of the hotel records showed agents that two families had been staying in the motel on February 3, each with a young girl. Just a week later, the FBI interviewed one of these girls, who admitted that she and a second girl had been brought to Detroit for a special girls trip. After the girls were taken to the doctor due to upset stomachs, Nagarwala performed the procedures by pinching on the place where she goes pee to get the germs out.

To most people who embrace western civilization, the idea of violating women by destroying their reproductive organs is nothing short of evil. But to many in the Muslim world, this is an accepted and relatively common practice. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 140 million girls around the world have undergone genital mutilation, and 3 million girls in Africa alone undergo the procedure every year.

In July of 2014, Judicial Watch reported that the Islamic State had ordered the genital mutilation of all women between the ages of 11 and 46 in Mosul. UN official Jacqueline Badcock commented on the report, stating, We have current reports of imposition of a directive that all female girl children and women up to the age of 49 must be circumcised. This is something very new for Iraq and is of grave concern and does need to be addressed.

This is exactly why the customs and traditions practiced under Sharia Law have no place in the United States. Not only are many of these customs blatantly evil  like the stoning of gays and the beheading of Christians  but they are also incompatible with U.S. law and the Constitution.

Sources

DetroitNews.com

Freep.com

JihadWatch.org
The long-lost city of Etzanoa, the second biggest Native American settlement in the United States, could have been sitting near Arkansas City, Kansas, all this time.

According to the Kansas City Star, it was a high school student who stumbled on the find that Wichita State University's Donald Blakeslee says is evidence of a massive city at the confluence of the Walnut and Arkansas Rivers.

What the researchers have found point to the previous existence of a massive town that was the stuff of Wichita legend. It extends across thousands of acres along the pair of rivers. Artifacts found on the site further support the site's history as Etzanoa: a half-inch iron cannon ball and a water shrine carved on a limestone boulder.

In 1601, Juan de Onate, conquistador and founding governor of New Mexico, embarked on an expedition in search of a fabled "city of gold," a report from Archaeological Conservancy revealed. The exploration led him and his men to discover many notable sights, particularly a massive riverside city they called Etzanoa that they stumbled upon during a battle.

Years after their expedition, the soldiers regaled official stories of the vast Etzanoa that featured thousands of thatched-roof buildings that stretched miles long. The explorers believed that around 20,000 people lived in the settlement.

"The Spaniards were amazed by the size of Etzanoa," Blakeslee said. "They counted 2,000 houses that could hold 10 people each. They said it would take two or three days to walk through it all."

But despite its historical significance, the location of the Etzanoa has remained a mystery for around 400 years. Scholars have even dismissed Onate's stories as the exaggerations of a conquistador -- until now.

"We always knew we once had a whole bunch of Indians living around here, because we had found way too many artifacts to think otherwise," Jay Warren, an Arkansas City council member, said. "But we had no idea until Dr. Blakeslee came along about how big it was."
The state of California is transforming its infamous traffic jams into opportunities to harness renewable energy.

According to a report from San Francisco Chronicle, state officials will be funding an initiative to generate renewable electrical power from the road vibrations of California traffic.

Turning mechanical force into electricity isn't anything new, and science is inching into using similar technologies to produce power from sidewalks, runways and even nightclubs.

It has yet to be proven how this technology will work when applied to a large-scale plan. But the extent of traffic in California -- which is often a headache for commuters -- has great potential in generating a large amount of energy.

"There's a lot of traffic in California and a lot of vibration that just goes into the atmosphere as heat," Mike Gravely, a senior electrical engineer and head of the research division at the California Energy Commission, pointed out. "We can capture that. The technology has been successfully demonstrated."

Dubbed as piezoelectricity -- "piezo" is Greek for "press," a reference to creating power from pressure -- the science should be boosted with adequate support from the state. Two independent projects, costing $2.3 million, are envisioned to test the potential of piezoelectricity.

Within two to three years, the state should know whether it's a good idea to pursue piezoelectricity long term. Success will go a long way in achieving the state's target of renewable energy, accounting for at least half of California's power by 2030.

"The ultimate goal for us is to move this to a commercially viable product," Gravely explained. "As you drive down the road to San Francisco, you'd see them on the side of the road. Just think about the Golden Gate Bridge and downtown traffic on Highway 101."

Meanwhile in Israel, energy company Innowattech also initiated a similar project to turn traffic into energy in 2009, a report from Reuters said.
Australia is not unfamiliar with shark sightings. However, sharks circling around popular swimming spots are always a cause of concern.

Carla Charlton was enjoying her day when she suddenly spotted a giant shark swimming around the wharf in Warrnambool, Victoria.

Speaking with Coast FM, Carla said she was only looking for a barking seal. When she pointed her camera to the direction where she heard the seal, she was surprised when instead of seeing the seal, she saw a shark.

"I heard this seal barking so we went down to have a look at the seal and I started to take video of a seal in the water," she said. "I kept the video going to capture the seal and then these two fins popped up out of the water."

"Initially I thought it was two separate fish, then I thought no that's a shark, that's two fins off the same fish'. I just kept taking the video because I thought there's a shark here' and I couldn't believe it," she continued.

She added that there were kids jumping off the water during the sighting so people immediately screamed and instructed the kids to get off the water.

As reported by 9 News, the space between the shark's fins is about three and a half meters, suggesting that the shark is massive. Locals speculate that it could be a great white shark.

"When I Googled sharks later on, I realized that where the fin comes through the middle of the shark, there is another whole amount of that size shark sticking out the front of it, so I realized it was twice as big as I was looking at," Carla quipped.

The video comes after a 17-year-old teenager was attacked and killed by a yet-to-be-identified shark while surfing at a popular surfer break known as Kelp Beds. The shark mauled one of the victim's legs, leading her to die due to massive blood loss. Her parents watched helplessly at the bay as the attack occurred.

In response to the incident, shark attack survivors and other politicians had called for mass killing of great white sharks. Fisheries minister, meanwhile, said there is no need for shark cull as their population has not increased, WA Today reported.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has once again filed a complaint against the roadside zoo, Tregembo Animal Park, in Wilmington, North Carolina after receiving a video from a concerned citizen showing animals that appeared to be in distress.

"A concerned citizen recently visited Tregembo and contacted PETA to report some concerns. They provided video of a limping monkey, animals with suspicious hair loss, and a bobcat that appears to be blind," said Carney Anne is Associate Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement at the PETA Foundation, in a report from WHQR.

The said video contains footages of several animals pacing and circling. This behavior of animals is oftentimes seen as an indicator of inadequate space and mental distress. Some of the animals seen circling around their tiny, chain-link fence enclosures include a fennec fox, a serval, a bear, a capuchin monkey and patas monkeys.

Aside from the circling animals, the video also showed a guenon monkey limping from what appears to be an injury. The video also featured a fox and a donkey that are suffering from hair loss. Additionally, there's footage of a bobcat that appears to have difficulty seeing and may be visually impaired or blind. PETA noted that the condition of the bobcat may be the result of an untreated condition of illness and certainly warrants veterinary evaluation.

Officials of the zoo disagree with PETA's interpretation of the video, saying that the video itself is misleading. Sherry Tregembo, the owner of Tregembo Animal Park, addressed the complaints citing several explanations for the animals' behavior and appearance.

Sherry noted that there is nothing wrong with the limping monkey, who apparently likes to hop around on one foot and been doing it for 20 years. The alleged hair loss of a donkey and a fox is actually their winter coats shedding, while the bobcat is already 15 years old and confirmed to be blind.

This is not the first time PETA requested the US Department of Agriculture to inspect the Tregembo Animal Park. In 2015, the zoo received a citation from the USDA due to a violation of the Animal Welfare Act. The citation was made when the zoo failed to attend to the veterinary needs of a bear with facial lesions.
Hector Barajas is a deported U.S. military veteran, but he still wears the pieces of the uniform that once defined him.

Barajas enlisted when he was just 18, serving nearly six years. Hes a former paratrooper who was born in Zacatecas state, crossed illegally into the United States at age 7 and served in the Army from 1995 to 2001.

"Im considered a war time veteran because of my service during 9/11," he said.

During his time served, he believed he was as American as anyone else in uniform. But he quickly learned that wasnt the case when he was arrested and convicted in 2004 for shooting at an occupied home or vehicle. The incident happened in Compton -- his hometown since he was 7.

Although he served more than one year in prison for the shooting, he has always denied he was the one who pulled the trigger.

"I don't think my mistakes make me less American. If anything, the fact that I served for my country, that I was willing to die for, that should make me, it makes me more of American. Unfortunately I need a little piece of paper and somebody to sign the dotted line, Barajas said.

In 2013, Barajas established what was then called the "Banished Veterans" group. The group helps deportees adjust to life in Mexico and has advocated to allow deported veterans to return to the U.S.

In the last four years, hes established a headquarters in Tijuana, Mexico, changed the name to the "Deported Veterans Support House" and garnered the support of Congressional leaders, the ACLU and California Gov. Jerry Brown.

On Saturday, Brown granted 72 pardons and seven commutations. Barajas was one of those pardoned.

One of things Brown pointed out in the official pardon is the work Barajas is doing in Mexico for other deported veterans.

"I'm very humbled," Barajas said in a video he posted on his Facebook page. "There are days when I feel like giving up, but it's because of things like these ... that I still believe, that I still have faith that eventually we will go home."

He hopes his pardon will lead to a re-instatement of his green card so he can then apply for citizenship.

But it's not a guarantee. Barajas says he submitted a new application for naturalization more than a year ago.

"Who knows, I might become an American citizen in a couple weeks, maybe a year. We have to fight for it," Barajas said.

He added that he believes returning to the U.S. is a possibility.

"We're not gonna give up if they say no."

But either way, he said his job with deported veterans will not end.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A 15-year-old Tennessee girl who disappeared with her teacher more than a month ago was found safe at a commune in California and the teacher was arrested, authorities said Thursday.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said 50-year-old Tad Cummins surrendered without incident in Cecilville, which is in northern California. Authorities said they found Cummins' Nissan Rogue and later located the pair.

"What happened in California this morning, however, proves it only takes one person to lead to a successful end. We are extremely thankful the hard work of all partners in this search has paid off. Were also grateful for the public's support and vigilance throughout this search effort," TBI Director Mark Gwyn said in a statement.

The pair's disappearance March 13 came after Cummins was investigated by the school system when another student reported seeing the then-married teacher kiss the girl at the Culleoka Unit School. Culleoka is a community about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Nashville near the Alabama state line.

"We're so happy that California police worked quickly and were able to find them and get her safe," one of the girl's sisters told The Tennessean.

"I believe the FBI are going to make sure she's healthy before she comes home," she said. "We'll make sure she'll get what therapy she needs and that she's safe, that she knows she's safe."

Police had previously issued an Amber alert for the girl and said they had warrants charging the health sciences teacher with sexual contact with a minor and aggravated kidnapping. The Associated Press is not naming the girl or her family members because she is an alleged victim of a sex crime.

Court papers filed recently in the girl's disappearance said she was afraid of the teacher and thought she would face repercussions at school if she resisted him.

A lawyer for the girl's family has said the teacher was allowed to continue working at the school for two weeks after he was reported kissing the student. Attorney Jason Whatley has said the school system must have not believed the student's report.

The school's investigative files provided to The Associated Press by the attorney show that both Cummins and the girl denied kissing. The teacher, however, acknowledged that the girl was "a really good friend and she does leave her other classes to come see him when she needs someone to calm her down," according to a school report dated Jan. 30.

The report recommended that the girl be taken out of Cummins' class and that he be reprimanded to uphold his professional responsibility. The report also recommended that the administration monitor Cummins' classroom to make sure students weren't there when they weren't supposed to be.

The teacher would later be reprimanded on Feb. 3 by school principal Penny Love after the girl was seen in Cummins classroom for a little more than half an hour that day. In her letter, Love said the girl being in his classroom was a violation of the principal's order to him.

The school system didn't suspend Cummins until Feb. 6. He was fired about a month later, a day after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued an Amber Alert about the teen.

The agency said it worked tirelessly for the past five weeks, investigating more than 1,500 leads from all 50 states. Two days after the girl disappeared, surveillance images from a Walmart in Oklahoma City showed Cummins and the girl purchasing food items in the store with cash, the agency said. The statement said the images captured showed Cummins had altered his hair to appear darker and the girl's hair may have changed to red.

Last month, the teacher's wife of 31 years filed for divorce. Court records show that Jill Cummins sued her then-missing husband on the grounds of irreconcilable differences and inappropriate marital conduct. The wife, who works for the Maury County school system, said she had not seen her husband since March 13. The couple has two children together.

Siskiyou County Sheriff's spokeswoman Kelly Giordano did not immediately return a call for comment.

Kristin Bender in San Francisco contributed to this report.
San Francisco residents and officials are bracing for tens of thousands of people to flock to Golden Gate Park on Thursday and light up at a massive annual pot party.

Board of supervisors President London Breed made it clear at a news conference on Wednesday that the event is not sponsored by the city.

However, over the years, cleaning up the garbage left behind by pot smokers has been problematic, so city officials are teaming up with a private sponsor to help pay for additional resources.

In a statement, Breed said: Love it or hate it, the culturally historic "4/20 festival" is not going away, and it has a significant impact on our city, on our district, and on our parks. Past "4/20" festivities have led to horrific traffic, overwhelmed residential streets, public urination, damage to public and private property, and strained police, Muni and park resources.

And on the following day, 4/21, dozens of City staff members and volunteers have had to laboriously collect over 10,000 pounds of litter left in the parks.

There also were complaints about traffic, public urination and property damage.

To keep the event more secure, a higher-than-average number of police officers and medical personnel will be stationed in the area. Also, only adults will be allowed into the park, which will feature a gated perimeter and preapproved food stalls. Officials will also install portable trash bins and bathrooms across the venue.

There will be no drugs for sale, no unauthorized music, no unpermitted concessions, and no alcohol, Breed wrote.

Although 4/20 is not officially approved by San Francisco leaders, Breed hopes a well-oiled plan will lead to a cleaner and safer event for all attendees.

Neighbor Stacy Kolsrud is skeptical.

"They can try, but I don think they will succeed," Kolsrud said. "It's like a bunch of teenagers."

Deb Harms and Shanna Leblanc drove in from Utah for the unofficial tribute to marijuana use. They've heard restrictions are coming.

"Too much controlling will change the event to make it not as fun for everybody," Harms said. "Part of the whole thing, it was the whole hippie culture."

At this time, there are no planned street closures around the park, but that could change, officials say, depending on how the party pans out.

NBC Bay Area's Christie Smith contributed to this report.
Rockers Ted Nugent and Kid Rock joined former reality show star and one-time Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin for dinner at the White House with President Donald Trump Wednesday night, an administration official told NBC News.

Palin, a former Alaska governor, posted photos on Facebook of her, Nugent and Rock in the oval office, speaking with the president and his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner.

"A great night at the White House. Thank you to President Trump for the invite!" Palin wrote in a caption that accompanies the photos.

Palin and Rock were early supporters of Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Nugent, who has sparked controversies with his outlandish political comments in recent years, also supported the future president during the campaign.

Known as the "Motor City Madman," Nugent called for President Barack Obama and then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be tried for treason and hung after an American ambassador and others were killed in an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012.

He was also recorded calling President Obama a subhuman mongrel and a gangster in 2014.
CAMBRIDGE, ON--(Marketwired - April 20, 2017) - In celebration of Earth Day on April 22, let us reflect on the vital importance of wastewater as a widely available and valuable resource. More importantly, the critical role wastewater can play in the health of our planet in terms of energy recovery, water conservation and reducing our carbon footprint.

The United Nations' 2017 World Water Development Report highlights both the significant potential and global misuse of wastewater. Unfortunately, on a worldwide basis, most wastewater is untreated and left to become an environmental liability. However, when and where treated properly, wastewater has proven to be an extremely valuable, environmentally sustainable, resource.

In particular, the report identifies the untapped potential of wastewater as a cost-efficient and sustainable source of energy, nutrients and other useful by-products. And, the challenge of achieving true, beneficial use is not limited to low-income countries. Drought-stricken areas such as the southern United States and coastal states, including California, are constantly searching for ways to conserve water and maximize the use and reuse of wastewater. In the face of ever-growing demand, wastewater is gaining momentum as a reliable, alternative source of water, shifting the paradigm of wastewater management from 'treatment and disposal' to 'reuse, recycle and resource recovery'.

"The growing recognition of wastewater as an untapped resource is driving change for improved wastewater treatment, increased water reuse and the recovery of useful by-products that support the transition to a circular economy," says Kevin Litwiller, Director of Marketing & Business Development for Lystek. "With today's knowledge and practical solutions, it is possible to protect our natural resources while balancing this need with responsible, economic development. When we work together toward this goal, we can achieve true, long-term, sustainability."

Lystek International, a leading biosolids and organics solutions provider, is partnering with a growing number of generators across North America. Together, we are realizing success and demonstrating the many benefits of advanced resource recovery through the practical reuse of wastewater. In Fairfield, California, Lystek's new, state-of-the-art Organic Material Recovery Center (Lystek OMRC-FSSD) is reducing greenhouse gas emissions, eliminating pathogens and producing a safe, saleable biofertilizer (LysteGro), a Class A EQ (Exceptional Quality) product. Here, wastewater has become a recovered resource that is also being leveraged for its energy and revenue potential.

The UN report is justifiably optimistic about the advancement of new technologies for recovering wastewater energy. The solutions to the global wastewater problem can already be seen in examples such as the multi-faceted, Lystek OMRC-FSSD approach, where generators, environments and residents can all benefit from resource recovery resulting in cleaner water, a reduced, carbon footprint and true sustainability -- all from tapping into the potential of wastewater.

Lystek International Inc. is a leading provider of Thermal Hydrolysis solutions for the sustainable management of biosolids and organics. The multi-use, award-winning Lystek system reduces costs, volumes and GHG's by converting municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities into resource recovery centers. This is achieved by transforming organic waste streams into value-added products and services, such as the patented LysteMize process for optimizing digester performance, reducing volumes and increasing biogas production; LysteGro, a high-value, nutrient-rich biofertilizer and LysteCarb, an alternative source of carbon for BNR systems.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/4/20/11G136422/Images/Wastewater_Treatment_Plant-8695b93b4588a9d083e1e1215fff9715.jpg


Gov. Bruce Rauner's latest position on abortion has critics and supporters reacting as the campaign for governor continues to heat up.

Rauner has promised to veto an abortion protection bill, despite describing himself as a pro-choice Republican.

The legislation would have expanded coverage for abortion.

In 2014, then-candidate Rauner said, I fundamentally believe that abortion should be a womans private decision.

This decision should not be impeded by government, he said at the time.

Still, the Republican Party provided a Rauner supporter for comment on the matter.

This is an issue of funding for abortion in the state of Illinois and how that is funding and taxpayer funding going beyond and expanding what we already pay, said Cheryl Manor.

But Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle disagreed.

This is not a tax issue as some have suggested, she said during a press conference Wednesday. We should not allow this bill to be sold that way.

Cardinal Blase Cupich praised the move.

This legislation, which is pending in the General Assembly, would use public dollars, through Illinois Medicaid and employee health insurance programs, to fund elective abortions at any stage of pregnancy for any reason, Cupich said in a statement. I thank him for this principled stand. Abortion is a controversial issue in this country, but using public money to provide abortions should not be.

The personal PAC, an Illinois abortion rights policital action committee, was sharply critical of Rauner, accusing him of being Donald Trump on steroids.

It defrauds every voter who took him at his words and mistakenly believed him to be an honest man, said Terry Cosgrove.
The federal EPA administrator traveled to East Chicago Wednesday, months after the agency discovered dangerously high levels of lead and arsenic in the citys soil.

The reason Im here is because its important that we restore confidence for the people here in this community that were going to get it right going forward, said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.

The northwest Indiana city is now part of a superfund clean-up site after last years discovery, which forced residents to evacuate and leave their homes.

It is one of the hardest decisions I had to make to tell people to leave their homes, said East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland. But I know the irreparable harm that could have happened to them.

Demonstrators rallied in the lead-contaminated community to protest Pruitts visit.

Folks are sitting on poison Scott Pruitt and you need to understand that, said Sheila Garland with National Nurses United.

The visit from Pruitt comes amid reports that the agency was considering closing the EPA Chicago office responsible for environmental regulation of six states and the Great Lakes.

It bears mentioning that EPA Region 5 is not just the largest - its also got a reputation for being one of the best in terms of enforcement and getting out there in front of issues, said Meleah Geertsma, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Acting Regional Administrator Robert Kaplan dismissed the reports and reassured staff once again on Wednesday.

As I talked to some of the people traveling with the administrator today - they have reaffirmed that there were no discussions about shutting the Chicago office, Kaplan said.

Pruitt did not respond to the question when asked Wednesday.

Still, officials called his visit to East Chicago significant.

Im pleased with him making this his first visit and our collaboration will continue and well get this right and we wont leave until we do, said Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb.
The Town of Preston officials pulled out their pens on Wednesday to approve the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority's plan to redevelop the former Norwich Hospital site, following overwhelming support from residents.

Mohegan Tribe Chairman Kevin Brown said the redevelopment is a way to ensure southeastern Connecticut a tourist destination and it will bring hundreds of jobs to the area.

Its a $200 to $600 million project. The 393-acre site could house several attractions including an amusement park, Brown said, and could create up to 1,000 jobs.

Our reservation will be right there on the other side of the river forever. We arent going anywhere. And we recognize that this land, if it should be developed by anybody, it should be us, Brown said.

Ultimately we will sell it to the tribe and then they will develop it. But then we will tax it like any other commercial business, said Preston First Selectman Bob Congdon.

The land has been sitting unused for decades. The state will finish cleaning up the site  which is a brownfield. Brown expects that to take a little over a year to complete.

As for developers for the project, Brown said a company did walk the property Wednesday but would not elaborate on details.
A volunteer bishop with the New York Police Department is accused of impersonating a police officer and driving recklessly on Interstate 95 North in Greenwich Wednesday evening.

Connecticut State police said they received several 911 calls about a Nissan SUV with New York license plates that had emergency lights on near exit 3 in Greenwich just after 6:45 p.m., police said.

The vehicle passed other drivers, tailgated and weaved back and forth between lanes on the highway, state police said.

The driver, identified as 47-year-old Popeye Whittingham, of Harlem, then passed state troopers who were dealing with separate crashes on I-95 North at exit 17, state police said.

State police stopped Wittingham and found the car's registration was expired.

Whittingham led state police to believe he was a New York City police officer and showed a detective badge, according to a news release from state police.

When police investigated further, they said they learned that Whittingham is a volunteer bishop with the 32nd precinct and has no police powers.

They said he also has several aliases and an arrest history, which includes criminal attempt to commit murder and weapons violations charges in New York State.

He posted $2,500 bond and is due in court in Norwalk on May 3.
A University of Connecticut (UConn) professor accidentally sent a porn link to students in their class, according to one of their students.

In an email about homework assignments due next week, a UConn professor added, what they called, a "bad link" to a video on YouPorn.com

"Hi all, please ignore previous email, which seems to have been infected by a bad link. A new announcement about this week's exercises is now posted on our Husky site," the professor apparently sent in an email after the original message with the porn link.

A screen shot of the email has been shared on various social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter.

A student in the class, who wishes to remain anonymous, said the email was sent Wednesday morning.

The student said the professor usually sends out an assignment list to about 70 students and, "I guess there was something wrong with the link or something happened, I don't know."

"I didn't realize it was wrong until (they) sent out a correction," the student told NBC Connecticut.

"There was nothing wrong with it. It could've happened to anyone," the student said. "This is just unlucky."

NBC Connecticut reached out to UConn and asked if they could confirm that a professor sent out a porn link to students via email.

The university has been made aware of this matter and is in the process of reviewing it. It would be premature to draw any conclusions about what occurred until the university completes that review. We of course take the matter very seriously," the university released in a statement to NBC Connecticut.

This isn't the first time a porn link was sent out to students. Last spring, a Drexel University teacher said she was "mortified" when she discovered she had inadvertently sent students a link to a porn site, rather than an article about writing legal briefs.

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A homeowner who wants to retrofit their home with green, energy-saving technology usually has to hire inspectors, engineers and contractors  a long and costly process.

This Earth Day, a green startup is releasing an update to its green retrofitting app that let users' phones scan their property to assess how a feature in their home or business like a boiler can be upgraded, and how much it could save.

It's one of three new features being launched on BlocPower's retrofitting app that crowdsources funding, construction and jobs to retrofit properties across low- to moderate-income communities. The New York-based company's CEO says the updates put the ability to green a property directly into the property owners' hands, to cut out the red tape.

Green building "is a highly technical and expensive skill set and we at BlocPower are trying to make that available for the common property owner, said Donnel Baird, BlocPower's co-founder and CEO.

Two years old, BlocPower takes on retrofitting projects by invitation and connects home- and propertyowners with investors, local communties or even crowdfunding websites. Among the retrofits it's completed is Trinity United Church of Christ, which Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey have attended, on Chicago's South Side.

There are a few steps to get through the green process that the app tries to make easy: grouping properties for bigger, more cost-efficient projects; financial analysis; engineering analysis and financing and payment options. After a project is finished, the retrofitted building might have soalr panels, energy-saving windows or a boiler or greener insulation.

Baird grew up in a Brooklyn neighborhood where hearing gunshots and having no heat was normal. His childhood experience pushed him to become a community organizer and he went on to join Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

After the elections, he spent a few years as a community organizer in Brooklyn, which led to his role as contact director for Obama For America. He went on to manage a national Laborers' International Union of North America campaign with the Department of Energy to manage energy efficiency financing to create green construction jobs throughout America under the Obama administrations Better Buildings Initiative.

After working with the White House, he connected with the Washington Interfaith Network to help gain government funding for underserved communities in Washington, D.C.

But for Baird, the initiative, funded by Obama's Great Recession stimulus package, was not cost-effective enough for his community. The missing ingredient gave birth to BlocPower, he said.

There is an engineering problem, there is a financial problem, there is a customer problem and an acquisition problem  these are all super hard and expensive to solve. We solve that in a transparent way, Baird said.

The three new mobile features being launched  visual recognition, progress tracking tools for city governments and crowdsourcing for houses of worship or community-based properties  streamline the BlocPower app, said Baird and chief engineering officer Tooraj Arvajeh, speaking in Microsoft's tech hub in Manhattan.

"A customer can take photo of a boiler then it goes into our visual recognition technology to find out which boiler it is. We can also recognize building [materials] like brick or stone or concrete," said Tooraj Arvajeh, BlocPower's head of the engineering team.

Baird added, "A high-end engineering company might charge $40-50 thousand dollars for doing an analysis for a small building and so we are trying to bring that cost down for free by using machine learning, visual recognition technology and big data. These [services] that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for an engineering analysis, we are trying to make that basically a free commodity."

BlocPower is not first tool of its kind but it does have a niche, its community-based resources.

What is interesting is its crowdsourcing [financial] model, said Dan Reicher, executive director of the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance at Stanford University. That can help lower the costs, or there wont be any costs at all.

Typically there are two ways to finance green building projects, Reicher said, either through investors or taking on loans. Usually investors look at smaller buildings as risky.

Reicher said investors look at credit risk, what kind of building it is and whether the investment would actually improve the value of the property.

Those risk factors make it difficult for community-based organizations to make small but effective changes. For example, BlocPower's New York City pilot program is in the middle of helping the Fordham United Methodist Church in Bronx change its boilers, among other energy-saving features, so it can save money and reinvest back into the community.

There are many factors that can deter investors: if it is lower quality, less attractive and there are tenants, its not an attractive investment, said UCLA professor Magali Delmas, who has studied Los Angeles green building programs.

"Over $10,000 to $200,000 investment can be a real hurdle for property owners," she said. They "look at the initial investment rather than the long term benefits."

Delmas said upgrading a building or a home really benefit the larger community, not the individual, because it improves the local environment. But it can be difficult to do if a building- or homeowner doesnt have extensive knowledge of engineering or finances.

In Brooklyn, BlocPower was assigned by the New York City government to help retrofit buildings that were eating up power and led to brown-outs, when lights dim due to ebbing power. Retrofitting buildings prone to brown-outs in the area would help keep the lights on during extreme hot or cold weather.

We are trying to make that a free commodity so people learn about their buildings and the sustainability opportunity each building has, Baird said.
Federal and state agents have been at the American Flight Academy (AFA) all day Wednesday removing boxes of documents.

Sources tell NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters that investigators are zeroing in on a maintenance hangar at AFA at the Brainard Airport in Hartford.

Agents have been hauling nearly 12 boxes of documents from inside the flight school's offices to several law enforcement vehicles, according to NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters on the scene.

State police confirm they are assisting the U.S. Department of Transportation's Inspector General Office.

AFA is owned by Arian Prevalla, the survivor of a deadly plane crash back in October, that killed his student Feras Freitekh. Prevalla said he fought and struggled with Freitekh before the crash. Officials called the crash intentional early on in the investigation.

On Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board spokesman said their final report of the deadly student crash was referred to the FBI.

Four incidents involving AFA have been reported since last October including two deadly crashes, an emergency landing and a small crash with no injuries.

NBC Connecticut reached out to Prevalla's attorney.
A bill that would dissolve embattled bus agency Dallas County Schools is one step closer to passing.

The financially-strapped agency has been restructuring debt amid questions into a $42 million budget gap and runaway spending on a school bus stop-arm camera program that cost the agency millions of dollars.

On April 11, State Sen. Don Huffines (R-Dallas) presented Senate Bill 1122 to the Senate Education Committee calling for the agency's abolition.

Thursday afternoon, the committee approved SB 1122 in a 9-1 vote. The bill now heads before the full Texas Senate for a debate -- Huffines said that is likely to happen in the week of April 24.

If the bill passes, it would shut down the decades old agency responsible for busing thousands of students in 12 North Texas school districts.

"For far too long, the students, taxpayers, and schools in Dallas County have endured the unreliability, dangerous buses, and financial corruption of Dallas County Schools. The rogue central bureaucracy is outdated and unnecessary, and the Texas Senate took a big step today to bring it to an end. With the abolition of Dallas County Schools, the future will be brighter for Dallas students, taxpayers and schools," said Sen. Don Huffines (R-Dallas), the bill's author, in a prepared statement.

In a statement following Thursday's committee vote, Dallas County Schools said:

"This fight is not over. Prior to today's vote, DCS provided a draft audit conducted by outside financial consultants, to the Senate Education Committee. It states that the agency is financially sound and viable for the future. "DCS professionals have performed herculean tasks to reorganize the agency, realign its focus to Dallas County and correct deficiencies in the business practices and operations. There is a new Interim Superintendent, business director of finance, transportation director and other operating managers. In addition, the management of the stop-arm program outside of Dallas has been outsourced and the business practices are now following best practices models. It's a stronger district now, and we look forward to presenting the new DCS to the full Senate and the House."

During a hearing April 11, acting DCS Superintendent Leatha Mullins was peppered with questions about the beleaguered agency, some of the most pointed coming from longtime DCS supporter Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) who reminded Mullins he called on her predecessor Rick Sorrells to resign over frustration with the agency's financial problems.

Mullins responded by saying they've been addressing the issues that have frustrated customers and parents caused by people no longer employed by the agency.

Other senators grilled DCS employees about school bus drivers running red lights and racking up hundreds of tickets, issues exposed by NBC 5 Investigates.

In recent weeks, three school districts, White Settlement, Coppell and Weatherford, have all cut ties with DCS and signed contracts with other bus providers. Cedar Hill and Carrollton/Farmers Branch ISDs will vote on its contracts next month. Lancaster ISD has already received several competitive bids for its contract and DeSoto ISD is considering an RFP as well.

Mullins said previously she remains confident that DCS can survive. In February, the Dallas ISD approved a $50 million 17-month contract designed to give the district more power in the relationship while holding the agency more accountable for shortcomings.

"We want to thank the Senator for taking into consideration significant issues for multiple districts to provide alternatives to transport students to school in an efficient manner," said Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa in a statement after Thursday's vote.
According to the Pew Research Center, about 60 percent of Texans say religion is important in their lives. That can likely affect voting.

To begin to understand the importance faith plays in public life in Texas, look no further than the state legislature. The days begin with a prayer and on the wall it says, "In God We Trust."

Separation of church and state is different from the separation of religion from public life. The constitution intends church and state to be institutionally separate, but people of faith are always going to bring their religious convictions into the political order because it shapes their concept of what is right, what is wrong, said Matthew Wilson, associate professor of political science at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Wilson knows the relationship well. He has authored a book about politics and religion and teaches a class on the subject matter.

Religion affects the way that many of the voters perceive the world ought to be. And so, therefore, they bring pressure to bare on their legislators, to advance their conception of the good society, and the good life that derives from religion. On things like marriage, on things like human life, on things like family relation, also on school books, the way religion is talked about in history texts, sometimes in science texts, in social studies texts,  he added.

The Pew Research Center also reports 77 percent of Texans are Christians.

The majority religion can influence state politics.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was elected in 2013 by an overwhelming majority. Before that, he served as the state's attorney general defending a suit challenging the presence of a religious monument at the state capitol.

A lot of people know that the way the constitution is written is there is freedom of religion. Over the past few decades there's been a growing hostility toward religion. The Constitution doesn't guarantee hostility towards religion, and so I fought back against that hostility. That's why I fought back to defend the 10 Commandments monument on the Texas capital grounds all the way to the Supreme Court and won, said Abbott.

Pastor Bill Lovell is very familiar with the intersection of religion and public life. He is the Pastor at Christ Church in Carrollton and a former Republican party chair in Carrollton as well.

I am all for Christians who want to specifically bring Christian thinking to a particular issue. I am all for them running and I am all for them being elected, said Lovell.

But should the beliefs of one group be turned into legislation that does not reflect the beliefs of all faiths in Texas?

It is absolutely fair. I think we live in a democracy and people get to vote on what they want to vote on. We have a constitution that controls those things, said Lovell. "But I am all for people of every faith. I am a Christian. I will vote in line with those convictions, but I am all for people of other faiths having a role, voice in public discussions as well.

In both major parties, Democrat and Republican, there is an understanding that faith plays a role.

Peoples religions are part of their own personality and character, said Dallas Democratic Chairwoman Carol Donovan.

Donovan knows voters pay attention to faith and values when it comes to voting. But she has frustrations with legislators who introduce bills regarding abortion, birth control and bathrooms.

Some people, I believe, especially those who are extreme, try to make everybody like them. I mean, it is one thing to have your belief system and to pick your candidates accordingly. Its quite another to try to pass legislation that is going to force everybody else to have the same belief systems you are, said Donovan.

But Texas may be changing for a few reasons, according to Wilson. He points to a growing Catholic population, a big influx of people from out of state and more Texans who may not be religiously affiliated.

I think as we move into the future we are going to see more of a kind of secularist, non-religious pushback against some of those things. So there will be changing dynamics, but religion is going to continue to be an important part of Texas politics for the foreseeable future, Wilson added.
Our journey through India begins with a six-hour train ride from New Delhi, then a four-hour car ride through the foothills of the Himalayas.

We arrive in a small town called Dwarahat, where 1,000 year-old temples remain sprinkled through the community.

It is a historical place, said Deep Chandra Harbola.

Harbola was born in Dwarahat, spending a lifetime traveling through the towns surrounding mountain range.

The former history professor has gone hiking with monks and tourists alike.

So many, many people. I guided them at that time. At that time, though, no road was there, Harbola said.

Today, there is a road  winding and mostly paved  leading to some of the mountain's holy places, with stops for chai of course.

Tea, tea, tea, said Joshi, while making a group of pilgrims chai and coffee at his tourist rest stop.

So my time here is a pilgrimage, said American Rebecca Harvey, after returning to Joshis from a day-long trip into the mountains for meditation.

So this is a golden opportunity to be up high in the hills where the vibrations are so conducive to meditation, Harvey said.

For the locals, spiritual practices like meditation and prayer start early.

In India, even from childhood, we are taught to pray. First sit and pray to God, said India resident Rajini Kumari, who was also on a pilgrimage to Dwarahat.

Kumari said spiritual teachings usually start around 3- to 5-years-old.

For the children attending one school in Dwarahat, prayer and meditation are part of their daily curriculum, along with their studies in English and Hindi.

India is spiritual because people love to talk to God, said Dr. Naval Pant, of Lucknow, India. He described the countries overall belief in God and, for many, the belief in karma and reincarnation result in a more accepting community.

Generally, Indians understand that whatever is coming into their life  good or bad  it has to do not as a punishment, but their own doing, Pant said. So people are generally not frustrated with whatever negative things they see around.

That belief was noticed by Swiss tourist Fritz Stoeri.

What I really love is that I have the feeling that here most everything is related to God, the Supreme Being, the Creator of all, said Stoeri.

For Barry OMeara, from Ireland, I cant help but coming back [to India]. Its ingrained in you, the beauty of the people.

From its cultural norms, to its history of worship, Indias spirituality is easy to see if you are looking for it with your heart.

I think when you come to India, theres just an overwhelming umbrella of spirituality over the whole place, said OMeara. Eventually, when you can calm yourself down and look beyond the poverty and look beyond what is so different  then youre home. Then you begin to really open up to that uniqueness that India has.
Getty Images. Democrats led by Pelosi, Schumer and Warren roll out their 2018 economic platform titled "A Better Deal."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren said her biggest regret is that Donald Trump won the 2016 election.

When the Massachusetts Democrat was asked Wednesday on ABC's "The View" if she regretted not running for president, Warren said: "Look, we all have a lot of regrets, but my biggest regret is that Donald Trump is president of the United States, period. That is where we are. That is where we are today."

Warren also said she doesn't understand when people ask her if she thinks Bernie Sanders should have dropped out of the race earlier, explaining the Democrats had a "real primary going on."

As for whether she should have thrown her weight behind Hillary Clinton sooner, Warren said she did her part.

"Once it was clear how that primary was going to be resolved, I got in and I busted my tail to try to help her get elected and I wish it had worked. God dang, I wish it had worked," the senator said.

Warren, known as a liberal firebrand, called Trump a "master of distraction," joking that his young presidency seems to have gone by in "dog years."

She also accused the president of reneging on his campaign promises to protect the interests of middle- and working-class voters. Warren said the failed GOP health-care bill was "like the whole thing in one microcosm."

She said Trump was not serving his constituents by endorsing a plan that would knock 24 million people off of their coverage to help finance a tax cut for the wealthy.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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A young boy from Carrollton has a new lifelong memory after taking part in this year's Easter Egg Roll at the White House.

The annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn is a tradition that only a select few Americans get to enjoy.

It's a lottery to get an invitation, as families must apply online and then are selected at random.

Joshua Kubanek, 5, was one of the lucky few, and he met a key person in President Donald Trump's inner circle.

"Sean Spicer!" Joshua exclaimed.

Yes, he met White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

"He said, 'How old are you?' And I said, 'I'm 5,'" Joshua added.

Joshua is in kindergarten at Hebron Valley Elementary School. He's still learning how to read, and Spicer called on him to help read a book at the Easter Egg Roll.

"He started reading," Joshua said. "And he didn't give me a try to read."

Joshua didn't get to read, but he sure made a name for himself.

"I've been on YouTube and Facebook," he added. "I really was, my Daddy saw!"

It's a memory his mom, Monica Kubanek, will never forget.

"My family's been in the military, my brother-in-law is in the Air Force. We're a military family, so going to the White House is a special thing for us. We're tickled by it," she said.
A Texas mom is suing Blue Bell Creameries, claiming she contracted listeria after eating contaminated ice cream, according to reports.

The Houston Chronicle reports Ursula Burton, of Galveston County, filed a court petition April 17 alleging she and her daughter became "violently ill" after eating Blue Bell ice cream bought at a Valero convenience store in April 2015.

The Chronicle reports Burton is seeking $200,000 to $1 million for pain, anguish, medical expensive, damages from physical impairment and lost wages.

Brenham, Texas-based Blue Bell halted sales, issued a voluntarily recall of all its products that same month and shut down its three plants due to bacteria contamination that was linked to 10 listeria cases in four states, including three deaths in Kansas.

The company resumed selling its products about four months later. Before resuming production, the company said it had implemented new cleaning and sanitizing procedures at its facilities, as well as new testing programs and new employee training.

A Blue Bell spokesman told NBC DFW the company would not comment on legal matters.
With a strong economy, high employment levels, a construction boom and returning industries, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Thursday the state of the city is "undeniably strong" while also acknowledging the need to do more to help the city's most vulnerable communities.

Speaking from the City Hall council chamber, Garcetti delivered his annual State of the City speech with his characteristic dose of optimism. Fresh off a landslide re-election victory that saw him garner 81 percent of the vote in March, he opened his speech by ticking off his accomplishments and positive improvements the city has seen over the last few years.

"Together we have delivered more than I ever could have imagined. We raised our minimum wage to $15 an hour. We cut our business tax and slashed our unemployment rate in half. We paved more roads than in any time in our history and started fixing sidewalks again and picked up more trash than ever before," Garcetti said.

Coming on the same day he released his proposed budget for 2017-18, two major financial priorities Garcetti announced were a plan to increase spending on homeless initiatives to $178 million from last year's $138 million, and a call for the City Council to pass his proposed linkage fee that he said could raise $100 million a year and leverage up to $300 million every year for affordable housing.

Those two issues  homelessness and affordable housing  have been at the forefront of the local discussion over the last year, especially since city voters passed a $1.2 billion bond measure in November to build housing for the homeless and in March struck down a measure that would have brought many major construction projects to a halt for at least two years.

After Garcetti went though his and the city's accomplishments, the first major issue he took on in the speech was homelessness.

"There is no issue I spend more time on because I believe homelessness is the moral issue of our time," Garcetti said. "I'm outraged when there are Angelenos who can't escape the cold rain, and horrified when someone who has worn our nation's uniform is begging for change on the corner."

Garcetti said thanks to Measure HHH and the money it will raise for homeless housing, "We are going to more than triple our production of permanent supportive housing over the next two years.'' He added, "We are here to end homelessness once and for all."

With the city's population growth outpacing housing construction over the last few decades, Garcetti acknowledged the rising cost of rent in Los Angeles and said his linkage fee will help drive down the price of housing in every district and neighborhood.

After saying the city has more jobs today than at any point in its history, Garcetti said, "If we don't have affordable housing in Los Angeles, companies will find more affordable cities to bring those jobs to."

Garcetti only made passing references to President Donald Trump's short tenure in the White House and the anger and fear its has brought to many in the city's immigrant communities.

Rather than directly attack Trump and denounce his policies, as many liberal politicians and some City Council members have done, Garcetti seemed to want to be almost dismissive of the president, as if he could not impact or hurt Los Angeles.

Garcetti did not make any mention of Trump's threat to cut federal funding to so-called "sanctuary cities," which could apply to L.A., but simply reiterated his promise that the city's police department will not act as a "federal immigration force."

"When Washington seems broken this is a moment that calls for Los Angeles to lead, to be a model of moral leadership and of bold action. When others try to pull us apart, we try to pull together. And while others are obsessed with the most powerful person in this country, we are empowering the most vulnerable in our backyard," Garcetti said.

Garcetti also said that if the White House backs out of the Paris Climate Agreement, the city will adopt it, and the city will continue to work toward the Department of Water and Power's goal of being coal free by 2025.

Although crime has risen in Los Angeles over the last three years, Garcetti focused only on the statistics that show it is falling so far in 2017, with overall crime having fallen 4 percent and homicides down 8 percent. He did not announce plans to expand the police force or its civilian force, but said he was setting the goal of getting 20,000 guns off the street over the next five years by expanding the city's buy-back program.

Although the city's budget officials predict the city is facing a $224 million budget shortfall next fiscal year, Garcetti did not address it in his speech or make any sweeping calls for fiscal prudence.

Among other key points Garcetti made in the in the speech:
A case involving a man who was deported to Mexico despite having permission to be in the U.S. under a program that shields young immigrants has landed in the courtroom of a judge whose impartiality was questioned by Donald Trump during the presidential campaign because of his Mexican heritage.

U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel in San Diego was assigned the case of Juan Manuel Montes, 23, whose attorneys say could be the first known person deported by the Trump administration who had qualified for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Montes sued Tuesday for access to records on his deportation.

The lawsuit came less than a month after Curiel approved a $25 million settlement in a case alleging the now-defunct Trump University misled customers. Trump repeatedly criticized the Indiana-born judge during the campaign, insinuating that his Mexican heritage exposed a bias in the case because of Trump's tough line on illegal immigration.

The Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that Montes was entitled to be in the U.S. until early next year under DACA, reversing its position a day earlier that his status had expired in August 2015 and wasn't renewed.

The agency said Montes acknowledged under oath that he had entered the country illegally on Feb. 19, resulting in his loss of status because it was an admission that he had left without the required permission.

The case may help define Trump's approach to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was introduced in 2012 by President Barack Obama. Trump has kept it in place and made sympathetic remarks about its beneficiaries, angering some immigration hardliners.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Wednesday that he didn't want to "rush to judgment" about Montes and referred questions to Homeland Security. He said the administration's enforcement priorities are people who committed crimes in the United States and pose a threat.

"I would respectfully suggest that, in this case, the facts are not completely out, so I would rather not jump to conclusions about what happened," he said.

U.S. Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican with a history of provocative remarks about immigrants, applauded Montes' removal in a tweet that linked to a story in USA Today, which first reported the case. Above a photo of a mug, he wrote, "First non-valedictorian DREAMer deported. Border Patrol, this one's for you."

Even after its latest statement, Homeland Security's account sharply differed from what Montes' attorneys say happened.

The attorneys said in the lawsuit filed in the Southern District of California that their client left the country Feb. 17 only because he was stopped by a law enforcement official and asked for identification while walking to a taxi stand in Calexico, California, about 120 miles (190 kilometers) east of San Diego. He was asked to sign documents without being given copies or an opportunity to see an immigration judge.

After getting assaulted in the Mexican border city of Mexicali, Montes returned to the United States two days later and turned himself over to authorities, according to the lawsuit. He was again asked to sign documents, not provided copies and returned to Mexico.

Homeland Security said Wednesday that the Border Patrol had no record of the initial encounter in Calexico and that Montes had left the United States on an unknown date. The Border Patrol arrested after him after he climbed over a border fence in the California border town of about 40,000 people.

The National Immigration Law Center, which represents Montes, stood by its account. Its lawsuit seeks records on why their client was deported, alleging that immigration officials violated the Freedom of Information Act for failure to respond to its request beyond acknowledging receipt.

"Juan Manuel has been unequivocal in his assertion that he never voluntarily left the country while he had DACA," said attorney Nora Preciado. "Rather than continue to provide half-truths and varying assertions, DHS should respond to our request for documentation. We will see them in court."

Montes, who came to the United States when he was 9, graduated from high school in 2013 and pursued a welding degree at community college, according to the lawsuit. He then worked two years picking crops in California and Arizona.

Montes' attorneys say their client qualified for DACA in 2014 and renewed his status for two years in 2016. He is currently in Mexico.

Homeland Security said Montes was convicted of shoplifting in July 2016. His lawyers acknowledged in the lawsuit that he had a misdemeanor on his record and "minor traffic offenses," none of which would have disqualified him from DACA.

The government has issued nearly 800,000 DACA permits since President Barack Obama introduced the program in 2012 and nearly 700,000 renewals.
An Iranian panel charged with vetting candidates approved the country's incumbent president and five challengers but disqualified former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from running in next month's presidential election, state television reported Thursday.

The decision by the Guardian Council means that President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, will face off against a field that includes two prominent hard-liners: Ebrahim Raisi, who is considered close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf.

The Guardian Council, a cleric-dominated body that vets candidates, said it had compiled a final list of candidates earlier Thursday and that the Interior Ministry would announce their names by Sunday.

The panel controls elections and must approve all laws passed by parliament. It has never allowed a woman to run for president and routinely rejects political dissidents and others calling for dramatic reform.

Other presidential candidates who made the cut, according to an Interior Ministry statement carried by state TV, include moderate Senior Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, former conservative culture minister Mostafa Mirsalim, and former pro-reform vice president Mostafa Hashemitaba.

Ahmadinejad, who remains a deeply polarizing figure even among Iranian hard-liners, had shocked the country by registering last week. Khamenei had previously urged him not to run.

Ahmadinejad was president from 2005 to 2013, and was best known abroad for his incendiary rhetoric toward Israel, his questioning of the scale of the Holocaust and his efforts to ramp up Iran's nuclear program.

He said upon registering that he was doing so to support his former Vice President Hamid Baghaei, who also failed to receive approval to run.

"He was an unwanted guest in the election," Tehran-based political analyst Soroush Farhadi said of Ahmadinejad's disqualification. He predicted the former president would nonetheless remain politically active during the campaign to create a "quasi-opposition face for himself" for the future.

Ali Akbar Javanfekr, a close ally of Ahmadinejad, downplayed the two candidates' exclusion, saying on social media that Ahmadinejad and Baghaei had only registered out of "national, religious and revolutionary duty."

"Thank god, the Guardian Council removed the duty from their shoulders," he wrote.

More than 1,600 people registered to run for the May 19 election.

Under Iran's clerically overseen system, the president is subordinate to Khamenei, who is Iran's top decision-maker and has the final say on all matters of state. Khamenei appoints half the Guardian Council's members.

Rouhani, 68, is hoping voters will deliver him a second term to see out his promises of greater personal freedoms at home and openness to the wider world as he works to turn around Iran's sagging economy  a top priority for many voters.

The election will be in many ways a referendum on his administration's negotiation of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. That agreement gave Iran relief from crippling economic sanctions in exchange for limits to its nuclear program, but has been assailed by hard-liners who believe Iran gave too much away in exchange for too little.

While reliable polling information is not widely available, most political observers see Rouhani as the current front-runner even though he has been unable to significantly turn around Iran's slumping economy. Every incumbent since Khamenei himself took the presidency in 1981 has won re-election.

Rouhani, though no radical, has the support of many reform-minded Iranians. Khamenei himself also might favor a second term for Rouhani despite his closeness to more hard-line candidates.

"Iranian presidents tend to become much weaker in their second terms, with a key cause being their greater susceptibility to control by the supreme leader and his institutions," Mehdi Khalaji, an Iran expert at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, wrote this week. "This helps explain Khamenei's possible abstention from active support for the hard-line candidates."

Rouhani's toughest challenge could come from Raisi, 56, a hard-line cleric and professor of Islamic law who has promised to fight poverty and corruption if he's elected. Many hard-liners have rallied around Raisi, who got a boost last year when Khamenei appointed him head of an Islamic charity that holds extensive business interests in Iran.

He has held several judiciary positions, including serving as attorney general from 2014 to 2016, and is mentioned as a possible successor for Khamenei himself.
Weeks before President Donald Trump's first official overseas trip, trade and security matters were top items of discussion in his meeting Thursday with the prime minister of Italy, one of the two European countries set to welcome Trump in May.

Standing alongside Italian premier Paolo Gentiloni, Trump praised Italy's contributions to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He commended its efforts toward seeking stability in Libya. He also hailed the country's contributions to art and music, touting the late opera legend Luciano Pavarotti as "a great friend."

But Trump remained steadfast on his demands that European allies meet their financial obligations in their partnerships with the U.S. He urged Italy to address the refugee crisis through a policy that "seeks the eventual return of refugees to their home countries so they can help to rebuild their own nations."

Gentiloni, who has been Italy's premier since December, stressed the need for burden-sharing in the refugee crisis, given Italy's proximity to Libya, where large numbers of migrants take the risky voyage across the Mediterranean to reach Europe.

Trump was quick to dismiss the notion that the U.S. would get involved in Libya, saying, "I do not see a role in Libya."

"We have enough roles. We have a role everywhere," Trump said.

The Group of Seven major industrialized nations recently joined in urging Russia to pressure the Syrian government to end the civil war. They have blamed Syrian President Bashar Assad's military for a recent chemical attack that killed more than 80 people. The attack prompted Trump to launch missile strikes on a Syrian airfield.

Gentiloni noted the Italy and America's "common commitment against terrorism," which he said requires social and economic collaboration with Muslim communities in order to be effective.

With Italy set to host a G-7 summit next month, Gentiloni can shape the agenda on behalf of other European leaders wary of Trump's position on some long-standing agreements.

Gentiloni has strongly criticized protectionist trade policies, such as those proposed by Trump's administration, that advocate shielding a country's domestic industries from foreign competition by taxing imports.

Trump has pulled the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a pact he said was "a disaster." In addition, he said this week he would make "some very big changes" to the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico or "we are going to get rid of NAFTA for once and for all."

Trump favors bilateral trade deals and has used trade as a tool for pressuring countries to do more on national security matters. That was evident most recently with his public statements promising China a "better" trade arrangement if Beijing cracks down on North Korea.

Italy has suffered sluggish economic growth and was a staunch backer of a proposed U.S.-European free trade agreement negotiated by the Obama administration.

Trump plans to attend a NATO meeting in Belgium next month before the G-7 gathering in Italy. Much is uncertain in Europe, with Britain's decision to leave the European Union and the upcoming French presidential election  the first round of voting is Sunday.

Like Trump, anti-establishment French populist Marine Le Pen hopes for an electoral boost by seizing on voter disenchantment with politics as usual. The EU has been a constant target, and Le Pen has called for a referendum similar to last year's Brexit vote.

The G-7 comprises the U.S., Germany, France, Britain, Canada, Japan and Italy.

Italy is also a member of NATO, the military alliance to which Trump says the U.S. contributes more than it receives.

Trump has called for all countries in the alliance to adhere to a threshold of contributing 2 percent of their gross domestic product to NATO. Italy's contribution is less than 1 percent.

Gentiloni said that despite budgetary limitations, "the commitment has been made" to meet the target.

"We are used to respecting our commitments," he said.
Emirates Airbus A380

On Wednesday, Emirates announced plans to reduce service to the US amid fallout from the Trump administration's more restrictive travel policies.

The Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based airline says it will cut down on the number of flights to five of the 12 cities it serves in the US.

Starting May 1, flights to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, will be reduced from daily flights to five flights a week. The airline says it will make the same cuts to its Orlando, Florida, service starting May 23.

Starting June 1 and 2, Seattle and Boston service will be reduced to a single daily flight from two previously. Finally, beginning July 1, Emirates' twice-daily service to Los Angeles will be cut down to a single flight.

"This is a commercial decision in response to weakened travel demand to US," an airline representative told Business Insider. "The recent actions taken by the US government relating to the issuance of entry visas, heightened security vetting, and restrictions on electronic devices in aircraft cabins have had a direct impact on consumer interest and demand for air travel into the US."

Emirates said it had been experiencing steady US growth in the years before President Donald Trump took office but had seen a "significant deterioration" of bookings for US flights over the past three months. This fall in demand occurred concurrent with the Trump administration's travel restrictions covering several majority-Muslim countries (but not the United Arab Emirates), stricter visa regulations, and a carry-on laptop ban on some flights from the Middle East and North Africa.

This should come as welcome news for America's three legacy carriers. Since 2015, American, Delta, and United Airlines (the US3) have been complaining about competition from the three Middle East-based rivals  Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways (the ME3).



According to the US3, the ME3's growth has been supported by their respective governments and fueled by as much as $50 billion in subsidies over the past decade, allowing them to flood the international market and threaten the job security of US aviation workers. They also say the ME3 are in violation of the Open Skies agreements that govern air travel between the US and 120 nations including the UAE and Qatar.

Story continues

These allegations were the focal point of a rally held in March by United Airlines, its employees, and members of Congress in protest of Emirates' new daily service between Newark Liberty International Airport and Athens, Greece.

In reference to the US3, Emirates called today's decision a response "any profit-oriented enterprise" would make. Abu Dhabi, UAE-based Etihad told Business Insider on Wednesday that it has no plans to reduce service to the US.

Beyond the US3, there are signs that the period of unfettered growth on the part of the ME3 is nearing its end. The Gulf carriers boast the largest fleet of wide-body, long-haul airliners in the world. However, some industry observers are concerned that the ME3 have more capacity on hand than viable destinations with sufficient demand to support its flights.

Here's Emirates' statement in its entirety:

"Emirates can confirm that we will be reducing flights to five of the 12 US cities we currently serve. From 1 May and 23 May respectively, our Fort Lauderdale and Orlando operations will move from daily services to five a week. From 1 and 2 June respectively, our Seattle and Boston operations will move from twice-daily services, to a daily service. From 1 July, our operations to Los Angeles will move from twice-daily to a daily service.

"This is a commercial decision in response to weakened travel demand to US. The recent actions taken by the US government relating to the issuance of entry visas, heightened security vetting, and restrictions on electronic devices in aircraft cabins, have had a direct impact on consumer interest and demand for air travel into the US.

"Until the start of 2017, Emirates' operations in the US have seen healthy growth and performance, driven by customer demand for our high quality product and our international flight connections. However, over the past 3 months, we have seen a significant deterioration in the booking profiles on all our US routes, across all travel segments. Emirates has therefore responded as any profit-oriented enterprise would, and we will redeploy capacity to serve demand on other routes on our global network.

"We will closely monitor the situation with the view to reinstate and grow our US flight operations as soon as viable. Emirates is committed to our US operations and will continue to serve our 12 American gateways  New York JFK, Newark, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, and Orlando  with 101 flight departures per week, connecting these cities to Dubai and our global network of over 150 cities."

NOW WATCH: This guy used a frequent-flyer loophole to take a $60,000 trip in a first-class suite on Emirates





More From Business Insider


An organization selling pets on Long Island is being investigated by New York's attorney general amid accusations it is selling sick and dying puppies that are unfit for purchase.

Long Island woman Kristen Addiss is one of a group of people to file a class action law suit against Friends of Freddie Pet Rescue after purchasing a puppy that was so sick it had to be put down, costing her and her boyfriend thousands in vet bills.

The couple said they were over-the-moon to take new puppy Layla home from what they thought was a rescue shelter. But soon after, her breathing appeared to be failing, and she had a cough.

Middle Island's Friends of Freddie Pet Rescue recommended a vet to the couple, they say.

"She was really lethargic all day, wasn't drinking much or eating so we asked them to take a look at her that day," Addiss said.

They were given antibiotics to fight kennel cough, but another vet later diagnosed Layla with canine distemper and pneumonia. The puppy died at 11 weeks old, and cost the couple $2,300 in vet bills.

"The vet said she was unfit for purchase and she shouldn't have been adopted out," Addiss said.

The couple contacted Friends of Freddie, which offered to refund the $473.80 adoption fee and give a new puppy, however they declined.

An insurance claim was denied because the vet labeled the condition pre-existing.

A New York State Lemon Law could have given the couple some legal relief from the expenses, but it only applies to pet dealers -- those who sell more than nine dogs a year at a profit -- not rescue shelters.

New York's attorney general said he had received other similar complaints about the business, and was investigating.
The Columbia University student whose dorm room restaurant exploded in popularity beyond the confines of the Ivy grounds is now hosting his own supper club in Brooklyn.

In his first year out of college, 23-year-old Jonah Reider isn't looking for a job like many of his peers may be. He was already getting attention from news media -- including News 4 New York -- before he graduated, setting him up for a perfect launch to his new venture: the Pith supper club, open three nights a week out of a Brooklyn townhouse.

At a preview dinner visited by The New York Times in early April, Reider served up "velvety spring onion soubise studded with caviar and bitter chickweed, snapper crudo with thin strips of lightly dressed green pepper... morels bathed in juniper-scented butter, all under a nap of homemade pasta and Pecorino."

One of the other visitors at the eight-course meal, culinary supplier Ian Purkayastha, came with no expectations, but told the Times the meal was "on par with the upper echelons of restaurant cooking."

Given the rapturous assessment of the meal, it's no surprise that tickets to every supper club through the end of May are already sold out.

At $95 a pop, however -- with an optional $45 wine pairing -- it's already indicative of how far he's transitioned out of that old dorm room eatery, where he was charging to $10 to 20 a meal.

Reider, who studied economics at Columbia, says he understands there could be resistance from the establishment.

"People are very quick -- and rightfully so, a lot of the time -- to rag on someone who's fairly young in the food world who's not doing the very formal, hierarchical restaurant thing," he said.
A man stood by as a lookout while a second man stole money from a Queens cellphone store at gunpoint in the middle of the day Wednesday, according to the NYPD.

At around 12:30 p.m., a man took out a gun and demanded money from a worker at the Metro PCS on Northern Boulevard in Murray Hill, police said.

A second suspect stood by as a lookout as the gunman stole about $200 from the store, authorities said.

Both men then ran out of the store and sped off in a black SUV, according to police.

Nobody was injured in the robbery.

Police described both suspects as being in their 20s and standing about 6 feet tall.

Investigators released surveillance footage of both men and the SUV in hopes of catching the duo.
A 22-year-old postal worker in New Jersey is accused of arranging to have cocaine delivered to homes via United States Postal Service while she believed the homeowners were on vacation, authorities say.

Amanda Cruz of Newark was working as a U.S. Postal Service mailwoman when she made an arrangement to smuggle cocaine from Puerto Rico to the U.S. in June 2016, according to Essex County prosecutors.

She had kilos of the drug delivered to various addresses in Short Hills where she thought the residents were on vacation, prosecutors said.

Cruz is facing a charge of first-degree narcotics violation. It's not clear if she's retained an attorney.

A message has been left with the U.S. Postal Service.
A highway in suburban Chicago has become the second Midwest road construction project delayed temporarily because of concerns about possible harm to a bumblebee recently listed as an endangered species.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman this week halted work on the nearly 6-mile-long (9.6 kilometers) Longmeadow Parkway in Kane County, Illinois, until at least April 25. The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin reported the judge's order was in response to a filing by project opponents who said the roadway could affect the rusty patched bumblebee.

According to court documents, the bumblebee was found in the Brunner Family Forest Preserve along the planned route for the parkway, the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reported.

The holdup could boost the project's costs by tens of thousands of dollars, said Carl Schoedel, the county's transportation director.

"Every day that we're not working during the construction season is a potential delay to the project," Schoedel told the newspaper.

The rusty patched bumblebee in March became the first bee species in the continental U.S. added to the federal endangered list. Once common in the Midwest and parts of the East Coast, it has disappeared from nearly 90 percent of its range in the past 20 years.

Along with other bees, it plays a crucial role as a pollinator of crops and wild plants.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which deals with endangered species, is not involved in the parkway dispute, said Louise Clemency, a supervisor in the agency's Chicago field office. But she said the planned route is within an area considered to have a "high potential" for the presence of the bees, which were spotted there as recently as 2012.

The federal agency is providing information to the Illinois Department of Transportation about surveying the planned route for signs of the bees and ways to protect them, such as providing more habitat, Clemency said.

Even if the bees are found there again, it's "highly unlikely" they would prevent the road from being built although minor alterations might be needed, she said.

Minnesota's Hennepin County delayed work last month on a 4-mile (6.4-kilometer) stretch of a road called Flying Cloud Drive because of concern about the endangered bees. But federal officials visited the area and determined it was not within a high-potential zone for the bees, said Andrew Horton, a biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The county plans to move forward with the project, spokesman Colin Cox said. It still needs federal permits dealing with issues not related to the bees.
Thousands of public records about animal welfare have vanished from the internet, part of a government database that included atrocious puppy mill conditions, improper veterinary care and other mistreatment of animals. Now activists are hitting back at the USDA in the courtroom and by posting deleted records online.

The United States' Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) cited ongoing litigation and privacy concerns as the reason for its database's removal two months ago.

APHIS, an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), previously hosted open records on its website pertaining to the administration of the Animal Welfare Act. The law regulates the treatment of animals in research facilities, maintains a minimum standard of care for warm-blooded animals and requires cats and dogs to be held in pounds for five days before being released to dealers. Included in the records are inspection reports, research facility reports and enforcement actions. The documents provide information on animal experiments, puppy mill conditions and the treatment of animals at circuses, among other things.

APHIS' explanation for the documents' removal wasn't sufficient for those passionate about animal rights, or defenders of public information. They say the information is crucial for public oversight, and that it takes away animal-rights groups' ability to ensure the law is being enforced.

One man took it upon himself to collect and post thousands of the deleted documents using his website The Memory Hole.

"When I first heard that the database had been pulled offline, I remember I proactively grabbed some of those documents," said Russ Kick, a writer and editor who runs the site.

While some of the records were the result of his own research, many have been sent to him by others who have also taken interest in the deletion of APHIS' database.

Talk of scrubbing the database began before President Donald Trump's administration took office in January. Former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told the Washington Post in February the department responsible for enforcing the Horse Protection and Animal Welfare acts had recommended removing the database from the web and making the documents available through a Freedom of Information Act request. He said he did not act on the recommendation because he did not have enough time left to review it before leaving his job.

The documents were removed from the department's website in early February, and only some have been returned since. Some enforcement records are also available on the Office of Administrative Law Judges' website.

Delcianna Winders, an academic fellow in the Animal Law and Policy Program at Harvard Law School, said that no new enforcement records had been posted online since 2016.

On its website, APHIS said it decided to make adjustments to posting the records before the change of administration.

"In addition, APHIS is currently involved in litigation concerning, among other issues, information posted on the agency's website," the agency said on its site.

Though APHIS said it is defending against the litigation, its statement added, "in an abundance of caution, the agency is taking additional measures to protect individual privacy."

Kick, with The Memory Hole, isn't alone in his effort to share the documents with the public.

Winders, who uses the documents for her own work at Harvard, sent thousands of the records she's saved to Kick to publish on his site.

"The impact is huge, I dont think it can be overstated," she said of the documents' removal.

Numerous groups use the records regularly in order to ensure that the agency is complying with the Animal Welfare Act, she added.

"Those laws have basically become unenforceable now," she said.

She isnt the only one who feels that way.

"Animals across the country are in jeopardy so long as the USDA's illegal deletion of records continues," said Brittany Peet, the director of captive animal law enforcement for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

She said PETA is part of a coalition that has filed a lawsuit against the USDA to force them to restore the documents. Winders is a plaintiff in the same lawsuit, according to the complaint.

PETA has also made available through a Dropbox over 21,000 of its own copies of the deleted records, which Kick also said he linked to on his site.

APHIS has restored some of the deleted documents, but the amount is a far cry from the volume that had been maintained online for years, experts say.

In a statement to NBC, APHIS spokesperson Tanya Espinosa said the agency began reposting some information online on Feb. 17. The statement added that people can submit FOIA requests for the records.

"If the same records are frequently requested via the Freedom of Information Act process, APHIS may post the appropriately redacted versions to its website," Espinosa said.

Kathleen Conlee, vice president of Animal Research Issues at the Humane Society of the U.S., said her organization wont stop working until all of the information is restored.

"[This] has a major impact on the public and consumers and it spans a wide avenue of animal issues," Conlee told NBC.

Peet echoed Conlees sentiment, saying, "This isnt just about animal welfare. The Animal Welfare Act also regulates important human safety issues."

Some of these issues include being able to find out about diseases at zoos, or attacks by dangerous, captive animals, she said.

This isn't the first time animal rights groups have had to battle it out with the USDA.

In the early 2000s, Conlee said, the same information was inaccessible for a short time. The organization filed a lawsuit, which resulted in a settlement that compelled APHIS to make documents public.

All annual reports, including pain and distress information, had to be made available to the public electronically. The USDA was also forced to indicate on its site which facilities didn't submit annual reports.

The Humane Society issued a notice of violation of court order and intent to enforce or reopen the lawsuit in February shortly after the documents were removed from the internet. The notice states that the USDA violated the terms of the 2009 agreement.

APHIS hasnt always received a gold star for its enforcement of the law, either  something experts were quick to point out.

In a 2014 report, the Office of the Inspector General "cites specific examples of enforcement deficiencies, poor oversight, inadequate penalties, lack of deterrence, and many examples of animals suffering and dying," according to the Animal Welfare Institute.

Politicians are also backing efforts to get the records fully restored through legislation to compel the agency to make the documents public.

Peet said public scrutiny has been the primary thing holding the agency's feet to the fire when it comes to ensuring that basic animal welfare standards are upheld.

"And that's been taken away," she said.
Im basically here to listen, said Delaware Gov. John Carney Wednesday evening as he welcomed local lawmakers and cannabis advocates to a roundtable discussion on the legalization of recreational pot.

If House Bill 110 passes, Delaware would be the first Mid-Atlantic state to welcome marijuana without medicinal constraints. It would be the ninth state in the nation to do so.

The District of Columbia legalized recreational cannabis in 2015 just one year after decriminalizing pot and introducing medical marijuana. Both New Jersey and Maryland have been stumbling through their programs with patients complaining about high costs and restrictive regulations.

Delaware, on the other hand, is poised to follow in D.C.s footsteps. It passed medical cannabis in 2011 and is considering expanding its program, which would model the states alcohol laws.

An overseeing agency, the Division of Marijuana Control and Enforcement, would be tasked with regulating and limiting sales of cannabis on select days and time. Only people 21 years of age and older could purchase cannabis. Every ounce of flower would be taxed $50 while other parts of the plant would be subject to a $15 per ounce tax.

To put that into context, Colorado, one of the first states to legalize recreational cannabis, charges buyers a 10 percent state marijuana tax and a 2.9 percent sales tax plus any local sales tax. Washington state has a 37 percent excise tax.

Tax revenue would be divided between the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Social Services. Portions would go towards drug abuse prevention program, public education and aiding communities that have been disproportionately affected by the war on drugs.

This last point is of particular interest to State Sen. Margaret Rose Henry, co-sponsored the bill and called it a social and criminal justice issue.

We wont be arresting people who dont deserve it, she said.

Wednesday evenings roundtable echoed many of the familiar refrains surrounding the green rush: What would be legal? Who would oversee it? Is this really necessary?

Yes declared several people, including bill co-sponsor Rep. Helene Keeley. She touted several of the plans virtues, such as attracting more tourism and bringing in much needed tax dollars to Delaware.

I was surprised by some of the people who called me and expressed interest, she said, adding that everyone from farmers to bankers are included in her long list of supporters.

[NATL-NY] It's 4/20, the Police Know, and They Have Jokes for the Occasion

But the conversation soured at several points. Opponents expressed concerns that rumors of a green rush are exaggerated.

The black market will always exist, said Delaware resident Bruce Lorenz. We havent got all the answers yet and I think that decriminalization goes a long way to getting where you want to be. Commercialization of this is not a good idea.

He added that if someone has to pay an extra $50 for an ounce of pot, they will probably get the un-taxed version.

Carneys take on the issue remains unknown. He has voiced opposition in the past, but reemphasized his support for medical marijuana. Wednesday evening, the governor again toed a middle line.

Several people in the audience suggested letting voters decide the issue. Carney nodded when the idea of putting the bill on a ballot was mentioned.

Let me be clear I have not expressed my support for [the bill], Carney said, but added that he is willing to hear all sides.
Three Franciscan friars have asked a judge to dismiss criminal charges that they didn't properly supervise a suspected sexual predator accused of molesting more than 100 children, most at a Pennsylvania high school.

Blair County Judge Jolene Kopriva has set an April 27 hearing on the defense motions filed by attorneys for Giles Schinelli, Robert D'Aversa and Anthony Criscitelli, the Altoona Mirror reported Thursday.

D'Aversa, 70, Cristcitelli, 62, and Schinelli, 73, were ordered to stand trial on child endangerment and conspiracy charges following a preliminary hearing last April.

State prosecutors contend the friars either assigned or supervised Brother Stephen Baker when he served at Bishop McCort Catholic High School in Johnstown in the 1990s.

Baker fatally stabbed himself in the heart at the Franciscan's St. Bernardine monastery near Hollidaysburg, which the defendants led from 1986 to 2010. Baker killed himself days after the Youngstown, Ohio, diocese announced in early 2013 that 11 students had settled claims they were molested by Baker while he worked at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio, in the late 1980s.

News of the settlement and Baker's suicide prompted more than 90 former McCort students to come forward with molestation allegations, too. Their claims have settled out of court for more than $8 million. Several others have alleged Baker molested them as children, too.

Schinelli approved Baker's assignment at Bishop McCort in 1992 even after he had learned of an unspecified allegation of abuse against him, prosecutors said. Schinelli had written to an out-of-state diocese where the allegation originated and was told no more information was available on the accusation, which Schinelli termed "vague and unsubstantiated'' in his correspondence.

Porter argued that Schinelli nevertheless ordered Baker to be examined by a psychiatrist, who found in 1992 that Baker had "no deviate sexual disorder that puts minors at risk,'' according to a letter from the doctor.

"The fact that the doctor was ultimately wrong does not impact the knowledge that Schinelli had,'' defense attorney Charles Porter wrote in his motion to dismiss the charges.

D'Aversa's attorney, Robert Ridge, argued the friar didn't supervise Baker while he worked at McCort _ school officials did. Prosecutors contend D'Aversa had told Baker not to be alone with minors, but Ridge said that was "based on an allegation, not substantiated by evidence of wrongdoing by Baker.''

Criscitelli's attorney, James Kraus, argued that his client didn't have knowledge of the allegations against Baker, and so had no reason to act.

[NATL-NY] It's 4/20, the Police Know, and They Have Jokes for the Occasion
Pennsylvanias Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act, a measure that lends assistance to caregivers across the Keystone State took effect Thursday.

AARP Pennsylvania hailed the CARE Act as a way to supply support to more than 1.6 million caregivers caring for older loved ones at home.

"AARP led the fight for the CARE Act in Pennsylvania to help family caregivers when their loved ones go into the hospitaland when they return home," AARP state director Bill Johnston-Walsh said in a news release. "This common sense law delivers essential support to caregivers who are working tirelessly caring for aging parents, spouses, and other loved ones, so those older adults can continue living independently, with dignity, at homewhere they want to be."

The CARE Act requires that hospitals provide the chance to designate a family caregiver, inform caregivers if a loved one is being released and to where, and provide family caregivers with the information needed for home care.

"Caregiving is a big responsibility, and caregivers need all the help they can get," Johnston-Walsh said.

[NATL-LA] Fossils Unearthed During Metro Purple Line Construction

AARP says "60 percent of caregivers juggle caregiving responsibilities with the demands of a full-time job, and the average caregiver will devote at least 20 hours a week to helping loved ones."

Pennsylvania lawmakers passed the CARE Act last year and Gov. Tom Wolf signed it into a law.

"The bottom line is caregiving is now a common family dynamic  if you're not a caregiver now, chances are you were one in the past, or will become one in the future," Johnston-Walsh said. "While it can be a difficult and emotionally taxing job, caregivers consider it a labor of love and simply wouldn't have it any other way. Thankfully, Pennsylvania's new CARE Act will make that job a little easier."
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is warning consumers to avoid using two skin creams sold at flea markets in the state  products that tested positive for high levels of mercury.

The CDPH said this week that theres a possible health risk associated with two skin care products: La Tia Mana cream, and a second cream that comes in a similar white container as La Tia Mana, only without a label.

According to the warning, the creams  which typically hail from Mexico and are also known as homemade creams  contain high levels of mercury, a toxic chemical that, with regular or prolonged exposure, can cause mercury poisoning. The creams were sampled and submitted for analysis by the CDPH, health officials told NBC 7 Wednesday.

Symptoms of mercury poisoning include irritability, depression, nervousness, difficulty concentrating or remembering things, fatigue, tremors, shaking or weakness and tingling or numbness in the hands, feet or around the mouth.

The CDPH said both products were discovered as part of an investigation spearheaded by the department looking into unlawful products being sold by vendors operating at an open-air flea market in Southern California's Ventura County.

The products were both labeled and unlabeled, and according to the CDPH, were packaged "in jars consistent with past products that previously tested positive for elevated mercury content in 2014."

The products are also known to be sold in California cities through informal networks, at times via social media, often by people who brought the products into the U.S. from Mexico. NBC 7 found several Facebook pages for La Tia Mana cream that claim to be a resource for consumers trying to buy the product. Some of those pages claim to be based out of cities like Fresno and Oxnard, California.

The skin creams claim to serve a variety of uses including to lighten the skin, fade freckles, blemishes and age spots and to treat acne.

The CDPH said there have been no reports of illnesses associated with these particular creams just yet, but similar creams -- the ones that tested positive for mercury in 2014 -- have resulted in health issues nationwide.

Some of those health problems associated with similar products have included poisoning in children and babies who didnt use the creams, but were exposed to mercury through close contact with family members who used the products.

In some cases, according to this warning issued by the CDPH in May 2014, products contained up to 21 percent mercury  or 210,000 parts per million (ppm). In the U.S., it is illegal to sell skin cream products that contain 1 ppm or more.

Health officials advise consumers to discontinue using these products and check their other skin products for harmful ingredients such as mercury; mercurio; mercurous chloride; cinnabar; calomel. Products packaged without labeling should be avoided too, the CDPH said.

The CDPH said consumers experiencing symptoms of mercury poisoning stemming from use of these products should see a doctor and call the California Poison Control System at (800) 222-1222. Consumers who see these products being sold can also reach out to the CDPHs Food and Drug Branch complaint hotline at (800) 495-3232.
A jury has found pet retailer Petco not negligent or liable in the case of a 10-year-old boy who died from bacteria carried by his pet rat bought at a San Diego-area Petco store.

The verdict was delivered in a San Diego courtroom Thursday. The jury decided Petco did enough to warn the boy's family of the possible risks and dangers of owning a pet rat, and therefore was not negligent in the boy's death.

BREAKING: Petco case verdict- not in favor of Pankey family. Jurors felt Petco did enough to warn about possible risks. Petco not liable.  Gaby Rodriguez (@GabyR_news) April 20, 2017

A juror spoke to reporters following the verdict, discussing how the jury ultimately came to a decision:

Sharon Pankey, the grandmother of the victim, also spoke with reporters:

"I feel sad," she said. "It took us three months to find out what [Aidan] died of."

The grandmother said the family is glad to have gotten an opportunity to raise awareness about rat bite fever, no matter how rare it may be.

"If you have a rat, be very aware that it not only can, but might, carry bacteria that causes rat bite fever," Sharon added. "Be aware when you go to your doctor."

On June 12, 2013, Aidan Pankey was rushed to a hospital with severe stomach pains. He died hours later.

The San Diego County Medical Examiners office ruled the boys cause of death was streptobacillus moniliformis, better known as "rat bite fever," contracted from exposure to rats infected with bacteria.

A short time prior to Aidan's death, the boy's family had purchased a pet rat from a Petco store in Carmel Ranch. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) later confirmed the family's pet rat was infected.

NBC 7's Megan Tevrizian has the details behind the case and how Petco has responded to the family's request for payment for damages.

In late February 2014, Aidan's father, Andrew Pankey, filed a lawsuit against Petco. Andrew Pankey asked the San Diego-based company for $20 million in damages.

The Pankey family's attorneys, including John Gomez, claim Petco failed to adequately warn the boys family about the dangers of rat bite fever, even though they knew many of their rats had the bacteria. Gomez said that in 2013, any rat sold by Petco had a 50/50 chance of carrying the bacteria.

NBC 7s Megan Tevrizian reports on the opening statements in the case stemming from the 2013 death of 10-year-old Aiden Pankey.

The trial for the rat bite fever case began in late March. After three weeks of testimony, closing arguments were delivered Tuesday. In closing arguments, attorneys representing Petco, including Kimberly Oberrecht, emphasized that rat bite fever is extraordinarily rare and treatable.

"[There is a] very, very, very minimal risk of getting rat bite fever," Oberrecht said in court, adding that of the five million rats sold by Petco, the company has only had 45 claims of people getting sick from bacteria infected rats.

NBC 7s Gaby Rodriguez reports on opening statements in the case of 10-year-old Aiden Pankey who died in 2013 of rat bite fever. The boy had just bought a rat from Petco.

Deliberations continued through Wednesday, with a verdict reached that afternoon and read in court the following day.
The deployment of the Carl Vinson Strike Group will be extended for at least 30 days as the ship heads to the Korean Peninsula.

Rear Admiral Jim Kilby, Commander, Carrier Strike Group One made the announcement public on the carriers Facebook page.

The letter reads, in part: "Our deployment has been extended 30 days to provide a persistent presence in the Waters off the Korean Peninsula. While all of us look forward to being connected with our friends and families, our nation requires us to be its flexible force."

Families of those deployed aboard the Vinson tell NBC7 they are a bit concerned.

One Navy spouse and mother, Merrill, whose husband is deployed with the strike group, said she tries to focus on the positive.

"They're just out there, doing their jobs, and I know that they all know what they have to do and are very well trained, so I try not to get too nervous," she said.

President Trump made it sound as if the carrier strike group was moving immediately to the Korean Peninsula in an interview last week following increased tensions with North Korea.

However, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis did not quite characterize it that way,

"The Vinson, as I said on the record, was operating up-and-down the western Pacific and we're doing exactly what we said, and that is we are shifting her instead of continuing one direction as she pulled out of Singapore, he told reporters overseas in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

"The bottom line is in our effort to always be open about what we're doing, we said that we were going to change the Vinson's upcoming schedule," Mattis said.
A man who spent 11 years in federal prison for robbing banks will soon teach at Georgetown University's acclaimed law school.

Shon Hopwood was hired as a full professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, the school said. The lawyer, who passed the bar exam two years ago, said he was shocked by the offer.

"I never thought I would go to law school. I never thought I would become a licensed attorney," he said.

Hopwood, 41, said he was a college dropout living in a small town in Nebraska when he and a friend began robbing banks, armed with guns.

"I went in with one of my co-defendants, with guns, told everybody to get on the ground and then went and grabbed as much money as we could in a minute or two and then left," he said.

He was caught by the FBI and pleaded guilty.

As he served 11 years in prison, he got a job in one facility's law library and began writing briefs for fellow inmates. His third appeal went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was decided unanimously, shaving four years off a friend's sentence.

Hopwood had found a calling.

"When I started winning cases for other prisoners while I was still inside prison, I found that I really enjoyed helping other people with their legal problems, especially people who can't afford a good lawyer," he said.

When he was released from prison, Hopwood was encouraged to go to law school. He attended the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle, clerked for a federal judge and published a book: "Law Man: My Story of Robbing Banks, Winning Supreme Court Cases and Finding Redemption.

8 years ago I was released from Federal Bureau of Prisons custody. Today I accepted offer to be a full-time law professor #secondchances  Shon Hopwood (@shonhopwood) April 6, 2017

Georgetown professors initially had their doubts about Hopwood, law professor Paul Rothstein said.

"I think before we met him, some of the people here thought, 'Wow. This is a person with a record. That raises some flags,'" Rothstein said.

There are no longer any questions.

"This guy is really going to make a contribution to our students and really bring a perspective here that no one else can," Rothstein said.

With experience on both sides of the law, Hopwood will teach about criminal procedure and prisoners' rights.

He said he wants to educate students and the community about prison reform.

"I hope that my job here will inspire people that do not believe a second chance is possible," he said.

He encouraged other felons to explore directions their lives can take as they re-enter society.

"You can never really overcome a felony conviction, but you can make that impact on your life a lot less, the more education you receive," he said.
Authorities are investigating an alleged stalker who showed up at Malia Obama's workplace in Manhattan on three separate days earlier this month with a sign proposing marriage, law enforcement sources said.

Jair Nilton Cardoso appeared at locations where the elder daughter of the 44th president was interning on April 10, 11 and 12, the sources said. In the first instance he even slipped past security at a building in Tribeca, got to the fourth floor and begged Malia to marry him, according to the sources.

He reportedly wanted to marry Malia so he could get to former President Barack Obama and ask for some kind of help for his country, sources said. He hasn't made any verbal threats to her, according to sources, but the frequent run-ins have raised concerns.

The Secret Service detained Cardoso and took him to the NYPD's First Precinct, which in turn referred him to Kings County Hospital for evaluation, according to the sources. No charges were pending against him Wednesday evening, sources said.

Malia Obama still qualifies for Secret Service protection under a recently signed executive order.

Former NYPD sergeant and FBI special agent Manny Gomez said there is reasonable fear for Malia's safety and that is the classification of stalking under New York State law.

"I'm sure an order of protection will be served in the not so distance future," Gomez said.

It was not immediately clear where Cardoso was as of late afternoon Wednesday. The NYPD referred inquiries to the Secret Service, who said "we don't discuss our protective operations."

The Manhattan district attorney's office declined comment.

There were media reports that Cardoso was known to the Secret Service from previous appearances at the White House during the Obama administration, though he has no record of arrests, according to court information, in Washington, D.C.
A Virginia woman will serve 14 years in prison for the murder of her elderly husband.

Paula Thompson-Marshall shot and killed 75-year-old Rolf Thompson Oct. 5 in their home near Alexandria's Old Town neighborhood. She was convicted in April, and sentenced Thursday.

Officers received a report of a shooting about 10:45 a.m. and found Marshall suffering from a gunshot wound inside the house in the 1100 block of Duke Street. He was pronounced dead at a hospital about 11:30 a.m.

The couple argued that morning about whether to euthanize their elderly dog, and Thompson-Marshall, 48, shot her husband with a .38 caliber revolver, according to the commonwealth's attorney's office. She called police and claimed the shooting was an accident.

Neighbors said Marshall had been ill and had been in and out of the hospital.

She was also convicted of using a firearm while committing murder.

The jury has suggested a sentence of 14 years in prison.
Two students planned to commit a school shooting "in the near future" at a middle school in north suburban Skokie, Illinois, police announced Wednesday.

Officials from McCracken Middle School contacted Skokie police Wednesday morning at about 10:30 a.m. to inform them of the plan, police said in a news release.

The two students, who are both juveniles, were taken into custody, according to authorities. Three other students suspected of knowing about the alleged plan were interviewed and released to their parents.

School district officials are working with the Skokie Police Department in the investigation.

Police say the threat is no longer viable and no details would be released at this time.

McCracken was closed briefly in 2014 after threats were made toward students on Instagram.

Anyone with information or details related to the plan is encouraged to contact Skokie police by calling 847-933-TIPS.




FBI Director James Comey waits before testifying at a House Intelligence Committee hearing into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

The FBI reportedly used the explosive, unverified dossier detailing President Donald Trump's alleged ties to Russia to bolster its case for a warrant that would allow it to surveil Carter Page, an early foreign-policy adviser to Trump's campaign.

It's a key signal that the FBI had enough confidence in the validity of the document to work to corroborate it and present it in court.

The FBI has been using the dossier as a "roadmap" for its investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election since last year, the BBC's Paul Wood reported last month. The document itself was not central to the bureau's argument before a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge that Page could have been acting as an agent of Russia, according to CNN.

But the raw intelligence contained in the 35-page collection of memos  written by the former British intelligence operative Christopher Steele, who spent 20 years spying for MI6 in Moscow  apparently helped the FBI convince the court that Page could be acting as an agent of a foreign power.

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Some experts have accused the FBI of having political motivations for entering the document into evidence. Others are skeptical that the bureau would have needed to use the dossier at all to bolster its case against Page, an energy consultant turned foreign-policy adviser. Page was already on the FBI's radar because of his ties to a Russian spy who had posed as a UN attache in New York City in 2013.

A former senior intelligence officer, who requested anonymity to discuss the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act process candidly, told Business Insider on Wednesday that using this kind of raw intelligence to build a case for a FISA order was "not uncommon."

"Bear in mind that what one must do in the FISC is to persuade a judge that there is probable cause to believe that someone is the agent of a foreign power," the officer said.

Story continues

That probable cause is laid out in a "declaration," he added, which is the "new federal term for an affidavit." The declaration is then "generally signed by the agency head"  in this case, FBI Director James Comey  "and cites the evidence that has been obtained" by the relevant agency.

Carter Page

According to officials who spoke to The Washington Post, the FBI's declaration to the FISC "laid out investigators' basis for believing that Page was an agent of the Russian government and knowingly engaged in clandestine intelligence activities on behalf of Moscow."

The dossier, parts of which have been corroborated by the US intelligence community, alleges that Page was a liaison between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the campaign. It also alleges that while in Moscow in July, Page and his associates were offered the brokerage of a 19% stake in Russia's state oil company in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions on Russia.

While the evidence put forward in declarations is "usually obtained from an intercept, it need not be," according to the former intelligence officer. "The evidence need not be of the quality that would be admitted into a trial."

The bar for obtaining a FISA order is fairly low. But evidence cited in declarations must still be corroborated through an agency's investigations before it is submitted to the court, officials familiar with the matter told CNN.

Steve Slick, a former CIA operations officer and National Security Council official, told Business Insider that applications for a FISA order were likely to "include material that is less than 100% certain or subject to challenge."

For the application to be approved, however, as it was in Page's case, the FISC judge and the reviewing officials at the Department of Justice would have needed to be "satisfied" that the application, as a whole, had a "sufficient factual basis," Slick said.

Page was brought onto the Trump campaign in the spring of 2016 by Trump's former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, reports have said. He has denied the allegations against him, calling them an "illegal" form of "retribution" for a speech he gave at the New Economic School in Moscow in July, in which he slammed the US for a "hypocritical focus on ideas such as democratization, inequality, corruption, and regime change."

That trip to Moscow  which Lewandowski approved  raised new red flags at the FBI. The bureau sought and obtained the FISA order shortly after.

Page told Business Insider recently that he thought the FISA requests were "unjustified." But the government's application for the FISA order has been renewed more than once, and there were contacts Page had with Russian intelligence officials that he did not disclose, according to The Post.

NOW WATCH: Russia jailed the man who may become Putins biggest challenger in the next election





More From Business Insider
A couple in Madawaska, Maine, was charged Tuesday with operating one of the largest methamphetamine labs ever discovered by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.

According to WCSH, Carl and Casie Thibeault were charged with aggravated trafficking, aggravated operation of a meth lab and endangering a child.

Thirty-six-year-old Carl Thibeault was taken into custody at the Aroostook County Jail. Casie Thibeult, 34, was released on bail.

It's unclear when they'll appear in court or whether they have attorneys.
A New Hampshire school district is warning parents about a new Netflix series thats become popular among students.

It seems like all the kids at Sanborn High School are watching the series called 13 Reasons Why, but Superintendent Brian Blake says they shouldnt be without having a conversation about some heavy topics.

The show is about a bullied high school student who commits suicide, but before she does, she explains the reasons why on 13 different cassette tapes that she sends to her classmates.

Sanborn High students admit the series is captivating.

Its definitely well made, said Lauren Lanseigne.

Thats what hooked kids, this idea that its a mystery, said Junior Abigail Parrott.

When school counselors heard how popular the show was becoming, they watched for themselves. Superintendent Brian Blake says the series romanticizes suicide and gives no healthy alternative to kids struggling with emotional problems. So, his counseling team sent a letter home to parents Tuesday night, encouraging them to talk with their children.

They are vulnerable and impressionable, Blake said. We want to make sure we are taking care and putting the proper resources in place.

Students though say the show isnt all bad. Theyve managed to find the positive message behind each disturbing episode.

Its definitely opened up a dialogue if nothing else, Lanseigne said.

Its showing students that if youre feeling these emotions you need to do something about it before something tragic happens, Parrott said.

Dr. Blake says the other message here is that parents should be aware of what their kids are doing online and what theyre watching on Netflix.
Visitors to Wymondham Abbeys Christmas fair will be able to treat their children to a magic show and fun baking workshop while they browse more than 60 stalls.

Visitors to Wymondham Abbeys Christmas fair will be able to treat their children to a magic show and fun baking workshop while they browse more than 60 stalls.

Salvation Armys new Christmas Appeal in Norfolk The Salvation Army has launched their new Christmas appeal across Norfolk which, this year, has evolved from the much-loved Toys and Tins appeal. Read more

Are we storing up treasures on earth? Rising prices affect us all, and Anna Heydon urges us to spare a thought for those who will be struggling with the cost of living this winter. Read more

Latest Norfolk Christian community events Events of interest to the Norwich and Norfolk Christian community happening over the next few weeks are listed. Read more

Covid leaf memorial at Norwich church St Peter Mancroft Church Norwich Presents The Leaves of the Trees an installation by sculptor Peter Walker which provides a memorial for those who died of Covid-19 Read more

Community Chaplaincy Norfolk begins a new chapter Community Chaplaincy Norfolk (CCN) celebrated the beginning of a new chapter this week, as the new chair of trustees Chris Tomlinson led his first annual meeting. Read more

Lowestoft Christians launch on-line bible helps app The Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth branch of Good News for Everyone (GNFE), formerly the Gideons, have introduced a new mobile phone app called On-line Bible Helps. Read more

Addicts' rehabilitation centre plan for Drayton Hall Christian addiction charity Teen Challenge London is planning to turn Drayton Hall near Norwich into its headquarters and a rehabilitation centre for men, after it was gifted the freehold of the hall by its owner, the Lind Trust. Read more

The power of positive protest Philip Young encourages us to take a stand for what we believe, and has just written to Therese Coffey regarding climate change and the forthcoming COP 27. He explains why we should be prepared to protest. Read more

Norwich church celebrates with cribs and trees Rosebery Road Methodist Church in Norwich will be holding its annual Cribs and Trees Festival in December. Read more

Transforming Norwich lunch offers ministry tips Ex-Brighton vicar, Rev Phil Moon, will offer tips on how to keep going in ministry to the Transforming Norwich leaders lunch on Wednesday November 16. Read more

Quiet Waters in Bungay offers healing retreat Quiet Waters Christian Retreat in Bungay is holding a gentle day retreat exploring healing in the Kingdom of God. Read more

Norfolk ministry coaching duo are guest speakers Former church leaders and now freelance ministry coaches, Jonathan and Paige Squirrell, are the guest speakers at the next dinner of Norwich FGB on Monday, November 21. Read more

Bringing light to Halloween Anna Price encourages Christians to engage positively with Halloween rather than hide away, on what many see as the darkest night of the year. Read more

First service takes place at Norwich church site SOUL Church hosted around 400 people for a special service on the site of their new building on Heartsease Lane. Read more

Dereham draws up list of warm places for winter As rising energy prices make it harder to heat homes, churches in Dereham are leading the way in creating warm spaces where people can go. Read more

South Norfolk church scoops national award A medieval Anglican church in a tiny hamlet in South Norfolk has won a national award and a 10,000 boost. Read more

Dereham churches help people to help themselves A group of churches in Dereham have launched an ambitious project which aims to meet needs in the town, including the provision of food and skills training. Read more




Son-Rise service in Broadland setting

2017: Christians from the Stalham area gathered at How Hill near Ludham at dawn on Easter Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.



Under an early morning cold grey Easter Sunday sky, over 50 Christians from 8 local Churches gathered together at this beautiful Broadland location to celebrate the risen Christ. The service started at 6.30am and was led by David Osbourne, Methodist Church Circuit Steward, and Stalham Baptist Church Minister Ron Skivington, pictured below.



He has Risen was the shout, followed by readings and hymns. The congregation was joined by the singing tree-top birds, honking geese, and the circling seagulls squabbling squawking cries.





The service has been held for 30 years, and over that time the hardy flock have been treated to ice, snow, balmy spring mornings, marsh mist, magical sun rises and, last Sunday, a cutting wind sweeping up off the wetlands and river below, testing the musicianship of the frozen-fingered guitar players, before a rising watery sun provided a little warmth.





David Child from Stalham Baptist Church, said As a first-timer this was a spiritually moving event. The outpouring of joy that Jesus is alive and with us, interspersed hallelujahs, Yes Jesus and Thank you Lord supporting the powerful words of David and Ron, not forgetting the flowing tears of a lady close to me when Jesus agony and suffering on the cross, a sacrifice for us all, was again highlighted.





The celebration of Gods love was so much more physically and emotionally powerful on an exposed hillside rather than the cosy comfort bubble of our churches.





At the end of the service the car park quickly emptied as many of the worshipers headed back to the warm Stables at Stalham Baptist Church for hot coffee and tea and a splendid full English breakfast.



Next years Easter Sunday Son-rise service at How Hill will be at 6.30am (sunrise will be at 6.28am). on April 1 2018.



Read about this and other stories from the Stalham area at: http://www.communityscene.org.uk/







Do you have a news story or forthcoming event relating to Christians or a church in East Norfolk?
Those high-dollar Bose headphones? A lawsuit filed in Chicago contends Bose has been spying on users via the Bose Connect app, which enables users to remotely control their Bose headphones, and violating their privacy rights by selling the information about what they listen to without permission. Furthermore, Kyle Zak accused Bose of illegal wiretapping.

The lawsuit claims the app also has a data miner called Segment.io. Segment, the company behind the data miner, advertises, Collect all of your customer data and send it anywhere.

The complaint is a proposed class action for all people in the U.S. who bought a Bose wireless product and installed the Bose Connect app. It specifically mentions the Bose products QuietComfort 35, SoundSport Wireless, SoundSport Pulse Wireless, QuietControl 30, SoundLink Around-Ear Wireless Headphones II, and SoundLink Color II.

Bose allegedly designed the Bose Connect app to scoop up data. It claims the app was designed to continuously record the contents of the electronic communications that users send to their Bose Wireless Products from their smartphones, including the names of the music and audio tracks they select to play along with the corresponding artist and album information, together with the Bose Wireless Products serial numbers.

The lawsuit alleges that what a person listens tomusic, radio broadcasts, Podcasts, lectures and audio booksreveals their political and religious views thoughts, sentiments and emotions. It is enough to make accurate judgements and predictions about their personalities and behaviors.

If you look on Google Play, installing Bose Connect grants permission for access to several listings under Other: bind to an accessibility service, view network connections, pair with Bluetooth devices, access Bluetooth settings and full network access. That alone gives no hint that Bose is doing what the lawsuit proposes.

Bose failed to first obtain consent from customers before intercepting, monitoring, collecting and transmitting their media information, the lawsuit claims. In fact, Bose concealed its actual data collection policies.

A big part of the lawsuit revolves around the fact that Zak never gave his consent to Bose to monitor, collect and transmit his media information. Since Bose designed its app to contemporaneously and secretly collect information about what a user listens to, then Zakan Illinois residentand his attorney contend the interception of content means Bose is in violation of the Federal Wiretap Act.

Bose is not alone here, said Bob Noel, director of strategic relationships and marketing for Plixer International. A recent webinar reviewed how several companies are stealing personally identifiable information (PII) from their customers.

Noel added, One important part of the equation to understand in this case is whether or not there is an end user license agreement (EULA) outlining the PII that Bose is taking. In many cases, the EULA you agree to when you download an application gives the manufacturer the right to collect and/or sell that data.

"An important factor to consider is whether consumers have the ability to verify the data collected aligns to what was agreed upon when the EULA was accepted. In many cases this can be difficult because the data collection occurs across an encrypted tunnel. You know data is being collected, but as a consumer, it is impossible to verify what data is being taken and what the manufacturer is doing with that data.
* Frustrations emerge as court case for Jammeh victim stalls

* Battered economy leaves government with little resources

* Truth commission expected, but potential pitfalls abound

By Edward McAllister and Lamin Jahateh

BANJUL, April 19 (Reuters) - After police arrested 57-year-old Gambian activist Solo Sandeng at a protest a year ago, witnesses said he was beaten to death and buried in an unmarked grave near a fishing village.

Since then a new government has come to power, promising swift redress for alleged crimes committed during the 22-year rule of ex-president Yahya Jammeh, and nine intelligence officers are now on trial for the murder.

Yet hope for justice is already giving way to frustration for Sandeng's family, as well as for relatives of the many other Gambians who disappeared before Jammeh fled the west African country in January.

They are growing impatient with a justice system which, starved of funds, equipment and expertise, is buckling under a backlog of dozens of unsolved cases from the Jammeh era.

Elation swept Gambia when Jammeh was forced out, and the new government of President Adama Barrow has promised to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in six months, modelled on similar bodies in other African nations.

But Sandeng's family, discouraged by repeated adjournments in his case to let prosecutors gather more evidence, says that is not enough.

"We need justice to be served, then we can reconcile," his daughter Fatoumata told Reuters, wearing a black veil and a white t-shirt with a picture of Sandeng's face.

Police finally found and exhumed Sandeng's body last month, helping his case to become one of just a few to have made it to court so far. But Fatoumata also sympathises with those relatives who do not even have the consolation of a trial.

"We have many families who have gone through this for many years and they need justice now," she said in Banjul. "You can't tell them to wait until you feel like doing something."

Story continues

Delays are common in even the best funded justice systems, but the problems of Gambia, a tiny agricultural economy, are profound.

Former victims have described arbitrary detention, torture and often death for political opponents under Jammeh, which rights groups argue must either be addressed at home or at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

But saddled with over $1 billion in debt - more than Gambia's annual economic output - the country is struggling to function at all, let alone pay for a wave of complex trials.

"The economy is a shambles," Finance Minister Amadou Sanneh told Reuters. "There is a serious deficit in the funding of judges."

LAWYERS WITHOUT COMPUTERS

The European Union pledged 75 million euros ($80 million) to Gambia weeks after Jammeh left, resuming aid cut off in 2014.

But this will go towards food security, roads and jobs. Meanwhile, lawyers often have no internet access or find themselves unable to make hard copies of important documents for a lack of printers.

"Imagine a lawyer without a computer. It slows us down," said Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou. "Lawyers make more money in their private practice than working for us."

Tambadou said the Sandeng case was brought to trial too fast and not enough evidence was collected, but he urged patience.

"The weight of expectation is too high. Twenty-two years is not 22 days," he said. "We have inherited a broken justice system and we must rebuild that system."

Despite the delays and cash shortages, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission aims to start public hearings by the end of the year.

Gambia did not suffer a civil war or large scale ethnic conflict like other African countries that have set up such commissions - Jammeh fled to Equatorial Guinea after refusing to accept an election defeat by Barrow - so achieving truth and reconciliation should in some ways be a less daunting task.

Still, Gambia will need to learn from others' experience. Opaque and costly, Ivory Coast's commission was criticised for not offering specific recommendations to help solve differences that linger after thousands died in a short 2011 war. Liberia's similarly failed to make many citizens feel that crimes committed during a decade of civil war had been redressed.

Others have had more success. In Sierra Leone, a U.N.-backed commission uncovered new facts about the roots of a nine-year civil war that ended in 2002, helping to avoid further conflict. In Rwanda, where 800,000 died in a 1994 genocide, community tribunals successfully tried abuses.

But rights groups say there can be no substitute for effective trials, although Jammeh has put himself out of the ICC's reach as Equatorial Guinea has not signed up to the court in the Hague.

"The biggest danger for Gambia is that the commission becomes a talking shop with interesting dialogue about what happened without addressing the need for justice," said Human Rights Watch Africa researcher Jim Wormington. "It cannot be a replacement for justice." ($1 = 0.9327 euros) (Editing by Tim Cocks and David Stamp)
On Sunday 23 April there will be a ceremony to honour the memory of a young man killed while serving in Palestine during the First World War. Major Philip Musgrave Neeld Wroughton of Chaddleworth, died in 1917 aged 29. Family and members of Berkshire Yeomanry will lay wreaths at the stone cross memorial near Fawley, to mark the centenary of his death.

At the unveiling ceremony of Chaddleworths war memorial, Philip Wroughton was referred to as a fine English country gentleman. Born in 1888, he was the son of a landowner and Conservative politican, also Philip, who was the High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire in 1857, and who sat in the House of Commons from 1876 to 1895; firstly as MP for Berkshire, then as MP for Abingdon. On his fathers death in 1910, young Philip inherited the manors of Brightwalton, Chaddleworth and Woolley.

The 26 April 1917 edition of the NWN reported the sad news thus:

The news has been received that Major Philip Musgrave Neeld Wroughton of Woolley Park was killed in action whilst serving in the Yeomanry in Palestine. At the outbreak of war, Major Wroughton was an officer in the Berks Yeomanry, and went into training with his regiment in England, subsequently going with it to the East. After a period spent in Egypt the regiment was drafted to Gallipolli and took part in the memorable action on the Peninsula in August 1915 in which so many Berkshire lads were killed, wounded or incapacitated by disease. Major Wroughton was wounded and invalided home, where he recovered sufficiently to resume duty with his regiment which has latterly been operating in the campaign against the Turks. 

He was 29 years old. Educated at Eton and Oxford, he had been expected to follow in the footsteps of a very worthy father, whose memory is still revered, serving his county with zeal and ability. But for the war, the young Squire would have taken a prominent part in Berkshire affairs. He put aside all personal considerations in response to the call of King and country, and died at the post of duty, as so many sons have done.

Sincere sympathy is respectfully offered to Mrs Wroughton, who lost a younger son, Christopher in a very distressing bicycle accident.

A memorial service was held at the parish church in Chaddleworth on 22 May, following one in London, in order that the inhabitants of North Berkshire should have the opportunity to pay their last respects. There was not a vacant seat in the church. The NWN report (24 May 1917) told how the local people knew him from boyhood and had all received many acts of consideration and kindness, both from him and his family. When in his younger days, Master Phil, as he was known won a race at the local flower show on his pony, everybody was more than pleased, and cheered him to the echo. It was the same all through his life, and when he became Squire of Woolley, everyone knew that the high ideals of consideration and regard for the welfare of all would be maintained and strengthened.

The NWN received a letter from an officer in Major Wroughtons Brigade  part of which read He was gallantly leading his squadron on April 19th in a dismounted attack, when he was killed by shrapnel fire. Although he never liked soldiering, he was a born soldier and leader of yeomen- they all loved him. He was the ideal Yeomanry officer  the English country gentleman  who disliked the war intensely, but made every sacrifice to help finish it, and died like the very gallant gentlemen he was, fighting at the head of his squadron. Not only his own regiment, but the whole brigade will miss him, more than they would any other officer in the brigade.

Major Wroughton is remembered in Gaza War Cemetery, in a memorial in the grounds of Woolley Park, on the Chaddleworth war memorial and in the churches of St Marys Fawley, All Saints, Brightwalton and St Andrews Chaddleworth, which also holds the cross that marked the original grave in Gaza.

Major Wroughtons descendants have carried on the family tradition of public service. His great-nephew is Sir Philip Lavallin Wroughton, who served as Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire from 1995 until 2008. Other family members include Berkshires current Lord Lieutenant James Puxley, and the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commsioner, Anthony Stansfeld.
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: Hours after his arrest on Tuesday, Vijay Mallya in his trademark style mocked the media tweeting usual Indian media hype. Turns out, the absconding liquor baron isnt alone in his realistic thinking. Even bankers, who want to recover Rs 9,100-crore worth dues, are certain that itll be a while before they can see real money flowing into their coffers from Mallyas firms.

The 61-year-olds arrest in London and his immediate release on bail failed to cheer bankers, who think, the Indian authorities attempt to extradite Mallya and the subsequent trial could get stuck in procedural delays. Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines owes an interest-piling Rs 9,100 crore to a consortium of 17 banks.

Its (Mallyas arrest) good news though it comes an year after he left the country. But there are protocols to be adhered to and itll be a while before actual loan recoveries start happening, a senior official, part of the 17-member bank consortium told Express.

The downbeat expectations of lenders possibly stems from their disappointing experience disposing the flamboyant billionaires assets including prime properties like Kingfisher Villa in Goa at lower sticker prices than the going rate, while others like the Kingfisher House in Mumbai are yet to find a suitor.

A slew of cases were filed by multiple agencies and the ED even attached some properties. Procedural delays could slowdown loan recovery, even if the extradition process picks up, he added.

At least half-a-dozen cases booked against Mallya and his now-defunct airline for loan default and non-payment of taxes are waiting to start/re-start proceedings. It may be noted that the SBI-led consortium had filed a complaint last year, prompting the CBI to initiate a probe against Mallya.

The CBI had registered another case in 2015 against Kingfisher Airlines and Mallya for an alleged Rs 900 crore loan fraud at IDBI Bank and even made a few arrests. Theres a service tax default of Rs 100 crore pursued by the Income Tax authorities, then theres the case with ED that declared Mallya as a proclaimed offender besides ongoing proceedings at the Debt Recovery Tribunal in Bengaluru.

MUMBAI: Hours after his arrest on Tuesday, Vijay Mallya in his trademark style mocked the media tweeting usual Indian media hype. Turns out, the absconding liquor baron isnt alone in his realistic thinking. Even bankers, who want to recover Rs 9,100-crore worth dues, are certain that itll be a while before they can see real money flowing into their coffers from Mallyas firms. The 61-year-olds arrest in London and his immediate release on bail failed to cheer bankers, who think, the Indian authorities attempt to extradite Mallya and the subsequent trial could get stuck in procedural delays. Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines owes an interest-piling Rs 9,100 crore to a consortium of 17 banks. Its (Mallyas arrest) good news though it comes an year after he left the country. But there are protocols to be adhered to and itll be a while before actual loan recoveries start happening, a senior official, part of the 17-member bank consortium told Express. The downbeat expectations of lenders possibly stems from their disappointing experience disposing the flamboyant billionaires assets including prime properties like Kingfisher Villa in Goa at lower sticker prices than the going rate, while others like the Kingfisher House in Mumbai are yet to find a suitor. A slew of cases were filed by multiple agencies and the ED even attached some properties. Procedural delays could slowdown loan recovery, even if the extradition process picks up, he added. At least half-a-dozen cases booked against Mallya and his now-defunct airline for loan default and non-payment of taxes are waiting to start/re-start proceedings. It may be noted that the SBI-led consortium had filed a complaint last year, prompting the CBI to initiate a probe against Mallya. The CBI had registered another case in 2015 against Kingfisher Airlines and Mallya for an alleged Rs 900 crore loan fraud at IDBI Bank and even made a few arrests. Theres a service tax default of Rs 100 crore pursued by the Income Tax authorities, then theres the case with ED that declared Mallya as a proclaimed offender besides ongoing proceedings at the Debt Recovery Tribunal in Bengaluru.
VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - April 19, 2017) - Lumina Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE: LUM) (the "Company" or "Lumina") is pleased to announce that it has been granted 13 new concessions by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Mining, covering 40,647 hectares. These concessions, which are spread throughout the country, are in addition to the ones that were announced on November 16, 2016 and December 22, 2016. The new concessions, which were awarded through the Government's auction process, consolidate Lumina's position along trend with its existing Condor project, Lundin Gold's Fruta del Norte project and Tongling's Mirador project. Concessions on the prolific northwest oriented Apuela Batholith, close to world class discoveries such as Codelcos Llurimagua and SolGolds Cascabel, are expected to add additional value to Lumina's prospective portfolio. The following table, map and descriptions outline Lumina's new and previously existing concessions in Ecuador.

Lumina has commenced extensive geological mapping, soil and stream sediment sampling to focus the Company's efforts on the mineralized areas of these new concessions. This work will enable Lumina to identify high-priority drill targets in addition to the current 12,000 meters of infill drilling that is ongoing at Cangrejos.

Diego Benalcazar, Lumina's in-country Senior Vice President, commented: "The concessions Lumina has added since November have made it the second largest concession holder in Ecuador, and one of the leading gold explorers in the region. Our technical team of 15 geologists has already commenced work across this portfolio of highly prospective concessions."

Countrywide Concession Summary:

Area Name Number of Concessions Hectares Province Key Projects Cangrejos (including Cangrejos 20) 6 6,374 El Oro Condor 7 8,269 Zamora-Chinchipe Previously Announced Concessions - Nov 16, 2016 and Dec 22, 2016 Press Releases Pegasus A / Pegasus B 14 66,525 Cotopaxi & Bolivar Tres Picachos 1 4,828 Zamora-Chinchipe Orquideas 1 4,743 Zamora-Chinchipe La Canela 1 3,187 Zamora-Chinchipe New Concessions Added Palma Real (1) 4 19,775 Esmeraldas Cascas (1) 2 9,998 Zamora-Chinchipe Tarqui (1) 2 4,817 Morona-Santiago Quimi (1) 2 2,731 Morona-Santiago Yawi 1 1,494 Zamora-Chinchipe Escondida 1 1,204 Zamora-Chinchipe Santa Elena (1) 1 628 Zamora-Chinchipe Total 43 134,573

(1) Concessions currently optioned by Lumina. Lumina is responsible for funding the required work commitments on these concessions. After two years, the concessions will be transferred to Lumina.

Description of New Concessions Outside of Lumina's Key Projects:

The Macuchi Volcanic Massive Sulphide (VMS) Metallogenic Belt Concession Areas

Lumina has assembled three large concession packages, totaling 86,300 hectares, encompassing submarine arc volcanic rocks of the Paleocene to Eocene Macuchi formation, prospective for VMS and skarn gold styles of mineralization. The Company holds the Pegasus A, Pegasus B and the Palma Real concessions in this belt.

Pegasus A / Pegasus B (66,525 hectares)

Pegasus A comprises seven contiguous mineral exploration license areas in Cotopaxi Province. The northernmost Pegasus-1 concession is two kilometers south of the Estero Hondo gold mine. First quarter 2017 field work has defined gossanous rock samples in the western part of Pegasus-1 at La Envidia, assaying between 6.3 and 9.4 grams per tonne of gold and 1,415 parts per million ("ppm") arsenic. La Envidia shows consistently anomalous silver assays (4.7 ppm silver), and locally anomalous copper assays (up to 0.145% copper) were recently returned from both rock and saprock samples. In addition, pan concentrates at La Envidia, taken from streams every 100m, have yielded up to 70 coarse, angular and locally brilliant gold particles per pan over two kilometers north-south.

Pegasus B is a prospective area south of Pegasus A. It is adjacent to Salazar Resources' Las Naves VMS deposit. The regional geology is Cretaceous Island Arc volcanics with potential mineralization in the form of Kuroko massive sulphide type and possible younger Miocene porphyritic mineralization. There is also potential for epithermal deposits in the highlands.

Palma Real (19,775 hectares)

Palma Real is located in the western foothills of the Andes in Esmeraldas Province, approximately 40 kilometers southwest of the giant Cascabel copper-gold deposit under development by SolGold, in broadly similar geological formations to the Pegasus blocks. Stream sediment copper anomalism, as defined by the British Geological Survey in 2000, surrounds the Canande gabbro pluton and is the principal attribute of this previously underexplored license area.

The Zamora - Morona Santiago Copper-Gold Metallogenic Belt Concession Areas

Lumina holds title to twelve mineral exploration concessions, totaling 33,630 hectares, that are on trend with its Condor project. These concessions discontinuously span 170 kilometers of the prolific Zamora Copper-Gold Metallogenic Belt. This area is prospective for porphyry copper-molybdenum-gold-silver, epithermal gold-silver, as well as skarn gold and copper styles of mineralization. Lumina has the added advantage of detailed in-house geochemical and geophysical data to facilitate prospect generation and project development within this metallogenic belt.

Cascas (9,998 hectares)

The two Cascas license areas encompass a 16 square kilometer copper-molybdenum anomaly, defined by Odin/Cambior between 1996 and 1998. The anomaly is open to the northeast and is flanked to the southwest by a stream sediment gold anomaly.

La Canela and Tres Picachos (8,015 hectares)

La Canela (3,187 hectares) and Tres Picachos (4,828 hectares) straddle the same Jurassic aged volcanic and plutonic rocks present at Fruta del Norte and its district. Stream sediment sampling by Odin/Cambior between 1996-1998 defined several zones of gold anomalism in each concession, mostly within Misahualli volcanic rocks.

Tarqui and Quimi (7,548 hectares)

Tarqui & Tarqui 2 (4,817 hectares) and Quimi & Quimi 2 (2,731 hectares) license areas cover mid Jurassic granodiorites of the Zamora Batholith, as well as dioritic dikes and breccia zones located between the Mirador copper-gold-silver mine (presently under construction) and the Panantza-San Carlos porphyry copper deposits. Quimi is eight kilometers to the northwest of the Mirador mine development site and five kilometers north of the Mirador Norte copper-gold deposit. Geochemical sampling by Billiton in the early 1990's defined kilometer-scale zones of copper-gold soil anomalism that will form the focus of Lumina's detailed follow-up exploration in 2017.

Orquideas (4,743 hectares)

The Orquideas license contains a copper-molybdenum geochemical anomaly, approximately three kilometers long and 1.3 kilometers wide, orientated northwest by southeast, as defined by soils, stream sediments and rock samples taken between 1996 and 1998 (Odin/Cambior). Localized gold anomalism has been detected on the periphery of this zone, whereas silver is consistently anomalous from recently acquired potassic and phyllic altered rock samples (0.14-1.93 ppm silver). A major north-south fault, recently identified, is located outboard of the copper-molybdenum anomaly, in which copper sulphide and oxide mineralization assayed up to 0.25% copper.

Yawi (1,494 hectares)

The Yawi concession lies within the Zamora Batholith, overlying the Hollin and Napo formations and is prospective for high grade gold-silver and base metal veins. Odin previously held this concession and defined a silica-pyrite altered intrusion that assayed over 6 ppm gold, 213 ppm silver, 0.13% lead, 0.29% zinc and >10,000 ppm arsenic.

Escondida (1,204 hectares)

The Escondida concession fills a gap inside the Condor concession blocks. Mineralized subvolcanic breccias and proximal skarn depict an unexplored volcanic center similar to the Los Cuyes diatreme system present at Lumina's Condor project five kilometers to the east.

Santa Elena (628 hectares)

Santa Elena is located along strike with the regionally significant Las Penas Fault Zone, which forms the principal structural control for the Fruta del Norte epithermal gold-silver deposit. Similar cover rocks, particularly the Misahualli Formation, as well as an elaborate and local gold mineralized fault zone have also been detected. TVX defined a greater than one kilometer long gold anomaly in 1998, the scale and tenor of which has been confirmed by first quarter 2017 field work with pan concentrate sampling. Concentrates, derived from stream sediments and fault rocks, reveal up to 120 coarse, angular gold particles per pan.

About Lumina Gold

Lumina Gold Corp (TSX VENTURE: LUM) is a Vancouver, Canada based precious and base metals exploration and development company focused on gold and copper projects in Ecuador. The Company's Cangrejos Gold-Copper project is located in El Oro Province, southwest Ecuador, and its Condor Gold-Copper project is located in Zamora-Chinchipe Province, southeast Ecuador. The Company also holds a large and highly prospective land package in Ecuador consisting of 134,573 hectares. The Company has an experienced management team with a successful track record of advancing and monetizing exploration projects. Lumina intends to continue to identify, acquire and advance mineral exploration properties that have large scale potential.

Further details are available on the Company's website at https://luminagold.com/.

LUMINA GOLD CORP.

Signed: "Marshall Koval"

Marshall Koval, President & CEO, Director

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements and information herein, including all statements that are not historical facts, contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements or information include but are not limited to statements or information with respect to conducting extensive geological mapping, soil and stream sediment sampling on the concessions. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements or information can be identified by the use of words such as "will" or variations of that word and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" or are "intended to" be taken, occur or be achieved.

With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, the Company has made numerous assumptions including among other things, assumptions about general business and economic conditions, the prices of gold and copper, and anticipated costs and expenditures. The foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive.

Although management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement or information herein will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. These factors include, but are not limited to: risks associated with the business of the Company; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; the supply and demand for labour and other project inputs; changes in commodity prices; changes in interest and currency exchange rates; risks relating to inaccurate geological and engineering assumptions (including with respect to the tonnage, grade and recoverability of reserves and resources); risks relating to unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters); risks relating to adverse weather conditions; political risk and social unrest; changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time in the Company's continuous disclosure documents filed with Canadian securities administrators. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/4/19/11G136341/Images/G136341_image-e7051baa6bd7892aabbf51e814e381b2.jpg


Christin Mathew Philip By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Common man has always been the first casualty of the red beacon culture. Traffic is often held up in the city during peak hours for the passage of VIP vehicles sporting the symbol of privilege.



Sources in the traffic police say an increasing number of VIPs, including politicians and celebrities insist on signal clearance to evade the citys notorious traffic. Signal lights are switched off and traffic is stopped during VIP movements.



When we stop traffic for a few minutes for a VIPs convoy, its connecting roads also get affected, says a traffic police officer.



M N Venugopal, president, State Government Drivers Association, who fought against the illegal use of beacons said, Nowhere in the world are there these types of VIP privileges. Some of these VIPs may use amber lights after May 1 as they cannot live without it.



Commuters said vehicles with beacons are common in the city. We can spot a beacon or special number plate vehicle every 15 minutes. But nobody knows how many of them are eligible for it. Most of them are using them to skip police checks said Arun Kumar, a regular commuter on Seshadri Road.



A senior bureaucrat said: Beacon lights are needed during official duties. For instance, a minister or a senior government official will have to attend several programmes or conduct inspections at different places on the same day. He admitted that the misuse of beacons and number plates should be stopped.

Traffic police officers say hefty fines will reduce the illegal use of beacons.



Public can complain against vehicles which use beacons, with the registration number and photo of the vehicle, said a traffic police officer.

BENGALURU: Common man has always been the first casualty of the red beacon culture. Traffic is often held up in the city during peak hours for the passage of VIP vehicles sporting the symbol of privilege. Sources in the traffic police say an increasing number of VIPs, including politicians and celebrities insist on signal clearance to evade the citys notorious traffic. Signal lights are switched off and traffic is stopped during VIP movements. When we stop traffic for a few minutes for a VIPs convoy, its connecting roads also get affected, says a traffic police officer. M N Venugopal, president, State Government Drivers Association, who fought against the illegal use of beacons said, Nowhere in the world are there these types of VIP privileges. Some of these VIPs may use amber lights after May 1 as they cannot live without it. Commuters said vehicles with beacons are common in the city. We can spot a beacon or special number plate vehicle every 15 minutes. But nobody knows how many of them are eligible for it. Most of them are using them to skip police checks said Arun Kumar, a regular commuter on Seshadri Road. A senior bureaucrat said: Beacon lights are needed during official duties. For instance, a minister or a senior government official will have to attend several programmes or conduct inspections at different places on the same day. He admitted that the misuse of beacons and number plates should be stopped. Traffic police officers say hefty fines will reduce the illegal use of beacons. Public can complain against vehicles which use beacons, with the registration number and photo of the vehicle, said a traffic police officer.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Expressing that a powerful Dalit movement would be led from South India and would then spread across the country in the coming days, Jignesh Mevani, the man behind the historical Dalit Asmita Yatra, said, India was never as casteist as it has become under the Narendra Modi regime.

I am very thrilled about leading a movement in South India. Mevani, who had mobilised Dalits in Gujarat through the slogan Your Mother, You Bury Her, and is going to undertake a padayatra in Kerala from April 29, was in Hyderabad on Wednesday to garner support for his movement from the platform of Lamakaan.



After the padayatra in Kerala, I will host a national conference in South India to strengthen the movement. I see a lot of possibility for it in this part of the country. I have plans to travel through the length and breadth of the five states in South India to seek peoples support, he said.



The Dalit activist also wants to use social media to get in touch with people to strengthen his movement. Not only Hyderabad, but the entire nation will find Rohith Vemula again through us, through our movement and a new morning will come, he asserted.

When asked to comment on reservations for Dalits in employment, he said, In year 2013, over 1,51,841 jobs were created in the country.

At present the figures have come down to 16,000. Be it for Dalits or other castes, my demand is only that more employment generation should take place in the country and nothing should stop that from happening.



He went on to underline the achievement of Chalo Una movement and Chalo Udupi and said that he now looks forward to Chalo Trivandrum.



We made path-breaking achievements through the success of Una movement. It led thousands of Dalits in Gujarat many to give up handling cow carcasses. Our demand for land also received response and my Dalit brothers were allotted 300 acres of land, he said.

HYDERABAD: Expressing that a powerful Dalit movement would be led from South India and would then spread across the country in the coming days, Jignesh Mevani, the man behind the historical Dalit Asmita Yatra, said, India was never as casteist as it has become under the Narendra Modi regime. I am very thrilled about leading a movement in South India. Mevani, who had mobilised Dalits in Gujarat through the slogan Your Mother, You Bury Her, and is going to undertake a padayatra in Kerala from April 29, was in Hyderabad on Wednesday to garner support for his movement from the platform of Lamakaan. After the padayatra in Kerala, I will host a national conference in South India to strengthen the movement. I see a lot of possibility for it in this part of the country. I have plans to travel through the length and breadth of the five states in South India to seek peoples support, he said. The Dalit activist also wants to use social media to get in touch with people to strengthen his movement. Not only Hyderabad, but the entire nation will find Rohith Vemula again through us, through our movement and a new morning will come, he asserted. When asked to comment on reservations for Dalits in employment, he said, In year 2013, over 1,51,841 jobs were created in the country. At present the figures have come down to 16,000. Be it for Dalits or other castes, my demand is only that more employment generation should take place in the country and nothing should stop that from happening. He went on to underline the achievement of Chalo Una movement and Chalo Udupi and said that he now looks forward to Chalo Trivandrum. We made path-breaking achievements through the success of Una movement. It led thousands of Dalits in Gujarat many to give up handling cow carcasses. Our demand for land also received response and my Dalit brothers were allotted 300 acres of land, he said.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: A plan to attend college wearing the traditional Kerala attire of dhoti and shirt has cost the final year students of mechanical engineering stream at a self-financing college in Ernakulam district dear.



The incident took place at Holy Kings College of Engineering & Technology, Pambakuda, on Wednesday when the college management barred all the 66 boys who wore the attire from writing an internal exam, besides giving them zero marks for the paper.



As per the college rules, students are free to come to college wearing their preferred dresses on Wednesdays. This was the first time the students decided to attend class in the traditional Kerala dhoti as it was the last Wednesday before the four-year course came to an end.



When has the traditional Kerala attire become unacceptable in our colleges? The college manual, as far as we know, has not banned anyone from wearing dhoti, said Harikrishnan S, one of the students who faced the managements wrath. We wore the dhoti only because this was the last Wedneday, he said.



KSU has taken up the issue with its district vice-president Bhagyanadh Nair issuing a statement condemning the managements decision. He asked the college to conduct a retest, besides allowing students to attend classes in traditional dress once in a week.



Jori Mathai, executive director of the college, could not be reached for comments as his phone was switched off. Mathai is also a former syndicate member of MG University.

KOCHI: A plan to attend college wearing the traditional Kerala attire of dhoti and shirt has cost the final year students of mechanical engineering stream at a self-financing college in Ernakulam district dear. The incident took place at Holy Kings College of Engineering & Technology, Pambakuda, on Wednesday when the college management barred all the 66 boys who wore the attire from writing an internal exam, besides giving them zero marks for the paper. As per the college rules, students are free to come to college wearing their preferred dresses on Wednesdays. This was the first time the students decided to attend class in the traditional Kerala dhoti as it was the last Wednesday before the four-year course came to an end. When has the traditional Kerala attire become unacceptable in our colleges? The college manual, as far as we know, has not banned anyone from wearing dhoti, said Harikrishnan S, one of the students who faced the managements wrath. We wore the dhoti only because this was the last Wedneday, he said. KSU has taken up the issue with its district vice-president Bhagyanadh Nair issuing a statement condemning the managements decision. He asked the college to conduct a retest, besides allowing students to attend classes in traditional dress once in a week. Jori Mathai, executive director of the college, could not be reached for comments as his phone was switched off. Mathai is also a former syndicate member of MG University.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: The officials of Society for Prevention of Cruelty against Animals (SPCA) and the Wildlife Control on Wednesday arrested a 40-year-old woman for selling Pakistans national bird-- Chukar partridge. Sumi, residing at Nedumbassery, was caught by the team while selling the birds from her home.

It was through an undercover operation-- the team posed as potential buyers-- the woman was nabbed. According to the officials, Sumi had brought the eggs of the bird from the Himalayan region and hatched them with the help of an incubator set up at her residence.

A total of 15 birds were up for sale at her residence and it would fetch around `15,000 in the black market, said T M Sajith, SPCA Inspector, who was part of the team.

Besides, the team seized the eggs of Chukar patridge from the incubator. As per the statement given by the woman the birds were handed over by a Thiruvananthapuram resident. We have also started a probe into this, he said.

Meanwhile, the officers revealed steps have been taken to dispatch the eggs to the Himalayan region as they can only survive in the rarified, icy cold atmosphere.

Before that the eggs will be examined by the experts at the Thattekad bird sanctuary, the officer said. The team also included Wildlife Control Bureau Inspector Mathivan, officer V S Sajeesh and SPCA Assistant K B Iqbal.

KOCHI: The officials of Society for Prevention of Cruelty against Animals (SPCA) and the Wildlife Control on Wednesday arrested a 40-year-old woman for selling Pakistans national bird-- Chukar partridge. Sumi, residing at Nedumbassery, was caught by the team while selling the birds from her home. It was through an undercover operation-- the team posed as potential buyers-- the woman was nabbed. According to the officials, Sumi had brought the eggs of the bird from the Himalayan region and hatched them with the help of an incubator set up at her residence. A total of 15 birds were up for sale at her residence and it would fetch around `15,000 in the black market, said T M Sajith, SPCA Inspector, who was part of the team. Besides, the team seized the eggs of Chukar patridge from the incubator. As per the statement given by the woman the birds were handed over by a Thiruvananthapuram resident. We have also started a probe into this, he said. Meanwhile, the officers revealed steps have been taken to dispatch the eggs to the Himalayan region as they can only survive in the rarified, icy cold atmosphere. Before that the eggs will be examined by the experts at the Thattekad bird sanctuary, the officer said. The team also included Wildlife Control Bureau Inspector Mathivan, officer V S Sajeesh and SPCA Assistant K B Iqbal.
Anagha Unni By

Express News Service

An online startup that helps people find domestic help has decided to enforce a blanket ban on all Bollywood celebrities accessing its service after finding that their treatment of servants has been nothing less than horrendous.

BookMyBai app co-founder Anupam Sinhal, in a lengthy blog post, said that over 20 Bollywood celebrities mistreated the domestic help they hired via the startup. He wrote about five specific cases in which workers sent to help celebrities in Mumbai were treated horrendously.

The startup, which calls itself India's largest online aggregator of maid bureaus, claims to have provided domestic help to over 10000 households in Mumbai since its inception in 2015.

Fortunately, out of the 10000 households that we have served, we have not come across even a single case of harassment/exploitation. But this figure comes to a rest when it comes to providing a domestic help to a Bollywood celebrity, Sinhal wrote in the blog.

Incidentally, the domestic helpdriver Ram Singh or the cook Ramu kaka or the all-time favourite Kantabaian integral part of the screen household, is one of Bollywoods biggest cliches. They appear out of the kitchen when summoned, with reverence for the master writ on their faces, as symbols of emblematic feudalism.

Sinhal said one Bollywood actress did not allow her domestic help to travel to Bihar to perform his mother's last rites. She reportedly wanted a replacement before allowing him to leave. "I have no words to the extent of disgust I now have for this lady," he wrote.

Another celebrity, who Sinhal claims owns a 3 crore car, refused to give food to her domestic help and gave them only tea and bread three times a day. This celebritys harassment of maids was so high that the startup had to replace maids seven times, he alleged. The company refunded the full amount after the actress threatened to send in a few bouncers to the office to fix them.

Another Bollywood personality allegedly abused the domestic help physically. The company wanted the woman to file a complaint with the police but she refused. "She didn't have the time to run to the police station every time the police called her. Every time she would be summoned she would have to miss work and not get paid. We understand her concern," Sinhal wrote. "Without her support the police refused to take a complaint and we couldn't file a case against the employer."

In another case, a maid was verbally and physically abused and she fled to her village, vowing never to come back to any city, he wrote.

One celeb refused to pay BookMyBai's service charge of Rs 15,000. "Initially when we called her for our payment, she stopped taking our calls. Later she flat-out refused to pay and said, "jo karna hai karlo!"

Sinhal warned fellow startups to beware of the insolence shown by the celebrities and goes on to warn them: This is also to put in a word of caution to other buddy-startups who might fall into the trap and end up losing precious revenue.

I also hope the legal system of this country improves for the better so that these ladies who work as a domestic help feel empowered and do not feel scared to report a case of abuse, he added.

An online startup that helps people find domestic help has decided to enforce a blanket ban on all Bollywood celebrities accessing its service after finding that their treatment of servants has been nothing less than horrendous. BookMyBai app co-founder Anupam Sinhal, in a lengthy blog post, said that over 20 Bollywood celebrities mistreated the domestic help they hired via the startup. He wrote about five specific cases in which workers sent to help celebrities in Mumbai were treated horrendously. The startup, which calls itself India's largest online aggregator of maid bureaus, claims to have provided domestic help to over 10000 households in Mumbai since its inception in 2015. Fortunately, out of the 10000 households that we have served, we have not come across even a single case of harassment/exploitation. But this figure comes to a rest when it comes to providing a domestic help to a Bollywood celebrity, Sinhal wrote in the blog. Incidentally, the domestic helpdriver Ram Singh or the cook Ramu kaka or the all-time favourite Kantabaian integral part of the screen household, is one of Bollywoods biggest cliches. They appear out of the kitchen when summoned, with reverence for the master writ on their faces, as symbols of emblematic feudalism. Sinhal said one Bollywood actress did not allow her domestic help to travel to Bihar to perform his mother's last rites. She reportedly wanted a replacement before allowing him to leave. "I have no words to the extent of disgust I now have for this lady," he wrote. Another celebrity, who Sinhal claims owns a 3 crore car, refused to give food to her domestic help and gave them only tea and bread three times a day. This celebritys harassment of maids was so high that the startup had to replace maids seven times, he alleged. The company refunded the full amount after the actress threatened to send in a few bouncers to the office to fix them. Another Bollywood personality allegedly abused the domestic help physically. The company wanted the woman to file a complaint with the police but she refused. "She didn't have the time to run to the police station every time the police called her. Every time she would be summoned she would have to miss work and not get paid. We understand her concern," Sinhal wrote. "Without her support the police refused to take a complaint and we couldn't file a case against the employer." In another case, a maid was verbally and physically abused and she fled to her village, vowing never to come back to any city, he wrote. One celeb refused to pay BookMyBai's service charge of Rs 15,000. "Initially when we called her for our payment, she stopped taking our calls. Later she flat-out refused to pay and said, "jo karna hai karlo!" Sinhal warned fellow startups to beware of the insolence shown by the celebrities and goes on to warn them: This is also to put in a word of caution to other buddy-startups who might fall into the trap and end up losing precious revenue. I also hope the legal system of this country improves for the better so that these ladies who work as a domestic help feel empowered and do not feel scared to report a case of abuse, he added.
By BNS

Rishi Kapoor and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who are now acting together in the upcoming Manto, had rocky beginnings. A few years ago, a comment made by Nawazuddin in an interview about romantic heroes led to a misunderstanding, with Rishi Kapoor questioning what Nawazuddin knows about the difficulties of playing a romantic hero. It is difficult to sing songs and romance the heroine. You havent done it in your life; neither will you get a chance to do it. You arent capable of doing it either. You dont have the image; you dont have the talent, Rishi had said in an outburst.

Nawazuddin, however, clarified that it was never truly his intention to hurt the senior actor. If he feels I am an average actor, it is a compliment. I am below average, actually. He is extremely talented, Nawazuddin had responded. Rishi then made peace when he said that he had been misquoted.

It appears now though that those things are in the past, as they are working together in Nandita Das Manto, an upcoming biopic on the Indo-Pakistani writer, Saadat Hasan Manto. After shooting with Rishi, Nawazuddin thanked him on Twitter: It was indeed a pleasure sharing the screen with him. What an amazing energy you possess even now. Rishi Kapoor, too, was cordial in response. Thank you Nawaz! We will have fun working together in the future.

Rishi Kapoor and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who are now acting together in the upcoming Manto, had rocky beginnings. A few years ago, a comment made by Nawazuddin in an interview about romantic heroes led to a misunderstanding, with Rishi Kapoor questioning what Nawazuddin knows about the difficulties of playing a romantic hero. It is difficult to sing songs and romance the heroine. You havent done it in your life; neither will you get a chance to do it. You arent capable of doing it either. You dont have the image; you dont have the talent, Rishi had said in an outburst. Nawazuddin, however, clarified that it was never truly his intention to hurt the senior actor. If he feels I am an average actor, it is a compliment. I am below average, actually. He is extremely talented, Nawazuddin had responded. Rishi then made peace when he said that he had been misquoted. It appears now though that those things are in the past, as they are working together in Nandita Das Manto, an upcoming biopic on the Indo-Pakistani writer, Saadat Hasan Manto. After shooting with Rishi, Nawazuddin thanked him on Twitter: It was indeed a pleasure sharing the screen with him. What an amazing energy you possess even now. Rishi Kapoor, too, was cordial in response. Thank you Nawaz! We will have fun working together in the future.
By Express News Service

LUCKNOW: In a massive anti-terror operation led by Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) and the Delhi Police Special Cell across five states on Thursday, five persons were arrested and for their suspected involvement in a terror outfit operating within the country.



During joint anti-terror raids conducted in coordination with police of Maharashtra, Punjab, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, a total of five persons--two from Bijnor (UP), one each from Mumbai and Jalandhar (Punjab) and one from Belwa (Bihar)-- were held on charges of hatching terror conspiracy.



In all, nine persons have been taken into custody from across the country for interrogation, said additional director general of police (Law & Order) Daljeet Chaudhary while interacting with media persons here on Thursday.



He added that the UP ATS had began the five-day operation on the basis of a tip-off that a terror group was active and recruiting new members in western UP, Bihar, Punjab, and Maharashtra.



Muhammad Fauzan and Muhammad Tanveer were arrested by the squad from Barhapur locality in Bijnor on their way to the mosque for morning prayers around 5 am on Thursday. Bijnor senior superintendent Dharamvir Singh said the local police were in loop and had the information about ATS operation.



Twenty six-year-old Najeem Samsad Ahmed from Mumbra in Thane district of Maharashtra was arrested on Wednesday night. A senior Maharashtra ATS officer confirmed the arrest and told the New Indian Express that the team had been keeping track of Ahmed with the help of cyber experts for over a fortnight.



A resident of Devripada of Mumbra, Ahmed is believed to have been close contact with the other two suspects arrested from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. They were planning to carry out attacks in the country and were recruiting youths from across the country through the internet, the official said.



The police have detained two others from Maharashtra, said sources.

Twenty one-year-old Gazi Babba alias Muzalim was arrested from Sant Nagar in Jalandhar in the wee hours of Thursday. Muzalim, originally from Unnad in UP and a tailor by profession had moved to the city three years ago in search of a job.



When contacted, Jalandhar commissioner Parveen Sinha confirmed the arrest and said that the UP ATS team would take him back to UP after obtaining his transit remand. He is suspected to have been involved in enrolling members for the terror group and preparing them for terror attacks.



Bihars Ehtesamul Haq, 27, who had returned from Oman a year back, was arrested from his home in Belwa village. Haq, the son of Madrasa teacher named Mohammad Alauddin, was interrogated by a team of the district police, UP ATS and Special Cell of Delhi at Sathi police station. A tablet and other electronic gadgets were recovered from his possession, said West Champaran superintendent Vinay Kumar. Haq was taken on remand by the ATS team to Lucknow, said police sources.

Denying links of those arrested with any established terror group operating from outside India or Ujjain train blast suspect Mohammad Saifullah, who was killed in an operation in old city area of Lucknow recently, Chaudhary said those held on Thursday were self-inspired, self-taught and self-radicalised group of youngsters who were influenced by the terror-related jihadi literature available on internet.



The youths, he said, were contemplating to spread terror by carrying out major strikes at different places across the country to earn an identity for their group.



They appear to be misguided youth and efforts are being taken to bring them back to the mainstream. However, necessary action would be taken against them on the basis of evidence gathered during the course of interrogation, the ADG averred.



(with inputs from Namitha Bajpai, Abhijith Mulye, Harpreet Bajwa, Anand S T Das)

LUCKNOW: In a massive anti-terror operation led by Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) and the Delhi Police Special Cell across five states on Thursday, five persons were arrested and for their suspected involvement in a terror outfit operating within the country. During joint anti-terror raids conducted in coordination with police of Maharashtra, Punjab, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, a total of five persons--two from Bijnor (UP), one each from Mumbai and Jalandhar (Punjab) and one from Belwa (Bihar)-- were held on charges of hatching terror conspiracy. In all, nine persons have been taken into custody from across the country for interrogation, said additional director general of police (Law & Order) Daljeet Chaudhary while interacting with media persons here on Thursday. He added that the UP ATS had began the five-day operation on the basis of a tip-off that a terror group was active and recruiting new members in western UP, Bihar, Punjab, and Maharashtra. Muhammad Fauzan and Muhammad Tanveer were arrested by the squad from Barhapur locality in Bijnor on their way to the mosque for morning prayers around 5 am on Thursday. Bijnor senior superintendent Dharamvir Singh said the local police were in loop and had the information about ATS operation. Twenty six-year-old Najeem Samsad Ahmed from Mumbra in Thane district of Maharashtra was arrested on Wednesday night. A senior Maharashtra ATS officer confirmed the arrest and told the New Indian Express that the team had been keeping track of Ahmed with the help of cyber experts for over a fortnight. A resident of Devripada of Mumbra, Ahmed is believed to have been close contact with the other two suspects arrested from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. They were planning to carry out attacks in the country and were recruiting youths from across the country through the internet, the official said. The police have detained two others from Maharashtra, said sources. Twenty one-year-old Gazi Babba alias Muzalim was arrested from Sant Nagar in Jalandhar in the wee hours of Thursday. Muzalim, originally from Unnad in UP and a tailor by profession had moved to the city three years ago in search of a job. When contacted, Jalandhar commissioner Parveen Sinha confirmed the arrest and said that the UP ATS team would take him back to UP after obtaining his transit remand. He is suspected to have been involved in enrolling members for the terror group and preparing them for terror attacks. Bihars Ehtesamul Haq, 27, who had returned from Oman a year back, was arrested from his home in Belwa village. Haq, the son of Madrasa teacher named Mohammad Alauddin, was interrogated by a team of the district police, UP ATS and Special Cell of Delhi at Sathi police station. A tablet and other electronic gadgets were recovered from his possession, said West Champaran superintendent Vinay Kumar. Haq was taken on remand by the ATS team to Lucknow, said police sources. Denying links of those arrested with any established terror group operating from outside India or Ujjain train blast suspect Mohammad Saifullah, who was killed in an operation in old city area of Lucknow recently, Chaudhary said those held on Thursday were self-inspired, self-taught and self-radicalised group of youngsters who were influenced by the terror-related jihadi literature available on internet. The youths, he said, were contemplating to spread terror by carrying out major strikes at different places across the country to earn an identity for their group. They appear to be misguided youth and efforts are being taken to bring them back to the mainstream. However, necessary action would be taken against them on the basis of evidence gathered during the course of interrogation, the ADG averred. (with inputs from Namitha Bajpai, Abhijith Mulye, Harpreet Bajwa, Anand S T Das)
By PTI

JAIPUR: Six Kashmiri students studying at Mewar University in Rajasthan's Chhittorgarh district were allegedly thrashed by a group of unidentified locals, police said today.

The reason for the assault was not clear immediately. The students received minor injuries in the attack, police said.

"The incident happened on Wednesday evening when the students were in the market to purchase household items. Four-five unidentified persons asked the students about their names and permanent address and thrashed them," SHO Gangrar Dinesh Kumar told PTI.

"We are investigating the reason behind the incident," he said. Gangrar police station has registered a case against the unidentified accused yesterday for voluntarily causing hurt and wrongful confinement. A search has been launched for the accused.

The victims were taken to a hospital from where they were discharged after primary treatment. Gangrar SHO said that there are nearly 500 Kashmiri students and 300 from Jammu studying at Mewar University.

Last year some Kashmiri students of Mewar University were attacked over rumours that they cooked beef in their hostel.

JAIPUR: Six Kashmiri students studying at Mewar University in Rajasthan's Chhittorgarh district were allegedly thrashed by a group of unidentified locals, police said today. The reason for the assault was not clear immediately. The students received minor injuries in the attack, police said. "The incident happened on Wednesday evening when the students were in the market to purchase household items. Four-five unidentified persons asked the students about their names and permanent address and thrashed them," SHO Gangrar Dinesh Kumar told PTI. "We are investigating the reason behind the incident," he said. Gangrar police station has registered a case against the unidentified accused yesterday for voluntarily causing hurt and wrongful confinement. A search has been launched for the accused. The victims were taken to a hospital from where they were discharged after primary treatment. Gangrar SHO said that there are nearly 500 Kashmiri students and 300 from Jammu studying at Mewar University. Last year some Kashmiri students of Mewar University were attacked over rumours that they cooked beef in their hostel.
By ANI

JABALPUR (MADHYAPRADESH): After the Centre today came up with the decision to end the VIP culture and banned the use of red beacon on vehicles belonging to dignitaries, including the central and state ministers, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan followed suit and announced that he also wouldn't use the red beacon on his car, assuring that other ministers would also follow the decision.

I am quitting the red beacon today onwards and other ministers will also quit the same, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.

The decision taken by the Union Cabinet will reportedly be implemented from May 1.

The ban applies to union ministers, chief ministers, state cabinet ministers, bureaucrats and judges of the High Court and Supreme Court. Five categories would be allowed to use the red beacon- President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India and the Lok Sabha Speaker.

It was reported last week that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had called a meeting to discuss whether the red beacon should be discarded or restricted to certain dignitaries.

JABALPUR (MADHYAPRADESH): After the Centre today came up with the decision to end the VIP culture and banned the use of red beacon on vehicles belonging to dignitaries, including the central and state ministers, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan followed suit and announced that he also wouldn't use the red beacon on his car, assuring that other ministers would also follow the decision. I am quitting the red beacon today onwards and other ministers will also quit the same, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said. The decision taken by the Union Cabinet will reportedly be implemented from May 1. The ban applies to union ministers, chief ministers, state cabinet ministers, bureaucrats and judges of the High Court and Supreme Court. Five categories would be allowed to use the red beacon- President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India and the Lok Sabha Speaker. It was reported last week that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had called a meeting to discuss whether the red beacon should be discarded or restricted to certain dignitaries.
By PTI

LUCKNOW: A Muslim women's body has said that the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) should not act like a kangaroo court and has no right to impose its decisions on issues like 'triple talaq'.

The comments by All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) President Shaista Amber came as the Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government initiated the process of eliciting the views of Muslim women on the 'triple talaq' mode of divorce.

"The AIMPLB should not act like khap panchayat (kangaroo court). They have no right to force their decisions or recommendations on anyone. It is the decision of the court and Parliament, which is finally accepted," Amber said today. Moreover, in the name of defending the law, three months counselling period mentioned in the Sharia (Islamic law) cannot be overlooked, she added.

Amber, had yesterday attended a meeting called by Uttar Pradesh Women and Family Welfare minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi to elicit the views of Muslim women on the issue of triple talaq. The state government intends to place these views before the Supreme Court.

"The Constitution has given the right to equality to all...triple talaq is most unfortunate for Muslim women and the UP government, on the basis of their (Muslim women) opinion, will place its view before the Supreme Court," Baghuguna said. Bahuguna said that equality in education, security as well as social equality are not just the but also a necessity for every woman.

She said there are several Muslim countries where triple talaq has been done away with adding that the Supreme Court was deliberating on the issue and the UP government will place its views before the apex court based on the opinion of Muslim women.

Those who participated in the meeting called by Bahuguna are learnt to have opined that the option of social boycott of those indulging in triple talaq in an arbitrary manner, as recommended by the AIMPLB, will not help in discouraging the practice.

The AIMPLB had earlier adopted a resolution saying that those who give talaq without Sharia reasons will face social boycott. It had asserted that Muslims have a "constitutional" right to follow their personal law including the triple talaq mode of divorce.

LUCKNOW: A Muslim women's body has said that the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) should not act like a kangaroo court and has no right to impose its decisions on issues like 'triple talaq'. The comments by All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) President Shaista Amber came as the Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government initiated the process of eliciting the views of Muslim women on the 'triple talaq' mode of divorce. "The AIMPLB should not act like khap panchayat (kangaroo court). They have no right to force their decisions or recommendations on anyone. It is the decision of the court and Parliament, which is finally accepted," Amber said today. Moreover, in the name of defending the law, three months counselling period mentioned in the Sharia (Islamic law) cannot be overlooked, she added. Amber, had yesterday attended a meeting called by Uttar Pradesh Women and Family Welfare minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi to elicit the views of Muslim women on the issue of triple talaq. The state government intends to place these views before the Supreme Court. "The Constitution has given the right to equality to all...triple talaq is most unfortunate for Muslim women and the UP government, on the basis of their (Muslim women) opinion, will place its view before the Supreme Court," Baghuguna said. Bahuguna said that equality in education, security as well as social equality are not just the but also a necessity for every woman. She said there are several Muslim countries where triple talaq has been done away with adding that the Supreme Court was deliberating on the issue and the UP government will place its views before the apex court based on the opinion of Muslim women. Those who participated in the meeting called by Bahuguna are learnt to have opined that the option of social boycott of those indulging in triple talaq in an arbitrary manner, as recommended by the AIMPLB, will not help in discouraging the practice. The AIMPLB had earlier adopted a resolution saying that those who give talaq without Sharia reasons will face social boycott. It had asserted that Muslims have a "constitutional" right to follow their personal law including the triple talaq mode of divorce.
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here on Thursday issued a non-bailable warrant against controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik. The agency wants him for his alleged role in a terror case.

Last week the Enforcement Directorate had secured a non-bailable warrant against Naik in a money laundering case from the PMLA court.

NIA had registered a case against Naik under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act last year. The agency told the court that Naik didnt appear before it even after three summons were issued and it would need Interpols help to bring him back to India.

Issue NBW against Naik, said Special Judge V V Patil.

Naik, who is believed to be in United Arab Emirates, had left India last year after perpetrators of Dhaka terror attack said that they were inspired by Naiks speeches. The NIA had then registered a case against him and office bearers of his Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) for promoting enmity between groups of society.

MUMBAI: The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here on Thursday issued a non-bailable warrant against controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik. The agency wants him for his alleged role in a terror case. Last week the Enforcement Directorate had secured a non-bailable warrant against Naik in a money laundering case from the PMLA court. NIA had registered a case against Naik under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act last year. The agency told the court that Naik didnt appear before it even after three summons were issued and it would need Interpols help to bring him back to India. Issue NBW against Naik, said Special Judge V V Patil. Naik, who is believed to be in United Arab Emirates, had left India last year after perpetrators of Dhaka terror attack said that they were inspired by Naiks speeches. The NIA had then registered a case against him and office bearers of his Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) for promoting enmity between groups of society.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Ranil Wickermesinghe will be travelling to India on a visit from April 25 during which he will be finalizing details regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to the island nation next month.

During his visit Prime Minister Wickeremesinghe will be meeting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh and Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari.

This will be Prime Minister Modis second visit to Sri Lanka since 2014. Earlier in 2015, he had inaugurated the reconstructed Northern Province Railway line that linked Jaffna with Colombo. It was first Prime Ministerial visit to Jaffna. The rail line is one of the few developmental projects undertaken by the Indian government in post-conflict Sri Lanka, where China has made deeper inroads.

Contract for construction of Trincomalee port and conclusion of Free Trade Agreement are some of the bilateral agreements that have been hanging fire for long and some forward movement is expected during Prime Minister Modis visit.

The Indian Government has been undertaking large number of development projects in Sri Lanka for rehabilitation and resettlement of conflict-affected and internally displaced people in Tamil-majority Northern and Eastern provinces. Indias total development aid is more than USD 2.6 billion. As per the Government of Sri Lankas statistics, more than 880,000 Internally Displaced People have been resettled in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, as of end-August 2016, with around 43,600 people left to be resettled.

The flagship project is the US$ 270 million Indian Housing Project for constructing 46,000 houses in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka, which are nearing completion, and 4000 houses in the Central and Uva Provinces.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Ranil Wickermesinghe will be travelling to India on a visit from April 25 during which he will be finalizing details regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to the island nation next month. During his visit Prime Minister Wickeremesinghe will be meeting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh and Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari. This will be Prime Minister Modis second visit to Sri Lanka since 2014. Earlier in 2015, he had inaugurated the reconstructed Northern Province Railway line that linked Jaffna with Colombo. It was first Prime Ministerial visit to Jaffna. The rail line is one of the few developmental projects undertaken by the Indian government in post-conflict Sri Lanka, where China has made deeper inroads. Contract for construction of Trincomalee port and conclusion of Free Trade Agreement are some of the bilateral agreements that have been hanging fire for long and some forward movement is expected during Prime Minister Modis visit. The Indian Government has been undertaking large number of development projects in Sri Lanka for rehabilitation and resettlement of conflict-affected and internally displaced people in Tamil-majority Northern and Eastern provinces. Indias total development aid is more than USD 2.6 billion. As per the Government of Sri Lankas statistics, more than 880,000 Internally Displaced People have been resettled in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, as of end-August 2016, with around 43,600 people left to be resettled. The flagship project is the US$ 270 million Indian Housing Project for constructing 46,000 houses in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka, which are nearing completion, and 4000 houses in the Central and Uva Provinces.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here in connection with a money laundering case registered against him and others.

Singh arrived at the agency's office here in his official car, with a covered beacon, at about 12:00 noon.



Sporting his trademark 'Himachali topi', the CM did not interact with media persons on the spot and was seen raising his fist in the air and heard reciting some lines of a patriotic poem: "Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hain, dekhna hai zor kitna baju e qaatil mein hai."

The agency has summoned Singh in order to record his statement in this case and also to confront him with some documents it has seized and recovered in this case of disproportionate assets.

The CM, last week, had also sent a communication to the agency stating his reasons for not being able to appear before it all this while and had sought a new date from it, after which the new summons were issued for today.

The ED had yesterday refused to give any assurance in the Delhi High Court that it will not arrest Singh when he appears before it.

The submission was made before Justice R K Gauba by the ED during the hearing of Singh's plea for quashing of the money laundering proceedings against him.

The ED summons have come close on the heels of filing of a charge sheet by the CBI against Singh, his wife and others for allegedly amassing assets worth around Rs 10 crore disproportionate to their known sources of income.

The agency had summoned Singh earlier also, but then he had excused himself stating he had official commitments.

The ED has already questioned his wife Pratibha and son Vikramaditya in connection with the case.

It had filed a case under the anti-money laundering law against the Himachal Pradesh chief minister, his family members and others after taking cognisance of a complaint filed by the CBI in this regard in September 2015.

The agency is probing allegations against Singh and his family members of amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income between 2009 and 2011 when he was the Union Minister of Steel. It has also attached assets worth about Rs 14 crore in the case.

The CBI charge sheet alleged that Singh had amassed assets worth around Rs 10 crore which were disproportionate by 192 per cent of his total income during his tenure as a Union minister.

The final report was filed against nine persons for alleged offences punishable under section 109 (abetment) and 465 (punishment for forgery) of the IPC and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, arrayed around 225 witnesses and 442 documents.

Besides the 82-year-old Congress leader and his wife Pratibha Singh, the report also arraigned Chunni Lal Chauhan, Joginder Singh Ghalta, Prem Raj, Vakamulla Chandrasekhar, Lawan Kumar Roach and Ram Prakash Bhatia as accused.

It also named as accused LIC agent Anand Chauhan, who is currently in judicial custody.

Chauhan was arrested by the ED on July 9 last year in this money laundering case

NEW DELHI: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here in connection with a money laundering case registered against him and others. Singh arrived at the agency's office here in his official car, with a covered beacon, at about 12:00 noon. Sporting his trademark 'Himachali topi', the CM did not interact with media persons on the spot and was seen raising his fist in the air and heard reciting some lines of a patriotic poem: "Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hain, dekhna hai zor kitna baju e qaatil mein hai." The agency has summoned Singh in order to record his statement in this case and also to confront him with some documents it has seized and recovered in this case of disproportionate assets. The CM, last week, had also sent a communication to the agency stating his reasons for not being able to appear before it all this while and had sought a new date from it, after which the new summons were issued for today. The ED had yesterday refused to give any assurance in the Delhi High Court that it will not arrest Singh when he appears before it. The submission was made before Justice R K Gauba by the ED during the hearing of Singh's plea for quashing of the money laundering proceedings against him. The ED summons have come close on the heels of filing of a charge sheet by the CBI against Singh, his wife and others for allegedly amassing assets worth around Rs 10 crore disproportionate to their known sources of income. The agency had summoned Singh earlier also, but then he had excused himself stating he had official commitments. The ED has already questioned his wife Pratibha and son Vikramaditya in connection with the case. It had filed a case under the anti-money laundering law against the Himachal Pradesh chief minister, his family members and others after taking cognisance of a complaint filed by the CBI in this regard in September 2015. The agency is probing allegations against Singh and his family members of amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income between 2009 and 2011 when he was the Union Minister of Steel. It has also attached assets worth about Rs 14 crore in the case. The CBI charge sheet alleged that Singh had amassed assets worth around Rs 10 crore which were disproportionate by 192 per cent of his total income during his tenure as a Union minister. The final report was filed against nine persons for alleged offences punishable under section 109 (abetment) and 465 (punishment for forgery) of the IPC and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, arrayed around 225 witnesses and 442 documents. Besides the 82-year-old Congress leader and his wife Pratibha Singh, the report also arraigned Chunni Lal Chauhan, Joginder Singh Ghalta, Prem Raj, Vakamulla Chandrasekhar, Lawan Kumar Roach and Ram Prakash Bhatia as accused. It also named as accused LIC agent Anand Chauhan, who is currently in judicial custody. Chauhan was arrested by the ED on July 9 last year in this money laundering case
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickermesinghe will be visiting India from April 25 during which he will be finalising details regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to his country next month.

During his visit, Wickeremesinghe will meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh and Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari.

This will be Prime Minister Modis second visit to Sri Lanka since 2014. In 2015, he had inaugurated the reconstructed Northern Province Railway line that linked Jaffna with Colombo.

That was the first prime ministerial visit to Jaffna. The rail line is one of the few developmental projects undertaken by the Indian government in post-conflict Sri Lanka, where China has made deeper inroads.

The contract for construction of the Trincomalee port and conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement are some of the bilateral agreements that have been hanging fire for long and some forward movement is expected during Modis visit.

The Indian government has been undertaking large number of development projects in Sri Lanka for rehabilitation and resettlement of conflict-affected and internally displaced people in Tamil-majority Northern and Eastern provinces. Indias total development aid is more than USD 2.6 billion.

NEW DELHI: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickermesinghe will be visiting India from April 25 during which he will be finalising details regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to his country next month. During his visit, Wickeremesinghe will meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh and Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari. This will be Prime Minister Modis second visit to Sri Lanka since 2014. In 2015, he had inaugurated the reconstructed Northern Province Railway line that linked Jaffna with Colombo. That was the first prime ministerial visit to Jaffna. The rail line is one of the few developmental projects undertaken by the Indian government in post-conflict Sri Lanka, where China has made deeper inroads. The contract for construction of the Trincomalee port and conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement are some of the bilateral agreements that have been hanging fire for long and some forward movement is expected during Modis visit. The Indian government has been undertaking large number of development projects in Sri Lanka for rehabilitation and resettlement of conflict-affected and internally displaced people in Tamil-majority Northern and Eastern provinces. Indias total development aid is more than USD 2.6 billion.
Ajay Kanth By

Express News Service

KOZHIKODE : The growing tentacles of the IS in Kerala are worrisome enough. Further, security agencies believe an intelligence unit known as Emni is active in the state.

The mission: Use the existing band of IS sympathisers to attract their relatives and friends to expand their base.

New strategy: Cadre remain back home and execute plans rather than head to the IS strongholds. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has put Kerala on the high priority alert list as the state has earned a dubious distinction of maximum arrests of IS suspects in the country.

The latest MHA report says, of a total of 75 arrests made, 21 were from Kerala. The other states featured are Telangana (16), Karnataka (9), Maharashtra (8), Madhya Pradesh (6), Uttarakhand (4), Tamil Nadu (4), Uttar Pradesh (3), Rajasthan (2) and Jammu & Kashmir and West Bengal (1 each).

According to a senior intelligence officer, following tough battles in Syria and Afghanistan, the IS has changed its approach in recruiting new cadre.

As per inputs, the IS now doesnt prefer new recruits reaching Syria or Afghanistan but wants cadre to remain back home to help execute its designs. Emni has been specifically assigned with this task, the officer told Express.

The MHA has been wary of the development after security agencies in countries like France and Britain issued alerts about the operational capabilities of Emni, a multilevel secret service planning attacks in different regions.

We had information on Emnis activities in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia. Ever since the IS conducted the successful recruitment of 21 Keralites, we have been on the watch. The formation of Junood-ul-Khilafa-Fil-Hind in South Indian states has taken place with the support of Emni, said a state intelligence officer.

He said there was a specific unit in Emni for Asian operations.

The IS doesnt want anybody to travel to Syria or Afghanistan because it is hard for them to re-enter their home country. Intelligence reports have specified the IS is following this strategy in all its hit list countries like the US, Germany, Britain and France, the officer said.

KOZHIKODE : The growing tentacles of the IS in Kerala are worrisome enough. Further, security agencies believe an intelligence unit known as Emni is active in the state. The mission: Use the existing band of IS sympathisers to attract their relatives and friends to expand their base. New strategy: Cadre remain back home and execute plans rather than head to the IS strongholds. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has put Kerala on the high priority alert list as the state has earned a dubious distinction of maximum arrests of IS suspects in the country. The latest MHA report says, of a total of 75 arrests made, 21 were from Kerala. The other states featured are Telangana (16), Karnataka (9), Maharashtra (8), Madhya Pradesh (6), Uttarakhand (4), Tamil Nadu (4), Uttar Pradesh (3), Rajasthan (2) and Jammu & Kashmir and West Bengal (1 each). According to a senior intelligence officer, following tough battles in Syria and Afghanistan, the IS has changed its approach in recruiting new cadre. As per inputs, the IS now doesnt prefer new recruits reaching Syria or Afghanistan but wants cadre to remain back home to help execute its designs. Emni has been specifically assigned with this task, the officer told Express. The MHA has been wary of the development after security agencies in countries like France and Britain issued alerts about the operational capabilities of Emni, a multilevel secret service planning attacks in different regions. We had information on Emnis activities in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia. Ever since the IS conducted the successful recruitment of 21 Keralites, we have been on the watch. The formation of Junood-ul-Khilafa-Fil-Hind in South Indian states has taken place with the support of Emni, said a state intelligence officer. He said there was a specific unit in Emni for Asian operations. The IS doesnt want anybody to travel to Syria or Afghanistan because it is hard for them to re-enter their home country. Intelligence reports have specified the IS is following this strategy in all its hit list countries like the US, Germany, Britain and France, the officer said.
By Express News Service

COIMBATORE: By now, we are accustomed to government records and processes being marred by errors and delays. Disbursement of drought relief is no different. The latest charges to crop up in this assignment is that the relief amount has not reached many farmers due to mistakes in their bank account details. In Coimbatore North taluk alone, the number of affected farmers stands at 763.

Sivakumar, Tahsildar of Coimbatore North taluk, states that it was when they were almost done with the relief distribution that they came to know that money sent to those 763 farmers had returned. Assuring that they are making great efforts to track down the accurate details of those farmers bank accounts, Sivakumar said that the fund would be transferred soon.

Members of Farmers Association (non-political) claim that the problem has cropped out across the district. According to them, less than 40 per cent of farmers in the district have received the relief money. They also accuse the Revenue department for lack of transparency in the process.

VS Kaliswami, state executive committee member of the association, said that while most farmers, including him, were awaiting the fund, they were not being provided with any details about the disbursement.

However, District Revenue Officer Durai Ravichandrans account does not agree with this version. Claiming that money for only 300 farmers in the district was returned due to inaccurate bank account details, he also maintained that relief distribution was nearly complete.

COIMBATORE: By now, we are accustomed to government records and processes being marred by errors and delays. Disbursement of drought relief is no different. The latest charges to crop up in this assignment is that the relief amount has not reached many farmers due to mistakes in their bank account details. In Coimbatore North taluk alone, the number of affected farmers stands at 763. Sivakumar, Tahsildar of Coimbatore North taluk, states that it was when they were almost done with the relief distribution that they came to know that money sent to those 763 farmers had returned. Assuring that they are making great efforts to track down the accurate details of those farmers bank accounts, Sivakumar said that the fund would be transferred soon. Members of Farmers Association (non-political) claim that the problem has cropped out across the district. According to them, less than 40 per cent of farmers in the district have received the relief money. They also accuse the Revenue department for lack of transparency in the process. VS Kaliswami, state executive committee member of the association, said that while most farmers, including him, were awaiting the fund, they were not being provided with any details about the disbursement. However, District Revenue Officer Durai Ravichandrans account does not agree with this version. Claiming that money for only 300 farmers in the district was returned due to inaccurate bank account details, he also maintained that relief distribution was nearly complete.
By AFP

ISLAMABAD: The global chemical arms watchdog Thursday "overwhelmingly" rejected a Russian-Iranian move to launch a new investigation into a suspected chemical attack in Syria, delegates said, backing the probe already underway.

"The #OPCW executive council has overwhelmingly rejected the Russian and Iranian decision," the British delegation to the watchdog said in a Tweet.

A draft decision put forward by Moscow and Tehran -- and obtained by AFP -- had called for a new investigation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) "to establish whether chemical weapons were used in Khan Sheikhun and how they were delivered to the site of the reported incident".

But it ignored that the body, based in The Hague, is already investigating the April 4 attack on the rebel-held town in Idlib province which left 87 dead, including many children.

The draft had also called for investigators to visit the Shayrat airbase -- bombed by the United States after the attack -- to "verify allegations concerning the storage of chemical weapons" there.

But the Russian move had "attempted to undercut" the OPCW's existing fact-finding mission (FFM), the British delegation said in its tweet.

The move came as OPCW head Ahmet Uzumcu said Wednesday that "incontrovertible" OPCW test results had shown sarin gas or a similar substance were used in the attack.

Samples from three people killed in the attack and seven survivors analysed at four OPCW-designated laboratories "indicate exposure to sarin or a sarin-like substance," said Uzumcu.

Western nations have accused the Syrian regime of carrying out the suspected air strike, but Moscow, the closest ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has sought to clear the regime of the blame.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Thursday: "Not one representative of the OPCW has been there (Khan Sheikhun) in the two weeks. Where, by whom and how were the samples taken?"

"If there truly had been sarin in Khan Sheikhun, then how can the OPCW explain the charlatans from the White Helmets hopping about in sarin fumes without protective equipment?"

The Russian-Iranian move for a new inquiry raised hackles at the OPCW executive council meeting this week.

The fact-finding team "deserves our full confidence," the Belgian representative to the OPCW told the meeting on Wednesday.

"We don't see the need to put in place a new structure."

The draft decision had also sought to urge member states to "provide national experts for participation in the investigation."

That would have enabled Moscow to deploy its own experts alongside the OPCW's independent teams in a bid "to discredit the results" so far, one source close to the discussions told AFP.

In an unprecedented step, the OPCW's executive council in November condemned Syria's use of toxic weapons -- the council's first public condemnation of a member of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

It came after a joint UN-OPCW investigation concluded in October that the Syrian air force had dropped chlorine barrel-bombs from helicopters on three opposition-held villages in 2014 and 2015.

Islamic State jihadists were also found to have used mustard gas in August 2015 in Syria.

Russia last week vetoed a UN draft resolution condemning the April 4 attack and demanding the Syrian government cooperate with an investigation, blocking Security Council action against its ally for the eighth time.

After Moscow initially said a Syrian air strike had struck a "terrorist warehouse" containing "toxic substances," Russian President Vladimir Putin last week accused Assad's opponents of planning to stage chemical attacks to lure Washington deeper into the conflict.

ISLAMABAD: The global chemical arms watchdog Thursday "overwhelmingly" rejected a Russian-Iranian move to launch a new investigation into a suspected chemical attack in Syria, delegates said, backing the probe already underway. "The #OPCW executive council has overwhelmingly rejected the Russian and Iranian decision," the British delegation to the watchdog said in a Tweet. A draft decision put forward by Moscow and Tehran -- and obtained by AFP -- had called for a new investigation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) "to establish whether chemical weapons were used in Khan Sheikhun and how they were delivered to the site of the reported incident". But it ignored that the body, based in The Hague, is already investigating the April 4 attack on the rebel-held town in Idlib province which left 87 dead, including many children. The draft had also called for investigators to visit the Shayrat airbase -- bombed by the United States after the attack -- to "verify allegations concerning the storage of chemical weapons" there. But the Russian move had "attempted to undercut" the OPCW's existing fact-finding mission (FFM), the British delegation said in its tweet. The move came as OPCW head Ahmet Uzumcu said Wednesday that "incontrovertible" OPCW test results had shown sarin gas or a similar substance were used in the attack. Samples from three people killed in the attack and seven survivors analysed at four OPCW-designated laboratories "indicate exposure to sarin or a sarin-like substance," said Uzumcu. Western nations have accused the Syrian regime of carrying out the suspected air strike, but Moscow, the closest ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has sought to clear the regime of the blame. Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Thursday: "Not one representative of the OPCW has been there (Khan Sheikhun) in the two weeks. Where, by whom and how were the samples taken?" "If there truly had been sarin in Khan Sheikhun, then how can the OPCW explain the charlatans from the White Helmets hopping about in sarin fumes without protective equipment?" The Russian-Iranian move for a new inquiry raised hackles at the OPCW executive council meeting this week. The fact-finding team "deserves our full confidence," the Belgian representative to the OPCW told the meeting on Wednesday. "We don't see the need to put in place a new structure." The draft decision had also sought to urge member states to "provide national experts for participation in the investigation." That would have enabled Moscow to deploy its own experts alongside the OPCW's independent teams in a bid "to discredit the results" so far, one source close to the discussions told AFP. In an unprecedented step, the OPCW's executive council in November condemned Syria's use of toxic weapons -- the council's first public condemnation of a member of the Chemical Weapons Convention. It came after a joint UN-OPCW investigation concluded in October that the Syrian air force had dropped chlorine barrel-bombs from helicopters on three opposition-held villages in 2014 and 2015. Islamic State jihadists were also found to have used mustard gas in August 2015 in Syria. Russia last week vetoed a UN draft resolution condemning the April 4 attack and demanding the Syrian government cooperate with an investigation, blocking Security Council action against its ally for the eighth time. After Moscow initially said a Syrian air strike had struck a "terrorist warehouse" containing "toxic substances," Russian President Vladimir Putin last week accused Assad's opponents of planning to stage chemical attacks to lure Washington deeper into the conflict.
By PTI

ISLAMABAD: Nawaz Sharif today narrowly managed to save his premiership after a Pakistan Supreme Court bench declared there was "insufficient evidence" to remove him from office but ordered setting up of a Joint Investigation Team to probe the graft allegations against his family.

The court ordered Sharif, 67, and his two sons - Hasan and Hussain - to appear before the JIT, which would include officials from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence (MI).

The JIT has been given two months to complete the probe.

It will present its report before the bench after every two weeks and will complete its work in 60 days.

The five-judge bench comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan issued the landmark 547 pages judgement 57 days after concluding the hearing.

Also Read: Nawaz Sharif narrowly escapes jinxed April's fate for Pakistani politicians

Justice Ijaz Afzal, Justice Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan wrote the majority judgment, whereas Justice Gulzar and Justice Khosa in their dissenting note wanted to remove the Prime Minister as sought by the petitioners.

The case was launched on November 3 and the court held 35 hearings before concluding the proceedings on February 23.

The case is about alleged money laundering by Sharif in 1990s when he twice served as Prime Minister to purchase assets in London.

Read: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan demands Sharif's resignation

The assets surfaced when Panama papers last year showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif's children.

The case filed by various petitioners  Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed  sought disqualification of Prime Minister Sharif over his alleged misstatement in his address to the nation on April 5 and his speech before the National Assembly on May 16, 2016.

The petitioners had claimed that the prime minister lied about the investments made by his children in offshore companies, which led to the acquisition of four apartments in Londons upscale Park Lane neighbourhood.

The court also ordered that it was important to probe how money was transferred to Qatar.

In the 547-page verdict, the bench said that the NAB Chairman has failed to cooperate with the investigation, and the DG FIA has failed to curb white-collar crimes, necessitating the formulation of the JIT.

Sharif's supporters hailed the decisions as a victory of justice.

"We have been vindicated as Prime Minister had last year asked to set up a probe commission to investigate Panama leaks scandal," said Khawaja Asif, defence minister and close ally of Prime Minister Sharif.

TV footage showed Sharif embracing his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif who is chief minister of Punjab province.

Opposition leader and lawyers termed the court's verdict as an indictment of Sharif and demanded his resignation.

Fawad Chaudhry of PTI said that Sharif should resign as all judges have accepted that money was illegally sent out of the country.

"It is our victory and Sharif has been given a respite only for 60 days when JIT would give its report," he said.

"The court has given him just 60 days and then he will be removed as the JIT would find him guilty," said Imran Ismael of PTI after the verdict.

Earlier, the area around the Supreme Court, located in Islamabad's Red Zone, was put on 'red alert', with around 1,500 police, Rangers and Frontier Constabulary personnel deployed for security and maintaining peace.

ISLAMABAD: Nawaz Sharif today narrowly managed to save his premiership after a Pakistan Supreme Court bench declared there was "insufficient evidence" to remove him from office but ordered setting up of a Joint Investigation Team to probe the graft allegations against his family. The court ordered Sharif, 67, and his two sons - Hasan and Hussain - to appear before the JIT, which would include officials from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence (MI). The JIT has been given two months to complete the probe. It will present its report before the bench after every two weeks and will complete its work in 60 days. The five-judge bench comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan issued the landmark 547 pages judgement 57 days after concluding the hearing. Also Read: Nawaz Sharif narrowly escapes jinxed April's fate for Pakistani politicians Justice Ijaz Afzal, Justice Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan wrote the majority judgment, whereas Justice Gulzar and Justice Khosa in their dissenting note wanted to remove the Prime Minister as sought by the petitioners. The case was launched on November 3 and the court held 35 hearings before concluding the proceedings on February 23. The case is about alleged money laundering by Sharif in 1990s when he twice served as Prime Minister to purchase assets in London. Read: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan demands Sharif's resignation The assets surfaced when Panama papers last year showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif's children. The case filed by various petitioners  Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed  sought disqualification of Prime Minister Sharif over his alleged misstatement in his address to the nation on April 5 and his speech before the National Assembly on May 16, 2016. The petitioners had claimed that the prime minister lied about the investments made by his children in offshore companies, which led to the acquisition of four apartments in Londons upscale Park Lane neighbourhood. The court also ordered that it was important to probe how money was transferred to Qatar. In the 547-page verdict, the bench said that the NAB Chairman has failed to cooperate with the investigation, and the DG FIA has failed to curb white-collar crimes, necessitating the formulation of the JIT. Sharif's supporters hailed the decisions as a victory of justice. "We have been vindicated as Prime Minister had last year asked to set up a probe commission to investigate Panama leaks scandal," said Khawaja Asif, defence minister and close ally of Prime Minister Sharif. TV footage showed Sharif embracing his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif who is chief minister of Punjab province. Opposition leader and lawyers termed the court's verdict as an indictment of Sharif and demanded his resignation. Fawad Chaudhry of PTI said that Sharif should resign as all judges have accepted that money was illegally sent out of the country. "It is our victory and Sharif has been given a respite only for 60 days when JIT would give its report," he said. "The court has given him just 60 days and then he will be removed as the JIT would find him guilty," said Imran Ismael of PTI after the verdict. Earlier, the area around the Supreme Court, located in Islamabad's Red Zone, was put on 'red alert', with around 1,500 police, Rangers and Frontier Constabulary personnel deployed for security and maintaining peace.
President Donald Trump is ready to crack down on the infamous, money-making MS-13 gang, after a violent quadruple homicide in Long Island, N.Y. last week left four teenagers dead and badly beaten. Trump is promising to remove the gang from U.S. streets fast.

President Donald Trump is ready to crack down on the infamous, money-making MS-13 gang, after a violent quadruple homicide in Long Island, N.Y. last week left four teenagers dead and badly beaten. Trump is promising to remove the gang from U.S. streets fast.

MS-13, a group that was started by Central American immigrants in Los Angeles in the 1980s, is known for its ruthless and violent tactics. Most of the founding members were from El Salvador and fled to the U.S. during the countrys civil war that lasted 12 years, from 1980-92. Since then the gangs membership has ballooned to at least 10,000 members in the United States and more than 30,000 worldwide, according to the FBI and Treasury Department.

[MS-13] is one of the most dangerous and rapidly expanding criminal gangs in the world today, Philip Holloway, a legal analyst and former police officer, told FOX Business. MS-13s mottos is Mata, roba, viola, controla (Kill, steal, rape, control), he noted.

The gang has managed to expand its business tentacles into a variety of illegal activities, despite sanctions levied against the group by the U.S Treasury Department under the Obama administration. They are involved in multiple crimes including murder, racketeering, drug trafficking, sex trafficking and human trafficking including prostitution, Holloway said.

MS-13 also uses violence as a means for extortion, which constitutes much of its income, University of Houston sociology professor Luis Salinas told FOX Business.

A lot of the violence is part of the extortion  and prostitution. Once they get here they get these individuals and extort money from their families. Theyre also into extortion for protection of this neighborhood or that neighborhood, Salinas said.

In 2015 the U.S. Treasury Department froze the assets of three members of the gang who were funneling funds back to higher-ups in El Salvador from prison. These actions were an attempt disrupt MS-13s financial network by cutting off profits from illegal activities in the United States, the Treasury Department said. In 2012 the Obama administration designated MS-13 a transnational crime organization and implemented sanctions against six members in 2013.

Story continues

While the U.S. government attempts to target MS-13s earnings, targeting its culture is proving more difficult. The fierce loyalty among members is unique, Ron Hosko, former assistant director of the FBIs Criminal Investigative Division, told FOX Business.

They're very cohesive and often directed by imprisoned bosses in El Salvador to recruit and expand in American communities. That tends to mean there's an aggressive internal enforcement mechanism which equates to internal discipline involving physical violence and murder for disrespect or betrayal, he said.

Membership in street gangs showed no signs of decreasing, according to the FBIs 2015 National Gang Report, and MS-13 was identified as one of the top gangs involved in cross-border crimes. Recently, law enforcement has taken a tougher stance on making arrests; a move spurred by Attorney General Jeff Sessions focus on illegal immigrant crime, Hosko said.

MS is a clear example [of illegal immigrant crime]. Affiliates would cross the border and make their way to American enclaves where they found friends and relatives living here already, he said. Citizenship is a combination of American born (many to illegals) and illegal immigrants.

Salinas said about 60-70 percent of current U.S. members in MS-13 are immigrants, the majority of which could be illegal.

On Tuesday during an interview on Fox News, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he believes the gang could qualify as a terrorist group. In El Salvador, MS-13 has already been designated as a terrorist organization.

Hosko said President Trumps administration is changing the narrative quickly for both gang members and law enforcement in the United States.

[The FBI] believed that claiming of credible fear of persecution, gang retaliation, other bad acts in their homeland to immigration authorities likely resulted in widespread release of bad actors into the U.S. as their claims were being evaluated. With Obama, that was acceptable risk. I think that's changing fast.

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BEIRUT, April 20 (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and hardline rival Ebrahim Raisi were both approved to run in May's presidential election by a government vetting body, while former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was disqualified, state media reported on Thursday.

The approval of Rouhani, a moderate, and Raisi, a political hardliner thought to have the backing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sets up a showdown between rival political camps.

Khamenei had advised Ahmadinejad not to run and his attempt to register as a candidate was widely seen as a public snub to the Supreme Leader, which is nearly unheard of in the Islamic Republic.

(Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Columnist

Tom Kacich is a columnist and the author of Tom's Mailbag at The News-Gazette. His column appears Sundays. His email is tkacich@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@tkacich).
New analysis of Medicare's Hospital Compare portal shows the statistical methodology used to rate and compare hospitals underestimates mortality rates of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) at small hospitals. The research, titled "Mortality Rate Estimation and Standardization for Public Reporting: Medicare's Hospital Compare," appears in the Journal of the American Statistical Association.

Hospital Compare collects data from Medicare claims and hospitals. That data is then processed through a statistical model known as a "random effects logit model," which unfortunately shrinks mortality rates from small hospitals to resemble the national average.

"Hospital Compare's finding of average risk at small hospitals is a mistake because the current model is not properly calibrated," notes Edward I. George, professor of statistics at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and one of the study's authors. "It's a mistake that has implications for patients."

Low volume hospitals, by definition, have little data regarding AMI mortality. In using the current model, a poorly performing small volume hospital will look average, and even a large hospital that performs far better than average will yield results that underestimate their quality. "The underestimation of AMI mortality rates at small hospitals, as seen in Hospital Compare, contradicts previously established research and consistent findings that mortality rates are typically higher at low volume hospitals," adds Jeffrey H. Silber, professor of pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, professor of health care management at The Wharton School, and one of the study's authors.

George, Silber, and fellow researchers Paul R. Rosenbaum, also a professor of statistics at The Wharton School; Veronika Rockova, assistant professor of econometrics and statistics at The University of Chicago's Booth School of Business; and Ville Satopaa, assistant professor of technology and operations management at INSEAD, propose an alternative model that yields more accurate and appropriately calibrated predictions.

This model would incorporate additional factors such as hospital volume, nursing staff, medical residents, and the hospital's ability to perform cardiovascular procedures into the calculation process. Combined with a different statistical method known as "direct standardization," the researchers' approach is seen to be more effective for adjusting mortality rate comparisons between hospitals.

"Patients deserve to have the most accurate information available so they can make well-informed health care decisions. Our analysis demonstrates that further modeling with additional hospital attributes has the clear potential to shed more light on the rankings of such hospitals," the authors conclude.

Evaluating and assessing hospital performance, while challenging, is nothing new to the statistical community. In 2011, the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS) published "Statistical Issues in Assessing Hospital Performance," which examined statistical issues identified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and other stakeholders about the government agency's approach to modeling hospital quality based on outcomes. Then chair of COPSS, Thomas Louis, a professor in the department of biostatistics at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health, knows this issue well.

"Adopting the modeling enhancements proposed by the authors in this new Hospital Compare research will improve predicting outcomes and choosing a hospital," said Louis. "I urge the CMS and all researchers working on profiling methods to seriously consider issues the authors have identified and their state-of-the-art approaches to many of them."
DePuy Synthes Products, Inc., part of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, has acquired 3D printing technology from Tissue Regeneration Systems, Inc. (TRS). The 3D printing methods developed by TRS will help enable DePuy Synthes to create patient-specific, bioresorbable implants with a unique mineral coating intended to support bone healing in patients with orthopaedic and craniomaxillofacial deformities and injuries. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

The acquisition from TRS brings exciting new technology with the potential to truly personalize health care solutions in Trauma, a priority platform for the business, and builds on DePuy Synthes leadership in delivering ground-breaking innovation that improves patients lives. With more than 50 strategic collaborations, the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies is harnessing 3D printing technology to develop patient-specific healthcare solutions that can mean increased satisfaction and better clinical outcomes.

We are systematically investing in building a pipeline of 3D printed products. The TRS technology, which will be added to the DePuy Synthes Trauma Platform, is the latest example of how we are working toward developing next-generation technologies that transform healthcare delivery with individualized solutions for patients. Ciro Romer, Company Group Chairman, DePuy Synthes.

DePuy Synthes began collaborating with TRS in 2014 through Johnson & Johnson Innovation, which seeks and invests in the best science and builds novel partnerships at all stages of development across the medical device, consumer healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. Johnson & Johnson Innovation facilitated the collaboration between DePuy Synthes and TRS.

The acquisition of the TRS technology by DePuy Synthes is testament to our ability to identify and work collaboratively with promising early-stage companies and entrepreneurs to accelerate bringing innovative new products to market, said Robert G. Urban, PhD, Global Head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation. We are excited at the potential this technology holds to help improve patient outcomes.

Founded in 2008, TRS is an early-stage medical device company headquartered in Plymouth, Mich., commercializing skeletal reconstruction and bone regeneration technology based on research performed at the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin.
Thought Leaders Dr. Tobias Fromme Staff scientist and lecturer Technical University of Munich

An interview with Dr. Tobias Fromme conducted by April Cashin-Garbutt, MA (Cantab)

What is brown fat and how does it differ to white fat?

Brown fat is a tissue well studied in small mammals, where it acts as a heat-producing organ to stay warm in a cold environment.

Its unequivocal identification in adult, healthy humans about a decade ago is of major importance due to its immense capacity to convert chemical energy into heat. In other words, activated brown fat burns fat and sugar instead of storing it like white fat.

Pharmacological activation of brown fat may provide a treatment option for some of the most widespread metabolic disease states of our time, namely obesity, diabetes, hepatic steatosis and dyslipidemia.

Up until now, how much brown fat were humans thought to have?

The range most often reported is 0.05-0.1% of body mass or around 70g in a 70kg individual. The amount of brown fat is important, because it allows us to estimate the effect size of brown fat activation.

Full activation of 70g of brown fat would theoretically result in a body mass loss of around 4kg per year in obese and in a glucose disposal of 2g per day in diabetic patients. These values are rather low compared to existing interventions.

It is generally assumed that the successful utilization of brown fat as a therapeutic target requires both recruitment of more brown fat (e.g. from white fat) plus subsequent activation.

What did your recent research find?

We report a mean brown fat mass of around 300g in normal weight individuals. This value is more than three-fold higher than previously assumed.

Since the effect of pharmacological brown fat activation will increase proportionally with mass, the direct targeting of existing brown fat without prior recruitment now seems a plausible option.

How did you analyze the patients? What techniques were used?

In humans, active brown fat can be detected by its glucose uptake during a 18F-FDG-PET/CT scan. The abbreviation stands for fluoro-desoxy-glucose (a radioactive, injected sugar), positron emission tomography (an imaging method to find the sugar in the body) and computer tomography (provides a whole body background image).

This methodology is routinely applied in the oncology field to locate tumours and metastases in the body. Incidentally, it will also detect active brown fat. We analysed 2854 clinical, archived scans for our retrospective study.

Were you surprised to find such a large quantity of brown fat? How can this be explained?

Yes and no. Our result is not consequence of superior technology but of a different rationale in calculating brown fat mass.

Previously, the brown fat mass of all patients with visible brown fat in a scan was averaged. However, 18F-FDG-PET will only detect active brown fat while inactive tissue remains invisible. Thus, many patients with partially activated depots appeared to have a low brown fat mass while in reality they simply did not activate it completely.

In our analysis, we only included patient scans in which all known brown fat locations are active and unsurprisingly obtained a higher value. This procedure may overestimate mass to some extent but we are convinced that it is a very much better approximation than the previous averaging.

What impact is this finding likely to have?

The priorities of resource allocation during pharmacological development depend on many criteria, one of which is the predicted efficacy of a new drug as compared to available treatments.

Until now, it has been a recurring theme in commentary articles that human brown fat mass is simply too small to bring about metabolic effects on a competitive scale.

Our finding may convince decision makers to end the wait for brown fat recruiting agents before developing novel, safe brown fat activators.

Do some people activate brown body fat more than others?

Yes. In our study, approximatively 5% of the patients constituted a group with a tenfold increased probability to activate brown fat in a given situation. We did not find a simple, common trait that would allow us to prognostically identify such people.

We are, however, very interested in finding such characteristics both to understand the underlying regulatory processes and to predict the potential benefit of additional brown fat activation for an individual patient.

Can you please explain how creatinine clearance is thought to work?

In our study, we calculated an estimate for renal creatinine clearance. It is usually regarded a long-term measure of kidney function. We were surprised to find renal creatinine clearance to correlate with the extent of brown fat activation.

Either a common signal substance regulates both brown fat and kidney activity or creatinine is a novel brown fat metabolite. We will investigate both hypotheses in future studies.

Do you think it would be possible to use medication to activate brown adipose tissue in the future?

On a conceptual level, it is clearly possible to activate brown fat pharmacologically and the therapeutic application options in the treatment of metabolic disease are obvious.

The key challenge will be to develop such drugs with an acceptable safety profile, i.e. with negligible adverse effects on the cardio-metabolic system.

Much will depend on how pharma companies will weigh the risk associated with targeting energy expenditure against the potential for a new class of blockbuster drugs.

What further research is needed to understand brown fat in humans?

Brown fat is very well investigated and understood in small mammals. Unfortunately, we do not know how much of our knowledge is transferable to humans.

While the central heat producing components seem to work in a comparable fashion, the regulation of activity and recruitment seems different in many respects.

Important research needed includes studies on the cellular identity and origin of human brown fat cells as well as investigating neuronal and endocrine signals activating heat production in these cells.

Where can readers find more information?

The book Adipose Tissue Biology edited by Michael Symonds (ISBN 978-1-4614-0965-6) provides a comprehensive overview on the topic, specifically the chapter on brown adipose tissue, co-authored by myself. Furthermore, a number of authoritative review articles can be found in public literature databases (e.g. PubMed) using the search terms brown adipose tissue, human and review.

About Dr. Tobias Fromme

Tobias Fromme is a staff scientist and lecturer at the TUM School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich, Germany.

He holds a Diploma in Biology and a PhD in Animal Physiology. He investigates brown adipose tissue thermogenesis, organismic energy balance and mitochondrial bioenergetics.

In Dr. Frommes most recent projects, he aims to transfer established insight from rodent studies into the context of human brown fat.

To this end, he and his cooperation partners combine the expertise of a state-of-the-art physiology laboratory with the possibilities of sophisticated clinical technology.
African American children who reported experiencing discrimination were almost twice as likely to suffer from asthma when compared with their peers, according to a new study in CHEST

Asthma is a debilitating, yet common childhood ailment. It is estimated that one in ten children in the United States suffer from asthma, but the condition disproportionately affects African American and Latino children. In a new study published in CHEST, investigators found that African American children who reported experiencing discrimination had almost twice the probability of having asthma than their peers who did not experience/report discrimination. Among African American children with asthma, discrimination was also associated with a greater probability of having poorly controlled asthma. For Mexican American children, discrimination and socioeconomic status (SES) act together with discrimination having an effect on asthma only among low-SES children.

While the relationship between discrimination and physical health in adults is well understood, less is known about the role it plays in children. This study is the first to show an association between discrimination and asthma diagnosis in African American and in Latino children, contributing to existing evidence implicating racial/ethnic discrimination as a predictor of negative health outcomes in children. For asthma specifically, the findings are consistent with results correlating discriminatory experience and subsequent asthma diagnosis in African American adult women.

"Discrimination is a common and everyday experience for minority populations in America. People can be exposed to it at the individual and society levels. This constant stress gets embodied into our biology or DNA to change our bodies' responses to diseases and medical treatments. Our findings support this biological embodiment for asthma and its control among African American children and among low-SES Mexican American children," explained lead and senior investigator Luisa N. Borrell, DDS, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, City University of New York.

Using data from the Genes-Environment and Admixture in Latino Americans study (GALA II) and the Study of African Americans, Asthma, Genes, and Environments (SAGE II), researchers found that African American children who reported discrimination had 78 percent greater odds of having asthma than participants who did not report discrimination. In addition, reported discrimination was a good predictor of a child's asthma being poorly controlled.

SES and discrimination are complex issues, with many different aspects to consider. The results of this study suggest that they work together to influence asthma rates for Latino youth, but that for African American youth, discrimination works independently of SES; however, the authors note that many unmeasured factors surrounding both discrimination and SES may help explain the association with asthma.

"With overt events of discrimination, whether towards one's race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and/or sexual orientation increasing, this study is now more relevant than ever," concluded first author Neeta Thakur, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. "Discrimination is a real and everyday experience for many Americans, especially for those from minority communities. In this study, we demonstrate how this seemingly unrelated stressor is directly related to asthma and its associated outcomes in African Americans. This is significant as asthma is an incredibly common and costly disease of childhood and is on the rise in African American communities."

"Given the current political climate, our findings are very significant, especially for minority children," stated Dr. Borrell. "Children are being exposed directly or indirectly to different sources of psychosocial stressdiscrimination, bullying, and fearwhile our focus was asthma, this stress may play a role in other diseases, behaviors, and learning opportunities."
Scientists at St. Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre and the University of Manitoba have developed a drug that combats 2 of the top 10 "priority pathogens" recently defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as antibiotic-resistant bacteria requiring new interventions. The drug, dubbed PEG-2S, has received a provisional patent, and its development is highlighted in a study published today in the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology (CJPP). Without affecting healthy cells, the drug prevents the proliferation of a harmful bacteria that possesses a specific type of energy supply shared by a number of other bacteria.

The paper, entitled "Development of a novel rationally designed antibiotic to inhibit a nontraditional bacterial target", revealed that a variety of bacteria share a unique respiratory sodium pump (NQR) that supplies energy vital to the bacteria's survival. The study showed that the drug in question, PEG-2S, inhibits the function of the NQR pump and the production and growth of Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria. The drug is highly targeted and only impacts bacterial cells with NQR pumps and is not toxic to normal, healthy cells. The list of NQR-possessing bacteria is growing steadily as genomic information becomes available. With more than 20 different pathogenic bacteria containing NQR, the possibility for this drug to avoid multidrug resistance through NQR inhibition represents a potential breakthrough in antibiotic design.

Traditional targets for antibiotics are limited; no new antibiotics have been discovered since 1987. Only 2 antibiotics have received US FDA approval since 2009.

"New drugs are not being approved because they share the same target to which the bacteria are developing resistance. We have not only defined a new and effective target, we have designed a drug to attack it without affecting normal cells," explains St. Boniface Hospital Executive Director of Research and University of Manitoba professor of physiology and pathophysiology Dr. Grant Pierce. "The first pathogen our research team studied (Chlamydia trachomatis) has confirmed that NQR is a good target, and it is shared by many bacteria in need of a more effective antibiotic."

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"The results from our collaboration are tremendously exciting," adds lead author, University of Manitoba Faculty of Science professor Dr. Pavel Dibrov. "We are currently designing PEG-2S variations and hope to tailor PEG-based antimicrobials to each specific NQR-containing pathogenic bacterium."

"Antibiotic and antimicrobial resistance to superbugs is a priority research direction in pharmacology. The quality and findings of this study may be instrumental in our efforts to develop new drugs and technologies that effectively address this global health alarm recently raised by the World Health Organization," say CJPP Editors Dr. Ghassan Bkaily and Dr. Pedro D'Orleans-Juste.

"I applaud the research collaboration that resulted in this new breakthrough," said Dr. Digvir Jayas, Vice-President (Research and International) and Distinguished Professor at the University of Manitoba. "Solving the complex and evolving challenges of antibiotic resistance will put new tools in the hands of caregivers around the globe."

"New antibiotics targeting this priority list of pathogens will help to reduce deaths due to resistant infections around the world," says Prof Evelina Tacconelli, Head of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Tubingen and a major contributor to the development of the WHO list. "Waiting any longer will cause further public health problems and dramatically impact on patient care."
Infosys had agreed to pay Bansal Rs 17.38 crore, equivalent to 24-month pay, as severance payment. However, the company paid him Rs 5 crore and suspended the remaining payment.

Bengaluru: The former chief financial officer of Infosys, Rajiv Bansal, has approached the Arbitration Tribunal to claim the pending Rs 12 crore of his severance pay.Former Supreme Court judge RV Raveendran has been appointed sole arbitrator in the case and the first meeting is scheduled next month, moneycontrol.com reported.Several former executives, including co-founder NR Narayana Murthy, had said the severance pay was excessive.An Infosys statement said it had halted the payment to Bansal pending certain clarifications.
Separately, a CNBC Awaaz report, quoting sources, says the Prime Minister's Office, Finance Ministry and Reserve Bank of India have reached a consensus to roll out the new policy.

According to the broad framework submitted by the economic advisory unit in the Finance Ministry, these top NPAs are concentrated in sectors like steel, power and highways. Resolving them will allow banks to clear some of the liabilities on their balance sheets, thus freeing up capital for investment purposes.

Another source told News18 that neither Finance Minister Arun Jaitley nor RBI governor Urjit Patel was in favour of the 'bad bank' approach. Options for resolving the NPAs could include liquidating the underlying asset or collateral and some kind of a haircut for banks.

: India's banks, for long laboring under a mountain of bad loans, can expect a government intervention soon, multiple sources have told News18. The new policy for resolving non-performing assets (NPAs) is likely to take a 'targeted approach' by first tackling the largest 40 or 50 NPAs, spread across four or five sectors, sources have told News18.The RBI's oversight committee (OC) is likely to get special powers to resolve NPAs. So far, the OC does not have authority to resolve NPAs. The OC was set up under the scheme for sustainable structuring of stressed assets (S4A) to oversee the loan restructuring process in a transparent manner.Further, News18 has learnt that the framework for resolving the NPAs will tackle the top NPAs first, rather than a generic approach aimed at resolving all NPAs. Multiple people indicated that the resolution of NPAs is the single most important economic issue facing the government. Unless it is resolved, the investment cycle will not revive.A non-performing asset is a loan that is in default because the borrower is not able to pay the interest or principal amount to the bank. The public sector banks had nearly Rs 3.8 lakh crore of NPAs as of December 2016. Of this, 70% are of big corporate houses.News18 has also learnt that the economic advisory unit is not in favour of a 'bad bank' approach to solving NPAs. The bad bank' was a proposal to set up an entity that would purchase the bad loans from the banks, thus taking them off their books. Under such an arrangement, the NPAs were proposed to be purchased at a discounted rate: For instance, if a bank had NPAs worth Rs 1,000 crore, it would sell them to 'bad bank' for Rs 500-600 crore in cash. The 'bad bank' would then try and recover as much loans as possible. In the process, while the bank would lose some money, called 'haircut' in banking jargon, but it would remove the liability from its books.Moneycontrol.com, a sister website of News18, said the new policy would allow banks to take a haircut within a permissible limit, although the banks have been reluctant. But the policy has in-place a new formula on cash-to-cash basis. The OC will recommend how much of a haircut banks can go for using this formula.Another key point of the new policy is that a company that has defaulted on its loans could be merged with a healthy company from the same sector. The Finance Ministry and Reserve Bank are expected to issue a circular soon regarding the policy.
Received info of group being readied for terror activities.Spl Cell DP, CI cell Andhra,Maha ATS,Punjab & Bihar Police involved in op: UP ATS  ANI (@ANI_news) April 20, 2017

Three suspected Islamic State sympathisers were arrested on Thursday in a joint operation by the Delhi Police and the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (ATS).The trio, who are suspected of having been influenced by online propaganda of Islamic State affiliates, were arrested from Jalandhar, Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai for allegedly planning terror activities.The joint operation was carried out in six states, including Maharashtra, Punjab, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.Six others were being questioned.The arrests were reportedly part of a crackdown on a terror module that was busted in March. One suspect was killed in Lucknow and seven arrested from UP and Madhya Pradesh in that operation.
New Delhi: Ministry of Home Affairs has cancelled the licence of Public Health Foundation of India under the Foreign Contribution (regulation) Act, 2010.



This means, the NGO will not be able to get any foreign funding, including that from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), which is one of its biggest donors.



Home Ministry sources said the FCRA licence of PHFI was cancelled on the grounds of misuse of funds received from foreign donors. Sources said the funds received for health research were being diverted.



Commenting on the development, PHFI said, Certain observations have been made by the Ministry on utilisation of funds related to PHFIs projects on tobacco, HIV/AIDS and its financial reports. PHFI has submitted the requisite information and documents to the MHA on the observations raised in the notification and provided the needed clarifications.



PHFI said it is expecting an early resolution of the issue.



"Our work is fully in confluence with the ministry of health and India's national health policy. Regarding the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, most of our funding is to provide technical support to the ministry on projects that the ministry itself wanted. We do not act on behest of the Foundation. If the government wants to fund us, or wants us to provide technical assistance through other funding, we will do so," said Sreenath Reddy, President, PHFI.



Launched by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2006, PHFI provides technical assistance to Central and State Governments in several areas of engagement including HIV prevention, access to drugs, tobacco control, immunization, environmental health, universal health coverage, public health cadre development and capacity building of primary care physicians. Many of these activities were in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.



The PHFI focuses on broad dimensions of public health that encompass promotive, preventive and therapeutic services, many of which are frequently lost sight of in policy planning as well as in popular understanding, states the PHFI website.



Activities of BMGF on the health front in India had long been critiqued by the RSS-linked Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM).



Ashwani Mahajan, the national co-convenor of Swadeshi Jagran Manch said he was glad to know about the development. Public Health Foundation of India is interlinked with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. We are expecting the government will take action against the bigger player as well.



News18 had earlier reported that SJM was preparing a white paper on BMGF, questioning the philanthropic organisations influence on Indias health policies.



In its draft paper, the Manch has alleged that BMGF has business links with some of the pharmaceutical companies that the government is planning to engage with for its pan-India immunisation drive.



The idea is to enable the government in making an informed decision with regards to public health, said one of the experts working on the white paper.



A statement released by BMGF said,"The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a charitable donor organization that has been working in India for more than 13 years, in collaboration with the Government of India on aligned priorities. The foundation funds a variety of partners to undertake charitable objectives and requires these partners to comply with all applicable laws, including the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act."




New Delhi: The senior Congress leaders Motilal Vora and former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda have been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the allotment of a plot to AJL, publisher of the National Herald newspaper, in Panchkula in 2005.



Vora (88), the national treasurer of the All India Congress Committee, was questioned two days back at his residence, officials said. At the same time Hooda was also questioned in Chandigarh.



The central agency has recorded the statements of the two Congress leaders under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.



They were also confronted with some documents seized and recovered in this case, officials added.



Vora was questioned in the case in his capacity as the Chairman and Managing Director of the Associated Journal Limited (AJL), they added.



The ED questioned Vora at his residence making a special concession in this regard owing to his old age and his request to be grilled at home.



The agency, early last year, had filed a criminal complaint and booked Hooda, AJL officials and others on charges of alleged money laundering, taking cognisance of a Haryana State Vigilance Bureau FIR.



The vigilance Bureau had registered a case of cheating and corruption against Hooda and four officials who were in HUDA for allegedly re-allotting a plot to AJL in Panchkula in 2005.



Hooda had then termed the action as "political vendetta" and said there was no wrong doing.



The vigilance case that was registered under various IPC sections, including criminal breach of trust by a public servant, cheating, criminal conspiracy and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, was made against Hooda, the then Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) chairman, an ex-officio post held by him as the CM, and four other top officials of HUDA on May 5 this year.



The plot had been initially allotted to AJL in 1982. After the expiry of the lease period in 1996, then Haryana Vikas Party government led by Bansi Lal took back its possession.



It was re-allotted to AJL after the Congress leader came to power in 2005. The Vigilance Bureau had alleged that the act by the then HUDA chairman and the officials had caused a huge financial loss to HUDA as the plot should have been sold through open auction instead of being alloted again to AJL.



With PTI inputs
New Delhi: The Income Tax department on Thursday recovered over Rs 10 crore cash and about ten kgs of gold after it conducted searches on the premises of a senior Uttar Pradesh bureaucrat.



The tax sleuths also raided at least four premises of a former officer on special duty (OSD) of Noida Authority in Noida near here as part of its black money crack down against government servants, a senior official said.



The official added that I-T teams, which began the searches early morning, have recovered Rs 10 crore cash and ten kgs of gold from the Noida residence of the Additional Commissioner of state Sales Tax department.



The officer is posted in Kanpur at present, they said.



In the second search at Noida, the department recovered some documents and is searching various premises and bank lockers associated to the former Officer on Special Duty OSD) of the Noida Authority.



The department has launched operations against bureaucrats and government servants few days back and has detected undisclosed income worth over Rs 20 crore till now.



It has conducted searches against four bureaucrats based in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand over the last three days.



Official sources had said raids were carried out in the last two days against four government functionaries in these states including against a general manager of the Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam Ltd (UPRNN) in Dehradun for alleged "misuse of official position" and subsequent charges of tax evasion.



"Documents showing undisclosed investments in farm houses spread over hundreds of bighas and immovable properties in other cities have been seized," a senior official had said.



The tax sleuths have also made an inventory of some costly assets and posh vehicles like Range Rover, an Audi and a BMW car from the premises of the official and his family.



They said the I-T teams were surprised to find 15 large LED television sets fitted in the farm house which was constructed on a land earmarked to setup a factory. A well- equipped gym, a guest house and an under-construction swimming pool were found on the premises.



"The department is probing tax evasion to the tune of a few crores against the official and his associates based in Rishikesh," they had claimed.



In an another search operation against a local body chairman in UP's Siddharthnagar district, the department detected tax evasion to the "tune of Rs 10 crore as per preliminary estimates."



"The Chairman owns two petrol pumps and a gas agency and has been found to be allegedly diverting development grants for personal benefits," the official said.



The department also raided the premises of a senior official in Noida and that of a UP road transport department officer based in Kanpur.



"The Noida officer was found to have made unaccounted cash payments for purchase of immovable properties worth more than Rs 2 crore in the name of his spouse," the official said, adding he will soon be issued summons to join investigation.



Investigation against the Kanpur-based officer is ongoing, the official added.



The department, the official said, will undertake similar action against few more bureaucrats who are on its radar for quite sometime now.



Over Rs 540 crore black money has been detected by the department in the last 15 days as part of its nation-wide operations to check tax evasion. These actions come after the closure of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY) black money window on March 31.



In the first fortnight of the new financial year that began on April 1, the taxman has conducted multiple search and survey operations on entry operators (agents using banking channels to launder funds), shell firms, government officials, real estate players and other sectors.



As per an official data compiled till April 15, the department has carried out "over 250 searches and survey operations where the taxman raided at least 300 shell firms and detected more than Rs 540 crore of black money.




U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk

After having as many as 24 of its planes destroyed in a salvo of 59 cruise missiles from US Navy ships in the Mediterranean Sea on April 7, Syria has repositioned its jets to bases protected by Russian missile defenses, according to CNN.

"The Syrian air force is not in good shape," Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon, according to CNN. "It's been worn down by years of combat plus some ... significant maintenance problems."

Still, combined with the dozens of planes from his Russian backers, Syrian President Bashar Assad has an asymmetrical air advantage over his adversaries  rebel groups that have little more than a few anti-aircraft missile launchers.

The move to bases near Russian missile defenses provides Syria with a clear deterrent against further US strikes. Experts say Russia's S-300 and S-400 anti-air defenses can knock down Tomahawk cruise missiles, which were used in the April 7 strike.

Additionally, Russia has moved three warships to Syria's coast, further complicating the US's options should it launch another strike.

US officials have repeatedly stressed that they are "prepared to do more" against Assad's regime should more evidence of the use of chemical weapons in Syria appear, but the recent developments on the battlefield mean an engagement would be much more dangerous.

Russia S 400 Triumph Missile Systems

Igor Sutyagin of the Royal United Services Institute an expert on Russian missile defense systems and strategic armaments, told Business Insider that the presence of Russian defenses didn't guarantee the safety of Syria's planes.

Story continues

"One air defense battalion with an S-300 has 32 missiles," Sutyagin said. "They will fire these against 16 targets  maybe against cruise missiles they would fire a one-to-one ratio  but to prevent the target from evading, you always launch two ... but what if there are 50 targets?"

To further avoid detection, the US could use stealth aircraft like F-22s currently stationed in the theater.

f-22 f22 raptor inherent resolve arabian sea

Although the US could still carry out an attack against Syrian and Russian military targets, it would run a huge risk of killing Russian service members. The US warned Moscow ahead of the April 7 strike on Shayrat air base.

In this situation, where the target is Russian air defenses or planes on Russian bases, it's unclear if the Russians would back away from their hardware, and killing Russian service members would risk massive escalation.

Related:

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NOW WATCH: Meet the MQ-25A Stingray  the US's response to threats like China's 'carrier killers'





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Islamabad: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan on Thursday demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after a Supreme Court bench declared there was "insufficient evidence" to remove him from office on graft charges.



"I demand that Sharif should resign immediately as he has lost moral authority to rule the country," Khan said at a press conference here.



A five-member Supreme Court bench in a 3-2 split decision on Thursday ordered to set up a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the allegations of money laundering against Sharif.



The case was based on several identical petitions by Khan and others about alleged illegal assets of the family Prime Minister Sharif in London.



Khan termed the verdict as indictment of Sharif as the bench did not absolve him of the allegations. He said if Sharif is not ready to step down permanently, he should step aside for 60 days when JIT would probe the money laundering allegations, as ordered by the court.



Khan said the court has rejected the defence of Sharif and his family that their properties in London were bought with clean money.



"The court has unanimously rejected a letter by Qatari prince (who said in the letter that he provided the money used to buy flats in London)," said Khan. Khan also accepted the verdict and said his party has been vindicated that Sharif was involved in corruption.
New Delhi: An Indian-origin CEO of a Silicon Valley start-up who has been captured on video beating up his then wife and abusing her may get away with less than 30 days in prison.



Abhishek Gattani, the co-founder of Cuberon, has pleaded no contest to abusing his ex-wife Neha Rastogi, a former executive at Apple.



The plea agreement means that 38-year-old Gattani will have felony assault charge reduced to avoid the risk of being deported back to India.



Gattani faced second felony domestic violence charge in Santa Clara Superior Court in Palo Alto after Rastogi, his wife of 10 years, recorded the domestic abuses meted out to her, The Daily Beast reported.



In the video clip, recorded by Rastogi in May 17, 2016, Gattani can be heard verbally abusing and hitting her.



Gattani was first arrested in 2013 when a postal worker witnessed him beating up Rastogi outside their home in Sunnyvale, California. The felony charged was later reduced at Rastogis request.



In a victim impact statement during Gattanis scheduled sentencing at Santa Clara Supreme Court, she urged the judge to rethink the punishment.
"Judicial inquiries which are biased due to local considerations have tarnished the image of Army. Military operations cannot be dissected in a particular way. Army cannot be subjected to FIR otherwise military operations cannot be carried out," Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told a bench of Justices M B Lokur and U U Lalit.

Pointing out that Army was working in very difficult situations in these areas, Rohatgi said it has its own system in place, has its own approach and is governed by different set of rules.

The bench also pulled up the Manipur government for not taking action on such alleged fake encounters by armed forces and asked was it "not supposed to do anything". Senior advocate V Giri, appearing for Manipur, accepted the lapse on the state government's part but said even the High Court never asked it to register FIRs in such cases.

The court is hearing a PIL seeking probe and compensation in alleged 1,528 extra-judicial killings in Manipur from 2000 to 2012 by security forces and police.

During the hearing, the court was earlier told that there were 265 cases of deaths which have to be examined and there were various reports of the commission of inquiry in which serious allegations have been levelled against armed forces personnel.

: Operations against terrorists or insurgents may be affected if FIRs are lodged against the Army, the Supreme Court was told on Thursday.The Army also told the apex court that it cannot be subjected to FIRs for carrying out anti-militancy operations in insurgency-prone areas like Jammur and Kashmir and Manipur, while alleging local bias in the judicial inquiries conducted against it in these regions, which have tarnished its image.Rohatgi, appearing for the Army and the Assam Rifles, said it cannot be subjected to investigation by the state police with regard to its operations against militants in strife-torn areas."Whether it's Jammu and Kashmir or Manipur, we are facing the same local bias. Why doesn't any judicial inquiry ever exonerate the Army? These inquiries (have) never said that Army did the correct thing. Army is facing problems due to bias in such inquiries," he said."In every military operation, Army cannot be disbelieved. Every judicial inquiry cannot be against the Army. The alleged extra-judicial killing cases in Manipur are not cases of massacre, rather these are cases of military operations,"he said.He said the petitions under Article 32 of Associations of Widows from Manipur, seeking FIR into alleged extra-judicial killings and SIT probe, should not be considered and the court should not embark into it.During the hearing, the bench also questioned the Army over its Court of Inquiry, a fact finding proceeding. "Court of Inquiry is for the benefit of the Army. It is not for the satisfaction of public which has the right to know the truth behind any incident," the bench said after Rohatgi alleged bias in the judicial probes conducted by district judges.The court then asked the Manipur counsel whether now the state government can register FIRs into these alleged cases of extra-judicial killings."Yes, we can register FIR, if the court so directs under Article 142. There is no blockage in law with regard to lodging of FIR," the senior advocate said.The bench asked the parties including the Centre and Manipur to suggest five names each of officials, ex-officials whom they fit are suitable for Special Investigating Team (SIT) to be constituted to investigate such cases.The apex court after perusing the names reserved its verdict on the point of lodging of FIR and constituting a SIT for investigation into the killing in which judicial inquiries have been conducted.The court, which has conducted hearing for three consecutive days, had earlier rapped Manipur for remaining silent over rape and murder charges against Army personnel.The bench said three such cases in which the Commissions of Inquiry had given its findings, including that of Thangjam Manorama, a Manipuri woman who was allegedly killed in the custody of the Assam Rifles on July 10, 2004, after being picked up on suspicion of working for the insurgent outfit, People Liberation Army.The Army had yesterday told the court that the judicial probes conducted into alleged extra-judicial killing charges were "biased" and slanted against them due to local factors.It alleged that the district judges, who were locals, had conducted the judicial inquiries into the alleged killings and local factors came in the way of the probe reports which went against the armed forces.The apex court had earlier asked the Centre to segregate the cases related to the armed forces from the list of 265 incidents of extra-judicial killings in Manipur. The Centre had said that out of the 282 cases, which were referred to it for verification, 70 matters were found to be related to the Army and Assam Rifles, while the rest concerned the state police.In July last year, the apex court had directed a thorough probe into the alleged fake encounter killings in Manipur saying the use of "excessive or retaliatory force" by the armed forces or police was not permissible in 'disturbed areas' under the controversial Armed Force Special Powers Act.
New Delhi: In yet another case of under-age driving taking a fatal turn, one person was killed and three injured when a car allegedly driven by a minor ran over people sleeping on a platform in New Delhis Kashmere Gate area on Thursday morning.



The car had three occupants- all Class XII students of a top Delhi school, a senior police officer told PTI.



The accused, who would have turned 18 in four months, was detained by the police and those injured admitted to hospital.



Police sources said the minor was returning from a party and didnt have proper documents for the car he was driving.







Sources said the owner of the vehicle is likely to be booked under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code.



More details awaited



With PTI inputs
#WATCH: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad argues with a police officer in Latur (Maharashtra) during a protest over a non-functioning ATM pic.twitter.com/k1rCa12aGc  ANI (@ANI_news) April 19, 2017

Days after turning the page on his feud with Air India, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad is in the news again for another heated argument  this time with police officials over the "non- functioning" of ATMs at Latur in Marathwada region.Videos of the alleged argument between Gaikwad, his supporters and police personnel show the MP arguing with a police officer.The Lok Sabha member from adjoining Osmanabad constituency, Gaikwad, who reached Latur on Tuesday, had sent his aide to withdraw money from an ATM at Latur.However, the aide returned empty-handed, saying the ATM had run out of cash. This happened with a few other ATMs, prompting the Sena MP to go out and stage a protest with his supporters outside an ATM, PTI reported.When policemen arrived and requested Gaikwad to discontinue his protest as it was blocking traffic, the Sena MP allegedly shouted at them, police said.Giving his version of the incident, Gaikwad said, "There is no money in the ATMs for the last 15 days. What should we do?"They (the BJP-led government) asked us to give them 50 days (after demonetisation, for normalisation of financial transactions). We gave them 100 days, then 200 days. It is the job of the (Union) Finance Minister and the Finance Minister of Maharashtra. It is also the job of the Guardian Minister of Latur district to rectify the situation."The ruling BJP is in alliance with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.The Sena MP was in news recently for assaulting an Air India official onboard a flight after being denied a business-class seat in an all-economy flight. A ban imposed on him by the national carrier and private airlines was lifted after government intervention.(With PTI inputs)
In todays society, the evolution of society plays an important role in allowing someone to enjoy their rights, he said.

Citing the Jallikattu row in Tamil Nadu, Justice Chelameswar said the rising intolerance of the masses with the judiciary was a matter of grave concern.

Former chief justice of the Delhi High Court Justice AP Shah, who also participated in the conference, questioned the way those holding views different than that of the government were being dubbed anti-national.

A sitting judge of the Supreme Court of India on Thursday said that the two issues plaguing the country at the moment are the low levels of tolerance among the masses and rural-urban disconnect.Speaking at the MN Roy Memorial Lecture on Free Speech, Nationalism and Sedition, Justice Jasti Chelameswar, known for his refusal to be a part of the SC Collegium system, said it was not just the judiciary but also civil society that plays a major part in determining the legal rights in the country.The apex court judge, who had struck down the controversial Section 66-A of the Information Technology Act (1961) upholding freedom of speech on Internet, said, What is the renaissance that India has achieved over the last 70 years? It is that, as a society, we have become more intolerant and irrational. There is a huge disconnect between urban India and rural India. How cities like Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore perceive issues are completely different than what rural India thinks.What happened in Tamil Nadu shows the real manifestation of all these problems. Until the issue came to the Supreme Court, Jallikattu was nothing but a sport which was confined to some remote areas of Tamil Nadu. But look at the kind of attention it got as soon as the law got involved. Such an attitude will only proliferate to other states. Where are we heading by defying the apex court?Laying emphasis on the need to come out of caste-based politics, Justice Chelameswar said, Caste has been given a lot of importance in the past several years; even in budget speeches, specific allocations have been made to caste-based organisations. When such allocations are made, others demand it too. This is not healthy.In a democracy, freedom of speech rings hollow if the government cannot ensure the same, said the chairman of the 20th Law Commission, adding that its about time to repeal the draconian Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code which deals with sedition.
Lucknow: After a crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses and a controversial, but popular, campaign against Romeos in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has now banned alcohol at pilgrimage places and ordered the formation of a new excise policy.

The decision comes after the recent order by the Supreme Court, banning liquor shops along the highways. According to UP government, 8,544 alcohol shops have been shifted across the state after the court order.

Now, the CM has decided to close down alcohol shops at pilgrimage hubs like Vrindavan, Ayodhya, Chitrakootdham, Mishrikh Naimisharanya, Piran Kaliyar, Deva Sharif and Deoband.



According to the state government, there is no place for alcohol at religious places which are visited by pilgrims throughout the year. Ayodhya and Chitrakoot are associated with Ram, while Vrindavan is a sacred place for devotees of Krishna. Misrikh Naimisharanya in Sitapur district is another pilgrimage place for Hindus.

Deoband is the seat of leading Islamic seminary Darul-Uloom, while Dewa Sharif has the mausoleum of Sufi saint Waris Ali Shah. Piran Kaliyar Sharif on the UP-Uttarakhand border has the dargah of Sufi saint Alauddin Ali Ahmed Sabir Kaliyar. These mausoleums are visited by Muslims and Hindus alike.

ALSO READ | Booze-ness as Usual in Karnataka Despite SC Ban on Highway liquor Vends

According to government, the new excise policy will focus on keeping a check on smuggling of alcohol from other states. During a presentation by Excise Department, the CM asked for a list of loyal and clean officers for sensitive posts.
Denmark-based jewellery brand Pandora opened its first store in India with an aim to cater to the modern women who doesn't shy away from experimentation.



The concept store is located on the ground floor of DLF Mall of India here and carries Pandora's jewellery collections, including the brand's Moments collection, the Essence collection as well as the Rose collection.



"The modern aspirational Indian woman is a section that represents the veering away from wearing predominantly gold jewellery and becoming more fashion conscious and finding unique ways to express their style.



"Making the brand Pandora accessible to these very customers is what excited us to pursue this business" Devika Bakshi and Kanika Bakshi Talwar, Managing directors of Pandora, said in a joint statement.



The two sisters run the company together.


With multiple interesting tropical destinations gaining popularity by the year, one would expect Maldives to be overlooked by the international tourists. But that isnt the case. For Maldives with its unparalleled beauty and tranquility offers the most unforgettable experience to the visitors. His Excellency Ahmed Mohamed speaks exclusively to News18.com about tourism and other interesting aspects of Maldives.



What is the USP of Maldives?



I think it is the pristine environment and secondly, privacy that our tourists can enjoy which is not necessarily available elsewhere. When we started tourism we focused on the concept of one island, one resort  we are group of 1200 of island  and these are all small islands. When a resort is built on an island, the resort itself becomes an island. Staff accommodation, guest accommodation, and various other utilities are present for the guests. Also rooms that are built around the island are quite far from each other to ensure it remains private. The person has a private beach, a private beach front and so forth. This gives an added benefit for us and attractiveness for people who want to enjoy their holidays without any disturbances from other parties.



Is there a particular section of tourists who often visit Maldives?



The main source of market for Maldives is Europe. It has been a dominant factor for Maldives in the past and continues to be so even now. Right now, 51% of the market comes from Europe and 40% from Asia Pacific. Interestingly, what we have seen in the past is that the number of Indian tourists visiting Maldives has been growing consistently. It has grown over the past 4 years. This year, according to the latest available statistics - we have seen an increase of 17% as compared to January 2016. More than 5000 visited last year in January. And this year, it has gone beyond 6000. So there is a steady increase form Indian market which we are trying to promote aggressively. For us it becomes very important to diversify our source market. This is to ensure that the tourism industry of Maldives can survive even when there is an economic impact in various regions.



Is education a sector youd be focusing more on to get international students visit Maldives?



Tourism product itself requires diversification. Right now, we are dependent on sharing the pristine environment. Maldives, as we see it, has become a brand name as far as tourism is concerned. So there have been talks and documented works to see whether we can sell that brand name as education destination as well. But right now, the universities and colleges are on the islands where people stay. What we need to focus on is the need to establish various faculties  a specific island that provides tourism and hospitality management studies which is set up in an area which is both a serving resort, and a teaching school. That concept has been there for quite some time. It is something that we have being talked about. Also, when we talk about diversification within the product itself, we would want to focus on health tourism. We have good spas and resorts, but that aspect hasnt been marketed to its maximum potential.



Much like Maldives, India is extremely popular with travelers. What do you like the most about our nation?



If we talk of luxury, it exists in both counties. But the product that we are selling is probably different. What we are seeing is more on ecological diving. In India, it is more to do with culture  and also various other natural aspects of things. In Maldives, we dont have much of things that other countries have. Here we have only the seas. So the product is different and coming from Maldives, I would be always looking for something different from Maldives. In that aspect, India is attractive and as the normal behavior of human beings goes - youd always want to get access to what you dont have. India is a place where you will get everything. Yoga is something people in Maldives like a lot. And before I came to India, its impact had already started. About 2-3 years back people had started attending yoga classes. I have been told with yoga in Maldives some people have turned vegetarian and they see the benefits of it. Yoga is growing big. This is an aspect we can take advantage of together with health.



Like any other nation, does Maldives ever face challenges in attracting more travelers?





I think for any business to thrive, it is the key ingredient of business  participation of private sector. In Maldives, tourism began from the private sector and remain with it. The role that government plays is regulatory. Private sector mentality of running business is different from state. State will have a welfare component, but with private business, you move higher. Challenges are huge too. If there is a war, we get affected. If there is economic crunch, we are affected. So a lot of externalities affect the tourism industry. Thats why people recognize private sector and government recognize diversification within product and source markets.



How can travelers enjoy in Maldives if they have a shoe-string budget?



Well, Maldives is known to be expensive, but that isnt necessarily true. We have guest houses that are much cheaper than resorts. Which would cost 100 dollars. You get to enjoy the same facilities available in the resort, but you also get to meet the local people. And it is growing popular and it has become a source of income for community-based entrepreneurs. Not everyone would have the caliber to run a resort, but local communities and individuals can easily afford guest houses. These guest houses are equally comfortable so that it is something people can see in terms of affordability. Sea safaris depends on the taste of people. But how it has mainly being promoted as a destination is as a honeymoon destination. It is a destination for children and sea sports.



How are you responding to growing interest of travelers in luxury industry?



We have all higher brand names that exist in the tourism industry. There are resorts that go beyond 30,000 dollars per night. I havent seen these places. But yes, people do come and stay for this amount every night. From high-end tourists to those on a limited budget, Maldives is able to meet the needs of the travelers.








I just had to pose!! It's so cool!! I love it! @MTsSingapore, this is just an amazing & humbling experience! Thank you! pic.twitter.com/GmcBw3Wbxk  Anil Kapoor (@AnilKapoor) April 20, 2017

Unveiling... Yours truly !! Thank you @MTsSingapore for making me look good in wax! #MadameTussauds pic.twitter.com/qtstyKTghG  Anil Kapoor (@AnilKapoor) April 20, 2017

Anil Kapoor unveiled his wax statue at Madame Tussaud's Singapore recently. The statue depicts a scene from Hollywood hit Slumdog Millionaire in which Kapoor played the host of Kaun Banega Crorepati.The actor shared the photos from the event and captioned it as, "I just had to pose!! It's so cool!! I love it! @MTsSingapore, this is just an amazing & humbling experience! Thank you!"While the actor looks elated posing next to his wax statue in the photos, we couldn't help but notice that how his wax statue looked older than the actor himself. The actor, who recently turned 60, looked leaner and fitter than his wax replica. If there's any actor who has been aging backwards, it got to be him. Way to go, Mr Kapoor!
By Sarah Marsh

HAVANA, April 19 (Reuters) - The Trump administration and the Cuban government need to start a dialogue, the Republican governor of Mississippi said on Wednesday during a trip to the Communist-led island to scout trade opportunities for his state.

"That's the first step: trying to get that dialogue going in a very positive manner," Phil Bryant said in an interview, adding that he had found his trip "encouraging."

Cuba watchers are looking closely for signs of how President Donald Trump will deal with the country, given he threatened during his campaign to roll back the fragile detente between the Untied States and Cuba, former Cold War foes.

The White House is undertaking a "full review" of America's foreign policy towards Cuba, press secretary Sean Spicer said in February.

The governor, who had just met with Cuba's trade minister, said it was key "not let too much of the political conditions in the United States become overwhelming."

"Sometimes people have a narrative of Mississippi as if it's 1960s, and it's not, and it's not the 1960s in Cuba," he said, citing changes like growth of private businesses.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro stunned the world in December 2014 when they announced the United States and Cuba would restore diplomatic ties after more than half a century of hostility.

Even with a U.S. embargo preventing most trade with Cuba, Mississippi already exports authorized products to the island such as frozen poultry and healthcare products, according to the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council.

There was room to increase that trade and as establish exchanges in healthcare and research, including perhaps bringing Cuban doctors to the Mississippi Delta, said Bryant. (Reporting by Sarah Marsh)
Bengaluru: When Baahubali released everyone had one question, why did Katappa kill Baahubali? Now as Baahubali: The Conclusion is set to release, the brain behind the epic movie, SS Rajamouli is left with one question. Why are Kannadigas banning Baahubali: The Conclusion in Karnataka?



A protest by Pro Kannada group Karnataka Rakshana Vedike was held on Thursday in the city against Tamil Actor Sathyaraj for his comments made years ago on Kannadigas and Cauvery River.



The protesters marched to the Karnataka Film Chamber Of Commerce and gave a written request to the Film Chamber President asking him to call a meeting of all stakeholders and instructing them not to release Baahubali: The Conclusion on April 28.



A garland of chappals was put around the life size banner of actor Sathyaraj and an effigy was burnt by the protesters. Speaking to News18.com, Shivramegowda, President, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike said, Unless Actor Sathyaraj apologises the movie wont release here in the state. We have called for a Bandh on the release date. If the theatre owners release the movie, we will intensify our protests.



The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce has decided to fully stand by the protesters and will make sure the release will be blocked. Earlier, the producers of the movie met the Film Chamber authorities, but the talk dint result in any solution. The Chamber wanted nothing less than any apology from Sathyaraj.



Meanwhile, director SS Rajamouli has released a video urging Kannadigas not to ban the movie. In the video he says the comments made by Actor Sathyaraj were made 9 years back and was made in his individual capacity. The movie will suffer huge loss if the release in blocked.



As per reports, all the money which came out of the first movie was invested in the making of the second. Thus the production house has still not taken the monetary benefits of the movie. Just in Karnataka, the Baahubali: The Conclusion movie distribution rights was set to be sold at Rs 50 crore.



However, protesters feel that money at stake doesnt matter to them. The self-esteem of Kannadigas cannot be compromised just because Bahubali-2 team has invested crores of money in the making. added Shivramegowda.








It was indeed a pleasure sharing the screen with @chintskap Sir, what an amazing energy you possess even now.  Nawazuddin Siddiqui (@Nawazuddin_S) April 19, 2017

Thank you Nawaz! Did that bit for Nandita Das and "Manto"-title role played by you. We will have fun working together in the future.Regards! https://t.co/DJA9mC4Tgj  Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) April 19, 2017

: Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor will be seen making a special appearance in filmmaker Nandita Das' Manto - a biographical film based on the life of controversial writer Saadat Hasan Manto.Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who plays the title role in the upcoming movie, earlier took to Twitter to thank Rishi Kapoor for sharing screen space with him. However, he didn't let out anything about the film."It was indeed a pleasure sharing the screen with Rishi Kapoor sir, what an amazing energy you possess even now," Nawazuddin tweeted on Wednesday.Responding, Rishi wrote: "Thank you Nawaz! Did that bit for Nandita Das and Manto' -- title role played by you. We will have fun working together in the future."Om Puri was supposed to play a character in the film, but he passed away earlier this year.It is yet to be revealed what role Rishi has played in the film.
The summons were served hours after Dinakaran, the nephew of jailed party chief VK Sasikala, "stepped aside" to pave the way for a merger of rival factions led by Chief Minister EK Palaniswami and his predecessor O Panneerselvam.

Chennai: Delhi police team leaves TTV Dinakaran's residence after issuing summons to him over alleged bribe for 'Two leaves' symbol case pic.twitter.com/CoeZvdCcqS  ANI (@ANI_news) April 19, 2017

"I myself would have announced it (of keeping away from the party) if they had told me about their decision," he said, referring to a midnight meeting convened on Tuesday.

The Delhi Police served summons to AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran late on Wednesday asking him to join the investigation into an alleged attempt to influence the battle over the partys election symbol.He has been asked to join the probe on Saturday at the office of the Delhi interstate crime branch.Dinakaran, who had earlier in the day convened a meeting of the MLAs backing him, chickened out at the last moment, and called it off, apparently outnumbered by those arrayed against him.Senior ministers, including D Jayakumar and KA Sengottaiyan, who chairs the AIADMK presidium and had hitherto sided with Dinakaran, had questioned the beleaguered leader's locus standi to convene a meeting of legislators and the party's district secretaries.Seeking to avoid any confrontation, Dinakaran said he had "stepped aside" last night itself "in the interest of the party".He, however, claimed the rebellion against him was out of "fear"."They (ministers) might have done this (revolt) due to some fear. Maybe there was some dissatisfaction against me. But I don't know," he told reporters.He was apparently referring to the possible angst in the party following income tax raids at Health Minister C Vijayabaskar's premises ahead of the assembly bypoll to the RK Nagar seat which was countermanded following allegations of bribing and inducement of voters. Dinakaran was the party's nominee for the election.Panneerselvam, a staunch loyalist of the late chief minister J Jayalalithaa, has described the revolt against the Sasikala family as the "first success" of his "dharma yuddh" (holy war).Though the Palaniswami and Panneerselvam camps have shown inclination for the merger of the two factions, there have not been any direct talks between them so far.(With PTI inputs)
While leaders like Rajnath Singh and Uma Bharti had voiced their discontent over the absence of a single Muslim candidate in the UP polls, handing out five out of 272 tickets appears more like tokenism.

There were no Muslim candidates in UP who had the spark to win a seat. I have been consistently working for the party and have finally reaped the benefits of my hardwork. A Muslim would have been given a ticket in UP had there been someone like me or the others who have been given the ticket this time, says Rafi.

Famudin Safi from Delhi Gate is the youngest among all the Muslim candidates in the BJPs list. This 30-year-old joined the party as a karyakarta in 2011 and runs a steel moulding unit. Safi has no problem in admitting that he was a Congress supporter earlier.

Just about a month after sweeping the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections without a single Muslim candidate, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to have had a change of heart for the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls. The party has given 5 out of 272 tickets to Muslims, less than 2% for a community which makes for 13% of the population.The party had initially nominated Kuwar Rafi from Zakir Nagar, Sartaj Ahmed from Chauhan Banger, Jamal Haider from Abu Fazal Enclave, Rubina Begum from Quraish Nagar, Famudin Safi from Delhi Gate and Sabra Malik from Mustafabad.But a recent directive from the Election Commission rejected nearly 40% of the 4,605 nominations filed for elections to the three municipal corporations on April 23. Haiders application was one of them. Now, the party has extended its support to Gulfam, an independent candidate from Abu Fazal Enclave, whos also the vice-president of the BJP Minority Morcha.According to the 2011 census, Delhi has a population of over 1.67 crore, out of which about 21 lakh are Muslims. Areas such as Seelampur, Seemapuri, Okhla, Matiya Mahal and Ballimaran are home to a large number of Muslims.BJP leaders, however, said they followed only one criteria to decide ticket distribution: Winnability. Speaking to News18, party spokesperson Zafar Islam said, In BJP, there is no concept of quota or percentage representation. The candidate can be from any religion, but should have the highest probability to win from an area for him/her to get a ticket. There was no such face in UP. We advocate the policy of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikass and make no differentiation on the basis of caste, religion or gender.Mohammad Irfan Ahmed, vice president of Delhi BJP Minority Morcha, is confident that the partys anti-minority image has already been busted.Almost 10% Muslim votes helped us win UP; during the last Lok Sabha elections too there were 15-17% Muslim votes. When we appoint someone from Zakir Nagar, we are not looking to address Muslim issues but develop the area at par with other localities of Delhi, says Ahmed.News18 spoke to BJPs Muslim candidates ahead of the MCD polls.Kuwar Rafi, BJPs candidate from Zakir Nagar, joined the party in 2007 as a karyakarta. He went on to hold various senior level positions in the BJP Yuva Morcha and the Delhi BJP Minority Cell. Now the chief of Zakir Nagar BJP Mandal, Rafi has owned a computer shop in Nehru Place since 18 years.Slamming Congress leader and councillor Shoeb Danish, Rafi says that his area is riddled with encroachments, poor sanitation and is a hotbed for diseases. Ask Danish for an answer, he wont have any.Sartaj Ahmed, owner of a metal box manufacturing unit, joined BJP in 2006 as a karyakarta and rose through the ranks as a prominent local leader in Chauhan Banger. He is very impressed with the partys decision to not give tickets to the sitting councilors. I think the new policy of not giving tickets to sitting councilors is not because they were corrupt and not wise, but to give a push to workers at the grassroots level, says Ahmed.Sabra Malik from Mustafabad says she decided to stop being a housewife and joined BJP in 2000 because the Congress did no development work. A member of the partys social workers division, she has worked with various subsidiary organisations of the Delhi BJP Minority Morcha.Mustafabad is notorious for having illegal workshops where denims are washed with acid. The area also suffers from sewage issues and disease outbreaks.Malik says her plan to solve local problems is different from others. The root cause of the problem is that there are no trees in the area. We will start a tree plantation drive and also simultaneously work on issues of use of acid for washing clothes, says Malik. Malik explains the alliance between the Ansaris, the Maliks, the Sepis and the Quraishis is enough for her to win by a margin of 10,000 votes.Rubina Begum from Quresh Nagar is the only exception the BJP has made to its policy of not giving tickets to sitting councillors or their family members. Married to a businessman, 52-year-old Rubina, a 12th passout, is the daughter of Hoor Bano, BJPs sitting councillor from Quresh Nagar, and sister of Imran Ismail, who was a councillor between 2007 and 2012.I think triple talaq should be reformed and Muslim women are very positive about this development. The laws must be in tandem with the developing country that we live in and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) must take this into account.As far as the ban on cow slaughter goes, it is an imperative move. Yogi Adityanaths recent ban on illegal slaughterhouses also works well.""Triple talaq is a matter of religion and religious laws. I think rather than the government interfering, AIMPLB would be the most well equipped body to regulate in this area.Regarding the crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses, I feel anything illegal should be banned and if there needs to be a national law banning cow slaughter, then it must be in accordance with the Constitution of India. There is nothing above the constitution, not even religion.""I wholeheartedly support the Prime Ministers stand on triple talaq. This needs to be banned and ended forever. A girl leaves her parents, family and friends for a man, who has the power to disown her at any point. Where will she go?I also support the stand to have a national law banning cow slaughter, provided it is a legal enactment. The crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses in UP is a great way forward."Triple talaq is not a religious issue. Religious practices do not differ in Islam, like Namaz or reading the Quran. Talaq is different across countries, and must not be allowed. I am also for a national law on cow slaughter.In my area, I have made it clear to all those in the meat trade that only those with permits would be allowed to run their business.The issue of triple talaq and beef ban are national issues. The MCD elections deals with local problems. Issuing a statement on such issues will not yield any result.
New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar on Thursday met Congress President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi and is learnt to have advocated unity among opposition parties to take on the BJP-led NDA.



JD(U) also used the meeting to call for a joint opposition candidate for the election to the President's post and urged Gandhi to take the lead in the matter.



Its spokesperson K C Tyagi, however, insisted that the issue of presidential election was not discussed in the meeting and added it was his party's view that a strong joint opposition candidate will be in national interest.



"There should a joint opposition candidate for the top Constitutional post and Sonia Gandhi being the leader of the largest opposition party should take the lead," he said.



Kumar has already taken up the matter with leaders of the Left parties and received a good response, he said.



Another senior JD(U) leader said Kumar's visit to Gandhi's residence was a courtesy call as the Congress is the party's ally in Bihar and also because Gandhi had been ill for some time.



"He did speak about the need for unity among opposition parties," he added.



Kumar has been calling for forging an alliance of secular parties at the national level on the lines of the 2015 electoral grand alliance or 'Mahagathbandhan' in Bihar to take on the BJP-led NDA under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.



The Congress is a partner in the Bihar government with Kumar's JD-U and Lalu Prasad's RJD, after the three parties contested and won the assembly elections as part of the grand alliance.
Bilaspur: Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday termed "historic" the ruling of the Supreme Court restoring criminal conspiracy charge against top BJP leaders in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case.



"Today's Supreme Court verdict is historic. I hope that justice will be expedited now after 25 years," Sibal told reporters.



In a major ruling, the apex court on Wednesday allowed the CBI's plea in the Babri Masjid demolition case and restored criminal conspiracy charges against L K Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti.



On the occasion, Sibal targeted Narendra Modi government for "not fulfilling" the promises made to people.



"The PM had said his government will do in 60 days what the Congress failed to do in the last 60 years. However, on Wednesday situation is that farmers are committing suicide, industries are closing down...There is unrest in Kashmir," he said.



Holding the PM "responsible" for the Kashmir unrest, the former Union minister said the BJP-PDP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir is proving to be an "historic blunder".



He accused the Raman Singh government of Chhattisgarh of "exploiting farmers and tribals under its rule".



"More than 11,000 tribal girls have gone missing in all these years. There have been scams and injustice on health front in the state," Sibal said.



He alleged that the chief minister didn't keep his word on the Minimum Support Price to farmers.



On Union Government's decision to clear Rs 3,174 crore for purchasing a total of 16,15,000 VVPAT machines to cover all polling stations, Sibal said he was hopeful that paper trail machines will be put to use in the next elections.


Burari is less than 10 kilometres from the upscale neighbourhoods of Pitampura and Rohini, and just 25 kilometres from the Chief Ministers office. Burari is home to migrants from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, referred to as the Purvanchalis, who come to Delhi in search of employment.

We are aware that there are problems of sewerage, sanitation and poor roads, but the fact that you reached my office shows that roads have been built. Since most of the colonies here are unauthorised, there are legal issues involved. We couldnt force the contractors to hurry up the work as there were a number of holidays in between. After the municipal elections, we will speed up the work, says Jha.

Sheila Dixit never came here, nor did Arvind Kejriwal. Anyone who could afford has left and shifted to better places. During rains, we cant even step out to buy the essentials. The air is so contaminated that its difficult to breathe, says Manoj Srivastava, a resident of West Sant Nagar. I think BJP would be better as they are a mighty power now, adds Srivastava.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has promised to make the city look like London within a year if his party wins the April 23 municipal polls. But as of today, Burari, a constituency in north Delhi, looks more like Pakistans Rawalpindi, ranked the filthiest city in the world.And one gets a sense of it even before visiting Burari  on Municipal Corporation of Delhi website, Burari stands out as a constituency with the highest number of civic complaints. Some residents define life in Burari as a nightmare during monsoon, others complain of missing roads and filth lying all around.Most people live here in unauthorised colonies, ghettos where houses are built without paying taxes and following government norms. Usually, in such areas, migrants start living in makeshift structures without any civic infrastructure. And over the years, houses are built haphazardly in violation of law, but often under the patronage of powerful politicians and authorities.Anuradha Gupta, 42, a resident of Ajit Vihar in Burari suffers from partial paralysis, which renders her incapable of moving around. Because she cant close the door every time someone leaves, mud and sewage often enters her house. What happens during monsoon can only be described as inhuman. I just pray it does not rain, says the mother of two kids.Gupta, who has been a resident of the area since childhood, says the only thing that changes here are posters of political parties during elections. I cannot speak about roads when there arent any. I often have to visit a doctor who is just a kilometre away, but I need to plan the trip a day in advance. There are dangerous potholes which turn deadly even with a splash of rain. No cars come here. And cyclists often end up falling and hurting themselves, adds Gupta. Whenever it rains, her children have to bunk their school as the pathway to her house gets flooded with sewage.Ajit Vihar is not the only place in Burari which has remained neglected despite the changes in government. In the last Assembly election, Aam Aadmi Partys Sanjeev Jha, a Purvanchali, won from this seat as the migrant population decided to move beyond their traditional affiliations to the Congress. But little has changed since then.Jha, however, blames the mess that he inherited for the poor state of affairs and claims that the AAP government has spent over Rs 700 crore for the areas development in the last two years. When asked for details, Jha says developmental projects include expansion of a 200-bed hospital into an 800-bed one, construction of 400 study rooms in government schools, construction of roads and cleaning of drainages.While Jha claims to be confident of voters support, Bharatiya Janata Party has aggressively made inroads here even as the Congress is pushing to revive the old connect.But the residents of Burari are largely unimpressed as every election politicians knock their doors with lofty promises. In Nathupura, an area mostly dominated by daily wagers and contract labourers, every monsoon leads to outbreak of deadly diseases like dengue, malaria and Chikungunya at epidemic proportions.The municipalitys garbage collection vans never come here and we end up dumping it in the vicinity. Whenever it rains, the garbage flows into our homes. Last year, during the Chikungunya outbreak, we were the worst affected but vaccines and medicines never reached us, says Astha, a 19-year-old labourer from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh, who supports a family of three.Nearby Sant Nagar has similar complaints. Raju Pandey, a tailor, has been stitching clothes with his hands since morning as there is no power. Half the times I am unable to take orders as the electronic machine is of little use because of frequent power cuts, says Pandey.He is soon joined by another resident who says, Our area is not a part of Delhi.But AAPs Jha has his own theory on this. By not nominating any of its past councillors, the BJP has admitted that they have robbed the municipal corporation over the last decade Our face is Arvind Kejriwal, people will vote for his policies, he says.Not very far from this debate, an auto rickshaw decorated with BJP flags parks near Anuradhas house, with loud noise beaming from the loudspeakers mounted on the top: Har ghar bhagwa chhayega, Ram Rajya hi aayega (Every home will turn Saffron, the rule of Lord Ram will be there.
Chennai: The stalemate in Tamil Nadu's ruling party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, continues to hold the state in suspense with the faction led by former chief minister O Panneerselvam (OPS) toughening its stand on a merger between his faction and the one led by current CM Edapadi K Palaniswami (EPS).



The turf war for control over the party now boils down to two things -- who needs who more and how do they save the party symbol?



The OPS camp says it is on firmer ground on this issue: claiming that his camp has been able to garner over 19000 relevant affidavits the have been submitted to the Election Commission over the battle for the party symbol.



"They (EPS) want to hold talks and they want us more than we do. We are not keen on merger. They wanted a merger to ensure they don't lose the Election Commission decision on the symbol. We have filed over 19000 affidavits when they have filed only 1000," asserts former minister and MLA in the OPS camp 'MaFoi' K Pandiarajan.



The fight then goes down to who gets the control of the party. Former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami says the Commission would go by different parameters like letters of support from party and from elected representatives before deciding on the symbol.



"The General Secretary of the party must be elected by its 1.5 crores members. Now if a GS is elected illegally that GS is illegal. Then you wonder who runs the party? That also, when the regularly elected GS was there, she had appointed the presidium chairman (E Madhusudhanan, who supports OPS), and the treasurer (OPS himself, at that time). They can tell the EC, pass direction that we hold elect a GS as per party by-laws, we will do it," says Gopalaswami.



Either way, whether it's party support or election of a GS, OPS stands to gain.



So he is placed at an advantage to take control over the party, if the merger talks fail. This, however, does not mean he can topple the government.



"He can be GS and have the two-leaves symbol. But rightly or wrongly, there is a CM. He and other MLAs were elected on the AIADMK symbol. Even if OPS expels him and all MLas from the party, they can call themselves a new name and run the government. The rights over the two-leaves symbol will only help in the next election," says Gopalaswami.



The position of an MLA will not be disturbed by the verdict of the EC. But there are more elections to be faced in the coming months, be it local body polls or the RK Nagar seat itself that J Jayalalithaa once ruled over.



The OPS camp's demands - that the merger talks can only start if it's core demands on a CBI probe into Jaya's death and the Sasikala family's ouster from party affairs be formalised - - is thus more power play. They have an upper hand and are trying to see how much they can push forth on this.



"We never talked about the CM or GS post. Why do EPS' supporters keep harping on that? We have only said the starting point to our talks is the demands we placed," says KP Muniswamy, an OPS supporter.



They are also suspicious of the overtures of friendship by the EPS faction, saying their statements are very confusing.



The EPS camp merely responded to this by saying they would order a probe into Jaya's death after the court decides.



"We have no conditions, we're ready to hold talks and have formed a committee to do that y with Team OPS, " is all one MLA would say.



Minister D jayakumar also told the media that the Sasikala family has" been completely delinked" and this issue would not be discussed.



TTV Dinakaran, the now-expelled deputy general secretary, is out of the picture now, conceding defeat by saying "if MLAs had asked him, he would have resigned himself." obviously, with barely nine mlas landing at his house to support him, he realized he could neither topple the government nor sway the party.



But the EPS-OPS pressure games have just begun. The tussle for the CM post has been unsaid, but lies just below the surface.
After the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+, rival LG is now gearing up to launch its flagship LG G6 in India. The company will hold its launch event on March 24 in New Delhi. The LG G6 is already up for pre-orders in the country. Buyers are not required to pay any deposit amount for the same.The LG G6 comes with a price tag of KRW 899,800 in South Korea, which roughly translates to Rs 51,200. With the launch of S8 for a price of Rs 57,900, it would be interesting to see if the LG G6 is priced under Rs 55,000.The LG G6 was globally unveiled at MWC 2017 in February. The LG G6 comes with a 5.7-inch QHD+ (2,880 x 1,440 resolution) FullVision display, and for the first time ever in a smartphone, an 18:9 screen aspect ratio.In a G6 Game Collection promotion for G6 buyers, in-game content with a retail value of up to a total of US$200 for six games  Temple Run 2, Spider-Man Unlimited, Crossy Road, SimCity BuildIt, Cookie Jam and Genies & Gems  on Google Play, are offered for free.The LG G6 comes with dual 13MP rear cameras, including a 125-degree lens on the wide angle. The G6 also comes with an expanded 100-degree field of view with its 5MP front camera.The LG G6 is IP68 water and dust resistance that makes it safe to be immersed in up to 1.5 meters of water for as long as 30 minutes. The LG G6 has Google Assistant built-in.Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Processor5.7-inch 18:9 QHD+ FullVision Display (2880 x 1440 / 564ppi)4GB LPDDR4 RAM / 32GB or 64GB UFS 2.0 ROM / MicroSD (up to 2TB)13MP Wide (F2.4 / 125) / 13MP Standard OIS 2.0 (F1.8 / 71) Rear Camera5MP Wide (F2.2 / 100) Front Camera3,300mAh (embedded) batteryAndroid 7.0 Nougat OSSize: 148.9 x 71.9 x 7.9mmWeight: 163gNetwork: LTE-A 3 Band CAConnectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac / Bluetooth 4.2 BLE / NFC / USB Type-C 2.0 (3.1 compatible)Colours: Astro Black / Ice Platinum / Mystic WhiteOther features: Water and Dust Resistant / Fingerprint Sensor / UX 6.0 / Dolby Vision / HDR10 / Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 / 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC
#tara #buddha #buddhism #landscape #landscapephotography #bhutan #bhutandiaries #nikon #nikonphotography A post shared by Akash Mishra (@akashmishra2323) on Apr 19, 2017 at 11:08pm PDT

A Hymalayan old lady #memorial #chorten #lady #thimphu #bhutan #mountains #lovenature #lovetraveling #photography A post shared by Janny Huynh (@janny.huynh) on Apr 20, 2017 at 12:40am PDT

A South Asian country, Bhutan shares its borders with China in the north and with India in the eastern, western and southern sides. Lying at the eastern end of the Himalayas, the 'Kingdom of Bhutan' is the perfect abode if you are looking for peace and fresh air.Here are 10 reasons why you should visit Bhutan once:Buddhism is a religion to about 300 million people around the world. More than two-third of the Bhutanese citizens follow Vajrayana Buddhism (also the state religion) and around one-third follow Hinduism, which is the second most dominant religion in Bhutan. People from all over the world come to visit the Bhutanese monasteries.While you travel through Bhutan you will find steep and high mountains crisscrossing by networks of swift rivers. The extra-ordinary geographical diversity and the diverse climate conditions play an important in contributing to Bhutan's outstanding range of biodiversity and ecosystems, which are worth seeing.Bhutan experiences five prominent seasons namely summer, monsoon, autumn, winter and spring. The western part of Bhutan experiences heavier monsoon rains whereas the southern part undergoes hot humid summers and cool winters and the central and eastern Bhutan remain temperate and drier than the west with warm summers and cool winters. Bhutan hence gives the flexibility for you to choose the location and the time of the year to visit, depending upon the preferable climatic conditions.Thimpu has one of the largest statues of Buddha made of bronze and gilded in gold towering over Thimpu in Bhutan and the National Memorial Chorten nearby, where Buddhists circle clockwise while reciting prayers and whirling prayer wheels. The there is the Tigers Nest (Taktsang), which is a beautiful monastery located in the cliff-side of the upper Paro valley, in Bhutan. Punakha Dzong, Zuri Dzong Hike, Gangtey Valley and Bumthang Valley are some other breathtaking destinations in BhutaEma datshi, the national dish of Bhutanese is a very spicy dish made with cheese and chilies and take great pride in it and you must try it too. The people also take great pride in asserting that Bhutan is the first country in the world to have banned the sale of tobacco under its Tobacco Act of 2010, hence you can ensure clean and fresh air.Bhutanese tradition is deeply steeped in its Buddhist heritage, be it the dress (The national dress for Bhutanese men, Kho and for women Kira), the language (Bhutanese or Dzongkha), the cultural activities (including masked dances, dance dramas accompanied by traditional music at festivals) or its national sport archery, which you may have a feel of when you visit Bhutan. Also, you may get to see a convention in Bhutanese families where inheritance is generally passed through the females rather than the males i.e. the daughters inherit their parents' house and the man is expected to make his own way in the world and is asked to move to his wife's home. Another distinct feature includes polygamy. Though rare, it is accepted in order to keep property in a contained family unit rather than dispersing it.Bhutan made the transition from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy and held its first general election in 2008. The current king is Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck who wed Jetsun Pema on 13 October 2011. And it may come to you as a surprise that spotting/meeting the King of Bhutan is not as difficult as you may think.Paro Airport is the only international airport in Bhutan. And though Bhutan did not have any railways earlier, it has entered into an agreement with India to link southern Bhutan to India's vast network. Coming to the connectivity through road, the Lateral Road acts as Bhutan's primary eastwest corridor, connecting Phuentsholing in the southwest to Trashigang in the east and also conncets the capital Thimphu to other major population centres such as Paro and Punakha.Bhutan's currency is the ngultrum. Its value is fixed to the Indian rupee, which is also accepted as legal tender in the country. Though Bhutan's economy is one of the smallest economies of the world, it has grown rapidly in recent years. Agriculture used to be more instrumental in managing the economy earlier than now Bhutan established itself as the first country in the world, with 100 percent organic farming, which is creditable.Hand-woven textiles, Yatras or Yethras (colorful strips of wool cloth, dyed with natural colors, which are used to create blankets, jackets, bags and carpets, specially those produced in Jakar, Bumthang), Buddhist paintings (usually made of cloth), stamps (as Bhutan is said to be the "philatelist paradise") with detailed images, bright and lively colors and with a high numismatic value, Dzi stones, brass statues of various Buddhas, saints, Vajra bells, Dorje bells used for religious rituals, cymbals, Bhutanese violins, Tibetan trumpets and prayer wheels (which are a popular choice amongst the tourists) are the various souvenirs that you may pick up from the markets of Bhutan.
The clock tower over the Trump hotel in Washington has quietly reopened for tours after a three-year renovation.



The tower offers an unparalleled bird's eye view of the city from 285 feet up that includes the Washington Monument, the Capitol dome, the green lawn of the National Mall and more.



Part of the Old Post Office, the landmarked 1899 building had fallen into disrepair when the Trump Organization won a bid in 2014 to turn it into a luxury hotel. The Trump International Hotel opened last fall shortly before Donald Trump was elected president.



The tower and tours are operated by the National Park Service. NPS spokesman Michael Litterst said the General Services Administration, which owns the property, wanted a "soft opening" for the Feb. 9 relaunch.



For now, the tower is only open Thursday to Sunday but it's expected to resume daily tours in mid-June after additional staff is hired, Litterst said.



Despite the lack of publicity and four-day-a-week schedule, the tower hosted more than 10,000 people through the end of March. Capacity for the observation deck is limited to 24 people, so it's not unusual for visitors to wait.



The clock tower currently offers the highest public vantage point for viewing Washington. The Washington Monument is taller, but its observation area is closed while that building undergoes renovations that won't be complete until 2019.



The glass elevator that takes clock tower visitors up also offers a view of the hotel's elegant lobby with its chandeliers, marble floors and glass atrium.



The tower entrance is next to a Starbucks around the block from the hotel entrance with no direct access between the tower and the lobby. But it's not unusual to see confused tourists wander into the lobby looking for the clock tower. Hotel spokeswoman Patricia Tang said clock tower visitors also often come in for a bite to eat or something to drink at the lobby bar or restaurant. "There have been a number of guests requesting information on the hotel for future stays as well," she said.



Trump's son Donald Jr., an executive with the Trump Organization, told The Associated Press during a tour of the hotel last fall that he welcomed the tower reopening and the additional business it might bring.



A ground-floor exhibit of maps and old photos on the way to the observation room describes the history of the neighborhood and the building, which was designed as headquarters for the U.S. Post Office but later housed other government offices and a food court.



One panel notes that the enormous flag that hangs in the lobby is tied to a tradition begun by postal workers on June 14, 1908, when they sang the "Star-Spangled Banner" in front of a flag. The tradition, the display says, evolved into the annual June 14th observance of Flag Day. "Coincidentally, June 14th is also the birthday of the hotel's developer, Donald J. Trump," the panel says.



Opposite the wall where the historic information is offered, several text panels describe the hotel, including one titled, "Where history meets luxury."



The Old Post Office occupies an entire city block on the north side of the Federal Triangle between the Capitol and the White House. Its address, 1201 Pennsylvania Ave., is just blocks from the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Its grand stone exterior is festooned with arches and carvings. Metalwork that was part of the original mail-sorting equipment crisscrosses the hotel lobby ceiling beneath the massive skylight.



The clock tower also houses 10 bells that were added in 1983, a gift from a British foundation marking 200 years of friendship between America and England.



The Washington Ringing Society recently resumed Thursday evening rehearsals, and the bell-ringing is audible from streets around the hotel. The bells are formally rung to mark national holidays and at the opening and closing of Congress. Tower visitors can see the colorful ropes the bell-ringers pull to sound the bells but not the bells themselves, though plans are in the works to open a viewing area for the bells as well.



After the election, the legality of the Trump Organization's lease on the Old Post Office was questioned because the lease expressly barred federal officials from participating in the project. But Trump says he has transferred control of his business empire to his adult children, and in March the General Services Administration ruled that the hotel was in "full compliance" with the rules.
PM Sharif will not step down pending this inquiry. There is nothing incriminating against the PM and the JIT will not find anything against him, said Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, chairman of PML-N.

In a 3-2 split verdict that had two dissenting notes, Pakistans Supreme Court on Thursday ordered further probe into the Panama Papers case against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.The court has ordered the setting up of a joint investigation team in seven days which has to submit its final report in two months.The court also ordered Sharif and his two sons  Hasan and Hussain  to appear before the JIT, which would consist of officials from the Federal Investigation Agency, the National Accountability Bureau, the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the Military Intelligence (MI). The JIT will present its report before the bench after every two weeks.The five-judge bench comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan issued the landmark judgment 57 days after concluding the hearing.The case was launched on November 3 and the court held 35 hearings before concluding the proceedings on February 23. The case is about alleged money laundering by Sharif in 1990s when he twice served as Prime Minister to purchase assets in London.The assets surfaced when Panama papers last year showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif's children.The case in the Supreme Court was based on several identical petitions by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and others about alleged illegal assets of the Prime Minister Sharif's family in London.According to the judgment, Sharif, 67, survived as majority three judges supported the setting up of JIT to further probe the allegations while two other judges wanted to disqualify the Prime Minister.The court also ordered that it was important to probe how money was transferred to Qatar.The five bench also criticised the NAB Chairman who failed to carry out his duty. It said that he was unwilling to perform his duties.It also said DG Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) failed to probe white collar crimes.Sharif's supporters hailed the decisions as a victory of justice."We have been vindicated as Prime Minister had last year asked to set up a probe commission to investigate Panama leaks scandal," said Khawaja Asif, defence minister and close ally of Prime Minister Sharif.Earlier, the area around the Supreme Court, located in Islamabad's Red Zone, was put on 'red alert', with around 1,500 police, Rangers and Frontier Constabulary personnel deployed for security and maintaining peace.(With PTI inputs)
Seoul: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States was looking at ways to pressure North Korea over its nuclear programme as North Korean state media warned the Americans of a "super-mighty preemptive strike", saying don't "mess with us".



US President Donald Trump has taken a hard line with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has rebuffed admonitions from sole major ally China and proceeded with nuclear and missile programmes in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.



Reclusive North Korea regularly threatens to destroy Japan, South Korea and the United States and has shown no let-up in its belligerence after a failed missile test on Sunday, a day after putting on a huge display of missiles at a parade in Pyongyang.



"We're reviewing all the status of North Korea, both in terms of state sponsorship of terrorism as well as the other ways in which we can bring pressure on the regime in Pyongyang to re-engage with us, but re-engage with us on a different footing than past talks have been held," Tillerson told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.



US Vice President Mike Pence, on a tour of Asian allies, has said repeatedly the "era of strategic patience" with North Korea is over.



US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, on a visit to London, said the military option must be part of the pressure brought to bear.



"Allowing this dictator to have that kind of power is not something that civilised nations can allow to happen," he said in reference to Kim.



Ryan said he was encouraged by the results of efforts to work with China to reduce tensions, but that it was unacceptable North Korea might be able to strike allies with nuclear weapons.



North and South Korea are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.



ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM



South Korea's acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, at a meeting with top officials on Thursday, repeatedly called for the military and security ministries to maintain vigilance.



South Korean presidential candidates clashed on Wednesday night in a TV debate over the planned U.S.-supplied Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system which has angered China, with frontrunner Moon Jae-in criticised for leaving his options open.



Hwang and Pence on Monday reaffirmed their plans to go ahead with the THAAD, but the decision will be up to the next Korean president. For its part, China says the system's powerful radar is a threat to its security.



The North has warned of a nuclear strike against the United States if provoked. It has said it has developed a missile that can strike the mainland United States, but officials and experts believe it is some time away from mastering the necessary technology, including miniaturising a nuclear warhead.



The United States and Russia clashed on Wednesday at the United Nations over a U.S.-drafted Security Council statement to condemn North Korea's latest failed ballistic missile test, to which diplomats said China had agreed.



Such statements by the 15-member council have to be agreed by consensus.



Previous statements denouncing earlier missile launches "welcomed efforts by council members, as well as other states, to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive solution through dialogue". The latest draft statement dropped "through dialogue" and Russia requested it be included again.



"When we requested to restore the agreed language that was of political importance and expressed commitment to continue to work on the draft ... the U.S. delegation without providing any explanations cancelled the work on the draft," the Russian U.N. mission said in a statement.



There has been some confusion over the whereabouts of a U.S. aircraft carrier group after Trump said last week that he had sent an "armada" as a warning to North Korea even as the ships were still far from Korean waters.



The U.S. military's Pacific Command explained that the USS Carl Vinson strike group first had to complete a shorter-than-initially planned period of training with Australia. But it was now heading for the Western Pacific as ordered, it said.



North Korea did not refer to the mix-up but said the United States and its allies "should not mess with us".



The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, did not mince its words in a commentary, saying North Korea was fully prepared for any U.S. attack.



"In the case of our super-mighty preemptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only U.S. imperialists' invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the U.S. mainland and reduce them to ashes."
Instead of keeping their projects, art students at Heritage High School are mailing off some of their work to children they have never met.

As part of The Memory Project, the students are joining forces with other art students across the country to produce portraits of refugees and orphans from around the world and then mailing the portraits to the children as gifts.

Since November, Heritage students have completed 27 portraits for Syrian refugees and Tanzanian orphans. Once schools elect to participate, they are sent packets of childrens photos from various countries for students to complete portraits of.

Its based on the belief that these children dont really have the hundreds of photographs that American parents take of our children, Heritage Art Teacher Jon Roark said. [The project] gets our children thinking about people outside of their own country, it gives them practice with portraiture and it gives you a really nice feeling when youre finished.

After being assigned a packet with a childs photo, the students scan it onto a grid that helps them make the portrait as accurate as possible. Then they can complete it in any medium they choose, such as watercolor, charcoal or simple pencil.

Many of these kids, this was their first time doing portraiture, Roark said. I helped them through it, and a lot of them really surprised me and themselves.

For her portrait of a boy from Tanzania, senior Lindsey Davis researched patterns and colors from the country to spruce up the background to make it more special.

A lot of these kids feel abandoned by their country and they were just pushed into their refugee camps and they feel like people dont know who they are, so by putting [in] time studying their face and knowing what theyre about, hopefully it makes them feel less alone in the world, Davis said.

Based in Wisconsin, The Memory Project has mailed more than 100,000 portraits overseas to children in 43 different countries since the nonprofit began in 2004, according to its website.

Although every student originally was supposed to do one portrait, some students clamored to complete a second one to try out a different medium and practice their technique. By the end of the year, the 25 students working on the project will have completed 40 portraits to send off.

Senior student Janalyn Blankenship said her favorite part is creating art for people who might appreciate it so much more than people in the United States.

It means a lot to know someone out there can look at our art and appreciate it in a different way than we do here because we already have everything, she said.

Although Heritage participated in the project a few years ago and made 40 portraits for children in Sierra Leone, Guatemala and Honduras, Roark said they decided to hold off on immediately continuing to participate in The Memory Project to focus on other art projects. He decided to jump back into the portraits this school year due to the timeliness of the Syrian refugee crisis.

I can teach them how to hold a pencil and how to make a mark on paper, but I cant make them feel, he said. This project allows them to feel for someone else, and I think that empathy is a huge part of growing up and being an adult.
RICHMOND  The Virginia Supreme Court heard two cases Wednesday challenging a controversial state law that allows surveyors to enter private property without the owners consent to study their land for a possible natural gas pipeline route.

The law has stirred fierce opposition along the routes in Virginia of two separate but similar interstate pipeline projects: the Mountain Valley Pipeline and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Each project would build and bury a steel pipeline that would transport natural gas at high pressure.

Both of the cases heard Wednesday stemmed from appeals of earlier circuit court decisions  one in Augusta County and one in Buckingham County  along the route of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

Foes of the law and the pipelines contend that the survey statute violates constitutional protections of private property and fails to clearly spell out how landowners should be informed about when surveyors will be on their property.

The pipeline companies and the state counter that the law is constitutional and similar to right-of-entry laws in all 50 states.

One case argued Wednesday focused on constitutional issues raised by the lawyer for an 83-year-old widow in Augusta County who initially resisted the Atlantic Coast Pipelines efforts to survey her property, which has been in her family since 1880.

In that case, Henry Howell argued  or attempted to argue  that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a Delaware limited liability corporation, is a foreign corporation and thus not entitled to protection from trespass laws granted by the survey statute.

The other case centered on controversy about how notice was given in 2015 to Buckingham County landowners about when surveyors would be on their property. Isak Howell, a Roanoke-based lawyer for Appalachian Mountain Advocates, represented several landowners in the appeal of a circuit court case that found the notice provided by the company was adequate.

The justices did not rule Wednesday on either case. Their questions and comments gave no indication they agree that the survey law violates the state constitution. Separately, at least one justice found fault with how Atlantic Coast Pipeline had notified landowners about when surveyors would be on their property.

The two projects need approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission before construction can begin. FERC plans to release in June separate final environmental impact statements for the two pipelines. If FERC approves the projects, they will have access to eminent domain to acquire easements across private property.

Henry Howells argument ran into problems right away when Justice William Mims observed that he had not sufficiently raised the foreign corporation issue during the initial circuit court trial in Augusta County or in a subsequent court brief.

Separately, Henry Howell and others have alleged that the statute violates the state constitutions limits on the use of eminent domain to take private property except for public use because the surveying without an owners permission represents a taking.

Pipeline foes have argued too that the primary beneficiaries of the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley projects will be stockholders and not the public. The companies have countered that the natural gas transported by the pipelines will serve important markets and emerging needs for natural gas for power generation and manufacturing.

A 2013 amendment to the Virginia Constitution specified that no private property shall be damaged or taken for public use without just compensation.

Justice Arthur Kelsey asked Benjamin Hatch, a lawyer representing the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, whether property owners should be compensated for surveying activities. Hatch responded that surveying is not a taking, a position both Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast have articulated before, noting that surveyors simply visit a property temporarily to collect information about a possible route.

Earlier, during the hearing of the Buckingham County case, Kelsey had asked Hatch why Atlantic Coast continued to assert that proper notice about surveying could be as ambiguous as saying the activity would occur on or after a certain date  a range that essentially allows for infinite possibilities, Kelsey said.

Hatch said Atlantic Coast still believes that language is adequate but had changed both policy and practice to provide more detailed dates.

Ultimately, Isak Howell acknowledged that the revised procedures adopted by Atlantic Coast were reasonable. But he objected to the companys continued refusal to agree that on or after is insufficient notice.

The hearing occurred at a time when most surveying along the pipeline routes has been completed. Aaron Ruby, a spokesman for Atlantic Coast Pipeline, said the company has completed about 98 percent of route surveying. Natalie Cox, a spokeswoman for Mountain Valley Pipeline, said about 97 percent of its centerline surveying is completed.

Carolyn Reilly, a co-owner of a farm in Franklin County that is on the pipelines route, attended Wednesdays court session.

She said afterward that it is sobering that private corporations can run roughshod over property rights and be protected by the government and courts.

This is eminent domain for private gain, she said. How can this be?
ALTAVISTA  Almost two months after a fire destroyed Altavista Appliance, owner Mitch Hailey is looking forward to a grand opening at the business new location at the end of the month.

Firefighters reported to the 600 block of 7th Street in Altavista shortly after 2:21 a.m. March 2 to find the business up in flames and were at the scene fighting the blaze for about six hours. Altavista Volunteer Fire Department Chief John Tucker said at the time winds and renovations to the building made the fire harder to fight.

The building is in ruins and now is surrounded by a chain-link fence. A 2015 assessment valued the development on the property at $260,800, according to Campbell County real estate data. Hailey said the neighboring businesses werent affected much by the fire and only were closed for about a half-day during the incident. He said he had insurance for the business.

Sherry Harding, public information officer for Campbell County, wrote in an email Tuesday the cause of the fire is undetermined. Soon after the blaze, she had stated it was accidental in nature. Hailey said Wednesday he was told the cause of the fire was likely electrical.

Soon after the blaze, he said different Altavista groups came forward to lend him and his business a hand where they could.

The community really came out and showed their support, he said, like the Altavista High School special education class and the Altavista Chamber of Commerce both providing lunches after the fire. Everybody has come together and helped us. Ive had tons of people ask me whatever they can do as far as helping us move in.

It took Hailey and six other workers about a month to turn Altavista Appliances storage warehouse  which was the business original location two blocks down the road from the fire  into a more customer-friendly showroom.

Its a lot of work  we painted, put new lights in, carpet, got new cameras, we did the bathrooms, redid everything, he said.

Even before the new showroom was up and running, Hailey said Altavista Appliance was conducting repairs for customers.

We still did a lot of sales in that month. Even though we were closed, we saw a lot of people come in and wanted to buy, he said. That also was a challenge, since he said the business records also were destroyed in the fire.

Most of his regulars have been able to stop by the new showroom as needed, but Hailey has scheduled a grand opening for April 29, where hell have food and sales really just to get the community knowing that were back in business. In the meantime, he said hes working to build back up a stock of furniture, which he said can be a slow process.

Hailey went from having a showroom of about 9,000 square feet to working with about 3,700 square feet after the fire, roughly fitting half of the former locations stock of appliances and furniture into a third of the space. He said his customers selection wont suffer, despite having lost about $500,000 worth of inventory in the fire.

Were still going to have the same product we had down there; its just going to be smaller  so we cant carry quite as much, he said.

For the moment, Hailey said his plan is to eventually reconstruct something similar to what the fire destroyed, something hes still discussing with insurance agents.

Were going to rebuild it to what works with us best for our business, but its going to be the same structure, the same layout, he said.  Were looking at least a year before we can actually get back in place, he said.
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Music TT host event to show artiste how

MusicTT recently hosted a workshop that showed artistes how they could navigate this space with the collaboration of the World Intellectual Property Office and the Intellectual Property Office of Trinidad and Tobago.

Titled How to Make Money off the Internet, artistes, talent managers, promoters and other music stakeholders who attended were given the tools to capitalise on their art and be handsomely paid for it.

Business Day spoke with invited guest speaker, David Stopps, an international artiste manager for the England based Friars Management Limited.

I got one of my artistes songs in an advertisement in Japan for a Suzuki wagon. This advert was shown three, four times a day for a year on eight commercial stations. By the time the year was up, on the collections side, we got over US$480,000.

Basically, the event was about showing people how to make money off of music, he explained. How you get music into TV productions, film, advertising, video games. The best ways to get out on tour and maximise income from tours. How to promote yourself on social media. Other streams of income, such as publishing, or selling records and streaming. The way things are going, streaming is increasing exponentially.

But the internet can be a double-edged sword. Just as mastering it can reap many rewards for the artiste, it is trickier than it seems. Using the livestreaming of artistes shows without their permission as an example, Stopps showed why the issue is so problematic.

This is the problem with Facebook and Youtube. They are what you call safe habours where they can put anything up, unless they are told to take it down. It is completely wrong. The whole music industry is fighting this internationally, he said.

The thing is, they could be asked to take it down, and they will. But an hour later, its back up there, placed there by somebody else.

Given this, Business Day asked Stopps, how does an artiste monetise his or her art in this environment?

Stopps suggested getting their music up on aggregator services such as Spotify, a music, podcast, and video streaming service. It was developed by startup Spotify AB in Stockholm, Sweden and officially launched in October 2008. While Spotify does not currently serve the region, Stopps said it was still important for artistes to get their music there since people in North American and European markets were buying. The potential for earnings is certainly there. According to Stopps, the average person in the UK spent $21 annually on music services, while in the US, this figure was $15.

Local artiste may say we havent got Spotify, we can ignore it. But they cant. They have to get their music up on Spotify so the rest of the world can buy it and then the money will come back to them.

Stopps also said TT has the required copyright legislation, but enforcement seemed to remain a problem. He suggested enforcement powers for bodies tasked with defending artiste rights in addition to an education programme for the populace.

There should be education to show that music has a value. You cant just share it for free and think things will be fine. If you do, the artiste will suffer.

Stopps also observed that collective management agencies in TT do not seem to be working well.

There is one CMO for publishers and there is one CMO for neighbouring rights, said Stopps, who serves as a director for a CMO for neighbouring rights in England.

He recounted the level of distrust that existed between the two in England until it was realised that neither organisation was actually encroaching on the others turf. He said both organisations combined their licenses into one, so that neither party would approach members of the public asking for payment of two separate music licenses.

He advised that a similar approach be used in TT between the two local bodies.

If the two can work together on public performance licensing for example, that is more efficient and more money will come back to the publishers, authors and record companies. Someone needs to take the bull by the horns and say this is a mess, we need to sort it out.

Stopps said he loves Ultimate Rejects Full Extreme and thought it, and much of soca music had the potential to earn big returns on the international market.

Referring to the Japanese example where close to half a million US dollars was earned from one placement, Stopps said there was no reason why soca music could not do the same.
Chamber head: Embrace the current crisis

Explaining his position, he said, The crisis that is facing Trinidad and Tobago today is no ordinary one. It is not just an economic crisis, but political and social as well  it is multi-dimensional in scope. And it will require a great degree of wisdom and resolve as a people to challenge the status quo and to quite literally reshape our future.

In a sober and realistic way he sought the permission of the audience, to show them what exactly confronts the nation. He said, On the economic front, the fall in gas and oil have decimated the national budget and cut foreign exchange earnings. Tax revenues fell from a peak of $57.2B in 2013/14 to $38.7B estimated for 2016/17 (-31%).

Current expenditure, Hinds continued, for the same period wwas $54.4B and $48.4B. A current account surplus of $2.7B becomes a current account deficit of $9.7B. Public sector debt now stands at $11.9B or 56% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product). We are grappling with declining economic activity, foreign exchange shortages and lowered business confidence.

Moving to the political and governance situation, Hinds said we are witnessing the near collapse of almost every institution of governance and service delivery by the State and he specifically pointed at policing and security, health services, transportation, including the inter-island air and sea bridges, and in nearly every aspect of public service deliver was in crisis.

Speaking to the social issues, he said, This collapse is being increasingly manifested through worsening crime, including increased brutality and violence and crimes against women. This is all side by side with no improvement in detection and prosecution and if we accept the alarming statistics provided in the recent debate on the Indictable Offences Bill, our courts are inadequately equipped to handle the volume of matters that come before it. Add to that a troubled education system struggling with bullying and school violence.

Despite these failures, we have managed to survive, and at times even prosper we are running out of options to postpone resolution of these critical issues.

Using a quote from the American economist Paul Romer A crisis is a terrible thing to waste, he encouraged people to embrace it. As a country, Hinds said, we have failed to transform ourselves because we somehow considered that we had a choice to turn back or not go forward, unless our back is against the wall or as we heard recently, only if the sky was falling in. Well, if we do nothing or simply keep doing what we did before, the sky will fall in. I want to submit that there is an urgent need to change.

In changing the course that we have identified today, we hope to attract the energy of our members and indeed new members to the important task of nation building. This is something that we obviously cannot do alone but neither do we want to. Lets offer ourselves as the first to change and lets look for the others to follow. Thats what leaders do, Hinds end.
Brexit hasnt really begun to bite as yet

May has referred several times to the constraining limits of the slim majority she holds, 17 seats in the 650 seat House of Commons. She assumed office after the sheer momentousness of the vote to Leave made the position of David Cameron, who called the referendum and backed Remain, untenable.

Her political opponents have assailed her for what they see as political opportunism. The Tories are miles ahead of Corbyns Labour in the polls, and this is an opportunity to crush them, they reason. But as a prime minister who was not elected but is overseeing potential upheaval, there is some logic in seeking stronger backing.

The outcome of the Brexit vote last June was a shock to the system. Many of us who hold UK bank accounts, live elsewhere and sometimes have to engage in foreign currency transactions, saw ourselves grow poorer in real time that unforgettable morning after. The Pounds slow, dramatic, interminable tumble caused a pit-ofthe- stomach queasiness, not unlike what we feel when a plane loses altitude quickly and suddenly. The British currency has settled at between TT$8.2 and TT$8.5 to 1, but it hasnt looked close to getting back to the nice round 10 to 1 of a year ago this time.

It had been a calculator-free relationship. No longer. So in that one respect, Brexit has had a significant, settled effect, wiping 15% off the value of the Pound in the 10 months since.

Whats the longer-term outlook? It will hit jobs in the UK, with European companies and non-government offices looking to relocate.

The European Union has got to make the cost of leaving high, to deter other countries which may be similarly inclined. Otherwise its very existence is at stake. There is talk of Britain keeping its trade arrangements, but that appears to be wishful thinking.

The short-term global outlook is much better, according to the most recent Global Economic Conditions Survey. The quarterly survey of global CFOs and finance professionals is conducted by ACCA and IMA (the Institute of Management Accountants).

The cost of doing business has been cited as a concern by nearly half (46%) of firms. Despite this, 22% are planning to create more jobs and raise capital expenditure. Both increased significantly (16% and 14% respectively) in the last quarter of 2016. So the confidence is there.

Faye Chua, head of business insights at ACCA, say theres been a strong start to the year globally despite the potential threats to the world economy -- such as a more inward looking trade policy from the Trump administration, the potential of a Eurozone banking crisis during a key election year across Europe and the UKs triggering of Article 50 to begin the process of leaving the EU.

There are other factors in play.

The prospect of increased government spending as austerity measures come to an end in many developed economies means that short term prospects look bright, Chua says.

Thats especially the case for Germany, the EUs biggest economy.

Says Chua: These are the clearest signs of a synchronised and sustained recovery since 2011, and we can reasonably expect that to continue over the next two quarters. The survey itself notes that some of the main risks to the continent have been receding in recent months. But that could change. One potential issue is Frances presidential elections in May, the report warns, an election that could see the further mainstreaming of Marine Le Pens farright, isolationist National Front.

Yes, there are signs that the global economy is bouncing back after some very tough years.

The IMF is expecting global growth of 3.4% this year, the fastest rate of growth since 2012. However, US President Donald Trump hasnt yet followed through on his threat to dismantle free trade, and serious Article 50 negotiations havent begun.

Perhaps the real effects of Brexit beyond Britain are yet to be properly felt.
Mobile 4G LTE service continues solid growth

Its as much as ten times faster than existing 3G networks, with a significantly reduced transfer latency. Currently, bmobile is the only local provider of 4G LTE which was launched in keeping with the strategy of transforming the organisation into an agile broadband company. TSTTs Vice President of Mobile Services, Chevon Wilson, recently discussed how the company has expanded 4G LTE coverage by 60% since the service was launched in December 2016.

When the service was launched, it was primarily in three geographic areas, Port-of-Spain, San Fernando and some parts of Tobago. Bmobile has since improved that significantly, with LTE coverage extending to major centres along the East-West corridor up to Sangre Grande, as well as Central Trinidad in areas like Chaguanas, Freeport and Couva.

There are considerably more areas in Tobago with coverage and customers in Trinidads east coast and deep south with LTE-enabled pre-paid and post-paid packages can now enjoy superior data speeds in areas such as Mayaro, Point Fortin, Princes Town and Siparia. Wilson noted that the company is continuing to expand for nationwide LTE coverage.

Last December, TSTTs CEO, Dr Ronald Walcott announced a five-year strategic plan, involving a $3.7 billion investment, to transform the company in keeping with the vision to become the standard bearer for the leading edge communication solutions that will enrich the lives of citizens, businesses and visitors. Referring to this, Wilson noted that TSTT has invested in our network, deployed a lot of strategies, all of which are geared towards us being able to, ultimately, become an agile broadband company...

That $3.7 billion covers our entire network, not just mobile services. Were investing to ensure we can meet the demands of customers across our entire network. Wilson sees customer demand being the driving force behind an expected increase in LTE usage across TT in the coming months and years.

The way people use data now, I think the market is going to demand that we go to LTE. So our job is ensuring that we can support that demand. Wilson said the company has already seen rapid growth in data usage but not just because of 4G LTE.

We have done a lot of work on our HSPA+ network as well. The speeds that you get on the H+ network now are much better than in the past.

Even without having LTE, you can now enjoy a better experience streaming music and videos on your smart phone and if you make the upgrade to an LTE SIM, youll get the superior experience that 4G LTE promises. Wilson noted that customers often ask if theres an additional premium to be paid for LTE. The short answer to that is no. All of our pre-paid and post-paid plans have been enhanced for better value. Our new data plans are all LTE-enabled plans, so once youre in an LTE coverage area and you have an LTE SIM card, you can automatically benefit from the faster access as part of your plan so theres no premium price to pay for LTE. bmobile has also worked on negotiating lower rates for roaming with overseas carriers and in many cases secured a reduction in costs for customers of up to 90%.

Weve succeeded in reducing rates in the past year and a half. Since then, weve seen increases in usage because more affordable rates allow customers to do more while abroad, especially for those who dont want to wait until theyre in a Wi-Fi zone, Wilson stated.

Lower rates, faster speeds and more coverage areas makes for great news for smart phone fans who will be able get the most out of their Huawei, iPhone and Samsung devices that are built for giving users very immersive experiences when on the right network.
Panama Canal stories

It is a barely acknowledged history as it was not on the history syllabus during my schooldays and I imagine even less so today.

Most of us are aware of the mass movement of Caribbean people only through family stories, and with regard to Panama fewer TT people travelled there for the work opportunities offered by the canals construction  only 1,427 of the 31,071 West Indian contracted workers were from TT, but that does not include the tens of thousands of not-contracted Caribbean workers.

In the first part of the 1900s, 90,000 Jamaicans and 45,000 Barbadians left their homes to find work, some of them to join the WWI West India Regiment and the banana plantations of Central America, but many ended up comprising two-thirds of the canal- building work force.

West Indians were used to roaming the region to earn a living. Between 1881-89, 84,000 Jamaicans alone left home for work all over the Americas; in the 1850s another previous wave had gone to work on building the railroad in Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras, Colombia.

The very personal stories of some of the people who fetched up in the new country of Panama (having seceded from Colombia) to work on the canal are captured in an affecting film, Panama Canal Stories.

Based on stories handed down through generations, the lives of different families in the complex society that evolved in the canal building zone are recounted by five different directors in a series of linked short films that start in 1913 and end in contemporary Panama.

We get to see how makeshift communities of islanders were established in extremely difficult circumstances in the building zone where black and coloured West Indians were known as silver workers, relegated to second place by the gold workers who were white from anywhere, or black Americans.

We witness the shame and anger of the Panamanian people who are treated as second-class citizens by the US authorities who owned and controlled the canal until 1999.

Inevitably, lives interconnect, there is illicit love and friendship, marriage, the birth of children, joy, but also much disappointment, hurt and death  over 4,500 West Indians died in the construction of the canal, from terrible accidents, yellow fever and malaria, although the unofficial figures suggest a significantly higher number.

In her excellent book Dying to Better Themselves: West Indians and the Building of the Panama Canal, winner of the OCM Bocas Prize for Non-fiction, Olive Senior gives chapter and verse to the lives of the West Indian men and women who built the canal.

Many intended to return home but inevitably many remained, numbering 50,000 in the 1920s, defying several US and Panamanians attempts to expel them.

A total of 22,800 West Indians were finally repatriated to the islands.

Senior shows how the experience of living under US segregation rules, hardship and exposure to radicalised thinking meant that these and other migrant workers brought back new ideas, work methods and political leadership that had profound and lasting effects on the West Indian islands as they challenged the prevailing orthodoxies.

Panama Canal Stories is one of the 27 films screened at this years CineLit: The Latin American and Caribbean Literary Film Festival that runs at UWI till Saturday and continues at the National Library in Port-of-Spain from tomorrow until April 30 as part of the 2017 NGC Bocas Lit Fest (April 26-30).

The overall winner of the seventh OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature will be announced next week S a t u r d a y at a special event during the festival.
Benjai still loves Guyana

In the letter dated April 18, Gideon Mc Master, said since Le Blanc reported the incident, which occurred on April 16 and which caused him serious head injuries, he has not been contacted by the Guyana police.

Le Blanc was hit on the head by a glass object hurled at him by a man in a car park at the club where he had preformed earlier.

He received over 20 stitches for gashes he sustained. He was also reported being threatened with a gun by another man.

Mc Master provided the names of the two men who were involved in the incident along with photographs of them.

We wish to indicate that our client remains willing to assist the Guyana Police Force in any way he can with any proposed and/or ongoing investigations, he said.

Apart from the images, Mc Master said, We are also in possession of a dossier of witness statements which, we believe, might be of assistance to you. He said he will forward them to the police in due course.

Meanwhile, Le Blanc in a message on his Facebook page thanked his fans, friends and well wishers for their support.

Stating that he was sad at what happened, he said, By the grace of the All (sic) I will recover from this. Asking the public not to slander the country because of the actions of two individuals, he said, Guyana I still love you.
DEADLY PLAY

The victims 67-year-old grandmother Marilyn Davis almost collapsed on seeing the body of her grandson Luke Rolle hanging from the tree at 12.15 pm. Minutes before, she saw her grandson screaming in delight as he swung on the rope. According to police, Rolle of No. 4 Circular Drive, Mt Pleasant Road in Claxton Bay was spending the long Easter weekend at the home of his grandmother.

He was supposed to return to his Claxton Bay home on Tuesday afternoon but instead when he was found, he was cut down and rushed to San Fernando General Hospital where Rolle died while receiving treatment. An autopsy was done yesterday at the Forensic Science Centre in St James.

Relatives said the schoolboy did not commit suicide but in a freak accident, his neck became entangled in the rope resulting in his death. They added that Rolle was a brilliant student and there were no domestic issues to warrant him taking his own life.

This is a horrible tragedy which has befallen our family and we never expected this. We will like to let everyone know that Luke would never commit suicide, said a cousin identified only as Vanessa. She said Rolles mother and grandmother were badly affected by his death.

Grandmother Davis said that a year ago, relatives tied the rope around a branch of a samaan tree at the back of her home and her grandson and his cousins used that rope to swing while playing.

She said that on Tuesday, Rolle and two cousins aged ten and were swinging from the rope when the cousins left Rolle to go to a nearby parlour to purchase snacks.

Davis said Rolles mother Elizabeth called asking that her son prepare himself to return home.

As she went to the back of the house to give Rolle the message, she found him hanging.

Davis said that her daughter Elizabeth was inconsolable as she is a very protective mother and was looking forward to her sons return on Tuesday. At Davis house yesterday scores of relatives, teachers and friends of the schoolboy gathered to support the family.

Davis said her grandsons ambition wanted to be a doctor and was extremely committed to his goal.

You could call that child ten times and he would respond everytime, yes grandma, and carry out whatever task you assigned him.

This is too much to bear, I dont know how to cope with this and I dont know why this had to happened to my grandson, Davis said. I just want to clear the air for all who have dirty thoughts, Luke did not commit suicide. He did not have any reason to, he was a sweet, obedient child. The funeral for the Marabella North Secondary school student will take place tomorrow at the house of mourning. Police sources said yesterday that because the autopsy showed cause of death to be inconclusive, they will conduct an in-depth investigation, but at this time, no foul play is suspected.
The Race to Control the

House Comes Down to 5


A 30-year-old man is facing possible charges for allegedly stalking and harassing Malia Obama, the New York Daily News reports. According to NBC New York, Jair Cardoso showed up at the New York City building where the 18-year-old daughter of the former president is interning three days in a row, from April 10 to April 12. Sources say on April 10 Cardoso held up a sign and yelled for Obama to marry him before Secret Service agents told him to leave. Two days later, he was stopped by agents while allegedly following Obama after she left her internship, CBS New York reports.

On April 13, Secret Service agents interviewed Cardoso at his apartment and took him to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Sources say Cardoso is trying to use Obama to get to her father, who he wants to ask for help. Agents believe Cardoso, who they say repeatedly tried to get into the White House in the past, is emotionally disturbed. The Secret Service filed police reports regarding Cardoso's alleged behavior on Tuesday. The NYPD is considering stalking or harassment charges, though none have yet been filed. (Read more Malia Obama stories.)
Rex Tillerson wants Iran to know that the US hasn't forgotten about it amid current difficulties with Syria, Russia, and North Korea. He accused the country of "alarming ongoing provocations" Wednesday, the day after the Trump administration began a government-wide review of Iran policy, Reuters reports. Tillerson called Iran "the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism" and accused it of "intensifying multiple conflicts and undermining US interests in countries such as Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Lebanon," the BBC reports. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis also talked tough on Iran Wednesday, saying Tehran's influence would need to be overcome before the conflict in Yemen would end.

Tillerson did, however, acknowledge that Iran is complying with the 2015 nuclear deal. It's not clear whether President Trump still plans to make good on his promise to scrap or renegotiate the deal, a move that could cost US companies billions, the AP reports. Tillerson did say that the deal "fails to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran," and only "delays their goal of becoming a nuclear state." He warned that the Trump administration has no intention of "passing the buck" on Iran, which he linked to North Korea. "An unchecked Iran has the potential to travel the same path as North Koreaand to take the world along with it," Tillerson said. (Trump warned in February that Iran had been put "on notice.")
The husband of a New York judge found floating in the Hudson River has made an anguished plea to the public to help solve her death. In a statement to NBC News, the Rev. Gregory Jacobs rejected claims his wife, Sheila Abdus-Salaam, the first African-American woman to sit on the state's high court, committed suicide. Abdus-Salaam, 65, was found in the river in Upper Manhattan on April 12, one day after her husband reported her missing, per the Washington Post. She was wearing sweats, and her body showed no signs of trauma. Although police called the death suspicious, they're calling it a probable suicide. Breaking his silence, Jacobs dismissed "unsubstantiated comments concerning my wife's possible mental and emotional state of mind." He added, "Those of us who loved Sheila and knew her well do not believe that these unfounded conclusions have any basis in reality."

The medical examiner has not established a cause of death. The Episcopal minister appealed to "anyone in the neighborhood to step forward with any information that might help us determine what may have happened during those hours before her death." While some friends expressed doubt Abdus-Salaam took her own life, others told the New York Times she was stressed and struggling under the pressure of a heavy caseload. The judge's extended family also countered reports she was the first woman Muslim judge, telling NBC the former Sheila Turner hadn't practiced the religion in 20 years, and used her first husband's name professionally. "We will forever remember witnessing her happiness as she united in marriage to an Episcopal priest last year," they said. (Read more Sheila Abdus-Salaam stories.)
Dow Chemical is pushing the Trump administration to scrap the findings of federal scientists who point to a family of widely used pesticides as harmful to about 1,800 critically threatened or endangered species. Lawyers representing Dow and two other makers of organophosphates sent letters last week to the heads of three Cabinet agencies. The companies asked them "to set aside" the results of government studies that the companies contend are fundamentally flawed. The letters, dated April 13, were obtained by the AP. Dow hired its own scientists to produce a rebuttal to the government studies showing the risks posed to endangered species.

Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris is a close adviser to President Trump, and the company wrote a $1 million check to help underwrite his inaugural festivities. Environmental advocates weren't surprised the companies might seek to forestall new regulations that might hurt their profits, but they said that criticism of the government's scientists was unfounded. Rachelle Schikorra, Dow Chemical's director of public affairs, said the company "actively participates in policymaking and political processes" but that it's "off the mark" to suggest its Trump donation was intended to help influence regulatory decisions. (Environmentalists are suing over a recent decision to reverse a ban on the pesticide chlorpyrifos.)
As demonstrators march across Venezuela to protest President Nicolas Maduro's administration, General Motors is dealing with its own problems in Valencia. The automaker said in a statement Wednesday that its plant there was illegally snatched by public officials and that "other assets," including vehicles, had been swiped from the factory, Reuters reports. The company has nearly 80 dealers in the country, as well as about 2,700 workers, and it says those who are affected by the seizure will now receive "separation payments," per the Detroit Free Press. GM's statement calls the takeover a "total disregard" of its legal rights and says it will battle to defend those rights both "within and outside of Venezuela," CNNMoney reports. Reuters notes it's not the first time Venezuela has appropriated factories located there. (Read more Venezuela stories.)
Richard Gere was once on the Hollywood A-list, with blockbusters such as Pretty Woman, American Gigolo, and An Officer and a Gentleman. Not so much anymore. He's 67 now, but other actors in their 60s are still pulling down mainstream leading roles. So why not Gere? He tells the Hollywood Reporter it's because of his high-profile criticism of China and his public friendship with Tibetan exile the Dalai Lama. "There are definitely movies that I can't be in because the Chinese will say, 'Not with him,'" he says. "I recently had an episode where someone said they could not finance a film with me because it would upset the Chinese." Indeed, THR calls China the "third rail" in Hollywood, generally off-limits to criticism because studios covet lucrative deals and a massive audience.

Gere, however, sounds unfazed by the studio shunning because he's found critical success in the realm of indie movies. Two new ones, Norman and The Dinner, are bringing him some of the best reviews of his career. "I think it ranks right up there with anything he has ever done, and he deservedly won praise for it when it first premiered at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals in September," writes Pete Hammond in Deadline of Gere's turn as a political fixer in Norman. Vanity Fair's take on Gere's interview: If the big studios don't want Gere, he's happily sending the message that the "feeling is mutual." (Click to the read the THR interview, which includes Gere waxing poetic about New York City in the spring.)
David Goodwin has been in prison in Florida for 40 years for his role in the 1977 quadruple homicide known as the "Sandy Creek murders." For 32 of those years, his fiancee has been patiently waiting for his release. The day is finally about to arrive. Goodwin, 70who was on death row until his sentence was changed to life upon appeal in 1981was granted parole Wednesday and will leave Everglades Correctional Institute in Miami on May 2, reports the Tallahassee Democrat. Especially ecstatic is Wanda Pate, 82. Pate, whose daughter is married to Goodwin's younger brother, began exchanging letters with Goodwin several years after his incarceration. She later visited him in prison, where the two fell in love, though she hasn't seen him in six years.

On Jan. 23, 1977, Goodwin was among a group smuggling marijuana onto a Bay County beach; it was part of an FBI sting designed to nab a high-profile drug smuggler, and the agency used an informant to staff the operation. Goodwin was one of those recruits and was there when four witnesses came upon the group. One was immediately shot dead, while the three others, including two teen girls, were tied up and executed more than a hundred miles away, per the Panama City News Herald. Though he didn't pull the trigger, and wasn't near the scene of the later deaths, per WJHG, Goodwin handed over the rope used to bind the victims. (The prosecution alleged he also tied them up.) Goodwin was convicted of first-degree murder for aiding in the killings. Says Pate: "I know he didn't do [the murders] and that's the thing that kept me going with him." (A chance rest-stop meeting led to a family's brutal murder.)
British officials say they've been unable to trace the rightful heirs to a trove of gold coins found stashed inside a piano and worth a "life-changing" amount of money. The school that owns the piano and the tuner who found the gold are now in line for a windfall after a coroner investigating the find declared it treasure. But a couple who owned the piano for three decades before donating it to their local school will likely miss out. Coroner John Ellery said Thursday that, despite a thorough investigation and a public appeal for information, "we simply do not know" who concealed the coins, discovered last year when the piano was sent for tuning in Shropshire, central England, reports the AP.

Under the keyboardneatly stacked in hand-stitched packages and poucheswere 913 gold sovereigns and half-sovereigns minted in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The 13-pound hoard has not been formally valued. But Peter Reavill of the British Museum has said the trove is worth a "potentially life-changing" amount. Revenue from items declared "treasure" is generally split between the ownerin this case, the Bishops Castle Community Collegeand the finder, piano tuner Martin Backhouse. The piano was owned for 33 years by Graham and Meg Hemmings, who donated it last year to the school near their home. Investigators had determined the piano was built in London in 1906 and sold to a pair of piano teachers in Saffron Walden, eastern England, but the trail ostensibly went cold after that. (Read more treasure stories.)
I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the president of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and constitutional power, CNN quotes Jeff Sessons as saying in a radio interview this week. The attorney general was discussing President Trump's second travel ban, which Derrick Watson, a judge in Hawaii, halted by ruling against.

Sessions was quickly called out for the comment, Politico reports. Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono says the island "has been the 50th state for going on 58 years" and "won't succumb to your dog whistle politics." Chelsea Clinton points out that "an American in Hawaii is as American as one from Alabama." And a former Justice Department spokesperson calls the comment an "extraordinary attack on a federal judge's right to do his job." The Washington Post reiterates that Watson is a federal judge, not a Hawaiian judge. It also adds Hawaii receives many international travelers and is affected by the travel ban just like the mainland US. The Justice Department issued a statement defending Sessions, arguing it's factual to call Hawaii a Pacific island, adding that it's a "beautiful" island to boot. (Read more Jeff Sessions stories.)
One officer was killed and two others seriously wounded when a man opened fire on a police van Thursday night in Paris, the AP reports. According to Reuters, a government source says the officers were specifically targeted in the attack on the Champs-Elysees. A witness describes the gunman firing multiple shots with a machine gun, and a government spokesperson calls the gun used a "war weapon." The gunman was shot and killed as he attempted to run away, the Telegraph reports. While a interior ministry spokesperson says it's too early to say if the shooting was a terror attack, prosecutors have opened a terror investigation, and French President Francois Hollande is "convinced the motive is likely to be terrorism." The Islamic State is reportedly claiming responsibility.

The apparent name of the shooter was known to security services. An arrest warrant has reportedly been issued for a second suspect. Early reports of a second officer dying, as well as reports of a second shooting, were incorrect. ABC News reports President Trump responded to the news of the shooting with condolences for France. "What can you say? It just never ends," the president said. France was already on high alert with police reportedly stopping a planned terror attack on Tuesday and the start of the presidential election just days away. The shooting bore some similarity to attacks on soldiers guarding the Louvre in February and Orly airport last month. (Read more Paris stories.)
China is seriously concerned about nuclear threats after North Korea said they would test missiles regularly

Beijing : China is seriously concerned about nuclear threats after North Korea said they would test missiles regularly and warned of a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the US in case they suspected an attack.

According to a report in the BBC on Wednesday, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that they opposed words or actions that could further raise tension.

Tensions have been escalating on the peninsula, with heated rhetoric from both North Korea and the US.

North Korea has accelerated its nuclear and missile tests in recent years, despite international condemnation and UN sanctions.

Its aim is to be able to put a nuclear warhead on an intercontinental ballistic missile that can reach targets around the world, including the US.

US President Donald Trump has said that will not happen, and stepped up pressure on the isolated North.

He has sent a navy strike group towards the Korean Peninsula, and the US and South Korea are moving ahead with the early deployment of a controversial missile defence system.

Despite the tension, North Korea may carry out a sixth nuclear test soon, observers say. It test-fired a missile on Sunday that exploded within seconds of launch, following a grand military parade on Saturday.

Earlier, US Vice President Mike Pence warned North Korea not to test the US, adding his country's "era of strategic patience" with Pyongyang was over.

The US military is considering shooting down the missile tests to pressure North Korea into denuclearisation, particularly if Pyongyang goes forward with a sixth nuclear test.
Mudslides triggered by torrential rains in the western Colombian city of Manizales

Bogota : Mudslides triggered by torrential rains in the western Colombian city of Manizales have left 14 people dead thus far and nine others missing, according to the latest Red Cross report on Wednesday.

"The situation is lamentable. I don't want to get ahead of the official figures, but I believe the death toll could rise to 15 or 20," Efe news agency quoted Manizales Mayor Jose Octavio Cardona as saying.

In addition, 75 homes have been damaged or destroyed and 23 people injured.

The mudslides were triggered by heavy rainfall Tuesday night and occurred less than 20 days after more than 300 died in the southern Colombian city of Mocoa, where torrential rains caused rivers to burst their banks and send water, mud and debris crashing into residential areas.

The neighborhoods hardest hit by the mudslides in Manizales, a mountainous city of more than 400,000 inhabitants, were Aranjuez, Persa, Sierra Morena, Gonzalez and Granjas Y Viviendas.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos will travel Wednesday to Manizales given the severity of the situation, the mayor confirmed.

The head of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management, Carlos Ivan Marquez, said that authorities are focusing on searching for the nine missing people.

"Humanitarian assistance is guaranteed and the process of (reestablishing) homes will be one of the goals of the action plan. We'll make a tour of the area with the president," he said.

Marquez added that kits for 500 families containing humanitarian food and non-food aid will be distributed and that a subsidy of 150,000 pesos (about $52.30) will be paid to the affected families so that they can find temporary housing.

Cardona said the torrential rains that fell Tuesday in Manizales and triggered the mudslides were unprecedented in that city.

Citing the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies, the mayor said 96 millimeters (four inches) of rain had fallen, adding that that amount was enough to cause major problems in any city.

Authorities responded by suspending classes at high schools and universities, urging people to stay inside and suspending the supply of water and gas in some sectors as a preventative measure.

Twenty sections of the city were left flooded by the torrential rains, the mayor's office said.
Syria's presidential advisor on Wednesday assured the Syrian government that there will be no more US strikes on Syrian military positions.

Damascus : Syria's presidential advisor Buthaina Shaba'an said on Wednesday that her government's main ally, Russia, assured the Syrian government that there will be no more US strikes on Syrian military positions.

Her remarks came a couple of weeks after the US launched 59 Tomahawk missiles on the Shayrat Air Base in central Syria, in retaliation for an alleged toxic gas attack by the Syrian army on a rebel-held town in Idlib province, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Russians "stressed to us that they are standing by Syria, and we understood from them that the American aggression will not be repeated," Shaba'an told pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV in an interview.

Further slamming the strike, Shaba'an said the US missile strike was a "reckless aggression that took place without investigation," adding that what the United States is doing today reflects "confusion."

The official said that the alleged chemical attack was a setup, citing what she described as western specialists as saying that there was no aerial bombardment on the targeted area in the Khan Sheikhoun town.

Shaba'an said the US strike wasn't a military, but a political message, adding that the alliance between Russia, Syria and Iran is "stronger than ever."

Meanwhile, the presidential advisor said that the US is in a state of declination, while Russia, China and India are rising high.

She said her country was expecting an investigation team from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), stressing that the Syrian government is in no possession of chemical weapons.
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New Delhi:

One person was killed and three others were injured when they were hit by a car which was allegedly being driven by a Class twelfth student in north Delhi's Kashmere Gate area on Thursday morning.

The accident took place about 5.45 AM. The car had three occupants who were all Class XII students of a top Delhi school, said a senior police officer.

While two of the occupants managed to flee, the driver was apprehended by police.

The injured and the deceased persons are yet to be identified. The driver has been sent for medical examination to determine whether he was drunk at the time of the accident.
New Delhi:

Abhishek Bachchan and wife Aishwarya Rai on thursday compleated their 10th wedding anniversary.The couple tied the knot on April 20, 2007 in a lavish ceremony here. They welcomed their first child, daughter Aaradhya in November 2011.

Both the actors have worked together in Dhai Akshar Prem Ke (2000) and Kuch Naa Kaho (2003) and it was during the shooting of Dhoom 2 (2006) that Junior Bachchan proposed Ashwariya . It was after the New York premiere of Guru (2007).

The actor informed his fan on twitter that it was in January that Abhishek proposed to Aishwarya in the balcony of their hotel with a ring, which was used as a prop in the film. Aishwarya said yes to the proposal immediately.

Here are top five songs of their reel life chemestry:

#Hai Deewana Ye Ishq Mera|Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke

#Ranjha Ranjha | Raavan

#Pehle Pehel| Umrao Jaan

#Behka Diya Hamein | Umrao Jaan

#Tere Bina | Guru

#Do Lafzo Mein | Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke

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New Delhi:

Nargis Fakhri has always created buzz with her dating news and yet the actress is gathering the limelight.

After her alleged seperation with actor Uday Chopra, Fakhri has again rolled the dating rumours. Recently, a picture went viral on social media of Nargis and Pakistani actor Imran Abbas sparking rumours of the two actors dating.

However, days later, Nargis has finally spoken about the issue. In an interview to Mid-Day, Nargis has refused to recognise Imran. She told the daily, "I don't even know who he is."

She clears that the photo was from an old photo shoot which was almost a year ago.

Also Read: Nargis Fakhri is flattered to work with Rajkumar Rao for "5 Weddings"

When asked why she did not comment on it earlier, Nargis said, "I thought of commenting on the speculations, but didn't want to hurt his (Imran's) feelings. The media is talking about it and he must be excited, so I don't want to take away anyone's moment of fun. Let him have his glory."

The actress is currently working with Rajkuma Rao for a film '5 Weddings' which is an upcoming slice of life drama and comedy Indian American film directed by Namrata Singh Gujral. The movie revolves around an American journalist who travels to India for a magazine feature on Bollywood weddings.

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New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to grant any relief to Bachcha Rai, the accused in the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) toppers scam. In June 2016 Rai surrendered before police, following which he was arrested.



Rai is the secretary-cum-principal of Vishun Rai College in Bihar's Vaishali district. Ruby Rai and Saurabh Shrestha, Arts and Science toppers, were also involved in the exam racket. Both hail from the same district.



Ruby Rai had pronounced Political Science "Prodigal Science", saying this subject taught cooking. In June 2016, she was given a second chance to face experts.

Rai played an important role with the help of the BSEB in the police investigation.

ALSO READ | Bihar Topper Scam: Accused Diwakar Prasad found dead under mysterious circumstances, relative cries murder

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New Delhi:

Taking offence to China renaming six places in Arunachal Pradesh, India on Thursday said inventing names of states of a neighbour does not make illegal occupation legal.



Reacting to the issue, Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Gopal Baglay said Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.



He said renaming or inventing names of states of your neighbour do not make illegal occupation as legal.

Read | After 'Arunachal step', Chinese President Xi Jinping asks army's new units to be combat ready



China on Wednesday had announced that it has standardised official names for six places in the Northeastern state and termed the provocative move as a legitimate action.



The Chinese move came days after Beijing lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lamas visit to the frontier state.

Read | China declares 'standardised' names for 6 places in Arunachal, dubs it 'legitimate'

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New Delhi:

The Special Cell of Delhi police on Thursday held three ISIS suspects from national capital who may have links with Khorasan group.

The police conducted raids along with teams of five states police that include UP ATS, Bihar police, Maharshtra ATS , Punjab police and CI cell of Andhra Pradesh.

The police held these suspects from Mumbai, Jalandhar, Narkatiyaganj, Muzaffarnagar and Bijnor. The police officals are also interrogating six suspects.

It is believed that a group was active to make more members to plan attacks in the country.

On march 8, The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) gunned down IS terrorist Saifullah in 12hour encounter in the early morning hours. The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist squad had launched an extensive operation to nab the suspected terrorist holed up in a house on the outskirts of Lucknow.

Also Read: Lucknow encouter shows ISIS's plans to expand its footprints in India

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New Delhi:

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) gunned down IS terrorist Saifullah in 12hour encounter in the early morning hours of Wednesday.

As per the last reports coming in, out of 13 ISIS terrorists, six are still on the run. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) teams rushed to Bhopal and Lucknow to dots the link of ISIS terror module. The teams would also probe Bhopal-Ujjain train blast in the backdrop of Lucknow terror operations. It will interrogate the nabbed terrorists from Pipariya.

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist squad on Tuesday launched an extensive operation to nab the suspected terrorist holed up in a house on the outskirts of Lucknow. There are inputs that this terror suspect, identified as Saifullah, may have links with the Bhopal-Ujjain train blast that took place earlier on Tuesday.

According to a Delhi Police special cell source, the suspect has been strongly linked to carrying out Bhopal-Ujjain train blast. The Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh Police had reportedly received a tip off from South India about an ISIS module but the blast was carried out in the train even before the police could take any action.

Following the blast, the police arrested suspected ISIS terrorists from whom they received tip off about Saifullah, reports said.

Saifullah, hiding in a house in Kakori area, is alleged to have strong links with the ISIS, reports have said, adding, they might have planned a bigger terror attack like Mumbai.

Video | Blast in 59320 Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train in MP, 9 hurt | See pics inside

Dreaded terror group Islamic State appears to have perceptible footprints in Afghanistan-Pakistan region, a UN report has said.

The report said that ISIS continues to recruit from the troubled Afghanistan-Pakistan border region even as the terror outfit is struggling to hold onto their positions across West Asia.

The 19th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team about the terror group was submitted to the Security Council Sanctions Committee this week.

ALSO READ | MP top cop confirms Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train explosion as terrorist attack

The report noted that a UN Member State reported that ISIS had around 2,000 to 3,500 fighters overall in Afghanistan but that number had not fallen significantly despite heavy losses sustained in 2016.

According to inputs from Kerala and Telangana shared by Intelligence Bureau, more terrorists are suspected to be hiding in Lucknow and surrounding districts.

Several terrorists of ISIS module have been arrested from various states in India in the past but Saifullah is first to reportedly possess weapons like AK-47, which is why it is important for the security agencies to capture him alive. Catching him alive will help the security agencies get information about the sleeper cells of ISIS.

ALSO READ | Suspected ISIS terrorist hurt in encounter with ATS in Lucknow; chilli bomb used but suspect refuses to surrender

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Lucknow:

A major terror attack in the country was claimed to have been averted as 10 suspected ISIS activists were held on Thursday in a major multi-state operation.

The joint operation was carried out by the police teams of Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, in which four suspected terrorists belonging to the ISIS Khorasan module were arrested and six others were detained, officials said.

The arrests were made during raids this morning in Mumbra (Maharashtra), Jalandhar (Punjab), Narkatiaganj (Bihar), and Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar (both in Uttar Pradesh), the officials added.

Inspector General of the UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) Aseem Arun, in a statement in Noida, said that four persons were arrested on charges of hatching terror conspiracies.

ALSO READ | Delhi Police conducts raids, nabs three ISIS suspects from Mumbai, Jalandhar and Bijnor

He said the accused were planning a major terror attack in the country. Important documents relating to the ISIS were seized from them, Arun claimed.

He said two persons Mufti Faizan and Tanveer, allegedly connected with the ISIS, were arrested from Bijnor district. Nazim Shamshad Ahmed (26), who hails from Bijnor, was nabbed from Mumbra township in Thane district adjoining Mumbai.

Another suspect identified as Muzammil was arrested from Jalandhar district of Punjab.

According to an UP ATS statement in Lucknow, six others were taken into custody and were being questioned in Noida, on the outskirts of Delhi.

The accused had got in touch with each other over the internet, Arun said, adding that central security agencies played an important role in the operation.

According to the IG, the UP ATS had seized some important documents after the March 7 encounter in Lucknow in which a suspected terrorist belonging to the Khorasan module was killed. Following this, the probe was expanded to five states.

The ATS had received information that the ISIS had been expanding its network in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Bihar and some youths from these states had joined the terror organisation.

All those arrested are in the age group of 18 to 25 years and were living in different places like Mumbai, Jalandhar and UP. We have also found that they were definitely influenced by the material available on the internet, UP ADG (Law and Order) Daljit Chaudhary said in Lucknow.

Investigations show that one of them wanted to finance the group and they were continuously communicating with each other about carrying out some major strike in the near future. But police and other agencies of different states with the help of surveillance made the arrests before they could carry out any such attack, the ADG said.

A spokesperson of the UP ATS said those arrested were suspected to be looking for potential recruits in Bihar, UP and Maharashtra.

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Mumbai:

The special NIA court here on Thursday issued a non-bailable warrant against the controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, wanted by the agency for his alleged role in a terror case.

The National Investigation Agency had registered a case against Naik under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act last year.

It told the court that Naik didnt appear before it even after three summonses were issued and it would need to take Interpols help to bring him back to India.

Issue NBW against Naik, said Special Judge V V Patil. Last week, another city court had issued an NBW against Naik in a case of money laundering registered by the Enforcement Directorate against him. The ED lawyer had said Naik was believed to be in the United Arab Emirates.

ALSO READ | Money laundering case: PMLA court issues non-bailable warrant against Zakir Naik

Naik, 51, left India last year, allegedly to evade arrest after some perpetrators of Dhaka terror attack claimed they were inspired by him.

Following the Dhaka attack, the NIA had registered a case against him and some officials of his organisation, Islamic Research Foundation, under section 153-A of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and the UAPA.

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New Delhi:

The government has no plans to cut back on security to VIPs, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said, a day after the Centre banned the use of beacon lights atop all vehicles, except emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire brigade.



With regard to security, it is necessary in the interest of the country because important people have to be protected. Otherwise, there is no preferential treatment, Naidu, who holds the portfolio of Information and Broadcasting, told reporters in New Delhi.



About the Centres decision to put an end to the VIP culture, he said: Everybody is a VIP and that is the philosophy of our government.Though it is a small initiative but it sends a message that every person should be treated equally, he added.



He hoped that state governments will also shun the used of beacons or they will face the wrath of the people.



On a query about the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, the Minister said the case has been going on for so many years and there is nothing new in that.

Read | Modi govt's crackdown on 'Lal Batti' culture: Red beacons will be removed from all vehicles, including that of PM, from May 1

He did not elaborate on what could be the impact of the Supreme Court order in the Babri Masjid demolition case on the BJP.



Top BJP leaders L K Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti will be tried for criminal conspiracy in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case as the apex court had on Wednesday allowed the CBI plea to restore the charge against them.



The SC, however, noted that Rajasthan Governor Singh enjoys constitutional immunity and can be tried only after he ceases to hold the office. Singh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1992.Meanwhile, amid a debate on some of the negative impacts of social media, Naidu said it cannot be censored.



It is a larger issue. We have to think about it and discuss because we cannot think of censoring social media. The society has to discuss and then come to a conclusion at the end of the day, he said.



The Minsiter was speaking to reporters after inaugurating a workshop on Instagram for government employees engaged in social media communications.

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New Delhi:

Twitter is buzzing with news alerts from India and rest of the world. Here are the latest updates from the micro-blogging site in one scroll:

#11:09 PM

Brilliant @josbuttler powers @mipaltan to a seven-wicket victory against @lionsdenkxip in an @IPL encounter. #IPL2017 #KXIPVMI. - PTI

#10:52 PM

Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad flies Air India(Hyderabad to Delhi) for the first time since assaulting an AI staff member last month. - ANI

#10:46 PM

Mulayam Singh Yadav's Etawah bungalow has unpaid electricity bills worth Rs.4 lakhs,revealed after an inspection by SDO(Power) - ANI

#10:27 PM

Uttar Pradesh: 5 people arrested with 45,000 SIM cards in Sitapur - ANI

#10:24 PM

Chhattisgarh: Crockett,CRPF sniffer dog who was bitten by a snake during IED detection ops in Sukma earlier this month has fully recovered - ANI

#10:21 PM

Deceased actor-model Jiah Khan's mother Rabia moves #CBI court; seeks summons to service provider #Blackberry. - PTI



#10:16 PM

Keeping a close watch on the #US tightening H-1B #visa rules: @MEAIndia. - PTI



#9:54 PM

Uttar Pradesh: 18 pistols recovered from an abandoned bag from Sealdah Express in Ballia - ANI

#9:51 PM

#Madhav says "nobody" wants a civilian tied to Army jeep but he respects the officer's judgement. - PTI



#9:50 PM

The other option for the army was to fire indiscriminately & cause civilian casualties: #Madhav. - PTI



#9:46 PM

Shiv Sena MP #RavindraGaikwad flies again; picks Air India. - PTI

#9:45 PM

#BREAKING Russia Supreme Court bans Jehovah's Witnesses - AFP



#9:45 PM

Around 100 questions were asked by ED to HP CM Virbhadra Singh,he was unable answer some and said will reply to these ques later: ED Sources. - ANI

#9:45 PM

Had he not done so, then the mob would have lynched over 50 civilians & almost equal number of security personnel: #Madhav. - PTI



#9:37 PM

Had he not done so, then the mob would have lynched over 50 civilians & almost equal number of security personals: #Madhav.A - PTI



#9:37 PM

He (the Army officer) saved lives of people in police station, officials & his own boys; he also didn't allow any civilian casualty: #MadhavA - PTI



#9:12 PM

Officer saved lives by tying man to jeep in #Kashmir, says #BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav @rammadhavbjp. - PTI

#I-T seizes Rs 10 crore cash, 10 kg gold from UP officer's premises in Noida. - PTI

#9:03 PM

Internal process on in the UK in #VijayMallya extradition case: @MEAIndia. - PTI

#9:00 PM

#NDA govt approved 17.73 lakh affordable houses in 2 years: @MVenkaiahNaidu. - PTI

#8:58 PM

Punjab CM #AmarinderSingh seeks nod of @narendramodi to sell surplus power to #Pakistan. - PTI

#8:57 PM

Lucknow: UP Minister Mohsin Raza visits Sunni Central Waqf board office, finds mounds of burnt documents. - ANI

#8:53 PM

Bihar intermediate #TopperScam: #SC quashes Patna HC order granting bail to mastermind. - PTI

#8:51 PM

Government orders Internet service providers to block online child sexual abuse material by July 31. - PTI

#8:49 PM

Delhi Metro #DMRC services to begin from 4 AM on #MCD polling day on April 23. - PTI

#8:25 PM

Muzaffarnagar: Chargesheet filed against UP minister Suresh Rana and 8 others for violating model code of conduct during assembly polls. - ANI

#8:18 PM

The understanding between BJD &TMC is driven by a common bonding of corruption & is nothing but natural: Dharmendra Pradhan,Union Minister - ANI

#7:51 PM

Hyderabad (Telangana): Police apprehended four members of a Cannabis smuggling gang and seized 100 Kg Cannabis in Quthbiguda. - ANI

#7:46 PM

UP ATS have arrested a terror suspect from Punjab's Jalandhar. - ANI

#7:26 PM

CBI has accused these officers of acollecting moneya from the accused in Surat hawala case & cricket betting racket busted in 2015-16 - ANI

#7:25 PM

I have never used red beacon ever, so its nothing new for me: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. - ANI

#7:24 PM

Former assistant director of ED, Sanjay Kumar also named in the charge sheet filed by CBI. - ANI

#7:21 PM

CBI files charge sheet against J P Singh, former joint director of ED (Ahmedabad) & others under section 120B & Prevention of Corruption Act. - ANI

#7:09 PM

Man tied to Army jeep in J&K matter: Court of inquiry instituted.It is being headed by a Colonel. Report to be submitted within a month - ANI

#7:07 PM

Iraqi forces, from the elite Rapid Response Division, fire mortars towards Islamic State (IS) group positions in western Mosul - AFP



#7:05 PM

Their camp went to EC first on the symbol issue, let them take back their complaint first: MP R Vaithilingam (EPS Camp). - ANI

#7:02 PM

Demand for probe into late CM Jayalalitha's death is under court's consideration;Govt will follow court's order: MP R Vaithilingam, EPS Camp. - ANI

#6:42 PM

Divisional Administration of Kashmir says all the Higher Secondary Institutions of Kashmir Division will remain shut till tomorrow. - ANI

#6:24 PM

Kamrup,Assam-Army&Police in joint op recover 600gelatin sticks&400detonators from vehicle on BongaigaonaGuwahati national highway;2 arrested - ANI

#6:12 PM

CBI arrests man from Morena (MP) over a case related to Vyapam on basis of NBW issued by Court of Spl Magistrate, Vyapam Cases - ANI

#6:02 PM

Fodder scam case: SC reserves judgement in the matter, asks all respective parties to give their submissions in a week to the court. - ANI

#6:01 PM

I don't believe they (BJP) are threat to regional parties, they (regional parties) are enough to tackle them: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee - ANI

#5:57 PM

UP CM Yogi Adityanath speaking at a public meeting in Jhansi - ANI

#5:54 PM

ED arrests Rup Chand Baid, Director of a logistics company in Mumbai, under PMLA over Bank of Maharashtra loan fraud case of Rs 836.29 crore - ANI

#5:49 PM

Women vandalize liquor shops in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar, demanding liquor-ban in the area. - ANI

#5:41 PM

Problem of water scarcity will end in two years if all the schemes approved by Prime Minister for Bundelkhand are implemented: UP CM - ANI

#5:29 PM

Pence added Pres Trump will also attend Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam. All 3 summits will be held in November - ANI

#5:12 PM

West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee meets Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar, Odisha - ANI

#4:52 PM

If they accept these demands only then there will be talks: KP Munusamy (OPS faction) #TamilNaduA - ANI

#4:51 PM

Tamil Nadu govt must initiate & recommend CBI probe into the mysterious death of late CM J Jayalalitha, this is our 2nd demand: KP Munusamy - ANI

#4:50 PM

We demand affidavit submitted by Sasikala camp to EC stating Sasikala&TTV Dinakaran are holding party-position must be taken back-K Munusamy - ANI

#4:50 PM

Talking to industry bodies, once US executive order is passed, we will see in detail the changes made & then act: MEA on H1B Visa - ANI

#4:48 PM

We have seen different media reports, but we have have no information officially: MEA on reports of 13 Indians killed in US 'MOAB' strike - ANI

#4:43 PM

Alleged encounters in Manipur matter: There are 22 cases at present in which judicial inquiry is going on - ANI

#4:42 PM

Alleged encounters in Manipur matter: Supreme Court reserved order on those cases in which judicial inquiry is going on. - ANI

#4:39 PM

PM Modi will be on a visit to Srilanka next month, details of which are being worked out: MEA - ANI

#4:37 PM

Pakistan claims there have been legal proceedings against Kulbhushan Jadhav, if there have been, we would like to see them: MEA - ANI

#4:31 PM

Requested for consular access to Pakistan 14 times,have asked again. We are concerned about his health &whereabouts:MEA #KulbhushanJadhavA - ANI

#4:26 PM

Renaming or inventing a name does not make illegally held territory legal. Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India: MEA on China - ANI

#4:13 PM

Air pollution matter: NGT directs Delhi govt to run point-to-point destinations buses from May 1 to improve air quality&traffic congestion. - ANI

#4:03 PM

CBI files charge sheet in Chhattisgarh bureaucrat BL Aggarwal's alleged bribery case in a Special CBI Court in Delhi. - ANI

#4:02 PM

#WATCH Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir talks about current situation in Jammu and Kashmir. - ANI

#3:59 PM

Law will take its own course. We have great faith in Advani ji and MM Joshi ji: Ravishankar Prasad, Union Minister - ANI

#3:54 PM

Non bailable warrant issued against Zakir Naik by special NIA court in Mumbai, on the ground of promoting enmity among community. - ANI

#3:42 PM

#Sensex rises 85.82 points to end at 29,422.39; #Nifty up 32.90 points to 9,136.40. - PTI

#3:40 PM

#CBI files charge sheet against ex-Principal Secretary in Chhattisgarh Government #BLAgrawal, others in an alleged bribery case. - ANI



#3:40 PM

Collision averted on April 16 in Varanasi air space between Indigo and Air Asia. Incident is being investigated - ANI



#3:37 PM

Delhi: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar meets Congress President Sonia Gandhi at her residence. - ANI

#3:25 PM

#BREAKING Epilepsy drug behind up to 4,100 'severe birth defects' in France: officials. - AFP



#3:26 PM

President #PranabMukherjee greets Britain's #QueenElizabethII on the eve of her birthday. - PTI

#3:20 PM

#BREAKING Pakistan's top court orders PM be investigated for corruption. - AFP



#3:18 PM

Leaders of present dispensation have been remarking about CM's post. We never demanded it & this isn't the issue: KP Munusamy. - ANIA

#3:13 PM

Maryam Nawaz tweets pictures after #PanamaCase verdict, expresses gratitude. - ANI

#3:06 PM

SC quashed criminal complaint filed agnst cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni for allegedly depicting himself as Lord Vishnu in a magazine cover- ANI

#3:01 PM

#Pakistan SC says insufficient evidence to remove PM Nawaz Sharif over #corruption allegations in the #Panamagate case: media. - PTI



#3:00 PM

Pakistan Supreme Court decides to establish a #JIT to investigate #PM Nawaz Sharif's involvement in Panama case-PTI

#2:50 PM

Income Tax department recovers over Rs 10 crore cash and about 10 kgs of gold from UP officer's premises-ANI

#1:20 PM

Reasons stated by CBI in filing the appeal in Fodder scam, complete nonsense: Lalu Prasad Yadav tells Supreme Court

#1:16 PM

The truth is we have caused no damage to the Yamuna. When lies are exposed, it is shocking: Sri Sri Ravishankar

#1:15 PM

Those who say the Art of Living is irresponsible simply don't know us or have gained a sense of humour: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar-ANI

#1:12 PM

A Soyuz space capsule carrying an American and a Russian, blasts off for the International Space Station: AP

#12:50 AM

UP Special Task Force's ATS detained a suspected terrorist from Narkatiaganj in Bihar-ANI

#12:18 PM

Jiah Khan's mother files application in CBI court to frame charges against Suraj Pancholi, says that she has evidence to prove it a murder

11:40 AM

Three persons held from #Mumbai for suspected #terror links: Maharashtra ATS

#11:24 AM

Supreme Court allows New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to E- auction Taj Mansingh hotel, presently run by IHCL

#11:15 AM

Nagpur(Maharashtra): Shiv Sena workers blacken face of a college lecturer over charges of allegedly asking a female student for sexual favours-ANI

#10:59 AM

BJP MLA Mahendra Yadav slaps a toll plaza employee in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly-ANI

10:52 AM

Bihar Topper scam case: Supreme court refuses to grant any relief to accused Bachha Rai-ANI

#9:53 AM

Jammu and Kashmir: Fire broke out at army's 19 Division based in Baramulla in early morning hours, now under control-ANI

#8:47 AM

Two persons were shot dead in Delhi's Jaffrabad area late night on Wednesday

#8:40 AM

Total two dead and 3 injured after a car ran over them near Delhi's Kashmiri Gate. Class 12th student who was driving, apprehended-ANI

Two dead & 3 injured after a car ran over them near Delhi's Kashmiri Gate. Class 12th student who was driving, apprehended by police. pic.twitter.com/kJ5VlgKdOz a ANI (@ANI_news) April 20, 2017

#8:35 AM

Thousands of fish found dead in Rewalsar lake in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh-ANI



Thousands of fish found dead in Rewalsar lake in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. pic.twitter.com/ILeAkErJjE a ANI (@ANI_news) April 20, 2017

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Hyderabad:

A woman MBA graduate has accused her husband of divorcing her by sending a message through messaging app WhatsApp in Hyderabad.



The woman, a resident of Tolichowki area, said she married Mudasir Ahmed Khan, who works in Saudi Arabia, in February, 2016.



She told reporters that her husband was with her for 20 days and left for (Saudi) in March 2016.



"He (Khan) was initially good with me and everything was fine and we were regularly in touch," the woman said on Wednesday.



"When I went to my in-laws house in September, my father-in-law locked my room and asked me to go away saying my husband has divorced me. My in-laws did not specify any reasons and just asked me to leave the house and they evicted me from the house," she alleged.



She demanded that the government should bring out a law that such people are not given bail.



The message purportedly sent in the name of Khan in September, which the woman showed to media, said, "I Mudasir Ahmed Khan gave you triple talaq and removed you from the wedlock. You will soon receive the official divorce declaration paper from my end and please do not bother to come to Saudi."



The woman said she had approached the police also.



When contacted, the police said they are verifying the matter.



In the month of March, a 38-year-old man was arrested in Hyderabad for cheating his wife by giving her 'talaq' through a post card within eight days of marriage.



Another man, hailing from Hyderabad and based in the US, allegedly gave 'talaq' to his wife through WhatsApp. The case came to light in February when she approached the police alleging that her in-laws tried to murder her.



In another incident, a case of cheating and harassment was registered early in April against a non-resident Indian who allegedly divorced his wife through a newspaper advertisement.

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Thiruvanathapuram:

Former Union Minister and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday released a book penned by a 16-year-old girl, at a function in Thiruvanathapura.



Tharoor launched the book titled Refuge, which is a collection of English poems written by Jasmin Naur Hafiz, a 12th grade student.



Speaking on the occasion, Tharoor mentioned about the sufferings of thousands of people who have become refugees in Syria, due to a civil war in that country.



I am impressed by the poems of Jasmin. It is a rare quality in one so young to feel such compassionate concern for the flotsam and jetsam of humanity, the wretched and dispossessed refugees, the homeless, the unfortunates displaced by war and conflicts, Tharoor said in his foreward to the book.



Receiving a copy of the book, former state Chief Secretary, Babu Paul congratulated Jasmin and described her as a child prodigy.



Jasmin is a humanities student at the St Thomas Central School in the city.
Washington:

NASAs Cassini spacecraft is all set for its final close encounter with Saturns largest moon Titan, the US space agency has said. Cassini will perform the final close flyby on April 21 before crashing down in Saturns atmosphere.

NASA said during the final close flyby, Cassini probe will be at a speed of about 21,000 kms per hour 979 kilometres above Titan's surface.

This encounter will be NASA Cassini missions final attempt to make close observations of the seas and lakes of liquid hydrocarbons that are present across the moons northern polar region. It will also be the last chance of the mission to use its powerful radar to pierce the haze and obtain detailed images of the surface.

This flyby is also the gateway to NASA Cassini spacecrafts "Grand Finale". The Grand Finale includes a final set of 22 orbits by Cassini as it will pass between the rings of the gas giant. It will then make a plunge into Saturns atmosphere on September, marking an end of the mission.

Titan's gravity will bend Cassini's orbit around Saturn during the April 21 flyby and will shrink it slightly so that instead of passing through just outside the rings, the probe will also begin its finale dives which pass just inside the rings.



NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which is in orbit around Saturn for nearly 13 year, will be marking the end of the 20-year-long journey.

The closest approach of NASA Cassini spacecraft to Titan is planned for 11:08 pm PDT on April 21 (11:38 am IST April 22).



This flyby is Cassinis 127th targeted encounter with Titan. For a targeted flyby, the spacecraft uses its rocket engine or thrusters to accurately aim toward the encounter.



The radar instrument will also search a final time for Titans magic island, a mysterious feature in one of the moons seas that changed in appearance over the course of several flybys.

Scientists hope to gain additional insights to help them determine whether the feature is waves, bubbles, floating debris, or something else entirely.

NASA will destroy its 20-year-old Cassini spacecraft. Heres why:

Reasons:

The NASA Cassini spacecraft is running low on fuel as it has been in orbit around Saturn since 2004. NASA took this decision in order to protect and preserve Saturns moons, especially the potentially habitable Enceladus, for future exploration.



The thrilling finale will help NASA scientists to further understand how giant planets as well as planetary systems form and evolve.



What all will happen in the final journey of Cassini spacecraft?



On Saturday, April 22, NASAs Cassini will make a transition to its grand finale orbit. It will perform a last close flyby of Saturn's giant moon Titan on the same day.

As part of the Saturn missions grand finale, the Cassini probe will make first of a series of dives through the 1,500-mile-wide (2,400-kilometer) space between Saturn and its rings on Wednesday, April 26.



"No spacecraft has ever gone through the unique region that we'll attempt to boldly cross 22 times," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.



On September 15, the NASA Cassini spacecraft will head towards its fateful plunge into Saturn and will beam back data from several instruments until it loses contact with Earth.

ALSO READ | Saturn C ring: Stunning picture clicked by NASA Cassini spacecraft in Grand Finale mission



"This planned conclusion for Cassini's journey was far and away the preferred choice for the mission's scientists," said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

ALSO READ | NASA's Cassini spacecraft prepare for its last ride: All you need to know about the daring last journey



"Cassini will make some of its most extraordinary observations at the end of its long life."

ALSO READ | NASAs Cassini finds traces of life supporting elements on one of Saturns moons



The NASA team responsible for the mission hopes to seek strong insights into the internal structure of Saturn and the origin of the rings, get the first-ever sampling of atmosphere of Saturn and particles that come from the main ring and capture the closest-ever views of the clouds of the planet and its inner rings.

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Washington:

Hussain Haqqani, former Pakistan ambassador to the US, has criticised the death sentence awarded to retired Indian navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, while claiming that Islamabad's "spy games" have made it tougher for both the two South Asian neighbours to explore peace. Haqqani said Jadhav's conviction for espionage would have been more convincing had it resulted from an open trial.

"But as with much about Pakistan, the trial's short and secretive timeline may have more to do with internal dynamics than with the merits of the case itself," he wrote in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.

Haqqani, who currently is the director for South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institute, a top American think-tank, said putting an Indian on death row was an easy way to scuttle momentum for new talks.

"At a time when India is also sliding into Hindu religious fervour, with vigilante violence threatening the country's minorities over protecting cows that are considered sacred, Pakistan's spy games can only make it tougher for the two South Asian neighbours to even explore peace, let alone find it," Haqqani said.

"(Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz) Mr Sharif had recently renewed calls for improving relations with India. Putting an Indian on death row is an easy way to scuttle momentum for new talks," he added.

In his op-ed, the former Pakistani diplomat also alleged that Islamabad is unlikely to change its policy of using terrorist groups for its national security. "Unwilling to change its policy of supporting jihadist groups as an instrument of regional influence, Pakistan's military intelligence combine wants to ensure the primacy of its worldview at least within Pakistan," Haqqani said.

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Islamabad:

Pakistan's Supreme Court is set to give a decision in the Panama papers case against Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif and his offspring amid speculation that a negative ruling may force him to step down. The Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that its five-member bench will issue a verdict in the case on Thursday.

The case was launched on November 3 and the court held 35 hearings before concluding proceedings on February 23. The case was based on several identical petitions by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan and others about alleged illegal assets of Sharif's family in London.

The assets surfaced when Panama papers - a collection of leaked documents - showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif's offspring.

The petitioners have asked the court to disqualify 67-year-old Sharif under Article 62 and 63 of the constitution because he was involved in corruption. It is generally believed the court may not disqualify the Prime Minister but it may pass comments which will bring moral pressure on Sharif to step down.

"I don't think he will be disqualified but his moral authority may be impacted," said Manzoor Wassan, a senior leader of opposition Pakistan People Party (PPP). Asif Ali Zardari, the co-chairman of PPP, in an interview with a private TV channel asked Sharif to resign in case the decision went against him.

"We did not resist when the Supreme Court disqualified [then premier] Yousaf Raza Gilani. We chose another Prime Minister. Nawaz should do the same," said Zardari.

Zardari's handpicked Prime Minister Gilani stepped down in 2012 when the Supreme Court convicted him for disobeying court orders. Zardari chaired an important meeting of the PPP also called another meeting today after the court decision to assess the political situation.

Sharif's nemesis Imran Khan and his party announced that it would launch a movement for the next election irrespective of the decision. Khan held a meeting of party leaders on Wednesday and asked them to remain in Islamabad to decide the further course of action.

Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, one of the petitioners, said that the decision would be "historic". "It will result in a political earthquake in the country," he said in Rawalpindi.

Meanwhile, in a series of tweets Sharif's daughter, Maryam Nawaz, dispelled the impression that the premier was worried about the judgement.

"People love Nawaz Sharif. It is not about the primeminister speaking. It's what he's speaking. His narrative is constructive and about development and progress. Eyes forward, mind focused, heart ready...game on, world! Wazir-e-AzamNawaz Sharif," one of her tweets said.

She also taunted the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf saying: "When all your plans have miserably failed and your precarious future hinges on... your best bet is a court decision".

Sharif's supporters are adamant that their leader is"innocent" and will emerge stronger after the verdict. "His name is not in the Panama leaks. He has not committed any wrong. So he will be victorious," said Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique.

Rafique also said that the election will be held as scheduled in 2018. Security has been increased in and around the court. Dozens of policemen and personnel of law enforcing agencies are present on the court premises. Regardless of the impact of the decision, it is believed that it will be an important milestone in Pakisan's fight against corruption.

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Islamabad:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan on Thursday demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after a Supreme Court bench declared there was insufficient evidence to remove him from office on graft charges.



I demand that Sharif should resign immediately as he has lost moral authority to rule the country, Khan said at a press conference here.A five-member Supreme Court bench in a 3-2 split decision on Thursday ordered to set up a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the allegations of money laundering against Sharif.

Read | Panama papers case: Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif narrowly escapes corruption ruling in jinxed April month



The case was based on several identical petitions by Khan and others about alleged illegal assets of the family Prime Minister Sharif in London.



Khan termed the verdict as indictment of Sharif as the bench did not absolve him of the allegations.



He said if Sharif is not ready to step down permanently, he should step aside for 60 days when JIT would probe the money laundering allegations, as ordered by the court.

Read | Panamagate: Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif won't flee country, assures PML-N leader



Khan said the court has rejected the defence of Sharif and his family that their properties in London were bought with clean money.



The court has unanimously rejected a letter by Qatari prince (who said in the letter that he provided the money used to buy flats in London), said Khan.



Khan also accepted the verdict and said his party has been vindicated that Sharif was involved in corruption.

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Dhaka:

Saudi Arabia has decided to donate USD 118 million to Muslim-majority Bangladesh in order to construct 560 model mosques across the country, a media report told on Thursday.



The decision to set up the mosques - categorised as A, B and C, depending on the facilities they would have - followed Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit in June 2016 to Saudi Arabia, where she met King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the Dhaka Tribune reported.



It cited an unnamed official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying that the model mosque project would be launched soon.



The mosques are to be set up in every district, city corporation and upazila.



The mosques will be able to accommodate at least 450,000 men and over 30,000 women for daily prayers, and will have lodging space for more than 2,000 foreign guests and libraries with room for more than 34,000 people.



They will also be outfitted with cultural centres and cyclone centres. The project aims to provide primary education to more than 150,000 children and conduct digital registrations for the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.



The Saudi government has also agreed to donate money towards the establishment of a permanent campus for Islamic Arabic University in Keraniganj in Dhaka district, according to the report.



Oil-rich Saudi Arabia, one of the world's most prominent Muslim nations, has been offering financial support to several countries to expand Islam.

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Paris:

A trial went on Thursday on twenty members of a jihadist network who are suspected to have been behind 2012 grenade attack on a Jewish grocery store in Paris.

The "Cannes-Torcy cell", named for the towns where its members were based, is suspected of having planned several other attacks, and was considered the most dangerous to threaten the country when it was dismantled in 2012.

The trial opens as France is grappling with fresh fears of jihadist terror attacks, with the police arresting two men on Tuesday suspected of plotting an assault just days before the presidential election -- the first to be held in France under a state of emergency.

Analysts say the Cannes-Torcy network signalled a historic shift in France's struggle against terrorism, to battling mass attacks by Islamic radicals inspired, or even guided, by foreigners.

Of the 20 men being tried by a special anti-terror tribunal in Paris, 10 are in prison and seven are on conditional release, while three others are being sought --two of whom are thought to be in Syria. Aged 23 to 33, they are accused of plotting to stage several attacks on military and civilian targets, and of seeking to join jihadist ranks in Syria.

Also Read: Trump describes Iran nuclear deal as 'the worst', orders review

Police arrested two members of the network while investigating a grenade attack on a Jewish grocery in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles in September 2012.

Two masked men threw a grenade into the shop, injuring one person, but the fact that it rolled under a trolley prevented more casualties.

Police also found bomb-making equipment in a storage unitrented by Jeremie Bailly, 28, the alleged leader of the group. Another suspected member, Jeremie Louis-Sydney, a petty criminal who had converted to radical Islam, was killed in October 2012 when police came to arrest him at his apartment in the eastern city of Strasbourg.

Also Read: Trump administration declares Paris agreement as bad deal for US

The trial is expected to run until July 7, with most of the accused facing terms of 30 years to life in prison.

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Washington:

A leading South Asian advocacy group has said US President Donald Trump's executive order on H-1B visas is a move to gut the programme popular among Indian technology professionals.

South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) also said in a statement that the Trump administration's recent court motion to revoke the "hard-fought" employment authorization for some H-4 visa holders was very disturbing.

Also Read: Nasscom cautions over US' move to revamp lottery system for H-1B visas

"Both policies run contrary to core American values of respect for work and the right to participate in the workforce," SAALT said, a day after Trump signed the executive order directing an interagency review of the H-1B visa program.

"We reject the premise that US-born and foreign workers should be pitted against each other to 'ensure the integrity' of the immigration system and serve the national interest," SAALT said.

The group said Trump's executive order will continue to increase immigration enforcement presence by encouraging immigration raids at businesses and other places of employment, "further underscoring this administration's commitment to criminalising immigrants".

SAALT said it is "disturbed" by efforts of the current administration "to profile, ban, and deport community members by leveraging the full power of every federal agency, including the Department of Justice".

"The executive order dishonours the legacy of immigrant workers in this country, past and present. The idea that the economic challenges of working class Americans stems from immigrant work, innovation, and entrepreneurship is nothing but a lie to us all and must be opposed," SAALT said.

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Jakarta:

Donald Trump will attend a series of key summits in Asia in November, his vice president said on Thursday, adding it was a sign of Americas unwavering commitment to the region.



The US president will go to the US-ASEAN and East Asia meetings in the Philippines, as well as a gathering of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group in Vietnam, Vice President Mike Pence said.



Former president Barack Obama, who had championed a pivot to Asia, was a frequent visitor to the Asia-Pacific as he sought to refocus US foreign policy on the region to counter growing Chinese influence.

Read | Mike Pence visits Japan to reaffirm ties as North Korea tensions rise



Trumps decision to attend the meetings could come as a surprise to some, given his fiery America first rhetoric and his decision to abandon a Pacific trade pact which was the economic plank of the pivot.



The presidents attendance at the meetings was a sign, I hope to all, of our firm and unwavering commitment to build on the strong foundations that we already share, Pence said during a visit to Indonesia.



The announcement came as Pence visited the Jakarta headquarters of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and met representatives of the bloc.



The East Asia Summit groups 18 countries including ASEAN member states, the US, Russia and China. APEC brings together 21 member states from either side of the Pacific.



It was the latest signal on Pences tour of Asia that the Trump administration is seeking to calm nerves after the presidents often combative rhetoric unsettled allies.



During stops in South Korea and Japan, Pence played down protectionist declarations and reaffirmed US treaty commitments to the security of the two countries as tensions rise over North Koreas nuclear and missile programmes.



Pence will Friday depart Indonesia for Australia.

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Hamdi Ulukaya.JPG

Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya meets with employees at the company's Greek yogurt plant in Twin Falls, Idaho. Ulukaya has been named to the 2017 Time 100, Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

(Chobani)

Norwich, N.Y. -- Hamdi Ulukaya, the Turkish immigrant who founded Chobani in Upstate New York and turned it into the top Greek yogurt brand in the U.S., has been named to the 2017 Time 100, Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

"Hamdi personifies the American Dream, showing that anyone arriving on U.S. shores with drive and intelligence can make it - and bring others along with him," Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said in an article accompanying the list.

Ulukaya, 44, was raised in a dairy-farming family in a small village in eastern Turkey and moved to the U.S. in 1994. He founded Chobani LLC in 2005, buying, with the help of a loan backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration, a plant near the Chenango County village of New Berlin that was being closed by Kraft Foods.

Chobani began production at the plant in 2007. The company is now the No. 1 seller of Greek yogurt in the country, with a 37 percent share of the overall Greek yogurt market. One of the fastest growing food companies in the last decade, Chobani employs more than 2,000 people in New York and Idaho.

In 2016, Ulukaya announced he will give employees an ownership stake in the company. Forbes magazine estimates his net worth at $1.73 billion.

"Hamdi Ulukaya puts the xenophobes to shame," Roth said. "At a time when some accuse immigrants of stealing jobs, the Chobani CEO -- a Kurd born in Turkey who moved to the U.S. in 1994 -- is creating them, big time. He transformed a shuttered factory into a flourishing yogurt company that now employs people in places where jobs have been scarce, such as south-central Idaho and upstate New York."

Time's full list is available on the magazine's website and in its May 1 issue, which is to hit newsstands on Friday, April 21. The list includes President Donald Trump and his daughter, Ivanka Trump.

Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
The more credible scenarios are that North Korea could inflict up to 1 million casualties on South Korea and possibly land a few missiles into Japan if the North Korea went into a inflict maximum damage mode. South Korea and the USA would be able to beat down and contain North Korea. The situation would then transition into a prolonged Iraq-Afghanistan. North Korea also has thousands of tons of chemical weapons.

The US should be able to strike and rapidly cripple any medium and long range missile strike launch sites.

The US could use stealth fighters and stealth bombers to degrade North Korean missile capabilities and nuclear weapons within a few days. The US would then be able to dismantle the North Korean air force, air defenses and other missiles over the next two weeks.

South Korea and the US would be able to take out any regular tanks and artillery within about a month.

An uncertainty is if North Korea would be successful in embedding 100,000 commandos into Seoul for a more protracted urban warfare situation.

North Korea has a lot of tunnels and would have a large military force that would likely be under instructions to use IEDs and other guerilla tactics to make a long term mess of North Korea. There would also be a refugee and starvation situation in the aftermath.

The US is racing to install the THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea.

North Korea has more missiles than the THAAD system could shoot down in a full scale attack. However, the system would be useful if satellites could detect where more dangerous missiles might be launched. North Korea might have a dozen nuclear small nuclear weapons. North has a lot more chemical weapons.

The South Korean Ministry of National Defense estimated in 2012 that North Korea had a stockpile of between 2,500 and 5,000 metric tons of chemical weapons. Annual production is estimated at 4,500 tons in peacetime and 12,000 tons in wartime.

North Korea is believed to have highly lethal nerve agents, which work by disrupting the human bodys nervous system, resulting in asphyxiation. North Korea is believed to have stockpiles of sarin, soman, tabun, VM and VX nerve agents.

According to longtime analyst Joseph Bermudez, North Korea is believed to have specialized in sulfur mustard, chlorine, phosgene, sarin and the V-agents.

The Korean peninsula is relatively short; from Hyesan on the North Korean/Chinese border to the southern tip of South Korea is less than 500 miles, or the distance from Portland, Maine to Baltimore, Maryland. Pyongyang to the DMZ is only 100 hundred miles and only 120 miles to Seoul.

As of 2014, the U.S. Department of Defense estimates North Korea has less than one hundred short-range missile launchers of all types, including the Toksa/KN-02 Viper (a derivative of the Russian SS-21 Scarab) with a range of 75 miles, and its collection of Scud missiles, with a maximum range of 185 to 625 miles. Toksas and Scuds would have to be based close to the border.

North Korea also has less than fifty launchers for its No Dong missiles. Developed using Scud technology, No Dong has a range of 800 miles, making it useful for striking from deep inside North Korea against South Korea and Japan.

North Korea is believed to have 5,100 multiple rocket launchers and 4,400 self-propelled artillery pieces. Rocket artillery of 122-millimeter or greater and field artillery of 152-millimeter or greater would be capable of firing chemical shells. The majority of Pyongyangs artillery would be capable of delivering chemical strikes.

The North Korean Peoples Air Force is capable of delivering chemical weapons by air, but its aging fleet of airplanes are less reliable and less likely to get through South Korean defenses than other means.
[April 20, 2017] Corizon Health Announces New Board of Directors

Corizon (News - Alert) Health today announced the appointment of independent Directors Jeffrey D. Goldberg, Kenneth H. Paulus and Daniel S. Slipkovich to its Board of Directors, which comes as a result of the company's recapitalization announced earlier this week. The five-member Board comprises the three independent appointees, a member of the investor group, and Corizon Health CEO Karey L. Witty. Mr. Goldberg will serve as Board Chairman. Goldberg is a former executive of several healthcare companies and also serves as board chairman for LifeCare Holdings, a national long-term acute hospital system, and board chairman for M*Modal, a leading clinical documentation and technology company. His experience includes board and executive roles in medical technology and healthcare services, and he holds a J.D. from UCLA School of Law and graduated cum laude from Harvard College with a general studies degree. Mr. Paulus is the former President and CEO of Allina Health, one of the nation's largest integrated delivery systems. Under Paulus' leadership, Allina Health grew to 13 acute care hospitals, 100 ambulatory care clinics, and 1,500 physicians serving Minnesota and Wisconsin. The company received the Davies award for offering one of the industry's most interated and advanced information systems. Prior to joining Allina, Paulus was president and CEO of Atrius Health System, the largest integrated physician group in New England and a teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School. He also served as chief operating officer of Partners Community Healthcare, a major teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School. He holds a Master's of Healthcare Administration from the University of Minnesota and an undergraduate degree in biology from Augustana College.



Mr. Slipkovich, a nationally recognized leader within the healthcare industry, is a founder of Capella Health serving as its CEO and Chairman of the Board from 2005 to 2013 and Executive Chairman in 2016. He has more than 30 years of experience leading hospitals throughout the country from small, rural facilities to large, urban academic centers. Slipkovich began his career as a Certified Public Accountant, holding key positions for HCA, HealthTrust and LifePoint. He then became President and Chief Operating Officer of Province Healthcare, a non-urban hospital company. He holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from West Virginia University. "I am extremely excited about the experience and insights that this board brings to the table," Witty said. "I expect they will be hands-on partners who challenge the status quo and assist us with identifying new opportunities to better serve our clients and patients."

About Corizon Health Corizon Health provides quality healthcare services to states and municipalities across the country, offering a comprehensive solution for physical care, behavioral care and pharmaceutical services. With its corporate headquarters in Brentwood, Tennessee, Corizon Health is the leading provider of correctional healthcare services in the United States. For more information, please visit www.corizonhealth.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420006456/en/

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[April 20, 2017] Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Notice of Data Privacy Event

CLEVELAND, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cleveland Metropolitan School District, ("CMSD"), recently discovered an event that that may affect the security of personal and financial information of a select group of employees, students, their guardians, and/or other affiliates of CMSD. What Happened? On March 6, 2017, CMSD determined that certain categories of employee, student, and/or guardian information contained in a limited number of CMSD employee email accounts may have been accessed by an unknown and unauthorized individual. By way of background, on January 13, 2017, CMSD received information that suspicious IP addresses had been detected accessing the CMSD computer network. Further investigation revealed that spoofed emails were sent to district employees directing them to click on a fraudulent link and enter their CMSD credentials. CMSD learned that after employees entered their credentials, unknown and unauthorized actor[s] used those credentials to access affected employees' CMSD email accounts or other electronic information. After hiring an outside computer forensics expert and conducting a comprehensive forensic investigation, CMSD was able to identify the individuals whose information was contained in the affected employees' email accounts. What Information Was Involved? On March 6, 2017, CMSD determined that the following categories of employee, student, and/or guardian information were contained in one or more of the affected CMSD email accounts and may have been accessible to the unauthorized actor[s]: name, Social Security number, driver's license number, medical record number, and/or medical history. Please note, that CMSD is not aware of any attempted or actual misuse of the personal information contained in the email accounts. What We Are Doing. We take this incident, and the security of information in our care, very seriously at CMSD. Since the original incident occurred on January 13, we have been diligently investigating, with the assistance of third-party forensic experts, and have taken steps to further enhance the security of our systems to better protect against future incidents of this kind. In addition, we are mailing written notice of this incident to all potentially impacted individuals for whom we have contact information, along with the same information contained below, entitled "Steps You Can Take to Protect Against Identity Theft and Fraud." We are also reporting this incident to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and posting notice of this incident on our website at www.clevelandmetroschools.org. What You Can Do. CMSD is encouraging employees, students, and their guardians who believe they may be affected as a result of this incident to review the below "Steps You Can Take to Protect Against Identity Theft and Fraud," and to call our confidential toll-free hotline at 888-752-4096, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., E.D.T. or visit online at www.clevelandmetroschools.org. CMSD sincerely regrets any inconvenience or concern this incident has caused. Below are "Steps You Can Take to Protect against Identity Theft and Fraud," should you have concerns regarding the security of your protected health information or personal information. Steps You Can Take to Protect Against Identity Theft and Fraud We encourage everyone to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, to review your account statements, and to monitor your credit reports for suspicious activity. Under U.S. law you are entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228. You may also contact the three major credit bureaus directly to request a free copy of your credit report. At no charge, you can also have these credit bureaus place a "fraud alert" on your file that alerts creditors to take additional steps to verify your identity prior to granting credit in your name. Note, however, that because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you, it may also delay your ability to obtain credit while the agency verifies your identity. As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts on your file. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, or should you have any questions regarding your credit report, please contact any one of the agencies listed below.







Equifax P.O. Box 105069 Atlanta, GA 30348 800-525-6285 www.equifax.com Experian P.O. Box 2002 Allen, TX 75013 888-397-3742 www.experian.com TransUnion P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19022-2000 800-680-7289 www.transunion.com

You may also place a security freeze on your credit reports. A security freeze prohibits a credit bureau from releasing any information from a consumer's credit report without the consumer's written authorization. However, please be advised that placing a security freeze on your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prevent the timely approval of any requests you make for new loans, credit mortgages, employment, housing, or other services. If you have been a victim of identity theft, and you provide the credit bureau with a valid police report, it cannot charge you to place, lift or remove a security freeze. In all other cases, a credit bureau may charge you a fee to place, temporarily lift, or permanently remove a security freeze. You will need to place a security freeze separately with each of the three major credit bureaus listed above if you wish to place a freeze on all of your credit files. To find out more on how to place a security freeze, you can use the following contact information: Equifax Security Freeze P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348 1-800-685-1111 (NY residents please call 1-800-349-9960) https://www.freeze.equifax.com Experian Security Freeze P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013 1-888-397-3742 www.experian.com/freeze/center.html TransUnion P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19022-2000 1-888-909-8872 www.transunion.com/credit-freeze Although we have no reason to believe that your personal information has been used to file fraudulent tax returns, you can contact the IRS at https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Identity-Protection for helpful information and guidance on steps you can take to address a fraudulent tax return filed in your name and what to do if you become the victim of such fraud. You can also visit https://www.irs.gov/uac/Taxpayer-Guide-to-Identity-Theft for more information. You can further educate yourself regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, and the steps you can take to protect yourself, by contacting the Federal Trade Commission or your state Attorney General. The Federal Trade Commission's fraud website is www.identitytheft.gov. The Federal Trade Commission can be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580, www.identitytheft.gov, 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. You can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by way of the contact information listed above. You have the right to file a police report if you ever experience identity theft or fraud. Please note that in order to file a crime report or incident report with law enforcement for identity theft, you will likely need to provide some kind of proof that you have been a victim. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement. This notice has not been delayed by law enforcement. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cleveland-metropolitan-school-district-notice-of-data-privacy-event-300443108.html SOURCE Cleveland Metropolitan School District

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SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Announces an Investigation Involving Possible Securities Fraud Violations by Certain Officers and Directors of Ocwen Financial Corporation

Levi & Korsinsky announces it has commenced an investigation of Ocwen Financial Corporation (NYSE:OCN) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws.

On April 20, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau revealed that it was suing Ocwen, and reported that Ocwen had generated errors in borrowers' accounts, failed to credit payments, illegally foreclosed on homeowners, and charged borrowers for add-on products without their consent. In addition, authorities in at least 20 states have issued cease-and-desist orders against the Company to address mishandling of consumer escrow accounts and a deficient financial condition, specifically prohibiting Ocwen from acquiring new mortgage servicing rights and originating mortgage loans. To obtain additional information, go to:







http://zlk.9nl.com/ocwen

or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972.

Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, California, Connecticut and Washington D.C. The firm's attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities and shareholder lawsuits. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420006600/en/
[April 20, 2017] Advocates to Press World Bank to Fix Faulty Middle Income Country Designations: $2.86 per day is Not Middle-income!

As officials gather for the Spring Meeting of the World Bank Group this week in Washington, DC, social justice and HIV/AIDS advocates, including those from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), will host a PROTEST outside the World Bank on Friday, April 21st from 12 noon to 1:00pm as part of an ongoing worldwide campaign to press bank officials to change the way the World Bank defines and classifies Middle-income Countries (MICs). This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420006617/en/ As part of its campaign to have the World Bank overhaul its country income classification system, AHF launched a new 'Raise the MIC' ad in the DC area headlined, "Rich countries should not define poverty for poor countries," as part of its effort to have the World Bank fix its country classification system. (Graphic: Business Wire) Unfortunately, usage of the bank's country income classifications now extends well beyond the World Bank itself, and as a consequence of the often faulty MIC designations, countries with weak economies are now facing reductions in foreign aid, fewer concessionary development loans and higher prices for essential medicines-including for lifesaving antiretroviral therapies for HIV/AIDS. The advocates and protesters gathering Friday in Washington are asking for the World Bank to set the lower limit of the MIC category at, or above $3,650 of GNI per capita - equivalent to about $10 per day. AHF, which spearheaded the 'Raise the MIC' campaign will also unveil a new related DC 'Raise the MIC' ad campaign headlined, "Rich Countries Shouldn't Define Poverty for Poor Countries."







WHAT: WORLD BANK PROTEST - 12 noon - 1pm Advocates to demand World Bank reconsider and update its faulty Middle-income Country (MIC) designations. WHEN: FRIDAY, April 21st 2015-12:00 pm ET WHERE: Edward R. Murrow Park 19th Street and H Street, NW (across from the World Bank Building 1818 H Street, NW) WHO: Terri Ford (News - Alert), Chief of Global Policy & Advocacy for AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)

Chief of Global Policy & Advocacy for AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) John Hassell , National Director of Advocacy for AHF

, National Director of Advocacy for AHF Loretta Wong, Senior Director of Global Advocacy and Policy for AHF B-ROLL: 100 advocates with placards, whistles & banners, 3ft world globe balloons MEDIA CONTACTS: John Hassell, National Director of Advocacy for AHF (202) 774-4854 cell Jessica Reinhart, Associate Director of Community Outreach for AHF (323) 203-6146 cell

"Seventy-five percent of the world's poor-and the majority of people living with HIV/AIDS-reside in countries which the World Bank currently classifies as some bracket of Middle-income," said Terri Ford, Chief of Global Policy & Advocacy for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "The International Poverty Line is $1.25 per day, while the lower limit of the current MIC bracket is only $2.86 per day-just $1.61 per day more than the International Poverty Line and about the price of a cup of coffee. That is not Middle-income! We are protesting to respectfully, but emphatically urge the World Bank to revise its income classification methodology so that it is more closely aligned with the economic realities of the people in the developing world and push Middle-income designations up to the equivalent of about $10 per day." "A common interpretation of 'Middle Income' classification is that people in this bracket should have sufficient income to satisfy the basic necessities of life such as adequate housing, food, clothing and access to health care," said Loretta Wong, Senior Director of Global Advocacy and Policy for AHF, and who is based in Hong Kong. "The fact is, many of these classifications make citizens of countries erroneously classified as Middle-income unable access to lifesaving interventions reserved for Low-income Countries such as foreign aid, concessionary development loans, and the countries and people face higher prices for essential medicines-including for HIV/AIDS treatments-whether or not that is the World Bank's intent." "The mission of the World Bank is to end extreme poverty within a generation and boost shared prosperity. This goal cannot be accomplished by simply renaming developing countries into MICs; the underlying problems associate with global poverty will remain in place until we face up to reality and start calling things for what they are," said John Hassell, National Director of Advocacy for AHF. "The existing World Bank income classification scale sends a global message that distorts the reality and does not accurately reflect the income levels of the majority of people living in these countries. We are asking The World Bank to overhaul and update its country classification system immediately." Venezuela Hurt by Flawed MIC Designation A prime example of the negative effect of faulty World Bank country income classifications can be seen today in Venezuela, which the World Bank inexplicably classifies as Upper Middle-income, despite the economic turmoil and humanitarian crises roiling that country. On January 18, 2017, the Venezuelan Network of Positive People (RGV+), an HIV/AIDS assistance group in Venezuela was denied lifesaving financial aid from the Global Fund, which-using World Bank country income classifications-said the Venezuelan group was "ineligible due to its (country's) income level classification." On March 13, 2017, AHF president Michael Weinstein sent a letter to Global Fund leaders decrying their use of World Bank country income classifications and asking, " to clarify the World Bank's position on the use of its income classification methodology by the Global Fund. On February 18, 2016, I (M. Weinstein) met with Mr. Matthew T. McGuire, the United States Executive Director of the World Bank Group, who assured me that the World Bank classifies countries by income level for analytical purposes only, and that this methodology is not intended for use by other entities such as the Global Fund." AHF Launches New 'Raise the MIC' Transit Shelter & Mobile Ad Campaign in DC AHF is also unveiling a new advocacy advertising campaign in Washington to bring awareness to the Middle Income Country issue. Starting in early April. The campaign includes 25 DC area transit shelter ads as well as a mobile billboard that has been driving the streets of Washington near the World Bank meeting site all this week. The ads all drive to the 'RaiseTheMIC.org' campaign website. 2015 World Bank Protest in DC and Raise the MIC Campaign In September 2015, in conjunction with a World Bank meeting also in Washington, a coalition of over 310 organizations and advocates from 30 countries launched the global 'Raise the MIC' campaign and online petition drive urging Dr. Jim Yong Kim, the President of the World Bank to reconsider the way the Bank defines and classifies Middle Income Countries (MICs). Advocates were then, and remain today increasingly concerned about such faulty MIC designations by the Bank, as they adversely affect pricing and cost of a wide assortment of goods and services, including triggering far higher prices for lifesaving HIV/AIDS and other medicines in the countries. A billboard and transit shelter advocacy ad campaign accompanied that initial launch of the Raise the MIC campaign in 2015. In addition, several 'Raise the MIC' protests, advocacy actions and media campaigns have since taken place around the globe since then including in Peru, China, Cambodia, Kenya and Mexico. AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 713,000 individuals in 39 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook (News - Alert): www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter (News - Alert): @aidshealthcare. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420006617/en/

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US Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday toured the biggest mosque in Indonesia, the worlds most populous Muslim-majority country, during a visit seen as a bid by his administration to heal divisions with the Islamic world.After kicking off his stop in Indonesia by praising the countrys moderate Islam as an inspiration, he visited Istiqlal Mosque, which can accommodate 200,000 worshippers and whose vast, white dome towers over downtown Jakarta.He slipped off his shoes before being guided around the mosque, which is also the biggest in Southeast Asia, accompanied by his wife and two daughters in headscarves, as well as Istiqlals Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar.His visit represents the most high-profile outreach to Muslims by the Donald Trump administration since the brash billionaire came to office and echoes a similar trip by Barack and Michelle Obama in 2010. Since becoming president almost 100 days ago, Trump has hosted leaders from majority-Muslim Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.But his administration has also tried to ban travellers from several Muslim-majority nations, citing concerns about terrorism  an effort currently being challenged in US courts.As a presidential candidate, Trump often appeared to flirt with the far right as he railed against radical Islamic terrorism.But Pence struck a starkly different tone during his visit to Indonesia, which has often been praised as a successful Muslim democracy where most practise a moderate form of Islam and coexist peacefully with substantial religious minorities.Indonesias tradition of moderate Islam is frankly an inspiration to the world and we commend you and your people, he said after talks with President Joko Widodo at the presidential palace in Jakarta.In your nation as in mine, religion unifies, it doesnt divide. Tolerant Islam under threat Pence is currently on a tour of South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Australia that is aimed at smoothing some of the rougher edges of Trumps rhetoric.In South Korea and Japan, Pence played down protectionist declarations of America first and reaffirmed US treaty commitments to the security of the two countries as tensions rise over Pyongyangs nuclear programme.At the mosque in Jakarta, Pence and his family also toured the cavernous main prayer room  which was empty during his visit but fills up with tens of thousands of worshippers during key dates in the Muslim calender  and admired the towering dome.A man showed the US leader how he beats a carved drum next to the courtyard, a local addition to the traditional call to prayer.Pence then held an interfaith dialogue behind closed doors with representatives of the Christian, Buddhist, Confucian, Hindu and Muslim faiths.The vice presidents upbeat tone about Indonesian Islam contrasts with growing concerns inside the country that the traditionally inclusive brand of the religion is under threat from hardliners and a trend towards conservatism.On Wednesday Jakartas Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama was defeated in a run-off election to lead the capital by a Muslim challenger who was accused of pandering to hardliners to win votes.Purnama, known by his nickname Ahok, lost after his once-unassailable lead in opinion polls was dented when he was put on trial for blasphemy in a case criticised as politically motivated.Following his poll loss, he looks set to escape jail after prosecutors recommended in a court hearing Thursday that he be given only probation.Pences Muslim outreach in Indonesia, where 90 percent of the 255 million inhabitants are followers of the faith, has been welcomed locally but it is unlikely to be enough to assuage fears that the Trump administration is anti-Islam.President Trumps hostile pronouncements on Islam and Muslims have done considerable damage to his reputation in the Islamic world. It would take more than a visit to repair the damage, said Fawaz Gerges, an expert on the Middle East and Islam at the London School of Economics. After his talks with Widodo, Pence also said the US was committed to building a stronger defence partnership to combat terrorism, and guaranteeing freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where Indonesian and Chinese vessels have recently clashed.
Police, yesterday, arraigned 53 persons, who were allegedly arrested during a gay marriage, before a magistrates court in Chediya-Zaria...

Police, yesterday, arraigned 53 persons, who were allegedly arrested during a gay marriage, before a magistrates court in Chediya-Zaria, Kaduna State. The prosecutor, Mannir Nasir, said the accused were arrested on April 15 at a motel and were being charged for conspiracy, unlawful assembly and belonging to a gang of unlawful society.He said the offences contravened Sections 97, 100 and 197(a) of Criminal Procedure Code, CPC. According to Nasir, on April 15, at about 9p.m., a team of policemen, led by DSP Muhammad Lawal-Mashi, arrested and brought to the police station 53 persons.The accused persons, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges, and their counsel, Yunusa Umar, asked the court to release them on bail in line with sections 35 (4) and 36 (5) of the Constitution.Mr. Umar said the accused persons were detained for more than 24 hours, contrary to Section 341 of CPC. He told the court that most of the accused persons were students in their tender age.Chief Magistrate Auwal Musa-Aliyu granted the accused N500,000 bail, with one surety each in the like sum, who must be a blood relation to the accused. He ordered that each surety must present two passport size photographs, valid identity card, bank account number, letter of credence from a traditional ruler, a 2015 utility bill and a valid GSM number. The Chief Magistrate adjoined the case till May 8 for further hearing.
Sule Lamido, former governor of Jigawa state, has described the anti-corruption war of President Muhammadu Buhari as a ruse.

Sule Lamido, former governor of Jigawa state, has described the anti-corruption war of President Muhammadu Buhari as a ruse.Speaking in an interview with the Hausa service of the BBC, Lamido wondered how a man who worked under Sani Abacha, the late military dictator, could be talking about fighting corruption.Abacha had appointed Buhari as chairman of the then Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF).He (Buhari) worked under Abacha; in fact he was the closest to the late military ruler and when it comes to corruption, everybody knows where Abachas government stands, Lamido said.Buhari is just making noise; theres no iota of truth in the so-called commitment to the improvement of security and halting graft in the country.Lamido also faulted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for its refusal to disclose the owners of the monies recovered in an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos.Its unthinkable to say that the EFCC had discovered huge monies in a building in Lagos but could not track the real owner; who leaked the story? Who did the source say is the owner of the find? he asked.Those in the position of authority should always have the courage to tell the led the truth because leadership is sacred.Lamidos criticisms of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government started before the ruling party formed government at the center.Two months before the election that ended the 16-year reign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he said the country was too big for the APC to govern.If you go through the social media, what they paint is that APC has won almost 99 percent in Nigeria, he had said.What is APC? An amalgamation of pain, anger and desperation. And this country is too big for them.In July 210 5, Lamido and his sons spent four days in Kano prison after being arrested by the EFCC.They were arraigned on a 28-count charge of corruption and money laundering. The commission accused them of siphoning billions of naira belonging to the state government.When he regained freedom, Lamido said only those detained with him would understand what he and his children went through.People hate me because I am outspoken, he had said.It is difficult to share my prison with anyone because its not like hunger or something tangible. You have to be in there to feel what I and my children went through.Im not new to detention, its all part of struggle for life. If the purpose is to humiliate, well thats part of the hazard of occupying public office.
Reports filtering in claim that the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir ElRufai has ordered the arrest of Mr. Midat Joseph, a Kaduna b...

Reports filtering in claim that the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir ElRufai has ordered the arrest of Mr. Midat Joseph, a Kaduna based correspondent of Leadership newspapers.He was arrested by security operatives in his house at the early hours of Thursday.According to sources, the journalist who is now in detention in Kaduna was said to have published a report considered critical of the state government.This development has brought to six, the number of journalists arrested on the orders of the state governor since his assumption of office on May 2015.However, calls put across to ElRufais Chief Press Secretary for confirmation did not yield results as his line was switched off.
The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has lamented the poor condition of prisons in the state and called on the Federal Government to ...

The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has lamented the poor condition of prisons in the state and called on the Federal Government to upgrade the facilities.The governor spoke when he visited the Nigeria Prison Service along Ado-Afao Road in Ado Ekiti in company with the state Chief Judge, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, and the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Chafe.At the event, wives of some of the inmates, especially those whose husbands were politically exposed, appealed to Fayose to release them.But the governor told them that though he would have loved to release all the inmates, his hands were tied because he had to follow due process.He said, We would pardon some inmates but we have to follow due process. We must have the facts and figures before approving their release.We have come to see the facilities in the prison and see how we can help. We have seen the facilities here and we are not happy.The buildings here houses almost 200 people but whatever their offences, they are still entitled to good condition of living. We therefore appeal to the Federal Government to upgrade the facilities available for prison inmates in the state.Fayose noted that the walls surrounding the prison were vulnerable, saying it partly accounted for the jailbreak in the prison.The governor promised to support the prison with a building, borehole, health and toilet facilities, while appealing to the Federal Government to live up to its responsibilities.He also appealed to the prison inmates to be of good conduct and repent truly to get pardon.
Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of rewarding Fulani herdsmen for butchering Nigerians...

Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of rewarding Fulani herdsmen for butchering Nigerians by appointing Mohammed Bello Tukur as the Secretary of the Federal Character Commission.It would be recalled that Tukur was one of those Buhari recently appointed to head twenty-three Federal Government Agencies.In a series of tweets on his social media handle, the former spokesperson of the PDP Presidential campaign organisation alleged that Buhari appointed Tukur who is the spokesperson of Fulani herdsmen.The tweet reads, Buhari has rewarded the Fulani herdsmen for butchering Nigerians by appointing their spokesman as the Sec. of the Fed. Character Commission.More Christians were killed by the Fulani Janjaweed and militants in Southern Kaduna on Easter day. The bloodbath and genocide continues.
The Kogi Police Special Squad has arrested the administrator of Ijumu Local governmental area of Kogi State, Hon.Taofiq Isa, in connection...

The Kogi Police Special Squad has arrested the administrator of Ijumu Local governmental area of Kogi State, Hon.Taofiq Isa, in connection with the assassination attempt on Senator Dino Melaye.Dino Melaye escaped death on Saturday, April 15th after gunmen invaded his house in the early hours of Saturday at Ayetoro-Gbede in Kogi State.But report says Isa was arrested at about 1.30pm in Lokoja, the state capital.He was apprehended during his visit to the Commissioner for Education in the state, Sunday Tolorunleke.Kogi State Commissioner of Police, Wilson Inalegwu confirmed the arrest of the suspect.Inalegwu told reporters in the state that the command was putting in all efforts to arrest those suspected to be behind the failed assassination attempt.He noted that the command would arrest and investigate anyone suspected to be linked with the case.Dino had earlier accused the Governor of the State, Yahaya Bello of being silent over the assassination attempt on his life.
A man identified as Abdulkarim Njoroge, has been arrested by the Kenya Police authorities for allegedly killing his girlfriend, Irene Kana...

A man identified as Abdulkarim Njoroge, has been arrested by the Kenya Police authorities for allegedly killing his girlfriend, Irene Kananu, and hiding her corpse in a freezer at his residence.According to Kenyan Star, Njoroge, a 25-year-old university student strangled Kananu in his house in Mtwapa region in Mombasa, following an argument over the deceaseds decision to dump him after he got another woman pregnant.Following her disappearance, police authorities declared the deceased missing on March 31, 2017 but Njoroge was eventually arrested after Kananus body was found in his freezer on Tuesday.Kananus body was found naked, her head inside the refrigerator while her legs and hips were sticking out, a report quoted a source as saying.The couple reportedly fought after Kananu learned that Njoroge had impregnated his secret lover who is his neighbour living in the same block of flats with him.Njoroge, apart from murdering the lady, also made away with her car and allegedly withdrew Sh40,000 from Kananus M-Pesa account, the report claimed.
Obinna Obioha, 31, and a Nigerian hacker has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and admitted to participating in a scheme to hack into computers...

Obinna Obioha, 31, and a Nigerian hacker has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and admitted to participating in a scheme to hack into computers and email accounts in the United States for the purpose of stealing money from American companies.The announcement was made by United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Vadim D. Thomas, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.As part of his guilty plea, Obioha admitted that, while in Nigeria, he worked with others to hack into computers and email accounts used by dozens of victims in the United States and around the world.After monitoring victims information to identify imminent commercial transactions, Obioha and his associates created knockoff email addresses that appeared similar to  but varied slightly from  victims legitimate email addresses.Obioha and his associates then used those bogus email accounts to send fraudulent invoices to victims, instructing them to wire funds to bank accounts controlled by Obioha and his associates, under the pretense that the wires were payments for actual deals that had been previously negotiated by the victims.Obioha admitted that between January and September 2016, he was involved in at least 50 wire transfers, and that about $6.5 million was sent to the bank accounts that he and his associates controlled. The accounts received money from fraud victims in New York, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, and Texas, among other places.Obioha was arrested on October 6, 2016, after flying from Lagos, Nigeria, to JFK International Airport. He has been in custody since that time.United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian said: Foreign criminal enterprises prey upon American businesses and are using increasingly sophisticated means to do so, as demonstrated by this scheme. Obiohas apprehension and conviction is a reminder that foreign nationals targeting American businesses cannot operate with impunity and that the reach of U.S. law enforcement agencies is global.The FBI plays the long game, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Vadim D. Thomas. Todays plea is proof that no matter how distant justice may seem, no matter where criminal enterprises may operate, the FBI and our law enforcement partners are committed to securing justice for our businesses and communities.Obioha faces up to 20 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine, as well as the possibility of being ordered to pay restitution, when he is sentenced on July 26, 2017 by United States District Judge David N. Hurd. A defendants sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Wayne A. Myers.
SENATORS and House of Representatives members yesterday reacted to the suspension of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (S...

SENATORS and House of Representatives members yesterday reacted to the suspension of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Babachir David Lawal by his principal, President Muhammadu Buhari.The lawmakers said the development was in tune with Nigerians expectation of a government that has the anti-corruption crusade as its selling point.Praising the President for wielding the big stick against the SGF, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism, Matthew Urhoghide, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview that the move showed the Presidents readiness to fight corruption irrespective of who was involved.Describing the suspension as a welcomed development, Urhoghide said contrary to beliefs that the National Assembly was out to witch-hunt members of the executive, the assembly had sincerity of purpose in the discharge of its duties.He said: Some of the decisions of the assembly are reached on the merit of their cases. So, if the President now considers that it is a good thing for him to take a look at the report from the Senate, which was given in good faith, it is nice.The Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee investigating the Northeast crises, Senator Shehu Sani, in a statement in Abuja, applauded the Presidents action on his committees report.He said it was commendable that the committees report was taken seriously.Sani said: The sword of truth is not just cast and sharpened for the neck of foes but also for those of friends. Moral gallows is not just meant for a belligerent foe but for a perfidious friend.Courage is dispensing justice; greater courage is dispensing justice against our emotions and temptation towards saving a friend. Its easier to annihilate an adversary for a heap wrong than reprimand a friend for a mountain of wrong.Its commendable for the president to heed the call to fumigate the throne of lice and bugs with the same ability he goes after rodents afar.Senator Adamu Aliero, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, also applauded the courage of the President.Senator Mohammed Hassan (PDP-Yobe), a member of the ad hoc committee, said the committee was putting finishing touches to the final report on its assignment.He said the report would be laid before the Senate after the Easter break.He said: I am just hearing this from you, but you know it was an interim report that was presented to the Senate and the final report, I am sure when we resume, will be laid on the floor of the Senate.If you recall, we were to have a public hearing where all those involved will be invited and that couldnt hold for some obvious reasons that were stated on the floor of the senate. What I know is that the committee will ensure that the report is laid on the floor of the Senate.The Green Chamber members expressed mixed feelings over the suspension of the SGF and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, (NIA), Ayo 0ke.Minority Leader Leo Ogor said the suspension was in tune with the governments anti-graft war posture.He, however, demanded thorough investigation and disclosure of the ownership of the Osborne Towers, Lagos $43 million haul.Ogor said: The suspension of both men is a step in the right direction for Nigeria but it must be in line with the transparency agenda of this administration vis a vis its anti-corruption drive right from inception.We Nigerians demand a detailed probe on the $43 million that was found and theres need to throw more light on who actually owns the money or better still, let them specifically tell us where the money came from.Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers), who is the Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, believed the President Muhammadu Buhari was prompted into action by public outcry.He said: It was Nigerians, who actually pushed the Federal Government into action due to their persistence that justice must be seen to be equitably distributed.
Constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari over his decision to su...

Constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari over his decision to suspend Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal and Director General of the Nigerian Intelligence Agency, NIA, Ambassador Ayo Oke from their respective offices.Ozekhome However, Ozekhome, urged President Buhari to also beam his lens on some serving Ministers and other key figures in his government, who he said have corruption allegations pending against them. Ozekhome maintained that the President would be shocked at ugly revelations beneath the white sepulchre of his ruling party, should he okay the Pandora box to be opened. His statement entitled The Suspension of Babachir Lawal and Ambassador Oke: Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish, read: The suspension of the N250m grass cutting Secretary to the government of the Federation (SGF), Mr David Babachir Lawal and the N15 billion Osborne Road ware-housing Amb Ayoade Oke, DG, NIA, is good riddance to bad rubbish.I am sure the government is beginning to listen to my critical but patriotic voice. We cannot continue to be a laughing stock in the international arena. The anti corruption fight has so far been a case of defending corruption within the governments inner circle and its very Kitchen Cabinet, decorating it with powerful sweet smelling sasarobia perfume,while fighting that of perceived enemies and critics with powerful insecticides, pesticides and herbicides.The chicken is finally coming home to roost. I congratulate PMB on this move, even if belated. But, there are still more tons of petitions existing against some serving ministers and other key figures of this government, pending before the anti graft Agencies, but which have so been carefully swept under the carpet. Let the president open the Pandora box and he will be shocked at the ugly revelations beneath the white sepulchre of his ruling party. The actions of the Security and anti graft Agencies have constituted a great embarrassment and ridicule to Nigeria as a nation.Contrary to simulated position being pushed by government, aside the loot recovery spree, some quite unverified, with no transparency about, or accountability of, recovered monies and attached properties, corruption today literally walks, not just on all fours, but even on its head and buttocks. Let the music play on. Let the real anti corruption fight begin.
The Peoples Democratic Party, Kogi state, has accused the state governor, Yahaya Bello of handling the state like the ancient Egyptian Kin...

The Peoples Democratic Party, Kogi state, has accused the state governor, Yahaya Bello of handling the state like the ancient Egyptian King, Pharaoh.The party said the over one-year staff screening exercise of civil servants in the state was an avenue to deprive workers in the state their entitlements and further divert the attention of the public from the massive lootings going on in the state.It said the development had resulted to death of many workers in the state.PDP made these claims in a communique issued yesterday after its Stakeholders meeting held at Isanlu, headquarter of Yagba East senatorial district.The communique signed by the Kogi West party chairman, Taiwo Kola-Ojo warned the governor to stop handling the state like a tyrant.The party members also condemned the arrest and detention of the national leader of the PDP Youth Frontiers, Austin Okai.It said, We condemn the clampdown on PDP members in Kogi State by security agents on the order of Governor Yahaya Bello.We call for the immediate release of Comrade Austin Okai, a blogger and PDP member, who after being incarcerated several days was released on bail by a magistrate court only to be rearrested in the court premises by officers of the special anti-robbery squad over trumped-up charges.We observed that a King Pharaoh has reincarnated in Kogi State and the Pharaoh is Governor Yahaya Bello.We therefore call for a halt to the rule of tyranny in Kogi State just as we have resolved to mobilize against persecution of PDP members in the zone and the state as a whole.We urge workers and the electorates to rise up to their freedom by voting out the APC from power.The unending screening exercise was a veil to divert public attention from the massive looting of over N100b from Kogi treasury accruing from monthly allocations from the federation account, bailout, Paris Club and development refunds by members and agents of the Yahaya Bello government.The APC, from all indications, was not prepared for governance and having failed Nigerians woefully, the PDP must be prepared to take back its mandate in 2019 at the national and state levels.Reacting to the PDPs allegations, the Kogi Governors Director General on Media and Publicity, Kingsley Fanwo urged the people of the state to pray fervently for the derailing PDP to rediscover itself and provide credible opposition to the ruling APC in the State.He said, This is an all-low for the opposition PDP who has lost touch with the political reality in the state. The party should hire competent lawyers to defend the rights of Austin Okai who has been charged to court for trying to disturb the peace of Kogi State. Okai should face the music and defend his numerous allegations against the Governor and his administration.PDPs voice resonates culpability in the whole saga. Why are they showing glaring frustration with the judicial process Okai is facing? It is Okai against the laws of the land. If he is innocent, he will be acquitted but if he is culpable, that will be the load of his actions. There cant be absolute absolution from crimes committed. Criticism must be done with defensible facts.
TRENTON -- After State Police Detective Sgt. William Billingham smashed his unmarked car into an SUV on a state highway in Camden County in 2009, he told his fellow troopers he fell asleep at the wheel.

They never tested him for alcohol and took down a fake name from the detective's undercover ID on police reports, keeping the other driver in the dark.

An internal investigation later found Billingham had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit. When the scandal became public, it sparked a crackdown on DWI investigations involving troopers and a big, taxpayer-funded lawsuit settlement.



But records obtained by NJ Advance Media show that, years after the story receded from the spotlight, the trooper struck a court deal in December allowing him to avoid jail time -- or even a guilty plea -- and is now seeking a disability pension.



Billingham was the subject of a 2011 Star-Ledger investigation which found the victim of the crash, Clayton Tanksley, spent the months afterward chasing a ghost, filing insurance claims and hiring a private investigator to find a man who didn't exist.



Paperwork given to Tanksley and his insurer named the driver as William Gillespie, a pseudonym the trooper used for undercover work, the investigation found.



The state eventually paid Tanksley $150,000 in a civil settlement. The criminal case against Billingham, who was off-duty but driving a state vehicle, stretched on for years.



State Police launched an investigation three months after the crash when the Attorney General's Office received an anonymous letter claiming the trooper's intoxication was covered up.



He was indicted in July 2011 on a fourth-degree charge of assault by auto, in part because the statute of limitations for DWI had long passed.

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The detective fought in court to suppress hospital records showing his blood-alcohol level was 0.276, but an appellate court ruled in 2012 the medical records were fair game.



It's unclear why the case continued for years after that. Records show Billingham applied for pretrial intervention as early as April 2013, a month after the state Supreme Court declined to take up the hospital records dispute.

But the agreement was not signed by a judge or prosecutor until just last December.

Under pretrial intervention, also known as PTI, a defendant with little or no criminal history can apply to have their case put on hold for one to three years while they are subject to a range of conditions including random urine testing, psychological or substance abuse treatment and community service. If they follow the rules, the charges are dropped.

A copy of the trooper's order of postponement obtained by NJ Advance Media shows charges against Billingham will be dropped in December of this year if he meets the conditions of "supervisory treatment."

The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, which took over the case because Billingham's brother was Camden County sheriff at the time, signed off on the deferment. A spokesman for that office declined to comment.

The PTI agreement marked a quiet end for a controversy that made headlines and prompted major policy changes within the State Police.

Days after Billingham's case became public, Col. Rick Fuentes ordered stricter oversight of DWI investigations involving troopers and launched a review on the use of undercover identification cards like the one Billingham gave to troopers on the scene.

However, the suspended criminal matter still complicates the detective's application with the State Police retirement board, which has to determine whether Billingham meets the state's "honorable service" requirement for pensions.

The trooper's request for an accidental disability retirement appears unrelated to the off-duty drunken driving incident.

According to a heavily redacted copy of Billingham's pension documents obtained by NJ Advance Media through a public records request, the detective cites two incidents as the cause of his undisclosed injury, one on January 26, 2010 and another on October 6, 2009 -- just six months after the crash.

The details of those incidents aren't subject to release under medical privacy provisions in New Jersey's records laws.

Billingham referred a request for comment to his attorney, who declined to answer questions about the criminal matter and his accidental disability retirement application.

Billingham was scheduled to go before the board on March 28, but the matter was tabled pending further review. Treasury listings show the board directed the state Attorney General's Office to subpoena investigative records from county prosecutors.

A spokesman for Attorney General Christopher Porrino declined to comment on the matter.

Billingham was suspended without pay after his indictment, but it's unclear whether he was ever disciplined over the crash because details of internal investigations are also often shielded from public view.

A State Police spokesman, Sgt. Jeff Flynn, said only that Billingham retired "as a result of reaching our mandatory age of retirement" and was "not involved in any pending internal investigations."

Billingham remained on the State Police payroll until 2014, when he reached the retirement age of 55 and first applied for a disability pension, records show. But he had not received his full $91,000 salary since 2010, and the last time he received any money from the State Police was 2011, the year prosecutors brought criminal charges, when he was paid $19,252.

The next State Police retirement board meeting is scheduled for May 23. A spokesman for the Treasury Department said the agenda had not been set.

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
NEWARK -- State officials have filed a complaint against a construction firm they said accepted nearly $350,000 to repair and elevate homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy but failed to do the work.

The complaint against Coastal Restorations & Construction of New Jersey claims the company and its principals alleges they left some of their clients without completed work, failed to issue refunds for others and made false claims about the scope of their responsibilities, according to the state Division of Consumer Affairs.

The complaint, which covers activities involving seven homeowners, also charges the Manahawkin-based company, along with principals Adam Nevius, Cole Nevius Jr. and Kimberly Atkinson with violating state laws regulating contractors and protecting consumers.

"If a contractor accepts a renovation or elevation job, that company must follow the laws and regulations governing home improvement," said Steve Lee, director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. "If the company cannot, it should not be conducting business in New Jersey."

The complaint charges the company and its principals with accepting money - including federal restoration funding - from consumers to repair or raise Sandy-damaged homes but then failing to start the work.

It also alleged they failed to give notice about delays in service, failed to respond to phone calls, emails and texts inquiring about the status of repairs and that they abandoned unfinished projects without returning for weeks, months or at all.

In one case, they filled a Dumpster at a job site with material from other projects and then failed to pay the Dumpster owner, leaving the homeowner to pay for its removal, Lee said in a press release.

In another case, the company issued a bad refund check to a homeowner for overpayment and then ultimately failed to refund any money to the owner, he said.

The complaint, filed in Superior Court in Ocean County, also accused Adam Nevius of representing that building and construction permit applications had been filed, when they had not.

They are accused of violating the state's Consumer Fraud Act, the Contractors' Registration Act, the Regulations Governing Contractor Registration, the Regulations Governing Home Improvement Practices and the Regulations Governing General Advertising, Lee said.

He said the company's website falsely claimed that the Coastal Renovations would handle all permitting procedures and it failed to prominently include its home improvement contractor registration number on advertisements on the website and in consumer correspondence.

The company also failed to include on its invoices, contracts and correspondence the toll-free telephone number for consumers to call with inquiries or complaints concerning contractors

"Those still recovering from Superstorm Sandy must have confidence that contractors will treat them fairly and honestly," said state Attorney General Christopher Porrino, whose office oversees the Division of Consumer Affairs. "We will continue to aggressively pursue those who destroy that confidence and undermine the ability of families to go home again."

The complaint is the eighth action filed by the state against home improvement contractors alleging Sandy-related fraud in connection with federal restoration grant money.

The homeowners identified in the complaint received money from the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) Program.

The complaint seeks restitution to the homeowners and the contractor to return the federal funds., The state is also looking for company and its principals would also be responsible for paying civil penalties, attorney fees and investigative costs.

The state is seeking to permanently revoke the contractor's state registrations and forbid Coastal Restorations, Adam Nevius, Cole Nevius and Atkinson from operating a construction business in New Jersey, Lee said.

Investigators Joseph Iasso and Maureen Browne of the Division's Office of Consumer Protection conducted the investigation.

Consumers who believe they have been cheated or scammed by a business, or suspect any other form of consumer abuse, can file an online complaint with the state Division of Consumer Affairs by visiting its website or by calling 1-800-242-5846 (toll free within New Jersey) or 973-504-6200.

MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Ocean County officials agreed Wednesday to share data collected through the use of license-plate readers with federal authorities.

A license plate reader is shown in November 2013 photo.

The agreement allows members of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office to provide information with the Drug Enforcement Association "in near real-time."

In turn, the prosecutor's office can access information obtained by the DEA through automated license plate readers to help assist with local investigations.

"The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office users shall not take any operational action based solely on LPR information from DEA," according to the agreement approved by the Ocean County Freeholders.

A spokesman for the prosecutor's office, Al Della Fave, said the agreement "improves the coordination of communicating and sharing critical existing investigative information only between law enforcement agencies."

"The oversight by the prosecutor's office provides additional individual privacy and constitutional rights assurances," Della Fave said in a statement. "In no way will it be utilized to mine or develop new criminal investigations."

Police departments in New Jersey started using automated license plate readers in 2010. At the time, then-Attorney General Paula T. Dow wrote a detailed directive with guidelines on the use of the devices.

The guidelines state the information is for law enforcement agency use only and data should be treated as "criminal investigatory records," which can't be released to the public under the state's Open Public Records Act. The data is also kept for up to five years.

The American Civil Liberties Union has condemned the technology, calling it a "tool for mass routine location tracking and surveillance."

"Too many jurisdictions are retaining data on innocent Americans for long periods of time, and the inevitable trend towards greater sharing of this data, it is apparent that there are too few rules in place to ensure that license plate reader technology is not abused," the ACLU said in a July 2013 report.

Della Fave said using license-plate readers is a "major component" of policing post-9/11.

It's unclear how many counties in New Jersey have similar agreements with the DEA. A spokesman for the Attorney General's Office said the office does not track that information.

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
By Alexander Shalom

Attacking pretrial justice reform has become New Jersey's latest political fad.

These assaults, whether qualified reservations or full-on opposition, reflect the same thing: a profound misunderstanding of the way the new pretrial justice system works.

Pretrial justice reform in our state ended a reality where people awaited trial in jail simply because they were poor, not because they posed a danger. New Jersey's smart and humane reforms changed that and made our state a criminal justice pioneer.

The new system rejects reliance on gut feelings or hunches. Instead, scores assess a defendant's risk in three areas: non-appearance, new criminal activity, and violent activity.

Last month, Newark Councilman Anibal Ramos Jr. and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop objected to details of how bail reform is implemented in critiques that revealed misconceptions.

Ramos called for closing a loophole that doesn't actually exist. He incorrectly said pending charges do not affect risk-assessment scores, when in fact they are the only factor that affects all three categories. Fulop strongly criticized bail reform because it classified illegal weapon possession as a nonviolent offense.

However, under the old system, a defendant charged with illegal weapon possession could have paid as little as $2,500 for release.

These criticisms highlight a fallacy beneath the misplaced nostalgia for money bail. Many critics discuss the old system as if it were a foregone conclusion that dangerous people would have been locked up pretrial. But that was not the case. Instead, justice was predicated on the amount of money someone brought to the table, regardless of the danger their release posed. Now, release is based on objective, scientifically validated predictions of risk.

These attacks undermine reforms that are a model nationwide for safely addressing injustices that have long plagued the criminal justice system.

Ultimately, judges still determine whether a defendant can be safely released. As was true under the old system - and, indeed, every system - judges sometimes get it wrong. Bail reform has not changed that fact. But, now, for the first time, courts can give guidance and review these decisions through appeals.

Pretrial justice reform in New Jersey was achieved through an unprecedented coming together of strange bedfellows. Groups and individuals who rarely find each other on the same side, such as the Office of the Public Defender and the County Prosecutor's Association, the ACLU and the attorney general, and Gov. Chris Christie and state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, all agreed reform was in order.

The old system where rich, dangerous people -- the Robert Dursts and O.J. Simpsons of the world -- could buy their way out of jail while poor people languished, regardless of risk, was unfair and unsustainable.

The bail bond industry has sounded the loudest calls to halt pretrial justice reform before it can succeed, clinging to financial stakes in the old, unfair system. Poor people waited in jail for years, at great public cost, despite the fact that the majority posed little risk to public safety.

No system of pretrial detention and release can eliminate all risk. Good systems of pretrial justice appropriately measure and manage risk. Risk-based bail far surpasses the old system in this regard.

Suggestions that politicians should interfere with the risk-assessment formula, which is publicly accessible for review, ignore its scientific underpinnings. The assigned factors and weights were not selected because they were popular; they were selected because they are shown to accurately predict risks of non-appearance, new crimes, and new violent crimes.

This is not to suggest that the risk assessment tool is perfect.

However, the Legislature anticipated just this and created the Pretrial Services Program Review Commission. Law enforcement, bail reform advocates, and other experts who make up the commission will soon convene to examine pain points and make necessary changes. Rather than change the statute based on political winds, our elected officials should urge members of the commission to fulfill their statutory obligation to examine and improve the functioning of the law.

Pretrial justice reform took years to conceptualize and implement. We cannot allow early growing pains - greatly exaggerated by those who ignore the failures of the old system - to force us to reverse course on the most promising criminal justice reform effort in decades.

Alexander Shalom is senior staff attorney of the ACLU of New Jersey, one of five organizations designated by statute to serve on the commission governing pretrial justice reform's implementation.

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By Jeff Tittel

This year's Earth Day on April 22 is the most critical since that first one because President Trump is trying to roll back 47 years of protections.

Before the first Earth Day in 1970 rivers caught fire, including the Passaic. Smog and air pollution clogged many major cities and people wore masks. Some of our rivers were nothing better than open sewers.

On that day, 20 million people across the country came together. Hundreds of thousands of people protested in Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, Boston and dozens of other places demanding action to protect our air and water. In New Jersey, I helped organize the clean-up of the Elizabeth River with other 7th-graders.

After this, the law creating the Environmental Protection Agency was passed as people started to talk about the dangers of climate change.

We also demanded the passage of the Clean Water Act. And after Richard Nixon vetoed the legislation in 1972, large numbers of people marched on Washington gain. As a result of the public outcry, Congress overwhelming overrode his veto.

Here we are, nearly 50 years later, and President Trump has declared war on the environment, by ending programs to stop climate change and reduce air pollution. He's rolling back protections to allow coal ash to be dumped into rivers, while renewing GOP attempts to dismantle the EPA. For him, climate change is a dirty word that scientists at the EPA are forbidden from using.

He eliminated Obama's Clean Power Plan, gutted rules to reduce methane emissions, and stopped environmental reviews from considering climate change. We're concerned that he may even pull the U.S. out of the Paris Accord.

Not only is President Fossil Fool going after climate change, he's going after almost every environmental program. He's opening public lands and coasts for drilling and pushing through pipelines without environmental reviews. He's rolling back fuel economy standards for automobiles which means higher costs and more pollution. Trump is siding with corporate polluters over our public health.

When you roll back protections on climate change and sea level rise, more communities are devastated.

When you cut enforcement, chemical plants blow up.

When you allow coal mines to dump toxic waste into our rivers, they get poisoned.

When you eliminate clean air protections, our air becomes poisoned.

When you cut programs for lead, children get poisoned.

There are real consequences to Trump's war on the environment.

Need more?

Trump is cutting the EPA budget by 31 percent and getting rid of thousands of staff. He's cutting science by 50 percent. Trump plans to cut the EPA budget will cause states to lose 45 percent in funding. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection gets half of its money from the EPA. This means Trump's cuts will have a drastic effect on our ability to protect our resources and will lead to layoffs. He is also cutting funding for Superfund Sites by 30 percent, which means delays or cancellations of clean-ups of New Jersey's 118 sites such as the chromium site in Garfield or the Passaic River. Trump and EPA chief Scott Pruitt are siding with corporate polluters instead of our health and climate.

Despite the current threats to our environment, people are more engaged than ever. More than 60 percent of Americans disagree with Trump's environmental actions. Increasing numbers of people have become more active by attending Congressional meetings and local town halls. We need to come together on this Earth Day like we never have before. A generation of progress is at risk, as is the future of our state, our country and our planet.

We need to stand up for science at the March for Science on Saturday in Trenton and Washington. We need to protest against climate-deniers in Washington D.C. on April 29 at the People's Climate March. We need to stand together for clean air, clean water, and to protect our planet from climate change.

Jeff Tittel is director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. The Sierra Club is the nation's oldest and largest environmental group with millions of members worldwide. Click here to join the Sierra Club and go here to learn more about the People's Climate March on April 29th.

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New Jersey changed the bail system in January, allowing low-risk, low-income suspects to be released from jail after a court hearing.

The key words were "low risk." Suspects charged with more serious crimes remain subject to the old rules, as do those who might possibly flee the state before a trial.

The action won praise from the state Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner down through state and local politicians. They argued that the scales of justice were weighted by money: those who had it could buy their way out of jail while the poor were forced to languish.

According to Rabner, "most defendants will be released pretrial on a range of conditions that will not include money bail. For low-risk defendants, the court may simply direct an officer to send a text message or place a phone call to remind defendants when they must appear in court. Defendants who pose greater risks may be placed on electronic monitoring. Those considered a serious threat to public safety or risk of flight will be detained."

Local officials such as Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, however, have a problem with a part of the measure. Fulop and other politicians proposed legislation Tuesday that would add unlawful gun possession to the list of offenses that would render null the no-bail law, The Jersey Journal reported.

"It is an immediate danger, an immediate risk, and something that we can correct immediately," Fulop said.

Alexander Shalom, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, told The Jersey Journal though that the proposal is "a tremendous backwards step. It ignores all of the validated information about who poses the greatest risk and returns us to a system that relies on hunches and anecdotes."

The debate has begun. What do you think? Do you favor closing the bail reform loophole?

Vote in our informal, unscientific poll above and tell us how you voted in the comments.

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Guadagno Ciattarelli

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno (left) and state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (right) are shown in file photos.

(File photos)

TRENTON -- Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno's top opponent in this year's Republican gubernatorial primary is warning against her ambitious plan to cut into New Jersey's property taxes, wondering how she will pay for its hefty $1.5 billion price tag.

State Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R-Somerset), who is trailing Guadagno by double digits in early polls, said the lieutenant governor's "so-called plan is disappointing and akin to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic."

"Proposing a $1.5 billion property tax plan by saying it will be paid for with undetermined savings and assumed revenue growth is both dangerous and irresponsible," Ciattarelli said in his statement.

New Jersey's property taxes are often ranked as the highest in the nation.

Guadagno's plan, which she unveiled Wednesday, would create what she calls a "circuit breaker," limiting the amount New Jersey homeowners pay in school taxes -- the largest portion of most tax bills -- to 5 percent of a household's income.

Homeowners would receive a tax credit for any amount above that cap up to $3,000.

Most who qualify, Guadagno's campaign said, would see savings between $895 and $1,000. Savings depend on a household's income and the school tax rate, which varies from town to town.

"It's really a plan that, once people digest it and understand it, everyone can get behind," she told NJ Advance Media this week.

Guadagno admits the plan is "expensive." But she said the state would pay for it in a number of ways: getting $250 million in savings from a complete audit of state government, $500 million from adjusting state aid to "overfunded districts," $1 billion from annual revenue growth, $2.5 billion in health-care savings, and up to $1 billion in savings from decreased participation in other tax relief programs, such as the Homestead and Senior Freeze programs.

Ciattarelli, however, said the plan is "a continuation of the failed economic and fiscal policies" of Gov. Chris Christie's administration.

Guadagno and Ciattarelli are among five candidates running in the June 6 primary for the Republican nomination to succeed Christie, a term-limited Republican whose tenure ends in January. Guadagno has been his second-in-command for all seven years of his governorship.

Her proposal comes after New Jersey's credit rating has been downgraded 11 times during Christie's tenure, twice in recent months. Credit-rating agencies have expressed worry over Christie's decision to cut $1.1 billion from the state's estate, sales and income taxes.

Ricky Diaz, a spokesman for Guadagno's campaign, said Guadagno has "clearly laid out billions in specific savings that could be used to help pay for property tax relief -- like auditing state government and lowering health care costs -- but New Jerseyans need a governor who will actually make property tax relief her priority."

"Clearly, the assemblyman won't," Diaz added.

He also noted that Guadagno met Wednesday with Fair Lawn Mayor John Cosgrove to discuss the plan. In the Bergen County borough, where school taxes are $5,865, the average saving for households would be $1,230, the campaign said.

Cosgrove, a fellow Republican, said the plan shows Guadagno is "serious about providing real relief to struggling homeowners" and is "the kind of thinking we need in Trenton to make our state more affordable for everyday working families."

Ciattarelli isn't alone in his concerns. Sheila Reynertson, a senior policy analyst for New Jersey Policy Perspective, a liberal think tank, said idea behind Guadagno's plan is "worth pursuing for sure."

But, Reynertson added, "her funding sources are just not realistic."

"Her proposal is a progressive policy idea," Reynertson said. "But it's dead on arrival because she's trying to fund it using revenue that doesn't exist."

Reynertson said seven states use a similar "circuit breaker" -- Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and West Virginia -- and Connecticut and New York are looking into it.

But Reynertson said the problem in New Jersey is new sources of revenue are "left on the table" because of a fear that residents are fleeing the state because of the high cost of property taxes.

"Her funding stream is right there under her nose," Reynertson said. "It's taxing the top 5 percent of New Jersey's population. But she's embedded in the camp where that's not up for discussion."

If Guadagno's moves are unable to come up with the $1.5 billion needed for the plan, it could lead to major cuts in services or increases to other taxes.

Ciattarelli said his focus is on changing New Jersey's school funding formula to drive down taxes.

His proposal includes: reducing aide to the most overfunded school districts in the state by 20 percent over five years, with the savings sent to the most underfunded districts, and redirecting state pre-kindergarten funds to make means-tested pre-K available to all families at no additional cost to taxpayers.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
PITTSGROVE TWP. -- Here's a class project that really deserves an A.

A Pennsylvania third-grader decided to make and launch a weather balloon, Dan Skeldon of the Press of Atlantic City reported.

Reese Gurwicz decided to record the balloon's amazing 150-mile journey after it was launched from the family's home in McClure, Pa., on April 2 so the payload attached to the balloon was outfitted with a GoPro.

When the balloon soared high into the earth's atmosphere, reaching a height of 89,405 feet after just 1 minute and 42 second, it burst. A parachute opened and the equipment attached began its descent back to earth.

Four hours later -- with the Gurwicz family following it thanks to a tracking device on board -- the balloon glided into a farm field in Pittsgrove Township, Salem County, in neighboring New Jersey

The images of the voyage that Skeldon put together in his report show an amazing view of our region from above.

Reese, in an interview, afterward was pleased with the results -- especially being able to track the balloon.

"We got it all back," Reese said in Skeldon's interview.

No word yet on the grade he received from his teacher.

Bill Gallo Jr. may be reached at bgallo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Bill Gallo Jr. on Twitter @bgallojr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Wash_Twp_Music_Edcuation1.jpg

Washington Township's music education program includes the delivery of instruction from 22 full-time, certified music teachers. The district boasts some 2,000 band, chorus, handbells and orchestra students in grades four through 12.

(Photo provided)

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP - A recent distinction from the National Association of Music Merchants' NAMM Foundation truly has given the Washington Township Public Schools something to sing about. The district was cited among 527 school districts nationwide as one of the "2017 Best Communities for Music Education." The award recognizes outstanding efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students and community leaders who have made music education part of the curriculum, and districts that demonstrate an exceptionally high commitment and access to music education. Washington Township is one of 4 percent of districts across the nation receiving the prestigious award in 2017, one of 37 districts recognized in the State of New Jersey, and one of three in Gloucester County.

Now in its 18th year, The Best Communities Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students. To qualify for the Best Communities designation, Washington Township visual and performing arts supervisor Bob Frampton answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and community music-making programs. Responses were verified and reviewed by the Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.

This award recognizes that Washington Township is leading the way with music learning opportunities as outlined in the new federal education legislation, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The legislation, signed into law in December 2015 and awaiting state implementation, designates music and the arts as important elements of well-rounded education for all children.

"Our school community is appreciative of this recognition of our music program," Superintendent of Schools Joe Bollendorf said. "Our district and our community believes in and wholeheartedly supports the arts in Washington Township. This award recognizes the exceptional work that our administrators, teachers and students put into our music program. A high-quality, well-rounded education is something Washington Township prides itself in, and to be recognized for that effort is both gratifying and exciting."

"The importance of music and arts instruction in school has never been more important than now," Frampton said. "Research continues to indicate that music education supports creative problem solving and working towards common goals in group settings. These are critical, lifelong skills. The arts help students learn to give and receive constructive criticism, pay attention to fine detail and appreciate aesthetic qualities. I am thrilled to work with many fine teachers who embrace these ideas while working with our students every day, and I am very proud to be associated with a district and community that appreciates the value of a quality music education."

Washington Township's robust music education program includes the delivery of instruction from 22 full-time, certified music teachers. The district boasts some 2,000 band, chorus, handbells and orchestra students in grades four through 12, a population that comprises approximately 39 percent of students enrolled in those grades. Washington Township showcases the musical talents of its students in more than 35 in-district music performances annually, as well as through numerous festival performances both in and out of state. The district's student-musicians routinely garner regional and state recognition for their excellence.

At the elementary level, all students in grades K-5 receive 40 minutes of general music instruction per week. Elementary students are introduced to string instruments in fourth and fifth grades, and band activities begin in fifth grade. All six elementary schools host a chorus.

Middle-school aged students have access to band, chorus and orchestra opportunities. All sixth-grade students are enrolled in a music appreciation exploratory course.

In addition to band, chorus and orchestra, Washington Township High School students can pursue music performance through three levels of guitar and jazz band. The school also offers courses in music technology, music theory and AP music theory.

The designation Best Communities for Music Education takes on added significance this year with new research showing strong ties between K-12 school students who actively participate in school music education programs and overall student success. A recent study of students in the Chicago Public Schools by brain researchers at Northwestern University, detailed in Neuroscientist and Education Week, builds on previous findings that participation in music education programs helps improves brain function, discipline and language development.

The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its approximately 10,300 members around the world. Its mission is to advance active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving, and public service programs. For more information about the NAMM Foundation, visit www.nammfoundation.org.

This item submitted by Jan Giel for Washington Township School District.
NEWTON -- The attorney representing the man accused of killing a 73-year-old woman during the burglary of her home in 2012 says his client remains unfit for trial, New Jersey Herald reported.

Victor Razumov, now 22, was declared incompetent to stand trial for Virginia Sommer's murder in September 2015 -- nine months after he gouged his eyes out during separate incidents at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton.

Judge William McGovern re-affirmed Razumov's incompetence this past July.

Razumov's attorney Robert Baer reportedly told the court Wednesday an evaluation by doctors with the Ann Klein Forensic Center found he may not be competent for the foreseeable future.

Razumov is facing murder, felony murder and other charges in connection with Sommer's murder in November 2012. Razumov was 18 years old at the time and a student at High Point Regional High School.

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
$$5UN0504BRINSONMURRAY

In a May 2012 photo, Daivon Brinson listens to closing remarks by Union County Prosecutor in Superior Court in Elizabeth. (Noah K. Murray -The Star Ledger)

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UNION -- A man convicted of killing the owner of a township deli in 2009 will get a new trial because prosecutors rejected three potential black jurors, an appeals court has ruled.

Daivon K. Brinson (Courtesy of N.J. Department of Corrections)

Daivon K. Brinson, 28, was serving a 24-year sentence in the stabbing death of Mohinder Singh, the owner of Three Stooges Deli, on Nov. 30, 2009.

A three-judge appeals court on Wednesday overturned Brinson's conviction and ordered a new trial because the trial court failed to follow proper procedures in concluding that prosecutors turned away three black jurors for non-race based reasons.

Brinson was convicted at trial in 2012 of aggravated manslaughter and possession of a knife for an unlawful purpose. The jury found him not guilty of murder, felony murder and robbery charges.

The Union County prosecutors on the case said Brinson stabbed Singh 13 times during an attempted robbery and ran away after he was injured, leaving a trail of blood from the deli to a relative's home.

Brinson maintained his innocence and argued that a third man had entered the deli, stabbed Singh to death and injured Brinson when he tried to stop the attack.

A customer found Singh, an Indian immigrant, dead near a freezer in the back of the store on the day of the attack, according to court records. Police found the deli in disarray and saw blood on the walls and throughout the store.

Officers followed a trail of blood out of the store and found a blood-stained jacket in the yard of a nearby house and a bloody knife next to that yard, according to court records. They also saw a pool of blood on the porch of an abandoned house nearby, court records state.

Brinson was arrested and charged in the killing on Dec. 8, 2009.

Brinson's defense attorney challenged his conviction, arguing prosecutors rejected potential jurors based on their race.

During jury selection, the defense protested prosecutors' exclusion of the three black jurors -- two men and one woman.

But the appellate panel ruled the trial court judge failed to follow the proper procedures to make sure prosecutors were not excluding based on race and that the reconstructed record shows the prosecutor offered a race-neutral reason for excluding only one of the jurors.

The racial make-up of the potential jurors and of the final jury were not documented, the appellate decision says.

The Union County Prosecutor's Office declined to comment on the decision.

Staff reporter Tom Haydon contributed to this story.

Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati or on Facebook here. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
STATEN ISLAND -- Former Linden police officer Pedro Abad, who is accused of leaving a strip club drunk and crashing his car - causing the death of two passengers - had spent $103 in the club that night to buy drinks for the bartenders and dancers, a witness testified in court Thursday.

One of the people who was killed in the crash, Linden resident Joseph Rodriguez, spent $400 that night at the strip club Curves, buying drinks, and a bottle of Ciroc vodka, and leaving a $100 tip, retired New York City police Detective Anthony Racioppo testified.

Racioppo said he got receipts from Curves showing the purchases and tips.

Abad, 29, has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and manslaughter, among other charges, resulting from the March 20, 2015 crash. He was speeding and driving drunk the wrong way on the West Shore Expressway as he was returning home from the Curves strip club, authorities say.

Rodriguez and another passenger, Linden officer Frank Viggiano, both 28, were killed in the crash and a third Linden officer, Patrik Kudlac, then 23, another passenger, was critically injured. Abad was also critically injured.

Kudlac later was forced to resign because of his injuries and Abad was fired because he was unable to return to work.

Abad had a blood-alcohol level of .24, three times the legal limit at the time of the crash, authorities say. Abad's attorney, Mario Gallucci, claims that proper procedures were not followed in taking and testing the blood sample taken from Abad.

Racioppo, a collision investigator, testified that hours after the crash, he went to the strip club to gather evidence, and received two receipts, one from Rodriguez' purchase and one from Abad.

The retired detective also said he went to the scene of the crash.

He said a "black box," or crash data recorder was recovered from Abad's Civic. He said he removed the airbag that had deployed on the steering wheel.

Racioppo said he later obtained three vials of Abad's blood that were taken at Richmond University Medical Center, where he was being treated of his injuries.

NYPD Detective Gerard Sheehan, testified he downloaded information from the data record, and got a printout showing that the Honda accelerated in the last seconds before the crash and the car brakes were not applied until one second before impact.

Five seconds before the crash, the car was traveling 66 mph, but 1.5 seconds before the collision, the car was traveling at 73 mph, the data showed. The speed then dropped to 68 mph at the time of the impact, according to printout of information from the data recorder shown in court.

Sheehan said the record of brakes being applied meant the driver's foot touched the brake pedal, but there is no indication how much pressure was applied.

Under questioning from Abad's lawyer, Mario Gallucci, Sheehan said he was never given the data recorder box from the tractor-trailer.

Racioppo testified that the speed limit is 50 mph on that section of the highway.

Jurors also saw a video showing a car going the wrong way on an exit ramp from the West Shore Expressway shortly before the time of the crash. Racioppo testified that the car had driven onto the highway on the exit ramp, heading north in the southbound lanes of the highway.



Abad, for the fourth consecutive day, walked past reporters on his way into the courthouse and stopped to read a Bible verse, this one from James 1:12.

"Blessed is the one who stood under trial, because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him," Abad said, reading the verse from his cellphone.

Testimony resumes Thursday afternoon.

Former Linden police officer Pedro Abad quoted Bible verse James 1:12 as he passed reporters going into the courthouse Thursday pic.twitter.com/h4N9boNHYk  Tom Haydon (@Tom_HaydonSL) April 20, 2017

Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Man robbed at gunpoint after meeting women on Bourbon Street, New Orleans police say
WASHINGTON  Whatever a president or a congress does in the short term will have negligible impact on the cost of gasoline. But with only 16 days left before midterm congressional elections, politicians need to look like theyre trying.
An overview of the different benefits you may receive through workers comp for a work-related injury or illness.

If you're eligible for workers' compensation because of a work-related injury or illness, you may be wondering what benefits you might receive through your employer's workers' comp insurance. This article takes a brief look at the four basic types of workers' comp benefits:

medical treatment

rehabilitation

disability, and

death benefits.

Each state has its own spin on these general rules, and the details can get complicated; for more information on the rules in your state, see the links in our state-specific articles on workers' comp benefits.

Medical Care Under Workers' Comp

Workers' comp pays for hospital and other medical expenses that are necessary to identify and treat a work-related injury or illness. Although the details vary in each state, medical benefits generally cover doctor visits, medication, and surgeries.

If you need equipment (such as a wheelchair or special vehicle) to help you deal with your injury, workers' comp will likely cover that cost as well. In some instances, workers' compensation will also cover services like counseling, pain therapy, and acupuncture.

State laws differ on whether you or your employer gets to choose your health care provider, and some states regulate how much the provider may charge for your treatment. (Learn more about seeking medical treatment for a work-related injury.)

Advance Authorization for Medical Treatment

Except for emergency care, you or your doctors may need to get advance authorization for medical treatment. For the most part, only generally acceptable medical practices will be covered. If you would like to use an experimental or investigative treatment or therapy, you may have trouble getting paid for those expenses, so you may want to get an attorney's help.

Workers' Comp Rehabilitation Benefits

Rehabilitation benefits pay for medical and therapeutic care (such as physical therapy) necessary to help you cope with and recover from your injury or illness. They may also cover the care and training necessary for you to regain the skills and abilities you need to return to work.

If your injury or illness prevents you from returning to your former job, many states allow vocational rehabilitation or similar benefits that pay for evaluation, retraining, tuition, and other expenses associated with helping you become qualified to work at a different job.

Disability Benefits From Workers' Comp

Disability benefits are meant to compensate you for part of the wages you lose while your injury or illness makes it impossible for you to work. These benefits fall into one of four categories, depending on whether the disabilities are total or partial and temporary or permanent.

Temporary total disability prevents you from working at all, but only for a limited amount of time. In other words, you can't work now, but you may recover enough to work again in the future. Temporary disability payments end when you've recovered or doctors decide that you won't completely recover. Many states also have time limits on temporary disability payments. The vast majority of workers comp disability benefits fall into this category.

prevents you from working at all, but only for a limited amount of time. In other words, you can't work now, but you may recover enough to work again in the future. Temporary disability payments end when you've recovered or doctors decide that you won't completely recover. Many states also have time limits on temporary disability payments. The vast majority of workers comp disability benefits fall into this category. Temporary partial disability prevents you from doing your normal job for a limited amount of time, but you can do some work. For instance, your doctor may say that you can work only four hours a day while you're recovering from your injury. In most states, you may receive benefits that help make up the difference between your pre-injury earnings and the reduced earnings.

prevents you from doing your normal job for a limited amount of time, but you can do some work. For instance, your doctor may say that you can work only four hours a day while you're recovering from your injury. In most states, you may receive benefits that help make up the difference between your pre-injury earnings and the reduced earnings. Permanent partial disability involves some permanent damage from the workplace injury or illness that partially impairs your ability to work. Although these benefits are meant to compensate for that impairment, states typically limit how long the payments last.

involves some permanent damage from the workplace injury or illness that partially impairs your ability to work. Although these benefits are meant to compensate for that impairment, states typically limit how long the payments last. Permanent total disability generally means the permanent damage is so extensive that you can't return to your job. The rules for determining permanent disability benefits are complicated and vary from state to state. But in general, you don't necessarily have to be completely incapacitated or unable to work at all to receive total permanent disability benefits.

The amount of total disability benefits (whether temporary or permanent) are based on the amount you were earning prior to your injurytypically, two-thirds of your wages. (However, many states set a cap on the amount of the payments, and some states set a minimum.)

Workers' Comp: Taxes and Waiting Periods

You generally don't have to pay income taxes on workers' comp benefits, so the amount may be closer to your usual wages than it first appears. Most states will require you to wait a period of time (usually a week) before you can start collecting temporary disability benefits.

Workers' Comp Death Benefits

When employees die as a result of their work-related injuries or illnesses, most states provide death benefits to some of their relatives (such as children and spouses) who were financially dependent on the deceased employees.

Although at least some funeral expenses are also covered, death benefits are primarily meant to compensate those dependent family members for the loss of financial support. Most states calculate this benefit as a percentage of the deceased worker's earnings. Some states have maximum and minimum amounts; others provide a lump sum.

Sometimes, the relationship between the dependent and the deceased worker can pose difficult legal issues. States have different rules for spouses (such as setting limits on their own earnings in order to qualify), stepchildren, children born outside of marriage, unmarried partners, and other relatives such as parents, siblings, and in-laws.

Contact a Lawyer for Questions About Your Benefits

If you have any questions about your workers' comp benefit eligibility, or if your employer (or its insurance company) is disputing your right to benefits, you should consult with an attorney in your state who has experience dealing with workers' compensation issues. See Nolo's Lawyer Directory for a list of attorneys in your geographic area.
On this date in 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine High School near Littleton, Colorado, and shot and killed 12 classmates and one teacher before taking their own lives.

As we reflect on that flashpoint in American history, its easy to wonder if anything has changed in the ensuing years.

School shootings continue, with the 2012 attack at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, searing the faces of dead children into our memories. A shooter took 26 lives that day, not counting his own, in the deadliest school shooting in history.

In July 2016, the Washington Post reported findings by Peter Langman, a psychologist in private practice who has studied school shootings for more than a decade, becoming one of the countrys premier experts on the phenomenon. From the 1960s to the 1980s, there were three to eight multi-victim incidents in per decade. Now there are about 20.

And Langmans findings have shown that the incidents are morphing: The shooters are older, they are no longer almost exclusively white and the attacks are more deadly.

Yet, on April 13, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad signed a wide-ranging gun bill into law that includes a stand-your-ground provision. The Associated Press reported the bill will allow a person with a weapons permit to bring a concealed handgun into the state Capitol. In addition, minors younger than 14 will be able to use handguns with parental or guardian supervision.

As weve stated here before, the stand-your-ground provision is ill-advised. And thats coming from an newspaper whose staff includes an avid shooting enthusiast.

The continued expansion of gun rights as the country sees an increase in school shootings and in gun violence is mind-boggling. Its an exercise in cognitive dissonance.

Were not advocating for a ban on guns. Were not advocating the government to take your guns.

But a common-sense approach to the issue is long overdue. Closing sales loopholes, including requiring a background check for personal sales, is not too much to ask. Examining the background check process and strengthening registration laws is not an infringement on rights.

Pouring as much time, money and effort into mental health as we do gun rights is a necessary step.

The two issues are too often combined for the sake of downplaying gun issues  those in favor of little to no restrictions on guns say the country has a mental health care problem rather than a gun problem  but the fact remains that an increase in mental health care spending would go a long way to curb shootings.

We dont even have as much data on gun violence as we should.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasnt funded a study on gun violence since 1997, when an omnibus appropriations bill in the House of Representatives included a ban on funds used to advocate or promote gun control.

An April 2016 piece by Rita Rubin in the journal JAMA notes that since the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012, the same language has also applied to the National Institutes of Health. Luckily, with a larger budget that helps it fend off any attacks by the National Rifle Association, the NIH does fund some gun violence studies.

For those in the NRA and other gun rights advocates, any gun control equals a gun ban. But that isnt the case. And additional studies on the matter could help save lives.

The search for a solution to the problem of gun violence should not be blocked in the name of the Second Amendment.

As we reflect on another year since Columbine, its important to realize there is plenty of common ground on this issue. Law-abiding citizens should have access to firearms, through a process that includes registration and proof of proficiency, as we do with driving and other aspects of life.

But the status quo has not fixed the problem, and allowing guns into even more places is not going to solve it.
I agree with Trump. China has got to be part of the solution with N. Korea.--Washington (CNN) Several senior administration officials told CNN Thursday that President Donald Trump's strategy toward North Korea hinges on one word: China."Nobody thinks the Chinese are going to press North Korea militarily or bring the regime to its knees, but the strategy looks to China to find a political solution more than anything else," one senior official said.The officials said Trump's approach is based on a careful review of past US efforts to deal with North Korea, noted that during the analysis of failed negotiating efforts with the long-reigning Kim family, one thing became abundantly clear: "China has never exerted maximum leverage on the Kim regime."Trump's China-centric approach comes as the US sees evidence that the Chinese military is preparing to respond to a potential situation in North Korea, a US defense official told CNN Thursday.Chinese air force land-attack, cruise-missile-capable bombers were put "on high alert" on Wednesday, the official said, adding that the US has also seen an extraordinary number of Chinese military aircraft being brought up to full readiness through intensified maintenance.The official said that these recent steps by the Chinese are assessed as part of an effort to "reduce the time to react to a North Korea contingency."The rest here.
Two men were arrested earlier this week in separate incidents involving drugs, weapons and stolen items, police said.

Ivan Ceja, 23, of Lexington, was arrested Tuesday near South Adams Street and West Prospect Road in Lexington.

During a traffic stop, a state trooper with Troop D smelled drugs and searched Cejas vehicle, Capt. Martin Denton of the Nebraska State Patrol said, During the search, the trooper located a handgun that had been reported stolen in South Dakota.

The trooper also found a warrant for Cejas arrest. Because of past convictions, he was arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a weapon, possessing a stolen handgun and carrying a concealed weapon. He was also arrested on an outstanding warrant out of Buffalo County. Ceja was not arrested on any drug charges.

On Monday, troopers found 51 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop on Interstate 80 five miles west of North Platte.

Denton said Daniel Valencia, 22, was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to deliver the drugs. Valencia also had a suspended drivers license from California and was driving a vehicle with a stolen license plate, Denton said.
LINCOLN  Frank LaMere finally got the decision hes been waiting for.

For two decades, hes called for an end to alcohol sales in Whiteclay, Nebraska, due to the dreadful consequences.

On Wednesday, a state liquor board voted 3-0 to end the long-controversial beer sales in Whiteclay, an unincorporated village known as the Skid Row of the Plains that sells millions of cans of beer each year to residents of the officially dry Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

I think today that the Oglala Lakota people won. I think Nebraskans won. Well be better for it in this state, said LaMere, a Native American activist from South Sioux City.

Can't see the video? Click here.

The lawyer for the beer stores, Andy Snyder of Scottsbluff, said he was already working on a court appeal of Wednesdays decision. He said commission members had misinterpreted state liquor laws.

This is more proof that this is politically motivated and not based on the facts, Snyder said of the vote.

Beer sales in Whiteclay have been blamed for numerous problems on the reservation, including rampant alcoholism, alcohol-related crimes and high levels of fetal alcohol syndrome that are estimated to impact one in four children.

Cheers and some tears, including some from LaMere, greeted the historic vote by the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission.

A dark cloud has been lifted over the State of Nebraska, said John Maisch, an Oklahoma attorney whose documentary film about Whiteclay in 2014 reignited the 20-year effort to shut down the stores.

Scott Weston, the president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said that many crimes go unsolved or unreported in Whiteclay, and that ending beer sales will help the tribe address its alcohol problems and make it harder for bootleggers to obtain their product.

This is a historic decision, Weston said. This is the first step in the direction of rebuilding our tribal nation.

The vote will not immediately close down Whiteclays four beer-only liquor stores.

Typically, an action to close down a liquor store is put on hold awaiting the conclusion of a court appeal.

That could take a while: The last time the liquor commission sought to deny a liquor license in Whiteclay, court appeals took 20 months.

In that case, the State Supreme Court overturned the commissions 2004 denial of a license for one of the stores, the Arrowhead Inn, saying not enough evidence had been produced to show the stores owner was unqualified to hold a license.

Bob Batt of Omaha, the chairman of the liquor commission, said that Wednesdays vote to deny a renewal of the licenses came down to woefully inadequate law enforcement in Whiteclay, an unincorporated village of about nine residents that has no town government or police force yet sells the equivalent of 3.5 million cans of beer a year.

The closest law enforcement office, the Sheridan County Sheriffs Office, is more than 20 miles away, he said, and response times are slow. Because Whiteclay is so far away, ambulances from the Pine Ridge Reservation answer about 150 rescue calls a year in Whiteclay.

Batt and others on the commission said they were persuaded by testimony from members of a street ministry, Lakota Hope, who have regular contact with the 15 to 40 street people who beg for beer and money in Whiteclay. The street people openly drink, urinate and pass out on the streets.

Bruce and Marsha BonFleur and Abram Newman of Lakota Hope told commissioners that they regularly encountered street people who had been assaulted, including women who had been sexually assaulted. Newman said he doesnt call 911 because it wont do any good.

We were appalled by some of the attitudes of Sheridan County officials that they dont have a problem there. We found that to be bogus, said Batt, whose family founded the Nebraska Furniture Mart.

Commissioner Bruce Bailey of Lincoln cited a number of provisions in state law that he felt were not being upheld in Whiteclay. He noted that four slayings in Whiteclay have gone unsolved, and that there is virtually no cooperation between tribal and Sheridan County law enforcement agencies.

Testimony about sexual assaults of young girls in Whiteclay was a driving force, Bailey said.

The third commissioner, Janice Wiebusch of Kearney, said it was clear to her that if law enforcement was adequate in Whiteclay, many crimes would not have occurred.

Adequate law enforcement, by law, is a condition for issuing a liquor license in a community or neighborhood.

But, Snyder, the beer store owners attorney, said that the adequate law enforcement standard is only to be considered when issuing a license, not when renewing a liquor license, as was the case Wednesday.

He said that commissioners comments should bolster the beer stores case in court.

Dave Domina, an Omaha attorney representing those seeking to shut down the stores, disputed that.

Batt said that the lack of law enforcement in Whiteclay was threatening public health and safety.

Shutting down the beer stores, he said, wont solve all the liquor-related problems on the Pine Ridge Reservation, just across the state line in South Dakota, but it will make alcohol less accessible and end the catalyst for a lot of the problems.

Batt grew impassioned as he called on the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Department of Interior and ultimately President Donald Trump to end the benign neglect that has been shown in the poverty, high unemployment and high rates of suicide and alcohol-related crime on the reservation.

Its almost like assisted suicide, Batt said.

If we can fix countries all over the world, we need to fix the poorest county in North America, he said. These are human beings. They are really suffering.

Liquor license renewals are usually a formality, but this year, the liquor commission ordered the four stores to undergo a long form application process, which is essentially reapplying for their licenses.

The Sheridan County Board, after a public hearing in January, recommended that the liquor licenses be renewed, stating that patrols by the county sheriff and Nebraska State Patrol have remained the same for years.

Jack Andersen of Lakeside, the chairman of the county board, said Wednesday that closing the beer stores would be a mistake that forces people to drive farther to purchase beer and end up increasing deadly, drunk-driving crashes.

How do you define whats adequate law enforcement? Andersen asked. If its not adequate in Whiteclay, its probably not adequate in hundreds of small towns too. Are they going to close down alcohol there too?

Whiteclay has had four liquor stores for many years, and some families have held licenses as far back as 1982. The current stores, which are restricted to selling only beer and malt beverages, are the Arrowhead Inn, the Jumping Eagle Inn, D&S Pioneer Service and State Line Liquor.

The liquor store owners have argued that they run legal businesses, and that, if anything, law enforcement has improved in recent years.

They also maintain that closing down the stores will not solve liquor woes on the Pine Ridge Reservation, just push liquor purchases elsewhere.
Despite all the disagreement in national government, U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., said its not as bad as it looks.

Im always reminding myself of our founders, he said Wednesday. Many of them argued all the time, didnt like each other, would undermine each others efforts. There were personality differences, yet they still came together after a while.

Smith met with members of the North Platte Area Chamber of Commerce for a roundtable discussion and federal update.

Weve got some big issues pending, make no mistake, he said. Whether its health care, tax reform, infrastructure. Infrastructure, for example, I think is an issue that has the capacity to bring us together.

Smith said he has drafted a letter to President Donald Trump stating that irrigation is part of our nations infrastructure.

He said its important to point out that different parts of the country have issues that arent found in cities. While many in Nebraska drive on gravel roads every day, Smith said, most people living in cities dont have that issue.

The EPA saying that they may end up regulating farm dust should alert us that they see things differently, he said. Its up to us to raise awareness of what reality is, and I just offer that up as a reflection of just basic differences and points of view.

Smith said hes on record for supporting the current health care bill and several of his colleagues also want to see it pass.

However, Smith said, no one claims the first phase of the bill will fix everything as proponents of the Affordable Care Act said seven years ago.

I think anyone should be very, very cautious any time someone says one vote will solve it all, he said.

Smith said there are three phases of legislation needed to address the countrys health care problems.

The first phase is the pending bill, he said. I think one of the most important components to that is the equal tax treatment of health insurance in the tax code.

The second phase, Smith said, is implementing the authority given to Tom Price, secretary of Health and Human Services.

I have a feeling that our previous president did not expect someone like Tom Price to be Health and Human Services secretary, Smith said. He brings a different perspective and background. (Hes) probably the most highly qualified secretary of HHS in our history.

The third phase consists of the controversial parts of health care that members of Congress will need to reconcile, he said.
LAPORTE  LaPorte Hospital announced plans Thursday to build a new hospital downtown.

Hospital officials said the new, $125 million facility will be built at the site of the current hospital. Groundbreaking is planned for early next year with the grand opening set for 2020.

LaPorte Hospital staff and physicians are deeply committed to having a thriving community hospital, and we are excited to announce this major step forward," hospital CEO Ashley Dickinson said. "The site selection process was comprehensive, and we are confident that 1007 Lincolnway is the ideal location for us to be able to continue to provide high quality, compassionate acute care to the communities we serve."

IU Health, the previous owner of the hospital, sold a majority stake in March 2016 to Community Health Systems, a for-profit hospital chain based in Tennessee that also owns Porter Healthcare System. The deal was contingent upon the new owner building the new facility.

However, LaPorte city and county officials later became concerned that might not happen after Community Health Systems started running into financial difficulties last year. City officials even began preparing an incentive package to keep the new LaPorte Hospital in the city. A hospital spokeswoman said it has not been determined whether the hospital will receive incentives for building at the selected site.

Dickinson stated the site was selected based on such factors as the suitability of the land, traffic patterns, ease of access, proximity to paramedic stations, central location, visibility and economic development.

The other details of the new facility are still being discussed, but the hospital is expected to include a medical office building and be five stories and about 200,000 square feet. The current LaPorte Hospital will remain in operation while the new one is being built. The community can check for updates on the project at newlaportehospital.com.

Community Health Systems also obtained Starke Hospital in Knox as part of last year's deal. A LaPorte Hospital spokeswoman said there are no plans for a new Starke Hospital at this time.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union Local 703 has filed a federal lawsuit to try to block Joliet-based Strack & Van Til parent company Central Grocers Inc. from selling itself or parts of its business off to an unknown buyer.

The union, which represents 300 warehouse workers in Joliet, is asking a judge in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for a restraining order to halt the sale of the $2 billion cooperative, a wholesaler that supplies 400 independent grocery stores across the Chicago area. Local 703's attorney argues a sale could violate its collective bargaining agreement and that the 100-year-old co-op has not provided it with any information about the deal, the prospective buyer and if the new owner would honor the existing labor contract.

Central Grocers and its public relations firm did not return messages requesting comment.

Longtime Region grocery chain Strack & Van Til told employees Monday that Central Grocer was looking to sell off 22 of its stores and close nine "underperforming" Ultra Foods locations because the unnamed buyer did not want them. An estimate, based on data from InfoGroup, is that Strack & Van Til is one of Northwest Indiana's largest employers with more than 3,000 workers.

Trade publication Supermarket News, which closely follows the grocery store sector, speculated that potential buyers could include Jewel owner Albertsons, Supervalu, SpartanNash or Associated Wholesale Grocers.

Local 703 found out Central Grocers was looking at a sale to an unknown buyer last month, according to the lawsuit that was filed Tuesday in Chicago. The union sent a letter asking for written assurance that the new owner would honor the labor agreement, which runs through March 15, 2018.

"On March 10, 2017, Central sent a letter to Local 703, through counsel, stating, in part, that Central 'intends to comply with all legal obligations to the extent this becomes applicable,'" the lawsuit stated. "Otherwise, Central did not respond to Local 703s March 8 request."

Union officials later found out Central entered into a letter of intent for a sale to an unknown buyer earlier this month, but said the company has kept them in the dark.

"Counsel for Central stated that Central would provide Local 703 with the relevant portions of the letter of intent, under confidentiality, but to date Central has not done so," the union's lawyers said in the lawsuit. "To date, Central has provided no evidence or other indication to Local 703 that the terms of its sale to the unidentified purchaser include, or will include, adoption of the collective bargaining agreement as required by the successor clauses. To date, Central has not agreed to arbitrate the grievances."

The union is arguing in court Central Grocers would violate the labor pact "by selling its business or parts thereof to another entity without conditioning the sale the purchaser's adoption of the collective bargaining agreements."

Central Grocers has not yet filed any response, according to court records.
Opioid addicts can now walk into the Schererville Police Department and get into drug treatment.

After seeing the devastating effects opioid abuse has had on the community, the department partnered with Heartland Recovery Center of Lowell on the new initiative.

"We all understand the opioid epidemic has gotten so bad that this isn't a problem we can arrest our way out of," said Schererville Police Chief David Dowling. "The goal is to reach people before the addiction leads them down the path of committing criminal acts in our community."

The United States is facing an opioid overdose epidemic that takes the lives of an estimated 91 Americans every day. In Northwest Indiana, Lake and Porter counties both had record number of heroin deaths in 2016 (63 and 20, respectively). Three of those deaths, as well as five non-fatal heroin overdoses, happened in Schererville.

However, addicts and their families often have trouble finding treatment in the Region. The Schererville Police Department already receives a few calls a month from people looking to get drug rehab.

Some Schererville police officers were recently at a training where they learned about an initiative on the East Coast where police agencies were teaming up with treatment centers. LaPorte County law enforcement agencies have a similar program in which addicts can walk in and volunteers will assist them in finding treatment.

At a heroin addiction program at Lake Central High School in October, Schererville police officials met representatives of Heartland Recovery Center, which offers partial-hospitalization drug rehabilitation. They got to talking and eventually agreed to partner on the new program.

Now if an addict, regardless of insurance or financial status, comes into or calls the Schererville Police Department asking for help, an officer will contact Heartland Recovery Center and coordinate drug treatment.

Police officials note that this isn't a diversion program for people already arrested. The point is to prevent future law enforcement interactions  or worse.

"Here if they have an addiction they can come in and get some help or some type of guidance before they get arrested or overdose," said Detective Cpl. Jeff Cook.
CROWN POINT  A civil court judge heard arguments Thursday on whether to toss out a wrongful death lawsuit filed against pastors Steve and Melodye Munsey of the Family Christian Center.

Vicki Walker, the mother of Domonique Nikki Smith, filed the lawsuit against the Munseys in November after her 18-year-old daughter was found drowned May 29, 2015, in a pool at the pastors' home in Schererville.

The mother alleges suspicious circumstances surrounded the investigation into her daughter's death. She further claims the Munseys were negligent in caring for her daughter, who was babysitting the pastors' grandchild at the time of her death.

Other defendants in the lawsuit include Family Christian World, the parent organization of the church, and Darryl Anthony Smith, the father of Domonique Smith.

The defendants seek to have the lawsuit dismissed on the grounds that Smith was employed by the church as a babysitter, and therefore the mother's complaints should be made to the Worker's Compensation Board of Indiana, the governmental body that has jurisdiction over disputes between workers and employers.

Philip E. Kalamaros, attorney for the pastors and their church, told Judge John R. Pera at Thursday's motion hearing that Smith worked as a babysitter on behalf of the church on four occasions before her death.

We are not saying they have no remedy at all, but their remedy is through the worker's compensation board, Kalamaros said.

Trent McCain, attorney for Walker, argued Smith worked as a contractor, not an employee, on behalf of the church.

He said the church had Smith complete tax documents commonly used in a business-contractor arrangement, and the church referred to Smith as a vendor in an internal church document.

Pera said he would review the attorneys' filings and make a decision on the issue at a later date.
LAPORTE  A proposal to restrict the use of firearms in the county stirred up an angry crowd during Wednesday night's meeting of the LaPorte County commissioners.

"Don't mess with property rights. Leave the guns alone," said Jeremy Smith, of Mill Creek, before a crowd nearly three times the size of the 60 or so available seats.

The ordinance would have prevented the firing of a gun within 1,000 feet of a residence.

LaPorte County attorney Doug Biege said there were many exceptions, though, over repeated demands to see the document.

After an hour of heated public comment, the commissioners voted to make available copies of the proposed ordinance that citizens said they were originally led to believe no longer existed.

LaPorte County attorney Craig Biege, apparently frustrated from being the main target of the verbal tirade, told the audience the ordinance should be available on the county government website soon.

"I thought you said it didn't exist," shouted one angry member of the audience through a mixture of applause and jeers from the crowd.

The proposal was on the agenda for the meeting but removed Tuesday because of a wave of angry telephone calls and emails along with posts on various forms of social media.

At the start, things were calm as Commissioner Dr. Vidya Kora got his colleagues' approval to form a committee of at least nine members consisting of elected officials, hunters, law enforcement and various other segments of the community.

He said there would be plenty of opportunities for public comment as the committee worked through what could be up to a year of examining the issue and, perhaps, crafting another measure.

"All of the stakeholders need to brought into this committee," Kora said.

Kora also explained the ordinance was put on the agenda prematurely and should have been reviewed by the commissioners first to decide its merits before going public with it.

Things quickly boiled over when Commissioner Mike Gonder asked public comment be reserved strictly for items on the amended agenda.

Dennis Metheny, of Coolspring Township, then riled the crowd by saying he fought for free speech while in the military during the 1960s and would file a lawsuit if made to keep quiet.

"If you're restricting my speech tonight, then you're a communist," he said.

Officials explained the ordinance was in response to an increase in complaints of houses being struck with bullets and shotgun pellets along with complaints of noise from guns being discharged.

Some audience members suggested existing laws governing acts of criminal reckless and mischief could be enforced without adding to the already high enough pile of ordinances.

There were also accusations the ordinance would have passed had it not drawn such widespread attention.

There were also demands to reveal who ordered the ordinance drafted, but none of the commissioners or their attorney would say.

"You tried to fly it under the radar," another man shouted from the crowd.
INDIANAPOLIS  Justice Robert Rucker, a Gary native, will be succeeded on the Indiana Supreme Court by a county judge hailing from either the northeast, central or southeast region of the state.

On Wednesday, the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission unanimously recommended to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb the three candidates it believes are best suited to serve on the five-member high court.

They are: Clark Circuit Judge Vicki Carmichael, 54, of Jeffersonville; Wabash Superior Judge Christopher Goff, 44, of Wabash; and Boone Superior Judge Matthew Kincaid, 46, of Lebanon.

Kincaid was a finalist last year for the Supreme Court seat that went to Justice Geoffrey Slaughter, a Crown Point native. Kincaid also is a law school graduate of Loyola University Chicago.

This year's other two finalists did not list any connections to Northwest Indiana in their applications.

Holcomb will have 60 days to decide which potential justice to put on the Supreme Court once the nominating commission formally notifies the governor of its recommendation, likely in the next week.

Hoosier voters then will say at the 2020 general election whether the new justice should be retained for a 10-year term.
EAST CHICAGO  Community members who sat down with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on Wednesday said he listened to their concerns about lead in their water and soil but made no commitments.

Pruitt toured all three zones of the USS Lead Superfund site before receiving separate briefings from officials about work at the site and community members, officials said. After the briefings, Pruitt, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, Northwest Indiana's congressional delegation and Mayor Anthony Copeland appeared at a news conference.

East Chicago resident Thomas Frank said residents who met with Pruitt confronted him about proposals to cut the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Justice program, gut the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and cut costs in the Superfund program.

Pruitt pledged to do what was needed in East Chicago, but also spoke about financial constraints, Frank said.

"He did volunteer an idea of voluntary buyouts for residents," Frank said. "We had been discussing that and made it one of our demands. That was the only thing he did  acknowledge that they are looking at that."

Pruitt offered no feedback on the fate of the Environmental Justice program, which advocates for fairness in low-income communities of color, he said.

"After 130 years of industrialization and all the harm that has been done, we need a justice framework," Frank said.

Sara Jimenez, a resident of zone 3 of the USS Lead Superfund site, described the meeting as comfortable, but said she was unsure if officials would be moved to take further action based on what they heard.

"The stories that were told there by the residents  you could tell it made an impact," she said.

Maritza Lopez, a fellow zone 3 resident, said she provided Pruitt's office with a multipage list of medications she takes daily to show the effects of contamination in the neighborhood she has long called home. She said she told Pruitt and Holcomb's staff of losing her family members at young ages, and her own personal health ailments. She said testing at Mayo Clinic showed lead, arsenic and cadmium in her bones.

"My fight is daily to live, and thats been that way for years, but to find out now, why this is all happening, and knowing what I know, I cant keep quiet," Lopez said. "Im a living testimony. If it saves someone else, then I have to do it."

Lopez and Jimenez are two of approximately 3,000 residents in zones 2 and 3 of the Superfund site who are remaining in their homes as EPA cleans up their neighborhood. Many families living in zone 1, which includes the West Calumet Housing Complex, have left since the city ordered them to relocate last summer.

Jimenez said she shared her story with Pruitt, and he asked questions. The exchange was pleasant, she said.

Jimenez and her husband had a buyer lined up for their home, but had to put the sale on hold last year after receiving a letter from EPA saying their property was contaminated. The value of their home has fallen tens of thousands of dollars since before the Great Recession, she said.

Jimenez said she later watched a video of an interview EPA Region 5 Acting Administrator Robert Kaplan gave to reporters at the news conference and felt emotional.

"He mentioned a lot of things," she said. "Things we've been fighting for. So I think we are moving forward."

Kaplan told reporters Wednesday the EPA is expediting the groundwater study at the Superfund site and will adjust its remediation plans as needed following the release of a forthcoming public health assessment from the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. He also said EPA is seriously considering the drinking water petition.

An EPA spokesperson said Thursday Kaplan agreed with meet soon with one of the community groups.

During the news conference, Pruitt said he hoped his visit to East Chicagos USS Lead Superfund site  his first to any Superfund site in the country  would be the first step of many in restoring confidence in a community grappling with a legacy of toxic industry.

Please know that it is the EPAs objective, my objective as the administrator of the EPA, to come in and make sure peoples health is protected here in East Chicago, and that they can have the confidence that their land, their health is going to be secured for the long term, Pruitt said during a brief media statement outside the former Carrie Gosch Elementary School  shuttered last summer amid fears of lead contamination.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is committed to doing that  in a very efficient and effective way, Pruitt said.

Pruitt did not offer any details as to how EPAs federal headquarters would restore such confidence during his 90-second speech, after which he declined to take questions from reporters.
It's an inexcusable situation inspiring utter outrage.

Tawana Cole, 44, owner of a Merrillville at-home child care facility, was charged last week with 13 counts of child neglect and 13 more counts of criminal confinement after police found a seemingly endless supply of deadly hazards within her home.

Beyond the natural feelings of contempt most of us feel for the alleged responsible parties lies a series of unanswered questions regarding how well our government is regulating such businesses to protect children.

The shocking case began to unfold last week when police were dispatched to Tender Loving Spirits home day care, 1730 W. 53rd Ave., Merrillville, at the request of the Indiana Department of Child Services.

The state agency received a report from a parent of a child in the facility who had suffered a head injury.

No one would answer the door for police, and an officer crawled through the window to discover a virtual minefield of deadly hazards for children.

Even more egregious, the day care operator at first refused to account for the whereabouts of all of the children in the house.

Police said they located a loaded .40-caliber gun in an unlocked kitchen cabinet, a loaded .357-caliber revolver in a lower drawer of a bed, a loaded 12-gauge shotgun in the corner of a bedroom and a 20-gauge shotgun behind a pile of clothing.

Assorted knives were on a chest near a bed, and bottles of whisky and vodka were strewn about the bedroom floor, police reports state.

Any one of those items could have been deadly to the 15 young children inside.

All of the items were within reach of little hands.

The facility's owner, Cole, now rightfully faces criminal charges, as do two other adults at the facility, Roberta Sanders and Adriana Johnson.

But was it necessary for children's lives to be jeopardized before justice could be brought to bear?

State records show the day care facility has been cited for numerous violations by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration since 2014.

FSSA attempted to revoke the day care operator's license in June 2014, but Cole appealed the decision and a settlement was reached.

The day care facility also was the subject of an emergency closure in 2015.

In April 2016 and again this past March, Cole was cited for numerous violations, including not having enrollment information for two children in the home and staff training violations.

While the FSSA continues its probe into the most recent alleged criminal case involving the day care facility, we all should be asking how such a facility continued to operate.

The state can revoke day care operators' licenses, but those same operators can remain open during lengthy appeals.

We don't yet know all of the details surrounding the Tender Loving Spirits facility, and the probe continues.

But we know enough to conclude children's lives were needlessly at risk.

The case should be a wake-up call for our state and its citizens regarding how child day care facilities are licensed and regulated  and how the state follows up to ensure such facilities are providing safe environments that meet set standards.

Prior to the recent incident, Cole was no stranger to police and the courts.

She was accused of attempting to stab a man in front of his 8-year-old child in April 2014, court records show.

Cole pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal recklessness on March 31 in connection with that case.

She clearly had no business operating a facility entrusted with the safety and care of children.

Now it's up to the state to explore how to mitigate such outrageous scenarios.
Taxpayers and parents, this week is the last chance to contact Indiana legislators to demand support for public schools. With this years legislative session coming to a close as early as Friday, the 2018-20 state budget will be decided. The proposed Senate budget provides $85 million more than the House version. Many legislators want to limit public school increases to 1 percent or less!

More than 100 public school systems could face a loss of revenue for 2018, including many in Lake County. This would be less funding than in the years of the recent state recession.

Many legislators want more money to go to private school vouchers rather than public schools. There is still no requirement for private schools to show how public tax dollars are used. This ever-increasing diversion of funding away from public schools without any accountability or transparency must end.

More funding should also go to expanding pre-kindergarten programs for disadvantaged children of poverty so they can start kindergarten (the new first grade) better prepared.

State tax dollars should be increased for public schools, not through local tax referendum.

Support the Senate budget. Call your local legislators today.

Tony Lux, retired superintendent of Merrillville schools
When's the last time you did something similar to this?

You woke up with a cough and headache, and rather than calling the doctor, you pulled out your phone and dialed up Dr. Google.

You started searching for your symptoms and before you knew it, you convinced yourself that, rather than the common cold, you had the Ebola virus.

Medical providers in the Region are well-versed nowadays in treating patients who come in having already diagnosed themselves on the internet.

"People with a sinus infection think they have a brain tumor," says Becky Waugh, a nurse practitioner with LaPorte Physician Network Primary Care in North Judson. "Absolutely nothing takes the place of the provider-patient face-to-face relationship. But if you're going to Google your symptoms until you talk to your provider ... don't worry. Your symptoms might be completely different than the internet is describing them. Don't be anxious."

With the preponderance of smartphones, Americans have more medical data available at their fingertips than ever before. But not all that information is accurate or even understandable to non-medical professionals.

The Pew Research Center has found that 35 percent of Americans have self-diagnosed a medical condition using the Internet. However, Harvard Medical School researchers discovered in 2015 that online symptom checkers reveal the correct diagnosis only about a third of the time.

Region providers say the internet can be a valuable tool for patients, if they use reputable websites and for online support groups.

"I encourage patients to ask physicians what literature they should read or what research they should use," says Dr. Jay Joshi, a Munster primary care physician. "If somebody wanted to learn calculus but had an arithmetic level of training, they wouldn't be able to read a textbook and learn calculus."

He believes doctors can combat all the internet self-diagnosing by being available at different times and formats. His practice has a secure online portal where patients can text or email him questions.

If a patient is going to turn to their favorite search engine for medical advice, Waugh also suggests they utilize reliable sources. Some examples she gives include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins University, WebMD, Mayo Clinic and the American Cancer Association.

Patients find worry, peace of mind

One Hammond grandmother knows what it's like to get drawn into the rabbit hole of diagnosing your own medical condition online. She recently had pain in her toe, and was pretty sure it was because her shoes were too tight and nails needed to be cut. But then she started Googling, and convinced herself she had gout.

"Searching symptoms takes you from one thing to the next and all of a sudden your mind thinks, Oh, no," says the 50-year-old homemaker, who asked not to be named for personal reasons. "I know what it's like to be a hypochondriac. A headache was surely a tumor. Heartburn in the chest was surely a heart problem. The mind can have you feeling like all the things you read about are what is happening."

But she has also used the internet to put her mind at ease. Her grandson recently bumped his head, causing it to swell. She was concerned because he didn't seem to hit it that hard.

Through her online sleuthing, she learned he had what's called a "goose egg," a lump that forms after damage to the blood vessels. She discovered it's only dangerous if you notice changes in the child's behavior, like dizziness. So, she says, she kept a "hawk eye" on him. He eventually healed just fine.

Bill Zientara was living in Porter in 2012 when his then-wife started having chest pains and trouble breathing. Her doctor diagnosed it as pleurisy, or tissue inflammation in the chest and lungs. But the steroids he prescribed didn't help.

So Zientara, who works in sales, took to the internet. Online, her symptoms pointed to a pulmonary embolism. He brought that information to the physician, who Zientara said didn't want to hear it. The couple then went to see a pulmonologist, who confirmed that Zientara was correct. Her pulmonary embolism has since been treated.

Zientara noted that doctors aren't always right. A 2014 study in the journal BMJ Quality & Safety estimated that 12 million Americans are misdiagnosed every year. So Zientara is a big believer in, as he called it, "playing Dr. Google."

"Without it, she probably would have passed away," he said. "You put a lot of trust in the doctors, which you should, they're the professionals. But at the same time too many people don't do the research on their own. The big thing is to be your own advocate. Not enough people check and see, 'Hey, what else could it be?'"

The good and the bad

Dr. Brent Cutro, an internal medicine physician with Community Healthcare System, says the majority of his patients under the age of 65 come to see him having already researched their condition. They often believe they have a much more serious illness than they really do.

"The dangers of that is they can walk around with a significant amount of dread and anxiety and fear over something that doesn't exist," he says. "That leads to their symptoms becoming almost heightened or people talking themselves into symptoms that weren't there before they read about them. The mind has a lot of power over the body. You can give yourself an upset stomach and maybe even diarrhea from nerves and anxiety."

He says the internet is a far more valuable tool after someone gets a diagnosis. They can learn more about their illness and how to control it. They can join support groups with other people who have the same condition.

"The sky's the limit. You can really dive into and learn as much as you can about what you're now dealing with," he says. "Granted, some of it may be quote-unquote 'fake news' and not accurate information. I'm always happy to go over studies and information you found on the internet."

He says to watch out for sites that appear reputable but are backed by for-profit companies, like pharmaceutical makers trying to steer you toward their product. He says he sometimes has to play the "bad guy" in convincing patients that a certain medication won't work and, in fact, may be harmful.

All in all, he believes the internet to be a net-positive for patients.

"It's not about making my job easier. It's about the best patient care," he says. "Does it give me more work upfront to have to explain to them how this isn't the correct diagnosis? Possibly. That's a small inconvenience I'm willing to take for the benefits the internet provides to help them get through treatment or a tough medical condition."
A livery cab driver is in critical condition after a passenger allegedly stabbed him in the Bronx.

Police say 32-year-old Alex Acosta was dropping a passenger off around 11 a.m. at the intersection of Prospect Avenue and Crotona Park South.

The passenger then allegedly pulled out a knife, stabbed him in the neck and shoulder, and took about $40.

The New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers says the suspect was an illegal street hail.

The organization also says Acosta left his money out in the open where anyone could see and is lucky to be alive.

"Our advice to every driver that's out there is, when you're in neighborhoods that are fairly unsafe, don't pick up illegal street hails. Don't risk your life. It's not worth it," said Fernando Mateo of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers.

Acosta is expected to survive.

The New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.
A North Carolina teen is being extradited to New York after being arrested in connection with the attempted shooting of a 12-year-old in Manhattan earlier this month.

Authorities say Joshua Wilson, 17, was taken into custody outside Raleigh on April 17.

The shooting occurred back on April 11 on Columbus Avenue between 105th and 106th streets.

Police say the boy was inside a barbershop at the time.



They say the gunman opened fire after the two exchanged words.

The shot broke the store's glass window, but did not hit anybody.
It's a story that reads like a "Seinfeld" episode.

The state attorney general has indicted a man for allegedly pretending to be an architect, an investigation Eric Schneiderman dubbed "Operation Vandelay Industries" in reference to an episode of the popular New York City-based sitcom.

Schneiderman says the man - whose name is, coincidentally, Paul Newman - allegedly drafted renderings for more than 100 buildings in three upstate New York counties.

The state attorney general also accuses Newman of issuing false documents and falsely certifying on those documents that he was a licensed architect, when he was not.

The name of the investigation is a reference to a fake company that George Costanza created on Seinfeld when applying for a job. George also harbored dreams of being an architect on the show.

"Newman" was Jerry Seinfeld's nemesis on Seinfeld's eponymous sitcom.
Auburn residents interested in learning more about managing water runoff and watershed on their property are invited to a workshop tonight, hosted by the city of Auburn and Ward 3 Councilperson Beth Witten.

The workshop was sparked by discussion between residents in Asheton Lakes and Asheton Park subdivisions in north Auburn and the city regarding upkeep of dams and beaver management in the neighborhoods.

Recently a beaver has built a dam along a creek that feeds into a pond in the subdivision that affects the flow of water into the lake, Witten said. Some residents are concerned about the affect the beavers dams and new developments may have on the manmade dam between an upper and lower lake in the area.

The question and the concern is, whos responsible to, A) remove the beavers, and, B) to insure that the manmade dam is maintained? Witten said.

Some houses in the subdivision back up to a lake with the property line extending into the water. The manmade dam falls under the ownership of a couple different property owners, and therefore their care, but there is no specific maintenance requirement for private dams, lakes or ponds in the citys codes or in the state of Alabama, according to a memo from Watershed Division Manager Daniel Ballard.

Since the lake serves a dual purpose as a recreation lake and a retention pond, Witten said some residents believe the dam and lake area should be maintained by the city since developers were required by the city to create the lake.

Have to be mindful

Those conversations spurred the need to have further education and also start the conversation about what do we need to look at as a city in insuring proper maintenance of lakes and ponds and streams and waterways for future developments within the city, Witten said. Auburn has a lot of ponds and lakes and rivers and detention and retention, so theres a lot of water. With all these new developments, weve got to be mindful of how are we answering that question about protecting our waterways.

Part of the presentation will also pertain to practices all residents of Auburn can do to improve the storm water that flows into facilities such as the lakes at Asheton Lakes and storm water management facilities across the city, Ballard said. The presentation will also outline definitions of storm water management facilities, lakes and ponds to clarify the citys responsibilities and residents responsibilities.

One thing we often like to say is our local water resources are a reflection of how we treat our local land, Ballard said. Certainly everyone is a part of a watershed wherever you live. Your activities impact water quality wherever you are in our community. Everyone needs to play their part and do their role in protecting our local water resources, not just for our community, but for our downstream neighbors as well.

Eve Brantley, an Auburn University professor and Alabama Cooperative Extension water specialist, will also speak about ways homeowners can manage storm water while improving natural resources health. Ballard will also outline resources the city offers for residents in maintaining culverts and other options. Ballard and Public Works Director Jeff Ramsey will also be available for questions.

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the City Meeting Room at 122 Tichenor Ave. and is open to all Auburn residents.
Freddys Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, a restaurant known for its burgers, hot dogs, fries and dessert treats, held a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday at its site at 1701 Capps Landing in Opelika.

This is the restaurants first location in East Alabama and third in the state. The other two locations are in Hoover and Tuscaloosa.

Were proud they chose Opelika, said Pam Powers-Smith, president of the Opelika Chamber of Commerce. I think its a great addition.

The 3,010 square-foot, free-standing restaurant, which opened its doors Sunday, is developed by TGC Development Group out of Wichita, Kan., and is operated by JRI Management based in Salina, Kan. It seats 100 guests and has additional seating on the patio, according to a release from the restaurant.

The restaurant also has a drive-thru service.

At each grand opening, Freddys chooses a local non-profit to partner with for the first 30 days.

The Opelika restaurant is partnering with local nonprofit BigHouse Foundation. The non-profit will receive 10 percent of sales from all regular and large size frozen custard treats sold through May 16.

Were super excited, said Micah Melnick, co-founder and executive director of BigHouse Foundation. We appreciate Freddys investing in the local community.

Co-founded in 2002 by brothers Bill and Randy Simon, and their friend and business partner, Scott Redler, the three men named the restaurant after Bill and Randys father, Freddy Simon, a World War II veteran, according to the restaurants website.

Judy Maldonado, general manager of the Opelika restaurant, said the restaurant prides itself on donating to charities at all of its locations.

Freddys is all about giving to the local community, Maldonado said.

The restaurants hours of operation are Sunday through Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

For more information about the restaurant, visit its website at freddysusa.com.
Just when the country is struggling to raise some stimulus packages for a limping economy, it has emerged that government is meeting the tax obligations of some companies, some of whom, from a public point of view, do not deserve any special financial relief, writes ALON MWESIGWA.



The ministry of finance is on the spot for blowing public funds to settle the tax bills for corporate companies, some of them for more than a decade, The Observer has established.

This financial year, according to a document tabled before the parliamentary budget committee early this month, government will spend Shs 77bn to pay taxes for Bidco Oil Refineries Ltd, Aya Investments Ltd, Steel and Tube, Cipla Quality Chemicals, Uganda Electricity Generation Company Ltd, and Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Ltd.

Finance minister Matia Kasaija and President Museveni

For some of the companies, The Observer has found that government has consistently been meeting their tax obligations ever since they set up in Uganda. For instance, the auditor general observed in the 2015/16 report that government had been settling tax obligations for Bidco since 2003, the year the firm set foot in the country.

Last year, government paid a whopping Shs 12.4bn in corporate tax for it, while this year, taxpayers will fork out at least Shs 5.8bn, an amount that dwarfs the annual budgets of most struggling districts.



GENESIS

The auditor general noted that in April 2003, government and Bidco Oil Refineries Limited entered into an agreement for the development of an oil palm industry in Uganda.

Under article 5(7) of the agreement, the AG said, government was required to pay VAT on the product of the project from all companies envisaged under the project from the first year of the project activities.

This was supposed to end after a period of eleven years from the year of handing over the 26,500 hectares of land at a cost of Shs 27.79bn. After this, Bidco would then refund the VAT paid by government with interest over a period of eight years in eight equal installments.

Government has, however, failed to provide the balance of the 10,000 hectares of land as had then been envisaged, said the report. As a result, the ministry has continued to settle all tax obligations on behalf of Bidco.

There is a risk that the funds government has paid as Value Added Tax on behalf of Bidco since the date of signing the agreement may not be recovered, the auditor general warned.

If government fails to provide more land to Bidco or no changes are made in the agreement, it may continue paying taxes for the firm.

I advised government to expedite the process of acquiring all the required land for Bidco to enable recovery of VAT payments that amounted to Shs 22.07bn as initially agreed (based on OAG records), the auditor general said.



AYA INVESTMENTS

Meanwhile, for AYA Investments, government has paid its taxes since 2013, when it signed a memorandum of understanding with the ministry of finance to have its taxes paid by government as one of the incentives for the company to operate in the country. This year, government is paying Shs 3.7bn in import tax for the firm.

The auditor general said there was no indication of when this was supposed to stop. Government paid import taxes for the firm on the construction materials for the Aya hotel project [recently renamed Pearl of Africa hotel], officially opened by President Museveni in 2015.

Best practice requires investment incentives and tax holidays to be given for a specific period of time guided by the business plan submitted by the investors to avoid abuse and misuse, the AG said.

He added: It was observed that AYA Investments appears to have been given an open-ended tax holiday (through annual renewals) without due consideration to the associated risks of projects which overrun timelines set in their business plans. As a result, ministry [of finance] has continued to settle all tax obligations for AYA since 2013 when the MoU was signed. There was no indication that the ministry is about to stop supporting the investor soon.

The audit also warned that the originally envisaged benefits like employment opportunities when the hotel becomes operational and resulting taxes when the business starts filing tax returns may not be achieved.

Pressed on the issue, the ministry of finance said it pays import duty and taxes due for projects that are deemed strategically important.



CIPLA QUALITY CHEMICALS

The story of Cipla Quality Chemicals, the manufacturers of malaria and HIV/Aids drugs, is not captured in the audit report, but documents tabled in parliament show that government will pay at least Shs 29bn for it in corporation tax.

Yet with all this help, many Ugandans still wonder why the company sells its drugs to the country expensively compared to what it sells to neighbours such as Kenya.

Last year, National Medical Stores accused Cipla of offering them drugs at a price higher than the prevailing global market price. Cipla did not deny selling drugs to NMS at a price higher than it charges on the export market but it blamed the Uganda government, which ironically settles the companys tax obligations.



In a letter to the permanent secretary in the ministry of health, Ciplas executive director Nevin Bradford, said they sold the same drugs at a cheaper price to outside markets than Uganda because it has to find ways of using the existing excess capacity of the factory caused by the governments failure to buy all drugs as agreed in their MOU.

Jim Mugunga, the finance ministry spokesperson, said the uproar was not that there was no money to buy the drugs, but because more money was being spent on expensive Cipla drugs.

Mugunga, however, said some of the companys incentives are not conditioned on the unit cost of products they produce but they were given simply to entice them to set up in the country.

Steel and Tube and Southern Range have also been beneficiaries of tax sweeteners. Between January and June 2016, Steel and Tube was exempted from withholding tax of six per cent, according to the URA documents.



WHAT BENEFITS?

The assumption is that when government pays or waives taxes for these companies, they would in turn employ Ugandans and support the economy at a later stage when they eventually established themselves.

Have these companies helped?

The answer is mixed. Take for instance, Bidco. It is credited for having changed the fortunes of Kalangala district and employed hundreds of local farmers. However, there have been allegations of land grabbing with many farmers claiming they were kicked off their land without compensation.

In a report last year, the UN acknowledged it had not made due diligence when it supported the company through the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

At Cipla, the insistence to sell drugs to the country at exorbitant prices is a testament that the country is yet to benefit from billions of shillings it spends to settle the firms taxes. And the figures of losses are eye-popping.

A report by Tax Justice Network and ActionAid International in 2012 showed that tax incentives in Uganda reduced revenues available to fight poverty. It said the losses from tax incentives and exemptions were as much as Shs 690bn in 2009/10, an amount almost 20 times the budget of Mulago national referral hospital.

Company Amount (2016/17) Bidco Shs 5.8bn (corporate tax) AYA Investments Ltd Shs 3.7bn (import taxes) Cipla Quality Chemicals Shs 29.8bn (corporation tax) Southern Range Shs 6.7bn (import taxes) Steel and Tube Shs 1.5bn (corporation tax) Uganda Electricity Generation Company Ltd (UETCL) Shs 25.3bn (stamp duty)

amwesigwa@observer.ug
Dilini Jayasuriya, a 30-year-old woman from Austin, Texas, recently won a brand new 2017 KIA Optima LX after kissing it continuously for 50 hours in a Kiss a KIA contest.

Sponsored by iHeart radio station 96.7 KISS FM, the Kiss a KIA contest started on Monday morning, with 20 people gluing their lips on the new car for the chance to win it. The rules were pretty straightforward: the last person to be smooching the sedan after 50 hours would be declared the winner. If multiple contestants reached the 50-hour mark, the winners name would be drawn in a raffle. Participants had a 10 -minute break every hour, so they could visit the bathroom, have a drink of water and stretch, but other than that, their lips had to be touching the car or they would be disqualified.

Photo: Facebook

By Monday evening, five contestants had already dropped out or had been disqualified for not kissing the car continuously. Some left voluntarily, some were called out for their lips coming off the car, said iHeart Media Director Zachary Wellsandt. Everyone has been in great spirits, even those called out have taken it well and talked to us on their way home to some well-earned sleep.

On Tuesday afternoon, the number of contestants still locked in a kiss with the car had dropped to 11, and things were starting to get tough.

Photo: Facebook

Im getting blisters on my mouth, 21-year-old Alicia Giangiacomo told The Statestman.

Your nose is so red, a woman told a fellow contestant, as they came up for a break. Yeah, that was miserable, he replied.

Hours seemed to last longer as the competition went on, so to pass the time some contestants put on headphones and listened to music, while others checked their smartphones or just leaned forward against the car with their eyes closed.

Photo: Facebook

When the 50 hours were up, at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, 7 contestants were still in the race to win a KIA Optima LX. As per the rules of the competition, they were allowed to remove their lips from the car they had been kissing, and the winners name was drawn in a raffle.

30-year-old Dilini Jayasuriya was the lucky winner, but the runners up also received consolation prizes in the form of concert tickets.

Photo: Facebook

This was not the first time that people competed in a long-term kissing contest for a chance to win a car. China has been holding such bizarre competitions since 2007, and Mashable reports that a car dealership also had people kiss a car for 70 hours, in 2012.

What set this particular kiss a car contest apart from all the others was that it was broadcast on Facebook Live for everyone to see.
Driven by a desire to improve the living conditions in his home, Huang Dafa, chief of Caowangba, a small village hidden deep in the mountains of Guizhou Province, China, spent 36 years digging a 10-kilometer-long water canal through three mountains.

The Chinese legend of Yu Gong speaks of an old man whose house was separated from the nearest village by two mountains. So he started digging away at them to make a direct route to the village. People mocked him for what they called a futile effort, but he responded that while his descendants could dig for generations, the mountains couldnt grow any higher. Moved by his determination, the gods moved the mountains, clearing the way for Yu Gong. Today, the saying yu gong yi shan  the old man that could move mountains  is used to describe ambition in the face on insurmountable odds.

But while the mythical Yu Gong was helped by divine intervention, Huang Dafa, village chief of Caowangba, in the mountains of Guizhou, could only rely on his will and the power of persuasion to build a long water channel through three karst mountains. His ambitious project began in 1959 and required 36 years of hard labor to complete. Today, his village is thriving thanks to constant running water, and he is celebrated as a real-life version of Yu Gong.

Photo: China Plus

Before the impressive water channel, droughts cracked the soil around Caowangba and residents barely had enough drinking water. Apart from a single well, all water sources had dried up, and everyone could only take so much water, because taking too much from the well meant that someone else would be left with no water at all.

There was a rule that nobody could take too much. If they did, someone else may not have any for breakfast. These conditions motivated us, deputy chief Xu Zhou recalls. Forget irrigation. We had a 330-square-meter rice paddy that was parched to the point you could put your foot in the cracks in the dry season. It was a serious problem. So, we started looking for a serious solution.

But there werent too many options available, apart from moving away or doing nothing, and nothing was not an option. That was Huang Dafas main argument when he set out to convince the village that they had to bring water all the way from Yebiao village, a few kilometers away and separated from Caowangba by three mountains.

At first, people told him it was impossible, that the water would never reach them, but there was no other alternative, and Huang Dafa believed it could be done. He managed to convince a few young men and work on the ambitious canal began in 1959. He was only 23 at the time. But the conditions were hard, and Dafa had to lead his people in the most difficult and dangerous of tasks.

Huang recalls being the first to tie himself to a tree trunk at the top of a 300-meter-high cliff and take a leap of faith over the edge. If I didnt, nobody else dared, he says. But even after witnessing his courage, some people refused to follow his example, because it was just too dangerous.

Villagers spent 10 years digging a 100-meter tunnel through a mountain peak using only hand tools, for nothing, because the water wouldnt flow as they intended. Huang realized that while their determination was strong, their knowledge of waterways and irrigation was not, so he spent a few years studying water-system engineering in Zunyis Fengxiang town.

He returned in the early 1990s and asked the villagers to try again. They agreed and work on the monumental water channel began once more. They made good progress, but only because Huang Dafa was always on site, guiding their efforts. That took a heavy toll on his personal life, as his daughter and his grandson passed away while he was working in the mountains.

He wasnt home, even when my sister was on her deathbed, his 53-year-old son, Huang Binquan told China Daily. The construction teams wouldnt know how to proceed if he wasnt there.

In 1995, the 7,200-meter-long water canal and a 2,200-meter-long branch channel were finally completed, and water began flowing into Caowangba. It traverses three other villages, supplying them with running water, and three mountains. It was named Dafa Channel, in honor of its mastermind.

I was determined to bring water to Caowangba. People have had plenty of food since. Full stomachs mean peace of mind, 82-year-old Huang Dafa said recently. If we can do something (for progress), we should. We shouldnt wait for things to happen. Dozens of years of my life could have passed without anything happening.

ECNS reports that the impressive waterway has benefited 1,200 people and has bumped up rice production for 25,000 kilograms to 400,000 kilograms a year.

In 1995, the year that the water canal was completed, electricity and a new road reached Caowangba village. All three projects were led by Hunag Dafa. I decided to do three things for the villagers: draw water to the village, build a road and get access to electricity, he says proudly.

Even though he is now in his 80s, the former village chief still spends a lot of his time checking the canal regularly to make sure it is in working condition.

This amazing story of determination reminds us of another man who proved he could move mountains. Dashrath Manjhi, from India, spent over two decades chiseling away at a mountain with hand tools to make a road for his community, after the Government refused to. He is popularly known as The Man Who Moved a Mountain.
Agricultural News

OK Ag Dept. Honors Diversified Farmer Pam Snelson of Wann as a Significant Woman in Agriculture

"I get to feed everybody," Pam Snelson said on a recent weekday from the office of Snelson Farms near Wann, Oklahoma just south of the Kansas line.







She just finished preparing lunch for seven hungry men before spending time in the farm office catching up on paperwork and answering phone calls. In another four hours she was planning to feed those hungry workers again.







Feeding people is serious business for this Oklahoma farmer. Snelson and her husband of 32 years, Steve, have been co-owners and operators of Snelson Farms since 1988. They currently farm 1,500 acres of hard red winter wheat and 3,500 acres of soybeans with these crops going to the Port of Catoosa for shipment to feed the world.







Snelson says it is important to her to reduce the farm's carbon footprint. Although the farm isn't 100 percent no-till, she describes it as minimum till with the benefits of not having to purchase as much diesel fuel for equipment and saving other input costs. The Snelsons use precision agriculture techniques so they don't put any unneeded fertilizer or herbicide on their fields.







"The less you do to the environment, the better it is for everyone," Snelson says. "We have always done best use practices. We worry about the environment as much as the next person, and maybe more so. If you're not sustainable, how can you pass the farm to the next generation?"







Passing this fourth generation farm to her two sons, Steven, 29, and Kevin, 27, is something Snelson thinks about a lot. Three generations of family live on the same county road locally known as Snelson Road. Her husband's dad, who is 87, still takes an interest in the farm and her son, Steven, works on the farm and makes good use of his OSU soil science degree. Both sons showed cattle while they were growing up and have fond memories of their farm childhood.







Kevin, who lives in Stillwater, frequently returns to the farm on weekends to help with the cattle.





"When I get too much of the city, it's nice to go home and hang out with the cows," he said.







Their cash grain operation is supplemented by the cow-calf component. They raise Angus/Angus cross cows and sell calves; saving the best to enhance the herd. Snelson confides that her least favorite farm chore is tending sick calves because of the heartbreaking possibility that they won't pull through. Still, she is a proud member of Oklahoma CattleWomen and is a 2015 graduate of the Master's of Beef Advocacy program which gives her knowledge about beef issues to communicate to consumers and media.







Snelson grew up in Bartlesville and had an urban background until she married. She worked for Phillips Petroleum Company for 15 years and was an accountant in the International Division before meeting and falling in love with a handsome farmer. Now she lives near Wann, a town of 125 people, surrounded by fields and pasture and counts crops and cattle.







Snelson can run farm equipment and also represent agriculture in Washington, D.C. and around the world. Her degree in business administration from Bartlesville Wesleyan College and international work with Phillips laid a foundation for becoming involved in policy.







"I was married to someone in production ag and thought I needed to know a little more about it," Snelson said of her decision to enroll in Class VIII of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program (OALP). The program develops leaders in agriculture and is open to men and women involved in production agriculture. OALP was the springboard that inspired her to become involved in agriculture at the local, state, national and international levels.







Locally, she worked to instill a love of agriculture in youth by working with 4-H and FFA groups, farm safety groups and on an individual basis with those wanting to learn hands-on at the farm. She volunteered to teach Ag in the Classroom lessons at local schools. One of her favorite lessons was called "Wow That Cow!" and asked students to identify items in a leather briefcase such as a marshmallow, leather purse and comb to decide which ones came from part of a cow. Her point to the fifth and sixth graders was that nothing was wasted. She was the 2015-2016 Washington County president of Oklahoma CattleWomen, Inc. and has been an active member for many years.







Snelson welcomes school groups to her farm. She likes to show them soybean harvest in the fall and give them soy snacks of nuts and candy to show how versatile the crop is. Occasionally someone even rides in the buddy seat on a combine while she drives.







At the state level, Snelson is the Oklahoma Soybean Association's Membership Chair on the Board of Directors while her husband serves as the state president.







Nationally, Snelson is serving her second year as the only woman out of 46 directors of the American Soybean Association (ASA). She went to Washington, D.C. in March with the group and plans to go two or three times each year to visit legislators, discuss the Farm Bill and raise issues of crop insurance, tax reform, infrastructure, biotech and trade.







In the fall of 2016, Snelson went to Tokyo on a trade mission for ASA. It coincided with the 60th anniversary of U.S. soybean exports to Japan and featured a round table discussion of sustainability, GMO, and supply chain problems.







Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy wanted to highlight women in agriculture and Snelson assisted her by taking part in a dialogue with Japanese women who represented oil seed companies which are end users of U.S. soybeans mostly processed for oil.







She also participated in a trade mission with Deputy Secretary Alexis Taylor in Shanghai, China. Meetings such as these are an important component of producing food commodities because market expansion will help fund farms and feed the world.







Her 2017 appointment to the Field to Market Sustainability Alliance will be Snelson's next challenge. She recently attended her first meeting in San Antonio and learned how the alliance helps retailers of commodities improve profitability while reducing their carbon footprint. The organization also helps producers calculate the amount of energy they use in farming and get ideas for reducing it.





"We go from grower to end consumer showing the best way to use resources and reduce use of natural and energy resources," Snelson said.







Her family is getting ready to make this calculation on Snelson Farms. They will use software that takes into account the number of acres and inputs into their operation. She will also be visiting other farms to see how helpful the assessment is.







Although Snelson wasn't raised as a farmer, she's passionate about the benefits of the lifestyle she adopted by marrying into a farming family.







"Agriculture has provided a wonderful quality of life for the Snelson family," she said. "It has also provided numerous opportunities to share this love of our Oklahoma land and endless possibilities to better serve consumers with abundant, safe, affordable, sustainable food."







She hopes her efforts to educate will be effective and her advocacy for positive policies at the national level will be helpful in keeping agriculture thriving in the future.







Snelson named three things as her most important achievements in agriculture: being a voice for women in agriculture by claiming the only female slot on the ASA board, being recognized and accepted as a speaker on GMO and other important topics and providing future generations with ways to keep farming by continuing to advocate on Capitol Hill.







Snelson said that if she met another woman interested in farming, she would say, ""Bless your heart! What can I do to help you?"







She believes women have a logical role to play in farming and advises getting a mentor, going to college and learning from someone who is actually farming.







Snelson hopes women she encourages to become farmers will get to enjoy one of her favorite moments at the end of the day when they go out and take the last meal of the day to the field during harvest.







"It's a beautiful time with the combines running and trucks lined up," Snelson said. "Seeing all of it come together - what we've grown, my family all together, the sun setting behind them."







Source - Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food & Forestry













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Agricultural News

Oklahoma has Seen Low Wheat Prices Followed by $9/bushel Before, but Will It Happen This Time?

This week on SUNUP - Oklahoma State University's Dr. Kim Anderson examines the current outlook for wheat prices in Oklahoma with host Dave Deeken. According to Anderson rather than flowers, recent April showers have instead brought mixed feelings to producers.





For producers that decided to put down Nitrogen on their crops this year, the addition of a little moisture recently has made these crops look fairly decent. On the other hand, producers that opted out Nitrogen inputs may be shaking their heads with regret and hopes that discounts for low test weights will not be levied against them at the elevator.





However, Anderson reports that the rains are actually causing a detriment to the global markets as a whole. And it is news from around the world that is depressing the markets more than local reports. Apparently, Oklahoma is not the only wheat growing region getting the wet stuff right now. In fact, most all regions are which have caused major breadbaskets like the Ukraine and Russia to raise their production estimates for this harvest. In turn, prices seem to be taking a downward turn. Anderson has observed wheat prices fall approximately .30-.40 since the rains began last week.





In speculation of when we may see prices pivot hopefully upwards, Anderson says be patient and start paying attention when numbers from the large foreign harvest start rolling in around July, August and September. But he says it would not be unwise to look as far as late summer, early fall of 2018 before prices improve.





You can watch their visit tomorrow or Sunday on SUNUP- but you can hear Kim's comments right now by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below.







Beyond their weekly chat with Dr. Anderson- the SUNUP crew has a very full lineup for your viewing this weekend:







This week on SUNUP, Josh Lofton looks at sesame as a summer crop option.







- Kim Anderson says Oklahoma has seen low wheat prices before followed by $9 per bushel, but will it happen this time?







- In the Mesonet weather report, Al Sutherland shows us how soil profiles across the state are responding to recent rains and Gary McManus says the forecasts indicate more rain is on the way.







- In Vet Scripts, Dr. Barry Whitworth explains how to recognize the warning signs of urolithiasis - or kidney stones - in sheep and goats.







- Derrell Peel analyzes the U.S./Chinese agricultural relationship.







- In Cow-Calf Corner, Glenn Selk has suggestions for planning the optimal time of day for artificially inseminating cattle.







- Finally, Did you know there are bears in Oklahoma? We travel to the Ouachita Mountains in southeast Oklahoma where NREM students are learning about the population of black bears.









Join us for SUNUP:

Saturday at 7:30 a.m.

Sunday at 6 a.m. on OETA-TV

























You can watch their visit tomorrow or Sunday on SUNUP- but you can hear Kim's comments right now

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State and federal authorities clamped down Thursday on a company that services about 10,000 home mortgages in Nebraska and Iowa, alleging misconduct and sloppiness that would cost $1.5 billion to fix.

The non-bank mortgage company, Ocwen Financial Corp., said it doesnt have that much money, according to the authorities, so the problem threatens its ability to stay in business.

A phone message left with Ocwen President and Chief Executive Ronald Faris was not immediately returned.

Nebraska and about 20 other states ordered Ocwen to stop making home mortgages or acquiring new loan-servicing rights. In all, Ocwen services 1.4 million U.S. mortgage loans, including about 4,100 in Nebraska, totaling $308 million in loans, and more than 5,000 in Iowa, totaling more than $425 million.

The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also sued Ocwen, which is based in West Palm Beach, Florida, and has a division in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. Ocwen was founded in 1988 and has more than 9,000 employees.

Ocwen has repeatedly made mistakes and taken shortcuts at every stage of the mortgage servicing process, costing some consumers money and others their homes, said Richard Cordray, director of the federal bureau.

The Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance issued a cease-and-desist order banning Ocwen from making new mortgage loans or acquiring more mortgage loan servicing rights in the state.

Iowa Banking Superintendent Ronald Hansen said his department supports the other regulators actions, but because Iowa didnt have an examiner directly involved in the case, it didnt have its own information that could lead to an administrative order.

Most of the loans that Ocwen services are troubled or distressed mortgages, meaning borrowers have missed payments. Lenders sometimes sell mortgaging rights on such loans to companies that specialize in collecting payments from people who are struggling financially, although foreclosures also can follow.

Mortgage servicing companies collect monthly payments and handle other details for borrowers, including escrow accounts that hold clients money to pay taxes and insurance.

Patricia Herstein, counsel for the Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance, said concerns include not making payments properly from escrow accounts.

Ocwen said in January that it would cost $1.5 billion to reconcile the 2.5 million escrow accounts it was managing nationally.

Nebraska banking regulators are part of a multistate mortgage committee that conducts examinations, including one that began in February 2015. That examination found Ocwens financial condition deteriorating because of $919 million in losses since 2014 and a $1.15 billion reduction in its capital.

The companys stock price dropped from $55.97 in 2013 to as low as $1.50 in 2016. The stock price dropped by half Thursday to $2.49 a share.

Ocwen had grown rapidly but failed to control the financial risks it was taking, according to the Nebraska departments order. The department said it has received complaints from consumers about Ocwens mortgage servicing and escrow account conduct.

Ocwen routinely sent consumers inaccurate, confusing and/or misleading escrow statements, the order said, and may have violated rules that govern mortgage servicing and cooperation with examiners.

The department said it is continuing to investigate Ocwen.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleged unfair and deceptive practices and violations of mortgage rules that harmed thousands of consumers.

The bureau said Ocwen used a system called REALServicing to manage loans but loaded inaccurate and incomplete data into the system, which frequently crashed or put out wrong information.

Instead of fulfilling its promises to help struggling borrowers avoid foreclosure, the bureau said, Ocwen foreclosed illegally on customers.

What can you do if your mortgage is serviced by Ocwen?

 Continue your payments, regardless of what happens with Ocwen.

 Check your paperwork, letters or notices, which list your loan servicer.

 If Ocwen transfers your loan, you will get mailed notices from Ocwen and the new servicer.

 Transfers do not affect the terms of the mortgage, such as payments or interest rates.

 During a 60-day grace period, you wont be charged a late fee if you send your payment to the old servicer by mistake.

 Read your monthly statements. If your payments dont show, call the mortgage company.

 Keep written records of your payments and correspondence.

 Challenge servicing mistakes in writing and keep a copy; send by certified mail with a return receipt.

 Watch out for scammers who may try to take advantage of the confusion.

 Make sure your taxes, insurance premiums and other payments from your escrow account are paid.

 Contact your loan servicer if escrow payments are not proper.

 You probably cant choose a new servicer.

 Foreclosure actions probably will continue.

* * * * *

Contact Ocwen: ocwen.com or 800-746-2936.

To contact the banking departments: Nebraska, 402-471-2171; Iowa, 515- 281-4014
NEW YORK (AP)  The nations big bank regulator is faulting itself for failing to address the problems at Wells Fargo before it was too late.

The inspector general at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Wednesday that the regulators examiners saw sales problems at Wells Fargo as early as 2010. A scathing assessment released last week by the board of directors of the San Francisco-based bank also said the problems stretched back many years.

According to the OCCs report, examiners met with Carrie Tolstedt, the executive in charge of Wells Fargos consumer banking operations, to discuss 700 whistleblower complaints regarding the banks aggressive sales practices. Tolstedt told regulators at the time that the large number of complaints was due to Wells Fargo having a culture that encourages valid complaints, which are then investigated and appropriately addressed, according to the report.

Despite knowing about these complaints and other problems, the OCC declined to investigate further. It also did not look into risks that could come from compensation programs like those at Wells. The OCCs examiners took no action against Wells Fargo through at least 2014, according to the report, which would have been months after the Los Angeles Times published its investigation into Wells sales practices in Southern California.

The OCC did not take timely and effective supervisory actions after the bank and the OCC identified significant issues with ... sales practices, the OCCs Inspector General said in its report.

Eventually, the OCC, along with other authorities, fined Wells Fargo $185 million in September, finding that Wells employees had opened as many as 2 million accounts without getting customers permission as employees tried to meet sales goals.

The assessment by the banks own board said that the problems date back at least 15 years  but that executives had little interest in dealing with the problems until they spiraled out of control. The board has reclaimed millions in pay from Tolstedt, a Nebraska native, and former CEO John Stumpf, saying they dragged their feet for years.

Tolstedt retired from Wells Fargo in June 2016. The board of directors report laid most of the blame for Wells toxic sales practices at her and Stumpfs feet. Tolstedt has denied the boards allegations.

Since the scandal, Wells got rid of its sales goals and restructured how it pays employees to focus less on opening checking accounts and more on how those bank accounts are actually used. The bank also stopped referring to its branches as stores.

The bank still faces other investigations by state and federal authorities. The bank will also face angry shareholders next week at its annual meeting, amid a push to get rid of the companys board of directors.

Copyright 2017 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The bickering between publicly appointed and privately retained attorneys for convicted quadruple-murderer Anthony Garcia led a judge Thursday to remind them that they were in a courthouse, not an elementary school.

Gentlemen, we are not in third grade, said Douglas County District Judge Gary Randall. I told you you had to work together. ... You both have an ethical responsibility to discuss the matter.

Randall ordered the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy and the Chicago-based legal team known as Team Motta to collaborate as counsel on Garcias impending sentencing.

But its not clear whether the partnership will hold. The commission said it plans to file a motion to remove Team Motta in as early as a week.

Also unclear is what Garcia wants; his silence at public court proceedings continued Thursday.

Robert Motta Sr. said via telephone during the hearing that Team Motta has no intention to withdraw as counsel.

He and his partners have not been able to communicate with Garcia to find out whether he wants them to stay on the case or hand it off to the state agency. He said, however, that they also havent received any messages indicating that Garcia doesnt want them to represent him.

Attorneys for the public advocacy commission, which was appointed by Randall three weeks ago because of Garcias lack of funds, suggested that they will file a motion within the next week seeking to remove Team Motta from the case.

Jeff Pickens, chief counsel with the commission, argued that if the Chicago team were a part of the case, the defense would not be able to raise the issue of whether Garcia received effective legal counsel in his trial.

If ordered by the court, we will work with Team Motta, Pickens said during the hearing. There is a possibility that the commission will file a motion to proceed without Team Motta based upon ethical rules, but were not in a position to do that at this point.

The courtroom fell silent.

Thats rather vague, Motta said via phone.

Purposefully, Pickens said.

Neither Team Motta nor attorneys from the commission have been able to communicate with Garcia, it seems.

Jeremy Jorgensen, a formerly Omaha-based lawyer who worked with the Mottas on the trial and has moved to Chicago to practice with them, said he visited Omaha last week to try to meet with Garcia.

He was not willing to see me, Jorgensen said.

Pickens also said he was met with silence.

I have concerns that Mr. Garcia isnt responding, but I dont have a history with him, Pickens said.

While the question of who will represent Garcia for sentencing is murky, an order from Randall is expected to come today on Team Mottas motion for reimbursement for expert testimony and fees.

In fact, that was the first thing Motta brought up in Thursdays hearing.

The first issue that Im concerned about is the money, he said. If I may be so bold to request the court to give me where its at with that.

Randall said his ruling was prepared and it would be released today.

In the roughly 30-minute hearing, Jorgensen also questioned whether Garcia, who was in the courtroom Thursday, could hear the proceedings.

Randall had ruled last month that Garcia was mentally competent to go forward with the death penalty hearing, based on an evaluation by a state psychiatrist.

Hes sitting mute in the courtroom, and I have reason to believe he might not be able to hear, Jorgensen said.

Garcia didnt respond to Randall when the judge called out to him twice by name.

Jorgensen asked for a physical examination of Garcia and told Randall that he and Garcia soon would meet with a doctor at the Douglas County Jail.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said the idea that Garcia is hard of hearing was unfounded, and that Garcia simply chooses to not speak with attorneys.

Thats more of a decision, not a physical disability, he said after the hearing. Were just trying to get this case moving.

In October, a jury found Garcia guilty of the March 2008 deaths of Thomas Hunter, 11, and Shirlee Sherman, 57, and the May 2013 deaths of Dr. Roger Brumback and his wife, Mary, both 65. Garcia, a 43-year-old former doctor, is said to have killed the four as revenge for his 2001 firing from Creighton Universitys pathology department, where his overseers included Thomas father, Dr. William Hunter, and Dr. Brumback.

A three-judge panel ultimately will decide whether Garcia receives a death sentence or life in prison for his crimes.
LINCOLN  Three staffers at the Tecumseh State Prison were assaulted Wednesday night by an inmate who appeared to be intoxicated on homemade alcohol, prison officials said.

About 7:45 p.m., staffers were trying to remove several inmates from a housing unit. The inmates appeared to be intoxicated, officials said Thursday in a press release. As a corporal attempted to place handcuffs on one man, the inmate punched him, knocking him to the floor. The corporal suffered bruises on his head.

The same inmate then punched another corporal who was restraining a different inmate, officials said. Other staff responded and used pepper spray to subdue the inmate.

That corporal suffered bruises to the head, had one tooth chipped and another knocked loose. The corporal also required five stitches.

The two corporals were treated at the Johnson County Hospital in Tecumseh and released. A caseworker, who was bitten on the thigh, did not seek outside medical help.

The incident did not require the unit to be locked down.

Homemade alcohol, or hooch, can be produced in prison by mixing fruit juice, bread and sugar.
A young father of five, whose family says he chanced into the wrong place at the wrong time, was fatally shot at a friends apartment early Thursday.

Brandon Mutum doted on his kids, his mother said.

His whole life was his kids, Annette Mutum said. He loved his kids, and anything he could do for them, he would be right there.

Mutum, 29, was spending the night at a friends after having a fight with his fiancee, his mother said. She said she was told that someone burst into the apartment and started shooting.

I believe he was an innocent victim, she said.

Brandon Mutums bereaved friends stood Thursday evening in a receiving line at an outdoor prayer vigil to soothe his mother. They bent and spoke softly to Annette Mutum, who sat in a collapsible folding chair outside the building where the killing occurred.

Mutum was shot about 3 a.m. Thursday in the apartment at 4314 N. 65th St. He was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center in extremely critical condition, with CPR in progress, and died at the hospital from his injuries, police said.

Several callers to 911 told emergency dispatchers that they heard three to four gunshots. Reports from the scene said the gunman may have climbed into a black Pontiac and fled south from the scene.

Jacob Carroll, 32, a friend of Mutums who visited the shooting scene Thursday morning, said he and Mutum had been friends since they were young.

He was a really nice guy. Carroll said. I didnt think anything like this could possibly happen to him.

He said Mutum wasnt involved in a gang and didnt use drugs. He would do anything for his family, he said.

Hes been trying to do the right thing for years now, Carroll said. Its hard to take all this in. My mind isnt working right now. Brandon was a good friend.

Annette Mutum said her son had worked for about two months in the housekeeping department at Methodist Hospital. He already had received three commendations for his work, she said.

Samantha Frazier, Mutums team leader at the hospital, said he made friends easily and will be missed.

From the very first day in January when Brandon started with us, he came in with a smile and an eagerness to help, she said in a written statement. He was a hard worker who received compliments on his work and was pleasant to be around. Other hospital staff ... went out of their way to let us know how much they appreciated his attitude, hard work and dedication.

Brandon Mutums five children are 11-year-old Mckenzie; 10-year-old twins Amyah and Alexis; Brandon Jr., who turns 9 today; and 5-month-old Noah, Annette Mutum said.

In a Facebook post the day before he was killed, Mutum thanked God for sticking by him through tough times and blessing him with his children. I now have 5 beautiful smart Mutums that I am so happy and proud to call mine.

Mutum promised to work for a stable home in which he and the children could be happy forever. I promise Ill never give up.

Mutum attended Benson High School, his mother said, and eventually earned his GED.

Tarysh Hogue, 43, who owns All in the Cut hair salon next door to the apartment building where the shooting occurred, said the area is normally quiet.

Never a problem, said Hogue, who has owned the salon for about 18 months. Not even a confrontation.

It was, like, Are you serious,  he said of the homicide. Its a shocker. ... Nowadays, its not safe to go anywhere.

No arrests had been announced Thursday.

People with information about the slaying may contact the Omaha Police Department homicide unit at 402-444-5656. They also can contact Omaha Crime Stoppers at 444-STOP or omahacrimestoppers.org.

World-Herald staff writers Emerson Clarridge and Becca Mann contributed to this report.
LINCOLN  A bill changing the state school aid formula to save $150 million over two years could face a tougher fight during the next round of debate.

Legislative Bill 409 breezed through first-round consideration Wednesday, advancing after less than 20 minutes of debate.

But State Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte, the Education Committee chairman, said an amendment expected during second-round debate could create turbulence.

The amendment would allow school districts to exceed the states property tax levy lid to make up for the temporary reduction in state aid under LB 409.

Sen. Rick Kolowski of Omaha said he plans to bring the amendment to help districts that already are at the levy lid.

Those districts would not be able to turn to property tax payers to help them cope with the state aid changes, unlike many other Nebraska districts.

Groene said he opposes the amendment and does not believe there are 25 senators who would support it.

John Lindsay, a lobbyist for the Omaha Public Schools, said OPS would not use the additional levy authority, even if passed by the Legislature, and plans to adjust its budget instead.

I think school districts generally understand the states facing a budget crunch and schools need to do their part, he said.

LB 409 would revise the school aid formula to produce a state aid total matching the budget proposal advanced by the Appropriations Committee this week.

The changes would slow the growth of school aid to 2.1 percent per year for the two years ending June 30, 2019.

The resulting state aid for the coming school year would be $999.9 million. The total is projected to be $1.019 billion in the second year.

Without changes in the formula, school aid would grow 6.9 percent in fiscal year 2017-18 and 5.3 percent the following year.

Sen. John Stinner of Gering, the Appropriations Committee chairman, said the bill is essential to balancing the state budget. Lawmakers started the year with a budget shortfall nearing $900 million.

Stinner noted that, even with the reduced funding, aid to K-12 education accounts for the single largest increase in the budget plan. The plan also calls for 1 percent annual growth in state special education funding.

Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln, an Education Committee member, urged support for the aid changes because of the states fiscal situation.

He warned that Nebraska cannot maintain quality schools if such funding limits continue. But he said he is not hearing a need for additional levy authority from the Lincoln Public Schools and would not support Kolowskis amendment.

I think everybodys sufficiently disappointed with the bill, he said. It should be fine.

Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Omaha, another Education Committee member, said she would support the bill but believes changes are needed in how Nebraska funds its schools.

LB 409 would increase pressure on property tax payers, as well as Nebraska school districts. Many districts can raise property taxes to make up for changes in state aid.

The largest portion of school aid goes to districts with the greatest needs and the least ability to meet those needs from property taxes and other resources.

The rest of school aid is distributed to districts regardless of their resources.

LB 409 would affect all school districts by tightening spending limits, reducing the amount districts get for taking in option-enrollment students and increasing the amount districts are expected to get from property taxes.
LINCOLN  Nebraska lawmakers voted 42-0 to dismiss an election challenge against State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha on Thursday.

Senators accepted the recommendation of a special legislative committee created to consider the claim that Chambers does not live in the north Omaha district he represents.

The challenge was raised by John Sciara, who lost to Chambers in the November election.

The seven-member committee heard evidence from Sciara and Chambers at an April 7 hearing and considered legal briefs.

Following the hearing, committee members voted unanimously to dismiss Sciaras petition.

State Sen. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse, the chairman of the special committee, said that even when viewed in the most favorable light, Sciaras evidence did not support his claim.

Watermeier urged colleagues to approve the committees report and seat Chambers permanently.

Chambers had been seated conditionally at the beginning of the session, pending the outcome of the challenge.
Pakistan's Supreme Court has ordered further investigations into corruption allegations against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, but ruled that he can remain in office for now.

Amid tight security, the five-member court panel ruled on April 20 that there is insufficient evidence to order Sharif's removal from office, and ordered the establishment of a joint investigation team.

"A thorough investigation is required," Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said as he announced the highly anticipated decision, which prompted an opposition call for Sharif to step down pending further probes.

The court in Islamabad launched a probe last year into Sharif's family's offshore wealth after his children were linked to accounts in the so-called Panama Papers leaks in 2015.

Sharif's critics have suggested that offshore companies were used to launder illegally obtained wealth or avoid taxes, and opposition politicians threatened to launch street protests if the allegations were not investigated.

Sharif and his family have denied any wrongdoing.

Hundreds of police officers surrounded the Supreme Court building as it delivered its highly anticipated verdict, and unauthorized people were barred from the area. Public and private transport was also kept away from nearby roads.

The court panel was split, with two judges recommending that Sharif should step down and three backing instead a further investigation.

The prime ministers daughter, Maryam, tweeted a photo of the family and leaders of Sharif's PML-N party celebrating the verdict.

Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb described the ruling as a "defeat for all those who have been levelling baseless allegations against Sharif.

But Pakistans main opposition leader, Imran Khan, called on the prime minister to step down until the investigation is completed.

"How can he continue as prime minister when he is being investigated? What moral grounds does he have to continue in office?" Khan told reporters.

The joint investigation team is to include officials from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the State Bank of Pakistan, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and Military Intelligence.

They are to issue a report about their probe within 60 days.

The new investigation team is to focus on how the family members transferred money from Pakistan to Qatar that was later allegedly used to buy property in London using offshore companies.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, and Dawn
Fox News has ended its association with Bill O'Reilly, the combative TV host and commentator who has ruled cable-news ratings for nearly two decades and was the signature figure in the network's rise as a powerful political player.

The conservative-leaning host's downfall was swift and steep, set in motion less than three weeks ago by revelations of a string of harassment complaints against him. The questions about his conduct represented yet another black eye to Fox, which had dealt with a sexual harassment scandal involving its co-founder and then-chairman Roger Ailes, just last summer.

"After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill O'Reilly have agreed that Bill O'Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel," 21st Century Fox, the news channel's parent company, said in a statement Wednesday.

After Ailes' departure, Fox and 21st Century Fox  both controlled by Rupert Murdoch and his family  had vowed then to clean up an apparent culture of harassment at the news network. Instead, the allegations kept coming  against Ailes, O'Reilly and some of the remaining senior executives that Ailes had hired.

Fox has also lost popular hosts Greta Van Susteren and Megyn Kelly since the turmoil began last summer. The network, however, continued to roll in record ratings, driven in part by viewer interest in Donald Trump, a longtime friend of Ailes, Murdoch and O'Reilly and a frequent interview guest for years.

The loss of O'Reilly, however, is of a different magnitude: His program, "The O'Reilly Factor," has been the network's flagship show for nearly 20 years, and in many ways has embodied its conservative-oriented spirit.

It was just last month that Fox re-signed O'Reilly to a multimillion dollar, three-year contract, fully aware of the long history of complaints against him.

He still seemed to be at the peak of his popularity and prestige only three weeks ago. His 8 p.m. ET program, which mixes discussion segments with O'Reilly's pugnacious commentary, drew an average of 4 million viewers each night during the first three months of the year, the most ever for a cable-news program. His popularity, in turn, helped drive Fox News to record ratings and profits. O'Reilly was also the co-author of two books that were at the top of the bestseller lists in April.

But the fuse was lit for his career detonation when the New York Times disclosed that O'Reilly and Fox had settled a series of harassment complaints lodged against him by women he'd worked with at Fox over the years.

The newspaper found that O'Reilly and Fox had settled five such allegations since 2002, paying out some $13 million in exchange for the women's silence. Two of the settlements, including one for $9 million in 2004, were widely reported. But the others had been kept secret by O'Reilly, Fox and the women involved.

In addition, a sixth woman, a former "O'Reilly Factor" guest named Wendy Walsh, alleged that O'Reilly had harassed her in 2013. Although Walsh never sued or sought compensation, she spoke against him in public, drawing more negative attention to Fox and O'Reilly over the past few weeks. A seventh, still anonymous woman filed a complaint with the company on Tuesday, alleging that he had made disparaging racial and sexual remarks to her while she was employed at Fox in 2008.

O'Reilly has never acknowledged that he harassed anyone. In his only public statement about the matter in early April, he said his fame made him a target of lawsuits and that he settled the harassment claims against him to spare his children negative publicity.

After the revelations, Murdoch and his sons, James and Lachlan, were forced to decide whether the economic and reputational fallout from the O'Reilly scandal were irreversible.

O'Reilly had previously survived several controversies during his 21 years at Fox, including a lurid sexual harassment case in 2004 that was fodder for New York's tabloid newspapers. He also beat back a wave of headlines in 2015, when reporters examined his claims about his days as a young reporter and found them to be dubious. All the while, O'Reilly's audience not only stuck with him, but continued to grow.

But this time, the intense media coverage surrounding O'Reilly led to a stampede of advertisers away from O'Reilly's program, leaving it almost without sponsorship over the past two weeks. Various organizations, including the National Organization for Women, called for O'Reilly's firing, and intermittent protests began outside Fox News' headquarters in New York. Morale among employees at the network reportedly was suffering, too.

The Murdochs also had more than just O'Reilly's TV career to consider: The O'Reilly controversy was casting a shadow over 21st Century's $14 billion bid to win the British government's approval to buy Sky TV, the British satellite service. Leaving O'Reilly in place would likely have been a public-relations nightmare for James and Lachlan Murdoch, the sons who head 21st Century Fox, Fox News' parent.

The Murdoch family abandoned a 2011 offer for Sky amid another scandal, the phone-hacking conspiracy perpetrated by employees of the Murdoch-owned News of the World tabloid in London. A parliamentary panel later declared Rupert and James Murdoch to be "unfit" to run a public company  a description they hoped would not be revived by regulators with the O'Reilly matter hanging over them.

In the wake of the Ailes scandal last summer, the Murdoch brothers vowed to clean up a workplace environment that women at Fox had described as hostile under Ailes. In one of their few public statements on the matter, they said at the time, "We continue our commitment to maintaining a work environment based on trust and respect."

But those efforts have seemed unavailing, and at times have even seemed hypocritical. Since the Ailes scandal, the company has continued to employ almost all of the senior managers who were in charge when Ailes' was allegedly harassing employees, including Bill Shine, currently Fox's co-president. Shine was accused of enabling Ailes' retaliatory efforts against an accuser, Fox contributor Julie Roginsky, in a sexual-harrassment lawsuit Roginsky filed earlier this month.

The external and internal pressure left the Murdochs with a dilemma: Keep the networks' most valuable asset and hope to ride out the storm around him, or cut him loose and end the drama.

In the end, even an endorsement from President Donald Trump couldn't save O'Reilly: In an interview with Times reporters on April 5, Trump called O'Reilly "a good person" and said he shouldn't have settled the complaints made against him. "I don't think Bill did anything wrong," Trump said.

Fox said that Tucker Carlson, host of a discussion-program now airing at 9 p.m., will take over O'Reilly's 8 p.m. timeslot. "Tucker Carlson Tonight," in turn, will be replaced at 9 p.m. by Fox's 5 p.m. show, "The Five," starting on Monday. "The O'Reilly Factor" will continue for the remainder of the week, with guest hosts Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld. Martha MacCallum and Sean Hannity will remain in their current spots at 7 p.m and 10 p.m,, respectively, and the 5 p.m. hour will be occupied by a new show, hosted by Eric Bolling, starting May 1.

* * * * *
PIERRE, S.D. (AP)  A South Dakota lawmaker frustrated with what he views as inaction over a secretive polygamous sects outpost in his district wants legislators to look into the compound, including why no South Dakota birth or death records have been filed from there over the past decade.

Rep. Tim Goodwin is proposing that lawmakers find out more about the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound in the western part of the state, including what its population is, whether it has a home schooling program and whether polygamy or sex trafficking are taking place there.

Issues in Goodwins proposed study include births and deaths at the compound. South Dakota law requires births and deaths to be reported, but the Department of Health says no such records have been filed from the compounds address in the past 10 years.

That is in my district. Ive got to at least make an attempt to do something about it, said Goodwin, a new Republican lawmaker who lives near Hill City. If we would just enforce those minor infractions, then you could probably find the major infractions.

One former resident knows of two dozen births at the site, among them two of her own children. Sarah Allred, who called the compound home until about 2011, told the Associated Press that the sect didnt allow her to get the documents for daughters born in 2008 and 2010.

To put it bluntly, I lived in fear every day that my children would be taken from me because all of my married life then they held my children over my head for me to obey the different things that I was supposed to do, said Allred, who is working to get South Dakota birth certificates for her 6- and 8-year-old daughters.

Other people said their children were born in Utah instead, Allred said. She was a member of the FLDS until 2012.

The church opened its 140-acre compound near the town of Pringle more than a decade ago. Known to the faithful as R23, the compound sits along a gravel road, secluded by tall pine trees, a privacy fence and a guard tower.

Allred said fewer than 50 people lived there most of the time and that she never saw more than 100 people there at a time. She said there was always work to be done: sewing, building houses, tending to children, milking cows and feeding chickens.

Questions about the compounds population came up during 2015 proceedings before South Dakota regulators. The Water Management Board eventually approved the groups application, which faced opposition from nearby landowners, even though the sect declined to provide many details about the number of people living there.

Custer County Sheriff Rick Wheeler supports a study, saying it could help develop solutions to deal with the compound. He said its difficult to work with people when they wont communicate at all.

Its like going into somebodys property whether theyre FLDS or John Doe: If theres a gate there and it says, No trespassing, I cant go in there if they dont want me in there, he said.

Authorities have said the South Dakota congregation is led by Seth Jeffs, brother of imprisoned sect leader Warren Jeffs. Seth Jeffs didnt respond to emails from the AP requesting comment about the proposed study, and nobody answered at a telephone number listed in a state water document. Last year, he took a plea deal in a multimillion-dollar food-stamp fraud case. Warren Jeffs, considered by the group to be a prophet who speaks for God, is serving a life sentence for assaulting two of his child brides.

The FLDS, headquartered in a community along the Arizona-Utah border, is a radical offshoot of mainstream Mormonism whose members believe that polygamy brings exaltation in heaven.

South Dakota House Speaker Mark Mickelson is chairman of the Legislatures Executive Board, which will decide what issues lawmakers should study. Mickelson said the compound is a great potential issue but questioned what the Legislatures role should be.

If he thinks we need some laws, beautiful, Mickelson said. If he wants us to go investigate, Im out.

Copyright 2017 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
LINCOLN  Nebraskas overcrowded prison system is making progress and has not shown the deliberate indifference to its problems that would make a civil rights lawsuit successful, State Corrections Director Scott Frakes said Thursday

We are not just sitting back and waiting for things to fix themselves, Frakes said during a briefing with reporters at the State Capitol.

His comments were in response to the ACLU of Nebraska, which on April 10 issued an ultimatum to Gov. Pete Ricketts to either take action to address the states chronic prison overcrowding and staff shortages within 10 days or face a federal lawsuit.

His comments were in response to the ACLU of Nebraska, which on April 10 issued an ultimatum to Gov. Pete Ricketts to either take action to address the states chronic prison overcrowding and staff shortages within 10 days or face a federal lawsuit.

Thursday, Frakes sent a six-page letter to the civil rights organization and sat down with reporters to outline the steps made during his two years as director to address staff shortages, expand rehabilitation programs and decrease overcrowding.

State prisons now are at 159 percent of capacity and hold nearly 2,000 more inmates than they were designed to hold.

That has prompted the ACLU to threaten to sue the state unless that overcrowding is eased and services such as health care and mental health treatment are improved.

The ACLU has successfully sued in other states, including California, to force federal intervention in prison systems that have become so overcrowded that they do not provide constitutionally guaranteed levels of health care and safety.

Danielle Conrad, a former state senator and the executive director of the ACLU, said Thursday that the organization is working hard on its litigation and would not comment about its legal strategy until it files its lawsuit.

She noted that since the ACLU issued its ultimatum, an inmate has died under suspicious circumstances at the Tecumseh State Prison, and three staffers were assaulted there. The Ricketts administration should be doing more, Conrad said.

There are a host of smart, evidence-based reforms the governor could initiate now under his existing executive authority such as declaring an emergency, she said in a press release.

Under state law, the governor can declare a prison emergency when overcrowding meets or exceeds 140 percent of capacity. That requires the state to consider immediately releasing inmates deemed to be a low risk on parole. But Ricketts and his predecessor, Dave Heineman, have declined to do that.

Frakes, in his letter to the ACLU, said Nebraskas prison problems in no way compare to those in California that prompted a 2011 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to release inmates.

California had undergone 20 years of prison litigation and 70 court orders over problems including housing suicidal inmates in telephone-booth sized cages and packing inmates in a gym with only one toilet.

It was undisputed in California ... that an inmate died about once a week due to inadequate conditions, Frakes wrote. And state officials conceded that little effort was being made to rehabilitate inmates.

He said recent assaults on staff and multi-hour disturbances at prisons in Tecumseh and Lincoln  which left two other inmates dead  make it appear that there are system-wide failures in corrections.

But that is not the case, Frakes said, as he went through a slideshow depicting changes implemented and underway, including:

 Construction of a 100-bed modular dormitory for inmates in Lincoln that will be completed by September. Bids will go out shortly on a $26 million expansion of another Lincoln prison that will add an additional 148 beds.

 Expansion of rehab programs by 25 percent in 2016 and an expectation of another 25 percent expansion this year.

 Securing an additional $37 million in state funding over two years to hire additional mental health and security staffers.

 Taking steps to increase salaries of front-line corrections officers and improve training and support for what he described as a tough, difficult and dangerous job.

 Enhancing technology to fix problems that led to the mistaken early release of hundreds of inmates.

 Use of evidence-based assessments to ensure that low-risk inmates get out of prison earlier on parole or supervised release, and to ensure that they wont commit further crimes.

Reforms in criminal sentences that were predicted to reduce prison overcrowding have not been accomplished yet, but Frakes said the overcrowding has at least leveled out.

He said he was hopeful that the reforms, guided by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, will start to bring down overcrowding later this year.

Regarding staffing problems, Frakes said that hiring a full-time recruiter and offering bonuses to existing staff for bringing in new hires has helped reduce turnover from a high of 32 percent in recent months.

Experienced corrections officers told The World-Herald recently that they were losing faith in the directors leadership. They complained that the salary increases were inconsequential, that county jails in the Omaha and Lincoln areas still pay better and that their chief concern  providing raises for longevity  has not been addressed. Staffing shortages have forced corrections officers to work overtime on a regular basis.

Said Frakes, We cant fix compensation problems in a single session. Theres more work to be done.

Overall, he said the state prison system had been neglected for more than a decade and had a culture where employees were afraid to suggest improvements, and it will take years to reverse that.

Were gaining some really good momentum, Frakes said. Weve got a vision. Cultural change is not easy.
HASTINGS, Neb.  Falcons, hawks and owls were among the visitors to the Hastings Museum on Wednesday morning.

Devin Paszek and her mom, Julie, came from Natures Educators in Sedalia, Colorado, to give a presentation.

Paszek, a Hastings College graduate, is executive director of the nonprofit organization.

About 40 people, both young and old, attended Wednesdays educational presentation.

Paszek brought out four birds: a saw-whet owl, an American kestrel, a Barbary falcon and a ferruginous hawk.

Paszek taught the audience about the birds while they got to see them up close.

All of the organizations birds are destined to stay in captivity for the rest of their lives because of injuries they have suffered, Paszek said.

The saw-whet owl, she said, was flying too close to a road and was hit by a car. The small owl is missing one eye.

Natures Educators, founded in 2008, was established to bring animals to nature centers, classrooms and events to teach about wildlife and to help create a healthy respect and understanding of all animals.

The goal of Natures Educators is to create a public wildlife center that allows audiences to visit and have programs on site while still doing outreach and events.

Paszek said it was nice to be back to what was once her home.

She planned on speaking in the Hastings College biology department, where she was the first wildlife biology graduate.

Its fun to see how the city has grown, Paszek said.

She said she doesnt get back to the area often, so it was nice to be back in Hastings doing what she loves.

Its nostalgic, Paszek said.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders told a cheering crowd in Omaha on Thursday that he thinks mayoral candidate Heath Mello is part of the Democratic Party of the future.

But some Democrats dont agree, and Sanders appearance at a rally for Mello at Baxter Arena sparked a national debate about whether the party needs to focus on progressive policies and reject Democratic politicians like Mello who are opposed to abortion.

Sanders was in Omaha as part of a Come Together, Fight Back, Vote Democrats national tour aimed at promoting Democratic candidates in local races this year. Mello is running against incumbent Mayor Jean Stothert, a Republican, in what is officially a nonpartisan race.

Sanders is an independent U.S. senator from Vermont who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination for president. He laid out a vision for the country that he said involves a Democratic Party that stand(s) up for voters in 50 states, not just the West Coast and the East Coast.

Omaha, are you ready for a political revolution? he asked the crowd of about 6,000.

The rally lasted three hours.

During his 45-minute speech, Sanders touched on positions that would be familiar to those who followed his presidential campaign: expanded access to health care, paid family leave, free college tuition and a pathway to citizenship for those who entered the country illegally. And, of course, he devoted much time to economic inequality.

The way we defeat money and power is by putting together a strong grass-roots coalition, Sanders said. The country is now looking at Omaha, Nebraska, as the first step.

Earlier Thursday, however, abortion-rights advocates argued that Sanders and the Democratic Party shouldnt support those who favor restricting abortion. They pointed to Mellos co-sponsorship of a 2009 bill in the Nebraska Legislature that gives a woman seeking an abortion the option to see an ultrasound, if one is done.

The actions today by the DNC to embrace and support a candidate for office who will strip women  one of the most critical constituencies for the party  of our basic rights and freedom is not only disappointing, it is politically stupid, said NARAL Pro-Choice President Ilyse Hogue in a statement.

Her criticism was part of the national backlash after a Thursday article in the Wall Street Journal that pointed out Mellos opposition to abortion.

In 2009, the version of Legislative Bill 675 that became law, on a 40-5 vote, was viewed as a compromise measure. As first introduced, the bill would have required a woman to look at the ultrasound image.

Mellos campaign said he signed on to the bill to support the compromise version.

Mello, who is Catholic, said he remains pro-life.

While my faith guides my personal views, as mayor I would never do anything to restrict access to reproductive health care, Mello said in the statement.

A last-minute addition to the rally was Sofia Jawed-Wessel, an assistant professor of public health and health behavior at UNO, who spoke about her support of Planned Parenthood.

Rally behind Heath Mello and support the candidate who supports Planned Parenthood, she said.

As national Democrats discussed whether Mello is a true progressive, Stothert painted him as too liberal. She held a press conference Thursday before the event to call Sanders a liberal and a socialist.

Stothert said she expected the tone of the event to be toxic and a Debbie Downer. And she talked about her upcoming campaign event with Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Theres a lot of excitement about him coming to town.

Mellos stance on abortion had not been raised previously in the mayoral campaign. Stothert is also opposed to abortion. And abortion issues rarely come up at City Hall. Potholes and snow removal are much bigger issues.

Thursdays rally included speakers from a variety of backgrounds and several musical interludes.

Deputy Democratic National Committee Chairman Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota called for unity.

We have got to hang together, and you know, weve got to hug it out sometimes, he said. Weve got to believe in unity, and unity means, it cannot be only my way.

DNC Chairman Tom Perez was originally scheduled to appear at the Omaha rally, but Ellison filled in for him.

Nebraska Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kleeb said the switch was the result of a scheduling problem and that Perez was appearing Thursday in Georgia with congressional candidate Jon Ossoff.

Kleeb said Democrats are trying to decide what issues are we fighting for, not just fighting against.

Its only natural that this (debate) is happening because the Democratic Party is finding its soul again, she said.

Mello and others at the rally highlighted his efforts to advocate for more rights for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, equal pay for women, access to health care and affordable child care.

We have to be focused on May 9, he said. This election is about where were going to go as a city in the next 20 years.

In the audience, University of Nebraska at Omaha student Arianna Cabrera and her friend, recent graduate Sapphire Andersen, said they were excited to see Sanders.

I think this is going to be a very big push for Heath Mello, Cabrera said.

Both said they like Mello because he is personable and because of his support for womens issues in the Legislature.

They said they did not realize that Mello opposes abortion and said theyd want to learn more about his position. But they said they would still support him.

Central High School student Hatim Hassan said he came to the rally because hes a big Sanders fan.

He said he likes that Sanders is a democratic socialist and that he believes that health care is a right.

But, he said, he doesnt plan to vote for Mello. He said Stothert is doing a good job.

World-Herald staff writer Jeffrey Robb contributed to this report.
140 terrorists were on stand-by to kill people if they voted in Srinagar polls

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

A military intelligence report confirms yet again the role of Pakistan in fuelling the violence that took place at Srinagar during the by-elections. However what is more shocking is that the Inter-Services Intelligence had ensured that 140 terrorists were kept on stand-by to disrupt the elections had people come out in large numbers.

The plan was in the offing for over a month and despite the Home ministry warning the Election Commission about the same, the elections were held.

Pakistan plan was a success as it ensured that just 8 per cent voted in the by-election which was won by National Conference president Farooq Abdullah. The first signs that there would be trouble was picked up when the IB overheard chatter between a terrorist and his handler.

The IB says that it was clear that a plan was afloat to disrupt the elections. The plan was then conveyed to Zakir Radhid Bhatt of the Hizbul Mujahideen who then went on to send out a video message. In the message, he warns the people that they should not come out and vote.

IB officials say that there were at least 140 terrorists both Pakistani and Indian on standby to ensure that the by-elections were not a success. Had the people come out in large numbers to vote, the terrorists may have just struck big, the IB officer also said.

Aiding the terrorists were the separatists who also did their bit in ensuring that the elections were not a success. They had beaten up PDP workers in Pulwama district and this was a warning to them to ensure that no one came out and voted. It may be recalled that a Peoples Democratic Party leader was forced to chant anti-India slogans and the video of the same was circulated.

OneIndia News
3 Islamic State operatives arrested from Mumbai, Bijnor, Jalandhar

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Three Islamic State-inspired operatives have been arrested from Bijnor, Jalandhar and Mumbai. The operation was a joint one carried out by police forces of five states. The operation was led by the Delhi police.

While three have been arrested, the police are questioning six more operatives sources said. The arrests were carried out based on intelligence inputs. The inputs suggested that these operatives were planning on carrying subversive activities in different parts of the country.

The module according to sources is connected to the one recently busted in UP. The police suspect that these operatives had spanned out to different states and may have been carrying out a reconnaissance. Further investigations are on.

OneIndia News
Advani stares at a 5 year jail term if convicted in Babri Masjid case

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

BJP stalwarts, L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti are looking at a 5-year jail term if convicted in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The charges against them suggest that if convicted by the trial court, they could be imprisoned to a jail term ranging between 2 and 5 years. The Supreme Court on Wednesday restored the offence of criminal conspiracy against them and ordered that the trial be conducted on a day to day basis without adjournments.

They will be tried under Indian Penal Code offences for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion etc, imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration and statements conducing to public mischief of the IPC for which the maximum punishment is five years.

Other charges of injuring or defiling place of worship with the intent to insult the religion of any class entails maximum sentence of two years, while for the offence of deliberate and malicious acts intending to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs, carries a maximum penalty of a three-year jail term.

The others in the case who will also face trial are Champat Rai Bansal, Satish Pradhan, Dharam Das, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Mahamadleshwar Jagdish Muni, Ram Bilas Vadanti, Vaikunth Lal Sharma and Satish Chandra Nagar.

OneIndia News
AIADMK merger talks on but Panneerselvam camp is sceptical, bargains hard

India

oi-Anusha

The Edappadi Palanisamy camp has yielded to Panneerselvam's primary demands. Sasikala Natarajan and Dinakaran have been ousted from the party but the speed in which everything happened has made the Panneerselvam camp sceptical. 122 MLAs who had pledged their support to the Mannargudi family changed their stance in less than a week. Within a day of making their plans of merger public, minister Jayakumar announced that Sasikal and Dinakaran would be kept away from the party. The lightening speed with which the Palanisamy camp decided to disown the duo has made Panneerselvam uncomfortable.

The scepticism has now resulted in hard bargaining by the Panneerselvam camp. While he had made no mention of what posts he would want for his team in public and while addressing media, Panneerselvam is now said to be demanding for all top posts. Sources said that even as merger talks are underway, the Panneerselvam camp has sought the posts of chief minister, general secretary and deputy general secretary of the party and at least 2 cabinet berths. The demand has definitely come as heavy for the Edappadi Palanisamy camp.

While they yielded to Panneerselvam's demand of ousting Sasikala, the AIADMK Amma camp does not want to transfer full power to OPS camp. Deputy speaker of Lok Sabha and senior AIADMK leader Thambidurai categorically stated that Palanisamy would continue as the Chief Minister. "One hundred and twenty-two MLAs have supported him and voted for him during the floor test. How can Palanisamy step down? He has the support of all MLAs. There is no question of change in chief minister," he said while addressing the media.

The highlight of the entire drama that is unfolding in Tamil Nadu is that the chief minister has never once addressed the media on his thoughts. Neither on whether he is heading the merger talks nor if he had a role to play in Sasikala and Dinakaran's ouster from the party.

Moreover, the Panneerselvam camp feels that the minister's decision to distance the Mannargudi family could merely be a ploy to unite the party. Sources from the Panneerselvam camp said that they do not rule out the possibility of Dinakaran staging this 'fake revolt' within the camp to convince Panneerselvam to give up his fight and unite with the party. The camp says that it was too fast for its own good. They have also noted the emphasis that AIADMK ministers placed of getting the two leaves symbol back in each of their press briefings when they have spoken about the merger.

Dinakaran's easy exit without putting up a fight has also surprised the Panneerselvam's camp. Despite the scepticism, the talks are on but the hard bargain may become a deterrent for smooth talks. The merger looks like a time-taking process for now.

Thambidurai meets Tamil Nadu Governor

Amidst the political turmoil in Tamil Nadu, deputy speaker of Lok Sabha Thambidurai on Thursday met the state's governor. The senior AIADMK leader met Governor Vidyasagar Rao even as talks between the Edappadi Palanisamy Panneerselvam camps are underway to decide on the Chief Minister's post. Thambidurai termed the meet a 'friendly visit'. Thambidurai said that no politics was discussed during the meeting.

OneIndia News
Bihar's Gopalganj by-poll to see a tough fight between BJP and RJD

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar refuses to remove red beacon from his car

India

oi-Preeti Panwar

Patna, April 20: A day after the NDA government decided to ban red beacons atop the cars of all politicians and bureaucrats, many ministers were seen removing lal battis from their cars on their own.

But Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is still going around with the lal batti on his official car.

Kumar has reportedly refused to do away with the red beacon from his car.

However, his counterparts such as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, Odisha Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami were quick to get rid of red beacons from their cars.

[Also Read: Lal batti is history: Ministers remove red beacon from their cars]

Finance Minister Thomas Issac, Water Resources Minister Mathew T Thomas, Culture Minister A K Balan and Revenue Minister E Chandrasekheran also removed the beacons fitted on their official vehicles.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palanisami recalled that late Jayalalithaa had not used the red beacon light as chief minister.

"Amma set an example to others by not using the red beacon light in her vehicles when she was chief minister," he said.

The Union Cabinet had on Wednesday decided to prohibit all vehicles, except emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire brigade, from using the beacon lights from May 1.

The decision covered the vehicles of President, Prime Minister, state chief ministers and others.

"After May 1, no one will be able to put red light atop his/her vehicle. Blue light will be used only for emergency vehicles in the country...Neither the states nor the Centre will have power to give any special permission (for use of beacon lights)," Finance Minister Arun Jaitely had said.

OneIndia News
Canadian gets 20 years in US jail for aiding Islamic State

Canadian envoy says 'support India's sovereignty after earlier 'welcome all' remark on Khalistan

Uncertainty during COVID-19 changed the way people buy and consume grocery

Canadian Defence Minister offers prayers at Golden Temple

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Amritsar, April 20: Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan offered prayers at the holiest of Sikh shrines 'Harmandir Sahib' in Punjab on Thursday.

Sajjan arrived at the Golden Temple complex and was received by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, SGPC President Kirpal Singh Badungar and other members.

The Minister offered prayers inside the sanctum and listened to hymns. He also took a 'parikrama' and sat there awhile.

The first Sikh to become the Defence Minister of a western nation, Sajjan was honoured by the SGPC at the shrine complex with a traditional honour and presented a replica of the Golden Temple and a sword.

The Minister's family hails from Bambeli village, 15 km from Hoshiarpur. His family had migrated to Canada in mid-1970s, when Sajjan was around five years old. He is likely to visit his native village and then arrive in Chandigarh.

Amarinder Singh had stirred a controversy last week when he said that he would not meet the visiting Canadian Minister due to his links to radical elements who demand for a separate Sikh state, Khalistan.

In New Delhi, Sajjan sought to play down the controversy on Tuesday saying that he did not want the break-up of any country.

The Shiromani Akali Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party have welcomed Sajjan to Punjab and have condemned Amarinder Singh for his stand on the Canadian Minister.

IANS

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Story first published: Thursday, April 20, 2017, 11:19 [IST]
SC asks EC to examine Tej Bahadur Yadavs plea against rejection of his candidature in Varanasi

SC dismisses Tej Bahadur Yadavs plea against rejection of his candidature in Varanasi

Congress to honour sacked BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Bhopal, April 20: Sacked Border Security Force trooper Tej Bahadur Yadav, who triggered a political storm when his video clip on alleged substandard food served to BSF men went viral in January, will be honoured by Congress party's Madhya Pradesh unit.

"Mother India's brave son Tej Bahadur Yadav, who exposed BSF's corruption in a video, will be honoured by Madhya Pradesh Congress," state president Arun Yadav tweeted on Thursday.

Yadav did not announce the date on which the dismissed soldier will be honoured.

Yadav, clad in a camouflage uniform and carrying a rifle, posted a video clip on a social media website in January to complain about the "quality" of food served to security personnel and accused unnamed officers of illegally selling food supplies meant for troopers.

Since then, the trooper was facing inquiry on various charges, including indiscipline, and his plea for voluntary retirement was rejected by authorities.

He was dismissed from service on Wednesday, after which he said he will move the court "to secure justice".

IANS

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Story first published: Thursday, April 20, 2017, 17:24 [IST]
Cult leader who drugged girls and trapped them arrested in Mumbai

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

A cult leader who allegedly poses as a psychiatrist was arrested in Mumbai on Thursday after the high court heard petitions in this regard. The Bombay high court heard petitions filed by the family members in which it was alleged that the cult leader, Sunil Kulkarni had trapped their daughters and pushed them into drugs.

It was stated that Kulkarni who heads the Shifu Sunkriti poses as a psychiatrist. He was charged by the Malad police for trafficking, cheating, obscenity and violation of the Information Technology Act.

The high court was told that Kulkarni had lured four women in their twenties into talking drugs. The girls left their respective homes, their parents alleged in the petition. It was also stated that the girls who were allegedly trapped on the social media were refusing to return home.

The court questioned the police why they were taking this case casually. The court said that it looks like an apparent case of sex and drugs. Several boys and girls are being trapped and the police is taking this matter lightly, the court also said.

OneIndia News
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

Delhi MCD Election 2017: 43 govt officials get show cause notice for skipping training

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, April 20: As many as 43 Delhi government officers have been issued show cause notice by the Returning Officer (RO) of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) for dereliction of election duty.

The action comes after 43 officers of Delhi government's Revenue Department had skipped an election training session on April 13.

"Keeping in view the seriousness of the matter, show cause notices have been issued against them," an official said.

The RO has sought written explanation from the "delinquent" officials as to why, under the provisions of the Representation of Peoples Act, action should not be initiated against them.

The official said if the written explanation is not satisfactory, strict action will be taken against such officers for dereliction of poll duty.

Elections to all three civic bodies -- South, North and East Municipal Corporations -- will be held on April 23, while the counting will take place on April 26.

PTI
Delhi: Teenage driver kills 2, injures 3 after his car runs over a footpath

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, April 20: According to reports, two people were dead in an accident in the national capital on Thursday. Around three people were also injured in the accident, police told the media.

The accident took place near Delhi's Kashmiri Gate, after a car driven by a class 12 student ran over a footpath. The police have nabbed the driver of the car. Sources say police are currently questioning the accused to know the exact reason behind the accident.

Teenage driving is a menace across the country. In India, a person can't drive or ride any vehicles, except for bicycle, if he or she is not 18 years old. The minimum age to apply for a permanent licence to drive a private motor vehicle is 18 years in India.

However, across India minors are seen driving and riding vehicles. The police said that they are yet to ascertain whether the driver of the car was 18 years or not.

Speaking to ANI, Jatin Narwal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North), said, "A case has been registered under IPC 304. The driver has been apprehended. The driver claims he has turned 18, but we are verifying documents."

OneIndia News
India's coal production up 36% in first half of May, dispatch goes up to 37.18 MT

Do you know how the power ministry got funds for 24x7 power supply?

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Twenty-five states and one Union Territory have signed MoUs with the Central government to participate in the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana. All electricity distribution companies of India are covered under the UDAY's fold. State bonds worth Rs. 2.09 lakh crore; and DISCOM Bonds worth Rs 0.24 lakh crore have been issued.

UDAY is the financial turnaround and revival package for electricity distribution companies of India initiated by the government of India with the intent to find a permanent solution to the financial mess that the power distribution is in.

According to IFS Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power, Dr AK Verma, the power sector is likely to attract around $1 trillion in investments by 2030 across segments such as coal-based and renewable power.

As per IEA estimates, India would invest about $ 845 billion in transmission and distribution networks between 2015 and 2040.

Investment opportunities exist in following segments:

Rs 2.9 lakh crore for -- smart metering, distribution automation, battery storage and other smart grid market segments over the next decade

Rs 5.5 lakh crore for -- solar power for capacity addition of 100,000 MW at capital cost of Rs 5.5 Cr/MW

Rs 4.4 lakh crore for stressed thermal portfolio of more than 45,000 MW capacity.

New avenues of investment will emerge on the distribution side, for example, solar rooftop, franchisee, DSM, smart meters etc. Discoms turnaround through UDAY will further improve the overall credibility of power sector, thereby making it more investment friendly.
ED begins questioning Himachal CM Virbhadra Singh in DA case

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Virbhadra Singh has arrived at the office of the Enforcement Directorate in Delhi for questioning. Singh is being questioned in connection with a disproportionate assets case.

He has been accused of using shell companies to purchase a farmhouse in Delhi. It may be recalled that the ED had attached a farmhouse in Delhi.

Investigations have revealed that Singh had allegedly used shell companies to purchase the farmhouse. He is alleged to have settled the deal by paying Rs 5.41 crore in cash that was unaccounted, ED officials say. The ED has also found that Rs 1.20 crore had been paid through cheques from a company in which his son and daughter are shareholders and directors.

It was found during the probe that the funds had been provided by a promoter and directors of the Tarini group of companies. This group is engaged in hydro power projects in Himachal Pradesh. It was further revealed that the promoter of this group Vakamulla Chandrasekhar had been awarded the Saikothi plant in Chamba.

The ED stated that the cheque amount for the purchase of the farmhouse had been given by Chandrasekhar from his personal account. The note further stated that the sum of Rs 5.90 crore was given to Singh and his family members from Chandrashekhar's personal bank accounts.

The farmhouse is situated in the Dera Mandi area of South Delhi. It is worth over Rs 27 crore and the allegation by the ED is that illicit money by Singh was invested in purchasing the farmhouse. It came to light that the same was purchased in the name of Maple Destinations and Dreambuild Pvt Ltd.

OneIndia News
From petty criminals to notorious mafia dons, all should be given same food: Yogi

India

oi-PTI

Lucknow, April 20: All convicts in the jails of Uttar Pradesh, whether petty criminals or notorious mafia dons, should get the same food and treatment, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has told state officials.

There have often been reports and allegations in the past about certain prisoners enjoying privileges in jails including the use of phones.

The chief minister said that the same food should be given to all convicts petty criminals or mafia dons lodged in jails and ordered installation of mobile phone jammers, an official spokesman said.

The chief minister warned officials of the jails department against any leniency shown towards notorious criminals and asserted that they should not be allowed to use medical treatment as an excuse. In the meeting, the chief minister stressed on effective checks on corruption in all cells of the police and identification of staff members having links with criminals and anti-social elements, the spokesperson said.

PTI
Won't allow Bahubali 2 release in Karnataka even if army is brought in: Vatal

India

oi-Anusha

While the nation gears up to drown in the world of Baahubali, people in Karnataka may not get it to watch it, thanks to a statewide bandh call given by pro-Kannada organisations. The bandh call comes as a massive disappointment for fans but Vatal Nagaraj, the self-proclaimed flag bearer of Kannada pride says its all about the love for the land. We asked him if he was just being opportunistic and engaging in a publicity gimmick over a high budget, much-anticipated movie. Here is what he had to say:

Why are you stalling the release of Baahubali 2? Doesn't it seem like a publicity gimmick?

We have nothing against the film. I have said it before and I repeat it. We have no personal vendetta against the film. We are only opposing Satyaraj, an actor in the film. We demand that he tender an unconditional apology for his statements against Cauvery, Kannada, Karnataka and Kannadigas. We will protest against the film's release until he apologises. Let him tender an unconditional apology like Rajinikanth had and we won't oppose the movie's release.

Why oppose only Baahubali 2? Where was your protest when other movies of Satyaraj were released?

We have always been against his statements. It is not that we did not register a protest. Yes, other movies of his were released here but this time around all pro-Kannada organisations have come together to protest. More than 2,000 organisations will protest the release.

That is exactly what I am asking, why now?

This was the right opportunity. There may have been smaller movies but this time more organisations have come forward to protest. He is an actor and many of his movies may have released but our opposition to him was always there. We demand his apology.

So do you accept that you are being opportunistic in your protest because Baahubali 2 is a mega film?

No no, it is not being opportunistic. I said that an opportunity has now emerged for all Kannada organisations to come together and protest. It is not just about the right opportunity, it is also about collective anger. What stops Satyaraj from apologising?

What is your grouse against Satyaraj? What comments of his have irked you?

He likened Cauvery to his wife and described the river we consider our mother in a disrespectful manner. He abused Kannadigas and Karnataka. He called us names in full public view. People such as Rajinikanth, Kamal Hassan were on the stage and he spoke in the most disgusting manner. He directly attacked me and other Kannada activists. Should we not question it?

You are reacting to a statement that was made a year ago. Isn't it unnecessary?

Absolutely not. Would you let off a person who committed a crime simply because he did a few years ago? Would the law not punish him? Why should a Kannadiga watch the movie of a man who abused the land and its people? He is a fool to have made such statements and we demand that he apologise. It doesn't matter when he made the statements. He insulted Karnataka, Cauvery and Kannadigas and he has to apologise for it. Didn't Rajinikanth apologies? Let Satyaraj apologise too.

What if the movie is released with the government's support?

Even if the army is brought down, we will protest. There is no going back on the protest. If the movie is released we will oppose it. We have called for a bandh and pro-Kannada organisations statewide will stand with us. Not even bathrooms, leave alone cinema halls should screen the movie. I reiterate that we have nothing against Baahubali 2 as a movie. Our anger is against Satyaraj.

OneIndia News
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

From VIPs to cops, how cruel heatwave is killing us all

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

If reports are to be believed, temperature in most parts of the country is not going to come down anytime soon. According to weathermen, parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are likely to witness temperature as high as 48 degrees Celsius.

Already places like Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, to name a few, have recorded more than 42 degrees Celsius this week.

The extreme weather conditions have left everyone miserable and in the process many have died as official records indicate that around 12 people have died in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Unofficially, both the states perhaps have witnessed more than 30 deaths.

As we scanned through a couple of pictures of news agency, PTI, what comes out clearly is the fact that from VIPs to policemen, nobody has been spared by rising temperatures.

Here we bring you a few glimpses of how Indians are coping up with heat, sun and dust...

Summer of discontentment A policeman tries to escape the scorching heat by pouring water on his face in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. Picture credit: PTI Sun spares none; not even VIPs CPI leader D Raja's wife covers herself as she walks to a protest site on a hot day in New Delhi on Wednesday. Picture credit: PTI Coolers come to rescue A rickshaw-puller transports water coolers in New Delhi on Wednesday. The demand for desert coolers has increased with the rise in day temperatures in the capital. Picture credit: PTI Water therapy Boys take bath in a pond to beat the heat in Hisar, Haryana, on Wednesday. Picture credit: PTI Saffron gear A man covers his head with a cloth to protect himself from scorching heat, as day temperatures soar in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday. Picture credit: PTI Dress like Laluji Clearly, senior RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav knows what to wear during summers. Yadav wears a sleeveless ganji and a pair of pajamas during a press meet in Patna, Bihar, on Wednesday. Picture credit: PTI

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, April 20, 2017, 7:23 [IST]
Govt has no plans to reduce security given to VIPs: Venkaiah Naidu

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, April 20: Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said that the government has no plans to cut back on security to VIP's.

"With regard to security, it is necessary in the interest of the country because important people have to be protected. Otherwise, there is no preferential treatment," Naidu, who holds the portfolio of Information and Broadcasting, told reporters in Delhi.

About the Centre's decision to put an end to the VIP culture, he said: "Everybody is a VIP and that is the philosophy of our government." Though it is a small initiative but it sends a message that every person should be treated equally, he added. He hoped that state governments will also shun the use of beacons or they will face the wrath of the people.

On a query about the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, the Minister said the case has been going on for so many years and there is nothing new in that. He did not elaborate on what could be the impact of the Supreme Court order in the Babri Masjid demolition case on the BJP.

Top BJP leaders L K Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti will be tried for criminal conspiracy in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case as the apex court had allowed the CBI plea to restore the charge against them.

Meanwhile, amid a debate on some of the negative impacts of social media, Naidu said it cannot be censored. "It is a larger issue. We have to think about it and discuss because we cannot think of censoring social media. The society has to discuss and then come to a conclusion at the end of the day," he said.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, April 20, 2017, 14:18 [IST]
Gujarati family bids Rs 33.5 crore to light Jain monk's funeral pyre

India

oi-Madhuri

A leading business family from Ahmedabad bid a collective Rs 33.5 crore to carry out the last rites of Jayantsen Surishwarji Maharajsaheb, 81, spiritual mentor to lakhs of Jains, who passed on Monday.

This is a unique community ritual where bids are called for the right to perform the last rites of Jain monks. However, big money is only offered to perform last rites of those monks who have a huge following.

Other than lighting the pyre, bids were also called for rituals such as giving him the last bath, applying a paste of sandalwood and for covering the body with a woollen shawl. Each bid crores of rupees to do the honours.

Bids are not invited at every monk's passing. Many funerals are performed by local Jain associations. The practice of bidding or ghee bolo started 450 years ago.

According to Vimal Sagar Maharajsaheb, a Jain monk said that the practice of bidding emerged years ago when the devotees never used to contribute even a penny to the temple box. The idea of ghee bolo emerged in a bid to raise funds to build more Jain temples and spread the religion.

OneIndia News
Hoax hijack email: One person arrested

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Hyderabad police has arrested one person who sent a hoax mail regarding a plane hijack to Mumbai. The person is currently being questioned. The police with the help of its cyber team managed to track down the person exactly a week after the hoax mail was sent out.

Last Sunday, a Republic Day protocol was triggered off at three major airports following a hijack threat. At the preliminary stage of the investigation itself, the police had said that it was a hoax. Security had been stepped up at the Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai airports following the email.

A person from Hyderabad had sent out an email stating that she had overheard six persons planning a hijack. In the email, it was written that the information was gathered after the person overheard few men speaking about a hijack.

OneIndia News
Hyderabad: Gold worth about Rs 71 lakh seized from 2 women at airport

India

oi-PTI

Hyderabad, April 20: Customs officials seized about 2.36 kg of gold bars worth nearly Rs 71 lakh from two women passengers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad

Based on specific intelligence, the officers of the Customs Air Intelligence Unit seized 2,000 gm of gold from one woman and 366 gm from another passenger who arrived from Jeddah by a Saudi airlines flight on Wednesday.

"The value of the gold bars seized from the two passengers is Rs 60 lakh and Rs 10.98 lakh respectively," a senior Customs officer told PTI.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, April 20, 2017, 15:42 [IST]
India 'concerned' over Jadhav's health: MEA

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 20: India has sought from Pakistan details of the appeal process in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case in which it has made 15 attempts to get consular access to the Indian national given death sentence by a military court there.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said India was 'concerned' as it has no information about the location or the condition of Jadhav, who Pakistan says was in their custody.

Noting that the ministry had "called in" the Pakistan deputy high commissioner on Wednesday, he said Pakistan has been asked to provide details of the trial against Jadhav.

"Pakistan claims there has been legal proceedings against Jadhav. If there has been any proceedings against him, we would, officially, like to see details of those proceedings," Baglay said.

India would also like to know how it can proceed in the case, and asked Shah about various options available in Pakistani legal system, Baglay said, noting that India is still awaiting a reponse to its demands for consular access and details of the trial proceedings against Jadhav.

"Yesterday also we asked for consular access to Jadhav and in the past we made 13 such requests," Baglay said, adding it was important given the nature of charges levelled against the retired Indian Navy officer.

"We don't know anything about Jadhav's location or condition in Pakistan. It is a matter of concern for India. We are concerned about his health and whereabouts," he maintained.

On reports that Pakistan will present a dossier on Jadhav with evidence of his alleged spying activities, Baglay merely said that in past also Pakistan has attempted to "misinform" the international community. India had also reiterated that Jadhav was innocent and false charges were framed against him when the Pakistan deputy high commissioner was summoned.

Shah was also told that not giving consular access to Jadhav amounted to violation of human rights as well international norms as the two countries have a bilateral agreement on consular access. Pakistan army had on Monday ruled out consular access to 46-year-old Jadhav, days after India had made a strong case for access to the Indian prisoner on death row.

Indian envoy Gautam Bambawale had met the Pakistan foreign secretary last week and demanded a certified copy of the charge sheet and the army court order in the case, besides consular access to the retired naval officer.

"We definitely want to appeal against the judgement but we cannot do it unless we have the details of the charges and a copy of verdict. So, my demand was that the details of the charge sheet and a copy of the verdict be provided to us," Bambawale had said after the meeting.

PTI
Is BJP in charge of Tamil Nadu now? What the insiders think

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

As the merger talks continue and Sasikala Natarajan and family continue to be sidelined, the rumour mills in Tamil Nadu are abuzz with talk that the Bharatiya Janata Party is stirring this activity. Some within the AIADMK have blamed the BJP for the split and then the ouster of Sasikala and T T V Dinakaran from the party.

The question is does the BJP which does not have a presence in Tamil Nadu want to control the AIADMK remotely? The BJP has said that it has no hand in all this and would be happy if the government led by Chief Minister E Palanisamy governs the state well.

Sasikala is no novice:

Following the death of Jayalalithaa, it was assumed that Sasikala would take over as the party boss. She stood with Jayalalithaa in the hospital and oversaw the activities of the party. After Jayalalithaa's death, she ensured that there was no trouble and ensured a smooth transition within the party by making O Panneeerselvam the chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

However, trouble began after OPS quit the CM's post and a few days later went on to say that his decision was a forced one. OPS the man who became famous for the way in which he prostrated before Jayalalithaa was suddenly being compared to Rajanikanth. One liners from the popular movie, Kabaali were being attributed to him. Memes such as "OPS da," started doing the rounds.

This sudden show of strength and guts from OPS according to many was due to the backing he may have had from the centre. There was talk that Sasikala while taking the advise of her husband Natarajan was refusing to playing puppet in the hands of the BJP.

Sasikala may have sensed that OPS is being controlled by the BJP. She immediately forced him to resign and ensured that scores of AIADMK leaders queued up before her pleaded with her to become the party boss. OPS however revolted and took a few MLAs with him.

She then moved her MLAs to the resort in a bid to keep her flock together. However just as she was getting set to take control of Tamil Nadu as the chief minister, the disproportionate assets case bit her, following which she was jailed for a term of four years.

Family time:

Sasikala, however, did not give up even the DA verdict by the SC. She first installed EPS as the CM. She however realised that EPS was a temporary loyalist. She then brought her nephew Dinakaran back into the party. TTV, as Dinakaran is called, had been expelled by Jayalalithaa.

As Sasikala made her moves, many party workers watched these brazen acts with disgust. Sasikala went a step ahead and ensured that TTV was made the candidate for the R K Nagar by-election. R K Nagar, for most AIADMK workers is a pilgrimage site since it was their Amma's constituency.

This was the last straw for many in the AIADMK who felt that their existence in the party was in doubt. They were disgusted and feared that the party was becoming a family affair.

For the AIADMK to grow without their leader, 'Amma,' the only option was to keep Sasikala and family out of the party. E Palanisamy, who was installed as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu with the blessings of Sasikala before she went to jail realised that keeping the family away was the only way forward.

Both the OPS and EPS camps, which are holding merger talks felt that Sasikala are family may be popular within the party, but not in the state. The decision by the EPS camp to oust Sasikala and family was a step taken keeping in mind the growth of the party.

During the talks between the two factions, it was decided that the AIADMK should be portrayed as a party being run by Sasikala and family. 'We need to take it forward as Amma's party,' AIADMK leaders decided.

Trouble and more trouble:

For Sasikala and family, it has not been smooth sailing. Many within the party feel that the BJP is in control of the party today. They see a direct Delhi connection in the events that have taken place in the past couple of days.

Some Dinakaran loyalists question the sudden turn of events. The Income Tax Department, the police and other agencies that fall under the control of the Centre are at his throat. The ECI bribery case, the income tax raids during the by-polls are all the doing of Delhi, his loyalists feel. This, they feel was being done to keep the Sasikala family at bay since they were unable to take control.

The story for now is that Sasikala and her family are at an all time low. While she is in jail for the next four years, her husband has not been active owing to ill-health. To make matters worse, Sasikala's nephew Mahadevan passed away.

OneIndia News
Jaitley statue at Kotla: Angry Bedi asks DDCA to remove his name from stands, quits membership

Reforms in India being done by conviction, not compulsion: PM Narendra Modi

BJP leaders pay tribute to former minister Arun Jaitley on his third death anniversary

Jaitley to take up H-1B visa issue with US administration

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, April 20: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, currently on a visit to the US, will take up with the American administration the matter of restrictions on H-1B visas, the government said on Thursday.

Speaking to media on the executive order signed by US President Donald Trump on H-1B visas, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the US had committed certain number of these visas to India at the World Trade Organisation and "we would definitely want" America to honour that commitment.

"It is not just the US, but several countries now adopting such restrictive measures," she said.

The restrictive visa regime would also impact the US companies operating in India, the Minister said.

"So it is not a unilateral issue where Indian companies would have to face this... there are several US companies in India which are doing business for years here," she said.

While the US is reviewing its visa programme for foreign workers, Australia has recently abolished a temporary work visa programme -- the 457 visa.

Citing the examples of these countries tightening their visa regime for movement of skilled professionals, Sitharaman said: "Countries are now very clearly raising protectionist walls as regards service trade."

"I protest comparison of asylum-seeking migrants with skilled professionals," she added.

To a question whether India would take the US and Australia to the WTO's dispute resolution mechanism, she replied: "At this stage, we will engage constructively. At the same time, India will ensure that it will not accept unfair treatment."

In this connection, Sitharaman said India has submitted a proposal to the WTO for an agreement on trade facilitation in services.

"It is time that we have a global framework within which trade in services can happen. We will be actively pursuing our proposal in the WTO," she said.

India has presented a concept note at the WTO for a TFS Agreement, which proposes a way forward on comprehensively addressing the numerous border and behind-the-border barriers on the lines of the historic trade facilitation agreement in goods.

The TFS proposal aims at liberalising rules for movement of professionals, liberalised visa regime and long-term business visas.

India is pushing for a TFA in services at the WTO as this sector has huge potential and contributes significantly to the country's economy.

Pointing out that the Indian services sector contributes over 55 per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Product, Sitharaman earlier said India was unable to leverage its strength in services to get the necessary benefits in the TFA in goods signed with the Asean group, for instance.

Meanwhile, India's paper for a proposed TFS Agreement has been well received by many member countries, WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo told reporters here during a visit last month.

IANS
Mamata uses social media to build rapport with regional leaders

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Kolkata, April 20: In an apparent attempt to strengthen ties with prominent political leaders, especially those ranged against the Bharatiya Janata Party,West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has started following many of them on Twitter, often exchanging pictures and pleasantries.

Recently, Banerjee re-tweeted a pictorial post of ex-Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav where they are seen together and expressed her pleasure at meeting the Samajwadi Party leader.

"Missed this tweet a few days ago. It was so nice meeting you in Delhi recently. Thanks," Banerjee tweeted.

The two leaders, who share a good political bonding, also exchanged pleasantries on the occasion of Poila Boishakh, the Bengali New Year on April 15 on social media.

"Happy Poila Baisakh! Wishing you a delightful and fulfilling year," Yadav wrote, while Banerjee warmly reciprocated the greetings on the same day. "Thank you Akhilesh for your greetings on Poila Baisakh. So nice of you. Warmly reciprocated," she tweeted.

Since the past few days, Banerjee has also started following Bahujan Samaj Party, BSP chief Mayawati, DMK leader M.K. Stalin and the AIADMK's official Twitter handle.

"Mamata Banerjee is currently the only 'brave face' in Indian politics who can challenge Modi or lead an allied front to contest against the BJP. She is also trying hard for a coalition of opposition parties. But whether it would materialise or not depends on several simultaneous equations," political analyst Udayan Bandopadhyay said.

IANS

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Story first published: Thursday, April 20, 2017, 17:00 [IST]
Mid-air crash between two planes averted by 15 seconds

India

oi-Madhuri

Two commercial aircraft miraculously escaped colliding with one another over Varanasi last week, leaving passengers and crew members shaken.

The incident took place on Sunday evening when the two Airbus A320s, operated by the AirAsia India Pvt Ltd and IndiGo were 15 seconds away from a collision. AAIPL's flight I5 768 was flying from Bagdogra to Delhi while IndiGo's flight 6E 398 was on its way from Delhi to Bagdogra.

According to sources, the AAIPL flight entered Varanasi's airspace and the air traffic control warned its pilots to descend to 34,000 feet and maintain that height. However, the AirAsia India flight reportedly kept descending below the assigned level. But the IndiGo aircraft which was on its way from Delhi to Bagdogra was also flying at the same level after which the two planes, approached each other's direction and was just 15 seconds away from a collision.

However, the collision was averted because the aircraft was equipped with airborne collision avoidance systems, which guided the planes to veer away from each other.

Meanwhile, a team of Aircraft Accident Investigation Board officials is probing the matter. The commander of the AirAsia India flight is learnt to have been grounded pending the outcome of the probe.

OneIndia News
PM Modi to visit Himachal Pradesh on Oct 5; to launch various projects and inaugurate AIIMS Bilaspur

Himachal was valued less on strength, more on Parliament seats before: PM Modi

Money laundering case: Virbhadra Singh to appear before ED

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, April 20: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, accused in a money laundering case, is likely to present himself before the Enforcement Directorate, ED on Thursday, an official said.

Singh will appear before the investigating officer at the ED Headquarters in New Delhi. "We hope that Singh will be present at the ED Headquarters here as we haven't received any information from his office so far," ED spokesperson told IANS.

The ED had summoned Singh in the money laundering case on April 18 and had said that he must appear before it on April 20. Earlier the ED had summoned him on April 13. But he failed.

The senior Congress leader had earlier allegedly avoided summons to get his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, PMLA.

In the first week of April, the ED attached Singh's Delhi farmhouse worth Rs 27.29 crore.

The ED had filed a criminal case under the PMLA against Virbhadra Singh, his wife Pratibha, Life Insurance Corporation agent Anand Chauhan, his associate Chunni Lal, and others in 2015 following the CBI's FIR dated September 23, that year.

The case was registered after a preliminary inquiry found that Singh as Union Minister from 2009 to 2012 allegedly accumulated assets worth Rs 6.03 crore, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income.

After his Delhi farmhouse was attached, the Chief Minister accused that "central agencies like the ED and CBI were being misused against political opponents by the Centre."

IANS

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Story first published: Thursday, April 20, 2017, 11:35 [IST]
No info on Indians killed in MOAB strike: MEA

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday did not confirm the death of any Indians in United States' 'Mother of all bombs' strike in Afghanistan, saying that they have no info on it.

The bomb - officially called the GBU-43B Massive Ordnance Air Blast - targeted caves and hideouts of the IS in Afghanistan's Nangarhar, region on April 12. A total of 96 IS militants were killed in the bomb attack.

When asked about the reports surfacing that Indian IS recruits were killed in the attack, MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay told the media, "We have seen different media reports, but we have no information officially."

The National Investigation Agency which is probing the case is in touch with officials in Afghanistan to get a clear picture. A National Investigation Agency official told OneIndia that the exact death toll is not known as yet, but reports emerging suggested that at least 13 were dead.

[13 Keralites who joined the IS confirmed dead in MOAB bombing]

Last year, 21 people from Kerala had left for Afghanistan via Iran to live in the IS-controlled territory.

On April 14, there were a lot of exchanges between some on the messaging application telegram confirming to relatives that some Keralites who had joined the IS had, in fact, died in the bombing.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, April 20, 2017, 18:08 [IST]
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

Noida factory fire: 20-year-old identified by a gold ring her mother gifted

India

oi-Preeti Panwar

Noida, April 20: A massive fire broke out on Wednesday inside a factory in Noida Sector-11 that left six people including five men and a woman dead.

Among the deceased, only three bodies have been identified so far. One of them was 20-year-old Jasmeet Kaur.

Jasmeet, who was staying in Mayur Vihar, was working as an HR manager and had joined the company six months ago.

She hailed from Mohali in Punjab and celebrated her 20th birthday on April 17. Her mother gifted her a gold ring on her birthday.

As per a report published in HT, Jasmeet's Uncle said that she informed about the fire in her office building to her mother and told her to call the police, as office staff could not contact the police.

Her mother immediately informed the police of the fire and rushed to the office with her relatives.

The bereaved family is in a state of shock that their daughter would die like this. This was Jasmeet's first job after she completed her graduation from Punjab University.

The severely charred body of Jasmeet could be identified by the gold ring that her mother had gifted her two days back on her birthday. She, along-with other injured, was taken to Noida's district hospital in Sector 30, where she was declared dead on arrival.

Other two deceased who have been identified are- 35-year-old Vivek Kochhar, who was working as an accountant and he belonged to Laxmi Nagar area of East Delhi and 38-year-old Indrabhan Singh, a marketing executive, who hailed from Lucknow.

45-year-old Sanjoy Das, company's executive director, 27-year-old Parikshit Sharma and Ritesh are among those who have not been identified yet.

Fire broke out at around 1.30 pm, when at-least fifteen people were inside the company. Other survivors managed to escape from third floor of the building by climbing from ropes, but were left with multiple fractures and spinal injuries.

Within a span of few minutes, the entire building was engulfed in fire and a huge cloud of smoke was billowing. The search and rescue operation lasted till late night.

Ten fire tenders and hydraulic cranes were pressed into service to control the inferno at the Excel Greentech Private Limited, F-55, Sector 11 of the industrial township.

Police suspect that an electrical short circuit triggered the fire and the flames rapidly spread to all the four floors in the building, leaving many with no chance to escape.

The company was earlier situated in Ghaziabad and had shifted to Noida few months ago.

OneIndia News
MP woman punished to beg for a week over the death of calf by village panchayat

Pehlu Khans murder by gau rakshaks: 85-year-old mother protests; demands justice

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, April 20: On Wednesday, 85-year-old mother of Pehlu Khan, who was allegedly beaten to death by a group of gau rakshaks in Alwar, Rajasthan, staged a protest at the national capital demanding justice for her son as the police failed to nab a single accused so far in the case.

Along with Pehlu's other family members, his mother Ankuri Beegam asked the authorities to arrest and prosecute the six alleged accused, who had mercilessly beaten the deceased on suspicion of being a cow smuggler on April 1.

The 55-year-old dairy farmer from Nuh in Harayan succumbed to his injuries on April 3. The entire episode, where a group of cow vigilantes (gau rakshaks) were seen beating Pehlu, was shot on mobile phones by onlookers. The videos of the attack went viral on social media.

At the protest venue in Jantar Mantar, an old and visibly weak Ankuri was seen sitting in front of a hoarding with the message, "Mother of Pehlu Khan, Ankuri Beegam, demands justice."

"It has been more than two weeks and authorities are yet to arrest the accused. I want justice for my son, who was an innocent man and died a brutal death," Ankuri told reporters.

A few days ago, Pehlu's uncle, Hussain Khan, and other family members protested at Jaipur demanding action against the accused. Hussain threatened to commit suicide if the culprits were not arrested soon.

"My nephew was beaten mercilessly to death even though he had the documents to prove he legally purchased the cattle. The government, instead of arresting the accused, is trying to protect them. If we don't get justice soon, I, along with all my family members will commit suicide," Hussain told Hindustan Times.

OneIndia News
'No supply in India': Chemist association on drugs by Indian firm flagged by WHO

PM Modi promotes generic drugs over branded ones; govt to introduce codes for doctors

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, April 20: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants every Indian to have access to cheaper medical drugs, the government will soon come up with a mandatory code on marketing practices to ensure doctors and pharmacists prescribe generic drugs rather than more expensive branded ones.

According to Times of India, the code is aimed at making the drug supply chain involving pharmaceutical companies, distributors, retailers and doctors accountable. "Violation of the code will carry penalties that can range from a warning to cancellation of licence depending on the seriousness of the offence," added Times of India.

The proposed marketing code has been approved by the department of pharmaceuticals. Currently, the code is being vetted by the law ministry.

Speaking in Surat, Gujarat recently, the PM referred to the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana, which aims to provide cheaper medical drugs to the people.

"In the coming days, the government will bring a legal framework under which doctors will have to prescribe generic medicines which are cheaper than equivalent branded drugs, to patients," Pm Modi said. "...If a doctor writes a prescription, he has to write in it that it will be enough for patients to buy a generic medicine, and he need not buy any other medicine," he added.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, April 20, 2017, 10:04 [IST]
Rajnath accuses AAP govt of starving MCDs of funds

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 20: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday hit out at the Kejriwal government, accusing it of "hampering" the functioning of MCDs, starving them by not providing their due funds amounting to Rs 9,000 crore.

The senior BJP leader, campaigning for party candidates in northwest Delhi's Kirari area, said that the Aam Aadmi Party does not have the "moral right" to level allegations against the three municipal corporations.

Singh said the Congress and the AAP, which have ruled Delhi for 15 years and two-and-a-half years respectively, have "muddied Delhi and people know the lotus blooms only in mud".

"The AAP and the Congress say that the BJP has ruled municipal corporations for 10 years and did not work. How would the BJP-ruled MCD work when the AAP government did not provide funds to the civic bodies. Our MCD leaders repeatedly requested the government to release funds, but Kejriwal government did not give it," the senior BJP leader said.

He said that the Finance Commission had recommended Rs 9,000 crore for the MCD, but the AAP government only released Rs 2,800 crore, adding that "in this situation, how would MCD work? They (AAP) do not have moral right to point fingers at us."

Seeking to corner the Aam Aadmi Party over its poll promises in the run up to the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, Singh said, "The BJP does not do politics by misleading people. Unlike the Congress and the AAP, there is no difference between deeds and words of the BJP."

"Both parties have lost people's faith, but the BJP will definitely win people's faith this time," he said.

He said that the AAP had promised to provide free Wi-Fi, but there is nothing on this so far.

"They had also promised to provide potable water to every household in Delhi. They used to say that they would construct 1,000 mohalla clinics, but only 100 such clinics have been set up so far," he said.

"They (the AAP and the Congress) are doing politics over garbage, but we assure that once the BJP is voted to power in the MCD, we will ensure door-to-door collection of garbage through which we will generate electricity in Delhi," Singh said.

Elections to all three municipal corporations will be held on April 23 and the counting will take place on April 26. He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Centre has constructed toilets in many villages under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

"We will also ensure the same in Delhi so that people in backward areas will not defecate in the open. The AAP also criticised demonetisation move of the Centre, but people across the country welcomed this," Singh said.

Referring to the BJP regime under former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he said that the party-led government had constructed wide roads across the country.

"Our soldiers did surgical strikes on militant launch pads along the LoC in Pakistan. Indian has emerged as a strong country in the entire world under the leadership of Prime Minister Narenda Modi," he said.

PTI
Got an idea of what was to come, former Pak envoy on meeting Ram Madhav

Ram Madhav lauds officer who tied man to jeep in Kashmir, says he 'saved lives'

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 20: BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on Thursday complimented the army officer responsible for tying a man to a jeep's bonnet in Kashmir, saying "everything is fair in love and war" and the "harsh" decision saved lives of civilians and soldiers.

The saffron party's pointsman for Jammu and Kashmir also said the current Kashmir situation is "certainly troubling" but expressed confidence that the PDP-BJP government will handle it.

"The situation is difficult but such situations have been there in the Valley so many times before," he told CNN-News18, according to a press release.

Asked about the controversial video showing the civilian tied to the army jeep, Madhav said nobody wants this but justified the act saying if one person's human rights are violated in order to protect the human rights of many more, he will leave that judgement to the officer concerned.

"I will compliment him for the decision that he took. He saved the lives of the people in police station, officials and all, and also his own boys. He also did not allow any civilian casualty," he said.

Had the army not done so, then the mob there would have lynched over 50 civilians and almost equal number of security personnel there, Madhav claimed.

The other option before the army was to fire indiscriminately because the officer had about 10 soldiers with him, and this would have caused civilian casualties, he said.

The incident happened because reinforcements could not reach in time, he said.

Madhav also criticised the controversial statement made by a state minister calling for "bullets against stones" and said politicians should leave these matters to security forces.

PTI
On camera: College student molested by auto driver doesn't let go off him

Robbery attempt foiled at Thane; 15 arrested

India

oi-PTI

Thane, April 20: The Police on Wednesday foiled a robbery attempt at a finance company in Naupada with the arrest of 15 gang members, mostly from Jharkhand.

According to The Thane Police PRO Sukhada Narkar, the armed accused had allegedly made plans to break into the office of the company, in the wee hours. However, they were arrested by the Thane Police, which had kept strict vigil in the locality following a tip off, she said.

Those arrested have been booked under sections 399, 400, 401, 402 and 120B of the IPC, the officer said. Offences were registered against them at Naupada police station. The accused, all in the age group of around 25-35, hailed from Navi Mumbai and Sahebganj in Jharkhand, she added.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, April 20, 2017, 12:31 [IST]
If Baahubali 2 does not release, Sathyaraj loses nothing: Rajamouli

India

oi-Anusha

A day after pro-Kannada organisations called for a statewide bandh demanding a ban on Baahubali 2, the film's director S S Rajamouli made an appeal. In a video message in Kannada, Rajamouli said that Satyaraj's comments were personal and the film should not suffer for the same.

[Wont allow Bahubali 2 release in Karnataka even if army is brought down: Vatal]

"Satyaraj is neither the director nor the producer of Baahubali. He is only an actor like many in the film. He doesn't stand to lose anything if the film doesn't release," Rajamouli said in his video statement. He asked those opposing the movie to spare a thought for the hundreds of people who would be affected if the movie is stalled. "It is not right to stall the movie's release because of his personal comments. We have already informed Satyaraj of the situation but there is very little we can do beyond that," he said.

An appeal to all the Kannada friends... pic.twitter.com/5rJWMixnZF  rajamouli ss (@ssrajamouli) April 20, 2017

The team that was supposed to address a press conference in Bengaluru had to cancel it at the last moment due to severe protests by pro-Kannada organisations. "I request all to not involve us and the film in a matter that we have no connections with. Thank you for your support and love," he concluded.

His statement comes a day after pro-Kannada organisations said that they will stop all cinema halls from screening the movie and asked distributors to not keep the film away from Karnataka. Pro-Kannada organisations have called for a bandh on the day of the film's release. Groups have been protesting against the release of the film demanding that actor Satyaraj, who plays a role in the movie, apologise for his statements against Karnataka and Kannadigas during Cauvery standoff between the two states.

OneIndia News
UP civic polls: Mayawati to go solo

India

oi-Madhuri

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Wednesday announced that her party would fight the coming civic body election in Uttar Pradesh alone. Her decision comes days after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav announced his party would contest local bodies elections on its symbol.

While addressing at a closed door meeting with senior BSP leaders to decide party's strategy for upcoming local body elections in Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati said that the decision of forming an alliance for 2019 Lok Sabha election will be taken after considering the 'janaadhar' of Samajwadi Party and Congress.

The BSP supremo also warned party leaders against demanding money from candidates seeking tickets.

Recalling the 1993 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections when BSP formed alliance with SP, Mayawati said that her party's core dalit vote bank got transferred to SP, but the Muslim vote bank did not vote for BSP instead drifted to Congress.

Mayawati also said that her party is contesting for civic body polls to ensure that thier voter does not shift to any other party.

OneIndia News
Warrant against Zakir Naik for promoting enmity

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

A non-bailable arrest warrant has been issued against Dr Zakir Naik on the ground for promoting enmity between communities. The order was issued by a special court of the National Investigation Agency in Mumbai.

The NIA has been probing into the speeches made by the controversial Islamic preacher. It was alleged that several persons had taken to terror or had been radicalised due to these speeches, a charge that Naik has denied. The NIA also probed several cases related to radicalisation and alleged conversions.

The NIA had issued several summons to Naik and even asked him to join the investigation. However, he has failed to turn up despite the summons being issued.

It may be recalled that it was only last week that a special court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Naik in connection with a money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate.

OneIndia News
WhatsApp talaq: Man based in Riyadh divorces wife in Hyderabad

India

oi-Madhuri

Triple Talaq has become the major issue in the country. One more case of triple talaq through Whatsapp has come in to light in Hyderabad.

Badar Ibraheem, an MBA graduate was married to Mudassir Ahmed Khan, a resident of Tolichowki in February, 2016. Khan works in Riyadh in an investment bank as a software analyst.

Khan stayed in Hyderabad for 20 days with his wife and later he left for Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Everything was fine for six months until she got a talaq message on whatsapp in September.

After seeing the message, Ibraheem went to her in-laws home where she was not allowed to enter the house. She was told that the marriage was an accident. Days later, Ibraheem received a Talaaqnama or divorce papers along with a legal notice.

Even when insisted to know the reason behind the divorce, Khan parents did not respond after which she filed a police complaint but till now police did not take any action against them.

Ibraheem says that the government should bring a strict law against the misuse of triple talaq. She also said that such people should be jailed and the court shouldn't even release them on bail.

OneIndia News
Eight terrorists shot dead in Pakistan

International

oi-PTI

Lahore, April 20: Pakistani security forces on Thursday killed eight Jammat-ul-Ahrar terrorists in the country's Punjab province. Two policemen were critically injured in the shootout which took place in the early hours.

The Counter Terrorism Department of Punjab Police said that it received intelligence reports that some terrorists hiding in Sheikhupura, around 50 km from Lahore, were planning to attack law enforcement personnel and important buildings in Sheikhupura and Lahore.

"A CTD team along with police commandos raided the hideout in Narang Mandi village in early hours of Thursday and warned the terrorists to surrender. Instead they opened fire on the police team. In the cross-fire eight terrorists were killed and three to four of their accomplices managed to escape," the CTD said.

The two police commandos who suffered bullet injuries in the shootout were shifted to a hospital where their condition is stated to be critical. The security officials seized 3 kg explosives, two kalashnikov rifles, pistols and suicide vests from the spot.

Jammat-ul-Ahrar has been involved in a series of bombings in Punjab. It claimed responsibility for this February's attack on policemen in Lahore that killed 15 people including six cops.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, April 20, 2017, 9:28 [IST]
Indian-American CEO who treated dog better than domestic help ordered to pay Rs 87 lakh

International

oi-PTI

New York, April 20: An Indian-American woman CEO has been ordered to pay a hefty amount of $135,000 (Rs 87.22 lakh) to her former domestic worker from India after a probe by the US labour department found that she underpaid the employee and mistreated her.

Himanshu Bhatia, the CEO of Rose International and IT Staffing, will have to pay her former live-in domestic service worker back wages and damages under the terms of a consent judgement entered into the US district court for the central district of California, PTI reported. The judgement, entered on April 11, resolves a complaint filed by the US department of labour in August last year.

An investigation by the department's wage and hour division found that Bhatia wilfully and repeatedly violated federal labour laws' minimum wage and record keeping provisions from July 2012 to December 2014.

The complaint alleged that Bhatia paid her domestic service worker, who had been identified in an earlier complaint as Sheela Ningwal, a fixed monthly salary of $400 plus food and housing at Bhatia's home in San Juan Capistrano and other residences in Miami, Las Vegas and Long Beach.

Investigators found that the employee suffered 'callous abuse' and retaliation, including being forced to sleep on a piece of carpet in the garage when ill, while Bhatia's dogs slept on a mattress nearby. The complaint also alleged that Bhatia confiscated Ningwal's passport.

According to the labour department, Bhatia has agreed to pay $54,348 as wages, and additional $54,348 in liquidated damages and $26,304 gross sum damages. Bhatia terminated the worker in December 2014 after she allegedly found her researching labour laws online.

The worker also refused to sign a document stating she was being paid an adequate salary and had no employment dispute with Bhatia.

"This consent judgement underlines the department's commitment to protecting workers from exploitation," said Janet Herold, solicitor for the department of labour's western region.

"The department will take strong and immediate action to ensure that workers are protected against retaliation," Herold added.

Statement from the Bhatia family:

A statement from the Bhatia family says that, "Mrs. Bhatia reached a settlement agreement to resolve the complaint brought by the Department of Labor regarding a former employee. Mrs. Bhatia firmly denies all of the claims made by the Department regarding the employee. The Bhatias chose to enter into this settlement agreement to resolve a matter for far less than the cost of continuing litigation. Mrs. Bhatia will continue to focus her efforts on business, community development and her family. No one was forced or ordered to pay anything. It was a mutual agreement, the statement also read.

PTI
Saying 'talaq' three times will not lead to divorce, says Vice-President's wife

No surprise, if Mohammad bin Salman becomes TIME's Person of the Year for 2017

Modi, Paytm founder in Time's 'most influential people list'

International

oi-PTI

New York, April 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma were the only two Indians to make it to an annual list of '100 most influential people in the world' this year released by the Time magazine on Thursday.

The list features pioneers, artists, titans, leaders and icons from around the world honoured for "the power of their inventions, the scale of their ambitions, the genius of their solutions to problems that no one before them could solve." The magazine has also included US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister Theresa May in the new list of 100 most influential people.

The profile of Modi, 66, written by author Pankaj Mishra, said that in May 2014 - long before Trump seemed conceivable as a US president - Modi became the prime minister of the world's largest democracy.

"Once barred from the US for his suspected complicity in anti-Muslim violence, and politically ostracised at home as well, this Hindu nationalist used Twitter to bypass traditional media and speak directly to masses feeling left or pushed behind by globalisation, and he promised to make India great again by rooting out self-serving elites," it said.

Nearly three years after he came to power, Modi's vision of India's economic, geopolitical and cultural supremacy is far from being realised, the profile read, but his "extended family of Hindu nationalists have taken to scapegoating secular and liberal intellectuals as well as poor Muslims."

"Yet Modi's aura remains undimmed. He is a maestro of the art of political seduction, playing on the existential fears and cultural insecurities of people facing downward or blocked mobility," it said.

Modi's elections victory in Uttar Pradesh, India's most politically significant state, by a landslide confirmed that "elected strongmen are the chief beneficiaries of a global revolt against elites."

For 43-year-old Sharma, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani wrote that when India's government unexpectedly scrapped 86 per cent of the country's currency notes in November, Sharma "seized the moment".

As Indians scrambled to exchange the banned notes for new currency, Paytm, Sharma's digital payments startup, went on a promotional spree, inviting Indians to start using Paytm's digital wallet to pay for everyday goods and services.

"It worked. By the end of 2016, Paytm had 177 million users, compared with 122 million at the beginning of the year," Nilekani wrote.

Sharma had "catapulted himself into a nation's consciousness. It was a masterstroke by a small-town boy who studied in a Hindi medium school before conquering the country's Anglophone startup world," he wrote.

Paytm is now backed by the chief of China's Alibaba, Jack Ma, and Sharma is branching out into the more heavily regulated world of banking, with plans to offer digital accounts.

"He will face new challenges from deep-pocketed and more-experienced competitors. But knowing Vijay, he will win the next time around too," his profile read.

PTI
Panama papers: Reprieve for Nawaz Sharif, SC order JIT probe

International

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the formation of a joint investigation team to probe prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family in connection with the Panama papers case. A five-judge bench comprising Justices Asif Saeed Khosa, Gulzar Ahmed, Ejaz Afzal Khan, Azmat Saeed and Ijazul Ahsan delivered a 3-2 split verdict in the matter.

Dawn news reported that the JIT would include officials of the NAB, FIA, the Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence. The probe would be led by an officer of the FIA in the rank of a director-general. A special bench will examine the case under Section 184/3 of the Constitution.

Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif told reporters that the verdict was split 3-2. They have said what the PM has already said in his letter- that a commission should be constituted to investigate the matter.

It was Justice Khosa who announced the 540 page final verdict in the case. The judge asserted that the Federal Investigation Agency and National Accountability Bureau were not successful in the probe.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz, retired Capt Muhammad Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar were the respondents in the case.

Dawn news reported that the JIT would include officials of the NAB, FIA, the Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence. The probe would be led by an officer of the FIA in the rank of a director-general. A special bench will examine the case under Section 184/3 of the Constitution.

The Panama papers are a massive trove of secret documents leaked from a law firm which specialised in helping people stashing wealth in offshore tax havens. The papers had said that the PM's children Maryam, Hassan and Hussain were owners of had the right to authorise transactions for several offshore companies.

OneIndia News
FIRs against those who incited Delhi riots: SC to take up plea on Wednesday

Panama: When Pak SC quoted fromThe Godfather before ordering probe against Sharif

International

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Supreme Court of Pakistan opened its 500 plus judgment in the Panama papers case with a line from the popular 1969 novel, The Godfather. " Behind every great fortune there is a crime-Balzac," the judgment's opening line states.

The five judge bench further states that the novel was a popular sensation which was made into an acclaimed film. It is believed that this epigraph was inspired by a sentence that was written by Honore de Balzac.

While translating the original sentence from French, the judges said, " the secret of great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been found out, because it was properly executed."

The SC then ordered the formation of a joint investigation team to probe prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family in connection with the case. The JIT would include officials of the NAB, FIA, the Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence. The probe would be led by an officer of the FIA in the rank of a director-general. A special bench will examine the case under Section 184/3 of the Constitution, the court also said.

OneIndia News
Panamagate case: Zardari demands Sharif's resignation

International

oi-PTI

Islamabad, April 20: Pakistan's former president Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday condemned the Supreme Court's ruling in the Panamagate case against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, saying the decision has not only "damaged" democracy but also justice.

"I condemn the judgement and ask Sharif to resign," he said in a press conference after a Supreme Court bench declared there was "insufficient evidence" to remove Sharif from office but ordered setting up of a Joint Investigation Team to probe the graft allegations against his family.

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) co-chairperson took a swipe at the court, saying "we never expected any justice from the court."

"With today's decision, not only democracy but also justice itself have been damaged. I also says that people have been made fool through the judgement, Zardari said.

He, however, hailed the two senior judges who asked Sharif, 67, to resign. He said junior officers working under "Sharif cannot deliver justice as part of Joint Investigation Team (JIT) when the highest court failed to deliver justice." Zardari also criticised Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for letting Sharif got off the hook through the judgement of the court.

PPP Senator Aitzaz Ahsan said the JIT ordered by the court was actually meant to "give escape" to Sharif. He also criticised the Supreme Court, alleging it traditionally shows leniency towards Sharif family. The case was launched on November 3 and the court held 35 hearings before concluding the proceedings on February 23.

The case is about alleged money laundering by Sharif in 1990s when he twice served as Prime Minister to purchase assets in London. The assets surfaced when Panama papers last year showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif's children.

The case filed by various petitioners  Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed  sought disqualification of Prime Minister Sharif over his alleged misstatement in his address to the nation on April 5 and his speech before the National Assembly on May 16, 2016.

The petitioners had claimed that the prime minister lied about the investments made by his children in offshore companies, which led to the acquisition of four apartments in Londons upscale Park Lane neighbourhood.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, April 20, 2017, 18:29 [IST]
British queen's 97-yr-old husband gives up driving licence after car crash

What happens after the Queen's death?

UK to observe a minutes silence the night before Queen's State Funeral

Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II to take place at Westminster Abbey on Monday

President greets Queen Elizabeth on 91st birthday

International

ians-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, April 20: President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday greeted Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on her birthday on Friday.

Mukherjee said in a message: "It is with great pleasure that I convey warm greetings to you on the occasion of your birthday."

He said the multi-faceted ties between India and the UK had been expanded and strengthened in recent years.

"Our fruitful engagements and exchanges at the highest political levels have given us much to look forward to."

Born on April 21, 1926, Elizabeth II, the world's oldest living and Britain's longest-lived monarch, was coronated on June 2, 1953.

According to the British royal family's website, Queen Elizabeth II celebrates two birthdays: her actual birthday on April 21 and her official birthday on (usually) the second Saturday in June.

IANS
Rare 1948 Gandhi stamps sold in London for a record of Rs 4.14 crore

International

oi-Madhuri

A set of rare stamps featuring Mahatma Gandhi has been sold to an unnamed private collector-investor for 500,000 (approximately Rs 4.14 crore) on Wednesday.

According to United Kingdom-based dealer Stanley Gibbons, the unique stamp is considered one of the most desirable collector items in Indian philately.

The block of four was sold to a private collector-investor in Australia for the highest ever price for Indian stamps.

This is not the first time, Stanley Gibbons has previously sold one of these singles for 160,000 to a client in Uruguay in 2016. A block of four is in the Queen's stamp collection, which is believed to be the world's largest and most valuable.

Keith Heddle, who is the managing director of investments at Stanley Gibbons said, "The market for high-quality Indian rarities has been strong for several years and is supported by the ongoing desire of the wealthy Indian diaspora and savvy international clients to own these historic assets."

OneIndia News
Rex Tillerson calls Iran nuclear deal a failure

International

oi-PTI

Washington, April 20: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has termed the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran a failure, and said the US is carrying out a comprehensive review of its policy towards the country. Tillerson said the deal fails to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran and only 'delays' its goal of becoming a nuclear state.

"This deal represents the same failed approach of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat we face from North Korea. The Trump administration has no intention of passing the buck to a future administration on Iran," he said at a hurriedly convened press briefing on Wednesday.

Tillerson's comments came a day after the Trump administration notified Congress that Iran is complying with the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by former President Barack Obama and it has extended the sanctions relief given to the Islamic country in exchange for curbs on its atomic programme. However, in a letter to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Tillerson said that the administration has ordered an inter-agency review of whether the suspension of sanctions was in the US' national security interests. He also described the country as a 'leading state sponsor of terror'.

"An unchecked Iran has the potential to travel the same path as North Korea and take the world along with it. The United States is keen to avoid a second piece of evidence that strategic patience is a failed approach," he said.

Tillerson also levelled a series of accusations at Iran -intensifying multiple conflicts including the one in Syria, undermining US interests in several countries, continuing to support attacks against Israel, sponsoring cyber and terror attacks across the world.

"Iran's nuclear ambitions are a grave risk to international peace and security," the secretary of state said.

The six powers that negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal -the US, China, Russia, France, Germany and the UK, with the involvement from the European Union, set aside Iran's alleged support for terrorism in order to get a deal guaranteeing that the country would not be able to build a nuclear weapon for a decade and would remain under the eye of UN weapons inspectors.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, April 20, 2017, 11:12 [IST]
What does the US actually want in Syria?

UN, Russia to hold meeting on Syria without US

International

pti-PTI

Geneva, Apr 20: The UN's Syria envoy said on Thursday that he will hold talks with Russian officials next week but without the US presence after previous plans for a trilateral meeting were "postponed".

UN peace mediator Staffan de Mistura said his meeting with Russia's deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov is set for Monday in Geneva.

"The trilateral meeting is not off the table, it is simply being postponed", de Mistura told reporters.

Asked why US President Donald Trump's representatives decided to skip the meeting, de Mistura said: "you should ask them, frankly."

Syrian regime supporter Moscow and opposition-backer Washington had been the key foreign powers shaping the UN's Syria peace process. De Mistura has previously asked for more clarity from Trump's administration on its vision for the Syria talks.

US officials have in recent weeks voiced commitment to support a negotiated solution to the conflict. Monday's sitdown with Gatilov "will be a very intense bilateral meeting", de Mistura said. He also restated his desire to convene a sixth round of UN-backed talks involving Syrian rivals next month. The previous rounds have failed to produce concrete results.

PTI
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Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia:

Former U.S. Federal Reserve board Chairman Paul A. Volcker and author of the Volcker Rule has called on global and U.S. policy makers to renew their commitment to a shared financial reform program. Volcker made the call in a speech he delivered at the 2017 Bretton Woods Committee Annual Meeting held at the International Monetary Fund Headquarters in Washington DC.

The meeting, which was convened to assess prospects for the global economy in a time of political and economic uncertainty, featured influential private sector leaders, policy professionals, and government and multilateral officials.

"'Bretton Woods' is not a particular institution," said Volcker. "It is an ideal, a symbol, of the never-ending need for sovereign nations to work together in the common interest to support open markets in goods, in services, and in finance, all in the interest of a stable, growing, and peaceful world economy." He observed that while substantial progress has been made on financial reform, after a few years of relative stability, "the presumed unshakeable commitment to sustaining reform appears to be waning."

In his address today, Volcker warned that "relaxation of key reforms and the temptation to retreat inward into idiosyncratic domestic approaches needs to be resisted" since "fragmented approaches toward what are inherently international markets and financial institutions would have costs in terms of fair competition, global mark......................

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Generator Market - Evolving Industry Trends and key Insights by 2024

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/generator-market.html

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Generator sets are ideal solutions to provide electricity in individual homes and other facilities. Generator sets not only aid in providing backup power but also in peak shaving power and prime continuous power. Numerous households, communities, industrial, and commercial facilities have installed generator sets for providing power. Demand for electricity has been increasing constantly across the globe in the last decade owing to increasing population and industrialization. However, electricity generation by utilities is not sufficient to meet the global demand for power. This has created a favorable space for generator sets to fill in the gap between power generation and consumption. North America dominates the global market for generator sets. This report by Transparency Market Research analyzes, estimates, and forecasts demand for generator sets on the global and regional level for an eight-year period from 2016 to 2024 in terms of revenue. The study also provides information on restraints, drivers, and opportunities along with their impact on the overall market during the forecast period. The report segments the market based on power rating, fuel type, application, end-user, and region and provides estimates and forecast of the generator market for each segment.Obtain Report Details @ :The study analyzes the product value chain, beginning with components up to end-users. Additionally, it evaluates the market based on Porters Five Forces model, which analyzes the degree of competition in the market by considering factors such as bargaining power of buyers and suppliers, threat from substitute products and new entrants. The report includes a detailed competitive landscape of the generator market including company market share analysis and profiles of key market participants.The report provides a decisive view of the generator market by segmenting the market based on power rating, fuel type, application, and end-user. Power rating segments analyzed in the report include below 100 kVA, 100350 kVA, 3501000 kVA, and above 1000 kVA generator sets. Based on fuel type, generator sets are segmented into diesel generators, natural gas generators, and other fuel generators. End-user segments analyzed in the report include residential generator sets and commercial & industrial generator sets. Based on application, generator sets are segmented into prime continuous power, standby backup power, and peak shaving power. All the segments have been analyzed based on present and future trends, and the market has been estimated from 2016 to 2024. Diesel generator sets are the most widely used fuel type generators across the globe. However, demand for natural gas generator sets is also increasing rapidly. Commercial & industrial end-users of generator sets accounted for the major share of the generator market. Generator sets are mostly used for standby backup power and prime continuous power.Enter your information below to receive a sample copy of this report @ :The generator market has been segmented based on geography into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. Demand for each type of generator sets in terms of revenue for each of these regions has been forecast in the report for the period from 2016 to 2024.Leading manufacturers profiled in the report include Briggs & Stratton Corporation, Caterpillar Inc., Cummins Inc., Generac Holdings, Inc., Kirloskar Electric Company Ltd., Kohler Co., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Multiquip Inc., Wartsila Corporation, and Yanmar Co., Ltd. These companies have been profiled in detail with features such as company overview, financial overview, business strategies, employee strength, and recent developments.Generator Market  Fuel Type Segment AnalysisDiesel Generator SetsNatural Gas Generator SetsOther Fuels Generator SetsGenerator Market  Power Rating Segment AnalysisBelow 100 kVA100350 kVA3501000 kVAAbove 1000 kVAGenerator Market  Application Segment AnalysisStandby Backup PowerPrime Continuous PowerPeak Shaving PowerAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207
Market Data Analysis: Global Perovskite Solar Cell Module Market Research Report 2017

Global Perovskite Solar Cell Module Market Research Report 2017

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In this report, the global Perovskite Solar Cell Module market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Perovskite Solar Cell Module in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Perovskite Solar Cell Module market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingOxford PhotovoltaicsSaule TechnologiesDyesolFraunhofer ISEFrontMaterialsWeihua Solar...On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoNormal StructureInverted StructureOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Perovskite Solar Cell Module for each application, includingResidentialCommercialAsk a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com orTable of Contents Covered:1 Perovskite Solar Cell Module Market Overview2 Global Perovskite Solar Cell Module Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Perovskite Solar Cell Module Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Perovskite Solar Cell Module Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)5 Global Perovskite Solar Cell Module Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Perovskite Solar Cell Module Market Analysis by Application7 Global Perovskite Solar Cell Module Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Perovskite Solar Cell Module Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Perovskite Solar Cell Module Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixRelated Reports:China Perovskite Solar Cell Module Market Research Report 2017Europe Perovskite Solar Cell Module Market Research Report 2017Global Perovskite Solar Cell Module Market Research Report 2017India Perovskite Solar Cell Module Market Research Report 2017Japan Perovskite Solar Cell Module Market Research Report 2017Korea Perovskite Solar Cell Module Market Research Report 2017USA Perovskite Solar Cell Module Market Research Report 2017Contact Details:Company Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITEDProfessional Market Research Report PublisherContact Person: Tina NingEmail: tinaning@qyresearch.com or qyresearcheurope@126.comTel: 0086-20-22093278(CN)Web:QYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. the company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc industries experts who own more than 10 years experiences on marketing or R&D), professional survey team (the team member with more than 3 years market survey experience and more than 2 years depth expert interview experience),Excellent data analysis team (SPSS statistics and PPT graphics process team); QYResearch has always pursuit product quality, adhere to the quality is the soul of business.Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District
Market Data Analysis: Global Offshore Wind Power Sales Market Report 2017

Global Offshore Wind Power Sales Market Report 2017

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In this report, the global Offshore Wind Power market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (MW), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Offshore Wind Power for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Offshore Wind Power market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Offshore Wind Power sales volume, Price (USD/MW), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingSiemensMHI VestasSenvionArevaBARDGamesaHitachiSinovelShanghai ElectricEnvisionGoldwindVestasOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (MW), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/MW), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoMonopileGravityJacketTripodsTripilesFloatingOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate of Offshore Wind Power for each application, includingGrid-connectionExperimentationAsk a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com orTable of Contents Covered:1 Offshore Wind Power Market Overview2 Global Offshore Wind Power Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application3 United States Offshore Wind Power (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4 China Offshore Wind Power (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5 Europe Offshore Wind Power (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6 Japan Offshore Wind Power (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7 Southeast Asia Offshore Wind Power (Volume, Value and Sales Price)8 India Offshore Wind Power (Volume, Value and Sales Price)9 Global Offshore Wind Power Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales Data10 Offshore Wind Power Maufacturing Cost Analysis11 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers12 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders13 Market Effect Factors Analysis14 Global Offshore Wind Power Market Forecast (2017-2022)15 Research Findings and Conclusion16 AppendixRelated Reports:China Offshore Wind Power Sales Market Report 2017Europe Offshore Wind Power Sales Market Report 2017Global Offshore Wind Power Sales Market Report 2017India Offshore Wind Power Sales Market Report 2017Japan Offshore Wind Power Sales Market Report 2017Korea Offshore Wind Power Sales Market Report 2017USA Offshore Wind Power Sales Market Report 2017Contact Details:Company Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITEDProfessional Market Research Report PublisherContact Person: Tina NingEmail: tinaning@qyresearch.com or qyresearcheurope@126.comTel: 0086-20-22093278(CN)Web:QYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. the company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc industries experts who own more than 10 years experiences on marketing or R&D), professional survey team (the team member with more than 3 years market survey experience and more than 2 years depth expert interview experience),Excellent data analysis team (SPSS statistics and PPT graphics process team); QYResearch has always pursuit product quality, adhere to the quality is the soul of business.Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District
Spikke Digital Solutions In The News  Ghanas Hellio Messaging Redefining Communication Through Bulk Messaging Globally

Hellio Messaging Bulk SMS Solution

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Osu Ako-Adjei, Accra, Ghana  Spikke Digital Solutions, a well recognised Digital Marketing and Technology firm based in Accra, Ghana has yet launched a new and innovative solution that they aim at using the platform to redefine communication amount businesses of all sizes.The platform, Hellio Messaging offers intuitive features and functionalities that fuels the need of the modern business needs.Some of the features including the ability to send personalized SMS, Send to Groups or Bulk Contacts, automatically shrink long urls into minified links to save cost and give, detailed analytics, the ability to track how many people click on embedded links, which country they clicked from, what browser they are using, which mobile device they are using and lots more.Our platform is robust and fast in message delivery with up-to 24 API plugs across the globe making it very reliable to use the service to send messages guaranteeing your messages are delivered right when you send them from either the phone, tablet or PC.Hellio Messaging also allows users to create and assign a #wordtag to ones contact group and allow recipients of bulk messages to easily reply to messages, and also allow new people to easily join the contact group by send a message to the #wordtag.Your own #Hashtag works on short code 1942, said General Manager of Spikke Digital Solutions, Alex Adjei Bram.Hellio Messaging, which is available for free registration at, also allows users to create from as many sender IDs as one wants, and gives the user the different options of sending messages to millions of people just by the click of a button.The platform also allows users to create a template based messages or schedule messages for recurring instances. We give you real time information of your credit usages and every transaction done is mailed to you via email.Albert Ninyeh, Sales Executive for Spikke Digital Solutions said the all new Hellio Messaging also offers more than numerous ways to top up credit on your account via the platform, including the use of mobile money, Credit Card (Visa and Master), Voucher Cards, and third-party payment integrations and also offers amazing discounts to clients who send messages in high volumes.Registration is absolutely free and pay only 3Gp per every message delivered but as the number of recipient s increase the rate reduces to as low as 1.5Gp per delivery. No contracts and no service charge.Albert noted that, As it stands the platform has sign-up over 40k customers across the country and some in other African countries and the company is targeting to hit 80k by close of this year. With messages over 30million being pushed every month, were confident that we can achieve this target.One of our focus is to use the platform to empower SMEs, but not excluding enterprise size businesses. Our users have ranged from financial institutions (Saving & Loan), churches, schools, clubs, associations, societies, and other such groups that require same communication to a lot of members/customers at the same time.Were is confident Hellio Messaging would give value particularly to small businesses like restaurants, clothing designers/artisans and others who need to reach several customers at the same time and inform them about new stocks while cutting cost says Albert, Sales Executive for Spikke Digital Solutions.Place the customers needs and paying attention to their complains is our priority therefore we have CRM software solely built with our customers in mind to attend to their needs with our 24/7 standby support team we have.Established in 2012, Spikke Digital Solutions has evolved from a Digital Marketing Agency to technology provider & IT consulting company providing services across the Continent. We have over 5+ years of outstanding experience in deploying critical solutions for our clients that match their business objectives worldwide.Office: F 393/4, Otswe Street, Osu, Accra- GhanaMobile: +233 (0) 503-011-544E-Mail: hello@spikkedigital.ioWeb:
EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Power Battery Management System Market Report 2017

EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Power Battery Management System Market Report 2017

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In this report, the EMEA Power Battery Management System market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report split EMEA into Europe, the Middle East and Africa, With sales (K Units), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Power Battery Management System for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast)Europe: Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Benelux;Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Israel, UAE and Iran;Africa: South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria.EMEA Power Battery Management System market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Power Battery Management System sales volume (K Units), price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingDensoCalsonic KanseiHitachi Automotive SystemsMitsubishi ElectricHyundai KeficoLG ChemSK InnovationTesla MotorsLithium BalanceVectureRimacAutomobilDigi-Triumph TechnologClayton PowerBoschOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K Units), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/Unit), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoDistributedCentralizedModularOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume (K Units), market share and growth rate of Power Battery Management System for each application, includingGrid Energy StorageSpecialty Vehicles / Marine / RobotsTelecom / DatacomOthersAsk a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com orTable of Contents Covered:1 Power Battery Management System Overview2 EMEA Power Battery Management System Competition by Manufacturers/Players/Suppliers, Region, Type and Application3 Europe Power Battery Management System (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Players, Countries, Type and Application4 Middle East Power Battery Management System (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Region, Type and Application5 Africa Power Battery Management System (Volume, Value and Sales Price) by Players, Countries, Type and Application6 EMEA Power Battery Management System Manufacturers/Players Profiles and Sales Data7 Power Battery Management System Manufacturing Cost Analysis8 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers9 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders10 Market Effect Factors Analysis11 EMEA Power Battery Management System Market Forecast (2017-2022)12 Research Findings and Conclusion13 AppendixRelated Reports:China Power Battery Management System Market Report 2017Europe Power Battery Management System Market Report 2017Global Power Battery Management System Market Report 2017India Power Battery Management System Market Report 2017Japan Power Battery Management System Market Report 2017Korea Power Battery Management System Market Report 2017USA Power Battery Management System Market Report 2017Contact Details:Company Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITEDProfessional Market Research Report PublisherContact Person: Tina NingEmail: tinaning@qyresearch.com or qyresearcheurope@126.comTel: 0086-20-22093278(CN)Web:QYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. the company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc industries experts who own more than 10 years experiences on marketing or R&D), professional survey team (the team member with more than 3 years market survey experience and more than 2 years depth expert interview experience),Excellent data analysis team (SPSS statistics and PPT graphics process team); QYResearch has always pursuit product quality, adhere to the quality is the soul of business.Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District
Market Data Analysis: Global Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) Sales Market Report 2017

Global Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) Sales Market Report 2017

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In this report, the global Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (K Units), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) sales volume, Price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingHoppeckePanasonicC&D TechnologiesEast Penn Manufacturing CompanyEnerSysExide TechnologyGS YuasaSaftFIAMMLeoch International TechnologyPT. GS batteryTrojan BatteryFengfanOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K Units), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/Unit), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoC7 Lead-AcidAcid Proof Lead-AcidValve Control Lead-AcidOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate of Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) for each application, includingTelecommunication DeviceSwitch ControlComputerOtherAsk a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com orTable of Contents Covered:1 Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) Market Overview2 Global Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application3 United States Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4 China Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5 Europe Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6 Japan Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7 Southeast Asia Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) (Volume, Value and Sales Price)8 India Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) (Volume, Value and Sales Price)9 Global Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales Data10 Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) Maufacturing Cost Analysis11 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers12 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders13 Market Effect Factors Analysis14 Global Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) Market Forecast (2017-2022)15 Research Findings and Conclusion16 AppendixRelated Reports:China Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) Sales Market Report 2017Europe Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) Sales Market Report 2017Global Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) Sales Market Report 2017India Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) Sales Market Report 2017Japan Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) Sales Market Report 2017Korea Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) Sales Market Report 2017USA Stationary Lead-Acid (SLA) Sales Market Report 2017Contact Details:Company Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITEDProfessional Market Research Report PublisherContact Person: Tina NingEmail: tinaning@qyresearch.com or qyresearcheurope@126.comTel: 0086-20-22093278(CN)Web:QYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. the company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc industries experts who own more than 10 years experiences on marketing or R&D), professional survey team (the team member with more than 3 years market survey experience and more than 2 years depth expert interview experience),Excellent data analysis team (SPSS statistics and PPT graphics process team); QYResearch has always pursuit product quality, adhere to the quality is the soul of business.Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District
Laboratory Information Systems (LIS) Market Poised for Robust CAGR of over 9.0% through 2025

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Future Market Insights (FMI) delivers key insights on the global laboratory information systems market in its latest report titled, Laboratory Information Systems Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2015 - 2025. In terms of revenue, the global laboratory information systems market is projected to register a healthy CAGR of 9.0% over the forecast period owing to various factors, regarding which, FMI offers detailed insights and forecasts.The market has been segmented on the basis of end user, component, mode of delivery and regions. On the basis of end user, the market has been segmented into hospitals, clinics, independent laboratories and others. Clinics are usually installed with well-supported laboratory information systems for better information about both patients and indications at hand. The segment has been estimated to account for maximum revenue share in the global laboratory information systems market in 2015. Revenue contribution of the clinics segment is expected to increase at a CAGR of 10.0% during the forecast period. Hospitals segment is expected to be the second largest revenue contributor to the global market accounting for US$ 824.9 Mn by 2025 increasing at a CAGR of 8.5% over the forecast period.The report further segments the market on the basis of components into software, hardware and services. Services segment is expected to account for largest market share over the forecast period due to adoption of new pricing model strategies by major players in the market. However, software segment is projected to account for significant absolute $ opportunity during 20152025, owing to rise in product enhancements and advent of innovative LIS systems over the forecast period.Request For Sample@In terms of mode of delivery, the laboratory information systems market is expected to witness substantial growth in the next few years. Executing database maintenance, back-up and retention services through cloud-based delivery mode and increasing customisation and standardisation of data by way of dedicated IT skilled persons in on premise delivery mode are major factors expected to drive revenue growth of the cloud-based and on-premise segments respectively over the forecast period. Currently, cloud-based delivery mode segment accounts for major share of the global laboratory information systems market.The primary barriers in the market include high costs related to LIS software and services and lack of skilled labour, for day-to-day operations and maintenance of information. In spite of substantial investments in the field of laboratory information systems, lack of qualified professionals is expected to slow down growth of the LIS market during the forecast period. Moreover design flaws in software can tamper test results generated through LIS and is expected to adversely affect the global laboratory information systems market to a certain extent. These factors are expected to affect adoption of laboratory information systems (LIS) over the forecast.Send An Enquiry@The primary trend in the laboratory information systems market is an increase in development of healthcare information systems, rising healthcare per capita spending and increasing demand for integrated medical systems and precise handling of patient data. Other trends include increasing demand for LIS from smaller hospitals with less than 100 beds in developed nations for faster market capitalization and to provide quality care for patients. This is mainly attributed to LIS enabling systematic documentation, eliminating paper work and chance of errors associated with clinical tests report writing, and thereby enables a streamlined workflow.This report assesses trends driving growth of each segment on global as well as regional levels. North America has been estimated to dominate the laboratory information systems market with maximum market share in 2015. Among emerging markets, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and Eastern Europe are estimated to witness high CAGRs over the forecast period.Some key players identified in the global laboratory information systems market are CompuGroup Medical, Cerner Corp, McKesson, Evident, Medical Information Technology, LabWare, Sunquest Information Systems Inc., SCC Soft Computer, Epic Systems Corporation, etc. The report also provides individual strategies followed by these companies in terms of enhancing software products portfolios, market consolidation and software innovations. The report concludes with strategic recommendations for players in the market and also new players planning to enter the market, which could help them in the long run.Browse Full Report@ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:Blog:
Occupancy Sensor Market Segments, Opportunity, Growth and Forecast By End-use Industry 2016-2026

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Occupancy sensor is a heat and light control device used to detect occupancy of space by people and accordingly turns light on or off by using infrared light rays, ultrasonic rays and microwave technology. Occupancy sensor is commonly used for providing automatic control, saving energy and complying with building codes etc. Increasing demand for energy saving devices have resulted into several technological advancement in occupancy sensors.Global Occupancy Sensor Market: Drivers and RestraintIncreasing demand for energy-efficient devices is one of the major factors responsible for the growth of global occupancy sensor market across the globe.Other factors such asfavourable government regulations and policies with regard to energy saving, continuous development and advancement of advanced and cost-effective sensors are expected to fuel growth of the global occupancy sensor market over the forecast period. In contrast, false triggering of switch and inconsistency issues associated with wireless network system are anticipated to impede the market growth during the forecast period. However, introduction of advanced occupancy sensors such as intelligent occupancy sensor, image processing occupancy sensor and micro-phonics in is boosting growth of global occupancy market.Request Report Sample@Global Occupancy Sensor Market: SegmentationGlobal occupancy sensor market is segmented on the basis of type, network connectivity and application. On the basis of types, the global occupancy sensor market is sub segmented into ultrasonic sensors, passive infrared sensors, microwave sensors and others. Ultrasonic sensor uses high frequency sound waves in order to detect space occupancy. Passive infrared sensor uses heat movement detection to detect infrared radiation radiated out of human body movement while microwave sensor works on the same principle as of ultrasonic sensor but with high sensitivity as well as detection range as compare to other two types of occupancy sensor.On the basis of network connectivity, the global occupancy sensor market is segmented into wired network and wireless network. Wireless network is further sub segmented into Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Z-Wave and others.By application the market can be segmented into government, industrial, commercial and residential sectors.Global Occupancy Sensor Market: Regional OutlookOn the basis of region, the global occupancy sensor market can be segmented into seven major regions such as North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan), Eastern Europe, Japan and Middle East & Africa (MEA). Of these regions, the North America occupancy sensor market is expected dominate the global occupancy sensor market over the forecast period. However, Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) is anticipated to witness the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This is mainly attributed to growth in construction and real estate sectors in developing countries such as India and China in the region.Request For TOC@Global Occupancy Sensor Market: Key PlayersKey players operating in the global occupancy sensor market are Eaton Corporation Plc., Honeywell International Inc., Schneider Electric SA, Johnson Controls Inc., Acuity Brands Inc., Texas Instruments Inc., Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc., Lutron Electronics Co., Inc., Legrand SA and Hubbell Incorporated among others. Major players in the market are focusing more on development of advanced and innovative sensors such as image processing sensor, micro-phonic based sensor and intelligent occupancy sensor in order to gain competitive advantage in the long term.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Increasing Adoption of Technology will Continue to Fuel the Asia Pacific Automotive Telematics Market during 2014 - 2020

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Future Market Insights (FMI) with sharp focus on emerging regions delivers key insights about the Asia Pacific automotive telematics market in its recent report titled, Asia Pacific Automotive Telematics Market Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2014 - 2020. According to this report, the global telematics market is expected to expand at a single-digit CAGR during forecast period 20142020. On the other hand, APAC will demonstrate the fastest growth in the global automotive telematics market at a double-digit CAGR during the forecast period. During this period, the contribution of the telematics market in the Asia Pacific region to the overall market is projected to increase from 26% to 30%, reflecting an increase of 400 BPS.This growth is attributed to high penetration of technologies and steadily increasing GDP. Moreover, Asia Pacific benefits from the presence of established vendors in the commercial vehicle telematics market, which includes PeopleNet, FleetMatics, Trimble, Telogis and Omnitracs. Furthermore, over 42% of the worlds Internet users in Asia (2013), combined with hundreds of millions of 4G users, will fuel growth of the APAC automotive telematics market during the forecast period.Request Report Sample@FMI lead consultant, Nikhil Kaitwade, sheds light on why Asia Pacific will emerge the fastest growing market in the near future. Telematics in the automotive industry has become increasingly relevant with a palpable emphasis on safety and security globally. New business models combined with increased technology adoption and remote vehicle diagnostics is fuelling growth of the Asia Pacific automotive telematics market, he said.The three key technologies that will drive the Asia Pacific automotive telematics market are:Embedded Technology  Currently, this segment dominates the Asia Pacific automotive telematics market. Greater ease of assembly, ease of troubleshooting, reliability of components and fall in cost of electronic parts are factors driving demand for automotive embedded systems in this region. Increasing use of cloud-based telematics will also influence the APAC automotive telematics embedded technology market segment. FMI projects that this segment will display a double-digit CAGR during the forecast period.Tethered Technology  The tethered technology segment in the Asia Pacific automotive telematics market will demonstrate the lowest growth at a single-digit CAGR during forecast period 20142020.Smartphone Technology  Price advantages and growing smartphone penetration will fuel growth of the smartphone technology segment in the Asia Pacific automotive telematics market. FMI anticipates that evolving smartphone technology will witness the highest CAGR in double digits during the forecast period.Currently, North America dominates the global automotive telematics market, followed by Europe. High penetration of the aforesaid technologies in Asia Pacific combined with saturation of European and North American markets will continue to fuel growth of the APAC automotive telematics market.Send An Enquiry@Elaborating on this trend, Kaitwade further stated, In order to differentiate their product offerings, automotive OEMs are integrating telematics technologies into vehicles they manufacture.In addition, the expanding safety and security end-user segment and increasing prominence of social media in Asia Pacific will drive the automotive telematics market in the region. The safety and security end-user segment is anticipated to dominate the Asia Pacific automotive telematics market between 2014 and 2020 due to increasing consumer focus on safety and security aspects. Growing prominence of social media in the Asia Pacific region will also contribute to the growth of infotainment segment during the forecast period.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Point of Use Water Purifier (POU) Market in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to Witness a CAGR of 7.6% by 2020

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Future Market Insights (FMI) announced the release of a latest report titled, POU Water Purifiers Market: MENA Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2014 - 2020. FMI estimates that the Point of Use (POU) water purifier market in Middle East and North Africa is expected to reach US$ 471 Mn at a CAGR of 7.6% from 2014 to 2020.Residential water purification system includes point of use water purifiers (POU), point of entry (POE) water purifiers, portable water purifiers. Moreover, the demand for POU water purifiers is high among consumers in MENA region as compared to POE and portable water purifiers.In the POU water purifiers market, products with high purification capabilities such as combination of reverse osmosis (RO) and Ultraviolet (UV) technologies are more preferred. It has also been observed that a majority of the demand is coming from urban centres in GCC when compared to the entire MENA region.Request Report Sample@Market SegmentsThe POU water purifiers market is segmented on the basis of technology which includes RO, UV and media-based. RO technology based water purifiers segment is estimated to account for slightly over 40% of the total POU water purifiers market in MENA region in 2014. Media-based water purification, which is a conventional water purification technology has also witnessed technological advancements, and is estimated to display a CAGR of 9.3% during the forecast period, in terms of volume. The third technology, UV based water purifiers, is estimated to exhibit a sluggish growth rate during the forecast period due to its limitation in removing only organic contaminants from water. Additionally, UV-based water purifiers are also priced higher in comparison to media-based water purifiers and hence the product preference for UV based water purifiers is comparatively low.Region-wise, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Algeria are the promising markets for POU water purifiers. In addition, a cumulative scenario has been highlighted for rest of MENA (includes smaller countries like Kuwait, Jordan etc.). Among the aforementioned regions, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is estimated to be the prominent market for POU water purifiers, followed by Turkey, due to its growing population and rapid urbanization, and increasing awareness for safe drinking water forecast period.In addition, penetration of bottled water is a challenge for the POU water purifiers market in Anatolia. As a result, Anatolia is estimated to demonstrate a sluggish growth rate in the near future. Furthermore, POU water purifiers market in UAE is anticipated to reach 149.2 thousand units by 2020, exhibiting a CAGR of 10% between 2014 and 2020.Send An Enquiry@Drivers and RestraintsDeteriorating water quality, rising cost of bottled water, increasing population coupled with increasing per capita income are some of the prominent factors which will catalyse the point of use water purifiers in the region. Though the MENA market is attractive in terms of absolute dollar opportunity, low awareness about safe drinking water and product unavailability are major challenges for the MENA POU water purifier market.Competitive LandscapeKey players operating in the MENA water purifier market are LG, Eureka Forbes, Strauss Water, Panasonic, WaterLife and Coolplex. The report sheds light on their key growth strategies and recent developments. In addition, the report also discusses the value chain followed by multinational companies in MENA for POU water purifiers.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Automotive Aftermarket Poised to hit US$ 218.73 Bn by 2025

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Future Market Insights (FMI) announces release of its latest market outlook forecast titled Automotive Aftermarket: Asia-Pacific Excl. Japan (APEJ) Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015 - 2025. According to this report, automotive aftermarket components in Asia Pacific is anticipated to account for US$ 218.73 Bn by 2025, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.1% throughout the forecast period.The automotive aftermarket is a secondary market, which plays a pivotal role post-sale of a vehicle, as it entails remanufacturing, manufacturing, distribution and installation of automobile components and accessories for vehicles. Components and accessories are installed post sale of a new vehicle by the dealer or service provider and this is termed as automotive aftermarket. Accessories include customized parts for convenience, safety, comfort and performance. These are designed as add-ons after vehicles are assembled by the original manufacturer. Services on the other hand include maintenance and repairs to ensure vehicles continue functioning, and providers offer options with regard to where vehicle owners can avail such offerings.Request Report Sample@The replacement part segment is expected to expand at a CAGR of 9.7%, accessories at 8.9% and services at 7.3% during the forecast period. Components segment is further sub-segmented into oils & lubricants, tyres, batteries, wear & tear parts, filters, collision body parts, starters & alternators, lighting components, exhaust components and spark plugs. Among these, exhaust components and tires dominate the other segments. Demand for interior accessories is expected to register a CAGR of 8.4%, owing to increasing demand from automobile owners to enhance functionality and appearance of their vehicles, and this trend is expected to further drive overall market growth in the near future. Services is further sub-segmented into general automotive repairs and automotive transmission and other repairs.Asia Pacific automotive aftermarket is majorly driven by growing vehicle parc, boom in vehicle sales and demand for general automotive repairs. This includes repairs and services related to transmissions, starters & alternators, brakes, lubricants, tyres, filters and batteries among others. Apart from this, increasing safety and security needs and favourable GDP growth in developing economies are major growth drivers for the ASEAN automotive aftermarket. However, despite certain technological challenges acting as growth restraints, the ASEAN automotive aftermarket is expected to experience rapid growth over the forecast period.Send An Enquiry@This market forecast covers analysis and market value of each segment and respective sub-segment and potential of the connected automotive aftermarket in specific countries. Asia Pacific is forecast to emerge as the fastest growing market, owing to the large number of vehicles in operation and is expected to witness a steady growth during forecast period 20152025.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
India Coronary Stent Market Poised for Robust CAGR of over 14% through 2026

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India coronary stents market, valued at US$ 481 Mn in 2015, is expected to reach US$ 531 Mn in revenues by 2016-end, according to a new research report by Future Market Insights. The report titled, Coronary Stents Market: India Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026 projects the market to increase at 14% CAGR through 2026 and surpass US$ 1.8 Bn in revenues.Demand for coronary stents is expected to be driven by government initiatives to offer better healthcare amenities. Capping of coronary stents prices, increase in geriatric population, and increasing number of PCI procedure to treat CHD are other key factors anticipated to fuel demand for coronary stents during the forecast period.Easing of norms such as exemptions in direct taxes, while allowing 100 percent FDI in medical devices segment under the automatic route is expected to encourage entry of foreign players in the healthcare sector in the near future.Request For Sample@Increasing prevalence of diabetes is high among the ageing population in the country. In 2014, 43.2% of the sampled population in the country was aware about diabetes and related treatment options. Over the last few years, number of PCI procedures have increased in India due to increase in prevalence of CHD.India coronary stents market is segmented on the basis of product type, raw material and end-use.On the basis of product type, the market has been segmented into Drug Eluting Stent (DES), Bare Metal Stent (BMS) and Bioresorbable Vascular Stent (BVS). Drug Eluting Stent segment is expected to register impressive CAGR of 14.0% during the forecast period.On the basis of raw material, the market is segmented into cobalt-chromium, stainless steel, platinum-chromium, nickel-titanium and polymer. Currently, demand for cobalt-chromium is the highest, followed by platinum-chromium.Send An Enquiry@On the basis of end use, India coronary stents market is segmented into hospitals, ambulatory surgical centres and cardiac catheterization laboratories. By end use, hospitals segment is expected to witness fastest growth during the forecast period.The key players profiled in FMIs report include Abbott Laboratories, Medtronic, Inc., Biosensors Inc., and Boston Scientific Inc. The report also identifies company-specific strategies related to product development, market consolidation initiatives and analysis of their specific strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.Browse Full Report@ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:Blog:
Portable Oxygen Concentrators Market Projected to Be Valued at US$ 2637.7 Mn by 2026 End

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According to a latest report published by Future Market Insights titled Portable Oxygen Concentrators Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 20162026, the global portable oxygen concentrators market is anticipated to register a CAGR of 7.8% between 2016 and 2026 in terms of value.Portable oxygen concentrators supply oxygen to patients suffering from respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. The concentrator separates nitrogen and oxygen from air in the environment and then supplies 95% pure oxygen to patients. POCs are easy to carry as they are smaller in size compared to stationary concentrators. Moreover, POCs are of great use to mountaineers and travellers in places where oxygen is inadequate.According to Future Market Insights, the global portable oxygen concentrators market is likely to witness substantial growth owing to increasing prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, growing consumer awareness for oxygen therapy devices, and a changing consumer lifestyle. Further, adoption of new technologies in medical devices, increasing government expenditure towards healthcare and medical devices development and production, and a rise in investment by companies manufacturing homecare products is likely to boost the growth of the global portable oxygen concentrators market during the forecast period (2016  2026). However, high product costs and stringent FDA regulations pertaining to medical devices are some of the factors likely to restrain the growth of the global portable oxygen concentrators market during the forecast period.Request For Sample@Segmentation highlightsThe global portable oxygen concentrators market has been segmented on the basis of Product into Continuous Flow Portable Oxygen Concentrator and Pulse Flow Portable Oxygen Concentrator; and on the basis of End User into Hospitals, Homecare, Ambulatory Surgical Centres, and Travel Agents.The Pulse Flow Portable Oxygen Concentrator product segment is projected to be valued at US$ 1890.3 Mn by 2026, registering a CAGR of 9.0% over the forecast periodThe Homecare end user segment is projected to be valued at US$ 1820.5 Mn by 2026 and is likely to witness a CAGR of 9.0% over the forecast periodRegional market projectionsThe global portable oxygen concentrators market is segmented into the seven key regions of North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, APEJ, MEA, and Japan. Growing geriatric population consequently increasing the requirement for homecare settings particularly in high income countries with increasing number of patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases is expected to result in significant growth of the North America portable oxygen concentrators market. The North America region is expected to report incremental opportunity of US$ 781.7 Mn between 2016 and 2026. Evolution of health insurance system is expected to contribute largely to the revenue generation potential and attractiveness of the Eastern Europe portable oxygen concentrators market. Rising adoption of portable oxygen concentrators in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases patients for better care is expected to fuel revenue growth in the Japan portable oxygen concentrators market over the forecast period. High product cost of portable oxygen concentrators is expected to hamper sustainable adoption in the APEJ region. Lack of product awareness is expected to hamper market growth in the APEJ and MEA regions.Send An Enquiry@Vendor insightsThe report profiles some of the top companies operating in the global portable oxygen concentrators market such as Koninklijke Philips N.V., Inogen Inc., Chart Industries Inc., Resmed Inc., Invacare Corporation, Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare, Precision Medical Inc., Besco Medical Co. Ltd., Oxus America, Inc. (Oxus), Foshan Keyhub Electronic Industries Co. Ltd., O2 Concepts LLC, and GCE Group. Key strategies adopted by leading market players in the global portable oxygen concentrators market include product approvals and commercialisation, efficient entry into markets in emerging countries, and adoption of latest innovative technologies in healthcare, thus strengthening regional proficiency and addressing customer needs effectively. New product launches, product innovation, and geographical expansion are anticipated to form the core of these strategies during the forecast period.Browse Full Report@ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:Blog:
Latin America Mining Equipments Market : Recent Industry Trends, Analysis and Forecast 2020

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The mining industry is expected to witness growth with a single digit CAGR over the next six years on account of the further expanding demand for metal and mineral commodities. Latin America accounted for about 8% of the global mining equipment demand in 2013 and its contribution towards global mining equipment sales was registered at 15% for the same year. The region serves as the prime destination for mining exploration and investment at a global level.The key reason which has accelerated the growth of the Latin American mining equipment market is the enhanced demand for the consumption of natural resources. Presently, the region produces about 45% of the global copper, 21% of the global zinc, 50% of the global silver and 26% of the global molybdenumproduction. In addition, foreign investment, especially from China, US, Canada and Australia, plays a significant role in the growth of the Latin American mining equipment market. Further, other operations such as the Panama Stock Operation (PSO), CSR activities, and introduction of next generation mining equipment such as Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) also serve as driving factors for the growth of the mining equipment market in Latin America. Among these, CSR activities primarily focus on rehabilitation and support programmes, promotion of healthy lifestyle and awareness programmes for the adoption of green technology. However, in the past few years, the mining industry and hence the mining equipment industry has been facing an economic crisis on account of the requirement for budget allocation in the maintenance of the mining industry and equipment, etc. Illegal mining operations at some locations and the risk associated with the mining industry serve as further constraints for the Latin American mining equipment industry.Surging demand and abundant availability of natural resources(including the worlds top three metal and mineral reserves of copper, zinc and silver rapid technological advancement, modernization of mining plants, stable legislations with a motivating legal environment, and the efficient budget allocation with aftermarket revenue generation will serve as opportunities for the development of the Latin America mining equipment market.Request For Report Sample@Market segmentation of Latin American mining equipment can be done on the basis of equipment, application and countries. On the basis of equipment, the Latin American mining equipment market includes mineral processing equipment, surface mining equipment, underground mining equipment, mining drills and breakers, crushing and screening equipment, etc. On the basis of applications, the Latin American mining equipment market segmentation includes metal ore mining, coal mining and mineral mining. Chile, being the largest producer of copper, serves as a lucrative market for copper-based mining equipment. Colombia is an active exporter,and is the first Latin American coal-producing country alongwith the production of metals such as gold, silver and platinum and hence is the opportunistic market for the associated mining equipment market. On the basis of countries, the Latin American mining equipment market includes Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and Venezuela. Chile is known for the adoption and introduction of advanced technologies such as autonomous haulage system. Peru is the reserve of key minerals and has been witnessing a surging demand for copper and hence the expansion of the associated mining equipment market. Brazil has an integrated approach for the production and sale of mining equipment. Panama has an active stock operation (PSO) for the support of the mining industry. In line with the positive future of the Latin American mining equipment industry, Peru and Chile are expected to receive double digit foreign investment in $ Bn in the next six years.Some of the prominent players of the global mining equipment market include Sandvik AB, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Komatsu Limited, Atlas Copco Ab Joy Global Inc. Breaker Technology, Astec Industries, Bucyrus International, Caterpillar Incorporated, China Coal Energy Company Limited, Tecpalsa, Tecmap, Tiesa and Igaretta. Among these, Komatsu Limited in the whole of Latin America, Tecpalsa in Colombia, Tecmap and Tiesa in Panama and Igaretta in Argentina are active players in the Latin American mining equipment market.Request For TOC@ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Castor Oil Derivatives Market : Value Chain, Dynamics and Key Players (2015 - 2025)

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Castor oil is one of the most multipurpose plant oils, obtained by pressing the seed of the castor oil plant (Ricinus communis).It is well known source of a monounsaturated, ricinoleic and 18-carbon fatty acid. Owing to its unique chemical structure and rich properties, castor oil and its derivatives find uses in many industries such as cosmetics, food, lubricants, paints, agriculture, electronics & telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, perfumeries, plastics and rubber, inks & adhesives and textile chemicals. After plant oils, castor oil is considered to be the most required oil. However, growing concerns pertaining to biofuels specially biodiesel and biopolymer across the globe is pushingcastor oil to play a much larger role in the world economy.Castor Oil Derivatives: Drivers & RestraintsGrowth of major end-use industries (includes lubricants, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals) and increasing demand for sustainable products & biodegradable, on account of reducing dependence on petrochemicals is anticipated to fuel the demand for castor oil derivatives market. Also regulatory support and rising prices of alternative renewable chemicals is expected to drive the global castor oil derivatives market. However, factors influencing its manufacturing cost includes raw material availability, weather uncertainties, shortage of working capital, techniques & methods used for extraction and availability of substitute oil are resulting in restraints for the castor oil derivative market.Request For Report Sample@Castor Oil Derivatives: SegmentationOn the basis of product type, the global castor oil derivatives market is segmented into Undecylenic Acid, Sebacic Acid (largest consumed castor oil derivatives), Castor Wax or Hydrogenated castor oil (HCO), Dehydrated Castor Oil (DCO) and others. On the basis of application, global castor oil derivatives market is segmented into Lubricants, Cosmetics & Pharmaceuticals (largest application segment), Biodiesel, Plastics & Resins and Others.Castor Oil Derivatives: Region-wise OutlookThe global castor oil derivatives market is expected to register a double digit CAGR for the forecast period, 2015?2025. Asia-Pacific is expected to continue its dominance on the global castor oil derivatives market. India accounts for largest production of castor oil derivatives worldwide, followed by China and Brazil. Higher demand from the US, Europe and China has resulted in the higher prices for castor as well as increase in demand for castor oil derivatives. The major castor producing countries are India, China, Brazil, Paraguay, Ethiopia, Philippines, Russia and Thailand.Request For TOC@Castor Oil Derivatives: Key PlayersSome of players in global castor oil derivatives market are Thai Castor Oil Industries Co. Ltd., Jayant Agro Organics, Hokoku Corporation, ITOH Oil Chemicals Co. Ltd., Gokul Overseas, Bom Brazil, Liaoyang Huaxing Chemical Co., Ltd., Kanak Castor Products Pvt. Ltd., and others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Hard Luxury Goods Market Revenue, Opportunity, Segment and Key Trends 2014-2020

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Luxury goods comprises of products such as accessories, footwear, apparel, watches and others which are quite expensive and target those consumers who belongs to premium class. The market for luxury goods consist of three types of end consumers, which includes kids lying between the age of 0-12 years, teenagers belonging to the age group of 13 to 19 years and the rest lies in adult group. Luxury goods market can also be segmented on the basis of application which includes soft luxury goods and hard luxury goods. Soft luxury goods includes designer apparel and leather goods such as hand bags and others, which is easily available for the customers in the hypermarket stores or directly operative outlet. Whereas hard luxury goods comprises of jewellery and premium watches. The hard luxury goods are offered to the consumers through premium class outlets, stores or sell out through internet.Thus the market for hard luxury product is also segmented on the basis of mode of distribution channel used for offering products to the consumers. The mode of Distribution channel is segmented into retail outlets, sell out through internet, companys brand outlet and others. Among all these distribution channel online retailing is expected to be most preferred mode for distribution in the forecasted period. This is due to consumer convenience preferences and availability of the products at lower price. Furthermore, the second most preferred mode is expected to be the companys brand retail outlets as they provide better offerings at less price.Request Report Sample@Globally, the demand of hard luxury goods are showing robust annual growth of 10% to 12%.North America and Europe is the highest contributor in the market share of hard luxury goods market. Increasing demand of accessories coupled with rising middle class disposable income has supported the growth of emerging markets in Asia-Pacific. It is expected to account for the fastest CAGR growth as compared to other regions. Among all the countries in Asia Pacific China is expected to be the most lucrative market followed by Japan. India is also expected to show a healthy growth in the forecasted period by registering a single digit CAGR growth. Whereas in ASEAN region Singapore is expected to be the most dominant market. The rising growth for hard luxury goods in Singapore is supported by the new entrants of jewellery brands and rising sales of watches. Rapid urbanization coupled with increasing disposable income in Thailand and Malaysia is predicted to boost the customer base and prominent contributor in the revenue of hard luxury good market in ASEAN region followed by Indonesia and Philippines.Expanding middle class income group coupled with the urge of consumers for premium class products are the key drivers for the market growth of hard luxury goods in ASEAN region. Moreover, wide varieties of product offerings in each segments and continuous innovation and product launch is also expected to influence the consumers of ASEAN region to fuel the market growth of hard luxury goods in the forecasted period.Visit for TOC@However, the market of hard luxury goods in ASEAN region possess some restraining factors. This includes the weak distribution channel and limited availability of the products. Furthermore, the consumers perceives these products as quite expensive and also it is considered as a premium class product and not an absolute necessity.The key international market players for hard luxury goods operating in ASEAN region includes Gianni Versace S.p.A., LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA, Prada S.p.A., Hermes International SCA, Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A, Prada S.p.A, Ralph Lauren Corp, Christian Dior SE, Gucci, Rolex SA, Bottega Veneta, Louis Vuitton Malletier, Tod's S.p.A. and others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Emerging Opportunities in Non Fusion Spinal Devices Market with Current Trends Analysis

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Spinal implants are devices used to treat disproportion of spine, provide stability and strengthen the spine of patients. These devices are broadly segmented as fusion and non-fusion spinal devices. Non-fusion technologies into spinal surgery has improved outcomes by providing patients to retain at least some movement and flexibility in the spine.Non fusion spinal technologies and disc diagnostic devices are used for the patients who are suffering from the problem of gradual disc damage, degenerative disc disease often results in disc herniation and chronic back or neck pain.According to WHO, back pain affects people of all ages, from children to the elderly, and is a very frequent reason for medical consultations. It is difficult to estimate the incidence of back pain as the incidence of back pain is already high by early adulthood and symptoms tend to recur over time. The lifetime prevalence of non-specific (common) back pain is estimated at 60% to 70% in industrialized countries.Request Report Sample@Non Fusion Spinal Devices Market: Drivers and RestraintsNon fusion spinal technologies and disc diagnostic devices global market is driven by aging population, increase in the number of obesity patient, and rise in the demand for minimally invasive surgery proceduresNon fusion spinal technologies and disc diagnostic devices market is driven by new technological advancements. The huge population afflicted from obesity and back pain problem drives the global market. However, unstable reimbursement policies act as a major barrier for this market.Visit for TOC@Non Fusion Spinal Devices Market: SegmentationNon fusion spinal technologies and disc diagnostic devices market is segmented into following types:Artificial Discs ReplacementCervical Discs ReplacementLumber Discs ReplacementDynamic Stabilization DevicesInterspinous Process Decompression (IPD) DevicesPedicle Screw-Based Dynamic Stabilization SystemsAnnulus Repair DevicesNon Fusion Spinal Devices Market: OverviewWith rapid technological advancement and wide acceptance of non-fusion spinal technologies and disc diagnostic devices among patients with back pain problem, the global non fusion spinal technologies and disc diagnostic devices market is expected to grow at healthy CAGR in the forecast period (2012-2025).Non Fusion Spinal Devices Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, global non fusion spinal technologies and disc diagnostic devices market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa.North America contributes the largest market share as the degenerative disc disease affects almost 50% of the U.S. population above age 40 years. Asia pacific shows the fastest growth due to large number of population.Non Fusion Spinal Devices Market: Key PlayersSome of the key participating players in this market are Medtronic Inc., Stryker Corporation, Zimmer Holdings Inc., DePuy Synthes and others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Neuroendocrine Carcinoma Market Poised for Steady Growth in the Future

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Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are malignant tumors that originate in endocrine cells and targets digestive tract that misbalances hormonal release. Neuroendocrine tumors are three types which include Pheochromocytoma, Merkel cell cancer, and neuroendocrine carcinoma. Neuroendocrine cells also present in the neuroendocrine system that includes pituitary gland, pineal gland, thyroid gland, parathyroid and adrenal glands. Physiological changes in the neuroendocrine cells may cause formation of two types of tumorsfunctional and nonfunctional tumors. Functional tumors develop another endocrine cells and nonfunctional tumors may cause physiological changes and based on the cause it treated. Neuroendocrine carcinoma are classified in two categories namely carcinoids and pancreatic endocrine tumors.Carcinoid tumors, originating in the neuroendocrine system, usually appear in the digestive system i.e. in stomach and appendix. Besides, some carcinoid tumors develop in other organs such as lungs, thymus and ovaries. Due to their gradual growth, the symptoms of neuroendocrine carcinoma are not visible at early stages and are discovered only during undergoing an unrelated surgery. Tumors originating in the pancreas are named depending on the type of hormone released. For example, a tumor called gastrinoma is a tumor that release gastrin which results in excessive secretion of gastric acid.Request For Report Sample@Surgery is the first line therapy for removing affected neuroendocrine cells, thereafter, medication is used for treating neuroendocrine carcinoma. Sunitinib and Afinitor drugs are commonly used drugs for treatment of neuroendocrine carcinoma treatment.Immune system suppression and exposure to arsenic are the major risk factors for neuroendocrine carcinoma.Neuroendocrine Carcinoma Market: Drivers and RestraintsSignificant increase in funding for treatment of cancer by various international organizations such as American Cancer Academy and world Health Organization is expected to boost overall neuroendocrine carcinoma treatment market. Furthermore, significant increase in healthcare spending along with high prevalence rate of neuroendocrine carcinoma in developing region is expected to boost overall neuroendocrine carcinoma market. Though market is expected to witness healthy growth, lack of skilled healthcare professional and lower adoption of advanced treatment technologies in the developing economies are key restrains for neuroendocrine carcinoma market.Neuroendocrine Carcinoma Market: SegmentationNeuroendocrine Carcinoma market further segmented into followingtype.By TreatmentSurgeryMedicationAnti-metabolitePlatinum derivativesTopoisomerase inhibitorAnthracycline antibioticBy End UserHospitalClinicsDrug storePharmaciesNeuroendocrine Carcinoma Market: OverviewNeuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are malignant tumors that originate in endocrine cells and targets digestive tract that misbalances hormonal release. The market is expected to witness healthy CAGR during the forecast period.Neuroendocrine Carcinoma Market: Region- wise OutlookThe global Neuroendocrine Carcinoma Market is expected to register a impressive CAGR over the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, global neuroendocrine carcinoma market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & AfricaNorth America dominates the global neuroendocrine carcinoma market owing to presence of modern healthcare amenities along with significant healthcare expenditure in these regions. Europe occupies second place in this market with its new regulations in the major economies. Asia also shows a healthy growth rate in this market.Visit For TOC@Neuroendocrine Carcinoma Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in this market includeNovartis AGF. Hoffman La RocheCallisto PharmaceuticalsEli Lilly & CompanyIpsen,Molecular Insight PharmaceuticalsAmgen Inc.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Good Growth Opportunities in Global Skin Replacement Market Till 2025

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Skin is the largest organ in human body which is highly dynamic in nature. It is composed of two layers, the outer layer called epidermis and the inner layer called dermis. Its network of nerves, blood vessels and cells thus acting as a protective armor. It serves the body in diverse ways. Its of paramount importance owning to its protective functionality. The skins protective function creates a barrier for internal organs and tissues from toxins, disease-carrying microbes, heat and cold and other dangers present in the environment. It also plays a significant role in regulating the body temperature and preserving bodys fluid balance. Nerves within skin sense the presence of potentially harmful agents, such as bees, and immune cells in the skin help to fight against these malicious agents. For the aforementioned reasons, the loss of skin due to burns or trauma can cause a severe blow to the human body; leading to impairment or sometimes elimination of many vital functions which it typically performs.John F. Burke invented the first synthetic skin, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Artificial skin considered to be the Holy Grail in treating burn victims for more than hundred years till a flexible material was found. It protects against dehydration and infection, easy to produce from ordinary substance and is completely acceptable by the victims immune system. The artificial skin can be easily sterilized and usually stored at room temperature. Skin replacement represents a prospective source of advanced therapy in combating acute and chronic skin wounds. With the capability of large scale production and immediate availability for grafting, its potential for use is easy and relatively economic among the burn patients.Request Report Sample@Skin Replacement Market: Drivers & RestraintsMuch progress has been made toward the development of artificial skin replacement products. Continued research promises to bring more products to the marketplace, and each new product seems to develop a niche in the field of skin replacement. Increased life expectancy, increasing disposable income and favorable demographics are some of the key factors driving the growth of the global skin replacement market.Bioengineered skin replacements are continually being developed and improved. The next generation of skin replacements will probably evolve from lessons learned from our understanding of wound repair and regeneration. Competition from low-cost substitutes, lack of clinical support are probable factors restraining the growth of the global skin replacement market.Visit for TOC@Skin Replacement Market: SegmentationThe global skin replacement market is broadly classified on the basis of product type, material, end-use industry and geographies.Based on product type, the global skin replacement market is segmented into:EpicelIntegraBased on material, the global skin replacement market is segmented into:Spider silkCollagenBased on end use industry, the global skin replacement market is segmented into:ChemicalCosmeticPharmaceuticalSkin Replacement Market: OverviewThough skin replacement is a new technology for emerging economies, but in the developed nations the same technology is in use for few decades. With increasing disposable income and rising urbanization the acceptance of skin replacements is gaining popularity. The global skin replacement market is expected to expand at a promising CAGR during the forecast period (2015-2025).Skin Replacement Market: Region-wise OutlookSkin replacement market is still in its early stage of maturity. The global skin replacement market is expected to register an optimistic CAGR for the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, global skin replacement market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa.Skin Replacement Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market participants in global skin replacement market are Cellular Dynamics International, Cynata Therapeutics Limited, Platelet BioGenesis, Tengion, TissueGene, Inc.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, types.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Disposable Incontinence Products Market Value Share, Analysis and Segments 2016-2026

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Incontinence means inability of the body to control the evacuative functions of urination of defecation is called as Incontinence. Incontinence Products are manly used in the treatment of urinary tract and nephrological disorder of patients such as chronic kidney Disease, Kidney Stone, End stage renal disease and benign prostatic hyperplasia.According to the National Kidney Foundation globally 2 million people worldwide currently receive treatment with dialysis or a kidney transplant to stay alive, but this number may only represent 10% of people who actually need treatment to live, globally more than 80% of all patients who receive treatment for kidney failure are in wealthy countries with universal access to health care and large elderly populations.Global Disposable Incontinence products mainly contains Disposable adult Diapers, Disposable Adult Sheilds, Disposable under Pads, and Disposable Pull up pants.Request For Report Sample@Global Disposable Incontinence Products Market: Drivers and RestrainsGlobal Disposable Incontinence Products market is driven by the raising prevalence of chronic kidney Disease, End stage renal disease, and benign prostatic hyperplasia. According to the WHO reports more than 190 million patients are suffering with chronic renal failure and undergo renal dialysis and more than 220 million males suffer from disease associated with prostate gland such as swelling that results in blockage of the flow of urine through the body. According to the Nation Kidney Foundation 10% of the population worldwide is affected by chronic kidney disease (CKD), and millions die each year because they do not have access to affordable treatment.Global Disposable Incontinence Products main restrains is awareness about this products are very less.Global Disposable Incontinence ProductsMarket: SegmentationGlobal Disposable Incontinence Market segmented based on product type, ApplicationBased on Product Type,Disposable Adult DiaperDisposable Adult SheildsDisposable Under PadsDisposable Pull up PantsBased on ApplicationChronic Kidney failureKidney StoneEnd stage renal failureBenign prostatic HyperplasiaBladder CancerGlobal Disposable Incontinence ProductsMarket: OverviewWith increasing use of Disposable Incontinence Products in Kidney Disease conditions will boost the growth of the Global Disposable Incontinence Products market. North America is contributing more income to the Global Disposable Incontinence Products and Asia region is showing fastest growth rate because of having more population base in this region.According to the National Kidney Foundation, Globally 2 million people who receive medication for kidney failure, the mostly are treated in only five countries which includes United States, Japan, Germany, Brazil, and Italy. These 5 countries represent 12% of the world population. Only 20% are treated in about 100 developing countries that make up over 50% of the world population. In the US, treatment of chronic kidney disease is going to exceed $48 billion per year. Treatment for kidney failure consumes 6.7% of the total Medicare budget to care for less than 1% of the covered population.Global Disposable Incontinence ProductsMarket: Region wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, Global Disposable Incontinence Products market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. North America is having more market for Disposable Incontinence Products Market, In North America, U.S. represents the largest market because of increasing prevalence rate for Chronic Renal Failure Disease.Asia region is expected to have more growth rate in upcoming years because of increasing awareness about Disposable Incontinence Products in this region. In Asia region India, China, Japan are expected to have more growth rate for Global Disposable Incontinence Products Market.Visit For TOC@Global Disposable Incontinence ProductsMarket: Key PlayersSome of the key market players in Global Disposable Incontinence Products market are C. R. Bard, Inc, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Coloplast UK Ltd, Kimberly Clark Group, First Quality Enterprises, Inc, Covidien, and Hollister Incorporated.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Wine Barrel Market Volume Analysis, size, share and Key Trends 2016-2026

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A wine barrel is a hollow cylindrical container, traditionally made of Oak wood staves and bound with wooden or metal hoops. The wine barrel is majorly used for the aging of wine. After the fermentation of wine, it gets stored in the barrel for sedimentation of large solid particles and make it smooth. While the aging process, various flavors are imparted to wine as it goes through various chemical changes and allows a slow introduction of oxygen into the wine. Wine barrels are last for up to 100 years. While the aging of wine in barrels, usually gets the 50% extract that the barrel has on the first use and it gets decrease simultaneously as per the further utilization.Wine Barrel Market: DynamicsThe global wine barrel market has expected to register the significant growth as a demand of wine is increasing globally over the forecast period. Use of oak wine barrels for aging the wine makes it rich in taste and quality which is leading factor drives for the growth of the global wine barrel market. The controlled oxidation takes place during the aging in the barrel and resulted into decreased astringency and increased colour and stability of wine over the use of other barrels made up of plastic and metals which also boost the global wine barrel market in terms of revenue and volume.Request Report Sample@However, the many wine producers have started using alternative to oak wine barrels such as oak powders, chips and blocks in the normal metal vats of wine to give the essence of oak aromas and flavors which hampers the growth of the global wine barrel market. The prices of the oak wine barrels are increasing due to the difference between demand and supply, which can also restrain the growth of the global wine barrel market.Wine Barrel Market: SegmentationThe global wine barrel market has segmented on the basis of type of oak wood, type of wine processed, toast level of oak wood barrel and geographical region.Based on type of oak wood, the global wine barrel market has segmented into:French oak woodAmerican oak woodEastern oak woodBased on type of wine processed, the global wine barrel market has segmented into:Red wineWhite wineBased on toast level of oak wood, the global wine barrel market has segmented into:UntoastedLight toastMedium toastHeavy toastWine Barrel Market: Regional OutlookIn terms of geography, the global wine barrel market has been divided into five key regions, including North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Middle East & Africa (MEA). The global wine barrel market has expected to register moderate growth over the forecast period. North America has contributed the major share to the global wine barrel market due to the rapidly growing parent market of wine in the North America. North America followed by Europe has also registered a significant growth rate in terms of revenue due to increasing demand of wine. Latin America and APAC are also contributing descent market shares to the global wine barrel market over the forecast period. MEA is at nascent stage in the global wine barrel market and anticipated to register the healthy growth over the forecast period.Visit For TOC@Wine Barrel Market: Major PlayersSome of the key players of the global wine barrel market are OENEO, Francois Freres, THE BARREL MILL, Seguin Moreau Napa Cooperage, StaVin Inc., G & P Garbellotto S.p.A., Barry's Barrels, Canton, Bouchared Cooperages Australia PTY. Ltd. and Nadalie Australia.Various global companies are contributed descent growth to the global wine barrel market. The key players from North America and Europe has contributed major share to the wine barrel market in terms of revenue and volume.Over all the global wine barrel market has expected to register a significant growth over the forecast period.About Us  Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Devices Market is Driven by Increasing Incidence of Infertility and Advancements in IVF Procedures

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In vitro fertilization, also known as IVF, is a type of assisted reproductive technology (ART). IVF is a fertilization process performed in the laboratory settings by retrieving a sperm sample, extracting a womans egg, combining manually the egg and the sperm in a laboratory dish, and then implanting the fertilized egg or embryo back to the uterus. IVF is gaining popularity and is highly accepted by couples facing infertility problems, LGBT community, and also single mothers. Technological advancements in IVF technology is augmenting the global IVF devices market.The global IVF devices market is driven by increasing incidence of infertility and advancements in IVF procedures. Infertility in women may be caused due to blockage of fallopian tubes, endometriosis, lack of normal ovulation, etc. Male infertility is also a major concern globally. Additionally, lifestyle changes, late family planning, improper food habits, and rise in alcohol consumption are recognized as the causes of infertility in some countries.Obtain Report Details @Furthermore, rising health care expenditure, growing awareness about infertility, and easy accessibility of IVF treatments is projected to propel the growth of the global IVF devices market. Innovative technological advancements in IVF technology such has capsule IVF and embryoscope are expected to fuel the growth of the IVF devices market.Adoption of and preference for advanced IVF technologies over conventional infertility treatments such as infertility medication are anticipated to boost the growth of the global IVF devices market. Insurance coverage for IVF is the latest trend in the IVF devices market. Insurance coverage depends upon factors such as annual income of the couple, womans age, and IVF cycles. Few states in the U.S. such as New York, New Jersey, and Maryland offer insurance coverage for IVF treatment. Insurance coverage is anticipated to encourage couples facing infertility problems to choose IVF treatment. This is expected to fuel the growth of the IVF devices market.Maintenance issues and unaffordability of high-end IVF devices limit the growth of the market. Moreover, risk of failure associated with IVF cycles cannot be ruled out. Many couples fail to conceive even after repetitive IVF cycles, leading to disappointment and financial burden. These factors are likely to restrain the IVF devices market.The global IVF devices market can be segmented based on product, end-user, and region. In terms of product, the market can be segmented into IVF work stations (cabinet), incubators, imaging systems, ovum aspiration pump, sperm separation system, cryosystem, micromanipulator systems, anti-vibration tables, and others. Based on end-user, the global IVF devices market can be segmented into hospitals and fertility clinics, clinical research institutes, and cryobanks. Hospitals and fertility clinics is the major end-user segment of the market. High revenue in the segment is attributed to high patient influx for IVF treatments at these settings and diagnostic tests performed such as sonography and ultrasound for women and semen analysis for men.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @Geographically, the global IVF devices market can be segmented into five major regions: Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America and Europe are the major markets for IVF devices. Apart from these mature markets, Asia Pacific is expected to show rapid growth due to rising demand for affordable IVF services and availability of skilled personnel.Major players in the global IVF devices market include Vitrolife AB, Cook Group Incorporated, Esco Micro Pte. Ltd., Cooper Companies, Inc., Genea Biomedx, IVFtech ApS, Nidacon International AB, The Baker Company, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., and Irvine Scientific Sales Company, Inc.Key players in the global HIV-associated lipodystrophy market are Novelion Therapeutics Inc., Theratechnologies Inc., Gilead Sciences Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc (Viiv Healthcare Group of Companies), AbbVie Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, and AstraZeneca plc, among others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Market Research on Advance Wound Dressing Market 2015 and Analysis to 2025

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Advancement in Wound Dressing Market begins years before when the film and hydrocolloids introduced. Advanced Wound Dressing accelerates the healing process by keeping moist environment around the wound along with medicines like antibiotic and painkillers.Advanced Wound Dressing used to heal acute and chronic wounds especially in chronic wounds. Advanced wound dressing has shown very significant results in diabetic patients as well in chronic wounds that takes a long time or cannot be healed by traditional wound dressings.Advance Wound Dressing Market: Drivers and RestraintsAdvanced Wound Dressing market is growing as the number of diabetic and chronic patients increasing rapidly worldwide. Major drivers for the Advanced Wound Dressing Market is ageing population, increase in incident of accidents, increase in adoption rate of Advanced Wound Dressings like hydrocolloids and wound contact layers, continuously advance improvement in dressing like combination of antibiotics and painkillers with dressings. However, high price and lack of adequate reimbursement policies in developing countries are the main hindrance of the market growth.Request Report Sample@Advance Wound Dressing Market: SegmentationAdvance Wound Dressings global market is segmented into following types:HydrocolloidsNon-Antimicrobial Hydrocolloid DressingsAntimicrobial Hydrocolloid DressingsHydrofibersNon-Antimicrobial Hydrofiber DressingsAntimicrobial Hydrofiber DressingsAlginatesNon-Antimicrobial Alginate DressingsAntimicrobial Alginate DressingsHydrogelsNon-Antimicrobial Hydrogel DressingsAntimicrobial Hydrogel DressingsCollagensNon-Antimicrobial Collagen DressingsAntimicrobial Collagen DressingsFoamsNon-Antimicrobial Foam DressingsAntimicrobial Foam DressingsFilmsNon-Antimicrobial Film DressingsAntimicrobial Film DressingsWound Contact LayersNon-Antimicrobial Wound Contact LayersAntimicrobial Wound Contact LayersAdvance Wound Dressing Market: OverviewAdvance Wound Dressing Market is growing with a significant CAGR because of its high adoption rate in treatment of chronic wounds. Developing countries is growing with a higher CAGR compared to other parts of the world.Visit for TOC@Advance Wound Dressing Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic region, global Advanced Wound Dressing market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa.North America contributes maximum in global Wound dressing Market Share. European countries showing a good growth as the adoption rate for Advance Wound Dressing is increasing for diabetic patients, burns, and chronic wounds. Asia Pacific is growing with a significant CAGR for Advance Wound Dressing market due to increase in healthcare awareness. Amongst the Asian countries, India and china are more promising due to large population pool and increased number of hospitals.Advance Wound Dressing Market: Key PlayersKey players of Advance Wound Dressing market includes Smith & Nephew, Molnlycke Health Care, Paul Hartmann, Covidien, ConvaTec, B. Braun Melsungen, BSN medical, 3M Health Care, Systagenix Wound Management, Derma Sciences, Coloplast, Laboratoires Urgo, Johnson & Johnson, Kinetic Concepts, Inc and Others. Local Players also have a significant presence in Advance Wound Dressing Market.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Solar Cells Market share to reach $100bn by 2024

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The technology research report Solar Cells Market Size By Technology (Crystalline Silicon Cells, Thin Film Cells, Ultra-Thin Film Cells), By Product (Polycrystalline, Monocrystalline, Cadmium Telluride (CDTE), Amorphous Silicon (A-Si), Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide), By Grid (On-Grid, Off Grid), By Application (Residential, Commercial, Utility), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Mexico, UK, Germany, Spain, France, China, India, Japan, Australia, UAE, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Argentina), Growth Potential Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016  2024 by Global Market Insights, Inc. says Solar Cells Market size is likely to exceed USD 100 billion by 2024; driven by growing demand for clean fuel electricity.Growing adoption of clean fuel technologies over conventional will drive global solar cells market size. Government initiatives towards energy conservation and carbon footprint may favor the business growth.Request for a sample of this research report @Rising demand for off grid electricity coupled with decreasing photovoltaic component cost is anticipated to drive the solar cells market share during forecast period. As of 2014, over 600 million people in Africa have no or poor access to reliable electricity.In 2016, Government of India has announced a budget of over USD 700 million to install 5 GW of grid connected photovoltaic project by 2020. These initiatives may boost the overall business growth in the region. World bank and International Finance Corporation have introduced several programs including Lighting Africa to promote the use of photovoltaic products over conventional lighting source among off grid population.Increasing demand for reliable electricity coupled with favorable polices to promote renewable energy including solar may further compliment the industry outlook. The Government of India has introduced various incentives such as accelerated depreciation, capital subsidies, tax benefits, feed in tariff and renewable energy certificates which may positively affect the overall industry growth.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Key insights from the report include:U.S. solar cells market size was close to USD 4 billion in 2015 and is anticipated to witness gains of over 14% subject to increasing utility scale installation.Brazil was over 52 MW in 2015, growing focus towards the development of decentralized generation systems will favor the industry growth in future.Cadmium telluride solar cell market share was close to 8 GW in 2015 with sales potential exceeding USD 20 billion by 2024.India solar cells market size is predicted to exceed 24 GW by 2024. Favorable policies such as net metering, tax incentives and power purchase agreement is likely to propel the industry growth in coming years.China solar cells market share contributed over 45% of the global revenue in 2015. Soft loans, tax credits, and other special grants by the government will likely accelerate the business growth.Ultra-thin film PV cell market technology was close to USD 3 million in 2015 and in term of volume, is witness to gain over 30% by 2024.Australia solar cells market size was close to USD 600 million in 2015 and in term of volume will exceed 5 GW by 2024. Government measures towards emission with initiatives such as feed-in tariffs and special rebates may favor the business.Major participants in the industry include Jinko, Canadian, Sunedison, Trina, Moser Baer, Yingli, First Solar, SunPower Corporation, Indosolar, GreenBrilliance, SolarWorld, Tata Power, and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.Browse key industry insights spread across 152 pages with 482 market data tables & 12 figures & charts from the report, Solar Cells Market Size in detail along with the table of contents:Report ContentChapter 1 Methodology & Scope1.1 Research Methodology1.1.1 Initial data exploration1.1.2 Statistical model and forecast1.1.3 Industry insights and validation1.1.4 Research scope and assumptions1.2 Data Sources1.2.1. Primary1.2.2. SecondaryChapter 2 Executive Summary2.1 Solar cell industry 3600 synopsis, 2013 - 20242.1.1 Current business environment2.1.2 Technology trends2.1.3 Product trends2.1.4 Grid trends2.1.5 Application trends2.1.6 Regional trendsChapter 3 Solar cells Industry Insights3.1 Industry segmentation3.2 Industry Size and forecast, 2013  20243.3 Industry ecosystem analysis3.4 Vendor landscape3.5 Innovation & sustainability3.6 Regulatory framework3.6.1 U.S.3.6.2 India3.6.3 Europe3.6.4 China3.7 Price trend analysis3.7.1 Cost structure3.8 Industry Impact forces3.8.1 Growth drivers3.8.1.1 Growing demand for clean fuel electricity3.8.1.2 Decreasing solar component price3.8.1.3 Favorable government initiatives3.8.1.4 Strict government norms towards emission3.8.2 Industry pitfalls & challenges3.8.2.2 Lack of awareness3.9 Growth potential analysis3.10 Porters analysis3.11 Competitive landscape, 20153.12 PESTEL analysisBrowse Related Reports:Thin Film Solar Cells Market Size By Component (Cadmium Telluride (CDTE), Amorphous Silicon (A-Si), Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide), By Connectivity (On-Grid, Off Grid), By Application (Residential, Commercial, Utility), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Mexico, UK, Germany, Spain, France, China, India, Japan, Australia, UAE, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Argentina), Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016  2024About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:Connect with us: Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter
Global Telemedicine Market Trends, Size, Share, Statistics, Strategy, Segmentation Analysis and Forecast to 2022

GLOBAL TELEMEDICINE MARKET

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Market Highlights:Telemedicine or Telehealth comprises of the distribution of health related services and information via electronic information and telecommunication technologies. The process will allow doctors to test, monitor and treat the patients condition in very little time, making it easier for the peopleSome of the key drivers for global Telemedicine Market includes increasing population, shortage of physicians in rural areas, increasing prevalence of chronic disease and also the rising cost and need for instant services in healthcare. Some of the current trend in global telemedicine market includes rising number of virtual medical centers and emergence of remote clinical enterprises .On the other hand, lack of skilled labor and professional in remote areas and also lack of consumer knowledge about new technologies and its uses are some of the key drivers restraining the market growth.Major Key players: Philips Healthcare (The Netherlands) Medtronic plc (Ireland) SnapMD (U.S.) AMD Telemedicine Technologies (U.S.) GE Healthcare (U.K.) Neosoft (China) Philips Healthcare (Netherland) McKesson Corporation (US) Intel (US), IBM (US) GE Healthcare (UK) Bosch HealthcareRequest a Sample Report @Intended Audience: Global Telemedicine Software Manufacturers & Suppliers Contract Research Organizations (Cros) Research And Development (R&D) Companies Government Research Laboratories Independent Research Laboratories Government And Independent Regulatory Authorities Market Research And Consulting Service Providers Academic Institutes And UniversitiesSegments:The Global Telemedicine Market is segmented on the basis of type of telemedicine, and application. Based on type, the market is segmented into store and forward, remote monitoring and real time interactive services. Further on the basis of application the market is classified into telecardiology, telepsychiatry, teleradiology, telepathology, teledermatology, teleaudiology, teleopthalmology and others.Market.Access Report Details @The market is classified and analyzed on the basis of various segments including geographies, which consist of; Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East and Africa Out of all, Americas accounts for the largest share in the market. Global telemedicine market is also segmented on the basis of type of services as store and forward, remote monitoring and real time interactive, and their application in medical and healthcare industry. Remote monitoring commands the largest market share of global telemedicine market in 2015. Application of telemedicine in cardiology is expected to command the largest share of telemedicine market, by application during the forecast period.Table of Contents1 Introduction1.1 Definition1.2 Scope Of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions & Limitations1.2.2.1 Assumptions1.2.2.2 Limitations1.3 Market Structure:ContinuedList of TablesTable 1 Global Telemedicines Market, By Type, 2013-2022 (Usd Million)Table 2 Global Telemedicines Market, By Application, 2013-2022 (Usd Million)ContinuedList of FiguresFigure 1 Research ProcessFigure 2 Porters Five Forces ModelContinuedAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Global Robotic Process Automation Market Analysis, Automation Applications, Segmentation, Trends, Growth by Forecast to 2022

Global Robotic Process Automation Market

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Market Highlights:RPA or Robotic Process Automation is an application technology where software with capabilities of artificial intelligence and machine learning are used for handling high volume, repeatable tasks. RPA allows an employees to configure and program a computer software or a robot to interpret exiting application in the organization for manipulating data, processing transactions and communicating with digital systems. The RPA is similar to traditional IT automation but the major difference between these technologies is, RPA is capable of learning itself and adapt to changing circumstances which a traditional IT automation system lacks.Robotic Process Automation Market has seen tremendous opportunities in the future, as once the RPA software has been trained, companies will be able to reap the benefits of this software as it has proven to be very effective in back-office tasks and middle-office tasks in various industries. The industries where RPA can be a boon is BFSI, Supply Chain, accounting, CRM and HRM among others.High efficiency with low cost are few of the major driving factor for the market of RPA whereas complex pricing model while implementation and dealing with clients is one of major challenge to the market.The global RPA market is expected to grow at USD 7 billion by the end of year 2022 with 57% of CAGR.Major Key Players: Automation Anywhere (France) Blue Prism (U.K.) OpenSpan (U.S.) Celaton (U.S.) Exilant (India) OpenConnect Systems Incorporated (U.S.) Verint Systems (U.S.) Cognizant (U.S.) Infosys Limited (India) Atos Corporation (France)Request a Sample Report @Segments:The Global market of RPA is segmented on the basis of Organization Size and Industries. By organization size, the market has been segmented into SMEs and large enterprises where by industries the market consist deep study of segments- BFSI, Manufacturing, IT and Retail among others.Intended Audience: Technology Providers Robots Manufacturing Companies Software distributors Software developing companies Banking Industry Research InstitutesMarket Research Analysis:MRFR analysis shows that North America is dominating the market of RPA in the year 2016. High development in the IT industry and growing banking sector is driving the market in North America. Also, presence of developed countries in this region gives North America a competitive advantage over other countries.Europe is expected to stand as second biggest market due to the growing automotive and Healthcare industry in Germany and Italy. Asia-Pacific is expected to emerge as fastest growing market as China, South Korea and Japan are few of the biggest manufacturing driven economies. High demand of consumer electronic products in this region is also pushing the manufacturers to adopt RPA in the process.Browse Full Report Details @Table of Contents1. Executive Summary2. Research Methodology2.1 Scope Of The Study2.1.1 Definition2.1.2 Research Objective2.1.3 Assumptions2.1.4 Limitations2.2 Research Process2.2.1 Primary Research2.2.2 Secondary Research2.3 Market Size Estimation2.4 Forecast ModelContinuedAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
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Swiss-Belhotel International (SBI), a global hotel management company with over three decades of strong track record, has a number of strategic announcements lined up for Arabian Travel Market (ATM) taking place in Dubai from 24 to 27 April, 2017. With over 3500 rooms under development in key markets such as Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain, the group has emerged as a major player in the regions hospitality sector.Mr. Gavin M. Faull, Chairman and President of Swiss-Belhotel International, said, We have more than 17 hotels under development in the Middle East, in addition to our existing properties, and some of these will be officially announced during the ATM. We are pleased to expand our footprint in the region where we have been operating, with great success for over a decade and will soon be adding exciting new destinations.Swiss-Belhotel International currently manages a portfolio of over 145 hotels, resorts and projects in 23 countries and is targeting the Middle East, Africa and India region as a key growth market.Mr Laurent A. Voivenel, Swiss-Belhotel Internationals Senior Vice President, Operations and Development for the Middle East, Africa and India, stressed, With an outstanding portfolio of globally-recognized brands, we have got an aggressive expansion strategy that is aimed at diversifying our offering in the region giving more choice to our guests with new destinations and products. Being a leading travel and tourism exhibition, Arabian Travel Market is a fantastic platform to share the news of our upcoming projects with our trade partners as well as explore and unlock new opportunities. We are truly excited to be there.Visit Swiss-Belhotel InternationalStand HC0300 in Sheikh Saeed Hall, Dubai World Trade CentreAt Arabian Travel Market from 24  27 April, 2017For further information visitFor media contact:Hina BakhtVice PresidentMPJ (Marketing Pro-Junction)Mob: +971 50 697 5146Email: h.bakht@mpj-pr.comAbout Swiss-Belhotel InternationalSwiss-Belhotel International currently manages a portfolio of more than 145* hotels, resorts and projects located in China, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand, Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia. Awarded Indonesia's Leading Global Hotel Chain for six consecutive years, Swiss-Belhotel International is one of the world's fastest-growing international hotel and hospitality management groups. The Group provides comprehensive and highly professional development and management services in all aspects of hotel, resort and serviced residences. Offices are located in Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, Europe, United Arab Emirates, China, Indonesia and Vietnam.*Numbers may fluctuateMPJ - Marketing Pro-Junction is a reputed marketing and communications agency in Dubai offering world-class services. We provide businesses with the most comprehensive and innovative marketing solutions and strategies. We understand the power of integrated marketing and offer our clients holistic up-to-date marketing & communications solutions that are aligned across multiple channels. Technology forms the core of our agency merging digital engineering and analytics with marketing. Advancements in digital technology are reshaping the world and transforming all aspects of business and we optimize it to give you an edge in terms of real-time speed, connectivity and reach.MPJ - Marketing Pro-Junction1110, Yes Business CenterAl Barsha, Dubai, UAEMailing Address:P.O.BOX : 213443Dubai, UAE
Global Wired Gamepad Market 2017 - Logitech, SONY, Microsoft, Razer, Mad Catz, Sabrent, Samsung

http://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/46921/request-sample

https://goo.gl/u54dLm

www.fiormarkets.com

www.9dimenreports.com

Global Wired Gamepad 2017, presents a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Wired Gamepad globally, providing basic overview of Wired Gamepad including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure, Wired Gamepad report provides development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structure.In this report, the global Wired Gamepad market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Download Sample Report @Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Wired Gamepad in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Wired Gamepad market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingLogitechSONYMicrosoftRazerMad CatzThrustmasterBETOP RumbleSpeedlinkSabrentSamsungAccess Full Report With TOC @On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoAndroidWindowsIOSXboxOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Wired Gamepad for each application, includingPCSmartphoneSmart TVAbout Fior MarketsFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Contact UsMark StoneSales Manager2566, Lincoln StreetPrinceton,New Jersey 08540USAPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Sodium Methylate Market Rugged Expansion Foreseen by 2025

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/14953

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/14953

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Global Sodium Methylate Market: IntroductionSodium methylate, also known as sodium methoxide (molecular formula CH3ONa), can be produced by an exothermic reaction between elemental sodium and methanol. Sodium methylate is a white to pale yellow color, odorless solid, obtained in powder form. It is a flammable compound, but not explosive, and it can be decomposed when exposed to high heat. Commercially, sodium methylate is available either in solid or liquid form. Generally, sodium methylate is sold as a 25% to 30% solution in methanol for various applications, such as the production of vitamin A1, B1, trimethoprim, sulfadiazine, and analytical agents, among others. It is also widely used as a catalyst in biodiesel production. Sodium methylate can easily react with oxygen. Hence, it is necessary to avoid the contact of sodium methylate with moisture or water, and air at high temperatures (above 1260C) to avoid its decomposition into sodium hydroxide and methanol. Sodium methylate is highly soluble in alcohols, such as methanol and ethanol, whereas it is insoluble in toluene and benzene. Sodium methylate finds various applications as a catalyst, especially in biodiesel production.A sample of this report is available upon request @Global Sodium Methylate Market: DynamicsThe global sodium methylate market is mainly driven by the increasing demand from various applications, especially in pharmaceutical and agriculture industries, and in the organic synthesis of various products. Rising demand for sodium methylate as a catalyst in applications, such as edible oil processing, grease, and synthetic detergents is further expected to drive growth of the market during the same period. Moreover, sodium methylate market is expected to be driven by anticipated steady growth in biodiesel production where it finds application as a catalyst. Growing demand for biodiesel, coupled with government initiatives in various countries over its blending has in turn resulted in an increase in biodiesel production capacity. This increase in production capacity of biodiesel has led to an increase in the demand for sodium methylate. Besides this, the presence of mercury in sodium methylate solution during its manufacturing leads to contamination of the product and has an effect on the catalytic activity of sodium methylate. Thus, the development of alternative methods with other raw materials in order to avoid mercury presence will help in growth of the global sodium methylate market.Global Sodium Methylate Market: SegmentationOn the basis of type, the global sodium methylate market is segmented into: Solid Liquid (Solution)On the basis of application, the global sodium methylate market is segmented into: Pharmaceutical Agrochemicals Plastics and Polymers Personal Care Analytical Reagent Biodiesel Others (paint and varnish, etc.)Global Sodium Methylate Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, the Asia Pacific (APAC) region dominates the global sodium methylate market. In APAC, China dominates the sodium methylate market with a relatively higher share in both, production and consumption, followed by India and Japan. Growing demand from pharmaceuticals and chemical industries, among others in APAC is expected to help propel the demand for sodium methylate over the forecast period. It is expected that APAC will register a healthy CAGR over the forecast period. North America, followed by Europe is a large market for sodium methylate in terms of consumption.Rising capacity of biodiesel production in the U.S., Germany, the U.K., etc. has resulted in an increase in the demand for sodium methylate in Europe and North America. Furthermore, in Europe, government initiatives to encourage the use of biofuel and reach a 10% mark in terms of consumption in the transportation sector is expected to boost the demand for sodium methylate over the forecast period. North America and Europe are expected to register significant growth over the same time frame. Latin America and the Middle East & Africa region are expected to register slow growth during the forecast period.Global Sodium Methylate Market: Market ParticipantsExamples of some of the market participants in the global sodium methylate market, identified across the value chain are BASF SE, Evonik Industries, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Anhui Jinbang Medicine Chemical Co. Ltd., Zibo Xusheng Chemical Co. Ltd., Dezhou Longteng Chemical Co. Ltd., and Inner Mongolia Lantai Industrial Co. Ltd, among others.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, application, and industry.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Epicor Releases Latest Version of iScala to Support Global Business Growth

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Dubai, United Arab Emirates  April 20, 2017 - Epicor Software Corporation, a global provider of industry-specific enterprise software to promote business growth has announced the general availability of its enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution Epicor iScala. Designed specifically to support small to medium midmarket companies and subsidiaries of larger multi-nationals located in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia, the latest version of iScala features a brand new user interface in addition to new functionality that help companies drive cost efficiencies, take advantage of new global growth opportunities, and protect the business.Many small to medium midmarket companies today have resource constraints and limited budgets, but still need a robust, feature-rich, and flexible enterprise-class solution that will underpin the business and help drive growth. These companies need proven, simple, expandable, and secure solutions that can help them grow by reaching more customers, expanding their product and service portfolio, or expanding into new geographies.Economic volatility, changing regulations, and digital disruption necessitate astute business decisions. Every company, regardless of size or location, needs to continually transform its operations to increase productivity and profitability to stay competitive, said Robert Sinfield, director, product marketing, Epicor Software. iScala is unique in that it delivers one global product set, with support for 36 languages, dedicated multi-national resources, as well as extensive compliance and governance support. This makes global and regional business easy. It helps customers realize cost efficiencies up and down the supply chain, it opens new opportunities for growth, and it helps them protect their business in a risk-filled economy.In use globally for over 20 years, iScala continues to deliver great benefits to customers. Tata Global Beverages Polska Sp Zoo, a subsidiary of Tata Global Beverages Limited that markets Tetley, Vitax, and Flosana tea products as well as syrups under the Vitax brand, is one example.According to the companys IT Manager Robert Hipp the retail environment has seen a great deal of change and consolidation over the past decade. Each year, as new players enter the field, iScala has enabled us to carefully track, analyze, and strategically predict customer buying habits, says Hipp. As a result, weve been able to stay in front of the competition through promotions and tactics that strategically leverage the shelf and sales value of our quality, world-renown brands.Hipp concluded, Our company is well positioned for future growth and taking advantage of new opportunities through our modern trade expertise and ongoing investment in technological enhancements at every state of operation.Epicor Software Corporation drives business growth. We provide flexible, industry-specific software designed around the needs of our manufacturing, distribution, retail, and service industry customers. More than 40 years of experience with our customers unique business processes and operational requirements are built into every solutionin the cloud, hosted, or on premises. With this deep understanding of your industry, Epicor solutions manage complexity, increase efficiency, and free up resources so you can focus on growth. For more information, connect with Epicor or visitVernon SaldanhaProcre8D02-12, Mudon, DubailandDubai, UAEPO BOX: 78835
Industrial Wax Market Plying for Significant Growth During 2017 - 2025

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Global Industrial Wax Market: IntroductionWax is used in a wide range of applications and is an important constituent of variety of industrial products. Wax finds applications in candles, textiles, cosmetics, adhesives, polishes, coatings, rubber compounding, lubricants, medical products, etc. The use of wax is spread over a broad range, from commodity type products to specialty products. For any specific requirement, waxes are processed in order to meet the typical specifications required at consumers end. The market for industrial wax is expected to expand at a moderate CAGR over the forecast period. The demand for petroleum wax is currently at the maturity phase in the product lifecycle and is estimated to decline over the forecast period due to the increased usage of economic and cost efficient synthetic waxes. Moreover, the use of natural waxes, especially in personal care industry and cosmetics is forecasted to remain as an attractive segment over the forecast period.A sample of this report is available upon request @Global Industrial Wax Market: Market DynamicsGlobal Industrial Wax Market: DriversThe global industrial wax market is driven by proliferating demand for industrial wax across various end use industries such as manufacturing: coatings, adhesives, plastic and rubber processing, automotive and electrical & electronics.The increasing demand for organic personal care products are expected to drive the growth of natural waxes in the personal care industry.Global Industrial Wax Market: RestraintsOne of the major factors restraining the growth of the global industrial wax market is the declining use of wax in the packaging industry, owing to the availability of alternatives such as plastics. Limited supply of petroleum wax in the U.S. and Europe, and the legislations prevailing in Europe may lead to the replacement of waxes by other recyclable alternatives.Global Industrial Wax Market: TrendsA noteworthy trend identified across the global industrial wax market is the development of alternative synthetic waxes, which are of lower cost and can be used as a replacement for natural waxes.Global Industrial Wax Market: Market SegmentationThe global industrial wax market can be segmented on the basis of application, product type, end use industry and region.On the basis of application, the global industrial wax market can be segmented as; Candles Wax blends and emulsions Paper converting Coatings Cosmetics Polishes and lubricants Adhesives Food packaging Tire and rubber OthersOn the basis of product type, the industrial wax market can be segmented into; Plant and Animal Wax Petroleum Derived WaxOn the basis of end use industry, the global industrial wax market can be segmented into; Automotive Marine Aerospace Paper and Pulp Industry Packaging Chemical Plastics and rubber product manufacturing Personal care Textile Industry Electrical and electronics OthersGlobal Industrial Wax Market: Regional OutlookAsia Pacific is expected to hold a dominant share in the global industrial wax market and is expected to grow significantly owing to increasing usage in various end use industries in the region. China is projected to hold a significant share in the Asia Pacific industrial wax market. Malaysia and Indonesia are also expected to exhibit significant growth in the industrial wax market due to potential production opportunities of natural palm waxes in the region. North America is estimated to contribute a substantial share in the global industrial wax market. Western Europe is projected to witness moderate growth in the global industrial wax market over the forecast period. Japan will continue to exhibit steady growth in the global industrial wax market. Middle East and Africa will also witness a significant growth, owing to the availability of crude oil for the production of petroleum wax and other synthetic products.Global Industrial Wax Market: Market ParticipantsSome of the examples of market participants in the global industrial wax market identified across the value chain include, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Sasol Limited, International Group, Inc., Royal Dutch Shell Plc., Petroleo Brasileiro SA., CEPSA, Du Pont, Dow Corning Corporation, Croda International, BASF SE, Akzo Nobel N.V. and Westech Wax, among others.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, application, and industry.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Cardiac Catheterization Market Key Players analysis- Boston Scientific Corp., St. Jude Medical, Rose Medical, Abbott, Johnson & Johnson, Teleflex Incorporated, Smiths Medical.

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/972

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/hospital-bed-market-898

Market Scenario:Cardiac catheterization is a method used to analyze and treat cardiovascular conditions. Utilizing the catheter, specialists can then do analytic tests as a feature of a cardiac catheterization. The major factors contributing to the market growth are; is essentially determined by the expanding increase of cardiovascular diseases alongside the expanding interest for insignificant invasive surgeries, increase in prevalence of diabetic population, rise in geriatric population and rising awareness of diabetes.Key Players for Cardiac Catheterization Market: Boston Scientific Corporation (U.S), St. Jude Medical (U.S) , Rose Medical (U.S), Abbott (U.S), Johnson & Johnson (U.S), Teleflex Incorporated (U.s)., Smiths Medical (U.S), Edwards Life Sciences Corporation (U.s), Medtronic Inc (U.S), Dispocard GmbH (Germany), Rochester Medical Corporation (U.S) Coloplast (Denmark).Ask for your specific company profile and country level customization on reportsRequest a Free Sample Copy @Segments:On the basis of types Angiographic Balloon Catheter Arterial Embolectomy Bipolar Pacing Shrouded Pin Hexapolar Balloon Pacing Optical Fiber Scope Semi Flotating Electrode and Others.On the basis of applications Coronary angiogram Right heart catheterization Heart biopsy Balloon angioplasty Valve replacement and others.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread in 115 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Cardiac Catheterization Market Research Report Forecast to 2027"Study Objectives of Cardiac Catheterization Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global Cardiac Catheterization Market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To Analyze the Global Cardiac Catheterization Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the world To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segments by type, by applications and their sub-types. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the marketThe report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.Related ReportGlobal Hospital Bed Market Research Report - Forecast to 2027The global Hospital Bed market is expected to reach USD 5,291.8 million in the forecasted period and is expected to grow at as a CAGR of 4.4%.Know more about this report @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Industrial Global Human Machine Interface Market 2017 To 2022

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https://marketsizeforecasters.com/global-and-chinese-human-machine-interface-hmi-industry-2017-market

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/global-and-chinese-sensor-interface-industry-2017-market

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For overview analysis, the report introduces Human Machine Interface Market basic information including definition, classification, application, industry chain structure, industry overview, policy analysis, and news analysis, etc.The 'Global and Chinese Human Machine Interface Industry, 2012-2022 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Human Machine Interface industry with a focus on the Chinese market. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Human Machine Interface manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry. Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, applications and manufacturing technology. Then, the report explores the international and Chinese major industry players in detail. In this part, the report presents the company profile, product specifications, capacity, production value, and 2012-2017 market shares for each company.Request a sample copy of Human Machine Interface Market Research Report @Through the statistical analysis, the report depicts the global and Chinese total market of Human Machine Interface industry including capacity, production, production value, cost/profit, supply/demand and Chinese import/export. The total market is further divided by company, by country, and by application/type for the competitive landscape analysis. The report then estimates 2017-2022 market development trends of Human Machine Interface industry. Analysis of upstream raw materials, downstream demand, and current market dynamics is also carried out. In the end, the report makes some important proposals for a new project of Human Machine Interface Industry before evaluating its feasibility. Overall, the report provides an in-depth insight of 2012-2022 global and Chinese Human Machine Interface industry covering all important parameters.The listed pricing for this Human Machine Interface Market report starts at $ 3000. Request Discount for Human Machine Interface Market Research Report @Major Points Covers in Table of ContentsChapter Four 2012-2017 Global and Chinese Market of Human Machine Interface4.1 2012-2017 Global Capacity, Production and Production Value of Human Machine Interface Industry4.2 2012-2017 Global Cost and Profit of Human Machine Interface Industry4.3 Market Comparison of Global and Chinese Human Machine Interface Industry4.4 2012-2017 Global and Chinese Supply and Consumption of Human Machine Interface4.5 2012-2017 Chinese Import and Export of Human Machine InterfaceChapter Five Market Status of Human Machine Interface Industry5.1 Market Competition of Human Machine Interface Industry by Company5.2 Market Competition of Human Machine Interface Industry by Country (USA, EU, Japan, Chinese etc.)5.3 Market Analysis of Human Machine Interface Consumption by Application/TypeBrowse full table of contents and data tables For Human Machine Interface Market Report @Related Reports: -Global and Chinese Sensor Interface Industry, 2017 Market Research ReportThe 'Global and Chinese Sensor Interface Industry, 2012-2022 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Sensor Interface industry with a focus on the Chinese market.MarketSizeForecasters.com, a Skyline Market Research LLP brand, is an online aggregator of market research reports. MarketSizeForecasters.com offers a comprehensive collection of full length reports on global and regional markets in 100+ industry verticals. We have partnered with some of the leading business and market research publishing houses and regularly update our online library to offer wide range of reports to our customers.Market size forecastersThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketsizeforecasters.comWebsite:Connect with us: LinkedIn | Twitter
Heparin Market (2016) - Growth With Worldwide Industry Analysis To 2024

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The heparin market in Europe is rather consolidated, with the Sanofi, Aspen, Pfizer, and Leo Pharma accounting for over 65% of the market in 2015. In a new study, Transparency Market Research (TMR) has found that Sanofi is the clear leader in the Europe heparin market, enjoying a 47.5% share in 2015. Increased global sales of Lovenox can be attributed to the companys success.A focus on the expansion of R&D activities, in-licensing and acquisitions, and portfolio management are the key strategies adopted by the market leader, the author of the study finds. In 2015, the company spent over US$5 bn on the research and development of 18 new medicines and vaccines. Companies in the heparin market in Europe are also emphasizing on key BRIC-M countries, developing market-specific innovations, and prioritizing resource allocation.Obtain Report Details @Rise in Incidence of Coagulation and Renal Disorders Spurring Demand for HeparinThe recall of heparin products imported from China in 2008 was a turning point in the heparin market across the globe. The presence of a high level of allergenic substances in heparin products imported from China resulted in over a 100 deaths in the U.S. Tainted supplies were also found in several European countries, forcing the implementation of strict regulations regarding the use of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) produced outside the European Economic Area (EEA).This event spurred the domestic development of crude and API heparin and a number of companies entered the heparin processing business in the years that followed. This has had a significant impact on the growth of the heparin market in Europe, a lead analyst at TMR comments.The heparin market in Europe is also fueled by the growing incidence of coagulation disorders such as venous thromboembolism (VTE). These disorders cause nearly half a million deaths in the region each year, even more than the collective deaths caused by breast and prostate cancer, AIDS, and highway accidents, the author of the study finds.Low-molecular-weight Heparin to Register Remarkable Growth by 2024The opportunity in the Europe heparin market is estimated to be worth US$3.4 bn by 2024, rising from US$2.2 bn in 2015. The market is projected to register a steady CAGR of 5.2% from 2016 to 2024. Among the key product types, low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) accounted for a massive share of close to 80% in 2015, emerging as the leading segment. Generating a revenue of US$2.9 bn by the end of the forecast period, LMWH is also anticipated to post substantial growth, registering a 5.8% CAGR from 2016 to 2024. Unfractionated heparin, on the other hand, will grow at a sluggish pace.Fill The Form To Gain Deeper Insights On This Market @On the basis of end user, hospitals led the heparin market in Europe by value and are also anticipated to expand at the most rapid pace by 2024. By region, Germany contributed majority of the heparin market share in 2015. In addition to Germany, France, Belgium, and Portugal are likely to register the highest growth rates throughout the forecast period.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Paraffin Inhibitors Market to Witness an Outstanding Growth by 2025

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Global Paraffin Inhibitors Market IntroductionParaffin inhibitors are polymers used to prevent the precipitation of paraffin from oil. Crude oil paraffin inhibitors alter the shape and size of wax crystals, thereby keeping them dispersed and preventing them from adhering to the surface. Deposition of paraffin, which happens naturally in crude oil, can pose serious challenges during production, transportation and storage. A number of factors affect the precipitation of paraffin, some of them include temperature, cooling rate of the storage tanks and pipelines, etc. Paraffin inhibitors are essentially the chemicals that prevent the deposition of paraffin in storage tanks and pipelines and prevent paraffin induced blockage. Paraffin inhibitors can be used for different varieties of crude oil. The particles remain dispersed and are flown back into the oil. The wastage, thus, is minimized and the additional waste disposal cost is also saved. Owing to such benefits associated with them, the market for paraffin inhibitors is anticipated to expand at a sustainable CAGR over the forecast period of 20172027.A sample of this report is available upon request @Global Paraffin Inhibitors Market DynamicsThere is an increasing need to improve the flow of crude oil flow preventing blockages and reducing the wastage of oil caused due to deposition of paraffin from oil and this is one of the prime factors driving the paraffin inhibitors market. Moreover, the downtime for the flow of oil can also be reduced with the help of these inhibitors. With increase in oil exploration and production activities worldwide, the global paraffin inhibitors market is foreseen to remain lucrative over the span of next ten years. The use of paraffin inhibitors has led to decrease in energy costs and has also managed to reduce the wear and tear of equipment. Moreover, paraffin inhibitors also prevent the deposition of sludge at the bottom of the tank. Thus, the use of paraffin inhibitors reduces operational issues and maximizes hydrocarbon production. All of these factors are expected to affect the market positively in years to come.The time of application of paraffin inhibitors plays a very crucial role. If paraffin inhibitors are added before the oil is cooled to a particular temperature, the paraffin inhibitors induce the formation of agglomerates as the stability of the colloidal solution is disturbed. Thus, proper management of technicalities and complexities associated with their application is needed to be taken care of for the effective use of paraffin inhibitors. The manufacturers have managed to develop such paraffin inhibitors that can work at low temperature conditions such as subsea umbilical and cold climates. Efforts are being made to produce such paraffin inhibitors that can prevent deposition under extreme environmental conditions.Global Paraffin Inhibitors Market SegmentationThe global market for paraffin inhibitors can be segmented on the basis of application and region.On the basis of application, the global paraffin inhibitors market can be segmented into: Exploration and drilling Storage Transportation (Pipelines)Global Paraffin Inhibitors Market Regional OutlookNorth America holds a significant share in the global paraffin inhibitors market and is anticipated to remain dominant over the forecast period, 2017-2027. This can be attributed to increasing technological advancements and development of unconventional methods for the production of oil which has shown rising demand for paraffin inhibitors. Western Europe also holds a significant share in the global paraffin inhibitors market. Asia Pacific and Japan are also anticipated to represent good signs of growth over the forecast period. Awareness about the product benefits is expected to play a crucial role in the market development in the region. Middle East and Africa is expected to expand at a significant CAGR owing to the large oil and petrochemical base industries in the region.Global Paraffin Inhibitors Market ParticipantsSome of the market participants identified across the value chain of the global paraffin inhibitors market are: BASF SE, NALCO, Halliburton, Evonik Industries AG, Croda International Plc, Schlumberger Limited, Baker Hughes Incorporated, GE Corporation, Clariant, AkzoNobel N.V, Zirax Limited, Refinery Specialties, Inc., Dorf ketal Chemicals, etc.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, application, and industry.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Polishing/Lapping Film Market Set to Witness an Uptick during 2017 - 2025

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Polishing / Lapping Film is a polyester based sheet powder covered with precisely graded minerals such as Aluminium oxide, silicon oxide, cerium oxide, silicon carbide or diamond. Lapping film is a precision coated abrasive consumable commonly used for processing and polishing optical fiber connectors. Polishing / Lapping Films are mostly used in finishing and polishing hard-to-grind materials such as ceramics, carbide, exotic alloys , hardened metals, composites and others. Lapping and Polishing Films are used for micro finishing and polishing whenever close tolerances are required. Substrates which are used in Polishing / Lapping Films are Glass, metal and plastic.A sample of this report is available upon request @Polishing / Lapping Film are commonly used in electronic components, fiber optic connectors, precision instruments, medical devices, hard disk drive, waveguides, micromotors, displays, mobile handheld case, finishing and repair, glass cleaning and repair, glass edge polish and others. Polishing / Lapping Film provide features such as elimination of traverse and chatter marks which helps in reducing rejects and reworks, can change grades in less than a minute, saves downtime on multiple grade sequences, superior durability, higher cut rate, fine finishes, achieve finer finishes, micro replicated abrasives and others. Due to its versatile features and vast usage, Polishing / Lapping Film market is expected to witness an escalating demand among the industries.Polishing / Lapping Film: Market DynamicsPolishing / Lapping Film market is drove because of the increasing usage in the electronics industry. Manufacturing companies are focusing on providing films which give high-quality finish on flat or cylindrical surfaces by using conventional methods such as bonded wheels or slurries and honing stones which is disorganized and time-consuming. With the new film backed abrasive technology, it can accomplish consistency, predictable finish tolerances in a faster and easier way to increase the productivity and reduce prices. Most of the manufacturers of Polishing / Lapping Film are located in China and South Asian countries which are exporting Polishing / Lapping Film to North America, Europe and other regions.However, Polishing / Lapping Film is slow and time-consuming for technicians performing the polish. The polishing also needs to stop several times during processing to safeguard the target layer. Also, if Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) is used to remove the oxide layer in aggregation with the polishing of the metal layer to help maintain the item planar, the process is lightened.Polishing / Lapping Film: Market SegmentationPolishing / Lapping Film market can be segmented on the basis of types, which include: Stretch film Metallized film Adhesive film Shrink FilmPolishing / Lapping Film market can be segmented on the basis of type of raw material, which include: Polyamide Poly Vinyl Chloride LLDPE PE Laminated MaterialsPolishing / Lapping Film market can be segmented on the basis of type of usage, which include: Packaging film Food and medicine film Cling film Others (Photovoltaic film, shipping labels, etc.)Polishing / Lapping Film market can be segmented on the basis of types which include stretch film, metallized film, adhesive film and shrink film. Polishing / Lapping Film market can be segmented on the basis of raw materials which includes polyamide, poly vinyl chloride, LLDPE, PE and laminated materials. Polishing / Lapping Film market can also be segmented on the basis of usage which includes packaging film, food and medicine film, cling film and others (photovoltaic film, shipping labels, etc.)Polishing / Lapping Film: Regional OutlookRegional coverage for Polishing / Lapping Film market includes North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Japan. Polishing / Lapping Film market will witnesses a high demand in APEJ because of the high investments in the region and its manufacturing units. Market in India and China is still at growth stage which will fuel the market for next ten years in the region.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Polishing / Lapping Film: Market PlayersThe market players in Polishing / Lapping Film market are 3M Electronics, Henan Union Abrasives Corp., Haining Fusen Tape Co., Ltd., Nantong Huaao Plastic Co., Ltd., Futamura Chemical Co., Ltd., Lee Valley Tools, Precision Fiber Products, Inc., Fiber Instruments Sales Inc., Kemet International Ltd. and many more.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Vacuum Assist Biopsy System Market To Observe Strong Development By 2024

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In a Biopsy procedure tissue samples are taken for study and diagnosis of the suspicious lesions in the for cytology or histopathology studies. Breast biopsies are done through various techniques like Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy, Core Needle Biopsy and Surgical Biopsies. Among which Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsies are the conventional ones. In case of Core Needle Biopsies tissue samples are collected through the core of the needle, this technique is currently used at many places. Vacuum Assist Biopsy is a type of core needle biopsy which uses Vacuum for collection of tissue sample. In Vacuum Assisted Biopsy the needle is introduced percutaneous to the lesion sight either by stereotactic or image assisted (Ultrasound or MRI) approach. Due to the clinical advantages of this technique for the sampling of nodular lesions, better samples combined with least procedure time, non-invasive, less scaring for patient Vacuum Assist Biopsy is gaining acceptance among the physicians. In this procedure the probe / core needle is inserted through skin under image assistance or stereotactic guidance to the lesion.Obtain Report Details @One it reaches the lesion vacuum is applied which draws the lesion / tissue inside the core, after which the cutting device cuts it from the breast tissue by rotation. By repeating these steps multiple tissue samples could be collected. On required sample collection, radiologist / physician can take out the probe/needle and a small bandage can be placed on the insertion site. This procedure doesnt need a sterile setup and is performed under local anesthesia. Due to the availability of large core probes/needles these systems are finding the place in removal of small benign lumps and resection of palpable or non-palpable breast lesions.Global Market for Vacuum Assist Biopsy Systems can be segmented based on the technique used for Guiding or Positioning Technique, End User and Geography:Segmentation based on Guiding Technique Stereotactic Vacuum Assist Biopsy System Image Guided Vacuum Assist Biopsy SystemSegmentation Based on End User Hospitals Clinics Diagnostic CentersPositioning and guiding of the probe / needle is the critical stage in any biopsy technique and for Vacuum Assist Biopsy it needs a skillful user. Based on the guiding technique these can be categorized into Stereotactic Vacuum Assist Biopsy Systems and Image Guided Vacuum Assist Biopsy System. For Stereotactic systems mammography is used as a reference for positioning the probe whereas image guided systems could be based on Ultrasound imaging or MRI. Among them Ultrasound guided systems are getting widely used and are having large acceptance in future. Due to some limitations like short availability of the procedure period window, difficulty in accessing the far lesions MRI guided systems got set back but with new developments they are getting acceptance for specialized procedures which are not possible with stereotactic and US guided techniques.As this procedure is non-invasive and is undertaken with local anesthesia, it doesnt need a complete sterile environment and so can be done in mini operating rooms or physicians office where the MRI Guided Vacuum Assist Biopsy System is a limitation. Due to the shorter procedure time and less complications involved these procedures are done on day care basis also. Based on the End Users the market can be segmented into Hospitals, Clinics and Diagnostic Centers.Fill The Form To Gain Deeper Insights On This Market @On the basis of regional presence, global Vacuum Assist Biopsy Systems market is segmented into five key regions viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Breast Cancer counts 25% of the lethal cancers female population face and overall it contributes to around 12% of the cancer cases in a year globally. In America it is estimated that around 12% of the female population with have the breast cancer in their lifetime. In UK and Belgium around 15% of breast cancer cased are diagnosed every year. As per studies females of age more than 45 Years are susceptible to breast cancer or some breast disease. Asia Pacific region comprising countries like Indian and Chine are among the most potential markets after North America and Europe due to growing population with mid or old age and rising awareness for healthcare.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Near Vision Devices Market (2016) : Key Trends, Challenges And Standardization 2024

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Near vision devices are implantable devices used for near vision correction in patients who didnt had cataract surgery. The device blocks unfocused light rays from entering the eye to improve patients near vision. These devices resemble the contact lenses and are made from hydrogel material. The device is implanted on a cornea of one eye to improve near vision in patients with presbyopia. Many of the surgeons use a laser to make a lappet on a cornea in order to implant near vision device. Presbyopia occurs in people aged between 40 to 50 years that results in difficulty with near vision. The growing prevalence of presbyopia has propelled the use of near vision devices owing to the ease of usage and effectiveness compared to cataract surgery. According to Medscape, around 14% of people of 80 million presbyopia patients develops from emmetropic presbyopia.Obtain Report Details @Currently, there are only two near vision devices are approved by FDA i.e. Raindrop Near Vision Inlay and KAMRA inlay. AcuFocus manufactured Kamra Inlay was the first implantable near vision device approved by FDA in April 2015. Now the devices are commercially available in around 50 countries across the globe. Similar, ReVision Optics manufactured Raindrop Near Vision Inlay was approved in June 2016 and is commercially available in the U.S. Apart from these two; there are many vision care products manufacturers looking forward to develop implantable near vision devices. For example, Presbia PLC, an Ireland-based manufacturer has designed innovative corneal inlay i.e. flexivue microlens for the correction of presbyopia. The specialty of this devices is that it can be removed and replaced with a higher or lower power according to requirement. The devices did not receive FDA approval; however, it received CE mark for commercialization in European countries.The growth of the global near vision devices market is driven by increasing geriatric population prone to ophthalmic disease, growing prevalence of presbyopia and technological advancement in the healthcare industry. Similarly, sedentary lifestyle and increased usage of computer, television viewing would contribute towards the growth of near vision devices globally. Moreover, with the increase in the disposable income levels and health consciousness among the general population, the adoption of near vision device is expected the boost in the near future. Despite several advantages, the devices have few drawback such as, it cannot be used by patients with severe dry eye and active eye infection, the use of devices can lead to a risk of eye infection and inflammation, and can cause a decrease in distance vision.The global near vision devices market can be segmented based on end user and geography:By End User: Hospitals Ophthalmic ClinicsBy Geography: North America Latin America Europe Asia-Pacific MEAFill The Form To Gain Deeper Insights On This Market @Geographically, North America occupies the substantially larger market share, which is followed by Europe. The high attentiveness level in this region will lead the increasing adoption of implantable near vision devices. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, one of 5 American use reading glasses, which depicts the huge need for implantable near vision devices in North America. Moreover, it has been estimated that around 2.1 billion people are expected to suffer from an eye disease known as presbyopic by 2020. However, in the case of emerging economies, affordability has become a restraining factor for implantable near vision devices in, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Similarly, increase in disposable income, rising aging population, and growing awareness level are some of the key factors driving the global implantable near vision devices market. The Asian market is expected to witness entry of the higher number of new players compared to those in developed regions. Some of the top players in the global near vision devices market are AcuFocus, Presbia PLC, ReVision Optics, etc.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Acrylic Nail Art Designs you really want

Cool Nail Art Design

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Acrylic nail art designs are very much in demand nowadays then no matter one want nail art design for special occasion such as Christmas nail art design or valentine nail art design, acrylic nail art designs has liked by many women of all ages.Acrylic nail art designs are not only easy to do nail art designs at home but also can transform one simple and easy nail art design into stylish yet attractive nail art design.Even many beauty stores provide acrylic nail paints of different colors though acrylic nail paints are cheap thus anyone can afford acrylic nail art designs. One of the easiest ways to play with acrylic nail art designs is to use toothpick and make dots of different colors.But make sure you have chosen light color or transparent base coat and once you are done with acrylic nail art design give a finishing coat or topcoat again with transparent colors so that acrylic nail art design can remain for longer. To experiment more with acrylic nail art designs here are some tips.Nail Art Ideas Acrylic Nail art designsBlack Flower Pearl Design: This is the most promising nail art design, especially when one suppose to wear black dress. Using pearl enamel paint, and applying black paint at the edges or using dark base coat makes one of the easiest yet attractive acrylic nail art designs.View more here:Animals on Nails: making resemblance of animals or their skin such as giraffe, cat, tiger and then creating a nail art design is the part of animals theme of acrylic nail art design.Seasons as a Nail Design Theme: creation of caps, snow, clouds, rain droplets, rainbow are some the most attractive themes of seasons acrylic nail art designs.Cool shapes on Nails: using different colors scheme such as blue base of acrylic paint, and white detailing is some of the cool shapes on nails that can be done with acrylic nail art design. However, Food On Your Nails, Striped Nail Designs for Kids, Music on Nails, Diagonally Split Colors are other themes of acrylic nail art designs.We provide useful information, pictures and videos on nail art designs!Cheryl AdamsWashington Street, no. 8, Detroit, USAWEBSITE:
Global Outlook for Bipolar Disorder Market By Key Trends and Analysis 2025

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Bipolar disorder, commonly known as manic depression, is a type of mental illness which is characterized by mood swings. Mood episodes are of two types: manic and depressive episodes. The changes in the mental state bring out sudden high or low moods in a person. An individual suffering from bipolar disorder can be happy, joyful, and energized at a particular moment and can also be sad, hopeless, and sluggish at the next moment. This mental illness is termed as bipolar disorder due to these different moods or two poles of mood. Through many research activities, it is observed that certain genes are responsible for the development of bipolar disorder. Individuals with a family history of bipolar disorder are most likely to develop the illness. These kind of mood episodes can hamper the image of an individual at a school or at a job or even in the society.Obtain Report Details @Increase in awareness about diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder and unmet needs in the treatment of the disorder are the major drivers for the growth of the market. Increasing acceptance of society regarding mental illness is encouraging individuals to get treated. In addition, growth in technological advancement in identifying genetic disorders and increase in treatment options for genetic disorders are major drivers of the market growth. Government initiatives such as launch of Bipolar Disorder Phenome Database, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), provide complete information regarding signs and symptoms of the illness. This factor has further contributed to the growth of the market. However, factors such as stringent regulatory frameworks, side effects of anticonvulsants, and limited number of approved anticonvulsants hamper the growth of the market.The global bipolar disorder market is segmented based on types of bipolar disorder, drug class, mechanism of action, and geography. Based on types of bipolar disorder, the market is classified into bipolar I disorder, which is mania or mixed episode; bipolar II disorder, which is hypomania and depression; and cyclothymia, which is hypomania and mild depression. According to drug class, the market is segmented into mood stabilizers, anticonvulsants, antipsychotics, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety drugs. In terms of mechanism of action, the market is segmented into selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, benzodiazepines, beta blockers, and others.Geographically, the global bipolar market is distributed over North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America dominates the global bipolar disorder market due to increased awareness and larger availability of treatment options. In the region, the U.S. has a significant market share in terms of revenue, followed by Canada. Europe is the second leading region, contributing to the growth of the market in terms of revenue, with the U.K. and Germany having major share of the market. Asia Pacific is a highly potential market with emerging countries such as India and China. The market in the region is expected to expand at a high CAGR during the forecast period. Increase in awareness about the disease in countries such as India is likely to boost the growth of the market. Latin America and Middle East & Africa are expected to contribute highly to the growth of the market due to improving economy and rising awareness about the mental illness.Key players operating in the global bipolar disorder market include Abbott Laboratories, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca plc, Eli Lilly and Company, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Merck & Co., Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer Inc., Cephalon Inc., Gedeon Richter plc, H. Lundbeck A/S, Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc., Repligen Corporation, and Validus Pharmaceuticals LLC.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog:
Global Pain Drug Delivery Market to Perceive Substantial Growth by 2022

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Pain drug delivery system is an effective therapy for managing pain, whether it be a chronic nonmalignant pain, a cancer pain, or a spasticity. Medications usually circulate throughout the body in bloodstream, whereas pain drug delivery systems releases medication directly into the fluid surrounding the spinal cord, which leads to fewer drug side effects. Pain drug delivery systems help lessen chronic pain caused by failed back surgery syndrome, cancer pain, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, causalgia, arachnoiditis, and chronic pancreatitis. Such drug delivery systems used for pain management also helps reduce the spasticity caused by cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, stroke, brain injury and spinal cord injury among others. Pain drug delivery systems do not eliminate the source of pain or cure any underlying disease, but help to manage the pain.A sample of this report is available upon request @According to the British journal of anesthesia, prevalence of chronic pain is higher for instance, 10.1%-55.2% of the population in 2010. In U.S., about 30% of the population is suffering from chronic or recurring pain. Approximately, two-third of the population experience chronic pain for more than 5 years. In U.S., the cost of chronic pain is approximately US$100 billion a year. Growing prevalence of various types of cancers is a major factor driving the market. For instance, there were an estimated 14.1 million cancer cases around the world in 2012. As per WHO statistics, this number is expected to increase to 24 million by 2035. Also rising geriatric population, increasing prevalence of diseases such as osteoarthritis, diabetic neuropathy and chronic arthritis, moreover increasing healthcare expenditure and disposable income are some of the key factors driving the growth for the global pain drug delivery market.The opportunities for the market growth includes agreements and collaborations of drug delivery system manufacturers with pharmaceutical companies. This will help in the growth of the drug delivery manufacturers, by assisting the pharmaceutical companies with their manufacturing processes, innovative technologies, new drug development, and regulatory procedures. However, product recalls of drug delivery systems is one of the major restraint for this market which will in-turn affect the R&D expenditure for development of such products. Considering the technological trends, targeted drug delivery technologies based on loaded nano-carriers (nano-shells or nanoparticles) are also attracting interest, which will ultimately lead to the growth of the market.The global pain drug delivery market is segmented based on technology, application and geography. By technology the global, market of pain drug delivery is segmented into transdermal drug delivery system and intrathecal drug delivery systems among others. By application, the global pain drug delivery market is categorized into oncology, neurological disorders, pulmonary diseases, and hormonal disorders among others. Oncology projected a higher growth rate. For instance, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the incidence of cancer based on projections, will be greater than15 million in 2020.By geography, the global pain drug delivery market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), the Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Latin America. North America dominated the global pain drug delivery market due to growing geriatric population and regulatory and healthcare reforms like the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. For instance, the population aged 65 and over is projected to be 83.7 million in 2050, which is twice that estimated in 2012. Moreover, presence of advanced healthcare infrastructures, reimbursement policies and adoption of innovative products are also driving the market in North America. Asia Pacific is expected to expand in the coming years due to the large patient pool, increasing R&D investment, rising healthcare expenditure along with government funding and initiatives, increase in disposable income, and the rising prevalence of chronic diseases.Request to View Tables of Content @Some of the key players in the global pain drug delivery market are Medtronic, Flowonix Medical Inc., Aveva Drug Delivery Systems, Prosolus Pharmaceuticals, 3M, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Teleradiology Market Research Report Forecast to 2023

Teleradiology Market

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The highly fragmented market for teleradiology features the presence of a large number of regional players, with the exception of some large companies with international presence, such as vRad, Inc., Radiology Reporting Online, and USA Rad. North America and Europe, the regions with some of the largest vendors in the global teleradiology market, will be the key enablers of teleradiology practices across the world and play a central role in the overall development of the global market, notes a recent report by Transparency Market Research (TMR).Acquisitions of small, regional players, and long-term contracts with remotely located community hospitals and other healthcare service providers, especially across emerging markets such as Asia Pacific and Latin America, will allow teleradiology companies to expand their global footprint. Although less in number than in the European market, teleradiology companies in North America will contribute the largest share in the overall revenues of the global teleradiology market from 2015 through 2023, thanks to their global presence.Read Full Report:The vast improvement in telecommunication networks, enhanced data transfer speeds, and improved digital infrastructure of remote parts of the world has revolutionized the global teleradiology market in the past few years. In the next few years as well, developments across the data transmission field will be prove to be a major driver of the global teleradiology market, allowing its evolution from an ancillary radiology discipline to a mainstream practice.Radiology is a cost-intensive diagnostic modality owing to the high prices of the technologically advanced medical imaging machines central to the field. This factor, in combination with the factor of unavailability of broadband networks in urban dwellings has remained one of the toughest challenges for the teleradiology market in the past years. However, substantial rise in healthcare expenditures and widened broadband networks in the past few years have enabled the widespread expansion of teleradiology practices on a global front. These factors have especially allowed the teleradiology market in extending its reach to emerging economies such as Latin America and Asia Pacific, considered to be the regional markets with the most lucrative growth opportunities.Download exclusive Sample of this report:North America is currently the leading regional market for teleradiology and is expected to provide considerable growth opportunities over the next few years as well. The market in the region will be driven by the digitally advanced healthcare infrastructures, integration of teleradiology services in the workflow of a vast number of medical imaging service providers, and high healthcare awareness among the population. The rising prevalence of a number of cancers in the region has also led to an increased need for effective teleradiology services in the region.Nevertheless, Asia Pacific will provide the most lucrative growth opportunities for the global teleradiology market in the coming years. Factors fueling demand for teleradiology services in the region will be the rising expenditure on health and wellbeing, improving healthcare infrastructure, and widening network of high-speed broadband services.The global teleradiology market is expected to expand at a favorable 11.3% CAGR over the period between 2015 and 2023, and rise from a valuation of US$1,354.6 mn in 2014 to US$3,632.6 mn in 2023.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Industry 2016 Overview, Analysis and Market Development - AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Market Size, Status and Forecast 2021" to its huge collection of research reports.This examination looks at the United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials market in a persistent way by explaining the main features of the market that are relied upon to hold a sizeable impact on its improvements over the given time frame. The key drivers of the market's development, restrictions, and patterns affecting the United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials market are surveyed in extraordinary detail, notwithstanding a subjective and quantitative examination relating to the anticipated effect of these elements on its development prospects sooner rather than later.The vast volumes of data on the Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials by and large makes it an intense undertaking to take it down to the exceptionally significant bits of data and the genuine bits applicable to the present business issues in the market. Many organizations are additionally known to not have the fundamental committed assets and aptitude for taking up an illustrative statistical surveying in view of recorded information. Centered statistical surveying procedures can help these associations in framing clearer thoughts on their business systems and gather significant stakes in the market.Get sample report @A sweeping volume of information concerning the basic components of the Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials that can impact its extent of development is given in the report. The report in this manner makes for an exceptionally useful review and can successfully permit organizations and their leads in tending to the main difficulties that  as of now  control the market, and deliberately increase greatest conceivable advantages inside the profoundly focused market scene.The report likewise gives data on the current improvements in items and innovations as currently visible in the market, alongside an examination of the general impact that these progressions may have on any future advancements. The report likewise offers its clients a 360-degree examination of the competitive situation in the Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials. This is legitimate for organizations of all sizes and development levels inside the worldwide Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials market and helps different associations get a handle on the main dangers and openings that sellers regularly need to manage.Browse full table of contents and data tables of Report @Table of ContentUnited States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Market Size, Status and Forecast 20211 Industry Overview of Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials1.1 Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Market Overview1.1.1 Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Market by End Users/Application1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.3.3 Application 32 United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Market Size (Value) by Players (2015-2016)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 Bristol-Myers Squibb3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 AstraZeneca3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Eli Lilly3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 Roche3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 GSK3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.5.5 Recent Developments3.6 Novartis3.6.1 Company Profile3.6.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.6.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.6.4 Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.6.5 Recent Developments3.7 Pfizer3.7.1 Company Profile3.7.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.7.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.7.4 Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.7.5 Recent Developments3.8 Sanofi3.8.1 Company Profile3.8.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.8.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.8.4 Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.8.5 Recent Developments3.9 Bayer3.9.1 Company Profile3.9.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.9.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.9.4 Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.9.5 Recent Developments3.10 Celgene3.10.1 Company Profile3.10.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.10.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.10.4 Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.10.5 Recent Developments4 United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Market Size by Application (2011-2016)4.1 United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Market Size by Application (2011-2016)4.2 Potential Application of Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials in Future4.3 Top Consumer/End Users of Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials5 United States Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Development Status and Outlook5.1 United States Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Market Size (2011-2016)5.2 United States Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Market Size and Market Share by Players (2015-2016)6 EU Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Development Status and Outlook6.1 EU Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Market Size (2011-2016)6.2 EU Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Market Size and Market Share by Players (2015-2016)7 Japan Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Development Status and Outlook7.1 Japan Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Market Size (2011-2016)7.2 Japan Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Market Size and Market Share by Players (2015-2016)8 China Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Development Status and Outlook8.1 China Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Market Size (2011-2016)8.2 China Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Trials Market Size and Market Share by Players (2015-2016)About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Global Oil Shale Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2022

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Oil Shale Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2014 - 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.This research study analyzes the market for oil shale in terms of revenue (USD Million) and volume (Million Barrels). The global oil shale market has been segmented on the basis of geography, process (ex-situ and in-situ), and application. For the research, 2013 has been taken as the base year, while all forecasts have been given for the 20142022 period. Market data for all the segments has been provided at the regional as well as country-specific level for the 20132022 period (Countries that are supposed to achieve commercial production before 2022 are only included). The report provides the market numbers for only North America (U.S.), Asia Pacific (China and Australia), Latin America (Brazil), Middle East and Africa (Morocco and Jordan) and describes the possibilities of shale oil commercialization in other countries such as Canada, Russia, and Serbia. Only the U.S., Jordan, Australia and Morocco are expected to achieve commercial production of shale oil from oil shale within the forecast period. The report provides a comprehensive competitive landscape and features companies engaged in the oil shale industry.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report includes the key market dynamics affecting the overall oil shale industry. It also provides a detailed industry analysis of the global oil shale market with the help of Porters Five Forces model. The Porters Five Forces analysis aids in understanding the five major forces that affect the industry structure and profitability of the global oil shale market. The forces analyzed are the bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat from new entrants, threat from substitutes, and degree of competition. The high-level analysis in the report provides detailed insights into the global oil shale business globally. Major drivers, restraints, and opportunities of the oil shale market were analyzed in detail and are illustrated in the report with the help of supporting graphs and tables. There are currently numerous drivers for the oil shale industry. One of the most prominent drivers is the need for energy security in various nations. Market attractiveness analysis was carried out for the oil shale market on the basis of geography. Market attractiveness was estimated on the basis of common parameters that directly impact the market in different regions.The oil shale market was further segmented on the basis of process into in-situ and ex-situ. The revenue realization for process is done by multiplying the shale oil produced with forecasted crude oil prices. The application analysis chapter divides the global market into three broad segments: electricity, non-upgraded products, and upgraded products. The classification into non-upgraded and upgraded products is done to provide exact picture of the global oil shale market. The non-upgraded products represent the oil suitable for marine and heating applications, while the upgraded segment deals with fuels such as kerosene, jet fuel, and diesel that are formed after upgrading. The electricity application revenue (USD Million) and volume (MWh) are calculated separately. Key market participants in the oil shale market include Red Leaf Resources Inc., Eesti Energia AS, BNK Petroleum Inc., Chevron Corporation, Fushun Mining Group Co., Ltd., Jordan Oil Shale Company B.V., Questerre Energy Corporation, Queensland Energy Resources Ltd, Global Oil Shale Group Limited, Viru Keemia Grupp, and Exxon Mobil Corporation. The report provides an overview of these companies, followed by their financial details (on availability), business strategies, and recent developments.The global oil shale market is segmented as follows:Global Oil Shale Market: Process Analysis- In-Situ- Ex-SituGlobal Oil Shale Market: Application Analysis- Electricity- Non-upgraded- UpgradedGlobal Oil Shale Market: Regional Analysis- North America- U.S.- Europe- Estonia- Asia Pacific- China- Australia- Middle East & Africa- Jordan- Morocco- Latin America- BrazilMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Global Spectrophotometers Market to Observe Strong Development by 2022

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Spectrophotometers are the instruments that send an electromagnetic radiation into the target and measure the resulting interaction of the energy and the target. Spectrometry is a quantitative technique which is used for determination of compounds by measurement of the radiations emitted by an object within a specified electromagnetic spectrum or wavelength. Spectrometry Plays the very important role in the chemical analytical industry and Life sciences. Spectrophotometry has a wide range of applications such as Pharmaceutical applications, Food and beverages testing, Biotechnological Testing. Atomic spectrometers generally provide information about the elemental composition of samples based on the emission of lights and their wavelength determines the characteristics of elements present in that sample. Mass spectrometry plays a pivotal role in the drug discovery and determining unknown compounds, the isotopic composition in of elements in a molecule and determine the structure of the compound.A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @Spectrophotometry has used in the majority of laboratories for detection of chemicals. The majority of clinical chemistry procedures have been developed to a color end product. Which can be detected to and measured by a photometer Increasing demand for drug discovery and development and bimolecular analysis from life science industry is boosting Spectrometry market. Innovation in spectrometry applications such as environmental and Space applications such as not only the understanding solar system but also helped to land a man safely in space are creating demand for spectrometry. Research and Development in pharmaceutical and the biotechnological sector are also a great driver of the market. Increasing applications of spectrometry devices in toxicology and proteomics and disease marker is contributing a wide range of growth in global spectrophotometer market. Spectrophotometers are highly expensive and lack of skilled professionals are the restraints of spectrometry market.Spectrophotometers are having the wide range of applications in various categories such as Pharmaceutical drug discovery, Chemical Analysis, Biotechnological Applications. Nowadays these spectrometry has created innovative applications in space. So these Global Spectrometry market has a tremendous growth rate in the forecasting period.Depending upon the geographic regions spectrophotometer market is segmented into five key regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. Advanced regions like North America and Europe are having high market share due to significant spending power and technological advancement and widening applications in various segments will contribute good market. Asia Pacific countries are anticipated to witness lucrative growth rate in spectrophotometers market.Request to View Tables of Content @Some of the key players in spectrophotometers market are Agilent Technologies, Bruker Corporation, Perkin Elmer, Inc. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Danher, Inc. Water Corporation, Shimadzu Corporation, Bio-Rad Corporation and others.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Global 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Market 2017 Industry Trends, Growth, Analysis and Overview: QYResearchReports

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The 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture has been expressively dissected in this statistical surveying that has been added to our frequently growing industry knowledge arrangement. The archive takes after an arrangement that gives a careful and scientific diagram of the 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture and moreover inspects the main sections, compelling components, and market components that administer the development rate of the market and its competitive and regional scenes.The report offers to its clients an all-encompassing 360-degree point of view of the 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture from the back to front, starting with the core values of the mechanical components, then proceeding onward to the examination of information on the different perspectives including as industry chain structure, groupings, industry diagram, arrangements, applications, and late advancements.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The data offered in the report has been accumulated through the assistance of various essential and auxiliary research strategies. Quantitative and subjective information appraisal for key market sections on the regional and the aggregate worldwide front have also been given in the report. The gigantic archives of information that have been sifted through by industry-best investigative techniques will give to the user the points of interest that matter the most.The report also gives a portrayal of the administrative situation of the 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture and gives points of interest relating to the more prominent arrangements, approaches, controls, and decides in that effect the numerous business related choices in the market. A point by point outline of the competitive scene of the 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture has additionally been given in the report, wherein itemized business profiles, SWOT examination, and numerous different insights about a portion of the real sellers in the market are incorporated.For more information on this report, fill the form @Table of ContentsGlobal 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture1.1 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Market Overview1.1.1 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Market by Type1.3.1 Scaffold Free1.3.2 Scaffold Based1.4 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Research Laboratories and Institutes1.4.2 Diagnostic Centers1.4.3 Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries1.4.4 Others2 Global 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Competition Analysis by Players2.1 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Market Size (Value) by Players (2016 and 2017)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 UPM Global3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 AMS Biotechnology (Europe) Limited3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 3D Biotek LLC3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 3D Biomatrix, Inc3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 Becton3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.5.5 Recent Developments3.6 Dickinson and Company3.6.1 Company Profile3.6.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.6.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.6.4 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.6.5 Recent Developments3.7 Corning Inc.3.7.1 Company Profile3.7.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.7.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.7.4 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.7.5 Recent Developments3.8 Global Cell Solutions, Inc.3.8.1 Company Profile3.8.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.8.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.8.4 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.8.5 Recent Developments3.9 InSphero AG3.9.1 Company Profile3.9.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.9.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.9.4 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.9.5 Recent Developments3.10 Lonza Group AG3.10.1 Company Profile3.10.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.10.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.10.4 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.10.5 Recent Developments3.11 Nanofiber Solutions LLC3.12 Boca Scientific, Inc3.13 Esi Bio3.14 Reinnervate Limited3.15 Sigma-Aldrich Corp3.16 Ferentis3.17 Tecan Trading AG3.18 Cellendes GmbH3.19 Cosmo Bio USA, Inc3.20 Thermo Fisher Scientific3.21 VWR International LLC4 Global 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Market Size by Type and Application (2012-2017)4.1 Global 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Market Size by Type (2012-2017)4.2 Global 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Market Size by Application (2012-2017)4.3 Potential Application of 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture in Future4.4 Top Consumer/End Users of 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture5 United States 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Development Status and Outlook5.1 United States 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Market Size (2012-2017)5.2 United States 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)6 EU 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Development Status and Outlook6.1 EU 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Market Size (2012-2017)6.2 EU 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)7 Japan 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Development Status and Outlook7.1 Japan 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Market Size (2012-2017)7.2 Japan 3D Hydrogels for Cell Culture Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Global Digestible Medical Sensors Market to Expand with Significant CAGR During 2016 to 2022

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Digestible Medical Sensor helps the doctor/caregiver get patient data on mobile application. Digestible Medical senor will be used for medical adherence and study vital signs. The system consists of a smartphone, a sensor patch & a pill. Pill are coated with digestible metals like copper and magnesium, inside body the sensor is activated by electrolytes of the body transmitting signal to the patch on the torso which sends the data through Bluetooth to the patient and then to caregiver. The sensor help in getting the information like patient forgot to take medicine, choosing not to take the prescribed medicine, combining interacting drugs or taking the incorrect dose that might be dangerous lead to staggered recovery or damage to the body. It also help in getting vital signs of body eliminating the endless physical checkups, apart from this it help doctors understand how patient is responding to the treatment.A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @Digestible medical Sensor is a new technology in the market with recent FDA approval to market in United States and Europe. The technology seems to be for the ageing population as the device is designed mainly to target aged population along with the other population segment. Rise in aging population which require continuous monitoring will drive the growth of the Digestible Medical sensors in future. The Sensor is designed to target unmet need of doctor and caregiver to have a continuous access of the patient and it wellbeing continuously & wirelessly even when the patient is not nearby. The demand for continuous monitoring of physiological metrics like heart rate, body position, activity, drug effects and medication adherence will drive this market. The device is new to the market with recent FDA & European approval hence unawareness about the product will restrain the market. The product will be marketed in United States & Europe with no access to the developing countries will restrain its growth.Digestible medical Sensor seems to occupy the developed country market so as the product is innovative and there is demand for continuous patient monitoring. As the aging population is increasing in developed countries the demand for continuous monitoring has risen in the past years and digestible medial sensor is a new offering for such demand. Digestible medical Sensor market seems established well in the developed countries, however in developing countries with not much advanced healthcare sector and awareness will restrain its growth in those regions.Depending on geographic region, digestible medical sensors market is segmented into five key regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.To View TOC of this Report is Available Upon Request @The only player in digestible medical sensors market is Proteus Digital Health.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Global Hybrid Power Systems Market To Grow At A CAGR Of 5.87% During The Period 2016-2020

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Hybrid Power Systems Market 2016-2020" to its huge collection of research reports.A hybrid renewable energy system is a combination of more than one power source, where one is a renewable source, and the other is a conventional source of power. Some of these sources include solar PV, wind energy systems, fuel cells, and energy storage systems. The hybrid system harnesses the renewable sources that are freely available to generate electricity combined with a diesel generator. Thus, it reduces the fuel cost and the emissions from diesel power generation. The hybrid system can also be combined with other technologies such as battery storage to improve its effectiveness.Technavios analysts forecast the global hybrid power systems market to grow at a CAGR of 5.87% during the period 2016-2020.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global hybrid power systems market for 2016-2020. The report also presents the vendor landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the top five vendors operating in the market.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Technavio's report, Global Hybrid Power Systems Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsEmersonHeliocentrisShanghai GhrepowerSiemensSMAOther prominent vendorsAEG Power SolutionsAlpha PowerDanvestElectro Power SystemsElgris PowerEltek PowerKLiUX EnergiesReGen PowertechRepowering SolutionsSchneider ElectricSFC EnergyUrban Green EnergyWindStream TechnologiesMarket driverIncreasing need for electrificationFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeHigh cost of implementationFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIncreasing deployment of microgridsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Hepatitis E Diagnostic Tests Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Volume, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024

Hepatitis E Diagnostic Tests Market

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Driven by a small number of players, the global market for hepatitis E diagnostic tests exhibits a highly competitive landscape, finds a new report by Transparency Market Research (TMR). With a share of nearly 31%, Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy led the global market in 2015 and was distantly followed by Mikrogen. Competitive pricing strategy among the leading players is expected to intensify the rivalry within the market in the forthcoming years.According to the research report, the global hepatitis E diagnostic tests market stood at US$43.7 mn in 2015. Expanding at a CAGR of 3.80% during the period from 2016 to 2024, the opportunity in this market is likely to increase to US$60.4 mn by the end of the forecast period. Being the primary test for the detection of hepatitis E, the kits used for ELISA HEV IgM tests have been the most valued diagnostic kits in this market in the recent past and will continue to be so due to the same reason.Read Full Report:The research report has also analyzed the worldwide market for hepatitis E diagnostic tests on the basis of geography. According to the study, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, North America, and the Middle East and Africa have surfaced as the main regional markets for hepatitis E diagnostic tests across the world.Due to the hyperendemicity of hepatitis E in various Asian economies, such as Nepal, Pakistan, India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Kazakhstan, and Thailand, Asia Pacific has surfaced as the leading regional market for hepatitis E diagnostic tests and is expected to remain so over the forecast period. The Asia Pacific market for hepatitis E diagnostic tests is likely to acquire more than 48% of the overall market by 2024.Besides, the Middle East and Africa is also projected to witness a significant rise in the market for the hepatitis E diagnostic tests over the next few years due to the increasing prevalence of hepatitis E in various countries in this region, such as Kenya, Morocco, Uganda, and Nigeria, owing to lack of safe drinking water and poor sanitation facilities.Download exclusive Sample of this report:The growth of the global market for hepatitis E is directly proportional to the prevalence of hepatitis E across the world, says the author of this study. As per the WHO, nearly 20 million people suffer from HEV infections every year, worldwide, among which around 3.3 million are symptomatic cases.With the increasing scarcity of potable water and the lack of sanitation, the cases of hepatitis E infection is likely to increase considerably over the forthcoming years and will result in a substantial rise in the need for hepatitis E diagnostic test in the near future, states the research report.Although the worldwide market for hepatitis E diagnostic tests currently looks teeming with opportunity, it may face a severe challenge over the years to come from the rising incidence of asymptomatic diseases, which are difficult to diagnose. The low level of awareness among consumers is also expected to emerge as a restraining factor for the growth of this market in the long run, notes the study.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Liposarcoma Treatment Market to Record Sturdy Growth by 2022

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Liposarcoma is a cancer of fat cells lying deep within the soft tissues, typically in retroperitoneum or thighs. According to WHO, liposarcoma is the most common type of sarcomas (cancer of soft tissue) and accounts for approximately 17-20% of all cases of sarcoma. However, WHO classifies liposarcoma in the rare diseases as the incidence rate of the disease is as low as 2.5 per Mn population. Liposarcoma most commonly occurs in the middle age or adults above the age of 40 and it can be well diagnosed with the help of excision biopsy. Liposarcoma can be of four types viz. well differentiated liposarcoma, myxoid liposarcoma, pleomorphic liposarcoma and dedifferentiated liposarcoma. The most common drugs used for the treatment of liposarcoma include ifosfamide and doxorubicin. Ifosfamide is often prescribed in combination with uromitexan in order to prevent bladder irritation and internal bleeding. Moreover, cisplatin, vincristine, etoposide, gemcitabine, docetaxel etc. can be used to prevent the recurrence of liposarcoma.A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @The market for liposarcoma is highly fragmented with large number of generic manufacturers. The global market for liposarcoma treatment is expected to grow moderately over the forecast period owing to low incidence rate of the disease. Some other factors which are anticipated to influence growth of global liposarcoma treatment market include lifestyle changes, incidence of genetic disorders, growing awareness through liposarcoma genome project etc. However, high cost of the treatment can be the major restraint for the growth of global liposarcoma treatment market.The global liposarcoma treatment market has been classified on the basis of treatment type, end user and geography.Surgical therapy treatment segment is expected to account for major share in global liposarcoma treatment market as it is the choice of treatment recommended by majority of cancer specialists. Most of the physicians do not rely on chemotherapy for the liposarcoma treatment however, it can be used prior to the surgery to reduce the size of the tumor making it the second largest segment in terms of value in global liposarcoma treatment market. Radiation therapy treatment is used to avoid recurrence of the liposarcoma after surgery and contributes a minimal share in global liposarcoma treatment market.Geographically, global liposarcoma treatment market is classified into five key regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America is anticipated to lead the global liposarcoma treatment market due to relatively greater prevalence of the disease in the region. APAC and MEA regions are expected to witness steady market growth owing to lack of awareness about the disease.Request to View Tables of Content @Some of the key players in global liposarcoma treatment market include Eli Lilly and Company, Baxter International, Bristol Laboratories Ltd., Pfizer Inc., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Mylan N.V., Actavis plc.,Fresenius Kabi Ltd., Accord Healthcare Inc., Taro Pharmaceuticals Inc., Sandoz, Bedford Laboratories and others. Recently FDA approved the new indication of Halaven (eribulin) to Esai Co. Ltd. and new drug application of Yondelis (Trabectedin) from Johnson & Johnson Private Limited for use in Europe, Russia and South Korea.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Global Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Market 2017 Industry Demands, Costs, Emerging Market Growth & Analysis - Pfizer Inc, GlaxoSmithKline

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.Every key element that has happened so far in the Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment has been represented in this widely inclusive report. A key portion of these market elements incorporate the key player profiles and the market's general competitive scene, as players are known to have what's coming to them of impact over it. Different courses of the Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment announced in the report incorporate drivers, restrictions, and key open doors that influence a larger part of the players in it. To totally cover the competitive scene of the Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment, a SWOT examination is jotted down for all players, new and old. This takes into account a clearer projection for the Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment over the coming years. Extra analyses incorporated the player profiles are their budgetary structures and current vital production arrangements for all the key players in the market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment is additionally investigated on the premise of its perfunctory chain, an entry that utilizes research and information in view of the utilization and production abilities introduced into the market currently. This segment likewise fuses the product depictions and cost structures of the Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment. The report also offers a point by point investigation inside the market to determine its trademark qualities as far as upstream and downstream requests for raw materials are concerned, and in addition the import, and cost drifts that affect them.The report additionally gives the aftereffects of an exceptionally itemized review on the Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment in view of its provincial divisions. For each key district expressed, the client is given statistical data points on the player pool and in addition request, alongside expectations for the same. This can be vital for regional players attempting to extend their points of view in the market.For more information on this report, fill the form @Table of ContentsGlobal Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment1.1 Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Market Overview1.1.1 Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Market by Type1.3.1 Antidepressant Drugs1.3.2 Therapy & Devices1.4 Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)1.4.2 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)1.4.3 Phobia1.4.4 Others2 Global Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Market Size (Value) by Players (2015-2016)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 Pfizer Inc3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 GlaxoSmithKline3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Merck & Co. Inc3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 AstraZeneca3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 Eli Lily & Co3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.5.5 Recent Developments3.6 Johnson & Johnson3.6.1 Company Profile3.6.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.6.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.6.4 Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.6.5 Recent Developments3.7 Forest Laboratories, Inc3.7.1 Company Profile3.7.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.7.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.7.4 Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.7.5 Recent Developments3.8 Sanofi-Aventis3.8.1 Company Profile3.8.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.8.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.8.4 Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.8.5 Recent Developments3.9 H. Lundbeck A/S3.9.1 Company Profile3.9.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.9.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.9.4 Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.9.5 Recent Developments3.10 Bristol-Myers Squibb Company3.10.1 Company Profile3.10.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.10.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.10.4 Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.10.5 Recent Developments4 Global Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Market Size by Type and Application (2011-2016)4.1 Global Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Market Size by Type (2011-2016)4.2 Global Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Market Size by Application (2011-2016)4.3 Potential Application of Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment in Future4.4 Top Consumer/End Users of Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment5 United States Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Development Status and Outlook5.1 United States Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Market Size (2011-2016)5.2 United States Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Market Size and Market Share by Players (2015-2016)6 EU Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Development Status and Outlook6.1 EU Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Market Size (2011-2016)6.2 EU Anxiety Disorders And Depression Treatment Market Size and Market Share by Players (2015-2016)About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Global Prophylactic Hepatitis B Virus Vaccines Market to See Incredible Growth During 2016 - 2024

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Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is disease related to the liver. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection results in deaths due to liver cancer and liver failure. The hepatitis B vaccine is available for all age groups to prevent HBV infection. The disease is caused due to transmission of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) through contact with body fluids, blood and semen of an infected person. Hepatitis B disease can cause acute and later may turn to chronic disease if not treated at early stage. In 2015, WHO estimated that 240 Mn people are infected with chronic hepatitis B virus. Every year more than 780,000 deaths occur due to complexity of hepatitis B viral infection. This infection caused by chronic hepatitis B virus develops fulminant hepatitis B (autoimmune disorder), liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer), liver failure which can be treated by a liver transplant. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) provides direction and support to prevent transmission through vaccination. However, there is a significant decrease in incidence of hepatitis B virus infection after introduction of hepatitis B vaccine.A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @The prophylactic hepatitis B virus vaccines market is expected to grow remarkably during the forecast period due to increasing prevalence and incidence of hepatitis B infection, increasing public awareness (Patient Education Programs), government initiatives for promotion and creating awareness about prophylactic hepatitis B vaccines. However, factors such as side effects of the vaccine, high costs incurred during research and development and macro-economic factors like stringent regulations can affect the market adversely.The global prophylactic hepatitis b virus vaccines market is classified on the basis of end use and geography.Ever since 1982, vaccines were available for prevention of hepatitis B viral infections and currently more than 1 Bn doses of HBV vaccines have been distributed worldwide. The WHO recommends that all infants should receive the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth. Thus, increase in the population base in APAC is expected to contribute significantly to the growth of global prophylactic hepatitis B virus vaccines market.Geographically, the global prophylactic hepatitis b virus vaccines market is segmented into five key regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America dominates the global prophylactic hepatitis B virus vaccines market followed by APAC and Europe. According to WHO, globally more than 240 Mn people suffer from chronic hepatitis B viral infection and about 780,000 people die every year due to consequences related with HBV infection. Of these majority of people belong to developing nations of APAC, Latin America and Africa. The prevalence is considerably low in countries with high level of living standards such as the U.S., Canada, U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Spain.Request to View Tables of Content @Some of the major players operating in the market for prophylactic hepatitis B virus vaccines are Merck & Co, Inc., Sanofi Pasteur, Novartis AG, Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline to name a few. Vaccine market is an oligopolistic market in which the major players such as GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co, Inc. and Sanofi Pasteur are using cost leadership and differentiating strategy. The strategy of the major companies in the global prophylactic hepatitis B virus vaccines market is to cut down the prices owing to the increased demand.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
SIOUX CITY | One man and two women are facing prostitution charges after an investigation by the Sioux City Police Department.

Jonte Nicole Harris, 21, and Ider Subael Cal-Vincente, 30, both of Sioux City, and Kelinsia Harris, 25, of Anoka, Minn., were arrested between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.

All are facing prostitution charges, with Kelinsia Harris facing an additional felony charge for pimping.

According to court documents, undercover officers made contact with Kelinsia Harris through an ad on Backpage.com.

Documents say the officers spoke with Harris via phone and texted her to confirm the trade of money for a sex act. During the conversation, documents said, Kelinsia Harris told them she could offer a "two-girl special" to the undercover officer.

The officer accepted the offer and met them at a hotel room at the Rodeway Inn Hotel on 1401 Zenith Drive, where he arrested Kelinsia Harris and Jonte Harris.

Earlier in the evening, police also arrested Cal-Vincente, a Sioux City man who had responded to a separate ad for escort services and agreed to exchange money for sexual acts.

Kelinsia Harris, Jonte Harris and Cal-Vincente are being held on $8,000, $4,000 and $2,000 bonds, respectively. Their next court appearances will be 9 a.m. April 28.
United States LTE Power Amplifiers Industry Analysis, Technology Advancement 2016 Market Research Report, Size, Shares, Growth and Forecast

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The United States LTE Power Amplifiers Industry 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the LTE Power Amplifiers industry.The report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The LTE Power Amplifiers market analysis is provided for the United States markets including development trends, competitive landscape analysis, and key regions development status.Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and Bill of Materials cost structures are also analyzed. This report also states import/export consumption, supply and demand Figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins.The report focuses on United States major leading industry players providing information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also carried out. The LTE Power Amplifiers industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally the feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered.Download Sample Copy Of This Report :With 148 tables and figures the report provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Table of Contents1 Industry Overview1.1 Definition and Specifications of LTE Power Amplifiers1.2 Classification of LTE Power Amplifiers1.3 Applications of LTE Power Amplifiers1.4 Industry Chain Structure of LTE Power Amplifiers1.5 Industry Overview of LTE Power Amplifiers1.6 Industry Policy Analysis of LTE Power Amplifiers1.7 Industry News Analysis of LTE Power Amplifiers2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of LTE Power Amplifiers2.1 Bill of Materials (BOM) of LTE Power Amplifiers2.2 BOM Price Analysis of LTE Power Amplifiers2.3 Labor Cost Analysis of LTE Power Amplifiers2.4 Depreciation Cost Analysis of LTE Power Amplifiers2.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of LTE Power Amplifiers2.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of LTE Power Amplifiers2.7 United States Price, Cost and Gross of LTE Power Amplifiers 2011-2016View Full Report :3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of United States Key Manufacturers in 20153.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of United States Key LTE Power Amplifiers Manufacturers in 20153.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of United States LTE Power Amplifiers Key Manufacturers in 20153.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of United States LTE Power Amplifiers Key Manufacturers in 20154 Production Analysis of LTE Power Amplifiers by Regions, Type, and Applications4.1 United States Production of LTE Power Amplifiers by Regions 2011-20164.2 United States Production of LTE Power Amplifiers by Type 2011-20164.3 United States Sales of LTE Power Amplifiers by Applications 2011-20164.4 Price Analysis of United States LTE Power Amplifiers Key Manufacturers in 20154.5 United States Capacity, Production, Import, Export, Sales, Price, Cost and Revenue of LTE Power Amplifiers 2011-20165 Consumption Volume and Consumption Value Analysis of LTE Power Amplifiers by Regions5.1 United States Consumption Volume of LTE Power Amplifiers by Regions 2011-20165.2 United States Consumption Value of LTE Power Amplifiers by Regions 2011-20165.3 United States Consumption Price Analysis of LTE Power Amplifiers by Regions 2011-20166 Analysis of LTE Power Amplifiers Production, Supply, Sales and Market Status 2011-20166.1 Capacity, Production, Sales, and Revenue of LTE Power Amplifiers 2011-20166.2 Production Market Share and Sales Market Share Analysis of LTE Power Amplifiers 2014-20156.3 Sales Overview of LTE Power Amplifiers 2011-20166.4 Supply, Consumption and Gap of LTE Power Amplifiers 2011-20166.5 Import, Export and Consumption of LTE Power Amplifiers 2011-20166.6 Cost, Price, Revenue and Gross Margin of LTE Power Amplifiers 2011-2016MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Slovakia: LTE Service Take-Up, Broadband Rollout And Multiplay Services Will Support Revenue Growth

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In 2016, telecom service revenue in Slovakia will slightly decline compared with 2015, to $1.5bn (1.4bn), equivalent to 1.8% of the countrys nominal GDP. After several years of revenue pressure, Pyramid Research expects revenue to return to growth from 2017 onward and to reach $1.8bn (1.5bn) at the end of 2020. This result is consistent with a broader trend and outlook across Europe as regulatory pressure diminishes and operators start to monetize their next-generation network investments in a healthier price-competitive environment.Key FindingsPyramid Research expects service revenue to grow at a CAGR of 0.7% in local currency terms from 2015 to 2020. The major drivers of revenue growth will be further customer migration to fiber, VDSL and LTE networks, along with increasing adoption of triple-or quad-play offers launched by Slovak Telekom and Orange Slovakia. Mobile revenue will continue to prevail over fixed revenue.Slovakias telecom services market is a consolidated market having three major players in 2015. The top three operators, Slovak Telekom, Orange Slovakia and O2 Slovakia, are expected to account for 83.3% of total service revenue in 2016. The telecom market is expected to remain more competitive than the fixed market in the forthcoming years due to the activity of the new market entrant, 4ka, which will expand its market share to 5% in 2020.Download Sample Copy Of This Report :Owing to the expansion of LTE networks and devices, LTE subscriptions will grow exponentially to reach 3.4m by 2020 (37% of all mobile subscriptions).FTTH/B is expected to become the largest technology in terms of access lines, accounting for 54.6% of all of access lines in 2020.Over the next five years, MNOs should seize major opportunities in areas such as network expansion, the move to LTE-A, the fixed broadband segment, M2M, wearables and multiplay offers to increase customer loyalty and generate additional revenue.SynopsisSlovakia: LTE Service Take-Up, Broadband Rollout and Multiplay Services Will Support Revenue Growth provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Slovakia today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2020. It delivers deep quantitative and qualitative insight into Slovakias telecom market, analyzing key trends, evaluating near-term opportunities and assessing risk factors, based on proprietary data from Pyramid Researchs databases.The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following:Regional context: telecom market size and trends in Slovakia compared with other countries in the region.Economic, demographic and political context in Slovakia.The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice, mobile data.Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice and data from 2013 to 2020.The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in Slovakias telecommunications markets.View Full Report :Reasons To BuyGain in-depth analysis of current strategies and future trends of Slovakias telecommunications market, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format, to build proactive and profitable growth strategies.Understand the factors behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Slovakias mobile communications, fixed telephony and broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares, to align product offerings and strategies to meet customers demand.Leverage the graphical information (more than 20 charts and tables in the report based on the Pyramid Research forecast products), to gain an overview of the Slovakian telecom market.Analysis of key telecom players in the markets and major business strategies being adopted by them, to identify the opportunities to improve the market share.Explore opportunities to align your product strategies and offerings to meet the requirements and succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Slovakia.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
New Study on Indian Third Party Logistics Market Analysis, Trends and Opportunities (2015 Edition)

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Indian Third Party Logistics Market: Trends and Opportunities (2015 Edition)" to its huge collection of research reports.The report titled Indian Third Party Logistics Market: Trends & Opportunities (2015 Edition) provides an in-depth analysis of the Indian third party logistics market with detailed analysis of market sizing and growth, market share and economic impact of the industry. The report provides detailed market share analysis of the Indian 3PL market by segments and players. In addition to 3PL market, the report also provides analysis of the overall Indian logistics market.The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall Indian 3PL market has also been forecasted for the period 2015-2019, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends. The competition in Indian third party logistics market is stiff and dominated by the big players like CONCOR. Further, key players of the 3PL market such as Gati Ltd., TCI Ltd. and Allcargo Ltd. are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Company Coverage- Gati Ltd.- TCI Ltd.- CONCOR Ltd.- Allcargo Logistics Ltd.Executive SummaryThird party logistics is a type of company that works with shippers to manage their logistics operations. Logistics can include elements of warehousing, transportation management software, freight rate negotiation, in-depth reporting, forecasting, freight bill auditing and etc. There are various 3PLs in the market that have different models and perform different tasks. 3PLs specialize in certain industries such as frozen food, auditing freight bills, warehousing or providing logistics related software.Indian third party logistics market increased at a significant CAGR during the span of 5 years i.e. 2010-2014 and projections are made that the market would rise in the next five years i.e. 2015-2019 tremendously. Indian third party logistics market can be segmented into transportation 3PL market and cold chain market which displayed a healthy increase over a period of time. The upsurge in the market was due to the growth in the e-commerce industry especially e-retail sector.The growth drivers for the 3PL market are: rise in economic activities, increase in transportation investments, growth in trade and e-commerce industry, make in India campaign and increase in containerization. Despite the market is governed by various growth drivers, there are certain challenges faced by the market such as: inadequate infrastructure, sub-optimal port scale, lack of last mile connectivity, administrative delays, manufacturing units in multiple locations and providing services in varied business verticals.Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Austria Baby Food Market Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report 2017

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "The Baby Food Market in Austria 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.The Baby Food Market in Austria 2017, is an analytical report by GlobalData which provides extensive and highly detailed current and future market trends in the Austrian market.Austrian baby food market has been stimulated by higher birth numbers since2012, and by manufacturers efforts to target the toddler age group and by product innovation, resulting in a market worth over million. Baby milks account for just over half of all retail sales value but in volume terms meals are dominant, claiming 45%. Both have increased their share of sales to the detriment of cereals and drinks. Drugmarkets/drugstores claim over 70% of baby food sales. A rise in the number of births will contribute to volume growth of about 10%. Growth is likely to be strongest in milks and meals. Per capita consumption will increase by 4.9%.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @What else does this report offer?- Consumption data based upon a unique combination of industry research, fieldwork, market sizing work and our in-house expertise to offer extensive data about the trends and dynamics affecting the industry.- Detailed profile of the companies operating and new companies considering entry in the industry along with their key focus product sectors.- Market profile of the various product sectors with the key features & developments, segmentation, per capita trends and the various manufacturers & brands.- Overview of baby food retailing with a mention of the major retailers in the country along with the distribution channel.- Future projections considering various trends which are likely to affect the industry.Scope- Despite an already high per capita consumption rate, sales have been buoyant, increasing by 42% in terms of value and 17% in volume between 2010 and 2016. The market has been stimulated by higher birth numbers from 2012 onwards.- Baby milks account for just over half of all retail sales, and meals for a further 35%. In volume terms, however, meals are dominant, claiming 45% of total consumption.- All Milupa (Danone) products are imported from Germany. Hipp has a production facility in Gmunden, while Nestl sterreich imports all its products.- Austrian market, accounting for almost two-thirds of volume imports of milks and cereals and half of imports of other baby food in 2015. Exports of baby foods have remained more or less stable in volume terms at tons per year.- The annual number of births is expected to experience a consistent rise up to 2022. The market is therefore forecast to show overall growth, with absolute volumes set to increase by 9.5% between 2016 and 2022.Reasons to buy- Evaluate important changes in consumer behavior and identify profitable markets and areas for product innovation.- Analyse current and forecast behavior trends in each category to identify the best opportunities to exploit.- Detailed understanding of consumption by individual product categories in order to align your sales and marketing efforts with the latest trends in the market.- Investigates which categories are performing the best and how this is changing market dynamics.Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Rear-Seat Infotainment Systems Global Market Trend, Research Approach, Data Analysis and Forecast to 2022

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According to Publisher, the Global Rear-Seat Infotainment Systems market is expected to grow with a CAGR of 24.6% during the forecast period 2015 to 2022. Increasing demand for luxury cars, innovative technological advancements, and new product offerings are the major factors bolstering the market growth. In addition, increasing adoption of smart phones, advancements in operating systems are some of the other factors propelling the market growth. However, high costs of infotainment systems, quality issues of aftermarket products are the constraints restricting the market growth.For more information about this report:By vehicle type, passenger cars segment commanded the largest market share. Most of the passenger cars are now coming with integrated electronic wizards to connect smart devices. North America accounted for the largest share in global rear-seat infotainment systems market followed by Europe. Asia Pacific is expected to witness fastest growth, over the forecast period. Growing income levels, increasing customer spending, change in consumer life styles are the factors propelling the Asia Pacific market growth.Some of the key players in global rear-seat infotainment systems market include Airbiquity, Aisin Seiki, Alpine Electronics, Apple, Audi, BMW, Clarion, Delphi, Fujitsu-Ten, Garmin, Harman, Intel, MapmyIndia, Microsoft, Nuance Communications, Panasonic, Pioneer, and Robert Bosch.Vehicle Types Covered:- Heavy Commercial Vehicles- Light Commercial Vehicles- Passenger CarsTechnology Types Covered:- Multimedia Player- Navigation Systems- Terrestrial Digital Audio Broadcasting (t-dab) Digital Radio- Satellite Digital Audio Broadcasting (s-dab) Satellite RadioOperating Systems Covered:- QNX- Microsoft- LinuxEnd users Covered:- OEMs- AftermarketRequest Sample Copy atRegions Covered:- North AmericaUSCanadaMexico- EuropeGermanyFranceItalyUKSpainRest of Europe- Asia PacificJapanChinaIndiaAustraliaNew ZealandRest of Asia Pacific- Rest of the WorldMiddle EastBrazilArgentinaSouth AfricaEgypt1 Executive Summary2 Preface3 Market Trend Analysis4 Porters Five Force Analysis5 Global Rear-Seat Infotainment Systems Market, By Vehicle Type6 Global Rear-Seat Infotainment Systems Market, By Technology Type7 Global Rear-Seat Infotainment Systems Market, By Operating Systems8 Global Rear-Seat Infotainment Systems Market, By End user9 Global Rear-Seat Infotainment Systems Market, By Geography10 Key Developments11 Company Profiling11.1 Airbiquity11.2 Aisin Seiki11.3 Alpine Electronics11.4 Apple11.5 Audi11.6 BMW11.7 Clarion11.8 Delphi11.9 Fujitsu-Ten11.10 Garmin11.11 Harman11.12 Intel11.13 MapmyIndia11.14 Microsoft11.15 Nuance Communications11.16 Panasonic11.17 Pioneer11.18 Robert BoschInquire before Buying atContact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Global Radiation Therapy Market Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares, Forecast Analysis & Outlook (2017-2021)

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Radiation Therapy Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook (2017-2021)" to its huge collection of research reports.Radiation therapy or radiotherapy is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radiation therapy may be curative in a number of types of cancer if they are localized to one area of the body. It may also be used as part of adjuvant therapy, to prevent tumor recurrence after surgery to remove a primary malignant tumor (for example, early stages of breast cancer). Radiation therapy is synergistic with chemotherapy, and has been used before, during, and after chemotherapy in susceptible cancers. The sub-specialty of oncology concerned with radiotherapy is called radiation oncology.The global radiotherapy market is segmented into three main categories; External beam therapy, internal beam therapy and others. Further, the external beam is classified into three different segments, namely; LINAC, proton beam therapy and compact advanced radiation therapy.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The key factors driving the growth of radiation therapy market are increase in the incidences of cancer, rising ageing population, increasing healthcare expenditure, increasing disposable income and rising replacement demand. One noteworthy trend in the market is integration of MRI with radiotherapy. However, the expansion of radiation therapy market is hindered by the severe side-effects of the therapy, high cost of treatment and lack of trained workers.The report Global Radiation Therapy Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook (2017-2021) analyzes the development of this market, with focus on the North American, European, Asia-Pacific and Latin American regions. The major trends, growth drivers as well as issues being faced by the market are discussed in detail in this report. The four major players: Ion Beam Applications, Varian Medical Systems, Inc., Elekta AB and Accuray Inc, are being profiled along with their key financials and strategies for growth. The report contains a comprehensive analysis of the global radiation therapy market along with the study of the regional markets.Table of Content1. Market Overview1.1 Radiation Therapy1.2 Types of Radiation Therapy1.3 Side Effects of Radiation Therapy2. Global Radiation Therapy Market2.1 Global Radiation Therapy Market Forecast by Value2.2 Global Radiation Therapy Market by Region2.3 Global Radiation Therapy Market by Segments3. Global External & Internal Beam Therapy Market3.1 Global External Beam Therapy Market3.1.1 Global External Beam Therapy Market Forecast by Value3.1.2 Global External Beam Therapy Market by Devices3.1.3 Global LINAC Market Forecast by Value3.1.4 Global LINAC Market Growth Potential3.1.5 Global Proton Beam Therapy Devices Market Forecast by Value3.1.6 Global Proton Beam Therapy Market Forecast by Therapy Centers3.1.7 Global Proton Beam Therapy New Patients Volume3.1.8 Global Proton Beam Therapy Patients Volume Forecast3.1.9 Global Proton Beam Therapy Target Patient Population by Cancer Type3.1.10 Global Compact Advanced Therapy Market Forecast by Value3.1.11 Global Compact Advanced Therapy Market by Installed Base3.1.12 Global Compact Advanced Therapy Market Forecast by Installed Base3.2 Global Internal Beam Therapy Market Forecast by Value4. Regional Markets4.1 North America4.1.1 North America Radiation Therapy Market Forecast by Value4.1.2 North America External Beam Therapy Market Forecast by Value4.1.3 North America External Beam Therapy Market by Devices4.1.4 North America LINAC Market Forecast by Value4.1.5 North America Proton Beam Therapy Market Forecast by Value4.1.6 North America Compact Advanced Therapy Market Forecast by Value4.2 Europe4.2.1 Europe Radiation Therapy Market Forecast by Value4.2.2 Europe External Beam Therapy Market Forecast by Value4.2.3 Europe Compact Advanced Therapy Market Forecast by Value4.3 Asia Pacific4.3.1 Asia-Pacific Radiation Therapy Market Forecast by Value4.4 Latin America4.4.1 Latin America Radiation Therapy Market Forecast by Value5. Market Dynamics5.1 Growth Drivers5.1.1 Rising Incidence of Cancer5.1.2 Asia-Pacific to Boost Market Growth5.1.3 Upsurge in Health Care Expenditure5.1.4 Increasing Disposable Income5.1.5 Rising Ageing Population5.1.6 Increasing Replacement Demand for Newer Devices5.2 Key Trends & Development5.2.1 Increased Interest in MR Guided Radiation Therapy5.3 Challenges and Issues5.3.1 Harsh Side Effects of Therapy5.3.2 High Cost of Treatment5.3.3 Lack of Trained Workers6. Competitive Landscape6.1 Global Market6.1.1 Global Radiation Therapy Devices Price Comparison6.1.2 Global LINAC Installed Base by Company Share6.1.3 Global New LINAC Orders by Company Share6.1.4 Global New LINAC Sockets by Company Share6.1.5 Global Proton Beam Therapy Devices Installed Base by Company Share6.2 Regional Market6.2.1 The US Proton Beam Therapy Devices Installed Base by Company Share6.2.2 Europe LINAC Order Bookings by Company Share6.2.3 Europe Proton Beam Therapy Devices Installed Base by Company Share6.2.4 Asia-Pacific LINAC Order Bookings by Company Share6.2.5 China LINAC Order Bookings by Company Share6.2.6 Japan Proton Beam Therapy Devices Installed Base by Company ShareMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
System-On-Chip Test Equipment Market Type, Technology, Key Players, Products, Production Information Analysis and Forecast to 2021

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About System-On-Chip (SoC) Test Equipment Test Equipment, SoC test equipment is used by semiconductor manufacturers to test the SoCs before final packaging to ensure fault-free production of chips. SoC testing helps detect fabrication errors, timing faults, and electrical interferences. SoC test equipment helps semiconductor manufacturers increase the production yield by high throughput and high parallel test capabilities.Analysts forecast the Global System-On-Chip (SoC) Test Equipment Market to Grow at a CAGR Of 2.24% During The Period 2017-2021.Enquire about System-On-Chip Test Equipment Market@Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global SoC test equipment market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report estimates exclude aftermarket sales and services, components used in the production of SoC test equipment, and maintenance and support services that are offered with SoC test equipment.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography: Americas APAC EMEAGlobal SoC Test Equipment Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Browse Full Report with TOC:Key vendors ADVANTEST Teradyne XcerraPlace Purchase Order for this Report@Other prominent vendors Astronics Test Systems Chroma ATE Lorlin Test Systems Marvin Test Solutions National Instruments Roos InstrumentsMarket driver Increased demand for SoC test products in consumer electronics.Market challenge Optimal service to the installed equipment base.Market trend High-quality test equipment to deal with increasing design complexity.Key questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Table of ContentsPART 01: Executive summaryPART 02: Scope of the reportPART 03: Market research methodologyPART 04: IntroductionPART 05: Market landscapePART 06: Market size and forecastPART 07: Market segmentation by applicationPART 08: Geographical segmentationPART 09: Key leading countriesPART 10: Decision frameworkPART 11: Drivers and challengesPART 12: Market trendsPART 13: Vendor landscapePART 15: AppendixList of ExhibitsExhibit 01: Segmentation of general purpose semiconductor test equipment marketExhibit 02: Value chain of semiconductor industryExhibit 03: Global SoC test equipment market 2016-2021 ($ millions)Exhibit 04: Five forces analysisExhibit 05: Global SoC test equipment market by application 2016-2021 (% share of revenue)Exhibit 06: Global SoC test equipment market by IT and telecommunication 2016-2021 ($ millions)Exhibit 07: Global SoC test equipment market by consumer electronic devices 2016-2021 ($ millions)Exhibit 08: Global SoC test equipment market by automotive 2016-2021 ($ millions)Exhibit 09: Global SoC test equipment market by others 2016-2021 ($ millions)Exhibit 10: Global SoC test equipment market by geography 2016Exhibit 11: Global SoC test equipment market by geography 2016-2021 (% share of revenue)Exhibit 12: SoC test equipment market in APAC 2016-2021 ($ millions)Exhibit 13: Major semiconductor foundries by country 2016Exhibit 14: SoC test equipment market in Americas 2016-2021 ($ millions)Exhibit 15: SoC test equipment market in EMEA 2016-2021 ($ millions)Orbis Research is a single point aid for all your Market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customised reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialisation. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required Market research study for our clients.Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email ID: sales@orbisresearch.com
Global Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) Industry Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report (2017-2021)

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook (2017-2021)" to its huge collection of research reports.Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a relatively new technology in the field of medical science. It is a less intrusive method of replacing heart valve without undergoing the conventional by-pass surgery. Due to the less invasive nature of the surgery, it has emerged as the more feasible alternative to conventional surgical aortic valve replacement. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement is sometimes called as Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). TAVR may be an option for people who are considered at intermediate or high risk of complications from surgical aortic valve replacement. It may also be suggested in certain cases where patient cannot undergo open-heart surgery. The decision to treat aortic stenosis with TAVR is made after consultation with a multidisciplinary group of medical and surgical heart specialists who together determine the best treatment option for each individual.The global TAVR market is set to experience favourable growth driven by factors such as increasing elderly population, rising health care expenditure, increasing obese population and global economic development. Further, the scope of growth for this market will be broadened by increasing prevalence of aortic stenosis amongst the patients and rising demand for minimally invasive procedures. However, the growth of this budding market will be hindered by the business cycle fluctuations and risk of security breaches such as stringent regulations, high cost of TAVR devices and high risks associated with the TAVR procedure.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report Global TAVR Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook (2017-2021) analyses the development of this market, with focus on the U.S, Asia Pacific and European markets. The major trends, growth drivers as well as issues being faced by the market are discussed in detail in this report. The four major players: Edwards Lifesciences, Boston Scientific, Medtronic Plc. and St. Jude Medical, Inc. are being profiled along with their key financials and strategies for growth. The report contains a comprehensive analysis of the global TAVR market along with the study of the regional markets.Table of Content1. Introduction1.1 TAVR Overview2. Global Market Analysis2.1 Global TAVR Market by Value2.2 Global TAVR Market Forecast by Value2.3 Global TAVR Implant Volume2.4 Global TAVR Implant Volume Forecast2.5 Global TAVR Patient Population2.6 Global TAVR Patient Population Forecast3. Regional Market Analysis3.1 The U.S.3.1.1 The U.S. TAVR Market by Value3.1.2 The U.S TAVR Forecast by Value3.1.3 The U.S. TAVR Implant Volume3.1.4 The U.S. TAVR Implant Volume Forecast3.1.5 The U.S. TAVR Implant Volume by Patient Type3.1.6 The U.S. TAVR Implant Volume Forecast-Patient Type3.1.7 The U.S. TAVR Implant Volume by Access Route3.1.8 The U.S. Aortic Valve Disease Patient Population Forecast3.2 Outside the U.S.3.2.1 OUS TAVR Market by Value3.2.2 OUS TAVR Market Forecast by Value3.2.3 OUS TAVR Implant Volume3.2.4 OUS TAVR Implant Forecast by Volume3.2.5 OUS TAVR Patient Population3.2.6 OUS TAVR Patient Population Forecast3.2.7 Europe TAVR Implant Volume by Patient Type3.2.8 Europe TAVR Implant Volume Forecast by Patient Type3.2.9 Europe TAVR Implant Volume by Access Route4. Market Dynamics4.1 Growth Drivers4.1.1 Rising Aging Population4.1.2 Rising HealthCare Expenditure4.1.3 Increasing Obese Population4.1.4 Economic Development4.1.5 Increasing Prevalence of Inoperable Aortic Stenosis4.2 Key Trends & Development4.2.1 Recent Technological Advancements4.2.2 Favourable Reimbursement Policies in Europe4.3 Challenges4.3.1 Stringent Regulations4.3.2 High Cost of TAVR Devices4.3.3 Associated High Risk5. Competition5.1 Global Market5.1.1 Global TAVR Market Share by Company5.1.2 Global TAVR Market-Implanting Centres by Company5.1.3 Global TAVR Market-Total Implants by Company5.1.4 Global TAVR Market-Average Selling Price of Implants by Company5.2 The U.S.5.2.1 The U.S. TAVR Market Share by Company5.2.2 The U.S. TAVR Market-Implanting Centres by Company5.2.3 The U.S. TAVR Market-Total Implants by Company5.2.4 The U.S. TAVR Market-Average Selling Price of Implants by Company5.3 Outside the U.S.5.3.1 OUS TAVR Market Share by Company5.3.2 OUS TAVR Market- Implanting Centres by Company5.3.3 OUS TAVR Market- Total Implants by Company5.3.4 OUS TAVR Market-Average Selling Price of Implants by CompanyMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
The McAfee brand is back again after Intel finalizes spin-off

McAfee is going solo again. After existing as a sub-brand of Intel (INTC) for the past seven years and being rebranded as Intel Security, the company best know for that little shield logo in your computers toolbar has finalized its split from the chipmaker and will now be run as an independent organization.Intel purchased the antivirus organization for $7.68 billion in 2010. At the time, the chipmaker hoped to fold McAfees security capabilities into Intels chips to better protect consumers devices.In the first half of 2016, the security companys revenue grew 11% to $1.1 billion. But with Intels decision to restructure in April 2016, eliminating 12,000 jobs to turn its focus toward cloud computing, keeping the security brand didnt seem to make sense.As a standalone company with a clear purpose, McAfee gains the agility to unite people, technology and organizations against our common adversaries and ensure our technology-driven future is safe, said McAfee CEO Chris Young.The spinoff finalizes Intels deal announced in 2016 to sell 51% of its stake in the McAfee security unit to the asset manager TPG in a deal worth $4.2 billion. Intel will still have a 49% stake in the standalone McAfee company.Whats most interesting about the move is the decision to bring back the McAfee name. Intel purchased the security company as McAfee in 2010, but rebranded as a result of founder John McAfees various run-ins with the law including being named as a person of interest in the death of his neighbor in Belize and a DUI arrest during which he was found in possession of a handgun.But the McAfee brand name is already incredibly popular, despite what its namesake might be up to.Adding to the mess is the fact that John McAfee himself is suing Intel for the use of his name. McAfee wants to rename MGT Capital Investments, Inc., where he currently serves chairman and CEO, John McAfee Global Technologies, Inc. The suit is still pending.At Howard James we can help you prioritize which goals matter most to you and your family Whether that's transitioning to the next generation, customizing financial strategies that help you pursue desired outcomes, or simply providing advice and guidance to help you stay informed. We are experts in the people business and understand the meaning of long lasting relationships.Our team has a complete understanding of our Partners' businesses and goals. These relationships are more often than not developed over long periods of time.Because of this, we are able to confidently and accurately allow our investors the opportunity to invest in profitable ventures which otherwise would not be available.We only allocate experienced team members to deal with our investors. With a deep knowledge of the focus, expectations and trends of the global investor group.Salesforce Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, London, EC2N 4AY, United Kingdom
Bio Lubricant Market Expected to Grow at CAGR Of 7.2 % by 2022

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Bio Lubricant Market is expected to grow at the CAGR of more than 7.2% starting from 2014 till 2022 and with this it is predicted to cross USD of 3.50 billion by 2022.Market ScenarioBio-lubricants are used as substitute of conventional lubricants. Increase in fuel price has boosted the market of bio-lubricants since these are developed for various applications. The global bio-lubricant market is segmented into type, application and end user; with wide variety of application like engine oil, process oil, grease and others; all these makes bio-lubricant and its type a cost-effective product in the bio-lubricant market.Request a Sample Report@Key Player Total S.A Exxon Mobil Royal Dutch Shell PLC Chevron Corporation Kluber Lubrication Munchen Se & Co Albemarle Corporation Emery Oleochemicals Panolin AG Binol Bio Lubricants CastrolRegional AnalysisGeographically, North America dominates the market due to stringent regulation of government for the use of conventional lubricants especially in marine, agriculture and others. These regulations of government will push the use of bio-lubricants in agriculture, marine and other industries. Emerging economies like India, China, and South Korea contribute the most in the bio-lubricant market due to growing automotive and construction sector. Developed regions contribute maximum as compared to regions which are still developing. Therefore, APAC regions share less in the growth of the global bio-lubricant market.Scope of the studyBy Type Edible & Non-Edible oil Animal OilBy Application Automotive Engine Oils Greases Process Oils Chainsaw Oils Metal Working FluidsBy End User Automotive Industry Construction Commercial Transport OthersBrowse Full Bio-Lubricants Market @Table of Content1 Executive Summary2 Scope of the Report3 Market Research Methodology4 Market Landscape5 Industry Overview of Global Bio-lubricants Market6 Market Trends7. Global Bio-lubricants Market by Region8. Global Bio-lubricants by type (Edible & Non-Edible oil and Animal Oil)9. Global Bio-lubricants Market by Application (Automotive Engine Oils, Greases, Process Oils, Chainsaw Oils, Metal Working Fluids)10. Global Bio-lubricants Market by End user (Automotive Industry, Construction, Commercial Transport and others)11. Company ProfilesContinuedTaste the market data and market information presented through more than 100 market data tables and figures spread in 140 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global bio lubricant market Information from 2014 to 2022"List of TablesTable 1 World Population by Major Regions (2015 To 2030) (Billion)Table 2 Global Bio-lubricants Market: By Region, 2014-2022 (USD Billion)Table 3 North America Bio-lubricants Market: By Country, 2014-2022 (USD Billion)Table 4 Europe Bio-lubricants Market: By Country, 2014-2022 (USD Billion)Table 5 Asia-Pacific Bio-lubricants Market: By Country, 2014-2022 (USD Billion)Table 6 RoW Bio-lubricants Market: By Country, 2014-2022 (USD Billion)Table 7 Global Bio-lubricants by type Market: By Regions, 2014-2022 (USD Billion)Continued.List of FiguresFIGURE 1 Global Bio-lubricants market segmentationFIGURE 2 Forecast MethodologyFIGURE 3 Five Forces Analysis of Global Bio-lubricants MarketFIGURE 4 Value Chain of Global Bio-lubricants MarketFIGURE 5 Share of Global Bio-lubricants Market in 2014, by country (in %)FIGURE 6 Global Bio-lubricants Market, 2015-2022, (USD billion)FIGURE 8 Global Bio-lubricants Market size by Application, 2015About Market Research FutureAt Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Market Research Future Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune - 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312
The session isn't over yet, but the bill aimed at curbing inequities in the state's school funding formula is all but dead this session, according to lawmakers and others.

Davenport Schools has been complaining for years about the formula that allows other districts to spend more per pupil than it does. And while the Senate passed a bill to close that gap last month, a handful of legislators, a lobbyist and Davenport school officials said this week there is little hope for the bill to make it out of the House.

"The main issue was there's no revenue to do it," Rep. Walt Rogers, chair of the House Education Committee, said this week.

Last month, the state's Revenue Estimating Conference said the government would fall $131 million short of anticipated revenues. That likely will mean dipping into reserve funds to balance the budget.

The equity bill has a first-year cost of $14 million and $204 million over the next 10 years. The legislation also dealt with inequities in transportation funding.

Bills are usually not declared officially dead until a session ends, but even local advocates held out little hope.

Sen. Roby Smith, R-Davenport, who shepherded the bill through the Senate, was loathe to give up. But, asked Tuesday night if the bill was stalled for this year, he said: "That's what I'm hearing."

"It just doesn't look good," said Richard Clewell, a Davenport School Board member who has followed the legislation closely.

A lobbyist for the school district, Margaret Buckton, said the legislation ran into "a brick wall" because of the new revenue estimates.

Gov. Terry Branstad's office declined to comment. Earlier this year, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds had said she was fairly confident the Legislature would act on the matter. Other lawmakers, including Senate Democratic Leader Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids said it was a priority. The issue has been toward the top of the agenda for Quad City-area legislators.

The equity issue gained attention when Davenport Superintendent Art Tate said he would spend beyond state limits.

The inequity stems from a state-led shift in the 1970s away from a largely property tax-based funding system for schools that sought to make spending across the state more equitable.

Davenport's per pupil spending limit is $31 less than the statewide average. But some districts can spend $175 more per pupil than Davenport.

In December, the state Education Department brought Tate up on an ethics complaint in connection with the issue. No hearing has been set on the matter, but school officials aren't backing down. Last week, the district passed a budget that included $2.7 million in spending that would go over the state's limit.

There is some hope that the 2018 legislative session might bring a different result from this one. Buckton pointed out that the bill did pass the Senate, and because the Legislature is in the midst of a two year session, that means it doesn't have to start over.

In addition, while revenue estimates for the 2018 fiscal year also are down from expectations, there's hope in some quarters that those could turn around -- or that other steps, such as the possibility of reducing business tax credits, could provide more revenue.
Free online course about piezoelectric sensors & transducers on May 3

Free online course about piezoelectric sensors & transducers on May 3

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Noliac offers a free webinar about piezoelectric sensors and transducers May 3. The webinar introduces the different aspects of piezoelectric sensors and transducers and other piezoelectric systems.Principles, different designs and application examplesThe webinar Sensors & transducers describes the basic working principles of piezoelectric sensors and transducers. In addition, the webinar introduces the most common piezoelectric sensor and transducer designs explaining the functions, advantages and differences. The webinar describes the typical applications for the different designs, and includes examples of specific sensor and transducer applications.1.5 hours free piezo webinarNoliacs webinars are held by two experienced engineers from Noliac giving you a thorough introduction to piezo sensors and transducers. The webinar is live, and with a chat function, you can ask questions to the presenters during the webinar.Book your seat now!There is a limit of 25 participants for each webinar, so sign up now! [LINK]The webinar takes place on May 3 at 3 pm Copenhagen time. You will receive a link approximately 1 week before the webinar takes place with all the practical information.Sign up here atWebinars and tutorials about piezo technologyThe purpose of our piezo webinars and tutorials is to get you closer to the world of piezo. We provide insight ranging from the basics of piezoelectricity and different types of piezo actuators to complex piezo motors.Go to our tutorials and webinars atNoliac offers custom designed sensors and transducersNoliac offer customization of all types of piezoelectric sensors and transducers. We provide expertise on developing the optimal design solution as well as manufacturing high quality sensors. We also apply our know-how to optimize your existing sensors and transducers.Learn more about customized sensors atLearn more about customized transducers atMore information about sensors and transducers?If you want to know more about our customized sensors or transducers, please contact us using our Request for Quote form or contact sales atNoliac presents a unique proficiency in the field of piezoelectric technology. We design, develop and manufacture the total range of piezoelectric products - from powders to mono- and multilayer components and all the way to finished plug-and-play applications.Noliac A/SHejreskovvej 18DK-3490 KvistgaardDenmarkAtt.: Lotte Beck
True Fleet Market France: One of the last bastions of Small Cars

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A decline by - 1.2% compared to March 2016 is surely not a reason for getting euphoric but at least this is a better result for True Fleets in France than in the first two months of 2017. Its fair to say that the first quarter was challenging for fleets with a drop of 6.7% while the passenger car registrations on private households increased by 3.1% in Q1 (+ 3.6% in March).In March, Renault was number one in True Fleets for the 14th month in a row followed by Peugeot, Citroen, Volkswagen and Audi. Mercedes jumped from rank number nine into sixth position with a remarkable growth of 32.5% mainly fuelled by the performance of GLC-, B- and A Class. Ford (seventh, + 6.5%) achieved its highest market share since June 2012, especially due to increasing registrations of their SUV models Kuga, Ecosport and Edge and the Transit Custom van with passenger car registration.Comparing different True Fleet Markets across Europe it is eye-catching that in France the share of the Small Car segment is the highest behind Denmark; a fleet market which is fairly small (around 20% of the French one) and very much influenced by a really high taxation on company cars. With 23.8% the French Small Car share is 2.7 times higher than in Germany (8.8%) and significantly higher than the respective shares in the UK, Spain or Italy.Lets have a closer look: the segment is pretty much dominated by the Big 3. Renault Clio, Peugeot 208 along with its predecessors and Citroen C3 have been in the lead for many years now and for March currently represent more than 70% of their segment. Toyota Yaris in fourth place is the first foreign competitor at the moment followed by the fully electric Zoe from Renault. Similar to Premium rivals like Mini or Audi A1 the Zoe is ranking higher in fleets than in the Private Market. The very reverse can be seen with Dacia Sandero as the Private customers most preferred small car only ranks 15th in True Fleet.(344 words, 1942 characters)DATAFORCE  Focus on FleetsDataforce is the leading provider of fleet market data and automotive intelligence solutions in Europe. In addition, the company also provides detailed information on sales opportunities for the automotive industry, together with a wide portfolio of information based on primary market research and consulting services. The company is based in Frankfurt, Germany.Contact: Michael GergenDataforce Verlagsgesellschaft fur Business Informationen mbHHamburger Allee 1460486 Frankfurt am MainGermanyPhone: +49 69 95930-231Fax: +49 69 95930-333Email: michael.gergen@dataforce.de
IGOR IANKOVSKYI FOUNDATION SHALL CONDUCT SECOND BUSINESS-LUNCH MEET UKRAINIAN PRODUCERS AT THE 70TH CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

Anniversary 70th edition of the Cannes International Film Festival will take place from 17th to 28th of May 2017 in France. This year Ukraine will be represented by its own pavilion at the professional platform - Marche du Film, jointly organized by the Ukrainian State Film Agency, Molodist KIFF, Ukrainian Cinema Association, Producer Association of Ukraine and National Charity Foundation of Igor Iankovskyi Initiative for the Future.On the 21st of May, Igor Iankovskyi Foundation and NGO Initiative for the Future jointly with the Ukrainian State Film Agency will conduct a business-lunch for cinema industry professionals MEET UKRAINIAN PRODUCERS, for the second year in a row.During the last years edition, Igor Iankovskyi Foundation organized the first MEET UKRAINIAN PRODUCERS business-lunch, which was a great success among Ukrainian and foreign producers. Ukrainian cinema was interesting to producers and directors from France, Italy, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, and Serbia and so on. As the result  several co-production projects with European producers started in Ukraine this year already. Such informal communication help our directors to establish useful connections and involve foreign partners to national cinema process, - told the representative of the Charity Foundation of Igor Iankovskyi Initiative for the Future, Tagir Imangulov.Furthermore, this year the Foundation will support again the participation of Ukraine at the Short Film Corner section. The Foundation will cover the demonstration of films and travel expenses of the group of young Ukrainian directors from NGO Modern Ukrainian Cinema, who has already proven themselves at home.Ukraine Is Your Destination - this is the motto of Ukrainian pavilion. Under the festival, Ukrainian delegation will conduct a presentation entitled Discover Ukraine - describing our country as a cinematographic location with updated legislation, a set of modern services and industrial facilities. Also the pavilion will conduct presentations on the Festival Movement in Ukraine.A film by director Sergii Loznytsia has become one of the 18 participants of the main contest of the 70th Cannes Festival edition. The picture is created in co-production of Ukraine, France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands and Russia. In order to promote Ukrainian cinema, the Ukrainian State Film Agency will disseminate a catalog of Ukrainian movies for distribution and international festivals participation and information on productive potential of Ukraine.Charity Foundation of Igor Iankovskyi and NGO Initiative for the Future have organized many successful lunches and informal gatherings at international film festivals: in Berlin, Paris, Budapest, London, etc. Due to the organizations support, young Ukrainian producers could meet foreign producers, but what is relevant is increasing number of projects in co-production. This is Igor Iankovskyi aim all along  to show talented Ukrainian youth, cultural and historical heritage, to develop Ukrainian cinema and get European and world audience acquainted with our country."Initiative for the Future"  is a Ukrainian Charity Foundation, founded by Igor Iankovskyi  a successful Ukrainian businessman, financier and philanthropist. Charities unite like-minded people in a common goal - to develop and implement educational and cultural programs in Ukraine. Activities of the organization are based on voluntary initiatives.Since its creation, the Foundation supports talented young people from all over Ukraine, contributing to the creation of a highly cultured society. The Foundation has a strong international dimension, having successfully completed a range of projects abroad: in Belgium, Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom and the USA.Horizon Park business center12 Amosova str, Level 5, Kyiv, Ukraine
Find out What Are the Important Factors to Rise Wi-Fi as a Service - Global Market In recent period.

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Wi-Fi as a Service - Global Market Outlook (2016-2022) Purchase This Report by calling ResearchnReports.com at +1-888-631-6977.The latest intelligence on the Wi-Fi as a Service market is available in the Global Wi-Fi as a Service Market Research report. This report is a culmination of the key events from last decade to present day, and helps to formulate the best strategy catered to both established market players and new entrants.A birds eye view of the Wi-Fi as a Service industry made available in the report helps readers to understand the key drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities that are shaping the global Wi-Fi as a Service market. Furthermore, the report evaluates challenges experienced from buyers and sellers side. The report offers advice from key industry experts on how these challenges can be overcome.A major chunk of the report talks about the technologies that are and will influence the growth of the Wi-Fi as a Service market. Forecasts for these technology sectors are presented in the report. Integration is the key to advancement in technology in the global Wi-Fi as a Service market. Companies that offers the latest integrated technologies at an affordable cost are expected to thrive in the Wi-Fi as a Service market. The dominating technologies in the Wi-Fi as a Service market along with the upcoming technologies that are expected to revolutionize the market are explained in the reportGet Sample Copy of this Report:The key companies operating in the Wi-Fi as a Service market along with their revenues, market size, key business strategy, key technology strategy, and recent developments is mentioned in the report. In addition to this, valuable recommendations on the opportunities players in the market can tap on is presented in the report. This will help clients to gain a competitive edge in the Wi-Fi as a Service market.The report, titled Wi-Fi as a Service presents an in-depth study of the Wi-Fi as a Service market. Providing a brief history about the market, the report analyses the entire value chain of the market and points out the key drivers and restraints affecting the growth of the market during the forecast period. The report also analyses the market attractiveness and the effect of Porters Five Forces on the various factors governing the overall Wi-Fi as a Service market.The report studies the different product segments and end-user applications segment of the Wi-Fi as a Service market. Compiling important data from relevant sources, the report estimates the growth of individual segments of the market. Also, the market size and the growth rate of each of the market segments have been discussed in the report. The report pays very special attention to the growth exhibited by the Wi-Fi as a Service market in key geographic segments and talks about all the favorable conditions propelling the market growth. Growth trajectory of the market across the key geographic segments is discussed in the report.Get Discount on this report:Major players in the Wi-Fi as a Service market have been listed down in the report. The report talks about the key players eyeing the development of the market in emerging economies due to the numerous significant efforts taken by the policymakers to transform the economic landscape. The report also discusses the product offerings and revenue segmentation of the key players to throw light on the highly competitive environment prevailing in the Wi-Fi as a Service market. Key strategies of growth adopted by leading industry players are also analyzed in detail by the report.Some of the key players in global Wi-Fi as a Service market are ADTRAN, Inc., Aerohive Networks, Inc., Aruba, (A Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company), Bigair Group Limited, Boingo Wireless, Cisco Systems, Fujitsu Limited, Inc., iPass Inc., Mojo Networks, Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Ruckus Wireless, Inc., Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel), Telstra Corporation Limited, ViaSat Inc., Zebra Technologies Corporation, Nokia Networks, Ubiquiti Networks and Motorola Solutions.Services Covered:? Network designing and planning? Cloud access point? Maintenance and support? Other ServicesTable of Content:-1 Executive Summary2 Preface2.1 Abstract2.2 Stake Holders2.3 Research Scope2.4 Research Methodology2.4.1 Data Mining2.4.2 Data Analysis2.4.3 Data Validation2.4.4 Research Approach2.5 Research Sources2.5.1 Primary Research Sources2.5.2 Secondary Research Sources2.5.3 Assumptions3 Market Trend Analysis3.1 Introduction3.2 Drivers3.3 Restraints3.4 Opportunities3.5 Threats3.6 End User Analysis3.7 Emerging markets3.8 Futuristic market scenario4 Porters Five Force Analysis4.1 Bargaining power of suppliers4.2 Bargaining power of buyers4.3 Threat of substitutes4.4 Threat of new entrants4.5 Competitive rivalry5 Global Wi-Fi as a Service Market, By Service5.1 Introduction5.2 Network designing and planning5.3 Cloud access point5.4 Maintenance and support5.5 Other Services6 Global Wi-Fi as a Service Market, By Enterprise size6.1 Introduction6.2 Small and Medium Enterprises6.3 Large enterprises7 Global Wi-Fi as a Service Market, By Location7.1 Introduction7.2 Indoor7.3 Outdoor8 Global Wi-Fi as a Service Market, By End User8.1 Introduction8.2 Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI)8.3 IT and telecom8.4 Healthcare and life sciences8.5 Government and public utilities8.6 Retail8.7 Education8.8 Logistics and transportation8.9 Manufacturing8.10 Travel and Hospitality8.11 Other End Users9 Global Wi-Fi as a Service Market, By Geography9.1 North America9.1.1 US9.1.2 Canada9.1.3 Mexico9.2 Europe9.2.1 Germany9.2.2 France9.2.3 Italy9.2.4 UK9.2.5 Spain9.2.6 Rest of Europe9.3 Asia Pacific9.3.1 Japan9.3.2 China9.3.3 India9.3.4 Australia9.3.5 New Zealand9.3.6 Rest of Asia Pacific9.4 Rest of the World9.4.1 Middle East9.4.2 Brazil9.4.3 Argentina9.4.4 South Africa9.4.5 Egypt10 Key Developments10.1 Agreements, Partnerships, Collaborations and Joint Ventures10.2 Acquisitions & Mergers10.3 New Product Launch10.4 Expansions10.5 Other Key Strategies11 Company Profiling11.1 ADTRAN, Inc.11.2 Aerohive Networks, Inc.11.3 Aruba, A Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company11.4 Bigair Group Limited11.5 Boingo Wireless11.6 Cisco Systems11.7 Fujitsu Limited, Inc.11.8 iPass Inc.11.9 Mojo Networks, Inc.11.10 Rogers Communications Inc.11.11 Ruckus Wireless, Inc.11.12 Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel)11.13 Telstra Corporation Limited11.14 ViaSat Inc.11.15 Zebra Technologies Corporation11.16 Nokia Networks11.17 Ubiquiti Networks11.18 Motorola SolutionsFor More Enquiry On This Report:Company Overview:Research N Reports is a new age market research firm where we focus on providing information that can be effectively applied. Today being a consumer driven market, companies require information to deal with the complex and dynamic world of choices. Where relying on a sound board firm for your decisions becomes crucial. Research N Reports specializes in industry analysis, market forecasts and as a result getting quality reports covering all verticals, whether be it gaining perspective on current market conditions or being ahead in the cut throat United States and Global and Global competition. Since we excel at business research to help businesses grow, we also offer consulting as an extended arm to our services which only helps us gain more insight into current trends and problems. Consequently we keep evolving as an all-rounder provider of viable information under one roof.Contact us:Mr. Sunny DenisContact No. +1-888-631-6977sales@researchnreports.com(ResearchnReports)
USA Cigars and Cigarillos Market: Industry Size, Analysis, News study, Innovation, Overview, Growth, Share and Forecasts

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Latest industry research report on: USA Cigars and Cigarillos Market | Industry Size, Share, Research, Reviews, Analysis, Strategies, Demand, Growth, Segmentation, Parameters, Forecasts"Cigars and Cigarillos in USA, 2017", is an analytical report by GlobalData that provides extensive and highly detailed current and future market trends in the US market. It covers market size and structure along with per capita and overall consumption. Additionally, it focuses on brand data, retail pricing, prospects and forecasts for sales and consumption to 2025.Download Sample copy of this Report at :The US cigar and cigarillo market is the largest cigar market in the world. Cigar sales had been growing up until 2012, when they reached a peak, but then declined by 4.6% in 2013, then recovered again in 2014, almost returning to peak levels. However, they fell by 10.4% in 2015. Duty paid cigar sales are reported at 1.8% down on 2015 levels.Scope- Market volume is forecast to decline by around 9.5% over the forecast period.- The small (little) cigar segment is expected to continue to decline, with the market becoming increasingly focused on the large cigar and cigarillo sector.- Demand for mass market cigars has been growing and expected to continue to do so although it will remain highly competitive.- The premium cigar segment is expected to remain flat hovering around current levels.- The US market is led by the independently-owned Swisher International, which also leads both the large cigar and cigarillo sector and also the small (little) cigars segment.- A new and potentially significant development is that the US cigar market is now being regulated by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) which introduced its deeming regulations in May 2016, extending its regulatory control to other tobacco products, including cigar products.Reasons to buy- Get a detailed understanding of consumption to align your sales and marketing efforts with the latest trends in the market.- Identify the areas of growth and opportunities, which will aid effective marketing planning.- The differing growth rates in regional product sales drive fundamental shifts in the market.- This report provides detailed, authoritative data on these changes - prime intelligence for marketers.- Understand the market dynamics and essential data to benchmark your position and to identify where to compete in the future.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Contact UsState Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Future of Urbanization Market: Industry Size, Analysis, Emerging Evolution, Overview, Growth, Share and Forecasts

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Latest industry research report on: Urban Urbanization Market : Industry Size, Share, Research, Reviews, Analysis, Strategies, Demand, Growth, Segmentation, Parameters, Forecasts"The Future of Urbanization: Identifying and understanding the future urban landscape", is an extensive and detail-orientated report decoding the future of cities across the globe. The brief focuses on the opportunities and challenges arising as a result of the rapid urbanization currently occurring. Through the use of city economic, demographic and income data, consumer surveys and analysis the report provides clear and actionable insight into the future of urban markets.Download Sample copy of this Report at :Cities will increasingly become engines of growth as urbanization continues at a fast rate; the proportion of the global population living in urban areas will reach 60% by 2025. However, as the urban population rises some cities will experience population declines; surprisingly some rapidly shrinking cities are capitals and other large cities of major economic importance within their home countries.Urbanization also goes beyond population growth; productivity tends to go up in urban areas that attract more qualified workers consequently pushing up wages and prices. Rising income levels fuel the demand for consumer goods and financial services products.Cities have disproportionately large ecological footprints, urban dwellers typically consume more than their rural counterparts and while this provides opportunities for businesses it also places pressure on the worlds natural resources. Sustainability and efficiency of cities in the future will become a key focus, and the use of smart technologies is allowing local governmental bodies to achieve this.The worlds most populous cities will change by 2025 and the three most populous cities will have different needs, but various segments of opportunities. Many of the worlds largest cities will be located in the developing world; foreign brands must understand the cultural context to successfully target the new urban consumers.Scope- Urbanization will continue at a rapid rate in the future, over 500 million more people are projected to live in the key 2,000+ cities in 2025 than in 2005. This creates huge urban growth; the 500 cities experiencing the largest absolute rise in GDP will contribute 76% of total global GDP growth between 2015 and 2025.- Aging populations are an increasingly common issue, the population growth in the 65+ age group will outpace the growth of the under 15 age cohort across all regions covered by GlobalData Cities. Additionally, almost 57% of the population growth in the 65+ age category will take place in Asia-Pacific.- Rapid urbanization creates a new consumer base and opportunities are numerous and varied among the growing number of cities. For example, while consumers in developed regions are becoming increasingly aware of environmental challenges related to over-consumption, new consumers in emerging regions will drive FMCG uptake.Reasons to buy- Urbanization is a fast occurring trend; notably the developing world is becoming ever more urbanized.- Understanding the opportunities in these large, complex and discrete markets will provide huge growth opportunities.- This report gives in-depth analysis regarding the current and future trends influencing urban areas across the globe, and the opportunities within them across the major consumer-facing sectors.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Contact UsState Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Commercial Roofing Materials Market: Rising Urbanizations and Flourishing Construction Sector By 2024

Commercial Roofing Materials Market

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The global market for commercial roofing materials is witnessing a presence of a large number of players and a high level of competition across the globe, states a research report by Transparency Market Research. The rising number of mergers and acquisitions and collaborations are likely to strengthen the competitive environment of the global commercial roofing materials market in the next few years. Some of the leading players operating in the global market are TAMKO Building Products, Inc., GAF, and Firestone Building Products Company. These players are focusing on new product development and innovations so as to attract a large number of consumers and attain a leading position in the global commercial roofing materials market. In addition, the rising number of players predicted to enter the market is likely to encourage the growth of the overall market over the coming years.As per the research study by Transparency Market Research, in 2016, the global market for commercial roofing materials was worth US$7.81 and is estimated to reach a value of US$10.38 bn by the end of 2024. The market is expected to register a healthy 3.60% CAGR between 2016 and 2024.Obtain Report Details @Asia Pacific to Offer Potential Growth Opportunities for Commercial Roofing Materials ManufacturersAmong the key regional segments, in the last few years, North America held a large share of the global commercial roofing materials market and is expected to remain in the leading position in the next few years. This segment is considered as a matured market and is expected to register to steady growth in the near future. On the other hand, Asia Pacific is estimated to offer promising growth opportunities for the key players, thanks to the rising rate of construction in several developing economies. The growing demand for roofing as well as re-roofing activities is projected to encourage the development of the Asia Pacific market in the near future. Furthermore, Europe and Latin America are projected to witness a healthy growth in the forecast period.On the basis of material type, the global market for commercial roofing materials has been categorized into modified bitumen materials, single-ply products, spray polyurethane foam, metal, built-up roofing, and others. In the recent years, the modified bitumen materials segment led the overall market with a key share. However, the single-ply products segment is estimated to experience a high level of growth throughout the forecast period. The ease of installation and comparatively high flexibility are some of the key factors that are projected to fuel the growth of the single-ply products segment in the next few years.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @Rise in Construction Activities to Augment Global Commercial Roofing Materials MarketA significant rise in the demand for roofing and re-roofing activities across the globe is one of the vital factors that is expected to encourage the growth of the global commercial roofing materials market in the next few years. In addition, the robust rate of urbanization and industrialization, leading to increased construction work is another key factors predicted to accelerate the growth of the market throughout the forecast period.On the other hand, the leading players operating in the global commercial roofing materials market are anticipated to face several barriers, which are expected to restrict the growth of the overall market in the coming years. The variation in the product lifespan is considered as a key factors predicted to hamper the growth of the market in the near future. In addition, the requirement of high cost of installation is likely to restrict the development of the global commercial roofing materials market in the coming years. Nonetheless, advancements in technology are anticipated to fuel the growth of the overall market in the forecast period.About Us:-Transparency Market Research is a market intelligence company providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers.We are privileged with highly experienced team of Analysts, Researchers and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact Us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Pyridine Market to Show US$ 1,741.4 Mn by 2025

Pyridine Market

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According to a new market report published by Persistence Market Research, titled Global Market Study on Pyridine: Increasing Demand for Synthetic Pyridine to Drive Growth During Forecast Period 2015 -2025 , the global pyridine market is estimated to reach US$ 1,741.4 Mn by 2025 from US$ 786.4 Mn in 2015.Sample of this report is available upon request @Pyridine is a toxic and soluble flammable liquid base with a distinct, strong odor. It is often considered the parent compound of several naturally occurring organic compounds. It is the preferred choice as a precursor to agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. Initially, pyridine was extracted from coal tar or obtained as a by-product of coal gasification. The process was very expensive and inefficient as coal tar constituted only 0.10.2% of pyridine after extraction. Currently, pyridine and its derivatives are produced synthetically. The most commonly used reactions for pyridine synthesis are Chichibabin synthesis, Bonnemann cyclization, and Cobalt-catalyzed alkyne-nitrile cyclotrimerization, etc.By region, the market in Asia Pacific has been estimated to account for 51.6% volume share of the overall pyridine market by 2015 end, followed by Europe and North America. Due to increase in usage of pyridine and its derivatives in agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals segments in Asia Pacific, the pyridine market in the region is projected to expand at a higher than average CAGR of 9.9% over 20152025 in terms of revenue. The U.S. pyridine market, which has been estimated to account for 89.5% revenue share of the overall market in North America by 2015 end, is expected to be driven by increasing adoption of pyridine and its derivatives in chemicals and pharmaceuticals segments. The pyridine market in the Middle East & Africa is estimated to register increased revenue due to a growth of pharmaceuticals and chemicals segments in the region. Europe market is anticipated to witness lower revenue growth in the coming years as compared to other regions due to the economic downturn in the region.Globally, pyridine N-oxide segment volume is estimated to expand at a lower than average CAGR of 7.4% over 20152025. Demand for 2-Methyl-5-Ethylpyridine (MEP) and gamma-picoline is expected grow significantly due to increasing application of these product types in chemicals segment. Alpha picoline finds wide application as a solvent in chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and food industries. The segment is projected to exhibit moderate growth over the forecast period. Key growth contributor for alpha picoline segment is 2-vinylpyridine, which is used as a raw material for styrene-butadiene-2-vinylpyridine terpolymer latexes (SBV latexes). Beta picoline is used to produce Vitamin B3. In terms of value, beta picoline segment is projected to experience significant growth rate over the forecast period. This is mainly attributed to rising demand for niacin in developing regions such as APAC and Middle East & Africa.Request to view Table of Content @Asia Pacific is the most attractive region in terms of CAGR and market share in the global pyridine market. India has been estimated to account for 24.4 % of the total APAC pyridine market by 2015 end due to expected increase in domestic pyridine production by 40%. In terms of value, gamma-picoline segment is expected to experience the highest growth rate during the forecast period in the Asia Pacific market. The Middle East & Africa accounts for the smallest market share. However, it is expected to expand at a CAGR of 9.9% in terms of value over the forecast period. Food segment is expected to expand at the highest CAGR in terms of volume during the forecast period in the Middle East & Africa market. Pyridine manufacturers are strengthening their presence in the regulated markets of Japan, North America and Europe as well as in key emerging markets. They are also focusing on local tie-ups and out-licensing of local companies in order to strengthen their regional presence.To Buy Full Report for a Single User @By Product Type: Pyridine N-oxide Alpha Picoline Beta Picoline Gamma Picoline 2-Methyl-5-Ethylpyridine (MEP)By Application: Agrochemicals Pharmaceuticals Chemicals Food Others (Dyestuffs, Alcohol)By Region: North America Europe APAC The Middle East & Africa Latin AmericaAbout UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Internet Penteration and Gamification will help Global Digital Learning Devices Market to surpass $40 BN by 2020

Digital Learning Devices

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Big Market Research has released a new report on the global digital learning devices market, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11% between 2016 and 2020. Digital learning devices include tablets, laptops, smartphones, and notebooks, which are used for digital learning and help educational institutions in imparting education through interactive and multimedia technologies. Of late, the market is witnessing a significant demand and increased acceptance in the corporate and higher education sectors. APAC is expected to become a potential market for digital learning devices during the forecast period, with China and India being its major contributors. Low penetration rates of digital learning devices in these countries and the presence of a large number of classrooms is expected to drive the adoption of digital learning devices.Purchase Enquiry@The new industry research report discusses in detail the key drivers and trends responsible for the growth of this market and its sub-segments.Owing to the growing adoption of the use of the internet worldwide, universities are building their own databases and academic curricula on digital platforms to facilitate easy accessibility of study materials to the students. The high use of the internet has led to the adoption of portable devices such as smartphones and tablets in the education sector. E-books, learning games, digital portfolios, and real-time assessments of students and teacher performance are some of the emerging ways that boost the power of learning through digital content, says Amrita Choudhury, Lead Analyst, ICT, Technavio Research.Gamification is a powerful tool for engaging students, developing their creative skills, and generating innovations. It enables the integration of 3D characters into e-learning courses to make learning more interactive and stimulating. These learning processes have augmented the interest of students in the interactive methods of learning through online video learning games, puzzles, and online questionnaires. This is expected to enhance the analytical capabilities and learning in students in the K-12 education segment.Get Discount Here>>The key vendors in the global digital learning devices marketAmazonAppleDellHPHuaweiLenovoMicrosoftPromethean WorldSamsungSMART Technologies.The market offers numerous opportunities for vendors to explore the market by deploying tools and technologies designed to fulfill the needs of stakeholders in the industry. The probability for new players entering developing nations such as India and China is high due to huge demand for technology in the education sector.With the arsenal of different search reports, we help you here to look and buy research reports that will be helpful to you and your organization. Our research reports have the capability and authenticity to support your organization for growth and consistency.With the window of opportunity getting open and shut at a speed of light, it has become very important to survive in the market and only the fittest and competent enough can do so. So, we try and provide with latest changes in the market that can suit your needs and help you take decision accordingly.Our research services ranges into different domains and penetrates in different verticals so that we can carter to diverse needs of various organization. Not wrong to quote that this is the hotspot for research needs of yours.Dhananjay Potle,5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesDirect: + 1-503-894-6022Toll Free: + 1-800-910-6452Fax: +1 (855) 5505975Email:help@bigmarketresearch.comWeb:
Newer Drugs Receive Regulatory Approvals, Hyperuricemia Market is Expected to Boost in the Near Future

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Global Hyperuricemia Market: OverviewHyperuricemia is condition in which the level of uric acid in the blood increases to abnormally high levels. Various factors are responsible for hyperuricemia, which include insulin resistance, renal failure, obesity and alcohol consumption which is found to be the most prevalent factor. Scientists are still trying to confirm obesity as a predisposing factor for hyperuricemia,Browse the Complete Report Details at:According to data published in National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, U.S. an average of 17 million U.S. citizens suffered from alcohol use disorder in 2011. In another statistics published by World Health Organization (WHO) global alcohol consumption in 2010 was around 6 liters of pure alcohol per person aged 15 years above. The incidences of alcohol abuse are increasing across the globe and also act as a major contributing factor to disorders such as liver cirrhosis, and hyperuricemia. Approximately 70% of the uric acid produced in the body is filtered by the kidneys, while the remaining amount is eliminated by intestine. In individuals suffering from renal failure, the elimination of uric acid by the kidney decreases, leading to increased uric acid levels in blood. Further, an article published in the Journal of the America College of Cardiology in the year 2012 suggests that hyperuricemia is found to be associated with dyslipidemia of insulin resistance, systemic inflammation, and hepatic steatosis independent of obesity and metabolic syndrome. Another article published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research in 2013 also suggests further confirmation of obesity as a factor leading to hyperuricemia.However pre diabetes and insulin resistance are found to be one of the factors leading to hyperuricemia. Articles published in Current Opinion in Rheumatology and BMC Cardiovascular Disorders published in 2013 and 2012 have confirmed the factors.Global Hyperuricemia Market: Trends and ProspectsVarious drugs especially cancer drugs are also found to cause hyperuricemia. High level of uric acid in the blood for a prolonged period of time is also a major cause of gout. These factors will increase the prevalence of hyperuricemia as drive the market in the future. Currently ULORIC (febuxostat) manufactured by Takeda Pharmaceuticals is widely prescribed for treating hyperuricemia. However the drug is not prescribed for treatment of high uric acid without a history of gout.Various clinical trials are carried out by research institutes and companies in order to discover most efficient drug for rearming the disorder. Ardea Biosciences, Inc. is conducting phase 2 clinical trials for testing efficiency of RDEA806 for treatment of hyperuricemia. Hebei Medical University is conducting phase 3 trials to test the hypothesis that prednisone is superior over allopurinol in renal function improvement in heart failure patients with hyperuricemia. TWi Biotechnology, Inc. was awarded with U.S. patent in 2014 for AC  201 which is effective in treating hyperuricemia. Similar research and development activities will add more products to the market and expand its reach globally. Lesser competition and wide scope for research and development activities have made the market more attractive. As newer drugs receive regulatory approvals, the market is expected to boost in the near future. Due to high cost of branded drugs, the market will have a restricted growth in the regions of Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa which majorly comprise of under developed and developing economies.Perceive the Sample Report Containing Upcoming Market Analysis at:The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
MASON CITY | A Mason City man accused of murder has penned a steady stream of handwritten letters from his jail cell in recent months.

The latest of the letters sent to District Court Judge Christopher Foy was filed with the court earlier this week. It's one of a dozen sent since March 4.

Among the litany of grievances in the letter, Larry Whaley contends his rights are being violated, his attorneys are lying to him, evidence is being withheld, his cell phone and car were stolen and that there was witness tampering in his case.

It ends with an offer for a plea.

"I am willing to make a plea agreement," Whaley wrote in the letter dated April 13. "Want to leave this county at once wit (sic) time serve (sic)."

Whaley, 60, is accused of shooting 19-year-old Samantha Teeter on Dec. 2 through the door of his apartment at 116 17th St. S.E.

Teeter, who was in the hallway, was hit once in the head and died two days later.

Whaley has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

His attorneys notified the court that Whaley plans to say he acted in defense of himself or others. At his first court appearance days after the crimes, Whaley told the judge, It wasnt intentional.

It's a theme in his letters as well.

"It might not be self defence (sic), but it sure ain't first degree murder," Whaley wrote on April 3.

In a March 6 letter, he told the judge he fired into the door because he believed two people he knew were breaking into his apartment.

Whaley said Teeter was killed accidentally. She was not one of the two people he believed were breaking into his home.

"I feared they were there to rob, injure and or possibly kill me," he wrote. "I had no intention of shooting anybody, I just meant to scare them (home invader) off."

Whaley wrote that he bought handgun to protect himself.

He asked the judge why his attorney, Susan Flander, couldn't subpoena the pair, saying residents of his apartment had seen them at the scene the night of the shooting.

Mason City homicide scene, aftermath detailed in new documents MASON CITY  The morning two police officers carried a fatally injured woman from a Mason Ci

"They were very involved in this unfortunate incident and I'm afraid your Honor that they will flee from the state of Iowa if they are not supenad (sic)," Whaley wrote.

Flander did file a motion with the court to take depositions of the man and woman Whaley said he believed were breaking into his apartment.

The motion filed April 6, which was prosecutors resisted, said the pair had access to Whaley's apartment and vehicle the night Teeter was shot.

It said Flander's office had not been able to locate them.

The judge has not responded directly any of the letters. However, Foy issued two orders acknowledging receiving the letters.

"The Court is not able to decipher exactly what relief or action Defendant is seeking from it," Foy wrote in a March 9 filing. "Because Defendant is represented by counsel, the Court intends to take no further action the issues and concerns described by Defendant in either of his letters unless and until they are properly made the subject of an appropriate motion or application filed by his attorney of record, Susan Flander."

Flander, the target of several of Whaley's accusations, was allowed to resign as his attorney on April 13. Her request to withdraw cited a conflict of interest with a witness as well as Whaley's repeated requests for a new attorney.

Foy appointed the State Public Defender's Special Defense Unit to take her place.

First Assistant State Public Defender Kurt Swaim said he couldn't comment on a specific case.

He said attorneys in the Des Moines-based Special Defense Unit often represent defendants in cases where there's a conflict of interest among the regional assistant public defenders or if the regional offices have a heavy caseload.

The court has pushed back the trial to allow the new attorney time to prepare.

A trial date will be set during a conference on May 3.

Whaley remained incarcerated at the Cerro Gordo County Jail Thursday night on $500,000 bond.
Electronics Adhesives Market: Increasing Use of Electronics in Developing Nations to Encourage Growth By 2024

Electronics Adhesives Market

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The global market for electronics adhesives market is extremely fragmented and competitive in nature with a large number of players operating in it, states a research study by Transparency Market Research. The prominent players in the market are focusing on the enhancement of their market presence in several emerging economies and attract a high volume of consumers throughout the forecast period. In addition, these players are focusing on provided customized solution to consumers in order to gain a competitive advantage in the market. Dymax Corporation, 3M Company, Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Dow Corning, H.B. Fuller Company, and Evonik Industries AG are some of the prominent players operating in the electronics adhesives market across the globe. An expected rise in the number of players is predicted to strengthen the competitive scenario of the overall market in the next few years.As per the research report by Transparency Market Research, the global market for electronics adhesives is anticipated to reach a value of US$6.4 bn by the end of 2020. The market is likely to register a 12.10% CAGR between 2015 and 2020.Browse Market Research Report @Easy Availability of Raw Materials to Encourage Electronics Adhesives Market in Asia PacificFrom a geographical point of view, the Asia Pacific market for electronics adhesives is estimated to witness a robust growth in the next few years and account for a massive share of the overall market. The rising demand for electronics adhesives and the increasing contribution from diverse emerging nations, including South Korea, India, and China are some of the key factors that are estimated to accelerate the growth of the Asia Pacific market in the next few years. In addition, the low cost of labor and the easy availability of abundance of raw materials are estimated to accelerate the growth of the market in the next few years. Furthermore, North America is likely to offer promising growth opportunities throughout the forecast period.Some of the prominent applications of electronics adhesives are conformal coating, encapsulation, wire tracking, and surface mounting. Among these, in the last few years, the surface mounting segment held a massive share of the market and is anticipated to remain in the leading position throughout the forecast period. As per the research study, this segment is projected to reach a value of 1.8 bn by the end of 2020, exhibiting a progressive 11.4% CAGR between 2015 and 2020. The robust growth of this segment can be attributed to the rising demand for PCB-based electronics across diverse industrial sectors, including consumer durables and automotive.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @Expansion of Application Base to Augment Global Electronics Adhesives MarketThe rising demand for electronics adhesives, especially in several developing nations and the expansion of the application segment are the key factors that are estimated to encourage the growth of the global electronics adhesives market in the next few years. In addition, the growing focus on technological advancements and the development of new products are likely to accelerate the growth of the overall market in the coming years. The key players in the market are focusing on the reducing the production cost, which is expected to boost the demand for electronic adhesives in the next few years.On the contrary, the fluctuations in the currency exchange and the presence of established electronics market are projected to restrict the growth of the global electronics adhesives market in the coming years. Moreover, stringent rules and regulations imposed by government worldwide related to use of electronics adhesives are predicted to hamper the markers growth in the next few years. Nevertheless, a substantial rise in the developmental strategies and the growing demand for innovative products are expected to generate promising and lucrative opportunities for market players in the next few years.About Us:-Transparency Market Research is a market intelligence company providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers.We are privileged with highly experienced team of Analysts, Researchers and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact Us:-Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog:
North America dominates Scanning Probe Microscopes Market Due to the Launch of Novel and Innovative Products by Domiciled Key Manufacturer

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Global Scanning Probe Microscopes (SPM) Market: OverviewScanning probe microscopes include imaging technologies that measure surface of small molecules, atoms and fine scales. This technique uses interaction of sharp, electrically charged probe with the surface of samples at particular points. This electrically charged probe is used to interact with sample that helps researchers to understand the properties of sample specimen. In addition, scanning probe microscope scan sample surface with sharp probe in order to observe three dimensional images at high magnification rate. Scanning probe technology is widely used for the study of macro-molecules and biological specimens. Additionally, scanning probe microscopy technique is used for the measurement of wide variety of inorganic (e.g. to measure surface chemistry of the molecules), synthetic (e.g. identify surface of polymers) and biological materials (like polymers and polymer matrix). In addition, scanning probe microscope technology can also be used for manipulation and observation of environmental non-conductive specimen.Browse the Complete Report Details at:Global Scanning Probe Microscopes (SPM) Market: Trends and ProspectsThe market of scanning probe microscopes is witnessing positive growth owing to development of advanced technologies in this field coupled with wide application areas of scanning probe microscopy in science, environmental and engineering field. For example, RHK Technology, Inc. offers innovative and well engineered RHK UHV Scanning Probe Microscopes. This microscope provides variety of applications in science and environmental field. In addition, Danish Micro Engineering A/S offers ProberStation 150 scanning probe microscope. This microscope offers accurate sampling and flexibility for customer specific modifications by combining with other types of analytical heads. Thus, these types of offering will help key manufacturers to attract more number of customers hence drives the market growth. In addition, various advantages of scanning probe microscope as compared to conventional optical microscopes will further drive the market growth. For example, scanning probe micros offers highest possible magnification i.e. more than 800 to 1000 times greater than conventional microscopes. Thus, this advantage will offer proper analysis of sample specimen hence drives the market growth of scanning probe microscopes. Moreover, these types of advanced microscopy is rapidly growing in developing countries like North America and Europe due to their innovative features and novel applications in variety of disciplines that will further boost the overall market of scanning probe microscope. However, high cost of these types of microscopes will restrain the market growth.The market of scanning probe microscopes can be segmented on the basis of:By Technologies> Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)> Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM)> Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscopy (NSOM)> OthersGlobal Scanning Probe Microscopes (SPM) Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, North America is the largest market of scanning probe microscopes due to the launch of novel and innovative products by domiciled key manufacturer coupled with increasing uptake of these technologies by consumers. Europe is considered as the second largest market of scanning probe microscopes. The growth of this market is attributed to the presence of large number of companies like NanoTechnology GmbH, Danish Micro Engineering A/S and others. This factor would help European market to grow consistently in future and hence stimulate the market growth. Additionally, Asia-Pacific region in emerging markets for scanning probe microscopes because of increasing awareness about scanning probe microscopy technology among customers.Global Scanning Probe Microscopes (SPM) Market: Companies Mentioned in the ReportVarious key players contributing to the global scanning probe microscopes market comprises Danish Micro Engineering A/S (DME), Klocke Nanotechnik, Agilent Technologies, Omicron NanoTechnology GmbH, Hitachi High-Tech Science Corporation, RHK Technology, Inc., Bruker Nano, Danish Micro Engineering, Schaefer Technology and others.Perceive the Sample Report Containing Upcoming Market Analysis at:The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
North America dominates the Pelvic Floor Electrical Stimulation Device Market due to Increasing Number of Elderly Women and Urinary Infection Rates

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Electrical stimulation is a therapeutic treatment to treat muscle spasms and pain. It prevents atrophy and builds strength in patients with injuries. It is helpful to keep muscles active, especially after a spinal cord injury or stroke. Electrical muscle stimulation can be used to strengthen weak pelvic floor muscles. Stimulating activity can be achieved by passive contraction of the pelvic floor muscles through the transmission of low grade electrical impulses to the nerves that supply impulse to the bladder and other sections in the pelvic area. The small electrical impulses are delivered to the pelvic structures through an internal vaginal method or anal electrode method. Posterior tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) is done by inserting a small electrode through skin of lower legs. The electrode can be connected through pulse generator. Similarly, sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) is done using a pacemaker like stimulator above the skin which plays an important role in functioning of the bladder. However, new developments in medical devices allow imaging at the cellular and molecular level, paving the way for earlier diagnosis and treatment by pelvic floor stimulation.Browse the Complete Report Details at:High prevalence of diseases such as urinary infection, neurological diseases, rising patient awareness, growing research and development initiatives, and increasing demand for electric stimulation devices such as electrodes and pacemakers are the major factors driving the global pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 17 million adults in the U.S. suffer from urinary incontinence, where women are twice affected as compared to men. Nearly 35% of female Medicare beneficiaries and 25% of male beneficiaries are estimated to suffer from urinary incontinence. Cost of reagents and sensitivity toward electrical impulses from the devices used during treatment are expected to hamper the pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market from 2016 to 2024.The global pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market has been segmented by device type, treatment, end-user, and geography. In terms of device type, the pelvic floor electrical stimulation market is classified into non-implantable electrical stimulator device and implantable electrical stimulator device. Based on treatment type, the market is classified into pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT), intravaginal neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), and transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (TTNS). In terms of end-user, the pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market is classified into hospitals and ambulatory surgical units. The non-implantable device type segment is projected to witness strong growth driven by increase in urinary incontinence among the population, rising number of elderly women, and obesity. The Journal of Wound Ostomy and Continence Nursing 2016 has conducted a study to evaluate the effect of intravaginal neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (TTNS) on lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in women with multiple sclerosis disease in order to compare the efficacy of the approaches.Geographically, the global pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market is classified into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America dominates the global pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market due to increasing number of elderly women, rising obesity, and urinary infection rates. Early-phase diagnosis and treatment of disease is driving the medical biotechnology market, which in turn is expected to propel the pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market in North America. Europe is the second largest market for pelvic floor electrical stimulation devices due to favorable government policies regarding improvement of health standards for women and awareness programs by NHS and other health institutions. The market in Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a higher rate due to rising population, changing lifestyle, aging population, and increasing per capita expenditure. In addition, economic growth has led to improvement in health care infrastructure in developing countries such as India, China, and southeast Asia. These factors collectively support the growth of the pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market in Asia Pacific.Major players operating in the global pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market include Boston Scientific, Coloplast A/S, C. R. Bard, Inc., and Ethicon, Inc. (Johnson & Johnson).Perceive the Sample Report Containing Upcoming Market Analysis at:The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Construction Chemical Market is Estimated to Post a CAGR of about 7% during the Period of 2016 to 2022

Construction Chemical Market

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Market Forecast:Market research future published a half cooked research report on Global Construction Chemical Market. The Construction chemical market is expected to grow over the CAGR of around 7% during the period 2016 to 2022.Market HighlightsConstruction Chemicals are regarded as chemicals which are used specially while constructing any structures to increase their life and protect them from environmental hazards. The use of construction chemical is useful in minimizing the quantity of cement and water required during the construction process. The increase in urban population coupled with the increase in demand for public, commercial and residential building is driving the global construction chemical market. Demands of buildings, roads, bridges and dams for the betterment of the infrastructure facility of the nations worldwide is further driving the market.Request to Receive a Sample Report @Key PlayersThe key players of Construction chemical market are BASF SE (Germany), Arkema SA (France), Ashland Inc. (U.S.), Fosroc International Limited (U.K.), Mapie S.p.A (Italy), Pidilite Industries Limited (India), RPM International Inc. (U.S.), Sika AG (Switzerland), The Dow Chemical Co.(U.S.), W.R. Grace & Company (U.S.) and others.Market Research AnalysisThe market is highly application driven. Residential sector is dominating the construction chemical market because of increase in demand for constructions. With the rapid urbanization, there is a rapid increase in the number of residential projects which majorly use construction chemicals. This increase of construction projects has led to the growth of the global construction chemical market.Asia-Pacific region is expected to dominate the construction chemical market with highest CAGR. The developing nations such as India and China are contributing majorly in the development of the region, owing to the increase in domestic demand for residential and commercial buildings in the region. Many multi-national companies have started to invest in the construction sector in Asia-Pacific region, which contributes to the growth of this sector.Browse Report Page @Scope of the ReportThis study provides an overview of the global construction chemical market, tracking three market segments across four geographic regions. The report studies key players, providing a five-year annual trend analysis that highlights market size, volume and share for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Rest of the World (ROW). The report also provides a forecast, focusing on the market opportunities for the next five years for each region. The scope of the study segments the global construction chemical market by its type, application and region.By Type Concrete admixtures Sealants & adhesives Protective Coatings OthersBy Application Residential Infrastructure Industrial OthersBy Region North America Asia Pacific Europe Rest of the WorldAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Global Tahini Consumption Market is Expected to Grow at a CAGR Over 12% during 2016 to 2022

Tahini Consumption Market

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Market Overview:Tahini is a delicious paste made from sesame seeds. It is a basic ingredient in Middle Eastern cuisine and several other ethnic cuisines including Greek, North Africa and Turkish cuisine. It contains large amounts of essential fatty acids and necessary nutrients such as Vitamin B1, magnesium, phosphorous. Tahini is usually play an important role in the manufacture of spreads or sauces, and has been widely used in Hummus, Baba Ghanouj, Falafel Pitas and other ethnic dishes.Market Forecast:Global Tahini Consumption Market is estimated to grow more than 12% from 2016 to 2022.In consumption market, the global consumption value of tahini increases with the 12% average growth rate. USA and the Middle East are the mainly consumption region due to the bigger demand of downstream applications. In 2015, USA occupied 78% of the global tahini consumption volume in total in 2015.Sauces and dips application of tahini is growing at the rate of 8.9% during forecast period 2016 to 2021 which is more than any other application segment in tahini market.Market Segmentation:Global Tahini Consumption Market is segmented by type, application and region.Request to Receive a Sample Report @Key Players and Competitive Analysis-The major key players in Tahini Market are Haitoglou Bros Balsam Prince Tahini Al Wadi AlAkhdar DIPASA, Carwari A.O. Ghandour & Sons SesajalTahini consumption market is dominated by key manufacturers. Many key manufacturers are focusing on R&D activities to expand their product portfolio and to create product differentiation from competitors.Regional AnalysisThe global tahini consumption market is segmented into North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific along with rest of the world (RoW). Among this North America region is dominating the Tahini consumption market. U.S consumes more than 30% tahini followed by Europe which consumes more than 20% of tahini compare to other major tahini consuming countries like China and Japan. Tahini consumption in Japan is growing significantly compare to U.S., China and Europe.Browse Report Page @Downstream Analysis:Tahini has two types, which include hulled, and unhulled. With fine taste of tahini, the downstream application industries will need more tahini products. So, tahini has a huge market potential in the future. Manufacturers engaged in the industry are trying to produce more kinds of taste tahini through improving technology and adding additional agent. The major raw materials for tahini are sesame seed, lemon, garlic, olive oil and salt. Fluctuations in the price of the upstream product will impact on the production cost of tahini. The production cost of tahini is also an important factor which could impact the price of tahini. The tahini manufacturers are trying to reduce production cost by developing production method.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
National Labour Exchange for Efficient Labour Market, Full Employment and maximising wealth. : IIF Study

In the light of latest IMF statement asking India to go for labour market reforms, in the spring meeting of IMF/world Bank, it is stated that a recent research study by a team of economists at Indian Institute of Finance has suggested setting up of a National Labour Exchange to achieve an Efficient Labour Market, full employment and maximising wealth. The research paper entitled Theory of Employment, Wealth and Efficient Labour Market through National Labour Exchange, by J.D.Agarwal, Manju Agarwal, Aman Agarwal and Yamini Agarwal, has been submitted, earlier in March 2017, for presentation in a conference of American Finance Association to be held in first week of January, 2018 in USA. One of the authors is currently attending IMF/World Spring meeting in Washington D.C. U.S.A. The study has already been accepted for publication in a leading journal. The Findings of the study in brief are given below. Full text of the paper can be asked for from any of the authors.The authors of the research have proposed setting up of a National Labour Exchange along the lines of National Stock Exchange, Bombay Stock Exchange and Commodity Exchanges worldwide in order to promote efficiency in the Labor market, full employment and generating wealth and for positive contributions to GDP. The author also consider that Labor is a valuable resource and a wealth of a nation, having potential to generate more wealth. In the study the authors questioned the concept of wages or price of labor as in classical economics, but supports Ricardos theory of value and laissez faire through efficient labor market. The authors of the study also questions Keynesian theory outlining Government Intervention to generate Employment though Monetary Policy changes and Fiscal Policy. According to the study Keynesian Theory is outdated and irrelevant in the todays economic perspective as Keynesian theory is based on his book on The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. Keynesian theory employment was a product of Great Depression of 1931-36, when businesses failed and Labour laid off in abundance. The Keynsian theory does not take into consideration the normal economic and business conditions in the economy. The study also critically evaluates various theories on Labour.The proposed Model of creating efficient Labor Market through National Labor Exchange, according to the study completed at IIF, will facilitate an automatic way for Full Employment, generating wealth for the Nation, Firm and Labour, easy access to information about the availability of Labour (man hours) and jobs. It would also help save employment costs in a market driven economic system with asymmetric information. National Labour Exchange as proposed, in the study, would also help rating certificates, diplomas, degrees, skill development and experiences of labour based on scores and would facilitate transparency in the efficient labour markets where man hours and services can be traded like stocks bonds and commodities. It would automatically adjust the return to labour based on value addition and economic and business conditions avoiding the problems of laying off. Efficient Labour Market would facilitate perfect or nearly perfect mobility of labour and full employment and maximizing wealth through National Labour Exchange which would need digitalization of labour records.Labour is the most important resource that utilizes natural or capital resources in most productive manner to create and generate wealth for nations, companies, organizations and for themselves state the authors of the study. Despite the technological revolution and advancements in the artificial intelligence, labor continues to be supreme and guides the functioning of all economic events and economic systems. Labor in itself is wealth of a nation. But it is not effectively utilized. Labor suffers from lack of employment opportunities, poverty, poor wage, income variations, immobility and many other problems. In developed economies, wages constitute about 70 % to 80 % of the pre-tax income and post transfer payments with at least one working member in each household. However in developing and emerging economies this share is less than 50% for example it is 40-50% in Argentina, 40% in Peru and 30% in Vietnam. Self Employment is the main source of income in most of the developing and emerging economies for lack of employment opportunities, information, corruption, lack of transparency, and accountability in recruitments and lack of skills and adequate training. Despite the importance of labor in the world economy, labor market is far from perfect for lack of necessary information available.The proposed model provides a General Theory of Employment, Wealth and Efficient labour market through setting up of a National Labour Exchange. National Labour Exchange can be a vehicle of facilitating information for available jobs i.e. employment opportunities at given return to labour and availability of labour offering the services for a return based on their value addition. The proposed model will fill the existing gap of asymmetrical information.The proposed National Labour Exchange as suggested in the study, according to authors, would induce competition, both among employers and labour to maximize the productivity, maximizing wealth, GDP and social welfare. Labour, instead of being idle or underemployed would prefer to pick up a job with lower return. It would provide transparency and accountability of the employer, employable and employed and would avoid exploitation of labour. Efficiency in labour market would help foreign investors, to know about the skill, experiences, qualifications and desired return of labour in a country. This is in turn will remove any fears regarding the availability of labour in a given industry.The payment to labour should be based on return to labour on the basis of value addition, rather than as wages as is being currently done. Payment of wages is exploitative on one or the other ground. Labour is resource (wealth) as much as land or capital and deserves return to labour. In the study it is stated that the wages paid to labour should be replaced by Return to Labour based on value addition. Return to Labour would be automatically directly linked to productivity. It would give dignity and enhance or reduce return.According to the authors of the study, setting up of National Labour Exchange,would create one national market for labor exchange, uniting the country and its countrymen to one common working platform removing the discrimination of regional imbalances, labor immobility and information asymmetries that create distortions in the demand or supply of labor. It would encourage labour at all levels to acquire certificates, degrees, skill and focus on maximizing productivity so as to quality for a composite score to be high to get better return on jobs and choice of firms.The proposed Model of creating Efficient Labour Market through National Labour Exchange will facilitate an automatic way for Full Employment, generating wealth for the nation, firms and Labour, easy access to information about the availability of Labour (man hours) and jobs. It would also help save employment costs in a Market Driven Economic System with Asymmetric Information. National Labour Exchange as proposed would also help Rating Certificates, Diplomas, Degrees, skill development and experiences based on Scores and would facilitate transparency in the Efficient Labour Markets. It would automatically adjust the return to labour based on value addition and economic and business conditions avoiding the problems of laying off. Efficient Labour Market would facilitate perfect or nearly perfect mobility of labour through National Labour Exchange.About the authors:Professor J.D.Agarwal, Sr. Professor of Finance and founder chairman, Indian Institute of Finance, editor-in- chief, Finance India (ISSN-0970-9772)  The Quarterly Journal of Finance published since 1987 regularly, author of 16 books are 200+ research papers, AIR and TV expert economic commentator and former professor at SRCC, DU, IIT Delhi, Cleveland State University, USA. Email: jda@iif.eduProfessor Manju Agarwal, Sr. Professor of Economics, Indian Institute of Finance, Member Editorial Board Finance India, author of 4 books and 30+research papers and former Principal, Moti Lal Nehru College, University of Delhi. email : ma@iif.eduProfessor Aman Agarwal, Professor of Finance and dean International affairs, Indian Institute of Finance, Executive Editor, Finance India, author of 5+ books, 60+ research papers, AIR/TV expert economic commentator. Email: aa@iif.eduProfessor Yamini Agarwal, Professor of Finance and Dean Research , Indian Institute of Finance, Associate Editor, Finance India, Author of two books, and over 40 research paper. Email: ya@iif.eduIndian Institute of Finance setup in 1987 pioneered Business Finance Education in IndiaIndian Institute of Finance45A, Knowledge Park IIIGreater NoidaINDIA
Large Number of Applications of DNA Microarrays Makes it a Major Segment of the Microarray Market

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/microarray-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=19043

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

Microarray is an advanced molecular biology technique used to spot expressions of many genes at the same time. Gene expression is a crucial part of normal gene functioning and plays significant role in understanding normal growth and development of life. Any abnormalities in gene functioning can lead to critical disease. Research involving the study of many genes by traditional method is next to impossible. Microarrays serve the purpose. Thousands of genes can be arrayed at one time and analyzed accurately. It is fast, accurate, cost effective and easy to do assay design. Microarray can be used for many micro molecules such as DNA, RNA, proteins, and also for enzymes, carbohydrates, and tissues. It can be used for gene expression profiling, molecular interactions, biomarker profiling, enzyme activity, pathway identification, and mutations. Microarray is not limited to basic research, but has expanded to clinical research and diagnosis.Browse the Complete Report Details at:Based on type, microarrays can be segmented into DNA microarrays, protein microarrays, and antibody microarrays. DNA microarrays can be used for single nucleotide polymorphism-based diagnostics, forensic detection, gene expression profiling, etc. Large number of applications of DNA microarrays makes it a major segment of the microarray market. Protein microarrays are used in biomarker screening, enzyme substrate profiling, small molecule profiling, protein-protein interaction, etc. Antibody microarrays find applications in immunology in antibody specificity profiling, electronic immunoassays, etc.In terms of application, microarrays can be segmented into gene expression profiling tool, comparative genomics tool, disease diagnosis, drug discovery, and toxicological research involving the uncharacterized microbial populations exposed to toxins and pollutants. With the help of microarrays some of the uncharacterized microbes can be identified and their original gene pattern and functionality can be studied. Microarray technology has provided a new insight into the evolutionary studies, as many arrays can be studied parallel that are specific for particular species. Microarrays can be used in comparative genomics and pathway probing. Microarrays provide information, though not complete but useful, about the gene or group of genes that can be studied further, illuminating the biological pathways. Microarray has helped in better understanding of some diseases, their pathogenesis, and genetics. Scientists are able to differentiate cancer on the basis of organs harboring tumor, leading to a better understanding of gene pattern in the tumor cells. Microarray has also benefitted therapeutics development. Better understanding of any drug addiction followed by better treatment in any patient is an example of it. In diagnosis of diseases, particularly at the time of outbreaks, where a quick and accurate diagnosis is required, microarray has gained recognition in identifying the causative agent or the pathogen and the specific strain or antigen (serotype).Based on product type and analysis, the microarray market can be segmented into consumables and instruments. Large number of applications of microarray has led to high demand for consumables such as reagents, primers, buffers, DNA chips, and reagent kits.Microarray has widespread applications in genomics as well as proteomics. The progressively evolving information and software technology and emerging bioinformatics are some of the factors driving the microarray market, making it economical, unfailing, and durable. The development of biological products such as vaccines and therapeutic proteins involving microarray technologies could lead to promising results. However government protocols have mentioned that minor changes in the biological process may lead to distinguished end product, there is an urgent need of extensive testing and authentication. And these factors may hamper the market.In terms of region, the microarray market can be segmented into five regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America was the largest market for microarrays. Advanced technology, high quality result oriented research, public awareness about personal health, and government initiatives are the factors contributing to the growth of the microarray market in North America. Europe was the second largest market for microarrays, followed by Asia Pacific. Increasing awareness among the people about genetic diseases, education, government initiatives, and modern technology in diagnosis and treatment of diseases are propelling the microarray market in Asia Pacific.Key players in the microarray market are Agilent Technologies, Illumina, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific and Merck. Other companies include Applied Microarrays, BioGenex, Perkin Elmer, QIAGEN, and Phalanx Biotech.Perceive the Sample Report Containing Upcoming Market Analysis at:The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Systweak Makes Web Browsing Safe Again with Porn Block Plus for iOS From the makers of quality iOS apps such as Secret Photo Vault and Duplicate Photos Fixer, comes yet another app that will make internet browsing more family friendly on Safari. The aptly named Porn Block Plus is a simple filter for Safari that blocks adult and explicit content from being displayed in your browser.



Once enabled, Porn Blocker Plus will prevent anyone from searching for pornographic and mature websites on search engines. Moreover, it will also block links to websites with adult oriented content along with any unsuitable images and photos on webpages. It seamlessly integrates with Safari app on iOS devices and eliminates the requirement for a separate browser. Porn Block Plus is totally free and doesnt involve any hidden subscription fee or charges. It is perfect for families with children who could be exposed to unsuitable content while browsing the internet and makes it a handy parental control tool.



Internet is full of web pages and content that arent suitable for younger users and Porn Block Plus is the best way to prevent access to such websites. It allows users to browse internet without embarrassing or mature images and links from being displayed. Certainly, a must-have app for families and parents!, said Sudhir Sharma, Product Manager, Systweak Software.



We are glad to announce yet another utility that makes the internet a better place for families and children. By simply enabling the filter in Safari, Porn Block Plus makes internet much safer, and will prevent users from being distracted by explicit content while browsing online, said Mr. Shrishail Rana, CEO, Systweak Software.



Porn Block Plus makes internet a whole lot less embarrassing and keeps the younger ones from accessing mature content and websites.



https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/porn-block-plus/id1220328164



Systweak Software has been developing and distributing Windows, Mac, iOS & Android Apps since last 18 years to improve the average users digital experience. It has recently been featured in 100 Most Promising Microsoft Solution Providers list by the enterprise solutions magazine, CIO Review. Some of the companys flagship apps have been featured on Newswatch, Discovery Channels tech news bulletin. Systweak Software has a large user-base in North America followed by several countries in Europe and Asia.



Systweak Software

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Phone: +91-141-2243030, 2243031 (5:00 AM to 5:00 PM G.M.T.) FAX: +91-141-2577982



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Building Automation Systems Market to Value US$ 141.1 Bn by 2026

Building Automation Systems Market

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/building-automation-systems-market/toc

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12823

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The global market for building automation systems is crowded with several players. The Rheem Manufacturing Company, United Technologies, General Electric, Lennox International, Philips Lighting Holding B.V., Ingersoll-Rand Plc. Honeywell International Inc., Johnson Controls are some of the major players contributing to the growth of the market. They are establishing smart IT backed platforms to provide advanced building automation systems to their customers.In reference to a new report published by Persistence Market Research, the global building automation systems market will showcase significant growth between 2016 and 2026. Manufacturers of building automation systems are rapidly adopting new regulations set across the globe and they are also lining up new products to meet rising market demand. The Persistence Market Research report titled, Building Automation Systems Market: Global Industry Analysis & Forecast, 2016-2026, talks in detail about the market psyche and also scrutinizes the market drifts which are expected to impact the future of the global building automation systems market. The global building automation systems market was valued more than US$ 43 Bn in 2015 and is expected to mint better revenue by the end of 2016, reaching approximately US$ 48 Bn. The market will continue its journey towards expansion and the market worth will reach US$ 141.1 Bn towards the end of 2026. The global building automation systems market will record a CAGR of 11.1% during the projected period.Request to view table of content @Governments around the globe are rolling out different precautionary measures to cut down the wastage of energy. Different new regulatory methods are adopted to reduce the consumption of energy. This is a massive booster for the global building automation systems market. Several big economies around the globe such as Europe, US and Japan have already curated some restrictive methods to revise the previous trends. This opens a new window of opportunity for the global building automation systems market. A slew of new technologies that are eroding this market are actively affecting the global canvas of the market. Better and more advanced technologies are enhancing the end-user experience and also increasing market outreach. The introduction of smart web-based, cloud-based control networks backed by the Internet of Things (IOT), mobile technologies, integrated building systems and facility management solutions are expanding the periphery of the global building automation systems market. Last but not the least, the urgent need for consolidated security solutions is also pushing ahead the market growth of the global building automation systems market. These key factors will complement the all-round development of the market within the forecast period but there are also certain key factors that might barricade the normal development of the market within the period of forecast. Building automation systems come with a high price tag and this is expected to impact their widespread adoption. The absence of skilled manpower is another market growth deterrent.A sample of this report is available upon request @The rising incidences of security violations across the globe are likely to impact the growth of the security and surveillance segment in the global building automation systems market. The security and surveillance segment will exhibit a robust growth in terms of revenue and will overshadow the market within the forecast period. The commercial segment will contribute notably to the global building automation systems market. Towards the end of the projected period, the commercial segment will touch a market worth of more than US$ 63 Bn and will record a CAGR of 10.9%. Apart from this the government and residential segments will also project promising growth trends by 2026 end. North America will lure maximum investors, as the building automation systems market in this region will exceed a whopping value of US$ 55 Bn by the close of 2026.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Biodefense Market share to reach $17bn by 2024

Global Market Insights, Inc.

https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/714

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/biodefense-market

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Global Biodefense Market size is driven by growing R&D spending for product innovation by key industry players and rising government research funding. The presence of favorable federal government initiatives such as Project BioShield and Emergency Use Authorization of medical products is expected to catapult growth in the coming years. Moreover, growing threats regarding chemical, biological, and radiological warfare should heighten the need for continuous technology upgrades. The biodefense market has witnessed surge in R&D investments aimed at catering to threats involving the recent Ebola outbreak. Biodefense Market size was USD 9.7 billion in 2015, with 6.9% CAGR estimation from 2016 to 2024; according to the latest research report by Global Market Insights, Inc.The emergence of technologically advanced centers for innovation in advanced development and manufacturing, continuous development of next generation detection systems such as CIP based detection, environmental detection and vulnerability detection is anticipated to drive revenue.Request for a sample of this research report -Global surveillance measures against the threats of bioterrorism and pandemic outbreaks has improved public health preparedness to effectively monitor and control community health. The focus is shifted towards development of precise analytical instruments, tests and procedures that detects and identifies bio threat agents. Countries have entered into mass production and stockpiling of antibiotics effective against the bacterial agents and resumed the halted offensive biological weapons programs.Protective measures implemented by international associations will serve as strategic deterrents. For instance, a treaty between U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) reinstates the commitment of the use of weapons of mass destruction against any member state would represent an attack against all NATO members.Other protective and instant response measures include development of the CDC Rapid Response and Advanced Technology laboratory, National Electronic Data Surveillance System (NEDSS), Health Alert Network (HAN), and Epidemic Information Exchange (Epi-X). These protective measures are anticipated to reduce the cost of responding to any emergency bio threat.North America biodefense market share represented the largest regional segment in 2015. Implementation of Project BioShield coupled with presence of government and private funding are some of the factors fueling demand. Furthermore, countries such as Japan and China should experience high growth in the coming years due to advancing healthcare infrastructure, and the presence of favorable political and regulatory environment.Browse key industry insights spread across 82 pages with 30 market data tables & 8 figures & charts from the report, Biodefense Market Size By Product (Anthrax, Small Pox, Botulism, Radiation/ Nuclear), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, U.K, Germany, China, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa), Application Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016  2024 in detail along with the table of contents:Key insights from the report include: Global biodefense market size was driven by the anthrax segment, which was USD 3 billion in 2015 and is anticipated to grow at 5% from 2016 to 2024. Revenue growth will be propelled by smallpox segment that is set to increase at 7.4% CAGR estimations to exceed USD 4 billion by 2024. Eminent companies entered into contracts with the government for addressing a range of healthcare, scientific, national security and international security issues, which has led to high U.S. biodefense market share. European countries of Germany and UK are set to witness lucrative growth rate due to designated funding policies in place. Companies operating in the industry include Xoma Corporation, Emergent Biosolutions, Cleveland BioLabs, Nanotherapeutics, SIGA Technologies, etc. Presence of extensive product portfolio and strong pipeline will contribute to profitability.Global Market Insights has segmented the biodefense industry on the basis of product and region:Global Biodefense Market Product Analysis (Revenue, USD Million; 2012 - 2024) Anthrax Smallpox Botulism Radiation/Nuclear OthersGlobal Biodefense Market Regional Analysis (Revenue, USD Million; 2012 - 2024) North Americao U.S.o Canada Europeo Germanyo UK Asia Pacifico Japano China Latin Americao Brazilo Mexico MEAo South AfricaAbout Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Web:
MASON CITY | A Mason City jail inmate who allegedly spit on and bit hospital staff faces criminal charges.

King James, 26, was charged with three counts of misdemeanor assault on a person in certain occupations.

The alleged incident happened about 2:45 p.m. Monday when James, a Cerro Gordo County Jail inmate, was taken by correctional staff to Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa.

He spit on two nurses, a doctor, and bit both of the nurses, according to court documents.

Correctional staff were not injured.

In addition to the new charges, James was also being held Thursday morning for disorderly conduct and is awaiting transfer for a felony domestic assault case.

 Molly Montag
Industrial Automation Market Scenario, Leading Players, Segments Analysis and Growth Drivers to 2022

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2212

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/industrial-automation-market-2212

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/access-control-as-a-service-market-2011

Market OverviewIn this rapidly changing environment, companies are expanding their scale of operations by increasing investments. In industrial automation innovation is very beneficial. Industrial automation has become worldwide. Different countries are exploring ways for industrial automation. Robotics in industrial automation has established a trend in industrial automation.Internet of things (IOT) is considered as a major component with respect to industrial automation therefore industries adopting Internet of Things which has increased the demand for industrial automation. There was a recent report from the United Nation about the industrial automation which stated that there are high chances that industrial automation would disrupt the labor market. This has become a threat for industrial automation.Industrial Automation Market is growing rapidly over 6% of CAGR and is expected to reach at USD 149 billion by the end of forecast period. Cost reduction, high efficiency in the process and ability to provide the overall information and initiate early stage development for the products are the major driving factors of this market.Request a Sample Copy of Report @Competitive Analysis-Major Key Players in Industrial Automation Market are Emerson Electric Company (U.S.), General Electric Company (U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany), ABB Ltd. (Switzerland), Schneider Electric SE (France), Honeywell International, Inc. (U.S.), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan), Yokogawa Electric (Japan), Rockwell Automation, Inc. (U.S.)Browse Report Details @Industrial Automation Market SegmentationIndustrial Automation Market has been segmented on the basis of type, technology, and end user. Looking through the industry segments its been observed that manufacturing industry would expect a substantial increase in industrial automation sector. Whereas metals and mining, oil and gas, automotive and transport industries are also leading industries in industrial automation sector. These industries are showing a positive growth towards industrial automation.Access the market data and market information presented through more than 60 market data tables and 25 figures spread over 110 numbers of pages of the project report Industrial Automation Market Research Report- Forecast 2022Market Research Analysis:Market Research Future Analysis shows that there are many organizations which are lagging in industrial automation but there is an expectation of sudden hike in industrial automation. It has been observed that many companies are getting incentives for increasing their investment in industrial automation. The major benefits of industrial automation are increase in production, quality and replacing labor intervention. These factors would definitely increase the industrial automation market very soon.Regional analysis for Industrial Automation Market is studied in different geographic regions as Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of world. It has been observed that Europe would account for larger share in industrial automation sector followed by North America and Asia-Pacific. Asia-Pacific countries like Japan, China, and Korea, also the south East Asian countries like Vietnam are also showing progress in field of industrial automation.Browse Related ReportGlobal Access Control as a Service (ACaaS) Market Analysis- by Application (Network Access Control, Data Access Control), Components (Biometric, Smart Card Access, Identity Management Solution) and Types (Discretionary, Non-discretionary) - Forecast 2022About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.ContactAkash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
ZigBee Market: Industry Key Players, Share, Trend, Applications, Segmentation and Forecast to 2022

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2617

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/zigbee-market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/2617

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/lidar-market-2460

Market HighlightsIn this rapidly changing environment, low cost and low power are ever increasing. The market trend towards internet of things (IoT), industrial automation and home automation are driving the ZigBee market. The study indicates that many organizations are largely investing in home automation and smart energy application.Observing the current trend and the increasing focus on flexibility and mobility of different application, the study indicates a sudden hike in ZigBee market. The ZigBee has many benefits as low energy consumption, multichannel control systems, works on inexpensive batteries, redundant, improves comfort, secure, reliable, interoperable, low power and others which boosts the market. Whereas the competitors of the ZigBee technology are observed as a threat to the ZigBee market. The study indicates that the trending NFC technology can be employed for the easy commissioning of devices into ZigBee networks to facilitate more user-friendly consumer products.A recent new about Samsung tell us that it has introduced a new smart home hub called the Samsung Connect Home and a smart home app called Samsung Connect in which the Wi-Fi hub would have built-in ZigBee, Z-Wave and Bluetooth 4.1 and would be compatible with hundreds of third-party smart homes devices from the likes of Ring and Philips.Request a Copy of Sample Report @Major Key Players Atmel Corporation (U.S.), Digi International, (U.S.), NXP Semiconductors N.V. (Netherlands), Renesas Electronics Corporation (Japan), Microchip Technology (U.S.), STMicroelectronics (Switzerland), Texas Instruments Inc. (U.S.), GreenPeak Technologies (Netherlands)The ZigBee market is growing rapidly. Increased demand for low cost and low power wireless technologies is driving the ZigBee market. The ZigBee market is globally emerging across world. New opportunities from internet of things (IoT), industrial automation and home automation are the factors accelerating the ZigBee market.The study reveals that increasing focus on flexibility and mobility of different application is responsible for growth the ZigBee market. The ZigBee has many advantages as low energy consumption, multichannel control systems, works on inexpensive batteries, redundant, improves comfort, secure, reliable, interoperable, low power and others. The study indicates that competitors of ZigBee would result as a threat to the ZigBee market.Recently there has been a new about Samsung, it has introduced a new new smart home hub called the Samsung Connect Home and a smart home app called Samsung Connect. The Wi-Fi hub would have built-in ZigBee, Z-Wave and Bluetooth 4.1 and is compatible with hundreds of third-party smart homes devices from the likes of Ring and Philips. The trend also shows that there has been rising popularity of smart homes worldwide which results in increase of ZigBee market.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 30 market data tables and figures spread over 100 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on ZigBee Market Research Report -Forecast to 2022.Access Report Details @Commenting on the report, an analyst from Market Research Future (MRFR)s team said:By ZigBee standards segment, there are ZigBee, ZigBee RF4CE, ZigBee PRO, ZigBee IP, ZigBee remote control 2.0, ZigBee 3.0 standards available. The study reveals that the ZigBee PRO is trending in the market. Whereas considering the application segment it includes home automation, smart energy, telecommunication services, health care, retail services and others. The study reveals that the home automation segment is dominating the ZigBee market.By Region, North America region has been leading the ZigBee market. Many factors such as innovation, increasing home automation have credited to developments of ZigBee market in North America region. North America region is followed by Europe region showing a positive growth in the ZigBee Market. It has been observed that Asia-Pacific countries like China, Japan and India would enhance the ZigBee market by the forecast period.For the purpose of this study, the global ZigBee market has been segmented on the basis of equipment and end user industries. The report on ZigBee contains detailed analysis with market size of each segment.The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.Make an Enquiry @Brief TOC1 Market Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope Of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market Structure2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Network Solution2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research2.4 Forecast Model2.4.1 Market Data Collection, Analysis & Forecast2.4.2 Market Size Estimation3 Market DynamicsContinued.Browse Related ReportGlobal LIDAR Market, By Type (Terrestrial, Airborne), By Component (Laser, Navigation, Camera, GPS Receiver), By Application (Seismology, Corridor mapping, Exploration), By End-users (Oil & Gas, Transportation, Mining, Tourism) - Forecast 2022About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Data Center UPS Market share to grow at 7.4% CAGR from 2016 to 2024

https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/116

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/data-center-UPS-market

https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/116

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/field-programmable-gate-array-fpga-market-size

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The report Data Center UPS Market Size By Product (Medium Data Center UPS, Large Data Center UPS, Small Data Center UPS) Industry Outlook Report, Regional Analysis, Application Development Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2015  2022 says that global data center UPS market size is estimated to reach USD 6.65 billion by 2022, as per a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Amplifying acceptance of cloud computing coupled with falling tolerance limits pertaining to data loss are likely to boost global demand over the forecast period.Small data center UPS market size led product sales and was valued at USD 2.1 billion in 2014, with revenue expected to exceed USD 3.7 billion by 2022. It is widely used in application areas such as server rooms, factory floors, enterprise data centers, industrial environments, localized & mid-tier data centers and medical imaging.Request for a sample of this research report @Increasing power outages causes installation of UPS in data centers to ensure smooth functioning of equipment. Use of ultra-miniature components in servers, storage systems and network devices make them vulnerable to falter and fail under power conditions. Deficiency of inventory supply owing to slowdown of the semiconductor industry is expected to pose a challenge to the industry growth.Browse key industry insights spread across 120 Pages with 14 market data tables & 10 figures from the report, Data Center UPS Market in detail along with the table of contents:Key insights from the report include: Global data center UPS market size was valued USD 3.7 billion in 2014, with estimates of USD 6.65 billion by 2022, growing at 7.7% from 2015 to 2022. Medium data center UPS industry demand was USD 1.04 billion in 2014, which is likely to reach USD 1.9 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 7.9% from 2015 to 2022. It is mainly used in hospitals, cable handling stations, government, commercial organizations and universities which in turn have spurred demand. Large data center UPS is expected to witness the fastest growth and reach USD 1 billion by 2022. North America, on account of U.S. data center UPS market share, dominated regional demand with revenue share of 33% in 2014. Increasing need from end-use industries is likely to support growth over the forecast period. Europe industry revenue is expected to exceed 1.7 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 6.8% over the forecast period. Moderately competitive data center UPS market share consists of top three manufacturers which accounted for more than 50% of the industry in 2014. Key participants in this industry include Emerson, Ametek Inc., Eaton, ABB Ltd, Mitsubishi Electric, General Electric Co., Delta Electronics Inc, Siemens, and Schneider Electric S.A. among others.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Global Market Insights has segmented the data center UPS industry on the basis of product and region: Global Data Center UPS Product Analysis (Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022)o Medium data centero Large data centero Small data center Global Data Center UPS Regional Analysis (Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022)o North Americao Europeo Asia Pacifico Latin Americao MEABrowse Related Reports: Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) Market Size By Application (Data Processing, Industrial, Automotive, Consumer Electronics, Telecom, Military & Aerospace), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Application Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2015  2022About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:
Cancer Biological Therapy Market to grow at 6% CAGR from 2016 to 2023

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Global Cancer Biological Therapy Market size is driven by rising incidence rates and increased adoption of biologic therapy will drive. According to WHO estimates, the number of new cancer cases are projected to rise by 70% in the next two decades, largely due to increased consumption of alcohol and tobacco. It is estimated by the ACS that 180,890 prostate cancer and 246,660 breast cancer cases will be diagnosed in 2016 in the U.S. Cancer Biological Therapy Market size is expected to reach USD 100 billion by 2023; as per a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc.Mounting global geriatric population is predicted to boost cancer biological therapy market size owing to correlation between new cases and old age. Elderly population is more prone to the disease and according to ACS, 86% of cases in the U.S. were recorded in individuals aged 50 and above. High associated cost attributed to the cost of drug development may act as a major bottleneck to growth. Millions of dollars are spent in identifying a potent drug, obtaining its preclinical data and carry out its clinical trials. Monopoly is yet another factor that contributes to higher cost. The emergence of new therapeutic classes with reduced adverse-effects, such as immuno-oncologics will change the industry landscape.Request for a sample of this research report -Cancer vaccines market was over USD 1.9 billion in 2015. Approval of the first vaccine sipuleucel-T (Provenge) for metastatic prostate cancer by the FDA will boost growth in the immunotherapy segment. Cancer growth blockers market was over USD 18 billion in 2015, and is expected to grow at 5.8% CAGR from 2016 to 2023. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors dominated revenue share among the growth blockers in 2015 and is expected to continue witnessing steady growth.Monoclonal antibodies market size was over USD 21 billion in 2015. Antibody therapy has been the most successful and important approach for treatment of hematological malignancies and solid tumors. Bispecific monoclonal antibodies are anticipated to grow at 6.5% CAGR from 2016 to 2023.Key insights from the report include: U.S. cancer biological therapy market share was over 80% of the North American revenue in 2015, and is anticipated to grow owing to increased public funding for R&D and other government initiatives. Germany revenue was over USD 4 billion in 2015 and contributes largely to the Europe cancer biological therapy market size. Major drivers include favorable insurance and public reimbursement policies. For instance, about 90% of the German population is covered by Statutory Health Insurance and only 10% of population by private insurance players. China will drive Asia Pacific cancer biology therapy market share by providing favorable growth opportunities to players, which will motivate them to invest in R&D of biologic products. The favorable reimbursement plans will further accelerate growth. Key players include Novartis International AG, Amgen Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Eli Lilly, Seattle Genetics, Inc., Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Celgene Corporation are some notable companies vying for global cancer biological therapy market share.Browse key industry insights spread across 90 pages with 60 market data tables & 47 market data figures & charts from the report Cancer Biological Therapy Market in detail along with the table of contents:Global Market Insights has segmented the cancer biological therapy industry on the basis of product and region: Cancer Biological Therapy Market Product Analysis (Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2023) Monoclonal antibodieso Naked monoclonal antibodieso Conjugated monoclonal antibodieso Bispecific monoclonal antibodies Vaccineso Preventive vaccineso Therapeutic vaccines Cancer growth blockerso Tyrosine kinase inhibitorso Proteasome inhibitorso mTOR inhibitors Blood cell growth factorso Lenograstimo Filgrastim Cytokineso Interferonso Interleukins North Americao U.S.o Canada Europeo Germanyo UKo Franceo Spaino Italy Asia Pacifico Indiao Chinao Japan Latin Americao Brazilo Mexicoo Argentina MEAo South Africao Saudi ArabiaAbout Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Web:
Maritime Security Market : Industry Analysis and Global Forecast by 2025

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Global Maritime Security Market: OverviewMaritime security is aimed at providing protection to ports, vessels, and the sophisticated infrastructure related to the shipping business against intentional damage through sabotage, subversion, or terrorism. It provides advanced technologies to help detect potential hazards and communicate the same to the concerned officials in no time. It also offers solutions to help combat the potential threats such as transactional crimes, environmental hazards, illegal seaborne immigration, piracy threats, and terrorist attacks. These threats would not only disrupt international trade but can trigger political unrest, which renders maritime security highly imperative for the maritime industry.Spurred by the aforementioned factors, the global maritime security market is poised to exhibit growth at an impressive pace. Contrary to these, the volatile nature of the international sea trades and recent economic downturns could pose threat to the market. Nevertheless, with leading market players gearing to offer integrated and smart security solutions, the market will have significant opportunities to gain from over the course of the forecast period.Request a Brochure of the Report @The report provides a comprehensive overview of the global maritime security market covering the factors encouraging its expansion and those restraining its growth. It also studies the markets trajectory across various segments. Chapters dedicated to study the vendor landscape profiles some of the most prominent brands providing maritime solutions. The key strategies adopted by these companies and their impact on market operations are studied in detail. The report also gauges the effect of Porters five forces on the overall market operations.Global Maritime Security Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe increasing threat to maritime security and the rising awareness regarding the same are the chief drivers of the global maritime security market. With regulations in favor of deploying advanced security standards, coupled with the proliferation of international sea trade, the market is most likely to witness lucrative opportunities for the growth. While economic downturn and ungoverned marine localities pose a threat for the market, potential technological advancements and the innovation of integrated solutions hold promise for the markets growth in the forecast period.Various countries have specific standards and rules in place to regulate maritime security solutions and systems. These regulations play a crucial role in designing and integrating security systems. Furthermore, several nations around the world have their own rules and policies, adhering to which is mandatory to coordinate and maintain hindrance-free international trades. Such regulations have proven favorable in aiding the growth of the maritime security market in the respective nations. Furthermore, the market is expected to gain from the rising adoption of smart containers.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Maritime Security Market: Regional OutlookRegionally, North America held the largest share in the global maritime security market, trailed by Asia Pacific. Due to the increasing incidence of security breaches, governments are implementing stringent policies to ensure improved maritime security. Given the scenario, the market is expected to witness rising opportunities in Brazil, Russia, China, and India (BRIC). As per TMR, Asia Pacific is likely to exhibit lucrative opportunities for the global maritime security market.Global Maritime Security Market: Vendor LandscapeSome of the most prominent companies operating in the global maritime security market are Harris Corp., Bae Systems Inc., Northrop Grumman Corporation, Elbit Systems Ltd., Honeywell International, Inc., Kongsberg Gruppen, The Raytheon Company, Genetec, Thales Group, Hikvision Digital Technology, Tyco International Ltd, and others.Read Complete Report @The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting ser-vices to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Safety Sensors and Switches Market : Review & Forecasts Research Report 2017 - 2025

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Global Safety Sensors and Switches Market: SnapshotThe global market for safety sensors and switches is expected to gain massively from the automotive sector in the next few years. The automotive sector is going through a phase of significant transformation owing to increasingly stricter emission control norms, rising demand for vehicle safety, and fuel efficiency standards. In a bid to transform in accordance to the rapidly changing preferences of buyers and the rising demand for vehicles conforming to the aforementioned features, automakers are using more sensors in vehicles.In the near future, it is believed that the top-line growth of companies operating in the global safety sensors and switches market will be largely driven from the increased use of sensors and switches in public and private transport vehicles, driven on the back of the steady global automotive production growth. The market will also benefit from continuous technological developments and the rising production of smart sensors and switches on a global front. The increased consumer preference to vehicles with additional safety and comfort features will also drive the uptake of safety sensors and switches across the automotive industry, thereby driving the global safety sensors and switches market.Request a Brochure of the Report @Application areas such as advanced driver assistance systems, smart tire pressure monitoring systems, and hybrid vehicle systems will be some of the key areas requiring the usage of safety sensors and switches. Furthermore, regulatory authorities in China are advocating that original equipment manufacturers in the country start putting smart tire pressure measuring sensors in all new vehicles starting 2019.Global Safety Sensors and Switches Market: OverviewSafety sensors and switches are used to track the presence of any foreign object or identify disturbances happening within a specified radar. Owing to the benefits they offer, the demand for safety sensors is significantly high across diverse industries such as aerospace, manufacturing, automotive, pharmaceutical, mining, and others.The report presents a comprehensive overview of the various factors influencing growth exhibited by the global safety sensors and switched market between 2017 and 2025. It provides an in-depth analysis of market size and drivers, besides discussing the potential restraints in great detail. Besides this, the market also includes regional highlights and snapshots of the segments that would prove most lucrative for the sales of safety sensors and switches.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Safety Sensors and Switches Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe increasing demand for improved security measures to ensure protection to workers and production unit against hazards is the chief factor driving the global safety sensors and switches market. The market is also gaining from stringent regulations implemented to ensure high standards of national and international security. Contrary to this, different regions are governed by different regulatory bodies, which have separate set of policies. This could be a constraint limiting the scope for the markets expansion. For instance, in North America regulatory bodies such as the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL), and the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) govern machinery safety policies.Nevertheless, with the demand from industries such as aerospace, automotive, oil & gas, pharmaceutical, semiconductors, food & beverages, and mining rising at a phenomenal pace, the pace of gains for the global safety sensors and switches market is expected to remain high through the course of the forecast period. All these industries utilize heavy machineries, which require advanced security measures to ensure protection against potential hazards. This consequently has translated into high sales opportunity for the global safety sensors and switches market.Read Complete Report @Global Safety Sensors and Switches Market: Regional OutlookRegionally, APAC, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World are key segments in the global safety sensors and switches market. Among these regions, the market is expected to witness lucrative opportunities in APAC. The rising demand from India, China, Brazil, and Latin America has been aiding the expansion of the market in Asia Pacific. Furthermore, the increasing disposable income, urbanization, and the rising demand witnessed in the automotive, food & beverages, and pharmaceutical industries will spur the demand for safety sensors and switches in the region.In addition, the persistently rising demand in North America and Europe will ensure that the pace of gains witnessed by the market remains high throughout the forecast period.Global Safety Sensors and Switches Market: Vendor LandscapeThe report presents a detailed assessment of the markets vendor landscape, for the purpose of which it profiles some of the leading vendors operating therein. Some of the leading companies operating in the global safety sensors and switches market are Pepperl+Fuchs GmbH, Rockwell Automation, KG, Omron Corp., K.A. Schmersal GmbH & Co., and others. The report also conducts SWOT analysis on the leading market players to gauge their strengths and weaknesses. The analysis is also intended to offer insight into the opportunities and threats that the companies could witness over the course of the forecast period.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting ser-vices to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Stone Management System Market to Witness Comprehensive Growth by 2017 - 2025

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The stone management system stones easily.Removal of gallstones is the very significant application of Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).beyond the stones. Then the balloon is inflated and withdrawn; this will, in turn, pull the stones out of the bile duct. Stone management systemThe Stone Management system market is primarily driven by a rise in the number of smokers around the world, increase in the aging population and increasing prevalence of an inactive, stressful and lifestyle. The overall alcohol consumption has increased globally, in turn increasing the risk of formation of uric acid stones. The technological advancements and drug developments, combined with increasing awareness with respect to the disease and the treatment have fueled the growth of the Stone Management System market. On the contrary, the lack of awareness about the condition and the Stone Management System in many developing regions are posing to be a restraint for the Stone Management System market. Alternative methods for removing the kidney/bladder stones may pose to be a threat to the Stone Management System market.Stone Management System market owing to the advancing technologies and healthcare facilities and increased healthcare expenditure. Europe is trailing North America in the Stone Management System market attributing to the facts such as availability and awareness about the Stone Management System market and in turn, increased healthcare spending. Asia Pacific market for Stone Management System is also expected to witness a high CAGR during the coming years due to developing healthcare infrastructure, government initiations, and increasing number of patients.Stone Management System market due to slowing growing healthcare infrastructure, not so good economic conditions and ill-structured infrastructure. China and Japan are most likely to witness higher compound annual growth rate in the Stone Management System market during the forecast years.A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @Currently, the global Stone Management System market is highly competitive owing to the involvement of many established players. Some of the major players in the global Stone Management System market are Accordion Medical, Bard Medical, Cook Medical, Coloplast Group, Direx Group, Dornier MedTech, and Olympus Corporation.Request to View Tables of Content @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated re-search, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Con-sumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs en-gagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Acne Vulgaris Market : Analysis by Manufactures and Opportunity Assessment, 2017 - 2025

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Global Acne Vulgaris Market: SnapshotAcne vulgaris-one of the commonest skin disorders-has a multifactorial pathogenesis and is found mainly among adolescents. The pathogenetic mechanism usually consists of four key factors: increased sebum productions, follicular epidermal hyperproliferation, the colonization of bacteria Propionibacterium acnes (P. acne), and effects of inflammation. Successful management of the disease requires a better understanding of various pathogenetic factors and identifying the etiology of the acne in patients. Recent researches in targeted therapeutic modalities have given rise to a host of treatments that meet the specific expectations of the patients and provide enhanced tolerability as well. New treatment options focus on a permutation and combination of anti-acne agents, which are available in the market in varied compositions and formulations.A vast assortment of topical and systemic drugs available in the market is set to expand therapeutic options for a greater number of patients depending on the stage and symptoms of the disease. Some of the prominent therapies recommended for treating acne vulgaris are: use of topical retinoid, combination therapy, hormonal therapies, antibiotics, and oral isotretinoin.Request a Brochure of the Report @Benzoyl peroxide and topical retinoids are the most widespread treatments preferred by dermatologists. Available in different formulations such as lotions, washes, gels, and creams, they can target a wide spectrum of bacterial agents in cases of mild-to-moderate acne vulgaris and have significant anti-inflammatory effects. The efficacy of retinoids have already been proven for over three decades. Dermatologists prefer this as the first-line of treatment for mild-to-moderate noninflammatory and inflammatory acne lesions. Globally, the most intensely researched topical retinoids for the treatment of acne vulgaris are adapalene and tretinoin. A host of topical antibiotics formulations are helpful in inhibiting the growth of commensal bacteria P. acne and reducing inflammation. Most common topic antibiotics available are clarithromycin, azithromycin, and nadifloxacin; however, lack of clinical studies restrain their adoption in various emerging markets.Global Acne Vulgaris Market: Brief AccountAcne vulgaris is a chronic and most widespread disease of the sebaceous follicles of the human skin. This basically affects the pilosebaceous units which are present in the skin of the chest, back, and face. Many patients elect medical treatment and care as they are mostly concerned about their appearance. Nevertheless, several patients opt for acne vulgaris treatment because of painful and scarring nodules. This type of disease basically begins at puberty owing to an increase in the androgen levels that eventually triggers a rise in the production of sebum from the skins sebaceous glands. This disease is generally characterized through morphological structures including nodules, comedones, and pustules/papules. The disease is eventually treated in terms of acne, the distribution type, severity, and the therapeutics can thus be targeted on the basis of various pathogenic components present. In order to treat the skin disease properly, combination therapy is employed.Request for TOC of the Report @The market intelligence report is a comprehensive review of the growth trail in terms of current, historical, and future scenarios of the global acne vulgaris market. It offers an evaluation of the dynamics that are expected to impact the development of the market and the chief trends have also been specified in the research study. The research study also offers a broad lookout on the competitive landscape of the market through Porters five forces analysis. The research publication provides references of mergers and acquisitions, the research and development activities, details on licensing and collaborations. The report probes into the strategies related to marketing, shares, and product portfolio of the key participants operating in the global acne vulgaris market.Global Acne Vulgaris Market: Trends and ProspectsMain driving aspects for the growth of the acne vulgaris market comprise high occurrence of acne vulgaris, growing incidences of several skin infections, growing demand for innovative therapeutics, and rising awareness and affordability among people worldwide. Acne vulgaris is extremely predominant in many parts of the world. Currently, mounting concerns and awareness among people across the globe over the harmful effects of this kind of skin disease will further aid in the growth of the acne vulgaris market.Read Complete Report @The recent launch of drugs like Galdermas Epiduo, which efficiently targets acne vulgaris, has further boosted the progress of the market. Several drugs which are under different phases of clinical trials such as AndroSciences ASC-J9 and Photocures Visonac (a type of phototherapy) which will soon be commercialized in the global market, will further provide lucrative growth opportunities to vendors operating in the market. Nevertheless, numerous pharmaceutical companies are unwilling towards investing in the research and development activities owing to the poor return on investment from this sector. This might prove to be a restraint in the growth of the market.Global Acne Vulgaris Market: Regional AnalysisGeographically, North America accounts for the leading share in the global acne vulgaris market closely trailed by Europe. The key dynamics responsible for the growth of this market in North America are the high prevalence of acne vulgaris along with high awareness and affordability of among people for their treatment.Global Acne Vulgaris Market: Companies Analyzed in the ReportSome of the key vendors in the market are AndroScience Corporation, Ausio Pharmaceuticals, LLC, Boehringer Ingelheim GlaxoSmithKline plc, GmbH, Photocure ASA, Galderma S.A., Hygeia Therapeutics, Inc., Quest PharmaTech, Inc., Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd. and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting ser-vices to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Thrombin Market: Industry Insights with Key Companys Profiles - Forecast to 2024

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Hemostasis is a medical condition, wherein blood vessel, platelets, and coagulation factors act together to arrest bleeding. It occurs by coagulation process, wherein blood is transformed from liquid to gel state through sequential enzymatic steps. During hemostasis process, thrombin plays a role of key enzyme. Thrombin is an enzyme called serine protease, which is synthesized from a precursor glycoprotein called prothrombin. During the clotting process, proteolytic cleavage of prothrombin produces thrombin. Insoluble fibrin is produced from soluble fibrinogen through a series of reactions catalyzed by thrombin. The production of thrombin in body is highly regulated, as the overproduction of thrombin may result in the blockage of normal blood flow a state called thrombosis. Under such condition, tissues may die due to unavailability of oxygen.Browse the Complete Report Details at:Prothrombin is produced in liver and is passed into blood stream in an inactive form. Whenever a vascular injury occurs, collagen and tissue factor lead to activation of coagulation pathways. These pathways lead to activation of factor X, which, in conjugation with other factors, forms a complex. This complex cleaves the prothrombin protein into a thrombin molecule. Once thrombin is produced, it cleaves fibrinogen into fibrin. This result in platelet aggregation and thrombus formation, which help in the stoppage of bleeding.Thrombin acts on different cell types. On smooth muscle cells, it causes vasoconstriction. It activates platelets to promote their aggregation at the site of injury. In activated state, thrombin plays a role of chemo-attractant and mitogen for neutrophils and fibroblasts. Thrombin also plays a role in regulating the endothelial cell functions. It also plays a role in the anticoagulant system, wherein it activates protein C upon interaction with thrombomodulin. This helps in improving circulation as an anticoagulant effect during the vascular injury. Thrombin are produced naturally in body and is also available in commercialized forms. In both the forms, it has two important functions. It helps in the process of coagulation wherein fibrinogen is converted into fibrin. This promotes platelet aggregation, which helps in clotting of blood at the site of injury. Secondly, it acts in the anticoagulation process by activating the protein C. Commercially produced thrombin is available in concentrated form, which, upon application, is capable of converting fibrinogen into fibrin. This helps in thrombus formation at the site of injury. The concentration of thrombin is directly promotional to the rate of clot formation. Types of commercially available thrombin differ in terms of dosage form and concentration. This factor is considered while selecting the product, as higher concentration speeds up the process of hemostasis.The global thrombin market can be segmented on the basis of product type, dosage form, end-user, and geographical region. Based on product type, the market has been segmented into bovine thrombin, human thrombin, and recombinant thrombin. The human thrombin segment is sub-segmented into alpha, beta, and gamma thrombin. The use of bovine thrombin generates antibodies, which cross-react with human coagulation proteins. This has been observed to result in severe complications and life-threatening bleeding. Hence, human thrombin was introduced, as an alternative to bovine thrombin. However, human thrombin is associated with the risk of transmission of viruses. The recombinant thrombin segment is anticipated to lead the market, as recombinant thrombin is free of risks associated with viral infection and it has potential efficacy.Based on dosage form, the global thrombin market has been segmented into powder form, solution form, pad form, spray kits, and others. Based on end-user, it can be segmented into hospitals, diagnostics & clinics, and academic and research institutes. The hospitals segment is anticipated to lead the market, due to increase in the number of surgeries.Based on geography, the global thrombin market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is anticipated to lead the global market, due to increase in the number of surgeries and developed health care infrastructure.Key players operating in the global thrombin market are Baxter, Bayer, CSL, Grifols, GE Healthcare, Hualan Biological, Haematologic Technologies Inc., Pfizer, Octapharma, Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Ltd., and Shanghai RAAS.Perceive the Sample Report Containing Upcoming Market Analysis at:The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Power Discrete Market : Intelligence Report Offers Growth Prospects 2017 - 2025

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Global Power Discrete Market: OverviewThe increasing demand for insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is contributing significantly to the growth of the power discrete market. Power discrete devices are a type of semiconductor devices that are utilized as a switch in power electronics. For instance, a switch-mode power supply is an example of power discrete device.The report presents valuable insights into the growth trends of the global power discrete market for the 2017-2025 period. This includes a scrutiny into vital market indicators such as market drivers, market challenges, and trends in the historic years and their behavior analyzed for the future years.The report is presented collecting data from industry-centric databases and using validated analytical tools for scrutiny of the information. Last but not the least, the report is an all-important tool for comprehending trends, opportunities, and competitive hierarchy of the global power discrete market for the 2017-2025 period.Request a Brochure of the Report @Global Power Discrete Market: Material RequirementsPower discrete devices utilize next-generation materials such as SiC and GaN. This is because these materials offer speed switching, low energy loss, and great heat resistance. Power semiconductors use silicon carbide (SiC) for expansion, which includes SiC, SiC BJTs, SiC JFETs diodes, MOSFETs, and SiC Schottky. The band gap material that provides comparable benefits as SiC has better cost-reduction potential. In addition, gallium nitride (GaN) can be used by existing silicon substrates. The use of GaN helps reduce cost and facilitates mass production. The approval of SiC and GaN power semiconductors are anticipated to increase, mainly in the industrial motor drive and electric vehicle/hybrid electric vehicle segments.Global Power Discrete Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe incessantly increasing demand for Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs) is one of the major factors driving the global power discrete market. The use of discrete silicon-based IGBTs increases the efficacy of electronic devices that range from consumer electronics to power electronics. As a matter of fact, the use of silicon-based IGBTs contributes significantly to the advancement of power electronics.However, the growth of the power discrete market is challenged due to several factors. Some of these are slow economic upturn in the US, Eurozone debt crisis, and natural calamities in Japan among others.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Power Discrete Market: Market SegmentationThe global power discrete market is segmented on the basis of type and application. By type, Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT), Gallium Nitride (GaN), power rectifiers, Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET), Silicon Carbide (SiC), and thyristors are the components of this market. On the basis of application, the power discrete market is divided into automotive, consumer, medical, cellular handsets and infrastructure, and lighting among others.Companies Mentioned in the ReportThe report presents the competitive scenario of the global power discrete market profiling key companies in the market, namely Infineon Technologies AG, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., ST Microelectronics N.V., International Rectifier, Vishay Intertechnology Inc., Siward Crystal Technology, Vectron International, Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc., Toshiba Corp., Fuji Electric Co Ltd, Renesas Electronics Corp, ON Semiconductor Corp, and Tongfang Guoxin Electronics among others.Read Complete Report @About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting ser-vices to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Bioprocess Technology Market Company Analysis and Forecast to 2024

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Global Bioprocess Technology Market: OverviewThe global bioprocess technology market is forecast to report a strong growth between 2016 and 2024. Besides the expansion of pharmaceutical industries across emerging nations, the market is seemingly gaining from the higher research and development funding. Furthermore, as pharmaceutical giants focus on their core competencies they are more likely to outsource a few crucial operations to vendors with expertise. This would further give impetus to the global bioprocess technology market.Browse the Complete Report Details at:The report provides a detailed assessment of the market covering growth drivers, major restraints, and opportunities. It has segmented the market based on various parameters for the purpose of the study. The effect of Porters five forces on the overall market is studied in detail as well.Global Bioprocess Technology Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe bioprocess technology market is majorly gaining from the growth witnessed in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Given the scenario, the industry now witnesses rising research funding, novel drug launches, and increasing government support. These, coupled with the increasing incidence of chronic ailments, will keep the demand for bioprocess technologies high through the reports forecast period.Besides this, the market is also looking forward to the rapid growth in pharmaceutical and biotechnologies industries to gain more business. Rising R&D activities supported by favorable government policies are direct results of expansion witnessed in the pharmaceutical industry. Launch of novel therapeutics will ensue the trend. These factors will have a positive impact on the overall market thus helping it gain higher. Also the market will gain from the increasing pharmaceutical outsourcing to vendors operating in the bioprocess technology market.Global Bioprocess Technology Market: Regional OutlookRegionally, Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World constitute the key segments in the global bioprocess technology market. Among these, North America exhibited highly lucrative opportunities till 2016 and the trend is likely to continue through the reports forecast period. As the region exhibits increasing demand for high quality biologics and the top players domiciled therein increase research funding, the bioprocess technology market in North America will continue showing steep rise.Likewise in Asia Pacific the market is expected to witness highly lucrative opportunities. Benefiting from the growing pharmaceutical industry and investments by key market players, the demand for bioprocess technologies will rise in Asia Pacific. Besides this, the market players in the region are also gaining from the rising outsourcing to Asian countries and easy availability of academic excellence in Asia Pacific.Global Bioprocess Technology Market: Vendor LandscapePolicies adopted by prominent companies have a significant impact on the overall market. The report therefore profiles some of the leading enterprises and studies the impact of their latest marketing strategies, mergers and acquisitions, and product launches. For the purpose of the study, a detailed overview of their product portfolio is mentioned as well. The strengths and weaknesses of the companies profiled are analyzed using SWOT analysis, which also presents insights into opportunities and threats these companies could face during the forecast period.Perceive the Sample Report Containing Upcoming Market Analysis at:Some of the companies included in this list are Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., GE Healthcare, Danaher Corporation, Merck Millipore, Dickinson and Company, Becton, Lonza Group AG, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Sartorius Stedim Biotech S.A, Corning, Inc., and Charles River Laboratories.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
The Czech Republic: Revenue Expected to Grow Moderately Through 2021 Supported by LTE, Fiber, Pay-TV and M2M Growth

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MarketResearchReports.Biz presents this most up-to-date research on "The Czech Republic: Revenue Expected to Grow Moderately Through 2021 Supported by LTE, Fiber, Pay-TV and M2M Growth"DescriptionThe telecom market in the Czech Republic is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 3.4% (0.8% in local currency terms) during 2016-2021, primarily driven by growth in data revenue. The growth will be attributed to rise in fixed and mobile data usage and increase in pay-TV adoption. Vendors will have significant opportunities to support operators initiatives in network expansion, modernization of network infrastructure and deployments of high-speed network technology solutions.Key Findings- The overall telecom service revenue in the Czech Republic is estimated to generate $3.4bn in 2016 and will grow at a CAGR of 3.4% during 2016-2021, to reach $4.0bn by 2021. The growth will be mainly driven by the data (fixed and mobile) and pay-TV segments.- The Czech Republic telecom market will be dominated by O2 and T-Mobile, which provide both fixed and mobile services, accounting for an estimated share of 58.0% in 2016. Operators are focusing on investing in IoT/M2M initiatives, LTE network expansion and improving broadband speeds to cement their market positions.- The adoption of 4G services will continue to grow due to operators aggressive LTE and LTE-A expansion targets and attractive LTE voice and data bundles.SynopsisCzech Republic: Revenue Expected to Grow Moderately Through 2021 Supported by LTE, Fiber, Pay-TV and M2M Growth', a new Country Intelligence Report by Pyramid Research, provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in the Czech Republic today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2021. Published annually, the report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile and pay-TV sectors, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.Download Sample Copy of This Report at:The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following:- Regional context: telecom market size and trends in the Czech Republic compared with other countries in the region.- Economic, demographic and political context in the Czech Republic.- The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.- A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony (including VoIP), broadband, mobile voice, mobile data and pay-TV markets.- Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed/pay-TV and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2016 to 2021.- The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.- In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice, mobile data and pay-TV services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.- Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in the Czech Republic's telecommunications and pay-TV markets.ReasonsToBuy- This Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of the Czech Republics telecommunications and pay-TV markets, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.- Accompanying Pyramid Researchs Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in the Czech Republics mobile communications, fixed telephony/VoIP, broadband and pay-TV markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.- With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.- The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in the Czech Republics telecommunications and pay-TV markets.- The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in the Czech Republic.Browse Latest Industry Press Release at:About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports.MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients.We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated researchreports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and typesof companies spanning across various industries.ContactState Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.bizFollow us on LinkedIn:
Airport Information Systems Market : Analysis and Forecasts 2017 - 2025

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Global Airport Information Systems Market: SnapshotIn the past, due to failed traditional screening systems, air operations and passenger safety have been threatened. In order to avoid such mishaps and security breaches, many prominent airports worldwide have heavily invested in real-time monitoring for the efficient examination of operations and detection of possible threats.Airport information systems comprise departure control systems (DCS) and airport operation control centers (AOCC). AOCCs are vital for both passenger and non-passenger software systems. Important information such as flight movement is gathered from air traffic control (ATC) systems and is directed to the airport operational database, and is then transferred to be displayed across screens at airport terminals. The airport authorities have made noteworthy investments in this segment owing to the crucial function of AOCC.Request a Brochure of the Report @Based on geography, the market can be classified into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Escalating air traffic and development in the safety standards at airports have driven the growth of the North America market and this region is anticipated to continue growing during the forecast period as well.Many established players operating in the market are constantly launching solutions and generating new clients. To maintain a competitive edge over others, several leading market participants are seen acquiring local market players and new companies. Constant upgradation, joint ventures, and collaborations are other business strategies favored by the companies.Global Airport Information Systems Market: OverviewThe increasing consideration for safe operations, improvement in end to end customer service, and operational planning in the aviation industry are driving adoption of airport information systems. Airport information systems (AIS) are installed for an end to end information exchange with respect to arrival and departure of flights, cargo operations, operational fitness check, and aircraft turnaround time. AIS utilizes geographical information system (GIS) for creating, analyzing, and managing data.Request for TOC of the Report @Airport information systems are grouped into infrastructure management, environmental management, biometrics access control, radio communication, intrinsic GIS capabilities, and network services.The report segments the global AIS market on the basis of airport and geography. On the basis of airport, class A (more than 30 million passengers), class C (10-20 million passengers), class B (20-30 million passengers), and class D (below 10 million passengers) are the components of the market. The report presents a pin-point analysis of market drivers, market challenges, and trends that will be prevalent in the global AIS market for the 2017-2025 period. The report elucidates technological breakthroughs that have led airport information systems to reach new heights. This is because technology is a key parameter for integration of information across disparate networks.The report analyzes the global airport information systems market from a competitive standpoint as well. The report analysis helps in leveraging lucrative opportunities for market participants, which will lead to a leap in the traditional market dynamics. The progression of the global AIS market is analyzed for North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World regions for the forecast period.Read Complete Report @Global Airport Information Systems Market: Technological MovementsTechnological movements have been instrumental in the growth of the global AIS market. This is because major airports across the world have moved towards open systems, which allows access to information across disparate operating systems, hardware, and networks.Global Airport Information Systems Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe global AIS market is on a growth trajectory over the last many years. The market is expected to display substantial growth in future with a single digit increase in CAGR by 2019. The growth of the global AIS market is mainly driven by increasing consideration for passenger safety at all inflection points. The deployment of airport information systems results in efficient information processing at airports and provides a platform for safe and reliable management of information.However, factors such as resource outages and lack of standardization are restraining the growth of the global AIS market. Nevertheless, economic development in emerging nations of Asia Pacific is providing immense growth opportunities to the global AIS market. The development of ultra-modern airports in countries such as India and China are displaying the demand for airport information systems to serve the need for central control centers for information processing.Companies Mentioned in the ReportSome of the major companies operating in the global airport information systems market are SITA, Rockwell Collins Inc., Siemens AG, IBM, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Amadeus IT Group SA, INFORM GmbH, Ultra Electronics Holdings, and IKUSI.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting ser-vices to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Skimmed Milk Powder Market to Witness Healthy Growth  The Reasons

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Skimmed milk powder is the resultant of partial fat and water removal from pasteurized milk. The protein content of the milk is adjusted by adding or removing milk constituents in a way that it does not affect the whey protein of the milk. Skimmed milk powder also known as nonfat dry milk is a source of high nutritional value such as high animal protein and carbohydrate content. Skimmed milk powder market witnesses an increasing demand owing to its wide application in the food industry especially in bakery and confectionery food items. Skimmed milk powder market experiences a significant demand among the working women for feeding their infants who are either intolerant to breastfeeding or mothers who face a time crunch due to their work life. Skimmed milk powder market is also driven by the need for convenient economy transportation. Skimmed milk powder market is expected to witness an increasing demand over the forecast period owing to its nutritional value, convenient usage anywhere and anytime.Obtain Report Details @Skimmed Milk Powder: Market DynamicsSkimmed milk powder market is primarily driven by the growing food industry, bakery and confectionery foods in particular. Manufacturers use skimmed milk powder in baking recipes to enhance the tenderness of the food such as doughnuts, cakes and bread. Adding skimmed milk powder to bakery and confectionery products render the firmness thereby making them tender. Another r factor that fuels up the skimmed milk powder market is its increasing demand for feeding infants. Owing to its nutritional value such as vitamins and minerals that are required for an infants growth, mothers depend on skimmed milk powder for their babies who are intolerant to breastfeeding. Skimmed milk powder market is in high demand among working women who face difficulty in feeding their babies due to their busy work life. Feeding skimmed milk powder to babies helps prevent disease transfer from mothers body thereby reducing the chances of the baby being unhealthy. Skimmed milk powder market is set to witness an escalating demand among the global consumers owing to its wide application in the food industry and also as it serves a way out for the problem of increasing number of working women to feed their babies.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @However, skimmed milk powder market faces few restraints that can hinder the growth of the market. Restraints such as lack of anti-bodies that are primarily necessary for building up an infants immunity system can be a major hindrance to the global skimmed milk powder market. Skimmed milk powder is artificially manufactured which makes it difficult for the baby to digest. Indigestion or untimely digestion can be harmful to the babies which can again restrain the growth of skimmed milk powder market.Skimmed Milk Powder: SegmentationSkimmed milk powder market can be segmented on the basis of types which includes:Flavored Non Fat PowderWhole Milk PowderButter Milk PowderOthersSkimmed milk powder market can be segmented on the basis of nutritional value which includes:MineralsCalciumSodiumPotassiumIronPhosphorusMagnesiumOthersAmino AcidsIsoleucineLeucineLysineMethioninePhenylalanineOthersLactoseFatOthersSkimmed milk powder market can be segmented on the basis of food application which includes:ConfectioneryBakeryNutritional FoodInfant FormulasDry MixesFermented Milk ProductsFrozen DessertsMeat productsOthersSkimmed Milk Powder: Regional SegmentationGeographical coverage for the global skimmed milk powder includes North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia- Pacific and China (APAC) and Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America followed by Europe are the dominant markets for global skimmed milk powder owing to the changing consumer lifestyles and growing food industry. APAC poses potential opportunities for skimmed milk powder market to grow owing to its changing consumer food patterns.Skimmed Milk Powder: Key PlayersFew players in the global skimmed milk powder market include Nestle, Dairy America, Alpen Dairies, Unilever, Nova Dairy products, Amul and others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Market : Overview of the industry including its definition and applications

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Global Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Market : SnapshotAccording to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) has turned into a glaring health burden across the world and possesses high rates of permanent disabilities and fatalities. It has been estimated by the NIH that approximately 9 out of 100,000 people across the world suffer from some variation of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, a number which is more concerning in the U.S. wherein 30,000 people are diagnosed for SAH each year. Among these cases, raptured cerebral aneurysms accounts for nearly 80% of the non-traumatic aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Going forward, these numbers are expected to mount even further, and thereby prove to be boon for the players in the global market for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.Smoking, hypertension, history of intracranial aneurysms in immediate relatives, chronic alcohol use are some of the common causes of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, while the symptoms include headache, facial or orbital pain, unilateral third nerve palsy, bilateral lower extremity weakness, and vision loss. With no absolute therapy available and severity of the implications, early detection of SAH is of utmost importance and hence, there are vast opportunities available for the players venturing in the aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage market. In addition to that, the NIH study reveals that aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage is more prevalent in developed region of North America including the U.S. in comparison to Japan and China in Asia Pacific. With the presence of several key players in the healthcare sector in North America, the research and development pertaining to aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage is expected to drive the global market for the same.Request a Brochure of the Report @Global Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Market: OverviewAneurismal subarachnoid hemorrhage is a type of stroke and accounts for almost 7% of all strokes. It is listed under medical emergency conditions and can cause severe disability or can be fatal as well. Subarachnoid hemorrhage is sudden bleeding into the subarachnoid space of the central nervous system that may occur due to head injury, rupture of cerebral aneurysm, and aneurysm in other blood vessels. The most significant cause of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage is trauma. Some other causes of this condition are migraine, intra-cerebral hemorrhage, meningitis, and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. In addition, lifestyle factors, smoking, genetics, hypertension, and excessive alcohol consumption are also significant factors for subarachnoid hemorrhage.The report is an all-important tool to understand the progression of the global aneurysm subarachnoid hemorrhage market between 2017 and 2025. In this report, the various market forces and growth indicators are analyzed at length to present a clear picture of strengths, weakness, threats, and opportunities of the market until the end of the forecast period in 2025.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Market: Market SegmentationThe global aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage market is segmented on the basis of diagnostic test, therapy, and geography. By diagnostic test, CT scan and MRI are the components of this market. Lumber puncture is mandatory in cases where imaging shows indefinite results. Xanthochromia is another diagnostic test that helps in the detection of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Cerebral angiography and transcranial Doppler ultrasound are also used for detecting aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.The regional segments of the global aneurysm subarachnoid hemorrhage market are North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World. As per an article published by Elsevier in 2014, countries such as Japan and Finland have high incidence rates of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.Global Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Market: Drug AcceptanceIn May 2013, Arbor Pharmaceuticals received FDA approval for Nymalize containing nimodipine for patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage. Currently, Arbor Pharmaceuticals possess the commercial rights of Nymalize solely in the US.The primary treatment for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage involves stabilizing the patient by repairing the cause of bleeding with the help of vasospasms such as calcium channel blockers such as nimodipine. Anti-anxiety medications and pain killers, when administered, helps relieve headaches and pressure in the skull. Phenyton is used to treat or prevent the occurrence of seizures.Read Complete Report @The treatment also focuses on alleviating symptoms and preventing complications such as permanent brain damage. Surgery is advised in cases where removal of large volume of blood is required to alleviate pressure on the brain. Aneurysm clipping, endovascular coiling, and craniotomy are some of the surgical procedures carried out for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Endovascular coiling involves placing coils in the aneurysm and stents in the blood vessel in order to lessen risk of further bleeding.Companies and Institutions Mentioned in the ReportSome of the leading companies in the global aneurysmal subarachnoid market are Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Edge Therapeutics Inc., and Actelion Ltd. Key institutions that contribute to the global aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage market are Chinese University of Hong Kong, Utrecht University, University of Miami, University of Cambridge, and the University of Calgary among others.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting ser-vices to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Global Anthocyanin Market Professional Survey Report 2016

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Anthocyanin Market Professional Survey Report 2016" to its huge collection of research reports.This market intelligence report examines extensively the trends in the global Anthocyanin market. It highlights the latest market state, the progress pattern in the previous years, and the prospects present for market participants in the near future. The research methods and tools employed in the achievement of this research publication are both secondary and primary. The market intelligence study also provides facts about the investments initiated by several organizations, institutions, government, and non-government authorities and regulatory bodies.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The publication further presents a valuation of the facets that are likely to prevent or encourage the expansion of the global Anthocyanin market. The global Anthocyanin market has been examined scrupulously based on aspects such as application, technology, product, end user, and geographical segment. An examination has been carried out in the research report of the chief regional segments and their respective place and share in the Anthocyanin market. The estimated revenue and volume valuation of the global market for Anthocyanin has also been stated in the study.An estimate of the market attractiveness and the level of competition that new entrants along with their new products are likely to offer to the experienced products and players has also been delivered in the market research publication. The market report also discusses the new expansions, the innovations, branding techniques, marketing approaches, and products of the chief players operational in the global Anthocyanin market. The vendor landscape has been broadly scrutinized employing the Porters five forces and value chain analysis to deliver a strong conception of the market. The challenges and opportunities in the near future for the key participants have also been stressed upon in the research publication.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Anthocyanin1.1 Definition and Specifications of Anthocyanin1.1.1 Definition of Anthocyanin1.1.2 Specifications of Anthocyanin1.2 Classification of Anthocyanin1.2.1 Grapeskin1.2.2 Black Carrots1.2.3 Tomatoes1.2.4 Blueberry1.2.5 Red beans1.2.6 Lonicera edulis1.2.7 Black rice1.2.8 Bilberry1.2.9 Black wolfberry1.2.10 Others1.3 Applications of Anthocyanin1.3.1 Colors1.3.2 Viscosity modifier1.3.3 Natural colorants1.3.4 Anti-oxidants4 Global Anthocyanin Overall Market Overview4.1 2011-2016E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2011-2016E Global Anthocyanin Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2015 Anthocyanin Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2011-2016E Global Anthocyanin Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2015 Anthocyanin Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2011-2016E Global Anthocyanin Sales Price4.4.2 2015 Anthocyanin Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)6 Global 2011-2016E Anthocyanin Segment Market Analysis (by Type)6.1 Global 2011-2016E Anthocyanin Sales by Type6.2 Different Types of Anthocyanin Product Interview Price Analysis6.3 Different Types of Anthocyanin Product Driving Factors Analysis6.3.1 Grapeskin of Anthocyanin Growth Driving Factor Analysis6.3.2 Black Carrots of Anthocyanin Growth Driving Factor Analysis6.3.3 Tomatoes of Anthocyanin Growth Driving Factor Analysis6.3.4 Blueberry of Anthocyanin Growth Driving Factor Analysis6.3.5 Red beans of Anthocyanin Growth Driving Factor Analysis6.3.6 Lonicera edulis of Anthocyanin Growth Driving Factor Analysis6.3.7 Black rice of Anthocyanin Growth Driving Factor Analysis6.3.8 Bilberry of Anthocyanin Growth Driving Factor Analysis6.3.9 Black wolfberry of Anthocyanin Growth Driving Factor Analysis6.3.10 Others of Anthocyanin Growth Driving Factor AnalysisList of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of AnthocyaninTable Product Specifications of AnthocyaninTable Classification of AnthocyaninFigure Global Production Market Share of Anthocyanin by Type in 2015Figure Grapeskin PictureTable Major Manufacturers of GrapeskinFigure Black Carrots PictureTable Major Manufacturers of Black CarrotsFigure Tomatoes PictureTable Major Manufacturers of TomatoesFigure Blueberry PictureTable Major Manufacturers of BlueberryFigure Red beans PictureQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States
Automated Passenger Counting and Information Systems Market Size, Share, Development, Growth & Demand Forecast to 2023

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An Automated Passenger Counter (APC) is an electronic device that records the number of passengers boarding and alighting in transit vehicles for every single trip operated. Passenger information system on the other refers to an electronic information system which provides passenger information in real-time. Its function revolves around predictions about arrival and departure times and provision of information about the nature and causes of disruptions. Automated passenger counting and information systems are deployed in buses, light rails, trains, subways and ferry boats. The APC market is expected to grow at the highest rate in Asia-Pacific. Among various application, the APC market generates highest revenue from roadways application.To Browse Full Report Visit Here:The adoption of APC systems in Asia-Pacific countries is observed to be the highest among all regions, in the recent years. The governments of countries with large population, such as India and China, are incorporating huge investment projects in their public transit systems, which is accelerating the widespread adoption of this technology. The demand prospects for APC and information systems in the developing countries has been increasing with the involvement of investment entities in transit systems. For instance, in Pakistan, the Asian Development Bank has recently agreed to finance Red Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), which is likely to escalate the demand for APC and information systems in the country.Browse For Related Research Visit Here:Among the various devices used in passenger information systems, multimedia display generated highest revenue, due to increase in installation of passenger information display systems (PIDS). North America has been a large contributor to the PIDS market. It upgraded its existing transit structures as well as it plans to install new systems on all of its upcoming transit infrastructure projects. The market in North America, which was an early adopter of APC and information systems, would grow at a moderate pace during the forecast period. The countries in Asia-Pacific, such as India, China and Thailand, are expected to render major growth opportunities to the APC and information systems market during the forecast period, as a result of significant investment in transit infrastructure projects.Railways has been observed to be the most prospective sector for the APC and information systems market, owing to a surge in the placement of metro rail proposals in the recent past. The rapid expansion of rail networks in the developing countries has been providing significant growth to the market.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a market research company, which offers market research and consulting services for various geographies around the globe. We provide market research reports, industry forecasting reports, business intelligence, and research based consulting services across different industry/business verticals.As one of the top growing market research agency, were keen upon providing market landscape and accurate forecasting. Our analysts and consultants are proficient with business intelligence and market analysis, through their interaction with leading companies of the concerned domain. We help our clients with B2B market research and assist them in identifying various windows of opportunity, and framing informed and customized business expansion strategies in different regions.Contact:AbhishekExecutive  Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb:
Artificial Intelligence Market to Reach US$3,061.35 bn by 2024, Deployment in Disruptive Technologies Drives Growth

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According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research entitled Artificial Intelligence Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024, the global artificial intelligence market was valued at US$126.24 bn in 2015 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 36.1% from 2016 to 2024, reaching US$3,061.35 Bn by the end of the forecast period.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @Growing companies focusing on various disruptive technologies for effective customer reach is one of the major factors accelerating the demand for artificial intelligence worldwide. These include marketing activities such as social, mobile, analytics, and cloud (SMAC) technologies which help in transforming the enterprise into a global digital business. Market demand is also increasing with the expanding application base of artificial intelligence across various sectors such as health informatics, BFSI, E-commerce, and retail, among others. This is leading to rising IT spending by enterprises across the world for better advancement in their products and services. The global artificial intelligence market is currently challenged by the low upfront investment across the world. Most artificial intelligence companies are facing difficulties in accumulating the early stage funds for research and development of prototypes and supporting technologies. Market growth is also inhibited by high demand for skilled resources to carry out highly technical tasks involved in artificial intelligence.The global artificial intelligence market has been segmented on the basis of artificial intelligence system types as artificial neural network, digital assistance system, embedded system, expert system, and automated robotic system, with expert system accounting for approximately 44% market revenue share in 2015. The segment is anticipated to maintain its supremacy throughout the forecast period from 2016 to 2024. Digital assistance is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the global artificial intelligence market. This is majorly supported by growing usage of portable computing devices including smartphones and tablets across the world. Growing accessibility of these devices with more advanced features and cost-effectiveness is expected to drive the demand for digital assistance systems throughout the forecast period from 2016 to 2024.Browse Market Research Report @In terms of application, deep learning accounted for the highest market share in 2015 (21.6% of global revenue), followed by smart robots. Image recognition is expected to be the high-in demand application for the artificial intelligence market over the forecast period. This is mainly driven by one of the emerging technologies, namely, affective computing which is considered to hold promising growth for the artificial intelligence market in the coming years.About Us :Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business Contact.Contact Us :Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) to Gain Ground Through Greater Bandwidth Leasing by MNOs

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Tier I mobile virtual network operators in the world in 2015 were Virgin, AT&T, and Verizon. Each of these top tier companies has had their share of mergers and acquisitions on a global scale.As stated by Transparency Market Research in its recent publication on MVNOs, a large number of vendors are looking towards solidifying their standing in the global market through mutual agreements and partnerships. Key vendors have been at the forefront of adopting cutting-edge technologies at competitive pricing.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @The global market for mobile virtual network operators is expected to reach US$75.25 bn by 2023. This is possible through a consistent projection of the markets CAGR at 7.4% from 2015 to 2023, on the basis of revenue. This revenue is projected to achieve a revenue of US$45.86 bn by the end of 2016.Full MVNO operational models are expected to be not only the leading segment till 2023, but also the segment with the leading CAGR from 2015 to 2023. By the end of 2023, this operational segment is expected to reach US$48.62 bn in revenue.Consumer-based subscribers are expected to retain their lead over business subscribers till 2023. By the end of 2023, consumer subscribers are expected to generate US$66.62 bn of the total market revenue. Meanwhile, owing to the implementation of low cost and large-scale professional applications and communication portals, business subscribers are leading in terms of growth rate between 2015 and 2023.Europe to Retain Leading Regional Share in MVNOsBy the end of 2023, Europe is expected to generate a revenue of US$28.90 bn in the global mobile virtual network operator market. This is attributed to the high level of support shown by governments and concerned regional bodies such as the European Commission. They have enabled many large-scale implementations of MVNOs, and MNO and MVNO mergers.Meanwhile, Latin America is showing a massive CAGR of 10.4% from 2015 to 2023 owing to a very high demand for mobile virtual networks in the region. North America is expected to continue being in the second place in terms of MVNO demand, but shows a very open ground for large-scale implementation on high-speed networks.MNOs Leasing Network to MVNOs at a Greater Scale GloballyAt the moment, mobile virtual network operators hold a great advantage that comes from the mobile network operators themselves. MNOs can rent parts of their bandwidth to MVNOs that are otherwise unused, especially in 3G networks across developed economies. This allows MVNOs to provide cost-effective services to their virtual customers, and MNOs get a large usage volume and profit through the MVNOs, states a TMR analyst. This is expected to drive the global market for mobile virtual network operators over the immediate future, but provide a lesser impetus in the long term.Browse Market Research Report @ARPU May Reduce as Competition IntensifiesThe average revenue per user that MVNOs are earning has a good chance of reducing over time, as a greater number of mobile virtual network operators enter the market and competition grows stronger. Over the recent past, MVNOs have only been prominent in about one-third of the globe, in developed economies. These regions are already saturated with MVNOs and their market penetration was equally high. But the incoming number of new entrants could create pricing complications for all existing players in a market where service differentiations is already a challenge. For instance, the ARPU among MVNOs in Europe had already fallen by 7% per year from 2011 to 2014.To make the most of the booming demand for MVNs, operators can set shop in the largely untapped regions in Latin America and Asia Pacific. Latin America, especially, shows a strong promise of demand in the coming years, and players can certainly achieve progress by penetrating these regions, adds the analyst.About Us :Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business Contact.Contact Us :Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Gasifier Market : By Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application 2017 - 2025

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Global Gasifier Market: Brief AccountThe global gasifier market has emerged as a revolutionary pool of the providers of crucial chemical production and energy conservation products and technologies. The international market for gasifiers has witnessed strong growth as the need for energy in the form of electricity is augmenting at a considerable rate. Gasifiers are connected to a power grid spread across a larger space to supply electrical as well as thermal energy, especially in countryside areas, at various magnitudes, viz. small, medium, and large.On the basis of the type of device, gasifiers can be graded as large gasifiers and small gasifiers, each of which exhibit different capabilities and find different usages in various sectors. Some of these devices are significantly large whereas others are significantly small in size. For instance, remotely located rural areas employ stove-sized gasifiers for cooking purpose, whereas heavy industries or refineries using low-quality coal require very large gasifiers, such as integrated gasification and combined cycle (IGCC) and base load power plant, to suffice their powering need.Request a Brochure of the Report @With such indispensable factors in position, the global gasifier market is expected to see a continuing rise in the near future.Global Gasifier Market: Trends and ProspectsThe health risks associated with a massive amount of waste generated on a regular basis in populated nations has increased the need to deploy gasifiers. The primary reason for this growing demand for gasifiers is their unique functionality in effectively dealing with waste. These special devices also find usage in efficient coal gasification, waste disposal, and most importantly, biomass gasification. Another vital usage of gasifiers is controlling the quantity of feedstock waste following the process of gasification when producing syngas. Waste can be used as feedstock during the waste gasification process for efficient production of electricity or synthetic fuels.Gasification technologies such as IGCC can be installed to ensure that the approach of clean coal is taken to control industrial emissions and carbon tax. They have been developed as a crucial means of generating power while doing away with health and environmental issues. Besides this, an industrial plant can improve its operational efficiency and reduce costs to some extent by producing more than one product, other than electricity, through gasification.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Gasifier Market: Outline of Prime SegmentsThe process of gasification incorporates a broad scope of activities, which make them useful in different applications. In this regard, the global gasifier market can be segmented into stainless steel industries involving the heat treatment of furnaces, substitute for petro-fuel in industrial kilns, lime kilns, galvanizing industries, hot air generators, thermal applications, and power production using dual-fuel application.Depending on the industrial plant configuration, a specific type of gasifier can be installed. The product type categorization of the global gasifier market includes three major segments, viz. fixed bed, fluidized bed, and entrained flow gasifier.In terms of end-user, the global gasifier market exhibits five vital segments, which are chemical industry, fertilizer industry, power industry, liquid fuel industry, and gaseous fuel industry.Read Complete Report @Global Gasifier Market: Companies Covered under the ReportVulcan Gasifier, Dakota Gasification Company, Gasifier Manufacturing, LLC, PRM Energy Systems, Inc., Phoenix BioEnergy LLC, Borgford BioEnergy LLC, PHG Energy, and Enginuity Energy LLC are expected to dominate the global gasifier market as major players. Other firms that are anticipated to make a mark with the gasification technology include Zeropoint, GE Energy, GASEK, Gasification Technologies Ltd., Plasma Gasification, Taiyuan Coal Gasification, and Nexterra.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting ser-vices to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
OSAGE | A Mason City woman accused of stealing painkillers from patients in Osage and St. Ansgar pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of felony prohibited acts.

Keri Martinez, 33, will be sentenced June 27 in Mitchell County District Court.

Two additional counts of prohibited acts and one count of tampering with records have been dismissed.

Nurse accused of taking painkillers from patients in St. Ansgar, Osage OSAGE | A Mason City nurse authorities say stole powerful painkillers from patients in two N

Martinez was accused of taking Oxycodone pills from a resident at Osage Rehab twice in July, once by swiping a single pill from a delivery and once by creating a narcotics log that falsely reported the patient had two pills left when there should have been 16 pills, according to court documents.

She also was used of taking Tramadol from a resident of Good Samaritan Society in St. Ansgar from Nov. 11-17 and replacing it with Tylenol.

Investigators say she took Hydrocodone twice in November from the Good Samartian Society patient, then signed documents indicating she had given it to the patient when she kept it for herself, according to court documents.

Martinez is scheduled to go to trial on June 13 in Cerro Gordo County on one count of felony prohibited acts.

She's accused of stealing Oxycontin from a patient at the IOOF Home on May 25, 2015, while working as a nurse at the Mason City facility, according to court documents.
Soil Fumigant Market to Witness Steady Growth with Developing Markets

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Global Soil Fumigant Market: SummarySoil fumigants play a significant role in agriculture, nursery, and turf grass. Soil fumigation provides benefits to both farmers and food consumers. Fumigation is a pest control technique, wherein the land is filled with gaseous fumigants in to order to disinfect the land. Soil fumigants are applied prior to crop plantation to eliminate pests present in the soil. Soil fumigants target soil-borne pests, including nematodes, fungi, bacteria, weeds, and insects. These are used for tomato, potato, carrot, and strawberry, among various others fruits and vegetables. Fumigant, when applied to the soil, instantly converts into gas and forms a protection layer around the root. This in turn protects the crop from harmful pathogens present in the soil.Obtain Report Details @Fumigant products provide significant sustainable and cost-effective solutions in the agriculture industry to increase plant yields irrespective of geography. Fumigants are helpful in resolving problems caused by one or more pathogens. For instance, fumigant can control pathogens such as nutsedge (a weed) and root rot (phytophthora) in tomatoes. Commonly used fumigants are methyl bromide, chloropicrin, methyl iodide, 1,3-dichloropropene (1,3-D), dimethyl disulfide, dazomet, metam sodium, and metam potassium. Companies operating in this segment are striving to develop different products containing different ingredients to restrict the growth of various pathogens. Major advantages of soil fumigants are protection of plants from numerous pathogens and increased crop yield. Rising demand for food across the world over the past few years has fueled demand for soil fumigants.Global Soil Fumigant Market: Trends and ProspectsThe soil fumigant market is driven by high frequency of crop diseases and growing demand for food in both developed and developing nations. Rise in per hector production to meet food demand has led to high demand for soil fumigants. The environmental protection law in the U.S. and Europe will hinder the usage of soil fumigants in the next few years. Methyl bromide is one of the most commonly used soil fumigants; however, the usage of methyl bromide was restricted owing to its ozone depletion properties. Increasing in preference for organic food will boost demand for soil fumigants. Furthermore, innovative production practices without harming crop yield will increase demand for soil fumigants globally.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Global Soil Fumigant Market: Regional OutlineThe soil fumigant market in Asia Pacific is expected to witness strong growth owing to high economic growth and rising demand for food. Developing countries such as China and India would play a vital role in the soil fumigant market due to increased demand for food driven by the rising population. North America is likely to be the second-largest market, followed by Europe, due to stringent regulations on chemicals used in agriculture. Moreover, countries in Africa, South America, and the Middle East have experienced rapid economic and industrial growth in the past few years. These factors are likely to create a favorable environment for the growth of the global soil fumigant market.Global Soil Fumigant Market: Leading Companies AnalysisKey manufacturing companies operating in the soil fumigant market are Bayer CropScience AG, AMVAC Chemical Corporation, Trinity Manufacturing, Inc., Arkema, BASF SE, Chemtura Corporation, Syngenta AG, Arysta LifeScience Limited, Great Lakes Solutions, The Dow Chemical Company, and Novozymes. Companies are striving to develop innovative solutions in the soil fumigant market to meet the changing needs of growers. Therefore, the global soil fumigant market is expected to experience strong growth in the next few years.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Growing Prevalence of Airway Stenting Procedures Outlook to 2023

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"The Report South Korea Airway Stenting Procedures Outlook to 2023 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"GlobalDatas new report, "South Korea Airway Stenting Procedures Outlook to 2023", provides key procedures data on the South Korea Airway Stenting Procedures. The report provides procedure volumes within market segments - Malignant Airway Obstruction Stenting Procedures and Airway Stenting Procedures for Other Indications.The data in the report is derived from dynamic market forecast models. GlobalData uses epidemiology based models to estimate and forecast the procedure volumes. The objective is to provide information that represents the most up-to-date data of the industry possible.The epidemiology-based forecasting model makes use of epidemiology data gathered from research publications and primary interviews with physicians to establish the target patient population and treatment flow patterns for individual diseases and therapies. Using prevalence and incidence data and diagnosed and treated population, the epidemiology-based forecasting model arrives at the final numbers.Extensive interviews are conducted with key opinion leaders (KOLs), physicians and industry experts to validate the procedure volumes.View Report @Scope- South Korea Airway Stenting Procedures volumes by segments - Malignant Airway Obstruction Stenting Procedures and Airway Stenting Procedures for Other Indications.- Projections for each of the market segments. Data is provided from 2009 to 2016 and forecast to 2023.Reasons to buy- Develop business and investment strategies by identifying the key market segments expected to register strong growth in the near future.- Develop market-entry and market expansion strategies.Get Sample Copy of this Report @Table of Contents1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 31.2 List of Figures 32 Introduction 42.1 What Is This Report About? 42.2 Airway Stenting Procedures, Segmentation 42.3 Definitions of Procedures Covered in the Report 53 Airway Stenting Procedures, South Korea 63.1 Airway Stenting Procedures, South Korea, 2009-2016 63.2 Airway Stenting Procedures, South Korea, 2016-2023 83.2.1 Airway Stenting Procedures for Other Indications, South Korea, 2009-2016 103.2.2 Malignant Airway Obstruction Stenting Procedures, South Korea, 2009-2016 123.2.3 Airway Stenting Procedures for Other Indications, South Korea, 2016-2023 143.2.4 Malignant Airway Obstruction Stenting Procedures, South Korea, 2016-2023 164 Appendix 184.1 Research Methodology 194.1.1 Coverage 194.1.2 Secondary Research 194.1.3 Primary Research 204.1.4 Market Modeling and Forecasting 214.1.5 Company Share Analysis 224.1.6 Distribution Share Analysis 234.1.7 Benchmarking 234.2 GlobalData Consulting 234.3 Contact Us 244.4 Disclaimer 24About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA: Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Increasing Prevalence of United Kingdom Airway Stenting Procedures Outlook to 2023

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"The Report United Kingdom Airway Stenting Procedures Outlook to 2023 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"GlobalDatas new report, "United Kingdom Airway Stenting Procedures Outlook to 2023", provides key procedures data on the United Kingdom Airway Stenting Procedures. The report provides procedure volumes within market segments - Malignant Airway Obstruction Stenting Procedures and Airway Stenting Procedures for Other Indications.The data in the report is derived from dynamic market forecast models. GlobalData uses epidemiology based models to estimate and forecast the procedure volumes. The objective is to provide information that represents the most up-to-date data of the industry possible.The epidemiology-based forecasting model makes use of epidemiology data gathered from research publications and primary interviews with physicians to establish the target patient population and treatment flow patterns for individual diseases and therapies. Using prevalence and incidence data and diagnosed and treated population, the epidemiology-based forecasting model arrives at the final numbers.Extensive interviews are conducted with key opinion leaders (KOLs), physicians and industry experts to validate the procedure volumes.View Report @Scope- United Kingdom Airway Stenting Procedures volumes by segments - Malignant Airway Obstruction Stenting Procedures and Airway Stenting Procedures for Other Indications.- Projections for each of the market segments. Data is provided from 2009 to 2016 and forecast to 2023.Reasons to buy- Develop business and investment strategies by identifying the key market segments expected to register strong growth in the near future.- Develop market-entry and market expansion strategies.Get Sample Copy of this Report @Table of Contents1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 31.2 List of Figures 32 Introduction 42.1 What Is This Report About? 42.2 Airway Stenting Procedures, Segmentation 42.3 Definitions of Procedures Covered in the Report 53 Airway Stenting Procedures, United Kingdom 63.1 Airway Stenting Procedures, United Kingdom, 2009-2016 63.2 Airway Stenting Procedures, United Kingdom, 2016-2023 83.2.1 Airway Stenting Procedures for Other Indications, United Kingdom, 2009-2016 103.2.2 Malignant Airway Obstruction Stenting Procedures, United Kingdom, 2009-2016 123.2.3 Airway Stenting Procedures for Other Indications, United Kingdom, 2016-2023 143.2.4 Malignant Airway Obstruction Stenting Procedures, United Kingdom, 2016-2023 164 Appendix 184.1 Research Methodology 194.1.1 Coverage 194.1.2 Secondary Research 194.1.3 Primary Research 204.1.4 Market Modeling and Forecasting 214.1.5 Company Share Analysis 224.1.6 Distribution Share Analysis 234.1.7 Benchmarking 234.2 GlobalData Consulting 234.3 Contact Us 244.4 Disclaimer 24About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA: Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Global Alkaline Battery Market Witnessed To Take An Uptick In The Forecast Year 2022

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In our aim to provide our erudite clients with the best research material with absolute in-depth information of the market, our new report on Global Alkaline Battery Market is confident in meeting their needs and expectations. The 2017 market research report on Global Alkaline Battery Market is an in-depth study and analysis of the market by our industry experts with unparalleled domain knowledge. The report will shed light on many critical points and trends of the industry which are useful for our esteemed clients. The report covers a vast expanse of information including an overview, comprehensive analysis, definitions and classifications, applications, and expert opinions, among others. With the extent of information filled in the report, the presentation and style of the Global Alkaline Battery Market report is a noteworthy.Request a sample of this report @The Global Alkaline Battery Industry report provides key information about the industry, including invaluable facts and figures, expert opinions, and the latest developments across the globe. Not only does the report cover a holistic view of the industry from a global standpoint, but it also covers individual regions and their development. The Global Alkaline Battery Industry market report showcases the latest trends in the global and regional markets on all critical parameters which include technology, supplies, capacity, production, profit, price, and competition. The key players covered in the report provide a detailed analysis of the competition and their developments in the Global Alkaline Battery Industry. Accurate forecasts and expert opinion from credible sources, and the recent R&D development in the industry is also a mainstay of the Alkaline Battery Market report.The report also focuses on the significance of industry chain analysis and all variables, both upstream and downstream. These include equipment and raw materials, client surveys, marketing channels, and industry trends and proposals. Other significant information covering consumption, key regions and distributors, and raw material suppliers are also a covered in this report.Browse the complete report @Finally, the Alkaline Battery Market report ends with a detailed SWOT analysis of the market, investment feasibility and returns, and development trends and forecasts. As with every report on Orbis Research, the Alkaline Battery Industry is the holy grail of information which serious knowledge seekers can benefit from.If you have any enquiry before buying a copy of this report @Major Points from Table of Content:Chapter One: Alkaline Battery Market OverviewChapter Two: Global Alkaline Battery Market Competition by ManufacturersChapter Three: Global Alkaline Battery Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)Chapter Four: Global Alkaline Battery Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)Chapter Five: Global Alkaline Battery Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by TypeChapter Six: Global Alkaline Battery Market Analysis by ApplicationChapter Seven: Global Alkaline Battery Manufacturers Profiles/AnalysisChapter Eight: Alkaline Battery Manufacturing Cost AnalysisChapter Nine: Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersChapter Ten: Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersChapter Eleven: Market Effect Factors AnalysisChapter Twelve: Global Alkaline Battery Market Forecast (2017-2022)Chapter Thirteen: Research Findings and ConclusionChapter Fourteen: AppendixList of Figure:Figure Picture of Alkaline BatteryFigure Global Production Market Share of Alkaline Battery by Type in 2015Figure Product Picture of Type ITable Major Manufacturers of Type IFigure Product Picture of Type IITable Major Manufacturers of Type IITable Alkaline Battery Consumption Market Share by Application in 2015Figure Application 1 ExamplesFigure Application 2 ExamplesFigure North America Alkaline Battery Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Europe Alkaline Battery Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure China Alkaline Battery Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Japan Alkaline Battery Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Southeast Asia Alkaline Battery Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure India Alkaline Battery Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Global Alkaline Battery Revenue (Million UDS) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Table Global Alkaline Battery Capacity of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)Table Global Alkaline Battery Capacity Market Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)Figure Global Alkaline Battery Capacity of Key Manufacturers in 2015Figure Global Alkaline Battery Capacity of Key Manufacturers in 2016Table Global Alkaline Battery Production of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)Table Global Alkaline Battery Production Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)Figure 2015 Alkaline Battery Production Share by ManufacturersFigure 2016 Alkaline Battery Production Share by ManufacturersTable Global Alkaline Battery Revenue (Million USD) by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)Continued.About Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email at: sales@orbisresearch.com
The Current and Future Minimally Invasive Spine Market Analysis and Market Forecasts

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"The Report Minimally Invasive Spine - North America Analysis and Market Forecasts provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"Traditionally treated with an open surgical approach to stabilize vertebral bones and joints, spinal fusion is one of a number of surgical procedures that has begun the shift towards less invasive surgical techniques. With the advent of advanced imaging technologies, minimally invasive techniques have emerged as a solution to many of the disadvantages of traditional spinal fusion. Shorter operation time, less trauma to the patients anatomy, and faster return to motion are benefits of minimally invasive spine (MIS) surgery that, coupled with the global aging population and continued advancements in navigational technology, will propel its adoption. However, the growth of motion preserving solutions and low physician and patient awareness in emerging markets threaten the widespread adoption of this approach.This report focuses on the market outlook for MIS devices in North America (Canada, Mexico, and US). The analysis identifies the key unmet needs in the MIS market, discusses the major drivers and barriers of adoption, and provides an in-depth understanding of physicians perceptions and the future outlook for this market by segment and geography.View Report @HighlightsKey Questions Answered- What is the current and future MIS market outlook in the developed and emerging markets? What trends are affecting the North American market?- Which are the key, high growth markets that MIS manufacturers should expand into? Which markets are growing the fastest, and what are the top-selling products in each segment?- What are the unmet needs with the current generation of MIS devices? How will emerging technologies fulfill these unmet needs?- What clinical factors and technical specifications influence a physician to use one type of device over another? What is physician perception and market outlook for MIS?- What are the challenges and complications that have hindered widespread adoption?- With developing the next-generation of devices, what aspects of the technology are device manufacturers focused on optimizing? How will new entrants impact the MIS market?Get Sample Copy of this Report @Scope- Overview of recent key industry events and analysis of their market impact.- Annualized total market revenue by type of device, procedure trends, and market outlooks by segment and by region through 2023.- Key topics covered include strategic competitor assessment, market characterization, identification of unmet needs, reimbursement considerations, evaluating market access in each region covered in the report, and implications of the emerging technologies in the market.- Pipeline analysis: Comprehensive data split across different stages of development, including a discussion of emerging trends and devices in development.- Analysis of the current and future market competition in the North American MIS market. Insightful review of the key industry drivers, barriers, and challenges. Each trend is independently researched to provide qualitative analysis of its implications.Reasons to buy- What Physicians Think quotes provide a unique insight into how healthcare professionals are reacting to events within the industry, and what their responses could mean for industry strategists. In this report you will understand the perceptions of leading orthopedic surgeons from around the world. This information is essential for all strategic decision makers in every organization allowing them to act on high quality information.Table of Contents1 Table of Contents 11.1 List of Tables 41.2 List of Figures 52 Introduction 112.1 Catalyst 112.2 Related Reports 113 Market Access 133.1 Reimbursement Trends 133.1.1 North America 133.2 Mergers and Acquisitions 214 Unmet Needs 234.1 Lacking Surgeon Education 234.2 Excessive Radiation Exposure 234.3 Expanding Minimally Invasive Techniques 244.4 Improved Reimbursement Coverage for Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures 245 Competitive Assessment 265.1 Market Share Analysis 265.1.1 North America 275.2 Key Companies and Product Profiles 325.2.1 DePuy Synthes (JNJ) 325.2.2 Globus Medical 345.2.3 Medtronic 355.2.4 NuVasive 365.2.5 Stryker 385.2.6 Zimmer Biomet 395.2.7 Other Players 415.3 Clinical Trials to Watch 445.4 Pipeline Products Assessment 466 Market Outlook 466.1 Global Market Drivers and Barriers 516.1.1 Driver: Increasing Global Aging Population 516.1.2 Driver: Advantages of Minimally Invasive Surgery over Open Surgery 526.1.3 Driver: Developments in Navigation and Robotics 526.1.4 Driver: Advances in Neuroimaging Technology 536.1.5 Barrier: Growth of Non-Fusion Technologies 546.1.6 Barrier: Burden of Rising Regulation 556.1.7 Barrier: Proving Efficacy 556.1.8 Barrier: Reimbursement Limitations 566.2 Market Outlooks by Geography 59About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA: Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Aloe Vera-based Drinks Market  Global Competitive Situation of Manufacturers Research 2017 to 2022

ReportsWeb

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http://www.reportsweb.com/global-aloe-vera-based-drinks-industry-market-research-2017

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In this report, we analyze the Aloe Vera-based Drinks industry from two aspects. One part is about its production and the other part is about its consumption. In terms of its production, we analyze the production, revenue, gross margin of its main manufacturers and the unit price that they offer in different regions from 2012 to 2017. In terms of its consumption, we analyze the consumption volume, consumption value, sale price, import and export in different regions from 2012 to 2017. We also make a prediction of its production and consumption in coming 2017-2022.At the same time, we classify different Aloe Vera-based Drinks based on their definitions. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. Wha is more, the Aloe Vera-based Drinks industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.Purchase a copy of this report @. And get discount on report purchase @The report can answer the following questions:1. What is the global (North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia, China, Japan) production, production value, consumption, consumption value, import and export of Aloe Vera-based Drinks?2. Who are the global key manufacturers of Aloe Vera-based Drinks industry? How are their operating situation (capacity, production, price, cost, gross and revenue)?3. What are the types and applications of Aloe Vera-based Drinks? What is the market share of each type and application?4. What are the upstream raw materials and manufacturing equipment of Aloe Vera-based Drinks? What is the manufacturing process of Aloe Vera-based Drinks?5. Economic impact on Aloe Vera-based Drinks industry and development trend of Aloe Vera-based Drinks industry.6. What will the Aloe Vera-based Drinks market size and the growth rate be in 2022?7. What are the key factors driving the global Aloe Vera-based Drinks industry?8. What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the Aloe Vera-based Drinks market?9. What are the Aloe Vera-based Drinks market challenges to market growth?10. What are the Aloe Vera-based Drinks market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the global Aloe Vera-based Drinks market?Objective of Studies:1. To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the global Aloe Vera-based Drinks market.2. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the Aloe Vera-based Drinks market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porte five force analysis etc.3. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World.4. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective.5. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by application, product type and sub-segments.6. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market.7. To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global Aloe Vera-based Drinks market.Browse Complete Report @Some points from TOC:1 Industry Overview of Aloe Vera-based Drinks1.1 Brief Introduction of Aloe Vera-based Drinks1.1.1 Definition of Aloe Vera-based Drinks1.1.2 Development of Aloe Vera-based Drinks Industry1.2 Classification of Aloe Vera-based Drinks1.2.1 Type One1.2.2 Type Two1.2.3 Type Three1.3 Status of Aloe Vera-based Drinks Industry1.3.1 Industry Overview of Aloe Vera-based Drinks1.3.2 Global Major Regions Status of Aloe Vera-based Drinks2 Industry Chain Analysis of Aloe Vera-based Drinks2.1 Supply Chain Relationship Analysis of Aloe Vera-based Drinks2.2 Upstream Major Raw Materials and Price Analysis of Aloe Vera-based Drinks2.3 Downstream Applications of Aloe Vera-based Drinks2.3.1 Application 12.3.2 Application 22.3.3 Application 33 Manufacturing Technology of Aloe Vera-based Drinks3.1 Development of Aloe Vera-based Drinks Manufacturing Technology3.2 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Aloe Vera-based Drinks3.3 Trends of Aloe Vera-based Drinks Manufacturing TechnologyRequest a sample of this report @ReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. The market research industry has changed in last decade. As corporate focus has shifted to niche markets and emerging countries, a number of publishers have stepped in to fulfil these information needs. We have experienced and trained staff that helps you navigate different options and lets you choose best research solution at most effective cost.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Global IoT Chip Market Size, Share, Development, Growth and Demand Forecast to 2023

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Internet of Things (IoT) is internetworking of physical and virtual objects, which enables physical and virtual devices relate to each other through cloud technology in order to exchange data and information. With accelerated technological advancements and accumulating dependence on technology, IoT concept is expected to have a propitious future. Hardware components of IoT include processor, sensor, connectivity IC, memory device and logic device. The Internet of Things (IoT) can happen with traditional processor, sensor and other hardware components, but several concerns, including low power requirements and wireless support, have driven evolution of platforms designed for its applications. Moreover, accumulating investments in the IoT industry to develop new IoT-based products are expected to generate demand for more IoT chips. IoT chips are being used in numerous devices and applications of various industries. Applications of IoT chips include wearable devices, healthcare, consumer electronics and several others. The key purpose to adopt IoT enabled devices is to improve safety, comfort and efficiency of work. IoT also helps in better decision making and as result of which increases productivity.To Browse Full Report Visit Here:Major factors propelling the growth of IoT chip market include soaring demand of application specific MCUs, and flexible SOC type architectures. IoT chips are capable enough to support varied communication protocols, owing to which these chips are widely being adopted in the field of automation. The increasing demand of IoT enabled applications and devices from various industry verticals is likely to spearhead the growth of the global IoT chip market.However, security and privacy of data are the major concerns associated with the usage of IoT chips, which acts as restraint to the global IoT chip market. Additionally, lack of common communication protocols across application platforms and high power consumption by connected devices are the major challenges of the global IoT chip market.Browse For Related Research Visit Here:The global IoT chip market is expected to witness a CAGR of 15.1% during the forecast period, to reach $17,285.3 million by 2023. Concept of IoT is rapidly being adopted by several industries to provide ease and efficiency of work. Integration of connectivity competence in large number of devices and applications and development of various networking protocols have appreciably spurred the growth of IoT chip market. Moreover, accelerating requirement for application-specific microcontroller units (MCUs) and flexible system on chip (SoC)-type architectures are the major factors propelling the growth of IoT chip market.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a market research company, which offers market research and consulting services for various geographies around the globe. We provide market research reports, industry forecasting reports, business intelligence, and research based consulting services across different industry/business verticals.As one of the top growing market research agency, were keen upon providing market landscape and accurate forecasting. Our analysts and consultants are proficient with business intelligence and market analysis, through their interaction with leading companies of the concerned domain. We help our clients with B2B market research and assist them in identifying various windows of opportunity, and framing informed and customized business expansion strategies in different regions.Contact:AbhishekExecutive  Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb:
Global Commercial Aircraft Wing Market Enhance By Growing Attention Towards Lighter Wing

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SummaryOrbis Research Present's Global Commercial Aircraft Wing Market 2017-2021 Major players in this industry and the key strategies adopted by them to sustain and grow in the studied market.DescriptionLatest Research Report  Global Commercial Aircraft Wing Market 2017-2021The Global Commercial Aircraft Wing Market to grow at a CAGR of 7.61% during the period 2017-2021the following companies as the key players in the Global Commercial Aircraft Wing Market: Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, EMBRAER, and Mitsubishi Aircraft.Other Prominent Vendors in the market are: HITCO Carbon Composites, LISI AEROSPACE, RUAG Aerostructures, TRIUMPH GROUP, Exelis (Harris), Ferra Engineering, and TAL Manufacturing Solutions.Commenting on the report,: One trend in market is emergence of thin wings. Globally, the airline market is facing challenges with respect to operational costs. Around 40% of the operational costs constitute of the fuel cost. In order to reduce the fuel consumption and increase the operational efficiency, the OEMs are focusing on designing an efficient aircraft model featuring a lighter wing. Currently, NASA and Boeing are working together to design and develop a longer, thinner, and lighter aircraft wing. As a part of NASAs Advanced Air Transport Technology project, they are developing a trust-braced wing.According to the report, one driver in market is advent of new wing designs to enhance aircraft efficiency. The shape and design of aircraft wings play an important role in defining aircraft operations. For aircraft airframe, the wing is a vital element that enhances aircraft performance and maintains operating costs within specified limits. The fundamental aim of aircraft design is to generate the required lift at streamline airflow while minimizing drag and weight acting on the aircraft. This phenomenon results in low fuel consumption and high cruise range. However, optimizing an aircraft wing design with such requirements is often challenging as wing structure cannot attain both minimum drag design as well as minimum weight design.Get a PDF Sample of Global Commercial Aircraft Wing Market Report at:Further, the report states that one challenge in market is manufacturing and procedural constraints. Airlines face challenges during retrofit projects, i.e., while replacing old components with new ones. The processes involve additional costs, cumbersome certification processes, and limited expertise to conduct verification. Also, public support is often required to implement advanced systems, since an infrastructure needs to established. Further, for the aerospace domain, the stakeholders need to meet stringent environmental regulations to avoid penalization.These rules can exist at federal, state, and local levels. After the systems, have been integrated, a list of authentication checks and certification processes follows. They include certification from organizations like Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas  75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +9164101019Follow Us on LinkedIn:
Global Biscuit Machines Market 2016: Focuses on top players Aasted, Macadams International, Laser srl, SK Industries

Biscuit Machines

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The Biscuit Machines research report by QY Research represents an inclusive evaluation of the Global Biscuit Machines Market and comprises considerable insights, historical data, facts, and statistical and industry-validated data of the global market. Additionally, it consists of estimated data that is evaluated with the help of suitable set of methodologies and assumptions. The research report highlights informative data and in-depth analysis of Biscuit Machines market and its corresponding segments that are based on technology, geography, and applications.The examination on value chain of Biscuit Machines market is provided which covers the growth factors and restraints of the industry along with the key market competitors.To Request Sample Copy Of This Report:The report comprises precise information, comprehensive analysis in two waysqualitative and quantitativeindustry experts inputs, and information provided by industry analysts and industry participants involved in the entire value chain. The report highlights exhaustive study of major market and their present trends, along with corresponding market segments. The Biscuit Machines report also provides data regarding various market factors and their impact on the overall market and its segments.Global Research report analyzes the scope of Biscuit Machines industry including size, share, analysis, sales, supply, production, definition, specification, classification, demands, application, forecast trends, industry policy, and news. The report focuses on regional as well as global market, its key players, along with market segments including detailed study on various divisions and its applications. The report provides comprehensive information on each and every segment covered of the Biscuit Machines market.Furthermore, the report evaluated major market points such as production, revenue, capacity utilization rate, gross, price, capacity, gross margin, supply, cost, demand, export, consumption, import, growth rate, market share, and so on.Browse Complete Report At:The global Biscuit Machines market report is a helpful source which assists manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, customers, and individuals and investors who have interest in this market.Notes:Production, means the output of Biscuit MachinesRevenue, means the sales value of Biscuit MachinesThis report studies Biscuit Machines in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringAastedMacadams InternationalLaser srlSK IndustriesAbout Us:MRS Research Group is the worlds giant collection of the Market research Reports. Where we specialized in global publisher, tailor made reports and specialists consulting. Global Publisher provides in-depth analysis of global and Chinese market. Tailor-made reports represent methodologies deliverable to proper insight of the client. While, expertise research specialist helps to provide strategic solution in specialists consulting. It consists of head such as, latest report, category, niche market and news. Reports published on the million of category like chemical, machinery and equipment, consumer goods, manufacturing and construction etc. Latest national, international, business News published under news portal.3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,Tel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651
Global Biscuit Packaging Machines Market 2016: Focuses on top players Khosla Precisions, S.V.Mestry Engineering works, Omori India, Prince Packaging, Pack Tech Pack

Biscuit Packaging Machines

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The Biscuit Packaging Machines research report by QY Research represents an inclusive evaluation of the Global Biscuit Packaging Machines Market and comprises considerable insights, historical data, facts, and statistical and industry-validated data of the global market. Additionally, it consists of estimated data that is evaluated with the help of suitable set of methodologies and assumptions. The research report highlights informative data and in-depth analysis of Biscuit Packaging Machines market and its corresponding segments that are based on technology, geography, and applications.The examination on value chain of Biscuit Packaging Machines market is provided which covers the growth factors and restraints of the industry along with the key market competitors.To Request Sample Copy Of This Report:The report comprises precise information, comprehensive analysis in two waysqualitative and quantitativeindustry experts inputs, and information provided by industry analysts and industry participants involved in the entire value chain. The report highlights exhaustive study of major market and their present trends, along with corresponding market segments. The Biscuit Packaging Machines report also provides data regarding various market factors and their impact on the overall market and its segments.Global Research report analyzes the scope of Biscuit Packaging Machines industry including size, share, analysis, sales, supply, production, definition, specification, classification, demands, application, forecast trends, industry policy, and news. The report focuses on regional as well as global market, its key players, along with market segments including detailed study on various divisions and its applications. The report provides comprehensive information on each and every segment covered of the Biscuit Packaging Machines market.Furthermore, the report evaluated major market points such as production, revenue, capacity utilization rate, gross, price, capacity, gross margin, supply, cost, demand, export, consumption, import, growth rate, market share, and so on.Browse Complete Report At:The global Biscuit Packaging Machines market report is a helpful source which assists manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, customers, and individuals and investors who have interest in this market.Notes:Production, means the output of Biscuit Packaging MachinesRevenue, means the sales value of Biscuit Packaging MachinesThis report studies Biscuit Packaging Machines in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringKhosla PrecisionsS.V.Mestry Engineering worksOmori IndiaPrince PackagingPack Tech PackSingh Packaging IndustryCama GroupAbout Us:MRS Research Group is the worlds giant collection of the Market research Reports. Where we specialized in global publisher, tailor made reports and specialists consulting. Global Publisher provides in-depth analysis of global and Chinese market. Tailor-made reports represent methodologies deliverable to proper insight of the client. While, expertise research specialist helps to provide strategic solution in specialists consulting. It consists of head such as, latest report, category, niche market and news. Reports published on the million of category like chemical, machinery and equipment, consumer goods, manufacturing and construction etc. Latest national, international, business News published under news portal.3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,Tel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651
FOREST CITY | A North Iowa businessman sentenced to more than a year in federal prison in December for failing to pay employment taxes now faces additional federal fraud charges.

Darell Smith, 61, Forest City, recently was charged in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa with mail fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.

North Iowa businessman sent to federal prison for not paying employment taxes FOREST CITY | A Forest City businessman was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison this we

Smith was the president and general partner of Energae, an investment partnership located in Clear Lake which was a minority investor in Permeate Refining LLC, an ethanol production business in Hopkington.

Smith solicited funds from many of his investment clients to be invested in Permeate by having the funds transferred to Energae, according to court documents.

Many clients agreed to make investments, but others did not.

Over time as more money was needed to operate Permeate, Smith continued to solicit funds.

Court documents state Smith also caused a total of $175,000 to be transferred from clients without their knowledge from 2011 to 2013.

Smith allegedly did this by either using pre-signed, blank authorization forms or forging his clients' signatures so he could transfer funds or issue checks via wire or mail.

Smith was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison last year for failing to pay more than $502,863 in employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service on the behalf of Permeate employees from the first quarter of 2011 through the third quarter of 2012.
Global Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems Market On the Rise by 2025

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Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems are widely used in the military and aerospace industry which require data storage and visualization of Day/Night-Vision helmets or goggles. The information is displayed on the screen of the lenses, mirror or screen created specifically for viewing the data and also stored the data in a drive. The Day/Night-Vision equipment's are of various types including night vision goggles, Day/Night-Vision helmets, periscope, guns and rifle scope, night vision binocular and others which has applications in various industries such as military, aerospace, aviation, police, security and surveillance and others. This technology is initially developed for military purposes and later found application in air force and civil aviation. With the advancement of technology, this technology have found applications in several other industries. Most of the equipment's has a display attached in it where some products such as periscope used in tanks has a separate visual screen which can be removed. Portable display units has gained a significant market share which is used in combat operations. These portable displays can be installed anywhere away from the equipment. These displays usually has a range of 50 to 100 meters and come with a receiver which receives signals transmitted by Day/Night-Vision equipment. Some of the displays has large ranges and can catch signals coming from few meters to kilometers. Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems market is expected to witness an escalating demand among various industries because of its broad applications and features.A sample of this report is available upon request @Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems: Market DynamicsDay/Night-Vision Data Display systems is used by pilots, military personnel's and police. This technology has gained importance due to its varied applications. The military of all the developed and most of the developing countries have Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems and using the same for various purposes. North America is the largest market and manufacturer for Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems. Many new applications are springing in the market every day which requires Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems because of its unique properties. Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems market is expected to grow during the forecast period due to its versatile benefits and vast usage. However, Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems comes along with some restraints. Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems is costly and sold to only organizations with legitimate registrations in their respective country. The cost of research and development of these products is great and hence the products turns to be costly. The demand of Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems is always low as compared to the supply due to the high prices. Accuracy and efficiency is also a constraint for Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems.Manufacturers have an opportunity in the production of Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems at cheap cost which is the upcoming trend in the market. Low cost can increase the sale and scalability of the products in the market.Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems: Market SegmentationDay/Night-Vision Data Display systems market can be segmented on the basis of type of display, which include:GlassMirrorVideo Display Optical KitLensOthersDay/Night-Vision Data Display systems market can be segmented on the basis of type of equipment's used, which include:TransmitterReceiverDay Light FilterSoftwareOthersDay/Night-Vision Data Display systems market can be segmented on the basis of types of application, which include:MilitaryAerospaceAviationPoliceSecurity and SurveillanceOthersDay/Night-Vision Data Display systems: Segment OutlookDay/Night-Vision Data Display systems market can be segmented on the type of display which include glass, mirror, video display optical kit, lens and others. Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems market can be segmented on the type of equipment's which includes transmitter, receiver, day light filter, software and others. Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems market can also be segmented on the type of application which includes military, aerospace, aviation, police, security and surveillance and others.Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems: Regional OutlookRegional coverage for Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems market includes North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Japan. Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems market witnesses a high demand and production in North America and Europe because of the significant investments in the region and high demand.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems: Market PlayersThe market players in Day/Night-Vision Data Display systems market are Nexter group, Thales Visionix Inc., ATN Corporation, Rockwell Collins, DELOPT, Elbit Systems of America LLC and many more.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Immunohistochemistry Market Size, Shares, Growth, Segments, Industry Analysis & Outlook

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Global Immunohistochemistry Market: Brief AccountThe global immunohistochemistry market is poised to make a bold statement with an impressive growth rate on the back of its irreplaceable application in the detection of the expression of different cancer biomarkers, such as PD-L1, NGS, RBM4, and SASH1. Immunohistochemistry also finds a vital position in Philips and Illuminas collaborated pipeline solutions based on integrated genomics for oncology cases. It is also used to validate the proteins that hold a profound association with prostate cancer, in order to develop biomarker protein panels with a substantial prognostic and diagnostic potential. Besides this, it is essentially employed in the recently discovered experimental treatment for Parkinsons disease which gives an early promise.With such handsome demand in the biotechnology sector, the global market for immunohistochemistry is foretold to showcase a stallion growth. Considering the segmentation portion of the report, the international immunohistochemistry market can be categorized by product type, application, and end user. The geographical segmentation presented in the report will help the global players in the market to gauge their growth potential internationally and make the necessary amendments in their business strategies.Request a Brochure of the Report @The customized report on the global immunohistochemistry market explores the breakthrough strategies and growth factors of the top industry players. The overall scenario of the existing and latent competitive landscape of the international market is extensively elucidated by the analysts. The market intelligence solution offered here presents a valuable blend of trends analysis and quantitative forecasting.Global Immunohistochemistry Market: Trend and OpportunitiesWith a close to healthy CAGR, the global immunohistochemistry market is envisioned to project a tall rise while riding on the fattening rifeness of chronic diseases and forging advancement of geriatric population. The international market is also anticipated to take advantage of the rising physical awareness, aggressive building of diagnostic facilities, and demand for histopathology. Glaring opportunities for growth in the market are expected to be built upon the inflating want for personalized medicine and whistle-stop development in the emerging economies of Latin America and Asia Pacific.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Immunohistochemistry Market: Key GeographiesIt is significant to study the important regions such as North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific alongside Latin America and the Middle East and Africa in the Rest of the World classification. The further classification of these regions at a country level will also help to gain a keen insight into the competitive landscape of the global immunohistochemistry market. India, China, and Brazil are predicted to be under high focus in terms of growth for their regional markets. The rising per capita income, elevating number of cancer patients, and swiftly developing healthcare infrastructure are reckoned to boost the growth in the Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa regions.Read Complete Report @Global Immunohistochemistry Market: Market GiantsMerck Millipore (U.S.), Bio SB Inc. (U.S.), PerkinElmer, Inc. (U.S.), Agilent Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), Abcam plc (U.K.), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (U.S.), Cell Signaling Technology, Inc. (U.S.), Danaher Corporation (U.S.), F. Hoffman-La Roche AG (Switzerland), and Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (U.S.) are some of the dominant players in the global immunohistochemistry market. The report customizes the company profiling section as per the business wants of the buyers.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todayas supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clientsa conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth researh of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Metal Biocides Market: Industry Survey and Industry Outlook 2025

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Global Metal Biocides Market: OverviewThe exponential growth of the shipping industry holds promise for the metal biocides market. The use of self-polishing coatings, which typically contain an ecodegradable biocide, has addressed issues pertaining to the growth of large fouling organisms on the frame of large commercial and military vessels.The research report presents an in-depth analysis of trends, opportunities, and market size estimates of the global metal biocides market for the 2017-2025 period. The report strategically studies the market segments and their influence on the growth trends and growth prospects of the global metal biocides market between 2017 and 2025.Global Metal Biocides Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe incessant growth of major end use industries of metal biocides such as paints and coatings, water treatment, and medical is driving the growth of the global metal biocides market. The use of metal biocides in coatings for commercial vessels is favoring the growth of the metal biocides market considerably. The self-polishing coatings typically contain an ecodegradable biocide, which is slowly but continuously released from the coating and is toxic to foulants during the ablation process.Request a Brochure of the Report @Global Metal Biocides Market: Market SegmentationThe global metal biocides market can be segmented on the basis of type, end user, and geography. On the basis of type, the metal biocides market can be segmented into silver, zinc, copper and alloys, and others. Amongst these, the silver-based metal biocide is the leading segment in the market. This is mainly due to the eco-friendly, non-toxic, and sustainable nature of silver-based metal biocide. Despite its high cost, the silver-based metal biocide is extensively used in the healthcare industry owing to its unsurpassed safety, high thermal stability, effectiveness, and approval by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).The end use segments of the global metal biocides market are mainly paints and coatings, textile, wood preservation, medical, pesticides, foods and beverages, and others. The medical sector is the largest end-user of the metal biocides market in terms of revenue. However, the paints and coatings segment is anticipated to display the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This is mainly due to the increasing demand for metal biocides in marine antifouling agents, household paints, and varnishes due to their effectiveness in hampering the growth of fungi and algae on applied paint and coating.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Metal Biocides Market: Regional OutlookThe global metal biocides market can be divided into the regional segments of North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World. Amongst these, North America is the leading regional market for metal biocides as it is home to some of the leading market players. The increasing demand for metal biocides in food and beverages and medical in the U.S. is fuelling the growth of the metal biocides market in this region.Read Complete Report @Major Companies Mentioned in ReportThe report mentions key companies that operate in the global metal biocides market, namely BASF SE, The Dow Chemical Company, Lonza Group Ltd, Milliken Chemical Company, Noble Biomaterials Inc., Clariant AG, SANITIZED AG, Troy Corporation, SteriTouch Ltd, and Renaissance Chemicals Ltd. Each of the companies is profiled for their distinguishing business attributes of product portfolio and specification, recent developments, and SWOTs.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todayas supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clientsa conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth researh of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Preservative Blends Market For Beauty Care, Home Care, and Personal Care - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024

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Preservative blends are blends of preservative chemicals that are used to prevent fermentation and decomposition of product by microbial growth or other climatic conditions. It helps in extending the shelf life of the products to maintain the unique aroma, color and consistency of the product. The report estimates and forecasts the preservative blends market on the global and regional levels. The study provides forecast between 2016 and 2024 based on volume (Tons) and revenue (US$ Mn) with 2015 as the base year. The report comprises an exhaustive value chain analysis for each of the product segments. It provides a comprehensive view of the market. Value chain analysis also offers detailed information about value addition at each stage.The study includes drivers and restraints for the preservative blends market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The study also provides key market indicators affecting the growth of the market. The report analyzes opportunities in the preservative blends market on the global and regional level. Drivers, restraints, and opportunities mentioned in the report are justified through quantitative and qualitative data. These have been verified through primary and secondary resources. Furthermore, the report analyzes substitute analysis of preservative blends and global average price trend analysis.Download Sample Copy of This Report :Secondary research sources that were typically referred to include, but were not limited to company websites, financial reports, annual reports, investor presentations, broker reports, and SEC filings. Other sources such as internal and external proprietary databases, statistical databases and market reports, news articles, national government documents, and webcasts specific to companies operating in the market have also been referred for the report. In-depth interviews and discussions with a wide range of key opinion leaders and industry participants were conducted to compile this research report. Primary research represents the bulk of research efforts, supplemented by extensive secondary research. Key players product literature, annual reports, press releases, and relevant documents were reviewed for competitive analysis and market understanding. This helped in validating and strengthening secondary research findings. Primary research further helped in developing the analysis teams expertise and market understanding.Global Preservative Blends Market: Research MethodologyThe report includes Porters Five Forces Model to determine the degree of competition in the preservative blends market. The report comprises a qualitative write-up on market attractiveness analysis, wherein applications and countries have been analyzed based on attractiveness for each region. Growth rate, market size, raw material availability, profit margin, impact strength, technology, competition, and other factors (such as environmental and legal) have been evaluated in order to derive the general attractiveness of the market. The report comprises price trend analysis for preservative blends between 2016 and 2024.View Full Report :Global Preservative Blends Market: Segmentation AnalysisThe study provides a comprehensive view of the preservative blends market by dividing it into applications and geography segments. The preservative blends market has been segmented into beauty, home and personal care based on application. Application segment have been analyzed based on historic, present, and future trends.Regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for preservative blends in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa (MEA). Market segmentation includes demand for individual applications in all the regions.Global Preservative Blends Market: Competitive OutlookThe report covers detailed competitive outlook that includes market share and profiles of key players operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report includes The Dow Chemical Company, Lanxess, Galaxy Surfactants Ltd., BASF SE, Clariant Chemicals and others. Company profiles include attributes such as company overview, number of employees, brand overview, key competitors, business overview, business strategies, recent/key developments, acquisitions, and financial overview (wherever applicable).The global preservative blends market has been segmented as follows:Preservative Blends Market - Product AnalysisParabensFormaldehydeHalogenatedAlcoholsOrganic AcidsOthersPreservative Blends Market - Application AnalysisBeautyHomePersonal carePreservative Blends Market - Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle East & AfricaLatin AmericaMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Agriculture Robots Market : Recent Industry Trends and Projected Industry Growth

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Global Agriculture Robots Market: SnapshotRobots are poised to replace agricultural hands. They can pluck fruits, sow and reap crops, and milk cows. They carry out the tasks much faster and with a great degree of accuracy. This coupled with mandates on higher minimum pay being levied in most countries, have spelt good news for the global market for agriculture robots.Reason enough for the industry to cheer. Companies are increasingly investing in developing more efficient robots leveraging cutting-edge technologies to further their market positions. They are taking to modern technologies such as cloud, data analytics, and Internet of Things (IoT) to create more autonomous and unmanned robots that will drastically reduce the need for human intervention.Request a Brochure of the Report @Tractors, for example, have become increasingly autonomous, robotic milking parlors have become widespread, and drones are slated to change the contours of farming in the near future. In fact, unmanned remote-controlled helicopters are already being used for spraying rice fields for over two decades. With the introduction of light weight drones, the process will see more widespread adoption. Embedded with small multi-spectral sensors, such drones shall also help gather crucial information on farms which would enable farmers to take data-driven accurate decisions.While all such improvements bode well for the agriculture robots market, the hue and cry over rising automation resulting in job losses at an alarming pace is somewhat of a dampener for the market. A short while back, Microsoft founder and trillionaire techie Bill Gates expressed his disproval against rising automation by suggesting taxing of robots that supplant human workers. Coming from a techie of his stature, this sure sounds like a warning bell to the industry that stands at an interesting juncture now waiting to explode.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Agriculture Robots Market: OverviewThe demand for agriculture robots is increasing as they help in automating the agriculture business and meeting the rising demand from the global market. The technology holds promise of significantly improving crop yield, variety, and quality. The latest agriculture robots developed and introduced, can be put to various applications such as seeding, scouting, weeding, application of fertilizers, harvesting, and irrigation.The report provides in-depth insights into the various factors supporting the growing of the global agriculture robots market and those restraining its trajectory. It segments the market based on various parameters and covers the drivers and limitations affecting the markets growth across all these segments. Using Porters five forces it gauges the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers, degree of competition prevailing in the market, and the prevailing threat from substitute and new entrants.Global Agriculture Robots Market: Drivers and RestraintsA plethora of benefits offered by agriculture robots such as accuracy and precision, minimal requirement of human labor, faster task accomplishment, cost benefits, and fatigueless functioning will encourage their wider adoption across the global agricultural industry. The rising labor cost is creating substantial demand for automation in the agriculture sector. A few of the innovations expected to bolster adoption of agriculture robots in the long run are use of wireless sensors, driverless tractors, penetration of wearable and drones, proliferation of controls and systems driven robots, and the rising demand for the 3D printing technology in the agriculture sector.Read Complete Report @Besides these, penetration of the Internet of Things (IoT) will pave way for the popularity of smart farming, which also promises considerable growth opportunities for the market. The rising focus on improving farm yield by leveraging the latest technologies based on satellite is another driver, which the market is expected to benefit from over the forecast period. Due to the fact that natural resources such as land, labor, and water are limited, adopting technology will emerge as the key of improving agricultural production to feed the increasing masses. Given the scenario, agribots are likely to play a vital role and are expected to be used across vital stages of agriculture cycle such as harvesting, watering, sowing, and seeding.On the downside, agricultural robotics need extensive research in order make machines make logical sense of the complex biological environment. Therefore, challenges prevailing in terms of proper execution of machines without destroying the field or crops could limit the adoption of the technology.Global Agriculture Robots Market: Regional OutlookRegionally, the global agriculture robots market can be segmented into Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and Rest of the World. The demand for agriculture robot is significant high in countries exhibiting high demand for advanced technologies. For instance, the market has found lucrative opportunities in Japan, Australia, Mexico, China, and Canada. In the forthcoming years, the market is expected to witness considerable growth as both Europe and Asia Pacific exhibit a high rate of uptake. However, the U.S. will continue ranking as the fastest growing market and thus exhibit the highest CAGR over the course of the reports forecast period.Global Agriculture Robots Market: Vendor LandscapeSome of the leading players operating in the global agriculture robots market are Autonomous Tractor Corporation, ISO Group, AGROBOT-Soluciones Roboticas Agricolas SL, Blue River Technology, Inc., Autonomous Solution Inc., Agribotix LLC, Deere & Company, Energid Technologies Co., and Yamaha Corporation.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todayas supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clientsa conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth researh of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Digital Textile Printing Ink Market by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022

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2017 Global Digital Textile Printing Ink Market Status, 2011-2022 Market Historical and Forecasts, Professional Market Research Report a professional and in-depth study on the current trends and Future Forecast.This report studies Digital Textile Printing Ink in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa, focuses on the top 5 Digital Textile Printing Ink Players in each region, with sales, price, revenue and market share for top 5 manufacturer, coveringHuntsmanDupontSensientJK GroupMarabuSPGprintsKornitLanyu Digital TechnologyJay ChemicalHongsamRequest a sample copy of Digital Textile Printing Ink Market Research Report @Digital Textile Printing Ink Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales, revenue, market share of top 5 players in these regions, from 2012 to 2017 (forecast), likeNorth America (United States, Canada and Mexico)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India and Korea)Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy and Russia etc.South America (Brazil, Chile, Peru and Argentina)Middle East and Africa (Egypt, South Africa, Saudi Arabia)Split by Product Types, with sales, revenue, price, market share of each type, can be divided intoAcid inksReactive inksDisperse inksOthersThe listed pricing for this Digital Textile Printing Ink Market report starts at $ 4960. Request Discount for Digital Textile Printing Ink Market Research Report @Table of Content for Digital Textile Printing Ink Market Report:1 Digital Textile Printing Ink Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Digital Textile Printing Ink1.2 Digital Textile Printing Ink Segment by Types1.3 Digital Textile Printing Ink Segment by Applications1.4 Digital Textile Printing Ink Market by Regions1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Digital Textile Printing Ink (2012-2022)2 Global Digital Textile Printing Ink Sales, Revenue (value) and Market Share by Players2.1 Global Digital Textile Printing Ink Sales and Market Share in 2015 and 2016 by Players2.2 Global Digital Textile Printing Ink Revenue and Market Share by Players in 2015 and 20162.3 Global Digital Textile Printing Ink Average Price by Players in 2015 and 20162.4 Global Digital Textile Printing Ink Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product Types by PlayersBrowse full table of contents and data tables For Digital Textile Printing Ink Market Report @Split by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Digital Textile Printing Ink in each application, can be divided intoCotton fabricPolyester and nylon fabricBlended cotton fabricOthersRelated Reports: -Global and Chinese Carbon Ink Industry, 2017 Market Research ReportThe 'Global and Chinese Carbon Ink Industry, 2012-2022 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Carbon Ink industry with a focus on the Chinese market.MarketSizeForecasters.com, a Skyline Market Research LLP brand, is an online aggregator of market research reports. MarketSizeForecasters.com offers a comprehensive collection of full length reports on global and regional markets in 100+ industry verticals. We have partnered with some of the leading business and market research publishing houses and regularly update our online library to offer wide range of reports to our customers.Market size forecastersThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketsizeforecasters.comWebsite:Connect with us: LinkedIn | Twitter
The Mobile Phone Insurance Ecosystem Technology Advancement, Emerging Evolution 2016 - 2030 - Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts

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Given the increasing prevalence of expensive household goods, cars and consumer electronics, insurance has become an unavoidable and often necessary cost in modern life. Mobile phones, and smartphones in particular are no exception to this trend.Most major wireless carriers, insurance specialists, device OEMs, retailers and even banks now offer insurance plans that cover theft, loss, malfunctions and damage of mobile phones. Many policies now also integrate enhanced technical support and additional protection features such as data backup facilities, allowing users to securely backup their phone data online.SNS Research estimates that the global mobile phone insurance market is expected to account for nearly $20 Billion in revenue by the end of 2016. The market is further expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 12% over the next four years, eventually accounting for over $30 Billion in revenue by the end of 2020.The "Mobile Phone Insurance Ecosystem: 2016  2030  Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts" report presents an in-depth assessment of the mobile phone insurance ecosystem including market drivers, challenges, opportunities, value chain, future roadmap, case studies, ecosystem player profiles and strategies. The report also presents market size forecasts from 2016 through to 2030. The forecasts are segmented for 5 regional and 25 country level markets.Download Sample Copy Of This Report :Key Findings:The report has the following key findings:SNS Research estimates that the global mobile phone insurance market is expected to account for nearly $20 Billion in revenue by the end of 2016.The market is further expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 12% over the next four years, eventually accounting for over $30 Billion in revenue by the end of 2020.In an effort to boost the uptake of mobile phone insurance, wireless carriers and insurance providers have extensively enhanced their insurance offerings with the addition of location tracking, data protection/recovery features and integrated technical support.The success of mobile phone insurance plans has driven several wireless carriers, such as NTT DoCoMo and Orange, to invest in the sales of other insurance products through mobile phones and their retail outlets.New insurance models are also beginning to emerge, such as London-based So-Sures social insurance for mobile phones, which allows customers to get up to 80% of their money back, if they and their friends dont claim.Device OEMs are beginning to invest in tailored plans to suit the specific requirements of certain regional markets. A good example is Xiaomis Mi Protect plan in India, which covers accidental and liquid damage, for as little as $7 per year.View Full Report :Topics Covered:The report covers the following topics:Mobile phone insurance ecosystemMarket drivers and barriersInsurance policy structure, distribution channels and key trendsCase studies of mobile phone insurance initiativesIndustry roadmap and value chainProfiles and strategies of over 40 leading ecosystem playersStrategic recommendations for ecosystem playersMarket analysis and forecasts from 2016 till 2030Forecast Segmentation:Market forecasts are provided for the following regional and country level submarkets:Regional SegmentationAsia PacificEuropeLatin & Central AmericaMiddle East & AfricaNorth AmericaCountry Level SegmentationArgentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, UK & USAKey Questions Answered:The report provides answers to the following key questions:How big is the mobile phone insurance opportunity?What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth?How is the ecosystem evolving by region?What will the market size be in 2020 and at what rate will it grow?Which countries will see the highest percentage of growth?Who are the key market players and what are their strategies?What risks are typically covered in mobile phone insurance offerings?How can insurance plans help wireless carriers in reducing churn?What strategies should wireless carriers, device OEMs and insurance providers adopt to remain competitive?Countries covered:ArgentinaAustraliaBrazilCanadaChinaColombiaFranceGermanyHong KongIndiaIsraelItalyJapanMexicoNetherlandsPolandRussiaSaudi ArabiaSingaporeSouth AfricaSouth KoreaSpainTaiwanUKUSAList of Companies Mentioned:The following companies and organizations have been reviewed, discussed or mentioned in the report:A WirelessAIG (American International Group)Allianz InsuranceAllianz SE GroupAmerica MovilAmTrust International UnderwritersAonAppalachian WirelessAppleAssurantAsurionAT&TAT&T MobilityAvivaAXABarclaysBest BuyBouygues TelecomBrightstar CorporationBT GroupCellebriteChubbCWS (Connected World Services Distributions)Diamond WirelessDixons CarphoneDT (Deutsche Telekom)EEeSecuritelFonesureFortegraGeek SquadGoCareGroupamaHollard GroupHSBCInhance TechnologyiQmetrixLiberty Mutual Insurance GroupLifestyle Services GroupLookoutMarkerstudyMicrosoftMobi PCSMobile Rhino (Stuckey & Company)MTNNIA (New India Assurance)Nippon Life InsuranceNokiaNQ MobileNTT DoCoMoOptusOrangePier Insurance Managed ServicesProtectCELLSafewareSalt MobileSamsung ElectronicsSFRSingtel GroupSoftBank CorporationSo-SureSpark New ZealandSPBSprint CorporationSquareTradeSun CorporationSupercover InsuranceSwisscomTelefonica GroupTelefonica InsuranceTelstraT-Mobile USATokio MarineVerizon CommunicationsVerizon WirelessV-Key SolutionsVodacomVodafone GroupMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Additive Manufacturing Market : Recent Industry Trends and Projected Industry Growth 2017 - 2025

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Global Additive Manufacturing Market: SnapshotOver the coming years, the growth of the global additive manufacturing market is expected to be tremendous, as more raw materials become available and more end-user industries adopt the technology. The continuous rise in research and development activities in additive manufacturing processes is anticipated to alter conventional manufacturing and supply chain pathways and open doors for product innovation. Until a few years ago, the scope of application of this technology was limited. For instance, in the medical field, it was used only for the production of prototypes or models. But with advancements in technology, it is used in making prosthetics, implants, scaffolds, organs, and surgical equipment. In other end-user industries such as automotive and electronics, these advancements have paved way for cleaner, safer, and lighter products, lower costs, and shorter lead times.Request a Brochure of the Report @Geography-wise, Europe and North America will account for substantial cumulative shares in the global market. The increasing investments by governments and international players in the technology are augmenting the growth of the regions. The high disposable income of consumers and high awareness are also playing a vital role in the growth of the regions. On the other hand, Asia Pacific is expected to register a noteworthy growth rate during the forecast period. The immense potential of the market in this region is attracting global players to set up new production plants. Moreover, the increasing adoption of advanced technologies in the medical field is propelling the growth of the region. China is anticipated to be a sight of high growth rate in the region.Global Additive Manufacturing Market: SynopsisAdditive manufacturing (AM) refers to the concept of creating 3D objects that are solid, and can be of any size or shape to suit the requirement of the engineered products. Additive manufacturing are made by laying down multiple layers of a material, which is a renowned process from traditional subtractive machining techniques that depended on removing material by methods such as cutting or milling. Since this process involves the help of a machine connected to a computer that contains the blueprint of the desired object, the chances of mistakes are decreased to negligible, and hence the demand in the global market for additive manufacturing is escalating.Request for TOC of the Report @Additive manufacturing is utilized by a wide range of industries such as architecture, footwear, industrial design, jewelry, engineering and construction, education, aerospace, dental and medical, consumer products, and automotive. Additive manufacturing has several benefits such as rapid manufacturing, ease in prototyping, mass production, and mass customization. Many players in the global additive manufacturing market provide services to individual, industrial, or commercial use. For the individual services, a customer can upload a 3D design to the company website, which can then be printed using the industrial 3D printer and delivered to the customer.Global Additive Manufacturing Market: Trends and ProspectsIn the recent times, the application of additive manufacturing has expanded due to the increase in the usage of nickel superalloy for jet engine parts, repairing of heat-treated steels and components, and direct laser sintering of titanium for aerospace components. AM also helps in reducing the weight by optimizing design structure and improved geometric shapes with advanced functionalities. In addition to this customization without any additional cost, additive manufacturing also significantly reduces the production steps, which makes them time-efficient. Concurrently, the primary driver in the global additive manufacturing market are rapid production at reduced cost and ease of development of customized products. Additionally, freedom in designing is enabled by additive manufacturing as it negates the constraints of tooling and machining. Among the restraints that may hinder the growth rate of the market, the factor of process control and complete understanding of the process is foremost. However, an opportunity for the market players is the participation of small companies in the global market, which will help in mergers and acquisitions, and ultimately help the players expand their outreach.Global Additive Manufacturing Market: Key SegmentsThe global market for additive manufacturing can be segmented on the basis of application and geography. By application, the market can be divided into consumer products or electronics, medical or dental, automotive, aerospace, and tools or molds. Geographically, the report evaluates the regional markets for additive manufacturing in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and rest of the world.Read Complete Report @The key players in the global additive manufacturing market include 3D Systems Corporation, Biomedical Modeling Inc., Arcam AB, 3T Rpd Ltd., Envisiontec GmbH, Fcubic Ab, Fcubic AB, Eos GmbH, Gpi Prototype & Manufacturing Services Inc., Limacorporate S.P.A., Electro Optical Systems, Layerwise NV, Greatbatch Inc., Medical Modeling Inc., Renishaw PLC, Objet Ltd., Materialise NV, Morris Tech. Inc., Sirona Dental Systems, Stratasys Inc. and Slm Solutions GmbH.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todayas supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clientsa conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth researh of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Karoli Hindriks of Jobbatical to keynote Fintech North on The People Factor  Skills and Resources in the Fintech Economy

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Tallinn, Estonia  April 20, 2017  Karoli Hindriks, Founder & CEO of Jobbatical, will present a keynote at Fintech North, Leeds, UK on The People Factor - Skills and Resources in the FinTech economy.Companies are dealing with a chronic talent shortage for skilled professionals worldwide. Building a globally competitive company in a networked age means youre competing for the best people in the world. Talent is mobile. Employers will need to evolve and diversify their workforce as hiring shifts from local to global hiring. Karoli will present her vision of how Fintech companies can prepare for this new paradigm to win the talent war.About Karoli Hindriks:Wired Magazine named Jobbatical's Founder and CEO, Karoli Hindriks one of the 50 most inspiring women in European tech 2017. Karoli became Estonias official youngest inventor at the age of 16. Since then, shes led the launch of 7 television channels in Northern Europe, including MTV and Fox. Karolis latest startup, Jobbatical, makes international career adventures a reality.Karolis presentation begins at 11:10am on April 26th. Karoli will also be available to select journalists in Leeds, UK from April 25-28.About Jobbatical:Jobbatical is a disruptive leader in the hiring industry, providing employers with global exposure and exclusive access to top talent looking for opportunities to take their career abroad. Jobbatical sits squarely at the intersection of the future of travel, work and talent mobility.JobbaticalNiine 11Tallinn, Estonia 10414
Yale Recognized for Innovative Power Solutions with SDCE Green Supply Chain Award

GREENVILLE, N.C. (April 20, 2017)  This weekend, one billion people in 192 countries will celebrate the 47th annual Earth Day, raising awareness for environmental protection and promoting green practices. Yale Materials Handling Corporation takes a leading role helping operations achieve strategic supply chain sustainability goals, as evidenced by its 2016 SDCE Green Supply Chain Award from Supply & Demand Chain Executive.Yale was recognized for its innovative alternative power solutions, capable of meeting strict environmental regulations and helping reduce energy costs. These include the first commercially available UL-recognized lithium-ion battery pack in the lift truck industry, a power solution that lasts twice as long as lead acid options, helping reduce landfill waste and keep lift trucks moving more efficiently. Yale also offers lift trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells that enable a 33 percent savings in greenhouse gas emissions compared to lead acid battery systems charged from the electric grid.This award shows the commitment Yale has to developing alternative power solutions that empower customers to surpass benchmarks for performance and sustainability, says Chris Murtha, Brand Marketing Manager, Yale Materials Handling Corporation. As industries have developed, Yale has adapted by offering more efficient technology that provides an innovative solution to increase productivity while using less energy.This is the ninth installment of Supply & Demand Chain Executives Green Supply Chain Awards. The program recognizes small, mid-size and large enterprises that leverage green practices and solutions to drive sustainable improvements in supply chain operations.Yale Materials Handling Corporation markets a full line of materials handling lift truck products and services, including electric, gas, LP-gas and diesel powered lift trucks; narrow aisle, very narrow aisle and motorized hand trucks. Yale has a comprehensive service offering including Yale Vision wireless asset management, fleet management, Yale service, parts, financing and training. Yale trucks are manufactured in an ISO 9001:2008 registered facility and range in capacity from 2,000 to 36,000 lbs.Yale Materials Handling Corporation is a division of Hyster-Yale Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. (NYSE:HY). Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. and its subsidiaries, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, employ approximately 6,500 people world-wide.Yale truck and PEOPLE. PRODUCTS. PRODUCTIVITY. are trademarks, service marks or registered marks in the United States and certain other jurisdictions.Jennifer TimblinYale Materials Handling Corporation1400 Sullivan Rd, Greenville, NC 27834252-931-5747jennifer.timblin@hyster-yale.com
CLEAR LAKE | Donnabelle May (Savage) (Conroy) Axelsen, Clear Lake, 93, died Wednesday, April 19, 2017, at the Muse Norris Inpatient Unit, Hospice of North Iowa in Mason City.

According to her wishes, there will be no service.

A family gathering will be held at a later date.

Memorials in Donnabelles memory may be given to the Elliott Burgos Fund, c/o Chuck Conroy, 507 18th St. W., Clear Lake, IA 50428.

Donna was born to Charles R. and Johanna Eliese (Mutzel) Savage on her grandparents farm south of Hampton, Iowa, where she lived until four years old. She then moved to Hampton and attended school until eighth grade. She then moved to Garner through 11th grade, and then Clear Lake her senior year. Donna served in the U.S. Navy as a WAVE during World War II. She worked at CL Tel as a phone switchboard operator until the early '50s.

She married Walter Robert Conroy on Sept. 18, 1941. From this union they had two sons. She married Chris Axelsen in 1951 and had three sons and a daughter. She is survived by her sons, Charles (Nancy) Conroy, Clear Lake, IA, Thomas (Gina) Axelsen, Forest Lake, MN, Rick Axelsen, Thornton, IA and daughter Dawn (John) Drydale, Clear Lake, daughter-in-law Claryce Conroy, 50 plus grandchildren, great and great-great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, first husband Walter Bob Conroy, her husband Chris Axelsen, son James R. Conroy, son John B. Axelsen and his two children Chassidy and Jarod, and most recently a great-grandson, Coty Conroy.

Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, 101 N. Fourth St., Clear Lake, IA 50428, 641-357-2193, ColonialChapels.com.
Clopidogrel Market Growth with Worldwide Industry Analysis to 2025

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Global Clopidogrel Market: SnapshotClopidogrel has remained, ever since its first approval in 1997, the antiplatelet therapy of choice among physicians for the treatment of patients with conditions such as acute coronary syndrome or percutaneous coronary intervention. The drug was the first thienopyridine to hit the market, which gave it an excellent head start over a number of drugs for these conditions that are either available in the market or are in clinical trials. As a result, the drug did not face much competition and has taken over the global market, with its array of application constantly expanding.The substantial and high-level evidence gathered over the years support the use of Clopidogrel for reduction of mortality and morbidity patients with acute coronary syndrome, myocardial infarction, and a number of other indications. As a result, the drug has developed a formidable presence in the global market over the years. Moreover, the drugs relative ease of use, low rate of incidence of adverse reactions, and good tolerability have made it the de-facto antiplatelet agent for the reduction of atherosclerotic events in patients.Request a Brochure of the Report @These factors have helped the global Clopidogrel market to tread along an excellent growth path in the past few years and the market is expected to embark upon a healthy growth path in the next few years as well. However, the overall profitability of the market has reduced to a certain extent owing to entry of a number of generic products post the patent expiry of Clopidogrel manufacture in 2013. Nevertheless, the vast pool of patients prescribed Clopidogrel on an annual basis across the globe will allow market players excellent growth prospects in the next few years.Global Clopidogrel Market: SnapshotClopidogrel is an antiplatelet agent of thienopyridine, which is primarily used to prevent the blood clots and help against cardiovascular problems associated with the blood clotting. The medications for inhibiting blood clots after a recent heart stroke also use clopidogrel, which is a white colored powder that is insoluble in water at neutral pH but freely soluble at pH1. Clopidogrel was the second most successful drug trailing behind Pfizers Lipito in 2010. Sold under the brand name Plavix, and marketed by Sanofi and Bristol-Myers Squibb, the demand for clopidogrel is escalating due to the increasing number of heart attack cases across the globe.Request for TOC of the Report @The patent of clopidogrel manufacturing got expires on Market 31, 2012 and is expected to prompt pharmaceutical companies to venture into clopidogrel drug manufacturing. Moreover, companies such as Dr. Reddys have acquired the approval to manufacture clopidogrel 300mg. Furthermore, several other organizations such as Roxane Laboratories, Aurobindo Pharma, Sun Pharma, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, and Apotex Crop have gained approval for marketing clopidogrel 75mg. Clopidogrel is also used with aspirin to treat worsening chest pain and to keep blood vessels open and present blood clots after certain heart related operations.Global Clopidogrel Market: Trends and ProspectsThe primary factor for the increased demand for clopidogrel is the mounting population across the world who are suffering from cardiovascular diseases and related problems. Additionally, the changing lifestyle and increase in number of patients related with cardiovascular diseases among the emerging economies in the Asia Pacific region are also expected to be the major consumers for clopidogrel in the next six years. Moreover, the patent expiry of clopidogrel drug is anticipated to open floodgates for various pharmaceutical companies to venture into production of clopidogrel drug.According to the World Heart Federation, nearly 15 million people suffer from heart attack or related problems globally. Out of these, roughly six million of these patients die while another five million are disabled permanently. This vast patient base is the primary factor that will sustain the demand during the forecast period.Read Complete Report @Global Clopidogrel Market: Geographical OutlookCurrently, North America and Europe contribute to the maximum demand for clopidogrel, owing to factors such as robust healthcare infrastructure and high affordability of the residents in this region. However, several countries in the region of Asia Pacific, such as China, India, and Japan are aggressively working towards improving their healthcare sector with the help of favorable policies by the localized governments and increasing disposable income among the urban population. Asia Pacific is home for nearly half of the worlds population, which makes for a high quantity of patient base. Additionally, these regions also have skilled labor at low cost which is encouraging players in the market to invest actively and tap the unmet demand.Some of the key players in the global clopidogrel market are Pfizer, Dr Reddys, Apotex Corp, Roxane Laboratories, Aurobindo Pharma, Torrent Pharmaceuticals and Sun Pharma.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todayas supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clientsa conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth researh of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Hydrazobenzene Market : Facts, Figures and Analytical Insights, 2017 to 2025

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Global Hydrazobenzene Market: OverviewThe rising number of applications of hydrazobenzene and the rising focus of key players on research and development activities are the key factors fueling the growth of the global hydrazobenzene market. Furthermore, the demand for hydrogen peroxide for the purpose of water treatment is anticipated to encourage the growth of the market.The research report provides analysis of the global hydrazobenzene market on a regional and global level. The study offers historical information and presents the forecast statistics between 2017 and 2025 in terms of revenue and volume. The key segmentation and the major factors encouraging the growth of the global hydrazobenzene market have been provided in the research study to provide a strong understanding for readers and new entrants. Furthermore, to provide a thorough view of the global market, the research study has included a detailed competitiveness analysis and a list of the leading company players.Request a Brochure of the Report @Global Hydrazobenzene Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe growing demand for hydrazobenzene from the pharmaceutical industry is the key factor expected to encourage the growth of the market in the next few years. In addition, the rising consumption of phenylbutazone and sulfinpyrazone in manufacturing different pharmaceutical products is expected to accelerate the growth of the global hydrazobenzene market in the forecast period. On the flip side, the carcinogenic properties of hydrazobenzene, which is considered as extremely harmful for human being due to prolonged exposure is one of the major factors projected to hamper the growth of the global hydrazobenzene market in the next few years. Nonetheless, the rising number of applications of hydrazobenzene and the growing demand from the automotive industry are likely to supplement the growth of the market in the next few years.Global Hydrazobenzene Market: Region-wise OutlookAmong the key regional segments in the hydrazobenzene market, Asia Pacific is estimated to witness rapid growth in the next few years. With the rising number of applications, this region is projected to account for a key share of the overall market and register a progressive growth. The high growth of this region can be attributed to the rising demand for hydrazobenzene from pigments and dyes industry.Request for TOC of the Report @In addition, the swift development of the agro-chemical sector in Asia Pacific is projected to boost the demand for hydrazobenzene throughout the forecast period. The agrochemical application of hydrazobenzene as a de-suckering agent, especially in tobacco plants is likely to contribute substantially in developing economies of Asia Pacific, including China, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, and Thailand. Furthermore, the increasing number of players in this region is expected to encourage the growth of the hydrazobenzene market throughout the forecast period.Read Complete Report @Key Players Mentioned in the Research Report are:The research study on the global hydrazobenzene market offers a detailed analysis of the competitive landscape, presenting insights into the prominent players operating in the market. In addition, the company profiles, financial overview, contact information, SWOT analysis, and the recent developments have been discussed at length in the scope of the study. Some of the key players operating in the market are Alfa Aesar, IBIS Chemie International, Gihi Chemicals Co., Limited, Tokyo Kasei Kogyo (TKK), and Chemos GmbH.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todayas supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clientsa conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth researh of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Individual Eyelashes - Loventure Premium Individual Silk Lash

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Today we would like to tell more about Silk Lashes and introduce you Loventure Premium Individual Silk Lash from Quality Beauty Store.People want all different kinds of looks  some people go for drama, and some opt for something more natural. Eyelash extensions will give you insanely sexy eyes, and youll be smothered with constant compliments.When someone says Synthetic Lashes they are referring to either Silk or Acrylic. Silk lashes are popular for the lighter feel. Not as light as Mink or Sable, but they are more comfortable than Acrylic and can be used for everyday use. Silk Eyelashes cost less than Mink or Sable, they are great for short term wear or special occasions since they are thicker, full and have a uniformed perfect curve to them. Since they already hold such a dark pigment, there is no reason for mascara. Choose Synthetic Silk eyelash extension for those special occasions like a wedding or a photo-shoot. You can use them as everyday lashes as well but they wont be as light and comfortable as the Mink and Sable lashes.Loventure Premium Individual Silk Lash comes in trays of 12 strips. Each Loventure Silk eyelash is crafted from the highest synthetic polyester, then shaped and curved to replicate a natural eyelash. They are light, comfortable and respond better to wear and tear than any other materials.In order to perfect an elegant and natural appearance use Classic technique (also known as 1D) by applying Loventure eyelash extension directly on to your natural lashes in certain order or go for a Russian Volume (known as 3D) technique by applying multiple thinner lashes on your natural lash. Volume technique creates a full and rich appearance that will not be unnoticed. These individual eyelashes are of an excellent quality and real good value product developed in house. Check our full range of other extension lashes and application tools.For more information, please, visitQuality Beauty Store is an online store with accessories and products for eyelash extensions.Quality Beauty Store80 Sandringham Crescent, Leeds, LS17 8DF, UK+447780870708info@qualitybeautystore.comMihail
Future prospective of Capacitive Stylus Market with various segments and subsgments -Forecast to 2027

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Market Synopsis of Capacitive Stylus Market:Market ScenarioThe major growth driver of Capacitive Stylus Market includes growing demand of smartphones and tablets, and growing demand for large screen size of smart devices among others.Hence the market for Capacitive Stylus Market is expected to grow at XX% CAGR (2016-2027).However, growing competition, and high power consumption are the factors which are hindering the growth of Capacitive Stylus Market.SegmentsGlobal Capacitive Stylus Market can be segmented as follows: Segmentation by Type:Fine tip, and Art capacitive stylus among others. Segmentation by Applications:Cellular handsets, monitors, and portable media devices among others.Request a Sample Report @Key PlayersSome of the major players in Global Capacitive Stylus Market include Hunt wave Industry, ACE pen Ltd., Hanns Touch Solution, A&L manufacturing corp., DIY network, Wesco enterprises Ltd.and Box wave corp. among others.Browse Report Details @Objective of Capacitive Stylus Market Study: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the global Capacitive Stylus Market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To Analyze the Capacitive Stylus Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW).Request Table of Contents for this Report @Regional Analysis of Capacitive Stylus Market:Asia-Pacific dominated the Global Capacitive Stylus Market with the largest market share due to growing presence of smartphone and tablets manufacturers in the region, and is expected to grow by 2027. Capacitive Stylus Market in North America market is expected to grow by 2027. The European market for Capacitive Stylus Market is expected to grow (2016-2027).The reports also covers brief analysis of Geographical Region includes:AmericasNorth America US CanadaLatin AmericaEuropeWestern Europe Germany France Italy Spain U.K Rest of Western EuropeEastern EuropeAsia PacificAsia China India Japan South Korea Rest of Asia PacificThe Middle East& AfricaAt Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Continuous-Motion Bagging Machine Market Is Expected To Gain Popularity Worldwide

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An Exclusive Press Release on Global Continuous-Motion Bagging Machine Market-Size, Share, Trends, Forecast, Growth, Opportunities 2022 added by Research Trades to its database.In this report, the global Continuous-Motion Bagging Machine market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Get Sample Copy of Continuous-Motion Bagging Machine Market @Geographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (K Units), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Continuous-Motion Bagging Machine for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Continuous-Motion Bagging Machine market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Continuous-Motion Bagging Machine sales volume, Price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingMondial Pack S.r.l.PFM Packaging MachineryROVEMAUVA PackagingWolf Verpackungsmaschinen GmbHAMTEC Packaging MachinesBosch Packaging TechnologyEffytecFuji MachineryIlapakJR MARUANIMartini S.r.l.Purchase a copy of Continuous-Motion Bagging Machine market for Single User Price of $4000 @On the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K Units), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/Unit), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoVertical Bagging MachineHorizontal Bagging MachOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate of Continuous-Motion Bagging Machine for each application, includingFood IndustryBeverage IndustryPharmaceutical IndustryCosmetics IndustryOtherView Table of Contents of report @About UsResearch Trades has team of experts who works on providing exhaustive analysis pertaining to market research on a global basis. This comprehensive analysis is obtained by a thorough research and study of the ongoing trends and provides predictive data regarding the future estimations, which can be utilized by various organizations for growth purposes.We distribute customized reports that focus on meeting the clients specific requirement. Our database consists of a large collection of high-quality reports obtained using a customer-centric approach, thus providing valuable research insights. The research encompasses information gathered and examined by subject-matter experts, laying down growth opportunities and developmental strategies for enterprises.Contact Us:Flat No.10, Wing C,S. No. 245/4/2+245/5/1,Baner, Pune-411045Email: sales@researchtrades.comCall us: +91 7507349866SkypeID: researchtradesconWeb:
Asthma Therapeutics Market Size - Industry Share Report

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Asthma is a chronic disease of airways of the lungs and characterized by various symptoms such as bronchospasm, and pulmonary airway obstructions. The symptoms of asthma include coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, and breath shortness. Asthma is considered to be caused by a combination of environmental factors and genetic factors. The few environmental factors include exposure to allergens and air pollution. The symptoms can be prevented by avoiding exposure to allergens and irritants. In asthma, the pulmonary airway muscles get swollen, which in turn cause symptoms leading to bronchospasm and airway obstruction. Some healthy people can develop asthma symptoms during physical activity or exercise. This condition is called exercise-induced asthma (EIA). Patients with family history of asthma and allergies are more prone to developing asthma. It has been proved that there is no cure for asthma, but it can be controlled by early and effective asthma treatment. The medications in treatment of asthma includes corticosteroids, long acting beta-agonists (LABA), anti-inflammatory agents, and leukotriene modifiers. Asthma patients are at great risk of developing infections such as pneumonia and influenza and hence are vaccinated annually. Asthma mimicking symptoms have been found in a host of diseases in children. Hence, diagnosis and treatment of asthma in children has remained a challenge. Asthma-related fatalities in children are mostly preventable through proper education and awareness and timely treatment. Hence, spreading awareness about treating asthma in children presents an opportunity for asthma drug manufacturers.Get Sample Copy of this Report @Asthma and COPD are a major burden on the economy of a nation, especially in the U.S. and China due to high incidence of these diseases as well as rise in the number of smokers. This has fueled government initiatives to educate the people regarding awareness about asthma, and their management as well as funding by various government and non-government agencies. Usage of biologics in asthma is a relatively new treatment phenomenon; however, noteworthy advances have been made, leading to effective treatment for select patients, particularly those with severe disease symptoms. Ongoing development of new biologics such as Benralizumab byAstraZeneca and Lebrikizumab by Roche is set to provide the impetus to the growth of the global asthma therapeutics market. Moreover, the FDA approval for GSKs Mepolizumab in November 2015 as an add-on maintenance treatment of patients with severe asthma aged 12 years and older is likely to drive the market during the forecast period. A report by the American Lung Association in 2014 indicated that nearly 47% of the U.S. citizens live in counties with frequently unhealthy levels of either ozone or particulate pollution. Hence, rise in environmental triggers is anticipated to increase demand for asthma therapeutics during the forecast period. Rapid urbanization, air pollution, change in lifestyle, and rise in smoking population has resulted in higher occurrence of asthma symptoms in urban regions of the world, thereby fueling demand for asthma therapeutics.The global asthma therapeutics market has been segmented based on drug class and region. In terms of drug class, the asthma therapeutics market has been categorized into bronchodilators, anti-inflammatory agents, monoclonal antibodies, and combination drugs. The combination drugs segment is projected to account for the largest share during the forecast period. Large share of this drug class is attributed to preference of combination therapies for prescription by doctors and launch of new triple combination therapies during the forecast period. Availability of popular and preferred generics such as salbutamol is attributed to the second largest share of the bronchodilators segment. New launch of anti-inflammatory agents, especially in China, is considered to support the growth of the global asthma therapeutics market.View Report @In terms of region, the global asthma therapeutics market has been segmented into five key regions: Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to dominate the market due to greater awareness and higher prices of asthma drugs. Asia Pacific is anticipated to hold the second largest share due to high prevalence of asthma in countries such as China and India. China is estimated to account for the largest share of the asthma therapeutics market in Asia Pacific owing to factors such as improvement in diagnosis rate, rapidly aging population, increase in smokers, and high levels of pollution. Major players in the global asthma therapeutics market include Astrazeneca plc, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, F Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Merck & Co. Inc., and Novartis AG.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Hydraulic Turbine and Water Wheel Markets in Asia to 2020 - Market Size, Development, and Forecasts

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ReportsWorldwide has announced the addition of a new report title Hydraulic Turbine and Water Wheel Markets in Asia to 2020 - Market Size, Development, and Forecasts to its growing collection of premium market research reports.The report package Hydraulic Turbine and Water Wheel Markets in Asia to 2020 - Market Size, Development, and Forecasts offers the most up-to-date industry data on the actual market situation, and future outlook for hydraulic turbines and water wheels in different Asian countries.The package includes hydraulic turbine and water wheel country reports from the following countries:Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, VietnamThe research includes historic data from 2009 to 2015 and forecasts until 2020 which makes the reports an invaluable resource for industry executives, marketing, sales and product managers, consultants, analysts, and other people looking for key industry data in readily accessible documents with clearly presented tables and graphs.To Enquire about this Report please visit @The reports help answer the following questions:- What is the current size of the hydraulic turbine and water wheel market in different Asian countries?- How is the hydraulic turbine and water wheel market divided into different product segments?- How are the overall market and different product segments growing?- How is the market predicted to develop in the future?- What is the market potential compared to other countries?The latest industry data included in the reports:- Overall hydraulic turbine and water wheel market size, 2009-2020- Hydraulic turbine and water wheel market size by product segment, 2009-2020- Growth rates of the overall hydraulic turbine and water wheel market and different product segments, 2009-2020- Shares of different product segments of the overall hydraulic turbine and water wheel market, 2008, 2014 and 2019- Market Potential Rates of the overall hydraulic turbine and water wheel market and different product segmentsThe market data is given for the following product segments: Hydraulic turbines and water wheels (power less than 1000 kW) Hydraulic turbines and water wheels (power 1000-10000 kW) Hydraulic turbines and water wheels (power more than 10000 kW) Parts of hydraulic turbines and water wheelsTo view a detailed description and Table of Contents please visit:Among the key reasons to purchase include the following:- Gain an outlook of the historic development, current market situation, and future outlook of the hydraulic turbine and water wheel market in different Asian countries to 2020- Track industry developments and identify market opportunities- Plan and develop marketing, market-entry, market expansion, and other business strategies by identifying the key market opportunities and prospects- Save time and money with the readily accessible key market data included in the reports. The data is clearly presented and can be easily incorporated into presentations and internal reports.About ReportsWorldwide.comReportsWorldwide.com is a leading provider of global market intelligence reports and services. With research reports from top publishers, consulting and advisory firms, ReportsWorldwide.com offers instant online access to a growing database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, geographies and trends.Press Contact:Abigail CrastoSenior Vice President101, Arch StreetBoston, MA 02110USPhone +1 (617) 398-4994Fax +1 (617) 398-4995abigail@reportsworldwide.com
Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance Market Research Report- Global Forecast to 2027

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Global Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance Market, by Technology (Video, IP), by End-user (Bank, Government (Military, law enforcement), Transportation), by Component (Server, Digital camera, Network node) - Forecast 2027The major growth driver of Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance Market includes growing demand for better & more cost-effective security management, fast-moving growth of network video market and new strict government initiatives on technology compliance among others.Request for sample report atGlobal Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance Market can be segmented as follows: Segmentation by Components: Digital camera, network nodes, servers, and monitoring stations among others. Segmentation by Technologies: Video and IP technologies among others. Segmentation by End-users: Shopping malls/commercial complex, Banks/financial institutions, Government (Municipalities, Military, law enforcement), Educational institutes, and Transportation among others.Industry News: Bosch Group has announced in June 2016 about its partnership with Protectas SA which is a leading security company of Sweden to provide better remote video monitoring services to the customers. Honeywell, one of the leaders in wireless connectivity has announced in February, 2016 about its new development Micro RAE gas monitor which is industrys first wireless 4-gas monitor that can work with all types of wireless communication protocol. The product need to be connected to smartphone to transmit gas which is been used to read over a cellular networkAmericas- North Americao USo Canada- Latin AmericaEurope- Western Europeo Germanyo Franceo U.Ko Rest of Western Europe- Eastern EuropeAsia Pacific- Asiao Chinao Indiao Japano South Koreao Rest of Asia PacificThe Middle East& AfricaThe report for Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.Browse Complete Report atSome of the major players in Global Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance Market includeHoneywell (U.S.)Axis communications (Sweden)Bosch security systems (Germany)Cisco systems (U.S.)Micropower technologies (U.S.)Pelco (U.S.)Aruba networks (U.S.)Panasonic Corporation (Japan)D-link (U.S.) CorporationAt Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Electric Vehicle Battery Market Technological Breakthroughs, Value chain and Stakeholder Analysis by 2023

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Growing concerns related to decreasing oil and gas resources and degrading environmental conditions are having positive impact on the demand for electric powered vehicles. Moreover, subsidies and incentives on usage of such vehicles is another factor driving the market for electric powered vehicles.These vehicles depend on electric batteries to provide the primary or the secondary power. Thus any impact on the demand for electric powered vehicles will affect the electric vehicle battery market.An electric powered vehicle or battery electric vehicle use chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs for power. As all the power is derived from batteries therefore, it does not require any combustion engine for propulsion.Obtain Report Details:Battery Electric vehicles include scooters, rail cars, bicycle, forklifts, buses and cars. The advantages in battery storage technology have also positively affected the electric vehicle battery market.The segmentation of the electric vehicle battery market can be done on the basis of technology, application and geography. Technology segment deals with the different types of batteries used for manufacturing of electric vehicle battery. Major battery types include lead acid batteries, nickel metal hydride batteries, zebra batteries and lithium ion batteries.Lead acid batteries are the most common and cheapest type of batteries. Nickel metal hydride batteries have higher energy densities than the common lead acid batteries and if used properly can have exceptionally long lives.The Zebra batteries use molten chloro-aluminate sodium as electrolyte. Lithium ion batteries use graphite anode and lithium cobalt oxide anode. These batteries are use to power the Battery Electric Vehicles, Hybrid Vehicles, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Plug-in Electric Vehicles.Regional segmentation of the electric vehicle battery market includes countries such as the United States and Canada in North America; Germany, France, Sweden and the United Kingdom in Europe.The government incentives on usage of battery powered vehicles are one of the main reasons behind the growth of North American and European electric vehicle battery market. Other prominent market includes Asia Pacific and Middle East. Asia Pacific market includes the countries such as Japan, China and South Korea.Increasing concerns related to energy security and incentives on use of battery powered vehicles are the major factor driving the Asia Pacific market. The Rest of the World segment still lags behind in the electric vehicle battery market. The Rest of the World Market includes countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela.Decreasing crude oil reserves and concerns regarding degradation of the environment are the major factors driving the electric vehicle battery market.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market:With decreasing crude reserves the demand for economical transportation technologies has attracted investment in this market. The governments of many major countries have encouraged adoption hybrid vehicles that utilize the electric battery.Many national agencies have enforced rules and provide attractive concessions on purchasing hybrid cars. Stringent environmental regulations in the European Union nations have encouraged wide adoption of the battery powered vehicles.The fluctuating crude oil prices are another major factor bolstering consumers to adopt such batteries. Expensive nature of electric vehicle battery is one of the major restraints to the market.About TMRTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email:sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Motion Controllers Market Trends and Forecast By 2023

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Motion Controllers control the velocity and position of machines. These controllers can be implemented with the help of both analog and digital computers. A motion controller comprises of load, prime mover, sensors and controlling machine for proper functioning of prime mover and load.Moreover, it is used to accomplish speed accuracy, increased position, fast reaction time, smooth movements, cost reduction, integrated automation, improved efficiency and consistency, elimination of hazards and better diagnosis and troubleshooting among others.Obtain Report Details:These devices incorporate high force magnet materials, precise dimensional tolerance and innovative design machines. Motion controllers are widely used in printing, packaging, textile, assembly industries, semiconductor production and many other automation systems.The key driving factors for motion controllers market are increasing venture by manufacturing companies and rising concern for industrial safety. Moreover, immense developments of automation market along with rapid globalization have collectively increased the demand for huge production capacity within limited time frame.Thus there has been a surge in implementation of automation systems in industries worldwide. Different geographical drivers are also accountable for the growth of this market.In addition, demand from developing countries, such as India, China and Brazil are expected to create opportunities for motion controllers market in the future.However, high manufacturing cost and lack of skilled workers are hindering the growth of the market. This challenge has to be addressed by manufacturers in order to ensure efficient applications of motion controllers.Global motion controllers market can be broadly classified on the basis of technology, application and geography. By technology, the market for motion controllers has been broadly segmented into computerized numerical control and general motion control.Usage of these controllers is much simpler in general motion control machines compared to computerized numerical control machines. The market can be subdivided by application into automotive, machinery manufacturing, logistics, aerospace and defense, electronics and semiconductor, food and beverage, medical, paper and printing, oil and gas and energy.Machinery manufacturing, logistics and electronics and semiconductor are the major sectors which are expected to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period from 2015 to 2021.The major reason is attributed to potential demand for process automation and industrial safety in these sectors. By geography, the global market for motion controllers has been classified into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market:In the present scenario, the market for motion controllers is dominated by Asia Pacific in terms of revenue, followed by North America and Europe. The major factor responsible for potential development of this market in Asia Pacific is huge adoption of these devices coupled with rapid technological advancement.However, North America and Europe is anticipated to grow at a significant rate in the future, primarily due to huge investment by manufacturing industries along with increase in industrialization.Some of the major players in this market are Schneider Electric (France), Siemens AG (Germany), Parker Hannifin Corp. (U.S.), Yaskawa Electric Corp. (Japan), ABB Ltd. (Switzerland), Moog Inc. (U.S.), Bosh Rexroth AG (Germany), Altra Industrial Motion Corporation (U.S.), Dover Motion Systems (U.S.) and Rockwell Automation (U.S.).About TMRTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email:sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
MASON CITY | Maurice L. McLinn (Mac) of Silver City, South Dakota, age 90, passed away peacefully on April 10, 2017. He was preceded in death by parents, Orin and Louise McLinn; wife, Rita, and sister, Marceline (Abeln); and daughter in-law, Jan.

Mac was loved by his family and leaves behind his children, Dudley (Val) of Minneapolis, Minnesota, David of Mason City, Iowa, and Karen (Dave) Rose of Billings, Montana. Grandchildren Erin (Matt) Kuhn, Kristin, Tyler, Patrick, Jennifer, Andrew Rose and Eric Rose. Greatgrandchild Madison along with several nieces and nephews.

Mac was born a twin on the plains of South Dakota on Feb. 18, 1927. They lived on several farms in the Platte, South Dakota, area during the Great Depression and dearly loved FDR for his New Deal programs. While a senior at Platte High School, he joined the Navy in 1944 so he would not miss and do his part in WWII. He served on the destroyer USS Sullivans.

After the war, he attended South Dakota State University and received a degree in Agricultural Economics. He was very proud of his accomplishments on the South Dakota State track field where he won many medals in both the 440-yard dash and mile relay. While he won many races, he was quick to point out that his twin sister, Marceline, was always the fastest.

Mac married his sisters best friend, Rita, on Nov. 5, 1949. While working for the Farmers Home Administration, he resided in Tyndall, Mobridge, Aberdeen, and finally Huron. Mac prided himself on his ability to help South Dakota farmers in time of need. After 35 years with the FHA, he retired in 1983.

Mac and Rita spent their retirement years in Silver City, SD, in the heart of the Black Hills. They became involved in the community. Mac served as fire chief of the Silver City Volunteer Fire Department for a number of years. Both Mac and Rita loved and were devoted to the Silver City Fire Department. As an avid outdoorsman, Mac enjoyed his retirement with many wonderful friends in the Black Hills. Rita passed away July 16, 1992, and Mac continued to live in Silver City and split time living also in Platte, SD, managing the farm he grew up on. Mac and Rita were devout Catholics and always involved in their Huron, Rapid City and Silver City parishes.

Macs life was well spent and he will be greatly missed by his family and friends. He was, indeed, a unique and wonderful character, typical of the Greatest Generation. He was a great father, grandfather, friend and gentleman.

A mass of Christian burial will be held in Silver City on May 22, 2017, with the Rev. Brian Lane as celebrant.

Committal service will be at the Black Hills National Cemetery with military honors where he will rest with Rita.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the Silver City Volunteer Fire Department and the Silver City Historical Society at 100 Sherman St., Silver City, SD 57702.
Next Generation Sequencing Global Market, By Industry & Data Validation, Analysis and Forecast 2022

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According to Publisher, the Global Next Generation Sequencing market is estimated at $3.41 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach $13.50 billion by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 21.73% from 2015 to 2022. The growing adoption of sequencing technologies in clinical applications and low cost DNA sequencing are likely to drive the market growth. However, factors such as accuracy and standardization issues and lack of skilled labor are inhibiting the market growth. The rise in personalize medicine and cloud computing are likely to create more opportunities for this market during the forecast period.For more information atIn technology, sequencing by synthesis (SBS) segment is anticipated to move with a highest CAGR during forecast period. Diagnostics in application segment holds the largest share and is expected to grow at highest CAGR during forecast period. Research institutions held the largest market share in end user segment. North America dominates the global next generation sequencing market followed by Europe owing to rising government support towards research and development. Asia pacific is expected to grow at a faster rate during the forecast period due to the unmet market demand and increasing investments for development of healthcare.Some of the key players in the market include Roche Holding Ag, Qiagen N.V., Knome, Inc., Perkinelmer, Inc., Partek, Inc., Pacific Biosciences, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Ltd., Macrogen Inc., Life Technologies Corporation, Illumina, Inc., Genomatix Software GmbH, GATC Biotech Ag., Eurofins Scientific, DNASTAR Inc., Biomatters, Ltd., Beijing Genomics Institute and Agilent Technologies, Inc.Platforms Covered:- Sequencing Serviceso Exome Sequencingo Methyl- Sequencingo Targeted Re-Sequencingo Whole-Genome Sequencingo De Novo Sequencingo Chip- Sequencingo RNA- Sequencingo Other Sequencing Services- Sequencing Platformso Thermo Fisher Scientific (Life Technologies)- ION S5 & S5 Xl- ION PGM- ION Protono Pacific Bioscienceso Illuminao Other Sequencing PlatformsTechnologies Covered:- Sequencing By Ligation (SBL)- Single-Molecule Real-Time Sequencing (SMRT)- Sequencing By Synthesis (SBS)- Pyrosequencing- ION Semiconductor Sequencing- Other TechnologiesEnd Users Covered:- Hospitals and clinics- Biotech & Pharma Firms- Research institutions- Other End UsersApplications Covered:- Personalized medicines- Drug Discovery- Diagnostics- Agriculture & Animal Research- Prenatal Testing- Biomarker Discovery- HLA Testing- Infectious Diseases- Genetic Screening- Oncology- Idiopathic Diseases- Other ApplicationsRequest Sample Copy:Regions Covered:- North Americao USo Canadao Mexico- Europeo Germanyo Franceo Italyo UKo Spaino Rest of Europe- Asia Pacifico Japano Chinao Indiao Australiao New Zealando Rest of Asia Pacific- Rest of the Worldo Middle Easto Brazilo Argentinao South Africao Egypt11 Company Profiling11.1 Roche Holding Ag11.2 Qiagen N.V.11.3 Knome, Inc.11.4 Perkinelmer, Inc.11.5 Partek, Inc.11.6 Pacific Biosciences11.7 Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Ltd.11.8 Macrogen Inc.11.9 Life Technologies Corporation11.10 Illumina, Inc.11.11 Genomatix Software GmbH11.12 GATC Biotech Ag.11.13 Eurofins Scientific11.14 DNASTAR Inc.11.15 Biomatters, Ltd.11.16 Beijing Genomics Institute11.17 Agilent Technologies, Inc.Make an enquiry:Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Europe Molecular Diagnostics Market Research Report : : Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment

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The molecular diagnostic tests uses a number of technologies such as polymerase chain reaction, hybridization (ISH AND FISH), mass spectrometry, transcription mediated amplification (TMA), next generation sequencing, biochips and microfluidics, others which includes nanotechnology and proteomics. The polymerase chain reaction dominated the molecular diagnostics market in Europe accounting for the share of 40.1% in 2014 as the technique is cost-effective way for copying or amplification of small segments of DNA or RNA. However, next generation sequencing segment is expected to register the fastest growth during the forecast period due to its high throughput, speed, flexibility which has ability to generate hundreds of gigabases of data in a single sequencing run.Molecular diagnostics primarily refers to the class of diagnostic tests that identifies nucleic acids or proteins at the molecular level. Molecular diagnostics has emerged as one of the fastest growing segments in in vitro diagnostics industry. The market for molecular diagnostics has expanded rapidly since 1990s with the introduction of PCR test for HIV and Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhea (CT/NG). Since then, within a span of 20 years market has shown a significant growth. Currently, molecular diagnostics kits are being widely adopted for testing genetic diseases, cancer, hepatitis virus and hospital acquired infections. Likewise, molecular diagnostics kits are also being used extensively for blood donor screening test for hepatitis and HIV.Browse full report on Molecular Diagnostics Market -Molecular diagnostic tests are used in various medical areas including oncology, infectious disease testing, genomics, blood screening, women's health, microbiology, and prenatal and newborn screening. Infectious disease testing held the largest market share of 30.6% in 2014 owing to increasing incidence of a number of chronic infectious diseases including tuberculosis, hepatitis, HIV and others in Europe. The oncology segment is projected to grow at the fastest CAGR within the application segment. The major factors driving the oncology segment are highly sensitive and specific cancer diagnostic protocol through molecular diagnostic tests. Furthermore, continuous rise in the incidence of cancer rate is also expected to boost the growth of oncology segment in Europe during the forecast period from 2015 to 2023.The Europe molecular diagnostics market has been segmented into five major regions, namely, Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Southern Europe, and Rest of Europe, which are further categorized into various countries under each region. Western Europe dominated the Europe molecular diagnostic market in 2014 with a share of 47.1% due to factors such as rising prevalence of infectious disorders, and increasing number of government initiatives. In addition, growing preference of the population to opt for affordable molecular diagnostic tests is another factor supporting the market growth in this region. Eastern Europe is projected to be the most lucrative market for Europe molecular diagnostic market and is expected to expand at the highest growth rate from 2015 to 2023. Factors propelling the growth of the Europe molecular diagnostic market are rising disposable income among population, and rising health care awareness among the people pertaining to molecular diagnostic tests.Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. dominated the Europe molecular diagnostic market in 2014. Major factors attributed to its dominance are broad product portfolio and widespread market presence. Abbott Laboratories secured the second market position offering a wide range of molecular diagnostic tests. Other players in the Europe molecular diagnostic market include QIAGEN N.V., Hologic, Inc., Cepheid, Inc., Siemens AG, Alere. Inc., BioMerieux, Bio-Rad Laboratories, PerkinElmer, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., and others.Request for sample of this report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Biologics Market Research Report : : Emerging Market Trends, Size, Share and Growth Analysis

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Vast Growth Opportunities in Asia Pacific to Bring in More InvestmentGeographically, the global biologics market is segmented into North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East and Africa. North America is presently the dominant regional market, holding a share of over 40% in the global market. The region is expected to continue its dominance in terms of revenue contribution to the global market, expected to account for over 40% by 2024 as well.However, the biologics market in Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as the most attractive regional market, exhibiting a massive 15.6% CAGR from 2016 through 2024. By the end of the forecast period, the region is expected to replace Europe and become the second most profitable region for biologics.Owing to the presence of an enormous patient-base and low costs of raw material and manufacturing, an increased number of multi-national pharmaceutical companies are expanding their manufacturing and sales capacities in Asia Pacific. Changes in the regulatory scenario in Asia Pacific are also expected to attract many foreign investors in the Asian markets in the next few years. As a result, the biologics market in Asia Pacific is expected to witness highly positive growth in the next few years.The highly fragmented global market for biologics features the presence of a large number of international pharmaceutical companies and many domestic players. Some of the key vendors in the market are AstraZeneca, AbbVie Inc., Amgen Inc, Bayer AG, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Eli Lilly and Company, Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Plc., Merck & Co., Inc., Pfizer Inc., Novartis AG, and Sanofi.Global Biologics Market: SnapshotThe global pharmaceutical industry has charted growth at an impressive rate in the past few years owing to a vast increase in research and developmental activities, development and launch of new product varieties, breakthrough progress in treatment options for chronic and rare diseases. A significant rise in big pharmaceutical companies operational setups and funds directed towards novel and more effective drug varieties for complex diseases has also been observed across the globe in the past few years. The scenario has led to an increased focus on the development of biologics and a large number of international players are venturing into the global biologics market.Transparency Market Research estimates that the market will tread along a healthy growth path in the next few years. The market is anticipated to exhibit a CAGR of about 10.9% over the period between 2016 and 2024. If the number holds true, the market is expected to rise to a valuation of US$479, 752 mn by 2024.Browse full report on Biologics Market -Monoclonal Antibodies to Remain Most Profitable Product VarietyThe global biologics market is segmented on the basis of product type into monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, recombinant hormones/vaccines, cell therapy, gene therapy and other products. Monoclonal antibodies segment is anticipated to dominate the market throughout the forecast period; the segment is expected to stand for an annual share of 46% by 2024 and expand at a favorable 11.9% CAGR over the period between 2016 and 2024.The segments of vaccines and recombinant hormones/proteins are also expected to attractive for manufacturers, although growth of these segments will be relatively stationary over the forecast period. The segment of vaccines will exhibit a slight decline by 2024, chiefly owing to the lower pricing of most vaccines and many key contenders on the verge of going off patent in the developed market. The segment of recombinant hormones/proteins will witness a slight rise in its share in the global market by 2024 owing to sustainable sales in developed and emerging markets.Global Biologics Market: Scope and MethodologyThis report provides forecast and analysis of the global biologics market on the global and regional levels. It provides historical data of 2015 along with forecast from 2016 to 2024 in terms of revenue (US$ Mn). The report also includes macroeconomic indicators along with an outlook for biologics revenue annually. It includes drivers and restraints of the global biologics market and their impact on each region during the forecast period. The report also comprises the study of applications and opportunities for biologics manufacturers. It also includes a detailed analysis by product type and supply chain analysis with a list of suppliers and industry stakeholders at each node in the supply chain.In order to provide users of this report with a comprehensive view of the market, we have included detailed competitiveness analysis, key blockbuster products, clinical pipeline analysis and company players with unique propositions. The dashboard provides a comprehensive comparison of biologics manufacturers on parameters such as revenue sales, ranking of global players, strategic consolidations, i.e. mergers & acquisitions, licensing activities, as well as R&D activities. The study encompasses market attractiveness analysis, product type, application type, and region.Request for sample of this report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Bills release multiple artist renderings of new stadium The morning of Oct. 27 was a day Buffalo Bills fans have been patiently waiting for  a reveal of what the new stadium will potentially look like. The team...

County officials, law firm representatives host public hearing on new stadium SEQR Erie County officials, representatives from Phillips Lytle LLP, power players for a new stadium and interested Buffalo Bills fans packed into one of the community rooms of the Brush Mountain...
Northern Maverick-Toronto craft brewer Northern Maverick launche

Toronto craft brewery Northern Maverick says it will offer Fake News Ale this summer, parodying U.S. President Donald Trump.

(Handout courtesy of CNW Group/Northern Maverick)

In an era of alternative facts and marketing schemes, truth and fiction get pretty blurry, especially after a few beers. So when social media got buzzing Wednesday with North America's latest anticipated beer release - Fake News Ale, a Canadian brew taking straight aim at U.S. President Donald Trump - we began getting our potential reviews ready, just in case:

"Full-bodied with a big, foamy head."

"Bold and strong, this winning ale asserts itself from the first sip and doesn't back down."

"An odd combination of styles -- amber profile and blonde top - leaves a bitter aftertaste."

But it just might be true (eventually). Northern Maverick Brewing Co., a planned Toronto brewery expected to open a brewpub this summer, earlier this month announced it plans to make Fake News Ale its first offering. Using the hashtag #MakeBeerGreatAgain, Northern Maverick tweeted its release plans earlier this month and offered a picture of its planned beer can: A caricature of America's Commander in Chief at the podium, with signature hands, hair and facial expression.

The White House hasn't offered a comment - President Trump is a noted teetotaler, after all - but the internet and media went frothy, with outlets from Huffington Post to Fox News taking notice.

On its website, Northern Maverick says the session ale "pairs well with: small hands, striking comb overs, HUUUGE egos and all things Mexican. We stand in solidarity with our American neighbours in their time of need for beer. (editor's note: That's not a mistake, as the brewery uses the funny Canadian spelling of "neighbors")

And while the brew's name parodies Trump and the "fake news" term associated with him, and while it might be the ultimate marketing scheme by an upstart, the brewery says it's all for a good cause. Its website says Fake News Ale will be the first in a "charitable series" line of beers, with 5 percent of Fake News Ale's sales - about 20 to 25 percent of profits, Northern Maverick estimates - going to charity.

Jason Kaptun, the brewery's founder, told Toronto media outlet CP24 that he hopes the beer can "bring some humour in a time of political challenge" (Ed: Again, Canadian "humor" spelling). But he also said he wants to be clear about his thought on Trump's "questionable policy" decisions.

-- Andre Meunier

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Roe, the fine-dining seafood restaurant previously hidden behind another restaurant on Southeast Division Street, will move into the mezzanine at Morgan's Alley on Southwest Broadway, chef and owner Trent Pierce tells The Oregonian/OregonLive.

At the new restaurant, set to open later this year, Pierce and chef Patrick Schultz will be cooking with gas, literally. At the original location, a cloistered back room behind a more boisterous restaurant -- first Wafu, then Block & Tackle -- Pierce and Schultz used sous vide baths and induction burners to prepare their multi-course seafood tasting menus.

"I feel like we did as much as we could in that space," Pierce said Wednesday. "When we first started Roe, we did not plan on it being what it's become. But it got there fairly quick. That forces us to say, 'Ok, we can make this a full-fledged restaurant now. Do we keep the front restaurant going?' Ultimately, what I wanted to do with Roe would take a lot more focus than what I could do running more than one restaurant."

At the new location, part of the former downtown Chinese haunt Hunan Restaurant, Pierce and Schultz will have much larger kitchen, meaning they can give each sustainably sourced fish the treatment it deserves, serving one raw, grilling another, pan-searing a third. A private dining room in the back, itself the size of the original Roe, will host special dinners, including, perhaps, a nose-to-tail tuna dinner designed for four to six people.

The menu will be split into two formats, a longer, seven-course-plus tasting menu and a shorter option designed for theater-goers on the move. With about 36 seats, Pierce expects each table to feel like its own little world -- no more hearing the spiel on a dish as its delivered to a neighbor's table, only to hear it again when it comes to yours.

Pierce searched for a new home for more than a year, hoping to find a place that matched the speakeasy-esque vibe of Roe's first home. After a deal fell through on a space closer to Providence Park, he spotted this mezzanine in the historic Morgan Building. To get to the restaurant, customers will most likely enter on Broadway, walking past Oregon Wines on Broadway and the downtown Fresh Pot Cafe.

Look for Roe to open later this year at 720 S.W. Broadway, roe-pdx.com

-- Michael Russell
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Oregon State University plans a dramatic expansion to its arts footprint on the Corvallis campus. (Pictured here: Soloists Logan Stewart, Megan Sand, Nicholas Larson and Kevin Helppie sing during a performance of "To Be Certain of the Dawn," a Holocaust Memorial Oratorio by Stephen Paulus)

(Courtesy of Bret Lorimore/OSU)

Oregon State University plans to build a $60 million complex for theater, arts and music on its Corvallis campus, officials said this week.

The university received a $25 million gift from an anonymous donor to pay for the project, and will try to raise another $5 million in contributions. OSU also will ask for $30 million in state bonds during the next legislative session to make the project a reality.

"This is a watershed investment in our university," OSU President Ed Ray said in a statement. "The arts drive the culture of creativity, innovation and diversity that is essential to a thriving research environment. I believe with all my heart that a relationship with the arts is integral to the human experience."

Ray, the longest-tenured active Oregon public university president, said the building would "enrich the education and life preparation of all our students."

The planned building would replace the LaSells Stewart Center, a 40,000-square-foot performing arts facility which seats 1,200 people, and open in 2022.

The new facility, which is still being designed, would more than double the arts and music footprint on campus. It's expected to include a concert hall and auditorium, separate theater space, classrooms "designed for a media-rich environment," and rehearsal space for music and theater students. Plans also call for a work space for students to experiment with sound, lights, animation and video.

Larry Rodgers, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said in an interview that the building is the culmination of years of planning. Rodgers has been dean of the school, which has roughly 4,000 students, since 2008.

"The arts and education complex is the next major step for OSU's development as one of America's great land grant universities," Rodgers said in a statement. "At OSU, we are especially interested in how art intersects with science, humanities and technology. This facility will build on these connections, transforming the way our students and our community learn, perform, innovate and communicate.

Rodgers said that while OSU is known for its engineering and science programs, it still draws many students who gravitate to music and the arts. "This is an essential piece of OSU's next move upward," he said of the project. Having a significant arts presence on campus "was really the missing piece" in Corvallis.

OSU is the state's largest university, with more than 30,000 students enrolled in Corvallis, Bend and the school's online programs.



-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen
Tillamook Bay

Crabbers on Tillamook Bay, pictured in 2013. A massive liquid manure spill in 2017 shut down the bay,

(Dan Germoose/Flickr Creative COmmons)

Updated, April 21: Oregon officials say Tillamook Bay has reopened to commercial shellfish harvesting.

Oregon officials say Tillamook Bay is temporarily closed due to a massive spill of liquid manure.

The Statesman Journal reports the bay is expected to reopen Wednesday night. Wym Mathews with the Oregon Department of Agriculture says the estimated 190,000 gallons of manure that went to the bay came from Tony Silveira Dairy after the valve of an above-ground storage tank broke.

The manure travelled from three other properties before it reached a slough that connects to the drain system that pumps water into the Tillamook River connected to the bay.

ODA received reports of the spill last Wednesday.

Mathews says the Tillamook County Health Department also closed the bay to recreational shellfish harvesting.

The dairy will most likely be cited and may be fined for the incident.

-- The Associated Press
Trump targets H-1B visas President wants study of program he says hurts U.S. workers

Students of Sriram Khe at Western Oregon University have been more eager to connect academic discussions to real world happenings since the election of President Donald Trump.

(Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Sentinel Journal)

Sriram Khe

Thanks to Donald Trump's election and his statements and policies since the inauguration, students in my introductory economic geography class seem to be significantly more eager than ever to connect our academic discussions to real world happenings. On their own!

During routine discussions on population dynamics -- when my lectures usually put students to sleep -- one question from the back row nearly jolted the class. A student asked, "Why is Portland so white compared to the other cities that I have been to?" Before I could respond, another question rang out: "Isn't Oregon itself way white compared to even Washington?"

In my fifteen years of teaching at Western Oregon University, I have not been asked these questions even once in any of my classes. I doubt that these questions were merely a coincidence.

Thanks to the technology in the smart classroom, I could respond to the students' questions by projecting maps on the big screen about the Great Migration from the American South to show how very few came to Oregon. I pulled up a few photographs of African-Americans in Oregon, including about Vanport, in the Portland area. And about Oregon's own "Trail of Tears." The maps and photos were worth more than the proverbial thousand words.

As discussions died down, a student from a town in the Willamette Valley remarked that it now made sense to her why I am the first non-white teacher she has ever had in her entire life as a student -- all the way from kindergarten through college.

Of course, as an outsider -- first from India, and then from California -- this whiteness in Oregon, and hence my brownness, was one of the first things that I had to quickly understand about this state that has been a wonderful home to me.

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Submit your essay of 500 words or less to commentary@oregonlive.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification.

If this post-election politics has given us an incentive to understand these important issues, then we may as well put that to good use.

In the educational world of geography, there are many formal avenues for all of us to further explore and understand questions like the ones my students asked. One such avenue is Geography Awareness Week.

The National Geographic Society created the week of recognition to "bring awareness to this dangerous deficiency in American education and excite people about geography as both a discipline and as a part of everyday life." Many centers affiliated with this activity have selected civil rights as the theme for this year's Geography Awareness Week, which will be in mid-November.

Civil rights have distinct geographic patterns and impacts. While we usually think of the American South, states like Oregon also have had, and continue to have, issues related to civil rights.

We do not have to wait until Geography Awareness Week in order to understand civil rights issues. As we plan for our excursions around the state during the gorgeous Oregon summer, I hope more among us will also spend some time stopping by the numerous places that will help us understand who we were and, therefore, who we want to be in the future.

Dr. Sriram Khe is an Associate Professor of Geography at Western Oregon University in Monmouth.
1zuckerberg.JPG

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers the keynote address at Facebook's F8 Developer Conference on April 18, 2017 at McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California.

(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

By Margaret Sullivan

Facebook's existential crisis arrived with a vengeance this week. But Mark Zuckerberg didn't want to talk about it much.

Yes, as he took the stage Tuesday in San Jose for his keynote address at a Facebook conference, he nodded to what had happened just two days before: A coldblooded killing posted for millions to see, with live-streamed commentary from the killer soon after.

"Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the victim in Cleveland," Zuckerberg said. "We'll do all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening."

But then Facebook's founder and chairman dived right into an extended discussion of the next Facebook frontier - augmented reality, which integrates digital information with the user's experience in real time.

His mention of the killing, while seemingly sincere, still felt like a kiss-off.

But it's not surprising. Denial is, far too often, the Facebook way.

Remember just after the presidential election when Zuckerberg shrugged off the importance of the hyperpartisan lies in the form of news stories - like Pope Francis supposedly endorsing Donald Trump?

"Personally I think the idea that fake news on Facebook, which is a very small amount of the content, influenced the election in any way - I think is a pretty crazy idea."

In time, he changed his mind about that, and Facebook, to its credit, has made some significant moves to flag, limit and remove financial incentives for lies and misinformation that spread like a disastrous oil spill during the campaign.

But Facebook still hasn't come to terms with what it really is - a media company where people get their news and which, especially because of the year-old Facebook Live, generates news content. Since it began, rape, a horrible attack on a disabled person, and more than one suicide has been live-streamed.

"The crux of this is what is Facebook's true nature: a technology that enables anyone to publish anything? Or a self-regulating media company with enforced standards?" Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for digital journalism at Columbia University, told me Monday evening.

Facebook's answer became clear Tuesday morning.

With its nearly 2 billion monthly active users and more than $10 billion in annual profits, Facebook is better at making money and capturing eyeballs than at owning its equally huge power and responsibilities.

David Clinch, global news editor of the verification site Storyful, put it this way: "They have to take this issue very seriously and deal with it urgently, or they will surely face more calls for Facebook Live to be put on hold until far more robust controls are put in place."

So far, that's not happening.

In recent months, Facebook has gone out of its way to avoid acknowledging the obvious: It is a media company, not simply a platform its billion-plus users to share their lives with family and friends. (I called last year for the company to hire an executive editor, as one step, partly a symbolic one, in that direction; that was shortly after a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph was deleted by Facebook, which saw its depiction of the famous Vietnamese napalm girl not as art but as child pornography.)

But there are, of course, business reasons not to accept that. As soon as Facebook acknowledges that it is a publisher and not a platform, it may open itself up to lawsuits that could cut into profits fast.

Better, the thinking apparently goes, to stress technological advances and the ability to connect the whole world with virtual reality, baby pictures and exploding watermelons.

And its Facebook Live has been a force for good, too. Last year, Diamond Reynolds live-streamed the police shooting in Minnesota of her boyfriend, Philando Castile. It was important piece of bearing witness, made poignant by the presence of Reynolds' tiny daughter.

At this crucial moment, Facebook's language often sounds clueless, with its combination of stilted corporate euphemism and childlike wonder about "community" and "sharing."

Following the Cleveland slaying, which remained on the site for hours, a Facebook statement put it like this: "This is a horrific crime and we do not allow this kind of content on Facebook." Later, a Facebook vice president made a seemingly more thoughtful effort to describe the ways the company would use artificial intelligence and a better "reporting flow" to address the problem.

But none of this was specific enough, or serious enough. Nor did Zuckerberg's brief mention help.

As Clinch wrote on Twitter: "There's no algorithm for this and there is no cheap way to do this with community monitoring and inexperienced staff."

Facebook is immensely and increasingly profitable - it made more than $10 billion last year, up dramatically from 2015. More than four of every five dollars comes from mobile ads, which makes video a more and more essential to corporate success.

But this can't go on forever.

Bell summed it up: "If Facebook is really interested in the unbiased nature of discourse it would know that totally unmoderated systems favor the authoritarian bully, and suppress free speech rather than enable it. Ask Twitter."

An innocent man and his killer - who committed suicide Tuesday - are dead. But that can't be the end of the story.
Public safety 1

(The Oregonian/OregonLive)

Pro tip: When you're eluding the cops and trying to get rid of a heroin stash, make sure to toss the drugs accurately.

Sidney Ronald Myers had no such luck Tuesday night, when he threw a metal box of heroin out a car window while riding over the Yaquina Bay Bridge, according to Newport police. Police said the driver, Jesse Yamaguchi Telmar, had driven away from the scene of a traffic stop  when a canine vehicle showed up, no less  spurring the pursuit.

Jesse Yamaguchi Telmar

Newport police said they followed Telmar from the traffic stop scene and onto U.S. 101. Myers tried to chuck the box of heroin off the bridge and into the water below, police said, but it hit a beam and fell onto the road.

The chase lasted about 20 more minutes, the men's arresting officer wrote in a probable cause affidavit. Lincoln County sheriff's deputies, Toledo police and state troopers also got involved, Newport police said.

Telmar, a 29-year-old Siletz resident, drove as fast as 100 mph and traveled in the oncoming lane at times, the arresting officer wrote.

Telmar lost control of his car as he neared spike strips placed on 1000 Line Road, police said, and stopped in the road. Authorities then arrested the men.

Sidney Ronald Myers

The arresting officer wrote that authorities found two loaded semi-automatic pistols, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and assorted gun equipment in the car. Telmar also had a lot of money in his wallet, the officer wrote, and Myers had a digital scale.

Both men are facing heroin manufacturing, delivery and possession charges, among others, records show. They're being held in the Lincoln County Jail on $750,000 bail apiece, according to the facility's inmate roster.

Why did Myers, a 23-year-old Newport resident, allegedly toss the box of heroin?

Because Telmar told him to, he told his arresting officer.

 Jim Ryan

jryan@oregonian.com

503-221-8005; @Jimryan015
Gov. Kate Brown signed an executive order Thursday that freezes the hiring of certain state employees for two months and reduces spending on state employee travel and building leases.

The governor did not hold a press conference for the signing. Chris Pair, a spokesman for Brown, could not provide estimated savings from the hiring freeze, but said the governor's office has "a process to track the exact savings to inform budget negotiations."

According to the executive order, the hiring freeze would take effect May 1 and continue through June 30 unless the governor extends it. The freeze will not affect those who "provide services critical to life, health or public safety, or that generate revenue."

The order requires agencies to reduce travel expenses by at least 10 percent, with directors approving out-of-state trips only when essential to the agency.

The executive order also directs agencies to review their use of space, cutting down where possible. Pair said this could include re-negotiating leases, saving the state money.

The order follows changes Brown made in December. She required agencies to cut down on spending by halting non-essential travel and holding vacant positions open for two months before filling them. Matt Shelby, spokesman for the Department of Administrative Services, said these rules remain in effect through June 30.

Brown's announcement Thursday came hours after Republicans called on the governor to institute an indefinite hiring freeze, which they said could save as much as $790 million over the next two years. Pair said Brown was not aware of the Republican plan until its Thursday release.

In her written announcement, Brown urged other elected officials, including the secretary of state and the attorney general to make similar cuts to agencies under their control.

"The entire state must take responsibility and join in this effort," she said. "But, it will clearly not be enough just to tighten our belts. My office will continue to work tirelessly for an efficient, effective, and sustainable state government."

In her statement, Brown said she would sign more executive orders over the next several days that would save the state money in other ways, including addressing public pension system funding, state debt collection, renegotiation of state vendor contracts and policies on bargaining with state employee unions.

The announcement comes as the state faces a $1.6 billion shortfall for the upcoming two-year budget cycle.

The spending restrictions Brown imposed Thursday would save the state money in the current biennium, which would leave extra money for the next budget cycle. Other cost-saving plans she plans to announce, like PERS reform or increased debt collections, would likely save the state money in future budget cycles.

With the legislative session halfway over, both Democrat and Republican lawmakers agree that both cuts and new taxes are necessary to fill the state's budget gap.

The state budget committee will announce its own package of cost-saving measures on Friday. Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton, is working on a plan to replace Oregon's corporate income tax with a flat tax on businesses' sales.

-- Anna Marum

amarum@oregonian.com

503-294-5911

@annamarum

Oregonian reporter Gordon Friedman contributed to this story.
MASON CITY | The Big Five-Oh is definitely a comedy, according to director Brian Bauer.

Or as much as a play about turning 50 can be, he added.

The show opens tonight at Mason City Community Theatre.

It centers around George Thomas, played by Mark Bonzer, who just may be having the worst week of his life.

In the week leading up to his 50th birthday, his dog is sick, his son is a slacker, and his daughter wants to marry a Republican. Plus his wife is neurotic and his widowed neighbor is providing more challenges than even George can overcome.

Whoever said life is better after 50 had better be right.

Its a comedy of errors, said Sarah Raymond, adding that just when you think it cant get worse, it does.

Raymonds character has traits of my mom, said Rachel Hall. There are so many relate-able jokes.

Hall said she cried from laughing so hard.

Savannah Moore called it "sitcom-y," and Bauer agreed.

There are a lot of very funny puns in this show, he said.

Cindy Dahl said she doesnt relate to her character at all.

Shes a little different, Dahl said. Ive had a lot of fun with her.

Assistant director Suzan Koehler said Dahls character may be the funniest.

Cindy came up with the interp for her character, said Koehler, who is making her debut as director. She is a veteran of both MCCT and Stebens Childrens Theatre as actor, costumer and playwright.

Matt Holub and Savannah Moore play siblings.

Matt and Savannah have the brother-sister thing down, Dahl said.

Holub said his character is not ambitious, at least not in the way his father would like.

Hes a happy-go-lucky kid with a heart of gold  just not very smart," Holub said. "Hes not really aware of the situation.

Matt Kono plays Douglas, an atheist, vegetarian, and Republican.

Thats one of my favorite characters, Bauer said. So wacky.

The Big Five-Oh is by Brian Mitchell of Grinnell, who is expected to attend the show April 29.

Hes such a nice guy to talk to, Bauer said, adding that Mitchell makes a point to see his shows. Mitchell also wrote A Mostly Minnesota Christmas, which Bauer directed at MCCT in 2014.

Much of the current cast was in The Curious Savage, the previous show at MCCT. And most have acted together at one time or another.

Im glad this show is happening with this cast, Bauer said. It has been a joy to work with these actors.
CLEARWATER, Fla., April 19, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Church of Scientologys Information Center in Downtown Clearwater announces that its doors are open to religious studies students to learn about one of the worlds fastest growing religions. The center is open from 10am-9:30pm Monday through Wednesday, 10am-8pm Thursday & Friday, and 1pm-9:30pm Saturdays and Sundays.



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3d52f42f-baac-4116-b964-b5911e30b637.

Since the beginning of the New Year, the center has welcomed several groups of students from some of the St. Pete College Campuses for their comparative religions classes, as well as students from out of state visiting Clearwater for vacation. A student from Georgia also called in to do an interview about Scientology for her school article and was also assisted with information for her assignment.

Were happy to answer questions and provide information for the community. There really arent any dumb questions. This center is a great location where anyone is able to find out for themselves and was established for that reason, said Information Center Manager, Amber Skjelset.

As an example, during the last Blast Friday several students walked into the center asking Ms. Skjelset, Would it be OK if I asked you a few questions? The student added he originally was a member of the Nation of Islam and that they were all interested in learning about Scientology for their class. The other young men were from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds, each with their own list of questions for their assignments.

Ms. Skjelset helped provide basic information from the centers gallery of exhibits which contain videos presentations about basic concepts of Dianetics, Scientology, Churches around the world and the life of Mr. L. Ron Hubbard, Scientologys founder.

Wow! This was so helpful! Thank you so much for your time answering our questions  we really appreciate it, said the students, who each received a DVD, Introduction to Scientology, a videoed interview of L. Ron Hubbard, Scientologys founder, answering common questions about Scientology.

The Center welcomes individuals and classes to visit daily with no appointment necessary. For more information please contact Amber Skjelset, Manager of the Scientology Information Center, at 727-467-6966 or e-mail her at amber@cos.flag.org.

About the Church of Scientology:

The Scientology religion was founded by humanitarian and philosopher, L. Ron Hubbard. The first Church of Scientology was formed in the United States in 1954 and has expanded to more than 11,000 churches, missions and affiliated groups, with millions of members in 167 nations. Scientologists are optimistic about life and believe there is hope for a saner world and better civilization, and actively do all they can to help achieve this. Based on L. Ron Hubbards words, A community that pulls together can make a better society for all.

Photo caption: Visitors enjoy the welcome at the Scientology Information Center in downtown Clearwater, Florida
Johann Kleinhans was born in Oberacker, Baden-Wurttemburg, Germany in 1710. He and his young wife Maria Kiefer departed from Rotterdam May 5, 1732 on the ship named Samuel. They landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 11, 1732. In 1745 Johann passed away only thirty-five years old, leaving Maria a young widow with four small children. George Henry was one year old when his father died and he is the ancestor of the Midland Kleinhans.

George Henry Kleinhans served in the Revolutionary War returning home to his wife Anna Seiler when his enlistment was done. They had twelve children. One of them they named George Henry after his father. George Henrys son David was born in 1821. It was the David Kleinhans family that moved to Gratiot County in Michigan in 1883. Eugene was the fourth of eleven children born to David and Mina Kleinhans. Eugene married Eva Lamee and they had three children: Beulah was born in 1898. Ralph was born in 1900. Bernard (Barnie) was born in 1907. The Kleinhans story continues.

The house that Eugene Kleinhans built on Pine River Road still stands although remodeling has taken place through the years. His granddaughters Sharon and Carolyn, Bernies daughters, remember the homestead where they were born with deep affection. Carolyn remembers roller skating on the wrap-around porch on the front of the house when she was young and when it was put on the market years ago, she called the real estate agent and went through the house where two generations of Kleinhans were born.

Eugene and Evas first born was a daughter they named Beulah who was born Aug. 18, 1898. She married August Otto Schaefer on Sept.r 12, 1917 at 19, gave birth to five children and died tragically at the age of forty-eight in 1946 of a cerebral hemorrhage.

The second child born to Eugene and Eva was a son they named Ralph and he was born August 14, 1900 in the house on Pine River Road. On December 30, 1907, their second son and last child was born and named Bernard.

Sometimes the best history is what is written down by ordinary people, not historians. Bernie Kleinhans, the father of Sharon McNare and Carolyn Bailey, has left three sheets of paper detailing his growing up on the family farm on Pine River Road. At the age of four years he began working, putting in large ears of corn into the sheller as his brother Ralph, eleven years old, turned the crank on the sheller. The shelled corn was fed to the chickens and Bernie remembered watching the chickens pick it up. By the time Bernie was five years old he was given the task of gathering eggs, feeding the chickens by himself and gathering kindling to start the first fire of the morning in the heating stove.

He remembered the milk from the cows being carried to the shed where a separator sat. Bernie wrote, My parents made dairy butter from cream from the separator. The centrifugal force put skim milk out one side and cream out the other side. After churning the butter, it was packed in crocks and taken to the grocery store in Midland, 10 miles away by horse and buggy to trade for flour and sugar and what other needs.

Bernie often told the story of a woman who had a crock of butter to sell and went to Thompson Mercantile, a grocery store on Main Street in downtown Midland. The woman wanted to sell the butter in her crock but she wanted to buy a crock of butter back from Mr. Thompson. She explained that a rat had fallen into the cream that she had churned the butter from but she assured Mr. Thompson that, It wouldnt hurt if the person buying the butter didnt know that. Mr. Thompson took her crock of butter into the back room, put it in another crock and sold the womans butter back to her.

Bernie was twelve years old when his dad decided to tile the farm fields. Bernie drove the farm wagon to Midland to get a load of four inch tile, fed the horses at noon, loaded the tile and was back to the farm by five that night. The tile was laid by hand, digging trenches with a shovel and a spade.

When Bernie was seventeen his dad Eugene died from tuberculosis. His older brother Ralph had left home. His sister was married. Taking care of his mother and the farm on Pine River Road was now his responsibility. Quitting school after the eighth grade, Bernies journal showed a side of him few people knew. One entry reads, My old gray horse and Bay mare would pull the plow all day long and then smile at me when I fed them oats at night.

When he was 26, he met and married a young woman named Bernice Laning that he met at a dance at Leland and Amanda Lanings home.. In his journal he wrote this, I married a girl who knew what helping on a farm was. She drove a team and hay wagon for her dad so she done it for me quite professionally. I pitched the hay on the wagon from the ground. At age 45 I sold the farm and moved to Midland where I had a job at Dow Chemical where I worked 30 years. My faithful wife died of cancer at 59 years of age.

When Bernie and Bernice moved into Midland, they lived on State Street and their daughters Sharon and Carolyn attended city schools, both graduating from Midland Senior High and attending college. Sharon graduated from Alma College. Carolyn attended Alma college two years and then graduated from Central Michigan in Mt. Pleasant.

Sharon married Don McNare and Carolyn married Tom Bailey. Sharon now lives in Lewiston, Idaho. after living in various places all over the United States. After living in Australia, Colorado and Wyoming, Carolyn has returned to her family roots in Midland.

We do not choose our family. We are born into one. Ancestors we will never know make up our heritage. Carolyn said, I see my father differently today. I always thought of him as being strict, stern. But after reading his journal and knowing something about his dad dying when he was only seventeen and left to take care of his mother and the farm, I see him in a new light.

Maybe thats the blessing of knowing our roots. Our vantage point changes. Our ancestry becomes a lodestar for us, a fixed point that is always there and ultimately, as Carolyn Bailey discovered, we see them in a new light. And we realize all over again, what a family means.
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On Feb. 22, 1967 the Midland Kiwassee Kiwanis became the 217th chartered Kiwanis organization in the state, and Tuesday they took a trip down memory lane of how they began and what they have accomplished in celebration of their 50 years in the city.

They also have their sights on their 100th anniversary.

One of the last two living members of the original charter, Max Bottomley, told the estimated 135 people attending the anniversary celebration at Trinity Lutheran Church, how their group began.

The other member, Alan Ott, couldnt make the event.

In 1967 there was a Kiwanis group in the city that met in the evening and there were people asking for another meeting time or a second group. In 1966, a move was on to establish a second club that met at noon. Then the 49 men that wanted to meet earlier trudged forth and elected a president, Benjamin Hines.

Since there was a group in Midland, Hines asked the men to come back with name suggestions for their group. One member suggested taking the Ki from Kiwanis and the wassee from Tittabawassee River, which runs through the city.

Im always pleased to be a member of Kiwanis, said Bottomley as he left the stage to a standing ovation. I cherish it very much.

Bottomley said Hines inspired the club saying, We want a club thats going to have fun. And he wanted to have one of the friendliest clubs.

Detroit Kiwanis member and governor-elect of the Michigan District of Kiwanis, Marian OHiggins, said reaching 50, is a really big deal.

Congratulations to all of you, OHiggins said. You all have a lot to be proud of.

Its an honor to wear the badge of Kiwanian, she added. To be a Kiwanian, you have to have passion.

Midland Mayor Maureen Donker extended her thanks for the club for enriching the citys quality of life.

Quality of life is not something the government can do all by itself, Donker said.

Past Kiwassee Kiwanis President Sam Choo, from 1985, talked about the highlights of the club. He addressed a July 7, 1987, hot muddy night when the club first opened its doors to women. He noted all the women in top roles within the organization, including the current charters community service co-chair, Diane Stevens.

Choo said that having women in the club boosted its reach in the community and helped the club grow.

Dick Skochdopole, a president from 1984, noted how the group has rang the Salvation Army bells for 50 years, done crop walks for 40 years and sponsored a variety of club events for children with disabilities. The club also has a long-term relationship with Eagle Village, which serves young men and women who have encountered problems and reading programs for preschoolers.

Stevens, who joined the Kiwassee Kiwanis in 2003, said she was recently divorced and was looking for a volunteer organization.

Its work, but it is very rewarding, said Stevens, who really enjoys reading to preschoolers and supporting that program.

Just when most were ready to rise for the end of the affair, current charter President Fred Honerkamp said, We are not here to celebrate 50 years. This party is the start of our 100th anniversary, as four bagpipers and a drummer from White Pines Pipes and Drum marched in.

Well how about that? said 25-year member Stu Bender of the finale.

President Bruce Rayce, from 2016 and an eight-year member, said it is men like Bender that keep him inspired in the club and its initiatives.

There is a common bond of Kiwanians. They have a passion for kids and community, Rayce said.

Were making the world a better place one child at a time, he added.
Larkin Township resident Jon Chambers has suffered another defeat for his plans to build a mud bog on his property.

The Larkin Township board unanimously agreed Tuesday with an earlier Larkin Planning Commission decision to deny a request from Chambers to rezone his property.

Chambers owns 360 acres, at 4292 N. Jefferson, and proposed rezoning the property from agriculture to commercial B to accommodate the proposed mud bog.

I knew what the answer was going to be before I went into (Tuesdays meeting), Chambers said.

But, the issue has not completely dried up for Chambers. On July 5, 2016, Jon and his wife, Terri, filed a lawsuit against Larkin Charter Township requesting that the township cease from retroactively enforcing the ordinance to prevent Chambers from the further improvement and/or use of the property as a mud bog park; and seeking damages in an amount in excess of $25,000.

Were in the process of working with the township to come to a conclusion to make this go away, Chambers said.

Three to four weeks ago, the township board approached Chambers to resolve the lawsuit. Chambers stated that he and the board will be sitting down in the near future to seek a resolution.

If people want this to go away they need to approach the board and make their wishes known, Chambers said.

Chambers initial request for the mud bog was made at a June 9, 2015, township meeting. Township minutes from that meeting state, There were no objections from the township board.

Because of that statement, Chambers believed he had the OK to proceed and spent $80,000 in preparations for the mud bogs, which would occur about four times per year on property that is about 1/2 mile back from Jefferson Avenue.

He estimated that each event could potentially draw between 15,000 and 16,000 people, which brought concerns from neighbors about traffic, litter, alcohol, smog and other issues.
In an attempt to encourage President Donald Trump to release his tax return, area residents joined others across the country in a protest march on Tax Day, April 15.

Sponsored by Women of Michigan Action Network (WOMAN), protesters gathered at Ashman Circle to speak out against Trump.
Estonian English

20th of April 2017, Tallinn

The Management Board of AS Trigon Property Development has prepared the annual report and proposal for covering of loss for the year 2016. The revenues and profits remained unchanged compared to the preliminary disclosure on 28 February 2017.

The audited Annual Report of AS Trigon Property Development for 2016 is available on issuers home page http://www.trigonproperty.com. The report can also be read in issuers location at Viru valjak 2, Tallinn.

The Annual General Meeting of AS Trigon Property Development (registry code: 10106774, address: Viru Square 2, Tallinn 10111, hereinafter the Company) will be held on the 11th of May 2017 at 10 AM at Metro Plaza 5th floor, Viru Square 2, Tallinn 10111.

The agenda of the General Meeting with the proposals of the Supervisory Board:

Approval of the Annual Report 2016

Proposal of the Supervisory Board: To approve the Annual Report of the Company for 2016, which exposes the consolidated balance sheet value of 2 364 947 euros as at 31.12.2016 and the net loss of the financial year of 64 459 euros.

2016 Profit/loss allocation proposal

Proposal of the Supervisory Board: To transfer the consolidated net loss in the amount of 64 459 euros to the loss of previous periods.

Appointment and remuneration principles of auditor for the financial year 2017

Proposal of the Supervisory Board: To appoint AS PricewaterhouseCoopers (registry code: 10142876, address: Parnu mnt 15, 10141 Tallinn) as the auditor of the Company for the financial year 2016. Public accounting services will be paid for in accordance with the contract to be drawn up with the auditor.

4. Introducing no par value shares and amendment of the articles of association

Proposal of the Supervisory Board:

1) Introduce no par value shares.

2) In connection with introducing no par value shares, amend clauses 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 of the articles of association of the Company and confirm their new wording as follows:

2.1 The minimum share capital of the company is EUR 675 000 (six hundred seventy-five thousand) and the maximum share capital is EUR 2 700 000 (two million seven hundred thousand).

2.2 The minimum number of no par value shares is 2 500 000 and the maximum number is 10 000 000. Each share grants one vote at the general meeting of shareholders. The company only has one class of shares  no par value registered shares.

2.3 The general meeting shall resolve the increase or reduction of share capital. The resolution about increasing share capital shall be adopted in case it receives at least two thirds of the votes represented at the general meeting. Upon increasing share capital the shareholders have a pre-emptive right to subscribe for the new shares in proportion to the sum of the book value of the shareholders shares. The pre-emptive right of the shareholders may be barred by a resolution of the general meeting which receives at least three-quarters of the votes represented at the general meeting.

3) As a result of introducing a no par value share, the Company will have 4 499 061 no par value shares, whereas each share grants the shareholder one vote at the general meeting of shareholders. As a result of adopting the resolution specified in clause, the book value of a share of the Company will be EUR 0.60.

5. Reduction of share capital

Proposal of the Supervisory Board:

Reduce the share capital of the Company after the entry into force of amendments to the Articles of Association on the following conditions:

1) Reduce the share capital of the Company by EUR 400 416.43, from EUR 2 699 436.60 to EUR 2 299 020.17;

2) The share capital will be reduced by decreasing the book value of the shares: as a result of reduction, the book value of the Companys share will decrease to EUR 0.511, from EUR 0.60, the number of shares will remain the same (4 499 061) and the new amount of share capital will be EUR 2 299 020.17;

3) The share capital will be reduced by making monetary a payment to shareholders. Payments to the shareholders shall be made during the term prescribe by law;

4) The reason for reducing the share capital is the fact that the Company has no need at the moment or in the near future to own share capital within the registered amount;

5) The list of shareholders participating in the reduction of share capital shall be fixed as at 23.59 on 25 May 2017.

The Annual Report of AS Trigon Property Development, proposal for loss allocation and auditors report to the Annual Report of 2016 will be available at the head office of the Company at Viru Square 2, Tallinn and on Companys web site www.trigonproperty.com

Information on the procedure for exercising the rights specified in the Commercial Code  287,  293 (2) and (21) and  2931 (4) is published on the website of the Company www.trigonproperty.com.

As of the date of publishing of the announcement, the share capital of AS Trigon Property Development is 2 699 436.60 euros. The company has 4 499 061 shares and each share gives one vote.

The date of closing the list of shareholders entitled to vote at the Annual General Meeting will be May 4, 2017 at 23:59.

Registration of the participants in the meeting will begin at 09:45 on the 11th of May 2017.

To register yourself as a participant in the general meeting, please present:

a shareholder who is a sole proprietor  an identity document

a representative of a shareholder who is a sole proprietor  an identity document and a written authorisation document

a representative of a shareholder who is a legal person  valid certified copy of the registry card (for legal persons in Estonia, certified no earlier than 7 days ago), which entitles the person to represent the shareholder, and an identity document of the representative, or an authorisation document prepared as required and an identity document of the representative. We request prior legalisation or apostille certification of documents of a legal person registered in a foreign country, unless stated otherwise in the international agreement. AS Trigon Property Development may register a shareholder who is a legal person of a foreign country as a participant in the general meeting also in case all required data on the legal person and the representative are included in the notarised authorisation document issued to the representative in a foreign country and the authorisation document is acceptable in Estonia.

If a shareholder has deposited his/her shares on a nominee account, a respective certificate issued by the account administrator shall be submitted, certifying the right of ownership of the shares as of 4st of May 2017.

Please present your passport or identity card as an identification document.

A shareholder may notify the Company of the appointment of a representative or withdrawal of authorisation by a representative by submitting respective information to the Management Board of AS Trigon Property Development (in a digitally signed format which can be reproduced in writing on the following e-mail address: info@trigonproperty.com, or in writing by mail at the following address: AS Trigon Property Development, Viru Square 2, Tallinn 10111, Estonia) no later than on 10.05.2017.

For the appointment of a representative or withdrawal of authorisation by a representative, a shareholder may use the forms available on the website of AS Trigon Property Development www.trigonproperty.com

Management Board of AS Trigon Property Development

Telephone 6679 200, e-mail info@trigonproperty.com
SPRINGFIELD  Lawyers for a Rockford man exonerated of the 1993 murder of an Illinois State University student argued Wednesday that three former Normal police officers deliberately hid evidence that could have helped prove his innocence and avoid 13 years in prison before his conviction was overturned.

Alan Beaman, now 44, and his family were in Springfield at the 4th District Appellate Court for arguments in his appeal of the dismissal of his lawsuit against retired officers Tim Freesmeyer, Dave Warner and Frank Zayas.

Beaman was convicted in 1994 of killing his former girlfriend, Jennifer Lockmiller, in her Normal apartment but later exonerated by the Illinois Supreme Court, pardoned by then-Gov. Pat Quinn and given a certificate of innocence by the court.

Speaking to The Pantagraph as he entered the courthouse, Beaman said the legal battle to clear his name and hold police accountable for their alleged misconduct is not over.

"I've been fighting these guys with my back foot forever and I'm not about to quit now," said Beaman, swinging his leg backward.

Beaman's McLean County lawsuit against the three former officers was dismissed last year by a Douglas County judge. The case was moved to another judicial circuit because retired McLean County judges Charles Reynard and James Souk were prosecutors during the investigation and trial.

Beaman's lawyer David Shapiro argued that the police theory of the time frame may have been disregarded by the jury had they known about a time trial conducted by Freesmeyer that was supportive of Beaman's alibi. Police argued Beaman drove round-trip from Rockford to Normal within a 3-hour window established by a phone call he made and his mother's return home.

Shapiro also accused police of withholding information related to a man whom the defense has described as a more viable suspect who failed to complete a lie detector test and did not have an alibi for the time Lockmiller was killed. The man had been romantically involved with Lockmiller, was owed money by her for drugs and had a history of domestic violence, said Shapiro.

The man has not been charged in connection with Lockmiller's death.

In their questions to Shapiro, Appellate Judges Thomas Harris and James Knecht inquired about the legal issue of whether the actions taken by police had an impact on Souk, the prosecutor handling the case. Harris noted Souk denied such a connection during a deposition taken as part of a federal lawsuit filed by Beaman.

Judge Robert Steigmann was absent from arguments but will have access to audio recordings and serve as the third judge to consider the appeal.

Shapiro said prosecutors rely on police to conduct a fair investigation. If investigators believe more follow-up is needed before charges are filed, prosecutors should heed that advice, said Shapiro.

In Beaman's case, one of Lockmiller's neighbors told police he heard footsteps outside her apartment at 2 p.m. the afternoon of her death, information that conflicts with the state's timeline for Beaman's travel to the murder scene.

According to Shapiro, prosecutors ignored concerns from two detectives who asked for more time to follow up on leads.

Thomas DiCianni, lawyer for the town of Normal, cautioned the appellate panel that the defense is trying to impose a new standard on police officers to openly question the prosecution of a case. Such a "radical expansion" of existing law is an issue for the Supreme Court or Legislature, said DiCianni.

The information unknown to the defense in the Beaman case was limited to the other potential suspect's polygraph, said DiCianni. When Souk was told about the polygraph years later, he said it would not have changed his view of the case, according to the town's attorney.

Souk "said the evidence of motive for Beaman was the strongest he'd ever seen. He felt (the suspect named by the defense) had no motive at all," according to DiCianni.

The appellate court took Beaman's case under advisement.
LINCOLN  Guided nature walks, a free native plant giveaway, live music and children's activities will all be part of Saturday's Earth Day Celebration at Lincoln College's environmental center.

The college also will take the opportunity to officially rename the center in honor of professor Dennis Campbell, a driving force behind the center who has taught at Lincoln College for more than two decades.

It's not only appropriate that the Creekside Center be named in honor of Dr. Campbell, but it is especially appropriate that we have scheduled the renaming ceremony for Earth Day, said Lincoln College President David Gerlach.

To be known as the Dennis Campbell Creekside Outdoor Center for Environmental Education, the facility includes the restored Gossett Tall Grass Prairie, the Peoples of the Past Boardwalk, an insectarium, greenhouse and native plants.

The boardwalk includes a log cabin that was moved to the site last year from behind Jefferson Elementary School. The first phase covers 800 years of history, going back in time from the pioneers to the Kickapoo and Mississippian Native American cultures.

Nature trails lead to points of interest, including the place along Sugar Creek where Illinois' largest woolly mammoth fossil was found in 2005.

That find helped trigger Campbell's interest in developing a site where he not only could bring students to do research, but also where young children to retirees could learn of the area's archaeological, biological and geographical importance. In addition to the mammoth fossil, Native American artifacts also have been found in the area.

The Earth Day celebration will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The renaming ceremony will start the day's activities. There will be a children's story time in the forest, games, crafts and a science of ice cream making demonstration that will include free tasting.

Local craft vendors will be present, along with tables displaying rocks, fossils and artifacts.

Gerlach noted that Campbell has worked with the community, Lincoln Rotarians, students, faculty, staff and others on the 4-acre site, located about 5 miles north of Lincoln at 1234 County Road 2000 North.
WASHINGTON  U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood found a combative but divided crowd Wednesday at his first town hall meeting since the election of President Donald Trump.

The Dunlap Republican often sparred with questioners in a partisan atmosphere in the performing arts center of Five Points Washington.

Many asked him to commit to political positions, booed his answers and cheered for questions reflecting liberal priorities. Others, however, cheered his support for agriculture and national defense and booed a questioner who suggested the entire crowd opposed abortion.

"I'm going to be passionate about what I believe in and let the voters decide," he said.

The most frequent topic was health care, and many questioners disagreed with LaHood's assessment that the Affordable Care Act will collapse and asked him to support a single-payer, universal health care plan.

"Pre-existing conditions is an area that we need to protect, and I'm supportive of that. I also think being able to keep your kids on their parents' insurance is a good thing until 25 or 26. I commit to you that keeping those two things, whatever we vote for, has to be part of that," he said.

Questioners were allowed to ask follow-up questions, which helped one man press LaHood to name bills supported by Trump and the Republican leadership that he voted against.

LaHood repeated some areas where he disagrees with the president, including whether Trump should release his tax returns, trade policy, banning refugees and funding for agriculture, the environment and public broadcasting. He didn't name a bill, however, after being pressed to.

"I think it's obvious by now that you have no intention of answering my question," the man said, walking away from the microphone.

LaHood also stopped short of pledging to introduce or support a bill requiring Trump to release his tax returns  though he promised to support a bill requiring future presidential candidates to do so  or requiring Trump to divest from his business empire to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

LaHood said he supports congressional investigations into Trump's ties to Russia, but he said any further action should wait until those investigations finish.

LaHood promised frequently to review the available evidence and then decide his position on certain issues, including climate change.

He also told the crowd voters knew his positions, and Trump's, and elected them regardless.

After a question about whether LaHood's Catholic faith is a valid reason for him to attempt to restrict abortion access, Sarah Breeden of Normal told him, "Your religion does not belong in my body."

LaHood also repeated his commitment to treating campaign spending as free speech as decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, to a recent vote that gave internet service providers more freedom to sell users' data, and to supporting Trump's military action against Syria.

LaHood said he chose to hold the event in Washington because it's central to the 18th Congressional District, which includes parts of Bloomington-Normal, Peoria and Quincy, and Five Points Washington was a spacious venue.

LaHood is the second federal lawmaker to schedule a town hall meeting this spring in Central Illinois. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., had one at March 24 at Illinois Wesleyan University, and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., plans to have one Sunday at IWU.

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, a Taylorville Republican whose district includes much of the Twin Cities, has said he doesn't hold town hall meetings, calling them "grandstanding events." He said Wednesday he has always had that policy.
WASHINGTON  The crisis with North Korea may appear trumped up. It's not.

Given that Pyongyang has had nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles for more than a decade, why the panic now? Because North Korea is headed for a nuclear breakout. The regime has openly declared that it is racing to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile that can reach the United States  and thus destroy an American city at a Kim Jong Un push of a button.

The North Koreans are not bluffing. They've made significant progress with solid-fuel rockets, which are more quickly deployable and thus more easily hidden and less subject to detection and pre-emption.

At the same time, Pyongyang has been steadily adding to its supply of nuclear weapons. Today it has an estimated 10 to 16. By 2020, it could very well have a hundred. (For context: the British are thought to have about 200.)

Hence the crisis. We simply cannot concede to Kim Jong Un the capacity to annihilate American cities.

Some will argue for deterrence. If it held off the Russians and the Chinese for all these years, why not the North Koreans? First, because deterrence, even with a rational adversary like the old Soviet Union, is never a sure thing. We came pretty close to nuclear war in October 1962.

And second, because North Korea's regime is bizarre in the extreme, a hermit kingdom run by a weird, utterly ruthless and highly erratic god-king. You can't count on Caligula. The regime is savage and cult-like; its people, robotic. Karen Elliott House once noted that while Saddam Hussein's Iraq was a prison, North Korea was an ant colony.

Ant colonies do not have good checks and balances.

If not deterrence, then prevention. But how? The best hope is for China to exercise its influence and induce North Korea to give up its programs.

For years, the Chinese made gestures, but never did anything remotely decisive. They have their reasons. It's not just that they fear a massive influx of refugees if the Kim regime disintegrates. It's also that Pyongyang is a perpetual thorn in the side of the Americans, whereas regime collapse brings South Korea (and thus America) right up to the Yalu River.

So why would the Chinese do our bidding now?

For a variety of reasons.

They don't mind tension but they don't want war. And the risk of war is rising. They know that the ICBM threat is totally unacceptable to the Americans. And that the current administration appears particularly committed to enforcing this undeclared red line.

Chinese interests are being significantly damaged by the erection of regional missile defenses to counteract North Korea's nukes. South Korea is racing to install a THAAD anti-missile system. Japan may follow. THAAD's mission is to track and shoot down incoming rockets from North Korea but, like any missile shield, it necessarily reduces the power and penetration of the Chinese nuclear arsenal.

For China to do nothing risks the return of the American tactical nukes in South Korea, withdrawn in 1991.

If the crisis deepens, the possibility arises of South Korea and, most importantly, Japan going nuclear themselves. The latter is the ultimate Chinese nightmare.

These are major cards America can play. Our objective should be clear. At a minimum, a testing freeze. At the maximum, regime change.

Because Beijing has such a strong interest in the current regime, we could sweeten the latter offer by abjuring Korean reunification. This would not be Germany, where the communist state was absorbed into the West. We would accept an independent, but Finlandized, North.

During the Cold War, Finland was, by agreement, independent but always pro-Russian in foreign policy. Here we would guarantee that a new North Korea would be independent but always oriented toward China. For example, the new regime would forswear ever joining any hostile alliance.

There are deals to be made. They may have to be underpinned by demonstrations of American resolve. A pre-emptive attack on North Korea's nuclear facilities and missile sites would be too dangerous, as it would almost surely precipitate an invasion of South Korea with untold millions of casualties. We might, however, try to shoot down a North Korean missile in mid-flight to demonstrate both our capacity to defend ourselves and the futility of a North Korean missile force that can be neutralized technologically.

The Korea crisis is real and growing. But we are not helpless. We have choices. We have assets. It's time to deploy them.
I have been following the letters concerning U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis and what is perceived as his refusal to address constituents. Congressman Davis has always been open in discussing the issues affecting the 13th District. We have in Rodney Davis a congressman that understands governing is the art of discussing, debating, and compromising to get an issue resolved.

As a farmer, I have been proud of the way Congressman Davis looks to organizations such as the Farm Bureau and the Corn Growers to incorporate the goals of our organizations into legislation. Last week we met and discussed many issues impacting families in Illinois. Rodney brought to us the Washington perspective and intently listened to our concerns on trade, regulations, energy and health insurance.

Congressman Davis has been a leader in working for a bipartisan approach in getting the last food and agriculture bill passed. The same in getting the last transportation bill authorized. Rodney knows how to work with both parties to get legislation passed that Illinois needs.

Rodney has always worked in smaller groups to discuss the needs of constituents, working in a respectful manner to discuss issues. It seems that some are mad that the election did not turnout as they had planned and want to take out their frustrations in the form of confrontational town hall meetings. I would like to note that while it is hard to be on the losing side of an issue, we should all try to discuss the issues in a rational manner.

Terry Ferguson, Clinton
English Swedish

The Rezidor Hotel Group will release its Financial Report Q1-2017 on 28th April 2017 at 7:30 CEST. On the same day, at 9:00 CEST, Wolfgang M. Neumann, President & CEO, and Knut Kleiven, Deputy President & CFO will also host an audio webcast.

To access the telephone conference, please dial one of the following numbers:

Sweden: +46(0)8 5065 3937 Sweden National free phone: 0200 883 440 United Kingdom: +44(0)20 3427 0503 United Kingdom National free phone: 0800 279 4977 Belgium: +32(0)2 404 0660 Belgium National free phone: 0800 58032 France: +33(0)1 76 77 22 25 France National free phone: 0805 631 580 Norway: +472350 0486 Norway National free phone: 800 56054 United States of America: +1212 444 0412 USA National free phone 1877 280 2342

Confirmation Code: 6519463

To follow the webcast, please visit: www.investor.rezidor.com

For further information, contact:

Renu Hanegreefs-Snehi, Vice President, Corporate Communications, PR & Reputation Management

renu.snehi@carlsonrezidor.com

Lucie Cardona, Director, Media Relations and Reputation Management

lucie.cardona@carlsonrezidor.com
Last night Andy Cohen took time out of the usual fun, games and Housewife sex tips that make up Watch What Happens Live to address a more serious topic - the torture and killing of gay and bisexual men in Chechnya.

Chechnya, which is a federal subject of Russia, has been accused over the past month of being the site of concentration camps for gay men where prisoners have been detained, tortured and even killed. Both Russia and Chechnya have flatly denied these reports, and Chechnya's particularly chilling response was that there are no "gay concentration camps" in Chechnya because there are no gay people in Chechnya.

Cohen directly addressed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on his show about the reports, saying, "You, sir, are responsible for these crimes," Cohen said. "Imprisoning people for who they love is inhuman. You have to stop it. Free the gays."

Cohen also posted the message to his social media accounts, tagging Kadyrov, and asked his viewers to sign a petition demanding that several oil companies with ties to Russia speak publicly about the issue.

Bravo, Andy.





Image via Getty
Update, April 21:



One year to the day after Prince's untimely death, and despite an order by a judge blocking its release, Prince's previously unreleased EP Deliverance has leaked. The album is also available for streaming on Tidal. Roc Nation and Tidal have been in a legal battle with Prince's estate since late last year.

As much as we would love some new music from Prince right about now, the idea of posthumous releases that were unapproved by the artist who created them is always cringe-inducing. Enter George Ian Boxill, a producer at Rogue Music Alliance who was in the process of making an EP of previously unreleased Prince music, called Deliverance, available for download on Amazon, Apple, iTunes and Google Play. Prince's estate quickly filed a lawsuit against the Boxill, saying he has no legal right to release the tracks, and claiming that he also had failed to return the master tracks of the six recordings in question.

According to TMZ, a federal judge sided with Prince's estate on both counts, demanding the Boxill hand over the recordings and putting a restraining order against him in place until May 3. This delays the release of Deliverance for the near future. The album, including the titular song which was already available for streaming, have been removed from the web.

[h/t Vulture]

Image via Getty
Victoria's Secret, purveyor of aggressive scents and flimsy genital coverings sewn by prisoners, has come under fire for the contents of their annual #WhatIsSexy list. Victoria's Secret has experienced backlash in the past for their lack of inclusivity in terms of body types, race and age, and their 2017 list just represents more of the same. Namely, their list of "what sexy means to us" is a mighty sorority of young, thin white women plus Priyanka Chopra, Jamie Chung, Chrissy Teigen and Olivia Munn. Twitter was unamused to say the least.

Of course Victoria's Secret awarding Vanessa Hudgens the honorable title of 'Sexiest Style Risk Taker' or seems completely inconsequential at first glance  it's not a Pulitzer or anything  but it really IS important. Representation is ALWAYS important, but because Victoria's Secret is the only company in every single American mall speaking directly to women about their sexuality, their choices about who to include and exclude from that conversation has a major impact. I mean, how the hell are you gonna shout out James Corden and the City of Palm Springs, but not a single black woman? Do better, Victoria's Secret!





Splash image via BFA

[h/t Teen Vogue]
A coffee shop located in Wilmington, North Carolina opened its doors to people with special needs. Beau's Coffee made it big after the owner, Amy Wright, launched the business in January.

Beau's Coffee gathered a lot of attention after the cafe opened its doors. Support flowed after coffee lovers found out that most of their staff were adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Wright's children, Beau and Bitty, were both diagnosed with Down syndrome. Her initiative to start the coffee business gathered positive support within the neighborhood. The cafe paved a way for people with special needs to interact and participate with the society.

"While establishing Beau's Coffee unfolded very quickly, my husband and I have been advocating for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities for over a decade," Wright told The Mighty during an interview. "Beau's Coffee just flowed from this passion."

Coffee shops that were run by staff with special needs aren't exclusive in the United States. A small cafe in Singapore, APSN Mystical Cafe For All, also has staff with learning disabilities, according to Today Online.

The cafe does not only hired staff with intellectual disabilities, but they also have a "pay-it-forward" initiative. Customers are encouraged to buy a meal voucher to be given to a stranger that is less fortunate for them to have a free meal.

APSN president Victor Tay opened up about the uniqueness of the coffee shop, sharing that they adapt the farm-to-table menu. The staff is highly trained from basic hygiene, food preparation and also service skills.

"[We should] learn to shift away from that [mentality] where we hire [people with special needs] just based on compassionate grounds," Dr. Tay's said. "But then later cut their pay and remove them if they don't do a good job ... We need more evangelists [with similar models] to show that they've managed to do it well."
A mom had an extreme allergic reaction to hair treatment during her pregnancy. Jess Stratchan, 30, used hair dye before but something went wrong when she changed her hair color while five months heavy with a child.

Stratchan developed a bad reaction that caused her face to bloat and swell, and she could not open her eyes. Her husband, Stuart, rushed her to the hospital where staffers refused to medicate her because of her baby, as per Metro.

Stratchen then endured her allergies for three days. "My head felt so tight and hot, I was in so much pain," she said. "I thought I was going to die."

A visit to her pregnancy doctor confirmed her body reacted to the paraphenylenediamine chemical (PPD) found in hair dyes. Her doctor prescribed antihistamines safe for pregnant women to reduce the swelling. Her doctor also told her it was a good thing her allergies were external as she would've have harmed or lost her baby had it been internal.

A hair treatment during pregnancy is generally safe. According to the American Pregnancy Association (APA), however, pregnant moms should color or bleach their hair during the second trimester and not earlier. The agency also recommends using pure vegetable dyes, instead of chemical dyes as an added safety precaution.

APA also advised doing a patch test before proceeding with the whole treatment. Stratchen acknowledged she failed to do this because she had hair treatments with the same hairdresser for years. "Now I know this is not the case and a patch test should always be used as an allergic reaction can build up over years," she said.

Stratchen, fortunately, recovered from her allergies after a week. She welcomed baby Harry, a healthy 11lb 3oz baby, with huge relief. "I couldn't believe something as insignificant as coloring my hair could have killed my child," she said.
A friend of the court brief was filed today with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in reference to President Donald J. Trumps executive order on immigration. Im among the nineteen signatories. Professor Nathan Oman, Rollins Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Law and Markets at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, drafted the document. This is an introductory statement that he also wrote:

Earlier today a group of 19 scholars of law and religious history filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit attacking President Trumps executive order banning immigration from 6 Muslim nations. The brief emphasizes the dangers of targeting immigrants on the basis of religion, telling the story of the federal governments campaign against Mormon immigrants in the 19th century and its unfortunate legacy.

Mormons are often identified as political conservatives, but during the recent presidential campaign the Mormon Church took the rare step of issuing a critical press release in response to then-candidate Trumps call for a ban on Muslim immigration. The brief retells the history behind Mormons particular concern for religious minorities, and illustrates the evils of targeting Muslim immigrants and refugees or others on the basis of religion.

Further information, and the text of the brief itself, can be found here:

http://mormonscholarsbrief.blogspot.com/

Posted from Park City, Utah
TORONTO, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian real estate website Zoocasa.com today released findings from its inaugural Housing Sentiments and Trends Report. The report covers Canadian perceptions on foreign buyer tax, thoughts on housing affordability and home ownership as a life milestone, confidence in the housing market, and factors influencing home buying decisions such as commute times and nearby amenities.



Recent market fluctuations and policy changes aimed at controlling participation and entry into these markets have caused consumer and media interest to reach a fever pitch, says Lauren Haw, CEO of Zoocasa. This report is a look inside the heads and homes of Canadians, and should be a companion piece for those seeking a more in-depth understanding of our housing market and how it affects Canadians. The sentiments of Canadians become increasingly relevant in Ontario as we await added measures from the Government.

Affordability is the most noted obstacle to homeownership identified by respondents, with over half (54%) of aspiring buyers citing rising real estate prices as the primary obstacle for purchasing a property. Surprisingly, respondents in higher household income brackets $100,000 to $149,000  were most likely to be concerned about rising prices. The ability to earn income from a property was twice as important to aspiring buyers (23%) compared to those who bought in the past (12%).

Canadian fervor over foreign home buyers holds true across the country. According to the report, 61% of Canadians feel foreign buyers are driving up home prices in their city and 69% of Canadians support a foreign buyer tax. In Canadas hottest markets, 74% of those in British Columbia believe foreign buyers are driving prices and 75% support the tax, which was implemented in Metro Vancouver in August; in Ontario, 66% feel foreign buyers are driving up prices and 70% support a tax. In regions where fewer Canadians believe foreign buyers are affecting prices in their province, there is still a high level of support for taxation.

Increasing buyer competition, affordability challenges, and heavy commentary and warnings of market bubble conditions have Canadians feeling split on their outlook of the housing market: only 34% feel confident in Canadas real estate market, 29% are not confident, and 37% are not sure.

OTHER REPORT HIGHLIGHTS:

Are Canadians willing to make sacrifices for affordability?

Most Canadians said they would only add up to 30 minutes to their total daily commute for more affordable homes, but over 20% would delay life milestones, like having children, to purchase a property. Commuting time ranked higher in importance for aspiring owners (72%) than current homeowners (64%). For aspiring buyers, the proximity to roads/highways and public transportation was equal in importance (55%), higher than their desire to live near schools or school districts (39% vs. 44% for current owners).

Though affordability is a challenge, Canadians remain unwilling to purchase a stigmatized property to assist with cost: 6% would consider a home where a recent murder occurred, 7% where illegal drugs were produced, and just 15% would consider a home in a less desirable neighbourhood.

Who are Canadian real estate investors?

After Vancouvers decision in 2016 to implement a 15% tax, and as speculation continues around who is investing in Canadas real estate market, Zoocasa found the majority of investor respondents (67%) own just a single investment property (in addition to their primary residence). One-fifth own two homes for investment purposes, and just 13% reported owning three or more properties. The majority of respondents who are investment property owners are married (69%) and/or have a household income of over $100,000 (59%).

Homeownership remains an important life milestone:

Despite price challenges and a lack of confidence in the market, 83% of respondents said owning a home is an important life achievement, and over 66% feel people should own a property before age 35, with one-third saying the 31 to 35 age range is the prime time to buy.

While Canadians continue to prioritize home ownership, their savings may be off the mark. Of those respondents who are renters, 43% of respondents have under $5,000 saved for a down payment, and most (63%) are only saving $500 or less each month.

Housing hunting can be stressful:

Canadians agree that buying a home is a stressful process - but how does it stack up against other significant life decisions? Forty-eight per cent of Canadians agree that buying a home is more stressful than getting married, and 66% say that buying a home is more stressful than asking your boss for a raise.

Working with a real estate agent is one way to help mitigate home hunting stress. Eighty per cent of homeowners used a real estate agent in the home buying process, and 69% are repeat clients or were referred to a realtor from a family member or friend.

Zoocasa conducted an online survey of more than 1,100 Canadians from February to March 2017.

About Zoocasa

Zoocasa Realty Inc. is a Canadian real estate brokerage with a comprehensive search portal that ensures seamless service from first click to closing day. Zoocasa is the first online real estate company in Canada to focus on pairing technology with a full-service team. By combining a full-service real estate brokerage with sophisticated online tools and a home listings database, Zoocasa empowers Canadians to buy or sell their home faster, easier and more successfully.
Before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube made their entry in the media market, the PatnaDaily had already registered its presence in...
Patna: After days of protest and partial shutdown of petrol pumps in Patna district following a series of armed robberies and murders of the pump and their owners, authorities in the state capital on Wednesday arrested four men on charges of carrying out these crimes spanning last four months.

The arrested men were arrested from Fatuha-Daniyawan Road and were identified as Mintu Yadav, Jackie Yadav, Raj Kumar Yadav, and Ajit Kumar Yadav  all residents of Fatuah, a few miles east of Patna.

Police recovered five cell phones, two country-made pistols, six live cartridges, one rifle, several burglary tools along with nearly two kilogram of marijuana.

Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manu Maharaj said that the gang had admitted of committing crime at petrol pumps along with other heist they pulled in the past involving other businesses.

Police said the gang had nearly two dozen members and attempts were on to nab the remaining gang members.

As recalled, petrol pumps in Patna under the aegis of Patna Petroleum Dealers' Association (PPDA) had observed shut down on at least two occasions to protest rising crime against them.
Patna: Energy and Commercial Tax Minister Vijendra Singh Yadav, at a function in Patna on Wednesday, flagged off 20 ambulances with a price tag of nearly Rs. 1.74 crore donated by the Power Grid Corporation of India, Ltd, under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) scheme.

Yadav officially handed over the ambulances to the state Health Department while commending the Power Grid Corporation for this very generous act of theirs.

"Power Grid had previously donated six ambulances in the past and with 20 more ambulances, they have made it clear that they care about the people and are aware of their social responsibilities," the minister said.

Despite poor condition at nearly all government hospitals in the state, including the decaying Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), Yadav praised the Nitish government for bringing sweeping changes in the state's health care system.

Health Secretary R K Mahajan also praised the Power Grid for its humanitarian concerns saying the ambulances would prove to be a boon for patients who currently have to struggle to find a quick way to get to the hospital.

Power Grid Managing Director S N Sahay, Project Managing Director U P Sinha, and other senior officials were also present on the occasion.
Patna: Displaying his penchant for unfounded rumors and conspiracy theories, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav said that the case against former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Lal Krishna Advani, along with other party leaders of yesteryears, in the Babri Masjid demolition incident was revived by the Supreme Court at the behest of none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Explaining his theory, Yadav, speaking at a press conference in Patna on Wednesday, said that Modi did not want Advani to become the next President of India after reports surfaced in the media that the former Deputy Prime Minister was throwing his hat in the ring to seek the highest post in the nation.

"We all know that the CBI takes orders from the Prime Minister's office so it was at the tacit approval of Narendra Modi and the Sangh Parivar, the CBI approached the Supreme Court seeking permission to reopen the Babri Masjid demolition case against Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharati and others," the former Chief Minister of Bihar said.

Calling the Prime Minister a man who loved to play 'dangerous politics', Yadav said that if he could throw a man of the stature of Advani who belongs to his own party under the bus, why would he care about those who were not his supporters or were not a member of the BJP.

He also cast aspersion on some sort of conspiracy by Modi and his men for the 'failing health' of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"There should be a high-level probe into why Vajpayee has become physically weakened and debilitated?" Yadav said.

Incidentally, the former Prime Minister and the BJP patriarch, turned 92 last December.

The RJD chief, who is said to be getting increasingly concerned with the growing drumbeat of yet another financial scandal involving his entire family as leveled by his former colleague-turned-political arch-enemy Sushil Kumar Modi, tried to turn the table on the BJP slamming newly-elected Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath for talking about 'triple talaq' in the Muslim community.

"First of all, who in today's day and age marries three times when one can barely handle one wife, and secondly, even if someone follows the 'triple talaq' system, why does it bother other people. This is someone's personal matter and no one should be allowed to interfere in it. Moreover, it is intriguing why Yogi himself never got married," Yadav asked.
Less than a week ago, Microsoft began actively blocking users from receiving updates on PCs running Windows 7 or 8 with a modern Intel Kaby Lake or AMD Ryzen processor. Surprise! An open-source patch is already available that lets affected users start snagging Windows updates yet again. That sure didnt take long.

GitHub user Zeffy published a patch that supposedly defeats Microsofts block, as first spotted by techPowerUp. (PCWorld has not tested this patch.) What the patch boils down to is two flags: IsCPUSupported(void) and IsDeviceServiceable(void) . On an unmodified system running a Kaby Lake or Ryzen processor, Windows would discover that the CPU was not supported, and therefore the device was not serviceable. But with the patch applied, Windows is told that everythings fine and the hardware is supported.

Theres a lot more to it than that, of course, but it all centers around those two checks on a users system. The down side is that the patch supports a specific set of Microsoft updates. Zeffy also warns that the patch will have to be reapplied any time that Microsoft updates a file called wuaueng.dll. Zeffy also says the patch is likely to trigger SFC scannow errorsSFC stands for System File Checkbecause Windows will suspect the system has been compromised since youre messing with system files when using this patch.

The impact on you at home: Its possible this could turn into a cat-and-mouse game where Microsoft shuts down the patch and then developers make tweaks to keep it going. Thats if Zeffy and others keep working on it, and assuming the code doesnt get pulled from GitHub over legal claims made by Microsoft. If you really feel strongly about not using Windows 10 this patch may be worth it for you. Just be prepared to do a bit of work every month when it comes time to update your system. And dont forget to create a system restore point before letting this patch mess with your system files.
DALLAS, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Capital Senior Living Corporation (the Company) (NYSE:CSU), one of the countrys largest operators of senior living communities, today announced that management will make a presentation regarding the Company at the Deutsche Bank 42nd Annual Healthcare Conference at the InterContinental Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, on Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 1:10 p.m. Eastern time.



The presentation is also being audio webcast live and can be accessed on the Internet at http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/6m65bbdp through August 2, 2017. In addition, the webcast will be available for replay through the Companys Investor Relations section on their website at www.capitalsenior.com for a period of 90 days after the date of the presentation.

About the Company

Capital Senior Living Corporation is one of the nations largest operators of residential communities for senior adults. The Companys operating strategy is to provide value to residents by providing quality senior housing services at reasonable prices. The Companys communities emphasize a continuum of care, which integrates independent living, assisted living, and home care services, to provide residents the opportunity to age in place. The Company operates 129 senior housing communities in geographically concentrated regions with an aggregate capacity of approximately 16,500 residents.

For information about Capital Senior Living, visit www.capitalsenior.com.
The Minority in Parliament on Tuesday called for a full-scale parliamentary inquiry into the recent US$2.25 billion bond issued by the NPP government.



According to them the transaction lacked transparency and had the potential of adversely affecting the welfare of the people of Ghana.



Mr Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Spokesperson on Finance made the call at a Press conference organised by the group in reaction to Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumias assessment of President Nana Akuffo Addo first hundred days in office.



According to him, the NPP in 2015 criticised the NDC heavily for borrowing US$1 billion Eurobond at a coupon rate of 10.75 percent for 15 years (with World Bank Guarantee) to replace a portion of the 2007 Sovereign bond and some domestic bonds.



The Ministry of Finance recently issued a statement announcing that the government had successfully issued 15 and 7 year bonds with the same coupon rate of 19.75 percent, raising a total amount of US$1.13 billion.



In addition, the Ministry of Finance raised the cedi equivalent of US$1.12billion in five and 10 year bonds through a tap arrangement.



Mr Forson also warned that if the government failed to setup the Parliamentary inquiry into the matter, the group would have no option but resort to using the conflict of interest jurisdiction of the Commission on Human Right and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).



He said minority would exercise the option of filing a petition with the Financial Services Authority of the U.S.A to investigate Franklyn Templeton.



He said the minority had also pointed that the bond issue was clearly an international business transaction within the meaning of article 181 (5) of the Constitution and therefore expected that bond issuance would have been brought to Parliament for approval.



Mr Forson also stated that potential conflict of interest situation had arisen as a result of the relationship between Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister, who doubles as Director of Enterprise Insurance and Trevor G. Trefgame, a Board Director of Franklyn Templeton Limited and Chairman of Enterprise Group Limited.



He said the Franklyn Templeton Investment Limited recently participated in the purchase of almost 95 percent of the Government Domestic Bond, which the minority suspected was issued to favour his business partners.



He stated that the whole bond transaction was shrouded in secrecy to the extent that Ghanaian investors were denied the opportunity to participate in the deal. The bond was virtually participated by only two investors.



Mr Forson further questioned why a single investor, Franklyn Templeton, which is a non-resident investor that patronised both Domestic and Sovereign Bonds in the past, was allowed to purchase almost 95 percent of the latest Government Domestic Bond. The size of this virtual private placement made it akin to a sovereign bond or foreign loan.



He stated that Government Domestic Bond had a Hybrid (cedi/foreign) feature and therefore when non-resident investors bring in foreign currency at the time of purchase, they hold the equivalent cedi bond in the same implicit foreign currency.



He stated that in the past the book building approach for issuance of bonds the process was opened for a minimum of three days to ensure optional participation.



However, in the case of the US$2.25 billion bond issue, the process was limited to one day, denying other market players the opportunity to participate in the process.

Source: GNA









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Founder and leader of the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom has encouraged Ghanaians to patronize locally manufactured commodities to support the stability of our economy.



The CEO for Groupe Nduom stated that it is better for Ghanaians to develop an interest in buying locally produced rice compared to the imported ones.



Speaking on ATVs Ghana Great and Strong show the PPP leader educated viewers that locally produced rice were healthy as compared to the foreign brands.



The PPP stalwart noted that brands such as Champion long grain rice, Copa Jasmine long grain rice and the Edwumawura rice which are produced in Ghana were tastier to eat when cooked and served.



It is advisable to take a lot of water in addition to fibrous food like rice to prevent sickness in the body. Ghana is said to be an importer of rice to the tune of over 500,000,000 USD every year but rice is produced right here in Ghana, he said.



Dr. Nduom continued that brown rice is said to be extremely beneficial for the normal functioning of the nervous system and the production of sex hormones.



The PPP leader cautioned Ghanaians to develop the taste for local rice to enhance the production of rice in Ghana.

Source: ATV









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One hopes that President Akufo-Addo's government will do everything possible to maintain Ghanas reputation as a democratic nation in which due process and the rule of law prevail.



For a number of reasons it is now hard to resist the temptation to conclude that powerful hardliners in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) are manipulating state institutions to persecute targeted individuals associated with the erstwhile Mahama administration. That is intolerable in a democracy.



And it does absolutely no good at all to the credentials of a government that says it is pro-business and seeks to make the private-sector the engine of growth by promoting an entrepreneurial culture in Ghana.



The persecution of one of Ghana's leading business leaders, Ibrahim Mahama, flies in the face of all those platitudes. What sane investor will venture into a nation that treats one of its leading indigenous usiness leaders in such cavalier fashion, I ask?



Whiles no one connected with the previous government, who has committed any crimes must be allowed to get away with it, the presumption in our democracy is that one is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Always.



If investigations are being carried out into the affairs of Engineers and Planners, why should its CEO, Ibrahim Mahama, be treated as a convicted criminal - and sections of the media deliberately used to give the false impression that he ripped-off Ghana by using his connections with those in power whiles his brother served as Ghana's president?



Ibrahim Mahama, like all Ghanaian citizens, is entitled to his good name, whiles investigations of alleged past wrongdoing on his part are carried out.



The question is: Why is the presumption of innocence whiles investigations go on into the allegations made against him not being observed?



We should not allow the obsessions of the Kennedy Agyapong with Ibrahim Mahama's business dealings to ruin Ghana's reputation as a safe and welcoming investment destination - particularly at a time when Ghana needs investment in its real economy to boost growth, create wealth and jobs galore.



President Akufo-Addo must personally ensure that the persecution of Ibrahim Mahama by those powerful and extremist NPP members busy manipulating the system in their quest to destroy him ceases forthwith.



Above all, the more responsible sections of the Ghanaian media need to point out when reporting on such issues that the presumption must always be that Ibrahim Mahama is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.



Every decent and fair-minded Ghanaian must express his or her abhorrence and strong disapproval whenever Kennedy Agyapong's scurrilous allegations against Ibrahim Mahama are made and given wide coverage by Ghana's mercenary, rented-media that specialise in yellow journalism.



If he is guilty of any crimes against Ghana, in time, Ibrahim Mahama will pay for those crimes. No question. And that is fair enough.



However, whiles investigations go on, the persecution of Ibrahim Mahama by Kennedy Agyapong through the manipulation of state institutions and via the rented-media crowd must be condemned by all fair-minded Ghanaians.



This is a civilised nation of laws - not a banana republic run for profit by powerful individuals manipulating its system for their own selfish ends. In our democracy Ibrahim Mahama is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law - like all Ghanaian citizens: and thus entitled to his good name and dignity in the interim. After all, he may actually be innocent - despite Kennedy Agyapong's outrageous allegations against him







Source: Kofi Thompson/ghanaweb.com









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The Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin has dismissed claims that galamsey operators are digging under the palace at Kyebi in the Eastern region.



He further advised chiefs and politicians who are in the galamsey business to the extent of conniving with foreign nationals to desist from it to preserve the environment for future generation.



The Okyenhene Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin has been criticized for looking on as illegal miners destroy water bodies and lands in the Akyem Abuakwa state.



He has also been accused of engaging in galamsey and even allowing galamsay operators to mine beneath his palace. Speaking in an exclusive interview on TV3s, the Akyem Abuakwa overlord rubbished allegations that he condones galamsey and is involved in it.



People are saying the palace is being dug, go round it and see. If I wanted to do mining, I will take my land, I dont have to ask anybody, go to the minerals commission and secure proper license to do proper mining.



Why would I turn around and steal my land to engage in such dirt? he questioned. To ascertain the veracity of the allegation, the news team took a walk around the palace.



The east of the palace is a walk way and also shared a wall with other residents which make it impossible for galamsey activities to be undertaken there without residents noticing.



The west wing is the side of the main street that leads to the Kyebi funeral grounds as well as the Ghana Water Company pump station. The southern wing of the palace which has the back gate is adjacent the Doctor J. B Danquah street.



Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin who was optimistic the recent fight against illegal mining known as galamsey will be successful, stressed the need to preserve the environment for future generation.



Those who raise the question that what would they do when they dont do galamsey, what were they doing before? We need to make sure that we can plant trees or something more profitable. Short gain profits are destroying the future of our country.



Meanwhile, the three week ultimatum by the lands minister ends on Wednesday April 19, and government says it would develop a framework to ensure that Ghanaians in small scale mining operate under regulation.







Source: Newsday









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Pakistan Press Foundation (PFF), a non-governmental organisation working to promote and defend freedom of expression in Pakistan, has petitioned Ghanas President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to ensure justice for a Ghanaian freelance journalist who was allegedly assaulted by soldiers on March 6, 2017, during Ghanas 60th Independence Day celebration.



The petition dated April 13, 2017, and signed by PPF Secretary General, Owais Aslam Ali, made reference to a March 23, 2017 publication by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) on the assault. The publication had quoted the then Deputy Defence Minister Designate, Major Derek Oduro, to have promised investigations and redress.



While welcoming the assurance of Major Derek Oduro that the matter would be investigated and appropriate action taken, The PPF also urged President Akufo-Addo to ensure that the promise is kept.



We urge the government to vigorously investigate this matter and ensure that the perpetrators of the violence are punished, the group pleaded.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Some armed robbers attacked and robbed a University of Ghana, Legon lecturer, Dr. Benedicta Fosu-Mensah at gunpoint at her Ashongman residence on Sunday dawn.



Numbering about four, the robbers made away with cash and other valuables.



The lecturer narrating her experience at the hands of the robbers to Joy FM and said the robbers beat her up, threatened to kill her and took the familys vehicle.



The incident was said to have happened around 2am.



She heard some people jumping into her compound so she woke up to peep through the window, she said.



"I saw four men all armed. The one I had a good view of is one with AK47 rifle and they were trying to find a way into the room," she said.



She said at that time she started calling the police emergency number but there was no response and so tried calling her neighbour by which time they had started breaking through the burglar proof using cement blocks.



"It took them about 20 minutes to break the burglar proof by then I tried calling my neighbours but none of them were picking up. At that time, I started shouting 'armed robbers oo help, armed robbers ooo help," Dr Fosu said.



According to her, no one came around and the robbers succeeded in breaking the window, because the lock to that window was spoilt, so they made an easy job of it.



They then went for more blocks to hit the security door to the hall and came through straight to my bedroom.



"The first thing they demanded from me was my mobile phone and asked me for money and I gave them the only cash on me which is over GHc2000. They said the money was small and demanded more which I didn't have so they started slapping and beating me with the butt of the rifle," the disturbed lecturer said.



With a knife, they ripped apart her bed sheets which they used to tie her mouth and hands behind her before going on a frantic search in the house for valuables including jewelry.



Dr Fosu-Mensah who said she feared the worse quickly showed them her jewelry box but the robbers said that was not enough and they needed more.



According to her they collected the keys to her Toyota Rav 4 vehicle which was parked in the compound and tried to move it away but couldn't start the vehicle.



They returned to the room to demand for more cash and whilst searching, they found their way to garage and saw a Toyota Fortuner 4x4 vehicle parked there. They demanded the keys to the vehicle but when she told them the vehicle belonged to a friend and the keys were not in the house, they gave her some more beatings.



"I told them it was for my friend and he had left the keys with his friend. They did not take this lightly and started beating me the more with one saying that they should just kill me," Dr Fosu-Mensah said.



Fearing for her life after hearing them clock the gun, she told them about the spare key to the car which is in the house.



"So they took the car, my flatscreen TV, laptop, jewelry, mobile phone, camera and anything they could lay hands on including the stew I prepared for the Easter," she said.



The matter has been reported to the police and investigations are ongoing.













Source: myjoyonline.com









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Paga, Ghanas border town close to Burkina Faso, has been thrown into a state of shock after a proprietor of a filling station pulled out a pistol and lodged a bullet in the head of a pump attendant at a rival filling station.



Osman Paregavwa, who is now in police cells, is said to have stormed Quantum Petroleum, a filling station located along the Navrongo-Paga Road, around 9:30pm Monday to stop people from patronising fuel at that station. He reportedly drew a handgun from his pocket when one of the customers in a queue challenged him and fired two shots aimed at the customer.



The bullets missed his target who, after sensing danger at the time Osman was removing the gun from his pocket, had mounted his motorcycle and dodged his way out of the troubled yard. The second bullet hit one of the pump attendants, Moses Akazuo, in the head whilst everybody in the yard was diving for cover.



When the guy moved with the motorbike, Osman fired the second shot. That shot went straight into the head of one of my pump attendants. Osman forgot about the person he shot. He chased the one on the motorbike to the entrance of the filling station and fired again. He missed that one, too. When he returned and he saw the guy (the pump attendant) lying there, he started shedding tears, Assistant Director of the under-attack filling station, Stephen Ahorsu, told Starr News at Paga Wednesday.



Soaked in remorse, Osman rushed the unconscious pump attendant to the Navrongo War Memorial Hospital on a foreign-number Mercedes Benz car said to belong to his friend who reportedly was also at the scene.



The Navrongo War Memorial Hospital could not handle the case. It was referred that night to the Upper East Regional Hospital, about 40 kilometres away. The bleeding pump attendant, who arrived at Bolga around 12:00am on Tuesday, was moved from the emergency ward to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) from where he was referred to the Tamale Teaching Hospital in the Northern Region.



According to Mr. Ahorsu, there was no available ambulance to take the dying young man to Tamale. He said it took more than 7 hours before an ambulance came from Zebilla in the Bawku West District, after distress calls from the regional hospital, to convey him to the teaching hospital.



They called ambulance from Zebilla to convey the guy to Tamale. It was this morning around 2:00am Moses passed away, Mr. Ahorsu told Starr News Wednesday as he fought back tears. The departed pump attendant, who died in his early 30s and left behind a child, has been widely described as humble and hardworking.



His death has drawn outrage from relatives and co-workers who want justice to be done for Moses. Police at Paga say the case is being handled by the Upper East Regional Police Command.



Osman is a businessman in Paga here. We cannot tell why he did this! As you can see, we are all looking sad here. We are sad; you can see it. All we want is the law should take its course. The law must take its course. He came to the station, shooting to the extent of killing, the Assistant Director raged.



The yard of the filing station was as quiet as a graveyard when Starr News visited the scene of the tragedy Wednesday. The footwear Moses wore before the stray bullet hit him was still by the pump, near the blood that oozed from his head after Osmans multiple gunfire.

Source: starr FM









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Businessman Ibrahim Mahama has been ordered by the Economic and Organised Crime (EOCO) to deposit his passport with the state investigative body tomorrow, Wednesday April 19.



This was revealed by Ningo Prampram MP Sam George Nartey in an interview with Class FM on Wednesday April 18.



EOCO invited the Chief Executive Officer of Engineers and Planners, who is also brother of former President John Mahama, and interrogated him for several hours.



Mr Mahama received the invitation on Thursday April 13 and reported Tuesday morning but was still being interrogated late Tuesday afternoon.



According to sources, Mr Mahama was invited to answer questions over some dud cheques he issued to the customs division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) at the Tema Port to clear some heavy duty equipment he had imported.



Sam George, who was at the premises of EOCO, said: He was invited over some cheques that were issued to GRA. He has a standing arrangement with the GRA over some cheques he issued to them He has explained with his lawyers to EOCO and the issues have been understood fully and so arrangement have been made. He is supposed to present his passport tomorrow and then on Thursday he has a meeting with the EOCO boss.







Source: classfmonline.com









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English Norwegian

This is a correction of the announcement from 16:00 19.04.2017 CEST. Reason for the correction:

Updated with attachments included.

The ordinary general meeting of shareholders of Norwegian Finans Holding ASA will be held on Wednesday May 10, 2017 at 4.00 PM at the company's premises at Oksenyveien 3, Lysaker.

The notice is available at the company's internet site.

https://www.banknorwegian.no/OmOss/InvestorRelations/GeneralMeeting

Contact person:



Interim CEO Pal Svenkerud; +4793403904
Former Member of Parliament for constituency in the Eastern Region, Baba Jamal has stated categorically that former President John Mahama is the obvious choice for the opposition NDC in the 2020 Presidential race.



According to him, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is not prepared to start from the scratch by introducing a new Presidential Candidate in the 2020 elections as the party is poised to take over power from Nana Akufo-Addos government in the next general elections.



Speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, the former Deputy Minister for Employment and Labour Relations insisted former President Mahama is be the party's flagbearer even if he [Mahama] is not willing to contest again for the NDC.



If President Mahama says he is not contesting again, we will demonstrate against him; we will march to his house to demonstrate till he consents to contest for the party because we dont have any leader apart from him.".



If he doesnt contest who will be our flagbearer? he quizzed.



He was of the firm belief that former President Mahama will run on the ticket of the NDC due to his love for the party and the people of Ghana.



He again mentioned that the achievements of former President Mahama is comparable to none in terms of leaders of the country; thus making him the obvious choice for the party, especially when Ghanaians have already regretted electing President Akufo-Addo.

Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com









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Former majority leader in parliament, Alban K.S. Bagbin, has claimed he knew that a number of his colleague National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament (MPs) were going to be defeated in the 2016 general election, but stated that he was shocked that former President John Dramani Mahama lost the presidency to Nana Akufo-Addo.



You realized that my speeches at that time were focused on the Members of Parliament because I realized we were going to lose our numbers but not to this extentto me it was a shock, he asserted.



Mr. Bagbin, MP for Nadowli Kaleo, who is now the 2nd deputy speaker of parliament, told an online news portal  mynewsgh.com  that if anyone had predicted that Mr. Mahama was going to lose the December 7, 2016 contest, he would not have believed it.



For the president losing, yes it was shocking. What we saw and the experience in the 2016 election, there was no way a prophet could have convinced anybody President John Dramani Mahama was going to lose the elections, the former majority leader noted.



He said his criticism of then President Mahamas leadership style was never in bad faith, adding that it was meant for the NDC government to sit up.



What I did was to give early warning signs, ring the alarm bells that something was going wrong. In spite of our intellectual wealth, we still needed cool heads, knowledge and experience, and those were lacking in the leadership of the party, but some people understood me wrongly, a few things were done on my outcry but that was not enough, he said.



That is why I came out early enough but some people misunderstood me. The blame game is expected, but we are trying to reorganize and I can assure you we will bounce back in 2020, Mr Bagbin prided.



In a related development, a former Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Muniru-Limuna, has said Present Mahamas defeat could be self-inflicted.



He said he would not rule out the possibility that some elements within the party sabotaged the then president in order to make their presidential and vice presidential ambitions materialize.



I would not rule that out and I would not want to say that publicly. If I get the opportunity in any meeting that is indoors I can raise it. There were people who wanted John to fail so that they could push their agenda of being presidents, vice presidents and whatever, he stated but did not mention names.



Alhaji Limuna, who is the immediate-past Minister of Agriculture, said in spite of their shenanigans, ex-President Mahama, remains the best bet for the NDC in 2020.



He is the one who is spiritually and physically capable to lead the party to victory in 2020. It is either John Mahama or no one else. My prayer, however, is that he should accept to go as our candidate in 2020, despite claims by his family he will not run again, he told mynewsgh.com.

Source: Daily Guide









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The Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has described the Akufo Addo led-government as a superman government for claiming to have achieved 103 promises in its first 100 days in office.



According to him, the government has failed to deliver on some of its promises to Ghanaians and wondered why they (NPP) have managed to achieve 103 promises just within 100 days.



In some parts of the world, when a president is elected into office, his ministers are vetted within a short period of time and so achieving so many within 100 days isnt bad.



But here in Ghana, even within the transition period, the government was still selecting his ministers but at least the NPP government is best when it comes to having the full compliment of ministers but that cannot qualify for such massive achievements in just 100 days.



No one is expecting magic but the NPP are rushing too much. Or is the NPP telling Ghanaians that they are now superman government to be able to achieve so much in 100 days? he quizzed.





The Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia told a townwhall meeting organised by Joy News that the government has made 103 achievements within its first 100 days in office.



Christening it as one day, one achievement, the Vice President said even though the government did not make any specific promises for the first 100 days, it has been able to achieve some significant successes.



The event was organised to mark President Akufo-Addos first 100 days in office. Among the 103 achievements, Dr Bawumia pointed to the arrest of the cedi and decrease in debt among others.



We have arrested the cedi from running and have given the keys to the IGP, he said amidst laughter. He said the stabilization of the cedi has brought some relief to investors and business owners. He said government has upped the countrys foreign reserve from less than $6 billion to $8 billion.



This is the achievement and with that you have a lot more confidence in the economy and you see stability return to the currency.



But speaking on Adom FMs Morning Show Dwaso Nsem Thursday, Kwesi Pratt maintained that the first 100 days in office of the governing NPP is too short a period to judge the performance of the Nana Akufo Addo-led government.



The veteran journalist opined that 100 days is too short a period for all Ghanaians across the country to feel the impact of the actions and implementations of the Nana Akufo Addo-led government.



Mr. Pratt wondered why transport fares shot up under Nana Addos administration when he promised to alleviate the sufferings of Ghanaians.



He could not fathom why the government would reduce taxes on flights while transport fares were recently increased. According to him, only Ghanaians can judge the true impact of the implementations on the quality of life.



Mr. Pratt also wondered why the Vice President should be given such assignment when there are information ministers who could have managed it without any outcry from some section of the public.



And by the way, why should Dr Bawumia be given such assignment to handle? I am sure there is so much outcry out there because Bwumia chaired that meeting. Even Kojo Oppong and Mustapha Hamid were there with him, so why didnt you allow them to do the presentation? he quizzed







Source: adomonline









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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Dancehall king Shatta Wale has called the office of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) as Auntie Akosua bar after he visited American rapper, actor, businessman, and investor 50 Cents G-Unit office in New York, USA. Shatta Wales visit to America was an opportunity for him to meet 50 Cent and according to him way back in Ghana, I heard 50 Cent said he wants to meet me because he enjoys my music but I didnt believe it so well. His management knew I have my Shatta Movement management already.

They came with brand idea, they told me the man was so interested in me, he really wanted to have a meeting with me at the right time. A meeting was arranged between me and him (50 Cent) at his office. He was in a meeting with His team and lawyers.

We didnt have a lengthy chat, all he said was we going to sit down well and talk of what is ahead of us, he was happy and I was interviewed on one of His radio program on www.thisis50.com, he added Shatta Wale, who was being interviewed on Onua FM further stated that comparing 50 Cents G-Unit office in New York to the head office of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), his office looks like Movenpick Ambassador Hotel Accra whiles MUSIGA office looks like Auntie Akosua Bar.

Source: 3news.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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WARNING: This article discusses sexual assault.

Adau Mornyang, a 22-year-old-finalist in this years Miss World Australia competition, has revealed in a heartbreaking Facebook live video that she was raped as a teenager in Adelaide.

In the video, which has been viewed 36,000 times since Tuesday, Mornyang explains that she was assaulted by two male friends after she broke up with her boyfriend.

She explains that after her friends got her drunk, she blacked out, and came to lying on a concrete floor, listening to the two men talk about what they planned to do with her.

I couldnt move, she says in the video. My body just shut down. I knew what they were doing, taking turns. I was laying there crying to God that I just died. I just couldnt believe what was happening. I trusted these guys, I saw them as my brothers.

The hour-long video is harrowing to watch. Mornyang leaves the frame several times to collect herself, but shes incredibly brave to share her experiences with the thousands of people who follow her.

Speaking to Fairfax, she explained that she told her story publicly in order to start a conversation about sexual assault in the South Sudanese community.

I wanted to speak about it because I want our community to stop victim-blaming women for the actions of men. I suffered in silence without the support of anyone. Our community doesnt know much about sexual assault, they dont believe it [] and when they do, they blame it on the woman.

Source: The Age.

Image: Instagram / @adau_mornyang.

if you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, please call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
Gambling millionaire, MONA owner and eccentric genius David Walsh has weighed into the controversy over an upcoming performance at the Dark Mofo festival involving a freshly slaughtered bull by saying that public outrage is great for the Tasmanian economy.

The performance, directed by Austrian artist Hermann Nitsch, is described by MONA as a bloody, sacrificial ritual performed by the patriarch of Viennese Actionism, his devoted disciples and an orchestra. Its part of a long tradition of Nitschs works which use animal entrails to explore concepts related to sacrifice and rituals.

Animal activists arent super keen, though. Animal Liberation Tasmania kicked off a petition to call off the exhibition which raked in 14,500 signatures.

Walsh defended Nitschs performance in a social media post, implying that much of the critique is hypocritical.

Recently, there has been a rising tide of opposition to a Hermann Nitsch project planned for Dark Mofo. He uses a bull marked for slaughter to ritualistically cover a bunch of people in blood [] I expect the tide to keep rising. But stopping Nitsch wont stop me doing the sort of self-serving, status-enhancing, biologically bound good that I do through MONA. You should be protesting that, too. And you also should have a crack at getting your own house in order (as the Bible says). You should, of course, stop eating meat, and rapacious crops, and you should stop doing anything that has cost (economic, social or environmental). And you should take all the cash you squander and spend it buying mosquito nets, or some other efficient life-saving interventions. For, as the Bible also says, why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brothers eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?.

Nice. He also made a truly intoxicating proposition: perhaps Tasmania should stimulate its economy by randomly killing someone. Cant help but agree. Get on it, Tourism Tasmania.

Imagine I, David Walsh, go down into the gallery, kill someone at random, and call it art. A lovely ironic way to do this would be to put the suicide machine on display, but make it work. My defence would be: Its a work of art  a lesson in the complex consequences of immorality. What would happen to the Tasmanian economy? My guess is MONA would go from being well known globally to being a household word. Disaster tourism would drive MONA to the top of the charts, and Tasmanias economy would go along for the ride.

Forget the clean air and gorgeous scenery, folks. The real draw of tourism to Tasmania is David Walsh hypothetically committing a murder in MONA. I for one am all for it.

Source: ABC.

Photo: Dark Mofo.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this headline suggested Mr Walsh directly stated that murder is great for tourism, rather than implying it. PEDESTRIAN.TV regrets the error.
One police officer is dead and another two are seriously injured after a gunman opened fire in the Paris shopping district of Champs-Elysees. It comes only days before the French are due to vote in their presidential election.

Earlier reports suggested that two officers were dead, but Pierre-Henry Brandet, the interior ministry spokesman, confirmed that only one had died. He also confirmed that the gunman had been shot while attempting to flee the scene.

UPDATE: The police officer injured in the Champs Elysees shooting has now died. #9News https://t.co/QX9jAIwVyB pic.twitter.com/e0gHJsSinN  Nine News Australia (@9NewsAUS) April 20, 2017

Police allegedly have a name for the gunman, and it matches a suspect known to security services. However, a fingerprint match has not been conclusively established. The attackers home east of Paris is reportedly being searched.

A French government spokesman says the Paris assailant used a war weapon to fire on officers. Some reports suggest that it was an AK-47 rifle, but this is unconfirmed.

Police have issued an arrest warrant for another suspect who arrived from Belgium by train, according to Reuters.

Well keep you updated.

Source: The Telegraph.

Photo: Reuters.
The absolute fever pitch obsession with the McDonalds limited edition Szechuan sauce  released as a promo product for Mulan back in the heady days of 1998  has kinda subsided a little now that the Rick & Morty ep it featured in is receding into memory.

But that didnt stop some absolute maniac from lodging a winning bid of US$14,700 ($AUD19540) on a nearly 20-year-old packet of unopened sauce which the seller allegedly found in the back of their car.

I just bought a really old car, while cleaning it I found a packet of this sauce, the listing states. After watching the recent episode of Rick and Morty I went online to see if it was worth anything. Turns out it was. Also this comes with a packet of wasabi as well.

And a packet of wasabi? For the low, low cost of $14,700? That, my friends, is a steal.

They added in the listing a grave warning: I hope somebody who wants to eat some 20 year old gnarly sauce gets this. I would prefer not to sell it to a collector. Based on the fact that this person is paying literally nearly fifteen large for this sauce, I find it highly unlikely they are going to eat it.

Sorry to the folks who wanted to taste that sweet, sweet sauce without paying an insane amount of money for it. There are plenty of listings on eBay from people who have made their own (possibly toxic) approximations of the sauce, or you can pay a significantly lower price for a picture or drawing of the sauce.

Or you could just bug McDonalds on social media until they bring it back. Or  and this is a big, big ask  you could do literally anything else with your money and time.

Source: AV Club.

Photo: Rick & Morty.
Ask anyone about their bucket list, and theres a strong 8/10 chance see the Northern Lights is on there, probably up in the top 5. The elusive green sky show is one of those youll never forget it travelling experiences everyone wants in on, and the difficulty in getting a clear view is part of their appeal.

If youre anything like me, I just assumed the way to play things was to book in the viewable time period, go to one of the cities where you can see em, and roll on out within a couple of days. Turns out, its a little more complicated than that. Heres a solid guide on getting your perfect Northern Lights experience ticked off.

KNOWN WHEN AND WHERE TO GO

A post shared by Finland (@finland) on Jan 27, 2017 at 9:01am PST





You cant just plonk yourself in, say, Iceland and think thatll give you a solid chance of spotting the Northern Lights. Its definitely a timing + location thing, first up. Top spots recommended by experts and general travellers are Svalbard in Norway, Abisko in Sweden, Reykjavik in Iceland, Fairbanks in Alaska and Kakslauttanen in Finland. Northern Canada is also popular, so if youre headed to the States anyway, try the Alberta and Yukon areas.

In terms of timing, late September through to March is when you need to be planning your trip. Theyre visible between 6pm and 6am  although theres never a guarantee theyll put on a show.

GIVE YOURSELF A SOLID AMOUNT OF TIME THERE

A post shared by Iceland Travel (@icelandtravel) on Oct 24, 2016 at 11:25am PDT





Even if you go at the exact right time, to the perfect location, you have to consider the fact that theres plenty that can work against you when it comes to seeing the Northern Lights. Cloud cover, for one  if you hit up Finland and it happens to be cloudy nights for the three days you allocated to your trip? Not ideal. Give it at least a week, and just get out and enjoy the area. That way, even if you have the worst luck and miss them completely, you still had an amazing experience in a new place.

CHECK AURORA FORECASTS EACH DAY

A post shared by Explore Canada (@explorecanada) on Oct 25, 2016 at 7:09am PDT





Aurora forecasts are like weather ones, but for the Northern Lights. Theyll indicate the likelihood of the lights coming out to play each night, and show you the areas that theyll probably show up. Obviously, like weather, theyre not going to be 100% but theyre great gauge. Alaskas one is here, and Finlands meteorological institute has their own site which gives constant updates, too.

SET YOUR ALARMS

A post shared by Daniel (@dansade) on Feb 12, 2017 at 9:34am PST





One thing a lot of people dont realise is that the Northern Lights wont appear necessarily at dusk, and then fade out at dawn. Sometimes, they just pop up for an hour or so in the middle of the night. So your best bet, if you really wanna catch em, the night is clear and its looking like a goer, is to set your alarm. Hourly. Yep, you wont get a decent snooze but you will have a solid chance of getting in on the action.

TAKE SOME QUALITY EQUIPMENT

A post shared by Explore Canada (@explorecanada) on Mar 20, 2017 at 5:03pm PDT





Look, you miiiight be able to get a solid pic with your iPhone. But if you really want a breathtaking, triple-Insta-likes kind of photo of the lights then you need to invest in some more profesh stuff. Photographer Dave Morrow has some intensive tips for professional and amateur photogs on his site when it comes to catching the lights. His absolute must haves? A sturdy tripod, a camera with Manual Mode functionality, a wide angle lens and a full frame/35 mm camera.

GET AWAY FROM LIGHT POLLUTION

A post shared by When In Iceland (@wheniniceland) on Apr 1, 2017 at 11:00am PDT





Anyone familiar with taking night pics knows light pollution is the bloody devil when it comes to getting clear shots of stars and cool galaxy related stuff. Same goes for the Northern Lights  you need dark skies for them to have the clarity thatll make for a solid pic. Sites like Dark Site Finder and Blue Marble Light Pollution will show you the areas in the country youre in that are most likely to have minimal light pollution. PSA though that the data is old, so dont take em as law.

Would you jet set outta here right now to catch em, if you had the spare $$? Why not enter our lil comp with Set for Life right here  you could win $20k:

HERE IS YOUR CHANCE TO WIN $20K! ENTER HERE NOW!

Image: Getty / Universal History Archive.
Get ready for some mammoth tunes coming out of the mouth of a pint-sized performer, Australia. Your mate and ours Ariana Grande  known both for her tunes and that time she licked a donut without paying for it  is coming down to Australia in 2017.

Its no surprise for the fans: Grande pledged back in September that she was keen to bring her Dangerous Woman Tour Down Under. Happy days.

Lock n load. We dont know who her support acts will be at this point, given that her US tour supports Little Mix have bit her a fond adieu.

Here are your dates:

Tuesday, 5th September

Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

Thursday, 9th September

ICC, Sydney

Sunday, 12th September

Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane

Tix will be available via Live Nation. General sales start at 2pm on the 28th April. Get yourselves ready.

Source: Facebook.
AUSTIN, Texas, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SolarWinds, a leading provider of powerful and affordable IT management software, today announced its participation at Percona Live, April 24-27, 2017, in Santa Clara, California. At the event, SolarWinds database performance evangelist and Oracle ACE, Janis Griffin, will present on best practices for performance tuning MySQL on Thursday, April 27, from 1:50-2:40 p.m. PDT.



Our research shows that databases are one of the top three infrastructure elements IT organizations are migrating to the cloud. While virtualized environments offer many benefits, they also introduce challenges for database professionals as they have less visibility into virtualization configuration and how it impacts performance, said Janis Griffin, database performance evangelist, SolarWinds. Im looking forward to sharing my expertise with the Percona community through my session on MySQL Query tuning where Ill be providing advice for optimization and tuning to accelerate database performance.

Visit SolarWinds at Booth 509

At the event, the company will showcase SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer (DPA), which now provides added support for Microsoft Azure SQL and AWS Aurora RDS databases. Product experts will also be available to offer demonstrations of SolarWinds DPA for MySQL and show off functionalities, including:

Agentless architecture in MySQL development, test, staging, and production environments, providing information of where the bottlenecks are and enhancing collaboration

Wait-time analytics and Multi-Dimensional Performance Analysis  , to help identify the root cause of complex problems and improves the performance of on-premises, virtualized, cloud, or hybrid IT application environments

, to help identify the root cause of complex problems and improves the performance of on-premises, virtualized, cloud, or hybrid IT application environments Availability on the Azure Marketplace, thousands of organizations running millions of Azure SQL Database instances can now benefit from these capabilities with simplified deployment typically in minutes

Join "Does your performance tuning need a 12-step program?"

With over 25 years of database administration experience, including design, development, and implementation, Griffin will share her secrets for determining the best approach for tuning queries on Thursday, April 27, from 1:50-2:40 p.m. PDT at Room 209. Attendees will learn how to:

Quickly recognize bottlenecks and get clues on the best tuning approach

Use SQL diagramming techniques to find the best execution plan

Identify inefficient operations through review of query execution plans

Additional Resources

Connect with SolarWinds

About SolarWinds

SolarWinds provides powerful and affordable IT management software to customers worldwide, from Fortune 500 enterprises to small businesses, managed service providers (MSPs), government agencies, and educational institutions. We are committed to focusing exclusively on IT, MSP, and DevOps professionals, and strive to eliminate the complexity that our customers have been forced to accept from traditional enterprise software vendors. Regardless of where the IT asset or user sits, SolarWinds delivers products that are easy to find, buy, use, maintain, and scale while providing the power to address key areas of the infrastructure from on-premises to the cloud. This focus and commitment to excellence in end-to-end hybrid IT performance management has established SolarWinds as the worldwide leader in both network management software and MSP solutions, and is driving similar growth across the full spectrum of IT management software. Our solutions are rooted in our deep connection to our user base, which interacts in our THWACK online community to solve problems, share technology and best practices, and directly participate in our product development process. Learn more today at www.solarwinds.com.

The SolarWinds, SolarWinds & Design, Orion, and THWACK trademarks are the exclusive property of SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC or its affiliates, are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other SolarWinds trademarks, service marks, and logos may be common law marks or are registered or pending registration. All other trademarks mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only and are trademarks of (and may be registered trademarks of) their respective companies.

 2017 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
Fifty years ago a Camp Hill School District teacher took her sixth-grade class on a field trip.

This was no ordinary field trip - Mary Ann McHale in 1968 convinced the school board to allow her to take her Hoover Elementary School students on an overnight outdoor education trip to Camp Tanalo in the Pocono Mountains in Monroe County.

What McHale started 50 years ago continues to this day with Camp Hill sixth-graders learning about the outdoors by fishing, snorkeling, hiking, bug catching, swimming, shooting archery, studying plants, sleeping in cabins and singing around a campfire.

Current Camp Hill Outdoor Education Program Director Chad Gallaher provided this history of the program:

1968: Started by Mary Ann McHale at Camp Tanalo, Monroe County

1974: Moved to Camp Sno-Hill in Wayne County

The next 10 years: Eisenhower Elementary School students joined and Schaffer and Lincoln elementary schools started their own at Camp Shikellamy in upper Dauphin County.

1979: The district combined the programs, sending all sixth-graders to Camp Sno-Hill

1980: Moved to Camp Tegawitha in the Poconos

1995: Camp Tegawitha closed and the program moved to Camp Canadensis, in Monroe County

"Over the past 50 years, approximately 4,500 Camp Hill kids have experienced the joy of getting their feet wet in mountain creeks, the thrill of hiking through pristine forests and the excitement of studying the abundant plant and animal life of beautiful northeastern Pennsylvania," Gallaher said.

Students spend three days and two nights at Camp Canadensis in late May.

Other educators and volunteers involved have included Essie Witmer, Dick Lundvall, Jay Cleveland, Harold Hengst, Jane Santor, Jim Ramsey, Reed Ernst, Mike Nelson Sr., Rob Coffman, Chuck Johnson, Tom Decker, Joy Grant and Dr. William Freed.

The students help to raise money to pay for their trip. The district provides $5,000 and The Camp Hill Community Foundation, the Lion Foundation and The Blue Mountain Chapter of the Safari Club also have contributed.

The annual Camp Canadensis spaghetti dinner fundraiser will be held 4-7 p.m. April 23 in the middle school/high school cafeteria, 100 S. 24th St., Camp Hill. Cost is $5. The event also includes a basket raffle.
Now that its warming up, you might want to consider visiting some of the natural wonders around Pennsylvania.

The state has a number of beautiful sights to take in, such as the view on top of Mount Tammany and in the all-water caverns of Penns Cave. There are also several natural curiosities, such as the boulder field in the Pocono Mountains and the ice mine just outside of Coudersport.

Here is a look at 13 of these wonders and what makes them special.

Don't Edit

Jim Cheney | Special to PennLive.com

Pine Creek Gorge

Pine Creek Gorge, also known as the "Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania," stretches at least 50 miles long and 1,000 feet deep through both Tioga and Lycoming counties, according to VisitPA.com and PennLive travel columnist Jim Cheney.

Sure, the name "Grand Canyon" conjures up images of the national park in Arizona, but the one in Pennsylvania is a different kind of natural wonder. Take a climb to one of its overlooks in either Leonard Harrison or Colton Point state parks, and you'll be treated to amazing views of the rolling, wooded Appalachian Mountains.

Pine Creek Gorge also has nature trails, waterfalls and an abundance of wildlife, such as deers, snakes and bears. If youre lucky, you might even see a bobcat or a river otter.

Don't Edit

Jim Cheney | Special to PennLive.com

Penn's Cave

Sure, Penns Cave in Centre Hall might be filled with water, but that doesnt mean you cant look at whats inside.

You can take a boat tour of the state's only all-water cavern, which has a number of glittering stalactites and stalagmites, according to its website. Some are said to resemble familiar shapes, such as "The Statue of Liberty."

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Ringing Rocks Park

Hardly anyone would visit a park just for its rocks, but the ones at Ringing Rocks Park in Bucks County are different.

They sing when you hit them.

These rocks can be found in an open field at the 120-acre park, according to previous reporting by PennLive. About a third of the rocks that are struck will ring out, according to Visit Philadelphia. Those that do are called "live rocks," and those that don't are called "dead rocks."

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Coudersport Ice Mine

The rest of Pennsylvania may be warming up, but the Coudersport Ice Mine is only beginning to chill out.

Ice forms in the mine just outside of Coudersport in early April and continues to do so as the weather warms up, according to previous reporting by PennLive. It only begins to melt in September, and there's only a residual amount left during winter.

Despite that, the mine has never been used to harvest ice.

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Boiling Springs

The springs in the village of Boiling Springs arent literally boiling, though they sure look like it.

The springs bubble with 52-degree water, which in turn feeds into a seven-acre lake, according to previous reporting by PennLive. That lake, in turn, feeds into a popular fly-fishing stream that's called the Yellow Breeches.

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Boulder field in Hickory Run State Park

Heres another natural wonder with rocks, though people are drawn to this one because of how it looks.

The Hickory Run State Park in the Pocono Mountains has a field that's literally made up of boulders, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Its about 400 by 1,800 feet and at least 12 feet deep. The fields surface is uneven as its made up of loosely packed boulders that are each about four feet in diameter, though some can be as big as 25 feet in diameter. There is no sand or clay filling in the spaces in between each of these boulders.

Don't Edit

Jim Cheney | Special to PennLive

Raymondskill Falls

Raymondskill Falls is one of the tallest waterfalls in Pennsylvania at 150 feet, according to previous reporting by PennLive. There are observation decks at the top and just above the lowest drop of the waterfall, which offer excellent views.

Don't Edit

The seven waterfalls, accessed via a series of trails and rustic bridge, have been nicknamed "The Niagara Falls of Pennsylvania." (Courtesy of David W. Coulter Photography)

Bushkill Falls

You dont get to be called The Niagara Falls of Pennsylvania just for being a trickle.

Bushkill Falls is a series of waterfalls in the Delaware Water Gap, according to previous reporting by PennLive. There are a number of well-developed trails you can take to get a good look at them. However, these are the only waterfalls in the state that have an admission fee.

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Archbald Pothole

The Archbald Pothole State Park is what remains of a massive glacial movement during the Ice Age in Lackawanna County, according to previous reporting by PennLive. The melting ice had left a hole in the ground that's nearly 40-feet deep and 42-by-24 feet at its widest point.

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Bilger's Rocks

Bilger's Rocks is one of the most interesting rock outcroppings in Pennsylvania, especially when you consider that Paleo-Indians once used it for shelter, according to Uncovering PA. During the warmer months of the year, you can even camp next to the rocks, according to previous reporting by PennLive.

The formation in Clearfield County also has a number of rock carvings, including one of the Americas carved shortly after World War I.

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(Courtesy of Michael Gadomski)

Mount Tammany

Take a trip up to the overlook and you'll be treated to a view of the Kittatinny Ridge and four of Pennsylvania's physiographic provinces, including the New England Province, Piedmont Province, Ridge and Valley Province and the Appalachian Plateaus Province, according to previous reporting by PennLive.

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Marion E. Brooks Natural Area

The Marion E. Brooks Natural Area is a 917-acre tract that's filled with mature white birch trees in Benezette Twp. in Elk County, according to previous reporting by PennLive. The best time to take in the forest is during winter, when the leaves have all fallen off and there's snow on the ground to emphasize how white the landscape is.

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(Photo courtesy of Sandra Fenton)

Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve

Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve has over 800 species of trees, shrubs and wildflowers that are native to Pennsylvania, according to previous reporting by PennLive. That's in addition to over 100 species of birds throughout the preserve south of New Hope in Bucks County.

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Looking for more on nature in Pennsylvania?

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Authorities say a 15-year-old Tennessee girl who disappeared with her teacher last month has been found safe in California and the teacher has been arrested.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation tweeted Thursday that teacher Tad Cummins had been taken into custody. The agency said it would provide more details in a press conference later.

Elizabeth Thomas disappeared from her home near Columbia on March 13. Columbia is about 45 miles south of Nashville.

Court papers filed recently in the girl's disappearance say she was afraid of the teacher and thought she would face repercussions at school if she resisted him.
Outraged voters shouting in disagreement or "do your job" were nowhere in sight; neither were the protesters or the posters with messages of disapproval. No armed security guards were posted at the rear, and really everyone was civil, courteous and friendly.

Sen. Bob Casey Jr., a Democrat, on Wednesday evening held a townhall - but this was a friendly one.

The live audiences - one in the ABC27 Harrisburg studio and others at three other TV news stations - were a far cry from the contentious townhall events that other Congressional lawmakers have been facing in recent months.

Casey was invited to participate in the townhall by the TV stations, including WYOU-TV in Wilkes-Barre.

Casey, who has recently held three townhalls in Pennsylvania, more than any other congressional delegate from the state, had nothing to do with either the audience or questions selection. Audience members, who were selected by the TV stations included voters from across the political spectrum, including independents.

ABC27 news anchor Dennis Owen noted that an invitation has been extended to Sen. Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania's Republican senator. He said he hopes Toomey accepts.

Casey, the state's senior senator, fielded questions that ranged on issues from tax reform, entitlement reform, party politics and his views on a handful of Trump administration policies.

Casey stayed on script with regards to his stance on the wide range of issues, including his votes for what he called "common sense" gun control laws in the wake of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

"To do nothing would basically be saying to the world that the U.S. Senate and the federal government can do nothing to stop the massacre of 20 children...to say we can do nothing in my judgment is a mistake," Casey said.

About the only form of protest took place just moments before the start of the townhall when Dauphin County GOP Chairman Dave Feidt held a press conference in front of ABC27's building. Feidt excoriated the Democratic lawmaker for what he said was his recent hard turn to the far-left" and his failure to represent Pennsylvania.

"Why are you driving so far to the left," Feidt asked, standing behind a podium outside of the ABC27 studio in Harrisburg, where the townhall is to take place. "Your dad who you used his name for many years was known as a moderate. He fought Planned Parenthood and you continue to drive to the left."

Feidt accused Casey of staying in step with Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

Members of Pennsylvania's congressional delegate have faced angry crowds in recent months. Toomey recently faced angry protest groups at an event in Pennsylvania. Rep. Scott Perry, R-4, in March faced angry backlash from his constituents during a townhall event in York County.

Casey, who is up for re-election in the 2018 midterm elections, at a recent Philadelphia event displayed a decidedly aggressive demeanor, which has been evident since the election of President Donald Trump, but that persona was no where in sight on Wednesday.

Casey had no cause to get riled up, although he was to the point on his opposition to almost all GOP proposals.

"I don't think there is proposal on Medicare or Social Security put forth by the GOP that I agree with," Casey said, reaffirming his staunch opposition for the GOP goal to privatize Social Security.

He said he would continue to fight against any "hair brained scheme" to dismantle Medicare or Medicaid.

Casey lauded the resurgence of citizen activism, calling it good for democracy.

Asked by an audience member his opinion on what works and what doesn't work in terms of that activism, Casey said, "Keep doing what you have been doing. Keep engaging as you have and sustain that over time... even when your point of view is not validated, it's critically important that you stay focused on getting results."

Casey noted that the "one policy" under which the GOP and Democrats can come together is job creation. He said Congress must once and for all invest in infrastructure.

"We should do all of it and we should start on it right now," he said. "I don't know why the president won' join us on this. I hope he will."

To date, two Republicans - both state House representatives have declared their intentions to challenge him in 2018: Rep. Jim Christiana, who has served in the state House since 2009, and Rep. Rick Saccone.

Casey has generally opposed Trump's policies, direction and appointments, including most recently Supreme Court pick Neil Gorsuch.

He said he voted against Gorsuch because he felt his judicial philosophy was far too right and extreme, and that it favored corporate interests over that of voters.

"I wish him well in court and hope he will not tilt the court further in the direction of corporate interests," he said.

Casey railed against the GOP's attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

Casey has increasingly become a target of conservative groups, which are taking aim at Democratic lawmakers facing re-election next year. Most recently Concerned Veterans for America targeted Casey and fellow Democratic Senator Bill Nelson (Fla.) for their opposition to Gorsuch's confirmation.

Democrats are enjoying momentum, but with the midterm elections still a ways away and little wiggle room for recapturing the Senate, liberals like Casey are wasting no time, particularly given that Pennsylvania, traditionally a blue state in presidential races, went red for Trump.

Republicans hold a slim majority in the Senate, with 51 Republicans to 48 Democrats. For the Democrats to win the majority in the midterms, they would need to hold on to those seats while grabbing three seats away from the GOP. Only eight Senate Republicans are up for re-election next year.

Casey said he would continue to fight against the Trump administration's plans to slash budgets for Agriculture, Justice, Education and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Editor's Note: This report was updated to clarify that Sen. Casey did not select the audience nor questions.
Ceremonial Bugle

An Airman plays a recording of Taps on a ceremonial bugle outfitted with an electronic device in Philadelphia in March. Every day at around 8 p.m., Glen Rock Borough resident, councilman and veteran Joshua Corney plays a 57-second recording of 'Taps' through an outdoor speaker at his house, which is drawing the ire of his neighbors.

(Matt Rourke, AP file photo)

UPDATE

Every day at around 8 p.m., Glen Rock Borough resident, councilman and veteran Joshua Corney plays a 57-second recording of 'Taps' through an outdoor speaker at his house.

In previous interviews, Corney, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he plays 'Taps' in remembrance of others who have died or served in the military.

But the practice has drawn the ire of several other residents who live near him.

Borough Councilwoman Victoria Ribeiro, in an email Wednesday, said that she had planned to read a letter at Wednesday night's borough council meeting on behalf of some area residents who question whether playing the recording violates the borough noise ordinance. She said a number of local residents had reached out to her with complaints.

But she said she would not read the letter after a Facebook post by Corney, asking people to come out to last night's borough council meeting to hear discussion of the issue drew what she called an "extreme" reaction, including people suggesting those opposed to playing the music were un-American, or should move from the borough.

"Because of the huge, largely negative reaction they witnessed, and because of the backlash directed at me for representing them, [those who complained about the playing of 'Taps'] are horrified and want nothing more than for this all to stop," Ribeiro said.

Ribeiro said she believes that Corney's amplified record violates the borough's noise ordinance, which prohibits the playing of "radios, televisions, amplifiers, and other sound devices so as to be heard beyond the boundaries of the property from which said shall emanate" that annoys or disturbs other people.

She claims the recording plays at a level of about 80 decibels at some neighboring homes, and about 65 decibels at her home about a mile away.

"Just because something is popular doesn't make it right," Ribeiro's letter states.

Corney told the York Daily Record that he has spent about $2,000 moving, redirecting and slightly changing the volume of the speakers in response to complaints.

If playing the recording violates the borough noise ordinance, Corney suggested that church bells and Christmas carolers also may be in violation.

Corney said he's pleased at the expressions of support he's received.

"It makes me very happy," Corney said, according to the York Daily Record. "I thought I would probably get a lot of people complaining about this. It makes you feel good that the majority of people are supporting this."

Corney has been playing the recording through the speaker since at least October 2015, according to Ribeiro, and minutes from previous borough meetings show that at least one other resident has objected to the practice.

In her letter, Ribeiro is asking her other council members to require Corney to cease the playing of "Taps."

"If he would like to discuss alternatives that fit within the ordinance, or if he would like to request an exception, he is welcome to do so at any time," she wrote.
Penn State suspended recognition of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity for at least two years following what university officials say were multiple violations by the fraternity of the university's rules on alcohol use on April 1.

The university had banned alcohol at fraternity social events for the spring semester following the death of a student, Timothy Piazza, on Feb. 4. Piazza become intoxicated during Pledge Night at Beta Theta Pi fraternity and fell down a set of stairs.

Fraternity members put Piazza on a couch, but the brothers didn't call for help for almost 12 hours. Piazza died of his injuries the next day.

Penn State students and community members honor the life of student Timothy Piazza during a candlelight vigil hosted by the Interfraternity Council on the Old Main patio in State College, Pa. on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017. Cameron Hart, For PennLive

The university instituted a moratorium on alcohol at fraternity events, but officials decided to grant fraternities an exception for Parents Weekend, April 1.

The university laid down certain rules, however: limitations on size of the gatherings, type of alcohol served, and length of time a Parents Weekend social could be held. In addition, the criteria for a Parents Weekend event was that a third-party licensed vendor to serve alcohol to individuals of legal age. No additional groups or people beyond those hosting the event and their families could attend.

"Sigma Alpha Mu knowingly violated every rule that was imposed," said Damon Sims, Penn State vice president for Student Affairs.

Sigma Alpha Mu's violations include excessive drinking, involving hard liquor, with no third-party server; open access to alcohol with no monitoring; and permitting guests other than fraternity members, their parents and family to attend. The violations were first detailed in an "Open Letter to Penn State's Greek Community" from Penn State President Eric Barron on April 10.

The suspension means the university no longer recognizes the fraternity, and it has no privileges as a student organization, said university spokeswoman Lisa Powers.

Sims said in a news release that he and others in Penn State Student Affairs have met with Sigma Alpha Mu leadership and its adviser about the problems. The fraternity president acknowledged the violating the rules. In addition, a review of the circumstances also has involved a conversation with the fraternity's national leadership.

"In a gesture of trust, we believed that Parents Weekend would be the appropriate way to pilot new regulations and gain cooperation from the Greek-letter community," Sims said. "Unfortunately, this fraternity egregiously took advantage of its trial opportunity, despite our clear expectations and the well-publicized consequences for violations.
Swedish Finnish English

Mariehamn, 2017-04-20 13:00 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --



Viking Line Abp DECISIONS OF GENERAL MEETING 20.4.2017, 2.00 PM



ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF VIKING LINE ABP

The Annual General Meeting of Viking Line Abp was held at 12 noon today, April 20, 2017 in Mariehamn, Aland, Finland. The Meeting adopted the parent company financial statements and the consolidated financial statements and approved the proposal of the Board of Directors that a dividend of  0.40 per share be paid for the financial year January 1  December 31, 2016. The record date for dividend payment is Monday, April 24, 2017 and the payment date is Tuesday, May 2, 2017. The Meeting discharged the Board of Directors and the President from liability for the financial year.

Peter Wiklof was elected as a new member of the Companys Board of Directors. Wiklof replaces Trygve Eriksson, who declined re-election. The Companys other Board members and deputy Board members were re-elected, and the Board of Directors thus has the following composition until the end of the next Annual General Meeting: Ben Lundqvist (Chairman), Nils-Erik Eklund, Erik Gronberg, Agneta Karlsson, Dick Lundqvist, Lars G Nordstrom and Peter Wiklof plus deputy members Ulrica Danielsson, Stefan Lundqvist and Johnny Rosenholm.

Ylva Eriksson, Authorized Public Accountant (CGR) and Petter Lindeman were re-elected as auditors, and PricewaterhouseCoopers Oy, Authorized Public Accountants, was re-elected as deputy auditor.



VIKING LINE ABP





Jan Hanses

President and CEO
David Serrano-Munoz.JPG

David Serrano-Munoz

(Pa. Megan's Law website)

State police have located a 16-year-old York County girl who ran away from her foster home to be with a registered sex offender from Philadelphia that she met on social media.

Authorities are now searching for David Serrano-Munoz, 38, of West Ruscomb Street, state police said.

The girl ran away from her foster home in Shrewsbury Township on Feb. 19 and was picked up in the area by Serrano-Munoz and taken to Philadelphia, police said.

The girl was found on April 5. Further information was not provided.

Police said Serrano-Munoz was aware of the girl's age, had sexual contact with her, received numerous naked photographs of the girl and tattooed her.

According to the Pennsylvania Megan's law website, Serrano-Munoz was convicted in 2000 of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.

Anyone with information about Serrano-Munoz is asked to contact state police at 717-428-1011.
dave feidt

Dauphin County GOP Chairman Dave Feidt blasts Sen. Bob Casey.

(James Robinson/PennLive)

The head of the Dauphin County Republican Committee on Wednesday excoriated Pennsylvania's senior U.S. senator for turning "to the far left" and failing to represent his constituents.

Speaking shortly before a televised townhall with Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., Dauphin County GOP Chairman Dave Feidt accused the lawmaker of steering to the extreme left.

"Why are you driving so far to the left," Feidt asked, standing behind a podium outside of the ABC27 studio in Harrisburg, where the townhall is to take place. "Your dad who you used his name for many years was known as a moderate. He fought Planned Parenthood and you continue to drive to the left."

Feidt accused Casey of staying in step with Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

"We no longer have time for this far-left, out of touch nonsense that Bob Casey, Elizabeth Warren and Nancy Pelosi are espousing," he said. "We showed them that Donald Trump was bringing in a refreshing set of ideals that were not far left."

Casey, a two-term senator, is up for re-election in 2018.

Casey's townhall - scheduled for 7 p.m. - was being broadcast live by WYOU-TV in Wilkes-Barre, with a live studio audience feed from three other stations across Pennsylvania, including ABC27 in Harrisburg.

WYOU reporter Andy Mehalshick is scheduled to moderate the townhall.
Harley.JPG

Works assemble the powertrain of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in the York, Pennsylvania, factory. (Photo used with permission from Harley-Davidson Motor Co. March 30, 2016

(File photo)

The news Thursday that Harley Davidson was laying off 118 workers in York is part of a larger plan by the company to consolidate production on a single line of motorcycles, which should save costs for the iconic American motorcycle company.

The 118 jobs lost in York will be added to the company's workforce in Kansas City, Mo., as part of a plan to shift production of Harley-Davidson cruisers to the midwest plant. Beginning next year, the company said York will build all touring and trike motorcycles, while Kansas City will build cruiser and middleweight motorcycles.

"Producing all cruisers in a single location reduces capital costs and eliminates redundancy of tooling and equipment," the company said in a statement. The company said that affected workers in York were told of the line shift in 2015, and no other layoffs are planned at this time.

The company is looking to cut costs as motorcycle sales have dropped in recent years -- primarily in the US, where more than half of the company's sales occur.

The following chart shows the changes in sales during the first quarter of each of the last several years:

Harley-Davidson has focused in increasing ridership internationally. And while the company has seen sales gains in some areas -- Latin American sales were up 24% in the first quarter of this year -- those increases have not been enough to offset lower sales volumes in the U.S. Last year U.S. retail sales were down 3.9 percent, while international sales increased by 2.3 percent.

According to remarks by Harley-Davidson CEO Matt Levatich, the company's longterm goals are focused on growing its international business to equate to half of its annual volume.
Dr_Hillemeier.jpg

File photo of Dr. A. Craig Hillemeier, the CEO of Penn State Hershey Medical Center and dean of Penn State College of Medicine.

(PennLive archives)

Penn State Hershey Medical Center's CEO wants it to be as easy as possible for people all over central Pennsylvania to enter the system. And although he didn't frame it as such, that would seem critically necessary as the system prepares to face competitors from outside the region that will likely lay claim to being the best provider of the highly-advanced care that has long been Hershey Med's main draw.



So with at least the first objective in mind, Hershey Med will continue forging closer relationships with doctors and health care providers across the region, and is also planning major expansions at its campus in Derry Township, according to Dr. Craig Hillemeier, the CEO. The building projects include an expanded emergency room, with construction possibly beginning this fall, and a proposed three-story addition to Penn State Children's Hospital.



Those things are needed to meet growing demand Hershey Med's services, and also enable it to remain a top choice in the face of PinnacleHealth System's expected growth, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's planned entry into the local market, according to an overview provided by Hillemeier on Thursday.



Hillemeier touted initiatives such as a new Penn State Hershey practice just off Route 114 in Cumberland County, and the recent acquisition of Lancaster-based Physicians' Alliance LTD, which includes about 120 doctors, nurses and other health care professionals at 13 locations in Lancaster, Dauphin and York counties.



Moreover, he said Penn State Hershey will continue looking for opportunities to work closely with medical providers across the region. The goal is to bring Penn State Hershey services as close as possible to anyone in the region seeking the advanced, highly-specialized care provided by academic medical centers.





Hillemeier portrayed those things as being as extensions of Penn State Hershey's long-time goal of providing top quality care close to home for central Pennsylvania residents.



But he acknowledged they are also needed to ensure a steady flow of patients into the Penn State-Hershey system in the face of PinnacleHealth's plan to buy four local community hospitals and then become part of UPMC. Those proposals still require government approval.



If approved, UPMC, a nationally-prominent academic medical center, and PinnacleHealth will likely tout their combined system as the top provider of the kind of services needed by the sickest patients.



UPMC has said it won't expect people from central Pennsylvania to travel to Pittsburgh for specialized care. More likely, it will upgrade services and facilities in central Pennsylvania in order to offer access to high-end UPMC services.



Penn State-Hershey, meanwhile, will strive to make it as easy as possible for patients to access is system, hoping people will prefer the locally-based academic medical center over one based in Pittsburgh. It plans to accomplish that largely by placing facilities and collaborating with doctors and specialists throughout the region.



Based on the projects Hillemeier outlined Thursday, it's clear he's not expecting Penn State-Hershey's patient volume or role to diminish.



The ER expansion, if it receives final trustees approval, could begin this fall. Hilllemeier said it's needed because the ER is now operating near its capacity of 75,000 patient visits per year and it's overflow is contributing to a shortage of regular hospital beds.



It would consist of a two-story structure built adjacent to the existing ER and take 18-24 months to complete.



The proposed children's hospital expansion would add three stories to the structure that presently has five. Among other things, it would allow the neonatal intensive care and women's services units to move into the children's hospital. At the same time, it would free up beds for regular inpatient use, which Hillemeier said are in short supply.



According to Hillemeier, the medical center is presently operating at about 90 percent occupancy. He said that's too high because it means occupancy surpasses 100 percent at peak times, resulting in less than optimal conditions for caring for patients.



The three additional floors and subsequent reshuffling will add about 100 beds to the center's present total of 548. If approved by trustees, the project would be finished in 30 to 36 months, according to Hillemeier.



In another major project still in the early planning stage, a four-story "Innovations Pavilion" would be built on the west side of the campus. The project would house research labs and additional teaching space for the medical school. The tentative plan is to begin construction next year and complete the project in three years.



Overall, Hillermeier portrayed Penn State Hershey has a system facing so much demand for its services that it needs to grow. "This is a good time in the history of Penn State Health," he said.



Penn State Health is the entity created during preparations to merge with PinnacleHealth to provide a corporate shell for the merged facilities and others that would added later. Although the merger was dropped, Penn State Health gives the medical center an advantage in making acquisitions, Hillemeier said.



On Thursday, Hillemeier said Penn State Hershey will continue focusing on opportunities to collaborate with other central Pennsylvania providers, but didn't rule out the possibility of merger with another major player from outside the immediate area.



"We're talking to people all the time. I would say anything is possible," he said.

Note: Based on additional information from Penn State-Hershey, this article was revised to better reflect the approval status of proposed project, and remove cost estimates, which the medical center said were made prior to design of facilities.
PA CAPITOL ART.jpg

Pa. Legislature takes a look at adding involuntary commitments to the weapons being used in the fight against drug addiction.

The Pennsylvania House's Health Committee gave a first approval Wednesday to a bill that would recognize drug overdoses as a cause for involuntary mental health commitments.

At present, such involuntary commitments are tied to apparent mental illness that has led, for example, to a suicide attempt or an attack on others within the past 30 days.

Rep. Matt Baker's bill would expand that definition of "clear and present danger" to include the ingestion of drugs to the point of unconsciousness, or in need of medical treatment to "prevent imminent death or serious bodily harm."

Some experts have endorsed this approach, in keeping with the growing consensus in the substance abuse field that addiction is a type of mental illness.

Baker's bill would force affected addicts into a 72-hour minimum stay where they would be fully evaluated and counseled as to their treatment needs.

Supporters say the benefit is it at least provides an entry point to treatment.

But even some who voted for the bill Wednesday raised questions about whether the right supports are in place for a "committed" addict to get the necessary evaluation and care, should they eventually opt-in for further help.

Baker, a Republican from Bradford County and the committee chair, said he was motivated to draft the bill by stories of families and friends of addicts who saw loved ones receive treatment for an overdose, but were tortured by the knowledge that they had no way to turn that emergency room visit into longer-term treatment for the addiction itself.

As House Bill 713 is written, an overdose patient requiring emergency health care treatment could be held in-hospital or at a treatment facility for at least 72 hours for a further assessment of their problem.

"This would be another option for people who are desperate for intervention," Baker said.

The bill comes as Pennsylvania, like many other states, is wrestling with a surge in drug-related overdose deaths that jumped to 3,383 in 2015, up 23 percent from 2014.

Some believe the 2016 death toll will only be higher when that count is finalized.

Baker's is not the only anti-addiction bill exploring involuntary treatment.

Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny County, introduced a bill in February that would give family members the ability to petition their county court to order - with a doctor's sign-off - involuntary commitments of relatives for drug treatment.

Not everyone is completely comfortable with the concept of forced treatment, however.

"One of the things we hear about addiction is that the person who is addicted really needs to want the change," noted Rep. Mary Jo Daley, a Democrat from Montgomery County.

Others have asked what happens if there isn't appropriate bed-space for a patient who agrees to help. Or, what happens to the committed patient who leaves after the first 72 hours?

"My question is, are we moving too fast?" asked Rep. Ed Gainey, a Pittsburgh Democrat, who noted Wednesday that he's heard from several treatment providers who raised questions about imposing new treatment mandates on an already under-funded system.

But some drug treatment advocates have expressed support for Baker's basic concept.

Deb Beck, of the Drug and Alcohol Service Providers Organization of Pennsylvania, noted in an interview with Philly.com this winter that treatment decision are rarely totally voluntary.

It often takes a hard push, Beck noted, from a boss, a loved one or a doctor for someone with substance abuse problems to enter treatment.

According to the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws, more than 30 states do have some type of involuntary commitment procedure for substance abuse disorders in place now.

In the end, Baker's bill passed its first test with flying colors. All 26 committee members present voted for it, including Gainey and Daley.

"I guess we need to take every opportunity to try and help these families," Daley said.

Baker said the committee vote was important because the endorsement puts the bill on track for further discussion as the legislature and the Wolf administration prioritize its next moves in the statewide battle against addiction.

It's in those coming discussions, Baker said, that he expects the questions raised Wednesday to be fully explored and answered, at which point lawmakers can decide whether this is a tool they want to add to the fight in Pennsylvania, or not.
IMG_0758.jpeg

Questionable credit card purchases, unreliable financial reporting and wasted money were among the issues Pa. Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said he uncovered while auditing the City of York School District.

(Christian Alexandersen, PennLive)

Questionable credit card purchases, unreliable financial reporting and wasted money were among the issues Pa. Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said he uncovered while auditing the City of York School District.

On Thursday, DePasquale announced the results of an audit of the school district from July 2010 to June 2015. The audit was performed after the Pennsylvania Department of Education declared the school district in moderate financial recovery status in December 2012.

DePasquale said the result of the audit were four findings and 18 recommendations. The auditor general said he considers one of the finds to be positive, one technical in natures and two major issues that need to be addressed.

The first major issue he found was unsubstantiated and unmonitored credit purchases. DePasquale said the district's credit card charges went from $58,363 in 2012 to $235,981 in 2015.

The audit found that there were no spending limits on two credit cards, multiple users on the same credit cards, thousands of dollars in missing credit card receipts, cards kept open after employees' separation and more.

"It is at a minimum negligence," DePasquale said. "I can't say anyone was making any money off of this or that it was corruption because I don't have any evidence of that."

The second major issue found related to information technology issues.

DePasquale said the school district was unable to provide the cost of IT equipment over the five-year period. Inventory records were unreliable and indicated that equipment was missing or misplaced.

The auditor general said the audit found that the school district spent $25,000 annually on unused wireless internet lines.

The issues found with the school district's spending and expenses will be sent to the Pa. Attorney General and York County District Attorney for investigation.

DePasquale said one positive aspect of the audit was that the school district is in "significantly stronger" financial position than it was a few years ago. The reason is because the school district has increased its fund balance and decreased its debt.

DePasquale said it will be at least a year before he performs another audit of the school district to make sure it is implementing changes.
LONDON, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) (the Company) today announced the results of the cash tender offer (the Excess Cash Flow Offer) to purchase up to $20 million aggregate amount (the Maximum Offer Amount) with respect to its outstanding 10.000% First Priority Secured Notes due 2019 (the Notes). The Excess Cash Flow Offer expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on April 19, 2017.



The table below sets forth the results of the Excess Cash Flow Offer for the Notes, according to information provided by Global Bondholder Services Corporation, the Information Agent, as of the expiration of the Excess Cash Flow Offer. As the aggregate amount with respect to the Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) exceeds the Maximum Offer Amount, the validly tendered Notes (that were not validly withdrawn) have been accepted for purchase on a pro rata basis.



Title

CUSIP Aggregate

Principal

Amount

Outstanding

Prior to

Settlement Principal

Amount of

Notes

Tendered and

Accepted Maximum

Offer Amount Proration

Factor 10.000% First

Priority

Secured Notes

due 2019 Y2718T AA6

37953T AA3 $365,788,000 $19,501,000 $20,000,000 6.15 %

Payment for the validly tendered and not validly withdrawn Notes will be made at a purchase price of 102% of the aggregate principal amount thereof plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the purchase date (the Purchase Date). The Company expects the Purchase Date to be April 21, 2017. The aggregate purchase price, inclusive of accrued and unpaid interest, payable on the Purchase Date for the validly tendered and not validly withdrawn Notes will be approximately $19,999,359.

This press release is neither an offer to purchase nor the solicitation of an offer to sell any Notes, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation or sale of the Notes in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The Excess Cash Flow Offer was made solely pursuant to the Offer to Purchase dated March 22, 2017, as supplemented, and the related Letter of Transmittal.

For further information, contact Global Bondholder Services Corporation:

Global Bondholder Services Corporation

65 Broadway  Suite 404

New York, New York 10006

Attn: Corporate Actions

Banks and Brokers call: (212) 430-3774

Toll free (866)-807-2200

About Global Ship Lease

Global Ship Lease is a containership charter owner. Incorporated in the Marshall Islands, Global Ship Lease commenced operations in December 2007 with a business of owning and chartering out containerships under long-term, fixed rate charters to top tier container liner companies.

At March 31, 2017, Global Ship Lease owned 18 vessels with a total capacity of 82,312 TEU and an average age, weighted by TEU capacity, of 12.3 years. All vessels are currently fixed on time charters, 15 with CMA CGM. The average remaining term of the charters is 3.6 years or 3.7 years on a weighted basis.

Safe Harbor Statement



This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements provide the Companys current expectations or forecasts of future events. Forward-looking statements include statements about the Companys expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, intentions, assumptions and other statements that are not historical facts. Words or phrases such as anticipate, believe, continue, estimate, expect, intend, may, ongoing, plan, potential, predict, project, will or similar words or phrases, or the negatives of those words or phrases, may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not necessarily mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that may be incorrect, and the Company cannot assure you that the events or expectations included in these forward-looking statements will come to pass. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including the factors described in Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Report on Form 20-F and the factors and risks the Company describes in subsequent reports filed from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, you should not unduly rely on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Brenda Dorosz, seen at a 2016 rally to stop the closure of Osoyoos Secondary School, has now turned her attention to a lack of doctors in the community.
GAITHERSBURG, Md., April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) will host a conference call on Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 5:00 pm (Eastern Time) to discuss the financial results for the first quarter of 2017, recent business developments, revenue guidance for the second quarter of 2017, and revenue and net income guidance for full year 2017.



This conference call can be accessed live by telephone or via webcast:

Live Teleconference Information :

Dial in number: (855) 766-6521

International dial in: (262) 912-6157

Conference ID: 29691796 Live Webcast Information : Visit http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/523ryq7t for the live webcast feed.

A replay of the call can be accessed on Emergents website emergentbiosolutions.com under Investors.



About Emergent BioSolutions

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. is a global life sciences company seeking to protect and enhance life by focusing on providing specialty products for civilian and military populations that address accidental, intentional, and naturally emerging public health threats. Through our work, we envision protecting and enhancing 50 million lives with our products by 2025. Additional information about the company may be found at emergentbiosolutions.com. Follow us @emergentbiosolu.
FILE - This Jan. 30, 2012, file photo, shows the sign for the Exxon Mobil Torrance Refinery in Torrance, Calif. A person familiar with the matter said Wednesday, April 19, 2017, that Exxon Mobil is seeking permission from the U.S. government for approval to resume drilling around the Black Sea with a Russian partner, state-owned Rosneft. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, right, talks with Deputy Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best, center, and Captain Deanna Nollette, acting chief of investigations, second from left, after briefing reporters near the scene of a shooting involving several police officers in downtown Seattle, Thursday, April 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP)  The capital city of Alaska is looking to expand its borders.

The Juneau Empire reported Sunday that the city and borough of Juneau have hopes of owning more of Admiralty Island, located south of the

capital city, and a portion of land next to the Petersburg Borough.

In the near future, annexation of this region is mostly symbolic since there are no local residents or private properties, Lands and Resources Manager Greg Chaney wrote in a memo to city officials. In the long run, mineral development or tourism could generate economic activity in this region....
WASHINGTON, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:FCN) today announced that the firms Construction Solutions practice within the Forensic & Litigation Consulting segment has added Steven Means as a Senior Managing Director, based in Houston.



Mr. Means has more than 25 years of construction industry experience that spans public and private clients, as well as the federal government, with a particular focus on large-scale projects in the utility, oil and gas, petrochemical and mining sectors. In his new role, Mr. Means will lead the practices advisory-based services to the construction and engineering industry, working with companies on governance, risk management and operational execution.

The addition of Steve enhances our ability to provide project and portfolio management services, from initiation to the close of the project, said Paul Ficca, Global Leader of the Construction Solutions practice at FTI Consulting. Steve brings a wealth of knowledge and experience advising companies on effective governance, controls and risk management to manage large, complex capex programs, which is critical to drive shareholder value in todays competitive environment.

Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Mr. Means held a variety of senior positions at Accenture and PricewaterhouseCoopers, providing leadership on the design and construction of large projects and their integration into an effective asset management program. His experience includes engagements in a variety of industries in a direct advisory role spanning project management, governance, procurement, contract management, merger integration and disputes.

My vision is to bring leading-edge innovation to the construction industry to enhance capital project delivery, Mr. Means said. FTI Consulting is a global leader in construction services, and being able to work with clients throughout their projects lifecycles is a tremendous benefit.

FTI Consultings Construction Solutions practice is a leading global provider of commercial management, risk-based advisory, dispute resolution services and strategic communications counsel on complex projects. With professionals in 12 countries across the globe, FTI Consultings construction industry experts understand technical, business, regulatory and legal matters, allowing them to identify key issues quickly and find the best solutions for their clients.

About FTI Consulting

FTI Consulting, Inc. is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations manage change, mitigate risk and resolve disputes: financial, legal, operational, political & regulatory, reputational and transactional. With more than 4,700 employees located in 29 countries, FTI Consulting professionals work closely with clients to anticipate, illuminate and overcome complex business challenges and make the most of opportunities. The Company generated $1.81 billion in revenues during fiscal year 2016. For more information, visit www.fticonsulting.com and connect with us on Twitter (@FTIConsulting), Facebook and LinkedIn.




JUNEAU, Alaska (AP)  With Alaska legislative leaders at odds over how to best address the states multibillion-dollar deficit, Gov. Bill Walker on Tuesday offered his help in hopes of nudging talks forward.

Walker said he has invited House and Senate leadership to the governors mansion Wednesday to begin looking for areas of common ground.

The Legislature has extended beyond a voter-approved 90-day session limit, with a budget and fiscal plan unresolved. The constitution allows for regular sessions of up to 121 days, which would extend into mid-May.

While theres general agreement...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)  An oil well leaking natural gas on Alaskas North Slope was successfully plugged by pumping saltwater into the well, according to private and government responders.

The state Department on Environmental Conservation on Monday said the well operated by BP Exploration Alaska Inc., a subsidiary of BP, was killed at 3:35 a.m.

The well is five miles from the airport at Deadhorse. Employees on Friday morning discovered uncontrolled natural gas flowing from the top of a well house, a metal structure that looks like a large box over a well.

About 45 minutes later,...
Election explainer: How Michigan's university boards are determined

Michigan's process for determining the members of university governing boards is unique. The state is just one of four that uses a statewide vote.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ocwen Financial Corporation (NYSE:OCN) will hold a conference call on Wednesday, May 3, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. (ET) to review the Companys 1st Quarter 2017 operating results. These events will follow Ocwens 1st Quarter 2017 earnings release. The earnings release will also be available on the Ocwen Financial Corporation website at www.ocwen.com (through a link on the Shareholder Relations page).



A live audio webcast and slide presentation for the call will be available over the internet at www.ocwen.com (through a link on the Shareholder Relations page). Those who want to listen to the call should go to the website at least fifteen minutes prior to the call to register, download and install any necessary audio software.

A replay of the conference call will be available via the website approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call and will remain available for approximately 30 days.

For more information on prior releases and SEC Filings, please refer to the "Shareholder Relations" section of our website at www.ocwen.com.

About Ocwen Financial Corporation

Ocwen Financial Corporation is a financial services holding company which, through its subsidiaries, originates and services loans. We are headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, with offices throughout the United States and in the U.S. Virgin Islands and operations in India and the Philippines. We have been serving our customers since 1988. We may post information that is important to investors on our website (www.ocwen.com).
Brazil lawmakers lobbying for Cemig hydropower dams' license renewal -sources



SAO PAULO

Petroleumworld 04 20 2017

Senators and lower house lawmakers representing Brazil's state of Minas Gerais have joined forces to help Cia Energetica de Minas Gerais SA lobby for the renewal of four hydropower dams whose licensing rights expired recently, two people with direct knowledge of the situation said on Wednesday.

Former presidential runner-up Aecio Neves and Antonio Anastasia, both senators representing Minas, will lead efforts to renegotiate renewal of the Sao Simao, Miranda, Jaguara and Volta Grande dam licenses for Cemig with the National Treasury and other federal bodies, said the people, who asked for anonymity to discuss the matter.

Cemig, controlled by the Minas Gerais state, needs to regain control of the dams to rein in rapid debt growth. Debt tripled since 2012, when a federal government decision to renegotiate power contracts dented the value of electricity assets and hampered project returns.

The utility has incurred heavy losses and cut capital spending for this year to cope with loss of the dams. Minas Governor Fernando Pimentel and archrivals Neves and Anastasia will work together to facilitate renewal of the dam licenses with the federal government for 20 years, the people said.

One alternative would involve using two Cemig subsidiaries to pay a 3 billion reais ($966 million) tranche of the licensing fee, one of the people said. The rest of the money would come from Cemig and could even involve offering a stake in the dams to the federal government, the same person added.

Press representatives for Neves and Anastasia confirmed their engagement on the renewal plan, without elaborating. Cemig did not have an immediate comment.

Preferred shares, Cemig's most widely traded class of stock, gained 0.2 percent on Tuesday. Expectations of a renewal of the dams and faster asset sales have bolstered the stock 22 percent this year. ($1 = 3.1071 Brazilian reais)






Exxon wants to renew JV in Russia, seeks waiver from U.S. sanctions - WSJ



BENGALURU

Petroleumworld 04 20 2017

Exxon Mobil Corp has applied to the Treasury Department for a waiver from U.S. sanctions on Russia as the oil major looks to resume its joint venture with Rosneft, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Exxon has been seeking permission from the United States to drill with the Russian state-owned Rosneft in certain banned areas and applied in recent months for a waiver to proceed in the Black Sea, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the matter. ( on.wsj.com/2osAxzB )

The company wound down drilling in Russia's Arctic in 2014 in the face of U.S. sanctions targeting cooperation between Western companies and Moscow's oil sector.

Exxon and Rosneft in 2012 unveiled an offshore exploration partnership that could invest upward of $500 billion in developing Russia's vast energy reserves in the Arctic and Black Sea.

Economic sanctions were imposed on Russia following its annexation of the Crimea region in 2014 and its alleged role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Relations between Russia and the U.S. President Donald Trump have dimmed in recent times. There has also been pressure from Trump's fellow Republicans in Congress and European allies anxious over any sign that the president might prematurely ease sanctions imposed on Russia.

Rex Tillerson, Exxon's former chief executive, was named as U.S. Secretary of State in February, despite concerns about his ties to Russia.



.




Dominican Republic court ratifies plea deal terms of Odebrecht's $184 mln fine



SAO PAULO

Petroleumworld 04 20 2017

A judge in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday approved terms of a $184 million fine on Odebrecht SA, which sought a plea deal after admitting to bribing officials to win contracts in the country.

Dominican Attorney General Jean Rodriguez called the ruling by Judge Danilo Quevedo "a momentous step forward in the fight against corruption." Rodriguez said Odebrecht will provide a list of those who accepted bribes by May 19, along with testimony and documents corroborating the accusations.

The accord is the first of about 10 that Odebrecht wants to settle across Latin America and Africa.

Reuters reported earlier in the day that Brazilian prosecutors will submit criminal evidence that their Dominican counterparts need to continue their investigation of Odebrecht.

In December, Odebrecht and petrochemical subsidiary Braskem SA settled with Brazilian, U.S. and Swiss authorities a record fine of $3.5 billion. Odebrecht admitted to bribing officials in 12 countries, mostly Latin America, to help secure lucrative contracts.

Speeding up negotiations across Latin America is crucial to Odebrecht, which is trying to prevent upcoming elections across the region from slowing planned asset sales and refinancing 76 billion reais ($24 billion) of debt. Prosecutors from 10 Latin American countries formed a task force to investigate the scheme.

Odebrecht and prosecutors in Panama, Colombia and Peru have made significant progress on the elaboration of plea deals, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. The countries have for years been relevant clients of Odebrecht's civil construction unit.

($1 = 3.1491 reais)






PDVSA Citgo's $500K inaugural gift surfaces amid national security concern



As Venezuela starves, a U.S. subsidiary of a Venezuelan state-owned oil company Citgo Gave $500,000 to Trump Inauguration. - Latin American Herald Tribune

WASHINGTON

Petroleumworld 04 20 2017

A U.S. subsidiary of a Venezuelan state-owned oil company that has stirred national security concerns among U.S. senators contributed $500,000 to President Donald Trump's inaugural fund, federal disclosures show.

The contribution from Citgo Petroleum Corp. surfaced just nine days after a bipartisan group of senators expressed concern that critical energy infrastructure in the U.S. controlled by Citgo could wind up in the hands of Russian oil giant Rosneft PJSC .

Specifically, the senators, who included Florida Republican Marco Rubio and Texas Republican Ted Cruz, cited a series of international transactions that could have significant national security implications for critical energy infrastructure in the United States, according to a letter they sent to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on April 10. The letter asked Mnuchin to monitor the situation.

The White House referred questions to the inaugural committee, which didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for Citgo also didn't respond to a request for comment.

Petroleos de Venezuela SA , the Venezuelan state oil company that owns Citgo, used 49.9 percent of its Citgo shares as collateral for a loan from Rosneft last year, according to a Nov. 30 financing statement filed in Delaware. The size of the borrowing secured by the Citgo shares isn't clear.

It's completely normal for any company to do, PDVSA President Eulogio Del Pino said of the arrangement on Venezuelan state television in December.

Could Default'

Nonetheless, the bipartisan senators' group, which also included Democrats Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Dick Durbin of Illinois, cited analysts' views that PDVSA could default on its debt in the very near future. While the company pledged less than half its Citgo shares to Rosneft, It is our understanding that Rosneft acquired other PDVSA bonds on the open market that could bring their ownership potential to more than 50 percent, the lawmakers wrote.

The senators asked Mnuchin, who chairs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, to proactively monitor the situation. The interagency committee is authorized to investigate and block any transaction or investment that could present national security concerns.

Citgo's $500,000 contribution, which was received by the inaugural committee on Dec. 2, helped propel Trump's inaugural fundraising to $106.7 million, a record . It appears to be unusual for Citgo, which didn't contribute to inaugurations in 2005, 2009 or 2013.

The contribution was among the largest from fossil-fuel companies -- which in all donated almost $3.6 million to the inaugural fund, according to a tally prepared by Friends of the Earth, an environmental group.








PALO ALTO, Calif., April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) today announced a collaboration with the 5G Lab Germany, a consortium of researchers focused on delivering key technologies to enable 5G wireless networks. Through this collaboration, HPE and the 5G Lab will research the impacts of 5G wireless networks combined with HPE Edgeline Converged Edge Systems on the telecommunications and mobile industries. Additionally, Edgeline systems will be deployed at the network edge to enable the next generation of applications to take advantage of 5G network performance.

5G wireless networks promise to adapt to consumer behavior in real time. The bandwidth improvements from 5G are expected to dramatically increase the amount of processing required throughout the network to deliver existing and new applications. The latency improvements will enable a new tier of automation and control that are not possible with todays 4G wireless networks. HPE and 5G Lab will partner to build proof points in autonomous vehicle intercommunication and deliver rich end user applications by leveraging 5G wireless networks and with HPE Edgeline Systems.

5G plays a critical role as an enabler of the Internet of Things (IoT), said Dr. Tom Bradicich, vice president and general manager, servers, converged edge and IoT systems, Hewlett Packard Enterprise. We are collaborating with the 5G Lab to develop high performance compute systems at the edge, which can consume and analyze data instantaneously to address the needs for the next generation of automation and mobile applications, particularly smart city and autonomous vehicle use cases.

The HPE Edgeline Converged Edge Systems feature a first-of-a-kind integration of the PXIe instrumentation standard in partnership with National Instruments, on which the industrys fastest 5G network testbeds have been built. 5G capabilities, coupled with Edgeline systems, provide the industrys most powerful integrated communication and compute platform to empower 5G applications.

Datacenter-grade meets Operations-functionality

While legacy equipment uses a hardware-centric model, HPE Edgeline systems provide a unique convergence of datacenter and operations technologies. HPE Edgeline integrates virtualized network functions with National Instruments software defined radio solutions within LabVIEW, to deliver industrial wireless data ingest capabilities needed to create 5G networks. Edgeline delivers modern software-defined services on industry-standard computing equipment, enabling high-performance computing functions to be deployed at the networks edge as opposed to the datacenter. This allows for high performance applications to be deployed and re-deployed at a rapid pace as the 5G standards emerge.

Without addressing 5G network needs, the advances in automation for mobile applications would not be possible for the telecommunications industry, said Dr. Gerhardt Fettweis, Vodafone Chair Professor, Technische Universiat of Dresden. HPE and 5G Lab Germany are working to deliver the necessary network upgrades for the next-generation of mobility, enabling the pathway towards the Tactile Internet.

Secure and innovative

The HPE Edgeline Converged Edge Systems uniquely combine high performance computing, virtualization, manageability and security with operational technology specific to industry via the PXIe industry standard  the first in the industry to incorporate PXIe technology with high performance compute.

National Instruments PXIe-based wireless modules and LabVIEW system design software provide flexibility for network operators looking to easily manage and modify their networks as standards emerge to drive rapid 5G network innovation.

HPE and National Instruments have compatible solutions for addressing 5G prototyping scaling beyond the physical layer into the network and even edge computing, said James Kimery, director of RF research and SDR marketing at National Instruments. We are excited to work with HPE to move 5G to the next level.

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is an industry leading technology company that enables customers to go further, faster. With the industrys most comprehensive portfolio, spanning the cloud to the data center to workplace applications, our technology and services help customers around the world make IT more efficient, more productive and more secure.




This piece, titled, The New Plague, depicts life in Philadelphia in the age of COVID. Artist and educator Raphael Tiberino began painting at the age of four and has been in the spotlight as a professional creative for over 25 years.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MGX Minerals Inc. (MGX or the Company) (CSE:XMG) (FKT:1MG) (OTC:MGXMF) is pleased to announce it has received independent laboratory-testing results from the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) on the Companys patent-pending Method for Extraction of Lithium from Salt Brine (U.S. Provisional Patent #62/419,011).



As reported by SRC, the Companys proprietary design process was successful in recovering up to 83.7% lithium (Li) and concentrating 461 ppm Li from a 71 ppm representative sample of formation brine originating from the Sturgeon Lake oilfield.

The results of laboratory testing by SRC provide third-party validation of our proprietary design process and its ability to rapidly separate lithium and other valuable minerals from wastewater brine, stated MGX President and CEO Jared Lazerson. We have made many advancements since this original process design, but this validation is important and we will continue to rely on SRC for independent testing and improvements of both active and newly developed passive filtration technologies.

Excerpts from the SRC Summary Report- Metallurgical Tests and Executive Summary- are outlined verbatim below. Note that certain portions of the report have been redacted to protect proprietary information and data:

Table 1. Assay Results of the as Received Brine Sample

Element K Mg Na Cl Ca SO 2-4 Sr Br Li Assay (ppm) 4212 2903 60747 116632 24753 186 1080 334 71

SRC independently carried out multi-stage evaporation tests following the patent-pending design process as provided by MGX. As reported by SRC in the executive summary:

It was not feasible to remove 90% of the water in the primary evaporation of the Formation brine because the formation of the jel-like material made the filtration impossible. The maximum water evaporation was 66% of the feed brine mass before the jel formation. Approximately 97% of Na, 26% of K, 35% of Ca and 29% of Mg were precipitated. The recovery of Li and Sr was 75.6% and 68.8%, respectively. The modified processes including magnesium precipitation by lime followed by the primary evaporation to precipitate NaCl and the secondary evaporation to precipitate CaCl2 and concentrate lithium. The Mg removal was very effective and more than 99.99% of Mg was removed. The residue Mg in the brine was less than 0.1 ppm. The lithium recovery was 84.1% and the Sr recovery was 80.1%. In the primary evaporation process, 67% of the feed brine mass was evaporated as water and more than 96% of Na was removed as NaCl. There were almost no Li or Sr loss in this process. Li was concentrated from 60 ppm to 321 ppm. In the secondary evaporation process, 26% of the feed brine mass was evaporated as water and 12% of Ca was removed as CaCl2. The lithium recovery was 94.1% and the Sr recovery was 94.6%. The sample turned to a jel-like material after further evaporation to remove 40% of the brine mass as water. In the whole process, the estimated water evaporated was 72% of the total feed brine mass. More than 99.99% of Mg, 99% of Na, 45% of K and 25% of Ca were precipitated from the brine. The overall recovery was 83.7% for Li and 77.2% for Sr. Lithium was concentrated to 461 ppm from 71 ppm. However, the impurity level, especially Ca, was still very high and further removal of Ca through evaporation is not feasible.

SRC has provided the Company with several recommendations to remove Ca impurity levels. The full report will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days.

Qualified Person

The technical portions of this press release were prepared and reviewed by Andris Kikauka (P. Geo.), Vice President of Exploration for MGX Minerals. Mr. Kikauka is a non-independent Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument (N.I.) 43-101 Standards.

MGX may decide to advance its petrolithium projects into production without first establishing mineral resources supported by an independent technical report or completing a feasibility study. A production decision without the benefit of a technical report independently establishing mineral resources or reserves and any feasibility study demonstrating economic and technical viability creates increased uncertainty and heightens economic and technical risks of failure. Historically, such projects have a much higher risk of economic or technical failure.

About MGX Minerals

MGX Minerals is a diversified Canadian mining company engaged in the development of large-scale industrial mineral portfolios in western Canada and the United States. The Company operates lithium, magnesium and silicon projects throughout British Columbia and Alberta as well as petrolithium exploration in Utah. Learn more at www.mgxminerals.com.

About SRC

The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) is one of Canadas leading providers of applied research, development and demonstration (RD&D) and technology commercialization. With more than 375 employees, $70 million in annual revenue and over 69 years of RD&D experience, SRC provides products and services to its 1,500 clients in 20 countries around the world.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.



Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements including the completion of the rights offering (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "potentially" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various factors. The reader is referred to the Company's public filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects which may be accessed through the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
The Philadelphia Science Festival returns this weekend for its seventh iteration, with more than 80 events around the city and beyond over nine days. Popular events  like Murder at the Mutter, the citywide stargazing party, and the cocktail and cookie labs  return with new elements added and are joined by plenty of new workshops, demonstrations, parties, lectures, and tours. Overwhelmed? We analyzed the data (science-speak for studied the program lineup), and here's what we're most excited about.

For more information and to see the full program, check out www.philasciencefestival.org.

Be a Scientist

The opening weekend's activities revolve around getting people an up-close look at what the work of a STEM career involves, including some that might not immediately spring to mind when we talk about science, technology, engineering, and math. Scientists at some of the city's research institutions, hospitals, universities, and museums will invite attendees into their labs, field sites, and workspaces to talk about what they do and invite people to try it themselves. You can join Penn Museum conservators in preserving artifacts while learning the ins and outs of how things deteriorate; about your ears and hearing while measuring volume levels of music with a Children's Hospital of Philadelphia audiologist; and with farming researchers, some of the science that goes into growing crops.

Sunday, various times and various locations. Most events are free, or free with admission. Visit www.philasciencefestival.org.

 READ MORE: Murder at the Mutter: Hooked

There's been a suspicious death at the Mutter Museum, and it's on you to figure out if it was an accident, or something more foul. Forensics experts will help you hunt for clues, analyze the evidence, and crack codes as you get to the bottom of the mystery.

2:30-6:30 p.m. Sunday, Mutter Museum, 19 S. 22nd St. $35-50, age 16 and older.

 READ MORE: Fishtown Science Crawl

Want a beer, or several, with your science? The Fishtown Science Crawl  which includes stops at Barcade, Garage, Kensington Quarters, and other venues around the neighborhood's bar-centric Frankford and Girard intersection  combines science demonstrations and hands-on activities with happy-hour drink specials.

2-5 p.m. Sunday, various locations. A good place to start is Frankford Hall (1210 Frankford Ave.). Free to attend, $5 wristband for specials at all venues.

 READ MORE: Science on Tap Un-tapped: Scientific Malarkey

Scientists are only human, and humans aren't perfect, which has led to some wild ideas being accepted as scientific truth over the years. This special edition of Science on Tap features five speakers taking a look at now-debunked theories that were once considered fact and that distorted scientists' understanding of the world.

6-8 p.m. Monday, at National Mechanics, 22 S. Third St. Free, age 21 and older.

 READ MORE: Cocktail Lab: Rum

If all you know about rum is that pirates like it and you had a few bad experiences with it in college, this interactive talk will fill in your knowledge gaps on the science of spices, distillation, and barrel aging, and give you a chance to get reacquainted with your old nemesis in a more controlled environment than the last time you met.

6:30-9:30 p.m., Independence Seaport Museum, 211 S. Columbus Blvd. $20, must be 21.

Science after School

Can't make it to the events downtown? Let the science festival come to you. Throughout the week, researchers and other experts will be at libraries throughout the city for experiments, hands-on demonstrations, and animal encounters.

3:30-5:30 p.m. Monday to next Thursday at various locations. Free.

 READ MORE: Fake Out: The Science of Deception

Get the facts about various fictions as psychologists, biologists, and other researchers explain how natural and man-made tricks work  from animal mimicry to forgeries and artificial flavors  and why we fall for them.

6:30-9 p.m. Tuesday, Chemical Heritage Foundation, 315 Chestnut St. $5-$10.

 READ MORE: Life on Mars

Is there life on Mars? Can we put it there with a crewed mission? The Franklin Institute's Chief Astronomer Derrick Pitts will host a series of fast-paced flash talks that tackle what we know about the planet, what scientists hope to learn in the near future, and their efforts to get astronauts to ther Red Planet.

6-8 p.m. Thursday, Ruba Club, 416 Green St. $5-$10.

Citywide Star Party

Ogle the cosmos from various points in the city, suburbs (check out Glen Foerd on the Delaware or Haverford College parties), and South Jersey (Rowan University hosts) when astronomers bring their telescopes to 25 different sites for some guided stargazing.

7:30-10 p.m. Friday, various locations. Free.

 READ MORE: Science Carnival

The festival's signature finale returns this year to the Great Plaza at Penn's Landing with more than 150 exhibitors and a day-long lineup of activities. Play games, meet animals from the zoo, watch live performances and demonstrations, poke around inside robots and helicopters, and make your own slime.

10 a.m.-4 p.m. next Saturday, Great Plaza at Penn's Landing, 101 S. Columbus Blvd. Free.
Twice in my more than 40 years as a newspaperman I contemplated denying the ink that runs through my blood and interviewed, unsuccessfully, for political jobs: once at the White House, for a speech-writing post in the Clinton administration, but years before that in Birmingham, Ala., to become a press aide to Sen. Howell Heflin.

Some may remember Heflin as the hefty senator with a deep Southern drawl who during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas questioned Anita Hill about her accusation of sexual harassment by Thomas. "Are you a scorned woman? Do you have a martyr complex?" asked Heflin.

Heflin was parodied as the stereotypical Southern man who denigrates women. But he voted against the Thomas nomination, and Hill later said she understood what Heflin was trying to accomplish. "He was really preempting things from being asked by people in a more hostile way," she said. "It's a technique that was lost on us at the time."

The late senator's name has come up of late because he's the reason Jeff Sessions isn't a federal judge today. Heflin was the swing vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee when President Ronald Reagan's nominee came before it in 1986. It was assumed that Sessions' home-state senator, despite being a Democrat, would follow tradition and vote for him. He did not.

Heflin was moved by accusations that Sessions was a racist. As Alabama attorney general, Sessions prosecuted three civil rights activists on trumped-up voting fraud charges. They were acquitted. Sessions, who called the Voting Rights Act "an intrusive piece of legislation," was also accused of calling a black colleague "boy" and making jokes about the Ku Klux Klan.

Heflin, a World War II Marine who had served as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, said he was struck by Sessions' body language when asked during his confirmation hearing if he had ever said the Ku Klux Klan was "OK." Said Heflin: "There's no substitute for personal observation of what a witness testifies."

His nomination doomed, Sessions withdrew his name from consideration. But in the most bitter of ironies, Sessions won Heflin's seat when the senator retired 20 years ago, and held it until President Trump named him his attorney general. In that position, Sessions may outrank alt-right chief strategist Steve Bannon as the most dangerous member of the Trump administration.

Less than three months into the job, Sessions has confirmed the fears of many that racial insensitivity, if not racism, colors his judgment on policies that adversely impact brown and black people.

Sessions has threatened to rescind $4.1 billion in Justice Department grants to so-called sanctuary cities like Philadelphia because they have refused to hold undocumented immigrants detained by local police for minor crimes unless federal authorities present warrants for more serious charges.

Sessions says "such policies  make our nation less safe." But there is no evidence of that. A recent study by the University of California, Riverside, and Highline College found "no statistically discernible difference in violent crime rate, rape, or property crime" in cities with sanctuary policies.

Police Commissioner Richard Ross says Philadelphia stands to lose $20 million in federal funds this year if Sessions goes through with the threat. "We need these resources for the people we protect and serve," Ross said he told Sessions during a recent meeting on violent crime Sessions held with police chiefs. But the attorney general didn't budge.

It is Sessions' position that will make cities more dangerous, if immigrants fearful of family members being deported become less likely to report crimes.

Sessions is also on the wrong path by trying to scuttle agreements the Obama Justice Department made with cities where police departments and minority communities have tangled, including Baltimore, where riots broke out in 2015 after the death of a black man, Freddie Gray, while he was in police custody.

Sessions said he has "grave concerns" that Baltimore's consent decree "will reduce the lawful powers of the police department and result in a less safe city." What will make Baltimore less safe is continuing policies and procedures that make the police and minorities antagonists. Fortunately, a federal judge refused Sessions' request to delay signing the Baltimore agreement.

All the consent decrees follow recommendations by the Task Force on 21st Century Policing co-chaired by former Philadelphia Commissioner Charles Ramsey. Sessions' suggestion that the task force wasn't mindful of the need to guard against weakening police forces is insulting to all the law enforcement personnel who participated in the program. But it also speaks to Sessions' character.

It's not just Sessions' body language we need to watch, though that was good advice by Heflin; We need to carefully consider the outcome of his machinations. To this point, they seem to have more to do with maintaining a status quo in law enforcement that would do nothing to uplift or protect the lives of black and brown Americans.

Harold Jackson (@harjerjac) is editorial page manager for Philadelphia Media Network.
Watching the diminishing prospects of the doomed gunmen in Free Fire makes you wonder if there is such a thing as pyrrhic defeat.

It's all played for rueful laughs, and there are a few. Armie Hammer (with heavy beard) accounts for most of them as an eccentric middleman in a cash-for-guns deal between IRA men (led by Cillian Murphy) and a South African nutcase (Sharlto Copley).

Everyone is seedy, suspicious, and trigger-happy. The meeting takes place in a rusty, abandoned factory. "Whatever they used to make here," says one, "nobody wants it anymore."

That kind of obsolescence is a theme. It's set in the '70s, which accounts for some of the dreadful fashion, the John Denver music in the eight-track player in the weatherbeaten, Mystery Machine-era Scooby van. Even the factions mentioned -- South African secret police, the Irish Republican Army -- speak to the conflicts of a previous century.

The men behave as if they somehow know they are expendable footnotes, and are dangerous because of it. Efficient character sketches identify the trouble spots -- a dangerously stupid henchman, a careless addict, a hot-tempered thug with a grudge.

The first shot is fired, and the black comedy ballet of bullets commences, conducted in a fog of war. Ricochets and the uncertain loyalties of the middlemen (and middlewomen like Brie Larson) create hopeless confusion.

What follows is a kind of Waiting for Godot with guns. Isolated desperados cease to know who they are shooting at, or who is shooting at them (the movie is shot at Escher-painting angles to heighten this idea). Gunmen pause, at times, to address the murky ethos of this predicament, but that is secondary, by a mile, to their baser instincts -- when they have a shot, they take it. Marksmanship is poor, and wounds are plentiful.

When all is said and done and shot, national/political motivation and even survival are beside the point. Eventually, each individual wonders if he/she has a shot at a suitcase full of cash to be claimed (if you are a hopeless optimist) by the last person standing.

Perhaps it isn't Quentin Tarantino that Free Fire draws from here so much as John Huston and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. But it lacks that movie's interest in morality. You may wonder what the point is, and John Denver, singing out from the decrepit van, provides the answer: "You fill up my senses...."

That's director Ben Wheatley's aim here -- the flare of the muzzle flash, the sound of bullet hitting bone. And a wisecrack.
FARMINGTON, Conn., April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) announced today that Executive Director Lee Barrett will join some of the biggest names in healthcare information technology at WEDI 2017 - Driving Solutions in a Changing Healthcare Environment  taking place at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles, Calif. from May 15-18, 2017. Barrett will discuss the value of accreditation in ensuring adherence to health data processing standards and compliance with security infrastructure and integrity requirements during the session Navigating the Waters of HIT Certification which takes place on Thursday, May 16, from 3:25-4:25 pm PT. Joining Mr. Barrett for this presentation will be Michael Frederick, vice president, operations, HITRUST and Robert Bowman, associate director, transactions, CAQH CORE.



For EHNAC, 2017 has seen several impactful changes to the HIT accreditation process, including updates relative to the OCR Phase II Protocol, aligning HIPAA privacy and security criteria, and significant edits to reflect DirectTrusts new releases of its Certificate and HISP Policies. Its clear the ever-changing healthcare landscape will continue to impact the way stakeholders meet legislative conformance when it comes to the privacy, security and confidentiality of data, said Mr. Barrett. Im looking forward to joining the many industry leaders and influencers who will gather at WEDI 2017 to discuss not only the many challenges our industry is facing, such as navigating the HIT certification process, but the solutions we can instill as well. Its sure to be an insightful event.



WEDI 2017 is the annual spring conference of the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), the nations leading nonprofit authority on the use of health IT to create efficiencies in healthcare information exchange and a trusted advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The event will bring together top leaders in healthcare information technology seeking to engage in discussions around the driving forces behind an ever-changing healthcare environment. Details on Barretts sessions as well as a complete conference agenda can be found here.



About EHNAC

The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) is a voluntary, self-governing standards development organization (SDO) established to develop standard criteria and accredit organizations that electronically exchange healthcare data. These entities include accountable care organizations, data registries, electronic health networks, EPCS vendors, e-prescribing solution providers, financial services firms, health information exchanges, health information service providers, management service organizations, medical billers, outsourced service providers, payers, practice management system vendors and third-party administrators. The Commission is an authorized HITRUST CSF Assessor, making it the only organization with the ability to provide both EHNAC accreditation and HITRUST CSF certification.



EHNAC was founded in 1993 and is a tax-exempt 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization. Guided by peer evaluation, the EHNAC accreditation process promotes quality service, innovation, cooperation and open competition in healthcare. To learn more, visit www.ehnac.org, contact info@ehnac.org, or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Suffering from a skin ulcer? French physician Bernard de Gordon would suggest an unconventional remedy: Apply a ground-up pomegranate boiled in vinegar.

Unconventional by today's standards, that is. Bernard was treating patients more than 700 years ago.

Medieval medicine is generally scoffed at by modern physicians, to the extent they give it a moment's thought. But an international group of scholars thinks that, in some cases, these early practitioners may have been on to something.

Two years ago, the researchers found that one medieval remedy, said to be a cure for eye infection, did indeed kill bacteria in laboratory tests. Now Erin F. Connelly, a team member at the University of Pennsylvania, is expanding the quest to include thousands of ingredients cited in Bernard's writings, in hopes that they might be useful today.

Using statistical techniques, she is looking for combinations of herbs, fruits, and other additives that crop up again and again in the nearly 500-page Lylye of Medicynes, a Middle English translation of a medical text that Bernard wrote in 1305.

The idea is that repeated use of certain mixtures may have been the result of experimentation.

"Were these actual antibiotics being used long before the modern science of infection control?" said Connelly. "Or was this just a lucky combination of ingredients?"

It is not far-fetched to imagine that ancient medicine might yield modern treatments, as it has happened before.

Aspirin is based on a substance in the bark of the willow tree, first used in ancient Sumer and Egypt. And artemisinin, a treatment for malaria, is derived from wormwood, a plant used in long-ago Chinese remedies. Scientist Youyou Tu shared the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine for that discovery.

Other modern researchers have studied the remedies of native cultures in South America and Africa. But traditional medicine from Europe has, until recently, been largely ignored, said Freya Harrison, an assistant professor of microbiology at the University of Warwick, in England.

"We thought it not as good as anybody else's," Harrison said. "That it's all placebo. It's all superstition."

In 2014, then at the University of Nottingham, Harrison co-founded the group to study medieval remedies, along with Christina Lee, an associate professor of Viking studies in Nottingham's School of English. They dubbed it the AncientBiotics Project.

The interdisciplinary team now includes a dozen members from institutions in the United Kingdom and the United States, representing such varied fields as chemistry, pharmacology, immunology, and medieval studies.

Connelly, who joined the team while studying at Nottingham, is interdisciplinary all by herself.

She earned her undergraduate degree in biology from Calvin College, in Grand Rapids, Mich., working in a molecular oncology lab during her senior year. She also took courses in Old English, Middle English, and Latin, both out of pure interest and because she hoped to apply that expertise to the study of ancient medicine. At Nottingham, she earned a Ph.D. in medieval English, and now is in the midst of a two-year fellowship at Penn.

"The arts and sciences are often presented as diametric opposites," she said. "But I have seen the great value in incorporating experts from the arts and the sciences to yield results greater than individuals or individual disciplines acting in isolation could accomplish."

Harrison, the British microbiologist, welcomes Connelly's mix of skills.

"It's very unusual to find someone like Erin," she said. "Not only does she have the biomedical science background, and her understanding of these manuscripts, but she wants to look at them in a very quantitative, analytical way."

Based on her work so far, Connelly says at least some medieval treatments were not simply the result of haphazard mixing of ingredients.

In Bernard's Lylye of Medicynes  so named because the text unfolds like the structure of a lily plant  the French physician writes of experimenting with different ingredients, and altering treatment plans based on observation, she said.

Then again, some of it sounds a bit silly to modern ears.

To alleviate coughing fits, the book suggested that the patient "holde ofte his brethe as myche as it is possible."

That is how it was written in the Middle English version that Connelly is using, from the early 15th century, the lone copy of which is housed at Oxford's famed Bodleian Library. The original was in Latin (titled Lilium Medicinae), and was translated into Hebrew, Irish, Spanish, and French over four centuries, a mark of its widespread influence.

Connelly is entering the ingredients into a database so she can analyze the combinations and how often they appear. She also is preparing the first modern edition of the Lylye, meaning she has transcribed and edited the text and is writing a detailed commentary. For her fellowship at Penn, funded by the Mellon Foundation and the nonprofit Council on Library and Information Resources, she also is helping to digitize medieval manuscripts at 15 Philadelphia-area institutions.

Connelly cautioned that audiences accustomed to the medicine of today should not be too quick to dismiss medieval treatments.

"Maybe for some of the things we're doing, we're going to be considered barbarians in the future," she said.

It is curious that Oxford's Middle English version of Bernard's volume is missing some pages that are in the original Latin, and some sections are out of order. That suggests it was a tool for working practitioners, the long-ago equivalent of today's physicians double-checking treatments or symptoms on their smartphones, she said:

"This wasn't just a display piece. Probably, people were taking bits and pieces of it out to carry with them."

The first remedy that the team studied, the one said to cure an eye infection, was written in the 10th century, long before Bernard de Gordon, in a volume called Bald's Leechbook. It calls for the practitioner to crush some garlic and a related plant, then combine them with wine and the bile of a cow. The mixture is then left to stand in a brass vessel for nine days.

When the team found it killed staph bacteria, that opened a multitude of follow-up questions. Alcohol has antimicrobial properties, as do garlic and its relatives, though the latter are not terribly strong on their own. Did the mixture work because of the combined effects of the various ingredients? Or was it the result of some new compound created by allowing the mixture to steep in alcohol, a potent solvent? Or both?

Then there is the question of whether the remedy can kill bacteria without harming human cells. So far, results on that score are promising, said Harrison.

The group plans similar study of ingredients from Bernard de Gordon's work. Research is underway on one recipe that the French physician praised for its ability to alleviate poor vision in the elderly, though the team's primary interest is in potential antibiotics.

It is a complex task, in part because names of some ingredients have changed, as have the names of certain diseases that Bernard described.

Still, the physician's attention to detail and compassion for his patients are clearly evident. He writes of ailments that are more prevalent among the poor, and of lower-cost treatment options when available. He observes. He experiments. He draws conclusions.

And in those respects, compared with Connelly and her colleagues, he is no less modern.
English French

Auxylium - the armed forces' information, control and communication system for homeland operations

Paris, 20th April 2017 - Atos, global leader in digital transformation, extends its contract for 18 months to support Auxylium, the information, control and communication solution used by the French Armed Forces for domestic operations, co-developed by Atos and the French Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Selected by the Armed Forces to be used as part of Operation Sentinelle, Auxylium aims to offset the risk of civilian and military mobile telephone networks becoming overloaded in operational emergencies. This encrypted and reliable communication solution also ensures the smooth running of operational command. This project is part of a major digital transformation for the French Ministry of Defence.

This renewed contract reflects the relationship of trust between Atos and the MoD, established in 2013. The Auxylium solution is the result of a unique co-innovation process and a successful industrialisation phase, completed in record time for the opening of the Euro 2016. Since then, Auxylium has equipped and supported the Operation Sentinelle forces on the ground.

Auxylium - technology and innovation tailored for ground operations:

A tactical and ultra-secure smartphone: based on the technological blocks developed by the experts in the Atos Hoox team, with a tailored version of Android, the smartphone is optimised ergonomically, has a lighter weight and a reduced energy consumption; Complete redesign of the Android operating system for native security (security add-on module developed by Atos) Full safe-start (Boot) Protected device and Secure access to IT



- Applications tailored for threats and use on the ground, such as the "digital wall" which has tactical orders and geolocalized imaging of events on maps or satellite photos, the "Push-To-Talk multicast", a unique service for encoded dynamic conferencing or even voice synthesis to reduce the need to look at the screen;

Constant availability with the remote "Helium" radio module which balances the network: communication automatically and securely switches to the highest available bandwidth, whether it is on the military or civilian 4G network. An electronic card developed by Atos is at the core of the Helium module system Energy and radio links are also managed by Atos' technologies



Drone management planned in the next version

The next version, scheduled for the end of the year, is planned to include new innovations such as geomatic stations allowing maximum geographical data to be integrated, and even the management of connected devices such as drones.

Commenting on the collaboration between Atos and the MoD, Captain Jean-Baptiste Colas, Officer of the Homeland Programme, states: "This project with Atos has been an amazing human adventure and it illustrates the extraordinary ability of the French industry to innovate in order to respond to today's challenges."

Jean-Marie Simon, Chief Executive of Atos in France, adds: "Atos is proud to have contributed to this exceptional project, devoted to innovation and operational excellence. All of our teams are ready and working together to respond to this difficult and nationally-significant challenge, serving our citizens."

Its mobile resilience and high-speed capabilities, combined with a high level of security enables Auxylium to be positioned already as a key solution for homeland security, local civilian security and the protection of at-risk industrial businesses as identified by the States ("Operateurs d'Importance Vitale").

***

About Atos

Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with approximately 100,000 employees in 72 countries and annual revenue of around  12 billion. The European number one in Big Data, Cybersecurity, High Performance Computing and Digital Workplace, The Group provides Cloud services, Infrastructure & Data Management, Business & Platform solutions, as well as transactional services through Worldline, the European leader in the payment industry. With its cutting-edge technologies, digital expertise and industry knowledge, Atos supports the digital transformation of its clients across various business sectors: Defense, Financial Services, Health, Manufacturing, Media, Energy & Utilities, Public sector, Retail, Telecommunications and Transportation. The Group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and operates under the brands Atos, Atos Consulting, Atos Worldgrid, Bull, Canopy, Unify and Worldline. Atos SE (Societas Europaea) is listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index.

Press contact:

Sylvie Raybaud - sylvie.raybaud@atos.net - +33 6 95 91 96 71 - @Sylvie_Raybaud
The annual general meeting of Hexagon Composites ASA was held today, Thursday 20 April 2017 in Aalesund, Norway.

All proposals on the agenda were adopted, cf. the notice of the annual general meeting that was sent to the Oslo Stock Exchange on 30 March 2017.

The board now consists of:

Knut Trygve Flakk, Chairman

Kristine Landmark, Deputy Chair

Katsunori Mori, Board member

Sverre Narvesen, Board member

Kathrine Duun Moen, Board member

Elisabeth Heggelund Trstad, Board member

Gunnar Sten Bckmann, Deputy member

The complete minutes of the annual general meeting are attached to this release and are also available on www.hexagon.no.

For more information:

David Bandele, CFO, Hexagon Composites ASA

Telephone: +47 920 91 483 | david.bandele@hexagon.no

Solveig D Saether, Communication Manager, Hexagon Composites ASA

Telephone: +47 906 34 977 | solveig.saether@hexagon.no

About Hexagon Composites ASA

Hexagon Composites ASA is a publicly listed company with its headquarters in Aalesund, Norway. The Group is a leading global supplier of composite pressure cylinders and systems for storage and transportation of various gases.

For additional information, please visit: www.hexagon.no
Among the 14 schools in the state university system, West Chester is an anomaly, and its new president, Chris Fiorentino, is confronting an unusual problem.

"There isn't really anywhere else for us to grow in terms of the campus," said Fiorentino, who, after 33 years at West Chester, will be inaugurated formally as its 15th president on Friday. "We don't have any more room for residence halls. We're putting the brakes on our ability to continue to grow at this point."

Fiorentino, 63, has witnessed a remarkable expansion since he began working at the university in 1983 as an economics instructor working toward a doctorate at Temple University.

Enrollment at the time was 9,500; it now exceeds 17,000, a record, and Fiorentino said the plan is to keep the number right about there. The student body has grown 20 percent in the last five years.

At the same time, other universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education have experienced significant enrollment declines, which Fiorentino attributed to economic conditions and an "outmigration" in other parts of the state.

Fiorentino will replace Greg R. Weisenstein, for whom the university's veterans' center is named and who retired at the end of March after eight years in the job. Fiorentino, who was the university's vice president of external operations, had served as interim president from last April until January, when he was named president.

"Chris is very passionate about West Chester University. It's in his blood," said Tom Fillippo, chair of the West Chester University Council of Trustees. "Overwhelmingly, his heart shone through."

Fiorentino, who will be paid $296,900 annually, will be the third president in 25 years. "One thing about West Chester: There's very little turnover in leadership, and I think that has a lot to do with our success," Fillippo said. "People want to go to West Chester."

The school was founded in 1871 as West Chester Academy and later became West Chester State Teachers College, in 1927, and West Chester University, in the year Fiorentino arrived. In recent years it has expanded its offerings, including premedical and nursing programs.

Fiorentino said he was considering adding an engineering department.

Fiorentino describes the student body as primarily working-class. Typically, he said, a student is the first of a family to attend college and is committed to the university's "community service ethic." Last year students logged more than 500,000 service hours, he said.

The school says it has 30 students who are homeless, and a "resource pantry" to help provide food to needy students.

Fiorentino and students led a pre-inaugural food drive to raise awareness about food needs for poor people in the county, collecting more than 2,000 pounds of canned goods.

Along with his on-the-job challenges, Fiorentino said he was looking forward to the summer and spending time in Ocean City, N.J., with his wife, Sue; his three children; and his grandchildren.

jbarwick@philly.com
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PreveCeutical Medical Inc. (PMI) a health and wellness company focused on utilizing nature and science for the benefit of health-conscious consumers, is pleased to announce that it signed a research and option agreement (the "Agreement") with UniQuest Pty Limited (UniQuest) for conducting a research program (the "Research Program") for the development of Scorpion Venom-Derived Natural & Synthetic Peptides. UniQuest is the main commercialisation company for the University of Queensland (UQ).



PMI has an interest in the preventative health sector and is developing products derived from Caribbean Blue Scorpion Venom for the nutraceutical and eventual pharmaceutical market. This includes the CellB9 Immune System Booster product, which contains peptides that are obtained from the Caribbean Blue Scorpion. In collaboration with UniQuest, PMI would like to identify the active components (peptides) that are providing the immune boosting and tumor selective painting properties, access synthetic versions of the active peptides as an alternative to relying on milking the Caribbean Blue Scorpions, and ultimately identify other therapeutic applications for the Blue Scorpion Venom and/or active peptides.

The duration of the proposed Research Program is up to twenty-four (24) months and will encompass the identification of milked Caribbean Blue Scorpion Venom-containing peptides, chemical synthesis of natural and synthetic peptide variants stabilised with UQs proprietary chemistry, followed by screening the peptides in various disease models of interest to PMI and UniQuest. The proposed Research Program will be carried out in three (3) phases.

Under the Agreement, intellectual property arising from the carrying out of, results developed during, or created by the Research Program (excluding any improvements to existing intellectual property used in the Research Program) will be owned by PMI. At any time during the Research Program or for an agreed period after the completion of the Research Program, the Agreement provides PMI with an option to negotiate with UniQuest for a license (the Licence) to use UniQuests intellectual property for the commercialisation of blue scorpion venom derived products by PMI. The granting of the license is subject to the parties negotiating the terms of the License and entering into a definitive licensing agreement.

Working with UniQuest and the University of Queensland on this research program presents PMI with unique opportunities towards developing products that promote good health and wellness. Wellness products developed from Scorpion Venom-Derived Natural & Synthetic Peptides have the potential to be utilised in a number of therapeutic applications including boosting immune systems, said Stephen Van Deventer, PMIs Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Information on these projects will be presented by Dr. Makarand Jawadekar, PMIs Chief Science Officer, and Dr. Harendra (Harry) Parekh, of the University of Queenslands School of Pharmacy, at PMIs presentation on April 27, 2017.

Presentation Information:

Venue: The Fairmont Waterfront Hotel (900 Canada Pl, Vancouver, BC V6C 3L5), Malaspina Room

Date: Thursday, April 27, 2017

Time: 1:30 p.m. PDT to 6:00 p.m. PDT

Confirm your attendance, register by clicking here: https://preveceutical-presentation-2017.eventbrite.ca/

Update on Previously Announced Amalgamation and Financing

The non-brokered private placement of up to 10 million units for minimum gross proceeds of at least $1 million and maximum gross proceeds of up to $5 million (the "Financing") being conducted by Carrara Exploration Corp. (CSE:CAA) ("Carrara"), pursuant to a previously announced amalgamation agreement, is ongoing. The amalgamation agreement provides for the acquisition of PMI by Carrara by way of a three-cornered amalgamation and a reverse take-over of Carrara by PMI. A copy of the news release announcing the Financing and a copy of the amalgamation agreement were posted on Carraras profile on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR)s website on March 23, 2017, and can be accessed at www.sedar.com.

About UniQuest Pty Ltd.

UniQuest is the main commercialization company of UQ, specialising in the commercialisation of intellectual property, research outcomes and expertise. UniQuest delivers commercialization outcomes which provide impact for business, the environment, global communities and society as a whole. UniQuest benchmarks in the top 10 percent globally for university-based technology transfer. UQ innovations licenced by UniQuest are now generating annual sales of over $3 billion. For example, UQ superconductor technology, through licensing arrangements, is used in two-thirds of the worlds MRIs and more than 80 million doses of the life-saving Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine, patented by UniQuest in 1991, have been distributed throughout 121 countries, including 72 developing countries.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

Stephen Van Deventer

Chairman & CEO

Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release includes certain statements that constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly, are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. Statements in this news release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations and orientations regarding the future. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "pro forma", "plans", "expects", "may", "should", "budget", "schedules", estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "potential" or variations of such words including negative variations thereof and phrases that refer to certain actions, events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. Such forward-looking statements include, among others, statements as to the terms and conditions or other matters related to the Agreement, the proposed research and development services to be provided by UniQuest, the details of the Research Program, the anticipated business plans of PMI regarding the foregoing, the timing of future activities and the prospects of their success for PMI, PMI's ability and success in executing its proposed business plans, including the Research Program and the amalgamation. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors including risks and uncertainties relating to the inability of Carrara to complete the Financing and the inability of PMI or UniQuest, to complete the Research Program as planned and obtain any required governmental approvals, permits or financing required to carry out planned future activities. Other factors such as general economic, market or business conditions or changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting the biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry, may also adversely affect the future results or performance of PMI. There is no guarantee that any of the proposed research programs will be successful or their results can be commercialised by PMI. There is no guarantee that the Research Project or the amalgamation will be completed. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, unless required by applicable law, PMI assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in these forward-looking statements. Although PMI believes that the statements, beliefs, plans, expectations, and intentions contained in this news release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that those statements, beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions will prove to be accurate. Readers should consider all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to other periodic reports provided by PMI from time-to-time.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Paxata, the pioneer and leader in empowering all business consumers to intelligently transform raw data into ready information instantaneously, today announced it has been named a winner of the 2017 Bay Area Best Places To Work, an awards program presented by the San Francisco Business Times and the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Paxata ranked 6th in the Small Business category and was officially honored on April 18th for creating an exceptional workplace that their employees value highly for the fifth year in a row.



At Paxata, we have always maintained a values-based focus which begins by recognizing that our people are at the core of our success, said Prakash Nanduri, Co-Founder and CEO of Paxata. Our value-driven business culture played a key role in helping us to once again make the Best Places to Work list. Im especially proud, because the rankings are determined by what our employees themselves report in an anonymous survey, and we have maintained that ranking as weve grown from about a dozen people five years ago to nearly 100 people today.

2017 Bay Area Best Places to Work Award applicants were evaluated and ranked across five categories according to the number of Bay Area employees. The ranking found companies in the region whose employees rate them as the highest on such values as fun, collaborative culture, solid compensation and benefits offerings and other amenities as well as management practices.

Last year, Paxata was named in The Best Big Data And Business Analytics Companies To Work For In 2016, 2016 Big Data 100: 30 Coolest Data Management Vendors, one of the 100 companies that matter the most in data, recognized by IDC as an Innovator for self-service data preparation software, and as a trend-setting product for 2017. In 2017, Paxata was named a leader with the top ranked current offering in The Forrester Wave: Data Preparation Tools, Q1 2017, one of 50 companies leading the AI revolution and one of industrys top 50 cloud companies.

About 2017 Bay Area Best Places to Work

Best Places to Work is an innovative publication and awards program produced by the San Francisco Business Times and the Silicon Valley Business Journal. The rankings were determined by surveys that went directly to employees who answered a series of questions. The survey was administered online by the employers and through a service provided by Quantum Workplace, our research partner. The rankings are numeric based on Quantums scoring process. By ranking companies and sharing best practices, we facilitate idea sharing and help other companies learn from the best.

About Paxata

Companies around the globe rely on Paxata to get smart about information. Paxata is the pioneer that intelligently empowers all business consumers to transform raw data into ready information, instantly and automatically, with an enterprise-grade, self-service data preparation application and machine learning platform. Our Adaptive Information Platform weaves data into an information fabric from any source and any cloud to create trusted insights. Business consumers use clicks, not code to achieve results in minutes, not months. With Paxata, Be an Information Inspired Business.

Paxata is headquartered in Redwood City, California with offices in New York, Ohio, Washington DC, and Singapore. Visit www.paxata.com or engage with us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or YouTube.
The Annual General Meeting in GC Rieber Shipping ASA was held today 20 April 2017 at 14.00 hrs (CET) in Skipsbyggerhallen, Solheimsgaten 11, 5058 Bergen.

A total of 89.5 % of the share capital and voting rights was represented.

All items on the agenda dated 30 March 2017 were addressed and approved by the general meeting.

The minutes of the Annual General Meeting is attached.

For further information:

Einar Ytredal, CEO (act.), GC Rieber Shipping, phone: +47 975 20 184

ystein Kvale, CFO (act.), GC Rieber Shipping, phone: +47 479 02 919





About GC Rieber Shipping:

GC Rieber Shipping's business within offshore/shipping includes ownership in specialized vessels, high quality marine ship management and project development within the segments subsea, ice/support and marine seismic.

The group has a specialized competence in offshore operations in harsh environments as well as design, development and maritime operation of offshore vessels.

GC Rieber Shipping currently operates and has direct and indirect ownership in 11 advanced special purpose vessels for defined markets within the subsea, ice/support and marine seismic segments.

The company has its headquarter and a ship management office in Bergen, and an additional ship management company in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Russia). The company is listed on Oslo Brs with ticker RISH.

Further information is available on the company's website www.gcrieber-shipping.com.
Kori Ali Muhammad intentionally targeted white men in his Tuesday attack in downtown Fresno, police say. (Photo: Fresno PD)

The suspect in a series of shootings in downtown Fresno wrote frequently about the conflict between whites and blacks and did not seem well in recent days, according to family members.

Kori Ali Muhammad, 39, has been arrested in the shootings, which killed three people. Police have not provided a motive in the attack. As he was taken into custody, he yelled out Allahu Akbar, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said. But officials emphasized that they were not sure whether this was an act of terrorism, the Los Angeles Times reports.

In a span of a few minutes Tuesday morning, Muhammad, 39, fatally shot three white men he randomly encountered while walking through the streets of Fresno, police allege. The rampage was preceded by a deadly encounter Thursday night at a Motel 6, where police say Muhammad killed another white man  a security guard.

Together the killings were Muhammads contribution to a war he believed was ongoing between white and black men, said his father, Vincent Taylor.
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Elizabeth Warren urged Democrats to stand up and fight Donald Trumps catastrophic policies on Wednesday, warning the country that the president is on the verge of delivering the final knockout blow to the middle class.

Warren told MSNBCs Rachel Maddow that Trump used misdirected anger to get himself elected and now hes about to hurt the very people that sent him to the White House.

Video:

Warren first pointed out that Americans are deeply angry and Trump was able to successfully use that anger to propel his Electoral College victory last November.

People are right to be angry, Warren said, adding that Trump wrongly directed that anger toward minorities to fuel his campaign. He told a story. Its just the wrong story.

She went on to say that all the promises Trump made to his supporters have completely collapsed in less than 100 days.

Donald Trump promised  he said, You elect me and Im gonna get out there and Im gonna work for you, and look at what hes done, she said. Hes been in place less than 100 days and  he has already signed off on a law to make it easier for employers to steal their employees wages. Hes made it easier for companies that kill and maim their employees, to hide that information. Hes made it easier for investment advisers to cheat retirees. And for me, I gotta tell you, the Trumpcare was like the whole package wrapped up in one. He embraced this idea that the way were going to move this country forward, the way were going to reform health care, is were gonna knock 24 million people out of health care coverage.

Warren concluded: This isnt about what Donald Trump says. This is about what Donald Trump does. And hes delivering one hit after another on working families.

Not only did Trump ride a wave of minority resentment and misdirected anger into the White House, but now hes poised to deliver a knockout blow to the very people he promised to help.

Democrats should follow Warrens lead to not just hammer home how Trumps policies would be catastrophic for the middle class, but also to explain how Democratic economic policies will help working Americans get ahead and stay ahead.
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Republicans are so desperate to hold onto the house seat in Georgias 6th congressional district that they are sending unpopular House Speaker Paul Ryan to campaign for GOP candidate Karen Handel.

According to Politico, Ryan will hit the trail in an effort to stave off surging Democrat Jon Ossoff, who fell just two points shy of 50 percent in Tuesdays special election and managed to win the largest share of the vote for any Democrat in that district since it was established.

The news also comes on a day in which Ossoff brought in a record amount of cash  $500,000 in a single day  for his runoff campaign against Handel, which is set for June 20.

The move by Ryan  one of the most powerful Republicans in government  to insert himself into a special election in a GOP district speaks volumes about how worried Republicans are about this race.

Still, its unclear whether Ryan will improve Handels chances  or make them worse.

According to recent polling, a whopping 54 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Ryan has done as Speaker of the House. Overall, only 29 percent of the country thinks Ryan is doing a good job  not great numbers for a guy Georgia Republicans are counting on to bring home a win in GA-06.

Ryans most notable failure came over the last few months when he was unable to bring his party  and the Republican president  together to achieve the repeal of Obamacare, something they have been promising to do for nearly a decade.

If this is the Republican Partys secret weapon in keeping control of this hotly contested seat in Georgia, then theyre in big trouble.
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Trump Attorney General Jeff Sessions referred to Hawaii as an island in the Pacific and appeared shocked that one of the 50 states could block Trumps Muslim ban.

Audio:

Sessions said on The Mark Levin Show, Weve got cases moving in the very, very liberal Ninth Circuit, who, theyve been hostile to the order. We won a case in Virginia recently that was a nicely-written order that just demolished, I thought, all the arguments that some of the other people have been making. We are confident that the President will prevail on appeal and particularly in the Supreme Court, if not the Ninth Circuit. So this is a huge matter. I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the President of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and Constitutional power.

This was the Attorney General of the United States talking, someone who Senate Republicans assured America was super duper qualified and would be an independent voice.

One would hope that Sessions knows that Hawaii is a state, and his refusal to reference it by name was designed to insult the US citizens who live in the state. The problem is that the Attorney General appears to imply that the Judicial Branch of the US government should not be able to act as a check on the power of the President. This is much more concerning issue that if Sessions understands that federal circuit judges in all 50 states have the power to rule on the presidents action when a challenge comes before them.

Sessions was hinting at a theory of presidential power that is authoritarian and undemocratic.

If Jeff Sessions was stunned that a judge in Hawaii can check Trump, the rest of us are stunned that Jeff Sessions is the Attorney General of the United States.
SPRINGDALE, Ark., April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) today announced the appointment of Justin Whitmore to the newly-created role of Chief Sustainability Officer. This follows Tysons recent introduction of a new purpose and strategy that place sustainability at the center of the companys future plans.



The appointment is effective May 1. Whitmore, who was most recently a consultant at McKinsey & Company, will be part of the companys enterprise leadership team, reporting directly to President and CEO Tom Hayes.

As Chief Sustainability Officer, Whitmore will provide leadership and direction that helps the company achieve its strategic intent of sustainably feeding the world with the fastest growing portfolio of protein packed brands. He will work to implement solutions that drive industry-leading impact on all dimensions of sustainability. Under Whitmores leadership the company will strive to innovate and simultaneously deliver healthier food, healthier animals, a healthier environment and a healthier workplace.

Instituting a disciplined approach to productivity and financial fitness will also be a key element of Whitmores sustainability agenda. He will collaborate across the organization in an effort to create efficiency and savings that can be reinvested in the business to fuel growth. Whitmores experience consulting on strategy, operations and sustainability for food processing, consumer packaged goods and foodservice companies is expected to serve him well in his new role. At McKinsey, he developed innovative solutions to address sustainability issues while considering operational complexity, consumer demand, market share growth and financial discipline.

I am pleased to welcome Justin to the Tyson Foods family, said Hayes. We created this new role as part of our commitment to invest in our future through sustainability initiatives while funding them in the present through a best-in-class approach to continuous improvement.

Justin brings considerable operations experience to Tyson as well as an approach that breaks down barriers and unlocks the potential of teams, he said. We believe he will not only drive change at Tyson, but across our industry as he partners with the many important stakeholders in our supply chain and food system.

Im honored by Tyson Foods confidence in me to serve as its first Chief Sustainability Officer, said Whitmore. This is a company I know and respect. I'm excited to contribute to its strong legacy of leadership as we take on the challenge of global food sustainability. I look forward to working closely with Tom and the entire Tyson team to continue to innovate and live out our purpose."

Biographical Information

Prior to joining Tyson, Whitmore was a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he launched the firm's complexity management service line, led the McKinsey Black Network efforts in the Midwest region, and advised leading companies on strategy, operations, and sustainability.

Whitmore has held several consulting and executive positions at Strategy& (formerly Booz & Co.) and Johnson Controls. He earned his bachelor's degree in business management from the University of Alabama Birmingham and his Master of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame. He serves on the Corporate Advisory Board at Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business and is a Six Sigma Black Belt.

About Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN), with headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas, is one of the worlds largest food companies with leading brands such as Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Sara Lee, Ball Park, Wright, Aidells and State Fair. Its a recognized market leader in chicken, beef and pork as well as prepared foods, including bacon, breakfast sausage, turkey, lunchmeat, hot dogs, pizza crusts and toppings, tortillas and desserts. The company supplies retail and foodservice customers throughout the United States and approximately 115 countries. Tyson Foods was founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson, whose family has continued to lead the business with his son, Don Tyson, guiding the company for many years and grandson, John H. Tyson, serving as the current chairman of the board of directors. The company currently has approximately 114,000 Team Members employed at more than 400 facilities and offices in the United States and around the world. Through its Core Values, Code of Conduct and Team Member Bill of Rights, Tyson Foods strives to operate with integrity and trust and is committed to creating value for its shareholders, customers and Team Members. The company also strives to be faith-friendly, provide a safe work environment and serve as stewards of the animals, land and environment entrusted to it.
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We can all agree that with the statement that with Bill OReilly being forced out of a job as a result of his history sexual harassment that Donald Trump should be next.

After all, as Ana Navarro said, Reminder, this is the guy Trump said (during Sexual Harassment Awareness Month) had done nothing wrong. By extension, of course, Trump thinks he has nothing wrong.

The women in question have something quite different to say about that but its no surprise men like Trump and OReilly would stick together. As as horror writer Stephen King explains it,

Trump supported O'Reilly because both are members of the odious boys' club where members feel they can abuse & humiliate women at will.  Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 19, 2017

We might at Roger Ailes to that list. But Rupert Murdoch, the man who established that culture at Fox News, is still at large and beyond our reach. Or is he? Maxine Waters is optimistic:

Regarding the news on O'Reilly, a day will come when rich men won't be able to buy their way out of criminal conduct & they will go to jail.  Maxine Waters (@MaxineWaters) April 20, 2017

Waters may be right. But Trumps end may come as a result of his betraying his country rather than as a result of him being a rich man who is a member of the odious club King speaks of. Given Republican control of Congress, neither goal will be easily attained.

These boys protect their own. But Trump could not protect OReilly. Given Trumps own reputation at this point, trying to help OReilly may have actually hurt the Fox host.

It is no surprise he rushed to his defense, however. As Isaac Chotiner at Slate argues, two decades of OReilly made Donald Trump possible.

Chotiner argues that though Trump is gone, his ugly brand of egotism and resentment is here to stay. Though your heart wants to agree with Waters utopian ideal, your mind tells you that Chotiner is right.

The privilege of the rich has always existed, all through history. It will likely always exist. Jesus railed against a corrupt system. The system nailed him to a cross and left him to die. He treated women as women deserved to be treated, as trusted equals.

When he was dead, women were silenced, told that far from being equals, they could not even be priests as their pagan sisters could.

If some men want to control women, rich men have the deep pockets that make that control possible.

However, if we cant destroy the disease, that doesnt mean we cant treat the symptoms, and treat them harshly.

Which brings us back to OReilly  and Trump.

The irony of odious rich man OReillys fall is that as Public Advocate Letitia James told The Last Word, women spoke with their pocketbooks and advertisers paid attention. It was a form of power Bill OReilly could not buy his way out of, as he had in the past.

Donald Trump thinks he is above the law, but he is just as subject to womens pocketbooks as OReilly. That wont get him out of the White House but the White House cant protect him from the sting.

The Trump name has been attached to all sorts of everyday items. His merchandise can be boycotted as well, just as Ivankas have been.

Trump is about to learn two very painful lessons: he isnt above the law, and he isnt above the avenging voice of Americas outraged women.
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On the same day that Bill OReilly was fired at Fox News, Donald Trump hosted sexual predator Ted Nugent and political has been Sarah Palin at the White House for dinner.

Palin posted on her Facebook page:

Yes. That is Sarah Palin and Kid Rock along with Ted Nugent at the White House.

Its a bit too coincidential that Trump who vocally supported Bill OReilly hosted another sexual predator at the White House on the same day that OReilly was canned by Fox News.

Ted Nugent, just like Donald Trump, is an admitted sexual predator. Except in Nugents case, his preference is statuatory rape.

Having sex with underage girls is a crime. Just like grabbing women by their private parts is a crime.

The White House has gone from a beacon of democracy to a hangout for sex offenders in less than 100 days under Trump.

Donald Trumps presidency is literally a stomach turning sickening festival of sex crimes that brings shame to our great nation.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 52F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 52F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.
Norwegian English

At a meeting held on 20 April 2017, the board of directors of SalMar ASA has reviewed and approved the final year-end financial statements for 2016.



Final accounts and proposed dividend of NOK 12.0 per share are not altered from preliminary figures published on 15 February 2017. Should the AGM resolve to pay a dividend, shares in SalMar ASA will be traded ex-dividend of NOK 12 per share from 7 June 2017.



An electronic version of the final accounts will be published through Oslo Brs and www.salmar.no.at the end of April.



The annual general meeting is scheduled to Tuesday 6 June 2017 at the company's headquarters at Frya. The notice, annual report and agenda with attachments will be published through Oslo Brs and www.salmar.no.



This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.






ST. PAUL  Wind energy growth in the Upper Midwest and elsewhere puts the U.S. on pace to derive 10 percent of its electricity from wind by 2020, the American Wind Energy Association announced Wednesday.

While new wind turbines are going up, many existing turbines are producing more energy, thanks to longer blades, association CEO Tom Kiernan said.

"The industry is innovating," he said, adding that growth is also fueled by a federal wind production tax credit and state policies that encourage renewable energy.

Kiernan said the wind industry is contributing to economic growth in rural America and now supports over 100,000 jobs.

"We are investing in communities that are often economically challenged," he said.

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Kiernan also announced Minnesota-based Xcel Energy has again been crowned the nation's wind energy leader among utilities, a position it has held for over a decade.

Xcel said roughly 20 percent of its energy comes from wind in the eight states it serves. That percentage will grow to one third by 2021.

CEO Ben Fowke said the combination of technological improvements and state and federal policies have made wind energy more attractive.

"You have a unique opportunity to bring wind on that is cheaper as an energy source than fossil alternatives, both natural gas and coal," he said. "We estimate that our customers in our eight-state region, with a lot of them right here in Minnesota, are going to save billions of dollars over traditional fuel sources."

Xcel hopes to achieve a 45 percent reduction in carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 2021.

Fowke said while federal policies are changing, favorable economics will continue to drive wind growth.
There are some things that you see on TV and in movies over and over again, to the point that you feel like you know what it is like to be there, you feel like you've been there before, even if you never have.

One of those places for me is New York City. I've seen it in so many movies that it has always had a certain familiarity to it, even if I've never actually been there. Or, at least, I had never been there. Last fall I was fortunate enough to be able to go with my parents on a trip to New York.

We stayed at a hotel that was only a few minutes' walk away from Times Square. That was one of the places that most surprised me. I had seen it every once in a while on the news, but I never really understood how many people there were until I actually saw it for myself. I am almost certain that I saw more people the first day I was in New York than I previously had the rest of my life combined.

Not only was the amount of people in Times Square surprising, but the sheer amount of lights was almost overwhelming. The first time we passed through was in the afternoon, so it didn't quite register just how many billboard screens were plastered onto every building in sight. When we passed through on our way back from eating dinner, I was just amazed. If it wasn't for the moon, I would have had no way of knowing that it was night.

If there was one thing that visiting New York helped me to understand, it would be the scale of things. Not just that I realized the city was bigger and there were more people there than I had thought, but also how some things were so much smaller than I imagined. The Statue of Liberty, for instance, always seems so gigantic whenever you see it in movies. It is always colossal, always towering over the city. It's never something small and off in the distance, but, in my experience, that's exactly what it is.

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Not to say that the Statue of Liberty was disappointing, more it was just kind of surprising. My mom and I went on a couple bus tours of the city so that we could see as much as we could, and when we went down toward the south end of the island, our tour guide pointed out the Statue of Liberty and I honestly could not find it. That shocked me in a way. That shocked me that something so iconic of New York and America in general could be something that you could overlook.

I had a great time on my trip to New York and I absolutely want to visit it again in the future, but I have to say I was glad when the trip was over. I was glad when the plane landed in Minneapolis (a city I had always considered fairly large up until that point). I was glad to see trees and grass again, and I was glad when I got back home to Austin, a town roughly 400 times smaller than New York.

New York was an amazing place to visit, but it was kind of claustrophobic after a day or two, and I feel like I would lose my mind if I lived there.
ST. PAUL  A Wabasha police officer had no right to stop a man he saw driving down a narrow dirt road  a stop that led to a DWI charge and the revocation of his driver's license.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals handed down the decision Monday, ruling in favor of David Kenneth Schlicher, 41, of Elk River. It reversed a May 2016 ruling by Wabasha County District Court Judge Terrance Walters.

Monday's ruling sends the case back to district court.

The case began early March 3, 2016, when Wabasha officer spotted Schlicher turn onto a narrow dirt road. The officer knew the private road led only to a commercial business, which was closed at that hour, so he followed Schlicher's vehicle.

As the officer drove down the dirt road, he saw Schlicher's vehicle coming toward him. The officer put his squad car in reverse because the road was too narrow for them both to fit, and he "didn't want to approach the vehicle from the front," the complaint says.

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The officer stopped his squad near the end of the dirt road and got out; another squad car arrived about then. Schlicher's car was still moving when the first officer got out of his car  Schlicher testified that he only stopped his vehicle because he couldn't fit past the squad car.

After an investigation at the scene, the officer arrested Schlicher for DWI. He refused to take a breath test, and his license was revoked.

Schlicher challenged the revocation in Wabasha County District Court; he disputed, among other issues, that the officer had a "reasonable, articulable suspicion of criminal activity to stop" Schlicher's car. It was, he said, a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights.

The district court ruled the officer's stop was constitutional, and upheld the license revocation.

Schlicher then appealed to the state court.

The judges agreed that the "seizure" occurred when the officer parked his car, exited and began walking toward Schlicher's car, which was still moving.

The officer didn't reverse his squad car out onto the main road, which would have allowed Schlicher complete access to the main road, the document says.

"Considering the positioning of the officer's squad car on the narrow road; the fact that the officer exited his vehicle while (Schlicher) was still driving; and the fact that another squad car had arrived on the scene, we conclude that the officer's actions constituted a seizure because no reasonable person in appellant's position would have felt free to leave," the judges wrote.

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Nor did the officer have a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, they continued; "in fact, the officer testified that his actions were motivated by his curiosity."

The area wasn't known for, or vulnerable to, criminal activity, the ruling says, and the officer didn't suspect some wrongdoing was occurring.

"The only factors to which the officer testified that would suggest criminal activity were the time of night, that he had never before seen anyone driving on that private narrow road, and that the narrow road led to a closed business.

"These factors are insufficient," the justices wrote, "and the stop and seizure were unlawful."
RED WING  A 27-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Dangelo William Masterjohn early Tuesday morning.

Charles Deonta Jones, of Red Wing, faces two counts of second-degree murder and one count each of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, all felonies.

Jones was taken into custody Tuesday a few hours after the murder; he's in jail in Pierce County, Wis., but likely will be extradited to Goodhue County for arraignment.

The complaint alleges Jones shot Masterjohn, also 27, in the chest at close range. The victim was found unresponsive on a sidewalk just after midnight in the 400 block of Sanderson Street, a few blocks east of downtown Red Wing.

First responders pronounced him dead at the scene, according to Red Wing Police Chief Roger Pohlman.

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Jones was arrested after a Pierce County deputy spotted a car speeding north on U.S. Highway 63 in Trenton Township, Wis. The officer watched as the car ran a stop sign; when he attempted a traffic stop, the vehicle sped up  eventually reaching speeds of nearly 120 mph, the complaint says, and traveling north in the southbound lane.

After seeing an Ellsworth, Wis., police officer deploying spike strips, the driver  later identified as Jones  turned off of U.S. 63, then lost control on a state highway, spun out and went into the ditch. The car caught fire but continued into the yard of a home, drove to the rear of the house and ran over a woodpile in the backyard, court documents say.

Jones got out of the driver's side, carrying a T-shirt in his left hand and a silver pistol in his right hand, court documents say, and ran into the woods despite a deputy ordering him at gunpoint to stop.

The deputy went into the woods, where he heard a loud splash and then a voice say, "I'm giving up. (Expletive) you, I'm giving up." A few feet farther, he saw Jones with both hands in the air.

Jones reportedly refused to say where the gun was or obey the deputy's commands; he eventually just laid down on the ground. The officer arrested Jones  whom he recognized as "Boozie"  at gunpoint in the woods. A magazine for a 9 mm firearm allegedly was in Jones's back pocket; a 9 mm Smith and Wesson firearm with a round in the chamber and 15 rounds in the magazine was found in the woodline. The gun was silver with a black grip.

Several witnesses have told investigators that Masterjohn was at Jones' house on Sanderson Street, where people were "playing with several firearms," the complaint says.

An argument broke out between the two; one witness said Jones allegedly pointed two guns, one in each hand, at Masterjohn.

The witness left the house as the argument escalated, leaving only Jones and Masterjohn inside, court documents say. Witnesses heard a single gunshot from inside the house moments later.

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Masterjohn walked out of the house, took off his shirt and walked down Sanderson Street. He was found dead soon after.

The witnesses said Jones left the residence soon after, carrying two firearms, and drove away.

He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the second-degree charge. A review of his criminal history in Minnesota reflects a handful of misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor traffic violations and one misdemeanor drug charge.

The Red Wing Police Department, Goodhue County Sheriff's Office, Pierce County Sheriff's Office and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension all were involved in the investigation. Goodhue County prosecutors will continue to work with those agencies as well as with prosecutors from the Pierce County District Attorney's Office.
GLEN ELLYN, Ill., April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- College of DuPage Adjunct Professor of Metals and Jewelry Design, Aleksandra Vali, was recently invited to display her work at the prestigious 23rd annual Sculpture Objects Functional Art and Design (SOFA) Fair at Navy Pier in Chicago.



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1154e2d3-3eb9-48c3-afb1-682d917fd067.

I was thrilled to be invited and to have my creations featured at the fair, Vali said. Ive attended SOFA Chicago for the last eight years and it was very exciting to be there as an exhibitor.

Vali was invited to be part of the fair after her successful participation at the renowned Aaron Farber Gallerys Jewelry as Sculpture as Jewelry exhibition in New York City in 2016.

She said exhibiting at SOFA provided great opportunities as both an artist and a teacher.

The fair gave me the opportunity to network with well-known and respected artists and gallery owners from all over the world, she said. Some of my students attended the fair and I believe its helpful, encouraging and motivating for them to see the success of their instructors. In addition, I was able to connect with many potential future students.

Trained in sculpture and ceramics in her native Russia, Vali said that she started teaching at age 14 when the instructors noticed she was skilled not only at creating art but also at teaching. She was asked to substitute for an art instructor for a semester and continued to substitute teach periodically. She went on to eventually earn a masters degree from Novosibirsk State University in Russia and continued to teach part-time while working as a ceramicist for seven years, eventually becoming the lead artist for a large company. After moving to the U.S. in 2003, she enrolled in a jewelry class at College of DuPage and discovered a passion for metalsmithing and creating jewelry.

Click here to read more.
Authorities have arrested the man they believe was involved in a shooting incident Tuesday night in rural Mazeppa, someone Capt. Scott Behrns calls "a career criminal."

Aaron Michael Anderson, 37, was arrested about 2:45 p.m. Wednesday by members of the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office and the Southeast Minnesota Violent Crimes Enforcement team.

He was spotted near a residence in the 2400 block of 105th Street Northeast, Farmington Township; when Anderson saw law enforcement, he fled north on an ATV through farm fields, according to a press release. Officers were able to track Anderson to the area of U.S. Highway 63 North and 130th Street Northeast, where he was taken into custody without incident after being confronted by law enforcement.

He was taken to the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center for his active warrants in Olmsted County; additional criminal charges are possible in Wabasha County for the alleged shooting.

The Olmsted County Sheriff's Office and the Violent Crimes Enforcement Team were assisted by the Minnesota State Patrol with troopers on the ground and in the air. The United States Marshal Service and the Rochester/Olmsted Emergency Response Unit also assisted.

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Anderson's extensive criminal history includes drug offenses, motor vehicle thefts and fleeing from law enforcement on foot and in vehicles. A review of his court records reveals at least 26 cases since 2006, with a minimum of eight felony convictions.
A community request for more data and greater involvement with the school district's attempt to address discipline disparities may soon be answered.

Some school board members are pushing to "reset" how a community team that formed to help address that disparity works -- meeting their requests by giving them a greater role in addressing the disparity.

That team, the "Community Focus Team," a district-led team made up of community members has been pushing for more organization and a greater role for community leaders on the committee since the team formed following a September 2015 agreement that the district entered into with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

The team crafted recommendations for the district in August 2016, but didn't have strong influence on district policy, or in monitoring progress with resolving those disparities.

Frustrations with lack of progress were amplified in February after it was revealed that efforts, spread inconsistently and at different points of implementation throughout the district, yielded results in some schools and not others. Community members argued that despite all the district's efforts, it isn't clear which are effective.

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Recently, some of those community members have become more vocal with the request for more involvement, with several asking the school board during last week's meeting for more data . School board members met with several community members Monday to continue that discussion.

"We're in agreement that it needs to be far more community-led," said Heidi Wilkins, co-founder of Rochester For Justice and a member of the Community Focus Team. But she says the progress is long overdue.

"We've been asking and asking and asking," Wilkins said. "So the fact that they're finally having the conversation is a good thing, I suppose. But why are we taking this long to figure out what the goal of this whole thing is?"

Some school board members proposed Tuesday night to make the team co-led by a community member, in addition to the team's current leadership, Superintendent Michael Munoz.

School board member Jean Marvin also called for the committee to set more specific, measurable goals, to set definitions for how progress will be measured, and to report that data regularly. Marvin also said it's key that people from the community continue their involvement with the effort.

"We can't do better unless we have the community working side-by-side with the school district," Marvin said.

School board leaders agreed to collaboratively define the team's goals, and how progress will be measured, as well as what data is needed to measure that progress by. They'll establish the role of the committee together.

School board member Mark Schleusner said consistency in what, and how, data is being collected is key to addressing such a broad problem.

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"To truly understand the problem, we need to have a consistent set of rules across the board before collecting any data at all, because if you don't at the end of the day, you don't really have anything of value,' Schleusner said.

Munoz said the data may be released, broken down by school as early as May, but the schools' names will be kept private.

Returning to the original debate

School board members returned to a discussion Tuesday night that they've had many times before on the meaning and implications of the disparity for the district.

School board member Gary Smith pointed to the agreement's language that there was no finding of "intentional" discrimination by the district. He said creating a shared community value of what discipline should look like is key moving forward.

But school board member Don Barlow pointed to the district's settlement with the Office for Civil Rights before it evaluated whether those disparities were, or were not, justified. Barlow said the inconsistency in opinion on the board sends the wrong message to the community.

Some in the audience, like Wilkins, said the return to that debate was worrisome. But she added she's glad the board is now moving to give the community a more active role -- even if it's year and a half later.

Others, like school board member Deborah Seelinger said the board should be past the point of debating blame, or other language in the report.

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"The report has been out here for over a year, if we're going to debate and call in experts and go back to what it says and parse the words, we are wasting time, if we want to do this work, if we think it's important, let's just get it done," she said.
A combined Earth Fest Climate March and March for Science will take place Saturday, starting at the Peace Plaza in downtown Rochester.

The Earth Fest Climate March is intended to draw attention to our changing climate, while the March for Science is part of a nationwide movement to highlight the importance of science and especially funding for scientific research.

The main March for Science will be held in Washington, D.C., with 517 satellite marches also scheduled around the world, primarily in North America and Europe.

The Rochester march begins at 11 a.m., proceeds to the Zumbro River near the Rochester Art Center and returns to the Peace Plaza for a rally at noon.

The March for Science is being advertised as a nonpartisan event, and local organizers are encouraging participants to carry signs with positive messages.
Olmsted County staff is hoping a $50,500 contribution to Rochester Public Schools' "school within a school" program at Riverside Elementary School could reduce future expenses.

"This is an opportunity to support early intervention hat can have an impact on the trajectory of kids in a way that can reduce the need fir more intensive services down the road," Amy Shillabeer, director Olmsted County Child and Family Services, told Olmsted County commissioners Tuesday during their board meeting.

The "school within a school" model seeks to reach students throughout the district who have had trouble connecting in the traditional classroom, Riverside Principal Matt Ruzek said.

"A number of our students have challenges and barriers," he said, noting he hopes the new model will help expand horizons and connect students with education.

The plan is to use some free space at Riverside to try innovative things for students who may benefit from alternative programs. Shillabeer said the county's contribution is aimed at helping provide mental health services.

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Denise Moody, coordinator of title programs for RPS, said funds will offer the district a chance to keep students in the school, rather than sending them to outside programs.

"We think it's a really good fit and an innovative way to meet kids' needs," she said.

County Commissioner Jim Bier questioned the benefit of spending money on a new program while existing county programs are facing financial shortfalls.

"I just got told we don't have the money to do the stuff we are doing now," he said, referring to an earlier discussion of the county budget. "So, I'd let the other people do their own thing."

Paul Fleissner, director of Olmsted County Community Services, noted the fund are a one-time support to get the program started. Once students are enrolled, future funds would come from the Minnesota Department of Education.

He noted if the program saves the cost of placing two students in a treatment program, it saves the county more money than it would spend to help start the school program.

"I think it's an investment, and we will see it reduce our budgets going forward if we serve these kids properly," he said. "I wouldn't put it forward otherwise."

The agreement with Rochester Public Schools was approved in a 6-1 vote, with Bier opposing the expense.
PLAINVIEW  Have a glass of milk, said Rita Young. Eat some cheese. "If everyone had three servings a day, we wouldn't have any problems."

That's Young's advice and her hope. Because the existing glut of milk in the Midwest just got worse.

In February, the Canadian government adopted a new policy on importation of ultrafiltered milk, a high-protein product generally used in making cheese. Canada's new Class 7 (Class 6 in Ontario) milk pricing increased the cost of U.S.-produced ultrafiltered milk in Canada, meaning milk processors that sell ultrafiltered milk to Canada were left without a market.

This created a domino effect that led to Grassland Dairy Products of Greenwood, Wis., canceling its milk deals with nearly 100 dairy farmers across Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Young, along with her husband, Maurice, and son, Darrin, owns Emerald Spring Dairy east of Plainview where they produce about 95,000 pounds of milk each day from their herd of roughly 1,000 cows. All of that milk went to Grassland.

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But in early April, they received a letter along with a milk check: Grassland would not be buying any more milk from Emerald Spring Farm as of May 1. In fact, along with the Youngs' milk, Grassland canceled purchases for about a million pounds of milk per day.

"When they told us they didn't have room for the milk, it was pretty much panic time," Rita said.

The Youngs got on the phone and called about 15 producers before finding one -- Dairy Farmers of America -- that would take their milk, albeit at a price that comes without volume premiums for the time being. Still, the Youngs consider themselves lucky. "We're just happy to find a new market," said Maurice Young.

Glass half empty

Richard Johnson, who has about 125 cattle and produces close to 10,000 pounds of milk daily at his farm near La Crescent, got a letter similar to the one the Youngs received.

He, however, has not found a home for his milk after May 1.

"We have contacted in excess of 90 different processing plants," Johnson said, adding he called processors from Wisconsin to South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota. "We did everything we could to find a new processor. I didn't know there were 90 places to sell."

Johnson is a third-generation farmer on his land. His son, Paul, is the fourth generation. "My son is 24 years old," he said. "He was hoping to make his livelihood from the dairy."

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If a miracle doesn't happen, the Johnsons will need to liquidate their herd, Richard Johnson said. "We can't afford to feed these cattle and not sell the milk," he said. "It cost $5 a day to feed each cow."

Instead, they might switch to cash crops and possibly beef cattle. Still, Johnson said he and his son are lucky. They do not have a mortgage on their land. "I feel worse for the people who have big payments," he said. "I don't know what they're going to do."

Glass half full

Roughly 20 dairy farmers in Minnesota were impacted directly when Grassland lost its Canadian market, said Lucas Sjostrom with the Minnesota Milk Producers.

The change in Canada's policy for purchasing ultrafiltered milk was not a complete surprise, he said. The Canadians had been discussing milk pricing for months. But just how it impacted dairy farmers in the upper Midwest was something of a shock.

"Trade issues are difficult because trade is built on a contract or an understanding," Sjostrom said. When someone reinterprets what is agreed upon, it's hard to prove how it violated the trade agreement, an agreement that seemed to be working. "I want to ask them why they changed."

Farmers who sell milk to coops will weather the storm the best, he said. Those who sell directly to a private processor will be hurt the hardest. The obvious answer is to find new markets, but as more milk floods the market, prices for everyone go down and new markets are scarce.

"The crisis is what to do here between now and the first of May with their milk," said U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, DFL-1st District. "This really is a race against time for these folks."

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Walz, along with Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken and U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, DFL-7th District and ranking member of the House Agricultural Committee signed a letter to urge President Donald Trump to work with the Canadian government to rethink its policy for milk pricing.

Still, no change to milk pricing in Canada will help farmers in Minnesota in the short term, Walz said.

"We're looking for the USDA to help us out," he said. "They have some money in there from tariff collections, Title 32, to help us purchase this for school lunch programs."

While Canada appears to be giving preferential treatment to Canadian milk, Walz said, the current problem is a result of a perfect storm of factors. Historically low milk prices and the change in how Canada treats U.S. ultrafiltered milk combined with the fact that cows produce more milk in springtime.

A long-term solution might to create a federal program for production management. Walz said he was for such as system in the last farm bill.

"Speaker Boehner was against it, and it never went in," he said.
WINONA  About 30 interested residents showed up Wednesday to listen as a pair of city officials talked about upcoming projects that will change the face of downtown Winona.

But it was a handful of downtown business owners who asked the most questions, primarily about what those projects will do to the already limited parking in the area.

"How many parking spaces will we lose?" asked one woman, who said she owns a business next to the upcoming Levee Park project that breaks ground the first week in May.

Community services director Chad Ubl said the project would eliminate about 10 or 11 parking spots on Main Street, most where the road will be turned into a pedestrian mall, and another four spots in City Lot No. 7 to give room for construction crews to stage.

Ubl updated residents on traffic rerouting along Main Street that will start in about two weeks. Road closure signs will go up at Third and Main streets, and traffic will be stopped starting at Second and Main streets. The project will cost about $2.9 million and is funded mainly from a city recreation bond that was passed in November.

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The bigger problem for parking was the planned 60 Main project, which is still in its early stages, said Lucy McMartin, director of community development.

"Sixty Main is in the infancy stage," she said. "We're still in the process of reviewing proposals."

The Winona Port Authority received four proposals to develop the space that is currently the parking lot next to the Winona 7 Theatres. One developer has dropped out, and McMartin said the review committee will meet at 4 p.m. Wednesday to discuss the pros and cons of each developer.

"We should make a recommendation to Port Authority at the May or June meeting," she said.

The Port Authority owns the lot and will negotiate the deal with the developer for what it hopes will be a mixed-use project that includes street-level commercial space, above-ground parking and residential apartments. McMartin said there are project proposals that include all of that plus hotel space.

However, with the project being built over a parking lot of more than 120 spaces, several people wanted to know what would be done to replace those parking stalls in the current Lot 7.

"The need and demand for parking overall will be considered," she said. She described one proposal as having 40 public parking stalls and some shared public-resident parking. "Lot 7 is only about 45 percent used now."

McMartin would like to see a parking study done that could help the Port Authority in its negotiations with a developer. "I believe there's an opportunity to negotiate for parking," she said.

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Between the 60 Main project and the Levee Park project, which includes an amphitheater that will seat about 200, grass seating overlooking the amphitheater, a one-block pedestrian mall in the final block of Main Street before Levee Park and an entrance gateway between the mall and park along the river, the area, McMartin said, will become a focal point of downtown.

"The gateway and 60 Main will help energize other projects," she said.
ST. PAUL  Fed up with legislative inaction, West Concord resident Beth Hodgman stood on the steps of the Minnesota Capitol on Wednesday and implored lawmakers to pass a transportation funding package that will fix deadly two-lane roads like the one her husband died on.

On Nov. 6, 2012, Scott Hodgman was killed in a crash on a two-lane stretch of U.S. Highway 14 between Dodge Center and Owatonna.

"The people of southern Minnesota that travel on this death trap every day deserve to have it fixed. Stop finger pointing. Stop blame shifting. This needs to all stop. We must prevent future crashes and fatalities and get this to happen this year," Hodgman said.

She joined transportation advocates at a news conference in St. Paul to urge Minnesota lawmakers and the governor to pass a long-term transportation funding package this year. A sea of 411 orange construction cones with black ribbons dotted the Capitol's front steps. Each of those cones represented a person who died on Minnesota's roads in 2015.

"Over the last decade, an average of 420 people have been killed every year on Minnesota highways. We think it's time for the Legislature to address this issue and to do more to invest in the safety of our roadways," said Margaret Donahoe, executive director of The Transportation Alliance.

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Disagreements remain

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree it is time to boost funding for roads and bridges. But two key sticking points remain  how to pay for those upgrades and whether earmarks for local projects should be allowed.

The Republican-led House and Senate have each put forward their own transportation funding bills. Their plans rely primarily on redirecting existing auto-related taxes from the state's general fund to transportation. They also include increased borrowing to pay for road projects. GOP leaders have repeatedly said they have no interest in raising the gas tax to pay for transportation upgrades.

Meanwhile, DFL Gov. Mark Dayton's transportation proposal calls for raising the gasoline tax and vehicle registration fees to help pay for road improvements. Earlier this week, Dayton told WCCO radio in an interview he is no longer pushing to raise the gas tax because he can't get the necessary support at the Capitol to pass it. He has signaled he is also willing to consider the Republican idea of using existing sales tax dollars for transportation.

But some fellow Democrats say Republicans need to compromise in order for a transportation plan to pass. Rep. Clark Johnson, DFL-North Mankato, said it is important there is some constitutionally dedicated funding in a transportation package. That could be in the form of a surcharge on the gas tax or a license tab fee increase.

"I call on my legislative colleagues in the House and the Senate to compromise. I also call on Gov. Dayton to compromise so that we can finally get a bill done this session," Johnson said.

The fight over earmarks

The other disagreement centers around earmarks. The Senate transportation funding bill sets aside funding for several specific projects, including $90 million to expand U.S. Highway 14 from Dodge Center to Owatonna. Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner Charles Zelle said he is firmly opposed to any earmarking because it allows certain projects to leapfrog ahead of other needed projects.

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"To earmark projects will compromise safety and that's something we find intolerable," Zelle said during the press conference.

But earmark supporters say they are needed to make sure long-neglected projects finally get done. Sen. Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, said he wholeheartedly backs earmarking funding for U.S. Highway 14.

"After 30 years of waiting for the agency to do something, out of necessity the Legislature is now doing something and that is telling the agency what they want done. I think there's a whole lot of frustration up here with respect to MnDOT and and how they've categorized their projects," Senjem said.

The $90 million set aside in the Senate bill for U.S. Highway 14 from Dodge Center to Owatonna would only cover some of the project's cost. The total estimated cost is between $152 million and $193 million.

Both bills do have money for Corridors of Commerce, program, which funds projects that would increase highway capacity and improve the movement of freight. U.S. Highway 14 has received millions of dollars from the program since it began in 2013.

The Senate bill has $200 million for the competitive grant program and the House Bill sets aside $300 million.

Carolyn Jackson, a lobbyist with the U.S. Highway 14 Partnership, said the group appreciates any funding for the project. She said the problem is that neither the House nor Senate transportation funding bills set aside enough money to finish expanding U.S. 14 from Rochester to New Ulm.

"We have 24-and-a-half miles to finish and we don't see a path to complete them with these bills. But we're not going to turn money away  not at all," Jackson said.

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As for Hodgman, she said after lobbying lawmakers for more than four years to fix U.S. Highway 14, she doesn't care how it gets done.

"If that's what it takes to get it done, then earmark it because this has been going on for over 20 years," Hodgman said.

She added, "Minnesota has over $1.6 billion in surplus and everyone is claiming that transportation is a priority. Enough talk. Now show us that you mean what you say."
SEATTLE, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tuesday, Smithfield Foods Helping Hungry Homes initiative, a program focused on alleviating hunger and helping Americans become more food secure, joined forces with Quality Food Centers (QFC) to donate more than 40,000 pounds of protein to Food Lifeline. The donation, equivalent to more than 160,000 servings, will help families fight hunger across Seattle where one in seven individuals are food insecure.



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f9d51884-1c8b-440d-9c25-d6c537cbf5ce

Protein is a resource that is high-demand, but is often very limited for many food banks and those we serve, said Linda Nageotte, president and CEO of Food Lifeline. This donation from Smithfield and QFC will alleviate that shortage and support the many we serve for the coming weeks.

Smithfield and QFC representatives presented the donation to Food Lifeline at the event Tuesday morning. Members from all three organizations discussed food insecurity in the local community and the significance of this donation in helping the more than 670,000 individuals who face hunger each day in Washington.

At QFC, we are honored to support the communities we call home and take an active role in the fight against hunger, said Zach Stratton, community affairs manager for QFC. Our partnership with Smithfield will provide many meals to the thousands of people Food Lifeline serves each day.

Smithfields donation to Food Lifeline was a part of the Helping Hungry Homes 2017 nationwide donation tour. Throughout the annual tour, Smithfield will provide large-scale protein donations to more than 50 food banks across the country. This donation adds to the more than 65 million servings of protein donated since 2011.

At Smithfield, we feed people, and were passionate about providing protein to those who need it most throughout the year, said Dennis Pittman, senior director of hunger relief for Smithfield Foods. This donation will bring further awareness of the issue of hunger in the Seattle community, and provide nutrition for the many people this food bank serves.

Today, Helping Hungry Homes will visit Portland, Oregon. For more information about Helping Hungry Homes and a list of upcoming donation events, visit helpinghungryhomes.com.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods is a $14 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Nathan's Famous, Farmland, Armour, John Morrell, Cook's, Kretschmar, Gwaltney, Curly's, Margherita, Carando, Healthy Ones, Krakus, Morliny and Berlinki. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com.

About Food Lifeline

Every year, nearly 40% of our countrys food ends up in landfills, while millions go hungry.

Food Lifeline has a solution for both problems.

We rescue millions of pounds of this surplus food from farmers, manufacturers, grocery stores, and restaurants. We then deliver this healthy and nutritious food to 275 food banks, shelters and meal programs across Western Washington.

Thanks to your support, we provide 90,000 meals to our hungry neighbors every day. This, combined with our policy and advocacy work creates a sustainable solution for ending hunger.

Thats why we say Hunger Doesnt Have to Happen.

About QFC

Founded in Seattle 62 years ago, QFC is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and operates 64 stores in Western Washington and in Portland, Oregon. QFC has a long history as a neighborhood grocer, offering the highest quality products, exceptional service, and the finest shopping experience in the market. QFC donates nearly $1 million to the communities it serves and nearly 3 million pounds of food to local food banks in Western Washington and Portland, Oregon. QFC is a division of the Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR). For more information, please visit our web site at www.qfc.com.
The great Jean Yarbrough teaches government at Bowdoin College. Professor Yarbrough is the author of the indispensable and award-winning book Theodore Roosevelt and the American Political Tradition. We have celebrated Professor Yarbrough several times on Power Line, including via Steve Haywards induction of her into our (incomplete) Power Line 100.

Professor Yarbrough recently explained to a packed house at Bowdoin how she became a conservative and she gave them something to think about. Rebecca Goldfine reports:

Taking her cue from the Lady Gaga song Born This Way, government professor Jean Yarbrough announced at a recent talk about her politics that she was not born this way. I was not born into a conservative family, I was not born into a Republican family, and I am still an outlier in my birth family, revealed Yarbrough, who is Bowdoins Gary M. Pendy Professor in Social Sciences, Government and Legal Studies and an expert in political philosophy and American political thought. The talk was organized by the Eisenhower Forum, a conservative-leaning political discussion group at Bowdoin. The club says its mission is to promote intellectual diversity on a mostly liberal campus. Yarbroughs talk, How I Became a Conservative, drew an overflow crowd in the Pickering Room of Hubbard Hall. With humor and self-revealing stories, Yarbrough detailed her journey from student radical to conservative intellectual. She didnt shy [away] from outlining her beliefs, despite addressing a mixed audience of Democrats and Republicans.

Whole thing here. Please pass it on.
Yesterday, as we noted here, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson informed Congress that Iran is in compliance with the nuclear deal and that the administration will continue to provide relief from sanctions, as called for by the agreement. He added, however, that Iran remains a leading state sponsor of terror through many platforms and methods.

Today, Tillerson (1) elaborated in scathing language on Irans role as a leading sponsor of terrorism and on other of its misdeeds, (2) made clear that the nuclear deal is unsatisfactory, and (3) stressed that the U.S. government is engaged in a thorough review of our Iran policy.

Tillerson characterized the Iran deal as another example of buying off a power who has nuclear ambitions. Citing the North Korean example, Tillerson complained we buy them off for a short period of time, and then someone has to deal with it later. He then added that the administration does not intend to follow this course.

It is rumored that President Trump hit the roof when he saw Tillersons letter to Congress (or maybe the way it was reported) and demanded that he issue todays tough statement. According to this account, the tough statement had been drafted previously, nixed by influential soft-liners in the administration, and revived in light of the Tillerson letter.

Whether or not this is what happened, I think todays statement was much needed.

But what will come of the policy review promised in Tillersons statement? The Obama administration did an effective job of fencing in its successors. I discussed the future of the Iran deal under Trump in this post.

The upshot of two days of Tillerson talk about Iran seems to be that our Iran policy is up-for-grabs, like much else in the policy realm. Sharp disagreement probably exists within the administration about how to proceed and, not unlike other policy disputes, the disagreement occurs in the context of no truly good options.

You can watch Tillersons speech, plus a brief Q&A, below. Dont miss Andrea Mitchell fretting that if the U.S. backs out of the Iran deal, rogue states like North Korea wont trust us.


CNN reports that the Syrian government has relocated the majority of its combat planes to protect them from potential U.S. strikes. CNN bases its report on comments by two U.S. defense officials.

The aircraft in question reportedly were moved to an airfield close to a base where the majority of Russian air forces helping the Assad regime are located. The theory is that President Trump is unlikely to launch an attack that might strike Russian assets. In addition, the Russians are believed to have installed advanced anti-aircraft missile systems at the base.

Assad clearly does not intend to stop air attacks against Syrian rebels and civilians. In fact, in a show of defiance, he launched attacks from the base the U.S. hit soon after the U.S. hit it.

But the purpose of our retaliatory strike wasnt to deter Syrian air missions. Rather, it was to deter future chemical attacks. Thus, the criticism that Assad continues to launch air strikes, from the base we hit or from elsewhere, misses the point.

The real question when it comes to assessing the efficacy of Trumps missile attack is whether Assad will launch chemical attacks in the future. No one, with the possible exception of Assad and his Russian partners, knows the answer.

However, it seems likely that, with Assad now basing most of his air assets near a Russian base, the Russians will discourage Assad from undertaking future chemical attacks. After all, Russia doesnt want a military confrontation with the Trump administration, and it cannot be confident that Trump wont respond to another chemical attack by going after Assads planes wherever they are housed.

Thus, the new proximity of Assads planes and Russias may be a sign that Trump is likely to achieve the limited purpose of his very limited missile attack.
Just when you think universities cant sink any lower, they manage to find a way. This afternoon news was announced that UC Berkeley has cancelled Ann Coulters planned appearance next week, citing security concerns after last weekends riots along with the feeble excuse that the university couldnt find a room to accommodate her, along with other made-up restrictions on her planned appearance. I had already heard from my own sources last week that the administration was bringing less than subtle pressure on the College Republicans to rescind their invitation to Coulter. Now they have simply capitulated to the threat of a mobsurely a new low in college administration spinelessness.

But Coulter says shes somehow going to go ahead with her speech at Berkeley. Maybe she will appear unannounced in my class, like I did two weeks ago when I snuck Charles Murray on to campus? You might very well think so; I couldnt possibly comment.

Meanwhile, even as the dust remains unsettled at the Claremont Colleges in the aftermath of CMCs disgrace over Heather Mac Donalds recent appearance and the demand of black students at Pomona College (joined by Wellesley) that conservative opinions be censored, around the corner at Harvey Mudd College a full-scale meltdown is under way because some faculty have apparently expressed dissent from the diversity orthodoxy. Harvey Mudd is considered a rival to CalTech and MIT for its science and engineering chops, but even it isnt immune to the furies of the infantile and nihilist left.

Inside Higher Ed has the story:

Monday and Tuesday this week, the California college will not hold classes, the cancellation following a student sit-in last week at the campus, where minority students issued demands to administration  among them to funnel more money into counseling services, specifically geared toward students of color, and to prioritize minority student groups with funding and other perks. Students didnt ask for a cancellation, but rather the college did so to allow students and faculty members time either to consider some of the persisting issues on campus or to recuperate after a tense few weeks, Maria Klawe, the colleges president, said in a phone interview. . . Last month a controversial report regarding student workload and faculty opinion of students leaked to the student newspaper, The Student Life. A committee examining the colleges classroom environment commissioned a study from the Center of Inquiry at Wabash College in Indiana. Two representatives from the center visited campus and conducted focus groups with students and faculty members. . . Some faculty members told the interviewers that students were not prepared for their classes, and that theyd observed deterioration in the quality of students accepted to Harvey Mudd over the years. They described students as wed to their phones and not committed to the sciences. [Emphasis added.]

Dont those science faculty members know youre not allowed to say this?

Now get a load of the student demands:

Later that week, students organized a march around campus and presented administrators with their demands. They want five new counselors for the coming academic year, with three of them being people of color, to reflect the increasing need of health and wellness initiatives at Mudd to reflect and serve its diversifying student body, the students wrote on a website detailing their requests. Funding for mental health services should be boosted every year by 25 percent, they wrote, until the 2021-22 academic year. They called for a release of the student affairs offices budget, and additional money  $3,000 each  for six student groups that represent minority interests on campus. The administration also should carve out dedicated spaces in the colleges new academic building for each of these six groups, they wrote. When administrators didnt respond to the demands, Klawe said, the students staged the sit-in April 12.

This will only add a tiny amount to the cost of attending Harvey Mudd, which, according to its website, is a mere. . . $74,428 . (Yes, thats just for one year.)

P.S. Naturally, Harvey Mudds president is a typical spineless invertibrate, as this passage makes clear:
Nigerias finance minister, Kemi Adeosun, has said that the nation wont overcome economic recession through the actions of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC.

Mrs. Adeosun said this, Wednesday, while fielding questions from journalists on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meeting in Washington.

The minister noted that Nigeria must focus on implementing the right type of economic policies to get out of recession.

She pointed out that oil revenues account for around 10 per cent of Nigerias overall GDP (gross domestic product ) and argued that the implementation of domestic policies would hold the key to a long term economic recovery.

When asked about Nigerias policy implementation, the minister said Im not sure that I agree that OPEC is the reason that we will get out of recession.

We will get out of recession because we are following the right type of policies. Our objective is not just to get out of recession, our objective is to grow and grow sustainably.

Nigeria, Africas largest economy relies mainly on oil as its source of revenue.

But agitations by militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of the country has led to decline in its oil production output.

When OPEC agreed to slash output by around 1.2 million barrels per day (b/d) in November 2016 in order to remove a supply glut, the nations poor output enabled it secure an exemption. However, production has since increased following negotiations with Niger Delta communities and leaders.

Brent crude has soared by around 19 per cent since OPEC decided to reduce output and analysts forecast oil prices to return to the mid $60s by year end.

Commenting on the deal, Mrs. Adeosun said, We very much are benefitting from the improved oil price, you know it went as low as $28 a barrel. So, the region that it is in at the moment, it gives us the ability to plan.

What we didnt need was volatility, we need much more stability which the OPEC deal has given us.

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The planned secession of California from the U.S. in a bid called Calexit patterned after the UK Brexit from the EU, has suffered a setback.

The Yes California Independence Campaign secession movement leader, Louis Marinelli, announced that he had dropped California secession effort to make Russia his new home, reports say.

Mr. Marinelli, who pushed for California to secede from the union, has now distanced himself from the controversial effort and said he would stay in Russia.

The secessionist leader, who helped to launch the movement to make California an independent state, said that he intends to make Russia his new home.

Mr. Marinelli, in a letter to his supporters, referred to the Golden State as occupied California adding he is withdrawing his petition for a Calexit referendum.

Mr. Marinelli said in a statement posted on Yes Californias webpage: As I have stated in the past, I do not wish to live under the American flag.

I do not wish to live under the American political system or within the American economic system.

I have found in Russia a new happiness, a life without the albatross of frustration and resentment towards ones homeland, and a future detached from the partisan divisions and animosity that has thus far engulfed my entire adult life.

If the people of Russia would be so kind as to welcome me here on a permanent basis, I intend to make Russia my new home.

Until then I will continue to serve as the representative of the Republic of California to Russia, he concluded, not clarifying who gave him this authority or what the role would actually entail.

In December 2016, Mr. Marinelli said his strategy was to court countries with UN Security Council veto power, namely Russia and China, to recognise the movement even if Washington and its allies rejected it.

That month, he established a makeshift Embassy of the Independent Republic of California in Moscow.

He has been there ever since, but now wants to make Russia his official home, according to reports.

He also said when California gains its independence from the U.S., he would return to live once again under our bear flag.

The activist said that he did not intend to return to California in the foreseeable future and therefore, felt it was only right for him to withdraw the Calexit petition.

However, Ruiz Evans, Yes Californias now former vice president, is joining the California Freedom Coalition, another Calexit political group, and hopes to file a new proposal for Californian nationhood by the end of the April.

Mr. Evans said he believed his movement would have more money and backing if people were not worried about ties to Russia.

According to the state rules, the California Freedom Coalition needs 585,000 signatures to qualify for a ballot measure on independence.

Yes California only had 97,463 registered supporters.

The effort to make the nations most populous state its own country, with what would be the worlds sixth-largest economy, gained support after 2016 election of President Donald Trump.

However, those efforts appeared to have been briefly halted.

(NAN)

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Former Austrian Finance Minister, Karl-Heinz Grasser, will be tried in a graft case related to the sale of government-owned real estate, Viennas Higher Regional Court said on Thursday.

Mr. Grasser, a former member of the far-right Freedom Party and 14 other defendants face up to 10 years imprisonment, if convicted. No date has been fixed for the trial.

According to the indictment, Mr. Grasser allegedly helped a private investor to make the winning bid for 60,000 government-owned flats privatised in 2006.

He was also alleged to have tipped off the investor about the offer price that was necessary to beat rival bidders.

In return, the suspects allegedly pocketed about 9.6 million Euros or one per cent of the 961-million-euro sales price.

Mr. Grasser, who served as finance minister from 2000 to 2007, has denied the allegations.

He left the Freedom Party in 2002 after internal conflicts in the movement.

(dpa/NAN)

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Russias Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Jehovahs Witnesses was an extremist organisation and must hand over all its property to the state, Russian news agencies reported.

Interfax News Agency quoted Sergei Cherepanov, a Jehovahs Witnesses representative, as saying that the group will appeal the decision in the European Court of Human Rights.

We will do everything possible, he said.

Russian authorities have put several of the groups publications on a list of banned extremist literature and prosecutors have long cast it as an organisation that destroys families, fosters hatred and threatens lives.

The group, a United States-based non-trinitarian Christian denomination known for its door-to-door preaching and rejection of military service and blood transfusions, says this description is false.

The religious organisation has expanded around the world and has about eight million active followers.

It has faced court proceedings in several countries, mostly over its pacifism and rejection of blood transfusions.

But Russia has been most outspoken in portraying it as an extremist cult.

Its Russian branch, based near St Petersburg, has regularly rejected this allegation.

It has said a ban would directly affect around 400 of its groups and have an impact on all of its 2,277 religious groups in Russia, where it says it has 175,000 followers.

(Reuters/NAN)

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English Norwegian

The Annual General Meeting of Orkla ASA was held today, 20 April 2017 in Oslo, Norway.



All proposals on the agenda were adopted, cf. the notice of the Annual General Meeting that was sent to the Oslo Stock Exchange on 30 March 2017.



The General Meeting approved the Board's proposal to distribute a dividend for 2016 of NOK 2.60 per share. The dividend will be paid on 3 May 2017 to shareholders of record as of the date of the Annual General Meeting.



A translation of the minutes from the Ordinary General Meeting is attached and available on www.orkla.com.



Orkla ASA

Oslo, 20 April 2017



Ref.:



Group Director Corporate Communications and Corporate Affairs

Hakon Mageli

Tel.: +47 928 45 828

Email: hakon.mageli@orkla.no



IR & Communications Manager

Elise Heidenreich

Tel. +47 951 41 147

Email: elise.andersen.heidenreich@orkla.no
A Supreme Court Justice, Sylvester Ngwuta, was on Thursday arraigned on an eight-count charge of false declaration of asset.

Mr. Ngwuta, who is also facing fraud charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja, was arraigned by the Federal Government at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Abuja.

He pleaded not guilty to the fresh charges.

Consequently, the Director of Public Prosecution, Mohammed Umar, who represented the Nigerian government asked the court for an adjournment to allow him present his witnesses.

The defence counsel, Kanu Agabi did not object to the request for adjournment and so the case was adjourned till July 5 for trial.

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Nigerian troops fighting the extremist Boko Haram sect have suffered major setbacks, with the terror group sacking an army battalion, killing eight soldiers and wounding 11 others in two separate attacks in three days, reliable military insiders have told PREMIUM TIMES.

The army formations involved in the incidents also lost several arms and ammunition, and are calling for urgent restocking of their armouries, our sources said.

The first incident, involving troops deployed at the Forward Operating Base in Sabon Gari, Borno State, occurred at about 6 p.m. on Monday when over 200 Boko Haram terrorists on motorcycles suddenly descended on the base.

The terrorists, according to those familiar with the incidents, had five gun trucks on which twin barrel artillery guns were mounted.

The Nigerian troops fought back gallantly, but were dislodged from their location after about an hour of fierce battle.

Five soldiers were killed in action while nine others were seriously injured. Four other soldiers are yet to be found as at the time of this report

Army authorities did not immediately comment about the development.

Efforts made by this newspaper to get Army spokesperson, Sani Usman; Defence spokesperson, John Enenche; and head of the Armys operations in Borno, Lucky Irabor, were unsuccessful.

While Mr. Usman, a brigadier general, and Mr. Irabor, a major general, did not respond to calls and text messages sent to their respective phone lines on Thursday; an assistant to Mr. Enenche, a major general, said his boss was at a meeting.

The subordinate, who identified himself as Lieutenant Colonel Olabisi, said Mr. Enenche was holding a seminar with defence correspondents and will revert back as soon as possible.

Subsequent calls to his phone after about two hours later were neither answered nor returned. The initial text messages sent to his line were also not replied to before this publication.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that hours after the unit retreated from its Sabon Gari base, the surviving troops, along with reinforcements from 25 Brigade, returned to the location in several armoured cars and buses.

The counterattack was largely successful, but the army is currently lamenting the loss of their equipment, arms and ammunition in the incident.

Our sources gave a list of equipment carted away by the terrorists to include three Steyr Armoured Personnel Carriers, one gun truck mounted with anti-aircraft ammunition, and 9 self-propelled guns.

The terrorists also carted away 16 AK47 rifles, one HF radio, two rocket-propelled grenades, two 60MM mortals and all the reserved ammunition and drugs in the base.

But two days later, just as the army was trying to address the loss caused it by that incident, troops of 82 Division Task Force Battalion ran into an IED ambush laid by the terrorists.

That attack occurred at about 8:45 a.m. on Thursday, April 19, while the soldiers were on administrative patrol along the Ngoshe-Bokkotinta-Pulka axis.

Three soldiers were killed in the incident while two were wounded.

The troops also lost one gun truck, one mine lab detector device and four AK 47 rifles.

Our sources said a large number of terrorists were killed in the two incidents while several others escaped with gunshot wounds.

The latest Boko Haram attacks despite the efforts of the Nigerian soldiers indicate they have not been completely defeated. The terror group has lost virtually all the territory it once controlled to Nigerian forces and displaced persons have since started returning to such communities.

The recent attacks also come about one week after the world marked three years since the abduction of over 200 female students by the Boko Haram from Chibok in Borno State. President Muhammadu Buhari has, however, indicated his administrations determination to ensure the return of the 195 girls still believed to be held captive by the terror group.

EDITORS NOTE: The post has been edited to reflect the correct designation of Lucky Irabor, a Major General.

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Security operatives, believed to be from the police headquarters, on Thursday evening raided the Abuja home of Danjuma Goje, a former governor of Gombe State, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

The operation, which began after 5:00 p.m. was still ongoing as at 7:01 p.m.

Our correspondents report that at least 12 vehicles, including about eight police vans were stationed outside the building.

At least 25 mobile police officers were sighted outside the building, located on Haile Selassie Street, Asoroko.

About half a dozen detectives were also seen standing outside, with even more likely to be inside.

It was initially thought that the operatives who raided the building were from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, hence our earlier report to that effect.

EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, was not initially available for comments. But he later circulated a statement saying his agency was not involved in the operation.

A security source said the operatives were from the Monitoring Unit of the Inspector General of Police, and were on a mission to recover funds believed to be hidden in the building.

A whistleblower is believed to have provided that information to the police.

The police is yet to comment on the ongoing operation.

Mr. Goje, a serving senator, is currently being prosecuted for alleged corruption while he was Gombe governor.

Read our earlier story below:

Operatives of the anti-graft EFCC on Thursday evening raided the Abuja home of Danjuma Goje, a former governor of Gombe State, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

The operation, which began after 5:00 p.m. was still ongoing as at 7:01 p.m.

Our correspondents report that at least 12 vehicles, including about eight police vans were stationed outside the building.

At least 25 mobile police officers were sighted outside the building, located on Haile Selassie Street, Asokoro.

About half a dozen plain clothed EFCC detectives were also seen standing outside, with even more likely to be inside.

EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, was not immediately available for comments.

Other anti-graft officials said they wont comment on an ongoing operation.

Mr. Goje, a serving senator, is currently being prosecuted for alleged corruption while he was Gombe governor.

EDITORS NOTE: This post has been updated to reflect the fact that it was the police, not the EFCC, raided the politicians home.

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The Nigeria Customs Service on Thursday announced a major re-shuffle of its management, as the Comptroller-General, Hameed Ali, approved the immediate redeployment of 48 Comptrollers of the Service.

A statement by the Customs spokesperson, Joseph Attah, said the redeployment, which is in line with the ongoing reforms of the service, was for effective and efficient service delivery,

Those redeployed included M. J. Madugu, who was moved from Sokoto/Kebbi/Zamfara Command to Ogun; E.A. Udo-aka, from investigation department to Oyo/Osun Command, and K. Isiyaku, from Tariff and Trade Department to Port Harcourt 1 Command, among others.

Similarly, Mr. Attah said the comptroller-generals compliance team was reconstituted, with the new team divided into three, consisting Teams A for Western Axis, B for Northern axis, and C for Eastern axis.

Mr. Attah said the three teams would complement the Federal Operations Units, to vigorously crackdown on all forms of smuggling activities nationwide, with particular focus on the enforcement of non-importation of rice and vehicles through the land borders.

The new CGCs Compliance team, he said, would be coordinated by A. Azarema, who before now was the Comptroller License and Permit at the Customs headquarters.

Each of the axis would be led by Assistant Comptrollers of Customs.

Mr. Ali told the redeployed staff that he was determined to strategically reposition the Service as a crucial contributor to the effort to blocked the revenue leakages.

He called on all stakeholders to support the service by being compliant as well as provide needed information for the operatives to nip smuggling activities in the bud.

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The governing All Progressives Congress, APC, has again postponed a meeting of the National Caucus and National Executive Committee, NEC, earlier scheduled for April 24 and 25, 2017 respectively.

The postponement was announced Thursday by the spokesperson of the party, Bolaji Abdullahi in a statement.

Mr. Abdullahi said, the postponement is due to unexpected developments.

The governing party last held a NEC meeting on July 3, 2015, few months after it came into power.

The APC has been enmeshed in crisis for over a year with some leaders of the party calling on the national chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, to resign. Some of those publicly opposed to Mr. Odigie-Oyeguns leadership include former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu, and suspended deputy spokesperson, Timi Frank.

The crisis in the party is believed to be one of the factors militating against convening a NEC meeting.

On Thursday, Mr. Abdullahi said, New dates for the meetings will be communicated in due course.

The National Caucus and NEC meetings are usually preparatory meetings to a national convention. The APC had earlier announced that it would hold its mid-term non-elective National Convention on April 29, 2017 in Abuja.

The announcement was made by the Governor of Zamfara State, Abubakar Yari, shortly after governors elected under that platform of the party had held a closed-door meeting with the leadership of the APC at its national secretariat, Abuja.

Thursdays announcement therefore, means the national convention of the party may not hold as announced.

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Shehu Sani, the Senator heading the committee whose investigation led to the suspension of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has called for the dissolution of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption, chaired by Itse Sagay.

Mr. Sani, APC-Kaduna, made the call on Thursday, saying the Sagay-led committee was incompetent, having allegedly defended Mr. Lawal as being without guilt.

PREMIUM TIMES fact-check, however, showed Mr. Sani made the call on false premise.

President Muhammadu Buhari should as a matter of urgency dissolve his Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption, said Mr. Sani. It is a moribund and irrelevant assemblage.

A Presidential Advisory Committee headed by a man who defended the SGF is without honour.

The chairman of the committee attacked me for my report on PINE; now that the president has taken steps in the direction of the committees report, I hope the professor will muster the courage to also attack the president. The advisory committee was looking for corruption in Sokoto while its there in `shokoto.

It is sad that most of the mercenary forces hired to rubbish the integrity of the Senate committee and defend those indicted have suddenly lost their voices.

Itse Sagay Hits Back Shehu Sani Is Ignorant

In a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES after Mr. Sanis comment Thursday evening, Mr. Sagay, professor of Law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said Mr. Sani was speaking out of sheer ignorance.

My committee did not support the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said Mr. Sagay. We didnt have any official view on that.

Personally, he added, I did not express an opinion when the Senate first indicted Mr. Lawal.

He continued, My view really is that he (Mr. Sani) is smarting on behalf of the Senate that we have sustained our support for Magu and as a result of that support Magu remains in office, and will continue to do his job of clearing corruption which the Senate is not happy about because they want the corruption to stay.

And it sounds very ill for Senate to say that anybody has no integrity. They have no basis to say that because their own situation as far is integrity is concerned is the most deplorable in the country. It sounds bad in their mouth to say somebody has no integrity.

After President Muhammadu Buhari suspended Mr. Lawal over allegations of breach of law and due process in the contracts awarded by the Presidential Initiative on North East, PREMIUM TIMES sought Mr. Sagays view.

It is the correct thing to do, he replied.

One does not need to express it publicly. My view has always been that he should resign or be sacked because the issues are so clear.

He said one of the highest officials in the country awarded contracts to himself, which is contrary to the constitution.

I know at the end of the day he will have to go.

Fact-Check

PREMIUM TIMES reviewed the claims by the senator and the septuagenarian lawyer, known for harsh views on the Nigerian Senate.

Our independent checks revealed Mr. Sani based his call for the dissolution of Mr. Sagays committee on false ground.

Mr. Sagay did not express support for Mr. Lawal at any time, neither did he attack Mr. Sani for his report on Mr. Lawal nor the Senate for asking Mr. Buhari to sack and prosecute the now suspended SGF.

Rather, Mr. Sagay slammed Mr. Sani for attacking and accusing Mr. Buhari of treating corruption in the executive arm with deodorant.

Then, Mr. Sagay said Mr. Sanis blistering remark on Mr. Buhari was based on politics.

He in fact denied having much knowledge about the SGF.

I dont know too much about the Secretary to the Federal Government, I must confess that. I dont know much about that, the professor said then.

But I know the case of Magu thoroughly. And the allegations are spurious. There is no reality in them. The whole thing was distorted to give a wrong impression about Magu, said Mr. Sagay on January 26.

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Hundreds of Lagos residents on Thursday received free medical check-ups and medication which included free drugs, free eye, HIV and dental services from the 561 Nigeria Air Force hospital medical team.

The free medical outreach programme, which held at the Sam Ethan Air Force base in Ikeja, was organised by the Nigeria Air Force in commemoration of its 53rd anniversary.

The main event of the anniversary held in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.

It was gathered that the Chief of Air staff, Sadique Abubakar, gave the directive that free medical services be rendered to NAFs host communities in furtherance of the commitment of enhancing civil-military cooperation.

David Babalola, a Wing Commander, said the programme holds periodically while insisting that every service rendered for this community is free, the medical team comprises of pharmacists, dentists, medical lab scientists who are here to provide free drugs, free eye and dental services. We have free lenses also for as many of those willing to partake in it.

Mr. Babalola added that the free medical outreach is simultaneously happening in six other Nigerian Air force bases across the country as a way to show solidarity and commitment to civil-military cooperation.

Rafiu Ajisegiri, the traditional chief of Shogunle, whose palace was used for the medical outreach said he was excited about the programme because it coincided with his 10th year of being the Baale of this community.

I have even nursed the idea of this medical programme which is in my programme for my anniversary before the Air force team came here, he added.

Beneficiaries numbering over 300 availed themselves the opportunity of receiving medical check-ups and medications as provided by the Air force medical team.

Olashukpo Olatokun, one of the beneficiaries, said: I came here to avail myself of the opportunity that is available to everybody else. I checked my blood sugar level, my eye, blood pressure and I received medication at the pharmacy.

Another beneficiary, Catherine Bassey, said, I just came here to check myself, I checked my sugar level because I do this frequently. This is a beautiful development and I really encourage more of this.

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The Defence Headquarters, DHQ, has said that Nigerias Cyber security systems has improved tremendously in line with the realities of time.

This is coming against the backdrop of increasing rate of attacks and undeclared cyber warfare between various states and non-state actors across the world.

The Director of Defence Information, DDI, John Enenche, disclosed this on Thursday at the 2017 Defence Correspondents Seminar in Abuja.

He said that Nigerian defence, intelligence and security agencies are doing a lot behind the scene in the area of cyber security, which he said would be unveiled soon.

He said: We are doing a lot in cyber security. This has gone beyond holding seminars. We have trained people that are very knowledgeable in that aspect.

We are assuring you in not too distant time, it will be made public because the new battlefield is in the cyber space.

On the seminar, Mr. Enenche said it was to ensure that the defence correspondents are adequately prepared to function creditably for national security.

According to him, the seminar has been packaged to produce the focus for year 2017, based on the anticipation of outlook of events for the year, with the theme: Professional Information Management a Panacea for Improved National Security.

In the same vein, the Chief of Defence staff, CDS, Abayomi Olonisakin, assured that the DHQ will leverage on the existing cordial relationship between the media and the military, having in mind the critical role media plays on military operations.

It is worthy of note that due to our continuous drive to maintain an open door policy, media organisations have always been granted permission and provided armed escorts to our theatres of operation. Likewise, some Non-Governmental organisations and Civil Society Organisations were facilitated to perform their duties at different locations of the mission areas nationwide.

Mr. Olonisakin who was represented by the Chief of Civil-Military Relations, Jonathan Ango, appealed to defence correspondents to exercise restraint while reporting on issues that have serious security implications.

Also speaking, the Director-General, Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, called for closer collaboration between the security officials, especially the information managers and journalists to advance national security .

Mr. Okechukwu also called on the defence authorities and other heads of security agencies to respond to enquiries, confirmations that come by the way of phone calls, text and WhatsApp messages among others.

An aggressive posture on the side of top managers of information either in military circles, police or other agencies does not help at all. Some information managers can become too aggressive thinking it is the best way to put the journalist off.

And to journalists, there is the seeming competition between the new media and traditional as to who breaks the news first. They may not wait for confirmation of stories. There could be elements of falsehood and it is already in the public domain causing anxiety.

Fellow journalists, sentimental reporting will not help. To enlighten tension or write or pass information that will harm society is not good information management.

According to Mr. Okechukwu, to portray insurgency as heroes at the expense of the Nigerian military is not proper and professional information management and will not improve national security.

He said it is out of place to ridicule members of the armed forces, their operations revealing operation plans in the name of scoops and breaking news.

The former defence spokesperson, Chris Olukolade, moderated the discussion.

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SOUTHFIELD, Mich., April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Last August, the Automotive Industry Action Group hit a milestone in membership, welcoming its 1,500th new member into the AIAG community. Today, just seven months later, the association celebrates another accomplishment: surpassing the 2,000 member mark.



Achieving 2,000 members is a great sign that the value of the standards and best practices created by the industry for the industry at AIAG are gaining even more recognition of the value they provide the entire automotive supply chain, says David A. Lalain, AIAGs vice president, member services. Of course, the true benefit is only realized when these standards and best practices are utilized by the entire industry, from the OEMs and Tier Ones to the Tier Twos and beyond. More and more companies are realizing that membership makes it easier for them to access the tools they need to work at their best and keep current on the latest industry developments.

Nancy Malo, an AIAG membership manager, notes that current members have played a significant role in continuing the upswing in the AIAG member community. Reaching 2,000 member companies was achieved with help from our existing, dedicated members who consistently communicate AIAGs value to their sub-tier supply base, and we thank them for that, she says. In fact, our larger members believe so strongly in the work the industry does at AIAG that theyre sponsoring 5-year memberships for smaller suppliers who qualify. They want the entire industry to improve as a whole through the best practices developed at AIAG.

Kathryn LaFerle, also an AIAG membership manager, notes that AIAGs work to revitalize the sub-tier supply base has contributed to this latest membership milestone. We are particularly focused on attracting and servicing the needs of emerging automotive professionals, she says. For example, those new to the industry enjoy monthly Future Automotive Experts meetings, which feature a talk by an automotive expert followed by Q&A and networking. Topics include quality, leadership, and how to grow a career in automotive.

The popularity of these meetings has grown dramatically because they give new automotive professionals access to successful industry experts, says LaFerle. And the experts get a lot out of it as well because they engage with the industrys rising talent.

The AIAG membership team points to the recent rise in automotive professionals, supported by the revitalization of college-level and adult continuing education programs with real-world automotive industry content. AIAG is also working hard to attract minority-owned businesses and collaborate with sister organizations in the Southeast U.S., Canada, and Mexico to support increasing demand for local sources of advanced manufacturing skills.

J. Scot Sharland, AIAGs executive director, adds that as AIAG drives awareness, access, and utilization of industry standards and allied best practices across the industry, the natural result is a growing number of automotive companies interested in joining the movement. Together, we are mitigating risk and managing uncertainty for all of the automotive supply chain, says Sharland. Our rapidly growing membership is thriving due to self-assessments, best practices, standards, and training, which is resulting in more predictable manufacturing outcomes.

About AIAG

The Automotive Industry Action Group is a unique not-for-profit organization where OEMs, suppliers, service providers, government entities, and individuals in academia have worked collaboratively for more than 30 years to drive down costs and complexity from the supply chain. AIAG membership includes preeminent manufacturers and many of their parts suppliers and service providers. To learn more about AIAG membership, call 248.358.9780 or visit www.joinAIAG.org.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has lamented the high rate of turnover of legislators in the National Assembly.

This, he attributed to reasons including godfatherism and the clamour for rotational representation at the expense of quality legislation and the high cost of training invested in members, once elected.

The speaker expressed these concerns in an interview with NIGERIA NOW Magazine in Abuja.

Obviously, theres no way one would not be bothered about the rate of turnover of legislators It is an issue that is being discussed across board, but so many factors are responsible and it is based on the practice of democracy in Nigeria.

In some cases, some people have acquired some dominance in politics, they can just sit down and decide that they dont like your face or that you have some kind of competence that is challenging to them, so they want to do away with you completely and eliminate you from politics.

In some cases, it is based on the local arrangement where a constituency consists of 2 or 3 local governments and each local government would want its turn to be represented at the National Assembly. So, the pressure is always there to claim turns at representation.

As soon as you send someone for four years, the agitation from the other local government is that it is their turn coming, so at the end of the day, you then have this high rate of turnover in the National Assembly and it is not helping the system. Any system that doesnt have the capacity to retain what is known as institutional memory is doomed, and in that process we have had well-trained and competent lawmakers where Government and National Assembly have expended huge resources in training and developing them, they are retired after four years when they are just getting really well developed, then they bring new sets of members who are trained for another four years and then asked to go back home.

While explaining the effects of the loss of institutional memory, he said: It doesnt matter whether you are the best lawyer or made a First Class in Law; when you come to parliament youll discover that even professors have been lost on the floor, you dont hear their voices, you dont even know that they are professors, sometimes you wont even believe that we have professors. So, whatever it is that is your profession or qualification, when you come to the National Assembly, you must wait first, there are so many things you must learn. If you are a fast learner; maybe within 2 years you may be able to catch up. In some cases, however, it takes members more than 4 years to finish learning the ropes.

Mr. Dogara also said that retaining lawmakers would help strengthen oversight and eliminate what he referred to as petty squabbles during plenary, and that if Parliament itself must endure and function efficiently, we have to find a way of retaining majority of the members every four years.

You can imagine if some of the experts we have now come back, like say we have 80 per cent return rate. You can imagine, you dont have to lecture anybody, you dont have to waste so much resources to train people, they are already trained, they are ready to hit the ground running from day one, but thats not the case in the National Assembly where you bring new members, train them for four years, invest in them and then you retire them. So, to be candid it is something that worries me, because I know that if we improve the retention rate of members, we would improve the quality of the membership and the quality of the legislation that comes out, improve the quality of debate that comes out of the National Assembly, but unfortunately that is not the case at the moment.

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Facebook is working to create a data input method that doesnt rely on a keyboard, but instead allows the user to type directly from the brain, the company said at its two-day developers conference in San Jose, California.

In a few years time we expect to demonstrate a real-time silent speech system capable of delivering 100 words per minute, or about five-times faster than a person can type with a smartphone, said vice president of engineering Regina Dugan on the second day of the conference.

Ms. Dugan also heads Facebooks hardware research unit known as Building eight, which has more than 60 scientists and engineers working on the new keyboardless typing method.

The input method could, for example, allow users to send a text message or email to a friend without taking out a smartphone to type.

Ms. Dugan also tried to calm consumers at the conference, saying the California-based social media giant isnt interested in detecting a persons thoughts, but only what the person intends to type.

Were not talking about decoding your random thoughts. That might be more than any of us care to know, she said.

Ms. Dugan referred to research at Stanford University, which has allowed a paralysed woman to type at about eight words per minute directly from her brain.

But the current method requires invasive surgery in which an array of electrodes is implanted to receive data where the brain would normally control the persons motor functions.

That simply wont scale, Ms. Dugan said, referring the surgery process.

So well need new non-invasive sensors.

Facebook is considering wearables such as caps that can read data through the human skull.

While the company may need years to produce a mass-scale device, any advances in the research have potential to be a huge breakthrough in human communications, Ms. Dugan said.

Even something as simple as a yes-no brain click would fundamentally change our capability.

(dpa/NAN)

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The emergence of Musab Al-Barnawi, a Boko Haram factional leader, was a boost to the Nigerian Armys counter insurgency efforts, an official has said.

The Commander of the Lake Chad Basin Multi-National force, Lamidi Adeosun, made this known in a telephonic press briefing with selected media outfits, including PREMIUM TIMES, at the United States Consulate Office in Lagos Thursday afternoon.

Mr. Adeosun, a major general, was joined on the platform by Thomas Waldhauser, Commander of United States Africa Command, AFRICOM; and Osman Soubagleh, Commander of African Union Mission in Somalia.

According to Mr. Adeosun, the conflict between Abubakar Shekau and Mr. Al-Barnawi has boosted the militarys operations in the north-east due to the weak link between the rival groups.

The split is assisting the operations in a way, he said, adding that the linkage between his group and Shekaus group has been severed.

Mr. Al-Barnawi is believed to be the son of Muhammed Yusuf, the late Boko Haram founder.

Commenting further, Mr. Adeosun noted that the development weakened the stranglehold the group had on the north-east region.

Mr. Shekau pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in March 2015. But in August last year, the Islamic State, based in Iraq and Syria, announced that Mr. Al-Barnawi was in charge of its West Africa province.

Before forming his faction, Al-Barnawi, whose father Mohammed Yusuf founded Boko Haram in 2002 with Mr. Shekau as his deputy, had criticised the latters indiscriminate targeting of civilians and fellow Muslims.

Instead of suicide bombings causing mass casualties, his faction vowed to concentrate on fighting Christian crusaders in Africa, as well as the government and military.

He has been challenging the military, Mr. Adeosun admitted, adding that the military is ahead of the situation and would nip the menace in the bud.

The Nigerian military has in the past two years recovered several territories initially controlled by the Boko Haram in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states. The group is, however, still able to carry out impromptu attacks on military and civilians as well as suicide bombings on civilian targets.

Each of the two Boko Haram factions is believed to hold some of the 195 Chibok girls who were kidnapped from their secondary school in Chibok, Borno State on April 14, 2014. President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed his governments determination to do everything possible to secure the release of the girls.

On the fears expressed in certain quarters about possible breakdown in international support for the troops in African countries, especially by the U.S., Mr. Adeosun said the fears were unfounded, adding that support is based on common grounds.

The fears are not necessary the (international) support is based on common ground because all operations rely on their main (national) support.

 What comes (from outside) is an additional support, he noted.

While commenting on the crisis in Somalia, the three generals reinstated their commitment to bringing lasting peace to the nation soon, adding that Somalia is for Somalis.

Mr. Soubagleh, on his part, urged the academic community, civil society organisations, the media and religious institution in Somalia to orientate the populace, in order to weaken the recruitment drive of the Al-shabab terror group.

The generals addressed the press immediately after the African Chiefs of Defense, CHOD, Conference held in Stuttgart.

More than 30 journalists participated in the telephone conference across Africa.

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Less than 48 hours after an Aero Contractor aircraft was engulfed in smoke while trying to land at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, another accident occurred at the airport on Thursday when two aircraft belonging to Air Peace collided while trying to manoeuvre their way around the tarmac of the local terminal.

The Air Peace spokesperson, Chris Iwarah, told journalists that the collision occurred around 6.15 a.m. when its B737 aircraft with registration number 5N-BQR had partial contact with another B737 aircraft with registration number 5N-BQP.

Although the points of contact of the two aircraft were only slightly impacted, we took the cautious decision to declare them unserviceable to enable proper investigation of the incident, checks and repair by our Engineering and Maintenance Department in line with our high safety standards, Mr Iwarah said.

There were no passengers on the two aircraft involved in the incident. We have also revised our flight schedule to cater to our esteemed guests on the 14 sectors the two aircraft were scheduled to service today.

The spokesperson of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, denied that the incident was a collision. He said the wings of both aircraft merely grazed each other.

What happened was that one aircraft was packed. The other aircraft was trying to taxi and the wings of the one coming in touched the wings of the one on ground, he said.

If two airplanes collide, they will be on fire. But the two aircraft were both on ground and they have to repair the damage and we have to check them all over again before they can be cleared to return to service, he told PREMIUM TIMES.

When asked if Nigerians should be concerned about safety efforts put in place following Thursdays incident, Mr. Adurogboye dismissed the concern.

He said accidents happen everywhere in the world and that Nigeria is not an exception.

When you use a machine, assuming you drive a car, even the one you packed in the house, when you want to use it there will be an issue with it. Every machine you are using there are bound to be issues. The same thing applies to aircraft.

There is nowhere in the world there are no issues. It is only in Nigerian that we report incidences. There are incidences all over the world. Aircraft drop off in the U.S. every week. So, to say because of three incidents, it should call for concern. We have 500 landings in MMA alone.

Thursdays incident is similar to an incident in July 2015 when two Airbus 310 aircraft belonging to FirstNation brushed each others wings at the airport.

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A public official has called on God to intervene over the outbreak of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis in Nigeria lamenting that the country does not have enough vaccines to curb the spread of the Type C strain of the disease currently ravaging the country.

The Chairman of the National Immunization Finance Task Team, NIFT, Ben Anyene, restated the authorities helplessness over the health emergency on Thursday while addressing journalists in Abuja.

The National Vaccine Financing Task Team was inaugurated by the former executive director of the Nigeria Primary Health Care Development Agency, Ado Bayero, in recognition of the need for more coordinated effort around vaccine financing and security.

Reiterating that the government does not have enough vaccines, Mr. Anyene said that Nigeria is in dire need of divine intervention to contain the disease which has claimed over 700 lives since its outbreak in November 2016.

The Governor of Zamfara, Abdulaziz Yari, whose state is worst hit by the outbreak with close to 300 recorded deaths, had drawn widespread criticism about a forthnight ago when he attributed the epidemic to Gods anger over the sins of Nigerians.

Speaking on Thursday, however, Mr. Anyene said Nigeria is facing scarcity of vaccines due to lack of proper planning.

The constraint with immunization of meningitis is that there is no vaccine and that is the truth of the fact. The C strain of meningitis is not very common, but it does happen. The sign has been there in the country for the past three years but nobody wanted to take note, he stated.

For countries that plan, you dont have to wait to have a situation. Through their planning and preventive measures, they have these vaccines stocked. You heard them talking about vaccine coming from Britain. Britain doesnt have meningitis but because of planning, they have some stock but Nigeria does not have such.

We need to build up our system because vaccine is not a commodity on the shelf that you can just buy over the counter. Vaccine has to be pre-ordered and paid for upfront and it takes about six months for it to be delivered to you, he said.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Federal Government earlier claimed that it had acquired enough vaccines to combat the Type C strain of the epidemic currently ravaging the country.

A total of 500,000 doses of Meningitis C vaccines have been distributed to some of the affected states for immediate outbreak response vaccination, while additional 823,970 doses are being expected from the United Kingdom to support vaccination activities in other affected states.

Mr. Anyene however stated that when compared to the number of people who need to be vaccinated, it is obvious that there is a shortage and that there is real scarcity.

There is scarcity of vaccine. Or does Nigeria now produce vaccines? Zamfara needs about three million doses of vaccine and they gave them 300,000 doses. Does that mean vaccines are available in the country?

The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, had earlier admitted that the outbreak of the disease shows that the ministry has to increase its surveillance outlook and preparation on curtailing future epidemic outbreak of diseases in the country.

Though the ministry has been preparing for an outbreak of Meningitis in the country, the magnitude of the outbreak and casualties recorded has shown that a lot still needs to be done, the minister had said.

Also on Thursday, Mr. Adewole disclosed that funding needed for immunisation will be more than quadruple by 2026  from $85 million to $378 million with nearly eight million children born each year.

The minister disclosed this during a meeting with donors and development partners  including the World Bank, World Health Organisation, Rotary, UNICEF, funding agencies from U.S., Canada and Japanto ask for increased contributions to help Nigeria pay for immunisation.

Mr. Adewole noted that to ensure that there is no stock out of vaccines, the government needs to budget two years ahead.

Speaking during the event, the Director General of the NPHCDA, Faizal Shuaib, said an audit firm, KPMG, is to probe the finances of the agency in hopes of increasing donor confidence as Nigeria seeks donor support to fund immunisation.

He said KPMG will work at our finance management system to close all loopholes and put in place strategies that make it difficult for people to line their pockets with public funds.

In the last two to three years, theres this cloud of corruption and distrust of NPHCDA. It is an open secret. Donors are worried they are not sure whats happening with NPHCDA. What we are doing is build back that trust.

Donor confidence in Nigerias health finance swayed after a prolonged investigation found that billions of naira from Global Fund was misappropriated.

The 2017 budget proposes refunds, including N4.8 billion to Global Fund and N1.6 billion to the Global Alliance for Vaccine, which will withdraw its support from Nigeria by 2020, leaving the country solely responsible for its immunization.

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A Senior Magistrates Court sitting in Kano, on Thursday slammed a bail of N500,000 on each of the five men accused of obstructing an NTA female journalist from discharging her professional duties.

The accused persons are Abba Abdullahi, 32; Mansir Sale, 28; Bashir Saminu, 27; Yusuf Tijjani, 30; and Shazali Tasiu, 38.

They face a five-count charge of criminal conspiracy, using criminal force, inciting disturbance, mischief and obstructing a public servant from discharging her duty.

The five men pleaded not guilty.

The police prosecutor, Yusuf Sale, had told the court that the journalist, Binta Adamu, and one Abdulrashid Nasir of Kofar Wambai Market, Kano, jointly reported the case to Kofar Wambai Police Division.

The accused persons, on April 10 at about 3:55 p.m., criminally conspired to obstruct Binta from performing her lawful and official duty at Kofar Wambai Market as assigned by the NTA Kano.

The accused persons, with others at large, beat them up and tore Nasirs clothes, he told the court.

The prosecutor said that the offence contravened Sections 97, 265, 114, 327 and 149 of the Penal Code.

Senior Magistrate Aminu Fagge, who granted bail to the accused, ordered that each must produce two sureties and one of the sureties must present three years tax certificate.

He also ordered that one of the sureties should either be the father or relative of the accused persons.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the magistrate also directed the accused and sureties to deposit two recent passport-size photographs with the court.

He ordered all the accused persons to be reporting to Rijiyar Zaki Police Division in Kano every Monday.

The case was adjourned to May 15, for mention.

(NAN)

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The All Progressives Congress, APC, on Thursday reiterated that the party would not participate in the Ebonyi local government election, slated to hold on April 22, in all the 13 local government areas.

The Ebonyi APC Chairman, Eze Nwachukwu, who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Abakaliki, said the decision to boycott the election was irrevocable.

Mr. Nwachukwu said that the party would not hesitate to institute criminal action against any one that used the partys name and logo for the election.

He said that the party had communicated the decision to the Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission, EBSIEC, the police and other security agencies.

According to him, the decision to boycott the election is due to the improper constitution of the electoral commission and alleged non-compliance with due process in the amended Electoral Law 001.

We wish to reiterate the position of our great party not to participate in the forthcoming Ebonyi Local Government Election slated for April 22.

For the avoidance of doubt, we are not participating in the election, where the Chief Electoral Officer and other members of the commission are allegedly card carrying members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

We are not in the race and have not as a political party fielded any candidate for any position in the forthcoming polls.

This decision is from the national secretariat of the party, which received the endorsement of party members in the state.

We wish to make it clear to the voting public that APC is not taking part in the April 22 election.

We have communicated our resolve to the State Electoral Commission, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Police and other security agencies, Mr. Nwachukwu said.

He said the party had instituted a legal action at the Federal High Court, Abakaliki, against the Ebony government, challenging the appointments of chairman and members of the EBSIEC.

He said that the appointment of card carrying members of the PDP and directors of Chief Dave Umahi 2015 Divine Mandate Campaign Organisation into the commission violated Sections 197 (1) and 200 (1) of the Nigerian constitution.

In his reaction, EBSIEC Chairman, Jossy Eze, said that he would not join issues with the APC but would rather speak in the court.

I cant join issues with the APC on the issue of my membership of PDP and as director of the Divine Mandate Campaign Organisation.

As the chairman of the EBSIEC, I am also speaking on behalf of the other members.

Since the matter is before a Federal High Court, we are prepared to sort it out there.

The assurance I am giving to Ebonyi people is that we are committed to conducting free, fair and credible elections come April 22, and all is set for the poll that is barely days away, Mr. Eze said.

But, Victor Aleke, Ebonyi House of Assembly Committee Chairman on EBSIEC, denied allegations that the passage of amended state electoral law did not follow due process.

Mr. Aleke, representing the Mbeke /Ishieke State Constituency, said that the bill passed through the normal legislative processes before it was assented to by the governor.

The EBSIEC Law 001 as amended passed through all legislative processes, including public hearing before it was signed into law by the governor.

The APCs allegation that the passage of the law did not pass through the normal legislative channels is not only untenable but also laughable, Mr. Aleke said.

(NAN)

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The Lagos State Police Command on Wednesday commenced the demolition of shanties within the creeks in Isawo community in Ikorodu, where suspected criminals hide to carry out their activities.

The states Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, confirmed the operations to journalists in Isawo.

He said that the ongoing demolition was to clear the creeks of militants and other hoodlums hiding in them.

Mr. Owoseni said that the operation was being conducted by a combined team of the State Marine Police, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), mobile policemen and the men from the anti-kidnapping squad in coordination with the local vigilante group.

He said during the operations, 13 suspected kidnappers were arrested and were currently helping the police to track down the remaining suspects still on the run.

The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that on April 9, four police officers, an army captain and a civilian lost their lives after an ambush by suspected militants in Isawo area.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, while condoling with the families of the deceased officers, had assured that every perpetrator directly or remotely linked to the dastardly act would be brought to justice.

The police commissioner had on April 13, assured that in the next few days, things will change in the area.

Arrests have been made and we believe we will get some valuable information from them, Mr. Owoseni said.

The commissioner said that one of the suspected militants died during a fierce encounter with the police.

We want to assure members of the public that these people have murdered sleep and they will not sleep, we will make sure that all of them are rooted out and that they face the full wrath of the law.

We want to assure members of the public around this axis that the government is ready, the security agents are ready to ensure that we put an end to the madness of these criminal elements, the police boss said.

Mr. Owoseni commended the local vigilante group for assisting the police to navigate the area and fish out the criminals.

I want to use this opportunity to thank the civilian men that have decided to join us and take us to navigate the water and also give us a lead to the centre of activities which is the creek where these criminal elements have been hibernating, Mr. Owoseni said.

(NAN)

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The Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, on Wednesday hosted the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi,who was accompanied by senior members of Kano Emirate Council.

The visiting monarch while speaking said he was in Ife to formally congratulate Ooni on his ascension to the throne and to appreciate him for his fatherly role following the recent clash between Hausas and Yorubas in Ife.

The clash caused the death of at least 46 people, according to the police.

The emir thanked his host and the people of Ife for the warm reception given to him and prayed for the continued relationship between Kano Emirate and Ife Kingdom.

I was here as a prince a couple of years ago in company of my late father, Emir Ado Bayero, during the 30th coronation anniversary of the late Ooni Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II. As a prince, I had always felt welcome in this palace and today, on arriving here, I have received the same welcome as a member of this royal family, he said

It is indeed remarkable and we thank Allah for the way he does his things because the relationship between our two predecessors which was critical to building bridges across the Niger and unifying the people of this country has continued with us and I hope we will keep being agents of peace and unity for our great country.

He added that his visit is both a happy and sad one.

My visit here today is a happy and sad one. It is a happy one because it is an opportunity for me to come and formally congratulate you on your enthronement and it is a sad one because it is in connection with the sad incidence that occurred at Ile-Ife recently.

I know many people from the North have been complaining that I have been quiet on this matter, let me say that the moment this sad incident happened, His Majesty the Ooni of Ife reached out to me and the sultan, both of us have reached out to ooni on a number of times and we are satisfied with the fatherly way he has so far responded to the crisis which we see as a confirmation that he is truly the father of all in Yorubaland irrespective of tribes and religion.

And we felt that so long the ooni was doing everything humanly possible to stabilise the situation, there was no need for anyone of us to make any statement that could worsen the situation. Let me also add that I was to be here with the Sultan but he has to travel and he has asked me to represent him and all the Northern traditional rulers.

I on behalf of sultan and the other emirs commiserate with you over the sad incident and follow up by making for the great leadership you showed during the crisis and the quick manner in which you doused the tension and the way the culprits were apprehended for justice.

You showed indeed that everyone in Ife is your subject which is the way it should be. The family we come from and the institution we represent are institutions that take responsibility for protecting the lives, property and dignity of our people living within their jurisdiction irrespective of where they are from. We thank you for playing that role.

Mr. Sanusi also commended the Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, for setting up a commission of enquiry to look into the matter and immediate cause of the incident and to recommend appropriately so as to avoid future re-occurrence and to ensure that justice is done.

He said, Our relationship in the country is such that safety in one place is safety everywhere.

The ooni in his response thanked the visiting monarch whom he described as a perfect gentleman and a courageous intellectual for the visit and expressed satisfaction with the reaction of the entire northern leaders over the ugly incident.

When you are talking of intellectuals in Africa, Emir Sanusi is actually a force to reckon with. I have always had tremendous respect for him. Thank you your highness for this historic visit. You are a detribalized Nigerian who has always shown love to members of other tribes. My love for you dates back to when you were Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria as your courage of calling a spade a spade actually drew my attention to you.

You and I met in the UK and we had intensive conversation as regards the crisis and the need to strengthen the unity of all Nigerians. That meeting played a significant role in finally dousing the tension. You are indeed part of us in Ile-Oodua and we are also part of the Kano Emirate. Our prayer therefore is that our relationship will continue to wax stronger.

Mr. Ogunwusi also appreciated the role played by the state government.

The State Government of Osun have played their role very responsibly well by swiftly rising to the occasion, and severally visiting the affected areas with solidarity and donation of cash and other relieve materials. Same goes with us here at the palace, Ife prominent indigenes and all the Yoruba leaders of thought.

We have been doing this just to give them the assurance that we are one big family and I have since been working perfectly with the sultan and the emirs for the sustenance of the peace that we have restored after the crisis.

After presenting the emir with an artwork gift representing the cultural diversity in Nigeria and the unity of the people, the ooni and his chiefs led the emir and his entourage on a visit to the Hausa community at the Sabo area of the town where they both had a brief meeting with the leader and members of the Hausa community.

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A faction of the Ekiti State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, loyal to the governor, Ayo Fayose, has threatened to dump the party should the Supreme Court affirm the leadership of Ali Sheriff.

Two national factions led by Ahmed Makarfi and Mr. Sheriff have taken their battle for control of the PDP to the Supreme Court, whose decision is being awaited on who the authentic leader of the party is. The Court of Appeal had affirmed Mr. Sheriff as he national chairman of the Nigerian opposition party.

The division in the party is well replicated in the states, where the chapters are split in twos supporting each party leader.

Mr. Fayoses faction in Ekiti supports the Ahmed Makarfi national faction. The Ekiti governor had himself hinted he could leave the party before the 2019 general elections, but vowed not to join the All Progressives Congress, claiming he was being lobbied to join the party.

At a stakeholders meeting on Thursday held in Ikole Ekiti, the Fayose faction said loyalists of Mr. Sheriff in the state were outcasts and saboteurs, who were only interested in wrecking the party.

The faction also used the forum to herald its mobilisation for the 2018 governorship election, and passed a vote of confidence on Mr. Fayose for his exemplary contribution to the party both at the national and state levels.

The group led by its chairman, Gboyega Oguntuase, further expressed their profound support for Mr. Makarfi, as the national leader of the party.

A former deputy governor of Ekiti State, Paul Alabi, moved the motion for a vote of confidence on Messrs. Fayose and Makarfi, before it was roundly supported by those at the meeting.

Mr. Alabi, who spoke extensively on the partys fortunes since Mr. Fayose

came on board, warned a senator, Buruji Kashamu, and Mr. Sheriff to stop meddling in the politics of Ekiti.

When did you see any Ekiti man controlling the politics of Ogun?

Senator Kashamu must stop using some renegades to destabilize our

party, he said.

Let me also say this, Fayose remains the voice of the voiceless in Nigeria. He is a pride to Ekiti PDP and Nigeria at large and wherever he goes, we shall follow him en masse.

Mr. Oguntuase appealed to members to stand united, so that the 2018 poll could be a walkover for the party.

Winning the election in 2018 is a done deal, but we want to keep our records flying, he said.

In the last election, we defeated Governor Kayode Fayemi in all the 16 local governments and that feat we are going to maintain in the next poll.

Mr. Oguntuase said the party could not survive the onslaught already perfected by the All Progressives if Mr. Sheriff was allowed to control the party.

Mr. Sheriff has, in the past, said he plans to hold a national convention of the PDP this year to elect new leaders of the party. The embattled chairman promised not to contest in the polls.

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CLEVELAND, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A jury in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio returned a unanimous decision on Tuesday finding that thousands of American Family Mutual Insurance (AmFam) agents are actually employees. After a two-week trial, the jury found that the nations third largest property and casualty insurance company improperly classified its agents as independent contractors.



The jury apparently agreed that AmFam cannot have it both ways, said attorney Erin K. Dickinson of Crueger Dickinson, LLC (Madison, WI). A company cannot just call its agents independent contractors to avoid following the federal law protecting retirement benefits and then insist on controlling how those agents do their work.

The case (Jammal, et al. v. American Family Insurance, Case No.: 13-cv-00437) centered on the allegation that AmFam avoids complying with ERISA, the federal law that protects retirement benefits, by improperly classifying its agents as independent contractors when they are actually employees. The Honorable Donald Nugent certified the case as a class action and presided over the advisory jury trial. AmFam is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin.

There is a lot at stake for AmFam agents who have been wrongfully deprived of retirement benefits, said attorney Charles J. Crueger. We look forward to the next phase of the case.

Crueger, Dickinson, and attorney Ed Wallace of Wexler Wallace, LLP (Chicago, Illinois) served as trial counsel for the class of AmFam agents. The jurys decision is advisory. Judge Nugent must now decide whether to adopt the jurys conclusion and issue a formal ruling. If adopted, the case would proceed to a remedy phase to restore and protect retirement benefits for 6,978 current and former AmFam agents across the country.

This was an incredibly hard-fought trial with a lot at stake for AmFam agents who have been wrongfully deprived of retirement benefits, said attorney Ed Wallace of Wexler Wallace, LLP (Chicago, Illinois). We are very pleased that the jury so carefully evaluated the substantial evidence supporting this verdict.

In addition to the trial counsel team, the Plaintiffs were also represented by Kara A. Elgersma of Wexler Wallace LLP, Jack Landskroner and Drew Legando of Landskroner Grieco Merriman, LLC (Cleveland, Ohio), and Gregory F. Coleman of Greg Coleman Law PC (Knoxville, TN).
The Olubadan of Ibadanland, Saliu Adetunji, has alerted the Oyo State Police Command of moves by some individuals to misuse law enforcement agents in the manner that could cause the breakdown of law and order.

The Olubadan made the accusation at his palace in Ibadan while receiving the new Deputy Inspector General of Police, South West, Foluso Adebanjo.

Mr. Adetunji specifically mentioned the case of Oloode village in Oluyole Local Government where one Lukman Alao was deposed as Baale and promptly replaced on January 9 with Dauda Odeyemi.

According to the monarch, Alao has become a law unto himself using mercenaries procured outside Oyo State to molest and arrest law abiding citizens.

Part of his mode of operation is continuous use of number plate of Baale Oloode long after his removal from office.

His co-traveller is the Onido of Ido, Chief Tajudeen Akinola, who, although is not molesting anybody is using the plate number of Onido of Ido.

If a chief is removed in accordance with our tradition over allegations of wrong doing, he could either take it or go to the law court in search of justice.

We believe in the rule of law. This is why we have not joined issues with the deposed Baale.

Mr. Adetunji said that as the traditional authority over all the eleven local government councils in Ibadanland, he cannot be indifferent to people using mercenaries to molest his people.

He commended officers of the Nigerian Police for their professionalism in maintaining law and order and ensuring peace and security.

The monarch prayed for the success of the new DIG and his officials including the AIG Zone 1, the Oyo State Police Commissioner and others.

Th new DIG, Mr. Adebanjo told the monarch that his request would be promptly looked into.

He said officers and of the police would continue to collaborate with traditional institutions to ensure law and order.

(NAN)

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Golden Bricks kick starts Invest Plus and My Home services for Real Estate Investors & Buyers

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New Delhi: Gurgaon based real estate research, consultancy and Services firm; Golden Bricks kick started Invest Plus and My Home Services for its clients. With more than 20 years of experience in retail, commercial and residential Real Estate Golden Bricks is known for its exceptional professionalism and know how about the real estate industry.







In the last two decades it has become one of the most trusted, preferred and reliable real estate brokerage and services in the NCR Region. The two services on offer  Invest Plus and My Home  will help clients turn critical and complex real estate issues into opportunities for growth.







Under Invest Plus a team of consultants from Golden Bricks will help clients to decode the nuances of investments with their unique tools. These tools will provide an in-depth research based profiling of projects and also help in profiling the projects. Market intelligence derived in this manner will further help in making a firm investment decision. Thus a goal oriented investment decision will help achieve to healthy return.







Under My Home  a separate team of consultants will help prospective and current buyers and investors to pick and buy house properties in a completely transparent and smooth manner. The transactions done will be transparent and hassle free.







Commenting on the services, Mr Gaurev Kapur, Managing Director, Golden Bricks said, Real estate transactions can be tricky. However, with our in-depth knowledge and understanding of the real estate sector and sound financial advice, we will make the transaction process easier and smooth. With our plethora of services we aim to create a value for our clients and help them achieve their investment goals.







The range of services from Golden Bricks includes: Investment planning, wealth management and residential investments. The services will be offered through a series of process which will include but will not limit to research, validation, mapping the real estate trends and striking the best deal for you. The consultants at Golden Bricks will also assist in sanctions and approvals, exit formalities and re-sale assistance.



------------







About Golden Bricks



Golden Bricks is a Gurgaon based Real Estate consultancy with more than 20 years of experience in retail, commercial and residential sector. It is known for its exceptional professionalism and knowledge about the industry. Currently its handled by three brothers Gaurev Kapur, Chetan Kapur & Abhimanyu Kapur qualified from University of Leeds and University of Bradford, UK. They see a great opportunity in an unorganized Industry and aims to change the face of Gurgaon Real Estate by setting up highly professional services to cater homebuyers and investors in the correct way to help them fulfill their aspirations.







In the last 2 decades it has become one of the most trusted, preferred and reliable real estate consultancies in the Delhi NCR Region. Professional consultants of Golden Bricks help clients to turn critical and complex real estate issues into opportunities for growth. From business owners and investors to residential opportunities, Golden Bricks offer the experience, know-how, and the strategic planning that helps lead to better decisions. DLF, Tata Housing, MGF, EMAAR, Vatika, Besttech Paras Buildtech, Ireo, Satya Group, Bani etc are the key Clients of Golden Bricks.







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ATLANTIC CITY  Gov. Chris Christie said at a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday the new Gateway Project under construction turns the corner on the states commitment to the city.

We didnt give up on Atlantic City, he said. We are back to celebrating it.

He praised the public-private partnerships that made the 675,000-square-foot, $220 million project possible. It includes new headquarters for South Jersey Gas, plus a new residential campus for Stockton University that includes an academic building, housing for more than 500 students and a parking garage scheduled to open in fall 2018.

Jon Hanson, chairman of the Atlantic City Development Corp., which is managing the Gateway project, said it took longer than expected to address the problems in Atlantic City. The excavation work on the Stockton campus started almost a year ago, but Hanson said he likes to have a groundbreaking when there is actual construction to see.

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Christie praised each other for putting aside partisan politics.

Atlantic City is too important to New Jersey to fail, Sweeney said. It was the golden goose that got sick.

Christie noted the project will generate 925 construction jobs and 300 permanent jobs in Atlantic City.

And we all know the kind of energy 500 college students bring to any area, he said.

About 500 students are expected to live in the new beachfront student housing, and more than 1,000 students could take classes there.

South Jersey Industries CEO Michael Renna said their new building represents need, opportunity and impact all coming together at the right time.

We are bursting in Folsom, but cant expand there, he said. It was an opportunity to come in (to the city) when others seemed to want to get out. We are proud to come back.

Referring to the impact of all the Stockton students and employees, Renna said, Wait until 200 utility workers move in.

Both South Jersey Industries and Stockton originally had sites in Atlantic City. Stockton President Harvey Kesselman, a student in the first class in 1971, cited the schools motto at the time, Plant yourself where you can grow, to emphasize both how Stockton has grown, but also how it will again take root in the city.

We will raise more than steel and bricks and mortar here, he said at the groundbreaking, held under a tent on the Boardwalk. We will raise hope and opportunity. Move over seagulls. The Ospreys have landed.
ATLANTIC CITY  The president of the NAACP came to town Thursday and condemned the state takeover of the city, calling it a profound injustice and a national issue.

Cornell William Brooks gave a fiery speech in City Hall during a news conference that included unions, activists, residents and other opponents of the takeover, which he described as a threat to democracy, public safety, civil rights and collective bargaining.

We are here in Atlantic City because we understand, most profoundly, that what is understood to be merely a money problem is in fact a democracy challenge, Brooks said. This is not merely about dollars and cents. Its about human beings.

The event largely focused on the citys water authority, the prized waterworks on the Monopoly board that some believe could be worth $100 million if sold to a private company. Local leaders have refused to dissolve the authority, fearing residential rate hikes and a loss of local control of the water system.

Water rights are civil rights, and civil rights are human rights, Brooks said.

He blamed the state for the citys problems, praised the authoritys lowest water rates in Atlantic County and promised a long fight over the takeover.

The NAACP is in this fight for the long haul, Brooks said. When we were called to Flint, Michigan, we arrived there a year or two before the TV cameras arrived.

The citys Municipal Utilities Authority became a focal point in the legislative battle over the takeover bill. City Council pulled or voted down measures to dissolve the authority five times amid pressure from residents. State officials cited this unwillingness as proof local leaders were unable to solve the citys financial problems.

But ahead of the NAACP news conference, Gov. Chris Christie seemed open to not selling the authority, telling reporters a decision on the waterworks would require a thoughtful conversation.

Im going to be very, very protective of the MUA, Christie said after a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Stockton University campus and South Jersey Gas headquarters. The city has a real stake in this, and I think its a stake that needs to be respected when youre making these decisions.

Christie added he wasnt taking anything off the table, but said he has made no decision on the authority and has not received a recommendation on it from former U.S. Sen. Jeffrey Chiesa, his point man in the city.

The state takeover law, called the Municipal Stabilization and Recovery Act, gave the state sweeping power over the citys financial decisions, including authority to sell assets, fire workers and break union contracts. The city is hundreds of millions of dollars in debt and teetered on default and a government shutdown last year.

The takeover law also rendered referendums and initiatives as advisory only, saying they may be followed, or disregarded by state officials in charge of the citys finances since November.

Local NAACP members, working with the advocacy group Food and Water Watch, recently launched a petition drive to force a referendum on any sale of the water utility. The groups need 1,500 signatures to initiate an ordinance. An organizer declined to say how many signatures already had been collected.

Renee Steinhagen, an attorney from New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center advising the petitioners, said the petition is about retaining the residents right to referendum.

The right to say no or yes, she said. What were really doing here in this movement is telling the state we want to retain those rights, those fundamental rights.

Christie dismissed the idea the takeover was a rights issue, saying the local representatives whom residents elected failed them.

Their local officials ran this city into the ground and put them to bankruptcy, Christie said. I dont know how anyones civil rights are protected by letting their city go bankrupt.
Aaron Carter, the singer-rapper who began performing as a child and had hit albums starting in his teen years, was found dead at his home in Southern California. He was 34. Representatives for Carters family confirmed the singers death Saturday. They did not provide any immediate further comment. A sheriff's official says deputies responding to reports of a medical emergency found a person deceased at the home in Lancaster. Aaron Carter, the younger brother of Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, performed as an opening act for Britney Spears as well as his brothers boy band, and appeared on the familys reality series, House of Carters.
The Assembly recently voted to revoke New Jerseys ability to suspend the professional licenses of those who default on their student loans.

On the face of it, that makes sense. Licenses to teach, provide emergency medical care or practice law enable their holders to work and make money. Temporarily lifting licenses not only might devastate their holders but might prevent them from repaying the loans.

And yet, legislators chose to give student-loan repayment agencies this leverage just 18 years ago. They must have had a reason. Some 20 or so other states do the same or go even further, suspending the drivers licenses of some who fail to repay their student loans.

One of the sponsors of the current bill, Assemblyman Vincent Mazzeo, said license suspensions dont help either the debtors or collectors, but the debt collectors say otherwise. They consider the threat of suspending a professional license a valuable tool for extracting long-overdue payments  one that is seldom actually used.

Efforts typically are made to get delinquent borrowers to enroll in repayment plans tied to their income levels. Often theres no response, but when debtors receive written notice that their licenses might be suspended, they generally start working with the collection agencies, student aid executives say.

The number of license suspensions for loan defaults in New Jersey isnt known, but data from other states suggest the percentage is small.

For licenses through the Division of Consumer Affairs, a hearing is required before a license may be suspended. Licenses to practice law may only be suspended by the state Supreme Court.

Student debt is a national problem that looks like it will fall to taxpayers for a bailout some day. Current student debt stands at about $1 trillion, and graduates in New Jersey average $19,242 in debt.

There are probably better ways to motivate graduates to come to terms with repaying their student loans. Bankruptcy law already makes it difficult to discharge student loan debt in Chapters 7 or 13.

Removing the threat of a license suspension is OK, but N.J. legislators should also look into other, more effective and considerate tools and methods for getting more outstanding student debt repaid.

The timing of the bill to revoke the ability to suspend licenses suggests legislators arent interested in that or the student debt calamity building nationwide.

Introduced at the start of last year and not passed by the Assembly until last month, the bill probably will be inserted by the Senate into the grand parade of shiny baubles to be showered on the public ahead of the fall election.

As ever, citizens and taxpayers wait and wait for their elected representatives to meaningfully address the serious and burdensome issues facing the state.
April 20, 2017: Oslo, Norway, Petroleum Geo-Services ASA ("PGS" or "the Company").

Based on preliminary consolidated numbers, PGS expects to report revenues for Q1 2017 of approximately $155 million, with an EBITDA of approximately $30 million. The low EBITDA is primarily driven by the relatively low MultiClient investment activity in the quarter.

Total MultiClient revenues ended at approximately $80 million in Q1 2017. MultiClient pre-funding revenues constitute about half of this amount, representing well above 100% pre-funding on slightly above $30 million capitalized MultiClient cash investment in the quarter. Marine contract revenues ended at approximately $60 million.

The Company estimates the order book as of March 31, 2017 to be approximately $340 million, the highest level in two years and a significant increase compared to the $215 million reported as of end Q4 2016, and the $204 million at end Q1 2016. MultiClient represents approximately $200 million. The improved order book reflects an increase in secured pre-funding for scheduled MultiClient projects and an increase of volume and pricing of marine contract work.

"Our Q1 numbers are impacted by the challenging market conditions and low MultiClient investment activity. Despite the slow start to the year, I am pleased with the high MultiClient pre-funding level achieved in Q1 2017 which illustrates our continued ability to generate solid MultiClient projects and our investment discipline in this segment. The order book increase represents a strong positive shift which significantly improves revenue visibility and makes me increasingly confident that we will be able to deliver 2017 in accordance with our plan," says President & CEO, Jon Erik Reinhardsen.

The Company provides this information based on preliminary consolidated Q1 2017 numbers. The Company has not completed all review and control procedures relating to its quarterly reporting and significant evaluations have not yet been concluded. Such procedures could identify required adjustments to revenues, costs and/or the carrying value of assets or liabilities compared to the preliminary consolidated numbers. The estimates provided in this release are therefore subject to change and the Q1 2017 financial statements finally approved and released by the Company may deviate materially from the information herein.

The Company will present its Q1 2017 results on May 11, 2017.

FOR DETAILS, CONTACT: Bard Stenberg, VP IR & Corporate Communications

Mobile: +47 99 24 52 35











Petroleum Geo-Services ("PGS" or "the Company") is a focused Marine geophysical company that provides a broad range of seismic and reservoir services, including acquisition, imaging, interpretation, and field evaluation. The Company's MultiClient data library is among the largest in the seismic industry, with modern 3D coverage in all significant offshore hydrocarbon provinces of the world. The Company operates on a worldwide basis with headquarters in Oslo, Norway.







PGS has a presence in 17 countries with regional centers in London, Houston and Kuala Lumpur. Our headquarters is in Oslo, Norway and the PGS share is listed on the Oslo stock exchange (OSE: PGS).



For more information on Petroleum Geo-Services visit www.pgs.com.



****

The information included herein contains certain forward-looking statements that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, projects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future. These statements are based on various assumptions made by the Company, which are beyond its control and are subject to certain additional risks and uncertainties. The Company is subject to a large number of risk factors including but not limited to the demand for seismic services, the demand for data from our multi-client data library, the attractiveness of our technology, unpredictable changes in governmental regulations affecting our markets and extreme weather conditions. For a further description of other relevant risk factors we refer to our Annual Report for 2016. As a result of these and other risk factors, actual events and our actual results may differ materially from those indicated in or implied by such forward-looking statements. The reservation is also made that inaccuracies or mistakes may occur in the information given above about current status of the Company or its business. Any reliance on the information above is at the risk of the reader, and PGS disclaims any and all liability in this respect.









This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5 -12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
Paying for A.C. unfair

The idea that all of the towns in Atlantic County are now called upon to in effect subsidize the incompetence and mischief that has been going on in Atlantic City for decades is disturbing, fundamentally unfair, and an affront to all of the hard working public officials in county and local governments.

They have been working to keep taxes as reasonable as possible with little room for error, while their counterparts in Atlantic City spent, self-indulged and wasted the revenues brought to them by the greatest opportunity in its history, casino gaming.

John Piatt

Ventnor

Pharmacy comes through

Recently I was in Boston for a specialized heart operation and, because of a blizzard forecast, my discharge was somewhat hurried. My wife and I packed as quickly as we could and grabbed a cab to the train station for a grueling six hour ride back to Philadelphia.

My wife had a fist full of prescriptions that needed to be filled and the pharmacy would be closed by the time we got home. While en route, she called the pharmacy and explained our circumstance; without hesitation the owner said, Relax, when you get back home, give me a call and Ill meet you at the pharmacy.

Sure enough, she met the owner, got all of our scripts filled, and it was after midnight when all was said and done.

This was not a nationwide franchise store, but an independent pharmacy. Theres a lot to be said for these mom and pop local businesses. We prefer to call them friends and neighbors.

Ron Hayden

Marmora

Unhappy with planner

I read with sheer joy the article about Atlantic City Planner Elizabeth Terenik leaving her position for a new one in Middle Township. For more than three years I had done everything short of begging this woman to make a local company comply with city codes. All of my requests fell on deaf ears and now I look at yet another barren, blighted parcel of property next to my home. It is my opinion that the woman was extremely overpaid by this administration (far more than the planner under Mayor Lorenzo Langford) and was way in over her head. Most recently the planning board approved a dirt lot for parking in my neighborhood after her department worked closely with them to get the application approved.

My hope is that Jeffrey Chiesa, who leads the state takeover of the city, will hire someone that cares more about Atlantic City at a much lower pay rate than what the taxpayers have had to absorb.

Mark Padula

Atlantic City

Keep Obamacare benefits

Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-3, wants constituents to believe hes protecting their interests in the negotiations for Obamacare replacement, but hes really giving away their health care while making himself look like a hero.

After negotiations on the second round of amendments broke down last month, MacArthur claimed he got commitments for additional funding for older and low-income Americans and the disabled. This was in the areas of Medicaid funding and tax credit support for those aged 50 to 64.

For Medicaid funding, earlier in the year he said that hed discussed the state of Medicaid with Gov. Christie and agreed that any changes would be devastating. But thats exactly what the Republican bill would do  cut Medicaid to unacceptable levels.

Had MacArthur negotiated a deal whereby funding for New Jersey would be untouched, hed have told us about it. Instead, he just throws numbers around  and they get bigger (like Pinocchios nose) with each re-telling  $60 billion on March 24, $65 billion later on the same day, and $75 billion on March 28.

As to tax-credit supports, the Republican plan would allow insurers to charge those aged 50 to 64 more than they charge 20-year-olds, while giving them smaller tax credits. MacArthur won a small concession, but not enough to make up the gap. But he keeps congratulating himself.

Its time he starts working for his constituents and his state to fix Obamacare and not destroy it.

Kevin Kennedy

Waretown
ATLANTA, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BlueLinx Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BXC), a leading distributor of building and industrial products in the United States will release first-quarter financial results on Thursday, May 4th, with a conference call at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.



During the call, Mitch Lewis, Chief Executive Officer and Susan O'Farrell, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, will discuss the Company's financial results for the period ended April 1, 2017.



Investors can listen to the conference call and view the accompanying slide presentation by going to the BlueLinx web site, www.BlueLinxCo.com, and selecting the conference link on the Investor Relations page. Investors will be able to access an archived recording of the conference call for one week by calling 404-537-3406, Conference ID# 5957623. The recording will be available at 1:00 pm after the conference call has concluded. Investors can also access a recording of this call on the BlueLinx web site, where a replay of the webcast will be available.



About BlueLinx Holdings Inc.



BlueLinx Holdings Inc., operating through its wholly owned subsidiary BlueLinx Corporation, is a leading distributor of building and industrial products in the United States. The Company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and operates its distribution business through its broad network of distribution centers. BlueLinx is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BXC. Additional information about BlueLinx can be found on its website at www.BlueLinxCo.com.
LOS ANGELES, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lundin Law PC , a shareholder rights firm, announces a class action lawsuit against Caterpillar Inc. (Caterpillar or the Company) (NYSE:CAT) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws between February 19, 2013 and March 1, 2017 inclusive (the Class Period). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares during the Class Period should contact the firm prior to the May 2, 2017 lead plaintiff motion deadline.



To participate in this class action lawsuit, click here. You can also call Brian Lundin, Esq., of Lundin Law PC, at 888-713-1033, or e-mail him at brian@lundinlawpc.com.

No class has been certified in the above action yet. Until a class is certified, you are not considered represented by an attorney. You may also do nothing and be an absent class member.

The Complaint alleges that during the Class Period, Caterpillar issued materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose: that the Company unlawfully used foreign subsidiaries to avoid paying billions of dollars in U.S. taxes; that discovery of such conduct would subject Caterpillar to heightened regulatory scrutiny and potential criminal sanctions; and that Caterpillars public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On March 2, 2017, law enforcement officials raided the Companys facilities in Peoria, Illinois. The Company indicated that it believed the raid is related to export filings of its Swiss subsidiary Caterpillar SARL. When this information reached the investing public, the stock price of Caterpillar decreased, thus harming investors.

Lundin Law PC was founded by Brian Lundin, a securities litigator based in Los Angeles dedicated to upholding shareholders rights.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
Start-up nation to learn about the latest tech tools to optimize payments & prevent fraud

BOISE, Idaho, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kount, a leading innovator of solutions for fraud and risk management, today announced it will expand the Fraud360 World Tour, its popular fraud prevention seminar series, to include hosting an event in Israel. Following popular demand of the series due to continued increase in online and mobile fraud rates, Kount will present a seminar in Tel Aviv on Wednesday May 3rd, bringing the series to the Middle East for the first time.

Sponsored by Kount, BlueSnap, CardNotPresent.com, and WhitepagesPro, Fraud360 originally launched in North America in 2014 and has since expanded steadily throughout the globe, now reaching Asia, Australia, and Europe. The tour has attracted thousands of professionals interested in learning more about fraud trends, payments acceptance, and best practices for fraud prevention. In addition to numerous requests from the region, Kount cites Tel Aviv's burgeoning technology, security, and eCommerce community as another key reason to host a Fraud360 seminar there.

"Tel Aviv has become a fast-growing tech hub and global marketplace for eCommerce, and companies in the region realize how important it is to stay ahead of fraud to protect their bottom line," said Brad Wiskirchen, CEO, Kount. "Fraud and payments are global issues that evolve and affect regions and businesses in different ways. Professionals across a variety of industries find value in hearing directly from experts who can equip them with the latest trends and solutions to stay steps ahead of fraud."

"Learning how to use APIs, BI, and AI to increase sales is a no brainer in today's competitive landscape. We're excited to share how these innovative tools can optimize payments and fraud to help your eCommerce business grow," said Ralph Dangelmaier, CEO BlueSnap

As Fraud360 seminar content is tailored to each market, the Fraud360 Tel Aviv seminar will address some of the key issues the region is facing, including the latest fraud risks facing mobile and eCommerce, checkout friction, identity verification, newest schemes carried out by fraudsters, and how retailers can avoid chargebacks. Speakers include Ralph Dangelmaier, Chief Executive Officer, BlueSnap; Spencer McLain, Senior Manager, Risk Solutions, WhitePages; and Don Bush, Vice President of Marketing, Kount. In addition to Tel Aviv, other upcoming 2017 Fraud360 World Tour stops include Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Chicago, New York, Toronto, and Boston.

Merchants interested in attending Fraud360 can learn more details and register for local and online events at http://www.kount.com/events/fraud-360-seminar-series.

About Kount

Kount helps businesses boost sales by reducing fraud. Our all-in-one, SaaS platform simplifies fraud detection and helps online businesses accept more orders. Kount's turnkey fraud platform is easy-to-implement and easy-to-use. Kount's proprietary technology has reviewed billions of transactions and provides maximum protection for some of the world's best-known brands. Merchants using Kount can accept more orders from more people in more places than ever before. For more information about Kount, please visit http://www.kount.com.

Related Links

http://www.kount.com



SOURCE Kount
PowerObjects' CRM Boot Camp for Dynamics 365 is a week-long concentrated overview of the system and its processes

LONDON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PowerObjects, an HCL Company are proud to announce that they will be offering their CRM Boot Camp for Dynamics 365 to the London and surrounding area in June. This will be the first time PowerObjects will be hosting a Boot Camp in the UK, and solidifies their commitment to adding value to Microsoft Dynamics 365 by offering unparalleled offerings of service, support, education and add-ons for the product.

"Our Boot Camps are comprehensive classes aimed at empowering organisations to create the best CRM for Dynamics 365 implementation possible," says Gretchen Opferkew, Director of Education. "The Boot Camp utilizes lectures, demonstrations, hands-on labs and discussions as learning tools to facilitate the learning process."

The week-long training will present a concentrated overview of the CRM for Dynamics 365 system and its processes including focus areas of analytics and administration.

"At PowerObjects, we are passionate about helping you get the most out of your CRM for Dynamics 365," says Opferkew. "We are very excited about bringing these offerings to the United Kingdom and expanding our entire breadth of educational offerings for Dynamics 365."

Intermediate technical aptitude is recommended, as well as an understanding of data and relational databases. The boot camp is focused on the application and not on processes and is not recommended for end-users, but rather is more appropriate for those who will be customising or supporting the application.

You can learn more about the event and register here.

About PowerObjects, an HCL Company

PowerObjects, an HCL Company, provides CRM service, support, education and add-ons for Microsoft Dynamics 365. Winner of the 2015 Microsoft Dynamics CRM Cloud Partner of the Year, PowerObjects has built an unmatched team of Dynamics 365 experts that help organisations increase productivity, streamline business processes and build better relationships.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/467009/Power_Objects_Logo.jpg

SOURCE PowerObjects, an HCL Company
NEW YORK, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States will experience a wellness revolution through a new line of clinically-proven, proprietary cannabis products from Tikun Olam, a premier science based cannabis provider rooted in the world capital of medical cannabis: Israel. Following the success of their pilot program in Delaware, and uniquely positioned to revolutionize health & wellness for the nation, the groundbreaking medical and adult use lifestyle brand, Tikun, will continue its U.S. expansion with a launch throughout Nevada in April 2017.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/492154/TO_Global_Tikun_in_US.jpg

Israel has been at the forefront of medical cannabis research since 1964, when Professor Raphael Mechoulam, considered the "Father of Cannabis" headed the team that first isolated THC and later discovered that THC interacts with the largest receptor system in the human body- the endocannabinoid system. These medical advances spurred Tikun Olam to launch as Israel's first medical cannabis provider in 2007.

Tikun Olam continues to lead the way with groundbreaking research, patient care, strain genetics, agronomy and advanced extraction techniques in the global cannabis field. They established the first professionally staffed clinic dedicated to helping patients medicate properly through precise dosage and specific strains. This resulted in the world's first and largest database of patient feedback which guided the development of life improving strains for specific symptoms. This patient feedback also led to the development of a high-CBD strain, Avidekel, acclaimed as "highless marijuana" by Reuters and a revolutionary step in the therapeutic use of cannabis.

"Tikun Olam is the gold standard for pharmaceutical grade medical cannabis production in both Israel and Canada. The US cannabis market is becoming more sophisticated, looking beyond high-THC content to demand medically-proven, quality products for therapeutic cannabis use as part of a healthy lifestyle," according to Bernard Sucher, CEO of T.O. Global LLC. "We are confident that entering the medical and adult-use U.S. market with a genuine approach to health and wellness, will position Tikun for a successful expansion where regulated markets exist."

Known as "Tikun" in the United States, the intellectual property, cultivation methodologies, scientific collaboration, and overall best practices of Tikun Olam, will be utilized in production with their licensed partners CW Nevada LLC. The products will initially be launched at CW Nevada's dispensaries and then rolled out to other dispensaries throughout the state. Tikun's products will be available in flower, vape cartridges, topical creams, tinctures and edibles through six unique strains derived from the Israeli catalog of sixteen. According to Tikun Olam's patient testimonials, their strains have shown a marked improvement in the overall quality of life for 85% of patients treated, as well as alleviating symptoms related to Crohn's, Colitis, Parkinson's, PTSD, AIDS and Cancer, just to name a few.

Tikun's strains range from Alaska, a high-THC sativa, known for its uplifting and invigorating qualities, to several high-THC indica strains such as Erez, Or, and Eran Almog, known to be exceptional for pain management and the relief of various health conditions. The most revolutionary strains in the Tikun catalogue are Midnight, created on a balanced 1:1 ratio of THC & CBD, likely to be popular among those looking for a daytime, mild effect; and Avidekel, the first ever high-CBD strain in the world, cultivated by Tikun Olam five years ago and named as more effective than generic CBD in clinical studies throughout Jerusalem.

In the coming years, Tikun plans to continue building upon the patient trusted heritage that has defined their innovative leadership within the burgeoning cannabis industry. The experts of Tikun Olam will continue to break new ground by engineering products that cultivate pathways to new markets, catering to all those who seek an active and healthy lifestyle in every legally regulated market in the United States.

About T.O. Global LLC (USA):

T.O. Global LLC opened its operations in 2015. T.O.Global LLC, whose brand is known nationally as Tikun, is intent on expanding its branded products in the United States and plans to penetrate the legal cannabis marketplace through professionally licensed producers in all states where medical cannabis has been legalized. Tikun holds an exclusive license to market and brand all of Tikun Olam's intellectual property. Building on the scientific advancements, clinical research and extensive data pool of Tikun Olam, Tikun is positioned to serve as the pharmaceutical backbone for superior health & wellness products in the United States. The brand's unique products have been used in exclusive medical trials within Tikun Olam's clinics and have treated over 10,000 patients for a variety of conditions. Tikun Olam USA is active in numerous ongoing research studies with results to be published throughout 2017. For more information, please visit tikunolamusa.com . Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & IG @TikunOlamUSA.

About Tikun Olam Ltd (Israel):

Tikun Olam Ltd. is the first, largest and foremost supplier of medical cannabis in Israel and is considered one of leading medical cannabis companies in the world. Tikun Olam is the pioneer in the treatment of patients with medical cannabis in Israel. It is privately held and has been operating under a license from the Israel Ministry of Health for over a decade. Tikun Olam provides unparalleled treatment alternatives through the development of industry leading standards, with the highest quality, pharmaceutical-grade medical cannabis available. Tikun Olam together with Tikun maintains ongoing clinical trials in Israel. For more information, please visit tikun-olam.info . Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & IG @Tikun_Olam.



Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/492155/Tikun_Logo.jpg

SOURCE T.O. Global LLC
HOUSTON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Adams Resources & Energy, Inc. (NYSE MKT: AE) (the "Company") announced that it has concluded its review of strategic alternatives related to the Company's exploration and production subsidiary, Adams Resources Exploration Corporation ("AREC"). AREC plans to file a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and plans to conduct a sale process. AREC has retained Oil and Gas Asset Clearinghouse, LLC to advise it with respect to the sale process. AREC primarily holds non-operated working interest in approximately 470 wells located in the Permian Basin, Haynesville Shale and across the Gulf Coast.

Over the past few years, the Company has de-emphasized its upstream operations. The Company does not expect this Chapter 11 filing by its subsidiary to have a material adverse impact on any of its core businesses. The Company plans to direct its attention to its core businesses or other business development initiatives. The Company continues to have no debt and held approximately $87 million in cash at the end of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016.

The Company expects to announce its first quarter 2017 earnings during the week of May 8, 2017.

The information in this release includes certain forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions that in the future may prove not to have been accurate. A number of factors could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated. Such factors include, among others, (a) general economic conditions, (b) fluctuations in hydrocarbon prices and margins, (c) variations between commodity contract volumes and actual delivery volumes, (d) unanticipated environmental liabilities or regulatory changes, (e) counterparty credit default, (f) inability to obtain bank and/or trade credit support, (g) availability and cost of insurance, (h) changes in tax laws, (i) the availability of capital, (j) changes in regulations, (k) results of current items of litigation, (l) uninsured items of litigation or losses, (m) uncertainty in reserve estimates and cash flows, (n) ability to replace oil and gas reserves, (o) security issues related to drivers and terminal facilities, (p) commodity price volatility, (q) demand for chemical based trucking operations, (r) successful completion of drilling activity, (s) financial soundness of customers and suppliers, (t) adverse world economic conditions, and (u) successful completion of the sale process of AREC. The majority of these risks are described in the Company's reports that are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Josh C. Anders (281) 974-9442

SOURCE Adams Resources & Energy, Inc.
NEW YORK, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ADAPT Community Network (formerly United Cerebral Palsy of New York City) will host a half-day Family Connect Summit for hundreds of families with disabilities and practitioners in the field on Wednesday, April 26th. The event will include expert panel discussions, presentations and vendor exhibits to showcase the latest supports and services available in the sector from over 50 nonprofits, governmental agencies, universities, and corporations working to advance the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families in New York City.

The conference covers a wide-array of topics to guide families coping with a variety of challenges in the changing disabilities arena. The adult programs and schools of the ADAPT Community Network already support people who have many disabilities beyond cerebral palsy. Among the topics are: the Front Door process with OPWDD system; government benefits; managed care; counseling interventions for behavioral challenges; Autism and ASD; community habilitation; working with your child's school; environmental modifications and assistive technologies.

Some of the highlights of the day include: a panel discussion, titled "Achieving Conflict-Free Case Management Across the New York State OPWDD Service System, featuring ADAPT's CEO Edward R. Matthews and panelists Kate Marley, Deputy Director, Division of Person-Centered Supports, OPWDD and Donna Colonna, CEO, Services for the Underserved; and a presentation about the frequent overlap of Autism and ASD, titled "The Worry Bug Strikes Again: Strategies for ASD & Anxiety, by Sarah Kern, LCSW, Clinical Assistant Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center.

WHAT: ADAPT Community Network Family Connect Summit

WHEN: Wednesday, April 26, 8:30 am  1:00 pm

(sessions start at 9 am)

WHERE: New York Academy of Medicine

1216 5th Avenue at 103rd Street (entrance at 103rd Street)

REGISTER: To attend, you should register for this FREE event, by Tuesday, 4/25, at www.adaptcommunitynetwork.org/event/familysummit2017/

For more information, please contact [email protected] or call: 718-436-7979, ext. 704.

The Family Connect Summit is sponsored by the New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council, the NYC Council's Autism Awareness Initiative, Rosemont Press, Weeks Lerman, Cuddy Law Firm, PLLC, Eden II Programs, Medisked, Park Surgical Company and SimplyHome.

About ADAPT Community Network (formerly UCP of NYC)

ADAPT Community Network (formerly UCP of NYC) is the leading not-for-profit agency and a pioneer in providing programs and services that improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. For over 70 years, ADAPT Community Network has created a more inclusive world for New York City children and adults with a variety of challenges. ADAPT Community Network's breadth of over 100 comprehensive programs include education, health, technology, residential, and recreational services for thousands of individuals and families annually. Our programs are delivered by thousands of trained and dedicated staff, including a number of employees who have disabilities themselves. For more information: www.ADAPTcommunitynetwork.org

About ADAPT Community Network Family Connect

Caring for a child with a disability presents a host of joys and challenges. It is important for families to feel supported, informed, and connected to one another. Through the ADAPT Community Network Family Connect Centers, families are encouraged to learn, explore resources, and participate in improving outcomes and support for all children with disabilities. ADAPT Community Network Family Connect Centers offer free weekly workshops, support services, and educational resources for New York City parents and families of children with disabilities. For more information: [email protected].

https://www.facebook.com/adaptwechange/

https://twitter.com/adaptwechange

https://www.instagram.com/adaptwechange/

CONTACT: Petra Tuomi, [email protected], 347-831-2159

James Grant, [email protected], 917-626-1300

SOURCE ADAPT Community Network

Related Links

http://www.ADAPTcommunitynetwork.org


SAN FRANCISCO, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- AdRoll, the performance marketing platform, today announced Toby Gabriner has been named president, transitioning from his previous role as a strategic advisor to the company. Gabriner succeeds president, CMO and founding team member Adam Berke, who will remain active with the company as a strategic advisor.

"Toby has a stellar track record of building companies as an executive leader partnering with a technical team, like the one we have at AdRoll," said Aaron Bell, CEO and co-founder of AdRoll. "After working with him for the past six months in his role as an advisor, I'm confident that we have a shared vision for AdRoll and a like-minded view of the incredible growth opportunities."

In October 2016, the former CEO and president of Adap.tv, one of the pioneering video ad platforms that was acquired by AOL in 2013, joined AdRoll as a strategic advisor focused on product and platform development. Gabriner brings nearly 20 years of experience helping to build and grow companies. As president, he will contribute directly to AdRoll's evolution as a full-funnel marketing platform, overseeing product, marketing and commercialization for the company.

Gabriner has a distinguished career in the digital advertising sector having served as president of Carat Interactive, one of the first large digital agencies, CEO of [x+1], one of the earliest demand-side platforms, as well as president of Tribal Fusion, one of the most successful ad networks of its time.

"Over the past six months I have had the opportunity to experience first hand the depth of talent, the sizable market opportunity and the myriad of growth opportunities," said Gabriner. "It is rare to find a company that has achieved so much success to date and has the potential for even greater successes in the future. I am excited to work with this incredible team to build products that continue to drive this evolving ecosystem, as marketing, data and advertising technologies continue to intersect."

"After 10 years helping to build AdRoll, I decided that it was time for me to pursue my next challenge," said Adam Berke, former president and CMO. "We were very thoughtful about how to make this transition and I couldn't be more thrilled with Toby stepping into the president role. I look forward to continuing to contribute as an advisor and staying connected to the incredible team and culture we've built at AdRoll."

The increasing global demand for effective, data-informed advertising, combined with AdRoll's commitment to product innovation, has been instrumental in driving the company's growth to date. In the last two years, the company launched AdRoll Email, an email retargeting tool, and AdRoll Prospecting, a complementary product that helps businesses attract new customers through the IntentMap, the world's largest opt-in data co-op; with these products, AdRoll offers customers products that provide performance, ease of use, transparency and control.

Additionally, the company is also today announcing surpassing a $300M run rate in 2016. AdRoll also increased its customer base to 35,000 brands worldwide in 2016. The growth was driven by the increasing global demand for effective, data-informed advertising combined with AdRoll's commitment to product innovation.

About AdRoll

AdRoll is a leading performance marketing platform with over 35,000 clients worldwide. Its suite of high-performance tools works across devices, helping businesses attract, convert, and grow their customer base. The company is home to the world's largest opt-in advertiser data co-op, the IntentMap with over 1.2 billion digital profiles. AdRoll's goal is to build the most powerful marketing platform through performance, usability, and openness.

AdRoll is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York, Tokyo, London, Dublin, and Sydney. Learn more at www.adroll.com.

Media Contact: Margaret Pack, [email protected], (619) 609-3919

SOURCE AdRoll

Related Links

http://www.adroll.com


WASHINGTON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Affinity Beverage Group, Inc. (OTC Pink: ABVG), CEO Janon Costley is proud to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Village Tea Company (the Company), is now the official tea and vegan smoothie provider for a new on-campus (Colleges and Universities) food and beverage concept operated by one of the world's largest food service and hospitality companies. The flagship location is slated for an August 2017 launch to coincide with the start of the school year. More details will follow in the coming weeks. The Company continues to expand its hospitality and food-service product lines and is currently working on additional opportunities with other programs, including colleges and universities, hotels, resorts, corporate campuses and other points of distribution.

The Company has also been very busy working on a number of other initiatives that were outlined in the May 2016 update. Including the following:

The Company is happy to announce that it will resume shipments of new orders to new and existing customers in Q2, including Amazon.com, Akins and Chamberlin and others as well as the company e-store, www.villageteaco.com.

The Company has been invited and approved to participate in a pending Carnival Cruise 2017-18 RFP for several food and beverage categories.

Village Tea/On the Move (OTM)/Florida Panthers sales and promo agreement is in place and scheduled to start during the off-season into the 2017/18 season, now slated for all OTM locations across the state of Florida.

Village Tea Company is in the process of completing its annual renewal of its minority owned business certification with the National Minority Supplier Development Council. The Company has been a certified supplier since 2012.

Village Tea Company is currently exploring several funding options, including non-dilutive crowd funding and trade financing to help support the Company's growth and new product development initiatives.

Affinity Beverage Group/Village Tea Company will continue to explore additional opportunities to expand and grow its health and wellness platform in an effort to create maximum value for its shareholders.

Please continue to follow Affinity Beverage Group for further updates.

About Affinity Beverage:

Affinity Beverage Group, Inc. (www.affinitybeverage.com) is a holding company that focuses on branded consumer product acquisition opportunities in the $3.4 trillion health and wellness sector. Affinity primarily targets lifestyle brands, companies, and/or exclusive product distribution rights focusing on traditional and non-traditional, healthy beverage options. Affinity will also seek opportunities involving uniquely positioned young brands specializing in all natural/organic foods, bio-food, supplements and personal care products for strategic partnerships, distribution agreements and potential acquisition.

About Village Tea Company:

Village Tea Distribution Company, Inc. (www.villageteaco.com) sources high-quality, unique teas with distinct flavor combinations and packages them under its Village Tea Company brand name in a variety of creative and earth-friendly ways. The Village Tea Company brand is currently sold in many major retailers throughout North America. The Company is no longer just about tea, as it is also using its unique positioning in the marketplace to create a distribution platform to introduce other complimentary health and wellness lifestyle brands and products to the US market.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the company, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Technical complications, which may arise, could prevent the prompt implementation of any strategically significant plan(s) outlined above.

Source: Village Tea Company/Affinity Beverage Group

P. 888.406.1138

[email protected]

[email protected]

Twitter: @villageteaco @affinitybev

IG: @[email protected]

FB: Village Tea Company

SOURCE Affinity Beverage Group, Inc., Village Tea Distribution Company, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.affinitybeverage.com


LOS ANGELES, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lundin Law PC, a shareholder rights firm, announces the filing of a class action lawsuit against JBS S.A. (JBS or the Company) (Other OTC:JBSAY) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws between June 2, 2015 and March 17, 2017 inclusive (the Class Period). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired the Companys shares during the Class Period should contact the firm prior to the May 22, 2017 lead plaintiff motion deadline.



To participate in this class action lawsuit, click here. You can also call Brian Lundin, Esq., of Lundin Law PC, at 888-713-1033, or e-mail him at brian@lundinlawpc.com.

No class has been certified in the above action yet. Until a class is certified, you are not considered represented by an attorney. You may also do nothing and be an absent class member.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, JBS made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that its executives bribed regulators and politicians to subvert food inspections of its plants and overlook unsanitary practices, such as processing rotten meat and running plants with traces of salmonella.

On March 17, 2017, news outlets reported that Brazilian federal police raided the offices of JBS and dozens of other meatpackers following a two-year investigation into alleged bribery of regulators to subvert inspections of their plants and overlook unsanitary practices. Police arrested two JBS employees, among others. JBS stated in a securities filing that three of its plants and one of its employees were targeted in the probe. When this information reached the public, the stock price of JBS lowered, causing investors harm.

Lundin Law PC was established by Brian Lundin, a securities litigator based in Los Angeles dedicated to upholding shareholders rights.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
STAMFORD, Conn., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aircastle Limited (NYSE: AYR) ("Aircastle") announced today that it plans to release its first quarter financial results for the period ended March 31, 2017 on May 4, 2017 before the market opens.

In connection with the earnings release, management will host an earnings conference call on Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 10:00 A.M. Eastern time. A copy of the earnings release will be posted to the Investor Relations section of the Aircastle Limited website provided below. All interested parties are welcome to participate on the live call. The conference call can be accessed by dialing (888) 300-2343 (from within the U.S. and Canada) or (719) 325-2170 (from outside of the U.S. and Canada) ten minutes prior to the selected start and referencing the passcode "5337956".

A webcast of the conference call will be available to the public on a listen only basis at http://www.aircastle.com. Please allow extra time prior to the call to visit the site and download the necessary software required to listen to the internet broadcast. A replay of the webcast will be available for one month following the call. In addition to the earnings release an accompanying presentation will be posted to the Investor Relations section of Aircastle's website.

For those who are not available to listen to the live call, a replay will be available until 3:00 P.M. Eastern time on Saturday, June 3, 2017 by dialing (888) 203-1112 (from within the U.S. and Canada) or (719) 457-0820 (from outside of the U.S. and Canada); please reference passcode "5337956".

About Aircastle Limited

Aircastle Limited acquires, leases and sells commercial jet aircraft to airlines throughout the world. As of December 31, 2016, Aircastle owned and managed on behalf of its joint ventures 206 aircraft leased to 71 customers located in 36 countries.

Contacts:





Aircastle Advisor LLC The IGB Group Frank Constantinople, SVP Investor Relations Leon Berman Tel: +1-203-504-1063 Tel: +1-212-477-8438 [email protected] [email protected]

For more information on Aircastle, please visit www.aircastle.com.

SOURCE Aircastle Limited

Related Links

http://www.aircastle.com


DUBLIN, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Allergan, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, announced today that it will collaborate with TARGET PharmaSolutions, a clinical data company focused on real world evidence, on its TARGET-NASH study. TARGET-NASH is a five-year longitudinal observational study that looks at patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). TARGET-NASH was launched in advance of related drug approvals in order to help facilitate a greater understanding of the impact of NASH and future treatment options. Allergan has a strong commitment to developing treatments for NASH and is pleased to sign on with TARGET-NASH.

"Allergan is focused on identifying, developing and bringing forward innovative treatments for patients with significant unmet medical needs, such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)," said David Nicholson, Chief Research & Development Officer, Allergan. "NASH is an emerging healthcare crisis affecting both adults and children. This unique collaboration will help to further our collective understanding of the disease, effective modes of treatment and outcomes across the spectrum of patient groups."

TARGET-NASH is a unique program as it involves academia, industry, regulatory agencies and the NASH/NAFLD community. TARGET-NASH's first patient enrollment occurred August 1, 2016, and over the course of the five-year study the program looks to enroll 15,000 adults and children with NAFLD or NASH. The study design is disease focused, not drug specific, allowing for continuous acquisition of natural history and outcomes data as new drugs enter the market and clinical treatment paradigms evolve.

TARGET PharmaSolutions' TARGET study model is based on the success of HCV-TARGET, a case study in Hepatitis C. Formed in 2011 by Drs. Michael Fried, MD (University of North Carolina) and David Nelson, MD (University of Florida), HCV-TARGET has enrolled over 10,000 patients and has generated data that has been used by physicians, payers, and regulatory agencies around the world.

"TARGET-NASH is critical for the scientific and regulatory community as we prepare for new agents for the treatment of NASH," said Arun Sanyal, MD, Co-Chair, TARGET-NASH Steering Committee. "In the immediate term, it will give us a critical understanding of NASH diagnosis and management in the real world across multiple populations. In the longer term, it is the perfect platform to have a deep understanding of the safety and effectiveness of these new agents across populations not included or underrepresented in Phase 3 clinical trials."

About Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH)

NASH is the progressive form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is characterized by the accumulation of fat in the liver with no other apparent causes.i NASH occurs when the accumulation of liver fat is accompanied by inflammation and cellular damage.ii The inflammation can lead to fibrosis (scarring) of the liver and eventually lead to complications such as cirrhosis, portal hypertension, liver cancer, and eventual liver failure.ii

NAFLD and NASH affect approximately 30% and 5%, respectively, of the US population and NAFLD affects more than 20% of the population worldwide.iii NASH is the fastest growing cause of liver cancer and liver transplant in the U.S.iv Liver cancer among women grew by 3.8% (95% CI = 3.4 to 4.1) per year over the past five years, replacing thyroid cancer as the most rapidly increasing cancer incidence among women.v The increasing prevalence of NASH is related to the growing obesity epidemic and the disease is often diagnosed in patients who have diabetes, high cholesterol or high triglycerides.iii There is currently no approved treatment for NASH.

About Allergan NASH Programs

Allergan has demonstrated category leadership in several gastrointestinal disorders (GI) and shown continued commitment to innovate and advance science and treatments for unmet medical needs. NASH is an adjacency to Allergan's broad GI portfolio and represents one of the greatest unmet medical needs.

In 2016, Allergan acquired cenicriviroc (CVC), evogliptin and AGN-242266 (formerly AKN-083), three programs targeting different mechanisms for the treatment of this multi-factorial disease. CVC is a once-daily, oral Phase 3 ready, potent immunomodulator that blocks two chemokine receptors, CCR2 and CCR5, which are involved in inflammatory and fibrogenic pathways. AGN-242266 is a Phase 1 ready farnesoid X receptor (FXR) agonist expected to be complementary to CVC and Evogliptin. Allergan is committed to advancing its overall portfolio of NASH programs, to focus on bringing forward effective treatments for this critical disease area.

About Allergan plc

Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a bold, global pharmaceutical company and a leader in a new industry model  Growth Pharma. Allergan is focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing branded pharmaceuticals, devices and biologic products for patients around the world.

Allergan markets a portfolio of leading brands and best-in-class products for the central nervous system, eye care, medical aesthetics and dermatology, gastroenterology, women's health, urology and anti-infective therapeutic categories.

Allergan is an industry leader in Open Science, the Company's R&D model, which defines our approach to identifying and developing game-changing ideas and innovation for better patient care. This approach has led to Allergan building one of the broadest development pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry with 70+ mid-to-late stage pipeline programs in development.

Our Company's success is powered by our more than 16,000 global colleagues' commitment to being Bold for Life. Together, we build bridges, power ideas, act fast and drive results for our customers and patients around the world by always doing what is right.

With commercial operations in approximately 100 countries, Allergan is committed to working with physicians, healthcare providers and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help people around the world live longer, healthier lives every day.

For more information, visit Allergan's website at www.Allergan.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, including statements about prevalence and unmet need. Each forwardlooking statement is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statement. Applicable risks and uncertainties include those related to preclinical and clinical development, manufacturing and formulation development; the risk that future clinical studies need to be discontinued for any reason, including safety, tolerability, enrollment, manufacturing or economic reasons; the risk that findings from our completed nonclinical and clinical studies may not be replicated in later studies; efficacy, safety and tolerability; decisions by regulatory authorities; those risks related to competition and future business decisions made by us and our competitors or potential competitors; developments in the intellectual property landscape; and the risks listed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in Ironwood's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, Allergan's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and in the subsequent SEC filings of each company. These forward-looking statements (except as otherwise noted) speak only as of the date of this press release, and Ironwood and Allergan undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

i The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Fatty Liver Disease (Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis). https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/liver-disease/nonalcoholic-steatohepatitis/Pages/facts.aspx

ii Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A systematic review. ME, Rinella. Journal of the American Medical Association, 2015, Vol. 313, pp. 2263-2273.

iii Sattar N, et al. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Available from: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g4596.

iv Anderson, C.D. Curr Surg Rep (2015) 3: 24. doi:10.1007/s40137-015-0101-6.

v The National Institute of Health. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/annual-report-nation-cancer-death-rates-continue-decline

ALLERGAN MEDIA CONTACTS:

Mark Marmur

862.261.7558

Tara Schuh

201.427.8888

SOURCE Allergan plc

Related Links

http://www.allergan.com


PLANO, Texas, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE: ADS), a leading global provider of data-driven marketing and loyalty solutions, today announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.52 per share on the Company's common stock, payable on June 19, 2017 to stockholders of record at the close of business on May 15, 2017.

About Alliance Data

Alliance Data (NYSE: ADS) is a leading global provider of data-driven marketing and loyalty solutions serving large, consumer-based industries. The Company creates and deploys customized solutions, enhancing the critical customer marketing experience; the result is measurably changing consumer behavior while driving business growth and profitability for some of today's most recognizable brands. Alliance Data helps its clients create and increase customer loyalty through solutions that engage millions of customers each day across multiple touch points using traditional, digital, mobile and emerging technologies. An S&P 500 and Fortune 500 company headquartered in Plano, Texas, Alliance Data consists of three businesses that together employ more than 17,000 associates at approximately 100 locations worldwide.

Alliance Data's Card Services business is a leading provider of marketing-driven branded credit card programs. Epsilon is a leading provider of multichannel, data-driven technologies and marketing services, and also includes Conversant, a leader in personalized digital marketing. LoyaltyOne owns and operates the AIR MILES Reward Program, Canada's premier coalition loyalty program, and Netherlands-based BrandLoyalty, a global provider of tailor-made loyalty programs for grocers.

Follow Alliance Data on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements give our expectations or forecasts of future events and can generally be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "project," "plan," "likely," "may," "should" or other words or phrases of similar import. Similarly, statements that describe our business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions or goals also are forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements we make regarding our expected operating results, future economic conditions including currency exchange rates, future dividend declarations and the guidance we give with respect to our anticipated financial performance.

We believe that our expectations are based on reasonable assumptions. Forward-looking statements, however, are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections, anticipated results or other expectations expressed in this release, and no assurances can be given that our expectations will prove to have been correct. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, factors set forth in the Risk Factors section in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year, which may be updated in Item 1A of, or elsewhere in, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed for periods subsequent to such Form 10-K.

Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and we undertake no obligation, other than as required by applicable law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, subsequent events, anticipated or unanticipated circumstances or otherwise.

Contacts: Investors/Analysts

Tiffany Louder

Alliance Data

214-494-3048

[email protected]



Media



Shelley Whiddon

Alliance Data

214-494-3811

[email protected]

SOURCE Alliance Data Systems Corporation
PHOENIX, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alliance Residential Company, the nation's second largest multifamily developer and seventh largest multifamily manager, will be interviewing 1,000 prospective new hire candidates across the nation on Tuesday, April 25 for its "1k in 1 Day" interview initiative.

During the "1k in 1 Day" interview blitz, Alliance will be interviewing potential candidates for open positions in the 32 metropolitan markets it serves throughout the West, Southwest, South-Central, Southeast,

Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Available positions range from on-site associates at more than

300 Alliance communities nationwide, to corporate and investment positions at the 35 regional Alliance offices. Alliance created the "1K in 1 Day" effort to coincide with National Apartment Association's apartment careers campaign, which dedicates the month of April to promoting career opportunities in the multifamily industry. To see all available positions and to submit a resume visit www.CareersAtAlliance.com.

Headquartered in Phoenix, Alliance has proudly been honored as a 'Best Place to Work' in several states over the last few years including Arizona, Texas, Georgia and Florida. Alliance sees the value in investing in their associates, even before day one, and offers one of the only dedicated corporate talent acquisition teams in the industry.

"We look for associates who want to be part of a growing industry, have an entrepreneurial spirit and are invested in expanding our company," said Greta Schneider, vice president of Alliance Talent Management. "Our ability to attract and retain top talent contributes directly to our consistent growth, standard of excellence, entrepreneurial environment and industry-leading initiatives."

Among the many benefits offered, Alliance associates value the opportunity for advancement within the company. This year alone, Alliance expects to promote over 500 associates. Other benefits include an institutional focus on professional development with Alliance University, rental discounts, sales contests, and  consistently one of the most-appreciated perks  Alliance InStyle, which provides associates with stylish career apparel options from brand-name retailers.

Potential candidates are encouraged to submit their resume immediately to be considered for an interview on April 25, 2017. Candidates who are unavailable on April 25 or who submit their resume after this date, will still be considered and contacted, where applicable, following the interview initiative.

For more information about Alliance Residential Company, visit www.allresco.com.

About Alliance Residential Company

Alliance Residential Company is the second largest multifamily developer and seventh largest multifamily manager in the nation. As an integrated multifamily real estate company, Alliance is focused on the development, management, construction and acquisition of residential and mixed-use communities. Developer of the high-profile Broadstone communities, Alliance is headquartered in Phoenix with 35 regional offices throughout the West, Southwest, South-Central, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Alliance is also one of the largest private apartment owners, boasting a $15 billion portfolio of over 89,000 units in 32 metropolitan markets. Alliance is actively seeking management, development, and acquisitions opportunities across the markets it serves. For more information, visit www.allresco.com.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jennifer Whittle

(480) 998-2600

[email protected]

SOURCE Alliance Residential Company

Related Links

http://www.allresco.com


MOUNTAINSIDE, N.J., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Androvia LifeSciences today announced that data related to the company's proprietary technology, the Cap-ScoreTM Sperm Function Test, will be presented in an oral session at the 42nd Annual Conference of the American Society of Andrology (ASA), to be held April 22  25, 2017 in Miami, Florida. An additional study related to the technology will be presented in a poster session. A laboratory developed test, the Cap-Score Sperm Function Test, is the only assay that can determine if sperm can capacitate, indicating the percentage of sperm that can actually fertilize an egg, and comparing each man's results to a normal, fertile population.

The data being presented at the ASA annual conference this year are:

Localization patterns of the ganglioside G M1 identify sperm capable of undergoing capacitation and acrosome exocytosis.

Presenter: Alexander J. Travis , PhD, associate professor, Cornell University and chief scientific officer, Androvia LifeSciences

, PhD, associate professor, and chief scientific officer, Androvia LifeSciences Oral Presentation: Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 11:15 am Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)

Lipid regulation of sperm function: from basic sciences to a clinical test of male fertility

Presenter: Alexander J. Travis , PhD, associate professor, Cornell University and chief scientific officer, Androvia LifeSciences

, PhD, associate professor, and chief scientific officer, Androvia LifeSciences Abstract #136, Poster session II: Monday, April 24, 2017 , 11:15 am  12:30 pm EDT

Abstracts summarizing these data are published on the ASA website and are available to conference registrants and ASA members at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/andr.2017.5.issue-S1/issuetoc#content.

These data come on the heels of the publication of two papers presenting clinical and technology validation studies in the journal Molecular Reproduction and Development, a Wiley publication. The two papers, provide scientific evidence of the clinical utility and value of this technology, the Cap-Score Sperm Function Test.

Infertility

Approximately 73 million couples experience infertility globally. At least 6.7 million infertile couples live in the United States. Male factor infertility contributes to roughly half of all cases of infertility, and 50% of male infertility cases are unexplained by traditional semen analysis.

About Cap-Score Sperm Function Test

A laboratory-developed test designed to assess and measure the fertilizing ability of sperm, to help couples and reproductive health care professionals make informed decisions about the fertility solution that is best suited for that couple. The Cap-Score Sperm Function Test provides an analysis of the sperm on a molecular level, and is the only assay that evaluates capacitation, the process by which sperm acquire the ability to fertilize an egg. The test is designed to complement the traditional semen analysis which determines sperm count, motility and appearance.

About Androvia LifeSciences

Located in Mountainside, NJ, Androvia LifeSciences is a CLIA registered laboratory. The company's first product, the Cap-Score SFT, has been developed to empower couples and clinicians with critical information, helping them to achieve more personalized fertility solutions. For more information on Androvia and the Cap-Score SFT please visit www.androvialifesciences.com.

SOURCE Androvia LifeSciences

Related Links

http://www.androvialifesciences.com


The event kicked-off Purina ONE's ongoing initiative that celebrates how a single change can make a positive difference in the life of a dog. For the second consecutive year, the ONE Difference campaign will benefit NSALA's Mutt-i-grees, a shelter-led academic curriculum that brings shelter dogs into classrooms and libraries, allowing students to engage with the pets while learning lessons in emotional competence, academic achievement and social awareness.

"We're happy to continue our partnership with Andy Cohen and NSALA, and love the fact that Wacha was able to serve as our honorary Mutt-i-gree at the library today," said Joe Chatman, Purina ONE brand director. "Andy's passion for animal welfare, and the smart curriculum from NSALA, helps us reach beyond feeding animals in shelters, and enables us to fuel humane education that ultimately benefits both the dogs and students involved."

As part of the program, Purina ONE will donate up to $20,000 to NSALA in support of the Mutt-i-grees curriculum. In order to reach the maximum donation, and demonstrate the positive difference smart nutrition can make, the brand is inviting dog owners everywhere to take the Purina ONE 28 Day Challenge by switching their dog's food to Purina ONE SMARTBLEND. For each person who signs up at www.PurinaONE.com/MakeONEDifference between April 20 and May 31, the brand will donate $10 to NSALA to help further expand the Mutt-i-grees curriculum across the country (up to $20,000).

"Those who know me, know that Wacha is my everything, so we took the 28 Day Challenge last year and I switched him to Purina ONE Healthy Weight Formula. He clearly loved the taste, and I noticed a big difference in his energy level and the texture of his coat," said Cohen. "Wacha and I were introduced to the Mutt-i-grees curriculum last year and saw first-hand how it changes the lives of the students involved, so we're thrilled to channel some of Wacha's new-found energy into this program."

"Purina ONE's generosity will continue to provide us with the tools and resources needed to extend the reach of Mutt-i-grees and help nourish the lives of both students and rescue dogs across the country," said Joanne Yohannan, senior vice president of operations at NSALA.

Mutt-i-grees was developed by The Pet Savers Foundation, an affiliate of NSALA and Yale University School of the 21st Century. More than 4,000 schools and libraries nationwide participate in the program.

For more information about the Purina ONE Difference campaign and the Purina ONE SMARTBLEND formulas, visit http://www.purinaone.com/MakeONEdifference. It's there where dog owners can sign up for the 28 Day Challenge, view videos from other dog owners who have switched, and use a tool to find out which formula is right for them.

About Purina ONE and Nestle Purina PetCare

Purina ONE helps support a dog's whole body health every day and throughout his lifetime, with formulas that address his changing needs at each life stage. Purina ONE nutrition is recommended by veterinarians and proudly crafted at Purina-owned and operated U.S. facilities.

Nestle Purina promotes responsible pet care, community involvement and the positive bond between people and their pets. A premiere global manufacturer of pet products, Nestle Purina PetCare is part of Swiss-based Nestle S.A., a global leader in nutrition, health and wellness.

About North Shore Animal League America / Mutt-i-grees

North Shore Animal League America - Home of the Mutt-i-gree - headquartered in Port Washington, NY, is the largest no-kill animal rescue and adoption organization in the world. The Animal League reaches across the country to rescue, nurture and adopt 20,000 pets into happy and loving homes each year. Over the past decade, the Animal League saved over 200,000 lives and has saved 1,000,000 animals since its inception. "Like" us at www.Facebook.com/TheAnimalLeague, follow us at www.Twitter.com/AnimalLeague. To learn more about animal rescue and welfare, visit www.AnimalLeague.org.

Purina ONE Difference Donation Terms:

Beginning on 4/20/17 and ending on 5/31/17 (the "Promotion Period"), Nestle Purina PetCare Company ("Purina") will donate $10 to North Shore Animal League America ("NSALA") for each new consumer who registers for the Purina ONE 28 Day Challenge subject to a maximum donation of $20K. For more information regarding Mutt-i-grees, visit http://education.muttigrees.org/.

SOURCE Purina ONE

Related Links

https://www.purinaone.com


LOS ANGELES, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aspiration, the online financial firm focused on the intersection between making money and making a difference, announced today it is lowering the minimum investment for its innovative Aspiration Redwood Fund (REDWX) from $500 to $100. Over the past year, REDWX has been the highest performing sustainable large cap fund in America, according to Bloomberg and the U.S. Sustainable Investment Forum.1 It has been in the top 1% of all large cap funds in terms of returns.2 Now, this industry-leading fund offers the lowest minimum investment and fee among similar ESG funds along with Aspiration's revolutionary Pay What Is Fair fee structure and unique commitment to donate 10% of all earnings to charitable causes.

REDWX is innovating as a retail investment vehicle by mirroring the Sustainable Standards Board (SASB) materiality map, a rubric that details intersections between ESG issues (environment, social, and governance) and eight different sectors including healthcare, transportation, and technology. Subadvised by UBS Asset Management and available exclusively at Aspiration.com, the fund uses the SASB rubric to identify companies whose value will appreciate over time in relation to their competitors. The fund was launched in November of 2015 and returned more than 32.34% over the last year.3 Thus far in 2017, it has ranked in the top 1% for performance in the Large Blend Morningstar category.4

"The Aspiration Redwood Fund embodies Aspiration's mission to do well by doing good. With this move of expanding access to the fund, all investors have the option to do both," said Andrei Cherny, CEO of Aspiration. "There has been huge growth in the amount of capital flows to sustainable investment, almost all from high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors. We are expanding access to the Aspiration Redwood Fund to democratize sustainable investment so that everyday investors are not on the sidelines."

Aspiration was launched in 2014 with a mission to bring fairness and high quality financial products to all investors, offering a Pay What Is Fair model for its investment, IRA and checking account products. When investing in REDWX, individuals are provided with an opportunity to choose the fee they wish to pay Aspiration and the fund's management, with the option of paying 0%. Over 85% of Aspiration customers choose to pay a fee of their choice.5 The fund caps operating expenses paid to third parties at 0.5% and Aspiration donates 10% of all revenue from its investment products to micro-loans designed to help struggling Americans transform their own lives.

"Once investors were told they had to choose between returns and making conscientious investing decisions. The success of the Aspiration Redwood Fund is proving that this need not be the case," said Cherny. "Research shows that today's best businesses grow sustainably over the long term through socially conscious practices such as lowering energy bills and promoting workplace diversity. Thus far we have seen the performance of the Aspiration Redwood Fund bear this out."

1 According to U.S. Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, Aspiration's Redwood Fund was ranked #1 in average one-year performance compared to 49 sustainable equity large cap funds analyzed, from 29-Feb-2016 to 28-Feb-2017, which is the most current ranking data available.

2 The fund received a one-year top 1% ranking from Morningstar based on a comparison of 1,380 funds within Morningstar's Large Blend category. The fund's rating was based on one first year total return performance from 31-Mar-2016 to 31-Mar-2017.

3 Please see the performance taking into account the maximum assumed contribution reduction on the standard performance chart.

4 The fund received a one-year top 1% ranking from Morningstar based on a comparison of 1,380 funds within Morningstar's Large Blend category. The fund's rating was based on one first year total return performance from 31-Mar-2016 to 31-Mar-2017.

5 According to Aspiration internal data.

About Aspiration

Aspiration is a financial firm with a conscience, with the mission of democratizing access to high quality banking and investment products. By allowing its customers to pay what they think is fair, donating 10% of every dollar earned to charity, offering sustainable banking and investing options and bringing high quality financial products to all, Aspiration is improving the financial industry and changing it for the better. Aspiration's bank account was named "Best Checking Account in America" by Money magazine. Aspiration Fund Adviser, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aspiration Partners Inc., is registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Visit www.aspiration.com for more information on Aspiration and visit funds.aspiration.com/redwood for more details on the Aspiration Redwood Fund.

One year performance returns and rankings referenced are based on one year total return ending March 31, 2017 without assuming the maximum Pay What is Fair Contribution. For more details, please refer to the important disclosures below.

Average Annual Total Returns (Unaudited) Period ended

March 31, 2017 Three

Months Six

Months One Year Since

Inception6 Net

Expense

Ratio7 Gross

Expense

Ratio Aspiration Redwood Fund  Without maximum assumed contribution reduction8 9.36% 13.61% 32.34% 16.15% 0.50% 1.81% Aspiration Redwood Fund  With maximum assumed contribution reduction8 7.36% 11.61% 31.34% 14.15% 0.50% 1.81% S&P 500 Total Return Index 6.07% 10.12% 17.17% 13.19% N/A N/A

Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment in the Fund will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. To obtain more current performance data regarding the Fund, including performance data current to the Fund's most recent month-end, please visit aspiration.com or call the Fund at (800) 683-8529. Fee waivers and expenses reimbursements have positively impacted Fund performance.

6 The Fund's inception date was November 16, 2015 for the Investor Class Shares.

7 The Advisor has entered into a contractual agreement (the "Expense Limitation Agreement") with the Trust, on behalf of the Fund, under which it has agreed to waive or reduce its fees and to assume other expenses of the Fund, if necessary, in amounts that limit the Fund's total operating expenses (exclusive of interest, taxes, brokerage commissions, borrowing costs, fees and expenses of other investment companies in which the Fund invests, and other expenditures which are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and other extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund's business) to not more than 0.50% of the average daily net assets of the Fund for the current fiscal period. The current term of the Expense Limitation Agreement remains in effect until January 31, 2018. While there can be no assurance that the Expense Limitation Agreement will continue after that date, it is expected to continue from year-to-year thereafter.

8 Contribution reduction assumes a maximum 2% management fee.

An investment in the Fund is subject to investment risks, including the possible loss of some or the entire principal amount invested. There can be no assurance that the Fund will be successful in meeting its investment objective. Investment in the Fund is also subject to the following risks: Market Risk, Management Risk, Derivatives Risk, Futures Risk, Leverage Risk Associated with Financial Instruments, Focused Investment Risk, Foreign Investing Risk, Limited Capitalization Risk, Temporary Defensive Positions, New Fund Risk. The use of futures contracts may cause the value of the Fund's shares to be more volatile. There is a risk that investing in a select group of securities could subject the fund to greater risk of loss and could be considerably more volatile than the fund's primary benchmark or other mutual funds that are diversified across a greater number of securities. More information about these risks can be found in the Fund's prospectus.

An investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of the Fund before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund. A copy of the prospectus is available at funds.aspiration.com or by calling Shareholder Services at 800-683-8529. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing. Current and future holdings are subject to change and risk.

Aspiration Fund Adviser, LLC is the adviser to the Aspiration Redwood Fund, which is distributed by Capital Investment Group, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC, 100 E. Six Forks Road, Suite 200, Raleigh, North Carolina 27609, (800) 773-3863. There is no affiliation between Aspiration Fund Adviser, LLC, including its principals, and Capital Investment Group, Inc. Serial number RCASP0417002.

Media Contact: Natalie Rix, 310-246-9530, [email protected]

SOURCE Aspiration

Related Links

http://www.aspiration.com


The website redesign was an effort that spanned the globe, bringing together teams from the U.S. and Spain, where BBVA Compass' parent company is based. The redesigned bbvacompass.com is the first website in the BBVA portfolio to boast the global banking outfit's updated visual look and reinforce its new brand identity that's centered around creating opportunities. It will serve as a model for new websites rolled out across the other countries in the BBVA Group's footprint.

"We are so proud of this effort," said BBVA Compass Head of Business Development Pepe Olalla, whose teams were involved in the redesign. "We tackled it with a real sense of purpose, and a desire to honor the new BBVA brand mission to create opportunities so that our clients can build bright futures for themselves. It's a big vision that requires us to put our clients' needs for convenience, speed and information above all else, and that's what I hope we've accomplished here."

Besides the distinctive visual look that's designed to be open and simple and inspire engagement, the site also distinguishes itself through its approach to language and accessibility. The teams involved in the redesign put every page of content through what they call a TCR filter to make sure the language was transparent, clear and responsible. At a global level, BBVA has been incorporating TCR principles throughout its entire value chain, both out of respect for its clients' needs so they can make informed, smart decisions, and also because a successful business in today's environment needs to put a premium on communicating clearly and effectively.

"You'll see those values reflected on every page of the site," said BBVA Compass Director of Digital Sales Channel Michelle Stotz Gels, one of the redesign team leaders. "But probably the most obvious example is what we did with our legal disclaimers. We didn't shove them down at the bottom of the page in tiny font under a barrage of technical language. We updated the language so that it's very understandable and called it 'Details you need to make a smart decision.' It might seem like a minor change, but it's a major reflection of what we value as a company."

The teams were also determined to make the site literally more accessible to users, regardless of their physical capabilities or whether they were visiting the site on laptop, desktop, smartphone or otherwise. The banking industry isn't required to adhere to website-design accessibility guidelines, but the design teams voluntarily followed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, which were established by the World Wide Web Consortium, the international standards organization for internet design. This means the site is accessible to the visually impaired and on a number of platforms.

"Was it a lot more work? Yes. Was it worth it? More than yes," Olalla said. "When we talk about creating opportunities and building bright futures, it's not just for certain people. It's for everyone we have the honor to serve."

About BBVA Group

BBVA Compass is a subsidiary of BBVA Compass Bancshares Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of BBVA (NYSE: BBVA) (MAD: BBVA). BBVA is a customer-centric global financial services group founded in 1857. The BBVA Group is the largest financial institution in Spain and Mexico, has leading franchises in South America and the Sunbelt region of the United States and is also the leading shareholder in Garanti, Turkey's largest bank based on market capitalization. Its diversified business is focused on high-growth markets and it relies on technology as a key sustainable competitive advantage. Corporate responsibility is at the core of its business model. BBVA fosters financial education and inclusion, and supports scientific research and culture. It operates with the highest integrity, a long-term vision and applies best practices. The Group is present in the main sustainability indexes. More information about the BBVA Group can be found at bbva.com.

About BBVA Compass

BBVA Compass is a Sunbelt-based financial institution that operates 672 branches, including 344 in Texas, 89 in Alabama, 75 in Arizona, 62 in California, 45 in Florida, 38 in Colorado and 19 in New Mexico. BBVA Compass ranks among the top 25 largest U.S. commercial banks based on deposit market share and ranks among the largest banks in Alabama (2nd), Texas (4th) and Arizona (5th). BBVA Compass was recently named Best Digital Bank in North America by global finance magazine Euromoney and the best regional bank in the South & West and best mobile app in Money magazine's 2015-2016 list of the Best Banks in America. Additional information about BBVA Compass can be found at bbvacompass.com, by following @BBVACompassNews on Twitter or visiting newsroom.bbvacompass.com.

Any statement or opinion of a BBVA Compass economist is that economist's own statement or opinion and does not represent a statement or prediction by BBVA Compass, its parent companies or management.

Editor's Note:

BBVA Compass is a trade name of Compass Bank.

SOURCE BBVA Compass

Related Links

http://www.bbvacompass.com


HAMILTON, N.J., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Billtrust, the leader in payment cycle management solutions, announced today the availability of the Billtrust Business Directory, the industry's first directory of small business eBilling preferences. Introduced at Billtrust CONNECT 2017, taking place in Orlando, Florida, this new offering has access to over 10,000,000 businesses in the US and their billing and payment preferences. Billtrust clients will be able to reach unprecedented levels of eInvoicing and ePayment adoption rates by leveraging this new solution.

Smarter, data-driven decision making

The Billtrust Business Directory is a private ecosystem of Billtrust's B2B clients. The Directory can be leveraged to accelerate and increase the transition of end users from print invoices and paper check payments to faster and more efficient online channels. By analyzing the behavior patterns of businesses in the database who are already inclined to receive and pay invoices electronically, the Billtrust eAdoption team helps Billtrust clients customize their marketing efforts to dramatically grow their eInvoicing and ePayment rates. A higher eAdoption rate results in lower operational costs, improved DSO, and higher customer satisfaction.

"We are tremendously excited about this new offering," said Flint Lane, CEO and President of Billtrust. "The Billtrust Business Directory can provide our clients with a 10 - 50 percent jump in their eInvoicing and ePayment rates, and simultaneously reduces operating expenses and decreases payment delivery time. As the leader in B2B Billing and Payment, only Billtrust has access to these billing patterns so we're uniquely positioned to offer this kind of solution."

Clients can learn more about this exciting new solution at the eAdoption client panel "Keys to Driving eAdoption Success" at Billtrust CONNECT 2017 on Thursday at 11:20 am.

A leading community of innovators deliver insights on payment cycle management

Billtrust CONNECT 2017 is a two-day event that provides a well-rounded agenda focused on business pain points that affect CFOs, credit managers and controllers. In addition to the launch of the Billtrust Business Directory, this year's event features exciting presenters, including keynote speaker Alison Levine. Ms. Levine is a history-making polar explorer and mountaineer who will not only inform, but inspire attendees with discussions that reflect this year's theme: "Explore, Engage, Evolve." Among her many accomplishments, Ms. Levine served as team captain of the first American Women's Everest Expedition, made history as the first American to complete a 600-mile traverse from west Antarctica to the South Pole and is a New York Times best-seller.

Also included in the line-up are the Client Spotlight sessions, where Billtrust Rockstars share how they have exceeded their own business goals with proven and innovative strategies in payment cycle management solutions. In one of the spotlights, Tina Schneider, Manager of Credit & Accounts Receivable at Medela, will discuss how they partnered with Billtrust to automate the ever-increasing virtual card payments they were receiving. With the recently launched Billtrust Virtual Card Capture, Medela is now able to convert what was once a highly manual process to 100% automation, allowing them to reallocate resources to better support their business.

"Here at Billtrust, one of our primary objectives is to work with our individual clients and help them build what they need to improve their invoice-to-cash processes," said Lane. "We developed this conference to not only bring our client community together so they can learn about the latest innovations, but so they can provide valuable feedback on how we can better serve customers' payment cycle management needs."

This year, Connect 2017 has a record number of exhibitors participating, providing clients with an opportunity to discuss best practices and strategies on how to maximize growth and efficiency with partners who integrate with Billtrust's Quantum solution. For more information on the agenda and how to register, please visit Billtrust Connect 2017.

About Billtrust:

Billtrust accelerates cash flow by automating invoice delivery, invoice payment, and cash application. Companies can improve operational efficiency throughout the invoice-to-cash process with electronic invoicing and payments in a flexible, cloud-based solution. Finance executives and AR specialists love and recommend Billtrust payment cycle management solutions for the remarkable cost savings, ease-of-use, and improved customer satisfaction rates.

Want to know what Billtrust can do for you?

See how these clients achieved stellar results: https://www.billtrust.com/clients-love-us/testimonials/

SOURCE Billtrust

Related Links

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TOTOWA, N.J., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BiologicTx, a member of the BioMatrix family of companies, proudly announced today that it has received a perfect score and earned URAC accreditation in specialty pharmacy services for its Totowa, New Jersey facility. This is the second perfect rating for a BioMatrix company as Factor Support Network in Camarillo, CA achieved the same rating two years earlier. URAC is the independent leader in promoting healthcare quality through accreditation, certification, and measurement. By achieving this status, BiologicTx has demonstrated a comprehensive commitment to quality care, improved processes, and better patient outcomes.

BiologicTx is a leading specialty pharmacy and digital health company that provides therapies and supportive services for individuals with chronic, life-long illnesses such as solid organ transplant, bleeding disorders, hepatitis C, and others. Through our proprietary digital health platforms, regional account managers, regional care coordinators, and pharmacy staff, BiologicTx helps patients realize improved health outcomes and ultimately a better quality of life.

"Patient care is a top priority for us at BiologicTx and all of the BioMatrix family of companies. Receiving a perfect score and obtaining URAC accreditation is a true testament to the care we provide to our patients and to the effort we put forth to ensure consistency and compliance throughout our organization," stated Bruce Greenberg, CEO at BioMatrix SpRx. "I am thrilled with the efforts of the team at BiologicTx and look forward to expanding URAC accreditation to all BioMatrix pharmacies."

Sal Rafanelli, Chief Operating Officer at BioMatrix SpRx, added, "Obtaining and maintaining the highest accreditation standards is of paramount importance in the specialty pharmacy business. I could not be more proud of the collaborative effort displayed at BiologicTx in receiving a perfect score on our URAC accreditation review."

"It's necessary for specialty pharmacies to provide a higher level of treatment for patients so desired outcomes are achieved. BiologicTx shows a dedication to patient education and safety through the recognition of quality it received with URAC's independent accreditation," said URAC President and CEO Kylanne Green. "With URAC accreditation, people know that BiologicTx strives to adhere to industry best practices."

About BiologicTx

BiologicTx, a member of the BioMatrix family of companies, was founded in 2011 as the first, solely focused infusion and pharmacy provider of biologic and oral transplant therapy management. Since then, BiologicTx has expanded its services to integrate transplant, bleeding disorder, hepatitis C, and other therapies paired with digital health technology, providing a complete representation of the patient's response to therapy. Our team is comprised of dedicated professionals that strive to advance the patients' response to therapy, resulting in progressive and favorable patient outcomes. For more information, visit us at: www.BiologicTx.com.

About BioMatrix SpRx

BioMatrix SpRx offers comprehensive nationwide specialty pharmacy services and digital health technology solutions for a range of chronic health conditions including bleeding disorders, solid organ transplants, hepatitis C, HIV and more. Our growing family of companies unites leaders in the specialty pharmacy industry to improve health and empower patients to experience a higher quality of life. The current BioMatrix family of companies includes BiologicTx, Factor Support Network, Matrix Health, and Medex Biocare.

About URAC

Founded in 1990, URAC is the independent leader in promoting healthcare quality through accreditation, certification and measurement. URAC is a nonprofit organization developing evidence-based measures and standards through inclusive engagement with a range of stakeholders committed to improving the quality of healthcare. Our portfolio of accreditation and certification programs span the healthcare industry, addressing healthcare management, healthcare operations, health plans, pharmacies, telehealth providers, physician practices, and more. URAC accreditation is a symbol of excellence for organizations to showcase their validated commitment to quality and accountability.

Media Contacts

BiologicTx: Tara Marchese, Corporate Director of Marketing

Tel: 877-567-8087

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE BiologicTx

Related Links

http://www.biologictx.com


SPRINGDALE, Ark., April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) will hold its fiscal second quarter 2017 earnings conference call Monday, May 8, at 9 a.m. Eastern (8 a.m. Central).

We encourage participants to pre-register for the conference call using the following link: http://dpregister.com/10105886

Callers who pre-register will be given a conference passcode and unique PIN to gain immediate access to the call and bypass the operator. Participants may pre-register at any time, up to and including after the call has started.

Those without internet access or who are unable to pre-register may dial in by calling:

U.S. Toll Free: 1-844-890-1795 International Toll: 1-412-717-9589

To listen to the live webcast, an archived replay or to view the accompanying slides, go to the companys investor website at http://ir.tyson.com. The webcast also can be access by using the direct link http://event.on24.com/wcc/r/1334084/15793BAE739F5F76B8B2E2B12DD1506B.

A telephone replay will be available until June 8 at:

U.S. Toll Free: 1-877-344-7529 International Toll: 1-412-317-0088 Canada Toll Free: 855-669-9658 Replay Access Code: 10105886

The live webcast and audio replay also will be available on the companys investor relations app. To download the free app, which offers access to SEC filings, news releases, transcripts, webcasts and presentations, please visit the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android mobile devices.

About Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods, Inc., with headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas, is one of the world's largest food companies with leading brands such as Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Sara Lee, Ball Park, Wright, Aidells and State Fair. Its a recognized market leader in chicken, beef and pork as well as prepared foods, including bacon, breakfast sausage, turkey, lunchmeat, hot dogs, pizza crusts and toppings, tortillas and desserts. The company supplies retail and foodservice customers throughout the United States and approximately 115 countries. Tyson Foods was founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson, whose family has continued to lead the business with his son, Don Tyson, guiding the company for many years and grandson, John H. Tyson, serving as the current chairman of the board of directors. At October 1, 2016, the company had approximately 114,000 Team Members employed at more than 400 facilities and offices in the United States and around the world. Through its Core Values, Code of Conduct and Team Member Bill of Rights, Tyson Foods strives to operate with integrity and trust and is committed to creating value for its shareholders, customers and Team Members. The company also strives to be faith-friendly, provide a safe work environment and serve as stewards of the animals, land and environment entrusted to it.

To download Tyson Foods free investor relations app, which offers access to SEC filings, news releases, transcripts, webcasts and presentations, please visit the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android mobile devices.
LOS ANGELES, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BitcoinIRA.com has announced the launch of Ethereum IRA, a self-directed IRA for the second-most popular cryptocurrency (by market cap) in the world. Ethereum IRA is the second product launched by the company following its highly-successful Bitcoin IRA, which has secured over $10,000,000 worth of real bitcoin in client custodial accounts since launching in June of 2016.

Similar to its flagship product, Bitcoin IRA, investors can hold real Ethereum in retirement accounts by choosing between traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401(k)s, SEP IRAs, and more. The company will use TradeBlock s ECX Index as a reference rate and Genesis Global Trading, Inc. for liquidity. To store investor funds, the company has entered an exclusive partnership with BitGo, utilizing its multi-signature wallet to ensure privacy, security, and full compliance with IRS regulations for selfdirected retirement accounts.

"It's been a pleasure working with the innovative team at Bitcoin IRA," said Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo. "Together, we foresee tremendous opportunity and growth for our clients."

Bitcoin IRA is the first and only company to offer cryptocurrency-based IRAs for investors, allowing them to hold actual cryptocurrencies in a retirement account. Unlike traditional ETFs and investment plans, investors in Bitcoin IRA and Ethereum IRA continue to own their cryptocurrency even after the end of the IRA tenure, allowing them to freely distribute it.

The unique properties of cryptocurrencies make them uniquely suited for long term investment. In 2017, Ethereum has witnessed an incredible 388% growth from less than $10 per unit to over $44.

"Cryptocurrency as an industry is on a new wave of mainstream adoption. As a business, it made sense to listen to our clients," explained Chris Kline, COO of Bitcoin IRA. "They wanted Ethereum, so we delivered."

About Bitcoin IRA

Bitcoin IRA is the only Bitcoin-based retirement investment portfolio that allows people to invest with actual bitcoins for their IRA or 401(k). The platform works with leading fintech professionals to provide secure, highquality Bitcoin investments.

Bitcoin IRA offers both traditional and Roth IRA options, which offer the same tax incentives as regular IRAs and 401(k)s. The company differentiates itself from other Bitcoin investment products in multiple ways. Unlike Bitcoin ETFs and investment funds, Bitcoin IRA offers an opportunity for individuals to invest in real Bitcoin at a much lower fee. In addition, investors keep total control over their Bitcoin deposits, with no holding fees and the ability to withdraw once the term is over.

Learn more about Bitcoin IRA and Ethereum IRA at: https://bitcoinira.com/

Media Contact

Contact Name: Amith Nirgunarthy

Contact Email: [email protected]

Location: Los Angeles, USA

Bitcoin IRA is the source of this content. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to FDIC and other consumer protections. This press release is for informational purposes only

Related Links

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Bitcoin IRA

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Bitcoin IRA
LONDON, April 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Blockchain technology startup Humaniq and global auditing firm Deloitte join forces.

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/492568/Humaniq_Logo.jpg )

Humaniq is on a mission to provide financial inclusion products and services powered by blockchain technology to the 2 billion unbanked people across the globe. Their first three operational priorities are Africa, South/Central America, and some parts of Asia. And then they will expand to the rest of the world.

Conscious of the challenges ahead when it comes to IP, legal and operational structure Humaniq is preparing for its next challenges. The organisation has recently conducting pilot tech projects in India and is starting in Africa in the next few months, while managing its ICO that raised so far over $3.8M.

Deloitte is a global powerhouse in auditing, legal, IP and a driver in blockchain identity technology, making it the right auditing and innovation firm to manage Humaniq's structure and operational efforts in multiple countries and locations.

Humaniq aims to repurpose science and technology for the good of the world. The beta version of their fintech application was recently launched in Google Play for Android phones and simply requires a new user to register using their biometric identity by snapping a photo through a face-recognition algorithm.

The Humaniq application uses minimum language as it wants to be based on a simple user-interface and symbols, highlighting its international focus through the use of emoticons. This makes it simple to use even for the most illiterate people in the world. Humaniq will bring a great number of unbanked people into the world economy, enabling financial inclusion.

One example of the Humaniq app's benefits is a case-study of a Nigerian farmer who lives ninety miles away from the closest bank. Furthermore, he does not have a vehicle or any ID verification to access or open a new bank account. Humaniq enables this farmer to sell his corns or peppers and buy new seeds on an international scale, as long as he has a simple smartphone and basic access to the internet. And all of this happens for a fraction of the fee when compared with traditional banks or money-transfer companies.

In a recent HBR report, Professor Michael Mainelli wrote;

"2.4 billion poor people worldwide, about 1.5 billion of whom are over the age of 14, can't answer that question to the satisfaction of authorities. While they certainly know who they are, they are often excluded from property ownership, free movement, and social protection simply because they can't prove their identity. They are more exposed to corruption and crime, including people trafficking and slavery."

In addition to enabling financial inclusion, Humaniq also aims to provide biometric identity to tackle serious issues such as human trafficking and modern slavery.

So far Humaniq has raised just under $4m in its pre-seed Initial Coin Offering (ICO), which ends on 27th April 2017. While announcing a strategic partnership with global auditing firm Deloitte, Humaniq wants to highlight their intellectual property and legal efforts with a powerful global company.

In addition to the aforementioned, Deloitte will also provide industry-leading audit, consulting, tax, and advisory support to Humaniq. Many of the world's most admired brands including eighty-percent of the Fortune 500 work closely with Deloitte.

Co-founded by blockchain technology visionaire Alex Fork and AI expert Dmitry Kaminskiy, Humaniq is breaking international crowdfunding records with a total value of $3,949,131 and 9,189 participants at the time of writing. Steering the wheel as CEO of this powerful new organisation is successful blockchain/fintech author and entrepreneur Dinis Guarda.

In addition to the board of directors previously mentioned, Humaniq also has a world-class advisory board consisting of over twenty global thought-leaders. This includes people and alumni from organisations such as The Financial Times, The United Nations, Greenpeace, Right Relevance, University of Toronto, Cambridge University, and Save the Children to name just a few.

Through this new partnership, Humaniq and Deloitte ultimately want to help establish sustainable and structured operations to enable more financial inclusion, justice and strong institutions on a global scale.

SOURCE Humaniq
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )



Browse 111 market data Tables and 69 Figures spread through 170 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Bread Improvers Market"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/bread-improver-market-29099697.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

The market is driven by factors such as the growing consumption of bread and related bakery products across the globe, innovative bread product offerings by bakery product manufacturers, rising demand for organic bread improvers, and rising demand for convenience food products globally.

Viennoiseries is projected to be the fastest-growing segment in the Bread Improvers Market by application during the forecast period 2017-2022

Viennoiseries are produced from dough leavened with yeast or from puff pastries. Viennoiserie products include croissant, brioche, Danish pastry, and xuixo. The rise in demand for fast food products and ready-to-eat bakery products has been contributing to the growth of viennoiserie products market. The concerns regarding the quality, taste, and texture have led to the use of bread improvers for manufacturing viennoiserie products, which is driving the market for bread improvers for viennoiseries.

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The powdered form accounted for the largest market share in the Bread Improvers Market in 2016

Bread improvers in powdered form is most commonly used by manufacturers as it is easier to use as compared to liquid and granular forms; therefore, powdered bread improvers account for the largest market share in 2016. The powdered form finds application in various bakery products, such as bread, viennoiseries, and cakes. Furthermore, technological advancements have led to an increased usage of powdered bread improvers as the dosing is easier than the paste form.

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Significant growth for bread improvers is observed in the Asia-Pacific region

Rapid urbanization and increasing demand for convenience food is expected to drive the market for bread due to which the Bread Improvers Market is projected to grow substantially. There is a growing demand for bread and rolls in this region due to the Westernization of food habits, which is likely to surpass the market in developed regions, such as Europe and North America. There is an increasing consumption of on-the-go breakfast meals as a result of urbanization, hectic lifestyles, and high disposable incomes. This trend is expected to fuel the growth of the Bread Improvers Market in the region as an increasing amount of bread and bread products are expected to be consumed. This report includes a study of marketing and development strategies, along with the product portfolio of leading companies. It includes the profiles of leading companies such as Corbion N.V. (Netherlands), E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (U.S.), Groupe Soufflet (France), and Lallemand Inc. (Canada).

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Clean Label Ingredients Market by Type (Colors, Flavors, F&V Ingredients, Starch & Sweeteners, Flours, Malt), Form (Dry, Liquid), Application (Beverages, Dairy & Frozen Desserts, Bakery, Prepared Foods, Cereals & Snacks), & Region - Global Forecast to 2022

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/clean-label-ingredients-market-99427189.html

Baking Ingredients Market by Type (Emulsifiers, Leavening Agents, Enzymes, Baking Powders & Mixes, Oil, Fats & Shortenings, Starch, Colors & Flavors), Application (Bread, Biscuits & Cookies, Cakes & Pastries, Rolls & Pies), and Region - Forecast to 2022

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/baking-ingredients-market-172589056.html

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SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
SEATTLE, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

According to the report "Global Breast Lesion Localization Methods Market, By Technique (Wire Guided Localization, Radio Guided Occult Lesion Localization, Radioactive Seed Localization, Magnetic Tracers, Ultrasound Guided Surgery), End User (Diagnostic Centers, Hospitals, Oncology Centers, Ambulatory Surgical Centers), and Geography - Insights, Opportunity Analysis, and Industry Forecast till 2024", the market was valued at US$ 323.43 million in 2015 and is projected to expand at a CAGR of 11.0% during the forecast period (2016-2024), as published by Coherent Market Insights.

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/492311/Coherent_Market_Insights_LOGO_Logo.jpg )



Increasing number of patients suffering from breast cancer globally is projected to support growth of the breast lesion localization methods market over the forecast period.

Growing development of advanced imaging systems and its use globally are favoring increase in number of surgeries for non-palpable invasive and pre-invasive lesions, as surgeons are now more confident about effective diagnosis and detection of precise location of the tumor. This in turn is projected to support the growth in breast lesion localization methods market over the forecast period. Furthermore, such screening techniques have led to early detection in breast cancer conditions and thus, allow for more effective treatment of the disorder. Advanced imaging systems allow for precise localization of the occult lesion clinically and help prevent any loss to other tissues around the affected mass. These also allow performing breast conserving surgery for better cosmetic outcome. These factors make such systems a preferred choice among users and thus, would fuel the growth of breast lesion localization methods market over the forecast period.

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Government regulations and current guidelines implemented in order to maintain women's health and also to minimize the prevalence of breast cancer creates a highly conducive environment for breast lesion localization methods market growth in the near future. According to Centers for Disease Control, in 2000, the authority itself funded the National Breast and Cervical Early Detection Program in all states such as the District of Columbia, along with six U.S. territories, and 12 American Indian/Alaska native organizations

To know the latest trends and insights prevalent in the global breast lesion localization methods market, click the link below:

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/market-insight/breast-lesion-localization-methods-market-104

Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide with an estimated ratio of indirect to direct cost approximately amounting to 3:1. According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an adult woman (18 -29 years age group) in the U.S. spends US$ 19,435 more on medical care per year than one without breast cancer. Increasing incidence of breast cancer would further augment market growth. New cost-effective methods have been introduced that are expected to support growth in adoption rate for breast lesion localization method in the near future

For instance, according to Xconomy, Inc., in 2017, Elucent Medical, a newly formed organization, raised around US$ 7.0 Mn for development of breast cancer medical devices and to enrich its product portfolio. Industry players are constantly working towards enhancing their product portfolio in order to sustain in the market. This further accelerates growth of the breast lesion localization methods market. Also, increase in healthcare expenditure by local governments has backed up the growth in healthcare infrastructure, primarily in emerging economies on the backdrop of low manufacturing cost and regulations. Also, many regional companies have emerged in India and ASEAN, owing to changing economic profile and favorable government initiatives such as Make in India campaign by the Indian government.

Major market players are laying emphasis on product development, upgrading existing devices, and inorganic growth through various strategic mergers and acquisitions. For instance, in 2016, AbbVie - a global biopharmaceutical company - acquired Stemcentrx, which has four novel compounds under clinical trials for solid tumor indications that further includes triple negative breast cancer, ovarian cancer and non-small cell lung cancer

Key takeaways of the market:

The global breast lesion localization methods market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 11.0% during the forecast period (2016-2024). Technological advancements in screening methods are favoring demand for non-palpable invasive surgeries that is expected to favor the market for breast lesion localization methods over the forecast period.

The wire guided localization segment was estimated to be the largest in 2015 and is expected to retain its dominance in the market throughout the forecast period in terms of value closely followed by radio guided occult lesion localization. Rise in prevalence for breast cancer globally is projected to support the growth for the market in the near future.

In terms of end user segment, the hospitals end user segment is expected to expand at a significant CAGR of 12.1% during the forecast period, owing to more advanced in terms of infrastructural installations of medical systems

The global breast lesion localization methods market is characterized by strategic research and development and advancements in the methods for localization under various medical devices.

Some of the major players in the global breast lesion localization methods market are Cook Medical Inc., Argon Medical Devices, Inc, C. R. Bard, Inc., SOMATEX Medical Technologies GmbH, Tsunami S.r.l, Sterylab Medical and Biopsybell Srl.

Detailed Segmentation:

Global Breast Lesion Localization Methods Market, By Technique: Wire Guided Localization Radio Guided Occult Lesion Localization Radioactive Seed Localization Magnetic Tracers Ultrasound Guided Surgery

Global Breast Lesion Localization Methods Market, By End User: Diagnostic Centers Hospitals Oncology Centers Ambulatory Surgical Centers Others

Global Breast Lesion Localization Methods Market, By Geography: North America U.S. U.S. Breast Lesion Localization Methods Market, By Technique: Wire Guided Localization Radio Guided Occult Lesion Localization Radioactive Seed Localization Magnetic Tracers Ultrasound Guided Surgery U.S. Breast Lesion Localization Methods Market, By End User: Diagnostic Centers Hospitals Oncology Centers Ambulatory Surgical Centers *Others



*Similar cross sectional analysis is provided for Other Countries covered as a part of this report

Canada

o Europe

-U.K.

- Germany

- Italy

 - France

 - Spain

 - Russia

 -Rest of Europe

o Asia-Pacific

 - China

 - Japan

 -ASEAN

 - Australia

 - South Korea

 -Rest of Asia Pacific (APAC)

o Latin America

 - Brazil

 - Mexico

 -Rest of Latin America

o Middle East

 -GCC

 - Israel

 -Rest of Middle East

o Africa

 - North Africa

 - Central Africa

 - South Africa

 Company Profiles

o Cook Medical Inc. *

 -Company Overview

 -Product Portfolio

 -Financial Performance

 -Key Strategies

 -Recent Developments

 -Future Plans

o Argon Medical Devices, Inc.

o C. R. Bard, Inc.

o SOMATEX Medical Technologies GmbH

o Tsunami S.r.l

o Sterylab Medical

o Biopsybell Srl.

"*" marked represents similar segmentation in other categories in the respective section.

About Coherent Market Insights:

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We pride ourselves in catering to clients across the length and width of the horizon, from Fortune 500 enlisted companies, to startups looking to establish a foothold in the market. Our close interactions with our clients offer our insights about their unique requirements that enable us to provide them with highly specify and deeply customized solutions catered for their business needs.

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SOURCE Coherent Market Insights
The President's Volunteer Service Award is the premier volunteer awards program, encouraging citizens to live a life of service through presidential gratitude and recognition. The award is intended to recognize companies and citizens that demonstrate a commitment to community involvement. To receive the award, employees had to donate more than 100 hours to community service efforts during 2016.

"The success of Bridgepoint Education's community service efforts is greatly due to the support of its employees," said Andrew Clark, president and chief executive officer for Bridgepoint Education. "I take great pride in our Bridgepoint Education, Ashford University, and University of the Rockies employees who commit their time and effort to giving back to the communities they serve."

Recipients of the President's Volunteer Service Award were given a personalized certificate from the Corporation for National and Community Service and Points of Light Foundation, and a letter of appreciation from former President Obama. For more information on the President's Volunteer Service Award program, visit www.presidentialserviceawards.gov.

About Bridgepoint Education

Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (NYSE:BPI) harnesses the latest technology to reimagine the modern student experience. Bridgepoint owns two academic institutions  Ashford University and University of the Rockies. Together, these programs, technologies, and resources represent a unique model for advancing education in the 21st century. Bridgepoint stands for greater access, social learning, and exposure to leading minds. For more information, visit www.bridgepointeducation.com, www.facebook.com/BridgepointEducation, or call Marianne Perez, Media Relations Manager, at 858.668.2586 x11636.

Contact: Marianne Perez, Media Relations Manager

858.668.2586 x11636  [email protected]

SOURCE Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.bridgepointeducation.com


The unprecedented upsurge in an interest in reading has been driven, more than anything, by The Reader, a television variety show launched two months earlier. In every episode, five to seven groups of readers from different areas selected are invited onto the show where they will share their personal stories and read a passage from a literary classic that holds special meaning for them.

As producer and host of the program, popular Chinese anchor Dong Qing has brought her years of experience in broadcast television to the show. Backed by the inspiring stage design created by Ms. Dong and her sophisticated production team, the culturally-relevant content of the program resonates deeply with the show's Chinese audiences. Soon after the first episode was broadcast, similar reading events started popping up all over the country, especially in military barracks and on school and college campuses.

As an important setting of the program, the Reading Pavilions are specialized mobile recording studios outfitted with simple recording and sound insulation equipment and are open to anyone with a favorite literary passage and the desire to give a voice to the words in the passage. Reading Pavilions are making their way through many of China's first- and second-tier cities. Wherever a Reading Pavilion has made a stop, it has immediately drawn the attention of the local citizenry and become a focus of the local media. Aspiring readers, a relatively even mix of men and women spanning all age groups and walks of life, have gathered in long lines outside the mobile recording studios for their chance to read a meaningful, favorite passage. The Reading Pavilions have not only stimulated a renewed interest among the public in reading, but also provides them with a platform for expressing something important that they have gained from a reconnection with this simple and time-honored pastime.

SOURCE CCTV The Reader Program Set .
BELLEVUE, Wash., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Paul Gauguin Cruises (www.pgcruises.com), operator of the highest-rated and longest continually sailing luxury cruise ship in the South Pacific, the m/s Paul Gauguin, is pleased to announce that celebrity Chef Massimo Capra will join The Gauguin's September 23, 2017, Tahiti & the Society Islands voyage, for a lecture and culinary demonstration, along with meet-and-greet photo opportunities.

Italian native Capra has been delighting food lovers through his fine dining establishments, TV appearances, and award-winning cookbooks. Capra began his culinary career in a famous trattoria near Venice before turning his talents to the hotel industry in northern Italy. In 1982, he relocated to Toronto, Canada, where he began working at a restaurant owned by a family member. From there, he became an acclaimed chef at Prego della Piazza restaurant, where he remained for nine years.

His next venture occurred in 1997, when he joined forces with Paolo Paolini to open Mistura Restaurant of Toronto, offering upscale Italian dining. Sopra Upper Lounge, an exclusive event venue located above Mistura, opened in 2006.

Chef Capra's culinary empire continued to expand in 2010, when he licensed his name to the famous Rainbow Room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. More recently, he became chef/brand owner of Boccone Trattoria Veloce and Boccone Pronto at Pearson airport in Toronto and of Soprafino Restaurant at Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar. And last year, he opened Capra's Kitchena casual Italian eatery with a heavy emphasis on pasta, pizza, and antipastoin his hometown of Mississauga, Ontario.

In addition to his restaurant empire, Chef Capra is also a cookbook author. Three Chefs: The Kitchen Men, which he co-wrote with Michael Bonacini and Jason Parsons, took the gold in the cookbook category of the Canadian Culinary Book Awards (now called Taste CanadaThe Food Writing Awards), and he is also the author of One Pot Italian Cooking. He also serves as the food editor for Canadian Home Trends magazine.

And he is a familiar face on Canadian television, serving as the host of his own show, Gourmet Escapes, and as a regular guest expert on the long-running CityLine talk and lifestyle show, chef host of the hit series Restaurant Makeover on the Food Network, and now a judge on the hit show Chopped Canada.

For more information about Paul Gauguin Cruises, please contact a Travel Professional, call 800-848-6172, or visit www.pgcruises.com.

To learn more about Chef Capra, please visit www.SapphireTalentLab.com.

About Paul Gauguin Cruises

Owned by Pacific Beachcomber S.C., French Polynesia's leading luxury hotel and cruise operator, Paul Gauguin Cruises operates the 5+-star cruise ship, the 332-guest m/s Paul Gauguin, providing a deluxe cruise experience tailored to the unparalleled wonders of Tahiti, French Polynesia, Fiji, and the South Pacific. Paul Gauguin Cruises' accolades include being voted #2 in the category of "Top Small Cruise Lines" in the Conde Nast Traveler 2015 Readers' Choice Awards and recognition on the publication's 2016 "Gold List." Recently, readers voted Paul Gauguin Cruises "#1 Midsize-Ship Ocean Cruise Line" in the Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards 2016.

Media Contact:

Paul Gauguin Cruises

Vanessa Bloy, Director of Public Relations

(425) 440-6255

[email protected]

From Travel + Leisure, August 2016 2016 Time Inc. Affluent Media Group. Used under license. Travel + Leisure and Time Inc. Affluent Media Group are not affiliated with, and do not endorse products or services of Paul Gauguin Cruises.

SOURCE Paul Gauguin Cruises

Related Links

http://www.pgcruises.com


ST. LOUIS, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) today announced that following the release of its 2017 first quarter financial results on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 the Company will hold its 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) in the auditorium at Centene's headquarters, 7700 Forsyth Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri. At the meeting, Michael Neidorff, Centene's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, is expected to make remarks regarding the Company's performance and future prospects. A live audio webcast of the meeting can be accessed via the Company's website at www.centene.com under the Investors section.

In addition, as a reminder, the Company also has announced the following corporate events:

- CNC's 15th Annual Investor Day: Friday, June 16, 2017; New York City

(8:30  Noon ET) - CNC's Second Quarter 2017 Financial Results (6:00 a.m. ET) and Earnings Call

(8:30 a.m. ET): Tuesday, July 25, 2017 - CNC's Third Quarter 2017 Financial Results (6:00 a.m. ET) and Earnings Call

(8:30 a.m. ET): Tuesday, October 24, 2017 - CNC's 2018 Guidance and Investor Event; Friday, December 15, 2017; New York City

(8:30  Noon ET)

For more specific information regarding these and other events, please refer to the upcoming events calendar posted in the Investors section on the CNC website.

About Centene Corporation

Centene Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, is a diversified, multinational healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to government sponsored healthcare programs, focusing on under-insured and uninsured individuals. Many receive benefits provided under Medicaid, including the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), as well as Aged, Blind or Disabled (ABD), Foster Care and Long Term Care (LTC), in addition to other state-sponsored programs, Medicare (including the Medicare prescription drug benefit commonly known as "Part D"), as well as programs with the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The Company operates local health plans and offers a range of health insurance solutions. It also contracts with other healthcare and commercial organizations to provide specialty services including behavioral health, care management software, correctional systems healthcare, in-home health services, life and health management, managed vision, pharmacy benefits management, specialty pharmacy and telehealth services.

Centene uses its investor relations website to publish important information about the Company, including information that may be deemed material to investors. Financial and other information about Centene is routinely posted and is accessible on Centene's investor relations website, http://www.centene.com/investors.

SOURCE Centene Corporation

Related Links

http://www.centene.com


LOS ANGELES, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cetera Financial Group ("Cetera")*, a leading network of independent firms supporting the delivery of objective retail financial advice, and Cetera Financial Institutions today announced that Los Alamos National Bank (LANB) will transition its retail wealth management program to the Cetera Financial Institutions platform, with additional assets expected to be on-boarded in the coming months. LANB is one of the largest locally-owned banks in New Mexico, with current assets of more than $1.4 billion. Cetera Financial Institutions is the Cetera firm specifically focused on serving the wealth management programs of banks and credit unions.

The new relationship will allow Los Alamos National Bank to offer multiple fee-based wealth management offerings in order to grow and operate more effectively in response to rising investor expectations of fiduciary care. With six financial advisors located throughout Los Alamos, Santa Fe and Albuquerque, N.M., LANB's retail wealth management program focuses on providing financial planning, retirement, insurance, and investment management services to a wide variety of clients. This client base encompasses individuals, families, non-profit organizations, and community foundations. As of Dec. 31, 2016 LANB's retail wealth management program maintained $85 million in brokerage assets.

LeAnn Rummel, President of Cetera Financial Insitutions, said, "We are delighted to welcome Los Alamos National Bank to Cetera Financial Institutions. LANB shares Cetera's commitment to transform how financial advisors guide individuals and families of all stages of life to achieve financial well-being. The creation of an advice-centric experience is more vital than ever before, given ongoing market and regulatory uncertainties, combined with the rapid and continued pace of technological change within the financial advice space. Cetera is proud to help LANB in its ongoing mission to recruit additional experienced advisors and expand its wealth management program's geographical footprint by supporting the program's ability to deliver a transparent and highly personalized experience for clients."

Headquartered in Los Alamos, N.M., LANB offers a full range of banking services to businesses and residents in Northern New Mexico and the Albuquerque metro area. A community bank with six full-service locations, LANB ranks as one of the top mortgage lenders in the state. Founded in 1963, LANB is a subsidiary of Trinity Capital Corporation, also headquartered in Los Alamos.

Robert Joseph, Senior Vice President of Investments at Los Alamos National Bank, said, "We are extremely excited to work with Cetera Financial Institutions to expand our retail wealth management program. We feel strongly that the tools and solutions that Cetera's Institutional Services platform offers blend perfectly with LANB's emphasis on providing holistic financial planning and expert advice. We were singularly impressed with how well Cetera understood our business and our focus on providing a high level of service to our clients. In particular, we believe that Cetera Financial Institutions' digital platform will provide us with a distinct competitive advantage as we continue to grow our business in the Albuquerque metropolitan area."

About Los Alamos National Bank

Los Alamos National Bank (LANB) is one of the largest locally-owned banks in New Mexico with current assets of more than $1.4 billion. Through the responsive work of over 250 professional employees, LANB is proud to offer a full range of banking services with the highest degree of customer service to businesses and residents in Northern New Mexico and the Albuquerque metro area. A true community bank with six full-service locations, LANB ranks as one of the top mortgage lenders in the state. LANB has been voted "Best Bank in Santa Fe" by the readers of the Santa Fe Reporter for the past eleven years. LANB was the first corporation in New Mexico, as well as the first and only bank in the nation, to earn the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Founded in 1963, LANB is a subsidiary of Trinity Capital Corporation headquartered in Los Alamos, N.M. For more information visit LANB.com or call 505-662-5171.

About Cetera Financial Institutions

Cetera Financial Institutions is a marketing name of Cetera Investment Services LLC, a self-clearing registered broker-dealer that delivers customized investment and insurance solutions to financial institutions nationwide. Cetera Investment Services helps institutions expand their financial offerings, which allows clients to pursue their financial goals through a holistic approach while delivering sound and strong financial solutions. Advisory services are offered through Cetera Investment Advisers LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser firm, where financial advisors receive a wide array of solutions and back-office support, so that they can focus on their clients.

Cetera Investment Services LLC and Cetera Investment Advisers LLC are members of Cetera Financial Group, which provides leading wealth management and advisory platforms and innovative technology to financial advisors and financial institutions nationwide. Cetera Investment Services is a member of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). For more information, see www.ceterafinancialinstitutions.com.

About Cetera Financial Group

Cetera Financial Group ("Cetera") is a leading network of independent firms empowering the delivery of objective financial advice to individuals, families and company retirement plans across the country through trusted financial advisors and financial institutions. Cetera is the second-largest independent financial advisor network in the nation by number of advisors, as well as a leading provider of retail services to the investment programs of banks and credit unions.

Through its multiple distinct firms, Cetera offers independent and institutions-based advisors the benefits of a large, established broker-dealer and registered investment adviser, while serving advisors and institutions in a way that is customized to their needs and aspirations. Advisor support resources offered through Cetera include award-winning wealth management and advisory platforms, comprehensive broker-dealer and registered investment adviser services, practice management support and innovative technology. For more information, visit www.ceterafinancialgroup.com.

* "Cetera Financial Group" refers to the network of independent retail firms encompassing, among others, Cetera Advisors, Cetera Advisor Networks, Cetera Investment Services (marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions), Cetera Financial Specialists, First Allied Securities, Girard Securities, and Summit Brokerage Services. All firms are members FINRA/SIPC.

Media Contacts:

Matthew Griffes

Haven Tower Group

424.652.6520 ext 103

[email protected]

Joseph Kuo

Haven Tower Group

424.652.6520 ext 101

[email protected]

SOURCE Cetera Financial Group

Related Links

http://www.ceterafinancialgroup.com


HOUSTON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- C&J Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE: CJ) announced today that it will issue its first quarter 2017 financial and operating results on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, before the market open. In conjunction with this release, C&J Energy Services has scheduled a conference call for 10:00 a.m. E.T. (9:00 a.m. C.T.) on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, which will be webcast live. Information on how to access the conference call and webcast is set forth below:

What: C&J Energy Services' First Quarter 2017 Earnings Call



When: Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. E.T. (9:00 a.m. C.T.)



Where: Live via phone by calling U.S. (Toll Free): 1-855-560-2574 or International: 1-412-542-4160 and asking for the "C&J Energy Services Earnings Call," or live via webcast at www.cjenergy.com on the Investor Relations page. Participants are encouraged to dial into the conference call ten to fifteen minutes before the scheduled start time to avoid any delays entering the earnings call.

For those who cannot listen to the live call, a telephonic replay will be available through May 16, 2017 and may be accessed by calling U.S. (Toll Free): 1-877-344-7529 or International: 1-412-317-0088, using the access code: 10105953. An archive of the webcast will also be available shortly after the call at www.cjenergy.com on the Investor Relations page.

About C&J Energy Services

C&J Energy Services is a leading provider of well construction, well completion, well support and other complementary oilfield services to oil and gas exploration and production companies. We offer a comprehensive, vertically-integrated suite of services throughout the life cycle of the well, including hydraulic fracturing, cased-hole wireline and pump-down, cementing, directional drilling, coiled tubing, rig services, fluids management and other support services. We are headquartered in Houston, Texas and operate in all active onshore basins of the continental United States and Western Canada. For additional information about C&J, please visit www.cjenergy.com.

C&J Energy Services Investor Contact



Daniel E. Jenkins

Vice President  Investor Relations

[email protected]

1-713-260-9986

SOURCE C&J Energy Services, Inc.
English Spanish

MEXICO CITY, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Grupo Hotelero Santa Fe S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV:HOTEL) (HOTEL or the Company), announced its consolidated results for the first quarter (1Q17) ended March 31, 2017. Figures are expressed in Mexican Pesos, are unaudited and are in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and may vary due to rounding.

Highlights

1Q17 EBITDA 1 reached Ps. 150.6 million, a 16.5% increase compared to 1Q16 driven by revenue growth and efficiencies from operating leverage achieved in the quarter. 1Q17 EBITDA margin reduced to 38.9% due to a tough comparable base driven by holy-week in 1Q16 which this year was in April.

reached Ps. 150.6 million, a 16.5% increase compared to 1Q16 driven by revenue growth and efficiencies from operating leverage achieved in the quarter. 1Q17 EBITDA margin reduced to 38.9% due to a tough comparable base driven by holy-week in 1Q16 which this year was in April. 1Q17 Total Revenue reached Ps. 387.0 million, a 20.1% increase compared to 1Q16, driven by the following increases: i) 18.0% in Room Revenue, ii) 18.8% in Food and Beverages Revenue, iii) 34.1% in Other Hotel Revenue and iv) 26.0% in management fees related to third-party owned hotels.

1Q17 Net Income reached Ps. 184.9 million, a 162.7% increase compared to 1Q16. Net income margin was 47.8%, driven by an FX gain combined with a higher operating income.

1Q17 Net operating cash flow was Ps. 157.9 million, an increase of 37.1% compared to the Ps. 115.2 million reported in 1Q16. This increase was mainly due to working capital variations combined with a higher operating income.

Net Debt/EBITDA (LTM) ratio was 0.9x at the end of 1Q17. Operating cash flow in dollars represented 64.3% of total operating cash flow, thereby providing a natural hedge of the dollarized financial debt.

HOTELs total portfolio at the end of 1Q17 reached 5,124 rooms in operation, a 20.1% increase compared to the 4,265 rooms at end of 1Q16.

RevPAR2 for the Company-owned hotels rose by 6.5% in 1Q17 compared to 1Q16, driven by an increase of 6.8% in ADR2 with a stable occupancy.

First Quarter 3 months ended March Figures in thousand Mexican Pesos 2017 2016 % Var. 2017 2016 % Var. Total Revenue 387,041 322,151 20.1 387,041 322,151 20.1 EBITDA 150,646 129,276 16.5 150,646 129,276 16.5 EBITDA Margin 38.9% 40.1% (1.2 pt) 38.9% 40.1% (1.2 pt) Operating Income 110,336 98,829 11.6 110,336 98,829 11.6 Net Income 184,926 70,391 162.7 184,926 70,391 162.7 Net Income Margin 47.8% 21.9% 25.9 pt 47.8% 21.9% 25.9 pt Operating Cashflow 157,933 115,217 37.1 157,933 115,217 37.1 Occupancy 70.3% 70.5% (0.2 pt) 70.3% 70.5% (0.2 pt) ADR 1,493 1,398 6.8 1,493 1,398 6.8 RevPAR 1,049 986 6.5 1,049 986 6.5 Note: operating figures belong to owned hotels.







1Q17 Conference Call Details:

HOTEL will host its earnings webcast (audio + presentation) to discuss results:

Date: Friday, April 21, 2017 Time: 12:00 p.m. Mexico City Time 1:00 p.m. New York Time To participate in the conference call and Q&A session please dial: Telephone: U.S.: 1 800 863 3908 International +1 334 323 7224 Mexico: 01 800 847 7666 Conference password: HOTEL 000 Webcast: The webcast will be in English. To follow the Power Point presentation and the audio of the call, please visit our website www.gsf-hotels.com/investors

About Grupo Hotelero Santa Fe

HOTEL is a leading company in the Mexican hotel industry, centered on acquiring, converting, developing and operating its own hotels as well as third party-owned hotels. The Company focuses on strategic hotel location and quality, a unique hotel management model, strict expense control and the proprietary Krystal brand as well as other international brands. As of year-end 2016, the Company employed over 2,800 people at 23 hotels in Mexico and generated revenues of Ps. 1,221 million. For more information, please visit www.gsf-hotels.com

____________________________________

1 EBITDA is calculated by adding Operating Income, Depreciation and Total Non-recurring expenses.

2 Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) and Average Daily Rate (ADR).
ATLANTA, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Core Security, a leader in Vulnerability, Access Risk Management and Network Detection and Response, today announced that JMP Securities named the company to its Super 60 list, which recognizes the hottest private companies in Internet Security, Networking and Storage. The JMP Securities Super 60 report, formerly named the Fast 50, selects private companies who have strong operational foundations as well as sustainable and disruptive technology.

"Being included by JMP Securities on its Super 60 list reflects our mission of providing a comprehensive and holistic approach to security," said David Earhart, CEO, Core Security. "Organizations must secure and manage access to corporate data and ensure continuous availability of enterprise applications and services while navigating through today's dynamic threat landscape. Our solutions provide actionable intelligence and context needed to manage identity access and security risk across the entire enterprise."

The Core Security profile from the JMP Securities Super 60 report is available here.

About Core Security Corporation

Core Security provides companies with the security insight they need to know who, how, and what is vulnerable in their organization. The company's threat-aware, identity & access, network security, and vulnerability management solutions provide actionable insight and context needed to manage security risks across the enterprise. This shared insight gives customers a comprehensive view of their security posture to make better security remediation decisions. Better insight allows organizations to prioritize their efforts to protect critical assets, take action sooner to mitigate access risk, and react faster if a breach does occur.

Core Security is headquartered in the USA with offices and operations in South America, Europe, Middle East and Asia. To learn more, contact Core Security at (678) 304-4500 or [email protected]



Media Contact

Kari Walker

ZAG Communications for Core Security

+1.703.928.9996

[email protected]

SOURCE Core Security

Related Links

http://www.courion.com


FORT COLLINS, Colo., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- For the fifth consecutive year, Cornerstone Home Lending, Inc. has been recognized as a Top Workplace in the midsize company category. The full list of 2017 Top Workplaces was announced in The Denver Post on April 7, 2017.

"Being consistently named a Top Workplace is a great honor because of our employees," says Gene Humphries, Mountain West Region President of Cornerstone Home Lending. "While this recognition is a testament to our workplace culture and environment, it's the result of our people who come every day to share our mission, pursue our vision, and embrace our core convictions. Our employees are our greatest asset, but more importantly, they are our family."

The Denver Post Top Workplaces list recognizes Colorado's leading employers, with rankings divided into three categories based on the number of local employees in the company: large (more than 500), midsize (150 to 499), and small (fewer than 150). Evaluations are based on survey responses from more than 48,000 area employees. WorkplaceDynamics, a research and consulting firm on organizational health and employee engagement, conducted the survey in partnership with The Denver Post.

This year, 125 employers ranked as Top Workplaces based on qualities such as alignment, effectiveness, connection, and management. The survey also asks respondents about other factors such as employee engagement, confidence in company leadership, and compensation and benefits.

ABOUT CORNERSTONE HOME LENDING, INC.

Founded in 1988 by Chairman Marc Laird and Chief Operating Officer Judy Belanger, Houston-based Cornerstone Home Lending (Company NMLS 2258) is a refreshingly unique national home lender with thousands of highly-satisfied clients who return year after year, loan after loan.

In 2010, Cornerstone celebrated the grand opening of its Mountain West Region's headquarters in Fort Collins, Colorado. Since then, the Mountain West Region has quickly grown from 50 employees to more than 300 employees, and continues to expand throughout Colorado and other states including Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Wyoming, Kansas, Montana, and Nebraska. To learn more about Cornerstone Home Lending's Mountain West Region, visit www.houseloan.com/mountainwest.

SOURCE CORNERSTONE HOME LENDING, INC.

Related Links

http://www.houseloan.com


CHICAGO, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- According to an analysis completed by customer feedback company ReviewTrackers, customers of Wells Fargo were writing negative reviews about the opening of fake accounts prior to the breaking news in September 2016.

Reviews hinting at these illegal practices were posted as far back as August of 2015 - more than a year before the news broke in the media. This analysis only extends back until August of 2015, however; with further research, it is possible that the reviews might reveal that the fraud was happening for even longer.

The research shows reviews containing negative sentiment from separate dates in August 2015 to December 2016. The following were negative phrases found in the reviews:

- 08/17/15: "wrong fees"

- 08/31/15: "unethical sales tactics"

- 04/09/16: "illogical fees"

- 08/17/16: "hidden fees"

- 09/08/16: "phony customer accounts"

- 09/30/16: "bogus fees"

Reviews from Citibank, Bank of America and Chase were included as well. However; these same negative phrases listed above were not found in any of the competitor reviews.

In addition to negative sentiment, the average star rating of Wells Fargo decreased month after month, with a 19.9 percent decrease from August to September 2016.

By looking at their online reviews they could have seen the negative feedback about the fees and used that as an opportunity to immediately correct the situation and save $185 million in fines.

We live during a time that Forrester dubs as "The Age of the Customer." Customers are more informed, connected and empowered than ever. For the first time, they are taking the power seat and utilizing their voice through online reviews to talk about their experiences. It is a time when brands must acknowledge this shift and use online reviews as an opportunity to connect with their customers and in the case of Wells Fargo, to mitigate a large-scale business disaster.

About ReviewTrackers

ReviewTrackers is the award-winning customer feedback software that helps businesses measure and transform the customer experience. The platform collects review data from 85+ review sites to surface customer insights that enable brands to listen, comprehend and make data-driven decisions about what their customers truly need or want.

Trusted by 30,000+ businesses, ReviewTrackers helps busy professionals save time, money and resources so they can focus on what matters most: their customers.

Inquiries - Mandy Yoh; [email protected]

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com.

SOURCE ReviewTrackers

Related Links

https://www.reviewtrackers.com


NAPLES, Fla., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Some 29 million Americans live with diabetes and another 86 million are pre-diabetic and likely unaware of their status. Denise Pancyrz, who is certified in holistic nutrition and homeopathy and a former diabetic herself, hopes to reach this huge and important demographic with the new edition of her book The Virgin Diabetic in which she shares the blueprint for how she reversed her diabetes through holistic life changes.

Denise Pancyrz

Diabetes runs in her family. Her father died from complications of the disease and an uncle lost a leg to it. Pancyrz's own diagnosis of an advanced form of the disease came when she was in her 40s. Doctors prescribed four insulin shots a day along with a handful of medications and told her she would be insulin dependent for the rest of her life. That blunt prognosis and her own background in the laboratory industry where she was a Six Sigma expert led her to begin an exhaustive research program for natural ways to self-heal.

Among her discoveries are:

Diabetes is not a sugar problem or a food elimination problem; it's a metabolic problem.

Diabetics should worry less about losing weight and more about good nutrition.

Instead of increasing insulin levels, doctors should teach patients how to balance their meals, activity levels, and stress.

Government guidelines are keeping us sick and managing diabetes is not the only option.

"Denise writes a candid description of her quest for control over her diabetes. It is an inspiring story for anyone who wishes to avoid being a victim of the conventional medical model and desires individualized care. Denise writes as an advocate for health and compassionate educator. Learn from her experiences to help solve your diabetes!" Kelly Simms, N.D., Chicago

About Denise Pancyrz

Denise Pancyrz is certified in holistic nutrition and homeopathy and is a Six Sigma Green Belt who worked in the laboratory industry for a decade. She left her corporate job about two years ago to begin a full-time speaking career on diabetes prevention. She is an experienced radio talk show guest and was featured in Chicago's My Suburban Life newspaper.

Availability: Naples, Fla., nationwide by arrangement and via telephone

Contact: Denise Pancyrz, 630-281-0873; [email protected]; www.ReverseMyDiabetes.net

SOURCE Denise Pancyrz

Related Links

http://www.ReverseMyDiabetes.net


NEW YORK, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 7, 2017, Devonshire Research Group issued an in-depth analysis of Allied Minds (LON: ALM ), a Boston-based venture firm trading on the London Stock Exchange with investments in the life science and technology sectors. The report describes the rationale behind Devonshire's short position on Allied Minds. Devonshire Research Group argues that Allied Minds is overvalued because it has not to date demonstrated success in identifying and monetizing technology, and has limited potential to do so going forward. ALM's share price has plummeted in recent days, a decline that reflects a broader loss of confidence in the licensing-based business models of stocks like ALM - publicly traded intellectual property companies, known as PIPCOs.

Allied Minds has built a portfolio of investments in university-based technologies via seed stage startups at early stages of technology readiness. The technologies in Allied Minds' portfolio, while promising in some respects, are typically many years away from commercialization and have many potential failure points ahead of them. While Allied Minds has had limited successful monetization events or exits in their portfolio to date, they have seen an average of two of their startup investments going out of business per year, with a cumulative total of twelve startup investment failures since 2010.

Devonshire Research Group has conducted a comprehensive assessment of the value potential in each of Allied Minds' subsidiaries. For businesses with little to no revenue, this is typically quite difficult to do, but Devonshire's analysis applies sophisticated patent analysis tools to evaluate the intellectual property positions of each of Allied Minds' investment positions. The report concludes that the subsidiaries lack the requisite IP to be competitive in the markets they are attempting to enter and possess patent portfolios that are both smaller and less central than their competitors.

In addition to the comprehensive assessment of its subsidiary technologies, the Devonshire Research Group report also compares Allied Minds to other PIPCOs. Allied Minds has long based its technology business development around university based technologies protected by patents. Relative to other PIPCO's, however, Allied Minds compares unfavorably: its subsidiaries have little to no licensing revenue, the early-stage technologies protected by its patents are many years away from commercialization and its modest-sized patent portfolio is highly fragmented. Based on the combination of its patent portfolio assessment and the comparison to peers, Devonshire Research Group argues that ALM's stock price is overvalued even after its sharp recent declines. The full report is available for download at www.devonshireresearch.com.

About Devonshire Research Group

Devonshire Research Group, LLC is a Registered Investment Adviser pioneering advanced analytical methods and machine learning techniques in uncovering overstated assets, investments, and companies. The firm advises its clients on hard-to-value and illiquid asset portfolio risks, valuation exposures, and periodically publishes public research.

Legal Disclosure

This press release is not an attempt at solicitation by Devonshire Research Group or its clients. Devonshire Research Group is a FINRA-compliant state Registered Investment Adviser. Please visit the website for additional compliance disclosures.

Devonshire Research Group is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, CRD number 283618.

SOURCE Devonshire Research Group

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http://www.devonshireresearch.com


MILWAUKEE, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Diversatek Inc., a privately-owned holding company in the medical and medical technology markets, today announced that it will combine two of its subsidiaries under a new name to boost the company's presence in the endoscopy and GI diagnostic marketplace.

Diversatek Healthcare will now function as a single organization, uniting two complementary gastroenterological care brand portfolios, Sandhill Scientific and Medovations. The new structure is designed to maximize innovative product development, increase breadth of product offerings and promote a more personalized patient experience. The company has also heightened its ongoing commitment to research.

"Personalized service, best-in-class clinical education, and an untiring dedication to science will continue to differentiate Diversatek Healthcare," said Diversatek Healthcare President and CEO Meg Vierling. "We have large company resources yet maintain our commitment to personal connections with our customers. Every product concept begins with an understanding of clinical and patient needs, and that's ultimately how we measure our achievements," said Vierling.

Diversatek Healthcare will bring together the formidable technology and engineering teams of both constituent companies, improving a comprehensive range of state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic GI applications. Medovations brand endoscopy products enhance patient care and comfort, and streamline workflow. The best-in-class Sandhill Scientific brand diagnostic solutions focus on esophageal motility disorders, anorectal motility disorders, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

"Our singular goal is to continue to build a focused organization rooted in technology, innovation, efficiency, accountability and attentiveness," said Diversatek Inc. Chairman and CEO Brant Stanford. "We feel that the combined portfolios provide a unique offering of therapeutic devices, accessories, and highly specialized diagnostics that enable our customers to provide exceptional care. We look forward to supplementing our current product portfolio as a result of shared resources and access to broader technologies," said Stanford.

The brand launch announcement comes just weeks before Digestive Disease Week (DDW) in Chicago and the Annual Course of the Society of Gastroenterology Nurses & Associates (SGNA) in New Orleans. Diversatek Healthcare will be exhibiting in booth #1921 at DDW and booth #723 at SGNA. The company will discuss plans for focused product solutions that leverage the inherent synergies of its combined subsidiaries. Currently in development is a product that takes advantage of the vehicle delivery technology of Medovations and the data capturing and analytics of Sandhill Scientific.

Medovations has been a wholly-owned, independently-managed Diversatek Inc. subsidiary since 1983. Medovations, in turn, acquired Sandhill Scientific in 2013 and has managed it as a wholly-owned subsidiary since that time. Diversatek Healthcare will continue to run its primary operations in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and its state-of-the-art Technical Research and Training Center in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

About Diversatek Healthcare

Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Diversatek Healthcare is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Diversatek Inc. A leader in gastroenterological medical devices and diagnostics, Diversatek Healthcare's tenured management team is committed to making business personal again through a hands-on approach to understanding clinical and patient needs. Diversatek Healthcare is driving science in the GI space while providing comprehensive educational offerings through Diversatek University, including on-site training and virtual platforms. The company offers an extensive range of state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic GI applications from esophageal dilators and endoscopic accessories to high resolution impedance manometry systems and impedance/pH total reflux monitoring.

Diversatek Inc. recently united two complementary subsidiaries, Sandhill Scientific and Medovations, to form one singular organization committed to technologies that simplify the complex medical marketplace. For additional information, visit www.diversatekhealthcare.com or contact us at 800-558-6408.

SOURCE Diversatek Healthcare

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ARLINGTON, Va., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Eagle Hill Consulting has achieved "Best in Category" recognition for its employee experience consulting practice according to the ALM's Intelligence Employee Experience Consulting 2017 report. This award propels Eagle Hill into a leadership position in the human capital management arena at an international level.

The ALM report also named Eagle Hill as "Best in Class" for Project Management. Eagle Hill's customers reported to ALM that the company's collaborative and immersive approach engages all stakeholders equally in projects, and that company has earned exceptional trust from clients.

"This is a 'big deal' milestone for Eagle Hill," says Melissa Jezior, Eagle Hill president and chief executive officer. "This is evidence that in just a few years, we've built a consulting practice that competes head-to-head with top management consulting firms around the world."

"Eagle Hill broke from the pack of large, traditional consulting companies to provide unconventional consulting that is truly collaborative with our clients. We are growing rapidly and winning accolades like this ALM recognition because we practice what we preach. Eagle Hill hires only top talent and we keep them because we provide an outstanding employee experience and real work life balance. As a result, our exceptional team of consultants is fully engaged and empowered to meet and often exceed client expectations," Jezior explained.

The report assessed 22 firms for their breadth and depth of consulting capabilities in employee experience consulting. For depth  capacity to get results for clients  Eagle Hill ranked sixth. For breadth  ability to deploy that capacity at scale  the company ranked sixteenth. And for overall client impact, Eagle Hill ranked eighth.

Read more about the award here.

Eagle Hill Consulting LLC is a woman-owned business that provides management consulting services in the areas of business strategy, organizational transformation, human capital transformation, process improvement, program management and change management. Eagle Hill works with a range of public, private, and non-profit organizations in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and across the nation. More information is available at www.eaglehillconsulting.com.

ALM Intelligence provides accurate and reliable market sizing and forecasts on consulting services worldwide, needs-analysis and vendor profiling for buyers of consulting services, timely and insightful intelligence on the top consulting firms in their respective markets, and operational benchmarks that measure consulting performance. ALM Intelligence's research spans multiple service areas, client vertical industries, and geographies. Analysts provide expert commentary at consulting industry events worldwide, and offer custom research for Management Consulting and IT Services firms. More information about ALM Intelligence is available at consulting.almintel.com.

ALM, an information and intelligence company, provides customers with critical news, data, analysis, marketing solutions and events to successfully manage the business of business. For more information, visit www.alm.com.

SOURCE Eagle Hill Consulting

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NEW YORK, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The following feature package is a roundup of feature stories dealing with Earth Day and is appropriate for special sections and for general use.

For each story included in this package, you will find the first paragraph of the feature release below, as well as its headline linked to the full text.

This is the latest in a series of topical feature packages PRN will carry as part of its regular Feature News Service. Coming up in 2017 are features on:



Package Name Slug Distribution Date Education II, Graduation Education April 27 Fitness, Diet & Nutrition Fitness May 4 Mother's Day Mother's May 11 Summer, Outdoors, & Vacations Summer May 18 Travel & Leisure II Halloween May 25



Earth Day Feature Package

1. Yowie Celebrates Earth Day Early With Easter Egg Hunts Across The U.S.

NEW YORK, April 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Yowie Group LTD announced today that they will be traveling across the U.S. this April to celebrate Earth Day with Easter egg hunts for children. The popular chocolate brand from Australia will be participating in Easter egg hunts in the New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, Providence, and Denver markets. Yowie aims to "save the natural world" by making animal and environmental education both fun and tasty, creating the perfect link between Easter chocolate celebrations on Sunday April 16th and Earth Day on Saturday April 22nd.





2. Earth Day March for Science Rally and Teach-Ins to Take Place April 22 on National Mall in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, April 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The first Earth Day was established as a result of the warnings scientists had been making for years about our environment. And on this April 22nd, which also marks the first anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement, Earth Day Network will continue to recognize the concerns and the work of dedicated scientists by co-organizing the March for Science Rally and Teach-Ins on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

3. Ohio's EarthFest Hosts EV Ride and Drive as Part of Midwest EVOLVE Program

CLEVELAND, April 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Earth Day Coalition will give consumers a chance to test drive some of the newest electric vehicles (EVs) at EarthFest, taking place on Earth Day (April 22) at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds in Ohio.



4. The Travel Corporation and TreadRight Foundation Support Wildlife SOS  India on Earth Day

DELRAY BEACH, Fla., April 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The TreadRight Foundation, a not-for-profit joint initiative between The Travel Corporation's (TTC) family of brands, has announced that it will support TreadRight Heritage Initiative partner Wildlife SOS  India this coming Earth Day.

If you would like a copy of the complete schedule, or if you would care to comment, please email [email protected]. We welcome suggestions. Copies of previous packages are available for the media. Feature packages and feature photos are also available on the PR Newswire Web site, http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/feature-news-latest-news.

Photos that accompany releases are available via the PRN Multimedia Desk, 800-317-7677, or via the PR Newswire Photo Archive. Select photos are available via AP PhotoExpress and AP Images.

SOURCE PR Newswire Association LLC

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TUSTIN, Calif., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Elite Aerospace Group (EAG) proudly announces its successful completion of The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) vetting and registration process. By achieving ITAR registration alongside AS9100 rev. C and ISO9001 certifications, EAG has objectively verified their status as a premier manufacturer in the aerospace and defense sector.

"Obtaining ITAR registered status in only three years of operations is a feat we are extremely proud of," Zeeshawn Zia, COO of EAG, commented. "It truly is a testament to our standout operations team who have worked tirelessly to elevate Elite to the highest standards in the industry."

As an ITAR registered company, Elite Aerospace Group is now able to compete for contracts in the defense arena as well as other military-related projects.

"Thus far we have had tremendous success providing parts and services for the commercial aviation and orbital rocket sectors. Obtaining ITAR registration has opened the door for us to go after larger work packages and grow our business to new heights," stated Dustin Tillman, CEO of the Elite Aerospace Group. "It's an honor and privilege to be entrusted with supporting the United States' defense community and a responsibility we don't take lightly. The defense sector is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, and is sure to be a key pillar of our revenue stream in the coming years."

About Elite Aerospace Group

EAG is an advanced design, engineering, manufacturing and technology leader within the aerospace industry. Elite is comprised of talented professionals who are passionately committed to providing the highest level of customer service and quality, while delivering cost-competitive supply availability solutions. EAG was formed by senior aviation officials who, tired of their expectations not being met, set out on a campaign for change; challenging conventionality in the marketplace and driving customer-centric part supply strategies. Elite is a proud contributor to the reshoring initiatives, focused on bringing manufacturing back to the United States. EAG's focus on its core values and commitment to excellence has made the company an attractive, competitive standout to consumers and investors alike. www.EliteAerospaceGroup.com

Contacts:

Zeeshawn Zia, COO, Elite Aerospace Group/ 949-783-7067 / [email protected]

Diane McNamara / 617-304-1940 / [email protected]

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SOURCE Elite Aerospace Group

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BOSTON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- EnergySage published today its fourth semiannual Solar Marketplace Intel Report, providing a comprehensive analysis of consumer behavior, demographics, and preferences, as well as a complete account of industry trends in the U.S. residential solar market in 2016.

This latest edition of the industry-leading report presents several new datasets and analyses including an expanded list of new states, a review of the community solar landscape, and greater insights into solar shopper demographics. According to EnergySage data, the typical solar shopper is a mid-career male in his mid-40s with interests in real estate, financial services, and home services in addition to solar energy.

This most recent report also features a new section analyzing residential solar data by utility territory. EnergySage compared the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of solar to today's electricity rates in territories served by Commonwealth Edison Co., Consolidated Edison (ConEd), Dominion Power, Florida Power & Light Co., Southern California Edison, and Xcel Energy. In all service areas, the LCOE of solar is lower than the 2016 residential electricity rate offered by the utility, affirming the comparative benefits of solar as a low-cost energy source.

Other key insights in the latest Solar Marketplace Intel Report include:

Solar prices are falling at accelerating rate

Between H1 2016 and H2 2016, gross cost per watt on EnergySage dropped by 6.25%. That is more than triple the rate of decline from the first EnergySage Solar Marketplace Intel Report from July 2014 to June 2015, and the greatest rate of decline measured in any of the reports to date. This trend may reflect improved operational efficiencies at solar companies, lower customer acquisition costs via online channels like EnergySage, increased competition, and the low cost of solar panels and inverters.

More quotes result in more sales

Consumers who receive offers from multiple solar installers are significantly more likely to complete a solar purchase. EnergySage users who received 5+ quotes in 2016 were nearly eight times more likely to buy than those who received only one quote. These results offer a clear message: quotes from multiple installers will increase consumer confidence, and solar shoppers should be encouraged to seek multiple quotes.

Solar shoppers are mostly male

EnergySage used Solar Marketplace demographic data to develop a profile of today's solar-interested consumers, and found that three out of every four solar shoppers (77%) are male. This gender imbalance presents an opportunity for the solar industry to develop new messaging and outreach strategies to attract more female shoppers, and expand the product category to achieve true mass-market appeal.

"This latest report speaks to the importance of transparency and comparison-shopping in residential solar," said EnergySage CEO and founder Vikram Aggarwal. "For the consumer, getting more quotes empowers them to make better-informed decisions. For the installer, more quotes results in increased consumer confidence, which in turn results in a higher likelihood of purchase. Comparison-shopping platforms like EnergySage make win-win situations like this possible."

EnergySage is the country's leading online comparison-shopping marketplace for rooftop solar, community solar, and solar financing, and is uniquely positioned to share solar market insights. This report furthers EnergySage's mission to support the healthy growth of the solar industry via consumer education and empowerment, price transparency, and greater information sharing among all stakeholders.

The latest report can be downloaded for free at: www.energysage.com/data/

About EnergySage, Inc.

EnergySage is the leading online comparison-shopping marketplace for rooftop solar, community solar, and financing. Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, EnergySage is the trusted source of information for over 1 million consumers across 30+ states. In 2016, the company sent nearly $1 billion in solar installation requests to its network of more than 350 pre-screened solar installation companies, and served as a high-quality lead source for solar financing companies and powerful distribution channel for solar equipment manufacturers. EnergySage is unique in that it allows consumers to request and compare competing quotes online, unlike traditional lead-generation websites. For this reason, leading organizations like Kaiser Permanente, National Grid, Schneider Electric, and Staples refer their audiences to EnergySage to empower them as they consider solar. The EnergySage formula of unbiased information, transparency and choice helps consumers go solar with confidence  at a higher rate of adoption, and lower cost. For more information, please visit EnergySage and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

SOURCE EnergySage, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.energysage.com


NEW YORK, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (NYSE:OZM) will announce its 2017 first quarter results prior to the opening of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, May 2, 2017. Dan Och, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Alesia Haas, Chief Financial Officer, will host a conference call the same day at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time to review these results. To access the call, please dial +1-844-358-6790 (in the U.S.) or +1-209-905-5913 (international), and use passcode 10515460. A simultaneous webcast will be available on the Public Investors page of Och-Ziff's website (www.ozcap.com).



A replay will be available shortly after the call. To access the replay, please dial +1-855-859-2056 (in the U.S.) or +1-404-537-3406 (international), and use passcode 10515460. A webcast replay will also be available on Och-Ziff's website as noted above.

About Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC

Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC is one of the largest institutional alternative asset managers in the world, with offices in New York, London, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Beijing, Shanghai and Houston. Och-Ziff provides asset management services to investors globally through its multi-strategy funds, dedicated credit funds, including opportunistic credit funds and Institutional Credit Strategies products, real estate funds and other alternative investment vehicles. Och-Ziff seeks to generate consistent, positive, absolute returns across market cycles, with low volatility compared to the broader markets, and with an emphasis on preservation of capital. Och-Ziffs funds invest across multiple strategies and geographies, consistent with the investment objectives for each fund. The global investment strategies Och-Ziff employs include convertible and derivative arbitrage, corporate credit, long/short equity special situations, merger arbitrage, private investments, real estate and structured credit. As of April 1, 2017, Och-Ziff had approximately $31.9 billion in assets under management. For more information, please visit Och-Ziffs website (www.ozcap.com).
MILTON, Ga., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Exide Technologies (www.exide.com), a global provider of stored electrical energy solutions, today announced that it has been awarded a new contract with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to supply 6TAGM military batteries. The new contract between Exide and the DLA is a three-year contract with two, one-year option periods. The three-year base contract has a value of approximately $47 million.

The 6TAGM military battery is designed and qualified to meet stringent military specifications for primary use by military services and military manufacturers in tanks, armored vehicles and similar equipment applications. Orders are expected to begin April 2017 with batteries then being delivered to military bases and sites across the globe.

"Exide is honored and excited to grow our relationship with the DLA and to further support the agency's critical defense efforts," said Vic Koelsch, President and CEO of Exide Technologies. "This award, and the associated investments we are making to support it, show our commitment to the defense industry and to supplying quality products that meet or exceed strict government standards."

The new contract win is the latest development in Exide's 25-year-long partnership with the DLA. Exide supplies the DLA with batteries for military vehicle applications, primarily for the support of the U.S. military's fleet of rolling stock vehicles for the Department of Defense and other agencies. Exide is the only full-line supplier of qualified 6T batteries (6TL, 6TMF, 6TAGM) in the industry.

About Exide Technologies

Exide Technologies (www.exide.com) is a global provider of stored electrical energy solutionsbatteries and associated equipment and services for transportation and industrial markets. With 128 years of industry experience and operating in more than 80 countries, Exide produces and recycles a broad range of products that keep customers and their businesses powering forward.

The Exide Transportation business manufactures and markets starting, deep-cycle, and micro-hybrid batteries for automotive, light and heavy-duty truck, agricultural, marine, military, powersport, and other specialty applications, along with battery diagnostic equipment and charging systems.

Exide serves the Industrial Power markets with its GNB-branded efficient energy storage systems for both Motive Power and Network Power customers. Motive Power applications include materials handling (power for lift trucks, airside assistance vehicles, and automatic guided vehicles); cleaning machines; railroads; military and mining vehicles; and other commercial electric vehicles. Network Power installations include standby power for electric utilities; telecommunications systems; alarm/security systems; renewable energy systems; railway systems; uninterruptible power supply (UPS); and defense industry equipment.

Exide Technologies is Powering the World Forward. History and scale, combined with a start-up mentality, make Exide the right choice for customers who want more than simply a battery supplier.

SOURCE Exide Technologies

Related Links

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CLEVELAND, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Groundbreaking legislation that will help Maryland communities fight and prevent blight has been hailed by one of the measure's leading advocates. Robert Klein, founder and chairman of Cleveland-based Community Blight Solutions, had urged lawmakers to enact a "fast-track" process for mortgage foreclosures on vacant and abandoned residential property.

"Outdated foreclosure laws can leave homes vacant and vulnerable for years, fostering the spread of community blight," Klein said. "Unlike a good bottle of wine, vacant properties do not get better with age."

"We have been advocating for state legislators across the country to consider legislation that will reduce the time it takes to foreclose on vacant and abandoned properties. Maryland has now put itself ahead of the national curve in fighting community blight," Klein said.

The fast-track provisions are included in Maryland HB 702/SB 1033, which passed the Maryland General Assembly unanimously (Senate vote: 47-0) (House vote: 139-0), and is on its way to Governor Hogan's desk for his signature. During the process, Community Blight Solutions worked with consumer advocates, Baltimore City and other local governments, banks and mortgage brokers to adopt amendments that improved the bill while maintaining its intent to expedite the foreclosure process. As a result, the bill was unanimously supported by all interested parties. The Maryland General Assembly adjourned its 2017 session on April 10.

"Blight caused by vacant properties is a serious problem in certain Maryland communities," said bill sponsor Delegate Marvin Holmes. "The longer properties remain vacant  the greater the chance problems will occur, including vandalism, crime and lower property values."

"HB 702/SB 1033 is the result of some very hard work between all interested stakeholders. This new law will significantly expedite the foreclosure process for vacant properties and hopefully get them back on the tax rolls as quickly as possible," said Delegate Holmes.

Maryland's new fast-track legislation comes on the heels of Ohio's ground breaking fast-track legislation which became law in June 2016. Previously in Maryland and Ohio, and those currently in other states, existing foreclosure requirements often cause vacant and abandoned properties to sit empty for two years or more and become "zombie homes" that no one has any incentive to maintain, according to Klein.

The new Maryland law accelerates the foreclosure process to as little as six months in certain situations, enabling the mortgage servicer in many cases to get possession of the property before it deteriorates and increasing the likelihood it can be rehabilitated and sold.

"No one will be forced out of their home by this law," Klein emphasized. "There are clear protections to ensure that a property is, indeed, vacant and abandoned."

HB 702/SB 1033 offers significant protections for homeowners including: requiring secured parties to serve a petition for expedited foreclosure on the mortgagor and post a notice on the property and, allowing the record owner of the property to challenge any finding that the property is vacant and abandoned. The bill authorizes a secured party to expedite the foreclosure process provided the party can demonstrate to a court that the property is vacant and abandoned by satisfying at least three (3) of eleven (11) specific criteria listed in HB 702/SB 1033 (e.g., utilities disconnected, windows and entrances boarded up).

Klein credited the ultimate approval of the fast-track provisions to the efforts of bill sponsors Delegate Marvin Holmes (District 23B, Prince George's County) and Senator Adelaide Eckardt (District 37, Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot and Wicomico Counties).

"This important legislation for Maryland and its residents will have an immediate and lasting impact in the effort to cure community blight and stabilize neighborhoods," said Klein. "I commend these outstanding legislators and their colleagues for bringing Maryland's foreclosure requirements into the 21st century and demonstrating the fortitude that resulted in the passage of this new legislation."

About Community Blight Solutions

Community Blight Solutions is focused on understanding, solving and eliminating the problems associated with the blight that is plaguing communities nationwide. Community Blight Solutions works closely with mortgage servicers, local government officials, legislators and policymakers at the Federal and State level, first responders and other groups to advocate for updates and changes to policy and legislation and an increase in awareness of the issues contributing to community blight. For more information, go to http://www.communityblightsolutions.com/

Contact:

Mark Nylander

[email protected]

216-738-3047

SOURCE Community Blight Solutions

Related Links

http://www.communityblightsolutions.com


AUBURN HILLS, Mich., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Faurecia announced today that senior launch and engineering manager Stephanie Hayes has received the 2017 STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Ahead Award from the Manufacturing Institute in recognition of her excellence and leadership in the manufacturing industry.

Hayes, who works at Faurecia Interiors Systems in Saline, Mich., was awarded with this honor during a special luncheon in Washington, D.C. for her unique approach to leading, teaching and mentoring her team of nine engineers.

"Stephanie is the type of person we all want to work for," said Alex Acket, Deputy Plant Manager at Faurecia Interior Systems' Saline, Michigan, production facility. "Not only does she provide valuable guidance over the course of a project, but she retains the necessary fortitude to lead her team to the right answer while ensuring they learn something valuable along the way."

Among Hayes' qualifications, she was responsible for successfully leading a team of engineers that launched fourteen different products for one customer while balancing millions of dollars in budget. As a result of her contributions, Faurecia was able to meet all pre-production delivery windows on time.

Hayes is also known within the company for her ability to guide and develop her team, many of which are senior to her in age and tenure. She brings logical reasoning and a steadfastness not often seen by personnel in her position. Her patience has been on display many times over the course of her career, and with each new engineer she encounters, they emerge from the project with a better sense of how the work should be done, as well as a keen understanding of their strengths.

"At Faurecia, we embrace a culture of performance that creates long-term value for all stakeholders, including our employees," said Faurecia North America President Mark Stidham. "Stephanie's commitment to leadership and encouraging her team to become the best versions of themselves stands as a testament to the type of person she is, and the type of leader we believe will help guide Faurecia into the future."

The STEP Ahead Award is part of the larger STEP Ahead initiative, launched by The Manufacturing Institute in 2012 to examine and promote the role of women in manufacturing through recognition, research and leadership for attracting, advancing and retaining strong female talent. Hayes is among 100 women and 30 Emerging Leaders recognized for this award. More information is available at: www.themanufacturinginstitute.org

About Faurecia

Faurecia is one of the world's largest automotive equipment suppliers, with three key Business Groups: Seating, Interiors and Clean Mobility. In 2016, the Group posted total sales of $20.7 billion. On December 31, 2016, Faurecia employed 100,000 people in 34 countries at 330 sites and 30 R&D centers. Faurecia is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris stock exchange and trades in the U.S. over-the-counter (OTC) market. For more information, visit www.faurecia.com

In North America, Faurecia had sales of $5.78 billion in 2016 and employed approximately 20,000 people at 47 locations in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

SOURCE Faurecia

Related Links

http://www.faurecia.com


PITTSBURGH, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Federated Investors, Inc. (NYSE: FII), one of the largest investment managers in the United States, today announced the hiring of an Asia-Pacific chief executive officer and two veteran professionals to lead the company's business development efforts and to identify opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region. The team will focus on the regional distribution of existing Federated investment strategies and growing strategic relationships with financial institutions.

In a newly created position, Bill Taki joins Federated as chief executive officer of Federated Investors Asia Pacific. Taki brings to Federated 34 years of experience in business development, corporate finance, asset allocation, risk management and financial technology. Taki joins Federated from Phoenix Global Capital Management, a cross-border asset-management services firm with expertise in traditional and alternative investments, as well as real estate and sustainable investments. In his most recent role as principal and chief executive officer, he was responsible for the initiation and implementation of asset-management strategies, product development, global marketing, distribution and compliance. His previous experience included serving as chief executive officer and chief investment officer at asset managers focused on global alternative investing and alternative index strategies. Taki earned his MBA from the University of Chicago. Taki will report to Gordon J. Ceresino, vice chairman of Federated Investors, Inc. and president of Federated International Management Limited.

"Bill brings more than 30 years of demonstrated success in developing investment-management business, and his efforts will be key to helping Federated deliver the solutions sought by financial intermediaries in the Asia-Pacific region," said Ceresino. "Joining Federated under Bill's leadership are two business-development professionals, Bill Mukai and H.P. Yoe, each of whom has decades of experience in the region, including in Japan, Greater China, South Korea, Australia and Singapore."

Bill Mukai joins Federated from Phoenix Global Capital Management as managing director and head of Asia-Pacific client relationships. At Phoenix he led strategic initiatives involving responsible investments for traditional and alternative asset managers. He has an in-depth knowledge of Asia-Pacific financial and asset-management markets from his work at international investment banking and brokerage firms and his studies at the University of Southern California. Mukai will report to Taki.

Hun Pil Yoe brings more than 30 years of cross-border finance experience to his new position at Federated as managing director for South Korea. He previously served as a consultant with Phoenix Global Capital Management and prior to that served as chief executive officer among other executive positions at the commodity pool operator and futures trading subsidiary of a major South Korean multinational conglomerate. Yoe earned his degree from Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea. Yoe will report to Taki.

The new Asia-Pacific sales team builds upon Federated initiatives to grow its global presence over the past two and a half decades. Federated managed $19.0 billion in non-U.S. assets at Dec. 31, 2016, after launching its global business operations in 1991, when the company established Federated International Management Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary in Dublin, Ireland, becoming the first U.S. company to have money market funds registered and approved for distribution to the European community. In 1998, Federated launched a venture with German insurer LVM-Versicherungen to offer Federated funds in Germany and other German-speaking countries. And in April of 2012, Federated completed its acquisition of Prime Rate Capital Management LLP, a United Kingdom-based provider of institutional liquidity and fixed income products. In 2014, Federated expanded its global reach through a marketing services agreement with RJ Delta Fund Management, now known as Delta Asset Management, to distribute Federated equity and fixed-income products through pension funds in Chile and throughout Latin America. Most recently, in early 2016, Federated expanded access to its Strategic Value Dividend strategies, which seeks to invest in companies that pay high and rising dividends, by launching the strategy as a Canadian mutual fund for investors in that country.

Federated Investors, Inc. is one of the largest investment managers in the United States, managing $365.9 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2016. With 124 funds and a variety of separately managed account options, Federated provides comprehensive investment management to approximately 8,500 institutions and intermediaries including corporations, government entities, insurance companies, foundations and endowments, banks and broker/dealers. For more information, visit FederatedInvestors.com.

SOURCE Federated Investors, Inc.

Related Links

http://FederatedInvestors.com


NEW YORK, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Flying Tiger Copenhagen announces that it will open a 2,100 square foot store in Downtown Brooklyn, City Point. The new store, offering its renowned mix of fun shopping and quirky, award-winning Danish design, is located at 445 Albee Square West, and will have a grand opening on April 21st.

The Brooklyn location is Flying Tiger Copenhagen's 5th store in the United States, all in the New York area. This expansion reflects Flying Tiger Copenhagen's explosive international growth, with 2-3 store openings worldwide every week, and a total of 780 stores globally in cities from Tokyo and Seoul to Milan, London, Paris, and of course Copenhagen.

Head of North America, Sren Friis explains. "Danish design is immensely popular in the US. Flying Tiger Copenhagen's strength is that we can offer Danish design at surprisingly affordable prices," "We want to inspire people to be creative, try new things and enjoy themselves with people they love. We are excited to finally be able to sell our great products in the design-driven borough of Brooklyn at City Point."

A visit to Flying Tiger Copenhagen is never boring. The popular Danish home retailer offers a quirky and ever-changing assortment of award winning own-designed products. Each month you can find up to 300 new products accessibly, of which many are created by the design team in Denmark, who have won prestigious design awards, including the Red Dot Award, iF design Award and GOOD Design Award.

For the City Point store opening Flying Tiger Copenhagen, will offer complimentary cake, cookies and balloons. Plus, a competition for a chance to win round trip tickets to Copenhagen.

About Flying Tiger:

Flying Tiger Copenhagen is a rapidly expanding chain of Danish stores offering a quirky, ever-changing selection of own-designed products at affordable prices. We introduce up to 300 fun and useful new products every month. You'll find things for your home, play, and parties, as well as snacks, electronics, gadgets and more. Our design team in Copenhagen has won several international design awards for our innovative products. In 1995 the first Tiger store opened in Copenhagen. There are currently 3,500+ people working in over 780 stores in 28 countries across Europe, Asia and the US.

For further information:

Soren Friis, (917) 274-9500

SOURCE Flying Tiger Copenhagen
CLEVELAND, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sales of recreational marijuana are expected to surge this 4/20 in Washington DC and the eight states where it is legal. But the industry's growth outside of the unofficial holiday is not mere puffery.

This is according to analyst Katherine Brink, in her blog titled Blazing Growth in the Marijuana Industry Drives Revenues for Niche Security Providers.

The blog states, "The legal marijuana industry is expanding rapidly, generating $7.2 billion in revenue in 2016 by some estimates and creating a plethora of jobs in the states that have approved its sale for medicinal and/or recreational use. These jobs are not limited to only the store employees and cannabis growers -- the industry encompasses many other related, but perhaps less visible business opportunities, including security."

"The marijuana industry has numerous unique security concerns, in large part because the product is a Schedule 1 federally controlled substance. As a result, pot shops require a wide variety of security services," commented Brink.

Armed guards are perhaps the most prominent type of security service utilized by pot shops and growers, utilized as a physical deterrent to potential criminals. Veterans of the Armed Forces looking to readjust to civilian life often staff these positions.

Read the entire blog here: https://www.freedoniagroup.com/Content/Blog/2017/04/20/Blazing-Growth-in-the-Marijuana-Industry-Drives-Revenues-for-Niche-Security-Providers

More information about the private security services market is in the new Freedonia Group industry study, Private Security Services in the US, 15th Edition, written by Ms. Brink. The study forecasts the overall revenues for private security services to increase 3.2% annually through 2021 to $70 billion. Many of these services benefit from the fact that they are seen as an essential expense, particularly in nonresidential end uses where the risk of losses is high.

About The Freedonia Group  The Freedonia Group, a division of MarketResearch.com, is a leading international industrial research company publishing more than 100 studies annually. Since 1985 we have provided research to customers ranging in size from global conglomerates to one-person consulting firms. More than 90% of the industrial companies in the Fortune 500 use Freedonia Group research to help with their strategic planning. Each study includes product and market analyses and forecasts, in-depth discussions of important industry trends, and market share information. Security studies can be purchased at www.freedoniagroup.com and are also available on www.marketresearch.com and www.profound.com.

Press Contact:

Corinne Gangloff

440-684-9600

[email protected]

SOURCE The Freedonia Group

Related Links

http://www.freedoniagroup.com


DALLAS, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Freeman, the leading global provider of brand experiences, today announced the launch of OnlineEvent, a new solution designed to help marketers and event organizers leverage content, expand their reach and create new sources of revenue. The new service offering provides a comprehensive solution, from strategy and creative through technical and production support, built on a robust online platform.

The new offering is made possible due to an investment made by Freeman Digital Ventures, a fund that supports the development of event technology and data solutions to advance innovation in the brand experience category.

"Our investment in OnlineEvent is part of our ongoing commitment to lead innovation in our industry," said Richard Maranville, chief digital officer of Freeman. "The offering creates a simple and elegant experience for consuming event-based content while event organizers benefit from a cost-effective turnkey online event solution."

To create the platform, Freeman works with Blue Sky eLearn, a leading provider of online learning and virtual event solutions. Freeman's industry-leading Presentation Management solution now integrates with Blue Sky's Learning Management System, allowing physical presentation materials to seamlessly flow from the event venue to OnlineEvent for engagement 365 days a year.

"By leveraging Freeman's world-class resources and Blue Sky eLearn's web platform solutions, we're bringing a new end-to-end virtual event experience to the industry," said Philip G. Forte, president of Blue Sky eLearn. "We're excited to partner with an industry leader to bring our technology to event organizers."

ABOUT FREEMAN

Freeman is the world's largest brand experience company. We help our clients design, plan and deliver immersive experiences for their most important audiences. Through comprehensive solutions including strategy, creative, logistics, digital solutions and event technology, Freeman helps increase engagement and drive business results. What makes us different is our collaborative culture, intuitive knowledge, global perspective and personalized approach, gained from our 90 years as an industry leader. Freeman is a family-owned company with more than 90 locations worldwide and over 7,000 employees, 2,000 of whom are located outside the U.S. For more information, visit www.freeman.com.

Social Networks:

Web: www.freeman.com

Blog: www.freeman.com/insights

Twitter: www.twitter.com/freemanco

Facebook: www.facebook.com/freemanfans

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/the-freeman-company

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/FreemancoVideos

SlideShare: www.slideshare.net/freemanco/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/freemancompany/

ABOUT BLUE SKY ELEARN

Since 2002, Blue Sky eLearn has transformed the way organizations capture and deliver virtual events and educational content to their audiences. Its customized, cutting-edge solutions connect hundreds of organizations to millions of learners worldwide. It provides robust, easy-to-manage solutions for organizations to organize, track and monetize valuable content. Blue Sky is headquartered in San Diego, California. For more information, visit www.blueskyelearn.com.

SOURCE Freeman

Related Links

http://www.freeman.com


LONDON, April 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Reincubate is delighted to announce that the company has won the Queen's Award for Enterprise in the "international trade" category, the most prestigious commercial prize in the UK, acknowledging the company's achievements over the years.

Eight years ago, founder Aidan Fitzpatrick built a file recovery app for his damaged phone. Those few lines of code written in one night lead to a successful app data company - Reincubate. Aidan started coding at an early age and showed interest in building software and businesses from when he was just 14 years old. During his career he helped IT businesses grow and exit successfully. Aidan was recently listed by Workspace as one of the "top 20 inspiring entrepreneurs to watch in 16/17" and placed in City AM's top 100 UK entrepreneurs of 2016 and 2015.

Reincubate's team of talented data experts and engineers built the iCloud API, which enables companies and individuals access app data without the need to build or know about iOS platform specifics. The company has two flagship products: the iPhone Backup Extractor, and the Cloud Data API.

Reincubate's API is one of the first tools that makes data ownership possible. Apple users can access and export their backup data, including deleted, lost or missing files. Reincubate's products are designed to ensure that data privacy is respected, and that only the account owner can have access to their backup.

Earlier in the year Reincubate also won the FSB & Worldpay Business Awards, as the best Online Business in Greater London.

The Queen's Awards are given for businesses in each of the following category: international trade, innovation and sustainable development. Each entry is judged by a specialist panel that makes a recommendation to the Prime Minister's Advisory Committee. Her Majesty the Queen decides the winners, who each receive an invitation to a reception at Buckingham Palace. Previous winners for the same category include BBC, BUPA and Skyscanner. The full list of winners is available on the Queen's Award for enterprise website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/queens-awards-for-enterprise-current-winners

The company is blessed to have such a great team of skilled and dedicated individuals, working together to solve great challenges over the years. Thanks to their hard work, the Reincubate was the first to support iOS 9 and 10, and the first to add new features including 2FA and 2SV.

For more information about Reincubate's services and products, please visit www.reincubate.com. For press inquiries, please get in touch via [email protected].

SOURCE Reincubate
BOULDER, Colo. and NEWARK, N.J., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Furniture For Life and Panasonic Corporation of North America are pleased to announce the signing of a business partnership appointing Furniture For Life ("FFL") as the exclusive United States distributor of Panasonic massage chairs.

For more than ten years, FFL has been at the center of the rapidly expanding, high-end, high-performance massage chair market in the U.S. Its products are sold through a nationwide network of authorized brick and mortar dealers, e-commerce outlets, and its direct-to-consumer channels.

"Today a great brand leader joins with a passionate distribution partner to energize the U.S. massage chair market. Our shared goal is to deliver health benefits and improved quality of life to the American consumer," said Ian Hays, Vice-President of Sales at FFL.

Hays adds, "All the products we choose to market deliver profound health and comfort benefits. As the name Furniture For Life implies, the products we represent are good for you and are built to endure. For what we do and for what we believe in as a business, Panasonic massage chairs are a perfect match."

Panasonic has a long tradition of engineering and manufacturing. Having been in the massage chair business since 1969, Panasonic is one of the world's early entrants into massage chair design and manufacturing. It owns a significant share of the Japanese massage chair market, and the Panasonic Real Pro massage mechanism is recognized as one of the most advanced and capable in the industry.

Panasonic massage chairs have been a leader in the worldwide market with technological innovations and state-of-the-art massage chair design and functionality. Panasonic massage chairs are synonymous with quality, durability, and style.

"We're driven to replicate the feeling of real expert hands as closely as possible, and we believe our massage chairs are closer to perfection than any others in the marketplace. Our new partners at FFL can enthusiastically carry forward our passion and success in the marketplace," notes Bill Soderberg, Group Manager of Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company.

About Furniture For Life

Furniture For Life is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, and it maintains two permanent showrooms at High Point Market (5300 Showplace) and the World Market Center in Las Vegas (A-504). To learn more about Furniture For Life, please visit www.FFLBrands.com.

About Panasonic Corporation of North America

Based in Newark, NJ, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company is a division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation. The company offers a wide range of consumer solutions in the U.S. including products from Blu-ray players, LUMIX Digital Cameras, Camcorders, Home Audio, Cordless Phones, Home Appliances, Beauty, Grooming, Wellness and Personal Care products and more. Panasonic was featured in Fortune Magazine's 2016 ranking of 50 companies that are changing the world and doing well by doing good. To learn more about our products, visit panasonic.com. Follow Panasonic on Twitter @panasonicUSA; additional company information for journalists is also available at www.panasonic.com/pressroom.

SOURCE Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company

Related Links

http://www.panasonic.com


NEWARK, N.J., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Gerard Adams, the founder of entrepreneur accelerator, FOWNDERS, and the founder of "Voice of Generation Y" publication Elite Daily, was selected to lead Startup Grind's Newark chapter, powered by Google, starting in 2017. Startup Grind is the largest global entrepreneurship community with chapters in 98 countries. It's Newark chapter, to be lead by Adams, will connect Newark--dubbed "Silicon City"--with Startup Grind's entrepreneur empire.

FOWNDERS' CVO Gerard Adams with podcast juggernaut Lewis Howes

Named to Magic Johnson's 32 Under 32 list in 2016, Adams cofounded and exited digital publication Elite Daily for $50 million in 2015. On return to his home town in the Newark, New Jersey area, Adams founded FOWNDERS as a entrepreneur accelerator to further Northern New Jersey's growth in technology, media and entrepreneurship. "It was natural for me to want to help the community that helped me get where I am," says Adams who grew up in nearby Belleville, New Jersey.

In 2016 after building FOWNDERS' infrastructure Adams gave his TEDx talk at New Jersey Institute of Technology. In his talk, Adams explained that FOWNDERS' mission is to give back to the community by lifting entrepreneurs with resources once thought unimaginable.

Regarding his role with Startup Grind, Adams said: "Startup Grind is an amazing community and an extension of the work we're doing with our startup entrepreneurs at FOWNDERS." He added: "In collaboration with the city's efforts and other community leaders, Startup Grind is one next step in Newark's growth as a technology hub." In 2016, Newark mayor Ras Baraka invited Adams to the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Newark Fiber, which boasted some of the fastest internet connectivity speeds nationally.

ABOUT GERARD ADAMS

Gerard Adams, widely known as the "Millennial Mentor", is a leading thought leader, serial entrepreneur, angel investor and philanthropist. Adams is the co-founder of Elite Daily, the top news platform for Generation Y and the CEO and founder of FOWNDERS, a social entrepreneurship start-up accelerator. He is the winner of Magic Johnson's 32 Under 32 Award and was listed by Business Insider among the top-100 Most Influential People in Silicon Alley. Featured in Success Magazine, Huffington Post, Inc. Magazine, Men's Health and Forbes, Gerard Adams overcame early adversity to become a self-made millionaire by the age of 24. He has built, backed or invested in twelve businesses across multiple industries that have all delivered over seven-figures including the sale of Elite Daily to Daily Mail for $50 million. While he continues his role as an investor and influencer, his mission in life is to mentor and inspire young entrepreneurs to develop what it takes to be successful and to turn their dreams into reality.

Adams leverages his expertise in millennial branding across industries from digital media to technology to fashion. He is a go-to investor for New York City and New Jersey real estate. Passionate about giving back to his community, Gerard helped develop affordable housing for communities in Newark, NJ.

PR contact:

Jordan French

[email protected]

Related Links

FOWNDERS

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE FOWNDERS
ATHENS, Greece, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX) (the Company), a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, today announced that it has priced its previously announced underwritten public offering of 17,500,000 common shares, par value US$0.01 per share, at a price of US$4.00 per share. The Company has granted the underwriters an over-allotment option for a period of 30 days from the closing of this offering to purchase up to an additional 2,625,000 shares of common stock at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts.

As part of the offering, entities affiliated with Simeon Palios, the Companys Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, executive officers and certain directors, have agreed to purchase an aggregate of 5,500,000 common shares at the public offering price.

The gross proceeds from the offering before underwriting discounts and other offering expenses are expected to be US$70.0 million. The offering is expected to close on April 26, 2017, subject to customary conditions.

Substantially all of the net proceeds of the offering are expected to be used to fund the acquisition costs of additional dry bulk vessels, including two 2013-built Post-Panamax dry bulk vessels that the Company has agreed to purchase from unaffiliated third parties and one 2013-built Kamsarmax dry bulk vessel that the Company has agreed to purchase from an unaffiliated third party. The acquisition of the three vessels is subject to approval by the Board of Directors of the Company. Any net proceeds from the offering not used for vessel acquisitions will be used for general corporate purposes.

Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and Clarksons Platou Securities, Inc. are acting as joint book-running managers in the offering and BNP Paribas Securities Corp. is acting as co-lead manager.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities, in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction. This offering is being made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus. A prospectus supplement related to the offering will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and will be available on the SECs website located at www.sec.gov. When available, copies of the prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus relating to this offering may be obtained from Wells Fargo Securities, Attention: Equity Syndicate Department, 375 Park Avenue, New York, New York, 10152, at (800) 326-5897 or email a request to cmclientsupport@wellsfargo.com or Clarksons Platou Securities, Inc., 280 Park Avenue, 21st floor, New York, NY 10019, (or by phone at (212) 317-7080, or by e-mail at prospectuses@clarksons.com).

About the Company

Diana Shipping Inc. is a global provider of shipping transportation services through its ownership of dry bulk vessels. The Companys vessels are employed primarily on medium to long-term charters and transport a range of dry bulk cargoes, including such commodities as iron ore, coal, grain and other materials along worldwide shipping routes. Diana Shipping Inc.s fleet currently consists of 48 dry bulk vessels (4 Newcastlemax, 14 Capesize, 3 Post-Panamax, 4 Kamsarmax and 23 Panamax). The Company also expects to take delivery of two 2013-built Post-Panamax dry bulk vessels and one 2013-built Kamsarmax dry bulk vessel during June 2017. As of today, the combined carrying capacity of the Companys fleet, excluding the three vessels not yet delivered, is approximately 5.7 million dwt with a weighted average age of 7.89 years. A table describing the current Diana Shipping Inc. fleet can be found on the Companys website, www.dianashippinginc.com. Information contained on the Companys website does not constitute a part of this press release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts.

The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words believe, anticipate, intends, estimate, forecast, project, plan, potential, may, should, expect, pending and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, the Companys managements examination of historical operating trends, data contained in the Companys records and other data available from third parties. Although the Company believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond the Companys control, the Company cannot assure you that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections.

In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in the Companys view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand for dry bulk shipping capacity, changes in the Companys operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for the Companys vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessel breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other factors. Please see the Companys filings with the SEC for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties.
WATERVILLE, Maine, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With a $25-million gift, Colby College will guarantee global experiences to all students and facilitate multiple opportunities to prepare them for lifelong success. Thanks to the generosity of the Davis family and trustee of its charitable foundation, Andrew Davis '85, LL.D. '15, the College announces the creation of DavisConnects, a re-envisioning of the liberal arts in a global context.



In today's global marketplace, where career paths are increasingly fluid as industries shift to address new realities and where innovation, adaptability, and leadership are increasingly prized, a liberal arts education remains the very best foundation for lifelong success. But the rising cost of higher education and growing demand for an immediate return on that investment have heightened interest in applied and direct-training educational programs.



To meet the changing needs of our time, Colby College has established a new model for the liberal arts. Complementing its focus on a classical, broad-based liberal education that requires deep inquiry, hones critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and encourages curiosity and lifelong learning, Colby now integrates a set of universally available experiences into the academic program. Several opportunities will allow students to connect their education to the world and the great challenges of the 21st century while preparing them for future success in graduate schools and careers.



This new program, DavisConnects, guarantees a global experience for all students, making Colby the first leading liberal arts college to provide funding for every student to spend time abroad. Ultimately, Colby will connect every student to a facilitated and funded set of internships and research experiences, establishing Colby as a leader in global education and offering all Colby students an exceptional and unique set of opportunities that will deepen their education and improve their life outcomes.



"The Davis family changed American higher education by making the best colleges and universities available to deserving students from around the world through the Davis United World College Scholars program," said Colby President David A. Greene. "That program changed Colby College and the life trajectory of countless students who came here to study and left prepared and committed to changing their communities for the better. Now Andrew Davis and his family are bringing Colby to the world by providing all of our students with rigorous, meaningful global opportunities. DavisConnects is leading a transformation of the liberal arts by demonstrating how research, global, and internship experiences can enrich an education and provide an unlimited set of postgraduate opportunities."



DavisConnects, housed in a completely refurbished and expanded Grossman Hall in the center of campus, will open in the fall of 2017. There, with the support of a talented staff, students will design a set of experiences to complement their core academic program and connect their courses to the world beyond the academy. Students will begin this design process early in their first year, mapping out a flexible plan of course work with internship, research, and global experiences.

Colby's new model ensures equitable access, making funding available and offering faculty and staff involvement to help students chart their paths and secure opportunities that previously may have only been available to those with resources, personal connections, or both.



During Colby's distinctive Jan Plan program, global educational and research programs -- created and led by Colby faculty -- will now be eligible for funding through DavisConnects.



DavisConnects also creates new opportunities for Colby to support the most-talented students in their pursuits. Students will compete for Davis Global Engagement Fellowships -- prestigious awards that provide enhanced support for the next generation of global leaders. When Davis fellows return to campus, they will have the opportunity to participate in the Davis Summit on Global Engagement, an annual on-campus event that will connect the entire Colby community to the College's global initiatives and priorities.



"Educating truly global citizens and leaders has long been a priority for our family," said Andrew Davis. "This program goes beyond offering universal access to providing competitive grants to incorporating ways for students to share their new knowledge and perspective with the campus community. It has the potential to truly transform the Colby experience and the trajectories of generations of Colby students. We are honored to be part of that."



Andrew Davis's commitment to Colby has included serving as a trustee from 1996 to 1999, and a College overseer, from 1999 to 2006. He has volunteered for Colby's admissions office, sponsored student internships, and created a scholarship fund in 2004. Thanks to Andrew Davis, his family provided a $10-million lead gift to construct the Davis Science Center on Colby's campus. In 2016 he founded the Davis New Mexico Scholarship, which provides full scholarships to high-achieving first-generation and low-income students from New Mexico to attend college. He is president of Davis Selected Advisors, where he has managed the Davis Real Estate Fund since its inception in 1993. He studied economics at Colby.



Colby has long been distinguished from its peers by its high rate of study-abroad participation (currently approximately 70 percent) and an international student population that includes students from more than 80 countries.



Recently Colby has announced innovative partnerships and initiatives to expand internship and research opportunities for students. The newly created Colby Labs, focused on providing multidisciplinary approaches to addressing national and global challenges, will be coordinated through DavisConnects. For example, the Buck Environment and Climate Change Lab will connect students interested in policy and environmental science to research and internships at scientific laboratories, nonprofits, corporations, academic institutions, and civic agencies focused on solutions to environmental issues.



In 2000 the Davis United World College Scholars Program (UWC) selected Colby as one of five American colleges and universities to provide full financial funding for UWC graduates who enrolled at one of the pilot institutions. Approximately 60 UWC scholars are currently enrolled at Colby and nearly 250 have graduated. Colby students have also received $10,000 Projects for Peace grants, also funded through the Davis United World College Scholars Program. This year two Colby sophomores were selected to receive a Projects for Peace grant to fund a documentary on environmental activism in China.



For more information contact Kate Carlisle, 207-859-4369, [email protected].
It is the sixth time that a team from Greater New York has brought home the national title. It is also the second win for H.B. Ward HS. The National Automotive Technology Competition, which is the auto industry's largest school-to-work initiative, pits the nation's best high school automotive technology students against each other for the title. The National Competition culminates with a 3-hour, under-the-hood component where students diagnose and repair automobiles that are rigged with a variety of malfunctions. Students are also tested at ten separate workstations, including job interviewing, CAN Bus (controller area network), STEM, brakes, wheel alignment and balance, wiring repair, information retrieval, hybrid vehicle repair, mechanical, and SP/2 shop safety.

"Computer systems dominate today's new cars so the students who make it to the finals of this Competition have shown that they have an extraordinary ability to combine highly technical knowhow with problem solving abilities. We need these highly motivated and talented young people in dealerships across the country to make sure vehicle owners have access to technicians with the best computer and technical skills," said Mark Schienberg, president of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, which organizes and sponsors the annual event.

The National Finals, held in New York in conjunction with the New York International Automobile Show, are possible thanks to the generous contributions of over 125 industry sponsors including automakers, industry organizations, OEM suppliers, educational institutions, and dealers associations from across the country. This year, prizes and scholarships totaling more than $3 million were awarded to the participants. Snap-on, the Competition's Official Tool Supplier, provided tool sets to all competitors.

"High quality vocational training is a critical part of our Nation's education needs and this Competition is designed to encourage more rigorous standards for vocational education to ensure students master the skills they need to succeed as lifelong learners, workers and citizens," continued Schienberg.

From 1993 to today, the National Automotive Technology Competition has brought the nation's best high school automotive technicians to test their skills, measure their knowledge, and challenge their ability to diagnose and repair vehicles.

First Place

Students: John Deluca and Evan Wagner

School: H.B. Ward Technical Center High School

Instructor: Michael O'Hara

Association: Greater New York Automobile Dealer Association

How the Contest Works

The rules of the contest are simple. Each team of students is assigned an automobile that is rigged to malfunction in a number of ways. Using a repair order with actual customer complaints, the student teams must diagnose and repair the problem within the allotted time, using the manufacturer's specialty tools. Each "bug" correctly diagnosed and repaired is worth a number of points, depending on the level of difficulty.

In addition, the students' knowledge of emissions control systems, alignment, electrical test equipment, airbag components, oscilloscope usage and mechanical measurement equipment is tested during a series of intensive work station sessions. To prepare for the competition, students are trained at local new car dealerships and the skills they learn from master technicians prepare them to succeed in the working world.

About GNYADA

The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association (GNYADA) represents more than 400 franchised automobile dealerships in the metro New York area, who are collectively one of the area's largest economic engines. Generating billions in economic impact and supporting more nearly 60,000 jobs, the Association is an advocate for dealers and works to protect consumer rights. It also promotes on-going education and training and creates job opportunities for young people interested in pursuing careers in the automotive business. GNYADA owns and operates the Center for Automotive Education & Training, and the New York International Automobile Show. The Association opened its doors in 1910 and has continued to serve the needs of the industry ever since.

For more information visit www.nationalautotech.com

SOURCE National Automotive Technology Competition

Related Links

http://www.nationalautotech.com


BOSTON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Santander Bank today announced that customers can now add their Santander MasterCard credit and debit cards to Apple Pay, giving them an easy, secure and private way to make payments at participating merchants in stores, apps and on the web using their Apple devices. Apple Pay is the newest of many customer-focused innovations the Bank has launched recently to advance its mobile strategy and ensure it's delivering a great digital experience to its customers.

"Our customers have been telling us that they want to do more on-the-go digital banking using their mobile devices," said Michael Cleary, Santander's Head of Consumer and Business Banking. "At Santander, we pride ourselves on listening to our customers. We've responded to their feedback by investing more resources in our mobile banking platform and upgrading the digital tools and services customers need to truly bank anywhere with Santander, and Apple Pay is a great example of that innovation."

Just in the last few months, in addition to Apple Pay, Santander has expanded its mobile platform and introduced user-friendly upgrades, adding many desirable features that make navigation easier. The Bank has redesigned its consumer app and added new functionality for retail customers, including a mobile check deposit feature and a fingerprint login option for customers with Touch ID technology on their iPhones. And, in the interest of bringing the same technology innovations to its business banking customers, Santander launched an entirely new self-service mobile app in November 2016 exclusively for its small business customers.

Customers can easily set up Apple Pay and add their Santander MasterCard credit or debit cards in a few easy steps using Apple Wallet. Santander customers can now use Apple Pay to purchase products and services in participating stores by holding their iPhone near the NFC reader (payment terminal) and using Touch ID, which recognizes their fingerprint, to complete the transaction, or with Apple Watch, by simply double-clicking the side button. Online shopping in apps and on websites accepting Apple Pay is also as simple as the touch of a finger with Touch ID, so there's no need to manually fill out lengthy account forms or repeatedly type in shipping and billing information. When paying for goods and services on-the-go in apps or Safari, Apple Pay works with iPhone 6 and later, iPhone SE, iPad Pro, iPad (5th Generation), iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 3 and later. You can also use Apple Pay in Safari on any Mac introduced in or after 2012 running macOS Sierra and confirm the payment with iPhone 6 or later or Apple Watch, or with Touch ID on the new MacBook Pro.

Santander will be adding more features and enhancements to its consumer mobile app later this year and throughout 2017.

Santander Bank, N.A. is one of the country's largest retail and commercial banks with more than $83 billion in assets. With its corporate offices in Boston, the Bank's 9,500 employees, 675 branches, 2,100 ATMs and 2.1 million customers are principally located in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Madrid-based Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN) - one of the most respected banking groups in the world with more than 125 million customers in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. It is managed by Santander Holdings USA, Inc., Banco Santander's intermediate holding company in the U.S. For more information on Santander Bank, please visit www.santanderbank.com.

Media Contacts:

Ann Davis

617-757-5891

[email protected]

Nancy Orlando

617-757-5765

[email protected]

SOURCE Santander Bank, N.A.

Related Links

http://www.santanderbank.com


HOBOKEN, N.J., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A new textbook, "Clinical Guide to Accelerated Orthodontics with a Focus on Micro-Osteoperforations" authored by pioneers in translational orthodontic research, has hit the shelves earlier this month (purchase here). The highly revered contributors to the textbook hold prestigious positions and/or memberships with the Consortium for Translational Orthodontic Research (CTOR), the Forsyth Institute, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and New York University College of Dentistry.

At this year's American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) Annual Session in San Diego, attendees will have the opportunity to meet with editor, Dr. Mani Alikhani DMD, MS PhD, for a book signing on Sunday, April 23rd from 9:30-11:00AM at booth #713 (Propel Orthodontics). Complimentary copies of the textbook will be distributed to the first 100 people in attendance.

Accelerated Orthodontics is an emerging facet of the Orthodontic specialty that is quickly becoming popular with patients interested in reducing treatment time and willing to pay a fee to do so. "It is important to understand the biology of tooth movement so we can safely accelerate this process in a predictable manner exploring the body's natural response," explains Dr. Alikhani.

The textbook lends focus to an efficient, innovative, and minimally invasive method to accelerate Orthodontic treatment, Micro-Osteoperforation (MOP). This method was one of the first major translational breakthroughs put forth by researchers at CTOR. Through NIH sponsored research and innovative industry support, CTOR is bringing the benefits of their research findings to the orthodontic community. Patents related to CTOR's work on MOP are licensed by Propel Orthodontics, LLC, the creators of the Excellerator Series Drivers, specifically designed to perform the required treatment mechanics of MOP.

Don't Miss the AAO Scientific Doctor Sessions:

Vibration and Perforation: What Do They Have in Common? Dr. Mani Alikhani DMD, MS PhD

Sunday, April 23rd 3:00 PM in room 6A

Changing the Boundaries of Orthodontics Dr. Cristina Teixeira DMD, MS PhD

Tuesday, April 25th 2:15 PM in room 6C

About CTOR

The Consortium for Translational Orthodontic Research is a nucleus for integration of basic science, clinical science, and industrial resources in the field of Orthodontics, and a driving force in the dissemination of findings to the community and the advancement of the specialty.

CTOR effort in translating research findings into innovative orthodontic treatment modalities resulted in 7 patents at different stages of implementation.

Contact: Dr. Catarina Ferreira

Phone Number: (551) 225-1918

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Consortium for Translational Orthodontic Research
Ostriches have a very strong immune system and are highly resistant to viral infections. Japanese researchers have discovered how to mass produce natural ostrich antibodies that are effective against influenza, avian flu, MERS, Zika and even the Ebola virus. Other applications being explored in Japan include using ostrich antibodies to inhibit enzymes, which could potentially help combat allergies, hair loss, obesity and diabetes. Ostrich antibodies are also already commercially available in skincare products in Japan.

Maz World is bringing this technology to Hong Kong to take advantage of the world-class innovation and biotech resources at Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) and the city's renowned medical research facilities. Maz World will focus on the downstream commercialisation of its technology, working with partners to develop and manufacture ostrich antibody products for markets with different health concerns, cultures and living habits.

Hong Kong biotech ecosystem to help ostrich antibody technology fly high

"Hong Kong is an ideal location for Maz World to commercialise ostrich antibody technology, with an international environment to test new products and look for strategic collaboration partners and investment opportunities. Here at Hong Kong Science Park, we have already accessed many like-minded key stakeholders in the innovation and technology industry, and built local and international networks," said Mr Gene Shigekawa, Managing Partner of Maz World Ltd.

Hong Kong has a strong background in biomedical research, with two world-class medical schools with clinical trial centres, as well as a cluster of over 80 biomedical technology enterprises at Hong Kong Science Park. Taking advantage of the proximity and extensive network of HKSTP, Maz World has already initiated conversations with local universities and R&D institutions for possible applied research collaboration.

Welcoming Maz World to Hong Kong's vibrant innovation and technology ecosystem, HKSTP Chief Executive Officer Albert Wong said, "Hong Kong has an excellent environment for innovation-driven businesses to scale up and succeed on the global stage. The free flow of talents, goods and services, funds and information are critical success factors for technology businesses."

HKSTP has made Healthy Ageing a key strategic technology application platform. Its goal is to help innovative companies like Maz World commercialise their R&D into products that will contribute to better preventive care and medical services to fight against disease and maintain long-term health as populations around the world age.



Ostrich antibody technology is a game-changer for medicine and healthcare

Maz World's ostrich antibody technology is the result of over 20 years of scientific research by Prof Yasuhiro Tsukamoto from the Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences at Kyoto Prefectural University.

He began studying the ostrich, the largest bird in the world, because it is highly resistant to viral infections. Prof Tsukamoto developed pioneering technology to extract antibodies from the yolk of unfertilised ostrich eggs. This process does not harm the animal and yields 4 grams of purified antibody from each egg. Since the ostrich has a long reproductive life, laying 100 extremely large eggs per year for as much as 55 years, this makes it possible to mass manufacture natural antibodies at a much lower cost than with other techniques.

"Ostrich antibody can be produced in large scale at lower cost, with consistent quality and is safe for humans. Ostrich antibody is resistant to heat as well as acidic and alkalinity levels, which gives the technology extremely high business potential for application for many products and various manufacturing processes. We hope the ostrich antibody can be commercialised and applied to a wide range of preventative and therapeutic products in Hong Kong to serve consumers worldwide. I believe that it is a potential game-changer for medicine and healthcare industries," Prof Tsukamoto said.

In Japan, the ostrich antibody has already been successfully applied in skin care and daily life products developed by Zeal Cosmetics Inc. Mr Osamu Maeda, President of Zeal Cosmetics said, "The ostrich antibody has demonstrated excellent effectiveness in skin care by balancing the bacteria environment on skin, and also showed promising results for daily care products. Our antibody products are now recognised and trusted by both medical professionals and end-user consumers alike."

About Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation

Comprising Science Park, InnoCentre and Industrial Estates, Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) is a statutory body dedicated to building a vibrant innovation and technology ecosystem to connect stakeholders, nurture technology talents, facilitate collaboration, and catalyse innovations to deliver social and economic benefits to Hong Kong and the region.

Established in May 2001, HKSTP has been driving the development of Hong Kong into a regional hub for innovation and growth in several focused clusters including Electronics, Information & Communications Technology, Green Technology, Biomedical Technology, Materials and Precision Engineering. We enable science and technology companies to nurture ideas, innovate and grow, supported by our R&D facilities, infrastructure, and market-led laboratories and technical centres with professional support services. We also offer value added services and comprehensive incubation programmes for technology start-ups to accelerate their growth.

Technology businesses benefit from our specialised services and infrastructure at Science Park for applied research and product development; enterprises can find creative design support at InnoCentre; while skill-intensive businesses are served by our three industrial estates at Tai Po, Tseung Kwan O and Yuen Long.

More information about HKSTP is available at www.hkstp.org.

SOURCE Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation

Related Links

http://www.hkstp.org


MIDVALE, Utah, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Dallin Hawkins, Director of Sales & Operations - Integrity Financial Groups, LLC, discusses how to get dump truck financing:

How to Get Dump Truck Financing

Securing financing for a dump truck can be a tricky process. Particularly for a new business owner or if an owner has some issues with their credit history.

Dump Truck Financing: Understanding the Qualifications

Financing companies are going to look at certain aspects of an owner's financial, business, and personal situation. This will allow them to determine what kinds of financing deals they can qualify them for. It's to your advantage to know what they're looking for before you shop for a dump truck financing program.

First of all, the financing company is going to look at credit history. If you've got a FICO score above 700, you've got good credit and will qualify. If your FICO score is between 650 and 700, your credit is average, but you'll still be attractive to lenders. With FICO scores in the low 600s or less, you're going to have to work harder to secure financing.

The financing company will look at financial liabilities, both in your past and current situations. Past bankruptcies, bad debts, late payments on past obligations, tax liens, or delinquent child support payments are all red flags for lenders.

The financing company will also look at business history to determine risk. If the owner is a new business, the terms of the dump truck financing offered might be high, or not as attractive as those who'd qualify with a proven track record in the industry.

How Your Qualifications Affect Your Dump Truck Financing Options

If you've got great credit, a solid business history, and no financial strikes against you, you'll qualify for dump truck financing. You'll qualify for programs with low down payment requirements, or no down payment at all. And you'll also qualify for leases with low rates. That means, in the end, that the monthly lease payments will be lower, and you may be able to get into a newer truck.

If credit is average, expect to put some money down at the onset of the lease. If the business history is short or less than two years, you'll also be required to put up a larger down payment. Typically this is around 20% down. This will also be determined by the age and condition of the dump truck.

If credit is bad, you will face a bigger down payment, higher rate, and higher monthly payments. You may also be required to put up free and clear collateral to secure the financing.

There is a wide range of options for dump truck financing. Most business owners, even those with less-than-ideal credit, can qualify for some type of dump truck financing.

Visit us or call us at 801-386-8222 today to find out how we can help you secure dump truck financing.

- See more at: https://equipmentfinanceservices.com/how-to-get-dump-truck-financing/

Related Links

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Equipment Finance | Used Equipment Finance

Related Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OscJvy7uYk

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Integrity Financial Groups, LLC
WASHINGTON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Hudson Institute congratulates Marie-Josee Kravis, Senior Fellow and Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, for being elected as a 2017 fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. As a member of the 237th class, Kravis joins a prestigious group of leaders hailing from academia, business, philanthropy, humanities, and the arts.

"Marie-Josee has been a vital contributor to Hudson's success for many years, since she was a student of our founder Herman Kahn," said Kenneth Weinstein, President and CEO of Hudson Institute, "Her dedication, intelligence, and generosity have made her a major force in global economics and philanthropy. She'll be a font of invaluable knowledge for the Academy."

"It is an honor to welcome this new class of exceptional women and men as part of our distinguished membership," said Don Randel, Chair of the Academy's Board of Directors. "Their talents and expertise will enrich the life of the Academy and strengthen our capacity to spread knowledge and understanding in service to the nation."

Marie-Josee Kravis was chosen for her contributions to business, corporate, and philanthropic leadership. She is currently serving as President of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and is a member of the Board of Directors for a number of large corporations including The Ford Motor Co., Vivendi Universal, and Interactive Corporation. As an economist specializing in public policy analysis and strategic planning, she was a member of the Bilateral Dispute Settlement Board, part of the Canada/U.S. Free Trade Agreement, and has been a member of the Quebec government's Committee on Financial Institutions.

Kravis has been associated with Hudson Institute since 1973. She directed Hudson's Corporate Environment Program, the "Europe and the World" study, and has also made major contributions and research on economic development in countries including Algeria, Morocco, France, and Mexico. Before joining Hudson, Kravis was special assistant to the federal Solicitor General and later to the Minister of Supply and Services for the Canadian government, and, before that, a financial analyst for Power Corporation of Canada, Ltd.

Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences convenes leaders from the academic, business, and government sectors to respond to the challenges facingand opportunities available tothe nation and the world. Members contribute to Academy publications and studies in science, engineering, and technology policy; global security and international affairs; the humanities, arts, and education; and American institutions and the public good.

Media queries can be directed to Hudson Institute's Press Secretary, Carolyn Stewart, at [email protected] or (202) 974-6456.

Hudson Institute is a research organization promoting American leadership and global engagement for a secure, free, and prosperous future. http://www.hudson.org

SOURCE Hudson Institute

Related Links

http://www.hudson.org


Electric shoppers in California are now able to select one fixed payment for a 36-month term. No other manufacturer offers this kind of subscription option for their electric vehicle offerings. Hyundai carefully designed the entire process to be the most transparent, stress-free and enjoyable vehicle subscription experience on the market today.

The monthly payment includes:

$0 initiation fee after rebate

initiation fee after rebate Hassle-free transaction

Initial tax, title, license and fees (except California sales tax)

Unlimited mileage (no mileage penalties)

Electric charging reimbursement

Scheduled maintenance

Vehicle wear items

SUBSCRIPTION PROGRAM PARAMETERS

Ioniq Unlimited+ provides zero initiation costs after rebate, where the customers' initial $2,500 down payment is offset by the California electric vehicle rebate. This initiation fee includes all taxes (except California sales tax) and dealer charges, as well as the first monthly payment. The remaining monthly subscription payment is based simply on the Ioniq Electric model chosen.

Ioniq Unlimited+ Subscription Ioniq Electric Trims Monthly Payment ELECTRIC $275 + tax LIMITED $305 + tax LIMITED w/ Ultimate Package $365 + tax





SUBSCRIPTION-BASED EV MOBILITY PROGRAM

"We're excited to offer Ioniq Unlimited+ as an innovative, worry-free means of clean, zero-emission mobility with our new Ioniq electric vehicle in California," said Dean Evans, vice president, marketing, Hyundai Motor America. "This new program adds to the satisfaction of driving a no-compromise, clean vehicle with unlimited mileage and zero hidden costs. It's time to make clean vehicle mobility easy for everyone."

Ioniq Unlimited+, besides offering a hassle-free single-payment method, offers an entirely new concept of electric vehicle subscription that eco-focused shoppers will appreciate. It includes a unique online buying experience, where customers can select the exact vehicle from their preferred dealer's inventory and preview the all-inclusive monthly payment online. Once they complete a credit application and are approved, they go directly to the dealership to complete the purchase. At the dealer, the shopper just signs a few forms and drives away in an Ioniq Electric. The tax, title, license, and dealer fees are included. Equally important to many EV customers, the Ioniq Electric will be HOV-sticker eligible, allowing Ioniq drivers to use carpool lanes on their daily travels.

WORRY-FREE VEHICLE SUBSCRIPTION EXPERIENCE

Ioniq Unlimited+ owners can enjoy their full driving experience worry-free, because there are no mileage penalties during the 36-month subscription period. The program also includes reimbursement for electricity used by the owner, based on the number of miles driven, up to the first 50,000 miles. This electricity credit will be applied directly to the owners' subsequent monthly payment, for immediate monetary benefit to the customer. Even more, all service, maintenance and wear items on the Ioniq Electric are also included during the first 50,000 miles, further enhancing the worry-free experience. The Ioniq Unlimited+ program creates an entirely new means of mobility that addresses the major, well-known stress points associated with traditional automotive leases.

The Ioniq Electric initially will be available to Los Angeles/Orange/Riverside county residents only, expanding to Northern California and San Diego later this year. The Ioniq Unlimited+ subscription program is only available to California residents.

IONIQ ELECTRIC PURCHASING OPTIONS

For those customers who are interested in a more traditional buying experience, a direct purchasing option is available for the Ioniq Electric. The purchasing options include Hyundai's industry-leading Lifetime Battery Warranty and America's Best Warranty for the entire Ioniq powertrain, to the original purchaser.

IONIQ Electric Model MSRP* ELECTRIC $29,500 LIMITED $32,500 LIMITED w/ Ultimate Package $36,000 *Freight charge of $835 not included



HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA

Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through about 835 dealerships nationwide. All Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance program, which includes the 5-year/60,000-mile fully transferable new vehicle limited warranty, Hyundai's 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain limited warranty and five years of complimentary Roadside Assistance.

Please visit our media website at www.hyundainews.com

Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook

SOURCE Hyundai Motor America

Related Links

http://www.hyundainews.com


MELBOURNE, Australia, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) this week released the results of new research using deep learning and visual analytics technology to advance early detection of diabetic retinopathy (DR)1. The results, which classify the degree of severity of the disease in an eye image, exceed other currently published research efforts for severity classification using deep learning and pathology insights.

The research found that a new method created by the IBM team achieved an accuracy score of 86 percent in classifying the severity of the disease across the five levels recognized on the international clinical DR scale (no DR; mild; moderate; severe; proliferative DR). By being able to quickly and accurately identify both the presence and severity of diabetic eye disease, this research could potentially help doctors and clinicians have a better view of disease progression and determine treatment.

Diabetic retinopathy is one of the world's leading causes of blindness and affects one in three of the 422 million people who suffer from diabetes globally2. If left untreated, diabetic eye disease can lead to permanent blindness, however early detection and treatment can reduce the risk of blindness by 95 percent2.

Based on more than 35,000 eye images accessed via EyePACS, the IBM technology was trained to identify lesions such as micro-aneurysms, haemorrhages and exudates to indicate damage of the retina's blood vessels and assess both the presence and severity of the disease. The novel method for classifying the severity level of DR combines deep learning techniques, convolutional neural networks (CNN), with a dictionary-based learning to incorporate DR specific pathologies. Over time, IBM Research scientists will continue to advance the system to increase its understanding of diabetic retinopathy and the pathologies manifested in the retina from the disease.

"The alarming projections of the number of patients with diabetic retinopathy have major implications for the health system. The loss of vision from the condition can impose an enormous burden on the individual, including a loss of capacity to work and the need for intensive community support," said Dr. Peter van Wijngaarden, Principal Investigator at Centre for Eye Research Australia, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne. "To substantially reduce the number of people unnecessarily losing vision from diabetic eye disease, there is a real need for innovation to improve effective screening of those who are at risk to enable early sight-saving treatment."

Currently, DR is diagnosed through regular screening of diabetes patients, where an expert clinician examines specialized fundus photography of the retina to identify the presence of lesions. Interpreting these images requires specialized training and is often a manual, time-intensive and subjective process to rate them for the disease presence and severity.

About 90% of the world's visually impaired live in low-income settings and developing countries, some with limited access to transportation and specialists3. Emerging computer vision methods to identify and classify lesions in an image within 20 seconds could create new levels of efficiency, which could help clinicians screen a greater number of diabetes patients, and quickly refer those who need specialist care.

"Recent advancements in deep learning and image analytics technologies are showing significant promise in the potential to help solve some of the greatest health challenges we face today," said Dr. Joanna Batstone, Vice President and Lab Director of IBM Research Australia. "Automated and highly accurate DR screening methods have the potential to help doctors screen far more patients than currently possible."

IBM Research globally continues to advance research combining cognitive technology with medical images. Through its 12 collaborative labs worldwide, IBM Research is focused on research projects involving medical imaging analysis for diseases such as melanoma, breast cancer, lung cancer and eye disease.

The research results were presented at the IEEE's International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI) this week in Melbourne.

Related Resources

IBM Research Healthcare & Life Sciences website - http://www.research.ibm.com/healthcare-and-life-sciences/

IBM Research Blog: Spotting Diabetic Retinopathy by analyzing medical images pixel by pixel - https://www.ibm.com/blogs/research/2017/04/spotting-diabetic-retinopathy/

About IBM Research

For more than seven decades, IBM Research has defined the future of information technology with more than 3,000 researchers in 12 labs located across six continents. Scientists from IBM Research have produced six Nobel Laureates, 10 U.S. National Medals of Technology, five U.S. National Medals of Science, six Turing Awards, 19 inductees in the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and 20 inductees into the U.S. National Inventors Hall of Fame. For more information about IBM Research, visit www.ibm.com/research.

1 A novel approach for severity assessment of diabetic retinopathy in colour fundus images, ISBI, April 2017.

2 Retinopathy in Diabetes, Diabetes Care Journal, Jan 2004. http://dx.doi.org/10.2337/diacare.27.2007.S84

3 World Health Organization, "Visual impairment and blindness" Updated Aug 2014

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs282/en/

Media Contacts:

Adrienne Sabilia

IBM Media Relations, Healthcare & Life Sciences

[email protected]

914-945-1402

Andrea Acton

IBM Media Relations, IBM Australia

[email protected]

+61-429-460-327

SOURCE IBM
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) will showcase a dynamic expo hall, featuring top exhibitors and exciting educational presentations at its annual ICMI Contact Center Expo & Conference. Headlining the presentations in the expo hall are the eight unique solutions spotlight sessions taking place from May 22-24. Sponsored by industry-leading organizations, the solutions spotlight sessions will feature well-respected industry leaders presenting on topics directly related to improving customer service and contact center operations.

ICMI Contact Center Expo and Conference takes place May 22-25 in Orlando, FL. To learn more about the event, please visit: ICMI.com/Contact-Center-Expo-Conference

"Our goal is to create the most comprehensive experience possible and with the solutions spotlight sessions, lunch & learn, and networking opportunities, the expo hall does just that. With these additions, attendees will receive added benefits and opportunities to learn from colleagues and experts within the industry," said Patty Caron, Event Director, ICMI.

The 2017 solutions spotlight sessions will cover multiple important industry topics including workforce optimization, the customer experience, utilizing analytics and more. These eight sessions will introduce attendees to new ideas and methods for problem solving within a contact center. The 2017 solutions spotlight sessions include:

Evolve to a New Approach to Workforce Optimization:

Sponsored by NICE, presented by Paul Chance, Senior Product Marketing Manager, NICE - This session will provide a new approach to solving workforce optimization concerns.

Six Steps to Agile Customer Service:

Sponsored by Serenova, presented by Baker Johnson, SVP of Marketing, Serenova - Learn how to embrace digital transformation and update outdated processes.

Are Your Customer Service Channels Putting Your Customers at Risk:

Sponsored by inContact, presented by Patrick Russell, Senior Product Marketing Manager, inContact - This session takes a deeper look into how to more effectively provide the best service to customers.

Get It Right: Competing and Winning on Customer Experience (CX):

Sponsored by ForeSee, presented by Khalida Jarbou, Director, ForeSee - Learn how to utilize the customer experience and apply it to business growth.

Omnichannel Analytics  How Analytics are Changing and What it Means for You:

Sponsored by Genesys, presented by Tara Griffin, Analytics Solution Lead, Genesys - Griffin will provide detailed information on how to use analytics and leverage data to improve the customer experience.

ICMI Book Club Discussion: How to Get Your Employees Obsessed with Service:

Sponsored by ICMI, presented by Jeff Toister, President, Toister Performance Solutions Inc. - Join in this discussion about The Service Culture Handbook and learn how to build a culture centered around customer service.

How FCR Made Their Background Screening Process "Short, Sweet, and Simple":

Sponsored by Checkr, presented by Valerie Gordon, Corporate Recruiting Manager, FCR- Learn how FCR used Checkr to decrease hiring turnaround time and increase customer satisfaction

Essential Guide to Delivering Next Generation Customer Service Experiences:

Sponsored by Oracle, presented by Jeffrey Wartgow, Director, Product Management, Wartgow - Discover how to harness the power of social media and predict the future of customer service.

To learn more about the 2017 solutions spotlight sessions, please visit: ICMI.com/Contact-Center-Expo-Conference/Program/Solutions-Spotlight-Sessions

Along with the solution spotlight sessions, the expo hall at ICMI Contact Center Expo and Conference will feature more educational and networking opportunities for attendees to participate in, including:

The Expo Hall Bash: Monday, May 22 from 5:00- 7:00 pm

This event, sponsored by Genesys, provides an opportunity to network with colleagues and browse the latest contact center solutions from top industry providers.

Lunch & Learn: Tuesday, May 23 from 12:00-2:00 pm

Attendees will visit and choose their top five solution providers all while enjoying delicious lunch options. New this year  food trucks! Sponsored by 8x8, Genesys, Talkdesk, and Zendesk.

ICMI Inspiration Central: Expo Hall Hours

New for 2017, this main attraction booth provides an opportunity for attendees to watch videos submitted by ICMI Award Finalists and get inspired by their stories of success. There will also be an 'inspiration wall' where everyone can share their success stories and endeavors.

To learn more about all of the opportunities and activities offered, please visit: ICMI.com/Contact-Center-Expo-Conference/Program/Activities-and-Networking

Follow ICMI on Social: #CCExpo

Facebook  Twitter  LinkedIn

About ICMI

The International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) is the leading global provider of comprehensive resources for customer management professionals -- from frontline agents to executives -- who wish to improve customer experiences and increase efficiencies at every level of the contact center. Since 1985, ICMI has helped more than 50,000 organizations in 167 countries through training, events, consulting, and informational resources. ICMI's experienced and dedicated team of industry insiders, trainers, and consultants are committed to helping you raise the strategic value of your contact center, optimize your operations and improve your customer service. ICMI is organized by UBM plc. UBM is the largest pure-play B2B Events organizer in the world. Our 3,750+ people, based in more than 20 countries, serve more than 50 different sectors. Our deep knowledge and passion for these sectors allow us to create valuable experiences which enable our customers to succeed. Please visit www.ubm.com for the latest news and information about UBM.

SOURCE International Customer Management Institute (ICMI)

Related Links

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NEW YORK, April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP announces that a class action complaint was filed against TherapeuticsMD, Inc. (NYSE MKT:TXMD) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, on behalf of all purchasers of TherapeuticsMD securities between July 7, 2016 and April 9, 2017, inclusive (Class Period).



Investors who have incurred losses in TherapeuticsMD, Inc. shares are urged to contact the firm immediately at classmember@whafh.com or (800) 575-0735 or (212) 545-4774. You may obtain additional information concerning the action on our website, www.whafh.com.

If you have purchased TherapeuticsMD, Inc. shares and would like to assist with the litigation process as a lead plaintiff, you may, no later than June 16, 2017, request that the Court appoint you lead plaintiff of the proposed class.

According to the filed complaint, on July 7, 2016, the company announced that it had filed its New Drug Application ("NDA") for TX-004HR with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") seeking approval of TX-004HR for the treatment of moderate to severe dyspareunia. The company subsequently stated that it was making excellent progress and that it was encouraged by its positive pivotal Phase 3 Rejoice Trial designed to assess the safety and efficacy of TX-004HR. The complaint further alleges that the company failed to inform investors that its NDA submission was deficient and was not supported by the complete TX-004HR clinical program, which would likely cause a delay of the FDA's potential approval of the NDA.

On April 10, 2017, TherapeuticsMD issued a press release revealing that, as part of its ongoing review of the NDA, the FDA "identified deficiencies that preclude discussion of labeling and postmarketing requirements/commitments at this time." The company further stated that the letter did not specify the deficiencies and that the company was not aware of the nature of the deficiencies. TherapeuticsMD noted that the FDA had previously set a target date of April 9, 2017, for communicating to the company proposed labeling and postmarketing requirements and commitments.

On this news, TherapeuticsMD's stock fell $1.50 per share, or nearly 20%, to close at $6.20 per share on April 10, 2017.

Wolf Haldenstein has extensive experience in the prosecution of securities class actions and derivative litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. The firm has attorneys in various practice areas; and offices in New York, Chicago and San Diego. The reputation and expertise of this firm in shareholder and other class litigation has been repeatedly recognized by the courts, which have appointed it to major positions in complex securities multi-district and consolidated litigation.

If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions regarding your rights and interests in this case, please immediately contact Wolf Haldenstein by telephone at (800) 575-0735, via e-mail at classmember@whafh.com, or visit our website at www.whafh.com.

## Follow the firm and learn about newly filed cases on Twitter and Facebook. ##
Eric Lent, Vice President, Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza Brands, The Americas, IHG said: "Since its inception more than 60 years ago, the Holiday Inn brand has been a part of countless memorable experiences for travelers the world over. It's important for a brand with as much history as Holiday Inn to continually reinvent itself in order to maintain its place in the hearts and minds of guests. With H4, we've once again raised the expectation of what a great hotel stay can be, and we are thrilled to welcome the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Bellingham to the IHG family as the first of many properties to come featuring this innovative new design."

The Holiday Inn brand's H4 guest room design is a flexible solution that adapts to each guests' individual needs as they change throughout their stay, allowing them to work or relax wherever and however they want and truly make the space their own. As part of the design, the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Bellingham hotel features:

A Welcome Nook serves as a drop zone for guests to hang their coat, drop their keys and personal belongings and plug in their devices  much like they would an entryway or mudroom in their own home.

serves as a drop zone for guests to hang their coat, drop their keys and personal belongings and plug in their devices  much like they would an entryway or mudroom in their own home. An entirely new room type, the King Bed with Comfort Hideaway, features a trundle-type bed which doubles as a sofa during the day and can pull out into two twin beds at night. The room design is ideal for both business travelers, serving as a separate place to work or relax and unwind, and families with kids and teens, giving each member of the family a comfortable place to sleep and play.

the features a trundle-type bed which doubles as a sofa during the day and can pull out into two twin beds at night. The room design is ideal for both business travelers, serving as a separate place to work or relax and unwind, and families with kids and teens, giving each member of the family a comfortable place to sleep and play. A new Moveable Desk and more than five dedicated points of power throughout the room were designed with today's travelers in mind, giving them the ability to work and play anywhere in the room.

Ragan Humphrey, General Manager, Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Bellingham said: "We can't wait to welcome guests traveling to the beautiful Pacific Northwest to the new Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Bellingham. With wonderfully designed rooms, spacious public areas and state of the art conference facilities, we have everything covered whatever the reason travelers stay. We are confident that our hotel will quickly become a favorite choice of leisure and business travelers visiting the area."

Holiday Inn hotels are designed to provide a welcoming and sociable environment for business travelers spending time away from home. Amenities including free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel through IHG Connect, an onsite business center, 7,800 square feet of meeting space with capacity for more than 785 people, and convenient open public areas ideal for collaboration or post-meeting relaxation help travelers stay productive and accomplish their goals in a warm and social atmosphere, making business travel about more than just work.

Additional amenities at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Bellingham hotel include an indoor saline pool with steam room and sauna as well as a fully-equipped fitness center. Guests can also enjoy a drink or meal at the northwater restaurant, which offers a comfortable, casual setting to enjoy Pacific Northwest cuisine at its finest. The menu boasts a variety of seasonal favorites, including Ginger Shrimp Louie, Stuffed Rib Cap Steak and Saffron Shrimp Risotto, made from high-quality, locally sourced ingredients. As always at Holiday Inn hotels, kids 12 and younger eat free when ordering from the kids' menu in the hotel restaurant and accompanied by a dining adult.

The hotel, located at 4260 Mitchell Way is owned by Bellingham HI, LLC and managed by Hotel Services Group, LLC. The Holiday Inn brand is part of IHG's diverse family of brands in nearly 100 countries and territories. The scale and diversity of the IHG family of brands means that its hotels can meet guests' needs whatever the occasion  whether an overnight getaway, a business trip, a family celebration or a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Holiday Inn brand participates in IHG Rewards Club. The industry's first and largest hotel rewards program is free, and guests can enroll at IHGRewardsClub.com, by downloading the IHG App, by calling 1-888-211-9874 or by inquiring at the front desk of any of IHG's nearly 5,200 hotels worldwide. The hotel also participates in IHG Green Engage and offers unique programs to ensure sustainability.

About the Holiday Inn brand

The Holiday Inn brand, which offers nearly 1,250 hotels and resorts worldwide, has helped millions of travelers discover the joy of travel since its inception in 1952. Designed to meet the needs of both business and leisure travelers, Holiday Inn hotels deliver memorable experiences through warm and welcoming service, contemporary design that blends the familiar with the new, and a sense of comfort unique to the brand and its iconic green sign. At Holiday Inn hotels, guests can find amenities to help them work and play, including full-service restaurants where Kids Eat Free, meeting and business facilities, bright swimming pools and comfortable lounges all designed to help guests relax and refresh, making travel more enjoyable for all. For more information about the Holiday Inn brand, visit www.holidayinn.com or call 1-888-HOLIDAY. Find us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/holidayinn or Facebook www.Facebook.com/holidayinnhotels.

Notes to Editors:

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organisation with a broad portfolio of hotel brands, including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Hotel Indigo, EVEN Hotels, HUALUXE Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.

IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns nearly 5,200 hotels and 770,000 guest rooms in almost 100 countries, with nearly 1,500 hotels in its development pipeline. IHG also manages IHG Rewards Club, the world's first and largest hotel loyalty programme, with more than 100 million enrolled members worldwide.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales. More than 350,000 people work across IHG's hotels and corporate offices globally.

Visit www.ihg.com for hotel information and reservations and www.ihgrewardsclub.com for more on IHG Rewards Club. For our latest news, visit: www.ihgplc.com/media and follow us on social media at: www.twitter.com/ihg, www.facebook.com/ihg and www.youtube.com/ihgplc.

SOURCE IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group)

Related Links

http://www.ihg.com


HAIFA, Israel, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

INSIGHTEC congratulates Nicklaus Children's Hospital, part of the Miami Children's Health System, for performing the first focused ultrasound procedure on a 21-year old patient suffering seizures associated with a benign hypothalamic hamartoma brain tumor.

Hypothalamic hamartoma is a rare, benign (non-cancerous) brain tumor that can cause different types of seizures, cognitive problems or other symptoms. While the exact number of people with hypothalamic hamartomas is not known, it is estimated to occur in one out of 200,000 children and teenagers worldwide.

The medical team at Nicklaus Children's Hospital is performing MR-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) using the Exablate Neuro system as part of an FDA-approved feasibility study. The goal of the pilot study is to gather the preliminary safety profile of this incisionless ablative treatment for benign centrally-located intracranial tumors in pediatric and young adults. The MRgFUS procedure involves applying high energy ultrasound waves guided by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to heat and ablate the target tumor, without impacting the scalp, skull or surrounding healthy brain tissue.

The medical and research team at Nicklaus Children's is led by Dr. John Ragheb, Director of Division of Neurosurgery; Dr. Travis Tierney, Principal Investigator; Dr. Ian Miller, Director of Epilepsy Program; Dr. Sanjiv Bhatia, neurosurgeon; Dr. Nolan Altman, Director of Radiology; Dr. Prasanna Jayakar, Chairman of the Brain Institute at Nicklaus Children's Hospital; and Dr. Jennifer McCafferty, Director of Research, Miami Children's Research Institute.

"This breakthrough first procedure sets the stage for us to provide incisionless surgery for young patients with benign centrally-located brain tumors. Our team is encouraged by the potential of focused ultrasound technology to positively impact lives," said Prasanna Jayakar, MD, PhD, Chairman of the Brain Institute at Nicklaus Children's Hospital.

"We applaud the team at Nicklaus Children's for their commitment to treating children with various brain conditions. Their pioneering research with our MRgFUS technology offers hope that significant groups of pediatric patients will be able to undergo treatment without any surgical incision, minimizing or eliminating the risk of infection or other surgical complications," said Maurice R. Ferre MD, CEO and Chairman of INSIGHTEC.

"The needs of pediatric patients emphasize some of the important advantages of focused ultrasound. It is incisionless, avoids ionizing radiation, offers less risk of infection and disruption of adjacent normal tissue than surgery, and patients often return to normal activities within days," says Focused Ultrasound Foundation's Chief Medical Officer, Tim Meakem, MD. "These benefits are especially important in neurosurgery, and researchers around the world are investigating other areas where this innovative care could improve outcomes for patients of all ages. The Foundation congratulates the entire team of Nicklaus Children's Hospital and INSIGHTEC for this breakthrough achievement."

Funds for the study have been provided by the Focused Ultrasound Foundation. Regulatory sponsorship has been provided by INSIGHTEC.

To read the Nicklaus Children's Hospital press release, please click here .

About INSIGHTEC

INSIGHTEC is the world leader and innovator of MR-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS). The company's non-invasive therapy platforms, Exablate and Exablate Neuro, are proven technology based on sound clinical evidence for treating essential tremor, painful bone metastases and uterine fibroids. The company is dedicated to improving patient lives by collaborating with physicians, medical institutions, academic researchers and regulatory bodies around the world. For more information, please visit: http://www.insightec.com.

About Nicklaus Children's Hospital

Founded in 1950 by Variety Clubs International, Nicklaus Children's Hospital - part of Miami Children's Health System - is South Florida's only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children, with more than 740 attending physicians and over 220 pediatric subspecialists. The 289-bed hospital is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine with several specialty programs routinely ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. The hospital is also home to the largest pediatric teaching program in the southeastern United States and has been designated an American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet facility, the nursing profession's most prestigious institutional honor. For more information, please visit http://www.nicklauschildrens.org.

About the Focused Ultrasound Foundation

The Focused Ultrasound Foundation was created to improve the lives of millions of people worldwide by accelerating the development of focused ultrasound, an early-stage, noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to transform the treatment of many serious medical disorders. The Foundation works to clear the path to global adoption by coordinating and funding research, fostering collaboration, and building awareness among patients and professionals. It is dedicated to ensuring that focused ultrasound finds its place as a mainstream therapy for a range of conditions within years, not decades. Since its establishment in 2006, the Foundation has become the largest non-governmental source of funding for focused ultrasound research. More information can be found at http://www.fusfoundation.org.

Media Contact:

Carolyn Tiernan

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry for INSIGHTEC

+1(617)237-0922 x 411

[email protected]



SOURCE INSIGHTEC
DALLAS, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The board of directors of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB) has declared a regular quarterly dividend of $.97 per share. The dividend is payable on July 5, 2017, to stockholders of record on June 9, 2017.

2017 marks the 45th consecutive year that Kimberly-Clark has increased its dividend and the 83rd straight year it has paid a dividend to shareholders.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and its well-known global brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Every day, nearly a quarter of the world's population trust K-C's brands and the solutions they provide to enhance their health, hygiene and well-being. With brands such as Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex and Depend, Kimberly-Clark holds No. 1 or No. 2 share positions in more than 80 countries. To keep up with the latest K-C news and to learn more about the Company's 145-year history of innovation, visit www.kimberly-clark.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

[KMB-F]

SOURCE Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Related Links

http://www.kimberly-clark.com


VIENNA, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and discovery form the basis of the Western civilization. Mankind has come a long way from the hunter-gatherer ancestors and, with nearly eight billion people on this planet, there is now no possibility of reverting to this original way of life. The key to individual freedom and prosperity in a complex and highly diversified society lies in education and science. However, science as an intellectual endeavor is losing ground. It is increasingly being put under pressure by budgetary constraints and challenged by irrational ideologies. To counteract this alarming trend, scientists and open-minded members of the public alike are called on to strengthen their relationships and intensify their mutually beneficial interactions.

It is in this spirit of fruitful interaction that the science platform www.capeia.com has been conceived. Capeia invites visitors to establish direct contact with world-leading scientists on hot topics such as exoplanets, new cancer therapies, or rare and enigmatic animals. Information on Capeia comes directly from scientists, who also provide first-hand elaborations for their non-expert audience. To show their appreciation of the researchers' commitment, visitors are provided with the opportunity to contribute financial support to research topics that they find particularly interesting. Instead of running a frantic online campaign, scientists registered with Capeia can continue to receive funds on an ongoing basis, with no time limit. "Continuous funding for continuous research" is in fact a leitmotif of this novel science platform. In addition, science enthusiasts can beef up Capeia's Author-of-the-Month award, which is a financial reward presented each month to the scientist whose contributions had the greatest impact on the web.

Capeia seeks to foster a spirit of mutual respect and enthusiasm between scientists and the general public. Every single person benefits from science in everyday life and science thrives best in a community of open-minded, critical and enthusiastic people. Everybody therefore is cordially invited to be both critical and enthusiastic, and to enjoy Capeia!

Jessica L. Whited from Harvard Medical School: "There exists no platform like Capeia. Capeia promises to bring the mission, enthusiasm, and discoveries of scientists to the vast audience of non-experts who have a genuine appetite currently unfulfilled. Providing an opportunity for direct funding is a brilliant way to let the people drive the science that interests them most and will be especially helpful with increased uncertainty in governmental funding."

Capeia supports the March for Science scheduled for April 22nd, 2017. Capeia encourages people to participate by joining others in the streets, taking a public stand, and engaging with science, not only for one's personal benefit but also for the benefit of future generations.

Media Contact: Rudiger Schweigreiter, PhD; [email protected]; +43-650-6441971

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Capeia

Related Links

http://www.capeia.com


ELKHART, Ind., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LCI Industries (NYSE: LCII), a supplier of components for the leading OEMs of recreational vehicles and adjacent industries and the aftermarkets of these industries, will release its First-Quarter 2017 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, May 4, 2017.

LCI Industries will also host a conference call on Thursday, May 4, 2017, at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the results and other business matters. The call will conclude with a question-and-answer session with participation limited to institutional investors and analysts. Individual investors, retail brokers and the media are invited to listen to a live webcast of the call on the LCI Industries website at www.lci1.com\investors .

Participating in the conference call will be:

Jason Lippert, CEO

Scott Mereness, President

Brian Hall, CFO

About LCI Industries

From 49 manufacturing and distribution facilities located throughout the United States and in Canada and Italy, LCI Industries, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Lippert Components, Inc., supplies, domestically and internationally, a broad array of components for the leading original equipment manufacturers of recreational vehicles and adjacent industries including buses; trailers used to haul boats, livestock, equipment and other cargo; trucks; pontoon boats; trains; manufactured homes; and modular housing. The Company also supplies components to the related aftermarkets of these industries, primarily by selling to retail dealers, wholesale distributors and service centers. LCI's products include steel chassis and related components; axles and suspension solutions; slide-out mechanisms and solutions; thermoformed bath, kitchen and other products; vinyl, aluminum and frameless windows; manual, electric and hydraulic stabilizer and leveling systems; furniture and mattresses; entry, luggage, patio and ramp doors; electric and manual entry steps; awnings and awning accessories; electronic components; televisions and sound systems; navigation systems; backup cameras; appliances and other accessories. Additional information about LCI and its products can be found at www.lci1.com .

SOURCE LCI Industries

Related Links

http://www.lci1.com


Award applicants were evaluated and ranked across five categories, based on employee ratings of company performance for values such as fun, collaborative culture, compensation, benefits, and management practices.

Leanplum's investment in culture and focus on fun is embodied in five core values: lead humbly, skip politics, push innovation, be a doer, and show gratitude.

Today the company also debuted a video  "Leanplum, Ripe With Culture"  showcasing its culture and values.

With 128 employees stemming from 22 countries, Leanplum celebrates its melting pot culture as a key company strength  not only day-to-day, but on regular retreats around the world to Mexico, Spain and other locales. Making up its talent roster are three programming medalists, an Olympic rower, a world champion air guitarist, and even an "extreme costumer," known for outfitting the team at every celebration.

While a number of high-profile Bay Area companies have taken hits to their public perception due to poor cultural values, Leanplum's investment in employee happiness has helped it push ahead of competitors and flourish in three key areas.

Global Expansion

Leanplum is expanding its global footprint, with larger headquarters in San Francisco, growing offices in New York and London, and a new office in Singapore.

Platform Scale

Leanplum works with the world's top brands, including Lyft, Macy's, and Tinder, and recently signed on new customer, QVC. The platform helps apps send nearly 6B push notifications per month, and manages 14B daily user interactions  a 14x increase from December 2015.

Revenue Growth

Leanplum has increased its annual top line revenue 3x over three years. It has also experienced 3X year-over-year employee growth.

"In such a competitive job market, companies need to focus as much, if not more, on talent retention as they do on technology development," said Momchil Kyurkchiev, Leanplum Co-Founder and CEO. "At Leanplum, being recognized as one of the Bay Area's Best Places to Work is proof that investing in a kind and humble company culture is valued by top talent. In Silicon Valley, companies often resign themselves to having a revolving door of employees, but we are very proud to have low attrition."

About Leanplum



Leanplum is building the marketing cloud for the mobile era. Its integrated platform delivers meaningful user engagement across both messaging and the in-app experience. Leanplum offers Messaging, Automation, App Editing, Personalization, A/B Testing, and Analytics  all in a single solution.



Top brands such as Lyft, Macy's, and Tinder trust Leanplum to create impactful relationships with their mobile users. Leanplum was founded in 2012 by former Google engineers with years of experience in optimization and has received over $46MM in funding from top-tier VCs like Canaan Partners, Kleiner Perkins, and Shasta Ventures. Discover more at www.leanplum.com and https://vimeo.com/leanplum/ripewithculture for an inside look at Leanplum's culture.



About 2017 Bay Area Best Places to Work

Best Places to Work is an innovative publication and awards program produced by the San Francisco Business Times and the Silicon Valley Business Journal. The rankings were determined by surveys that went directly to employees who answered a series of questions. The survey was administered online by the employers and through a service provided by Quantum Workplace, our research partner. The rankings are numeric based on Quantum's scoring process. By ranking companies and sharing best practices we facilitate idea sharing and help other companies learn from the best.

Media Contact for Leanplum:

Juliet Travis

Liftoff Communications

5104793818 (o)

5106129622 (m)

[email protected]

SOURCE Leanplum

Related Links

http://www.leanplum.com


"In some cases, you want to support heavy tool loads like the FORTIS exoskeleton does, but don't need much mobility," said Glenn Kuller, Advanced and Special Programs vice president at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Examples are when workers need to use tools on elevated platforms, at benches or with service vehicles. The tool arm transfers weight through these structures and provides the well-known safety and productivity benefits of FORTIS."

Craftspeople operating heavy, powered hand tools, especially when working overhead or on vertical surfaces, ordinarily have to support tool weight to accomplish the task. The FORTIS Tool Arm supports this load and isolates much of the vibration and torque kick from the tool. Users report two-thirds less fatigue, resulting in higher quality work, greater productivity and fewer musculoskeletal injuries.

FORTIS is an unpowered, lightweight exoskeleton that increases an operator's strength and endurance by transferring the weight of heavy loads from the operator's body directly to the ground through a series of joints at the hips, knees and ankles. Originating from Lockheed Martin's exoskeleton research to assist soldiers in carrying heavy equipment over long distances, the same principles have been applied for use in industrial settings. International design awards include Red Dot's Best of the Best, Green Good Design Award, SPARK and The Icon Award in 2014. Recently, the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences concluded that the FORTIS exoskeleton could mitigate nearly all injuries from industrial power tools by making them effectively weightless during operation.

About Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 97,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

SOURCE Lockheed Martin

Related Links

http://www.lockheedmartin.com


TOLEDO, Ohio, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Libbey Inc. (NYSE MKT: LBY), one of the largest glass tableware manufacturers in the world, is scheduled to announce 2017 first-quarter financial results on Tuesday, May 2, 2017, prior to the opening of the New York Stock Exchange.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William Foley and Vice President, Chief Financial Officer James Burmeister will host an earnings conference call at 11 a.m. EDT on May 2 to discuss the Company's financial results.

Interested parties may listen to the conference call on Libbey's website at https://investor.libbey.com by clicking on the "2017 First-Quarter Financial Results" link. Replays of the conference call will be available on the Company's website through May 9. Financial information, including the earnings release and other investor-related material, will also be available online.

About Libbey Inc.

Based in Toledo, Ohio, Libbey Inc. is one of the largest glass tableware manufacturers in the world. Libbey Inc. operates manufacturing plants in the U.S., Mexico, China, Portugal and the Netherlands. In existence since 1818, the Company supplies tabletop products to retail, foodservice and business-to-business customers in over 100 countries. Libbey's global brand portfolio, in addition to its namesake brand, includes Libbey Signature, Masters Reserve, Crisa, Royal Leerdam, World Tableware, Syracuse China, and Crisal Glass. In 2016, Libbey Inc.'s net sales totaled $793.4 million. Additional information is available at www.libbey.com.

SOURCE Libbey Inc.

Related Links

http://www.libbey.com


The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) in 2015 awarded the $784 million contract to Lockheed Martin to develop, build and test LRDR, and the company is on track on an aggressive schedule to deliver the radar to Clear, Alaska. Lockheed Martin passed PDR by demonstrating both a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 and Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) 6, putting the team on a path to achieve TRL 7 later this year allowing the program transition to manufacturing. Lockheed Martin utilized a scaled LRDR system to successfully demonstrate Critical Technology Elements (CTEs) in a relevant end to end environment.

During the two-day PDR, representatives from the MDA and the Office of Secretary of Defense, toured Lockheed Martin's facility to see the LRDR Prototype System and the new Solid State Radar Integration Site, a self-funded test facility that will be utilized to demonstrate TRL 7 and provide significant risk reduction for development of LRDR and future solid state radar systems.

"Lockheed Martin is committed to supporting the nation's Integrated Air & Missile Defense and homeland defense missions and we are actively investing in research and technologies that will lead to advanced solutions," said Chandra Marshall, LRDR program director, Lockheed Martin. "The Solid State Radar Integration Site will be used to mature, integrate and test the LRDR design and building blocks before we deliver the radar to Alaska. Using this test site will result in significant cost savings and less risk overall."

Similar to Lockheed Martin's Space Fence radar system, LRDR is a high-powered S-Band radar incorporating solid-state gallium nitride (GaN) components, but is additionally capable of discriminating threats at extreme distances using the inherent wideband capability of the hardware coupled with advanced software algorithms.

"We built an open non-proprietary architecture that allows incorporation of the algorithms from small businesses, labs and the government, to provide an advanced discrimination capability for homeland defense," said Tony DeSimone, vice president, engineering and technology, Lockheed Martin Integrated Warfare Systems and Sensors.

LRDR is a key component of the MDA's Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) and will provide acquisition, tracking and discrimination data to enable separate defense systems to lock on and engage ballistic missile threats, a capability that stems from Lockheed Martin's decades of experience in creating ballistic missile defense systems for the U.S. and allied governments.

Work on LRDR is primarily performed in New Jersey, Alaska, Alabama, Florida and New York.

As a proven world leader in systems integration and development of air and missile defense systems and technologies, Lockheed Martin delivers high-quality missile defense solutions that protect citizens, critical assets and deployed forces from current and future threats. The company's experience spans radar and signal processing, missile design and production, hit-to-kill capabilities, infrared seekers, command and control/battle management, and communications, precision pointing and tracking optics, as well as threat-representative targets for missile defense tests.

For more information, visit www.lockheedmartin.com/lrdr.

About Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 97,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

SOURCE Lockheed Martin

Related Links

http://www.lockheedmartin.com


OMAHA, Neb., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Macomb County, Michigan and its over 600,000 registered voters will soon be casting their ballots on ES&S' newest federally certified voting technology. ES&S has enjoyed a long partnership with Macomb County and is honored to have been selected by the county post an intense review of three different voting system providers. Ultimately, the county decided that only one system could meet the needs of their voters, poll workers and staff - the ExpressVote Universal Voting System and DS200 precinct-based scanner and tabulator.

DS200 precinct scanner and tabulator combines the best attributes of a paper-based ballot system with the flexibility and efficiency of the latest digital-image technology  taking traditional optical-scan ballot vote tabulation to a new level.

Karen Spranger, Macomb County Clerk, stated, "My priority will always be to the voters of Macomb. After listening to my local clerks, I knew that it was important to select a system that provides a simple, secure and intuitive process for voters, poll workers and county staff. We carefully reviewed several voting systems, and the ES&S voting system was a clear winner among the competition for voter experience and poll worker ease of use. While the system is robust, it is also simple to operate!"

Macomb joins numerous other jurisdictions and states who have recently affirmed the superior performance of the ExpressVote and DS200 including locales in Florida, the States of Maryland and Rhode Island, the City of New York and literally hundreds more. The hardware that will soon be delivered to Macomb is a part of ES&S' newest voting system release which received federal certification in February of this year.

In addition to the precinct-based scanner and tabulator, every poll place will receive an ExpressVote unit that will revolutionize the way voters with disabilities cast their vote in Macomb County, giving them complete independence. During state-level evaluations of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant technology, one evaluator concluded, "The ExpressVote was the best choiceand the only one he would recommend..."

"Our customers are our passion," stated Matt Nelson, ES&S Senior Vice President of Sales. "We look forward to continuing to serve Macomb with our products and our people. The ES&S Michigan team will be there every step of the way providing implementation, training and support."

ABOUT ES&S: Election Systems & Software's visionary approach to election equipment, software and solutions has helped improve the voting experience throughout North America for nearly 40 years. We are committed to developing integrated voting solutions that improve the marketplace and are flexible enough to meet multiple jurisdictions' needs and voter preferences. Learn more about ES&S at www.essvote.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/essvote.

SOURCE Election Systems & Software

Related Links

http://www.essvote.com


AURORA, ON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Magna International Inc. (TSX: MG; NYSE: MGA)

We will hold our Annual Meeting of Shareholders on Thursday, May 11, 2017 at the Hilton Toronto/ Markham Suites Conference Centre, 8500 Warden Avenue, Markham, Ontario, Canada commencing at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. The meeting will be webcast live and can be accessed at www.magna.com.

We will also hold a conference call for interested analysts and shareholders to discuss our first quarter ended March 31, 2017 results on Thursday, May 11, 2017 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern. The conference call will be chaired by Don Walker, Chief Executive Officer. The number to use for this call from North America is 1-800-905-9496. International callers should use 1-416-641-6700. Please call in at least 10 minutes prior to the call start time. We will also webcast the conference call at www.magna.com. The slide presentation accompanying the conference call will be available on our website Thursday prior to the call.

For anyone unable to listen to the scheduled call, the rebroadcast numbers are:

North America 1-800-558-5253 | International 1-416-626-4100 | Reservation number 21850772 and will be available until Thursday, May 18, 2017.

SOURCE Magna International Inc.

Related Links

http://www.magna.com


SAN MATEO, Calif., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Marketo, Inc., the leading provider of engagement marketing software and solutions, today announced that it has acquired ToutApp, a leading sales engagement software company based in San Francisco. ToutApp provides sales teams with sales campaign, content management, and analytics software to engage prospective customers in a personalized way to drive revenue growth. The acquisition strengthens Marketo's position as a leader in engagement.

"Brands that win today engage customers in a meaningful way at every step of the journey and this requires coordinated execution across the entire enterprise, particularly within sales and marketing," said Steve Lucas, chief executive officer, Marketo. "I'm thrilled to welcome TK and his team at ToutApp to Marketo, where together, we'll enable marketing and sales teams to drive revenue and demand seamlessly."

Since its inception, Marketo has focused on bringing sales and marketing together around customer engagement. ToutApp's solutions, together with Marketo's Engagement Platform, enable marketing to partner even more closely with sales to listen, learn, and engage with customers and prospects at scale across all channels and touchpoints.

"ToutApp and Marketo share a similar vision for empowering sales and marketing teams for success in the Engagement Economy," said Tawheed (TK) Kader, founder and chief executive officer, ToutApp. "We're excited to join Marketo and further our shared mission of delivering exceptional customer and prospect engagement."

Marketo bolstered its focus on sales and marketing alignment late last year with the launch of Marketo Account-based Marketing (ABM), which brings revenue teams together to discover, manage, engage, and analyze key accounts in a highly coordinated fashion. ToutApp will further enrich the company's portfolio of solutions for aligning sales and marketing, complementing Marketo ABM and Marketo Sales Insights (MSI).

More than 100,000 salespeople and over 400 enterprise customers, including Citrix, GE, CA Technologies, Siemens, Revel, Tableau, and Concur, are already using ToutApp for sales engagement.

About Marketo

Marketo, Inc., offers the leading Engagement Platform that empowers marketers to create lasting relationships and grow revenue. Consistently recognized as the industry's innovation pioneer, Marketo is the trusted platform for thousands of CMOs thanks to its scalability, reliability, and openness. Marketo is headquartered in San Mateo, CA, with offices around the world, and serves as a strategic partner to large enterprise and fast-growing organizations across a wide variety of industries. To learn more about the Marketo Engagement Platform, LaunchPoint partner ecosystem, and the vast community that is the Marketing Nation, visit www.marketo.com.

About ToutApp

ToutApp builds software that helps salespeople close deals faster with the power of email tracking, templates and analytics. Founded in 2011, ToutApp has more than 100,000 salespeople using its platform, with over 400 enterprise customers including Atlassian, CA Technologies, Citrix, Dropbox, Optimizely, Namely, Siemens, Revel, Tableau, and more. www.toutapp.com.

SOURCE Marketo, Inc.
SAN DIEGO, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical Marijuana, Inc. (MJNA), the first publicly traded cannabis company in the United States, today announced that its subsidiary HempMeds is a platinum sponsor of the April 21-22 World Medical Cannabis Conference and Expo in Pittsburgh, Pa., a conference dedicated to the medical science of cannabis.

Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s CEO Dr. Stuart Titus will participate on a panel at the Expo on April 22 at 1:00 p.m. on "Industrial Hemp & the Opportunities Outside of CBD," discussing the benefits of industrial hemp  a less widely known cash crop that can be used to make thousands of products from nutritional foods, fabrics, ropes, etc.  as an untapped market for massive economic growth in the United States.

"April 17 marks one year since Pennsylvania's governor signed the state's medical marijuana program into law, and with the state working to get their medical cannabis program up and running, it's the perfect time for an educated discussion among medical professionals," Dr. Titus said. "With Medical Marijuana, Inc. accomplishing the first-ever import approvals for a hemp cannabidiol (CBD) product from the federal governments of Mexico, Brazil and Paraguay, the Company is very excited to share our unique knowledge at the Conference."

In addition, Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s PR firm CMW Media is hosting a "Children & Cannabis" panel on April 22 at 12:00 p.m., which will include the families of young medical cannabis patients. The panel will consist of the family of Penny Howard, who will speak about how sharing their late daughter Harper's story to Facebook helped a family in Brazil; medical cannabis activist Raul Elizalde of Mexico, whose family was the first in Mexico to sue the federal government and win the right to import CBD hemp oil to treat their daughter Grace; and Baltimore mother Casandra Stephan along with other families.

HempMeds representatives will exhibit at booth #205 the Company's groundbreaking RSHO hemp cannabidiol (CBD) oil and zero-THC RSHO-X, the first-ever cannabis product to receive approval from the federal government of Mexico for importation.

About HempMeds

HempMeds is a corporate portfolio company of Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC PINK: MJNA) and the Company's exclusive master distributor and contracted marketing company, handling sales and distribution.

About Medical Marijuana, Inc.

Our mission is to be the premier cannabis and hemp industry innovators, leveraging our team of professionals to source, evaluate and purchase value-added companies and products, while allowing them to keep their integrity and entrepreneurial spirit. We strive to create awareness within our industry, develop environmentally-friendly, economically sustainable businesses, while increasing shareholder value. For details on Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s portfolio and investment companies, visit www.medicalmarijuanainc.com.

To see Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s video statement, click here. Shareholders are also encouraged to visit the Medical Marijuana, Inc. Shop for discounted products.

FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER AND DISCLOSURES.

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties. The statements in this press release have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. The Company does not sell or distribute any products that are in violation of the United States Controlled Substances Act. The Company does sell and distribute hemp-based products.

CONTACT:

Public Relations Contact:

Andrew Hard

Chief Executive Officer

CMW Media

P: 888-829- 0070

[email protected]

www.cmwmedia.com

SOURCE Medical Marijuana, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.medicalmarijuanainc.com


NEW YORK, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mesothelioma Victims Center says, "We are urging a US Navy Veteran who was exposed to asbestos at a shipyard and now has mesothelioma to call us anytime at 800-714-0303. We want to provide them with direct access to the nation's top mesothelioma compensation attorneys when it comes to Navy Veterans. Most of the US Navy Veterans with mesothelioma we hear from had extreme exposure to asbestos at a US Navy Shipyard while their ship was undergoing repairs.

US Navy Veterans

"The most descriptive terms we have heard from Navy Veterans that best describe daily work habits include, 'clouds of asbestos below deck,' and 'more asbestos in the air than breathable air at a shipyard.' The exposure to asbestos for these types of people occurred in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s; the types of Navy Veterans we are focused on were on every imaginable type of US Navy ship.

"Typically, the higher amounts of exposure to asbestos took place while sailors had to stay aboard their ship at a shipyard because they had a certain skill set that was vital. These sailors were typically assigned to a navy ship's engine room, damage control, at a ship's machine shop, or they were an electrician, pipefitter, plumber, or welder." http://MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com

Vital mesothelioma compensation tips for a US Navy Veteran who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma from the Mesothelioma Victims Center: "US Navy Veterans with a recent diagnosis of mesothelioma, or their family members, need to call us anytime at 800-714-0303 so they can be shown how vital it is to hire a lawyer who has at least one decade of assisting Navy Veterans in obtaining the best possible financial compensation. If the lawyers you are talking with cannot provide family references that prove that they personally were the driving force for a US Navy Veteran obtaining a million-dollar settlement, please call us for some of the nation's top mesothelioma attorneys who have these types of references." http://MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com

Representatives from the Mesothelioma Victims Center have visited almost every major US Navy Shipyard in the United States to better understand how or where a US Navy Veteran could have been exposed to asbestos. These bases include:

Norfolk, Virginia

Portsmouth Navy Ship Yard Kittery, Maine

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Navy Yard

Navy Yard The Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts

Brooklyn Navy Shipyard, New York

The Long Beach Navy Shipyard-California

Hunters Point Navy Shipyard

San Diego, California

Honolulu, Hawaii

Groton, Connecticut

Puget Sound Navy Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington

Kings Bay, Georgia

For attribution about US Navy Shipyards please visit the Ship building history.com's website: http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/public.htm

The states indicated with the highest incidence of mesothelioma include Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Louisiana, Washington, and Oregon.

However, based on the calls the Mesothelioma Victims Center receives a US Navy Veteran with conformed mesothelioma could live in any state including New York, Florida, California, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, or Alaska.

High-risk work groups for exposure to asbestos include US Navy Veterans, power plant workers, shipyard workers, oil refinery workers, steel mill workers, manufacturing/factory workers, pulp or paper mill workers, plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics, machinists, miners, construction workers, insulators, rail road worker, roofers, or firemen. As a rule, these types of workers were exposed to asbestos in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s. US Navy Veterans make up about one third of US Citizens who are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year. http://MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com

The Mesothelioma Victims Center says, "When it comes to obtaining the best mesothelioma settlement, the quality of the attorney matters, as we would like to explain anytime at 800-714-0303." http://MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com

For more information about mesothelioma please refer to the National Institutes of Health's web site related to this rare form of cancer: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mesothelioma.html

Media Contact:

Michael Thomas

800-714-0303

[email protected]

SOURCE Mesothelioma Victims Center

Related Links

http://MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com


STERLING, Va., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mvix, a leading provider of content-rich digital signage solutions, is proud to announce their sponsorship of The ASCII Group's IT Success Summit Series. Mvix will exhibit and speak at the third event of the series in Boston which will be hosted at the DoubleTree by Hilton Boston North Shore from April 26th to the 27th.

Mvix will be showcasing their content-rich digital signage software, XhibitSignage, which won the 2017 DIGI Award for Best Digital Signage Software. Attendees who stop by the booth will be able to demo the latest release and see how IT service providers can leverage it to easily display and manage dynamic content on their clients' touchscreen displays, digital signs, video walls, and 4K displays.

XhibitSignage, which is subscription-free, has been very effective for digital signage networks with limited resources for content creation. The software includes dozens of content apps and widgets that improve the profitability of digital signage networks by allowing users to easily create, update and manage live content that'll enrich the customer experience.

It's cloud-based platform, ease of adoption & integration, scalability, and features such as smart playlists, template editor, and comprehensive scheduling have made it a powerful solution for MSPs managing digital signage networks.

"We are very excited to be a sponsor of the 2017 IT Success Summit Series," said Mike Kilian, Senior Director of Business Development for Mvix. "We are proud to support ASCII's continued efforts to provide a forum where MSPs can educate themselves on potential industry opportunities, learn about new products and channel programs, and network with their peers and vendors."

Mvix continues to invest in the technology, people, enablement resources and support mechanisms that channel partners need to successfully sell digital signage as a service to small and midsize businesses (SMBs). They are renowned for offering turnkey, reliable solutions that meet the business needs of SMBs and make it easier for MSPs and IT service providers to generate profitable, recurring revenue streams.

Mvix is inviting its valued partners to attend the Boston Success Summit with a VIP pass at no cost (valued at $1,895) which covers all meals, educational tracks and bonus materials distributed at the event.

To register please contact us. For more information, visit www.asciievents.com.

Related Links

Content-rich Digital Signage Software

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com.

SOURCE Mvix
NEW YORK and GRENADA, West Indies, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, St. George's University announced that 15 students from New York City will receive $1.8 million in scholarships to pursue degrees in medicine at the school as part of the CityDoctors Scholarship Program.

Incoming CityDoctors scholarship recipients recently visited St. George's University. The students were awarded $1.8 million this year.

"St. George's University has long addressed the U.S. doctor shortage by producing highly qualified physicians who are committed to their community and the practice of medicine," said Dr. G. Richard Olds, President, St. George's University. "We are proud to offer these CityDoctors scholarships because it helps pave the way for these students to practice in areas that are near and dear to them, and areas that need such physicians the most."

St. George's University established the CityDoctors Scholarship Program to help address the city's shortage of primary care physicians and to enable promising students who otherwise might not be able to afford medical school to attend. Twelve of this year's scholarship recipients received awards sponsored by NYC Health + Hospitals and commit to serving in the New York City public health system after completing their residency. The remaining three CityDoctors honorees received awards sponsored by Brooklyn Methodist Hospital as part of a similar partnership.

Students commit to one year of service with NYC Health + Hospitals for each year of scholarship aid they receive. Since its inception, the program has awarded $11 million to 112 students from metropolitan New York.

This year, CityDoctors scholarship recipients hail from Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Manhattan, as well as Florida and Pennsylvania. They're selected based on their academic qualifications and financial need. Recipients receive either partial or full scholarships to pay for medical school for up to four years. Some scholarships are valued at more than $200,000.

"We are very proud of our ongoing partnership with St. George's University, as it provides students with strong ties to the New York City area with an opportunity not only to continue their education, but to have job security following graduation," said Machelle Allen, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, NYC Health + Hospitals. "The program also helps bring more primary care physicians into the workforce and into communities across the city, where they are so desperately needed."

The 2017 CityDoctors scholarship recipients are:

Name Residence Hospital Award Lance Wobus Florida NYC Health + Hospitals Edward Lee Queens NYC Health + Hospitals Daniel Dever Pennsylvania NYC Health + Hospitals David Michael Brooklyn NYC Health + Hospitals Maggie Yeung Queens NYC Health + Hospitals Fateha Ahmed Queens NYC Health + Hospitals Taikchan Lidar Queens NYC Health + Hospitals Sadik Uddin Queens NYC Health + Hospitals Sneha Aidasani Queens NYC Health + Hospitals GraceTackie Bronx NYC Health + Hospitals Imran Baksh Bronx NYC Health + Hospitals Tammy Jiang Manhattan NYC Health + Hospitals Ashley Jack Brooklyn Brooklyn Methodist Hospital Mena Awad Brooklyn Brooklyn Methodist Hospital Paula Marie Brooklyn Brooklyn Methodist Hospital

Biographical information about the scholarship recipients is available upon request.

About St. George's University

St. George's University School of Medicine pioneered the concept of international medical education and remains at the forefront of educating students to meet the demands of the modern practice of medicine. St. George's University was the first private medical school in the Caribbean, and is accredited by the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP). Its students have come from over 140 countries and its more than 14,000 graduate physicians in the global health care system who have been licensed in all 50 states and Canada and have practiced in over 50 countries around the world. For more information, visit www.sgu.edu.

Media Contact:

Miriam Cho

(202) 471-4228 ext 101

SOURCE St. George's University

Related Links

http://www.sgu.edu


NEW YORK, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- This report on the neurological disorder drugs market studies the current as well as future prospects of the market in Europe. Health concern related to life threatening diseases are the major concerns in the developed and developing countries of Europe.





Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04603770/Neurological-Disorder-Drugs-Market-Europe-Industry-Analysis-Size-Share-Growth-Trends-and-Forecast.html







This research report provides a detailed analysis of the neurological disorder drugs market and helps understand the various driving factors for the growth of the market. The market overview section analyzes market dynamics and trends such as drivers, restraints and opportunities that influence the current nature and future status of the market. Market dynamics factors such as market attractiveness analysis have also been explained in order to deliver a thorough analysis of the overall competitive scenario of the Europe neurological disorder drugs market.



Europe Neurological Disorder Drugs Market: Segmentation



The neurological disorder drugs market has been segmented by disorder, by drug class, by distribution channel and by countries. The disorder segment has been sub-segmented into Epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebrovascular disease and others. The drug class has been segmented into Anticholinergic, Antiepileptic, Antipsychotic, Analgesics, Hypnotic & Sedative, Antihypertensive, Anticoagulants and others. The distribution channel segment has been sub-segments into retail pharmacy, hospital pharmacy and eCommerce.



Europe Neurological Disorder Drugs Market: Scope



The executive summary provides detailed insights about the report and the market in general. This elaborate executive summary provides a glimpse into the present scenario of the Europe neurological disorder drugs market, which includes a market snapshot that provides overall information of various segments and sub-segments. The executive summary also provides overall information and data analysis of the Europe neurological disorder drugs market with respect to market segments based on disorder, drug class, distribution channel as well as geographic regions.



The market for neurological disorder drugs has been extensively analyzed based on their usefulness, effectiveness, sales revenue and geographic presence. The market size and forecast in terms of US$ Mn for each disorder, drug class, distribution channel as well as geographic regions has been provided for the period from 2016 to 2024. This report on the neurological disorder drugs market also provides the compound annual growth rate (CAGR %) for each market segment for the forecast period from 2016 to 2024, considering 2015 as the base year.



Europe Neurological Disorder Drugs Market: Regional Outlook



Geographically, the neurological disorder drugs market has been segmented into 10 major regions: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, U.K., Russia, Switzerland, Netherlands, Poland and Rest of Europe. The market size and forecast for each of these regions have been provided for the period from 2016 to 2024, along with CAGR (%) for the forecast period from 2016 to 2024. The research study also incorporates the competitive scenario in these regions.



Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:



A list of recommendations has been provided for new entrants as well as existing players to help establish a strong presence in the market and increase market share. The report also profiles major players in the neurological disorder drugs market based on various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, business strategies, product portfolio and recent developments. Major players profiled in this report include Merck & Co., Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Bayer AG, Astra Zeneca, F-Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Novartis AG, and GlaxoSmithKline plc.



The Europe Neurological Disorder Drugs market is segmented as follows:



Europe Neurological Disorder Drugs Market Revenue, by Disorder

Epilepsy

Alzheimer's disease

Parkinson's disease

Multiple Sclerosis

Cerebrovascular disease

Others



Europe Neurological Disorder Drugs Market Revenue, by Drug Class

Anticholinergic

Antiepileptic

Antipsychotic

Hypnotic & Sedative

Analgesics

Antihypertensive

Anticoagulants

Others



Europe Neurological Disorder Drugs Market Revenue, by Distribution Channel

Retail Pharmacy

Hospital Pharmacy

eCommerce



Europe Neurological Disorder Drugs Market Revenue, by Geography

Germany

France

Italy

Spain

UK

Russia

Switzerland

Netherlands

Poland

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04603770/Neurological-Disorder-Drugs-Market-Europe-Industry-Analysis-Size-Share-Growth-Trends-and-Forecast.html



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



http://www.reportlinker.com





__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

http://www.reportlinker.com


SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- With the disruption of the book publishing industry comes a new paradigm, and Amazon customers are the voice of that paradigm. These days, the value of any book in this brave new marketplace is determined by average reader reviews. On Amazon's scale of 1 to 5 stars, a 4.5 star average ranks with the best.

Michael Allan Scott

At the top of the heap, alongside renowned works of brand name authors such as King, Koontz, and Poe, you'll find Scott's Grey Daze. One of the Lance Underphal supernatural thrillers, it's part of a psychic detective series which can be read and enjoyed in any order. Dark, dangerous, and based on real events, it is one of those disturbing novels that keeps you turning pages. Available now on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle versions.

The series' main protagonist, Lance Underphal is a down and out, freelance photographer. Haunted by his dead wife, the damaged psychic is plagued by visions of murders before they happen.

Carrying forward the momentum of his popular series, Arizona-based author is set to release his newest Lance Underphal thriller, Cut-Throat Syndrome, due out this summer.

For readers who enjoy scary mysteries you can't put down, the Lance Underphal Mystery series burns the bridges from traditional mystery stories, blazing a new trail into the heart of darkness.

About Michael Allan Scott:

Born and raised at the edge of the high desert in Kingman, Arizona, Michael Allan Scott resides in Scottsdale with his wife, Cynthia, and their rescue Doberman, Roxie.

"R" rated, his Lance Underphal Mystery novels contain strong language, violence, and sex.

Author Links:

Dark Side of Sunset Pointebook trailer: http://youtu.be/YbGeaIs_Kuw

Flight of the Tarantula Hawkbook trailer: http://youtu.be/Ct51YnzBgPQ

Author website: http://michaelallanscott.com/

Contact:

Laurie Jessup,

Jessup Communications Corporation

(727) 743-9579

SOURCE Michael Allan Scott

Related Links

http://michaelallanscott.com


The addition of the Equity section marks the latest evolution of MTC's two-year-old Vital Signs initiative. Visitors also can consult the interactive website to track the Bay Area's progress toward reaching key transportation, land use, environmental and economic policy goals, as well as to learn about historical trends, differences and similarities among the region's communities, and how the nine-county Bay Area stacks up with other major U.S. metro areas.

Dave Vautin, MTC's Vital Signs project manager, says the website is designed to provide both access to data and a unique online experience. "This information is not just useful to researchers but genuinely interesting to the public at large. The Equity data show that the Bay Area's strong rebound from the Great Recession has not only created new economic challenges for lower- and middle-income households but also has reinforced some longstanding trends."

Among the other key findings in the Equity data is that since the end of the Great Recession, the Bay Area has added more high-wage jobs than either low- or middle-wage jobs; and high-wage positions now account for the lion's share of all jobs in every part of the region except the North Bay. Indeed, while overall Bay Area employment has grown by roughly 5 percent since the early 2001 peak of the dot-com boom, the number of low- and middle-wage jobs actually has fallen during this time.

This economic stratification is correlated with the Bay Area's housing affordability problem and with broadly rising displacement risks. Nearly one-third of Bay Area households are now considered excessively burdened by housing costs, with monthly housing expenses accounting for more than 35 percent of income. This squeeze generally has been felt most by those who rent their homes, and especially by those in Solano and Sonoma counties. Visitors to the Displacement page on the Vital Signs website will find a detailed map on which they can zoom in to the neighborhood level for estimates of the number of current households at risk of being priced out of communities throughout the Bay Area.

The new Vital Signs data also show that while the Bay Area experiences a net loss of about 16,000 residents each year due to domestic migration (largely to lower-cost counties in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys), a similar dynamic plays out in most other major U.S. metro areas as well. Only the Houston and Dallas areas receive more new residents each year than they lose to other parts of Texas or to other states. And the levels of out-migration from the New York, Los Angeles and Chicago metro areas dwarf those in the Bay Area.

Along with the new Equity section, new statistics on urban development around the Bay Area also were added to the Land and People section of the Vital Signs website. These data show the region added only 2,400 acres to its urban footprint from 2012 to 2014, the lowest level of so-called greenfield development since 2000. Among major U.S. metro areas, new building projects in Chicago, Los Angeles and the Bay Area consumed the fewest acres of previously undeveloped land, while the Houston, Dallas and Atlanta areas consumed the most.

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

NOTE TO EDITORS: A short video produced by MTC about Vital Signs' new Equity section may be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd4xJnGtHpw&feature=youtu.be

SOURCE Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Related Links

http://www.mtc.ca.gov


"Wi-Fi Cloud delivers the most comprehensive set of features for the price, including a patented Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (WIPS) solution, marketing tools and location-based analytics," said Ryan Orsi, director of secure Wi-Fi solutions at WatchGuard Technologies. "With the addition of AP322, we're helping customers extend that security and performance to outdoor environments. Now there's a complete, cost-effective package for organizations looking to simplify the deployment, management and security of their Wi-Fi networks inside or out."

The WatchGuard AP322 delivers dual concurrent 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz band radios, with data rates up to 1.3 Gbps and 450 Mbps, respectively. This high-speed connection delivers faster downloads and more responsive Internet performance. With three spatial streams per radio (3x3 MIMO), it also offers greater bandwidth and performance for large user groups simultaneously accessing the service. Two gigabit Ethernet ports allow an additional AP to be added for extended service, and support for PoE+ offers easy installation and flexibility.

"One of the biggest challenges when offering Wi-Fi to customers is the complexity of mixing vendor gear and management platforms  it can become a mashup of technology. WatchGuard Wi-Fi Cloud eliminates that complexity and delivers a centralized, cloud-based solution with all the analytical bells and whistles needed to securely manage high-performance Wi-Fi," said William Brown, managing partner, AlamoTG, LLC. "The AP322 is yet another customer-focused offering from WatchGuard that further streamlines the Wi-Fi delivery process and extends powerful features into outdoor environments. We've already begun rolling these new APs out to clients and the initial performance testing has been fantastic."

WatchGuard Wi-Fi Cloud is a secure, scalable and feature-rich Wi-Fi management platform. When deployed with WatchGuard APs, it delivers powerful WIPS security, in-depth guest and airspace analytics, and invaluable marketing and guest engagement tools. Architected from the ground up to focus on ease of deployment and administration, Wi-Fi Cloud simplifies even the most complex aspects of Wi-Fi management, making fast, secure, and intelligent Wi-Fi accessible to organizations of all types and sizes.

For more information about WatchGuard's APs and the new AP322, visit http://www.watchguard.com/wgrd-products/access-points/.

For more information on WatchGuard Wi-Fi Cloud, visit www.watchguard.com/wgrd-products/access-points/cloud-managed.

About WatchGuard Technologies, Inc.

WatchGuard Technologies, Inc. is a global leader in network security, providing best-in-class Unified Threat Management, Next Generation Firewall, secure Wi-Fi, and network intelligence products and services to more than 75,000 customers worldwide. The company's mission is to make enterprise-grade security accessible to companies of all types and sizes through simplicity, making WatchGuard an ideal solution for Distributed Enterprises and SMBs. WatchGuard is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, with offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. To learn more, visit WatchGuard.com.

For additional information, promotions and updates, follow WatchGuard on Twitter, @WatchGuard on Facebook, or on the LinkedIn Company page. Also, visit our InfoSec blog, Secplicity, for real-time information about the latest threats and how to cope with them at www.secplicity.org.

Media Contacts:

Chris Warfield

WatchGuard Technologies

206.876.8380

[email protected]

Anthony Cogswell

Voxus PR

253.444.5980

[email protected]

SOURCE WatchGuard Technologies, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.watchguard.com


LONDON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Noble Corporation plc (NYSE: NE) today announced that its report of drilling rig status and contract information has been updated as of April 20, 2017. The report, titled "Fleet Status Report," can be found on the Company's Website www.noblecorp.com, under the "Investor Relations" section of the Website.

About Noble Corporation plc

Noble is a leading offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry. The Company owns and operates one of the most modern, versatile and technically advanced fleets in the offshore drilling industry. Noble performs, through its subsidiaries, contract drilling services with a fleet of 28 offshore drilling units, consisting of 14 drillships and semisubmersibles and 14 jackups, focused largely on ultra-deepwater and high-specification jackup drilling opportunities in both established and emerging regions worldwide. Noble is a public limited company registered in England and Wales with company number 08354954 and registered office at Devonshire House, 1 Mayfair Place, London, W1J 8AJ England. Additional information on Noble is available at www.noblecorp.com.

SOURCE Noble Corporation

Related Links

http://www.noblecorp.com


NEW YORK, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Normandy Real Estate Partners, a leading real estate operator and fund manager, and NTT Urban Development Corporation ("NTTUD"), a comprehensive real estate company based in Japan, and a subsidiary of the listed company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, today announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership as of April 1, 2017.

Under the deal, NTTUD has acquired a 15 percent common equity interest in Normandy's management platform that will allow Normandy to better meet the growing needs of its investor base. The alliance will expand both organizations' growth initiatives in real estate investment in Normandy's target markets of New York City, Boston and Washington, D.C. with a focus on office and mixed-use properties in urban and transit-oriented locations. Normandy will continue to be overseen and controlled by its three founders and partners, Finn Wentworth, David Welsh and Jeff Gronning, and will continue to raise commingled real estate funds and joint ventures going forward.

"Our goal when we first started looking at the U.S. market in 2013 was to identify a best-in-class real estate operator, and we chose Normandy based on their strong track record and local expertise," said Hideyuki Yamasawa, Executive Vice President, Global Business Department, NTT Urban Development. "Following our initial co-investment in Normandy Real Estate Fund III's 119 W. 25th Street project, we have made a total of five co-investments. With these successful investments, we have now decided to expand the relationship."

"Today's news puts Normandy in a position to continue delivering superior results for all of our investors and partners," said Finn Wentworth, Founder and Partner, Normandy Real Estate Partners. "Japanese investors are expected to be a growing and important source of equity capital targeting real estate investment in the U.S. Our affiliation with NTTUD will leave us strategically well positioned for future growth."

About Normandy Real Estate Partners

Normandy Real Estate Partners is a leading real estate investment management firm and operator with offices in New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C. and New Jersey with a track record spanning 20 years. The firm is a vertically-integrated investment and operating platform with a total of 120 employees with broad real estate experience in areas such as acquisitions, investment management, leasing, property management, construction/development and accounting. Our focus is primarily on acquiring office and mixed-use investments located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic CBD and transit-oriented submarkets where we own and operate one of the largest private real estate portfolios in the region totaling over 14 million square feet and a development pipeline of four million square feet. Our deep local relationships, vertically-integrated capabilities, and diversely-experienced team give us a distinct advantage, which enables us to consistently turn under-achieving real estate into exceptional high-yielding investments.

Normandy's management platform is focused on two complementary investment strategies: i) value-add: a series of closed-end, fully-discretionary investment funds, backed by some of the world's most prestigious institutional investors; and ii) core-plus: a series of separately-managed accounts for domestic and foreign institutional investors. Normandy currently manages approximately $1.5 billion of equity capital, representing total asset value of $3.3 billion. For more information visit www.normandyrealty.com.

About NTT Urban Development Corporation

NTT Urban Development Corporation is a real estate developer based in Japan, listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange. As a real-estate arm of the NTT Group, and a leading commercial developer with over 30 years of experience, our major business focus is to develop and manage a diverse portfolio ranging from office, residence, retail, hotel and resorts. Since our first global investment in London in 2009, our global activity has been continuously expanding to regions abroad. Currently our business base reaches out to the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Asia with multiple investments acquiring office, mixed-use and residential land with value-add opportunities. As of FY2015, our AUM is 1,033 billion yen.

SOURCE Normandy Real Estate Partners

Related Links

http://www.normandyrealty.com


MILWAUKEE, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Building a better hometown starts with enhancing the quality of life in the community. As part of its ongoing commitment to Milwaukee  its hometown of 160 years  Northwestern Mutual, through its Foundation, today announced more than $700,000 in grants to Milwaukee-area attractions.

The grants will support nine nonprofits that provide cultural opportunities in the greater Milwaukee area. The programs selected focus on opportunities for children and families, attracting and retaining a strong workforce and enhancing tourism.

"Through our valued partnerships with area attractions, we're providing local children and families with fun, engaging cultural and educational experiences," said Eric Christophersen, president, Northwestern Mutual Foundation. "Milwaukee is our hometown, too, and we're dedicated to making it a great place. We invest in these local institutions because we believe everyone in the community should have the opportunity to enjoy them."

Spotlight: Betty Brinn Children's Museum

One of this year's grant recipients is the Betty Brinn Children's Museum. The museum is dedicated to providing educational resources that promote healthy development of children and families. The partnership extends beyond the walls of the museum itself with multiple touch points in the community that support other causes Northwestern Mutual champions. This year's funding will support the Museum's Family Focus program, Neighborhood Nights and, new in 2017, the Know & Grow program.

The Know & Grow program further supports children and families in Milwaukee neighborhoods by bringing the Museum's parent-engagement, school-readiness, and STEAM-based programs as well as literacy activities to schools, churches, and community centers.

Since 1995, the museum has promoted healthy development of children from birth through age 10. The museum annually attracts more than 200,000 visitors, including 30,000 children and adults who benefit from on-site museum outreach programs designed to meet the needs of disadvantaged families in our community.

2017 Destinations Grant Recipients

Organization Betty Brinn Children's Museum Brewers Community Foundation Discovery World Marcus Center for the Performing Arts Milwaukee Art Museum Milwaukee Public Museum Milwaukee Public Schools and Milwaukee Bucks partnership Summerfest Zoological Society of Milwaukee

In addition to making Milwaukee a great place to live and work, Northwestern Mutual is committed to improving the lives of children and families in need. Together with partners, the Foundation works to strengthen education and local neighborhoods, and find a cure for childhood cancer.

About Northwestern Mutual Foundation

The mission of the Northwestern Mutual Foundation is to improve the lives of children and families in need. The Foundation has given more than $300 million since its inception in 1992 and is designed to create lasting impact in the communities where the company's employees and financial representatives live and work. We accomplish this by combining financial support, volunteerism, thought leadership and convening community partners to deliver the best outcomes. Our efforts are focused nationally on curing childhood cancer, and locally on education, neighborhoods and making our hometown of Milwaukee a great destination.

About Northwestern Mutual

Northwestern Mutual has been helping families and businesses achieve financial security for 160 years. Through a distinctive, whole-picture planning approach including both insurance and investments, we empower people to be financially confident so they can live life differently. We combine the expertise of our financial professionals with a personalized digital experience to help our clients navigate their financial lives every day. With $250.4 billion in assets, $28.2 billion in revenues, and more than $1.6 trillion worth of life insurance protection in force, Northwestern Mutual delivers financial security to more than 4.4 million people who rely on us for life, disability income and long-term care insurance, annuities, brokerage and advisory services, trust services, and discretionary portfolio management solutions. The company holds more than $100 billion of client assets as a part of its wealth management company and investment services. Northwestern Mutual ranks 100 on the 2016 FORTUNE 500 and is recognized by FORTUNE as one of the "World's Most Admired" life insurance companies in 2017.

Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company (NM), Milwaukee, WI (life and disability insurance, annuities, and life insurance with long-term care benefits) and its subsidiaries. Northwestern Mutual and its subsidiaries offer a comprehensive approach to financial security solutions including: life insurance, long-term care insurance, disability income insurance, annuities, life insurance with long-term care benefits, investment products, and advisory products and services. Subsidiaries include Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC (NMIS) (securities), broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, member FINRA and SIPC; the Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company (NMWMC) (fiduciary and fee-based financial planning services), federal savings bank; and Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Company (NLTC) (long-term care insurance).

SOURCE Northwestern Mutual

Related Links

http://www.northwesternmutual.com


UPPSALA, Sweden, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Financial overview Q1 2017

Total net revenues SEK 127.4 million (151.0)

(151.0) Zubsolv net revenue SEK 114.1 million (98.4)

(98.4) EBIT SEK -23.2 million (-26.2)

(-26.2) EBITDA SEK -18.1 million (-19.4)

(-19.4) Earnings per share, before and after dilution, SEK -1.00 /-1.00 (-1.00/-1.00)

/-1.00 (-1.00/-1.00) Cash flow from operating activities SEK 28.2 million (33.5)

(33.5) Cash and cash equivalents SEK 250.6 million (233.0)

(233.0) Guidance issued in connection with Full Year Report 2016 confirmed

Other highlights Q1 2017

Completion of another bond buyback program amounting to a nominal value of SEK 59 million

Orexo commenced a patent infringement litigation against Actavis for their generic versions of Suboxone and Subutex tablets in the US

CEO comments

Zubsolv growth in the US drives improved profitability in the commercial operations

In a dynamic market environment, I am pleased to report that net sales for Zubsolv US in Q1 2017 increased with 15.9 percent from Q1 2016 and our US business continues to contribute positively to the Orexo revenues and earnings. With this growth and positive contribution from our US business, I can confirm our financial guidance of positive EBITDA for the full year.

We are encouraged to see an accelerating growth in the market for treatment of opioid dependence reaching 9.7 percent in the first quarter compared to a growth of 7.6 percent in Q4 2016. This is a trend break as Q1 traditionally is weaker than Q4. The growth this year is primarily driven by the physicians certified to expand to 275 patients and most of the growth is in the public segment. The commercial segment has followed the trend from previous years with Q1 slightly below Q4 volumes. We expect the commercial segment to improve in the next quarters and we are pleased to see the growth in commercial pick-up late in the quarter. This is important for Orexo as we have better market access, market share and pay less rebates in the commercial segment.

During the quarter, I have spent time in the US meeting healthcare professionals treating opioid dependence. The feedback on Zubsolv and our work in the US is positive, we have a strong brand awareness both as a company and on a product level with Zubsolv. However, market access remains an important driver of physicians' choice of medication and we need to work relentlessly to open up the market for more unrestricted access for Zubsolv. I know our message resonates well, but physicians need to move out of their comfort zone and direct their patients to get a treatment with Zubsolv versus a "drug" most patients have tried before even starting medical treatment, since they were buying it on the street as a part of their illicit opioid misuse.

Another key event during the quarter was a new litigation against Actavis for infringement of our patent 8,454,996 with their generic versions of Suboxone and Subutex. The validity of the '996 patent was confirmed by the district court and Actavis has not appealed the decision. Actavis has been successful with the generic version of Suboxone and was the market leader the first year after launch in March 2013. The total cumulated gross sales of the generic versions of Suboxone and Subutex exceed USD 500 million and Orexo will seek compensation for damages caused by Actavis's infringement of the '996 patent.

I remain confident that we will continue to see a positive development of Zubsolv and Orexo, spurred by improved market and volume growth in the US. Beyond Zubsolv in the US, our pipeline is progressing well. Zubsolv launch in Europe is anticipated early next year, we have concrete discussions with partners for OX51 and OX-MPI and we have some exciting new formulation technologies which could be ready for first clinical trials already this year. With our continued strengthening of our financial position, with six consecutive quarters with positive cash flow from operating activities, we are well positioned to capture the opportunities and continue the development of Orexo.

Nikolaj Srensen

President and CEO

For further information, please contact :

Nikolaj Srensen, President and CEO, or Henrik Juuel, EVP and CFO

Tel +46-18-780-88 -0

E-mail [email protected]

Teleconference

CEO Nikolaj Srensen and CFO Henrik Juuel will present the report at a teleconference on April 20, 2017, at 2:00pm CET. Please view instructions below on how to participate.

Internet: https://wonderland.videosync.fi/orexo-q1-report-2017. Telephone: (SE) +46 8 566 425 09, (UK) +44 20 300 89 807 or (US) +1 855 831 5945. There will be a Q&A session and questions can also be sent in advance to [email protected] at latest 11am CET. The presentation will be available at Orexos website one hour prior to the teleconference.

This information is information that Orexo AB (publ.) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 8.00am CET on April 20, 2017.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

http://news.cision.com/orexo/r/interim-report-q1-2017,c2242893

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE Orexo
NEW YORK, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. ("Cantor" or the "Firm"), a leading financial services company, today announced that Pascal Bandelier will join the Firm as its Global Head of Equities, based in New York.

Mr. Anshu Jain, President of Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P., commented: "We are pleased to welcome Pascal to Cantor Fitzgerald. He brings with him a proven track record of building and managing Equities businesses across various risk cycles. Most importantly, Pascal has a wealth of deep and trusted institutional client relationships, which will be a huge asset to the Firm."



Mr. Bandelier most recently served as the Head of Equities Trading at Barclays, where he was responsible for Trading, Sales, and Desk Analysts.

About Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald, a leading global financial services group at the forefront of financial and technological innovation has been a proven and resilient leader for over 65 years. Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. is a preeminent investment bank serving more than 7,000 institutional clients around the world, recognized for its strengths in fixed income and equity capital markets, investment banking, prime brokerage, and commercial real estate finance and for its global distribution platform. Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. is one of 23 primary dealers authorized to trade U.S. government securities with The Federal Reserve Bank of New York. For more information, please visit www.cantor.com.

Note to Editors: Howard W. Lutnick, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, and Anshu Jain, President, lead Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P., the parent company of Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.

SOURCE Cantor Fitzgerald

Related Links

http://www.cantor.com


LISLE, Ill., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Navistar International Corporation (NYSE: NAV) today announced that Phil Christman has been promoted to President, Operations, effective immediately. His scope of responsibilities will include procurement, product development, manufacturing and supply chain. He will report to Persio Lisboa, Navistar's chief operating officer.

"Over the past two years, Phil has done an outstanding job of helping Navistar complete its turnaround and plan for the future, most recently developing our long-term growth strategy focused on driving operational excellence, growing the core business and building new sources of revenue," said Lisboa. "Phil has the knowledge, operational experience and passion to help us further strengthen our operations."

Christman has been with Navistar for nearly 30 years. During this time, he has held leadership roles in engineering, led Navistar's severe service and global businesses, ran the company's procurement and supply chain functions, and most recently, served as senior vice president, Joint Strategic Operations & Planning. In that role, he led benchmarking initiatives focused on making the company more competitive and played a vital role in developing the strategy that led to Navistar's alliance with Volkswagen Truck & Bus.

Christman holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Indiana Institute of Technology and a master's in business administration from Ball State University.

About Navistar

Navistar International Corporation (NYSE: NAV) is a holding company whose subsidiaries and affiliates produce International brand commercial and military trucks, proprietary diesel engines, and IC Bus brand school and commercial buses. An affiliate also provides truck and diesel engine service parts. Another affiliate offers financing services. Additional information is available at www.Navistar.com.

SOURCE Navistar International Corporation

Related Links

http://www.navistar.com


CYPRESS, Calif., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pink Taco, the iconic, playful Mexican restaurant brand, announced today that it has executed lease agreements to open restaurants in Chicago and Miami as part of an accelerated growth strategy.

The two new planned Pink Taco restaurants, which will complement current locations in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, will be:

A 9,600-square-foot space located at 162 West Hubbard Street (at the intersection with North Wells Street) in Chicago's renowned River North neighborhood, featuring a wraparound seasonal outdoor patio and expected to open later this year; and

renowned neighborhood, featuring a wraparound seasonal outdoor patio and expected to open later this year; and A 5,000-square-foot oceanfront space located at 1200 Ocean Drive (at 12th Street) in Miami's South Beach, offering beautiful views and an expansive, year-round outdoor patio and scheduled to open in 2018.

In addition, Pink Taco is actively looking to expand by opening restaurants in other premier metropolitan areas across the United States, including New York City, Boston, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Pink Taco is focused on finding the right spaces for its unique restaurant experience in densely populated, high-profile urban areas that cater to a live, work, play lifestyle and benefit from convention, business, retail and tourism traffic.

"We are excited to introduce Pink Taco to Chicago and Miami and see this expansion as the next step in our plans to elevate the brand rapidly across the nation," said Mike Zoob, Pink Taco Vice President of Real Estate. "Pink Taco offers a unique dining experience that we believe is scalable when you match the operational know-how of our partners with the particular dining tastes and needs of local communities to create one-of-a-kind locations. We will continue to work with strategic real estate partners across the country to provide on-the-ground support in identifying and securing ideal urban locations for continued expansion."

Pink Taco was founded by Harry Morton, a third-generation restaurateur, at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas in 1999, and its restaurants are known for serving a hip spin on tacos and tequila. Z Capital Partners, L.L.C. ("Z Capital Partners"), the private equity management arm of Z Capital Group, L.L.C, acquired Pink Taco in April 2016 to expand the brand across the United States and internationally by leveraging the restaurant operations, marketing and branding expertise of Real Mex Restaurants ("Real Mex"), the largest full-service, casual dining Mexican restaurant chain operator in the United States. Z Capital Partners has been the largest shareholder of Real Mex since 2013.

The Pink Taco restaurants in Chicago and Miami will be open for brunch, lunch and dinner as well as late-night hours, and will serve its craveable and seasonal food and drinks, including signature tacos, margaritas, salads, taco bowls and more. The company plans to deploy branded food trucks in each city months before the openings to introduce the Pink Taco food and culture.

For Pink Taco real estate inquiries please contact Mike Zoob: [email protected] or (714) 812-7825.

ABOUT PINK TACO

Pink Taco started in 1999, with a vision to keep it real: serve only farm-fresh food and quality cocktails in an energetic and vibrant restaurant. Pink Taco thinks local and keeps things uncomplicated. Whether it's a strawberry margarita served in a real pineapple or signature chicken "Pink Tacos," bright flavors and playful presentations are the hallmarks of Pink Taco's constantly inspired menu. Pink Taco restaurants are located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, and in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information, please visit www.pinktaco.com.

ABOUT REAL MEX RESTAURANTS

Headquartered in Cypress, California, Real Mex Restaurants is the largest full-service, casual dining Mexican restaurant chain operator in the United States with approximately 85 company-owned and operated restaurants, as well as approximately 15 franchised locations. Real Mex brands include El Torito Restaurants, Acapulco Mexican Restaurants, Chevys Fresh Mex Restaurants, El Torito Grill Restaurants, Pink Taco on the Sunset Strip, Las Brisas Restaurant in Laguna Beach, Sinigual Restaurant in New York City and Who Song and Larry's Cal-Mex Cantina in Vancouver, Washington. For more information, please visit www.realmexrestaurants.com.

ABOUT Z CAPITAL PARTNERS

Z Capital Group, L.L.C. is a leading alternative asset management firm with $2.3 billion in regulatory assets under management across complementary private equity and credit businesses. Z Capital manages both opportunistic, value-oriented private equity and credit funds with offices in New York, NY; and Lake Forest, IL.

Z Capital's investors are some of the largest and most sophisticated global institutional investors in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East including, public and corporate pension funds, university endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, central banks, and insurance companies. For more information, please visit www.zcapgroup.net.

Pink Taco / Real Mex Contact:

Steve Greer

Vice President of Marketing

[email protected]

Z Capital Contact:

Julie Oakes / Tim Ragones / Kate Clark

Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

212-355-4449

SOURCE Pink Taco

Related Links

http://www.pinktaco.com


CHICAGO and SOUTHFIELD, Mich., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- P&M Corporate Finance, LLC ("PMCF") is pleased to announce that it served as the exclusive financial advisor to Keystone Aniline Corporation and its Keystone Europe Limited subsidiary (collectively, the "Company" or "Keystone") in the sale of its assets to Milliken & Company ("Milliken"), a global diversified industrial technology company with expertise across a breadth of disciplines, including specialty chemicals, floor covering and performance materials.

Founded in 1920 and based in Chicago, Illinois with additional locations in Inman, South Carolina and Huddersfield, England, Keystone is a leader in the dye and pigment colorants market, as a rare integrated provider of both dyes and pigments. Keystone has carved out a unique position in the colorant sector by combining strengths in custom formulation, product design and regulatory support for its diverse customer base. Keystone has deep industry expertise across multiple segments, including plastics; agriculture; industrial color compounding ("ICC"); and inks, coatings and paper.

John Andrews, CEO of Keystone, remarked, "As a multi-generation family business, the continuation of the legacy built by the Andrews' family was at the forefront of our minds as we discussed a potential transaction with Milliken. We quickly learned that Milliken, also a longtime family-owned business, shared a similar culture toward its employees and customers." Mr. Andrews added, "Keystone's fundamental core competency is our ability to provide strong technical support to our customers employing bespoke solutions such as custom formulations, specialty processing and specialty packaging. We believe Keystone will allow Milliken to enhance and significantly grow its mainstream color capabilities while Milliken's global recognition and presence will accelerate Keystone's growth across key markets."

PMCF was hired to serve as Keystone's investment banker and lead the sale process. Mr. Andrews noted, "When we began the process, we were aware of the need for a financial advisor with the technical expertise to navigate the intricacies of a transaction and guide us through this complex process. However, as important to us was a team that truly appreciated the importance of a transaction to the Keystone legacy. We found both with the PMCF team, who shepherded us through every step of this journey, and are extremely happy with the final outcome."

The transaction closed on April 12, 2017.

ABOUT PMCF

PMCF is a middle-market investment bank providing merger and acquisition advisory services to companies in North America and Europe. PMCF provides a broad range of services including sale advisory, acquisition advisory, capital raising, and strategic advisory. The firm has dedicated industry teams providing services to industrials, business services, plastics and packaging, and medical technology industries. PMCF has offices in Chicago, Detroit, and globally through our ownership in Corporate Finance International. For more information, visit www.pmcf.com.

SOURCE P&M Corporate Finance

Related Links

http://www.pmcf.com


NEW YORK, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Overview:



Enhanced 9-1-1 is a North American telephone network (NANP) feature of the 9-1-1 emergency-calling system that automatically associates a physical address with the calling party's telephone number. A second phase of Enhanced 9-1-1 service allows a wireless device to be located geographically using various radio-location technologies from the cellular network, or by using a Global Positioning System (GPS) built into the phone itself.





Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04547430/Public-Safety-Technology-and-Solutions-Market-Analysis-and-USA-Forecasts.html







Originally adopted in 1996, and with a last major revision in 2010, location determination standards were based solely on the measured performance of outdoor wireless 9-1-1 calls. Moving beyond phase II, more recent efforts from the FCC and public safety organizations are leading towards dramatically improved indoor location determination.



No single technology approach will solve the challenge of improved indoor location accuracy, but rather a mixture of solutions such as WiFi, RFID, Bluetooth, and others



Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG911) is an initiative to update 9-1-1 service infrastructure in the United States and Canada. NG911 migration is focused on transitioning the current traditional 9-1-1 environment to an operational model based on secure IP transport, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), modern network functional elements and changing responsibilities between a telecommunications service provider and a local 9-1-1 authorities. Public safety agencies look to lower operating costs through conversion to less-expensive IP-based systems and provide the public with more advanced communications options, such as text-to-911 and other multi-media communications (video, photos, etc.).



Public safety is much more than just dialing an emergency number as integrated communications and information is critical for optimal emergency response and coordination. Accordingly, all industry constituents are looking towards 4G/LTE to provide major improvements over existing LMR communications systems for emergency responders. It is anticipated that LTE will provide the high-speed data performance necessary to support the multimedia applications on which today's public safety agencies are increasingly relying.



Emerging technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) are expected to improve emergency response effectiveness and also protect first responders themselves. Coupled with LTE, 5G, and other broadband wireless systems, AR and other technologies will bring about an entirely new class of public safety applications and services that are heretofore inconceivable.



Leveraging Big Data Analytics and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies for public safety is also important for the future of public safety. There is an increasing demand for ubiquitous data connection for the public safety community. Data connectivity of the future will come from many sources, many of which will be machine-to-machine based, requiring little or no human interaction. There is also an opportunity to improve public safety by leveraging data analytics, especially in the area of real-time processing at the edge.



This report evaluates the current state of public safety technology and solutions and assesses emerging technologies and potential future solutions. The report also provides forecasts for public safety technology spending in the United States for 2016 through 2020. All purchases of Mind Commerce reports includes time with an expert analyst who will help you link key findings in the report to the business issues you're addressing. This needs to be used within three months of purchasing the report.





Report Benefits:

Forecasts for USA 2016 to 2020

Understand current public safety technologies

Identify emerging tech and solutions for public safety

Understand the use of Big Data and IoT for public safety

Learn about GIS, positioning, and location management methods

Learn about the impact of LTE on next generation public safety apps

R&D and planners in other regions will learn about USA public safety





Target Audience:

Network operators

System integrators

LMR radio suppliers

Public safety agencies

Public safety app developers

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04547430/Public-Safety-Technology-and-Solutions-Market-Analysis-and-USA-Forecasts.html



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



http://www.reportlinker.com





__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

http://www.reportlinker.com


NEW YORK, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Acclaimed architecture and urban design firm Cooper Robertson has announced its selection to develop a new vision and master plan for Drury University, as the leading academic institution opens a new chapter in its history.

The master-planning initiative, which will help reshape and enhance the Drury University campus and its surroundings, is part of a three-pronged action plan underway at the 3,570-student, private liberal arts college in Springfield, Missouri. Led by Drury University's president, Dr. J. Timothy Cloyd, the school is undertaking the new master plan, repositioning undergraduate degree programs, and initiating a campaign to fund new buildings and improvements to mark its 150th anniversary.

The selection of Cooper Robertson follows on new mission and strategic development by Cloyd, whose past work has been chronicled by The New York Times. Cooper Robertson is active on many campuses including Longwood University, University of Delaware, North Carolina State, and Lyford Cay International School. The firm has also developed long-term plans and designed buildings for Ohio State, University of North Carolina, Cal Tech, Yale University, Hunter College, and Georgetown, among others.

"We are delighted to have the involvement of Cooper Robertson with our leadership team and other experts supporting Drury University's new initiatives," said Drury University's Cloyd. "As Drury moves into a new era, it will be crucial for us to craft a vision of our physical campus that not only reflects our academic values, but enhances our profile regionally and nationally."

The backdrop for this campus planning initiative is Cloyd's Strategic Positioning Platform, which includes recruiting of world-class talent to Springfield to lead the intellectual process in leveraging its physical assets, local connections and excellent national reputation, to achieve the best outcomes through broad engagement and focused creativity.

As a first step, in coming weeks Drury University will host a charrette--its first of several collaborative idea-sessions to inform the master-planning process--with campus leaders and community groups. "In this process, the University and other stakeholders become part of the design team, taking part in a shared design vision and exploration," says John Kirk, AIA, a partner with Cooper Robertson.

Cooper Robertson has earned wide acclaim for its campus projects, and its work on New York's Battery Park City reimagined an entire swath of waterfront not far from Wall Street. One critic noted, "There are few firms in the United States, perhaps the world, with such a broad range of work completed with incomparable finesse."

"The new campus master plan will help make lasting, memorable connections, over time weaving the campus together, allowing for cohesive expansion, and connecting to surrounding communities," says Kirk. "This will help make Drury University a world-class destination, school of choice and memorable place for all who live and visit here."

CONTACT: Chris Sullivan, 914-462-2096

SOURCE Cooper Robertson
HOUSTON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Reveal Energy Services, an oilfield start-up, announced today equity funding from Lime Rock Partners. Reveal Energy Services provides cost-effective and efficient solutions for hydraulic fracture mapping and monitoring to validate oil and gas well completions designs.

"We are grateful to have an investor of the caliber of Lime Rock Partners," said Sudhendu Kashikar, CEO of Reveal Energy Services. "This investment will accelerate the company's commercial growth."

Founded in 2016 by Statoil Technology Invest as a spin-out of research and development work by Statoil, the company's innovative technology generates hydraulic fracture maps of unprecedented accuracy and quality at minimum operational risk and cost using only surface pressure measurements from observation wells. The technology, comprising proprietary software and earth models, extends initial research by Statoil into the poromechanical reservoir response to hydraulic fracturing operations.

During the first nine months of field work as one of the newest oilfield service providers, Reveal Energy Services successfully launched its patent-pending IMAGE Frac pressure-based fracture geometry service that is ideal for multiwell pad development. The service has been field proven in more than 100 wells across 7 US shale basins for 7 major North America oil and gas operators.

"Statoil wanted a solution for hydraulic fracture mapping that was sufficiently cost effective and reliable on every pad. It had to have a low operational footprint," said Kate Beck, Asset Manager, Statoil. "Reveal Energy Services is taking our work to the marketplace and extending its functionality."

Throughout last year, Reveal Energy Services field-tested additional solutions to improve completions designs and field development. DiverterSCAN technology provides insight into diverter effectiveness. ProppantSCAN technology quantifies proppant placement. The company is also engineering products to quantify the rate of fracture growth versus time and pumped volume.

In addition to the capital investment, Trevor Burgess and Oliver Phillips of Lime Rock Partners are joining the Reveal Energy Services board of directors.

"Conventional fracture mapping solutions are too expensive and intrusive. Reveal Energy Services has exactly what the industry is looking for: a low-cost and extensively validated solution. We believe this solution has the potential to become an integral part of every pad development as a quality control technology during hydraulic fracturing," Burgess said.

Reveal Energy Services continues to build a robust project pipeline and reputation as an indispensable partner of customers' field development operations.

About Reveal Energy Services

Reveal Energy Services provides fast, accurate, and cost-effective maps of hydraulically induced fractures to the energy industry. With the flagship IMAGE Frac pressure-based fracture geometry service and companion DiverterSCAN technology and ProppantSCAN technology solutions, the company offers unparalleled diagnostic insight into well and stage spacing decisions, completions design effectiveness, and the influence of nearby hazards. Reveal Energy Services was formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of Statoil Gulf Services in January 2016. The company is privately held and funded by Statoil and Lime Rock Partners. For more information, please visit: http://www.reveal-energy.com

About Lime Rock Partners

Since its inception in 1998, Lime Rock Management has raised $7.4 billion in private equity funds and affiliated co-investment vehicles for investment in the energy industry through Lime Rock Partners, investors of growth capital in E&P and oilfield services companies worldwide, and Lime Rock Resources, acquirers and operators of oil and gas properties in the United States. Lime Rock Partners is a creative investment partner in building differentiated oil and gas businesses, side by side, with entrepreneurs every day. The Lime Rock Partners team brings together specialist finance and operating expertise, technology leadership, people-centered strategies, and patient hard work with the goal of helping its investors and portfolio company partners profit from operational growth. For more information, please visit: http://www.lrpartners.com

About Statoil

Statoil is an international energy company with operations in 37 countries. Building on more than 40 years of experience from oil and gas production on the Norwegian continental shelf, we are committed to accommodating the world's energy needs in a responsible manner, applying technology and creating innovative business solutions. We are headquartered in Stavanger, Norway, with approximately 22,000 employees worldwide, and are listed on the New York and Oslo stock exchanges. Statoil Technology Invest is Statoil's corporate oil and gas technology venture unit managing a portfolio of some 20 early phase technology companies and investing in ventures with the purpose of providing substantial operational value to Statoil as a user of technology as well as solid financial return. The company's North American headquarters is based in Houston, Texas.

Contact:

Sudhendu Kashikar

[email protected]

2107 CityWest Blvd.

Houston, Texas 77042

Ph. +1.832.529.1895

SOURCE Reveal Energy Services

Related Links

http://www.reveal-energy.com


SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Technical Institute (NYSE: UTI) has appointed Robert DeVincenzi as a member of its board of directors.

DeVincenzi has a 35-year career in the technology sector, most recently as president and CEO of Redflex Holdings Limited, a global business focused on road, vehicle, and pedestrian safety products and services. After stepping down as CEO in January 2014, he continues to serve Redflex Holdings as a non-executive member of the board of directors.

In addition, he is a principal partner in Lupine Ventures, a business advisory firm that provides strategic consulting and corporate development advisory services, and has previously consulted with UTI. DeVincenzi also serves as an adjunct professor of Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics at California State University, Monterey Bay.

"Bob is an outstanding business leader and strategist who understands the industry we serve," said Kim McWaters, Chairman & CEO. "As a consultant, he added great value to our business, and his expertise in sales and marketing will support our work to rebuild our student population. He has experience leading publicly traded companies and is known for tackling tough issues, delivering meaningful results and generating value for investors. We are thrilled to have him join UTI's board of directors."

Prior to joining Redflex, DeVincenzi was president and CEO of LaserCard Corporation, a provider of biometric and secure identity products and services. In addition, he was president and chief executive officer of Inkra Networks Inc., a provider of integrated network security products, and of Ignis Optics Inc., a fiber-optic components developer. He served as senior vice president of corporate development for Solectron Inc., a leader in electronics manufacturing services, and also has held senior leadership and sales and marketing roles with industry leaders such as Ditech Communications, Nortel, Compression Labs and AT&T.

DeVincenzi holds a bachelor of science degree in Business Administration from California State University, San Luis Obispo and a master of arts degree in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University. He is a certified public company director (ACCD).

About Universal Technical Institute, Inc.

Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE: UTI) is the leading provider of post-secondary education for students seeking careers as professional automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle and marine technicians. With more than 200,000 graduates in its 52-year history, UTI offers undergraduate degree and diploma programs at 12 campuses across the United States, as well as manufacturer-specific training programs at dedicated training centers. Through its campus-based school system, UTI provides specialized post-secondary education programs under the banner of several well-known brands, including Universal Technical Institute (UTI), Motorcycle Mechanics Institute and Marine Mechanics Institute (MMI) and NASCAR Technical Institute (NASCAR Tech). For more information visit www.uti.edu .

Contact:

Jody Kent

Vice President, Communications and Public Affairs

Universal Technical Institute, Inc.

(623) 445-0872

SOURCE Universal Technical Institute, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.uti.edu


MENLO PARK, Calif., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE symbol: RHI) today reported revenues and earnings for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2017, net income was $79 million, or $.62 per share, on revenues of $1.29 billion. Net income for the prior year's first quarter was $83 million, or $.64 per share, on revenues of $1.30 billion.

"We were pleased with our financial results for the first quarter, particularly our international staffing operations and Protiviti," said Harold M. Messmer, Jr., chairman and CEO of Robert Half. "Return on invested capital was 29 percent during the quarter."

Commenting further on the results, Messmer said: "While the U.S. economic environment is largely stable, and the job market is strong, the hiring cycle remains uncharacteristically long as employers take more time to make hiring decisions. Recent reports show a noticeable improvement in optimism about U.S. economic prospects, which should shorten the hiring cycle and benefit our business."

Robert Half management will conduct a conference call today at 5 p.m. EDT. The prepared remarks for this call are available now in the Investor Center of the Robert Half website ( www.roberthalf.com/investor-center ). Simply click on the Quarterly Conference Calls link. The dial-in number to listen to today's conference call is 877-814-0475 (+1-706-643-9224 outside the United States). The password is "Robert Half."

A taped recording of this call will be available for replay beginning at approximately 8 p.m. EDT today and ending at 11:59 p.m. EDT on May 20. The dial-in number for the replay is 855-859-2056 (+1-404-537-3406 outside the United States). To access the replay, enter conference ID# 97658080. The conference call also will be archived in audio format on the company's website at www.roberthalf.com/investor-center .

Founded in 1948, Robert Half is the world's first and largest specialized staffing firm and a recognized leader in professional consulting and staffing services. The company's specialized staffing divisions include Accountemps, Robert Half Finance & Accounting and Robert Half Management Resources, for temporary, full-time and senior-level project professionals, respectively, in the fields of accounting and finance; OfficeTeam, for highly skilled administrative support professionals; Robert Half Technology, for project and full-time technology professionals; Robert Half Legal, for project and full-time staffing of lawyers, paralegals and legal support personnel; and The Creative Group, for interactive, design, marketing, advertising and public relations professionals. Robert Half also is the parent company of Protiviti, a global consulting firm that provides clients with consulting solutions in finance, technology, operations, data, analytics, governance, risk and internal audit.

Robert Half has staffing and consulting operations in more than 400 locations worldwide.

Certain information contained in this press release and its attachments may be deemed forward-looking statements regarding events and financial trends that may affect the company's future operating results or financial positions. These statements may be identified by words such as "estimate", "forecast", "project", "plan", "intend", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", or variations or negatives thereof, or by similar or comparable words or phrases. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the statements.

These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: the global financial and economic situation; changes in levels of unemployment and other economic conditions in the United States or foreign countries where the company does business, or in particular regions or industries; reduction in the supply of candidates for temporary employment or the company's ability to attract candidates; the entry of new competitors into the marketplace or expansion by existing competitors; the ability of the company to maintain existing client relationships and attract new clients in the context of changing economic or competitive conditions; the impact of competitive pressures, including any change in the demand for the company's services, on the company's ability to maintain its margins; the possibility of the company incurring liability for its activities, including the activities of its temporary employees, or for events impacting its temporary employees on clients' premises; the possibility that adverse publicity could impact the company's ability to attract and retain clients and candidates; the success of the company in attracting, training, and retaining qualified management personnel and other staff employees; the company's ability to comply with governmental regulations affecting personnel services businesses in particular or employer/employee relationships in general; whether there will be ongoing demand for Sarbanes-Oxley or other regulatory compliance services; the company's reliance on short-term contracts for a significant percentage of its business; litigation relating to prior or current transactions or activities, including litigation that may be disclosed from time to time in the company's SEC filings; the ability of the company to manage its international operations and comply with foreign laws and regulations; the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the possibility that the additional costs the company will incur as a result of healthcare reform legislation may adversely affect the company's profit margins or the demand for the company's services; the possibility that the company's computer and communications hardware and software systems could be damaged or their service interrupted; and the possibility that the company may fail to maintain adequate financial and management controls and as a result suffer errors in its financial reporting.

Additionally, with respect to Protiviti, other risks and uncertainties include the fact that future success will depend on its ability to retain employees and attract clients; there can be no assurance that there will be ongoing demand for Sarbanes-Oxley or other regulatory compliance services; failure to produce projected revenues could adversely affect financial results; and there is the possibility of involvement in litigation relating to prior or current transactions or activities.

Because long-term contracts are not a significant part of the company's business, future results cannot be reliably predicted by considering past trends or extrapolating past results. The company undertakes no obligation to update information contained in this release.

A copy of this release is available at www.roberthalf.com/investor-center .

ATTACHED :

Summary of Operations Supplemental Financial Information Non-GAAP Financial Measures



ROBERT HALF INTERNATIONAL INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS (in thousands, except per share amounts)





















Quarter Ended March 31,



2017

2016



(Unaudited)









Net service revenues

$ 1,287,370



$ 1,302,625

Direct costs of services

761,542



770,653











Gross margin

525,828



531,972











Selling, general and administrative expenses

400,249



398,074

Amortization of intangible assets

301



288

Interest income, net

(223)



(181)











Income before income taxes

125,501



133,791

Provision for income taxes

46,980



50,375











Net income

$ 78,521



$ 83,416











Diluted net income per share

$ .62



$ .64











Shares:







Basic

125,537



129,281

Diluted

126,418



130,137



ROBERT HALF INTERNATIONAL INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES SUPPLEMENTAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION (in thousands)

































Quarter Ended March 31,



2017

2016



(Unaudited) REVENUES:















Accountemps

$ 436,539



34.0 %

$ 448,538



34.4 % OfficeTeam

236,179



18.3 %

240,720



18.5 % Robert Half Technology

157,439



12.2 %

164,273



12.6 % Robert Half Management Resources

157,449



12.2 %

155,634



12.0 % Robert Half Finance & Accounting

103,633



8.1 %

106,289



8.1 % Protiviti

196,131



15.2 %

187,171



14.4 % Total

$ 1,287,370



100.0 %

$ 1,302,625



100.0 %

















GROSS MARGIN:















Temporary and consultant staffing

$ 369,364



37.4 %

$ 374,588



37.1 % Permanent placement staffing

103,431



99.8 %

106,139



99.9 % Risk consulting and internal audit services

53,033



27.0 %

51,245



27.4 % Total

$ 525,828



40.8 %

$ 531,972



40.8 %

















OPERATING INCOME:















Temporary and consultant staffing

$ 90,371



9.2 %

$ 97,883



9.7 % Permanent placement staffing

18,302



17.7 %

21,502



20.2 % Risk consulting and internal audit services

16,906



8.6 %

14,513



7.8 % Total

$ 125,579



9.8 %

$ 133,898



10.3 %

















SELECTED CASH FLOW INFORMATION:















Amortization of intangible assets

$ 301







$ 288





Depreciation expense

$ 15,899







$ 15,123





Capital expenditures

$ 10,335







$ 18,810





Open market repurchases of common stock (shares)

1,120







682







ROBERT HALF INTERNATIONAL INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES SUPPLEMENTAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION (in thousands)





















March 31,



2017

2016



(Unaudited) SELECTED BALANCE SHEET INFORMATION:







Cash and cash equivalents

$ 260,143



$ 214,119

Accounts receivable, less allowances

$ 700,419



$ 734,378

Total assets

$ 1,775,210



$ 1,713,212

Current liabilities

$ 682,600



$ 655,317

Notes payable and other indebtedness, less current portion

$ 795



$ 966

Total stockholders' equity

$ 1,080,943



$ 1,044,953



ROBERT HALF INTERNATIONAL INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

The financial results of Robert Half International Inc. (the "Company") are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") and the rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). To help readers understand the Company's financial performance, the Company supplements its GAAP financial results with revenue growth rates derived from non-GAAP revenue amounts.

Variations in the Company's financial results include the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates and billing days. The Company provides "same billing days and constant currency" revenue growth calculations to remove the impact of these items. These calculations show the year-over-year revenue growth rates for the Company's lines of business on both a reported basis and also on a same-day, constant-currency basis for global, U.S. and international operations. This information is presented for each of the six most recent quarters. The Company has provided this data because management believes it better reflects the Company's actual revenue growth rates and aids in evaluating revenue trends over time. The Company expresses year-over-year revenue changes as calculated percentages using the same number of billing days and constant currency exchange rates.

The non-GAAP financial measures provided herein may not provide information that is directly comparable to that provided by other companies in the Company's industry, as other companies may calculate such financial results differently. The Company's non-GAAP financial measures are not measurements of financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to actual revenue growth derived from revenue amounts presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company does not consider these non-GAAP financial measures to be a substitute for, or superior to, the information provided by GAAP financial results. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is provided on the following pages.

ROBERT HALF INTERNATIONAL INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

REVENUE GROWTH RATES (%) (UNAUDITED):





















































Year-Over-Year Growth Rates

(As Reported)

Non-GAAP Year-Over-Year Growth Rates

(Same Billing Days and Constant Currency)



2015

2016

2017

2015

2016

2017



Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1 Global















































Accountemps

5.8

8.4

7.1

4.2

-3.0

-2.7

7.5

8.3

6.5

4.9

-0.8

-3.3 OfficeTeam

4.1

4.2

1.8

-1.5

-4.7

-1.9

5.8

3.7

0.6

-1.3

-3.0

-2.6 RH Technology

9.6

6.8

1.8

-1.6

-4.9

-4.2

10.2

6.2

0.9

-1.4

-3.4

-5.2 RH Management Resources

4.0

7.5

10.2

3.1

-3.7

1.2

7.1

7.7

9.4

3.7

-1.3

0.8 Temporary and consultant staffing

5.7

7.0

5.4

1.6

-3.8

-2.1

7.4

6.7

4.5

2.1

-1.8

-2.8 Permanent placement staffing

5.1

8.0

2.6

-5.1

-7.1

-2.5

8.2

8.6

2.1

-4.5

-4.9

-3.1 Total staffing

5.7

7.1

5.1

1.0

-4.1

-2.2

7.5

6.9

4.3

1.5

-2.1

-2.8 Protiviti

13.9

14.4

9.2

7.4

3.2

4.8

15.4

13.7

8.3

7.8

5.3

4.2 Total

6.8

8.1

5.7

2.0

-3.0

-1.2

8.7

7.8

4.9

2.4

-1.0

-1.8

















































United States































Temporary and consultant staffing

9.2

8.5

4.6

0.4

-4.9

-4.4

8.2

7.3

3.5

0.6

-3.5

-5.6 Permanent placement staffing

11.5

12.9

3.8

-5.2

-9.4

-6.4

10.5

11.6

2.7

-5.0

-8.1

-7.6 Total staffing

9.4

8.9

4.5

-0.1

-5.3

-4.6

8.4

7.6

3.4

0.1

-3.9

-5.8 Protiviti

15.5

16.2

7.6

6.1

3.7

4.8

15.1

14.9

6.5

6.3

5.3

3.6 Total

10.3

9.9

5.0

0.9

-3.9

-3.2

9.5

8.7

3.9

1.1

-2.4

-4.4

















































International































Temporary and consultant staffing

-7.2

0.5

8.6

7.0

0.8

8.1

4.4

4.5

8.9

8.8

5.3

9.4 Permanent placement staffing

-7.8

-2.8

-0.3

-4.9

-1.3

7.6

3.5

2.0

0.8

-3.4

2.9

8.4 Total staffing

-7.3

0.0

7.2

5.3

0.5

8.0

4.3

4.1

7.7

7.0

5.0

9.3 Protiviti

6.0

5.4

17.3

15.2

0.7

4.5

16.9

8.0

17.5

16.6

5.3

7.2 Total

-5.8

0.6

8.4

6.5

0.5

7.6

5.9

4.6

8.9

8.1

5.0

9.0

The non-GAAP financial measures included in the table above adjust for the following items:

Foreign Currency Translation. The "As Reported" revenue growth rates are based upon reported revenues, which include the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. In order to calculate "Constant Currency" revenue growth rates, as-reported amounts are retranslated using foreign exchange rates from the prior year's comparable period.

Billing Days. The "As Reported" revenue growth rates are based upon reported revenues. Management calculates a global, weighted-average number of billing days for each reporting period based upon input from all countries and all lines of business. In order to remove the fluctuations caused by comparable periods having different billing days, the company calculates "same billing day" revenue growth rates by dividing each comparative period's reported revenues by the calculated number of billing days for that period to arrive at a "per billing day" amount. The "same billing day" growth rates are then calculated based upon the "per billing day" amounts.

The term "same billing days and constant currency" means that the impact of different billing days has been removed from the constant currency calculation. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP year-over-year revenue growth rates to the "As Reported" year-over-year revenue growth rates is included herein on Pages 8-10.

ROBERT HALF INTERNATIONAL INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

REVENUE GROWTH RATE (%) RECONCILIATION (UNAUDITED):





































Year-Over-Year Revenue Growth  GLOBAL



Q4 2015

Q1 2016

Q2 2016

Q3 2016

Q4 2016

Q1 2017 Accountemps















As Reported

5.8



8.4



7.1



4.2



-3.0



-2.7

Billing Days Impact

-0.9



-1.2



-1.1



0.2



1.4



-1.1

Currency Impact

2.6



1.1



0.5



0.5



0.8



0.5

Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

7.5



8.3



6.5



4.9



-0.8



-3.3

OfficeTeam























As Reported

4.1



4.2



1.8



-1.5



-4.7



-1.9

Billing Days Impact

-1.0



-1.2



-1.1



0.2



1.4



-1.2

Currency Impact

2.7



0.7



-0.1



0.0



0.3



0.5

Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

5.8



3.7



0.6



-1.3



-3.0



-2.6

Robert Half Technology























As Reported

9.6



6.8



1.8



-1.6



-4.9



-4.2

Billing Days Impact

-1.0



-1.2



-1.1



0.2



1.4



-1.1

Currency Impact

1.6



0.6



0.2



0.0



0.1



0.1

Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

10.2



6.2



0.9



-1.4



-3.4



-5.2

Robert Half Management Resources























As Reported

4.0



7.5



10.2



3.1



-3.7



1.2

Billing Days Impact

-1.0



-1.3



-1.2



0.2



1.5



-1.2

Currency Impact

4.1



1.5



0.4



0.4



0.9



0.8

Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

7.1



7.7



9.4



3.7



-1.3



0.8

Temporary and consultant staffing























As Reported

5.7



7.0



5.4



1.6



-3.8



-2.1

Billing Days Impact

-1.0



-1.3



-1.2



0.2



1.4



-1.2

Currency Impact

2.7



1.0



0.3



0.3



0.6



0.5

Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

7.4



6.7



4.5



2.1



-1.8



-2.8

Permanent placement staffing























As Reported

5.1



8.0



2.6



-5.1



-7.1



-2.5

Billing Days Impact

-0.9



-1.2



-1.2



0.2



1.4



-1.2

Currency Impact

4.0



1.8



0.7



0.4



0.8



0.6

Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

8.2



8.6



2.1



-4.5



-4.9



-3.1

Total staffing























As Reported

5.7



7.1



5.1



1.0



-4.1



-2.2

Billing Days Impact

-1.0



-1.3



-1.1



0.2



1.4



-1.1

Currency Impact

2.8



1.1



0.3



0.3



0.6



0.5

Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

7.5



6.9



4.3



1.5



-2.1



-2.8

Protiviti























As Reported

13.9



14.4



9.2



7.4



3.2



4.8

Billing Days Impact

-0.4



-1.4



-1.1



0.2



1.6



-1.2

Currency Impact

1.9



0.7



0.2



0.2



0.5



0.6

Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

15.4



13.7



8.3



7.8



5.3



4.2

Total























As Reported

6.8



8.1



5.7



2.0



-3.0



-1.2

Billing Days Impact

-0.8



-1.3



-1.1



0.1



1.4



-1.1

Currency Impact

2.7



1.0



0.3



0.3



0.6



0.5

Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

8.7



7.8



4.9



2.4



-1.0



-1.8



ROBERT HALF INTERNATIONAL INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

REVENUE GROWTH RATE (%) RECONCILIATION (UNAUDITED):





































Year-Over-Year Revenue Growth  UNITED STATES



Q4 2015

Q1 2016

Q2 2016

Q3 2016

Q4 2016

Q1 2017 Temporary and consultant staffing



As Reported

9.2



8.5



4.6



0.4



-4.9



-4.4

Billing Days Impact

-1.0



-1.2



-1.1



0.2



1.4



-1.2

Currency Impact























Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

8.2



7.3



3.5



0.6



-3.5



-5.6



























Permanent placement staffing























As Reported

11.5



12.9



3.8



-5.2



-9.4



-6.4

Billing Days Impact

-1.0



-1.3



-1.1



0.2



1.3



-1.2

Currency Impact























Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

10.5



11.6



2.7



-5.0



-8.1



-7.6



























Total staffing























As Reported

9.4



8.9



4.5



-0.1



-5.3



-4.6

Billing Days Impact

-1.0



-1.3



-1.1



0.2



1.4



-1.2

Currency Impact























Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

8.4



7.6



3.4



0.1



-3.9



-5.8



























Protiviti























As Reported

15.5



16.2



7.6



6.1



3.7



4.8

Billing Days Impact

-0.4



-1.3



-1.1



0.2



1.6



-1.2

Currency Impact























Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

15.1



14.9



6.5



6.3



5.3



3.6



























Total























As Reported

10.3



9.9



5.0



0.9



-3.9



-3.2

Billing Days Impact

-0.8



-1.2



-1.1



0.2



1.5



-1.2

Currency Impact























Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

9.5



8.7



3.9



1.1



-2.4



-4.4



ROBERT HALF INTERNATIONAL INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

REVENUE GROWTH RATE (%) RECONCILIATION (UNAUDITED):





































Year-Over-Year Revenue Growth  INTERNATIONAL



Q4 2015

Q1 2016

Q2 2016

Q3 2016

Q4 2016

Q1 2017 Temporary and consultant staffing



As Reported

-7.2



0.5



8.6



7.0



0.8



8.1

Billing Days Impact

-1.0



-1.2



-1.2



0.3



1.5



-1.4

Currency Impact

12.6



5.2



1.5



1.5



3.0



2.7

Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

4.4



4.5



8.9



8.8



5.3



9.4



























Permanent placement staffing























As Reported

-7.8



-2.8



-0.3



-4.9



-1.3



7.6

Billing Days Impact

-1.0



-1.1



-1.1



0.2



1.4



-1.3

Currency Impact

12.3



5.9



2.2



1.3



2.8



2.1

Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

3.5



2.0



0.8



-3.4



2.9



8.4



























Total staffing























As Reported

-7.3



0.0



7.2



5.3



0.5



8.0

Billing Days Impact

-1.0



-1.2



-1.1



0.2



1.6



-1.3

Currency Impact

12.6



5.3



1.6



1.5



2.9



2.6

Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

4.3



4.1



7.7



7.0



5.0



9.3



























Protiviti























As Reported

6.0



5.4



17.3



15.2



0.7



4.5

Billing Days Impact

-0.4



-1.3



-1.3



0.3



1.5



-1.3

Currency Impact

11.3



3.9



1.5



1.1



3.1



4.0

Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

16.9



8.0



17.5



16.6



5.3



7.2



























Total























As Reported

-5.8



0.6



8.4



6.5



0.5



7.6

Billing Days Impact

-0.7



-1.1



-1.1



0.2



1.6



-1.4

Currency Impact

12.4



5.1



1.6



1.4



2.9



2.8

Same Billing Days and Constant Currency

5.9



4.6



8.9



8.1



5.0



9.0



SOURCE Robert Half

Related Links

http://www.roberthalf.com


MIAMI, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) has scheduled a conference call for 10:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Friday, April 28, 2017, to discuss the company's first quarter 2017 financial results. The call will be available on-line at the company's investor relations website, www.rclinvestor.com. To listen to the call by phone, please dial (877) 663-9606 in the US and Canada. International phone calls should be made to (706) 758-4628. There is no passcode or meeting number. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same site for a month following the call.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) is a global cruise vacation company that owns and operates three global brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises. We are a 50% joint venture owner of the German brand TUI Cruises, a 49% shareholder in the Spanish brand Pullmantur and a minority shareholder in SkySea cruises. Together, these brands operate a combined total of 48 ships with an additional thirteen on order. They operate diverse itineraries around the world that call on approximately 535 destinations on all seven continents. Additional information can be found on www.royalcaribbean.com, www.celebritycruises.com, www.azamaraclubcruises.com, www.tuicruises.com, www.pullmantur.es, or www.rclinvestor.com.

SOURCE Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.royalcaribbean.com


LONDON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Royal Dutch Shell plc (the "Company") (NYSE: RDS.A) (NYSE: RDS.B) announces that its 2017 Annual General Meeting ("AGM") will be held at the Circustheater, Circusstraat 4, 2586 CW The Hague, The Netherlands at 10:00 (Dutch time) on Tuesday May 23, 2017. The Notice of Annual General Meeting (the "Notice") can be viewed and downloaded from http://www.shell.com/agm.

The AGM will be webcast on the day so shareholders unable to attend in person can still follow proceedings. More information about the webcast arrangements can be found in the Notice and via the website referred to above.

SHAREHOLDER PRESENTATION, LONDON

A presentation has been arranged for shareholders at 11:00 (UK time) on Thursday May 25, 2017 (two days after the AGM) at Central Hall Westminster, Storey's Gate, Westminster, London, SW1H 9NH, United Kingdom. The Chair, the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer and the Company Secretary will be present.

This presentation is not part of the AGM. Further details can be found in the Notice of Annual General Meeting.

NATIONAL STORAGE MECHANISM

In accordance with the Listing Rules, a copy of each of the documents below will be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and available for inspection at: http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/nsm.

Annual Report and Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2016

Notice of the 2017 Annual General Meeting

Notice of Availability of Shareholder Documents

Proxy Form relating to the 2017 Annual General Meeting

The Annual Report and Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2016 can also be viewed and downloaded from the Company's website: http://www.shell.com/annualreport.

Printed copies of the Notice and associated documents have been despatched to those shareholders who have elected to receive paper communications.

April 20, 2017

Mark Edwards

Deputy Company Secretary

LEI number of Royal Dutch Shell plc: 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70

Classification: Additional regulated information required to be disclosed under the laws of a Member State.

ENQUIRIES



Shell Media Relations

International, UK, European Press: +44 20 7934 5550

Shell Investor Relations

Europe: + 31 70 377 4540

United States: +1 832 337 2034



SOURCE Royal Dutch Shell plc
LONDON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Clarivate Analytics, the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, in partnership with the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, expanded its Web of Science coverage from 300 to 1,600 institutions across the Russian Federation. This will empower its scientists and prepare a new generation of scholars with the needed tools and advice to advance their research and dramatically increase global impact.

With a multi-year agreement in place between Clarivate and the Russian Ministry, academic institutions now have full access to the Web of Science, the premier web-based platform for scientific and scholarly research, to better inform their efforts and connect with similar researchers throughout the world. This includes historical data going back to 1975 as well as the unique Russian Science Citation Index, for a number of state public libraries. It also includes the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), which is growing to over 7,500 journal titles, and releasing a 10-year archive for the index later this year. Clarivate recently announced this commitment to investing in its industry-leading products, one of which is the Web of Science.

Access to the Web of Science allows Russian universities and institutes to co-operate with world leaders of science on an equal footing, helping them see the entire landscape of research results and getting well-versed in what both Russian and foreign colleagues are doing.

"We are delighted to announce this strategic partnership with the Russian Ministry of Education," said Viji Krishnan, Global Head of Emerging Markets at Clarivate Analytics. "Under this agreement, Clarivate is providing Russia with critical research and analytics designed to facilitate the lifecycle of innovation across the entire country. The Web of Science is the most comprehensive resource  both in quality and quantity terms  and as an independent and unbiased organisation, Web of Science analytics are the most accurate and trusted source of research evaluation. It is no surprise that more than 20 million users continually rely on the quality of our solutions."

Clarivate Analytics

Clarivate Analytics accelerates the pace of innovation by providing trusted insights and analytics to customers around the world, enabling them to discover, protect and commercialize new ideas faster. Formerly the Intellectual Property and Science business of Thomson Reuters, we own and operate a collection of leading subscription-based businesses focused on scientific and academic research, patent analytics and regulatory standards, pharmaceutical and biotech intelligence, trademark protection, domain brand protection and intellectual property management. Clarivate Analytics is now an independent company with over 4,000 employees, operating in more than 100 countries and owns wellknown brands that include Web of Science, Cortellis, Thomson Innovation, Derwent World Patents Index, CompuMark, MarkMonitor and Techstreet, among others. For more information, please visit clarivate.com.

Media Contact

Heidi Siegel

Clarivate Analytics

Director, External Relations

+1 215 823 5646 (o)

+1 215 356 4504 (m)

[email protected]

SOURCE Clarivate Analytics

Related Links

http://clarivate.com


"Saab is honored to host Secretary Hall as he makes this exciting announcement," said Brian Keller, President and General Manager of Saab Defense and Security USA in Lillington. "We're a proud member of the North Carolina defense community, and we want to see it continue to thrive."

Part of the global company Saab, Saab Defense and Security USA has four U.S. sites, and hopes to continue expanding its U.S. manufacturing capabilities.

"Our facility has supplied the U.S. military with American-made camouflage products since 2002," said Keller. "As drone usage escalates and U.S. presence in Europe expands, we foresee even greater demand for our offerings  and we plan to grow accordingly."

http://saabusa.com

Twitter: @Saab_US

Saab Defense and Security USA LLC delivers advanced technologies and systems to the United States Armed Forces and other government agencies. Headquartered in Syracuse, NY, the company has business units and local employees in four states. Saab Defense and Security USA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saab.

Saab serves the global market with world-leading products, services and solutions within military defense and civil security. Saab has operations and employees on all continents around the world. Through innovative, collaborative and pragmatic thinking, Saab develops, adopts and improves new technology to meet customers' changing needs.

SOURCE Saab

Related Links

http://saabusa.com


CHEYENNE, Wyo., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Software company Language I/O, recently released LinguistNow Chat, a tool that allows companies to provide real-time, multilingual chat support inside several major platforms including Salesforce and Oracle Service Cloud. By adding chat translation tools to its product suite, Language I/O now has the market's most comprehensive multilingual customer support tool.

The LinguistNow product suite works within both the Oracle and Salesforce customer relationship management (CRM) systems. It enables companies to provide customer support in any language over ANY support channel without being forced to hire native-speaking agents. Using a hybrid of machine and human translation services, LinguistNow let's monolingual agents provide support in any language simply by clicking a button.

"With LinguistNow, companies can receive outstanding translations for self-help articles, ticket/email responses AND chat," said Kaarina Kvaavik, co-founder of Language I/O. "Our customers are already seeing tremendous cost reductions by using our existing products. Some of them have seen a more than 40 percent reduction on customer support costs. This would explain why, since launching chat, our business has more than tripled."

And if trends in communication have anything to say about it, growth will only continue. A LiveChatInc report that looked at customer service data from 2015 to 2016, showed that live chat used by the companies surveyed jumped by a whopping 43.41 percent from 2015 to 2016. This trend is only expected to rise. Companies that choose not to meet their customers on chat, risk a decline in customer satisfaction.

"We use a unique combination of human and machine translation, which is why our translations are both fast and accurate," Kvaavik said. "We help companies improve their quality of customer support while also reducing their costs. First, we allow customers to answer their own questions by providing outstanding article translations. Second, we allow agents to accurately and quickly respond to emails and chat in the customer's native language."

To demo LinguistNow Chat or to sign up for a pilot program, contact our sales team at 781-990-1282.

SOURCE Language I/O

Related Links

http://languageio.com


Exclusive Savings on Tropical Island Destinations: Tahiti & Fiji: Save $500 per booking Cook Islands: Save $250 per booking Caribbean: Save $100 per booking Hawaii: FREE midsize Hertz car rental or one-category car rental upgrade, depending on travel dates

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Pleasant Holidays' Summer on Sale offers big savings on family summer vacations; couples honeymoons and romance getaways; Mother's Day, Father's Day and Independence Day celebrations; and more during the peak summer travel season. Vacation travel experts since 1959, Pleasant Holidays can book everything neededflights from departure cities nationwide, hotel, land transfers, exciting activities, travel protection plans and morein one convenient and affordable package. In addition, you'll enjoy the added peace of mind provided by exceptional customer service that includes in-destination assistance available 24/7.

Popular Vacation Destinations Featured in Summer on Sale:

Hawaii: Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Island of Hawaii

Tahiti: Bora Bora, Moorea, Tahiti and more

Europe: Barcelona, the Greek Isles, Madrid, Paris, Rome and more

Mexico: Cancun, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, Riviera Maya and Riviera Nayarit

USA: Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Orlando and more

Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama

Plus ask about savings on air-inclusive cruise vacation packages with Norwegian Cruise Line in Alaska, Caribbean, Hawaii and Europe; and American Queen Steamboat Company on the Mississippi River.

For more information or to book a vacation, visit PleasantHolidays.com, call 1-877-744-1622, or consult your travel agent.

Related Links: http://ow.ly/YQWh308A2xR

www.PleasantHolidays.com

SOURCE Pleasant Holidays, LLC

Related Links

http://www.pleasantholidays.com


BELLEVUE, WA and DALLAS, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ScaleOut Software, a leading provider of in-memory computing software, and Crossvale, an international IT professional services firm, today announced a go-to-market partnership to build and distribute operational intelligence solutions. The offerings serve the needs of customers within various industry verticals, including financial services, Internet of Things (IoT), telecommunications, and e-commerce, among others. Operational intelligence (OI), deemed the next generation of business intelligence, helps businesses discover immediate, actionable insights within live systems to capture perishable business opportunities. Crossvale's Operational Intelligence Solutions, powered by ScaleOut Software, leverage ScaleOut's in-memory data grid (IMDG) technology and include reusable frameworks to fit any business type and size, dashboards to visualize operational insights, and alerts to proactively capture real-time business opportunities.

The opportunity and customer demand for OI and real-time data analytics is on the rise. International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts worldwide revenues for big data and business analytics will nearly double by 2020  from $130.1 billion in 2016 to more than $203 billion. Banking, manufacturing, utilities, professional services, telecommunications and commerce will be among the biggest drivers. These industries require significant scalability and performance to store, manage and analyze large, fast-changing datasets from online systems, which are integrated directly into, for example, manufacturing lines, IoT telemetry streams, and e-commerce web sites. Operational intelligence moves beyond real-time analytics and gives these systems the ability to take action in real time as opportunities or threats present themselves.

To meet the need for operational intelligence, ScaleOut's IMDGs with integrated computing technology offer fast, scalable and highly available data storage and analysis with low latency processing. With this global partnership, ScaleOut Software and Crossvale are positioning themselves to take advantage of the growing need for in-memory computing, a market currently estimated by Gartner to exceed $15 billion by 2021. Jointly they will deliver operational intelligence solutions to a whole swath of vertical industries, domestic and abroad.

"Businesses need insight within minutes or seconds, not hours and days, to better serve customers and capitalize on opportunities in today's fast-paced, data-driven economy. Operational intelligence has the potential to transform live systems in many applications and offer an important, new competitive edge for businesses," said Dr. William Bain, founder and CEO of ScaleOut Software. "Crossvale will help us further globalize our efforts and provide extensive expertise in helping customers deploy our in-memory computing technology in their mission-critical systems."

"The age of data stream processing and analytics has introduced great benefits to businesses, like being able to monitor operations for a wind turbine and receive alerts when maintenance or problems are on the horizon. Insights like these require a powerful technology," said Conor Brankin, CEO of Crossvale. "ScaleOut Software's in-memory technology is the engine for our Operational Intelligence Solutions, and together we are delivering a powerful and easy-to-use solution for companies looking to maximize their data insights."

Through this partnership Crossvale will offer ScaleOut's entire portfolio of products, including ScaleOut StateServer, ScaleOut ComputeServer, ScaleOut hServer and ScaleOut GeoServer, along with additional dashboard and alert features, and expertise to implement the technology. Crossvale has already developed multiple applications of in-memory computing technology, including Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled digital twins for elevators and field-service management of wind turbines. These examples demonstrate how machine learning algorithms and in-memory data grids can be used to increase efficiencies and mitigate risk within seconds, thereby preventing potentially disastrous consequences.

About ScaleOut Software, Inc.

ScaleOut Software develops leading-edge software that delivers scalable, highly-available in-memory computing technology to a wide range of industries. ScaleOut Software's in-memory computing platform enables operational intelligence by storing, updating, and analyzing fast-changing data so that businesses can capture perishable opportunities before the moment is lost. The company was founded by Dr. William L. Bain, whose previous company, Valence Research, developed and distributed web load-balancing software and was acquired by Microsoft Corporation. ScaleOut Software is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington with offices in Beaverton, Oregon and Denver, Colorado. For more information, please visit www.scaleoutsoftware.com and follow ScaleOut Software on Twitter at @scaleout_inc .

About Crossvale, Inc.

Crossvale, Inc. is a consulting company that provides technical expertise, solutions and platforms to fix business challenges related to, and affected by, IT infrastructure and its associated processes. Crossvale provides complete, tailored integration, process optimization and intelligent business operations solutions to varying sizes of businessesoffering technical excellence and applying leading-edge technologies in different environments. Founded in 2001, Crossvale is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and has offices in Ireland and Saudi Arabia. For more information, please visit www.crossvale.com and follow Crossvale on Twitter at @crossvale.

Media Contact:

Chris Villinger

ScaleOut Software, Inc.

+1-503-643-3422

[email protected]

SOURCE ScaleOut Software

Related Links

http://www.scaleoutsoftware.com


SAN DIEGO, April 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) announced that it has signed contracts for five new local battery storage facilities for a total of 83.5 megawatts (MW). These four-hour energy storage facilities would be like having batteries from more than 5,500 all-electric, long-range vehicles at the ready. In addition, the company signed a contract to add a 4.5 MW demand response program. SDG&E has submitted all six contracts to the California Public Utilities Commission for approval.

If approved, two of the five lithium-ion battery energy storage facilities will be owned and operated by SDG&E to enhance regional energy reliability while maximizing renewable energy use. AES Energy Storage will construct a 40-MW storage facility, building on its successful 37.5 MWs of deployments in Escondido and El Cajon. A 30-MW facility will be built in Miramar by Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES). The other storage projects totaling 13.5 MW will be owned by third parties including Powin Energy, Enel through its U.S. subsidiary Enel Green Power North America, and Advanced Microgrid Solutions and constructed in Escondido, Poway and San Juan Capistrano.

"These projects will add more flexibility to the system and help us to ensure reliability while providing greater levels of clean energy to all of our local communities," said Emily Shults, SDG&E's vice president of energy procurement. "By building these projects, SDG&E will remain at the forefront of helping the state achieve its bold clean-energy and carbon-emission targets."

All five of the battery projects can store supplies of solar, wind and other traditional sources and release it when energy is in high demand.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has set targets for investor-owned utilities to procure large amounts of energy storage by 2020, including 165 MW by SDG&E. With these five new projects, SDG&E is on track to meet this goal. The new facilities are expected to come on line between December 2019 and late 2021.

The demand response program run by OhmConnect will also add flexibility to the system. Beginning in early 2018, OhmConnect will request industrial and commercial customers who have enrolled in the demand-response program to reduce energy usage within 20 minutes of being called during certain days and hours. This process will be conducted by the California Independent System Operator and/or SDG&E as needed.

SDG&E is an innovative San Diego-based energy company that provides safe, reliable, clean energy to better the lives of the people it serves in San Diego and southern Orange counties. More than 4,100 employees work to provide the cleanest and most reliable energy in the West. The company has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for leadership in addressing climate change, was the first to meet California's goal of delivering 33 percent of energy from renewable sources, has fueled the adoption of electric vehicles and energy efficiency through unique customer programs, and supports a number of non-profit partners. SDG&E is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego. For more information, visit SDGEnews.com or connect with SDG&E on Twitter (@SDGE), Instagram (@SDGE) and Facebook.

SOURCE San Diego Gas & Electric

Related Links

http://www.sdge.com


In line with the foundation's mission of funding the education of tomorrow's risk management and insurance leaders, the merit-based Sedgwick/Penman scholarship will, beginning in 2018, be awarded annually to one undergraduate college student of risk management, insurance, actuarial science or business who meets the foundation's eligibility guidelines .

"Steve Penman spent his entire 40-year career growing as an individual and improving the claims industry; I can think of no better way to celebrate and extend his legacy than establishing an academic scholarship in his name," said Dave North, Sedgwick president and CEO and former Spencer Educational Foundation board member. "Sedgwick is proud to support students of risk management as they prepare for bright futures in our industry."

A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Penman worked for Sedgwick from 1978 until his retirement in 2016. During his tenure, he ascended the company's ranks and served in a variety of leadership roles, including chief information officer, director of casualty operations, executive VP of specialty operations and COO.

"Steve played an integral role in Sedgwick's growth from a small workers' compensation third-party administrator to a leading global provider of innovative business solutions," North said. "Nobody personified our 'caring counts' philosophy better than Steve Penman, and nobody cared more about Sedgwick, our colleagues, our clients and our industry."

"We greatly appreciate Sedgwick's generous support of the Spencer Foundation and investment in the future leaders of our industry," said Ron Davis, chairman of the Spencer Educational Foundation and EVP, head of customer management for Zurich Commercial Insurance. "There is a pressing need to attract young talent to the risk management and insurance profession, and our scholarship program is critical to building that talent pipeline. Sedgwick's meaningful gift in memory of Steve Penman will allow the foundation to do even more in achieving its mission."

About Sedgwick

Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc., is a leading global provider of technology-enabled risk and benefits solutions. At Sedgwick, caring countsSM; the company takes care of people and organizations by delivering cost-effective claims, productivity, managed care, risk consulting and other services through the dedication and expertise of nearly 15,000 colleagues in some 275 offices located in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Ireland. Sedgwick facilitates financial and personal health and helps customers and consumers navigate complexity by designing and implementing customized programs based on proven practices and advanced technology that exceed expectations. Sedgwick's majority shareholder is KKR; Stone Point Capital LLC, La Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) and other management investors are minority shareholders. For more, see www.sedgwick.com.

About The Spencer Educational Foundation

Established in 1979, the Spencer Educational Foundation is an independent affiliate of RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. The premier non-profit organization supporting risk management and insurance education, the Spencer Educational Foundation changes lives by awarding scholarships, facilitating internship opportunities, providing a Risk-Manager-in-Residence program to universities, and awarding grants to help promote the industry to the next generation. For more information, visit www.spencered.org.

SOURCE Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.sedgwick.com


SAN FRANCISCO, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sojern, the world's leading performance marketing platform for travel brands, today released its Q2 Global Travel Insights report, based on travel intent data from 350 million traveler profiles and billions of travel intent signals, including search and bookings from online and mobile channels. Sojern's latest report examines search patterns for the beginning of summer, revealing a trend for travelers in North America and Europe to look for shorter, more local trips this spring, possibly in response to the current political climate of Brexit and US travel bans.

For Europeans, Marrakech and Bali Replace Miami for Long Haul Travel

Compared to searches for April in our forward look last quarter, this June, European travelers are setting their sights on Middle Eastern and North African destinations (Marrakech and Denpasar) and Miami and Phuket drop off the top five long-haul destinations list. Regional destinations dominate early searches in Europe, especially when it comes to beach travel and European destinations like London, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Lisbon are emerging as favorites for June getaways.

American travel marketers need a solid strategy to engage European travelers and drive the searches and bookings they enjoyed previously. Sojern recommends employing top of the funnel engagement strategies to keep your brand visible during the exploration phase, such as using Facebook ads with striking imagery and video of your destination or travel experience to build brand awareness as well as likes and shares to spread your message.

Unlike Europeans, Asian travelers set their sights on more far-flung destinations this June: Honolulu makes an appearance in the top five most searched beach destinations, replacing Singapore, and Rome makes its way into the top five for sightseeing/recreation, which last quarter was entirely populated by destinations in Asia Pacific.

North America Spring Travel: Staying Local, Planning Early

With most schools letting out in early June for the holidays, the month signals the beginning of summer in North America. The most popular dates for departure follow the trend, with the first days in June making the list. Travelers are already planning their celebrations for June 30, the Friday before the Independence Day weekend.

This spring, Seattle is making an appearance among the top sightseeing destinations. In the long-haul destinations list, Guadalajara in Mexico is making an entry in the top five, replacing Bangkok from last quarter. Sojern recommends that travel marketers in North America use Facebook Dynamic Ads for Travel to retarget high-intent travelersnurturing them toward a decision that ends with selecting your destination, brand or activity.

Download the entire report.

About Sojern

Sojern is travel's leading performance marketing engine. With 350M global traveler profiles and billions of predictive purchase signals including search and booking data from partners across the industry, we deliver billions of dollars in revenue and put more heads in beds and travelers in seats for our clients worldwide. From global enterprise brands to independent hotels, we work with companies around the world in air, hotel, car, cruise, and tourism to drive direct bookings. Sojern is headquartered in San Francisco with teams in Dubai, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, New York, Omaha, Singapore and Sydney.

SOURCE Sojern Inc

Related Links

http://www.sojern.com


BROOKFIELD, Wis., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In support of the next generation of nurses, OnCourse Learning presented more than $4,000 in scholarships this month at the National Student Nurses' Association's 65th annual conference in Dallas.

"Every year, the stories of our scholarship winners remind me of my own educational journey and how I was helped by scholarships and grants," said Robert Hess, PhD, RN, FAAN, executive vice president and chief clinical executive, healthcare, for OnCourse Learning. "The commitment of our company to support nursing students is appreciated by our annual scholarship winners."

The OnCourse Learning Scholarships were among 81 awarded, for a total of $144,000, by the Foundation of the NSNA for the 2017-18 academic year. Hess represents OnCourse Learning as a member of the FNSNA's board of trustees.

This year's OnCourse Learning Scholarship winners are:

Rebecca Ashley , Clemson University , Clemson, S.C. , $1,175 scholarship

, , , scholarship Amanda Carlton , Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing, Richmond, Va. , $1,100 scholarship

, Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing, , scholarship Emma Harbison , Martin Methodist College , Pulaski, Tenn. , $1,175 scholarship

, , , scholarship Hannah Steen , Tulsa Community College , Tulsa, Okla. , $1,100 scholarship

Ashley is a senior nursing student at Clemson and plans to work as an obstetric nurse after graduation. She wants to continue her education by pursuing a master's degree, most likely in nursing administration.

"Paying for my last semester of school was a big burden for me, and that burden is lighter thanks to this scholarship," Ashley said. "It will help me reach my goal of obtaining a master's degree faster."

Carlton is in her final year of the BSN program at Bon Secours. She hopes to continue her schooling and help nursing students as an educator.

"In the future, I hope I can return the favor of this generosity by becoming a nurse educator and helping generate funds for students in the healthcare field," Carlton said. "This scholarship is greatly appreciated and will help me in completing my BSN degree."

Harbison is a junior at Martin Methodist and is studying to become a pediatric nurse.

"I have wanted to become a nurse since I was a little girl," Harbison said. "Never once have I changed my mind. I look forward to being able to help people and change lives every day."

Steen works full time as a CNA while attending school as a third-semester student. Her career goal is to become a CRNA or an APRN.

"I want to continue my education to be the best possible advocate for my patients," Steen said. "Every day, I realize how much I truly love the nursing profession."

To apply for future FNSNA scholarships, nursing students can visit the foundation's website.

For media inquiries, contact:

Barry Bottino, Communications Director

847-908-8007

[email protected]

About OnCourse Learning

OnCourse Learning delivers licensure, regulatory and compliance education solutions throughout the nation's leading industries including financial services, healthcare and real estate. Through trusted industry expertise, compliance management and technology solutions, OnCourse Learning focuses on advancing the e-learning environment for individuals and businesses to help to build new careers, empower employees through knowledge and identify efficiencies in corporate training management. OnCourse Learning offers a full suite of educational products including state and federally approved prelicensing and continuing education programs, accredited course content, exam prep tools, publications, e-books, events and a sophisticated and customizable learning management system and course-authoring tool. To learn more, visit OnCourseLearning.com.

SOURCE OnCourse Learning

Related Links

http://www.OnCourseLearning.com


WASHINGTON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On Sunday, June 4th, DC's acclaimed Union Market welcomes a star-studded lineup of renowned chefs from Washington to San Francisco for the annual Sunday Supper. To celebrate Flavors of the Americas, this year's Supper focuses on Latin influences and local ingredients. Sunday Supper supports the development of the next generation of women business leaders and is an important benefit for the James Beard Foundation's new Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership Program.

Sunday Supper will feature some of the nation's best chefs, including James Beard Foundation Award-winning chefs Traci Des Jardins (Jardiniere, Mijita, The Commissary, Public House, San Francisco), Jose Garces (Amada, Distrito, Village Whiskey, Tinto, Buena Onda, Volver, Rural Society, Philadelphia, NY, DC, NJ) and Douglas Rodriguez (Amada de Cuba, Philadelphia, Miami). Two nominees for the 2017 JBF Awards join the lineup; Kelly Fields (Willa Jean, New Orleans) for Outstanding Pastry Chef and Amy Brandwein (Centrolina, DC) for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic. Rising stars Alex Raij & Eder Montero (El Quinto Pino, Txikito, La Vara, Tekoa, NY) and Carolina Santos-Neves (Comodo, Comparti Catering, NY) will also add their unique touch to the evening's offerings.

An amazing showcase of DC's culinary & cocktail talent will include Victor Albisu (Del Campo), Camila Arango & Tom Wellings (Bluebird Bakery, Pluma), Anna Bran-Leis (Taqueria Del Barrio, DC Empanada), Giana Cavaliere (Volt), Gina Chersevani (Buffalo & Bergen), Violeta Edelman & Robb Duncan (Dolcezza), Gabriela Febres (Arepa Zone), Mario Monte, Daniella Senior & Juan Coronado (Colada Shop), Omar Rodriguez (Oyamel) and the team from Latin wine shop Grand Cata.

Sunday Supper at Union Market, a collaboration of the James Beard Foundation and EDENS, one of the nation's leading retail real estate companies, honors the tradition of gathering around the table to celebrate the people and passion behind great food. Sunday Supper also supports the James Beard Foundation's Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership (WEL) program. The program, initiated by EDENS' CEO Jodie W. McLean, is designed to identify, cultivate and advance the next generation of women business leaders. As part of the James Beard Foundation's efforts to target gender imbalance in the restaurant industry, the program seeks to address the low percentage of women in executive and ownership positions in the food industry. This unique fellowship program is presented by Babson College, the nation's leading school for entrepreneurship, and will allow women owners to gain the tools, techniques, and financial training needed to open and operate thriving, scalable businesses. The program will take place in September and is currently taking applications here.

Tickets for Sunday Supper are $250 per person ($200 for James Beard Foundation members). To purchase tickets and learn more, visit www.unionmarketdc.com/sundaysupper

Follow Sunday Supper on Twitter at @SundaySupperDC and #SundaySupperDC.

Sunday Supper is made possible through the support of generous sponsors including the Carl M. Freeman Foundation, Eastdil Secured, Gables Residential, HFF, J.P. Morgan, LF Jennings, MV+A Architects, Potomac Construction Services, TEEL Construction, and more.

ABOUT UNION MARKET The Union Market District is a 45-acre district in NE that is one of DC's most vibrant, diverse and thriving neighborhoodsa living laboratory for a sustainable urban community and place for creative minds and businesses to connect, thrive, launch and make DC their own. Since opening in September 2012, The Market at Union Market, the acclaimed food market with over 40 local scalable businesses, averages 15,000 visitors per weekend and has hosted over 400 community and private events. In May 2016 D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed the Made in DC Program Establishment Act of 2016 legislation at Union Market's Lab 1270. For more information about Union Market, please visit www.unionmarketdc.com.

ABOUT EDENS EDENS develops, owns and operates community shopping centers in primary markets across the country. The company has built an institutional-quality portfolio of more than 120 retail centers. EDENS has regional headquarters in Boston, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Houston and Columbia, S.C. For additional information about the company and its retail real estate portfolio, visit www.edens.com.

ABOUT THE JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION (JBF) Founded in 1986, the James Beard Foundation celebrates, nurtures, and honors chefs and other leaders making America's food culture more delicious, diverse, and sustainable for everyone. A cookbook author and teacher with an encyclopedic knowledge about food, the late James Beard was a champion of American cuisine. He helped educate and mentor generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts, instilling in them the value of wholesome, healthful, and delicious food. Today JBF continues in the same spirit by administering a number of diverse programs that include educational initiatives, food industry awards, scholarships for culinary students, publications, chef advocacy training, and thought-leader convening. The Foundation also maintains the historic James Beard House in New York City's Greenwich Village as a "performance space" for visiting chefs. For more information, please visit jamesbeard.org.

SOURCE EDENS

Related Links

http://www.edens.com


ATLANTA, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- As a part of its ongoing mission to become the global franchisor of choice, Texas Chicken announced its first new restaurant opening in the Kingdom of Bahrain. With the latest grand opening on April 8th, Texas Chicken is growing its footprint in the Middle East alongside Ali Bin Rajab & Sons, the operating franchisee selected for the Bahraini expansion.

"We are proud to bring the Kingdom of Bahrain the quality and proven performance of one of the world's leading chicken chains," said Nasser Sayed, Country Operations manager and Managing Partner for Ali Bin Rajab & Sons. "The quick-service restaurant concept has been around for nearly 40 years in this region, and we see the 65-year heritage and reputation behind Texas Chicken as a key competitive advantage."

Officials from Texas Chicken echoed the excitement for this pioneering push into new Middle East territory. "High-quality, delicious, made-from scratch food is a cornerstone of the Texas Chicken brand experience," said Tony Moralejo, Executive Vice President of International Business and Global Development for the brand. "We look forward to giving the people of Bahrain many opportunities to enjoy the great chicken experiences guests love."

The new deal with Ali Bin Rajab & Sons is slated to include 5 total restaurants in the Kingdom of Bahrain by 2020. As an operator, the restaurant group has 20 years of experience in quick-service restaurants. All Bahraini Texas Chicken locations will feature the signature menu items that have given the brand its worldwide popularity, including hand-battered and double-breaded original and spicy fried chicken, scratch-made honey butter biscuits freshly baked throughout the day, and a variety of home-style sides.

"We look forward to what this new relationship will bring to our Middle East guests," continued Moralejo. "Bahrain is a thriving economy filled with people who recognize and appreciate the kind of quality Texas Chicken specializes in providing."

About Texas Chicken / Church's Chicken

Founded in San Antonio, TX in 1952 by George W. Church, Church's Chicken, along with its sister brand Texas Chicken outside of the Americas, is one of the largest quick service chicken restaurant chains in the world. The brands specialize in Original and Spicy Chicken freshly prepared throughout the day in small batches that are hand-battered and double-breaded, Tender Strips, sandwiches, honey-butter biscuits made from scratch and freshly baked, and classic, home-style sides all for a great value. Church's Chicken and Texas Chicken have more than 1,600 locations in 27 countries and global markets and system-wide sales of more than $1 billion. For more information, visit www.churchs.com. Follow Church's on Facebook at www.facebook.com/churchschicken and Twitter at www.twitter.com/churchschicken.

Contact: Diego Perez

866.571.3449

[email protected]

SOURCE Church's Chicken

Related Links

http://www.inklinkmarketing.com


CLEVELAND, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Consolidated net sales increased 7.3% in the quarter to a record $2.76 billion , including the change in revenue classification, which increased sales in the quarter 2.2%



Net sales from stores open more than twelve calendar months increased 7.5% in the quarter



Diluted net income per common share increased 44.6% to $2.53 per share in the quarter, including a $.34 per share increase from a reduction in the income tax provision partially offset by an $.08 per share charge for acquisition costs



Establishing 2Q17 EPS range of $4.15 to $4.35 , including approximately $.25 per share for acquisition costs



Updating FY17 EPS guidance to $13.65 to $13.85 per share, including approximately $.40 per share charge for acquisition costs, vs. $11.99 per share in 2016, which included an $.86 per share charge for acquisition costs

The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW) announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017. Compared to the same period in 2016, consolidated net sales increased $187.4 million, or 7.3%, to $2.76 billion in the quarter due primarily to higher paint sales volume in our Paint Stores Group and the previously announced change in revenue classification which increased sales in the quarter 2.2%. This change primarily impacted the Paint Stores and Global Finishes Groups. This change had no impact on segment profit, but reduced the segment profit as a percent to net sales of the affected Groups.

Diluted net income per common share in the quarter increased to $2.53 per share from $1.75 per share in 2016, as restated due to the adoption of a new accounting standard (ASU 2016-09). First quarter 2017 diluted net income per common share includes an increase of $.34 per share related to a reduction in the income tax provision partially offset by an $.08 per share charge from costs associated with the anticipated acquisition of Valspar. First quarter 2016 diluted net income per common share included a $.24 per share charge from acquisition costs partially offset by an increase of $.18 per share related to a reduction in the income tax provision. The increase in first quarter 2017 diluted net income per common share was due primarily to improved operating results of the Paint Stores and Global Finishes Groups. Currency translation rate changes did not have a significant impact on diluted net income per common share in the quarter.

Net sales in the Paint Stores Group increased 12.1% to $1.81 billion in the quarter due primarily to higher architectural paint sales volume across all end market segments, selling price increases, and the impact of the change in revenue classification. Net sales from stores open for more than twelve calendar months, excluding the change in revenue classification, increased 7.5% in the quarter over last year's comparable period. Paint Stores Group segment profit increased $50.5 million to $304.1 million in the quarter from $253.5 million last year due primarily to higher paint sales volume and selling price increases partially offset by increased raw material costs. Segment profit as a percent to net sales increased in the quarter to 16.8% from 15.7% last year.

Net sales of the Consumer Group decreased 10.7% to $337.5 million in the quarter due primarily to lower volume sales to most of the Group's retail and commercial customers. Segment profit decreased to $60.6 million in the quarter from $64.0 million last year primarily due to lower sales and increasing raw material costs partially offset by improved operating efficiencies, good cost control, and selling price increases. As a percent to net external sales, segment profit increased in the quarter to 18.0% from 16.9% last year due primarily to improved operating efficiencies and reduced SG&A expenses.

The Global Finishes Group's net sales stated in U.S. dollars increased 3.6% to $470.3 million in the quarter primarily due to higher paint sales volume and selling price increases. Stated in U.S. dollars, segment profit increased in the quarter to $52.4 million from $48.6 million last year due primarily to higher paint sales volume and selling price increases partially offset by raw material cost increases. Currency translation rate changes had a minimal impact on segment profit in the quarter. As a percent to net external sales, segment profit increased in the quarter to 11.1% from 10.7% last year.

The Latin America Coatings Group's net sales stated in U.S. dollars increased 12.9% to $141.4 million in the quarter due primarily to selling price increases and favorable foreign currency translation rate changes. Favorable currency translation rate changes increased net sales by 5.7% in the quarter. Stated in U.S. dollars, segment profit increased in the quarter to a profit of $1.2 million from a loss of $0.9 million last year due primarily to selling price increases partially offset by increasing raw material costs. Currency translation rate changes had a minimal impact on segment profit in the quarter. As a percent to net external sales, segment profit increased in the quarter to 0.8% from a loss of 0.7% last year.

The Company made no open market purchases of its common stock in the three months ended March 31, 2017. At March 31, 2017, the Company had cash on hand of $1.02 billion that will be utilized to fund the Valspar acquisition.

Commenting on the financial results, John G. Morikis, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleased to report record sales and earnings per share from the continued positive sales volume and strong operating results of our Paint Stores Group and operating margin improvement in our Global Finishes Group. Our Paint Stores Group posted another quarter of improved operating results and architectural volume growth. The Consumer Group improved their operating margins through improved operating efficiencies. Our Global Finishes Group improved their operating results through higher paint sales volume and selling price increases. The Latin America Coatings Group continues to see the positive impact of previous investments partially offsetting weak end market demand in some geographies. All of our operating segment management teams continue to control costs and implement price increases to offset rising raw material costs."

"In the first three months, we opened 10 net new store locations in the Paint Stores Group. During the quarter, we increased the dividend rate to $.85 from $.84 last year. Our balance sheet remains flexible and is positioned well for the anticipated Valspar acquisition and other investments in our business.

"On April 12, 2017, the Company and Valspar announced that we have entered into a definitive agreement with Axalta Coating Systems to sell the assets related to Valspar's North American Industrial Wood Coatings business to Axalta for $420 million in cash. Valspar's North American Industrial Wood Coatings business had revenues of approximately $225 million in 2016. The companies are divesting the business in connection with the reviews by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Canadian Competition Bureau (CCB) of the proposed acquisition of Valspar by Sherwin-Williams. The sale of Valspar's North American Industrial Wood Coatings business to Axalta is subject to the closing of the Valspar and Sherwin-Williams merger, as well as customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, including the approval of the FTC and the CCB.

"For the second quarter, we anticipate our consolidated net sales will increase a mid to high single digit percentage compared to last year's second quarter. At that anticipated sales level, we estimate diluted net income per common share in the second quarter of 2017 to be in the range of $4.15 to $4.35 per share, including a $.25 per share charge from costs associated with the anticipated acquisition of Valspar, compared to $3.99 per share earned in the second quarter of 2016. Second quarter 2016 earnings per share includes costs related to the anticipated acquisition of Valspar totaling $.16 per share. For the full year 2017, we expect consolidated net sales to increase by a mid single digit percentage compared to full year 2016. With annual sales at that level, we are updating our guidance for full year 2017 diluted net income per common share to be in the range of $13.65 to $13.85 per share compared to $11.99 per share earned in 2016. Full year 2017 diluted net income per common share guidance includes a $.40 per share charge from costs associated with the anticipated acquisition of Valspar. The 2017 diluted net income per common share guidance improved by $.65 per share due to a $.40 per share reduction in acquisition costs and an additional $.25 per share benefit to the income tax provision from the accounting change. Full year 2016 earnings per share included $.86 per share related to the Valspar acquisition."

The Company will conduct a conference call to discuss its financial results for the first quarter, and its outlook for the second quarter and full year 2017, at 11:00 a.m. EDT on Thursday, April 20, 2017. The conference call will be webcast simultaneously in the listen only mode by Issuer Direct. To listen to the webcast on the Sherwin-Williams website, www.sherwin.com , click on About Us, choose Investor Relations, then select Press Releases and click on the webcast icon following the reference to the April 20th release. The webcast will also be available at Issuer Direct's Investor Calendar website, www.investorcalendar.com . An archived replay of the live webcast will be available at www.sherwin.com beginning approximately two hours after the call ends and will be available until May 10, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. EDT.

Founded in 1866, The Sherwin-Williams Company is a global leader in the manufacture, development, distribution, and sale of coatings and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. The company manufactures products under well-known brands such as Sherwin-Williams, HGTV HOME by Sherwin-Williams, Dutch Boy, Krylon, Minwax, Thompson's Water Seal, and many more. With global headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, Sherwin-Williams branded products are sold exclusively through a chain of more than 4,100 company-operated stores and facilities, while the company's other brands are sold through leading mass merchandisers, home centers, independent paint dealers, hardware stores, automotive retailers, and industrial distributors. The Sherwin-Williams Global Finishes Group distributes a wide range of products in more than 115 countries around the world. For more information, visit www.sherwin.com .

Regulation G Reconciliation

Management of the Company believes that investors' understanding of the Company's operating performance is enhanced by the disclosure of diluted net income per common share excluding the Valspar acquisition costs. This adjusted earnings per share measurement is not in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). It should not be considered a substitute for earnings per share computed in accordance with U.S. GAAP and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. The following tables reconcile diluted net income per common share computed in accordance with U.S. GAAP to diluted net income per common share excluding the Valspar acquisition costs.







Three Months Ended

Year Ended

Three Months

June 30, 2017

December 31, 2017

Ended

(guidance)

(guidance)

March 31, 2017

Low

High

Low

High







































Consolidated diluted net income per common share $ 2.53

$ 4.15



$ 4.35

$ 13.65

$ 13.85 Valspar acquisition costs diluted net charge per common share $ .08

$ .25



$ .25

$ .40

$ .40 Diluted net income per common share excluding Valspar acquisition costs $ 2.61

$ 4.40



$ 4.60

$ 14.05

$ 14.25



Three Months

Three Months

Year Ended

Ended

Ended

December 31,

March 31, 2016

June 30, 2016

2016











Consolidated diluted net income per common share $ 1.75

$ 3.99

$ 11.99 Valspar acquisition costs diluted net charge per common share $ .24

$ .16

$ .86 Diluted net income per common share excluding Valspar acquisition costs $ 1.99

$ 4.15

$ 12.85



This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements," as defined under U.S. federal securities laws, with respect to sales, earnings and other matters. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believe," "expect," "may," "will," "should," "project," "could," "plan," "goal," "potential," "seek," "intend" or "anticipate" or the negative thereof or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are based upon management's current expectations, estimates, assumptions and beliefs concerning future events and conditions. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of the Company that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements and from the Company's historical results and experience. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include such things as: general business conditions; the Company's ability to complete the planned acquisition of The Valspar Corporation, or Valspar, if at all, including the potential for regulatory authorities to require divestitures in connection with the proposed transaction; the Company's ability to successfully integrate past and future acquisitions into its existing operations, including Valspar, as well as the performance of the businesses acquired; risks inherent in the achievement of cost synergies and the timing thereof for the planned acquisition of Valspar; strengths of retail and manufacturing economies and the growth in the coatings industry; changes in the Company's relationships with customers and suppliers; changes in raw material availability and pricing; unusual weather conditions; and other risks, uncertainties and factors described from time to time in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Since it is not possible to predict or identify all of the risks, uncertainties and other factors that may affect future results, the above list should not be considered a complete list. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Investor Relations Contact: Bob Wells Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications & Public Affairs Sherwin-Williams Direct: 216.566.2244 [email protected] Media Contact: Mike Conway Director, Corporate Communications Sherwin-Williams Direct: 216.515.4393 Pager: 216.422.3751 [email protected]

The Sherwin-Williams Company and Subsidiaries Statements of Consolidated Income (Unaudited)



Three Months Ended March 31, Thousands of dollars, except per share data 2017

2016 (1)











Net sales $ 2,761,387

$ 2,574,024 Cost of goods sold

1,418,247



1,312,279 Gross profit

1,343,140



1,261,745 Percent to net sales

48.6%



49.0% Selling, general and administrative expenses

1,016,211



1,002,355 Percent to net sales

36.8%



38.9% Other general expense - net

276



17,554 Interest expense

25,695



25,732 Interest and net investment income

(1,280)



(487) Other (income) expense - net

(4,367)



226 Income before income taxes

306,605



216,365 Income taxes

67,453



51,489











Net income $ 239,152

$ 164,876











Net income per common share:









Basic $ 2.58

$ 1.80











Diluted $ 2.53

$ 1.75











Average shares outstanding - basic

92,550,559



91,475,860











Average shares and equivalents outstanding - diluted

94,541,859



94,114,114







(1) First quarter 2016 income taxes, net income, basic and diluted net income per common share and diluted average shares and equivalents outstanding are restated due to the adoption of ASU No. 2016-09 in the second quarter of 2016.

Additional information regarding the Company's financial condition, operating segment results and other information can be found on the Sherwin-Williams website, "www.sherwin.com", by clicking on About Us, choosing Investor Relations, then selecting Press Releases and clicking on the reference to the April 20th release.

SOURCE The Sherwin-Williams Company

Related Links

http://www.sherwin.com


CHICAGO and SAN JOSE, Calif., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The IoT Talent Consortium (IoTTC) and the State of Illinois today announced a partnership to deliver education curricula designed to further Illinois' goal of transforming into a "smart state" by using advanced technologies to deliver services better and more efficiently. This new collaboration will provide an affordable, state-of-the-art option for individuals interested in working in the IT industry, beginning with the growing field of data analytics, and provide a mechanism for employers to ensure a pipeline of talent in Illinois. For more information, visit https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/doit/media/Pages/IoTTC.aspx

Click to Tweet: [email protected]_Talent partners with @IllinoisDoIT to help bridge the talent gap. #datascience #IoT @MSLearning http://goo.gl/PoAW16

New technologies like data analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT) are empowering governments to create new constituent experiences, enable workforce innovation and transform how they deliver services to those who live, work and play within their communities. The IoT is connecting people, processes, data and things, presenting a huge opportunity to harness and analyze data to improve education, transportation, healthcare, safety and other government services. Yet by 2018, industry analysts predict that there will be a shortage of 1.5 million people with the necessary skills to analyze and use big data, in addition to 1 million job openings for cybersecurity.

Working with the State of Illinois, the IoTTC will provide a prescriptive curriculum for data science skills based on the Microsoft Professional Program for data scientists, followed by cybersecurity specialists and others in the future, to help the state meet its needs.

This partnership brings powerful reskilling and comprehensive technical education in digitization to the table for Illinois learners and businesses:

Boost economic development for the state of Illinois by providing a 50 percent scholarship toward the data science courses for the first 500 qualified registrants.

for the state of by providing a 50 percent scholarship toward the data science courses for the first 500 qualified registrants. Create opportunities for minimum security inmates by sponsoring 100 courses for the inmate population, with the possibility of additional funding for individuals who want to take their training further.

by sponsoring 100 courses for the inmate population, with the possibility of additional funding for individuals who want to take their training further. The IoTTC is bringing together companies, academia and educators all into an ecosystem to help share best practices and drive organizational transformation through building the talent and skills needed for digitization jobs of the future. The offerings include prescriptive learning curriculum for learners for in-demand IoT jobs. The consortium will soon offer organizational leadership and transformation content workshops to help organizations through their digital transformation journey.

all into an ecosystem to help share best practices and drive organizational transformation through building the talent and skills needed for digitization jobs of the future. The offerings include prescriptive learning curriculum for learners for in-demand IoT jobs. The consortium will soon offer organizational leadership and transformation content workshops to help organizations through their digital transformation journey. Graduates from the data science track of the Microsoft Professional Program must successfully master eight core data science skills. Students apply these skills in a final capstone project that requires them to explore and cleanse a dataset, build a machine learning model to analyze the data, and publish it as a web service that will be tested and scored to determine the accuracy of the model. This capstone project acts as tangible proof of the graduate's ability to employ these skills in a real-world data science scenario.

Supporting Quotes:

Leslie Munger , deputy governor of Illinois : " Illinois' partnership with the IoT Talent Consortium supports our commitment to building and growing a strong digital economy. These courses will help train our workforce to prepare them for jobs of the future and bring jobs back to Illinois ."

" partnership with the IoT Talent Consortium supports our commitment to building and growing a strong digital economy. These courses will help train our workforce to prepare them for jobs of the future and bring jobs back to ." Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn , president, IoT Talent Consortium, vice president and general manager, Cisco Services: "With the rise of smart states comes a rising expectation of how state services will be delivered. Fortunately, the increase in digitized infrastructure, supported by IoT technology, is providing new ways to deliver services and improve quality of life. However, orchestrating transformative change on a massive scale requires more than just people who know how to install and maintain technology; there's a pressing need for innovation, business savvy, and the ability to analyze and create cross-platform solutions that improve the way we work, live, play and learn. We are thrilled to welcome Illinois into our ecosystem to help share best practices and drive organizational transformation with building talent and skills needed for digitization jobs of the future."

"With the rise of smart states comes a rising expectation of how state services will be delivered. Fortunately, the increase in digitized infrastructure, supported by IoT technology, is providing new ways to deliver services and improve quality of life. However, orchestrating transformative change on a massive scale requires more than just people who know how to install and maintain technology; there's a pressing need for innovation, business savvy, and the ability to analyze and create cross-platform solutions that improve the way we work, live, play and learn. We are thrilled to welcome into our ecosystem to help share best practices and drive organizational transformation with building talent and skills needed for digitization jobs of the future." Hardik Bhatt , secretary-designate Department of Innovation & Technology, chief digital officer: "Our partnership with the IoT Talent Consortium will strengthen efforts to grow Illinois' digital economy. As we expand innovation and technology in our state, it is crucial to also build a workforce to support those initiatives. Training programs, such as this one, will build our pool of technical talent in Illinois ."

"Our partnership with the IoT Talent Consortium will strengthen efforts to grow digital economy. As we expand innovation and technology in our state, it is crucial to also build a workforce to support those initiatives. Training programs, such as this one, will build our pool of technical talent in ." Chris Roy , director, IoT Talent Consortium, and senior director of learning services, Microsoft: "We are proud to provide a rigorous curriculum based on the Microsoft Professional Program for data science to learners in the state of Illinois . These skills will help learners in Illinois capture insights from the Internet of Things and use them to turn Illinois into the first smart connected state."

Supporting Resources:

For more detailed information, please visit:

https://www.iottalent.org/illinois-datascience



https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/doit/media/Pages/IoTTC.aspx

Social Media Destinations:

IoTTC Twitter: @IoT_Talent

IoTTC LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iot-talent-consortium

State of Illinois LinkedIn: https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/doit/Pages/default.aspx

About the IoT Talent Consortium

The IoT Talent Consortium's vision is to enable the workforce of the future and help realize the value that IoT and digitization have to offer. Our members include Cisco, General Electric, Global Knowledge, Rockwell Automation, Microsoft, MIT Sloan School of Management, Pearson Workforce Readiness, New York Academy of Sciences, the State of Illinois, and workforce management consultant IQNavigator. Discover more at http://www.iottalent.org/ and follow us on Twitter at @IoT_Talent.

About Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT)

On January 25, 2016, Governor Rauner issued Executive Order 16-01 establishing the Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT), a new state agency with responsibility for the information technology functions of agencies under the jurisdiction of the Governor. DoIT's mission is to empower the State of Illinois through high-value, customer-centric technology by delivering best-in-class innovation to client agencies fostering collaboration and empowering employees to provide better services to residents, businesses, and visitors. More information can be found on the DoIT website.

Media Contacts:

IoT Talent Consortium Press Relations:

Peggy Tierney Galvin

+1 831-440-2405

[email protected]

Illinois DoIT Public Information Officer:

Jennifer Schultz

+1-217-557-5811

[email protected]

SOURCE IoT Talent Consortium

Related Links

http://www.iottalent.org


HAMILTON, Bermuda, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Third Point Reinsurance Ltd. (NYSE: TPRE) ("TPRE" or the "Company") today announced that it is planning to release its first quarter 2017 results after the market close on Thursday, May 4, 2017. The Company will also hold a conference call to discuss its results at 8:30 am (Eastern Time) on Friday, May 5, 2017.

The conference call can be accessed by dialing 1-877-407-0789 (domestic) or 1-201-689-8562 (international) and asking for the Third Point Reinsurance First Quarter 2017 Earnings Call. A telephonic replay will be available approximately three hours after the call and can be accessed by dialing 1-844-512-2921, or for international callers 1-412-317-6671, and providing the passcode 13660643. The telephonic replay will be available until 11:59 pm (Eastern Time) on May 12, 2017.

Interested investors and other parties may also listen to a simultaneous webcast of the live conference call by logging onto the Investors section of the Company's website at http://www.thirdpointre.bm/. The online replay will be available on the Company's website immediately following the call.

About the Company

The Company is a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange which, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries Third Point Reinsurance Company Ltd. and Third Point Reinsurance (USA) Ltd., writes property and casualty reinsurance business. Third Point Reinsurance Company Ltd. and Third Point Reinsurance (USA) Ltd. each have an "A-" (Excellent) financial strength rating from A.M. Best Company, Inc.

Contact

Third Point Reinsurance Ltd.

Manoj Gupta - Head of Investor Relations and Business Development

+1 441-542-3333

[email protected]

SOURCE Third Point Reinsurance Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.thirdpointre.bm


LEUVEN, Belgium, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

ThromboGenics, a biotechnology company focusing on novel treatments for back of the eye disease and diabetic eye disease, announced it has achieved an important milestone in the advancing of the pre-clinical development of its THR-149, a novel plasma kallikrein inhibitor, which the company is developing for the treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema (DME). Following today's announcement, ThromboGenics will now start pivotal tox studies which are a last step before starting the clinical development which is expected for early 2018.

THR-149 is a bicyclic peptide (Bicycle) identified as a lead candidate in the alliance between ThromboGenics and Bicycle Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering a new class of therapeutics based on its proprietary bicyclic peptide (Bicycle) product platform.

Under the terms of the alliance agreement, ThromboGenics has an exclusive license to undertake pre-clinical and clinical development and subsequent commercialization of a specified drug candidate; in return Bicycle Therapeutics receives development milestone payments and royalties on sales of products resulting from the collaboration.

Bicycles are a novel class of small molecule medicines designed to overcome many of the limitations of existing drug modalities. They can be used as standalone therapeutic entities or coupled to deliver a variety of therapeutic payloads, and exhibit the affinity and exquisite target specificity usually associated with antibodies but in a small molecule format enabling rapid tissue penetration and flexible routes of administration.

"I am happy to report this important progress in our partnership with Bicycle Therapeutics," said Dr. Patrik De Haes, MD, Chief Executive Officer of ThromboGenics NV. "We believe that THR-149, a novel plasma kallikrein inhibitor, holds great promise for ophthalmology applications, expanding the range of treatment options available for people with diseases of the eye, particularly DME. We are rapidly moving towards the clinic, and expect to begin clinical development of THR-149 in early 2018."

"We're delighted to be realizing the first milestone from our Bicycle alliance with ThromboGenics and to see another Bicycle to be advancing towards the clinic for the treatment of a significant disease, in this case DME" said Dr. Kevin Lee, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Bicycle Therapeutics. "This achievement further validates Bicycle's technology and confirms the potential for Bicycles to be developed as a new therapeutic modality option to address a broad range of poorly treated diseases. We are continuing to expand our pipeline through strategic research collaborations which will extend our reach into new therapeutic areas and allow us to explore new applications for the Bicycle platform."

About ThromboGenics

ThromboGenics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative treatments for diabetic eye disease. The company's pipeline of disease modifying drug candidates is targeting the key segments of the diabetic eye disease market. ThromboGenics is conducting the CIRCLE study, a Phase II clinical trial evaluating multiple doses of THR-409 (ocriplasmin) to induce a total Posterior Vitreous Detachment in patients with Non-Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy (NPDR). Early 2017, ThromboGenics enrolled its first patient in a Phase II clinical study evaluating THR- 317, a PIGF inhibitor for the treatment of diabetic macular edema, as a stand-alone or as a combination therapy with anti-VEGF treatments. In addition, THR-149, a plasma kallikrein inhibitor, which has resulted from research collaboration with Bicycle Therapeutics, and THR-687, an integrin antagonist, which was inlicensed from Galapagos, are in late stage pre-clinical development. ThromboGenics pioneered a new drug category of pharmacological vitreolysis with JETREA (ocriplasmin) which is now approved for the treatment of vitreomacular traction in 54 countries worldwide. ThromboGenics is commercializing JETREA via its subsidiary ThromboGenics, Inc. in the US. Novartis commercializes JETREA outside the United States. ThromboGenics is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, and is listed on the NYSE Euronext Brussels exchange under the symbol THR. More information is available at www.thrombogenics.com.

About Bicycle Therapeutics

Bicycle Therapeutics is developing a new class of medicines to treat oncology and other important diseases based on its proprietary bicyclic peptide (Bicycle) product platform. Bicycles exhibit the affinity and exquisite target specificity usually associated with antibodies. Their small size enables rapid and deep tissue penetration, allowing tissues and tumours to be targeted from within. Their peptidic nature provides a "tuneable" pharmacokinetic half-life and a renal route of clearance, thus avoiding the liver and gastrointestinal tract toxicity often seen with other drug modalities. Bicycle Therapeutics is rapidly advancing towards the clinic with its lead programs using Bicycle Drug Conjugates to selectively deliver toxins to tumours. Bicycle Therapeutics is collaborating in oncology and other areas to realise the full potential of the technology. Bicycle Therapeutics' unique intellectual property is based on the work initiated at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, U.K., by the scientific founders of the company, Sir Gregory Winter and Professor Christian Heinis. Bicycle Therapeutics is headquartered in Cambridge, U.K., with a U.S. subsidiary in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.bicycletherapeutics.com.

For contacting ThromboGenics nv



ThromboGenics

Wouter Piepers,

[email protected]

+32-16-75-13-10 / +32-478-33-56-32



Citigate Dewe Rogerson

David Dible/Sylvie Berrebi

[email protected]

[email protected]

Tel: +44-20-7282-2867



For contacting Bicycle Therapeutics



Ten Bridge Communications (U.S.)

Sarah Sutton

[email protected]

+1-857-242-1619



Consilium Strategic Communications (EU)

Mary-Jane Elliott/ Chris Gardner/ Ivar Milligan

[email protected]

+44-20-3709-5700





Important information about forward-looking statements



Certain statements in this press release may be considered "forward-looking". Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, and, accordingly, entail and are influenced by various risks and uncertainties. The Company therefore cannot provide any assurance that such forward-looking statements will materialize and does not assume an obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or any other reason. Additional information concerning risks and uncertainties affecting the business and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement is contained in the Company's Annual Report.



This press release does not constitute an offer or invitation for the sale or purchase of securities or assets of ThromboGenics in any jurisdiction. No securities of ThromboGenics may be offered or sold within the United States without registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or in compliance with an exemption therefrom, and in accordance with any applicable U.S. state securities laws.

SOURCE ThromboGenics
CALGARY, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - TransAlta Corporation (TSX: TA; NYSE: TAC) ("TransAlta" or the "Company") held its Annual Meeting of Shareholders on April 20, 2017 in Calgary, Alberta. A total of 126,567,006 common shares, representing 43.96% of the shares outstanding were represented in person and by proxy at the meeting.

The following resolutions were considered by Shareholders:

1. Election of Directors

The nine director nominees proposed by management were elected by a show of hands. Proxies were received as follows:

Nominee Votes For Per cent Withheld Per cent John P. Dielwart 118,657,429 97.71% 2,779,026 2.29%









Timothy W. Faithfull 118,789,723 97.82% 2,646,732 2.18%









Dawn L. Farrell 118,761,470 97.80% 2,674,985 2.20%









Alan J. Fohrer 118,877,413 97.89% 2,559,042 2.11%









Gordon D. Giffin 117,995,546 97.17% 3,440,909 2.83%









P. Thomas Jenkins 106,516,301 87.71% 14,920,154 12.29%









Yakout Mansour 118,794,450 97.82% 2,642,005 2.18%









Georgia R. Nelson 106,023,523 87.31% 15,412,932 12.69%









Beverlee F. Park 106,378,987 87.60% 15,057,468 12.40%

2. Appointment of Auditors

The appointment of Ernst & Young LLP to serve as the independent auditors for 2017 was approved by a show of hands. Proxies were received as follows:

Votes For Per cent Withheld Per cent 124,293,545 98.33% 2,113,141 1.67%

3. Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation

The advisory vote on the Company's approach to executive compensation was conducted by ballot and the resolution was not approved. The votes by ballot were received as follows:

Votes For Per cent Votes Against Per cent 57,496,305 47.29% 64,097,750 52.71%

As this is an advisory vote, the results will not be binding upon the Board; however, the Board will take the results of this vote into account, as appropriate, when considering future compensation policies, procedures and decisions. The Board will also continue engaging directly with Shareholders to receive feedback regarding the Company's approach to executive compensation, and the Board will assess its future compensation policies, procedures, and decisions in the context of such feedback. The Company considers its approach to executive compensation as being a significant component of its broader corporate governance practices, which is generally consistent with best practices and includes claw-back policies, diversity policies, share ownership guidelines, anti-hedging policies and equity grant controls.

About TransAlta:

TransAlta is a power generation and wholesale marketing company focused on creating long-term shareholder value. TransAlta maintains a low-to-moderate risk profile by operating a highly contracted portfolio of assets in Canada, the United States and Australia. TransAlta's focus is to efficiently operate wind, hydro, solar, natural gas and coal facilities in order to provide customers with a reliable, low-cost source of power. For over 100 years, TransAlta has been a responsible operator and a proud contributor to the communities in which it works and lives. TransAlta has been recognized on CDP's Canadian Climate Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI), which includes Canada's top 20 leading companies reporting on climate change, and has been selected by Corporate Knights as one of Canada's Top 50 Best Corporate Citizens and is recognized globally for its leadership on sustainability and corporate responsibility standards by FTSE4Good.

For more information about TransAlta, visit our web site at transalta.com, or follow us on Twitter @TransAlta.

SOURCE TransAlta Corporation

Related Links

http://www.transalta.com


CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Charlotte-headquartered Tropical Foods and Healthy Home Market were honored last night at the Charlotte Business Journal Family Business Awards as the winner of Mid-Sized Family-Owned Company (51-250 employees).

In the second annual awards banquet, Charlotte Business Journal honored local, multi-generational family-owned business for overall excellence, innovation, ethics, philanthropy and contribution to the region. CBJ honors family businesses as an important driver for the local and regional economy, helping to strengthen and grow the greater Charlotte area.

"We are proud to be a family-owned business and continue the legacy our parents started when they founded Tropical Foods in 1977," said Angela Bauer, owner of Tropical Foods and Healthy Home Market. "It was especially meaningful to win this year, when we're celebrating our company's 40th anniversary."

Winners were selected by an independent judging panel of industry experts based on company employee count, family involvement and succession planning. Judges also considered overall excellence, innovation, ethics and philanthropy.

About Tropical Foods and Healthy Home Market

Tropical Foods specializes in premium snack mixes, freshly roasted nuts and seeds, dried fruit, and hundreds of bulk and packaged candies, spices, grains and specialty foods. Tropical Foods has an extensive line of retail branded products, including Grabeez, Buffalo Nuts, Dip & Devour and trEAT4u. The company was founded in 1977 with an original product line of 100 items, which has grown to include more than 3,000 today. Second-generation, women-owned Tropical Foods is headquartered in Charlotte, NC, with additional operating centers in Orlando, Atlanta, Memphis, Washington DC, and Dallas.

Healthy Home Market was founded in 1979 by Betty and Jerry York. The mission of Healthy Home Market is to offer shoppers a welcoming environment where skilled and friendly staff can help to make an informed product selection. Partnering with local vendors is important to Healthy Home Market. In addition to a wide variety of local products, the store supports surrounding communities through local partnerships and neighborhood outreach. Healthy Home Market currently has two Charlotte-area stores in Plaza Midwood and Galleria with two Farm 2 Family Foods by Healthy Home Market stores in Davidson and Lenoir, NC.

Contact:

Chad Hartman

Tropical Foods

[email protected]

704-602-0631

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Tropical Foods

Related Links

http://www.tropicalfoods.com


WASHINGTON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Chamber Foundation's Corporate Citizenship Center and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today issued a new report that explores how efforts by businesses to be a positive force in communities  commonly referred to as corporate social responsibility (CSR)  influences public perception of those companies.

The report, titled, "The CSR Effect: Social Media Sentiment and the Impact on Brands," examines the connection between companies that promote their corporate citizenship work and the resulting impact on public sentiment.

The study found that, among social media users who initially hold neutral views about a company, learning of a company's CSR programming can move sentiment about the company into positive territory. Additionally, over time, companies who increased online promotion of their CSR efforts experienced improvements in how they are viewed by social media users.



"Corporate social responsibility initiatives benefit both communities and businesses, and those efforts have even more impact as more and more businesses focus on societal improvement," said Marc DeCourcey, senior vice president of the U.S. Chamber Foundation. "This research shows that CSR can change how people feel about a company, and we hope it inspires businesses across the country to make corporate citizenship a cornerstone of their mission."

"Doing well by doing good is not only an important aspect of corporate culture, but it could also offer positive returns for a company of any size or industry," said Diane Melley, vice president of IBM Global Citizenship Initiatives. "This joint study demonstrates that corporate citizenship work does in fact change how people view a company."

To read the full report, please click here.

The research and analysis was made possible through an Impact Grant from IBM, which provided both consulting and technology support. The two-year joint study measured public sentiment using IBM Social Media Analytics .

This collaboration is part of IBM's philanthropic Impact Grants, which provides non-profits, governments, and institutions with skills and expertise to better serve their communities. Using IBM's social media analytics technology, a powerful monitoring tool that can analyze opinions and commentary drawn from online communities, forums, and blogs, non-profit organizations can be more responsive and precise in meeting their constituents' needs.

For more information about IBM's corporate citizenship initiatives, please visit CitizenIBM or follow us at @CitizenIBM.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Corporate Citizenship Center is a leading resource for businesses dedicated to making a difference. For more than 15 years, our programs, events, research, and relationships with key NGO and governments have helped businesses make the world a better place.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation is dedicated to strengthening America's long-term competitiveness. We educate the public on the conditions necessary for business and communities to thrive, how business positively impacts communities, and emerging issues and creative solutions that will shape the future.

Contact(s) information

Bailey Jacobs

Communications and Marketing, Corporate Citizenship Center

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation

[email protected]

1 (202) 463-5766

Ari Fishkind

IBM Media Relations

[email protected]

1 (914) 499-6420

SOURCE IBM

Related Links

http://www.ibm.com


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Victory Media, publisher of G.I. Jobs and Military Spouse, recognized Vectrus, Inc. (NYSE:VEC) with the 2017 Military Friendly Employer designation. The 2017 list of Military Friendly Employers distinguishes elite companies who promote strong job opportunities, hiring practices and retention programs for transitioning service members seeking civilian employment.

"Vectrus is a leading employer of veterans with more than 35 percent of our employees reporting a military background, and we are honored to receive this recognition from Victory Media," said Chuck Prow, president and chief executive officer of Vectrus. "Veterans' military experience provides valuable leadership skills and an understanding of our clients' needs. As a team, our employees bring diverse experiences from the military and business worlds that combined, strongly contribute to our success."

Vectrus was first chosen as a Military Friendly employer in 2014 and continued to receive this honor each year since its spin-off as a publicly traded company. Rated within six different survey categories, Vectrus met the standards in all categories and exceeded standards in five areas including: hiring and onboarding, culture and commitment, support and retention, policies and compliance, and recruiting and sourcing. Learn more about careers opportunities with Vectrus at www.vectrus.com/careers.

Military Friendly is the military ratings division of Victory Media. It helps veterans make informed choices about the next step in their professional careers. Companies compete for the elite Military Friendly Employer title by completing a data-driven survey, with responses independently tested by Ernst & Young. Each year, companies taking the survey are held to a higher standard than the previous year via improved methodology, criteria and weightings developed with the assistance of an advisory council.

About Vectrus

Vectrus is a leading, global government services company with a history in the services market that dates back more than 70 years. The company provides facility and logistics services, and information technology and network communication services to U.S. government customers around the world. Vectrus is differentiated by operational excellence, superior program performance, a history of long-term customer relationships, and a strong commitment to their mission success. Vectrus is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., and includes about 5,600 employees spanning 143 locations in 18 countries. In 2016, Vectrus generated sales of $1.2 billion. For more information, visit our website at www.vectrus.com or connect with us on Facebook , Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Contact:

Mike Smith

(719) 637-5773

[email protected]

SOURCE Vectrus

Related Links

http://www.vectrus.com


The change to cleaner, "greener" buses is part of VIA's multi-year plan to significantly reduce vehicle emissions, decrease operating costs, and allow VIA to carry out planned service enhancements. Once complete, the transformed fleet will bring a 97-percent reduction of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions and further the agency's role as an industry leader in environmental stewardship.

"Today, we celebrate the move toward a new, environmentally sustainable era in public transportation for our region," VIA President and CEO Jeffrey C. Arndt said. "VIA's conversion to an all-CNG fleet is where the rubber meets the road for VIA's commitment to drive innovation and connect our region with a cleaner, 'greener' future."

The move affirms VIA's focus on environmentally sustainable mobility in the region. A new, 10-pump CNG fueling station will be the largest in the nation once it's completely operational later this year.

The new buses, manufactured by Nova Bus, are 40 feet by 102 inches, with a 67-passenger capacity. The more modern, much quieter models feature a complete suite of technological systems including GPS locating, cameras for enhanced safety, automatic passenger counters to streamline boarding, and a public information system for real-time passenger stop alerts. They will replace aging buses in the current fleet, which are between 12 and 15 years old. VIA will replace more than half of its existing fleet by late summer 2017, with the ongoing fleet conversion expected to be complete by 2020. The annual fuel cost savings once the new fleet is completed is estimated at $8.5 million.

VIA provides regional multimodal transportation options that connect our community to opportunity, support economic vitality, and enhance quality of life throughout our region. VIA, recognized by the Texas Transit Association in 2016 as the outstanding Metro Transit Authority of the year, serves 14 member cities and the unincorporated areas of Bexar County, operating seven days a week on 90 routes. Last year, VIA provided 40 million rides across the region. VIA's AAA bond rating reflects the organization's sound management and financial practices. Visit www.VIAinfo.net for more information. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

SOURCE VIA Metropolitan Transit

Related Links

http://www.viainfo.net


According to the World Bank, Vietnam is one of the world's leading nations in sustainable energy. Whilst the demand for energy is quickly increasing, i.e. from 60,000 MW in 2020 to 29,500MW until 2030, the cost of renewable energy is gradually decreasing. So watch this space, Vietnam is getting ready for large amounts of investments in solar and wind energy projects to keep up with increased energy consumption and meet government goals.

Dr. Do Huu Hao, Chairman of Vietnam Energy Conservation and Energy Efficiency Association (VECEA) said "In comparison with other traditional energy sources such oil and coal, renewable energy is relatively new in Vietnam and is positioned as sustainable development and low-carbon emission. Hence, the government is aiming for 10.7% of the country's total output, generated from renewable energy, mainly solar and wind energy by 2030."

Supported by Vietnam Energy Conservation and Energy Efficiency Association (VECEA), Vietnam Automation Association (VAA) and Energy Conservation Center HCMC (ECC-HCM), a vast array of energy equipment, products and solutions in renewable energy and energy efficiency will be showcased at the exhibition.

Apart from the three-day exhibition, participants will also have an opportunity to network and share their experience with the industry professionals at the conference and technical seminars.

Based on a marketer's survey from last year's exhibition, 100% of the total number of exhibitors expressed their satisfaction of joining the last year exhibition.

Ms. Eliane van Doorn, Director of Business Development ASEAN of UBM Asia also confirmed that RE & EE Vietnam 2017 will work in line with Vietnam's energy progress. She said, "We will continue to create a holistic business platform for local enterprises to get access to and learn from the international technologies and innovations in the industries, especially in the solar power segment."

RE & EE Vietnam will again be co-located with Vietnam's Leading International Water Supply, Sanitation, Water Resources and Purification Event -- VIETWATER 2017 gathering 450 top companies from 38 countries, allowing abundant opportunities to network and exchange insights with local and international professionals, key leaders, and decision makers.

To accommodate the growth in electricity consumption a sustainable way, the government is slowly shifting its focus towards renewable energy. Therefore, RE & EE Vietnam invite you to take part in RE & EE Vietnam to seize the opportunities in this booming market segment.

To get more information about RE & EE Vietnam, please visit: www.renergyvietnam.com .

Notes to Editors:



About UBM Asia (www.ubmasia.com )

With a track record spanning over 30 years and a strong global presence in 24 major cities across Asia and in the US, UBM Asia is the largest trade show organiser in the region, and the largest commercial organiser in China, India, Malaysia and Thailand. We provide you with a one-stop diversified global platform for high value business matching, quality market news and online trading networks. Every year, we connect over 2,000,000 buyers and sellers from 150 countries and regions.

SOURCE UBM Asia (Malaysia)
PHILADELPHIA, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Berger & Montague, P.C. announced today the settlement of a False Claims Act case against Walgreen Co. (Walgreens) for $9.86 million to resolve allegations that Walgreens falsely billed California's Medicaid Program, Medi-Cal. The settlement resolves allegations raised in two whistleblower lawsuits brought under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. Berger & Montague represented former Walgreens pharmacy technician, Debbie G. Rinehart, who was one of the two individuals to report the fraud.

Berger & Montague shareholder Joy Clairmont commented, "Our whistleblower client, a former pharmacy technician who worked at Walgreens for nine years, was also a Medi-Cal beneficiary for a time. As such, she intimately understands the need for integrity in the Medi-Cal Program, and is satisfied to have helped contribute as a relator to this successful resolution."

In 2014, Ms. Rinehart filed her suit under seal pursuant to the provisions of the Federal False Claims Act and California False Claims Act. The lawsuit alleged that Walgreens improperly billed Medi-Cal for certain prescription drugs, "Code 1" drugs, appearing on Medi-Cal's formulary list. As alleged, Walgreens knowingly failed to comply with applicable "Code 1" drug restrictions and documentation requirements by failing to ensure that the drugs were prescribed for the requisite diagnoses prior to dispensing the drugs to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. The United States and the State of California intervened in the action for settlement.

Dan Miller, the co-chair of Berger & Montague's Qui Tam Practice Group, commended the government's investigation and resolution of the case: "We applaud the outstanding efforts of Assistant United States Attorney Catherine J. Swann and her colleagues at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Sacramento as well as California's Bureau of Medicaid Fraud and Elder Abuse who assisted in achieving this settlement."

The lawsuit is captioned United States ex rel. Debbie G. Rinehart v. Walgreen Co., Case No. 2:14-cv-0148 (E.D. Cal.).

Contacts

Daniel Miller

Shareholder, Berger & Montague, P.C.

215-875-5702, [email protected]

Joy Clairmont

Shareholder, Berger & Montague, P.C.

215-875-5803, [email protected]

SOURCE Berger & Montague, P.C.

Related Links

http://www.bergermontague.com


REDDING, Calif., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A unique concentration of waterfalls once created by volcanic activity allows visitors to marvel in the outdoor paradise of Redding and Shasta Cascade.

Three days is ample time to experience eleven of the dozens of waterfalls close in proximity to Redding.

Three days is ample time to experience 11 of the dozens of waterfalls close in proximity to Redding. A unique concentration of waterfalls once created by volcanic activity allows visitors to marvel in the outdoor paradise of Redding and Shasta Cascade.

Visitors are taking advantage of the wettest winter in nearly a century as the California Department of Water Resources reported the northern Sierra Nevada had more than 89.7 inches of precipitation since October. It brings the waterfalls to life, offering breathtaking spring waterfalls after a statewide drought.

"The waterfalls are thriving this spring thanks to the historic rain and snow levels," said T.J. Holmes, the communications coordinator for the Redding Convention & Visitors Bureau. "A popular attraction is the 220-foot Whiskeytown Falls, one of eleven that are roaring right now and are easily accessible from Redding."

Each waterfall is less than a 90-minute drive from Redding, which is an outdoor oasis for all ages. The city is surrounded by mountains, offers more than 225 miles of trails to hike, bike or walk, along with national and state parks featuring the crisp Sacramento River running right through downtown. To see the full three-day waterfall itinerary, visit www.visitredding.com/waterfall-weekend-getaway.

For more information or to request a visitor guide, visit www.shastacascade.com, or visitredding.com, like our Facebook page www.facebook.com/ShastaCascade, or facebook.com/visitreddingca or find us on twitter www.twitter.com/ShastaCascade.

Media Contact:

Susan Hartzler

Mental Marketing

818-585-8641

[email protected]



SOURCE Visit Redding

Related Links

http://www.visitredding.com


MIDDLEBURG, Pa., April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn and Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding today joined students from the Midd-West FFA Chapter planting trees along an un-named waterway in Snyder County to protect and improve water quality.

"As we approach Earth Day on Saturday, it's a good time to think about the difference each of us can make protecting our land and water. Planting trees, especially along streams, helps improve the quality of our water nearby, and downstream," Dunn said. "Another benefit today is that the trees are being planted by students, raising awareness about of the role farming can play in conservation efforts for young people who are the farmers, teachers, government officials and community leaders of the future."

The trees are being planted on the 15-acre Midd-West School District Agricultural Education Center and are intended to buffer the waterway from any impacts from a nearby livestock barn on the property.

"Farmers are among the original stewards of our land and water resources, so it's appropriate that these young people who are studying agriculture as part of their education are learning good water and soil stewardship," said Redding. "With more than 33,000 active Pennsylvania's farms located in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, we must balance our commitment to a vibrant agricultural sector with our commitment to water quality."

The Midd-West FFA Chapter is a student-run leadership organization of 330 members enrolled in agricultural education courses at Midd-West High School.

"The agricultural education program at Midd-West High School is committed to providing the most authentic, yet sustainable learning environments for students," Agricultural Science Instructor David Bittner said. "This includes managing our fields, forests, and waterways just as agricultural producers do every day."

Dunn noted that DCNR Bureau of Forestry service foresters located in each of the 20 forest districts statewide can assist landowners with information about planting forest buffers.

Forest buffers along stream banks prevent sediments and nutrients from the land from entering the water, and provide shade to help keep water temperatures cooler for trout and other stream life.

DCNR's mission is connected to water conservation and quality through:

Protecting forested landscapes -- including woodlands, stream buffers and community trees  that serve as natural filters for pollutants entering waterways;

Rivers conservation;

Management of lakes, rivers, streams, beaches and shorelines for habitat and recreation;

Groundwater knowledge and role in water well drilling;

Managing resources to provide water-based recreation; and

Grants for green infrastructure in local parks and recreational facilities.

MEDIA CONTACT: Christina Novak, DCNR, 717.579.5177

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture

Related Links

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us


BOSTON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This May, WORLD Channel, in partnership with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), Pacific Islanders in Communication (PIC) and KQED San Francisco, celebrates the voices of Asian Pacific Americans with a selection of eight original and compelling documentary films that spotlight the identity and diverse stories of this community. The curated collection includes premieres from award-winning series America ReFramed, Local, USA, and Doc World. A complete guide about Asian Pacific American (APA) Heritage Month programming is available on the WORLD Channel website.

For this APA Heritage Month, WORLD Channel explores the identity evolution of immigrants, refugees, and first and second generation Asian Pacific American children who don't have just one identity, but two.

In conjunction with the broadcast films, WORLD Channel is releasing a series of digital shorts featuring the filmmakers that have aired on WORLD-exclusive series. On the night of each broadcast, filmmakers introduce their film and give audiences a look at special behind-the-scenes video. Woven throughout is the story of the importance of APA Heritage Month. Digital shorts will be released on Facebook and Twitter and used as on-air interstitials throughout the month.

WORLD Channel Digital will also release a series of interviewson social media and as on-air interstitialsfrom a number of Asian American directors, telling their story of Asian-American identity and pride.

This revealing look into the Asian Pacific American communityfrom China to Hawai'iincludes the following eight films (full episode descriptions available):

May 8

Local, USA: Forever, Chinatown, presented in partnership with KQED's Truly CA, is a story of self-taught, 81-year-old artist Frank Wong who has spent the past four decades recreating his fading memories by building detailed miniature models of the San Francisco Chinatown of his youth. This film takes the journey of one individual and maps it to a rapidly changing urban neighborhood from 1940s to present day. In his compromise with immortality, Frank announces plans to cremate his exquisite works with him upon his death in order to 'live inside them forever' in his afterlife. Forever, Chinatown will also air on KQED WORLD channel on May 8 at 9:30PM PT. KQED's main channel will encore the special on June 16 at 8:00PM PT.

May 9

For 29-year-old filmmaker Matthew Hashiguchi, growing up half-Japanese American in an Irish-Catholic neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio, was a difficult experience. His inability to blend in with the predominantly White population of his surroundings translated into his own personal struggles with race, and in America ReFramed: Good Luck Soup audiences join Matthew on a journey to discover how Japanese heritage influenced the lives of his Japanese American family members; before, during and after World War II.

May 14

Doc World: Finding Samuel Lowe follows retired NBC executive Paula Williams Madison and her brothers, Elrick and Howard Williams, who were raised in Harlem by their Chinese Jamaican mother. In order to fulfill a promise to their mother to connect to her estranged father's people, they embark on a journey to China to uncover their ancestral roots and search for clues about their long-lost grandfather, Samuel Lowe.

May 15

Local USA: The Roots of 'Ulu, presented by Pacific Islanders in Communication, transports audiences from the Polynesian voyaging canoes that brought 'ulu from Tahiti to Hawai'i, up through the present day efforts of native practitioners, medical specialists and agricultural experts who have a shared vision of the 'ulu (breadfruit) tree playing an important role in cultural preservation, health restoration and food sustainability for Hawai'i's future.

May 16

When he was six-years-old, Dinesh Sabu's parents died. Raised by his siblings, he had little idea who his parents were or where he came from. Now as an adult with a burning curiosity, Dinesh sets out on a journey across the United States and India to piece together their story. Uncovering a silenced family history of mental illness, Dinesh confronts the legacy of having a schizophrenic mother who died by suicide, the reality of growing up an orphaned immigrant, and the trauma of these events in America ReFramed: Unbroken Glass.

May 21

The 2008 Sichuan earthquake, China's deadliest disaster in three decades, killed 90,000 people, including more than 5,000 children. Losing a child is an immeasurable tragedy for parents anywhere, but in China the effect is compounded by the one-child policy. In response to the earthquake, China's government made an exception for those who lost their only child to conceive another. Doc World: One Child follows the journey of these three families as they try to restore a sense of normalcy and struggle to move past the loss of their children.

May 23

Arrested at 16 and tried as an adult for kidnapping and robbery, Eddy Zheng served over 20 years in California prisons and jails. America ReFramed: Breathin'  The Eddy Zheng Story paints an intimate portrait of Eddy-the prisoner, the immigrant, the son, the activist-on his journey to freedom, rehabilitation and redemption.

May 28

As leader of the world's only LGBT political party, Bemz Benedito dreams of being the first transgender woman in the Philippine Congress. But in a predominantly Catholic nation, rallying for LGBT representation in the halls of Congress is not an easy feat. Taking their equality campaign to small-town hair salons and regional beauty pageants, the activists mobilize working-class trans hairdressers and beauty queens to join the fight against their main political opponent, a homophobic evangelical preacher. Culminating on election day, Doc World: Out Run provides a unique look into the challenges LGBT people face as they transition into the mainstream and fight for dignity, legitimacy, and acceptance across the globe.

Special encore programming that includes award winning documentary films is also airing this month as a part of APA Heritage Month.

May 2

Born in a refugee camp in Cambodia, poet Kosal Khiev was lucky to escape the wartorn country before he was two years old; he was granted asylum and grew up in the U.S. By the age of 16, he was convicted of attempted murder and spent the next 14 years in jail where he found the power of writing and spoken-word. After being released from prison, as a refugee with no permanent resident status in the U.S., Khiev was deported to Cambodia, a country he's never known. America ReFramed: Cambodian Son, an Asian American Journalist Award winner, follows a year in the life of Khiev, while he navigates his new fame as Phnom Penh's premiere poet and receives the most important invitation of his career-to represent the Kingdom of Cambodia at the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

May 7

Doc World: The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor tells the story of Haing Ngor, one of the most recognized survivors of the Cambodian genocide and a man who became a worldwide ambassador for justice in his homeland, only to be murdered in a Los Angeles Chinatown alley. Dr. Ngor revisited the story of the Cambodian death camps in his Oscar-winning performance in the theatrical film The Killing Fields. Anchored by Ngor's powerful autobiography and presented in an original mix of animation and live action, the film presents a transcontinental journey of loss and reconciliation.

Audiences are invited to learn more about this community through the #MyAPALife social conversation on WORLD Channel's Facebook and Twitter, in partnership with American Documentary, PBS, Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), and Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC). WORLD and American Documentary will be hosting a live digital conversation between Asian Pacific American filmmakers from America ReFramed, Doc World and Local, USA in May.

Media Contact:

Alexis Feinberg

WGBH

617-300-5334

[email protected]

About WORLD Channel

The WORLD Channel delivers the best of public television's nonfiction, news and documentary programming. The channel features original content by and about diverse communities to U.S. audiences through local public television stations and streaming online at worldchannel.org. WORLD reached 33.3 million unique viewers 18+ last year (52% adults 18-49) and over-indexes in key diversity demographics. Online, the WORLD Channel expands on broadcast topics and fuels dialogue across social media, providing opportunities for broad and diverse audience interaction. For its exploration of the human spirit, WORLD Channel won the 2016 Christopher Award in the TV/cable category for the episode IF YOU BUILD IT, a part of its America Reframed series.

WORLD is programmed by WGBH/Boston, in partnership with American Public Television and WNET/New York, and in association with PBS and National Educational Telecommunications Association. Funding for the WORLD Channel is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. For more information about The WORLD Channel, visit www.worldchannel.org

SOURCE WGBH

Related Links

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HOUSTON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE: WTI) announced today that it will release its first quarter 2017 financial and operational results after the market closes on Wednesday, May 3. In conjunction with the release, the Company has scheduled a conference call, which will also be broadcast live over the Internet, on Thursday, May 4 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time (8:30 a.m. Central Time).

By Phone: Dial 1-412-902-0030 at least 10 minutes before the call. A telephone replay will be available through May 11, 2017 by dialing 1-201-612-7415 and using the passcode 13660473.



By Webcast: Visit the Investor Relations page of W&T's website at www.wtoffshore.com under "Presentations." A replay will be available shortly after the call.

About W&T Offshore

W&T Offshore, Inc. is an independent oil and natural gas producer with operations offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and has grown through acquisitions, exploration and development. The Company currently has working interests in approximately 52 fields in federal and state waters (50 producing and two fields capable of producing) and has under lease approximately 750,000 gross acres, including approximately 490,000 gross acres on the Gulf of Mexico Shelf and approximately 260,000 gross acres in the deepwater. A majority of the Company's daily production is derived from wells it operates. For more information on W&T Offshore, please visit the Company's website at www.wtoffshore.com.

CONTACT: Lisa Elliott Danny Gibbons

Dennard Lascar Associates SVP & CFO

[email protected] [email protected]

713-529-6600 713-624-7326

SOURCE W&T Offshore, Inc.

Related Links

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BOSTON, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ZappRx, Inc., a digital health company focused on modernizing and expediting the specialty drug prescribing process, today announced it closed $25 million in Series B funding led by Qiming US Healthcare Fund, a venture capital firm based in Seattle that is part of a broader family of Qiming Venture Partners. The Series B round included participation from SR One, who led ZappRx's Series A round in 2014, and GV (formerly Google Ventures). As part of the financing, Mark McDade, Managing Partner at Qiming US, will join ZappRx's Board of Directors.

The investment comes at a key time of growth for Boston-based ZappRx, and for the specialty drug market overall. In the past five years, the $100 billion market for specialty drugs has nearly doubled1 and is projected to reach $400 billion by 2020.2 The ZappRx platform is currently being used in several prominent academic medical centers and large multi-specialty practices in the US. This investment will help accelerate the product's launch into this growing market in dire need of innovative IT solutions.

ZappRx relieves administrative challenges for healthcare providers and specialty pharmacists who manage the care of patients requiring specialty medications. The cloud-based platform streamlines what is currently a multi-step, manual prescribing process, often involving multiple platforms for each of several treatments, into a single, digitally-enabled format. This allows providers who treat complex conditions in categories like oncology, pulmonology, rheumatology, neurology and gastroenterology to focus more on patient care and less on the paperwork required for getting patients on therapy.

In addition to greatly reducing the workload for providers, payers, pharmacists, and patients, there is a significant unmet need for rich, real-time data for specialty biopharma companies. ZappRx believes that its platform could enable new insights for biopharmas based on real-time longitudinal and disease area data capture.

"We are excited to have top tier investors, Qiming US, SR One, and GV stand behind our product and our vision to transform specialty drug prescribing," said ZappRx Founder and CEO Zoe Barry.

"ZappRx has created a unified platform that we believe will dramatically transform the ecosystem experience around specialty drugs to benefit providers, payers, pharmacists, patients, and biopharma manufacturers," said Mark McDade, Managing Partner at Qiming US.

About ZappRx

ZappRx is modernizing and simplifying the way specialty medications are managed. The company provides a secure, collaborative online platform that allows patients, physicians and pharmacists to work together to improve patients' access to treatment, delivering medicine faster, with fewer hassles and greater transparency. Follow ZappRx on Twitter at twitter.com/zapprx.

About Qiming

The Qiming U.S. Healthcare Fund, LP is a new US healthcare venture fund headquartered in Seattle, WA with offices in Palo Alto, CA and Cambridge, MA. As part of a broader family of Qiming venture funds, this new fund seeks to invest in US-based human healthcare companies with potential market opportunities in China. Focused areas of interest are bio-therapeutics, medtech and digital health technologies, with equity investments ranging from $5 to $12 million.

1 IMS Health, "IMS Health Study: U.S. Drug Spending Growth Reaches 8.5 Percent in 2015," (2016) 2 UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform and Modernization

3 * Survey conducted by Deerfield, "Internal ZappRx Company Report," (2015).

CONTACT: Chrysta Olson, 617-844-0989 ext. 108, [email protected]

SOURCE ZappRx

Related Links

http://www.zapprx.com


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
Jodhpur, April 16 : Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Sunday said civilians in Kashmir have become the target of both militants and the security forces, adding that a feeling of distrust among people has developed after the PDP-BJP government came to power.

"The civilians are being killed from both sides in Kashmir Valley. From one end, the militants are killing them and on the other, they are becoming the target of the security forces," Singh told media persons here.

"To understand what the people of Kashmir are going through, one should go there and find out. One cannot form opinions about Kashmir sitting here. Many families have lost their loved ones and many have lost their eyes too," he added.

He also said that after the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government came to power in Jammu and Kashmir, a feeling of distrust has developed among the people of the Valley towards the government.

"The situation in Kashmir was improving. From 2005 to 2013-14, except for 2010-11 when there was some unrest, peace was established in the Valley, normal elections were going on," Singh said.

"But after PDP-BJP came to power, a sense of distrust among the people towards the government has developed. If you want to have Kashmir in India, then won't you also keep the people of Kashmir as well. Don't you think we should win people's confidence in Kashmir," the leader asked.
Seoul, April 16 : US Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday arrived on a three-day visit to South Korea to reaffirm the robust security alliance and warn against North Korea's possible provocation, officials said.

After landing at a US airbase in Pyeongtaek, 70 km from here, Pence headed to a Seoul national cemetery in a gesture to highlight the alliance forged during the 1950-53 Korean War, Yonhap news agency reported.

This is Pence's first trip to Asia after taking office in January. The visit came amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Pyongyang on Sunday made an unsuccessful attempt to launch a ballistic missile and has been seen preparing for another nuclear test while Washington has sent an aircraft carrier strike group to waters off the Korean peninsula in a show of force against the Kim Jong-un regime.

Pyongyang on Saturday displayed three intercontinental ballistic missiles during a military parade.

Pence will on Monday meet South Korea's acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun.

The two sides will discuss bilateral cooperation in pressuring Pyongyang into changing track toward denuclearisation through sanctions and diplomacy, observers said.

Pence is also likely to explain to Hwang the Trump administration's North Korea policy.

Other issues likely to be discussed include the ongoing installation of an advanced US missile defence system on the peninsula.

The two sides may reaffirm the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system and call on Beijing to stop its economic retaliation against South Korea, observers said.

Hwang and Pence will release a joint statement after talks to warn North Korea against provocations and highlight the unwavering alliance.

Pence will on Tuesday deliver a speech at a meeting hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

In recent months, a series of top US officials have visited South Korea amid concerns that security cooperation between the allies could slacken in the wake of the March 10 ouster of former President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal.

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Seoul in February and March respectively to highlight that the US commitment to the defence of South Korea will remain "ironclad".

Pence will depart for Japan on Tuesday. His trip will also take him to Indonesia and Australia.
Chennai, April 16 : Actor Ajay Ghosh, best known for playing a menacing police officer in National Award-winning Tamil film "Visaaranai", says working with filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli can be very rewarding for any artiste.

In "Baahubali 2: The Conclusion", Ajay plays the role of a dacoit.

"Even though it's a small role, the time spent with Rajamouli sir on the sets is equivalent to going to a film school. Working with him has been rewarding. You can learn so much even if you spend a few hours with him," Ajay told IANS.

Excited about being part of one of India's biggest motion pictures, he said he can't wait to see himself on the screen.

"To see myself as part of the country's most anticipated film is the biggest achievement of my career so far. I play a dacoit in Anushka's kingdom and very excited to know how audiences will receive me," he said.

The actor will next be seen in Tamil film "Thappu Thanda".

Meanwhile, "Baahubali 2: The Conclusion" is slated for worldwide release on April 28. It also stars Rana Daggubati, Prabhas, Tamannaah Bhatia, Anushka Shetty, Ramya Krishnan and Sathyaraj.
Srinagar, April 17 : Clashes between group of protesting students and security forces broke out here on Monday resulting in heavy lobbing of tear gas shels by the forces.

A group of students from the S.P. College blocked the Maulana Azad road in Srinagar to protest against the army's action on students in Pulwama on Saturday in which more than two dozen students got injured.

The army had entered in to the Degree College Pulwama where students resisted and pelted stones over their vehicles.

The students of the S.P. College also resorted to stone throwing on security forces and the armed police in which the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Kothibagh police station got injured.

The forces then used tear gas smoke shells and batons to disperse the students who kept on regrouping to engage the security forces in pitched clashes.

The local market around the Residency Road area was immediately shut after the situation got grim.
Srinagar, April 17 : Protesting against the assault on students in Pulwama, students across the Kashmir Valley on Monday took to the streets and clashed with the security forces.

The clashes occurred at eight places, turning the streets outside colleges into battlefields, witnesses and officials said.

It was the biggest wave of student protests in the troubled valley.

Students of S.P. College blocked Maulana Azad Road in Srinagar against the army's action on students at Pulwama in south Kashmir on Saturday that injured more than two dozen students.

The army had entered the Degree College Pulwama then, leading to pitched battles with students who stoned the security vehicles.

On Monday, the students rained a barrage of stones on security forces and police. The Station House Officer of Kothibagh police station was injured.

The security forces used tear gas and batons to disperse the students, who kept regrouping to engage the security forces.

Students of colleges of Pulwama and Shopian in south Kashmir and Srinagar's Amar Singh College and Women's College M.A. Road shouted slogans in solidarity with the students of Pulwama.

Students from Kashmir University and Central University of Kashmir in Srinagar staged peaceful protests.

In north Kashmir, students poured out of the Sopore Degree College in large numbers and shouted slogans against the assault on students.

Some students resorted to stone pelting, leading to clashes with security forces.
Seoul, April 17 : US Vice President Mike Pence on Monday visited the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas at a moment of heightened tension with Pyongyang amid repeated weapons tests.

A few metres from the tense border with North Korea, Pence once again stressed the importance of the alliance between Washington and Seoul and the determination of the American people and President Donald Trump to resolve the situation through peaceful means, Efe news reported.

However, Pence said the US has run out of patience and that all options are on the table for achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, as he hinted at the possibility of using military action if necessary.

Pence travelled from Seoul in a Blackhawk military helicopter to Camp Bonifas, a defence compound near the DMZ named after one of two US soldiers killed by North Korean troops in 1976.

The DMZ is a 4 km-wide strip full of mines that crosses the border between the two countries.

It is the only point where North and South Korean troops come face to face.

Hours before Pence landed in South Korea on Sunday, the Kim Jong-un regime carried out yet another failed ballistic missile test.

In response to an earlier missile, fired on April 5, the Pentagon sent nuclear aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and its attack group to the Korean Peninsula.

On Monday, Pence will also meet South Korean Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn and National Assembly speaker Chung Sye-kyun.

Pence and Hwang are expected to discuss ways of urging Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear and missiles program through diplomatic pressure and a hardening of sanctions.

Pence will leave for Japan on Tuesday. His trip includes visits to Indonesia and Australia.
New Delhi, April 17 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday filed a prosecution complaint against controversial preacher and televangelist Zakir Naik's close aide Aamir Gazdar for money laundering.

Last year, the ED had registered a money laundering case against Naik's Islamic Research Foundation under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) on the basis of an FIR registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

"It was alleged that Dr Zakir Abdul Karim Naik and his associates were indulging in unlawful activities and through his provocative utterances, promoting enmity and hatred between different religious groups in India.

"His inflammatory speeches and lectures have inspired and incited a number of Muslim youths in India to commit unlawful activities and terrorist acts," a statement from the Directorate said.

The Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), Mumbai was declared as unlawful under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 by a government order on November 17, 2016.

Based on the investigation conducted, Gazdar was arrested by the ED under Section 19 of the PMLA on February 16 and is currently in judicial custody.

The ED said during the investigation, it was found that certain dummy companies were established by Naik for routing the proceeds of crime. Out of the various companies established by Naik, Gazdar was Director in at least six of those.

The investigation also revealed that Gazdar, a confidant of Naik, was in close touch with him and also involved in illegal activities at the behest of Naik and was not only aware of many of his nefarious and illegal activities but actively collaborated and assisted in such activities.

"Aamir Gazdar has even gone beyond and knowingly assisted Naik and his associated companies in their financial shenanigans by providing 'accommodation entries' and parking and utilising these tainted monies through his personal bank accounts and the bank accounts of his family members," the ED statement read.

The agency said unaccounted money around Rs 5.15 crore belonging to Naik in cash had been handled by him on the instructions of Naik without leaving any trail on its origin or utilisation within a span of eight months only.

"No other person is privy to the source and actual use of this substantial unaccounted cash."

The ED has already attached properties in the form of Mutual Funds, real estate properties and bank balances worth Rs 17.45 crore of the Islamic Research Foundation.

A special court on April 13 issued a non-bailable warrant for arrest against Naik after he failed to appear before the ED despite four summons served on him.

The statement added that the ED may file supplementary prosecution complaints against Naik as he had so far not appeared before it.
New Delhi, April 18 : A plea was filed in the Delhi High Court on Tuesday seeking directions to the government to approach the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to secure the release from Pakistan of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.

The plea said an Indian citizen had been illegally detained and wrongly awarded capital punishment by a Pakistani military court without providing him a fair trial.

Pakistan has not made public copies of the chargesheet against Jadhav and the copy of the judgment sentencing him to death, said Rahul Sharma, a social activist who approached the court.

Jadhav, sentenced to death on April 10, faced seven charges including espionage and waging war against Pakistan. Islamabad has rejected Indian requests for consular access to Jadhav.

The petition stated that the Indian government must challenge the violations of international law by the Pakistan government by taking the matter to the International Court of Justice.
Brussels, April 18 : The European Commission (EC) on Tuesday announced the signing of its first ever nuclear safety cooperation project with Iran.

The EC will assign 2.5 million euro ($2.66 million) to "enhance the capabilities of the Iranian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (INRA)", according to a statement published by the Commission.

"It will do so by preparing a feasibility study for the Nuclear Safety Centre foreseen in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)," the statement added.

Specifically, Brussels will support Tehran in "developing a nuclear regulatory framework, working toward the accession by Iran to several international nuclear conventions, including the Convention on Nuclear Safety," Efe news reported.

The EC said it would also review "the results of the stress test to take place in the Bushehr nuclear power plant", located in Southern Iran.

The project was "the first of a 5 million euro action approved by the European Union (EU) in 2016 under the Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation."

A second project for the stress test at the Bushehr plant would also be signed in the "coming weeks", the EC said.

The EU and Iran thawed their diplomatic relations after the nuclear agreement signed in July 2015, thus laying the foundations for closer relations between them.
New Delhi, April 18 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he held "fruitful talks" with visiting Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari.

"We are honoured to welcome President Bidya Devi Bhandari of Nepal. Had fruitful talks with her," Modi tweeted after calling on Bhandari at Rashtrapati Bhavan where she is staying.

Earlier in the day, Bhandari was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan here. Later, she paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.

Following this, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the visiting dignitary.

The Nepal President arrived here on Monday on a five-day visit to India at the invitation of President Pranab Mukherjee.

This is Bhandari's maiden foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015.

She is accompanied by a 33-member delegation that includes Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat and Peace and Reconstruction Minister Sita Devi Yadav, five women MPs and senior officials.

She will also visit Gujarat and Odisha before returning to Kathmandu on Friday.
Jammu, April 18 : The Jammu and Kashmir cabinet on Tuesday expressed anguish over the loss of lives during last week's violence in the valley and directed the security forces to deal with the situation with firmness and restraint.

While reviewing the security situation, the Cabinet directed the Police and security agencies to "exercise maximum restraint while handling law and order situations to prevent loss of human lives."

The Cabinet, which met on Tuesday here, under the chair of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti also made an appeal to all shades of political opinion to help restore peace.

"The State Cabinet expressed deep anguish over the loss of precious lives in the Kashmir valley during the prevailing law and order situation," an official release said.

"The Cabinet urged the civil society and parents to counsel the youth to stay away from violent protests which, in spite of maximum restraint, can at times lead to fatal consequences," it added.

The State administration was also directed to take all required measures to tackle the situation "effectively and at the same time ensure that the general public is not put to any inconvenience and their grievances are addressed".

The Kashmir Valley witnessed massive violence during the Srinagar-Budgam Lok Sabha by-poll on April 9, in which eight civilians were killed in security forces firing during clashes with protesters.

Another youth was killed in firing in Srinagar on Saturday. Widespread violence also engulfed a college in Pulwama with students protesting against security forces.
New Delhi, April 18 : The Centre on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that it was actively considering to put in place a law to protect data and curb sharing of individual data on social networking sites and online messaging services.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told a Constitution Bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.K. Sikri, Justice Amitava Roy, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice Mohan M. Shantanagouda that the government is mulling a framework for data protection like the one existing in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Telling the court that data protection applies to a host of online platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Paytm, and Twitter, Rohatgi sought adjournment in the case till Diwali by which time, he said, something would emerge.

The court was hearing a plea by Karmanya Singh Sareen and others who have challenged a Delhi High Court September 23 order by which it allowed WhatsApp to roll out its new privacy policy but said it cannot share the data of its users collected up to September 25, 2016, with Facebook or any other related company.

Appearing for Sareen, senior counsel Harish Salve told the apex court that if a regulatory framework is put in place it would be good and they can then focus on the specifics and argue the case.

He said he hoped both the petitioner and the social networking site Facebook and online messaging service WhatsApp may agree to the regulatory framework that the government is considering.

"If law comes and provide for regulation, then it is OK," the court was told.

Even though the Centre sought an adjournment of the hearing so that it could undertake the exercise of putting in place the law for data protection, the court asked Salve to frame the questions that would be addressed to the court in the course of hearing by the Constitution Bench.

As Salve said that they would frame the questions, senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for WhatsApp, raised objection to the case's hearing by the Constitution Bench, questioning what constitutional issues were involved.

He said any hearing by the Constitution Bench is preceded by framing of questions that would be addressed by it.

Sibal told the bench that whatever has been told to it by the petitioners does not apply to his client as they were not sharing messages, contents, data, and voice messages with any third party and everything was encrypted.

Sibal told the court that WhatsApp is compliant with the Information Technology Act and the 2011 privacy law and so no part of the content exchanged between two individuals is ever revealed to the third party.

The court directed for next hearing on April 27.
New Delhi, April 18 : In a setback to the Congress ahead of the April 23 civic polls, former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely and former Youth Congress leader Amit Malik quit the party and joined the BJP on Tuesday.

"Former DPCC President Arvinder Singh Lovely, a former Minister, and former Youth Congress leader Amit Malik joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of party chief Amit Shah," the Delhi BJP said in a tweet.

Union Minister Vijay Goel, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and BJP's Lok Sabha member from East Delhi Maheish Girri were also present on the occasion.

"Lovely's joining the party will strengthen the party in several areas of east Delhi," said Tiwari.

Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit slammed Lovely over the way he left the party but also took a veiled dig at Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken, saying that the party leadership in Delhi should have reached out to those having grievances.

"It is not the best action that he (Lovely) has taken after all that the Congress gave him and did for him. He was a minister and PCC chief. Leaving the Congress like this is not a good politician's way of looking at things," Dikshit told IANS.

She said his resignation would cause some embarrassment to the party.

Referring to Maken, she said he should have reached out to everybody.

"There are disapppointments in politics. If someone is disappointed or angry, then the party leadership should reach out to them. Apparently, that was not done," she said.

"The PCC President is the most important person in state leadership. He should treat the party as a joint family and learn to deal with them (workers with grievances)," the former Chief Minister added.

Dikshit said during her tenure as Chief Minister, several leaders from other parties had joined the Congress.

Congress leader and former Delhi Minister Kiran Walia also slammed Lovely and said "he should be ashamed of conveniently shifting ideologies for personal political gains".

Lovely held important portfolios in the Sheila Dikshit government, including education, tourism, urban development, revenue, and transport.

He was elected to the Delhi assembly for the first time in 1998. He has never lost an election ever since.

Referring to the Congress, Lovely told reporters: "The child has died. The party is finished."

"Nobody took note of my grievances. Several leaders in the Congress are feeling suffocated for the past two years," he added Lovely had spoken in support of former Congress Minister A.K. Walia when he threatened to quit the party over distribution of party tickets for the April 23 civic polls.

"After Arvinder Singh Lovely's joining, I am getting loads of calls from Congress leaders. They feel suffocated in the Congress and want to join the BJP," Goel said on his Twitter account.

In two separate functions held at the BJP office here on Tuesday, around 200 Congress office-bearers and workers joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of BJP National Vice-President Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, and MPs Maheish Girri and Meenakshi Lekhi.
Beijing, April 19 : China has given its own names to six places in Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls "South Tibet", in a move to reaffirm its territorial sovereignty over the Indian state.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs announced on April 14 on its website that it had standardised in Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabet the names of six places, the state-run Global Times reported on Tuesday.

The six names are Wo'gyainling, Mila Ri, QoidAngarbo Ri, Mainquka, BAmo La and Namkapub Ri. The report did not say which six places in Arunachal Pradesh it was referring to.

"The standardisation came amid China's growing understanding and recognition of the geography in South Tibet. Naming the places is a step to reaffirm China's territorial sovereignty to South Tibet," Xiong Kunxin, a professor of ethnic studies at Beijing's Minzu University of China, told the daily.

"These names have existed since ancient times but had never been standardised (earlier). Therefore, announcing the names is like a remediation," said Guo Kefan, a research fellow at the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences.

He added: "Standardising the names from the angles of culture and geography could serve as a reference or leverage when China and India negotiate border issues in future."

On April 5, China's Foreign Ministry criticised India for inviting the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh, an action which it said will "bring no benefits to India".

"The Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh severely damages China's interests and Sino-Indian relations," said Hua Chunying, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

Hua added that arranging "his activities in this sensitive area where China and India have territorial disputes not only violates India's commitment on Tibet-related issues, but also fuels the border dispute".
New Delhi, April 19 : With the Indian Army facing flak for using a man as a shield against stone pelters in Jammu and Kashmir, a former chief has said the action was a violation of its code on human rights -- but added that the "exceptional circumstances" in Kashmir valley should also be kept in mind.

Former army chief General V.P. Malik said one should keep in mind the "exceptional circumstances" under which the army was functioning in the violence-hit valley, while former Army Chief General Bikram Singh (retired) said though it was a violation it was a "one off incident -- an aberration".

Asked about the April 13 incident in which a Kashmiri was shown tied to the front of a army jeep, Malik said: "We have to first understand the exceptional circumstances which are prevailing in the Valley today... Exceptional in the sense of the kind of agitations, stone pelting, abusing and pushing of armed services people..."

"There is no doubt it was a violation of the Army code on Human Rights, but then I think when we look at his (the indicted army officer) offence and his misdemeanour, you have to take into account the circumstances in which he was," Malik added.

"This is not a black and white case. If I was a Commander there, I would take into account all those circumstances."

"This is an aberration, a one off incident, I am sure the Army will take corrective action... The Indian Army is a very big organisation which has always upheld the rule of law. The Army has been known for following the rules of engagement," General Singh said.

"I really do not know under what circumstances the officer was compelled to adopt such a tactic. The facts will certainly come out in the inquiry already underway," he said.

"Incidentally, the Indian Army is known to operate with a people-friendly stance even in situations marked by grave provocations," Singh said, adding that the rules of engagement followed by the Indian Army have evolved from legal as well as moral constraints.

He also said "uncorroborated inputs" suggest that the officer through this tactic was able to extricate the voting booth staff with the Electronic Voting Machine on April 13, the day of re-poll ordered for 38 booths for the Srinagar-Budgam parliamentary seat.

"I am told that about 350 stone-pelting locals had surrounded the election duty officials carrying the EVM and the ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police) protection party. Imagine what would have happened if the ITBP had opened fire in self defence?"

"There would have been a large number of civilian casualties. So, let's wait for the inquiry to be over," he added.

A video, shot on April 13 during re-polling in the Srinagar Lok Sabha by-polls was posted on social media last week showing a man, later identified as Farooq Ahmad Dar, being tied on the bonnet of an army jeep with a placard in Badgam.

The Indian Army is probing the incident.

An FIR has been registered by the Jammu and Kashmir Police against the security forces.

Malik said it was not a "good thing to happen", but added, "You have to understand human nature. He (the army officer) was reacting to local circumstances. I would take all those things into account when you charge him for violation."

Asked about the FIR, Singh said the law should take its own course.

"Law of the land is supreme and I am certain that this incident, like all other earlier reported human rights violations, will also be investigated impartially and in the backdrop of the circumstances and of course, the officer's intent," Singh said.

He added that India should not let Pakistan's "game plan" to succeed in the Kashmir Valley.

"I would only like to remind all those who are gunning for the officer without even knowing the facts that we need to be mindful of Pakistan's game plan and not allow it to succeed."

"While upholding human rights we also have to ensure that our actions do not unnecessarily impinge on the soldier's morale," he added.
Amritsar, April 20 : Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan offered prayers at the holiest of Sikh shrines 'Harmandir Sahib' here in Punjab on Thursday morning.

Sajjan arrived at the Golden Temple complex and was received by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) President Kirpal Singh Badungar and other members.

The Minister offered prayers inside the sanctum sanctorum and listened to hymns. He also took a 'parikrama' (went around the shrine) and sat there awhile.

The first Sikh to become the Defence Minister of a western nation, Sajjan, 46, was later honoured by the SGPC at the shrine complex with a 'siropa' (traditional honour) and presented a replica of the Golden Temple and a sword.

Sajjan arrived in the Sikh holy city on Wednesday evening amid controversy over him being labelled as a "Khalistani sympathiser" by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

He was received at the airport by the district administration officers. Members of some radical groups were also present outside the Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport with banners to welcome Sajjan.

The Minister's family hails from Bambeli village, 15 km from Hoshiarpur. His family had migrated to Canada in mid-1970s, when Sajjan was around five years old.

He is likely to visit his native village and then arrive in Chandigarh.

Amarinder Singh had stirred a controversy last week when he said that he would not meet the visiting Canadian Minister due to his (Sajjan's) links to radical elements who demand for a separate Sikh state, Khalistan.

In New Delhi, Sajjan sought to play down the controversy on Tuesday saying that he did not want the break-up of any country.

The Shiromani Akali Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have welcomed Sajjan to Punjab and have condemned Amarinder Singh for his stand on the Canadian Minister.
Caracas, April 20 : At least two persons have died in the anti-government demonstrations in Venezuela that saw more than 400 people arrested, according to the country's Criminal Forum.

While some 57 persons have been injured on Wednesday said the Mayor of Caracas' Ramon Muchaco, Efe news reported from social media updates.

The demonstrators were attempting to approach the office of the Ombudsman to ask for the official's support in the process that was launched by the opposition-controlled Parliament against the Supreme Court magistrates who took over some legislative duties.

The two persons killed during the protests were a 17-year-old boy in Caracas and a 23-year-old woman in Tachira state, the local media and the public prosecutor's office said.

The Director of the Venezuelan Criminal Forum, Alfredo Romero, told EFE that the lawyers who were advising the arrested were constantly updating and verifying the figures in the capital as well as in the 23 states of Venezuela, as "too many cases had been registered in only one day."

Muchaco said that the hospitals in his jurisdiction were taking care of 57 people "from the demonstration," who tried unsuccessfully to reach the Ombudsman's Office in the centre of the Venezuelan capital here.

"Everyone is out of danger," Muchaco said on his Twitter account.

The two persons killed apparently were not participating in the demonstrations and were shot by unknown perpetrators, according to preliminary information.

Venezuela's Executive Vice President Tareck el Aissami rejected accusations by opposition groups who blamed the government of Nicolas Maduro for the deaths.

After almost three weeks of anti-government protests on the streets of Venezuela and coupled with Wednesday's figure, the current death toll has increased to eight, including one police officer.

Almost one thousand people have been arrested.

The police on Wednesday fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and block their marches.

The huge demonstration included thousands of government opponents who assembled and marched from 26 separate spots around the capital to the Libertador district.

The Libertador district encompasses part of the capital's metro area's central and western zones and is the area where key government buildings are located.
Kolkata, April 20 : In an apparent attempt to strengthen ties with prominent political leaders, especially those ranged against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has started following many of them on Twitter, often exchanging pictures and pleasantries.

Recently, Banerjee re-tweeted a pictorial post of ex-Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav where they are seen together, and expressed her pleasure at meeting the Samajwadi Party leader.

"Missed this tweet a few days ago. It was so nice meeting you in Delhi recently. Thanks," Banerjee tweeted.

The two leaders, who share a good political bonding, also exchanged pleasantries on the occasion of Poila Boishakh (the Bengali New Year on April 15) on social media.

"Happy Poila Baisakh! Wishing you a delightful and fulfilling year," Yadav wrote, while Banerjee warmly reciprocated the greetings on the same day. "Thank you Akhilesh for your greetings on Poila Baisakh. So nice of you. Warmly reciprocated," she tweeted.

The Trinamool supremo, who is one of the most active leaders from the state on social media, also congratulated senior Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on his re-election in the Srinagar Lok Sabha by-poll.

"Congratulations to Farooq Abdullah Ji. So happy that a senior leader like you is back in Parliament," Banerjee wrote on Abdullah's son and NC leader Oman Abdullah's Twitter handle.

"Thank you didi. He has asked me to thank you for your kind words and warm message," Omar replied.

Since the past few days, Banerjee has also started following Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, DMK leader M.K. Stalin and the AIADMK's official Twitter handle.

Banerjee's attempt to reach out to the regional political parties and its leaders is being seen in the backdrop of speculation about the emergence of a wider political coalition at the Centre before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to counter the BJP's seemingly unstoppable electoral blitzkrieg.

According to political analyst Udayan Bandopadhyay, while social media exchanges could increase Banerjee's rapport with the other political forces, it would take a lot more to actually bring opposing powers under one umbrella to fight the BJP's ascendancy.

"Exchanging pleasantries on social media might warm up her relationship with these leaders but the real political battles happen on hard ground. To have an allied front, one has to see if opposing political powers like Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati or DMK and AIADMK would come together or not," Bandopadhyay said.

"Mamata Banerjee is currently the only 'brave face' in Indian politics who can challenge Modi or lead an allied front to contest against the BJP. She is also trying hard for a coalition of opposition parties. But whether it would materialise or not depends on several simultaneous equations," he added.

(Milinda Ghosh Roy can be contacted at milinda.g@ians.in)
Sonshi (Goa), April 20 : Although annual school exams are around the corner, homework or preparing for the series of tests is the last thing on the mind of 10-year-old Vasudev Gawde of Sonshi village, literally a speck in North Goa's dusty mining belt.

Gawde as well as more than a dozen other minors are awaiting the release of their parents from incarceration. They were among the 45 people arrested on April 11 for protesting against dust pollution caused by the transportation of iron ore in trucks, the paucity of water due to mining in the village's vicinity, and an ore transportation jetty several kilometres away.

"There is too much dust in the area. Coming and going to school is very difficult due to the movement of trucks. We want clean air and water... I am not afraid because my parents are in jail. They have done it for me," Gawde told IANS.

Last Sunday, Gawde was among 25 children who led a protest to the Valpoi police station demanding the release of their parents.

The incarcerated, including 23 women and one senior citizen, were arrested by personnel attached to the Valpoi police station and booked under various sections of the IPC.

"We have to act as per the law. The company has a high court order which clearly states that nobody can stop them from carrying out mining activities in the area. This order was issued by the court after the company had complained against the villagers in 2014 when they tried to stop the trucks," Valpoi Police Station in-charge Inspectpr Deepak Pednekar said.

While those arrested continue to languish at the Colvale Central Jail in North Goa, due to their collective inability to obtain bail by posting bonds of Rs 10,000 each, the Bombay High Court bench in Panaji has suo moto taken up the issue of their incarceration and ore dust pollution.

The court has now directed the police to update it on the action taken against the villagers, while the Goa State Pollution Control Board has been asked to submit a report on pollution in the Sattari sub-district.

City lawyer and activist Aires Rodrigues has also filed a petition with the Goa Human Rights Commission (GHRC) seeking access to drinking water and clean air for the residents of Sonshi.

"I have drawn the attention of the GHRC that the Supreme Court has held that the right of access to drinking water is fundamental to life and that there is a duty on the state under Article 21 of the Constitution to provide clean drinking water to its citizens," Rodrigues told IANS.

But, amid the petitions, more urgent existential issues continue to plague the inhabitants of the village, mostly women and senior citizens of Sonshi.

"There is no food in the house. My children keep on asking about their father. What should I do? First they took our land, then polluted our place. There has to be an end to this," rued Geeta Nile, a housewife.

Iron ore mining has been one of the mainstays of the Goan economy, especially in the hinterland. The multi-billion rupee industry was banned for two years from 2012-2014 following a mammoth Rs 35,000 crore ($5.5 billion) illegal mining scam.

No major mining industry player has been arrested by the police, despite the Justice M.B. Shah Commission appointed -- to probe the illegal mining scam -- by the Union Mines Ministry indicting nearly every mining company operating in Goa, as well as top bureaucrats and politicians in the state's largest scam ever.

While the industry was at its peak, Goa exported nearly 55 million tonnes of iron ore. Following the ban, however, the Supreme Court, which is hearing the illegal mining case, has imposed an annual ceiling of 20 tonnes on the extraction of iron ore.

(Mayabhushan Nagvenkar can be contacted at mayabhushan.n@ians.in)
Seoul, April 20 : North Korea on Thursday accused the US of escalating tension in the Korean peninsula by sending Vice President Mike Pence to Seoul, where he warned Pyongyang not to test the resolve of President Donald Trump's government.

North Korea's comments on Pence's visit and his meeting with South Korea's acting President Hwang Kyo-ah was published by the state-run Uriminzokkiri website in an article that accuses the US of trying to whip up anti-North Korean sentiment, Efe news reported.

It adds that the new US government is recklessly attempting to aggravate military tensions in the region through hostile policies and by launching a provocative and aggressive campaign against the country, including its decision to deploy a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and a strike group near the Korean peninsula, and efforts to step up international pressure and toughen sanctions against North Korea.

In a press conference after his meeting with Hwang on Monday, Pence warned Pyongyang not to test the resolve, exhibited by the Trump administration in recent attacks in Syria and Afghanistan, through its continued weapons tests.

The article also accused Seoul of going along with Washington's demands and playing a confrontational role, and added that Pyongyang will continue to adopt increasingly stronger measures against growing military pressure, threats and irrational sanctions from the US.
Jaipur, April 20 : Eighteen people were arrested on charges of beating a young couple and parading them naked in Rajasthan's Banswara district, police said on Thursday.

"We arrested nine people on Wednesday and nine more on Thursday under various sections including attempt to murder and the Rajasthan Prevention of Witch Hunting Act," a police official told IANS.

The fathers of the young man and young woman have also been arrested.

A young man in early 20s was in relationship with a girl in a village. The two fled to Gujarat.

The villagers claimed the two descended from the same blood lineage, were cousins and forced them to return to Rajasthan.

A video of the violence on Sunday went viral, alerting the police.
Islamabad, April 20 : Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a Joint Investigation Team to probe if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was involved in corruption as alleged in the Panama Papers.

Justice Asif Saeed Khosa announced the split verdict against Sharif and his family. He said the Federal Investigation Agency and the National Accountability Bureau had failed to probe the case.

Sharif will appear before the probe team, which will have to submit its report in 60 days.

A five-judge bench examined arguments presented by opposition parties who hurled corruption charges at Sharif and his family, saying they held companies in tax havens.
Dhaka, April 20 : Saudi Arabia has agreed to donate $118 million to set up 560 model mosques across Bangladesh, a media report said on Thursday.

The decision follows Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's last year vist to Saudi Arabia where she met King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

The mosques will be able to accommodate at least 450,000 men and over 30,000 women for daily prayers and will have lodging space for more than 2,000 foreign guests and libraries.

The Saudi government has also agreed to donate money to establish a permanent campus for the Islami Arabic University in Bangladesh.
Beijing, April 20 : China and Iran will on Sunday sign the first commercial contract to redesign Tehran's Arak heavy water reactor in Vienna, a Foreign Ministry spokesman has said.

China and Iran have reached initial agreement on the commercial contract, Spokesman Lu Kang said at a daily news briefing on Thursday.

Redesigning the Arak heavy water reactor is a core aspect of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear programme, Xinhua news agency reported.

The JCPOA was reached in Vienna in July 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 group, namely Britain, China, France, Russia, the US and Germany.

The P5+1 countries have created a working group led by China and the US to work with Iran to redesign the reactor, said Lu.

The signing will create a favourable condition for the progress of the redesign.

"China will do the follow-up work with all parties involved in accordance with the comprehensive nuclear deal and the consensus reached by all parties," Lu said.

The 7th Joint Commission between Iran and the P5+1 will convene in Vienna next week.
Trenton (New Jersey), April 20 : Charlie Murphy's family and friends gathered in New Jersey to celebrate the late comedians life.

Dave Chappelle, George Lopez, Cedric the Entertainer and others paid their respects on Wednesday, a week after Charlie passed away at the age of 57 after a battle with leukemia, reports people.com.

"Tonight we joined family and friends to pay tribute and lay to rest our brother - the legendary Charlie Murphy," Cedric captioned a group photo that also included Neal Brennan, Eddie Griffin, Affion Crockett, Donnell Rawlings and D.L. Hughley.

"We love you Charlie. RIP keep doing it big," Rawlings captioned a different photo of the friends.

Charlie, who is actor-comedian Eddie Murphy's older brother, died in a New York hospital on April 12. His manager said he had been battling leukemia and undergoing chemotherapy.
Illiberal Stagnation



NEW YORK  Today, a quarter-century after the Cold Wars end, the West and Russia are again at odds. This time, though, at least on one side, the dispute is more transparently about geopolitical power, not ideology. The West has supported in a variety of ways democratic movements in the post-Soviet region, hardly hiding its enthusiasm for the various color revolutions that have replaced long-standing dictators with more responsive leaders  though not all have turned out to be the committed democrats they pretended to be.

Too many countries of the former Soviet bloc remain under the control of authoritarian leaders, including some, like Russian President Vladimir Putin, who have learned how to maintain a more convincing facade of elections than their communist predecessors. They sell their system of illiberal democracy on the basis of pragmatism, not some universal theory of history. These leaders claim that they are simply more effective at getting things done.

That is certainly true when it comes to stirring nationalist sentiment and stifling dissent. They have been less effective, however, in nurturing long-term economic growth. Once one of the worlds two superpowers, Russias GDP is now about 40% of Germanys and just over 50% of Frances. Life expectancy at birth ranks 153rd in the world, just behind Honduras and Kazakhstan.

In terms of per capita income, Russia now ranks 73rd (in terms of purchasing power parity)  well below the Soviet Unions former satellites in Central and Eastern Europe. The country has deindustrialized: the vast majority of its exports now come from natural resources. It has not evolved into a normal market economy, but rather into a peculiar form of crony-state capitalism.

Yes, Russia still punches above its weight in some areas, like nuclear weapons. And it retains veto power at the United Nations. As the recent hacking of the Democratic Party in the United States shows, it has cyber capacities that enable it to be enormously meddlesome in Western elections.

There is every reason to believe that such intrusions will continue. Given US President Donald Trumps deep ties with unsavory Russian characters (themselves closely linked to Putin), Americans are deeply concerned about potential Russian influences in the US  matters that may be clarified by ongoing investigations.

Many had much higher hopes for Russia, and the former Soviet Union more broadly, when the Iron Curtain fell. After seven decades of Communism, the transition to a democratic market economy would not be easy. But, given the obvious advantages of democratic market capitalism to the system that had just fallen apart, it was assumed that the economy would flourish and citizens would demand a greater voice.

What went wrong? Who, if anyone, is to blame? Could Russias post-communist transition have been managed better?

We can never answer such questions definitively: history cannot be re-run. But I believe what we are confronting is partly the legacy of the flawed Washington Consensus that shaped Russias transition.

This frameworks influences was reflected in the tremendous emphasis reformers placed on privatization, no matter how it was done, with speed taking precedence over everything else, including creating the institutional infrastructure needed to make a market economy work.

Fifteen years ago, when I wrote Globalization and its Discontents, I argued that this shock therapy approach to economic reform was a dismal failure. But defenders of that doctrine cautioned patience: one could make such judgments only with a longer-run perspective.

Today, more than a quarter-century since the onset of transition, those earlier results have been confirmed, and those who argued that private property rights, once created, would give rise to broader demands for the rule of law have been proven wrong. Russia and many of the other transition countries are lagging further behind the advanced economies than ever. GDP in some transition countries is below its level at the beginning of the transition.

Many in Russia believe that the US Treasury pushed Washington Consensus policies to weaken their country. The deep corruption of the Harvard University team chosen to help Russia in its transition, described in a detailed account published in 2006 by Institutional Investor, reinforced these beliefs.

I believe the explanation was less sinister: flawed ideas, even with the best of intentions, can have serious consequences. And the opportunities for self-interested greed offered by Russia were simply too great for some to resist. Clearly, democratization in Russia required efforts aimed at ensuring shared prosperity, not policies that led to the creation of an oligarchy.

The Wests failures then should not undermine its resolve now to work to create democratic states respecting human rights and international law. The US is struggling to prevent the Trump administrations extremism  whether its a travel ban aimed at Muslims, science-denying environmental policies, or threats to ignore international trade commitments  from being normalized. But other countries violations of international law, such as Russias actions in Ukraine, cannot be normalized either.
Jakarta, April 20 : US Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday said the his government seeks "win-win" trade relations with Indonesia.

Pence and Indonesian President Joko Widodo met in Jakarta on Thursday, agreeing on free and fairer trade which can spur economic expansion in both nations, Xinhua news agency reported.

Pence said US exporters should face a level playing field and trade relations should be "win-win".

Indonesian President Widodo said the two nations would strengthen strategic partnership which will focus on cooperation and investment.

Indonesia, southeast Asia's biggest economy, is among the 16 US trade partners under review for having a trade surplus with the United States.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla argued that Indonesia's low imports from the US are partly due to high price of the products.

The total trade volume between Indonesia and the US reached $23.4 billion last year, with Indonesia having a surplus of $8.8 billion, according to Indonesian Trade Ministry.

Indonesia mainly ships textiles, sea food and footwear to the US, and mainly imports aircraft, machinery and soybean from the world's largest economy.

Pence arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday evening for a two-day visit to the country.
New Delhi, April 20 : India made its 15th appeal to Pakistan for consular access to alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, but Islamabad has not responded yet, a top official said on Thursday.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the appeal was made on Wednesday by India's Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad.

"We have appealed to Pakistan for consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav 15 times. We will do everything to ensure justice," he said.

He said they are still waiting for a formal response from Pakistan to the demand of consular access to Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court, and details of the trial proceedings against him.

He also said the whereabouts of Jadhav are still not known.

"We are concerned about Jadhav's health and whereabouts," he said.

"Pakistan claims there have been legal proceedings against Kulbhushan Jadhav, If there have been, we would like to see them," he added.

Jadhav, a former Indian naval officer, was arrested in Balochistan in March 2016. Pakistan has accused him of being a spy. India has made appeals for consular access to Jadhav 14 times, but been denied every time.
Chennai, April 20 : Merger talks will be held only when Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK sacks its top leaders V.K. Sasikala and T.T.V. Dinakaran, the faction led by O. Panneerselvam said on Thursday.

A senior leader in Panneerselvam's camp, K.P. Munusamy, said the rival camp now led by Chief Minister K. Palaniswami must secure the resignation of the jailed Sasikala and her nephew Dinakaran from their party posts.

Both of them should also be dismissed from the AIADMK, he told the media.

The Panneerselvam camp on Thursday discussed the developments in the ruling AIADMK, which has decided to sideline Sasikala and Dinakaran and let a panel of leaders run the party.

Munusamy also asked the ruling AIADMK faction to withdraw the affidavit filed with the Election Commission naming Sasikala as General Secretary and Dinakaran as Deputy General Secretary.

The Panneerselvam faction also urged the state government to send a formal request for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the death of then Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.

Jayalalithaa died on December 5 after a prolonged illness, leading to developments that broke up the AIADMK into two factions.

After Sasikala took charge of the AIADMK, she forced the exit of Chief Minister Panneerselvam, who finally revolted against her.

Although the ruling AIADMK faction has more supporters in the Tamil Nadu assembly, it is in deep trouble after Delhi Police filed a case against Dinakaran on charges of trying to bribe voters in Chennai.

Munusamy ruled out any patch-up talks if the above demands were not met by the rival faction.

He also said that post merger of the two factions, many MLAs would want Panneerselvam to be the Chief Minister while the party cadres would demand that he also be the AIADMK General Secretary.
New Delhi, April 20 : Union Minister Hansraj Ahir on Thursday accepted that the situation in Kashmir is "not completely under control" and assured that the Centre is making all efforts to improve the same.

"We do accept that the situation in Kashmir is not completely under control. We will continue to do our job," the Minister of State for Home told the media here.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh were taking the issue very seriously.

"We are serious. The Home Minister will soon hold a meeting on the matter. The Prime Minister has discussed the issue. The situation in Kashmir will not always remain like as it's today. It will improve. This is our job and the people have elected us for this. We will overcome (the difficulties). This is our sole aim," Ahir said.

Ahir's remarks came a day after Prime Minister Modi discussed the situation in the state with Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.
Thimphu, April 20 : Bangladesh and Bhutan agreed to consolidate their "already excellent" ties for mutual benefit, during a meeting between visiting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Bhutanese counterpart Tshering Tobgay here.

The two sides also inked eight deals after the talks in Thimphu.

The two leaders discussed various bilateral and regional issues for cooperation - in the areas of power, water resources and connectivity for mutual benefit. They reaffirmed that the relations are based on "friendly ties and reflective of their common aspiration for peace, collective prosperity and development of the region and beyond", a joint statement said.

Both sides welcomed the proposed trilateral MoU with Bangladesh, Bhutan and India for Hydroelectric Power cooperation.

The deals inked are on agriculture, avoidance of double taxation, culture and quality control of goods and allowing landlocked Bhutan the use of inland waterways.

"The most prominent part of our talks was about using connectivity to increase trade," said Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque after bilateral talks between Hasina and Tobgay at Gyalyong Tshogkhang.

On Wednesday, Hasina unveiled the floor plan for a new chancery building of the Bangladesh embassy in Bhutan, bdnews24.com reported.

Plans for the embassy's main office were revealed on the second day of her three-day visit to Bhutan, in the presence of the King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.

A transfer agreement to the effect was signed by Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmood Ali and Bhutan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Damcho Dorji.

Hasina and Tobgay were present during the signing.

After the unveiling, the national flag of Bangladesh was raised on the spot and the national anthem was played.

On Wednesday, the two Prime Ministers also addressed the International Conference on Autism & Neuro-developmental disorders which was being jointly organised by Bhutan and Bangladesh in Thimphu, bdnews24 reported.
Chandigarh, April 20 : Canada's Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan on Thursday paid obeisance at the Harmandar Sahib in Amritsar and visited other places in Punjab, but the Amarinder Singh government cold-shouldered the visiting dignitary.

No Punjab minister or senior state government official either welcomed Sajjan to his native state or accompanied him on his visits to various places, including to the Harmandar Sahib (Golden Temple) or to his native village Bombeli in Hoshiarpur district.

Sajjan -- the first Sikh to become the defence minister of a western country -- was, however, provided security as per the protocol.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh stirred a controversy last week when he said during the Canadian Minister's Punjab visit he will not meet the "Khalistani sympathiser". Amarinder Singh accused Sajjan and other ministers in Canada of having links with radical elements who demanded a separate Sikh state of Khalistan.

Amarinder Singh remained adamant on not meeting Sajjan despite the Canadian minister proposing a meeting.

Sajjan flew into the Sikh holy city of Amritsar on Wednesday evening. He was received at the airport by junior officers of the Amritsar district administration. Members of some radical groups were also present outside Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport with banners to welcome Sajjan.

The Canadian minister started his day early on Thursday with a visit to Harmandar Sahib to offer prayers at the holiest of the Sikh shrines.

Sikh radicals, belonging to hardline Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) and other Sikh organisations, raised pro-Khalistan slogans and clashed with a task force of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee outside the complex as Sajjan arrived there.

However, the visiting dignitary avoided radical elements and was received by top SGPC functionaries, including its President Kirpal Singh Badungar, to a red-carpet welcome.

Sajjan remained at the shrine for over an hour, during which he prayed inside the sanctum sanctorum and listened to hymns. SGPC task force ensured the radical elements did not create any scene inside the shrine complex.

Sajjan, 46, was later honoured by the SGPC with a 'siropa' (traditional robe of honour) and presented a replica of the Golden Temple and a sword.

The minister then visited the Pingalwara Charitable Trust premises near Amritsar to meet destitute children housed there. He also visited an all-girls orphanage in Jalandhar city, 150 km from here.

Sajjan visited his family house in native village Bambeli, 15 km from Hoshiarpur. His father Kundan Singh Sajjan and other relatives were present to receive him.

Chaos prevailed as village residents and those from neighbouring areas thronged Bombeli to catch a glimpse of the Sikh Canadian Minister.
Srinagar, April 20 : Jammu and Kashmir's ruling PDP on Thursday dubbed as "sickening" Industries Minister Chandra Prakash Ganga's comments criticizing protesters in the Kashmir Valley.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Minister, while reacting to stone pelting by youths, reportedly said: "Laaton kay bhoot batoan se nahin maante." (Those who deserve kicks cannot be convinced by words).

He said some youths who shouted pro-Pakistan slogans chanted pro-India slogans after security forces beat them up.

PDP Vice President Sartaj Madni said in a statement: "These are disgusting utterances, which are not only unjustifiable but perilous as well. It is unbecoming of a senior minister to make such sweeping, sickening and intimidating statement against the Kashmiri youth."

Madni said the minister's statement had contravened the stand of the Cabinet that expressed anguish over the loss of lives in the valley.

The PDP leader said party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed entered into an alliance with the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir to bridge the gap between the people of different regions.

"Instead of bringing the people together, such insidious statements are unfortunately only going to widen the void," Madni said.
New Delhi, April 20 : India on Thursday dismissed China's act of giving its own names to six places in Arunachal Pradesh, saying "it doesn't make illegally held territory legal".

"I can only say that if you rename or invent names for the towns of your neighbour, it doesn't make illegally held territory legal," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in his weekly media briefing.

"Arunachal Pradesh has always been an integral part of India and it will continue to be so," he said.

The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs announced on April 14 on its website that it had standardised in Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabet names of six places in Arunachal Pradesh, which China calls "South Tibet".

The six names are Wo'gyainling, Mila Ri, QoidAngarbo Ri, Mainquka, BAmo La and Namkapub Ri. The state-run Global Times, which reported the ministry's move on Tuesday, did not say which six places in Arunachal Pradesh were being referred to.

This came after the Dalai Lama's week-long visit to Arunachal Pradesh earlier this month.

China's Foreign Ministry criticised India for inviting the Tibetan spiritual leader to the northeastern state, an action which it said would "bring no benefits to India".
Mumbai, April 20 : A special NIA court here on Thursday issued a non-bailable warrant against televangelist Zakir Naik, who is wanted in connection with his role in a terror case, officials said here.

The development came after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) informed Special Judge V.V. Patil that Naik had failed to respond to three summonses in cases filed under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against him last year.

Now it would need to seek help of Interpol to bring Naik back to India from abroad, the NIA said.

This is the second NBW against the 51-year-old after the Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act Court issued an NBW last week in a money-laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate, after he failed to appear before it.

Following the Dhaka terror attacks last year, the NIA had filed the case against Naik and other officials of his Mumbai-based NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF).

Naik was on a tour abroad at that time and has since not returned to India allegedly to evade arrest under various charges, including inspiring terrorist activities and money-laundering.

In December last, the Centre had permanently cancelled the FCRA licence of Naik's NGO and his educational trust after declaring it as a terror outfit.
Islamabad, April 20 : Pakistan has handed over operations of the Gwadar port to a Chinese company for 40 years, Minister for Ports and Shipping Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo said on Thursday.

The minister said China Overseas Port Holding Company would carry out all the development work connected to the port, Radio Pakistan reported.

Gwadar port is located in Balochistan province.

It features in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plan, and is considered to be a link between the Chinese One Belt, One Road initiative and the Maritime Silk Road project.

The port became officially operational from November 14, 2016.
Bill Murray, who may or may not have started a cult without telling us, doesn't have a lot of acting gigs on his schedule in the immediate future. He'll lend his voice to Wes Anderson's upcoming stop-motion animation movie Isle Of Dogs and another animated feature called B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations, but that's it. Reading poetry and making surprise appearances at celebratory events can only take up so many hours in a dayso what else has Murray been occupying himself with?

According to the Times, the answer is classical music. Murray has been working at a studio in Manhattan on New Worlds, a "program of songs and literary readings paired with chamber music" led by the cellist Jan Vogler (who has played with major orchestras like the New York Philharmonic).

The songs included in the project range from Stephen Fosters "Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair" to Van Morrison to songs from West Side Story; he also reads spoken word passages from Walt Whitman and Ernest Hemingway over Schubert and Bach pieces (the Times describes hearing him reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as the band plays "Moon River").

The project will make its premiere at the Festival Napa Valley in California on July 20th, followed by a North American tour that will come to Carnegie Hall on October 16thtickets for the Carnegie show are on sale now here. A recording will also be released around August.

The Times piece also includes some suitably charming Murray anecdotes and quotes, like how director Sofia Coppola happened to stop by the studio and snap photos of Murray with the Times reporter there: This is very unexpected," she said. "But because its Bill, Im not surprised. He is always surprising. Thats whats fun about him."

Then there's this Murray quote describing the groups interaction, which sounds a whole lot like another mysterious bard who has gotten obsessed with mid-century American music recently.

When they start playing, he said, the demand is so great that if you are attending to who you are right now, it brings out something that you couldnt have visualized or planned for. You hear all those other voices saying, That didnt sound like Tony Bennett, or, That B flats not going to break a light bulb. But theyre receding. Theyre gone.

Below, you can watch Murray's classical rendition of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame:"
Kolkata, April 20 : Over 8,000 people have signed an online petition against "mass butchering" of trees for widening of a road in West Bengal's North 24-Parganas while others have turned to art and filmmaking to take the discourse forward.

A 10-minute video surfaced online showcasing grassroot protests over cutting of at least 4,000 trees to widen the Jessore Road which runs from Kolkata to Petrapole on the India-Bangladesh border.

In the video, artists condemn the felling of trees through performance art, where the artist's medium is the body, and the live actions he or she performs are the work of art.

Petitioning the National Green Tribunal, World Green Tribunal, Centre, Chief Justice of India and the President, signatories to the petition on Change.org have said: "Chopping off 4,000 trees will result in severe habitat loss of the organisms dwelling in the trees and in support of the trees."

The petition said: "In order to decongest NH-35 and Jessore Road, which stretches from Kolkata airport to Petrapole border via Barasat, the state government has chalked out a number of plans."

"This includes building a flyover at Barasat Dakbanglo crossing, an underpass at Madhyamgram Chowmatha and widening of a seven km stretch between the airport and Dakbanglo More to ease traffic flow, say officials. One end of the flyover has been planned to link Jessore Road," it added.

The petition also quoted sources in the state Secretariat saying that senior Public Works Department officials held a meeting with officials of the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways in New Delhi where these proposals were discussed.

The ministry has agreed to sanction funds for part of the project, the petition said.

The Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) over the issue with the Calcutta High Court.

Meanwhile, the 10-minute film "Gachheder Katha: A Story of Jessore Road Trees" by Chandan Biswas captures the sentiments of locals who have opposed the "illegal felling" of trees.

A performance art titled "Ritual" has been shot in the locality by the group Pandemonium.

A tree-hugging protest has also been planned on April 23 in the area.

However, the state government said no complaints have been registered with them.

"The PWD takes permission for expansion of roads and cutting of trees from the forest department and it has to carry out compensatory forestation. I do not know what the details are, if they (the PWD or NHAI) are cutting the trees and have not taken permission. Without the details I cannot comment," Chandan Sinha, Principal Secretary at Departments of Environment and Forests, West Bengal, told IANS on Thursday.
New Delhi, April 20 : Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to allow the Punjab government to sell surplus power to Pakistan or Nepal in the financial interest of the cash-strapped state.

At an hour-long meeting with Modi here, Amarinder also sought the Centre's support to make agriculture more sustainable for the state's farmers by putting in place a "Deficiency Price Payment" mechanism to encourage a shift to non-paddy cultivation, Chief Minister's media adviser Raveen Thukral said.

Expressing concern over the problems faced by the Punjab farmers living in border areas, Amarinder also requested an increase in the central government's compensation for such farmers to ensure effective and stronger border management.

The Chief Minister also sought Modi's intervention to prevent a possible revival of package of concessions to neighbouring states, as it would negate the Punjab government's efforts to bring in investment, create jobs for the unemployed youths and revive the state's economy, Thukral said.

Pointing to the 1,000 MW surplus power availability in Punjab after meeting its internal demands, the Chief Minister said sale of power to neighbouring Pakistan or Nepal, as the case may be, would save people in Punjab from the burden of any extra taxes and also save the power consumers from the extra burden of fixed cost of power generating units.

"Since Punjab shares its border with Pakistan and its Goindwal Sahib thermal power plant is situated close to the international border, it would not be difficult for the state to supply power to that country on continuous basis," the Chief Minister noted.

He said Punjab would be happy to supply electricity also to Nepal, which intends to meet its power shortfall by purchasing it from India, if the government of India agrees.

Although the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) had, in the recent past, offered supply of power in tender enquiries floated for the purpose, it had not been successful in this, Amarinder said, and urged the Prime Minister to advise the Union Ministry of Power to favourably consider the state government's proposal to sell power either to Pakistan or Nepal.

Referring to the plight of the state's farmers, who are suffering from declining real farm incomes due to agricultural stagnation, the Chief Minister stressed the need for diversification of farming away for paddy.

The Chief Minister also batted for compensation for farmers owning land beyond the international border with Pakistan, as they face significant restrictions on the types of crops to be cultivated due to security reasons.

Amarinder Singh expressed concern over the reported move to revive the package of concessions for the neighbouring hill states of Himachal Praesh and Jammu and Kashmir, and urged the Prime Minister to ensure that no such special package was given to these states at the cost of Punjab's economic development.

"If at all a special package is to be given, then Punjab should also be treated at par by granting a similar package," Amarinder demanded, pointing out that the state also suffers a massive handicap in promoting industry due to the 554-km-long international borders with Pakistan and the sub-mountainous region in the Aravali foothills.
New Delhi, April 20 : The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued notice to the CBI in five cases of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, wherein the court had earlier indicated that it was inclined to re-opening the trial.

Seeking the response from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a division bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra also issued production warrant for former councillor Balwan Singh Khokkar, one of the accused in three of these cases and currently lodged in the Tihar Central Jail here.

"There was nothing before the Sessions Court... The court had acquitted the accused after giving short date... this is what has caused us concern. There is no investigation at all. Trial was not properly conducted," the bench said, adding that the Delhi Police did not carry out proper investigation in these cases.

The court said: "One of the eyewitnesses has surfaced. The person has elaborated on how the person was kept out of trial."

As earlier show-cause notices were not served on the accused, the bench on Thursday issued fresh notice to the accused, including former legislator Mahender Singh Yadav, as to why reinvestigation and retrial against them should not be ordered.

On March 29, the High Court issued the show-cause notices to the accused in five cases, asking them why the cases against them should not be re-opened.

The court had termed the acquittal of all the accused by a trial court here in 1986 as "shocking our judicial conscience".

The court took suo motu cognizance of the five cases, observing that key eyewitnesses were not examined and cases were closed "very rapidly" without proper investigation and trial.

The bench passed this order after taking note of the trial court judgments of 1986 in the five cases. Interestingly, the five cases came to the knowledge of the court after they were cited by the appellants to buttress their arguments.

The trial court records were placed before the High Court by the CBI during the hearing of another 1984 riots case, in which the acquittal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar has been challenged by the agency.

These complaints related to killing of Sikh men and destruction of their properties during the riots which erupted in the Raj Nagar area of Palam Colony in Delhi Cantt in November 1984 after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Khokhar was tried in three cases, whereas Mahender Singh Yadav was accused in two cases.

The other accused are Ram Kumar, Dhanraj, Vidyanand, Dhanpat, Ved Parkash, Shiv Charan and Ramji Lal Sharma.
New Delhi, April 20 : The central government on Thursday opposed any restrictions on public comments by politicians holding public offices, including ministers, other than those prescribed under the Constitution as the Supreme Court indicated that it may refer the issue to the larger Constitution bench.

"We don't want to open new avenues of restrictions," said lawyer Madhvi Divan as the bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar asked amicus curiae Fali S. Nariman and Harish Salve to frame the questions that could be referred to the Constitution bench to decide.

The position taken by the central government on Thursday is continuation of the stand taken earlier by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who had told the court that restraining politicians and public figures from commenting on crimes being investigated would be an infringement of the freedom of speech and expression.

"If an offence of rape is committed and someone says it's a political conspiracy, then there can be no restriction on such expressions. He is not trivialising the incident," the Attorney General told the court during the last hearing on March 29.

The Centre reiterated its position in the course of the hearing wherein the court is examining the freedom of expression of a person in power vis-a-vis a rape victim's fundamental right of protection of life, personal liberty and right to fair investigation and trial.

The issue is rooted in Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan's remarks about the 2016 gang-rape case in Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. He had described it as a "political conspiracy". Khan has already regretted his statement.

The core issue being examined by the court is whether the right conferred under Article 19(1)(a) is to be controlled singularly by the restrictions under Article 19(2) or whether Article 21, too, would have any impact on it.

Addressing the court, Salve assailed the central government's approach of reading the Constitution textually without giving it a philosophy.

"Government is going back to 1947. Says read the Constitution textually. Don't give Constitution a philosophy," Salve said, assailing the government's position including its stand on whether privacy is a right.

The Centre in the hearing of challenge to the Aadhaar scheme had said that privacy was not a fundamental right and referred to 1954 (by eight judges) and 1964 (by six judges) judgments, which had said that the privacy was not a fundamental right that could be read in Article 21 guaranteeing protection of life and personal liberty.

"You can't treat the Constitution as an Income Tax Act," Salve told the court, saying that Article 14 (Right to Equality), Article 19 (Freedom of Speech and Expression) and Article 21 (Protection of Life and Personal Liberty) were core to the basic structure of the Constitution and had to be seen as a golden trilogy.

He said that the enforcement of the fundamental rights could not be against the State alone, as today there were large power centres outside the State apparatus and they could not be allowed to invade the right to privacy.

Next hearing of the matter has been scheduled for May 2.
Kolkata, April 20 : The air intelligence unit officers of customs seized US dollars and Indian currency notes collectively amounting to about Rs 81 lakh from a passenger at the city airport, an official said on Thursday.

"In the intervening night of April 19 and April 20, air intelligence unit officers detained one passenger named Pradip Kumar Mustafi of Behala in Kolkata from the departure area of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International airport and seized 1,24,000 US dollars and Indian currency notes of Rs 2,000 denomination, collectively amounting to Rs 81 lakh (approx)," an official statement said.

The passenger was detained while moving towards the security hold area of the airport's departure area, after completion of his immigration formalities He was scheduled to depart to Hong Kong by Cathay Dragon flight on Thursday.

"He was arrested and produced before the Barasat court. Investigations are in progress," an official added.
Kolkata, April 20 : Around 10 branches of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in the state have moved the Supreme Court against the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Act and sought its repeal, IMA's south Kolkata chapter's chief said on Thursday.

"So far eight to 10 units have jointly filed the writ petition after a go-ahead by IMA headquarters for legal action. We are expecting 10 more branches to sign the revised writ petition in the coming days," said R.D. Dubey.

Dubey accused the state government of not paying heed to their demands for amendments in the law, forcing them to move the court.

"We want the law to be scrapped and issuance of a revised draft with demanded changes. We are not against the Act but against certain clauses, which are harmful to medical practice. A fear has developed among the people regarding private health establishments. Doctors are refusing to accept medical cases due to fear of punitive action under the law," Dubey said.

"In small towns, you have only one or two private hospitals. If doctors do not stay there for fear of punishment, who will treat the patients? This way, people will be disadvantaged."

He said government hospitals should also be brought under the Act's ambit.

On March 3, the Bengal assembly passed the tough bill to regulate the functioning of private health facilities, providing up to three-year jail and trial for culpable homicide and a maximum fine of Rs 50 lakh in case of patient deaths due to severe medical negligence.

The legislation, aimed at bringing transparency, ending harassment of patients and checking medical negligence in private hospitals and nursing homes, brings under its ambit all other private medical set-ups -- irrespective of whether they are registered or not.

Pursuant to the law, a high-powered 13-member regulatory commission has been set up to monitor activities of private hospitals.
New Delhi, April 20 : A transporter from Delhi, who had come to collect his payment from the CFL bulb factory in Noida Sector 11 which was gutted in Wednesday's fire, has been missing since, with his family fearing that he could be one of the victims.

The transporter, whose relatives did not want him to be named, had come to collect payment at the Excel Greenwich company, and is now suspected to have perished in the blaze.

"He had come to collect payment here. We haven't heard from him since then," Jitendra, a relative who also worked for the transporter, told IANS outside the gutted building.

"We heard of the fire in the afternoon (Wednesday) and tried to call him, but his number was unreachable. When we reached here after some time, neither the police nor the fire officers told us where the casualties had been taken. We visited hospitals at random but with no success," he added.

The missing man belongs to Dungargarh, in Rajasthan, and lives in Shastri Nagar area of north Delhi. He has two sons who refused to talk to the media fearing that the 'news' may reach their family members who are unaware of the incident.

His relatives were later taken by the police to hospital for DNA test.

Four bodies have been identified since Wednesday from among six people who died in the fire, a police official said on Thursday.

"The identity of four persons has been ascertained and their bodies have been handed over to their relatives. We are trying to find the identity of the other two through DNA by matching with those who have approached us," Vinay Praksh Singh, Station House Officer, Sector-24, Noida, told IANS.

The missing man's uncle, who was also there to seek police's help in locating his nephew, told IANS that since Wednesday night they have visited several hospitals -- ESI Hospital in Sector-24, Ambedkar Hospital in Sector-31, Prayag Hospital in Sector-41, and Vinayak Hospital in Sector-27 -- in an attempt to find him.

He said that they looked for him till 2 a.m. in the area.

According to the man, a woman who was an eyewitness to the incident told them that the transporter was the person who first found out about the fire that started on the first floor, and ran upstairs to inform others.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Satish Mahana and Mahesh Sharma also visited the site and promised swift action against the negligent parties responsible for the tragedy.

"It's a very sad and very unfortunate incident. We care for people ... That's why I am here," Mahana told media before leaving for the fire office located in sector-2 for further "inquiry".

Those injured and the bodies of the deceased -- charred beyond recognition -- were taken to Metro Hospital in the vicinity immediately after the incident. The casualties were later shifted to District Hospital in Sector 30.

At the time of the incident, there were more than three dozen people working inside. Among the dead were five men and one woman. Many people, including the HR manager of the company, remain missing, an official had earlier told IANS.
New Delhi, April 20 : Delhi High Court will hear on Friday a PIL for issuance of directions to the government that triple 'talaq' or polygamy should not be applicable to Hindu women married to Muslim men.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by lawyer Vijay Kumar Shukla also sought directions for making registration of inter-caste marriages compulsory under the Special Marriage Act or Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act with a clause on imposition of penalty in case an inter-caste marriage is not registered.

Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra will hear the PIL.

The petitioner said that since the 'nikahnaama' (marriage contract) is written in Urdu, Hindu women fail to understand provisions related to triple 'talaq' or polygamy. The Muslim cleric should explain the provisions of the 'nikahnaama' pertaining to summary divorce and polygamy to the Hindu women in their mother tongue, said the plea.

"Since there is no provision for registration of marriage under Muslim personal law, so directions for registration of marriages of Hindu women with Muslim men under the above-mentioned two laws is required to safeguard such women's interest," it added.
Kolkata, April 20 : The family of an infant who died at a city-based hospital a day ago registered a complaint of medical negligence against the establishment with the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission on Thursday.

Four-month-old Kuheli Chakraborty, who was admitted to the Apollo Gleneagles Hospital last Saturday for a colonoscopy, allegedly died of anaesthetic overdose on Wednesday morning, the patient's kin alleged.

Accusing the hospital of "killing" their child, the parents demanded that the hospital be shut down.

"This hospital is killing people and it must be shut down. I appeal to the Chief Minister (Mamata Banerjee) to stand by us," the deceased's father said.

"I have been assured by the commission that they will deal with the matter on urgent basis. A report will be sought from the hospital," Shalu, the deceased's mother said.

The parents on Wednesday registered a complaint against the hospital at Phoolbagan Police Station.

Following the incident of child's death, a mob vandalised the hospital premises.

According to the kid's father, the baby was left unattended for a whole day when she was admitted and was not given any food for more than 12 hours before conducting the test.

"The doctors advised to keep her in fasting on April 17 before the colonoscopy but decided not to go ahead with the test after 3 p.m. She was not given any food till afternoon next day. My daughter became weak and dehydrated. She could not be brought back to consciousness after the test," the father alleged.

Refuting the allegations of negligence, the Apollo hospital authorities said the kid suffered "cardiac arrest in the recovery room" and regretted that the kid could not be saved despite "best efforts by the doctors concerned".

"We offer deepest condolences to the family of the child and regret that despite our best efforts, the child could not be saved," hospital CEO Rana Dasgupta said in a statement.

Further, he said, the hospital authority constituted a three-member expert team to internally probe the incident.
Mumbai/Lucknow, April 20 : Four suspected Islamic State sympathisers were arrested while several others were detained during joint anti-terror raids on Thursday in four states for plotting major terror strikes, a senior police officer said.

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terorism Squad (ATS) in coordination with police agencies of five other states carried out the operation on the basis of a tip-off from central intelligence agencies, Uttar Pradesh Additional Director General of Police Daljeet Singh Chawdhary said.

The raids were conducted in the early hours in Mumbra (Maharashtra), Jalandhar (Punjab), Narkatiaganj (Bihar), and Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar (both in Uttar Pradesh) by joint teams of Delhi Special Cell, Anti-Terorism Squads (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra and Crime Investigation Cell of Andhra Pradesh.

Punjab and Bihar Police also provided assistance in the operation.

Mufti Faizan, Tanveer, Nazim Shamshad Ahmed and Muzammil were arrested from Bijnor, Mumbra and Jalandhar.

The ADGP said the raiding team picked nine youths -- aged between 18 and 26 -- from different locations and arrested four of them on charge of hatching terror conspiracies.

"The arrested youths were planning terror attacks in different cities. Others detained are being questioned. They are self-motivated and misguided. They can be brought back to the mainstream after counselling," Chawdhary said.

The officer said the suspected Islamic State sympathisers were in touch with each other on the Internet.

He said the state ATS got inputs about a terror group enrolling new members in Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai, Punjab and Bihar for carrying out terror strikes in the future.

Chawdhary said investigations revealed that one of them wanted to finance the group and they were continuously communicating with each other about carrying some major strike in the near future.

The officer ruled out link between those arrested on Thursday with a suspected terrorist killed in an encounter in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow in March.
New Delhi, April 20 : Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will be visiting India from April 25-29, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis scheduled visit in the island nation next month for the Vesak Day celebrations.

Modi will inaugurate the 14th United Nations Day of Vesak celebration in Sri Lanka on May 12, an important Buddhist festival.

The Vesak festival would be held from May 12 to 14. The opening ceremony would be held at Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), while the closing ceremony will be held in Kandy.

Several countries have been invited for the UN Day of Vesak celebration in Sri Lanka, which is being held under the theme 'Buddha's Teachings, Social Justice and Sustainable World Peace.

The celebration are being held in Sri Lanka for the first time in 13 years.

Prime Minister Modi will be hosting a luncheon meeting with Wickremesinghe here on April 26.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari will call on the Sri Lankan leader.

Last year, Ranil was on on a three-day official visit to India from October 4-6 to attend the opening plenary of the India Economic Summit.

During the visit, both countries are likely to discuss the dispute over fishing activities in the Palk Bay and cooperation in the shipping and port sector.

Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston
Shillong, April 20 : The Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC-B), a disbanded rebel outfit in Meghalaya, on Thursday said the Agreed Text of Settlement signed with the government was a "total failure" and threatened to burn the document publicly.

However, a Union Home Ministry official said a lot of progress has been made in the implementation of the Agreed Text of Settlement signed with the disbanded Garo rebels -- the ANVC and its breakaway faction ANVC-B.

"The agreement with the government is a total failure. Till today, the implementation of the agreement has not been monitored properly by the government," former ANVC-B Chairman, Bernard Rimpu N. Marak said.

He said the Agreed Text of Settlement with the government is in a "standstill" after it was signed on September 24, 2014 as the government did not take any interest in the implementation of the Agreed Text of Settlement.

Slamming the Mukul Sangma-led government for the delay in providing the rehabilitation packages to ANVC-B, Marak threatened to burn the Agreed Text of Settlement publicly if the government fails to disburse the package within September 24, next.

"Fearing queries they did not even held meetings with us (ANVC-B) to review the progress of the agreement. The state played with us by delaying and dishonouring the agreement. Burning away the agreement is what we have in our mind now," Marak said.

Earlier, Union Joint Secretary Home in-charge North East, Satyendra Garg said a lot of progress has been made as far as rehabilitation is concerned and the central government is satisfied with whatever progress has been made in this connection.

Garg, who held a review meeting with Meghalaya government officials here on Thursday, admitted that there is a delay for releasing of rehabilitation package for the ANVC-B due to some operational issues.

"There are certain norms required to be followed during the rehabilitation process. We have been briefed by the Meghalaya government on this, and they will address those issues," Garg said.

The Home Ministry official asked the surrendered rebels from the two disbanded groups to follow the ground rules laid by the government. "Those rules should be followed, failing which, they would be liable for legal action."

Garg said a formal review meeting on the matter would be held sometime in May-June to discuss on other issues.

The ANVC and its splinter group ANVC-B formally disbanded at a public ceremony at Tura, the district headquarters of West Garo Hills on December 15, 2014 before Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and his cabinet colleagues.
New Delhi, April 20 : In another setback to the Delhi Congress with the civic polls due on Sunday, its women wing chief Barkha Singh quit the post, and hit out at Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and the party's Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken.

In reaction, the Congress' women wing issued a statement removing Barkha Singh from the post of president of Delhi Mahila Congress.

In a statement, All India Mahila Congress President Shobha Oza said: "This is to inform that Barkha Shukla Singh has been removed from the post of President, Delhi Pradesh Mahila Congress, with immediate effect."

Resigning from the party, Barkha Singh, a former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief, lashed out at senior party leaders. "Congress party under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Ajay Maken has only used the issue of empowerment of women and women security to gather votes. The issue means nothing to them," she said.

"In an organisation where I myself am unsafe, how will I empower other women in that organisation? That is why I hereby resign from the post of President of Delhi Mahila Congress."

"Rahul Gandhi is unfit to lead the party," she said.

"The one pertinent question we need to ask today is why is Rahul Gandhi in hiding? Why is he scared of meeting his own party members?" Singh said in a statement.

Several senior leaders had quit the party because of that very reason, she said.

"Rahul Gandhi is reluctant to address issues that exist within the organisation. Why does Rahul Gandhi shy away from meeting party leaders who ask him questions," she asked.

"He (Rahul) is only interested in meeting sycophants and not leaders who reason, question and ask," she added.

Describing herself as a loyal soldier of the Congress, Barkha Singh said she would continue to remain that.

"Ajay Maken, Rahul Gandhi's nominee in the party, misbehaved not only with me but also with several office-bearers of the Delhi Mahila Congress. When the same was brought to the notice of Rahul Gandhi, our plea fell on deaf ears."

"It is because of this attitude of Rahul Gandhi and Ajay Maken that as many as five districts presidents and 75 block presidents resigned from the organisation. One of them has also filed a complaint of harassment against Ajay Maken and (All India Mahila Congress President) Shobha Oza," she added.

The development comes after former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely and former Youth Congress leader Amit Malik quit the party and joined the BJP on Tuesday.
Kottayam (Kerala), April 20 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday expressed strong displeasure on the removal of a 'cross' at a church near Munnar during a drive to reclaim usurped government land.

Located on a hill top, the cross was razed early Thursday morning by revenue authorities by using heavy equipment amid tight police security.

Vijayan told a public meeting in Kottayam in the evening that those responsible for the action ought to get government sanction for the same.

"... they should have asked the state government... what's more surprising is that the authorities enforced Section 144 of the Code for Criminal Procedure in that area in the early hours of Thursday," the Chief Minister said.

The Revenue Department is handled by a minister of the Communist Party of India - the second biggest ally of the ruling Left government.

Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekheran kept mum on the issue, though CPI Assistant Secretary Prakash Babu defended revenue authorities' action.

"What happened on Thursday is well within the law and nothing untoward has happened there. They were doing their job," said Babu.
Agartala, April 20 : The Tripura Police has launched a probe into the opening of a fake Facebook account in the name of state Governor Tathagata Roy, a police official said here on Thursday.

"Raj Bhavan officials filed a case here with the police on late Wednesday. Police began inquiry under the Information Technology Act in connection with the fake Facebook account in the name of Governor Tathagata Roy," a police official said.

He said: "The Tripura Police has a wing of cyber crime. We believe that we will soon get a breakthrough into the offence."

Police found that many concocted postings were made on the bogus Facebook account urging people to apply for government jobs against payment.

"A Professor of Calcutta University on Wednesday first informed about the fake Facebook account of the Governor. Then the Governor asked the Raj Bhavan officials to file a case in this regard," a Raj Bhavan official said, adding that the Governor was well-conversant with social media platforms.

Earlier in 2014 and 2016, a fake Facebook account was opened in the name of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.
New Delhi, April 20 : Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday hit out at Delhi Congress Chief Ajay Maken, saying she was disappointed with his style of functioning, as he "does not consult and reach out to party workers".

"I am disappointed with Ajay Maken that he does not consult (with anyone), he does not reach out to anybody. In democratic politics, most important thing is reaching out," Dikshit told IANS on being asked why she thought senior leaders in the party were not happy with Delhi Congress chief.

In a setback to the Congress ahead of the April 23 civic polls, former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely and former Youth Congress leader Amit Malik quit the party and joined the BJP on Tuesday.

Barkha Singh on Thursday quit as the party's women's wing chief in Delhi. She also hit out at Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Ajay Maken.

On being told that if she had campaigned in Delhi for the MCD elections, it would have been better for the Congress, she said: "That's for the party to decide."

Asked if the party had invited her, she replied "No. They could have, that's up to them, if they decide not to, then I don't have anything to say at all. I have never campaigned for MCD elections."

Asked if she was miffed with Delhi Congress' functioning, she said: "I am not angry with the party, I just want the party to be a little more active and a little more inclusive."

Earlier, on April 3, former Delhi legislator Amrish Gautam quit the Congress and joined the BJP, while former Congress Minister A.K. Walia threatened to quit over distribution of party tickets for the April 23 civic polls in Delhi.

"Walia also raised concerns, but he went back on it. Asked if he was quitting, she said: "Not to my knowledge".

Asked about Congress' prospects in MCD elections, she said: "MCD has been ruled by the BJP for the past 10 years. It has been a very absysmal performance. The city is looking dirty and all the things that are responsibility of the municipality has not been fulfilled."

"The AAP also is in trouble because it hasn't impressed the people of Delhi with the work that it has done and the Shunglu Committee report has damaged its reputation very severly. So, under these circumstances the Congress should do well. Congress has a good record of administration," she added.
Former First Daughter Malia Obama was allegedly harassed by a longtime stalker twice in one week in New York City, according to multiple reports.

According to the Daily News, Obama's stalker, 30-year-old Jair Nilton Cardoso, allegedly snuck into a Tribeca building on April 10th and "loudly begged" her to marry him outside the offices of a company where she works. Cardoso was given the boot by the Secret Service, but he then allegedly followed Obama out of a West Village building two days later.

The Secret Service visited Cardoso's Brooklyn home the next day, and reportedly brought him to Kings County hospital after determining he had psychiatric issues. The NYPD's First Precinct is aware of the situation, and the NY Post reports the Secret Service is filing an order of protection against Cardoso.

Sources told the News that the Secret Service recognized Cardoso from multiple attempts to enter the White House when the Obamas lived there. A police spokesperson said that all questions on the topic should be referred to the Secret Service. In a written statement, a Secret Service spokesperson told Gothamist that "As a matter of practice the Secret Service does not comment on the means and methods of protective operations or investigations."
Roanoke River Camping For much of the past 20 years, the Roanoke River Partners have been raising public awareness of this great river and its astonishing system of swamps, islands and tributaries, which supplies most of the fresh water in Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds

Roanoke River Partners (RRP) is marking a milestone with its 20th anniversary this spring.

Incorporated in 1997, RRP was formed in response to a declining economic climate for the counties that border the Roanoke River in North Carolina. Since then, RRP has cultivated partnerships and garnered support to develop and market the region as a destination for outdoor adventures and small town experiences, capitalizing on the areas natural and cultural assets as a source for new enterprise.

RRPs signature achievement has been the development and promotion of the Roanoke River Paddle Trail, encompassing more than 200 miles of waterways featuring 16 rustic camp sites along the river.

A pioneer of this type of development in North Carolina, RRP is considered the grandfather of water-based trails incorporating a system of camping platforms along a multi-county stretch of connected waterways.

For much of the past 20 years, the Roanoke River Partners have been raising public awareness of this great river and its astonishing system of swamps, islands and tributaries, which supplies most of the fresh water in Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, said Bland Simpson, author of The Inner Islands and Litter Rivers & Waterway Tales. This wonderful group has inspired, and led, thousands onto the Roanokes many waters and made it possible for adventurous boaters to find their way into the lower Roanokes most remote retreats and spend a night or two on well-made tent-camping platforms there. What made them do all this grand conservation work? Nothing but the deepest love of the beautiful, powerful, haunting Roanoke River  our Amazon.

As intended, the trail has attracted outdoor enthusiasts from across the United States as well as other countries. RRPs reservation system books more than 1,200 overnight stays each year. An estimated 5,000 paddlers access the river for day trips annually.

This visitor traffic helped spur the opening of outfitters like Williamston-based Roanoke Outdoor Adventures, which contributes to the local economy.

Trail users also spend money on gas, groceries and needed supplies in local towns. A recent study by NC Growth showed that RRPs operations return over $550,000 to the regional economy each year.

RRP had the vision, creativity and perseverance to develop a natural network of paddle trails, cultivate a successful economic development plan and, ultimately, empower a community, said Sammy Cox, regional paddler and coordinator for Pocket Guide to the Albemarle Sound. Their foresight and sweeping efforts have contributed to making the region of the Roanoke more livable, desirable and sustainable.

In addition to the nationally-recognized water trail, RRP also has spearheaded the preservation of the former Hamilton Colored School with plans to repurpose it as the Rosenwald River Center in Martin County.

The school will serve as a community center and interpretive site to highlight the regions Rosenwald history and the Roanoke Rivers role in the Underground Railroad. A master plan for development is nearly complete  and with it, RRP is kicking off a $300,000 capital campaign to support this historic preservation project.

Over two decades, RRP has cultivated partnerships and garnered both public and private support from state and national organizations, county and town governments, regional tourism and media partners, outfitters, other small businesses and organizations, and many dedicated individuals. The Roanoke River Mayors Association and 15 member towns have provided leadership and support as well.

RRP is a wonderful example of a grassroots partnership that has come together because of a shared love for the natural world and the many unique wonders of our area, said Pam Wingrove, natural resource planner with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Northeastern North Carolinas Balancing Nature and Commerce Initiative.

In the future, RRP hopes to attract even more visitors to the region while fostering community pride among residents. RRP will continue to join forces with compatible interests to expand the regional brand cultivated over the past 20 years, said Carol Shields, director of RRP.

Roanoke River Partners, Inc.

Roanoke River Partners connects the five North Carolina counties (Northampton, Halifax, Martin, Bertie and Washington Counties) which border the Roanoke River from the Virginia state line to the Albemarle Sound through its rural development initiatives. For more information, visit http://www.roanokeriverpartners.org or call 252 798-3920.
Avitus Group's Ashlee Mead is featured in national publication "Embracing Inclusion" Its an honor to be in this book with so many inspiring people. 'Not everyone can do everything, but everyone can do something' is one of my favorite quotes, and the people in this book illustrate that.

Its an honor to be in this book with so many inspiring people, says Avitus Group Senior Accounting Specialist Ashlee Mead. 'Not everyone can do everything, but everyone can do something' is one of my favorite quotes, and the people in this book illustrate that.

Embracing Inclusion: People With Disabilities Enriching the Workforce by Marc Goldman profiles more than 100 workers with disabilities. It includes an introduction by former President George H. Bush, who signed the Americans With Disabilities Act, and autism spokeswoman Dr. Temple Grandin. The book features United States Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth, who is a veteran that was injured during Operation Iraqi Freedom, several actors, comedians and those excelling in the workplace such as park rangers, social workers and Mead, who is hard of hearing.

Avitus Group is proud to have one of our employees featured in a nationwide publication, says Avitus Group Public Relations Manager Dianne Parker. We are fortunate to have Ashlee on the team. She works extremely hard, does a great job and regularly receives recognition from her supervisors.

Embracing Inclusion emerged from Goldmans 25 years advocating on behalf of people with disabilities. The book is Goldmans attempt to dispel stereotypes, create work opportunities, educate employers and inspire those with disabilities.

I tried to develop an instrument that would highlight the widest possible range of disabilities, abilities, age, cultural, sexual orientation and all fields of diversity, Goldman says. I am very proud of our accomplishment.

Mead is featured in the first section of the book titled "People With Disabilities in the Workplace" and is an example of someone with a disability succeeding in the workplace.

I dont like the term impairment, she says. That has a negative connotation. I was raised not to let my disability be a stumbling block or an excuse in life. Ive shown people that you dont have to be normal to achieve great things, and just because were different doesnt mean we dont have dreams.

Originally from Cut Bank, Montana, Mead has a Bachelor of Science degree from Montana State University-Billings. She started with Avitus Group in 2013 as a Junior Bookkeeper and has since advanced to Senior Accounting Specialist. It has always been her dream to get a degree in accounting and work in a professional setting. In addition to her career dreams, Ashlee is getting married in July of 2017, and she says she is extremely happy to be where she is both professionally and personally.

Ashlees disability is not a hindrance in her work performance, says Meads supervisor Talena Johnson. Ashlee excels in customer service and is one of our strongest accounting specialists.

Mead says she considers her disability an advantage at work because it makes her detail-oriented and attentive. She appreciates her job and the steps Avitus Group takes to empower her.

"Avitus Group provides interpreters for our annual conference and quarterly department trainings," says Mead. "The company provides video phones and Skype Instant Messaging as additional ways to communicate with our co-workers across the country. This is critical for me as I rely on written communication and lip-reading. When a group meeting is overwhelming (scanning the room to lip read can be difficult) my supervisor will send me an email recapping the main points I need to know. Avitus Group has provided me with a strobe light for the fire alarm and the company in general is very inclusive, which is much appreciated. I'm proud to work for such a great company."

Avitus Group believes in enriching the workforce with people with disabilities, Avitus Group Director of Talent Acquisitions Anne Arrowsmith says. We ensure everyone can thrive at work and do everything we can to help employees maneuver any obstacles that may be in their path to success.

A few tips from Mead to help companies empower employees like her:

Top 5 Inclusion Tips for Business Community

1. Have an open mind.

2. Ask employees what is best for them (because everyone has different needs).

3. Do the little things like including subtitles on training videos.

4. Dont act odd or speak slowly.

5. Provide essential tools like interpreters, phones with captioning devices and keypads with braille on the numbers.

Additional Resources:

CaptionSync for captioning and transcribing of audio links, People First Language, Accommodations, Legal Rights for People with Disabilities, Centers for Independent Living, ADA Center

Avitus Group is a worldwide company that simplifies, strengthens and grows businesses by providing 'back office' support (payroll, accounting, taxes, recruiting, information technology, human resources and much more). When a business uses Avitus Group, all of the necessary yet burdensome functions of the business become Avitus Group's responsibility, so the business can focus on what it does best. Avitus Group serves clients nationwide through regional office locations from coast to coast. The company also serves international clients through partner locations in Europe, Canada, China, England, India, Japan and Singapore.
Telamon Insurance and Financial Network recognizes employee training enhances valuable skills that helps the company compete successfully in the marketplace, and be a leading provider of exceptional customer service.

Thats why the Westwood, MA-based company is particularly pleased about being awarded an $82,000 grant from the state Workforce Training Fund. Telamon is among some 100 Massachusetts companies who received grants recently as part of an overall $7.9 million state commitment to employee training and skills development.

At a basic level, this grant helps add to the valuable and unique skills sets of our employees and gives them the opportunity for career and personal development, said Kaleena Murray, employee engagement specialist for Telamon. The training keeps us competitive in the marketplace and helps develop stronger skills sets so that we can continue to enhance our customer service.

According to Murray, the grants will fund training for the next two years, for employees as well as senior management. The company is working with Ace Power of Andover to develop training sessions which will typically be half-days each month. Ace will facilitate content tailored to Telamons needs to reinforce skills and support employees, Murray said.

The Workforce Training Fund provides grants up to $250,000 to companies in the commonwealth to pay for employee training over a two-year period. Grants are awarded to projects that will upgrade workers skills, increase productivity, and enhance the competitiveness of Massachusetts businesses. Grants are matched dollar for dollar by the award recipients.

In announcing the grants, Governor Charlie Baker said, Workforce training grants invest in the strength of our workers and Massachusetts labor market. We are pleased these funds can assist workers in developing the skills they need to advance their careers and help businesses foster an employment pool which better matches their growth needs.

This project is funded by a Workforce Training Fund grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. The grant program is administered by Commonwealth Corporation.

About Telamon

Founded in 1977 by Mike Susco, Telamon Insurance & Financial Network of Westwood, MA., encompasses a variety of specialty and traditional insurances and services, including retail property and casualty, wholesale, employee benefits and human resources consulting services. Telamon Insurance & Financial Network is an independent insurance agency dedicated to steady growth in niche markets, acting as a single-source partner for a wide range of Insurance, employee benefit, and HR solutions.
Today, Pearson and indiCo announced a new partnership to expand Pearsons recently announced textbook rental program to up to 1,500 independent campus bookstores. Beginning this fall, 50 popular Pearson titles will be available via a rental-only model, which will provide students with affordable access to the selected titles. This is the first partnership that allows on-campus bookstores to participate in Pearsons rental program and follows an agreement with an online retailer last week. All titles under this program can be rented for under $100, with electronic versions of these titles being the lowest-cost option. Pearson anticipates expanding the titles included in this program over time.

A subsidiary of the National Association of College Stores, indiCo is a collaborative of campus stores committed to supporting affordability, student success, and the academic missions of higher education institutions. The Pearson-indiCo partnership gives students access to affordable course materials along with the convenience and customer service provided by the local campus store.

In January, Pearson announced a two-step plan to take on the issue of college affordability. That plan immediately reduced the prices of 2,000 e-book titles by up to 50 percent. The second phase of the effort ensures that students can rent popular print titles online and in-store through trusted retailers. This rental-only model allows Pearson to reduce prices by up to 60 percent and ensure that all students have access to affordable textbooks. Campus bookstores will receive the books on consignment from indiCo, lowering the inventory cost for bookstores and streamlining the supply chain so savings can be passed on to students.

Students have been asking us for more choices and better prices on their course materials and--increasingly--for the option to rent their textbooks, said Tim Bozik, president of global product at Pearson. Pearson is committed to increasing access and affordability of course materials for faculty and students and we are excited to work with indiCo to bring independent campus bookstores these high-quality Pearson materials in a way that works for students.

indiCo is committed to helping independent campus stores offer students a range of course material options at the lowest cost possible, said Bob Walton, NACS chief executive officer. Rentals can provide a significant cost savings, but online returns can be a hassle and its easy for students to select the wrong materials when shopping with online retailers. This rental program partnership with Pearson allows students to save on what they need to be successful in the classroom without sacrificing the convenience and purchasing assistance provided by the campus store.

This program is part of Pearsons ongoing commitment to making college more accessible and more affordable for students. In addition to the e-book price reduction and the print rental program, Pearson has introduced Revel--digital courseware that blends authors narrative, interactive media, and assessment, enabling students to read, practice, and study in one continuous experience--for less than the cost of a traditional textbook. Students can access Revel with their computer, tablet, or mobile phone for as little as $65.

Pearson has also launched programs such as Digital Direct Access, which delivers digital course materials directly to students on the first day of class. That program can save students up to 60 percent compared to the price of traditional print materials.

And, Pearson recently announced a partnership with IBM Watson to create virtual college tutors, making digital learning easier and more engaging.

Visit the media room on goindico.com to learn more about indiCo.

Visit Pearsons media room to learn more about recent initiatives.

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About Pearson

Pearson is the world's learning company, with expertise in educational courseware and assessment, and a range of teaching and learning services powered by technology. Our mission is to help people make progress through access to better learning. We believe that learning opens up opportunities, creating fulfilling careers and better lives. For more information, visit Pearson.com.

About indiCo

indiCo is a collaborative business model for operating campus stores that lowers the cost of higher education and improves student success. We offer campus administrators and store directors an alternative to leasing or self-operating their campus bookstores. indiCo combines the efficiency, buying power, and guidance promised by corporate lease operators with the flexibility and brand autonomy of an institutionally operated university store. Backed by its parent company, The National Association of College Stores (NACS), indiCo is a trusted partner with deep knowledge of campus stores and an established network of the industrys leading vendors.

About The National Association of College Stores

The National Association of College Stores (NACS), headquartered in Oberlin, Ohio, is the professional trade association of the $10 billion campus store industry. NACS provides education and other resources that help its member stores support student success, the campus experience, and the academic missions of higher education institutions. The association represents all campus stores, which include nearly 4,000 campuses in the U.S. and Canada, and approximately 1,000 industry-related companies that supply course materials and other merchandise and services to campus stores.
President of Avitus, Inc. Don Reile Congratulates Employee of the Quarter & Lead Graphic Designer Tom Largess Avitus Group is always growing, and were always on the lookout for hard workers like Tom who bring talent and dedication to the company and to our Avitus Group clients.

Tom stood out to us for his dedication to getting the job done, finishing projects early and always staying committed to the client. He also came in at 4 a.m. once when he thought something was missed, which was not, says Employee of the Quarter Committee Chair and Payroll Team Lead Tana Erickson. He is always happy and helps everyone. People on his floor all commented on his cheerfulness and infectious laugh.

As Lead Graphic Designer at Avitus Group since July 2014, Tom touches almost every piece of design work for Avitus Group customers. He does so with attention to detail, creativity and professionalism that shows in every product.

"In recommendation after recommendation, Toms coworkers talked about the ever-present smile on his face, says Avitus Group Public Relations Manager Dianne Parker. "They also talked about his willingness to help out to make sure our Avitus Group clients get the best service possible. One of our managers even called Tom the hardest working person shes ever met.

With a degree from Oklahoma State University, Largess has worked in marketing and advertising for 35 years. One of 10 children, he has lived all over the U.S. including New England, Missouri, Illinois and Montana, where he has made his home in Billings for many years. An avid hiker and outdoorsman, Largess spends many weekends during the year with his wife in Yellowstone National Park as well as traveling to various destination spots around the country. He has visited nearly every U.S. National Park.

"Avitus Group has come along in a my life when job security meant the most. But on top of that, I found a place I truly like to work at, and the people are welcoming and fun to work with," says Employee of the Quarter and Avitus Group Lead Graphic Designer Tom Largess.

Avitus Group's employee of the quarter program recognizes excellent employees who have gone above and beyond. Avitus Group awards the employee of the quarter with a paid day off, a $150.00 Visa gift card and $50.00 in Avitus Group apparel. In addition, the employee receives a certificate signed by the president of Avitus Group, Inc.

"Avitus Group is always growing, and were always on the lookout for hard workers like Tom who bring talent and dedication to the company and to our Avitus Group clients, says Avitus Group Director of Talent Acquisitions Anne Arrowsmith. The employee of the quarter program is just one way we acknowledge our great workers.

Avitus Group is a worldwide company that simplifies, strengthens and grows businesses by providing 'back office' support (payroll, accounting, taxes, recruiting, information technology, human resources and much more). When a business uses Avitus Group, all of the necessary yet burdensome functions of the business become Avitus Group's responsibility, so the business can focus on what it does best. Avitus Group serves clients nationwide through regional office locations from coast to coast. The company also serves international clients through partner locations in Europe, Canada, China, England, India, Japan and Singapore.
Cutter Associates, the leading provider of operations and technology research and expertise to the investment management industry, is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Conn to the new position of Vendor Relationship Manager.

In his new role, Michael will expand Cutter Associates vendor relationships, foster beneficial vendor connections, and will provide vendors assessed by CutterResearch with a single point of contact. He will promote Cutter Associates within the vendor community, including vendor opportunities to exhibit at CutterResearch meetings, and keep Cutter staff up-to-date about vendor business initiatives, client events, and product development. Also critical to Michaels new role will be helping vendors to understand the value proposition of the CutterResearch franchise, providing insight on the firms consulting practices, and reinforcing Cutters need to maintain neutrality toward vendors.

We recognize the opportunity to formalize and proactively manage our relationships with vendors, noted Cutter CEO James Bridgers. They are an integral part of our value proposition. For several years, Michael has been effectively engaging with vendors in his Business Development role, and he is the perfect person to step into this position.

Michael joined the Cutter Business Development team in 2013, and he will retain his responsibilities for sales and business development for Cutter accounts based in New York and New Jersey. Michael previously held sales positions at First Albany Capital, State Street, and Thomson Reuters.

About Cutter Associates, LLC

Cutter Associates, LLC serves the operational and technology needs of the global asset management industry, providing clients the tools and services they need to be successful. By leveraging multi-faceted expertise and an unrivaled knowledgebase, Cutter Associates provides clients truly independent research, exclusive member-only events, custom operations benchmarking, and a global consultancy for strategic advice on and delivery of operational and technology excellence. Cutter Associates works with the worlds leading asset managers, providers and servicers. Headquartered in Hingham, MA, Cutter Associates has subsidiaries in Canada and the UK, and is on the web at http://www.cutterassociates.com.
SQL Server Inventory Considering all the challenges that every DBA faces, our primary goal for this release was to ease and SQL management from a single UI. - Frane Borozan, co-founder of Acceleratio and SQLDocKit product owner

Acceleratio Ltd. released a brand-new version of its popular SQL Server administration toolSQLDocKit. SQLDocKit can auto-discover SQL Server instances and document the entire SQL Server environment.

The tool creates a comprehensive SQL inventory with valuable information about SQL Servers, SQL Server BI Services, and databases.

Maintain system reliability with SQLDocKit

In this highly anticipated release, users will be able to perform even more complex admin tasks and handle their SQL maintenance with ease.

SQLDocKit 7.0.0 contains new major features such as Permission Management across multiple SQL Servers from a single UI to help you control all of the role permissions ever assigned in your organization. It also lets you detect SQL Servers on your workstation, gives you Automated Server Permission Management to choose whether to run management actions immediately or on a schedule, and offers support for Azure SQL Servers and databases, which enables you to audit your Azure SQL Server environment.

Security Management is SQLDocKit's most awaited feature, with the option to grant or revoke server principal permissions on multiple database engines, as well as drop logins.

For detailed information on exactly whats new in SQLDocKit 7.0.0, check out the Whats New section. The next release includes significant improvements and relevant bug fixes. Refer to the SQLDocKit 7.0.0 official release note for a detailed list of improvements, add-ons, and bug fixes.

SQLDocKit is priced per SQL Server or consultant. The tool is available for download at http://www.sqldockit.com, and Acceleratio Ltd. is offering a 30-day free trial.

About Acceleratio Ltd.

Acceleratio Ltd., based in Zagreb, Croatia, is a software development company that creates high-quality enterprise software solutions for admins and consultants worldwide. The company develops tools for SharePoint, Office 365, SQL Server, Windows Server, Remote Desktop Services, and Citrix environments. Acceleratio Ltd. developed popular tools such as SPDocKit, SysKit, CloudKit 365, SQLDocKit, and SPDocKit Pulse. These are used by more than 2,500 public and corporate customers across the globe.
Adults are telling us they try to eat less and skip meals so that their children can eat. Most families weve spoken to so far say they cant afford the basics, even food and medical care.

The global organization Mercy Corps has begun providing civilians in the eastern half of Mosul with cash assistance, the first international aid organization to do so. The government of Iraq estimates that military operations in Mosul have led more than 362,000 people to flee their homes.

As weve entered previously inaccessible areas in the city, were learning more about the very difficult circumstances under which families are living, says Suad Jarbawi, Iraq Country Director for Mercy Corps. Adults are telling us they try to eat less and skip meals so that their children can eat. Most families weve spoken to so far say they cant afford the basics, even food and medical care.

Mercy Corps surveyed 712 families in east Mosul in March and April, revealing a concerning level of humanitarian need:



89 percent of those surveyed said they werent able to meet their most basic needs, namely food, medical care and shelter;

68 percent of adults reported eating less, skipping meals or otherwise restricting consumption due to lack of resources;

64 percent reported that no family members were currently employed;

93 percent reported going into debt to purchase food and other essentials.

Mercy Corps is delivering cash distributions of $400.00 to families in need, and currently expects to reach nearly 4,000 families  approximately 20,000 people  impacted by the crisis in Mosul.

Cash is the quickest and most efficient way to help people because they can buy what they and their families need most, Jarbawi says. And an important side benefit to cash is that by spending money, people are supporting the local economy.

Mercy Corps has operated continuously in Iraq since 2003, providing assistance to 5 million Iraqis affected by war, violence and displacement in all 18 governorates. Currently the organization is addressing the needs of people affected by conflict, including refugees from Syria, displaced Iraqi civilians and Iraqi host communities.

Join us and support Mercy Corps work in Iraq and elsewhere in the world.
On April 17, 2017, MultiPlan, Inc. welcomed Cathy White as Vice President, Sales and Marketing with responsibility for the Government market segment. She will lead all client satisfaction and revenue growth goals for the companys government business, which today includes solutions for Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, TRICARE, the Veterans Administration and various other federal agencies.

We are privileged to add Cathy to the team, said Brendan Miller, Senior Vice President of Sales and Account Management for MultiPlan. Her unique blend of clinical and business experience, as well as her deep understanding of the needs of government healthcare payers, will serve our clients well with innovative solutions and service excellence.

Ms. White has 18 years of experience in healthcare, both as a nurse and in sales and marketing positions. Prior to joining MultiPlan, she was National Sales Executive for Eliza Corporation, a healthcare engagement management solutions company, where she helped Medicare, Medicaid and other payers to improve population management as well as HEDIS and CMS Star ratings. She successfully added three new regional Medicare Health Plan clients during her first year at Eliza.

She has a track record of innovation in care delivery, holding National VP positions with Emdeons ePharmacy start-up unit, Robert Bosch Healthcares telemedicine and remote patient monitoring business and OnLife Healths population health business.

Ms. White earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing at the University of Tennessee  Chattanooga, and served as a Navy Nurse for three years. She began her business career at Crawford & Company and served as a VP Operations over Claims, Risk Management Services and Medical Case Management for eight years.

About MultiPlan

MultiPlan is committed to helping healthcare payers manage the cost of care, improve their competitiveness and inspire positive change. Leveraging sophisticated technology, data analytics, and a team rich with industry experience, the company interprets clients needs and customizes innovative solutions that combine its payment integrity, network-based and analytics-based services. MultiPlan is a trusted partner to over 700 healthcare payers in the commercial health, government and property and casualty markets, and saves these companies more than $14 billion annually. MultiPlan is owned by Hellman & Friedman and other investors. For more information, visit multiplan.com.
When Federal Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled the NYPD's stop-and-frisk tactic unconstitutional in 2013, she outlined a series of mandatory police reform measures, including a body camera pilot to determine if the new technology could help hold cops accountable. That pilot is expected to launch this month. Mayor de Blasio, who recently pledged to outfit all patrol officers with body cameras by 2019, praised the pilot. "Dozens of police forces around the country [are] already using them," he told reporters. "So this is the shape of things to come."

But draft guidelines for the pilot have raised concerns about surveillance and police accountability. Civil rights groups including the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represented the plaintiffs in the stop-and-frisk case, submitted a filing in Manhattan Federal Court Wednesday night challenging the guidelines. Meanwhile, a grassroots coalition is calling on the city to drop its body camera plans entirely: no pilot, no program.

"There has to be room in the conversation for just 'no.' Outright 'no,'" said Josmar Trujillo of the Coalition to End Broken Windows, a grassroots campaign backed by roughly a dozen community groups opposed to over-policing in low-income neighborhoods. "The NYPD have always been one step ahead of the legal community, and the public at large. To think that they are not going to make this work for them would be naive."

The coalition is primarily concerned about surveillance capabilities, citing recent advancements in facial recognition technology (which is not included in the NYPD pilot). "Who is going to have access to this footage down the line? Are they going to share it with federal authorities?" Trujillo said. "The NYPD having more data, whether it's our personal information or video information, is not a good idea, period."

Civil liberties advocates have echoed this concern, as body cameras have gained national popularity. A recent report from the Constitution Project notes that cameras appear to be having a positive impact in some cities. For example, in 2015 the San Diego Police Department reported a 40 percent drop in complaints after cops adopted cameras. But the same study warns that without the right guidance "body-worn cameras could be used for generalized surveillance" that could "disproportionately impact minorities and other groups subject to higher rates of police interaction."

The New York Civil Liberties Union would like to see New York's body camera pilot policy improved. "The idea of them rolling back at this point is like saying, 'Let's disband the police department,'" argued NYCLU attorney Molly Kovel.

Kovel added that she understands the concern that a powerful agency like the NYPD might take advantage of new technology. "The [body camera] policy has mechanisms that are really there to make the cameras more palatable to police officers, and in that sense it's not wholly focused on police accountability," she said.

For example, the guidelines would allow police to review body camera footage before writing incident reports. Civilians, meanwhile, would not be able to access footage without filing a formal request. In most cases a Freedom of Information Law [FOIL] request: a process that has proven onerous.

Under the proposed pilot, police would only be required to record under certain circumstances: "arrests; searches in the home; searches in the street; vertical patrols; uses of force; stops and frisks; and traffic stops," according to the draft policy.

"If this was a program where the cameras were always on, we would have more concern about surveillance," Kovel said. "This is different from a surveillance tool like a license plate reader, or a camera that is on all the time, or a futuristic drone system."

But Trujillo insists that the public already has a powerful police accountability tool in the cop watch network: civilians who document police in action.

"The great thing about cop watch is it's independent, and it's not controlled by the city," he said. "And it's not just about filming the police. There have been instances where [the community] will work with family members to recover surviellance footage, like from a bodega. It's not necessarily an easy-to-digest policy recommendation. It's more active resistance, every day, by the people."

NYPD spokesman Stephen Davis has said that the pilot guidelines are subject to change. "We review patrol guide procedures on a regular basis," he told reporters.
Chargebacks911 Chargebacks911s unrivalled and comprehensive chargeback technologydirected at the actual problem, not the symptomswas simply too attractive and compelling to pass up.

Chargebacks911, an internationally-renowned leader for risk mitigation, announced today the appointment of Kristjan Gjura as VP of Business Development, an integral component of Chargebacks911s continued global expansion.

Gjura will join Chargebacks911s innovative team leaders as they build upon the companys North American efforts and expand opportunities in Europe. His efforts will focus primarily on assisting merchants in verticals with emerging risk, as well as expanding deeper, exclusive relationships with leading aggregators, third-party vendors, acquirers and financial institutions.

Gary Cardone, CEO of Chargebacks911, said: I have admired Kristjan for years and couldnt be more thrilled that he is joining us at such a pivotal time in the industry. He has broad and diverse connections and an impressive understanding of payments and fraud. But what really attracted us to Kristjan is his ethics and philosophy of doing business. Monica Eaton-Cardone and I built this business under one shared belief systemto be best-in-class, to exchange in abundance, and to ensure every commercial deal that is done is a measurable win-win for all parties involved. Kristjan has built a track record in perfect alignment with these same principles.

"The world we are living in is driving unparalleled transparencyand subsequent efficiencies. Without clear and measurable value propositions, many business models will fail in the next two to five years. While many businesses in payments have been designed around exploiting inefficiencies, our objective is to make payments more efficient; to help eradicate friction, leakage, and losses; and to design products, technology and services built to solve problemsnot exploit them. Kristjan, in tandem with the other key team members, will help play a critical role in this process.

Kristjan Gjura joins Chargebacks911 from Ethoca, bringing over a decade of financial sector experience from his time with B+S Card Service and Deutsche Card Services. He added: Its a thrill to join Chargebacks911. Im looking forward to helping support the companys global expansion and further its leadership role across the payments industry. Chargebacks911s unrivaled and comprehensive chargeback technologydirected at the actual problem, not the symptomswas simply too attractive and compelling to pass up. It is very rare to see a company able to successfully scale and scope in the global payments industry without outside funding or investors. Their unique approachincluding their understanding of the problems, technology, and intellectual capitalis unequaled. Im honored to be a part of it.

Gjura will be instrumental in bringing Chargebacks911s services to the European market and advancing the company's award-winning, global chargeback management platform.

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About Chargebacks911: Founded in 2011, Chargebacks911 is the first global company fully dedicated to mitigating chargeback risk and eliminating chargeback fraud. As industry-leading innovators, Chargebacks911 is credited with developing the most effective strategies for helping businesses maximize revenue and reduce loss in a variety of industries and sectors within the payments space. Chargebacks911 provides comprehensive and highly scalable solutions for chargeback compliance, risk mitigation and fraud strategy management. The company helps decrease the negative impact of chargebacks, thereby increasing revenue retention to help ensure sustainable growth. The companys innovative solutions and exemplary customer service has earned a vast array of prestigious awards and honors, including the Customers Choice Best Chargeback Management award from the CNP Expo, the Best Industry Solution award, and the Best B2B Software Solution in 2016.

Chargebacks911s unparalleled category experience and ISD technology quickly identifies the true source of chargebacks, optimizes revenue recovery opportunities, mediates disputes, safeguards reputations, monitors transactions 24/7 and helps proactively prevent future fraud. A division of Global Risk Technologies, Chargebacks911 is headquartered in Tampa Bay, Florida, with offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia. In 2017, Chargebacks911 was honored by The Tampa Bay Times as one of the Top Workplaces in Tampa Bay. To learn more about Chargebacks911, visit https://chargebacks911.com or call 877.634.9808.
PlateSmart, the recognized industry leader in vehicle identification and video analytics technologies driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI), is the proud recipient of an industry award for excellence. Security Today magazine presented that PlateSmart won the Gold designation for its 2017 Govies Award for video analytics. This year the award goes to ARES Insight, the companys revolutionary data analytics tool. The award was received at the recent ISC West show in Las Vegas, where the technology was demonstrated for attendees.

The Govies, which are awarded annually by Security Today magazine, honor outstanding government security products in a variety of categories. Winners are chosen by a panel of judges from the security industry, who base their decisions on criteria including features, innovation, user-friendliness, interoperability, quality, design, market opportunity, impact in the security industry, technical advances, and scalability.

ARES Insight is a data analytics tool that uses vehicle identification information to produce real-world, real-time actionable intelligence for city surveillance and other law enforcement and security purposes. While based on vehicle data, ARES Insight is a quantum leap ahead of traditional Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) solutions. ARES Insight does far more than simply collect license plate numbers, as it extracts more data from the video than any competing solution, including state jurisdiction/country of origin and vehicle make. Moreover, it offers analytic capabilities previously unavailable in ALPR solutions, such as the ability to plot geographic locations of identified vehicles on a heat map, enabling city officials to deploy law enforcement when and where they are most needed. Additionally, because of its open architecture, ARES insight can collect other types of data besides vehicle identifiers. ARES Insight is the first true intelligence-centric application driven by vehicle information. Featuring a visually-intensive, real-time intuitive user interface and driven by PlateSmarts exclusive Artificial Intelligence, it is without a doubt the next level in smart video analytics.

About PlateSmart

PlateSmart Technologies has developed the worlds first software-only vehicle identification and video analytic solutions, which are compatible with both state-of-the-art and legacy cameras. PlateSmart offers both mobile and fixed-location solutions, which are designed either to function as stand-alone tools or to integrate with third-party software and hardware. ARES, PlateSmarts enterprise solution, provides real-time actionable intelligence with license plate number, state jurisdiction, and vehicle make recognition for complete situational awareness. PlateSmarts solutions are the recipients of multiple industry awards for excellence in security technology.

More information on PlateSmart products can be found at http://www.platesmart.com.

DISCLAIMER: This press release may contain forward-looking statements and/or predictions. These statements are based on history, current knowledge, and current market conditions. They are subject to change without notice as conditions and knowledge change; therefore, undue reliance should not be placed on such statements.
NovaCharge LLC, a leading provider of electric vehicle charging solutions, deployed their NC-5000 chargers with the Tampa Downtowner, a free electric shuttle service, when it launched October 20, 2016. Since that time, the NC-5000 chargers have been kept busy, charging approximately 96 hours a day, collectively.

We were absolutely thrilled to be able to provide our EV solutions to Tampa Downtowner, said Helda Rodriguez, President of NovaCharge. As a Tampa native, I am so very proud of my home town for supporting clean transportation initiatives through this free electric shuttle service.

Tampa Downtowner has 12 electric shuttles, and has served 82,076 passengers, driving 97,440 miles in the six months it has been in service. A recent Downtowner survey shows that riders use the service for work commute, errands and leisure activities.

We are beyond pleased with the success of the Tampa Downtowner service, said Karen Kress, Director of Transportation and Planning, Tampa Downtown Partnership. We have had an overwhelming response to this service, which makes it very important to ensure our shuttles are charged and ready to respond when needed.

NC-5000 chargers feature a rugged housing and a hardened rubber charging connector, making it an ideal solution for outdoor applications, like that of the Tampa Downtowner service. Built for reliability and heavy usage, these high-performance units sport a compact design and fully customizable front panel, enabling businesses to showcase their branding.

The Tampa Downtowner service was launched by the Tampa Downtown Partnership. The service provides free transportation throughout Tampas downtown area, spanning from the north end of Harbour Island to Interstate 275, and from the University of Tampa area to the Channel District. This service is on-demand and point-to-point. Rides can be requested through the Downtowner app, or hailed on the street.

About NovaCharge, LLC:

NovaCharge, LLC was founded in 2008 to address the need for a next-generation electric vehicle (E/V) charging infrastructure. As a leading provider of E/V networked and non-networked charging solutions, NovaCharge is dedicated to enabling a better environment for future generations by supporting a zero-emission transportation infrastructure, offering convenient, affordable, grid-friendly charging stations that enable access across both public and private locations. NovaCharge is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and is a Certified Minority/Woman owned business. For more information, please visit http://www.NovaCharge.net.

About the Tampa Downtown Partnership:

Tampa Downtown Partnership is a private, membership based not-for-profit 501(c)6 comprised of companies, organizations and individuals with a common goal of advancing Tampa's Downtown. Through an annual contract with the City of Tampa, Tampa Downtown Partnership administers the Special Services District. In addition to Tampa's Downtown Guides and Clean Team, Tampa Downtown Partnership serves downtown through marketing, business development, transportation, advocacy, public space activation, planning and beautification.
SLM v2 is providing a framework for organizations to build groundbreaking and highly sophisticated Safety Performance management programs which encompass all aspects of the Lifecycle.

Mangan Software Solutions (MSS), featuring its innovative safety lifecycle software, SLM v2, will present at the 2017 International Society of Automation (ISA) Calgary Show April 19&20. The event features a program of technical papers and workshops on topics such as: Asset Management Systems, Systematic Capability of Safety Instrumented Systems, Improving Safety Culture, Technology, changes to industry standards and much more.

SLM v2 is a cloud-based software tool that integrates process safety information, asset integrity management, and management of functional safety into one integrated platform. The newly redesigned platform has over 100 new features and enhancements, including a revamped interface and faster processing. SLM v2 helps users transform Process Safety Information into Process Safety Intelligence with game changing analytics and KPIs.

MSS was selected as one of the 20 Most Promising Oil & Gas Technology Solution Providers by CIO Review, a technology and business magazine for corporate decision makers.

"It is an exciting time at MSS and in our industry. We are truly reshaping how companies view, use, and analyze Process Safety Data. SLM v2 is providing a framework for organizations to build groundbreaking and highly sophisticated Safety Performance management programs which encompass all aspects of the Lifecycle. We see a sharp increase around adoption of the idea that Process Safety Data can be utilized like never before. We are being pushed to new heights by our clients who are uncovering new ways to use SLM v2 to make complex challenges attainable in a platform that can adapt as their needs change."  Joseph ODell, Solutions Manager

ABOUT Mangan Software Solutions: MSS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mangan, Inc. that leverages technology and software services to standardize and automate business processes for the energy industry. Based out of Houston, Atlanta, and London, MSS engineers and programmers are experts in the fields of Safety Lifecycle Management and Safety Instrumented Systems, and deploy their industry best practice flagship SLM v2 software suite to industries that require reliable high-performance automation solutions. For further information, visit http://www.mangansoftware.com.
The Lyons National Bank (LNB) announces the opening of its first of two Cayuga County branch offices in 2017. LNBs downtown office, located at 63 Genesee Street (the former HSBC building), will open on April 24. LNBs downtown office is already staffed with experienced banking professionals, including Auburn locals Demetrius Murphy, branch manager and Gregory Lattimore, commercial lender, Craig Mietz, mortgage originator and Angelica Reyes, assistant branch manager.

Im thrilled to be part of LNBs expansion, said Murphy. Having been a part of the community for my entire life, Im confident that residents and businesses alike will appreciate LNBs community-minded philosophy of banking. They have assembled a great team of talented people that know Auburn from a personal perspective, and we all look forward to providing quality products and service to the residents and businesses of our hometown.

Plans to build a new branch, on the site of the former La-Z-Boy furniture store on Grant Avenue in Auburn, are underway. Local architects at Beardsley Design Associates are designing the new, full-service branch that will include a technology-equipped meeting room, which will be made available to organizations of the Auburn community. Demolition of the existing structure is scheduled for early spring with an expected grand opening date in early fall 2017.

We are very excited to enter the Auburn market, said Thomas L. Kime, president at LNB. The feedback we have received already from community members has been exceedingly positive. The community has seen a great deal of change among their banks, and I have no doubt our hometown-style of community banking will be a perfect fit for the area.

LNB is a $956 million independent, community bank with thirteen branch offices located throughout Wayne, Onondaga, Ontario, Monroe, Seneca and Yates Counties. LNB has a long-standing tradition of excellence, dating back to 1852. As its mission, LNB serves all of its customers and communities with unmatched professional service. LNB offers an extensive variety of products within the personal and business banking realms, including direct deposit, online banking, Cash Management Services, Remote Deposit Capture and much more. LNB also provides financial services, including investments and insurance. For a complete listing of products and services, as well as branch locations, please visit BankwithLNB.com.
Inspired by the passion of CEO & President, Mike Ponder, Integrity Outdoors serves merchants in the hunting and fishing industry.

Integrity Payment Systems is proud to announce Integrity Outdoors. Inspired by the passion of CEO & President, Mike Ponder, Integrity Outdoors serves merchants in the hunting and fishing industry. Integrity Outdoors provides cutting edge payment processing solutions, exceptional customer service, and a dedication to serving the outdoors community, including a commitment to Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry.

As part of Integrity Outdoors, merchants in the hunting and fishing industries can support the causes near to their hearts without spending a penny of their own money. When a business owner signs up for Integrity Outdoors, Integrity will match current processing fees and donate a large portion of Integritys own net revenue from each participating merchant transactions to Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry. FHFH is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides nutritious meat to families and individuals in need and ministries that help those in need by paying local butcher shops to process deer and livestock that are donated by farmers and hunters.

"Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry is an organization that we proudly support through Integrity Outdoors," said Mike Ponder, President & CEO of Integrity. "It is of the utmost importance to me as an avid and passionate outdoorsman to use our business to build back into the communities we serve while supporting the businesses that serve the outdoors industry. This is a win-win-win for all involved."

Additionally, Integrity Outdoors will promote participating merchants online at no cost to encourage community members and local customers to shop with them.

Updates, information about participating businesses, and information on industry trends are available by following Integrity Outdoors on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH)

Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) is committed to addressing America's hunger problem in a unique and relevant way. Established in 1997, FHFH enables hunters and farmers in states nationwide to provide nutritious meat to feed the hungry of their communities by working with meat processors, local food banks and feeding ministries to share their bounty.

About Integrity

Integrity is a full service payment solutions provider with merchant customers in all 50 states leveraging a suite of products and services including EMV technologies, terminals, POS integrations, and secure payment gateways. Integrity is headquartered in Des Plaines, IL. Mike Ponder, CEO & President, is an avid hunter and outdoorsman. He is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and a member of the Safari Club International, the National Wild Turkey Federation, Sportsmens Alliance, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, and Delta Waterfowl. Learn more at integritypays.com.

If you are interested in signing up to participate in Integrity Outdoors, visit http://www.integritypays.com/outdoors or contact us at 866-988-4882.
We provide actionable tips on how brands can leverage their own content, experiences and messages to reach employees effectively.

St. Louis, MO: CPG is joined by Southwest Airlines to present at Event Marketers Experiential Marketing Summit on May 3, 2017 at Chicagos McCormick Place. Fred Bendana, CPGs SVP of Sales & Marketing, takes the stage alongside Leslie Shults, Manager of Culture Services for Southwest Airlines. Together, the pair will showcase the latest experiential marketing trends and results from their powerful partnership.

Bendana and Shults will present, Internal Events: How to Transform Employees into Brand Advocates on Thursday, May 4, at 11:15am (CST). The session will introduce how a successful experience-driven campaign must start with your people. These internal employees can be transformed into powerful brand ambassadors externally. Theyll outline the strategy, design and technology that helps Southwest Airlines rally together their employee base and turn a series of moments into a movement.



As CPG and Southwest Airlines continue to innovate and amplify the employee experience with the annual Southwest Rallies, we want to provide actionable tips on how brands can leverage their own content, experiences and messages to reach employees effectively, said Bendana. Like the experiential engagement moments that bring the Southwest message of One Team, All Heart home for employees, well show how other brands can make their next internal gathering a love fest for their company culture and a platform for employee advocacy!

Along with this special, in-depth presentation, CPG is also a proud sponsor of the Experiential Marketing Summit 2017. CPG is excited to play a big role in helping EMS present an explosive collection of event trends, insights, case studies and ideas from top brands across the globe. Over 2,000 marketers will attend this 3-day conference to discover how their favorite brands are using experiential marketing to transform their businesses.



To learn more about CPGs experiential solutions, please visit cpgagency.com.

About CPG Agency

CPG is an internal engagement agency that designs immersive, employee experiences for top brands and their greatest asset - their people. CPG's live experiences, internal communication campaigns and immersive digital strategies bring internal stakeholders together in meaningful ways and create brand advocates. For over thirty years, CPG has supported brands like Southwest Airlines, Jimmy John's, Carnival Corporation, Boeing, Citi, Ulta Beauty, Kohl's and Planet Fitness to deliver impactful engagement solutions that connect people, inspire action and grow business.

About Experiential Marketing Summit

The Experiential Marketing Summit is a three-day conference on experiential marketing trends, insights and case studies and has been taking place for 15 years. The conference itself features more than 80 sessions taught by senior-level event executives from Fortune 500 companies. These sessions focus on several key areas: Emerging Trends, More Efficient Events, Reinventing Overall Experiences, Building Event Strategies, Measurement and more.
Elite Kitchen & Bath, which prides itself on offering the kind of custom cabinets Long Island residents wont find anywhere else, is celebrating 33 years in business. To mark this special occasion, the Sharbani family is holding an open house event featuring kosher wine paired with kosher cheese and appetizers from Everfresh for members of the public and the trade. The Kosher Wine & Cheese Open House will take place at their recently remodeled kitchen and bath showroom in Manhasset, NY on April 27th at 6:00 p.m. and attendees are encouraged to RSVP at (516) 365-0595.

Elite Kitchen & Bath has built a reputation as the premier supplier of Rutt HandCrafted Cabinetry in Long Island, and this refurbished showroom is the perfect place to showcase the artful designs and solid craftsmanship that Rutt has been known for since 1951. When Phares Rutt opened his first cabinetry and furniture store in Pennsylvanias Lancaster County, he never would have imagined that his classic styles would be so well-received in New York. Influenced by the local Mennonite and Amish communities, Mr. Rutt took his craft to new heights with custom cabinetry that harmonizes with appliances, flooring, sinks, and everything else in the kitchen. The team at Elite Kitchen & Bath is proud to showcase luxurious cabinetry and furniture from Rutt and other fine makers in a new kitchen showroom Long Island communities from Brookville to Manhasset will be lucky to have.

The complimentary Kosher Wine & Cheese Open House will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 983 Northern Boulevard in Manhasset, New York on the 27th of April. Make sure to RSVP if you plan to help celebrate this brilliantly remodeled showroom featuring RUTT HandCrafted Cabinetry and so much more.

For more information about Elite Kitchen & Bath and Express Contracting, visit them online at http://www.elitekb.com.

Contact:

Elite Kitchen & Bath / Express Contracting

938 Northern Blvd.

Manhasset, NY

(516) 365-0595
We are excited to be reuniting with the Marketing Nation next week to share how Conversica customers have boosted their return on marketing spend by applying AI to their lead engagement and conversion processes, said Carl Landers, CMO at Conversica.

Conversica, the only provider of artificial intelligence-based lead engagement software for sales and marketing, will showcase the latest technology and methodologies for converting sales leads into qualified sales opportunities at the Marketo Marketing Nation Summit April 23-26 in San Francisco.

The Marketing Nation Summit is the premier industry event that brings together the community of Marketo experts, LaunchPoint technology partners and marketing thought leaders. The Summit features more than 120 breakout sessions focusing on best practices and hands-on training from marketers around the world.

Conversicas AI Sales Assistant empowers marketers to maximize ROI on every single inbound lead and brings accuracy and efficiency to lead qualification, passing only qualified leads to sales and returning the rest to nurture. Conversica integrates easily with Marketo and, unlike sequenced email templates or chatbots, creates genuine human conversations that result in new opportunities and pipeline. Marketers get more value out of their inbound leads, and salespeople are freed up for higher-value activities.

Conversica at the Conference

As a Marketo LaunchPoint partner, Conversica will be demonstrating how AI works in conjunction with Marketo to engage, qualify and follow-up with leads in real time. By visiting Conversica at booth 647 in the Expo Hall, attendees will learn how to:



Boost the return on lead generation efforts by following up with every single lead in a prompt, persistent and personable way

Determine in real time which lead sources are producing the most engaged leads

Know  rather than guess  which leads are ready for sales

Members of the Marketing Nation attending the Summit are also encouraged to attend sessions featuring pioneering Conversica customers, such as CenturyLink.

Kate Cindric Federhar, Marketing Operations Manager at CenturyLink, will lead the session Building a Lead Mean Lead Gen Machine: Advancing the Engagement Maturity Curve on Monday at 11:30 am in room 2022.

Federhars presentation will use real-world examples along the Marketo Engagement Maturity Curve to show attendees how they can open the floodgates for their sales teams and create a lead generation machine that sales organizations love.

We are excited to be reuniting with the Marketing Nation next week to share how Conversica customers have boosted their return on marketing spend by applying AI to their lead engagement and conversion processes, said Carl Landers, CMO at Conversica. We are especially proud to have awesome customers like CenturyLink showcasing their expertise and sharing how theyve seen dramatic increases in lead conversion rates and marketing-sales alignment through the use of Conversicas AI Sales Assistant.

The Marketo Marketing Nation Summit is being held at Moscone Center West in San Francisco. For more information, visit the event's website at https://events.marketo.com/summit/2017.

Those not attending the Summit can learn more about Conversica at the Sales 3.0 conference in San Francisco, the SiriusDecisions Summit in Las Vegas, or anytime at http://www.conversica.com.

About the Marketo Marketing Nation Summit

The Marketing Nation Summit is the premier industry event for anyone involved in digital marketing and engaging customers. Hosted by Marketo, the conference brings together the best and brightest minds in the digital transformation of marketing, advertising, IT, services, and beyond. Cutting-edge thought leadership, industry best practices, and unparalleled networking opportunities will inspire you to rethink the way your business interacts with customers to drive results that matter.

About Conversica

Conversica is the leader in AI-powered business conversations and the only provider of AI-driven lead engagement software for marketing and sales organizations. The flagship Conversica AI Sales Assistant helps companies find and secure customers more quickly and efficiently by automatically contacting, engaging, qualifying and following up with leads via natural, two-way email conversations. Used by more than 17,000 salespeople worldwide, Conversicas sales assistants are built on a proven AI platform integrating natural language generation (NLG), natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) capabilities. Recognized by Gartner as a Cool Vendor, Conversica is a portfolio company of Providence Strategic Growth, Kennet Partners and Toba Capital and is headquartered in Foster City, Calif.

To learn more, visit conversica.com and follow the company on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Grid Analytics Europe 2017 Grid Analytics Europe 2016 provides a nice network of peers in the analytics domain. A broad view on where we are in grid analytics on every aspect these days. Enough challenges ahead. - Robin Hagemans, Alliander | 2016

A recent survey carried out among European utilities by Phoenix Forums, indicates that the big data analytics functions is now firmly established in smart utility organisations. With Board support in place, dedicated analytics team members being hired in at a rapid rate, and a wide range of grid related use-cases ready to be leveraged, smart utility analytics leaders are ready to increase their investment in platforms, software, services and cyber-security to drive the expansion of their analytics organisations.

The volumes of structured and unstructured data now flooding smart utility networks is placing significant pressure on analytics teams says Mandana White, Programme Director of Grid Analytics Europe 2017, organised by Phoenix Forums. Whilst most smart utilities have established an analytics infrastructure, they recognise that their current organisational structure, platform architecture, and data management processes are far from perfect in supporting the rapid use-case expansion they need to better serve their wider organisations. And it is with this in mind that we shaped the agenda for this years Grid Analytics Europe 2017.

This years programme focuses on growing pains and provides utilities with a toolkit for building board confidence and securing greater levels of investment to fuel expansion. With equal emphasis on how to establish the right organisational structure and team mix, implement the right technology platform, architecture and supporting services, and expanding the range of use-cases, this years case-study driven programme provides the ideal benchmarking, technology scouting and power networking platform for smart utility analytics leaders.

Robin Hagemans, Manager Data & Insights at Alliander, who will open the conference remarked: At Alliander we have been developing our data analytics function for several years and now have in place a team of 40 analytics experts including data preparation, engineering, science and visualisation specialists. We have already established use-cases that support the energy transition through the control centre, asset management and maintenance functions. However, as we investigate the potential of new technologies such as open source platforms, cloud solutions, and real-time analytics, we are seeing opportunities for even more innovative new use-cases that would significantly enhance our business processes. At Grid Analytics Europe 2017, I look forward to sharing the results of our use-case implementations so far, the outcome of our new technology investigations, and explain how we are driving board investment for more rapid expansion of our data analytics function to support widespread digitisation of our smart utility.

Andy Gay, Utilities Segment Lead at GE, sponsors of Grid Analytics Europe 2017, explains: Evolving technologies such as microgrids, Electric Vehicles, and smart devices are increasingly challenging Transmission and Distribution Grid operators. Streamlining decision making and proactive grid planning requires the ability to ingest, model, and cleanse multiple large data sources. GE is leveraging the Predix digital industrial platform to marshal data from across the grid, including meter, asset, operational, historical, and real-time sources as never before. Our presentation at Grid Analytics Europe 2017 will show how GE is working with utilities to develop Analytics use cases that will create the next generation of grid management and efficiency.

Topics that will be discussed include:



Organisational Development  securing board investment, optimising the skills mix, establishing centralised, distributed or hybrid organisational structures to drive the rapid expansion of the analytics function within the smart utility

Platforms & Architectures  implementing a flexible, scalable and future-proofed platform to support raid expansion of analytics use-cases, taking into account open-source and cloud based options

Data Management  optimising the data preparation, modelling, correlation, and visualisation processes ensuring secure real-time capability for advanced grid analytics

Use-Case Expansion  reviewing results with established use-cases in asset management, maintenance, control centre, operations, and renewables and identifying innovative new use-cases to maximise grid analytics ROI

Data Science Tutorial  get to grips with the fundamentals of Data Science, the potential of a variety of data models and algorithms, and the optimal application to the smart grid

Programme benefits include:

Case Study Agenda  hear from 12+ utility analytics experts and decision makers on the lessons learnt from pilot projects and large scale implementations of grid analytics infrastructures

Data Science Tutorial  taking place on the third day this tutorial provides both data scientists and their managers with insights into new models and algorithms that increases the results accuracy of smart grid specific analytics projects

Roundtable Discussions  the opportunity to deep dive into a specific theme arising from the days presentations and benefit from the views and insights of the entire utility analytics eco-system

Technology Innovation Panel  hear about the results achieved in the application of the latest analytics solutions, the R&D pipelines of key platform and software innovators, and to influence the direction of new product development to better meet smart utility analytics requirements

Solution Zone  running alongside the conference, the solution zone provides a focused display of state of the art analytics tools, techniques and services, with experts on hand to discuss your specific challenges and provide tailored advice to help propel your implementation plans to the next level

Networking Reception  taking place on the evening of conference day one, this is the perfect opportunity to relax and unwind, meet with colleagues from across the utility analytics community, allow new ideas to cement and new partnership opportunities to emerge

Speakers include:

Robin Hagemans, Manager Data & Insights  Alliander

Signe Bramming Andersen, Senior Manager, Head of Asset & Energy Management - DONG Energy

Fiona Fulton, Smart Systems Manager - SP Energy Networks

Francisco Melo, Head of Mission Critical Application Development  EDP

Harri Hauta-Aho, IT Service Area Manager  Caruna

Floran Stuijt, Analytics Lead Architect  Alliander

Raido Rosenberg, Head of Network Systems Development - Elektrilevi OU

Rune van der Meijden, Researcher  Stedin

Sander Jansen, Data Architect  Alliander

Andy Gay, Utilities Segment Lead  GE

Karim Jawad, Tiger Watson IoT Europe, Energy & Utilities  IBM

Gordon Jahn, CTO - Open Grid Systems

Theo Borst, Head of Section, Energy - DNV GL

Martijn Imrich, Partner - Xomnia

Jesper Vinther Christensen, CEO & Founder  Similix

Matthias Stifter, Scientist, Energy Department - Austrian Institute of Technology

Event dates and location:

Conference: 6-8 June 2017

Location: Novotel Amsterdam City, The Netherlands

Event website: http://www.gridanalytics-europe.com

For more information, interviews and media accreditation:

Mandana White, Director, Phoenix Forums

Email: mandana(at)phoenix-forums.com

Tel: +44 (0)20 8349 6360

Phoenix Forums is an independent conference producer specialised in the smart grid sector. We work hand in hand with engineering professionals to create innovative event concepts and high quality programmes that inform technical decision makers and enable them to deliver exceptional results. Our approach is entirely market led. We stay exceptionally close to industry developments. Through our regular, rigorous and unbiased process of depth interviews with TSOs, DSOs, power generators, engineering consultancies, and technology innovators, we stay one step ahead of industry developments and provide live event platforms that act as a catalyst for new ideas, new directions, and new approaches to achieving future energy security.

Mandana White

Phoenix Forums

Central House

1 Ballards Lane

London, N3 1LQ

United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0) 20 8349 6360
After being fired for an alleged pattern of sexual harassment among Fox News' female employees, Bill O'Reilly said in a statement, "It is tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims. But that is the unfortunate reality many of us in the public eye must live with today."

Fox News had apparently renewed its contract with O'Reilly recently, in spite of settling sexual harassment allegations from five women for $13 million. However, the revelations of the settlements has led to organized protests questioning the culture at Fox Newsalready reeling from the ouster of founder Roger Ailes from his own sexual harassment scandaland, then, dozens of advertisers fleeing O'Reilly's program.

O'Reilly went on what he called a previously planned vacation last week; while he was still away, 21st Century Fox, Fox News Channel's parent company, announced his termination yesterday. According to CNN Money, "Bill O'Reilly will be paid tens of millions of dollars on his way out of Fox News. 'It is a staggering amount,' said a source personally involved in the exit maneuverings 21st Century Fox and O'Reilly's representatives will not acknowledge the existence of a payout. A confidentiality agreement limits what the two sides can say. But two well-placed sources confirmed to CNNMoney that O'Reilly does have a parachute. That's because O'Reilly signed a new contract right before being ousted."

Ailes was given $40 million when he was removed from Fox News' helm. It's believed O'Reilly's annual salary was $25 million, in a contract running through 2020 or 2021.

However, the payout may not be the biggest thing on 21st Century Fox executives' mindsVanity Fair reports:

The most unsettling feeling among some at Fox News, however, is that Wednesdays events are only the beginning. Theres more to come, one Fox News insider told me, suggesting that there are more women with stories of harassment who have not come forward publicly. This estimation was affirmed by two people who heard such stories directly. Others are equally concerned about the attention that is being drawn to 21st Century Foxs handling of the allegations by women inside the company.

Fox News co-host Dana Perino told viewers last night that O'Reilly was off the air, "It is the end of an era here at the Fox News Channel. As we mentioned earlier, Bill OReilly is leaving this chair and this network after more than 20 years. Bill has been the undisputed king of cable newsand for good reason, Perino said. He is an incredibly talented broadcaster who raised the bar for interviewers everywhere. He has also held his staff to exacting standards in his quest to put the best possible program on the air, and they are great."

Variety has a look at Color of Change, the non-profit heavily involved with influencing advertisers to re-consider their advertising on O'Reilly's program: "Color of Change knew who to target and how best to reach 'OReilly Factor' advertisers like Mercedes-Benz because of its 2015 campaign against the show. Color of Change members were outraged by what the org termed OReillys 'fabricated' on-air comments about being attacked by black people while he was covering the Los Angeles riots in 1992."

Color of Change's executive director Rashad Robinson said, "The settlements were particularly challenging for any corporate advertiser to defend. We asked them Would they allow their own employees to get away with that? We said that the money they were paying for OReilly Factor ads was actually paying for these settlements. It was hard for corporations to defend."

Here's O'Reilly's full statement, which was released yesterday when he was traveling back from Italy:
IGoVille, Sustainable Fashion & Accessories We are aware that this collaboration will bring visibility to a new style of eco-friendly fashion that is both fluid and committed to improving vision of underprivileged children in Sub-Saharan Africa.

A business with a conscience is hard to come by these days, but it turns out there is one right here in Boston that is definitely worth taking note of. IGoVIlle is a company that prides itself on its fashionable yet affordable and eco-friendly products, and they have just set up shop on the IM Boston online marketplace.

The IM Boston Marketplace consists of New England's best clothing and accessories companies that truly encompass the various cultures and personalities that make up the region. With IGoVIlle joining the scene they have brought in yet another great company with a unique take on their product.

Isaiah Jaiyeoba, founder of IGoVille had this to say about signing on with IM Boston: We over at IGoVille are insanely excited to be featured on the IM Boston Marketplace. We are aware that this collaboration will bring visibility to a new style of eco-friendly fashion that is both fluid and committed to improving vision of underprivileged children in Sub-Saharan Africa. We are passionate about using responsibly sourced materials to influence and improve the look of our everyday customers. IGoVille has been an outlet for innovation and creativity for both the IGoVille team and our loyal customers.

IGoVille goes out of their way to make sure that they do not leave a harmful footprint behind. They try to limit environmental harm and source their materials from nature. Their sunglasses are made from wood, bamboo and plastic and while they are environmentally friendly, they are also a piece that will turn heads. In addition to their sunglasses line they also have tote and bucket bags with different style prints that contribute to their ultimate goal. For each purchase that is made IGoVille is able to help improve the vision and eye care of another underprivileged Sub-Saharan African child. They call this mission "Buy one. Give one. Changemaking made simple and fashionable." So, each time a customer makes a purchase they can feel good about where their money is going and feel like they have contributed to something greatly important.

Were thrilled to have IGoVille join the IM Boston Marketplace. We found their pieces truly unique and very hip, said Stefanie Daneau, Founder of IM Boston. IM Boston marketplace is a combination of unique, high-end pieces from many local designers that are uplifting and inspiring. We felt that IGoVilles accessories line was just the thing to add to our growing list of amazing products offered on our site.

IM Boston is proud to add them to their Marketplace and encourages you to visit their shop on the marketplace. For their full fashion line, visit their website.

IM Boston is a Boston centric online magazine highlighting and sharing stories of people around the city. It was born from the idea that everyone has a voice that should be heard. IM Boston strives to bring the community together by discovering inspiring stories, participating in charity programs, hosting networking events, and more. To learn more about the magazine and how to participate, please visit their website at https://imboston.com.
A new clinical trial at Sanford Health examines whether medications that are FDA-approved for one cancer can effectively treat another.

Sanford Health locations in Sioux Falls, Fargo and Bismarck are participating in this national effort. The Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry Study, or TAPUR, is sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the worlds leading organization representing oncologists.

Precision medicine, which targets treatments based on genetics and changes unique to a specific persons cancer, allows oncologists to provide individualized treatments that attack cancer at a molecular level.

Precision cancer therapy shows great promise, but despite our advances in genetic testing, treatment options have been limited, said Steven Powell, M.D., the principal investigator for Sanford Health sites. ASCOs TAPUR study will increase the treatment options for our patients.

Patients who have had genomic testing and are identified to have a targetable alteration qualify for the study and will gain access to treatments matched to their needs. Right now, the study is for adults with advanced cancers that have progressed on standard therapy or for whom no standard therapy exists.

Three medical oncologists from Sanford Health are principal investigators in the trial: Steven Powell, M.D., Sioux Falls; Anu Gaba, M.D., Fargo; and John Reynolds, M.D., Bismarck.

Seven pharmaceutical companies are participating and have volunteered to give medications to this effort. As more companies sign on, more drugs that target additional cancers may be added to the trial. AstraZeneca, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Co., Genetech, Merck and Pfizer are participating.

The study is open to cancer patients ages 18 and older who are no longer benefitting from standard anti-cancer treatment. To enroll, call 1-87-SURVIVAL.

About Sanford Health

Sanford Health is an integrated health system headquartered in the Dakotas. It is one of the largest health systems in the nation with 45 hospitals and nearly 300 clinics in nine states and four countries. Sanford Healths 28,000 employees, including more than 1,300 physicians, make it the largest employer in the Dakotas. Nearly $1 billion in gifts from philanthropist Denny Sanford have allowed for several initiatives, including global children's clinics, genomic medicine and specialized centers researching cures for type 1 diabetes, breast cancer and other diseases. For more information, visit sanfordhealth.org.
VTI  Vertebral Technologies, Inc. a MIS spinal implant medical device company based in Minneapolis, MN, had a poster titled A Modular Large Footprint Interbody in Adult Spinal Deformity Patients presented at this years annual International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS) April 12-14, 2017. The poster was presented by Dr. William Lavelle who reported on the results a modular large footprint interbody in Adult Spinal Deformity (ASD). ASD has become more common with the ageing population and is driving the demand for surgical solutions that provide relief from the pain and disability.

Dr. Lavelle stated At 1 year, the large footprint posterior placed interbody devices had substantial improvement for both back and leg pain as well as ODI."

To learn more about this presentation; check out the poster presented at this years annual ISASS meeting April 12-14, 2017 in Boca Raton, FL.

We are encouraged by Dr. Lavelle's results using the InterFuse implant. The InterFuse system's modularity, large foot print, and patient anatomic adaptability can be advantageous for patients presenting with challenging surgical needs. says Matt Kyle President & CEO of VTI.

ABOUT ISASS

The International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS) Annual Meeting was held in Boca Raton, FL April 12-14, 2017 where global, scientific and educational society members provide an independent venue to discuss and address the issues involved with all aspects of basic and clinical science of motion preservation, stabilization, innovative technologies, MIS procedures, biologics and other fundamental topics to restore and improve motion and function of the spine for: surgeons, scientists, inventors and others. ISASS is dedicated to advancing major evolutionary steps in spine surgery. ISASS is a New York Not for Profit Corporation under section 201 and section 102, subparagraph (a)(5), of the New York Not-for-Profit Corporation Law, and exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. https://www.isass.org/

ABOUT VTIS INTERFUSE SPINAL FUSION SYSTEM

VTIs InterFuse System is an intra-operative assembly technology, which allows surgeons to implant a large footprint device through a minimally invasive approach. The shape of each device is biomechanically optimized to match the contours of the endplate and the unique anatomical shape and size of each patients disc space.

ABOUT VTI - VERTEBRAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

VTI - Vertebral Technologies, Inc. is a privately held company based in Minneapolis, MN, USA. VTI is dedicated to the design, development, manufacturing and marketing of medical devices to address painful conditions of the spine through less-invasive surgical approaches. VTIs products utilize its unique modular-assembly technology to deliver solutions optimized for both surgeons and their patients. VTI sells its InterFuse modular interbody fusion devices worldwide.

For more information, visit: http://www.vti-spine.com or contact Brian Thron at marketing(at)vti-spine(dot)com or + 1.877.912.5401.
The contracts, totaling just over $48 million, will run through fiscal 2020. The new boot contract extends Proppers five-decade commitment to those who serve.

Propper International has won two new contracts to supply hot weather boots to the United States Army and the Afghanistan military. The new three-year contract was awarded by the Defense Logistics Agency after an extensive bidding process.

The boots will come in two colors: tan for the US Army and black for the Afghanistan military. The contracts, totaling just over $48 million, will run through fiscal 2020. The boots will be manufactured in Proppers Puerto Rico facilities.

The new boot contract extends Proppers five-decade commitment to those who serve, said Anderson Ward, SVP of Global Supply Chain Operations for Propper. We are proud to continue the long-standing tradition of supplying our fighting forces with dependable and rugged gear.

Propper has proudly supplied the US military with uniforms and gear since 1967. Today Propper is the countrys largest supplier of ACUs and BDUs.

About Propper

Propper is proudly celebrating 50 years in business in 2017. Making tactical gear with a purpose has been a way of life for Propper since their first U.S. Navy contract in 1967. Today, Propper designs and manufactures tactical clothing and gear that keeps military, law enforcement, and public safety professionals protected whether theyre in the service, on the job, or off for the weekend.

For more information, press only:

David Workman

636-685-1062

davidw(at)propper(dot)com

For more information on Propper:

http://www.propper.com
The USS Missouri Memorial Association signed a lease agreement with the United States Navy for the historic USS Missouri to remain at Pier Foxtrot-5 in Pearl Harbor for the next 25 years. The new lease was signed on March 30, and retroactively took effect January 1, 2017.

This new lease allows Americas last battleship, now operated as the Battleship Missouri Memorial, to stay berthed at Pier Foxtrot-5 through December 31, 2041. The agreement keeps the bookends of World War II bow-to-bow in Pearl Harbors hallowed Battleship Row  with the USS Arizona marking the beginning of the United States entry into the war, and the USS Missouri marking its end.

Michael Carr, president and CEO of the USS Missouri Memorial Association, said, We appreciate the Navy working with us to secure the long-term future of the Battleship Missouri Memorial in Pearl Harbor. This 25-year lease is a significant achievement for the preservation of the famed Mighty Mo and what our Association seeks to achieve. This agreement allows us to incorporate more of the pier and surrounding structures into the historical experience of Pearl Harbor, Ford Island, and the USS Missouri.

With the long-term location of the Battleship Missouri Memorial now secure, the Association plans on creating an enhanced visitor experience moving into the future. The new lease footprint includes Building 468, a large structure on Ford Island at the entrance to Pier Foxtrot-5, which the Association plans to turn into an Administrative Center.

Among the purposes of the planned Administrative Center are housing the Battleship Missouri Memorials many artifacts in a climate-controlled environment furthering its goal of preserving the ship and crews history, new public restrooms and some offices for the Associations staff.

Carr added, We are excited about the possibilities to continue welcoming, educating and inspiring guests from all over the world for years to come. We are honored that we are able to remain a cornerstone of history here in Pearl Harbor.

Battleship Missouri Memorial

Since opening in January 1999, the Battleship Missouri Memorial has attracted more than 7-million visitors from around the world with a fascinating tour experience showcasing the USS Missouris unique place in history. Located a mere ships length from the USS Arizona Memorial, the Mighty Mo completes a historical visitor experience that begins with the day of infamy and sinking of the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and ends with Japans formal surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945.

The USS Missouri had an impressive career over five decades and three wars  World War II, the Korean War, and Desert Storm  after which it was decommissioned and donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The Association operates the Battleship Missouri Memorial as a historic attraction and oversees her care and preservation with the support of visitors, memberships, grants, and donations.

The Battleship Missouri Memorial is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. General admission, which includes choice of an optional tour, is $27 per adult and $13 per child (4-12). Military, kamaaina (local resident) and school group pricing is available. For information or reservations, call (toll-free) 1-877-644-4896 or visit USSMissouri.org.
Leadspace, the first audience management platform for B2B marketers, continues its industry-defining work with a record-breaking first quarter, significant new customer wins, and the launch of a group of thought leaders in the Martech industry that is producing pivotal insights.

The companys continued push to help marketers identify their best prospects from internal and external data that gives marketers a single source of truth, coupled with the ability to target most effectively across marketing engagement channels has put Leadspace at the forefront of the next important wave -- an Audience Management Platform for B2B marketers, says company CEO, Doug Bewsher.

130 Leadspace customers are already using the new platform, and there is mounting evidence that its delivering on its promise. See here to see more on how it works.

Leadspace Achieves Record Q1

The company reported a 135% growth in total bookings over the companys prior record quarter; and ARR showed 84% growth in the Leadspace core segment of mid-market and enterprise companies.

Wins Critical New Business

The company put significant new business wins on the books including Riverbed Technology, AppAnnie, and Big Switch Networks.

Convenes Martech Industry Council

In Q1 Leadspace gathered 32 leading B2B marketing technology executives into a braintrust to identify and solve industry-wide issues. In early April, this group, the Martech Industry Council, released the results of its first study that showed that there is a surprising dearth of accessible data available to most B2B marketers. This opacity is wasting their time. 85% of the marketers surveyed said they were spending more time than ever managing marketing technology, at the expense of spending time better marketing and engaging with customers.

Garners Industry Attention

The platform is already proving its mettle for Leadspace customers:



DXC Technology (formerly CSC) is the ROI Category Winner for Account Based Marketing at the Sirius Decisions Summit in May.

Microsoft was this week named a winner of the Marketo Revvie award for Marketing Team of the Year, Enterprise, leveraging the Leadspace platform.

Next week, Leadspace CEO Bewsher is speaking with Leadspace customers Microsoft, Marketo and partner Facebook at the Marketo Marketing Nation Summit.

Builds Lead and Pipeline

Leadspace will be prominently featured at the Martech industrys most influential conferences this spring:



Platinum Sponsorship at Marketos Marketing Nation Summit, April 23-26

Gold Sponsorship at MarTech Conference, May 9-11

Platinum Sponsorship at SiriusDecisions Summit, May 16-19

About Leadspace:

Leadspaces Audience Management Platform enables B2B companies to better engage customers and drive faster growth by allowing marketers to find and know their audiences. As internal and external data multiplies, Leadspace uses AI to provide a single source of truth across all sales and marketing data, identify net new account and individuals, and recommend the best marketing activities. Updated in real time, data and intelligence remains constantly accurate and actionable and can be consistently used across sales, marketing and advertising channels. Based in San Francisco and Israel, Leadspace is trusted by more than 130 B2B brands and 7 of the 10 largest enterprise software companies, including Microsoft, RingCentral and Marketo. For more, visit: http://www.leadspace.com
Selection of Gouda pottery to be offered at WVIZ/PBS televised auction.

Author and antiques expert Terry Kovel will be auctioning antiques and collectibles to help raise funds for public television in Cleveland and Kovels.com will link to streaming "Auction Action." The WVIZ/PBS Golden Anniversary Auction is an exciting live television event, starting Thursday, April 20, continuing through Sunday, April 23. Terry, a longtime supporter of WVIZ, will be auctioning antiques and collectibles from the practical to the priceless on air and online at the "X Table on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

Viewers can enjoy the thrill of live biddingonline or by phoneon thousands of items, everything from antiques and collectibles to toys, wine, restaurant and grocery gift certificates, tickets to theater, sporting events, trips and priceless special events.

Antiques lovers will have lots to bid on. There will be a lot of antique glassa collection of pressed glass lamps, art glass cruets, many bottles and period paperweights; lots of art pottery, including Roseville and Gouda; Holt-Howard melon bowls; silver; full sets of 20th century dishes, including sets by Minton and Wedgwood; and advertising art that includes signs, tins and Vienna Art plates. Find a collection of 18th century plates from England and a set of hammered Los Castillo silver tumblers from Mexico. Furniture offerings include an antique Sheraton sideboard, antique childs bed, midcentury H-shaped Lucite and glass cocktail table, a Victorian sofa, an inlaid Korean low table and three period dining room sets with chairs. There is also a doll house and doll house furnishings, including a tiny sewing machine, stove, lamps, and tea set.

Unique items include a Victorian cast iron cane stand (canes, too!), 1930s sewing table with three drawers loaded with supplies, an old churn, vacuum cleaner, shoeshine stand, and much more. Everything is sold without reserve.

Viewers can preview auction items and register to bid online or by phone (866-393-2525) by going to the WVIZ website, Ideastream.org/auction. Please note that successful bidders who live outside the Cleveland area must pay shipping costs for anything larger than a gift certificate. There are always bargains and great surprises, as well as the unexpected, so viewers can join the fun  and see Terry  on April 20, 21 and April 23.

Terry Kovel is Americas foremost authority on antiques and collectibles. She is the well-known columnist and author of more than 100 books on antiques and collecting. The 50th annual Kovels Antiques and Collectibles Price Guide will be published later this year. The 2017 edition is currently available at Kovelsonlinestore.com and local bookstores. Terry Kovel will discuss antiques and collectibles topics with accredited media. Photographs are available. Contact pr(at)kovels(dot)com.

About Kovels.com

Kovels.com, created by Terry Kovel and her daughter, Kim Kovel, provides collectors and researchers with up-to-date and accurate information on antiques and collectibles. The company was founded in 1953 by Terry Kovel and her late husband, Ralph. Since then, the Kovels have written some of Americas most popular books and articles about antiques, including the best-selling Kovels Antiques and Collectibles Price Guide 2017. The website, Kovels.com, online since 1998, offers more than a million free prices, and includes a free weekly email, Kovels Komments. It gives readers a birds-eye view of the market through the latest news, auction reports, a Marks Dictionary, readers questions and answers and much more.

Contact Information:

Liz Lillis

216.752.2252

Pr(at)kovels(dot)com
Wealth is something everyone wants to acquire, but many dont know where to start, says Heidi Krupp, founder and CEO of Krupp Kommunications.

Krupp Kommunications is pleased to announce WEALTH CANT WAIT has landed on The Wall Street Journals bestseller list. Authored by entrepreneurs and highly successful real-estate broker-owners, David Osborn and Paul Morris, the book shares trusted methods to take on a wealth mindset and develop wealth-building life strategies.

David Osborne Operating Partner Keller Williams and the Managing Partner Align Capital serves as partner in the #6 (out of 80,000) real estate company in the country, Keller Williams. Paul Morris CEO of a REAL Trends the top 50 brokerage company in America and the regional director of the second largest Keller Williams franchise.

Wealth-building takes knowledge and skills, discipline and work, which readers can learn through this new book developed with Osborne and Morris unique perspectives.

It doesnt have to be hard work. Its play. By practicing what we offer in this book, you will learn to thrive and create the life you desire, says Osborn.

After the death of Osborns father, he decided to write a book to keep his legacy alive and leave his own for his own children. As Morris always had a similar desire to write a book, the two business partners joined together to write WEALTH CANT WAIT, to share all theyve learned and experienced to help others gain the opportunity to build a wealthy life.

"WEALTH CANT WAIT is not a get-rich-quick formula, says Morris. This is a book with life strategies that are accessible and doable for all. Its a set of proven principles and mind-set practices that distinguish all wealthy people.

Packed with concrete action steps, valuable wealth accelerator tips, and real-world lessons from the authors own experiences, WEALTH CANT WAIT presents a comprehensive, strategic wealth-building plan for a lifetime of gainsfinancial and personal.

Wealth is something everyone wants to acquire, but many dont know where to start, says Heidi Krupp, founder and CEO of Krupp Kommunications. David and Pauls approach is to start on the initial business targets traditionally fueling financial wealth. K2 has worked with many financial experts and authors so were excited to work with these two new authors to share a unique and different perspective that they personally benefited from and want to share with others.

Inspiring and refreshing, WEALTH CANT WAIT is a guide to not just build wealth but to achieve a full and deeply enriched life.

To purchase, readers can visit Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1626344191/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_Wwb3yb0QBBJBY) via @amazon

Tweet @wealthcantwait @IAmDavidOsborn @PaulMarkMorris teach how to build financial #wealth, and more!

Follow on Instagram: @WealthCantWait Book The official new Instagram for the upcoming book, Wealth Can't Wait by David Osborn & Paul Morris. Order today!

About the Authors

DAVID OSBORN and PAUL MORRIS are two of the top-selling broker-owners at Keller Williams Realty International, the largest real estate company in the world, with 4,500 agents and annual sales volume exceeding $8.5 billion per year. As a serial entrepreneur, David founded over 50 companies with at least 25 that are ongoing profitable concerns. In addition to owning regions and brokerages, David is the principal of a private equity group that has bought and sold 1,000 homes. He is also a member of the Keller Williams Master Faculty and founder and operating partner of GoBundance, an accountability-based group of generous entrepreneurs. He lives in Austin. Paul is an award-winning entrepreneur, trainer, author, and business consultant. As an active investor, he has grown his real estate portfolio to more than 700 rental units and 150,000 square feet of commercial retail space. In just over 10 years he transformed his California-based real estate brokerage business into the second largest Keller Williams franchise with 10 offices employing 3,000 agents. Real Trends ranked his ownership group the 22nd largest real estate brokerage in the United States having closed $5.4B in real estate sales in 2016. Before working full-time in real estate, he had a successful legal career and lives in Los Angeles. http://wealthcantwait.com/

About Krupp Kommunications, Inc.

Founded in 1996 by former television producer Heidi Krupp, K2 Krupp Kommunications is an award-winning, brand strategy and communications agency located in New York City. For more than two decades, K2 has partnered with a wellspring of pioneering thought leaders, authors, executives and celebrities, as well as startup and iconic brands that all share a common goal along with K2: To help people lead happier, healthier, more enriched lives. K2 has a successful track record for igniting and evolving both startup and global brands, and catapulting emerging authors, celebrities and television shows into the consumer consciousness via connections to cultural trends, influencers and strategic partnerships. The agencys deep commitment to taking its clients work personally is exemplified by its tenacious team of creative storytellersmany former journalistswhose media mindset appeals to both clients and national media alike.

For more information about K2 Krupp Kommunications, please visit http://www.kruppkommunications.com. Check out our LinkedIn Page, Follow us on Twitter @KruppKomm Read our stories on Facebook and watch us on Instagram @kruppkommunications
Today, the real estate technology experts behind Brelion announced the completion of the acquisition of PeerRealty, a leading crowdfunding service provider and marketplace out of Chicago. The acquisition strengthens the core offerings of both companies, creating a more robust resource for real estate investors and commercial developers looking to participate in the growing crowdfunding space.

PeerRealty is a leader in the real estate crowdfunding industry with a strong brand in the Chicago and the Midwest region, explains Brelion Founder and CEO Vadim Kleyner. Their client base, combined with Brelions innovative technology and investment management experience, will open up new opportunities for real estate stakeholders.

Specifically, PeerRealty members will benefit from an expanded offering of real estate projects. In the future, PeerRealty will integrate with Brelion technology to launch new reporting and communication features, a welcome benefit for investors looking to track and manage their investments more efficiently.

In announcing the acquisition, Brelion also named Eugene Blumin as PeerRealty CEO, Andre Temnorod as CTO and Boris Gringauz as Director of Finance. This team has nearly 60 years of combined real estate and technology experience and will a bring fresh perspective to the PeerRealty portfolio, says Kleyner. PeerRealty will continue to operate under its name and maintain a presence in Chicago

Original founders, Jordan Fishfeld and Juan Hernandez, have moved on from PeerRealty to focus on building CFX Markets, a trading platform to support liquidity in the alternative asset market, including those assets purchased on PeerRealty and other real estate crowdfunding platforms.

PeerRealty is stronger than ever and clients are already benefiting from Brelions technology resources as well as the opportunities available with the burgeoning Northeast Ohio real estate market, notes Blumin. Our first project, targeting a 14 percent annualized return for preferred equity holders completed its funding in record time.

To learn more about PeerRealty contact Eugene Blumin or visit peerrealty.com.

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About Brelion

Operating out of Cleveland, Brelion, LLC. is an Online Solution for Managing Real Estate Offerings. The company helps real estate firms manage CRE projects as well as investors, by providing a scalable platform that integrates compliance, reporting, communication and payment automation into one suite.

Media Contact:

Eugene Blumin

eugene.b(at)brelion.com

T: (312) 248 - 3220 ext 106

About CFX Markets

CFX Markets is an end-to-end financial trading platform for alternative assets. A connected digital marketplace that is directly integrated with alternative asset issuers, broker-dealers and transfer agents to streamline the process of secondary market trading of alternative assets. They are the bridge between the way things were done over the phone lines and new way of doing things over the internet.

Media Contact

Taylar Ramsey

Marketing Manager

CFX Markets

taylar.ramsey(at)cfxtrading.com
We are grateful to be affiliated with such a distinguished eSports organizer as DreamHack and look forward to continuing our partnership in the future, Hajra says.

Following its first-time partnership with DreamHack for the eSports organizers inaugural U.S.-based event in Austin last year, The Trade Group will be supporting DreamHack April 28-30 to kick off the 2017 North American events in Austin, Texas.

According to The Trade Groups VP of Business Development Neeshu Hajra, With our presence in gaming and after such a successful event as general contractor for DreamHacks 2016 Austin, it was a natural choice for DreamHack to partner with The Trade Group once again for its 2017 events.

From Austin, DreamHack and The Trade Group will head to Atlanta, Georgia, July 21-23, then move on to Denver, Colorado, October 20-22.

As the official producer and general contractor for DreamHack in Austin, Atlanta and Denver, The Trade Group will be playing the same role it did in Austin last year. Duties include producing the entire show, managing labor, logistical and exhibitor services as well as the design and installation of DreamHacks eSports stages.

The Trade Group has been involved in producing eSports events for several years and provides a wide range of services such as: Venue selection; event concepting and design; furniture and equipment rental; event operations; eSports AV packages; union and trade management; catering and hospitality services; RFID technology integration; large format and digital signage; merchant activations; logistics coordination; and turnkey services.

Hajra and the rest of The Trade Group team are excited to re-partner with DreamHack and take on the two new events in Atlanta and Denver. We are grateful to be affiliated with such a distinguished eSports organizer as DreamHack and look forward to continuing our partnership in the future, Hajra says.

To learn more about The Trade Groups partnership with DreamHack or for information on The Trade Groups eSports event production services, please contact Neeshu Hajra, VP of Business Development, at nhajra(at)tradegroup(dot)com

About The Trade Group

The Trade Group is a full-service, award-winning provider of products and services for trade shows, corporate events, retail environments and an endless array of face-to-face experiences. The organization helps clients share their unique stories through a comprehensive suite of solutions that includes: exhibit design and fabrication, graphic design and production, exhibit management, digital applications, video production, exhibit accessories, strategic marketing and more.
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Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality We are overjoyed to receive this designation from HEI which is the result of a large-scale collaboration between all members of our staff. It is a clear affirmation of RMACTs commitment to all patients, all people, ALL families.

Today, Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut (RMACT) announced their Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality designation from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC), the educational arm of the nations largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization. The designation was reported in the 10th edition of the Healthcare Equality Index (HEI), reflecting on a decade of progress in LGBTQ healthcare. A record 590 healthcare facilities actively participated in the HEI 2017 survey. In addition to active survey participants, the HRC Foundation proactively researched key policies at more than 900 non-participating hospitals. Of all those included in the HEI, 302 earned a Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality designation.

We are overjoyed to receive this designation from HEI which is the result of a large-scale collaboration between all members of our staff. It is a clear affirmation of RMACTs commitment to all patients, all people, ALL families, explains RMACTs CEO Robin Mangieri.

The 2017 HEI reminds us again that though we have made tremendous gains over the past decade, there is still much more work left for us to do. With some of our biggest battles still ahead of us, it is crucial that institutions continue to demonstrate that the march toward full equality is not slowing down, said HRC President Chad Griffin. The 590 participants in this years HEI continue this march in partnership with the LGBTQ community. For the past decade, the HEI has been the roadmap to closing the gap in ensuring equal care to LGBTQ patients and their families, and we urge every healthcare facility to join us in this continuing effort to provide inclusive care to all.

The 10th edition of the HEI implements new criteria that raise the bar on what it takes to earn HRCs Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality designation. For the first time ever, HEI participants are given scores in four criteria that represent how many policies and best practices from each section they have implemented: foundational elements of LGBTQ patient-centered care, LGBTQ Patient Services and Support, Employee Benefits and Policies, and LGBTQ Patient and Community Engagement. Participants that receive the maximum score in each section for a total score of 100 points earn the coveted status of 2017 Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality.

In the 2017 report, an impressive 302 facilities -- 51 percent of those actively participating in the survey -- met the more challenging criteria to earn this designation. Another 145 facilities earned the Top Performer designation for scoring from 80 to 95 points. With 76 percent of actively-participating facilities scoring 80 points or more, it is clear that healthcare facilities are going beyond the basics in adopting policies and practices in LGBTQ care.

Of the hospitals who did not participate in the HEI but were scored based on research, only 61 percent have policies that include both sexual orientation and gender identity, and only 52 percent were found to have an LGBTQ-inclusive employment non-discrimination policy. The equal visitation policy, at 95 percent, is the only one that comes close to matching the rate of the participating facilities.

About Human Rights Campaign Foundation

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is education arm of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.

About Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut (RMACT)

RMACT specializes in the treatment of infertility, including assisted reproductive technologies (ART) such as intrauterine insemination (IUI), in-vitro fertilization (IVF), and Pre-implantation Genetic Screening (PGS). RMACT, Fairfield Countys largest fertility clinic and egg donation center, is one of 11 leading In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) centers nationwide chosen by In Vitro Sciences to participate in its Centers of Excellence program. RMACT has offices in Norwalk, Danbury, Stamford and Trumbull, and now in Poughkeepsie, NY. RMACT also offers infertility treatment financing and support services, such as nutrition counseling, massage therapy, psychological counseling, acupuncture and yoga, through RMACTs Integrated Fertility and Wellness Center.

The RMACT team includes lead physicians Drs. Mark P. Leondires, Spencer S. Richlin and Joshua M. Hurwitz, as well as fertility specialists Drs. Cynthia M. Murdock and Shaun C. Williams. All five physicians are Board-Certified Reproductive Endocrinologists and are members of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) and the Fairfield County and Connecticut Medical Societies. Each has received numerous awards, and all five are Castle Connolly "Top Doctors." RMACTs IVF laboratory is accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), and CLIA; other accreditations include the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) and the American Institute for Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM). For more information visit http://www.RMACT.com or find us on Facebook.

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Allegro Senior Living, a St. Louis-based company that develops and operates senior living properties, continues to expand in south Florida with the closing of a land purchase in Parkland. The 8-acre parcel is located near the intersection of US 441 and Loxahatchee Road. The community is comprised of 175 units and more than 186,000 square feet.

The land purchase is a result of strategic planning for Allegro who has strong brand recognition in south Florida, with two communities nearby in Palm Beach County. This community will be the companys first property in Broward County. Allegro is addressing a need for Parklands senior community. Its exceptional reputation led to the project being unanimously approved by the Parkland City Commission.

Construction is expected to start in the fall of 2017. The independent living, assisted living and memory care community is anticipated to open in early 2019. The Parkland property will have a similar luxury design known of Allegro communities throughout Florida. Architectural design will be provided by Meyer Design, Inc. out of Ardmore, Pennsylvania.

Allegro is a well-respected leader and expert in the senior living industry with a long-standing reputation of efficiently managing senior communities. Allegro also operates 11 other communities throughout Florida and Kentucky. Allegros most recent development in Winter Park, FL is expected to open late summer of 2017.

Jay Bailyn with PMA Sales Group, Inc. brokered the transaction.

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an exciting, burgeoning field with a myriad of opportunities for women, and in particular women coders, says Meera Kaul

The University of California at Davis and MKF, a public non-profit that works to empower women, are hosting an upcoming panel on Thursday, April 20th, examining the role Artificial Intelligence could play in reshaping the current employment landscape. The AI discussion panel will be moderated by Meera Kaul, founder of MKF (http://www.mkfimpact.org) and will include senior technology and innovation leaders.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an exciting, burgeoning field with a myriad of opportunities for women, and in particular women coders, says Meera Kaul. AI will code. Routine jobs will be taken over by AI in the next couple of years. Skills required to work in corporations will change and we need to change our skills to do the jobs that AI cannot perform yet. This panel will examine the career possibilities and outcomes presented in the new age of AI.

Panelists include Kerem Tomak, SVP, Chief Digital Marketing & Analytics Officer, Sears; Bhavna Kumar, Investor and Advisor, Samsung Next; Joseph Wei, Managing Director Flat360 Labs and Vice Chair IEEE; Sanjay Saigal, Executive Director, MBA at UC Davis; Julia Minkowski, Risk Analytics Manager, Fiserv; and Satya Misra, Sr Director, Strategic Accounts Infosys.

In addition to examining the potential employment impact of AI, Kaul hopes the panel will inspire women looking to grow their careers with the new opportunities presented in the age of AI. A longtime advocate of womens rights and their inclusion in technology and STEM, Kaul founded MKF, a public non-profit that works to nurture the social, economic and intellectual potential of women. In addition to the upcoming AI panel, MKF will continue to host and put on engaging events throughout the year, leading up to its Women in STEM (WiSTEM) conference in San Francisco in September 2017 (http://www.womeninstemconference.com). More information on MKF can be found at: http://www.mkfimpact.org.

More information on the event:

WHEN: Thursday, April 20, 2017, 6:00 PM  8:00 PM PDT

WHERE: University of California Hastings College of Law

200 McAllister Street

San Francisco, CA 94102

TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/47-of-american-jobs-will-not-be-required-soon-what-will-you-do-then-tickets-33419798517
In an increasingly regulated world where digitization puts enormous pressure on data capacity, there is a substantial demand to operate and store data in a location of choice.

City Network  a leading European provider of infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) based on OpenStack, today announced its continued global expansion. The company is launching its public cloud service City Cloud, in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, thus moving into the Middle East and adding another yet another region to its offer.

In an increasingly regulated world where digitization puts enormous pressure on data capacity, there is a substantial demand to operate and store data in a location of choice. In particular, the new EU data protection regulation, GDPR, is a major driver for this need. Therefore, close proximity to our customers has always been a key part of our growth strategy and the news we are announcing today follows this strategy, says Johan Christenson, CEO and founder of City Network. In Dubai, and throughout the Middle East, there is strong demand from both European and local customers to use City Cloud in response to these market trends.

As in other parts of the world, customers to City Cloud can purchase server and storage capacity as needed and pay for the capacity they use. They can choose to run their entire infrastructure on City Cloud or use it as a hybrid solution combined with private or outsourced data centers or other IaaS providers.

There is a huge demand for IaaS right now. The question companies ask themselves is not whether they should run their IT infrastructure in the cloud, but rather they think of their strategy around different providers. In this rapidly changing market, many people see the benefits of running their servers and storage on the open platform OpenStack, with greater flexibility and scalability as result, says Johan Christenson.

The expansion to the Middle East has been preceded by a significant geographical expansion throughout the world. At the end of 2016, the company started operations in Japan and thereby entered the Asian market. Since earlier City Cloud is available in both Europe and North America. With the new region, City Network is consolidating its position as a world-leading provider of applications that are run on OpenStack. City Cloud now has the broadest geographical coverage of any public cloud based on OpenStack.

"City Network is a long-term OpenStack contributor, and it is encouraging to see them expanding aggressively to serve new regions and industries. Their expertise around security and compliance brings an important dimension to the OpenStack ecosystem," said Jonathan Bryce, executive director at the OpenStack Foundation. "Adding the first OpenStack public cloud availability zone to Dubai is a great milestone for the community and City Network.
"From Matthew Brady's Civil War photographs that spurred a nation at war with itself to horror, to the most recent images emerging from Syria of chemical attacks -- images have the power to move people.

Seton Hall Professor James J. Kimble's latest research traces the U.S. government's use of death imagery in World War II as a means of galvanizing public support.

"Images of death and destruction have long been wielded to harness support for war and the impact of battlefield photography is indisputable," said James J. Kimble, associate professor of communication & the arts at Seton Hall University. "From Matthew Brady's Civil War images that spurred a nation at war with itself to horror, to the most recent images emerging from Syria of chemical attacks that seemed to have spurred the President of the United States to action he long said he would not take  images have the power to move people. In World War II the U.S. government harnessed that power to move a nation forward in war; to do so, it carefully set the table so those graphic and disturbing photographs could work."

In his article, "Spectral Soldiers: Domestic Propaganda, Visual Culture, and Images of Death on the World War II Home Front," published in Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Professor Kimble questions the popular and "accepted" historical narrative that the government suddenly changed its public depictions of the war to feature graphic and disturbing imagery of dead and injured soldiers.

Kimble writes that the existing "narrative suggests that there was a singular, definitive turning point between the innocent images of the war's early years and the gory depictions at its climax. The turning point allegedly occurred early in the in the fall of 1943 as a result of the government's growing concern that Allied successes on the war's various battlefronts were fostering a sense of civilian complacency on the home front. Up to that point, newsreels, posters, and media photographs had uniformly spared American viewers the awful reality of seeing their own war dead, a trend made official by government and military censorship standards."

The "turning point" image in question here is an iconic photograph by George Strock of three dead Marines washed up on Buna Beach in New Guinea; the picture was part of a trove of previously censored military photographs stored in what was referred to as "The Chamber of Horrors."

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is said to have released a number of these photos in an effort to inspire and energize the public's war efforts. The haunting image of the three dead Marines on the beach was published in Life magazine on September 20, 1943; in the weeks and months to follow other publications followed suit, essentially bombarding the public with stark and increasingly gruesome war images until the cessation of hostilities a few years later.

Professor Kimble acknowledges that the publication of the Strock photo in the fall of 1943 did mark a turn in the visual imagery propounded for public consumption, but effectively argues that the road for that turn had been well prepared by a number of other visual campaigns produced by the U.S. government prior to the photo's release, especially the images that appeared as part of the "Every Civilian a Fighter" campaign  a national advertising effort that was the result of collaboration among the Office of Civilian Defense, the War Advertising Council and the Magazine Publishers of America.

Kimble argues that these images, drawn not photographed, but still using images of death to engage civilians in the war effort, paved the way and created the visual space necessary for the subsequent photographs, constructing "a rhetorical space for graphic images of American battlefield death, a space that was exploited by the government with increasingly stark appeals throughout the remainder of the war."

This article is not Professor Kimble's first foray into the shattering of WWII era visual iconography and its accompanying narrative. Last year his research debunking the supposed identity of "Rosie the Riveter" in the famed "We Can Do It!" poster was featured by media across the world, including People magazine, NPR and the Travel Channel's "Mysteries at the Museum."

Read "Spectral Soldiers: Domestic Propaganda, Visual Culture, and Images of Death on the World War II Home Front," Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Michigan State University.
We are thrilled to bring this new hotel brand to Williamsport and believe this hotel will be an affordable, quality lodging option for travelers in this area," said Shane Platt, Managing Director of SureStay Hotel Group.

The SureStay Signature Collection Genetti Hotel is opening its doors to guests in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The property is one of the first of its kind to join one of the newest hotel brands in the industry  SureStay Hotel Group.

The hotel will provide guests with an experience they can count on and the amenities todays travelers have come to expect.

Built in 1922, the SureStay Signature Collection Genetti Hotel is an historic landmark in Williamsport and is also the citys tallest building, with 10 stories. The propertys location is optimal for guests interested in exploring the nearby area as it is just a three-hour drive from New York City, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia.

Located at 200 West 4th Street in Williamsport, the hotel features 164 guest rooms and 40 suites, with more than 14,000 square feet of meeting and event space. The hotel is also home to Genetti Taphouse (formerly 4th Street Grille and Ale House), a full-service restaurant with 18 beers on tap and amazing American fare. The property also has a 24-hour fitness facility, business center and a complementary full hot breakfast.

The SureStay Signature Collection Genetti Hotel is a welcomed addition to our growing portfolio of SureStay hotels, said Shane Platt, Managing Director of SureStay Hotel Group. We are thrilled to bring this new hotel brand to Williamsport and believe this hotel will be an affordable, quality lodging option for travelers in this area.

We are committed to providing our guests with the amenities they look for in a hotel stay  free high-speed internet throughout the hotel, complimentary breakfast and quality customer care, said Marc Schefsky, general manager of the SureStay Signature Collection Genetti Hotel. Travelers visiting Williamsport and surrounding areas can be sure about their stay at our hotel.

Reservations may be booked by calling 1-800-827-8298 or by visiting surestay.com.

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About SureStay Hotel Group:

A subsidiary of Best Western Hotels & Resorts, SureStay Hotel Group is a new hotel franchise that gives value-oriented travelers an exceptional travel experience at an affordable price. There are three distinctive brands under the SureStay umbrella  SureStay, SureStay Plus and SureStay Signature Collection. All SureStay branded properties have achieved and must maintain a TripAdvisor score of 3.5 or higher  providing guests with the confidence they will receive a high-quality stay with outstanding service. Properties must adhere to the SureStay Service Promise and meet Best Westerns brand standards, which include well-appointed guestrooms, high-speed internet access and complimentary breakfast. SureStay also offers an instant-rewards guest loyalty program  SureStay Rewards. For more information, visit surestay.com.
The Maryland Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers has selected Shaundra Shae L. Allen, a social worker at the VA Maryland Health Care System, as its 2017 Social Worker of the Year. Its a high honor and attests to the level of excellence we strive to achieve within our service," said Christopher Buser, social work chief at the VA Maryland Health Care System.

The Maryland Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers has selected Shaundra Shae L. Allen, a social worker at the VA Maryland Health Care System, as its 2017 Social Worker of the Year at its annual awards ceremony on March 31. The organization recognized Allen, who earned her masters degree in social work in 2012, saying she has made outstanding contributions to the field of social work in the areas of student development and programs for both veterans and the aging populations.

Were thrilled that an association of professional social workers has selected one of our own as Social Worker of the Year, said Dr. Adam M. Robinson, Jr., director of the VA Maryland Health Care System.

Christopher Buser, chief of Social Work at the VA Maryland Health Care System said, Its a high honor and attests to the level of excellence we strive to achieve within our service. Were proud of the compassion and empathy and of the diligence and innovation our team brings to the VAs efforts to best serve our veteran patients. The advancements Ms. Allen is making in student development demonstrate the innovative spirt of VA Social Workers.

Currently, Allen serves as a caregiver support coordinator for the Baltimore VA Medical Center. In this role, she provides program coordination, direct supportive counseling services and ongoing assessments for caregivers and Veterans and has recently begun to expand community collaborations for the caregiver program. A doctoral candidate in interdisciplinary Gerontology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Allen, for the past three years, has developed and conducted military/veteran cultural competency and war-era health differences for the University of Maryland School of Social Works Health and Aging track courses to better prepare the next generation of graduate-level social work students to serve Americas Veterans.

Its an honor to be selected, considering the level of experience of past recipients, said Allen, a Navy Veteran who expects to earn her PhD in 2019. All of the work recognized was a result of outstanding leadership support and collaboration with amazing colleagues at the VA Maryland Health Care System. Its humbling to see the recognition of what we accomplished by working together.

Allen plans to focus on improving health care models for older adults and innovating and enhancing student training programs in health and aging. She also plans to conduct research projects aimed at improving care for older adults with chronic health conditions and implementing new, evidenced-based ideas for improving geriatric health settings, while using the unique VA health model to train social work students to be future leaders in aging and health.

For now, Allen is enjoying her spot as the states top social worker, but she doesnt intend to rest on any laurels. Id like to use my experience and clinical practice to enhance policy and services for older Veterans, she said, noting that she hopes to raise cultural awareness regarding veterans in community health care settings.

The VA Maryland Health Care System (VAMHCS) provides a broad spectrum of medical, surgical, rehabilitative, mental health and outpatient care to veterans at two medical centers, one rehabilitation & extended care center and five outpatient clinics located throughout the state. More than 52,000 veterans from various generations receive care from VAMHCS annually. Nationally recognized for its state-of-the-art technology and quality patient care, VAMHCS is proud of its reputation as a leader in veterans health care, research and education. It costs nothing for Veterans to enroll for health care with the VA Maryland Health Care System and it could be one of the more important things a Veteran can do. For information about VA health care eligibility and enrollment or how to apply for a VA medical care hardship to avoid future copayments for VA health care, interested Veterans are urged to call the Enrollment Center for the VA Maryland Health Care System, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 1-800-463-6295, ext. 7324 or visit http://www.maryland.va.gov.
On May 4, 2017 the Friends of Dreamland Ballroom are hosting an art exhibit at the Dreamland Ballroom. The paintings, by Arkansas artist Edwin Cook Brewer, were donated to the Dreamland Ballroom by his daughter Audrey Brewer Wood and her husband Don Wood.

The art series was inspired by a Santa Barbara, Calif., jazz club which Brewer said gave him the desire to completely reinvent his artistic style. Brewer learned to use new media and techniques as he painted these vibrant portraits of jazz artists.

The paintings had been on display at the jazz club which inspired them. After its closure, Brewer's relatives, daughter Audrey and son-in-law Don Wood, sought a new place for the series of jazz paintings to inspire others.

Since the Dreamland Ballroom was a favored venue on the Chitlin Circuit where musicians such as Duke Ellington, BB King, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and many others performed made the eight paintings depicting jazz performers a good fit for the historic site.

In the future, the artwork will become a permanent collection when the historic Taborian Halls Dreamland Ballroom located at 800 West 9th Street in downtown Little Rock is renovated. The Edwin Brewer Art Show premier is free and open to the public. There will be a donation box on site and a Go-Fund-Me account has been activated to help the Friends of Dreamland raise funds to frame and protect these works of art.

The exhibit will be accessed from the State Street side of the building on May 4 from 5:30-7:30 P.M. Please note that the Dreamland Ballroom resides on the third floor and is only accessible via stairs. The Friends of Dreamland are also raising funds to make the Dreamland Ballroom handicap accessible via an elevator. All donations are tax deductible.

Friends of Dreamland is a 501(c)(3) non-profit group committed to bringing back the music, the history, and the party of the Dreamland Ballroom. The Taborian Hall which houses Dreamland Ballroom, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior and the Arkansas Historic Preservation Society. For more information on this or other Dreamland Ballroom events, contact matt(at)flagandbanner(dot)com or call 501-255-5700. The Dreamland Ballroom is on the third floor of the Arkansas' FlagandBanner.com building.
www.NAELA.org

The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), a professional association for elder law and special needs attorneys, will host the NAELA Annual Conference from April 27-29 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place.

This year's event includes the following general and breakout sessions:



The Future of Aging by Dennis Lally and Reed Hayes

Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets by Suzanne Brown Walsh, Esq.

Fifty Shades of Gray Hair: Romance in the Nursing Home by Professor Roberta K. Flowers

Divorce and Practical Planning for the Special Needs Child by Katherine N. Barr

Consumer Rights and Debt Collection for an Aging Population by Michael B. Katz, Esq.

View the conference schedule.

NAELA will also present the following awards at the conference:



NAELA Fellows;

Powley Elder Law Award;

John J. Regan Writing Award;

Presidents Recognition Award;

Theresa Award; and

Outstanding Chapter Member Awards.

Learn more about NAELA awards.

Members of the media are welcome to attend the NAELA Annual Conference. For information, contact Communications Manager Abby Matienzo by email [amatienzo(at)naela(dot)org] or phone at 703-942-5711 #230.

About NAELA

Members of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) are attorneys who are experienced and trained in working with the legal problems of aging Americans and individuals of all ages with disabilities. Established in 1987, NAELA is a non-profit association that assists lawyers, bar organizations, and others. The mission of NAELA is to establish NAELA members as the premier providers of legal advocacy, guidance, and services to enhance the lives of people with special needs and people as they age. NAELA currently has members across the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit NAELA.org.
We believe in doing it right the first time, and this feature-rich and affordable splicer does just that, saving significant time and effort.

GAOTek, a leading North American supplier of advanced T & M and engineering equipment, proudly presents its optical fiber fusion splicer with 400x magnification. This advanced product has two patented components, namely 3 in 1 cutting fixture for rubber-insulated wire, and a multi-functional 1+N optical fiber fixture. The portable and compact splicer is highly cost effective and an important addition to the companys robust selection of fiber optic products.

This optical fiber fusion splicer not only boasts of high magnification, but also supports simultaneous X and Y views, allowing the user to position, align and check fibers clearly. The splicer is extremely user-friendly, and can be conveniently used by even inexperienced technicians. It supports both, auto and manual splicing modes, and has been designed to achieve the best possible results in any field condition. The splicer can effectively perform burn-off, which is key in a splicing process, since even the tiniest of impurities can hinder optical signal transmission. Furthermore, this optical fiber fusion splicer is wind and dust resistant, and comes in a weather proof case. It features a 5 inch high resolution color LCD display, and a Lithium battery that can endure up to 180 times of continuous splice and heat. The splicer makes the splicing process quick, accurate and easy, with average splice time of 10 seconds, average tube-heat time of 30 seconds, and a splicing loss of just .01dB (MMF).

Quality is at the heart of every device we manufacture and supply. We believe in doing it right the first time, and this feature-rich and affordable splicer does just that, saving significant time and effort. 400x magnification, and X and Y views that the splicer supports are instrumental in achieving the best results, said Dr. Frank Gao, CEO GAO Group.

The product is available on http://www.GAOTek.com, as well as on some leading e-commerce marketplaces.

GAOTek Inc. now offers one of the world's largest selections of advanced fiber optic Instruments such as fiber optic splicers, transceivers, telecommunication testers, electronic measurement instruments, video surveillance, general test and measurement equipment, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and other engineering products that satisfy the needs of global technical professionals.

GAOTek serves customers from more than 50 countries. GAOTek is known for the high quality and the good value of its products. Its strong technical support team provides excellent support for its products.

GAOTek Inc. is a member of GAO Group of Companies, headquartered in Toronto, Canada with a strong global presence. The Group consists of GAO RFID Inc. (http://www.GAORFID.com), GAOTek Inc., and GAO Research Inc. (http://www.GAOResearch.com), all being leaders in their respective markets.
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Earth Day is celebrated annually across the world on April 22 to raise the publics environmental awareness. King Kullen Grocery Co., Inc. has some environmentally-friendly advice to share this year. When everyone makes small changes it results in a big impact.

Start by shopping with reusable bags at the grocery store. Visit the Produce Department at King Kullen to stock up on local fruits and vegetables.

At home, switch lightbulbs to energy-efficient bulbs.

Before work, fill a reusable water bottle to use throughout the day instead of disposable plastic water bottles or paper cups.

Prepare lunches ahead of time and opt for plastic containers instead of paper or plastic bags. Dont throw out leftovers  use them to put together delicious meals. Use leftover chicken for chicken salad, in chili or stuffed peppers, on top of pizza, pulled chicken, in chicken noodle soup, tacos and more.

One Sheet Pan Recipes

On busy weeknights, there is little time to prep. Try these recipes where everything is made in one pan to cut down on oven use and time spent washing dishes.



This recipe for Sheet Pan Teriyaki Chicken with Vegetables (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/199917670940169493/) combines sweet, tangy and savory flavors.

For a meat-free alternative, try Sheet Pan Garlic Butter Salmon (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/199917670940169494/). This recipe is healthy and flavorful, and best of all theres only one pan to clean after eating dinner.

Green-Themed Recipes

Use dark, leafy green vegetables like kale or spinach in a green smoothie along with berries and bananas. Green smoothies improve overall health, since they are easy to digest, improve hydration and boost energy levels.

Parmesan Roasted Asparagus (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/199917670940169485/) is a simple, tasty side dish that can complement any meal. Try this easy recipe which only requires a few ingredients, and is ready to eat in just 15 minutes.

Start the day with something green  try this Matcha Green Tea Latte (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/199917670940169481/) for an energy boost thats low-calorie and ready in less than five minutes. This recipe is free of dairy, soy and refined sugar.

For a protein-packed lunch thats easy to prep ahead of time, try a healthier take on a traditional Caesar salad. This Kale Caesar Salad with Fried Chickpeas (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/199917670940169474/) recipe is crispy and crunchy, and will stay fresh in the fridge for up to a week.

Visit the nearest King Kullen store to pick up all the ingredients to make any of these Earth Day inspired recipes.

About the Company:

Headquartered in Bethpage, New York, King Kullen Grocery Co., Inc. is recognized by the Smithsonian Institution as Americas first supermarket. Michael J. Cullen opened the doors of King Kullen in 1930. Today, four generations later, King Kullen is still family owned and operated. It remains a leader in the supermarket industry. From that very first store in 1930, King Kullen today operates 32 supermarkets and five Wild by Nature stores across Long Island. In addition to traditional grocery, King Kullen features a large catering and prepared foods department, freshly-baked breads and sweets, and healthy and organic areas, with pharmacies and online shopping in many stores as well.
KCA is in the top 3% of US charities ...this years program will be among the best presented in Europe.

Bringing together key individuals and representatives from leading laboratories and centers working with renal cell carcinoma, the 12th European International Kidney Cancer Symposium seeks to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information that will continue to frame directions for future research and treatment. This singularly unique meeting attracts a select group of highly committed medical professionals from throughout Europe.

The Conference Registration Desk at The Westin Grand Munich will be open Friday, 21 April, 07.00 - 17.15 and will reopen on Saturday, 22 April, at 07.00. The symposium begins with welcoming remarks at 08.00 on Friday, 21 April and runs until 17.15. Saturday's program begins at 8:00 a.m. and adjourns at 14.30.

KCA CEO Carrie Konosky said, We believe that this years program will be among the best presented in Europe for those who share our goal of eliminating death and suffering from renal cancers.

The symposium agenda is available online, and videos of the various presentations will be available free of charge following the meeting on the KCA website: http://kidneycancer.org.
In addition to our outstanding educational program at each biennial ILSC, we are pleased to recognize outstanding international laser safety leaders and their companies, said LIA Marketing Director Jim Naugle.

The Laser Institute of America (LIA)s International Laser Safety Conference (ILSC) was held March 20-23, 2017 at the Sheraton Atlanta Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. With over 200 laser safety professionals from around the world assembled, medical and industrial discussions included a large range of topics from non-ionizing radiation sources to laser generated air contaminants.

In arguing the need for uniform non-ionizing radiation safety standards, speaker Jacques Abramowicz noted, ultrasounds of babies can be performed by non-qualified/non-certified individuals, as can body sculpting and liposuction.

Jeffrey Luttrull, M.D. completed the plenary session, declaring, the retina does not have to be damaged to treat it. Once you take retinal damage away, it is like pushing the reset button.

Major American and European research laboratories provided results of studies on the bioeffects of both ultra-short pulse lasers and varying wavelengths to the skin and eyes. As technologies advance and more lasers become available for research, the maximum permissible exposure (MPE) limits will evolve for years to come.

In a clear indication that the case is not closed on the Class 3R laser, there were several views presented from the history of the classification. Presentations included proposed changes of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations related to laser pointers and the dangers they may present.

The Medical Practical Applications Seminar (MPAS) concentrated on the handling of smoke and plumes. There were also presentations on the use of lasers to help burn victims and for the treatment of acute and chronic pains. Laser use in veterinary medicine was also a hot topic. Notably, representatives from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were present at ILSC to answer questions in a panel discussion for the first time.

Because of the recent influx of first-time participants, the Technical Practical Applications Seminar (TPAS) refocused on the basics of laser safety. Co-chairs, Eddie Ciprazo and Jamie King, bookended the session with So you are the LSO  Now What? and Resources for the LSO. At the end of the seminar, attendees received the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Laser Lessons Learned Newsletter booklet, which is loaded with laser safety information.

In addition, the ILSC 2017 program featured a sponsor reception, display area, numerous networking opportunities, and a laser safety awards luncheon, which highlighted and recognized R. James Rockwell Jr. Award winner John OHagan and George M. Wilkening Award winner Wesley J. Marshall.

In addition to our outstanding educational program at each biennial ILSC, we are pleased to recognize outstanding international laser safety leaders and their companies, said LIA Marketing Director Jim Naugle.

For more information about ILSC 2017 and LIAs commitment to laser safety, please visit: https://www.lia.org/conferences/ilsc.

About Laser Institute of America

Laser Institute of America (LIA) is the professional society for laser applications and safety serving the industrial, educational, medical, research and government communities throughout the world since 1968. http://www.lia.org, 13501 Ingenuity Drive, Ste 128, Orlando, FL 32826, +1.407.380.1553.
Artificial Intelligence for Sales Productivity Cien's commitment to Barcelona confirms the citys position as an attractive destination for foreign companies.

Shortly after securing its initial round of funding, US software company Cien launches an office in Spain. Ciens app provides artificial intelligence to companies looking to increase their sales force productivity. The company recently established a subsidiary in Spain and hired key engineering personnel.

When it comes to engineering, Barcelona boasts a world-class data science community that is at the forefront of statistical science, highlights Dr. Christian Brownlees, Professor of Economics and Business at Universitat Pompeu Fabra and the Barcelona Graduate School of Business.

We chose Barcelona in part thanks to its openness in regards to foreign investment. We received valuable help in establishing our Spanish subsidiary from Barcelona Activas Business Landing Services, says Kall. In the last few months weve created over 15 jobs in Barcelona. Our aim is to hire close to 100 employees in the region by end of next year.

"Cien's commitment to Barcelona confirms the citys position as an attractive destination for foreign companies, whether theyre searching for talent, looking to place their research and innovation centers, or access to the European market, says Monica Madrigal, Head of Barcelona Activas Business Landing Services.

Ciens CEO Rob Kall is no stranger to entrepreneurship, nor to Barcelona. Hes already founded three internet software companies, all based out of Miami. He first came to Spain in 2014 to help a US multinational company acquire a company in Barcelona. I instantly fell in love with the energy of the people. I decided that when the timing was right for my next startup, Spain would be involved, in some shape or form.

Like many of its peers born in the digital age, Cien was designed with a global and diverse vision from the outset. The companys founders hail from the US and Sweden. Its subsidiary in Spain boasts 11 different nationalities. To support its growth, Cien is hiring data scientists, software developers, product designers and customer success professionals. We are hiring the highest quality employees and working with the sales teams of the future, said co-founder Margot Carter, who also sits on public and private company boards.

Cien is working with early adopters in Spain and the US to incorporate their thinking in the design and development of Ciens product and technology. Cien's app is currently available upon invitation only.

Contact:

Damien Acheson

Head of Marketing

Cien Inc.

https://www.cien.ai

@cien_ai

info(at)cien.ai
Aurora Attorney Paul Krentz Attorney Paul G. Krentz has been selected as a Leading Lawyer since 2008 and is honored in this year's magazine for his many accomplishments.

The Aurora, Illinois, law firm of Kinnally Flaherty Krentz Loran Hodge & Masur P.C. is pleased to announce that Partner Paul G. Krentz was recognized in Leading Lawyers Magazine. The 2017 Real Estate Edition features Krentz in a three-page spread, entitled Champion of Property Rights, the Injured and Abused, covering his career and legal legacy.

For an attorney to be honored as a Leading Lawyer, he or she must be recommended by their legal peers and approved by the organizations official state Advisory Board. Each nominee is judged on their quality, experience, and reputation in their specific areas of practice.

The lawyers who receive the most nominations are pre-selected for membership, but final approval is dependent on Advisory Board review, which evaluates the quality of each candidate and ensures only the most prestigious and ethical legal professionals are chosen. Only the top 5 percent of all lawyers who practice in Illinois are recognized by the Leading Lawyers organization.

Attorney Paul G. Krentz has been selected as a Leading Lawyer since 2008 and is honored in this years magazine for his many accomplishments. Only a handful of Leading Lawyers are honored in a special article. Krentz has been in practice for over 30 years and represents clients in personal injury, wrongful death, nursing home, sexual abuse and condemnation litigation. He has obtained many multi-million dollar settlements and he is recognized for his creative and aggressive advocacy.

Paul Krentz earned his undergraduate degree and law degree from Valparaiso University and Valparaiso University Law School, respectively. In addition to Leading Lawyers, Mr. Krentz has also been honored by The National Trial Lawyers, the National Association of Distinguished Counsel, Illinois Super Lawyers, Best Attorneys of America, and Martindale-Hubbell.

Partner Paul G. Krentz is active in his local, state, and national legal associations, maintaining memberships with the Kane County Bar Association, DeKalb County Bar Association, DuPage County Bar Association, American Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, and Association of Trial Lawyers of America.

To read the full version of the article featuring Attorney Paul G. Krentz, click here.

About Kinnally Flaherty Krentz Loran Hodge & Masur P.C.:

Kinnally Flaherty Krentz Loran Hodge & Masur P.C. is a law firm located in Aurora, Illinois, and has served residents of Kane County and Northern Illinois for decades. The premier law firm offers clients in need a skilled team of trial lawyers and counselors for practice areas relating to personal injury, workers compensation, wrongful death, medical negligence, general and commercial litigation, business counseling, estate planning, and immigration. Visit http://www.kfkllaw.com or call 630-907-0909 to schedule an initial consultation.
By partnering with Open Therapeutics, together we can establish a comprehensive model to maximize the potential of the entire portfolio versus the less than one percent that CAI seeks to advance.

Open Therapeutics and the Center for Advancing Innovation announce the formation of a unique intellectual property (IP) sharing and commercialization model.

The Center for Advancing Innovation helps institutions maximize the commercialization potential of their most promising inventions. A main component of this effort is bringing the IP to the attention of the entrepreneurial community and potential investors. With a novel model of wrapping challenges and accelerator programs around the IP, CAI is able to fast-track IP to markets.

Conversely, Open Therapeutics helps institutions make value of their underperforming IP. This is done by crowdsourcing global researchers around the underperforming IP within its free web-based collaboration platform, Therapoid. Analytics from the IP is then provided, for free, back to the IP-providing institution.

According to Jason E. Barkeloo, Founder and Executive Chairman of Open Therapeutics, CAI has proven an unparalleled ability to creatively and quickly advance commercially viable IP by launching strong startups through a challenge model. We are pleased to offer another level of value. Though IP may not be pursued for a number of reasons from CAIs challenges, including financial, value may be discovered when assessed and advanced by many different scientists. Not only will we promote CAIs challenges to the scientists within Therapoid, our network can be a source of Chief Science Officers to assist the CAI entrepreneurial startups. In addition, having the under-utilized IP on Open Therapeutics platform also promotes the brand of the IP provider on an international basis.

According to Rosemarie Truman, CEO of CAI, CAI is working with over 170,000 federally-funded inventions; yet, less than one percent of these inventions meet our rigorous commercial viability due diligence criteria. The inventions we evaluate, yet leave on the shelf, could have enormous impact on public health. By partnering with Open Therapeutics, together we can establish a comprehensive model to maximize the potential of the entire portfolio versus the less than one percent that CAI seeks to advance.

About Open Therapeutics LLC

Open Therapeutics (http://OpenTherapeutics.org) is a crowdsourcing life science firm that creates and attracts therapeutic biotechnologies and crowdsources them for the global scientific community. The global research community can freely access the biotechnologies and funding to further the development of the biotechnologies at Therapoid (https://Therapoid.net). The Company is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, with laboratory operations in Covington, Kentucky, Cincinnati, OH, Amman, Jordan, and Bangalore, India.

Contact: Jerome Hamilton, CEO, Open Therapeutics

+1 (651) 900-0412

OpenTherapeutics.org

@OpenTherapeutic

About the Center for Advancing Innovation

The Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI) is a global public-private partnership, non-profit focused on creating a virtuous circle of innovation and driving growth breakthroughs through novel, creative paradigms and models. CAI's mission is to accelerate and increase the volume of research commercialization in support of high growth business to ignite entrepreneurship, bolster the global economy, and maximize the commercial and knowledge-based potential of promising inventions. CAIs award-winning challenge-based accelerator, rigorous evidence-based due diligence, and capital-efficient lean management models serve to hyper-accelerate gazelle high-performing startups for outsized investor returns. Through its NIH-sponsored Breast Cancer Startup Challenge, Neuro Startup Challenge, and Nanotechnology Startup Challenge in Cancer competitions, as well as its NASA-supported SPACE RACE startup challenge, CAI has launched 58 startups and trained more than 2000 entrepreneurs. For additional information about CAI, please visit http://www.thecenterforadvancinginnovation.org.
With the new composites and pvcs, no one screws deck boards the old-fashioned way anymore. CAMO helps meet high expectations for aesthetics as homeowners do not want to see unsightly deck screws on the surface.--Chris Warren, Warren Builders LLC

Charles Chris Warren, Owner/President of Warren Builders, LLC, State College, PA, has selected the CAMO Edge Fastening System from National Nail to ensure a quick, easy installation and safe, fastener-free look for virtually all the decks his company builds. To meet customer demand for a smooth, attractive deck surface, Warrens crews choose the CAMO Marksman Pro system almost exclusively to attach deck boards. Warren installed his own lakefront dock with CAMO and found that it is the best match for composites and pvc deck materials. National Nail recently expanded their CAMO Edge Fastening warranty to cover deck boards in addition to the screws, for added assurance and confidence in installing CAMO with any decking typewood, composite or pvc.

Warren no longer uses redwood, cedar or treated wood because of what hes seen in his 30 years of experience. We tell customers on a budget to go with a lower cost composite, anything but wood, he said, which requires going back to sand and seal. Its all about avoiding callbacks and lowering homeowner maintenance.

The company uses composites such as Trex, TimberTech and AZEK, which work well with the CAMO Marksman Pro. With the new wave of composites and pvcs, no one screws deck boards the old-fashioned way anymore, he said. Expectations for aesthetics are very high nowhomeowners do not want to see unsightly deck screws on the surface. And, he adds, the edge-fastened decks do not allow water seepage into exposed openings around face-screws; the boards are more stable because both sides are fastened to the joist; and it is safer for bare feet with no raised screw heads, which can also get hot in the sun.

With the Marksman Pro, Warrens crew can quickly and easily deliver CAMO Edge Deck Screws into the edge of solid or grooved deck boards for fast installation. They simply load the proprietary deck screws into the hand-held guides that position them to be driven into the edge of the deck boards and provide automatic gapping. Special driver bits are included with the screws to ensure depth of drive.

For replacement decks, Warren prefers CAMO Edge Fastening over other systems because in his experience, CAMO is more forgiving and less expensive. With CAMO, even if the joists are a bit uneven, someone can put their weight on the board and then we edge fasten it, said Warren. It uses a real screw so it holds tight and is faster than anything on the market.

In addition to running a building company, Warren devotes time to educating future building professionals. He teaches building construction technology to students in the State College, PA, school district, passing along his knowledge about different products and techniques. He is also the chair of the Pennsylvania Home Builders Association Student Chapter, with 1,000 students. The students discover tools and systems like CAMO and get addicted to certain brands for their entire careers, said Warren. This is a system that truly lends itself to the next generation of construction professionals. For more information about CAMO Edge Fastening visit http://www.camofasteners.com

AZEK and TimberTech are registered trademarks of CPG International LLC and is unaffiliated with CAMO or National Nail Corp.

Trex is a registered trademark of Trex Company and is unaffiliated with CAMO or National Nail Corp.

About CAMO:

CAMO Edge Fastening from National Nail delivers beautiful, fastener-free, Barefoot Approved results with virtually any wood, composite or PVC decking. With the CAMO Marksman Pro, users can quickly and easily deliver CAMO Edge Deck Screws into the edge of solid or grooved deck boards for fast installations. For more information or to locate a dealer, visit http://www.camofasteners.com or call 800-968-6245. Be sure to Like CAMO Fasteners on Facebook.
Crystal Lake Law Firm of Botto Gilbert Lancaster, PC The event will take place on April 21, 2017 from 4:00 - 7:00 pm. Appetizers will be provided by local favorite, Pablos Mexican Restaurant.

The McHenry County law firm of Botto Gilbert Lancaster, PC is pleased to announce it will be hosting a Spring Social at the law office, at 970 McHenry Avenue in Crystal Lake, IL 60014.

The event will take place on April 21, 2017 from 4:00 - 7:00 pm. Appetizers will be provided by local favorite, Pablos Mexican Restaurant. There will also be a mixologist making some signature libations created based on suggestions from the attorneys at the firm.

In addition, an illusionist will be mingling to dazzle and astound everyone with his many card tricks and quick wit. Plus, there will be give-a-ways, including a drawing for a Google Home voice activated virtual assistant.



Please RSVP for the event on Facebook.

About Botto Gilbert Lancaster, PC:

The law firm of Botto Gilbert Lancaster, PC is located in Crystal Lake, Illinois. The experienced McHenry County attorneys represent individuals and families within a wide-range of practice areas including: real estate law, family law, workers' compensation, personal injury, criminal law, wills and trusts, corporate law, civil litigation, and appeals.

The firm works with individuals and businesses located throughout Northern Illinois including the counties of McHenry, DeKalb, Cook, Boone, Kane, and Winnebago. Call 815-338-3838 or visit http://www.bgsllaw.com to schedule a free initial legal consultation.
Noble Systems Noble Systems has been a long-time supporter of PACE and its mission to advocate for the customer engagement community, and are honored to be recognized for our focus on promoting the omnichannel customer experience. Past News Releases RSS Noble Systems Brings Gamification...

Noble Systems Brings Customer...

Noble Systems Introduces...

Noble Systems Corporation, a global leader in omnichannel contact center technology solutions, has received the Professional Association for Customer Engagements (PACE) 2017 CECP Vanguard Award, 2017 Vendor of Excellence Award, and 2017 Chairmans Award. The awards, presented earlier this month at PACEs 2017 Annual Convention and Expo, recognize Noble as a leader in the contact center technology market.

The CECP Vanguard Award was presented to Karl Koster, Nobles Chief IP Counsel, for his contributions and impact within the industry, specifically in the area of Customer Engagement Compliance. The Vendor Excellence Award recognizes Nobles commitment to the membership of PACE, through involvement in local chapters and in national events, and a corporate focus on serving the needs of and promoting the customer engagement industry. Finally, the Chairmans Award is given to a company or individual that works behind the scenes to support the customer engagement and contact center industries and PACE in many ways.

PACE is honored to recognize Noble Systems and Karl Koster for their forward-thinking insights in the customer engagement arena, stated PACE SVP, Christine Haerich. We are very fortunate to have them as such an integral part of our association.

Chris Hodges, Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing Noble Systems, said, Noble Systems has been a long-time supporter of PACE and its mission to advocate for the customer engagement community. We are honored to be recognized by the association, and look forward to a continued partnership to promote the omnichannel customer experience.

Noble Systems is highlighting its innovative technologies for customer communications, analytics, and workforce engagement  including patented technologies for omnichannel customer contacts and compliance  at its SNUG 2017 Americas conference. The companys 16th annual Select Noble Users Group event is being held this week at the 4-diamond Sandpearl Resort in Clearwater Beach, Florida.

About Noble Systems

Noble Systems Corporation is a global leader in the customer communications industry, providing innovative solutions for Contact Center, Workforce Management, and Analytics technologies. Tens of thousands of agents at 4,000+ client installations worldwide use Noble platforms to manage millions of customer contacts each day. Noble offers a unified suite of inbound, outbound and blended omnichannel communications, strategy planning, and resource management tools for companies of all sizes. Our premise, cloud, and innovative premise/cloud hybrid platforms include ACD, predictive dialing, blended processing, recording and monitoring, IVR, messaging, interaction analytics, decisioning, and workforce management. For more information, contact Lee Allum at 1.888.8NOBLE8 or visit http://www.noblesystems.com.

About PACE

The Professional Association for Customer Engagement (PACE) is the only non-profit trade organization dedicated exclusively to the advancement of companies that use a multi-channel approach to engaging their customers. These channels not only include primary contact centers, but digital channels like mobile, social media and the web. A core mission of PACE is dedicated to proactively balancing industry best practices with current regulatory standards around using these channels when contacting customers. Our membership is made up of Fortune 500 companies, contact centers and technology suppliers that enable companies to contact their customers based on their preferred method. http://www.paceassociation.org
Shady Grove Fertility's Ireland Program Director, Dr. Gilbert Mottla

Shady Grove Fertility, the largest fertility center in the United States, with more babies born than any other center in the nation, together with Waterstone Clinic, will be hosting a complimentary patient seminar to discuss their collaborative International Donor Egg Program. The event will take place on 29 April 2017, at 11:00 GMT at Cork Fertility in Lotamore House, one of Waterstones four centers throughout the country.

Donor egg treatment in Ireland is made available through Shady Grove Fertility, the largest donor egg program in the United States. To date, more than 500 babies have been born through Shady Grove Fertilitys International Donor Egg Program. Shady Grove Fertilitys streamlined program allows patients to work locally with Waterstone Clinic, with just two visits to the U.S., while gaining access to Shady Grove Fertilitys ready to cycle donors through their extensive donor registry. Through this unique program, couples and individuals will have the ability to choose a medically, genetically, and psychologically prescreened donor, without having to wait for a donor.

Shady Grove Fertilitys Ireland Program Director, Dr. Gilbert Mottla and Waterstone Clinic physician, Dr. John Waterstone will outline the process and discuss the specifics about this integrated program that enables patients from Waterstone Clinic to access treatment in the United States. Patients will have the opportunity to ask questions about success rates, traveling abroad for treatment, and whats involved in choosing a donor. In addition, a former Shady Grove Fertility patient will also discuss her experience and journey to parenthood through this unique partnership.

Attendees will also learn about two of Shady Grove Fertilitys unique financial programs that make treatment affordable: Shared Donor Egg Program and Shared Risk 100% Refund Program for Donor Egg Treatment. Patients can qualify for Shady Grove Fertilitys Shared Donor Egg and Shared Risk 100% Refund Programs. Combined, these programs offer patients up to six donor egg cycles for one flat fee. If the patient does not take home a baby or chooses to opt out of the program before reaching six cycles, a full refund will be given.

Shady Grove Fertilitys Donor Egg Program provides patients with a highly effective treatment to overcome infertility, with a 60 percent clinical pregnancy rate per embryo transfer. To learn more about Shady Grove Fertilitys Donor Egg Program in America, visit the practices website. To register for the Donor Egg Treatment in America seminar in Cork, Ireland, visit the practices events page for more information.

About Shady Grove Fertility

Shady Grove Fertility is a leading fertility and IVF center of excellence offering patients individualized care, innovative financial options, and pregnancy rates among the highest of all national centers. 2016 commemorated 25 years of Shady Grove Fertility providing medical and service excellence to patients from all 50 states and 35 countries around the world, and over 40,000 babies bornmore than any other center in the nation. Today, 39 physicians, supported by a highly specialized team of more than 700 Ph.D. scientists, geneticists, and staff care for patients in 19 full-service offices and six satellite sites throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Shady Grove Fertility physicians actively train residents and reproductive endocrinology fellows and invest in continuous clinical research and education to advance the field of reproductive medicine through numerous academic appointments and partnerships such as Georgetown Medical School, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the University of Maryland, and the National Institutes of Health. More than 1,700 physicians refer their patients to Shady Grove Fertility each year. For more information, call 1-888-761-1967 or visit ShadyGroveFertility.com.
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The inaugural PubTechConnect conference, copresented by Publishers Weekly and the New York University School of Professional Studies Center for Publishing, was held on April 20 in New York, and from the start, innovation and the digital future were front and center.

The conference's opening keynote featured a conversation between Sree Sreenivasan, the chief digital officer for New York City, and Kinsey Wilson, the New York Times editor of innovation and strategy and executive v-p of product and technology. The pair discussed at length how both the City and the Times are developing their digital strategies in an era in which both municipalities and legacy publications need to direct more of their attention on rebuilding infrastructure to focus more on the digital realm.

For the city of New York, that means addressing the very real problem of broadband deserts. Sreenivasan noted that while many people still don't always think of the Internet as a utility like electricity or gas, the City has begun to try to address access needs as it would with any other utility. That said, it can, like improving any other aspect of infrastructure, be a bit tricky.

"We're all for disruption," Sreenivasan said. "But the regulatory rules, sometimes they're decades old." That said, finding new ways to interact with old problems is exactly what the tech sector's "disruption" strategy is about, and Sreenivasan found ways to bring that mindset into the City's programs. One example? New apps for city residents, like ParkNYC, an app that allows drivers to feed the parking meter from their smartphones.

Prior to working for New York, Sreenivasan was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where, he said, he treated the museum "as a publisher. The future of the Met," he added, "is in storytelling." For the New York Times, storytelling is as important as it always has been, but in a digital landscape, other strategies are just as important. Wilson noted that advertising remains an important bulwark in the continuation of the paper's digital development, but added that, as per a corporate strategy developed in the summer of 2016, being a "destination" is just as importantand that means increasing subscriptions, the revenue source that has always been the Times' bread and butter.

"The pendulum seems to be swinging in favor of [subscriptions], in part because of profound changes in the ad market," Wilson said. "Everyone is scrambling to try to find a subscription model.

Wilson outlined the Times' main sources of digital traffic of late: politics, then opinion, and then cooking. Wilson highlighted the paper's cooking coverage as the nexus of one of its most surprisingly strong digital makeovers. The company had been "sitting on a database of 17,000 recipes," Wilson said, and once they "went to the trouble of tagging them, so they were actually searchable and useful," saw those recipes jet to the top of Google searches and provide the consequent traffic spikes.

Wilson offered publishers the same philosophy on digital strategy as the Times subscribed to while revamping its cooking content. The question we ask ourselves is, do we have a distinct competitive advantage? Wilson said; i.e., is there a particular subject the Times has strong coverage of, and can they scale it up to an audience need that theyand other media outletshave yet to address? He also made sure to note that sometimes, tried and true systems are the best, pointing to email newsletters as an "elegant" and successful method of digital distribution.

The morning's first panel, moderated by Fast Company's business and technology staff writer J.J. McCorvey, saw business leaders from across the tech sector discuss what publishers need to learn to shake up old formulas to achieve new results. Amory Wooden, director of brand marketing at Squarespace, stressed the importance of branding one's online presence, which starts, she said, with getting one's own domain. Joanna Lord, chief marketing officer for fitness startup ClassPass, stressed the importance of stretching beyond the core competency of a business.

Hillary Kerr, cofounder and chief ideation officer of Clique Media Groupa fleet of digital fashion websitesinsisted that publishers needed, above all, to listen to their audiences and to calculate decisions based on a mix of community suggestions and hard knowledge. Part of creating a development strategy is a gut instinct, Kerr said, but added that "you have to listen to the audience, you also have to make informed, calculated risks. Everything we do, we test and we test and we test.

Dropbox's George Baier IV, a book industry veteran now head of media solutions at the file hosting service, also relies heavily on outside opinion. Every conversation we have [with customers or partners] starts this way: 'I like this aspect of Dropbox and I wish it did X. he said. But equally important, at least for Dropbox, is the importance of communication through every step of any business process, something he said publishers could learn from tech companies. "Everyone [at Dropbox] can see everyone elses calendar in the entire companywhich is an incredible amount of trust, he said. Every docket we publish internally is public to everyone in the company. He contrasted that to publishing, where, he said, most people working on the lifecycle of one book don't even know each other. "That means inefficient communication," he said, "and thats a big drawback."

But the bottom line, for everyone in the panel, was the importance of calculated risk-taking. You have to actually encourage everyone at the company to suggest something risky and make it a non-issue," Lord said, adding that if people think theyll get in trouble for saying a silly idea, publishers will inevitably miss on ways to develop new business ideasmeaning someone will inevitably beat them to it. "So," she added, "its important to have that open kind of environment."

More coverage of the full-day conference will be in Monday's print edition of PW as well as online.
Blythe, CA (92225)

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Windy and partly cloudy this evening. Mostly cloudy with diminishing winds after midnight. Low 61F. Winds SSW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Tonight

Windy and partly cloudy this evening. Mostly cloudy with diminishing winds after midnight. Low 61F. Winds SSW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
The Milwaukee agency that received a $7 million state contract to attract tourism and market Montana is opening an office in Helena.

Hoffman York is opening a Helena location to improve work on its contract with the Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development and add additional clients in the western part of the United States. Hoffman York is an advertising and marketing communications agency with services in digital strategy and development, social media, media planning and buying and analytics.

The firm was criticized by some Montana agencies after it acquired the contract with the Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development in August 2016. After awarding the contract to the Milwaukee company, the state office cut ties with Mercury CSC of Bozeman after a decade.

Of the 11 agencies considered in the bidding process, two were based in Montana. When the contract was awarded, several Montana agencies voiced concerns that an out-of-state firm wouldnt understand the Montana brand.

Sharon Boeldt, a spokesperson for the firm, said the decision to add a location in Helena had nothing to do with an inability to understand Montana.

Now, on May 1, Hoffman York will open a physical office in Helena with one full-time employee relocated from Milwaukee. Boeldt said theyll staff accordingly once they have additional clients. She was unsure how many people would be relocated from Milwaukee or hired locally.

Boeldt said the full-time employee in Helena is part of the account management team. The Office of Tourism and Business Development is her sole client and she oversees all the services Hoffman York provides.

She has a hand in everything, she said.

While there are numerous people who work on the contract with the office of tourism, many of them will remain in Milwaukee since they are responsible for multiple accounts.

Since working with our newest client, Montana Tourism and Business Development last year, we determined that an office in Helena would not only provide greater support for Montana Tourism it would also serve as a great base of operation to grow our footprint in the West, Troy Peterson, CEO at Hoffman York, said in a statement.

While Hoffman York has opened firms across the country, its headquarters is the only functioning location until the Helena office opens. The firm will look to take on additional clients in Montana and the western part of the United States, Bloedt said. The firm will keep its partnership with Shortgrass, a web development firm out of Great Falls.
PEORIA  Caterpillar Inc. has announced it is moving its corporate headquarters from Peoria to the Chicago suburb of Deerfield.

In making the announcement Wednesday, Caterpillar CEO Jim Umpleby noted the Deerfield headquarters will be minutes from O'Hare International Airport and a convenient rail ride to Chicago.

"This site gives our employees many options to live in either an urban or suburban environment," he said. "We know we have to compete for the best talent to grow our company, and this location will appeal to our diverse, global team, today and in the future."

According to the announcement, the heavy equipment maker has reached a leasing agreement at a Deerfield office park and expects to move 100 employees there this year. About 300 people will be working at the new headquarters by mid-2018.

"As we've previously indicated, the vast majority of our employees currently in the Peoria area will not be relocating to our new headquarters," said Mr. Umpleby. "With our strong presence of over 12,000 employees in central Illinois, we'll continue our philanthropic support and civic involvement."

The company previously announced plans to build a new headquarters complex in Peoria. It cited a "challenging market conditions " in canceling the plan.

The move to Deerfield comes as the company faces a weak equipment market that has been cutting into its bottom line. It has been cutting jobs and facilities over the last several years.
We've said this before when the issue has been raised in Illinois: when it comes to the Constitution, be careful what you ask for.

We've had several Presidential elections now where the Electoral College -- and thus the wisdom of our Founding Fathers -- has come under fire. It's easy to see both sides of the argument, but throughout history the intricate thought process behind the U.S. Constitution has stood the test of time.

But in late March, Arizona asked Congress to call the first constitutional convention since 1786. Proponents say they now have 30 states in favor of holding a Con Con -- four short of the number needed. Article V of the Constitution allows two-thirds of the states to direct Congress to call a constitutional convention. Proponents are trying to add 16 state resolutions from a failed convention effort decades ago to 14 resolutions passed over the last few years. They remain in affect until they are rescinded, according to a Washington Post editorial.

Driving the train at this point is the push for a Balance Budget Amendment, which the Iowa legislature has voted to support. Thankfully, no action is anticipated in Illinois. With the nation so polarized, it's hard to believe anyone would consider this a good time for a Con Con exercise. Once convened, no one has control over what might come out of Con Con.

If you're one of those upset by the Electoral College, consider that at Con Con, proponents say each state would have one vote. As David A. Super, a professor of law at Georgetown University, pointed out in a piece written for the Los Angeles Times, that means tiny Idaho would have as much say as California. "Twenty-six states  enough for a majority at a convention  contain just 18 percent of the U.S. population. A revamped Constitution that small states imposed on large ones would be a festering source of discord," he said.

"In fact, nearly everything about this powerful process would be uncertain," the Post said in its editorial. "Convention rules, which would be written ad hoc, could be manipulated to favor one party, region or interest group over another. Minority protections, so central to the Constitutions guarantees, could be trampled upon. Sparsely populated states could impose their will on the majority of Americans who live in densely populated ones."

On April 4, the Maryland House of Delegates voted to rescind its call for a Con Con, as did Nevada's Senate. The count still is dangerously close. Hopefully more will follow suit.

In this day and age, delegates would be buried in special interest pressure and money which would surely produce a document no one in American really wants. Most of us can think of one issue we might like to see addressed, but are you willing to accept opening the discussion to everyone else's issues in hope Con Con may address yours?

There is no way of predicting what kind of changes (and deals) might emerge. The best action is not to open that Pandora's Box.
Elizabeth Buzard, of Geneseo, first got hooked on theater in fourth grade. Now, on the verge of getting married this June, she plays an ingenue in her sixth Richmond Hill Players Production, "Out of Sight, Out of Murder," opening tonight.

"I kind of like the whole escapism side of it. You get to be another character for a while," Ms. Buzard (who played Sacagawea in a fourth-grade musical about Lewis and Clark), said recently. "You get to pretend to be someone else you wouldn't be in real life."

In the Fred Carmichael comedy, author Peter Knight is writing a murder story in an old mansion where another author was murdered years before, according to an RHP synopsis. "A weird electrical storm affects a cosmic snafu, bringing his fictional characters to life -- including a lovely ingenue, the trusty butler, a feisty Miss Marple-type, a dauntless hero, a fascinating 'other woman,' the hapless serving girl, and the wily lawyer, all waiting for midnight to read a will," it says.

Peter loses control of his characters and learns a murder is in the works ... and he's the intended victim. Ms. Buzard plays Kay, who's caught in a love triangle with the author, she said.

"She's the typical sort of sweet, innocent optimistic character," she said. "I like her optimism; I find myself to be pessimistic. I find her to be hopeful."

The play is "different than any murder mystery I've done before, characters realizing they're playing their characters," Ms. Buzard said. "It's kind of weird -- she knows she's supposed to be this character. She has to make her own decision, how she fits in the real world."

Peter is "bewildered by the fact his characters are coming to life," she said. "There end up being three murders. No one knows who's going to get murdered."

A Millikin University graduate, Ms. Buzard acted in several plays in high school, including her first RHP production, "Any Famous Last Words."

Her favorite roles have been Iras in "Antony and Cleopatra" (Prenzie Players, 2014) and Cecily in "The Importance of Being Earnest" (Richmond Hill, 2011). Her last RHP role was in "Murder on the Rerun" (also by Mr. Carmichael) in October 2015.

Ms. Buzard said she enjoys the "in the round" environment of Geneseo's Barn Theater, where seats are all on four sides of the performing space.

"I hadn't even known that was thing," before she did it, she said. "Since then, it's pretty much all I have been doing. I like that it's a little more intimate. You don't have to be quite so over the top."

The new show, presented through April 30, is directed by John Donald OShea, Moline. Ms. Buzard performed with him in RHP's 2013 production of "Curse of an Aching Heart."

Mr. O'Shea -- a veteran actor, director and playwright -- played the stoic butler in a 2006 Playcrafters production of "Out of Sight, Out of Murder." The author's story is set in the 1920s, Ms. Buzard said.

"I think it's a fun script to work with, a lot of funny things happen," she said. "Peter, the main character, is from the '70s, and there are 1920s characters, so it's a little bit of playing with time in there as well."

The cast features Nicholas Waldbusser, James Amble, Stacy Herrick, Joe LoGiudice, Barbara Nurmi, Jackie Skiles, Archie Williams and Faith Douglas.

Ms. Buzard works for Moline-based Child Care Resource and Referral of Midwestern Illinois, which helps low-income families pay for child care. She said her fiance, David Shaffer, doesn't do theater. In her free time, she likes reading, writing novels, watching Netflix and taking care of her bearded dragon, Norbert.
Fun, funny and frightening -- these are just a few of the words British playwright Brendan Murray uses to describe his childrens play The Big Magic.

It makes its U.S. premiere at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 21, at Carroll College in the FLEX Theatre in the lower level of the Student Center.

Shows run at 7:30 p.m. April 22, 28, 29, and at 2:30 p.m. on April 23 and 30.

But The Big Magic is a lot more than Carrolls 21st annual childrens play and a world premiere.

The production features an innovative digital, interactive set that is vibrant, ever-changing and uses animation.

Kim Shire, assistant professor of theater, and interactive set designer Stephen Alan Seder say this production is likely the first in the Northwest to use an interactive, digital set design with animation.

Its so dynamic, one could say its a character in its own right.

The animation on the set -- the sun sets, stars glow and move across the night sky, birds take flight, snow falls, sea creatures swim by, trees crash to the ground -- is all perfectly synced to the actions of the main character, Bombo (Annabelle Jensen), and the story.

The play features a character struggling with fear, said Shire.

Written for children in 2002, the play may surprise adult audiences who just might see a few modern political issues in Bombos tale, although thats not why Carroll picked it.

Shire was excited to find a play that would take advantage of our really fine quality projector.

Carroll student Nicole Schumacher painted the art that is projected and computer animated to create Bombos interactive world.

The paintings, done in vibrant watercolors, take their inspiration from the vivid paintings of Russian expressionist Marc Chagall.

When its all turned on, it dances, said Shire of the animated set.

Why do we allow fear to rob us of our generosity? is the key question at the center of the play, she said.

And its a question shes wrestled with herself, adding that many in the audience likely have, too.

Its an all-audience piece, said guest director Amber Barnes, a 2004 Carroll theater major.

While kids will love the animated set, anyone age 9 or older will get the message.

The play opens with Bombo building a fence, because shes learned from a newspaper story that big trouble is coming.

She cuts down all the trees to keep the trees and animals safe, added Barnes.

And then a tinker stops by and mimes she is hungry and asks for an apple. Bombo refuses.

Then the tinker asks for gloves because shes cold. And she wants to come inside the fence.

Each time, Bombo refuses.

If I give it to her, I wont have it, says Bombo.

And thats when the world stops turning.

And thus begins Bombos journey to figure out how to fix it.

Carroll students like what they see in the play.

I think this play is super cool, said Bailey Osborne, who plays Moon. This is something weve never done before. I love how technologically heavy it is. ... Ive never been in a play like this before. Ive never worked with all these projections. Its almost a different style of acting.

I think it has a really great message about fear, and what fear makes us do, Osborne said. ... Its funny, too.

Jordan Bowman, another Carroll student, is the assistant technology director.

Hes been kept on his toes, on ladders and on the computer.

Were using three separate projectors, six speakers, two subwoofers and 25 lighting fixtures and getting them to all work seamlessly, he said.

The entire show runs on the computer.

Everything has to happen at exactly the right time, or theres no 'Big Magic.'

But Seder and Bowman are confident there will be plenty of magic at the show.

Seder put in five sleepless nights making all the meticulous adjustments to get everything to synchronize.

It was a labor of love, he said, adding that he would gladly do it again.

This is pretty much uncharted territory in this region of the country, Seder said, although this type of digital design is popular on Broadway.

Its definitely a new frontier.

And the way the show was created, he said, actually ties back to the plays message.

The project forced him to open up, Seder said, much like Bombo.

The show is about having "to share and give to each other in order to survive.

Shire recommends children age 5 and older will enjoy it, although younger children are also welcome.

Tickets are available at the door or online at the Carroll Theatre Online Ticket Storefront. Tickets are $12 for general admission, $9 for students and seniors, $5 for children under 13, and $2 with a current Carroll College ID.

The theater is fully ADA accessible through the east entrance of the Campus Center.

Parking is free in the Campus Center lot off of Lyndale for all performances.
A Pekin man in the custody of Woodford County authorities appeared in Henry County Circuit Court on Wednesday on sex-related offenses.

In January, Randall L. Wilcoxen, 62, was charged with Class 3 felony traveling to meet a minor and Class 4 felony solicitation to meet a child. According to the charges, Mr. Wilcoxen allegedly traveled within Illinois to engage in criminal sexual abuse and used an electronic device with the intent to meet someone he thought was a 16-year-old girl.

In fact, the person was Kewanee Police Detective Michael Minx.

Elisa Nelson, Mr. Wilcoxen's attorney, on Wednesday discussed correlating defense work between Henry and Woodford counties, with a June 22 pretrial hearing set.

In Woodford County, Mr. Wilcoxen's charges include three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Mr. Wilcoxen has posted $10,000 bond in Henry County but is being held on $2 million bond in Woodford County. Ms. Nelson said the alleged Woodford incidents happened first.
COAL VALLEY  Presiding over his final board meeting as mayor, Emil Maslanka updated trustees on Wednesday regarding unpaid invoices to Missman Inc. in the amount of $118,800.

Trustees held off paying the outstanding debt to the engineering firm during the April 5 meeting, alleging Missman billed the village for work not approved by the board for a proposed water infrastructure project.

The $4.3 million water project has been stalled for months, pending further discussion.

Mayor Maslanka, village administrator Annette Ernst and Trustee Michael Bartels met with Missman CEO Patrick Eickenberry and vice president of business development Greg Ryckaert.

"We had a very good discussion. I think Missman is very willing to work with the village," Mayor Maslanka said. "As a result, we came up with some alternatives. One alternative is not to pay Missman anything. The second option is that Missman wants us to pay actual costs without overhead or profit."

Mayor Maslanka said the costs would cover Dec.16 to Jan. 19  the period in which Missman was asked to stop working.

Another choice, he said, would be for Missman to hold its invoices and, if the water project moves forward, bill at that time.

The final option would be for the village to pay the actual cost of $7,256.55.

"If the board chooses to wipe the slate clean, that's the extent of liability for the village," Mayor Maslanka said. "I'm not sure that's the best approach. We're still in the process of working with Missman to determine what projects they were working on from Dec. 16 to Jan. 19."

"If I were to make a decision tonight, it would be to pay the $7,256.55," Mr. Bartels said.

Trustee Dick Stone reminded the board the item was not on the agenda and, therefore, no decision could be made.

Mr. Stone asked if Missman was aware there may not be any upcoming projects with the village, to which Mayor Maslanka confirmed they are.

In other news, Trustee Dale Keppy thanked outgoing trustees Kathy Cornish, Dick Stone and Mr. Bartels and Mayor Maslanka for their hard work and dedication to the village the past few years.

Mr. Bartels will leave his seat as trustee to serve as mayor.

"Kathy, I'd like to thank you for your service as a trustee. You are going to be known as 'hug it out.' I enjoyed working with you," Mr. Keppy said, as the room broke out in laughter. "Dick, you're going to be known as 'I can buy a computer cheaper than you can.'

"Emil, I'd like to thank you for your tireless service, especially the times we were between administrators," Mr. Keppy continued, as trustees nodded their heads in agreement. "You put in countless hours. Your heart was always in the right place for the village. Thank you for your service."

Ms. Cornish thanked Mr. Keppy for his kind words.

"Being a trustee was not what I envisioned," she said. "It is about 10 times harder. It has been an honor, a joy, and a lot of hard work serving my community. I do love Coal Valley. Thank you for trusting me to serve."

Also on Wednesday, trustees went into a lengthy closed session to discuss a personnel matter.

Returning from closed session, trustees voted to end Ms. Ernst's one-year probationary period, commending her for a job well done as village administrator.

In other motions, trustees voted to give Ms. Ernst a 2 percent raise on her current salary of $73,000, and a performance bonus of $2,000.

"We would like to extend your employment here after an amazing first year," Ms. Cornish said. "We'd like to congratulate you on a job well done."
I was pleased to read recently in the DispatchArgus that the Illinois Department of Transportation has updated its Getting Around Illinois website. I had no idea that any branches of the state government were still in operation.

The site provides information about travel conditions for "any trip, any time of year," according to Illinois Transportation Secretary Randy Blankenhorn. (I have chased two transportation secretaries out of office with my relentless complaints about the unwanted and unneeded traffic light in downtown Aledo. I give this new guy a year, tops.)

But that light is not in my neighborhood. And you don't need a website to know about travel conditions on my street. They don't change, so if you're planning a trip through southeast Aledo, all traffic impediments in Frank's Neighborhood are listed right here:

-- Repair Crews: Like war in the Mideast and incompetence in Springfield, the presence of repair crews in Frank's Neighborhood is a permanent condition. No one knows what they're repairing, but it involves power lines. Workers will ride cherry-pickers to great heights, do something to the lines and, after a few hours, come down, move a few feet in some random direction and repeat the process. The next day they do the same thing in the same place. It is intriguing to watch something that completely baffles the mind and stuns the intellect. If you've ever watched one of Sean Spicer's press conferences, you are familiar with this.

-- Lane closures: Half of the street in Frank's Neighborhood is always inaccessible, as the aforementioned repair crews require five or six vehicles that fill the roadway. However, you can always find a parallel street. In the Midwest, whatever street you're on is parallel to half the streets in the Midwest. Drive around the corner and you're now parallel to the other half.

Warning: The road takes one actual curve in Frank's Neighborhood. Beware of the gawkers who stop their cars to take photographs of this phenomenon. Also, note that this curve is on a hill. Of course, the hill is about as steep as the surface of your dining room table before you stick a matchbox under one of the legs to stop the wobbling, but in the Midwest, it's the unexpected that'll get you.

-- Traffic hazards: Traveler, beware: Frank's Neighborhood is located near the high school. Particularly in the afternoon, the street echoes with the roar of cars and trucks operated by teen-aged drivers who are simultaneously setting acceleration records and talking on cell phones with friends they haven't seen in, oh, thirty seconds.

--Traffic congestion: The prevalence of young drivers in Frank's Neighborhood causes a unique form of traffic congestion. Before and after school, the entire street is full of bumper-to-bumper traffic, but it's all moving at 60 miles per hour.

Traffic is a bit slower on one certain day in May. The origins of Drive Your Tractor to School Day are lost in the fog of time, but the danger is clear and present. Adult drivers in Frank's Neighborhood have been known to abandon their cars and seek refuge in nearby basements rather than brave the streets during the motorized assault of 200 fifteen-ton John Deere tractors driven by teenagers with cell phones.

-- Weather conditions: Unlike some communities that plow their streets while snow is still falling, Aledo waits until the snow has stopped. Unfortunately, this doesn't occur until late March.

I hope this guide explains why caution must be exercised while traveling through Frank's Neighborhood. It certainly explains why I get so few visitors.
Id like to address the elephant in the room. That elephant being the Republican Party and their refusal to represent the majority of their constituents. Lets begin with stricter gun control (something that would help lessen the fears parents have when sending their children off to school), 53% of Americans favor this (Pew Research) yet the elephant in the room refuses to consider any such thing. Over 70% of Americans want stricter background checks yet again; the elephant in the room refuses to represent them. 61% of Americans say abortion should be legal. Again, the elephant in the room pushes laws that do the opposite. 74% of Americans do not want social security reduced in any way. But the elephant in the room pushes to do just the opposite, cut social security. 63% of Americans now prefer Medicare for all, but the elephant in the room fights it with all its might. 67% of Americans feel more needs to be done to reduce climate change, but not the elephant in the room. The elephant sides with the fossil fuel industry claiming its not a big concern. Given these few statistics (there are more like them) its obvious that the Republican Party is the party of minority rule, quite the opposite of what our founding fathers envisioned. The Republican Party has become a power cult, not a party that represents the majority of Americans. Remember this while you mark your ballot in this midterm election. Save Democracy! Vote Democratic!
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!
The Alliance of New Rail Operators (Allrail) has been founded by the European Rail Freight Association (Erfa), which represents 30 rail freight operators, and non-incumbent players in the passenger market, including Leo Express, MTR Express, Westbahn, NTV, Regiojet, and Trainline.

Westbahn CEO Mr Erich Forster has been elected Allrail CEO, while Lord Tony Berkeley has been appointed vice-president. Leo Express CEO Mr Peter Koehler, head of European affairs for Trainline Mr Nick Brooks, and Mr Francois Coart, Erfa board director, have been elected as Allrail board directors.

Allrail says key topics for the new organisation include full opening of rail markets in all EU member states, non-discriminatory access and financing of rolling stock, competitive track access charges, and an open-data approach.

The alliances membership is expected to grow further over the next few months.
Canadian Pacific and the United Steelworkers Local 1976 announced that the union had ratified a five-year labor agreement covering approximately 600 administrative support and intermodal employees in Canada.

The agreement calls for wage increases of 2% each year over the length of the contract, as well as provisions for additional increases of 0.5-1% in the fourth and fifth years depending on gains in Revenue Ton Miles (RTMs).

The new agreement takes effect Jan. 1, 2018.

This five-year agreement  negotiated and ratified early  is a credit to the union leadership and its productive work at the bargaining table on behalf of its membership, said Keith Creel, CPs President and Chief Executive of CP in a statement. CPs support staff personnel and intermodal employees are integral to our companys best-in-class service and our future success. This innovative agreement is an example of the positive results that can be achieved when people work together in good faith.

The railroad said it has successfully negotiated long-term contracts with six of its seven Canadian unions, which include increased benefits and annual wage increases. CP has reached out to its unions that have agreements expiring at the end of 2017 to negotiate and implement new agreements prior to the presents ones ending.
The Fate of the Furious

At the Cinemark

(PG-13)

Grade: B-

Once upon a few decades ago, John, a good Seattle friend of mine, once told me not to waste too much moral venom on bad movies.

Bad movies ruin more evenings than lives, he said. No use wishing they are what they arent.

I seldom heeded his advice, choosing instead to discharge my AK-47 pen on the Cinetrash that hit the theaters with annoying regularity.

But I thought of John this weekend as I found myself smiling during The Fate of the Furious.

This demolition derby of a movie qualifies as a guilty pleasure -- a movie without much redeeming value that entertained me anyway.

Its not the destruction of cars thats appealing, but rather the sense of family that emerges in this buddy movie about a flock of friends battling a blonde villain (Charlize Theron).

Aside from the Rock, who always annoys me, I like most of the cast which includes Vin Diesel, Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Michelle Rodriguez and even Helen Mirren -- yes, Queen Elizabeth II begged to be in this film, and was granted her royal wish.

Theron plays a deliciously malicious villainess who finally meets her match in Dom (Van Diesel). The story hardly matters but, for the record, involves betrayal and lots of car crashes.

This eighth installment in the Furious franchise blends the James Bond formula with a touch of Mission Impossible. The story requires Dom to betray his friends, but no semi-sane viewer will buy that ruse.

One of the crew is missing, of course. Paul Walker died in 2013 after filming Furious 7, turning that film into a memorial service. His fans will miss him, but the chemistry between the members still feels genuine.

I suspect the after-hours barbecues after a days shooting were good fun. Im sure Helen held her own.

The portrayal of their friendship plays out much like Friends. They tease each other, provoke each other, laugh at each other. But when a submarine chases them across a frozen lake, theyve got each others backs.

The cast includes an infant who is carried around in his baby basket during a wild shootout. Statham has to set the kid down now and again -- before discreetly blowing someone away. He then gives the child a warm, not-to-worry smile.

The silliness of a baby warrior fits in nicely with the preposterously intricate car chases that often end in memorable pile ups. My hat goes off to the stunt crew -- the choreography of those chase scenes is memorable, despite the pointlessness of the mayhem.

Perhaps Furious just caught me on a night when my brain wanted rest. Or perhaps the dizzy array of crashed cars reminded me of post-modern art.

Or perhaps I just decided if Helens not complaining, why should I.
Chicagos Metra and its railroad partners announced plans to begin $216 million worth of infrastructure investments in 2017.

The agency said construction is expected to begin this week.

Were extremely pleased that three very significant improvement projects are moving forward this year, said Metra Executive Director and Chief Executive Don Orseno, in a release. We plan to take full advantage of the construction season by making improvements where we can with our limited funding. Our goal is to be as efficient as possible with the resources we have and limit the impact of construction activity on our customers.

Improvements are planned for 29 of Metras 241 stations this year, including five stations along the BNSF Line to Aurora, Ill.

Along the Metra Electric Line, the McCormick Place Station will receive upgrades to the platform, waiting areas, signage and lighting. A $5.5-million project that started in 2016 to replace platforms, the elevator, stairs and other facilities at the Calumet Station will continue, and a $4.8-million project to replace the street-level depot, stairways and the north platform at the Hazel Crest Station will get underway.

Metra will also finish rehabilitation and repair work started in 2016 at the Kensington/115th Street, West Pullman and Millennium stations. Rehabilitation work will start this year at the 27th Street, 147th Street, Riverdale, Harvey and University Park stations. Projects may include repair or replacement of station elements such as platform deck boards, warming houses, staircases and lighting.

Metra and its railroad partners plan to replace approximately 57,000 railroad ties this year. BNSF will replace about 8,000 ties on one of its main tracks between Lisle and Aurora. In addition, BNSF will replace switches and switch heaters in Cicero and Naperville. New rail will be installed on curves located just east of Chicago Union Station. Metra will replace thousands of ties on the Milwaukee West Line and Metra Electric Line, along with track repairs in Metra-controlled rail yards throughout the system.

On the Union Pacific Northwest Line, UP will replace six crossovers at the Deval interlocking between the Des Plaines and Cumberland stations over a three-day period beginning April 27.

On the UP West Line, about eight miles of third track will be added along the only two remaining double-track segments. The third track will be constructed through two separate projects that together will cost more than $100 million beginning in 2017 and continuing through 2019. Union Pacific will also replace up to 8,000 ties across its three lines as part of its general maintenance program.

Improvements are planned for 21 bridges across the Metra system and include projects on the BNSF, Milwaukee West, Rock Island, UP North and UP Northwest lines.

Construction is planned to begin in the fall along the Milwaukee West Line on a $34-million project to replace a 130-year-old single-track bridge over the Fox River in Elgin with a double-track bridge. Canadian Pacific is contributing some of the funding.

Along the Rock Island Line, Metra will rehabilitate three existing bridges and remove and replace the 57th Street bridge with a new concrete access road bridge.

On the UP North Line, Metra will begin a 30-month phase of a project to replace 11 bridges on the North Side.

Metra and its railroad partners plan to make improvements to 29 road crossings system-wide in 2017, on BNSF and Metra routes.

Ahead of the federally-mandated implementation of Positive Train Control, Metra said it is upgrading signal and communications systems on each of the lines it controls for compatibility with PTC. Similar work is also being performed across the lines controlled and operated by its freight partners.

For more information on rail and related transportation projects, visit IRJ Pro.
'Era of Megafires' community presentation

Enjoy this multimedia presentation at the Lincoln Community Hall at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 26. This presentation is designed to educate and inform audiences across the West so they may better discuss how to find solutions to the risks that wildfires pose to their communities.

Megafires are wildfires that burn more than 100,000 acres and may be destructive to human communities, wildlife habitat, and natural resources. To convey the conditions that lead to megafires and how they might be managed or mitigated, Dr. Paul Hessburg, a research landscape ecologist with Pacific Northwest Research Station, partnered with North 40 Productions and the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center to produce this presentation.

Throughout the presentation, tools are identified for homeowners and land managers, which if applied strategically, can reduce the future severity and impacts of wildfires.

For more information, visit www.north40productions.com/wildfire.

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Outdoors Woman horse-packing workshop

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program is sponsoring a horse-packing workshop May 6 near Whitefish.

Participants will learn about the variety of packing equipment available; defensive horse handling; how to pack a decker, sawbuck and riding saddles; and leave-no-trace camping.

This class is for beginners who want to learn the basic skills needed to pack with their own stock. The workshop will be held in an indoor arena and lunch will be provided. The $35 fee includes lunch and the use of all equipment and packing stock; participants dont need to bring their horse or mule.

To register, or for more information, contact FWP's BOW coordinator at: FWP-BOW, P.O. Box 200701, Helena, MT, 59620; call 406-444-9940; or email Liz Lodman at: llodman@mt.gov. Or call instructor Andy Breland, 406-752-4437. Registration forms are available at the Region 1 FWP office, or on the FWP website at fwp.mt.gov; click "Becoming and Outdoors Woman" under the Education tab.

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Students sought for Glacier Youth Corps

Montana students, ages 15-17, are encouraged to apply for the Glacier Youth Corps program working in Glacier National Park this summer. The program provides a hands-on conservation opportunity with duties such as fencing, trail maintenance, habitat restoration and revegetation, while living and learning in the park.

The program consists of two, four-week sessions, June 12 to July 7, and July 17 to Aug. 11. Youth are encouraged to apply for one four-week session. Participants will spend the second weekend at their home, but will camp for the remainder of each session.

This experience may help students build an impressive resume for college or a career, and demonstrate commitment to volunteerism in the local community. Participants will earn a $200 service award from Montana Conservation Corps for each four-week session.

Applications will be accepted until the positions are filled. Visit the Montana Conservation Corps website at http://mtcorps.org/ to apply to be an Expedition Member of the Glacier Youth Corps.

For more information, contact Carolan Coughlin at Carolan@mtcorps.org or 406-755-8089. Indicate that you are interested in working specifically on the Glacier Youth Corps in Glacier National Park.

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New firewood permits available

New Forest Service firewood permits are now available for purchase. The annual permit allows firewood cutting April 1, 2017 through March 31, 2018.

The cost of a firewood permit from the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest is $20 for a minimum purchase of four cords. Additional cords may be purchased for $5 per cord up to a total of 12 cords per individual per year.

A cord is the amount of tightly piled wood in a stack four feet high by four feet wide by eight feet long.

For more information, check the firewood permit and the Forest Services firewood handout available from agency offices and at www.fs.usda.gov/bdnf. Beaverhead-Deerlodge NF offices are located in Wisdom, Philipsburg, Butte, Dillon, Ennis, Sheridan, and Wise River. Permits may also be purchased from Bureau of Land Management offices in Butte and Dillon. Forest Service and BLM offices are open weekdays, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The following businesses also have permits available to sell: Anaconda: Hardware Hank; Boulder: Hardware Hank; Ennis: True Value Hardware; Sheridan: McLeod Mercantile; Butte: Bob Ward and Butte Ace Hardware; Harrison: Wheat and Thistle General Store: Lima: Ralphs Exxon; Deer Lodge: I-90 Auto Truck Plaza; Drummond: Fics Conoco; and Whitehall: Ace Hardware.

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Comment sought on Bannack project

Montana State Parks is seeking public comment on a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for proposed Electrical Service Installation at the Yankee Flats Group Use Shelter at Bannack State Park near Dillon. Public comments are accepted through Saturday, May 6, at 5 p.m.

The group use shelter was constructed in 2011 for picnics, dances, wedding receptions, interpretive programs, and other public gatherings. The area is unlit and can present safety hazards for public utilizing the shelter after dark. Extending the electrical service would provide electricity to groups that rent the shelter and allow for the installation of exterior security lighting to improve public safety and reduce vandalism.

To view a full copy of the environmental assessment visit stateparks.mt.gov and click Public Notices or by direct link: http://stateparks.mt.gov/news/publicNotices/environmental-assessments/pn_0069.html.

Submit written comments to Bannack State Park Yankee Flats Electrical Project, FWP Region 3 Headquaters, 1400 19th Ave SO, Bozeman, MT 59718, or email to mmarcinek@mt.gov.

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Comment sought on mine-expansion plan

The public is invited to give feedback on a Plan of Operations for underground mining north of Golden Sunlight Mines existing open pit on lands administered by the Bureau of Land Managements Butte Field Office.

Golden Sunlight Mine proposes to develop and mine an area approximately 3,700 feet north of the existing pit near Whitehall using underground mining techniques. The proposal, which could extend the mine life for at least three years, will extract about 1.3 million tons of ore and 0.3 million tons of non-ore rock.

The Plan of Operations is posted on the Montana Department of Environmental Qualitys website at deq.mt.gov/Land/hardrock under Golden Sunlight Amendment 016.

Although comments will be accepted at any time throughout the process, those submitted by May 15 will be most helpful in the development of the Environmental Analysis. To be considered, all comments must contain the name and address of the submitter. Comments should be sent to: BLM Butte Field Office, 106 North Parkmont, Butte, MT 59701 or by e-mail to Dave Williams or Joan Gabelman at drwillia@blm.gov or jgabelma@blm.gov.

For more information, call the Butte BLM Field Office at 406- 533-7600.
When the French presidential elections begin on April 23, the world will be watching closely.

Polls are tightening up, but Marine Le Pen, of the far-right National Front (FN) Party, seems likely to get through to the second, runoff ballot on May 10. Will the xenophobic populism that brought Brexit to the U.K. and Donald Trump to the White House claim the Elysee Palace, too?

Le Pens expected advance has been one of the few constants in a campaign marked by surprising, dispiriting twists. To a historian of French colonialism like me, one of the most revealing is the renewed debate over the memory and teaching of the colonial past. The candidates positions on this issue can be seen as a revealing barometer of French attitudes toward immigration, race and multiculturalism today.

Sixty million subjects

At its height in the 1930s, the French empire encompassed some 60 million colonial subjects, from the Caribbean to Southeast Asia. But after decolonization in the 1950s and 1960s, the French relegated imperial racism, slavery and colonialism to the historical back burner. The eruption of the history wars finally broke this public silence in the mid-1990s.

There were two main triggers for the decade-long fight about how to remember Frances colonial history.

The first was the 150th anniversary of the French abolition of colonial slavery in 1998. Angered by the self-congratulatory celebration of French abolitionists, black and Afro-Caribbean activists demanded greater attention to enslaved Africans suffering.

Their efforts culminated in a 2001 law sponsored by Guyanese deputy Christiane Taubira. The Taubira Law recognizes the slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity.

The second came in 2000, with revelations about the French armys systematic use of torture during the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962). Memoirs published by an Algerian nationalist and a French military officer and studies by two young French historians unleashed harsh condemnation of abuses committed in Algeria, the jewel of the French empire.

A notorious law

The supposed injustice of such criticisms of French empire is a favored theme of the National Front and its founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marine Le Pens father and a veteran of the Algerian War. Nostalgia for the colonies jibes neatly with the FNs nationalistic, anti-immigrant, Islamophobic ideology. Strategically, positive accounts of the colonial past appeal to former settlers from French North Africa, known as pieds-noirs, and to nationalist defenders of the French military.

This made colonial revisionism tempting to mainstream conservatives, too, as FN began to gain electoral ground beginning in the mid-1980s. Jean-Marie Le Pens shocking advance to the second round of the 2002 presidential elections spurred new conservative efforts to win back FN voters, especially the pieds-noirs.

Prime among them was the infamous law of Feb. 23, 2005, whose Article 4 specified that French school programs should recognize the positive role of the French presence overseas, especially in North Africa.

Historians responded with loud, public outrage. They objected to the imposition of an official history, the sidelining of slavery, racism and colonial violence, and the apparent endorsement of nationalist ethnocentrism. The ensuing outcry convinced President Jacques Chirac to repeal the offending Article 4 a year later.

But since then, rising protests against inequality from immigrant and minority groups and growing fears of Islamist terrorism have fueled the revival of colonial revisionism on the French Right.

History and political positioning

Among the current presidential candidates, not only the current FN leader, Jean-Marie Le Pens daughter Marine, but also the (now scandal-ridden) conservative candidate Francois Fillon have publicly endorsed revisionist colonial histories.

Marine Le Pen has long favored rebalancing secondary school curricula. She objects to what she calls the masochism of critical histories and calls for counting empire as one of the glorious elements of the French past. Students should be taught colonizations positive aspects alongside its negatives.

Fillon, for his part, carries on the conservative attempt to peel off FN support by co-opting its rosy view of colonialism. In a speech last August, he denounced school programs that teach students to be ashamed of their countrys treatment of colonized peoples. Instead, textbooks and lesson plans should be revised to give a more favorable image of colonization as a sharing of culture.

France is not blameworthy for wanting to share its culture with the peoples of Africa, Asia and North America, Fillon declared, nor should it be held particularly responsible for the evils of slavery.

Also excised from Marine Le Pens most positive, most flattering version of national history is French collaboration with the Nazis during World War II. Too painful and complex for children, such events should be revisited only in high school, if its necessary.

Fillon agrees that primary school is no place for difficult, uncomplimentary historical topics. Calling our history into question: this is a shameful teaching! he protested in his August 2016 speech. Like Le Pen, Fillon sees a glorious national narrative (recit) as essential to national unity. Teachers should focus on figures, sites and events whose meaning lies in the progressive construction of Frances singular civilization.

This view of history education has been a staple of French nationalism since the Third Republic made primary public schooling free and compulsory in the 1880s. In the 19th century, lessons about the development of French civilization aimed to cultivate patriotism and civic virtue among future (male) voters and soldiers. Today, Le Pen and Fillon both seek to revive this colonial-era tradition and, by extension, the hierarchies of race and civilization that defined it.

Only one candidate has openly challenged this new revisionism: the current favorite to face Le Pen in the second round, centrist former Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron. Macron made waves in February by telling an Algerian television station that French colonization in North Africa was a crime against humanity.

Colonization is part of French history, he said. It is a true barbarity and a part of that past we must confront head-on, while also apologizing to the women and men against whom we committed these acts. He went on to specifically denounce any effort to glorify colonization, as Article 4 had tried to do in 2005.

These are forceful words that might have signaled a shift in official discourse on colonial history, had the speaker been willing to stand by them.

He wasnt.

When the Right and pied-noir groups accused him of indulging in unpatriotic, leftist repentance, Macron folded. Only four days later, he apologized not to the victims of colonization but to the pieds-noirs.

Equally damning, Macrons Algiers statement was a flagrant about-face from an interview he did last November with the French magazine Le Point. Then, he had earned condemnations from the left for saying that the reality of colonization included elements of civilization and elements of barbarity.

Macrons shifting position on French colonization is clearly opportunistic, making it hard to tell what he really thinks about it. But perhaps what matters most is that he saw taking a position on the colonial past as a political opportunity in the first place. In the current election, as in the history wars of 20 years ago, colonial history has once again become political.

Jennifer Sessions, Associate Professor of History, University of Iowa

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
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So Master Your Force to Build with LEGO Star Wars this May the 4th!

LEGO Australia andfans are invited to help build one of the most iconic vehicles from thesaga, the Death Star, at Westfield Warringah on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th April.Master Your Force to Build and join LEGO Master Builder, Chris Steininger, in creating the southern hemispheres biggest Death Star out of LEGO bricks to celebrate internationalDay, May the 4th Be With You, and the 40th anniversary of the first everfilm.One of only seven LEGO Master Builders in the world, Chris has flown over from the US to lead Aussie fans in the build of the infamous Death Star, the Empires ultimate weapon. The Death Star will measure an impressive 2.4m in diameter and will use 210,000 bricks and weigh 545kg, making it the biggest Death Star model ever built from LEGO bricks in the southern hemisphere!Help LEGO Master Builder Chris Steininger build the LEGO Death Star2pm, Sunday 30th AprilFinal Brick MomentLEGO Star Wars Death Star on display Westfield Warringah , Condamine St & Old Pittwater Rd, BrookvaleFREECome dressed as your favourite Star Wars character for the chance to win a LEGOgoodie bagJust like hero Luke Skywalker, visitors will be able to destroy the Death Star powered by incredible augmented reality technology, which will see the Death Star explode into hundreds of LEGO bricks right in front of your eyes!Fans will also be able to meet members of the 501st Legion, battle it out with Star Wars trivia, win prizes for best dressed, and leave with a miniature build from the event.Be a part of history as we lay the final bricks on this epic build at 2pm on Sunday 30th April. The finished LEGO Death Star will be open for public exhibition for fans who wish to have their picture taken with the model until Friday 5th May.
After the Montana House revived legislation to raise campaign contribution limits for state candidates Wednesday, four Republicans changed their vote to advance the bill Thursday.

Senate Bill 368 had previously died on a 50-50 tie vote, but Rep. Theresa Manzella, R-Darby, asked House members to reconsider.

The bill would increase how much money candidates can receive from individuals, parties and committees. It would also limit the oversight of elections by the commissioner of political practices.

The bill passed an initial vote 54-46 Thursday and must pass a final vote before it goes to Gov. Steve Bullock.

A court case to challenge contribution limits in Montana is pending in a federal appeals court.

On Thursday, Manzella said the state hasnt raised contribution limits since 1994.

We have the lowest in the United States and we are here because the Supreme Court has told us that our contribution limits are unconstitutionally low and we need to adjust them, she said.

Rep. Adam Hertz, R-Missoula, said he changed his vote from a no to a yes and said there was misinformation given during the first debate.

"A lot of issues on the other side of the aisle was more about politics," he said.

Hertz said he wants to keep contribution limits as low as possible and supported a failed amendment introduced by Rep. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, to raise them more modestly.

Democrats and some Republicans said they oppose the bill because it would put more money into elections and reduce transparency by giving the partisan attorney generals office supervision over the commissioner of political practices.

Any bill that puts more money into the process and has less transparency is a disservice to the people of Montana and the way we do business here," Rep. Zac Perry, D-Hungry Horse, said.

But Manzella said the bill fosters transparency, and makes both candidates and the commissioner of political practices accountable.

Rep. Bob Brown, R-Thompson Falls, said he liked the part of the bill giving candidates a chance to correct a mistake if they are found to be out of compliance by the commissioner of political practices. The commissioner could issue a preliminary order of noncompliance if a candidate has failed to report a statement or report required by law. Candidates would have a specified amount of time to comply or a final order would be issued and a county attorney or the commissioner could initiate legal action.

We all make mistakes, Brown said.
A federal judge has dismissed claims that Montana's commissioner of political practices retaliated against a state lawmaker who publicly disclosed a confidential ethics complaint against Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock just before the November elections.

But U.S. District Judge Brian Morris will allow Rep. Brad Tschida, R-Missoula, to pursue his allegation that the state law requiring ethics complaints be kept confidential violates his free-speech rights under the First Amendment.

Tschida's attorney, Matthew Monforton, said Wednesday he will appeal the dismissal of the retaliation allegations against Commissioner Jonathan Motl but is pleased the free-speech claim will proceed.

"We are going to begin preparing for trial on that matter," Monforton said. "One of the questions is Motl's intent with regard to suppressing Tschida's ethics complaint against Gov. Bullock until after the election. We intend to obtain evidence on that issue."

Tschida filed a complaint last year that Bullock and former Commerce Director Meg O'Leary misused a state-owned plane in 2014 when they attended a Paul McCartney concert in Missoula. State law requires that an ethics complaint remain confidential until the commissioner of political practices decides whether to accept it, but Tschida disclosed the complaint to other lawmakers in a letter in early November, about a week before Bullock was re-elected.

Motl responded by saying in a radio interview that the disclosure could result in prosecution for official misconduct. He later dismissed the ethics complaint against Bullock.

Tschida alleged Motl deliberately failed to take action on the complaint before the election, and that Motl's threat of prosecution was a malicious retaliation meant to keep him from exercising his free-speech rights. He sued on that claim and that the law requiring confidentiality over ethics complaints is unconstitutional.

Morris ruled in one of two orders Tuesday that more information is needed before he can rule on the constitutionality question. However, he dismissed the retaliation claims, saying Motl has immunity as a state official upholding a state law.

Motl never said he would be the one who would prosecute Tschida, only that Tschida could be subject to punishment under the law, Morris wrote.

"The court may question Motl's judgment in commenting about the potential consequences of his ethics complaint given the circumstances of a high profile election season and his significant position as commissioner of political practices," Morris wrote. "Officials enjoy 'breathing room,' however, to make 'reasonable but mistaken judgments.'"

Motl said he is pleased with the court's decision and that part of his job is to provide information to the public about Montana's campaign laws.

"I believe I did everything as commissioner in good faith," Motl said. "You can't just stand by if there's a challenge to Montana's campaign finance laws."
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the New Delhi Municipal Council to e-auction the five-star hotel Taj Mahal, popularly known as Taj Mansingh, currently being run by the Tata group firm Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), in the heart of the national capital.

A bench comprising Justices P C Ghose and R F Nariman allowed the NDMC plea that IHCL cannot have the right of refusal in the auctioning of the hotel.

The bench, however, asked the civic body to grant six months "breathing time" to the company in vacating the hotel in case they lose out in the e-auction.

The court also said that the "blemish-free" record of IHCL may be taken into account by NDMC while auctioning the iconic property.

The civic body had on March 3 told the apex court that it wants to e-auction the hotel.

The court had earlier asked IHCL, which challenged a Delhi high court order allowing the hotels auction, to file objections, if any, within a week.

IHCL had told the apex court that it was "not clear" why NDMC wanted to auction the prime property which gave the "best revenue" to it.

The company had submitted that an NDMC expert report suggests that the council would "lose revenue" if the hotel was auctioned to other players.

The apex court had on November 21 last year directed that status quo be maintained in the NDMC's auctioning process of Taj Mansingh Hotel.

IHCL had on November 8 last year approached the apex court against the Delhi high court's order clearing the decks for the auction.

The apex court had asked NDMC to reconsider its decision to auction the five-star hotel in the wake of the attorney general and solicitor general's opinion to not initiate any such process.

It had noted that the opinions of both top law officers against the auctioning of the hotel was not placed before the ministry of home affairs for consideration.

The bench had also taken note of the fact that there was an internal opinion of top NDMC officials against the auctioning process.

When the bench had asked additional solicitor general Sanjay Jain, who was appearing for NDMC, whether the body agreed to reconsider the decision of going ahead with the auctioning process, he had replied, "No".

To this, the bench had said, "Why are you not agreeing to reconsider the decision? It is not a matter of right. Do you not want to be fair to the party who has been paying the rent continuously for 30 years?"

A division bench of the high court had on October 27 last year dismissed IHCL's plea challenging the move by NDMC to auction the property, saying the company has "no right" for renewal of the licence period and NDMC was "within its power" to secure maximum consideration for grant of licence for the property located at the prime Mansingh Road location in LutyensDelhi.

IHCL had moved the division bench of the high court against the judgement on September 5 last year of a single judge who had not acceded to the firm's request for renewal of licence for a further period, saying it was not entitled for the extension.

The property, owned by NDMC, was given to IHCL on a lease of 33 years. The lease ended in 2011 and the company was given nine temporary extensions since then on various grounds, three of them granted last year itself.

The NDMC had earlier said it was in the process of assessing the assets of the hotel in preparation for the much-delayed auction.

Image: Hotel Taj Mahal, New Delhi. Photograph: Courtesy, Hotel Taj Mahal, New Delhi.
'I don't understand why a bank should be owned by the government.'

'You can create a bad bank and move all the bad assets there and clean-up the balance sheet.'

'There are plenty of opportunities in India'

Henry Kravis, co-founder of global private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR), thinks India should go for a bad bank to deal with bad assets in banks. In an interaction with journalists in Delhi, he says there are plenty of opportunities in India. He was joined by India CEO Sanjay Nayar. Excerpts:

You have invested $8 billion, or 6 per cent of your global assets under management (AUM) of $132 billion, in India. Since you are bullish on India, how do you see that increasing?

Kravis (left): We are very high on India. I come here once a year, sometimes thrice. We believe there are real opportunities here. We have invested $8 billion in India since 2009 - $4 billion in private equity and $4 billion through credit and real estate financing.

Why not a 'Bad Bank'?

We have developed an NBFC (non-banking financial company) business and we are setting up an asset reconstruction facility. I met some great mid-size companies recently, and was impressed with what they are doing. But they all said the same thing: I can grow faster if I get the capital.

Nayar: Private equity is a core business for us but the drift is changing. We are no longer just looking for the $70-80-million deals. Focus is on corporate finance-driven and bigger deals.

You will see many more transformational deals, M&As, consolidation. There is a shift on the NBFC side as well. It is no longer a six-man department with a quarter-billion capital; we are going to serve a much wider market now.

Many, including KKR, have talked about creating some kind of fund or structure to manage bad debts. What progress do you see on that front?

Nayar: We have been talking about it for some time. The first output has been the bankruptcy code. The large issue really is will banks be able sell the bad assets at a fair market price? I don't mean selling the asset at replacement cost or at 8 per cent discount.

There are other issues, like banks should not get hauled up. I think the government needs to figure out a way to give confidence, take the write-offs, and somehow figure out a structure. They also need to figure out a way to fill the equity gap.

Will India be served well with a bad bank?

Kravis: Yes. I come from a market perspective. I don't understand why a bank should be owned by the government. There could be historical reasons or the social need of serving certain low-income consumers, and I get that.

One of the reason I am told they don't want to take these write-downs or sell the assets is that you have to replenish them with equity capital, and the government doesn't have the capital. Which means you have to go to the private sector. That would mean your stake could go below 51 per cent. My view is, so what?

There are regulations you can put in. You can create a bad bank and move all the bad assets there and clean-up the balance sheet. You can raise equity capital and the private sector will give you money, as you can keep the bad loans away.

If you don't clean up, at least get some government guarantees. I can tell you the sooner it is done, the better it is. The longer you wait, the problems only get worse.

On US economy, President Trump and the global economy

Kravis: The US right now has a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of hope and prayers with our new President, and with that will come disappointments and opportunities. A number of companies in the US are now saying we wont go to Mexico, China and build a plant; we will do it in the States.

The big issue facing the government is will they be able to complete tax reforms. You will see some kind of reduction in corporate tax. What will make a huge difference is a middle-income tax cut.

If he can cut capital gains, you can spur investment, spur the economy, more than anything else. Infrastructure is the last piece. The President really wants to push more public-private partnerships on infrastructure. But its not the federal government that makes these decisions; all decisions are made locally.

On Europe, China, India and the global economy

Europe is performing better than we thought, but you got two wildcards coming up - elections in Germany and France. If there are no surprises, then Europe will continue to move along.

China has lot of issues, enormous debt to GDP. There is too much capacity, too much money in the system. Is it going to collapse? No. But not sure if growth will continue at the level it has.

We are very bullish on India. We are full-speed ahead as far as wanting to put additional capital. KKR now is setup in such a way that we are a solutions provider to companies where we can invest up and down the capital structure. We used to provide private equity capital.

Today, we can invest in senior bank loans, long-term senior debts, subordinated debt, high-yield, mezzanine, preferred stock and common stock and growth capital in minority positions. Thats perfect here, which is a narrow credit market with the banks being the primary lender.

When PM Modi came to the US, I told him Im surprised there was really no bankruptcy law here and then I was more surprised how fast they were able to get that through. And its a pretty good law, from what the lawyers tell me.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

Photographs: Henry Kravis (Reuters) and Sanjay Nayar (Getty Images).
Government's move to hire UK arbitrator follows poor track record of India in extraditing offenders from Britain

The government is planning to get on board a UK-based independent arbitrator to appear on behalf of Indian authorities and put up a strong case of extradition against absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya, an Enforcement Directorate (ED) official said.

India to build watertight case



CBI officials, along with a panel of senior lawyers, are said to be going to London with all evidence to build a watertight case against Mallya



The British court can refuse the extradition if it is proven to be political, or a violation of human rights. The court can also ask why it took six to seven years for Indian agencies and banks to take action against him



It would take at least 15-20 hearings for the primary court at Westminster to arrive at a conclusion and even if Mallya lost the case, he has the option of moving to higher courts in Britain itself

Failed extradition attempts in the past can be attributed to lack of paperwork and strong evidence presented in court. However, in this case, the CBI and the ED, which are probing the matter, are focusing on the minutiaeCBI officials, along with a panel of senior lawyers, are said to be going to London with all evidence to build a watertight case against MallyaThe British court can refuse the extradition if it is proven to be political, or a violation of human rights. The court can also ask why it took six to seven years for Indian agencies and banks to take action against himIt would take at least 15-20 hearings for the primary court at Westminster to arrive at a conclusion and even if Mallya lost the case, he has the option of moving to higher courts in Britain itself

The move comes in view of Indias past experiences with extradition cases and long-drawn legal processes.

Mallya was briefly arrested in London on Tuesday over accusations of fraud by Indian probe agencies and presented before the Westminster Magistrates Court for an extradition hearing. He was released on bail a few hours later.

The 61-year-old businessman had fled India last year after banks started seeking his arrest over unpaid loans tied to his defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

The person who will represent the case should be well-versed with the judicial system of the country where the matter will be heard. The court of law differs from country to country, so it is essential that the representative knows the law and legal remedies of that country, said the official cited above.

Sources said there were at least a dozen instances in the past when Indian agencies lost cases due to lack of understanding of the State laws.

Some officials said the chances of Mallya being extradited anytime soon were less than 30 per cent, considering the civil nature of charges against him. He can seek relief on the grounds that he is not one among the big loan defaulters.

Loan default cannot be a major factor to extradite any person, another official of the enforcement agency said.

Failed extradition attempts in the past can be attributed to lack of paperwork and strong evidence presented in court. However, in this case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED, which are probing the matter, are focusing on every minute detail.

CBI officials, along with a panel of senior lawyers, are said to be going to London with all evidence to build a watertight case against Mallya.

Despite this, Mallya have several legal options for appeal. According to treaties between the two countries as well as the Britains Extradition Act, there are certain clauses on which extradition request can be dismissed, said an ED lawyer.

The British court can refuse the extradition if it is proven to be political, or a violation of human rights. The court can also ask why it took six to seven years for Indian agencies and banks to take action against him.

Sources said it would take at least 15-20 hearings for the primary court at Westminster to arrive at a conclusion and even if Mallya lost the case, he has the option of moving to higher courts in Britain itself.

It has learnt that ED has so far attached Mallyas assets worth over Rs 6,000 crore under anti-money laundering laws.

Photograph: Rupak De Choudhuri/Reuters








While they have restructured loans, there is still question mark over the success of such a work-out

The Union Cabinet might within the next few weeks consider a new framework to deal with toxic assets worth Rs 6 lakh crore in the Indian banking system, a top government official said.

The proposed framework envisages legislative action through amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) and Banking Regulations Act to empower the banks further to tackle non-performing assets (NPAs), especially the top 35-40 NPAs in value terms, which constitute 60% of all toxic assets.

The presumption is that the other systems in place in banks and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have enough teeth to deal with bad assets.

Officials said that the planned PCA amendments would allow banks to take commercially viable decisions, which are later not scrutinised by probing agencies. These will, by all accounts, cleared by Parliament in the monsoon session, Business Standard has learnt.

The framework envisages setting up multiple oversight committees (OCs) under the aegis of the Reserve Bank of India to monitor progress of NPAs on a case-to-case basis. The OCs could get an enhanced mandate to help the lenders with their decision-making, including overseeing joint lenders forums (JLFs), which are consortia of bankers dealing with projects.

In terms of conceptualisation, everything is in place. The banks know what to do, and so do the RBI and government. It is now a matter of getting cleared by the cabinet and setting this in motion, said a senior government official aware of the developments.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will be in Washington this week for the annual spring meeting of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund, after which he is scheduled to fly to Moscow. The Cabinet might take up the matter once he is back in New Delhi.

As reported earlier, the framework will also enable a JLF to deal with NPAs more effectively by possibly tweaking the current guidelines and reducing the level of (NPA) exposure as well as the number of banks in a JLF for taking a decision on toxic assets.

According to current rules, decisions regarding a bad loan or toxic assets are binding on all lenders in a JLF if they are approved by 75% in terms of exposure or 60% in terms of absolute numbers.

However, these thresholds are seen as too high and hence there could be a change in regulations to enable JLFs to decide on NPAs based on a simple majority.

Banks that are part of a consortium face problems owing to disagreements among them on projects that have gone bad.

To address that, the Centre is expected to bring in an enabling provision under which once a simple majority of the banks, based on their exposure to the bad loan, takes a decision, it will be binding on other banks that are part of the group. The new exposure level to be set is likely to be lower than the current 75 per cent.

Banks have sought changes in existing debt recast norms such as spreading the provisioning for large accounts for eight quarters and not seeking personal guarantees from existing promoters.

The banks say guarantees should be sought only when there is a management change or a new promoter takes over a debt-ridden company.

This has become necessary because many promoters have refused to give their personal guarantees on loan restructuring on grounds of supposed changes in policies and cancellations of mines/spectrum by courts for their NPAs.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com
Samsung has priced the S8 competitively at Rs 57,900, while the S8+ is available for Rs 64,900.

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S8 and S8+ on Wednesday in India, filling the void for a flagship device.

Flagship means a high-end smartphone.

Globally, as well as in India, Samsung is known for these high-end models, available for nothing less than Rs 50,000.

Prior to the Note 7 crisis, which saw users of the device plagued with battery explosions, Samsung commanded around 50-55 per cent share in the Rs 50,000 and above smartphone market in India.

Apple, on the other hand, occupied a market pie of around 45-46 per cent in this segment - the super-premium smartphone market - according to Cybermedia Research.

Following the Note 7 crisis, Samsungs share reduced to 17 per cent, according to Cybermedia Researchs data for January and February 2017.

Figures for March were not immediately available.

Apples share grew to 80 per cent in January and February 2017, Faisal Kawoosa, principal analyst, telecom and semitronics, CyberMedia Research, said.

The addressable market for Samsung, therefore, in the super-premium smartphone segment has shrunk in the last few months, implying the company would have to work really hard to regain its lost ground, Kawoosa said.

According to experts, the super-premium or Rs 50,000 and above smartphone segment in India is about 4 per cent (or 4.5 million units) of the overall 113-million-unit domestic smartphone market, indicating a tough fight for Samsung.

Apple on Tuesday said it was working on new features for its 10th anniversary edition of the iPhone, hinting it has no plans to abdicate the ground it had gained in Samsungs absence, especially in markets such as India, where it is growing quickly.

But as the new iPhone would be launched only in the second half of 2017, Samsung, experts said, had time to work its way up in the super-premium segment.

There are some interesting features that the S8 has, such as a curved screen, which has been taken to the next level by the smartphone maker. The S8 offers consumers infinite display and this could be a big hook in India, where display plays a key role for buyers, Niel Shah, analyst at Counterpoint Research said.

Samsung has also priced the S8 competitively at Rs 57,900, while the S8+ is available for Rs 64,900.

The iPhone 7 was launched in October last year at Rs 60,000 for a 32GB variant. The 128GB version was available for Rs 70,000, and the 256GB for Rs 80,000.

The iPhone 7 Plus was available for Rs 72,000 for the 32GB variant; Rs 82,000 for the 128GB version, and Rs 92,000 for 256GB.

According to Shah, while buyers of super-premium phones are not price-conscious, Samsungs attempt to keep the S8s pricepoints within the Rs 57,000-65,000 bracket would help to improve sales.

Photographs: Reuters
The Sheikh Hasina-Narendra Modi summit put India-Bangladesh ties on a firmer pitch.

Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd) takes stock.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi drove down to the airport to receive Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina -- a rare deviation from protocol. 'And if there is but one PM who deserves such exceptions, surely it's Hasina like none else,' says Brigadier Chatterji. Photograph: Press Information Bureau

India did more than just spread the red carpet for Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh when she arrived in New Delhi on April 7.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi drove down to the airport to log a rare deviation from protocol. And if there is but one PM who deserves such exceptions, surely it's Hasina like none else.

The uptick in the relationship between the two countries took the steeper graph after Modi visited Bangladesh in 2015, and the process was initiated to ratify the Border Pact of 1974.

Since then, some of the decades-old thorny issues along the borders have been resolved and more and more fresh ground has been covered to maintain a momentum rarely witnessed in India's relationships with other neighbours.

Heads of States are always under pressure when visiting another nation.

The expectations back home are too many, while geo-political constraints exert their pulls. The story was no different when the Bangladesh PM visited India.

For both countries a common external factor that influences their bilateral relation is the Chinese shadow.

For Bangladesh, it's a question of how to do the tight rope walk, shake hands with India warmly while not annoying the Chinese too far.

With the Chinese as its biggest trading partner -- $12 billion annually -- though a strong Indian linkage may be appealing, it's not possible to give trade with China the go by.

For India, it is a question of how to keep the Chinese at bay from the shores of Bangladesh and remain the most relevant linkage for them in geo-political terms.

The domestic pressures that weighed on Hasina would have been the elections to the Jatiyo Sangshad, akin to any national parliament, in 2018.

How Hasina manages her relationship with India is a big issue for Bangladeshis, especially the major Opposition party, Begum Khalida Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Vote bank politics are not the reserve of any one country alone, but is common practice in democracies. Khalida will surely draw her over the coals for failing to ink a river water-sharing deal.

For Modi, the domestic pressures were much lesser.

Having just won decisively in the election to the state assemblies, the Opposition at home is in absolute disarray.

The challenge for Modi, beyond warding off the Chinese, was utilising Bangladesh's geographic location to boost business in the north-eastern states in a win-win scenario that has the benefits percolating down to people on either side of the border.

For India, a defence agreement would have been very welcome.

It would also have enhanced the Indian heft across neighbouring geographies. The perspectives of South and South East Asian countries about the visit would have been more buoyant had such an agreement been worked out.

Notwithstanding the fact of a few key result areas for both sides not being adequately served, there is enough reason yet to let the champagne flow.

India signed a concessional line of credit to Bangladesh for $4.5 billion for 17 projects in the infrastructure and power sector.

Another $500 million is for defence equipment. Such a line of credit is definitely the largest such investment by the Indian State.

Further, 13 business-to-business pacts for approximately $9 million were also signed with leading Indian business houses.

It would be pertinent to recall that during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Dhaka in October, 2016, the Chinese had extended a $24 billion line of credit.

In turn, the Bangladesh-China relationship was upgraded from comprehensive partnership cooperation to strategic partnership cooperation.

One of Bangladesh's major priorities is the trade imbalance with India. The two-way trade between India and Bangladesh was at $6.6 billion in 2013-2014. But it was lopsided in terms of ratio of imports and exports.

Indian exports were at $6.1 billion and imports from Bangladesh were at $462 million.

Hasina, when addressing Indian industry, felt Indian investment in Bangladesh could redress the situation.

She asked Indians to invest in the special economic zones that Bangladesh is setting up. The 17 projects that will benefit from the line of credit will hopefully initiate a correction.

The 13 business-to-business pacts would also bring in more capital into Bangladesh.

Hasina has also incentivised investment in her country very liberally and Indian industry should take advantage of cheaper labour, excellent terms and better availability of power and other resources once the agreements during the visit are rolled out.

The other area of importance for both countries is security.

Though a security agreement eluded Modi, an MoU was signed on a Defence Cooperation Framework.

Our Defence Services Staff College and Dhaka's Defence Services Command and Staff College also signed up for enhancing cooperation in the field of strategic and operational studies.

Similar MoUs were signed by the National Defence Colleges of both countries.

As per Sheikh Hasina's statement, 11 deals and 24 MoUs were signed, covering a wide spectrum of sectors to include cyber security, information technology, border haats, information and technology, navigation, nuclear power plant projects, mass media and capacity building in the judicial services.

One of the more important MoUs signed is the one between Energy Efficiency Services Ltd of India and Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority of Bangladesh.

The cooperation in this sector, which received a boost in June 2015, has already led to some forward movement in supply of High Speed Diesel, natural gas, LNG, LPG, trans-boundary pipelines etc.

Counter-terrorism was an important issue on the agenda.

Both countries are agreed on most aspects that could curb terrorism in the region. The joint statement at the end of the visit is quite heartening in this regard.

The Bangladesh government had recently informed India about increased movement of terrorists from Bangladesh of Harkat-ul-Jihadi al-Islami and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen. Such intelligence sharing will need to be continuously pursued and mechanisms worked out for cross-border flow in a faster timeframe.

The next big issue for India is the problem of illegal migration.

The deportation of illegal Bangladeshi migrants is also a thorny problem.

Details of discussions on such issues have not been made public. Apparently, practical wisdom has possibly led the Indian side to not pursuing every outstanding issue on this occasion.

Overall, the visit has definitely strengthened the bilateral relationship.

The sheer size of Chinese investment limits the choices that Bangladesh can make.

Hasina needs investments to create jobs and keep the economy on a growth path. However, the cultural links of Bangladeshis with Indians runs far deeper and quite offsets the Chinese advantages.

For India, Hasina's anti-terror campaign has definitely given a safer environment in the states bordering Bangladesh. Indians will do good to provide her necessary support for winning the next election and such assistance would include a river water treaty before Bangladesh goes to the polls in 2018.

Of course, Bangladesh has also to realise that as a small nation if she wants to retain strategic freedom, a relationship with India is more apt.

With the Chinese, the path ahead would be: Easily provided credit -- to a nation burdened by debt -- to being a Chinese satellite State.

However, visualising such a fallout and acting on it is difficult with 80 percent of its military equipment being of Chinese origin, already.
To elect, or re-elect a chief minister, the AIADMK needs to call only the MLAs for a meeting. But to elect a new general secretary, it would have to conduct direct elections with all registered cadres participating and voting.

And that is just the beginning of its problems, says N Sathiya Moorthy.

Image: AIADMK MLAs and ministers participate in a Day at Sea event organised by the Navy and Coast Guard, on-board warship INS Chennai, on April 18, 2017. Photograph: PTI Photo.

The expected has happened, though with a not-so-expected twist -- and unexpected results.

The inevitable reunification of the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam n Tamil Nadu was anyway expected to take place after the by-election to the R K Nagar assembly seat, held by late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

Citing unprecedented money-play for any constituency in the country, the Election Commission cancelled the by-poll. This has provided the space, time and rationale for re-unification thoughts to gain instant momentum.

Caught in the web is the unsuspected side-lining of the Sasikala family, and their meek acceptance of their fate. The reasons for both are not far to seek.

With his forced exit as chief minister and rebellion against the leadership of general secretary V K Sasikala Natarajan, O Panneerselvam (OPS) had stirred up a near-dying controversy surrounding Ammas death.

Sasikalas imprisonment in the disproportionate wealth case against Jaya, and the former nominating her nephew T T V Dinakaran, only added to the furore.

The money-play at R K Nagar, where Dinakaran was the candidate of the official faction that went by the name AIADMK (Amma) following the anticipated post-Jaya split in the party, did the faction in even more.

Worse followed when the Delhi police, coming under the Union home ministry, arrested a history-sheeter, Sudeesh Chandrashekar, and filed an FIR against Dinakaran for allegedly trying to bribe Election Commission officials, for getting a favourable verdict over the frozen Two Leaves party symbol.

The dye had been cast. Dinakaran was the Sasi factions candidate in R K Nagar, and the second-line leaders of the party found that they had to import all their cadres from outside even to bribe the voters. These cadres could not even walk the streets of the constituency in daylight, with the result they ended up being caught red-handed at night.

The second-line leadership was finally and fully convinced that the party cadres were not for the Sasi-Dinakaran combine. Dinakaran himself got the hint early on, and assiduously avoided references to Sasikala or use of her pictures throughout his aborted election campaign. The voter-cadre anger against the family over Jayas death was more than the expected sympathy for Chinnammas imprisonment.

The Delhi case, with attendant rumours of Dinakarans imminent arrest, meant that he cannot hope to become chief minister in the foreseeable future. Old and forgotten ghosts also returned to Dinakarans life as forex fraud cases and hefty fines linked to Jayas first term as chief minister (1991-96) were revived, and without any respite from the courts.

This meant that Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, Sasikalas choice when her imprisonment became a real possibility, was gaining the upper hand even within the faction. Through the R K Nagar campaign, the Edappadi camp within the Sasi faction was displaying visible lack of interest in putting its heart and soul in it.

The sea-change came overnight, after Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai returned from Delhi and straightaway went into confabulations with Edappadi, Dinakaran and a host of other leaders and ministers. He was the one to moot the re-merger as a necessity, a distinct possibility.

Earlier, Thambidurai had taken on the Centre and the BJP leaders at the Centre almost head-on, despite being deputy speaker under their care. Among other things, he would lend credibility to stray demands for making Sasikala chief minister just when OPS was beginning to settle down.

Today, not only Thambidurai but even state minister R V Udayakumar, who publicly proposed Sasi for CM even while continuing in the OPS government, are all for re-merger and without the Sasi family.

Dinakaran refused to read the writing on the wall first. But within 24 hours, he was a changed man. After claiming that the party and MLAs were with him, he said he would welcome the re-merger. Dinakaran also followed it up by saying that he would step aside immediately, and step down as deputy general secretary after consultations with the jailed Sasikala, who had nominated him to the post.

Today, the family wants the party more than the other way round. If anything, with OPS stirring up emotions over Jayas death and non-cadre sympathisers of Jaya citing Sasi as the one who pulled her down, a re-unified party just could not afford it.

Insiders claim the downfall of the family started when Sasikala sidelined her shrewder husband M Natarajan, over time and sought to promote herself instead.

True or not, they believe that Natarajan would have handled Jayas hospitalisation-related issues better, if brought in early on. A stage has now come when nothing seems capable of redeeming the family and its name, fair or not.

In the process, Sasis elevation of Dinakaran and her complete sidelining of MN (who also incidentally took ill afterwards) and her own brother Divakaran meant that the party lost its able, efficient and yet over-ambitious backroom operatives for good, party men say.

For this, they blame Jaya too in private, belatedly conceding that like her mentor and AIADMK founder, the late M G Ramachandran, she should have also identified a political successor/heir.

For all this, however, re-unification of the party after the complete sidelining of the Sasi family too is not going to be as easy as it happened post-MGR.

Importantly, the AIADMK was not in power at the time, and all power and attraction rested with the general secretary. Today, one faction is in power, and Edappadi is its CM.

Jaya, a Brahmin, was above caste in AIADMK and state politics, like MGR before her. Coming as they do from different communities and regions that had given the party equally massive support in the 2016 assembly polls, Edappadi, a Gounder from the West, and OPS, a Mukkulathore from the South, also represent interest groups.

There can be a compromise over the party general secretarys post, but therein would be the real hitch. Re-unification on paper is the easiest thing that can happen. So can be the inclusion or sacking of ministers, to make the state cabinet united, if not homogeneous on day one.

To elect, or re-elect a chief minister, they need to call only the MLAs for a meeting. But to elect a new general secretary, they would have to conduct direct elections with all registered cadres participating and voting. With the OPS camp having gone to the EC against Sasikalas choice, citing this very infirmity in her appointment, it is unlikely that they could do anything otherwise.

The unified AIADMK claimed a registered cadre strength of 1.5 crores. Outside of the EC and governmental elections, no political party in the country has the proven infrastructure or methodology required to conduct a state/region-wide polls for the topmost party post.

The AIADMK has units in Puducherry, Karnataka, Kerala, the Andamans and a host of other states, too. Even if there are half a dozen non-serious candidates unwilling to withdraw from the race, then they would have a massive problem on hand, to conduct the polls -- or, face court-centric challenges on the genuineness of the membership registration procedure, etc.

Unlike the national elections conducted by the EC, there is no constitutional or legal protection for political parties to similarly bar court involvement once organisational polls at that levels and preparations are notified, and until after the results are announced.

A determined Sasi camp, or remnants of the same even if the main players are sacked from the unified party, could still create problems.

Experience would show that they are best at stalling processes and procedures than the rest.

All of it could mean that whichever faction or leader is offered the party general secretarys post, they would have to take the real risk of having to sit it out for a much longer time than they would have been prepared for.

Unless he puts his heart truly into re-unification, a chief minister who is chosen straightaway could keep it that way for a long time to come.

Yet, in between the party would have to face the R K Nagar by-election, whenever held. The question would then arise on the party authorised signatory for Form B, for allocation of the Two Leaves symbol, if restored without trouble.

Under the AIADMK constitution, the general secretary is the authorised signatory. If the re-constituted executive or general council authorises someone else in the place of the general secretary, even pending organisational polls, that could be contested in civil courts.

The negotiators for re-unification should also think about the possibility of amending the party by-laws to facilitate an easier mode of electing the general secretary. Considering that the original by-laws provide for all-cadre vote, would it imply that neither the party executive, nor the general council can change them, even if otherwise empowered?

An added controversy surrounding Jayas death was her thumb impression found affixed on the nomination papers for three by-elections, held -- and won for the party -- when she was in hospital.

Like this one, the Tamil Nadu voter in this era of social media is more than informed and educated about all the pending and possible cases of corruption, tax-raids and the like.

Included in the list is the sudden appearance/recovery of Rs 560 crores in three containers in Tiruppur on the eve of the May 2016 assembly polls across the state.

The State Bank of India claimed ownership of the cash, but the last word does not seem to have been heard about the CBI probe the courts ordered into the same.

The ghosts of these cases can jump out of the battle constantly and revive fading memories of the past in the minds of the people, well into the future. Like the assets case did for Jaya a full 20 years later, and is doing to Sasikala and Dinakaran since.

It also remains to be seen if in the name of mutual accommodation, the collective leadership that is being planned ends up losing control over the second line, the ministers and MLAs, who are not incapable of bringing a bad name to the party, when another round of elections become due in 2019 (Lok Sabha) and 2021 (assembly).

All of it, assuming that Dinakaran keeps his word, of welcoming the re-merger, and does not try to poach party MLAs and compromises the unified partys legislative strength, or use it as a bargaining chip in more ways than one -- and also succeeds in doing so.

In all this melee, there is a forgotten name. J Deepa, Jayas niece, has disappeared as fast as she came, though she did not rise or even measure up.

N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and political analyst, is Director, Observer Research Foundation, Chennai Chapter.
IMAGE: Former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam with his supporters at his Chennai home, April 19, 2017. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/PTI Photo

There is a hidden hand behind the political developments in Tamil Nadu, says A Ganesh Nadar.

'All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts.

So wrote the Bard in As You Like It.

In the world of Tamil Nadu politics, AIADMK politicians are but puppets, and a Grandmaster decides what parts they play.

When J Jayalalithaa was alive, nobody dared look at Tamil Nadu. On December 5, 2016, she passed away and the Grandmaster came into the frame almost at once.

As long as O Panneerselvam was chief minister after Jayalalalithaa's death, the Grandmaster kept his distance, but the public already knew about his presence in the background.

T Murugesapandian, a former municipal councillor, told me emphatically, "OPS might be the CM, but he will do what the Grandmaster tells him."

Jayalalithaa's aide V K Sasikala bunged a spanner in the Grandmaster's plans when she first moved to become AIADMK general secretary and then lunged for the chief minister's chair.

OPS was shunted aside, then, probably prodded by the Grandmaster, revolted at Sasikala's decision.

Justice intervened and the lady was packed off to a prison in Bengaluru.

Before she left to serve her prison sentence, Sasikala 'appointed' E K Palaniswami and her nephew T T V Dinakaran as chief minister and AIADMK deputy general secretary respectively.

OPS' revolt ended something of a fiasco. Only a dozen odd MLAs marked their places in his tent; the rest stayed with Palaniswami.

But OPS had something his successor as chief minister didn't have -- the Grandmaster on his side.

Soon seven ministers were found with lists to distribute money -- Rs 89 crores/Rs 890 million no less -- in the R K Nagar by-election.

With the possibility of arrest looming large, the puppets quickly did what the Grandmaster nudged them to do. They revolted against Dinakaran.

Not cowed down, Dinakaran put up a fight. 'I have 40 MLAs who were given tickets to contest by my aunt Sasikala,' he warned. 'They are loyal to me. If they throw me out, I will go down with them, and bring down the government.'

The Grandmaster dislikes rebellion. Dinakaran, who had been battling two FERA cases for 20 years, discovered two more cases slapped on him. One for allegedly bribing voters, the other for trying to doing the unthinkable -- to bribe the Election Commission itself.

No one -- not even those dreaded Bahubalis of north India -- had attempted to do something so preposterous. At least, that is what the Delhi police -- which reports to the Union home ministry -- claims.

It finally dawned on Dinakaran what he was up against.

'The party must not split because of me,' he said weakly. 'I am resigning after I meet aunty.'

Rumours swirled like eddy currents in a whirlpool. EPS would remain CM while OPS would take over as the party boss.

The Grandmaster smiled an inscrutable smile.

He was not done yet.

He wanted OPS as CM. The puppets, reminded of the likelihood of being charged with trying to bribe voters, began to dance.

Political punters can place their bets that OPS, he of the pleasant smile, will be back in Fort St George, as chief minister for the 4th time.

This time, there is no Amma or Chinnamma to push him out. There is only the Grandmaster.

And the Grandmaster wants him as chief minister and a loyal ally for as long as it suits him.

Until May 2019 for sure. Maybe till 2021 when Tamil Nadu will have its next assembly election.
'The appointment of Yogi Adityanath as UP CM, the revival of the Ram temple movement, the elevation of a ban on cow slaughter as a national priority, and the targeting of any social behaviour deemed contrary to a set of narrowly prescribed Indian values point to a social regression that contradicts the inclusive and forward-looking impulse that underlies Modi's vision of a modern India.'

Shyam Saran on point.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, with UP CM Yogi Adityanath at the latter's swearing in ceremony in Lucknow. Photograph: PTI Photo.

There are two competing trends in India today.

One is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's compelling faith in technological advancement as a key driver of the modernisation of India. This is the message of Digital India.

The other is the assertion of a vision of a Hindu India, but in terms which contradict that of a modern India. The appointment of Yogi Adityanath as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, the revival of the Ram Temple movement, the elevation of a ban on cow slaughter as a national priority, and the targeting of any social behaviour deemed contrary to a set of narrowly prescribed Indian values, all these point to a social regression that contradicts the inclusive and forward-looking impulse that underlies Digital India.

It has been argued that Modi himself is wedded to the modernisation of India, but that he has to politically genuflect to a constituency which provides foot soldiers for his political consolidation. If this indeed is the case then it will soon become clear that the current brand of Hindu revivalism and technological progress are antithetical and contradictory pursuits.

This is not to argue that Hindu culture and values per se are antithetical to the modernisation of India. Civilisational values associated with Hinduism have a contemporary relevance.

There is its constant urge to question, to explore, to let the mind range far and wide in the pursuit of truth. Dissent and debate are regarded as intrinsic to knowledge creation and this lies at the heart of its intellectual tradition.

Successful societies of the future will be knowledge-creating societies and India could be in the front ranks. And it would have to be a society with open minds and a liberal outlook.

Hindu myths and legends, the stories of our gods and goddesses, the literature and poetry associated with them and Hindu temple sculpture and art are a constant rebuke to the prudishness which afflicts contemporary guardians of social morality. There is in our culture an easy embrace of diversity, cultivated over centuries of assimilation and a spirit of cosmopolitanism, which is what a globalised world needs to survive and flourish.

And a world ravaged by climate change and ecological degradation would find inspiration in an India that stays true to its belief in nature as a mother, a source of nurture, not a dark force to be conquered and subjugated to serve humanity's greed.

So yes, the revival of civilisational values associated with Hinduism could serve the modernisation of India; it could position India as a leader in a troubled world in search of harmony and a spirit of humanity.

But not the narrow-minded versions which we see at play today.

There is another aspect of social regression that runs counter to the modernisation project.

The authors of the Indian Constitution were mindful that the strong and entrenched feudal tendencies in Indian society would resist the emergence of a democratic and egalitarian society. For this reason, they put in the Constitution citizen-centric rights and obligations, and guaranteed fundamental and equal rights to individual citizens, irrespective of caste, creed or gender.

However, we see a reassertion of feudalism, with people's representatives demanding and obtaining, status and privileges denied to the ordinary citizen. And bureaucracy is not far behind, with civil servants often behaving as local overlords.

Political leaders positively encourage submissive behaviour, with feet touching and prostrations a practice which makes a mockery of the notion of a democratic leader being a servant of the people.

An independent judiciary, which is the guardian of Constitutional rectitude, often displays the very social prejudices it should help eliminate.

This should not to be laid at the door of the current political dispensation. It is a rot which began much earlier.

The cause of modernising India would be greatly advanced if, along with uprooting corruption, there was a similar commitment to eliminating the feudal mentality entrenched in our political class and which has infected society as well.

We are in danger of becoming a society deeply divided and unequal, where a self-entitled elite neglects the welfare of fellow citizens, or worse, condemns them to deprivation and despair. A million mutinies are sure to follow.

The modernisation of India needs the embrace of technology, and Prime Minister Modi's enthusiasm in promoting the use of modern technology and digital economy is laudable.

He is the first Indian leader to openly embrace economic reforms and liberalisation, jettisoning the "reform by stealth" his predecessors chose to follow. He has welcomed foreign investment and is committed to improving the ease of doing business.

The efforts he has made towards financial inclusion and expanding the direct transfer of benefits (DBT) to those who really need support are important reforms and should be acknowledged and welcomed.

However, this encouraging trend has run parallel to a growing polarisation in Indian society, the spread of sectarian and communal divide and an attempt to impose norms and practices dictated by self-styled guardians of an imagined Hindu dispensation, which, in its narrow outlook, has little in common with the breathtaking richness and complexity of the Hindu inheritance. It is a heritage which finds easy and comfortable coexistence with other cultural streams and traditions that define the Indian temperament.

There is so much to be proud about in India's unparalleled intellectual, philosophical and cultural heritage. It is this heritage which needs to be rediscovered, revived and celebrated, not the violent caricature we often see around us, the latest example being the lynching of an innocent citizen by goons, claiming to protect the sacred cow.

If allowed to gather pace, these negative trends will, sooner or later, overwhelm the pursuit of modernity.

Riding two horses at the same time is difficult enough even when they are running in the same direction let alone when they are pulling in very different directions.

For the sake of India's future, the horse racing forward should be unhitched from the other and allowed to ride free.

The writer is a former foreign secretary and currently senior fellow, CPR.

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'The Babri Masjid demolition was a pre-planned conspiracy.'

'It did not happen on the spur of the moment.'

Journalist Suman Gupta covered the Babri Masjid demolition on December 6, 1992 as a reporter for the Jan Morcha newspaper.

She had taken a camera along with her to report the event, and was among the many journalists who were beaten up by kar sevaks that day in Ayodhya.

Gupta submitted a statement on what happened to the Liberhan Commission of Inquiry set up to inquire into the demolition.

She also gave her account of the demolition to various courts.

Currently the resident editor of Jan Morcha, Lucknow, Suman Gupta, below, spoke to Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.

BJP leaders were making speeches from a podium near the Babri Masjid and the entire area around the mosque was surrounded by RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) volunteers in their uniform. They were wearing a saffron sash around their head.

The RSS volunteers were not allowing anyone to break the cordon. Even journalists were not allowed to enter the premises.

They had issued 'Shri Ram Karseva' passes to volunteers and supporters. Only people who had the passes were allowed to enter the area near the Babri Masjid.

The Uttar Pradesh police were present nearby, but they were without arms and acted as spectators during the demolition.

The central government, led by then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao of the Congress, had provided paramilitary forces to Chief Minister Kalyan Singh's BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) government, but he refused to take their help and only let the state police handle things.

There were thousands of people. They were hearing the speeches of L K Advani, Uma Bharti and Murli Manohar Joshi. I could not hear what they were saying because when their speeches were on, journalists and photographers were attacked by kar sevaks.

I was taking photos so I became an easy target. It was not me alone, all photographers were attacked, even foreign mediapersons were attacked.

One thing I recall very well during that attack on me was the entry of (then) VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) president Ashok Singhal.

As soon as he came the kar sevaks broke the barricade around the Babri Masjid and went on top of the dome.

The moment that happened, many kar sevaks pounced on all photographers because they did not want any photos to be clicked.

These male kar sevaks grabbed me and took me to another corner of the area. These men did not respect the fact that I was a woman.

I was being attacked and the police was watching and not doing anything.

I told the police to help me, but they were just observing the kar sevaks demolishing the Babri Masjid.

When I look back I feel the entire focus moved to the demolition of the Babri Masjid at that moment, rather than the photographers being attacked.

In all, 71 journalists were beaten up then. The (UP) CID (Criminal Investigation Department) held an inquiry into this case and so did the Press Council of India.

The Babri Masjid demolition was a pre-planned conspiracy. It did not happen on the spur of the moment.

I had covered the kar seva in 1990. At that time, the district magistrate of Ayodhya was Ramchandra Srivastava.

During that kar seva, the kar sevaks entered the masjid premises and put up saffron flags, but somehow the police managed to disperse them.

After that incident, Srivastava said if the kar sevaks came again the Babri Masjid could not be saved because they were not ordinary people, but trained to carry out demolition activity.

When L K Advani says the demolition of the Babri Masjid was the saddest day in his life, I want to ask him which movement was he leading to Ayodhya? The kar sevaks had come to Ayodhya on his call.

I would like to emphasise the difference between the kar sevaks in 1990 and the ones in 1992.

In 1990 the kar sevaks would speak to us very well.

In 1992, there was a behavioural change in the kar sevaks towards journalists.

I could feel and see the difference.

They started misbehaving with journalists prior to the demolition. The first instance was when they started demolishing Muslim graveyards in Ayodhya.

These kar sevaks were staying in camps on land given by Kalyan Singh's government.

Now if Advani says he did not know of the event (demolition), how can you believe him?

Kar seva means what? Why did you want to do kar seva?

Did they want to take the soil of the Babri Masjid by bringing 2 lakh people to Ayodhya?

When Advani says the demolition was the saddest day of his life I don't think so. I feel that is a political statement.

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A bill that would have exempted some seasonal outdoor recreation employees from state overtime laws and some other labor laws was vetoed on Thursday by Gov. Steve Bullock.

Under the bill, a narrow and clear exemption in existing law would be replaced with a broad and ambiguous exemption that could capture employees in any number of businesses that define themselves as part of the outfitting industry, the Democrat wrote in his veto letter. I cannot support changing the law when our existing exemption seems adequate and well-defined.

Co-sponsors Rep. Vince Ricci, R-Laurel, and Sen. Dee Brown, R-Hungry Horse, had argued that House Bill 496 was indeed necessary, noting that the existing definitions did not cover all the types of jobs outfitters had. The Montana Outfitters and Guides Association also had said it is difficult to track overtime because most of these jobs have long or irregular hours, often without clear delineation between someone is working and when they are simply sitting round the campfire.

The original version of the bill also would have exempted seasonal recreation employers from minimum wage laws, but that was amended out before being sent to the governor.

House Bill 496 is dead unless both chambers of the Legislature override the governors veto, which would take a two-thirds vote. The measure originally passed the House 55-44 and the Senate 28-20.
A woman on a train in Ireland has been caught on camera making expletive-ridden racist comments towards fellow Asian passengers, telling one of them to go back to India for placing a bag on an empty seat, media reports said.

In the videos, originally posted on Twitter, the woman can be seen and heard making expletive-ridden comments towards fellow passengers.

Twitter user TheBexWay filmed the woman on a train (external link) from Limerick Colbert station to Limerick Junction on Sunday, Irish Independent reported.

She messaged the Irish Rail account during the trip, saying the woman had been making abusive comments for 10 minutes, the report said.

Go back to India. Dont give me your guff, the woman was heard saying in the video.

The woman then targeted another passenger who appeared to stand up for the people she was abusing, saying: Look at the ugly head of that fella.

Thats the only reason hes backing you up is because hes ugly.

The passengers left their seats after 16 minutes of verbal abuse, the report said.

You dont really get the full effect of what happened from the video. She was literally sitting beside them, screaming bloody murder in their faces. It went on for almost the whole train ride, she said.

I didnt feel safe. If that turned into a fist fight, there would have been nobody there to help us.

Irish Rail has reported the incident, captured in a series of videos showing the Irish womans racist rant on a Limerick train, to the Gardai, the state police force of the

Republic of Ireland.

A spokesman for Irish Rail told the report that behaviour like this will not be tolerated on their service.

People should be able to travel on our services without abuse of any kind. The footage is very clear and very shocking and we welcome the fact that another member of the public was able to assist in identifying the person involved, he said.

In March, a study issued by the European Network against Racism Ireland found that there was an alarming growth in the number of racism incidents being reported over

the last six months, the report said.
The Pakistani Supreme Court ordered for a joint investigation team to probe the allegations of money laundering against his family.

Embattled Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday got a temporary breather from the Supreme Court which said there was insufficient evidence to remove him from office but ordered setting up of a joint team to investigate the graft allegations against his family.

The high-profile graft case is about alleged money laundering by Sharif in 1990s when he twice served as the prime minister to purchase assets in London. The assets surfaced when Panama papers last year showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharifs children.

A five-judge Supreme Court bench issued a landmark 540-page split judgment ordering setting up of a Joint Investigation Team comprising officials from different agencies including those from powerful spy agencies the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Military Intelligence.

The other agencies in the JIT include the Federal Investigation Agency, the National Accountability Bureau, and the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.

The bench comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan also ordered 67-year-old Sharif and his two sons -- Hasan and Hussain -- to appear before the JIT.

There is insufficient evidence to remove Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said the verdict.

A thorough investigation is required, Justice Khosa said, reading out from the highly anticipated ruling.

The JIT would be set up within a week. It will present its report before the bench after every two weeks and will complete its investigation in 60 days.

Justice Ejaz, Justice Azmat and Justice Ahsan wrote the majority judgment, whereas Justice Gulzar and Justice Khosa in their dissenting note branded Sharif dishonest and wanted to remove the Prime Minister as sought by the petitioners.

Upon receipt of the JIT report, issues relating to the disqualification of the PM may be taken up, says the verdict.

The case filed by various petitioners -- Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed -- sought disqualification of Prime Minister Sharif over his alleged misstatement in his address to the nation on April 5, 2016 and his speech before the National Assembly on May 16, 2016.

The petitioners had claimed that the prime minister lied about the investments made by his children in offshore companies, which led to the acquisition of four apartments in Londons upscale Park Lane neighbourhood.

The case was launched on November 3 and the court held 35 hearings before concluding the proceedings on February 23.

Prime Minister Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz, sons -- Hasan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz, retired Capt Muhammad Safdar (the PMs son-in-law) and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar were among the respondents in the case.

The court also ordered that it was important to probe how money was transferred to Qatar.

The bench was not satisfied with regards to the money trail for the Sharif familys Gulf steel mill and ordered to investigate their business dealings in Qatar.

Sharif had argued that the London property was bought from the money earned after selling share Gulf steel mill in Qatar and produced a letter by a Qatari prince in his support.

The London properties owned by Sharif's children are at the centre of controversy.

In the verdict, the bench said that the NAB chairman has failed to cooperate with the investigation, and the director general FIA has failed to curb white collar crimes, necessitating the formulation of the JIT.

Sharif and his PML-N party breathed a collective sigh of relief as the fear of an extreme verdict -- the prime ministers ouster -- dissolved and gave way to celebrations.

His supporters hailed the court's decision as a victory of justice.

We have been vindicated as prime minister had last year asked to set up a probe commission to investigate Panama leaks scandal, said Khawaja Asif, defence minister and close ally of Sharif.

TV footage showed Sharif embracing his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif who is chief minister of Punjab province.

Maryam tweeted a photo of Sharif, his family and PML-N leaders celebrating the verdict with smiles and embraces.

Sharif is the only Pakistani politician who has the distinction of being the prime minister of the coup-prone country for a record three times.

He had served as the prime minister from 1990 to 1993 and from 1997 to 1999. Both of Sharifs first two stints had ended in the third year of his tenure.

Opposition leader and lawyers termed the courts verdict as an indictment of Sharif and demanded his resignation.

I demand that Sharif should resign immediately as he has lost moral authority to rule the country, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Khan said at a press conference Islamabad.

Khan termed the verdict as indictment of Sharif as the bench did not absolve him of the allegations.

He said if Sharif is not ready to step down permanently, he should step aside for 60 days when JIT would probe the money laundering allegations, as ordered by the court.

Khan said the court has rejected the defence of Sharif and his family that their properties in London were bought with clean money.

Former president and Pakistan Peoples Party leader Asif Ali Zardari condemned the courts decision to not disqualify Sharif as premier and asked him to immediately step down.

I condemn the judgement and ask Sharif to resign, he said at a press conference. He took a swipe at the court and said that we never expected any justice from the court.

Zardari, however, hailed the two senior judges who asked Sharif to resign.

He expressed doubts that junior officers working under Sharif cannot deliver justice as part of Joint Investigation Team when the highest court failed to deliver justice.

With the decision of today, not only democracy but also justice itself has been damaged. I also say that people have been made fools through the judgement, said Zardari.

Zardaris close aide Aitzaz Ahsan said the JIT ordered by the court actually was meant to give escape to Sharif.

Earlier, the area around the Supreme Court, located in Islamabads Red Zone, was put on red alert, with around 1,500 police, Rangers and Frontier Constabulary personnel deployed for security arrangements.

Photograph: Caren Firouz/Reuters
India has sought from Pakistan details of the appeal process in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case in which it has made 15 attempts to get consular access to the Indian national given death sentence by a military court there.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said India was concerned as it has no information about the location or the condition of Jadhav, who Pakistan says was in their custody.

Noting that the ministry had called in the Pakistan deputy high commissioner on Wednesday, he said Pakistan has been asked to provide details of the trial against Jadhav.

Pakistan claims there have been legal proceedings against Jadhav. If there has been any proceedings against (him), we would, officially, like to see details of those proceedings, Baglay said.

India would also like to know how it can proceed in the case, and asked Shah about various options available in Pakistani legal system, Baglay said, noting that India is still awaiting a reponse to its demands for consular access and details of the trial proceedings against Jadhav.

Yesterday also we asked for consular access to Jadhav and in the past we made 13 such requests, Baglay said, adding it was important given the nature of charges levelled against the retired Indian Navy officer.

We don't know anything about Jadhav's location or condition in Pakistan. It is a matter of concern for India. We are concerned about his health and whereabouts, he maintained.

On reports that Pakistan will present a dossier on Jadhav with evidence of his alleged spying activities, Baglay merely said that in past also Pakistan has attempted to misinform the international community.

India had also reiterated that Jadhav was innocent and false charges were framed against him when the Pakistan deputy high commissioner was summoned.

Shah was also told that not giving consular access to Jadhav amounted to violation of human rights as well international norms as the two countries have a bilateral agreement on consular access.

Pakistan army had on Monday ruled out consular access to 46-year-old Jadhav, days after India had made a strong case for access to the Indian prisoner on death row.

Indian envoy Gautam Bambawale had met the Pakistan foreign secretary last week and demanded a certified copy of the chargesheet and the army court order in the case, besides consular access to the retired naval officer.

We definitely want to appeal against the judgment but we cannot do it unless we have the details of the charges and a copy of verdict. So, my demand was that the details of the chargesheet and a copy of the verdict be provided to us, Bambawale had said after the meeting.

The MEA spokesperson also said India took offence to China renaming six places in Arunachal Pradesh, adding that inventing names of states of a neighbour does not make illegal occupation legal.

Baglay said Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.

He said renaming or inventing names of states of your neighbour do not make illegal occupation as legal.

China on Wdnesday had announced that it has standardised official names for six places in the Northeastern state and termed the provocative move as a legitimate action.

The Chinese move came days after Beijing lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lamas visit to the frontier state.

IMAGE: MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay. Photograph: ANI
Operations against militants or insurgents may be affected if first information reports are lodged against the army, the Supreme Court was told on Thursday.

The army also told the apex court that it cannot be subjected to FIRs for carrying out anti-militancy operations in insurgency-prone areas like Jammur and Kashmir and Manipur, while alleging local bias in the judicial inquiries conducted against it in these regions, which have tarnished its image.

Judicial inquiries which are biased due to local considerations have tarnished the image of army. Military operations cannot be dissected in a particular way. Army cannot be subjected to FIR otherwise military operations cannot be carried out, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told a bench of Justices M B Lokur and U U Lalit.

Rohatgi, appearing for the army and the Assam Rifles, said it cannot be subjected to investigation by the state police with regard to its operations against militants in strife-torn areas.

Whether its Jammu and Kashmir or Manipur, we are facing the same local bias. Why doesnt any judicial inquiry ever exonerate the army? These inquiries (have) never said that army did the correct thing. Army is facing problems due to bias in such inquiries, he said.

Pointing out that army was working in very difficult situations in these areas, Rohatgi said it has its own system in place, has its own approach and is governed by different set of rules.

In every military operation, army cannot be disbelieved. Every judicial inquiry cannot be against the army. The alleged extra-judicial killing cases in Manipur are not cases of massacre, rather these are cases of military operations, he said.

He said the petitions under Article 32 of Associations of Widows from Manipur, seeking FIR into alleged extra-judicial killings and SIT probe, should not be considered and the court should not embark into it.

During the hearing, the bench also questioned the Army over its Court of Inquiry, a fact finding proceeding.

Court of Inquiry is for the benefit of the army. It is not for the satisfaction of public which has the right to know the truth behind any incident, the bench said after Rohatgi alleged bias in the judicial probes conducted by district judges.

The bench also pulled up the Manipur government for not taking action on such alleged fake encounters by armed forces and asked was it not supposed to do anything.

Senior advocate V Giri, appearing for Manipur, accepted the lapse on the state governments part but said even the high court never asked it to register FIRs in such cases.

The court then asked the Manipur counsel whether now the state government can register FIRs into these alleged cases of extra-judicial killings.

Yes, we can register FIR, if the court so directs under Article 142. There is no blockage in law with regard to lodging of FIR, the senior advocate said.

The bench asked the parties including the Centre and Manipur to suggest five names each of officials, ex-officials whom they fit are suitable for Special Investigation Team to be constituted to investigate such cases.

The apex court after perusing the names reserved its verdict on the point of lodging of FIR and constituting a SIT for investigation into the killing in which judicial inquiries have been conducted.

The court is hearing a PIL seeking probe and compensation in alleged 1,528 extra-judicial killings in Manipur from 2000 to 2012 by security forces and police.

The court, which has conducted hearing for three consecutive days, had earlier rapped Manipur for remaining silent over rape and murder charges against army personnel.

The bench said three such cases in which the Commissions of Inquiry had given its findings, including that of Thangjam Manorama, a Manipuri woman who was allegedly killed in the custody of the Assam Rifles on July 10, 2004, after being picked up on suspicion of working for the insurgent outfit, People Liberation Army.

The Army had yesterday told the court that the judicial probes conducted into alleged extra-judicial killing charges were biased and slanted against them due to local factors.

It alleged that the district judges, who were locals, had conducted the judicial inquiries into the alleged killings and local factors came in the way of the probe reports which went against the armed forces.

During the hearing, the court was earlier told that there were 265 cases of deaths which have to be examined and there were various reports of the commission of inquiry in which serious allegations have been levelled against armed forces personnel.

The apex court had earlier asked the Centre to segregate the cases related to the armed forces from the list of 265 incidents of extra-judicial killings in Manipur.

The Centre had said that out of the 282 cases, which were referred to it for verification, 70 matters were found to be related to the Army and Assam Rifles, while the rest concerned the state police.

In July last year, the apex court had directed a thorough probe into the alleged fake encounter killings in Manipur saying the use of excessive or retaliatory force by the armed forces or police was not permissible in disturbed areas under the controversial Armed Force Special Powers Act.
Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United chief Nitish Kumar on Thursday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi and is learnt to have advocated unity among opposition parties to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.

The JD-U also used the meeting to call for a joint Opposition candidate for the election to the Presidents post and urged Gandhi to take the lead in the matter.

Its spokesperson K C Tyagi, however, insisted that the issue of presidential election was not discussed in the meeting and added it was his partys view that a strong joint Opposition candidate will be in national interest.

There should a joint Opposition candidate for the top constitutional post and Sonia Gandhi being the leader of the largest opposition party should take the lead, he said.

Kumar has already taken up the matter with leaders of the Left parties and received a good response, he said.

Another senior JD-U leader said Kumars visit to Gandhis residence was a courtesy call as the Congress is the partys ally in Bihar and also because Gandhi had been ill for some time.

He did speak about the need for unity among Opposition parties, he added.

Kumar has been calling for forging an alliance of secular parties at the national level on the lines of the 2015 electoral grand alliance or Mahagathbandhan in Bihar to take on the BJP-led NDA under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Congress is a partner in the Bihar government with Kumars JD-U and Lalu Prasads RJD, after the three parties contested and won the assembly elections as part of the grand alliance.

*****

Regional parties strong enough to tackle BJP: Mamata

The regional parties are strong enough to counter the BJP, said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday after meeting her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik, who made no comment on the perceived saffron surge in his state.

The regional parties are enough to tackle the BJP, Trinamool Congress chief Banerjee told reporters after a 10-minute meeting with Patnaik at his residence in Bhubaneswar.

IMAGE: Odisha chief Minister Naveen Patnaik greets his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee at his residence in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo



Asked about the threat to regional parties, particularly from the BJP in wake of the Uttar Pradesh assembly poll results, Banerjee shot back, I do not believe that they (BJP) are a threat.

Coming down heavily on the BJP, she said the party (BJP) divides people and split political parties, a tactics that the regional parties do not resort to.

They divide parties. Sometimes they purchase ministers, MLAs and whatever they can.

They create division among Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, tribals and scheduled caste people. They even create division within the Hindu community. We regional parties do not do that. We say Jai Jagannath as there is no caste, creed and religion in the Jagannth culture, said Banerjee.

To a question on the proposed federal front, the TMC chief said, That is my consistent effort. We love regional parties and we want regional parties to persist and grow.

In the federal structure, regional parties strengthen the very system under the Constitution, she said adding all states are important in a federal setup.

We are already in the federal structure. Look, he (Patnaik) is Odisha chief minister and I belong to West Bengal. Therefore, I say all regional parties are there. Secular parties are always secular and are together, she said.

Asked whether she finds a natural ally in Patnaiks Biju Janata Dal, Banerjee said, We have great respect for it.

On the upcoming Presidential election, she said, It is still early for that. If he (Patnaik) proposes any name, I will talk to him. Dont worry. We have the best of relationship.

The two chief ministers, who spoke to the press together, maintained that their meeting was not political in nature and it was out of courtesy.

Im very glad that honourable chief minister of West Bengal came to pay a courtesy call today, said Patnaik and denied having any political discussion with her.

The TMC supremo said, Im deeply honoured that Naveenji gave me time. I knew his father Biju Patnaik very well and he was very fond of me. He had helped me by sending an aircraft for a meeting when I was a Union minister of state for women and child development.

As neighbouring states, it is good to keep in touch, she said, adding, Politics is a continuous process.

I wish Naveenji good health and that his party do better, she added.

Patnaik said he has invited Banerjee to lay foundation stone of West Bengal Bhavan at Puri.
The defence ministry remains uncertain about spending billions of dollars on a carrier, reports Ajai Shukla.

As Beijing decisively implements its vision of aircraft carrier-based naval power, New Delhi seems uncertain about the form and structure of its naval combat aviation.

Last month, Chinas defence ministry announced the impending launch of Shandong, its first indigenous aircraft carrier. On Friday, a Beijing-based naval expert revealed that the Peoples Liberation Army (Navy)s, third carrier could be a US Navy-style nuclear-powered vessel, featuring an electromagnetic aircraft launch system.

In New Delhi, however, a senior navy admiral revealed uncertainty about Indias indigenous aircraft carrier programme. The first indigenous aircraft carrier, named INS Vikrant, will roll out of Cochin Shipyard Ltd later this decade. But the navy and the ministry are still making up their minds about its successor, IAC-2.

Vice Admiral D M Deshpande, the navys warship acquisition head, stated on Tuesday that the ministry remains uncertain about spending billions of dollars on a carrier.

Right now there is a bit of a question mark from the ministrys side, [although] we have taken this up to the ministry on a few occasions. [An aircraft carrier] is a huge ticket item and, before some commitments are made on allocation of these funds everybody wants to be very clear on the requirement, whether we actually need that. So these are being addressed [before] we actually take it up to the government for final clearances, said Deshpande, addressing defence industrialists in New Delhi.

The three services are competing for the same limited budget. With the cost of INS Vikrant reportedly nudging $4 billion, the Indian Air Force argues that land-based combat aircraft, with their ranges enhanced with in-flight refuelling, would project offensive air power more cheaply than an aircraft carrier. The navy counters that an aircraft carrier is a mobile air base, that can move to a combat zone quickly.

Even within the navy, some argue that the same amount spent on submarines, or a larger number of smaller surface warships like destroyers, frigates and corvettes, would generate greater combat effect than a carrier.

This is the longstanding debate between sea denial (denying the enemy the use of the sea, primarily with submarines) and sea control (dominating the ocean with air and surface power, built around a carrier). Sea control requires massive spending on carrier battle groups, or CBGs -- an aircraft carrier and the warships that accompany it. In contrast, sea denial is a defensive strategy that takes less money -- the cost of a submarine-based force.

Powerful, modern navies --- like the US Navy, the Royal Navy, the French, Russian and now even the PLA-N --- have all built their fleets around aircraft carriers, enabling the projection of power to large distances from home bases.

Although the Indian Navy has decisively opted for aircraft carriers, discussion continues over whether to build a large, nuclear-powered carrier, or a smaller one like IAC-1. Reflecting this, Deshpande says: There are lots of discussions within the navy on what type of IAC-2 we want. From the tonnage to the propulsion --- we are debating on this. Once we are more or less clear within the navy [about] what exactly we want, we would take up the case with the ministry for various approvals.

The navy is inclined towards a 65,000-tonne, nuclear powered carrier that embarks 55 combat aircraft; and a state-of-the-art EMALS catapult that can rapidly launch fighter aircraft as well as larger aircraft for electronic warfare and airborne early warning. The name being suggested for IAC-2 is INS Vishal.

Deshpande expresses confidence that in the next two-three months, we should be in a position to take it up to the ministry to get the funds. With INS Vikrant likely to be operationally ready only in 2023 -- eight years late -- there is little time to lose.

Currently, the PLA-N operates only its first-ever carrier, the 65,000-tonne Liaoning, which Beijing bought from Russia, refurbished, and commissioned in 2012. India, with far greater experience, has operated at least one aircraft carrier ever since INS Vikrant joined the fleet in 1961.

The PLA-N, however, now plans to commission and operate at least 5-6 carriers. The Indian Navy plans to operate a fleet of three aircraft carriers.
Senior Uttar Pradesh Minister Satyadev Pachauri purportedly insulted a physically disabled employee during a surprise inspection, a video of which has gone viral on the social media.

This incident comes days after the Yogi Adityanath government renamed the Viklang Kalyan Vibhag (Handicap Welfare Department) as Divyang Jan Shasaktikaran Vibhag (Divyang Empowerment Department).

The khadi and village industries minister allegedly made a derogatory reference when he came across a divyang contractual employee on Wednesday during an inspection of the departments office in Dalibagh area.

You have kept a loola-langda on contract. What will he do? This is the reason behind lack of hygiene here, Pachauri was purportedly heard saying in the video clip which went viral on the social media.

Think the UP minister was insensitive? Boo him here
Harjit Singh Sajjan is the first Sikh to hold the top defence job in a foreign land.

And this, says Monali Sarkar, is his first official trip to the country of his birth.

Photograph: Kind courtesy @HarjitSajjan/Facebook

Harjit Sajjan began his first visit to India as Canada's minister of national defence with a stop at the Commonwealth War Cemetery in New Delhi, one of the many around the world that are dedicated to soldiers who died in the two World Wars.

Eighteen Canadians lay among the fallen at this cemetery. He said the visit was a particularly 'poignant' one.

Sajjan was born in Punjab and migrated to Canada with his family when he was 5 -- incidentally a beneficiary of the immigration reform introduced under Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's father, then PM Pierre Trudeau.

He is the first Sikh to hold the top defence job in a foreign land.

Photograph: Press Information Bureau

He also laid a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti, noting, 'India's contribution to supporting peace has come at a great cost. Paying respects to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.'

Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Sajjan was accorded a guard of honour during his ceremonial reception in New Delhi.

He has served in the Canadian army's reserve force with deployments in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Afghanistan. He also became the first Sikh to command a Canadian reserve regiment.

Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

'India's Tri-Service Guard of Honour makes a lasting impression,' Sajjan tweeted.

Photograph: Kind courtesy @ArunJaitley/Facebook

A key engagement during the trip was Sajjan's meeting with his Indian counterpart Arun Jaitley. He said they had 'a great discussion about opportunities to strengthen Canada-India defence relations.'

Photograph: Kind courtesy @HarjitSajjan/Facebook

On his last day in New Delhi, Sajjan met with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

'The Canada-India bilateral relationship is strong and I look forward to further growing the ties that bind us together as two countries dedicated to peace.'

Photograph: Kind courtesy @HarjitSajjan/Twitter

From Delhi, Sajjan went to Punjab, where he paid obeisance at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. He spent around 15 minutes inside the gurdwara's sanctum sanctorum and was presented with a robe of honour.

Sajjan's Punjab visit became controversial after Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has refused to meet him, dubbing him a 'Khalistani sympathiser.'

Asked about the allegation by the media, Sajjan said, 'I don't want to be sucked into the internal politics of a province of a nation. My goal is to build relationships. I am proud of the fact that I was born here.'

Photograph: Kind courtesy @HarjitSajjan/Twitter

Sajjan then visited a girls orphanage in Amritsar.

He said, "Today in Amritsar, we focused on charity and the importance of selflessness in order to make the world a better place... We visited the All India Pingalwara Charity. A charity that provides education, medical support, housing and much more to those less fortunate. We then visited Unique Home Jalandhar, which is a home that helps raise abandoned girls to be educated and independent women. They are supported by the @MamtaFoundation in British Columbia."

Sajjan also visited his native village of Bambeli after 16 years, where he was accorded a warm reception.

The Indo-Canadian lawmaker is scheduled to travel to Mumbai next.
'Anyone who heard her sing was left with a lump in the throat.'

Sunita Budhiraja recounts her encounters with the Goddess of Swara.

IMAGE: 'Vrindavan being the bhoomi of Krishna, her music united the audience with the Lord.'

'She became one with the universe while she sang and no longer remained Kishori Amonkar.'

Photograph: Kind courtesy Shobha Deepak Singh

Kishori Amonkar's singing always left me numb.

I have listened to her music for more than four decades and it has never happened that I was not transported to a different world.

In fact, anyone who heard her sing in person was left with a lump in the throat.

Amonkar was one artiste for whom I compered several concerts, yet I never came in her personal radar unlike most other artistes who I got to know personally.

Kishoritai, as most of her fans addressed her, had an aura of her own that served as a boundary wall and restricted people from coming too close to her.

She neither talked to anyone before the concert in the green rooms nor did she like meeting people after the concert. She was tuning herself with her tanpura, as she would say.

But she did notice me every time I compered for her and commented, 'Who is this lady? She speaks so well,' and then surrendered herself to her swaras.

I was fortunate to compere her programmes in different cities and, each time, I received this one-liner as appreciation.

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia says of his flute: 'I have to tune myself as the flute cannot be tuned because it does not have strings. It is just a dead piece of bamboo that comes to life with the wind, the wind of my breath, so it is important that I am tuned with myself.'

Amonkar, too, concentrated more on tuning herself than her tanpuras. And that is the time she became one with herself.

After her concerts, she was in a different world; she was already transported to a stage where even the audience felt one with god.

Those who may never have believed in the supreme power would feel there was something inexplicable about what they just experienced.

I vividly recall an incident when she came straight to her seat without offering flowers to Swami Haridas's picture and started tuning her surmandal.

Shrigopal Goswami asked her: 'You should have offered flowers to Swami Haridas's photograph.'

Pat came her response, 'Today, I will not sing; Swami Haridas will sing through me.'

When the concert began, everyone among the 2,000-odd audience felt the presence of Swami Haridas.

My first chance to meet Amonkar was in Vrindavan, where she was invited almost every year by Acharya Shrigopal Goswami to perform in the Swami Haridas Music Festival of which I was the anchor for several decades.

She would be there to sing to the thousands of her fans who travelled from all over the country to listen to her soulful renditions.

Vrindavan being the bhoomi of Krishna, her music united the audience with the Lord.

She became one with the universe while she sang and no longer remained Kishori Amonkar.

Impeccably dressed in a plain, elegant sari with a zari border, she covered her head with the pallu and holding her surmandal, Amonkar would begin her recital around 4 am to a packed house and go on till after sunrise.

First she would offer her prayers in front of the huge photograph of Swami Haridas and then she would take her seat for the performance.

She truly believed in the prahar system and never deviated from that in the selection of her ragas. Hence, we were privileged to hear ragas that we would usually not listen to because most other music programmes did not last as long.

These included Lalit, Abhogi, Alhaiya Bilaval, Bhairav, Nat Bharav, Adana, Bhairavi and so on.

In between she would sing a Meera, Surdas or Kabir bhajan.

Regardless of what she sang, the pandal would be filled with unprecedented sublimity and, by the time she concluded, every eye would be moist.

She would fold her hands in namaskar to the audience and suddenly get up and leave without uttering a word.

I vividly recall an incident when she came straight to her seat without offering flowers to Swami Haridas's picture and started tuning her surmandal.

Shrigopal Goswami asked her: 'You should have offered flowers to Swami Haridas's photograph.'

Pat came her response, 'Today, I will not sing; Swami Haridas will sing through me.'

When the concert began, everyone among the 2,000-odd audience felt the presence of Swami Haridas.

I am tempted to quote Pandit Jasraj in the context of Amonkar. This will give some insight into the qualities of both the legendary artistes.

The other day he and I were conversing about various artistes who have touched his life. Amonkar was one of them.

While both the artistes had heard about each other earlier, they first got to meet in person in 1966 in Nagpur.

Pandit Jasraj recalls that, during a recital, Amonkar came and sat in the front row. As soon as he concluded the rendition in Darbari Kanada, she gestured that she had to leave. On his insistence, she sat till the end.

Kishori Amonkar had to give her recital first, but went on tuning her tanpura for over half an hour.

The audience was edgy.

Pandit Jasraj told her, 'You better go to the stage and begin the concert otherwise I will lift you and carry you in my arms.'

She said, 'Okay, do that.'

And Pandit Jasraj actually carried her in his arms to the stage and made her start singing.

The next day, Pandit Jasraj had booked a trunk call (these were the pre-STD days) and went for Amonkar's programme, having given instructions that he should be informed if the call came through.

While Amonkar was singing, he was told that the call was connected and he stood up to leave. Amokar saw this and stopped singing and said, 'Jasraj bhai, just five minutes.'

Of course, Pandit Jasraj stayed back.

The two were once performing on the birthday of Appasaheb Jalgaonkar, the harmonium maestro.

Amonkar had to give her recital first, but went on tuning her tanpura for over half an hour. The audience was edgy.

Pandit Jasraj told her, 'You better go to the stage and begin the concert otherwise I will lift you and carry you in my arms.'

She said, 'Okay, do that.'

And Pandit Jasraj actually carried Amonkar in his arms to the stage and made her start singing.

Her guru and mother Mogubai Kurdikar, a renowned vocalist of her times, lost her cool when she learnt that Amonkar had sung for a film, the title song of V Shantaram's Geet Gaaya Pattharon Ne.

Mogubai told Amonkar, 'You should not touch my tanpuras if you are going to sing for films!'

Amonkar lost her voice when she was 25.

She came in contact with Sant Sardeshmukh Maharaj in Pune who treated her and her voice miraculously came back.

She felt the overpowering presence of her gurus and Raghvendra Swamy in whom she believed and prayed.

That was the reason she was quietly in commune with her audience, for she felt that Raghvendra Swamy was in each person sitting in front of her and she was singing for her gurus.

Amonkar felt closeness to god. Everything she sang became a prayer.

At the Swami Haridas festival in Vrindavan, the custom has been that all the artistes who perform in the evening offer obeisance to Swami Haridas at his samadhi in Nidhivan the next morning.

Amonkar's recital concluded around 8.30 am, much after sunrise.

The time given for the Nidhivan programme was 10.30 am.

Shrigopal Goswami, who was also the priest of the Banke Bihari temple, thought that all the artistes would be late.

As I reached Nidhivan, what I witnessed was Amonkar sitting on the floor right next to the samadhi with a surmandal in her lap singing without the mic: 'Mharo Pranam. Banke Bihariji. Mharo Pranam.'

A sadhu was accompanying her on the tabla. No musical audience.

In attendance were bhakts who were visiting Nidhivan, shedding tears.

And those infamous monkeys of Nidhivan, known to snatch spectacles and bags of visitors, were for once not creating a ruckus and quietly sitting on the floor too, as if listening to Amonkar's bhajans.

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Barely weeks before he turned 22, a young fisherman was shot at sea, allegedly by the Sri Lankan navy.

While he may be buried as a statistic in the India-Sri Lanka turf war in the Indian Ocean, his devastated family may never come to terms with their loss, reports Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar.

IMAGE: Britto dreamt of a better life for his family. Photographs: A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com

A few days ago, on April 14, Tamil Nadu celebrated the New Year.

April 14 also happened to be Britto's birthday.

His mother, her face wet with the tears she cannot hold back, says, "Instead of celebrating his birthday, fate has forced us to grieve."

Just a few weeks earlier, on March 6, Britto was doing what he normally did to earn a living.

Along with six other people, he was on a mechanised boat, steered by his uncle, who was also the boat's owner.

It was around 9.30 pm. They were fishing off the Katchatheevu islet, which lies between India and Sri Lanka, when bullets whistled past them. One stuck Britto in the neck. He began bleeding profusely.

Instead of returning to shore immediately, the fishermen called their leader Seshu. He, in turn, tried calling the Coast Guard.

By this time, 45 precious minutes had been wasted.

When they realised that the Coast Guard was not coming, the boat made its way back.

By the time they reached ashore, Britto had bled to death.

"He would have survived if the Coast Guard had responded. They have a first aid kit and their boat would have reached the shore in 10 minutes," says Britto's elder brother Lespho, who works on a fishing boat in Kerala.

"The post-mortem report said he died of a gunshot wound," he adds. "They asked us if we suspected anybody in particular."

The question stunned Lespho. "Are they saying a fisherman carried a gun to sea to kill my brother in front of other fishermen?" he asks angrily. "I told them we don't have any enemies. I told them it was the (Sri) Lankan navy and nobody else."

Britto, who hailed from the Thangachimadam village in central Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, had completed his Class 10 before joining the family profession.

Since the family does own a boat, Britto would work for those who owned one.

He would go fishing on alternate days, twice or thrice a week, depending on the boat owner's discretion.

Depending on the catch, he would earn anywhere between Rs 800 to Rs 1,500 per trip.

IMAGE: Britto's mother and his elder brother Lespho.

Lespho and Britto supported their mother and three siblings.

Their father -- a heart patient who does not work regularly -- no longer lives with the family.

"A priest wanted to help the family and gave my father Rs 1.5 lakhs in cash. He is now using that money to drink every day," Lespho claims, adding, "Since he cannot do it here, he has left home and is staying with our grandmother in the next village."

One of Britto's brothers has epilepsy and cannot go out to sea.

Another is studying engineering and is in his second year. "Britto used to tell me, 'You look after our brother's education and I will look after the family," says Lespho.

"He also wanted to educate our only sister; he was very fond of her as she is the youngest in the house."

The state government, as is the norm when a fisherman dies at sea, gave the family Rs 5 lakhs as compensation. They also received Rs 1 lakh from DMK leader M K Stalin. A Ramaswamy, a local businessman, contributed another lakh.

The family has deposited the money in the bank and plans to use it for the daughter's education and marriage.

The Sri Lankan navy denied the incident.

"At sea here, only two kinds of people carry guns -- the Lankan navy and the Indian Coast Guard. How can they (the Sri Lankan navy) deny the shooting?" asks Lespho.

"The Sri Lankan navy has killed 600 fishermen since the ethnic war started in 1983," says Swami Pranavananda who runs an orphanage in the village, "and they have denied it every time."
HELENA  Three minor party and independent candidates who want to run in Montana's special congressional election are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.

Thomas Breck, Doug Campbell and Steve Kelly asked the nation's highest court Thursday to place their names on the May 25 ballot. A federal judge and a federal appeals court each declined similar requests.

The candidates say that Montana's ballot-access laws don't give independent candidates and voters a meaningful opportunity to participate.

The state required the candidates to collect 14,268 voter signatures by March 6. The special election was announced March 1.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris lowered the signature requirement to 400, but did not give the candidates additional time to collect them.

Democrat Rob Quist, Republican Greg Gianforte and Libertarian Mark Wicks are the three candidates on the ballot.
BUTTE  A Butte man who pleaded guilty to raping a 15-year-old girl in 2015 and giving her herpes was sentenced to 30 years in the Montana State Prison on Thursday in Butte district court by Judge Kurt Krueger.

Richard McLarnon, 36, was arrested in November of 2015 for engaging in sexual acts with a minor under the age of 16 between April and November of that year at his home and elsewhere.

Charged with three counts of child sex crimes, McLarnon pleaded not guilty in December and spent the next year trying to fight the charges. In November of 2016 he pleaded guilty to one count of rape.

The probation and parole officer who prepared McLarnon's pre-sentencing investigation testified Thursday that McLarnon gave "mixed signals" in an interview to determine whether he took responsibility for his actions. He said McLarnon told him there was no force and that she wanted to have sex, and that he knew she was under the age of consent.

The victim's mother prepared a statement to the court that was read by a cousin, who said the victim was overwhelmed by grief and trauma. She said the victim was friends with the family and met him when she was 12, and that he groomed her to be raped.

She said the victim still had nightmares of the rapes that destroyed her childhood and teenage years, and is home-schooled after being bullied at school for rumors. She said the victim is not the person she used to be, and that the herpes medication she must now take serves as a constant reminder of her trauma.

Deputy County Attorney Ann Shea said McLarnon still doesn't take responsibility for his actions, and asked Judge Krueger to sentence him to 30 years in the state prison, twice what was recommended in the pre-sentencing report. Shea said that prison sentence would still be easier than the victim's life.

McLarnon's defense attorney Victor Bunitsky said his client had no prior criminal history, and that a child rape sentence is "a tough way to begin your criminal career." Bunitsky asked for leniency considering McLarnon made an open plea instead of going to trial, and requested 15 years with the Department of Corrections with 11 suspended.

"You have given your victim a sentence as well," Krueger said before sentencing McLarnon to 30 years in the state prison with 10 suspended and 520 days time served. McLarnon must also register as a Tier 1 sex offender.
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Authorities in the central Chinese province of Henan are preparing to try an activist on subversion charges after he was forcibly repatriated by Thailand despite having been granted political refugee status by the United Nations.



Activists Dong Guangping and Jiang Yefei were handed back to Chinese authorities in November 2015, in a move that drew strong criticism from the U.N. High Commission for Refugees and human rights groups.



They have since been held in a detention center in the southwestern city of Chongqing, while their families have been resettled in Canada.



Dong's Canada-based wife Gu Shuhua said she is very concerned for his well-being, and that he also faces charges relating to his illegal crossing of the border with neighboring Myanmar during his flight to Thailand.



"Dong Guangping is facing two charges, one of 'illegally crossing a border,' and the other is 'incitement to subvert state power,'" she said on Thursday. "I strongly condemn these charges that have been brought by the Chinese government against Dong Guangping."



"Dong Guangping is a good man who fought to enable a better life for ordinary Chinese people," Gu said. "He wanted constitutional government one day for China. He was unarmed, with no vested interests and without ties to any organizations, so how could he have incited people to bring down the regime?"



Gu said she fears her husband will receive a heavy jail term. "Dong Guangping has been framed, and he could be sent away for a long time," she said.



Denied permission



Dong's lawyer Chang Boguang told RFA that he has been repeatedly denied permission to meet with his client, and he wasn't notified that the authorities are now preparing a trial.



"I heard that the case was moving to trial, but I haven't had any official communication," Chang said. "His wife instructed me to act in his defense, but I have been to Chongqing four times and haven't been allowed to see him in spite of lodging all the right paperwork with the court."



"The court has said it won't allow me to act for Dong Guangping, saying that he already has a lawyer, one that has been allocated for him by the authorities in Chongqing."



Sources said that Jiang Yefei is facing the same charges as Dong, and was formally arrested on May 13, 2016. Jiang's family have also been informed that he has "changed lawyers."



Dong Guangping fled China with his family in September after serving a three-year jail term for subversion from 2001-2004, and being disappeared and held for eight months in secret detention in 2014.



Political cartoonist Jiang Yefei had been in Thailand since fleeing China in 2008, where he was detained and tortured after he criticized the ruling Chinese Communist Party's handling of the devastating Sichuan earthquake, and was granted refugee status last April by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).



Chinese officials told his brother that Beijing would be seeking his extradition on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power" after he published a number of satirical cartoons targeting President Xi Jinping.



Both Jiang and Dong have "confessed" to the charges against them, their relatives have told RFA.



Thailand isn't a signatory to the United Nations covenant on refugees, and doesn't recognize the concept of political asylum. However, Chinese refugees, once approved by UNHCR, have the option of resettlement in more than 50 countries if they can evade detention by the country's immigration police.



Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Lieutenant Colonel Sai Nyin, spokesman of the Restoration Council of Shan State, gives a speech in an undated photo.

Lieutenant Colonel Sai Nyin, spokesman of the Restoration Council of Shan State, gives a speech in an undated photo.

The Myanmar government will allow ethnic organizations in Shan state to hold regional-level political discussions on April 23-25 in the run-up to national-level talks, a military official said on Thursday.

But the government has decided not to permit preliminary talks among ethnic Shan groups in the volatile state where some local militias are engaged in hostilities with the national army, said Lieutenant Colonel Sai Nyin, spokesman of the RCSS.

The government military originally decided that the talks could be held in Mangpan, Monehtaw, and Nantpankhon townships, but the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), one of the dominant ethnic organizations in the regions north, requested that they be held in the state capital Taunggyi because of difficulties in traveling to the others areas, he said.

We requested that the government hold national-level political talks [for Shan State] in Taunggyi, but we havent received a response yet, he told RFAs Myanmar Service. But the government invited us for the regional level talks in Taunggyi.

The RCSSs Peace Working Committee will hold a meeting today, and we will decide on whether we will participate in these talks or not, and how many representatives we will send if we attend, Sai Nyin said.

Sai Nyin insisted that national-level political talks among Shan ethnics must be held first before the regional talks can take place, he said.

He also said he believes it is the countrys powerful military rather than the civilian government of de facto national leader Aung San Suu Kyi that is not permitting Shan ethnic discussions, because it fears that the RCSS will dominate the talks.

The RSCC has been involved in recent clashes with the government military as well as hostilities with another ethnic militiathe Taang National Liberation army (TNLA)in northern Shan state.

But the RCSS alone cant lead the talks, he said. All Shan groups and organizations together will hold them, he said.

We are thinking that it could be difficult to participate in regional-level talks without holding ethnic-level talks [first], Sai Nyin said.

Five topicspolitics, the economy, security, social issues, and land and environmental issuesmust be hammered out among the Shan people before starting regional discussions, he said.

We will know what Shan people want on these topics only after we hold ethnic political talks, he said.

The government wont allow Shan ethnic-level political talks, only regional-level ones, he said. It is not good for the Shan people.

It will also be difficult for Shan representatives to attend the second round of the governments nationwide peace talks known as the 21st-century Panglong Conference without holding ethnic-level political talks beforehand, he said.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been preparing for the second round of talks, which the government has postponed twice since February, in a bid to end decades of ethnic separatist civil wars that have plagued the country and prevented it from further political and economic development.

Eight armed ethnic groups, including the RCSS, signed a nationwide cease-fire agreement with the government in October 2015, but the RCSS has been accused of violating the pacts terms.

Clashes in Shan state and neighboring Kachin state have resulted in an increase in the number of internal refugees and civilian deaths and have stymied Aung San Suu Kyis efforts to bring warring ethnic militias to the negotiating table.

Reported by Thiha Tun for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Khet Mar.
Authorities in Myanmars northern Shan state have seized more than U.S. $1.5 million worth of illegal drugs, timber, and cattle at a new inspection station for transport vehicles that opened two months ago, an official who works at the checkpoint said Thursday.

They transferred the drugs, which were headed to China, from the checkpoint in Yepu to a police station in the town of Theinni, said Teat Tun Aung, deputy director of the inspection station.

Authorities also recently seized two trucks carrying illegal timber and cattle headed for China, he said.

Within two months of opening the checkpoint, authorities have confiscated illegally transported items, including 888 grams (two pounds) of heroin and 74 head of cattle, totaling 2.23 billion kyats (U.S. $1.62 million), he said.

We have seized illegal food that people shouldnt eat, clothing, household goods, shoes, cattle, snakes, Padauk timber, and some chemicals to make medicine, Teat Tun Aung said.

We have transferred the timber, cows, and snakes to the state Forestry Department, he said.

Authorities will transfer other items, including clothing, food, and household goods brought from China with illegal documents, to the Customs Department.

Shan state and neighboring Kachin state are hotbeds of illegal drug and smuggling activities where ethnic rebel groupssome of which take part in the illegal activitieshave engaged in periodic hostilities with Myanmars armed forces during the last few years.

Reported by Thiri Min Zin for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have banned dozens of baby names with religious meanings that are widely used by Muslims elsewhere in the world, RFA has learned.



Sources in Hotan, in the southern part of the region, had previously detailed a list of banned names in 2015, but the ban now appears to have been rolled out region-wide.



Islam, Quran, Mecca, Jihad, Imam, Saddam, Hajj, and Medina are among dozens of baby names banned under ruling Chinese Communist Party's "Naming Rules For Ethnic Minorities," an official confirmed on Thursday.



An employee who answered the phone at a police station in the regional capital Urumqi confirmed that "overly religious" names are banned, and that any babies registered with such names would be barred from the "hukou" household registration system that gives access to health care and education.



"You're not allowed to give names with a strong religious flavor, such as Jihad or names like that,' the official said. "The most important thing here is the connotations of the name ... [it mustn't have] connotations of holy war or of splittism [Xinjiang independence]."



Asked if names of Islamic scholars were acceptable, the employee replied: "Get him to change it; it's the sort of thing that [could be regarded as] promoting terror and evil cults."



Asked if Yultuzay, a reference to the star and moon symbol of the Islamic faith, was acceptable, he said: "Actually the star and moon are a pagan symbol."



"[Mecca] would be a bit over-the-top ... I don't think you could call someone Saddam, either," he said in response to queries on those names.



"Just stick to the party line, and you'll be fine," he said. "[People with banned names] won't be able to get a household registration, so they will find out from the hukou office when the time comes."



"They have received training in this sort of thing over here [in Xinjiang] so they're the experts [on what is allowed]," he said.



Mainstream names



A source meanwhile told RFA that the safest names for Uyghurs are those that sound more "mainstream."



"I have been talking to friends in Xinjiang about this, and they all say that any with potentially extremist overtones will be banned, but names like Memet ... that you see everywhere are considered more mainstream by the Chinese Communist Party," the source said.



Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exile World Uyghur Congress group, said the Chinese government is continuing to suppress traditional Uyghur culture by controlling what Uyghurs can call their children.



"In setting limits on the naming of Uyghurs, the Chinese government is in fact engaging in political persecution under another guise," Raxit told RFA. "They are afraid that people with such names will become alienated from Chinese policies in the region."



"Yultuzay, for example, is seen by the Chinese government as carrying separatist connotations, to do with religion," he said. "They are placing limits on Uyghurs' religious beliefs."



Strike-hard campaigns



China has vowed to crack down on what it calls religious extremism in Xinjiang, and regularly conducts strike hard campaigns including police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people, including videos and other material.



While China blames Uyghur extremists for terrorist attacks, experts outside China say Beijing has exaggerated the threat from the Uyghurs and that repressive domestic policies are responsible for an upsurge in violence there that has left hundreds dead since 2009.



Last month, Xinjiang authorities fired an ethnic Uyghur official for holding her wedding ceremony at home according to Islamic traditions instead of at a government-sanctioned venue.



Salamet Memetimin, the communist party secretary for Chaka townships Bekchan village, in Hotan (in Chinese, Hetian) prefectures Chira (Cele) county, was among 97 officials recently charged with disciplinary violations, according to an April 10 report by the state-run Hotan Daily newspaper.



Local residents said the woman was relieved of her duties for taking her marriage vowsknown as nikah in Muslim culturein her own home.



An official told RFA's Uyghur service that home wedding vows could give rise to unsanctioned religious leaders promoting "deviant views that contradict ethnic unity and the sovereignty of the county.



Reported by Xin Lin for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.




A group of farmers engaged in a standoff with authorities over a land dispute in Vietnams capital Hanoi boycotted a meeting Thursday with the citys mayor, who was ordered to negotiate the release of 20 police officers and local officials the farmers detained during a clash over the weekend, state media said.



Mayor Nguyen Duc Chung traveled to the My Duc district Peoples Committee building, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from central Hanoi, to discuss the hostage situation, but the farmers wanted Chung to visit with them directly in My Ducs Dong Tam commune, according to a report by VnExpress.



Ive invited the villagers today but they didnt show up, the report quoted Chung as saying, adding that the invitation remains open.



Thursday marked Chungs first visit to My Duc since an April 15 clash between police and Dong Tam farmers, who say the government is seizing 47 hectares (116 acres) of their farmland for the military-run Viettel Groupthe countrys largest mobile phone operatorwithout adequately compensating them.



Police had arrested several farmers for allegedly causing social unrest, and other farmers responded by detaining 38 police officers and local officials, and threatening to kill them if security personnel attack again. Local media said that the farmers who were arrested have since been released.



By April 17, villagers freed 15 police officers, while three other detainees managed to escape by themselves. Twenty people are still being held in Dong Tam and authorities have said that those responsible for detaining them will be dealt with according to the law.



Dao Duc Toan, deputy secretary of the Hanoi Communist Party Office, announced Wednesday that Chung had been ordered to hold a dialogue with the farmers and acknowledged that the land situation in Dong Tam was complicated by "lax management."



On Thursday, Chung told local officials that the city government will investigate the land dispute and asked villagers to assist with the inspection, which VnExpress said is expected to take 45 days. He promised that the issue would addressed properly, unlike previous instances over the past four years.



Chung also urged the farmers to remove blockades and release the detainees, assuring them that authorities will not launch an attack.



VnExpress also quoted Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang as saying that Hanoi authorities are dealing with the situation in accordance with the law, ensuring the legal interests of all parties involved.



Agence France-Presse on Thursday cited a female farmer who said her group would resist any rescue attempt by the authorities, adding that residents had sealed off the area with barricades made from logs, sandbags and bricks after spotting signs a day earlier that police might be planning to enter.



The woman, who spoke with AFP on condition of anonymity, said farmers had poured oil around the building where the 20 detaineesincluding two senior local officialswere being kept, adding we will make our move if the police attack us, suggesting the farmers might set fire to the structure.



Meanwhile, she said, the hostages were being treated well and were being fed three meals a day.



Some farmers have expressed concerns that they may be arrested if they leave Dong Tam to meet with authorities.



A screen grab from a video posted to Facebook shows security personnel enter Vong Dong hamlet to forcibly evict residents, April 19, 2017. Courtesy of Thai Van Duong Forced eviction



Chungs visit to My Duc came as reports emerged Thursday that hundreds of security personnel carrying riot shields and wearing helmets forcibly evicted a hamlet in Yen Trung village, in the northern province of Bac Ninhs Yen Phong district.



A group of policemen initially entered Vong Dong hamlet on April 19 and informed residents that the eviction would take place early the next morning, an account posted on the Facebook page of Thai Van Duong said.



When residents refused to leave, local officials invited them to negotiate, but hundreds of officers moved into the hamlet shortly after without prior notice, as a video added to the Facebook posting purports to show.



Sources told RFAs Vietnamese Service that some residents were injured during the eviction and others were detained for filming the incident.



I heard that they sent about 1,000 policemen to carry out the eviction, said one witness, who asked not to be named.



The villagers had erected their tents on the land a few days before. They also brought coffins and lit incense sticks [in protest]. Police injured one elderly person, broke another persons arm and arrested some people who recorded it.



According to Duong, Vong Dong hamlet includes a 5,040-square-meter (54,250-square-foot) paddy field, with one of the highest yields in Yen Trung village.



Officials in Yen Trung demanded that residents hand over the land in exchange for 21,000 dong (U.S. $0.92) per square meter, but the residents refused because they believe the compensation is too low, Duong said.



It was not immediately clear what authorities plan to use the land for.



Land law



While all land in Vietnam is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint as residents accuse the government of pushing small landowners aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects, and of paying too little in compensation to those whose land is taken.



Many petitioners who seek justice and demand adequate compensation for their land have been beaten and imprisoned by authorities on allegations of causing public disorder under Article 245 of Vietnams Penal Code.



Economist Pham Chi Lan told RFA that land ownership has become one of the most controversial issues in Vietnam today, and one in which farmers often find the deck stacked in the governments favor.



Lan recommended farmers be recognized as land owners, rather than users, saying that while land users are provided with rights, they are not guaranteed, because the government still has the right to take the land back.



Land appropriation can be carried out at several levels of government, and there is a higher likelihood that it will not be done in accordance with the law when initiated by lower ranked officials, due to lack of oversight, he said.



Lan also suggested removing a clause in the land law allowing appropriation of land for socioeconomic development projects, which he said is too vague.



It is too large in scope and doesnt make clear what can lead to a situation where the farmers land is taken and given to a company, he said.



In this situation, farmers are offered compensation at much lower rates than the real value of the land, and that leads to lawsuits throughout the country.



Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
The Kremlin is tightening its grip on its protectorates.

Last week, Russian Railways slashed its rates for shipping coal and iron ore to the separatist-held areas of the Donbas, thereby increasing their economic dependence on Moscow.

State Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin called the move a step toward detaching the territories from Ukraine.

This week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov opened a so-called Russian Embassy in Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region.

Lavrov also pledged that Russia would defend what he called Abkhazia's "border" with Georgia.

And last month, Moscow-backed authorities in Georgia's South Ossetia region effectively merged their military with Russia's.

You can call it colonization. You can call it a virtual empire. You can call it soft annexations.

But, whatever you call it, the Russian-occupied territories in the former Soviet Union are increasingly being de facto integrated into Russia.

And, as this is happening, the Kremlin is sticking to its tried-and-true fictions and its tried-and-true lies.

It's pretending that that Abkhazia and South Ossetia are independent states.

And it's pretending that it is abiding by the Minsk cease-ire and intends to return the separatist-held areas of the Donbas to Ukraine.

But the facts on the ground tell another story entirely.

Keep telling me what you think on The Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he will travel to the United States next month to hold talks with President Donald Trump, their first meeting since Trump took office in January.

Erdogan on April 20 said in an interview with Turkish media that the meetings with Trump would be held May 16-17 after the Turkish leader travels to China on May 15.

"I will be travelling to China, and after China I will be traveling to the United States," he said.

There was no immediate announcement from the White House on the visit.

Erdogans visit will give him an opportunity to build on his relationship with Trump after a difficult period with the previous Obama administration.

Erdogan and President Barack Obama clashed over the U.S. administrations criticism of Erdogans record on human rights, while Ankara was angered by U.S. support for Kurdish groups in Iraq and Syria.

Turkey has also been pressing Washington to extradite Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based Islamic cleric it accuses of being behind last year's failed coup.

Trump, on the other hand, was the only Western leader to phone Erdogan to congratulate him for winning a referendum that significantly strengthened Erdogans ruling powers.

The referendum has been heavily criticized by Western countries, including the United States, for putting too much power into the presidents hands and it has been challenged as flawed by the European Union and Turkish opposition figures.

"I hope and pray that this tete-a-tete meeting in the United States in May will lay the foundation for stronger cooperation," Erdogan said in the interview.

He added it was very early to comment on his future relationship with Trump.

When I met President Obama for first time I was very hopeful. Let's embark on this journey," he said.

He added, though, that he had spoken with Trump three times by phone. "Every time we spoke to one another I have become more hopeful," he said.

On the demand that Washington extradite Gulen, Erdogan said, I believe President Trump will do what President Obama failed to do."

With reporting by AFP and Reuters
TBILISI -- Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze told RFE/RL on April 20 that his Russian counterpart's trip visit to Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region this week was an attempt to shore up the "illusion" of legitimacy.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov traveled to Abkhazia on April 18-19 and attended the opening ceremony for new buildings of what Russia calls its embassy in the region, which only Russia and a few other countries regard as an independent state.

"With this visit, the Russian Federation tried to show the regimes of the occupied territories...that it can support them and strengthen their international positions, which is of course an illusion," Janelidze told RFE/RL's Georgian Service in an interview.

He said that this is an illusion because of what he called "the international community's strong commitment" to Georgia's territorial integrity.

Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast, broke from Georgia's central government control in a 1992-93 war. Russia recognized Abkhazia and another breakaway region, South Ossetia, as independent countries after fighting a five-day war against Tbilisi in 2008.

Only a handful of countries followed suit, while the vast majority consider that Abkhazia and South Ossetia are still regions of Georgia.

Russia maintains thousands of troops in the two breakaway regions.

On April 18, the Georgian prime minister's special representative for relations with Russia, Zurab Abashidze, called Lavrov's visit a "violation of Georgia's sovereignty."

Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister David Jalagania said Russia was "ignoring...international principles and laws."
Heavy floods have hit regions across northern Kazakhstan, destroying hundreds of buildings, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people, and leading to accusations of a botched state response.

Residents have linked about six deaths to the recent flooding, while authorities in the Central Asian nation say it has caused no casualties.

On April 20, officials in the North Kazakhstan region said the water level in a main reservoir was almost three meters above the allowed maximum, adding to the concerns of residents hit by the flooding that follows snowmelt.

Interior Minister Qalmukhanbet Qasymov said on April 19 that almost 2,000 buildings were destroyed by the floods in the Aqmola, Pavlodar, Qostanai, North Kazakhstan, East Kazakhstan, Qaraghandy, and Aqtobe regions.

Thousands of local residents have been evacuated and tens of thousands of heads of livestock were moved to safer districts.

Some Kazakhs affected by the floods accuse officials of failing to prevent the damage.

Amid concern about high water levels close to Astana, lawmaker Vladimir Bozhko told RFE/RL on April 19 that the capital is "securely protected."


Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman sought to downplay evidence of a campaign of abuse targeting gay men in Chechnya, saying the Kremlin has "heard no confirmation" of reports that have prompted outrage in the West.

Speaking to journalists on April 20, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin has no reason to doubt regional leader Ramzan Kadyrov's assurances that there is no persecution of gays in Chechnya.

HIs remarks came a day after Kadyrov met with Putin in the Kremlin and dismissed what he called "provocative articles" about gay men being rounded up by the authorities in Chechnya and families who are encouraged to perform honor killings.

Putin made no comment on the issue in the public portion of the meeting, according to a transcript posted on the Kremlin website late on April 19.

An April 1 report in the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta said more than 100 men had been detained in Chechnya recently on the basis of the assumption that they were gay, and that at least three of them were killed.

Gay men from Chechnya have since given personal accounts to RFE/RL and other media of their escape from the abuse they faced in the region in the North Caucasus, which Kadyrov has ruled with an iron hand and strong Kremlin support for a decade.

The news agency AFP reported on April 20 that it had spoken to several men who were in hiding in Moscow after fleeing Chechnya.

The men said they were beaten and detained in unofficial prisons, and had fled the region because they were afraid of both the authorities and their own relatives, AFP reported.

The Russian LGBT Network, an NGO that helps Chechens persecuted for "homosexuality, both real and imagined" to flee the region, said on April 17 that about 60 people had asked to be evacuated in less than three weeks.

"So far we have heard no confirmation to this information," Peskov said of the reports and accounts, which have prompted widespread concern among governments and activists in the West.

When a journalist mentioned media accounts of conversations with victims, Peskov said: "Where are they? There are no people.... Who are these people? Where do they live?"

"These are some phantom complaints, absolutely depersonalized," Peskov said.

Russia's prosecutor-general said on April 17 that it was looking into the claims, which have prompted calls from several countries, as well as the United Nations and the European Union, for thorough investigations.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said on April 17 that the United states is "disturbed by reports of kidnapping, torture, and murder of people in Chechnya based on their sexual orientation."

But activists fear that remarks from Russian officials denying or downplaying the reports mean there is little chance justice will be done.

Tatyana Moskalkova, Russia's human rights commissioner, also said on April 20 that she suspects the reports are a "provocation."

"Have people really suffered, or does somebody want to get something out of this?" the Interfax news agency quoted her as saying.

Putin has made no public comment on the issue.

In the public portion of his meeting with Kadyrov, he said only one word about it, asking what the Chechen leader was referring to when he brought up the matter.

Kadyrov criticized the reports, which he said were "unsubstantiated," and the two then went on to discuss other things.

In denying the Novaya Gazeta report on April 1, Kadyrov's spokesman asserted that it could not be true because gay men "simply don't exist" in Chechnya. He also implied that if there were any, their relatives would kill them.

Rights activists say Kadyrov rules through repressive measures and has created a climate of impunity for security forces in Chechnya.

Government critics say the Kremlin has given him free rein because it relies on him to keep a lid on separatism and insurgent violence after two devastating post-Soviet wars in the region.

Putin has also come under criticism in the West for signing a law on gay propaganda that gay rights activists say encourages discrimination against and abuse of homosexuals.

With reporting by AFP and AP
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linus Linkevicius said censorship is not an answer in the fight against Russian propaganda. His government recently launched a campaign on television urging citizens to report any suspicious online stories. He discussed his views of how to address the problem in an interview with Current Time TV during a visit to Prague.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius says the recent NATO deployments to the Baltic region and elsewhere in Eastern Europe are a sign that the Western alliance will do anything to defend the security of member nations.

In an interview on April 20 with Current Time TV, Linkevicius also said Vilnius desires normal relations with Russia but that they should be based on "principles and values."

Linkevicius spoke to the Russian-language network, run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, as the 28-member alliance is bolstering its presence in the region to reassure member nations in the face of a renewed aggressive foreign policy by neighboring Russia.

Particularly worrisome is Moscows illegal annexation of Ukraines Crimea region and its continued support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Russia has also been accused of interfering in the affairs of countries looking to move closer to the NATO alliance.

NATO has deployed four battalions to Poland and the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, led by U.S., German, Canadian, and British troops and each with about 800 troops.

Linkevicius told Current Time TV that the level of threat from Russia against the Baltic states -- all NATO members and all former Soviet republics -- remains high.

"The situation has not really improved since [last year], he said.

Linkevicius denied the NATO deployments should be seen by Moscow as a threat, given their small size compared with the level of Russias forces in the region.

"If we compare figures, there are 300,000 servicemen in the Western Military District of the Russian Federation, plus the three more divisions whose deployment has been announced just recently," he said.

But Linkevicius said the NATO presence should be seen as a sign of its commitment to the regions security.

"The main thing is that we are not talking here about competition or escalation, he said.

What we are doing is meant to leave no doubts for anyone that the NATO alliance will do everything necessary to guarantee the security of its territories and population, the foreign minister said.

Linkevicius said there was a war of sorts already taking place in the region -- the so-called hybrid war of unconventional methods, including disinformation and fake news.

"This war already is taking place -- a cyberwar, an information war. In general, the understanding of security has been expanded," he said.

"Once, there were times when before a real fight, an artillery barrage took place.... This is no longer needed. It may be sufficient to use brainwashing to create the staging ground for [military] action.

I am deeply convinced that this is what happened in Crimea," Linkevicius said.



"A ban or some type of censorship are not solutions. It is necessary to set up alternative sources [of information] and to fight those tendencies directly, in a positive way," he said.



On relations with Russia, Linkevicius said there have been few contacts in recent times between Vilnius and Moscow.

"It has been a while since we have had any high-level meetings, he said. We do not think this is because of our position.

In the future, we do want to have relations like normal neighbors. But [relations] should be based on some principles and values, and this is very important."

Linkevicius noted that next month a Russian forum will be held in Lithuania where scholars, journalists, and political science experts will be invited.

Politicians will be there, too, he said. "We will talk about the future of Russia and of Russia in Europe and about freedom of speech.

And, by the way, we will be speaking in Russian."

With reporting by AP and AFP
MOSCOW -- The film, shown at Vladimir State University earlier this week, pulled no punches: charismatic opposition leader Aleksei Navalny is a nationalist, a corrupt criminal, and worst of all, a Nazi.



The university students, however, were having none of it, hooting at the presenters trying to convince them of the perils of trusting Navalny and the opposition in its battle against the Kremlin.

Is it really OK for you to be comparing Navalny with Hitler? one student is heard asking in a cell phone video posted online. You say we dont know anything about the man, but what do you know about him?

Last months massive nationwide protests attracted throngs of young Russians, a move that attracted the attention of many veteran observers of Russian protest movements, and stoked speculation that a coherent opposition may be coalescing around Navalny.



That fact appears to have also stoked concern for the Kremlin and its allies, judging by the growing number of incidents at schools where teachers call on young people to shun opposition activities and the so-called fifth column.

The video shown in Vladimir, and another slickly produced one anonymously posted on YouTube, suggest also that Russian authorities are opening another line of attack against Navalny.

The latter video, titled Hitler 1945/Navalny 2018, zeroes in on Navalnys well-known nationalist tendencies: in particular, his attendance several years ago of Russky March, an annual nationalist parade in Moscow attended by right wing, anti-immigration Muscovites and xenophobic, racist ultranationalists.



Amid climactic music, the clip ends with an image of Navalny morphing into a dead Nazi soldier engulfed in flames as the narrator proclaims Navalny to be "doomed" because "a political corpse starts to decompose as soon as he raises his arm in a Nazi salute."

On the same day the video was posted to YouTube, the independent channel TV Rain cited four unnamed officials as saying the Kremlin had decided to launch a coordinated campaign to discredit Navalny.



After the video was posted, Navalny supporters took to social media networks to scoff at the logic of comparisons with Hitler, and the clip's conspiratorial tone.



Hitler had a moustache, Navalny doesnt: he shaved specially so no one would guess hes Hitler. What more evidence do you need? one Twitter user, Boris Fogel, posted.



Oleg Kozyrev, a media analyst and writer, posted a parody video in response, comparing Navalny with Gandhi.

Another Twitter user wrote mockingly: Navalny observes fasts. Do you know who else doesnt eat meat? HITLER!



Valery Solovey, a Moscow-based political analyst, criticized the authors of the smear video.

"Stupidity or treachery? The campaign against Navalny is an absolute fail. ALL the possible mistakes have been made. NOT ONE single correct step was taken."



Russias famously-fractious opposition has been targeted by smear campaigns in the past, many of which have been effective.



One year ago, Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister who is now an opposition leader, was secretly filmed having sex with his assistant. The video was broadcast on the national NTV station, causing divisions in Kasyanovs party ahead of parliamentary elections.



As of April 20, the YouTube video comparing Navalny to Hitler had garnered about 1.5 million views. The vast majority of responses, however, were negative: 11,000 liked the video, while 10 times as many -- 113,000 -- disliked it.





By contrast, a film Navalnys organization made about Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev -- asserting that Medvedev used charity and nonprofit organizations to collect donations from oligarchs and state banks -- has garnered 19.45 million views since being posted on YouTube on March 2.

TV Rains sources said the decision to smear Navalny was taken because of the success of the Medvedev video, which has dented his popularity in recent weeks.



Navalny has said he intends to run for the presidency next year and is hoping he can overturn an earlier criminal conviction which currently rules him out of the race.President Vladimir Putin is expected to do run -- and to coast to victory.



On April 19, meanwhile, Medvedev denounced the allegations leveled in the Navalny film, telling the lower house of parliament that they were the absolutely lying product of political rogues."

He did not name Navalny.
Russia's Foreign Ministry has hailed a ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague rejecting Ukraine's request to order Moscow to stop supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine said in a case filed at the ICJ in January that Russia had stepped up its interference in Ukraine's affairs since 2014, "intervening militarily...financing acts of terrorism and violating the human rights of millions of Ukraine's citizens, including, for all too many, their right to life."

But the court on April 19 said in its ruling that the conditions required for the indication of provisional measures, as requested by Ukraine in order to block Russian support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, are not met."

In a statement on April 20, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the ICJ "also called on all parties to the dispute to implement in full the Minsk agreements, recalling that these agreements were approved and signed by representatives of Donetsk and Luhansk in particular, a fact that Ukraine attempts to deny."

Moscow seized control of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and has supported the separatists in a war that has killed more than 9,900 people in eastern Ukraine since April of that year.

"It is important that the court has taken a principled stand and did not support Ukraines claims about supposed aggression and occupation,' and on the status of Crimea as a matter not relevant to the substance of the dispute," the Russian Foreign Ministry's April 20 statement said.

However, the ICJ did issue a provisional ruling calling for a halt to what it says is "racial discrimination" against Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians in Russia-occupied Crimea.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called the ICJ ruling "very promising."

"The international court in The Hague recognized its jurisdiction over both court cases. We are confident that today we are pursuing the right course, and hope for a successful hearing of these cases," Poroshenko said during a visit to London.


What would prompt a group of Pakistani university students to turn on a classmate, strip him naked, and beat him to death on the grounds of their campus?

Investigators are still seeking answers to that very question, but Mashal Khan's outspoken views and social-media presence offer some possible clues.

The mob that lynched Khan on April 13 accused the 23-year-old of posting "blasphemous content" online, a crime that is punishable by death in Pakistan under colonial-era laws that have long been criticized by human rights groups. Blasphemy is a highly serious and sensitive charge, and even unproven allegations can lead to vigilante justice, including mob lynchings and violence.

Twenty-two people have been arrested so far over the killing, and police have said they have found no evidence to prove that Khan had committed blasphemy.

Khan, a journalism student at Abdul Wali Khan University in the northwestern city of Mardan, was an outspoken critic of conservative Islam and an apparent admirer of communist revolutionaries and controversial national figures.

The walls of his dorm room were adorned with posters of Karl Marx, Argentinian Marxist Che Guevara, and Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, who was assassinated in 2006.

Well-Read, Intelligent

Those who met Khan describe him as a well-read and intelligent student who openly professed his Islamic faith. Yet he also questioned the role of religion in society, condemned sectarian violence, and was an open admirer of the region's pre-Islamic culture.

His outspokenness led RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal to invite him to participate in its Voice Of The Youth program just weeks before his death. In his March 24 appearance on the show, Khan was critical of Pakistan's political system and censorship in the country.

WATCH: Funeral For Student Lynched Over Blasphemy Allegation

Khan, who studied engineering for four years at the Moscow Business School in Russia, said he returned to his homeland to serve and enlighten his people.

"My mind opened after I started reading," said Khan, who was a fervent student of Western philosophy. "I began to understand the root of our problems in Pakistan."

Khan, who had traveled widely in Europe, was fiercely opposed to the feudal system still dominant in some areas of Pakistan. He was an advocate of social equality and was a self-confessed admirer of humanism, which places importance on the individual over the divine.

He also lamented peoples' lack of knowledge of the region's pre-Islamic history. "We have thousands of years of history. We were once worshipping fire," he said, referring to Zoroastrianism, a religion that was dominant in the region before the spread of Islam in the 7th century.

Attracting Threats And Abuse

Khan shared his views online, especially on Facebook, attracting abuse and threats from deeply conservative Muslims.

He posted photos of the founder of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin, Chinese communist dictator Mao Zedong, and Abdul Ghaffar Khan, better known as Bacha Khan(Frontier Gandhi), who advocated for the rights of his fellow Pashtuns in the British Raj in the early 20th century.

Khan knew he had made enemies with teachers and other students for his secular views and for not following a religious code of life or attending Friday prayers.

Khan appeared to be aware that he could be accused of blasphemy, sharing a post in December 2016 that warned his followers that fake accounts had been created in his name.

"[They are] trying to blackmail me," he warned, adding that "someone is trying to taint my image."

The brutality of the attack shocked the Pakistani public and led to widespread condemnation, including from prominent Islamic clerics.

WATCH: Students Want 'Radical Elements' Expelled After Killing

Graphic video footage of the killing showed dozens of men outside the dorm kicking and hurling objects at a body sprawled on the ground.

Rights activists have held protests in several Pakistani cities to condemn the killing, and the United Nations has called the killing "unacceptable."

On April 18, Pakistan's parliament passed a resolution calling for the reform of blasphemy laws, the first time it has ever done so.

At least 65 people have been killed by vigilantes over blasphemy allegations since 1990.


Pakistani police say three women dressed in burqas killed a man who had been accused of blasphemy in 2004 in a northeastern Pakistani town -- the second murder over alleged insults to Islam in a week.

The three young women have confessed to the killing, police said April 20.

Fazal Abbas, who was in his 50s and belonged to the minority Shi'ite branch of Islam, was gunned down at home in what his family have called a sectarian hate crime.

Abbas had fled Pakistan in 2004 after being charged with committing blasphemy, but returned earlier this year to fight the case and was granted bail, police said.

The women -- apparently sisters -- entered Abbas's home in the small city of Sialkot on April 19, and one of them shot him in the chest, police said.



A relative of the victim said the attacker, whose name is Afshan, was known to the family and was a lecturer at a seminary connected to the anti-Shi'ite militant group Lashkar-e Jhangvi.

The family said that Abbas was the victim of a blasphemy case targeting him because he was a Shi'ite. About one-fifth of predominantly Sunni Muslim Pakistan's 202 million people are Shi'ite Muslims.

Police official Mohammad Farooq said the women had confessed and were in custody.

The latest killing came in the wake of a government drive to prosecute blasphemy, a hugely sensitive charge in conservative Muslim Pakistan.

Last week (April 13) a mob beat student Mashal Khan to death when blasphemy accusations spread across a university campus in the northern city of Mardan.

Police are now investigating a number of university students and faculty for their involvement in the attack.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dawn.com
BELGRADE -- Despite rain and cold weather, several hundred people participated in a two-hour protest walk in Belgrade on April 19 marking the 17th day of demonstrations against the ruling party.

The daily rallies against what protesters call "the dictatorship" began in Belgrade and other Serbian cities on April 3, a day after Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic's overwhelming victory in a presidential election.

Protesters chanted, blew whistles, beat drums, and held signs saying the "Emperor is naked," and "Down with the dictatorship."

The demonstrators, mostly students, also chanted "We want to go live" to protest the meager coverage they have received from Serbian news services.

As the protest ended in front of the Serbian parliament, organizers announced it would resume on the evening of April 20.

Protesters said they were seeking media freedom, the dismissal of the "political elite" led by Vucic, the removal of "all corrupt officials," "fair and free" elections, improved labor rights, and the dismissal of members of the electoral commission and the regulator of electronic media.

With reporting by Ljudmila Cvetkovic of RFE/RL's Balkan Service


The United States and the European Union have denounced a Russian Supreme Court decision to brand the Jehovahs Witnesses an extremist organization and ban its activities.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in a statement that it was "disappointed, but not surprised" by the court's move.

USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission that monitors the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad.

The courts decision sadly reconfirms the disregard of the government for religious freedom in present-day Russia," the statement quoted USCIRF chair, Thomas J. Reese, as saying.

"Individual and community expressions of faith, and even private religious beliefs, are not safe from state-sponsored repression and coercion in Russia today, Reese said in the April 20 statement.



Reese also dismissed the Russian Justice Ministry's statement that the Jehovahs Witnesses pose a threat to the rights of citizens, public order, and public security as simply a politicized assault on a religious group known worldwide for its pacifism and avoidance of politics.

Reese went on to say that, "With this decision, the Russian government takes another unnecessary step away from the international community and toward isolation, and urged Russia's judiciary to "overturn this unjustified ruling" if the Jehovahs Witnesses choose to appeal it.

Meanwhile, EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini's office said on April 21 that the ruling could make it possible to launch criminal prosecutions against Jehovah's Witnesses for mere acts of worship.

"Jehovahs Witnesses, like all other religious groups, must be able to peacefully enjoy freedom of assembly without interference, as guaranteed by the constitution of the Russian Federation as well as by Russia's international commitments and international human rights standards," it said in a statement.

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the courts April 20 decision was a terrible blow to freedom of religion and association in Russia.

A senior British government official also said she was "alarmed" by the Russian court's move.

"This ruling effectively criminalizes the peaceful worship of 175,000 Russian citizens and contravenes the right to religious freedom which is enshrined in the Russian Constitution," Baroness Joyce Anelay, human rights minister, said in a statement on April 21.

"The United Kingdom calls on the Russian government to uphold its international commitment to this basic freedom," the statement said.

The Jehovahs Witnesses denomination in Russia, which says it has 170,000 adherents and 395 local branches in the country, said it would fight the ruling.
The head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) says the authorities have determined who ordered a bombing that killed 15 people on a subway train in St. Petersburg on April 3.

FSB chief Aleksandr Bortnikov did not immediately name the suspect, Russian news agencies reported.

Authorities say the bombing, which injured nearly 50 people, was a suicide attack carried out by Akbarjon Jalilov, a 22-year-old ethnic-Uzbek Russian citizen born in Kyrgyzstan.

10th Suspect Arrested

No group has claimed responsibility for the deadliest bombing in Russia since 2013. but police in Moscow have now detained a 10th suspect in connection with the blast.

Investigative Committee officials said that Akram Azimov was arrested on April 19 and that he had a hand grenade in his possession at the time.

Azimov, 29, is a brother of another suspect in the case, Abror Azimov, 26, who was detained on April 17 and ordered held in custody.

Both brothers are Russian citizens of Central Asian origin. The eight other suspects who have been detained are also originally from Central Asia.

Investigators say the bombing was a suicide attack carried out by Akbarjon Jalilov, a 22-year-old ethnic-Uzbek Russian citizen born in Kyrgyzstan.

Authorities say they suspect Abror Azimov organized the bombing.

With reporting by TASS and Interfax


ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Ecologists in Russia's northern capital are raising the alarm over government plans to fuel a floating nuclear power plant just 2 kilometers from the heart of the city.



Officials have been saying since December that they are nearly ready to begin fueling the Akademik Lomonosov, the country's first-ever ship-borne nuclear-power station, which is scheduled to be deployed at Vilyuchinsk on the Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula in 2019. Because the process is shrouded in secrecy and the government has ignored requests for information, it is unclear what the status of the fueling process currently is.



"From this floating nuclear power plant to the city's mining institute [for example] is probably only about 500 meters," Rashid Alimov, director of energy programs for Greenpeace Russia, told RFE/RL. "The historical center is densely populated. We have to exclude even the thought of an accident. That is why we have written to the governor.  According to the law, carrying out such operations at the Baltic Shipyard must be approved by the city, evacuation plans have to be drawn up. We have asked the municipal authorities about this."



The keel of the Akademik Lomonosov was laid in 2007 in the Far Northern shipyard of Sevmash in Severodvinsk and was originally intended to power Sevmash itself. However, in 2008, it was moved to the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg for the installation of its two reactors, which are modified naval propulsion reactors. In Kamchatka, it is intended to replace the Bilibino nuclear-power plant, which is scheduled to begin decommissioning in 2019. Its construction is being overseen by the Rosatom state nuclear-energy corporation.



Independent nuclear-energy analyst Aleksei Shchukin, who spent more than 30 years working on nuclear-powered icebreakers, told RFE/RL that the fueling operation presents risks. Although the reactors are based on designs developed in the 1960s, the configuration on the Akademik Lomonosov is unique and untested.



"That is why I think there is no point in taking a risk and fueling the reactors in the center of a huge city," Shchukin said. "This is very dangerous. They could take the vessel to Murmansk or Arkhangelsk, where there are bases for repairing and refueling nuclear vessels. That would be much safer."



Authorities have ignored requests to find out why they insist on conducting the refueling -- and possibly other testing -- in St. Petersburg, a UNESCO-protected World Heritage Site with a population of just under 5 million.

Previous Incidents



Oleg Bodrov, chairman of the Public Ecological Council of the Southern Shore of the Gulf of Finland, notes that the original reactor design was tested in the town of Sosnovy Bor, some 40 kilometers from St. Petersburg, in the 1970s.



The government acknowledged one accident in 1972 in which a reactor shield was breached but, according to improbable official reports, no radiation was released. In another incident in 1979, an entire building was destroyed in an explosion and two workers were killed. Both incidents were classified as secret at the time and only made public many years later.



"I find it strange behavior on the part of our lawmakers that they don't demand information and proof of the safety of these actions," Bodrov said. "As a resident of the Baltic region, I would like to get such proof -- in a form that is understandable to the public and to officials. But at present, such information is absent."



Bodrov is calling for public hearings with the participation of Rosatom, municipal authorities, the ecology commissions of the city and regional legislatures, and representatives of the public.



Floating nuclear power stations have been touted as an effective way to bring electricity and heating to remote areas, particularly Russia's Arctic region. Many also see them as a way of powering offshore oil-and-gas exploration. The United States converted a World War II-era transport ship into a mobile nuclear power plant in the 1960s and until 1975 it was used to power the locks in the Panama Canal.

Such floating power plants have been sharply criticized by environmentalists, who warn that they would likely be cut off from backup power in the event of an accident due to their remote locations. Environmentalists are also concerned that Russia might just dump a stricken plant into the ocean, as Moscow did with the reactors of numerous Soviet-era nuclear submarines.

Soviet-Era Dumping



According to a 1993 report commissioned by then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin, the Soviet Union dumped 16 nuclear reactors into the Kara Sea and two into the Sea of Japan. According to the report itself, the findings amount to a startling confession of how international agreements "were consciously broken on numerous occasions" by Moscow.

Nonetheless, many countries are interested in the technology, and Moscow views the Akademik Lomonosov as a potentially lucrative prototype. China has announced plans for as many as 20 of them, some of which could be stationed in the volatile and disputed South China Sea.



"I have a TASS report from the latest Arctic Forum in which they say they are doing everything possible to have this plant working in Chukotka by 2019," St. Petersburg activist Alimov said. "They say it will give us the chance to build more such projects not only in Russia but also to export them. But before they can go out to foreign markets, they need to test this technology at home. I definitely think this project is not being done for the sake of the people in Chuktoka but in order to have a working model to show to potential foreign clients."

RFE/RL senior correspondent Robert Coalson contributed to this report
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  Indiana law allows someone to walk out of a convenience store and crack open a beer purchased there, but it can't be a cold one.

Decades-old rules, closely guarded by elected officials who receive generous donations from the liquor store lobby, strictly manage who can sell "iced or cooled" beer for carryout.

It's a right granted to package liquor stores and restaurants but denied gas stations and convenience stores  that is, until one gas station owner discovered a loophole. He installed seating and served burritos, landing a restaurant classification and the right to sell cold beer.

The maneuver has ignited a fierce legislative battle, with some of the state's most powerful lawmakers scrambling to pass legislation to close the loophole, underscoring the liquor lobby's clout.

"It's crazy," said Jay Ricker, who created the uproar by serving Mexican fare and securing the proper alcohol permits at two of his Ricker's stores. "It points out the absurdity of the current regulations."

Liquor stores say they are protecting what's theirs, with store permits auctioning for as much as $500,000. But their influence extends beyond preserving cold beer rights. They played a major role in torpedoing a 2015 effort to repeal a Prohibition-era ban on Sunday alcohol sales, arguing it would unfairly benefit grocery stores.

An Associated Press review found liquor store interests have spent at least $150,000 on lobbying in recent years while donating more than $750,000 to lawmakers since 2010.

Operators of three prominent liquor stores were also poised to benefit financially from a stringent vaping industry law that lawmakers approved last year, records show. The law, it was later discovered, effectively created a monopoly for a handful of politically connected companies and sparked an FBI investigation.

"Our owners, many multigenerational, are active and engaged in their communities and have personal relationships with their neighbors who happen to be citizen legislators and community leaders," the Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers said in a statement to the AP.

Most liquor store contributions went to a handful of key lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Ron Alting, who leads a committee overseeing alcohol matters, GOP House Speaker Brian Bosma and Republican Senate leader David Long. Since 2010, they have collectively received more than $226,000 from liquor store interests, records show.

"This isn't about protecting any lobbying interest, although it's being depicted that way," said Bosma, who voiced concern that Ricker's could also sell hard liquor with their restaurant permits. "This is about who makes decisions about how you sell a controlled substance."

Jim James, who did not respond to a request for comment, is president of Indianapolis-based 21st Amendment liquor stores and has donated $16,000 to Alting in recent years. After trying unsuccessfully since 2011 to get the permit revoked of a competitor with a gourmet wine and cheese store, Alting took up James' cause last month.

Alting made changes to a bill likely making it impossible for the store to renew its permit. The provision was later removed after an outpouring of opposition, but not before Alting singled-out the store, Grapevine Cottage, for using a comparatively inexpensive grocery store permit to sell wine.

"You want to get into business?" Alting said. "Go buy a package liquor store permit."

When asked about liquor store owners' influence on Monday, Alting said he "goofed" by including the provision and argued the perception that "these big powerful lobbyists from the package liquor store" have undue clout is incorrect.

Last summer, Alting was among a handful of lawmakers interviewed by the FBI in connection with an investigation of the state's vaping law.
U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan has confirmed that communication channels between the United States and Russia remain open despite the war in Ukraine, the BBC reports.

Sullivan, speaking in New York on November 7, said it was "in the interests" of Washington to maintain contact with the Kremlin.



Sullivan's comments came after a report in The Wall Street Journal on November 6 that he had held undisclosed talks with top Russian officials in the hope of reducing the risk the Russian invasion of Ukraine spills over or escalates into a nuclear conflict.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

A previous media report, in The Washington Post, said Washington was privately encouraging Ukraine to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia, as the State Department said Moscow was escalating the war and did not seriously wish to engage in peace talks.



The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, said the request by U.S. officials was not aimed at pushing Ukraine to the negotiating table, but a calculated attempt to ensure Kyiv maintains the support of other countries.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, told RFE/RL it was absurd to suggest that Western countries that are supplying Ukraine with weapons would push Kyiv to negotiate on Moscow's terms.

"Ukraine receives from its partners, first of all from the United States, quite effective weapons," he said. "We are pushing the Russian Army out of territory. And against this background, forcing us to the negotiation process, and in fact to recognize the ultimatum of the Russian Federation, is nonsense! And no one will do that."

He said suggestions the West was pushing Ukraine to negotiate were part of Russia's "information program," though he did not directly rebut a report in The Washington Post.

Zelenskiy said in his nightly address on November 7 that he was open to talks with Russia, but only "genuine" negotiations that would restore Ukraine's borders, grant it compensation for Russian attacks, and punish those responsible for war crimes.



Zelenskiy signed a decree on October 4 formally declaring the prospect of any Ukrainian talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin "impossible" but leaving the door open to talks with Russia.



Sullivan told a public event in New York that the Biden administration had "an obligation to pursue accountability" and pledged to work with international partners to "hold the perpetrators of grave and grotesque war crimes in Ukraine responsible for what they have done."



Sullivan did not elaborate on the communication channels that Washington and Moscow maintained, but insisted that U.S. officials were "clear-eyed about who we are dealing with," the BBC reported.



Sullivan travelled to Kyiv on November 4 and pledged Washington's "unwavering and unflinching" support for Ukraine.



His unannounced visit coincided with an announcement the same day by the U.S. Defense Department of another shipment of weapons to Ukraine worth $400 million.



"I was just in Kyiv on Friday and I had the opportunity to meet with President [Volodymyr] Zelenskiy and my counterpart Andriy Yermak, with the military leadership and also to get a briefing on just what level of death and devastation has been erupted by Putin's war on that country," Sullivan was quoted by the BBC as saying on November 7.



White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the U.S. media reports.



"I've seen those reportings. So, you know -- and, look, people claim a lot of things about conversations that we -- that the United States has or doesn't have," Jean-Pierre told a news briefing on November 7. "I don't have any specific conversations to read out to you."



The secretary of Ukraine's Security Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said on November 8 that the "main condition" for the resumption of negotiations with Russia would be the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity.



Danilov said on Twitter that Ukraine also needed the "guarantee" of modern air defenses, aircraft, tanks, and long-range missiles.



According to the report in The Wall Street Journal, Sullivan held confidential conversations in recent months with Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev that were not disclosed publicly.



Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on November 7 that while Russia remained "open" to talks, it was unable to negotiate with Kyiv due to its refusal to hold talks with Russia.

With reporting by Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump will attend a series of key summits in Asia in November, in a sign of America's "unwavering commitment" to the region, Vice President Mike Pence said April 20 in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta.

Pence also praised Indonesias moderate form of democracy and said the Trump administration wants to strengthen its partnership with the worlds most-populous Muslim nation.

Trump will go to the US-ASEAN and East Asia meetings in the Philippines, as well as a gathering of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group in Vietnam, Pence said during a visit at the Jakarta headquarters of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) where he met representatives of the bloc.

Former President Barack Obama sought to refocus U.S. foreign policy on the region to counterbalance China's growing influence.

Trump's decision to attend the meetings could come as a surprise to some, given his "America first" rhetoric and his decision to abandon a Pacific trade pact.

The president's attendance at the meetings was "a sign, I hope to all, of our firm and unwavering commitment to build on the strong foundations that we already share," Pence said.

It was the latest signal on Pence's tour of Asia that the Trump administration is seeking to calm concerns after the president's often combative rhetoric unsettled allies.

In Jakarta, Pence praised Indonesia's democracy and moderate form of Islam and visited the regions largest mosque to highlight his message.

Pence told at a joint news conference with Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo that the U.S. wants to strengthen its strategic partnership with Indonesia.

"As the second- and third-largest democracies in the world, our two countries share many common values including freedom, the rule of law, human rights, and religious diversity," Pence said. "The United States is proud to partner with Indonesia. It promotes and protects these values."

"Indonesia's tradition of moderate Islam frankly is an inspiration to the world and we commend you and your people. In your nation as in mine, religion unifies, it doesn't divide," he added.

During stops in South Korea and Japan, Pence reaffirmed U.S. treaty commitments to the security of the two countries as tensions rise over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

The East Asia Summit groups 18 countries including ASEAN member states, the United States, Russia, and China. APEC brings together 21 member states from either side of the Pacific.

Pence on April 20 also toured the biggest mosque in Muslim-majority Indonesia during a visit seen as highly symbolic.

With reporting by AFP and AP
An effort to present Uzbek migrant laborers in the best light possible to their South Korean hosts has cost a high-level official his job.

Foreign Migration Agency Director Ulughbek Nazarov was dismissed on April 18 along with his agency's brainchild -- a general knowledge examination given to Uzbeks hoping to work in South Korea under a bilateral labor agreement.

The test, given online to tens of thousands of Uzbeks in early April, has been widely criticized, with some saying the questions were "strange and meaningless" and entirely irrelevant to work and life in South Korea.



Among the questions, according to the semiofficial Gazeta.Uz, were one about a 13th-century Mongolian emperor: "Which dynasty did the Mongolian Kublai Khan create after conquering China?"



Another question asked "Which year did Ahmad die?" while leaving it unclear who, exactly, Ahmad was.



"At what altitude are the coniferous forests of the Turkestan Range located?" another asked, while another was about an 11th century Persian poet and philosopher: "What distance did Nasir Khusraw travel during his two journeys that lasted seven years?"



The test was compulsory for all applicants vying to fill a quota for 3,000 jobs offered by Seoul this year. They were also required to take a Korean-language exam.



The questions sparked angry comments on social media in Uzbekistan, where jobs are in short supply and millions of people depend on labor migration and remittances. Nearly 90,000 people have applied for the jobs in South Korea, leaving some 30 people competing for each spot.



"Idiotic questions, something needs to be done about them," Facebook user Temur Tohirov wrote on the Foreign Migration Agency's Facebook page.



"What nonsense is this?...'What was the population of Africa in 2012? How many tree species exist in Africa?' How relevant are Africa and the policies of other countries to this particular test? We are going to [South Korea] as simple migrants, not as professors," wrote Facebook user "Nigisha Nigi from Samarkand."



Social media users also complained that they experienced problems while trying to download their application forms from the migration agency's website, which was apparently overwhelmed with high traffic.



The same day its head was dismissed, the Foreign Migration Agency defended the quiz, reportedly saying the questions were designed to select the best candidates to represent Uzbekistan abroad.



"An Uzbek citizen who goes to South Korea or other countries for work becomes a representative of our nation, the face of our country," the agency said on April 18. "Foreigners would judge Uzbekistan and Uzbeks based on the migrant's knowledge, talent, upbringing, moral qualities, and general knowledge," the agency representatives told reporters.



According to the agency, the questions were taken from Uzbekistan's school curriculum for 7th- to 9th-grade students.



Despite its defense of the text, however, the migration agency announced on its Facebook page that test results had been annulled due to "serious technical" errors during the registration process that caused "misunderstandings and objections" among the applicants.



It promised to launch a new and improved registration process and introduce new tests for potential labor migrants bound for South Korea.





According to Uzbek state media, 27,000 Uzbek workers have taken jobs in South Korea since 2007.Tashkent and Seoul first agreed on annual job quotas for Uzbek migrants in 2006.



Some 17,000 Uzbek workers currently work legally in South Korea, the majority of them engaged in factory jobs.



However, the real figures are believed to be higher, as many Uzbek workers don't return home after their official six-year job contracts expire.



Uzbekistan sought close economic ties with South Korea under late Uzbek President Islam Karimov, who chose Seoul for his first foreign trip after his rubber-stump reelection in 2015.



Some 60 documents pertaining to trade, investment, economic cooperation, and other spheres, with an estimated total worth of $7.7 billion, were signed during the trip.



South Korea is one of the major foreign investors in Uzbekistan, with investments covering trade, communications, natural gas and solar energy, pharmaceuticals, mining, and electronic products, among others.



South Korean stakes in Uzbek natural gas development projects are reportedly worth $12 billion. As Tashkent seeks to diversify its energy sources, Seoul has agreed to invest $300 million to build Uzbekistans first solar power plant by 2030.

South Korea is the third-largest source for imports to Uzbekistan (after Russian and China), accounting for 12 percent of overall imports and consisting mostly of automobiles and auto parts.



With Uzbek workers hit hard by a financial crisis in Russia -- a prime destination for labor migrants -- authorities are looking to diversify destination options. State media have reported that Uzbekistan is holding "negotiations on labor migration issues" with Turkey, the Czech Republic, and Oman, among other countries.

Written by Farangis Najibullah with contributions from RFE/RL's Uzbek Service.
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EFFINGHAM  A shoplifting theft in Effingham Wednesday afternoon turned violent when one of two suspects fired a shot after being confronted by an employee.

No one was reported injured in the incident, which happened around 1:47 p.m. outside the Prime Sole shoe and clothing store at 1703 Avenue of Mid-America.

Effingham Police had released no details by late Wednesday evening, but Police Chief Jeff Fuesting did update the public right after the crime with a series of Twitter posts.

Appealing for information, he tweeted shot fired, no injuries and described the suspects as two black males in their mid 20s, one with short hair and wearing a royal blue Kansas City Royals jacket, the other dressed in a white shirt with his hair in long dreads.

Police also tweeted pictures of the suspects and said they were driving a silver Hyundai Santa Fe vehicle with Kansas plates. The hunt for them continued into Wednesday evening.
Virginia Distillery Co. and head distiller Ian Thomas and his team must be doing something right.

Using what CEO Gareth Moore calls a unique approach, VDC has produced a whisky that recently won yet another prestigious award.

In a blind-tasting competition, Virginia Distillerys flagship Virginia Highland Malt Whisky was judged Best American Single Malt Whisky at the World Whiskies Awards.

As a new producer, winning this award has put us on the radar for producers to watch for in the coming years, Moore said. It shows a level of sophistication that has been previously assigned to other regions throughout the U.S.

While waiting for its own whisky to age, VDC imports 6-year-aged whisky from a single-malt producer in Scotland.

From there, we focus on the finishing component in Virginia: sourcing finishing casks from premium wine producers across the state, Moore said.

Wine casks? Yes, specifically port barrels from notable wineries, such as King Family Vineyards, Veritas Vineyards, Stinson Vineyards, Horton Vineyards and Michael Shaps Wineworks.

The port-style barrels add a variety of sensory components to each finish, said Thomas, who came to VDC after working in Tennessee. We meticulously work through sensory analyses to find those valuable components and make sure they are not overpowered or hidden, but instead developed and complementary to each other.

VDCs Virginia Highland Malt Whisky earned early recognition when Wine Enthusiast magazine gave it a 92-point rating in its annual whisky publication in 2016. It also was awarded a gold medal by the American Craft Spirits Association for 2016 and 2017.

All for good reason. Listen to this description by Thomas:

In the port finishes, youll find notes of caramel and toffee, as well as a very balanced and sweet base malt-whisky, shortly followed by dried red fruits, such as cherry, pomegranate and red-berry. The finish itself is full-bodied, medium-to-long and beautifully balanced.

Virginias weather also plays a role in the flavor profile.

We use a traditional Scottish single-malt recipe, from the distillate to the types of barrels we use, but we leverage the maturation climate in Virginia to influence the spirit and give it a sense of place, said Moore, whose father, George, now deceased, started Lovingston-based VDC in 2011.

The hot summers and cool winters of Virginia  very different from the mild climate of Scotland  allow active interaction between the spirit and the wooden casks, expanding and contracting to develop complex flavors in the whisky.

Virginia Highland Malt Whisky, available at most ABC stores in the state for $57.49 for a standard-sized bottle (.750 ml), is not the only malt whisky VDC is making. It is also available at the distillerys visitors center.

Nelson County First Responders Single Barrel is a coffee-finished whisky made to honor the firefighters who battled a forest fire and helped save the distillery last fall. It was made after a cask was filled with a cold-brew coffee, the coffee removed and the whisky added to the cask where it remained for 18 months. ($68.59 only at the visitors center.)

Cider Barrel Matured Virginia Highland Malt Whisky (cider-finished) is available through www.cellar.com ($64.99).

And down the road, maybe three or four years, VDC will release its Virginia Single Malt, made from 100 percent malted barley and aged in former bourbon casks.

Seems a shame to have to wait that long.
DECATUR  The Culver House is so old, the story of its rescue from demolition has become history.

The 128-year-old, red-brick, twin-turreted, Queen Anne style mansion on 412 W. Prairie Ave. was on the demolition list as far back as 1980, and from 1994 to 1999 it seemed an inevitability that the mansion would be razed.

Kim Aukamp, president of the Historic Decatur Foundation, and foundation board member Lynn Potter were part of the fight to save the Culver House. They want to restore it from the eyesore it had become to as close to the original as possible. The goal is a Decatur history museum on the first floor of the mansion.

We want to get the main floor finished enough to get people in here to start enjoying it, Aukamp said. Its a grand old house. There arent too many of these left. We think it would be a great addition to the neighborhood because you have the Staley Museum and the Mueller Museum, and the Oglesby Mansion, another historic site.

But the museum has been in the plans for 17 years now, and theres still a lot of money and work to be put in before that becomes a reality.

We need trim work, we need plumbing  we need access to water, Aukamp said. We need a handrail. We need tuck pointing, because the previous work didnt hold up.

And, eventually, well need a lift in order to be (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible. Thats a major expenditure. Well have to do some modifications and put in a sidewalk and a parking space out in front.

Potter and Aukamp have been trying to save the mansion as far back as 1990. The house has come a long way since Potter stood in front of a bulldozer preparing to demolish the mansion in 1999.

You can still see where the bulldozer broke through the wall out there  thats when I stood in front of the bulldozer and said, You cant do this,  Potter said. The guy in the bulldozer was very nice about it. He didnt want to get involved."

Culver House was saved in May of 2000 when a $150,000 state grant check was presented by former state senator N. Duane Noland of Blue Mound. The grant came with the stipulation that the home eventually be used for a historic Decatur museum.

We put our tears on them and they gave us the money. Illinois had some money then, Potter said.

In 1994, Steven Luker had purchased the property, and the Decatur Herald & Review reported he would need $30,000 to make it a home and $150,000 to restore it to its historic majesty.

Decaturs Director of Community Standards Dave Griffiths said: In his dreams, and said it would take $150,000 just to bring it up to code.

It turned out Griffiths was right. The $150,000 Aukamps group received was enough to fix the roof to what it looked like originally, and it also helped renovate some of the downstairs rooms. But even with more donations here and there, the house is nowhere close to historic majesty.

We took out eight or nine dumpsters full of trash, tore most of the apartment partitions down and have the house back to more like what the footprint was originally, Aukamp said. Every time wed open up a part of the house to repair it, there would be something else major underneath. We were basically down to stud walls and rafters, and now we have some walls and floors.

The house was built in 1889 for Josiah K. Clokey, a lawyer and real estate developer: a turn-of-the-century Decatur big shot. But Clokey didnt finish construction. In 1901, another notable Decaturite John H. Culver purchased the house and finished it. Culver was the president of Culver Electric Co., supplying electric power in Decatur, and was a book collector, at one time owning about 5,000 volumes.

Culver died in 1943 at the age of 84. His wife lived in the house until June 1950. She died in 1956, and the house was inherited by Elizabeth Shellabarger, who sold it to Roy Phillips. The house was remodeled into six spacious apartments -- a third-floor apartment featured a skylight and another boasted living room and bedroom fireplaces.

But eventually Phillips sold the property, and by the 1970s the house was converted into eight Section 8 apartments and fell into disrepair. A fire in 1979 nearly destroyed the house. In 1988, a man murdered his girlfriend there, and a year later it was declared unfit for human habitation.

There have been no regular dwellers there since January 1989.

And despite the improvements made, the house cant be opened to the public until more are made.

We have a temporary hand railing on the front steps, so we need to fix that, Potter said. And theres still a lot that needs done on the interior. The insurance would cost us a lot to hold a function here.

Thats why the reception the foundation is having Saturday is being held at Potters home at 366 S. Edward St., in a third-floor ballroom. There will be a reading by Potter of the first chapter from the book shes writing about the Culver House, and a portion of Dayle Irwins Decatur Collection will be displayed.

Potter said the goal of the reception is to find help with finishing the front room stairway.

We have the stairway, but we need someone to put it together for us, Potter said. Were not charging to get in, but we will have a donation box.

Getting the house ready to be a museum is one thing. Making it one is another. Besides establishing nonprofit status, a museum must have systems and policies, bylaws for the board, expectations for the director and policies for ascension.

"I've never done it, but I don't envy anyone trying," said Nathan Pierce, director of the Macon County History Museum and former director of the Hancock County History Museum.

"There's a lot to set up, but funding is the main issue. Whats the long-term solution funding wise? You might get some donations up front to get it going, but maintaining it is the biggest problem."
Alex Rohr describes himself as a privileged white male from suburbia.

The James River High School senior in Chesterfield County will soon attend college at Florida Gulf Coast University. He will now step onto campus having met one of the people who helped him realize the bubble he lived in and who inspired him to study political science.

Its not every day that you get to meet one of your heroes, Rohr said.

Sixty years ago, Ernest Green was a senior like Rohr. Yet when he tried to attend Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas as an African-American, Arkansas National Guardsmen deployed by the states governor stood outside the school. Soldiers carried bayonets, and helicopters circled overhead.

Without the jeeps from the United States Army, Green told nearly 1,000 students from James River High School on Thursday, he wouldnt have gotten through the doors.

Green was one of nine African-American students known as the Little Rock Nine who desegregated Central High School in 1957, becoming a prominent example of the historic U.S. Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision three years earlier that called for the desegregation of the nations schools.

During his senior year, long after the reporters and soldiers had departed, some fellow students stepped on his heels when he walked down the hallway. They broke into his locker, threw garbage at him, and called him in the middle of the night.

Green was next to Minnijean Brown Trickey, another of the Little Rock Nine, in the cafeteria just before Christmas.

One of the students decided to do as many rapid fire uses of the n-word (as he could). You could tell Minnijean wanted to dump this chili on this guys head to shut him up. It was like an old-fashioned movie. Just as I was about to say, Mini dont. Mini did, Green said.

The black cafeteria staff, who Green said were typically stoic, clapped.

Later that year, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. attended Greens graduation.

I came across the attitude that if people were working that hard to keep me out, there must be something important going on in that school, Green said.

At his 50th high school reunion, Green said he didnt meet anyone opposed to his enrollment. But he felt like there is still work to be done when it comes to race relations.

Part of the challenge to each of you is to move this country away from its history of slavery, Green told nearly half of James Rivers 2,156 population. The picture of race relations is one where we clearly have a lot of work in front of us, but its not impossible.

James River has the second-highest population of white students among Chesterfields 11 high schools, and the sixth-lowest population of economically disadvantaged students.

Rohr said he liked to think that if he were in the school during the desegregation efforts in the 1950s and 1960s, he would have stood up for Green.

Rohr said he had an African-American friend in middle school who was also homosexual and often bullied. Many times, Rohr stood up for him, he said, and his senior capstone project focuses on bullying.

As a privileged white male, it was shocking to me how some people are treated on a daily basis, he said.

Rohr was one of the students in James Rivers specialty Center for Leadership and International Relations who helped organize the event after studying the civil rights movement in one of their classes.

The students made a banner, ordered refreshments and snacks, then opened up Greens visit to the entire school population as a first-come, first-served assembly.

We had learned about the stories of the Little Rock Nine. We have great teachers, but its unnerving to meet someone who took action. He was in front of me, said Paris Woods, an African-American James River senior who is also in the specialty program.
Five individuals were arrested in Amherst County in a span of two days in connection with methamphetamine possession charges, the sheriffs office said Wednesday.

On Tuesday deputies working traffic enforcement stopped Anthony Charles Simpson, 28, of Gladstone, and arrested him on charges of possession of a controlled substance, driving suspended and violating probation, according to a news release. A passenger, 23-year-old Hope Marlene Jessup, also was taken into custody on a charge of possession of a controlled substance.

An investigation of the traffic stop led to three other arrests on Wednesday, said Captain John Grieser of the Amherst County Sheriffs Office.

At approximately 12:30 a.m. Wednesday deputies executed a search warrant for narcotics activity at 582 River Road in Madison Heights, the release said.

Donald Kenneth Bray Jr., 40; Julie Argenbright Burgess, 41 and Courtney Grace Baldock, 21, all of Madison Heights, were arrested and face one count each of possession of a controlled substance.

Investigators determined the residence had been serving as a trap house, described in the release as a location where meth was being consumed, store and distributed, and at least one ounce of the drug had been sold from the residence in the previous 24 hours.

All five are being held at the Amherst Adult Detention Center. Additional charges may be pending as the investigation continues.
Coffee is so much more than just that magical pick-me-up that puts a pep in your step. There are dozens of different varieties  all with different tastes, flavors and characteristics.

Looking for something new to break up your daily routine of that same cup of coffee? Find the best brew for your unique palette with this coffee tasting guide.

Start With the Roast

If youre in search of a new coffee, the best place to begin is with the roast according to Tammy Rostov, owner of Rostovs Coffee & Tea in Richmond, Virginia.

Even if you have the best coffee, a poor roast can completely alter the taste, explains Rostov. Under roasted will not reveal all of the true flavors. Over roast and you can get a burnt taste.

Roasts can be broken down into three basic categories at Rostovs: Full City, Viennese and French. As coffee beans are roasted, they go through cycles of popping or cracking, says Rostov. As you roast the bean and force out its natural oils and moisture, they open up and release those amazing flavors.

Coffee that has only been roasted to the first cracking can be found in the Full City roast. This roast is characterized by a smooth and subtle flavor, and an even brown colored bean.

Since a Full City is lightly roasted, you can taste all of the notes of the beans like sweet, salty or sour, says Rostov. If you like lighter roasts, she recommends also trying their Honduran Fair Trade Organic coffee with notes of caramel.

At the second cracking, roasts are the Viennese type. With a longer roasting time, natural oils are coaxed out of the beans. These coffees are darker in color and have a deeper, more intense taste.

French roasts are coffees that have been brought to the end of the cracking cycle. This means theyre even darker and have extracted all of the natural oils and moisture out of the bean. French roasts mute the coffees natural acidity, and are often more bittersweet or smoky, says Rostov.

Explore Beans From Around the World

Coffee is grown across the world in between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer in a limited equatorial zone. It will not grow outside of this zone. It has specific tastes based on a number of factors, including the country where its grown, the altitude, the yearly rainfall, soil conditions, temperature at night and of course the type of coffee tree species says Rostov.

If you like brighter or citrus flavors, for example, you might like an African coffee from Kenya or Ethiopia. But if nutty or chocolate flavors are more your style, youll probably like a coffee grown in Indonesia better. Central American coffees, on the other hand, tend to have earthier notes.

Do a Taste Test

That is the best way to know if you like a coffee? Of course the answer is, taste it. While it may seem easier to stick with the same roast youve grown accustomed to loving, you could be missing out on a whole world of new coffees and flavors.

In fact, according to the Specialty Coffee Association of Americas flavor wheel, there are 110 distinct flavors  from pineapple to caramel  to enjoy in your coffee mug.

The Coffee Tasters Flavor Wheel, is a collaborative effort by the Specialty Coffee Association of America and World Coffee Research, it is a tool for the coffee taster and provides a great benefit to those who seek to analyze and describe their coffees.

Rostov says you should try new coffees the way you normally drink your coffee. Dont be bullied into trying it black, if youre a milk and sugar person. Remember, youre the one that has to like it.

Ask a Coffee Expert

If youre a first-time coffee drinker, or just overwhelmed by the number of choices, talk to a local coffee expert like the team at Rostovs Coffee & Tea in Richmond, Virginia.

With more than 60 freshly roasted varieties at Rostovs Coffee & Tea, youre sure to find a coffee (or two, or three!) that pleases your taste buds. And friendly staff members are always there to help you explore.

We really want to help people discover the joy of new coffees and find what they like, says Rostov. Weve tasted all of coffees ourselves, so we can help steer you towards the best ones for you.

Visit the shop with a full-service coffee bar to order drip-brewed coffees, espresso beverages or cold brew ice coffees. Taste test new flavors or simply sit and chat with friends in the store or outside.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
THUMBS UP! To the good news from Ameren power. The average customer will see a slight drop in their monthly bill ($1.70), and the utility will continue to upgrade its delivery methods, the costs offset by lower production expenses. This is the second straight annual drop from Ameren. When we observe the price of almost everything always increases, we need to remember the things that sometimes drop in price.

THUMBS DOWN! To Decatur City Councilman Bill Faber. At Monday evening's council meeting, Faber said he wasn't able to read material in the provided information packet prior to the meeting because he didn't have enough time. The packets are distributed Thursdays. If more council members had raised the issue, now or in the past, that would be one thing. Faber is standing alone as one who claims to not have time other council members are willing to devote. This is an issue that should be easily resolved.

THUMBS UP! To the ongoing relationship between Richland Community College's nursing program, Millikin's and potential employers. Alarms are being sounded about a shortage of nurses. The higher-education institutions and the medical industry are working hand in hand to accommodate students' tracks into the field. One particularly nice thing is nursing remains a solid option as a second career as businesses downsize and leave former employees wondering what happens next.

THUMBS UP! To the City of Decatur's approval of a $2 million development plan downtown, on streets surrounding One Main Place. The development includes residential apartments, office/commercial developments and public infrastructure improvements. Redeveloping downtown is a long-term goal, and this step is another one toward making the final picture a reality.

THUMBS UP! To the Decatur Township Cemetery Board, pending their follow-through. The group made what appeared to be a violation of Illinois' Open Meetings Act when an agenda was not sufficiently posted 48 hours prior to its Tuesday meeting. Voters and lawyers objected to what they saw as a violation, at least, of the spirit of the law. A township official said Wednesday there would be a change in one of the public posting places. Here's hoping for sufficient follow-through on that plan.

THUMBS DOWN! To the latest vacancy at Hickory Point Mall in Forsyth. It's certainly the fault of no one in Central Illinois that shopping mall icons like rue21, Payless Shoe Source and The Limited have closed due to bankruptcy. Nevertheless, another empty storefront (or plywood covering the opening altogether) is a depressing sight. Malls are not pushing away potential tenants, so each of those vacant rent opportunities should serve as a notice to think progressively and pro-actively.

THUMBS DOWN! To the lack of reaction to complaints from Debbie Hill, the owner of Debbie's Diner. This week, the restaurant was the victim of a fifth serious traffic accident. The intersection of N. 22nd Street and E. Locust Street has been a prime spot for accidents and near-misses, and Hill's restaurant (and her employees and customers) have been fortunate to survive with as little damage at they've suffered. The City of Decatur and the State of Illinois both need to listen to Hill's ongoing pleas for protection.
A second-degree murder charge against a Roanoke man was dismissed by a judge Thursday after a witness refused to testify.

The case involves the fatal shooting of Michael Lee Nance, who on Jan. 17 was the victim of Roanokes first reported homicide of the year.

One day after Nance was killed, police charged Michael Antonio David Jr., 19, and Markeith OShea Bryson , 20.

David was due to have a preliminary hearing in Roanoke General District Court on March 30, but that was postponed after Vanessa Fleming, whom prosecutors called a key witness, did not show up.

According to a search warrant filed Feb. 7, Fleming had acknowledged to police that she was present when Nance was shot.

She was arrested April 13 on a charge of failure to appear and was brought to Davids hearing on Thursday. But when Assistant Commonwealths Attorney John McNeil asked her a series of questions, Fleming invoked her Fifth Amendment privilege each time and remained silent.

A second witness, Roanoke Police Det. J.L. Haley, testified and told Davids defense attorney, William Braxton, that Fleming also had turned a cellphone over to police.

Theres no evidence, Judge Skip Burkart ultimately said, and he dismissed the charge against David. That drew a muted reaction from the large courtroom gallery, which had grown filled nearly to capacity with dozens of spectators.

Nances shooting remains under investigation, and though the charge against David was dismissed, prosecutors say they could directly indict him if new evidence emerges.

At a later hearing on Thursday, Burkart found Fleming guilty of failing to appear at the March 30 hearing after having been served a subpoena. She received a 10-day jail term, the maximum for the charge.

Haley testified he had served Fleming himself, had been told by her that she wasnt going to come, and had warned her of the potential consequences.

Flemings defense attorney could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

Also during Davids preliminary hearing, Haley gave testimony sketching out the details of the case.

He said that on the evening of the shooting, he had been called to the 1800 block of Staunton Avenue, where he found shell casings.

The investigation led him to the 2300 block, where he said he found a red Cadillac parked in a yard. The vehicle had bullet holes in the trunk and side, and he found blood in the drivers seat, Haley said.

Nance, 28, had been driving a 2006 Cadillac that day, according to a search warrant. He was shot in the abdomen while he was in the vehicle and later died of his injuries at a hospital.

Bryson, meanwhile, was arrested out of state on March 21. Hes also charged with a separate count of attempted murder from a shooting in New Jersey, on March 1, and he remains in custody there.

In light of Thursdays dismissal of the charge against David, Roanoke Commonwealths Attorney Donald Caldwell said he anticipates he will withdraw a request to have Bryson extradited back to Virginia and he expects to drop the current charges against him.

But as the shooting continues to be investigated, Caldwell said, police have narrowed the focus, at this point in time, to four people, including David and Bryson.

If the investigation ever produces enough evidence to provide the basis for a good faith prosecution, well proceed by direct indictment, bypassing a preliminary hearing, he said.
While the four-inch gash on Emily Schaeffers leg oozes blood, Bethany Lloyd jumps into action.

She grabs splints and starts tying them in place with long strips of gauze. Schaeffer sits calmly, unfazed. The blood covering her leg isnt real; the wound is staged with makeup.

The whole situation is simulated, a chance for the teens to practice the skills theyve learned in their emergency medical technician class at the Burton Center for Arts and Technology.

The pair, juniors at Northside High School, come to the Burton Center every other day as part of Roanoke County Schools inaugural EMT program.

The class is part of a push by school and public safety officials to give students early exposure to careers as first responders. Their city counterparts plan to begin offering a similar program next school year.

Both school districts programs lean heavily on partnerships with the fire departments, which are providing teaching materials and staff to work with students. In the county, faculty from the Jefferson College of Health Science also are involved.

Those partnerships give students an up-close view of what careers in the field look like, said Steven Simon, Roanoke Countys fire and rescue chief.

You can talk about theory, but when you have firefighter-paramedics coming into the classrooms, when you have students coming to the fire station, theyre getting real-life exposure, Simon said.

The idea for Roanoke Countys program came about two years ago, when Simon, newly hired as chief, approached the schools.

The school district was surveying students to gauge their interest in potential new programs; the vast majority picked health-related studies and firefighter/EMT classes in particular. With the fire departments interest, it was a natural fit.

It rose to the top, said Jason Suhr, the countys director of career and technical education.

When the class started enrolling last spring, the 40 slots filled up quickly. (A few students have since dropped it, something Suhr said is typical.)

Lloyd developed an early interest in medicine after her grandparents gave her a book about bones.

I figured that if I didnt like it, this would give me some input before I make the jump to college, Lloyd said. But I ended up absolutely loving it.

Across Virginia, there are 29 school districts with EMT programs, including Franklin County. The state education and health departments jointly establish guidelines to ensure curriculum is standard and in line with professional expectations.

At the end of the year-long program, students become eligible to sit for their EMT certification, which can open doors to employment at fire and rescue departments.

B.J. Joyce, the Jefferson College faculty member who teaches Burtons classes, said he didnt know what to expect when he shifted from teaching adults to teens. He was surprised by how much hes enjoyed it.

Joyce instructs the classes with help from county firefighters and paramedics. The county department donated an old ambulance that students in Burtons automotive classes repaired, giving the EMT students the chance to practice with the equipment used by professionals.

On weekends, students are assigned shifts at the countys stations, where they respond to calls with paramedics and, with supervision, perform basic tasks like checking for vital signs.

Even when shifts are slow, students are still learning, Simon said. Fire stations have a family environment and students seem to enjoy being a part of it, he said.

Its just not running the call. Being at the fire station, you might just be sitting down for lunch. They enjoy that camaraderie, Simon said. I think its been eye-opening for them, and I think its been eye-opening for our people  hey, this is our next work force.

On-site training

When the citys program starts next fall, students from Patrick Henry and William Fleming high schools will travel to Roanoke Fire-EMS Station 1 for their classes.

Roanoke Fire-EMS Chief David Hoback said his department wanted to host the classes on-site so that its values and policies would be on display all the time.

We decided that to hold the classes anywhere other than a fire station would not produce that environment of them wanting to work here or understanding what were all about, he said.

About a decade ago, Roanoke discontinued similar classes. Hoback and Kathy Duncan, whos now the city schools director of career and technical education, said the old program didnt have the partnership with fire-EMS that this new class will utilize.

The citys program will be smaller than the countys, with spots for at least 12 students next year. Thats intentional, so students can get one-on-one mentoring from professionals, Duncan said.

So many students have expressed interest since the city announced the program that theyre considering opening a few more slots, Hoback said. He said his department wants to make sure students who complete the program have a chance for employment.

The countys fire and rescue department also sees the classes as a de facto recruiting program.

Both Hoback and Simon got their start in the field as volunteers, but not as many people follow that path these days, they said. The volunteer group is aging out, Simon said.

A lot of high school students do not realize that fire and rescue is a career, Simon said. And its a very good career but its really not talked about that much.

Roanoke Countys hiring age is 21. Roanokes was 21 until recently, when it dropped to 18 to make it easier for students who complete the school districts EMT program to transition to professional jobs with the department.

Hoback said he wants the transition to be seamless but doesnt want students to stop their education after they graduate high school. The expectation is that students who are hired will go on to complete their associate or bachelors degrees, he said. Simon said thats important to his department, too.

Some of the county students have realized already that the career isnt for them. But a few described the class as life-changing, saying it gave them focus and direction they didnt have before.

Blooming interests

Joyce said watching students find passion in learning has been one of the best parts of his new gig. In particular, he watched a student just bloom up during the class course .

Ethan Sweeney, a senior at William Byrd High School, said that describes his experience, also.

He signed up for the class on a whim, mostly because it promised to be hands-on. He had no plans to go to college and no idea what he wanted to do after high school.

Burtons EMT classes, and Joyce in particular, changed that.

I didnt have a prior interest in medicine really but hes fast-tracked me, Sweeney said. He now plans to go attend Jefferson College in the fall to get his EMT/paramedic certification.

On his weekend field rotations, Sweeney needed just 10 patient contacts, but he has enjoyed the experience so much that he signed up for weekend shifts even after he reached the courses required number.

When you get into it, you just want to keep doing it, he said.
CHICAGO  The head of Colorado's Department of Revenue has spoken to Illinois legislators considering a proposal to legalize marijuana in the state.

The department's executive director, Barbara Brohl, told lawmakers during a hearing Wednesday that she believes the legal market for marijuana is eating into the black market, funding drug abuse treatment and prevention, and providing a safer product, The Chicago Tribune reported.

Proposed legislation in Illinois would allow possession of up to an ounce of pot by people who are at least 21 years old. Smoking in public would be prohibited, and driving under the influence would remain illegal.

Sponsors of the plan said the measure won't get a vote this legislative season, but they're beginning a series of hearings on how to craft a potential law.

"Prohibition doesn't work," said Sen. Heather Steans, a Chicago Democrat.

Steans said taxing and regulating pot would create jobs and generate an estimated $350 million to $700 million a year in tax revenues for debt-ridden Illinois.

Brohl said that in Colorado, the roughly $200 million in tax revenue from more than $1 billion in sales last year also provides $40 million for schools.

The hearing generated criticism by some opponents, including police chiefs, who weren't permitted to testify.

"I don't know why they didn't reach out before this and ask us for our opinion and see if there's some compromise," said Riverside Police Phief Tom Weitzel, who represented the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, which opposes the measure. "Our officers are the ones doing the enforcement."
RICHMOND  Ivan Teleguzs death sentence for the murder-for-hire of his ex-girlfriend in 2001 was commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole by Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Thursday.

Teleguz, 38, was scheduled to be executed Tuesday for the capital murder of Stephanie Yvonne Sipe, the mother of their 23-month-old son. Sipe was stabbed to death in her Harrisonburg apartment. According to trial testimony, he hired two men to kill her for $2,000 and drove them from Pennsylvania, where Teleguz had moved.

On July 23, 2001, Sipes mother went to her daughters apartment because she had not heard from Sipe for two days. She found her daughters body and her grandson unharmed in a bathtub full of water.

Teleguzs lawyers filed pardon and clemency requests with McAuliffe, arguing among other things that courts have never fully examined new evidence pointing to his innocence. They say two prosecution witnesses admitted that they testified falsely in exchange for leniency in their own cases and have no reason to think Teleguz was involved in the murder-for-hire.

McAuliffe denied the pardon request Thursday. He said Teleguz has had exhaustive appeals and litigation.

Numerous state and federal judges have weighed the case and refused to grant relief to Mr. Teleguz. ... I believe that he is guilty, the governor said.

However, McAuliffe said, the sentencing phase of Mr. Teleguzs trial was terribly flawed and unfair. Evidence was introduced implicating Teleguz in another murder, he said.

During the sentencing phase of the trial, the prosecutor referenced it, arguing that Teleguz was so dangerous that he needed to be put to death.

She said to the jury that he solves problems with arranging murders. He would do so from prison, he said.

We now know that no such murder ever occurred, much less with any involvement from Mr. Teleguz, the governor said. The jury should never have been given that information. It was false, plain and simple.

McAuliffe also said there were references during the trial to Teleguz being a member of the Russian mob, while no evidence was introduced to support that. He said subsequent evidence showed the allegations had an influence on the jury when deliberating over punishment.

I dont know what the jury would have done had they not been given that information. I dont. None of us do. But just raising that question, I cannot see this man put to death. He will spend the rest of his life in a jail cell, McAuliffe said.

He added: My heart aches for this family, the entire family who knew Stephanie Sipe, especially for their son who has grown up without knowing ... his parents. I know this decision will be a difficult one for all of them.

The governor said he had spoken with Sipes father, mother and sister on Thursday, telling them of his decision. Asked by a reporter for their reaction, McAuliffe said: They thanked me for calling.

Sipes family could not be reached for comment. The Harrisonburg television station WHSV reported that Sipes sister, Jennifer Tilley, called WHSV last week and said: Theres no doubt in my mind that he hired these people to kill my sister ... and it blows my mind, it really does, that he is still trying to fight and plead for his life.

Marsha Garst, the commonwealths attorney for Rockingham County, has declined to comment on the case, noting that the issues have been tried and decided in local, state and federal courts.

Elizabeth Peiffer, Teleguzs lawyer with the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center, said in a statement that Teleguz, his family, friends and supporters are thankful that the governor granted clemency.

We do not believe the death penalty is rightly imposed where, as here, it is based on recanted and false testimony. Governor McAuliffe correctly recognized that our system of justice cannot stand by and allow an execution to proceed when jurors were told to impose a death sentence based on false information, she said.

Peiffer said Teleguz has maintained he had no involvement in the crime and that he will continue to work on proving it.

Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, executive director of the ACLU, said, We agree that the sentencing phase of this case was severely flawed, and Mr. Teleguz never should have been sentenced to death.

In 2015, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals noted that a lower-court judge held an evidentiary hearing in 2013 concerning the recantations of two of the key prosecution witnesses. One recanter refused to testify, and the other did not appear.

In other words, neither of the recanters testified in support of their recantations, said the appeals court.

The appeals court opinion noted: Prosecutor Marsha Garst, whom (the recanters) accused of threatening them into testifying against Teleguz, appeared and testified that those accusations were false.

Teleguzs lawyers said one of the witnesses was deported, and the other was told he would lose his release date if he went back on his testimony.

Some religious leaders urged McAuliffe to grant clemency, and a Change.org petition in support of clemency has been signed by more than 114,000 people. Teleguz also has submitted written requests for clemency from thousands of supporters.

A joint statement from Virginias two Roman Catholic bishops, Francis X. DiLorenzo of Richmond and Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, said, We welcome with gratitude Gov. Terry McAuliffes decision today to commute the death sentence of Ivan Teleguz. ... We continue to express deep sorrow and pray for all victims of violence and their loved ones.

Del. Marcus B. Simon, D-Fairfax, who had urged clemency for Teleguz, praised McAuliffes decision. Today the system worked as it was designed. The constitution of the commonwealth of Virginia grants the governor clemency powers for cases such as this, where obvious errors need to be corrected.

Earlier this week, three former Virginia attorneys general  two of whom became opposed to the death penalty since leaving office  wrote to McAuliffe urging the death sentence be commuted, citing what they said was unreliable investigative techniques, coercive tactics by both law enforcement and the prosecution, recantations of key trial witnesses, and consideration of false testimony in support of a death sentence.

Virginia has executed 112 people since the death penalty was allowed to resume in 1976. Virginia governors have now commuted nine death sentences during the same period.
Heres another unusual way that President Trump is rewarding some of the communities that gave him such strong support: He wants to eliminate commercial air service to much of rural America.

Near us, that means the commercial flights serving the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport at Weyers Cave and the Greenbrier Valley Airport at Lewisburg, West Virginia.

True, Trumps proposed budget doesnt specifically say there wont be commercial flights to Weyers Cave and Lewisburg  but it does eliminate the federal program that makes them possible, so its really a distinction without a difference.

Whats at issue here is an obscure government program that makes a big difference in many small communities across the country.

The Essential Air Service program was part of the grand bargain that led to airline deregulation in 1978. Airlines got almost total freedom  in the words of the U.S. Department of Transportation  to decide which markets to serve and what fares to charge. The airlines were clearly the winners in that arrangement; the losers were small communities whose flights werent nearly as profitable.

To protect those communities, the federal government created the Essential Air Service program  which subsidizes a minimal level of scheduled air service. This program was intended to end after ten years, but remains in place nearly 40 years later, for all the obvious reasons. Its hard to get rid of any government program  and Congress certainly isnt keen on the political (and economic) repercussions of effectively ending commercial air service to lots of communities.

The program currently costs $175 million and serves 115 airports in the lower 48 states (plus 60 in Alaska, where air travel is often the only way to travel). In Virginia, the only airport covered by the program is the one at Weyers Cave. Next door in West Virginia, five airports are covered  Beckley, Clarksburg/Fairmont, Lewisburg, Morgantown and Parkersburg.

Because the program is a subsidy, its always drawn a skeptical eye from those who dont think the federal government should be subsidizing much of anything. From time to time, those skeptics call attention to certain subsidized airports that are pretty close to larger ones and ask whether we should just let those smaller airports go. If the 20,000 passengers each year at the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport arent enough to support commercial air service, well, thats just the way the free market is. Let them go to Charlottesville. Or Roanoke. Or Dulles. Or let the state subsidize it if its so important.

That kind of cold-eyed, bottom-line ideological purity, though, runs headlong into the practicalities of local economies. Airports are convenient for leisure travelers, but essential for the business community  and economic development. Hence the first word of Essential Air Service. The program has historically survived because the members of Congress who are most naturally inclined toward cutting federal spending  Republicans  are also the ones who represent most of the communities where these subsidized airports are. Theyd hear from their business communities  one of their natural constituencies  if they pulled their air service subsidies.

One of the big problems Roanoke has when it comes to competing for economic development prospects is air service. Businesses complain there arent enough direct flights to the places their people need to go. Now imagine the challenge of, say, the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport, where you have just one option: Do you want to fly to Charlotte, or do you want to fly to Charlotte?

Thats what makes Trumps decision to zero out Essential Air Service so curious. These subsidized airports are overwhelmingly in communities he won  and won big. He took nearly 72 percent in Augusta County, where Weyers Cave is. He took 68 percent in Greenbrier County. West Virginia, in fact, was his best state. So why does he want to shut down air service to five of the states airports?

This proposal is of a piece with other items in Trumps budget  or rather, not in his budget. He wants to cut Amtraks long-distance routes  which would mean an end to the train that runs through Clifton Forge, and half the trains through Lynchburg. He wants to eliminate the agency that provides funding for economic development infrastructure in rural (and inner-city) America  the Economic Development Administration. He wants to eliminate the agency specifically charged with economic development in Appalachia  the Appalachian Regional Commission.

If youre in Alleghany County, Virginia, youre triply out of luck  no Amtrak, no economic development funding from either of the two agencies you could have turned to. If youre in Greenbrier County, West Virginia  no commercial air service, no economic development funding, either.

If youre in Beckley, West Virginia, youre out of luck four ways  no Amtrak, no commercial air service, and no access to ARC or the EDA. Make that five ways: Trump promised to invest in clean coal research, but his budget reduces federal funding for the technology that really could help save some coal jobs. Or six ways: Trump also zeroes out the program that turns abandoned mine sites into marketable industrial sites. Yet Raleigh County gave more than 74 percent of its votes to Trump.

Why is Trump hurting the very localities that backed him so strongly? This is not the platform he ran on. It is, however, the platform of The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank whose budget blueprint he has adopted as his own.

Trump never came to any of these localities and said that making America great would involve shutting down their air service or train service and pulling their economic development funds. He did say he would cut federal spending, without really saying how. Yet Trumps budget doesnt really cut spending. His overall budget is actually a little higher than the present one  it just rearranges priorities. More money for the military, the border wall, and charter schools, and less or sometimes no money for almost everything else. So dont think cutting these air subsidies will somehow help the federal deficit. It wont.

It just makes it harder for those localities to attract jobs.
I would like to add some expanded detail to Robert Boyd's commentary in the March 9 Roanoke Times ("Israel: It's about more than the occupation"). He stated that the 1967 attack by Israel on the American Navy research ship, the USS Liberty, "killed and wounded over 200."

The precise breakdown was: 34 American crew members killed and 171 wounded, according to the official U.S. Navy report. The Liberty's skipper, Captain William McGonagle, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during the assault. One of the nearby ships that raced to the Liberty's aid at 30 knots was the USS Davis (DD937) on which I had previously served (from 1959-1961).
OPENING THURSDAY:

The Promise (PG-13)

When Turkey is drawn into World War I, Armenians (Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon) find their lives in danger. Writer-director Terry Georges look at the Armenian genocide, co-starring Christian Bale.

Showing at: AMC Classic Roanoke 10 and Frank Theatres Cinebowl & Grille + IMAX.

OPENING THURSDAY:

Gifted (PG-13)

The life of a single man raising his niece, a math prodigy, is complicated by his meddling mothers plans for her granddaughter. With Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan, Octavia Spencer, Jenny Slate.

Showing at: AMC Classic Roanoke 10. Opening on Friday at: The Grandin Theatre.

OPENING THURSDAY:

Phoenix Forgotten (PG-13)

Allegedly based on actual events, this horror movie tells the story of three teens who disappeared in the Arizona desert after following strange lights in 1997. Now, on the 20th anniversary of their disappearance, supposed unseen footage has finally been discovered, chronicling the final hours of their fateful expedition.

Showing at: Frank Theatres Cinebowl & Grille + IMAX.

OPENING FRIDAY:

Born in China (G)

John Krasinski narrates this nature documentary that looks at a panda and her growing cubs.

Showing at: Valley View Grande 16, AMC Classic Roanoke 10 and New River Valley Stadium 14.

OPENING FRIDAY:

Unforgettable (R)

A woman (Rosario Dawson) finds her pending marriage to a divorced man disrupted by his disturbed ex (Katherine Heigl). With Cheryl Ladd.

Showing at: AMC Classic Roanoke 10 and Frank Theatres Cinebowl & Grille + IMAX.

OPENING FRIDAY:

Frantz (PG-13)

Francois Ozons black-and-white drama about a young German woman mourning the World War I death of her fiance, and the mystery of the mysterious Frenchman (Pierre Niney) who visits the dead mans grave.

Showing at: The Grandin Theatre.

OPENING FRIDAY:

The Lost City of Z (PG-13)

Charlie Hunnam stars in this fact-based jungle epic from writer-director James Gray about early 20th century British explorer Percy Fawcett and his search for evidence of lost civilizations in South America. With Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson.

Showing at: The Grandin Theatre.
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you need to monitor specific key performance indicators to ensure that you grow your business with profit. An excellent way to monitor if you are growing your business profitably is to monitor ... Read More Associated Bank saw its loans and deposits grow during ... In addition to its business operations, Associated Bank is also a philanthropic partner in the Milwaukee community. Read More Bank of America Corp. joined other big U.S. banks in reporting a 9% drop in third-quarter profit on Monday as it set aside funds to cover soured loans from a potential deterioration in the U.S ... Read More Business expansion loans are specifically designed for small businesses that want to grow their operations. These loans are often used for a variety of purposes, including expanding into new ... Read More ICICI Bank Ltd., Indias second-largest private sector lender, posted a 37% jump in quarterly profit, driven by stronger income from lending. Net income stood at 75.6 billion rupees ($914 ... Read More This comes on the back of a strong 23 percent loan growth and pristine asset quality. The bank's standalone net profit increased by 20 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 10,606 crore while its net ... Read More Fixed-term home loan interest rate increases are on the cards in the next few days following news that inflation remains stubbornly high. Bank economists are now predicting the Reserve Bank Te ... Read More Axis Banks second quarter standalone net profit surged over 70% to 5,330 ... from 20,134 crore in the year-ago quarter. Its net loans surged 18% YoY to 7,30,875 crore, with retail ... Read More NEW YORK (AP)  Visa Inc. said its fiscal fourth quarter profits rose by an adjusted 16% from a year earlier, helped once again by higher usage of its global namesake payment network. The San ... Read More Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank on October 22 reported ... On the consolidated basis, Kotak recorded a profit after tax of Rs 3,608 crore, growing 21 percent YoY for the quarter, with ... Read More MUMBAI, Oct 22 (Reuters) - ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS), India's second-largest private-sector lender, reported a 37% rise in quarterly net profit on Saturday as loan growth inched up and provisions for ... Read More
Economy News Mexico S Economy Is Being Plundered Dry | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday forecast Mexico's economy will grow 2.1% in 2022 and 1.2% in 2023, saying "economic growth is expected to slow in the near term reflecting weaker U.S. Read More Mexico's economic activity indicators in the third quarter point to economic growth in line with forecasts of 2.4% annual growth in 2022, the country's finance ministry said on Friday. Read More Mexicos economy expanded in August at the fastest pace in more than a year driven by services, suggesting domestic activity is more resilient than expected. Economic activity expanded 5.7% from ... Read More If your company is able to start doing business in Mexicos emerging economy early on, youll be able to corner the market and make your business successful. You may even be able to make your brand ... Read More Mexican economic activity picked up pace in the third quarter, expanding more than expected with broad-based growth ... Read More MEXICO CITY, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Mexico's economy likely stagnated in September after two months of expansion, according to a preliminary estimate provided by the national statistics agency on ... Read More Mexico's economy expanded between July and September, the fourth consecutive quarter of growth, boosted mainly by the primary sector, a preliminary estimate from the national statistics agency showed ... Read More Mexicos Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro picked the son of a close ally of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to take charge of critical trade dispute talks with the US and Canada ... Read More The U.S economy has ... is throughout the economy. Expectations are for it to have declined on a monthly basis in September to 0.5% from 0.6% in August. Other economic news this week will include ... Read More (Bloomberg) -- Mexicos economy expanded in August at the fastest pace in more than a year driven by services, suggesting domestic activity is more resilient than expected. Most Read from Bloomberg ... Read More
Consumer News Getting To Your Vacation Destination This Summer May Cost Less | RobinsPost News & Noticias

During May, the U.S. Department of Transportation noted that air travel consumer ... for your trip. When you have a dedicated place to store your cash, you are less likely to use that cash for ... Read More Summer may bring the best weather to Nova Scotia ... Tourism drops drastically after Labor Day in this popular midwest vacation town. The colors along the river are totally stunning, and October ... Read More The cost of shelter rose 0.7% in September, the same as August. The cost of putting a roof over your ... Quiz. Get matched with an Authorized Partner. Mark Huffman has been a consumer news ... Read More The sale is always on the last Friday of November - this year thats the 25th. However with stiff competition, many retailers launch early sales with offers available as early as November 1. Black ... Read More We asked them where to go, and for any other tips to ensure next year's summer ... travel easy, while a 22kg baggage allowance means you can take everything you need at no extra cost. Your flights ... Read More and one international), what three destinations would you put in the beer glass? Tell us your vacation picks in the survey below or by e-mailing us at [email protected] and we may share your ... Read More So the increase in your social security check is supposed to help you maintain your standard of living. We call it COLA, your cost ... will get another $113.28. And heres more good news. Read More Travel expenses can be pricey, depending on where you're going and when. So, you may ... you get the most accurate quotes. The cost of travel insurance can vary based on your age, destination ... Read More A popular summertime destination in Massachusetts is also ... a time that falls between peak and off-peak seasons for travel when summer tourism crowds dwindle, and theres a respite between ... Read More So, what it means is we used to exit summer and I could find a really cheap, like six-month or eight-month contract to get ... your energy charge or may be a separate line item on your bill. The ... Read More
Consumer News Florida S Congressional Establishment Dips Toes Into Grassroots Anti Pipeline Effort | RobinsPost News & Noticias

MIAMI - Florida drivers got a little good news at the pump last week ... But a sudden jump at the pump is likely on November 1, when the state's gasoline tax holiday ends." The average cost ... Read More DeSantis vetoes congressional map, calls Florida lawmakers back into session ... Floridas constitution was amended in 2010 to prohibit partisan-driven redistricting, a landmark effort in ... Read More TALLAHASSEE  Opponents of a congressional redistricting plan pushed through the Legislature by Gov. Ron DeSantis are fighting an effort to shield key lawmakers ... privilege  rooted in the Florida ... Read More (WFLA)  Foreclosure data from real estate company ATTOM showed Floridas foreclosure rates ... due to inflation and the Federal Reserves effort to curb prices for consumers. Read More The spread of anti-vaccine misinformation and disinformation ... The question arises from a new vaccine recommendation issued by Joseph Ladapo, Floridas surgeon general. Ladapo has been labeled ... Read More Republican congressional candidate Laurel Lee, who as former secretary of state oversaw Floridas elections, is continuing to refuse to say whether she believes Joe Biden legitimately won the ... Read More Floridas Constitution was amended in 2010 to prohibit partisan-driven redistricting, a landmark effort in ... a Black-dominated congressional district and put its pieces into four majority ... Read More Originalism and the anti ... into the persons private life. As Justice Ben Overton, one of the provisions initial drafters, wrote in 1989, Floridians codified within the Florida ... Read More GAINESVILLE  Concerned about what they worried was anti-conservative sentiment on ... worried about what was being taught in Florida's classrooms. New laws required tenure professors to undergo ... Read More
Automotive News Volvo Will Build Its First Electric Car In China | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Polestar's U.S. CEO, Gregor Hembrough, told Automotive News the ... also be Polestar's first U.S.-made model. Polestar 3 production will begin at Volvo Cars' Chengdu, China, factory, but U.S ... Read More U.S. deliveries of Polestar's anticipated Polestar 3 crossover are delayed until the fourth quarter of 2023, but the automaker isn't worried about the critical EV's late arrival. Read More Volvo has stolen a march on other old world automakers by vowing to go fully electric in Australia in four years. So what does the plan say about the future of hybrids? Read More Li Auto has a strong position in China's booming EV market. Read why I think LI may be the best choice as a competitor to BYD and TSLA in the EV car market. Read More In the case of plug-in electric car sales, things are now developing pretty well. In October, Volvo sold almost 20,000 plug-ins (up 25% year-over-year), which is also 36.8% of the total volume (not ... Read More This is the companys very first ... owned by Volvo Cars Group and Geely Holding. Beyond the obvious merits of an electric vehicle, the company is aiming even higher, planning to build the ... Read More Volvo announced that it sold 54,317 units in October, representing an increase of 6.9% compared to the same period last year. In addition, the Swedish brand announced that demand remains robust, ... Read More Welcome to the October 2022 edition of Electric Vehicle [EV] company news. October saw a landmark result with September 2022 global plugin electric car ... its aim to become the world's first wholly ... Read More Rechargeable cars represent more than a quarter of the total sales. Volvo Cars reports its first increase in car sales in the US for quite some time. In October, the company sold 9,478 units, which is ... Read More The Polestar 3, the performance electric ... first nine months of this year, with nearly 100,000 more sales than compact premium crossovers, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center ... Read More Volvo Cars today reported sales of 54,317 cars in October, up 6.9 per cent compared with the same month last year. Overall underlying demand for the companys cars remains robust, especially for ... Read More U.S. deliveries of Polestar's anticipated Polestar 3 crossover are delayed until the fourth quarter of 2023, but automaker isn't worried about critical EV's late arrival. Read More
CHARLESTON -- Some Coles County landowners have lease agreements with a company for planned solar energy panels and another company is also considering the area for the same kind of project.

Details about the plans are limited, with representatives of both companies noting the early stages of their projects.

But Coles County property records show that two landowners signed agreements in February to lease land for possible locations for solar panels.

The leases cover five different parcels totaling about 390 acres roughly two miles northeast of Ashmore.

The leases grant easements to Geronimo Energy LLC, based in Edina, Minn. The agreements are for five years but can be extended with notice of actual plans for construction.

A Geronimo Energy representative declined requests to speak to someone with the company about the project.

Lindsay Smith, the company's marketing and communications director, cited the "very early planning stages" for the project as the reason for not providing any details.

Wesley Humphres, owner of four of the parcels with which Geronimo has leases, also declined to comment and referred questions to the company. The owners of the other parcel, Douglas Coartney and others, couldn't be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, a representative of a Santa Monica, Calif., solar energy company confirmed that it's contacted landowners in Coles County and others, including Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Moultrie and Shelby counties.

Jason Carr, director of community relations with Cypress Creek Renewables, said the company is focusing on northern Illinois but will contact landowners "all across the state."

So far, landowners have received mailings providing information about the company and its planned projects, along with contact information for a company land specialist, Carr said.

Time would be needed for studies and to develop agreements but "it may get to the point" that Cypress Creek would enter into lease agreement with landowners, he also said.

"It's definitely a process," Carr said. "We're trying to identify properties that have the most promise. It has to make sense that it can work."

One reason Illinois is more attractive to solar energy companies is a law that passed last year requiring utilities to use a certain amount of solar power by the year 2030, he said.

The state's average amount of sunlight is also enough to likely make for viable agreements with Illinois electrical utilities, Carr also said. He said a solar energy company has to supply power to a local utility and the panels have to connect to existing electrical substations.
Politics News Conservatives Fault Arkansas Court For Halting Executions | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Attorneys for Tennessee death row inmate Byron Black told a state appeals court on Tuesday that he should not be executed because he is intellectually disabled. Black is appealing a ruling by a ... Read More
Elections News How Jakarta Elections Impact Indonesia S 2019 Vote | RobinsPost News & Noticias

In recent years, voters in the world's third-largest democracy, Indonesia, have preferred ... in the Muslim majority country. During the 2019 election, many Indonesian female candidates running ... Read More To really understand an election ... of interviews in our CBS News polling over the year where people have expressed themselves and how they see politics. Here's what we learned from it all ... Read More Indonesia is preparing to start Southeast Asias first high-speed rail service that will cut travel time between two cities from the current three hours to about 40 minutes BANDUNG, Indonesia ... Read More With midterms less than three weeks away, CBS News is diving deep on groups of voters who will likely have a big impact on the outcome ... to introduce the "election influencers." ... Read More More than 660,000 Georgians have voted early in historic 2022 midterms Early voters in Georgia face obstacles under state's new election law (The Guardian) Meantime, CBS News has confirmed that ... Read More As of Oct. 21, 28,348 ballots had been mailed-in. The governors race has garnered much of the attention this election season, but other important state offices are also on the ballot. Read More Exit polls are often looked to as an indicator of an election's results, especially on election night. The Fox News Power Rankings are projections for political races nationwide. They provide ... Read More All 435 seats in the U.S. House are up for election, as well as 35 seats in the Senate. Thirty-six states and 3 territories will also have gubernatorial elections for governor. The midterm ... Read More Can noncitizens vote in U.S. elections? Federal law bans noncitizens from voting in federal elections, including races for president, vice president, Senate or House of Representatives. Read More Tempe. Bill Gates, chairperson of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, and Kori Lorick, director of election services for the Arizona Secretary of State's office, also are scheduled to ... Read More In-person early voting is also now available at every county election office, the Secretary of States Office announced. Voters can register to vote or change party affiliation online at ... Read More More than 5.8 million ballots have been cast across 39 states in the 2022 midterm elections, according to data from election officials, Edison Research and Catalist. In the battleground states of ... Read More
Elections News Chizhov Russia Not Meddling In French Elections | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted Monday that he had interfered in U.S. elections and would continue to do so  confirming for the first time the accusations that he has rejected for years. Read More Kremlin-connected businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin has admitted that he interfered in U.S. elections and would continue to do so. The statement by the man known as Putin's chef because of his ... Read More But there are no vetoes in the General Assembly, which already has adopted four resolutions criticizing Russia's invasion. Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not ... Read More That has helped Russia earn a windfall in oil revenue, while consuming nations have to pay more. This is not mere collateral ... on the very topic of meddling in foreign elections proved Putin ... Read More To really understand an election, you have to understand the motivations ... We've got the data for it: tens of thousands of interviews in our CBS News polling over the year where people ... Read More The survey asked respondents if their party did not win control of Congress in November, how likely would that outcome be due to election fraud? Four in 10 Republicans (39%) and one in four ... Read More Election Day is less than two months awaybut one key race wont be on most ballots. Theyre school board elections, and thats a big problem for families nationwide. In 37 states, school ... Read More This year, another factor was that three incumbents who were eligible for another term decided not to seek re-election, at least one of them unexpectedly. A fourth incumbent, Peggy Catlin in ... Read More The presidency is not on the ballot for midterm elections. But hundreds of congressional seats are up for election  all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and about a third of the Senate ... Read More Here's how to prepare for in-person or mail-in voting during midterm elections Here's how to prepare for in-person or mail-in voting during midterm elections 02:22 PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The ... Read More More than 5.8 million ballots have been cast across 39 states in the 2022 midterm elections, according to data from election officials, Edison Research and Catalist. In the battleground states of ... Read More Kremlin-connected entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted Monday that he had interfered in U.S. elections and would continue to do so  confirming for ... Read More
Science News California S Farms Are Sinking After The State S Extreme Drought | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The penalty is the maximum the ranchers  who pumped Shasta River water for eight days  could face under state law. Read More California is in a decadelong drought, but the government water boards have taken on a new priority as farms turn to dust ... in doling out the states water supply among disadvantaged populations. Read More "We know that the extreme precipitation deficit that has plagued California in recent decades is one of the greatest environmental challenges in the Western U.S ... drought will be good news ... Read More Calaveras County, like many other counties in California, is classified as being under extreme and exceptional drought conditions ... New Melones Reservoir is down to 24% of its capacity after the ... Read More Newsom said it's apparent that California has the tools to continue fighting against COVID. "Throughout the pandemic, weve been guided by the science ... 2020 after the Golden State recorded ... Read More Theres wet weather in ... Officials with the California Department of Water Resources have already said theyre preparing for continued extreme drought this winter. Read More California Governor Gavin Newsom announced this afternoon that the states long-running, Covid-related State of Emergency will end on February 28, 2023. Thats basically three years after it ... Read More California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday the state will end its COVID-19 state of emergency in February 2023, nearly three years after it ... Newsom's office said in a news release. Read More Hes anti-science. Hes pro-Trump. Election Day is TOMORROW. Newsom agreed to debate Dahle on Oct. 23  after many ... races. California Gov. Gavin Newsom talks at a news conference ... Read More Abortion under California state law is legal up to fetal viability, and permitted after ... Fox News Digital. "Nearly 60% of voters across the country disagree with the Supreme Courts sweeping ... Read More California is set to become the worlds fourth largest economy, according to a column from Bloomberg News. Hector Amezcua hamezcua@sacbee.com If California were a nation, it would be the world ... Read More
Science News Survey Department Of Agriculture Scientists Sometimes Pressured To Alter Research Findings | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Critics sometimes tell us that Scientific American has strayed from what might be called classical science content and is wading into subject areas where we dont belong. And in response to a recent ... Read More Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news The Pew Research Center conducted its survey by interview 10,588 adults in the US ... Read More As co-lead author of the study, she worked in collaboration with Fagerlin and other scientists ... honestly answered survey questions, opening the possibility that their findings underestimated ... Read More Even the biggest science boosters likely want scientists to devote most of their time to research and teaching. Within this new survey ... Key among these findings: people perceive others as ... Read More Chronic, constant stress can increase lifetime risk of heart disease and stroke, but a new survey reveals regular ... for Good TM movement by Wakefield Research, the vast majority (84%) say ... Read More But after careful years-long research, the National ... they added. The Department of Commerce told CBS News it received the scientists' letter "and will respond to the sender through the ... Read More The findings suggest that the detection of such ... may be due to individuals being treated with antibiotics. The research highlights the potential for PDS to improve our understanding of ... Read More Surging waves crash off the coast of Atami, Japan, ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Hagibis in 2019 (Credit: Kyodo News via ... of Japanese scientists launched Typhoon Shot. As well as attempting to ... Read More Read our research ... science and their levels of confidence in groups and institutions in society, including scientists and medical scientists. For this analysis, we surveyed 10,588 U.S. adults from ... Read More LA JOLLA, CAA team led by scientists at Scripps ... professor in the Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at Scripps Research. The study was the product of a multi ... Read More An Australian study by researchers at the University of Queensland's Institute for Molecular Bioscience published their findings on Wednesday ... lead to additional research that explores other ... Read More They envision the achievement as a promising new frontier in medical research. Groups of living ... Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. Science News // 2 days ago Moon to turn red during ... Read More
Internet News China S Bitauto Unit Raises Us 1bil From Internet Giants Tencent Baidu | RobinsPost News & Noticias

On China's Internet, Only Plaudits for the Party and Xi By Eduardo Baptista BEIJING (Reuters) - While financial markets judged the outcome of China's Communist Party Congress harshly on Monday ... Read More China's internet companies increased their spending on research and development in the first three quarters of the year, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows. Major ... Read More Investing in China's technology ... on internet platform operators, focusing on areas such as antitrust and data protection. Tencent and Alibaba were among China's tech giants to bear the brunt ... Read More You could say last year was a good year for Chinas internet ... have asked us. We answer these questions, and more, in our new book, Seeing the Unseen: Behind Chinese Tech Giants' Global ... Read More Their cumulative effect is one of the Communist Partys greatest ... been wrong about China. It was long assumed that capitalism, the emergence of a middle class and the internet would cause ... Read More Chinas experimental spacecraft launched from the Jiuquan Launch Center in August. Its been nearly eight weeks since we last heard from Chinas spaceplane, which launched from the the Gobi ... Read More "It's such a huge, significant, historic event, but nobody ever told us about it, and you cannot search for it on the Chinese internet ... should raise awareness of what's going on in China." ... Read More Chinas internet ... companies listed in U.S. markets. We believe this represents a major positive development and increases the likelihood that US-listed internet firms will be able to ... Read More Its been nearly eight weeks since we last heard from Chinas spaceplane, which launched from the the Gobi Desert in early August. But things are happening, as the spaceplane recently fired ... Read More on China's internet the only permitted response has been full-throated support. President Xi Jinping secured a precedent-breaking third leadership term at the Congress that wound up on Sunday ... Read More While financial markets judged the outcome of China's Communist Party Congress harshly on Monday, on China's internet the only ... Inc. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, ... Read More
Internet News Paraguay S Internet Companies Defend Data But Keep Customers In The Dark | RobinsPost News & Noticias

A cybercriminal was holding for ransom an Australian health insurers customer data ... from telecommunications company Optus the personal data of 9.8 million customers. The Optus breach ... Read More As a result of the demographic change, some of the world's most ... companies, we used estimates on their value today. For the market caps of internet companies in 2000, we used data from ... Read More Verizons FIOS 100 Mbps plan is its slowest 100% fiber-optic option and the slowest pre-paid tier available from the company ... Internet data plan offering. This no-contract service allows ... Read More The J.D. Power 2022 U.S ... of the internet connection, and how the customer perceives the value of that connection, said Ian Greenblatt, managing director at J.D. Power. With customers ... Read More read more Shares in the company fell ... for a recent data theft, wherein around 9.7 million current and former customers' data was compromised. Technology Australia's top health insurer reels ... Read More
Travel News Travel Bar Harbor The Best Places To Play Eat And Stay In Maine S Easternmost Outpost | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Voters in Bar Harbor, Maine, a tourism hot spot in the state known ... sending thousands of people into the small downtowns streets or vehicles bound for nearby Acadia National Park. Read More Get the full experience.Choose your plan Instead of locking in a place to stay, then plotting a Google Map with what she wants to eat ... and travel reporter at Thrifty Traveler. Its ... Read More With the 2022 FIFA World Cup taking place in Qatar this ... are easily one of the best spots in the city to watch the sunset. The newest addition to Dohas luxury hotel landscape is Banyan ... Read More "They're places you can celebrate, reconnect and curate lasting memories." Here are the 23 best places to travel ... island's shipwrecks. Dont miss: Port Mahon, the second-largest natural ... Read More FALL RIVER  The SouthCoast knows good food. Two local eateries earned a well-deserved spot on the newly released "Best 100 Places to Eat in New England" list according to Yelp. The list, which ... Read More The U.S. News & World Report ranking of the Best Places to Retire can help you select where to spend your retirement years. The analysis compares the 150 most populous metropolitan areas in the ... Read More A South Kingstown Chinese restaurant is at the top of a newly released "Best 100 Places to Eat in New ... Hometown Cafe & Poke Bar and Matunuck Oyster are no stranger to Yelp's top lists. Read More Now theres some competition, but its still good value ... Rooms facing the firth and out to sea are best. Big waterfront developments are in progress and the V&A is changing everything. Read More Editor's Note  Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel's weekly newsletter. Get news about destinations ... a growing number of amazing places to eat, and some of the best nightlife in ... Read More Since 1971, Travel + Leisure editors have followed one mission: to inform, inspire, and guide travelers to have deeper, more meaningful experiences. T+L's editors have traveled to countries all ... Read More The publication recently released a list of the 50 best places to live in the U.S., and Somerville ranked No. 7 while Milton ranked No. 17. The best place to live in America, according to the rank ... Read More Consider Lisbon, Athens or Dublin for Thanksgiving, and stay home for ... the hidden best week for international travel, Mr. Keyes said. Essentially, its one of the cheapest times to ... Read More
Travel News Western Washington Travel Alerts | RobinsPost News & Noticias

WFO SEATTLE Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, November 8, 2022 ...WIND ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM PST THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Northeast winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph. Read More KING 5 has activated First Alert for this weather event, which could affect lives, property or travel in the Pacific Northwest region. Read More What You Need to Know About Travel Warnings and Alerts You've read the latest travel warnings and alerts and have decided it's best to rearrange your itinerary and take the destination you're ... Read More A serious injury is involved, the State Road 80 westbound lanes are blocked and traffic is heavily congested in the area. Please avoid if possible or approach with caution. 7:38 A.M. Traffic ... Read More An active weather pattern has landed in western Washington and is expected to continue impacting the region into the weekend. Read More Air quality in Western Washington continues to be terrible on Thursday, nearly a week after an air quality alert was issued last ... be some snow mixed in, too. Travel impacts should be minimal ... Read More Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it would no longer be maintaining a country-by-country travel advisory ... at the George Washington University Milken ... Read More SEATTLE - Wildfire smoke made its way out of the Seattle area Monday, but more haze is likely just over the horizon. An air quality alert covering much of Western Washington, including King County ... Read More Wellington's Verb Festival is all about celebrating readers and writers. Photo / Getty Images Each week in Reset Travel, we check out some of the latest happenings from Aotearoa and beyond to ... Read More Nigerias Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is set to suffer a setback as western nations put the nations capital, Abuja, on a high terror alert, say economists. Read More Freeze warnings ... southeast as western Allegany and Garrett County, Maryland, and the West Virginia highlands. Snow could accumulate on roads overnight impacting midweek travel during the ... Read More
Travel News Nyc S Amnh Afternoon Travel To Cuba Ancient Peru And The Stars | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Time Out New York's Things to Do Editor Rossilynne Culgan stopped by CBS News New York to share more. Read More A 20-year-old man was killed Monday afternoon ... a New York City subway train. The victim was struck by a southbound 1 train just before 5 p.m. ET. The New York Police Department told Fox News ... Read More That entire This is terrible/I love it! spirit is in full effect in Solomons new book, I Lov(ish) New York City: Tales of City Life (Chronicle Books), which is a hilarious mix of ... Read More Editor's Note  Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel's weekly newsletter. Get news about destinations opening, inspiration for future adventures, plus the latest in aviation, food and ... Read More Mirroring trends across the country, New York Citys fourth- and eighth-graders in 2022 did worse on the mathematics assessment than did the students of 2019, by a substantial amount. Read More While I travel to Paris often as the founder ... so I was so thrilled when they opened two outposts in New York  one in Manhattans West Village and one in Brooklyns Boreum Hill. Read More The Big Apples halting return to the office following the coronavirus shutdown is gaining steam  with occupancy rates jumping by nearly 12 percentage points in just the last month, new ... Read More Rents have reached record highs, new construction has grossly failed to keep up with the citys population growth, and the number of people residing in city shelters on a nightly basis has grown ... Read More Buying travel insurance is the easy part. It's picking the policy that can take time. You can begin the process on Squaremouth, which allows you to compare travel insurance policies from major ... Read More Once there, Finn encountered a car chase and bloody shootout caused by a man's lucky card. Finn will eventually learn what the shootout was about. The world order can be controlled by a set ... Read More This week in travel: some of the destinations in Asia with the most strict Covid policies are finally reopening, an annual ranking of the world's coolest neighborhoods provides inspiration for ... Read More
Us News Arkansas Judge Blocks State From Using Lethal Injection Drug | RobinsPost News & Noticias

MONTGOMERY, Ala (AP)  A federal judge dismissed an inmate's claim seeking to block his upcoming execution in Alabama because of reported problems at a recent lethal injection. The judge on ... Read More To ensure Texas can keep executing prisoners, it does not have to reveal the supplier of its lethal injection drug to a group of Arkansas ... 2017 because the states midazolam had an April 30, 2017 ... Read More (AP)  A federal judge on Wednesday questioned Alabama officials about the ... to block his upcoming Nov. 17 execution. His attorneys have pointed to problems at recent lethal injections. Read More MONTGOMERY, Ala (AP)  A federal judge dismissed an inmate's claim seeking to block his upcoming execution in Alabama because of reported problems at a recent ... Read More A federal judge has dismissed an inmates claim seeking to block his upcoming execution in Alabama because of reported problems at a recent lethal ... use. Smith's attorneys argued that the ... Read More
Us News Arkansas Suffers Two More Setbacks To Its Multiple Execution Plan Making April Deaths Unlikely | RobinsPost News & Noticias

One Arkansan farmer has planted the seeds of change, and her efforts have garnered the attention of her peers in the agriculture community. Read More Heres the daily count on COVID-19 from the Arkansas Department of Health ... measures to slow the spread of the disease; and more. Read More A three-judge panel on Monday dismissed part of a lawsuit challenging Arkansas ... plan approved by the majority-Republican Legislature last year. The lawsuit filed by two Black Democratic ... Read More When they dont live up to their end of the bargain, it forces some of us to go outside the box, which I have done every single day for the past two ... who held more than 200 news briefings ... Read More The families of four transgender youth and two doctors who provide ... someone after the age of 18 from making this decision. What we're doing in Arkansas is protecting children from life-altering ... Read More That's the idea behind this massive property in northwestern Arkansas, complete with a mansion, endless room for car storage, and its own race track ... foot home is a 1.2-mile paved asphalt ... Read More Either Arkansas will elect its first woman or Black man as Arkansas ... Jr. will be running against businessman Steve Landers. The two will also face Greg Henderson and Glen Schwarz. Read More The nation now has concrete data on the extreme learning loss students have suffered during the pandemic ... schools from the 2021 American Rescue Plan stimulus package to address learning ... Read More I would love to say that whatever the polls say, making two ... as Arkansas dropped five of six games at one point from mid-December to early January before the team won 14 of its next 15 ... Read More For us, we'll try to live up to those standards. We have a challenging schedule in doing so." Arkansas is scheduled to host an exhibition game against Arkansas-Fort Smith on Nov. 2 in Fayetteville. Read More Heres the daily count on COVID-19 from the Arkansas Department of Health ... measures to slow the spread of the disease; and more. Read More
Us News Arkansas Again Faces Two Legal Roadblocks Day Ahead Of Execution | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Saxton said all he wanted was for his son to be happy in life and said he worried that Act 626 would create a roadblock ... us he just wants to see the person that he is looking back at him ... Read More After two days of grueling legal argument ... of Central Arkansas ranks among the top 30 public institutions in the South, according to the 2013 Best Colleges rankings by U.S. News & World Report. Read More The ACLU is acting on behalf of the Arkansas Times newspaper ... decision under pressure in Israel and the US. But the legislation has faced repeated legal challenges and states have been forced ... Read More Sponsors include AARP Arkansas and the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce. The debate will be broadcast again at 7 p.m. Friday. Watch the video below. Sports ... Read More A suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas on behalf of the families of four transgender youths and two doctors who ... Sarah Warbelow, Legal Director at the Human Rights ... Read More A 71-year-old man was fatally shot by a northwest Arkansas sheriff's deputy who found ... you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox ... Read More Upon arrival, deputies made contact with a woman who had been shot in the face ... For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. Like us on Facebook to see similar ... Read More ARKANSAS, USA  Much of Arkansas remains under a burn ban after the weather has brought little to no rain lately. Just this past weekend nearly two dozen ... take all of us working together. ... Read More The lawsuit filed by two Black ... in central Arkansas. Those voters were split between the states 1st and 4th congressional districts. The ruling gave the residents 30 days to file an amended ... Read More The nation's first trial over a state's ban on gender-confirming care for children begins in Arkansas this week LITTLE ... of four transgender youth and two doctors who provide gender-confirming ... Read More Two people were killed and one person was injured after a suspect allegedly opened fire at three separate locations in Arkansas ... For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video ... Read More
Us News Thunderstorms Moving East From Lower Lakes And Ohio Valley Precede Weekend Cooldown | RobinsPost News & Noticias

ALERT: Severe Thunderstorm Warning in effect for this storm moving thru the east Valley. Storm is moving at about 35mph towards the NW and is capable of producing damaging winds near 60mph and ... Read More AccuWeather meteorologists say a multi-day risk of severe weather will continue into Wednesday night and shift into parts of the Ohio and Tennessee valleys as the cold front responsible for those ... Read More Recent pop-up thunderstorms across the Victor Valley may be a preview of things to come throughout the week. Load Error Rain fell on Monday in places such as Oak ... Read More WHAT'S NEXT: Drying out by the morning commute before sunshine returns Friday and a dry start to the weekend. Storm Watch Team Meteorologist Meredith Garofalo says thunderstorms will clear ... Read More STILL OUT NEAR IT WAS TWO MILES EAST OF WELL WHERE THAT EARTHQUAKE ... BE SOME DAMAGING WINDS WITH SOME OF THE ISOLATED STORMS THAT MOVE THROUGH THE MID ATLANTIC TOMORROW AFTERNOON. Read More Areas of the Valley could ... with a lower risk for lightning, dust, wind and hail on Sunday, according to NWS. This weekend a weather disturbance will move through the region bringing scattered ... Read More Break out the umbrellas because rain is in the forecast this weekend for Los Angeles and Ventura counties, according to the National Weather Service. Showers and thunderstorms are expected Friday ... Read More AND WE HAVE THE STOCKTON MARINA IN THE MIDDLE AND THEN LAKE ... weekend. That will set us up for slightly cooler and slightly breezier conditions especially in the delta and the central valley. Read More Favorable conditions for rain, thunderstorms ... Arizona Paradise Valley mansion sells for $14.5M cash Election results in December? Change to recounts could prolong outcome Lake wants Hobbs ... Read More
World News Court Rejects Ukrainian Call For Russia To Halt Rebel Backing | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Along with Russia ... World News // 19 hours ago Russian judge in Ukraine's Donetsk region survives alleged assassination attempt Nov. 6 (UPI) -- A Russian-appointed judge for the Supreme Court ... Read More Ukraine and allies have denounced the votes as illegal and coercive. The draft resolution to be voted on later this week calls on states not to recognize Russia's move and reaffirms the ... Read More Germany's foreign minister on Tuesday rejected what she said were naive calls for Ukraine to cede territory in a peace deal with Russia. Annalena Baerbock told a policy forum in Berlin that ... Read More Russia Brings Ukraine 'Dirty Bomb' Claim to U.N. as West Rejects It as False By Humeyra ... support for Ukraine in a joint statement. "The world would see through any attempt to use this ... Read More Ukraine and allies have denounced the votes as illegal and coercive. The draft UN General Assembly resolution calls on states not to recognize Russia's move and reaffirms the sovereignty and ... Read More Ukraine and allies have denounced the votes as illegal and coercive. The draft U.N. General Assembly resolution calls on states not to recognize Russia's ... their nails over World Cup chances ... Read More
World News Defense Secretary Mattis Heads To Egypt | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Defense Secretary James Mattis met with Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the Pentagon. President Obama announced changes to the U.S. missile defense program, cancelling a plan to build ... Read More Amnesty International's head on Sunday warned that the proceedings of COP27 in Egypt could be stained by the death of the country's leading rights activist from a hunger and water strike in prison if ... Read More World leaders attending the COP27 climate summit in Egypt are being urged to bring up human rights issues, specifically the case of prominent imprisoned activist Abdel-Fattah. Read More Ash Carter, the former Defense secretary who oversaw sweeping personnel ... students he taught with the hope that they would make the world a better and safer place, his family said. Read More These weapons will help Ukraine defend its skies from attacks and strengthen their overall missile defense alongside the U.S. NASAMS, U.K. Defense Secretary ... the boys head, then ... Read More Washington  Ashton Carter, who served as the secretary of defense ... destruction around the world, and I was proud to appointment him to lead the Department of Defense in 2014." ... Read More Ash Carter, the former Defense secretary who oversaw sweeping ... Developing For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT. Like us on Facebook to see similar stories ... Read More Washington  Ashton Carter, who served as the secretary of defense under former President Barack Obama ... "The United States and the world know Ash Carter for his lifelong efforts to serve this ... Read More Today we mourn the passing of former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and celebrate a leader who left America  and the world  safer through his lifetime of service, Obama said in his ... Read More Carter served as defense secretary under Barack Obama ... and strengthened our alliances around the world." The former president added Carter's greatest legacy was the young people "he taught ... Read More Former Secretary of Defense Ashton ... to defend the United States and make a better world, the center said of Carter. He was awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Department ... Read More
World News Taking A Cue From Hungary Poland Wants To Confine Asylum Seekers To Container Camps | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Only a few months after the Warsaw summit, the governments of Poland and Hungary, who have been ideological soul mates in the EU for years, fell out over Russias invasion of Ukraine. Read More These three young men (I am not using their names to protect their identities) risked their lives crossing the Darien Gap, one of the worlds most ... City while seeking asylum with no plan ... Read More The government wants to send ... to transfer asylum seekers between EU countries which was lost during Brexit. The timescale seems to be set based on how long it would take Rwanda to respond ... Read More But in a nailbitingly close race for control of the House and the Senate, the thought is that the White House wants to look tough ... keep migrants from seeking asylum at the border, based on ... Read More Europe's largest land-based container terminal started ... Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told a news conference in Fenyeslitke in eastern Hungary. "The machinery used here is capable of ... Read More I write honestly without fear or favor and this weeks update was no different, Bremmer said. Ive long admired Musk as a unique and world-changing entrepreneur... Hes not a geopolitics expert. ... Read More As of Thursday, more than 3,000 asylum seekers have been brought to Chicago from Texas since the end of August, when the first such group of migrants arrived in Chicago. The city has created a new ... Read More An Iranian man dubbed the "worlds dirtiest man" has died at the age of 94, according to state media. Amou Haji died Sunday in the village of Dezhgah, according to the Islamic Republic News ... Read More Hungary on Track to Meet All Commitments Made to Secure Deal on EU Funds -Minister BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's Development Minister Tibor Navracsics said on Wednesday that informal feedback ... Read More On 6 October a flight departed from Malaysia taking ... refugees and asylum seekers, and many more who are not registered - most of them from Myanmar. It hosts 100,000 Muslim Rohingyas, who fled ... Read More Asylum seekers facing removal to Rwanda could have their claims processed in as little as three weeks from arrival, the High Court has heard. The charity Asylum Aid has brought a legal challenge ... Read More A suspect who had allegedly gunned down a journalist surrendered to authorities, Secretary of the Interior Benjamin Abalos said yesterday, calling it a major breakthrough. Radio personality Percival ... Read More
World News Australia Announces Tougher New Exams For Citizenship | RobinsPost News & Noticias

New laws to strip ... email to get your daily news roundup In June the high court ruled in favour of Delil Alexander, a Turkish citizen whose Australian citizenship was cancelled in July 2021 ... Read More Australia has proposed tougher penalties for companies that fail ... penalties up to hundreds of millions of dollars under the new law. It is a very, very substantial increase in the ... Read More Ukrainian lawmakers backed draft legislation Tuesday that requires would-be citizens to pass a language exam, part of measures ... that foreigners applying for citizenship must know the ... Read More Australia will launch a review into the obligations former Defence Force personnel have to protect state secrets, following revelations that Australians were among the tens of Western military pilots ... Read More Contrary to perception, fuel economy figures on new-car rating labels are derived from laboratory tests ... and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in 2018, and has been a World ... Read More (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images for FIFA) FOX SPORTS ANNOUNCES LIVE COVERAGE OF FINAL DRAW FOR FIFA WOMENS WORLD CUP AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND 2023 LOS ANGELES  FOX Sports, Americas ... Read More Image: David Warner trudges off after falling for single figures in Australia's crushing defeat to New Zealand Australia's T20 World Cup title defence got off to a dreadful start with Aaron Finch ... Read More Australia on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022 proposed tougher penalties for companies that fail to protect customers personal data after two major cybersecurity breaches left millions vulnerable to ... Read More CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australia on Saturday proposed tougher penalties for companies ... to hundreds of millions of dollars under the new law. It is a very, very substantial increase ... Read More
World News France Promises Proof Assad Regime Behind Chemical Attack | RobinsPost News & Noticias

France to Dive Deeper for Undersea Security After Nord Stream Attacks By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) - France expects in the coming months to obtain its first deep-sea drone and robot, part of a ... Read More Prosecutors pressed him on the wisdom of public celebrations that year, while France was reeling from the Islamic State attacks in Paris eight month earlier in which 130 people were killed. Read More Quitting the ECT, which protects fossil fuel investors from policy changes that might threaten their profits, was coherent with Paris climate deal, Macron said France has become the latest ... Read More Error occured during this request! Please try again later. ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States on Monday designated three military officials of Syrian ... Read More The US on Monday designated three Syrian regime military officials involved in a chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, in 2013. "Of the atrocities committed by the Assad regime ... Read More After Bridge Blast, Putin Promises 'Harsh' Response if Ukrainian Attacks Continue LONDON (Reuters ... "Through its actions, the Kyiv regime has put itself on a par with the most odious of ... Read More Rugby Union - Women's World Cup - Pool C - France v England - Okara Park, Whangarei, New Zealand - October 15, 2022 France's Laure Sansus is taken off after sustaining an injury REUTERS/David ... Read More and the news is a significant blow for France manager Didier Deschamps given the role the 31-year-old played in his country's 2018 World Cup triumph. - Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga ... Read More
World News China Is Playing Peacemaker In Myanmar But With An Ulterior Motive | RobinsPost News & Noticias

In the eyes of Xi, China is closer than ever to achieving its dream of national rejuvenation and reclaiming its rightful place in the world. But the path ahead is also beset with high ... Read More Under Xi Jinping, whose supreme leadership will be extended this month for a third term by the 20th Party Congress, China is working to reshape the world order from within. When its efforts meet ... Read More Xi Jinping said "the world needs China" as he spoke to the press after ... bur-reb/cwl The Barron's news department was not involved in the creation of the content above. This story was produced ... Read More Myanmar is also on track to surpass China as the ... Elon Musk, the worlds richest man, goes out with frenetic bombast, almost as if he were live-action role-playing a billionaire playboy. Read More If theres a country that has a choice about which direction it wants to go in and how it interacts with the rest of the world, Chinas that country. So it has immense amount of agency in ... Read More The deal also permits up to 5,000 Chinese military personnel in Iran. China controls 80 percent of the world solar panel supply chain. Thats for all components; China has 97 percent of the ... Read More In the field of development, China counsels deference to rulers. In a UN debate on Africa in August, Mr Zhang urged the world to trust African governments and direct most assistance through them. Read More Much of that growth was based on manufacturing, turning China into the worlds second-largest economy after the United States since 2010. But its leaders are trying to transition toward services ... Read More China's homicide and gun violence rates were among the lowest in the world, said Xu, who is Beijing's No. 2 police official and also the director of the Chinese immigration authority. President Xi ... Read More Chinas economy is faltering. Unemployment is skyrocketing. Endless Covid lockdowns are wreaking havoc on businesses and peoples lives. The property sector is in crisis. Ties between Beijing ... Read More 19 (UPI) --An explosion rocked Myanmar's largest prison that houses ... communications between the prisoners and the outside world. Apple: China's COVID-19 restrictions impacting iPhone shipments ... Read More Xi Jinping climbed to the center of Chinas political universe by rewriting ... revolves around him for years to come. A Bloomberg News analysis of appointments to the partys Central ... Read More
World News Turkey S Urbanites Balk At Giving Erdogan More Power | RobinsPost News & Noticias

When Russia backed down earlier this week over its threats to block grain shipments out of Ukraine, it was Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who was among the first to break the news. Speaking to ... Read More In this case, a news outlet that is seen as a house outlet for President Recep Tayyip Erdogans repressive ... Turkey reportedly imprisons more journalists than any other nation in the world ... Read More Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he may call for a referendum to protect womens right to wear headscarves and the conservative concept of the family in the constitution if MPs do not ... Read More Mr. Erdogan, who has concentrated more power ... World index. Reporters Without Borders ranked Turkey 149 out of 180 countries in its press freedom index. The Venice Commission, the Council of ... Read More Putin floated the idea of exporting more ... Turkey has reacted positively to the idea. Officials from Erdogans office could not immediately be reached for comment. Turkeys state-run news ... Read More Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has laid out his vision for Turkey in the next century, promising a new constitution that would guarantee the rights and freedoms of citizens. In ... Read More Turkey houses the worlds largest refugee ... Announcing a home-building project in Syrias northwest Idlib region in May, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it would facilitate the return ... Read More Turkey's Parliament last week ratified a law introducing jail terms for journalists and social media users who spread "fake news," or disinformation. The law, proposed by President Recep Tayyip ... Read More Finland and Sweden's aspirations to join NATO are in doubt as Turkey ... Tayyip Erdogan has voiced reservations over Finland and Sweden's bid to join, accusing the countries of giving sanctuary ... Read More
World News Rare Initiative Underway To Promote Tension Free Pakistan Afghanistan Ties | RobinsPost News & Noticias

In 1947, Pakistan emerged as an independent country in the wake of the Partition from India. That year, Afghanistan was the ... current Taliban have developed ties with other governments including ... Read More Oct 21 2022, 12:52 ist updated: Oct 21 2022, 13:02 ist A verification email has been sent to your inbox. Please verify to complete the subscription. Read More After the fall of the former government, the fate of the constitution in Afghanistan remained tentative. The work regarding the constitution is underway, Mujahid said, TOLO News reported. Read More The Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, which was widely celebrated in Pakistan in August last year ... media reports said citing a Taliban-controlled news agency. Qari Aminullah Tayeb, a Talibani ... Read More The invention of polio vaccines in the 1950s and 1960s wiped the disease from the industrialized world, and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative ... only Pakistan and Afghanistan continue ... Read More BRISBANE: The warm-up match played between Pakistan and Afghanistan at the T20 World Cup 2022 on Wednesday was washed out as it started raining in Brisbane. Pakistan had just taken to the field to ... Read More had warned that a rapid withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan would pose an increased risk to the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. In his speech, Biden said the world was changing rapidly ... Read More BRISBANE: A warm-up match between Pakistan and Afghanistan for the ICC Mens T20 World Cup was called off on Wednesday due to uninterrupted rain at The Gabba in Brisbane. Pakistan were only able ... Read More In todays match between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Pakistan had won the toss and elected to bowl in their warm-up game against Afghanistan. Afghanistan made 154 runs at the loss of six wickets ... Read More Afghanistan vs England is now ... Can you stream the T20 World Cup for FREE? Yes you can! If you live in Pakistan, or indeed, outside of Pakistan and don't mind the commentary being in Urdu ... Read More Afghanistan will look to finish their T20 World Cup preparations on a winning note when they face Pakistan on Wednesday. The warm-up match between Afghanistan and Pakistan will be played at the ... Read More Earlier, Mohammad Nabi hit an unbeaten 51 as Afghanistan overcame a top-order collapse to post a total of 154 for six against Pakistan in a T20 World Cup warm-up game.Shaheen Afridi had earlier ... Read More
World News Russian Military Adviser Killed In Syria | RobinsPost News & Noticias

MOSCOW, May 2. /TASS/. A Russian military advisor has died in Syria in a gunfire opened by a militant sniper at a unit of the Syrian Army, the Defense Ministry said in a report. "Militants ... Read More He is said to have taken part in Russia's military operation in Syria. Andrei Mordvichev was killed by a strike on the Chornobaivka airbase near Kherson, according to Ukrainian officials. Read More It killed two people and injured 11 others. But why? #Television_Syria ... in Russia following the announcement of the partial military mobilisation. According to the Latvia-based news website ... Read More Those strikes are thought to have killed at least six Syrian and foreign militants. An extremely high profile raid took place in Syria in 2019 under the direction of then-President Donald Trump. Read More But military analysts say its far from clear whether the strikes mark a turning point in a war that has killed ... Russian forces in Ukraine. Surovikin previously led Russian forces in Syria ... Read More Russian businessman and Putin henchman Yevgeny Prigozhin only acknowledged the existence of the Wagner Group earlier this year. Read More Gunmen shot dead 11 people at a Russian military training ground, the defence ministry said, in the latest blow to President Vladimir Putins forces since the invasion of Ukraine. RIA news ... Read More At Least 11 Killed ... wounded at a Russian military training ground on Saturday when two attackers opened fire on a group of volunteers who wished to fight in Ukraine, RIA news agency said. Read More A Russian soldier who was set to shortly be redeployed to Ukraine has been arrested after allegedly starting a fire in a nightclub that killed 13 people. Read More Fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces near Kherson over the next two to three weeks could determine control of the crucial city. Live updates. Read More Oct 15 (Reuters) - At least 11 people were killed ... Russian military training ground on Saturday when two attackers opened fire on a group of volunteers who wished to fight in Ukraine, RIA news ... Read More Andriy Yermak, a senior adviser ... special military operation to a counterterrorism campaign or martial law. Zelenskyy has repeatedly called on world leaders to declare Russia a terrorist ... Read More
On Thursday, ALROSA reported its first quarter 2017 diamond production performance and preliminary trading results.

ALROSAs Q1 2017 diamond production totalled 8.9 million carats, up by 9% year-on-year In line with 2017 production plan of 39.2 million carats (+5% y-o-y increase). The growth in production is driven by ramping up diamond mining at Aikhal, Mir, International, Udachny underground mines and also by processing of higher grade ore from the Jubilee pipe.

Indicatively, in Q1 2017 ALROSA sold 14.1 million carats of diamonds, including 11.0 million carats of gem-quality diamonds at an average price of USD 117 per carat and 3.1 million carats of industrial diamonds at an average price of USD 7 per carat. In Q1 2017, revenue from rough diamond sales amounted to at least USD 1,309 million. Revenue from polished diamond sales totalled at least USD 32 million.




US polished diamond imports slid 15% to $1.49 billion in February, according to government data.

By volume, polished imports fell 18% to 635,000 carats, with the average price increasing 3% to $2,345 per carat, figures showed.

Polished exports dropped 11% to $1.75 billion. Net polished imports  the difference between inbound and outbound shipments  stood at negative $257 million, compared with negative $214 million last year, as exports once again exceeded imports in February.

During the month, exports to Hong Kong stood at $633.1 million compared with imports of $62.4 million, dragging down the net figure.

Total rough imports to the US went up 14% to $50 million, while rough exports leapt 37% to $31 million, leaving net rough imports 10% lower at $20 million.

The US net diamond account for the month, calculated as total rough and polished imports minus total exports, stood at negative $237 million compared with negative $192 million a year earlier.

During the first two months of the year, polished imports fell 14% to $3.25 billion, while polished exports decreased 13% to $2.99 billion, meaning net polished imports fell 24% to $261 million.

Rough imports, however, soared 90% to $170 million, and rough exports increased 78% to $86 million, resulting in net rough imports more than doubling to $84 million from $41 million a year ago.

The US net diamond account for January and February, meanwhile, dipped 10% to $345 million.




Sberbank is looking to finance the direct import of gold to India, Aleksei Kechko, Managing Director of the Russians banks Indian subsidiary Sberin told The Free Press Journal recently.

We think we could easily import gold worth $1.5 bn into India each year since India is a very large importer of gold. Russia is a big producer of gold (it has one of the largest gold reserves in the world). India imports gold from other countries which in turn source it from other mines, thereby pushing up the cost on account of compliances and margins, said Kechko.

Kechko also said that direct gold trade between India and Russia would be immensely beneficial to both countries. We hope to sign the transaction by September or October this year. We are also exploring the possibility of entering the gold loans sector as well, he added.

Kechko also revealed that the bank wanted to finance more Indo-Russian joint projects.We would like to become a bank of choice for doing business between India and Russia. Sberbank is financing the $600 mn coal mining project that Tata Power is taking up in eastern Russia, said Kechko.

The Russian bank received an Indian license in 2010 and has been issuing loans in the country since 2013. The banks non-performing assets jumped to 30 percent by 2016, so the focus has shifted to the financing of Indo-Russian projects.

India is the worlds second largest importer of gold. The country imported $35 bn worth of gold in 2015. However, Indias imports of the precious metal fell in 2016.



Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished




On September 24th, VICENZAORO will host, an international meeting of Mujeres Brillantes (Brilliant Women), a group of about 500 businesswomen operating in the gold and jewellery sector that, although mainly from Latin America, also come from Turkey, Spain , Italy, England and Israel.

The Mujeres Brillantes mission is to help women in the jewellery and watch sector to consolidate their business by networking and sharing their own professionalism and experience. The Mujeres Brillantes chose Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) and the VICENZAORO platform due to their mutual vision of gender equality and the respect and attention paid to women at the head of jewellery companies.

The Mujeres Brillantes united into an association in 2016 during the second week of the diamond at the World Jewelry Hub, in order to share experiences and present themselves as a united group to the jewellery industry.

Our overall sensation is that the industry is too focussed on sales rather than on the actual buying experience or the interiorization of other elements," said Mujeres Brillantes President, Ali Pastorini. "As women, we instinctively understand that the act of buying ought to be a special and intimate moment that goes beyond a business transaction." More than a simple campaign, the intention of the group is to improve the marketing approach upstream and to offer a new look at the sector through a female eye, Mujeres Brillantes says in press-release.



Alex Shishlo, Editor of the Rough&Polished European Bureau in Brussels




Billionaire financier George Soros has been sued for $10 billion by BSG Resources Ltd. (BSGR), the group controlled by Israeli diamond and mining mogul Beny Steinmetz, reports Bloomberg.

The complaint is that Soros cost BSGR at least that much through a defamation campaign that lost them mining rights at the Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea, as well as opportunities elsewhere.

BSGR says Soros orchestrated a campaigns against it by funding law firms, transparency groups, investigators and government officials in Guinea.

Swiss and Israeli law enforcement agencies have investigated and questioned Steinmetz on suspicions that be paid bribes to win a stake in Simandou. However, no charges have been levelled against him.

BSGR and Steinmetz lost their rights to Simandou because the Guinean government said it found that they had obtained permits by paying millions in bribes, including to Mamadie Toure, the fourth wife of Guineas former president.

The BSGR complaint claims Mamadie Toure, who implicated the group, was paid $50,000 by an adviser to President Alpha Conde and $80,000 from an agent or affiliate of Soros.




Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 614.722 billion yen in March, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday - down 17.5 percent on year.

The headline figure topped forecasts for a surplus of 605.6 billion yen following the upwardly revised 813.5 billion yen surplus in February (originally 813.389 billion yen).

Exports climbed 12.0 percent on year to 7.229 trillion yen, beating forecasts for an increase of 6.2 percent following the 11.3 percent jump in the previous month.

Exports to Asia surged 16.3 percent on year to 3.860 trillion yen, while exports to China alone advanced an annual 16.4 percent to 1.299 trillion yen.

Exports to the United States added an annual 3.5 percent to 1.353 trillion yen, and exports to the European Union gained 1.4 percent to 800.932 billion yen.

Imports added an annual 15.8 percent to 6.614 trillion yen versus expectations for a gain of 10.2 percent after adding just 1.2 percent a month earlier.

Imports from Asia were up 10.5 percent on year to 3.217 trillion yen, while imports from China alone advanced 10.3 percent to 1.619 trillion yen.

Imports from the United States climbed 16.3 percent on year to 724.976 billion yen, and imports from the European Union gained 7.1 percent to 732.504 billion yen.

The adjusted trade surplus was 172.2 billion yen, beating forecasts for 172.0 billion yen and down from the downwardly revised 609.0 billion yen surplus in February (originally 680.3 billion yen).

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Producer price data from Germany is due on Thursday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

At 2.00 am ET, Destatis is scheduled to issue Germany's producer prices for March. Economists forecast producer prices to rise 3.2 percent on year following a 3.1 percent rise in February.

At 3.00 am ET, Turkey's consumer confidence survey results are due. The sentiment index is seen falling to 65 in April from 67.8 in March.

At 5.00 am ET, Eurostat is scheduled to issue euro area construction output figures for February. Construction output had decreased 2.3 percent month-on-month in January.

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What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
The Japanese yen slipped against its most major counterparts in the Asian session on Thursday amid rising risk appetite, as crude oil recouped its overnight losses and better-than-expected Japanese trade data spurred optimism about global growth.

Oil prices snapped its early losses after official data showed that crude stockpiles fell 1 million barrels last week to 532.34 million barrels. Comments from the OPEC Secretary-general Mohammad Barkindo that the group was committed to cutting inventories to the five-year average also lifted mood.

Data from the Ministry of Finance showed that Japan logged a merchandise trade surplus of 614.722 billion yen in March.

That was shy of forecasts for a surplus of 605.6 billion yen following the upwardly revised 813.5 billion yen surplus in February.

Exports climbed 12.0 percent to 7.229 trillion yen on year, while imports improved 15.8 percent to 6.614 trillion yen.

Speaking at Columbia University on Wednesday, Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso told that a bilateral trade deal with the U.S. has "various problems," as Tokyo couldn't make up losses from a compromise with the United States.

The yen fell against its major counterparts on Wednesday.

In Asian trading, the yen dropped to 116.90 against the euro, from a high of 116.48 hit at 5:15 pm ET. Continuation of the yen's downtrend may see it challenging support around the 118.00 zone.

Reversing from an early high of 108.88 against the franc, the yen fell to 109.29. The yen is seen finding support around the 111.00 region.

The yen edged down to 139.66 against the pound, off its early high of 138.96. On the downside, the yen may locate support around the 141.00 area.

The yen reached as low as 81.86 against the aussie, compared to Wednesday's closing value of 81.60. If the yen falls further, it may locate support around the 83.00 zone.

The yen declined to a 9-day low of 76.75 against the kiwi and held steady in later part of the deals. The pair finished Wednesday's trading at 76.22.

On the flip side, the yen rose to 108.73 against the greenback, after having fallen to 109.06 at 10:00 pm ET. The next possible resistance for the yen is seen around the 106.00 level.

Looking ahead, Eurozone construction output for February is due in the European session.

The Bank of England governor Mark Carney speaks before Institute of International Finance event in Washington at 6:30 am ET.

At 7:30 am ET, Carney participates in a panel discussion at the Bank of France event, in Washington.

U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended April 15 and leading indicators for March are set for release in the New York session.

Federal Reserve governor Jerome Powell speaks on economic growth and capital in Washington D.C at 8:00 am ET.

At 10:00 am ET, Eurozone flash consumer confidence for April will be released.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
The US President's "Buy American And Hire American" Executive Order that mandates a full review of the H-1B visa program for high-skilled foreign workers has evoked serious concern among the American Asian community as well as some Congressmen, while experts say making any change in the visa program would require legislative action by the Congress.

The Executive Order that President Donald Trump signed Tuesday calls to fully enforce the laws governing the entry of foreign workers into the U.S. , and directs federal agencies to propose reforms to the H-1B program that prevents the displacement of American workers.

A leading South Asian advocacy group said it rejects the premise that U.S.-born and foreign workers should be pitted against each other to "ensure the integrity" of the immigration system and serve the national interest.

South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) expressed concern that the Executive Order will encourage immigration raids at businesses and other places of employment, further underscoring this administration's commitment to criminalizing immigrants.

Rep. Erik Paulsen, R.-Minn., whose district is home to many medical companies, said the H-1B visa program is an important tool for attracting and retaining top talent in STEM careers, and "We shouldn't kick people out of the country so they can become our competitors, especially if they were trained and educated in the U.S."

Any changes in the current visa program would require either Congressional action, changing statutory requirements, or regulations that would trigger President Trump's prior executive order ordering agencies to rescind two regulations for every new regulation proposed," according to immigration expert Rebecca Bernhard.

In her opinion, contrary to recent rhetoric, H-1B visas do not generally act as a mechanism to replace American workers. "Instead, US businesses use the H-1B to gain access to the sought-after skills of foreign professionals, many of whom graduate from US universities, to complement the US workforce".

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political News
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)

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political News
WestJet Airline Ltd. (WJA.TO) said it plans to launch a new ultra-low-cost carrier in Canada by the end of 2017 to cater to price-sensitive consumers. The plan is subject to agreement with the airline's pilots and regulatory approvals.

The Canadian airline expects the service to start in late 2017 with an initial fleet of 10 high-density Boeing 737-800s. The ultra-low-cost carrier ULCC will provide Canadians with no-frills, lower-cost travel options, WestJet noted.

"We have built WestJet from its low-cost, regional roots into a renowned, international airline with service to 21 countries and today it's all about disrupting at the price-sensitive end of the market. Launching a ULCC will broaden WestJet's growth opportunities and open new market segments by offering more choice to those Canadians looking for lower fares," Clive Beddoe, co-founder of WestJet and Chair of the Board of the Directors said.

There are currently more than 100 low-cost airlines around the world and a relatively new category called ULCCs, offering much lower fares and unbundled product offering along with increased seat density.

Gregg Saretsky, WestJet President and CEO said, "The complete unbundling of services and products in order to lower fares for the price-sensitive traveller has created the ULCC category and our new airline will provide Canadians a pro-competitive, cheap and cheerful flying experience from a company with a proven track record."

In February, WestJet said it will increase its capacity by 74 percent, adding new routes to and from Montreal and Quebec. The airline also said it plans to add 105 new weekly flights.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
The data breach at InterContinental Hotels Group Plc (IHG,IHG.L) is much bigger than announced earlier, with almost 1,200 hotels now seen as impacted.

Denham, UK-based InterContinental Hotels, the owner of Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Staybridge Suites and Hotel Indigo, said in early February that it suffered a data breach on twelve of its hotels in the U.S. The company operates more than 5,000 hotels across nearly 100 countries.

The data breach was discovered on December 28, 2016 after clients reported unauthorized, fraudulent charges on cards previously used at a number of U.S. hotels owned by the hotel giant.

IHG said in a statement on its website that it found signs of malware designed to access credit card data from cards used onsite at front desks in certain IHG-branded franchise hotel locations between September 29, 2016 and December 29, 2016.

While the company did not provide a specific number for how many properties were affected, it has provided a state-by-state lookup tool that shows the Holiday Inn, Intercontinental and Crowne Plaza locations that were affected.

According to research by a Krebs on Security reader, 1,175 properties across the U.S. and Puerto Rico were affected by the data breach. The impacted brands are Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Resort, Crown Plaza, Hotel indigo, Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites.

According to IHG's investigation, the malware did not show signs of activity after December 29, but it was also not eradicated from cash registers until March 2017.

According to the hotel chain, the malware searched for track data - cardholder name, card number, expiration date, and internal verification code - read from the magnetic stripe of a payment card as it was being routed through the affected hotel server. However, the company noted that there was no indication that other guest information was affected.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Calling it an historic day for American steel, President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum Thursday prioritizing an investigation of the impact of foreign steel imports on U.S. national security.

Trump said the investigation would examine foreign practices such as steel dumping, the targeting of American industry and other foreign strategies designed to undermine American industry as a whole.

"Maintaining the production of American steel is extremely important to our national security and our defense industrial base. Steel is critical to both our and our military," Trump said. "This is not an area where we can afford to become dependent on foreign countries."

"We have a product where we actually need foreign countries to be nice to us in order to fight for our people," he added. "And that's not gonna happen any longer, believe me, especially as it comes to steel."

Trump said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will make formal recommendations to the White House based on the investigation in the very near future.

The president suggested that his promise to take action to protect American workers was one of the primary reasons he won the presidential election.

Trump argued he has followed through on that pledge, beginning with the withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which he claimed would have been a catastrophe for American businesses and workers.

"From now on, we're going to stand up for Americans jobs, workers, their security and for American steel companies and companies in general," Trump said. "Today's action is the next vital step toward making America strong and prosperous once again."

Trump also took the opportunity to renew his attacks on NAFTA, one of his favorite targets on the campaign trail.

While Trump has previously focused his ire on Mexico, he singled out Canada in his remarks, accusing the U.S. neighbor to the north of taking advantage of American dairy farmers as well as those in the lumber, timber, and energy industries.

Steel stocks have moved sharply higher during trading on the news of the investigation, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index jumping by 3 percent after ending the previous session at a five-month closing low.

(Photo: Gage Skidmore)

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political News
Canadian stocks nudged higher Thursday, trimming weekly losses despite continued weakness in the energy sector.

Banks, industrials and tech stocks all managed gains. The TSX Composite Index was up 72.69 points to 15,625.56.

Crude oil futures fell for a fourth straight session Thursday, but held above the psychologically important $50 mark.

May WTI oil fell 17 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $50.27/bbl on its expiration day. Soaring U.S. production continued to offset OPEC's supply quota plan.

BP is mulling the sale of its 50 percent stake in the Sunrise oil sands project near Fort McMurray in Alberta, Reuters said.

WestJet Airline Ltd. (WJA.TO) said it plans to launch a new ultra-low-cost carrier in Canada by the end of 2017 to cater to price-sensitive consumers. The plan is subject to agreement with the airline's pilots and regulatory approvals. Shares rose 1 percent.

Celestica Inc. (CLS) announced earnings for its first quarter that gained 12% compared to the same period last year. Shares slipped 1.1 percent.

Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO, GG) has formally commenced an offer to acquire Exeter Resource Corp. (XRC.TO, XRA), supported by the board of directors of Exeter. Shares were up fractionally.

Supremex Inc. (SXP.TO) named Bertrand Jolicoeur CFO.

Canadian Pacific (CP.TO) rallied after the railroad reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit Wednesday.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market Analysis
Dividends aren't sexy but they are effective. While companies that offer regular payouts aren't likely to triple in value in any given year, dividends are the strong and steady force behind many retirement portfolios.

Over time, such payments create dynamic wealth. Consider the two companies we are investigating today: telecom giant Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). Over the last 25 years, their stocks have gone up 130% and 940%, respectively. But when we take dividends into account, this is what happens.

While Johnson & Johnson's returns are obviously better, it's worth noting that an investor's returns on Verizon more than quadruple thanks to the dividend. But the question for today is: Which is the better stock moving forward? That's impossible to answer with 100% certainty, but we can get a better idea for what we're buying by investigating three key variables.

Sustainable competitive advantages

If I had my way, I'd jump into a time machine, grab my beginner investor self, and tell him, "Brian, there's nothing more important to your success than picking companies with the strongest sustainable competitive advantages."

That's because these advantages, often referred to as "moats," are what separate a companies from the rest of the field. They provide that special something that keeps customers coming back for more and the competition at bay for ages.

Johnson & Johnson has three different divisions, each with its own moat. The consumer division, which accounts for 18% of sales, is buoyed by the strength of the company's brands like Band-Aid and Tylenol. The medical device division -- which comprises 35% of all sales -- benefits from large installed bases and moderately high switching costs for hospitals. And biggest of all, pharmaceuticals -- pulling in 47% of all sales -- is protected by patents.

It's somewhat concerning that patents only last a specific amount of time, and yet they protect almost half of the company's revenue. At the same time, the reliability of the other two divisions allows Johnson & Johnson some leeway that other pharmaceutical companies don't have.

On the other hand, Verizon is protected by two moats. First, the barriers to entry in the telecom industry are very high: It takes billions to build out a reliable network before you collect your first dime in revenue. There are four major players that control the majority of the wireless telecom market, with Verizon as top dog, pulling in 35% of that market -- according to Statista.

Verizon is also making inroads into becoming a content company. The acquisitions of AOL and part of Yahoo! are evidence of this.

If this seems like a lot of ink spilled over the moats for these two, that's because it is. It's impossible for me to solidly declare a winner here, as both are very strong.

Winner = Tie

Financial fortitude

Investors love seeing cash returned to them. But it's important to keep cash sitting in the bank, too. That's because every company will deal with tough economic times. When those times hit, companies with cash have options: buy back shares on the cheap, acquire competitors, or outspend them in an attempt to gain market share.

Those with a lot of debt are in the opposite boat, fragilized by their tenuous obligations. In the chart below, I've adjusted Verizon's free cash flow numbers to normalize them. They were artificially lower due to the fact that the company paid a large one-time tax bill for divesting some of its business, and it changed its business model to do far less subsidizing of phone plans.

Remember that Johnson & Johnson is valued 70% higher than Verizon. Here's how the two stack up:

Company Cash Debt Net Income Free Cash Flow Verizon $4 billion $105 billion $13.1 billion $13.8 billion Johnson & Johnson $42 billion $22 billion $16.5 billion $15.5 billion

Both companies have very strong cash flow, which is a very positive sign. But the difference on the balance sheet is market. Verizon has one-10th the cash on hand and five times the debt. Although Johnson & Johnson has already announced that it's going to be using some of that cash on acquisitions, it still is in a much stronger position.

Winner = Johnson & Johnson

Valuation

Finally, we have valuation. While this isn't an exact science, there are some straightforward metrics we can consult to give us an idea of how expensive each stock is.

Company P/E P/FCF PEG Ratio Dividend FCF Payout Verizon 13 14 3.0 4.8% 67%* Johnson & Johnson 19 22 2.7 2.6% 55%

On the face of it, Johnson & Johnson appears to be the more expensive stock, trading at a significant premium on an earnings and free cash flow basis. But the company is growing faster than Verizon as well, and trades at a 10% discount to Verizon on the PEG ratio.

In the end, the differentiator is the dividend. Verizon's payout is safe and much larger than Johnson & Johnson's.

Winner = Verizon

The winner is...

So there you have it: We have a draw. Both companies have solid moats, Johnson & Johnson has the stronger balance sheet, and Verizon is more attractively valued. If I were forced to choose, I would side with Johnson & Johnson, as I like the company's opportunities to grow in the future, while I think Verizon's foray into content is a bit riskier.

Either way, both of these companies are solid dividend payers worthy of your careful consideration.

10 stocks we like better than Johnson & Johnson

When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Johnson & Johnson wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.

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*Stock Advisor returns as of April 3, 2017

Brian Stoffel has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Johnson & Johnson and Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool recommends Yahoo. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Investors have been optimistic about Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) lately, believing that the tobacco giant would be able to balance its hopes for a future in which reduced-risk products replace traditional cigarettes with the harsh reality of needing to rely on cigarette sales for years to come. The stock has reflected hopes that an end to the U.S. dollar's advance might finally let earnings grow more dependably, and coming into Thursday's first-quarter financial report, Philip Morris investors wanted further signs of solid performance on the top and bottom lines.

Unfortunately, Philip Morris wasn't able to give investors that level of reassurance, as cigarette shipments were unexpectedly weak. Despite promising signs about the company's long-term future, few shareholders were happy with Philip Morris' current situation. Let's look more closely at Philip Morris International to see how it did and why many are nervous about the tobacco giant.

Philip Morris deals with a tough start to 2017

Philip Morris International's first-quarter results didn't inspire a huge amount of confidence among shareholders. Revenue net of excise tax was down a fraction of a percentage point to $6.06 billion, which was far worse than the roughly 6% growth in the top line that most investors were looking to see. Net income fared a bit better, climbing 4% to $1.59 billion. But after making allowances for some one-time tax items, adjusted earnings of $0.98 per share were flat from last year's first quarter and fell $0.04 per share short of the consensus forecast among those following the tobacco stock.

The scariest number in the whole report came from shipment volumes of traditional cigarettes. Philip Morris suffered an 11.5% decline in cigarette shipments to 173.6 billion units. The company saw huge drops across all of its major regions.

More broadly, weakness across Philip Morris' business was unusually uniform. Net revenue from combustible products dropped almost 7%, and all four of the company's geographical regions were within a few of percentage points of that figure. Asia fared the best with a 4% drop in revenue, maintaining its position as the largest sales producer among Philip Morris' four regions. Europe was unusually weak, with the Eastern Europe segment faring a bit worse than the European Union. Currency impacts also hit the company in Europe, even though it helped Philip Morris in Asia. Performance in Latin America and Canada was fairly close to the overall company total.

The best news in the quarterly release came on the reduced-risk product front. Revenue rose nearly eightfold to $435 million, with Asia dominating the scene and producing more than 90% of Philip Morris' overall reduced-risk sales. Sales volume of heated tobacco units was up almost tenfold to 4.4 billion units.

What's coming for Philip Morris down the road?

CEO Andre Calantzopoulos tried to put the company's weakness into a broader context. "Our results were in line with our previously communicated expectation of a relatively weak first quarter," Calantzopoulos said, because of "lower cigarette volume -- primarily related to low-price brands in specific markets where the impact on our profitability was limited -- and certain timing factors." The CEO also highlighted the success of the iQOS heated tobacco product, noting that 1.8 million consumers have made the switch away from regular cigarettes.

More importantly, Philip Morris doesn't see the quarter's weakness affecting its full-year results. In fact, the company actually increased its earnings projections for 2017, now expecting bottom-line figures between $4.84 and $4.99 per share. However, Philip Morris was careful to note that the upward movement was due solely to a tax-related item and not from fundamental business performance.

Philip Morris shareholders were nervous about the news, and that's a big part of why the stock fell nearly 4% during the trading session following the morning announcement. Philip Morris has the ability to bounce back from a sluggish quarter, and the disappearance of currency-related impacts to its bottom line was welcome. But to succeed, the tobacco giant can't afford to give up entirely on cigarettes just yet.

10 stocks we like better than Philip Morris International

When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Philip Morris International wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.

Click here to learn about these picks!

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 3, 2017

Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
It's been a busy April for additive manufacturing news, especially when it comes to metal printing technologies.

NASA highlighted a new "space fabric" that looks a lot like medieval chain mail, except modern-day blacksmiths can use 3D printers to program varying functionality onto each side. Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Heavy Industries announced the acquisition of Massachusetts-based Persimmon Technologies, a metal 3D-printing start-up specializing in hybrid motor parts that boast performance advantages over their traditionally machined counterparts. And Boeing (NYSE: BA) tapped Norsk Titanium to 3D-print structural parts for the 787 Dreamliner, which could reduce titanium costs by 17% for each plane.

Cost reductions on that level demonstrate why the aerospace and defense industries have been among the first to seriously explore using 3D printers to fabricate high-performance metal parts. While that has created fierce competition among titans such as Boeing, General Electric (NYSE: GE), and Airbus, investors have an easier way to profit from the increasingly popular trend: the comparatively tiny Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (NYSE: ATI).

The trend is this stock's long-term friend

If Boeing and Airbus are in a high-stakes gold rush to reduce costs and win lucrative multibillion-dollar aircraft contracts from airlines, and even entire countries, then Allegheny Technologies is selling them lunch on their way to the river. In other words, it doesn't matter much who in the aerospace industry wins market share or glory, only that companies are trying. That means the need will exist for specialty alloy powders that feed into 3D printers -- and the materials manufacturer is well positioned to capitalize.

Allegheny Technologies generated 62% of its revenue last year from its high-performance materials and components segment, of which 75% came from aerospace and defense customers. That translates to 46.5% of total revenue, or $1.5 billion, from commercial aircraft manufacturers, their suppliers, and government-related defense needs.

At the moment, sales of powders used in additive manufacturing processes account for only a fraction of the segment's top line, but it remains one of the fastest-growing components in the company's long-term strategy.

If recent capital expenditures and partner announcements are any guide, then Allegheny Technologies is poised to witness impressive growth in the area in the next few years. In fact, that growth may already be underway, as evidenced by its jet engine revenue growth last year.

Metric 2016 2015 Change Jet engine revenue $823.3 million $709.6 million 16% Airframes revenue $367.8 million $379.5 million (3%) Government aerospace and defense revenue $248.1 million $276.8 million (10%)

The company has made major investments in two families of metal alloy powders: titanium-based and nickel-based. Investors might yawn over the periodic-table soup in SEC filings, but that's an important hint at what's to come. Why? Because it coincides with the needs of two of its largest customers: General Electric and Boeing.

General Electric and its partner Snecma have made headlines by 3D-printing metal parts for its jet engines. Specifically, fuel nozzles that are 25% lighter, five times more durable, and 18 times simpler than parts made with conventional manufacturing. GE Aviation expects to manufacture 100,000 such parts by the end of 2019. The raw materials used? Nickel-based and titanium-based alloy powders. A major supplier for General Electric and Snecma over the years? Allegheny Technologies.

It's actually difficult to overstate the importance of having the digital-industrial conglomerate as a customer. GE's researchers are looking to quickly expand the use of 3D-printed metal parts for its healthcare, appliance, and oil and gas businesses -- where Allegheny Technologies is already a major supplier.

Meanwhile, the recent Boeing deal with Norsk Titanium could prove important for the materials manufacturer. The partnership will 3D-print titanium-alloy parts for the 787 Dreamliner's airframe and save between $2 million and $3 million per plane. That's a sharp reduction considering each plane requires $17 million of titanium parts when made through conventional means. And since every dollar counts when securing aircraft sales deals, the partnership could ratchet up pressure on Airbus to increase its use of additive manufacturing. The French aerospace giant similarly makes extensive use of titanium parts in its Dreamliner competitor, the A350.

One of Boeing's major suppliers for airframe components is, you guessed it, Allegheny Technologies.

What does it mean for investors?

It may be easy to overlook Allegheny Technologies, but it's about to emerge from a long and difficult restructuring process with the wind at its back. Revenue and profits have declined in recent years as the company sold off noncore assets and shifted its focus away from boring stainless steel products to slightly less boring high-performance metal alloys. The risky bet is quickly paying off. Last year, 62% of revenue came from the high-performance segment, with the balance from the flat rolled products segment. In 2014, the contributions were 48% and 52%, respectively.

Some of the revenue distribution changes are no doubt due to declining overall revenue, but the rumblings of growth in the commercial aerospace industry have certainly been a driving force. Importantly, the materials manufacturer is well positioned to capitalize on the industry's shift to additive manufacturing techniques for high-performance applications. The trend is just taking off -- and it could quickly trickle down to other industries and products -- which makes Allegheny Technologies stock an awesome buy for long-term investors.

10 stocks we like better than Allegheny Technologies

When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now...and Allegheny Technologies wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.

Click here to learn about these picks!

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 3, 2017.

Maxx Chatsko has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of General Electric. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
By SA Commercial Prop News - I-Net Bridge

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi warned that the government faced a huge risk as no lease agreements could be found for another 578 leased buildings.



The government has been spending R60-million a year on 108 vacant buildings and R12-million on 12 buildings occupied by non-governmental tenants.

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi revealed this last week ahead of his departmental budget vote in the National Assembly.



Nxesi said this was shown by a Treasury audit of more than 2000 properties leased by government.



Dhaya Govender, the public works interim head of the property division, said most of the buildings were occupied by strangers and cost taxpayers at least R900000 a month a building. They were located in Pretoria and Johannesburg.



Despite this, Nxesi insisted he had stabilised the scandal-prone department in the last two years.



Nxesi, however, warned that the government faced a huge risk as no lease agreements could be found for another 578 leased buildings.



The matters have been referred to the Special Investigating Unit, which has been pivotal in helping Nxesi clean up the troubled department he started leading in 2012.



Nxesi said many officials in his department and businesses trading with them could be charged with corruption, and many more hauled before courts in a bid to recoup monies paid fraudulently.



The minister said he had already introduced systems to stop payments related to vacant properties.



He said 75 of the 90 cases investigated by the SIU had been finalised, resulting in seven officials being fired and civil action being instituted against employees and contractors in eight matters.



Nxesi said another 23 had taken the easy route and resigned.



However, he could not say with certainty that his departments new five-year term would be without any scandals like Nkandlagate.



We can only say we are putting in systems to ensure we are able to prevent such. But criminals are very sophisticated, he said.



Nxesi said he would soon be launching Operation Bring Back. It is aimed at recovering land and other properties stolen from the state a few years before the democratic administration came into office in 1994.



He said these included land parcels and a range of properties that in some instances have been converted into bed and breakfast outlets without the state benefiting from the proceeds.



Nxesi said most of the stolen assets were in the former Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei.



These included dilapidated buildings in small towns and several cities.



The government was ready for what appeared to be an indefinite legal battle to seize the stolen assets.



The process will not take us less than three years. You find some of these people are very rich and always ready to go all out in court, he said.



Those buildings now belong to individuals. They are using them as houses and bed and breakfast establishments but there are no records of any transactions that have been done, he said.
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.
Leulumoega Fou College celebrated the opening ceremony of their $63,438 library yesterday.

The Chairman of Church Education, Reverend Dr. Paulo Koria said the project is a key milestone for the College as it is an investment in the future of education, not just for church members but for Samoa.

A library is useful to anyone because it is one of the places where you can find peace and do your own work without anyone disturbing you, he said.

A library is a place to go to when you need to develop your mind by reading and learning about the knowledge and understanding that reading books has to offer.

A library is not a place for you to go and talk; rather it is a place for you to be able to get away from all the noise. So if you think about talking when you step in the library, please do not bother to enter.

You know, a lot of schools are still trying to build their own library because a school without a library is a poor school so be thankful that you have one.

Principal Fauolo Apevai Mataafa acknowledged the government of Samoa, the students, Parents and Teachers Association and everyone else who have contributed.

She also asked for help from anyone who wants to help them fill the shelves of their library with books.

According to Principal Fauolo, some donors have already gifted them with very important books such as dictionaries and thesauruses.

This is a huge amount of money to spend on all these and I thank God because we now have a place to study more for new knowledge and wisdom.

My advice to the students of Leulumoega Fou Collge is please use it wisely and when you have children in the future and will probably go to this school, this library will be of use to them as well.
Eight communities in Savaii have decided to continue forest conservation and have agreed to five year management plans (2017-2022) for three Community Conservation Areas.

The areas cover and protect a total area of 14700 ha of native forests and include water catchment areas, wetlands, lava flow areas and important lowland forests.

Recently, the village leaders formally agreed and signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry for Natural Resources and Environment. The management plans incorporate in the districts of Gataivai, Matauutu and Taga.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (F.A.O.) will facilitate the new management plans in partnership with the Samoa Ministry for Natural Resources and Environment (M.N.R.E) and the Samoa Conservation Society.

The management plans were developed through assessments and community consultations over a 12 month period. The plans include additional areas of approximately 15 to 20 hectares in the lowlands each which should be conserved.

F.A.O. Forest and Protected Area Management Samoa Project Coordinator, Lemalu Sami Lemalu explained: Village committees were very supportive of implementing the high priority activities as specified in the management plans with the assistance of Samoa Conservation Society, M.N.R.E. and the project team.

The implementation of priority activities like boundary survey and demarcation for protected lowland forests, investments for eco-tourism and eco-system restorations in the water catchment areas will start immediately, said Lemalu.

Since 2012, F.A.O worked with the Government of Samoa to establish Community Conservation Areas in the highlands of these villages under the Forest Protection and Management project.

These conservation areas were established to preserve the biodiversity and maintain the ecosystem services of intact forest protected areas. The introduction of organic farming, improved farming methods and sustainable land management with the aim to increase the income of the local population and prevent further eco-system degradation.

Establishing conservation areas in the Pacific

The activities are supported by the Global Environment Facility  Pacific Alliance for Sustainability  through the Forest and Protected Area Management project.

Its global environmental objective is to strengthen biodiversity conservation and reduce forest land degradation. The F.A.O/G.E.F Forestry and Protected Area Management project covers Fiji, Niue, Samoa and Vanuatu.
The truth is simple enough. We live in an interesting time.

There are so many glaring problems screaming to be solved and yet we see so much distraction.

They come in all sorts of forms and different shapes. There are controversies created simply to keep us busy. There are outrageous political statements being dropped to take away our focus from what really matters.

There is one saga after another to sidetrack our focus.

But then thats just clever politicking for you. You manipulative politicians will always come up with all sorts of ridiculous ways to divert attention from what really is going on.

The aim of course is to confuse, to muddy the water. The more confused people become the better it will be for their selfish purposes.

In Samoa today, sometimes it pays to step back and look in from the outside.

It allows you to put things in perspective. Your vision becomes a lot clearer, your hearing takes on a different level of sharpness and then you see as clear as daylight what is happening.

And what is that you might ask us?

Its simple.

The problem for Samoa today is that there is a false sense of security. People think they are okay. They are swayed by these big impressive developments which they dont need and the sweet talk.

The reality is that they are suffering. There is an emptiness; there is a big void you can see in peoples eyes. They are desperate. And they need help.

From our standpoint, sad to say, we see a government that doesnt care.

But then how can it care when it is desperate? What time does it have to be compassionate when it is clutching at straws to try and fix a mess it has singlehandedly created by recklessness and abuse?

The fact is this; everything happening today in Samoa, from talks about taxing the clergy, redefining the role of the sao in families, pulenuu, customary land consultations, to the review of taxes and charges, opportunities for employment overseas and more are geared towards paying a foreign debt created by this government that has ballooned uncontrollably over the years.

And there really are no winners, as we have said time and time again.

Neither critics nor the government of the day can claim a victory of any sort in this matter. There are only losers and that involves you, me and everyone else in this country who will end up having to fork out to pay for it.

That includes our children, their children, their childrens children and the thousands of unborn Samoans who will inherit the legacy of debt the current crop of leaders are piling up for them to clean up.

The reality is; give the current leadership another 15 years or even less to continue their defiance and they will pass on eventually. At six feet under, they wouldnt have to worry about anything.

The worst part is they cannot be held accountable then. And many of us might not even be around then when the chickens come home to roost. It is the future generations of this country who will suffer. They are the ones we should be concerned about.

The real issue for Samoa is excessive borrowing and this governments inability to control spending, which has forced them to continue to borrow way beyond what we can afford.

Were talking about the leakages in finances created by corruption, collusion, abuse of power and public properties that has cost this country millions of tala.

Over the years, weve seen how this menace called corruption has been allowed to fester so that today it looks incurable.

And its not just the major instances of wrong-doing that are alarming.

Its the small things that add up. It involves the blatant abuse of public properties such as the practice of pimped-up government vehicles heading to the farm with loads of talo shoots and gallons of water in the middle of the afternoon of a weekday while workers at some Ministry are driving rental vehicles to do the work.

Its the abuse of government fuel, maintenance costs and the dishonesty in collecting revenue that is hindering development. It is about the public service misusing the internet, printers, phones and basic equipment during work hours  and even after work hours.

And then there is the reckless spending by certain Cabinet Ministers in buildings that end up becoming white elephants, draining millions of tala that could have been better spent. We could go on and on but you get our drift.

Despite the assurances from the government that there is no reason to panic, we believe there is.

For starters, the government just hasnt shown that it has the ability to improve income and revenue generation.

Secondly, it has failed miserably in its bid to try to attract foreign investments, which are vital to create much-needed employment opportunities. Thats on top of multiple failed investments in buildings and infrastructure that end up costing more to maintain.

And heres the one thats going to really hurt. We hear that an increase in V.A.G.S.T. is on the horizon. As if people are not suffering enough.

Stay tuned!

Have a safe Friday Samoa, God bless!
A conman accused of fooling people into giving him money over a land scam is set to be sentenced on 29 April 2017.

Fata Fareti Fiti appeared before Judge Fepuleai Ameperosa Roma this week.

He is represented by lawyer, Leota Tima Leavai while Khantam Stanley is representing the prosecution.

Judge Fepuleai adjourned the matter to finalise some of the details.

I have their written reports however it covers only three charges against you so now I have given them time to write a report that will state all 30 charges against you.

Fiti is facing charges of obtaining by deception and theft.

Last year Fiti was on the most wanted list after he was accused of conning money from unsuspecting members of the public.

Police Spokesperson Sua Muliaga Tiumalu said Fiti has a history of conning people and he was previously convicted for fraud and theft.

His latest offenses came to light when a mother, Taupauape Rosa Latulipe, filed a complaint with the Police. Fiti had apparently fooled her over the promise of land at Vaitoloa.

This person is going around with documents about land getting people to buy this land, she said. Be very careful, dont fall for it. This person is a con. I dont want what has happened to me to happen to anyone else too.

After reading a story titled Alleged conman alert on the front page of the Sunday Samoan, Eti Sapolu, of Faatoia and Lalovaea contacted the Samoa Observer to tell the story of how he lost $10,000 to the same man.

I wanted to come and support what this mother said in the paper to let the public know that this is not a joke and that this man Faleti is not a good person, he said. This happened to me too and I lost $10,000 tala.

Asked how he came to know the alleged conman, Mr. Sapolu said Fiti used to stay with him in Faatoia back in 2014.

My sister went to Siumu one day and on their way back, this man stopped their car asking for help, he said.

My sister helped him but only to find out that he (Faleti) is banned from the village. We dont know why. He asked us for help and so I gave him a place to stay and he stayed with us for about four months until he fooled me.

One day he (Faleti) said its their family faalavelave and he needed $5,000tala.

In exchange he will let me buy 5 acres of land at Vaitoloa so this $5,000 will be the starting payment for the land.

I didnt trust him at first until he showed me all the documents of the land and proof that it belongs to him. So I thought why not, this seems like a pretty good deal to me.

Days later, Mr. Sapolu said Faleti asked him for another $5,000. He insisted there was another buyer interested in the land and offering more than what Mr. Sapolu is giving.

I gave him what he asked for, Mr. Sapolu said. Long story short, after that last conversation with him, I didnt hear from him again.

So I did some research and found out that this land that Faleti is referring to is customary land and I know that customary land cannot be sold.
Are Californians getting their moneys worth for the $3 billion they invested in stem cell science in 2004? Is there cause for optimism that major breakthrough discoveries are about to happen? What is holding back stem cell treatments from reaching patients?

These are some of the issues to be addressed Thursday in San Diego at a special stem cell meeting thats free and open to the public.

The session is sponsored by Californias stem cell agency and UC San Diego, a major hub of stem cell research and experimental treatment.

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The event is the first in a statewide outreach tour by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, or CIRM.

The agency is projected to run out of money in 2020 unless more money is raised from public or private sources, and the series of forums is partly meant as a way to persuade voters to further support the institute with more funding.

PUBLIC FORUM:

The free event Stem Cell Therapies and You is slated for noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, 2880 Torrey Pines Scenic Drive, across from the Salk Institute in La Jolla.

Four speakers at Thursdays event are to discuss the state of stem cell research:

-- Catriona Jamieson, director of the UC San Diego Alpha Stem Cell Clinic and an expert on blood cancers

-- Jennifer Briggs Braswell, executive director of the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center, another stem cell clinic at UCSD

-- David Higgins, a patient advocate for Parkinsons on the CIRM board, and a San Diegan

-- Jonathan Thomas, chairman of CIRMs governing board

Boosted with the $3 billion in bond money raised through Proposition 71 (not including the additional $3 billion in interest that taxpayers are also repaying), California has become an international leader in stem cell exploration.

The money has helped attract top-notch scientists from across the country to work in this state, and it has underpinned much of the training for new researchers in this field.

While encouraging reports of individual patients being cured with experimental stem cell therapies have emerged in recent years, no stem cell-based treatment developed in this state has been approved for commercial use.

This lack of therapies on the market has resulted in some criticism that stewards of Californias groundbreaking effort have spent lavishly on researchers and the infrastructure that supports them instead of focusing on how to more quickly turn lab discoveries into usable products and technologies for the public.

In January, the biomedical news site Stat published a lengthy and critical analysis of CIRMs record in clinical trials, quoting critics who said Prop. 71s supporters shamelessly oversold the initiative as providing quick cures.

The airwaves were swamped with guys in white coats who were identified with their academic affiliation even though they were principals of private companies (some of which later got CIRM grants), and basically saying, Were going to have cures by Christmas. Marcy Darnovsky, who directs the Berkeley-based Center for Genetics and Society, was quoted as saying in the Stat article.

Providing answers

Supporters of CIRM and the programs it has backed financially said it can take many years to effectively translate research into treatments, especially when ensuring safety is paramount. The agency is supporting about 30 clinical trials, including some at its own alpha stem cell clinics, combining treatment with research support.

Jonathan Thomas, CIRMs chairman, said the San Diego event and others like it in other parts of the state are meant to update patients and all Californians about how their money has been spent, and to hear from the public. While San Diego will be in the spotlight at this meeting, work throughout CIRM will be discussed.

San Diego has received a lot of money from CIRM, including about $60 million that has gone to ViaCyte, developer of a stem cell-based implant that could produce a functional cure for Type 1 diabetes.

Many San Diego County stem cell researchers have received grants for various projects. These include David Schubert of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, for stem cell-based development of an Alzheimers drug; Robert Wechsler-Reya of Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, to determine the role of neural stem cells in growth, regeneration and cancer; and Bianca Mothe of Cal State San Marcos, to train students for a career in stem cell research.

The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine building, where the Thursday meeting will be held, was constructed with $43 million from CIRM toward its total price tag of $127 million.

Four clinical trials are taking place at UC San Diegos alpha stem cell clinic, said Larry Goldstein, director of the universitys stem cell program.

These are the diabetes treatment being developed with ViaCyte; a treatment for spinal cord injury derived from human fetal cells; a chronic heart failure therapy using mesenchymal stem cells; and a drug called cirmtuzumab that targets cancer stem cells for chronic lymphocytic leukemia. (Yes, the drug was named after CIRM, which supported its research and development.)

Other stem cell treatments are taking place at UC San Diego outside the alpha clinic, Goldstein said. They include one from Kite Pharma of Santa Monica, using genetically modified immune cells called CAR T cells. The trial is being handled through the universitys bone marrow transplant program at Moores Cancer Center because CAR T cell therapy amounts to a bone marrow transplant.

Safety requires time

All these trials need time because patient safety is being evaluated, Goldstein said. That process can consume years.

So far, they all look safe, which is terrific news, Goldstein said.

Other stem cell trials at the alpha clinic are incipient, he said, including for osteoarthritis using mesenchymal and stromal cells, taken from bone marrow and fat tissue. Numerous stem cell clinics offer treatment with these cells, including some operating in a legal gray zone, outside the clinical trial system.

Goldstein said UCSD plans to better study these poorly defined cells, and what they can do, before beginning treatment. Part of that includes building a genetic profile of these cells, using a method called single cell RNA seq.

Once weve got a better handle on what those cells look like, wed like to put them into clinical trials, he said.

Its especially important that we get a handle on patient-to-patient variability, Goldstein said. We expect there will be variability. Most things in humans are. But to my knowledge, the clinics that are using this methodology dont have a logical and rigorous ability to take advantage of that variability to treat human patients.

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
A long shuttered visitor center on Mission Bay that for decades welcomed tourists and locals will be transformed into a waterfront restaurant and event center that will preserve the seashell-shaped buildings distinctive profile.

Earlier this month, the San Diego City Council gave its blessing to a new long-term lease with a San Diego development team to redevelop a 2.6-acre city-owned site on East Mission Bay Drive near the Clairemont Drive freeway off ramp. While the 4,600-square-foot building will primarily function as a casual, counter-service eatery, the redeveloped area will also offer outdoor seating, a childrens play area, public information services, and beach and bike rentals.

The redevelopment is a long time coming, following two earlier failed efforts, starting in 2011, to attract capable developers willing to remake the prime bay-view locale.

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The proposed $3 million project, known as Shoreline Mission Bay, will be undertaken by a relatively new hospitality firm, San Diego-based Playground Concepts. It was among six firms that responded to a 2015 city solicitation for proposals.

Envisioned is a vibrant, architecturally-significant hub for waterfront dining, states a report prepared by the citys Real Estate Assets department.

Under the terms of a 25-year lease negotiated with Playground, the city can expect revenues of more than $7.2 million over the term of the agreement, after taking into account a $450,000 rent credit to help cover the cost of public improvements.

Yearly lease payments, which will be tied to varying percentages of food and beverage sales and other commercial activities, will start out at $230,000, gradually escalating to nearly $415,000 by year 20.

Playground Concepts, which hopes to complete the development within the next 12 to 18 months, is a collaboration of a local husband-and-wife boutique design firm and restaurateur Greg Van de Velde, a partner in the downtown Bottega Americana restaurant and former general manager of Mister As.

Kristine Schnell, creative director of Playground, said she and her husband were drawn to the project not only because of its unique architectural design but also its prime location in Mission Bay Park.

My husband and I spent many days walking our dog by the site, we thought it was a cool building, a great area and it was a shame to see it sitting empty, she said. So we came to Greg with this crazy idea of doing a project there, and he has experience in the restaurant business.

What appealed to Van de Velde, he said, was the rare opportunity to develop a dining venue so close to the waterfront.

Still, the path that led the city to the current project was not a smooth one. Its first effort to remake the site was in 2011, a year after the then visitor center operator terminated his lease five years early.

The center had relied heavily on advertising revenues from hotels and tourist attractions, but the growing popularity and ease of online bookings and reservation services ultimately rendered the center obsolete.

The Cohn Restaurant Group was the successful applicant in 2011 to redevelop the center site, but later opted out during the course of lease negotiations, said Vladimir Balotsky, the citys supervising property agent.

Two years later, a second city solicitation yielded three proposals, but none met the citys criteria for development.

The third time proved to be the charm, but only after the city considered  but then rejected  demolition of the late 60s-era building and decided instead to upgrade it to make it accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Still, the building, with its sloping floor and curving facade that its original architect, Richard Lareau, likened to a sculptured seashell, is not without its challenges, said Kristine and Bradley Schnell.

They addressed the sloping floor by creating a tiered dining experience in which customers will go up a ramp to order at a counter, with seating below and outside. They also had to eliminate the buildings spiral staircase.

Were told the visitor information center is the highest point on Mission Bay, so were utilizing that hill it sits on to have terraced dining seating that extends from the ordering counter and radiates out, Bradley Schnell said. This speaks to the importance of this site being a really public location, and the counter-service model really opens it up so that on a Fourth of July weekend, we dont have to turn anyone away because they dont have a reservation.

Van de Velde pointed out that by choosing not to make Shoreline a full-service restaurant, it will remain affordable, with menu items priced between $10 and $20.

San Diego-based Eat Drink Sleep, a local hospitality firm that had competed with Playground to redevelop the Mission Bay site, said it too was drawn by the beauty of the site, which it felt merited a more ambitious redevelopment.

We had proposed a 16,000-square-foot building with a wedding venue on the top floor with a deck overlooking the bay, said Brett Miller, CEO of Eat Drink Sleep, responsible for developing the newer restaurants at Belmont Park. The city wanted the building remodeled, so we stepped away.

But this is a beautiful site and they have chosen a good operator.

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lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-2251

Twitter: @loriweisberg
Qualcomm reported lower revenue and net income on Wednesday for its fiscal second quarter, with results weighed down by a refund in patent royalties to BlackBerry.

Without that setback, Qualcomm would have posted a solid quarter, with higher revenue and adjusted earnings than Wall Street analysts expected.

The muddled results highlight how Qualcomms ongoing battles over patent licensing, including a contentious lawsuit with Apple, are spilling into its financial results.

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The company been fined by South Koreas anti-trust regulator and sued by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over patent practices. It is under investigation in Taiwan. Apple sued in January, claiming that Qualcomm charges too much for use of its cellular technology.

Qualcomm has appealed the South Korean fine, is seeking dismissal of the FTC lawsuit and has countersued Apple. Still, it could take more than a year to resolve the disputes, according to analysts.

We have successfully navigated challenges like this in the past, and we have confidence in the sustainability of our licensing business, said Chief Executive Steve Mollenkopf in a conference call with analysts. But we know these periods can generate added volatility in near term results.

Mollenkopf added that Qualcomm will focus on delivering the best products to our customers, including Apple. We expect to be an important supplier to Apple now and in the future.

For its fiscal second quarter ended March 31, Qualcomm reported revenue of $5 billion and net income of $700 million, or 50 cents per share, under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

That compares with sales of $5.6 billion and earnings of $1.2 billion, or 78 cents per share, for the same quarter last year.

GAAP results were hurt by a $974 million reduction in revenue and a 48 cents per share hit to earnings related to a refund to BlackBerry.

In 2010, BlackBerry prepaid for patent royalties for the next five years. When it sold far fewer smartphones than expected, it sought a refund.

The prepayment was non-refundable, according to Qualcomm, but an arbitration panel ruled for BlackBerry.

Excluding the refund and some other charges, Qualcomm posted revenue of $6 billion and earnings of $2 billion, or $1.34 per share.

Wall Street analysts forecast sales of $5.89 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.22 per share.

Qualcomms latest smartphone processor, the Snapdragon 835, has gotten good traction in new mobile devices, including the Sony Xperia XZ Premium, the Xiaomi Mi6 and the Samsung Galaxy S8.

The companys mobile technology also continues to expand into new markets, such as cars, which helped results. Its pending $39 billion acquisition of NXP Semiconductors received anti-trust approval in the U.S. It is expected to wrap up by year end pending regulatory approval in other countries

Qualcomm patent licensing arm reported some good news  including improved royalty collections in China. But it remains under pressure. The company revealed that an unnamed device maker underpaid $150 million in the quarter.

In addition, contract manufacturers that build iPhones for Apple withheld a portion of patent royalties owed to Qualcomm in the quarter.

Qualcomm claims Apple stopped reimbursing these contract manufacturers after it sued Qualcomm in January. The amount that iPhone makers underpaid in royalties was about $1 billion.

Thats equivalent to the nearly $1 billion that Apple claims Qualcomm is withholding in royalty rebates under a separate business agreement. Apple contends Qualcomm is retaliating for Apples cooperation with anti-trust regulators.

Its unclear whether iPhone makers will withhold additional patent royalties going forward, said Qualcomm President Derek Aberle.

While we would expect Apple suppliers to pay us what they owe under the license agreements, it is possible that Apple will continue to interfere with the Apple supplier license agreements to underpay, he said.

Looking ahead, Qualcomm provided a wider than usual guidance range for the current quarter because of the uncertainty. It predicts sales of $5.3 billion to $6.1 billion, with earnings of 67 cents to 92 cents per share under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

Qualcomm reported results after markets closed. Its shares ended the day at $52.61 but rose to $53.80 in after-market trading.

ALSO:

Qualcomm ordered to pay BlackBerry $815 million in royalty refund

Qualcomm fires back against Apple lawsuit on patent licensing

Apples lawsuit against Qualcomm signals escalating war on business model

Under Trump administration, FTC lawsuit against Qualcomm could disappear

Qualcomm faces FTC lawsuit over patent licensing

Qualcomm slapped with $865 million fine from S. Korea regulator

Qualcomm to pay $975 million in China probe

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mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com;

Twitter:@TechDiego

760-529-4973
A documented gang member pleaded guilty Wednesday to voluntary manslaughter for the 2015 beating death of a 24-year-old man in an Oceanside park.

David Ioanes plea came the same day his murder trial was to start. Under the agreement, he will be sentenced to 37 years for the death of Mustafa Gordon, whose battered body was discovered just before dawn on Feb. 16, 2015 by an 80-year-old man walking his dog through Buddy Todd Park.

Ioane, 27, initially denied any link to the crime, and told police it had been at least two years since hed been in the hilltop park  yet his DNA was on a fresh cigarette, ashes still intact, found near Gordons body, Deputy District Attorney Robert Bruce said.

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The cigarette was clearly undisturbed by any activity, Bruce said.

The prosecutor said security video showed Gordons pickup truck pulling into the park around 2 a.m. He said authorities suspect Gordon, who grew up in Oceanside but was not a gang member, was lured to the park by friends who were members of Ioanes gang.

Ioane is the second gang member to admit involvement in the killing; earlier this year, Christopher Augafa, 26, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

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Body found in Buddy Todd Park

On the day Gordon was found, longtime Oceanside resident Bill Stone told the Union-Tribune that he had gone to the park before sunrise to walk his dog Lucy, and noticed the empty pickup truck. Near the end of the walk, Stone said, he saw a man on the ground.

I shined my light, and noticed his face was full of blood, Stone said that day, adding that it didnt appear the man was breathing. Stone quickly headed home and called 911.

Bruce credited Oceanside police investigators for working the case extraordinarily hard.

We would not have had a case if they were not tenacious and continued to uncover information about who was involved, Bruce said.

Aside from Ioane and Augafa, three others were initially sought as suspects, but prosecutors did not file charges against them.

Still, the prosecutor said, the investigation is not yet closed.

We know that more people were involved in this than Augafa and Ioane, both in the murder and in the cover-up, Bruce said. We are confident that we will continue to develop information that will allow us to file cases on the others involved.

Augafas sentencing is set for April 28, and he is expected to be sentenced to 16 years as part of his plea deal

Ioanes sentencing is June 9. His agreed-upon sentence is 37 years, and takes into account a 2009 robbery conviction.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT
A temporary moratorium proposed for Carlsbads downtown Village and Barrio neighborhoods died a quick death this week.

Some residents and Councilwoman Cori Schumacher had suggested the City Council consider a moratorium until it adopts a new Village-Barrio Master Plan with updated development guidelines for the area.

Supporters of the idea have said too many downtown construction projects are squeezing through under the old guidelines. The onslaught of multi-story buildings mixing homes, business and offices could destroy the small-town feel of the area, they said.

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We are in a limbo space between two master plans, Schumacher said Tuesday, and she suggested a 45-day moratorium on development projects in the Village and Barrio while city staffers look into the matter.

Her motion died for lack of a second. Mayor Matt Hall, who owns property in the area, did not participate in the discussion or vote. A temporary moratorium would require the approval of at least four council members, the city attorney said.

Other council members said they saw no need for a temporary ban.

We have a Master Plan thats been in place for a long time, Councilman Mark Packard said. Some people may not like it or think its outdated, he said, but the plan remains in effect until the council approves a new one.

In addition, Packard said, the new plan will be a fine-tuning, and not a huge philosophical change, so theres no reason to halt anything to wait for it.

Councilmen Keith Blackburn and Michael Schumacher, who is not related to Cori Schumacher, said they also saw no need to place any projects on hold.

State Street property owner Mark Benjamin said that even the discussion of a moratorium sends a strong negative signal to the marketplace, and should be avoided.

The Village finally has a heartbeat, and a moratorium would put a stake through the nascent heart thats beating, Benjamin said.

Resident Bridget Wright spoke in favor of the moratorium, saying too many projects are being approved under the outdated standards.

Carlsbad deserves projects that do more than meet all the requirements, Wright said. Lets hit the pause button, not the panic button.

The citys Village Master Plan was approved in 1996, but doesnt cover the nearby Barrio. For several years, city staffers, consultants and residents have been working on the new Village-Barrio Master Plan, which was expected to be completed late last year.

Instead, the project was delayed to include the results of a consultants extensive study of downtown parking that is now under way. A final draft of the plan is expected to be presented to the City Council for approval by the end of this year.

CORRECTION

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the Carlsbad Planning Commission suggested the City Council consider a moratorium on construction in the Village neighborhood. Some commissioners talked about whether to ask the council to consider a moratorium, but the commission made no formal request to the council.

philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @phildiehl
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Pechanga Resort & Casino is halfway through its $285 million expansion, a benchmark that was celebrated Wednesday at the Temecula property.

Pechanga tribal members, employees, local elected officials, construction workers and a sizable contingent from the Asian media community attended the event, which was held in the shadow of a new hotel tower and a stand-alone, two-story spa.

Today is a very important milestone for the Pechanga tribe, said Edith Atwood, president of the Pechanga Development Corp. Atwood listed the scale of the resort when complete: 13 restaurants, nearly 1,100 total hotel rooms and suites, a 4 -acre pool, and a casino floor that is bigger and better than any in Las Vegas.

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As part of a topping-off ceremony, the last 710 tons of concrete were poured into the upper framing of the 14th story of the new tower. A symbolic small oak tree and American flag were hoisted in a yellow, concrete-filled drum up to top of the south tower. The tree will be replanted on the resorts ground when the expansion is complete.

We were not the first in the casino business. We sat back and watched the landscape, said Mark Macarro, tribal chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians.

Its a proud moment for us  and when this is complete, Pechanga will be the true leader in Indian gaming.

Already one of the largest casino properties in Southern California, Pechanga is more than doubling its room and suite capacity as well as adding 67,000 square feet of event space; the resort-style pool area; the spa, which will have 17 treatment rooms; a fitness center and hydrotherapy pool terrace; and two new restaurants.

The hotel, spa and other amenities are expected to open by December. Heavy winter rains delayed the pool areas completion until early 2018.

On March 30, Pechanga held a grand opening for its new East Parking Garage. The five-level, 2,400-space garage was the first phase of the expansion project to be completed.

The garages first floor holds 44 electric vehicle charging stations  three of them exclusively for Tesla vehicles  bringing the propertys total to 57.

Pechanga is one of five San Diego-area casinos undergoing an expansion of varying sizes. The others are Sycuan Casino, Harrahs Resort Southern California, Barona Resort & Casino, and Viejas Casino and Resort.

The design team for Pechangas project  which was kicked off in December 2015  is once again being led by Delawie architects. The San Diego-based firm designed the original Pechanga Resort & Casino, which was built in 2002.

Tribal leaders on Wednesday stressed the economic importance of the latest expansion, citing the creation of nearly 3,000 construction-related jobs. More than 1,000 permanent jobs will also be filled when the project is complete.

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Twitter: @sdeditgirl

michele.parente@sduniontribune.com
The musical version of the classic 80s dark comedy Heathers gets its first official area production at OnStage  quite a coup for the Chula Vista company.

Manny and Tony Bejarano direct a cast of 15 in the show about romance and revenge at an Ohio high school.

The musical, which landed off-Broadway in 2014, matches the story of rebel Veronica and new dude J.D.  and their run-ins with three mean girls named Heather  to such songs as Dead Girl Walking, Candy Store and I Am Damaged.

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(Heathers aficionados will recognize the reference to the movies much-quoted line: Whats your damage?)

BTW: The movie, which starred Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, not only spawned the musical but will hit the small screen as a series on cables TV Land this fall.

Heathers: The Musical

When: Opens Friday. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Through May 27.

Where: OnStage Playhouse, 291 Third Ave., Chula Vista.

Tickets: $25

Phone: (619) 422-7787

Online: onstageplayhouse.info.

San Diego Theater  On Now Video: Bruce Springsteen's solo trip to Broadway On Now Video: Inside the rehearsal room of SDMT's Damn Yankees! 2:22 On Now Video: La Jolla Playhouse-bred shows earn key Tony nominations 3:05 On Now Video: Broadway moment has arrived for La Jolla Playhouse's 'Come From Away 0:33 On Now Video: Lamb's Players Presents "An American Christmas" 2016 1:21 On Now Old Globe's 'Grinch' ready to rumble again 0:52 On Now Little Miss Sunshine at La Jolla Playhouse On Now Working the Magic On Now San Diego Repertory Theatre presents "Federal Jazz Project" On Now An American Christmas

Twitter: @jimhebert

jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com
Guillermo Arandas understanding of art completely changed after he learned to paint murals.

Before that, painting was what you hung in your room or office, he had thought. Suddenly: I remember driving and looking at the walls and thinking, Oh, what a beautiful wall,  Aranda said. Potential was everywhere.

Aranda, 72, ended up working on multiple murals in Chicano Park, which is celebrating its 47th anniversary Saturday. Eventually Aranda became a professional muralist and art teacher. This past January, Chicano Park was designated as a National Historic Landmark.

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The artist responsible for the change in Arandas perspective  and, indirectly, influencing Chicano Parks artworks  was Gilberto Ramirez, a muralist from Mexico City who had studied the art form with one of the countrys great muralists, David Alfaro Siqueiros. Ramirez had heard about San Diegos college students activism focused on Chicano and Mexican identity issues, so he traveled to San Diego intent on giving them a public and permanent way to express themselves artistically, said Seth Mallios, an anthropology professor at San Diego State University. He taught students including Aranda, who then disseminated mural art at Chicano Park, and later across California.

I believe there is a direct and powerful link between Mexico City murals and the artwork in Chicano Park, Mallios said, adding that this link and the broader context around the murals creation are both significant.

The Chicano Park murals drew on many powerful themes of Mexican nationalism, revolutionary struggles, bi-cultural duality, and cultural heroes and heroines, Mallios wrote in an email. The act of seizing the tract of land from the California Highway Patrol for a public park (as had been promised by the city of San Diego) was highly political. It was the perfect unison of art and activism.  Simply put, it is a highly meaningful feat to have that kind of lineage.

Pride and pain

Chicano Park was born from protest and jubilation. The land that holds the pillars of the San Diego-Coronado Bridge was set to become a CHP station, and residents pushed back. Their neighborhood had been previously divided by Interstate 5 and the bridge, and the station was considered another blow.

A few people decided to paint murals, and when permission from Caltrans didnt come fast enough, they proceeded on their own, Aranda said. The group swelled to 150 or 200 painters on the first day. Aranda was one of several core muralists who organized the project and returned week after week to add shading, contours and detail work.

I dont think we had the thought of creating something historic. Everything we were doing was for that moment, he said in a phone call from his home in Aromas, Calif. As artists, I think we were looking for walls or space to express ourselves, you know? He described himself as young and restless and angry and frustrated. He wanted to blow off steam. Murals allowed us to do that.

What he was angry about: the situation of migrant workers. And he had a sense of malaise at the thought that he was disconnected from his roots.

Learning from a master

Ramirez was a quiet, diminutive man, but his work was by no means quiet, Aranda said.

They met when Aranda was studying at San Diego State. Beyond teaching him and another student, Ruben DeAnda, technique and composition, Ramirez gave Aranda a place in the world.

I felt like I was kept in a vacuum, like a suspended animation, with no awareness of who I was or where I came from, and the art and murals allowed me to find myself, Aranda said.

Ramirez told the students stories about los tres grandes, the three great muralists of Mexico: Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros. At the time, Aranda didnt know anything about murals or Mexican art history. He lit a fire in me, so to speak. He opened a whole new world, said Aranda, who will be in town Saturday.

Learning about Mexican pyramids, sculpture, pottery and jewelry, he felt amazed, but also sad that hed never learned about them until then.

His curiosity ignited, Aranda visited Mexico for a month after spending time with Ramirez. Looking at everything I could find: sculpture, mosaic, especially murals.

He returned and painted murals at Centro Cultural de la Raza and around Southern California. A few years later, he painted the Chicano Park murals.

History allows us to see our past, positive or negative, Aranda said. (Now, he teaches others to be proud about their pasts, in school, college and prison art classes.)

Mallios said the influence of Mexico Citys mural tradition is obvious in Chicano Park.

Ramirez spent months teaching his San Diego assistants techniques and vision for mural art. This vision is clearly evinced in the spectacular murals that were then produced in Chicano Park during the early 1970s, Mallios wrote.

Legacies

Is there a difference between Mexican and Chicano murals? Aranda doesnt think anything fundamental distinguishes them. The only contrast is their specific historic moment, but even their contexts and purposes are similar, he said. The three great Mexican muralists gave hope for the future, Aranda said. We were doing the same thing.

Mallios also sees a commonality: I believe Chicano Parks murals have had a major impact on the social and political identities of many San Diegans, just as the original Mexican mural art was an essential part of the Mexican Revolution.

Arandas niece, Maria-Elena Ugalde, who lives in San Diego, didnt think much of her uncles art when she was growing up. Now she may be his greatest fan. This connection, I think, is incredible for our family history and our legacy, she said.

Chicano Park Day

What: Themed Ramon Chunky Sanchez: El Corazon del Pueblo, the days festivities will include music, dance, speakers and other activities.

When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 22

Where: Chicano Park (located in the Logan Heights community, south of downtown San Diego under the San Diego-Coronado Bridge)

Admission: Free

Online: chicano-park.com

Popescu is a freelance writer.
With submarines open to women since 2010, future Navy subs are being designed to specifically accommodate female crew members.

That means overhead valves will be placed lower and made easier to turn, and steps will be installed allowing shorter people to reach triple-high bunks and the top of stacked laundry machines, the Associated Press reports.

Other examples are seats that can be moved closer to instrument displays and emergency air masks that attach at the side of passageways, instead of overhead.

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Designers are also adding more bathrooms and more doors to create separate sleeping areas for men and women

The Electric Boat company in Groton, Conn., is redesigning the Navys Virginia-class fast-attack subs. The Navy contractor is also developing a new Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine.

Both will consider body measurements for both men and women.

The first vessel built with some of the new features, the future Virginia-class sub New Jersey, is expected to be delivered to the Navy in 2021.

Welcome to The Intel, a blog examining the hot military news of the day

About 80 female officers and roughly 50 enlisted women are now serving on subs, according to the Associated Press.

The Navy first opened submarines to female officers starting in 2010, when it lifted the ban on female service in the undersea world. The larger, ballistic missile submarines, known as boomers, were first, followed by the more close-quarters fast-attack submarines.

To accommodate women on existing subs, the Navy officials put flip-around signs on bathroom doors that indicated whether a man or woman was inside.

In late 2015, the Navy announced that submarines would be open to female enlisted sailors.

Reaction in the social media sphere was sharp.

On Facebook, one commentor said:

So the Navy is going to redesign submarines for women? Are female sailors different from male sailors? And what about the transgender sailors? Or is the Navy going to have male submarines, female submarines and transgender submarines?

San Diego is home to a handful of Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarines, an older submarine class, stationed at Point Loma.

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jen.steele@sduniontribune.com

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One minute, Lt. j.g. Brandon Myers was a hard-charging Navy officer gunning it through the Naval Special Warfare obstacle course in Coronado.

The next minute, he was falling from a tall vertical cargo net. Landing hard, he hasnt felt his legs or pelvis since.

Now 28-year-old Myers is the first San Diego U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs patient to be issued a pair of robotic legs that allow him to walk fully upright again  if only for a few hours a day.

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The human body is meant to be erect. So being able to get back into that natural posture, its pretty epic, Myers said this week.

Brandon Myers is be the first San Diego VA patient to be issued robotic legs. The ReWalk Exoskeleton was approved for VA patients with paralysis in late 2015. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Its a happy collision of technology and medicine, mechanics and grit. In December 2015, the VA approved the issuance of an exoskeleton for patients who qualify for it.

It was a watershed moment for paralyzed veterans, as the $77,000 market price is out of range for most people.

This exoskeleton is made by ReWalk Robotics, a company based in Massachusetts, Germany and Israel. The device was invented by an Israeli paraplegic and in 2014 was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration for marketing in America.

A $116,000 donation by San Diego-based Guild Mortgage in December allowed the La Jolla VA to buy its first exoskeleton unit for local veterans to test out.

Nationally, the VA had issued 14 ReWalk devices to patients by the end of 2016, said Larry Jasinski, company chief executive.

Myers injury occurred in August 2015. Medically retired by the Navy, he came to the La Jolla VA hospital for rehabilitation. A doctor told him hed never walk again.

But this week, in a whir of motors, Myers stood up from his wheelchair.

Im thankful for that, he said.

In the near future, after Myers completes his 90 days of VA training with the device, it will go home with him for good.

Ill walk around the neighborhood. Take it to a track  just anywhere thats outdoors, he said. Anywhere I can get moving.

The neighborhood may hear him coming.

His exoskeleton makes noises that are straight out of a RoboCop movie.

Motors at his hips and knees power the legs. Myers controls the device by leaning. A watch at his wrist switches the movement from sit to stand to walk.

A battery pack at his lower back powers the whole enterprise. VA protocol calls for a helper to walk behind, in case the device dies.

But Myers is walking solo  and trucking along pretty fast, using crutches attached to his forearms for balance.

His VA physical therapist, John Colaneri, called Myers a rock star with the device after just a short time.

He is required before he completes his training to walk at a certain speed, to safely cross streets  we have a few tests that are built into the protocol given to us, Colaneri said.

But robotics legs arent for every wheelchair-bound VA patient.

The best candidates are only five years into paralysis, according to the organization Paralyzed Veterans of America. In terms of those injured in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, thats perhaps 200 to 400 veterans.

Good candidates are also between 5-foot 2 and 6-foot 2 and weigh less than 220 pounds. Good upper-body strength and movement are also required, among other criteria.

At least 96 paralyzed veterans have expressed interest in the device and likely could qualify for it through the VA, Jasinski said. The company has forwarded their names to the federal agency.

ReWalk is shooting for even bigger numbers than that. Of the estimated 45,000 U.S. veterans with a spinal cord injury, Jasinski said as many as 10,000 may quality for the companys exoskeleton.

The cost to the VA: About $75,000 each, according to ReWalk. San Diego VA officials couldnt provide their own estimate Wednesday.

The device has a five-year life span, so thats $15,000 a year to allow a paralyzed person to walk again.

Initial research has shown that there are benefits to even assisted walking for people with leg paralysis.

It helps with circulation. Putting weight through the long bones of your legs could help you improve bone density, which is one of the things that declines after youve been paralyzed, Colaneri said. There are quite a few benefits of being upright. It can help with digestion and breathing.

And, theres an intangible value to standing tall again.

Theres a huge quality-of-life component to being able to stand, to be at eye level with your friends and family and people in the community, Colaneri said.

The VA is conducting a 160-person research trial in multiple cities looking at the health benefits of the exoskeleton compared to totally wheelchair-bound patients.

In San Diego, another injured veteran is on deck to train with the donated ReWalk.

Myers said anyone who can use the device would be a fool not to.

But, he added stoically, My goal is to walk one day unassisted. This is just a segue to that.

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jen.steele@sduniontribune.com

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This is not a city where people are likely to say, I didnt think it could happen here. The aftermath of a series of shootings that left four dead in the last week held familiar ritual.

Fresnos police chief shed a tear Wednesday when he recounted talking to the family of one victim. He said he had presided over many similar news conferences during his 16 years leading the department.

This time, however, the sensational nature of the crime was magnified because of the national flashpoints it touched on: racism, fear of terrorism and backlash against Muslims.

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Kori Ali Muhammad  a black man who, according to police, said that he practiced voodoo  had shouted in Arabic when police took him into custody in the slayings. His social media rants said he wanted a race war. Chief Jerry Dyer said Muhammad was intent on killing as many white men as he could.

Kori Muhammad is not a terrorist, but he is a racist and he is filled with hate, Dyer said.

On Wednesday, police identified the victims of the seemingly random attacks.

Zackary David Randalls, 34, of Clovis had been on his first ride-along Tuesday for a new job with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. when he was shot.

Last year, the father of two  a 3-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son  had helped two children escape from an overturned minivan, according to the local newspaper. It was recalling a conversation with Randalls wife, Katie, that brought Dyer to tears.

Theres always violence in this neighborhood. But something like this? What was he doing? He just wanted to eat.  Veronica Estrada, neighbor of victim David Martin Jackson

Jonathan Gilbert, who had been a groomsman at the couples 2008 Pismo Beach wedding, said Randalls was excited about his new job because of what it would mean to his family.

They were his whole world, Gilbert said. They were his everything.

Mark James Gassett, 37, of Fresno had been out looking for work Tuesday and was carrying free groceries home from Catholic Charities when he was shot and killed.

He had two sons, 8 and 14.

His stepfather, Harold Wagner, said Gassett had been staying in a rehabilitation center. He has had problems, but he was doing good, Wagner said. He loves his kids.

David Martin Jackson, 58, of Fresno had been sitting at a bus stop with two other men when a shot rang out. Jackson ran and, according to police, Muhammad chased after him and fired two more times.

Jackson collapsed and died in the parking lot of Catholic Charities.

His neighbor Veronica Estrada said that theres always violence in this neighborhood. But something like this? What was he doing? He just wanted to eat.

On Tuesday night, after the shootings, members of On Ramps Covenant Church canceled their regular meeting and walked the few blocks to pray at Catholic Charities.

Their parish is in one of Fresnos most concentrated areas of poverty, where the median income is less than $13,000 a year. The multiethnic church describes its mission as embracing the tensions that can come with diversity, because God is greater than anything that divides us.

On Wednesday, the yellow police tape came down, and Catholic Charities went back to work.

People drove in to donate items; others walked in to ask for groceries or help paying their electricity bills.

Ky (like Kentucky, he said) Allen came to bring lunch to his wife, Christina.

The day before, she had been at work and texted him that she was on lockdown during a shooting.

When I picked her up blocks from here, she was in tears. I held her so tight. My heart was racing, Allen said.

I just want to see if shes alright today, he said. She said she was OK, but women can say one thing and feel another.

Last week, Allen said, one of the customers at the 7-Eleven where his son-in-law works had been killed while working security at a local Motel 6.

According to police, Muhammad shot the security guard, Carl Williams, 25, at close range on Thursday after Williams said he couldnt visit a female customer without checking in at the motel office first.

Before delivering his wifes sack lunch, Allen thanked a nearby police officer for his work and paused to speak to two teary-eyed women who said they knew Gassett.

Not well, one said. But we always said hello, and it hurts.

They bowed their heads in front of a memorial of dozens of white candles and a sign that read, It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.

All three said they were not shocked by the violence.

The haters are always there feeding off one another, Allen said. The only question is if we lift each other back up.

Marcum reported from Fresno and Rocha from Los Angeles. Times staff writer Joseph Serna in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

diana.marcum@latimes.com

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

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A new court document shows former U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis communicated just before and during last summers political corruption trial of a Mexican businessman  even though Duffy had stepped aside from the case three years earlier.

The document is an email from Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip Halpern to Michael Wynne, the former lawyer for Mexican tycoon Jose Susumo Azano. It was written the night of Aug. 23, in the middle of Azanos trial and the night before Dumanis testified.

It was included in a series of post trial motions filed by Azano and three co-defendants on Monday. The four were charged with conspiring to funnel about $600,000 in illegal campaign funds and services from Azano into the 2012 San Diego mayors race.

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Federal law prohibits foreign citizens who do not have legal status in the U.S from participating in elections. Azano is a Mexican citizen. He was convicted of 36 charges, but has yet to be sentenced.

Duffy had recused herself from the case sometime in early 2013. But despite two demands by Azanos lawyers before the trial, neither she nor the Department of Justice have revealed why she was not involved in the high-profile case.

Dumanis ran for mayor in 2012 but finished a distant fourth. Azano spent $100,000 on an independent committee supporting her bid and also orchestrated about $15,000 in straw donations into her campaign. She has said she had no knowledge of the scheme.

While initially saying she had only met Azano once, there has been a slow drip of revelations showing she had more contact with Azano than she said. She wrote a letter of recommendation on behalf of his son after the election, and also participated in a conference call with Azano and others that discussed how he could help the campaign in December 2011.

In the latest filing Azanos new lawyer, Knut Johnson, said that the FBI had described Dumanis as a subject of the investigation in an investigative report, but gave not details. Dumanis was never charged.

The Halpern email said that on June 23, 2016 Dumanis sent a text message to Duffy. It concerned the selection of then-Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Schopler to be a Magistrate Judge for the district.

Schopler was also on the prosecution team against Azano. His appointment was revealed in an open court session before the trial, with all defense lawyers stating they waived any objection to Schopler continuing on the case and assuming his new duties after it was over.

The Dumanis-Duffy exchange recounted in Halperns email was brief.

Was magistrate position yours/ Dumanis texted.

Yep. Ugh, replied Duffy.

On the big case? Will he finish? Dumanis wrote.

Call me Right quick --- can you? Duffy responded.

In the following phone conversation, Duffy relayed that she had learned a reporter  not identified in the document  had been inquiring about speculation that Dumanis had been tipped off about search warrants issued in the Azano investigation, then contacted the FBI herself and said she would provide any requested documents.

That scenario has long been a rumor in legal circles as a possible reason why Duffy stepped aside from the case.

Duffy then told Dumanis she didnt know what was going on in the case because she was recused, Halpern wrote. Dumanis said she would not ask any questions about the substance of the case and relayed her text was an effort to find out if the case was going to be postponed. Duffy said she did not know.

The trial began a month later on July 26. The first weeks featured testimony about Dumanis and Azano including new information from political consultant John Wainio.

He testified that he once asked Dumanis whether she knew if the $100,000 donation was coming from a legal donor  someone with a green card. He testified he was met with a long, uncomfortable silence.

On Aug. 5, two days after that testimony, Duffy again texted Dumanis. How goes everything with you? Are you holding strong through the Azano press coverage? she wrote.

Dumanis did not respond until the next day. I think it is best not to communicate right now. But thanks for checking in, she wrote.

The exchanges did not come to light until Aug. 22, Halpern wrote, when Duffy gave the text messages to two senior administrators in her office, who then gave them to Halperns team.

Dumanis testified Aug. 24 but was not asked by Wynne or prosecutors about the communications.

Johnson, Azanos new lawyer, said in the recent court filing that the communication between the Duffy and Dumanis is reason for U.S. District Court Judge Michael Anello to order prosecutors to turn over information on why Duffy recused herself.

Johnson did not respond to a request for comment.

Tanya Sierra, spokeswoman for Dumanis, said in a statement: There was nothing inappropriate, improper or unethical about the communication between the District Attorney and then-U.S. Attorney.

Duffy, appointed a judge of the San Diego Superior Court by Gov. Jerry Brown in December, did not respond to a request for comment on the filing.

Shaun Martin, a University of San Diego law professor who focuses on legal ethics, said Duffy should not have contacted Dumanis. If only as a protective matter, when you recuse yourself, you shouldnt say or have anything to do with the case. Period, he said. Its just not smart.

Martin added that its often hard prominent people in San Diegos small legal community to completely avoid interacting with each other. And he doubted the communications would be enough to convince Anello to change his previous rulings.

Its bad, and Im sure that both Duffy and Dumanis wished the information never came out, but its not that bad, he said.

Twitter: @gregmoran

greg.moran@sduniontribune.com
San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis announced Thursday she is resigning effective July 7, ending a nearly 15-year tenure as the countys chief prosecutor.

She may not, however, be leaving public life. In an email sent to the staff of the District Attorneys Office at 7:30 a.m. announcing her decision, Dumanis said she is considering running for a seat on the county Board of Supervisors but has not made up her mind.

To be clear, I have not decided if I will be a candidate or not, she wrote. I believe my experience, and the critical role that the Board plays in public safety and policy issues, would make me an effective member. However, I do not want to create any conflict with, or distraction from the important work of the District Attorneys Office. Therefore, I feel its appropriate for me to resign at this time as I explore my potential candidacy.

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She announced in January she would not seek a fifth, four-year term.

Dumanis was not available for an interview Thursday, her communications staff said. Her announcement came as speculation about her interest in the seat on the Board of Supervisors remained strong.

It also came amid reports this week of federal court filings in the long-running political corruption case against Mexican businessman Jose Susumo Azano Matsura, which continues to dog Dumanis, who testified at the trial.

Azano was convicted of illegally contributing almost $600,000 to the 2012 mayoral campaigns of Dumanis and Rep. Bob Filner, as well as committees for county and congressional Democrats and the campaign of Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego.

Then-U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy, now a San Diego Superior Court judge, had recused herself from the case. Azanos lawyers have now revealed that Dumanis and Duffy communicated just before Azanos trial last summer and during it.

The new revelations led the San Diego County Democratic Party to call for the Board of Supervisors to appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate.

The public deserves to know the extent of the District Attorneys involvement in the Azano corruption scandal, and whether any other personnel in the DAs office acted improperly, party chairwoman Jessica Hays said in a statement.

Dumanis has said she had no idea about Azanos scheme.

Her interest in running for the seat held by termed-out county Supervisor Ron Roberts has long been rumored. When she ran for San Diego mayor in 2012, she did not resign as district attorney. She finished a distant fourth in a five-way primary.

When Dumanis leaves office, the Board of Supervisors will appoint an interim district attorney. The appointee will hold the position until a district attorney takes office after winning the next election.

Applications from those seeking the appointment will be accepted by the county from May 3 to May 31. Supervisors will begin the process of appointing a successor at its May 2 meeting and is expected to approve application requirements, an application period, and schedule public hearings where applicants and finalists will be evaluated, the county said in a statement.

The schedule suggests that a successor would not be named until at least June 20, the first regular board meeting after the application deadline passes.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Summer Stephan is running to succeed Dumanis, forming a campaign committee and collecting key endorsements, including from Dumanis, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Sheriff Bill Gore, as well as Democrats Vargas and San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott. No one else has announced plans to run for district attorney.

Stephan referred a request for an interview to her political consultant, Jason Cabel Roe. Asked if she planned to apply for the interim post, he said Stephan is giving it serious consideration.

Dumanis signaled months ago she favored Stephan. In a December meeting with some of her management staff, she said her succession plan was to have Stephan take over. Since then, Dumanis has worked to secure endorsements for Stephan from labor groups, including the one representing county prosecutors.

Longtime San Diego political consultant Tom Shepard said Stephan winning the interim appointment would give her an enormous head start in the race.

The institutional advantage you get putting DA underneath your name on the ballot, even though it says appointed DA, is huge, Shepard said. That pseudo-incumbency is a major advantage.

Whatever her next step is, Dumanis left her mark as district attorney. Public Defender Randy Mize, who has known Dumanis for 25 years, said that while she was a strong advocate for crime victims, her door was always open to defense lawyers  and that was not always the case with other district attorneys.

Mize said she also was effective in instituting recent changes pushed by voters and legislators to change criminal justice practices in sentencing, rehabilitation and other issues.

She has embraced realignment, he said. Shes been progressive in advocating rehabilitation for offenders. I have a lot of respect for Bonnie Dumanis.

Steve Walter, the head of the labor association representing county prosecutors, said Dumanis was a strong advocate for victims. Inside the office, she fought to make sure her staff had enough resources to prosecute crimes, rebuilding the narcotics unit after her election in 2002, supporting the gang unit, and attacking human trafficking and cyber crimes.

Dumanis rose through the ranks in the office, from clerk-typist to deputy district attorney. She then switched over to the bench serving as a Juvenile Court referee and Municipal Court and Superior Court Judge.

She won election in 2002 in a bitter race against incumbent Paul Pfingst. Perhaps the most prominent case in her time was the 2010 murder of 17-year-old Chelsea King of Poway and the earlier slaying 14-year-old Amber Dubois of Escondido.

Both girls were killed by convicted sex offender John Gardner who lived with his mother in Rancho Bernardo. He was sentenced to two terms of life in prison without parole after pleading guilty in a deal where Dumanis agreed not to pursue the death penalty in exchange for Gardners pleas and his telling investigators where Ambers body was buried.

There were missteps, too. She was roundly criticized in 2014 when more than 30 defendants were charged under a mostly untested gang conspiracy law holding gang members liable for the crimes of others if they promoted or benefited from the crime.

Superior Court judges dismissed the conspiracy charges against many of the defendants. Some were charged because of postings they made on Facebook or song lyrics they had written, raising the ire of civil rights and free speech advocates.

The Azano case also continues to haunt her, and Shepard said it could continue to do so if she runs for the Board of Supervisors. The revelation in (Thursdays) story about contact she had with Laura Duffy adds to the baggage she would carry into a race for another office like county supervisor, he said.

Roberts district includes most of the city of San Diego and is heavily Democratic: 44.5 percent of registered voters are Democrats, while 20.5 percent are Republicans. Dumanis, like Roberts, is a Republican.

Democrat Omar Passons, an attorney and civic activist, has announced his candidacy for the District 4 seat, and former Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, also a Democrat, is considering running. San Diego Councilwoman Lorie Zapf, a Republican, has also been mentioned as a possible contender.

Staff writer Joshua Stewart contributed to this report.

Twitter: @gregmoran

greg.moran@sduniontribune.com

UPDATES:

5:30 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details and reaction to District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis announcement.

The article was originally published at 9:35 a.m.
A San Diego jury has found that Petco was not negligent when it sold a pet rat to a 10-year-old boy who later became sick and died after handling the animal.

Aidan Pankey died of an ailment known as rat bite fever, the result of a bacterial infection he contracted from a rat that was bred for sale as a pet.

A San Diego Superior Court jury deliberated about a day before reaching verdicts late Wednesday. The verdicts were read Thursday morning in Judge Eddie Sturgeons courtroom.

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The panel found that Petco Animal Services Inc. knew or should have known that the pet rat was potentially dangerous when used or misused by a consumer in a reasonable manner. However, the jury said, Petco did not fail in its duty to adequately warn consumers of the potential danger and instruct them on how to handle rats safely.

They determined that neither Petco nor its supplier, Barneys Pets, was negligent in this case.

Jury foreman James Wigdel of San Diego said the panel had robust discussions in the deliberation room. Ultimately, he said, the panel believed the defendants had taken significant steps to protect the community from disease by testing the animals and posting warnings for customers of the potential danger.

They did what they could to prevent any kind of spread of disease, Wigdel said.

The attorney who represented Petco at the trial did not speak to reporters after the verdicts were announced. The company released a statement on its website.

We remain deeply saddened by the Pankey familys tragic loss and are committed to continuing to provide the highest level of safety to our customers in the future, the statement said. The safety of people and pets is always Petcos top priority.

We agree with the jurys ruling, which validates our position that proper care, protocols and guidelines were adhered to by Petco in this case.

John Gomez, one of the lawyers representing the boys father, had asked the jury to award Andrew Pankey $20 million in damages for the loss of his son.

Outside the courtroom, Gomez said a major reason his client wanted the case to go to trial was to get the message out that many of Petcos rats tested at random  about half, according to the plaintiffs data  carried bacteria that could cause rat bite fever. He said the family plans to take the evidence they presented in court to lawmakers and public health agencies all over the country.

Im quite confident theres going to be changes, the attorney said, adding that he would file an appeal. And then were going to come back and try this case again and were going to win it.

Aidans grandmother, Sharon Pankey, said the lesson she hopes others take away from the case is buyer beware. She said customers should know they can ask Petco to test an individual rat for the presence of bacteria that could cause rat bite fever. And she warned other consumers that theres a difference between a healthy rat and a safe rat.

Dont assume that something you buy from a big corporation is safe, she said.

Aidan Pankey died in June 2013, about two weeks after he and his grandmother went to the pet supply store in Carmel Mountain Ranch and picked out a male rat he named Alex.

About two weeks later, Aidan became ill with flu-like symptoms and was taken to a doctor for treatment.

Thinking it was the flu, a pediatrician told him to rest, drink a lot of liquids and return for a follow-up visit a few days later if his health did not improve.

When Aidans symptoms worsened the next night, his family called paramedics. He was taken to the emergency room at Rady Childrens Hospital, where he died early the next morning.

Authorities determined he died of a result of streptobacillus moniliformis infection  rat bite fever.

There is no evidence that Aidan was actually bitten by Alex the rat, one of two rodents he kept as pets.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, streptobacillus moniliformis is part of the normal respiratory flora of rodents. It can be transmitted from animals to humans through bites or scratches, or just by handling a rodent that carries it.

Rats that have this particular type of bacteria do not show any outward signs of disease or infection.

Andrew Pankeys lawyers contended in trial that there had been at least 64 confirmed cases of rat bite fever contracted by customers since Petco began selling rats in 2001, but that the actual number, which would include Petco employees who became seriously ill, was 200 or higher.

Gomez, the fathers attorney, told the jury in his closing arguments that Petco should have stopped selling rats if the company was unable to provide animals that were free of this particular type of bacteria.

Petcos lawyer argued that those numbers were inflated and that the fathers lawyers were ignoring the fact that the bacteria that causes rat bite fever cannot be bred out of the animals.

Its not illegal to sell rats, said attorney Kimberly Oberrecht, adding that its exceedingly rare for humans to develop rat bite fever after coming in contact with the animals.

Thats especially true, she said, if people heed warnings to wash their hands after handling rats, and they remember not to share food, kiss or bathe with the animals.

Oberrecht said the company had sold around 5 million rats between 2001 and 2013, but she counted only 45 reported instances of rat bite fever.

dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @danalittlefield

UPDATES:

11 a.m.: This article was updated with interviews and additional details.

2:25 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from Petco and additional details from the lawyer for the boys father.

This article was originally published at 10:10 a.m.
Students in a Hanson Elementary School classroom are raising rainbow trout.

The trout came in as eggs from a hatchery and are growing in an aquarium in Joyce Schildhouses fifth/sixth-grade classroom.

Its pretty cool, said sixth-grader Donovan Ward.

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Trout in the Classroom is a conservation-oriented environmental education program for elementary, middle, and high school students.

This is all about habitat and environment, said Schildhouse.

The program website, troutintheclassroom.org, says it allows students to raise trout from eggs to fry, monitor tank water quality, engage in stream habitat study, learn to appreciate water resources, begin to foster a conservation ethic, and grow to understand ecosystems. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife provides a special permit for the program.

The eggs came in four weeks ago and the trout must be released within eight weeks  when they will be about the size of a minnow  into a local lake.

Schildhouses sponsor for the program is Don Davis, a retired Ramona Fire Department captain who is a member of the San Diego Fly Fishers, which partners with the Trout in the Classroom program.

He comes and talks to my kids, said Schildhouse.

Davis said this is the second or third year the club has been working with the program.

I got involved because it is an opportunity for the students to learn, and the major costs are covered by the San Diego Fly Fishers, he stated in an email.

Schildhouse already had an aquarium the class could use and the fly fishers loaned her a chiller to keep the water at 50 degrees.

I just think this is a great opportunity for students, she said.

Sixth-graders Reed Gunnett and Donovan Ward created a descriptive poster that is hanging by the aquarium.

The poster is to show rainbow trout and the stages of their life, said Gunnett. Those stages are egg, alevin, fry, juvenile, and adult.

Im documenting each stage, noted Schildhouse, who estimated there could be about 50 fish in the tank.

Its really good. You get to see them grow up, said fifth-grader Brooklynn Gomez.

Theyre trying to learn how to swim right now, said Diego Torres, also a fifth-grader. Were going to release them when their stage is a fry.

He said they also learned the trout are really hard to catch.

Damien Morado explained that the reason the fish are called rainbow trout is that when the sun shines in the water and you look at their side, its shiny and colorful.

It looks like a rainbow, added Brooklyn.

According to Schildhouse, the program goes with the California science standards. In fifth grade the ecosystem standard applies, which calls for developing a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment. For sixth grade, the program works with the standard that reads: Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

Schildhouse said her class is the only one in Ramona to participate in Trout in the Classroom but there are others in San Diego.

She is hoping to be able to release the trout in Lake Murray in May and plans on taking her whole class, allowing each student to scoop out a fish with a cup and see them swim away in their new environment.
The legacy of Thomas Vera, the 57-year-old man who wandered from his hospital bed on May 27 and fell to his death in a nearby canyon, can be seen today on the wrists of some current patients at UC San Diego Health System hospitals.

About 17 patients per day at the universitys two hospitals in Hillcrest and La Jolla now wear special orange wristbands designed to provide hospital staff, from doctors to orderlies, a visual clue that they should not be roaming the halls without a care giver or family member at their side.

The program started June 17 and comes as the state continues to investigate whether Veras death was what many in the health care industry call a never event, one of 28 preventable medical errors that should not happen.

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The orange bands represent a new line of defense that UC San Diego Health System employs to keep patients from wandering. It also uses regular nurse visits, bed alarms, video cameras and sitters.

Those tools apparently failed to prevent Vera from leaving the hospital. His body was discovered in dense canyon brush on May 31, five days after his departure. He had been admitted to the hospital, family members said, after suffering a head injury after falling down a flight of stairs at his Chula Vista residence.

Gerard Phillips, a nursing director for UC San Diego Health System, said hospital workers have been told what to do if they see a patient with one of the bands who is not in their assigned ward.

They are to approach the patient and see if they can assist the patient with going back to their unit, Phillips said.

No additional patients have wandered from UC San Diego hospitals since Veras departure, hospital officials said. Spokeswoman Jacqueline Carr said in an email that hospital workers have occasionally escorted wristband-wearing patients back to their beds.

While administrators seem to believe the wristband program is working, some at the hospital remain skeptical, saying they believe the true issue is a lack of staffing.

Teri Traylor, a certified nursing assistant at the Hillcrest facility, said she believes the wristband program is really about avoiding hiring more sitters to monitor patients.

Traylor is a member of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, which represents 2,061 of the systems technical workers from licensed vocational nurses to respiratory technicians.

The union, which represents 13,000 workers at university hospitals across the state, staged a one-day strike at facilities including UC San Diego Hillcrest on May 21. For months the union, which is locked in contract negotiations with the university, has hammered the organization for cutting back on front-line caregivers.

Union spokesman Todd Stenhouse said in a recent email that the number of certified nurse assistants working at the Hillcrest hospital has been cut 5 percent over the last year.

At UCSD you have patient load increasing, and you have the number of front-line care staff not keeping up, Stenhouse said.

But the university said that nurse assistants do far more than supervise patients. Carr said staffing per patient at Hillcrest has remained stable even as different techniques, like video monitoring, have been used to observe some patients deemed a fall risk.
A gunman opened fire on a police van on the Champs-Elysees late Thursday, killing one officer and injuring two other people in an attack that came just days before the French presidential election and heightened tensions in this terrorism-weary capital.

Islamic State identified the attacker as an Islamic State fighter and gave a pseudonym suggesting he was from Belgium, according to its Amaq News Agency. French President Francois Hollande had earlier said the circumstances of the attack pointed to terrorism.

The gunman, carrying an automatic weapon, was shot dead by officers who returned fire as he ran off.

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Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said the man had driven up the busy boulevard in a car just before 9 p.m. local time. He stopped the vehicle, jumped out and opened fire on a parked police van.

One police officer died at the scene, Brandet said. A second officer was hospitalized with critical injuries. A woman passerby was slightly injured by a flying shard of glass, authorities said.

The gunman continued firing at officers as he ran up the sidewalk before being gunned down by police.

Its too early to say why these police officers were deliberately targeted on the Champs-Elysees this evening, Brandet said. Police are investigating whether the gunman had acted alone, he said.

There were news agency reports of a second officer dying, and a second gunman fleeing, but authorities said those were false. Although the motive was not clear, police were treating the crime as a potential act of terrorism.

The Paris anti-terrorist brigade was investigating the attack. French television reported that the gunman was known to security services and that officers were searching his home in the east of Paris.

This is a serious incident, Brandet said. We are facing a particularly high terrorist threat in our country right now. There is a threat to target symbolic places like the Champs Elysees, cultural and tourist sites and, as we have seen, the forces of law and order.

He said the gunman was carrying an automatic gun that he described as a weapon of war.

Police are trying to secure the area and around. We dont know the motivation [for the attack] or whether this man acted alone or had accomplices, Brandet told journalists.

Police immediately closed the Champs-Elysees and surrounding streets and began evacuating restaurants and bars. Local subway stations were closed, and officials asked the public to keep away from the area.

The shooting comes two days after police arrested two men in Marseilles suspected of plotting an imminent and violent attack in the run-up to the first round of Frances presidential elections Sunday. Frances interior minister, Matthias Fekl, said the two men were seeking to have an impact on this [electoral] period.

Police said they found an arsenal of weapons and homemade explosives in the apartment where the two men were staying.

British intelligence had tipped off their French counterparts after reportedly intercepting an attempt by one of the suspects, Mahiedine Merabet, 29, to contact Islamic State to declare his allegiance.

An unidentified witness told BFMTV he had been on the pavement on the Champs-Elysees when the shooting started Thursday. He said he heard six shots, which he at first thought were fireworks.

We were so close, [the gunman] could have fired at us, but thankfully the police shot him dead, the man said.

Fekl was summoned to an emergency meeting with Hollande at the Elysees Palace. Thousands of police, gendarmes and soldiers have been patrolling streets, cities and tourist attractions across France as part of the state of emergency introduced after the wave of bombings and shootings in Paris in November 2015.

Willsher is a special correspondent.

ALSO:

Meet the charismatic opposition leader the Venezuela government just cant silence

I wont let fear stop me: A Venezuelan opposition leader fights on against an embattled president

Hes been deported twice and survived bandits, trains and swamps, but this Honduran immigrant remains hopeful about reaching the U.S.

UPDATES:

3:30 p.m. This article has been updated with Islamic State claiming responsibility.

2:50 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting, Islamic State claiming responsibility, other details.

2:05 p.m.: This article was updated with details about a third officer wounded in the attack.

1:20 p.m.: This article was updated with details about the attack and the police investigation.

12:55 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with additional details about the attack.

This article was originally published at 12:40 p.m.
An annual fire exercise for San Diego County firefighters that began Wednesday will continue through Friday across the county.

The 2017 County Wildland Drill - Wildland Fire Preparedness Exercise is happening off state Route 52 in areas of Tierrasanta and the San Diego-Santee border inside Mission Trails Regional Park.

Nearly 750 firefighters will participate in the training exercises over the three days. The training is a key element in maintaining firefighter preparedness as the county moves into the hot, dry summer months.

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The training event is put on by county fire chiefs, in coordination with the city of San Diego. It brings together regional firefighting forces for training that includes emergency communications, firefighter survival, structure defense and fire hose use under simulated emergency conditions.Water-dropping aircraft will join ground forces in coordinated firefighting efforts.

Other agencies participating in the training include San Diego Gas & Electric Co., the National Weather Service and the California Office of Emergency Services.
A driver in La Jolla is accused of losing his cool while getting a parking ticket and knocking over the officers scooter when he drove off Wednesday, San Diego police said.

The mans red Corvette was parked on Prospect Avenue near Eads Avenue when an parking enforcement officer stopped to leave a ticket about noon, San Diego police Officer Tony Martinez said.

The driver got into an argument with the officer before getting into the car and driving off. As he pulled away, he hit the officers scooter, knocking it over, Martinez said.

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The parking officer was inside at the time, but was not injured.

Police were called to the area and began searching for the driver.

About an hour later, he called police and said he was with his lawyer and would speak with officers about what happened. Martinez said the driver was still being processed Wednesday afternoon, but would be booked into jail on charges related to the incident.

Twitter: @LAWinkley

(619) 293-1546

lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com
A teenager and a companion accused of stealing a 12-pack of beer from a Chula Vista 7-Eleven store struggled with an officer before getting arrested Wednesday night, police said.

A third suspect got away.

Police said a trio assaulted an employee at the 7-Eleven store on H Street at Fourth Avenue before running out with cans of beer about 7 p.m. The thieves, described to police as teen skateboarders, ran toward Third Avenue.

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A short time later, an officer spotted a bicyclist, a skateboarder and a rider on a scooter a block away, near the county courthouse at H and Third Avenue, police Lt. Buddy Magor said.

While the bicyclist took off, the skateboarder tried to jump over a fence, leading to a scuffle with the officer. At some point during the struggle, the skaters companion used the Razor scooter to strike the officer, Magor said.

The skateboarder and scooter rider ran away, but other officers took them into custody a few blocks away from the courthouse, Magor said. One of them was a 15-year-old boy, and the other had not yet been identified.

The officer who was hit with the scooter suffered minor injuries and was treated by medics without being taken to a hospital.

Officers recovered a 12-pack of Modelo Especial beer in one of the suspects backpack.

Breaking News

Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
A wrongful death lawsuit involving Rebecca Zahau, whose nude body was found hanging from a Coronado mansion balcony in 2011, has been amended to focus on her boyfriends brother and eliminates two sisters as accomplices.

Overwhelming evidence proves that Dina Shacknai and her twin, Nina Romero, were not involved in the high-profile death, an attorney for Zahaus family announced Thursday.

Security camera video at Rady Childrens Hospital clearly showed Dina Shacknai was there, visiting her fatally injured son, at the time of Zahaus death on July 13, 2011, attorney C. Keith Greer said.

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He said cellphone records and eyewitness accounts also place Romero in another Coronado house when Zahau died.

The San Diego County Sheriffs Department and county Medical Examiners Office ruled Zahaus death a suicide.

Romero and Dina Shacknai attended a news conference with Greer in downtown San Diego Thursday, and both thanked him for publicly exonerating them in the case.

These last four years have been torture, Dina Shacknai said.

She said she had no reason to want to harm Zahau, and she does not believe Adam Shacknai was involved in her death, either.

Zahau was the girlfriend of Arizona pharmaceuticals tycoon Jonah Shacknai, who owned the former Spreckels mansion in Coronado. She was in the house with her teenage sister and Max, the 6-year-old son of Jonah Shacknai and his ex-wife, Dina.

Dina Shacknai was staying at her own Coronado home with her twin sister at the time surrounding Zahaus death. Adam Shacknai also had arrived from Tennessee, to stay in a guesthouse at his brothers mansion.

On July 11, 2011, Zahau reported that shed heard a loud crash and found Max at the foot of a 15-foot stairway, near a chandelier that had hit the floor. It appeared that he had tripped and fallen from the second floor landing, knocking down the chandelier, according to sheriffs investigators.

The boy was hospitalized unconscious and not breathing. He was declared brain dead on July 15 and confirmed dead the next day.

Authorities theorized that Zahau killed herself because she believed Max would not survive his injuries and she was distraught over her failure to keep him safe while in her care.

Zahaus family rejected the official suicide finding. In 2013, they filed a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court against Romero, Dina and Adam Shacknai. The suit suggested the women confronted Zahau and struck her on the head repeatedly, and that Adam Shacknai then strangled her and tossed her over the balcony as if she had hanged herself.

Greer said he took over the lawsuit from another firm, representing Zahaus sister, Mary Zahau-Loehner, mother, Pari Zahau and late father, Robert Zahau.

The lawsuit, formally amended in March, now alleges that Adam Shacknai alone beat Zahau unconscious, stripped off her clothes, bound her hands and feet, gagged her and hanged her from the balcony.

Adam Shacknai reported to police that he found her hanging, and cut her down from the strand of red rope that was tied off to a bed.

Greer declined to ascribe a motive for killing Zahau, saying he would reserve that for trial, which is scheduled for February.

However, he said from certain evidence it appears it was sexual in nature.

The lawsuit alleges that after Adam Shacknai attacked Zahau, he killed her to keep her from reporting it.

Greer said it was a long process to obtain evidence from the Sheriffs Department and to depose key figures in the case. He got the Rady Childrens Hospital security video on 27 disks in September.

Until then, he said, Dina Shacknai was our No. 1 suspect, but he felt that wasnt actually right.

Once we knew she wasnt there (at the mansion), all the other evidence fell into place, Greer said.

He said an eyewitness had seen a woman at the mansion that night, but after ruling out Dina Shacknai, it was clear that Romero had been telling the truth that she had knocked on the mansion door, then left when no one answered.

UPDATES:

1:50 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details.

This article was originally published at noon.
Inside a Barrio Logan church, you could hear speakers urge action on behalf of immigrants, the homeless, the poor and victims of racial profiling and mass incarceration.

Outside the church, you could see the scope of this challenge.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, site of Wednesday nights Faith Not Fear summit, is located in one of the poorer sections of San Diego. Homeless encampments have sprung up on the surrounding streets. Some nearby homes have seen family members deported. And for many local residents, health care is in short supply.

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Moreover, a few dozen pickets marched outside the summit, arguing that it represented a Marxist vision of society.

Its a federal crime to harbor illegal aliens, said Roger Ogden of Bankers Hill, who was carrying a sign with the images of Jesus Christ and Che Guevara. Does he want to follow Jesus or does he want to follow Che?

He was a reference to Bishop Robert McElroy, the head of San Diegos Catholic diocese. one of the summits organizers and a critic of President Trumps immigration policies.

Bishop McElroy, another sign read, Stop Enabling Murdering Islam and Illegal Immigration.

Yet the protesters and their signs were outnumbered by those carrying #FaithNotFear or #FeNoMiedo signs. And inside the sanctuary, there was a uniform message from Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim clerics.

When we deal with people, we deal with them as human beings created by the only one God, said Imam Taha Hassane, head of the Islamic Center of San Diego. Thats it.

The evening meeting drew representatives from more than 30 different congregations, from St. Stephens Cathedral Church of God in Christ to Temple Emanu-El. The standing-room-only crowd also included Reps. Susan Davis and Juan Vargas; San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore; and San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman.

We must stand in solidarity, said Bishop Cornelius Bowser of the Charity Apostolic Church, for those in need.

At the end of the two-hour-plus program, people were asked to volunteer to lead action groups and rapid response teams that would support families facing mass deportation; lobby elected officials weekly; and attend rallies.

The first rally was called for 10 a.m. Friday at San Ysidro, to demonstrate during the visit of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly.
A San Diego federal judge who presided over the lawsuit against Trump University has been assigned the recent high-profile dreamer deportation case.

U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel last year faced the wrath of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, who demanded the judge recuse himself from the case. Trump claimed Curiels Mexican heritage made him biased against Trump, who had railed against illegal immigration and Mexico during the campaign.

In March, the Indiana-born judge approved a $25 million settlement between the two sides in the class-action suit. Students claimed they were overcharged and that Trumps real estate program did not deliver what it promised.

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Now Curiel has been assigned the case of Juan Manuel Montes Bojorquez, 23, who claims he was wrongly deported to Mexico by border agents in Calexico in February. His lawsuit specifically seeks to force the government to release information about his case.

Montes, who came to the U.S. when he was 9 years old, since 2014 has been allowed to live and work in the country under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, whose participants are often called dreamers.

Under Trump, the country has experienced a rise in deportations of people who had DACA status but lost it, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Department of Homeland Security claimed Wednesday Montes no longer qualified for DACA.
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The Mother of All Bombs made news last week after the U.S. military dropped its most powerful non-nuclear bomb at a site in Afghanistans Nangarhar Province laced with tunnels that suspected Islamic State militants had been using, reportedly killing up to 36 of them instantly without harming any civilians. The 11-ton GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb never actually struck the ground.

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Instead, by design, it detonated over the target, lacing the air with fuel, which then atomized in a second explosion, creating immense atmospheric overpressure in the area that can kill people underground by turning their bodies inside out, in the evocative phrase of former Air Force Special Operations combat controller Edward Priest.

This massive version of whats known as a fuel-air explosive device may seem a high-tech marvel. But the technology is old news, based on the World War II-era theories of Mario Zippermayr, an eccentric Austrian genius who worked for the Nazis and who later pioneered a method for treating respiratory diseases. Yet theres plenty of new news on the military weapons front  including developments so striking and ominous that they eventually will require leaders in Washington, Beijing and Moscow to make some of the most profound decisions in human history.

Lets start with the simpler stuff: the near-imminent debut of cheap, powerful laser weapons in the U.S. military arsenal. This is from a 2015 Ars Technica report:

Sometime very soon, combat aircraft may be zapping threats out of the sky with laser weapons. I believe well have a directed energy pod we can put on a fighter plane very soon, Air Force Gen. Hawk Carlisle said at this weeks Air Force Association Air & Space conference in a presentation on what he called Fifth-Generation Warfare. That day is a lot closer than I think a lot of people think it is. ...

Directed-energy weapons pods could be affixed to aircraft to destroy or disable incoming missiles, drones, and even enemy aircraft at a much lower cost per shot than missiles or even guns, Carlisle suggested.

The Pentagon and defense contractors arent as far along in testing with the electromagnetic railgun, which harnesses the power of an electromagnetic pulse to fire a projectile up to 4,600 mph. The 25-pound projectile hits with such immense, destructive force that it doesnt need explosives. The railgun requires vast amounts of energy to fire, and every launch degrades the weapon significantly. But if these obstacles can be overcome, the Pentagon could end up with a GPS-precision-guided weapon straight out of 1940s pulp science fiction  one whose single use would cost less than one-40th of a Tomahawk missile.

These relatively inexpensive weapons arent the historic norm in defense procurement, where the militarys new toys are often fantastically costly. For a current example, the B-21 Raider stealth bomber that will be built by Northrop Grumman and deployed within a decade will cost $564 million each. Yet in some categories, technological advances create opportunities for cheap but powerful military tools, only starting with weaponized drones  drones able to wipe out enemies on their own volition.

Which brings us to the scary stuff. This is from an October report in The New York Times:

Almost unnoticed outside defense circles, the Pentagon has put artificial intelligence at the center of its strategy to maintain the United States position as the worlds dominant military power. It is spending billions of dollars to develop what it calls autonomous and semiautonomous weapons and to build an arsenal stocked with the kind of weaponry that until now has existed only in Hollywood movies and science fiction ... .

The Defense Department is designing robotic fighter jets that would fly into combat alongside manned aircraft. It has tested missiles that can decide what to attack, and it has built ships that can hunt for enemy submarines, stalking those it finds over thousands of miles, without any help from humans. ...

China and Russia are developing battle networks that are as good as our own ... , said Robert O. Work, the deputy defense secretary, who has been a driving force for the development of autonomous weapons. What we want to do is just make sure that we would be able to win as quickly as we have been able to do in the past.

The dilemma posed by artificial intelligence-driven autonomous weapons  which some scientists liken to the third revolution in warfare, after gunpowder and nuclear arms  is that to take fullest advantage of such weapons, the logical move would be to leave humans entirely out of lethal decision-making, allowing for quicker responses to threats and in theory making us safer. But if future presidents and Pentagons trusted algorithms to make such decisions, conflicts between two nations relying on such technology could rapidly escalate  to possibly apocalyptic levels  without human involvement.

The U.S. military officially scoffs at this idea. In making life-and-death decisions, there will always be a man in the loop, Deputy Defense Secretary Work told the Times in October. But Work and others who try to offer a reassuring vision of a future in which radical new military technologies are deployed with care and caution may be swimming against the tide.

In August, as BreakingDefense.com reported, the Pentagons Defense Science Board urged the Department of Defense to ...

accelerate its exploitation of autonomy  both to realize the potential military value and to remain ahead of adversaries who also will exploit its operational benefits ... . Machines and computers can process much more data much more quickly than can humans, enabling the U.S. to act inside an adversarys operations cycle. And that is why it is vital if the U.S. is to sustain military advantage.

In a 2013 Wall-Street Journal op-ed, authors and teachers Robert H. Latiff and Patrick J. McCloskey warned of the dangers of thinking like this: Full lethal autonomy is no mere next step in military strategy: It will be the crossing of a moral Rubicon. Ceding godlike powers to robots reduces human beings to things with no more intrinsic value than any object.

But there is a pecuniary twist to this debate. In coming years, Americas military and political leaders wont be considering whether to embrace autonomous defense and combat in a vacuum in which moral, ethical and philosophical concerns are carefully weighed. In the post-sequester era, military budgets have been cramped for years. Whatever President Trumps short-term plans, this budget pressure is unlikely to recede in the medium- and long-term as the national debt grows and an aging population sends Social Security and Medicare costs soaring. Autonomous weapons are so relatively inexpensive that qualms about their riskiness could be swept aside  not just in Washington but in Beijing and Moscow as well.

This fear of a future in which such weapons are cheap and ubiquitous led more than 20,000 AI researchers, scientists and interested individuals  including Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking and Steve Wozniak  to sign a Future of Life Institute petition endorsing a ban on offensive autonomous weapons.

Will this have any effect on the ultimate decision-makers? That doesnt appear to be the case so far.

So if you too are worried about the future of life, stop mulling the Mother of All Bombs and start worrying about the Mother of All Algorithms  and urge your elected officials to do so as well. Considering the stakes, its hard to fathom this specter not getting a thorough airing before the next presidential election.

Reed is deputy editor of the editorial and opinion section. Twitter: @chrisreed99. Email: chris.reed@sduniontribune.com.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: UTOpinion
Its official: You dont need to change your SDSU Aztecs tattoos.

Student representatives at San Diego State University narrowly voted Wednesday night not to retire the Aztec Warrior mascot and phase out the schools association with the Aztec name.

The universitys Associated Students council rejected the resolution, introduced by the Native American Student Association on April 10, with 12 students voting yes and 14 voting no, with one abstention.

The vote concluded an emotional and increasingly tense debate about indigenous identity, racism, school pride and representation on SDSUs campus. It became so confrontational that several students resigned or threatened to resign from the student government body after the vote.

Supporters of the motion to end the mascot and the schools association with the Aztecs were resolute, arguing to members of student government that the existence of the Aztec Warrior inflicted psychological harm on Native-American students. Students relayed their personal testimonies with anti-Native American racism during the debate and also cited the American Psychological Associations call in 2005 to retire all American Indian mascots.

Heres how some of the people following the vote Wednesday night reacted on Twitter, starting with supporters of the resolution.

On the other end of the debate, those who supported the mascot celebrated by showing their school spirit Wednesday.

On Facebook, a page called "Save the Aztec surfaced to rally support for the schools association with the Aztecs. A Change.org petition supporting the mascot had around 2,000 signatures as of Wednseday afternoon.

Supporters of the mascot also spoke during the debate, arguing that abandoning the mascot and association with the Aztecs would not only be fiscally irresponsible, but also disrespectful to greater campus culture and the Aztec nation.

Here are some of their responses after tonights decision.

Could this be an indicator of PC-culture overstepping its bounds on campus? Some seem to think so.

It was, as some noted, a close vote  a far departure from 2014s near-unanimous vote to keep the mascot.

Some students were ready with replacement names in case the vote went the other way.

There was also this tempting suggestion to make the popular campus taco shop, Trujillos, the new campus mascot.

There was one Twitter user who was more than relieved to hear the resolution failed. For him and for others, Aztec for Life is more than a slogan.

So whats next? More of the same, probably.

Twitter: @anthonyberteaux
The challenge of funding Ramona Fire Department and maintaining its level of service while costs continue to escalate was the focus of an informational workshop presented to Ramona Municipal Water District directors, who were told the problem is not unique to the community.

From my perspective, the cost of public safety is going to continue to increase, said Tony Mecham, Cal Fire district unit chief and San Diego County Fire Authority chief, at the water boards April 11 meeting.

Every agency in California is facing this, not just you, not just Cal Fire, but all local governments (are) struggling with how were going to deal with this in the future, he continued. Many agencies are at the tipping point where the costs to provide public service are outweighing their revenues, and many agencies are operating out of their reserves.

The water district has been contracting with Cal Fire since 1992 to staff the departments ambulances and fire engines at three fire stations; provide administrative, dispatching, fleet mechanic, and warehouse and emergency supply services; and telecommunications and information technology solutions.

Among suggested options to help fund the fire department is a ballot measure to raise the $188.52 fire EDU (equivalent dwelling unit) fee that residents pay, or join the San Diego County Fire Authority as some rural agencies have done.

There are lots of different ways to move forward, said David Barnum, RMWD general manager, adding that in closed session they would talk about one of those ways.

According to the agenda, the closed session concerned the properties of Ramonas three fire stations with the County of San Diego the negotiating party with the district, and price and terms of payment under negotiation.

Cal Fires contractual agreement with RMWD is based on maximum personnel and services costs, said Ramona Fire Departments new chief, Adam Lambert, but RMWD only pays the actual cost of personnel and services, which historically averages $850,000 less than the contract amount each year. Lambert, a Cal Fire Battalion chief, replaced Steve Foster, who retired as fire chief on April 6.

In fiscal year 2015-16, Cal Fires agreement with the district was for $5.95 million but the actual cost to the district ended up being just under $5 million. The fire department is mostly funded by the fire EDU and property tax revenues.

Lambert said they expect to propose a two-year agreement this year. For fiscal year 2017-18, the maximum contract amount could be $6.2 million with $5.4 million estimated as the actual cost. That could rise by about $300,000 the following year.

The fire chief said the call volume has increased 33 percent in the last five years and medical aid responses accounted for 2,439 calls, or 68 percent. The departments two ambulances run an average of 6.7 calls per day and to transport a patient down the hill to an area hospital could take two to four hours, he said.

If the current trends continue, Ramona will exceed 4,400 responses this year, which is significant for us, said Lambert.

To provide additional paramedic support, the department wants to add a paramedic to the two personnel on each fire engine.

Mecham and Lambert said they are trying to reduce costs and will be able to save $200,000 by re-organizing staff so some higher level/higher salary positions may be replaced with lower level staff. About $30,000 in savings is also expected by moving fleet maintenance from Cal Fires agreement to RMWD.

Board president Thomas Ace said the board needs to be proactive rather than reactive.

We need to get the information out, we need to understand the problem, we need to work together as a board to come up with solutions to these problems, he said.
NEW DELHI (AP)  Indias state-owned banks are conducting a massive campaign to open millions of accounts for poor Indians who are off the financial grid and vulnerable to black market money lenders.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially launched the program on Thursday, saying it would give the poor renewed strength to fight poverty.

When a bank account is opened, its a step towards joining the economic mainstream, said Modi, who swept to power in May after an election campaign that promised an end to corruption, a revival in economic growth and a fairer society.

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The program may eventually help sideline extortionate money lenders or unscrupulous banks, some of which are blamed for driving tens of thousands of impoverished farmers to suicide each year over debts amounting to just a few thousand dollars.

Tens of thousands of people have applied to open accounts since Aug. 15, when Modi announced the campaign in his Independence Day speech to the nation, bank managers said.

Modi had urged banks in a recent letter to try your best to ensure that no one is left without a bank account. The goal is to sign up 150 million people by 2018. About half of Indias 1.2 billion people lack bank accounts.

There is an urgency to this exercise, as all other development activities are hindered by this single disability, Modis letter said, according to his web site.

The four-year program may also help beat back the endemic corruption affecting almost every level of Indian bureaucracy, by channeling government welfare and work payments directly into the accounts of individuals rather than through regional and local offices.

Any help the government provides will be deposited ... that is why I opened this account, said Ramesh Singh, a 27-year-old chauffeur, as he lined up to submit his paperwork at a bank branch in the southern suburbs of New Delhi.

The accounts are unique in that they would stay open without penalty if empty, a key condition for keeping enrolled the hundreds of millions of impoverished Indians earning about a dollar a day or less.

As an incentive, the federal government is providing 100,000 rupees ($1,650) in life insurance to every account holder.

Dozens of state banks with more than 100,000 branches countrywide are participating.
The annual gathering of federal judges from the 9th Circuit, which includes San Diegos federal court, wrapped up this week in Hawaii.

It will be some time before the judges of the nations largest circuit, which includes nine Western states and the territories of Guam and Northern Mariana Islands, will get together again.

The judges agreed to cancel next years meeting in Monterey amid criticism from Capitol Hill over the cost of the 2012 Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference when the nations budget woes continue.

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The circuit judges for the court of appeals, the federal district and bankruptcy courts get together once a year. Last year, they met at the La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad.

Critics said the Hawaii conference, held at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa, could have a final tab approaching $1 million, a figure that included per diem meal and lodging expenses and judicial salaries.

Republican Sens. Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Charles Grassley of Iowa wrote pointed letters earlier this year to circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski condemning the expenditure and seeking detailed information on costs.

Several judges in Maui defended the annual conference, which is authorized by law, as a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas, discuss circuit issues and professionally bond.

Chief among the defenders was Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who pushed back against critics in opening remarks at the event.

Kennedy called the conference prudent and proper exercise of the judicial function.

The justice also noted that it was important that the conference meet in Hawaii.

There is a loveliness, even a loneliness in the Pacific that makes it fitting for us to search in quiet for the elegance and the beauty of the law, he said, according to a transcript of the remarks posted on the 9th Circuits website.

The Hawaiian islands, a state on equal footing and of equal dignity with the 13 original states, and all of the other states, is a bastion of freedom in the Pacific. And together with our friends from Federated States of Micronesia, from Marshal Islands, from Palau, from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and from Guam, they, in a war that is still in the living memory of many of us, suffered anguish and disaster, and hurt and death in defending freedom. And its an honor to be here in Hawaii to celebrate the fact that it is citadel of liberty, a bastion of freedom, and we thank the Hawaiian people for their gracious welcome that they always give to us when we come here.

The conference wrapped up on Thursday. It included working sessions on privacy protection in the Internet age, race and sentencing in criminal cases, and a review of the recently concluded term of the Supreme Court.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court justices meet in their hearing room in the Capitol building in this file photo from March 2016.
Pristina, Kosovo -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/20/2017 -- AAB College is launching its Kosovo Summer School 2017 Program on Democracy and Development focusing on International Development, Decentralization, Conflict Resolution, and Post-Conflict Societies  Kosovo and the Balkans. The two-week study abroad program allows students to gain in-depth knowledge on the developmental situation in the Balkans, as well as expand their horizons on post-conflict democracy.



Academically, the course will offer theoretical and practical knowledge on the topics and four (4) ECTS credits. Students will also meet with several government officials for a hand-on approach and learning on democracy and development. In addition, participants will gain a once in a lifetime opportunity to study abroad and explore the touristic and cultural sites of Kosovo and other countries such as Albania and Macedonia. Students will experience the warm and friendly welcome of the Balkan people by meeting other locals and immersing in all that the region has to offer.



"This is a chance of a lifetime to visit historical and well-known sites in the Balkans and become a part of an educational program which will increase your awareness of Kosovo's and the region's political situation."



For more information, visit https://iss.aab-edu.net/



The website will give you further details on the program, application procedures, the program activities and features, as well the application form. The program is modeled after the Balkans Peace Program and will be taught by highly qualified and experienced professors.



Media Contact:

Mr. Liridon Bajrami

International Cooperation Coordinator, AAB College

summerschool@aab-edu.net

Tel: +381(0) 38 600005, ext.106

Cell: +377(0) 44 129135
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/20/2017 -- The Baby Food Market in Austria 2017, is an analytical report by GlobalData which provides extensive and highly detailed current and future market trends in the Austrian market.



Austrian baby food market has been stimulated by higher birth numbers since2012, and by manufacturers efforts to target the toddler age group and by product innovation, resulting in a market worth over million. Baby milks account for just over half of all retail sales value but in volume terms meals are dominant, claiming 45%. Both have increased their share of sales to the detriment of cereals and drinks. Drugmarkets/drugstores claim over 70% of baby food sales. A rise in the number of births will contribute to volume growth of about 10%. Growth is likely to be strongest in milks and meals. Per capita consumption will increase by 4.9%.



Get a Sample Research PDF with TOC: http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1064534



What else does this report offer?

- Consumption data based upon a unique combination of industry research, fieldwork, market sizing work and our in-house expertise to offer extensive data about the trends and dynamics affecting the industry.

- Detailed profile of the companies operating and new companies considering entry in the industry along with their key focus product sectors.

- Market profile of the various product sectors with the key features & developments, segmentation, per capita trends and the various manufacturers & brands.

- Overview of baby food retailing with a mention of the major retailers in the country along with the distribution channel.

- Future projections considering various trends which are likely to affect the industry.



Scope



- Despite an already high per capita consumption rate, sales have been buoyant, increasing by 42% in terms of value and 17% in volume between 2010 and 2016. The market has been stimulated by higher birth numbers from 2012 onwards.

- Baby milks account for just over half of all retail sales, and meals for a further 35%. In volume terms, however, meals are dominant, claiming 45% of total consumption.

- All Milupa (Danone) products are imported from Germany. Hipp has a production facility in Gmunden, while Nestl sterreich imports all its products.

- Austrian market, accounting for almost two-thirds of volume imports of milks and cereals and half of imports of other baby food in 2015. Exports of baby foods have remained more or less stable in volume terms at tons per year.

- The annual number of births is expected to experience a consistent rise up to 2022. The market is therefore forecast to show overall growth, with absolute volumes set to increase by 9.5% between 2016 and 2022.



Enquiry at: http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1064534



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Eurypterids, better known as sea scorpions, used their serrated-spine-tipped tails to dispatch their prey, according to new research by University of Alberta paleontologists Scott Persons and John Acorn.

Sea scorpions are an extinct group of aquatic arthropods that are ancestors of modern spiders, lobsters, and ticks.

The group is taxonomically diverse, with more than 20 families recognized and known from abundant fossil specimens.

These creatures thrived in warm shallow waters, in both seas and lakes, around the world after the Cambrian explosion: from the Ordovician to the Permian periods (460 to 248 million years ago).

They were formidable predators and ranged in size from 6 inches (15 cm) to 76 inches (2 m).

They had thin, flexible bodies. Some species also had pinching claws.

According to the new study, published in The American Naturalist, sea scorpions had another weapon at their disposal: a serrated, slashing tail spine.

Our study suggests that sea scorpions used their tails, weaponized by their serrated spiny tips, to dispatch their prey, Dr. Persons said.

He and his colleague, Dr. Acorn, reached this conclusion after the discovery of a well-preserved specimen of the Silurian sea scorpion Slimonia acuminata with a serrated-spine-tipped tail curved strongly to one side.

The fossil was collected from the Patrick Burn Formation near Lesmahagow, Scotland.

Unlike lobsters and shrimps, which can flip their broad tails up and down to help them swim, Slimonia acuminate tails were vertically inflexible but horizontally highly mobile, the researchers said.

This means that these sea scorpions could slash their tails from side to side, meeting little hydraulic resistance and without propelling themselves away from an intended target, Dr. Persons said.

Perhaps clutching their prey with their sharp front limbs eurypterids could kill pretty using a horizontal slashing motion.

_____

W. Scott Persons IV & John Acorn. A Sea Scorpions Strike: New Evidence of Extreme Lateral Flexibility in the Opisthosoma of Eurypterids. The American Naturalist, published online April 18, 2017; doi: 10.1086/691967
For Africa to end chronic hunger, governments must invest in sustainable water supplies, writes Esther Ngumbi.



The fields are bare under the scorching sun and temperatures rise with every passing week. Any crops the extreme temperatures havent destroyed, the insect pests have, and for many farmers, there is nothing they can do. [1] Now, news about hunger across Africa makes mass media headlines daily. [2]



Globally, hunger levels are at their highest. [3] In fact, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, over 70 million people across 45 countries will require food emergency assistance in 2017, with Africa being home to three of the four countries deemed to face a critical risk of famine: Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen. [4]

Many African smallholder farmers depend on rain-fed agriculture, and because last years rains were inadequate, many farmers never harvested any crops. Esther Ngumbi, Auburn University in Alabama. United States



African governments, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and humanitarian relief agencies, including the United Nations World Food Programme, continue to launch short-term solutions such as food relief supplies to avert the situation. Kenya, for example, is handing cash transfers and food relief to its affected citizens. The UN World Food Programme is also distributing food to drought-stricken Somalia. [5] And in Zambia, the government is employing every tool including its military to combat insect pest infestation. [6]



But why are we here? What happened? Why is there such a large drought?



Reasons for chronic hunger



Many African smallholder farmers depend on rain-fed agriculture, and because last years rains were inadequate, many farmers never harvested any crops. Indeed, failed rains across parts of the Horn of Africa have led to the current drought that is affecting Somalia, south-eastern Ethiopia and northern and eastern Kenya. [7]



Then, even in the countries where adequate rains fell, many of the farmers had to farm on depleted soils, and consequently, the yields were lower. Degraded soils and dependence on rain-fed agriculture coupled with planting the wrong crop varieties are some of the fundamental problems that lead to poor harvests and then to hunger. Worsening the situation is the unpredictable climate. Given these fundamental and basic issues that fuel the hunger cycle in Africa, it naturally makes sense to tackle them.



It is not rocket science. Farming goes hand-in-hand with water. There can be no farming without it. While this seems easy to reason, there are few organisations working to make sure that African farmers and citizens have access to permanent water sources. Access to water sources all year round would ensure that farmers can farm year in and year out.



What African governments must do



African governments must, therefore, invest in ensuring that their citizens have access to water. Measures that can be implemented include drilling and rehabilitating boreholes, creating reservoirs and irrigation systems, constructing hand-pumps and implementing water harvesting schemes. Such measures would go a long way and would ensure that countries continue face the same problem both in the short and long term periods.

If Africa wants to bring to an end to the recurring droughts, hard decisions must be made. Esther Ngumbi, Auburn University in Alabama. United States



Of course it is understandable that it can be hard to choose long-term solutions such as ensuring that citizens have access to permanent water sources year round over investing in short-term solutions when there are people who need help now.



Acknowledging this dilemma, Mitiku Kassa, the Ethiopias commissioner for disaster risk management, is reported to have described how hard it was to direct even a fifth of his budget towards well drilling. [8] But such decisions must be made. The Ethiopian government still made that tough decision and sunk hundreds of bore wells throughout the country.



There is a great need to ramp up water harvesting and conservation efforts across the African continent. African governments and other stakeholders need to increase investment in multiple water storing techniques. Such techniques include rain and flood water harvesting and the construction of water storage ponds and dams. But there should be no need to reinvent the wheel.



Time to learn from others



African countries can learn from other countries. Countries in the developed world have sustained their agriculture efforts by either drilling water wells to ensure they have access to the water they need for farming or by investing in rain and flood water harvesting. In the United States, California, for example, there have been a rise in the number of wells being drilled by farmers who use well water for farming. [9] In 2016 alone, farmers in the San Joaquin Valley dug about 2,500 wells, a number that was five times the annual average reported in the last 30 years.

Countries such as Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand have made progress and are working on pilot projects that capture, harvest and store flood water. [10] Stored water is then available for use by communities when they need it the most. Harvesting and storing water and making it available for agriculture, especially during the dry seasons, will allow citizens and smallholder farmers to farm throughout the year. These would further improve the resilience of farmers to the unpredictable climate change If Africa wants to bring to an end to the recurring droughts, hard decisions must be made. By addressing the fundamental and basic issues of long-term availability of water for agriculture, African countries can once and for all end this never-ending cycle of hunger.Esther Ngumbi is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Auburn University in Alabama, United States. She serves as a 2015 Clinton Global University (CGI U) Mentor for Agriculture and is a 2015 New Voices Fellow at the Aspen Institute. She can be contacted at [email protected] This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.
Florida has released thousands of male mosquitoes on Tuesday in the Key West area to test a new way to eliminate Zika and other viruses. The method has been tested in Brazil and Colombia.

This time, the method is tested in Florida by Keys Mosquito Control District that releases 20,000 males mosquitoes on Tuesday, March 18. The mosquitoes have been infected with the Wolbachia bacteria by the MosquitoMate, the Kentucky-based company, as reported by ABC News.

The mosquitoes are lab-bred and the Wolbachia bacteria will disable the mosquitoes to produce the offspring when they mate with the female mosquitoes in the wild. The egg from the mating will not hatch according to MosquitoMate founder, Stephen Dobson.

Areas where the mosquitoes are released in the Lexington, Kentucky to Key West, through the cardboard tubes. This trial is expected to last for three months, and the mosquitoes will be released twice in a week. This will significantly reduce the mosquitoes population in the area, as Key West district tries to suppress the number of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which spread Zika, dengue fever, and chikungunya.

South Florida has prepared to battle the spread of Zika with the mosquito control and increase the collaboration between the state and federal government, according to Miami Herald. Florida Gov. Rick Scott in his visit to Florida health department in Miami promised a better relationship with the federal government. Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has deployed 78 staffs to Florida to help the state government combating the mosquitoes.

Zika began to infect Florida since January 2016, starting with a travel-related case. In June last year, a Zika outbreak appear in Wynwood, followed by a similar outbreak in Little River neighborhood and two sections of Miami Beach.

The method to use bacteria-infected mosquitoes has been used to reduce the Zika-carrier mosquitoes in Brazil and Colombia in October last year. The health experts expected this year, the similar method will also be applied on a large scale in the countries. Watch the report below:


Egyptian archeologists were reported to have discovered eight mummies bodies along with 1,000 statues and 10 sarcophagi. The mentioned astonishing artifacts were found in a 3,500-year-old tomb on Egypts west bank of the Nile River in Luxor.

According to The Sun, Egypts archaeologists were able to discover the artifacts after removing after removing almost 450 meters of debris. Aside from the six chambers housing six mummies, two more were mentioned to be found. Colorful wooden coffins and more than 1,000 funerary statues were identified.

Egypts Antiquities Ministry said the tomb was built from roughly 1500 to 1000 BC for a judge from the New Kingdom at the Dra Abu-el Naga necropolis known as Userhat. Mostafa el-Waziri who leads the archaeological mission mentioned that there are other chambers that housed statues of kings from other dynasties.

Egypts excavation of Userhats tomb was stated to be still ongoing. So far, the team of archaeologists has found the open court that offers two paths to halls. The first hall was said to lead to four ancient coffins while the other path leads to a chamber that houses six. The found coffins were described to be covered with intricate drawings in red, blue, black, green, and yellow, and featured the carved faces of the dead per ABC.

Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Enany stated that they are surprised about how many of the figurines were displayed inside. He also proudly concluded that what they had found is an important discovery. Nevine el-Aref, the spokeswoman for the antiquities ministry then stated that further pieces of evidence could be discovered and could lead to finding out more mummies in the future.

With that said, Hisham El Demery, chief of Egypt's Tourism Development Authority mentioned that after discovery after discovery were unveiled, the tourism of Luxor is growing as well.
All of the United Nations' attempts to address the alleged sexual abuse and exploitation that were allegedly perpetrated by their own personnel are futile. Since the 1987 UNICEF child pornography scandal in Belgium to the busted child sex ring in Haiti just last week, U.N. seems to fail in prosecuting its own. To make the matter worse the prosecution was allegedly hampered with the bureaucratic U.N. system.

In its internal study in 1996, the United Nations note that the deployment of peacekeeping troops coincides with the prevalence of child prostitution in conflict areas. If the perpetrators were caught, it is difficult prosecuting them since peacekeepers enjoy legal immunity in their areas of assignment. The last hope is the U.N. Secretary General who may waive such immunity.

The United Nations is so bureaucratic that there is no precedent on waived immunity. First, the prosecutors need to establish evidence. By doing so, the U.N. itself is practically becoming a hybrid of a jury and judge system. The U.N. practically decides the gravity of child exploitation cases. Together with an alleged lack of conviction, this system is often resulting in unresolved cases.

To name a few of the cases that stirred the United Nations, an allegation of human trafficking happened in Bosnia. A U.N. personnel-turned-whistleblower alleged that peacekeepers bought and sold underage Bosnian girls. The Telegraph said there were instances when U.N. peacekeepers protect the organized crime syndicates who are known for prostitution and human trafficking.

And then last week, the Associated Press reported that 150 alleged cases of abuse and exploitation of minors were committed by the United Nations' peacekeepers in Haiti from 2004 to 2007. Sri Lankan U.N. peacekeepers were sent home after the incident but no one was prosecuted. Also, two Pakistanis received a mere one-year indictment in their home for allegations of abusing mentally disabled victims.

Lastly, the most infamous scandal that the United Nations got tangled into was the 1987 incident where the UNICEF headquarters in Belgium was used for child pornography. A photo studio was discovered in the basement where the U.N. committee offices were located. A stash of 1,000 pornographic photographs of mostly North African children was seized by the Belgian police.
Researchers from the College of Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln have successfully developed a thermal diode that works on heat instead of electricity. It can utilize the heat produced while functioning of computers, thus can be used to produce heat-resistant computers. It is speculated that these computers can work in extremely hot conditions and in space including alien planets like Mars and Venus.

Ever since mankind developed computer systems, it has been struggling to minimize the heat produced by it. The success achieved in this regard until today cannot be considered remarkable, especially that most commercial computer systems produced by companies like IBM and Lockheed Martin are adapted only to cool down the system rather than minimizing heat production. To achieve this, they started integrating blower fans or microscopic water droplets in computer chips, New Atlas reported.

Doing so serves to partially compensate for the enormous amounts of heat generated by computers. However, the same tactics hardly seem to work for cooling down large data centers and server houses. Hence, scientists have been searching for alternative methods in dealing with the heat generated in computer systems.

According to ZME Science, since diodes function as the logic components of all conventional computer systems, modifying their properties to withstand and function on heat energy can serve the purpose. According to Sidy Ndao and Mahmoud Elzouka, the researchers behind the innovation of nano-thermal-mechanical devices or in simple terms thermal diodes, these diodes can help computers use their own heat as an alternative source of energy. So instead of succumbing to overheating, these computers will work better at high temperatures.

The thermal diodes are designed with pairs of surfaces. Each pair has a stationary surface and a mobile surface that can be moved toward or farther away depending on the level of heat present. The movement of the surface helps in maintaining a uniform flow of heat energy for the functioning of the computers.

According to Daily News & Analysis, such computers can function efficiently in temperatures as high as 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit. Hence, the computer systems based on these thermal diodes can function in extremely hot places like the core of the Earth in real-time conditions, e.g., while oil drilling.
On Saturday, hundreds of scientists and advocates will be rallying to support the scientific community and the role it plays in the everyday life. The March for Science, which will be held in Washington and in 514 other locations around the world, will show solidarity for the scientific and environmental organizations to protect research.

As reported by USA Today, the scientific community had been alarmed by the "lack of respect for the scientific process under the Trump administration." This is due to the numerous budget cuts that specifically targeted research like that for climate change that can affect humans on a global scale.

In signing the executive order that rolled back President Barack Obama's climate change and environmental policies, President Donald Trump hoped to "restore economic freedom." He also said that he wanted U.S. companies to "thrive, compete and succeed on a level playing field."

In response to the government's denial of climate change, a Boulder, Colorado-based marketing agency released a series of mock travel posters that offered a dark prediction of the country's future. Designers from Walden Hyde created the posters a few years ago and re-released them on their firm's website in anticipation of the March for Science this weekend.

Lucia Robinson, co-founder of Walden Hyde, designed the posters alongside the firm's art director, Stephanie Sizemore. The posters showed dramatic representations of what could become of Earth if climate change continues to be ignored. In one poster, scuba divers explore a submerged Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. In another, travelers pass by Lady Liberty's torch, which is the only thing left of the massive statue above water.

Robinson, who plans on attending the Denver march this Saturday, told The Huffington Post that she wanted to see Obama's climate change policies left in place. As their own contribution to climate science advocacy, Walden Hyde announced that the dystopian posters can be downloaded for free on their website.
Xiaomi has finally announced the much awaited Mi 6 handset in an event in Beijing. Now, fans are waiting for the smartphone maker to announce something about the rumored Xiaomi Mi Mix 2's specs, release date and price details. The handset in question has been recently found listed on a Chinese website revealing all the possible specs and features.

According to GSMArena, the unreleased Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 has been spotted listed on the website of the Chinese online retailer GearBest with all its possible specs. The handset is listed with an "Arrival Notice" button. Those who register their email addresses with the retailer will be notified once the phone becomes available. The listing suggests that the smartphone will be made available in two color options: black and white.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 listed on GearBest with full list of specs https://t.co/d3fxkbvKS1 pic.twitter.com/0XDwNmYjQW  GSMArena.com (@gsmarena_com) April 20, 2017

Among other listed specs, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is expected to feature a 6.4-inch AMOLED display panel with a 2,560  1,440 pixel resolution, Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 835 octa-core 2.45GHz processor and Adreno 540 GPU, Gizbot reported. The handset has been listed in three different variants: one offering 4GB of RAM with 128GB of internal storage, the second offering 6GB of RAM with 128GB of internal storage and the third offering 8GB of RAM with 256GB of internal storage. There is no expandable storage option available.

On the camera front, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 will get a 19-megapixel rear camera with LED flash light and a 13-megapixel front shooter camera. It will be powered by a large battery of 4,500 mAh capacity and will run on Android 7.1 Nougat operating system with MIUI 9 on top of it. The handset also features a fingerprint sensor positioned at the back of the device and a USB Type-C port. The connectivity options include 4G, Bluetooth 4.2, A-GPS/Glonass, WiFi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac), micro USB, Ambient Light Sensor, Gravity Sensor and Proximity Sensor.

As Xiaomi has not yet confirmed the authenticity of the leaked Xiaomi Mi Mix 2's specs listing, it is advised that readers should take the information with a big grain of salt.
The Sheraton Madison Hotel, 706 John Nolen Drive, has been sold to a Tennessee company that specializes in commercial property development.

DeFoor Brothers Development of Chattanooga, a joint venture between brothers Ken and Byron DeFoor, purchased the property Tuesday from Waterton, a Chicago real estate investment company, and Marcus Hotels & Resorts, Milwaukee. Waterton, however, will manage the hotel, which will keep its Sheraton brand, said Cynthia Bock, Waterton senior vice president of sales.

Through other business ventures, the DeFoor brothers truly found Madison to be a wonderful area to grow their business. They love that it is a capital and university city from a development and investment standpoint, Bock said.

DeFoor is planning a significant multimillion dollar renovation of the hotel, focusing on guest rooms and corridors, in the second half of this year, Bock said. Remodeling of the lobby and restaurant/bar will begin in January and should be completed by April 2018.

We are very excited to be part of the Sheraton and be in Madison, Bock said, in an email exchange.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but documents filed with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue show the purchase price was $19.25 million. The most recent time the hotel was sold was in 2007, for $15 million.

The eight-story Sheraton was built in 1972 and has 239 rooms. According to the city assessors website, the property is valued at $24.4 million for 2017, up from $8.1 million in 2016.

Hotel assessments consider revenue generated for each room as well as the value of the property itself, and the Great Recession put a damper on the travel industry for several years, said Laura Doherty, assistant city assessor-commercial supervisor.

She said assessments of all the hotels in Madison  and of most commercial properties  were lowered in 2010.

Now, though, things have turned around, so the property values of hotels were recalibrated.

The hotel industry in Madison is very strong, Doherty said. We were seeing sales coming in well above our assessed values.

Marcus Hotels had been a minority owner in the Sheraton, with a 15 percent stake, and had managed the Sheraton but is no longer affiliated with it, said Joseph Khairallah, president and COO, Marcus Hotels & Resorts.

Marcus continues to own the Hilton Madison Monona Terrace.
A man whose vehicle struck and killed a UW-Madison graduate student last weekend was driving with nearly twice the legal amount of alcohol in his blood, and had a packet of methamphetamine in his jacket pocket, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday.

Kong Vang, 32, of Madison, was charged Thursday with homicide by drunken driving for the April 15 death of Wenxin Wendy Huai, 24, who was struck as she walked on a sidewalk on South Park Street near West Washington Avenue. Assistant District Attorney William Brown said, as Vang appeared in court Thursday, that police have pictures of Vang drinking in the vehicle earlier that day.

Upon searching his cellphone after the crash, police located pictures of him and other people in that car drinking earlier that day while they were driving, we believe up in Mauston, Brown said.

Vang was charged with homicide by drunken driving and homicide by driving with a prohibited alcohol concentration for Huais death. He was also charged with three counts of second-degree reckless endangerment, possession of methamphetamine, second-offense drunken driving and second-offense driving with a prohibited alcohol concentration.

Brown said a chemical test of Vangs blood was not yet ready, and would show whether Vang had any methamphetamine in his system at the time. Blood drawn from Vang after the crash showed a blood alcohol concentration of nearly 0.15 percent, just shy of twice the 0.08 percent limit for drivers in Wisconsin.

Brown said witnesses put Vangs speed between 50 and 70 mph prior to the crash, although a witness quoted in the criminal complaint said the SUV was not going that fast, estimating the speed to be 30 to 40 mph.

Assistant State Public Defender Diana Van Rybroek said Vang has worked at the same job for about eight years and is married with four children. Originally from Laos, she said Vang came to the U.S. in 1993, and his family settled for a time in Michigan before coming to Wisconsin.

Dane County Court Commissioner Brian Asmus ordered Vang jailed on $50,000 bail after his appearance before a courtroom packed with more than 50 UW-Madison students from China and members of Madisons Chinese community. Before and after the hearing, the group held a silent demonstration outside the Dane County Public Safety Building, where they held placards decrying drunken driving in Wisconsin, and photos in remembrance of Huai.

We feel like Wisconsins law for drunk driving is not as strong as it should be, so we wanted to take this opportunity, said Sue Jiang, who was among those in the group. The goal is to promote a way to have more restrictive laws on drunk driving.

Terry Tao, an adviser to the Chinese Student Association, called the gathering a demonstration, not a protest, to call attention to the states drunken driving laws, and the need to increase first offenses from a civil violation to a criminal offense.

Thats all we want to express, he said. We want Madison to be a safe environment to live in.

Vang has one prior drunken driving conviction, a first-offense from Fond du Lac County in 2007.

According to the complaint:

Haonan Ge told police that he was walking north on the sidewalk on South Park Street with Huai when he saw a Nissan Armada SUV coming toward them from West Washington Avenue. It jumped onto the sidewalk, he said, and he pushed Huai with his left hand and jumped to his right. He said his lower leg was struck by the SUV, and when he looked back at Huai, she was unconscious and bleeding on the sidewalk.

Witnesses walking about 10 to 15 feet behind Ge and Huai told police that they saw the SUV turn from West Washington onto Park Street, try to avoid a stopped vehicle and then hit the curb and go onto the sidewalk, striking two people. The SUV then slammed into a utility pole.

One of the witnesses described the turn made by the SUV as being like a race car driver speeding up to go into a turn on a racetrack.

When police got to the scene, Vang was unconscious and slumped over in the drivers seat. Police could smell alcohol, and his speech was slow and slurred. He admitted to having been drinking.

At UW Hospital, Vang failed a standard impairment test, the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, and refused to allow a blood sample to be taken. Police obtained a search warrant from a judge and took a sample from him.

Searching his clothes, police found a small clear baggie in a jacket pocket. When tested, the substance inside the baggie was identified as methamphetamine.

Huai was also taken to UW Hospital but died. An autopsy the following day found she died from blunt force trauma to the head, torso and lower extremities from being struck by the SUV.

Vang will be back in court for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.
The leader of a prominent Chicago high school will take a high-ranking position in the Madison School District in June.

Superintendent Jennifer Cheatham announced the selection of Karen Boran as West High School principal on Thursday morning in an email to parents, students and faculty of West. Boran will replace West principal Beth Thompson, who is retiring.

Boran currently leads John Hancock College Prep, a high school that under Borans leadership has become a top recognized school in Chicago, Cheatham said.

I am so pleased to have Karen come on board at West, Cheatham told the Wisconsin State Journal on Thursday. She is a highly sought-after principal with a very clear track record of success in leading a high school. We have an incredibly strong team and community at West, and Karen is absolutely the right person to join that team.

During Borans five-year tenure as principal at Hancock, a selective-enrollment public school on Chicagos southwest side, improved performance measures included:

Attendance rising from 78.2 percent to 90.6 percent.

College attendance by school graduates rising from 35.4 percent to 62 percent.

High school graduation rates growing from 64 percent to 84.6 percent.

Freshmen on-track to graduate rising from 80 percent in 2010 to 98.5 percent in 2016.

Before becoming Hancocks principal in 2012, Boran was assistant principal there for two years and prior to that managed the Office of Teaching and Learning in Chicago Public Schools.

She also directed that districts Office of High School Curriculum, where she provided district-level leadership around high school literacy, Cheatham said.

A Wisconsin native, Boran received her bachelors degree from UW-Madison in 1980 and both her masters in developmental studies and doctorate in reading, language and literacy from National-Louis University.

Boran will visit Madison in early May to meet staffers at West, Cheatham said, and in the coming months plans to reach out to the entire school community with a detailed entry plan and several opportunities for interactions.

Cheatham, who was hired to run Madison public schools in 2013, was the former chief of instruction for Chicago Public Schools.

She said Thursday she and Boran knew each other from their joint time in Chicago, but not very well, because they didnt work together directly.

She said on Thursday that Boran was chosen after an extensive search, rigorous screening and excellent community panel discussion during a principal selection process that took place earlier this spring.

Under a revamped selection process developed three years ago under Cheatham, candidates for leadership posts undergo a selection process that includes vetting by a community panel, which provides feedback on candidates to Cheatham, who makes the final decision.

I want to thank you for your feedback in this process, Cheatham said to community members Thursday. We know that West High School needs a skilled leader to support the incredibly strong and unique community, and I couldnt be more pleased to have Karen in that role.

Wests principal for the past three years, Thompson announced in January she would retire in June after 37 years in the district. She began her career as a special education teacher at East High School in 1980, and will have spent 14 years at West by her retirement, after working as an assistant principal there for 11 years.
An engineering professor who has been at UW-Madison for almost 20 years has been selected as the new director of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene.

James Schauer, the current director of the Water Science and Engineering Laboratory, will begin his new duties on June 1, according to a university news release on Thursday.

Former laboratory head Charles Brokopp retired in 2016. Peter Shult served as interim director.

"I am proud to have been part of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene and UW-Madison for almost 20 years," Schauer said.

"I look forward to working with the staff, the Wisconsin Departments of Health Services and Natural Resources, local governmental units across Wisconsin, and other WSLH partners across UW-Madison and the state, to advance the public health and environmental protection mission of the laboratory."

The lab started in 1903 at UW-Madison and is the state's public health and environmental laboratory.
U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan said hes urging fellow Democrats to stress pocketbook issues after a 2016 election in which he said his party failed to show how it would help workers make ends meet.

Pocan, D-Black Earth, was at UW-Madison on Thursday to meet with academic experts about trends affecting labor, wages and the U.S. workforce. Joining him were three other Democratic U.S. representatives: Mark Desaulnier of California, Debbie Dingell of Michigan and Donald Norcross of New Jersey.

Pocan said he and the other lawmakers plan to craft a legislative proposal centered on labor, wage and workforce issues. They havent decided what it will include, he said, but are seeking advice from experts at UW and elsewhere.

Pocan said the November election results made clear that voters thought Democrats lacked a strong economic message.

We didnt talk to people about what they talk about at their kitchen tables, Pocan said. Were trying to transform the conversation within the Democratic Party ... by talking about the future of work and labor.

The election results made many Democrats recognize that shortcoming, he said.

I think everyone realizes now thats why we lost the election in places like Michigan and Ohio and Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, Pocan said.

Pocan cited his blue-collar hometown of Kenosha, which President Donald Trump visited earlier this week in his first trip to Wisconsin since his inauguration. En route to a surprising win in Wisconsin, Trump narrowly carried Kenosha County, which Democrat Barack Obama easily won in 2008 and 2012.

Obama got 44,867 votes in the county in 2012, compared to 34,977 for Republican Mitt Romney. In 2016, Kenosha County gave Trump 36,037 votes, versus 35,799 for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

You cant have a campaign message of Im not him. It has to be more than that, Pocan said.

Trump gave easy answers about trade, Pocan added. But he has no solutions.

Some of the most illuminating parts of the discussions with UW experts focused on the so-called gig economy and subcontracting economy, Pocan said, in which growing numbers of U.S. workers  as many as 70 million  work as independent contractors.

Many earn tepid wages and receive few, if any, benefits  exacerbating the ongoing rise of income inequality, Pocan said. Were seeing this great separation in the workforce because of these changing structures, Pocan said.
A Safie product display at Tom's Food Market in Traverse City

Dried fruit from Cherry Central

When Mary Safies grandfather Dmitri Safie preserved vegetables grown on his Macomb County farmland, its unlikely he knew he was beginning a family food legacy whose products would end up as sought-after international exports that boost Michigans economy.Mary Safies enthusiasm for her familys pickled products bubbles over when she talks. On her mind recently was a major honor the Safie family brand received for their Crispy Dill Pickled Carrots at a major Canadian food show. Safie is president and CEO of Safie Specialty Foods Co., Inc. , a Mount Clemens business operating since 1929.One-third of Safies business comes from Canadian exports. Our Sweet Pickled Beets are our No. 1 item, Safie says. The beets were the first product the business exported in 2008.Safie enlisted the help of the International Marketing Program of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) to launch the beet export. Since then, through the departments work pooling resources with the Food Export Association of the Midwest , Safie has been able to participate in international missions to market her products, meet one-on-one with buyers visiting the United States, gather market research, and promote Safies through international food trade shows.Safies creates 16 different gourmet pickled products. Theyre proud to hand pack Michigan-grown carrots, beets, pickles, asparagus, green beans, and peppers into traditional, quart mason jars. Products range from traditional Old-Fashioned Bread & Butter Pickles and Dill Pickle Beans to trendy Sexy Hot Pickled Asparagus and Padre Pio Mild Pepperoncini.The state food and ag department has found that every $1 invested in export activity generates another $2.93 in economic activity. In 2015, the most recent year for which figures are available, Michigan agriculture exported $2.8 billion in products, translating to an additional $8.2 billion in local impact.Safies alone sent 5 million pounds of finished product into Canada last year and hopes to grow that by 50 percent by the end of the year. Our projected gross annual product for 2017 is 7.5 million pounds of finished product, Safie says.That business boost turns into economic benefits for Michiganders as the company adds employees and space to keep up. To meet the demands of their international growth, Safies has increased its facilities from 10,000 to 30,000 square feet. It has tremendously added to the local supply chain, Safie says. We had to increase our productivity, which in turn increased our raw material needs, which then increased local expenditures. Labor force also grew. Our growth correlates with the expansion of our line into the Canadian marketplace.The slogan Born and raised in Macomb County, Michigan is an important part of the Safie Specialty Foods Co. culture. We pride ourselves as a Michigan company and, just as importantly, as a U.S. company, Safie says. The majority of our supplies come from Michigan raw materials and over 90 percent of our supplies are of U.S. origin.Through the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Safies has been able to court other international buyers, as well. Weve also been able to go overseas to Germany and Abu Dhabi to showcase our product, Safie says. The State of Michigan has afforded us excellent opportunities, both nationally and internationally.We learned through the different programs like MDARD and Food Export that taste profile is very important, Safie says. Some countries are more inclined to consume pickled products than others and they help us identify those countries. Learning the customs and traditions of foreign countries is important when thinking about introducing your product to their market.Safie has some advice for other Michigan food businesses thinking about getting into the export business. Embrace MDARD, their marketing division, and Food Export, become involved because it works, she says. These programs have helped me grow and become an international company. Cherry Central is a Traverse City business that has also embraced MDARD export assistance to get Michigan foods overseas, according to Brian Klumpp, director of business development. Working with hundreds of farmers, Cherry Central grows, processes, and markets fruits, whether dried, frozen, or canned. While cherries are featured in the name, apples, blueberries, and cranberries and more are also part of the product lineup. Michigan residents might recognize some of its domestic brands from grocery shelves, such as Indian Summer apple juice and Traverse Bay Co. dried fruits.Cherry Central exports frozen fruits, dried fruits, fruit juices, fruit juice concentrates, applesauce, and fruit purees, Klumpp says. We export to over 30 countries with particular emphasis in Europe and Asia Pacific. We have been exporting since our first year of business in 1973 and are very proud that our first customers are still important customers to us today.Cherry Central didnt need to knock on doors to find those early export markets when it began 44 years ago. We had customers calling us, Klumpp says. While exports are still led by demand, Klumpp says more and more markets open up because of market research the business uses to determine where, when, and what makes the most sense for our company to expand and grow in export markets.Some of that market research comes through MDARD programs. MDARD has hosted several trade mission trips to foreign markets that have always been well-managed and very helpful to our business, Klumpp says. They have also assisted us with market information and support.Most recently, Klumpp joined an MDARD-led food and agriculture trade mission to China in November, where a rising middle class is interested in premium products like those produced by Cherry Central. He also traveled to China with Gov. Rick Snyder and others in 2013 on a similar mission. Cherry Central used a Market Builder report compiled through MDARD that showed information about competing products and prices in China, as well as what potential buyers thought about their products.Klumpp believes these export efforts have not only helped the company, its growers, and employee but the larger fruit industries it represents. Cherry Centrals strength in foreign markets has helped these fruits to become well-known around the world for their health benefits and for their great flavors, he says.According to MDARD, Michigan agricultural exports help boost farm prices and income, while also supporting more than 22,600 jobs statewide both on and off the farm in food processing, storage, and transportation.Most anyone who has visited historic Frankenmuth has probably seen the tall grain and bean storage facilities that tower over the town. Some may not have known thats part of Star of the West Milling Co ., a business built along the Cass River by the immigrant Hubinger brothers in the 1800s, who brought milling skills with them from Germany. Among the largest millers in the United States, Star of the West is another Michigan business that exports products worldwide with the assistance of MDARD. About 20 percent of the business for its network of elevators, plants, and mills in four states come from overseas exports.According to Rob Chandonnet, vice president of edible bean sales, Star of the West experienced 27 percent growth in export sales from 2013 to 2014 alone. The company exports dry beans, edible soybeans, soft white wheat, and soft red winter wheat.Dry beans, in particular, are an important staple food in much of the world. Star of the West processes many kinds of edible beans, Chandonnet says. Those include multiple varieties of black beans, navy beans, and small red beans, usually shipped internationally in special one-ton bags.For all of Michigan agriculture, top export markets are Canada, Japan, China, Thailand, and Mexico. Star of the West actively exports to Mexico, Japan, Italy, Canada, South Africa, Guatemala, Jamaica, South Korea, Malta, Spain, El Salvador, Peru, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Columbia, Dominican Republic, and Belgium.The Japanese are major consumers of miso, tofu, and natto, Chandonnet says of foods produced from edible soybeans. Star of the West does whats known as identity preservation, segregating, and maintaining specific varieties of the edible soybeans that have traits customers want for making each food, such as a specific size, color or protein content.The soft white wheat Star of the West sells both stateside and overseas ends up in many foods. According to Chandonnet, It is used in flat breads, cakes, biscuits, pastries, crackers, Asian-style noodles, and snack foods. Soft red winter wheat is another popular export thats also sold domestically. It's used in pastries, cakes, cookies, crackers, pretzels, flat breads, and for blending flours.Star of the West was recognized as the 2015 Michigan Agriculture Exporter of the Year. Chandonnet contends the Michigan business could not have reached that level of success without the support it has received from MDARD international trade experts. We appreciate the strong relationship and trust weve established with the MDARD over the years.Driving overall growth in Michigan through food and agriculture products is a common thread that connects these small- to medium-sized businesses that export with MDARD support. Foreign customers get to taste foods produced in Michigan and Michiganders get a healthy serving of added jobs and a strengthened agricultural economy.
This Saturday, April 22, Dearborn Music owner Kevin LeAnnais is planning on opening an hour and a half earlier than he typically would. That's because it's Record Store Day, an international holiday for record collectors and record store owners alike.Now in its tenth year, Record Store Day has helped drum up publicity and interest for independent record stores, with some of the biggest and best artists and labels collaborating on limited edition releases for distribution on this particular day, all across the country and even the world.LeAnnais is expecting about 400 special releases for this Record Store Day, exclusively available at participating independent record stores. That's why he's opening at 8 a.m. on a Saturday. He anticipates about 225 people lined up at his doors that morning, eagerly waiting for LeAnnais to unlock Dearborn Music. He says that on the eve of last year's Record Store Day, one especially fanatic record collector began waiting outside the shop at 9 p.m., the moment the record store locked its doors for the night."Record Store Day is for independent record stores. It's to remind people that we're still here and that music is our top priority," says LeAnnais. "Think about going to your local record store and buying music instead of downloading it."In addition to selling the limited edition Record Store Day releases, Dearborn Music is also offering 20 percent off all vinyl, including new, used, and RSD records, and 20 percent off all used CDs as part of the celebration.Over on the east end of downtown Dearborn, a second record store is also throwing a party, although not in the context of the official Record Store Day event. Operating out of its still relatively new storefront, Stormy Records is planning on its version of Record Store Day.While it may not offer the official RSD limited edition releases, Stormy will be debuting the personal record collection of a friend. The collection includes roughly 1,500 record albums and 2,000 45s. Store owner Windy Weber says the records are in pristine condition, consisting mostly of 1990s- and early 2000s-era Detroit garage rock, girl groups, noise rock, and experimental records. Chris Tyson will also be DJing from 2 to 4 p.m."We want people to come in and have a relaxing and enjoyable day with music," says Weber. "No fighting and no biting."Record Store Day 2017 is Saturday, April 22.Dearborn Music is located at 22501 Michigan Ave. in Dearborn. Special RSD hours of operation will be from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.Stormy Records is located at 13306 Michigan Ave. in Dearborn. Hours of operation will be from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith
Dr. Edward B. Montgomery Dr. Edward B. Montgomery

The search for a replacement for the retiring Western Michigan University President John Dunn has been completed. Dr. Edward B. Montgomery will become the university's ninth president.



When does Montgomery take office?

Montgomery will officially take office on Aug. 1. He was selected was selected by unanimous vote of the WMU trustees during a special meeting of the WMU board convened April 12.



What is his educational background?

Montgomery has more than 35 years experience in academics. He earned a bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University and both master's and doctoral degrees in economics from Harvard University. He currently is dean and professor of economics at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy.



Montgomery has held faculty positions at Carnegie Mellon and Michigan State universities as well as the University of Maryland. He has won teaching awards five times over the years.



He has been at Georgetown since 2010. He began his academic career in 1981 with the position at Carnegie Mellon, where he was a faculty member for five years. He then spent a year as a visiting scholar with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System before becoming a member of the Michigan State University faculty for four years. He joined the University of Maryland faculty in 1990, remaining there until his 2010 move to Georgetown. He also has been a visiting scholar at the Urban Institute.



What is his research emphasis?

As a researcher, Montgomery has focused on state and local economic growth, wage and pension determination, savings behavior, productivity and economic dynamics, social insurance programs, and unions. He has worked on research efforts with Kalamazoo's W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research since the 1980s and has visited the Kalamazoo community a number of times.



For more than 20 years, he has been a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Since 2006, he has been a fellow of Stanford University's Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality. Since 2011, he has served on the Comptroller General's Educators Advisory Committee in Washington's General Accountability Office. In 2011, he was elected a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.



How much will he be paid?

His five-year contract calls for him to have an annual salary of $450,000. A deferred compensation/retirement package will provide an additional $50,000 per year.



What can you tell me about his family?

Montgomery and his wife, Kari, a Michigan native, have three grown children  Lindsay, Elizabeth and Edward.



He used to work for the Clinton and Obama administrations?

Montgomery is a nationally known labor economist. During President Bill Clinton's administration, Montgomery served as chief economist, then counselor and assistant secretary for the Department of Labor before being named deputy secretary of labor. In the latter role, the department's second-highest position, he oversaw operations of a $33 billion department.



During President Barack Obama's administration, Montgomery was a member of the president's auto task force and led the inter-agency White House Council for Auto Communities and Workers. That position put him in a role national media dubbed "the Auto Czar" and affirmed his view of the synergistic role universities can play in regional economic development. He says the potential impact of a high-quality university is enormous and is a key reason the WMU presidency was so attractive to him.



Why did he want to come to Kalamazoo?

"I was drawn to the opportunity to lead an up-and-coming student-centric comprehensive university with deep ties to the local and regional economy and community. Its strengths in the traditional arts and sciences, coupled with strong programs in such areas as aviation, engineering, business, medicine and others make it an institution with enormous potential" Dr. Montgomery says.



What will he tackle first?

"Job No. 1 for me is getting to know the faculty, staff, students and alumni communities. Working together, I know we can build on the strong foundation laid by President Dunn and make WMU the institution of choice for students from the state and region," Dr. Montgomery says.



What does the Presidential Search Committee of the WMU board of trustees say about the selection?

"Edward Montgomery's personal demeanor, commitment to transformational change and extensive academic background resonated with all of us involved in the search and spoke directly to the themes that emerged from our numerous listening sessions with university stakeholders, says WMU Trustee William Johnston, who led the 22-member Presidential Search Advisory Committee.



Montgomerys selection follows a national search to find a successor to Dr. John M. Dunn who had announced a June 30 retirement date but will now continue through July 31.



Source: Cheryl Roland, Western Michigan University
Lamb at the Redtail 412 in Allegan

When he was growing up, Bob Sosnowski lived on a farm, and he would watch with fascination the red-tailed hawks soar and wheel overhead. His favorite bird of prey now spreads its wings across the window of a new restaurant, Redtail 412 , at 412 Water Street, downtown Allegan. Bob and Julie Sosnowski are the proud owners of the new establishment, open since January, eager to welcome guests for lunch and dinner  or to just sip a cocktail or cold brew.The bird on the window might as well have been a phoenix, as the restaurant arose from the ashes of another business, gone up in flames in 2015.When the family business, Allegan Metal Finishing Company, burned down in 2015, we decided not to reopen. I suddenly found myself with time on my hands, Sosnowski says.Already the owner of the red brick building, built in 1884, which also houses a hair salon, an antique store, and four apartments, Sosnowski started thinking. He and his wife Julie enjoyed dining out, but they did not enjoy always having to drive at least a half hour out of town for a quality meal. The coffee shop that had taken up the center space of the building had moved down the block, and that space now beckoned.Sosnowski had an unlikely idea: a restaurant. He had experience in metal finishing, not in the food industry. Was this madness? Perhaps not, if he hired the right chef, the right bartender, the right staff, and if he sourced most of his food from local producers.He began with the space.It was the tin ceiling that first caught my eye. Its the focal point, Sosnowski says. Id say 90 percent of the original ceiling was intact. We patched a few rusty holes and then repainted it all silver.The high patterned tin ceiling does draw the eye, as do the sleek lights, exposed red brick walls, black tables, and booths. The custom-made, light ash bar in the side room gleams. Historic Allegan photography decorates the walls. The kitchen, tucked in back, is open to public view. The overall look is clean, spare, classic. Almost all of the renovation work, Sosnowski says, was completed by local contractors. Keeping both food and labor locally sourced whenever possible is crucial to the Allegan native.Ambiance in a good restaurant is important, but nothing replaces good food and good drink. When the door to Redtail 412 opened, diners were greeted with the tantalizing smells of steaks, chops, ribs, fish, and chicken. Occasionally, something more exotic such as octopus might make it onto the diners plate, too. The chef creating those dishes was Sosnowskis arguably most important hire, although he may deny it  Sosnowski firmly states that all of his staff members are vitally important contributors to Redtail 412s success.Chef Kevin McLaughlin grew up in Muskegon and grew up in a restaurant.I was a kid working in my dads restaurant, and my first job was making the toast, he says. I learned how to cook one-step-up at a time. And when I grew up  Dad told me to stay out of the food business.McLaughlin listened to his father. For a while. For eight years, he worked as a firefighter, but those were not the flames that drew him. He wanted to get back into the kitchen. After being involved with a few mom and pop food start-ups in the Grand Rapids area, he found his way to Redtail 412.The Chefs passion is to cook hearty food but still add the artistic touch. Fresh and local are his guidelines. Conversations are underway with local farmers, and he can hardly contain his excitement at a deal with an Allegan heirloom tomato grower. He is counting the days to the opening of the Allegan Farmers Market when he can trot out the door from the kitchen down the street to pick up fresh vegetables. Everything, he says, is made in-house, down to the chips and condiments. Imagine that homemade ketchup when the summers first ripe tomatoes roll in.We have a basic lunch and dinner menu, but every week there are a few dishes we switch up, McLaughlin says. People want meat, and burgers and ribs with our homemade barbecue sauce are our most popular item. And the cornbread. Thats our most asked-for item. People just keep asking for more.Other dinner entrees include fish and chips ($18 for Lake Superior whitefish fillets with hand-cut fries and coleslaw); fried chicken ($18 for Amish chicken breasts, garlic-buttermilk mashed potatoes, charred escarole with sweet onion soubise sauce, and sriracha foam); New York Strip ($36 for 12-ounce certified Angus grilled steak on glazed Cipollini onions, with fingerling potatoes and Shishito peppers, served with aged cheddar bechamel sauce), seared fish ($26 for cast iron seared seasonal fish, carrot and ginger puree, glazed farm carrots, Brussel sprouts with chive oil sauce); Redtail burger ($12 for local certified Angus beef, honey and brown sugar infused bacon jam, black garlic aioli, Dijon, Bibb lettuce, tomato, homemade pickles, melted aged cheddar, on a brioche bun). The menu also offers starter plates of steamed mussels, pork belly, mushroom risotto, arancini, and salad, along with sides, a kids menu, and mouth-watering desserts. A lunch menu offers sandwiches, burgers, wraps, and salads.In-house creations happen in the bar, too, under the skilled hands of bar manager Erik Droste. He mixes craft cocktails, adding freshly-squeezed fruit juices, and bitters and syrups from his own recipes. Droste has roots in the East Coast, having spent time in New Orleans, and he brings those influences to the Redtail 412 bar, but then adds what he finds locally.Just as in the kitchen, I want to keep whatever I can local, Droste says. Hand-crafted cocktails are infused with blackberry, grapefruit, Asian pear, mango, Macintosh apple, and other tantalizing fruits. A rotating tap has local craft beers, including Allegan-brewed Millgrove beers, popular bottled craft beers, sours and ciders, and a wine and spirits list.Retail 412 employs about 20 full-time positions. Hours are lunch, Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; dinner, Tuesday through Thursday, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Happy hour is Tuesday through Friday, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Reservations required for 6 people or more. Visit redtail412.com to view specials.
Sen. Leila M. de Lima's Handwritten Note

Dispatch from Crame No. 68

4/19/17

The latest SWS survey showing an 11-point drop in the public satisfaction rating on the Duterte regime's war on drugs is a very significant (and relieving) development.

Ibig sabihin, dumadami na ang mga kababayan natin na namumulat sa katotohanan na mali ang pamamaraan ng Pangulong Duterte sa pagsugpo sa problema sa droga.

Summary killing of suspected drug offenders irrespective of their guilt, is absolutely wrong, hence, unacceptable. It is against the laws of men and of God.

The rising statistics of innocents also being killed by roving death squads, on the so-called 'collateral damage', makes this EJK phenomenon much more reprehensible.

Those who advocate for, encourage and effectuate this extreme solution distort people's sense of right and wrong and destroy the very moral fabric of our society. To me, they are the real enemies of the people. Let us reject and fight them.

Right, and not power, is might.

Leila de Lima
Press Release

April 20, 2017 SENATOR JV EYES STIFFER PENALTIES FOR OVERLOADING Senator JV Ejercito wants to impose stiffer penalties for overloading vehicles after an overloaded bus in Nueva Ecija, which fell into a 100 feet ravine, killed 31 and injured 46 people on Tuesday. Sen. Ejercito, as Vice Chair of the Public Services Committee, said the Nueva Ecija bus accident was so tragic that major steps should be taken to revamp regulations on land transportation. "Republic Act No. 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code is an outdated law which needs to be reviewed. We were able to pass the Speed Limiter Act during the 16th Congress, I think it is high time to pass an amendment with respect to the violation of the prescribed maximum capacity of public utility vehicles," the senator said. He noted that the law was enacted in June 1964, and its corresponding terms and conditions issued by the LTFRB do not provide for a penalty which corresponds to the possible damage to its passengers. "What we need are stiffer penalties for overloading. Right now, our law only prescribes for Php 2,000 and Php3,000 and suspension of the Certificate of Public Convenience for 1st and 2nd offense, respectively," he added. Sen. Ejercito said that while the nation is grieving with those who lost their loved ones in the accident, the Senate will take steps in ensuring that accidents like these are curbed and prevented from happening again.
Press Release

April 20, 2017 Hontiveros: Killing of doctors to the barrios, a crime against the people Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on Thursday expressed shock and grief over the killing of another volunteer of the government's Doctor to the Barrios [DTTB] program. She said that the spate of killings victimizing volunteer doctors is no longer an isolated incident, describing it as "a crime against the people." Dr. Sajid "Jaja" Sinolinding, who served in Cotabato City, was reportedly gunned down by unknown assailants while on-duty in his clinic on Tuesday. The attack happened less than two months after Dr. Dreyfuss Perlas, a fellow volunteer doctor was killed in Sapad, Lanao del Norte. Hontiveros said that the climate of killing under the Duterte government poses a serious threat to the people's access to public health, and a mortal danger to the lives of the already small number of volunteer doctors. She explained that as of 2016, only 320 of the 946 slots were filled in the DTTB program managed by the Department of Health (DoH). "Konti na nga lang ang mga nagboboluntaryong doktor sa mga baryo, pinapaslang pa. Nakakalungkot dahil sa bawat volunteer doctor na pinapatay, isang bukaspalad na tao ang inaagawan ng buhay, at isang komunidad ang pinagkakaitan ng serbisyong medikal," Hontiveros said. The slain doctor was the younger brother of DOH-Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Secretary Dr. Kadil Sinolinding, Jr. The victim's family said that their family had been receiving death threats since last year due to their exposure of alleged corruption in a school in Arakan, North Cotabato. Hontiveros called on the authorities to conduct a full-scale investigation on the incident. On her part, she said that she will file a resolution to urge the Senate to look into the killings of doctors in the communities.
Press Release

April 20, 2017 POE: SUBWAY SYSTEM COULD PROPEL PH ECONOMIC GROWTH Sen. Grace Poe expressed keenness and optimism on an ambitious project of the Duterte administration to construct a 25-kilometer underground mass transportation system, stressing such will not only help ease traffic in the already congested metropolis but also propel economic growth. "We have to invest now, build now, but not without exercising caution. Having a reliable public transportation system, especially railway, will not only spell public convenience but also contribute to economic growth," said Poe. Poe, main proponent in the Senate of the emergency powers sought by the Duterte administration to ease traffic in major urban areas, has been an advocate of the subway system. "Although it is relatively costly and the construction time will take a little bit longer as reportedly said by Transport officials, an underground mass transport will help decongest road traffic as there will be less road disturbance to the above-ground environment," Poe added. The senator however stressed that the subway design should complement road transport design above ground, and should take into account the accessibility and walkability of each station's stop with that of other public transportation. "Transport interconnectivity is key to a thriving economy and improving the lives of our people. I hope that this time the administration, in considering the location of each station, will prioritize public convenience and accessibility over private interests," said Poe. Reports said President Duterte and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are expected to sign an agreement for the P227-billion subway this year. Construction of the first leg of the Mega Manila subway is expected to be finished in 2024. The subway system will connect Quezon City to Taguig, with projected travel time at half an hour and can initially accommodate around 350,000 passengers daily in its opening year, officials said. The proposed 13 stations are along Mindanao Avenue, North Avenue, Quezon Avenue, East Avenue, Anonas and Katipunan in Quezon City; Ortigas North and Ortigas South in Pasig City; Kalayaan Avenue in Makati City; Bonifacio Global City, Cayetano Boulevard and Food Terminal Inc. in Taguig; and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City. "In the long run, the benefits will far outweigh the cost. As estimated by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), projected losses from traffic reach P3 billion daily. We must address this for the benefit of the public," said Poe. Based on the same JICA study, Metro Manila road traffic demand is expected to increase by 13 percent from 2012 to 2030, and the total transport cost of road users, including vehicle operating cost and time cost, will increase from around P3 billion a day to P6 billion a day. The feasibility study of the subway project is ongoing with assistance from JICA. According to Poe, the design should be "future-proof" and should have room for expansion to accommodate the growing population in the metropolis. Moreover, she cautioned the government about entering into disadvantageous contracts that hounded the EDSA MRT-3 and brought public inconvenience. Poe said the government should ensure that the best engineers are hired because "although we are prone to flooding and other natural calamities, Japan, which is also in the path of various natural calamities, has successfully run their rail system with similar conditions." To emphasize that an underground railway system is possible in the Philippines, Poe said trains in the United Kingdom cross the English Channel, while in the US, the Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Francisco crosses the San Francisco Bay. "This is a legacy project, one that can determine the forward trajectory of economic development in the country. Millions of jobs can also be created following a seamless transport system in Metro Manila. We should ensure that we deal with reputable companies and that we get the best deal for the operations and maintenance of the project," said Poe. Poe warned those in the administration that the Senate, particularly the Senate Committee on Public Services, which she chairs, will keep a close eye on the implementation of the project and will not hesitate to act or speak out with regard to any anomalous transaction.
Free at last! Free at last! Thursday is the first time that 4/20  the unofficial cannabis-lovers holiday  will be celebrated when its legal for adults to ingest weed just for fun in California.

OK, so no, its not like illegality ever stopped anybody from sparking up on this holy high day. Nevertheless, today will feel different. Legit. And legitimacy always tends to make a person feel like a grown-up.

So the first adult choice the cannabis community faces is how it wants to celebrate 4/20. Will it allow the holiday to devolve into what Cinco de Mayo has become: a Drinko de Mayo sloshfest brought to you by Budweiser and Corona and featuring women in bikinis?

Or will it steer it into something resembling San Francisco Pride: corporate-sponsored but still true to the movement and firmly rooted in current political messages affecting the LGBTQ community?

Unfortunately, right now the Drinko de Mayo side is winning. Look no further than the hackneyed puns and weed jokes your favorite corporation is dropping to pander to the cannabis consumer. Last year on 4/20, this gem appeared on the Dennys restaurants Twitter feed: Some of our favorite words: baked, cooked, fried, stewed, toasted.

Left unchecked, that pandering will only continue.

It will be less and less about its origins and look more and more like a corporate-sponsored event, said Keith Humphreys, a Stanford professor who served on Californias Blue Ribbon Commission on Marijuana Policy, which inspired much of the framework for the rules that will govern state pot law. It will be all about product placement  the same thing that St. Patricks Day is for the breweries.

The 4/20 holiday cant be about product placement only. Ive heard too many cannabis community leaders talk about how they want this new (legitimate) industry to be true to authentic hippie ideals like equality and diversity.

Id like to see 4/20 to be more like a day of remembrance, for all the lives that have been lost to death and incarcerations, said Lynne Lyman, California state director for the Drug Policy Alliance, a longtime player in the legalization movement.

Given that cannabis is Californias largest cash crop and this newly legit $7 billion industry is about to operate above ground for the first time, its potential problems are everyones problems  even those whove never used the stuff.

As for everybody else, before you light one to celebrate freedom Thursday, lets remember what problems lurk ahead:

The party could end tomorrow: As long as Jeff Sessions is attorney general and keeps making grossly inaccurate statements like good people dont smoke marijuana and claiming that cannabis is only slightly less dangerous than heroin, all cannabis users will remain on edge.

I feel like the 1980s called and they want their drug policy back, Humphreys said. Its all arrest, arrest, arrest.

This week, a bill started moving through the state Legislature that would essentially be a sanctuary city law for cannabis. It would prohibit any state or local funds from being used to help federal agencies investigate or arrest people who are using cannabis legally under state law.

A disproportionate number of people of color are still getting arrested: The number of marijuana arrests dropped 46 percent during the first two years of legalization in Colorado. However, while the number of arrests decreased 51 percent for whites, they dropped only 33 percent for Latinos and 25 percent for African Americans. The pot-related arrest rate for African Americans remained nearly triple that of whites.

Some people are already seeing selective enforcement of Californias prohibition against smoking weed in public parks or on the sidewalk.

If youre a certain ethnic persuasion and in a certain geographic location, you can do that, said Terryn Buxton, an African American cannabis consultant who lives in Oakland. So, yeah, you can do that on Hippie Hill (in Golden Gate Park) on 4/20. But if the police were to roll by Hunters Point and see 50 or 60 black people together (smoking), the police might be saying something different.

The feds see marijuana as the gateway drug  to deportation: New Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said Immigration and Customs Enforcement will continue to use marijuana possession, distribution and convictions as essential elements as they build their deportation removal apprehension packages for targeted operations against illegal aliens living in the United States. They have done this in the past, are doing it today and will do it in the future, he said.

Banks still want nothing to do with green money: The banking system  and that largely includes credit unions, too  want nothing to do with the cannabis industry as long as the federal government classifies it as a drug on par with heroin. State Treasurer John Chiang has a task force looking into options  the results could be released as soon as next month.

This is a huge worry for state officials and law enforcement, especially when the state stands to collect $1 billion in tax revenue next year. Until there is a legitimate banking system, this is a major public safety hazard, Lyman said.

Had enough time in the bummer tent?

I could go on and on about this, said Lyman, who will be spending 4/20 speaking at a panel on the industrys future in Los Angeles. Geez, what kind of way is that to celebrate the first legit 4/20?

I smoke every day, Lyman said, and laughed. So I dont have to get crazy.
Millions of dollars of parcel tax money intended for faculty salaries in the Peralta Community College District may have been misspent on salaries, vacation, sick leave and other fringe benefits for nonacademic staff, says a public watchdog group that has pushed for an independent audit of the spending.

Alameda County voters approved Measure B, a parcel tax, in 2012 to provide Peraltas four East Bay campuses with an extra $8 million per year to support affordable college education including: providing core academic programs including math, science and English, with no funds for administrators salaries.

But since 2015, district administrators have used millions of dollars of parcel tax money not for the classroom, but for nonacademic staff and fringe benefits normally paid out of the general fund, according to Michael Mills, chairman of the Peralta Citizens Oversight Committee, an appointed group of voters that oversees Measure B expenditures.

The impact has been striking. Payouts for staff fringe benefits from Measure B funds spiked by 320 percent (from $646,132 to $2,728,612) and staff salaries rose 30 percent ($3,092,329 to $4,020,068), all while part-time faculty salaries fell by 65 percent in one year (from $4,157,952 to $1,429,962).

Full-time faculty members are paid from the districts permanent funding sources, not from the parcel tax, according to Mills. Adjunct or part-time faculty, who make up the bulk of the teaching staff, had historically been the main recipients of Measure B funds. But records show that by 2016, most of the parcel tax was no longer being spent on those salaries.

There shouldnt be any money shifted to other types of expenditures, said Mills, who requested an independent audit in January. We need specifics that are digestible.

Peralta Chancellor Jowel Laguerre has agreed to the audit, which is being performed by the accounting firm Vavrinek, Trine, Day and Co. It is expected to be presented to the oversight committee at its meeting Thursday afternoon at the college district offices in Oakland, Mills said. He said the goal of the audit is to understand specifically how money for staff and benefits was allocated.

Laguerre did not directly comment on the audit or the committees concerns, referring questions to other district officials.

In an email, district spokesman Jeffrey Heyman said Peralta has spent Measure B money in line with the ballot language and core academic programs. However, district records show that enrollments in those areas  math, science and English classes  dropped last year, which would suggest fewer core-subject teachers would have been paid out of the parcel tax.

Records show that the staff paid with parcel tax funds includes custodians, warehouse personnel, secretaries, librarians and counselors. The money has also paid for their benefits: retirement, sick leave, vacation and medical care. Staff members typically earn $58,000 to $64,000 with full benefits, which is more than adjunct faculty, who often make less than $50,000 and do not receive full benefits.

Oversight committees are typically set up to monitor spending of voter-approved bond measures. Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause, a government accountability watchdog group, is a lawyer who sits on such a committee for a different state bond measure.

Feng said that if Peralta is found to have spent the tax funds outside the limits prescribed by the ballot measure, the committee could take its findings to the district attorney.

You cannot go outside of (the ballot language) and if you do, its outside of the bounds of what voters approved, she said. Its right for the oversight committee to be investigating.

Members of the oversight committee have expressed concern that the district may be using Measure B money to pay for staff normally covered by the general fund in order to free up money there to pay for new consultants and administrators.

During the period that Peralta district officials appear to be using voter-approved parcel tax money for nonacademic purposes, they have also increased the number of highly paid administrators paid from the general fund.

This semester, Peraltas four community colleges  Laney, Alameda, Berkeley and Merritt  have a total enrollment of about 30,000, for which the district currently employs nine vice chancellors who earn more than $100,000 annually. By contrast, City College of San Francisco has about 65,000 students and employs five vice chancellors.

Since 2015, Laguerre  with the approval of the Peralta Board of Trustees  has made 10 upper-management appointments whose jobs carry six-figure salaries, many using interim titles that bypass hiring committees. He has also brought in four consultants who worked with him in the past, The Chronicle has learned.

One consultant, Robert Ferrilli, had ties to Laguerre from Laguerres time at Solano Community College. He was awarded a no-bid, $905,000 contract for information technology security work, far exceeding the $86,000 limit for no-bid contracts in California community colleges.

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Ferrillis company failed to complete the required IT work by the contract deadline, according to a district source, so Laguerre brought in another consultant. That consultant, who also had worked with him at Solano, has been paid $45,000 so far to review Ferrillis work.

Ballot measures that raise public money normally contain a requirement for an independent audit, but Measure B did not.

I think that its important to have (an independent audit) because you need checks and balances, said former Peralta Chancellor Jose Ortiz, who left the district in 2015. They need that, and Im surprised they dont have one.

Passed by 73 percent of the vote, Measure B was originally designed to help the district deal with cutbacks in state funding. One group that criticized the measure was the Alameda County Green Party, which said in 2012 that its stark lack of clear details about how the tax money could be spent was a major concern. It challenged Peralta at the time to track how much of the money actually funded classroom instruction.

Immediately after Measure B passed, Ortiz set aside $3 million of it for a new academic program called Peralta Accountability for Student Success, or Pass, focused on improving success rates for students seeking employment or a move to a four-year university. But since Laguerre became chancellor in 2015, no additional Measure B money has been put into Pass or into any new district-wide academic programs.

This is not the first time Laguerres handling of public money has been called into question. In 2012, when he was president/superintendent of the Solano Community College District, a grand jury admonished him for his handling of a $348 million voter-approved bond measure. It said the language of the ballot measure was misleading to voters and violated state law. No charges were brought in that case.

Ted Andersen is a freelance writer.
BART service through the Walnut Creek station was suspended for several hours Wednesday afternoon due to the presence of a man on a ledge threatening suicide, causing major delays on the Pittsburg/Bay Point line in both directions, officials said.

The man was eventually talked down by BART police and the Contra Costa County Fire Department, according to BART spokesman Taylor Huckaby.

At 5:36 p.m., BART announced via Twitter that trains had resumed stopping at Walnut Creek station.

BART officials first became aware of the unstable patron around 1:30 p.m., Huckaby said.

Out of an abundance of caution and a look to prevent adding additional destabilizing elements to the situation, we have stopped running trains through the situation, he said.

One train was brought back into the station to allow people off, but otherwise no trains were moving through the station in the early hours of the afternoon, according to BART spokesman Jim Allison.

Electricity to the stations rails was shut off as police officers worked to deescalate the situation, Allison said.

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Shortly before 4:15 p.m., BART reopened a single track on the side of the platform opposite the man, with trains running through the Walnut Creek station at 10 miles per hour but not stopping there, according to Huckaby.

The man is still on the ledge, we are still negotiating with him, Huckaby said at 4:15 p.m.

By 5:10 p.m., trains were running on both sides of the station but still not stopping at Walnut Creek, BART officials said. A bus bridge between Pleasant Hill and Lafayette was provided for the duration of the service interruption.

Filipa Ioannou is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com
Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle

With two long-range helicopters and a plane, a National Guard rescue team rendezvoused with a fishing vessel 600 miles west of the California coast to rescue an injured crew member and airlift him to a San Jose hospital, officials said Wednesday.

The crew member, who was not identified and whose injuries were not specified but were said to be serious, was expected to survive, authorities said.
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Im going to take you on a ride here, the music seemed to tell a severely depressed patient who had just been given a dose of the magic mushrooms active ingredient. But I wont abandon you.

The patient was recounting to Dutch postdoctoral neuroscientist Mendel Kaelen how a specially selected playlist, piped through a set of headphones as the patient lay on a bed, had interacted with the dose of psilocybin.

The man added that the music was saying to him, Its just going to be tough, and you know, youre going through the grinder here, but you wont be left in pieces.

The music helped the depression sufferer, said Kaelen, a researcher from Londons Imperial College who is one of dozens of scientists from around the globe presenting at Psychedelic Science 2017, which runs through Monday in Oakland.

Scientists are presenting hundreds of papers on the clinical use of powerful, sometimes hallucinatory drugs to treat addictions and mental disorders. Many presentations involve MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, and LSD. The event is organized by the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies and the Beckley Foundation.

Kaelens talk, The Psychological and Neurophysiological Effects of Music in Combination With Psychedelics, details four years worth of data hes collected  from brain imaging scans of music listeners on LSD to studies of sonically enhanced therapeutic mushroom trips by chronic-depression patients.

Mathias de Lattre

Kaelen and his team say they found that the more patients tuned in to the music during psychedelic therapy, the more their depression lifted.

Art has this capacity to reach the deepest parts of our being, but it depends our intention, our relationship to the work of art, Kaelen said. What psychedelics do is help us to be more open, to lower our psychological defense mechanisms, and therefore it makes us incredibly receptive to this work of art, this music.

Once a far-out concept espoused by hippies on Haight Street, psychedelic therapy has hit the global mainstream. For the first time in decades, researchers are testing controlled substances that cause intense hallucinations and out-of-body experiences, but also help treat mental disorders. Dont try this at home  these are illegal drugs  but the early-phase results have been encouraging, researchers say. And at worst, they say, patients report little or no change in their condition.

Anthropologists have found evidence that primitive societies took hallucinogens as part of religious rituals. Nowadays, researchers like Kaelen perform tightly scripted, placebo-controlled trials. They usually involve a given dose of a drug for a psychological issue, plus therapy that can last for a day.

According to Kaelens findings, published in the journals Neuropsychopharmacology and Psychopharmacology, brain scans of 22 subjects showed that LSD reduced connectivity between the visual cortex and parahippocampus  between what someone sees, and that persons memories and imagination. But add music to the mix, he said, and the connectivity between the two brain regions goes way up.

We found that LSD and music together targets this brain network that is specialized in personal memories and complex visual scenery, Kaelen said.

The music-and-mushrooms study involved 20 people, and the results are unpublished. Kaelen is presenting his preliminary findings at the Oakland conference Thursday.

For his tests, Kaelen picked songs that facilitate perception-shattering mental shifts. His playlists track the stages of a psychedelic journey: calm and relaxing for the beginning, then amping up through the ascent, to a more intense composition during the peak, and slowing down as a person returns to normal consciousness.

During a peak, to give an example, thats when music can become more sentimental, Kaelen said. It can pull people into their personal process more deeply. ... It can drive these peak experiences.

In an ideal world, he said, therapists tailor playlists to the patient and adjust it during the session. But for his LSD and psilocybin scientific studies, the music had to be the same for every patient. His challenge was to create a generalizable playlist. Most often, he uses contemporary avant-garde and ambient music because of its ability to transcend both cultural and religious boundaries.

One of the most common artists on his playlists is British producer, composer and artist Brian Eno.

In an email, Eno said that when he started creating his ambient songs in the 1970s, he was very consciously making a music which didnt carry a personality with it.

I wanted to make a kind of music which didnt make you think of another human doing somethingbut instead made you think of something like a landscape or a climate or a place, he said. My thinking was that by leaving the human out of the music I would invite people to enjoy a freer ramble through the musical space, because it comes without somebody elses emotional baggage.

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Eno said he has very little experience of psychedelic drugs, but was fascinated to learn about Kaelens research. The two plan to work together on projects tracking the interactions between art, music and the brain, he said.

Kaelen said he is fascinated with psychedelics research because of its ability to facilitate life-changing experiences.

People get stuck in a certain mind state, in a certain way of being, he said. The way to change that is to offer an alternative mind set, an alternative way of being. And this is what certain tools can do. Psychedelics and music are two of them.

April M. Short is an Oregon freelance writer and former editor at Alternet.org. Email: metrodesk@sfchronicle.com

If you go

Full-conference tickets to Psychedelic Science 2017 at the Oakland Marriott City Center are sold out, but some workshops have space available. Tickets are $150; for information, go to http://psychedelicscience.org/.

There are also free events Friday through Sunday at the Oakland Convention Center West Hall at 550 10th St., including an art display, a Psymposia Stage with science presentations, question-and-answer sessions, film screenings and interviews.
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An Oakland man was missing Wednesday evening after his 10-foot boat capsized in the morning a mile off Muir Beach in Marin County, officials said.

Juki Dang, 64, was not on his white fiberglass skiff when it was discovered capsized, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Aboard the skiff, Coast Guard responders found Dangs wallet, car keys and a cooler full of fish.
Mayor Ed Lee on Thursday set a new goal for San Francisco  that at least 50 percent of the citys electricity come from renewable sources by 2020. Thats 10 years ahead of the target the state has set for itself.

At a time when the federal government is rolling back environmental regulations, we are pushing forward in San Francisco, setting one of the most ambitious clean energy targets of any major city in the U.S., Lee said.

San Francisco now funnels electricity through four services: Pacific Gas and Electric Co., CleanPowerSF, Hetch Hetchy Power and direct access providers, where large buildings buy energy from third parties. A total of 44 percent comes from renewable sources, so the city needs an increase of six percentage points to meet its goal.

Michael Macor/The Chronicle

The city will receive the bulk of that energy through CleanPowerSF, the city-run green energy program that began in May after years of political gridlock and resistance from PG&E. About 40 percent of the electricity provided by the program already comes from renewable sources and will continue to increase. The current mix is 5 percent higher than the original goal of 35 percent, and 10 percent more renewable than energy provided by PG&E. By 2019, CleanPowerSF is projected to provide 400 megawatts of power  enough electricity to power 320,000 homes and businesses.

The program works much like a buyers club for energy. The city purchases electricity for residents, while PG&E delivers that energy on its electrical grid. CleanPowerSF is operating at 60 megawatts and provides electricity to 75,000 residents and businesses. More San Francisco neighborhoods will be auto-enrolled over the next three years.

Thats a big undertaking, said Barbara Hale, assistant general manager for power at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. While going from 40 to 50 percent doesnt sound like a big number, the volume we are applying that percentage to is different. Its a big change in number of customers. But we dont expect the extra energy is going to be difficult to get.

City officials have paralleled their climate goals with the state, which seeks to drop to 1990 carbon dioxide emission levels by 2020. San Francisco had set a goal to reduce the levels by 25 percent by 2017, which was achieved in 2015, despite a burgeoning economy and growing population. The city seeks to achieve a 40 percent reduction by 2025.

San Francisco is a city that rehearses the future, said Debbie Raphael, director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment. We are trying to be even bolder than the state of California.

As state and local policy drive the market, the renewable energy economy has flourished. Local green energy programs are up and running in Sonoma and Marin, and prices have dropped. The state Energy Commission estimates that almost 25 percent of electricity came from renewable sources in 2014.

With the growing market comes lower prices and more realistic goals. Seeking to increase renewable power in the city by six percentage points is achievable, said Alice Kaswan, an environmental law professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, who has studied renewable energy issues.

The key question is whether they are talking about generating that amount of renewables or purchasing it, she said. Theres a lot of renewable energy being developed in the state. My sense is that, if all they are committing to is purchasing power supplied in that way, it is a very feasible and realistic goal.

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The city should be able to meet the goal, if not surpass it, said Mark Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University and director of its Atmosphere and Energy Program.

There is so much solar, in particular, and wind as well, available in Northern California to the city, in addition to rooftop solar space available, and many companies chomping at the bit to install the renewables, Jacobson said. The cost, job and health benefit of such a transition is so large that the city would be remiss not to take this opportunity.

Raphael of the environment department also sees forces aligning in favor of clean energy.

Weve got a public and business community that wants renewable energy and a city determined to procure renewable energy, Raphael said. We have this perfect storm that allows us to beat our goals. Thats what is so exciting.

The city hopes to have 100 percent renewable energy by 2030. But while political gridlock over CleanPowerSF has passed, battles between the city and PG&E persist. A recent complaint by the company seeks to force the city to upgrade buildings that receive Hetch Hetchy hydropower through PG&Es transmission lines at a cost of $600 million. City officials maintain its an attempt by PG&E to maintain its monopoly. It could take years for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue a ruling.

Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn
Victoria Makras used to slog through a nearly two-hour commute from her Laurel Heights home to Boxs office in Los Altos. Shed wake up at 6:30 a.m. and board an Uber to the Caltrain station. The fast Baby Bullets werent an option, since they didnt serve the closest station to Box. So shed walk more than a mile, taking another 15 minutes before reaching her desk.

It was long, the 33-year-old senior event marketing manager said. But in late 2015, Box moved its headquarters to Redwood City. Instead of running employee shuttles from San Francisco, the company bought transit passes for employees, cutting transportation costs. And it reduced Makras rail commute to just 32 minutes.

You step off the station and youre in the office, said Makras. I have more time for work, to go to the gym, to see friends and family, or sleep in a little. Its less stressful.

SPUR, a San Francisco planning and research organization, is pushing for other companies to follow in Boxs tracks. In a study released Thursday, it cites Box as a rare example of tech companies that have located near public transportation.

Eighty percent of jobs in the Bay Area are concentrated in suburban fringes with little access to regional rail, and three-quarters of Bay Area workers drive alone to work as a result, the studys authors note.

The report highlights a seeming irony: Despite pioneering innovations in their products and work spaces, they house their lava lamps and free cafes in suburban corporate campuses with seas of parking lots. Its a form of office that took shape in the middle of the 20th century. Google, Apple and Facebooks offices are all more than 3 miles from the nearest rail station.

This isnt going to be good for the companies economic vitality in the long run, said Allison Arieff, SPURs editorial director. Somethings gotta give.

In March, Google said it employed roughly 20,000 people in Mountain Views North Bayshore area. Google plans to move 6,000 employees to Sunnyvale from Mountain View, partly to address concerns about traffic.

Many tech workers live in San Francisco and commute to offices on the Peninsula or in the South Bay. In 2004, Google began running shuttle buses from the city to its headquarters, a move copied by other employers. But those same shuttles are now snarled in traffic, lengthening commutes. Companies have also offered incentives for employees to carpool, take public transit or ride bikes to work.

At Facebook, nearly half of its Menlo Park employees get there by means other than driving alone, the preferred mode of transportation for most Americans outside congested cities.

As San Francisco has cut back the spots where tech shuttles can pick up employees, some workers have chosen to drive to work rather than walk to now-distant shuttle stops, a factor Facebook blamed for a rise in its Menlo Park traffic.

Then theres Tesla, whose Fremont factory has become infamous for its parking problems. For a while, an Instagram account, @teslaparkinglot, documented the sad state of the asphalt where autoworkers stationed their steeds.

The account has disappeared, but the parking problems remain. The opening of the Warm Springs BART station, in view of the factory, has not helped matters: Because of car-centric planning, its a 2-mile walk to get there. Tesla is running a shuttle until an overpass is built.

In her book Pastoral Capitalism: A History of Suburban Corporate Landscapes, UC Berkeley Professor Louise Mozingo noted how railroads allowed companies to escape polluted, congested city centers in the 19th century. As more employees moved to the suburbs, companies followed them to tap their talent and take advantage of cheaper land. Highways accelerated the trend, allowing offices to move farther away from city centers and rail lines.

In the 1950s and 1960s, low-rise office parks displaced orchards in the Santa Clara Valley, turning it into the Silicon Valley we now know  with spacious clusters of buildings that sprawl far from the Southern Pacific rail line that became Caltrain.

One solution is to build housing closer to offices, so workers can walk, bike or drive short distances. But Silicon Valley cities like Menlo Park, Mountain View and Cupertino  homes to Facebook, Google and Apple  have not been building enough homes to match demand.

Arieff points out that already, there are areas like San Mateo that have offices near public transportation. Fremont is also planning more office space near the Warm Springs BART station.

Evan Wittenberg, Boxs senior vice president of people, said the company was seeing employees drive alone to Los Altos, where they required parking spaces, or riding shuttles. That hit the companys bottom line.

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Its hard to find affordable real estate going north, but being on the Caltrain stop was a huge plus, Wittenberg said. It saves us money.

Silicon Valley Leadership Group president Carl Guardino said he agrees with the SPUR studys conclusion. But, he said, theres too much demand for office spaces near rail and not enough to accommodate rapidly growing companies. His solution is to extend the lines.

He said the region needs to nail down funding to electrify Caltrain, which plans to upgrade its service with more and faster trains. The effort recently suffered a reversal when the Department of Transportation delayed approval for federal funding. Meanwhile, riders say trains are overcrowded.

BART is planning to add three stations on its extension to San Jose and Santa Clara by 2026.

All this work needed to be done yesterday, Guardino said.

In no way do we think this is going to be easy, but if we keep talking about it, we can outline what the options are that accommodate growth that makes sense, Arieff said. Or we could do nothing and watch things get worse.

San Francisco Chronicle

staff writer Wendy Lee contributed to this report.

Nicholas Cheng is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ncheng@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @nichocheng
Americans have learned to conserve water, recycle and schlep groceries in cloth bags. But many balk at the one change that would most help the planet: sharing a ride to work.

Carpooling is the greatest green idea that hasnt really caught on.

Filling empty seats in cars is the best way to use them more efficiently, said Susan Shaheen, co-director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at UC Berkeley. But not much has changed in carpooling and vanpooling. There hasnt been a shift in consumer behavior. Its a perplexing problem.

Carpool use by U.S. commuters has hovered around 10 percent for decades  half of the 20 percent peak reached during the 1970s oil crisis. Even in the eco-conscious Bay Area, birthplace of cultural change and a vibrant casual carpool system, rates have stayed stubbornly stuck in neutral. Just look at the Bay Bridge any weekday morning with solo drivers backed up at the toll plazas while carpools whiz by in their own flyover lane.

Now a new generation of startups seeks to change that. Theyre harnessing an array of technologies and programs: smartphones, GPS, route-mapping, social media, behavioral studies, hourly car rentals and payment processing. But the tipping point may be the runaway success of Uber, Lyft and Sidecar, which have gotten people used to getting in cars with strangers and to summoning rides from their smartphones. Besides regular on-demand rides, the companies also offer paid shared trips in which passengers split rides and costs.

Cracking the market

Experts say the companies that survive will be the best at optimizing vehicles, capacity and routes.

Were all trying to crack carpooling, said Paul Steinberg, who goes by the title Captain Carpool at Carma in San Francisco. Theres a heavy amount of transit experimentation in the Bay Area targeting Millennials because theyre early adopters.

Carma is the granddaddy of the new generation of carpool apps. Founded in 2007 as Avego, it has 13,000 Bay Area users and contracts with various government entities and businesses. For years it was the only carpool app listed on the Metropolitan Transpotation Commissions 511.org transit website, but the MTC is now opening the site to other apps, including Carzac, Duet, Muv and Scoop for commuting, and Tripda for longer hauls.

Carma arranges peer-to-peer carpools  letting drivers and passengers find other folks going their way. It just teamed up with CityCarShare in a deal that will offer vehicles specifically for carpool trips, with costs subsidized by employers. Trips average 18 miles, and typically go over a bridge to San Francisco or from suburb to suburb, Steinberg said.

Tapping employers

Some other startups, such as Scoop and Hovee of San Francisco and Ride of Philadelphia, take a closed-loop destination approach to carpools. These apps work with large employers, office parks or even buildings that encourage workers to sign up as passengers or drivers. All those people are headed to the same area, but the apps still have to handle the logistics of where they leave from and at what time.

Each has slightly different selling points.

Scoop decouples the morning and afternoon commute rides to give carpoolers more flexibility. It recently began a pilot program in Pleasanton, working with companies such as Workday, Kaiser Permanente, Clorox, Roche, Gap and ValleyCare Health, which among them have 10,000 workers. We wanted a carpooling solution to let people share trips but not give up autonomy or control over their schedules, said CEO Rob Sadow, who co-founded the company with his brother Jon Sadow, chief product officer. Most people vary what time they go home from work.

Hovee taps into social networks so carpool riders and drivers will feel more comfortable with one another. It works with with Silicon Valley companies like Box and Evernote. Our analog is dating services, said Paul Kogan, co-founder and CEO. It helps that people are much more comfortable now using dating services and on-demand services. We stand on the shoulders of giants like Uber and Lyft.

Ride, which also has a vanpooling service, said it has a unique dynamic matching algorithm. Its app looks a lot like Ubers and in fact was designed by Oscar Salazar, Ubers first technology chief.

The space is hot; there are lots of people trying to solve the problem of getting cars off the road, said CEO Ann Fandozzi. Its much more complicated than the paid driver model, because it requires a behavior change and matching up people who are not compensated.

Even Google is experimenting with carpools. Waze, the popular map app it bought in 2013, is now testing a carpooling service called RideWith in Tel Aviv.

All the apps include cashless systems so passengers can chip in for gas; drivers can recoup all or much of their expenses, depending on the number of riders, while the apps make money by taking transaction fees.

But there are still plenty of obstacles, many of them built into human nature. People like their own cars and want to control their own time.

Dorothy Edwards/The Chronicle

Everyone has dynamic schedules, Shaheen said. Even with new technology, you dont have that instant ability to match a ride.

Uber, Lyft and Sidecar, of course, have averted some of those roadblocks by building critical mass. Theyre able to get three-minute wait times ... and to provide economic incentives to create both supply and demand, Shaheen said.

Both Uber and Lyft say passengers responded tremendously to their shared-ride options, Uber Pool and Lyft Line, which now account for about half of their San Francisco trips. Both have seen particularly heavy use during commute hours to and from employment centers.

The companies also got people used to the social factor.

Uber, Lyft and Airbnb changed the stranger danger component, said Scoops Sadow.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid

Major public policy shifts necessary to cut down on commute traffic

Apps can only do so much. Ultimately, to get Americans carpooling en masse, major public policy shifts would be the best catalyst, said Carmas Paul Steinberg.

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There is nothing a private vendor can do to break our driving habit, he said.

The government impediments to carpooling start right when roads are constructed with Department of Transportation funds that measure traffic.

The performance metrics havent been updated in decades, Steinberg said. Theres no reference to the number of people in any vehicle.

If those billions of federal dollars were tied to getting more people per car, state and local traffic engineers would figure out how to lure carpoolers with tools such as high-occupancy lanes and reduced tolls.

Another government incentive thats unlikely to happen: higher gasoline taxes. Europeans, who pay $6 to $10 per gallon for gas, carpool at a much higher rate than Americans. Frances BlaBlaCar, which arranges rides between cities, has $335 million in funding, 20 million members in 19 countries, and plans to expand to Latin America and Asia  but not the United States. It said cheap gas means people here wont use it.

Even the IRS doesnt support carpools. It allows pretax paycheck distributions for public transit, vanpools and parking, but not for carpools.

Changing that would have a really significant impact, Scoop CEO Rob Sadow said. Carpools have been difficult to track to make sure people didnt cheat the system. Now with technology its easy to report on data reliably.

Lots of Bay Area riders have long lamented the patchwork system of carpool lanes that are available only during certain hours and limited in length.

Consider MTC data on the Bay Bridge for the Tuesday after Labor Day. In recent years, about 40,000 cars are crossing during the morning carpool hours from 5 to 10 a.m., a quarter of which use the carpool lanes on the approach to the bridge. During the evening carpool hours of 3 to 7 p.m., about 25,000 cars cross, with about 8 percent in carpools. But looking at the full day  two-thirds of it without carpool lanes  about 125,000 cars cross, and only about 10 percent are carpools.

Donno Scarola of Oakland recently started using Scoop to carry a passenger on her drive to her job at Workday in Pleasanton. But theres no carpool lane on her way there, just on the way back, so theres no traffic advantage.

I still thought it was a great idea, she said. I dont save time, but I save money on gas (because the passenger chips in) and its nice socially.

Of course, even the diamond lanes have issues. A recent Caltrans study found that 52 percent of the Bay Areas 400 miles of carpool lanes dont meet federal standards of 45 mph traffic. Experts said many lanes are clogged by solo-driver scofflaws and alternative vehicles that get carpool stickers.

Hovee CEO Paul Kogan puts in bluntly.

Why the hell dont we have a high-occupancy lane all the way down 101? he said. Its crazy.

 Carolyn Said, csaid@sfchronicle.com
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The Wisconsin manufacturer where President Trump signed his Buy American, Hire American executive order Tuesday, has itself filed for a number of foreign work visas over the past few years.

The company, Snap-on, applied for nearly 70 H-1B visas between fiscal years 2009 and 2017, according to a review of the companys labor condition applications on a U.S. Department of Labor website. Snap-on has an office in San Jose; 115 people in the Bay Area list themselves as working for the company on LinkedIn.

A labor condition application is the first step an employer must take to sponsor a foreign worker for an H-1B visa, which allows foreigners to work in the U.S. for up to six years. Filing a labor condition application does not mean the company will receive one of the 85,000 H-1Bs given annually to for-profit companies.

The Washington Post reported, citing the companys applications, that Snap-on sought to hire a computer programmer at $75,000 a year and a systems analyst at $94,000 a year. Those wages, while above the prevailing or minimum wage set by the Department of Labor for H-1B workers in those positions, are lower than the average wages for comparable work in Santa Clara County. Thats legal under the H-1B program.

Trump criticized the use of H-1B visas to replace American jobs at the Tuesday speech at Snap-on.

The foreign work visas should never, ever be used to replace Americans, he said. No one can compete with American workers when they're given a fair and level playing field, which has not happened for decades.

A spokesman for Snap-on said the company employs a handful of associates under the H-1B visa program, and the majority of them hold advanced degrees. To qualify for an H-1B visa, the foreign worker must hold at least a bachelors degree.

The best way to make America successful in this environment is to provide the technical capabilities that enable workers to win what is now a global contest for prosperity, Richard Secor, a Snap-on spokesman, said in an email.

Critics of the H-1B program believe companies use the visas to squeeze out American workers in favor of foreigners willing to work for less, while proponents say the visas are used to staff highly skilled engineering positions they could not otherwise fill.

Regarding his executive order, Trump said Tuesday that he could not think of a better place to make this announcement than at Snap-on. A White House spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

The number of H-1Bs that Snap-on has filed for is small compared to other companies. For example, Indian consulting company Infosys filed for about 700 H-1B visas in Wisconsin for fiscal year 2017 alone, according to myvisajobs.com, which uses Department of Labor data.

H-1B visas are most heavily used in Northern California, at companies ranging from startups to Google, Facebook and Apple.

Trumps executive order called for a review of the H-1B program as soon as practicable. It was otherwise scant on details of how the president plans to overhaul the program. The order also aims to enforce rules that bar foreign contractors from bidding on federal projects.

Nicholas Pinchuk, CEO of Snap-on, said in a statement Tuesday that the company employs 6,700 hard-working Americans.

Its encouraging to know that our elected officials at the highest levels of government recognize the importance of American manufacturing and American workers and have chosen Snap-on to highlight this vital focus, he said.

Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani
Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

A 61-year-old cable car conductor in San Francisco was arrested and charged Wednesday for allegedly stealing hundreds of dollars in fares he collected from riders, officials said.

Napa County resident Albert Williams was charged with felony misappropriation of public money and felony embezzlement, according to the San Francisco District Attorneys Office.
As the orbit of this column comes nearest to Earth Day, Im cheering on repurposedMATERIALS.

A few days ago, that company sent happy word that it was offering for sale truckloads of guardrail timbers, pallets of stacked rubber playground tiles and packages of 150 linen-like purple dinner napkins. Also for sale, steel and plastic barrels, several of which, the company noted, have been sold to a parachute manufacturer who fills them with water and drops them out of airplanes to test large parachutes.

But there was also sad word: An inventory of used sailboat sails was no longer available because, said its seller, Another person in my department arranged for a dumpster and threw out all the old sails.

The website explains the companys purpose: Taking a byproduct or waste stream such as a retired street sweeper brush and giving it a second life as a backscratcher for horses or cattle. I love that description so much that my plan is to repurpose it as my job description for next years Chronicle employee evaluation form.

Former Republican Rep. Pete McCloskey, who co-chaired the first Earth Day in 1970 and also co-sponsored the Endangered Species Act in 1973, was to attend Mayor Ed Lees invitation-only Earth Day breakfast on Thursday, April 20, at City Hall.

McCloskey spent his 89th birthday, Sept. 29, protesting the Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock, his wife holding an envelope of $1,000 cash in case he needed bail.

P.S. Julian Grant notes that the White House is celebrating Flat Earth Day by promoting environmental deregulation, debunking the science of global warming and advocating drilling, drilling, drilling.

P.P.S. Jonathan Martinsen heard the forecast  more accurate than most  on NPR: Unsettled weather will be settling in tomorrow.

I rise today not for the national anthem (which nobody is playing or singing near my work station) but in defense of President Donald Trump, much maligned because his wife had to poke him to remind him to put his hand over his heart when the anthem was playing at the Easter Egg Roll.

First of all, he had important things on his mind: Having recently authorized the dropping of the Mother of All Bombs, he was probably contemplating what hed do for a Fathers Day follow-up; hed so enjoyed having his chocolate cake while deciding to bomb Syria, so maybe he was wondering whether any cake was left; or what about the deductible in his presidential dental plan?

Googling up the rules for this hand-over-heart business revealed that according to titles 4 and 36 of the U.S. Code, one is supposed to execute the claw-over-core maneuver when the U.S. flag is raised or lowered, or carried past in review or parade, or when reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, or when the national anthem is played. (The statutes dont mention penalties for violating these protocols, but Colin Kaepernick did run into a fair amount of criticism for his expression of dissent.)

Anyway, although presidential etiquette has raised many eyebrows  see Donald leave Melania in the dust as he bounds up the White House steps  its possible this breach is permissible, even to harsh critics. In 2008, when then-presidential candidate Barack Obama was criticized for not holding his hand over his heart, he said hed been taught by my grandfather that you put your hand over your heart during the pledge, but during The Star-Spangled Banner, you sing! Perhaps the president was singing to himself. Here Comes Peter Cottontail? Rolling in the Deep? If I Ruled the World?

I slept in, but Lee Houskeeper says that this years count of people at the Tuesday, April 18, commemoration ceremonies at Lottas Fountain was bigger than last years. There were, however, no supervisors on hand, says Houskeeper, and he and Mayor Lee, both of whom can be described as un-tall, had a real challenge hurling the wreath up to its traditional resting place midway up the structure. This is where we really miss Scott Wiener, observed Houskeeper.

Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchik

Public Eavesdropping

Because there werent cell phone cameras 2,000 years ago to take selfies of Jesus.

Dad to child, overheard at the San Francisco Zoo by Adda Dada
A hotel bar is a tricky thing to pull off.

It involves some delicate balancing. Ideally, a hotel bar should be distinctive enough to draw locals but still feel comfortable for risk-averse travelers. It is entitled to its hefty markups  youd do it too if your business depended on expense accounts  but shouldnt push it.

Most important, a hotel bar should convey a sense of its surrounds. Even a global, corporate hotel chain should offer some clues as to what city its in.

Our Ritz-Carlton risked losing that last feature when, in 2012, it replaced its longtime restaurant the Dining Room with a new cocktail-centric restaurant called Parallel 37. The Dining Room, open since 1991, was unmistakably San Francisco. Gary Danko was an early chef; it earned a Michelin star under Ron Siegel and long held a perfect four-star rating from The Chronicle.

It looked like your wealthy great-grandmothers parlor, Michael Bauer once wrote of the Dining Room: dated, in other words, but distinctive. Gone, now, is that endearing veneer of antique, drapery-heavy grandeur. In are backlit walls, mirrored columns, geometric shapes, splashy abstract paintings.

Can you tell that youre in San Francisco? Not really.

This being the Ritz, Parallel 37 has attracted some formidable talent: not only chef Michael Rotondo, who once ran the kitchen at Charlie Trotters in Chicago, but also  to prove its serious about cocktails  Camber Lay, to run its cocktail program.

Lay, a Chronicle Bar Star, is the sort of bartender capable of making a place into a destination. Shes been crafting cocktails since 2000, well in advance of the coinage of craft cocktail: Originally a pastry chef, she tended bar at MC2, Frisson, Laiola and Range  all upscale San Francisco restaurants, all now closed  before opening Epic Roasthouse (now Epic Steak) as bar chef, a title that indicates her leanings toward intricacy. Lay was mixing pink peppercorns and dehydrated fennel when ingredients like those still sounded outlandish.

Lays drinks have lived within the context of food, specifically fancy food, for a long time. That shows.

Consider her menus signature cocktail, the Emerald Fog ($18): finger lime-flavored vodka, gin, green chartreuse, lemon and cucumber bitters. Served in beautiful etched-crystal stemware  the sort you might have expected from the Dining Room  it wafts cucumber, delicately; on the palate, it screams lime. Mostly, it tastes like a gimlet that scores slightly above average on the interesting scale, with the boozy strength youd expect from a hotel bar. At $18, it had better be strong.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

A drink like this may not be boring, exactly, but its safe. Same with the 8th Street East ($16), essentially a Boulevardier but with the addition of burnt orange, more heavily dominated by its sweet Carpano Antica vermouth than many other Negroni variations in town. Where daring ingredients appear, theyre typically relegated to the ensemble: smoky mezcal is a grace note, not discernible on its own, in the Stone Cutter ($15), which tastes mainly of bourbon and Dimmi, a peach- and apricot-flavored liqueur. Yuzu, too, surreptitiously adds depth to the fruit components of the Pig N Boots (scotch, Lillet rose, lavender, cinnamon; $16), which manifests as a kind of earthier, nuttier answer to mulled cider.

These are wise moves when youre serving the martini and manhattan set. Lay surely knows her way around a yuzu cocktail, but she incorporates the fruit into a familiar-tasting flavor profile.

That brings us to the hotel bar dilemma: Playing it safe for that clientele is precisely what has kept Parallel 37 from becoming a cocktail destination. Its located smack-dab in the middle of a rich craft-cocktail radius, less than half a mile from, for example, Comstock Saloon, Benjamin Cooper and Pacific Cocktail Haven. If youre after a great drink, would you bypass those for the Ritz?

In 2008, when the Chronicle named Lay a Bar Star  the year we first established the franchise  she was one of 18 honorees, a record weve never come close to since. Most 2008 Bar Stars, like Lay, worked in restaurants at the time; this preceded the era of cocktail bars on every block. But many from the class of 08 rode the wave and later went on to open their own bars, leveraging their individual talents and local name recognition into destination-worthy cocktail spots. Martin Cate would open Smugglers Cove the following year; Jacques Bezuidenhout is now behind Forgery and Wildhawk; Carlos Yturria has the Treasury.

Hotel bars serve a different audience, of course. And Parallel 37 performs well when compared with other members of its genre. It is certainly, in my book, a superior place for drinks to the Intercontinentals Top of the Mark. Its more affordable, if you can believe it, than the Sir Francis Drakes Starlight Room.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

Still, Parallel 37 lacks the warm energy of the Westins Clock Bar, and the wonderful, only-in-S.F. eccentricity of the Fairmonts Tonga Room. Most of all, I wish its interior designer had taken a cue from the Clift Hotels Redwood Room, which, despite a modern remodel, still looks like San Francisco.

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine, beer and spirits writer. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob

To order: Pig N Boots ($16), Stone Cutter ($15)

Where: Parallel 37 at the Ritz-Carlton, 600 Stockton St., San Francisco. (415) 773-6168, http://bit.ly/2pD4YaI

When: Bar open from 5:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.
A 123-year-old dairy operation in Ohio has filed a federal lawsuit against Wisconsin, arguing that the states ban on the sale of ungraded butter unconstitutionally protects large Wisconsin-based dairies.

Minerva Dairy, Minerva, Ohio, filed the lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Madison. Its the latest legal salvo over the Wisconsin law that prohibits the sale of ungraded butter. Another pending lawsuit, filed in March, attempts to allow Kerrygold Irish butter to once again be sold in the state.

The Pacific Legal Foundation is representing Minerva in the latest lawsuit. It alleges that Minerva had been selling its artisanal products in Wisconsin for decades but cant now because of enforcement of the law it calls an unjustified, anti-competitive restriction.

Minerva states in its lawsuit that because its butter is not made in Wisconsin, its not eligible to have its products graded on site by Wisconsin inspectors. Becoming federally graded would be cost-prohibitive, Minerva states, an option only to large producers who sell commodity butter.

Minerva states that it sold butter in Wisconsin from the mid-1980s until February, when Wisconsin began enforcing its law requiring grading against Minerva. The company sells butter in every state but Wisconsin.

Joshua Thompson, a senior attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation and one of the attorneys working on the case, said it would cost approximately $2,000 to hire a USDA-licensed taste tester and fly them out to Minerva to grade butter for one day. Each and every time they needed a batch graded they would have to do it again and again.

Thompson said thats just the cost to get the butter graded for one day.

(Minerva Dairy) would also need to create Wisconsin-specific labels, and somehow predetermine which batches of butter would end up being sold in Wisconsin, Thompson said. They would need to also figure out or find a distributor who would allow them to change their product for shipment to a single state with a distributors region (their distributors are regional and cover multiple states).

A spokesman for the state Department of Justice did not immediately return messages.

Last month, a group of Wisconsin residents who are fans of Kerrygold, represented by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, sued the state in Ozaukee County. Theyre challenging the law that requires butters to be rated by the federal government or people licensed as butter and cheese graders with the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Anyone who sells unlabeled or ungraded butter can face a fine of up to $1,000.
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Former Mexican President Vicente Fox called President Trump a crazy guy Wednesday while offering a spirited defense of the open trade policies between Mexico and the United States that Trump has said he wants to scrap.

In an an hour-long speech before the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Fox extolled the benefits of free trade while also deriding, sometimes with irony, Trumps attack on undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Im not for open borders. Im for an orderly border, Fox said. We need it in Mexico. We dont want an invasion of gringos again.

ALSO UC Berkeley orders cancellation of Ann Coulter speech

A former Coca-Cola executive, Fox served as president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006, representing the center-right National Action Party, or PAN. His victory marked the first time in 76 years that a candidate outside the Institutional Revolutionary Party was elected president.

Fox has embraced Twitter nearly as completely as Trump. In the run-up to the 2016 election and in the months after, Fox has used the social media platform to troll the presidential candidate. Among other things, he has called Trump a traitor to America and everything good it stands for, a liar, and an embarrassment with an ugly gringo attitude.

Fox has also repeatedly declared that there is no way Mexico will pay for a border wall between the two countries  although he used more colorful language.

Despite his own expletive-filled tweets, Fox said Wednesday that if he had one word of advice to Trump, it would be to act more presidential.

You need to stop being selfish, Fox said he would tell Trump. Now you represent 300 million-plus citizens. Now opening your mouth or sending out Twitter or sending your executive order you could be affecting 8 billion people. So calm down. Calm down, be quiet and be presidential.

Among other things, Fox said he worried about the threat of nuclear war under Trump: Imagine the guy in North Korea and the guy in the United States. One day they wake up with a hangover and boom!

But Fox spent much of his time throwing out statistics and talking about the benefits of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump said he wants to scrap if major changes arent made to it.

Fox said NAFTA, which was enacted in 1994, has led to higher wages for Mexicans, which he said in turn helped slow illegal migration from Mexico into the United States.

Thats why NAFTA is so important that we keep it going, Fox said. Because its narrowing that gap.

However, illegal immigration picked up strongly after NAFTA for a mix of reasons, including a loss of agricultural jobs in Mexico. Mexican migration into the United States peaked in 2007 before it began to decline, according to the Pew Research Center. Mexicans comprise roughly half of the countrys 1.1 million unauthorized immigrants, Pew says.

Fox also derided Trumps proposed border tax, which would tax imported product goods at about 20 percent. The goal is to encourage American companies to make their products in the United States and raise up to $1 trillion in revenue over 10 years.

An unusual coalition of big-box retailers and progressive Democrats has come out against the tax because they say it will drive up costs and hurt the economy.

Fox cautioned that the tax would cause a trade war, one that would prove especially harmful to the American agricultural sector. Mexico purchased around $18 billion of U.S. agricultural products in 2015, including $2.3 billion of corn, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Attacking yourself in a trade war is crazy, Fox said. Only a crazy guy can come up with that idea.

Emily Green is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: egreen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @emilytgreen
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A man and a woman were arrested after an unsuccessful attempt to shoot and kill an 11-month-old baby boy  the mans son from another relationship  in a McDonalds restaurant in downtown San Leandro, police said Thursday.

The baby was with his mother when the failed attack occurred about 2:30 p.m. Monday inside the restaurant in San Leandro Plaza, said police Lt. Isaac Benabou.

According to court documents, Marcel Brooks, 29, allegedly baited the mother into meeting him at the fast-food restaurant while his girlfriend, Adanna Ibe, 27, sat in a corner with a handgun in her purse while dressed in a mask, hoodie and gloves.

Ibe approached the mother and child, aimed the gun at the baby and pulled the trigger, missing the boy and piercing one of the shops front windows, Benabou said at a news conference.

She fired from 1 foot away, he said. In my opinion, it was a miracle that she missed.

Brooks and Ibe, both of whom are Antioch residents, were arrested the morning after the shooting at a Sacramento motel, authorities said. They were charged with counts of attempted murder and conspiracy and made their first court appearance Thursday in front of an Alameda County Superior Court judge in Hayward.

Benabou said Brooks and Ibe planned the shooting together and had an undisclosed motive stemming from a history between the male subject and the female victim and her child.

Members of Brooks family, who gathered outside the courtroom Thursday, said Brooks would never hurt his son. Though police described Ibe as Brooks girlfriend, his family said the two had broken up years ago after dating for about a year.

Family members said Brooks had nothing to do with what happened at the restaurant. Ibe had long been unstable, they said, repeatedly getting evicted from homes and fired from jobs. She is now homeless, they said.

Jealousy has always been a problem for her, said Ebone Danielle, who said she was Brooks current girlfriend. Shes come to my house, yelling and screaming. Shes gotten in my (3-year-old) daughters face before. Shes an evil person.

According to court documents, Brooks denied any involvement in the crime but implicated Ibe. Meanwhile, Ibe allegedly confessed, but said it was Brooks idea.

There were about 20 to 30 other patrons in the restaurant, Benabou said, when Ibe fired the shot and then fled.

A witness who was inside the McDonalds, who declined to be identified, said the shooter had a black bandanna wrapped around her face and was trembling moments before she got up from a seat and aimed the gun at the baby.

Investigators originally believed the mother was the intended victim, but Ibe confessed that she had been targeting the baby, according to court documents. Mondays shooting may not have been the first attempt to harm the child, Benabou said.

At the time the incident occurred, we werent thinking the child was the victim, he said. A lot of us involved in this case have been in police work for many years, and I can tell you I have never been part of a case where the intended murder victim was an infant. Its very disturbing.

Nina Clark, Brooks aunt, said the situation was a nightmare. She said her nephew, a UPS driver, had no criminal record and had done what he could for his four children.

When Clark visited him in jail, He was more worried about his son than anything, she said.

He loves his kids, Clark said. We all brag on Marcel. Hes so young but taking care and loving and spending time with his kids, and going to work. ... We know this is not him.

Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo
Nearly one month has passed since Iris Canada died, but she still has no resting place. Her body lies in the cold morgue at UCSF Medical Center, where the 100-year-old woman died March 25. Its a macabre coda to the eviction drama that has made headlines around the country, to the shame of San Francisco.

Canada died after a lengthy eviction battle with the landlords of the Fillmore district apartment that had been her home for a half century. The landlords had given her lifetime rights to the apartment  so long as she, and only she, actually permanently lived there. But when they determined she was not living in the apartment  a finding upheld by a judge  they evicted her, with the courts approval.

The judges ruling notwithstanding, Canadas grandniece, Iris Merriouns, insists that Canada was still living in the apartment, even as the San Francisco Sheriffs Department posted the eviction notice Feb. 10. Twelve days later, a moving company hired and paid for by the landlords packed up Canadas belongings of a lifetime, 100 cartons in all, and put them into storage.

Emails between the two sides and their attorneys show that the landlords took the step after trying, repeatedly, to work out an arrangement for the family to enter the apartment to retrieve belongings and bring in movers to take everything.

Friends and relatives of Canada  who say they were focused at the time on her declining health  rushed to the apartment Feb. 22 when they heard that it was being cleaned out by the movers the landlords had hired. After some intense, on-site discussion involving Andrew Zacks, the landlords attorney, and police officers who had been summoned, Merriouns was allowed to enter the apartment to bring out critical items like the elderly womans wheelchair, according to Tommi Avicolli Mecca of the Housing Rights Committee, a tenants rights activist who was there at the time.

But overlooked in the moving shuffle was Canadas prepaid funeral insurance contract, which Merriouns believes was stuffed along with other papers and documents into one of the packing cartons.

These cartons are now stacked at Pedros Moving & Storage facility in Bayview-Hunters Point. And without the funeral insurance papers, the family says it cant pay for the mortal remains of Iris Canada to be interred in the Colma cemetery plot that she selected for herself. They say they cant turn to the company that issued the policy because they dont know who the provider was.

Pedros charges daily storage fees of $67. Canadas family didnt retrieve the belongings immediately because, Merriouns says, they were overwhelmingly concerned with the elderly womans deteriorating health. So the family now faces a bill of $4,000 to gain possession of Canadas belongings.

And Canadas body remains in limbo.

Merriouns, who works as a special assistant to Oakland City Council President Larry Reid, says the landlords  Peter Owens; his wife, Carolyn Radisch; and brother Stephen Owens  rushed the evacuation of the apartment, putting the family in a difficult financial position. I cant pay $4,000 or more just to see whats inside those cartons, said Merriouns. The family shouldnt be forced to pay for this.

The landlords, in turn, said the family ignored their repeated requests to clear out the apartment themselves.

The landlords paid the $15,000 moving fee and say their financial obligations end there. On Feb. 22, Mark Chernev, an attorney in Zacks firm, notified Dennis Zaragoza, the lawyer for Canadas family, that her belongings were at Pedros and will be sold at public sale following procedures set forth in California Civil Code if the family did not retrieve them by Feb. 27. But Zaragoza filed a court motion to block the sale, and the attorneys for both sides then agreed there would be no sale. Later, Peter Owens told me in an email, There was never any intent to auction her belongings.

Meanwhile, Zaragoza said he has been negotiating with Mayor Ed Lees office to see if the city could help defray the storage costs, but those talks have stalled.

The Iris Canada story has its own peculiar complications, and certainly its own uniquely morbid twist. But its not just the tale of a 100-year-old woman who could find no peaceful resting place, neither late in her life nor even in death. Its part of a broader ghoulish tale of life and death in the San Francisco real estate market.

This was driven home for me when I spoke with Pedro Hermosillo, owner of the moving and storage company that now holds the contents of Canadas life. He made clear he is a businessman who expects to be paid for his services. But hes not without a heart. Hermosillo said he would cut the storage bill in half for Canadas relatives, to $2,000, if they reclaim all of Canadas possessions.

Believe me, I feel for the family, he told me. Im not being greedy.

It turns out that Hermosillos own family has been hit by the eviction crisis. His elderly mother and father were recently evicted from their San Francisco apartment and were forced to move in with his sister in Oakland.

They had to go to court  and the judge ended up ruling for the landlord, and he even wanted my mother and father to pay for the landlords legal fees, Hermosillo said. Theyre old people  over 65. So I understand what Iris was going through.

Still, as a businessman, he stands by his policy of not allowing people to pick through containers without paying the fees. Thats why he wont let Merriouns look for the funeral insurance papers.

Evictions of the elderly, the poor and the vulnerable are happening all over the city, Hermosillo told me. Hes seen it with his own eyes. Hes been involved on both sides of the human tragedy.

Ive seen people whove been living in their homes for 30 years or more. They find themselves on the street. Theyre crying. Old men and women. Theyll never live in San Francisco again. They end up moving to Sacramento or somewhere else. Its hard.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist David Talbot appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Email: dtalbot@sfchronicle.com
A transgender man filed suit Wednesday against Dignity Health, the states largest private hospital chain, for canceling his hysterectomy operation after learning of his gender identity.

When his lawyer told him of the hospitals decision a day before the scheduled surgery in August, I just fell to the floor, just crying and crying, Evan Minton of Orangevale (Sacramento County) said in an interview. It hurt because I was being discriminated against because of who I am.

That hospital, like most Dignity Health facilities, is affiliated with the Catholic Church. Dignity referred Minton to a nearby hospital in its chain that was not church-affiliated, and his doctor was able to gain emergency admission and perform the surgery three days later. That enabled Minton to undergo a penile implant, the last stage in his sex-reassignment surgery.

His lawsuit against Dignity Health and its Sacramento-area hospital, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, seeks a court order barring them from discriminating against transgender patients and $4,000 in damages for violation of Californias sex-bias law. That law prohibits discrimination based on gender identity, said Elizabeth Gill of the American Civil Liberties Union, a lawyer for Minton.

Dignity Health, based in San Francisco, was founded as Catholic Healthcare West and owns 39 hospitals, 24 of them affiliated with the Catholic Church. In a statement Wednesday, the company said the hospital that refused to perform the hysterectomy provides its services to all members of the communities we serve without discrimination, but that the chains Catholic hospitals do not provide elective sterilizations, following their Ethical and Religious Directives.

In a separate case in federal court in Oakland, Dignity Health has argued that its refusal to perform or provide coverage for transgender surgery is gender-neutral because it applies equally to men and women.

Minton, 35, is a former state legislative staffer and is co-chair of the state Democratic Partys LGBT Caucus. Born with a womans body, he said he started identifying as male in 2011 and began hormone therapy a year later.

He underwent a mastectomy in 2014, got his name changed in court records and on his drivers license, and scheduled the hysterectomy for Aug. 30 at Dignitys Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael, where his doctor had admitting privileges.

Minton said he spoke by phone with a hospital nurse on Aug. 28 and mentioned at the end of the call that he was transgender and wanted to be addressed with male pronouns. The nurse raised no objections, Minton said, but the surgery department called his doctor the next day and told her the operation would violate hospital policy.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
A day after canceling a scheduled speech by Ann Coulter for security reasons, UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said Thursday that the right-wing pundits insistence on coming anyway persuaded him to rethink her banishment.

An appropriate, protectable venue will be made available on campus May 2  not next Thursday, as originally planned  he said, adding that he would disclose the location only after Coulter accepts the new date.

Thats not likely.

Hours later, Coulter shot down the invitation in a series of tweets and said she will speak at Berkeley on Thursday as planned not only because she cant do May 2, but THERE ARE NO CLASSES AT BERKELEY THE WEEK OF MAY 2!!!

That week is Dead Week, a time when classes are suspended so students can study for exams.

Its at an awful time, said Naweed Tahmas, 20, of the Berkeley College Republicans student group that invited Coulter. Also, the last day of instruction is three days later.

Do not fall for b.s. Berkeley press release claiming they rescinded cancelation, Coulter tweeted. GOOD NEWS FOR CA TAXPAYER! You won't be required to pay $$$$ to compensate me & my crew for rebooked airfare & hotels. I'm speaking on 4/27.

Dirks rejected accusations from Coulter, the student Republicans and the national Young Americas Foundation that the university was infringing on their right to free speech by originally canceling the talk this week.

The university has an unwavering commitment to the First Amendment of the Constitution, Dirks said, adding that student safety is of equal importance.

He said campus police had uncovered threats that could pose a grave danger to the speaker, attendees and those who may wish to lawfully protest the event.

Dirks said Coulters response to the cancellation  that she planned to speak on or off campus next Thursday regardless of security concerns  led him to ask his staff to find a protectable venue.

The location is not one we have used for these sorts of events in the past; it can both accommodate a substantial audience and meet the security criteria established by our police department, Dirks said at a hastily called news conference Thursday.

UC Police Capt. Alex Yao said, Our approach (to Coulters security) will be different than for the Milo (Yiannopoulos) event Feb. 1, when masked and violent agitators infiltrated a student protest of Yiannopoulos  another right-wing pundit  breaking windows, setting equipment on fire and shutting down his talk before it began.

Declining to offer specifics on security, Yao suggested that more police would be on hand. He said the Yiannopoulos protest and others March 4 and Saturday in Berkeley are causing police to look at how we staff.

Meanwhile, its unclear from Coulters tweets whether she intends to try to speak on campus or in the city of Berkeley on Thursday, and neither the Republican students nor the national Young Americas Foundation, that is paying most of her $20,000 speaking fee, responded to requests for comment.

An informal Chronicle survey of half a dozen event sites in Berkeley yielded not one that would or could have her.

Absolutely not, said Mirian Wolodarski Lundberg, co-manager of the 200-seat Finnish Lodge on Chestnut Street, when asked if Coulter could speak there Thursday.

The Finnish Hall was built in 1932 by immigrants, Wolodarski Lundberg said. Coulter, who was invited by the student Republicans to speak on immigration, is famously anti-immigrant. She also has labeled herself a mean-spirited, bigoted conservative.

COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California.

Not only would we not agree with her politics, but we would also be concerned about the kind of crowds that she would attract, she said.

Nor could Coulter speak at the Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse on Addison Street, which has 490 seats. The Cowboy Junkies, a Canadian country-blues band, is playing that night, and I wouldnt consider canceling it for Coulter, said executive director Sharon Dolan.

Besides, Dolan said, the sites nonprofit status could be in jeopardy if it started hosting partisan speakers.

Other places booked Thursday: the 550-seat UC Theater, where a Beatles cover show is playing, and the Berkeley Repertory Theater, where Hershey Feder is playing Irving Berlin.

As for the 120-seat Berkeley Yacht Club, the Sierra Club has it that night.

And even if it didnt, there would be a riot problem to consider.

I would, obviously, have a slight concern about that, said the Yacht Clubs manager, Mark Sokolov.

Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov
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City College of San Francisco recently has secured its accreditation, benefited from state stabilization funding last year and is prepared to soar. That is why we ask you to come Friday to hear about the Free City College program and how to take advantage of this historic opportunity to attend community college in San Francisco for free.

Attend an open house Friday at any of our 11 centers to learn about the Free City program and find your next course or career and apply for admission.

Thats right  with the passage of Proposition W in November, City College will now be free. Proposed by Supervisor Jane Kim, the funds for the Free City program come from a transfer tax on properties sold for more than $5 million. This new program is now available to help San Francisco residents attend community college and receive stipends for transportation and books.

This groundbreaking concept is intended to remove the final barriers keeping people from accomplishing their goals. We know that for too many students, the dream of attending college is often out of reach because of cost or work considerations. Thanks to the Free City program, San Francisco residents will no longer have to defer their hopes and aspirations.

We are urging everyone to take advantage of this opportunity and enroll. There will be informational tables at every center Open House where visitors are encouraged to fill out an application for free tuition.

Please take a look at our catalog and find something you like.

Imagine a career in medical imaging, biotech or coding. The Free City program is also open for those who just want to remain curious and engaged. Come take a photography class, brush up on a foreign language or learn to dance. And spread the word: Share this message on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Free City is an amazing opportunity for San Francisco residents and for CCSF. So have faith and take a leap into the future. As San Franciscos community college for the past 80 years, we look forward to helping you every step of the way.

Thea Selby is president of the City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees. Former state Sen. Mark Leno secured state funding for the college during its accreditation crisis.

Open House Friday

Where: To find one of the 11 Open House sites, go to http://bit.ly/2onU2tQ.

What: To ask a question, email Institutionaldevelopment@ccsf.edu
With families struggling to afford college, the free college movement is catching on. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders clarion call that college is a right not a privilege continues to inspire young voters. New York became the first state in the nation to enact free college. Now California lawmakers have introduced legislation to enact free college, San Francisco will allocate voter-approved tax revenues for free City College tuition, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a tuition-free year at community colleges, and other communities are getting on board.

While the promise of free college sounds like a winning proposition, advocates could learn from the experience of millionaire New York businessman Eugene Lang. In 1981, he spontaneously promised a sixth-grade class at his Harlem alma mater he would pay for their college education if they would graduate from high school. This promise resulted in the formation of the I Have a Dream Foundation. It says that, since 1986, it has served 18,000 students who were three times more likely to complete a bachelors degree than their peers.

While paying for college was paramount, Lang also remained personally engaged in the childrens success. He learned the promise of free college rings hollow for students attending schools in communities that do not provide the support they need to be college-ready. So Lang built teams of support around each child that were relentless in assuring them a college degree was within reach  no matter how challenging their circumstance.

Lang also learned college readiness begins early. By the sixth grade, many of his kids were already lost to the streets. His approach was intrusive: If a child was missing from class, counselors would search nearby parks, neighborhoods and make a home visit if necessary. Students received tutoring, counseling, mentoring and more. These tactics worked. His kids headed off to college in impressive numbers.

Free college advocates can also learn from the Long Beach College Promise and other promise initiatives, including the San Francisco Promise. Long Beach takes Langs ideals to scale. All 79,000 students in the public school district are considered Promise scholars. It aligns preschool through college around the needs of city youth, blending the strengths of college readiness and affordability. The SF Promise begins preparing students at a young age and provides scholarships.

If implementing free college statewide proves challenging, lawmakers could pilot free college for students participating in promise initiatives that focus on college readiness. These students would be well served by a promise that someone would pay for their college if they do what is required of them to get there.

A promise to pay for college could be made in the form of a California College Promise Scholarship funded by lawmakers, the private sector, nonprofits and/or all the above. Or the promise could be made by the Legislature acting to fully fund the California State University and the University of California, thereby eliminating the need for these systems to increase tuition and fees altogether.

Either way, Eugene Lang has proven that the guarantee of free college is strong motivator for youth. Lawmakers should heed Langs experience and not just promise free college, but also invest in proven practices that prepare students to be college-ready and to succeed once there.

Terri M. Carbaugh, who has worked to solve social problems statewide by leveraging proven local models of success, heads government and media relations for California State University Long Beach.
Four years ago, San Francisco was ready to become one of the first counties in California to adopt an innovative program giving homeowners an easy, affordable way to finance energy efficiency upgrades and solar installations.

But objections from bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., stalled its implementation, and now the city will be the last Bay Area county to approve the financing program, known as Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE.

The long-awaited adoption in a city that prides itself on embracing cutting-edge, environmentally friendly technologies comes as a huge relief to both city leaders and solar advocates. Supervisors are expected to approve the program at Tuesdays Board of Supervisors meeting and roll it out by spring.

Jeanine Cotter, founder and president of the 10-year-old solar company Luminalt, said the program is exciting to business owners like herself and middle-class homeowners for whom solar and energy efficiency financing was previously out of reach.

Cotter, a Sunset District mother, warned that it could take time to catch on, since its been in the works for so long.

Weve gone through a couple cycles of it being announced, so I think we are going to see a little bit of a slow uptake, then we will see a significant uptake, she said. I am expecting to see a bump in business and expecting the character of the work to be different  its exciting.

Access to capital

The system allows homeowners to borrow money for green upgrades and pay it back, bit by bit, on their property tax bill  the debt stays with the property, not the homeowner.

What it means is that people who perhaps dont have the credit or the funds that they would need ... will have access to capital that will be paid back over the time that those improvements to their home are going to be reducing (energy) costs, she said.

Cotter said she hopes the financing program will be a boon for small businesses like hers and allow her to hire more local employees. Four of her 24 employees were workforce development hires, meaning they were low-income or otherwise struggling residents who received training and employment placement from the city.

The citys version of PACE is called GreenFinanceSF and is sponsored by Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor Mark Farrell. Homeowners will be able to shop around for the best price from three program administrators approved by the city. It would launch in the spring.

Backers say the program is a win all around: It allows homeowners to save money and energy while increasing their property values, poses no risk to cities and counties while allowing them to meet their climate action goals, and creates local green jobs.

We are talking about the ability to install solar panels, more energy-efficient windows, gas heaters  a broad range of projects will fit under the GreenFinanceSF umbrella, said Farrell, adding that a preliminary market study shows significant interest among San Francisco homeowners. If it has the effect of encouraging residents to use these tools, our energy consumption as a city will go down, and all of those broader environmental benefits will come with it, while we create local jobs.

While the citys original plans were derailed by objections from federal banking authorities, who worried that the program would pose a risk to mortgage lenders if homeowners were to default, state and local officials around California pushed back in recent years and have moved forward with dozens of PACE programs. Though the Federal Housing Finance Agency has yet to change its opposition to the program, it has not actively fought the implementation of PACE.

Governor steps in

That may be in part because last year Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that created a $10 million state reserve to protect Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the unlikely case that a bank forecloses on a home with PACE-funded improvements. The reserves creation, combined with the establishment of several joint power authorities that offer PACE programs, has led to an explosion of interest among cities and counties, said Cliff Staton, executive vice president at Renewable Funding, which administers the largest of those programs, CaliforniaFIRST.

Renewable Funding was founded by Cisco DeVries, who helped craft the first PACE program in Berkeley in 2008.

We should give credit to Gov. Brown for putting in place a PACE reserve in the state of California. ... That reserve allowed local governments in the state to move forward, Staton said. California is leading the way in resolving this problem and allowing homeowners to make improvements that make sense while protecting Fannie and Freddy.

CaliforniaFIRST launched at the end of the summer and is now operating in 26 counties and 170 cities around the state, he said, stretching from Sacramento to San Diego. They have received about $25 million worth of applications since the launch and continue to receive about $1 million worth each week.

Staton said a typical loan under PACE is around $20,000, which is repaid over 15 to 20 years.

Roger Kim, the mayors senior environmental adviser, said that since 2010, the financial market has become very comfortable with the system and has already loaned out several hundred million dollars to homeowners in California alone.

Theres very little risk, he said.

Impact on CleanPowerSF

Unlike another green energy program thats been the subject of debate for years in San Francisco, GreenFinanceSF has widespread support. Still, supporters of the more controversial program, CleanPowerSF  which would allow the city to buy or generate its own power and provide it to residents, cutting out Pacific Gas & Electric Co.  are wary that Lee will use GreenFinanceSF as a reason to oppose that clean power program.

Last week, at a supervisors budget committee hearing, Supervisor David Campos pressed officials from the Department of the Environment as well as Lees budget director, Kate Howard, on whether they see PACE as a replacement for CleanPowerSF. Both said the programs do not conflict and could be complementary.

Marisa Lagos is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: mlagos@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @mlagos
Global warming is a looming catastrophe for California, the nation and the world, but few people  politicians and the general public alike  want to talk about it, Gov. Jerry Brown told a San Francisco conference on climate change Thursday.

Though no one can say when  or even if  a worst-case environmental disaster could occur, thats no reason to avoid the discussion, he added.

If its possible, we need to talk about it, the governor told the standing-room-only crowd at the opening session of the 15th annual Navigating the American Carbon World conference at the South of Market InterContinental Hotel.

The gathering of climate-change activists was the friendliest of crowds for Brown, who received a standing ovation even before he gave his 20-minute talk. Relaxed and tieless, the governor warned the audience not to pay attention to accomplishments of the past.

When I hear of all the things Ive allegedly done, Im always looking out, Brown said. The real challenge is what hasnt been done.

Focusing on the future, particularly one with a potential for disaster, isnt something most people are particularly good at doing, he said. Reports that the West Antarctica Ice Sheet is melting rapidly and warnings that the level of San Francisco Bay could rise by as much as 10 feet in the next century are getting far less attention than they deserve.

Most politicians believe the only real catastrophe is losing an election, Brown said.

Though efforts like Californias landmark emissions cap-and-trade program, which the governor is working hard to get reauthorized past 2020, and the 2015 Paris Agreement on cutting back greenhouse gases worldwide are important, they arent enough, the governor added.

Greenhouse gases are still being generated and theyre growing, Brown said. We have to stop using carbon for our prosperity. Stopping carbon is like stopping a heroin addiction.

In 2015, California helped found the Under2 coalition, made up of countries, states, cities and regional governments that have pledged to limit greenhouse-gas emissions to 2 tons per capita or 80 percent to 95 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

On Tuesday, Brown announced that Canada and Mexico have joined the group. Earlier this week, Sweden joined the coalition.

The governments in the Under2 coalition, like California, are leading the fight against climate change, said Catherine McKenna, Canadian minister of environment and climate change, who joined Brown at the conference.

But with carbon a major part of everything from plastic chairs to fuels of all types, de-carbonizing the world is not going to be easy.

I dont know much science ... but Ive studied politics for at least 50 years, Brown said. The market is powerful, but we need other things. Thats why we have regulations.

President Trumps declaration that climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese to hamstring U.S. manufacturing doesnt make it any easier to change the countrys direction, Brown said.

If theres any hoax, its in the White House, not Beijing, the governor said. Trumps statements are so implausible and stupid it takes your breath away. If you can say that, you can say anything.

California cant worry about what is or isnt coming from Washington, but instead needs to be pioneering our new way forward, Brown said. We have to go against the flow and rechannel the flow because the flow is leading us to catastrophe.

That sort of forward-looking imagination doesnt come easy to politicians.

As politicians, our job is to find out what people want and give it to them, he said. But now, we have to look out at the world, see where were going and not go there.

When people see whats at stake, they will respond, the governor promised.

Whatever the flimflam artists are saying, we have to overcome it, Brown said. Were not getting there yet ... so dont relax.

John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth
The principal of Albany High School, facing mounting pressure over racially charged incidents on campus, abruptly left the job this week and wont return for the remainder of the school year, district officials said Thursday.

The reassignment of Jeff Anderson came amid questions over the process for punishing students who allegedly were involved in incidents of cyberbullying and racism as well as concerns about the safety of all students at the East Bay school.

Superintendent Valerie Williams informed parents and staff members Wednesday that Anderson would be replaced by Ron Rosenbaum, a former Albany High principal. Though Anderson was reassigned to another position in the district, Williams declined to say whether Anderson left voluntarily or was removed from the job.

District officials said Anderson wasnt available to comment Thursday. Efforts to reach school board President Paul Black were unsuccessful, and Vice President Ross Stapleton-Gray declined to answer questions.

The change in leadership follows weeks of turmoil at the school, after district officials learned in mid-March that several students had targeted their African American peers and a staff member, creating an Instagram account that included the victims photos as well as a photo of a black doll alongside images of a torch, noose and Ku Klux Klan member.

The social-media posts made fun of the race, weight and skin color of female students, according to students. Police launched an investigation into the postings.

After news spread of the racist Instagram account, more than 300 people rallied at the school March 26 in a show of solidarity with the victims.

Of the 1,200 students at Albany High, less than 5 percent are black. Four days later, several hundred students staged a sit-in to protest the return of the students suspended in connection with the incident.

Administrators learned earlier in March that seven ninth-graders had been performing the Nazi salute to each other in the halls for several months, district officials said. They notified parents of this second issue March 28.

District officials declined to discuss the punishment any of the students might face, citing privacy laws. The school board considered having an independent panel conduct any expulsion proceedings, but abandoned the idea after victims expressed opposition to the idea.

This week, Superintendent Williams urged the school community to stick together.

Recent conflicts, both local and global, remind us that our students deserve a safe and healthy school climate, she said in a district-wide announcement.

We want to encourage them to be upstanders, not bystanders, to be empathetic instead if apathetic, and to be responsible global citizens who know how to make the world a better place.

To further address the racially charged incidents, the school board plans to hold a special meeting Tuesday at Albany High.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
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With Republicans firmly in command of Congress, the White House and about two-thirds of all state legislatures, it would be easy for an overwhelmingly left-wing crowd gathered in San Francisco Wednesday night to feel like the political equivalent of crushed bugs. Or at least voiceless ones.

Forget that, insisted the panel of political activists and experts they came to see at the Herbst Theater in a presentation entitled Can the Trump Resistance Grow Beyond Protest?

What progressives need to do is what the right wing did beginning in the late 1970s, the panel advised: start organizing at the ground level, taking back school boards and city councils, not just aiming for the big federal offices.

Listen  really listen  to your neighbors, even the ones you dont fully agree with, to figure out what your commonalities are, they said. But all through this, added Becky Bond, one of the speakers, remember to also think big.

And above all, they agreed, dont wait for someone to prod you into action. Get moving now.

We dont have to agree on everything, but we have to understand that were all in it together, and its going to take a multiracial coalition working for an economy that works for everyone to actually change things, said Bond, a senior adviser to Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign and co-author of the book Rules for Revolutionaries: How Big Organizing Can Change Everything.

To get that, she said: Were going to need a big majority, and not just a majority of the people that currently vote.

The panel, moderated by author and Chronicle columnist David Talbot, consisted of two other progressive activists and one former Republican strategist. It was the first in a series of similar events being presented by The Chronicle called Chronicle Chats, featuring news makers, thought leaders and trend setters.

The unquestioned advocacy from the stage for activism on climate change, racial equality and other pet causes of the left drew rousing cheers from the theaters packed crowd. But by the end of the evening, even the former conservative strategist, Dan Schnur  now politically unaffiliated and director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California  managed to draw some hurrahs of his own.

The anguishing over where to find towering Democratic or progressive leaders to lead the left beyond merely waving picket signs by the millions is not a new dilemma, Schnur said. It comes in cycles. And that cycle will swing back.

This is not a challenge or frustration that is unique to the left, he told the crowd. The quest for the right is the same as the left when it comes to capturing leadership, he said. And right now, in places like Bakersfield and Orange County, he said, conservatives are probably anguishing as well over where the next star will come from.

The commonality, he said, is this: Candidates and parties need to motivate, inspire and excite.

There was more of a ballot-box street-fight attitude from the other two panelists, Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza and Laura Guzman, founder of the Mission Neighborhood Resource Center for homeless and low-income people.

Denouncing the current national political system as soiled with racial insensitivity, they said radical change needs to happen most now on the ground level, community by community. Guzman said sanctuary city statuses need to be expanded to include minorities of all kinds, and Garza said her organization is actively working to get leaders elected to office on its platform.

Garza said Black Lives Matter has influenced the passage of dozens of laws for racial equality in the past two years and has in mind building a movement in the millions.

We have a lot more work to do than just waiting to see what happens, she said.

For many who came to hear the panel, much of what was said in the left-wing discussion in the decidedly left-wing city of San Francisco was not particularly surprising. But it was motivating.

My takeaway was that we have to get involved  dont just wait for someone to ask you to, said Suzanne Krivoy, who came in from Walnut Creek. Its good to be reminded of that.

Kevin Fagan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kfagan@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @KevinChron
Rallies and protest events are a part of political life in the Bay Area. Heres a roundup of whats happening.

Saturday

Town halls: Hosted by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, at 10 a.m. in the gymnasium of Canada College, 4200 Farm Hill Blvd., Woodside. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Dublin, will host a town hall at 4 p.m. at the Dublin High School student union, 8151 Village Parkway, Dublin. State Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblymen David Chiu and Phil Ting are hosting a town hall, Californias Role in the Resistance, at 2 p.m. at the Mission High School Auditorium, 3750 18th St., San Francisco. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/town-hall-with-san-franciscos-state-legislators-tickets-32926946383.

Science march: Marches mark 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. A march in San Jose will be from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Details to be confirmed. For information: http://bit.ly/2oV8oSu. In Walnut Creek, a march from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. will start at Civic Park, 1375 Civic Drive. A Hayward march from 10 a.m.-noon begins at the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center, 4901 Breakwater Ave. For information: http://bit.ly/2n7oonY.

Sunday

Town hall: Hosted by Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont, at 1 p.m. at Newark Memorial High School, 39375 Cedar Blvd., Newark.

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 6-8 p.m. at 507 55th St., Oakland. Tickets are $10 at the door. For information, contact info@loosidity.com.

Wednesday

Environment discussion: Marin County Supervisor Kate Sears will discuss the recent findings of the BayWAVE Project, a study on sea levels and rising tides from Sausalito to Novato. Sears will discuss Marins vulnerability and list next steps for how to deal with issues associated with rising sea levels. The event is free, wheelchair-accessible and begins at 7 p.m. It will be held at Drivers Market, 200 Caledonia St., Sausalito. RSVP: www.driversmarket.com.

Thursday

Comedy night: Hosted by the International Institute of the Bay Area, a Comedy Night for Immigrant Rights will feature Bay Area comedians Irene Tu, Johan Miranda and Zahra Noorbaksh. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. at BATS Improv Theatre in Building B at Fort Mason, San Francisco. For tickets: www.iibayarea.org/comedy-night-event.

April 29

Climate change marches: Marches throughout the country to demand action on climate change. In Oakland, a march will begin at 11 a.m. at the Lake Merritt Amphitheater, between 12th Street and First Avenue. In Kentfield, a march will start at 11 a.m. at the College of Marin, 1001 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. In San Rafael, a march will begin 11 a.m. outside San Rafael City Hall, 1400 Fifth Ave. In San Jose, a march starts at 10 a.m. outside City Hall, 200 E. Santa Clara St. For information on all marches: https://peoplesclimate.org.
President Trump supports tax-funded vouchers letting parents send their kids to private schools of their choice  and it turns out Californians do too, according to a poll released Wednesday.

A solid majority of state residents, 60 percent, say they favor vouchers, and public school parents like them even more, with two-thirds saying they back the idea, according to a Public Policy Institute of California survey.

The annual education survey, conducted in early April, queried residents about a range of issues, including teacher quality, school funding, early childhood education and the impact of immigration policies on schools. This year, the pollsters included the question on vouchers, given the Trump administrations proposal to use tax dollars to help families pay for private or parochial school.

Californias gut reaction to vouchers shouldnt be surprising, said Michael Kirst, president of the state Board of Education. If you ask people whether theyd like free money to pay for a school of their choice, most will say yes, Kirst said.

In 1998, the last time the PPIC asked about vouchers, 58 percent of residents said they supported them. However, California voters have twice rejected statewide propositions on vouchers, Kirst said, in 1993 and 2000.

The experience has been the devil is in the details, he said. As the public sees the details behind it and the various problems, this support drops off fast.

Vouchers, for example, dont pay the entire cost of private or parochial school, which can average about $12,000 a year, Kirst said.

Trumps secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, said in a March 29 speech to the Brookings Institution that the country must shift the paradigm to think of education funding as investments made in individual children, not in institutions or buildings.

But California School Boards Association President Susan Henry said Wednesday, The record shows that Californians are strongly in favor of public funds for public schools and a single, isolated poll doesnt change that. The answer to improving our educational outcomes is more strategic investment in public education, not subsidizing prep schools.

The survey found strong backing of the states public schools, a belief that they need more funding, and a willingness to pay higher taxes to fund them, said Mark Baldassare, the PPIC president and CEO.

Respondents were more worried about the ongoing teacher shortage than teacher quality. Meanwhile, a large majority said they were very or somewhat concerned about the impact of federal immigration policies on students, with 65 percent supporting the idea of sanctuary, or safe zones, at schools.

Overall, 54 percent of those polled gave their public schools a grade of A or B. In addition, 68 percent said they would support a bond measure to pay for school construction, while 59 percent would support a parcel tax to boost general education funding.

They love their schools and they have high expectations for their schools, Baldassare said. But many believe that the state isnt spending enough money on K-12 education and should also spend what it has more wisely. In this context, many are willing to raise their local taxes and consider a voucher system.

The survey of 1,705 California adult residents included 1,109 interviews on cell phones and 596 on landline phones. The sampling error was plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
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Intruders are lurking around the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps base in the Mojave Desert  and boy, are they cold-blooded.

Desert tortoises  thousands of them  are crawling around the Mojave Desert, but they're in the way of Marine training.

Operation Desert Tortoise  the largest relocation of tortoises ever  is a go.

The Marine Corps began relocating 1,100 tortoises last week to accommodate an expanded ground for live-ammunition desert training missions, reports the Press Enterprise. The move follows a 2013 congressional vote to expand the combat center.

How does one move a tortoise? You airlift it, naturally, but don't expect to see the reptiles flying across cloudless Mojave skies; biologists pack them into plastic bins before their 25-mile airborne journey.

The move will take about two weeks and cost close to $50 million. Included in the multimillion dollar price tag is funding for a 30-year monitoring program.

More than the cost, many are worried about the potential effects the relocation could have on the threatened species, whose populations have been declining since the 1970s.

"This population has declined by 50 percent in the past 10 years," says Ileene Anderson, a scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), in a notice filed by the organization in March 2016 to challenge the relocation plans.

Story continues below

"If the past is any guide," Anderson added, "up to half of the tortoises won't survive this relocation, pushing these tortoises in the west Mojave closer to extinction."

Despite the loss of 100 miles of tortoise territory, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said moving the animals wouldn't effect the survival of the species. The springtime relocation went ahead as scheduled.

FWS official Scott Hoffman told the Enterprise that the species could even benefit from the move.

"Yes, we are losing habitat," he said. "But we are using the relocated tortoises to supplement the populations in the critical habitat areas."

The 30-year study also gives scientists the funds and time to painstakingly track and learn about the species.

Seventeen tortoises near the Twentynine Palms base were relocated in 2006, says the San Diego Tribune. All of the reptiles survived.

Read Michelle Robertsons latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.
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California health officials have fined Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City $47,450 for mistakenly removing a womans ovaries in 2016.

The fine against Sequoia, which is owned by the Northern California health system Dignity Health, is one of 17 civil penalties lodged against 14 California hospitals for incidents that caused serious injury or death. The penalties against the hospitals, which total $1.1 million, were announced by the California Department of Public Health on Thursday.

Four of the 14 hospitals, including Sequoia, are in the Bay Area. The other three  which all had fatalities  are California Pacific Medical Center-St. Lukes Campus and Kaiser Foundation Hospital, both in San Francisco and Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa.

Doctors at Sequoia were supposed to remove the patients uterus, fallopian tubes and appendix during a February 2016 surgery, but mistakenly removed her ovaries, according to a report from the California Department of Public Health. It is unclear whether the ovaries were removed in addition to, or instead of, the uterus, fallopian tubes and appendix. The report does not include the patients name or age.

The procedure was entered incorrectly in the hospitals surgical schedule, the report found, and the woman will need estrogen replacement therapy for life.

"The care and safety of our patients and staff are the highest priority at Dignity Health Sequoia Hospital and we take this matter very seriously," a Dignity Health spokeswoman said in an email. "After self-reporting this event to the CDPH, we fully cooperated during their investigation and immediately took steps to ensure this never happens again, including revising protocols and staff re-education."

Kaiser was fined $147,000 for two separate incidents that ended in patient deaths in 2015 and 2016. One involved a patient receiving dialysis whose line disconnected from his catheter, causing massive blood loss and cardiac arrest, the report found. The second involved the mishandling of a patients tracheostomy, a procedure to unblock the airways. St. Lukes, an affiliate of Sutter Health, was fined $47,450 after a female patient fell in 2015 while under the care of hospital staff, hit her head, underwent brain surgery and died, according to the report.

We sincerely regret that these incidents occurred and extend our sympathy to the families involved, said a Kaiser spokeswoman. In response to these incidents, and to ensure such situations never occur again, we immediately investigated their root cause, evaluated our processes and implemented systemic improvements and training for our nurses, physicians, and staff.

A spokesman for Sutter said the hospital immediately reported the incident to the appropriate regulatory agencies and initiated a quality improvement process to ensure it does not happen again.

Queen of the Valley was fined $225,000 for three incidents in 2013 in which the staff failed to properly monitor patients symptoms or administered an incorrect treatment. Two patients died and the third is in a vegetative state, according to the report. A spokeswoman for the hospital did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: Cat__Ho
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Bay Area tech firms have long been known for offering a litany of employee perks: Home-cooked lunches, free massages, climbing walls and dog-friendly offices.

Now some are adding yet another incentive to attract  and retain  workers: paid time off to protest.

Fauna, a San Francisco database startup, recently began allowing its 13 employees to take unlimited paid leave to participate in rallies, vote, write letters to elected officials and take part in other civic activities. Before February, employees could take time off on an as-needed basis. But the political climate  and polarization  following President Trumps inauguration called for more defined measures, said Amna Pervez, director of recruiting and retention.

Since theres been such a divide in our country, we felt we should be very explicit about our policy, Pervez said, adding that the company also provides unlimited vacation time. We want our employees to know that we absolutely support the betterment of our country. People can take whatever they feel like they need to make a meaningful difference.

A number of other startups, including Turbine Labs, Buoyant and Jelly Industries, have signed on to do the same. The new policies come as technology firms and other companies take a stand against the Trump administrations plan to tighten restrictions for foreign workers. Trump signed an executive order this week that imposes more restrictions on H-1B visas, a type of temporary work visa often used by firms to recruit and employ highly skilled workers.

If youre a tech company, taking a pro-immigration stand is not exactly a bold move, said Peter Cappelli, a management professor at the Wharton School. When theres a tight labor market and companies are fighting for programmers, this is a way to say, See? Were here to support you.

Facebook, for example, is allowing employees to take time off to participate in pro-immigration rallies on May 1. The company, which relies heavily on foreign workers, informed employees and contractors last week that they would not be penalized for missing work to protest, Bloomberg reported this week.

Were committed to fostering an inclusive workplace where employees feel comfortable expressing their opinions and speaking up about issues that are important to them, a company spokesman said in an email. We support our people in recognizing International Workers Day and other efforts to raise awareness for safe and equitable employment conditions.

Facebook could be particularly hard-hit by any changes to H-1B visa policies. More than 15 percent of its employees used temporary work visas last year  a higher percentage than at Google, Apple, Amazon or Microsoft, according to a Reuters analysis of Labor Department filings.

At Atipica, a software startup in San Francisco, four of the companys five U.S. workers are immigrants. Founder Laura Gomez, who is from Mexico, said it was a no-brainer to give workers paid leave to make their voices heard.

At this point in our political reality, its really, really important to allow my employees to do something that not only affects them, but also the direction of our country, she said. This is what democracy looks like: People having the freedom to stand up for what they believe in.

There are some ground rules, though: No violence or activities that make others feel threatened.

We will define this as we grow, Gomez said. But my hope is that policies like this become the norm. When Google began giving out free lunches, everyone else followed. Why should this be any different?

For her part, Gomez said, she plans to participate in a pro-immigration march on May 1.

Ill be out there, she said. And hopefully the rest of the company will, too.

Abha Bhattarai is a Washington Post writer.
A man who harassed and tormented a young woman for four years, following her from France to Mexico and then to San Francisco, was sentenced to three years in state prison on Wednesday.

Florentino Garcia, 42, received the maximum sentence for stalking and violating a restraining order, charges he was found guilty of last month in San Francisco Superior Court.

A judge also issued a criminal protective order requiring him to stay away from the 28-year-old victim for the next 10 years.

Garcia became infatuated with the young woman when she was working as a waitress in Nice in 2012. He repeatedly showed up at the restaurant, sent her expensive gifts and train tickets, and wrote her long, obsessive messages. When she left for Mexico to start a business, he followed.

In Mexico, the harassment became worse. According to the victim, Garcia sent her long messages detailing the clothes she had worn on a particular day and the color of her bicycle as proof he had seen her, even if she had not seen him.

She was forced to stop using the Internet and shut down her social media accounts in a bid to thwart his advances, and was terrified to leave her home.

Police in Mexico deported Garcia, who is a dual French and Spanish citizen. But he returned, forcing her to shut down her business and leave for San Francisco, where her father lives.

San Francisco police investigators advised her to get a restraining order, which Garcia violated repeatedly, prompting his arrest in December.

Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo
A day after canceling a scheduled speech by Ann Coulter for security reasons, UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said Thursday that the right-wing pundits insistence on coming anyway persuaded him to rethink her banishment.

An appropriate, protectable venue will be made available on campus May 2  not next Thursday, as originally planned  he said, adding that he would disclose the location only after Coulter accepts the new date.

Thats not likely.

Hours later, Coulter shot down the invitation in a series of tweets and said she will speak at Berkeley on Thursday as planned not only because she cant do May 2, but THERE ARE NO CLASSES AT BERKELEY THE WEEK OF MAY 2!!!

That week is Dead Week, a time when classes are suspended so students can study for exams.

Its at an awful time, said Naweed Tahmas, 20, of the Berkeley College Republicans student group that invited Coulter. Also, the last day of instruction is three days later.

Do not fall for b.s. Berkeley press release claiming they rescinded cancelation, Coulter tweeted. GOOD NEWS FOR CA TAXPAYER! You won't be required to pay $$$$ to compensate me & my crew for rebooked airfare & hotels. I'm speaking on 4/27.

Dirks rejected accusations from Coulter, the student Republicans and the national Young Americas Foundation that the university was infringing on their right to free speech by originally canceling the talk this week.

The university has an unwavering commitment to the First Amendment of the Constitution, Dirks said, adding that student safety is of equal importance.

He said campus police had uncovered threats that could pose a grave danger to the speaker, attendees and those who may wish to lawfully protest the event.

Dirks said Coulters response to the cancellation  that she planned to speak on or off campus next Thursday regardless of security concerns  led him to ask his staff to find a protectable venue.

The location is not one we have used for these sorts of events in the past; it can both accommodate a substantial audience and meet the security criteria established by our police department, Dirks said at a hastily called news conference Thursday.

UC Police Capt. Alex Yao said, Our approach (to Coulters security) will be different than for the Milo (Yiannopoulos) event Feb. 1, when masked and violent agitators infiltrated a student protest of Yiannopoulos  another right-wing pundit  breaking windows, setting equipment on fire and shutting down his talk before it began.

Declining to offer specifics on security, Yao suggested that more police would be on hand. He said the Yiannopoulos protest and others March 4 and Saturday in Berkeley are causing police to look at how we staff.

Meanwhile, its unclear from Coulters tweets whether she intends to try to speak on campus or in the city of Berkeley on Thursday, and neither the Republican students nor the national Young Americas Foundation, that is paying most of her $20,000 speaking fee, responded to requests for comment.

An informal Chronicle survey of half a dozen event sites in Berkeley yielded not one that would or could have her.

Absolutely not, said Mirian Wolodarski Lundberg, co-manager of the 200-seat Finnish Lodge on Chestnut Street, when asked if Coulter could speak there Thursday.

The Finnish Hall was built in 1932 by immigrants, Wolodarski Lundberg said. Coulter, who was invited by the student Republicans to speak on immigration, is famously anti-immigrant. She also has labeled herself a mean-spirited, bigoted conservative.

Not only would we not agree with her politics, but we would also be concerned about the kind of crowds that she would attract, she said.

Nor could Coulter speak at the Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse on Addison Street, which has 490 seats. The Cowboy Junkies, a Canadian country-blues band, is playing that night, and I wouldnt consider canceling it for Coulter, said executive director Sharon Dolan.

Besides, Dolan said, the sites nonprofit status could be in jeopardy if it started hosting partisan speakers.

Other places booked Thursday: the 550-seat UC Theater, where a Beatles cover show is playing, and the Berkeley Repertory Theater, where Hershey Feder is playing Irving Berlin.

As for the 120-seat Berkeley Yacht Club, the Sierra Club has it that night.

And even if it didnt, there would be a riot problem to consider.

I would, obviously, have a slight concern about that, said the Yacht Clubs manager, Mark Sokolov.

Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov
Every year, People magazine reveals its pick for the Most Beautiful Woman of the year. And just about every year, the magazine is predictable in that it rarely selects a person of color.

Since 1990, there have only been four women of color to receive the title - Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce and Lupita Nyong'o. This week, Twitterverse slammed the publication for naming Julia Roberts the Most Beautiful Woman for the fifth time. (Why?)
One of the quirkiest actors in the business is bringing some of his lesser-seen talents to Northern California.

Bill Murray, perhaps unbeknownst to many, is an avid fan of classical music. Recently, The New York Times revealed he's been working on his own unexpected musical endeavor, called "New Worlds," that he plans to debut on July 20 in Napa.

Collaborating with Bill Murray on the project is Jan Vogler, a rather accomplished German cellist Murray met on an international airplane flight several years ago, as well as pianist Vanessa Perez and violinist Mira Wang. The performance, as NPR explains, features Murray "singing a little Gershwin and reciting a little Whitman," and Rolling Stone notes that he'll also sing Stephen Foster's "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" and standards from "West Side Story," and read passages by Ernest Hemingway and Truman Capote. Vogler will lead performances of compositions by Schubert, Piazzolla, and Bach.

Altogether, the work explores the concept of identity  all four members of the group come from a different country  with both literature and musical performance.

"We are from four different continents," Murray said of the production's artists. "And when the continents come together, the music moves right across the peninsulas from one to the other. It's just a short journey from one continent to the other."

The idea for "New Worlds" started to form last summer, when Murray sent a vague text to Vogler, asking him to meet at the "Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge." It was where the annual Poetry Walk was being held, and eventually, it became where the two began talking about literature, poetry, and music.

"He is so musical and would whistle a tune as soon as I would mention it," Vogler told NPR. "We found our common favorites and started talking about literature. It was surprising how much we agreed on the choices of both literature and music."

On July 20, Murray and Vogler will debut the resulting work at Festival Napa Valley, a performing arts festival featuring acts like famed violinist Joshua Bell and Latin pop performer Gloria Estefan. After that, they'll tour the act around North America to as of yet unannounced venues. This August, they'll release the work as a recording.

Tickets to Festival Napa Valley, taking place between July 14-23 in Napa, are on sale now. Bill Murray, Jan Vogler & Friends perform at Napa's Lincoln Theater on July 20 at 6 p.m.

Alyssa Pereira is a SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.


Despite their best efforts, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the head of a national teachers union could not bury their differences as they toured public schools in Ohio.

The school visit came just months after American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten fiercely opposed the nomination of DeVos, a longtime advocate of charter and private schools. In the past Weingarten has accused DeVos of feeling antipathy for public schools.

During the visit to schools in Van Wert, a town in northwestern Ohio, Weingarten said the two women have earned a reputation of combatants but that finding common ground is crucial for the sake of students. Still, Weingarten stood somber-faced and DeVos wore a forced smile at a closing news conference.

While DeVos complimented teachers and students at Van Wert schools, she said some 20 percent of local families have elected to send their children to other schools.

Its an opportunity that we should continue to offer because the goal is for every child to be in an education environment thats best for them, DeVos said. Choices should not be dictated, mandated, she added.

Weingarten questioned making investments into school choice options, such as charter and private school programs, at the expense of traditional public schools. The Trump administration has proposed slashing key after-school programs mostly targeted at low-income families.

There is no secret that we are fighting some of the budget cut, Weingarten said, adding that eliminating such programs would harm the Van Wert community and others.

But I think todays visit was much more about proactive, positive, what happens when schools work together, when they engage in strategies that work for kids, Weingarten added.

DeVos, a wealthy Republican operative and donor, has spent more than two decades advocating for charter and voucher programs in her home state of Michigan and elsewhere and she has made school choice a priority.

Next years budget proposal calls for slashing funding for the Education Department by $9.2 billion, a dramatic cut unseen in recent years. The administration is proposing to allocate an additional $1.4 billion for school choice programs and to eliminate two programs worth $3.6 billion that provide funding for teacher preparation and after-school programs, among other plans.

Maria Danilova is an Associated Press writer.
WASHINGTON  President Trump on Thursday hailed Italys contributions to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and its efforts seeking stability in Libya but dismissed the possibility of U.S. intervention in that country, saying the U.S. has enough roles.

After a White House meeting with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Trump stuck to his demand that European allies meet their financial obligations in their partnerships with the U.S., including NATO. He urged Italy to address the refugee crisis through a policy that seeks the eventual return of refugees to their home countries so they can help to rebuild their own nations.

Gentiloni, who took office in December, stressed the need for burden-sharing in the refugee crisis, given Italys proximity to Libya, where large numbers of migrants take the risky voyage across the Mediterranean to reach Europe.

Trump was quick to dismiss the notion that the U.S. would get involved in Libya, telling a joint news conference, I do not see a role in Libya.

We have enough roles. We have a role everywhere, Trump said.

Gentiloni noted Italy and Americas common commitment against terrorism. He said it requires social and economic collaboration with Muslim communities to be effective.

He said that despite budgetary limitations, Italy was committed to increase its defense spending from 1 percent of gross domestic product to 2 percent  the threshold that Trump has called for all NATO members to adhere to. Trump has complained that the U.S. contributes more to the military alliance than it receives.

We are used to respecting our commitments, Gentiloni said.

Trump plans to attend a NATO meeting in Belgium next month before attending a summit of the Group of Seven major industrialized nations. Italy will host the summit, and Gentiloni can shape the agenda on behalf of European leaders wary of Trumps position on some long-standing agreements.

Trump has already pulled the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a pact with 11 Asian and Pacific nations he said was a disaster. This week he said he would make some very big changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico or we are going to get rid of NAFTA for once and for all.

Gentiloni has been strongly critical of protectionist trade policies shielding a countrys domestic industries from foreign competition by taxing imports. Italy has suffered sluggish economic growth and was a staunch backer of a proposed U.S.-European free trade agreement negotiated by the Obama administration.

Vivian Salama is an Associated Press writer.
PARIS  A gunman wielding an assault rifle Thursday night killed a police officer on the Champs-Elysees in central Paris, stirring fears in France of a terrorist attack that could tip voting in a hotly contested presidential election that starts Sunday.

The gunman was shot dead by police as he tried to flee on foot; two other police officers and a bystander were wounded. Police quickly blocked access to the crowded thoroughfare, lined with restaurants and high-end stores, as a helicopter hovered overhead. Officers began searching for possible accomplices after the attack, which set off panic and a scramble for shelter on surrounding streets.

Near midnight, President Francois Hollande said in an address to the nation that the attack appeared to be an act of terrorism. The Islamic State claimed responsibility in a message posted on a jihadist channel, and the Paris prosecutor said he had opened a terrorism investigation.

The attack came only days before the start of a presidential vote that could reverberate across Europe, and as the 11 candidates were having their final quasi-debate on the France 2 television network.

Analysts have been saying for weeks that an attack just before the first vote, or between the first vote and the runoff on May 7, could tip the election toward a candidate perceived as tougher on crime and terrorism, especially far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who hardened her stand against Muslim immigration in the campaigns final days, linking it to security fears.

The debate format was one-on-one interviews lasting 15 minutes each, followed by an almost three-minute conclusion, and the presidential candidates quickly delivered Twitter posts about the attack as if they were not on the air. Those whose interviews were still being broadcast took the opportunity to speak about their security proposals.

Francois Molins, the Paris prosecutor, said that shortly before 9 p.m., a car pulled up to a police vehicle that was parked in front of a Marks & Spencer store. A gunman jumped out and opened fire on the vehicle, killing an officer. The gunman then tried to flee while firing at other officers but was killed by police.

France has been on high alert since the terrorist attacks in and around Paris in November 2015, and this presidential election will be the first to be conducted under such conditions. Authorities have been warning for months that despite the lack of any large-scale attacks, the threat has not abated.

Molins, who handles terrorism investigations nationwide, said authorities had identified the killer, but he declined to provide the gunmans identity because police raids and the search for potential accomplices were still ongoing.

The speed with which the Islamic State claimed responsibility was surprising, said Peter R. Neumann, director of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence at Kings College London. It seems prepared and coordinated, like they knew this was going to happen, he said.

Alissa J. Rubin, Aurelien Breeden and Benoit Morenne are New York Times writers.
We are gathering information for the 2022 general election. On desktop, click "election information" on the right side of this pag...
CHICAGO - The "social issues" agenda took center stage in the Rauner campaign today when his wife and several other abortion supporters ran a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune touting the Republican candidate's position on life.

Late last week, Illinois Review was sent a copy of an email circulating about the upcoming ad. The email requesting signatories for the letter read:

Subject: Bruce Rauner - Pro Choice Hi, Bruce Rauner is in favor of a woman's right to make her own her reproductive choices. Bruces wife, Diana has asked me to gather a group of people to sign the attached letter to that effect. The letter will be published in the Chicago Tribune. If you would like to participate in this endorsement, please email me back saying you would join the list. There will be no need to sign anything formally. Thanks for your consideration. Please pass on to others as you see fit. The more the better on this letter. Deadline for this is noon tomorrow. Thank you in advance for your consideration. I really hope you will join me in this effort. Thanks again.

The author of the email is unknown, and it was followed by a copy of the letter that appeared on page 5 of the Tribune Tuesday (below):
DITA ALANGKARA/AFP/Getty Images

JAKARTA, Indonesia  Southeast Asia, a focus of past U.S. presidents, has been overlooked thus far for the Trump administration, but Vice President Mike Pences visit to Indonesia on Thursday marked a sign of change, and he announced the president would follow him to the region later this year.

Anxious Southeast Asian governments are looking for Americas commitment to counter Chinas rising economic and military clout. Vietnams foreign minister is in Washington his week, and the top diplomats of the regions 10-nation bloc are expected to arrive en masse in early May, amid concerns their interests were being crowded out as President Trump prioritizes Mideast counterterrorism, traditional alliances in Europe and North Koreas nuclear and missile threats.
Restaurant Brands New Zealand, the fast food operator, lifted annual profit 7.8 percent as its local KFC business generated record sales, bolstered by the recently acquired Australian KFC business, allowing directors to increase dividends to shareholders.

Net profit rose to $26 million, in the 52 weeks ended Feb. 27 from $24 million a year earlier, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. Underlying earnings rose 26 percent to $30.6 million, within the company's guidance of between $30 million and $32 million, and Restaurant Brands anticipates that will rise to around $40 million from its recent acquisitions.

Because the company issued shares to acquire the Australian business, earnings per share fell from 24.59 cents to 24.08 cents in the year under review.

Restaurant Brands bought 42 KFC stores in Australia last year, making it the biggest KFC franchisee in New South Wales, and in March was granted approval to acquire the only franchisee for 82 Taco Bell and Pizza Hut stores in Hawaii.

New Zealand operations delivered their "best ever overall sales and profit performance, strong trading from the KFC Australian business under its new Restaurant Brands' ownership and the successful completion of the acquisition of the Taco Bell and Pizza Hut franchisee in Hawaii," chief executive Russell Creedy and chief financial officer Grant Ellis said in their report. "The new financial year has seen a continuation of the strong trading performance across all four New Zealand brands seen over the FY17 year and both new acquisitions in Australia and Hawaii are currently delivering results in line with their business case projections."

The board declared a final dividend of 13.5 cents per share, paid on June 23 to shareholders on the register on June 9, taking the annual return to 23 cents, up 9.5 percent from a year earlier. The directors will decide whether to reintroduce a dividend reinvestment plan before announcing an interim dividend for the current financial year.

The shares last traded at $5.35, having gained 5.3 percent so far this year.

The company's New Zealand KFC division increased earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation by 7.5 percent to $61.4 million on a 4.9 percent increase in sales to $296.5 million. Ebitda margins widened 0.5 of a percentage point to 20.7 percent due to cheaper ingredients and store efficiencies, which the company said offset rising labour costs.

The Pizza Hut New Zealand unit posted a 17 percent decline in earnings to $4.1 million on a 9.8 percent fall in sales to $40.5 million as Restaurant Brands sold stores to independent franchisees, while the Starbucks Coffee division increased ebitda 8 percent to $4.8 million on a 0.4 percent decline in sales to $26.7 million.

Carl's Jr sales rose 9 percent to $36.3 million and ebitda more than doubled to $1 million, with the company saying it "continued to make steady progress towards building critical mass and long term financial viability" for the brand.

Auditor PwC took a closer look at the $1.5 million value attached to Carl's Jr's goodwill due to "the continued profitability challenges faced by the Carl's Jr segment and because of the sensitivity to judgements about the future performance of the business" but was satisfied with management's impairment testing.

Restaurant Brands' KFC Australia division continued $97.2 million of sales and $15 million of ebitda to the group and has bought five more stores since the Feb. 27 balance date.

The company took on debt to fund the Australian KFC division last year, with bank loans totalling $46.5 million as at Feb. 27, up from $12.7 million a year earlier. That's set to increase with its US$105 million acquisition of the Hawaiian business, of which US$42 million will be debt funded. Finance costs rose to $2.3 million from $991,000 in 2016.

Restaurant Brands' operating cash flow rose 8.1 percent to $47.9 million in the year, and after investing and financing activities, the company had $70.1 million in cash as at Feb. 27.

(BusinessDesk)

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NEW DELHI: The rich legacy of India textiles and handicrafts is set to foray into the global market at an international trade event to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June that will showcase products from "Fibre to Fashion".

The Ministry of Textiles held a curtain raiser at the Crafts Museum here on Tuesday to 'Textiles India 2017' - the first global business to business textile and handicrafts event in India - scheduled to be held in Gujarat from June 30 to July 2.

The preview to the main event saw the representation of artisans, weavers, emerging and established designers from across the country.

Fashion designers and craftsmen showcased the strength of the Indian textiles sector in cotton, silk, wool, woven and hand-printed, embroidered as well as modern and futuristic textiles.

The textile story was narrated through the works of well-known designers like Manish Arora, Manish Malhotra, Rahul Misra, Ritu Kumar, Rohit Bal, Sabyasachi Mukherjee and many others.

Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Irani inaugurated the event to celebrate textiles and handicrafts legacy of India that highlighted Prime Minister Modi's vision - "From Farm to Fibre, Fibre to Factory, Factory to Fashion, Fashion to Foreign."

"The textile sector in India has got huge potentiality in terms of employment opportunity," Irani said at the event.

She said with rich handicraft collection, the 'Textile India 2017' would showcase more than 1,000 stalls from across the country.

Ace designer Sabyasachi told IANS on the sidelines of the event: "I am very happy to be a part of the initiative and contribute in taking ahead this movement. My work focuses on zardozi material from West Bengal."

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CHENNAI: In line with its global "platform + ecosystem" strategy, Huawei Enterprise Business Group (BG) India on Wednesday announced its partnership with Redington India to distribute and market Huawei enterprise products and services in the country.



Huawei Enterprise BG India aims to create maximum value for Indian enterprises with its innovative ICT solutions and services backed by a strong ecosystem, the company said in a statement.



"ICT is becoming an engine for the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and in such times, the enterprise systems become business functions rather than support functions," said Derek Hao, President, Enterprise Business Group, Huawei India.



Redington will support Huawei in developing resellers to market and promote products and services products in areas of server, storage, data centre and cloud computing to Huawei enterprise customers in the country.



"With Huawei, we now have the ability to reach out pan-India and will be in a position to take advantage of their vast product portfolio," added Johnson George, Senior General Manager and Head Strategic Business Unit, Redington India Ltd.

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CHENNAI: Chinese telecom firm Huawei is in talks with the Indian government for its smart cities initiative, a top company official said today.



It is also interested in offering its solutions to domestic power utility companies, Huawei Telecommunications India, Enterprise Business, President Derek Hao told PTI here.



"Discussions are going on with government on Smart Cities initiative," he said.



The company, which garnered revenue of USD 75 billion globally as of December 2016, has offered its expertise to develop 100 smart cities in over 40 countries, he said.



On offering the company's Smart Grid solutions to power utility firms, he said they were holding discussions.



"We are also discussing with power utility companies here in India," he said.



"Huawei has AMI Solutions which is Advanced Metering Infrastructure. It can greatly help a power utility company reduce electricity loss and increase meter reading efficiently," he said.



Responding to a query, he said the company was already offering its service to several power utility firms globally.



Hao and senior company officials were here to announce their partnership with city-based IT parts distributor Redington.



Hao and Redington India senior General Manager and Head Strategic Business, Johnson George exchanged documents as part of formally inking the partnership.



Through the tie-up, Redington India would distribute Huawei enterprise products and services in the country.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Midland Beach filmmaker and actor Michael Robert Anderson says the moral of his upcoming project is "There can still be peace in hard times."

According to him, music is a universal escape, no matter the circumstances. That's what he wanted to portray through his feature film "Major Key."

The 24-year-old just finished filming the love-drama in a Millville, N.J., home he found on Airbnb.

"Major Key" is set during the height of WWII in a German village. A group of soldiers in hiding are taken in by a German family, where a story of forbidden love is stitched together by a shared love for jazz music.

The daughter in the German family -- played by actress Sabrina Matarazzo of New Jersey -- is a jazz musician who sparks the interest of a singing soldier.

"I wanted to make a film that everyone can relate to," says Anderson. "And all over the world, people relate to music."

Contrary to first impressions, the title of the film was not inspired by DJ Khalid. "Major Key" is a play on both military and musical lingo.

A 'STRANGE' GUEST

Gaten Matarazzo, who stars as Dustin Henderson in the thrillingly successful Netflix series "Stranger Things," took a break from filming the second season to support his starlet sister.

Although he didn't have a role in the film, Gaten made himself at home on set playing catch with the cast, sporting Anderson's costume war gear and discussing "Star Wars" theories.

Anderson says her killer audition landed her the part and talent clearly runs in the Matarazzo family.

"He's a really down to earth, humble kid," Anderson says, describing Gaten.

IT ALL STARTED WITH A CAMCORDER

The humble filmmaker has been behind the camera since he was 11 years old, saying his early work was documented on a camcorder, featuring him as a one-man show. Anderson draws inspiration from his cinematic and comedic idol, Kevin Smith.

"[Smith's] natural ability to show how important it is and how hard it can be to be a 20-something is what makes me want to keep pursuing it," says Anderson. "He tells the stories of east coast 'low lives, misguided souls and lost dreams' and turns them into charming, yet extremely thought-provoking pieces of art."

"That is what a filmmaker should strive for," Anderson continues.

Anderson took up acting and musical theatre at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Now, he's back on Staten Island making films with his buddies through Purple Cloud -- a team of local filmmakers, actors and storytellers.

"It's a privilege to be so involved in the creative world," says Anderson. "It keeps my heart beating."

Anderson made it a point to shout out his Purple Cloud partner Matt Provenzano, who's latest short film featured Anderson as a main character. The on and off camera duo have been working together since 2014 and Provenzano was the director of photography on Anderson's "Major Key."

Since filming just wrapped, Anderson hopes to drop "Major Key" by the end of the year. He's shooting to enter the project to the Tribeca Film Festival in 2018.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An 18-year-old man is accused in the shooting of a 23-year-old man in New Brighton earlier this month.

Meanwhile, at least five other separate recent North Shore shooting incidents remain unsolved as of Thursday, according to information supplied by police.

Prince Edmonds, 18, of Jersey Street, has been arrested for allegedly wounding a 23-year-old man in the leg on Jersey Street between Taft and Layton avenues on April 9, according to a spokesman for the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

Police charged Edmonds with assault, criminal possession of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.

Cops continue to investigate the other incidents in the recent spate of shootings.

The NYPD did not immediately provide information about whether the recent North Shore shootings are thought to be related and/or possible motives for those incidents.

Police on Thursday released a video intended to elicit tips for an SUV seen near the fatal shooting of Keith Keita, 42, on March 31 in Elm Park. Cops are seeking two men sought for questioning in connection with the murder, believed to have been traveling in the SUV, which was captured on surveillance video at Morningstar Road and Walker Street, according to an NYPD statement.

A police spokesman told the Advance on Thursday that no arrests have yet been made in the non-fatal shootings of the following victims:

-- 40-year-old man on Easter Sunday, April 16, at 541 Targee St., Concord

-- 16-year-old male and 17-year-old male on Easter Sunday, April 16, at 218 Broad St., Stapleton

-- 21-year-old man on April 18 at 27 Warren St., Stapleton, who walked into Richmond University Medical Center.

-- 23-year-old woman on Thursday at Hudson and Cedar streets, Stapleton.

The 120th Precinct has launched an anti-gun initiative in the wake of shootings in the vicinity of the Stapleton Houses, according to a social media post.
Landmarks on the North Shore include residential homes, museums, a high school, a bank and military installation.

Steve Zaffarano | zaffarano@siadvance.com

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Staten Island Savings Bank, Stapleton

The Staten Island Savings Bank was incorporated in 1864 and began operating in 1867 in a rented office at the corner of Bay and Broad streets in Stapleton. The banks 21 founders included abolitionist and philanthropist Francis Gould Shaw, brewery owner John Bechtel, and entrepreneur Louis H. Meyer, who served as the first president. The banks first depositor was Mary Josephine Thiery, who arrived with $100 on June 8, 1867. As business grew, the bank relocated several times in Stapleton. In 1892, the bank relocated to its own building on the ground floor at the corner of Water and Beach streets. In December 1922, the banks trustees announced that Delano & Aldrich, the nationally prominent architectural firm, had been hired to design a new building, at the corner of Water and Beach streets. The cornerstone was laid in 1924, and the new building opened for business on January 7, 1925. It displays decorative exterior details that reference both its function as a bank and Stapleton's maritime history. The building was designated a city landmark in 2006.

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Garibaldi-Meucci Museum, Rosebank

The Garibaldi-Meucci Museum is a tribute to two notable Italians: Giuseppe Garibaldi, the 19th-century Italian Freedom Fighter who was in exile from Italy, and Antonio Meucci, an inventor trying to prove his claim of having invented the telephone more than 25 years before Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent. In the 1800s, Meucci installed a telephone line linking his wife's room with his basement laboratory. Alexander Graham Bell was 2 years old at the time, but Meucci apparently failed to maintain a patent. Bell successfully patented his in 1876. In 1885, Meucci and a group of backers filed suit against the new Bell Telephone, which failed. On June 15, 2002, Congress officially recognized that Meucci was to be credited with the invention of the telephone. Giuseppe Garibaldi enters the picture in 1850. With the defeat of his Roman Republican forces in Italy, he had fled Europe with a price on his head. He was ill and grieving the loss of his wife when he met Meucci shortly after arriving in New York. Meucci offered his home to Garibaldi. His stay was quiet and mainly recuperative. He assisted Meucci in a candle-making business (the wax melter still stands at the rear of the property). A letter has survived, in which Giuseppe Garibaldi describes the candles as "very fine ones.'' Garibaldi died on June, 2, 1862, and Meucci on Oct. 18, 1889. Today, the museum is maintained by the Order of the Sons of Italy and is dedicated to the preservation and celebration of Italian-American culture and heritage and to the two men who once lived there.

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Edgewater Village Hall, Stapleton

Edgewater Village Hall was built in 1889, nine years before Richmond County residents voted to join New York City. It served the village of Edgewater  now Stapleton  and was referred to as a model village. An aging bronze plaque preserved under an antique frame in Village Hall's main foyer reveals that the people of Edgewater sold $15,000  about $250,000 today  in bonds to build the structure. In time, the bonds netted $15,639  precisely $15,046.45 went toward the "building, heater and sundries"; the balance was spent in "grading, paving and the park." In "A Descritive Sketch of Stapleton," which was published in 1893, the village hall is described as follows: "The courtroom is one of the finest on the Island, or for that matter, anywhere in the immediate vicinity of New York. The building itself is substantial ... somewhat ornate in style, well adapted to the purpose to which it is devoted." The municipal court and the Magistrate's court were held in the village hall until new courthouses were erected. The park surrounding the hall was originally called Washington Park. In 1934, it was renamed for James J. Tappen, a Stapleton resident killed in the Battle of Argonne during World War I. Edgewater Village Hall was designated a city landmark on July 30, 1968.

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Boardman-Mitchell House, Stapleton

In 1834, W.J. Staples and the heirs of Daniel D. Tompkins  the sixth vice president of the United States  combined their properties, had the land surveyed and divided it into lots. Four adjoining lots were purchased by John and Marie Jennings seven years later. In 1845, they sold the lots to Dr. James Boardman, the resident physician at the Seaman's Retreat, later Bayley Seton Hospital. By 1848, construction on Dr. Boardmans Italianate villa "designed in the preferred style for a fashionable suburban dwelling" was complete. He died in 1893 without a will, so the property was passed to a court-appointed referee. His wife, Matilde, bought it back at auction for $6,000. She quickly sold it to Capt. Elvin Mitchell, who paid with the "Award Money" he received from his rescue of passengers aboard the doomed SS Oregon, a Cunard liner. The Oregon, known for its record speed of 30 knots, was rammed by a coal sloop on March 14, 1886. Mitchell, who later became a founding member of the Sandy Hook Pilots Benevolent Association, tacked his own sloop onto the Oregon and brought the women and children aboard while the men and the crew were towed behind in lifeboats. Four owners followed Mitchell after his death in 1936, at the age of 80. Barnett Shepherd, the former director of the Staten Island Historical Society, found the original pair of front doors tucked away in the basement after the home was bequeathed to him in 2009. The home was purchased in 2012 by Joseph and Liba Offenberg. The Boardman-Mitchell House  the grand dame sitting atop a bluff at 710 Bay Street in Stapleton -- was landmarked in 1982 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

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The DeGroot House, West Brighton

The DeGroot House -- a rare example of a surviving Staten Island waterfront mansion from the pre-Civil War era -- was designated a landmark in 2005. The home at 1674 Richmond Terrace was built around 1850 by John DeGroot, who made his living at a nearby textile dyeing business, one of the Island's earliest industries. The dark wood-shingled home is of architectural significance because the convex mansard roof is a rare find. The roof still has its hexagonal slate shingles. The interior features floor-length parlor windows, a double-door entryway, heavy molded cornices and scrolled brackets. Grand homes of this type lined Richmond Terrace in its heyday as one of the most prestigious addresses in West Brighton.

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The Vanderzee-Harper House, New Brighton

The Vanderzee-Harper House at 327 Westervelt Ave. in New Brighton was constructed for Margaret A. Shields, a native of Westchester County. The property was purchased in June 1887 from Charles A. Herpich, a Manhattan furrier and wealthy Staten Island resident with large land holdings here. It most probably was built just before the sale was completed, since the purchase price of $4,500 would indicate a house a was present on the lot. Margaret Shields, married Gordon Doane Vanderzee, a native Staten Islander involved in the clothing business with his brothers. They lived in the house until 1895 when they relocated to Philadelphia. They rented it to several tenants before finally selling it to Thomas Harper and his family in the 1920s. Harper, an Irish immigrant, settled in Brooklyn after arriving in the United States in the 1870s. He moved to Staten Island in 1878, where he owned two grocery stores, one in Stapleton and one in New Brighton. After Harper's death in 1922, his wife sold the house to her son and daughter-in-law, living with them until her death in 1940. In 1946 the family sold the house and a portion of the lot. The Vanderzee-Harper House had several owners in the intervening years. The home was purchased in 2002 and underwent a total restoration of the exterior and interior. The home was designated a city landmark in 2009.

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Battery Weed, Fort Wadsworth

Battery Weed at Fort Wadsworth was built in the late 17th century was and was one of the oldest continuously manned military installations in the United States before the Navy left in 1994. Originally called Fort Richmond, it was re-named for Stephen Hinsdale Weed, a career military man who graduated from West Point in 1854. He was involved in the Peninsula Campaign and also fought at Antietam, Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg. Weed was killed at Gettysburg defending Little Round Top. He held the rank of brigadier general at the time of his death. His funeral service was held in Tompkinsville and he is buried in Moravian Cemetery in New Dorp.

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Borough Hall, St. George

Built between 1904 and 1906 in the Beaux Arts style, Borough Hall was designed by the prominent architectural firm of Carrere and Hastings, whose New York buildings include the New York Public Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. The brick-and-limestone landmark features a distinctive clock tower overlooking New York Harbor. The grand marble lobby contains a series of Depression Era bas-reliefs and murals which allow visitors to take a walk through history, according to Borough Hall's website. The 13 murals are 6  by 13-foot oil-on-canvas masterpieces and depict significant moments in Staten Island's past. They are the first comprehensive series of paintings to decorate a public building on Staten Island, and the murals are the largest and most accessible WPA collection in New York City.

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Hamilton Park Cottage, New Brighton

In 1851, Charles K. Hamilton, a native of Halifax who lived in Manhattan, purchased 32 acres of land in New Brighton for Hamilton Park. His plan was to make this part of Staten Island a premier residential community with easy access to the city. Although development proceeded slowly at Hamilton Park, the German-born architect Carl Pfeiffer designed 12 additional residences. In 1864, he built Hamilton Park Cottage at 105 Franklin Ave. The focal point of the cottage is the unique triple-arched porch in front of the main entrance, which is linked to the bay windows of the parlor and dining rooms. The home was designated a city landmark in 1970.

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Gardiner-Tyler House, West Brighton

The Gardiner-Tyler House was built in 1835 by Mrs. Elizabeth Racey and purchased in the 1840s by New York State Senator David Gardiner, and his socialite wife, Juliana. The couple's daughter, Julia, was wooed by men of prominence in Washington, including the widowed President John Tyler, who was 33 years her senior. On June 26, 1844, she became the second wife of President Tyler, a marriage considered scandalous by some in Washington because of the May-December union, according to a 2001 Advance story. She made only rare visits to her mother's home on Staten Island during her marriage to the president. After Tyler left office, the couple moved to Virginia. On the eve of the Civil War, John Tyler took an oath as President of the Confederate Congress. He died in 1862 and Mrs. Tyler was now viewed as the powerless widow of a secessionist. Her immediate and frantic concern was to get herself and her children to her mother's home on Staten Island. In 1863, she slipped into Washington with the aide of a gentleman admirer from her past, but she was refused passage when wouldnt take the oath of allegiance. She boarded a blockade runner to Bermuda and returned to Staten Island, where she was at odds with her Unionist brother. In 1865, 15 hours after President Lincoln was assassinated, an armed trio carrying swords and clubs broke into the Gardiner mansion and demanded her "rebel flag." She was convinced the intrusion was orchestrated by her brother. Mrs. Tyler lived on Staten Island with her seven children until 1874, when she returned to the South. She died in Richmond, Va., in 1889. The mansion was purchased in 1874 by William M. Evarts, Secretary of State under President Rutherford B. Hayes and United States Secretary General under President Andrew Johnson. Today, it is owned by Arlene Gillen McGinley, who grew up there. The home was granted landmark status in 1966.

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Curtis High School, St. George

Curtis High School was the first public building erected on Staten Island after the borough was consolidated into New York City in 1898 and was the first public high School in the borough. Commissioned by Charles B.J. Snyder and inspired by English medieval models, the school is named in honor of abolitionist and prominent writer George W. Curtis, who settled on the Island in the mid-19th century just before the Civil War. The schools original building of brick and limestone, with its center square tower, is an example of Neo-Gothic architecture. Murals inside pay homage to Curtis and famed alumni, such as etiquette writer Amy Vanderbilt. Still other panels represent now-defunct extracurricular activities such as horseback riding and synchronized swimming. It was designated a city landmark in 1982 and remains the only city school landmarked both inside and out.

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Alice Austen House, Rosebank

The Alice Austen House, originally known as Clear Comfort, was built in 1690 and purchased in 1884 by Alice Austens grandfather, John Haggerty Austen, a well-to-do businessman. In 1877, at the age of 11, Ms. Austen received a camera from her uncle. She was immediately mesmerized by this new invention, and spent the next 40 years capturing some 8,000 images. She was often seen riding her bicycle around Staten Island and Manhattan, carrying almost 50 pounds of photographic equipment. She is best known for her street photography: Photos of immigrants just off the boats from Ellis Island, street sweepers hard at work, postmen, bootblacks, and fishmongers. Austen lived in the house for much of her life from 1886 to 1952. A group of citizens came together to save the house, as it had fallen into despair from being neglected for years after Austen and her partner, Gertrude Tate, moved out. Restoration began in 1984 and after its completion, the Alice Austen House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. It became a designated city landmark a year later and a National Historic Landmark in 1993. It is operated today as a museum by the city Parks Department.

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Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden. Livingston

SailorsSnug Harbor was founded in 1831 as a haven for "aged, decrepit and worn-out sailors" by Capt. Robert Richard Randall, a wealthy, bachelor ship owner whose extensive real estate holdings -- including a large portion of downtown Manhattan -- underwrote the home for 144 years. It was an enormous, lavishly appointed, virtually self-sufficient, admission-free retirement community. The endowment eventually dwindled and the facility became dilapidated and under-used. In the 1960s, the "Front Five," the buildings that overlook the Kill van Kull, the Veterans Memorial Hall and the wrought-iron fence that encloses the site were designated city landmarks. They are also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1972, the city purchased the property, spurned various demolition and development schemes and agreed to restore and develop the 28 historic buildings as a cultural center in a city park. The newly formed Snug Harbor Cultural Center was incorporated in 1975. In 2008, Snug Harbor Cultural Center combined with the Staten Island Botanical Gardens to become Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden.

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George William and Anna Curtis House, West Brighton

Prominent abolitionist George William Curtis purchased the home on Henderson and Bard avenues in 1856, three years after his first appearance as a public lecturer. He served as a delegate to the Republican conventions that nominated Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and 1864. In 1862, Curtis refused Lincoln's offer of the consul-generalship in Egypt on the grounds that he could contribute more to society through his journalism and lectures. He married Anna Curtis in 1857 and both of their children were born in the West Brighton house, which would become the scene of much entertainment in the years that followed. Curtis was a founder of the Unitarian Church of the Redeemer, and was often called upon to conduct services when there was no minister available to the congregation. Mrs. Curtis was a famous horsewoman, one of the founders of the Women's Club on Staten Island, and active for many years on the local school board. She was of great help to her husband and acquired a typewriter, one of the first on the Island, to type his essays and articles. George Curtis died in 1892 and his wife 30 years later. A number locations in the borough bear his name, most notably Curtis High School. "

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Steeped in history: 12 landmarks around the South Shore

South Shore landmarks date as far back as the 1600s and through the days when oyster farming was the biggest trade on Staten Island.
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Minister Lee touched on the critical role that the media has to ensure that the public has access to accurate, factual, balanced and unbiased information. As part of any democratic process, this information is critical for the publics decision-making process. So, keeping this in mind, and without the intention of infringing upon anyones freedom of speech, Minister Lee recommended to the media of St Maarten to establish their own guidelines and association.





Minister Lee made reference to the Netherlands press councils internal guidelines (http://ethicnet.uta.fi/netherlands/guidelines_from_the_netherlands_press_council) that they have adopted from international standards. Examples of these guidelines included that "a journalist would avoid biased (one-sided) reporting. When publishing accusations, a journalist would investigate whether there was a sound basis for them. They would essentially hear from both sides of the argument. If reasonably possible, the journalist will hear who are disqualified as a result of the publication even if their role is marginal. The accused will be given ample opportunity to respond to the accusations, preferably, in the same publication without being subject to unreasonable time pressure. If a journalist who appears to have reported incorrectly or incompletely on a certain essential point, will make a suitable and generous rectification on their own initiative."





Minister Lee made reference to a disturbing article that was released in his absence stating that he committed USD $200k to SunWing while attending CHTA Marketplace. Minister Emil Lee then provided factual clarity to the accusation explaining that every minister [on Sint Maarten] knows that they are not allowed to commit amounts over Naf 50,000 without an approval process by the Ministry and Council of Ministers. Certainly, as a Minister filling in for the Minister of Tourism, I would not even venture to execute that authority for a Ministry that I am representing on a few days basis, said Minister Lee.





CHTA Marketplace is an event for buyers and suppliers. Tourist offices and hotels meet with tour operators to discuss plans for the future such as possible cooperative marketing efforts. Discussions occurred with Expedia, Trip Advisor, SunWing, and a number of different tour operators. Minister Lee was accompanied by a representative of the tourist office and a member of the cabinet of TEATT in every meeting. The Minister made it clear there was no commitment letter, email or contract issued by Minister Lee to Sunwing. "Sunwing is a professional organization that has been doing business in the Caribbean for many years. Working with different Caribbean tourism entities, they are well aware that any commitment of funds would need to be confirmed with a signed agreement. There is no way they left the meeting with a commitment of funds." stated Minister Lee.





Minister Lee expressed his support of marketing support for SunWing. SunWing brings direct flights with passengers from Canada to Sint Maarten. IATAs estimation of financial contribution per flight is approximately USD $13 million in direct and indirect spending. Minister Lee made it clear that, in principal, based on the aforementioned information that he would be in support of spending money to support direct air access and reservations into our destination.





Other discussions with the tour operators included discussions about media and the manner in which the funds would be spent. Making sure that the funds were spent on hard advertising that generated real exposure for the island as opposed to in house marketing activities. Were there discussions about what a future plan would look like? Sure. Were there discussions about the frustrations about dealing with Sint Maarten and how money approvals always took so long, and how money was received late and translated to it being spent inefficiently? Sure. How would we spend that money more effectively and ensure that Sint Maarten is getting the bang for its buck that it deserves? Sure, thats the job of the Minister. To negotiate terms that are in the best interest of the country, said Minister Lee.





Minister Lee stated that a simple communication asking for the other side of the story would have yielded a balanced report. He concluded by reading an email that he received from one of the SunWing representatives that saw the article. The email read as follows:





"I am writing you in regards to the article that was published in the SMN-News. Firstly, we [are] deeply disturbed that a confidential email is misquoted and misrepresented. And, secondly, that it be brought up in the media.  We had also discussed the amount of marketing support and we understood that you would be supportive of our request if it met the criteria set by the tourism office. We did not believe it would be in your purview to approve funding for us on the spot."




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02:52 NSW parliaments final sitting weeks begin The New South Wales government is in a race against time to pass key legislation in the final sitting weeks of parliament.

00:53 Astronomy fans turn out for lunar eclipse A total lunar eclipse was visible across Australia and the Pacific region last night from sunset until after 9pm.

Former minister and Sky News host dies aged 72 Former politician and Sky News host Peter Reith has died "peacefully" on Tuesday afternoon as Australians pay tribute to a key political figure who spent more than 17 years in Parliament.

Toddler dies after being attacked by a dog The two-year-old boy was rushed to hospital with serious injuries after being bitten by a dog near a motel in New South Wales' central west.

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Ousted Liberal MP takes aim at deceptive teal donors The former Liberal MP argued the methods donors to independent candidates took is contrary to what the teals campaigned on.

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04:36 If Liberals had any credibility they would acknowledge they knew rates were going up Treasurer Jim Chalmers says if Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor had any credibility, he would acknowledge the rates started going up on the...

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A judge found two Comancheros guilty on Thursday of peppering a rival bikie with bullets in a drive-by shooting, but the verdict was for a much less serious offence than prosecutors had pressed.

Three months after he was shot, Lihai Vimahi and Daniel Grech's victim raped and assaulted his partner in a vigorous attack that thwarted allegations he suffered serious injury in the shooting.

The scene of the shooting in Stirling in March 2015. Credit:Jeffrey Chan

Vimahi, 24, and Grech, 27, now face a maximum of 5 years in prison for the shooting, not the 20 years they had been exposed to after being charged with intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm.

The pair, both in black suits and with their short dark hair shaved to the scalp at the back and sides, grinned at each other and their supporters in the packed court as the verdict came down.
An ACT parliamentary committee will explore a recommendation by the electoral commission to clamp down on corflutes during elections, after an absurd amount adorned Canberra roadsides last year. The Select Committee on the 2016 ACT Election and Electoral Act on Thursday released a discussion paper outlining their targets for the inquiry later in the year. Like Canberra corflutes during last year's election. High on the committee's agenda will be looking at lowering the voting age in Canberra, improving rules around political donations and reporting timelines, and getting more people to vote. The committee will also look into the disqualification of candidates, particularly the time limits imposed on candidates for close of nominations, in light of Mohammad Munir Hussain's historic challenge to October election result (his court case fizzled out earlier this month).

They will also drill into the caps on election expenditure, and look at whether the limits should be raised for ungrouped candidates and third-party campaigners, given the electoral commission on Thursday fined three third-party campaigners for overspending. But the committee will also run the rule over the positioning of corflutes, after the blight of election advertising unleashed on Canberra after last year's twin elections. Last month the ACT Electoral Commission recommended the moveable signs code of practice be amended so election corflutes on public land could not be placed on suburban streets or inside designated areas of special significance to the national capital. Instead corflutes could only be placed on specified stretches of arterial roads. While the electoral commission noted the number of corflute complaints fell from 28 in 2012 to 12 in 2016, anecdotal evidence suggested "a relatively widespread degree of dissatisfaction with the proliferation of campaign signs across Canberra's main roads and suburban streets".
Tara Cheyne had never set foot in Canberra when she was recruited into the federal public service but after almost a decade in the nation's capital, it is firmly and inextricably home.

A year ago, the ACT parliamentarian would have faced the same uncertainty as her Department of Finance colleagues do now, after the federal government unveiled plans to explore decentralising the Australian public service.

Labor Member for Ginninderra Tara Cheyne was a federal public servant before being elected to the ACT Assembly. Credit:Jamila Toderas

On Wednesday, it was revealed the Coalition government would force all federal departments to justify their continued presence and that of their portfolio agencies in Canberra and other capital cities or else face a forced move to rural or regional Australia.

While Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce on Thursday dismissed the idea of sending whole government departments to the bush, Ms Cheyne said the prospect of being forced to pick up and start again was "frightening" for many of her former colleagues.
US airlines stand to benefit from flight cutbacks by Dubai-based Emirates, which blamed President Donald Trump's travel restrictions for hurting demand from Middle Eastern passengers.

Emirates will pare service to five US cities after the country banned on-board electronics on flights from some Middle Eastern airports and attempted to block travel from six predominantly Muslim nations. That trims competition from the biggest Persian Gulf carrier -- a persistent irritant to long-haul US operators that see it as an unfair rival.

With fewer flights, some Emirates passengers may switch to big European airlines and their US partners for travel from the Middle East and Asia. American Airlines, Delta. and United have prodded US officials for two years to act on their complaints that $US50 billion ($66.7 billion) in government support has enabled Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways to compete unfairly.

"Any reduction in capacity from them is only a good thing for US airlines," said Joe DeNardi, an analyst at Stifel Financial Corp.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has been urged to review the airline's use of toxic firefighting foam following a leak at Brisbane Airport.

The head of Queensland's environment department, Jim Reeves, has written to Mr Joyce asking him to reconsider Qantas's use of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) nationally.

The state's environment minister, Dr Steven Miles, has also called on the federal government to ban the use of substances that contain PFOA at Brisbane Airport and other Crown land sites across the state.

"As a result of the foam spill from a Qantas hangar at Brisbane Airport last week, Brisbane residents have been put at risk, which is a position that could have been prevented," he said in a statement on Thursday.
Rio Tinto's copper business has suffered a heavy hit thanks to strife at its Chilean and Indonesia operations.

In a report released to the exchange on Thursday morning, the mining giant revealed copper production was down 37 per cent both for the quarter and compared to the same quarter last year.

The iron ore market remains oversupplied. Credit:AP

The culprits were a 43 day strike at the Escondida mine in Chile and slowed output at Grasberg to cope with restrictions put in place by the Indonesia government.

As a result Rio cut its mined copper guidance to between 500 and 550 thousand tonnes for the year from its previous guidance of between 525 and 665 thousand tonnes. Its refined copper guidance was unchanged at between 185 and 225 thousand tonnes.
A few years ago, and well before the headlines heralding Amazon's imminent arrival to Australian shores hit, executives from Australia's biggest owner of retail businesses, Wesfarmers, assembled the Amazon response team  which comprised of strategists from all of the West Australian conglomerate's big retail brands, Coles, Bunnings, Kmart, Officeworks and Target.

The purpose; to be battle-ready for the onslaught of the mother of all retail disrupters.

Wesfarmers amped up its strategic battle plans a year ago  bringing in a team from head office to weigh in further  to "test each division to ensure they have a robust [defence] strategy".

The chief executive-elect of Wesfarmers, Rob Scott, says 90 per cent of its strategic weaponry is not for public consumption because it is competitively sensitive.
The Vice-President of Indonesia has signalled he prevented his US counterpart from discussing the contract row that has crippled operations at Grasberg  the world's second largest copper mine  by telling him "the affair is finished".

Rio Tinto  which revealed on Thursday its copper production had taken a heavy hit due in part to the dispute at Grasberg  was expected to be closely watching US Vice-President Mike Pence's visit to Indonesia this week.

Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla Credit:AP

The company's majority partner in Grasberg, US mining giant Freeport McMoRan, said earlier this month it had lost about $1 billion in revenue after the export of copper concentrate was halted on January 12 under new rules issued by the Indonesian government.

"As a consequence of the export ban Rio Tinto is reporting its metal share for the first quarter as zero," Rio Tinto said in a report released to the exchange on Thursday morning.
Those who have survived recount tales of abuse, humiliation and blackmail. Many of them are returned home bruised and broken. Others live in fear of being "outed" by authorities and attacked by relatives and neighbours. The spectre of honour killings is a reality for gay men in Chechnya.

This became brutally clear with the sickening accounts of what is happening to Chechen men assumed to be gay and bisexual. Not since the Second World War have gay people been rounded up and incarcerated in this way. At least three men are feared to have died as a result of their injuries.

Homosexuality remains illegal in many parts of the world and, in some countries, punishable by death. While homosexuality was decriminalised in Russia in 1993, LGBTI people are still subjected to significant prejudice.

The hideous recent reports of gay men being rounded up, tortured and thrown into "concentration camps" in the Russian republic of Chechnya are a shocking reminder of the ongoing persecution of LGBTI people around the world.

These reports, which came to light last week, are distressing to say the least.

These acts of brutality must be condemned. For when communities are silenced, it gives rise to prejudice and intolerance. When groups are denied recognition, it reinforces the notion of inequality. When LGBTI people are made invisible, wherever they are in the world, it impacts our global march of progress.

The campaign against gay men in Chechnya is particularly alarming for the message it sends. From these acts, people worldwide are told that it is acceptable to vilify marginalised communities and that LGBTI people are inferior. There is no denying this will galvanise homophobic forces, particularly in parts of the world where LGBTI people most need support.

The events in Chechnya are at one end of a spectrum of challenges facing our communities around the world. From the fight for equal marriage and gaining legal protections to reducing stigma, these campaigns all seek the same outcomes in their pursuits: freedom, visibility and equality. But for gay Chechens, and many others across the world, they are simply fighting to live.

Rightly, these appalling accounts of violence in Chechnya have drawn international condemnation with the United Nation, the United States and the European Union calling on the Russian government to intervene. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop expressed concern, telling Fairfax Media: "The Australian government is concerned at reports of mass arrests of individuals in the Republic of Chechnya in the Russian Federation due to their perceived or actual sexual orientation. We have raised our concerns directly with the Russian government. We are seeking advice from the Russian government on whether any Australians are involved so that we can offer appropriate consular assistance"
One of the first reactions to the National party's announcement of its big public service decentralisation policy on Wednesday was to dismiss it as a political stunt, an empty promise to job-hungry regions from a desperate party that could never be practically implemented.

For the sake of the nation, leaving aside the fortunes of its capital city, we should all hope so.

The Nationals' policy neatly encapsulates the business model of the wave of populist politics sweeping much of the developed world: it promises a quick and simple fix to the complex problem of regional decline in the hope of a prompt electoral pay-off.

It is no coincidence it was wheeled out between the Prime Minister's nationalistic pitches to recapture votes lost to anti-immigration sentiment on the left and right.
It is nearly 400 years since Galileo Galilei was put on trial for daring to put science and reason at the centre of public life.

In the centuries since, the economic and social dividends from the flourishing of science have been beyond the imaginings of Renaissance-era rationalists.

Chief scientist Alan Finkel says science once again seems under threat. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

On Saturday, world Earth Day, sections of the scientific community and its supporters will join the global March for Science. Hundreds of marches in 53 countries, focused on Washington DC, will allow supporters of science to speak out against proposed cuts to US scientific budgets and a perception that "alternative facts" are as valid as evidence-based scientific consensus.

No longer, it seems, do the facts speak for themselves.
Since 2001 and John Howard's Tampa response, every time the prime minister of the day is in trouble they resort to blowing the dog whistles on refugees, migrants, workers and "foreigners" to appease the racists in our country. When will even one of them show some honour? Keeping out a few thousand workers and making life even more difficult for some migrants and refugees will not help anyone. But it will again make Australia appear to the world as a nasty, vindictive, racist society. Marilyn Shepherd Angaston (SA) What happens if I am already an Australian citizen but do not share Malcolm Turnbull's Australian values? Seriously, what a farce. John Stahel Braidwood

With the PM ramping up the citizenship debate, it must be time to get rid of dual citizenship. If anyone wishes to become a citizen of their adopted country, they should forgo their former allegiance and wholly commit to their new country. Perhaps part of the new citizenship test should be to understand that "two bob each way" does not apply to citizenship. Alan Slade Dover Heights So our new citizens have to demonstrate that they will accept and live up to our "high Australian values". So when are many of our current Australian-born citizens going to demonstrate that they could possibly pass the same test, even the part about being able to speak, read, write and comprehend English? By all means let's have high standards concerning "values", but let's also live them and not just mouth the words. Me? I am off to improve my English so I can write better letters. I also need to work on my "tolerance" so I can better understand politicians. Wendy Lowe Enmore

With 2000 women and girls requiring medical assistance each week as a result of injuries caused by their partners or other family members, it is Australian-born men who need to have their views on gender equality and respect for women challenged. Or is asking a few thousand 457 visa applicants these questions easier than investing the time, money and political will into tackling the epidemic of domestic violence? Jennie Morris Wollongong Could we apply the loyalty test to Australia's head of state, please? John Buchanan Ultimo Decentralisation plan is headed in wrong direction

The government's decentralisation policy may be compared to relocating the fishing industry to Alice Springs ("Public servants told to justify why they must live in Canberra," April 20). Decentralisation is certainly needed, but the overheated urban centres are Sydney and other big coastal cities, not Canberra. To forcibly disperse the public service would be a shameful exercise in short-term political manoeuvring, and a further step in the dumbing down of the public service. Mark Horn Lane Cove Federal public servants need to be in Canberra to do their jobs because face-to-face communication is still infinitely better than electronic communication. Rather than public servants, it is parliamentarians who should "justify" why they must live in Canberra. Parliamentarians officially sit in Parliament for only about 50 days a year, and even then most of the time their seats are empty. Many routinely rort their generous entitlements to claim spurious work travel and accommodation. I suggest that taxpayer funding for their Canberra accommodation should be cut. Geoff Black Caves Beach Let's make sure departments get decentralised to where they do the most good. Foreign Affairs should be based at Queenstown, Tasmania, where the internet speed allows a four-week turnaround on emails. Education should go to the Gulf of Carpentaria, where the bureaucrats can enrol all their kids and lift the NAPLAN results. Defence should be based at Coober Pedy where there are plenty of underground shelters, and Immigration could be moved to Manus Island. The Prime Minister's Department should be based at Broome where they already have lots of mantras. Sorry, mantas.

Kevin Farrell Beelbangera Outback Steakhouse exploits trainees Outback Steakhouse's website claims that they "strive to positively impact the lives of our people" and that they "believe if you treat people 'Just Right', then success is assured to follow" ("$11.80 per hour", April 20). The disgruntled, poorly trained and underpaid hospitality trainees featured in your investigation suggest the opposite was true at the Fairy Meadow Outback Steakhouse restaurant. As well as purportedly abusing the government-subsidised Vocational Education and Training scheme, the restaurant's impact on the lives of its employees seems to have been a wholly negative one. John de Bres Rose Bay Proud to be a taxpayer  how about you?

Memo to the 48 millionaires who paid no income tax ("Average income: $2m, average tax paid: $0", April 20). As a worker I was proud to pay tax to provide the services we all enjoy in Australia. What do you enjoy? Bea Hodgson Gerringong Centrelink uses commission agents to ruthlessly pursue thousands of people for trivial or fictitious debts while 48 of Australia's wealthiest people pay no tax at all. It would seem that we have a government of the rich, by the rich and for the rich Paul Duncan Leura Powerhouse still at risk

The signs are good regarding the Powerhouse Museum but the battle is far from won ("Powerhouse Museum may retain Ultimo site", April 20). David Borger, in his unbridled enthusiasm for western Sydney, is still prepared to convert the historic Powerhouse precinct into an apartment block. If that goes ahead, many capital items such as the priceless Boulton & Watt steam engine, the Catalina Flying boat, Loco 1 and its carriages will become collateral damage. Garry Horvai Pennant Hills Lack of local training the real 457 issue Employers remain concerned that changes to the regulation of 457 and similar visas will restrict their ability to find suitable staff. But none of them seems able to ask themselves why there are shortages in areas such as bricklaying and construction, automotive mechanics and locksmithing ("Worker time bomb", April, 20). Could it be related to the reluctance of employers and government to take on the responsibility of training sufficient young Australians for these jobs? Simply cutting visas is not enough if there truly is a skills shortage. Why is it that for every employee from overseas taken on under one of these visas, the employer is not obliged to train a local worker? This might provide an incentive to truly test the local jobs market before looking overseas.

Jennifer Killen St Peters When I started in the computer industry 25 years ago, fresh out of university, I could hardly be described as part of the solution to any skills shortage. I had a degree but no experience. I learnt on the job. These days, that doesn't happen so much. Companies plead skills shortage and hire people on 457 visas. They aren't a cure for the skills shortage, they're making it worse. By all means let's bring in truly skilled people. Let's set a $100k salary limit above which people can be brought in. But let's save the entry-level jobs for our kids. Ben Aveling Alexandria The work visa overhaul shows what hypocrites our universities are. They are prepared to pump out large numbers of PhD students to gain the federal funding each successful outcome provides. However, their own doctoral students  many of whom are hoping to achieve an academic career  are then not deemed good enough to be employed as full-time lecturers. Quite often the best that universities will offer them is a dead-end job such as a casual academic with no career prospects, let alone a permanent position.

Lawrence Di Bartolo Kedron (Qld) Educate prisoners So concrete prisons could be replaced by technological prisons which punish in three key ways: restricting liberty, limiting activity and immobilising remotely and safely ("Prisonless world the way of future", April 20). I find it perplexing and illuminating that no reference was made to rehabilitation. Given that most offenders come from disadvantaged and dysfunctional backgrounds, these three components could be matched, through the billions of saved dollars, by three key remedial opportunities: education, education and education. James Laukka Epping

Another point of view There is more than one type of public housing tenant currently residing in Millers Point? ("Compassion lacking in forced moves", Letters, April 20). While an elderly woman shouldn't be kicked out of the free house she's been in for the past 30 years, it seems that the regular residents should be grateful for whatever harbour view they're offered. We're told that thousands of families can't afford their own homes in western Sydney, and yet they're made to pay for boutique pads in locked-out suburbs on the foreshore. One would think that whoever pays the piper should have some say in the tune they're paying for. William Cattell Sydney Science liberates us

I agree with Jocelyn Prasad ("The march isn't just for boffins", April 20) that we "need science to be pursued for the public good, uncompromised by commercial or political interests". I would also suggest that by embracing scientific principles we all participate in reasoned analysis. It is important not only to support science but to become literate ourselves so as to share in future conversations. Gordana Martinovich Dulwich Hill Relieving the itch with Talcolm powder Reading Nick O'Malley's article got me thinking ("PM's Aussie blather has American accent", April 20). If Tony + Malcolm = Talcolm, and then one added Pauline Hanson, a beneficiary of the 457 imbroglio, you would get a wonderful new product, Pauline's Talcolm Powder: "guaranteed" to relieve your every itch. Neil Buchanan Waitara

If our Prime Minister is any example, the real test for an Australian is to be able to speak English while not saying anything. Peter Fyfe Erskineville Middle of woop woop Please, please, please! Can we send Treasury to somewhere in the Simpson Desert? ("Public servants told they must justify why they must live in Canberra", April 20) Jim Mackenzie Lane Cove

Flop success repeated I'm unsure if this is criticising cultural cringe or supporting it, but I feel just a bit smug at the overseas success of Kiki ("Lawson's 'flop' sex comedy enjoys afterlife abroad", April 20). Years ago I had a bit part in The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith. Too close for comfort, it bombed here while Halliwell gave it four stars. Peter Farmer Northbridge Ssssssssoothsayer Call me prescient. I sent a letter last week about horse racing on the harbour bridge, titling it "Snakes on a train". Lo and behold, I opened the Herald to read "Snake found on Sydney train" (April 20).
MP Felicity Wilson says she always endeavoured to keep her electoral enrolments accurate. Credit:James Alcock On the small print these were authorised by one Chris Stone, who was not identified beyond his address. People who are not members of a political party might not know that Stone is the director of the NSW Liberals. Complaints were raised about these Liberal Party signs. The virtues of leaving it up to voters to choose whether to mark preferences are well rehearsed: it's more democratic to not express a choice if you don't want to, advocates say.

That's probably true. But how well informed were the voters about this, especially in the face of a misleading campaign? North Shore Greens voters, I tend to find, are all the stauncher for being surrounded. Most would prefer being eaten alive by wild horses to Liberal government. But roughly one-third of their ballots did not travel on with preferences, suggesting they were indifferent about whether they were represented by a Liberal MP or the leading alternative, an independent. I wonder how many of those about 2200 Greens voters (and many more independents) might think about their votes again, following a final post-preferences result that had the Liberals lose by less than 3500. Some protested they believed "just voting one" would have preferences automatically distributed, as used to happen in the old Senate elections.

What is clear is that not marking preferences likely made the difference. If trends held and the North Shore election were run using the same system as federal elections, which requires voters to number every square on their ballots, a different woman would likely be entering Parliament. This election had by no means an unusually low "exhaustion" rate of preferences for NSW Greens voters and second-guessing voters' intentions can be a very divisive game. But it's fair to ask whether these voters knew the implications of their choices. Come September, some North Sydney residents will be perhaps the most electorally exhausted in Australia, having voted in six polls in 2 years across council, state and federal elections.

Each time they will negotiate a system that treats marking and allocating preferences differently. Queensland recently ditched optional preferential voting after the Liberal government was bested by a union push to have voters number every box making use of similarly misleading, official-looking posters. NSW is now the only state to use a fully optional preferential voting system. There is evidence at least some voters are confused. At the last federal Senate election the rate at which NSW voters either cast informal ballots, or did not have preferences allocated, was up to 50 per cent higher than the national average. The results in North Sydney will now be challenged in court by losing candidate Carolyn Corrigan. Her complaint says even electoral commission officials told some voters to "just vote one", something the commission denies.

It is clear, however, that public information campaigns for the byelection were inadequate. In its official pre-election information brochure the commission does not explain how optional preferencing works in NSW. The ballot does mention voters can number more than one box, but it does not offer a complete explanation of how preferences work. Debates about the electoral system are tedious and a hundred years old. Conservatives long favoured compulsory preferencing but now Labor does as the progressive vote splinters between it and the Greens. That is much less important than ensuring voters know fully the implications of their vote and how to navigate different levels of government. The party of government in NSW misleading voters with perfectly legal material is an ugly thing indeed.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has demanded Labor support a major shake-up of Australian's citizenship laws, calling on the opposition to back new values-based questions that would focus on domestic violence, female genital mutilation and arranged marriages.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has responded by suggesting the proposed changes to citizenship laws were politically motivated to protect the Prime Minister's right flank from his predecessor, Tony Abbott, but said the opposition could back, for instance, greater English language proficiency.

Under changes announced by Mr Turnbull and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, would-be citizens would have to be permanent residents for four years rather than one; a new English language test will be introduced and applicants will have to demonstrate they have integrated by getting a job, enrolling their kids in school and potentially joining a community organisation.

It is the decision to expand the current 20-question citizenship test to include "values" questions  which will go out to community consultation  the government is attempting to frame as a political test for Labor.
Powerful crossbench senator Nick Xenophon has warned China could sink an Australian naval ship to send a message to the United States if tensions escalate in the South China Sea.

And he has raised the spectre of calls for Chinese Australians to be interned in camps if conflict broke out between China and the US and her allies including Australia.

Writing in Fairfax Media on Friday, Senator Xenophon argues the cost of conflict with China would be so high that it outweighs any obligation Australia should feel to join its ally the United States in pressuring Beijing to curb its activities in the strategic waterways.

If Australia were to get involved in military action in the South China Sea it should be on its own terms and backed by parliamentary approval, he said.
Election-weary Britons head to the polls on June 8. The French will vote this weekend. Americans only recently concluded their distended democratic ritual. Different countries, different systems, different voters. A common theme? Immigration.

Donald Trump pulled off his unlikely victory by invoking a dichotomy: Americans versus others. The antediluvian promise to make America great again was pitched at a demoralised working class, deprived of a social safety net and denied real wage growth for decades.

It cleverly ignored the yawning gulf between a privileged, tax-astute billionaire and his new electoral quarry by excavating an even bigger hole in which immigration was conflated with national security, free trade with job losses, globalism with US decline.

In France, Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front exploits similar tensions by branding asylum seekers "illegal". "They have no reason to stay in France" Le Pen says blithely because "these people broke the law the minute they set foot on French soil".
My family is Muslim, but you'd never know that by looking at them. People assume that my lack of hijab is a result of my own professed non-religiosity, but what they don't realise is that the clothing worn by adherents to the dominant Islamic traditions is simply not a part of ours. This leaves the most devout of us just as vulnerable as the least to being dismissed  by other Muslims and by white society  as "not really Muslim". Alicia Keys' offending tweet. Too Muslim for some, not Muslim enough for others. If this seems contradictory in a society that supposedly values diversity, academics Jon Stratton and Ien Ang explain that it is diversity itself that can act as a form of forced assimilation because, in emphasising the differences between cultures, multiculturalism "suppresses the heterogeneities existing within each culture". In other words, while some expect minorities to assimilate into white Australian culture, others demand we conform to whatever white society imagines our own culture to be. This is usually something as exotically different to themselves as possible. And if we fail to conform to these expectations? Our identity is taken away. We are assumed to have fully "assimilated".

What, for instance, is the first thing you think of when you hear the term "Muslim woman"? Perhaps, like Alicia Keys, you picture a woman in a niqab. Keys recently tweeted an image of a niqabi who was, oddly, revealing a bare leg clad in a ballet slipper (to indicate the West presumably), with a caption that would make any government policy writer proud: Our strength is in our differences. Our power is in our diversity When we see each other we see ourselves. Keys is not alone in using the niqab as a symbol of Islam. Rare is the media story about Muslims that does not feature an image of one. But women who wear niqabs belong to a particular Islamic tradition (the most conservative form of Sunni Islam), and, as such, are only one thread in the vast tapestry that is the "Muslim world". Moreover, as Keys discovered the hard way, not only would niqabis themselves be offended by this image, many liberal Sunnis and non-Sunni Muslims alike warily regard it as a symbol of encroaching fundamentalism. But, in the West, where overt anti-Muslim bigotry makes genuine critique more and more difficult, any objection to the niqab, even on Islamic grounds, is dismissed as Islamophobia.

The irony is, of course, that dismissing the perspectives of Muslims if they don't happen to correspond with the dominant Western viewpoint, is in itself classic Islamophobia. While the term is now (mis)used to indicate any fear of Muslims, Islamophobia has less to do with theology and more to do with the patronising way the West has long regarded the Muslim and Arab world, reducing all its varied communities, its cultural practices and its secular as well as religious tendencies to a collection of static images as far removed from the West as possible. Bloodthirsty dictators. Bellydancers. Oppressed victims. Terrorists. Women in niqabs. Something is wrong in a society that still cannot seem to comprehend a complex multiculturalism that confounds rather than meets prejudiced expectations. Islam has a rich history of scientific as well as religious inquiry, intellectual interrogation, and dissent, that is at risk of being lost as more and more people seem to accept that only its loudest, most visible forms are authentically Muslim. I grew up in a small Muslim community that long ago discarded external rituals in favour of a private spiritual practice that incorporates aspects of Christianity and other faiths. My father insisted we attend the local Sunday School because, "to know Islam you have to know the Bible". These characteristics developed, not in the West, but within Islamic society and are as Muslim as any other. These are Muslim values. To deny this not only promotes an outdated view of Islam as the West's eternal binary opposite, but also recalls a long traumatic history of persecution in which fundamentalists, scandalised by our syncretism and relative liberalism have marginalised and threatened us with death for "heresy".
The Indigenous teenager at the centre of the Northern Territory youth detention scandal had been expelled from primary school for punching pupils and during subsequent jail stints spat at prison staff and defecated and urinated in his cell.

Dylan Voller's tragic and chaotic life was spelled out in detail on Thursday as the NT government sought to counter his evidence at the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the NT.

Sonia Brownhill, SC, Solicitor-General and counsel for the NT government, questioned Mr Voller on his statements against evidence from prison guards and his school principal.

She asked him about allegations of erratic behaviour at primary school, of his failure to take the ADHD drug Ritalin, of hitting students in the playground, of often being escorted to the school "time out" room where he smashed a louvre window, defecated on the floor and tied socks around his neck.
The "vast majority" of NSW HSC students will receive their university offers just five days after getting their ATAR this year, as the body responsible for tertiary admissions moves to "reduce the stress" of the month-long wait students currently face.

However, their interstate peers and NSW pupils who do the International Baccalaureate will need to wait nearly three weeks to hear from universities.

Ahead of the 2018 application process, the Universities Admissions Centre has abolished the "main offer round", under which more than 44,000 students received offers for university courses on January 18 this year.

Instead, it has established a "December round" on December 21, 2017, just five days after ATARs are released and six days after students learn their HSC results, and a ''January round" on January 12, 2018, a week after IB results are released.
The federal government's plans for more decentralisation of Commonwealth public servants from Canberra and other capital cities was mired in confusion and uncertainty on Thursday, less than 24 hours after the policy was launched.

Nationals' leader Barnaby Joyce called a press conference to back away from the full scale of the policy ambition outlined by his deputy Fiona Nash at the National Press Club a day earlier, nominating several key departments that would not be moved to the regions.

But it remains unclear if the departments of Treasury, Agriculture and Finance would have to justify their continued presence in the capital and if other large Canberra-based operations would be subject to cost-benefit-analyses or policy templates to determine if they can be forced out of town.

Mr Joyce's intervention came as the criticism of the scheme from Canberra business, academic and political leaders heightened, including friendly fire from the Coalition's local senator and the leader of the Canberra Liberals.
One thing's clear about the Nationals' plan to decentralise the bureaucracy: nothing is clear. There are neither rules nor much reason at present.

Frontbencher Fiona Nash said on Wednesday all government "departments" would need to justify why they, or at least why particular divisions or branches, should not move their staff from metropolitan cities to regional towns.

The next day, party leader Barnaby Joyce had already exempted some workplaces (the Tax Office, the Treasury, the Finance Department and his own Agriculture Department) from leaving Canberra  before Nash had created the "template" that ministers would use to assess "which departments are suitable for decentralisation".

Yet even without that template, we can make some educated guesses about which workplaces will be targeted next.
A man charged with the murder of a woman more than three decades ago has been granted conditional bail with a court noting there is an absence of forensic evidence to incriminate him.

Rodney Lawrence, 66, is charged with the stabbing murder of Elizabeth "Betty" Dixon, 31, whose body was discovered in her car in bushland at Ashtonfield, in the Hunter region, in April 1982.

Rodney Lawrence (centre) being arrested in October 2015. Credit:NSW Police

The Northern Irishwoman, who had been tied up, suffered 27 stab wounds and head injuries consistent with being struck with a blunt object.
The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption will hold a public inquiry next month into the former Australian of the Year finalist Eman Sharobeem amid allegations of fraud conducted over more than a decade.

The allegations against Ms Sharobeem centre on personal expenditure, expenses reimbursement and misappropriation of money during her 11 years as the chief executive officer of the Immigrant Women's Health Service (IWHS) and the Non-English Speaking Housing Women's Scheme Inc (NESH). Both were publicly funded by the state government.

ICAC will also allege Ms Sharobeem fraudulently claimed to hold a PhD and to be a psychologist, as revealed by a Fairfax Media investigation this year.

ICAC said in a statement that Operation Tarlo is investigating allegations that Ms Sharobeem dishonestly exercised her official functions at IWHS from 2009 to 2016 by submitting invoices for reimbursement for goods and services to which she was not entitled and using an IWHS credit card to pay for personal expenses.
Disgraced socialite Kirsty Dayment has been sentenced to at least three years and three months in jail for the large-scale supply of cocaine and ecstasy from her unit in Coogee in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

Dayment, 35, did not react as the maximum sentence of 5 years was handed down in the Downing Centre District Court on Thursday.

Her former boyfriend Nicholas Riganias, 31, was sentenced to a maximum of eight years with a non-parole period of 4 years.

Judge Sarah Huggett said both Dayment and Riganias "move in circles where the recreational use of prohibited drugs appeared to be the norm" and both used the drugs to varying degrees. This social set provided them with a ready customer base to sell illicit drugs for profit.
Clive Palmer has backed down from his $10 million defamation claims against Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Employment Minister Michaelia Cash.

The businessman and former MP is now only seeking half a million in damages from both parties plus another half a million in interest.

Clive Palmer has dramatically reduced his defamation claims against the prime minister and employment minister. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Palmer filed lawsuits against the pair in February over allegedly defamatory comments they made about the demise of Queensland Nickel last year.

Documents lodged in the Brisbane Supreme Court claim the prime minister and Senator Cash conveyed at separate press conferences on April 15, 2016 that Mr Palmer used funds from the company for his own benefit.
A New Zealand man who killed promising young Queensland water polo player Cole Miller has been charged with assaulting three prison officers, months out from his sentencing.

Armstrong Renata, 22, has been in custody since the early morning attack on Mr Miller in the Fortitude Valley nightlife precinct on January 3 last year.

He pleaded guilty in August to the newly created charge of unlawful striking causing death and was remanded in the Woodford Correctional Centre, to face sentencing in June.

Last Tuesday, Renata and another inmate, 22-year-old Mauritius Faolua, allegedly attacked three officers at the centre in what one prison source described as a "brawl".
Donors were instructed to fund Moreton Bay mayor Allan Sutherland's election through a third party, which had the effect of hiding developer donations from his disclosure statements, evidence before a Crime and Corruption Commission showed on Thursday.

Cr Sutherland's Electoral Commission of Queensland disclosure forms showed he received $118,587.05 in campaign contributions from the Moreton Futures Trust.

But the CCC has heard the trust, which received several large donations from developers, existed in 2016 solely to assist for Cr Sutherland's re-election campaign.

MFT trustee Kirby Leeke told the CCC on Thursday those donations were then used to pay Cr Sutherland's campaign costs at the request of Gayle Sutherland, the mayor's wife.
After a year of hard chemotherapy and radiation treatments it hasn't come back three years on, however the ceramist was told not to celebrate until after she reaches the five year mark when a recurrence is less common. Every time Ms Murray returns to the Wesley Hospital for her check-up, she calculates how many are going to receive bad news. "I look at how many women are at the Wesley, there are over a hundred women going in and out of that place in a day getting mammograms, and if you look at the percentages, there is going to be at least a couple of those women who are going to get bad news," she said. According to Cancer Council Queensland, approximately 3300 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in Queensland each year. In figures released by the National Breast Cancer Foundation on Thursday, about 20 to 30 per cent of women are diagnosed with an early stage of breast cancer that will develop into metastatic breast cancer, where the tumour spreads from the breast to different areas of the body.

The survival rate for women with metastatic breast cancer is low, with only one in four women still alive after about five years after diagnosis, according to NBCF. Ms Murray's sister, Gail Conroy, only survived for two years after she was first diagnosed in 1997. The tumour had spread to the 45-year-old woman's brain when she died. "In terms of actual grades and assessing what cancer it was, that was in 1997, people just didn't talk about it, everyone just went she has breast cancer she is having treatment, we didn't go into grades," Ms Murray said. "When I was diagnosed I went straight into it, I knew I was tackling a grade three but I was at a stage one so because I got it early I was tackling a different kettle of fish." In a Galaxy Research poll of more than 1000 Australians, NBCF found only 3 per cent were aware that breast cancer could stay dormant in the body for more than 10 years.

More than half incorrectly believed or did not know whether a stage four breast cancer could be successfully treated. Ms Murray said she learnt from her sister's diagnosis and death not put her "head in the sand" for the second time, to get informed and better understand what was happening to her body. "I really did feel, when Gail was getting treatment, we didn't know it could do that (re-occur)," Ms Murray said. "Even being close to someone and I was close to my sister, doesn't put you in the same mind frame. "You have people who can deal with speaking about cancer and people who just can't, when people see the word cancer pop up they avert straight away.

"I probably wish I had slowed down a little bit more and allow myself to take the time out to be around. "I would do anything to have her here now." Post Pink documentary to open up conversation Documentary Post Pink features candid interviews with six women living with advanced breast cancer and will be released on Friday to be used as a resource for anyone dealing with the terminal cancer. Director Guy Mansfield, who was commissioned by the Advanced Breast Cancer Group to make the film, said the documentary also explored how family members loved ones coped with the disease.
A load of flaming rubbish has been dumped on a Brisbane street after it caught fire in the back of a recycling truck.

Firefighters were called to Annerley in Brisbane's south about 11.05am on Thursday to see the burning pile covering most of the street.

A Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokesman said firefighters arrived at the Avondale Avenue blaze about 10 minutes later and had managed to bring the it under control.
"It was awful," Krawchuk says. "I was really, really desperate for sleep and my quality of life back. I went shopping and bought every sleep product and swaddle product I could get my hands on."

Hana-Lia Krawchuk, founder of Love To Dream, drew inspiration from sleepless nights. Credit:Edwina Pickles

"They unravelled and I saw my son with wraps over his face and the others with press studs and velcro just didn't stay closed," she says. "I also noticed he slept better if he was swaddled with his arms up and all the other swaddles swaddled him with his arms down."

There has to be a better way

Krawchuk had studied fashion and textile design and worked in fashion for a number of years so when she couldn't buy a solution to her sleep problems she decided to make her own.

"I kind of thought there had to be a better way, so I drew up a design, made it and sewed it up and gave it to two friends to try," she says. "They said 'You're not going to believe it, but our babies slept through the night for the first time' and I thought, wow we are onto something pretty amazing."
A recalcitrant Liberal MP has been pressured into co-operating with an audit into country MPs' entitlements, after embarrassing Matthew Guy's Opposition with his refusal to hand over personal information.

Liberal MPs were furious with Benambra MP Bill Tilley's conduct after he was the only country MP who failed to fully co-operate with a PwC audit of second residence allowances. They were angry because it undermined the Coalition's disciplined campaign of attacks against "rorting" Labor MPs.

Liberal MP Bill Tilley. Credit:Ballarat Courier

The audit was triggered by explosive revelations by Fairfax that Labor MPs Telmo Languiller and Don Nardella had claimed tens of thousands of dollars to live on the Bellarine Peninsula away from their western suburbs electorate.

"We had been so good on this, we had the upper hand," one Liberal MP said.
A wanted man has been Tasered and arrested by police after a dramatic early-morning high-speed car chase on Punt Road.

The incident occurred about 2.50am on Friday morning when police spotted a man and a woman in a Jaguar with stolen registration plates in Abbotsford.

The male driver smashed into several police cars after they tried to block him at a petrol station. Credit:Channel Nine

It is believed police had been tracking the man for several days.

Officers tried to block the vehicle at a service station before the man rammed two police vehicles and drove off at high speed.
A banned drinker's register may be on the cards for the Kimberley, after WA Police stationed uniformed police officers outside of local bottleshops over the Easter weekend in an unofficial trial of the system.

Officers were able to refuse entry to licensed premises based on a potential patron's 'history', which is set out in the Liquor Control act as incidents of public disorder, violence or public drunkenness.

Supt-Allan Adams has been canvassing ideas from Kimberley locals since February.

Police engaged around 8300 possible patrons across the Kimberley, and refused entry to approximately 1240.

District superintendent Allan Adams first flagged the necessity of stronger liquor controls in the Kimberley in February, and said the efforts taken by the officers across the region over Easter had made a significant difference to the community.
A Perth marine professor has described the former state government's "knee-jerk reaction" to shark attacks as "woefully ignorant" during her evidence at a senate committee inquiry into shark mitigation in WA.

A senate committee inquiry into shark mitigation is being held in Perth on Thursday, just three days after a teenage girl became the 15th person killed by a shark in WA since 2000.

University of Western Australia Oceans Institute professor Jessica Meeuwig told the inquiry there was no evidence to support that culling sharks reduced attacks.

She also said the public's fear of "rogue sharks" that hunt humans was also unfounded, and only "terrified" the public, rather than educating them.
An anonymous letter claims the remains of British backpacker Peter Falconio, who was murdered on a remote outback road in one of the Australia's most notorious crimes, were buried in remote Western Australia.

The Northern Territory News says it was sent the letter from an Australian ex-pat now living in London, and police are looking into it.

The letter details how Mr Falconio's body was cut up, put into plastic bags and taken to Adelaide then to Perth by train before the remains were buried around Geraldton in WA.

The letter writer says Bradley Murdoch, who was convicted of Mr Falconio's murder, called an associate and told him to meet him the the outback because he needed help to dispose of a body.
A thief who planned to return more than $350,000 he stole from an elderly couple's safe before WA police pulled him over for speeding has won an appeal against his sentence.

Nathan Smith, from the UK, had visited the Perth home of an 82-year-old man and his wife, who suffered from dementia, and offered to paint their house.

Nathan Smith planned to return the money he stole from the elderly couple when he was stopped by police. Credit:Rick Stevens

They agreed on a price and in February 2016, Smith was working outside when he asked to use the toilet.

Smith, then aged 22, saw a gun safe and used the key to open it, uncovering $362,450 in cash, which he took then left the house, feigning illness.
Berlin: The far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) has been thrown into disarray months before national elections after its leader stepped down as its candidate for chancellor.

Frauke Petry had become the face of the anti-immigration party, which hurt Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives during the migrant crisis but has leaked support this year. After a months-long power struggle, she announced on Wednesday she would not lead the party's national election campaign.

Frauke Petry, chairwoman of the Alternative for Germany, AfD. Credit:AP

The shock move was widely seen as an admission of defeat, even though she stays on as the party's joint leader.

In a test of how much influence she still wields, Petry will this weekend try and push through a motion at a party congress aimed at making the AfD able to join coalitions in the future.
Beijing: An Australian property developer says he is "very happy" at the news that Interpol has issued a red alert notice for the arrest of a Chinese tycoon, member of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago, living in exile in New York.

"He is a very bad man," says Melbourne's Zheng Jiefu, who says his family and business had been threatened by the flamboyant billionaire. "He did damage to my business and damage to my family".

Zheng Jiefu in Melbourne. The property developer says he was targeted by Guo Wengui. Credit:Joe Armao

While some social media users on Wednesday labelled Guo Wengui, aka Miles Kwok, as "China's Julian Assange", after his live internet broadcast in which he made corruption allegations against senior political figures, Mr Zheng says he knows a darker truth.

Mr Zheng claims Mr Guo sent thugs to Brighton to follow him around in a Mitsubishi four-wheel drive, and stuffed threatening letters in his mailbox two years ago.
French presidential election candidate for the En Marche! movement Emmanuel Macron Credit:AP In a runoff -- presuming both he and Le Pen get through to the final round -- she would be the political placeholder, the vote to preserve or restore a nostalgic (critics say outmoded) vision of France and one that revives nationalism and fans anti-Muslim sentiments. She has expanded her movement by assailing globalisation -- the European Union, the loss of French jobs and an influx of migrants. Macron is the establishment's anti-establishment candidate. He tilts at sacred cows -- retirement benefits, employee protections -- with an eye toward making France more business-friendly, while professing he will preserve its social safety net. Many question whether he will really be able to do both at the same time. Polls suggest Emmanuel Macron and the far-right's Marine Le Pen will make it through to the second round of voting. Credit:Bloomberg Despite the political risks, Macron has proudly embraced an unpopular European Union, and preached tolerance toward immigrants and Muslims never beloved in France, and even less so since the 2015 terrorist attacks.

Yet he has clearly struck a chord with many voters, despite being "an unidentified political object," as Pascal Perrineau, a political science professor at Sciences Po in Paris, described him. Brigitte with her husband Emmanual Macron. Credit:AP "This is a man who, certainly, began his career in the Socialist Party, and he says that he is not a centrist," Perrineau said. Yet, "he is, as he says, from the right and from the left and this is an invention that our political family has not seen before." The visit to Bagneres-de-Bigorre -- almost four years to the day since Macron's grandmother died -- was a chance for the candidate to further define himself. At once sincere and strategic, the excursion was designed to portray him as someone with roots in the "real" France of villages and hardworking rural people. Christophe Sanz, a supporter French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, sticks a campaign poster in Bayonne, south-western France. Credit:AP

"The journey I made today brought to mind many memories," Macron later told a crowd of 5000 at an evening rally nearby in Pau, a city of nearly 80,000, adding that it was where he used to reunite with his grandmother, "whom I loved so much." "It was her and my grandfather who for years and years led me to live in Bagneres-de-Bigorre, to walk there, to run there, to learn how to bicycle, to ski, to be rooted in our country," he said. Emmanuel Macron, candidate for the French presidential elections and his wife Brigitte Macron. Credit:AP Born and raised in Amiens, about 110 km from Paris, Macron is the eldest of three children. Both parents are doctors. He attended a parochial school founded by Jesuits. When he was 15, he met Brigitte Trogneux, a teacher of French and drama with whom he fell in love. About 24 years his senior, she tried initially to discourage him, but he was determined and she was eventually smitten. In a documentary broadcast on the France 3 television network, she recalled the year he went off to finish high school in Paris at the prestigious Lycee Henri IV. "He called me all the time," she said. "We spent hours on the telephone. Little by little he conquered all my resistance in a manner that was incredible -- with patience."

She ultimately divorced her first husband and the father of her three children. One of them, a daughter, is working on Macron's campaign. The student and his teacher married in 2007. Their love affair was the kind of audacious undertaking that has defined Macron's life and career. His sheer drive, his focus and his willingness to leapfrog in a country where most success is built step by step make him more like the entrepreneurs he admires than a typical politician. A product of top schools, including the prestigious Sciences Po and the Ecole Nationale d'Administration, Macron won a coveted place in an elite auditing body at the Finance Ministry before leaving to join the investment bank Rothschild & Co. Although he knew little about investment banking, in four years at the firm Macron was promoted from director to managing director. He earned nearly 2.9 million euros ($4.1 million) in those years, according to the financial disclosure form from when he was economy minister. By 2014, at 36, he was appointed minister of economy under France's current Socialist president, Francois Hollande, before leaving to begin his campaign. His one significant achievement was passage of what became known as the Macron Law, a hodgepodge of economic policies mostly designed to cut red tape and make markets more flexible.

Those who have worked closely with Macron, both in government and in the private sector, are almost uniformly impressed by his grasp and dedication, but some said that at times they felt misled as Macron pursued his ambitions. Francis Vercamer, a member of the centre-right Union of Democrats and Independents, remembers proposing several amendments to the Macron Law in private and said that the economy minister spoke positively about them. But when Vercamer later brought them up in debate on the legislation, Macron turned down every one, he said. "I don't want to say it was dishonest because that's not the right term," said Vercamer, who was a vice president of the committee that examined the bill. "But for someone who comes to a private meeting and says, 'This is good,' and then comes to a public meeting and doesn't support you and doesn't give a reason, that's not worthy of a representative of the Republic." The idea of what Macron represents as a candidate -- a novel amalgam of pro-business and pro-social welfare policies, with an optimistic outlook on France's future -- often seems to inspire more than Macron himself. At his recent rally in Pau, the crowd seemed a bit more enthusiastic before he spoke than afterward when some seemed baffled by his lofty proposals. He has been criticised as being technocratic, abstract and sometimes lacking in empathy.

An episode last year during a visit to an event in southern France, when Macron was heckled by a 21-year-old union activist in a black T-shirt, seems emblematic. The young man called out to the neatly attired former banker, saying he had "not a penny to pay for a suit like that one." Macron responded: "The best way to pay for a suit is to work." "I've worked since the age of 16," the man shot back, in an exchange popularly interpreted as having put Macron in his place. Macron's policy proposals, while numerous, have been assailed as vague and hard to define politically, particularly for a country that thinks in terms of the political left and right. But to others, that is his appeal.

Jacques Attali, an economist, writer and longtime adviser to French politicians, said that many of Macron's ideas were forged working on a prestigious nonpartisan economic commission set up under the right-leaning President Nicolas Sarkozy. "The idea behind the commission was to do something that should have been done by either the left or the right, or by both, but that had not been done by anyone," said Attali, who served as the commission's chairman. That embrace of bipartisanship can result in neither side trusting him. "In a way, the left doesn't really believe in him; in a way, the right doesn't really believe in him," said Frederic Martel, a well-known writer on politics and culture, who also hosts a popular radio program on France Culture. Yet there are many people who do, particularly among the urban, educated and relatively young.
Bangkok: For two years Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has shrugged off revelations by foreign journalists that almost $1 billion turned up in his personal bank accounts amid one of the world's biggest ever financial scandals.

Now Mr Najib, preparing to call early elections, has accused journalists of fabricating fake news about Malaysia.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Credit:AP

"This tide of fake and false news threatens of turn the truth into a purely subjective matter, with little relation to the actual facts," he told an Asian media awards event in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday evening.

In a country where the mainstream media is tightly controlled by the government and small independent media outlets are under constant threat of closure and legal action, Mr Najib also claimed that free speech is "thriving", pointing to what he called regular criticism of the government, ministers and officials in the local media.
PHILIPSBURG/MARIGOT:--- Its All About Jesus-The Christ! is the theme of the 11th Annual St. Martin Believers Connection Convention (SMBCC) that will be held on Thursday, April 27 to Monday May 1, 2017 at the Christian Fellowship Church Conference Centre in Colebay from 7:30 pm.

Juxtaposed in the heart of the Carnival Season, the Convention offers an ideal alternative to feting for Christian believers on both sides of the island. It is the highlight of the Christian communitys calendar of activities, spearheaded by the St. Martin United Ministerial Foundation (SMUMF).

An invitation is therefore extended to the general public to attend the week of Convention that is free of cost. The main auditorium will come alive with engaging worship, testimonies and messages. A unity flag parade, causeway march and movie night are also highlights of this years convention.

Each year, the SMUMF chooses leading thinkers and ministers from across the globe to talk about topics relevant to church leaders and their membership as well as to make divine impartations in the body of Christ. This years Convention has attracted a prolific teacher and preacher in the person of Apostle Peter Barnes from New Direction Grace Church in Capetown, South Africa.

International Past Speakers have also been invited and 9 Delegations have already confirmed their attendance, i.e Guyana, Bonaire, Tortola, South Africa, Suriname, Aruba, Trinidad, Barbados and United States. Additionally, four workshop sessions will be facilitated by 4 of the leading Bible schools on the island. Following up from last years Youth Explosion, youth groups are being asked to register early.

Last year there was a Sunset Boat Cruise on the Explorer, this year, on Saturday April 29, 2017 there will be a Unity March across the Causeway. T-Shirts are already on sale for the march at a minimal fee of $10.00.

For more updates, the general public is invited to call 520-2957/523-0901/523-9553 or visit the Facebook page: stmartinbelieversconnectionconvention.

With sessions designed for everyone-children, teens, seniors, women and more-the entire family will enjoy SMBCC 2017.
Minister Boasman says Opposition had no questions since Governing Program well put together.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Members of Parliament representing the opposition in parliament from the United Peoples Party (UPP) boycotted the Central Committee meeting on Thursday. MP Claret Connor showed up, signed in but left before the meeting convened.

Members of Parliament from the coalition spoke out against the absenteeism stating that this is the time the opposition has to use to question government.

However, Minister Rafael Boasman was optimistic in his statements. Minister Boasman said that he looks at things differently and his view staying away from the meeting to discuss the governing program means that the opposition does not have questions because the governing program was well put together. Minister Boasman express gratitude on behalf of Prime Minister William Marlin who was not in parliament on Thursday afternoon.

The Central Committee meeting closed off after the first round since those MPs supporting the Governing Program did not question the government on the program they presented to Parliament.
Westcon-Comstor Adds Servion Contact Center-as-a-Service Solutions to Cloud Portfolio

TARRYTOWN, NY  (Marketwired)  04/19/17  Westcon-Comstor has signed an agreement to carry Servions ServCloud hosted Contact-Center-as-a-Service (CCaaS), available through its BlueSky marketplace. BlueSky is an innovative cloud and service management platform that includes a marketplace, analytics and other capabilities to help partners promote and grow their cloud businesses.

Powered by Cisco Systems Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution, ServCloud is the only enterprise-grade CCaaS offering end-to-end capabilities across voice and multi-channel interactions.

Cloud-based contact center solutions are expected to increase 23.6% compounded annually, in total market size by 2021, providing solution providers with a high-growth, high-demand solution to take to their customers.

The addition of Servions ServCloud enables Comstor solution providers to add a recurring revenue opportunity in a high-growth market to their services portfolio, further solidifying their reputation as trusted business and IT advisors with customers.

Businesses are moving towards more omnichannel communications by engaging customers in a variety of ways  voice, email, chat, social media and more. Its the perfect time for solution providers to talk to customers about better managing all the incoming data and analyzing the customer journey, said , senior director of Cloud at Westcon-Comstor. As a hosted solution, ServCloud allows solution providers to enter the CCaaS space with minimal investment and ramp-up time.

Westcon-Comstors BlueSky platform and cloud capabilities help solution providers transform their businesses while promoting and delivering a wide variety of private, public and hybrid cloud solutions, including a number of Cisco-branded and Cisco-powered services including Servion.

We strongly believe in Comstors distribution leadership and expertise in the contact center market, said , senior vice president and general manager, Americas, Servion Global Solutions. ServCloud presents an excellent new-business opportunity for Westcon-Comstors large network of channel partners and we will work closely with them to identify and enable solution providers focused on strengthening customer experience strategies.

Servion enables business transformation for enterprises in the area of customer experience management (CEM). Servion is a platforms-led systems integrator focused on strengthening customer experience strategies by automating and integrating customer interaction channels. Servions IP platforms  ServDesignSM, ServIntuitSM, ServInsightsSM, ServCloudTM, and ServCareSM  help enterprises to harness the true value of their CX investments and build effective customer engagement hubs.

Over the past two decades, Servion has evolved from being a single channel (voice) interaction expert to being an industry pioneer in omnichannel customer experience. Managing over 10 billion customer interactions annually across 60 countries in 6 continents, Servion empowers enterprises to address both traditional and millennial expectations.

By harnessing a gamut of technologies from mature technologies such as Telephony, Workforce Optimization and IVR to emerging technologies  Natural Language Processing, AI, Robotic Process Automation, Customer Journey Analytics, and Machine Learning, Servion enables enterprises to match their brand promise to their customer experience.

For more information, visit .

Westcon-Comstor (WestconGroup Inc.) is a value-added technology distributor of category-leading solutions in Security, Collaboration, Networking and Data Center. The company is transforming the technology supply chain through its capabilities in Cloud, Global Deployment and Services. Westcon-Comstor combines expert technical and market knowledge with industry-leading partner enablement programs. Westcon-Comstor delivers results together through its deep partner relationships. The company goes to market under the Westcon and Comstor brands.
The DSA welcomes South Africas ICASA publishing draft TV White Space regulations as both prepare to jointly host the 2017 Dynamic Spectrum

Federal Communications Commission (FCC), ICASA, OPIC, IFC, Microsoft Corporation, HP Enterprise, International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and more set to speak at leading spectrum sharing conference

Cape Town, South Africa, 20 April 2017: With three weeks to go until the Dynamic Spectrum Alliances Fifth Annual Global Summit, which is this year returning to Africa, co-host ICASA, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, has published draft regulations on the use of TV White Space (TVWS) in the region.

The draft regulations, which are open for public consultation until 19 May 2017, highlight the progress South Africa is making in enabling affordable Internet through dynamic spectrum access. These draft regulations  which the DSA fully welcomes  and technologies will be discussed at the DSA Global Summit, taking place in Cape Town between 9 to 11 May 2017, where a whole host of leading industry figures and regulators from around the world have been announced to speak, including the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

In the past, exclusive licenses for specific frequency bands and specific purposes dominated spectrum allocation policy and regulations, said Pakamile Kayakethu Pongwana, CEO of ICASA. While these models are good for monetizing the spectrum and for coordination between multiple services and operators to avoid interference, they often result in underutilization of spectrum. In the last decade, however, governments and regulators around the world have embraced the concept of spectrum commons as another way to bring citizens innovation on new wireless technologies.

The event will open on 9 May with a full day regulator workshop on spectrum sharing and dynamic spectrum access. Alongside ICASA, other regulators in attendance will include Korea Radio Promotion Association (RAPA), Agencia Nacional del Espectro (ANE), the Ministry of Communications for Argentina and Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes (ANATEL).

Day one of the Global Summit will be opened with keynote addresses from Kalpak Gude, President of the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, and ICASA CEO, Pakamile Kayalethu Pongwana, followed by panel sessions on spectrum sharing and enabling the Internet of Things (IoT) through dynamic access technologies. The latter panel will feature Dr. F. Mekuria, Chief Research Scientist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) South Africa, where he leads research on dynamic spectrum access. His perspective on how to connect underserved populations in emerging economies will add another dimension to the panel, which also includes Facebook, University of Strathclyde, and VistaLifeSciences Inc.

A panel session on closing the digital divide will address financial challenges associated with large-scale network deployments, with speakers including: Mr. Alexander Hadden, Director, Structured Finance & Insurance, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC); Mr. Chikioke Egejuru, Investment Analysis, International Finance Corporation; Mr. Lumko Mtimde, CEO, the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) and will be moderated by Mr. Frank McCosker, General Manager, Affordable Access & Smart Financing, Microsoft Corporation.

Other confirmed speakers on day one include Ira Keltz, Deputy Chief of Policy and Rules Division, Office of Engineering and Technology, US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), who will join the panel on Wi-Fi for the 5G World. On the final day of the Summit, Ira will start with a keynote address, before joining the Regulator Leadership Summit later in the day.

ICASA CEO Pongwana will return to speak on day two of the Summit to speak on a panel titled Creating Opportunities for Deployment, which will be moderated by Emeritus Executive Director of the DSA, Prof. H Sama Nwana. The panel will bring together policy makers to discuss challenges and solutions to establishing regulatory frameworks for enabling investment in infrastructure  something that is crucial to bridging the digital divide in South Africa, and around the world.

Other speakers confirmed on the agenda include representatives from: Facebook, Adaptrum Inc., C3 Limited, the Communications Authority of Kenya, Aruba (a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company) and New American Foundation.

Platinum sponsors of this years event include Microsoft and Nominet. Gold sponsors include Adaptrum Inc. and MBC, while MedyaCity is a Silver sponsor.

To secure your place at the Dynamic Spectrum Alliances Fifth Annual Global Summit in Cape Town, South Africa (9-11 May 2017), visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dynamic-spectrum-alliance-2017-global-summit-tickets-28614617090. To view the full Summit agenda, visit: http://dynamicspectrumalliance.org/global-summit/agenda/.
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Four West Country streets have been rated as among the prettiest in Britain in a survey of 1,000 people.

Frome has been ranked as having the fourteenth prettiest street in Britain, according to a survey by National Express. A street in Bath is in the top three.

The prettiest street title was awarded to The Shambles in York, which dates back as far as the 14th century.

The Shambles was followed by the Royal Mile in Edinburgh who came second with the bronze medal going to North East Somersets very own The Circus in Bath.

Waterside in Stratford-upon-Avon and Steep Hill in Lincoln made up the rest of the top five.

Cobbled streets dominated the list, but Catherine Hill High Street in Frome didnt receive enough votes to make the top ten.

Gold Hill in Shaftesbury and The Market Place in Devizes also featured in the list.

(Image: TripAdvisor)

Spokesman Chris Hardy told The Mirror the company hoped the findings would encourage the British public to explore more.

He said: We quizzed the nation, scouring the A to Z of Britains roads, rows, avenues and lanes to uncover the top 15 UK streets you need to see."

The list in full:
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Jenson Button is among a raft of big names from the world of motorsport to pledge their support to a crowdfunding campaign for Billy Monger, the teenage racer who lost both of his legs in a crash last weekend.

Monger was competing in a British Formula 4 race at Donington Park on Sunday when he smashed into the back of a rival at full speed.

The 17-year-old was airlifted to hospital, but his team, JHR Developments, announced yesterday that he had lost both of his lower legs.

A crowdfunding campaign set up to raise money for Billys treatment and rehabilitation has brought in more than 300,000 in less than 24 hours.

(Image: Getty Images)

Among those to support Monger are Frome racer Button, who personally donated 15,000 to the page, while three time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton shared the link on his social media pages.

In an Instagram post, Button wrote: Hey guys this fellow racer Billy Monger had a big shunt this past weekend at Donington and sadly Billy has had amputations to both legs.



This guy needs our help so if you can please donate, I will be doing as much as I can to help this dude out.



The donations will be used to fund the care, treatments and therapies required by Billy in the immediate future and going forward, helping him to return to a full and active life.

A statement on the crowdfunding page, which was jointly started by his JHR team and racing driver Tom Ingram, said: Having always been a fighter Billy has already overcome big hurdles in his career - struggling for budget Billy has fought his way into top flight motorsport.



However, we now need your kindness and support to help give Billy and his family the best chance to fight these injuries that will affect Billys life so massively.



To donate to the crowdfunding campaign in support of Billy Monger, visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/BillyMonger23 .

Five reasons to get excited about Jenson Button's Monaco Grand Prix comeback
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The Salvation Army of Metro Detroit is currently accepting applications for Christmas assistance from residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties at all metro Detroit Salvation Army corps community centers.
2022 Indiana election results: See the latest updates from St. Joseph County

Vote totals are preliminary until all are counted and certified by the St. Joseph County Election Board.
Georgetown, SC (29440)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 49F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 49F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph.
The Lyrid meteor shower peaks in April and has been observed for more than 2,700 years. Here the Lyrid meteor shower is photographed on top of Hatu Peak, Shimla, India.

The Lyrid meteor shower peaks in late April. While the shower is not as flashy as others during the year, the Lyrids have been known to have unusual peaks of activity. A typical shower displays between five and 20 meteors an hour at the peak, but some of the more spectacular shows have 100 or more meteors an hour.

In 2022, the shower will pass by Earth around April 14-30, and the peak is expected to be on the night of April 22.

Chinese astronomers recorded the shower as far back as 687 B.C., according to NASA. The source for the meteors is Comet Thatcher, which was discovered by amateur astronomer A.E. Thatcher on its last closest approach to the solar system in 1861. The comet is expected to return in 2276.

Related: Lyrid meteor shower 2022: When and how to see it

Historical Lyrid meteor shower sightings

The Lyrids have been chronicled in many cultures over the past 2,700 years. Chinese astronomers noted prominent displays in 687 B.C. and 15 B.C. Also, in 1136, a report from Korea chronicled the shower with the words "many stars flew from the northeast," according to Space.com's skywatching columnist Joe Rao.

In 1803, residents of Richmond, Virginia, went outside late at night after a fire alarm. A report from that time noted that the meteors resembled rockets in the sky.

"Shooting stars. This electrical [sic] phenomenon was observed on Wednesday morning last at Richmond and its vicinity, in a manner that alarmed many, and astonished every person that beheld it. From 1 until 3 in the morning, those starry meteors seemed to fall from every point in the heavens, in such numbers as to resemble a shower of sky rockets," wrote a journalist at the time, in an account republished on Space Weather (opens in new tab).

NASA stated that similarly, impressive shower sightings took place in 1922 in Greece, 1945 in Japan, and 1982 in the United States.

The radiant of the Lyrid meteor shower is located near the Hercules-Lyra border. (Image credit: Future)

(opens in new tab)

Where are the Lyrids found?

The Lyrids look like they're coming from Vega, a bright start in the constellation Lyra, which the meteor shower is named after. The "radiant" point is easy to spot in the summer sky because Vega is one of the brightest stars, making it visible even in spots with light pollution. The meteors, however, are best viewed under dark skies.

Lyra's location:  Right ascension: 19 hours  Declination: 40 degrees  Latitudes: Between 90 and -40 degrees

NASA recommends that skywatchers go outside after Lyra rises (after 9 p.m. local time), and after moonset, to watch the show, which runs until dawn. Allow 30 minutes for eyes to adjust, and look away from the radiant, where longer and more spectacular meteors will be visible. Gazing at Lyra directly will show short meteors due to a phenomenon known as foreshortening.

While the Lyrids are not the brightest ones out there, NASA said the meteors "are known for their luminous dust trains, which can be observable for several seconds." A typical meteor from that shower moves about 30 miles (49 kilometers) per second.

Although the shower appears to come out of Lyra, the meteors are chunks that have sloughed off of Comet Thatcher.

Related: How to photograph meteors and meteor showers

Comets disintegrate as the sun's heat causes ice and other debris to break off from the core. This leaves a trail of rubble in space. In the case of Thatcher's path of debris, the Earth runs into it once a year and produces the sky show known as the Lyrid meteor shower.

It's hard for astronomers to predict which years will produce more spectacular showers, the North American Meteor Network noted in a report from 1999 (opens in new tab).

"The orbit determination relies heavily on photographic and radar results, which are seldom obtainable every year  hence gaps in the data and our knowledge of the shower," the network wrote. "Studies of the years with higher Lyrid activity have found, however, that outbursts of fainter meteors occurred prior to the normal meteor maximum."

Additional resources

Explore the Lyrids in more detail with NASA Science (opens in new tab). Read more about the Lyra constellation with this article from In-The-Sky.org (opens in new tab). Learn about Comet Thatcher  the source of the Lyrids  with this NASA Science article (opens in new tab).

Bibliography

Fisher, Willard J. "Records of the Lyrid meteor shower of 1803. (opens in new tab)" Popular Astronomy 39 (1931): 256.

Branham, Richard L. "Do comets C/1861 G1 (Thatcher) and C/1861 J1 (Great Comet) have a common origin? (opens in new tab)." Revista mexicana de astronomia y astrofisica 51.2 (2015): 245-251.

Hajdukova, M., and L. Neslusan. "Modeling the meteoroid streams of comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher), Lyrids. (opens in new tab)" Planetary and Space Science 203 (2021): 105246.

Zhilyaev, B. E., et al. "High-frequency photometric changes in meteor's wake of Lyrid shower. (opens in new tab)" 22 International scientific conference Astronomical School of Young Scientists. 2020.
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Just as ancient Greeks fantasized about soaring flight, today's imaginations dream of melding minds and machines as a remedy to the pesky problem of human mortality. Can the mind connect directly with artificial intelligence, robots and other minds through brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies to transcend our human limitations?

Over the last 50 years, researchers at university labs and companies around the world have made impressive progress toward achieving such a vision. Recently, successful entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk (Neuralink) and Bryan Johnson (Kernel) have announced new startups that seek to enhance human capabilities through brain-computer interfacing.

How close are we really to successfully connecting our brains to our technologies? And what might the implications be when our minds are plugged in?

How do brain-computer interfaces work and what can they do?

Origins: Rehabilitation and restoration

Eb Fetz, a researcher here at the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE), is one of the earliest pioneers to connect machines to minds. In 1969, before there were even personal computers, he showed that monkeys can amplify their brain signals to control a needle that moved on a dial.

Much of the recent work on BCIs aims to improve the quality of life of people who are paralyzed or have severe motor disabilities. You may have seen some recent accomplishments in the news: University of Pittsburgh researchers use signals recorded inside the brain to control a robotic arm. Stanford researchers can extract the movement intentions of paralyzed patients from their brain signals, allowing them to use a tablet wirelessly.

Similarly, some limited virtual sensations can be sent back to the brain, by delivering electrical current inside the brain or to the brain surface.

What about our main senses of sight and sound? Very early versions of bionic eyes for people with severe vision impairment have been deployed commercially, and improved versions are undergoing human trials right now. Cochlear implants, on the other hand, have become one of the most successful and most prevalent bionic implants  over 300,000 users around the world use the implants to hear.

A bidirectional brain-computer interface (BBCI) can both record signals from the brain and send information back to the brain through stimulation. (Image credit: Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE), CC BY-ND)

The most sophisticated BCIs are "bi-directional" BCIs (BBCIs), which can both record from and stimulate the nervous system. At our center, we're exploring BBCIs as a radical new rehabilitation tool for stroke and spinal cord injury. We've shown that a BBCI can be used to strengthen connections between two brain regions or between the brain and the spinal cord, and reroute information around an area of injury to reanimate a paralyzed limb.

An electrocorticography grid, used for detecting electrical changes on the surface of the brain, is being tested for electrical characteristics. (Image credit: Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, CC BY-ND)

With all these successes to date, you might think a brain-computer interface is poised to be the next must-have consumer gadget.

Still early days

But a careful look at some of the current BCI demonstrations reveals we still have a way to go: When BCIs produce movements, they are much slower, less precise and less complex than what able-bodied people do easily every day with their limbs. Bionic eyes offer very low-resolution vision; cochlear implants can electronically carry limited speech information, but distort the experience of music. And to make all these technologies work, electrodes have to be surgically implanted  a prospect most people today wouldnt consider.

Not all BCIs, however, are invasive. Noninvasive BCIs that don't require surgery do exist; they are typically based on electrical (EEG) recordings from the scalp and have been used to demonstrate control of cursors, wheelchairs, robotic arms, drones, humanoid robots and even brain-to-brain communication.

The first demonstration of a noninvasive brain-controlled humanoid robot "avatar" named Morpheus in the Neural Systems Laboratory at the University of Washington in 2006. This noninvasive BCI infers what object the robot should pick and where to bring it based on the brain's reflexive response when an image of the desired object or location is flashed.

But all these demos have been in the laboratory  where the rooms are quiet, the test subjects aren't distracted, the technical setup is long and methodical, and experiments last only long enough to show that a concept is possible. It's proved very difficult to make these systems fast and robust enough to be of practical use in the real world.

Even with implanted electrodes, another problem with trying to read minds arises from how our brains are structured. We know that each neuron and their thousands of connected neighbors form an unimaginably large and ever-changing network. What might this mean for neuroengineers?

Imagine you're trying to understand a conversation between a big group of friends about a complicated subject, but you're allowed to listen to only a single person. You might be able to figure out the very rough topic of what the conversation is about, but definitely not all the details and nuances of the entire discussion. Because even our best implants only allow us to listen to a few small patches of the brain at a time, we can do some impressive things, but we're nowhere near understanding the full conversation.

There is also what we think of as a language barrier. Neurons communicate with each other through a complex interaction of electrical signals and chemical reactions. This native electro-chemical language can be interpreted with electrical circuits, but it's not easy. Similarly, when we speak back to the brain using electrical stimulation, it is with a heavy electrical "accent." This makes it difficult for neurons to understand what the stimulation is trying to convey in the midst of all the other ongoing neural activity.

Finally, there is the problem of damage. Brain tissue is soft and flexible, while most of our electrically conductive materials  the wires that connect to brain tissue  tend to be very rigid. This means that implanted electronics often cause scarring and immune reactions that mean the implants lose effectiveness over time. Flexible biocompatible fibers and arrays may eventually help in this regard.

Co-adapting, cohabiting

Despite all these challenges, we're optimistic about our bionic future. BCIs don't have to be perfect. The brain is amazingly adaptive and capable of learning to use BCIs in a manner similar to how we learn new skills like driving a car or using a touchscreen interface. Similarly, the brain can learn to interpret new types of sensory information even when it's delivered noninvasively using, for example, magnetic pulses.

Learning to interpret and use artificial sensory information delivered via noninvasive brain stimulation.

Ultimately, we believe a "co-adaptive" bidirectional BCI, where the electronics learns with the brain and talks back to the brain constantly during the process of learning, may prove to be a necessary step to build the neural bridge. Building such co-adaptive bidirectional BCIs is the goal of our center.

We are similarly excited about recent successes in targeted treatment of diseases like diabetes using "electroceuticals"  experimental small implants that treat a disease without drugs by communicating commands directly to internal organs.

And researchers have discovered new ways of overcoming the electrical-to-biochemical language barrier. Injectible "neural lace," for example, may prove to be a promising way to gradually allow neurons to grow alongside implanted electrodes rather than rejecting them. Flexible nanowire-based probes, flexible neuron scaffolds and glassy carbon interfaces may also allow biological and technological computers to happily coexist in our bodies in the future.

From assistive to augmentative

Elon Musk's new startup Neuralink has the stated ultimate goal of enhancing humans with BCIs to give our brains a leg up in the ongoing arms race between human and artificial intelligence. He hopes that with the ability to connect to our technologies, the human brain could enhance its own capabilities  possibly allowing us to avoid a potential dystopian future where AI has far surpassed natural human capabilities. Such a vision certainly may seem far-off or fanciful, but we shouldn't dismiss an idea on strangeness alone. After all, self-driving cars were relegated to the realm of science fiction even a decade and a half ago  and now share our roads.

A BCI can vary along multiple dimensions: whether it interfaces with the peripheral nervous system (a nerve) or the central nervous system (the brain), whether it is invasive or noninvasive and whether it helps restore lost function or enhances capabilities. (Image credit: James Wu; adapted from Sakurambo, CC BY-SA)

In a closer future, as brain-computer interfaces move beyond restoring function in disabled people to augmenting able-bodied individuals beyond their human capacity, we need to be acutely aware of a host of issues related to consent, privacy, identity, agency and inequality. At our center, a team of philosophers, clinicians and engineers is working actively to address these ethical, moral and social justice issues and offer neuroethical guidelines before the field progresses too far ahead.

Connecting our brains directly to technology may ultimately be a natural progression of how humans have augmented themselves with technology over the ages, from using wheels to overcome our bipedal limitations to making notations on clay tablets and paper to augment our memories. Much like the computers, smartphones and virtual reality headsets of today, augmentative BCIs, when they finally arrive on the consumer market, will be exhilarating, frustrating, risky and, at the same time, full of promise.

James Wu, Ph.D. Student in Bioengineering, Researcher at the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, University of Washington and Rajesh P. N. Rao, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and Director of the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering , University of Washington

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates  and become part of the discussion  on Facebook, Twitter and Google +. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This version of the article was originally published on Space.com.
Gravitationally Lensed

ESA/Hubble, NASA, Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Palomar Observatory/California Institute of Technology

A wide-field view of the night sky from the Palomar Observatory in California reveals a stunning backdrop to a composite image of type Ia supernova iPTF15geu. The leftmost image image came from Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The center and right image are from NASA/ESA's Hubble Space Telescope and show the lensing galaxy SDSS J210415.89-062024.7 in the center and four lensed images of the supernova explosion around the lensing galaxy.

Looking through a Lens

ESA/Hubble, NASA

At 2.5 billion light years away, galaxy SDSS J210415.89-062024.7 acted as lens to a supernova even further into the cosmos. The gravitational lensing created four distinct images of the explosion.

Seeing the Past

ESA/Hubble, NASA

The light from supernova iPTF16geu traveled 4.3 billion years to get to Earth. The only reason astronomers saw it was the foreground galaxy lensed the light, magnifying it by 50 times. The gravitational lensing also caused the glow from the supernova to appear in four distinct places in the sky surrounding the lensing galaxy.

The Great Cosmos

ESA/Hubble, NASA

On Palomar Mountain in California, the Palomar Observatory collected this wide-field view of the night sky. A supernova explosion whose light traveled 4.3 billion years was discovered in the lower central part of the image because of gravitational lensing.

Search for Supernovae

ESA/Hubble, Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, astronomers scoured the skies for supernovae, employing a 2.5 meter wide-angle optical telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico. The tiny red dot at left center in the image is the explosion iPTF16geu.

Lensed Supernova

ESA/Hubble, W. M. Keck Observatory

The Keck Observatory in Hawaii leapt into action to capture this view of the supernova iPTF16geu after it was spotted with the Hubble Space Telescope, a lensing event magnifying it by 50x.

Supernova iPTF16geu

Joel Johansson

The supernova iPTF16geu located in an image by the Palomar 48-inch telescope in California. The first photo shows an image of the area from the San Diego Sky Survey, and Hubble Space Telescope images reveal a foreground galaxy and the faraway supernova, whose light bent around the galaxy to arrive at Hubble four different times. An image of the supernova from the Keck telescope is also included.

Visual boost

Joel Johansson

This diagram shows how the supernova iPTF16geu got a visual boost from a galaxy that came between it and the Hubble Space Telescope. The gravity of the intervening galaxy warped the light coming from the supernova, sending it to Hubble split into four images and magnifying it by more than 50 times.

Different Views

Joel Johansson

Researchers rushed to capture views of the supernova iPTF16geu with different telescopes when the supernova was caught magnified 50 times as a foreground galaxy passed between it and the Hubble Space Telescope.
An illustration of a hamburger-shaped accretion disk feeding a young protostar, and the jets of gaseous material ejected from the young star's north and south poles.

A newborn star buried deep inside the Orion Nebula is feeding on a giant, dusty "space hamburger," researchers have discovered.

This astronomical sandwich is actually an accretion disk, or a cloud of gas and dust that rotates around a central point  in this case, a young protostar. Astronomers have seen these disks around stars and even black holes before, but this is the first time anyone has seen one that looks like a giant hamburger.

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, researchers found more than just the first "space hamburger"  their observations also confirmed that accretion disks can form in the earliest phase of star formation. Because disks around young stars are relatively tiny, astronomers have not been able to clearly image them in the past, the study's authors explain in the new research paper. [Amazing Photos from the Giant ALMA Radio Telescope]

An illustration of a hamburger-shaped accretion disk feeding a young protostar, and the jets of gaseous material ejected from the young star's north and south poles. (Image credit: Yin-Chih Tsai/ASIAA)

Thanks to the higher sensitivity and resolution of ALMA's telescopes, researchers were able to detect a protostellar disk around a baby star for the first time while getting a detailed look at its structure.

Though the researchers suspected they'd find a protostellar disk, the hamburger-like shape came as a surprise, Chin-Fei Lee, a researcher at the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taiwan, who led the study, told Space.com in an email.

Instead of a round, homogeneous blob, Lee's team saw a dark zone (the analogical beef patty) sandwiched between two brighter features. To see this so-called "equatorial lane," the protostellar disk must be observed close to edge-on, Lee said. Its midplane must also be colder than the "hamburger" buns and opaque in the observed wavelength.

Images of the HH 212 protostellar system: (a) Molecular jets of gassy material spewing out of the young star's poles are seen in this composite image created with a combination of data from different telescopes. (b) A close-up of the center of the protostellar disk reveals the hamburger-shaped dust cloud around the central star. A dark layer is seen around the equator. A scale model of Earth's solar system is included for size comparison. (c) Using a new computer model, the researchers were able to reproduce the observed dust emission in the disk. (Image credit: Lee et al./ALMA/ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)

"It is so amazing to see such a detailed structure of a very young accretion disk," Lee said in a statement. "For many years, astronomers have been searching for accretion disks in the earliest phase of star formation, in order to determine their structure, how they are formed and how the accretion process takes place. Now, using the ALMA with its full power of resolution, we not only detect an accretion disk but also resolve it, especially its vertical structure, in great detail."

But not all protostellar disks look like hamburgers, Lee said. "However, we do expect to see more of this toward the younger (Class 0) protostars, because we can resolve more and more edge-on disks now with ALMA."

The protostellar system Lee's team investigated is Herbig-Haro object HH 212, which lies about 1,300 light-years away from Earth and contains a central protostar that's about 40,000 years old (compared to Earth's 4.5 billion-year-old sun). Gas and dust in the accretion disk spirals inward due to the star's gravitational pull, and over time, disks like these will form planets that revolve around their central stars.

With new insights into the formation of disks around baby stars, scientists can learn more about how new planets form, the researchers said in the new paper, which was published April 19 in the journal Science Advances.

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of a gully-streaked crater in the Red Planet's northern hemisphere on Jan. 15, 2017.

Gullies streak down the slopes of a frosty Red Planet crater in a gorgeous new photo by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

MRO captured the image using its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, which can spot features as small as a coffee table on the Martian surface.

"This is the location with the most impressive known gully activity in the Northern hemisphere," HiRISE principal investigator Alfred McEwen, a professor of planetary geology at the University of Arizona, wrote in an image description yesterday (April 18). The location he was referring to is about 51.7 degrees north latitude and 333 degrees east longitude, according to the description. [See more great Mars photos by MRO]

"Gullies are active in the winter due to carbon dioxide frost, but northern winters are shorter and warmer than southern winters, so there is less frost and less gully activity," McEwen added.

Therefore, the crater's gullies are quite different from the dark streaks known as recurring slope lineae (RSL) that temporarily stain some slopes near the Martian equator during the warmest parts of the year. Some scientists posit that RSL are signs of salty liquid water, but others point to dry landslides as the likely cause.

Though NASA released the gully-crater image yesterday, HiRISE actually took it on Jan. 15.

Zoomed-out view of the gully-streaked crater in the Martian northern hemisphere photographed by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Jan. 15, 2017. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona)

The $720 million MRO mission has been circling Mars for more than 11 years, studying the planet's geology and climate, searching for signs of liquid water activity, and scouting out possible landing locations for future robotic and crewed missions, among other tasks. MRO also serves as a communications relay link between robots on the Martian surface, such as NASA's Opportunity and Curiosity rovers, and their handlers back on Earth.

MRO and its instruments remain in good shape despite the spacecraft's relatively advanced age, NASA officials have said.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
The Soyuz rocket and spacecraft set to launch NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin to the International Space Station on April 20, 2017 is seen at the launchpad at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

An American astronaut and Russian cosmonaut will launch on a fast-track mission to the International Space Station (ISS) early Thursday (April 20), and you can watch the action live online.

The Russian-built Soyuz spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin is scheduled to blast off at 3:13 a.m. EDT (0713 GMT) from a pad at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where the local time will be early afternoon at liftoff. The Soyuz should take about 6 hours to reach the space station, NASA officials said in a statement.

You can watch a launch webcast live here, courtesy of NASA TV, beginning at 2:15 a.m. EDT (0615 GMT).

Fischer and Yurchikhin will join the three crewmates already aboard the space station to round out the outpost's Expedition 51 mission crew. The two new crewmembers' Soyuz should dock at the station at 9:23 a.m. EDT (1323 GMT), NASA officials said in the same statement.

"Two happy guys & a whole bunch of spring blooms!" Fischer wrote in a Twitter post alongside a photo of him and Yurchikhin. "#SoyuzMS04 Crew is ready to launch tomorrow!"

See more

Thursday's launch will mark the first spaceflight for Fischer, 43, a U.S. Air Force colonel from Louisville, Colorado, who has degrees in astronautical engineering along with aeronautics and astronautics. He joined NASA's astronaut ranks in 2009 and has two daughters with his wife, Elizabeth.

Yurchikhin, 58, is a veteran cosmonaut making his fifth spaceflight with the Expedition 51 mission. A father of two with wife, Larisa, Yurchikhin is from Batumi in the country of Georgia and was selected to join Russia's cosmonaut ranks in 1997. He has flown on one NASA space shuttle flight to the ISS, as well as three long-duration missions to the orbiting laboratory.

NASA astronaut Jack Fischer (right) and Roscosmos cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin pose for a picture with their Sokol spacesuits at the Integration Building of Baikonur Cosmodrome on April 6, 2017 ahead of an April 20 launch. (Image credit: NASA/Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center/Andrey Shelepin)

Once they arrive at the ISS, Fischer and Yurchikhin will join NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency. The crewmembers will spend more than four months living and working in space, and are expected to return to Earth in early September, NASA officials said.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Die Astronautin finalists Insa Thiele-Eich and Nicola Baumann will train to become Germany's first woman in space.

The daughter of a veteran astronaut and an experienced fighter pilot have been announced as the finalists in a privately-conducted search for Germany's first woman to fly into space.

Insa Thiele-Eich, a meteorologist and daughter of German astronaut Gerhard Thiele, and Nicola Baumann, a German united armed forces fighter pilot, were presented in Berlin on Wednesday (April 19) as the candidates for a privately-financed, ten-day flight to the International Space Station. In the course of their training over the next two years, one of the two women will be selected to launch to the orbiting laboratory, with the other serving as her backup. [Record-Breaking Women in Spaceflight History]

"Germany sends two outstanding women into the training as an astronaut," said Brigitte Zypries, Germany's Minister for Economics and Energy, in a statement. "They are good role models to inspire other young women."

Thiele-Eich, 33, and Baumann, 31, were chosen as part of "Die Astronautin" ("The Female Astronaut") a campaign by the aerospace recruitment agency HE Space launched in 2016. A jury panel, including former German space shuttle payload specialist Ulrich Walter, selected the finalists from a pool of six candidates who had been chosen out of more than 400 applicants, in part based on medical screenings conducted by Germany's space agency, DLR.

"I am proud we were able to accompany this project with our scientific expertise," Pascale Ehrenfreund, chair of the DLR executive board, said in a statement. "More women in space travel, we all want that."

Die Astronautin finalist Insa Thiele-Eich is the daughter of German astronaut Gerhard Thiele, pictured here at right on board the space shuttle Endeavour in 2000. (Image credit: Die Astronautin/Klampackel / NASA)

After the U.S. and Russia, Germany is tied with China for having sent more of its citizens into orbit than astronauts from any other country, a total of eleven since 1978. All of the German space travelers, and a twelfth now in training, have been men.

Thiele-Eich and Baumann are expected to start training on a part-time basis later this year.

A science coordinator at the Meteorological Institute of the University of Bonn, Thiele-Eich said earlier that her father, who flew on NASA's space shuttle Endeavour in 2000 on a NASA-DLR radar topography mission, did not take part in her application. The only advice that Gerhard Thiele gave his daughter was to "stay calm and have fun," Thiele-Eich told collectSPACE.com in March.

"It's an overwhelming feeling," said Thiele-Eich after being announced on Wednesday, according to Deutsche Welle, Germany's public international broadcaster. "It will take a bit to really sink in."

"This is a gigantic moment," said Baumann, "my childhood dream come true."

Die Astronautin finalist Nicola Baumann. (Image credit: Die Astronautin)

Baumann was already "mentally preparing" her application for the next European Space Agency astronaut recruitment when the Die Astronautin search was announced, she told collectSPACE.com in March. As a Bundeswehr pilot based in Norvenich, near Cologne, she said she is eager to "learn, understand and actually fly a spacecraft."

By launching either Baumann or Thiele-Eich to space, HE Space aims to inspire German women and girls to pursue technical professions and to study science. The campaign also intends its crew member to conduct experiments on the space station to add to the investigations about how the female body reacts in microgravity.

For either finalist to launch, Die Astronautin will need to seek funds from the public and from commercial sponsors. A crowdfunding campaign launched in March has to date raised just over half of its 50,000-euro (about $54,000 US) goal to support the project's training program.

The campaign has received in-kind backing from Nike and hopes for support from the German government, DLR and ESA.

"When we started this more than a year ago, many people doubted whether we would find a suitable candidate at all. Today, I can say we even have two," said Claudia Kessler, CEO of HE Space. "Insa Thiele-Eich and Nicola Baumann are highly qualified women with strong personalities. We look forward to training the two as astronauts."

"This brings us a big step closer to our common dream of a German Astronautin," said Kessler.

For more information, see the Die Astronautin website at dieastronautin.de.

Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2017 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
If you live in fear of an asteroid strike, here's some detail to help flesh out your nightmares.

A killer space rock is most likely to get you via violent winds that fling you against something hard or powerful shock waves that rupture your internal organs, according to a new study.

"This is the first study that looks at all seven impact effects generated by hazardous asteroids and estimates which are, in terms of human loss, most severe," lead author Clemens Rumpf, a senior research assistant at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, said in a statement. [Potentially Dangerous Asteroids (Images)]

Rumpf and his colleagues simulated 50,000 asteroid strikes around the globe using computer models. These artificial impacts involved space rocks 50 feet to 1,300 feet wide (15 to 400 meters)  the size range that hits Earth most frequently, the scientists said.

Then, the team estimated the percentage of deaths caused by each of the seven effects Rumpf referred to: shock waves, wind blasts, heat, flying debris, cratering, seismic shaking and tsunamis.

Wind and shock waves were the most deadly, together accounting for more than 60 percent of all lives lost. (Though these two effects act in concert, wind blasts were far more devastating than shock waves, the study found.) The sizzling heat of an impact was responsible for nearly 30 percent of deaths, and tsunamis took most of the rest.

Each of the other three effects claimed only a tiny sliver of the death toll, according to the study. Flying debris had a maximum contribution of just 0.91 percent, for example; the figures for cratering and seismic shaking were 0.2 percent and 0.17 percent, respectively.

Rumpf and his colleagues also determined that land-based asteroid impacts are about 10 times deadlier than ocean strikes. In addition, they found that space rocks have to be at least 59 feet (18 m) wide to be lethal.

That lower limit is about the size of the object that exploded above the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in February 2013, generating a shock wave that broke countless windows on the ground below. The resulting flying glass shards injured more than 1,000 people but killed nobody.

"This report is a reasonable step forward in trying to understand and come to grips with the hazards posed by asteroids and comet impactors," Jay Melosh, a geophysicist at Purdue University who was not involved in the new study, said in the same statement.

Melosh added that the findings "lead one to appreciate the role of air blasts in asteroid impacts, as we saw in Chelyabinsk."

Astronomers have discovered more than 16,000 near-Earth objects to date. However, that number is just a tiny sliver of the total, which is thought to be in the millions.

Scientists think they've found about 95 percent of the nearby asteroids that could threaten human civilization if they were to hit Earth  behemoths at least 0.6 miles (1 km) wide  and none of these monsters poses a threat for the foreseeable future.

But there are still plenty of dangerous rocks zooming around out there undiscovered. On average, Earth gets hit by an asteroid at least 190 feet (60 m) wide every 1,500 years and by a rock at least 1,300 feet (400 m) wide every 100,000 years, Rumpf said.

"The likelihood of [a serious] asteroid impact is really low," said Rumpf. "But the consequences can be unimaginable."

Researchers around the world are studying ways to prevent asteroid strikes and thereby avoid those consequences. Most incoming space rocks that are detected with decades of lead time could likely be nudged away from Earth using "gravity tractors" and kinetic impactor probes, scientists say. (Gravity tractors would fly alongside a potentially dangerous asteroid for long stretches, whereas kinetic impactors would slam into the space rock.)

But a nuclear bomb may be required to deal with giant asteroids or comets that are discovered just weeks or months before a potential impact.

The new study was published last month in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
This Earth Day (April 22), NASA wants you to "Adopt the Planet."

This Earth Day (April 22), NASA wants people around the world to "adopt" one of 64,000 sections of the planet seen from space.

Visitors to the agency's "Adopt the Planet" website will receive an adoption certificate for a unique, numbered section of Earth's surface, with each hexagonal plot averaging about 55 miles (89 kilometers) wide. The certificate also shows "data layers" of that patch of Earth, revealing highlight features of the planet that the unaided human eye cannot see, such as air-quality levels. Visitors can also print certificates for chosen locations.

(Of course, the adoption certificates do not grant any actual entitlement to the land; the sections will be randomly assigned, and the certificates won't "confer any legal or ownership rights," according to NASA.)

NASA is also holding special Earth Day events in Washington, D.C., and New York City.

On Thursday (April 20), visit "Earth Day in the Nation's Capital" in the main hall at Union Station in Washington, D.C. This event will include NASA's hyperwall, which consists of several high-definition screens capable of displaying multiple data visualizations and images from NASA. The event will also offer hands-on activities and demonstrations. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT and will include a visit from former astronaut Scott Altman from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

On Friday (April 21), visit "Hayden Planetarium Special Event: Earth Day Celebration in New York" at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The event starts at 7 p.m. EDT. It will explore the history of Earth Day (including the famous image of the planet taken during the Apollo 8 mission that sparked the movement) and how scientists today use satellites and computers to monitor global change.

More information about NASA's Earth science activities is available on NASA's website.

Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Soyuz MS-04 launches for the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 20, 2017.

An astronaut and a cosmonaut launched on the first two-person spaceflight in 14 years, bound for a 5-month stay on the International Space Station.

Astronaut Jack Fischer with NASA and cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos lifted off on Russia's Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft, atop a Soyuz-FG rocket, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:13 a.m. EDT (0713 GMT; 1:13 p.m. local time) Thursday (April 20). Launched on a "fast-track," six-orbit rendezvous. Update: Soyuz MS-04 docked to the space station at 9:18 a.m. EDT (1318 GMT).

Once aboard the orbital laboratory, Fischer and Yurchikhin will become part of the Expedition 51 crew, joining NASA's Peggy Whitson, cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who arrived at the space station in November. [In Photos: Expedition 51 Mission to the Space Station]

Soyuz MS-04 launches for the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 20, 2017. (Image credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Fischer and Yurchikhin were originally assigned in 2015 to fly with a third crew member, ESA's Paolo Nespoli, but a decision by Roscosmos to reduce its contingent from three to two cosmonauts until its multipurpose lab module (MLM) Nauka is ready to launch in 2018 resulted in schedule and seat changes. (Nespoli will rejoin Fischer and Yurchikhin in July, when he launches as part of the three-member Soyuz MS-05 crew to staff Expedition 52.)

"We are carrying some cargo up to the station in that third seat," said Fischer in a press conference on Wednesday (April 19). "I know I speak for Fyodor when I say if we could figure out how to fit [our wives] Larisa and Elizabeth in that seat, that is who we would take with us."

Expedition 51 crewmembers Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos (left) and Jack Fischer of NASA (right) answer questions from the press at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Facility in Star City, Russia. The March 31, 2017 interview took place at a Soyuz spacecraft mockup on day two of the final qualification exams for the astronauts. (Image credit: Rob Navias/NASA)

The last time that a two-person crew lifted off for the space station was in April 2003, when Ed Lu with NASA and Yuri Malenchenko with Roscosmos launched on Soyuz TMA-2 to become the Expedition 7 crew in the wake of the loss of the space shuttle Columbia two months earlier.

Like Malenchenko and Lu, who returned with a third crew member (ESA's Pedro Duque), Fischer and Yurchikhin are slated to land in September with their empty seat filled.

Whitson, who on Monday (April 24) will surpass the record for the most time spent in space by an American astronaut  534 days and counting, in the course of her three flights  recently had her own stay extended. Instead of landing with Novitskiy and Pesquet in July as first planned, she will take the open seat on Soyuz MS-04 and return home with Fischer and Yurchikhin after serving on Expeditions 50, 51, and 52.

During Expeditions 51 and 52, Fischer and Yurchikhin will help with hundreds of experiments and oversee the arrival and departure of Russian and U.S. visiting vehicles  the first of which, Orbital ATK's S.S. John Glenn Cygnus cargo freighter, is set to berth at the space station on Saturday (April 22).

For Yurchikhin, this marks his fifth launch to space, having logged a total of 537 days on one space shuttle mission in 2002 and three long-duration missions on the International Space Station in 2007, 2010 and 2013. When he lands on Earth at the end of this flight, Yurchikhin will rank seventh in the world for time in space, just ahead of Whitson.

Fischer, whose nickname "2fish" came from his former Air Force squadron having another guy named Fischer (as in the Dr. Seuss book, "One Fish, Two Fish..."), is on his first flight since being chosen as a NASA astronaut in 2009. He is the 550th person in history to fly into Earth orbit.

Fischer and Yurchikhin were the first to receive permission from Roscosmos to name their Soyuz  "Argo."

"It came from the Argonauts, the seafaring explorers [from Greek mythology] and we are the explorers of space," said Yurchikhin, whose call sign for the flight is "Olympus."

Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin (left) and NASA astronaut Jack Fischer ride to orbit aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on April 20, 2017. (Image credit: NASA TV)

Fischer and Yurchikhin also each selected dolls to act as their ship's zero-g indicators. Yurchikhin flew a small white plush dog for the fifth time and a pair of Russian cartoon characters. Fischer chose the multi-color sun-shaped logo of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where one of his two daughters received treatment.

Soyuz MS-04 is the 50th Soyuz to fly to the International Space Station since 2000 and 133rd since the first flight of Russia's Soyuz-class of spacecraft in 1967.
An artist's illustration of China's uncrewed Tiangzhou-1 cargo ship in orbit on its way to the Tiangong-2 space laboratory.

China's bid to establish a permanently crewed space station got a boost today (April 20) with the launch of the country's first cargo supply spacecraft: the Tianzhou-1.

The uncrewed Tianzhou-1 cargo resupply spacecraft launched into orbit atop a Long March 7 Y2 booster from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in the southern island province of Hainan. Liftoff occurred at 7:41 p.m. local time (7:41 a.m. EDT/1141 GMT) at the spaceport.

Space program officials in China declared mission success shortly after the rocket launched and the vehicle deployed its solar panels. Tianzhou-1 is now on track to dock with the Tiangong-2 space laboratory, or "Heavenly Palace 2," where two astronauts spent a month last October in China's longest-ever crewed spaceflight. That crewed mission, called Shenzhou-11,lasted 33 days.

A Chinese Long March 7 rocket launches the uncrewed Tianzhou-1 cargo ship into orbit from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island on April 20, 2017. (Image credit: China Manned Space Agency)

A big test for China

Tianzhou-1 is a vital element in China's planned space station,which is set to be pieced together in the 2020s. The Tianzhou-1 spacecraft is 34.7 feet (10.6 meters) long and nearly 11 feet (3.35 m) in diameter at its widest point. It weighs 9.4 tons (8.6 metric tons) on its own and can carry more than 6.6 tons (6 metric tons) of supplies, according to a China Manned Space Agency statement.

The supply ship is expected to link up with the now-orbiting, but currently unoccupied Tiangong-2 space lab. A major objective of the mission is to perform refueling tests of the space lab, a prelude to China maintaining a larger space complex in the near-future, according to China Manned Space Agency officials. [China's First Space Station in Pictures]

After entering orbit, according to CCTV-Plus interviews with Chinese space officials, Tianzhou-1 is slated to conduct a first docking with Tiangong-2 in a few days. The two spacecraft will then have a two-month in-orbit flight to test the liquid-propellant refueling as well as the cargo spaceship's control of the combined vehicles, CMSA officials said.

The two spacecraft will also fly separately for three months, during which time the cargo spaceship will complete its own space science experiments. Then the two will have the third docking to test the automatic fast-docking technology, a test to complete the docking within 6 hours.

Artist's illustration showing China's Tianzhou-1 freighter docking with the currently orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab. (Image credit: CMSE)

Extensive ground testing

According to Chinese space authorities, there have been more than 600 ground tests that demonstrated Tianzhou-1/Tiangong-2 docking hardware.

"A space station has two docking ports, forward and backward," said Bai Mingsheng, chief designer of the Tianzhou-1 cargo ship at the China Academy of Space Technology, in a CCTV-Plus interview. "So a cargo spacecraft must be able to dock with the station from both directions. This time, Tianzhou-1 will separate from Tiangong-2's backward port and then fly around it to dock from the forward port to examine the docking ability. This is the primary mission of the combination."

"These are new experiments," Bai said in the interview. "A shorter docking time for manned spaceships is of great significance as it will make astronauts more comfortable."

For CGTN video of the Tianzhou-1 liftoff, go to:

http://news.cgtn.com/news/3d41544f30557a4d/share_p.html

For a CCTV-Plus video of the liftoff, go to:

http://pv.news.cctvplus.com/2017/0420/8048405_Preview_1285.mp4

Leonard David is author of "Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet," published by National Geographic. The book is a companion to the National Geographic Channel series "Mars." A longtime writer for Space.com, David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. This version of this story was posted on Space.com.
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London, Apr 20, 2017 (SPS) -The Western Sahara Action Forum (WSAF) denounced Wednesday the continuation of Western Sahara colonization by Morocco, stressing that the lack of progress to free the Sahrawi people from colonialism is untenable.

In an appeal to the UN Security Council members, WSAF regretted the failure of the UN Security Council to protect men, women and children of Western Sahara against torture perpetrated by the Moroccan state.

The Forum referred to human rights violation examples reported this year, committed by Moroccan authorities, particularly children.

Besides, the Forum also stressed that Morocco continued to expel foreigner it suspects of monitoring human rights. According to the same source, 57 individuals were expelled from Western Sahara in January 2017.

Due to the absence of a permanent independent mechanism to monitor human rights, the extent of these unpunished violations remains unknown, deplored WSAF.

Moreover, WSAF urged the Security Council to set a date during the upcoming meetings on the MINURSO mandate, for direct negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front without, preconditions, and with respect for the Sahrawi peoples inalienable right to self-determination.

It also called on the Security Council to entrust to the MINURSO the monitoring and reporting of the situation of human rights in Western Sahara, and set a date for a free and just referendum involving the independence option in accordance with international legal standards. SPS

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London, Apr 20, 2017 (SPS) - The non-governmental human rights organization Amnesty International called, Tuesday, the United Nation to urgently monitor human rights in Western Sahara in order to put an end to the violations and impunity of which the Sahrawi people is victim under the Moroccan occupation.

The NGO considers urgent to prioritize human rights monitoring and to include in the Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), exhorting the Security Council to take it into account, in the vote next week, on April 27, to renew the mandate of its presence in the territories occupied by Morocco.

It noted, in the communique, that enabling the MINURSO to monitor Human Rights in Western Sahara is crucial for ensuring that abuses committed far from the public eye are brought to the worlds attention, holding those responsible to account and improving respect for human rights.

The UN mission in Western Sahara is the worlds only modern peacekeeping operation without a human rights component. Its been over a quarter of a century since it was established and it is high time to upgrade its status to enable it to report on such violations.

Amnesty underlined that it has continued to document, over the past year, the human rights violations and in particular arbitrary restrictions on peaceful protesters and activists supporting self-determination for Western Sahara.

The statement also noted the violations of the rights of Sahrawis detained in Morocco, and breaches to their right to a fair trial and to the prohibition on torture or other ill-treatment.

In this regard, the organization also follows the new civilian trial of 24 Sahrawis, including human rights and political activists, who had previously been sentenced to heavy prison terms following a grossly unfair military trial.

The NGO regrets that the MINURSOs capacity was reduced last year after the Moroccan authorities expelled a number of its civilian personnel, including demining staff from the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), in March 2016.

Instead of hampering MINURSOs work, the Moroccan authorities should be fully cooperating with the mission to ensure they are able to carry out their duties at full capacity, concluded the communique. SPS

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STAMFORD  Following ICE raids that have engendered fear in immigrant communities across the nation, Police Chief Jon Fontneau was asked at a meeting last month whether he witnesses similar anxiety in Stamford.

Absolutely, he said.

Right now, theyre afraid to report crimes that are committed to them  domestic abuse, rape or robberies  for fear they may get deported, Fontneau said, citing a recent dip in crime rates.

I dont feel weve been successful in stopping those crimes, he said. I just feel theyre not being reported.

Stamfords police department does not generally cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers  who may ask them to hold someone picked up for a crime or infraction  a policy adopted by police forces across the state operating where there are frightened immigrants.

People are afraid to come out of their homes, Fontneau said. I hear from (school resource officers) that kids have a fear people will come from ICE and take them out of their schools.

The drop in reported crimes is just one side effect of President Donald Trumps efforts to ramp up deportation of those living here without a path to citizenship. In Stamford, where immigrants  both legal and undocumented  make up a third of the population, those effects are playing out across the city.

Especially with the undocumented, many of whom are lying low and withholding information  even when vital services are at stake.

More Information Food pantries in Stamford area New Covenant Center 174 Richmond Hill Ave. 203-964-8228 Wilson Food Pantry 164 Richmond Hill Ave. 203-356-1816 Zion Lutheran Church Food Pantry 132 Glenbrook Rd. 203-327-7751 Salvation Army - Stamford Corps Community Center 198 Selleck St. 203-359-2320 Faith Tabernacle Church Food Pantry 29 Grove St. 203-348-8755 Person-to-Person 1864 Post Road, Darien 203-655-0048 Neighbor To Neighbor - Christ Church 248 East Putnam Ave., Greenwich 203-622-9208 See More Collapse

Its particularly noticeable among the undocumented, said Catalina Horak, executive director of Building One Community, the nonprofit formerly known as Neighbors Link Stamford that provides resources for immigrants. Sharing information about your family is something people are thinking twice about.

With food pantries, for instance, immigrants are choosing those where questions are kept to a minimum, said Kate Lombardo, executive director of the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, which last year distributed some 1.4 million pounds of food to nonprofits.

People are scared, so they wait on a line where theyre not going to ask for your name or where your kids go to school, Lombardo said.

The needy are increasingly turning to church food pantries that generally require little information, she said.

Its not location  its about the information they have to part with to get food, she said.

Diverse crowd

Several city churches, including Wilson Memorial Church of God in Christ on the West Side, distribute staples  canned goods, non-perishables, meats and produce  once a week.

Joyce Gumbus, who runs the Wilson Food Pantry, said shes seen a small uptick. She doesnt offer a figure, just her observation.

When food bags are distributed Thursday afternoons to between 100 and 200 people, Gumbus sits in the cool basement of the Richmond Hill Avenue church sorting cakes, breads and fruit.

We have a diverse crowd, she said. There are undocumented people. Some of them are immigrants or dont have all the proper papers that they need, and theyre given a hard time. Thats why they come to the church  so they dont have to lay out that kind of stuff.

At Wilson theres no sit-down with a social worker or invasive questions. Only a photo ID is needed to reserve a place in line.

Wilson differs from social service agencies like Person-to-Person, which asks clients at their Darien and Norwalk locations to verify their income with a case worker before they may shop.

Food pantry use dipped about 30 percent in January and February at the Darien pantry, site manager Aiden Wildes said. Wildes wouldnt say what caused the decline, only that numbers have rebounded in spring.

Chief Fontneau said at a meeting last month that the less-frequent visits at the Darien food pantry could be ascribed to factors similar to the fear-based behavior responsible for the drop in reported crime.

Too far

But Horak said that, observing this trend, Person-to-Person has partnered with Building One Community to deliver food to its Selleck Street headquarters for those who dont want to travel to Darien.

Weve heard from people that theyre hesitant to drive from their own neighborhood, Horak said.

Distance has become its own deterrent  undocumented people are now less willing to travel far for the services they need, experts say.

Anecdotally, among food banks across the country theres been a conversation about undocumented folks, or even immigrants, and about whether theres a reluctance to travel as far as they have been for food, said Bernie Beadreau, CEO of the Connecticut Food Bank.

Beadreaus organization and United Way of Western Connecticut are running a mobile food pantry that stops monthly at the Shiloh Seventh Day Adventist Church on Hope Street in Springdale. The service is popular  it serves about 130 families  and requires little information.

The vast majority we serve are immigrant families, Beadreau said. We know there is a heightened sensitivity, so were not getting information beyond the general.

New territory

The trends concerning immigrants are not consistent across all agencies. At New Covenant Center, which operates a food pantry and soup kitchen near the Yerwood Center, numbers are climbing for both services, but for different reasons, executive director John Gutman said.

Gutman attributes much of the swell to a recent change in eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), pushing more people to seek out nonprofits to make ends meet.

New Covenants food pantry now sees more than 450 families a month, a 30 percent jump from last year, Gutman said. The soup kitchen  no ID needed  serves some 140 people per meal, up from 100. Shopping at the food pantry, unlike the soup kitchen, requires income verification.

Food pantries are unique, Horak said. Theyre funded by state agencies and require very specific information and people are going to be asked specific questions they dont want to be asked.

Its not only at nonprofits where people are reluctant to part with personal data. Parents of children enrolled in public schools worry about sharing information needed to qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, Horak said.

Horak is advising clients to be cautious giving out their information during a time of political uncertainty.

How can you be proactive and not overreact? Horak said. Its new territory for all of us advocates and service providers. It has so many implications for the community at large.

eskalka@stamfordadvocate.com
A dvertising moguls Sir Martin Sorrell and Maurice Levy famously dont see eye to eye, but the WPP boss had his peer at Publicis to thank today for helping his companys share price rise.

The French firms first-quarter results beat analyst expectations, with a particularly strong performance in the UK, which is WPPs second-biggest market by sales after the US.

Shares in WPP tracked their French rivals higher, climbing 21p to 1707p, helping it to recover from the losses made on Tuesday when rival Omnicom, whose merger with Publicis fell through in 2014, said business in the US was tough going.

Though not a huge gain, WPPs increase put it among the biggest risers on the FTSE 100, which spent its fifth session in a row in the red as it retreated 10.77 points to 7103.59.

Energy shares were again on the back foot as investors reacted to yesterdays oil price slump, caused by the Energy Information Administration reporting a surge in US output.

Today, Brent crude recovered 41 cents to $53.34 a barrel, but the UKs oil heavyweights Royal Dutch Shell, down 6p at 2061p, and BP, off 3.1p at 44.7p, were still out of favour.

Equipment hire group Ashtead has ridden the wave of Donald Trumps election as President, with investors eyeing it as the big winner from his proposed $1 trillion infrastructure budget.

But the shares fell 72p, or 4.4%, to 1552p as larger rival United Rentals missed Wall Street forecasts when rentals rates fell with no sign of Trumps supposed spending spree.

Acacia Mining shed 17.3p to 438.4p as it revealed the Tanzanian ban on exports of gold concentrates hit cashflows by $33 million in the first three months of 2017.

Another director share sale damaged AIM-listed online estate agent Purplebricks, which dipped 3p to 284p after its recent shares surge.

FIH Group was marked down 2.9p to 304.1p after revealing weak trading in the Falklands, which will mean annual profits will be 20%-25% lower than last year.

It comes after the Rowland familys 37 million bid, spearheaded by executive chairman Edmund, failed to win over shareholders this month, while Argentine tycoon Eduardo Elsztain pulled out of tabling an offer amid local opposition.
M armite-to-Magnum ice-cream maker Unilever on Thursday revealed better-than-expected sales and boosted the dividend in its first results update since rebuffing a takeover approach from Kraft Heinz.

The consumer goods giant, which is also behind the PG Tips and Pot Noodle brands, said underlying sales rose 2.9% in the first quarter, against analysts estimates of 2%.

It was helped by price increases and growth in Latin America and Asia. Its ice-cream division benefited from new Ben & Jerrys ranges.

That helped to offset a tough European market where consumer demand remained weak and the retail environment challenging. Unilever was last year involved in a row with Tesco over Marmite prices.

But the company was upbeat earlier, raising the quarterly dividend by 12%.

Chief executive Paul Polman said the firm is on track for full-year underlying sales growth. Unilever was one of the biggest risers on the FTSE 100, up 44.5p to 3982p.

The report was the first since the company batted away a 115 billion takeover bid from Kraft Heinz in February.

Following that, it launched a review of options to accelerate delivery of value for shareholders, and earlier this month unveiled plans to sell its margarine spreads business.

ETX Capitals Neil Wilson said: Unilever somehow failed to mention anything about the impact of the bid from Kraft Heinz, despite the fact its had a clear impact on strategy at the Anglo-Dutch group.

Perhaps thats because there is no need to mention it when sales growth is ticking up so well.
T he Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, makes clear today how he intends to play the election. He is in combative mood, depicting himself as the scourge of the elites: Much of the media and Establishment are saying this election is a foregone conclusion.They think there are rules in politics, which if you dont follow... you cant win.But of course those people dont want us to win. Because when we win, its the people, not the powerful, who win.

This is full-blooded rhetoric, Mr Corbyn in the role in which he feels most comfortable: the man of the people versus the powerful. It is about as far as it is possible to get from the strategy adopted by Tony Blair, which was for Labour to occupy the middle ground, appealing to Tories as much as grassroots Labour supporters. Mr Corbyn may deserve credit for authenticity, but we shall see whether this robust anti-Establishment stance plays as well with voters as a whole as it does with Labour activists in Momentum. One problem is that Mrs May has also made a pitch to represent workers rather than the prosperous.

The other problem is that Labours actual policies, on Brexit and the economy, will be subjected to merciless scrutiny during the campaign, and rightly. The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has already struggled to explain how he can secure access to the EU single market while retaining some control over immigration. Today the Institute for Fiscal Studies has taken issue with Labours contention that the rich, defined as those on 70,000 or more a year, have done well out of the tax system under the Tories. Its analysis suggests that the wealthy have in fact experienced very big tax increases.

Mr Corbyn and Mr McDonnell have a point in that large global corporations such as Google do not pay enough tax. But for all the parties, the real issue is how honest they are prepared to be: will they tax the self-employed as much as others? Will they give themselves the freedom to raise income tax, VAT or National Insurance? The parties have shirked the hard questions: its time for change.

Welcome pragmatism

Today we have the first indication of what the PMs post-Brexit immigration policy will look like, and to the relief of business leaders it appears more flexible than they feared. The Culture Secretary, Karen Bradley, appeared to suggest there will be no specific promise on immigration levels in the manifesto: Its not all about numbers.

This is a welcome indication of pragmatism. After all, the principle of Brexit is that the Government should take back control over immigration, it does not mean a rigid reduction in numbers. Rather, an autonomous immigration policy must be responsive to the needs of the economy, and the plain truth is that without access to overseas talent, business could not possibly work. High-tech sectors obviously need to be able to attract global talent, but the service sector too needs EU labour. This does not let employers or government off the hook in training British workers, but there cannot be caps that restrict employers ability to secure the skills they need.

Sculpture in the park

The Frieze art fair has become an integral part of the capitals cultural calendar. This year, the main October event will be preceded by a public sculpture exhibition in Regents Park featuring work by artists including Eduardo Paolozzi and Michael Craig-Martin. In all, 23 large sculptures will be on show for three months, a draw for tourists and Londoners. Craig-Martins giant red wheelbarrow may prove particularly useful when the grass cutters are in full flow.
S o, in the end, Theresa Mays decision to break her word on a snap election was as disingenuous as it was inevitable: with the Brexit press braying in support, Jeremy Corbyn as inept as ever, Parliament reduced to a supine whimper, what did she have to lose? So she confected some paper-thin excuses about the dastardly habit of opposition parties opposing the Government, took a bow from the sycophants in the Right-wing press and now hopes to sail effortlessly towards a world free of all meaningful opposition after June 8.

The markets have reacted well and the instant consensus in the boardrooms of the City is that a bigger Conservative majority will lead to a smoother, softer and more sensible Brexit. May and her small clique of unelected advisors must be as pleased as punch.

Conscious as I am that criticism by saboteurs such as myself is verboten by the Brexit thought police, I still think its important to keep a grip on cold reality. So here are three simple reasons why things wont necessarily play out according to No 10s cunning plan.

First, for every reaction in politics, there is always a counter-reaction. As I listened to the PMs platitudes on national radio yesterday  best possible deal, strengthen my hand etc  it occurred to me that the more that voters are exposed to such a dreary view of the future, many may decide to opt for a cheerier alternative. There is something deeply un-British about a hitherto unelected PM who now wants to use an election to undo the basic function of opposition in our democracy. Even ardent Brexiters will, I predict, start feeling faintly queasy as they contemplate a PM with a landslide majority on June 9, determined to do exactly what she, and she alone, wishes for the future of our great country.

The haste with which this election was called, not just to exploit the haplessness of Labour but to lure voters into the Conservative corner before bad Brexit news becomes fully apparent, may begin to feel a little too tricksy, too cynical for many peoples tastes. And if that makes some older voters uneasy, it could enrage younger ones. Not only have they been told that their overwhelming vote for Remain last year counts for nothing, not only will they have to pay the consequences of a future they didnt vote for, now they are being told theyll have to swallow a hard Brexit without complaint. You can only take voters for granted for so long before a reaction develops.

Theresa May comes under fire from former shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper

So parliamentary candidates across the country  not just Lib-Dems but pro European Conservative and Labour candidates too  will need to assert ever more forcefully that they are not going to be cajoled into giving May a blank cheque. Whatever the outcome of the election, it is essential that MPs in Parliament retain their right to reject a bad, hard Brexit deal  or no deal at all  when it comes before them at the end of the Article 50 talks.

Second, from now on May owns Brexit hook, line and sinker. Until this week I think there was a considerable amount of sympathy in the country for her predicament. Voters could see that she had supported a different referendum outcome but many felt she was dutifully following the instructions handed to her by voters last June. She didnt relish Brexit but was going to make the best of a difficult job  and many people felt she deserved some credit, and support, for discharging her national duty.

As of June 9  assuming, that is, that she remains in No 10  the picture will have changed utterly. From that point on, her choice to opt for a hard Brexit  not just quitting the EUs political institutions but severing our membership of both the single market and the customs union  will no longer be seen as an unavoidable outcome foisted upon her, but one that she, and she alone, has brought about. After June 8, she will be in full control  and fully responsible for anything and everything that goes wrong.

Far from releasing herself from the unreasonable demands made by opposition parties, her victory will make her the sole author of her own predicament. Sympathy will be replaced by the unflinching glare of full accountability.

Third, it is naive to assume, as the Prime Minister has suggested, that a thumping Tory majority on June 8 will automatically make the rest of the EU more pliable in the Brexit talks. While it is true that the delay of the next election to 2022 will give the Government more scope to agree longer and more sensible transition arrangements, the rest of the EU will start planning on the basis that the final destination  a complete rupture between the UK and the EUs single market and customs union  is now unavoidable. This will lead them to take a tougher, not softer, approach to the details of the final deal with the UK.

The lingering hope that some kind of accommodation can be found in which the EU and the UK meet each other halfway will be replaced by a hard-nosed defence of the EUs own interests against the dangers of an offshore UK economy threatening to undercut the continents social and economic model.

In other words, as Mays domestic political position strengthens, so will the resolve among the EU-27 to protect their own interests. Much as the PMs insistence on her own, narrow interpretation of last years closely contested referendum result will elicit a counter-reaction among many British voters, so too it will provoke a reaction in Europe itself.

In short, May is likely to encounter an enduring political truth: when politicians expect voters to do what theyre told, they have an unnerving habit of disobeying orders.
A re you among the electorally homeless? When Theresa May called a snap election, a group whove always had a place to pitch their political tent suddenly found themselves vagrant voters. Theyre progressive, pro-Europeans who dont want to back a party that has propped up the Tories, or one whose leader has all the authority of Shaggy from Scooby-Doo. For them, June 8 will feel like being forced to pick a favourite Adam Sandler film.

May is aiming for a political moonshot and on current polling  YouGov puts the Tories on 48 per cent  shell get there. Oddly though, this could be an opportunity for both the Lib-Dems and (what will be left of) Labour. The election will become EU Referendum 2.0, Brexit Revisited. This means constituencies that have only ever sported one hue could change colour. Take Vauxhall. Its MP is Kate Hoey, and while Nigel Farages Brexiteer boat buddy has a 12,708 majority, an estimated 78 per cent of her constituents voted Remain. The Lib-Dems sniff blood.

In less safe Labour seats, the fight will be topsy-turvy. Sitting MPs will ape the Lib-Dem by-election approach, running hyper-local campaigns and bowdlerising Jeremy Corbyns name from leaflets. Lib-Dem challengers, meanwhile, will focus on the national picture. In 2015 the Lib-Dems had the toughest sell: things would have been worse without us. Now, they have the easiest, as the unequivocal party of Remain.

Some moderate Labourites will welcome the election too, as a chance to reclaim their party. Its like ripping off a plaster: the swift burn is preferable to the slow peel. May has effectively launched this years Labour leadership contest and handed Corbyn a spade to dig his political grave. Its better for Labours electoral prospects that this happens now, since come autumn the hard Left was going to try to reduce the support needed from MPs for leadership contenders. Already, Yvette Cooper  recycled from 2015  is being touted as a likely Corbyn replacement. Labour could learn from the Tories and unite behind a single, credible candidate.

This comes at a high price. Hard-working, popular MPs will lose their seats. But having hacked itself to shreds, Labour must now take the lifeline. That means ensuring the hard Left are deservedly tarred by the coming defeat, lest Corbyn otherwise hangs on.

And a new leader isnt a panacea. Where are the new ideas, the innovation coming out of the moderate wing of Labour? Still, an effective opposition would have plenty to work with. The Tories pride themselves on being the party of stability, yet have snafu-ed the country. May was supposed to be the plodder who kept promises, yet has repeatedly broken her word.

Corbyn refuses to answer to question about his future

As for the politically homeless, a consequence of this election should be they get fresh digs. They might even have two places to go.

Let art imitate life in the White House

American political dramas exist to give US moderates and the rest of the world the President theyre missing. So The West Wing, though born in 1999, gave us articulate, bookish Jed Bartlet  the anti-Dubya. Under Barack Obama the fantasy president was in the White House, so we could enjoy the dark viciousness of House of Cards Frank Underwood.

Now we have Trump in the Oval Office  and the scenario offered by Designated Survivor, in which the President and his cabinet are wiped out and replaced by Kiefer Sutherland, seems like utopia USA. If only all American politicians were actually just actors with liberal scriptwriters.

Liberalism in its truest form

When I interviewed Tim Farron last month, I asked the Lib-Dem leader  an evangelical Christian  if politicians are afraid to talk about religion. Yes, he replied. In America, you have to invent a faith to be taken seriously; in the UK you have to pretend you dont have one. The regurgitated debate this week  whether Farron thinks gay sex is a sin (he eventually denied this in the Commons yesterday)  illustrates why other politicians dont mention the big G.

Perhaps you cant stomach voting for someone who might ever have entertained such an opinion. But his view of scripture and whether or not he has Queer as Folk on boxset has had minimal effect on his political actions. He voted for marriage equality (with one abstention he says he now regrets). In his party, it would also be political hara-kiri to row back on gay rights.

Liberalism isnt about everyone being brainwashed into holding the same, correct opinion. Whatever Farrons prejudices, they havent affected his policies. That seems pretty liberal to me.

* It's telling that even an armchair psephologist I know sympathised with Brenda from Bristol, the woman on BBC News who declared Not another one! about the impending election.

We all know whats coming: the staged photoshoots with politicians pretending to drink beer or inexplicably holding fish, Jeremy Vine whipping out his swingometer, the removal of Vernon Bogdanor from his inter-election cryogenic freezer. Voter fatigue unsurprisingly tends to lead to low turnout. Traditionally that favours the Tories but this election could defy that trend, given that the most energised part of the electorate seems to be the diehard Remainers.
I n deciding to call for a general election the Prime Minister has effectively opted to re-run two referendums. One will surely be in vehemently anti-Tory Scotland, while in the other she faces a backlash against her plan for a hard Brexit  including from many Tories  having already committed the Government to a zero-tolerance immigration policy.

These issues will surely cumulatively outweigh concerns about the embattled Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has already won two leadership elections in as many years and has a very affable public persona.

Theresa May should not re-run matters in the face of such countervailing considerations purely to improve the result in her favour.

Sebastian Bosley



Any election involves risk for a sitting government because, as Ted Heath found in 1974, prime ministers cant control what the central issue of a general election will be.

Theresa May clearly wants a vote of confidence in her handling of Brexit negotiations but what if it morphs into a second referendum about our membership of the EU, which would further divide the Tories?

It seems ludicrous to suggest the UK would elect Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister but we must consider that Americans voted for Donald Trump. The recent Richmond by-election suggests that many Tories feel the referendum was won on the back of outright lies and may want to fire a shot across the bows of the Brexiteers.

Rev Dr John Cameron



Apart from the media, few people have the appetite for yet another election. It will mean we have had two general elections and an EU referendum in the space of three years, which is exhausting and patently absurd. The Conservatives have a mandate and should get on with governing the nation.

Theresa May recently stated in strong terms that there would be no general election  now she has gone against her word. Worse still, she is refusing to take part in televised public debates  perhaps because she is afraid that her lack of ability when not scripted will be exposed. What kind of leadership is that?

Claude Keith



A little over two years ago, before the last election, David Cameron warned us that it was him or chaos. Since then the Government has decided to leave the single market, the pound has plummeted and EU citizens still remain in limbo as to whether they can live in the UK.

The Government told us that the country was coming together, yet we have had a huge spike in hate crime. They can say what they like but nobody believes them anymore.

Chris Key



Landlords have too much control

I disagree with Jonathan Seager, who says foreign ownership is not contributing to the shortage of housing in London [Letters, April 18]. Any investor who purchases a buy-to-let home is reducing the number of homes available for non-home-owners. Surely it is time for this practice to be halted, regardless of whether they are foreign or UK-based?

Only rich investors have the equity to buy at current prices and therefore they control the London property market. Prices must be set at a rate that will let a bank lend to the average worker, just like in the mid-Nineties.

Guy Smith



Full recovery from a stroke is rare

I was pleased to read of Beatrice Ways recovery from a stroke and the birth of her baby [April 18]. However, the article did not reflect how far from reality this is for most people who suffer a serious neurological event.

Having worked in neurological therapies for more than eight years, these kinds of recoveries are rare. I dont want to dash anyones hopes but I would encourage people to speak with their families about what is important to them in life. Knowing this will provide much guidance and comfort when they cant make the decisions and others have to.

Louise Patton



We're missing out on bargain Britain

While the weak pound may be great news for hotels, West End shows and overseas visitors taking advantage of bargain basement UK, it is not such a good thing for British tourists who may wish to stay in London.

We were planning to visit the city over Easter but found that hotel prices have shot up and what special discounts there were have all but disappeared.

Just as housing has become unaffordable, the same thing is happening to hotels. Our income hasnt magically climbed by 20 per cent but prices have. Of course we could go abroad  only to remember that we lose out there too.

Andrew Summers

Join the conversation: #esnewsviews



Buses are essential on Oxford Street

Following the tragic death of a pedestrian in Oxford Street, Peter Hartley believes that full pedestrianisation is essential as it will only mean a few residents journeys will take longer [Letters, April 13].

While it is vital that the road is safe for pedestrians, he completely ignores the distress that would be caused if all buses were banned from Oxford Street.

I have a disability which stops me from using the London Underground and therefore I rely totally on buses to get me around London. Alternative roads in the area could not take the bus traffic as they have only one lane each way, so where would they go?

There are many groups of people who would have similar problems to me such as wheelchair users, people with reduced mobility and parents with prams and pushchairs. I hope the Mayor considers our needs as well as pedestrians before he enacts a plan that will make our lives more difficult.

Susan Kaye

Join the conversation: #escleancityviews



Gatland has got the Lions squad wrong

Warren Gatland will rightly take some criticism for some of his Lions squad picks. But most of all, I cannot believe how once again a successful England captain, Dylan Hartley, has been overlooked.

The excuse cannot be that there isnt enough room, given that it is an initial squad of 41 players. Hartley captained England to a run of 18 games without defeat and yet he finds himself out of the squad. What more does he have to do?

Equally infuriating is the inclusion of 12 players from Wales, despite them finishing fifth in the Six Nations this year and being beaten by Scotland, who only have two players in the squad.

The lack of balance is quite evident, and players appear to have been picked on reputation rather than merit. If the Lions flop, the blame will lie firmly at Gatlands feet.

Robert Wallace

Join the conversation: #essportviews
Naomi Campbell has today announced that she will be hosting this year's Fashion for Relief charity runway in Cannes.

The event, which will take place on Sunday May 21 during Cannes Film Festival, will be in aid of Save the Children.

Campbell will call upon her model and celebrity friends to join her on the catwalk, where they will be dressed in items donated by some of the world's most well-regarded fashion houses.

The show will precede an auction featuring items donated by artists, designers, celebrities and brands.

2017 marks 12 years since Campbell founded the Fashion for Relief charity. The charity allows Campbell to use her industry influence to support important humanitarian causes such as the fight against Ebola as well as provide relief after disasters such as the Haiti earthquake, Hurricane Katrina and the Japanese earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

This year's proceeds will enable Save the Children to provide life-saving food, shelter and medical treatment to children around the world, including those who have been affected by the conflict in Syria.

Fashion for Relief Pop-Up Launch 1 /10 Fashion for Relief Pop-Up Launch Fighting the cause Naomi Campbell with Idris Elba at the opening of the pop up to raise money for ebola (Picture: Dave Benett) Dave Benett Lucky bunch Students from the South London Fashion School were invited to the event (Picture: Dave Benett) Dave Benett Chic Amber Anderson worked casual chic at the star studded opening (Picture: Dave Benett) Dave Benett Chelsea girls MIC's Rosie Fortescue and former reality star Chloe Green pose for photos with Naomi (Picture: Dave Benett) Dave Benett Glitzy Lizzie Cundy wows in a loose fitting dress (Picture: Dave Benett) Dave Benett Busy shopper Rebecca Ferguson was browsing the items (Picture: Dave Benett) Dave Benett Looking dapper Michelle Gayle and Tinie Tempah were in attendance (Picture: Dave Benett) Dave Benett Modelling mates Sigail Currie and Naomi Campbell smile for the camera (Picture: Dave Benett) Dave Benett

Speaking of the event, Campbell said: "A disaster can strike at any time anywhere in the world, and often when it does, children are the worst affected."

"Some of these events make the news but others they dont. Its a privilege to be able to work with Save The Children to raise the funds for children who most desperately need access to life-saving help."

Previous supporters of the charity have included Kate Moss, Beyonce, Justin Bieber, Claudia Schiffer, Jourdan Dunn and James Corden.
A rt Night is back. The free overnight festival, which started in the capital last year, returns with a whole host of fun for adventurous, arty Londoners. Heres everything you need to know.

What is it?

Art Night is a free art festival that takes place overnight in London. Its inspired by Nuit Blanche in Paris, which has been running since 1984, but there are similar events held around the world.

When is it happening?

It takes place this year on 1 July, which is a Saturday. That means you can stay up all night and not feel bad about it. Hooray!

Where is it taking place?

This years Art Night is being created in collaboration with Whitechapel Gallery (last year ICA took up the mantle). This means its the East Ends turn for a transformation, with venues including the underneath of Tower Bridge and a hotel near Liverpool Street station.

Whats happening this year?

What isnt? There will be a meditation class in the Bascule Chamber of Tower Bridge, a mass dance class in Exchange Square at Broadgate, and Jake and Dinos Chapman will animate a vacant warehouse at London Dock.

From evening until the dawn, the city will be a trail of art, architecture, dance and music.

Anything else?

In the 18th-century Dennis Severs House, a selection of the Chapman Brothers defaced prints will be inserted into furnishings, and Charles Avery will show objects from his fictional Island in locations across east London. An office space will host a video installation exploring the utopian potential of future workspaces, and there will be a performance by experimental musicians held at Whitechapel Gallery.

Installations will be found in spaces throughout the East End, and Village Underground will hold a club night with a number of DJs.

Last year highlights included a painting installation from Celia Hempton at 180 The Strand and a collaboration between performance artist Joan Jonas and jazz pianist Jason Moran in Southwark Cathedral.

Visit artnight.london or whitechapelgallery.org for more information on this year's event.

This article was brought you in association with Hiscox Home Insurance, providers of expert cover for valued homes, art and high-value items. Visit hiscox.co.uk/home to find out more.

For more Hiscox

Understanding the role of the art consultant

How to curate your art collection

Would you buy a painting online?
B BC Proms audiences will be able to walk around the Royal Albert Hall, make as much noise as they like and hang out in chill-out areas at the events first ever relaxed concert.

Jarvis Cocker, Nicola Benedetti and Sir Simon Rattle are among artists unveiled today as the 122-year-old music festival sets out to find its next audience.

Its director, David Pickard, said one-off performances in venues such as Wiltons Music Hall and The Tanks at Tate Modern were part of its mission to provide the best of classical music for the widest possible audience. It will also return to the Bold Tendencies multi-storey car park in Peckham, which hosted a performance last year.

Mr Pickard said the relaxed concert, including music by Rossini and Rimsky-Korsakov, would be set up so no one feels uncomfortable and is aimed at people with autism, learning disabilities and other impairments. He said: The whole format is different, it is relaxed in terms of the way its presented and were very careful about the lighting and the noise because there are all sorts of things people with impairments can find challenging. Were preparing guides for people on what to expect and how to make sure everybody will get something out of this concert.

Arts picks of the week: 17th-23rd April 1 /8 Arts picks of the week: 17th-23rd April Obsession Jude Law is back on stage with talk-of-the-town director Ivo van Hove at the Barbican. He will star in a stage version of Luchino Viscontis 1943 film, which tells the dark tale of a couple who fall in love at a petrol station. It will certainly be more glamourous than it sounds.



April 19 - May 20, Barbican; barbican.org.uk The Philanthropist Simon Callow directs a starry cast that includes Lily Cole making her stage debut. They star in Christopher Hamptons comedy about out of touch academics, with a cast that also includes Inbetweeners star Simon Bird and Fresh Meats Charlotte Ritchie.



Until July, Trafalgar Studios Junkyard Headlongs jazzy new musical about a Bristol playground made of junk in 1979 can be seen in London from this week. Written by Harry Potter playwright Jack Thorne and directed by Jeremy Herrin, its at Rose Theatre as part of a national tour.



April 19-30, Rose Theatre Kingston Nuclear War Its unusual for a playwright to say that their text doesnt need to be spoken, but thats exactly what Simon Stephens has done. His text will be given to movement director Imogen Knight for her first production, where she will interpret it with visual and physical language.



April 19 - May 6, Royal Court; royalcourttheatre.com BBC Young Dancer 2017 Sadlers Wells hosts the final of the BBC Young Dancer competition, which will also be broadcast live on BBC Two. Each finalist performs three pieces, including new work by emerging choreographers, and there are four categories: ballet, contemporary, South Asian dance and street dance.



April 22, Sadlers Wells; sadlerswells.com City of Glass Duncan Macmillans adaptation of Paul Austers novel makes its way to London after premiering at Manchesters HOME. Its a hi-tech show courtesy of 59 Productions, bringing to life Austers detective noir story about a mysterious phone call.



April 21 - May 20, Lyric Hammersmith; lyric.co.uk Requiem for Aleppo The world premiere of a work featuring twelve dancers expressing their solidarity with Aleppo is at Sadlers Wells this week. Composer David Cazalets score will also feature personal reflections from inhabitants of the city, as well as medieval Arabic poetry.



April 23, Sadlers Wells; sadlerswells.com Symfunny You can see a star line-up at Royal Albert Hall this week, and its all for a good cause. The second Symfunny event from Parkinsons UK will raise money for research into the condition. On the bill are Pete Townshend, Katie Melua, Josh Widdicombe, Aled Jones, Mrs Brown and Jack Dee and the Im Sorry I Havent A Clue team, with the whole thing hosted by Jason Manford.



April 19, Royal Albert Hall; royalalberthall.com

He added: The thing we all have to think about in classical music is where is the next audience coming from, so for me that is about making sure there are as many different access points to the Proms as possible.

The Wiltons show includes a performance of Sir Peter Maxwell Daviess Eight Songs For A Mad King and the Tate will host electronic musician Actress in performance with the London Contemporary Orchestra.

Mr Pickard said: Eight Songs For A Mad King is a very, very theatrical piece which will be brilliant and it is semi-concert, semi-theatre and it will be staged as a very theatrical event.

We are pleased were going to The Tanks at the Tate for the very first time and were taking that sort of music that is almost uncategorisable so it is a mixture between visual art, classical music, electronic music and pop.

It is the cutting edge of experimental stuff going in there.

Other performances during the Proms, which run from July 14 to September 9, include Sir Simon conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim conducting works by Sibelius and Elgar and celebrations of jazz greats Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie.

BBC Proms: the numbers you need to know

Cocker will star in a tribute to cult crooner Scott Walker and Jools Holland will lead a celebration of the Stax/Volt label of performers such as Otis Redding and Booker T & the MGs. There is also a focus on music inspired by the Russian revolution and the Reformation.

Coverage will be fronted by Katie Derham and every prom will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 with regular shows on BBC2 and BBC4.
M ark Hixs portfolio of restaurants includes six sites in London  from his original Hix Oyster & Chop House in Clerkenwell to his latest Pharmacy 2 in Vauxhall  and a further offering down in Lyme Regis.

When hes not in one of them, he might be found supping a martini in St Jamess or seeking scruffy Chinese near Old Street.

Where do you like to grab a quick bite? My favourites always tend to be the simple ones  honest and unpretentious. Ill try all the new places in London but take most satisfaction in hunting out those little scruffy joints that do great Turkish or Chinese. My favourite at the moment is The Old Street Chinese Restaurant but there are loads of new ones cropping up all the time

And which would be your ultimate London restaurant for a special occasion? Gymkana. I love their potato chaat with chickpeas, tamarind and sev.

Dukes London: Mark's martini spot:

You often get out of work late. Where do you head to eat and drink? If Im in Soho, Ill often enjoy a Negroni at The Groucho Club or if Im in the area, a drink at a good hotel bar. Im a big fan of going to Dukes Hotel for a martini.

Whats your favourite local gem? I love Padella in Borough Market. Its great value and a good buzz and Popolo next to Tramshed is very convenient when I'm in the east.

Where do you go to cure a persistent hangover? Back to bed.

Whats your favourite cocktail, and where do you drink it? Marks Bar beneath Hix Soho has one of my favourites  the Temperley Sour, named after Julian Temperley, who has been supplying us for years. It features his Somerset cider brandy, Burrow Hill apple juice, Somerset ponoma and morello cherries.

Where do you rate for food shopping? Spa Terminus in Bermondsey is just around the corner from my place, its packed with local producers such as Little Bread Pedler and Crown & Queue cured meats, many of whom produce and sell all from one railway arch.

Your favourite pub? The Golden Heart in Spitalfields. I've known Sandra the landlady since I moved there 20-odd years ago and she has done a good decade or two before that. Sandra has become a great friend and the perfect benchmark for how a pub should be run.

Imagine you had a surprise day off tomorrow. What would you do? Id head back down to Dorset in a heartbeat. Its only a couple of hours from London. I love fishing and I keep an old vintage speedboat in the harbour at Lyme Regis, its a great way to relax and see the bay from a different perspective.
T hose unfamiliar with the cuisine of Iraq can take a journey of discovery through a five-course dining menu created for London Food Month.

Wealth manager-turned-chef Phil Juma is collaborating with new Shoreditch bar and events space TT Liquor to host his Iraqi Feast with cocktail pairings every Friday in June.

Guests will be greeted with a drink and a canape of kubba haleb (rice croquette) before being taken upstairs to a huge dining room. Seated around a feasting table, the diners will enjoy dishes such as dijaj bilmynarinj (crispy chicken served with saffron and Seville orange) and kubba hamuth (handmade lamb dumpling).

Each course will be served with a cocktail or other drink picked to highlight the dishs flavours. Bar manager Gareth Bell, who is behind the drinks menu, will also offer non-alcoholic options. Each course and drink will be explained as they are served  with the whole evening costing 65.

Canapes and cocktails: Phil Juma, right, with kubba haleb, and TT Liquors Gareth Bell / Alex Lentati

Mr Juma, 33, was taught to cook by his Iraqi father and aunt, who are originally from Mosul. He started Jumas Iraqi food pop-ups in 2012 and quit the City two years later to concentrate on the new business. He said: Iraqi food to the layman is a mix of Lebanese and Turkish with Indian spice influence. Theres lots of meat, especially lamb. The food can be quite heavy and fatty, but I have brought it up to date.

Pairing the food with cocktails was a way of elevating the flavours as well as changing peoples perceptions, he said. In many people's eyes, Iraq is predominantly a Muslim country and a lot of people wont drink alcohol. But we are in London where a lot of people do drink and they want to experience not only Iraqi food but the combination of my dishes with the drinks.

Mr Juma provided food at Februarys opening party for TT Liquor, which is in a former police station in Kingsland Road. Founders Stephen Thompson and Alastair Tatton have worked together on several ventures since 2007. Mr Thompson said: Phil did the food for our main launch night. We talked about doing a dining experience of Iraqi food and London Food Month seemed a great opportunity London is a melting pot of cultures and cuisines and we are lucky to be a part of that.

The Iraqi Feast will take place every Friday in June from 7pm, costing 65 for all food and pairing drinks.
B efore Private Eye points it out, let me tell you that the author of this book is a friend and, if thats not enough to convict me of log-rolling, I was also director of the National Theatre for five years before Nicholas Hytner took over.

You may feel that absolves you of the obligation (or purges you of the desire) to read this book. Youd be wrong.

This is not a conventional theatre memoir. Theres little gossip and no sentimentality. The qualities of Hytners writing are the qualities of his work as a director  he doesnt generalise, hes specific, hes detailed, hes witty and entertaining, has an ability to be serious without being portentous, and hes able to tell a good story. Hes generous without being self-serving and politic without being unctuous.

If theres a disappointment its one that Im a little ashamed to admit to: I would have liked more of the gossip and a less of the politics but Hytners artful balancing act between indiscretion and reticence illustrates the canniness that enabled him to run the theatre so brilliantly.

Balancing Acts is both history and illumination. Hytner describes with diffident charm the NTs many triumphs under his directorship  One Man, Two Guvnors, His Dark Materials, The History Boys, The Habit of Art, Stuff Happens, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, War Horse, Coram Boy, Frankenstein,

This House, London Road and more  but balances these successes with unapologetic admission of the failures and near-failures.

Among those must be counted the spectacular kamikaze venture of his last production at the NT, Great Britain, a play predicated on the expected (and wished for) conviction of Rebekah Brooks for phone-hacking. Hes equally honest too about his grave apostasy: having misgivings about Beckett  A bishop who had doubts about the existence of God would have been less fearful of exposure as a heretic.

Hytner illuminates what a director does in a rehearsal room where, as he points out, open-ended discussion makes a theatre rehearsal so hospitable to verbosity, and he reveals both the ecstasy and the agony of staging large and ambitious shows with complicated scenery where the actors seek to declare independence from the tyranny of the gargantuan production.

He describes instructively whats involved in running a large theatre where we want to make art but we know were in showbusiness, and hes wonderfully lucid about the need for government subsidy, about fundraising (development, in management speak), about living to please and pleasing to live, and about his desire to broaden the audience, which he achieved with two inspired initiatives  the Travelex 10 ticket scheme and National Theatre Live, which broadcasts NT shows around the world.

You dont have to be interested in theatre or even in culture to enjoy this book; you just have to be curious about the anatomy and psychology of a large organisation. But if you do happen to be interested in one of the few organisations in Britain that actually achieves what its supposed to  along with the Tate, the British Museum, the National Gallery and the BBC  then youll be delighted. Whats more, in the account of Hytners directing at least six Shakespeare plays (including a definitive Timon of Athens) youll find yourself given a masterclass.

More book reviews 1 /24 More book reviews Recovery by Russell Brand Will Russells brand of self-help prove quite so addictive? By Nicholas Lezard. Read review A Life in Questions by Jeremy Paxman Paxo refuses to answer all the really good questions, says David Sexton. Read review Politics: Between: The Extremes by Nick Clegg The basis of this book makes it impossible not to warm to Clegg, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review Serious Sweet by A L Kennedy Thank heavens for London in this tale of self-obsessed lovers. Read review The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth by Anna Keay Born a kings b****** and destined for a traitors death. Read review Man Up: Boys, Men and Breaking the Male Rules by Rebecca Asher Getting to the bottom of why boys will be boys. Read review The Course of Love by Alain de Botton A philosophical novel that does run smooth, says Johanna Thomas-Corr. Read review The Tree Climbers Guide: Adventures in the Urban Canopy by Jack Cooke How I gave this book a proper test and ended up with a broken ankle. Read review Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre Brontes classic tale in the imaginations of other writers, says Claire Harman. Read review Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran Caitlin comes clean about politics  the world according to our funniest feminist. By Rosamund Urwin. Read review Spark Joy An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying by Marie Kondo Theres no messing wih Marie, says Katie Law. Read review Cockfosters Stories by Helen Simpson After 50, a womans life gets better not worse. By Katie Law. Read review Stalins Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess by Andrew Lownie Joker in the spying pack. By Richard Bassett. Read review Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin The darkness that lies at the heart of the novel is offset by a lightness of touch, says Mark Sanderson. Read review Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello Elvis proves not quite so lyrical on the page, says Nick Curtis. Read review The Importance of Elsewhere: Philip Larkins Photographs by Richard Bradford His poetry paints better pictures than any camera, says David Sexton. Read review Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith Morality wins out over macabre murders, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review The Grownup by Gillian Flynn Calling all Flynnies: the con girl whos like gone girl. Read review

Hytner discovered, as I did, that in order to run the NT you had to find the opposite of schadenfreude: you had to take joy in other peoples successes. Much of the charm of the book is the transparent pleasure that he takes in enabling others to do their best work.

He doesnt reveal much of himself in his writing, but then he doesnt reveal much of himself in life: its part of his enigma and his allure. But it was consoling for me  having occasionally been pursued by the black dog of depression during my time at the NT  that he admits, on occasion, to howling with despair and frustration.

A few years ago I won a substantial sum by successfully predicting the new Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Leicester Citys triumph in the Premier League. Therell be no profit in betting on Hytners next project  a brand new theatre, the Bridge, opening later this year. Its a dead cert that itll be another perfectly poised balancing act between art and expediency.
J ulia Hobsbawm comes to our interview accompanied by her 16-year-old daughter Anoushka and, with ebullient self-confidence, flings her handbag on the table and rushes off to the loo, taking Anoushka, who is doing media studies at school and has come to observe, with her. We meet in a private room at Henry Wood House, Londons favourite shared office hub near Oxford Circus, a perfect venue for the worlds first and only professor of networking, to do some.

Sorry I didnt invite you to my messy house but I felt as if Id overshared so substantially about my life in this book that I didnt want to do any more, she says with a big smile, producing a hardback copy of her latest book.

Best known for setting up integrity (her word) PR agency Hobsbawm Macaulay in 1993 with Gordon Browns wife Sarah (nee Macaulay), Hobsbawm, 53, has run networking company Editorial Intelligence since the joint venture with Mrs Brown folded acrimoniously in 2005.

The following year Hobsbawm collapsed on holiday with such severe stress-induced pneumonia and septicaemia that she nearly died. I was under a lot of pressure but I just sucked it up and didnt connect what was going on. During her convalescence not only did she come to understand her own physical and mental limitations, she came to see the need for better social health for the rest of us.

Her blueprint for this has finally come to fruition in the form of Fully Connected, a survival guide of sorts to what she calls the age of overload. Its been in my head for 10 years and definitely the hardest thing Ive ever done, because I havent got a degree and Ive got no discipline so Ive had to teach myself and pretend I knew how to do it.

Her thesis is that we have reached peak connection and are drowning in our own data. With computers not just on our desks but in our hands, we have in effect become networked machines, permanently plugged into an endless bombardment of information  social media, emails, spam, texts  resulting in six disorders, snappily-labelled information obesity, time starvation, network overload, techno spread, organisational bloat and life gridlock. The remedy? Hexagon thinking.

Beyond the jargon, Hobsbawms message is pretty simple. To connect with each other in meaningful ways we need to disconnect from our machine-enabled networks and reconnect through face-to-face networking instead.

Being a professor of networking  yes, seriously  makes her impeccably well-qualified for such a task. The honorary position, bestowed by Cass Business School five years ago, is one that she seems both proud of and a little touchy about. After I was awarded it I met Melvyn Bragg who said, So youre now the professor of meeting people. I was so infuriated that I sat on this powder keg of annoyance, she says. I felt terribly rejected and misunderstood. He later told me not to be so thin-skinned  and he was right. But I still think it was an important moment because no one has any idea how interesting the science of networking is. Its so much easier to talk about working a room or schmoozing, but thats not good enough.

Daniel Hambury/Stella Pictures

Schmooze, she says, is simply a Yiddish word meaning conversation. I looked it up yesterday. Its funny that its ended up being seen as a bit lightweight. The problem is that the idea of networking still brings people out in hives.

Hobsbawm, who grew up in a secular Jewish household in north London, the daughter of Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm, peppers her conversation with Yiddish expressions.

Like many outwardly successful people, she suffers from huge imposter syndrome, has a bundle of insecurities and anxieties and is petrified of public speaking. She bought the stylish green silk dress shes wearing this morning so Id feel confident talking to you. Why? Its body armour, isnt it? She flashes me another big smile.

Best books on mindfulness 1 /14 Best books on mindfulness Find your inner peace with our pick of the best mindfulness and meditation books... Mindfulness: a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world This bestseller will get you in the right frame of mind for 2016. Based on Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)  a successful form of brief meditation this book's success relies on the way in which authors Mark Williams and Danny Penman optimistically focus on adding joy to your life as opposed to ridding it of unhappiness. 10.50, Amazon, Buy it now Anti-Stress Dot-to-Dot Always thought that dot-to-dots were an activity for children? Apprently you're wrong be wrong  the pictures in this book, featuring elegant buildings and nature scenes, will relax and focus your mind in a way you never thought a dot-to-dot book could. 5, Amazon, Buy it now I Am Here Now This will help enhance both your observation and creativity; with an audio track (featuring musings from mindfulness teacher Tara Brach) and a field notes page for recording purposes, I Am Here Now will enable your thoughts and emotions to take on a new lease of life. 7, Amazon, Buy it now The Mindful Workplace What better time to deploy the theories of mindfulness than at work? This book, filled with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) techniques, provides an eight-week training course to keep your workplace attitude at its peak. 30.50, Amazon, Buy it now Get some headspace This book from Andy Puddicombe, founder of popular digital health platform Headspace, attempts to get people to take ten minutes out of their day for meditation purposes. Once the technique's been learned, these skills will stay with you for the rest of your life. 10, Amazon, Buy it now The Mindfulness Colouring Book Much like the dot-to-dot book above, this pocket-sized adult colouring book is the perfect activity for a 10-minute breather. Consider your stress and anxiety soothed. 4, Amazon, Buy it now The Little Book of Mindfulness In this day and age, it's more important to be in the moment than ever  this book will help you with that. From Dr Patrizia Collard, these brief practices will rid your day of stress and have you feeling more optimistic. 4, Amazon, Buy it now Body Calm The saying mind over matter derives from the idea that our minds have the power to control our bodies if we really want them to. Equally, mental stress can have a damaging effect on our bodies. Newbigging teaches us a new self-healing meditation technique to help keep our bodies healthy and to understand the source of common stress and anxiety triggers. 11, Amazon, Buy it now The Power of Now The Power of Now has become one of the most famous mindfulness books out there. Helping us to tap into our innermost Being, Tolle guides us through various techniques to help us understand that the present moment is all that really matters. 8, Amazon, Buy it now A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled An ambassador for mental health awareness, Ruby Wax OBE has helped to make mindfulness accessible to all. Having suffered from depression herself, in this book she explores how modern living is causing us more stress and anxiety than ever as we know and see too much. Included are mindfulness exercises and tips for everyone from babies to adults; all with sound underlying scientific reasoning. 4, Amazon, Buy it now

Just two weeks ago she got herself into a terrible state, weeping with anxiety before a debate where the audience had to vote for their favourite speaker. I realised to my shock that it was because I really, really wanted to win. Her voice drops to a whisper. It turns out that Im incredibly competitive, which is odd, because Ive never thought of myself as competitive. Did she win? I did.

Shes defensive about any accusations of being elitist too. I defy anyone to give me any evidence that having good networks is anything other than meritocratic. There just arent enough policies in place. If we can help any disadvantaged person we will. But having a seat at the table is incredibly valuable. Thats why Anoushka likes coming along to these things with me.

But surely well-educated, middle-class children like hers are precisely the ones with automatic access already? Which is what weve got to change, She nods in agreement.

So how would she change it? You have to have people who are well-connected. Every person in Whos Who should agree that 25 times a year they will take someone from managed networks to a meeting, to a lunch, to a party. Does she do that? Yeah, yeah. I would push back on this idea that networking is elitist. Its only elitist if you keep everybody out.

Nor does she like being thought of as some kind of perpetual meet n greet party animal. God, Id hate it if people thought I was a fanatical work-the-room-er, she says. Obviously Im a communicator at heart but its important to switch off. I love schluffing about at home. Home is in Archway, with her antiquarian bookseller husband Alaric Bamping and their three teenage children. There are also two adult children from Bampings first marriage.

When they got together, Bamping offered to be a stay-at-home father. I hardly know anyone else whos had that luxury. He does all the housework  I still dont know how to use the washing machine.

As we part, Hobsbawm hands me her business card, which lists six websites and two email addresses beneath an image of her new book. Look, its a double-sided, busy-person card, she says smiling and pointing out the black and white hexagonal honeycomb graphic. I got them done specially. See my hexagons? Yes. Hexagon thinking. See what I did there? She sounds delighted. It all connects, see?

Julia Hobsbawm will speak about Fully Connected at Trouble on Monday at The Groucho Club (thetroubleclub.com). For more information visit www.juliahobsbawm.com
S ome might think a book listing reasons to impeach President Trump is a little premature; some might think it is overdue. Allan J Lichtman, professor of history at American University in Washington DC, has been considering it since before Trump even stood on the Capitol steps to declare America First.

Two months before America went to the polls, Lichtman, who had predicted correctly the outcomes of eight previous elections, called it for Donald Trump. So pleased was The Donald that he sent a handwritten note: Professor  congrats  good call. Trump may write again in less friendly terms on Lichtmans next prediction: that he will be impeached.

The term has fallen out of use in Britain but it remains a vital sanction in the American Constitution. Still raw from the revolution against George IIIs Britain, the new-born United States devised a mechanism to remove a rotten leader without resorting to the gun.

Impeachment  putting the President or civil officers on trial before the Senate for bribery, treason, or other high crimes and misdemeanors  was its device. Deliberately broad in scope, it is as much about being unfit for office as having committed a specific crime. Only two presidents have been impeached: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Richard Nixon resigned just before his summons arrived.

Johnson, the vice-president who took over after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, was a pugnacious know-all who appealed to the white working classes, and undid much of the work Lincoln had done of post-Civil War reconstruction, restoring power to the Southern slave-owning elites. After a three-month hearing he was acquitted of the charges by one vote.

More book reviews 1 /24 More book reviews Recovery by Russell Brand Will Russells brand of self-help prove quite so addictive? By Nicholas Lezard. Read review A Life in Questions by Jeremy Paxman Paxo refuses to answer all the really good questions, says David Sexton. Read review Politics: Between: The Extremes by Nick Clegg The basis of this book makes it impossible not to warm to Clegg, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review Serious Sweet by A L Kennedy Thank heavens for London in this tale of self-obsessed lovers. Read review The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth by Anna Keay Born a kings b****** and destined for a traitors death. Read review Man Up: Boys, Men and Breaking the Male Rules by Rebecca Asher Getting to the bottom of why boys will be boys. Read review The Course of Love by Alain de Botton A philosophical novel that does run smooth, says Johanna Thomas-Corr. Read review The Tree Climbers Guide: Adventures in the Urban Canopy by Jack Cooke How I gave this book a proper test and ended up with a broken ankle. Read review Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre Brontes classic tale in the imaginations of other writers, says Claire Harman. Read review Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran Caitlin comes clean about politics  the world according to our funniest feminist. By Rosamund Urwin. Read review Spark Joy An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying by Marie Kondo Theres no messing wih Marie, says Katie Law. Read review Cockfosters Stories by Helen Simpson After 50, a womans life gets better not worse. By Katie Law. Read review Stalins Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess by Andrew Lownie Joker in the spying pack. By Richard Bassett. Read review Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin The darkness that lies at the heart of the novel is offset by a lightness of touch, says Mark Sanderson. Read review Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello Elvis proves not quite so lyrical on the page, says Nick Curtis. Read review The Importance of Elsewhere: Philip Larkins Photographs by Richard Bradford His poetry paints better pictures than any camera, says David Sexton. Read review Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith Morality wins out over macabre murders, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review The Grownup by Gillian Flynn Calling all Flynnies: the con girl whos like gone girl. Read review

Nixon had a problem with paranoia, the truth, hacking  at least he did his own  and he made calls to foreign powers (Cambodia) for political profit. The parallels with Trump made by Lichtman are delicious. Curiously, he largely leaves Clinton  and his weakness for women  alone.

The rump of the book is a thumping catalogue of reasons why Trump is flirting with impeachment, neatly chaptered for lawyers or congressmen seeking grounds. For bribery and treason, investigate his business dealings and connections with Russia  both are already under scrutiny. For crimes, Trumps reversal of efforts to combat climate change could count as a crime against humanity, ventures Lichtman. For misdemeanours, what about his treatment of women?

His argument races through 200 pages, with steam for more. But while impeachment is a way to avoid revolution, it still needs a smoking gun  and Lichtman hasnt got it. This, like much of current US liberal journalism, is a thriller searching for a crime. When it arrives, Lichtman will take credit again but hes not the Woodward or Bernstein of this piece.
H aving, back in the day, played the enfant terrible, Hanif Kureishi here proves himself just as filthy-minded a senior. Put it another way: he seems to have been enjoying his Beckett recently.

Waldo, the narrator of this new novella, is a celebrated film-maker, now reduced to more or less complete physical incapacity. In his late seventies, hes stuck in a wheelchair, his chariot of ire. Cocaine has done for his heart. I also have most illnesses: diabetes, prostate cancer, an ulcer, early MS, constipation, diarrhoea, and only one good hip, a cough, phobias, addictions, obsessions and hypochondria. Otherwise Im in great shape, he says. The good old joke.

His wife of 20 years, Zee, Indian, 22 years his junior, looks after him in their flat in Victoria, assisted by a traitorous acolyte, Eddie, a down-at-heel movie critic and Soho bum who aspires to take his place. But if Waldo is falling apart and on the way out, he is still malicious and manipulative and he decides to teach Eddie a lesson, if its the last thing he does. I connect my hearing aid. This is how seriously I am taking the matter. I am, as they say, going for it.

Although he hasnt managed to have sex, as opposed to demanding a gawp and a fondle, for seven years, Waldo is still bothered by love. I am, Ive realised at last, the sort of fool who wants to be loved exclusively. He says hed be happy to cut his own throat rather than be left. Why would I want to carry on living alone and unloved?

The rest of us manage it, his glamorous but ageing actress friend Anita tells him.

Not me, baby. Therell be a martyrdom operation, Waldo retorts, making his plans.

So here is Kureishis perennial hero, only alive while love and lust last, at the very end of life this time. En route, Waldo is given plenty of those deceptively simple stingers that Kureishi relishes. Narcissism is our religion. The selfie stick is our cross, and we must carry it everywhere, he observes.

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So the actors in his films hated him? I was responsible for some of the best work those turds did. A slap across the chops can only benefit a glove puppet. Anita always brings him a large bunch of

his favourite flowers: thistles. Hah! The limpidity is terrific.

Perhaps this story nonetheless feels a little out of its own time, a little tired itself? Noting the renovations in Victoria, Waldo concedes as much: This new world seems banal and exhausted. Theres too much money in London. Weve lived too long. Yet what choice does he have but to go on to the end? The libido, like Elvis and jealousy, never dies.

Becketts imperishable story, First Love, concludes: But there it is, either you love or you dont. This little story of last love knows the truth of that too.
T o see John Boyega react to a mention of Samuel L Jacksons recent comments about black British actors  body collapsing into the sofa as if hit by a tranquilliser dart, eyes rolled comically into the back of his head, low animal groan  is to glory in his apparent lack of poker face. To recap: Jackson questioned the ability of UK-born men to take on African American roles, causing the 25-year-old actor to tweet his disdain for what he saw as a stupid-ass conflict.

Damn, Sam, says Boyega, sitting up and smiling. I love him but he didnt have to go there. I was actually going to send him a message to check that hes cool. But look, I get it, I just think theres no end result in black Brits and African Americans going back and forth at each other... I rate Sam and hes always showed me love  hes like a big unc  but, across the planet, the black experience is a layered one and his comments didnt represent that.

This, as I learn after a lunchtime in his company, is Boyegas way. Whether hes reflecting on his recent stint working on Detroit, about the 1967 race riots and directed by Kathryn Bigelow (If she calls and asks for just my toe to be in a film, Ill do it, man), or enthusing about his cat (Hes honest with his selfishness), his default mode is a kind of mischievous ebullience. Its a trait plenty will recognise from the Star Wars: The Force Awakens press tour, which  whether he was surprising fans at screenings or detailing the time he took Harrison Ford for Nigerian pounded yam on Old Kent Road  essentially morphed into Boyega: Global Charm Offensive.

Or perhaps its just his latest project  a significant homecoming on the West End stage  thats responsible for his energised, impish mood. With nearly eight years having passed since he last performed on the stage in London (as part of the ensemble in a series of hard-hitting plays at the Tricycle), Boyega is returning to play the lead in The Old Vics Woyzeck, an all-new, Cold War-set adaptation of German playwright Georg Buchners unfinished 1837 play about a lowly soldier driven to madness and murder by jealousy. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child mastermind Jack Thorne has written the script and, if it all seems a galaxy far, far away from taking out TIE fighters and swinging a lightsabre, then that is very much the idea. Ive never actually done this before, Boyega explains, with a disbelieving grin in his South London twang. When I worked at the Tricycle I did three different plays but I wasnt in them for, like, three back-to-back scenes. Now Im on stage for the whole thing. It puts me in an interesting position but, at the same time, it will be good to say, Okay, Ive done that. And when you do movies back to back, plays bring you back to your beginnings. Because theres no fanciness with plays.

DRIES VAN NOTEN jacket, 315, at libertylondon.com. PRADA shirt, 315, at mrporter.com (Credit: Yann Rabanier)

There are abundant reminders of this when we meet in a vacant office within the cramped interior of The Old Vic on a sunny spring day. Boyega bounds into the room to join me, bearing a bag from Pret laden with a sandwich, popcorn and can of sparkling apple (Im going to be nibbling some nonsense while we talk, is that okay?) and apologies for his jet lag. A fan of a bold red-carpet outfit  he threw Jedi poses in a purple Versace tux at the US premiere of The Force Awakens  today hes in ripped black motorcycle trousers, a grey longline bomber jacket and charcoal Yeezy Boost trainers.

Daisy Ridley and Boyega in The Force Awakens, 2015

Hes full of admiration for artistic director Matthew Warchuss attempts to shake things up at The Old Vic. Still, acclimatising to the small-scale world of theatre after an uninterrupted run of enormo-franchises and starry adult blockbusters (which, as well as the follow-up to The Force Awakens, includes Dave Eggers adaptation The Circle) has not been without its challenges.

DRIES VAN NOTEN jacket, 315, at libertylondon.com. PRADA shirt, 315, at mrporter.com (Credit: Yann Rabanier)

The rehearsal process is something that you forget about when you do movies all the time, he says, after a few neat bites of his sandwich. On movies you dont really get time to rehearse so that was a shock to me. On the second day, I was thinking to myself: Oi mate, why dont you know these lines? Because on a film you need to be ready to go. He effortlessly adopts the voice of a Hollywood big shot. Were spending $250,000 an hour and all that kind of stuff. So this feels like a holiday. A really strenuous holiday with some good people. Theres no sense then, of Woyzeck representing a kind of easy victory lap for Londons returning champion. But it cant hurt  after spending recent months filming various projects in Australia, China and the US  to be back in the city he still calls home.

Receiving his EE Rising Star Award at the Baftas in 2016

The son of Nigerian immigrants (Samson, a Pentecostal preacher, and Abigail, who works with disabled children), Boyega was born in Kings College Hospital in Camberwell in 1992 and grew up on a council estate in nearby Peckham. The younger brother to two older sisters (Grace, 26, works as his assistant and Blessing, 29, is a train driver for Southeastern), he quickly caught the acting bug while studying at Oliver Goldsmith Primary School. His unconventional rise from there  training at disruptive BAME incubator Identity School of Acting, a star-making role in 2011s sci-fi comedy Attack The Block, his Bafta EE Rising Star award in 2016  is almost folkloric. The same goes for the seven-month audition process he navigated before finally being offered one of the lead roles in JJ Abrams reawakened intergalactic saga. But before all that Im keen to get his take on Peckhams status as the new crucible of gentrified hipsterdom. He now has his own place in south-west London (with that moggie, Oluwalogan) and he admits hes at Peckham market near enough every day buying cooking ingredients such as sugar cane. Does he worry about the changing face of where he grew up?

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Celebration 2017 - The Last Jedi Panel

I get the need [to develop] for the betterment of our society and our spaces, he says, diplomatically. But at the same time, is that at the cost of people that have lived there for years? Whove worked there? Whove struggled there? What happens to them? He admits that the rooftop Franks Cafe in Peckham is one of his favourite spots in London but notes that the temporary removal of Underexposed, a local photographic mural of famous black performers on Peckham Hill that he used to pass as a kid on the way to his Old Kent Road church, prompted him to holler at Southwark [council]. After uproar from other residents the council has been quick to stress that the images  dismantled as part of the construction of a new theatre school  will be displayed in a new location, but its a reminder of the rival forces at work in the area. My mind just goes, Where is the balance? he says. The notion of balance is a continued theme for Boyega and, surprisingly, to stress his point he talks about something hes never really publicly discussed.

SANDRO jacket, 630 (sandro-paris.com). LANVIN top, 335, at harrods.com. EMPORIO ARMANI trousers, 300 (armani.com) (Credit: Yann Rabanier)

The actor and his sisters attended the same school as Damilola Taylor, the 10-year-old Nigerian schoolboy killed near his home on the North Peckham Estate in 2000, and it has been said that the Boyegas were among the last people to see him alive. Boyega has been quick to snuff out press attempts to spin what he sees as a cliched narrative out of a tragic coincidence (Inaccurate. Stereotypical. NOT my story he tweeted in response to a 2015 newspaper profile) but feels this general urge for a neat rags-to-riches fable is in itself revealing. Although those events [occurred] and what happened to Damilola Taylor is true, I was merely walking with him before it happened, he says, picking the frayed fabric at his knees. Me and my sister [Grace] didnt know any specifics until the police showed up or whatever. But before then, I went to Theatre Peckham to do tap and contemporary dance. I had an experience of quality art within Peckham. There are diverse spirits in that area who have different talents. I know a pilot from Peckham, I know a guy who deals in luxury cars and started his business in Peckham. Just because youre in the area doesnt mean you have to carry all the circumstances that come with it.

Boyega paints a vivid portrait of a happy upbringing, even when misbehaviour in a maths lesson drew the wrath of his strict father (I was like, Wow, is this how life ends? Your dad kills you? he laughs). Even so, he admits that hes seen many people led to make the wrong choices and  more than his Christian faith  he feels it was a tight knit, likeminded social group that helped keep him focused. Hes still close to them now. Ive got in school fights with these dudes and gone on group dates with girls, he says, before jokingly adding: If you were getting the premium dating package back then you were getting taken to Peckham McDonalds and the cinema across the street. Done. That was all I could afford. Asked whether hes currently single hell only say: Im good. Ive had various people try to find out [my status] but youll have to run really fast to try and catch out a Peckham boy when it comes to what hes up to.

Regular trips back to Lagos in Nigeria (his most recent visit over Christmas saw him hanging out with fellow British-Nigerian Skepta) are important to Boyega, too. I just love being back home. And I love being in a country where Im not the minority. It does something to me. And I wish I could take my boys from America out there, especially at this time, to have that feeling. I wonder, in the age of Trump and extreme vetting, if his Nigerian heritage has ever given him any difficulty when travelling to the US.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Teaser Trailer

The facial gymnastics are back. Dude, have I ever, he laughs. I used to fly back and forth when I was hustling and auditioning for things in LA. Id get cheap flights and stay there for two weeks or whatever. And every time I was getting these random checks. Every. Single. Time. I wish I remembered the airline because I called them out on it, too. Like, This stuff aint right. Anyway, they said it was a problem Stateside, they gave me a letter and it stopped. But before that it was consistent. I understand that [these things] are for our safety but when you fly a lot and it happens three or four times theres an element of, Okay, Im still not a terrorist.

These days of course, intergalactic ships are more his speed. As well as Pacific Rim (which his fledgling company, UpperRoom, is also producing), imminent techno-thriller The Circle with Emma Watson (a very, very intelligent girl) and Bigelows Detroit, the release of Star Wars: Episode VIII  The Last Jedi in the core saga is looming at the end of his year like a Death Star on the horizon. Boyega will of course return as Stormtrooper turned Resistance fighter Finn. Did following a critical and commercial hit like The Force Awakens change their approach?

It was definitely different, he says, tentatively. And in the shadow of the unfortunate death of Carrie [Fisher], you cant ignore that something like that creates an energy around the project. Its her last epic finale and, at the moment, to be part of that just feels weird.

There has been talk of new director Rian Johnson bringing a darkness but Boyega  a massive Star Wars fan  is adept at keeping the Disney-owned franchises plot elements secret. No snitching. Its as simple as that, he chuckles. Dont snitch or Mickey Mouse will roll up in front of your house and take you out. Whatever the films 15 December launch date brings, Boyegas role as its magnetic star and infectiously nerdy champion seems crucial to any future success. Its a resounding victory over the section of racist online trolls who, seemingly scandalised by the notion that (gasp!) a black man could be under a Stormtrooper helmet, mounted a risible, failed boycott. Before he heads back to Woyzeck rehearsal, Boyega cant help but express his personal vindication, given the first films favourable reception and the general positive response to a post on Instagram in which he stylishly smacked down the boycotters: To whom it may concern Get used to it :).

The reaction was incredible, he says. Although, I remember I met someone in the street who went: I felt like you should have stayed silent and held it with more grace. I said: I am not the actor whos going to feed you the grace that you want. Sorry, the way I was raised, if anyone comes talking nonsense Im going to shut them down. You have to fight fire with fire sometimes. So transfer that grace and dignity to someone else. Im not your role model. Outspoken, playful, commanding. He may not want to be a role model but, less than a decade into his screen career, John Boyega is, undeniably, a force to be reckoned with.

John Boyega stars in Woyzeck, a new version by Jack Thorne, at The Old Vic 15 May to 24 June, generously supported by RBC (oldvictheatre.com)
A new poll claims that Snowdonia is the most picturesque sight in the UK. I wouldnt know. Ive never been. Besides, I kind of feel like Ive seen it on Instagram. Thanks to the munificence of the 54,486,384 users who have thoughtfully shared their holiday snaps via the #landscape hashtag, youd be forgiven for asking whether its really worth packing a suitcase, boarding an overpriced train and enduring regional food just to look at some mountain.

Over the weekend, we took some Danish friends to visit Yorkshire. How they raved about the hills and dales. One of them had this really weird pointy thing hanging from her neck on a lanyard. Whats that? I asked. A camera, she said. Oh, I said. Apparently, it takes pictures like an iPhone, only better. Not to be a spoilsport, I snapped away at the grass and the sky and the rubble and the sheep as though I gave a s***, knowing Id never so much as glance at them again. Youve seen one sheep, youve seen em all. So beautiful! I yelled into the wind, sliding around in my Converse (top travellers tip: rubber soles are not suited to rough terrain) and wondering whether it was too early to suggest a pint.

Im with Alexa Chung, Karen Elson and Liv Tyler: unless a landscape photo has a human in it, Im just not interested. Its because I am a city person. Give me a brutal urban landscape any day. I feel piqued that the Palace of Westminster from Westminster Bridge only came in eighth in this poll: like all good Londoners, I believe my city is the prettiest and the best. In a good light, in the right mood, even the mundane can look profound. Yesterday, I noticed an old plastic bag caught in a tree branch, fluttering and dancing in the breeze. It was hardly Wordsworths daffodils. But to borrow from American Beauty, sometimes, theres so much beauty in the world, I feel like I cant take it, and my heart is just going to cave in.

Highway snobbery

Easter is the best holiday: no turkey, no overboiled veg, just chocolate. The only bad thing about Easter, as anyone who drove out of London over the long weekend will attest, is that however strong your bladder, the laws of nature will dictate that you confront a service station. Those off to the chi-chi West (Wiltshire, Oxfordshire) have more salubrious services than those forced by familial obligations to venture north, although we do have Tebay, indisputably the best service station ever. Alas, Tebay was not on my route this time. Is there a McDonalds in here? some bloke asked me as I entered another bleak establishment on the A1. How would I know? Am I acting or  heaven forfend  dressed in a manner that suggests I am a native, fully versed in the myriad facilities of Leicester Forest Services? Imma make like Sienna Miller (bottom left) and never again wear sweatpants in the car.

Bare necessities

Shoulders are the new ankles. Where once a tentative bare ankle (shaved for the first time since peak shagging season, circa December 1st) was the first swathe of female flesh to greet the spring, now its the shoulders that are unmasked. London has decided that a loose, off-shoulder smock top is the perfect garment through which to convey a breezy sure, I havent quite lost my winter pot belly, but my shoulders have still got it and heres the proof kind of vibe. Where last summers cropped and flouncy Bardot tops were a cruel mistress, these near relations are an easier sell  as evidenced by the likes of Alessandra Ambrosio and Sofia Richie. What are we all doing with our breasts, though? Strapless bras? Au naturel? Straps pinned to the sleeves? These questions keep me awake at night.
I ts a warm evening in Milan and in the gilded Palazzo Bocconi, guests including Gilda Ambrosio, of cult label Attico, and fashion editor Anna Dello Russo are welcomed by the upbeat soundtrack of DJ/model Brina Knauss. But this isnt Fashion Week. Its the opening night of Salone del Mobile design fair, and Louis Vuitton is poised to unveil the latest additions to its Objets Nomades furniture collection. New pieces include the Talisman Table by India Mahdavi, a bulbous sofa by the Campana brothers and sculptural stools by Tokujin Yoshioka.

Forget Art Basel  fashion has fallen head over hall tables for the design world, as the glitzy line-up at Salone, the worlds most influential interiors fair, proved. What began in 1961 as a trade event for Italian export companies has become a jammed social schedule, drawing 340,000 visitors to the Italian city.

Many of the fancier invitations come from fashion and jewellery houses debuting unique collaborations, opening new Casa (home) stores or hosting Insta-enticing installations. The same evening as Vuittons mixer, in a glammed-up garage across town, Cartier enlisted visual artist Desi Santiago to create a gleaming installation of a car with nuts and bolts exposed, in honour of its new Ecrou de Cartier bracelet. Later that night, at 10pm, Mr Armani invited guests to the opening of his new three-storey Armani/Casa store. Next stop? His Armani/Prive nightclub, of course.

But the soigne soirees  and 3am bedtimes  belied serious business. From Vuitton to Loewe, fashions key players are taking over the interiors world. This is Armani/Casas 17th year, with the category experiencing a seven per cent increase in turnover from 2015 to 2016. As well as Mr Armanis two hotels in Milan and Dubai, there isnt a product line left uncovered in its Casa line, from barware (very popular on super-yachts, apparently) to a bed made from one continuous curve, costing 32,770. Armani/Casa also has two seven-figure residential projects underway in London and will move its industry-orientated Chelsea Harbour store to Sloane Street later this year, further boosting its profile.

Marni Playland installation

Likewise, Versace Home  which displayed its signature Medusa-motif wares at a stand at Milans Fiera fairground (an airport terminal-sized convention centre to the north of the city and the weeks main hub)  is set to open the 50-storey, 360 unit residential project, Akyon London One. Its located within the Nine Elms regeneration area and destined for completion by 2019.

When Hermes reopened its RDAI-designed Bond Street store in 2015, the size of the Maison section hinted at the strength of this category, which enjoys the same respect as its fashion. Highlights of this years collection  unveiled at Salone with an installation in the citys artistic Brera neighbourhood  included the dressing table-like Les Curiosites Carre Box to house its silk scarves, and a simple, elegant bamboo stool.

Elsewhere in Milan, Fendi opened a new Casa store laid out like a private palazzo, displaying seven-seater lounges and 6,000 fur throws; Atelier Swarovski took over the regally opulent Palazzo Crespi nearby to display its decor range, which included Tomas Alonsos marble and crystal trays; while Moschino pushed the boat out with its Moschino Kisses Gufram collection (a poptastic zipped lips couch, biker jacket cabinet and a hybrid high-heel ottoman/shelving unit were on show at its Milan store). Meanwhile, Marnis Playland installation at its Milan HQ featured brightly coloured rocking chairs (535) and hanging baskets (174), made by Colombian artisans, displayed on bright pink and teal sand. Part of the proceeds from the four-day showcase will go to charity Only The Brave Foundation.

Jeremy Scott sits on Moschino Kisses Gufram couch, 8,490 (gufram.it)

So whats behind fashions blossoming love affair with interiors? Most obviously, its good business. After all, if you are a fan of a particular labels clothes, why not their homewares? We believe there is Dieselness in a lot of things we do, from curtains to the glass you drink a nice beer in, says Andrea Rosso, creative director of Diesel Living. Working with seven specialist firms to cover bathroom tiles to soft furnishings, all displayed at the Fiera showground, the Italian brands goal is to follow in Mr Armanis footsteps and push into the lucrative hospitality field.

Likewise, Birkenstock debuted a six-piece collection of beds. Birkenstock has been putting its core functional and orthopedic expertise to the service of healthy walking and standing for a very long time, explains CEO Oliver Reichert. Seen in this light, it makes sense to expand to anatomically formed beds. The so-called sleeping systems are priced from 4,300 (or 450 for just the mattress), and will be available on its website from July.

But moving into homewares doesnt just mean brands can expand beyond their traditional product niche, points out Marni creative director Francesco Risso. It also allows them to reach a different audience. Through Salone, Marni opens up a dialogue with other worlds, not just the fashion one. His point is echoed by Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson, whose third Salone offering, titled This is Home, included a stacked leather pouffe and a hand-crafted bowl by the workshop of Robert Mouseman Thompson (which will also be on show at Liberty from 1-21 May). These projects are helping us turn Loewe into a cultural brand, rather than the classic luxury brand.

Hermes Les Curiosites Carre Box, POA (020 7499 8856)

Whats more, in todays world of high-profile collaborations (not to mention the creative fluidity that the internet allows), disciplines are becoming more blurred and the notion of design has become more about lifestyle rather than merely an object and functionality, says Azusa Murakami, co-founder of Studio Swine. The design firm was commissioned by Cos to create an installation in a decommissioned theatre, which spat out giant bubbles full of smoke. Beyond fashion, theres a lifestyle, adds interior designer India Mahdavi, responsible for Sketchs punchy pink interiors and Vuittons new foldable table. Its not limiting yourself to what you wear; its where you go, how you live.

Salone del Mobile has become the most important event in Milan, agrees Britt Moran, co-founder of design giant Dimore Studio, which last year kitted out Fendis VIP hospitality suite known as the Roman Apartment, located atop its Rome flagship store. Salone is democratic, and is an amazing opportunity to showcase ones creativity to the widest possible audience; theres a wonderful creative vibe around.

So how does an industry veteran such as interiors guru Tom Dixon, whos been coming to Salone since 1990, feel about fashion brands crashing the party? You dont want design to be living in a closed capsule. I think that unexpected collaborations can come up with some extraordinary stuff. As he points out, some of his first clients were fashion brands  among them Paul Smith and Vivienne Westwood. If it allows me to do my next tailoring collection then that would be good, right?! he laughs. Milan Fashion Week had better watch out.
O ver the past two years we have endured an election and a referendum, and now we are staring down the barrel of another June at the polls.

Elections are rarely straightforward. But this one is particularly bewildering. Because for Londoners, #GE2017 poses philosophical questions that shake the certainty of our comforting political tribalism.

Although the city is politically diverse, at the last count 45 out of 73 constituencies voted Labour  and we voted overwhelmingly to stay in the EU last June. Across all 32 boroughs in the capital, 59.9 per cent (2.26 million) voted Remain. In some areas the Remain vote was more than 70 per cent. But this time, voting for Labour in effect means voting for Jeremy Corbyn, which is an increasingly unconscionable suggestion to the capitals metropolitan voters.

In turn, voting for the Tories means also means voting for Brexit. In which case you could go yellow  voting for the Lib-Dems might mean we can soften Brexit  but that is a tick for leader Tim Farron, who has recently had to clarify his support for LGBT issues. And in fact, what if voting Tory, thereby giving May a majority, enabled her in turn to give us the soft Brexit we want? Could you...? And would she? And all this is before you get down to constituency level, which brings its own cacophony of questions.

Like it or not, it is the only question you will be asked at dinner parties for the next seven weeks, and it will distract and distress you. This is not a Yes or No issue  how simple those binary terms seem now. These are the talking points.

The Brexit nexus

Already this is being termed the Brexit election: certainly, the referendum kickstarted the process that led to Mays announcement on Monday. Which means that Londoners voting for their local MP will also be examining their voting record on Brexit. Perhaps you are a Remainer, but your MP voted to leave the EU (like Conservative MP David Burrowes, whose Enfield Southgate seat divided 63-37 for Remain) and you feel discomfited at the idea of voting for them.

Alternatively, whichever way you voted last June, perhaps you are by now sick of Remoaners and would just like this all to start so it can finish  in which case, you are worried that your current MP, a Remainer, is part of a rabble-rousing cohort that will continue to make Brexit difficult to pass through Parliament. Examples include Maragaret Hodge in Barking (whose constituency voted by 60 per cent to leave).

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn hit the election campaign trail

Hot constituencies

Perhaps you do not know who your local MP is  though if you live in Vauxhall or Islington North, you will. The former is the constituency of incendiary Labour MP Kate Hoey, who has held the seat since 1989. Most recently she won by 12,708 votes with a convincing 26.5 per cent majority. But the past 12 months have not endeared her to her constituents, who are proud to live in a Europhiles elysium, with the highest percentage of Remain voters in the country.

Hoey, on the other hand, is a hard Brexiteer. A fierce supporter of the Leave campaign, she received a 5,000 personal donation from Ukip backer Arron Banks. In February her own party released a statement denouncing her stance on child refugees.

Looking north, in 2015, Jeremy Corbyn returned a majority of more than 21,000 votes in Islington, where he has been the MP since 1983. This time around, though, Islingtons voters must take into account, for example, Corbyns apparent disinterest in fighting for the European Union ahead of the Brexit referendum, and accusations that he has failed to take a hard line on the anti-Semitism and sexism in his Party.

These two figures serve as useful benchmarks against which to measure the disillusionment with the Labour Party. Many of the people who live in Vauxhall and Islington will still be Labour in their sympathies but will not want to vote for Hoey or Corbyn. These voters are now engaged in a strange game of Risk, measuring, balancing and trying to work out whether a vote for the Greens is a vote wasted.

MPs clear way for general election on June 8

Moral voting

Many of the issues are illuminated by the trade-off between morality and pragmatism. A truly moral voter casts their ballot in a detached way: they do not consider a vote wasted if it was cast the way they would be in an ideal world. On the other hand, the pragmatic voter is anxious: weighing morality against the realistic likelihood of changing the political environment for the better.

This resonates particularly when it comes to the issue of the reanimated Liberal Democrats. The party has been winning plaudits and members based on its stubborn refusal to accept our departure from the EU. On March 25, its leader Tim Farron led a pro-EU March, at which around 25,000 people turned out, and it was reported on Tuesday that the partys membership leapt up by about 1,000 people in an hour.

The Lib-Dems are, in theory, the party for those youngish, metropolitan voters who would like a do-over on Brexit. They will likely take seats from Labour, though others suggest it is the Tories who should be worried.

Perhaps you feel your Lib-Dem vote is a waste? But more likely, you worry about Farrons personal politics. The Lib-Dem leader is a Christian and homosexuality does not square with his personal worldview: he has in the past abstained from voting on the Marriage (Same-sex Couples) Bill.

Farron has historically tried to avoid the topic of homophobia in interviews  in a 2015 interview with Channel 4 News Cathy Newman, he said, Were all sinners though yesterday, he attempted to assure the electorate. When asked whether he thought homosexuality was a sin in the House of Commons, he replied: I do not. And I tell you what, I am very proud to have gone through the lobby behind him in the coalition government where the Liberal Democrats introduced gay marriage, equal marriage, and indeed did not go as far as it should have done in terms of recognising transgender rights.

This hasnt entirely quelled the anxiety. Nor has the partys clarification yesterday that Farron supports a womans right to choose: last month he abstained from a vote to decriminalise abortion. The vote was largely symbolic  though accordingly, his abstention has symbolism too.

Theresa May's finest footwear - in pictures 1 /40 Theresa May's finest footwear - in pictures November 4, 2014 Wearing leopard print kitten-heel courts as she leaves Downing Street after attending cabinet Peter Macdiarmid/Getty October 5, 2009 Wearing red and black snakeskin courts on the stage as they address delegates at the Conservative Party Conference Christopher Furlong/Getty October 5, 2004 Wearing powder blue and black floral patterned ballet pumps as she arrives at the Bournemouth International Conference Center Jim Watson/AFP/Getty December 9, 2010 Wearing knee-high red suede boot as she leaves a cabinet meeting in Downing Street Matthew Lloyd/Getty November 5, 2013 Wearing over-the-knee patent boots as she arrives on Horse Guards in central London during the visit of South Korean President Park Geun-Hye Sean Dempsey/AFP/Getty June 27, 2016 Wearing pointed leopard print courts to a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street Leon Neal/AFP/Getty May 3, 2011 Wearing patent powder blue court shoes as she arrives in Downing Street to attend a Cabinet meeting Oli Scarff/Getty October 9, 2012 Wearing pointed leopard print courts with a burgundy print insert to deliver her speech to delegates during the third day of the annual Conservative Party Conference Andrew Yates/AFP/Getty October 16, 2012 Wearing pointed leopard print courts as she arrives at Number 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Cabinet meeting Oli Scarff/Getty February 5, 2013 Wearing over-the-knee patent boots as she walks into Downing Street to attend a security meeting with US Vice President Joe Biden Peter Macdiarmid/Getty March 17, 2014 Wearing black lace up patent brogues with diamond studs as she launches HMC Protector Peter Macdiarmid/Getty June 5, 2013 Wearing pointed black patent sling backs as she attends the preview party for The Royal Academy Of Arts Summer Exhibition Tim P. Whitby/Getty June 23, 2013 Wearing Union Jack emblazoned trainers as she presents medals during the third day of the 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup II at Eton Dorney September 30, 2013 Wearing black lace up patent brogues with diamond studs as she delivers her speech in the main hall on the second day of the Conservative Party Conference Oli Scarff/Getty June 10, 2014 Wearing snakeskin kitten-heel courts as she arrives for a cabinet meeting in Downing Street Carl Court/AFP/Getty June 11, 2014 Wearing patent red flats with pink bow detailing as she leaves the Royal United Services Institute Peter Macdiarmid/Getty September 30, 2014 Wearing navy suede courts with a chunky heel as she addresses the Conservative Party Conference Matt Cardy/Getty March 3, 2015 Wearing over-the-knee patent boots as she arrives for a Ceremonial Welcome for the President of Mexico Leon Neal/AFP/Getty May 21, 2015 Wearing gold studded black flats as she and David Cameron are accompanied by immigration enforcement officers into a home in Southall in London following an early morning raid on the property that yielded three arrests of illegal immigrants Richard Pohle - WPA Pool/Getty July 8, 2015 Wearing black pointed flats with a red and pink kiss print as she leaves 10 Downing Street Peter Macdiarmid/Getty October 6, 2015 Wearing black suede courts with a chunky heel on the third day of the annual Conservative party conference Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty October 7, 2015 Wearing red, yellow and turquoise printed courts as she arrives for the fourth and final day of the Conservative Party Conference Christopher Furlong/Getty March 22, 2016 Wearing black suede shoe boots with a leopard print insert as she leaves 10 Downing Street Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty July 12, 2016 Wearing leopard print pointed flats as she leaves after attending a Cabinet meeting at Downing Street Carl Court/Getty December 15, 2004 Wearing calf-length suede boots in plum as she arrives at the 'Woman's Own Children Of Courage Award' at Westminster Abbey MJ Kim/Getty September 30, 2007 Wearing yellow and black patterned wellies during the 124th annual Conservative Party Conference at the Winter Gardens Christopher Furlong/Getty November 8, 2007 Wearing black pointed courts with silver ankle strap as she arrives at the Woman Of The Future Awards Jo Hale/Getty April 26, 2009 Wearing open-toe leopard print flats to speak at the Conservative Party Spring Forum Matt Cardy/Getty June 15, 2010 Wearing a patent red wedge as she arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting in Downing Street Peter Macdiarmid/Getty July 6, 2010 Wearing rainbow striped pointed pumps as she arrives in Downing Street Peter Macdiarmid/Getty

The 70k question

Of course, elections are always, to some extent, about the economy (stupid). Yesterday morning shadow chancellor John McDonnell defined the terms by suggesting that, if elected, the Labour Party will increase taxes for rich people earning 70,000. Speaking to the Today programme, he explained that this would, essentially, amount to a maximum pay ratio for chief executives in relation to their workers.

Ultimately, much of what McDonnell does is of questionable economic import, but this promise in particular posed an incendiary question for Londoners. Specifically: is 70k really rich?

In theory, yes. According to data from the Department for Work and Pensions, the median household income is 23,556  70k is almost three times that. On paper McDonnells statement is not controversial.

But for many Londoners who came to the city  or the City  to earn, 70k does not feel rich. They are comfortably off but they are not convinced that the countrys economic burden is theirs to shoulder, especially in a city of cavernous, empty super-mansions. Financial relativity has a unique model in the capital.

Therefore these people must consider another question: should they vote Conservative? Some of the people earning 70k are young, Left-leaning by nature, and uncomfortable with Conservatism  especially Mays version. They care about internet privacy and are moved by the migrant crisis. For them, 70k is about more than taxation, it is about identity.

Theresa May goes back on election promise

Peripatetic polling

London voters often shuttle from lease to lease and have no loyalty to postcodes. They are not thinking about the future and legacy of their constituency: theirs is a more holistic rationale, one that pits May against Corbyn. It is a worldview that chimes with the American political model: the election feels almost presidential.

This in turn means they can be totally clueless about local party politics  it will make walking into the polling station on June 8 feel rather like sitting down in an exam hall for a paper they have not prepared for. They are both experts and ingenues. They can talk about grammar schools and the NHS with the deft confidence of a political wonk, but have no clue about the state of schools or libraries in the local area.

Its all about identity  and this time London doesnt know who it is.

Follow Phoebe Luckhurst on Twitter: @phoebeluckhurst
T he latest Nurburgring lap time fuss was kicked up when Lamborghini announced its hardcore new Huracan Performante had lapped the legendary 12.9-mile German circuit in 6min 52sec. Half of the internet celebrated. Half of it cried foul, wondering aloud how a 631bhp Lambo could topple the benchmark 874bhp Porsche 918 Spyder. Armchair critics soon began dissecting the in-car video footage released by the firm.

Why the fuss? Because Nurburgring lap times matter. Theyre a badge of honour to car manufacturers, and the fast pace of development involved in Ring race honours has seen the notoriously challenging tracks lap time record fall by almost a minute in a decade. When everything can do more than 200mph and 0-60mph in under 3.5sec, this is the time that splits the men from the boys.

How frustrating, then, that measuring it is such a grey art. Some brands use super-sticky tyres. Some install roll cages, and remove weight from the rest of the car to compensate. Most measure timing themselves, rather than by an independent observer. Its all far from ideal, says US car enthusiast Jim Glickenhaus. Who has an idea.

Its called the Glickenhaus Road Cup, which will be run at the Nurburgring 24 Hours after the race cars qualify. An individual has to own the car, so theres no bulls**t, and it has to be road registered and legal. You start at Cologne and then drive to the Nurburgring on the same set of tyres you will set a time on  they have to be real road tyres, not special tyres that get dropped off at the circuit in a safe.

Then everyone drives and sets a lap time. Fastest wins. Simple.

Simple, and exciting, and thoroughly unlikely. Pity. But who is this guy with the crazy idea? Why, someone who commissioned Pininfarina to build a one-off Ferrari called the P4/5, and then a Competizione version, and then going on to spend a further 16 million building his own racing car called the SCG 003.

This is why hes so keen on doing something new with the Nurburgring lap time battle. Because the race version can do a 6min 20sec lap, and he reckons the road-going version of the SCG 003 might be not far shy of that. Certainly, potentially much faster than the record-holding Lambo

Glickenhaus is obsessed with the road-approved part of the challenge, which is why his competition has been configured so. Im not taking about a rich person putting a registration plate on an LMP1 racing car. Im saying its got to be real: headlights, tail-lights, windscreen wipers, bumpers. A like-for-like, winner-takes-all shoot-out.

British specialist maker Radical is on board. German authorities dont recognise the wild 6min 48sec lap time set by its SR8 LM, but theyd be invited to Glickenhauss challenge, and admit its something theyd be interested in. Whether other car manufacturers would be so keen would remain to be seen. If they dont come, privately-owned cars driven by racers could take their place.

It still sounds a far-fetched idea, of course. But thats to underestimate the force of nature that is Jim Glickenhaus. Hes hoping to get the first Glickenhaus Road Cup running next year, ahead of the N24 race. Dont bet against him getting his wish and shaking up the Nurburgring lap time challenge in the most dramatic way.

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F rom working to weekend, shirts have always been wardrobe cornerstones.

But this spring, the humble collared and cuffed top is set to dominate like never before.

Its had a serious shake-up for SS17. Forget the sober work shirt: with frills and ruffles for miles, exaggerated cuffs, and sleeves with puffs that would make pastry week on The Great British Bake Off look lacklustre, the new season blouse will simply not be buttoned down.

Fine prints

Hawes & Curtis, 29.50

Gucci has been singing the praises of elaborately patterned blouses for a while now (with extra points for pussy bows), but this season other designers added their own notes to the tune, making for a veritable symphony of prints that are anything but prim.

If youre after a pattern pop that wont also implode your bank balance, head to Hawes & Curtis. Known for its vibrant shirt styles, it is expert at all things bright and bold and prices start from a very friendly 20-30.

Frill the gap

Mango, 19.99

Nowhere was the case for a ruffled shirt quite so convincing as at Burberry SS17. If youre usually allergic to frills and fuss, then pleats that play out across a white colour palette are a good compromise. But Mango is well stocked with fun and flowing options in full colour if you're feeling adventurous.

On the cuff

Zara, 25.99

A ruffled sleeve has been a firm fashion favourite for a while now, however it is somewhat prone to soaking up your tea, trailing across your dinner plate and hanging limply from the cuff of your jacket. Not particularly chic. The elongated shirt sleeve is its more practical cousin. Its slightly stiffer and therefore foldable - extremely helpful should you want to avoid tomato sauce stains.

Great lengths

Topshop, 165

Any self-respecting, stylish Londoner knows that the key to surviving spring and summer in the capital is layering. A shirt is always a safe bet, but why not give the tried and tested nice-top-and-jeans look a refresh by layering a shirt dress over trousers?

Its easier to achieve than it seems and a great way to give skinny jeans styles more mileage if youre struggling to embrace the new wider silhouette. Try Topshop or Monki for options.

Patch things up

H&M, 24.99

Sequins, embroidery, patches all add-ons are welcome - more is more should be your motto when it comes to beautified blouses. Trusty Zara will lend a helping hand when it comes to trying out this look.

With more than 250 stores, Westfield is the perfect place to refresh your wardrobe for the new season. From Topshop to Louis Vuitton, you'll find everything you need to embrace SS17s new trends. For more information and to see a full list of stores visit westfield.com/uk
A msterdam is an undeniably beautiful city with its network of glittering canals and its tightly packed Dutch townhouses. But as a city break destination, it can get overlooked because of its infamous 'coffee shops' and the Red Light district.

But if you look in the right places - and beyond the obvious attractions such as the Van Gogh Museum and the tulips - there is plenty to sate the savvy urbanite, from street food markets and pancake parlours to its ever expanding portfolio of boutique hotels.

As Eurostar announces a new direct service to Amsterdam, here are 10 more reasons why you should choose it for your next European city break.

1. Instagram opportunities

The Venice of the North is nothing if not highly Instagrammable. Every time you turn a corner, a new stretch of glittering canal or row of beautiful Dutch townhouses will have you reaching for your phone. No filters needed.

Kate Lough

2. Its so close

You can fly to Amsterdam from London in about 45 minutes  so its quicker than the train journey to Margate or the car trip to the Cotswolds. This makes it very doable for a weekend break, leaving after work on Friday so you can save that precious annual leave.

3. Cool hotels

The boutique hotel scene in Amsterdam is blooming, with recent openings including the hipster-friendly Hoxton and the grander Pulitzer really putting it on the map for the style-conscious. This year, the Sir Adam has recently opened in the hip IJ-river district with industrial-style interiors, a gourmet burger joint and a riverside terrace. Next up is the Kempton de Witt, which will open in the Amsterdam Central in May with its own neighbourhood joint Wyers and free bikes for guests.

A room at the Hoxton hotel

4. You can cycle anywhere

Hiring bikes in the Dam is an absolute must  it allows you to explore all the different neighbourhoods easily. Some hotels (like the Hoxton) have free bikes for their guests, so make sure you check first. Unlike London, there are cycle lanes everywhere and cars come second, so you should feel completely safe as you pedal the streets and canals. If youre staying in central  you can be at the bars of Oost area in 20 minutes and the concept stores of De Pijp area in 10 by hopping on your bike.

5. The Foodhallen

Opened in October 2014, the Foodhallen is like a cross between Borough Market and Street Feast  drawing in a multi-generational crowd in an ex-tram depot in West Amsterdam. Its a great way of discovering the best of the city's foodie scene, with everything from perfectly steamed dim sum platters to steak sandwiches to bao buns. Thirsty? Youre spoilt for choice with a craft beer bar and a dedicated G&T bar  where endless permutations of the tipple are served in giant fishbowl-shaped glasses  among the offerings. Its so popular it can be hard to find somewhere to perch  but once you do, its worth settling in - especially on a rainy Sunday.

6. Pancake brunches

Chocolate Sensation at Mook Pancakes (Kate Lough)

The Dutch are known for whipping up seriously good pancakes, so make sure you make some space for them  in your itinerary and stomach. Mook is one of the citys most recent openings, where the interiors are just as drool-worthy as the healthy stacks of fluffy pancakes. Think all white interiors with on-trend greenery, pendant lights that make the perfect backdrop for your Instagram snaps. Share the Mancake the Chocolate Surprise to sate your savoury and sweet tooth.

7. Concept stores

If you love the shops like Merci and Colette in Paris, youll love what Amsterdam has to offer. Circle of Trust in the trendy De Pijp area sells well-cut jeans, stripy tees, backpacks and sunglasses, while Nuvo Niche stocks tiny brands in the Nine Streets area with everything from lobster-shaped ceramics to gold rings.

A post shared by chippernelly (@chippernelly) on Feb 19, 2016 at 6:40am PST

8. Cool restaurants in unusual places

There are lots of lovely places to eat in the heart of Amsterdam like Breda and Balthazars Keuken, but the most interesting places tend to be found on the fringes and are worth the longer cycle or Uber to get there. Try Wilde Zwinjnen in the east part of town for oysters, charcoal-grilled ribeye and wild boar in a cool, candlelit urban setting. Or head to Hangar in the north, which overlooks the water and has a gritty meets tropical vibe, all underpinned by southern Mediterranean cooking with nods to north Africa. Over in Amsterdam-West, Restaurant DS has opened up in a former technical school where you can choose between veg-centric menu of three, five or seven courses. Expect dishes such as duck spinach tortillas and brill fish with dashi onion.

Industrial-cool at Wilde Zwijnen in Amsterdam East / Kate Lough

9. Canalside drinking  and boating

In the sunnier months (Amsterdam can be rather cold and wet like London), its all about al fresco, waterside eating and drinking. Grab a spot by the canal and settle in. Try Edel in the OUd-West area if youre with a large group, or Venus & Adonis is set just back for the canal for a quiet glass of white with your lover.

Or, do it like the locals and hire a boat to speed gently along the water in the late afternoon, catching the last of the suns rays with a beer in hand.

10. Art and design

In addition to the well-trodden museums like the Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank and Van Gogh, Amsterdam has something exciting up its sleeve this year. The Stedelijk Museum is celebrating 100 years of the De Stijl art movement. This landmark exhibition will fill six galleries with artists including Piet Mondrian, Gerrit RIetveld and more.

Follow Kate on Twitter @kate_lough and Instagram @kateloughtravel
P ortland is one of those places where everyone you meet has an opinion on where to get the best pizza, the most life-changing burger, or the hottest doughnut. Fierce pride in regional ingredients, chefs close relationships with local farmers and foragers, and the famously independent, experimental spirit of Portlanders has put Oregons biggest city on the culinary map - and what to eat is the first question on everyones lips. No wonder it is regarded by Americas top critics as the best food destination in the country.

And this summer, it is easier than ever to get a taste of Portland, as Delta Air Lines launches a brand new route from London Heathrow on 26 May, in partnership with Virgin Atlantic. It is the first time the UK has enjoyed a non-stop air link with the city, and is a top opportunity to find out what all the foodies are so excited about.

Want to impress a Portlander? Here are the local heroes you have to try for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.

Breakfast

Tasty n Alder in Downtown Portland is the citys favourite place to start the day. Owned by local entrepreneur John Gorham, it serves gourmet versions of American brunch favourites made with Pacific Northwest produce (the burger is slathered in Cascade hazelnut romesco; fried Willapa Bay oysters come with bacon lardons, cheddar and a buttermilk biscuit). Or head to Portland Farmers Market in the grassy grounds of Portland State University on a Saturday for a legendary breakfast burrito, topped with Oregon-made Tillamook cheese, at Enchanted Sun.

Lunch

Portlands street food scene has exploded in the past few years - the city is now dotted with more than 700 food carts. To lunch like a local, head to the collection of carts at SW 10th and Alder Street and join the line for Nongs Khao Man Gai. This Thai spot only serves one dish - chicken and rice with a special sauce - and Portlanders cant get enough of it.

Dinner

The Inner Southeast neighbourhood is Portlands hippest district, and its here youll find Kachka, a perennially popular Russian restaurant famous for its dumplings and house-made vodka infusions (the signature horseradish vodka is a revelation). To alleviate now common two-hour waits, the team is opening a second outpost later this year. Other hot tables in the area include Le Pigeon, a riff on a French bistro where foie gras comes with pineapple-miso caramel and honey-seaweed brioche, and Biwa, a basement izakaya serving Pacific Northwest-meets-Japanese small plates.

Dessert

Youll see the queue before you see the sign for Voodoo Doughnuts, Portlands 24-hour doughnut shop. The bakery is renowned for out-there flavours including bacon maple and grape dust and lavender. Need to cool down? Salt & Straw is a Portland-made, culinary ice cream brand that has already expanded to LA and will soon be seen in San Francisco. Classic Portland flavours include pear and blue cheese and strawberry honey balsamic with black pepper.

Portland becomes easier to reach on 26 May, when Delta Air Lines launches the very first non-stop flights from London Heathrow, in partnership with Virgin Atlantic. Visit delta.com to book your flight and plan your Portland foodie feast.
T heres something other-worldly about taking the train into Venice.

In the right seat, it feels like the carriage is skating across the blue and green water shimmering below. Then, ahead, the city appears, half-submerged, destined to be an Atlantis. That feeling of slight quivering magic never disappears: off the train and out of the station, theres the sound of clattering guitars and the putt-putt-putt of the working boats. The streets curl into a maze, some a tourist trap, some a deserted haven. We stop for a drink, then get to The Baglioni Hotel Luna, the city's oldest hotel, but arguably its grandest and certainly it's most romantic. It glitters in the light.

Where is it?

Does Venice have a rough end? Given the entire city is a World Heritage Site, it seems unlikely one of its 118 islands is the Italian equivalent of Peckham. On the other hand, it certainly has its own Mayfair, which is where youll find the upmarket Luna. Its all of a leisurely 30 seconds stroll from Saint Mark's Basilica, looks out over the lagoon, with views over San Giorgio Maggiore, and even has a drinks terrace on a peaceful canal cut, where the moneyed come and go on water taxis. Somehow, by a stroke of luck, it sits away from all the tourists too, being right at the end of its street  no-one wanders that way unless they need to. In the 12th century, there was a Knights Templar church on the site.

Style

Unassuming from the front, the hotel is built in typical Venetian style. Inside, things are a little more palatial, and Luna draws on the citys artistic lineage: the breakfast room is said to have a ceiling painted by pupils of 17th century master Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Its certainly striking. Such grandeur is toned down elsewhere, which is for the best: it would be overwhelming everywhere. Instead, theyve favoured a more comfortable style, which feels unique to the place  there are a number of Baglioni hotels, but this has none of the hallmarks of a chain.

On the canal cut: the hotel is centrally located, while managing to be peaceful and just away from the crowds

Facilities

Though it doesn't boast oodles of gym space or a private cinema, the heart of this five star hotel is the little touches which give it its distinctive atmosphere. It's preserved its reputation with impeccably trained staff  not least the butlers  and luxurious details from the house prosecco to the toiletries. Its not a place of bells and whistles, but of pure upmarket comfort, and rarely is one so thoroughly assured that 'nothing is too much trouble'.

Extra curricular

Venice is made for getting lost in: nowhere could be more beautiful to surrender to - and you might have to, since Google maps isnt much use here. Though its reputation for being pricey is well founded, a walk will do wonders: we practically stole the most gorgeous lobster tortellini from the absurdly reasonable Antico Gatoleto, where everyone gets a limoncello on the house. Gondolas are worth it once, twice is an expensive mistake  the vaporetto will show you the Grand Canal just as well.

Dont forget the art, either: theres the Biennale festival, but the old masters of Titian and Canaletto can be seen year round at I Frari. After all that, have a spritz. Al Timon is recommended by those in the know  and its cheap, too. Though the Baglioni is just around the corner from the world-famous Harrys Bar, avoid it. Overpriced, empty and drab, the once-legendary spot is about as about as fun as falling into the canal.

Food & Drink:

The hotels restaurant, Canova, comes from the Baglionis executive chef, Alberto Rossetti and is a stunner. Sure, the kitchen likes to get arty about things  we had a few dishes that had been Jackson Pollockd  but the food is first rate, subtly done, reasonably healthy (Rossetti is hot on that sort of thing) and presented splendidly by staff who clearly care, and make an effort to charm. Usually on holiday, half the fun is finding a beautiful local restaurant nearby and normally, that's best. Here, its worth staying put: the hotel has you covered. Be sure to try the lamb with raspberries, and put it with a bottle of Palazzo della Torre, fairly reasonably marked up here. The wine list is a particular strength, as are the puddings. Afterwards, go for a walk, before coming back for a nightcap sat out by the canal. Heaven.

Stunning: the hotel looks out over the lagoon

Which room

What you really want is the Sansovino Lagoon View Suite, a room so beautiful you may not feel the need to see the city after all. Equally lovely is room 411, the Giovanni Bellini suite, where we stayed, which has a view over the water that can stop conversations: 'Instagram friendly' doesn't begin to cover it. Just make sure to ask for lagoon-facing room, because nothing beats waking up and seeing the sun coming up over the waves as the first boats of the day potter about.

Unbeatable view: the Giovanni Bellini suite

Best for:

A romantic getaway. Venice trades on this reputation, but its somewhere that could leave anyone out-of-pocket and underwhelmed if not done properly. There are undoubtedly rip-off merchants around these parts, but Luna is above the hype.

When to go

Everyone seems to have the same opinion of Venice: it's gorgeous, but overcrowded. Then, when Summer really gets going, theres the smell. We visited in early spring, when skies are still clear and bright blue, and temperatures sit in the mid twenties. The city needs exploring, it deserves time, and youre best without all the tourists. Winter is the perfect time: the lagoon glistens in the clear cold air, restaurants and bars drop their prices and sightseeing doesnt mean tackling the crowds. Besides, Luna will keep you plenty warm.

Rooms from 250 a night, S. Marco, 1243, 30124 Venezia, Italy, baglionihotels.com
A boutique hotel with a retro theme, Henri is a creative hub in the centre of Hamburg...

Where is it? On a quiet street, right in the heart of Hamburgs shopping district. A five-minute stroll from the central station it takes less than half an hour to travel to the hotel from the airport with a direct train. Also around the corner from the subway, the Maritime Quarter can be reached in about 10 minutes.

Whats the story? Henri is a fictional character whose personality is reflected throughout the hotel. Eccentric and colourful, his presence creates a jolly vibe in a cosy establishment which feels rather like a private members club.

Design details: Think retro. Pop art, mid century modern furniture and vintage finds are scattered throughout the bedrooms. Statement Fifties wallpaper adorns the bedroom walls, there are multi-coloured hand-crafted rugs and no end of bold fabrics.The style harks back to the merchant house world that prevailed along Bugenhagenstrasse for decades.

Which room? We opted for the M-room. Well-sized and practical, it comes with tea and coffee making facilities as well as an empty mini bar, which you are encouraged to stock with items from the downstairs Smeg fridge. There is a dining table in case you fancy eating in. The bathroom is semi-open plan and there is plenty of storage for clothing and luggage.

On the menu: Henris check in and communal area comes in the form of a cosy bar, lounge and kitchen. There is a good breakfast spread with cereals, fruit, toast and hot options on offer. Although there is not a restaurant on the premises, the kitchen is open all day and stocked with snacks, microwave meals, ice-cream and ample drinks. It is self-service with an honesty bar for guests. The concierge will also whip up cocktails  ask about happy hour for very fairly priced tipples. If you fancy eating out, check out some dining options below.

Anything else I should know? The lower ground is home to a sauna and small gym to help you stay in shape.

Best for: a boutique city break.

When to go: Hamburg is a very walkable city so make the most of this with pleasant Spring/Summer weather.

How to get there: Easyjet has frequent flights from London Gatwick, taking just over an hour.

How do I book? Visit henri-hotel.com.

Where to eat

Die Bank

In a striking building with super high ceilings, this restaurant is a smart choice. Nodding to its banking past, credit card numbers are stamped onto the walls and money is a theme that runs through the vast artwork. A bar forms the centre point and there is a very good wine list.

The South African chardonnay by the glass is a strong choice. Fresh and flavoursome mains specialise in fish and pasta. As popular for a business lunch as it is a family dinner, enjoy Die Bank after perusing the surrounding shops, diebank-brasserie.de.

Carls Brasserie

Part of the same hospitality portfolio as Henri, Carls is brilliantly located opposite the newly opened Elbphilarmonie concert hall. Striking picture tiles line the entrance, there are aubergine-coloured leather bench seats and ceiling-high windows glass surfaces.

There is a laid-back ambience and the views of river Elbe are hard to beat. Staff pride themselves on friendly service  head waiter Kai Zitzmann gave us a very warm welcome while our waitress was quick to offer her tips on good dishes. Chef de cuisine Michel Rinkert is an expert in the classic French dishes of his home country and north German recipes with a twist.The Dover Sole is a must while the steak and chips for meat eaters. Book a table on weekends as the brasserie can fill up quickly, carls-brasserie.de.

Basil & Mars

This new kid on Hamburgs restaurant scene is full of fun. The floor to ceiling windows fill the room with light on sunny days. Locals bring their dogs and tourists will feel like they are experiencing a healthy dose of hip Hamburg. Design is well considered  spot the Tom Dixon Melt lighting, Churchill crockery and chequred floor.

The good news is, the food lives up to the style. The juicy prawn salad had a crisp Meditteranean taste while the sea bass was perfectly cooked with a scrumptious tomato based side. Meat eaters will enjoy the lamb chops. Delicious, basilundmars.com.

Top Tip: Bag a HamburgCARD

We would recommend buying a HamburgCARD for free use of all public transport and discounts on lots of the attractions. A visit to the Elbphilarmonie, a newly opened concert hall with impressive architecture, is a must. Take in a concert or pop up to the viewing platform for 360 degree views of Hamburg. Then stroll around the HafenCity, one of Europes fastest growing urban development projects. For the latest go to hamburg.com.

Follow Amira Hashish on Twitter @amiranews and Instagram @thedesigneditor
F or most fresh graduates, travelling is the ideal way to blow off steam and reflect on future career options after the hard work of finishing university.

Money can often be an obstacle to fulfilling travel dreams, but UK price comparison website Compare the Market could solve that riddle for one lucky graduate.

The company is seeking a final year UK university student to travel around the world, all expenses paid, as a "travel adviser" blogging on their experience.

The successful applicant will journey to at least eight countries and receive a generous expenses package, including a round the world plane ticket, accommodation, excursions, adventure activities, and insurance.

The graduate will also be equipped with state-of-the-art camera equipment to show off the sites and sounds in all of their glory, according to the Compare the Market.

The company expects the successful candidate to take 10 photos a month of the top locations and activities, as well as capture one video of the best destination visited. They will also be expected to produce a monthly blog post about the travels, offering tips and recommendations.

30 places to visit before you turn 30 1 /41 30 places to visit before you turn 30 Click through our gallery to discover the places you should visit before you turn 30... Shutterstock 1. Bali Highland panoramas, scenic waterfalls, open blue skies, golden sunsets and awesome sunrises across the coastline. Theres a reason why people say that Bali stirs the soul.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Explore temples and palaces, go river rafting, sign up to a surf school, volunteer at an orangutan sanctuary, take a yoga class in the mountains and party all night. Best of all, its cheap - so youll be able to live like a king on a fortnights trip here. Stephan Stansfield/Flickr 2. Island hopping in Greece If youve never made it to Greece, then schedule in some time to discover its lesser-known islands by boat. Go to big-hitters Santorini, Crete and Rhodes and and discover little-known gems Astypalea and Tinos.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Because you can explore whitewashed cubic houses, lie on white hot sands, take a dip in the bath water-warm Aegean. Shutterstock / Mikhail Gnatkovsk 3. Myanmar Until fairly recently, Myanmar was off limits to wanderlust Westerners. But after five decades of military rule, Asias formerly Junta-controlled diamond in the rough has finally opened its crystal shores to nirvana-seekers.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Unsullied beaches, ancient Pagan temples and incredibly cheap prices make Burma the perfect holiday spot for cash-strapped travellers in their 20s. Joe Connor 4. Ibiza No surprises here - the Island that never sleeps has long been one of the hottest places to play for people in their 20s. This hedonistic paradise is a lure for British clubbers drawn in by sun, sand and world-class DJs.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Because nowhere does sunset chilling quite like Ibiza. Shutterstock / FP media 5. Croatia Ancient walled towns, dreamy deep-blue seascapes, an unrivaled festival scene and guaranteed good weather. Whats not to love about Croatia?



Why go here before you turn 30?



Visit festival and wellness island Obonjan, go fun-seeking at Sonus, take a Game of Thrones tour, go white-water rafting, stroll around the museums in Zagreb or simply spend your days enjoying cocktail after cocktail on the beach. Angus Webster 6.Toronto, Canada Forget Williamsburg, hipsters looking for a cultural injection should make a beeline for Canadas largest city for art, food and dive bars by the dozen.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Ethnic enclaves, a bustling food scene and cool designer stays - there are plenty of reasons to discover Toronto. Shutterstock / njene 7. Pammukale, Turkey Pamukkale is actually Turkish for cotton castle, which accurately sums up this amazing display of natural hot water pools in Denizli Province. The city is famous for its travertines - terraces of dazzling white carbonate minerals left by the flowing water that tourists can bathe in.



Why go here before you turn 30?



It'll make for one stunning Instagram. Shutterstock / Copycat37 8. Backpack through Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is one of the most accessible regions for the novice traveller - thanks to its mix of volcanoes, rainforests, rice fields, beaches and coral reefs. Some popular stops include Chiang Mai in Thailand, Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Laos, Hanoi in Vietnam.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Explore thousand-year-old Hindu ruins, rave on the beach, attend a Buddhist ceremony at dawn and hike through the jungle looking for wildlife. The possibilities are endless. Shutterstock / Lena Serditova 9. Costa Rica Theres plenty of time for gentle package holidays in your later years. This tiny Central American oasis is a twenty-somethings playground of wild beaches, rocky points, volcanoes, reefs, rare wildlife and spectacular rainforests.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Because you can learn how to surf on the Nicoya peninsula, try truly amazing Costa Rican coffee, learn to speak Spanish, get lost on a hike in a rainforest, go white water rafting at Turrialba and see real life sloths, monkeys, crocodiles, ocelots and toucans. Autentico Adventures Costa Rica/Flickr 10. Tiger's Nest Monastery, Bhutan William and Kate put this remote kingdom on the map earlier this year, and a trip here isnt complete without paying a visit the the Tigers Nest Monastery. Believed to be the birthplace of Bhuddism, the Monastery has been a place of pilgrimage since it was built in 1692.



Why go here before you turn 30?



The temple complex clings to a cliff, a dizzying 3120 meters above the sea level on the side of the upper Paro valley. If you want to take in the stunning views of blue pines and rhododendrons youll need fearless stamina to hike to the top. Paula Bronstein/Getty Images 11. Songkran Festival, Thailand Songkran festival, or the Thai New Year, is three days of nonstop revelry. Its celebrated across the country, with locals and tourists gathering in the streets with super soakers, water balloons and buckets of water one almighty water fight.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Because who doesnt love a water fight? AFP/Getty Images 12. Banff, Canada This resort town is one of Canada's most popular tourist destinations, known for its mountainous surroundings and hot springs. A visit here offers the chance to experience the spectacular Canadian Rocky Mountains and glacier-fed lakes, bull elk and brown bear sightings, and small-town charm like no other.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Because its some of the finest mountain scenery youll find on the planet. Shutterstock / Songquan Deng 13. Norway Picturesque fjords, magical mountains, quaint coastal towns and the possibility of spotting the Northern Lights makes Norway a tempting trip for those on the hunt for natural beauty.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Visit trendy Oslo, discover magical lesser-known towns, stand on a gravity-defying boulder, sail around the fjords, stay in a fishermans cottage you may even spot a polar bear. Shutterstock / Carsten Pasternac 14. Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, California Rising nearly 5,000 feet above Yosemite Valley and 8,800 feet above sea level, Half Dome is one of the greatest hiking challenges a traveller can undertake. This granite dome sits at the eastern end of one of Americas most spectacular national parks.



Why go here before you turn 30?



The terrain is dramatic, the scenery is amazing, and its probably the single most iconic thing you can do in California. Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images 15. Iceland This Nordic island nation isnt far from the UK, but packs in astonishing natural phenomena and take-your-breath-away landscapes.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Contemporary cuisine, Lord of the Rings-esque lands, stargazing, endless hours of daylight and geothermal springs. Its hard to narrow it down. Shutterstock / pranodhm 16. The Inca Trail, Peru The Inca Trail is by far the most famous trek in South America. In just 26 miles it manages to combine beautiful mountain scenery, lush cloud-forest, subtropical jungle and, of course, a stunning mix of Inca paving stones, ruins and tunnels.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Because the final destination of the trail just cannot be beaten: Machu Picchu, the mysterious "Lost City of the Incas". Brent Stirton/Getty Images 17. Manchester, UK The capital of The North might not strike as the most exotic of travel destination, but its giving London a run for its money thanks to a wealth of music and art history, smart fine dining restaurants, hipster neighbourhoods and a swathe of cool new boutique hotels.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Because it's only 2 hours away by train from the capital. Shutterstock / Tupungato 18. India The food alone is enough of a draw to India, but throw in palm-fringed beaches, one of the seven wonders of the world, forts, mosques, monuments and ancient ruins, and you have a holiday on that ticks all the boxes on your hands.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Because youll want leave enough room to come back again and again over your lifetime. Shutterstock / LukaKikina 19. Berlin Edgy, cool and creative, Berlin is one of the worlds best cities for boutique shopping, brilliantly offbeat nights out and hipster hangouts.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Because its one of Europes most exciting cities. Shutterstock / Claudio Divizia 20. Melbourne, Australia Whether youre looking to party, simply kick-back on a beach or sample some of the best brunch in the world, Melbourne offers it all to young travellers and backpackers.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Australias coolest capital holds all kinds of attractions for people in their 20s, from bars and boutiques to clubs and cafes. Shutterstock / GagliardiImages 21. New Zealand Undoubtedly one of the most spectacular places on earth, New Zealand is home to some incredibly unspoilt scenery. Make sure to take a decent camera, because stunning national parks and reserves make up a third of its land.



Why go here before you turn 30?



When else can you spend a whole month hiking its natural peaks and troughs? Gareth Richman 22. Carnival, Rio de Janeiro Forget Notting Hill carnival: once a year, several million travellers descend on Rio to enjoy four days of parades and partying at the beginning of Lent.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Who wouldnt want to be part of the biggest street party on the planet? Raphael Dias/Getty Images 23. The Great Wall of China As the famous Chinese saying goes, 'he who does not reach the Great Wall is not a true man'. This great engineering marvel winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus, stretching across over 13,000 miles.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Because your 20s arent just for partying and frolicking... AFP/Getty Images 24. Burning Man Festival, Nevada Every year, tens of thousands of people gather in Nevadas Black Rock Desert to create Black Rock City, a temporary festival of art, hedonism and self-expression.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Because its the most outrageous festival of all: alongside meditation and yoga theres spanking classes, orgies, and naked foam parties. Chances are, youll only want to get involved when youre young enough not to regret it. Duncan Rawlinson/Flickr 25. Antelope Canyon, Arizona Located just outside of Page, in the heart of Navajo Country, Antelope may just be the most photographed slot canyon in the world - thanks to its awe-inspiring, sandstone formations.



Why go here before you turn 30?



The celestial light beams in the canyon make this place completely unforgettable and unmissable. AFP/Getty Images 26. Pacific Coast Highway, California The PCH is a road trip-lovers dream, with its winding ribbon roads that meander alongside the crashing Cali coast from Carmel to Morro Bay. The 123-mile route takes in Big Sur and the much photographed Bixby Bridge, as well as five hours of cliff-hugging open road.



Why go here before you turn 30?



The all-American road has been voted one of the top motorcycle rides in the U.S - its basically the drive of a lifetime, but youll enjoy the freedom most on two wheels. Howard Ignatius/Flickr 27. Bosnia & Herzegovina Turquoise rivers, medieval castles and tumbling waterfalls. It sounds like something out of a fairytale, but the craggily beautiful lands of Bosnia and Herzegovina are real - and theyre one of Europes best kept secrets.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Because there are few places in the world where you can enjoy hiking, beautiful countryside, rafting and swimming, inner-city bridge jumping and skiing all within one country. Shutterstock 28. Tokyo, Japan Japans busy capital shouldnt be overlooked - as well as providing endless Instagram opportunities, it manages to pack in both the ultramodern and the traditional - from neon-lit skyscrapers to historic temples.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Because you can sleep in a capsule, walk across the beautiful Tokyo bay, spend hours in an multi-storey arcade, slurp down some heavenly ramen and spend hours strolling through the brightly-lit streets. Shutterstock 29. Osea Island, Essex On Osea Island, they know how to throw a party. Located in the middle of Essexs Blackwater Estuary, the private island  which is only accessible by boat, helicopter or car at low tide  boasts four and a half miles of its own beaches and coastline perfect for social gatherings.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Because you can throw the most incredible weekend parties here. Alamy Stock Photo 30. Las Vegas, Nevada Live like a celebrity for amongst the glitz and glitter of one of the worlds most famous strips.



Why go here before you turn 30?



Win big at a casino, take in a cirque production, party all night, go four-wheeling in the surrounding national parks just make sure you dont accidentally get hitched. Shutterstock / Don Mammoser

The proposed trip is expected to begin in the autumn of this year. The winning candidate will also get to help decide the length of the trip, as well as pick specific destinations.

To apply, students just need to submit a 200-word personal statement by midnight on 30 April 2017 here on why you are the best person for the job. A team of Compare the Market travel experts will shortlist five candidates, who will, in turn, need to submit a short YouTube video proving outlining their application.

A final decision on the winner will be made by May 2017 and the applicant with the highest number of votes from the public will be packing their bags for the trip of a lifetime.
A rmed police are being trained to storm Tube carriages to tackle the threat of marauding terrorist gunmen on London Underground trains, a senior officer said today.

Specialist firearms officers are ready to respond to threats ranging from fanatics hijacking ships on the Thames to gunmen attacking passengers on trains or the Underground.

Simon Chesterman, the national lead for armed policing, said there was a new potent force of armed officers in London and the UK prepared to intervene within minutes of an attack.

The new tier of top-level firearms officers train alongside special forces and use tactics which are more akin to the military, he said.

An armed police officer on duty at Stratford Underground station / PA

Their training includes tackling scenarios involving hijacked aircraft and ships as well as boarding trains and Tube carriages.

Mr Chesterman, a deputy chief constable, added that there specialist skills and knowledge involved in boarding train carriages, particularly Tube trains inside tunnels.

Police reviewed their tactics after a gunman attempted to open fire with an AK47 on a crowded Amsterdam to Paris express train near the French city of Arras in 2015.

The gunman was overpowered by three American citizens, two of whom were off-duty soldiers, and a British grandfather.

Plans are now in place to tackle the threat of marauding terrorist gunmen on the Tube / PA

Mr Chesterman added: We have looked very carefully at it. We know now what to do and how to do it.

In addition, the number of specialist and trained firearms officers has increased in a major uplift across the UK.

In London, the Met launched a cadre of Counter Terrorist Specialist Firearms Officers last year, while the number of armed response vehicles on patrol in the capital has more than doubled.

The Met now has more than 30 armed response cars in London, an increase of 19, with around 90 extra firearms officers to crew the vehicles.

They are used to patrol gun crime hotspots in London as part of their regular duties, but are in the front line for any response to a terror attack.

Mr Chesterman was speaking weeks after fanatic Khalid Masood killed four people when he drove through crowds on Westminster Bridge at high speed before fatally knifing police officer Keith Palmer as he stood guard at the Palace of Westminster.

The attack followed atrocities across Europe in Paris, Brussels, Nice and Berlin in recent years which have caused scores of deaths and injuries.

Among the new tactics in use by armed police is a new order to shoot to kill any lorry driver at the wheel of a lorry being used in a terrorist attack.

Mr Chesterman said: Weve seen some very horrible and different tactics lately involving vehicles and lorries.

We used to talk about not shooting at a moving vehicle because of the danger we might cause if we fired at a driver.

But if the vehicle is being used as a weapon in the first place, there arent many tactics available in relation to stopping it, particularly a very large lorry.

Driving a vehicle in front of it for example is not going to stop it. So you need to shoot the driver.

Police were now equipped with the right weapons and ammunition to penetrate doors and windows, he added.

Forces have trained specialist units of counter terrorist firearms officers, who also tackle armed criminals, which are equipped with SIG Sauer assault rifles which fire powerful 5.56mm Nato rounds, rather than regular police issue 9mm rounds.

The new training is part of a major increase in the number of firearms officers in England and Wales which will see total numbers rise to around 10,500 by next year.

However, because the number of armed police has fallen in recent years, the new total will bring the number back to that of 2010.

Mr Chesterman warned that there was a perfect storm brewing in the background, which could hit efforts to attract the best candidates to armed policing and retain current personnel.

He cited factors including concerns among firearms officers that they will be treated as suspects rather than professional witnesses if they are involved in police shootings.
A murder probe has been launched after a teenager was stabbed to death in the street in south-east London.

The 19-year-old man was attacked and stabbed in Blackheath on Wednesday night.

Medics treated him for stab wounds at the scene in Hervey Road before he was rushed to hospital where he later died, police said.

He was found collapsed in the street near to the junction with Begbie Road at about 8.10pm and emergency services were alerted.

A witness on social media said a playing field nearby had been sealed off by police.

The victim is thought to be the seventh teenager killed in the capital since the start of 2017.

Scotland Yard said his next of kin have been informed and a post-mortem would be arranged.

Detectives from the Homicide and Major Crime Command are investigating.

There have been no arrests.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the police via the incident room on 020 8721 4005 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A man is today fighting for life today after an explosion ripped through a 1.7million London townhouse said to be at the centre of a property dispute.

Witnesses described seeing the 55-year-old running around covered in flames after the blast blew out the windows of the home in Finsbury Park.

It happened after the man reportedly clashed with bailiffs sent to a basement flat beneath the terraced house in Stapleton Hall Road.

Three police officers also suffered minor injuries in the explosion which gutted the lower floors and forced the evacuation of dozens of homes along the tree-lined street.

An air ambulance lands at the scene in north London / LAS

Neighbours told how the man had lived in the property since the 1960s.

Ten fire engines and 72 firefighters attended the home, spending three hours battling flames before remaining on scene through the evening to prevent any further outbreaks.

A scaffolder working in the street said the blast had occurred after police had tried to force their way into the basement flat.

Fire: The blaze broke out after an explosion at the property / London Fire Brigade

He added: It was a gas explosion. After it happened you could smell the gas. I could feel the shock wave. It went through me.

Paul Craven, who lives in Stapleton Hall Road, said Mr Sterling was a former friend and colleague.

He said: Ive known him for years and I used to work with him. He was one of my best mates.

Fire: Paramedics were called to the scene

He was a really bubbly and friendly bloke. But after his dad died he just wouldnt speak to anyone.

He lived in the basement and doesnt talk to anyone.

Haringey Borough Commander Chief Superintendent Helen Millichap said: This is a serious incident where several of my officers have been injured as well as a man at the property who remains in a critical condition. We are still investigating what happened and exactly how the explosion occurred.

The officers who responded to this call faced a dangerous situation and I am proud of the courage they showed.

The incident has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the Directorate of Professional Standards as a matter of course.


P olice have launched a manhunt after a man was stabbed following an argument with a group of people in Camden.

The victim, 26, was attacked after getting into a row as he walked down Camden High Street just before 4am on Tuesday.

He was found suffering from stab injuries in Eversholt Street, near Mornington Crescent tube station.

The victim was rushed to a central London hospital where he remains two days later, although his injuries are not life-threatening.

Scene: Police were scouring the area on Tuesday morning / @simonlamrock

Police believe the four suspects fled the scene immediately  three down Eversholt Street and one down Mornington Crescent.

Officers spent the morning combing the scene which meant Mornington Crescent tube station was shut throughout the rush hour.

Camden High Street was also closed to traffic and nine bus routes were put on diversions.

Officers are keen to speak to anyone who witnessed the attack, including a man who provided first aid to the victim but left before police arrived on the scene.

There have not been any arrests and enquiries continue.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Central North Command Unit CID via 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
P olice have issued a warning to self-styled paedophile hunters after footage emerged of a brawl erupting when a group accused a man of grooming a 14-year-old girl for sex.

Violence broke out on Easter Sunday at the Bluewater centre in Greenhithe, Kent, after a 29-year-old man was met by members of vigilante group The Hunted One.

Footage broadcast on Facebook Live showed the men approach him, saying: "You're here to meet a child for sex, yeah?"

The man, under repeated questioning by the group, denies their allegations and is then kicked and punched before the shopping centres security guards break up the fight.

The video has prompted a senior police officer to issue a warning to vigilante groups, telling them that their sting operations put criminal investigations in jeopardy.

Chief Superintendent Thomas Richards, head of Kent police's public protection unit, said that gathering evidence was a specialist job that took time and skill to bring an offender to justice.

He said: "We do have significant concerns about people taking the law into their own hands and the methods they use, and in some cases acting outside of the law, and would strongly advise against getting involved in, or setting up activities to entrap those suspected of intending to commit offences.

Although seemingly well-meaning, this can significantly hinder our work, compromise ongoing investigations and negate months of investigative work."

Since the Facebook broadcast, the Hunted One has pledged to stop posting live stings and said three members of the group were leaving. It is not clear if the departures are linked to the violence.

On the groups website, it describes itself as made up of concerned parents and claims to have carried out more than 50 operations in which they posed as children on social media.

Lee Harvey, 20, of Gravesend, and Joe Simpkin, 20, of Erith, were each charged with affray and released on bail. Kent police said that a 29-year-old man from east London had been arrested at Bluewater on suspicion of grooming and bailed.
A woman was allegedly raped by two Romanian men in a horrific attack on a Sussex beach.

Police said the 30-year-old woman was attacked on Hove Beach in the early hours of Wednesday, April 5.

She had met two men on the beach and began chatting to them, detectives said.

Two of the men then attacked and raped her, she told police. She rang a friend who reported the incident to authorities.

The alleged attack happened on the beach at Kings Esplanade by Bath Court in Hove between 1am and 3am.

Detective Sergeant Julie Greenwood said: "The victim describes the men as possibly Romanian.

"We are appealing to anyone who lives or was in the King's Esplanade area between 1am and 3am and saw or heard anything suspicious."

Anyone with information should contact Sussex Police using the e-form at sussex.police.uk/contact-us/response-to-appeal/ or call 101, quoting serial 122 of April 5.
W ork experience often involves little more than tea-making or watching office workers glued to their screens.

But one schoolboy put his placement at Barts Heart Centre to much better use  by helping devise an award-winning system to save heart attack victims.

Ben Wald, 16, came up with the idea of surgeons writing a patients medical history in code inside their chest after observing open-heart surgery at the hospital, where his father Professor David Wald is a cardiologist.

About one in 10 heart attack patients have previously undergone open-heart bypass surgery but cardiologists at Barts have to operate on many without access to their medical notes, making the new treatment more dangerous.

Ben, an A-level student at Dulwich College, suggested that the surgeon could leave a message inside the patients chest to indicate the number of heart grafts and their location.

He and his father devised a coding system, which involves tying the wires that close the sternum, or breastbone, in a certain way.

The code which was devised by Ben Wald and his father

Ben said: I noticed how in one case where the medical records were not available, there was confusion and a bit of uncertainty.

"I could see that perhaps you could use these wires and sculpt them into something that could tell the cardiologist 10 years down the line what had happened at the original operation.

I asked a question about whether the wires could be sculpted into letters and was mocked a bit. It was slightly implausible. But my father realised it could be developed into a code.

The code last month won a prize for innovation at the Society for Cardio-thoracic Surgery. The concept will be presented at the British Cardiovascular Society annual conference in June.

Each year, Barts Heart Centre performs about 6,500 angiograms  X-rays checking for blood flow  including about 600 on patients who have previously undergone cardiac grafts.

In about 100 of these the records are missing or incomplete, often because the patient was treated in another hospital, in another country or many years ago.

Patients who undergo a coronary artery bypass have their heart re-plumbed with veins or arteries taken from elsewhere in their body, creating a new pathway for oxygenated blood.

These grafts only show up if the cardiologist manages to identify their origins during the angiogram and inject a dye which lights up under the X-ray.

This is an all too common problem that is frustrating for doctors and increasing risk to patients, Professor Wald said. Cardiologists need to know if the patient has been operated on before and how the previous surgeon has re-plumbed the arteries.

A key part of the code is that the top wire points upwards  an unusual technique, indicating that the code is in use.

All the other wires point downwards and to the left or right, giving information on how many grafts there are and where they are located.

Alex Shipolini, a cardiac surgeon at Barts, said: This is unique idea that solves a common problem. I have used the code and its easy to apply. The challenge is now making this code routine and we are talking to surgeons across the country to do so."
P olice are facing an unacceptable drain on their crime-fighting resources because of the failure of the NHS to treat mental health patients properly, a government watchdog warned today.

Tom Winsor, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, said it was wrong that officers were often the service of first resort for dealing with mentally ill patients when health staff should be carrying out the task instead.

He also warned that the Mets shortage of 700 detectives was having a detrimental effect on its ability to tackle crime and told parents that excessive use of gift cards by their children could be a sign that they were becoming involved in drugs.

But as he unveiled his annual state of policing report today, Mr Winsors main focus was on the burden being placed on forces such as the Met by the number of mentally ill people that officers were being called on to deal with.

The provision of mental healthcare has reached such a state of severity that police are often being used to fill the gaps that other agencies cannot. This is an unacceptable drain on police resources and it is a profoundly improper way to treat vulnerable people who need care and help, he said.

Mr Winsors warning will focus attention on Prime Minister Theresa Mays recent pledge to make the improvement of mental health services a priority for her government.

It also chimes with long-standing concern at Scotland Yard - which is facing a potential funding cut of at least 400 million over the coming years - about the amount of time its officers are having to spent filling gaps left by other services responsible for the care of the mentally unwell.

In other elements of todays report, Mr Winsor also warns of a tsunami of online fraud and highlights the risk posed by very great numbers of the worst and most dangerous offenders who are using the internet to target children.

He says that one new danger is the use of stored-value cards, such as gift cards, by drug dealers and advises parents that unexplained or excessive use by their children could be a warning sign.

Mr Winsor also criticises police use of technology as outdated and calls on senior officers to improve their sluggish adoption of up to date systems.
P olice arrested 12 people as thousands gathered in Hyde Park to mark the capitals annual demonstration calling for the drug to be decriminalised.

Plumes of smoke could be seen rising above large crowds in the central London park during this years 420 protest.

Campaigners say they believe attitudes towards the Class B drug have changed and hope it could become legal in the near future.

A large police presence was seen throughout the demonstration, and random police checks were carried out as the force issued a warning to drug users.

Smoking: The annual event was held in Hyde Park

Twelve people were arrested at the demonstration by 5.30pm over drugs-related offences, the Met Police said.

But protestors say a large police presence was a "waste of time", and that it was a peaceful protest.

Sy Dignam, 43, of the Hampshire Cannabis Community, said: "I was here every year for the last four years. Four years ago there was 4,000 and I'm sure there's many more here now.

We've all had enough - the cannabis community is massive. There are nine events like this across the country.

It's never escalated. We're such peaceful protesters.

"I've never seen trouble in four years of doing it."

Sy Digham said he has been coming to the annual event for the past four years

At Thursdays rally, Paul Roberts, 46, of the Tottenham Compassion Club, told of the supposed positives of using the drug.

He said: "We're here to try and raise awareness of what you can do with cannabis medically.

Today is 420 day

It should be allowed for everyone. The way we look at it - in any community there are different aspects of doing it. We've chosen this path."

Lucy Pearce, 19, of Vester Avenue, in St Albans, said she has smoked since she was 14.

She said: "I couldn't say I've ever had any bad experiences with it.

Protest: Police at the event

"If you look it up on the internet there are so many cases with epilepsy were it has helped.

I feel like [these events] do put some pressure but it just seems like they don't want to do much about it."

The origin of 420 is subject to numerous urban myths and theories.

It has been suggested that the number 420 came from the penal code the Californian police used to categorise cannabis cases.

In 1971, students at a Californian high school allegedly organised to meeting at 4.20pm to find a plot of land to plant a cannabis plant.

Rallies and celebrations of weed are set to take place across the world today, stretching as far as New Zealand and America.
M arijuana lovers across the capital are set to descend on Hyde Park today in one of the worlds biggest celebration of cannabis, with the Met Police warning drug users to steer clear of the rally.

More than 1,000 people of all nationalities gathered to celebrate 420 day  April 20 every year - in central London last year, smoking weed while calling on the Government to legalise the Class B drug.

In 2015, the pro-Cannabis rally saw more than 50 people arrested, despite claims from organisers the event was peaceful.

The Met Police has taken to social media to warn drug users to stay away from the rally this year, warning officers will be attendance.

The origin of 420 is subject to numerous urban myths and theories.

It has been suggested that the number 420 came from the penal code the Californian police used to categorise cannabis cases.

In 1971, students at a Californian high school allegedly organised to meeting at 4.20pm to find a plot of land to plant a cannabis plant.

Rallies and celebrations of weed are set to take place across the world today, stretching as far as New Zealand and America.

Police officers restrain a man during the 420 rally in 2015 / PA

Tony Blairs Labour government announced it would be changing the classification of the drug to C in 2001, hoping that the move would enable officers to concentrate on more serious drug offences.

But he backtracked following the 2005 General Election, believing the move sent out the wrong message.

Cannabis users can go to jail if caught, though traffickers and dealers are more likely to receive prison sentences.
T he Conservatives moved sharply away from their vow to slash immigration today as a Cabinet minister declared the issue was not about numbers.

Culture Secretary Karen Bradley, a close ally of the Prime Minister, appeared to suggest there will be no specific promise on immigration levels in the Conservative manifesto.

Business leaders welcomed her comments as a sign that Theresa May will not endanger the economy by attempting to cut net immigration below 100,000.

But Ukips former leader Nigel Farage said voters and sections of the media were being conned by Conservative rhetoric about taking control of borders.

In other key developments today, Jeremy Corbyn made his first set piece election speech, pledging to give people real control over their lives.

Set piece speech: Jeremy Corbyn / REUTERS

But shadow chancellor John McDonnell came under fire from the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies over his claims that those on middle and low incomes had borne the brunt of tax rises.

Mr Farage, meanwhile, warned beleaguered Ukip leader Paul Nuttall he had six weeks to prove himself in the partys top job.

Interviewed on Sky News, Mrs Bradley was asked if the Tories still thought that cutting immigration to the tens of thousands was achievable. She replied: What we need is to have the right people, to attract the brightest and best. Its not about putting numbers on it, its about making sure that we can deliver where industry needs skills, where the brightest and best want to come to Britain.

We want to be an attractive place that people want to come and work, to deliver that strong economy that pays for those public services that we all value so much. The comments are another sign that Downing Street is rowing back on so-called hard Brexit commitments which could, for example, mean extending European free movement rules by up to three years after Britain leaves the EU.

Sean McKee, policy director of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was pleased. He said: We absolutely agree that securing the skills for London is not about numbers. It is about securing the skills that the UK and London needs. Tory Right-wingers were giving Mrs May the benefit of the doubt this morning. Brexit-backing MP Philip Davies said Mrs Bradleys comments showed the Government was wary of over-promising. He added: It is obviously essential that immigration comes down. Thats one of the reasons people voted to leave the EU.

Tory Right-winger Peter Bone MP said he was not alarmed, and it was sensible to allow doctors and nurses to come in to staff the NHS, for example. He added: I think that my people expect immigration to fall substantially.

'Total deception': Nigel Farage / PA

But Mr Farage told the Standard: It is a total deception. On the one hand we have the Daily Mail saying she is going to end free movement and sound more Ukip than Ukip. On the other hand, we have clear concessions being made. I even heard David Davis saying free movement could last years. It is all a massive con.

The Daily Mail today hailed Theresas cast-iron Brexit pledges in a front page story, quoting sources saying the manifesto will commit the party to ending EU free movement, though without putting a date on it. Mrs May was asked yesterday about comments by Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, who spoke of compromises on European rules. The Premier asked voters to put their trust in me.

Labour MP Chuka Umunna said Mrs May should lose no time in abandoning David Camerons aim of cutting numbers to the tens of thousands. She should have dropped that ludicrous pledge when she became Tory leader. It is unachievable and it undermines trust in the system when, year after year, they fail to meet the target.

Although ministers stress they will have control over numbers after Brexit, official figures show that non-EU immigration  over which the Government already has full control  has been massively above target for years. In the year to September 2016, net immigration stood at 273,000. That comprised 165,000 EU citizens, who enjoy free movement, and 164,000 non-EU citizens who do not.

The Government has now floated the idea of a barista visa to let young people from abroad continue to come to the UK for up to two years. Mrs May is also reportedly ready to take foreign student numbers out of immigration figures. She today opened Brexit talks at No 10 with the president of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani. They discussed red lines being set by MEPs including demands for the UK to meet EU financial obligations before trade talks.
J eremy Corbyn today launched a stinging attack on the City as he pledged radical action to stop Britains wealthy from leeching off workers on low pay.

In his first major speech of the general election campaign, the Labour leader vowed to give people real control and put Britains wealth into their hands.

He hit out at the gilded elite and multinational corporations who he accused of hiding money in tax havens. We dont accept that it is natural for Britain to be governed by a ruling elite  the City and the tax-dodgers  and we dont accept that the British people just have to take what theyre given, he said.

Accusing the Tories of seven years of broken promises on pay, the deficit, the NHS, schools and the environment, he said: It was their wealthy friends in the City who crashed our economy. How dare they ruin the economy with their recklessness and greed and then punish those who had nothing to do with it?

Speaking in Westminster, Mr Corbyn told his bitterly divided party that it was every MPs historic duty, as well as for the partys half a million members, to try to put Labour into power.

He sought to frame the election as a battle between the establishment versus the people  on issues such as the economy, jobs, schools, hospitals  rather than just Brexit.

If he defied the polls, which give the Tories a double-digit lead, to get into No 10, Mr Corbyn said he would take on the cosy cartels ... rigging the system in favour of a few powerful and wealthy individuals and corporations.

We will no longer allow those at the top to leach off of those who bust their guts on zero hours contracts or those forced to make sacrifices to pay their mortgage or their rent, he said.

In an echo of the Leave campaigns take back control slogan, he added: We will focus on giving people real control over their own lives and make sure that everybody reaps a just reward for the work that they do.

Instead of the countrys wealth being hidden in tax havens, we will put it in the hands of the people of Britain as they are the ones who earned it.

Labour is seeking to focus the election on policy, given Mr Corbyns dismal personal poll ratings. The Tories are trying to make it a choice between the Labour leader and Theresa May as who would make the best Prime Minister.

Mr Corbyn denied that a Conservative victory in the June 8 election is a foregone conclusion. Seeking to define himself as an outsider against the establishment, he said: We cant win, they say, because we dont play their game. Theyre quite right I dont. And a Labour government elected on June 8 wont play by their rules.
L abour leader Jeremy Corbyn will not back a second referendum on leaving the European Union, his spokesman has announced.

It comes after both he and shadow chancellor John McDonnell refused to rule out holding a second referendum on the campaign trail when questioned by reporters today.

Mr Corbyn launched his campaign this afternoon to replace Theresa May as Prime Minister in the upcoming General Election in June.

But he was questioned after his speech, during which he similarly dodged questions on whether a second referendum should be held.

A spokesman for the Labour leader confirmed this afternoon: A second referendum is not our policy and it wont be in our manifesto.

He had said: "Primarily, its about getting and retaining tariff-free access to the European market.

We havent threatened to turn Britain into an offshore tax haven on the shores of Europe, undermining the European economy.

The Labour leader made the comments after an impassioned speech during which he vowed to "overturn the rigged system" and put power back in the hands of "the people".

MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of holding a snap election in the Commons yesterday, with the Prime Minister announcing her decision to hold an election outside Downing Street on Tuesday.

Mrs May said divisions in Westminster made it impossible to negotiate Britain's EU exit.

The Conservatives are hoping that their double digit lead in the polls will help increase their slim majority in the Commons ahead of the negotiations.
N igel Farage has ruled out standing in the General Election, saying he wants to focus on the fight for Brexit in Europe.

The former Ukip leader, who has failed to become an MP seven times, said he had considered running in Clacton this time.

He said he was tempted by the seat after former Ukip member Douglas Carswell announced he would be standing down as MP.

But, writing in the Telegraph, Mr Farage declared he would not run again on June 8.

Mr Farage said he would be able to use his profile in European politics to put "real pressure" on MEPs to back a "sensible deal" for the UK.

He said: If I compare the platform I have in Strasbourg to being a backbench MP, there is frankly no comparison.

The Brexit negotiations will take place in Brussels and the European Parliament will not only have a large impact on them, but ultimately will have the right of veto any deal at the end of the two-year process.

I believe I can use my profile in European politics to put real pressure on MEPs to vote for a sensible deal with the UK. Just weeks after we are due to leave, there will be the next set of European elections.

And he said he expected Prime Minister Theresa May to get an easy victory at the ballot box.

Mr Farage said The certainty of a large Conservative majority and knowing that the Remainers have been trounced, will see Ukip voters coming home.

Ukip have had a huge transformative effect on British politics, but the job is far from done.

We may have helped to win the war with the referendum, but winning the peace is of equal importance.

I will help and support Paul Nuttall through this time and I expect him to emerge as a strong voice for what many millions want.
T heresa May is set to ensure her Brexit plans cannot be blocked by Remainers after a series of watertight Tory manifesto pledges were revealed today.

The Prime Minister is set to include pledges that will lock party members and peers into backing her stance as the UK withdraws from the European Union.

According to reports in the Daily Mail, Mrs Mays manifesto will include guarantees to end free movement of EU citizens, to leave the European single market, and to end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

Including these pledges in the manifesto makes it extremely difficult for party members who voted to Remain to rebel on the issues if the party wins the snap election on June 8.

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn hit the election campaign trail

Peers would also be forced to back the priorities under the Salisbury Convention, which means that the Lords will not try and vote down government plans mentioned in an election manifesto.

A Tory source told the newspaper: All Conservative candidates will have to stand on the manifesto  it will lock them in and provide a much stronger mandate.

It will also send a message to the House of Lords that they cannot get in the way.

Theresa May: Her bid for an early election was backed by MPs / Getty Images

Former Tory justice minister Dominic Raab also welcomed the plan, saying it is a sensible move, which is consistent with the pledges the PM has made.

He added: It's important to make sure we get the strongest possible mandate to deliver the best deal with our European friends.

It will also give us a clarity of position which should be respected across both houses of parliament.

Theresa May goes back on election promise

Insiders also revealed Mrs May could also be ready to ditch promises made in David Cameron's 2015 general election manifesto, such as the commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of national income on foreign aid.

As the PM hinted she may be ready to drop the pledge, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates urged her to stick to the target, which was put into law with the backing of the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition in 2015.

Downing Street refused to comment on the manifesto before it is published.

Commons: MPs voted for the election on Wednesday / PA

On Thursday, Mrs May will hold talks with Antonio Tajani, president of the European Parliament, which will have to approve any final UK-EU Brexit deal.

And she received a boost on Wednesday when US House of Representatives speaker Paul Ryan saying America stands ready to strike a free trade deal with the UK as soon as possible.

Rallying call: Jeremy Corbyn in Croydon / PA

Meanwhile Jeremy Corbyn is resisting Mrs May's efforts to make Britain's exit from the EU the defining issue of the election, insisting the poll instead gives voters a chance to pass judgement on the Conservatives' record on austerity and public spending cuts.

But Mr Corbyn is apparently facing an uphill struggle, with a fresh YouGov opinion poll for the Times giving the Tories a 24-point lead over Labour, despite his denial that his party's defeat is a "foregone conclusion".

In his first keynote speech of the campaign, Mr Corbyn will insist Labour can "change the direction of this election" by "putting the interests of the majority first".

The Labour leader will say "powerful people" do not want him to win and will vow to "prove the Establishment experts wrong and change the direction of this election".
V irtual reality is being used to prepare soldiers for warfare and help them recover from stress after they return home.

Exhibits at a three-day Virtual Reality Show in Angel include an igloo-type marquee where British armed forces train on mock battlefields.

Up to 1,000 service personnel can fit inside Igloo Visions largest structure as footage is projected around them in an experience likened to stepping inside a giant VR headset. There is even enough space to fit a tank inside or fix motorised rollers to the floor so soldiers feel like they are marching. VR headsets will also give visitors to the show, which opens today, a taste of what it was like to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan via Bravemind software, which is viewed through an HTC Vive headset.

Bravemind is being used by psychologists as an exposure therapy tool to help treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. While inside the VR experience, soldiers can sit in any seat of a convoy vehicle to repetitively relive their trauma as the 3D world tricks the mind into thinking the body is there.

As part of ongoing research into Bravemind, some soldiers retell their story using VR while others in a control group relive it from memory only to research the technologys effectiveness.

Virtual reality has previously been used to treat Vietnam veterans and also burns victims of the 9/11 terror attacks.

For more details, go to virtualrealityshow.co.uk
K atie Hopkins has been criticised for saying Prince William and Harry should put a sock in it after the Royals spoke about their mental health struggles.

The controversial columnist published a post accusing the princes of bleating on about their mother Princess Dianas death, saying she prefers the Royals brilliantly British and cold.

It comes after William and Harry drew praise from charities and campaigners for marking a true turning point in the battle to remove the mental health stigma.

Prince Harry said his mothers death left him in total chaos and in need of counselling in his late 20s, while his brother William said the shock of the accident 20 years ago has never left him.

Mental health charity Mind said it is receiving almost 40 per cent more calls per day since last week and praised the impact of the Royals speaking out.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of mental health charity Mind, said: This is a monumental time for mental health.

Its inspiring to see Prince Harry speaking out about his experiences. It shows how far we have come in changing public attitudes to mental health that someone so high-profile can open up about something so difficult and personal.

A number of callers specifically mentioned the impact the royal family had on their decision to call, and said they felt it was important in helping to tackle stigma which sadly still surrounds mental health, which might otherwise prevent them for asking for support."

Prince harry has been praised since talking about his mental health problems in an interview with the Telegraph / PA

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, said: This explosion of royals and celebrities speaking out about their own feelings inevitably causes controversy.

But if the result is that people feel liberated to talk about their own experiences and seek help if they become overwhelming or debilitating, it could help drive the change we so badly need in how mental health is perceived and treated.

Prince William and Lady Gaga talk mental health

Ms Hopkins has angered many on social media over her comments, with the columnist having come under fire in the past for calling people who are suicidal attention- seeking b******s on Twitter.

Serena posted: I can't believe people (read: Katie Hopkins) are having a go at Prince William and Harry for speaking out about mental health issues.

In her column for the Daily Mail, Ms Hopkins said: Is there any chance Prince William and Prince Harry could just put a sock in it for a bit and quit bleating on about their struggle for sanity?

You can applaud their bravery and their honesty. You might even think it is nice to see the Royals are actual humans with failings.

But I prefer my Royals cold. Ice cold. Like the Queen.

I don't want them to emote. I want them aloof and positively hostile.
D onald Trump has responded to the Champs Elysees shooting saying it looks like another terrorist attack after a gunman opened fire in Paris.

The US President addressed the armed assault on police in the French capital at a press conference in the White House on Thursday evening.

What can you say? It just never ends, he said of global terror threats after a gunman opened fire near the Franklin Roosevelt subway station.

At least one officer was killed and another was wounded in the shooting, police say. The armed man was so killed.

Police officer and attacker killed in Paris shooting

The US President said: First of all our condolences from our country to the people of France, again it is happening it seems.

Its a terrible thing that is going on in the world today but it looks like another terrorist attack and what can you say, it just never ends.

"We have to be strong and we have to be vigilant.

The French Interior Ministry said the officers appeared to have been deliberately targeted.

Champs Elysees shooting

Armed police were deployed to the landmark after the shooting.

One witness told French television station BFM that she heard a shooting, saw a man's body on the ground and the area was quickly evacuated by police.

The latest incident came just three days after a tense first round of elections for a new French President.

The motive for the attack is not yet known.
R ussian president Vladimir Putin has reportedly sent troops and weapons to the countrys border with North Korea as tension continues to escalate in the region.

A video has emerged apparently showing one of three trains loaded with military equipment moving towards the 11 mile-long land frontier between Russia and the rogue state.

Another video highlights military helicopter movements towards the North Korean border and manoeuvres across rough terrain by army combat vehicles.

There have been concerns that if a conflict breaks out Russia could face a humanitarian exodus from North Korea.

World leader: Russian President Vladimir Putin. / AP

But Mr Putin has also been warned that in the event of a US strike on Kim Jong-uns nuclear facilities, contamination could swiftly reach Russia.

Mike Pence: US era of strategic patience with North Korea is over

Railway trains loaded with military equipment moving towards Primorsky region via Khabarovsk have been noticed by locals, reported primemedia.ru in the Russian far East - linking the development to the North Korean crisis.

Vladimir Putin, left, met China's National People's Congress Chairman Zhang Dejiang this week. / AP

The movement of military equipment by different means of transport to southern areas is being observed across Primorsky region over the past week, said Russian military veteran Stanislva Sinitsyn.

He added it is a preventive but necessary measure.

The US and Russia clashed at the United Nations yesterday (Wed) over a US-drafted Security Council statement to condemn North Koreas latest failed ballistic missile test. Diplomats said China had agreed to the statement.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he wants to exert pressure on North Korea over its nuclear programme as the communist state warned of a super-mighty preemptive strike and told the US dont mess with us.

Mr Tillerson said: Were reviewing all the status of North Korea, both in terms of state sponsorship of terrorism as well as the other ways in which we can bring pressure on the regime in Pyongyang to re-engage with us.

South Koreas acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn has called for military and security ministries to maintain vigilance.

There has been confusion over the whereabouts of a US aircraft carrier group after Mr Trump said last week he had sent an armada as a warning to North Korea, even as the ships were sailing in the opposite direction. It is now en-route.
T he Breton stripe: possibly the most iconic and persistent trend ever to have graced Planet Fashion. A favourite of Coco and Audrey , having survived the atrocities of Nineties argyle and Noughties velour, its appeal endures.

Despite this, however, the quest to find the perfect top is never ending. Theres hardly a brand that doesnt have a version, but most of them are all wrong: the stripes are too thin or too thick, the cut isnt right or the neckline is totally off. Ill-fitting options mount up in your wardrobe as you despairingly continue the search for The One.

Who cares?! others will cry, ignorant of the beauty that a simple Breton top can bestow upon its wearer; but those that continue the search will know: this is a mission worth undertaking.

Youll be pleased to hear that weve trawled the high street to find the best ones out there, so that you dont have to.

Its finally time to call off the search.

1. Boden

The Boden brand is synonymous with Breton: comfortable, classic and wistful. No surprises, then, that their Breton range is extensive. Our favourite is the long sleeve, short line one- its made from 100% cotton, so is suitable for wearing all year round- music to Breton lovers ears, no doubt.

19.60, Boden, Buy it now

2. Lavender Hill Clothing

Whether its a scoop neck, loose fit or three-quarter-length sleeve, we all know what makes our perfect t shirt. Lavender Hill gives more options than most, so if youve ever had that dilemma of finding the perfect Breton but in the wrong cut, youll love the flexibility of its designs. Our favourite was this striped crew neck, which has a flattering scoop hem that sits comfortably on the hips.

40, Lavender Hill, Buy it now

3. Mon Breton

Our favourite thing about the Mon Breton tops is the option you have to monogram them. Yes: you can initial your top so that no one- no one- can borrow and forget to return it. If you have magpie-like sisters or best friends, were sure this will be a huge appeal. Aside from that, theres a variety of stripe styles so you can tailor yours to your hearts content.

From 55, Mon Breton, Buy it now

4. The Original Breton Shirt Company

When its named the original, you can breathe a sigh of relief. There are no gimmicks, modifications or frills on these tops- just the simple, classic design made in high quality organic cotton. Thick enough to be worn as a summer jumper or winter long sleeve t-shirt, like a fine wine, they get better with age.

36.95, The Original Breton Shirt Company, Buy it now

5. COS

Ah, COS. What a delight it is to shop there. The clean and boxy cuts are both comfortable and flattering- as seen here on its version of the stripe. If you dont like tops that cling to your tummy, this is the one for you- the sleeve length is flattering on everyone (not just those with Michelle Obama biceps) and the body is slouchy without being tent-like. Perfect.

25, COS, Buy it now

6. J Crew

The bateau neckline of this J Crew one is perfect for the nautical theme. Made in the St James factory in Normandy, you know this is the real deal. If you like Breton that has a child-like playfulness, go for this one- the clashing sleeves and body are typical of the style you see in old photographs of little boys wearing sailors outfits. The cut is similar to the one favoured by Coco Chanel, too.

99, J Crew, Buy it now

7. Kule

If you want a crisp white rather than cream background, this one from American brand, Kule, fits the bill. We love the black stripe around the neckline as well as the colour pop of the label- this is the one people will be asking for the details of because of its striking simplicity.

76, Kule, Buy it now

8. Phase Eight

The cut and stripe style make this a more budget friendly version of the J Crew one- its fresh and simple and made from a lightweight jersey fabric. Its also satisfyingly longline, so perfect for hiding the bloat (if you should so wish) after an overindulgent brunch.
D amian Lewis believes that being educated at Eton has put him in the minority as an actor.

The Homeland star, who studied at the prestigious boarding school, dismissed claims that privately educated actors dominate the industry.

Asked in a Guardian live Q&A about whether a lack of funding for the arts was leading to less diversity among British actors, he replied: We have to protect against lack of diversity. If theatre, film, TV, dance, opera, ballet are going to remain true artforms, they must be reflective of all society.

But that's a different point from saying that only privately educated actors are becoming dominant in acting, because statistically that's not true.

Stage star: Damian Lewis with his The Goat co-star Sophie Okonedo

A handful of actors from privileged backgrounds have done well, very well, and of course that's high profile news. But whenever I work, wherever I work, as an actor educated at Eton, I'm still always in a minority.

Lewis, 46, claimed the industry is full of likeminded people from all sorts of backgrounds who all have similar [stories] about being in a minority.

He continued: But it goes without saying, I hope, that theatre and the arts generally in my view are a fundamental and important part of any child's education, and to see any more cuts would be sad.

Lewis fellow thespians Benedict Cumberbatch and James Norton have also previously spoken out on posh-bashing.

Norton deemed claims that all British actors are posh as ridiculous, while Sherlock star Cumberbatch said the constant focus on his upbringing and education has made him want to go to America.

Pointless host Alexander Armstrong also hit out at the stigma and described posh-bashing as a form of social injustice.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph in 2013 he said: Why should your background be held against you? It is so short sighted. There are plenty of reasons for disliking people, but this tribal aversion to anyone with a posh voice is very boring.
N oel Coward's play Present Laughter is a hit on Broadway- thanks to a little help from James Corden.

The revival of the 1939 play about a narcissistic actor starring Oscar-winning star Kevin Kline and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back actress Cobie Smulders is playing at the St James Theatre in Manhattan's Times Square.

Bhavesh Patel, who plays wannabe playwright Roland Maule in the show, revealed he had based his character's accent on Corden in BBC comedy Gavin and Stacey which ran between 2007 and 2010.

Patel told the Standard: "I was playing someone a bit lower class, more estuary and more Essex. So I watched alot of young James Corden when he was on Gavin and Stacey. There's a great clip of James Corden ordering Indian food where he had this weird cadence and I would play with that. Corden is a prince!"

Applause: Kate Burton, from left, Kevin Kline, Kristine Nielsen and Cobie Smulders appear on stage at the opening night curtain call of Present Laughter / Greg Allen/Invision/AP

Tina Fey and Vanity Fair Editor Graydon Carter were among the opening night guests. The creative team behind Present Laughter, which was last staged in London at the National Theatre a decade ago, are keen to play up the modernity of Noel Coward, the legendary English playwright who died in 1973.

Smulders, who shot to fame in How I Met Your Mother, said of her character Joanna, a married woman who seduces Kline's leading man Garry Essendine: "If Joanna was a woman who lived in this day , she would be the editor-in-chief of Vogue. She's a very modern woman and she doesn't believe in monogamy and how people are living in that day.

"So it is fun to play but it also brings an outsider's perspective concerning what she's dealing with." The play's director Moritz von Stuelpnagel said: "Joanna is aggressive about going after what she wants and she's not apologetic about having a sexual appetite and that's refreshing within a classic play...Coward is one of those writers who understands that a certain amount of vice is important for a well-rounded life!"

Von Stuelpnagel directed puppet play Hand to God at the Vaudeville Theatre last year and he said if Kline was up for it, he would like to transfer Present Laughter to the West End. He said: "If Kevin wants to go do this in West End, I'm more than happy to go with him!"
SCOTTSBLUFF  PenAir is working on giving the airports in Nebraska the service they deserve and in Scottsbluff, improving service and not canceling flights.

At the Western Nebraska Airport Authority Board meeting on April 19, there was discussion about the service PenAir has been providing.

Mikhail Buckhout, customer service station manager for Scottsbluff, said maintenance issues have been part of the problems in past months but he said they are being taken care of now. The biggest problem with cancellations or delays have been due to the crew.

They are hiring people. People are training for it. They cancel in advance which helps. For the customers, it still stinks but it works better than just canceling the day before, Buckhout said.

There are pilots coming from Alaska or Boston and with the pilots being trained, Buckhout said it will hopefully alleviate some of the problems.

Buckhout said in the last couple of months there hasnt been as many cancellations.

Buckhout said the flights have been averaging 10 people per flight. He said even with the cancellations the on time performance is 98.3 at the Scottsbluff station.

Last month, there were 401 passengers onboard the flights.

Buckhout said PenAir is focused on what the airports in the Nebraska market need. PenAir does offer a late flight from Denver to Scottsbluff, which Buckhout said has had the largest number of passengers. According to Buckhout, there could many factors that have contributed to that being the largest flight.

From it being people going out for work and then coming back on that flight schedule, it is what works to get home, Buckhout said.

Also at the meeting there was discussion to renovate the Valley Airways office at the airport. Jeff Robbins with Robbins Aviation will be subleasing the office for his business.

The goal is to add more on the corporate flight department side of things and make some improvements to help with businesses and individuals in the area that could utilize a flight department, Robbins said.

A flight department service would be the management of the corporate aircraft or personal aircraft.

Robbins has been in the area for 11 years and is the chief pilot for Oregon Trail Eye Center.

His goal is to turn the business into a full-time job.

There will also be a flight school.

Ive got a number of other flight instructors who Im using to help meet the needs of people who want to do their initial pilot training, advanced pilot training, all the way to commercial flight training, Robbins said.

He said what he is offering is something that is needed in Scottsbluff. There is a small flight school in Alliance but the next closest would be in Cheyenne.

Robbins wants his business to be something nice which will benefit the Scottsbluff community.

There has been a pilot shortage in the industry which has even affected Scottsbluff.

For young people interested in getting into aviation as a career, this would be a help for that, Robbins said.

Robbins said he is hoping to have something in place this summer when the renovation is done.
T.V. Tommy Jones, 80, of Cheyenne, passed on April 17, 2017 in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

T.V. was born Oct. 5, 1936 in Crawford, Nebraska to Vernon and Doris Jones. He was raised on the family ranch north of Henry, Nebraska on Sheep Creek in the Hereford business. He attended country school until high school and graduated from Torrington High School in 1954. He attended the University of Wyoming for two years and then moved to California and became a DJ on KCBQ in San Diego, California.

He returned to the University of Wyoming and graduated in 1956. He then worked for the Wyoming Stockman Farmer until he went to work for Harry Green at the Record Stockman in Denver as a field man.

He met April Belecky in 1961 when he was announcing the chuck wagon races. His famous phrase, Thunder from the North was heard for over 20 years at the Cheyenne Frontier Days nigh shows. They were married in 1962. He was a PRCA Gold Card Member, a Shriner and a Mason. He was also a member of the Heels.

He was a joint owner of the Thomas & Jones Sales Management for cattle sales with Ted Thomas.

He was a member of St. Andrews Episcopal Ministry Church, a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity, the Cowboy Joe Club at the University of Wyoming and the Alumni Association at the University of Wyoming.

He was a world traveler and a great storyteller. He never forgot a name or a face and he never met a stranger. He traveled all over the United States for cattle sales. He enjoyed the outdoors and liked hunting but loved fishing.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years - April, son Cotton Jones and wife Kris, granddaughters Lyndsay and Brandi, great granddaughter Aubrianna, step-grandsons, Scott Beville and trey Stetter, two brothers Jon and wife Janet, Barry and wife Sharon. He was preceded in death by his parents and daughter Codi Lee Bocanegra.

Private family services will be held. A Celebration of Life reception will be held at the Old West Museum, Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at 12:30 p.m. His friends are invited to come with stories to share. (The T.V. stands for Thomas Vernon).
New Delhi, Apr 20 (IBNS): Seeking bigger market in eastern Europe, India will participate as a partner country in the prestigious MSV Brno Fair for technology and engineering in Czech Republic , in October this year.

The engagement would further cement trade and investment ties between the two countries, said Czech Republic Ambassador to India Milan Hovorka in New Delhi.

India had participated in this fair earlier as well. "India had a spectacular presence in 2012 edition of the fair in the dynamic city of Brno , with participation of 113 companies," Hovorka said expressing hope that this year again, a strong Indian participation would be visible at the fair.

He was speaking as a chief guest at the award ceremony of the EEPC India Northern Region, on April 19.

He said business and industry of both the countries can benefit immensely in the areas of cutting-edge sustainable technologies, pioneering research and development, world-class management, and leadership in environmental sustainability.

"Indias participation at MSV Brno International Engineering Fair is therefore a part of a sustained effort to strengthen our strategic relations with Czech Republics dynamic manufacturing sector." he said.

The Indian Commerce and Industry Ministry has implemented an initiative of technological up-gradation for boosting engineering manufacturing and exports through EEPC India as the lead implementing agency.

"The future growth and competitiveness will be anchored in productivity, innovation and the skills of our workforce. We have to gear up to move to the next phase of industrial development with technology up-gradation as our industry has to outperform not just domestic but global competitors." he said.

Bilateral trade relations between the two countries have been growing at a rapid pace. "I aspire the bilateral trade between the two countries to reach USD 1.3 billion by the end of this year", the Ambassador said.

Complimenting the award winnders, EEPC India Chairman T S Bhasin said engineering sector enjoys a major share of over 26.4% of total Indian merchandise export.

There has been a 195.5% rise in cumulative FDI flows into Indian Engineering Industry during 2010-2016 which testify the lucrativeness of this sector.

Now, the importance of engineering sector in India is reflected in the fact that it is by far the largest segment of Indian industry and the sector accounts for 25 percent of Indias total factories in the organized sector and contributes around 35 percent of total output in the country.

This sector is also the largest foreign exchange earner for India at present.Government is aiming at raising the share of Indias manufacturing sector from 16% in GDP to 25%.
By MARK EVANS STE. GENEVIEVE HERALD Scott Schmieder, county road and bridge foreman, reported to the county commission last Thursday that temperatures are getting too cold at night for much more asphalt work to be done. He said potholes had all been patched. His crews were working on Bodine Road and made call-ins to locate
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The summit will take place in the capital on June 8-9, before EXPO opening on June 10.

In Akorda, Kazakhstan President hosted a meeting with the first vice-premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Zhang Gaoli, Kazpravda.kz reports.

Nursultan Nazarbayev praised the high level of bilateral cooperation in the energy and other areas and thanked the Chinese leader Xi Jinping for the invitation to the international forum "One Belt - One Road".

Zhang Gaoli said that Xi Jinping plans to visit Kazakhstan in June this year to be at the opening of the EXPO-2017 and at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.

The PRC Vice Premier expressed support for the ongoing reforms in Kazakhstan, stressing the importance of the recently announced initiative of Nursultan Nazarbayev to modernize public consciousness.

Ending the meeting, the President of Kazakhstan thanked the PRC leadership for supporting the ongoing reforms in the country and expressed hope for strengthening trade and economic relations between the two countries.
First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin held talks with Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Zhang Gaoli as part of the 8th meeting of the Kazakh-Chinese Cooperation Committee in Astana, primeminister.kz reports.

The parties discussed the state and prospects of comprehensive strategic partnership, topical issues of bilateral relations, including trade-economic, energy, industrial-innovative, scientific-technical, financial, transport-logistics, agricultural, military-technical, cross-border and regional cooperation.

The parties stressed the importance of implementing the Cooperation Plan on integration of Kazakhstans new economic policy NurlyZhol with Chinas Silk Road Economic Belt signed in September 2016 by the Kazakh, Chinese leaders and the joint Kazakh-Chinese program of industrial and investment cooperation.

The 8th meeting of the Kazakhstan-China Cooperation Committee was held under the chairmanship of First Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Askar Mamin and Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Zhang Gaoli.

Speaking at the meeting, Askar Mamin noted dynamic development of comprehensive strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and the PRC.

"The implementation of the Cooperation Plan on integration of NurlyZhol program with the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative opens great prospects for our countries in development of transit-transport cooperation, trade, manufacturing industry," Mamin said and emphasized the importance of Kazakhstan-China program of industrial-innovative cooperation.

He also pointed out brand new level of investment cooperation. Chinese companies in partnership with Kazakh enterprises are actively investing in joint projects.

The volume of Kazakhstan-China bilateral trade increased by 30% and amounted to 1.3 billion dollars for the first quarter of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016.

The countries are implementing now 51 projects worth $27 billion in industry, innovation, transport and logistics.

With the consideration of rising transit traffic between Kazakhstan and the PRC, transport and logistics remain an important area for cooperation. Kazakhstan actively develops transport infrastructure to create conditions for further development of transportation along the Great Silk Road. It was noted that in Q1 2017, the volume of container traffic increased by 2.6 times.

In turn, Zhang Gaoli spoke about the dynamics of development of Kazakh-Chinese relations on a wide range of issues of bilateral cooperation and expressed confidence that "the 8th meeting of the Cooperation Committee will give a new impetus to strengthening friendship, good-neighborliness and strategic partnership between the two states."

"We must develop cooperation in a practical way, create all conditions for achieving real results for the benefit of our countries and for the benefit of the two nations," Zhang Gaoli said.
PATNA, April 20 (TheBiharPost/IBNS): Liquor ban in Bihar has resulted in a sharp decline in number of patients with liver-related problems, according to doctors.

Doctors say prior to liquor ban, Bihar was reporting an alarming number of liver-related problems. Many had their liver totally damaged owing to heavy consumption of liquor.



But post liquor ban, the number of patients with bad livers have fallen by 90 percent, revealed Dr Ravi Kumar Raman of Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, Patna while speaking at a function organized on World Liver Day on Wednesday.



Another senior health expert, Dr Vimal Kumar too made similar observations. The number of liver patients have gone down sharply post liquor ban in the state, he added. Dr Kumar is MD, medicine and a gastroenterologist.



Bihar enforced total ban on sale, consumption and manufacture of liquor in April last year under pressures from women organizations.

thebiharpost.com/IBNS
New Delhi, Apr 20 (IBNS) : A pavement dweller was killed and three others injured when a speeding car driven by a teenager ploughed through them in Delhi's Kashmere gate area on Thursday morning, reports said.

The victims were in sleep when the car mounted the pavement.

Two teenagers, including the driver, a class 12 student of a reputed school, have been arrested.

The boy on the steering reportedly does not have a license.

According to reports, the boys were out on a celebration after finishing their board exams.
Longtime Bryan Cave attorney Linda Martinez, who did a stint as chief of Missouris economic development office under former Gov. Jay Nixon, is headed across downtown to City Hall.

Martinez confirmed Thursday that she will join St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewsons Cabinet, where she will take a lead role in the citys economic development efforts.

She has spent 35 years at one of the largest law firms in the state, where she is a partner who handles complex economic development deals using local development incentives, tax-exempt bonds and state tax credits.

In an interview, Martinez, 62, said that she worked with then-alderman Krewson on developments in the Central West End and that she is extremely excited to join city government.

I worked with the mayor on a number of projects over the years and have seen her ability to get consensus, Martinez said.

In the city, Martinez worked on marquee projects, such as converting the former Homer G. Phillips Hospital into senior apartments, and she was involved in the effort to build the Kiel Center, now Scottrade Center, downtown.

More recently, Martinez has also worked on big projects in St. Louis County, including the new headquarters of Reinsurance Group of America, Bunge and World Wide Technology, and Monsantos research campus in Chesterfield.

Those projects required working with county government and the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership.

The Partnership was part of an effort four years ago to promote collaboration between city and county governments. It absorbed some city economic development functions in 2013. It also houses all of the functions formerly handled by the St. Louis County Economic Council. Much of the Partnerships work focuses on county projects, while city projects are mainly handled by St. Louis Development Corp.

Martinez signaled a desire to enhance the citys relationship with the Partnership.

I think the Partnership is a wonderful example of what Lydas vision is for regional cooperation and avoiding the duplication of services, Martinez said.

Her appointment also means a change in the relationship between the mayors office and St. Louis Development Corp., the citys economic development office led by Otis Williams. Martinez said her role in the mayors office would be complementary to that organization, but the economic development position is one that hasnt been filled in years.

Barbara Geisman, now an attorney at Thompson Coburn, once held a similar position for former Mayor Francis Slay. When Geisman stepped down in 2010, Slay relied more on SLDC for development functions. In recent years, Williams at SLDC had a close relationship with Slays office and handled the citys big-ticket development projects.

This isnt Martinezs first government job. In 2009, Nixon, the newly elected Missouri governor, tapped her to head the Missouri Department of Economic Development. Martinez resigned eight months later, citing differences with Nixon and saying the governor had refused to meet with her. Leaders in the St. Louis region supported her, but some in Kansas City were critical.

At the time, she was described by both supporters and opponents as a technical expert on the complexities of development finance who sometimes didnt foresee the political implications of decisions.
In 2012, Steve Stenger took a stand for gay rights.

Then the chairman of the St. Louis County Council, Stenger helped orchestrate passage of a historic new ordinance which expanded discrimination protections to gays and lesbians in the county.

Stengers vote helped the proposal pass 4-3.

I believe history shows us inclusive communities are successful communities, he said.

Stenger is now county executive, and the ordinance is still the law of the land in St. Louis County.

But its spirit of inclusiveness doesnt apply, apparently, to county cops.

In January, a 22-year veteran of the St. Louis County Police Department filed a discrimination lawsuit against the county alleging that he was passed over for promotion because of his gender or sex. In his lawsuit, Sgt. Keith Wildhaber claims that former St. Louis Police Board member John Saracino told him to tone down your gayness during a meeting at Bartolinos restaurant in 2014. In both 2014 and 2015, Wildhaber claims, he finished third in the department in officer promotion tests but was passed over for less-qualified applicants.

Saracino has denied making the gayness comment.

In March, the county filed a motion seeking to dismiss the lawsuit.

Why?

Because the state of Missouri has no protections for gays and lesbians in employment law.

Plaintiff fails to state a claim in Count I for employment discrimination because Missouri does not recognize a cause of action for employment discrimination based on gender, sexual preference, or gender stereotyping, wrote St. Louis County Counselor Peter Krane in a March filing.

Krane is not wrong.

For nearly two decades now, state lawmakers, primarily Democrats, have unsuccessfully sought to add Missouri to the list of 20 other states that have extended anti-discrimination protections in employment, housing and other public accommodations to gays and lesbians.

It is because of the states inaction that cities and counties, mostly in urban areas, have passed such protections on their own, often at the encouragement of big businesses that need to be able to tell prospective employees that they are coming to a place where their rights would be protected.

It was in this spirit that St. Louis County expanded its anti-discrimination ordinance in 2012. The act was more symbolic than anything, as the ordinance doesnt have an enforcement mechanism.

But now, even the symbolism appears dead.

Isnt it interesting that a political subdivision that wants to lead on some issues is standing back and deferring to the state on this issue, said state Sen. Jill Schupp, D-Creve Coeur.

Schupp is one of several lawmakers to file the Missouri Non-Discrimination Act again this year, though the bill has yet to even receive a hearing. She said she is disappointed that when accused of discrimination by one of its own employees, the county is hanging its hat on Missouris failure to pass a nondiscrimination act for gays and lesbians, especially because the county has its own such law.

I was very proud of the county for taking the lead (in 2012) when the state wouldnt do the right thing for its residents, Schupp said.

The same year that St. Louis County expanded its anti-discrimination ordinance, the Missouri Foundation of Health issued a study that found 1 in 7 LGBT people in Missouri experienced some sort of discrimination in the workplace.

Steph Perkins, the executive director of PROMO, an advocacy group for LGBT issues, says his group often hears from gay and lesbian Missourians who believe they have been passed over for promotion because of their sexual orientation. But without the protection of state law, local laws are often not enough to stem the tide of discrimination.

These ordinances should be honored and utilized to the best of their ability, but they are often limited in scope or remedy, Perkins said.

In the case of Wildhaber, the police sergeant said that about a month and a half after he first filed a discrimination complaint with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, he was reassigned from an afternoon shift in Affton, near his Oakville home, to a midnight shift in Jennings, 30 miles away.

Wildhabers lawsuit views the transfer as retaliation for his complaint. The county says police officers get transferred all the time.

The case is scheduled for a hearing on April 28 in St. Louis County Circuit Court.

The 2012 version of County Executive Steve Stenger would suggest nothing less than the future success of St. Louis County as a community is at stake.
WASHINGTON, Mo.  Washington West elementary school was closed on Thursday while police investigate a threat emailed to a fourth-grade teacher.

Someone used a Gmail account with a fake name to threaten the teacher with harm on Wednesday, police said.

Detective Sgt. Steve Sitzes pointed to one possible lead: The teacher had been recently involved in an incident in which pupils were disciplined. Detectives were seeking more information about the account from Google.

The school is at 1570 West Fifth Street.

Sitzes said he didn't think the school closure was necessary, but said school officials acted out of an "abundance of caution."

No one was harmed, and no other schools were closed.
New Delhi, Apr 20 (IBNS) : After the Supreme Court restored criminal cases against veteran leaders in connection with the Babri Masjid demolition case, BJP President Amit Shah has reportedly reassured LK Advani that "the party is with you".

According to NDTV reports, Shah telephoned Advani after finalising the party's strategy for handling the situation in the wake of the top court restored criminal conspiracy cases and put to trial top BJP leaders, including Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Union Minister Uma Bharti and Vinay Katiyar.

So far, these BJP leaders were being tried for making inflammatory speeches that allegedly instigated a mob to pull down the Babri mosque in Ayodhya in 1992.

The charges against the BJP leaders, brought by the CBI, had been blocked by the Allahabad High Court.

The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the investigating agency and transferred the leaders' trial to a Lucknow court where about 20 people are accused of the destruction of the mosque. Judges today ordered daily hearings and said a verdict must be delivered within two years.
ST. LOUIS  An Ohio man caught prostituting four minors and two adults at a St. Charles motel has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney's office said Thursday.

Kyle Maurice Parks, 54, of Columbus, was convicted by a jury in January of one count of sex trafficking of a minor, two counts of attempted sex trafficking of a minor and six counts of interstate transportation with intent to commit prostitution.

Prosecutors say that Parks ran a brothel in Columbus, and brought three 17-year-olds and one 15-year-old, as well as two adults, on a road trip here. He posted advertisements on Backpage.cm after they arrived on Dec. 2, 2015, and several of the victims engaged in paid sex acts, prosecutors said.

Parks kept most of the money.

One of the teens was a high-risk runaway from a juvenile facility in Ohio, and it was the police search for her that led to Parks and the others.

Parks explained the trip to jurors by saying that he was a club owner with a side business setting up vending machines for their owners.

A photo of Parks was not available.
ST. LOUIS  A gunman opened fire on a Laclede Gas crew working in the citys Hamilton Heights neighborhood, killing two men in the bizarre attack before shooting and killing himself Thursday morning, police and a witness said.

Theres no known motive in the attack, police say, and for the time being they say it may have been random.

The shooting was reported about 11:15 a.m. in the 5900 block of Minerva Avenue, on the western edge of the city. Police said two Laclede Gas workers, one in his 20s and the other in his 50s, were fatally injured when the gunman opened fire, according to St. Louis police Capt. Mary Warnecke.

She said it appeared the gunman fired at them randomly.

The gunman then walked off and killed himself.

With the motive unknown, Laclede Gas and several other utility companies pulled employees from some St. Louis work sites as a precaution.

Manyika McCoy, 37, told the Post-Dispatch the workers were there to connect gas service to a home she was moving into on Minerva. One was using a jackhammer and another was in a backhoe.

She said she talked and joked with them briefly before walking down the block to her mothers house. McCoy, who is pregnant, joined her mother and three young children in the yard there.

They noticed a man walking briskly up the street, as if with a purpose, but nothing about him really stood out to them. Then, they heard gunshots.

I heard pop, pop, McCoy said. She wondered if it was fireworks but looked up to see the gunman firing at the workers. The worker in the backhoe stumbled out.

He was saying, Wait, wait, and the guy just kept shooting at him, McCoy said. The worker eventually collapsed in the street, she said.

McCoy believes she heard six shots total. She was trying to get the children  her son, 4, and nephew, 4, and her daughter, 2  into the house, and fumbled with her cellphone.

I was calling 911 in one hand and Jesus in the other, she said.

She said she didnt hear the gunman say anything before, during or after the shooting. McCoy said she didnt recognize the man and didnt know where he went. She and her family feared he was on the loose until police said he had killed himself.

One of the Laclede workers and the gunman died at the scene, police said. The other worker was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

The gunman suffered a self-inflicted wound to the head, police said. A gun was found near him.

Laclede co-workers heartbroken

Co-workers of the Laclede employees gathered at the scene of the shooting Thursday. They called loved ones to let them know they were OK, and consoled one another.

In a brief statement, Laclede Gas said employees there were heartbroken.

We are shocked and grieving today after two of our Laclede Gas employees were shot and killed this morning at one of our job sites, the statement said.

We are connecting with their loved ones now. And, we are working with police to understand more about this crisis. We are heartbroken, as you can imagine, and ask that you hold these employees, their families, their friends, Laclede Gas workers and our communities in your thoughts and prayers.

Laclede Gas and some other area utilities, including Ameren Missouri, the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District and Missouri American Water, pulled employees from some St. Louis work sites as a precaution. Some said workers would get safety reminders.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims family members and co-workers at Laclede Gas during this difficult time, Ameren Missouris senior vice president of customer operations, Mark Birk, said in a statement.

McCoy said the workers had been sweet and funny in their brief interaction before the shootings. She said she couldnt believe what happened.

My heart goes out to the victims and their families, she said. Words cant express my feelings right now.

Her mother, Alice Spann, 59, said the area has an active neighborhood watch, and she goes to the meetings.

We hear about this, but we never see it, she said. Those men came to work today to lose their lives. ... It was so quick, and they were innocent people.

Lance Eason, 29, watched as police worked the crime scene early Thursday afternoon.

I think they need an escort to protect them in areas like this, Eason said. Crime is up, and some people think they dont have anything to lose.

Eason said people are walking the streets with mental issues and down on their luck.

We are all at risk, he said.

Bryce Gray and Jeremy Kohler of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
JEFFERSON CITY  The prospects of getting a budget to Gov. Eric Greitens desk by May 5 appeared shaky Thursday amid a number of disputes that have erupted in the Missouri Senate.

With time ticking down on the budget deadline, a handful of senators threatened to stall action in the upper chamber if key pieces of the $27.8 billion spending plan were not altered.

Some dislike a plan to repeal a tax credit affecting an estimated 100,000 senior citizens. Another opposes a plan to add 250,000 people to the states managed care system of health insurance. Others are upset that they may have to work through the weekend to meet the deadline.

The discord has the attention of Republican Gov. Eric Greitens, who told the Post-Dispatch that he would consider calling a special session on the budget if the dissension doesn't abate.

We are keeping every option open to make sure our agenda gets passed and to make sure the people of Missouri get a sound, quality, fiscally conservative budget passed. We will keep every option on the table to make sure that both of those things get done, Greitens said.

Although it is not unusual for tensions to spike in the Legislatures final weeks, Thursdays meltdown signaled that having Republicans in control of the Legislature and the governors office does not guarantee smooth sailing.

The chairman of the Senate budget committee said the alternatives left on the table if the senior tax credit fails to be repealed are not pretty.

We dont have a lot of choices right now, said Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla. Were scrambling a little bit.

Sen. Rob Schaaf, a St. Joseph Republican, downplayed the messiness, suggesting that some of the anger is merely tactical positioning by the members hoping to keep their pet projects in the budget.

There still is a path. It may be a winding road. But you can still get to where you want to go, Schaaf told his colleagues.

The Senates week began to unravel Tuesday during a debate on legislation that would eliminate the tax credit for senior renters.

Repealing the tax credit would free up an estimated $52 million in order to avoid cuts proposed by Greitens that would end nursing home and in-home care services for more than 20,000 Missourians with disabilities.

In a lengthy, overnight debate that ended at 5 a.m. Wednesday, it became clear the measure did not have enough support, forcing budget writers to begin considering alternatives.

Under one scenario, lawmakers could phase in the repeal over two years, which would cut the savings in half.

As of Thursday morning, however, a compromise was not forthcoming.

My understanding is there is no deal, said Sen. Gary Romine, R-Farmington.

Schaaf, meanwhile, has threatened a filibuster if the budget contains a managed care expansion plan.

On May 1, three companies are set to provide managed care for 750,000 low-income Missourians.

But, the state doesnt have money in the current budget to pay the companies during this fiscal year, nor does it have a waiver for the expansion from the federal government.

Schaaf, who opposes managed care, says the expansion violates the Constitution and should be scuttled.

Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, was flustered by Schaafs opposition to managed care.

What youre trying to do would bring about chaos for those individuals, Nasheed said during a testy exchange with Schaaf on the Senate floor.

Schaaf says those in the managed care system wont lose out on health care opportunities if the state ends the contract. And, he added, the state wont get sued if it ends the contract if funding for managed care is not included in the budget.

His efforts floundered Thursday when the Senate budget committee voted to keep funding for managed care in the budget.
JEFFERSON CITY  Gov. Eric Greitens says his office has complied with a request from the state auditor to turn over documents related to the management of income tax refunds.

A day after Auditor Nicole Galloway announced that her office had been forced to issue a subpoena for information from the state Department of Revenue, Greitens accused her of grandstanding.

What she did yesterday was nothing but a political stunt, Greitens told the Post-Dispatch. Auditor Galloway knew from our office that she was going to get every piece of information that she was legally entitled to this week. And she has, in fact, received that information. Its over 170 pages of documents.

Galloway confirmed the receipt of the additional documents but could not say whether the information provided by the administration fully complied with her request.

After weeks of my staff requesting the information and after taking the unprecedented step of issuing a subpoena, my office has received the Department of Revenues response. My staff is currently reviewing the information. I am hopeful that in the future the issuance of a subpoena will not be necessary for my office to do its job protecting taxpayers, Galloway said in a statement.

If the documents arent sufficient, Galloway said Wednesday, she might have to go to court to ask a judge for assistance.

Galloway, the lone Democrat among statewide officers in the Capitol, said Wednesday that the lack of transparency by the administration appeared to be part of a trend.

She said the governors administration hasnt been cooperative with routine audits, forcing her to issue a subpoena for the first time since she took office in 2015.

Greitens senior adviser Austin Chambers said the governors office has provided at least two letters to Galloway as well as a meeting that included an outline of when she would receive the information she sought.

Asked why Galloway held a news conference to announce the subpoena, Greitens said, I cant speak to her motivation.

The governor, a political newcomer who took office on Jan. 9, said one of his first acts as chief executive was to restrict $146 million in spending in order to make sure bills, including tax refunds, are paid.

That action came after there were lengthy delays last year because of cash flow problems under former Gov. Jay Nixon.

Of the nearly 1.8 million tax refunds, more than 81,000 were not paid within a 45-day window, forcing the state to pay out $294,837 in interest to taxpayers, according to documents provided by his office.

Greitens said Galloway could have begun probing the late payments at that time, rather than now.

If Auditor Galloway cared about this, she would have taken action on this issue last year, Greitens said.
New Delhi, Apr 20 (IBNS) : The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered that Delhi's iconic Taj Mahal Hotel must be auctioned as the Tatas, currently managing the property, lost a case over lease holding, NDTV said.

The Tata group, which wanted its lease to be extended without any auction, will however, be given six months as "breathing time" to vacate if its bid in the online auction is not the winning offer, the court said.

The Tatas had been given a 33-year lease for the property. They were given nine extensions after the contract with the New Delhi Municipal Corporation ended in 2011.

Last month, officials at a meeting headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal concluded that the hotel would be auctioned.

Challenging the decision, the Tatas moved the Supreme Court, which, however, rejected their plea.
JEFFERSON CITY  Missouri residents may never know the exact details of who financed Gov. Eric Greitens' inauguration in January, but new reports show lawmakers shelled out some big bucks to celebrate the changing of the guard.

According to newly released filings with the Missouri Ethics Commission, members of the House and Senate spent at least $25,010 of their campaign funds on food, lodging, supplies and receptions associated with the inaugural festivities.

By contrast, the lone two entries offering any insight into some of the costs of the swearing-in ceremonies show that Greitens campaign fund spent $14,161 at a Jefferson City convention hotel for costs related to his taking the oath of office. And, the Missouri Restaurant Associations political action committee noted two pre-inauguration contributions worth $5,000 to a special nonprofit established by Greitens to help finance the event.

Beyond that scant information, it appears as if the remaining funding for the inauguration will remain secret.

In March, Greitens indicated he would break with the tradition of prior governors and not release how money much was raised, how much was spent and how much each contributor gave to help pay for the ceremonies.

Rather, the Republican political newcomer said the list of companies and lobbyists he had released earlier was the extent of the information he was planning to offer voters.

On inauguration day we released a list of our benefactors and all the people who contributed to the inauguration, Greitens told reporters gathered in his office. Happy to take another look at that, but were pretty confident that weve got that list out there.

The plan we have is to release the list that weve released, he added.

Lawmakers showed this week they had no problem revealing how they spent their campaign cash to participate in the activities, which included a ball in the Capitol rotunda, an outdoor swearing-in ceremony attended by thousands and multiple private dinners throughout the city.

Among the nearly $3,000 spent on the inaugural by Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard was $150 for flowers.

Sen. Jake Hummel, D-St. Louis, forked over $324 for meals catered by Sweet Chipotle Catering in downtown Jefferson City.

House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, wrote a check for nearly $5,000 to provide a catered meal to attendees.

Rep. Lyndall Fraker, R-Marshfield, reported spending $178 at Chick-fil-A for inauguration meals.

Rep. Becky Ruth, R-Festus, spent $1,164 to provide lodging for constituents at the Capitol Plaza convention hotel in the capital city.

And, Rep. Bruce DeGroot, R-Chesterfield, lists $223 in expenses at Eagle Liquor in Jefferson City.

As for Greitens, he created a special nonprofit called Committee for a New Missouri to finance the celebration.

Such groups, known as social welfare organizations, can engage in political activity without disclosing their donors.

Attempts to pry loose that information have been floated by lawmakers.

Rep. Mark Ellebracht, D-Liberty, filed House Bill 949 to require Greitens to release more details of the inaugural. That proposal remains bottled up in the House and is unlikely to advance further.

Senators also have attached language to legislation that would require more disclosure from Greitens, but the prospects of that approach also are unclear.

In a statement, Ellebracht decried Greitens' secrecy after having run on a platform of cleaning up Jefferson City.

Missourians are entitled to know exactly who paid for the governors party and how much money they kicked in. Until then, its hard to take this governors anti-corruption talk very seriously, Ellebracht said when he unveiled his proposed legislation earlier this year.
I was a student journalist when Delyte W. Morris, the visionary who built Southern Illinois University into a major institution, strode across a meeting room to introduce himself and hand me a cup of coffee.

Only much later did I acquire the wisdom to recognize the real significance of that gesture at my first visit to a board of trustees meeting. Wow! I thought. Thats how he did it! Thats how he got what he needed from the politicians.

Charm was only one of the implements in the university presidents toolbox, but a powerful one.

Having steered the Carbondale school from a teachers college into a well-funded university of broad instruction, Morris was looking north by the 1950s, to Metro East. The second largest population center in Illinois had no four-year public higher education institution.

Thus began modest outreach classes in Alton and East St. Louis. The acquisition of 2,660 acres of mostly farmland outside Edwardsville spoke to plans for something much grander.

SIUE classes opened in 1965. I arrived as a freshman three years later in the midst of a tumultuous time. Disgust with the Vietnam War, racial discrimination and pollution boiled over simultaneously, on campus and beyond.

There soon would be some internal disgust brewing at SIU, too, that would expedite the end of the Morris era. In 1969, we learned the school had spent $1 million in discretionary funds (about $6.6 million in todays money) to build a presidential residence in Carbondale.

Outraged legislators held hearings. Wary trustees soon stripped Morris of much of his power. And all this unfolded against a backdrop of internal jealousies.

There were more than a few people in Carbondale who saw theirs as the real university. It had lots more programs and lots more students  thousands of them living on campus. Ill hold short of broadly applying the word arrogant, but at least a few were.

Up on the northern end, many of us at Edwardsville had a little inferiority complex. Ours was a commuter school, with limited offerings and huge parking lots in places where a big college might have towering dorms. Lots of our students lived with their parents and drove to classes in a fashion not so different from their high school years.

We understood that our branch was purpose-built to bring higher education to people who were unable or unwilling to go away to school. Plenty of our graduates gratefully saw it that way and could not have cared less about campus rivalries.

But in some circles, the chafing was painful. And it flared over the Morris house scandal.

At the time, SIUE did have one big advantage: John S. Rendleman.

Charismatic beyond description, the Morris protege was the perfect choice for chancellor of the fledgling campus. I was proud to know the brilliant and elegant man, whose confidence was contagious. Nobody felt second class under his first-class leadership.

The rub was that in a previous role as a university lawyer, Rendleman had blessed the legality of spending money on the house without approval up the state line. Although the trustees had signed off too, Rendleman ended up sitting on the same hot griddle as Morris.

The Carbondale-Edwardsville divide might never have been wider than then. Some called for a full separation of the schools, which were pretty autonomous anyway. (That idea would come back periodically through the years, without action.)

Perhaps the ultimate slap was when the SIUC Student Senate called for resignation of SIUEs beloved Rendleman.

The estimable journalist Timothy Middleton, then editor of SIUEs student newspaper, the Alestle, reacted with an editorial under the deliciously blunt headline Carbondale can roast in Hell, doo da, doo da. It mocked the audacity to suggest that hemorrhoids in Carbondale could be cured by an operation in Edwardsville.

In the end, Rendleman weathered the storm but his mentor did not. After 22 years of empire building, Morris retired the next year. Rendleman soldiered on at SIUE until dying, at just 48, of lung cancer in 1976.

Over the decades, SIUE built programs and residence halls, closing the dignity gap, while Carbondale struggled with flagging enrollment.

Last fall, SIUC registered 15,987 students, the fewest since 1964. At the same time, SIUE had 14,142, just 123 below its record high set the year before.

While both suffer from the states perpetual budget emergency, SIUC is almost literally out of spendable cash. Officials are working on a deal  controversial among some constituents on the Edwardsville end  to lend perhaps half of SIUEs $70 million in unrestricted reserves to its sister.

I presume it will happen. I think John Rendleman would want it. And in his classy way he would flash a knowing smile without ever mentioning a word about the irony.
CHICAGO  A bee has halted a multimillion-dollar road project in suburban Chicago that's designed to ease traffic congestion.

It's the rusty patched bumblebee and a Chicago federal judge ruled this week that its endangered status meant construction on that nearly 6-mile road had to stop.

In March, it became the first bee species in the continental U.S. to be declared endangered after suffering dramatic population declines. Researchers are investigating potential causes, including pesticide exposure and habitat loss.

The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin (http://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/) reports that Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman issued the temporary restraining order Monday in response to a filing by opponents of the Longmeadow project. Project advocates include the Kane County Department of Transportation.

The order will remain in place at least until April 25 as legal proceedings play out.

___

Information from: Chicago Daily Law Bulletin , http://www.chicagolawbulletin.com
After five weeks on the run, a Tennessee teacher who kidnapped and fled with his 15-year-old student was arrested Thursday deep in the mountains of northern California, authorities said.

"I'm glad this is over," 50-year-old Tad Cummins said after his arrest, according to Siskiyou County sheriff's Sgt. Mike Gilley.

Elizabeth Thomas was found safe in a remote cabin in Cecilville, northwest of Redding. The pair spent one night in the cabin before the arrest, but they may have been in the area for about a week, Gilley said.

The cabin's caretaker alerted law enforcement to their presence and helped them hatch a plan to draw Cummins from the residence unarmed and without Thomas, the cabin's owner told CNN.

The arrest ends a nationwide manhunt that began on March 13, when Cummins fled with Elizabeth from their small town of Culleoka, Tennessee. Cummins face federal and state charges stemming from her disappearance.

But the search for answers is far from over.

"There aren't words in the English language to describe the level of relief and elation experienced by the Thomas family," said Jason Whatley, attorney for the family. "Now begins another hard chapter, but for now, we celebrate."

Alert residents assist capture

The pair disappeared as a police investigation into their relationship was heating up. Cummins had been suspended after a student reported seeing them kissing in a classroom.

Surveillance video showed the pair at a Walmart in Oklahoma City on March 15. But after that, the trail went cold.

The break came when someone encountered Cummins in Siskiyou County, more than 2,000 miles from Culleoka, and called the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation tip line.

The caller said Cummins had taken up residence in Cecilville, about two hours from the nearest police station. Siskiyou County deputies searched the area and found a silver Nissan Rogue parked outside the cabin, TBI spokesman Josh DeVine said. They confirmed through the VIN number that it belonged to Cummins.

The TBI earlier had said the two were found in a commune, but later backed off that description. The cabin is close to a commune called Black Bear Ranch but it's not part of the commune, said the cabin's owner, Monk O'Hare. He was not on the property when the pair was there.

The cabin's caretaker spoke to the couple, O'Hare said. He added that a friend of his was also at the property and saw the couple.

The friend told him something didn't seem right, O'Hare said. Cummins told O'Hare's friend that he was 44 years old, the young woman with him was 22 and they were recently married. He added that when Thomas wanted to share something she would whisper stuff in Cummins ear and then Cummins would repeat it.

Their vehicle did not have license plates and he noticed that the young woman would not get out of the car when the man got out. The property caretaker called the sheriff's department and helped them devise a plan to capture Cummins, O'Hare said,

That next morning, the caretaker asked Cummins to come outside and help him build a rock wall on the property. When Cummins went outside, investigators were there to arrest him, O'Hare said.

Gilley confirmed that his team worked with a neighbor to draw Cummins out of the cabin in order to separate him from Elizabeth. Snipers surrounded the cabin as Cummins exited the cabin and was taken into custody. Elizabeth was walking behind him and was detained.

He described her condition as alternating between "stoic" and "emotional," understandable given the circumstances, he said.

"It was a very traumatic experience for her. Her mood was very alternating," he said. "The two obviously have a relationship ... her response to us and to law enforcement escalated up and down."

'It only takes one tip'

Elizabeth is in federal custody and arrangements are being made for her return home as soon as Friday. As of Thursday evening, her family was waiting to communicate with her before speaking publicly.

The main concern is for her emotional well-being, TBI Director Mark Gwyn said.

"As we have said from the start, it only takes one tip," Gwyn said. "This is yet another example of the value of the public helping us to rescue a kidnapping victim."

After the capture, Cummins was charged with one federal count of transportations of a minor across state lines for the purpose of criminal sexual intercourse, said Jack Smith, acting US attorney for Middle District of Tennessee. The charge carries a minimum of 10 years.

He faces state charges of sexual contact with a minor and aggravated kidnapping, the TBI said last month.

But state law allows children older than 12 to decide whether to leave their families, unless their removal or confinement "is accomplished by force, threat or fraud."

That means to prove a kidnapping took place, prosecutors will have to show Elizabeth was unlawfully removed or had her freedom restricted.

Estranged wife speaks out

Cummins' estranged wife, Jill Cummins, was "very emotional" when she learned both were found safe, her attorney, Michael Cox, said.

"She is excited that they were found and nobody was hurt," Cox said. "She has not spoken to Tad."

Jill Cummins had filed for divorce, saying she felt betrayed by her husband. She had no idea why her husband went to northern California.

"This is not somewhere they had frequently visited," her attorney said. "I'm not aware that they had ever been there."

CNN's Sara Sidner reported and wrote from Yreka, California. CNN's Holly Yan and Emanuella Grinberg wrote and reported from Atlanta. Journalist Burt Staggs, CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton, Roxanne Garcia, Natisha Lance, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Artemis Moshtaghian and HLN's Mike Galanos contributed to this report.
New Delhi, Apr 20 (IBNS) : The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday grilled Virbhadra Singh in connection with a money laundering case as the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister appeared before the agency on its summons, reports said.

The veteran Congress leader's wife wife Pratibha and son Vikramaditya have already been questioned by the ED.

Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in Himachal Pradesh in the second half of 2017.

Going ahead with a parallel investigation, the Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a charge-sheet against Singh, his wife and others, allegedly for amassing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.

The Chief Minister had pleaded before the Delhi High Court to quash the CBI case against him.

Earlier this month, the Enforcement Directorate attached a south Delhi farmhouse with a market value of Rs. 27 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump moved Thursday against China and other exporters of cheap steel, launching a federal investigation to determine whether foreign-made steel threatens U.S. steelmakers and national security.

Winning praise from U.S. companies that are constantly fighting with foreign competitors, Trump invoked a rarely used trade law that raises the possibility of new tariffs. The action triggered a rally in U.S. steel stocks.

At a White House ceremony where he was surrounded by U.S. steel executives, Trump signed a memorandum ordering the U.S. Commerce Department to investigate the impact of steel imports on the U.S. defense industrial base.

Steel is critical to both our economy and our military. This is not an area where we can afford to become dependent on foreign countries, said Trump, a Republican.

The global steel market is in surplus. China is the largest national producer and makes far more steel than it consumes. To find buyers for its excess output, China sells steel cheap overseas, often undercutting domestic producers.

Everything they export is dumping, said Derek Scissors, Asia economist at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think tank.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross cast the decision to initiate the investigation as a response to Chinese exports of steel into the U.S. reaching the point where they now account for 26 percent of the U.S. market.

Chinese exports have risen despite repeated Chinese claims that they were going to reduce their steel capacity, Ross said.

He said if the U.S. steel industry is deemed to be suffering from too much imported steel, he will recommend retaliatory steps that could include tariffs. Trump ordered an investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which lets the president impose restrictions on imports for reasons of national security.
New Delhi, Apr 20 (IBNS): One person was killed and two injured on Thursday near Delhi's Nigam Bodh Ghat crematorium when a speeding car climbed onto a pavement where they were sleeping, according to media reports.

It has been alleged that the car was being driven by a class twelve student.

The media quoted the Delhi Police as saying the student did not possess a driving licence and was with two other schoolmates when the accident occurred.
New Delhi, Apr 20 (IBNS): Barkha Shukla Singh, chief of Delhi Women's Congress cell resigned from her post on Thursday, according to media reports.

Political pundits believe this can have a significant impact with the Delhi municipality poll round the corner.

The former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief levelled her charges against Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and senior party member Ajay Maken.

She allegedly accused both the leaders of using the concept of women's empowerment and security 'to gather votes' without really caring for the same.

"Will always remain a @INCIndia worker. Saddening to see party in such a state. Party does not belong to one person it belongs to its workers," she tweeted.
Kayleigh Woods.

ONE of the two people convicted of murdering 20-year-old Bethany Hill in Stratford-upon-Avon last year has launched an appeal against her conviction.

Kayleigh Woods, aged 23, was jailed for life over the killing at a property on Hertford Road on 3rd February last year, following a three-week trial at Warwick Crown Court in January.

Co-defendant, Jack Williams, 21, was also convicted of murder and also sentenced to life in prison.

Warwick Crown Court has confirmed to the Herald that formal notification has been

received that Woods is appealing her conviction.

The Court of Appeal added that the appeal was at a very early stage and officers are currently conducting case work before it is presented before a judge.

The court has yet to receive notice of Williams appealing his murder conviction. Bethany Hill grew up in Bidford, the youngest of seven siblings with four brothers and two sisters.

Bethanys partially clothed body was found in the bathroom of the flat the three had shared.

She had a number of knife wounds to the back of her neck and a deep cut to the front, which severed her jugular vein.

The pair, who had both denied the murder charge, were found guilty following nine hours of deliberation by the jury.

They were described afterwards by officers who investigated the murder as cold-blooded killers.

She was a former pupil at Bidford Primary School and Stratford High School.

In a statement released on the day Woods and Williams were sentenced, her family described her as a fun loving girlie girl who would naturally be able to brighten up the room with her laughter, energetic personality and her kind and thoughtful acts.

In a two-page interview in the current edition of Take a Break magazine, Bethanys sister, Aimee, speaks of the moment police told the family of her death.

Aimee, 37, said: Beth was only 20. She was the baby of our family. I kept thinking: It cant be our Beth, it has to be some kind of mistake.

Download a copy of this week's Stratford-upon-Avon HeraldHERE
Kolkata, Apr 20 (IBNS): A speeding truck crashed into an autorickshaw, full of school students, in West Bengal's West Medinipur district on Thursday morning, killing at least two pupils and leaving 11 others injured, reports said.

According to reports, a Midnapore city bound truck suddenly lost its control and collided head on with an autorickshaw on NH-60 at Vadutala area under Salboni Police Station limits in West Medinipur district at around 10:30 am.

All 13 passengers of the auto, including 11 students and its driver, were seriously injured in the mishap and were rushed to Midnapore Medical College and Hospital, where two of them were declared dead.

When police went to the scene, locals attacked policemen and vandalized police vehicles.

At least four cops, including the Inspector-in-Charge of Salboni Police Station- Biswajit Saha, were hurt after being beaten by the angry mob and were taken to Midnapore Medical College and Hospital.

Later, a heavy police force along with Rapid Action Force (RAF) rushed to the spot and policemen restored to lathicharge to bring the situation under control.

However, police have seized the killer truck and arrested its driver from the spot.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
Neither a clean chit nor a disqualification: the drawn out Supreme Court (SC) case probing the Sharif familys alleged corruption in the Panamagate case ended today as the court ordered the formation of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe how the family's money was transferred to Qatar.

The prime minister and his party breathed a collective sigh of relief, as the fear of an 'extreme verdict'  the premier's ouster  dissolved and gave way to celebrations.

The premier's daughter, Maryam Nawaz, tweeted a photo of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his family and PML-N leaders celebrating the verdict with smiles and embraces.

A five-judge bench, comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, had examined arguments presented by the PTI, the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), the Watan Party and the All Pakistan Muslim League, who framed the case out of court as a campaign against corruption.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz, retired Capt Muhammad Safdar (the PM's son-in-law) and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar were the respondents in the case.

The petitioners had touted the revelations brought forth in the Panama Papers, published by the International Consortium of Journalists on April 3, 2016, as 'evidence' that the premier had lied to the nation in an address to Parliament where he 'explained' his position following the leaks.

Justice Asif Saeed Khosa began announcing the final verdict in the case against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family at Courtroom 1 today at the apex court to an audience of over 400 people, according to TV reports. Justice Ejaz Afzal authored the 540-page verdict.

The final verdict is split 3-2 among the bench, with two dissenting notes in the judgement by Justice Khosa and Justice Gulzar. The two judges ruled against PM Nawaz Sharif, whereas the other three were in favour of forming a JIT.

All five judges, however, raised questions regarding the money trail for the Sharif family's Gulf steel mill and ordered the JIT to investigate the letter from a Qatari royal  dismissed today by the bench  which was submitted by Sharif's lawyer as evidence in the case.

Justice Khosa asserted that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had been unsuccessful in playing their role effectively.

The JIT is to include officials NAB, FIA, State Bank of Pakistan, Inter-Services Intelligence, Military Intelligence, the bench said, and will be led by a director-general level FIA officer.

The names of members of the JIT must be announced within seven days, and a probe report must be released within 60 days. The JIT must report its progress to the court on a weekly basis.

A special bench will examine the case under Section 184/3 of the Constitution.

'Ready for investigation'

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told reporters outside the apex court that the verdict was split 3-2. "They have said what the PM already said in his letter  that a commission should be constituted to investigate the matter," he said.

"We are ready for all kinds of investigation," Asif said. "It has been established today that any evidence or sacrifices given by our opponents in the SC were not enough. We have succeeded."

Railways Minister Saad Rafique asserted that the PML-N would "fully cooperate with the JIT and the court's decision will be respected."

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) should also respect the court's decision, Rafique said, among slogans of "Go Imran, go."

Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal termed it a "historic victory" for the PML-N. "The minority judgement shows that the PTI represents a minority in Pakistan."

"Conspirators have been defeated yet again after the dharna. After suffering successive electoral defeats IK's desire to deseat PM Nawaz Sharif through non-ballot means failed again," Iqbal said in a tweet.

PTI leader and lawyer Fahad Chaudhry said that PML-N leaders celebrating a 'victory' have not read the verdict yet. "If they had, they would realise what has actually happened to them."

Panama leaks

The Panama Papers, which refer to a massive trove of secret documents leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca  which specialised in helping the global elite stash wealth in offshore tax havens  had said that the PM's children, Maryam, Hasan and Hussain Nawaz "were owners or had the right to authorise transactions for several [offshore] companies".

At least eight offshore companies were found to have links to the Sharif family in the documents that were leaked.

The fallout

The revelations had raised serious concerns regarding the legitimacy of the family's wealth, offshore holdings and business interests, and catalysed opposition parties to rally for the investigation or resignation of the prime minister and his family members.

Maryam Nawaz had initially dismissed the documents as a distortion of information, but the prime minister had to eventually relent and order a judicial probe into the allegations raised by opposition parties.

In a televised address, the premier also attempted to document his family's financial history and said he was open to a probe.

Legal action and court proceedings

What followed was a protracted tussle on who would lead the commission (the PTI had wanted the sitting chief justice, while the PML-N approached at least 5 ex-SC judges; each of them refused) and the terms of reference of the inquiry (which neither government nor opposition could come to terms on); a second televised address (in which the premier said he would resign if proven guilty); a landmark parliamentary speech (in which a sitting prime minister defended himself on the floor of the National Assembly); and mounting pressure from the Army and opposition parties, after which the case finally landed in front of the Supreme Court.

The case settled on Thursday had been initiated on January 4, 2017 under a reconstituted bench comprising the five judges mentioned earlier in the story after former Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, who initially took up the case, retired midway into the proceedings and was succeeded by the incumbent.

The case reviewed four petitions filed by Advocate Tariq Asad, JI chief Sirajul Haq, PTI chairman Imran Khan and Awami Muslim League leader Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who had petitioned the Supreme Court to disqualify Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for making misstatements in his speech in the National Assembly on May 16 and in his address to the nation on April 5 last year regarding investments made by his children in offshore companies that led to the purchase of four upscale flats in London.

After hearing the arguments from both sides, the bench had reserved its ruling on Feb 23 with the observation that their judgement would remain relevant and valid for at least 20 years.

Judgement day

The landmark judgement was made public 57 days after the case was last heard by the court. The federal capital was abuzz with excitement ahead of the pronouncement as the country waited for the historic verdict.

Islamabad's Red Zone, where the Supreme Court is located, had been on 'red alert', with around 1,500 police, Rangers and Frontier Constabulary personnel deployed in and around the area for security and to maintain peace. Police officials, including Special Branch officials, were deployed for intelligence gathering and timely responses.

Heavy contingents of security forces personnel had been deployed in and around the Red Zone. Strict checking was implemented at entry points into the Red Zone, where only concerned individuals, including government officials and residents of the area were being allowed entry.

Only individuals with passes were allowed onto court premises. Ordinarily, there are about 60 to 70 reporters at the apex court on a daily basis, but many more today turned out to witness the judges deliver the historic verdict.

PML-N and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders had gathered outside the Supreme Court ahead of the announcement and made charged statements on their hopes for the outcome.

The prime minister himself followed the proceedings with his family and senior party officials from his residence.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday chaired the PML-Ns consultative meeting, a day ahead of the Supreme Court announcing its verdict in the Panama Leaks case.

According to sources, the prime minister told PML-N leaders that he was not waiting for any decision and was elected by people to work. I am working and will continue to work. Whatever decision is taken by the court, InshaAllah would be better, the prime minister was quoted by sources as saying.

Prime Minister Sharif told those attending the meeting that elections in Pakistan will be held as per schedule in 2018.

He was also critical of the performance of PPP in Sindh, stating that the party in the last eight years had not done anything in the province.

Interior Minister Chaurdhy Nisar said that Zardari and his gang had kept the people of Sindh in a stranglehold.

The Supreme Court will announce its verdict in the Panama Leaks case on April 20 at 2 PM.

The case stems from documents leaked from the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm appeared to show that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs daughter and two sons owned offshore holding companies registered in the British Virgin Islands and used them to buy properties in London.

PM Sharif told parliament last year that his family wealth was acquired legally in the decades before he entered politics and that no money was siphoned off-shore.

The Supreme Court took up petitions by PTI chairman Imran Khan, JI chief Siraj-ul-Haq and AML head Sheikh Rashid seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, alleging that he had made misstatements in the National Assembly and during an address to the nation regarding the investments made by his children in offshore companies which led to the purchase of the London flats.
Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari said last night that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should resign from office if the Panama verdict, to be announced today, is not in his favour.

The former president, in an interview, remarked that the PM is habitual of not accepting things which go against him, adding if he does not accept the decision it will disrupt the democratic process.

On increase in power outages across the country, he remarked that the party will protest until the government resolves the burgeoning problem.

The leader also spoke about Hussain Haqqani and remarked, I consider him [Hussain Haqqani] a traitor. If we [PPP] come in power in the next elections, I assure you Haqqani will be punished in one way or another.

Sharing his plans regarding the elections, Zardari said, I will contest elections in Sindh on a MNA seat.

On his aides disappearance issues, he said those who are involved in the disappearance of my aides would not better why they are being targeted.

During my tenure, I worked on building institutions [for the betterment of the country], he remarked.

I dont even consider Shehbaz Sharif as an equal to my wit, he added.

Later, PPP leaders met for a consultative session, which was chaired by Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central Information Secretary Naeem-ul-Haque said on Thursday that his party would accept the Supreme Courts verdict on the Panama Leaks case.

Imran Khan has repeatedly said that the party will accept the SCs verdict. We respect Pakistani courts and the SC is the highest court in Pakistans judicial hierarchy, Haque said. The SCs verdict on this case will be in the favour of all Pakistani citizens.

Their PML-N reign is drawing near its end, and [placing banners across the country] are PML-N tactics to deal with the situation, the PTI leader said.

The Supreme Court will announce its judgment in the case at 2 PM today. Security has been increased around the Supreme Court and Islamabads Constitution Avenue, with additional barriers and barbed wires laid around several buildings.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and PTI Chairman Imran Khan have restricted party workers from coming to the Supreme Court.
Chairman Pakistan Tehreeke-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan on Thursday called for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down until an investigation team ordered by the Supreme Court completes its probe.

Speaking to reporters following the Supreme Court verdict in the Panama Leaks case, Khan said Sharif no longer had any moral authority to continue as prime minister of the country.

"What respect will he have when a government officer calls the prime minister for a criminal inquiry," he said.
Pakistan Peoples` Party Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday has condemned the Supreme Court`s decision on Panama Leaks case and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Speaking to the press, along with the party stalwarts, Zardari said that the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should resign ethically. I condemn the Supreme Court`s decision and reject it, further adding, today democracy and justice were adversely affected.

He said that the majority of junior judges have joked with the people of Pakistan, however, the senior judges have given the finest decision. I salute the two senior judges, he said.

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered further investigations into corruption allegations leveled by the opposition against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, saying there was insufficient evidence to order his removal from office.

Read more: Panamagate verdict: Supreme Court orders JIT probe of Sharif family

"A thorough investigation is required," Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said, announcing the highly anticipated decision following a months-long hearing stemming from the Panama Papers leak last year that linked PM Sharifs children to offshore businesses.

Announcing the verdict, Justice Khosa ordered the formation of a Joint Investigation team (JIT) to carry out an investigation into how funds were transferred to Qatar, which the prime minister's children said led to assets held by his sons through the offshore businesses in Panama.

The Supreme Court ordered the JIT to present its report every two weeks before a Supreme Court bench. The court also ordered Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and his sons Hasan and Hussein to appear before the JIT, which will complete its investigation within 60 days of its formation.

Justice Khosa said the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had failed to carry out his duties.

He said the investigation committee comprising of one senior official each from NAB, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and the Military Intelligence (MI) will be tasked to carry out the probe.

The detailed decision by the apex court comprised a total of 540 pages, with the verdict split 3-2 between the five-member apex court bench.

Two dissenting judges on the five-member bench were of the opinion that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had not been honest to the nation and that he should have been disqualified.

The five-member bench led by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa had reserved its verdict in the case on February 23. The decision comes ahead of general elections scheduled to be held next year.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi paid a ground visit to the embattled city of Mosul on Wednesday where held a meeting with military leaders of the We are Coming Nineveh Operation.

The Prime Minister, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Haider al-Abadi held a meeting today with the military leaders of the operations of We are Coming Nineveh to observe the progress of the battle, read a statement from the PMs office. He also visited a number of liberated neighbourhoods in western Mosul, greeting civilians.

Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, was occupied by Daesh in the summer of 2014. Since a military campaign launched in October 2016, Iraqi forces managed to recover the eastern half of the city.

On 19 February, they launched an offensive to reclaim the western half and have retaken an estimated 60 percent. They are currently engaged in a slow, tough fight in the central, old districts of western Mosul.
The US secretary of state has accused Iran of "alarming ongoing provocations" aimed at destabilising the Middle East and undermining America's interests.

"An unchecked Iran has the potential to travel the same path as North Korea and to take the world along with it," Rex Tillerson said.

The US has ordered a review of the Iran nuclear deal, although it admits Iran is complying with its commitments.

Iran's foreign minister dismissed Mr Tillerson's criticism as "worn out".

The country has repeatedly denied accusations by the West that it was ever trying to develop nuclear weapons.

On Tuesday, Washington accused North Korea of trying to "provoke something", after Pyongyang conducted a failed missile test over the weekend.

North Korea said it may test missiles on a weekly basis, and warned of "all-out war" if the US takes military action.

What is the US doing about Iran?

In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Tillerson said a review, which he had announced in a letter to Congress a day earlier, would look at the whole US policy towards Iran - taking in not only Tehran's compliance with the nuclear deal but also its actions in the Middle East.

He accused the country of "alarming and ongoing provocations that export terror and violence, destabilising more than one country at a time".

Image caption The 2015 nuclear deal meant crippling sanctions against Iran were lifted

"Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism and is responsible for intensifying multiple conflicts and undermining US interests in countries such as Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Lebanon, and continuing to support attacks against Israel."

As part of a long list of charges, he criticised Iran's involvement in the Syrian conflict and its support for President Bashar al-Assad.

The secretary of state earlier acknowledged the Iranians had met the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal. But he said its "nuclear ambitions" remained "a grave risk to international peace and security".

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif reacted angrily on Twitter, saying "worn-out US accusations" could not "mask its admission of Iran's compliance" with the deal's requirements. He called on the US to change course and fulfil its own commitments.

President Donald Trump has previously vowed to dismantle the nuclear deal but has not specified what he wants to do.

What is the Iran nuclear deal?

The landmark 2015 agreement saw crippling sanctions on Iran lifted. It was secured after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) certified that Tehran had restricted its sensitive nuclear activities.

Image caption The nuclear deal placed restrictions on Iran's uranium enrichment facilities

Barack Obama argued the deal, between Iran and six world powers including China, Russia and the UK, was the best way to prevent Iran getting a nuclear weapon.

But President Trump has described the landmark agreement as the "worst deal ever".

Iran says its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful and that it will continue missile development.

One of the key requirements of the deal is the reconfiguration of Iran's Arak nuclear reactor so it does not produce weapons-grade plutonium usable in a nuclear bomb.

On Thursday, Beijing said companies in China and Iran would be working together on the redesign to ensure these terms would be met.

How has the US position changed?

Analysis by BBC State Department correspondent Barbara Plett Usher

In announcing a broad review of Iran policy the Trump administration has not jettisoned the nuclear deal.

But Rex Tillerson has come pretty close to saying the agreement is not worth keeping, even though he's had to admit it's working.

This week the secretary of state informed Congress that Tehran is keeping its side of the bargain to restrict its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, which he's required to confirm every 90 days.

In spoken remarks, though, he talked only of Iran's bad behaviour and linked that to the future of the deal - a message that will resonate far more on Capitol Hill and to which it was probably aimed.

Former President Barack Obama would have agreed with all the charges: that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism, that it supports proxies which undermine US interests in the region, that it's hostile to Israel and that its ballistic missile tests challenge UN Security Council prohibitions.

But Mr Obama kept those issues separate from the nuclear agreement, which would have been impossible to achieve without that narrow focus.

Mr Tillerson, on the other hand, called this a mistaken approach and said the review would take a comprehensive look at all of the threats posed by Iran.

What has this got to do with North Korea?

President Donald Trump has stepped up US pressure on North Korea, which has accelerated its nuclear and missile tests in recent years, despite international condemnation and UN sanctions.

North Korea's aim is to be able to put a nuclear warhead on an intercontinental ballistic missile that can reach targets around the world, including the US.

Mr Trump has said that will not happen, and "all options are on the table" in dealing with Pyongyang.

On Wednesday, Mr Tillerson repeated the Trump administration's view that "strategic patience is a failed approach".

And he said the US wanted to change course before Iran became a "second piece of evidence" for this.

However, Iran says it has the right to nuclear energy - and stresses that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.
Kolkata, Apr 20 (IBNS): A major fire broke out at a thermocol factory in Alampur area under Sankrail Police Station limits in West Bengal's Howrah district, nearly 21 km. from Kolkata, on Thursday, triggering scare among the locals, reports said.

According to reports, the fire was first noticed around 11 am. at the factory, located very close to Andul Road and Kolkata-Mumbai highway (NH-6).

As many as 23 fire tender engines and police force rushed to the spot and firemen fought for hours to douse the massive blaze.

Fire department has begun probe into the matter to know the exact reason behind the fire.

"After primary investigation, we are suspecting that the fire started due to a short circuit and spread very fast as several inflammable goods were placed inside the factory," a senior official of state fire and emergency services told IBNS.

A local police official said that vehicular traffic was controlled on NH-6 and Andul Road nearby during the hour-long firefighting operation.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)